Cacio e Pepe

This is almost as simple as you can go for pasta, and you can probably make it with ingredients you already have in your kitchen. The freshly crushed pepper gives it a real kick. You can go as heavy or light on the pepper as you want.

Ugly Sweater Cookies

Every year, Jamie and I have an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. This year, about a week before, a package arrived in the mail from Jamie's aunt Patti - an ugly Christmas sweater cookie kit! It's so adorable. It's really just a sweater-shaped cookie cutter, frosting, and sprinkles, but they were a hit. I had so much fun decorating them and they fit the theme to a t. Everyone gobbled them up.

She got the mix at CVS (I found this expired link googling) so you may be able to still get them! Such a fun alternative to the usual stars, bells, trees, and snowmen - though I do love those, too.

I love Christmastime, and so does Petunia.

Carrot Soup with Dukkah and Yogurt

This is a very simple soup that is jazzed up by the yogurt and dukkah. The dukkah adds a great spice and the cool, tart yogurt is a nice texture in the soup. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into slices

1/2 qt vegetable broth

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp turmeric 

Pinch cayenne

Low fat greek yogurt

Spiced Syrup

It's the season of parties. Sometimes it's nice to give/get something other than a bottle of wine. I was going over to my friend Alice's last weekend and wanted to bring over a little hostess present. I always make ginger simple syrup for dark and stormies, but I wanted to make a spiced ginger syrup to be warming and holiday-inspired. This makes about 2 cups and it's great in cocktails. 

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods

1 1/2" of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

A pinch nutmeg

A pinch allspice

3 cloves

3 peppercorns

Sunday Gravy

I'm not Italian, but I can get behind the idea of Sunday gravy. We had a slider of that name from a stand of that name at Smorgasburg on Sunday and I was inspired to make my own. I gathered all the good looking meats from the store and set out for a long, slow cook. The flavor is so deep and strong and wonderful. I served it with fresh rigatoni but feel free to use your favorite pasta. Also, you can play around with the meat choices. Any traditional braising cuts of beef and pork work well, and some sausage for an extra bit of flavor.

Frersh Garganelli with Tangy Lamb Ragu

This is such a flavorful, hearty pasta - perfect for cold weather. Your house will smell amazing. I love using balsamic vinegar in braising. It adds such a nice flavor. I made the garganelli, but you can use rigatoni too. 

Ingredients:

1 lamb shank

1/2 cup flour

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 large onion, diced

1 small leek, thinly sliced

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped 

1 celery stock, finely chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

Fresh Garganelli

Sundays are great for making pasta. I was cooking a lamb ragu and thought garganelli would be fun and good for the hearty sauce. It's a lot like ziti and has a great texture. You need a gnocchi board or ridged surface for rolling them. 

Makes enough for 4-6 people

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp olive oil 

Water

Black Garlic-Roasted Cornish Game Hen

This is a simple and tasty weeknight dinner. I used black garlic, but you can swap in regular garlic - just halve it and mash it to a paste. The black garlic is a sweeter more subtle garlic flavor. 

Thai Chicken Soup

This is a really light and flavorful soup. I recommend making your own stock, but store-bought is fine, too. 

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 lemongrass stalks, 1-2 hard outer layers discarded

2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced 

2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

2 quarts chicken stock

1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained but reserving juice

2oz tamarind paste

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 Serrano chiles, thinly sliced

A little lime zest

Chicken Stock

Everyone always says one should make her own chicken broth. It's not always in the cards to have several hours to kill before you want to whip up some soup for dinner. This is why Sundays are great days for soup. I made this fantastic broth to go with a Thai Chicken Soup (recipe coming) that really depended on a flavorful broth. Yum! There was luckily a bit leftover so I poured the extra broth into a ziploc bag and popped it in the freezer to use on my next soup.

