I have been searching some time now for a world class corn muffin recipe with which to satisfy our young corn lovin' diva, Muppet. For as long as I've known her, her favorite snack, bar none, has been a really well made corn muffin or piece of corn bread. Panera's corn muffin-top is the gold standard by which all others are measured, though she's also a fan of Trader Joe's box mix that we make at home. That's provided of course that someone take the time to sift the whole corn kernels from the mix before proceeding to add the wet ingredients. You see, this girl won't abide whole kernels in her muffins.
Archives for September 2012
Leek, Shiitake and Gruyere Frittata
We cook and post about so many frittatas around here we should rename the site "Oui, Frittata".
What can I say….we're such huge fans of these Italian sorta quichey-omelette things that we're always thinking up new versions to share. Never had one before and wondering what they're like? Picture a crustless quiche or an unfolded omelette, and you pretty much have a frittata.
Fig Tart with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
What do you do when you have a dozen height-of-the-season fresh Calimyrna figs on the counter and a package of delicious Dufour all-butter puff pastry in the freezer?
Why you make this fig and walnut tart, of course.
Roasted Chicken with Garlic, Capers and Preserved Lemon
This recipe is a twist on one I played with recently as a recipe test. The original, which was delicious, called for using garlic and oil cured black olives along with a mix of fresh herbs and the chicken. I didn't dare mess with the garlic (except to add even more), but was itching to put my newly created preserved lemons to use, and so came up with my own version of this easy, weeknight meal.
Pick Your Favorite Nut – Pound Cake
I'm a big fan of what in France they like to call "Weekend" cakes, simple sweet loaves that are perfect to wrap and take into the country for a weekend picnic. One of my favorite such loaves is a glazed lemon cake by Pierre Hermé that I made countless times while living in France. It was a huge hit with the kids, so I was always under the gun to make sure that there was at least one on the counter and one in our tiny freezer as a back-up.
Preserved Lemons
If you haven't yet tried preserved lemons in a dish, you must. A staple of Middle Eastern cooking, preserved lemons add an exotic and complex salty-citrus note wherever used. The first time I cooked with them was in a chicken dish of one of my favorite local chefs, Ana Sortun. Ana, who is a La Varenne Paris alum, is the chef and owner of Oleana, a truly magical restaurant just outside of Boston. In her dish, Ana slips some preserved lemon under the skin of her version of "chicken under a brick" for an awesome twist on this classic.
Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies
Holy $#!%….has it really been a whole month since we've posted a chocolate recipe here?
I do hope you'll forgive me.
Actually, I suspect that after a bite of one of these heavenly cubes of goodness many of you won't just be forgiving me, but will be tempted to name your first born male child after me.
By the way, my name is Steve, not Oui.