manchego's kitchen

pistachio honey ice cream with dark chocolate

this is the fancy-pants dessert i made to go with the lamb tagine from the other week.

the cake was pretty good.  it was an olive oil cake.

i spent at least fifteen minutes in the olive oil section at the whole foods, reading the back of olive oil bottles. trying to decide how crazy i really am.  am i $20 for a 10 ounce bottle crazy?  turns out, i'm $15 for a 16.9 ounce bottle crazy.  which is still pretty crazy. but the bottle promised "fresh herbal aroma and delicate fruity flavor."

i needed herbal. i needed fruity. it needed to go with my candied cara cara orange slices.

its a lot of cake for an ice cream post, of this i am aware. the cake just ended up being so much prettier than it was yummy.

the ice cream, though? out of this world.

salted, roasted pistachios. not actually moroccan. persian. close enough?

does it count if i know persia is iran? only a slight cultural competence fail.

and does it really matter where they came from when they are so tasty when roasted and slightly salted, so fantastically lime green?

i ended up having to buy unshelled pistachios because that was what target stocks and i'd hit my shopping limit for the day, but maybe we can just say it was because unshelled nuts are supposed to be fresher. it took awhile to get them out of their pacman shells, standing at the kitchen counter, but it had its rewards. by the end, my fingers were wrinkled from the salt, like after a day a the beach, only mostly because i couldn't stop a downward spiral of nut-cracking, finger-licking, and hand-washing. the container yielded the half cup needed for the ice cream and garnish, but just barely. snacking may have also occurred.

let me now impress you with my mad photography skills.

for this ice cream, the pistachios get pulverized. they add just a hint of texture to the ice cream. i subbed the sugar and corn syrup out of the ice cream for an orange blossom honey (see! fancy pants!) and not just because i forgot to buy corn syrup.

it worked out. the flavors were both nicely earthy. the honey added a deep sweetness. the pistachios were just a bit salty. kind of like a peanut butter honey sandwich.

another great ice cream tip from jeni's cookbook was employed - melting chocolate to add as a mix-in. you pour the chocolate into the ice cream maker near the end, when the ice cream is pretty well set up, but slowly, ever so slowly. it freezes on contact into tiny little shards - what jeni calls freckles - of chocolate that melt on your tongue.

if you are less patient, and ready to be done getting melted chocolate all over your ice cream making station (aka the bathroom counter because the door can be closed and that thing is LOUD), pour the chocolate fast and it will clump into larger bits that are fun too. and still less likely to break a tooth than chopped, frozen chocolate.

more amazing photography. isn't that ice cream just . . . totally devoid of focus? and the cake, so sparkling clear?

i really did think i was going to share the cake recipe. it was good - honest! light, with an interesting crumb from semolina flour. but it's drenched in orange cardamom syrup. turns out, i much prefer orange cardamom syrup in prosecco, not cake.

plus, then i tried the ice cream. wow. you should make this.

Pistachio Honey Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

• 1/2 cup shelled, roasted lightly salted pistachios
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 1/2 oz (or 3 tbsp) softened cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup cream
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 - 3 oz dark chocolate, chopped

If your pistachios aren't roasted, toast them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes until fragrant and brown.  Let them cool for just a minute, then throw them in the food processor and pulse until they form a paste.

Mix 2 tbsp of milk with cornstarch in a small bowl.  Whisk cream cheese, pistachio paste, and salt in a medium bowl.  Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Bring the remaining milk, cream, sugar and honey to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture.  Bring back to a boil and stir until the mixture slightly thickens.

Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour into a gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge in ice bath until chilled, about half an hour.

Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker and start churning.

Melt dark chocolate in the microwave (carefully, in small time segments, stirring between) or in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water (poor woman's double boiler).

When the ice cream looks nearly done - maybe 20 minutes in, slowly, slowly pour chocolate into the mixture. It should freeze as it hits the ice cream.

