This post is sponsored by La Crema Wines. All opinions here are my own. You can find the companion recipes over on the La Crema blog. 

Over the past two years, I’ve developed a series of dinner menus with La Crema, each one featuring the flavors of a different country. For most of the dinners in this series – Japanese Izakaya, Italian Seafood, Provencal Rose – my inspiration has been firsthand. But for this one, featuring the warming spices of Morocco, I’m an armchair traveler. An armchair eater maybe? So I can’t tell you if these recipes taste just like they would if they were eaten outside the bustling Medina or in the cool courtyard of a riad. All I can promise is that they evoke warmth and vibrancy, two things I find myself craving as the days shorten and darken.

As usual, this menu contains an appetizer,  a main course, a side dish, and a dessert. The first three courses are all over on the La Crema blog, and you can find the dessert recipe – for Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies – below. The appetizer this time is a Spiced Moroccan Carrot Dip, served with fresh pita bread. It’s a surprisingly flavorful and vibrant appetizer, made bright with a bit of lemon, tahini, and pomegranate molasses. I found myself craving it after work the day after I made it, which is pretty rare for snacks that are mostly made of vegetables.

The main course is Moroccan-Braised Lamb Shanks, served over what I’ve decided to call Royal Couscous – couscous with lots of delicious mix-ins like apricots and pistachios. The lamb is a rich, slow-cooked dish flavored by sweet dates, Pinot Noir, tomatoes, stock, and warming spices. After two and a half hours in the oven the lamb should be meltingly tender. Spooned over couscous mixed with apricots, pistachios, chickpeas, apricots, parsley, red onion, and preserved lemon it makes a meal fit for a feast. Especially with a bottle of La Crema’s Monterey Pinot Noir  served alongside it! Lamb is great with lighter-bodied, fruity, yet spicy red wines like Pinot Noir.

And for dessert, Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies. There is a traditional Moroccan dessert called a m’hanncha, commonly translated as snake cake. As far as I can tell, it’s an impressive rolled and coiled version of baklava. I thought about making this massive dessert for this post, but thought it might be a bit much for Trevor and I to tackle eating in the next few days. And also, I really wanted a cookie. It’s that time of year, you know? So I took the flavors of the m’hanncha and translated them to something more bite-sized: Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies.

They’re not the world’s prettiest cookie – although that little drizzle of white chocolate helps! The lovely green color I was imagining was instantly lost when I added a tablespoon of cinnamon the filling mixture. But – they are really delicious! The filling has such a lovely hint of rosewater in every bite. They are easy to make and the flavors are unexpected. The cookie base is a simple, soft sugar cookie that I adapted from these thumbprint cookies on Epicurious. It comes together really easily and rolls nicely without any chilling or finesse needed. Since the nut filling is fairly sticky, it’s easy to get the filling to adhere to the cookie.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to head over to the La Crema blog via the links above for the other recipes!

Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies with a rosewater-scented pistachio and almond filling. Inspired by the traditional Moroccan “snake cake” called M’hanncha.

Cookie dough recipe adapted from Epicurious.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 18-24
• Category: Cookie

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 2/3 c. shelled pistachios
• 2/3 c. raw almonds
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 TBS rosewater
• 2 TBS honey
• 1 egg

For the dough and topping:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c. AP flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3 oz. white chocolate broken into small pieces

Instructions

1. To make the filling: Place the pistachios, almonds, powdered sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse several times, until the nuts are very finely chopped and the sugar is evenly mixed in with the nuts. Add the rosewater, honey, and egg to the food processor and pulse several more times, until the filling is evenly damp. It should be a thick, sticky mixture, almost paste-like. Set aside.
2. To make the cookie dough: Cream the butter and the sugar together on medium speed (or vigorously by hand) until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until it is evenly incorporated. Add the vanilla to the dough and beat to combine. Add the flour and baking soda and beat until just combined (don’t overmix). The dough should be smooth and easy to roll into small balls.
3. To assemble and bake cookies: Preheat the oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll the cookie dough into small balls, slightly smaller than the size of a ping pong ball. Space the balls evenly on your prepared cookie sheet, then use your thumb to make a deep impression in the center of each ball. Fill the thumbprints with the nut mixture, pressing the filling gently against the sides of the cookie to help it adhere. Bake the cookies until they are just starting to turn golden brown on the top, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
4. If you’d like to decorate with a white chocolate drizzle, place the white chocolate in a metal bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a simmer, then place the metal bowl on top of the pot. Gently melt the chocolate, using a spatula to stir it and encourage even melting. As soon as all the chocolate is melted, remove the bowl from the heat (use pot mitts – the bowl may be hot!) and use the spatula or a spoon to drizzle white chocolate on top of the cookies. Let chocolate harden before serving.

The post Moroccan Dinner with La Crema: Pistachio Thumbprint Cookies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year grappling with the future of this blog. As do all bloggers, writers, or people who show up to do anything consistently day after day. I’ve gone from certain I want to make this blog my full time business to certain I want to quit entirely (the range of the uncertainty effectively negating either option as the best one). Hearing about other people’s “should I or shouldn’t I” blog crises always bores me, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Here’s how I feel today: I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished here. I still feel the urge to write and create. I tried the blogging-as-a-business thing (the podcasts, the SEO otpimization, etc., etc.) and it mostly left me frustrated. My job challenges and fulfills me and right now that, not blogging, is my career. So I will keep coming here, keep cooking, keep writing, but I’m not going to worry so much about stats and schedules. I want this to be a place that inspires and fulfills me, not a chore to stress over.

Now that that’s out of the way – hi! I’ve been gone because Trevor and I got married! Then we went on an incredible honeymoon and spent three weeks in Croatia, Slovenia, and Prague. It was awesome. I took a lot of pictures, I drank a lot of wine and beer and mead, I walked a bajillion steps every day, and I spent so much time with Trevor everyday that I think I’m going to go through withdrawal. I’m happy to be home though, not least because it’s fall. An exceptionally warm, lovely fall at that.

With wedding planning off my plate I’m just starting to find room in my mind for cooking and creativity. The day we got back from our honeymoon we did a deep clean of the fridge, freezer, and pantry which was also strangely inspiring. I feel like I have a clean slate in the kitchen now. That, combined with the beautiful fall produce, inspired these Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Pears. It was the first real home-cooked dinner we’ve had in months.

This recipe is pretty easy, doable on a weeknight, and hearty without being heavy.  The pork chops are simply dredged in seasoned flour and pan-fried. The fruit – chopped and tossed with rosemary, olive oil, a hint of brown sugar, and cider vinegar. While the fruit is roasting and the chops are resting, you make a quick pan sauce using calvados to tie everything together. The roasted fruit was my favorite part of this, with it’s balance of sweet and savory flavors. It would also go well with other mains, particularly sausages or grilled chicken, so it seems likely I’ll make it again while fall fruits are still at their peak.

