Edamame rarely find their way into my kitchen, and I really don’t know why. They’re a perfect addition to salads, an easy and elegant appetizer, and a perfect snack, but I can’t think of the last time I bought them. No, really, I don’t think I’ve every bought them. The ones in these pictures were leftover from my birthday party. Dina, another one of the birthday girls, made this easy recipe and I’ve been trying to figure out how to recreate it ever since.
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To say I love shakshuka is both a huge understatement and slightly misleading. How’s that? Well, I more than love shakshuka; it’s one of my absolute favorite breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, and hell, snacks. When D and I can’t agree on what to put in the omelet or pancakes, I just say “shakshuka?” and everyone shuts up. (Usually.)
However, I like shakshuka my way. And my way is… well, my way is delicious, but it’s not really shakshuka. Traditional shakshuka is an Israeli dish comprising sunny-side-up eggs in a spicy, onion-y tomato sauce. That’s how I make it for D, but not for me. Please don’t yell or scream or call me a fake foodie, but I don’t like runny eggs. I know they’re delicious and wonderful and life-changing for many-a-gourmet, but I’ll have my eggs rubbery as leather and burnt on the outside, thank you very much. Scoff if you must.
Not my usual MO to post on food news, but an op-ed from this weekend’s New York Times struck me and you’ve gotta read it. A farmer from Minnesota discusses how farm subsidies and penalties actively prevent him and other small, local farmers from growing fresh fruits and vegetables to make room for the subsidized crops: corn, soy, wheat, rice, or cotton. It’s just one more reason why Americans eat horribly and suffer for it.
Dulce de Leche has quickly become this blog’s most popular post. The one-step recipe for caramel has generated more traffic, more comments, and more general excitement on this end of things than any other post. I was thrilled to read so many great comments offering alternative names for the treat, as well as several creative recipe ideas. I’m planning on trying the one with a graham cracker crust soon!
Here’s one more way to use all that caramel sitting in all of our fridges: top poached pears with it.
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And you thought the Yule Log was a challenge. Sure, Dellie and I found ourselves cleaning the kitchenaid every five minutes, rolling a delicate cake around itself, and spreading intense buttercream frosting to look like bark — but judging by this month’s challenge, the yule log was a mere warm-up.
Julia Child’s French bread is a classic recipe, written in Julia’s whimsical yet meticulous style, that purports to produce the most perfect, flavorful French bread around. Indeed, having tasted my scrumptious loaves, I know I never need to buy a baguette again. Unless I don’t happen to have 12 HOURS ON MY HANDS to make my own. Yep, you heard it here first — I woke up at 7:30 to start the dough, and my loaves didn’t emerge from the oven until after 8pm. Now I know some really talented folks finished their bread in a shorter time, but what can I say? I’m a flippin’ turtle.
I am notoriously bad at making decisions. When we eat out, I always order last, often oscillating between two or three choices to the very last second. “What do you want to do tonight?” is my least favorite question. I’m not gonna tell you that it’s different in Italian restaurants — i still take forever to make up my darn mind — but when in doubt, I unwaveringly choose pasta puttanesca. It may even be the benchmark by which I judge an italian joint. For D, that’s gnocchi; if the gnocchi is bad, the place ain’t worth it. But I’d happily forgo plump, soft gnocchi anyday for a solid bowl of homemade pasta and that delightfully salty and spicy puttanesca sauce.
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Imagine a creamy, rich, brown caramel made from the simplest of ingredients — milk and sugar — and involving little more than a pot of boiling water and a couple hours. Hard to believe, but the best way to make dulce de leche is also the easiest way. And tell me you’re not salivating as you eye the caramel I’ve got sitting in a jar in my fridge. This stuff is to die for, people.
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I’ve been on a tofu hiatus lately. Its estrogen-mimicking qualities had me a little nervous, and I hadn’t been craving it much anyway, so I took a tofu timeout. Then I was at the whole foods near work and some baked pressed tofu caught my eye. I can’t remember the brand, but it’s the kind that comes in thai, teriyaki, and lemon-pepper flavors. I usually buy regular organic extra firm tofu, and do the pressing and marinating myself. But don’t kid yourself — that process takes time. Ideally, you’d put the tofu in a bowl, cover it with a paper towel, rest a heavy can on top, and let the liquid drain out over at least half an hour. Then you’d marinate the tofu for half an hour more, replacing the plain liquid with flavor. But whole foods, the blessing that it is, carries ready-made-and-marinated tofu for only eighty times the price! Actually, this stuff was under 2 bucks — not bad at all.
With the tofu flavored and ready to go, I was able to make this entire meal, start to finish, in 23 minutes. People, that’s faster than our not-so-favorite thirty-minute-meal star. And it was delicious to boot! Even D thought so.
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