Tastiest Book Posts

I always think I'm going to have a lot more time to accomplish all the little things I want to do while I'm on vacation. Somehow, I usually manage to get none of those things done, and this vacation was no different. In between the great view, the less-than-ideal service, all the people I only see once a year, and work I brought with me, Caleb's retreat passed by so quickly I barely realized I'd missed Saturday. Hopefully you'll forgive the tardiness of this post.

I've talked about it and sent pictures around about it, but I haven't actually offered the date pistachio praline tartlets from At Home in the Whole Foods Kitchen as a possible post. It already has a few word-of-mouth votes, including one from Wuppertal. However this post series is all about voting here on the blog, so vote on four possibilities people shall.

A) Date Pistachio Praline Tart(lets) {v, gf} from At Home in the Whole Foods Kitchen

B) Black and White Cupcakes from Sprinkles Baking 

C) Flattened Chicken Thighs with Charred Lemon Salsa Verde from Mozza at Home

D) Moroccan-spiced Chicken with Dates and Eggplant from Simple

I'm late posting, but I will try not to be late blogging about the winner.

 

This week I'm in California, without much access to a kitchen or any of my cookbooks. I don't want to skip a week of ideas, especially since there are still so many to try, so every option on this week's list is something I've made and loved.

A) Spiced Honey Bread from the Rye Baker

B) Easy Chicken and Dumplings from the Cook's Country Cookbook

C) Spiced Parsnip Cake from Food52 Baking

D) Easy Meat Lasagna from the Cook's Country Cookbook

It seems like there's a theme to these options, however unintentional... Please vote by Monday.

I wrote a nice little post, but then I hit publish and it seems to have disappeared on me.

This weekend we've been eating our faces off, first with a Thanksgiving dinner party, then at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, and tonight with another dinner party during the Ohio State-Wisconsin game.

Somehow, I still have a ton of food in my house to make this week. Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, lemons, green beans, chicken, pumpkin, and apples. Fall has clearly arrived in my kitchen.

A) Butternut Qquash, Swiss Chard, and Kale Salad from Cook Yourself Sexy

B) Pumpkin Apple Challah from Modern Jewish Cooking 

C) Poached Chicken with Green Beans and Olives from Gourmet Today

D) Gingerbread Pumpkin Waffles from Brunch at Bobby's

Please vote by Monday or leave an alternate suggestion.

I'm in San Diego for the weekend! We spent a lazy day eating breakfast burritos and watching the less-hilarious-than-anticipated movie Central Intelligence before our friends' wedding. I managed to avoid opening my laptop the entire day, which I'm counting as a win, even if it means I'm posting this week's idea post pretty late. Oops. It's still Saturday in California....

The four new options this week are:

A) Silky Roasted Bell Pepper Sauce with Pasta, Zucchini, and Basil Ribbons {vegan} from Thug Kitchen 

B) Lemon Yogurt Cake from Sarabeth's Good Morning Cookbook

C) Lamb Meatballs Stuffed with Feta and Spinach from Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul

D) Chai Sugar Cookies from Little Flower Bakery

Thanks for voting!

I'd had plans to go to PA this weekend for a garlic festival to finally see my cousin, but it was cancelled due to rain. So instead, I had grand intentions about getting a lot done and preparing many posts for my blog today. Instead, after an epic Costco trip, I started a batch of croissants from Tartine, tried to figure out what to make with all the fresh vegetables I managed to cart home (barely), made three batches of cookies to freeze for later instead, roasted a bunch of red peppers and eggplant for turning into chickpea red pepper fritatta and baingan bharta respectively, then parked myself on the couch with the fourth book in a YA series, Throne of Glass, which I cannot tear myself away from. It's a good thing the library hasn't lent me book five yet, so I can actually do something useful with myself tomorrow.

As I might have overshopped just a smidgen, my plan for the week is to efficiently cook from my fridge stocked full of mushrooms, kale, spinach, cabbage, apples, carrots, spring onions, and beets plus a pantry full of squash, sweet potatoes, and onions. Those ingredients are guiding this week's list of recipe ideas:*

A) Jennie's Chicken Pelau from Small Victories

B) Tomato, Beet & Carrot Soup from Gjelina

C) Buckwheat Bergamot Double Chocolate Cookies {gluten-free} from Alternative Baker

D) Kabocha, Olive Oil, and Bittersweet Chocolate Cake from Gjelina

 

As usual, please vote by Monday night, and if you have a different idea or would like to see something proposed previously, please say so here!

 

*Well, okay, the produce has nothing to do with the chocolate cookies....

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I love how close I live to NYC. There's so much to do, eat, and learn there, sometimes all at once. When I first moved to the area, I spent a lot of time searching google for cooking classes, because I thought I might be able to find great recreational classes for cheap. Alas, one of the side effects (maybe) of the overwhelming societal interest in food (Evidence #1: Freddie Prinze Jr's cookbook) is recreational cooking classes cost more than I expected. My opinion on most courses rapidly became "I can teach myself this for much cheaper, even if I mess up several times." However, some dishes are harder to teach oneself than others, and certain techniques/recipes/implements aren't necessarily readily accessible. So when I noticed a class at the Institute of Culinary Education by Daniel Rosati on the Lost Arts of Handmade Pasta, I decided this was a class well worth the entrance fee.

I'm pretty certain (I called and spoke with someone at the school) these classes work by splitting participants up into small groups, and everyone cooks one or two dishes, then people get to taste everything at the end. I find that method rather disingenuous, as it's certainly not obvious from the course descriptions, however I'm hopeful this Handmade Pasta workshop will be worth it. Students can request to work on a particular dish, and since the class will be this Wednesday evening, I thought I'd alter the standard recipe vote options again, and have you vote for which lost pasta I work on. I'll post the results and the recipe on Thursday*.

A) Corzetti Stampati (Embossed Hand-Stamped Pasta Coins with Herb Sauce)

B) Maccheroni alla Chitarra ("Guitar String" Spaghetti with Rich Meat Sauce)

C) Fregola (Sardinian Couscous with Lobster Sauce)

D) Cappelletti Messicani (Bottle-Cap-Shaped Pasta "Sombreros" with Chickpea Sauce)

E) Turtei cu la Cua (Piacenza-Style Tortelli Stuffed with Ricotta and Swiss Chard, with Tuscan Tomato Sauce)
*Edit 9/24: I said Thursday and it's Saturday! I'm sorry internet, I overpromised this week and managed to get caught with after-work commitments. Pasta is coming... tomorrow :/ thanks for being patient!