From Fancy to Finger Food

Well, it's definitely winter. I'm back on my citrus kick (not that I was ever really off it, but I bought something in the neighborhood of 10 lemons this week, all of which had a specific purpose). I've been dying to make crêpes ever since I got a couple of sturdy, super-nonstick pans for Christmas, and so these crêpes were born. When I was in Paris (sigh...), there was a crêpe stand down the block from me, and it took everything I had not to grab a crêpe every day (and even when I allowed myself to get one for lunch while I was out, it was generally a Nutella one - a questionable meal). The crêpe stands in Paris are fantastic - just large enough for a big, round griddle and a few toddler-sized jars of Nutella. The crêpe-makers expertly pour just the right amount of batter onto the griddle and sweep it into a paper-thin circle using a tool that looks very much like a squeegee. I don't know how they do it, but every. single. time. they manage to flip this giant, papery ...

My aunt and uncle got me a gift card to a local olive oil and vinegar store (which has cooking classes!) for Christmas, and as usual, my aunt put together a beautiful little gift basket to go with it (thanks, Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Tom!). The basket had some fun spices in it, plus a little jar of chopped roasted garlic. I'd been meaning to play around with adding flavors to my go-to no-knead bread recipe, and this garlic seemed perfect for it. I added some lemon zest and dried parsley, and it was delicious! Check out that crumb! This bread, plus last post's chicken noodle soup , will make a lovely lunch for this week as I write, and write, and write to finish my proposal and paper... Lemony Garlic & Herb Bread Yield: Two one-pound loaves Adapted from The Italian Dish Ingredients 1.5 cups lukewarm water (100-110 degrees F) 1 tbsp active dry yeast OR 2.25 tsp (one standard 0.25-oz packet) instant yeast 2.25 tsp kosher or other coarse salt 1.25 cups all purp...

I am back, after an exceptionally long and entirely unplanned hiatus! The last few months have been busy and, at times, stressful, so I suppose something had to fall by the wayside. I certainly didn't stop cooking during that time, though, and I missed sharing recipes. Today's is a classic: chicken noodle soup. While I've always liked chicken noodle soup in principle, I've had a lot of bland and/or over-salted versions that left me none too enthusiastic about the dish. As usual, I had to look no further than smitten kitchen to find a recipe that did the trick. Simply browning the chicken and onions before making the stock makes all the difference in the world, and cuts the simmering time for the stock to just 20 minutes. In case you are skeptical of how big of a difference this can make (as I was), check out my stock just five minutes after dumping in the water: Magic. After the full 20 minutes, you get a beautiful, rich brown stock: Add in some veggies and egg...

Over the summer I decided to treat myself to a cooking class, sort of like a graduation present to myself. I had several classes in mind, but I settled on "Cooking Without a Recipe". My confidence in throwing together a meal from whatever ingredients are around has improved over the last couple of years, but I still felt that I could benefit from a class on flavor pairings and techniques. It was an all-day class, with a demo in the morning and then cooking in groups after lunch. For some reason, I thought a few hours of watching someone else cook might get boring, but it was awesome. Food Network live, but you get to eat the food . We were in groups of three for the afternoon session. We were handed a list of ingredients and told to sketch out a menu (we did three courses). At first, I had really wanted to work with meat, because I feel that that's a weakness of mine, but I was itching to bake that day. I saw oranges and almonds on the list, which reminded me that ...

For someone who adores baking bread and making homemade versions of things you'd normally get at the grocery store, homemade English muffins should have been a no-brainer. And yet somehow, it took a couple of years and the accumulation of three  recipes before I got around to it. Yes, I was busy being educated and whatever, but I never let that stop me before. A couple of weeks ago, though, I finally got the bug and spent a nice weekend morning making the most delicious English muffins I had ever had, by several orders of magnitude. The kicker is that for some reason, I was surprised. I knew they'd be good, better than store-bought, but they were so good . I didn't even toast them after I split them, but ate three in rapid succession with just a smear of butter. My plans for a fancy English muffin egg sandwich went right out the window. Why would anyone ruin this heavenly perfection with eggs and bacon? (You know I'm serious when I say that bacon would not be an impro...

Today, I make good on a promise I made a couple of weeks ago, and boy am I glad that I held myself to that promise. I don't know how/when I had the idea for these, but it was likely one of the more brilliant thoughts I've had in the last few months. These sort of evolved as I was making them. First, I decided that I wanted to make a big batch to have a homemade version of frozen, ready-to-bake tater tots. I've been trying to make meals and snacks to freeze, but not of the frozen-mystery-vegetable-casserole variety. I've made some pizza, now these tater tots, and hopefully soon some dumplings and/or pierogis. It'll be a nice way to avoid eating either fast food or cereal on nights when I get home late. I was watching Iron Chef as I made these (it's amazing how quickly I cook when vicariously afflicted with the anxiety of chefs who are asked to make 5 dishes in one hour ), and as I was grating the cheese, I heard someone say "chives" and realized that...

Well, the heat has officially been turned on here and I am back to the fall I remember from growing up (Maryland fall is quite warm). I can't say I'm exactly welcoming it, since I'm already pining forlornly for ripe, juicy stone fruit and sweet, vibrant strawberries, but there are a few things I enjoy about fall. The cooler weather opens up the possibility of soup for lunch, which I love because it's one of the few things I can make in large batches without getting sick of, and it reheats like a dream. I generally dislike leftovers because I often find reheated food to be a sad imitation of its former self. What once was vibrant is muted, crisp turns to mush. Naturally, this makes lunch a challenge. In fact, a lot of the inspiration for this blog so far has been a desire for lunch foods that either do not require heating or stand up well to the microwave. I think this soup will certainly do the trick. I adore broccoli in all forms, and cheddar is one of my fav...