bites out of life

Bourbon Chai Hot Toddy

Guys, I was first introduced to a bourbon chai hot toddy this weekend (at a very cool bar in DC) and I’ve since become OBSESSED. I’m not a big bourbon drinker, nor do I particularly like chai, but the combination of cinnamon and cardamom and cloves and spicy alcohol was pretty perfect. I had three of them on Saturday night, and subsequently spent all of Sunday and Monday and Tuesday thinking about how I could make one at home.

I had grand plans of steeping traditional Darjeeling tea (I still have some from my trip a few years ago!) with fresh spices and then straining the mixture and … it’s the holidays. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

So without further ado, the only cocktail you’ll need this month. It’s warm and comforting, easy and boozy, and can easily be made in large batches (as long as you have a large thermos) for parties. Cheers!

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Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas

It’s officially the holiday season! Christmas songs are back en vogue, twinkly lights abound and I have a good excuse to bake hundreds of cookies! Homemade gifts are a great way to show someone you appreciate them without breaking the bank. They’re a great treat for co-workers, the neighbors, your kid’s favorite teacher, as something you mail to faraway friends, or even as a post-party treat for guests.

The best homemade gifts have two important characteristics: they’re easy to make (since you’ll likely be making large batches) and can stay relatively intact for a week or two without spoiling. They also ideally travel well, on the offhand chance that you are shipping them across the country. Most people think cookies, which will never disappoint, but there are plenty of other goodies to share this time of year. I’ve rounded up some of my faves below, but I’m always looking for new ideas!

What are your favorite homemade holiday gifts to give or receive?

Cookies

Airy Dark Chocolate Meringues
Classic Christmas Sugar Cookies
Chocolate-Dipped Whole Wheat Shortbreads
Coffee Chocolate-Chip Shortbread Cookies
Condensed Milk Cookies
Dark Chocolate, Pistachio and Sea Salt Cookies
Five-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Mini Chocolate Crackles
Peppermint-y Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Pistachio-Cardamom Meltaways
Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
Regal Shortbread Cookies
Salted Dark Chocolate Shortbreads
Spiced Ginger Cookies
Toasted Pecan Sandies (I literally cannot show up for our Christmas party without these.)
Vanilla Crescent Cookies

Candy

Boozy Dark Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles
Chocolate-Toffee Cracker Crunch
Peanutella (Chocolate-Peanut Butter Spread)
Peppermint Bark
Pistachio Cranberry White Chocolate Bark
Red Velvet Cake Balls

Jams, Jellies and Sauces

Easy Pear Refrigerator Jam
Fig-Olive Jam (great for friends who prefer savory treats and/or cheese lovers, since it’s insane with sharp cheeses)
Salted Butter Caramel Sauce

Granola

(I love this idea, since people are usually sugar-ed out this time of year and on the lookout for easy breakfasts they can quickly squeeze in … or maybe that’s just me)
Dark Chocolate Cherry Granola
Vanilla Maple Cinnamon Granola

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese

Let’s keep this short and sweet, since I know you have a turkey to dry-brine and stuffing to bake and cranberry sauce to cook up.

You’re going to need something for breakfast on Friday morning, something that requires no cooking or heating of leftovers or time in the overused, please-can-someone-give-the-oven-a-break? kitchen.

So, in between your prep work today, take 20 minutes to make this pumpkin bread with cream cheese. It’s spicy and barely sweet, and the cream cheese adds a nice tang. It requires just two bowls and ingredients you probably already have at home (plus, it’s a great way to use the pumpkin puree left over from pie-making duties).

The best part: the pumpkin bread tastes even better a few days after baking, which means it’s perfect for making ahead. Simply slice it and set it out before going to bed on Thursday night, and let your guests help themselves the next morning. Doesn’t that sound like a dream? …

Dry-Brined Turkey with Sage Butter

No Thanksgiving is complete without the turkey. And if you’ve been on any kind of recipe site or food magazine in the past few weeks, you know that there’s 8,379,201 ways to cook a bird and all of them claim to solve the #1 problem with roast turkey: dryness.

The most popular answer? Brining. Salting your turkey breaks down certain proteins and science, science, blah blah blah … helps keep it juicy. The most common method of brining is a wet brine, ie. dissolving salt in water and then immersing the entire turkey in the solution for a few days.

But there are a few problems with wet brining. Number one: it requires space. The entire turkey must be submerged, so you’d need a large bucket or cooler for a large bird. It needs to stay cold, so you need enough space in the fridge to house the bucket, or you need to routinely refresh the ice in your cooler. Number two: soaking the turkey in salted water keeps it moist, but doesn’t add much flavor. And, because your turkey is wet, it won’t crisp up as well in the oven, so you won’t get that gorgeous bronzed crackly skin.

Last year, because of that space issue, I skipped the brine. And let me tell you, it was delicious. So a brine is not strictly necessary for juicy, flavorful turkey.

