Hunger Habit

Pimento Cheese Month

2011-11-22T23:00:00.001-06:00

I'm going to regret this. It's late and I've only just started typing. I rarely see the other side of 10pm these days and here I am, pondering pimento cheese.

According to Garden & Gun Magazine, the blog Gurgling Cod has declared November is National Pimento Cheese Awareness Month and who am I to argue? I saw this month as a perfect time to declare my love and I found the stars aligned on this particular topic for several reasons:

It started many Thanksgivings ago: a fondness for pimento cheese that began with the Kraft Pimento Spread version. It featured annually in our Thanksgiving dinners, starring in a condiment tray stuffed into celery sticks and sitting next to black olives. We always had the blue cheese version as well to spice things up.
Earlier this spring, on our road trip to Blackberry Farm, we stopped outside of Lexington Kentucky at The Wallace Station where I feasted on Sammi's Pimiento Cheese Burger. I dodged bumble bees on their back porch while devouring the treat.
Over the summer, during one of many business trips to San Francisco, my colleague landed us a table at his friend, Scott Youkilis' restaurant, Hog & Rocks. It turned out the two of us went to IU together and I felt compelled to share one of his dishes since I adored it so much. Beyond the terrific oysters, lots of pig and a finale of yummy rum, what stood out was his pimento cheese. I recently begged him for the recipe and made my very own for the first time.

Pimento cheese is a Southern favorite, and it is the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday in front of the TV watching football and knocking back a few O'Doul's.

This recipe calls for Mahon Reserva, which I found at Whole Foods, but you can substitute it with 1/2 lb of aged cheddar and 1/2 lb of gouda, as Scott suggested.

Pimento Cheese
Adapted from Scott Youkilis at Hog & Rocks

1lb Mahon Reserva cheese, grated
1 cup cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups piquillo peppers, minced
2 cups mayonnaise
1 bunch of chives, minced
freshly cracked black pepper
kosher salt to taste

If you can't find the piquillo peppers, try mixing a small jar of pimento peppers and roasted red peppers- both can be found in jars in better supermarkets.

Mix all the ingredients and season to taste. Serve with crackers or sliced fresh bread (and an O'Doul's Amber, if you're pregnant, like me.) Please note, beer advocate.com rated O'Doul's Amber a D+ at best, but what do those guys know??

I thought this southern appetizer spread was the perfect pre-cursor to a very Southern-themed Thanksgiving menu that my sister and I are currently preparing for. Her husband, Andy, is smoking our turkey this year. It's been tried and tested, so we'll be making many southern dishes to accompany the smokiness- many from Sam Beall's beautiful Blackberry Farm Cookbook. We'll be doing our best to avoid Stove-top stuffing and too many casseroles with cream of mushroom soup.

Get ready for bacon glazed carrots with wilted Romaine, kale coleslaw with buttermilk - chive dressing, cranberry compote with dried cherries, stewed apples, sausage & cornbread stuffing. Last but not least- a sweet potato pie. Oh sweet Tennessee!! Here I come...at least in our hearts and our stomachs from our Thanksgiving table up here in windy Chicago.

Over the moon

2011-11-06T18:10:00.001-06:00

I pull this polaroid out of the drawer every autumn. It's my favorite tree in the neighborhood. It stands right on the corner of Wolcott and Cornelia and has the most brilliant fall display of all its neighbors.

Indy and I pass it and admire it daily, watching it turn into stunning sunset oranges and finally, right before the cool winds finish it off, chill red.

This autumn, things are a little different. My walks around the neighborhood are slower. I'm five months pregnant. Twenty weeks to be exact. Martin and I are expecting our first child and we're "over the moon", as Martin would say.

Just like other expectant parents, we're excited and nervous. I'm tired and growing. We're getting ready for things to change. Mostly, I'm lounging around in sweatpants with my best napping buddy:

I am excellent at napping. I should receive some sort of trophy. At night, when I'm supposed to be sleeping, I'm tossing and turning trying to navigate body pillows and a dog who's so confused by all the extra pillows that he's taken to sleeping by my head.

Food is a funny thing when you're pregnant, especially for someone who likes to cook and eat as much as I do. I'm really picky and let's be honest, demanding. If I'm hungry, I need to eat NOW.

Like many, I crave dairy. Milk and milkshakes to be exact. My Oberweis delivery investment has really been paying off. During the day, I have been known to send colleagues out on a shake run, treating anyone around me who would fetch me a chocolate/peanut butter shake in between meetings.

Breakfast, lunch and snacks are my specialty. Dinner- not so much. By the time 5pm rolls around, I am done. If I'm in the mood to cook dinner, it's definitely vegetarian and most likely features greens- kale, spinach, swiss chard are all top of my list. Two of my current faces are:

Jansson's Temptation with a big green salad
Polenta with Kale and Wild Mushrooms (where you'll find the original shot of my tree above)

Breakfast is a whole other story- I love it. I feel like I might even be eating two breakfasts at the moment. I normally start my day with full fat greek yogurt, some berries, a sprinkle of granola and a squirt of honey. Full fat yogurt is such a treat. I might grab a few bites of toast an hour or so later and definitely a generous glass of juice or a smoothie from our fridge at work.

Eggs are absolutely my friend and this scrambled dish is a combination of Bill's Scrambled Eggs and my attempt of getting greens in wherever I can. Apparently, they don't just appeal to pregnant ladies. My husband exclaimed that they were his favorite eggs ever when we were digging in last weekend.

Until further notice, most blog posts will be pregnancy friendly. Sadly, there will most likely not be any cocktail inspirations or wine pairings. I do promise that anything I have the energy to cook and share will be delicious!

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Roasted Garlic

Serves 2

4 organic, free-range eggs

1/3 cup cream

salt and pepper

butter

a few handfuls of spinach

a head of garlic, roasted

First, start by roasting some garlic. You will obviously not need an entire head of garlic for this, but I like to roast the entire head and then us it in other dishes. You can take the head of garlic and cut it through the middle. Preheat the oven to about 375F and drizzle a little olive oil on the garlic. Roast it until its golden, about 20 or 30 minutes. You'll be able to pop each piece of garlic out of it's skin and it will crush easily under a fork or your finger. At this point, the garlic is so sweet and delicious, you can add it to a variety of dishes (chicken, roasted vegetables of any kind) without any overkill.

Boil a pan of salted water and toss your spinach in, blanching it for a few seconds and draining quickly. Put the drained spinach on a chopping board with your garlic and chop it roughly. Add a little salt and pepper to the pile and get on with your eggs.

In a bowl, combine your eggs, the cream and salt & pepper. Give it a couple of quick stirs with a fork, just breaking the yolks, not beating it too roughly. Melt some butter in a pan and add your spinach and garlic. Get it nice and hot, but only for a minute or so. You want the garlic to stay bright green and retain it's goodness.

Pour in the eggs and scramble over low heat until just done. Toast some english muffins and top with your eggs.

Open Windows

2011-09-11T12:41:00.002-05:00

As we reach the end of summer, I'm thankful for the following:

days that reach only 75 degrees with no humidity to frizz-out my hair
open windows
wrapping up for a cool summer's night supper on a patio with friends or family
warm, sunny walks through the neighborhood with my dog
too many golden sweet pear tomatoes to know what to do with
this Italian ham and spinach tart

The first evening that I feel a slight chill in the air is when a part of me, that I try to suppress, feels the dread of an inevitable winter. It's hard to imagine the images of snow drifting over the hot, baked top deck where my tomato plant keeps bearing tiny, golden fruits with no signs of stopping. Still, I look forward to the change where light summer meals shift to autumunal comforts.

I think this dish sits smartly on the fence of summer and autumn, although Jamie Oliver places it squarely in his "winter" section of his cookbook. I personally feel like it can fit into any season and therefore, should be celebrated here, right at the end of August.

My version turned out more of a quiche than a tart, but I will attempt to make this thinner and more delicate on the next attempt. That's right, I said next attempt. For those of you who know my cooking well, and let's be honest, the only person who really knows my cooking on a day to day basis is Martin; you'll know that I don't like to make many things twice. Of course I have a few staples that are on repeat, but I grew up in a house where a menu of about 15 dinner meals were in constant rotation. Don't get me wrong, there were some delicious highlights:

meatloaf
hungarian pork chops with mushrooms and egg noodles
tuna surprise (on nights when Mom was frazzled)
lasagna
mac n' cheese

Yes, it's true. I grew up on the above and mostly ate pop tarts or toaster strudels for breakfast. I did not escape unscathed. In fact, many of you know my affinity for meatloaf, but thank God, I've left the tuna surprise behind. The moral of this story is that I have a passion for the variety of food in my life. I get bored easily. I will occasionally take down an avocado, cottage cheese and tomatoes as breakfast for weeks on end, but that's where it stops. Dinner is different- it has to remain exciting or I'd be reaching for the cereal instead of cooking up something new.

I also like anything rich and savory, like this tart, along side a crisp, fresh salad with an acidic kick of vinaigrette and a few crunchy apples. If you're ambitious OR you really want this tart to be top notch, make your own savory shortcrust pastry like I did.

Savory Shortcrust Pastry
Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

500g or 2 1/3 cups of organic plain flour
200g or 1 cup of cold lard or butter, cut into cubes
50g or 1/4 cup of freshly grated mature English Cheddar cheese
sea salt
a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 large, free-range or organic eggs, beaten
a splash of milk
flour, for dusting

Put the flour, lard, cheese and a generous pinch of sea salt into a food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds until the mix is crumbly and fine. Add the rosemary and thyme. Pour in the eggs and add the milk. Pulse for a few more seconds until the mix comes together. Scoop your dough out of the food processor on to a clean, floured work surface and pat it a few times to make it compact- don't knead it.

When you have it flat and round, wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Italian Ham and Spinach Tart
Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver
Serves 6-8

1/2 x savory shortcrust pastry recipe (see above)
a knob of butter
olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 cups of fresh spinach, nettles, swiss chard or borage, washed, thick stems removed
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups of creme fraiche
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for grating
3 large free range or organic eggs
1 cup of cooked smoked ham, torn into shreds or chopped

First, make your pastry dough (above). Remove from fridge and place on a floured surface and roll it out with a floured rolling pin into a rectangular shape about 0.5cm or 0.2 inches thick and big enough to line a shallow baking tray about 12x16 inches or 30x40 cm

Grease the tray with butter and line it with the pastry. Trim ay excess off the edges of the tray and leave half an inch overhang. Pinch this into a rustic edge - it will also keep it from shrinking. No need to fill the case with beans or rice before baking it blind. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and chill in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Remove the tray from the fridge and bake your pastry case for 6-8 minutes, until lightly golden. Next, heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onions on a low heat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet- don't let them color. Turn up the heat, add the garlic and the spinach and most of the marjoram. Season lightly and give it a good stir. Take the pan off the heat when the spinach has wilted (this will only take a few minutes.)

To make the filling, mix the creme fraiche, parmesan, eggs and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the spinach mixture over your pastry case. Sprinkle over the ham and spoon the creme fraiche mixture over the top, smoothing it with the back of a spoon. Grate over a generous helping of the Parmesan and sprinkle the rat of the marjoram on top. Finally, drizzle a little olive oil over it and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

The top will be golden and bubbling and the filling will have set.

Serve with a salad of watercress with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette with a few thin slices of apples tossed in.

Shuffle

2011-07-31T19:10:00.006-05:00

If there is one picture that perfectly describes my infatuation with summer it is this one. A super chilled bottle of Rosé on our top deck in the last of the afternoon sun is bliss. Combined with some of Ina Garten's Parmesan and Thyme Crackers (which no matter how I try, I can't stop the parmesan from bubbling into little polka dots all over the cracker), is a perfect combo.

I feel as if I've spent most of July enjoying the evenings just like this. Things seem to slow down to a crawl. On our evening strolls through the neighborhood with the dog, I can barely get my husband above a shuffle.

When I actually do attempt to cook (and these days, it's been few and far between), I love a good gratin. Especially if it screams summer like this vidalia onion and green tomato version. Truth be told, I currently have a girl crush on Claire Robinson and all of her 5 ingredient fixes. Her recipes are fresh, quick, simple and seasonal. Her chipotle-lime chicken tacos are scrummy served alongside a crunchy red cabbage slaw with this season's freshest grilled corn. They are Martin's favorite.

In the middle of summer, while trying to escape the hottest part of the Chicago summer, a spicy dish like blackened cajun catfish and this gratin seriously hit the spot. As much as I've been scarfing down cool watermelon and salads, this is truly the answer to a homemade summer Sunday supper.

I've currently got some golden cherry tomatoes going crazy on my top deck and as they ripen, I'm collecting enough in a bowl in the fridge to make some mid-week pasta. As much as I adore nothing better than summer-time tomatoes- sliced quickly, sprinkled with some sea salt and a dash of freshly cracked pepper, I do like to cook them as well. Take a look back to this tomato pie, and you won't be sorry.

In the same vein, the following is reason enough to find a few green tomatoes, still un-ripened and ready to mix it up with it's good friends the sweet vidalia onion, cheddar, bacon and golden breadcrumbs. Served it with this spicy cajun catfish or, just on it's own with a big green salad.

Blackened Catfish

Adapted from Claire Robinson

For the Creole butter:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp

1 tbsp creole or cajun seasoning

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp freshly cracked pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh chives

For the fish:

2 lemons, thinly sliced

Creole butter (above)

4 x 8 oz fresh, skinless, boneless catfish fillets

1/4 cup of Creole or cajun seasoning

chives for serving

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a bowl, combine the butter, spice mix, lemon zest and lemon juice, salt, pepper and chives. You can make this ahead and chill it, but bring it back to room temp before using.

Preheat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. I use my seasoned iron grill that's perfect for this. Line the bottom of a baking dish with the lemon slices and dollop half of the butter evenly over the lemon. Evenly coat the fish fillets with 1 tbsp of the seasoning and cook on the hot skillet for 2 minutes on each side, to really toast and brown the seasoning.

Carefully place the fish on top of the buttered lemon slices and bake until it easily breaks apart with a fork- about 12- 15 minutes. Top each fillet with a spoonful of the butter and serve with a few chives sprinkled on top.

Green Tomato and Vidalia Onion Gratin

Adapted from Claire Robinson

1/4 pound bacon

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 large Vidalia onions, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds

4 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/5 inch thick

kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper

6 oz sharp white Cheddar, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Render the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Transfer the cooked bacon to a plate lined with paper towel. Add the bread crumbs to a small bowl and pour 2 tbsps of bacon fat from the skillet into the bowl and stir through. Add the onion rounds to the skillet and cook until golden in color- about 5 minutes each side. You don't want them falling apart, so try not to break up the rounds.

To assemble, overlap the green tomato slices on the bottom of a baking dish (about 9x11). Add the onions on top and repeat until all are used. Season generously with salt and pepper and then crumble the bacon over the veggies. Sprinkle the Cheddar of the top followed by the bread crumbs. Bake for about 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbly.

If you're cooking the fish at the end of the gratin's cooking cycle and the bread crumbs are becoming too dark, cover with foil.

It's truffle mustard!

2011-06-12T20:00:00.006-05:00

To continue a month filled with traveling in May, I spent a weekend in Napa after an extended work trip. Instead of a romantic weekend with my hubby, this time I traveled to Napa with my gal pal and work colleague, Holly. Upon arrival, I got aphone call from Martin who, referencing The Hangover, hilariously accused us of checking into Cesar's Palace in Vegas.

I guess men just don't get it. Napa is the female version of Vegas: drinking, shopping and eating in the sunshine - minus the gambling and strippers.

Our first stop after finding our rented bungalow, was Oxbow Market where we quickly ordered a cheese plate and sipped pink bubbly on their patio. Later, we sampled the fine burgers at Gott's Roadside and found ourselves happy to be on a girls trip after devouring their garlic fries.

Committed to a full day, we were greeted early the next morning by our superb driver, Steve, as we headed to our first tasting at Chimney Rock. We hit Steltzner and Robert Sinskey before making our way to Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena for lunch.

A chilled bottle of Rosé and complimentary pork tacos set us off for an amazing lunch in their garden.

The slightly blurry afternoon consisted of a tour through Nickel & Nickel, photograph after photograph of my obsession with barns, a purchase of their liquid gold, Dolce, and a rather sloppy shopping trip through St. Helena. I do not recommend drunken shopping, although I came away with a fantastic pair of navy and gold sandals and some truffle mustard from Olivier. Once we sobered up, we were promptly dropped off in Yountville to begin our restaurant crawl.

Let's pause here:

One ingenious day at work, Holly and I logged onto our respective open table accounts to book three reservations- one course at Hurley's, another at Bistro Jeanty, and finally, Bouchon. I'm not sure what made us believe we could actually accomplish this restaurant crawl, but we pushed through.

Bistro Jeanty was the stuff of dreams- we only ordered their famous Cream of Tomato Soup in Puff Pastry and a side of peas with thick chunks of bacon and pearl onions. I'm sure our waiter hated us as we ordered water and nothing else.

By the time we pushed through the red doors of Bouchon and collapsed at the bar, I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I gingerly ordered a cocktail, some of their enticing oysters and seriously discussed the chances of having gout as a result of the day's extravagance.

The truffle mustard and the recipe below almost never came to be. As I boarded the flight back to Chicago, I forgot that I had slipped the ceramic tub of mustard in the bottom of my carry-on. As I attempted to shove it through security, the stern TSA agent pulled it swiftly from my bag and started the tiresome threats of throwing it away. They asked if it was a paste. "It's not a paste, it's mustard!" I pleaded. "It's not just mustard, it's truffle mustard!"

My charm and consistent argument around the fact that truffles were involved seemed to melt their hearts and I was allowed to carry it on after filling out a very flattering comment card.

The following weekend, I made Ina Garten's steak sandwich, adapted by Smitten Kitchen, mainly because the sauce featured more mustard than mayo. I made them open-top, because when a sandwich is this good, you don't need extra bread. Basically, you need a couple of New York strip steaks (grilled to perfection), some peasant bread (which we grilled), some baby arugula, and this sauce which you should slather on the toasted bread:

Truffle Mustard Mayo

1/3 cup of good mayo

3 tbsp truffle mustard

2 tbsp sour cream

1/8 tsp kosher salt

I know I spend a lot of time moving from one plan to the next- I'm always busy. I love living my life that way, but a good girl's weekend with a wonderful friend is something that I definitely need to make more time for. Apart from coming home with great sandals and delicious mustard, this was a weekend I'll never forget.

Bluegrass blues

2011-05-15T20:31:00.009-05:00

Martin and I recently returned from our much anticipated and much needed spring getaway, and I am suffering some serious bluegrass blues. We gassed up the Subaru and headed south, straight through the heartland of the mid-west with our sights set firmly on Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee. Along the way, with bluegrass playing constantly in the background, we fell in love with Lexington, KY; it's scenic byways, sprawling and impressive horse farms and, of course, the bourbon.

We spent an afternoon driving through the countryside, stopping to tour the Woodford Reserve distillery and lunched at The Wallace Station in the back of beyond.

A vintage car show, complete with a country band blaring from an impromptu stage, proved too enticing and we made a u-turn in order to take it in.

As we headed further south and the hills turned into the Smoky Mountains, we hit the town of Knoxville and stopped for lunch. We were almost there. I knew that Blackberry Farm would be everything I had imagined, and we weren't disappointed. As we drove up a narrow country lane, I knew we had arrived somewhere special. For three days, we indulged ourselves.

I swayed in a rocking chair and watched the sun go down past the mountains with a chilled glass of Kentucky bourbon in my hand.

We feasted nightly at the big red barn on spring ramps and morels, charcuterie and fresh cheeses made on the property.

When I visited the fields where so many of the things we were eating came from, I wish I never had to leave.

We said sorrowful goodbyes early one morning and steered the car towards Nashville.

Over a few cold beers, we took in live music at Layla's Bluegrass Inn, ate burgers and fried pickles at Robert's Western World, and then headed to 3rd & Lindsey to watch the amazing Wooten Bros.

Nashville proved to be one of my favorite stops and cities- EVER, and my hangover persisted through four states until we hit the Illinois border.

Having purchased Sam Beall's The Blackberry Farm Cookbook, I thought I would provide you with a few highlights from the book- a few of his favorite spring and summer recipes. I am already planning a smoky mountain inspired birthday celebration this summer with Blackberry Farm specialties. Bluegrass music and dancing will be required.

Slow and deliberate

2011-03-26T08:44:00.005-05:00

Weekend mornings should be slow and deliberate. Chilled out tunes, coffee with froth and a hot breakfast are a far cry from my usual to-go cup and cereal bar. This morning I made Bill's scrambled eggs accompanied by a couple of crumpets as my furnace was being repaired. As you can see, nothing gets in the way of my weekend morning routine.

When guests stay for the weekend, I like to serve up something special for breakfast. On a recent visit from my Aunt Michelle and Uncle Bob, they brought goodies:

Cedar Ridge bourbon from Iowa
stone ground homestyle pancake mix from Bridgeton Mill in Indiana

Bourbon always goes down well as a gift in my house, particularly this one from the first legal still in Iowa since Prohibition. It's super-smooth and perfect for sipping straight. You can see from the photo below that we made quite a dent in it the night before.

The stone ground pancake mix from Bridgeton Mill made for a perfect breakfast. My Uncle Bob made the pancakes and hovered over the griddle while I worked on the chicken sausages.

The back of the pancake mix has a fantastic quote:

"The whiter the bread the sooner your dead. Eat whole wheat and stay on your feet."

The instructions are simple: 1 cup pancake mix, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tbsp melted butter, one egg. Mix and pour onto hot greased griddle, flip when dry on edge, remove when golden brown.

These pancakes taste unbelievably wholesome, even when drizzled with our favorite local honey. I've since made them with some blueberries which were equally successful. If you want to order this mix, you'll have to call the mill directly, which is exactly what Bob did. Until my next phone call, I'll be saving this mix in the freezer for the next lucky guest at Chez Killeen.

Not so fast

2011-03-20T12:05:00.007-05:00

March is becoming predictable here in Chicago. The snow has melted and one spring-like day urges us to pack away boots, dust off golf clubs and start ordering plants for May. I spent several hours yesterday morning ordering compost, herbs, tomatoes, strawberries and honeysuckle. As I climbed the stairs to the roof deck to plot my plans for spring, a frosty breeze whispered, "not so fast."

Before I get ahead of myself with thoughts of freshly picked Golden Sweet Pear and Grape Rosalita tomatoes, I'm committed to another month of braising and roasting to send this winter off with a cheerful smile.

I have been cooking up a storm and should mention my current Judy Rodgers fetish. Her Zuni Cafe cookbook has found a permanent place on my kitchen counter amongst my favorite books.

After my recreation and swooning over her chicken and bread salad, I have foraged through her book with a new found love and affection. I've followed her careful instruction for roasted beets and paired them with some lentils, goats cheese and vinaigrette which proudly made their way to my mid-week packed lunch.

I easily made her rosemary-pickled gypsy peppers. These slow-burn pickles never even got a finished product snapshot before they disappeared with cheese and crackers served to my Mother in-law on a recent visit from England.

Ultimately, I was looking to produce another Zuni favorite before attempting her Ricotta Gnocchi (which I promise are on my to-do list for spring) and stumbled upon short ribs for a recent Sunday kitchen project. When I say this is a project, I should say that I like nothing better than spending an entire Sunday pottering around the kitchen, so I prolong all duties when it comes to cooking on days like this. This particular recipe is actually uncomplicated and easy to put together, but supremely impressive.