P.S. Don’t worry! When we get our wedding pictures back I’ll share some here. I’ll most likely do a few honeymoon posts as well, because, you know, Slovenian venison goulash seems like a thing you might like.

Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Pears, and Brandy Cream Sauce

An easy fall dinner of pan-fried pork chops, roasted apples, pears, and red onions, and a quick  brandy pan sauce. 

Inspired by Diana Henry’s Roast Figs Sugar Snow and Hilary Davis’ French Comfort Food.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 Bartlett pears, cut into quarters and cored
• 2 McIntosh apples, cored and cut into thick slices
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 sprigs rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
• Four 8-oz pork chops
• 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS flour
• 2 TBS butter
• 4 leaves sage
• 1/2 cup dry hard cider
• 1/4 cup calvados / apple brandy
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. For the fruit: Preheat the oven to 375F. Arrange the onion wedges, pear slices, and apples slices on a rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, chopped rosemary leaves, sea salt (to taste), black pepper, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar until combined. Drizzle the olive oil mixture on top of the fruit and onions. Use a spatula to flip everything over once to coat with the oil. Place in the oven and roast until the fruit is soft, about 20 minutes.
2. For the pork chops: Place 1/4 cup of the flour on a large plate and spread into a thin layer. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel and then dredge in the seasoned flour so that they are lightly coated with flour on both sides. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam and sizzle, add the sage leaves and fry for 60 seconds. Add the floured pork chops to the pan, spacing them out evenly so they aren’t touching one another (you may need to do this in batches if your pan is small). Fry the pork chops until golden brown on one side, then flip and fry on the other side. This should take about 5 minutes per side. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of your pork chops – they should be 145F at the thickest portion. If they have not yet reached this temperature, cook 1 minute longer then check again. As soon as they reach 145F remove them to a paper-towel lined plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. For the pan sauce: Return the pan you used to cook the pork chops to the heat. Add 2 TBS of flour to the juices left in the pan and quickly stir until thickened, about 60 seconds. Add the hard cider to the pan and let simmer, then use a wooden spatula or spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan until it is clean, stirring the sauce as you scrape. Add the apple brandy to the pan, stir to incorporate into the sauce, and cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in the heavy cream and season the sauce to taste.
4. To serve: Place a pork chop on each plate along with several pieces of roasted fruit. Spoon some of the pan sauce over the pork and serve immediately.

The post Back // Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Pears, and Brandy Cream Sauce appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

This post is sponsored by La Crema Wines. All opinions here are my own. You can find the companion recipes over on the La Crema blog. 

Apologies for the quiet here this past month. Things have been busy, and cooking, writing, and reflecting have fallen by the wayside a bit. We’ve got 24 days to go until our wedding, which is both insane and kind of a relief. I’m feeling rock solid about marrying Trevor, which is 99.9% of the battle, but there’s still a lot of miscellaneous stress associated with hosting a party for 50 with all kinds of societal and emotional strings attached. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on weddings at this point, but I’ll save those for a later date.

Today, what I’m here to talk about is this Scandinavian dinner menu – my latest collaboration with La Crema wines. It’s inspired by my recent trip to Iceland: in July I finally took advantage of Boston’s relative proximity to Scandinavia and spent a long weekend there. Iceland has been at the top of my travel wishlist for years and I was so excited to finally be in the land of moss-covered lava and epic waterfalls. I have to do a real travelogue at some point, but suffice it to say that the Icelandic landscape is incredible (and here’s a few teaser shots!). One moment we were driving through an alien landscape of hardened lava boulders tumbling into the sea, the next there were pockets of geyser steam rising up all around us, and then, suddenly, we were in the midst of fields of lupine in front of massive glaciers.

Iceland is known for being pretty expensive. I certainly found this to be true, particularly when it came to food. The silver lining to this was that the price differential between cheap food and fancy food was much smaller than it is here in the US. While a gas station hamburger could set you back $20, a three-course meal with wine at a top restaurant only cost $60. So despite the expense, we managed to have some very good meals. Our most memorable culinary experience was a 3 course dinner at Forettabarinn in Reykjavik. It was our final night as a group (and a semi-bachelorette celebration) after a long weekend of adventuring in South Iceland. The food was creative and well-executed, the wine was abundant, and the company was unbeatable. That lovely dinner served as the inspiration for this one.

There are three courses to this menu. First, a super-simple Smoked Salmon and Rye Crackers appetizer. Everyone should have a few minimal-effort, but still fancy-feeling appetizers in their repertoire. This should be one of them. The only “cooking” is to whip up a little cream with capers, slice a cucumber, and assemble. It’s also very portable, so guests can easily grab one of these and a glass of wine while mingling. On that note, the wine to open for this course is La Crema’s Monterey Chardonnay. Its bright acidity and smooth texture stands up nicely to the fatty, smoky salmon and rich caper cream.

The main event consists of two parts – Mashed Potato Waffles with Horseradish Sauce and Mustard-Thyme Pulled Leg of Lamb. I don’t think I’ve ever had lamb served BBQ style before my dinner at Forettabarinn, but it’s so wonderful. Ideally, I would have liked to use a slightly more economical and fattier lamb shoulder for this recipe, but I couldn’t find one at my butcher. The result was still good – tender, falling apart lamb, completely imbued with the flavors of mustard and wine and paprika. It was delicious on top of the potato waffles with a bit of horseradish sauce and grainy mustard. For this course, I opened a bottle of La Crema’s Monterey Pinot Noir and it was so good together! Just tangy and juicy and yum.

For dessert, I whipped up a light Skyr Mousse with Wild Blueberry Sauce and Gingerbread Crumbs. If you’re not familiar with it, skyr is Iceland’s answer to yogurt, only it’s thicker and tangier. Similar to Greek yogurt, it’s rich in protein and very trendy here in the US. To turn it into mousse, I incorporated whipped cream and a hint of sugar. It was such a treat – light and airy with a distinct tang from the skyr. It was also so simple to put together. The only other recipes I saw for skyr mousse involved a fussy gelatin method, but I opted for a much simpler treatment here – whip cream, whip skyr, fold together, serve. With the maple-blueberry sauce and a sprinkling of gingerbead cookie crumbs it’s a more-than-the-sum-of-it’s-parts dessert.

You can find the recipes for the first two courses on the La Crema blog: Smoked Salmon Rye Crackers with Caper Cream; Mashed Potato Waffles with Horseradish Sauce; and Mustard-Thyme Pulled Leg of Lamb. The Skyr Mousse with Wild Blueberries recipe is below!

