The slow cooked vegetable flavors of ratatouille—eggplant, zucchini, tomato, peppers—care of my friend Noelle's tried and true Provencal recipe.

Just cut up a crusty baguette, plate some butter, and serve.

[1. c. lynn]

I am loving:

my new Staub coq au vin cocotte, which I used last night to make the most fall-off-the-bone chicken and vegetables (a birthday gift from M—thank you!)

this delicious spin on a egg salad tartine (recipe here)

my new favorite cocktail, the greyhound, made fresh to order



[1-2. c. lynn]

We are making do with the weather we've been given, which means fending off the rainy day blues with delicious home-cooked short rib ragu and a new beer of choice, Ninkasi Total Domination IPA.

Try your hand at the ragu. We halved the recipe for our two-person household and only used five short ribs, which lasted us for three glorious days. We ate it over a creamy polenta the first night and loved it in tacos with lots of fresh cilantro for lunch the next day.

[1-2; c. lynn]

I am:

thinking about my Dad's birthday and hoping that he likes his new Shun knife

loving this simple granola recipe that I tweaked from Bon Appetit (see below)

interested in this article about Google's new changes for recipe search

looking for a great cushy rug for our living room space—any ideas?

--

gather
5 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
3/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 hot water from the kettle
1 tablespoon bourbon vanilla extract
generous pinch of kosher salt
1 cup dried cherries, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Toss oats, pecans, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk oil, maple syrup, hot water, vanilla, and salt in a measuring glass. Drizzle over oat mixture and toss to coat. (I find that it's easier to just dive in with clean hands.) Divide granola between two sheets and spread into a thin layer.

Bake 20 minutes; stir and reverse baking sheets (bottom comes to top rack and vice versa). Bake until golden brown about 20 minutes more. If you notice that the nuts are getting too crispy, lower oven temperature to 250 degrees F. Cool sheets of granola on a wire rack and toss dried fruit to combine. When granola has thoroughly cooled, transfer to airtight plastic bags or airtight canisters for week-long snacking.

[1. c. lynn]

Do you have a Sunday morning breakfast ritual?

We don't tend to eat a special thing on a special day, but we do get excited about breakfast foods that we don't make very often—especially when Sour Milk Pancakes from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book are on the menu. Sure, sour milk sounds like something that you wouldn't want to work with for breakfast, but it simulates the flavor of buttermilk and it makes the most fluffy, slightly tangy pancakes that we have ever had. In fact, after a few tries with this recipe we threw out our packaged pancake batter.

Sour Milk Pancakes
makes two dozen 3-in pancakes or ten waffles—we usually half this recipe for the two of us or store the remaining batter in the fridge for the following morning (or midnight snack)

Sour milk is made with the addition of 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for each cup of milk, then stir and let stand 10 minutes.

2 eggs, separated
2 cups sour milk (regular milk works too)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 stick butter

1. Place yolks in large bowl and beat well. Add milk and whisk to incorporate.
2. Add egg whites to the bowl of a mixer and mix with a whisk attachment (or by hand with a whisk) until stiff but still moist.
3. In another bowl, whisk to combine all dry ingredients and then add its contents to the milk and egg mixture.
4. Stir in melted butter.
5. Gently fold in the egg whites to the batter mixture.
6. Using a hot and oiled skillet, ladle out your pancakes and flip with the surface bubbles break.

[1. c. lynn]

We threw a small dinner last night for friends who were so helpful with watching over our apartment while we were away. Since our guests had certain food limitations that made most proteins out of the question, I decided that salmon fillets would fit the bill.

I went with a Spanish-inspired menu using a recipe for salmon that I had made before with much success. For a starter that could be enjoyed with wine, I thought of making some potatas bravas. Instead of deep-frying the potatoes, I used freshly dug fingerlings and rendered the recipe a little lighter by baking them, well-seasoned and halved, until crispy and soft in the middle.