After a quick skim of her introduction, I was delighted to find that this recipe would garner leftovers for a Monday night supper of Eggs Baked in Restes (French for leftovers-see below). I always have a slightly smug feeling when one meal turns into two different dishes. If you are looking for smugness and short ribs are your thing, give this a try.

Chimay Ale is a Belgian ale with a taste of clove that is perfect for this dish, but feel free to try a local ale or mellow porter.

Judy uses a few slices of dried wild mushrooms in this recipe, but I omitted them and added some baby carrots (my current obsession).

Short Ribs Braised in Chimay Ale

Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers

Serves 4

2 1/2 lbs short ribs, cut across the bone into 2 inch wide bands (have your butcher do this)

Sea Salt

1-2 tbsp mild-tasting olive oil

1 1/2 lbs yellow onions (about 3 medium), sliced 1/4 inch thick half

2 ay leaves

a few whole white peppercorns

up to 1 cup of beef or chicken stock

up to 1 cup Chimay ale

About 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Trim and season the short ribs- do this 1-2 days or a few hours in advance. Trim most of the fat away from the short ribs but leave the silverskin and ough sheathing around the bones intact to keep it succulent. Salt evenly all over- a scant 3/4 tsp per pound. Cover loosely and refrigerate.

Cook the short ribs-Warm the oil in a 3-quart saute pan over medium heat. Wipe the pieces of meat dry and brown them evenly and gently on the three meaty sides, about 4 minutes per side. Pour off the excess fat.

Rearrange the meat bone side down in the pan and add the onions, bay, peppercorns, stock and ale (it should come to a depth about 3/4 inch.) Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over low heat until fork-tender (about 2- 2 1/4 hours.) You can also cook this in a 300F oven if you prefer.

About an hour into the cooking, I peeled some baby carrots and dropped them into the simmering juices.

Check two or three times to make sure that the liquid is barely simmering and turn each piece of meat each time. When the meat is done, uncover and prop the pan at a slight angle and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Turn on the broiler. Skim the fat that has collected on the lower side of the pan. Taste the juices and salt if needed. With each piece of meat bone side down, smear the tops with the Dijon mustard and place under the broiler. If your broiler is as crazy-hot as mine, you need to watch it at all times- this should take about 5 minutes. It should be about 5 inches away from the heat, but let it brown the mustard and glaze the surface of the onions stew.

Serve the short ribs very hot, mustard side up. I served mine with lightly buttered egg noodles, some steamed covolo nero and the carrots.

Make sure you save all the left-over meat, onions, carrots and juices for Monday night:

Eggs Baked in Restes

Adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers

Serves 2

Leftover meat, onions, carrots and juices from braised short ribs

Several eggs

Preheat your oven to 500F.

Scrape all the meat from the above short ribs and add to the onions, carrots and juices. If you are short on scraps, add some canned chopped tomatoes or mushrooms with a little olive oil.

Get a shallow baking dish for the amount of liquid you have left and the number of eggs you're using.

Warm the braising liquid over medium heat. Reduce the heat and add the scraps of meat and vegetables back to the liquid. Bring just to a simmer and taste and season if needed. You can add a little wine here if you'd like.

Pour the simmering mixture into the baking dish. Crack the eggs into the center of the mixture and barely prick the surface of the yolks to keep it from setting a rubbery skin. Set on the top rack of the oven and bake as you like your eggs- 5-7 minutes. The juices should bubble up on the sides.

Serve from the dish with some drizzled olive oil, black pepper and some warm toast or bread rubbed with garlic for dipping.

Blah, blah, blah

2011-02-24T20:37:00.008-06:00

It's February. Blah, blah, blah.

I am currently:

bored to death of my sleeping bag coat
trawling through travel websites for an elusive sunny getaway
ordering English lavender, chillies and chives from Seed Savers Exchange hoping this will only make spring come sooner
reading Barbara Kingsolver's excellent Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and wishing I could exchange my roof deck for a vegetable garden
feverishly cooking my way through Jamie Oliver's "winter" section of Jamie at Home

I feel that if I can make it through the weekend, I might just show February who's boss.

My final bullet-point brings me to a lovely little pasta dish that is easily conjured, even on a weeknight. My refrigerator has been bursting at the seams with leeks. I cleaned, trimmed and sliced them into submission last night, braised them in wine, vegetable stock and topped them with Parma ham to make a savory, lip-smacking pasta sauce.

Jamie uses fresh lasagna sheets to make a cheat's pappardelle, but I didn't have any in, so I used linguini. This is also called slow-braise, but it only takes 30 minutes. Hooray!

The key to this "slap-you-round-the-face" flavor, as Jamie calls it, is not only the marriage of leeks, pork, wine and garlic, but the toasted bread crumb and porcini mushroom topping. This is called pangrattato, or a bread crumb topping in Italian. Toasted with garlic and rosemary in a hot pan, this crunchy, earthy finish sets the whole dish on fire. It might just be warm enough to chase February away.

Pasta with Slow-Braised Leeks and Crispy Porcini Pangrattato

Adapted from "Jamie at Home" by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4-6

5 big leeks, trimmed and washed

olive oil

3 tbsp of butter

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

a few sprigs of fresh thyme leaves

a small wineglass of white wine

sea salt and black pepper

2 cups of good quality vegetable or chicken stock

12 slices of Parma ham or other local alternative

1 pack of dried linguine noodles OR 1 pack of fresh lasagna sheets

2 handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

for the pangrattato

a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 a ciabatta bread, preferably stale and cut into chunks

olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

a sprig of fresh rosemary

Halve the leeks lengthways and cut them at an angle in 1/2 inch slices. Heat a wide saucepan and add a splash of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter. When you hear a gentle sizzle, add the garlic, thyme leaves and leeks. Move them around so every piece is coated in the oil. Pour in the wine, season with pepper and stir in the stock. Lay the slices of ham over the leeks and cover with a lid. Cook gently for 25-30 minutes. Once the leeks are tender, take the pan off the heat.

Make the pangrattato by whizzing the mushrooms and bread together with a little salt and pepper in a food processor- it should be the consistency of breadcrumbs when you're done. Head a generous glug of olive oil in a pan and add the rosemary and garlic cloves. Let them cook for a minute, infusing all of their beautiful flavor into the oil. Add the breadcrumbs and fry until golden and crispy, turning regularly and being careful not to burn. Remove them and let them cool.

Cook your pasta according to the package- if you're using fresh, flour the lasagna sheets and cut the pasta into wide ribbons and cook in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.

Remove the Parma ham from the leek saucepan and slice it up then stir it back into the leeks. Season it (mine needed some salt at this point, but not too much) and then add the rest of the butter and the Parmesan. When the pasta is finished, add it to the sauce with a little cooking water. Serve it hot with the pangrattato sprinkled on top and some fresh thyme leaves.

Leave the rest of the topping on the side so people can help themselves.

Blues and leftovers

2011-02-13T17:40:00.007-06:00

It is important to sometimes splurge on a Monday. Mondays are notorious for blues and leftovers, but I managed to wipe both of these away with a night filled with baked Camembert, coq au vin and a wicked chocolate pistachio cake.

When my Aunt and Uncle cancelled their trip to Chicago because of the impending blizzard, I was left with a clean house, a chocolate cake, a fridge full of chicken and stinky Camembert. I knew I needed to capitalize on all of the above and immediately invited my colleague, Holly, to join me for a last minute dinner and trashy TV. We share a guilty obsession with The Bachelor, and I knew we could whip this little supper up before Brad Womack started handing out roses.

The chocolate pistachio cake was waiting patiently as I walked through the door. I achieved a small victory when I managed to dissuade Martin from digging into it the night before.

This a flour-less cake that uses the ground pistachios instead of flour. It's rich and dense and best of all, topped with chartreuse shards of my favorite nut, the pistachio.

You can serve it with some pistachio gelato, but I opted for a little mascarpone cheese whipped with some orange zest. Please note: I can't take credit for the attempt at professional food styling below- credit is due to Holly Lignelli.

Chocolate-Pistachio Cake

Adapted from How To Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

Serves 10-12

for the cake:

5 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup sugar

5 ounces pistachios (not-salted)

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp soft unsalted butter

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 lemon

pinch of salt

9-inch springform pan lined with parchment or wax paper and buttered

for the ganache icing;

5 oz bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream

drop of orange-flower water (optional)

2-4 tbsp coarsely chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 375F

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler.

Process 1/4 cup of the sugar with the pistachios until they are like dust. Add the butter and the 1/4 cup of sugar and process until smooth. Add the egg yolks one at a time, pulsing after each, then, with the motor running, slowly pour in the melted and cooled chocolate.

Wipe the inside of a bowl with the lemon 1/2 and in it, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt. When peaks form, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until glossy and firm.

Add a big dollop to the cake batter in the processor and pulse a couple of times to lighten it. A third at a time, add the cake batter to the whites and fold in gently but firmly.

Pour the mix into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350F and bake for a further 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

When the cake is ready, it should be coming away from the sides. Leave it to cool for 15 minutes and before un-molding. Don't ice it until it's completely cold.

for the icing:

Break the chocolate into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the cream and orange flower water if you're using it. If this breaks, let it cool slightly and add a little more cream and it should come back to a glossy icing you intended. When it's melted, start whisking and when it's thick enough to coat, pour it over the cake on its plate. Let it run down the sides and sprinkle the cake with the chopped pistachios.

_______________

As Holly helped me prep our chopped onions, bacon and mushrooms for Nigel Slater's Coq au Riesling, we plucked the wafting Camembert from the fridge and cracked open a bottle of wine.

Baked Camembert

I removed it from it's wooden box, placed it on some aluminum foil and quickly scored the top of the rind with 6 swift slices. I stuffed a garlic clove into each and drizzled some truffle oil in each hole. I decided not to be mean with the truffle oil and was rewarded for this decision.

After wrapping it up like a pressie, it received 10 minutes in a 350F oven. If you've done this before or are planning on trying this, as I would urge you to do, keep checking the cheese after 10 minutes. The objective is NOT to produce a pool of hot cheese, which can easily happen if left too long. It should simply ooze when prodded by your knife before you spread it onto some french bread. You can also try this with a little fig jam if you're going for something a bit sweeter. We opted for fig jam on the side rather than cooking it. In my house, truffles trump any challenger.

____________________

If you're used to making a coq au vin that takes hours, this is a real find. Once your prep is out of the way, it takes about 30 minutes and is every bit as intoxicating as you'd hope it would be- the wine/cream combo is understandably swoon-worthy.

This serves two, but I find by keeping the sauce as is and just adding more chicken joints, you can feed 4-6 easily. The sauce that is leftover can and SHOULD be tossed with pasta and more fresh parsley the day after. I dare say I like it the second day better than the first.

Coq Au Riesling

Adapted from Real Food by Nigel Slater

Serves 2

3 tbsp butter

a tbsp of olive oil

100 g streaky bacon or pancetta, diced

2 small onions, peeled and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

4 joints of free range chicken on the bone

2 handfuls of small brown mushrooms (your choice) roughly chopped - keep some whole

2 cups Riesling or other medium-dry white wine

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

small handful of chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a heavy based casserole dish and pour in the oil. Cook the diced bacon or pancetta and let it color a little, then add the onions and garlic. Leave to cook over moderate heat until the onions have softened but not yet colored. Scoop the bacon and onions out with a draining spoon and leave the cooking juices in the pot. Add the chicken and let them brown lightly on all sides. Use moderate heat here and add more oil or butter if it's browning too much.

Add the mushrooms and continue cooking for a few more minutes, then return the bacon and onions. Turn up the heat, pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Turn it down to simmer and cook everything at a gentle simmer for 25 minutes, turning the chicken from time to time.

Lift the chicken out of the pan and pour in the cream. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped parsley. Continue cooking at an enthusiastic bubble to let the cream thicken slightly. Return the chicken to the pan and make sure it's thoroughly hot and the sauce has the thickness of heavy cream.

Serve with a crisp green salad and some french bread to mop up the juices not forgetting to leave some of the sauce for pasta the following day. You won't regret your restraint.

Mostly cloudy and frigid

2011-01-23T19:01:00.002-06:00

When your digital weather station reads: "mostly cloudy and frigid," you know it's a good day to make a pie. Fish pie that is. A fish pie needs to be piping hot, topped with mashed potato, and somehow provide real sympathy to the lack of times you'll step foot out of the house today.

Having lived in London for so long, I'm partial to a cottage pie (beef) or a shepherd's pie (lamb), but the one I've made dozens of times and always go back to, is fish. It must include the best fish you can get, and you can pick any kind you like. My chosen fish was always smoked haddock, but it's hard to find here in Midwest America. Cod, if properly sourced, is tasty. You can add several different kinds of fish including salmon, shrimp, whatever you like. Ultimately, it's the creamy, mustardy sauce and hard-boiled eggs that makes this pie irresistible.

This is certainly one of my top 5 Jamie Oliver recipes that I simply could not do without. As he suggests, I add a touch of class and serve it with tomato ketchup and heinz baked beans.

Fantastic Fish Pie

Adapted from The Return of the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks for boiling and mashing

a few tbsp of olive oil for mashing the potato and frying the onion & carrot

2 free range eggs

2 large handfuls of spinach

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, halved and chopped finely

1 1/4 cup heavy cream (or double cream)

2 handfuls of grated mature white cheddar cheese

juice of 1 lemon

1 heaped teaspoon of English mustard (Colman's)

handful of parsley, chopped

1 lb of fish- your choice: haddock, cod, salmon, or a mix- skinned, boned and cut into bit size chunks

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 450F. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Bring the water back to the boil and cook for 10 minutes. Add the eggs once the water has boiled. Use a colander on top of the boiling potatoes to cook the spinach (using a pan lid on top of the colander to trap the steam.) At the end of the ten minutes, your potatoes and eggs will be cooked. Remove the spinach to drain and squeeze the excess water out of it.

Drain the potatoes. Set both the eggs and spinach aside to cool. When the eggs are cooled, peel and quarter them.

Mash the potatoes using a little olive oil and salt & pepper, put a lid on the pan and set aside. You can use butter and a little cream if you'd like, but the sauce underneath is creamy enough. The olive oil makes the mashed potato crisp up in the oven.

In a separate pan, add a little olive oil and slowly cook the chopped onion and carrot until cooked (about 8- 10 minutes). Add the cream and bring just to the boil, then remove it from the heat. Add the cheddar, lemon juice, English mustard and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste and get ready to start layering your pie.

Using a lightly oiled casserole dish of your choice (8x10 in size at least), start by placing the pieces on the bottom and strategically arranging the spinach and eggs around the fish. Make it so that each person will get a bit of everything.

Pour the sauce over the top of the of the fish, eggs and spinach and top everything with the mashed potato.

Cook for 25- 30 minutes until bubbly and the potatoes are golden brown on top.

Serve with a salad and/or heinz baked beans and don't forget the ketchup.

Happy Holidays from Hunger Habit

2010-12-31T19:26:00.005-06:00

You can see that we've been roasting meats this holiday season. The two below are some of my favorite celebratory roasts and we'll definitely be needing a detox after filling up on such juicy and delicious dinners over the last few weeks.

This is the first year I've abandoned the traditional English turkey. Don't tell the in-laws, but turkey comes last on my list of roasted meats, so I was happy to see it behind us after Thanksgiving.

The first roast is the uber-famous Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken with Bread Salad. I'm not the first person to blog about this dish and I certainly won't be the last. I've professed my love for it after visiting Zuni Cafe in November. I was immediately taken under Judy Roger's spell, as all good food lovers who have pre-ordered her chicken should be.

The chicken is salted at least 24 hours in advance and you need to pat it dry during several occasions after it's sat in the refrigerator. It's a delicious roast chicken, but the bread salad is something very remarkable. The currants, scallions, toasted pine nuts and crispy bread are all bathed in a sharp vinaigrette and married together by sitting in your oven while your chicken rests. If you haven't been to Zuni, get there. If you want a new way to roast chicken, try this. Immediately.

The recipe on the link above is just as it is in her cookbook. I didn't adapt it at all. Some things should not be messed with.

The second triumph was my sister's (okay, Martha's) Christmas Roast Pork with Crackling. After abandoning the traditional roast beef, we settled on pork, but it needed to be BIG. She proceeded to order the pork leg from her local butcher and she and my Dad wrestled with this huge beast to ordain it with three heads of garlic. If you need pork to feed a crowd, this should be your choice. You certainly need some muscles to man handle this in and out of the oven. You've been warned.

You can see that the crackling turned a perfect golden brown and we crunched it greedily. The pork was juicy and spiked with the garlic pearls, thanks to my Dad's hard work. When paired with my black truffle dauphinoise and some simple green beans, the Christmas feast was memorable.

So here I am, staring 2011 in the face and a meatless weekend ahead. It's been worth it.

Happy New Year from Hunger Habit. Peace!

Pay the price

2010-11-28T20:59:00.007-06:00

For my English Mother in-law, Lesley's, first Thanksgiving, we rolled out the pumpkin pie carpet. The turkey was roasted to perfection, but not without normal amounts of stress surrounding timing and oven schedules. Ultimately, the low point of the day came when I shook hot pan drippings with flour and exploded the burning liquid all over Lesley - her hair, her shirt, her glasses. It was a poor attempt at de-lumping the gravy and at least three of us in close proximity to the disaster paid the price.

After a quick trip to the bathroom for clean-up, the laundry room for stain remover, offers of a stiff drink and many apologies, we were back on track.

These little sprouts were proudly displayed on the menu as an attempt to add a British stamp to our Thanksgiving parade. Our normal green vegetable, green beans, were supposedly out of sight. Lesley is a top-notch peeler and quickly offered to peel and halve SIX bags of sprouts. All I did to thank her was nearly send her to the ER.

I had pre-tested the sprouts several weeks ago because we can't get enough of them at my house. I even like them thinly sliced, raw, served with some vinaigrette and a little parmesan. For this Thanksgiving dish, I roasted the sprouts rather than boiling them into submission, and they came out caramelized and crunchy. Pancetta was mostly responsible for their deliciousness, but I'll take a little credit.

You can enjoy these sprouts tossed with a little pasta for a quick mid-week meal. Add a little glass of red wine and it could even make it to the weekend.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta, Capers and Parmesan

Serves 2

1/2 lb brussel sprouts

6 oz pancetta, cubed

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 shallot, finely chopped

one sprig of thyme, leaves removed

3 tbsp capers

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

olive oil

a little squeeze of lemon juice

salt and pepper

handful of chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare the sprouts by cutting off the bottom of each sprout and peel off any yellowed outer leaves. Halve them and then toss them in a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them onto a baking tray in one layer and roast for about 15-20 minutes until they are starting to brown. Turn regularly.

In the meantime, get a pan hot on your stove and add the pancetta. Brown it until it's getting crispy, but not completely done. Add the thyme and shallots and stir until translucent. Add the garlic and stir around for a few seconds until fragrant. Finally add a squeeze of the lemon juice and scrape the pan to get all of the juices off the bottom.

Take off the heat and add the capers.

Take your sprouts out of the oven, toss them in your pan and put them back on the baking tray. Make sure to get all the yummy juices out of the pan and onto the sprouts. Roast for another 10 minutes until the sprouts are golden and crunchy on the edges.

Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan and serve as a side dish or toss with pasta for a main dish.

Check your seasoning at the end and add a little more lemon juice if needed.

Talk about a rut

2010-10-28T20:03:00.006-05:00

It's been too long. Excuses seem sour and uncalled for, but I haven't written for a month. I could blame work. I barely think of anything else. I could blame travel to sexy places like Detroit and Cleveland that don't exactly leave time for fresh cooking or thinking.

I could blame weekends away from home, a preference for flopping on the sofa with a glass of wine and a lazy call to our neighbors, Terragusto for fresh, hot pasta. One minute, I'm making gin cocktails with loads of inspiration and the next, I've made the same veggie tacos 5 times in the matter of four weeks. Talk about a rut.

The thing is, these veggie tacos are so damn good, so easy and so quickly satisfying, that I go into a robotic state when I find myself at the market. My mind seems to stop functioning past queso fresco and lovely light corn tortillas. I've found my shoulders sagging if my favorite rainbow swiss chard is unavailable and I have to settle for spinach.

Here's another confession: I've also been trying to eat less or no meat during the week. Carnivores, don't get all upset. I've recently been inspired to try Nigella's roasted pork knuckles, so I've not completely fallen off the meat wagon. That said, these swiss chard tacos fit the bill and pack so much flavor into a tiny taco, you won't miss the meat.

Rick Bayless, Chicago's hero with a passion for Mexican food, is responsible for my current veggie taco obsession. I have read his book, Mexican Everyday, from cover to cover because let's be honest, I could eat Mexican EVERYDAY.

I like to whip up the smoky salsa over the weekend and use it with these tacos and on everything else I eat. It usually lasts us until Thursday. I've made these for my family, my husband (who I'm sure is sick of eating them), and I've promised countless friends and colleagues this recipe over the past month. No more excuses.

Get your tomatillos on the grill and get ready for a veggie Mexican feast. You can't call it a rut when they are this yummy.

Swiss Chard Tacos with Caramelized Onion, Fresh Cheese and Red Chile

Adapted from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Serves 4

12 oz bunch of swiss chard (rainbow chard is my favorite) or spinach

1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick

3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth

salt

12 warm corn tortillas, store bought

1 cup Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese like feta or goat cheese

3/4 cup smoky chipotle salsa

For the salsa:

Makes 1 1/4 cups

3 garlic cloves, peeled

4 medium tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half

2 canned chipotle chiles en adobo (or more if you like it spicy!)

salt

First, make the salsa:

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. If you don't have non-stick, lay in a piece of foil. I like to do this on my griddle pan to get some nice charred lines and flavor on the tomatillos and garlic.

Lay the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down) on the hot pan and brown the tomatillos (3-4 minutes) and then turn them over and do the same on the other side. The tomatillos should be completely soft.

Scoop the garlic and tomatillos in a blender or food processor and add the chipotle chiles with 1/4 cup of water. Process to a coarse puree and put it aside to cool. Taste and season with salt- about 1/2 tsp.

To make the tacos:

Cut the chard crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. If using spinach, you can leave whole. In a very large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently until golden brown but still crunchy- about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and stir around for a few seconds until aromatic. Add the broth, 1/2 tsp salt and the greens. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan. Cook until the greens are almost tender. This will take about 5 minutes for swiss chard or 2 minutes for spinach. You can try any types of greens in this recipe...just remember: the thicker the stalks, the longer it will take to cook.

Uncover the pan and raise the heat to medium high again. Cook, stirring continually, until the mix is nearly dry. Taste and season with a little extra salt if necessary.

Warm tortillas ( in the microwave, dribble 3 tbsp over a clean kitchen towel or paper towel and wrap your tortillas in them. Put in a non-plastic bowl with a lid and microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Be careful when removing because of the hot steam.)

Serve with warm tortillas, crumbled cheese, salsa and plenty of napkins for messy hands.

Rock it

2010-09-25T10:03:00.005-05:00

Last night, we definitely had "the Friday feeling", as my husband likes to call it. You know the feeling. It's been a long week. If we all worked on Mad Men, we'd still be in the office smoking cigarettes, pouring ourselves a single malt scotch from the corner mini-bar, and getting up to mischief.

