Recipes

Beef jerky is a great way to get a little pick me up during your day and is a great take along snack for your summer road trips or backpacking adventures. Although it’s protein packed and great fuel for your body, it’s not exactly inexpensive or as flavorful as it could be, that is, until you make it yourself. It takes very little prep time and can be made to appease even the most persnickety palate.

Sometimes I have crazy ideas. Crazy food ideas. Taking one thing and turning it into another. That is what happened yesterday. It was all I could think about until I was able to hit the grocery store this morning for some of the necessary ingredients. Necessary ingredients because I had to make these cookies. It wasn’t even an option anymore.You know what my crazy idea was? I was going to turn a classic Italian Cannoli into a cookie. Why? Because I thought it would be good.

Marion and her sister over at “She said, she said” have been writing about nostalgic/comfort food such as tuna casserole and meat loaf. Well, that got me to hankering after meatloaf, so, what’s a gal to do but whip up a little “pain de viande” (everything sounds tres chic in French, doesn’t it?). I leapt in with gusto, completely disorganized but chomping at the bit to have meatloaf for the dinner hour.Warning!

Although we have turned our attention towards more quintessentially summer flavors, we still have beets galore at the farmers’ market and are always pleased to discover new ways to eat them. Here’s a vibrant, crunchy, no-oven-required and ridiculously quick preparation we picked up from one of our beet sellers.We’ve highlighted raw beet salads before, and this is another one to add to the list.

If making frozen treats is on your summer bucket list and you’ve had a long list of excuses — no time, no ice cream maker, or no Popsicle molds — let me introduce you to granita. Granita is a frozen fruit dessert made from fresh fruit and water, blended and frozen until icy, flaked with a fork and frozen again. The result is a delightfully crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth fruit ice, perfect eating all on its own.

Trail mix is the undisputed king of outdoor snacks! Whether you’re hiking the Appalachians or just going to a nearby park for some time in the sun, a bag of trail mix in your backpack is insurance against low-blood sugar. What’s your favorite mix?We like trail mixes with a nice balance of salty, sweet, and sour, and we usually keep it simple with just a few ingredients.

Looking for a light no-bake summer dessert that still looks impressive?We’ve been waiting to try Summer Pudding until we finally had some summer weather. The dessert is a British classic and consists of bread layered with berries that have been cooked in sugar, water and a little bit of liquor. The bread and berry mixture goes into the fridge the day before. The whole operation took only about 30 minutes (and that’s with the photos)!

Something’s brewing in NYC’s Nolita. Hidden away down a narrow flight of concrete steps off Lafayette St. is Pravda, an atmospheric Russian bar-bistro. Infused with the rich, warm tones of well-worn wood and old leather, and accented with earthy reds, Pravda’s Old World style doesn’t end with the decor.

These days it seems I look for every and any excuse to make cake. I have been on a bit of a baking rampage, and my tiny studio kitchen is nearly groaning under the weight of so many cakes. It’s gotten quite ridiculous. Not that I personally have a problem with cake for breakfast every day, my waistline, however, does indeed have a problem with that.

Ever just want a delicious cookie recipe filled with a whole lotta chocolate?Then this your lucky day because I have one here for you that is not only a chocolate cookie itself but it is stuffed with chunks and chunks of delicious white chocolate.What a combination… So yummy! So for all you white chocolate lovers out there… what could be better than that…. Nothing!

It’s no surprise that baked beans are a new favorite subject among food bloggers: they are incredibly cheap, laughably low-maintenance, and perfect for a summer barbecue or camping trip. I always marvel at how quickly they disappear from my table: true, they are delicious, but few would agree that they have much aesthetic appeal (the above photo is extremely flattering). In short, baked beans are easy proof that beauty is only skin-deep.

After writing about this cherry recipe from The Atlantic yesterday, we decided to try the leave-the-pits-in method with another fruit: plums. It was so easy and fast, and we love the way the whole, pudgy plum looks nestled in a bowl with some ice cream. Get the recipe, below…We followed a similar technique as in the cherry recipe, stewing our fruit in a mixture of water and sugar. But because we used so little liquid, we really could call this steaming rather than poaching.

