Smoky and sweet baked beans

There are way too many recipes out there that I want to try. Andrew made me an app a while ago to store my magazine recipes (being married to a software developer definitely has its perks), and I've got more than 450 recipes in there. Not to mention all the recipes in my collection of ~60 cookbooks and all the ones in the cookbooks I have on my wishlist...Andrew like to complain that when I make something he really likes, it's pretty much guaranteed that I won't ever make it again - but in my defense, why repeat recipes when there's always something new to try? Anyway, I was looking through my collection of magazine recipes the other day and decided to try this recipe for baked beans, which I saved back in 2011. I tweaked it a bit, adding a chipotle chile for extra smokiness and heat, and adjusting the sugar to suit my taste. The beans were the perfect mix of smoky, sweet, and spicy, and the three different bean types add variety in shape and texture. Good thing I obsessively keep track of interesting magazine recipes, or I never would have tried this one!

Roasted carrot soup with dukkah spice and yogurt

Believe it or not, tomorrow is the first day of spring. If you live in the Boston area, then you probably know better than to get too excited about that fact. Although this week last year brought us temperatures in the 70's and trees blooming with flowers, this year brought us snow and freezing rain. Winter is certainly not over, and as anyone around here will tell you, it's not unheard of to get snow well into April. With the weather being so cold and wet, I thought it would be appropriate to post about soup (and I'm not the only blogger who felt this way). This carrot soup recipe came from Bon Appetit - the base soup is simple, just carrots and broth, but the carrots are roasted to give it extra depth of flavor. The toppings are what really make the soup special though. The yogurt adds some nice acidity, and the dukkah spice (an Egyptian spice and nut blend) gives the soup complexity. The soup is thick and filling and will definitely keep you warm while you wait for spring to arrive!

Stir fried noodles with shrimp, green beans, and carrots

I am so excited about this recipe. This is the first time that I've been able to make a stir fry that actually tasted like something from our favorite Thai spot. Now, I have no idea if our local Thai place makes authentic food or not - I just know that it is tasty. My favorite thing to order from there is the drunken noodles - spicy stir fried noodles with veggies and shrimp. Contrary to what you might expect, there's no alcohol in drunken noodles - one theory about the name is that the noodles are so spicy that you need to drink beer to cool down. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I was craving drunken noodles and decided to see if I could make a decent version at home. I did some recipe research, and used this one as a starting point. The result wasn't quite what I wanted so I made some modifications and came up with the version that I'm sharing here, which is the perfect blend of sweet, salty, and spicy. It came out just as I had hoped and I love that I can make a homemade version of my favorite takeout dish. Now I just have to figure out how to make Andrew's favorite fried rice...

Fried olives stuffed with goat cheese

I've recently been thinking about having a tapas-style dinner party, where I make a whole bunch of appetizer selections instead of a main dish. I was collecting recipe ideas (although I haven't planned the actual party...) when I came across this one in The Food52 Cookbook. As soon as I saw the recipe, I decided that there was no reason to wait for a party when I could make these on a random Sunday evening instead. I'm glad I made that decision, because it meant that Andrew and I didn't have to share! These olives were awesome - crunchy and salty and cheesy, really the perfect party snack (even if it's just a party of two).

Pasta shells with yogurt sauce, peas, and chile

When Andrew and I were in Turkey over the summer, we tried a traditional dish called manti, which consists of a ravioli-like dumplings filled with meat and topped with yogurt and spices. I loved it - the yogurt sauce was creamy and tangy and paired well with the dumplings. Yogurt and pasta may seem like an odd combination at first, but it is commonly found in certain Middle Eastern cuisines, and it's not that far off from the yogurt rice eaten in India.

This recipe came from Jerusalem - it's not the same dish I tried in Turkey, but it's in the same family. Here, the sauce includes yogurt, feta cheese, and pureed peas. The pasta is tossed with more peas and basil, and topped with pine nuts that have been cooked in a spicy chile oil. The pine nuts and chile oil really make this dish - the nuts add texture and the chile add another dimension of flavor. The chile oil is very spicy though, so cut down on the chile flakes if you are sensitive to heat!

A note on the Jerusalem cookbook - this book is by Yotam Ottolenghi, the author of Plenty. You may remember me talking about how much I love Plenty, and Jerusalem is just as good (although fyi - it's not vegetarian). I love the big flavors and creative combinations of ingredients in Ottolenghi's recipes and his cookbooks are always a good source of inspiration. I definitely highly recommend this one.

