Alison Roman's Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Lately there seems to be an upswing in trending recipes. I say this like knowing that, sure, there have been dietary fads galore over the years, many ingredient centered obsessions, and recipes that have been clipped and saved feverishly, garnering request after request for a reprinting pre-internet. Trends come and go, but a good recipe is worth its weight in picked clean plates, of course. However, there’ve been a few recipes circulating around lately that, for whatever reason, seem inescapable and appear in instagram after instagram post and have roused enough interest to have entire articles dedicated to them.

One such recipe is Alison Roman’s recipe for Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies. They’ve quickly become what I’ve seen referred to as simply “the cookies”, so I knew I had to give this recipe a shot. After all, I am a huge fan of shortbread, chocolate, and salt - so what’s not to like? I especially enjoy the way she described the process of creating the cookie in her NYT recipe, stating:

“I’ve always found chocolate chip cookies to be deeply flawed (to know this about me explains a lot). Too sweet, too soft, or with too much chocolate, there’s a lot of room for improvement, if you ask me. But no one asked me, and rather than do a complete overhaul on the most iconic cookie known to man, I took all my favorite parts and invented something else entirely. Made with lots of salted butter (it has a slightly different flavor and a deeper saltiness than using just salt — I prefer unsalted butter everywhere else but here), the dough has just enough flour to hold it together and the right amount of light brown sugar to suggest a chocolate chip cookie.”

Sounds like the ideal cookie to me, so what could go wrong? From the comments I could see already that there were a few complaints about the various steps involved to make this cookie. I sort of rolled my eyes, believing myself to be the sort of beyond beginner baker that would find a shortbread recipe to be a breeze. Reader, even I misstepped.

Here’s where I went wrong, initially at least. First, there seemed to be such a low ratio of sugar to butter, I went ahead and grabbed a bowl that wound up being too small for the long mixing process required to get the butter and sugar to the right consistency. Perhaps this is a peril that comes with not having a stand mixer, but it just wasn’t working at first and my cubed butter repeatedly got stuck inside the beater wands. So I transferred the mixture to a larger bowl and gave it a few moments to rest and warm up, and from there the mixing seemed to improve. That is, until I added the flour.

At first the dough seemed to cohere, but then as I added more flour into the mix it suddenly became a bowl of dough crumbs and rubble. It very much resembled a pie dough before the chilled water was added. I was staring down a big ol’ bowl of… whatever the opposite of dough is. I found this worrying, but recalled that the dough has a two hour rest period in the fridge and hoped that the rest time would help it cohere. Magic seems to happen in the fridge, whether it’s pie crust, pasta dough, or crosses fingers these cookies. Right? Right.

After a good rest, I pulled out my dough logs and prepared the egg wash and demerara sugar coating. Since having tried to roll a whole log of egg wash covered dough in sugar, I can say: don’t do this. I ended up with egg and sugar syrup all over the parchment paper, making slicing my cookies a precarious experience. I say go ahead and lightly brush the dough with egg yolk, then roll the slice edges in the sugar afterwards. Of course, that is if your slices come out clean. I found that using a serrated knife, as suggested, did not work for me at all. I ended up with chunks of cookie pieces, and not actual cookies. As soon as I switched to my favorite kitchen knife and used a good amount of (slow) pressure, I was back in business. I am guessing this part is sheerly up to preference? Go with what works best for you!

Something else I’ve read, based on the comments on this recipe over at the New York Times, is that people found the cookies were easier to slice after they froze the logs. I live alone and often end up freezing half of any cookie dough I have, so this option works great for me since I didn’t want any cookies to go to waste. It’s all the better to have slice and bake cookies ready to pull out for any friends who might drop by, right? The other thing I want to note here is that I did chill my cookie dough for the full two hours, but found the consistency was almost or close to frozen. This is due to my (very terrible) refrigerator. This meant that in the end my bake time was a full ten minutes beyond what the recipe suggested. I am not sure if this is that my dough was too cold to start, or my oven is off in some way, but just keep an eye on your baking as always and you should be fine! Shortbread is sort of notoriously tricky because it sets up as it cools, but just keep checking or do as I do and trust that the moment you start to smell an actual cookie scent, things are about ready.

Now - finally - these were amazing. I love a good shortbread, I love salt, I love butter, I l o v e dark chocolate. I knew I’d love them and they came out exactly as I expected. Rich, but not overly so. Just the right level of savory to balance out sweet. Gorgeously rustic looking with their sugared edges and speckled centers. A perfect match for me!

Now, about that second log of dough… it ended up staying in the fridge for a few days and by the time I pulled it out to slice the dough was either too hard or too dry. I couldn’t get a clean slice no matter what I tried. So, I ended up baking up the cookie shards and keeping the overly crumbly crumbs in my freezer to throw into my next batch of ice cream. This dough, after all, has no eggs, so it really does taste like perfect raw cookie dough and is totally safe to eat. Just another lesson that even if the cookie crumbles, all is not lost! There will still be cookies, albeit misshapen ones.

Still perfectly delicious!

Editors note: Full disclosure, I actually made these cookies with half whole wheat flour and they were completely delicious.

Alison Roman’s Salted Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) cold salted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour

• 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped

• 1 large egg, beaten to blend

• Demerara sugar (for rolling)

• Flaky sea salt (Such as Maldon)
  
  1. Using an electric mixer and a medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.

  2. Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour, followed by chocolate chunks, and beat just to blend.

  3. Divide dough in half, then place each half on a large piece of parchment baking paper. Form dough into a log shape and press firmly to make sure the dough coheres. You can gently roll the log back and forth to shape it once it is wrapped in the parchment. Each half should form logs that are 2–2¼" in diameter. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.

  4. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush outside of logs with egg wash.

  5. Slice each log into ½"-thick rounds. Roll the edges of each slice in demerera sugar. Arrange on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake cookies until edges are just beginning to brown, 12–15 minutes. Let cool slightly to reach their full texture.
  
  
  
  

Guinness Stew

At some point about 2 years ago in February I got an email from my friend Pierce containing a recipe for a stew he likes to make. Pierce, as well as his partner Helene, have been friends of mine online for longer than I can really remember. They both live in Ireland and since knowing them we've swapped a recipe or two, from banana bread to popsicle recipes to, I think, at one point, a recipe for Limoncello. This sort of connection, sharing food even when not physically able to actually share food, is what really initially inspired me to start this site and of course my radio show. While we've yet to share a meal together in person, there's plenty we've been able to share across continents and on the internet in general.  

