Is it too soon in our relationship to say that I miss hanging out with you guys more? I hope not. The fact is that these days I am so deep in the throes of oh my god what was I thinking a certain cookbook I’m supposed to be halfway (ha! hoo! hee! I wonder if Knopf will find this so hilarious) finished with that it’s taking time away from hanging out here. Which is a shame, as it is my favorite place outside a certain striped carpet covered with The Mop Who Came to Live With Us and his toys and a bar I haven’t found yet that makes perfect Manhattans.

And it’s not like I’m not cooking up a storm, either. Yesterday, I made what I hoped would be an unfathomably deep apple pie for the cookbook. Think piles of amazing baked appleness for people who can never have enough filling (this, by the way, is for people who can never have enough crust). Alas, it was a (delicious) mess and I am back to the drawing board where I summon the confidence to start peeling another six pounds of apples.

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© smitten kitchen 2006-2009. | permalink to upside-down cranberry cake | 26 comments to date | see more: Cake, Cranberries, Fall, Photo, Thanksgiving

Recipe from Bon Appétit

What's the best part of serving a dinner party for a group of people who bought it at an auction?  They are there for the food!  When I was asked last year to donate a dinner for our local high school's fundraiser, I didn't have to think about it long before I said yes. As part of the package, the Varsity Lacrosse coach was going to be my waiter for the evening. Cook a dinner for a group of people who are actually going to be paying attention to the food?  Yes! Cook a dinner where I can just stay in the kitchen and plate things and send them out? Yes! That was my idea of a good time.

 

The menu was six courses and highlighted Italian food.  I made all the bread that day, fresh, including the baguette for the crostini.  I used the ever reliable Artisan Bread recipe and it saved me a trip to the bakery. I used my regular recipe, though, for the Focaccia, which takes 3 risings to make. I made my little Parmesan Crisps that we love so much for the first little appetizer and sent those out with glasses of Prosecco and some very good salami. The perfect way, in our opinion, to begin an evening.  We made up our favorite little crostini of fig jam, goat cheese and prosciutto and then everyone sat down to dinner.

antipasti
parmigiano reggiano crisps, salami
crostini with goat cheese, fig jam, prosciutto

zuppa
fennel and onion bisque, pernod
fennel puree
homemade artisan rolls

pasta
handmade spinach linguini, toasted pine nuts, grana padano

insalata
arugula, homemade crouton, pecorino, quail egg
toasted hazelnuts

carne
grilled steak with balsamic vinegar, salsa verde
zucchini pappardelle, garlic, red hot chili pepper
fresh focaccia

dolce
hazelnut semifreddo with caramel sauce
hazelnut brittle

espresso
limoncello
sicilian averna

 

 

The pasta course was handmade spinach linguini that I dressed with toasted pine nuts, good olive oil, a little sea salt and a good amount of Grana Padano cheese. One of my absolute favorite dishes.   I always serve it with a big Chardonnay and it's delicious and rich.

 

I love these little quail eggs.  I hard boiled them and put them on an arugula salad with some toasted hazelnuts.  I made my homemade Thomas Keller croutons and served those with the salad and dressed it all with an anchovy, garlic and balsamic vinaigrette that I whipped up in my mortar and pestle.  My God, that dressing is good.  I could lick the bowl when I make it (I didn't.)

Coach Grady was our super waiter for the evening. After he gingerly served a full tray of glasses of Prosecco, he could handle anything the rest of the evening

Dessert was Italian Hazelnut Semifreddo with homemade caramel sauce.  The caramel sauce is very dangerous. Seriously.  You cannot stop eating it. I poured extra caramel sauce into little shot glasses and everyone got one of those with their dessert, in case they needed more caramel sauce.  Which they did.  The next three days, Brian kept sneaking the caramel sauce out of the fridge and putting it in his morning coffee. I made a batch of hazelnut brittle and we stuck a nice little piece in everyone's slice of semifreddo as a crunchy little extra goodie.  Looked cute, too.