In the original plan I was going to prepare a creme caramel for dessert, but after seeing a recipe for a Top Secret Chocolate Mousse in Dorie Greenspan's new book and remembering something that a French friend had said about serving chocolate mousse for dessert at dinner parties, I quickly altered my plan.

menu:
potatas bravas with spicy tomato sauce and garlic aioli
salmon al a sidra (served in hard cider) with mussels and clams
fresh baguette with garlic and chive butter
top secret chocolate mousse

 

[1-3. c. lynn]

My first homemade nabe was delicious! It filled us up, warmed away our jackets and scarves, and made us feel like we were officially home. A remarked that this was kind of food that would make him want to go outside and chop wood. Hearty and healthy—it was also really easy to make.

This version was made with black cod, niku dango (Japanese turkey meatballs), haksai (Chinese cabbage), negi (green onion), dashi, enoki mushroom, kabocha (Japanese winter squash), carrot, glass noodles, and soft tofu.

Learn how to make it here.

[1. c. lynn]

I’ve been staying at my friends H and S's house in their family’s charming neighborhood inside Tokyo. It's really fun to imagine what it would be like to live here, which isn't something that I've been able to do while staying at hotels in the city center. 

Another great thing about staying here is that H has offered to teach me some Japanese home-cooking including a delicious seafood nabe or stew (なべ物), which is wonderful since my father gifted us with a proper donabe (土鍋) for Christmas this year. She uses a metal pot, but the one I have is made of earthenware and must be cured properly before use with day-old rice.

Gather:
15 small chicken meatballs (you can purchase these already prepared at a Japanese market, but to make them combine ground chicken thigh, soy sauce, and green onion)
12 shrimp, deveined
10 scallops
10 oysters (optional)
1 small blue crab
12 cockles
1 package soft tofu (or firm if you wish)
1 leek, cut into bite-sized rounds and soaked to remove any sand
1 bunch of hakusai, or Chinese cabbage, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 package glass noodles
1 carrot, cut into thin rounds or length-wise
1 bunch enoki mushrooms, cleaned, chopped in half, and pulled apart into bite-sized clusters
1 daikon root, sliced thinly into small half moons
2 yosenabe soup packages (you can purchase at a Japanese market)
1 bottle ponzu (optional) 

Equipment:
1 nabe pot (metal/clay)
1 portable gas cooker

Cook:
1. Prepare and clean all vegetables. Arrange together in bunches on a plate for ease of cooking.
2. Add yosenabe packages to nabe pot, cover, and bring to a boil over open flame.
3. Add daikon, carrots, and half package of glass noodles to yosenabe mixture.
4. Add cockles, crab, and chicken meatballs.
5. Add shrimp, hakusai, enoki, and leek.
6. Bring back to boil and add scallops, slices of tofu, and add the rest of the glass noodles.
7. Add oysters.
8. Overall cook time should be about 20 minutes from when the yosenabe boils.

To serve, bring pot to table and place on gas cooker to keep everything warm. Place a small bowl, chopsticks, and a soup spoon at each place setting. Serve up nabe and add a dash of ponzu if it suits you.



[1. Shoko Muraguchi]

We arrived in Napa just in time to help out with Thanksgiving dinner. M had already prepared the luxurious turkey stock a day earlier from her trusty Gourmet Today cookbook, which made the stuffing just delicious and the gravy a snap to make ahead of time. 


My main job was to get the pies in order—rolling out Martha Stewart's infallible recipe for pastry crust and baking them off before the turkey took over the oven. We made two pies this year: a Blenheim apricot pie and a traditional pumpkin.


We were so busy cooking and carving and celebrating that I forgot to snap a picture of the roasted turkey, so you'll just have to settle for a picture of our little Thanksgiving miracle, Sam, who M rescued from being abandoned on the mountain just a few days earlier.





[1-4. c. lynn]

After a wonderful week in New York with my family, I am back home in Portland. 

--

Craving a taste of the comforts of home, I decided to make individual chicken pot pies from Ina Garten's fail-proof recipe to dazzle A and get us excited about the Thanksgiving flavors to come next  week.

Ina's recipe calls for a homemade pie crust, but I don't usually go through all of the trouble and instead buy frozen puff pastry to fit each souffle dish. I find that it saves a lot of time and provides the perfect flaky crust for the molten pot pie filling.

[1-6. c. lynn]

Have you ever swooned for brussel sprouts? Add a little applewood smoked bacon, apple cider vinegar, a few shallots, and some brown sugar to the pan, and you will. Soft, leafy, caramelized brussel sprouts with sweet and salty, smoked bacon—this dish doesn't disappoint.

