Roasted Acorn Squash and Garnet Yam Soup with Bacon and Caramelized Apples

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Let’s be honest. The only reason I watch (American) football is because the man I love is obsessed with it. I guess there are worse reasons. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one true sport, and it’s the real football, what Americans call “soccer”. (Plebeians.)

However, the great thing about Superbowl Sunday is the excuse for cooking delicious food. What better dish than Chili con Carne with some cornbread?

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A bit of explanation to begin: I’m a geek, as is Adan. Which is relevant because in my household, Sundays are the day we play D&D. Now, the best thing about D&D Sundays (aside from playing D&D and hanging out with friends) is having a captive audience for whom to cook. I’ve started consistently making brunch for everyone, since I loooooove breakfast/brunch foods, and really, so does everyone else. We began with the simple, straightforward brunch items (buttermilk waffles, buttermilk pancakes, challah french toast), and then gradually progressed to more interesting recipes (eggs benedict). It gives me a chance to make brunch almost every week.

Thus, I present the first iteration of my Almost Weekly Sunday Brunch: Spiced Pillow Pancakes. Continue reading →

The scandal-plagued Bloggies are back, with nominees for 2007. Nominees for Best Food Blog are:

• Smitten Kitchen
• 101 Cookbooks
• Help! I Have a Fire in My Kitchen
• Kathy Maister’s StartCooking.com
• Matt Bites

Good luck to all nominees!

On a side note, I’m a little disappointed that since the inception of the Best Food Blog category, there still haven’t been any Asian food blogs nominated. Well, at least Smitten Kitchen is from NYC. New York City represent!

David Lebovitz has been generous enough to host Sugar High Friday #27 and our theme is Chocolate by Brand.

The reason I’m participating in this month’s SHF is because I have lovely friends. Case in point: for my birthday last November, Maggie and Ryan surprised me with a gift from my Amazon wishlist. And what a gift it was! They’d purchased every single chocolate book from my wishlist. I was determined to return their kindness with delicious treats from said books (cookbooks – the gift that keeps on giving), and I happened to know Ryan had a weakness for peanut butter…

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Here’s the recipe, at Suyin’s request. This is the magical mashed potato that tastes like sour cream and onion chips. It doesn’t contain onions, but does call for sour cream, buttermilk, and scallions.

Buttermilk Ranch Mashed Potatoes
Serves 12

5 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
Table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 2/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
3 cloves garlic, minced fine
7 scallions, white and green parts sliced very thin
5 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 cup sour cream
Ground black pepper

Place potatoes in large saucepan; add cold water to cover by 1 inch and 5 tablespoons of salt. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes break apart when paring knife is inserted, about 18 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to saucepan set on still-hot burner.

Using potato ricer, rice potatoes into a large bowl. Gently mix melted butter and buttermilk in small bowl until combined. Add garlic, scallions, parsley, sour cream, salt and pepper to buttermilk mixture. Using rubber spatula, fold buttermilk mixture gently into mashed potatoes until just incorporated. Serve immediately or keep warm in a slow cooker for up to two hours.

Since this worked so well last time for the afternoon tea party, I figured I’d do it again. As some of you know, I’ll be taking part in a cookie swap next weekend, and I was looking through my recipes for interesting cookie recipes. Not the usual chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies, and not the only-for-the-sake-of-decorating sugar cookies. Something with a bit more flavor complexity.

Thus, I seek your input! See below some of the options I’m considering. I’ve linked to pictures/recipes where I can, and provided a brief description where no pictures are available.

Take the poll!

I’ve been trying to eat more healthy and live more healthy recently, and gradually have started to develop recipes that are both yummy and healthy. Keep in mind that I definitely fall into the lives-to-eat category, rather than eats-to-live.

So in pursuit of my quest, here’s what I made for dinner: Spaghetti with broccoli, mushrooms, and spinach. This is the first time I’ve used whole wheat pasta, and I have to say that I taste no flavor difference between normal pasta and whole wheat pasta. A good-sized portion of pasta, including parmesan on top, is only 6 WW points. Leaves you with room for dessert or garlic bread!

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I may have found a new favorite cookie. The Korova cookies recipe comes from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan, and it is a truly stunning chocolate chocolate chip cookie with fleur de sel (fancy French sea salt).

When still warm from the oven, the Korova had a density I would expect more readily from a brownie than from a cookie. Once cooled to room temperature, the Korova’s true identity as a sable cookie became obvious. It had a delicately sandy texture on the outside, with a denser, richer consistency on the inside.

In both states, the Korova cookie boasts a rich, intense chocolate flavor, with unexpected bursts of salt from the fleur de sel. The large grains of fleur de sel really are essential here, as they provide bubbles of salt flavor to cut through the dense chocolate cookie, instead of just making the entire cookie salty. I used my favorite sea salt, Maldon’s, which is British, not French. (Read a review which extols Maldon’s virtues, such as its square flakes, and how it stands up to other available fancy salts.)

It’s a great way to enjoy a rich chocolate cookie without being overwhelmed by the thickness of the chocolate flavor. It seems like a recipe that would showcase superior chocolate, and I’m really looking forward to making it again once I get some quality Callebaut bittersweet and Dutched cocoa powder.

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I wish I had been more faithful about taking photos of the post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner, but I was remiss. However, here are the two recipes that were requested, cranberry sauce and stuffed mushrooms.

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