Meyer lemon cranberry scones

Wow, it has been a long time since my last post...I've been cooking a lot but haven't really been inspired to blog about any of it. But I was recently reminded of how nice it is to share recipes and food stories with others and it made me want to get back here and post something. And between the snowy weather this weekend and the fact that I've been down with a cold, I've been spending a lot of time on the couch paging through cookbooks and bookmarking recipes. I've got quite a list of things I want to try in the next couple weeks, and hopefully some of the recipes will be good enough to share!

I don't know about you, but snowy days make me want to bake. The apartment just seems extra warm and inviting when it is filled with the scent of baked goods. I came across this recipe when I was looking for something to bake using the Meyer lemons that I recently bought. If you haven't tried them, Meyer lemons are sweeter and more aromatic than regular lemons. They're only in season for a few months, so I try to grab them when I see them. The Meyer lemons work beautifully with the cranberries in these scones. The scones are fragrant and light, and have just the right amount of sweetness to offset the tart fruit. They're perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Socca with lamb-eggplant sauce

I mentioned recently that I received a copy of Bean by Bean for Christmas. This book has been on my wish list for a while and I was really excited to get it - I cook with beans a lot and am always looking for new recipe ideas. When I was flipping through the book and tagging recipes to try, I came across a recipe for socca (chickpea flour flatbread). It made me remember that I still had chickpea flour in the pantry and that I should make socca more often (I've only made it once before). The recipe in Bean by Bean was different than the one I used before so I decided to try it. This crust recipe is really phenomenal - the socca is deliciously crisp on the outside and tender in the middle. Don't try to cut down on the amount of oil - you need it to get those addictively crispy edges. The lamb-eggplant sauce is meaty and savory and goes very well with the chickpea flavor of the crust. If you're looking for interesting variations on traditional pizza, give this one a try! I'd love to hear other topping ideas that you come up with as well.

Potato salad with pickled celery and hard-boiled egg

I received a few new cookbooks this holiday season, including Jerusalem, Heart of the Artichoke, Bean by Bean, and Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home. I've already had a chance to try a couple recipes from these books and I can't wait to try more. No matter how many recipes I make, there's always so many more creative ideas out there that I have to try. But before I get to recipes from my new books, I want to share this one from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. This potato salad has pickled celery, grated hard-boiled eggs, and a mustardy dressing. If you're a pickle lover like me and prefer your potato salads mayo-free, this is something you should definitely try.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2013!

Pumpkin tart with cheesecake topping

Somehow, inexplicably, it is already December 10th, and I am just now getting around to telling you about the dessert I made for Thanksgiving. This pumpkin tart is from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook - it's got a gingersnap and graham cracker crust, pumpkin filling, and dollops of cheesecake batter swirled into the top - as you might suspect, it's pretty much the best pumpkin dessert ever. And as a bonus, it's really simple to make. No fussy pastry dough to roll out or fruit to chop. I'm glad I managed to post this in time for Christmas - if you're looking for something new to try during the holidays, this is definitely a recipe for you!

White bean and Swiss chard pot pies

Smitten Kitchen is my very favorite food blog, and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for many, many months. SK's recipes fit in well with my style of cooking, and I have always found the recipes to be reliable and very delicious - they're the kind of recipes that I'm comfortable cooking for guests without testing in advance. I finally got a copy of the cookbook a few weeks ago, and it is a delight. I know I'll be cooking out of this book for years to come. This pot pie recipe is the first one I tried from the book (it is also on the blog). These pot pies take some time to make, but it is worth it - this is some seriously tasty vegetarian comfort food. The pastry is tender and incredibly flaky and the filling is flavorful and hearty. Given the time it takes to make these and the amount of butter in each serving, I'd say this is a once-in-a-while kind of recipe, but it is definitely worth trying. It's the perfect meal for a snowy weekend day like today.

p.s. Sorry there's no picture of the filling - once we dug in, we were too busy eating to think about taking a photo!

Red lentil and pumpkin soup

I saw this recipe in the November issue of Cooking Light and the lentil-pumpkin combination really appealed to me. I have always enjoyed lentil soup and the addition of pumpkin just seemed like it would work well. I ended up making this soup for dinner tonight and was really happy with it. This is a great soup for fall/winter - it's healthy, filling, and flavorful, and also happens to be quick and easy to make. The pumpkin adds creaminess and a hint of sweetness to the soup, and the spices are well balanced. The recipe uses mostly pantry ingredients, so this is something that you can easily whip up when you're looking for a warm satisfying meal on a winter night.

