Superbowl Snacks

Meatball sliders for Superbowl Sunday. The meatballs were flavored with oregano and Parmesan, and then simmered long and slow in some fire-roasted tomatoes.


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Homemade Tortillas

The snow has finally stopped, but we're not going out any time soon. Having some flank steak and guacamole on hand, I decided to make flour tortillas. In the end they might be closer to the pocketless pita than the grocery store tortillas, but they tasted yummy and were fun to make.


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PB Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

The snow is still falling here -- we've had over two feet already, and it's not done yet -- and I've moved from shoveling to baking. These bars, from King Arthur Flour with a few changes by me, include peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and roasted peanuts.


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Scali Bread

Somehow in all the time I've spent in Boston I missed Scali bread, which I've since discovered is common in the area. I made some this weekend, using a recipe from King Arthur Flour, and despite my many other baking projects, not even a crumb of this bread is now left. The dough was beautiful to work with--super smooth and supple--and I managed to keep the sesame seeds confined to just part of the kitchen. I will definitely be making this bread again, and soon.

Polenta-Crusted Shrimp

This recipe is a nice change from the usual shrimp stirfries and cocktails. The shrimp was dusted in seasoned flour, then egg, and then dredged in polenta and baked. The final product was crunchy and juicy, and the mustard-tarragon dipping sauce worked particularly well. This is also one of the few times that I'd leave shrimp tails on--usually they just get in the way, but they made a good handle in this case.

Not-So-English Muffins

Saturday was a snowy day, so I stayed in and tried out some new recipes. These muffins, which have little to do with England or traditional muffins, were among those I tested. The recipe was intended for a breadmaker, but it was easy enough to mix up in a regular bowl. The cooking, kind of unusually, was on a griddle on the stove. What I ended up with were slightly smaller than standard English muffins, but toasted and spread with butter and strawberry jam? So good! And the "fork split" thing happens all on its own--which is kind of cool when you think about it.

Chicken Tagine with Tomatoes and Honey

We're in Morocco tonight, at least for dinner. We had djaj matisha mesla, or chicken with tomatoes and honey, rice pilaf with almonds, carrot salad, and spinach with raisins and pine nuts. The chicken was cooked with onions, tomatoes, saffron, ginger, and cinnamon til the mixture was a thick, caramelized sauce. Honey was added, and the whole thing was topped with toasted almonds and sesame seeds. All of the recipes, except for the rice, come from Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food.

Vietnamese Caramelized Chicken, Ga Kho

Every once in a while you find a recipe that you know you're going to be making for a long, long time. This recipe, from the Ravenous Couple, is one of those recipes. I love the convenience and flavor of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or you can use bone-in), but I find myself making the same recipes over and over again--and while they're good, they get a little tired. This recipe is full of flavor--lots of garlic, ginger, shallots, vinegar, fish sauce, chilis, and brown sugar--and the sauce practically melts into the chicken. The ingredients are all things I tend to have on hand (though I'm still not sure what happened to the rice vinegar ... champagne vinegar worked just fine), and it all takes very little time to throw together. The chicken marinated while i got the rice and some vegetables going, and the final dish only took 10-15 min. to cook.

Chocolate Overload Cupcakes

More cupcakes this weekend, this time chocolate on chocolate. I used the Barefoot Contessa's chocolate layer cake recipe, more or less, with a rich chocolate frosting that I came up with. I needed something a bit sweeter than a traditional buttercream but didn't want the too-mild, back-of-the box recipes that were more like vanilla with a hint of chocolate. The end result was very chocolatey but sweet and creamy, too. The kids ended up with cake and frosting on their faces--and the adults might have, if no one else were around.

Cupcake in the Oven

For a baby shower today, I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. The basis was the Barefoot Contessa's carrot cake cupcake recipe, but I played around with it a bit, adding more spices and brown sugar, among other things. I topped the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (a different one from the recipe), and then stood lemon shortbread cookies on top of that. For around the platter, I made chocolate-dipped strawberries and sprinkled a few raspberries around, too.

Strawberries with white and dark chocolate