This year, I was still curious — after all, if thousands of blogs and recipe sites and magazines are touting the brine, there must be something to this, right? But in my research, I discovered the dry brine, a way to add moisture to your turkey without having to stick a bucket in the fridge, without watering down the flavor of your turkey, without creating insanely salty drippings that can’t be used for gravy.

It’s stupid-easy: rub salt all over your turkey, then let it sit for a day or two in the fridge. The salt draws out the turkey’s juices then dissolves in them and is reabsorbed by the meat (or something like that), creating a mess-free moist turkey.

The type of salt you use is essential: regular old table salt won’t work here. Kosher salt is a must, since its larger flakes are better for dissolving. There are different types of kosher salt, with different levels of salinity too (Diamond Crystal kosher salt is less salty than Morton’s kosher salt, etc. — here’s more than you ever needed to know about any of this.) If you’re in doubt, err on the side of caution: start with 1 tablespoon for every 4 pounds of bird.

Though I dry-brined for a day, to ensure maximum moistness I also buttered my bird. Since I was stuffing it with apples and onions, I rubbed the turkey inside and out with a sage-and-shallot butter, and followed last year’s method of flipping the turkey halfway through cooking. The end result was a real stunner, with its crispy golden skin and its perfectly juicy interior.

Now that I’m 2-for-2 with turkey cooking, next year, I’ll hopefully master the carving … …

Thanksgiving Prep Tips + A Classic Stuffing Recipe

Thanksgiving is often touted as the hostess’s white whale, a menacing foe that requires an immense amount of experience and skill to conquer. FALSE. To successfully host a great Thanksgiving, you need just one thing: advance planning. This is the time to really unleash your Type-A-OCD-Excel-spreadsheet-loving side. Schedules and timelines are a must, as are meticulous shopping lists, a thorough check of your pantry, and a healthy sense of adventure.

SHOP AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE

Ideally, you want to start planning at least 10 days in advance. (Like right after you read this post, you know?) By now, you should know how many people are coming to dinner, and what, if anything, they are bringing. From there, you can figure out how much food you’ll need to make: a turkey for X amount of people, gravy, two sides, etc. Pick your recipes early and stick to them! You may be dazzled by the latest, greatest trendy way to cook a turkey, but dinner party rule #1 is don’t try anything new, and what is Thanksgiving if not a gigantic dinner party?

Once you have your recipes, you have your shopping list. Scour your pantry first: you probably still have spices, specialty flours and random sugars from last year. Then, divide your list by items that can be bought 7-10 days in advance, and items that must be bought 2-3 days in advance. Spices, chicken stock, herbs, sturdy vegetables (carrots, onions, celery potatoes), butter, eggs, most baking supplies, anything canned or frozen — all of these will be fine if you buy them now. This way, you only have to focus on the perishable items next weekend, and you’re not slammed with a $300 grocery bill. Also, items tend to get sold out, so the earlier you pick them up, the less chance you have of fighting another human for the last bag of French-cut green beans on Wednesday afternoon.

One note here: if you’re buying a frozen turkey, you’ll need a few days to thaw it (at least 1 day in the refrigerator for every 4 pounds of turkey). So plan accordingly if you’re going that route.

MAKE-AHEAD RECIPES ARE YOUR BFF

Ideally, the only things you’ll need to make on Thursday are the turkey and the gravy. Almost everything can be made ahead of time, and in fact, a lot of dishes are better on Day Two or Day Three.

Pie crusts can be made weeks in advance — simply triple-wrap them with plastic wrap and freeze until needed (just thaw it overnight in the fridge before using). Biscuits can also be made weeks in advance and frozen — simply freeze the raw biscuits on a baking sheet until they’re frozen completely, then transfer to a freezer bag and freeze until needed. No need to thaw — simply pop them in the oven and add 10-15 minutes to your original baking time.

Gratins and casseroles reheat like a dream. Make them on Monday and refrigerate them until 45 minutes before dinner time. Soups are also easily reheatable, and can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated until just before serving. Cranberry sauce can be made up to a week in advance and needs no reheating — simply take it out of the fridge on Thanksgiving morning so that it loses some of its chill before dinner.

Bake your pies on Wednesday night (or Thursday morning, if you eat later in the day) and leave them on the counter (hidden, if you’re worried about overeager human vultures). You can also make your whipped cream Thursday morning and leave it in the fridge until dessert time (or make it earlier in the week if you plan to use stabilizers).

You can even make your gravy base ahead of time, cooking your giblets in stock up to two days in advance and reheating gently on the stove for 15 minutes before whisking in the turkey drippings.