When I received the email containing his personal stew recipe I was absolutely delighted. It was a very thoughtful thing to send along because at that point I had been going through a rather difficult time, in addition to enduring the normal doldrums I always experience in late winter. I'd previously had the idea for Reciprocity Radio and was trying to get it off the ground, when suddenly I found my life had sort of turned itself on its head. All of the positive associations I'd felt about being in the kitchen, sharing, creating, feeding people I loved, it had all sort of faded away - and suddenly. I found myself mostly unmotivated to even eat, never mind actually cook. But knowing myself, knowing I needed to stay busy and inspired to sustain my spirit, I slowly tried to find my way back to the kitchen. And I can say with certainty that Pierce's recipe, and general thoughtfulness, really helped with that. There is a great kindness in giving someone who’s grieving a meal or kind letter, and this was both. Although, doubly better for me because it also gave me motivation to get up and actually cook!

The stew itself turned out beautifully. This was my first time ever making a stew! It’s not something I was exposed to growing up, and based on my experience is not as much of a staple food here as it is in other countries. I can’t imagine why not though, with its richly layered flavors and warmth there is hardly a better or more satisfying meal for a cold winters day. One thing I loved in particular about this recipe was its use of orange peel. I feel as though that, paired with the wine and the deep stout flavor, really elevated the classic combination of meat and vegetables. As Pierce wrote, this recipe pairs beautifully with potatoes. When I prepared this I made Smitten Kitchen’s Melting Potatoes to go along with it, but feel free to use any method you prefer. If you really want to up the Irishness, I recommend Stella Park’s recipe for Soda Bread, which would soak this up beautifully.

Guinness Stew

• 700g stewing beef

• 3 tbsp of flour

• 1 tsp Cayenne pepper

• 4 streaky bacon rashers (smoked is nice, or unsmoked)

• 2 largish onions

• 2-3 carrots

• 3-4 sticks of celery

• 3 cloves garlic

• Half glass of red wine if you have it, not important

• 1 500ml can of Guinness or other porter

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• A large tbsp of mustard

• A beef stockpot/stockcube if you have one, not important

• 1*2 inch piece of orange zest

• A bouquet garni of thyme, parsley and bay leaf

1. Pat the beef dry in a tea towel or kitchen roll. Toss the pieces in flour and cayenne pepper, and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Brown in plenty of olive oil in a cast iron pot.

2. Remove the beef to a bowl once it’s browned. The pot will likely have become coated with dried flour. If it’s not too burnt by the time the meat is browned, deglaze with a bit of water and keep the resulting gravy aside. Otherwise you may have to clean the pot!

3. Preheat oven to gas mark 5/6 (375-400 F)

4. Slice the streaky bacon in small pieces and render it in the cast iron pot.

5. Once the fat is softened, add the chopped onion. Fry until translucent, then add the cubed carrot and chopped celery. Leave that for five or ten minutes, then add the mashed garlic cloves.

6. Once the veg seems nicely softened, add the wine if you have it, otherwise skip. Return the beef to the pot and mix well, heating for a few minutes more.

7. Open the Guinness and pour over. Bring it to the boil, adding everything else on the list (including the deglazed gravy) as you do so. The liquid should cover the solids, but if not add a little more water. Not too much liquid! Once it’s simmering, cover with lid and move it into the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours at gas mark 5/6.  Stir every half hour.

   note: Goes very well with mashed or baked potatoes. 

Apple Crisp

This is what my mom makes every 4th of July, in place of what may be more traditional: apple pie. I’ve never been a big fruit pie fan myself, so crumble has always been a favorite for me. This is one dessert that really could not be more simple! The crumble topping is just a rubbed together mixture of flour, sugar, and butter. The apples get a sprinkle or cinnamon and a tiny splash of water, but otherwise they are left untouched. The whole thing bakes up into a jammy, crumbly, crunchy, tart dessert that is basically irresistible.

You’ll have to do me the favor of ignoring the pie shell here in these photos. I was attempting to see if this magic would be improved with a base of crust. And while that might be something that would work, especially as a slab pie or bar, it’s really not necessary at all. I also suspect that this crumble topping would be suitable for any fruit you’d like to bake! The crumble is so simple it often tempts me to try futzing with it, so here are a few ideas I’ve been wondering about in case you’d like to try: toasted sugar instead of regular, brown sugar instead of white, adding lemon zest or part of a scrapped vanilla bean pod, using a whole wheat flour or semolina instead of white all purpose flour, replacing the water with whiskey or dark rum. The possibilities are endless, but really there’s nothing worth changing as this is a simple, satisfying classic that never fails to leave a polished clean plate.

A note on choosing an apple: I recently made this with granny smith’s from the grocery store and found they didn’t break down well and were alarmingly sweet. I say go with something local and organic, if possible!

Apple Crisp

• 4 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples.

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup water

• 3/4 cup flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the sliced apples in a buttered 10x6x2 baking dish (or dish of a similar size).

2. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon, salt, and water and toss together.

3. In a bowl, rub together cold butter, flour, and sugar. Rub the mixture together until its incorporated and resembles a sandy texture.

4. Sprinkle the apples with the crumble mixture, and bake the crumble for 40 minutes or until lightly golden on the top.

5. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes and then serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Cornbread Stuffing

This is the only stuffing we’ve ever served at Thanksgiving at my family’s house growing up. I’ll have to follow up with my mom on which newspaper printed the original clip she cut out and saved, but I hope I find out so I can thank them! It has long been my favorite part of the holiday table and the thing I go to first when it’s time to plate up leftovers.

Stuffing or dressing is sort of a fascinating thing, right? Every family has their go to, whether or not the mixture actually goes inside the turkey (I advise against this, for the record!). My mom even says the one her mother made had… oysters in it? I’ve never really been around any other type of stuffing than the one we make, which is fairly humble, but is really truly the perfect thing for soaking everything else on the plate up! It’s savory, but the cornbread has an inherent sweetness to it. It’s got warm autumny flavors with the pecans and parsley. It’s crumbly and moist at the same time. And best of all, it reheats beautifully and is the perfect conveyor for gravy, in my opinion.

So while it might look simple, or possibly underwhelming, it’s been a big hit year after year and has been the one thing I’ll consistently bring to Friendgivings when I haven’t been able to travel home. One year I even brought it to a big thanksgiving dinner and had one of the attendees beg for the recipe as well as take home a whole container of the leftovers. In any case, it’s what tastes most like home and the holidays to me, so I hope you’ll give this a try and enjoy it as much as we have over the years!

Tips: 1) You can bake the cornbread in advance, crumble it, and leave it overnight. A dryer crumb adds to the texture once everything is absorbed. 2) I pulsed my carrots and celery in my food processor to get a finely minced vegetable mix, then used the same processor to chop the pecans. This speeds up the process a lot! 3) Use the biggest bowl you have for the mixing process. It always makes a mess for me, but I only have a smallish set of mixing bowl, d’oh! 4) This can totally be vegetarian and/or vegan. The Jiffy box mix has directions for baking vegan cornbread with substitute suggestions. After that, simply use vegetable stock and use your favorite non dairy butter substitute instead of regular butter.