Instead, most of us innocently rock through the front door after a hard-worked week and collapse on the sofa. Martin and I had grand plans of making a home-made pizza, cracking open a bottle of 2007 El Nido Clio and unwinding. (If you can get your hands on a silky bottle of Clio, don't hesitate.)

I knew we had to start the unwinding right, so I quickly produced all of the ingredients for my new favorite cocktail, The Roquette. Before you read any further and start to ask, "salad....in a cocktail??", let me stop you.

For those of you who know me, you'll know I'm partial to a little gin from time to time. Straight up Tanqueray, shaken until cold as the north pole with plenty of olives is a favorite tipple of mine. It only takes one. That said, it took me no time at all to be a Hendricks gin convert, and this cocktail has been known to tempt even those who don't like gin. I call these people crazy. Hendricks is infused with cucumber and rose petals and this is a twist on a classic cocktail, the Gimlet.

I imagine this to be a cocktail drunk by gentlemen in stripey socks, such as these below.

Unfortunately, these are my husband's socks, worn specially for his sister's recent wedding. Englishmen love outrageous socks for some reason, and although you can take the English lad out of England, you can never take away his love of stripey socks. The one thing a move to America will do to an English boy, is give him a new found appreciation for ice.

No longer will one cube suffice in his whiskey and ginger cocktail. I witnessed first hand as Martin received a cocktail with one ice cube floating lonely at the top of warm whiskey and ginger ale. He simply grabbed the barman's tub of ice and began filling the glass with a disgusted look upon his face. America has spoiled him.

The salad leaf element in "The Roquette" comes from peppery arugula, also known as rocket in England and roquette in France. When combined with lime juice, Hendricks, and a little dark agave nectar for sweetness, this cocktail is the perfect prescription any American, Brit or Frenchman with "that friday feeling."

The Roquette

From Matthew Biancaniello at Roosevelt Library Bar in Hollywood, CA

Makes 1 cocktail

1 cup of loosely packed baby arugula (or rocket if you're in London or roquette if you're in Paris) plus a little extra for garnish

4 1/2 tsp dark agave nectar

4 1/2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/2 cup Hendricks Gin

plenty of ice

a rocks glass for serving

Muddle the arugula, agave nectar and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Use a pestle or bash the leaves down with a wooden spoon. Add the gin and ice and shake. Pour over ice in a rocks glass ( a short tumbler) and serve with a few arugula leaves as garnish.

English road trip

2010-09-19T10:47:00.011-05:00

Two weeks ago, we returned from a trip to England where we drove 1000 miles across the length and breadth of the country visiting friends and family. The ultimate reason for our journey was to attend my sister in-law's wedding in Devon, our last and southern most destination.

England's weather initially answered our worst fears as we donned coats and scarves and reminded ourselves it was August. Happily, the sun shone on Helen and Anthony's special day. We sipped champagne in the stone courtyard of Loyton Lodge, toasting their love and lack of umbrellas.

There were several food and drink highlights along the winding English roads, many from our hospitable hosts:

parmesan egg custards served with soldiers at The Three Horseshoes in Madingley
grilled lamb with rosemary and garlic made by Rachel and Toby in Cambridge
roast chicken made by Liz in Harrogate
pint of Riggwelter Ale and "behind the scenes tour" with Jo at Black Sheep Brewery
lasagna and chicken casserole made by Sue at The Old Vicarage in Masham
pot roast made by Sara in Bishop's Stortford
sausage roll from Greggs
ploughman's lunch at The George Inn in Mere
green bean salad with sun dried tomatoes at Loyton Lodge
beetroot and goats cheese-balls served at Helen and Anthony's wedding
home-made papadums with chutneys and lamb curry at Brilliant Restaurant in Southall

I chose to share the recipe for the parmesan egg custards for several reasons. We had it for a starter over lunch with our friends, Toby and Rachel, and we ended up making it again that night with fresh eggs from their neighbor's chickens.

Twice in one day. That's how good it was. You can see that eggs laid in a nest that morning are a spectacular golden yellow. They tasted so rich and creamy and gave the custard a glorious color.

I also include it because we gleaned the recipe from the chef, Richard Stokes, who quickly handed it over in scratched writing with no trepidation. I am quite sure that I would have guarded this simple recipe selfishly. When we tasted it, I was sure I sensed some truffle oil, but the chef's recipe did not mention it. Maybe he was more clever than I thought.

We tried the recipe without the truffle oil, but it sadly fell flat. We added a little powdered English mustard which gave it a kick, but truffle oil wins hands down. You can serve it with soldiers (sliced toast) or asparagus for an elegant starter. Remember that the custard will require regular tasting towards the end to make sure you have enough seasoning and truffle oil. As always, I like a recipe with a chef's sweet treat, and this one is definitely at the top of my list.

Parmesan Egg Custards

Adapted from Richard Stokes at The Three Horseshoes

1 pint of fresh cream

100 g parmesan cheese, grated

4 egg yolks

truffle oil

salt and freshly ground pepper to season

small funnel (if you're serving them in the empty egg shells)

In a pan, heat the cream on a medium-low flame until hot but not boiling. Remove it from the heat and let it sit for a minute or two.

Meanwhile crack four eggs with a metal spoon so that just the top comes off. You don't have to serve this in the empty egg shells, but I like the effect. If you're going to go for it, just practice on a few eggs before you get started, but they don't have to be perfect.

After you've cracked the top off of the eggs, pour the egg into your hand over the sink and let the whites slip through your fingers, leaving just the yolks. Be careful not to crack the yolk in your hands and drop them into a mixing bowl.

Reserve your egg shells, and rinse with hot water. Carefully leave them to dry upside down on a paper towel.

Mix the yolks together with the parmesan cheese and season lightly with salt and pepper. Using your whisk, pour the cream into the egg mixture, just stirring with your whisk to combine. Add the entire mixture back into the pan over a medium-low heat.

At this point, you'll need to continually stir the mix until it starts thickening, becoming like a normal custard and covering the back of a wooden spoon. Add several drops of truffle oil and taste. I added about 8-10 drops of truffle oil, just enough for it to be a back ground taste, but enough so that I knew you'd be able to taste it. Season with salt and pepper to your taste and remove from heat when it's thick and creamy.

Use a small funnel to serve in the reserved egg shells. Grate some extra parmesan over the top. Dip sliced toast or blanched asparagus and enjoy!

Not so innocent

2010-08-21T13:30:00.001-05:00

After recently buying 3 pounds of blueberries, I spent a few hours at the stove staining every surface and several wooden spoons with home-made blueberry syrup. Inspired by a recent Food & Wine article, I was looking for something to top my greek yogurt for a quick but delicious breakfast.

Don't be fooled into thinking that this blueberry syrup is as innocent as it looks. It can easily be transferred from yogurt to pancakes, or as a finger-licking ribs marinade.

If you're like me, I'm beginning to feel like autumn isn't quite as far away as I thought it was. While it's still sticky-hot here in Chicago, I'm finding myself requesting a table outdoors even when the air conditioning beckons. I know that in a few short months, I'll be chilled to the bone and dreaming of sipping sweat beaded ice-cold drinks on the patio. This is a great way of capturing summer-sweet blueberries and enjoying them long into the autumn.

You may recognize the bottle I used from the spiced vodka I gave away as gifts over the holidays. This too would make a perfect gift and will last for months if stored in the refrigerator and sealed tightly.

Home-made Blueberry Syrup

5 cups (about 1 1/2 lbs) of fresh blueberries

2 cups of sugar

4 cups of water

6 one inch strips of lemon zest removed with a vegetable peeler

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

In a pot, combine the blueberries with 1 cup of the water. Mash the berries with a potato masher and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain the juice through a sieve into a heat-proof measuring cup, pressing hard on the solids. This will take a little muscle work and patience- you want to squeeze as much juice from the berries as possible. Discard the solids.

Rinse the pot out and combine the rest of the 3 cups of water, sugar, and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and stir continuously until the sugar dissolves. Boil the syrup over moderate heat until it measures 225F on a candy thermometer, or about 20 minutes.

Add the blueberry and lemon juices to the syrup, bring to a boil for 1 minute, then remove from the heat. Let it cool, then discard the lemon zest.

Pour into just-cleaned bottles and seal tightly. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Get low

2010-08-08T13:38:00.009-05:00

Photo taken by Stacia Marselos

I've been wanting to make this low country boil for several summers and now I know what I was missing. This particular recipe comes from a family friend, Paul Campbell. As far as I'm aware, he made it whilst visiting our place in Northern Michigan several summers back and it's been talked about with a great deal of longing in family food conversations. In general, a seafood boil is popular in many coastal states in the United States, particularly in Louisiana and South Carolina. Maryland and New England have their own versions of seafood boils, but this low country boil is just that- from the low country.

First things first. Your shellfish of choice is crucial. Get it fresh and don't compromise. We used the freshest shrimp and mussels, we could lay our land-locked hands on, but craw fish would be great if you're lucky enough to be in Louisiana. Secondly, it doesn't hurt to get the sweetest sweet corn. At last! Something we mid-westerners can score quite easily!

Lastly, the seasoned broth that your stew cooks in can be tweaked to your tasting (some people add hot sauce, lemon, parsley), but start with a crab boil seasoning packet widely available in US supermarkets. For my friends outside the borders, try this mix, but either way, beware: this is potent stuff! Four of us were hovering over the brew and couldn't stop sneezing. No joke!

Before you embark on making a low country boil, remember a few final tips:

This is simple stuff and it's very easy to make, but you need a very large pot- at least 10 gallons.
I urge you to assign a "Boil Master" who will be in charge of ensuring ingredients are added in the proper sequence and that the water comes to the boil between each addition. Do not make the mistake of giving this job to two people. Arguments can break out. You've been warned.

Typically, this dish is poured out over newspaper on a picnic table where a crowd dives in with juices dribbling down chins. If you want to be a bit more civilized, don't forget the amazing broth at the bottom of the pan. It should be ladled generously over everything and mopped up with crusty bread and a crisp green salad.

Low Country Boil

Adapted from Paul Campbell

Served 6-8

4 stalks of celery, chopped roughly

2 onions, roughly chopped

1 crab boil seasoning bag (or make your own)

3 gallons of water

1 4-5 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half

6 ears of corn, snapped in half

2 lb shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tail left on

1 1/2 lb mussels

3 lb sausages cut into bite size pieces- we used hot Italian and mild Italian

3 tbsp kosher salt

plenty of freshly cracked pepper

Quick tip for mussels: ask your fishmonger to keep them on ice for you. When you get them home, dump them in a colander and rinse while you de-beard them- pulling the little grassy/beardy bits from each shell. Discard any mussels that are already open. If they are open slightly, tap them on the counter. If they don't close shut, discard them.

Add the water to the pot, add the salt, pepper, crab boil seasoning bag, celery and onion. Bring to the boil and simmer briskly for 10-15 minutes.

Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sausages and cook for a further 10 minutes and then add the corn. Bring it back to a boil and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add your shrimp and mussels and put the lid on. Boil for a further 5 minutes and discard any mussels that have not opened during cooking.

Your low country boil is now ready for serving. Pour it over newspaper or ladle it onto a big serving platter. If you're a corn lover like me, you'll want to cook all your corn in the crab boil seasoning from now on!

Keeping my cool

2010-07-19T20:25:00.007-05:00

I'm getting ready for a weekend in New York for my birthday, and in the mean time, I'm trying to keep my cool. I'm the kind of gal that doesn't mind sweating if that's what I intended to do. Chicago has turned up the heat and we're having the best summer since we moved back to the US. Our thermometer hit 100 degrees this weekend, just as we finished a meltingly hot round of golf Saturday afternoon. We've made the most of the weather by seeking shade during the day and heading outdoors just as the early evening kicks in.

Lately, evenings in our neighborhood have been filled with people piled on their front porches, a slow stroll with the dog, and a nice cold drink underneath a cloudless sky. The thought of eating when the sun is still glaring is all but impossible, but here are a few of my favorite treats for sweltering summer evenings:

cold, sliced watermelon
cucumber slices and Ina Garten's green herb dip
Stacia's citrus salad with honey and mint
home-made brown bread ice cream
an ice cold arnold palmer
cold chicken: fried or grilled
cottage cheese and tomatoes, peppered and salted liberally
mint julep peaches
fresh summer berries topped with greek yogurt, honey and toasted granola
a rhubarb bellini with prosecco straight from the freezer
coming soon in August: super sweet corn from Indiana-

Last, but not least, is a chilled summer soup that is so shockingly pink, you may well think you should be sitting next to Barbie at the dinner table. Chilled summer borscht, is a cold beet soup. It is an old Lithuanian or Russian recipe, popular in Eastern Europe. If you like beets, this soup is for you. It's a perfect start to a meal, so serve it in small cups to brighten your guests palates and cool them right down.

You can make this soup with a clear broth, like this one from the NY Times or Martha's, but I prefer it when it has the yogurt incorporated into the soup. Ina Garten's is the best I've ever made. It's a cool and creamy combination of cooked fresh beets, cucumber and dill. I love watching the pink soup develop its color in the fridge. I prefer to let it sit overnight so that it turns a deeper shade. You can peek at it every so often and give it a stir and watch the beets work their magic.

Summer Borscht

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home by Ina Garten

Serves 6

5 medium fresh beets, tops trimmed

kosher salt

2 cups chicken stock, homemade if possible

16 oz sour cream, plus extra for serving

1/2 plain yogurt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp champagne vinegar

1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups medium-diced English cucumber, seeds removed

1/2 cup chopped green onions

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

Place beets in a large pot of boiling, salted water and cook for 30-40 minutes until tender. Remove the beets with a slotted spoon and let cool. Strain the beet liquid through a fine sieve and reserve.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of beet cooking liquid, chicken stock, sour cream, yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, 1 tbsp salt, and freshly ground pepper. Peel the cooled beets (use gloves unless you want pink fingers) with a knife or rub them off with your hands.

Cut the beets into a small to medium dice and add them, the cucumber, scallions and dill to the soup. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight (minimum 4 hours).

Season to taste and serve cold with a dollop of sour cream, a few chopped scallions and some dill.

Napping before dinner

2010-07-11T20:07:00.004-05:00

I've only just come to the conclusion that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday of the year. Unlike Christmas or Thanksgiving, Independence Day adds the all important ingredient of sunshine to a food-filled holiday. Just as we intended, we spent our long weekend in Michigan with very little on the agenda. I spent some well earned cash at Symons General Store's cheese counter as a crate of Piper's Pyramid was being delivered and could not be denied. Highlights included a sunset boat cruise with my Aunts and Uncles on Walloon Lake, a very hot bike ride, and a romantic glass of pink bubbly with my hubby that left us both napping on the back deck before dinner.

That said, I had very little energy left for cooking, but knew a Tomato Pie was on the cards. I'm usually depressed by the tasteless tomatoes found in the supermarket, and even though we're not on the height of tomato season when you can easily find yourself with a surplus of red fruits, this is a great way to kick of the summer tomato season. I was able to get some great tomatoes from Bill's Farm Market and couldn't wait to get this pie in the oven.

This recipe comes from my Mom's friend, Linda Priddy, whose genius recipes have been mentioned previously, and this is definitely one of my favorites to date. Jen, her daughter in-law, sent me this recipe, and I've been anxiously awaiting the summer to give it a try. It's a tomato pie and it's extremely quiche-esque, but I'd prefer to keep the name pie attached to it. It's perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and I ended up making four of them to take to my Aunt and Uncles as a contribution to our over night spent with them. You can make your own pastry, or you cheat and use frozen pie shells from the supermarket. Either way, I can guarantee this pie will be part of your summer must-have meals for the months ahead.

Tomato Pie

Adapted from Linda Priddy

9 inch pie shell:

(make your own and pre-bake or pre-bake a frozen shell according to instructions)

3 large tomatoes, peeled cored and sliced thick (blanch quickly in boiling water to peel easily)

3 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

2 eggs, beaten

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp real mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped green onions

1-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar and gruyere cheese

salt and freshly cracked pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F. Fill pie shell with layers of tomatoes and green onions, seasoning the tomatoes well in between the layers. Combine the basil, eggs, garlic and mayonnaise and pour over the layers. Top everything with the cheeses and bake for about 35 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve with a herb salad, shaved carrots and topped with a honey-mustard vinaigrette.

Glass of wine and a sunset

2010-06-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm headed to Michigan this weekend for our annual 4th of July escape. Last year, we made a feast for a family reunion, and if something on a larger scale is on your agenda, I suggest you check out some of the recipes from that previous post. This year, our schedule is a lot less hectic, and although we'll be getting together with family while we're up there, I'm keenly interested in making some low-key foods that pair well with a chilled glass of wine and a sunset.

I always visit John Cross Fisheries on day one of our trip. I pick up some fresh whitefish and a few smoked fillets that they smoke in the tiny shed next to the dock. I can't help myself from buying enough to eat some straight from the bone, and some more to make some home-made smoked-fish spread.

I should mention that John Cross makes some amazing whitefish spread, but here are two versions to try at home. One is more of a smooth pate, while the other is a chunkier spread that is equally delicious on toast points or bagels the following morning.

You can use a variety of smoked fish in these recipes. Smoked mackerel is one of my particular favorites, but I'll never stray from whitefish when I'm up north. Both of these recipes are really simple to pull together and add an extra elegance to a pre-dinner nibble. We've been known to forget about dinner after a few glasses of wine, so don't forget to serve it with a nice dry white or rose.

Smoked-Fish and Horseradish Pate

Adapted 101 Simple Suppers by the BBC

8oz smoked fish fillets, such as whitefish or mackerel, skinned and boned

3 tbsp freshly grated horseradish (or freshly prepared from a jar)

4 oz ricotta cheese

juice of one lemon

1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

2 tbsp melted butter

fresh bay leaves and pink or green peppercorns to garnish

cornichon pickles, pickled onions, and toast- rye or white, to serve

In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients until smooth. Taste and add more lemon juice if necessary.

Spoon into a bowl and drizzle over the butter. You can refrigerate in order to allow the butter to harden or dig right in.

Garnish with bay leaves and peppercorns. Serve with cornichon pickles, pickled onions and toast.

Smoked-Fish Spread

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1 lb smoked fish such as trout, mackerel or whitefish fillets, skin and bones removed

1 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup finely chopped shallot

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp hot sauce

1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup cold water

Flake the fish and transfer 2 cups of it to a food processor. Reserve remaining fish. Blend with butter, shallot, dill, lemon juice, hot sauce and pepper until smooth.

With the motor running, add water to the trout puree in a slow stream until it's absorbed- about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the rest of the fish.

Pack the mixture into a 4 cup glass or ceramic mold or bowl. Cover the surface with wax paper and then tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for about 6 hours to allow the flavors to develop. Bring it back to room temperature to serve.

Serve with toast points or whole wheat crackers.

Mr. Pickles

2010-06-20T19:13:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, on a visit to Chicago's very own Lit Fest with my cousin, Lauren, I managed to pick up a first edition of The Complete Book of Pickles & Relishes, circa 1965. Leonard Louis Levinson dedicates the book to his mother and "the memory of our spice-scented kitchen at pickling time."

Needless to say, this is an extremely comprehensive book that covers everything from the history of pickling, 324 pages of pickles (or gherkins) relishes, and chutneys from all over the world, advice on how to show your pickles (for blue ribbons of course) and how to preserve a husband. I was particularly interested in the latter and have learned from our dear author that "even the poorest varieties can be made sweet, tender and good by garnishing them with patience, spicing them with smiles and flavoring them with kisses." Good advice to keep in mind!

I must admit that I have a serious soft spot for pickles, relishes and chutneys of all kinds. It may seem old-fashioned, but gifting something in a glass jar has never been cooler. A nice homemade chutney is the perfect gift at the holidays. I simply couldn't live without Branston pickle in the UK, served on granary bread and sharp, mature cheddar. Pickles themselves, in every variety of vegetable, are a weakness of mine. I prefer not to eat a sandwich without a crunchy and tangy pickle by its side.

There is something about the word pickle that conjures up a smile. I have a Christmas ornament in the shape of a pickle and it's my favorite to unwrap every December. Many years ago, I met a dog at a pub in London called Mr. Pickles. He was fabulous. As a small Jack Russell, he had the look of a distinguished gentleman, but his name made me giggle every time I saw him.

This recipe is certainly more of a relish or chutney than a pickle, but I think it's a perfect summer accompaniment to any grilled fish, meat or poultry. If you make enough, you'll have enough for several meals, like I did. I made these aromatic pork burgers and the spicy ginger and chili was perfect with them. I've got some local white fish in the refrigerator for tomorrow night and I'll serve them simply grilled with a dollop of the chutney on the side and some steamed asparagus. Whenever I make grilled cheese sandwiches, whether it's a fancy Gruyere and sauerkraut on dark rye or a Kraft singles version, a side of spicy chutney is a must.

This is adapted from a more modern cook book, but I would suggest before you start doing any pickling, you buy a book like the one above to ensure you understand how to sterilize jars and ultimately avoid a"pickling failure", as the author puts it. No one would want that.

Chile Tomato Chutney

Adapted from Sunny Days & Easy Living by Lindy Wildsmith

Makes 2 cups

2 dried chillies, seeds and all

2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves

2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

3 x 14 oz whole plum tomatoes, drained, de-seeded and chopped- reserve liquic

1 cup light brown sugar.

In a food processor, finely chop the chillies, ginger, garlic and shallots. Add the vinegar, tomatoes, and sugar into a large heavy saucepan and add the ginger mixture to it.

Bring it slowly to a boil and then simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours until it's reduced by half. Stir if from time to time and if it should dry out too much, add a little of the reserved tomato liquid. Let it cool a little and then spoon it into a sterilized jar and seal it. I put it straight into the refrigerator and it's gone within a week, but it will keep for much longer if properly sealed.

Serve with grilled fish, meat, poultry or these fantastic aromatic pork burgers:

Aromatic Pork Burgers in Pita Bread

Adapted from Sunny Days & Easy Living by Lindy Wildsmith

Serves 4-6

3 slices of white bread

5 tbsp milk

1 3/4 lb ground pork

2 free range eggs

a handful of fresh parsley, finely chooped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cinnamon,small pinch of ground cloves

1 tsp ground turmeric

large pinch of ground red pepper

seeds of 4 cardamom pods, crushed

1 tsp sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil, for brushing

yogurt dressing:

1 cup plain greek yogurt

seeds of 4 cardamom pods, crushed

large pinch of sea salt

Serve with chile tomato chutney, grilled pita bread and shredded iceberg lettuce

Make the yogurt dressing by combining yogurt, crushed cardamom seeds and salt. Mix well.

Soak the bread in the milk for about 10 minutes until soft, then squeeze the bread with your ands until almost dry. In a bowl, combine the bread, ground pork, eggs, parsley, garlic, spices, salt and plenty of pepper. Mix well, but just until combined so it does not make the meat tough. Let the mix stand for 60 minutes. Shape the mix into 12 patties, cover and refrigerate until you're ready to grill.

Brush each pattie with a little olive oil and preheat a hot grill or barbecue. Grill for 20 minutes, turning from time to time to avoid burning. Make sure the burgers are cooked through, cutting into them and ensuring that they are not pink inside.

When the burgers are finished, top with a spoonful of chutney and serve with grilled pita breads filled with shredded lettuce and yogurt dressing.