I gave out a couple of goodies at the end of the evening - my ever popular homemade vanilla extract and little bags of the hazelnut brittle.  I made the stickers for the vanilla extract bottles on my computer, using Epson Self-Adhesive Sheets and Pages on my Mac.  I love Pages - you can be so creative.  I've totally ditched my MS Word.  Goodbye!
 
If you like the little glassine favor bags I used for the brittle, you can buy them from Nashville Wraps, one of my favorite shopping sites for goodies like these.  I just punched two holes in the bag and tied it with some rustic twine. The 4 ounce Boston bottles for the extract you can buy from Specialty Bottle.
My extra set of hands in the kitchen that evening was the lovely Lydia Itsell, who helped prepare everything beautifully and washed way too many dishes that night. I would have drowned without her.

   The group that bought the dinner was great.  Such enthusiastic, fun people.  And the best part - no food allergies, no vegans and they all liked their steak medium rare.  Perfect diners.  I made a music playlist especially for the dinner that included a lot of Thievery Corporation, Michael Bublé and Raphael Saadiq that I think everyone enjoyed.

 

I had to pick out a soup that was not too heavy because I wanted the meal to progress in a certain way. I chose this fennel and onion soup, which is delicate and flavorful and then I used a David Tanis recipe for the fennel puree swirl on top. Did I tell you I got to meet David Tanis?  Just checking.  This soup recipe is what I'm going to share with you.

 

Onion and Fennel Bisque with Pernod and Fennel Puree

adapted from The Blue Heron Inn

for a printable recipe, click here

8 servings

2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), washed, chopped (about 1 cup)
3 medium red onions, chopped (3.5 cups)
1/2 lb. fennel bulb, fronds reserved (for puree), chopped (1.25 cups)
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups vegetable stock or chicken broth
1.25 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons Pernod

Cook onions, leeks, fennel and garlic in butter in a heavy pot over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes. Add wine and boil, uncovered, until evaporated, about 1 minute.  Add stock, water, salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened and liquid is reduced to about 6 cups, about 15 minutes.

Puree soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth, then transfer to a soup tureen and stir in Pernod.  Ladle into individual bowls and garnish with fennel puree.

Fennel Puree
from David Tanis 

1 cup roughly chopped fennel fronds
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until you have a smooth green puree.

Recipe from SELF

Recipe from Bon Appétit

Anyone running the marathon this weekend? I have a hunch that the overlap between people who, say, read a home cooking blog that unapologetically embraces butter and people who, say, run 26.2 miles in their spare time as an personal challenge, is slim-to-none. And yet, I know a handful of people running this weekend that love good cooking as I do, despite the fact that we obviously have nothing else in common. Seeing as they run when not chased, I bet they also do dishes for pleasure and go to bed advisably early for a less cranky tomorrow. Weirdos.

But we can meet at a middle ground affectionately called “carbo-loading”. Runners do it before big races. The rest of us do it because it’s winter and we’re evolutionarily programmed to pad ourselves for warmth. Or because we’re hungover. Or because we’ve been eating too much salad and strive for balance (snerk). And when it comes to carbo-loading, I think this spaghetti with chickpeas wins all trophies. It’s the potato pizza of pasta dishes; the squash risotto of comfort foods; the breadcrumb-topped baked macaroni-and-cheese from the files of So Good It Could Not Possibly Be Bad, Right?

... Read the rest of spaghetti with chickpeas on smittenkitchen.com

© smitten kitchen 2006-2009. | permalink to spaghetti with chickpeas | 240 comments to date | see more: Italian, Pasta, Photo

Recipe from Bon Appétit

Recipe from Bon Appétit

Recipe from Epicurious

Recipe from Epicurious

Recipe from Gourmet

Once upon a time, when I was probably no older than in grade school and sadly, not a whole lot shorter than I am today, a friend of a friend of my mother’s presented her with a bag of peanut butter and chocolate candies that my mother and I, chocolate and peanut butter fiends, went ballistic over. Here in this plastic bag (that we kept in the freezer, a history of hiding foods I have no self-control around in the freezer long predates this site) were all of the awesomeness of Reese’s peanut butter cups but, a) larger and b) homemade. We had to have the recipe.