Corn Bread Stuffing

• 3 8.5 ounce boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup of milk

• 1 cup of chopped pecans, toasted if preferred

• 1 cup chopped scallions

• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery

• 1/2 cup finely chopped carrots

• 1/4 + 2 TB chopped parsley

• 1/2 tsp dried thyme

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 + 1/2 stick of butter or 12 TB, melted

• 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable stock

1. First, prepare your boxed cornbread mix as per the packages instructions. Stir the cornbread mix and the eggs and milk together gently, and bake in a greased pan until a toothpick can be pulled clean out of the bread. If you want to use your own cornbread recipe, feel free! It’s also advisable to bake the cornbread in advance, as letting the crumbled bread dry overnight adds to the texture.

2. Once the cornbread is completely cooled, crumble the cornbread up into small pieces/crumbs.

3. On the stove sauté the carrot and celery in a little bit of butter until they soften, about 8 minutes on low to medium heat.

4. Meanwhile, chop the scallions and parsley and set aside. You could also chop the pecans at this stage, or toast them lightly and then chop them.

5. Once everything is ready to be assembled mix the cornbread crumbles with the carrots and celery, parsley and scallions, the dried thyme, and the pecans. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Once everything is fully incorporated, stir in the melted butter and stock.

7. Stir until combined and place in a suitable baking dish. Bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, until warmed through. I like to wait for the cornbread mixture to get a little color on the edges, but that’s just my taste.

8. That’s it! Serve warm and enjoy!

Tomato Soup

Everything is bad, and fall is quickly approaching, so let’s make some god damned soup.

This is a tomato soup I adapted from the NYT recipe by Jennifer Steinhauer, which she got from a recipe served at Ted’s Bulletin in Washington DC. I hope if any of the senators responsible for trying to push the appointment of unapologetic accused rapist and Roe V. Wade opponent Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court visit Ted’s Bulletin this week that the waiters spit in their soup, or better yet, that they are refused service and heckled the hell out of the restaurant (and hopefully DC itself).

I’ve tweaked the recipe slightly, adding in bacon because, again, everything is bad, so why not add some fucking bacon. You’re welcome to skip the bacon if you’re vegetarian, or use olive oil if you’re vegan. I’ve omitted the sugar that was called for, and added a bit more stock to the soup as well. I hope you’ll make this and fuel yourself up to call your elected officials, organize to protest, or just take a moment for self care in the midst of this hellish political atmosphere. Serve it with a nice toasty grilled cheese to the women in your life that you love and respect, and check in on them while you’re at it. It’s been a really hard week for all of us, and a hard two years if I’m being honest. And if you can spare anything, please consider donating to these organizations:

• Rainn.org

• Planned Parenthood

• National Women’s Law Center

Tomato Soup, from The New York Times.

Notes: Below this recipe is actually quartered, the original is 4 times this recipe. Scale up as you wish. If you want to omit bacon, use 4 Tablespoons of butter, or Olive Oil for a vegan recipe (minus the finishing milk).

• 3 strips thick bacon, cut into small pieces

• 1 onion chopped

• 2 TB flour

• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

• 1 cup low sodium vegetable or chicken stock

• 1/2 to 1 tsp salt

• pepper to taste

• 3 TB half & half

1. In a large sauce pan on the stove, cook your bacon over medium heat until it’s cooked through. You don’t want it crispy, just rendered with the fat let out.

2. Once the bacon is cooked enough add in your chopped onion. Cook the onions until they’re soft and nearly transparent.

3. Once the onions have softened, stir in the two tablespoons of flour to create a roux. Cook this on medium heat for about 3 minutes until it begins to thicken up and brown slightly.

4. Once the roux has thickened, add in your stock and scrape the bottom of the pan gently to get up any browned roux bits. Then add in your tomatoes and salt and pepper.

5. Stir and bring to up to bubbling on the heat, then reduce heat and let the soup simmer covered on low heat for 30 minutes.

6. Once the simmering is done, remove soup from heat and blend with an immersion blender until pureed into a bisque like consistency. Once this is done stir in the half & half (if using).

7. That’s it! Taste and season if needed, then serve with a nice grilled cheese! Enjoy!

The NYT Plum Torte

I wrote something in my notes for this week's show, as I often do, quickly and sort of just riffing on whatever is passing through my mind. What I wrote was this: recreate, re-visit, and recommended. It was essentially meant to be a three part direction, something I could come back to every week and fill in with things to try again, things to try to conjure up, and things I've been meaning to make that I've oft heard a certain lore about. Now, other than Marcella Hazan's 3 ingredient Tomato Sauce, there is no recipe I've heard more about than the famed New York Times Plum Torte. 

As you can see from the image above, this torte is really more of a cake. You might be thinking, "hey that looks a lot like a cake you make ALL THE TIME", and well, that's very true! The batter is quite similar, minus the buttermilk. This torte has a humble, sturdy and simple batter - as easy as ever to whip together and you probably already have everything you need. Once you've spread the batter across the pan base, you simply plunk down some ripe plum halves and throw it in the oven for an hour. There's an option to add a squeeze of lemon juice on top, plus a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a dusting of sugar - all of which I did and highly recommend. But other than that this is a simple, entirely unassuming cake. It couldn't really be that great, I thought, right? I mean after all, I'd never really even eaten a plum, none the less bought twelve of them to dump on top of what seemed like far too little batter. 

Well, happily I could not have been more wrong. There is a reason people wrote in to the NYT when they finally stopped printing Marion Burro's beloved recipe. It is said that two people even mailed in poems about the torte, begging for it to be reprinted. After all the uproar, the NYT has it digitized online, along with a history of the torte, and five suggestions for variations on this recipe. As Marion Burros wrote herself in the original recipe, you can easily switch out the fruit for whatever is in season! I myself am really looking forward to trying this one with apples come apple picking season, or lush summer berries next year, or perhaps even peaches or nectarines.

The original cookbook this recipe came from, I love the title and cover! 

The real magic of this recipe is the way the plums transform in the oven. While I started out with very sweet, ripe Japanese plums (the smallest and ripest plums I could find locally), when baked for an hour in the cake they transformed into perfectly tart, jammy, deeply purple puddles. I can't quite convey how stunning the sections of sunken fuchsia stained fruit looked peaking out of the golden lidded cake, but the taste was even more gorgeous. I highly recommend you go out and buy whatever fruit is in season near you (plums if you can, certainly!) and make this cake immediately. It was so simple to throw together, the payoff in flavor and satisfaction seems almost impossible, but it's truly delicious. It would pair beautifully with whipped cream or ice cream for an after dinner treat, but I found having a plain slice with my coffee this morning was not overly sweet or at all overwhelming. I promise, this recipe is so satisfying and easy, I am even writing it down from memory below (thanks NYT paywall!). 