When ice cream is done, try not to eat it all. Pack into a storage container and freeze until firm. 

twd: baking with julia: white loaves

today is the start of a fun new project for me: tuesdays with dorie. i'm one of more than 300 food bloggers who are going to bake their way through a cookbook: baking with julia by dorie greenspan.

i've been wanting to up my baking game, and this is goign to be a great way to try recipes i never would have picked out myself - sweet and savory.

enter this lovely white loaf.

despite my brief flirtation with challah, i've been in a serious monogamous relationship with jim lahey's no knead bread for the past year or so. it truly is everything i want in a bread. crisp, chewy crust. a french bread-like crumb, but dense and moist.

i was worried this white load would turn out too much like sandwich bread - soft, soft, soft. but it's more like the farmer's loaves ate my year abroad in england, sitting at the table in the student flat's shared kitchen, hoovering down slice after slice with nutella or honey or jam.

yes, yes i did gain 15 pounds that year. this would be why i ended up chucking most of this loaf in the freezer. save me from myself. amen.

the jim lahey bread is still my go to - including for a friend's cheese tasting party this weekend. it's just so easy to make.

but these loaves have a nice crust on them, a firm dense crumb. they were nearly as easy to put together (although you need either a very serious kitchenaid mixer or arms of steel for the kneading). the bread was tasty straight up, excellent toasted, and maybe even better a day or two later as french toast when the crust starts getting a bit stale.

i went a bit crazy with the photo shoot. i'm sparing you the process shots of dough magnificently rising to the ceiling, taking over my kitchen like the pillsbury dough boy. there's just something so satisfying about a bowl of dough rising like a muffin in the bowl, isn't there?

manchego got in on the action. you know he likes to be in the mix. also, he's a camera whore.

pensive kitten contemplates the wonder and joy that is freshly baked bread.

 kitten decides bread is overrated as it is not roasted chicken, turns to magical january tulips.

although, maybe not so magical given this spring-like winter which has duped the daffodils to poke their sunny yellow heads out months early. lovely, but wrong, wrong, wrong.

good thing there's nothing like a slice of toast with orange marmalade to bring you back to the proper season.

 for the recipe, or to check out all the other great posts, visit tuesdays with dorie.

lamb tagine with preserved lemons & figs

dinner parties are SERIOUS BUSINESS in manchego's kitchen. they really, truly, are the time for both my and the somm's type a personalities to shine. slash terrorize our friends and loved ones. the sum of what we (or is that just me!) want to do always exceeds what is reasonable . . . or even feasible.

water spots on the glasses? the horror!

fewer than 6 to 7 homemade dishes? i must be slacking!

i kid you not. slider night featured two types of burgers, homemade buns and mayonnaise. i only didn't make the ketchup, because why mess with heinz? one year, i lovingly recreated the entire gourmet tomato feast. the bruschetta alone had about five subrecipes.

the food - i hope - is generally good. but, i've come to realize that while i'm having fun, this is not always relaxing for our (many) guests. i am frantic, wild-eyed in the kitchen, which is mostly a sea of dirty dishes. the somm tries to get everyone inebriated so they can't tell dinner's half an hour behind schedule. friends hover at the kitchen's periphery asking if they can help, but fearing to come too close.

but i think i've broken the streak. the solution? take a full week off work before said dinner party!

just kidding. sort of.

said time off did give me time to put together some lovely flower arrangements. to get the shopping and some of the ingredient prep out of the way. and to sufficiently ruminate about the flavor of homemade ice cream (you see, i'm not completely cured . . . but that recipe is for next time).

but mostly, i think this dinner party was much calmer thanks to the make ahead lamb tagine.

a tagine is a stew/braise with moroccan flavors and spices. this one is loaded up with lamb!

i am not sure if this photo adequately captures the insane amount of lamb that was browned and on it's way to melt in your mouth deliciousness a good 30 hours before go time.

my tagine is also loaded up with chickpeas for a one-two protein punch. lamb is such a rich, strong flavor, i thought the chickpeas helped lighten and mellow it out. tagines are easily made vegetarian if that's your thing - think mostly chickpeas with more veggies or even potatoes.

meet the supporting cast:

 

plus some dried figs. apricots would also work. or prunes? go for it.

this was my first time cooking with preserved lemons, and they added such wonderful pops of tangy, salty flavor. olives are often added to tagines for similar effect, and you know i love me some olives, but i thought the lemons were surprising and perfect.