PS: Jamie Oliver's youtube channel has some really great how-tos for beginner cooks.


[1. c. lynn]

We just got our first Organics to You delivery since we arrived back home. Delivery days are perfect for making an ambitious new dish from fruit desserts and one pot meals to vegetarian entrees and soups, since the produce is so farm fresh. This time, I started thinking about doing a minestrone soup—something to incorporate lots of vegetables and still have the tomato angle that I crave.

I worked off of a Tuscan recipe from La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy, which is a product of the efforts of Italian culinary scholars who sought to preserve authentic and regional Italian cooking in a comprehensive book, almost fifty years ago. The scholars traveled around the countryside, interviewing grandmothers and farmers about their specialties and recipes that were handed down. I've found that it's an excellent resource with clear and simple instructions that you can tailor to your own taste.

--
This minestrone is robust and flavorful with all of the notes of harvest time. The vegetables are aplenty and the pasta gives a nice firm bite to every spoonful. Buon appetito!


Tuscan minestrone

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 oz. applewood cured bacon, chopped
1 leek (white part only), washed thoroughly and chopped
1/2 cup basil, cut into chiffonade
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 lb Swiss chard, cut into a chiffonade
1 head of baby lettuce, chopped
1 small summer squash, peeled and chopped
4 oz. string beans, chopped
2 or 3 ripe Roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups tomato puree
2/3 cup white navy beans (I used canned beans, but Mr. Bittman would recommend dried beans instead)
Chicken broth
1/2 lb elbow pasta

1. In a pot, heat the olive oil and saute the bacon, leek, and basil over medium heat.

2. Add all of the vegetables except for the tomatoes.

3. Add salt to taste, cover, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes (without seeds), tomato puree, beans, and enough broth to cover.

5. Cook slowly for 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more broth or water as needed.

6. Add a bit of pasta for each bowl of soup that you are ready to eat and cook for 10 minutes; when the pasta is al dente the soup is finished. (If you add all of the pasta at once, it will become mushy when you reheat it for leftovers.)

7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

Sometimes there's nothing more comforting than a roasted chicken for dinner. Our family recipe always delights and it seems that every family has a favorite. 

We wash the bird with salt to really clean it—inside and out. Then I pat it dry and add a pat or two of butter under the skin of the breast. I generously salt and pepper the outside and inside of the bird. I stuff the cavity with half a lemon, which I also squeeze inside the bird. I add a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary (or both) as well as a half of an onion. I truss the bird, drizzle some olive oil, and pop it in a 350-degree oven. Every fifteen minutes or so, I baste the bird with the juices from the bottom of the pan. If the juices start to gather too much at the base of the bird, I remove some of the excess drippings into heatproof glass. After about 45 minutes, I pump up the temperature to 400 degrees and wait about 20-35 minutes until the bird is golden and crispy. Afterward, I let the chicken roast rest for about ten to fifteen minutes before carving to serve.


[1. fig and plum]

This summer we found a delicious marinade for skirt steak at our neighborhood market. D.L. Jardine's fajita-style marinade lends a garlicky savoriness and a vinegar/lime tang that's so delicious for carne asada. We love it so much that we often make extra for next day steak sandwiches or steak and egg breakfasts. It's really a fantastic find amidst a sea of marinades that never quite live up to expectations. If your market doesn't carry it, you can also pick it up online.

[1. no recipes]

The basil vinaigrette that I poured over our beet salads last night was pretty exceptional. It was one of A's favorite components of the dinner and I was really happy with how it worked with the chevre and beets. I bet it would be divine atop a summer Caprese salad.

Basil Vinaigrette [adapted from Food & Wine magazine June 2009]

Makes 1/3 cup

Ingredients

1 small garlic clove

1 cup packed basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

Pinch of sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Using a garlic press, squeeze one clove into a food processor (or if you have a great food processor, simply use it to chop the garlic very finely—we don't want any little chunks). Add the basil and pulse until finely chopped. Add the oil and vinegar and process until smooth. Add a pinch of sugar and season with salt and pepper.