NYT Plum Torte by Marion Burros

• 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons) room temperature butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition)
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 10 to 12 ripe plums (or other seasonal fruit equivalent), pitted, and halved or quartered. 
• lemon juice
• cinnamon
• sugar for sprinkling

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. In a mixing bowl cream together the sugar and butter until the mixture pales and looks almost fluffy. 
3. Add in your vanilla extract. Then add in and incorporate your eggs, one at a time. 
4. Gently fold in the flour, baking powder, and salt to the batter until fully incorporated. 
5. Spread the batter into a lightly greased spring form or tarte pan. I used a 10 inch spring form pan, the recipe says you can use an 8 x 10, a 9 inch pan, or anything in a similar realm of space. 
6. Halve or quarter your fruits, being careful to remove the pits. 
7. Place the plum halves or quarters skin side up into the batter. It will seem like a lot of fruit, but worry not. 
8. For a finishing touch you can add a squeeze of lemon juice over the batter (be careful with the seeds), a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a dusting of sugar. I did all three and loved it. 
9. Place in oven and bake for one hour. When done, removed cake from oven and let stand and cool for 10 minutes before removing spring form edges. Enjoy! 

Tallarines Verde

I’ve always wanted to know how to make the perfect creamy pesto. While I've had plenty of vibrantly green and creamy pestos out at restaurants, I've never been able to capture that same richness with the more pulverized results of the traditional muddled pesto recipe. Pesto itself refers not to a sauce made with basil, but to the actual process of crushing and grinding the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle.  Even when I used my food processor to make a quick pesto of greens and basil, I ended up with a dark green sauce and not the near neon color of the stuff I've encountered when out to eat. Was it the emulsion of the oil? Was it the addition of cream or cheese? I was never sure!

Then I came across a recipe on Instagram by A Cozy Kitchen. This recipe was for Tallarines Verde, which is a Peruvian green sauce that includs basil, loads of spinach, evaporated milk, and queso fresco. The best part? It can be make simply in the blender, with minimal prep and chopping to be done. The resulting sauce was beautifully vibrant and satisfyingly creamy in a deeply comforting way. I love that this sauce uses spinach, one of my favorite greens, as I've been trying to perfect a spinach pesto for years! Had I never stumbled across her post, I would never have found the answer to all of my pesto problems. This is such a simple recipe, so quick to throw together, it will certainly be taking it's place in my "go-to's" list of simple meals. I made the minor change of swapping evaporated milk for half and half, because that's what I had on hand, but the rest is as A Cozy Kitchen wrote it! 

Tallarines Verde from A Cozy Kitchen 

• 2 cups packed spinach leaves
• 1 cup packed basil leaves
• 5 ounces (1 cup) cubed queso blanco or queso fresco, plus more for garnish
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 shallot, peeled
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup half and half
• Pinch of salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound dried pasta

1. To a blender, add the spinach leaves, basil, queso blanco, garlic cloves, shallot, walnuts, olive oil, half and half and a pinch of salt and a few turns of freshly cracked pepper. Blend for 30 seconds to a minute, scraping down the sides as needed. Give the green sauce a taste and adjust the salt accordingly (this type of cheese tends to be quite salty so you may only need a pinch or two extra).
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta to the water and cook according to package’s directions. Once cooked al dente, drain the pasta, and reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the pasta back to the pot and pour in the green sauce. Toss the pasta until it's thoroughly coated. You can add a splash or two of the reserved pasta water to the pasta to thin the sauce out a bit, if necessary. Divide between bowls and garnish with some queso fresco crumbles and freshly cracked pepper. 

The sauce also stores well in the fridge, if covered and carefully sealed in an air tight jar! 

Biscuits and Butter

In case you missed last week's live show, I did an episode all about one of my favorite things: Butter. The episode was filled with all sorts of fun facts about the history of butter, butter reviews, and a lovely excerpt from Butter: A Rich History. I even dared myself on-air to make butter and use the butter I made, and the extra buttermilk that results in the process, to make biscuits from scratch. So where's the episode, you're wondering? Well, it got lost due to a studio glitch. So now I can either re-record it, or let it pass on into the airwaves and ether. Either way, episode or not, today I did it! I made butter from scratch, and then made biscuits from that butter and buttermilk. It was a very satisfying endeavor!

The process of making butter is alarmingly easy, and doesn't even have to require great arm strength, if that's an issue for you. I got good results from the shaking method and using the blender alike. You could also use a food processor. Now that I've tried it, this is definitely something I want to play around with more in the future! I'd love to try it with different types of local heavy cream, experiment with letting the cream sit out (as recommended by Butter Journal), or even adding a bit of plain yogurt to get the milk to culture. 

Yes, it's really as simple as that. Fill a jar halfway with room temperature cream and shake shake shake until you start to see visible separation of the butter solids and the liquid, which will become buttermilk. Yes, it was tricky pushing past the whipped cream phase, but once you get there you'll be rewarded with the freshest, creamiest butter imaginable. 

While I was happy with my hand shaken butter, I wanted to see if it would work as well done in my blender. As you can see below, the yield from my first run was quite small, maybe 4 tablespoons worth for about 6 oz. of heavy cream. I think this was due to my not mastering the filtering process of letting the buttermilk drain. When I was done shaking, there was no clear liquid to separate, so I placed my mixture over a sieve and waited. I think I may have strained too much off by moving the butter across the mesh surface, and should have done more rinsing in cold water! 

When I put the same cream into the blender, it quickly got into the whipped cream stage. It needed a little poking and prodding to get the cream to properly blend (an air pocket situation happened), but once it did things progressed quickly. Immediately you could see the visible separation of the butter solids from the buttermilk liquid. So in the future, or if you're wary to use a jar, I definitely give the blender/food processor method a big thumbs up! It also worked wonderfully for the cool water rinse. It will seem counter intuative to dump your butter solids back in to the blender with cold water, but trust me, it worked fine! 

As you can see above, there was a large clump of butterfat and the buttermilk drained very easily. 

On the left we have the butter and buttermilk made in the blender, on the right is the butter and buttermilk from the jar method. The butter from the blender seemed airier and like it could possibly stand to lose more water,  but at the same time the denser butter from the jar method was also leaking a bit of water after resting in the fridge. 

And finally, for the real challenge! How would this butter and buttermilk hold up when making biscuits? Well the butter (mostly the blender version) folded almost seamlessly into the flour. It felt extremely light and soft, but not at all melty or greasy. I'd never had such an easy time incoorporating butter into flour, to be honest. The buttermilk itself seemed a bit thin, which was worrying, but lo and behold, my biscuits rose perfectly and filled the house with such an incredible buttery aroma while they baked. 

The results were very worthwhile and resulted in a biscuit with a cloud like interior that feels as though its melting in your mouth. My only complaint was that they were a little bit bland, but that could be on me for not salting my butter quite enough! I used some fancy french sea salt, which while it's delicious, might not have been the right choice for baking. 