And stuffing? Stuffing is better when made two days in advance, and then reheated just before dinner. It allows all of the flavors to meld together in one herby, delicious mess. As I mentioned in my newsletter this month, I am not on stuffing duty for Friendsgiving. This is not out of any noble decision to share the workload or anything like that. It’s a practical decision: Debleena makes stuffing because her recipe is a classic, full of Thanksgiving flavors and probably straight from this Norman Rockwell painting.

The apples and sausage and herbs create a perfect balance of savory and sweet. I forgot to add dried cranberries, but they’d add a nice tartness to the stuffing, and chopped nuts would add a bit of crunch. I’ll be honest though: this recipe doesn’t need any of that. It is delicious and perfect on its own, and I’d should maybe be embarrassed that I ate 10-12 servings all on my own … BUT I’M NOT.

More Thanksgiving:

Herb-Buttered Roast Turkey
Cranberry-Pinot Sauce
Easy Giblet Gravy
And my full Thanksgiving roundup
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Stovetop Mac and Cheese

You’re going to hate me for posting this recipe. I mean, why would anyone want a mac and cheese recipe that is both addictive and quicker to make than a box of Kraft? What need could one possibly have for mac and cheese made entirely on the stove, in one pot, with ingredients you surely already have in the fridge?

HAHA JUST KIDDING. I know that you, like me, crave mac and cheese on the reg. And let me tell you, this recipe is a godsend. No more making do with neon orange powder or fussing around with a bechamel or a roux. This isn’t the most rich or the most hearty (and certainly not the most traditional) mac and cheese you’ll eat. But most nights, that’s not what I’m looking for. I want a comforting bowl of cheesy goodness, and this stovetop mac and cheese is exactly that, with the added bonus of being a one-pot affair.

Boil pasta, drain it and then add your cheese sauce ingredients: milk, butter, salt, pepper and a half-pound of grated cheese. The real genius is throwing in a bit of Dijon mustard, which brightens the mac up a bit and brings out all of its cheddary goodness. (Mustard and cheddar are a harmonious pairing — see: beer cheese, Welsh rarebit, etc.) Heating the sauce and the pasta on very low brings it all together, until it combines to form something comforting and soothing, an antidote to those long, stressful days that are all too frequent this time of year.

So go forth and rejoice this winter, knowing that swimsuit season is months away and you are, at any given point, just 15 minutes away from a bowl of delicious mac and cheese, no box needed. …

My Marathon Diaries: Running The 2015 TCS NYC Marathon

For those of you coming here for a recipe or something food-related today, I apologize. Today, I’m talking only one thing: the TCS NYC Marathon, which I ran yesterday in one of the most harrowing, challenging, exhilarating experiences of my life.

I never thought I’d run a marathon. It wasn’t something I really aspired to: in fact, when I signed up for my first half, I swore up and down that 13.1 was the furthest I’d go — no way I was crazy enough to run 26.2. But somehow, after running a few halfs, the thought began creeping back into my brain. Halfs were starting to become if not easy, manageable. I need a new challenge. People do it, it’s not that crazy. I kind of have time to do all of the training.

PREP TIME

And then all of a sudden, I was in. I entered the marathon through Team for Kids, a New York Road Runners charity that raises money to fund youth programs and promote healthy habits for underprivileged children in NYC. Running with a team has its advantages–training sessions, support groups, and great race-day amenities–but I also needed to raise $2,620. It was a lofty goal, but thanks to the generosity of friends and family, I ended up raising almost $3,000!

Fundraising was hard, but training was even harder. I traveled a bunch this summer, which made it difficult to do my long runs, and the heat and humidity of New York in July / August was pretty brutal. I tried to follow my training plan as closely as possible, but I was a nervous wreck in the week leading up to the race and a part of that was my deep-down realization that I probably could have trained harder and more effectively.

RACE DAY

But race day waits for no one, and mine started with a jolt at 4:47 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. I took a Team for Kids-arranged bus to Staten Island, where the race begins. There’s also a huge Start Village there, which is a little mini-campsite for the 50,000(!!!) runners. The village had people handing out bagels, Gatorade, Power Bars, coffee, water and other pre-race goodies, but I was so nervous that I mostly sat on a small patch of grass with my head between my knees, trying to pass the hours until my 11 a.m. start time. Thankfully, I was wearing a few layers so the cold didn’t bother me too much (there are huge bins everywhere for all the extra clothing that runners discard pre-race, which are then donated to shelters). And one very nice man gave me his blanket so that I wouldn’t have to sit directly on the ground — everyone was kind of in it together, supporting each other wherever they could, and I was so visibly nervous that people were extra-nice.

The start is on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island to Brooklyn. It was a pretty cool feeling, standing on the bridge with thousands of other people, hearing the gun go off and “New York, New York” playing in the background. Everyone was fired up, but the first half-mile was pretty slow since everyone was jammed on the bridge and trying to weave in and out of the crowd. Less than two miles later, I was already in Brooklyn. …

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

Another braise? I know. But it’s that time again! Winter is coming, and this year, I choose to combat its frosty temps and overall misery by watching Harry Potter marathons* on TV while slowly roasting large chunks of meat in the oven.