Cranberry sherbet

I like to keep a supply of cranberries in the freezer, mostly so that I can make these cranberry pecan caramel bars any time I want. But during a recent freezer cleanout I discovered a couple bags of cranberries in there that had to be at least a year old, if not longer. Luckily cranberries do very well in the freezer so the quality of the berries was totally fine, but I figured I should use them soon. I ended up finding the perfect recipe in the November 2012 issue of Cooking Light. You might not think to make frozen desserts during the fall and winter months, but I actually think a nice fruity sherbet is a perfect dessert after a hearty hot meal.

This sherbet is on the tart side, which I love. It's also a bit boozy, due to a tablespoon of liquor in the mix. Don't leave this out - it helps keep the sherbet from getting too hard in the freezer, and it gives you an opportunity to add another dimension to the flavor of the sherbet. With its gorgeous bright color and fresh flavor, this sherbet definitely adds some happiness to these dreary days!

Broccoli rabe, sun-dried tomato, and Fontina frittata

Andrew and I had some friends over for brunch today. It reminded me of how much I enjoy hosting brunch, mostly because I get an excuse to make some fun treats (today's big project was apple cider doughnuts - recipe coming soon!). However, treats alone don't make a meal. I personally enjoy savory brunch items more than sweet, and I made sure to include something eggy and relatively healthy in the menu along with the more indulgent items. A frittata is a great selection when serving brunch to a group - it comes together quickly and can be made ahead of time and served at room temperature. This frittata includes broccoli rabe and sun-dried tomatoes along with melty Fontina cheese. I loved this recipe - I especially enjoyed the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes, and the texture of the eggs was perfect - tender and not at all dry. I need to cook recipes like this more often, whether or not we are having guests!

Apple tart

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to meet Luisa Weiss, the author of one of my favorite food blogs - The Wednesday Chef. She has written a memoir that recently came out, and her book tour brought her to Boston. One of the first recipes that I ever posted here was from Luisa's blog, and I was super excited to meet her. While I was at the reading, I realized that I hadn't cooked one of her recipes in a while, and I thought to myself that it would be fun to post about one of recipes from her book. So I kept that in mind as I was reading the book and made mental notes about the recipes I wanted to try.

In the meantime, my office decided to have an apple and pumpkin-themed baking contest. I decided to make this apple tart, which I found on Smitten Kitchen. The recipe originates with Jacques Pepin and Alice Waters, so I knew it had to be good. And I was also drawn in by the recipe's simplicity. Flour, sugar, salt, butter, and apples. Nothing else, no spices, just pure apple flavor and flaky pastry. The tart was lovely, as expected given the people who created it, and I won the presentation category of the baking contest! And then, when I finished Luisa's book this past weekend, I found that her adaptation of this very same tart recipe is in there, in one of the last chapters...so I ended up cooking a recipe from her book after all! Clearly, this recipe has made its way around the food world already, and I'm happy to promote it even more. I urge you to make this soon, before the fall is gone...

Pasta with roasted broccoli, olives, and Pecorino

My shopping habits at the farmers' market have changed quite a bit over the last two years. Two years ago, I would eagerly buy anything I hadn't tried before - heirloom tomatoes! fresh shell beans! celery root! - because I was so excited by all the variety. Now, I've tried almost everything at least once, and I know what I like best and what's most convenient for the amount of time I have available for cooking. I know that celery root just isn't my favorite, fresh shell beans are kind of a pain, and that while heirloom tomatoes are fantastic, regular tomatoes are pretty great too and are a lot better for my budget. This year, I've also found myself enjoying broccoli much more than I used to. In 2010, I posted about how broccoli is kind of boring,  but I feel differently now. I love the way broccoli soaks up sauce and the texture it has after being stir-fried or roasted.

For dinner tonight, I decided to make a pasta salad of sorts, combining rotini with roasted broccoli and shallots, garlic, olives, and pecorino cheese. It was a tasty and enjoyable meal, definitely far from boring!

Black pepper-sesame paste

So, it's been about 10 days since my last post...To tell you the truth, blogging hasn't been at the top of my priority list lately. I'm still cooking a lot, but I haven't felt like taking the time to measure all my ingredients, take notes as I cook, and prep photos. I guess I've just been wanting to cook in a more casual way recently. I don't want to post recipes unless I know for sure that they are reliable, so my throw-together meals never end up on the blog, even if they taste awesome.