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Skyr Mousse with Wild Blueberries and Sweet Gingerbread Crumbs

A simple skyr-based mousse made from whipped cream and thick, yogurt-like Icelandic skyr. Served with wild-blueberry sauce and gingerbread crumbs.

Inspired by dinner at Forettabarinn

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup wild Maine blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 4 TBS sugar
• 1 cup plain or maple flavored skyr (Icelandic yogurt), chilled
• 1.5 oz. gingerbread cookies, preferably Anna’s Swedish Thins
• 1 TBS brown sugar

Instructions

1. Place the blueberries, maple syrup, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and stir to mix. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer the berries until they have burst and released their juices and the sauce is slightly syrupy, about 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them to be sure they don’t burn. Remove from the heat, transfer the blueberry sauce to a storage container, and chill thoroughly.
2. To make the mousse, whip the heavy cream on high until stiff peaks have formed. Add the sugar and beat for a few seconds longer, just to incorporate the sugar into the cream. In a separate bowl, beat the skyr for 30 seconds until it is lightened slightly. Add half of the whipped cream to the skyr and use a spatula to gently fold together. Repeat with the remaining half of the whipped cream, folding just enough to mix the two together. Don’t overfold or your mousse may deflate. Chill the mousse until ready to serve.
3. Place the gingerbread cookies and the brown sugar in a small food processor and pulse several times to make crumbs. Set crumbs aside.
4. To serve the mousse, drizzle the chilled blueberry sauce on top of the mousse. Sprinkle with the gingerbread crumbs. Serve immediately

The post Scandinavian Dinner with La Crema: Skyr Mousse with Wild Blueberries and Sweet Gingerbread Crumbs appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

June has proved itself to be a serious test of my tolerance for both drinking and socializing. It started with our 10-year high school reunion, progressed into a work offsite, and is culminating in a trip to Iceland with my girlfriends. After more beers than I’ve had since college, my body hates me and so does my wedding dress. It’s been good for my soul, though, full of enriching conversations and laughter and long nights enjoying the perfect June weather.

Reunion in particular was a whirlwind. Trevor and I both went to Andover, and our reunions are a weekend-long marathon. Friday night was a bit awkward – lots of “hey! So what do you do now?” conversations and liquid courage courtesy of Sam’s car bar. But by Saturday, everyone had slipped right back into their old friendships. We spent the day playing flip-cup and slosh-ball and hanging out in an old soccer field on the edge of campus. This morphed into dinner and dancing and 3-am lawn hangouts before we stumbled home. With very little recent practice for this sort of all day event, I’m amazed at the stamina we brought to the table – 28 and going strong.

On Sunday morning, after we groggily hugged our friends (and my amazing parents who let us take over the house all weekend) and slowly drove ourselves back home, we needed grease. Grease and HBO. There are only 3 or 4 restaurants within walking distance of us that are any good, but thankfully one of them is Tenoch. Tenoch is a small fast-food style restaurant that makes the most incredible tortas, griddled Mexican sandwiches. A torta usually consists of a big squishy bun called a telera, slow-cooked meat, a spicy sauce, refried beans, avocado, something bright and pickle-y like pico de gallo or pickled onions, and melted queso fresco. Basically it has all the elements of a taco but with a larger volume of filling and more carbs.

As per usual, I got a torta de carnitas, piled high with shredded pulled pork, and promptly demolished it. I then collapsed into a state of complete sloth and binge watched Silicon Valley. It was kind of glorious. While in this lethargic state, in a rare moment of perfect foresight, I decided this sandwich was something I needed to make at home.

The next weekend I made a giant pot of carnitas, baked homemade telera buns, and whipped up a quick guacamole and pico de gallo. The resulting tortas de carnitas were just as good as the Tenoch version. Plus, we had tons of leftovers. This proved to be an incredible boon as I went into drinking week, round two, at my offsite. The carnitas recipe I used comes from a great little book called Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales. It has tons of flavor and is quite easy. Give it a try whether or not you’re going all in on the tortas!

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Torta de Carnitas

The inspiration for this comes from our local torta shop, Tenoch (amazing sandwiches!) and the carnitas recipe is adapted from Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales, which is a great little book on Mexican street cooking.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 5
• Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

For the carnitas:

• 8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 medium white onion, peeled and chopped into quarters
• 1 TBS fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 3 tsp kosher salt
• 3 lbs. boneless pork-shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3/4 cup coke

For the tortas:

• 5 telera rolls, store-bought or homemade
• 2 TBS room-temperature butter
• 3 lbs. prepared carnitas
• 1 15-oz. can of refried black beans
• 1 c. spicy pico de gallo
• 2 c. prepared guacamole

Instructions

For the carnitas:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the garlic cloves, onion, thyme, oregano, salt, and half a cup of water in a blender and blend until smooth. Place the pork and the bay leaves in a large dutch oven or oven-safe pot with a lid, and pour the garlic and onion mixture on top of the pork. Add the coke and use tongs to toss the mixture a few times to make sure everything is well coated.
2. Cover the pot and place in the oven. Cook until the pork is so tender that it falls apart when you press it with a fork, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. When it is very tender, remove the lid. Use tongs to stir the pork and make sure a few pieces are above the liquid line. Return to the oven for 15 minutes, browning the exposed pork. Repeat the process once more, bringing new pieces of pork above the liquid and browning those for 15 minutes.
3. Once you have browned the pork, use tongs to transfer the pieces of pork to a glass bowl or storage container. Let the remaining fat and juices left in the pan cool and solidify, then discard. Coarsely shred the pork meat with a fork. Refrigerate the pork overnight, allowing the flavors to intensify.

For the tortas:

1. Cut the telera rolls in half as you would a hamburger bun. Spread the cut side of each half lightly with butter. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and toast the telera halves in the pan, butter side down, until golden brown. Do this in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan.
2. Once the buns are toasted, add the shredded carnitas to the frying pan in a single layer (you will likely need to do this in batches). Cook the pork, stirring frequently, until it is browned and crispy all over. This should take 5-10 minutes, depending on how much pork you are doing at once.
3. Spread the bottom half of each toasted bun with a few spoonfuls of refried beans. Top this with a spoonful of guacamole, spread out evenly. Spoon some of the browned pork on top of the guacamole, then add pico de gallo to top off the sandwich. Put the top half of the bun on the torta and serve immediately.

The post Torta de Carnitas appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I have recently rediscovered the taco as a homemade dinner option. Jury’s still out on how this discovery will affect my overall health, but on all other fronts – flavor, ease, cost, deliciousness – I’m pretty happy with it. It’s no wonder tacos were a staple of our childhood dinners. They’re so easy! While even your basic taco-kit Tex-Mex taco can be delicious, gourmet tacos are next level. You know, the kind that successful food trucks all over the US are dedicated to – with soft flour tortillas wrapped around spicy barbacoa and pickled onions and freshly made salsa. The kind that makes you feel like you’re standing on a street corner in Mexico, watching life go by and soaking up the sun.