Braised short ribs are a classic, whether you’re cooking them in the oven (like I do here), on the stove (so easy!) or even in a slow-cooker (I promise this is coming!). Red wine seeps into the short ribs and tenderizes them, while herbs and aromatics impart deep flavor to both the sauce and the meat. It’s rich and warm and comforting, and doubles as the most wondrous-smelling scented candle that also heats up your home (or at least your tiny apartment).

I first made wine-braised short ribs a few years ago, using a similar recipe. The major change with this version is the addition of a few tablespoons of flour, which thickens the sauce and makes it more gravy-like, perfect for spooning over garlicky mashed potatoes. I didn’t strain the sauce, since the little chunks of carrot and celery are delicious, and next time (there will definitely be a next time), inspired by this beef bourguignon, I will be adding mushrooms.

You can probably guess how delicious these were — I mean look at those pictures.

Words aren’t enough, only emojis will do:Â 😍Â 😍Â 😍Â 😍Â 😍Â 😍Â 😍

*Dear ABC Family / soon to be Freeform: please don’t let me down. I need “Harry Potter weekends” every week from now until April. …

Braised Lamb Shoulder

Happy birthday to me! It’s time, in my 27th year, to extol the virtues of braises. Once again, I decided to cook dinner for friends on my birthday. And once again, I was away the weekend before and therefore had not a lot of time to make a semi-fancy dinner. Bring on the braise, bitches!

Braises are a miracle, especially for the busy cook. They’re generally best on large, thick, fibrous pieces of meat, which just so happen to be on the cheaper side and are therefore ideal for budget-conscious folks cooking for a crowd. They’re also pretty hands-off, allowing you to focus on sides and/or dessert while your main dish does its own thing in the oven or on the stove. (If you have a slow-cooker, you can really “set it and forget it” with a braise.)

Plus, braises are often best when made a day or two ahead. Taste-wise, cooking ahead a) gives the flavors of the dish time to really meld and come together, and b) allows you to skim a lot of the fat that renders off the meat while it’s cooking, so that the final dish (and its sauce) aren’t too greasy.

And planning-wise, this is a godsend. Rare is the dinner party that comes together without advance planning, and preparing a make-ahead main dish allows you to focus on everything else that comes with a party (cleaning, putting out dinnerware and cutlery, appetizers, drinks, etc. etc.) rather than sweating over a stove while guests file in.

(As it just so happens, many braises happen to heavily feature booze. Clearly, they are genius and we should all just accept their superiority now.)

So for my birthday, I was obviously going to be braising something. I settled on lamb shoulder because it seemed ~~elegant and classy, like how I hope the next year of my life will be~~ was on sale at Fresh Direct, and went with a French-style herbed treatment, relying on garlic, rosemary, thyme and a generous pour of wine to provide all of the flavor. The whole thing went swimmingly, and I served the lamb with a kale gratin (which I will have to make again and share with you guys ASAP because it was divine) and mashed root vegetables (also pretty great). And there were zero leftovers, which is always a sign of a successful dinner party. Cheers to 27! …

Kale, Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup

When I made this kale, sweet potato and sausage soup (about a week ago!) it wasn’t quite yet soup weather. Sure, the mornings were cool, but the afternoons were sunny and warm — the kind of weather that is a total pain in the butt to dress for.

Since then, the calendar has turned to October, Hurricane Joaquin blew in sub-60 temperatures, long boots and scarves have made an appearance and there is no doubt that it is time for soup. This recipe comes courtesy of my sister Medha and her boyfriend Torrey, who made it last year and have been raving about it since. “It’s so easy!” they told me. “We make it all the time!”

Well, I’ll give them easy, but there’s a fair amount of prep work that goes into the soup-making process. I bought a HUGE bunch of kale from Fresh Direct, and removing the kale leaves and rinsing them took forever. Thankfully it is also football season, so I had something to watch while doing this semi-tedious task. (And seriously, that is the hardest part of this recipe, and could easily be avoided by buying those pre-rinsed bags of kale.)

The work is worth it though, since the soup is pretty freakin’ delicious. The kale gives the soup a nice “health halo,” but there’s enough chorizo to keep it from being too virtuous. The chorizo’s spicy kick balances the sweet potatoes nicely, and the soup is hearty without being heavy. It’s fall fare at its finest, and actually has me bringing lunch to work again! …

Master Cleanse Chicken

As one does while traipsing around Italy, I ate A LOT on vacation. I basically OD’ed on pizza and pasta and *gasp!* even wine, and on the plane ride home, seriously contemplated doing another full-on detox. But you know, there’s all those rules … and it is football (and football food!) season … and suddenly “detox” seemed a bit too extreme. I mean, we did a walk a lot in Rome and Florence, and some of our pizzas had vegetables on them. (I could convince myself out of anything.)