stews are great dinner party food - or cook once on sunday for the week food - because the flavor just gets better over time. and it reduces the running-around-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off effect it has on hostesses.

the one hitch was that since i wasn't cooking like crazy, i maybe had a cocktail too many to remember we'd planned to give salad it's own whole course to itself. 

the tagine survived a warming period in the oven just fine, and with a salad like that who wouldn't mind the wait? perfect pink cara cara oranges on a bed of arugula with feta and olives. it hit all the right notes - sweet, savory, salty, and bitter. i stole the idea from this recipe . . . the dressing was fantastic.

i also roasted a big mess of root vegetables, but they all turned fushia from the beets. not photogenic. not that parsnips are particularly photogenic to begin with, as they resemble bulbous albino carrots. anyway, they and the cumin vinaigrette tasted sweet and smoky and divine, inspiration here.

Garnished with some bright cilantro over a bed of couscous, and you've got yourself a hearty, filling and completely satisfying winter dinner.

Lamb Tagine with Preserved Lemons and Figs

Adapted from Epicurious - Serves 8

Note: Ras-el-hanout is a blend of spices that is often used in Moroccan cooking. It means "top of the shelf" and usually represented a blend of the best spices offered by a spice shop. Like Indian curry, there are many different ways to blend. You can buy it in specialty shops, or put together your own blend from relatively common ingredients like cinnamon, ginger, cumin and turmeric. Here's one blend - feel free to tinker with the proportions based on flavors you like or what you have in your kitchen. 

• 4 lbs lamb shoulder, in 1 inch dice
• 1 to 1.5 large onions diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 2 tbsp Ras-el-Hanout
• 1.5 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juices
• 2 - 3 cups low-salt chicken stock
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I feel I should get credit for not making these from dried)
• 1/2 cup dried figs, quartered
• 1 preserved lemon, rind only, diced

Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven or other large (not-nonstick) skillet with lid. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper and brown in batches. Lamb should sizzle at it hits the oil, but only take a few minutes to brown. Each batch should only be one layer of lamb in the pot to allow each piece to brown and develop the fond - the brown sticky bits on the bottom of the pot that'll add amazing caramelized meat flavor to the dish. Keep adding oil as you need to to keep the fond and meet from burning instead of browning. Transfer all browned lamb to a bowl, set aside.

Add more oil if needed and saute onion until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic, spices and ginger and saute for a minute or so until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and lamb with any juices at the bottom of the bowl and bring to a boil. Add about 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock and bring back to a boil. 

Allow to simmer until the lamb is falling apart, about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more chicken broth if it reduces down to a thicker stew than you'd like. Add the chickpeas and simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the figs and preserved lemons and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Tagine can be served now over couscous with a sprinkle of cilantro - but it might be even better the next day!

DIY: Preserved Lemons

do you like moroccan food?

i will confess, i don't know much about moroccan food. but i do know my way around a tagine. it's like a stew. my roomie and bff after college and i made many a tagine. it was in our cooking light repertoire of chicken tacos, quesadilla, bbq chicken pizza, quesadilla, chicken tagine, repeat.

it was a lot of bock bock. i always had to handle the raw chicken. she was queen of the deli rotisserie chicken.

that division of labor is still true when we have girls nights.  but these days, we've stepped it up. you know what really belongs in tagine? lamb. glorious lamb.

but i'm getting ahead of myself.

preserved lemons. a signature flavor of moroccan food, but wikipedia also tells me it's common in indian and cambodian food. who knew?

as a part of my insane DIY christmas, i made preserved lemons. along with pretty things like these:

so much infused vodka was consumed in the celebration of baby jesus this year.

back to the lemons. this was ridiculously easy to execute. slice your lemons in four . . . but not all the way. apply salt. lots of salt.

really get in there. curse as the salt and lemon juice gets all up in your ragged-when-will-i-ever-grow-up-and-stop-picking-at-my-cuticles cuticles.

jam them in your jars. with lemon juice . . . bay leaf . . . cumin seeds. more salt. we are preserving here.

cumin is a bit of mercurial spice. the seeds look like bugs and smell like old gym socks. the right amount adds a lovely dusty earthiness to a dish. too much and you're back to the gym socks.

i had to slice little wedges out of my lemons to get two to fit in the mason jar. i just added the slices right on top. you could probably just quarter the things and they'd turn out ok, but i haven't tried it.

most recipes are going to have you use just the rinds, chopped up, so you want to leave them in large enough pieces that it's easy to scoop out the flesh.

preserved lemon rind . . . salty, tangy. like an olive but with a brighter, cleaner, lighter flavor. 