No, we really had to have the recipe. We asked. We might have begged a little. But we were shut down, because this friend of a friend was writing a cookbook, and needed to save the recipe for future publication. Now, I don’t think my mother is especially one to hold grudges, but I tell you, it’s probably been more than 20 years since then and I mentioned chocolate peanut butter balls to my mother this week and she said, flatly, “I am still waiting for that cookbook.” You could say it’s kind of a running joke.

... Read the rest of buckeyes on smittenkitchen.com

© smitten kitchen 2006-2009. | permalink to buckeyes | 373 comments to date | see more: Candy, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Photo

Recipe from Bon Appétit

Wow, that sounds fancy, doesn't it? I love giving you a recipe that makes you look like a star in the kitchen. This one will have your family or guests think you're a fabulous gourmet cook, but it's so easy - I'll show you how. 

I do not like boneless pork loin. I don't even like the white meat of chicken or turkey. Yes, these meats are lean but they are boring, totally devoid of taste and dry.  The only decent parts of a chicken is the dark meat. If I ever fix a turkey breast, I butterfly the thing and stuff it, to add some taste.  I do the same thing with pork loin.  There's no use in fixing that cut of meat, in my opinion, unless you add something to it.  And it needs help.  If you like stuffing, why not make up a stuffing that you really love and butterfly the pork loin and put it inside?  And to make it even tastier, buy a bone-in rack of pork loin.  If you can't find a bone-in pork loin, just use a regular loin.  But if you like eating ribs, do try to find the bone-in version.

 
The stuffing can really be whatever you like. I've stuffed meats like this with a combination of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach and bread crumbs.   Use your imagination. If you make it for the holidays, some cranberries added to the stuffing would be nice.

Rack of Pork Stuffed with Apples and Herbs

for a printable recipe, click here

serves 5

You will need kitchen twine to tie up this roast.

The stuffing for this recipe is made with fresh bread crumbs.  Just take any bread, fresh or stale, and grind it up in your food processor.  Do not toast the bread.

Stuffing:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 small apples, peeled, cored, chopped into small dice (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 celery stalk, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup) 
1/2 tsp. sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced or grated
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon fresh sage
1 Tablespoons fresh rosemary
zest of half a lemon

1 bone-in pork loin, 5 ribs, about 3-1/2 to 4 pounds (a boneless pork loin is fine, if you can't find a bone-in version. Just cut the cooking time by about 15 minutes if using boneless).

Herb Rub:
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
1 Tablespoon chopped sage
1 Tablespoon chopped rosemary
zest of half a lemon 
1 garlic clove, minced or grated

Basting Liquid:
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup white wine
1 Tablespoon olive oil 

In a skillet, heat the oil and add the apple, celery and onion with the sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper.  Saute over medium-low heat for about 6-7 minutes, until vegetables and apple are soft.  Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and add the fresh bread crumbs, herbs and lemon zest. Transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool completely.

While stuffing is cooling, butterfly the pork loin.

Cut down along rib bones then turn knife on its side and start opening up the loin

 

Cut four 12" lengths of twine and set aside. Lay out pork loin, fat side down, with bones facing to the right. Insert the blade of a very sharp knife along the rib bones and slice down.  This will release the loin from the ribs.  Do not slice all the way through.  Open the meat up a bit and take your knife and continue to slice through the meat, opening it up as it goes.  When the meat is butterflied, season it with some salt and pepper and lay the stuffing right on top.  Roll the pork loin back up and tie between each rib bone with a piece of the twine to secure the roast.  Trim loose ends of twine.  Season the outside of the pork loin with salt and pepper.

Continue cutting through pork loin, opening it up, until flat

 

spread stuffing and then roll up roast and tie

 

Make herb rub:

Mix all ingredients for the herb rub together and rub the pork loin all over with this mixture.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking pan with foil* and place a grate on top.  Warm the ingredients for the baste in a small saucepan on the stove.  Place the pork roast on the grate and bake for 20 minutes, uncovered.  Baste with about a third of the basting liquid. Loosely cover the roast with foil and lower temperature to 350 degrees.  Continue to cook for about 1-1/2 hours, basting with the liquid twice more.  