While perusing detox plans and recipes, I of course came across the ubiquitous Master Cleanse, an extremely weird, semi-spartan, Beyonce-approved detox in which humans attempt to subsist solely on a tonic of maple syrup, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and water for two weeks. It is completely crazy pants, and I would quickly end up in a hangry rage spiral if I attempted it.

But also popping up in my Google searches: this Master Cleanse chicken, which uses that maple syrup-cayenne pepper-lemon juice combination as a marinade for roast chicken. DING DING DING DING. I landed on Friday afternoon, had my chicken air-chilling in the fridge by Saturday morning, and roasted this bad boy while watching sweet, sweet football on Sunday afternoon. I told myself that the intoxicating aromas emanating from the oven were totally detoxifying, and you know what? I feel great! I’m eating spicy-sweet crisp-skinned chicken, full of antioxidants or polyphenols or whatever is supposed to be magical about this Master Cleanse.

Ishita 1, Detox 0. …

Recommendations from Florence

Because Debleena and I were both pretty familiar with Florence, we didn’t do a ton of sight-seeing during our three days here (or any at all, to be honest). Mostly, we walked around, sat in piazzas drinking wine and talking about life goals and/or Taylor Swift, and ate like kings. On to the recommendations:

I Due Fratellini
This tiny, unassuming stall is tucked away on one of the mini-streets between the Duomo and the Piazza de la Repubblica in the center of Florence. It’s easy to miss, except that there’s always a crowd in front of it, wolfing down their freshly made sandwiches before a even a crumb can fall on the cobblestones.

The sandwiches, which are all 3 euro (aka the best deal we had on our trip, even better than the 9 euro pizza at Dar Poeta), feature cold cuts, cheeses or even chunks of warm porchetta, piled high in between halves of a pillowy roll. The porchetta was great, but go for the salami picante with goat cheese. BOMB. (One note: They’re best eaten immediately — we took a few “to go” for our train ride back to Rome, and the bread had hardened a bit in the half hour from stall to mouth. Though that didn’t stop us from scarfing them down in 0.2 seconds, in case you were wondering.)

Ristorante La Giostra
The second-best meal we had on our trip was at this extremely romantic restaurant slightly east of the center of the city (twinkling lights are everyone’s best lighting). Debleena and I were the only non-couple in the house, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the free(!!) glasses of prosecco and antipasti plate that greet you on arrival.

Florence is known for its meat, so I ordered the tagliata de Chianina Normanna, a fancy Italian way of saying filet mignon topped with deliciously thick, syrupy aged balsamic. It was delicious, and I’d highly recommend ordering some sort of steak at this restaurant. It also booked up pretty quickly, so make a reservation — you can do that on their website.

Castello di Verrazzano / Spumantino
If you have the time for a half- (or full) day trip, Tuscany’s wineries, olive groves, farms and villas are a short drive outside of Florence, and easily accessible by public transportation. We hopped on a bus to Greve en Chianti to visit the Castello di Verrazzanno winery, which has produced wine since the 1100s (yes, they’re the same Verrazzanos as that big old NYC bridge). We took an hour-long tour of the winery, then tasted 4-5 wines along with lunch, which featured locally made meats, including a spicy, zesty, lemony salami made from the wild boars that roam the countryside.

In case you don’t have the time to visit the winery, Verrazzanno also owns a wine bar in Florence, Spumantino, right near the Ponte Vecchio. We had a glass of wine here (after watching the sun set over the Arno [all the heart eyes emojis]) and they offer the same great wines we tasted at the winery (that Super Tuscan Particolare is something I could drink all day) plus some very good cocktails. The staff is also extremely friendly, so it’s a great way to try delicious wine if you can’t make it all the way out to Chianti. …

Rome Recommendations: 4 Days in Roma

Alas, my Italian adventure had to come to an end. It began as an impromptu trip suggested by Debleena at the end of July, and became a last chance to live it up this summer, with four days in Rome and three days in Florence to really live #ladolcevita.

Our trip was three days in Rome, 3 days in Florence and then another day in Rome. I’d never been to Roma, so we did a lot of sight-seeing in our time there. Thankfully, Debleena is a planner (who also studied abroad in Florence and therefore was pretty familiar with Italy) because I did almost zero work before leaving. My one contribution was obviously restaurant recommendations, and we found a few really great ones on our trip. My best of:

Salumeria Roscioli
This was the one reservation we made prior to leaving NYC — Roscioli is a Roman institution (there’s a restaurant, a wine bar and a bakery scattered throughout the city, in addition to the Salumeria), known for their excellent bread, and spectacular array of meats and cheese. We ordered the Italian meat and cheese plate, which featured proscuitto, mortadella and soppressata, plus Parmigiano-Reggiano, tallegio and spicy provolone. We also had the caponata and cacio e pepe, as well as a delicious regional white wine recommended by our waiter (they have a great wine list and very knowledgeable waiters). Would highly recommend making a reservation online, since we noticed a very long wait while we were happily savoring our delicious food … (haha suckas!)

