These Spiced Pecans look naked, don’t they? It makes it so much more fun when someone grabs a big handful, because these babies are spicy.
Sure, when you first pop them into your mouth, you only taste the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. But then the heat kicks you right in the back of the throat, like Chuck Norris but with more mercy. Read More…
The three cheeses you see above are Carr Valley Cheese’s Mobay (a Wisconsin cheese that’s half goat’s milk and half sheep’s milk with a layer of ash in between), Sweet Grass Dairy’s Sevenwood (a Georgia raw cow’s milk cheese washed in balsamic vinegar) and Cypress Grove Chevre’s Purple Haze (a California fresh goat cheese flavored with lavender and fennel pollen–and a 25th Annual American Cheese Society competition winner).
Did I know about any of these cheeses before taking on the Barefoot Bloggers challenge to create a Cheese Platter? Noooooooo. I picked this challenge, because the cheese counter at Whole Foods was a total mystery. Because I was reading great things about American artisanal cheeses but hadn’t tried any. And because, when you have a large group of people all making the same recipe, you seize the opportunity for variety where you can get it. In this case, straight from the cow’s teats. Or the goat’s. Or the sheep’s. We don’t judge.
There’s no real recipe for a cheese platter, but if you follow Ina Garten’s tips in “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,”
When you’re craving sticky buns, and you have the time to let your yeast dough rise overnight in the refrigerator, you make Dorie Greenspan’s Pecan Honey Sticky Buns. Golden brioche dough that’s been baptized in honey. Christened with pecans. They are so worthy of a two-syllable damn.
But when you’re craving sticky buns RIGHT NOW, and you’re not looking for a religious experience, Ina Garten’s Easy Sticky Buns will do. Her recipe skips the whole dough-making process and uses defrosted puff pastry. You grab a muffin tin, and put a tablespoon of her butter-brown sugar mixture in each cup. Then you fill the puff pastry with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins, roll it up, slice it, and place each piece in a muffin cup, spiral side up.
They will look weird. You’ll think you’re doing it wrong. But you’re not. Read More…
Kentucky Butter Cake is a cake for grown-ups. It doesn’t have sprinkles. It doesn’t have frosting.
It isn’t cute.
But, Baby, this cake has flavor for days. You expect a butter cake to be buttery, but this one goes above and beyond with the real draw: its glaze. Read More…
Last week, I read that you should only have biscuits once a year. From a nutritional standpoint, I’m sure that’s true, but since when do the rules of nutrition and “should” apply to biscuits? I can only assume the writer’s never had the pleasure of waking up to a fresh-from-the-oven, hot homemade buttermilk biscuit, split and dripping with butter and honey, oozing strawberry jam, or packed with sausage or country ham. Pure soul food.
My latest biscuit obsession is Scott Peacock’s recipe for Hot Crusty Buttermilk Biscuits. They come out of the oven golden on the top and bottom, tender on the inside, with a nice snap from the outside crust and a little tang from the buttermilk. I can’t wait to try his suggestion for topping one with “sautéed asparagus and mushrooms and a runny poached egg.” Oh, that’s living in the high country.
You’ll notice a few unusual things about the recipe. Read More…
Last week, I went to one baby shower, made cupcakes for another, and found out another friend is pregnant. We can’t be certain of the cause, but you’re going to want to protect yourself accordingly. Kidding! I love this time of year, because it seems like every time you turn around, there’s a reason to celebrate – a holiday or a big event or some good news. And if there’s a reason to celebrate, there’s a reason to make Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake.
One final thing: each cake layer gets a coating of jam, and that flavor comes through, so choose wisely. Don’t go for the bargain jam unless you absolutely love it. This would be the time to break out Aunt Jean’s preserves, but if you’re out, go for something high-quality, like the Sarabeth’s
So, this has nothing to do with food, but if you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know that we decided to magically transform the Christmas tree into an Inauguration Tree. It has red, white and blue twinkly lights. Red, silver and blue ornaments. Red, white and blue star-shaped garlands. Flags. A patriotic pinwheel doing star-duty at the top. Because we’ve got Inauguration Fever!
Oh, and there’s a unicorn.
The unicorn was inspired by Chris Bishop’s “Barack Obama Riding a Unicorn” T-shirt, possibly the greatest and best T-shirt ever created. Read More…
I’ve got a little bit of a cold, probably from taking out the trash naked. So when Jeff asked what I was making for dinner, and I said, “Harlem Meat Loaf,” he heard “Meatlove.”
I’m sure he was expecting a carnivore’s fantasy, like the woven Bacon and Cheese Roll or a bikini made of prosciutto or spontaneously regenerating steak-flavored wallpaper, but this isn’t your typical meatloaf. It’s not a burger brick slathered in ketchup. This is a much tastier mix – ground sirloin and sweet Italian sausage, flavored with chopped onion and pickles, fresh parsley, sourdough breadcrumbs and a combination of ketchup, Worcestershire and Frank’s Hot Sauce that’s mixed with the meat and brushed over the top.
The meatloaf tastes (and slices) much better the next day, if you can wait. But if you need to try it as soon as it comes out of the oven – three cheers for gluttony! – you’ve got to try a Harlem Meat Loaf Sandwich. A slice or two of meatloaf, lettuce and tomato on sourdough. Maybe a little mayo to keep things together. It’s the best way to enjoy those alternating bites of sirloin and sausage, like playing Meat Roulette, where every bite’s a winner. Meatlove? Oh, yeah. Read More…