There’s a restaurant near my husband’s office called Rice that makes—you guessed it—really good rice. There’s one thing that I always get and it comes with this amazing black rice with edamame. It’s the kind of dish that didn’t sound like a big deal, but then I tried it and was a happy, happy lady. After having it a few times and thinking about it many more, I decided that it was time to recreate it at home.

We get pretty wide-eyed at the cherries that are showing up in the market. We think of all the things we could make with them… and then we remember that we’d have to pit them. And we don’t own a pitter. Well, cookbook author Sally Schneider over at The Atlantic‘s food channel cooked whole cherries into a sweet, saucy dessert—pits, leaves, and all.

We love make-ahead desserts, and among easy, delicious, elegant make-ahead desserts, panna cotta reigns supreme. And yet we find that it’s not as well-known as it should be. Why? Is there an impression of difficulty? If so, let us banish that immediately. Panna cotta is perhaps the easiest dessert we know. Read on, and allow us to lecture you further on the delights of this gelled Italian pudding.What is panna cotta?

Soupe au pistou, the classic Provençal summer soup made with the freshest summer vegetables, shell beans, and pasta and finished with a dollop of basil pistou, will always carry a special place in my heart—it was the first dinner I ever ate with my French host family, on the balcony, the warm southern French sun on my back. It had never in my life occurred to me to eat soup in August, but I loved it.

I love pineapples and they are everywhere during Summer. What better way to enjoy them than having them cold and refreshing? This sorbet is both satisfying to your sweet tooth and healthy because it uses fresh ingredients.And it’s very easy to do too!Pineapple SorbetIngredients: 1 pineapple1/4 cup sugar1/4 cup lemon juice Directions: You can scoop out the pineapple meat from the pineapple so you can use it later as a container or you can just peel,core and dice the pineapple.

We’ll give you a virtual high five if you can figure out how these were made. They’re part of a group of insane hot dogs we just found over at Woman’s Day…Did you figure it out?To make these spaghetti hot dogs, you stick raw spaghetti through chunks of hot dog and then boil the whole thing until the noodles are soft. Some of you may find this weirdly off-putting, but we actually think it’s kind of hilarious. And kids would love it.

This is a recipe for ye of a well-stocked pantry. However, if you go buy all of these things, I promise you will use them up on this specific recipe. I think carrot cake is the favorite dessert option. There are comfort flavors (vanilla, cinnamon), textures (pecans, carrots) and frosting that kicks buttercream booty. These nubs of goodness are healthy enough to eat for breakfast! I wish I could say these lasted longer than the afternoon that we made them.

We knew immediately upon opening the July/August issue of Cook’s Illustrated that we would have to make this dish. We’re recent converts to the clan of eggplant-lovers, and the description of caramelized eggplant and silky tomato sauce sounded too good to resist!The article says that some of the problems with this eggplant pasta dish is that it can be labor-intensive to prepare and the resulting sauce can be oily and overwhelming.

We recently experienced our first, glorious encounter with curry ketchup. Served with fries at a restaurant, it initially seemed like a gimmick, but with each subsequent bite, we became increasingly addicted to the bittersweet sauce. By the next day, it was all we could think of and we set out to learn more about this condiment.

The Fruit Slinger blog, one of our favorite summertime reads, is back for another season of commentary from the front lines of the Chicago farmers’ markets.But the Fruit Slinger doesn’t just sell the fruit – he knows a thing or two about preparing it, too. Below, he’s shared a salad recipe that highlights our current favorite ingredient: Strawberries!

Even summer evenings can be breezy and cool, and some nights we want a warm drink that is still refreshing. The perfect choice is an herbal tisane, especially one made with lemony summer herbs: lemon balm, or lemon verbena.We’ve talked about tisanes before; a tisane (tih-zahn) is the proper name for an infusion of herbs and spices.

My mystery box included a nice bag of wild arugula last week, much to my pleasure. For the past year or so, I’ve been enjoying this pungent, more peppery version of arugula in salads, on top of pizzas, as a pesto. But for some reason, I’ve never stopped to ask what’s the difference between arugula and wild arugula?

