I came up with this little number to serve at a family graduation party for Jordan (Arthus), who graduated from H.S. last week….HUZZAH! When asked what type of cake he wanted he immediately reached for our go-to bittersweet chocolate cake and opted this time to have it finished off with a cream cheese frosting.
Archives for May 2014
Spiced Lamb Chops with Chickpea and Ramp Purée
For someone who loves lamb as much as I do, I don't cook it nearly enough. Be it grilled chops, a roasted butterflied leg, or braised chunks of lamb shoulder….I love it any way I can get it. Interestingly, as good as the spiced lamb is in this dish, we enjoyed the chickpea purée so much too that it's hard to say which was the star of the plate. This is one of those dishes that is so perfectly conceived that the whole adds up to way more than the sum of it's parts.
Coconut Chocolate Macaroons
Not to be confused with the dainty and ever popular French Macarons, these delightful flavor bombs are big and bold, jammed with sweetened coconut (and in this case mini semi-sweet chocolate chips), and made luxuriant with a mix of egg whites and pastry cream.
The base recipe is one from a favorite local chef of mine, and a HUGE supporter of Share Our Strength, Joanne Chang. Joanne is a wonderful gal, super dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the US, and a very successful chef and restaurateur. She is an owner (along with her husband Christopher) of the wildly popular Boston restaurant Myers and Chang, and also runs a growing empire of Flour Bakery and Cafe locations (currently 4 and counting) in and around the city.
Yogurt Coffee Cake
I came up with this cake the other day as a means of using up some nuts and yogurt I had laying about, and to have a little something special on-hand for our "morning after prom" gang. It turns out that the cake never survived the prom after party to be enjoyed as an accompaniment to morning coffee….oh well.
Crispy Salt and Vinegar Potatoes
I'm a freak for a good potato chip, and without question my favorite flavor of chip is sea salt and vinegar. You can keep your sour cream and onion, your barbeque, and your cheddar jalapeno….nothing comes close to a good vinegar chip in my book.
To me, the love of chips (or crisps for my Brit or Oz readers) is universal. I have never met anyone who doesn't love potato chips. Have you? I don't think the same can't be said for many other "cult" status foods.
Fennel Soup with Almonds and Mint
You are not going to believe how creamy, smooth and tasty this simple soup is, and even better, you can have it on the table in under 30 minutes. From my friends at Cooking Light Magazine, this soup was recently featured as a "High Velocity Vegetarian" dish and for good reason….it is super fast to make, and fires on all 12 cylinders.
Dirt Bombs
Please don't click past this recipe because of it's less than appealing name….you'll be VERY sorry if you do, I can promise you that. These delightful little nuggets are from the Bantam Bread Bakery in Bantam, CT and come to us courtesy of the R.S.V.P. feature in the May 2014 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. R.S.V.P is where reader's write in to request that the magazine ferret out the recipes from their favorite restaurant meals.
World Peace Cookies
I know what you're thinking. Wouldn't it be lovely if all we had to do to rid the world of conflict and bring peace was to bake a few batches of top-notch cookies.
Just imagine……
Israel and Palestine…..fixed.
Russia and Ukraine…..done.
Syria's civil war………a thing of the past.
Lannisters v. Tyrells……..just make sure there's enough cold milk to go around (it turns out drinking wine in Westeros can prove fatal….poor Joffrey).
It seems silly to ponder a world where a single sweet confection could turn the tides of conflict and put us on a path to world peace, but if any treat could, then it would surely be these masterful cookies.
Thai Peanut Pork Belly
This is my take on one of the best restaurant dishes I've ever had. The original, an appetizer by Chef Kate Rench of Café Diva in Steamboat Springs, CO is called a "Peanut Butter and Bacon Sandwich" and consists of Asian braised pork belly, Thai peanut sauce, sriracha, and raisin nut toast. The boys and I first tried this dish two years ago while skiing at Steamboat and were totally blown away by its complexity and utter deliciousness. Truth be told, when we decided to head back to Steamboat for February vacation this year it was this dish more than any other factor (except maybe the awesome snow there) that sealed our decision to return. Yup….it's that freakin' good!