Deja vu

2010-06-07T18:10:00.003-05:00

I think there's something about living in a climate that is so brutally cold in the winter that makes you appreciate your springs and summers that much more. In Chicago, I never feel spoiled by the warmth, but grateful as soon as that last snow melts. This evening, I turned on the TV for tonight's evening news only to met with a certain deja vu. Randomly, severely clouded map of the UK flashed onto the screen with an ever-so-cheery weather woman droning on about the week's grim outlook. For a moment, I was back in London, thankful to be experiencing highs in the 60F range mid-summer while the rest of the country sank into the 50's range.

I'm not sure which I prefer, but living in Chicago with its extreme shifts in climate at least make for a more predictable barbecue season. I know I've droned on about barbecues in the past, but to me, there are endless possibilities when presented with hot coals.

Homemade barbecue sauce is definitely a great place to start. No matter what anyone tells you, nothing out of a jar can beat a sauce from scratch. I find most sauces from the jar are way to sweet and I like mine with certain kick. Last summer, our upstairs neighbor hand-delivered two different batches of ribs with a very special "secret sauce." The sauce was perfectly tangy and I'm planning on prying the recipe from Larry over a few glasses of wine at our summer party.

Here's a barbecue sauce you can tamper with on two levels. Firstly, choose your meat of choice: free range chicken - spatchcocked or cut into joints, or leg of lamb-on the bone, or pork ribs. Secondly, as with any barbecue sauce, you can play with the spices to get the perfect amount of kick for your taste buds. I added red chillies to mine.

I won't tell you how to barbecue all the above type meats- you can ask your favorite grill master for some tips. Start with this sauce and your more than half way there.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

1 heaped tsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp fennel seeds

5 cloves

2 red chillies, seeded and minced,

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped

a bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped, a few sprigs reserved

zest and juice of 1 large orange

1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves and peeled and finely chopped

4 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika

3/4 cup tomato ketchup

8 tbsp olive oil

10 bay leaves

Grind the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and cloves in a pestle and mortar with some salt and pepper. Combine the chopped thyme leaves, rosemary leaves, chillies, garlic, orange zest and orange juice. Mix with the spices and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir together and leave over night, if possible, in your refrigerator. Rub your chosen meat all over with the marinade and place in a snug fitting dish. Again, leave it covered, in the refrigerator and overnight if possible.

You can bake your meat first and then finish it off over hot coals. This prevents any issue of asking each other over and over again, "do you think it's done yet??" and any potential food poisoning.

Good luck and get grilling!

Officially picnic weather

2010-05-31T20:33:00.005-05:00

It's officially picnic weather. When it's warm and the air is filled with the sweet smell of fresh cut grass, it's time to take to your favorite picnic spot. Here in Chicago, there are plenty of grassy spots near the beach to roll out an old blanket and avoid sand in your food. In London, we spent a lot of time hanging out, and occasionally picnicking, in the expansive parks and gardens dotted around the city. Locally, Clissold Park was a daily occurrence for dog walks and a general soaking-in of good weather.

Hampstead Heath was probably my favorite in all seasons. Whether we were walking the dog on an early Saturday morning, biking up arduous hills, or stomping through the snow on a crisp New Year's morning, it never ceased to amaze me how quickly I forgot I was in the middle of London.

I am hugely fond of a picnic that involves wine and a full spread, but I've found packable desserts to be a challenge and tend to go for some simple fresh fruit.

This loaf cake is perfect for a picnic and would go nicely with some fresh strawberries or other seasonal fruit. The combination of pineapple and thyme make for a refreshing change in a otherwise simple loaf cake recipe. If you're English, this is screaming out for a thermos of tea to finish off a lovely picnic.

Pineapple and Thyme Loaf Cake

Adapted from Sunny Days & Easy Living by Lindy Wildsmith

10 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 beaten free range eggs

1/2 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup semolina

2 tsp baking powder

8 oz can pineapple chunks, chopped in a food processor

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme (lemon thyme would be nice too)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

confectioners' sugar to dust on the top

loaf pan, lined with wax paper

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one a a time and beat well after each. Fold in the remaining flour, semolina, baking powder, pineapple, thyme and vanilla extract.

Bake for 30 minutes or until well risen and golden. Let it cool until you can handle it and turn it out onto a rack to let it cool thoroughly. Dust it with confectioners' sugar. Don't worry if it falls slightly in the middle. Pack it in aluminum foil or an appropriately sized tin for a fantastic picnic!

New Mom rescue sack

2010-05-19T20:00:00.007-05:00

Earlier this week, I spent the evening with my friend, Karyn, who is in the midst of moving. "Ohhh, moving is stressful!" I hear you say. It sure is. My move from London nearly killed me. In fact, I can count the wrinkles on my face that were added by that move. The paperwork, the thought of all our "stuff" on a boat just waiting to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, and the fact that I lived in an empty house with only camping chairs was enough to age me.

All of this seems like an over-reaction considering my friend also has an 8 week old baby. Baby Davis is a tiny super-cute munchkin who goo-goo'd and ga-ga'd me until my heart melted. Karyn is an uber-cool new Mom and she seemed perfectly relaxed and unfazed by the fact that very little seemed to be packed with only two weeks to go. That, in a nut-shell, is why I love this chick.

Yes- those are "Vans" socks he's wearing.

I decided a dinner delivery was in order. Who has time to mess around with food in that situation?? I arrived to the smell of sweet fig candles and a perfectly clean kitchen complete with a fully loaded baby bottle tree. Loaded in my "New Mom rescue sack" was a big tub of Orzo, fresh Caprese focaccia from the local market, and most importantly: wine.

I just started working a block from the French Market here in Chicago and I love it for many reasons. Saigon Sisters is certainly tops, but I adore the Pappardelle's Pasta stand with its flavorful handcrafted gourmet pastas. Other flavored pasta I've tried in the past have come out of the boiling water with the taste left behind. Gladly, this is not the case with Pappardelle's.

You can easily make this with plain Orzo found in any super-market. I like adding some simple flavor layers along the way, careful not to over power the pasta, but enough to add interest. Pappardelle's Pasta has a website with recipes to try, and there are plenty ideas for inspiration. You can add veggies that happen to be in season, which is why I never end up making the same way twice.

You can also add roasted chicken or shrimp for a heartier meal. For the tomatoes, you can use chopped fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes or oven-roasted (also known as sun-blushed tomatoes in the UK.) I prefer fresh or oven-roasted/sun-blushed instead of sun-dried. I find them too bitter and strong.

This dish is great at room temperature or cold, which is why it's perfect for a picnic or when you're doing dinner delivery.

Orzo with Seasonal Vegetables, Feta and Arugula

Adapted from Pappardelle's Pasta Co.

Serves 4

1 lb Orzo

3/4 cup oven-roasted tomatoes

2 tbsp oil from the tomatoes or use regular extra-virgin olive oil

2 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1 bunch of asparagus, grilled or roasted and cut into bite size pieces

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1 large handful of arugula (known as rocket in the UK) keeping some aside for garnish

salt and freshly ground black pepper

dash of balsamic vinegar to finish

Grill the asparagus in a grill pan until cooked through. Set aside and chop into bite size pieces. Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes).

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, oregano, olives, salt, pepper, oil from the tomatoes, lemon juice, lemon zest, asparagus and toss (everything but arugula).

Drain the pasta and to the mix and toss again. At this point, if you're going to be taking the pasta with you, put it in an air-tight container and wait to add the feta and the arugula until you're ready to serve.

To serve, toss the pasta with the crumbled feta and the arugula. Check the seasoning.

Spoon onto plates, garnish with extra arugula and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Serve with some nice bread and a glass of wine.

Cinco de Tostada

2010-05-09T13:34:00.008-05:00

As I rode past one of my favorite Mexican restaurants on Cinco de Mayo, I noticed the patio was heaving, and intoxicating smells were wafting towards me. With no reservations, my chances of getting even a few chips and salsa were slim. Luckily, my friend Jen, who had just been to Chicago for dinner a couple of weeks back, had sent me her favorite spicy Mexican shredded pork (Tinga) recipe from Cook's Illustrated. As a huge fan of Rick Bayless (you can try his recipe as well), she swears by it and claimed it's similar to Rick's.

Any time I use a recipe from Cook's Illustrated, apart from the fact that my cousin Becky is a chef on America's Test Kitchen, I know the recipes and ingredients are tried and true. For example, when making tostadas, you can either fry them or bake them, but they urge you to buy a corn tortilla with no preservatives with ingredients made up only of corn, lime and salt.

I did use the traditional method of frying the tostadas, but a few splatters of hot oil burns on my arm will probably lead me to the baking method in the future (and the fact that it means less oil used).

I do wish that I had this recipe when I was living in London. The lack of authentic Mexican food seriously depressed me. Good jarred salsa was difficult to come by. I learned to make a good roasted chile salsa, a lovely chicken tortilla soup, and a mean batch of guacamole, but these tostadas would have seriously pepped me up.

The chipotle powder can be substituted with a 2 minced canned chipotles, but Cook's Illustrated swears by the powder. I used pasilla chile powder from Dean & Deluca (which you can order) as it was part of a Mexican spice set I had in my pantry. It also included Mexican oregano, which I used here, so keep that in mind as well.

I made enough pork for 4-6 people so that the two of us had some leftovers. You can use them in burritos or tacos, or serve it re-heated, like I did, with some Mexican rice and a cold beer.

Spicy Mexican Shredded Pork (Tinga) Tostadas

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Serves 4-6

2 lbs of boneless pork butt, cut into 1 inch cubes (trimmed of fat, it should be 1 1/2 lbs)

2 medium onions, one quartered, one chopped fine

5 medium garlic cloves, three peeled and smashed and two minced

4 sprigs fresh thyme

salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 oregano

1 x 14.5 oz can tomato sauce (plain - I used passata)

1 tbsp chipotle powder

2 fresh bay leaves

For the tostadas:

12 x 6 inch corn tortillas

3/4 cup of vegetable oil (if using the frying method)

4 tbsp of vegetable oil (if baking)

For garnish:

diced avocado

lime wedges

queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled

sour cream

diced tomatoes and onions

Bring the pork, the quartered onion, 6 cups of water, smashed garlic cloves, thyme and 1 tsp of salt to a rapid simmer and then turn down to a low- simmer. Cook for 75-90 minutes until the pork is tender, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

Reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid, drain the pork and discard the onion, garlic and thyme. Return to the pan and using a potato masher, mash until shredded into 1/2 inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the pork, chopped onion and oregano. Turn often and cook for about 7- 10 minutes until the pork is well browned.

Make a well in the middle of the mixture and add the minced garlic for about 30 seconds and then add the tomato sauce, chipotle powder, reserved cooking liquid and bay leaves.

Leave to simmer until most of the liquid disappears, about 5-7 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves and season with salt to taste.

Prepare your tostadas by either frying them (traditional method) or baking (better for you method.) Both have a similar outcome, so I would recommend baking.

Frying: Heat vegetable oil in frying pan until 350 degrees. Poke each of your tortillas in the center with a fork 3-4 times to prevent puffing and to allow them to cook evenly on both sides.

Add the tortillas (one at a time) to the oil and use the potato masher to hold them down. They should take about 45-40 seconds each (no need for turning) and then you can drain them on a plate with paper towels. Repeat until all are cooked.

Baking: Preheat your oven to 450F. Place each tortilla in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Brush both sides with a little vegetable oil and place a wire rack up-side down on top of the tortillas to keep them flat.

Bake for 15-18 minutes on the upper and lower-middle racks of your oven, switching them half way through the baking process. Tortillas should be golden brown and crisp, ready to top with your tinga and garnishes.

Berry delicious

2010-05-01T09:29:00.004-05:00

Baking only ever occurs in my house on the weekends unless a cake must be baked for a special occasion. This morning, I found myself with a surplus of blackberries. I had bought a ton of them for a smoothie-making marathon that occurred this week in celebration of a new blender. For those of you who have read in the past, you'll know that many of my appliances are still lurking in the shadows of my pantry with English plugs. The red kitchen-aid blender remains useless.

I finally broke down and bought a blender so that healthy glasses of yogurt and berries can be drunk. After returning from dinner one night this week with colleagues, I found Martin had made a smoothie for dinner. He decided his dinner-smoothie needed a little extra "something" and added Jack Daniels. Needless to say, this is not what I had in mind for our health kick.

If blackberries were made for anything, then this coconut blackberry slice is it. Serve it as you would cookies- for an afternoon snack with milk or coffee. If you've never checked out any of Bill Granger's recipes, I urge you to do so. They are each filled with Australian sunshine and goodness.

You can adapt this to any number of fruit combinations depending on the season.

Coconut Blackberry Slice

Adapted from Bills Food by Bill Granger

Makes 20

For the base:

4 1/2 oz unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 free-range egg

1 tsp vanilla extract (the good stuff)

1 1/2 cups plain, all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup of milk

For the filling:

1/2 cup blackberry jam

1 cup blackberries

For the topping:

3 1/2 oz unsalted butter

5 tbs caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

2 1/2 cups desiccated coconut

1/2 cup plain, all-purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 180C or 350F. Grease and line with parchment paper a 12x8 inch baking tin.

To make the base, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the mixture with the milk. Flour your hands and press this into the tin. Top evenly with the jam and then the blackberries.

For the topping, cream the flour and sugar together until fluffy, add the eggs and beat until combined. Stir in the coconut and 1 tbsp of the sifted flour and stir to combine, then stir in the remaining sifted flour. Spread the topping over the blackberries.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden. Cover with foil and cook another 5 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes and then cut into rectangles. Makes about 20.

Bacon and eggs salad

2010-04-25T17:38:00.005-05:00

Woah! New jobs sure do take up a lot of time and energy. Over the past few weeks, I have been lucky to make it past 9:30 pm before snoring ensues on the couch. Clearly, this is not how I like to live my life and I'm happy to say after week three at said sweet new job, I am back to normal energy levels and ready to blog.

When life gets busy, I tend to stick to some basic recipes. I am thrilled if I achieve a nice bruschetta or a tasty salad for supper. When I barely have time to wolf down a bowl of cereal in the morning, my meal planning for dinners has definitely gone to pot. Here is an easy week-night supper salad, and truth be told, has more to do with bacon and eggs than it does a healthy salad.

Salad Lyonnaise, although famous and rather popular, only recently made it into my week-night salad line up. After dining with our friends at Le Bouchon here in Chicago, I decided this was a salad I could easily serve my husband without him asking "what's next?"

Make sure the bacon you're buying is the very best, and thick! Get a slab of bacon if you can and dice it yourself or get some thick un-smoked slices from the butcher.

I used some day-old french baguette to make the croutons, but use ciabatta if you have it around. The secret to this salad is the hot, vinegary dressing made with shallots. Okay, there is a second secret: any salad with a poached egg quivering on top ready to ooze its soft center into the warm dressing is heaven on earth.

Salad Lyonnaise

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Serves 2

1 large bunch of frisee salad leaves

4 thick slices of un-smoked bacon, cubed

1/2 french baguette, cubed

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 free-range eggs- make sure they are fresh!

3 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp rice wine vinegar (for the poached eggs)

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Firstly, make your croutons by grilling your cubed bread on a grill pan over medium heat until crisp and hot. Remove from the heat and set aside, but leave them on the pan so they are still warm when serving. You can bake these in the oven if you prefer, but the grill pan is easier for me.

While the croutons are cooking, get a shallow pan of water boiling on the stove top for the eggs.

Also pull out a slotted spoon for poaching once the water is boiled. Have ready the rice wine vinegar.

Fry your cubed bacon until crisp and golden (in a dry pan- they have enough fat that will render as you cook) and remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper to drain away excess grease. Your pan will still have your bacon drippings to which you will add the chopped shallots and fry gently until tender over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar and bring to a boil, then take it off the heat.

If you're like me, you will need to pay full attention to the poaching of eggs. I prefer to have everything ready to go before I begin poaching so up to this point, the salad is ready to construct once the eggs are perfect. I have poached eggs many ways, but I think that Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes does it best: follow her instructions to poach an egg and you can't go wrong.

Prepare your salad plates with a big pile of the frisee salad leaves. Sprinkle over the bacon and croutons and season to taste. Place your poached egg on top of the leaves and drizzle with the hot dressing. Dig in!!

Artichoke tree

2010-04-11T14:51:00.006-05:00

There is nothing like a week-long stay in a hotel to make me crave a home cooked meal. It must include some vegetables, something I'm sure I didn't get enough of this week, and I've decided to tackle the artichoke. I must confess that I have never cooked an artichoke before. I use canned artichokes regularly, but I have found them daunting in the past. I've passed by them in markets for many springs now and have never attempted them.

I do remember my Mother producing a splendid "artichoke tree" during a Thanksgiving celebration with a lovely lemon-butter dipping sauce. I'm don't remember exactly how the tree came to be, but let's just say there was a tower of artichokes and they were steamed to perfection. I recall pulling each succulent leaf from the fibrous core and scraping it clean between my teeth.

For my first attempt, I did decide to steam them, but instead of the lemon butter, I baked them with a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest, butter and parsley.

They were just as juicy and delicious as I remember them. Try them as a nice starter to a roast dinner. They go particularly nice with pork for some reason. A crisp white wine is also a perfect partner.

Stuffed Artichokes

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Makes 4 artichokes

4 artichokes

1 cup of dried bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

1 tsp lemon zest

2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

4 tbsp butter, at room temperature

Firstly, prepare the artichokes. Using kitchen shears, cut 1 inch off the top of each artichoke and snip off the sharp tips of the leaves. Wash them and remove any loose outer leaves. Brush the cut edges of the leaves with a little lemon juice.

Put enough lightly salted water in a large sauce pan to cover the bottom, and place a steamer inside. Bring the water to a boil and steam the artichokes for about 20 - 30 minutes until tender. PLEASE watch your pan and continue to top up the boiling water from a hot kettle if possible. I seriously almost burn my pan out because of regular distractions.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350F.

Combine the bread crumbs, butter, lemon zest, garlic, parsley and parmesan. Season with a little salt and pepper.

When the artichokes are steamed and tender, wrap each of them in some aluminum foil and top them with the bread crumb mixture before sealing shut.

Bake for 10 minutes closed and open the foil for another 5 until the bread crumbs are golden brown. Squeeze a little lemon juice over them before serving.

Serve immediately and let your guests pick each leaf out, scraping off all of the stuffing along with the tender leaves.

Chimichurri obsession

2010-03-30T12:06:00.006-05:00

I have a confession. I am obsessed with chimichurri sauce. Even more embarrassing than divulging this information to you is that I have eaten the same sandwich with chimichurri sauce for lunch three days in a row. Chimichurri and I first locked star-crossed eyes at Goodwin's restaurant as I innocently stepped up to the counter to order my normal, boring turkey sandwich. Alas, I had seen someone devouring a pretzel roll and scanned the menu quickly to narrow down options. No pretzel roll was anywhere to be seen!

It was then that I glanced at the specials board, only to be met by the San Clemente. Here is where our love affair began. Turkey, avocado, tomato, lettuce and oh my, chimichurri sauce! All on a toasted pretzel roll?? Yes!!

After guiltily eating the same sandwich three days in a row at my desk and professing my love for it to all of my colleagues, no matter what kind of "you're a crazy person" stares I received, I decided it was time to make this at home.

Let me just say that many of my creations are met with positive feedback from my husband, but this time, I really nailed it. You can, of course, use this chimichurri sauce as Argentina intended it: on a lovely grilled steak. Some grilled fish or chicken would also be fantastic, but don't miss out on this sandwich.

I noticed at Goodwin's that their sauce was extremely garlicky (only a good thing in my book) and it had flecks of red onions in it. In my version, I included shallots and it added more garlic than the recipe I was working from called for. It was perfection.

If you can't find freshly made pretzel rolls, you could use some french bread as a substitute. I realize that a sandwich isn't really a recipe, but I wouldn't want you to mess it up.

San Clemente Sandwich

Adapted from Goodwin's Restaurant

Makes 2 sandwiches

2 store-bought pretzel rolls, freshly made and cut lengthwise in half

thinly sliced turkey

1 tomato, sliced

lettuce leaves of your choice

1 avocado, sliced

chimichurri sauce (see below)

Toast your pretzel rolls. To assemble, generously spoon chimichurri sauce on the bottom part of the bun. You want all the garlicky oils to be dripping down your hands, so don't get skimpy. Layer turkey, then avocados, tomatoes and lettuce. Salt and pepper if you'd like and top with the pretzel roll. Enjoy! You can serve it with chips n' salsa like they do at Goodwin's if you'd like.

Chimichurri Sauce

Adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 shallot, peeled

1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro

3/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

Puree all ingredients in processor. Transfer to a bowl. Cover and let stand at room temperature. This will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Sweet spaghetti pie

2010-03-27T10:41:00.007-05:00

This spaghetti pie recipe is from one of my Mother's closest friends, Linda Priddy. I am lucky to have a few of her recipes in my repertoire, and this is one of them. It's full of flavor, easier to make than a lasagna and completely moreish. You think that just one slice is going to be enough, but before you know it, you've polished off an entire pan of this pie.

I also feel blessed to have had a family that we were able to spend so much time with growing up. My sister and I spent summers with Linda and Steve's two boys, Joel and Matt. We played golf together, swam together for the local swim team, and spent fantastic weekends at their lake house in southern Indiana. Joel and Matt were constantly building or creating something, like an entire paint ball business in the woods behind their house, and we were always invited to join. Unfortunately, I remember shooting Matt at point blank range with a paint ball gun, and that was the end of my invitations. I also have fond memories of our families skiing together in the eighties, and we still have embarrassing photographic evidence of our neon jackets and bad hair.

As fate would have it, all four of us attended Indiana University, and although Joel and I were the only two the same age, we all loved getting together. Sadly, Joel passed away after I had been in London for just a year or so. Linda has always been a great inspiration for me in the kitchen. She hosted Christmas Eve parties every year and her mini-wieners were my favorite. She was constantly catering for her boys, and I admired that greatly.

I can't remember the last time I cooked this spaghetti pie, but my sister mentioned this week that she had made it again and I ran straight out to get the ingredients. It reminds me a little of my Grandmother's lasagna that uses cottage cheese as a layer. I'm not sure how authentic adding cottage cheese to Italian dishes is, but I am all for it.

After a few tests, both my sister and I agreed that spicy Italian sausage was the way to go, but you can use sweet or ground beef if you prefer. I added red pepper flakes and it really made it sing, although you can make it as hot as you'd like. I also used a good Whole Foods store-bought marinara and was able to whip this together in no time. You can make it up in advance and then pop it in the oven for 30 minutes until all of the asiago cheese is bubbly and gorgeously brown.

Linda's Spaghetti Pie

8 oz spaghetti, broken in half

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup grated pecorino or parmesan

1 cup grated asiago

2 free range eggs, beaten

1 lb sausage or ground beef (I use spicy Italian)

12 oz cottage cheese

24 oz jar marinara or spaghetti sauce

small handful of chopped parsley and basil

1 sprig of thyme, leaves removed

2 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 tsp dried chilli or red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease an 8x12 baking dish with a little olive oil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions and then add the olive oil and let it cool slightly.

While you're cooking the pasta, brown your meat in a skillet and drain the fat. Add the crushed thyme, garlic and chilli flakes. Let it cook for about a minute and then add the marinara sauce. Season at this point and add the parsley and basil. Bring to simmer and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and let it cool slightly.

Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the 1/2 cup of parmesan to it. Season with 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper. Mix into the spaghetti and layer the bottom of your dish with the pasta.

Spread the cottage cheese over the pasta and season it with a little pepper. Top the cottage cheese with the meat and marinara mixture. Sprinkle the asiago cheese on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with a good Italian salad and bread.

Happy first birthday

2010-03-17T18:25:00.007-05:00

I cannot believe it. It has been one year from today that I began blogging and I have to say I've enjoyed every minute of it. Even if I never wrote another word, it's been amazing to look back over twelve months of food, photos and memories. I couldn't even consider stopping, though. I find new inspiration everywhere and I can't wait to be celebrate birthday number two.

As a little birthday present, hungerhabit received a little face lift a few weeks ago, and a few glasses of wine might have clinked with celebration. I think of this first year as an experiment. At first, I was just hoping that I could pull it off and I wouldn't be too embarrassed of my photographs. As time went on, I know now what this blog represents to me. It's a place for me to express my passion for cooking that is tangent and although it's not something I can touch and feel, like paper, I know it will be something I can look back on with pride in the future.

It also just so happens to be St. Patrick's day. Although my husband is more Irish than most of the folks staggering from bar to bar in green t-shirts around my neighborhood, I have to admit that we don't go all out for this holiday. Corned beef and cabbage aside, I am partial to soda bread and a good Irish breakfast. I'll let you find recipes elsewhere for these dishes and fill you in on what we cooked tonight instead: stuffed peppers.

Before spring has officially sprung, a supper of stuffed peppers was definitely in order. It's a dish that screams comfort food and served with mashed potato, it has some serious rib-sticking qualities.

I am lucky enough to have a cookbook that my Mother hand wrote for me and presented to me one year for Christmas when I was in my early twenties. It was at the time that I was really getting into cooking, but living so very far away . It is filled with family recipes and ones from her regular repertoire that we ate growing up in Indiana. I know I've said it before, but it means a great deal to me to see her writing, particularly in recipe form, now that she is no longer around for me to question her lack of seasoning.

Needless to say, I have added a little oomph to this recipe in the form of Bhutanese red rice and of course, some extra seasoning and herbs. This does takes a while to cook on the stovetop, but these stuffed peppers are as easy to put together as meatloaf.

You can blanch the peppers first to reduce harshness if you'd like, but I tend to go for red or orange peppers as they seem to be a bit sweeter than green.

May I also warn you that there is nothing hotter than tomato sauce and to be careful not to let it bubble too furiously and burn you. I tell you this from experience, albeit several years ago, as the sauce once bubbled and burnt my wrist badly enough to warrant a trip to the ER. My husband also called me "Captain Burnside" for months.

Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4-6

4-6 peppers

2 lbs ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 free range eggs

3/4 cup of rice (your choice- I used Bhutanese red rice)

2 28oz cans of diced tomatoes

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or crushed dried chilli

Cut the tops off of the peppers and de-seed. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and stuff into the peppers. place each pepper into a large pan and pour the tomatoes in and around them. Bring to a pleasant low bubble and cook with the lid on for about 1 1/2 hours until the peppers are soft, but not falling apart, and the beef has cooked all the way through. Check from time to time that the bottom of the sauce is not burning and continue to stir the sauce and pour over the peppers.

Serve with whipped mashed potatoes.

Breakfast for gypsies

2010-03-14T09:18:00.004-05:00

I continually sing the praises of baked eggs, probably because you can achieve a soft cooked egg without messing around trying to poach them. This dish goes several steps further and would be ideal on a Sunday morning after one too many pints the night before.

In fact, this recipe comes from a London gastropub, The Eagle. Arguably the first gastropub (because they apparently invented the word), The Eagle is located in Clerkenwell, a neighborhood right next to Islington and Stoke Newington, where I lived for 10 years. This area is now teeming with gastropubs where great food can be had in a relaxed setting, and of course with a good pint of beer.

Mediterranean food dominates at The Eagle, and these gypsy eggs are earthy and spicy from the chorizo and smoked paprika. You can make them in individual earthenware dishes or in one larger baking dish as I did. When purchasing the chorizo, make sure you buy the kind that needs to be cooked, not the cured type. Serve with big mugs of steaming hot coffee and some country bread.

Gypsy Eggs

Adapted from The Gastropub Cookbook by Diana Henry

Serves 4

1/2 cup Serrano ham (if you can't find it, choose another type of ham or bacon that is readily available) finely sliced and roughly chopped

1/2 cup cooking chorizo, roughly chopped

olive oil for frying

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 cup peas, fresh or frozen

2 cans chopped tomatoes in thick juice

1 cup chicken stock

8 medium free range eggs

extra virgin olive oil

black pepper

coarse country bread to serve

Preheat your oven to 400F (200C). Fry the ham and chorizo in a tablespoon of olive oil for about five minutes. Remove the meat and add the onion and garlic, cooking it until soft, not browned.

Add the smoked paprika, peas, tomatoes and the reserved ham back to the pan. Add the chicken stock and cook for 10 minutes until the mixture is sloppy rather than very liquid.

Divide it between your individual 4 inch dishes OR into one large baking dish. Make a small well where you want to place the eggs and crack 2 eggs into each individual dish or dot them around the larger dish.

Bake for 5-10 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.

Serve with country bread for scooping.

Posh pot pie

2010-03-04T20:32:00.008-06:00

When I asked my husband if he wanted to go out for dinner on his birthday, he scrunched up his nose at me. Granted, we already celebrate over dinner at Le Bouchon with our friends Alethea and Philippe, but I like to offer. Here is where I start to over analyze the dynamics between husband and wife. Stay with me here. If I were asked if I wanted to go out to dinner on my birthday, I would jump at the chance. Most possibly because if I don't accept the offer, my birthday meal would consist of a take-out meal, Heinz beans or something I cooked for myself. None particularly appeal for a celebration.

When I suggested that I make Claridge's chicken pie, a grin appeared. Is it wrong to have a dish in your repertoire that people beg for and you very rarely make? If so, this is my ace in the hole dish. It's a card I wait to play only during very special occasions. I have made this so-called pie a few times before, only in London, but to great sighs of satisfaction coming from those I have fed it to. It's really just a posh pot pie and yet, it holds true power over my husband and one of his close friends, Toby.

I have bet Toby, on at least one Ryder Cup, that if the US were to lose to Europe, I would make him this pie. Unfortunately, the US have lost several times to the Europeans. I love golf, but I am not very good at following through when bets are lost. That said, I have actually moved back to the US without ever having made Toby the pie, for which I feel terribly guilty about. He still reminds me of it today and I believe we have a scheduled date for "pie cooking" in September when I next visit London.

As soon as that sweet grin appeared on my husband's face at the mention of chicken pie, I couldn't resist. This is how he gets me every single time. I know how much he enjoys my cooking and he plies me with compliments until I have an entire menu planned just for his delight. So here it is gals, the menu to win over an Englishman: Claridge's chicken pie (no salad or greenery at all thank you very much) and Golden Syrup pudding with homemade custard. Seriously, it's that easy. Throw in a nice bottle of wine you brought back from Napa and he'll be putty in your hands.

As usual, I have a few notes for anyone attempting this at home. Firstly, I must confess that I bought frozen puff pastry- the good stuff from Whole Foods, but frozen nonetheless. I do not have time in my life for puff pastry and pudding making. Secondly, please buy frozen pearl onions. I followed Gordon's recipe that called for blanching the skins off of pearl onions and I wanted to kill him after about three.

Please don't be put off by the idea of a steamed pudding. Yes, they were traditionally very stodgy British fare, but I swear they rank among my favorite desserts anywhere. Truth be told, anything with proper custard gets my vote. The cake batter comes out deliciously moist and spongey. Given the addition of lemon juice to this recipe, it is not at all sickly or too sweet.

Lastly, you will need a plastic pudding basin with a tight fitting lid. (Do not put it in the dishwasher or the lid will not fit.) Mine is a 2 pint size and my Mother in-law brought me one over from the UK for Christmas, but I'm sure you can order one on-line. You could order at the same time you order yourself some Golden Syrup. It's worth it!

Claridge's Chicken Pie

Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Secrets by Gordon Ramsay

Serves 4 as a main dish

4 skinless, boneless, free-range chicken breasts

1 cup pearl or baby onions, peeled

2 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 thyme sprig

6 slices pancetta or good smoked bacon, diced into strips

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 cups baby button mushrooms or any wild mushrooms you can find at the store

1/2 dry sherry or madeira

3/4 double cream or whipping cream

1 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tsp chopped tarragon

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry

1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp water

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Bring the stock to the boil in a pan and add the onions. Cook for 5 minutes. LIft out with a slotted spoon. Add the chicken, bay leaf and thyme to the stock. Return to a simmer and poach for 5 minutes. then take off the heat and let it cool in the liquid for a minute or two. Strain the stock into a jug, remove the herbs and season the chicken lightly and set it aside.

Heat a quarter of the butter in a pan and fry the pancetta or bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Wipe the pan out.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan. When it starts to foam, add the mushrooms. Stir fry for about 7 minutes until softened and season to taste.

Pour in the sherry and deglaze the pan of all the delicious bacon or pancetta pieces. Bubble until well reduced. Return the bacon and onions, and then pour the reserved stock in. Bring to a boil and cook until reduced by half. Add the cream and bubble until reduced by a third. Add the chopped herbs and set aside. You can make this the night before up to this point. Just reheat the sauce and add the chicken to warm though.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400F. Roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface until it's about as thick as a 1 pound coin (3 mm). Cut out four rounds using a small bowl or saucer. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and score the surface in a diamond pattern using the tip of a small sharp knife.

Brush the pastry with the egg glaze and bake for 10 minutes. It will have risen and will be golden. Then bake for a further 2 mintues with the oven door slighly ajar, to help crisp the pastry. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Heat your sauce until bubbling and add the chicken. As soon as it's warmed through, check the seasoning and then divide between your plates. Top with the pastry round and serve.

Golden Syrup Pudding

Adapted from Just Like Mother Used to Make by Tom Norrington-Davies

Serves 4

4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

1/2 cup sugar

a pinch of salt

4 tbsp milk

2 large eggs

34 cup self-raising flour

juice 1/2 lemon

3 tbsp golden syrup

If you have a food processor, combine the butter, sugar, salt, milk eggs and flour by blitzing until smooth. You can do this by hand too. Grease a medium size pudding basin (2- 2 1/2 pints) with a little butter. Add the lemon juice to the golden syrup to loosen it up and then pur it into the base of the pudding basin. Pour the batter on top. Cover the basin with a lid.

Boil a kettle full of water. Place the basin in a saucepan that also has a lid. Fill the pan with boiling water to come about 2/3 the way up the sides of the basin. Over medium-low heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 2 hours. Make sure it doesn't boil dry. Check every 30 minutes and top it up with boiling water if necessary.

When it's ready, remove it and allow it to rest for a few minutes. Remove the lid, being careful of the steam and place and upturned dish on top of the basin. Invert both the dish and the pudding and let the sponge plop onto the dish.

Eat it immediately with custard.

A Jug of Custard

Adapted from Just Like Mother Used to Make by Tom Norrington-Davies

6 egg yolks

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp plain flour

1 pint whole milk

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and flour until pale and smooth.

Heat the milk gently in a saucepan until it looks like it's about to boil (it will fizz on the side of the pan). Remove from the heat.

Whisk the milk into the egg mixture, a little at a time. In the meantime, select a pan that is large enough to suspend your mixing bowl over, and fill it with water and heat to boiling, creating a bain marie. Put the bowl on the pan and slowly and constantly stir the custard as you heat it up.

This takes a good amount of time, so be patient. The custard is ready when it starts to coat the back of the spoon. It gets thickern the longer you allow it to cook.

Pass it thorugh a sieve and allow it to cool in a bowl or the jug you want to use when serving it.

You can serve it cold, as I did, or hot. You can also add vanilla pods to the milk to infuse a vanilla custard flavor, but I like it plain with the golden syrup steamed pudding.

Toad in the hole

2010-02-26T17:21:00.007-06:00

Toad in the hole needs no explanation to any British person, but this simple dish combines two of my all time favorite things: sausages and yorkshire pudding. Toad in the hole is really just one large yorkshire pudding with sausages sleeping peacefully within the crispy batter. My father in-law, Johnny, was a huge fan of yorkshire puddings and would go great lengths to have them served with every meal.

This is such a simple dish that does not need to fancied up in any way whatsoever, but I like the addition of mustard to the batter as it goes ever so well with the sausages. I also urge you to follow a few key tips when embarking on your own Toad. Let us begin with the sausages. Start with great, not good, sausages. Please, please, please find a good local butcher. Herby pork sausages are best, but find one that you like and play around with it.

For secrets of successful yorkshire puddings, I refer to Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's The Good Granny Cookbook. (1) Use half milk and half water rather than all milk, (2) let the batter rest for half an hour, and (3) have the oil or fat really hot before you put the batter in. If you follow these rules, your pudding will always rise and it will be puffed and golden brown. I prefer a larger batter ratio to my sausages, so make this in a wide dish to give plenty of room for the batter to work its' magic around the pork.

Finally, make a great onion gravy to go with this and whoever you are serving this to will look at you with weepy eyes as they shovel forkful after forkful into their mouth. In England, instant gravy, such as Bisto, is rather popular. DO NOT even think about it. Remove it from your cupboard and never speak of it again.

If you're going to make this for two people, just use four sausages. For four people, you can add two more sausages and use the same amount of batter.

You can also remove the skin from the sausages and wrap them in a slice of prosciutto which is a delicious addition.

Toad in the Hole with Onion & Madeira Gravy

Adapted from Nigel Slater's Real Food

4-6 pork sausages

3 tablespoons of olive oil (you can also use dripping or lard)

2 free range eggs

1 cup of plain or all purpose flour

1 tbsp grain mustard

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup water

salt and pepper

For the gravy:

2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tbsp flour

1 cup stock

5 tbsp butter

1/3 cup Madeira, Marsala or red wine

worcestershire sauce

You may want to get your onions on the go before you start the sausages. See below.

Preheat your oven to 425F.

Start by mixing the batter. Mix the eggs, flour, milk, mustard and some salt and pepper together with a whisk. Beat the lumps out as you go. The consistency should be like thick cream and no thinner, so you may want to add the milk and water mixture together with the flour a little at a time.

Let it sit for at least 15 minutes.

Prepare your sausages, wrapping them in prosciutto or leaving them as they are. Put the olive oil in your baking pan or tin and pop it in the oven until it is smoking. When you're batter has finished resting, pour it into the hot fat and arrange the sausages in it. Bake for 25-30 minutes until puffed and golden.

To make the gravy, melt the butter in a heavy based pan and add the onions. Cook over low heat until golden and soft. Then cover with a lid and continue cooking until they are brown and soft enough to crush between your fingers.

Stir in the tablespoon of flour and cook for a few minutes until it's lightly browned, then pour in the liquids. Season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat down, letting it bubble gently for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Serve with your Toad in the Hole!

Hibernation months

2010-02-21T17:04:00.003-06:00

In an effort to kick start my Monday, I spent this afternoon baking a batch of bran muffins that I can feel good about devouring tomorrow morning. We're right in the middle of the worst month of the year, in my opinion. Sick and tired of donning layers of clothes and forecasts filled with snow, I'll do just about anything to add a ray of sunshine into February.

Quite rightly, I tend to spend the "hibernation months" (as we like to call them here in Chicago) with my nose to the grindstone so that as soon as it starts to thaw, I am ready to spend more time outdoors enjoying myself. As part of that workaholic ethos, I am happy to announce that as of today, Hunger Habit has a new look. Thanks to my super talented brother in-law to be, Anthony, I have a new logo. It's certainly not the end to my improvements here in my little blog world, but like anything else I try to accomplish, it's one step in the right direction.

As we count down the days to day light savings time, give these muffins a try. They definitely have a "good for you" value that you don't find in a lot of muffins. I used an Ina Garten recipe and left out the walnuts and kept the raisins and bananas. I have made them with other dried fruits and nuts, but the bananas tend to keep the muffin moist and delicious. You can try adding dried cranberries or apricots instead of the raisins and there are countless different variations worthy of pairing with bran.

I find that if I have a healthy breakfast ready to grab and eat at my desk, my day has an all together perkier beginning. Lately, I find myself staring at 11 am before I can even get to my to-do list. I just hope these muffins understand how much I am counting on them this week.

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home by Ina Garten

Makes about 20 muffins

2 cups unprocessed wheat bran

2 cups buttermilk, shaken

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

4 extra-large, free range eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup unsulfured molasses

2 tsp grated orange zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cups raisins

2 cups large diced bananas (2 bananas)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, and if used, I like the finely chopped nuts)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper liners or use silicon liners as I have.

Combine the bran and buttermilk and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one by one. Scrape the bowl and add the molasses, orange zest and vanilla.

Add the bran and buttermilk mixture and combine with a wooden spoon. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Making sure not to overmix, and with the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mix to the batter and only mix until just combined.

Finally, fold in the raisins, nuts and bananas with a rubber spatula.

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups using a large spoon and fill to the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tooth pick or cake tester comes out clean.

Leave to cool completely, unless someone steals a warm one from the muffin tin.

Best intentions

2010-02-14T17:57:00.005-06:00

Sometimes, a sandwich made of ham and cheese just won't do. There's nothing worse than unwrapping a soggy sandwich, one that was made with best intentions at the beginning of the day only to find that it has seeped its juices into the bread and made inedible. Some sandwiches are made to be devoured immediately, and this is one of them.

Hot sandwiches are a bit of a specialty in my house. Whether it's as basic as grilled cheese or a top of the line steak sandwich, when you serve it hot off the griddle, it takes sandwiches to the next level. Cold sandwiches seem a sad excuse for a dinner, but hot ones seem perfectly acceptable.

I made this Nigel Slater sandwich Saturday night after a hangover had pursued me most of the day. The combination of a hard work week, a perfectly prepared Gimlet, and a bottle of wine with my husband over a Friday night dinner proved a little too intoxicating.

When it came to Saturday night, a sandwich was about all I could muster. Just because you don't have the energy for a full blown dinner doesn't mean you can't pull something deliciously tasty together.

Mr. Slater is somewhat of an expert when it comes to stuffing great ingredients between two lowly pieces of bread. This spiced Indian chicken baguette involves a few more moments than slapping a sorry bit of ham and cheese between bread, but I can't emphasize how gratifying it is. The combination of hot, spicy and crispy chicken with the mayo and toasted baguette is something to behold. A cold beer or a salted mint lassi are good to have within easy reach, especially if you decide not to de-seed the red chilli as I did.

Spiced Indian Chicken Baguette

Adapted from Nigel Slater's Real Food by Nigel Slater

Makes 2 large sandwiches

8 large free range chicken wings

groundnut or olive oil for frying

2 small, hot red chillies, seeded and finely chopped (or not- your choice!)

3 thin spring onions, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste

a knifepoint of ground turmeric

2 small crusty baguettes

a little sugar

juice of one lemon

mayonnaise, about 4 heaped tablespoons

Salt and pepper the chicken wings. Head enough oil to cover the bottom of a shallow pan and cook the wings on each side until they have colored a little, about a minute or so on each side. Turn down the heat and cover and cook for about thirty minutes until they are cooked through.

Remove the chicken wings from the pan onto a plate lined with paper towel. Let them cool and then remove the meat from the bones.

Meanwhile, crush the chopped chillies, garlic, spring onions and turmeric with a few drops of the oil in a pestle and mortar. Split the bread in half and toast on the cut sides in a grill pan or under your broiler or grill. Heat your pan back up and cook the spice paste for a minute or two, being careful not to burn it. Put the chicken back into the pan and stir it until it's coated in the spice paste. Season it with a little more salt and a pinch of sugar and then add the juice of the lemon.

When it's all ready to go, cover the toasted bread with the mayo and pile the hot chicken onto the baguette. Sandwich the bread together, serving it with a little wedge of lime if desired.

Enjoy immediately.

Today I eat cake

2010-02-04T17:14:00.010-06:00

Milestone birthdays are one that should be celebrated with vigor and delight. My sweet sixteen pool party or finally turning twenty-one come to mind. I spent several fabulously days in London making my mark on thirty. First birthdays, though we may not remember them, require a large party of adults with alcohol and children running around on mad sugar highs.

My twin niece and nephew, Rosie and Davis, just turned one, and although I'm sure we could have bought them each a cupcake to wipe across their faces, I made them each a buttermilk cake with lots of pale pink and blue butter cream icing smeared on top.

It's straight from my baking bible, Nigella's How to Be A Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. I am forever grateful that my sister had two adorable children or it would have been a few years before I found this cake. It was hiding smack in the middle of the Children's section. It's a perfectly simple vanilla cake, just how I like all of my birthday cakes, so it boggles my mind that this should reserved just for kiddies.

There is something in each of us that I believe divides us into the chocolate birthday cake or the vanilla birthday cake camp. Maybe there are those that could go either way, but I'm firmly in the vanilla camp. I can't recall a birthday that I have celebrated over chocolate, and I don't plan on ever changing. I also don't particularly adore icing, but let me just say that this butter icing will convert anyone who says they find it too sickly or sweet. I had to tear the spatula away from my Dad after we had finished icing the cakes before the party.

To my delight, both Rose and Davis ate the cake and I know that they appreciated how I stayed up until 1 am covered in flour and staining my hands with food color.

Davis approached the cake as he does all other food and shoveled an entire handful into his mouth.

Rose, who obviously has a more discerning palate, tasted the sweet icing and wasn't sure at first, but then decided to indulge herself in her birthday treat.

Needless to say, Aunt Lisa ripped the cakes away from the high chairs before their little grubby hands could ruin the entire thing.

As you can tell, I am not a cake decorator and my hat goes off to those with decorating skills. I attack a cake, determined to ice it as quickly as possible so eating can commence, therefore I don't normally have time for sprinkles or God forbid, Thomas the Tank Engine or Barbie.

Buttermilk Birthday Cake

Adapted from How to Be A Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking, by Nigella Lawson

For the cake:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk (or 1/3 cup plain yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup low-fat milk)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

Keep in mind that the quantities above makes enough for one 9-inch square pan, 2 inches deep. You could quite easily make two 8 or 9 inch round cakes and sandwich them together to make an impressive birthday presentation.

For the icing:

1 1/3 cups softened unsalted butter

4 1/2 cups icing sugar or confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

Prepare your pans by greasing them with butter and lining them with parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside. Pour the buttermilk into a measuring cup and stir in the vanilla.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed or by hand until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between additions.

Add alternating increments of the flour mix and the buttermilk mix, blending well in between. This should take about 5 minutes.

Pour into your prepared pan or pans and bake for 40 minutes until it's beginning to shrink away from the edges and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then un-mold and let it cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, mix the butter and icing sugar together in an electric mixer, by hand or with a hand-held electric mixer. Add the vanilla and the milk and continue mixing until the icing comes together in soft peaks.

Add food coloring to make the desired color. Make sure your cake is completely cooled before icing your cake.

Eating for pleasure

2010-01-25T18:19:00.009-06:00

I don't know about you, but thinly sliced potatoes baked in cream until bubbly have the power to woo me any time of the day. There's something downright sexy about a potato dauphinoise or cheesy potato gratin. Served along side roast lamb or beef and you've got the makings of a truly glorious Sunday meal.