These tacos are more of the grown-up, gourmet variety (although with a couple throwbacks to the childhood Tex-Mex version). Instead of ground beef and “taco spice” I make them with fresh Mexican-style chorizo sausage. The mixture of the mildly-spiced chorizo, sweet onion, and corn makes up the bulk of the filling. They come together in no-time, maybe 20 minutes from “I want tacos!” to biting into your first one. So if you’re going for a 30-minute dinner, you’ll still have 10 minutes left to shake up a margarita.

What takes these chorizo tacos over the top for me is griddling the tortillas in the leftover chorizo fat. They turn golden brown and a little crispy, and if you melt a bit of cheddar cheese in the center at the same time you are ready for taco heaven. Quality toppings also up the ante here. A generous amount of sliced avocado, fancy salsa, and sour cream all come together to give you the perfect amount of savory-spicy-rich-sweetness in each bite. I’ve been making these with the chorizo that comes in our Walden Local Meat Company subscription, and I’m pretty sure they’ll be on our table at least once a month. From now until… forever.

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Corn and Chorizo Tacos

Easy and delicious Corn and Chorizo Tacos, on your table in 30 minutes. Fry the corn tortillas until crispy and golden brown for an extra decadent meal.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 lb. fresh, Mexican-style chorizo sausage
• 1 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 8 small corn tortillas
• 6 oz. cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 or 2 ripe avocados, peeled and thinly sliced, for topping
• salsa, for topping
• sour cream, for topping

Instructions

1. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble into the pan. Use the back of a wooden spoon to chop it into small pieces. Saute, stirring frequently, until fully cooked and crispy on the outside, about 8-10 minutes. Add the frozen corn and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then transfer the stuffing mixture to a bowl, leaving most of the oil/drippings in the pan.
2. Working with one or two tortillas at a time, add the tortillas to the hot grease and cook until golden brown on the first side, about 60-90 seconds, then flip the tortilla over to cook the second side. While the second side is cooking, place a few pieces of cheddar cheese on top of the tortilla so that it melts into the tortilla. Remove from the heat when cheese is melted and both sides of tortilla are golden brown. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.
3. Fill the cheesy tortillas with the chorizo and corn mixture, then top each taco with sliced avocado, salsa, and sour cream. Serve immediately.

The post Corn and Chorizo Tacos appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

One of Trevor’s Christmas presents this year was a subscription to Walden Local Meat, a Boston-based company that delivers locally raised, high quality beef, pork, lamb, and chicken on a monthly basis. Our first delivery was in February and I was thrilled to find a boneless leg of lamb included in our share, along with fresh chorizo, pork for braising, and a nice flat iron steak. We don’t eat a ton of meat so it was exciting (especially for Trevor!) to have a freezer stocked with fancy cuts just waiting for inspiration to strike.

Sometimes constraints are the best driver of creativity, and this proved true with the lamb. I knew I wanted to make something special with it, something that highlighted the quality of the meat and was full of spring flavors. I found a recipe for leg of lamb with preserved lemon and cumin butter that was intriguing, but perhaps more Middle-Eastern then I wanted to go. But I loved the idea of using intense preserved Meyer lemon with the lamb, so I worked on the idea over a few days, and landed on a preserved lemon, harissa, and rosemary butter filling that I could slather all over the lamb.

As leg of lamb is a favorite choice for Easter, I decided to make the lamb the centerpiece of an Easter-themed Sunday Dinner post. It’s been a while since I’ve done a Sunday Dinner post, but they are still one of my favorite things to pull together. Of course, we didn’t actually eat it on Easter (or we wouldn’t have been able to share it with you in time!), but it made for a lovely Sunday evening meal in March. Alongside the lamb, we served Olive-Oil Braised Leeks and Peas with Feta and Roast Potatoes with Garlic Creme Fraiche. For dessert, we each had a thick slice of this Blood Orange and Olive Oil Cake I posted a few weeks ago.

The Olive-Oil Braised Leeks were a surprise hit, and I ended up making them twice in one week. I often find leeks a bit rubbery when served in larger pieces, but these were tender and flavorful. Braised in olive oil and chicken stock, then mixed with barely-cooked English peas, dill, lemon zest, and mild feta, they make a really lovely spring side dish. The layers of delicate flavors harmonize wonderfully and evoke all the best bits of spring. It’s definitely a permanent addition to my repertoire.

I’m excited to be really moving into spring cooking, now that the last of yesterday’s snow has melted and the sun is shining with real warmth. Before we know it the trees will be bursting into blossoms, and we’ll be spending Sunday afternoons putzing in the garden and sipping chilled glasses of rosé (I genuinely cannot wait until the first rosé-worthy afternoon, and I’m only a little embarrassed about it). The arrival of spring will only make coming together at the end of the day for a meal to linger over that much sweeter, whether it’s Easter Sunday or a quiet day at home.

The Menu
Olive-Oil Braised Leeks and Peas with Feta and Dill (recipe below, adapted from Simple)
Boneless Leg of Lamb with Preserved Lemon and Harissa (reicpe below)
Best-Ever Roast Potatoes (Serious Eats) served with Garlic Creme Fraiche (Food & Wine)
Blood Orange and Olive Oil Pound Cake

Past Sunday Dinners:

December 14, 2015: Roasted Root Vegetable Salad; Herb-Crusted Roast Beef; Cauliflower and Horseradish Gratin

February 15, 2015: Blood Orange Mimosa; Endive and Blood Orange Salad; Chanterelle and Chestnut Bisque; Coffee-Crusted Duck Breast with Brandy-Balsamic Sauce; Chocolate Espresso Layer Cake

August 31, 2014: Roasted Garlic, Ricotta, and Maple-Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostini; Eggplant and Pesto Napoleons; Maple Mixed-Berry Pie

March 31, 2014: Fried Halloumi with Spring Veggies and Strawberry-Basil Gastrique; French Gnocchi with Watercress Sauce; Strawberry-Rhubarb Meringue Pots

October 28, 2013: Braised Lamb Shanks with Gremolata; Creamy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Blue Cheese; Roasted Brussels Sprouts; Classic Apple Pie

July 1, 2013: Strawberry-Lime Agua Fresca; Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Chilled Asparagus Soup with Meyer Lemon Yogurt; Mustard Spaetzle with Mushrooms; Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

May 26, 2013: Coffee-and-Chile Rubbed Strip Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce; Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives; Oven-Roasted Potatoes; Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

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Preserved Lemon and Harissa Boneless Leg of Lamb

Serves 4-5 as a main.