When we think of summer desserts, visions of Victoria sponge cake tempt us into the kitchen. The Victoria sponge isn’t strictly a warm weather cake, but our favorite addition of fresh strawberries makes it especially appealing this time of year. Named after Queen Victoria, the cake, also known as a Victoria sandwich, is a classic at British teatime.

Are you looking for a good picnic dessert? How about little chocolate cakes just right for packing and eating al fresco? These are from Thomas Keller, who seems to like a good picnic. First we had a fried chicken recipe from one of his restaurants, and now these little chocolate cakes that would look adorable in in big paper cups tucked inside a picnic basket.

Here’s a really fun and easy DIY project to do with kids this summer – hand-rolled vegetable maki sushi rolls! The ingredients you’ll need are cheap and easy to find. Making your own maki sushi rolls is a very simple skill that kids can pick up quickly, and since it’s all done with the hands, kids can actually “play” with their food for a change!

After getting a craving for these bars a few weeks ago, we couldn’t rest until we’d found a recipe and made ourselves a big batch! If sour cream and raisins sound like a strange combination to you, just trust your Midwestern cousins – these bars will be gone before you can say “potluck dinner.”For this recipe, I have to give a shout-out to two special people.

We helped cook for a big graduation party a couple of weeks ago, and ever since then we’ve been waiting for the right time to give you this recipe. It’s hard to describe how good these little morsels of creamy coconut and lime are, so you’ll have to trust us.We’re actually not too crazy about chocolate truffles. They’re so rich, and they’re a mess to make, too.

You know that our most basic go-to meal is a riff on pasta with meat and greens. It’s such an easy one-dish meal, and so satisfying. Here’s our latest exploration of the theme: a hearty, spicy, and bold pasta that is wonderful after a long day of work in the garden. This is just like our other pasta templates; it’s adaptable to whatever you have around. But the main thing is to really brown the sausage and also to cook the kale well.

When my husband and I were in the early stages of dating, I was living in Minneapolis and he was living up in the cold, frozen city of Duluth. We would drive to see each other on weekends and on Sunday when we would go our separate ways, I would hand him over a care package of baked goods (I was convinced there weren’t any decent bakeries in Duluth). In it contained what he has since told me were, “the peanut butter cookies that won him over.

Do you drink cocktails with your morning meal or weekend brunch? Cocktails are a little much for us at 8am, but sometimes we do like a glass of something special with our coffee and yogurt. Enter the breakfast mocktail.We don’t drink a lot of straight juice; it’s quite filling and we prefer to just sip coffee most mornings. But some summer breakfasts call for something more, something fun. So we make mocktails.

Admit it, coffee purists. You fork over $5 for a Starbucks Frappuccino every once in a while. Or (West Coasters) an Ice Blended from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Sweetened coffee that’s whizzed into a morning milkshake is sometimes irresistible. One writer from Gourmet took a common Vietnamese drink and made a sweet, Frappuccino-like concoction that we wish we had in hand right about now…If, like us, you want the exact recipe, you’ll be disappointed.

As kids, my brother and I used to beg our mother to make caramel popcorn. We loved melting down the hot caramel topping and then taking turns shaking the brown paper bag as hard as we could until each kernel was coated with a sticky, toffee-like layer. Waiting for the popcorn to cool enough to eat down was just torture! The only difference making it these days is that now we don’t have to beg…Making a batch of caramel corn is a great way to finish a dinner party.

Our absolutely massive roundup of every cheese we’ve ever reviewed got us thinking about cheese boards and our favorite appetizer: a spread of little nibbles. Here’s how we like to put together this easy, low-key, yet roughly elegant hors d’ouevre. If we’re going to still be busy with the meal when guests arrive, we like to put out a board of little nibbles, including some cheese.

The 5 Uses for Leftover Rice post from yesterday was perfectly timed, as we were whipping up some of our own version of garlic fried (leftover) rice with eggs.

We had some friends over for brunch last weekend and ended up with some leftover Bloody Mary mix. A LOT of Bloody Mary mix. It got us thinking: What can we make with the mix besides a cocktail?We’re dying to make Bloody Marys with some fresh, local tomatoes, but it’s not quite tomato season in the Midwest, so we stuck to the classic tomato juice recipe with a healthy dose of horseradish. The spicy tomato mixture makes a good base for a variety of dishes.