This version requires no addition of cheese and allegedly comes from a 19th century Swedish missionary named Jansson who founded a sect in Illinois, of all places. Where the story turns interesting is that this particular sect forbade eating for pleasure, yet this was the one dish he refused to give up. If that were true, then this seductive dish could lure any man or woman to yield to desire.

The addition of anchovies adds a serious depth of flavor and they literally melt while cooking, leaving behind nothing but a piquant bite to the humble potato.

I know I'm rather obsessed with serving anything and everything with a green salad, particularly one with a zingy, mustardy, vinaigrette that cuts right through anything rich that you're serving it with, but this dish is supper in itself. You don't need to make it as an accompaniment to meat, and it's perfect with a little salad on the side.

If you believe the story of Jansson, he served this as a midnight snack after late night opera performances. Trust me. You don't need anyone to break into a ballad to enjoy this.

Jansson's Temptation
Adapted from Living and Eating by John Pawson and Annie Bell
Serves 2

2 very large potatoes or 4 medium potatoes, peeled and finely sliced into chips
1 large onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced into half moons
1 can of anchovies in oil plus 2 teaspoons of the oil
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups double cream
1/2 cup vegetable stock
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease a small to medium gratin dish (see picture) with the butter. Lay half of the potatoes in the dish. Scatter the onions over the potatoes and then lay the anchovies over the onions.

Top with the remaining potatoes. Mix together the cream, stock and season with pepper.

Pour the liquid over the potatoes to half cover them. Spoon the anchovy oil over the potatoes and cover with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for another 25 -30 minutes until the top potatoes are golden brown and crisp and the sauce is bubbling up along the sides.

Chicken out

2010-01-18T20:04:00.010-06:00

Risotto is at the top of my list for mid-week suppers. I love nothing more than standing at the stove (glass of wine in hand of course) and stirring the plump arborio, coaxing each grain until its starches yield a creamy sauce. I've made risotto so often that I can quite happily go through the motions whilst my mind drifts to the day that has just passed.

I want to spend a moment on risotto as I feel it deserves nothing less, and a basic risotto recipe is the canvas for many beautiful dishes. Risotto can be made so many different ways, and I urge you to seek out your favorite combination. First, there is rice itself. Italians lean towards arborio, vialone nano or carnaroli, but arborio seems to be the easiest to find in the US and the UK.

Perhaps you could start with Risotto Milanese or one of my all time favorites Risi e Bisi... aka rice and peas. I'm not sure what can go wrong when you combine peas, pancetta, butter and parmesan. Who cares if there's rice in there somewhere? The best recipe I've found is from a cookbook my friend Liz gave me called Just Like Mother Used to Make. It is simple and divine.

Many an Italian will tell you how to and when to add the stock and wine, how much to stir, how little to stir.... everyone has an opinion. I've found through many a trial and little error that if you stand over it and stir it until there is no more liquid at the bottom of your pan when you pass a wooden spoon through it- it's time to add more stock. Again, refer to a basic recipe when attempting your first risotto.

The recipe I wanted to share with you is a little bit more than just another risotto. It's not particularly authentic, in fact it's from an Englishman. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall runs River Cottage in beautiful Dorset, England. Several years ago, he ran a campaign called "Chicken Out" to impress upon the UK public why we should buy free-range poultry and more importantly, why we should care about how our food is raised before it reaches the table. I'm happy to say that the "farm to table" philosophy seems to be a global phenomenon, but there is still much to be done. Whenever I get on my tiny soap box on this subject, I hear people raise the issue of money.

Here is one way to make those few extra dollars our pounds you spend on a free-range bird stretch to two or three meals, including a roast chicken dinner, a tasty risotto that could feed an army, any number of soups OR delicious leftover chicken sandwiches. I promise it will be the tastiest bird you'll ever eat. Don't feel obliged to make your own stock, but I can testify that doing so will make a huge and tasty difference to any soup or risotto.

Firstly, roast a chicken. Roast it any way you like, but I prefer to season it liberally with salt and pepper and rub the skin with butter. Simple as that. If you're being adventurous, add a 1/2 glass of white wine to the pan, add some herbs like tarragon or parsley, stuff it with a lemon and some garlic. Throw some small potatoes in the pan to roast with the chicken- the world is your oyster.

Roast in an oven at 425F for about an hour or hour and a half until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and thigh. A great tip from the Barefoot Contessa urges us not to follow outdated instructions. Test the temperature of your chicken and take it out when it reaches 140F (and juices are clear as above). Let it rest under foil for about 20 minutes and it will continue to cook to perfection.

At my house, a roast chicken is unparalleled as a Sunday supper. As you can see, my dog thinks so as well. Serve with a green salad and some tasty wine.

When your first meal is satisfyingly resting in your belly, remove EVERY SCRAP of meat from the chicken carcass and refrigerate.

Don't throw away the carcass. Use it to make a simple stock:

Chicken Stock

Adapted from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "Chicken Out" Program on Channel 4

1 cooked chicken carcass

the neck and giblets from the chicken, if you have them, but not the liver

1-2 onions, chopped roughly

2 bay leaves

1-2 large carrots, chopped roughly

3-4 celery sticks

1/2 a large leek, chopped roughly

sprig of thyme

parsley stalks

a few black peppercorns

1.5 litres of water (6 1/2 cups or 1.5 quarts)

Place the carcass in a pan, cutting it up if you need to, and add the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the water and bring to a boil. Let it simmer, uncovered for about 3 hours, topping up the water once or twice.

Pass it through a sieve and let it cool, removing the layer of fat that will solidify at the top.

The risotto that results from the roast chicken is deeply satisfying and brings new meaning to leftovers. To place it in front of someone is like a bear hug or a big thank you. I've made it many times, most memorably in Lima, Peru for our very good friend, Bod, to thank him for letting us sleep in his bed after hiking the Inca Trail. Enough said.

Roast Chicken Risotto with Sweet Corn

Adapted from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "Chicken Out" Program on Channel 4

Serves 4 with leftovers

1.5 litres or 1.5 quarts of chicken stock

3 tbsp butter

1 small onion, finely diced

1 1/2 cups risotto rice

1 glass of white wine

1 cup of sweet corn, fresh if you have it, but frozen or canned will do

grated parmesan cheese and a little more butter to finish

salt and freshly ground pepper

handful of parsley, chopped

Firstly, place your stock in a pan and heat it to where it's just simmering. Don't let it boil and evaporate while your risotto cooks.

Melt your butter in a heavy bottomed pan and add the onion, letting it sweat down until it's soft but not colored. On medium-high heat, add the rice and stir constantly for a minute, letting the grains absorb the butter from the onions. Again, don't let it color. Add your wine and stir until it's absorbed into the rice. This is when you start adding your stock, ladle by ladle, letting each one absorb completely until adding the next.

You want the rice to be done, but al dente and not mushy. Just before you add your last ladle of stock, add the sweet corn. Just before it's finished, add the leftover chicken and make sure it's heated all the way through.

When it's ready, add the butter, parmesan, seasoning and parsley. Stir it all through, tasting as you go to make sure the seasoning is right.

Serve with another green salad.

Clean and fresh

2010-01-14T17:11:00.008-06:00

Personally, I'm not one for new year's resolutions. Sure, I could give up the addictively spicy corn nuts from Whole Foods that I can't seem to get enough of and my husband can't stand to see me crunch. By the end of January, I can't remember what I've said I would do or wouldn't do and life swiftly kicks me into February.

I once gave up coffee for lent, something I've never adhered to, and everyone around me suffered. There is not enough tea in this world to keep me sharp and raring to go in the morning, in fact, it often puts me to sleep. One thing that I do require in the month of January is a return to clean and fresh ingredients that pair nicely with a pilates class or two. After all the holiday pie pans are put well out of reach, I often lean towards fish, particularly something steamed with enough flavor to keep it interesting.

I'm not sure authentically Asian this dish is, but I adore Southeast-Asian cuisine that combines hot, sweet, salt and sour in one zingy bite. This combination's praises are sung by chef Tom Kime, who I was lucky enough to take a class from in London. I have several of his dishes on my "to-make" list, particularly ones I adored on our trip to Vietnam, and the flavors he brings in his dishes are amazing.

The salmon I used in the dish below can be substituted for any fish you prefer. Halibut is nice, and cod is always lovely, if you can get it from a sustainable source.

I adapted this recipe from Bon Appetit's December issue. It is a great base recipe and you can adapt it in many ways. If I'm feeling particularly pure, I steam some fish like this with nothing more than a dash of sesame oil, soy sauce, some lime juice and some minced fresh ginger. Once it's ready to serve, top with some spring onions and you're ready to go.

Salmon with Hoisin, Orange and Bok Choy

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Serves 2

2 x 5-6 oz salmon fillets

2 heads of bok choy, cut into 6 pieces lengthwise

2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1/2 tsp grated orange peel

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

4 green onions, thinly sliced

handful of coriander, some leaves left whole and the rest chopped

1 tsp cracked coriander seeds

Preheat your oven to 425F. Lay out two 12 inch square of aluminum foil and put one bok choy on each to create a bed for your fish. Lay the fish fillets on top. Crack your coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or bash them up in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. Combine orange juice, lime juice, orange peel, hoisin sauce, 1/2 of the green onions and sesame oil. Sprinkle the fish with a little salt and the coriander seeds. Top each of the fillets with the sauce and top with cilantro.

Pinch and fold all of the edges until the fish is sealed in the aluminum foil. Place the packets on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Check to see the fish is done to your liking and serve.

You can serve some rice on the side or soba noodles, but I like to eat it just as it is.

Slowly for a change

2010-01-06T22:15:00.008-06:00

Whenever I'm traveling and leaving the boys by themselves, I always stock the fridge with a few nice leftovers and some easy-to-make dishes. Tonight we're due to get the biggest snowfall of the year, one that will make tomorrow's travels a challenge at best. If I'm honest, I'd love nothing more than to stay right here in wintry (yes wintry, not wintery) Chicago and see flake fall upon flake. Pants tucked into boots, we'd make our way to the street where everyone moves slowly for a change.

Some of my best childhood memories include a good old-fashioned snow day when the sleds were brought down from the garage wall and we headed to our local hill for hours of fun. Once inside, the cocoa would be poured into our special mugs (marshmallows required) and we would thaw by the fire.

Instead of thinking of the impending hustle and bustle that tomorrow morning will bring, I thought a nice big pot of beef stew would warm us through and leave enough to sustain Martin and Indy until I return.

My Aunt and Uncle were due to join us tonight, but they quite cleverly decided to drive south before the snow rushed in. We missed spending the evening with them, but decided leftover stew was better than no stew at all.

I adore this stew recipe for several reasons, but mainly because you do not have to brown the meat before popping it into the oven. You simply saute the onions with the sage, coat the beef in seasoned flour and add it all to the pot. It saves an untold amount of time and it can be in the oven and bubbling away in no time. You can make this with whatever root vegetables you prefer.

Whenever I'm making a weekday supper for guests, or in this case, just for the two of us, I want a few little nibbles that are easy to prepare, a one pot dish for the main event and a tasty dessert. It has to be something I can prepare before hand and pull out of the oven when we're ready to eat, rather than doing all the hard work after guests arrive.

For tonight's dinner, I kept our pre-dinner nibbles simple but special. I bought two adorable button-sized goat cheeses and marinated them in lemon zest, dried red chili, garlic and rosemary and extra virgin olive oil. I bathed them like little children over the course of an hour or so and kept turning them in the oil to coat them evenly. You could also put them in a little bell jar and cover completely with olive oil and keep until you're ready to use them, but this worked nicely.

Served with some marinated olives and mushrooms, it was a perfect start with a glass of wine.

All you need with this beef stew is a hunk of fresh French bread, warmed slowly in the oven, to soak up all the lovely juices. I'm always a sucker for a mustardy vinaigrette and some butter lettuces, but don't let me talk you into another step if you're not up for salad. Meat, potatoes, veggies and a thick red wine sauce are all a winter's night requires.

Don't forget that you can add any of your favorite vegetables to this recipe, the following are just suggestions.

Wintry Beef Stew

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Jools' Favourite Beef Stew

Serves 4

2 lbs stewing beef cut into 2 inch pieces

olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

handful of sage leaves

flour to dust the beef pieces

salt

pepper

2 parsnips, peeled and quartered

4 carrots peeled and halved or baby carrots, peeled

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into to cubes

1 lb small potatoes (I used fingerling potatoes)

handful of sunchokes (jerusalem artichokes) peeled and halved

1/2 bottle of red wine

1 1/4 cups of vegetable broth (you can use beef broth if you'd like but I think the red wine makes it rich enough)

2 tbsp tomato puree

zest of one lemon

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

handful of rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 300F. In a large casserole pan that is good for the stove top and oven, add the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions and sage leaves until translucent (about 3-4 minutes). While they are cooking, coat the beef in seasoned flour and add to the pan once the onions are ready.

Add the tomato puree, all of the vegetables, wine and stock and stir together to combine well. Season generously with salt and pepper and bring the mixture to a boil on the stovetop. Once it comes to a boil, put the lid on and put it in the oven. Cook for about 3-4 hours until the beef is completely tender (this will depend on how fresh your beef is.) Test it by taking a piece of beef out and mashing it with a fork. If it falls apart easily, it's finished.

If you want to keep this warm in the oven until you're ready to eat, just lower the temperature to 225F. When you're ready to serve, combine the lemon zest, chopped garlic and rosemary and sprinkle on top. Just like the gremolata (this time with rosemary instead of parsley) I topped my cassoulet with, this last minute injection of flavor will make the dish sing.

_______________________

For a final indulgence, try this superb dessert from one of my favorite cookbooks, Living & Eating by John Pawson and Annie Bell.

Simply scoop your favorite vanilla ice cream or gelato (in this case, I used Ciao Bella Tahitian vanilla gelato) and top with a shot of espresso. The ice cream needs to be frozen solid and the espresso piping hot. It's a grown-ups version of an ice cream float.

Tomorrow morning I'll be wishing that shot of espresso was waiting for me as I contemplate a snowy trek to the airport.

All is quiet

2009-12-31T06:22:00.006-06:00

This year has gone so quickly and I wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year. The holidays, like always, have gone by in a blur and here I am, early new year's eve morning, typing away. All is quiet here in Michigan, a fresh blanket of snow covers the beach and we're spending our last day skiing the tiny hills of a local mid-west ski resort.

Here is a recipe for a tried and tested mulled wine, one that says "happy holidays to you and yours" in a glass. I love the combination of the sharp citrus with the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla. When guests walk in the door wrapped in hats and gloves against the cold, they will be hit by an aroma that is instantly welcoming.

Mulled Wine

Adapted from Jamie Oliver

2 clementines, peel and juice

peel of one lemon

peel of one lime

1 1/4 cups sugar

6 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

3 fresh bay leaves

1 whole nutmeg or 2 tsp of ground nutmeg

1 whole vanilla pod, halved

2 star anise

2 bottles of Chianti or other Italian red wine

Peel large sections of your clementines, lemon and lime using a vegetable peeler. Put a large pan over medium heat and add the sugar, peel and then the juice of the two clementines. Throw in all other ingredients other then the star anise and wine. If grating a whole nutmeg, grate about 10 to 12 gratings into the mix. Pour in just enough wine to cover the sugar and bring to a boil. This will produce a flavored syrup that infuses the rest of your wine without cooking off the alcohol.

Keep this boiling for about 4-5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and it's a nice thick syrup consistency. Once this has cooled slightly, turn down the heat to very low and add the star anise and the rest of the two bottles of wine.

Let the wine warm slowly. This should take about five minutes and you'll be ready to ladle them into welcoming glasses. I like to make this ahead and then warm it up when I know guests will be arriving.

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Thank you all for reading my blog in 2009.... I'm looking forward to 2010!

xLisa

It's on

2009-12-19T15:08:00.008-06:00

It's on. Christmas is officially back on and my in-laws are due to fly in this Wednesday. Seeing as we've overcome several hurdles to get to this point, I'm approaching the cooking that this holiday requires with a calmness that is very unlike me. The week of cooking seemed to get kick started yesterday as I was preparing some pizzettes (mini-pizzas) for our neighborly holiday party.

I am hoping that the near disaster that occurred two minutes before we were due to head upstairs to the party is not a sign of things to come. As I went to fetch the innocent looking baking sheet from the very hot oven, I blinked and one entire tray of mini pizzas were upended on the oven door. With my face melting, I carefully salvaged all but one offensive pizza who's toppings were smeared across the oven's glass window. Mental note: add oven cleaner to the holiday shopping list.

Tis the season for get-togethers and festive gatherings of family, friends and co-workers. I am constantly in search for nibbles that will taste great with a cocktail or glass of wine. We decided to do a cocktail party for Christmas Eve at my sister's place and I'll be taking Ina Garten's roasted shrimp cocktail, some roast beef and arugula crostini and home-made chicken meatballs with peperonata.

These pizzettes, from Italian beauty Giada De Laurentiis, are perfect two-bite cocktail accompaniments. They use ready-made pizza dough that you can find pretty much anywhere these days. The last thing you want to be making from scratch at this time of year is pizza dough. Here's a helpful tip though: Make sure when you're rolling out the dough to use enough flour on both sides so that it doesn't stick to your counter-top and so the circles hold their shape.

I made three different toppings, but you can try a multitude of combinations depending on your tastes. Giada's toppings included caramelized onions, goat cheese and prosciutto and another with gorgonzola, cherry tomatoes and basil. I added a third topping combo with fresh ricotta, rosemary, red grapes and local honey from Heritage Prairie Market.

For the three recipes below, I actually bought 2 balls of store-bought pizza dough and got about 40 circles out of them and split them between the three different toppings.

Pizzettes with Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

1 ball of store-bought pizza dough (12-16 oz)

3 large onions, sliced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp each of kosher salt, ground black pepper, herbs de Provence and sugar

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

5 slices of prosciutto cut into 2x2 inch pieces

handful of parsley, chopped for garnish

2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter (or you can use a glass about the same size and a sharp knife)

Start your onions first. These will take about an hour, so I started mine in the morning. In a heavy skillet, add the oil over low heat and combine the onions, salt, pepper, herbs de Provence and sugar. Stir together and cook over a very low heat for about an hour. Stir them occasionally until they become caramelized and are a dark, gooey golden brown.

Preheat the oven to 475F. Roll out your dough on a well floured surface until it is a 1/4 inch thick round. Using your cookie cutter or the top end of a glass, cut out the circles and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Top each dough circle with a spoonful of your caramelized onions and then some of the crumbled goat cheese. Don't add the prosciutto until after they come out of the oven.

Bake for about 10 minutes until the golden and bubbly. Top with the prosciutto pieces and place them on a serving tray. Chop the parsley and scatter over the entire platter and serve immediately.

Pizzettes with Gorgonzola, Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

Adapted from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis

1 ball of store-bought pizza dough

1/2 cup gorgonzola, crumbled

3 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered

handful of basil leaves, torn into pieces

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Follow the instructions above for the pizza dough and top each round with a spoonful of crumbled gorgonzola. On top of the gorgonzola, place 2-3 tomato quarters.

Bake at 475F for 10 minutes until golden and bubbly. Remove from the oven and place on a serving platter. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle the basil leaves over the entire platter.

Serve immediately.

Pizzettes with Ricotta, Rosemary, Red Grapes and Local Honey

1 ball of store-bought pizza dough

15 oz tub of ricotta cheese

2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped

1 cup of red grapes, sliced in half

2 tbsp honey

salt and pepper

Follow the instructions above for the pizza dough and top each round with a spoonful of the ricotta cheese. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the cheese with a pinch of rosemary. Top the cheese with 2-3 red grape slices and bake for 10 minutes at 475F until golden and bubbly.

Drizzle with honey and remove to a serving platter. Sprinkle over a little rosemary to garnish.

Serve immediately.

In limbo

2009-12-17T08:24:00.007-06:00

I am currently in a state of limbo. My in-laws are due to fly over from London next week and with an airline strike looming, we're wondering if it will be a Christmas dinner for 5 or a lonely dinner for 2. We are all trying to be positive and hope that they will arrive, as planned, with all of their newly bought winter attire and ready to face the Chicago cold. When I put it in perspective, planning the Christmas meal at the last minute is the least of my worries. I know that if pushed, we'll all pitch in and make it happen. My sister-in-law, Helen, will definitely be put in charge of the roast potatoes. She is a potato fanatic. As long as there are a few cold roast potatoes and sausages left in the fridge Christmas night, I'm pretty sure she doesn't care what was served hot on the table.

In preparation for the holidays, I spent a weekend at my sister's with my two Aunts, Patty and Michelle, making Christmas cookies. I adore spending time in the kitchen with these ladies, sipping wine and chit-chatting. We managed to make 8 tins of cookies in one afternoon. The following are are a few recipes that are perfect for this time of year to either have around the house during Christmas or to give as gifts.

If you're like me, I spend a lot of time during December gathering recipes for parties, family gatherings and gift giving. I like to incorporate the new with the old, incorporating family recipes that are made every year with new ones to keep it exciting. Over the next week I'll be sharing a few recipes that are essential in my kitchen this time of year.

My Aunts spent the night before they arrived at my sister's making the dough for the Neapolitan Christmas Bars. These shortbread cookies are unbelievably tasty. In fact, many of them did not make it to the tins. The recipe came from my Aunt Patty's friend, Karen Howard, from LA and date back to 1983.

I brought Triple-Ginger cookie dough (in lieu of making gingerbread) with me. I made these after seeing them in the latest issue of Bon Appetit.

Click on the link above to see the recipe. I made the dough balls smaller so we could maximize the number of cookies. It says it makes 40 but we got about 60 smaller cookies out of the recipe.

They turned out perfectly chewy and packed a mighty spicy punch with the combination of cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, grated fresh ginger and crystallized ginger.

We made the Spritz dough on-site. These cookies are a permanent fixture in my childhood Christmas memories. My Mom would always make these and chocolate chip cookies. We made them on the day because the dough cannot be refrigerated and we needed to use a cookie press. You can get a cookie press at most places that sell baking gear.

My sister, Stacia, is a great baker of cookies. You can always find some home-made cookie dough in her freezer ready to thaw and pop in the oven. I have a feeling this habit will come in handy as her 11 month-old twins grow older. I inherited most of my Mom's cookbooks, but there is one special book that had Stacia written all over it. It is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies circa 1969. The Spritz cookies come from this book and she makes these sugar cookies every year.

I know that Christmas cookies are a thing of tradition, but I urge you to add these to your holiday cookie recipe collection.

Neapolitan Christmas Bars

Makes about 60 cookies

2 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp good vanilla extract

1 square of unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/4 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries, well drained from their juices

1 or 2 drops of red food color

1/4 cup of finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Don't forget that the dough has to be refrigerated overnight for this recipe.

Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter until light with an electric mixer. Gradually beat in the sugar and add the vanilla. Continue beating until the mixture is very light and fluffy.

At a low speed, beat in half of the flour mixture and mix the rest with hand to form the dough.

Divide the dough into thirds and place in separate bowls. Add the chocolate to one bowl, the cherries and food color to the second and the nuts to the third bowl. Combine until completely mixed through.

Turn out the dough separately onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. With hands, shape each half into a 7 inch long roll and flatten each roll to a 2 inch width. Stack a layer of each on top of each other and press lightly. Repeat. This should make about four separate sections of dough.