I'll be back with a tagine recipe for you to use these bad boys soon!

Preserved Lemons

• 3-4 large lemons
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 + 4 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds

Take two lemons, slice lengthwise twice, as if you are quartering the lemon, but leave the last inch of the lemon intact.

Sprinkle about a tablespoon or two of kosher salt into each lemon.

Or, just quarter the lemons and toss with salt. Whatever takes your fancy.

Juice the other two lemons. Really, you're just looking to fill the jar.  It will depend on the size of your lemons, obviously. You're welcome for that incredible, very clear advice.

Add about 1/8 a cup of salt and juice of one lemon to the jar.  Stir to try to dissolve the juice a little. Add one lemon, then about half the cumin seeds and one bay leaf.  Repeat. Top with another 1/8 cup of salt.  Fill up jar with lemon juice.

Screw on the lid!  Give it a good shake!  Give the jar another good shake every day for the next two weeks, and you're good to go. If you plan to keep them around longer than a few weeks, store in the refrigerator.

pumpkin apple crumble cake

in a fresh air interview once, jon stewart talked about how the regimented structure of his show gives him and the other comedians the "freedom to improvise."

i think that totally applies to cooking.

the somm recently asked me what i thought my biggest strength is in the kitchen. my answer? i'm great at picking recipes. i love just scrolling through epicurious, blogs or other recipe websites, seeing what is out there, reading reviews, and learning what worked or didn't for other home cooks. i especially love good food blogs, like pastry studio, that offer really explicit tips on what did and didn't work. add all this up, and when i start a recipe, i feel informed. i feel empowered to improvise and make the recipe my own.

to the extent that there are rules about food blogging, posting recipes you know will work is one of them. professionals, especially if they write their own recipes, try said recipe at least a few times so they know it'll work. last thing you want is to post a dud. or to hurt someone.

honestly, i just don't have that kind of attention span. there is usually some new interesting recipe on the horizon i'm dying to try. it has to be a pretty special dish to get a second try.

same rule generally applies to international travel. this has led to a slight misunderstanding with the somm about how we totally should go back to brazil . . . just maybe after we've seen turkey. and argentina. a girl needs priorities.

after all that build up, i have a recipe for you that is, in fact, a tried and true standby in my winter kitchen. this recipe works. and it is easily tweakable. best of all, this cake is GOOD. it has the best of all dessert worlds with a dense, moist pumpkin cake, topped with tender, cinnamony apples, topped with spicy, crunchy streusel.

cake meets pie meets crumble meets heaven.

with none of the cherpumple nonsense.

i mean, check out those layers.

here are my tips for this cake. use a good sturdy apple, like a granny smith or a honey crisp. you don't want to ruin it with soggy apples. which also means that you don't want to saute the apples too long - they'll continue to cook in the oven. you really just want to get a little carmelization from the sugar.

also, use a springform pan, it'll make it so much easier to get a pretty looking slice.

serve warm or room temperature. a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a nice addition, but not necessary.

also, this is GREAT for breakfast. i mean, it has two types of fruit. and oatmeal. done.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

Adapted from Bon Apetit

Apples

• 3 tbs butter
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 large Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples, peeled and chopped (Honeycrisps tend to run large, but more apple won't hurt you here)
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Melt butter and brown sugar in a large skillet, add apples and cinnamon.  Saute for about 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool a little.

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature and cut in pieces
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/3 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted if you like
• 1/3 or more cup chopped candied ginger
• 1/2 cup oats

Preheat oven to 350, spray a 9 inch springform cake pan with baking or cooking spray.

Beat together flour, brown sugar, butter and salt until it looks like coarse meal. Set aside 2/3 cup as streusel base. Add walnuts, candied ginger and oats and stir. I tend to be fast and loose with my streusel, so if you want more oats, be my guest.