Did you know that there is an entire organization devoted to the preservation and encouragement of America’s pie heritage? Did you know that they sponsor a huge national pie contest every year? This is the story of the American Pie Council, and here is the pie that won the Best in Show award at the 2009 competition. We were so interested in this, since we ran our own pie contest last year, and we love all things pie. Read on for the story of this very summery pie, and get the recipe too.

Summer is definitely cocktail time for us. We don’t tend to drink so many cocktails in the fall and winter; beer and wine are more common then. But summer is all cocktails, and every summer we look for something new to add to our repertoire (and our liquor cabinet). This summer it is definitely St. Germain elderflower liqueur (more on that soon!) and we are also eyeing Fernet Branca: a new-to-us bitter digestif.

A couple weeks ago several of the writers and editors of The Kitchn gathered in New York for a late spring brunch. It is always wonderful to be face-to-face with the fellow writers that we usually only “see” virtually! And of course food had to be included, right?Here is part of my own contribution: a quick twist on a strawberry salad, with arugula mixed in for a spicy, savory touch, and a creamy dressing of fresh ricotta and lemon. But there’s more: see photos of Nora S.

Crostata is a favorite dessert of our family. It’s a simple and basic but extremely flavorful dessert consumed in Italy and the region of Puglia, with the specific coastal town of Vieste being the town that inspired this particular dessert. My in-laws were born in Vieste and my mother in-law makes this dessert every few months (while my wife tends to make it every few weeks) and it’s always a popular choice amongst guests for various family gatherings.

Are you tired of our strawberry addiction yet? Well, they are about the only new, exciting thing at the markets in New York, so bear with us.Here’s one more indulgence to whip up for breakfast this weekend—a creamy, sweet, pink strawberry butter that tastes amazing on biscuits, muffins, scones, or a simple piece of toast.

We kept running across Vicky Bhogal’s inviting new cookbook, FLAVOUR: A World of Beautiful Food, during our recent trip to the UK and were anxious to try some of her simple-to-prepare yet sumptuous-looking recipes. First up: Foil-Baked Feta, a quick and flavorful dish that we’re definitely adding to our entertaining repertoire.

I am one of the biggest proponents of breakfast that you will ever find. I work two blocks from my apartment, and still get up two hours before I have to be at work in order to make a substantive breakfast and to eat it at a leisurely pace.During the week I must have protein first thing in the morning. Most mornings I rely on a poached egg on toast to provide it, and the ancient family egg poacher that my parents packed me off to college with to make it.But the weekends are a different story.

If you’ve ever eaten a pillowy, homemade ladyfinger from a bakery, you know that the ones that come pre-packaged in the cookie aisle are about as similar to the fresh ones as a dishtowel is to a cashmere sweater. No idea what we’re talking about? Keep reading…Ladyfingers are commonly referred to as small sponge cakes in the elongated shape of a (rather pudgy) finger. But really, we don’t think of them as sponge cakes at all.

Eton Mess is a lovely, versatile dessert: It’s light, yet very satisfying, and appeals to both young and sophisticated palates. Traditionally made with strawberries, it takes advantage of seasonal fruit and can be thrown together in a matter of minutes. Served in bowls, it makes a nice casual family dessert or spoon it into vintage champagne glasses as a elegant finale to a fine dinner.But how does it taste?

We feel like we’re stuck in something of a heat wave, and we’re already eager for icy summer popsicles. So these gorgeous yet ultra-simple frozen grape kabobs look fabulous!Today’s Delicious Links• Grape Kabobsicles – Simple brilliance. At the great raw food blog RawFoodCrafting.• Vegan Spoon Rest at Vegan Dish.• Taco Holder – Need a taco holder, anyone?

Onion lovers, take note. This caramelized tart, a riff on the classic apple version, calls for 28 shallots plus a gooey red onion jam.We saw this recipe on a new (to us), beautifully photographed food blog, O Pistachio. The tart is baked just like a tarte Tatin, with the pastry fitted on top of the caramelized onions. Then you invert the whole thing onto a plate to serve.