In the end, I found this project to be incredibly satisfying. With the blender or food processor it was extremely easy to do, and it would be easy to also scale up the recipe since my blender base is quite large. I will look forward to trying this again, and baking with fresh house made butter to see if it improves any cookies or cakes I might make in the future! There is also the extremely pleasing aspect of using the whole of your ingredients, utilizing both the buttermilk and butter in the same recipe. If you're looking for a fun and near instantly rewarding DIY project, I say give this one a try! 

Butter in a jar method from Butter Journal

Butter in the blender recipe from The Kitchn

Biscuit recipe from Smitten Kitchen 

Sour Cherry Limeade

It's finally summer, and that means high temperatures and lots of standing in front of my open freezer, looking for something to help me cool off. This week I happened to grab a quart of sour cherries as I walked through the Union Square farmers market marveling at all of the amazing summer produce. I love to pick up something unusual and seasonal with the challenge in mind to make something I've never made before. So while these cherries might be destined to for popsicles or to be baked into a slab pie, I wanted to throw together a quick experiment today in honor of an old summertime favorite: cherry limeade. 

This recipe was made impromptu, and the resulting syrup tasted exactly like a concentrated version of the drink I remember so well from my youth. While you can dump the whole of the liquid into a liter of plain seltzer, as I did (warning: it exploded, so pour slowly), you can also save it in the fridge and make your limeade to taste by pouring seltzer over a glass of ice with a portion of syrup in there. I have the sneaking suspicion that this base would also make for a wonderful mojito or margarita, so don't be afraid to get creative! 

Cherry Limeade

• 1 oz Sour Cherry juice
• 1 oz Lime juice
• 1 oz Agave syrup

1. To prepare cherries, pit and de-stem them and collect the cherry pulp in a small dish. I used between 15 and 20 cherries for this small scale batch. 
2. Place the pitted cherries in a mesh colander or wrap them in cheese cloth and gently squeeze out as much juice as you can until you have an ounce (or more, if there's more, feel free to scale up this recipe!). 
3. Once you have your cherry juice, strain it once more through a mesh strainer to remove any excess pulp. 
4. Slice a lime in half and squeeze the juice into the cherry juice until you have 2 ounces of juice total. 
5. Add an ounce of agave syrup to the juice mixture and gently whisk to incorporate the syrup. 
6. That's it! Store this syrup in the fridge for use an time in a cocktail, or add carefully to a liter of plain soda water (I used the regular soda stream bottle and found it to be just the right amount of sweet/sour). Cheers! 

Simple White Beans

I've been working on a little side project this week, a sort of challenge to myself, you could say. I challenged myself to "archive" my cookbooks, of which there are many. This means I'll be combing through each one, creating a google doc and noting the recipes I'd like to try and their page numbers. While this may sound mind numbing, it's been a fairly simple process so far, done mostly at a leisurely pace while watching Netflix. It's been a fun way for me to re-engage with my own library, and to engage with food writing and recipe structure even more than I already do.

One such book I'd yet to crack the spine on was the Moosewood Cookbook. Folks, I'm not even totally sure how I came to buy this one, but I've found that once I started to actually read it I quickly fell in love. I think it came into my life on the suggestion of a mutual Instagram follower and home cook, but who can be certain? What surprised me even more is this: I was digging through my email looking for a recipe a friend had written out for me, and in the very email I'd been searching for he mentioned a recipe from the Moosewood cookbook. Life is funny, the world is small, and seemingly thoroughly connected. 

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So I cracked the spine and poured over the delightfully thoughtful recipes, illustrations, and writings of Mollie Katzen, the book's author, and was thoroughly charmed by the experience of reading her work. This book is full of simple, elegant vegetarian recipes and makes you dream of an agrarian, idyllic lifestyle. One where vegetables come straight from the garden and everything is served with care and consideration, while pomp and fussing are entirely eschewed. Katzen has presented such practical, accessible recipes that I'm mad the book has only impacted my life now. The fact that everything is handwritten and illustrated only further accentuates the books charm. 

While I'm certainly behind on this book, which was initially published in 1974, it's made a large impact globally, enough to merit it's own wikipedia page and multiple re-issues. While I've already made a document with all the recipes I'm excited to try from this book, the first that drew me in was this recipe for white beans. First of all, I love white beans! They're soft and creamy and they pair beautifully with a zip of vinegar, as the recipe calls for. They're also a protein powerhouse, so if you, like me, try to opt for meat only when necessary or when a craving strikes, you'll love this addition to your meal repertoire. It's also incredibly cheap, satisfying and it makes SO MANY BEANS. SO. MANY. BEANS. 

Admittedly I should have halved this recipe, but since I'd never cooked legumes from their dried form before I just went with what the recipe called for. This recipe does not require you to soak the beans overnight, which was wonderful since I decided to make it rather impulsively, but I found I needed a good amount of extra cooking time because of this. I'd say just be patient with it and check the texture of your beans every five minutes or s if they're not finished when the timer goes off. In the end I had an excellent side dish that I served both on its own and also over some garlic rubbed toast with a drizzle of olive oil. The resulting dish was hearty, comforting, and perfectly tuscan in flavor - essentially everything I love in food. Below you'll find the recipe as printed in Moosewood. 

Just White Beans

"Sometimes it's refreshing to have a bean salad that is a simple solo of lightly marinated beans, without a lot of little diced vegetables singing backup vocals. This is one such dish. It is delightful by itself, and downright smashing when topped with a mound of pickled red onions. This salad keeps well for days if tightly covered and refrigerated. The beans can be cooked without prior soaking." 

• 1 1/2 Cup Dry White Pea Beans
• 3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
• 3/4 to 1 tsp Sale
• 1 to 2 Medium Garlic Cloves, minced
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Basil
• 1/4 Cup Finely Minced Parsley
• 2 Tbs Fresh Dill (I omitted this and the parsley, went with more Basil)
• Pickles Red Onions

1. Place the beans in a medium sized sauce pan and cover with water. Bring a boil, reduce heat, and cook, partially covered until tender by not mush (1 to 1 1/4 hours).
2. Drain well, and transfer to a medium sized bowl. 
3. Add the remaining ingredients, mix gently, and taste to correct seasonings. Cover tightly and chill until cold. 
4. Serve topped with Pickled Red Onions. 

Pickled Red Onions

"Try these with any bean salad, in or with sandwiches, in countless other salads, as an antipasto dish, or even on top of homemade pizza. Pickled Red Onions are ridiculously easy to make, and keep practically indefinitely."

• I cup water
• Up to 3 Tbs Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Whole Peppercorns
• 4 Medium Red Onions, Very Thinly Slices

1. Preliminary: Heat teakettle or pot of water to a boil
2. Combine vinegar, 1 cup of water, sugar, salt, and peppercorns in a medium sized bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. 
3. Place the onion slices in a colander in the sink, and slowly pour all the boiling water over them. They will wilt slightly. Drain well, and transfer to the bowlful of marinade. 
4. Cover and allow to marinate, refrigerated or at room temperature, for at least several hours. Store in a sterilized jar in the refridgerator and use as needed. 