• 1/2 stick of salted butter, softened
• 1 TBS harissa paste
• 1/4 cup chopped preserved meyer lemon (about 1 lemon)
• 1 TBS finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 3-4 lb. boneless leg of lamb

1. To prepare the rub, mix the softened butter, harissa paste, meyer lemon and rosemary leaves together in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
2. Remove the netting from the lamb and unroll onto a cutting board. Carefully remove as much of the interior fat as you can, leaving the exterior fat intact, or partially trimming if desired (see this Serious Eats article for a good tutorial on preparing a boneless leg of lamb). Using about half of the seasoned butter, rub all over the interior of the lamb, pushing the butter into pockets between muscles and fat. Tightly roll the lamb up so that the butter is inside and tie in several places with butchers twine. Use a sharp knife to cut deep diagonal slits in the fat on the top of the lamb. Use the remaining half of the butter to rub all over the outside of the lamb, including into the slits in the fat. Sprinkle with salt (go easy on the salt – the preserved lemon will already be quite salty). Place the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, or, preferably, for 8 hours in the fridge (bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking).
3. When you’re ready to cook the lamb, preheat the oven to 450°F. Cook the lamb at 450 just for 10-15 minutes, to brown the outside and crisp up the fat, then reduce the temperature to 300°F. Cook until the interior temperature of your lamb is 130°F for medium-rare lamb, which should take another 45-60 minutes for a small roast. Check the doneness of the lamb frequently using an instant-read thermometer to avoid overcooking it. Once it is cooked, remove from the oven, cover pan loosely with tin foil, and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Slice and serve.

Olive-Oil Braised Leeks and Peas with Feta and Dill

Recipe adapted slightly from Simple. Serves 4 as a side dish.

• 4-5 large leeks
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 cup English peas, fresh or frozn
• finely zest from one lemon
• 2 TBS coarsely chopped dill fronds
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1. Remove the dark green tops from the leeks and discard. Remove about 1/4 inch from the root ends as well, if the roots are still attached. Cut a long slit along one edge of each leek and rinse the leeks very well in cold running water. If the leeks are especially dirty, you may need to cut another slit on the opposite edge to rinse them very well. Once clean, cut the leeks into 1 inch pieces.
2. Heat the olive oil over low heat in a large frying pan. Add the leeks and saute until they are beginning to get tender, about 5-6 minutes. Stir leeks frequently and try not to let them brown. Add the stock, season with salt and pepper, and bring the leeks to a gentle simmer. Cover with a lid and cook until leeks are tender when poked with a knife, about 10 minutes. (Stir the leeks occasionally while they are cooking to make sure they don’t burn).
3. Remove the lid and add the English peas, lemon zest, and chopped dill to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes longer, until the peas are just tender. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Serve warm.

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Tokyo was a whirlwind. First of all, its huge. It’s not the kind of city you can see in a few days, or even a week. Add to that the cultural barrier and Tokyo seemed almost impenetrable to me, much more so than the other places we visited in Japan. So during the three days we spent there, I felt like I just barely dipped my toe in to the water.

We did experience some if it. We saw the bright neon lights of Akihabara Electric Town, which was complete sensory overload – the electric, futuristic Tokyo of the movies. At the Tsukiji Fish Market, we watched the vendors portion the enormous tuna into slabs and peered into tanks of squid and scallops. Outside the market, Trevor ate the biggest oyster I’ve ever seen. We ate sushi of the highest quality, the only non-Japanese people sitting at the counter, pointing and arigato our only forms of communication. We spent hours in the train station, eating porky tonkotsu ramen and shopping in anime stores, a whole store for each character. In Ginza, we explored department stores with whole floors dedicated to high-end foods, sampling what we could afford. A friend living in Tokyo took us out for fresh bonito and sake. We went to a park where the rapeseed was blooming, rendering the whole field a gentle, glowing yellow.

And we went to an izakaya for dinner, one of our most memorable nights. If you ever go to Tokyo, find your way to an izakaya. Located under elevated train tracks and down alleyways, these smoke-filled, hole-in-the-wall taverns are an experience. Filled with rowdy Japanese businessmen still in their suits, sometimes they are little more than a collection of plastic crates and an open grill protected by heavy plastic sheeting. But the food they turn out – skewers of grilled yakitori, platters of light and airy tempura, bowls of udon noodles – is sublime.

Recently, hoping to warm up a cold wintry night, we partnered with La Crema to attempt to replicate our izakaya experience at home. On our menu: tsukune with egg yolk, miso-marinated pork skewers, and seasonal vegetable tempura with mushrooms, brussels sprouts, and sweet potato. We broke out the indoor grill pan, cracked a few bottles of La Crema Monterey Pinot Gris and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, and settled in for a night of cooking, drinking, and noshing.

Tsukune, my favorite yakitori dish, is a lightly seasoned, grilled chicken meatball served with a salty sweet tare sauce and a raw egg yolk. The Miso Pork Skewers are an easy dish – a simple marinade, some pork tenderloin, and a few minutes on the grill are all you need. Tempura is a bit trickier to master, but well worth it for the crispy, golden brown vegetables that are a staple of Japanese-American restaurants. All together, they make a fine meal: a bite of tsukune, a few pieces of tempura sweet potato, a sip of crisp Pinot Gris. It’s a great way to warm up a January night at home while reminiscing about past travels.

All of the recipes can be found on the La Crema blog (Tsukune, Miso Pork Skewers, and Winter Vegetable Tempura). And if you’re looking for dessert, might I suggest these Matcha Cream Puffs? I’ve got more matcha desserts in the works, but these are a good starting point.

More from Japan:
Japan Travelogue Part One: Kyoto; Matcha Cream Puffs
Japan Travelogue Part Two: Ise; Ginger Chicken Miso Ramen

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by La Crema. All opinions are honest and my own.

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Well, summer is officially over, with Labor Day come and gone. I have to admit, though, that it doesn’t feel like it yet (and I’m still hoping to get one or two more beach days in, having been forced to cram all of my summery activities into the last few weeks). And grilling season, well that’s certainly not over. In fact, you could argue that we’re getting into one of the best times for grilling – it’s a little bit cooler and pleasant to spend time outside, there’s an incredible abundance of produce available that benefits from a slight charring (think peppers, corn, peaches, eggplant…), and when does a nice piece of steak or rack of ribs not sound appealing?

For the last installment of my summer Pork and Pinot collaboration with La Crema Wines, we headed out to the grill, for what is arguably America’s favorite form of pork – barbecue. One of Trevor’s favorite things to cook is big cuts of pork (ribs, Boston butt, etc.) long and slow over a smoky charcoal grill. And it just so happens, having spent my college years in North Carolina, a great pulled pork sandwich is one of my favorite things to eat. We’re a good match, no?