In a small bowl, combine pumpkin, sour cream, remaining sugar, spices and baking soda. Feel free to mix up the spices! Cardamom would be nice! Add to flour mixture, beating just until smooth.  Add eggs and combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Top with apple mixture. Top with streusel.

Bake about an hour or until a toothpick (a long one!) or knife comes out clean.  Let cool before removing springform.

Serve warm or room temperature with vanilla ice cream.

bacon-wrapped pork

i'm not really one for new years resolutions. i've come to terms with my complete lack of willpower. if anything, if i had a resolution this year, it would be to go easier on myself.

and maybe to post fewer pork recipes.

luckily, since i'm going easy on myself, we can start that resolution next week.

pork wrapped in pork. it's healthy cause it's on a plate with green stuff. 

i made some questionable shopping decisions, and came home with brussels sprouts and red cabbage. cabbage two ways! sounds much more intentional that way.

i think i like cooking sides better than mains. is that weird? i know mark bittman would approve. i would resolve to post more side recipes, but they'd all essentially be the same: saute in oil, add a squeeze of lemon, insert in mouth.

back to the pork! it was a manchego's kitchen christmas this year, and i ended up giving family members some recipes to take their gifts out for a test drive.

if i were a professional, i probably would have actually written those recipes . . . or, you know, at least tried all of them out. let's just say i got a head start on my resolution.

i DID try this recipe. and it was a simple and yummy as i thought it would be. pork + thyme, wrapped in bacon? how can you go wrong?

the bacon-wrapping experience only turned out to be tricky because i didn't read (slash ignored) the directions and went a little crazy with the thyme springs. over the pork! under the pork! thyme every where!

don't be like me. remember that this isn't a beauty contest. just put a couple of sprigs on top and wrap 'er up.

or do be like me! go crazy! make a mess! who doesn't love excess thyme?

alternatively, be smarter than me, and follow the somm's suggestion of ditching the inedible sprigs and just use the fresh thyme leaves. sprinkle them on with the salt and pepper like a dry rub before applying the bacon.

this is a great recipe to use a cast iron skillet because you're starting stove top, but finishing in the oven. there is something so satisfying about a cast iron skillet. they're so heavy and old-timey. they do a great job of getting a nice brown crust on your meat or veggies.

i think i've said it before, but the magic of really nicely cooked meat is temperature. science! a nice, lean tenderloin needs a gentle touch. cook it until the center hits between 150 and 155.

so, go ahead. buy a meat thermometer. do it. buy a fancy one. buy a cheap one. use it. impress friends and loved ones.

 Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Adapted from Real Simple

• 1 pork tenderloin, about 1 lb
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 4 slices bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add a glug of olive oil. Season pork with salt and pepper.  Top with thyme to taste.  Wrap with bacon.  Brown wrapped tenderloin on all sides in the pan, a few minutes on each side.  Transfer pan to oven and cook for about 15 minutes, until the thickest part of the tenderloin has reached 150 to 155 degrees.

Let pork rest. Slice and serve!

chicken larb gai

sometimes being a grown up is awesome. you can eat a bowl of ice cream for dinner. you can spend all day saturday watching bad television in your pjs. no biggie. 

sometimes being a grown up is way overrated.  like paying bills, and missing out on christmas and summer vacations.

this year, i took back the christmas vacation.  eleven glorious days of no email, no bosses, no bed times and certainly no alarm clocks.

also, i ate a LOT of ice cream.

but i'm back. it's freezing, but at least it is sunny. time to get back in the swing of things.

here's a recipe we can all feel good about for the new year. it's easy. it's tasty. it's good for you, but doesn't make you feel like you're missing out.

chicken, lime, crunchy rice . . a way more adult dinner choice. save the ice cream for dessert, as you watch the bachelor, which is really like the dessert of tv. so good, so bad for you.

if you haven't had larb gai, it is thai meat salad. that's right. meat salad. spicy stir fried ground chicken that is excellent in a lettuce or cabbage cup or just on a spoon. from the wok or fridge.

isn't this a nice little mise en place?

you do really want to have your ingredients measured and at hand for asian stir fry because the point is to get your wok or skillet really hot, so the ingredients cook very quickly and you have no time to be mucking about in the back of your cupboard for that bottle of fish sauce.

