Food

From this Stonyfield recipe. I decreased the sugar and added mini chocolate chips. I think I’d also increase the cinnamon and add a little nutmeg and clove. I like this one because it uses yogurt, though the consistency isn’t ideal.

Ingredients

3/4 c Greek Plain Yogurt
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
3-4 over-ripe bananas
1/2 c walnuts
1/2 c mini chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mash the bananas in a mixer, then put them aside. Combine the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda separately. Mix the yogurt and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mashed bananas gradually. Mix in the nuts and chips, then split between two buttered loaf pans. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I made this fake Shake Shack burger recipe (from Epicurious by way of Smitten Kitchen) and it was about perfect. I did it on a cast iron griddle on the grill, which saved a lot of kitchen cleanup.

This recipe from Southern Living made great limeade, though at current lime prices I’m not sure it’s worth it.

Ingredients

1/2 c water
1 c sugar
1 tbsp grated lime rind (about 2 limes)
1 1/2 c fresh lime juice (about 12 limes)
7 c ice water

Directions

Grate the rinds and squeeze out the lime juice. Fill a pitcher with 7 c ice water. Bring 1/2 c water to boil in a small saucepan, then take it off the heat, add the sugar and rinds, and stir until dissolved to make a simple syrup. Add the simple syrup and lime juice to the pitcher and stir.

One of the best things about making cookies, for me, is picking at the dough. But it has raw eggs in it, which you’re not supposed to eat, so I decided to come up with a better recipe for cookie dough. I decided to make them as freezer cookies — make the dough, shape them into cookies, and freeze them for snacking. Another good use might be to make cookie dough ice cream, though I haven’t tried that yet.

One comment on the chocolate: I originally used bittersweet chips (Ghirardelli 60%) because I like the taste, but they’re pretty hard, and after freezing were annoyingly hard to bite. Milk chocolate, or even a softer, smaller dark chocolate works better.

Ingredients

1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c milk (I’ve generally used 2%)
1 + 1/3 c all purpose flour (or substitute your favorite gluten-free flour mix)
3-5 oz chocolate of your choice, chopped
1/2-1 c toasted walnuts, chopped

Directions

Cream the butter and sugars in a mixer. Add the salt, vanilla, and about half the milk. Add the flour gradually, balancing with the remaining milk as needed to keep the right cookie-doughish consistency. Fold in the chocolate and walnuts. Roll into a log in some parchment paper (you might want to refrigerate for a little while to make this easier) and refrigerate overnight. Slice into 1/2″ thick rounds, lay out on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once they’re frozen you can toss them into a freezer bag. Or, you know, just leave the bowl in the refrigerator and keep a spoon handy.

I’ve been craving pecan pie, and thanksgiving was the perfect excuse to make one. The last time I made a pecan pie, it involved a whole lot of corn syrup. I wanted to skip the corn syrup, so I looked around for recipes and ended up finding this one. It came out great! Next time, I’d like to cut the sweetness a little and add a little more salt. Or maybe bacon

Ingredients

1 c maple syrup
1 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tbsp molasses
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces
6 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c toasted and chopped pecans, plus another 1/2 c toasted and unchopped
9″ pie crust

Directions

Preheat oven to 450. Heat sugar, syrup, cream, and molasses in saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. Whisk butter and salt into syrup mixture until combined. Whisk in egg yolks until incorporated. Scatter chopped pecans in pie crust. Poor filling over, then top decoratively with whole pecans. Bake until center jiggles slightly when shaken, 45-60 min. Cool on rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate. Serve at room temperature.

Another iteration of this recipe. The main change is that I left out the pretzels and instead used 1 tsp of very coarse sea salt (which results in occasional salt-crunch-bombs as you chew). I also sprinkled a little flaky sea salt and turbinado sugar on top. Baking time was more like 24-28 minutes.