When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375F and slice the dough in 1/8 inch pieces to produce a cookie that shows each of the three layers. Lay them on a non-stick baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. They should be cooked through, and only slightly starting to turn golden. You don't want to over-cook these.

Spritz Cookies

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies

Makes 5 Dozen

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

1 tsp good vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Colored sugar sprinkles in green and red

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts. Beat well. Sift together the flour and baking powder and gradually add to the butter mixture, mixing until you get a smooth dough. DO NOT CHILL.

Using a cookie press, force the dough through it and onto an un-greased cookie sheet. This may take a little practice, but it's easy to get the hang of. Sprinkle each cookie with colored sugar.

Bake for about 7-8 minutes until just turning slightly golden.

Season's spice

2009-12-09T17:09:00.009-06:00

I have no idea where the first part of December has gone, but all of a sudden, I look back and the last I've posted was Thanksgiving. A quick blink of the eye sees me wrapped in my eskimo coat and thanking my lucky stars for a nice warm fire to sit beside. As busy as we all are at this time of year, it's easy to cut a few corners just to stay above water. If I break down my holiday to-do list, I end up savoring every little chore- even writing and addressing cards. I can remember several years when my own Mother did not send out Christmas cards (shock/horror) and she was rewarded with a case of shingles the other side of New Year's Eve.

Having learned from that lesson, I decided that in order to tackle the holiday properly, one must start early and take your time. There's no reason to work yourself into a tizzy right before you're supposed to be relaxing and enjoying yourself.

Two years ago, I started making homemade Christmas gifts for close family and friends as a way of sharing a little bit of my kitchen with them during the festive season. As usual, I have referred to Nigella Lawson and her excellent gift ideas. Homemade gifts may seem like an extravagance, but I've found it ends up saving money and is so much more thoughtful than the obligatory bottle of booze (which isn't to say that booze isn't welcome during the holidays.)

2007 was my last Christmas in London and I made chutney delivered in little mason jars with a cheese knife and a block of mature Montgomery cheddar from Neal's Yard. If there is one place I miss most in London, it is Borough Market with its vibrant food stalls and delicious smells wafting from every direction. At Christmas time, there are carols being sung and vin chaud available to sip until you have no choice but be moved into the holiday spirit.

2008 saw a return of the chutney as I had moved state-side and all of my family had heard of it, but had yet to taste it. This time, my then very-pregnant sister sipped tea from my sofa while I dolloped the chutney into jars and she tied them up in pretty tea towels as packages.

This year, I have strayed from the edible gift and moved to the drinkable, which I feel will go down a storm among those around me. This spiced chilli vodka will not only dazzle when presented to the lucky receiver because of its floating cinnamon stick and red chilli, but it will be welcomed when a festive tipple is ready to be poured.

By all means, this is made to be the base layer of a well-rounded bloody mary (see last post for bloody mary inspirations.) You may also find it goes well with a little tonic and a squirt of lime. Please let me know how you use it!

I ordered my glass flasks from the Container Store but if you can't get them there (or you're in the UK), then I would just recommend getting something that holds a 1/2 liter of vodka. I also purchased a small funnel, so keep that in mind if you don't already have one. In order to sterilize the bottles, I put them in my dishwasher (without soap of course) or you can follow these instructions.

Chilli Vodka

Adapted from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

Makes enough for one 1/2 liter bottle

2 cups of vodka (I use Svedka)

1 dried red chilli

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 cardamom pods, crushed

1 cinnamon stick

Sterilize the bottles (see above). Drop all of the spices into the bottle and pour the vodka in. You may need a little extra vodka to fill to the bottom of the neck of the bottle. Close the container and let it sit in a cool place for about a week.

You'll notice in this picture that I made the one on the far right last. They'll become a darker auburn color as time goes on, mainly from the cinnamon stick.

Serve with tomato juice (and all the fixin's) for a festive bloody mary!

Meal in a glass

2009-11-29T17:42:00.007-06:00

I wanted to share a quick recap of a few Thanksgiving highlights. We started the day with my sister's bloody marys that were laden with her famous "fixins". If there's one thing that girl can do, it's top a bloody mary with meats, cheeses and assorted pickled vegetables to keep you coming back for more. I know a bloody mary can be made an infinite number of ways, but we start with a good tomato juice mix and add horseradish, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce as a minimum. We call it "meal in a glass," and I would definitely recommend that you make these at your next home made brunch. You can add the traditional celery and then go crazy from there. Below is a pepperdew pepper, pickled asparagus, dill pickle, stuffed olive, salami and marinated mini-mozzarella ball.

As so many holiday cooking stories go, our turkey was cooking away nicely, the butter laden cheesecloth neatly laid on top was doing its job of keeping everything moist whilst browning the skin to a delicious crispiness. Meat thermometer at the ready, we plunged it into the leg after about 3 hours and declared it done. Oh dear. We hadn't started cooking any of the sides, although everything was expertly prepared by my Dad's wife, Lisa. After she and I quickly finished off all the side dishes, another inspection of the turkey proved that alas, it was not finished. Back into the oven it went. Instead of pressing the panic button, we decided to drink through many, many bottles of my Dad's wine and a gorgeous bottle of Champagne that our friend, Phillipe, had brought. I like Julia Child's mantra of never apologizing for any mistakes you make in the kitchen.

Luckily, it turned out to be a very relaxing Thanksgiving and the turkey was expertly cooked and carved.

Here are two recipes that are staples with my family and can be cooked throughout the holiday season. I mentioned the shrimp loaf before the weekend began, and remarkably, it successfully set when I made it Wednesday night. Unfortunately, I dipped it for a few minutes too long in the warm water bath I made it. After several glasses of wine, I cared very little, but wished it had turned out of its mold perfectly.

The recipe is from my Grandmother, Dorothy, who obtained it from a friend she used to play bridge with. It really is a great salad that pairs wonderfully with turkey, which is why it made its way into our holiday traditions. I can imagine it would also blend perfectly into a ladies' luncheon buffet and a nice game of cards and cocktails.

I'm painfully aware that the photo is not as appetizing as I might have hoped. It's pale pink and wobbly, but trust me- it's fantastic with turkey, especially leftover turkey sandwiches.

Shrimp Mold

1 cup mayonnaise

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1 lb cooked small shrimp (if you only have larger, cut it into small pieces)

1/2 ground pepper

1 1/2 celery

1/2 onion

1 pkg lemon jello, regular size

1 1/2 cup tomato juice

1 pkg Knox unflavored gelatin

Mix the Knox gelatin with a few tablespoons of water and whisk until it's dissolved. Heat the tomato juice until just before boiling. Add the hot tomato juice to the gelatin and dissolve the lemon jello into the tomato juice.

While that is cooling, cream the mayonnaise and cream cheese together. Finely chop the onion, green pepper and celery in a food processor and add to the cream cheese/mayo mixture.

Add 1/2 tsp salt and combine with the tomato juice once it has cooled.

Take a loaf pan or any other gelatin mold you have and grease it with Pam spray or take a paper towel with vegetable oil and make sure the mold is greased.

Pour the mixture into the mold and refrigerate overnight until firm. To turn out successfully, make a warm water bath in your kitchen sink and dip the mold into the water for a matter of 30 seconds before turning it out onto a plate. Don't leave it too long in the water like I did!

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This year, my Mom's pumpkin soup didn't make the main event, but I just finished off the holiday weekend by preparing it for an early supper. In years gone by, she used to serve this pumpkin soup in small individual pumpkins for a fancy start to any festive meal. You can also make this and serve it out of the pumpkin you got the meat from, but honestly, it's fairly tedious. I like to make a big batch of this and dip ladle after ladle into it until it's gone.

Another thing to mention about this pumpkin soup is it's nicely rounded out with a tablespoon of rice and potato, so it's got body and richness, unlike other thin pumpkin soups I've come across.

I took a large pumpkin that I bought at the end of October and cut it's meat into large chunks and froze them in two batches. I think cooking with squash or pumpkin can be tricky because of all the peeling and knife work involved, so doing the pumpkin ahead of time makes the soup preparation super simple.

Pumpkin Soup

Adapted from the Winners cookbook by The Junior League of Indianapolis

1 medium size pumpkin cut into large chunks (or about 3 cups)

4 tbsp unsalted butter (1/2 stick)

1 cup chopped ripe tomatoes or 16 oz can of chopped tomatoes, drained

1 quart boiling water

1 quart chicken stock

1 tbsp long grain rice

2 cups peeled and sliced potatoes

salt

freshly ground pepper

freshly grated nutmeg

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over low to medium heat. Add the pumpkin and tomatoes and cook for about five minutes. Do not brown.

Add the boiling water, chicken stock, rice, potatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for 40-60 minutes Puree the soup using a hand blender (which I prefer because it literally takes seconds and you can do it in the pot you're cooking in or risk burning yourself while blending) or a little at a time in a blender or food processor.

Check seasoning at this point and add salt, pepper and a little nutmeg before tasting again.

Pour soup into individual or the larger pumpkin shells to serve and garnish with nutmeg.

Divide and conquer

2009-11-25T08:47:00.008-06:00

This year, we are approaching Thanksgiving with a divide and conquer strategy. I'm heading south today to Indiana to spend the holiday with my family and we're each bringing something. Other than assisting in my Dad's kitchen, I'm bringing the all important cranberry sauce and attempting my Grandmother's shrimp loaf. Before we go down the shrimp loaf path, let me just say that it is either loved or hated. One thing's for sure- I can't remember a Thanksgiving without the gelatin based shrimp loaf that my grandparents used to make and it is the secret ingredient to leftover turkey sandwiches. More of that to come over the weekend.

Let's start with the cranberry sauce. As I was running through the grocery store yesterday on the way to the fruits and vegetables, I spied cans of cranberry sauce whirring past me, conveniently located at the end of an aisle along with other Thanksgiving essentials. If canned sauce is part of your holiday meal, try this simple recipe to turn the beautiful ripe berries that farmers in Massachusetts harvest every year into an unforgettable side dish. My Aunt and Uncle, who live in Cape Cod, were lucky enough to go and see the harvest last month.

My family from England will be joining us for Christmas this year, which means more turkey. I've convinced my sister in-law, Helen, to try a turducken this year, but everything else will stay traditionally English, including my favorite- bread sauce. When I put the cranberries on the stove yesterday with the brandy and sugar, I made a double batch to freeze for our Christmas dinner. As soon as I tumbled the crimson fruits into the pan, it felt like the clock had started to tick on the festive season. My mind wandered to the time I'll be spending at the stove over the next six weeks preparing for that one special meal. I've been squirreling away holiday treats in the pantry and just waiting to bring out the decorations. If you're like me, I adore the holidays, but hate the out-of-season run up and wince when I see Christmas lights in windows before Thanksgiving.

Like so many of my holiday dishes, I refer to the Queen of Christmas, Nigella Lawson. Many of them work for Thanksgiving as well, but I have to admit I was dreading eating the same meal twice within the matter of a month. I'll definitely be mixing up my Christmas menu to vary it, but I'm equally excited about both holidays this year.

Cranberry Sauce

Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

1 x 340g packet cranberries

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 tbsp cherry brandy (or other red fruit brandy you can find)

1/3 cup water

Put everything into a pan and turn the heat on high. Stir everything together and let it bubble and pop for about 10-15 minutes. Keep in mind, as Nigella quite rightly shares in her book, that once the berries have burst, it's best to take the pan off the heat, even if you feel there is slightly too much liquid. It will solidify quickly as it cools (like jam). Let it cool completely before you put it in a jar ready to serve. Taste to make sure it's not to tart, which it probably won't be. If it's too sweet, add a squeeze of lemon juice.

You'll need to fluff it up with a fork when you're transferring it to a serving dish.

If you're like me and make double, put the cooled sauce into a container and freeze it until December.

Luckiest girl on earth

2009-11-18T15:54:00.018-06:00

I've had a few weeks to process our trip to Napa, and though I'm still waiting for our wine shipment to arrive, I can't recall a place I've visited in the US that I liked more. It was truly an escape from my mid-west city life filled with discount wines from Costco. Although we did little more than drink, eat and rest, I felt as if we packed a lot into our three days. I know there weren't many moments when I didn't have a glass of wine in my hand, but I honestly think I could move to Napa tomorrow and be happy. The landscape was spectacular and varied. We visited vineyards in the valley and then drove up winding paths until we felt as if we were on top of the world.

I am most certainly not a wine expert, but we learned as we went along. Our first day was shrouded in mist and rain as we arrived from San Francisco. Our first stop was Frog's Leap, where as novices we stumbled past their red barn and a pomegranate tree towards the tasting rooms. When you are from the land of corn, the sight of pomegranate or persimmon, as we later saw, on a tree, tends to blow the mind.

The beautiful tasting building was complete with a roaring fire and a dozing orange tabby cat.

We headed straight to their back deck overlooking the vineyard and gardens to start our first tasting, unsure of what to expect.

We were immediately approached by a friendly woman who set us right at ease as she poured each of their wines into the glasses set before us. We picked at a selection of cheeses and dried fruits and immediately began to enjoy ourselves. Huge, ripe pumpkins studded their gardens and we patted ourselves on the back for choosing to visit in autumn. It felt as if we were sitting on our own back porch, sipping wine and chatting as a tempting croquet set sat next to us.

Reluctantly, we moved on. From there, we drove up a never-ending path past red wood trees and eucaplyptus until we reached Kuleto Estate. As promised, this place is something to behold. The tour, which we completed under umbrellas, was undoubtedly our most drunken affair. Lets just say they pour extremely generously there, and we had a fabulous time. The property is vast and pizza ovens and party areas seem to be around every corner.

After drying off, we continued through their tasting (and a huge plate of artisan cheeses) until we realized we had definitely missed our last appointment of the day. At this point, no one cared. We headed up to a room overlooking the vineyards where our late lunch was laid out.

Enticing smells wafted from the adjoining kitchen. Inside, Executive Chef, Janelle Weaver, was preparing a rabbit stew and putting the finishing touches to her panna cotta for an upcoming tasting event. Like a shy school-girl, I chatted to her for a few moments as I let my job envy get the best of me. Wine does this to me.

We spent the evening back at the Inn on First, soaking in the jacuzzi and heading out to Angele where we enjoyed a laid back French dinner, expertly prepared and paired with a half carafe of the house wine. My sister had the cassoulet, which inspired me to include lamb sausages the next time I make my own version. Several of us were wondering how we would wake up and do it all over again the next day.

The following morning started with the promise of bubbles. Before we left the Inn, Jim made us a hearty breakfast of his rosemary soft polenta topped with mozzarella, poached egg and crumbled Italian sausage. As we finished our coffees, Schramsberg beckoned where we toured the caves and learned the pain-staking steps that are gone through to get those bubbles in each bottle.

"America's first house of sparkling wine" did not disappoint and I particularly enjoyed how Ann, our tour guide, talked us through possible food pairings. Of course, my favorite was the toasty, buttery $100 bottle, which would go perfect with home-made macaroni and cheese.

With the sun shining, we headed to Pride Mountain, tasted the makings of Merlot from barrels and lunched atop a hill with hawks circling overhead.

Our last stop was a private tour of Jericho Canyon who are just finding their feet when it comes to visitors. We didn't mind- we had the place to ourselves. Our final night was spent in Yountville at Thomas Keller's Ad-Hoc. I loved the simplicity of the menu and the fact that there are no choices to be made. Before slipping off to bed, we sat around the Inn's open fire, sipping glasses of velvety Prager port, vowing to add a bottle to our shipment.

On more than one occasion during the trip, I felt like the luckiest girl on earth. Napa had a way of taunting me, somehow showing me what I'm missing out on in a valley dedicated to wine and food. I definitely plan on going back, but maybe, just maybe, I can re-create some of the magic I found there in my very own mid-west kitchen.

California dreaming

2009-11-12T06:51:00.011-06:00

Since returning from San Francisco and Napa, my mind has been racing with a plan for my next visit. As I mentioned last week, I'd never been to California before, and she definitely didn't disappoint. I'm convinced that one does not visit this area of the world only once in their life, and I'm secretly planning another trip in the not to distant future. Martin and I spent two feet and leg aching days traipsing up and down San Francisco's unforgiving hills and only scratched the surface, but loved every minute of it.

Day one started with our hungry stomachs calling for a substantial lunch after we made our way from the airport to the hotel. Nopalito, in Lower Haight, was our destination and we were rewarded with a sunny window spot and two chilled glasses of "Death and Taxes", a Moonlight Brewing Company black lager. As we quenched our traveler's thirst, we munched on spicy corn nuts as they brought us a bowl of Totopos con Chile to share. Home made tortilla chips doused in salsa de arbol, topped with cotija cheese left us licking our fingers as we squeezed wedges of lime and dipped them in crema. Their signature carnitas followed with house made corn tortillas and pickled vegetables- perfect with the black lager.

Needless to say, we needed to walk off the heavy lunch and only San Francisco's streets know how to make you shed a few pounds. As bike enthusiasts, we visited the Mojo Bicycle Cafe to revive ourselves in the late afternoon. After seeing death-defying feats of fixed-wheel cyclists skidding to stops on brightly colored bikes, we decided we were thankful for Chicago's flatness.

Later in the day, I chased uphill after cabs to take us to the next foodie destination, only to realize that in the end, making the trip to Berkeley to Chez Panisse on our first day was too much of a trek. Somewhat disappointed, but too exhausted to care, I've vowed to return some day soon. To brighten the spirit of my taste buds, I reminded myself that we had booked a table at Delfina for the following evening and fell deeply asleep dreaming of a morning at the Ferry Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.

I awoke bleary eyed the next morning to a call from my sister and her husband, Stacia and Andy, who were at the airport in Chicago on their way to join us. From the sound of her voice, her cold had worsened and the only medicine awaiting her on the west coast was a fantastic combination of cough syrup and wine.

We quickly headed to the Ferry Building for breakfast where my husband promptly seated himself at a cafe to sip coffee and nibble a croissant while I indulged myself amongst the food stalls. The market outside was in full swing and inside, I was drawn to Cowgirl Creamery.

Even early in the morning, I can't fight the urge for cheese. The macaroons at Miette also proved to be a temptation.

We had just enough time to finish our coffees outside on a bench overlooking the bay when we headed back into town to meet Stacia and Andy.

We spent the afternoon with them on a cruise around the bay, passing underneath the Golden Gate bridge and circling Alcatraz. Even as the cold wind whipped through our hair and threatened to toss us overboard, we felt lucky to have seen these two iconic sights up close.

That evening, we made our way to Delfina in the Mission district, and as we slid into our seats, the waitress poured a stunning Syrah to start off the evening.

We each ordered pastas to start with, passing them around with eyes rolling at the melt-in-your-mouth goodness. The unanimous winner was a special of the evening- a pappardelle with duck sugo, a ragu of sorts that's been passed through a sieve until it is so rich that it coats each noodle with its deep, delicious flavor.

The salad that Stacia and I shared may seem as if it wasn't the star of the show, but I'm a sucker for a great salad, and this is definitely one to try at home. Try this lemon vinaigrette paired with little gem lettuce, blue cheese (they used Pt. Reyes), radishes and sieved hard-boiled egg. Season well and drizzle the dressing. I could have eaten a huge plate of it.

We shared portions of Fulton Valley roasted chicken and perfectly cooked pork chops before calling it quits and heading straight for dessert wines. On our way back to the hotel, we were starting to see the affects of a weekend indulging in food and wine and realized this was only the beginning. The following day we would leave the city behind for wine country. Napa was calling my name.

Finally here

2009-11-03T20:01:00.004-06:00

It's finally here. It's the night before my first real holiday since.....hmmm, can't remember. I don't count Michigan, as a holiday in my mind is truly an escape to somewhere you've never been before. It's hard to believe, but I've never been to California. I've just finished packing my bags, incredibly into a carry-on that includes all of my curly hair products to manage any frizz that the San Francisco fog may blow at me. I've got plenty of eating and drinking just waiting for me on the west coast.

With so many choices, but with only two nights to spend, I've booked tables at Chez Panisse in Berkeley and Delfina in the Mission District, and then we're off to Napa. We're meeting my sister and her husband in San Francisco and then driving to Napa for a few days of touring local wineries and eating more fantastic food in the valley. I can't wait to tell you all about it and start cooking from the inspirations I'm sure to find.

We're staying at the Inn on First, and from the looks of it, the breakfasts are stand-out amazing. I'm getting used to having breakfast made for me. Last weekend, my Dad's wife, Lisa, made this amazing breakfast tart. It's almost savory enough to serve with a green salad, but a fruit one will do.

As usual, don't worry about making the pastry yourself and make this for the ones you love this weekend. I'll be back to report on my experience in foodie heaven.

Breakfast Tart

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Serves 4

1 sheet puff pastry (ready-made from the grocery)

1 egg, beaten lightly with 1 tsp of water

3 oz creme fraiche

2 oz shredded Gruyere cheese

8 bacon slices, cooked until crisp

3-4 free range eggs

2 tbs finely chopped fresh chives

Thaw your pastry (I like to put mine in the refrigerator overnight). Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 425F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry until it is 1/4 inch thick and is a 10 x 8 inch rectangle. Place it on the baking sheet and score a border 1/2 inch in from the edge around all four edges. Prick the center of the pastry with a fork so it doesn't puff up in the cooking process.

Brush the borders with the egg wash and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the creme fraiche and cheese together and season with salt and pepper. Spread it on the pastry, keeping the border nice and clean. Lay the bacon on top, draping it over each other, and bake for 14 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through cooking.

Remove the sheet from the oven and using a fork, prick any large air pockets that have appeared. Crack the eggs onto the tart so that they're spaced out nicely around the surface. Bake until the egg whites are set and the yolks are soft- about 7-10 minutes depending on your oven. Watch them closely at this point- you don't want to over-cook the yolks.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped chives and serve immediately. I like to cut this with a pizza cutter.

Nostalgia bubble burst

2009-10-30T12:05:00.011-05:00

I spent last weekend re-visiting my college town of Bloomington, Indiana with my Dad as my husband rode in the Hilly Hundred. On one hand, the entire campus was gloriously bathed in sunshine, mums bloomed from every street corner and the students traipsing through the leaves took me back to a care-free time where the worst thing that could happen was a pop-quiz. Just as my nostalgia bubble burst, I felt incredibly old.

To combat any walk down memory lane, especially one that included too much fast food and pizza, I yearn for uncomplicated food like the dishes I got on a visit back home. I have a real soft spot for the simplicity of a hearty, soul-warming casserole. Here are two of my go-to recipes that are popped into the oven and emerge steaming and ready serve, with no real need for side-dishes other than a crisp green salad or some bread.

The first is a twist on a traditional English cottage pie, the beef-based brother of the perhaps better known, shepherds pie. I like Jamie Oliver's version which adds cheese to the mashed potato. You can add chives and/or horseradish to the mash- ideal with beef. This is the type of fare my mother-in-law would make for my husband when he came home for a weekend's visit while away at college (or university as they would say in England). She still makes the meanest casseroles I've ever tasted. Whether it's creamy chicken with bacon and potatoes, a simple homemade lasagna or her famous lancashire hotpot, her one-dish meals could warm any soggy Manchester evening. I'll definitely be attempting her hotpot in the very near future.

The second is literally a one-pot wonder. This is almost an ode to my own mother's way of cooking. Although I got many of my skills from her, I remember that she used to take any short cut to make a recipe quicker. That's not always my philosophy, but this roasted vegetable and chicken casserole is exactly the type of meal she would have adored when time was an issue.