here, you just heat your pan, dump all the ingredients and you're off to the races. for reals.

i love thai food because it's such a great mix of salty, sour, sweet, and spicy. it's balanced. it's usually not too heavy. and it's really easy to make at home.

fish sauce is really the most out there ingredient you'll need. it's salty, and a little bit smelly, but adds an important extra umph to lots of asian dishes. 

but, the real secret ingredient that makes this a super standout dish is the toasted rice powder.

it's easy. take some rice, maybe that funky short grain stuff you bought out of desperation at your tiny local organic food mart that is incredibly hit or miss when it comes to normal groceries. toast it up in a pan until it is golden. let it cool and then pound the heck out of it in a mortar or a spice grinder.

you know how sometimes you're getting dressed for work and it's just really an eh sweater and skirt combo? but you add a belt and suddenly it's an outfit you're rockin' kate middleton style (if only in your head)? that's just me?

anyway these toasty, crunchy little nubs are the belt to this meal. promise me you won't a) judge my lame metaphor or b) make larb gai without them.

i went super crazy when i made larb gai and busted out a whole thai meal including (not so) green papaya salad.

and a super funky pumpkin dish that i just can't recommend. i don't even really want to remember it. fresh pumpkin isn't that awesome anyway. it's so stringy and so inferior to the butternut.  although baby sugar pumpkins sure look cool, right?

maybe my next post will be on my hands-down, favorite all-time use of pumpkin . . . from a can . . . in a baked good, like god intended.

Chicken Larb Gai & Green Papaya Salad

I'm punking out and just sending you over to Spilled Milk's recipes.  No need to mess with something that works great just as is. Just don't forget the toasted rice powder!

white bean and sausage soup

this photo really, really made me want to call this pacman soup.

even though i was never a big pacman - or pacwoman - fan.  i do best with video games where frantically press buttons at random.  totes gave my little bro, future doctor of america, a run for his money at mortal combat.  totes barely got past the third level of super mario bros. 

such is life.  he can still beat me at pretty much anything that doesn't involve spelling.

anyway.  winter is arriving.  it's still early - my cut off for an outdoor run is still 40, not 30. 

but between the chilly gray weather and the abundance of holiday parties, i've been craving vegetables.  hearty, virtuous vegetables.

so, one night after yoga i made my annual pot-o-soup.  you know how i feel about soup.  but about once a year, after winter has hit, i like a nice hearty bowl of soup.

i made this soup with what i had on hand.  started with some sausage.

yes, i know i said i was craving veggies.  but, let's be honest.  the best veggie recipes usually start with some sort of bacon/pancetta/sausage product.

cause . . . all those little brown bits in the pan?  flavor, baby.  saute some onions in that . . . so much better than olive oil.

then loaded it up.  can of beans, can of tomatoes, abandoned baby carrots.

let it simmer.  throw in a parmesan rind if you've got one.  some bay leaves.  peppercorns.

and at the end . . . greens.  i had a sad little handful of kale, but some frozen spinach rounded it out.  the kale had a much better bite in the finished product.

this was a really hearty soup.  spicy sausage played up the richness of the beans, the sweet carrots and acidic tomatoes added a nice balance.  a little red wine in the beef broth rounded out the flavor.

in short, YUM.  lunch and dinner for a week and a half.  happy winter!

Winter White Bean & Sausage Soup

• 4 sausages, I recommend Aidells - one of the spicy flavors
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 can white beans, rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 cups baby carrots, roughly chopped
• 2-3 cups kale or spinach, roughly chopped (use less if you're using frozen)
• 1 carton beef or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 parmesan rind
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp thyme
• Salt to taste

Saute sausage in large pot until brown.  Add onions and soften.  Add everything else, EXCEPT THE GREENS, and simmer at least 20 minutes and until the veggies are tender.  Add the kale and/or spinach and cook for another few minutes.  Very good with more parmesan grated on top and with a crusty baguette.

braised red cabbage

i have a question. why is it called red cabbage, when it is clearly purple cabbage? and when cooked, such a glorious fuchsia pink?

and i've got a double dose of pink and purple for you here today.