Roast Sweet Potato Tacos

Yet another recipe screen-capped from Smitten Kitchen. I know, I know, I need to share other chefs and creators, and don't worry, that's absolutely going to happen. However the draw to Deb Perlman's recipes is pretty undeniable, as championed in this New Yorker piece, but also because they're often approachable, practical, and *most importantly* can be made in a tiny kitchen with an even tinier oven because we're both residents of New York City and have these tiny apartment woes to contend with. 

In any case, I pretty much always have some sweet potatoes lying around. My go to method is to simply slice them in half inch rounds, toss with a little maple syrup, olive oil, salt and pepper, and whatever herbs I have lying around, and roast them on high heat on a sheet pan until they practically caramelize. While this never fails to satisfy, I was intrigued by this Mexican inspired iteration. So here it is, yet another bit of brilliance from Deb Perlman that will surely satisfy you and leave you with leftovers to look forward to. 

UPDATE: Smiten Kitchen has post the original recipe, refined in all its glory on her website. Check it out!

Sweet Potato Tacos

• 3 to 4 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 TB Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Paprika
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Chili Power
• 1 to 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

For Tacos

• Flour tortillas, or your desired tortilla
• 1 to 2 limes
• Cilantro
• 1 can of refried black beans
• Cotija or sour cream
• Avocado (optional)

1. Heat oven to 400. Peel, cube, and toss your sweet potatoes with your spices and minced garlic. Spread on a sheet pan and put into the hot oven for 40 minutes, being sure to stir the potatoes at least once or twice while they're cooking to ensure even cooking. 
2. Once your sweet potatoes are fully cooked, remove from oven and set aside
3. To assemble taco: smear each tortilla with a base of refried black beans, top with a heaping serving of roast sweet potatoes. Garnish with lime juice, cilantro, avocado wedges, and cotija cheese or sour cream to your liking. Enjoy! 

P.S. here is a link to the slaw mentioned in the insta-story. It's at the bottom of this recipe for Cauliflower Quesadillas, which is another wonderful vegetarian Mexican option! 

Sausage and Kale Pasta

From my episode on Instagram and social media and food, this is a recipe directly screencapped from Insta-stories, as you can see below. 

Since Deb Perlman post this recipe on her insta-stories I've made it at least three or four times. It's massively satisfying and a great way to use up any heart greens you have laying around. I've written the recipe out for your ease below, with a few suggestions based off my own experiences making this dish. 

Kale and Sausage Pasta

• 1 lb of pasta, shells or other small shape
• 1 to 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 5 oz. package of kale leaves, or 1 bunch of kale leaves*, either pre-cut or finely chopped

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil, and cook your pasta in it until just 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 2 cups of pasta cooking liquid, then drain your pasta and set each aside. 

2. In the bottom of your drained pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook your sausage in the oil once it's hot, adding in the garlic after the meat has begun to brown. Cook your sausage until it is fully done. 

3. Once your sausage is cooked, add in the kale leaves and cook until they have wilted. Be sure to season with plenty of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if you so desire. 

4. Once the kale is wilted, add a cup of your pasta cooking to the pan and the cooked pasta and bring your pan to a simmer. You can scrape along the bottom of the pan to help get any brown bits off the bottom.

5. Keep a close eye on the pasta and keep stirring to combine everything. It'll be done when the liquid has nearly evaporated and formed into a light silky sauce, in 2 to 5 minutes.

6. Once finished, plate pasta with more salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, as well as toasted breadcrumbs and shaved parmesan. 

Notes: Since I've made this a few times, here are some things I have changed. 1) When adding the cooking liquid to the sausage and kale, I've splashed in a glug of white wine for acidity. Additionally I think a squeeze of lemon juice or perhaps a bit of lemon zest would be amazing here. 2) I've also stirred in some grated fresh parmesan at the liquid step, to create a sort of cacio e pepe effect and give the dish even more umami. 

*I've done this with regular kale and dinosaur (lacinato) kale alike, both are delicious! 

Sausage and Lentil Soup from Smitten Kitchen

Here's a soup I've returned to time and again each winter. It's simple, hearty, full of greens and vegetables, and takes minimal effort to throw together. Yet another hit from Smitten Kitchen, but Deb Perlman knows how to do cozy, simple, and satisfying like no other. This soup cooks quick, reheats beautifully, and even freezes well. If you go over to her recipe, you'll see she's even updated for those of you out there with an instapot. Here I swap swiss chard for kale, but it's because that's my green of choice and it's almost always on hand in my house. 

It all begins with a simple sautee of carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. 

Then you add a can of tomatoes, which conveniently doubles as a measuring cup for the water required. Don't forget to season at every stage of cooking, from frying the garlic to removing the bay leaf. 

I like to cook my sausage seperately and add it in at the end. This could be a good hack if you're not a meat eater or have someone in your life who's not into that addition to the soup.

And just like that! Minimal fussing, hearty, warming, and good for you! Nothing not to love here. 

Smitten Kitchens Swiss Chard and Lentil Soup

• 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• 2 large links (about 8 ounces) of sweet Italian sausage [see Note]
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced or diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into half-moons or diced
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced (reserve half for later in recipe)
• Kosher salt
• A pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 cup brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups water
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 to 4 cups shredded or thinly ribboned Swiss chard leaves or kale
• Grated Pecorino Romano cheese to finish

1. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil (enough to generously coat bottom of pot) in a large pot on medium to medium-high heat. When hot, add the sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it starts to brown, about five minutes.
2. Add the onion, celery, carrots, first two garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and if you like your soup spicy, a pinch of red pepper flakes. Cook with the sausage until the vegetables soften a bit, another 5 minutes.
3. Add the lentils, bay leaves, tomatoes, water (6 cups is, conveniently, a little less than 2 empty 28-ounce cans, so you can get any tomato pulp you missed), more salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. (It might be necessary to add more water if the soup gets too thick, though we preferred ours on the thick side.)
4. When the lentils are cooked, add the chard and cook until the leaves are tender, just a few minutes more. Discard the bay leaves.

Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing

This is a classic in my house, a recipe I found a long time ago on the blog A Cup of Jo, while I was desperately searching for a dupe recipe for the black kale salad they serve up at Spriztenhaus in Williamsburg. Spritzenhaus is known for its pretzels, beer, and wide variety of sausages, but it was the salad that kept me actually coming back. It's made with lacinato kale, sometimes called dinosaur kale, which is darker and leafier variety of kale than the usual sort you find at the store. It was minimally dressed but still packed such a strong lemony, garlicky kick that had me hooked. It seemed deceptively simple, not overloaded with dressing and not heavy the way caesar dressing you might buy at the store would be.  