Another plus: Salumeria Roscioli is located around the corner from Campo de’ Fiore, a fun square near the center of the city to drink and people-watch for a few hours after dinner. We had a great time here, and finished off our night with fresh prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches at 2 a.m.

Al Moro
Al Moro is a traditional Roman trattoria near the Trevi Fountain — very old-school, with a handwritten 2-inch-thick wine list and a pretty small menu of dishes made extremely, extremely well. I had the bucatini all’amatriciana (guanciale, tomato sauce, pecorino) and Debleena had the tagliatelle con crema di tartufo (truffle cream), and both were perfect plates of pasta. We also tried the carciofi alla romana, where artichokes are stuffed with parsley, mint and garlic, then braised in white wine until they’re so soft they’re practically spreadable. It made me instantly regret that artichoke season in NYC is so very very far away.

Dar Poeta
This pizzeria in Trastevere* was our favorite place in Rome, so amazing that we went back there on our last day because we loved it so much. Their crust is in between the cracker-thin traditional Roman style and the thicker crusts of Sicily, and it’s basically a crisp, chewy canvas on which the restaurant’s chefs pile on interesting combinations of toppings. Our absolute favorite was the “Dar Poeta”: mozzarella, garlic, zucchini, red chili flakes and fresh sausage. I will dream about that pizza for the rest of my life.

*Trastevere is on the other side of the Tiber River (the ‘hood’s name literally means “across the Tevere,” which is what the Italians call the Tiber) and was easily my favorite part of Rome. All those complaints about Rome’s crazy crowds disappears in Trastevere, which is instead saturated with cute cobblestone-lined alleyways, delicious food and quiet piazzas where one can drink wine and people-watch for hours on end. It’s a short bridge-crossing from the Colosseum/Forum, so when you need a break from the hordes of tourists, cross over to this lovely area for some peace and delicious pizza. …

Greetings from Rome!

Sadly, the first part of our Italy trip is nearing its end. Three days is definitely not enough to explore all of Rome, but we’ve done admirably, hitting up most of the sites while still managing to spend an impressive amount of time sitting in piazzas people-watching and drinking wine.

So far, I’ve learned that Rome is a place where (clockwise from the top left): wine lists are handwritten tomes, four-ingredient pasta tastes like heaven, gladiators casually hang out in front of the colosseum and eating wood-fired pizza on a tiny cobblestone street is part of the daily routine. Not a bad way to live …

Next stop: Firenze!

Queso Fundido with Chorizo

And I’m BACK in the game …

Is it any surprise that the catalyst that finally got me back in the kitchen was football season? It shouldn’t be, given that football Sundays are my favorite part of fall (October 6 aside) and game-day recipes are their own subsection on this site. With fantasy seasonÂ underway, I finally had my impetus to resume cooking.

Queso fundido is a traditional Mexican dish that is basically a perfect combination of melted cheese and spicy chorizo. It’s a huge party-pleaser (how could it not be?) and feeds a serious crowd, making it the perfect football food. Plus it’s easy to make and, if you’re grating the cheese by hand, gives you a serious arm workout, which is ideal when you’re skipping a 15-mile training run to cook and have barely spent 0.2 seconds in the kitchen all summer.

After basically an entire summer of not cooking, this queso fundido was a nice little reminder of the magic that can be created in the kitchen … feels good to be home!

Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Adapted from Melissa Clark
Serves 4-6 generously

– 7 ounces fresh chorizo, casings removed

– 1/2 of a medium yellow onion, diced

– 1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced

– salt and pepper, to taste

– 2 scallions, finely chopped

– 8 ounces pepper jack or Monterey jack cheese, grated

– 8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

– for serving: tortilla chips, crusty bread, cut vegetables, etc.

1) Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet* on medium-high. Add the chorizo and cook until browned, breaking into small crumbles. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

2) Add the onions and bell pepper to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, then saute until the vegetables have softened and are beginning to brown. Let the skillet cool to room temperature.

3) Preheat the oven to 450F. In a large bowl, combine the cooked chorizo, peppers and onions and scallions. In a separate bowl, combine both of the cheeses. Scatter half of the cheese in the bottom of the cooled skillet. Layer the chorizo-vegetable mixture over the cheese, then top with the remaining cheese.

4) Bake the queso for 7-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and has started to brown. Serve immediately, with tortilla chips, hunks of bread or whatever else you can get your hands on.

*If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, use a regular skillet to cook the chorizo and vegetables, then use a 2-quart baking dish to bake the queso.

Help!