purple was definitely my favorite color when i was little. i was known to wear head to toe, socks included, purple outfits. when i was really little, i had a great (well, it's all relavant right?  i remember giggling.) game with my east coast aunts where they would ask me first my favorite colors - pink and purple - then the colors for christmas, the colors for halloween, the colors for fourth of july.

any five year old worth her salt knows the answer.

pink.

purple.

i love cabbage, the crunch and slight bitterness, but mostly the watery crunch. very satisfying.

however, i'm about the braise the bajesus out of this poor cabbage. don't worry, braising makes pretty much anything better.

including apples.

granny smith apples for sweetness and tang. these are sturdy apples, just what you want for a braise.

we're also going to add apple cider vinegar to punch that flavor up.  

and sage. cause it's fall, and sage is wonderful. especially fresh sage, so furry and soft. it's like the kitten of herbs.

you know how i feel about kittens.

let's file this one under cute.

too cheesy? too blurry? too bad. it's my blog, and i'll post all the cheesy blurry cat photos i want.

anyway, back to dinner. i served the cabbage with . . . pork!

sage and milk braised pork. it's fall. we're gonna be braising all kinds of stuff around here.

but, honestly, i had just cabbage for dinner night two with some crusty bread and it was divine all on its own.

Braised Red Cabbage

Adapted from Spilled Milk. Their recipe called for caraway seeds, which I'd love to try, but didn't have on hand.  And you've seen the state of my spices . . . it just wouldn't be fair to introduce a new innocent spice bottle to that hot mess.

• Olive oil
• Half a red onion, chopped
• Half a red cabbage, sliced
• 2 medium granny smith apples, shredded
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp or more fresh sage, chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet or dutch oven with a lid, add red onion saute until soft.  Add remaining ingredients and cook, covered but stirring occasionally, about an hour until the cabbage is tender but not mushy.

chewy ginger cookies

generally, i'm a soft and chewy kind of cookie girl.  i have no time for biscotti.  why?  why would you double bake a cookie?  it's wrong, i tell you, just wrong!

but, when it comes to ginger cookies, i'm a snap kind of girl.  something about the hard crunch of a ginger snap just seems to fit the hard spicy flavor.

but then, i got sucked in by the magazine photo.

so sparkly, so deep and warm looking.  that's a cookie that needed to enter my repertoire.

these cookies really are softer than they are chewy.  the mixture of butter and shortening makes them tender, and i think the molasses helps them down that path as well.

molasses cookies are totally acceptable as soft cookies. 

but do not mistake these for molasses cookies.  they have a serious one-two-three ginger punch: powdered, fresh, and crystallized.

crystallized ginger really is magical.  well, crystallized pretty much anything's pretty good.  foodie friends of my mother's from the big easy came to visit one summer and made crystallized citrus rind.  it totally blew my mind that you could MAKE that. like, from SCRATCH. 

they also kick started my obsession with squash blossoms, but that's a story for another time, and definitely another season.

but don't worry.  i didn't crystallize my own ginger, and really, neither should you.  it would ruin what is otherwise a super easy cookie recipe.

the ginger teams up here with some other nice holiday flavors.  nutmeg, cinnamon, obvious.

it is the black pepper, though, that i think adds a nice, unexpected layer of spice to the mix.  i think i'm going to keep that in mind for future recipes. 

if i can ever find any of my spices again.  my ocd spice organization system seems to be rebelling on me.

i guess i can't be that ocd since my kitchen counter's looked like that for a couple weeks now.  i just can't bring myself to address the situation.

ahem.

back to the cookies.  i might be failing in spice organization, but i finally did my math-hating self a huge favor and got a new app for my iphone that automatically converts cup amounts to ounces or grams.

i mean, seriously.  why have i been multiplying fractions for so long? 

and i wonder why i can never get the flour right.

my iphone and ipad are seriously some of my most important kitchen tools.

they help save me from myself.  if only siri could see what i was actually doing, i'd really be rolling.

but, to be honest, these cookies came out great.  the turbinado sugar on the outside gives a great crunch, but the cookie is melt in your mouth soft, and the flavor is a wonderfully intense spice bomb. 

bake them.  you won't be sorry.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Find the recipe at Bon Appetit