This particular version of the pulled pork uses a variation on our standard rub, which includes sweet and smoked paprika, brown sugar, salt, and a touch of cayenne. We grill it for about 3-4 hours in aluminum pans, and then serve it smothered with sauce on soft rolls. I made a homemade BBQ sauce too, with blackberries, Pinot Noir, and chipotle as the dominant flavors, to play up the smokiness in the pork and to make it pair even better with La Crema Pinot Noir.

My mom and Robbie joined us for the somewhat impromptu cook-out. They’ve just come home after spending all summer in Maine (something I’m going to do again one of these years) and it’s nice to have them back within “you wanna have dinner?” distance, especially since it’s Robbie’s last year at home before heading off to college. The pork was the star of the meal, but we also had grilled corn, chicken wings, cole slaw, plenty of La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir, and burgundy pie with the last of the goat cheese and blackberry ice cream. It was a good meal – and it turned out to be the first of several over the course of the long weekend, including an extravagant dinner out in Newburyport and steak tips and peach sangria at my cousin’s BBQ on Monday. But what’s Labor Day for if not for a final hurrah of summer eating and drinking?

P.S. Several of these Pork and Pinot recipes I’ve been developing for La Crema were recently featured on Food and Wine (as was this Oyster Shooter picture I took for one of my restaurant clients earlier this year). Go check it out!

For full instructions and the recipe for Pulled Pork with Blackberry Pinot BBQ Sauce, head over to the La Crema Blog!

More Pork and Pinot posts…

• Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Sage Pesto Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
• Red Wine Caramelized Pork Belly
• Pork Belly Banh Mi Sandwiches
• The Perfect Charcuterie Board

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of La Crema. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post La Crema Pork and Pinot #5: Pulled Pork with Blackberry Pinot BBQ Sauce appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’m on the road again this week, back in Bogotá for work. While I won’t deny that I’m really enjoying the sunshine, flowers, and complete absence of snow, I would be lying if I said that there isn’t a part of me that is always missing Trevor when I’m away. I tend to stock up the fridge and cook a bunch of big meals right before I leave – I think feeding him is my way of loving him even when I’m not there to do it in person. This week however I didn’t have the chance to do my usual stock-up. I did leave a batch of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, but other than that the fridge situation was a little bleak. However, as I reminded him on the phone tonight, there is a generous amount of this bolognese sauce sitting in the freezer, and it’s about as comforting as comfort food can get.

This recipe is based on one I found in Franny’s: Simple Seasonal Italian. Franny’s is a book that came my way last summer, but was published almost two years ago (which somehow seems like forever in today’s cookbook-laden world). A publicist over at Artisan sent me a copy as a sort of bonus book when I was planning coverage of a current title, noting that although it wasn’t current, she thought I would like it and wanted to share a copy. I do try to keep my cookbook coverage focused on recently published books, so I didn’t plan to do much with Franny’s, but it slowly worked it’s way into my kitchen. First it was the meatballs, which were the most perfect meatballs I’d ever eaten. Then I tried a few hearty soups and pastas with equal success, and soon it had become my first point of research for any classic Italian cooking. So a few weeks back, in the middle of another snowstorm when nothing but a slow-simmering pot of meaty bolognese sauce would do, Franny’s was my first point of reference. I made a few significant changes to meet my tastes – doubling the amount of tomatoes and using a mixture of beef and pork – but the base recipe was just what I needed to make my own perfect pot of bolognese. And now it’s waiting at home to keep Trevor warm and well-fed when I can’t do it myself.

Rigatoni Bolognese

A slow-simmered bolognese sauce with beef, pork and bacon, delicious over pasta.

Recipe adapted from Franny’s Simple Seasonal Italian. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 TBS butter
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1/4 lb. bacon, sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and finely diced
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 2/3 c. dry red wine
• One 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
• 2 c. water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 lbs. rigatoni, cooked according to package directions

Instructions

1. In a heavy stockpot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and pork, season with salt and chili flakes, and cook until browned all the way through. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat to a bowl and set aside. Add the sliced bacon and cook until crispy. Remove the cooked bacon to the bowl with the cooked beef and pork. Drain the fat from the pot, returning 3 TBS of the fat to the pot and discarding the rest.
2. Lower heat to medium-low. Add the minced garlic, onion, and carrot to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and carrot is tender, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, then add the red wine and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the meat and bacon back to the pot, along with the tomatoes, water, and salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer then cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the lid and continue to simmer until ragu has reached desired consistency. Serve immediately on prepared rigatoni.

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The Book: As I’ve told you in the past, I’m a sucker for good Southern food. Although I’m a New England girl through and through in most other aspects, the four years I spent in North Carolina were very formative for me in terms of learning to truly appreciate good food. Because of this, new Southern cookbooks get pride of place on my cookbook radar, and Heritage, the new cookbook from Sean Brock, was no exception. Hailing from “the part of Western Virginia that should have been Kentucky,” but receiving his culinary education in South Carolina, Brock makes food that has Southern roots both deep and wide. There’s a strong sense of purpose in the pages of Heritage – to embrace local food not only for its ethics and flavor, but for its history and story. I love how much narrative Brock has included in this book; it really helps me feel engrossed in the food’s history and culture. A strong emphasis on understanding your ingredients, where they came from, and how they can vary – for example, chicken is not just chicken, but poussin, broiler, fryer, roaster, or stew hen, depending on its age, and a different preparation is appropriate for each bird – completes the local, ethical, Southern vibe. The recipes skew more toward restaurant food than home-cooking, with multiple components and appliances required for many (the carefully composed plating of the photographed dishes will tip you off to this right off the bat). This isn’t a negative for an adventurous cook, but I do wish there were a few more homestyle dishes that would be easy to make and serve on a casual weeknight. Organized by source of food – the garden, the mill, the creek, the pasture- there is a great variety of recipe type, with a whole chapter dedicated to preserving (The Larder) and another one to cocktails and bar snacks (The Public House). Between the extensive narrative and the diverse recipes, most readers will find plenty to hold their interest in Heritage.

The Food: Trevor and I are big fans of cooking with rabbit, but we’ve had trouble finding recipes that really allow it to shine. This Russian Rabbit and Mushroom Pie is our favorite, but we were less impressed with the Rabbit Cacciatore from Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey. Sean includes a couple of rabbit recipes in Heritage, so we decided to give the Rabbit Stew with Black Pepper Dumplings a go. It’s similar to a rabbit stew we enjoyed at Alden & Harlow a few weeks back, and also one of the more straightforward recipes in the book. The stew is made by making a broth from the rabbit, then removing and shredding the rabbit meat, while thickening the broth with a roux. The dumplings (which are really biscuits) are formed and baked separately, then tossed in the stew for the last few minutes of cooking, which gives you more control over their size, shape and level of doneness. I have mixed feelings about the end result – the stew was certainly tasty, and even more so as leftovers the next day, but I’m not sure it was tasty enough to warrant the use of a rabbit in place of a less pricey chicken. This could have something to do with the quality of our rabbit, of course – there’s not a ton of choice for rabbit meat near us. I think it’s a recipe that I’d like to try again with some of my own tweaks, but a good starting point.