Another aspect to my blogging less often is this: when I was in grad school, I was feeling a lot of uncertainty about my career path, along with a bit of unhappiness about my research job, and I think that blogging helped me to find the satisfaction that I wasn't getting from my job. And now...I love my new job, I really do. I'm very happy and my life in general has been feeling very fulfilling, and my priorities have shifted.

I've been thinking a lot about the role this blog plays in my life, and the bottom line is that it's supposed to be fun. So, I have decided that I am going to continue blogging, but I'm only going to post when I really feel like it - I'm not going to worry about whether I'm posting regularly or often, I'm just going to do it when I want to. I really hope you'll still read the new posts, whenever they end up happening...

And I do have a recipe for you today. I've been loving the flavor of black pepper lately and have been really amping up how much I use in my cooking. I created this particular paste with some inspiration from Hot Sour Salty Sweet, and some inspiration from Heidi Swanson. It's got a deep toasty flavor from the sesame seeds and aromatic notes as well as heat from the black pepper. Garlic, cilantro, and soy sauce round out the flavors. I think this would make a great sauce for almost any stir fry, and would also be a nice rub for meat.

Creamed corn with garam masala butter

You guys. Between my recent hummus post and this one, I have come to a very important conclusion - everything tastes better when spiced butter is poured on top. That might sound obvious to you, but if you need some convincing, I highly encourage you to try this recipe. Now, I tend to think that fresh summer corn is perfection all on its own, but it turns out that it's even better with garam masala butter. This recipe is perfect for September, when fresh corn is still in season but temperatures are cooling off a bit. The creamy corn and Indian spices are comforting and warming, exactly right for fall.

p.s. It just occurred to me after publishing this post that the garam masala butter would be amazing on mashed potatoes. I'll try it and report back!

Tomato chutney

The last couple weekends have been filled with family time - Andrew and I spent last weekend at the Cape with some of my family, and we were at my cousin's wedding last night in Boston. My family is a lot of fun, so I'm always happy to have the chance to spend time with them. Getting to eat homemade Indian food makes it all the better. Family recipes are one of my favorite sources for blog inspiration. I love trying new recipes in general, but it's extra special to learn how to make a family favorite. When we were at the Cape, my mom made a batch of her tomato chutney one day. After snacking on it all afternoon, I decided that I needed to learn how to make it, and that I had to do it while tomatoes were still in season. My parents were staying at our apartment this past weekend because of the wedding, so I had the chance to go to the farmers' market with my mom and pick out some gorgeous tomatoes for this dish. She taught me how to make it, and the batch she made disappeared pretty fast! Good thing I know how to make it myself now so I can whip it up whenever I want. This chutney is absolutely addictive with bread, crackers, and cheese, and as my mom says, a glass of wine makes it even better!

Hummus with smoked paprika butter and za'atar

I love recipes like this that take something standard (hummus) and elevate it to a new level by adding something unexpected that I never would have thought of (smoked paprika butter!). Also, although I usually focus on vegetable recipes for this blog, it's nice to sometimes make something with pantry ingredients. Especially because I was out of town over the weekend and didn't make it to the farmers' market. I do wish I had fresh summer veggies (especially corn and tomatoes) around, but this hummus definitely distracted me from their absence! I really loved this - the hummus is super creamy, the smoked paprika butter adds richness and spice, and the za'atar adds wonderful flavor. I found this recipe in Food & Wine, and according to the headnote, the chef that created it (Sameh Wadi) makes several other hummus variations at his restaurant Saffron. After tasting this one, I definitely want to try them all!

Tomato and corn pie

I generally feel that summer is a time for simple food. Life moves at a leisurely pace during the summer months (relatively speaking), and the seasonal produce doesn't need a lot of manipulation to taste awesome. But every once in a while, I get the urge to make something elaborate, something that will show off summer vegetables in a special way. This tomato and corn pie does just that. I have actually been wanting to make this recipe since 2009, ever since it was posted on Smitten Kitchen. Somehow three years went by, and  though the recipe crossed my mind often, I never got around to making it. I finally got my act together and gave it a try this past weekend, and I can't believe I waited this long! This recipe combines fresh tomatoes and corn with herbs and cheddar cheese, and encases it all in a flaky crust. It's really wonderful, ideal for a special summer dinner. I'd say it's perfect to serve to guests, except for the fact that you're not going to want to share...