Yet another post that comes without a recipe! I’ve been completely flattened by end-of-summer ennui, where it’s too hot to do anything other than just lay there.Â I’d like to pretend I’ve been distracted by important thoughts or exciting adventures, but one amazing wedding aside, I’ve basically done nothing with my life. (Well, to be completely accurate, I’ve done this with my life. Seriously, download this app now and you’ll never be bored again.)

Worst of all, I’ve been completely uninspired in the kitchen. Forget cooking, which has been shunted aside completely — I’ve barely been interested in eating, making it impossible to figure out what I want and even *gasp* going hours without thinking about my next meal. It’s especially frustrating since the grocery stores and farmers’ markets are bursting with summer produce: peaches and berries and zucchini and peppers and tomatoes and nothing is pushing me to cook.

So, I turn to you friends: What are you cooking? What’s inspiring you? How do you deal with bouts of cooking listlessness or the dog days of summer as a whole?

HELP ME. Please.

Marathon Training: The Beginning

I may have mentioned recently that I signed up for the New York City Marathon on November 1. It was a weird fit of fancy, borne out of a realization that half-marathons, while still (very) challenging, were no longer impossible to finish. (Why instead of going down the “hey, maybe I’ll try to improve my half times” I went down the “let’s run even further” road, I don’t know.)

I used to live near the finish of the New York City Marathon, and now live right where the runners enter Manhattan for the last leg of the race, so I’ve seen first-hand how thrilling the marathon is. And after carefully considering it for ~~months~~ a week, I decided that the best way to push myself out of my running ennui would be to trek 26.2 miles through the city I’ve called home for nine(!!!) years.

ThoughÂ I impulsively signed up in April, I’ve only started training in earnest in the past few weeks. And so far, it’s been rough.Â The blazing heat and humidity have made it almost impossible toÂ run comfortably at any hour of day or night.Â I’ve come to regard 75 degrees with 60% humidity as ideal weather, whichÂ means all of my runs have been slow, sweat-soaked slogs through Central Park. (Let’s not talk about the water fountain situation–or lack thereof–on the East River. God I miss the Hudson RiverÂ running paths.Â Even Jersey is an exciting view when the alternative is Queens … ) …

Feta-Mint Meatballs

As evidenced by the only-two-posts-last-month situation, it’s been a really busy summer. I’ve been away every weekend in July, and when I have been here, there have been rooftops and baseball games and beaches to visit.

So you know that only an amazing recipe would have me running to the kitchen. These feta-mint meatballs are exactly that: amazing. Simple to make and full of flavor, they’re just as delicious on their own (perhaps with toothpicks for serving as appetizers?) as they are topping a summery orzo or quinoa salad. While the original recipe (from one of my favorite food bloggers!) keeps it simple, relying solely on the feta and mint to flavor the meatballs, I went H.A.M. with spices: cinnamon, cumin, coriander, cayenne and smoked paprika all go in.

The end result is meaty and minty and faintly spiced and 100% worth turning on the stove for. And when it’s 90 degrees out and there are rooftops and beaches and pools to frequent, that’s a high high compliment. …

Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee

Lest you think I only eat dessert, worry not: sometimes I drink coffee too. And in the summer, that caffeine habit becomes EXPENSIVE. Daily $4 iced coffees are not a sustainable practice, and so I bring you homemade cold-brewed iced coffee. Don’t say I never did anything nice for you.

All coffee-making follows the same process: water extracts flavors and chemical compounds from beans. Hot water not only speeds up that process, it also cooks the beans a bit, changing some of the flavor profiles of the coffee (h/t NYT).

A lot of iced coffee is made by brewing hot coffee and then letting it cool to room temperature. You could do this, but I find the resulting coffee to be pretty acidic (hot water extracts more acid than cold would) and pretty weak — since you’re using hot-coffee standard amounts of water to brew the coffee and then adding more water (in the form of ice) to cool it, the coffee ends up extra-diluted.

But cold-brewing extracts flavor from the coffee bean at a slower rate and leaves the original flavors relatively intact. And since I’m already not a fan of light, acidic roasts (I like my coffee dark and bold and chocolate-y — surprise, surprise), cold brew’s purported “mild, smooth and just a tad sweet” flavors seemed right up my alley.

And now that I’ve made my own cold brew, I’m kicking myself for the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on often mediocre iced coffees in the past. This recipe is so easy a child could handle it, and the end result is a smooth, balanced brew that I want to drink all day every day. And since all it requires is standard ground coffee and water, I can actually afford that. #WIN …

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I know, I know … another dessert. In the past few weeks, it’s been one after the other, mostly because I haven’t been home long enough to actually cook real meals.

Not that anyone should be complaining. It is backyard barbecue season after all, and there’s no quicker way to a party host’s heart than by bringing a sweet treat. I’ve got a million ideas here (for appetizers and drinks too!), and trust me, I’ll be adding these lemon ricotta cookies to the list.