So in my efforts to find a caesar dressing recipe that didn't involve loads of cream, cheese, or oil, I stumbled across this remarkably smart rendition. The base of this dressing is made from roasted garlic, which gives it not only a naturally creamy texture, but an amazing depth of flavor. A little goes a long way, so you won't end up with a goopy overdressed pile of wilted leaves, but instead a surprisingly bright, light, and zippy salad. 

I think there's also a lot you can do with the concept of this recipe, and using roasted garlic as the base for other dressings!  When I initially roasted mine, I didn't have time to finish the recipe, so I put my foil wrapped cloves into the fridge. It turns out this made it all the easier to extract them, so I suggest this if you'd just like to keep some roast garlic on hand. In terms of this recipe, you could skip the anchovies if you'd like to keep it vegan. You can get fancy with the capers (why does my store only sell this one extremely disappointing variety?). You could add in parmesan for a nuttier kick. You could dial back the lemon and let the garlic shine. You could add whatever fresh herbs you've got on hand and probably wind up with something wonderful. 

So play around with this one and get creative, just so long as you promise to give it a try, because it's really that easy and really that good! I serve this on minced kale along with some toasted bread crumbs and find this pairing always hits the spot.

Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing (makes about 3/4 cup):

1 head garlic
Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tbsp. capers
2 anchovy filets
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 400F.

1. Remove the outer layers from the head of garlic so the individual cloves are exposed. Chop off the top 1/4 inch of the head so you can see the raw cloves within their skins.
2. Place on a 9×13 sheet of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap so the packet is tightly sealed. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, until the cloves are soft to the touch. Remove from the foil packet and allow to cool.
3. When cool enough to touch, squeeze the cloves out of their skins and add to a food processor. Puree the garlic along with the lemon juice, mustard, salt, and 1/3 cup olive oil. Taste and add more oil as necessary to reach the consistency you like. (This should be a thick dressing, with a punch of acidity.) Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Tomato Bread Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Franny's: Simple Seasonal Italian. While the restaurant will sadly shutter in just a weeks time, you can always bring a little of the magic of Franny's Calabrian cuisine into your kitchen with their wonderful book. I was initially drawn to this recipe because it makes use of things you might think to throw away, calling for overripe tomatoes, a hunk of stale bread, and a cheese rind or two.

The way these kitchen scraps transform together in a pot on the stove is honestly bewildering. Old bread becomes plump and near dumpling like in the tomato's beautiful broth. The cheese rinds impart an almost umami like savoriness, which plays brilliantly with the tomatoes naturally bright acidity. It's difficult for me to think of a more comforting dish, one so soothing and simple but still so packed with overwhelming amounts of flavor. We had a bit of a cold snap back in June, so I jumped at the opportunity to make this, but it works as brilliantly in September when it's finally safe to open up the apartment windows and reach for a sweater. 

Not the prettiest dish, but definitely the most delicious!

Franny's Tomato Bread Soup

In simple, pure-tasting recipes such as this one, the quality of the ingredients becomes all the more important. Make this with dead-ripe tomatoes, and you'll be rewarded with a memorable, intense soup. You'll also need sliced of good artisans bread, which expand in the liquid like a sponge and give the soup a lovely body. 

Besides ripe tomatoes and good bread, the soup has a secret weapon: Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rinds. The rinds impart a dense and savory backbone to the soup. Finished with a kick of cracked black pepper, the soup will have you looking forward to tomato season every year. 

• 4 pounds ripe tomatoes
• 2 medium white onions
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cups of water
• 3/4 cup basil leaves, plus torn leaves for garnish
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
• 6 oz of Parmigiano-Reggiano rinds, scraped 
• 8 oz day old pagnotta or other country style bread
• finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano 
• freshly cracked pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using a pairing knife, score the bottom of each tomato with a small X. Blanch the tomatoes for 30 seconds. Remove from the pot and let cool until you can handle them comfortably, then peel off the skins with your fingers or a pairing knife. Coarsely chop the tomatoes. 

2. Slice the onions inhale through the root, then thinly slice each half crosswise. (You should have about 3 cups) 

3. In a Dutch oven or a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the inions and garlic and cook, stirring to prevent browning, until soft and translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, water, basil leaves, and salt. Tie the cheese rinds in a square of cheesecloth and drop into the pot. Cover the pot and simmer over low heat, 45 minutes. 

4. Tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and stir them into the soup. Cover the pot again and continue simmering for 20 minutes longer. Remove and discard the cheese rinds. Add salt to taste if necessary. 

5. Ladle the soup into bowls. Finish each serving with grated cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, cracked black pepper, and a sprinkling of torn basil leaves. 

3 Ingredient Mac and Cheese

Here's another one courtesy of Kenji Lopez and Serious Eats. Love creamy mac and cheese, but feel concerned about the article going around about the stove top stuff's ingredients? This recipe couldn't be simpler, and no you don't have to buy sodium citrate to make it! 

So how does it work? As the pasta cooks down in the water, it releases starch which is then concentrated and acts as a binder, similar to the technique used in this Cacio e Pepe recipe. The addition of evaporated milk provides proteins which help to bind the cheese and starchy liquid, creating an instantly creamy sauce.

Here I've used regular pasta, but I suggest using macaroni elbows as they will cook much quicker and this recipe is supposed to be fast! The key in the cooking process is not to let the milk scorch, because if it does the texture of this sauce will go grainy. Make sure to keep the heat low and keep stirring once you've added your cheese. I used an extra sharp Vermont white cheddar for this recipe, but your cheese options are truly limitless! 

3 Ingredient Stove Top Mac and Cheese, recipe by Kenji Lopez

• 6 ounces (170g) elbow macaroni
• Salt
• 6 ounces (180ml) evaporated milk
• 6 ounces (170g) grated mild or medium cheddar cheese, or any good melting cheese, such as Fontina, Gruyère, or Jack

1. Place macaroni in a medium saucepan or skillet and add just enough cold water to cover. Add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Continue to cook, stirring, until water has been almost completely absorbed and macaroni is just shy of al dente, about 6 minutes.

2. Immediately add evaporated milk and bring to a boil. Add cheese. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring continuously, until cheese is melted and liquid has reduced to a creamy sauce, about 2 minutes longer. Season to taste with more salt and serve immediately.

Panzanella

There are so many ways to pair bread and tomatoes, and that's a major part of what I'm exploring this week as we ease into tomato season here in New York. You can make the southern classic, tomato and mayonnaise sandwich. You can make bruschetta. You can rub a fresh tomato on toasted bread. You can even put the two together and turn them into a soup.