Recipe Shortlist: Low Country Hoppin’ John; Corn Goat Cheese Soup with Shrimp and Brown-Butter Chanterelles; Green Garlic Bisque with Herbed Buttermilk and Fried Green Tomato Croutons; Cracklin’ Cornbread; Charred Beef Short Ribs with Glazed Carrots and Black Truffle Puree; Rabbit Andouille with Braised Peppers and Lady Pea Gravy; Rhubarb Buckle with Poppy-Seed Buttermilk Ice Cream

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Heritage free of charge from Artisan, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Rabbit Stew with Black Pepper Dumplings

Recipe adapted slightly from Heritage. Serves 6.

For the dumplings:

• 1 lb. (3 1/3 c.) pastry flour, sifted and chilled in freezer
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 TBS freshly ground black pepper
• 8 TBS unsalted butter, frozen
• 1 1/2 c. ice cold whole-milk buttermilk

For the stew:

• 1 large rabbit (2-3 pounds)
• 4 c. small dice white onions
• 2 c. medium dice celery
• 2 c. medium dice carrots
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 TBS unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS hot sauce
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. To make the dumplings: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chilled flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine. Grate the frozen butter over the medium holes of a box grater, and immediately place the cold grated butter into the flour mixture. Use the tips of your fingers to toss the butter with the flour and incorporate just until the texture resembles coarse sand (a few bigger “pebbles” are fine). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Roll the dough out into a circle about 1/2 inch thick, and use a very small pastry cutter to cut small round dumplings (about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter – we used the bottom of an espresso cup as a cutter). Place the dumplings on the baking sheet and bake just until they start to dry, about 9-10 minutes. You don’t want the dumplings to brown at all, as they should finish baking in the stew. Set the dumplings aside at room temperature.
2. To prepare the stew: Remove the giblets from the rabbit. Place the rabbit in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming any scum from the top of the pot. Once simmering vigorously, add half of the onions, half of the celery, half of the carrots, the thyme, and the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until broth is golden and rabbit meat pulls away easily from bone, about 1 hour to 90 minutes.
3. Remove the rabbit from the pot and let cool slightly. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, discarding the solids left behind. Rinse the pot and return to the stove. Add the butter and melt over medium heat, then add the other half of the onions. Saute, stirring, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the celery and saute another 2 minutes, then add the carrots and saute until tender, another 8 minutes. Add the flour to the pot and stir so it absorbs the fat. Continue to stir the roux constantly until the flour coating the vegetables is no longer white but a light golden color, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth 1 cup at a time, allowing to thicken slightly between additions. Once all the broth is added, bring to a simmer and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
4. While the broth is simmering, remove the rabbit meat from the rabbit and shred into bite-sized pieces, discarding the bones, skin, and tendons. 5 minutes before serving, add the shredded rabbit, hot sauce, soy sauce, and dumplings to the stew and simmer until the dumplings are soft and the rabbit is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

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We hosted our second wine dinner last weekend, this time with three lovely, very drinkable wines provided by La Crema Winery in California. It’s hard to believe that our first wine dinner was way back in February – I had originally planned to do them more frequently, but it’s actually very tricky to get wine shipped to Massachusetts. Starting in January, the legislation will loosen up – maybe then we can do more of these dinners – but until then, having the wine shipped to my family’s place in Maine is the best option. The hidden benefit of this is having a built-in guest list composed of people who love to drink wine: my family. So Trevor and I headed North for Labor Day weekend for one last summer visit during which we could cook some good food and drink some good wine.

The team at La Crema was kind enough to send us three bottles of wine for this dinner – a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a Pinot Gris. All three bottles retail in the $20-25 range, and are solid, straightforward table wines. None of them left a particularly lasting impression but all were easy to drink and true to their type, and no one turned down a second glass of any of the three varietals. Since all three wines were relatively light-bodied and good for patio-drinking, we designed a menu with an “end-of-summer in California” vibe to complement the wines and the season, and call to mind the wines’ terroir. Most of the menu was done on the grill, and it featured plenty of end-of-summer produce, but the dishes were a little heartier than mid-summer fare and everything was served warm. We started with a corn chowder topped with paprika-grilled shrimp, the main was a grilled leg of lamb with ratatouille, and the dessert was rosemary pear bars served with whipped cream. I was very happy with how all three dishes turned out – the product of days of brainstorming – and even happier with how quick the whole thing was to throw together. I don’t think I’ve ever served a meal that was such a snap to cook with such stellar results. Of course, I have to give a big heap of the credit to Trevor (and to my other sous-chef, Aunt Robin!) as both the shrimp and the lamp were perfectly grilled, a skill I certainly don’t have in my repertoire.

I knew ahead of time that the forecast was not good for Sunday, our planned dinner day, but the clouds cleared out early in the day and we ended up with plenty of sun all afternoon. Sadly, as dinnertime approached, the clouds rolled back in and I found myself racing to get the picnic table set before the rain began. Just as I ladled the chowder into bowls the first drops began to fall, so I snapped as many pictures as I could and we shuffled everything back inside. Although I’ll admit I was disappointed not to have the beautiful outdoor evening I had been imagining, the food and wine were perfect and the night still ended with tequila shots, a giant bag of peanut M&Ms, and my mom and Aunt Robin dancing in the rain – any night that ends that way is a success in my books.

The Details

First Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay with Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp. La Crema produces seven different Chardonnays, and their Sonoma Coast line is one of the most affordable. The wine is quite tart, opening with a lot of acidity up front, but quickly mellowing into a buttery finish. You can certainly taste oakiness, but it’s subtle and not a dominant characteristic. I personally found it to be a bit more citrusy than I like in a Chardonnay, but my mother, who is not usually a Chardonnay person, really loved this one. We served this with a creamy, pureed corn and potato chowder, using super sweet end of summer corn. The chowder was topped with a few grilled shrimp which had been marinated in a mix of garlic, lemon, olive oil, and smoked paprika. Although I dislike most seafood, I loved these shrimp – they were perfect on top of the rich chowder, and the wine cut through the richness nicely.