I like to use whatever veggies I have in the fridge and I do vary it. I've listed everything below that I used, but you can add whatever you've got in stock. Cherry tomatoes on the vine are a great addition as they tend to burst and add a little sauce to the end result. Just mix everything together and place the tomatoes on the top- two vines would be good with this amount of chicken and veggies.

I always have chicken breasts in the freezer, but I've made this with thighs and legs before to make a more robust roast.

If you cut everything the same size, they'll all cook at the same time.

Roasted Autumn Vegetables with Balsamic Chicken

Serves 2-4

1 butternut squash cut into cubes

1 red onion, peeled and quartered

1 red pepper, cut into fat strips

3 potatoes, cut into chunks

1 small can of sliced black olives

2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

1/2 cup of feta cheese, cubed

1 large handful of fresh basil, torn

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp chilli flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F. Combine all of the above (except the feta) and toss everything together in a large casserole dish so that everything is coated equally with the oil, vinegar and seasonings.

Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes until the potatoes, squash and chicken are cooked and tender.

Add the feta and roast for a further 5 minutes until it becomes slightly golden on top and starts to melt.

Serve on it's own or with a salad.

-----------------------------------------

As we left for Chicago, we drove the long way through some old country roads lined with the remains of corn stalks ready to be torn down while some fields were being plowed as we passed.

I remember driving out into the countryside as a kid in high-school to snap some pictures for my photography class. Most of those fields are filled with homes now, but there are still some farms that remain.

After so long spent in another country, it seemed a fitting end to a weekend full of looking into the past.

Stolen and sacred

2009-10-21T14:23:00.008-05:00

There are few things I find more soothing than walking quietly through my neighborhood with my dog. With only a few trees to distract Indy, it's a chance for me to clear my thoughts and appreciate a perfect autumn day. Admittedly, when it's warm and the sun is shining, I can slow my pace and allow myself to enjoy the moment- the leaves changing color and the sweet smell of laundry wafting through a window. When it's cold or the rain is beating against my jacket, we're both in a rush to get home.

It's on a day like today, after a week of below normal temperatures and the fear of winter was running deep, that a warm day feels stolen and sacred. It's just a normal Wednesday. My husband has been fighting a cold all week, and instead of venturing out to a few of our favorite local haunts, I've been trying to fill him with as much home-cooked goodness as I can.

Here is a perfect, comforting mid-week dinner idea; seasonal and wholesome, delicious and moreish. It combines my obsession for smooth, creamy parmesan polenta with autumn kale and wild mushrooms.

The basis of the mushrooms comes from one of Jamie Oliver's recipes in Jamie at Home for mushroom bruschetta. I love these fried wild mushrooms spooned over toasted, garlic ciabatta and a crisp glass of white wine. I added kale and all of a sudden, we have a delicious vegetable sauce perfect for pasta or even better, over polenta.

I am lucky enough to live a few doors down from a dry cleaners owned by a lovely little man and Terragusto, an Italian cafe that makes their own pasta daily and serves the creamiest, most heavenly polenta.

Ground polenta is available at Whole Foods and other grocery stores. I use Bob's Red Mill Corn Grits (also known as polenta) and follow the recipe on the bag for a basic Italian polenta. The mixture can be poured into a cake pan and allowed to set, which you can then slice and grill, but I like the creamy version best.

A typical topping for polenta in Italy is a meat and tomato sauce. It's an extremely versatile alternative to other carbohydrates that you may pair with meat, and I especially like it with a simple roast chicken.

Polenta with Kale and Wild Mushrooms

Serves 4

for basic Italian polenta:

6 cups of water

1 tsp salt

2 cups of polenta or corn grits

3 tbsp butter

1/2 cup of grated parmesan

Bring the water and salt to a boil in a saucepan and gradually stir in the polenta. Simmer for 30 minutes, keeping it covered as it will pop and bubble. Keep the heat low and stir often so it doesn't stick to the bottom. After 30 minutes, season with salt and add the butter. Stir in the parmesan and take it off the heat. Keep it covered until you're ready to serve.

for the mushroom and kale saute:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

1 large bunch of kale, roughly chopped

3 cups of wild mushrooms, torn or sliced (crimini, chestnut, oyster or any of your favorites)

t tsp thyme leaves

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp water

salt and pepper to taste

Tear or slice the mushrooms and heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. It's important that the mushrooms have enough room in the frying pan to lie in one layer or they will not brown properly.

Heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in the pan and place the mushrooms in the pan with the thyme leaves, garlic and red chilli flakes. Saute for a few minutes until the mushrooms are just cooked and remove them from pan leaving the juices behind.

Place half the kale (the pieces with the stems should go in first) in the same pan over high heat and add 2 tbsp of water. Cover and steam for a couple of minutes. Add the rest of the kale and steam again for a few minutes until just wilted and the stems are tender.

Add the mushrooms to the pan with the other tbsp of butter, then add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat ready to spoon over the creamy polenta. Be sure to pour the juices over the polenta and grate some parmesan over the top to serve.

Cassoulet not casserole

2009-10-15T10:36:00.017-05:00

Cassoulet first made a big impression on me many years ago during a romantic dinner with my husband at La Poule Au Pot, a French restaurant in London. Set in Pimlico on a little square, the candle-lit tables are perfect if you're looking to be transported to France without taking the Eurostar. Thick-accented waiters brought hot plates of garlicky, buttery escargot that started my love affair with the snail. To follow, we split a bubbling bowl of French baked beans with melt in your mouth goose, pork and sausages and then sopped up all the juices with crusty french bread- this cassoulet had me hooked.

After many of my trips to France, it's clear that this country dish is made an infinite number of ways based on local traditions, family traditions and personal preference. Julia Child, who included a recipe for cassoulet in her first volume, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" researched all different types of beans and meats only to be told by her French co-author that her efforts were not French.

Having said that, I felt a little pressure lifted from my shoulders. I wanted my version to be as authentic as possible, but easy enough to make in one day or make ahead. Julia suggests that you can prepare it in one day, but "two or even three days of leisurely on-and-off cooking are much easier." Her recipe calls for dry beans and homemade sausage cakes, neither of which have made it to my version.

The types of meat that are included in a cassoulet is also widely debated, but can include any of the following: goose, duck, game, pork, sausage, lamb and mutton. I've played around with this recipe and decided to use Andouille sausages, duck confit and pork loin. I've added lamb in the past and you can as well, but you can omit it and add more pork if it's easier. I also use canned cannellini beans which takes out the time consuming soaking and cooking process.

To serve this, I make a bistro salad with a zingy mustard vinaigrette and oven-hot French baguettes. The salad does wonders to cut through the richness of the cassoulet.

Last weekend, I made this for our friends Alethea and Philippe and finished the meal with Ina Garten's French Apple Tart for the full on effect. This is perfect for a dinner party in the middle of winter. I served this last year to our friends Karyn and Nick while we polished off several bottles of red wine.

This quick version does not take long at all to put together, and you can bake it ahead, even the day before. You heat it back up in the oven and then top it with breadcrumbs to make the crusty topping.

I would suggest you get your meat from a local butcher- my thick cut bacon, duck confit, Andouille sausages, pork and lamb were all bought from the guys at Paulina and were amazing.

I always call ahead to see if they have duck confit, which they have frozen. If you can't find duck confit, you can omit it, but they add an extra depth to the dish and the meat is so tender it literally falls off the bones.

Use sausages that are available to you- I love the taste of Andouille, but you can use Toulouse sausages if you can get them or hot Italian or plain pork- whatever you like.

Controversially, I sprinkle gremolata on the top of this - it's something that I like on the top of many hot casseroles as it adds a little freshness and depth of flavor to it. It's Italian, so don't tell the French.

Cassoulet

Adapted from Small Parties by Marguerite Marceau Henderson

Serves 6-8

1/4 pound thick-cut bacon, diced

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced into half moons

4 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1- inch cubes

1 pound boneless lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 links of Andouille sausages, cut into 1- inch pieces

2 legs duck confit

1 x 6 oz can of tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

1 cup water

4 x 15 oz cans white beans (great Northern beans or cannellini), not drained*

1/4 cup brandy or cognac

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

For the topping:

2 cups of fresh bread crumbs from a French loaf

4 tbsp melted butter

For the gremolata:

handful of parsley leaves, chopped

zest of 1 lemon

1 garlic clove, minced

*I don't drain the beans until I'm ready to use them- depending on the size of your pot, the liquid in this might come to the top. I add the beans at the end and if I need extra liquid, I drain a few cans and then add one or two with the bean liquid.

Preheat the oven to 350F or 200C. Start with a large, heavy, oven-proof dish with a lid and put it on the stove-top over a medium-high heat. I love this earthenware pot I got in London at Gill Wing- it's perfect for stovetop and in the oven.

Saute the bacon in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes and, then add the onion for another 2 minutes, stirring often.

Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaves, pork, lamb and sausage, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to brown the meat on all sides. Add the duck confit at this point along with the tomato paste, beef broth, water, beans, brandy, salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a bubble, then cover.

Cook in the oven for one hour. You can make it ahead up to this point.

If I'm serving it that day, I do all this in the morning and then put it on the stovetop. If it's the day ahead, I put it in the refrigerator and bring it out an hour or so before I want to put it in the oven again.

When you're getting ready to serve, put it into the oven, covered, again at 350F, for about 15 minutes. I always reserve a little of the beef broth just in case the mixture has dried out too much at this point.

Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs and the melted butter in a bowl.

After the 15 minutes is up and it's nice and bubbly, pull it out of the oven and remove the bay leaves and sprinkle the crumb mixture on top.

Bake, uncovered for about 10 minutes until the crumbs have browned lightly. You may need to keep an eye on it at this point.

Sprinkle with the gremolata and serve.

French Bistro Salad

Adapted from Jamie's Kitchen by Jamie Oliver

2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced

white wine vinear

2 bunches of lettuce- frisee, gem, or other green leafy leaves

leaves from one chicory bulb

1 bunch of fresh chives, left whole, not chopped

1 handful of chervile, leaves picked

2 handfuls of fine french green beans

for the dressing:

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 cloe garlic, peeled and finely chopped

9 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the shallots in a small dish and cover them with the white wine vinegar- leave for about 10 minutes.

Wash your lettuce, chervil and chives and spin dry. Remove the chicory leaves and place them all in a bowl.

Cook your green beans in salted boiling water until tender, but not limp. Drain and cool. Leave these out and serve them room temp. Add them to the salad bowl.

Remove the shallots and add them to the bowl. Put 4 tbsp of the remaining vinegar in a bowl, add the mustard, garlic and a pinch of salt. Whisk in the oil until it emulsifies, taste and season with salt and pepper.

I like to make this in an old jam jar instead of whisking- I just shake up everything except the oil and at it a little at a time, shaking as I go. If you've got leftovers, this will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Dress the salad and serve.

One for the weekend

2009-10-09T11:38:00.012-05:00

There's something deeply satisfying about putting something in the oven to roast for most of the day. This slow-cooked lamb salad is a favorite of mine, and one that I cooked on many a weekend in London. It can feed a small crowd, depending on how many sides you make with it.

This is definitely one for the weekend, so pick an upcoming Saturday or Sunday, one that you want to sit down and eat at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and this will be a lunch to remember. Last Sunday, I got this in the oven at about 9:30 while I was listening to records and pottering around the kitchen with my cup of coffee.

It's so easy to assemble at the last minute that we took the dog to the beach, stopped for a pint and made it back in time to pull together a late lunch and a lazy afternoon.

Pomegranates have become superfood stars in the last few years, and they adorn this warm lamb salad like bright pink jewels ready to burst open in your mouth. I like to beat the little things with the back of a wood spoon, spanking them until they all splash nicely on top of the shredded lamb. When there's plenty on top, I squeeze the rinds so the pink juices run all over the meat.

This is another of Nigella's recipes, one that I come back to again and again from her book, Nigella Bites. You'll probably need to order a shoulder of lamb from your local butcher- my friends at Paulina Meat Market set me up with a nice 5 1/2 pound specimen that was beautifully trimmed.

The shoulder is typically a cheap cut of meat for the amount that you're getting, and it really does cook down to the point of falling off the bone. Best of all, in my opinion, is the carrot that sits underneath the lamb. When I pull this out of the oven, I fish it out immediately and covet the soft vegetable that's been sitting in gravy all morning. Nigella calls it "the cook's treat," which I have seriously taken to heart. As I pull this out of the oven, my husband appears from nowhere and wants a little taste of carrot, maybe with a little hot lamb pulled from the underside of the shoulder. I know I shouldn't indulge him as he doesn't technically qualify as the cook, but I can never resist his gorgeous, pleading eyes.

I serve this with a platter of roasted peppers with almond and feta (also featured in the same book). If I'm looking to bulk this meal up for a group, I add a carb like couscous with sultanas and maybe some chopped coriander and mint. I've also done a creamy potato gratin with it that works well.

Warm Shredded Lamb Salad with Mint and Pomegranate

Adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

Serves 6

1 shoulder of lamb (approximately 5 1/2 lbs or 2 1/2 kg)

4 shallots, halved but not peeled

6 cloves of garlic

1 carrot, peeled and halved

Maldon salt

2 cups of boiling water

small handful of freshly chopped mint

1 pomegranate

Nigella writes that you can cook this overnight, which does make sense if you'd like it to be ready for lunch time the next day. If you want to do this, just put it in an oven preheated to 140C or 280F and follow the rest of the instructions.

If you're going to do it the day of (which is what I do) then just preheat the oven to 170C or 340F and cook it for about 5 hours.

On the stove top, get the roasting tin you intend to cook the lamb with and put it over a medium-high flame. Put the lamb in, fat-side down, and brown it. This will take a few minutes- you'll get coloring across the middle and that's it.

Meanwhile, fry your vegetables briefly in the fat and sprinkle with a little salt while you're boiling the water. Pour the water over the vegetables and replace the lamb, fat-side up.

Let the liquid come to a bubble and then tent it with foil and place in the preheated oven.

It seriously couldn't be any easier than that....let it cook for about 5 hours while your house fills with the sweet smell of roasted lamb.

In the meantime, I char the peppers on the grill and have them ready to go.

When you're ready to serve, simply remove the lamb from the roasting tin (don't forget the cook's treat!) and let it sit for a moment before shredding it with a couple of forks. At this point, my dog is salivating at my feet giving me his best "I'm starving" look. The meat should literally be falling off the bone.

Get a large platter or a large shallow serving bowl and pile the shredded meat all the way to the edges. Sprinkle with the Maldon sea salt, that should crumble between your fingers, and the chopped mint.

Halve your pomegranate and with the back side of a spoon, pat the rind of the fruit until the little seeds start popping out. This may get a little messy, so an apron may be required. Once each side is complete, squeeze one of the halves until pink juice flows all over the meat. Serve at once!

Nigella also notes that if this is left to go cold, the fat will become a white and congealed, so keep this warm at all costs. If you're going for leftovers, simply pile some in a pita bread and microwave for less than a minute, finishing it with Nigella's suggestion of a bit of hummus.

Grilled Peppers with Feta and Almonds

Adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson

Serves 6

8 peppers, your choice of colors

100 g feta cheese

1/2 a lemon

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 handful of blanched or flaked olives

2 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley and mint

Wash and dry your peppers. You can grill these several ways, but the idea is to char the outsides until they are black. My favorite method is on my gas grill, conveniently located just outside on our covered porch. I wack up the heat to high and put the peppers on and close the lid. Every few minutes, I come back to check on them and flip them until they're cooked on all sides.

You can also do this over an open flame of your stove OR in a grill pan if that's easier for you.

Either way, when the peppers are charred, pop them into a bowl and immediately cover with cling film, letting their skins steam away from the flesh. Leave this about 20 minutes minimum. If I'm going out between cooking and having lunch, I leave these in the bowl for hours and come back to peel and de-seed them.

Cut or tear them into wide strips and arrange them on a large platter. Simply sprinkle with the extra virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper, a squeeze of the lemon juice and then scatter over the almonds, feta and finally herbs.

It's a simple but tasty salad with colors that will brighten your table. Use any leftovers in pasta or with the lamb above.

Foodie in the family

2009-10-06T20:09:00.006-05:00

What would a cold snap in Autumn be without a pot of spicy chili simmering on the stove? I ventured from my ground beef chili recipe (which normally includes sweetcorn per my husband's request) to try my cousin Becky's veggie chili recipe.

I knew I had to try it when she said there was Guinness in it, but the fact that she's the Managing Editor at Cook's Illustrated AND on-screen test cook for America's Test Kitchen really swayed me. After talking to her yesterday evening, she's lucky if I don't show up on her doorstep in Massachusetts and beg her to take me to work with her.

Becky grew up watching Julia Child on TV after school with her twin sister, Valerie. After graduating from college, she worked on a securities trading floor in NYC, but when offered a big promotion, she turned it down and went to cooking school. If ever there was a poster child for following your dreams, Becky is it. She's been with Cook's Illustrated for 10 years and even met Julia when she visited the set of America's Test Kitchen, produced by the same people that did The French Chef.

Since trying this chili, I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to my boring old ground beef stand-by. It's superbly seasoned and the addition of cashews at the end makes it so toothsome, I swear you won't miss the meat. The Guinness makes the sauce rich and earthy. In the version I made, I used half light red kidney beans and half cannellini beans, only because that's what I had in the pantry. I've also thought of adding a little pumpkin to this the next time I make it. My mother in-law once served a chili with pumpkin and I think it would make a delicious twist.

One important note- I absolutely adore the smoked cheddar that goes on top of this. Don't be tempted to get a bag of tasteless shredded cheese - you will seriously miss out. I'm a huge believer in the right accompaniments, and this is one that I won't eat chili without again. Using a box grater, I shredded my applewood smoked cheddar from Wisconsin with the paprika rind coming out in flecks of cream with red tips.

Becky's Vegetable Chili with Guinness

Adapted from Grace and Grit by Ken Wilbur

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 tbsp chili powder (Becky uses Penzeys mail order- it's worth it!)

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 bottle of Guinness

1 x 28 oz can of whole tomatoes

3 x 15 oz cans of red kidney beans (you can substitute light red kidney beans and/or cannellini beans as well)

1 tbsp freshly chopped oregano

3 tbsp freshly chopped parsley

1 cup of chopped cashews, unsalted

smoked cheddar for grating on top

salt to taste

In a dutch oven, saute the onion, celery and green peppers in the olive oil for about 10 minutes until they are softened and slightly browned. Add the garlic, chili powder and cumin and saute for another minute.

Add the Guinness, tomatoes and beans, breaking up the tomatoes as you stir them in. Salt to taste (using kosher salt if possible- about a tbsp to begin with.) Simmer for an hour at least- longer won't hurt.

This is where I think this recipe goes to extraordinary- about 30 minutes before you're ready to serve, add the cashews, oregano and parsley. Simmer away for the last half hour and you're ready to dish it up.

Sprinkle some of the grated smoked cheddar on top and serve with bread (I made mine with cornbread) and a pint of Guinness!

Becky suggests variations including adding some chipotle peppers which are readily available in cans at grocery stores. She also makes this in the slow cooker with dried beans on occasion.

Letting go

2009-09-30T18:23:00.018-05:00

Autumn is finally here, introducing itself with a firm handshake this Monday as temperatures dropped and the winds picked up. I'm not sure what's wrong with me this year. Normally, I look forward to the change in seasons, welcoming the crisp air that cuts through the stickiness of summer. The problem is, I never felt very sticky over the past few months, never felt the heat was getting to be too much. I'm having a problem letting go of summer. Maybe it's the deep seeded fear I have of the impending cold, but I can't quite bring myself to pack away summer's cotton clothes in exchange for wool.

To pluck up a bit of cold courage, I've delved deep into my favorite autumn recipes and am planning some serious kitchen time this weekend. I've bought a big bushel of honeycrisp apples, only available this time of year, which in my opinion are the king among apples here in the mid-west. I also picked up a pumpkin from a local market to display proudly on the front step until it's time to carve. If I can't look autumn in the eye now, I never will.

First in the autumn line-up is this fig tart, inspired by one of my favorite places to eat in Islington, Ottolenghi.

The first time I walked in, I had mixed emotions. I've always had dreams of owning my own restaurant, and I thought this was the place I had in my mind. Through the glass doors on your left is a picturesque display of pastries, cakes and the biggest pile of meringues you've ever seen. On the right are platters of savory dishes including meats, vegetables and quiches which you can choose to combine any way you like. Sliced rare roast beef with home made dipping sauce or the roasted chicken were always delicious. Roasted squash with chilli and yogurt or cold, crunchy broccoli with sliced almonds were lovely accompaniments.

Down the center of the narrow restaurant was a long, smooth, never-ending corian table where people sat in bright orange chairs next to strangers. For breakfast, Dualit toasters plugged in from sockets up above in order to "toast-as-you-go."

Needless to say, I loved this place. What I most remember about Ottolenghi is taking my Mom, Pam, there on her very last visit to London. She came on her own, which was very special. I took her here for lunch on the first day and she made me go back twice for the fig tart. She was at a stage in her illness that made her pickier than usual and this tart really did it for her.

I used black mission figs here, which are perfectly in season at the moment and are lusciously ripe. Use them as soon as you buy them, or they will spoil. I say this is a tart, but it's more of a sponge cake with fruity caramel topping. You can use any type of fruits for this. In fact, I had planned on making a plum tart but turned them into jam several weeks ago.

I feel like I claim that many things that I make are simple, but this is quick and easy and the results is visually impressive. I must warn you about making the caramel sauce. It's such a straightforward thing, caramel sauce, yet if you don't watch it closely, you have a dangerous mess that is unusable. On my first attempt, I got a little distracted and didn't watch it- big mistake. It quickly turned black and burnt and if this happens, you have to wait for it to cool before pouring it out and starting over. Don't put cold water in or it could splatter and burn. I carefully poured mine into an empty tin can.

If you watch the caramel sauce, it will start to turn slightly golden, take it off the heat and it will be ready to accept the little halves of figs. This is literally a one pan process. You make the caramel in a shallow pan, arrange the figs in a design you'd like to see on the top- I normally start with an outer circle of figs and work my way in. Then you simply dollop the sponge cake mix on top and pop it into the oven to bake.

I adapted this recipe from a grocery delivery company I used in London called Ocado. They had a recipe section that I would often go to for week night inspiration. I found this and worked with it until I was happy with the outcome.

Pam's Fig Tart

For the caramel sauce:

1 1/3 cups of sugar

3/4 cup of water

For the sponge cake mix:

2/3 cup of butter at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/5 cups self-raising flour

3 eggs

2 lbs figs, halved lengthwise

Preheat the oven to 325F. Halve your figs and place to one side. Combine the sugar and water in a shallow pan to make the caramel sauce. Over low heat, stir the sugar until it has dissolved and then bring the sugar water to a boil. Once it's boiling let it simmer without stirring until it starts to turn slightly golden.

Remove the pan from the heat- it will continue to bubble and become richer in color.

Let it cool slightly before placing the fruit in a nice formation (circular if you'd like.) This will be the top of your cake. In a food processor or mixer, combine the sugar, flour and butter until mixed. Add the eggs one by one until combined. Stop as soon as it comes together to form a nice sponge mixture.

Spread the mix on top of the fruit and bake for one hour. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Run a knife around the edges and turn it out onto a plate. Serve with creme fraiche or a dollop of greek yogurt.