Can you tell that we’re wild about radishes right now? They’re such a refreshing vegetable in the springtime, with their pleasant crunch and gorgeous color, creamy inside and scarlet outside. We threw together this very, very quick appetizer last weekend for some guests. We were subliminally inspired by Elizabeth’s afternoon snack suggestion, and these simple little tartines were a big hit.

Memorial Day weekend’s almost here. These last lazy days of May call for something tall, cool, and refreshing. Something that’s quick and easy to mix so you can get back to that very important job of relaxing…Here’s a roundup of some of our favorite no-hassle patio drinks:Dark and StormyDeliciously spicy ginger beer is mixed with rich, dark rum and accented with a zippy wedge of lime.

Bread Pudding ranks up there with rice pudding for me. And when I say “ranks up there”, I mean, “YUCK”. I have a thing with soggy carbs. They just shouldn’t exist. As I was growing up, my father used to pour a bowl of Fiber One cereal and let it soak on the counter for a half an hour before eating it every morning. I would walk through the kitchen and gag.Those were horrible, horrible memories.

More nights than I care to admit, getting dinner on the table can feel like a feat. Let alone an interesting dinner (pizza, again!?). It’s all I can do not to reach for the phone and call my beloved Chinese take-out spot. I’m sure I’m not the only one in this boat. Right? You’ve had those nights too, right?Well, even if I’m alone on this one it’s still nice to have a cache of simple recipes at hand.

Radishes are one of our favorite bright spring vegetables. Last year, we almost overdosed on radishes with butter and sea salt (so good), so we started thinking of another option for snacking. The creaminess of butter goes so well with a crunchy, spicy radish. Why not cream cheese?We almost always have cream cheese on hand, making this a quick snack to pull together. But a soft, spreadable cheese like goat might be even better.

Fava beans are in season right now, and with the weather getting warmer, it’s a good time to fire up the grill. I pulled mine out last week, and after acquiring a big bag of fresh fava beans at the farmer’s market, I decided to throw some on the grill. Result: easy and delicious!After washing some fava bean pods, place them in a bowl and toss them with enough olive oil to coat the pods. Or, you can spray each pod with canola oil.

I was poking around the book store on Sunday morning (went straight to the cookbook section, of course) and stumbled upon a new vegan cookbook: The Accidental Vegan. It was this tamale recipe that sold me. Wrapping something in corn husks sounds labor intensive but it’s surprisingly easy and made me feel good about using all parts of the fresh corn… not to mention that this meal probably costs $5 (bargain!), is healthy, and let’s not forget the most important… DELICIOUS.

I wish I could say that I first tasted cannelés in France, escaping from a Bordeaux bakery with a glossy brown cake that could easily fit in the palm of my hand and eating it while it was still warm. This is where my boyfriend had his cannelé epiphany. He claims it was so good that it just isn’t possible for any other cannelé, anywhere outside of Bordeaux, to compete.

In our home we face diabetic challenges and issues with dairy. Plus, to be honest, we’re not big breakfast eaters. But that’s not really an option when you need to keep your blood sugar level and some pep in your step! We turn to seasonal fruits (and some occasional veggies), agave and soy to get the job done in a snap!This recipe serves two healthy portions (12-16oz each) and will last in the fridge for 48 hours if it needs to (although we make it fresh daily).

This dish was inspired by a Wolfgang Puck roast salmon recipe I found browsing Food Network’s database. I altered the recipe a bit to suit the ingredients I had on hand and made it tonight for dinner.The meal is elegant and interesting but still accessible. I am a pretty average home cook and I managed to make it relatively easily on a weeknight after work.

A frittata is one of our favorite one-dish meals. You make the whole thing in a skillet, it takes minimal effort, and it’s inexpensive. We usually make ours in a 10- or 12-inch fry pan, which works well for feeding a few people. But what if you’re feeding a crowd? Enter the frittata square.This is really nothing more than an egg casserole—a frittata cooked in a large baking pan rather than a round skillet.

The tinkle of ice. The scent of fresh-cut lime and the cool, bittersweet, tongue-tickling effervescence of that first sip. A perfectly seamless blend of crisp, junipery gin and thirst-quenchingly zesty tonic water, it’s no wonder the Gin and Tonic is one of the most perennially popular patio drinks. THE STORY In the beginning, it was all just medicine.

