Oui, Chef

Apple and Cranberry Crisp

HA....we're on a roll now.  This tasty treat turned out to be the perfect foil for a 1/2 used jar of Trader Joe's  Apple Butter hogging space in our fridge, and as easy as that the inventory of our refrigerator condiment museum took another hit.  Perhaps we should craft a song for the occasion...."50 bottles of condiments in the fridge, 50 bottle of condiments....you take 1 out, and put it to use, 49 bottles of condiments in the fridge"  Ugh, with 47 bottles left, this could take a while.....

Baked NYC - Sweet and Salty Brownies

In our seemingly endless effort to ferret out the best brownies on the planet, for you, our devoted readers, we come to you today with yet another contender for the title.  Many of you will recall our first foray into "Baked NYC" territory with this post about them back in January.  In it, we put the original "Baked" brownie to the test, and found we really loved it's deep dark flavor, and almost fudge like consistency.  

Well, the guys at Baked Bakery in Brooklyn are back with not only a new cookbook called Baked Explorations , but also a new take on their now famous brownie.  To put it simply, the Sweet and Salty Brownie is their original on steroids, and while we may hold steroids and all those stupid athletes that use them in low regard, in this instance, they are a VERY GOOD THING!

Zingy Wings

Arthas and I tossed these wings together a few weeks back as a treat to bring to a neighborhood barbeque.....they were fabulous!  The recipe is a rif on my friend Winnie's "Sweet and Spicy Rubbed Wings", which she submitted some time ago for a Food52 contest for your best chicken wings.

According to Winnie, she had developed this spicy coffee-cocoa rub to use on ribs and loved it so much that she then tried it on some homemade roasted nuts, and then finally these wings.  It sounds like she was tossing it on anything that didn't move!  Don't you love a condiment that can be put to use in so many different ways?  

Ad Hoc Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Many of you may recall that when I posted David Chang's "Momofuku's Fried Chicken" a while back I said I'd be back soon with an honest to goodness buttermilk fried chicken recipe.  Well here it is, thought it comes to us not from America's deep south, but rather by way of one of my favorite chefs, Thomas Keller, and the gang at his Ad Hoc Restaurant in the Napa Valley.

While I have been a fan of traditional, batter coated fried chicken for years, I never endeavored to make it myself until now.  

Why?  

Sloppy Joes

It takes a while, but every summer by about this time we all start suffering from burger fatigue.  I don’t know about you, but we definitely get our fill of burgers and dogs around here during grilling season, so much so that by mid-August I start thinking about how to take the idea of a burger in new directions.

One of our favorite alternatives is this Sloppy Joe. 

Please don’t tell me you reach for a can of Manwich, or just dump a jar of Ragu in ground beef when you fell the urge, you don’t do you?  For years the Sloppy Joe has been sold as just that kind of meal, much like that old chestnut, Tuna Helper, a desperation meal in a can that you keep hidden in the back of the pantry.  If that IS the only kind of Joe you’ve ever had, then please keep reading, as you are in for a treat.

Peach and Blueberry Crumble with Tarragon

I found some delicious, locally grown peaches at the market the other day, and they looked so good in their cute little wooden box that I had to buy them.  There were about 12 of them in the crate and were still a bit hard when I bought them so I left them on the counter to continue ripening for a couple of days.  When they seemed to have softened enough, my wife and I cut into one for a lunchtime dessert and were thrilled with how great they were, so juicy and very sweet.

Of course, the problem with peaches (and most fresh fruit for that matter) is that once they attain their peak of freshness, they begin a quick downhill sprint to the land of rot.  If we only had one or two to snarf down in a hurry I wouldn't have worried much, but with a ten or so peaches left, and most of our clan off at various camps this week, I was afraid we'd lose all the lovelies to our ever present summer battalion of fruit flies, before we had a chance to enjoy them.

Vanilla Brined Pork Chops

With grilling season in full swing, I wanted to toss out a quick-brine, dry rub combo to keep you and your grill on your toes.  This dish was inspired by a recipe I saw recently in Fine Cooking magazine, and with just a few tweaks to the brine and rub, we've come up with a dish that we've made twice already in the last few weeks.

Green Tomato Chutney

This is a recipe I found last fall when I had an abundance of green tomatoes from my garden, and found a lot more at my local farmer's market that were practically being given away.  At about the same time I made my batch of chutney, my friend Winnie at Healthy Green Kitchen posted a version of this very same chutney (what is it they say about great minds?), so I decided to hold mine back for a later date.  When I saw a farmer selling a bunch of green tomatoes at Thursday's farmer's market (many farmers don't just sell green tomatoes at the end of the season), I was reminded of this tasty treat and wanted to get the recipe out to you.

Winnie adapted her awesome chutney by altering the spices and sugar some, mine is just as Tom Colicchio wrote the recipe in his great cookbook, Think Like a Chef .  Try either recipe, or play doctor and come up with your own spin.  Either way you go, you'll end up with a dead-simple recipe that will yield a delicious condiment that will enhance anything you serve it alongside.  Really, this is good with beef, pork, lamb, poultry, seafood...you name it.

Enjoy - Steve

Basil-Vodka Gimlet

This is not a recipe I make with my kids, and no, I'm not encouraging you to whip up a pitcher of this elixer with your ankle biters either.  

Let's be honest, our kids are going to try their hands at mixology soon enough, at ages we will likely find horrifying, they won't need any help from us here.

As a blog dedicated to sharing family friendly recipes you can make with your own young ones, we are not in the habit of posting tasty alcoholic treats, but if its half as hot where you are today as it is here, then you could probably use a refreshing adult beverage. 

Aren't you glad you know me?

Chocolate-Caramel Slice

This little ditty is a treat my wife found recently and asked me to make to help feed the crowd that was joining us on the 4th of July.  As it turns out, what with other goodies we had made along with treats that guests brought, we didn't even have to dip into these babies.