Using ricotta makes these cookies soft and cake-like, as perfect for afternoon tea as they are for a cookout. The lemon is pretty subtle here (even though I bumped it up a bit from the original recipe), so if you’d like a ton of lemon flavor, I’d add a bit more lemon juice. They’re barely sweet, so you can add more sugar too (though I like my desserts on the less sweet side). The batter is a bit of a mess to work with, since it’s very wet, but the cookies bake up like a dream.

Now that I’ll finally be in the city for the occasional weekend, I need to start cooking some real food. I mean, I’ve got one hell of a sugar crash coming my way … …

Chocolate Potato Chip Pie Bars

THESE ARE CRACK.

I know, I know … hyperbole much? But seriously, these are irresistible to the point where it’s almost unconscionable.

I first discovered this recipe, labeled “PMS Pie,” while scanning the HuffPost front page for something work-related. (We do God’s work, people.) It was hard to ignore the perfectly browned potato chip crust or the gobs of melted chocolate or the drizzles of caramel on top.

Within a week, I had sent the recipe to almost everyone I know, talked about it incessantly and decided that I needed to turn it into the infinitely more portable “chocolate potato chip pie bars” for Mili’s bachelorette. It’s fitting — these bars are the happy marriage of two of my (and her) favorite forms of junk food, and salty-sweet has proven to be a long-lasting, always satisfying union.

The recipe is insanely easy, especially if you don’t go through the extra step of making your own caramel. (But you should — homemade salted caramel is delicious.) They’re very adaptable too: I used plain rippled chips, but kettle chips could also work. Dark, milk, or even a mix of chocolates would be delicious, and if you don’t have walnuts, top the bars with chopped pecans or almonds instead.

Your minimal effort is rewarded with the most addictive junk food a girl could imagine.. Good luck sticking to just one — we ate the entire pan in one night. …

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel “Cheese Ball”

Continuing with dip week (it’s even got its own theme song!), I present this chocolate peanut butter pretzel “cheese ball.” In quotes because it’s a play on a savory cheese ball, but really this is a cross between a dessert dip and gloriously thick frosting.

And if you think this sounds like heaven, you are right. Some cream cheese adds a tangy edge to an otherwise always–winning combo of peanut butter and chocolate, and I couldn’t resist throwing some pretzels in there for a bit of salty-sweet. It takes all of five minutes to make and requires no oven time, a major plus on these 90-degree days. Plus it travels well and is easy to share, which makes it a perfect picnic dessert. Except then you might have to share, and let’s just say I didn’t do too much of that …Â …

Buffalo Chicken Dip

I know, I know, it’s hot out and you don’t want to turn on your oven. Maybe it’s too stifling to think about melty cheese, spicy chicken and ooey, gooey dip. Maybe that’s “football food” in your head, perfect for crisp fall days, but not when it’s 90 degrees out.

Fine then. MORE FOR ME.

This buffalo chicken dip is so good that I made it Sunday, finished it Monday and half-contemplated making it again on Tuesday. (Don’t worry, I’m waiting ’til the weekend.) It’s everything one wants from buffalo wings, and even eliminates two of their biggest problems: messy fingers and bones. Seriously, those are two of my biggest pet peeves in life, so you can just imagine how smitten I am with this recipe.

It’s also pretty easy. I poached the chicken breasts the night before (and if you’ve never poached before, this is a great tutorial), but if you’re really pressed for time, you could also shred a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Once your chicken is ready, all you need is 15 minutes on the stove and 30-40 minutes in the oven.

And your reward? Buffalo chicken heaven. Seriously, I can’t even describe how delicious this was or how much I want it in my belly right now. You’ll just have to make it yourself to find out. (And then invite me over, kthanks.) …

Spinach, Mushroom and Bacon Egg Boat

I have no glamorous excuses for the delay between posts. No adventures, no chic parties, no new chef BFFs. Instead, I have a good old-fashioned case of writer’s block, coupled with an unquenchable thirst to be outdoors, where it’s warm! And sunny! And did I mention warm?

So I’ll be brief here. This spinach, mushroom and bacon egg boat is divine, and should be part of every homemade brunch you make from here on out.

What is an egg boat? It starts with loaf of bread — I used a sourdough boule, but if you feel strongly about something else, then by all means try it. The innards of the bread are scooped out and filled with some sort of egg-veggies-cheese-protein blend. The original recipe, from The Kitchn, went with smoked salmon, Gruyere, capers and chives. My version kept the Gruyere, but then veered into spinach, mushroom, bacon territory.

The whole thing gets baked for an hour, until the eggs are puffy and set, and tastes like a cross between a quiche and a baked egg casserole. And then there are the added benefits: no need to make toast on the side, you can prep the egg filling a day or two in advance, it’s relatively inexpensive to make, and this egg boat can feed a crowd.

Look at that thing. You know you want some. …

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