But maybe the most direct way to highlight both tomatoes and good bread is a classic panzanella. This dish is an Italian bread salad, which might sound perplexing, but trust me it's absolutely divine. I'd go so far as to say this might be my ideal dish. It's tangy and crunchy and savory and bright and fresh, all those things summery Mediterranean food always gets perfectly. If you have good heirloom tomatoes, like the ones I got from my local farmers market, you really can't go wrong. The genius here lies in making a vinaigrette from the tomato juice, and pre-toasting the bread so that each bite is slightly soaked and slightly crunchy. It's absolutely brilliant and completely addictive. 

Classic Panzanella by Kenji Lopez, originally posted on Serious Eats 

• 2 1/2 pounds mixed tomatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 3/4 pound ciabatta or rustic sourdough bread, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes (about 6 cups bread cubes)
• 10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup packed basil leaves, roughly chopped

1. Place tomatoes in a colander set over a bowl and season with 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Toss to coat. Set aside at room temperature to drain, tossing occasionally, while you toast the bread. Drain for a minimum of 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F and adjust rack to center position. In a large bowl, toss bread cubes with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crisp and firm but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

3. Remove colander with tomatoes from bowl with tomato juice. Place colander with tomatoes in the sink. Add shallot, garlic, mustard, and vinegar to the bowl with tomato juice. Whisking constantly, drizzle in the remaining 1/2 cup olive oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Combine toasted bread, tomatoes, and dressing in a large bowl. Add basil leaves. Toss everything to coat and season with salt and pepper. Let rest for 30 minutes before serving, tossing occasionally until dressing is completely absorbed by bread.

One Pan Pasta

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this recipe, maybe seen it in one of those pop up cooking videos on Facebook or seen a friend instagram it in disbelief. If recipes can be viral, I'm pretty sure this one is up there with microwave mug cakes, Marcella Hazan's three ingredient tomato sauce, and Baker's one bowl brownies. It's alarmingly simple, almost too good to be true. All you have to do is chop an onion and boil some water and boom, you have your dinner ready to go.

So how does this work? As the pasta cooks it releases starch, which is a natural thickening agent, so as the water reduces and the starch increases, you get almost a sort of sauce. The tomatoes boil until they burst, the onions soak and sweat and yield their sweetness to the resulting sauce. It's simple, it's satisfying, and if you get the measurements right on the first go, very easy. 

So did it work? Well, sort of. One of the things about this recipe that troubles me is that all pastas have different cooking times. The comments on Martha Stewart's recipe for this all suggest that you should buy very high quality pasta, so I did. However her recipe said to cook the pasta for 9 minutes, and the bag I bought suggested 7 minutes cooking time. In the end I think my pasta cooked for around 12 to 14 minutes, and the pasta ended up perfectly al dente. Perhaps the lack of liquid slows down the cooking time? I also was actually left with a good amount of liquid, which is why I cooked my pasta longer. In the end I added a little under a cup of freshly microplane parmesan to thicken the broth, basically in the style of cacio e peppe. This worked really well and added a little extra dimension to the flavors.

So does it work? Yes, but you need to make sure everything is measured perfectly and don't buy cheap pasta! 

One Pan Pasta, originally posted by Martha Stewart

• 12 ounces linguine 
• 12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large 
• 1 onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups) 
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes 
• 2 sprigs basil, plus torn leaves for garnish 
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving 
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 
• 4 1/2 cups water 
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and water in a large straight-sided skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly evaporated, about 9 minutes. 

2. Season to taste with salt and pepper, divide among 4 bowls, and garnish with basil. Serve with oil and Parmesan.

Basil Aioli

I got this idea from the BLT that is served at Choice Market in Clinton Hill. I think years ago it was featured on some Food Network show, and I remember being very intrigued that the sandwich had basil aioli that was made in house on it. Originally I'd hoped to make basil aioli to pair with a chicken salad recipe I was trying to develop, but instead I realized you could simply grill the chicken and make a sandwich, and then use this dressing on anything else you liked, like, say, a BLT. 

I sort of hacked this together from a recipe that was originally posted by Self Proclaimed Foodie. Their recipe was really great, but I thought it needed more basil and I didn't want to use canola oil, so I opted for all extra virgin olive oil, which might be too strong for some peoples taste. I also reduced the amount of garlic because I wanted to get as much basil flavor as I could infused into my aioli. If you want to add more garlic, go for it! 

• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup fresh basil 
• 1 minced clove of garlic
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. Place basil, garlic, yolks, lemon juice, and salt in food processor. Pulse to combine.
2. Turn processor on and slowly pour in olive oil mixed with the vegetable oil. Process until aioli forms, about a minute. Turn processor off, scrap sides, process again until combined.
3. Serve immediately or store in air tight container in refrigerator until ready to use. Makes approximately one cup.

Tomatoes and Bread

I've been thinking a lot about simple foods because it's summer and it's hot and things should be easy in summer. The lush ripeness of the produce this time of year needs little to be accentuated, and so I'm drawn to things that are cool, quick, and can be lazily scooped onto good bread. I've been thinking a lot about tomatoes because they're in abundance this time of year and there's hardly anything better in the world than a great late summer tomato that's bright and bursting with juice. This reminded me of something my friend Helene had once written about a snack she liked to make while spending a summer in Spain, which showcased the beauty and coolness of the tomato with very little added. Here she's graciously granted me to share her words on the subject and her recipe.

The first time I had pan con tomate was at James and Elisabet’s old apartment in Dublin. I found it hard to understand how this was one of James’ favourite things from Spain (originating, along with Liz, from Catalonia), especially as it was presented alongside a feast of deliciously rich food. Amazing how quickly habits and tastes change in different climates. We’re progressing quickly towards high summer heat, and every day I feel more thawed out, starting to relax into the fact that the summer will remain hot, the sun will stay out. I feel at home in Madrid, was relieved to leave humid Valencia. It’s an unknowable thing whether a new place will feel like home and I’m grateful that Madrid does after such a short time. The tomatoes, riper and more flavourful than I’ve ever tasted, are from the vegetable shop on our nearest plaza, where the shopkeepers are familiar with our long list of patchy spanish pronunciations - they correct each word and make us repeat after them ‘cebolla, cebolla’, as a way of conversing, I think, and call us chicos. We get our olive oil from the shop nearby selling solely olive oil. And so forth with the other ingredients most days - the honey shop, the butcher, the cheesemonger. The supermarket is only for toilet paper and cheap wine. If you are in a hot country, enjoying a warm summer, this is for you. It’s cooling like an ice-pop. Traditionally the tomato is rubbed directly onto the bread, but I like the extra juices obtained by grating. It’s a simple thing, but each ingredient is important.

• crusty baguette (ends cut off, cut into four pieces and then each piece sliced horizontally)
• two ripe tomatoes
• good olive oil
• flaky salt
• pepper

Cut each tomato in half and slice out the stem. Grate the halves and discard the skin. Drizzle olive oil on the baguette, top with a few spoonfuls of tomato, sprinkle on some flaky salt and grind over some pepper.

Eat in your bare feet.