Makes about 3 quarts

Ingredients:

3 lb chicken wings

any extra chicken bones you've been storing in your freezer (or just get a few more wings or other chicken parts)

4 quarts water

1 onion, quartered

8 garlic cloves, skin on

1 celery rib, quartered

1 carrot, quartered

6 parsley sprigs

1 large thyme sprig

1 bay leaf

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a large stock put and bring to a boil, skimming any froth. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook, uncovered, for 3.5 hours, occasionally skimming any foam and fat. Pour the stock through a sieve lined with damp paper towels and discard solids. Skim any fat. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I have never been a big cheesecake person (unless it's like this). I don't think I've ever ordered it at a restaurant. It always seems too rich and heavy, and that says a lot coming from me. Pumpkin cheesecake is the exception to the rule. It's a hybrid of pumpkin pie and cheese cake; lighter than cheesecake and with warm, aromatic pumpkin pie spice. I got the recipe from Martha Stewart. My advice - drench the batter bowl in water before you can eat too much of it because it is fantastic.

Ingredients:

Crust

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 6 full graham crackers)

1/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp melted unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

Mustard and Creme Fraiche-Roasted Fish

This is a quick, easy, and tasty Ina Garten recipe. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes. The sauce is so flavorful.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 filets of fish (I used striped bass - wonder why?)

1/2 cup creme fraiche 

1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tbsp grainy mustard

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 tsp capers, drained

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the creme fraiche, mustards, shallot, and capers and season with salt and pepper. 

Coq a la Biere (Chicken Cooked in Beer)

I made this years ago when I was abroad in Paris but hadn't thought of it again until today. It's basically the same as coq au vin but with beer instead of red wine. It has such a great flavor and it a perfect fall or winter hearty dinner served over some buttered egg noodles. It also makes your house smell wonderful.

Champagne to go

I picked up a few of these as a hostess present. The champagne is pretty good. It's from Francis Ford Coppola's winery. The concesus was that it's weird to drink champagne out of a can with a straw, so we poured them into champagne glasses. I do think it would be perfect for a picnic as it's a bit inconspicuous. 

Stracciatella Soup (Quick and Cheap)

I needed a quick, cheap lunch and decided on stracciatella with arugula. It took about 5 minutes start to finish and was practically free. It's perfect for lunch or a light dinner with some bread and salad. 

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 cups worth of chicken bouillon (or homemade or store bought if you have it)

1 big handful arugula or spinach, cut into ribbons

A few tbsp freshly grated pecorino

1 egg

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Bring the stock to a boil. Season with salt. Add arugula and cook until tender. Meanwhile, mix the egg, cheese, and a good grind of fresh pepper. Whisk the egg mix into the water so it forms ribbons. 

Serve immediately. 

Apple Pie

Jamie loves apple pie and I had a free Sunday, so I whipped this one up. Yum! The maple syrup is a nice touch. I like to use a mix of different apples, this time I did Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, and McIntosh. I used the recipe from Four and Twenty Blackbirds for Salt Pork Apple Pie but ditched the salt pork.

Candied Bacon (or crack)

If you need a new make-ahead salty cocktail snack, this is it. It's salty and sweet and crunchy and bursting with flavor. It's completely addictive and totally delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup nuts (I like spicy smokehouse almonds)

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 lb bacon

Directions:

Blend first six ingredients in a food processor. Add maple syrup until it's almost in a sandy paste. Season to taste with more sugar or chipotle as you like.

Habanero Cauliflower Puree and Adobo-Marinated Flank Steak

I bought some pretty orange cauliflower at the Union Square market and still had some adobo sauce leftover so thought I'd make something Mexican. I bought a habenero and some flank steak, too, and decided to make a spicy cauliflower puree to go with it. It was delicious and all the flavors really go well together, especially with some good spicy salsa. 

Adobo Fish Tacos

I already teased the picture here in my tortilla post, but these tacos were fabulous. (And gave me a chance to use my lovely bass.) The adobo sauce is pretty simple - you just need the peppers - but it gives the fish a really nice flavor. It's healthy and tasty, especially served with some chopped jalapenos, pineapple salsa, radishes, and chipotle salsa. 

Ingredients:

2 dried ancho chilis

3/4 cup water, for blending

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 garlic clove, peeled

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp oregano

pinch cumin

1 tbsp oil

2 pieces of firm fish such as striped bass

juice of 1/2 a lime

Homemade Tortillas

As promised, now for the homemade tortilla recipe. It's really easy and pretty quick. It would be really quick if I had a griddle and could fit more tortillas on at once (my cast iron skillet only fits two at a time and even then they overlap). They taste great and fresh and are nice and pliable. 