[1. c. lynn]

Lately A. has been obsessed with retro-inspired iceberg wedge salads, which he can find pretty easily around our neighborhood. The iceberg lettuce benefits greatly from the buttery tang of the blue cheese and for a blue cheese fiend, it's a much healthier option than springing for hot wings just for the dip.

Although, I've yet to perfect the wedge at home, I have found the perfect cheese for it—Winsconsin's Roth Käse Buttermilk Blue. This mild blue combines all of the typical characteristics of a blue with a creamy consistency that makes folding it into a dressing a cinch.

Another great blue to try is King Island Dairy's Roaring Forties Blue from Australia. This blue cheese is begging to join the usual suspects on your cheese board. The cheese is mild, nutty, and almost sweet like cream. It's so pleasant that you should encourage all of the blue cheese skeptics you know to try it—it just may be their gateway blue.

[1. c. lynn]

I am in love with Indian food. It's really one of my favorites. In Manhattan, I would order out from a restaurant in 'Curry Hill' (or the Indian food saturated Murray Hill) at least once every few weeks, but here in Portland, I've yet to find a great restaurant. Luckily for me and my Indian food cravings, a few months ago a friend threw an Indian-inspired dinner party and chocked it all up to Madhur Jaffrey and her book Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking.

Jaffrey's recipes are simple and easy, which is not what you'd expect when you think about combining all of those layers of flavor. For her, it's all about freshly grinding each spice per use so that the distinct flavors of the spices stand out instead of combining to taste like something muted and foreign.

Because of Jaffrey's influence, I grind my own spice mixes like garam masala, which provides just the right blend of earthy and spicy flavors for a roasted chicken or for Jaffrey's chicken with tomatoes and garam masala (above). To grind the spices together, I used my burr grinder, but I think the smartest way to go about it is to keep a separate electric grinder just for spices. This way, you don't end up with cardamom-infused coffee the next time you use it. However, you could always use a mortar and pestleor a manual spice mill to crush the spices.

Indian Chicken with Tomatoes and Garam Masala
adapted from Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
Serves 6

Ingredients:
5 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
6-7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 inch cube fresh ginger, grated with microplane
1 can of crushed organic tomatoes
2 - 3 lbs chicken pieces, skinned, and chopped into bite-size chunks
salt to taste
1/8-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala

1. Heat the oil in a large pot; when hot, put in cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, and peppercorns.

2. Stir once, quickly, and then stir in onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté, stirring, until the onions have brown specks. Then put in the tomatoes, chicken, salt, and cayenne pepper, stirring to mix.

3. Bring the pot to a boil and cover tightly, reduce heat to low, and simmer 25 minutes until chicken is tender. Stir occasionally.

4. Remove cover and turn up heat to medium; add garam masala and stir for 5 minutes to reduce water content.

5. Serve over long grain basmati rice and garnish with a sliced radish and a pinch of parsley.

[1. c. lynn]

Like everyone else in Portland, I'm itching for a little sunshine. I've heard so many good things about the summers here that the anticipation is getting the best of me. Luckily, there are many things to distract—like good beer and these delicious Dungeness crab cake sandwiches that I whipped up yesterday. With a tangy Asia coleslaw and a spicy Sriracha mayo sauce, there's a lot flavor in every bite. For the recipe, click here.

[1. c. lynn]

I know a little girl who loves to chop and cook wooden carrots and mushrooms in her little play kitchen. I'm thinking about getting her some really fun plush foodstuff from Haba in Germany. How sweet are these soft and furry versions of a sandwich, Bavarian veal sausage with pretzel, and a gyro?

[1., 2., & 3. Plastica]

I just received Volume One and Two of Canal House Cooking in the mail. These cookbooks are published thrice-yearly and are fantastic in that they provide delicious recipes season by season with wonderful food photography and interesting little anecdotes about the cooking process and recipe experimentation.

Although I originally picked up these books thinking that they were Dutch recipes, I've been pleasantly surprised with good and simple American recipes with a seasonal focus (the cooks behind Canal House take their name from their lovely kitchen studio on the canal in an old New England town).

Another perfect gift subscription for the epicurean home cook in your life!

 
[1-6. Canal House Cooking]