We got the strangest craving to make soft pretzels the other day. Of course the fact that we were at Fenway Park nibbling ballpark food and watching the Red Sox play the Tampa Bay Rays at the time might have had something to do with it. Second only to hot dogs, soft pretzels are perfect baseball-watching food, don’t you think?

Weird but wonderful, the morel mushroom makes its appearance for a very short season each year in mid-Spring. This incredibly tasty member of the mushroom family is all but impossible to propagate, so in order to get a basket full you either have to know how to forage for them yourself or know someone who does.The first route is a bit difficult, as the first rule of morel foraging is that you don’t talk about morel foraging. Or, at least, you don’t talk about where to look.

This recipe is a tried and true favorite in our home. As someone who lives with a great cook of a husband, I tend to fear making just so-so meals. I’m working on both my skills and my fears, and this recipe is one that has helped me build confidence — it’s always easy, impressive with guests, and totally satisfying. It’s a Jamie Oliver recipe, so of course it’s all those things and more.

The Temporary Vegetarian is talking about them in The New York Times today. Here’s a hint: Emma encouraged us to make them last weekend…A crespelle is an Italian version of a crêpe. The main difference is that it is made with chestnut flour rather than regular flour, giving it a hint of sweetness.The one described in the article (discovered by the chef of Osteria del Circo in New York on a trip to Italy) was filled with ricotta, lemon zest, pepper, and parmesan.

Last summer, we talked about Slate’s 12 steps to better pasta salad. With our first pasta salad of the year, we followed several of the suggestions: cook the vegetables, go light on the acidity and use soft cheeses. But step No. 3? “Avoid tortellini.” Well, we think we found an exception to that rule. We can see how tortellini could be a bad choice for a pasta salad.

This salad doesn’t look like it has much going on except greens, but I promise that there are little radishes and seeds hiding under the leaves — and their crunch is such a treat!Early spring means that a lot of vegetables aren’t in season yet; summer tomato salads and cucumber relishes are a long way off still. So I try to give my spring salads snap and crunch using other all-season ingredients, like these pumpkin seeds.

We know that some of you don’t drink alcohol, and even if you do, sometimes it’s good to have a non-alcoholic drink for dinners and parties. Like a baby shower, for instance. Here’s a current spring favorite, quite easy to throw together but also outrageously pretty and delicious. It just requires one special ingredient from our favorite big-box furniture retailer.Elderberry flower syrup!

You may see truffle salt as superfluous indulgence in times like these—or maybe a ripoff, given the fact that some of the truffle taste is undoubtedly a manufactured chemical. But, as Dana mentioned in her post about truffle butter, a tiny smidge elevates the humblest of ingredients. And we think our little jar is actually an economical choice for dinner parties. Here’s why…This 3.5-ounce jar from Dean & Deluca sells for $28.

nutella The Basic Recipe Crêpes Makes about 20 crêpes, enough for 6-8 adults 1 cup milk 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs 3 Tablespoons melted butter Whisk all the ingredients together either by hand, with a blender, or in a food processor. It should form a smooth, fairly runny batter. If the batter is too stiff, add a little more milk. If you have time, let the batter rest for 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator.

This is the first in our new series of guest posts from fellow bloggers and cooks. This first guest post comes from Leela Cyd. Welcome Leela! There is a certain, ahem, restaurant that resides in malls all over the US that has a pizza flavor that sticks out to me. We would go here as kids, always with family friends, and I’d order my pizza without red sauce (how absolutely sophisticated, I thought, as I twirled my side ponytail) and sip lemonade with the gusto of a wee Italian girl.

We could – and have! – eat a plate of sweet potato fries for dinner and nothing else. They’re creamy, a bit crunchy, and very satisfying. We like them kicked up with a light dusting of spicy chili powder, but they’re also great with just a simple sprinkle of kosher salt.

Remember those Rice Krispie eggs from Bouchhon Bakery that we showed you around Easter? That was a rather easy recipe for colorful crispy eggs. This is one more recipe from Bouchon Bakery. They have these on sale for Mother’s Day, but here we have their secret recipe. It’s a little more complicated than the Krispie eggs, but it’s also a fascinating look inside how professional confections are made.