Makes about 8-10 tacos

Ingredients:

1 cup masa harina corn flour (it should say good for tamales and tortillas on the bag)

3/4-1 cup warm water

big pinch salt

Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Salsa

This is an easy salsa that's so spicy and smokey and great on tacos. 

Ingredients:

2 dried chipotle peppers

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-low heat. Toast the chipotles and garlic. The chipotles for about 5 minutes and the garlic until it's soft and has some charred spots, 8-10 minutes. 

Puree the peppers, garlic, and remaining ingredients for at least 2 minutes until smooth. Season with salt and vinegar. 

Chicken Tinga Tacos

I now have a tortilla press that I was dying to use last night. Probably not something everyone needs, but I saw it at Sur La Table and remembered that my Mexican cookbook said homemade tortillas were infinitely better than store bought. I'll post about that later, but in the mean time, here's a great Chicken Tinga Taco recipe that you can use on store bought tortillas - or be crazy like me and go buy a tortilla press and use on fresh tortillas. Your call.

Striped Bass with Lemon Olive Sauce

My wonderful friend Chelsea had me over for dinner on Wednesday. I supplied the bass and she whipped up this tasty recipe. The firm, steaky bass holds up perfectly to the briny and citrusy sauce. So good! Thanks, Chels! (She served it with cabbage slaw and sweet potato latkes which I forgot to snap.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 striped bass filets (or any firm white fish)

Olive oil 

2 lemons, peeled and thinly sliced, segments halved

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbsp fresh oregano

2 tbsp capers

3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Grilled Dill-Marinated Bass

Searching my brain for another bass week recipe, I was trolling through the grocery store while they were unloading dill. It smelled so fresh and nice that I plucked some up, along with shallots, lemon, olive oil, and parsley. I marinated the fish in a mix of the herbs, shallot, olive oil, and lemon zest with plenty of salt and grilled it over charcoal. It was fresh and tasty and the charcoal grill gave it a great crust. We had it with grilled asparagus.

Ingredients:
a handful of fresh dill, chopped
a small handful of fresh parsley, chopped
1 small shallot, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp kosher salt
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1 large filet of striped bass

Jerk Striped Bass with Spicy Pineapple Salsa

Yum! We had this on Sunday night and I will definitely be making it again soon. It's a great, spicy, and bright dish. 

Ingredients:

1 large striped bass filet (enough for two)

1.5 tbsp jerk paste

Olive oil 

Salt 

1.5 cups diced pineapple

1/2 a very spicy cherry bomb pepper (or jalapeño to taste)

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1/2 red onion, finely diced

Bass Ceviche with Fresh Corn

Ceviche is one of the best things to do with fresh fish, and this fish had been caught about an hour before we made the ceviche. I threw in a little fresh corn because it's so delicious right now. It was great and easy and has such a bright, fresh taste. (Made a similar version last year, too.)

Ingredients:

1 large piece of striped bass (or another firm white fish like mahi mahi) cut into small pieces

Juice of several limes

1/2 a red onion, finely chopped

1/2-1 Serrano pepper (to taste)

1 ear of corn, cut off the cob

Directions:

Mix everything together in a medium bowl and season with salt. Cover it closely with Saran Wrap and put in the fridge for at least 30-45 minutes. Serve with toasts or tortilla chips. 

Bass Week 2014

We went fishing in Montauk again last weekend and once again caught SO many striped bass. Get ready for another week of bass recipes - starting with ceviche. 

Coconut Quinoa

This is a great South Asian inspired way to make quinoa. I served it with fish and it was really tasty. Takes about half an hour and is a great side. It also made good leftovers for lunch prompting a few "that smells great"s at the office. The coconut makes it creamy and steeping it with lemongrass and habanero gives it extra flavor and a little heat. 

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1 cup coconut milk (I used light)

1 stalk lemon grass

1 habanero

A few strips of lime zest

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 tsp sugar

Big pinch salt

1 tsp fish sauce

1 cup quinoa

1 tbsp coconut oil

Handful of cilantro, chopped

2 small scallions, thinly sliced

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 tsp minced jalapeño or serano pepper

I'm back!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I was in Greece and then super busy last week. I promise there are some coming soon!