 

Remove pork roast from oven and transfer to a cutting board.  Let rest for 10 minutes, covered.  Cut twine. Slice between rib bones into 5 portions and serve.

* Note:  If you'd like to make a pan sauce out of the drippings, do not line the pan with foil.  When you remove the roast to the cutting board, you can transfer the pan drippings to a saucepan and make a little sauce by adding some more white wine and butter and whisking until smooth. You can strain the sauce over the meat.
 

Look how gorgeous that is?  It's moist because of the apple cider basting liquid and it's flavorful because of the stuffing.  It's a very forgiving recipe which holds well on low in the oven.  Make this for the holidays and I guarantee it will be a hit.  

Recipe from Epicurious

Odds are, this week is full of sugar for you. Chewy sugar, hard shiny sugar, sugar molded into candy corn, fluffed into marshmallows, coating adorable little popsicles of cake, wound with brown butter around grains of puffed rice and that doesn’t even include the peanut butter cups you’ll pilfer from your kid’s trick-or-treat bucket this weekend followed by the sweet slide from Thanksgiving’s marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes and December’s minty candy canes.

I, for one, could really go for a salad right now. I’ve been roasting a lot of squash and sweet potatoes lately, usually for the half-toothed member of our family and one day, I was looking to turn it into more of a fall salad and I stumbled upon a recipe from Bon Appetit. I nixed the arugula because the stuff I found at the market was spotty, and anyway, (gripe alert!) I like challenging myself to make salads that don’t hinge on leaves that are only in season a very small fraction of the times of the year people insist you should eat them. (End gripe.) I used a butternut squash instead of a pumpkin because they seem to roast up in cubes better, and also because they’re a much easier shape for my little sherpa to hold in his lap (and only occasionally gnaw on) as we head home from the market. I added toasted butternut squash seeds because I love some crunch with my salads and do hope you know they toast up almost as delightfully as pumpkin seeds. Finally, I used black lentils because that’s what I had in my pantry and what’s prettier in the last week of October than a black and orange medley?

... Read the rest of spicy squash salad with lentils and goat cheese on smittenkitchen.com

© smitten kitchen 2006-2009. | permalink to spicy squash salad with lentils and goat cheese | 224 comments to date | see more: Beans, Fall, Photo, Salad, Vegetarian, Winter Squash

Recipe from Epicurious

Recipe from Epicurious

If there is anything as magnificent as October in New York City, well, I don’t believe you. The trees I didn’t know we had deposit rust-colored leaves all over the sidewalks, the sky is impossibly blue, the air drinkably crisp and suddenly, you can walk for miles and never feel overheated or spent. It leads to a lot of trips to the market. Even when we don’t need anything, we just make up excuses to go, like just to get a tiny apple for our 13 month-old anti-New Yorker who smiles at and chats (“Ga-ga! Gaga!”*) willingly with strangers who pass him on the sidewalk and if that hasn’t charmed you yet, imagine this same child clutching a handful of flowers the eggplant lady at the market gave him to give to his mama. Seriously, guys, New York City is sweet in the fall.

And without fail, this is my favorite month to cook, the one in which every recipe that crosses my path delights me more than the one before. Remember last week, when I was all “these scones are October on a parchment-lined baking sheet”? I was lying. Turns out, this is. Well, in a buttered square cake pan. It’s one of these cakes you should make just because you can. Just because there’s nothing not to love about a kitchen filled with the scent of freshly baked spiced cake. Or because you’re probably drowning in apples and applesauce from your apple-picking excursions and are out of ideas for them. Or because you’ve never met an application for cream cheese frosting that you couldn’t love.

... Read the rest of spiced applesauce cake on smittenkitchen.com

© smitten kitchen 2006-2009. | permalink to spiced applesauce cake | 298 comments to date | see more: Cake, Everyday Cakes, Fall, Photo

Recipe from Gourmet