Ingredients

8 tbsp butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp coarse sea salt
Flake sea salt, turbinado sugar to taste

Directions

Chop the walnuts, then toast them in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter (about 1 minute in microwave). Mix with sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix. Add the flour gradually until completely mixed. Briefly fold in the walnuts, then the coarse salt. Spread in a buttered (or parchment-paper-lined) 8×8 metal pan and bake for 24-28 minutes at 350. Center should still be a little gooey when removed. Cool on a wire rack. The flavor is best once they’ve cooled.

This is from Fuchsia Dunlop. This came out very good when I made it, though I would add the scallions later so they retain more fresh crunch. I’d probably also try it with celery and carrots, as some restaurants do.

Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breasts (~2/3 lb), cut in 1/2″ cubes
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
equal amount ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
5 scallions, white parts only, cut in squarish chunks
2 tbsp peanut oil
handful dried red chiles (at least 10), halved and deseeded (wear gloves!)
1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
2/3 c roasted unsalted peanuts

marinade
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
2 1/4 tsp cornstarch (or 1 1/2 tsp potato flour)
1 tbsp water

sauce
3 tsp sugar
1 1/8 tsp cornstarch (or 3/4 tsp potato flour)
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
3 tsp Chinkiang or black Chinese vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp chicken stock (or water)

Directions

Place chicken in a small bowl and mix in the marinade ingredients.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
Add 2 tbsp oil to wok and heat over a high flame. When hot but not smoking, add the chiles and Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fry briefly, taking care not to burn them.
Add the chicken and fry over a high flame, stirring constantly. As soon as the chicken cubes have separated, add ginger, garlic, and scallions and continue to stir-fry until the meat is cooked through.
Stir the sauce and add it to the wok, continuing to stir and toss. As soon as the sauce has become thick and shiny, stir in the peanuts and serve.

This is based on the lemongrass pork chop recipe in Charles Phan’s Vietnamese Home Cooking. I haven’t tried it with bone-in chops but it is amazing with pork shoulder. The fat really crisps up well and it acquires an amazing glaze from the sugar. Good with a salad, in banh mi, or just eaten straight off the grill with fingers.

Ingredients

2 lb pork country ribs (shoulder), sliced about 1″ thick
3/4 c white sugar
1/4 c fish sauce
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small shallot, minced
1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped
1 chile, stemmed and finely choppe
black pepper

Directions

Whisk together the sugar, fish sauce, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, and black pepper until the sugar dissolves. Marinate the pork for a couple of hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Heat the grill, keeping one side extra hot and the other cooler. Oil the grate and add the pork directly from the marinade to the hot side of the grill. Sear on one side for 1-2 minutes. Flip and sear on the other side. Move to the cooler side of the grill, cover, and cook until done. Serve with absolutely anything.

I made another try at these blondies, with some hints from this attempt and a little influence from the Momofuku cookie. The result was almost perfect. I think next time I won’t bother with chocolate-covered pretzels, just using plain ones, and I’ll add espresso beans or chocolate-with-espresso-beans for a little bitter kick.

Ingredients

8 tbsp butter, melted
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1 c walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 loose cup dark-chocolate-covered pretzels, very coarsely chopped

Directions

Chop the walnuts, then toast them in the oven on a baking sheet at 350 for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter (about 1 minute in microwave). Mix with sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and mix. Add the flour gradually until completely mixed. Briefly fold in the walnuts and pretzels. Spread in a buttered 8×8 metal pan and bake for 18-25 minutes at 350. Center should still be a little gooey when removed. Cool on a wire rack. The flavor is best once they’ve cooled, tho no one will blame you for eating them hot and gooey.

This is based on E’s basic lentil soup recipe. I wanted to alter the flavors, and went a little Indian influence and a little Ethiopian.

Ingredients

1/4 lb bacon, diced
2 c diced yellow onion
2 carrots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 c cauliflower, chopped
7 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp berbere
1.5 c black lentils
salt, pepper

Directions

Saute the bacon on medium until crispy. Remove it from the pan. Saute the garlic, onion, carrots, cauliflower, and 1/2 tsp berbere in the bacon grease on medium-low, covered, for 25 minutes. Add in everything else but the bacon, bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 40 minutes. Puree half of the mixture, add in the bacon, and serve.