Second Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille. The Pinot Noir was my favorite wine of the night, another release from the more affordable Sonoma Coast line. It was fairly dark in color compared to some Pinots, but light-bodied. Smooth and fruity, it was very drinkable, without feeling overly sweet or boring. For this pairing, we went a little on the heavy-side, grilling a sizeable piece of butterflied leg of lamb as the main course. We balanced the gaminess of the lamb with a meyer lemon and rosemary marinade, and kept the plate bright and acidic by serving the lamb with a tomato and kalamata olive ratatouille. This was basic, Mediterranean-inspired food – simple but well-executed fare for a simple but well-executed wine.

Third Course: La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris with Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars. To be honest, by the time we poured the Pinot Gris my note-taking was getting a little sloppy, but I’m going to count that as a good sign overall. I did note that the Pinot Gris had a fairly strong minerality, and was heavy on the citrus flavor. La Crema’s tasting notes also indicate that it has a subtle note of Asian pear, which is the pairing I chose to pursue for the dessert course. Of course, serving a wine that is not a dessert wine with a sweet dessert is tricky, but the whole table felt that the Pinot Gris and the rosemary and pear crumble bars went very well together. The bars were composed of three parts: a rosemary shortbread crust, ripe pears poached in a mixture of Pinot Gris and honey, and a simple butter-and-sugar crumble topping. After an hour in the oven, the pears turn into an intense, caramelly jam while the crumble and the crust stay a buttery golden brown. I had initially planned to serve these with a rosemary-vanilla whipped cream, but a few missteps left me with some very delicious rosemary-vanilla butter that could not be brought back from the brink. Whipped cream from the can was a fine substitute.

The Menu

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp served with La Crema 2012 SC Chardonnay– see recipe below
Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille served with La Crema 2012 SC Pinot Noir – see recipe below
Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars served with La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris – see recipe below

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Disclaimer: La Crema provided me with the wine for this post free of charge, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp

Chowder recipe adapted loosely from Serious Eats. Serves 6.

Note: You will need wooden grilling skewers to prepare the shrimp.

• 1 lb. 16-20 ct. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 3 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 5 ears corn
• 4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 TBS butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 c. diced Yukon gold potato (about 2-3 medium potatoes)
• 1 c. heavy cream

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the paprika, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add the preapred shrimp and toss to coat. Cover, refrigerate, and let marinate for 2 hours. Place your grilling skewers in a large container of water and let soak for 30 minutes.
2. To make the chowder, cut the corn kernels from the ears using a serrated knife. Set corn kernels aside. Add the stock to a large pot, then break the corn cobs in half and add to the stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes to infuse the stock with the corn cob flavor. Remove from heat, remove and discard cobs, and set stock aside.
3. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cumin seeds and saute until onions are translucent and cumin is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add corn kernels and saute in the butter for 2 minutes, then add reserved stock. Add the diced potatoes and bring to a simmer, simmering until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the heavy cream.
4. Blend the soup in batches in a blender, until each batch is smooth. Blend 3/4 of the soup in total, leaving 1/4 of the soup chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Preheat the grill to medium-high, skewer shrimp on pre-soaked skewers. Grill shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve the chowder with 2-3 grilled shrimp on top.

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille

Serves 6.

For the lamb:

• 4 lbs. of butterflied leg of lamb, cut into 6-8 pieces
• 1/2 c. olive oil
• juice from 2 Meyer lemons
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 sprigs of rosemary, needles removed and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt

For the ratatouille:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 4 medium Heirloom tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the olive oil, Meyer lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the leg of lamb and massage the marinade into the lamb. Cover the bowl, refrigerate, and let marinate 3-4 hours.
2. About 30 minutes before you intend to serve the lamb, heat 2 TBS of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato and zucchini and bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally and using the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes, until tomatoes have released all their juices and zucchini is soft, about 10 minutes. Continue simmering over medium-low heat for another 10-15 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly, then stir in olives and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Grill the lamb until medium rare, about 7-8 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve lamb with the ratatouille sauce underneath.

Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars

Serves 8-10.

• 1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
• 6 TBS salted butter, chilled
• 1/3 c. light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c. flour, divided
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/3 c. white sugar
• 4 ripe pears
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. Pinot Gris or other white wine
• 6 TBS honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat 1 stick of room temperature butter until smooth. Add 1/3 c. light brown sugar, 1 c. flour, and 1 tsp chopped rosemary to the butter and stir to create a thick crumbly paste. Lightly grease an 11×7 inch or 8×8 inch baking pan, and press the rosemary shortbread crust evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
2. To prepare the crumble topping, whisk the remaining 1/2 c. flour and the 1/3 c. white sugar together in a medium bowl. Cut in the 6 TBS of chilled butter, and use a pastry cutter or a fork to mash the butter into the flour until the butter is pea sized and thoroughly coated in flour. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to use.
3. To prepare the poached pears, peel and core the pears, then thinly slice. In a large, wide-bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, mix together the water, white wine, and honey. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then gently add the pears to the simmering mixture. Simmer the pears until soft and fragrant but not falling apart about 5-8 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove. Layer the pears evenly over the rosemary crust and set aside. Continue to simmer the juices in the pan until they have reduced to a thick, caramel-colored syrup – this will take about 20 minutes. Once you have a syrup, pour it evenly over the pears.
4. Take the crumble topping from the fridge and sprinkle it evenly over the pears. Bake the crumble bars for 45-55 minutes, until crumble topping is golden brown and pear filling is thick and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before slicing. Serve with whipped cream.

The post La Crema Wine Dinner // Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille, Pear and Rosemary Crumb Bars appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Hi friends. This one’s a guest post from my better half, who’s the grill-master in our relationship. I did do some quality testing though, so I can confirm that these are worth making. And definitely worth eating if someone else makes them for you!

Growing up, ribs were something my father worked on perfecting over infinite summer afternoons. Along with your other excellent suburban traditions, early morning soccer and football in the backyard, grilling was a must during weekends in the summer. We’d absolutely crowd the grill with racks and racks of market-cut beef ribs, trimmed up and spiced with an ever-improving rub. It was always, and still is, an eternity to wait for ribs to be done perfectly. So we’d stand in a circle on his porch and make giant indian smoke signals every time the grill cover came off, checking on coals barely glowing through the supreme pile of meat. Dad would admire the Boston skyline, just visible from his back porch in the neighborhood-on-a-hill, and I can remember needing to sprint around the yard, just to diffuse my excitement. I’m personally ready to eat ribs at the first sizzle of meat on grill, and to this day, I’m not entirely sure how long it took to cook those massive cuts. But in the end, I’m grateful it helped stretch out those Saturdays in summer.

Both my brother and I had our roles in the process; I’d tackle the sauce, while Andrew would handle the rub, and we’d trade off working on sides. My dad would trim up the ribs and handle the art/science of developing the long slow fire, which got perfectly smoky when the fat started dripping. The smells are incredible, and tasting the tenderest bite through a layer of crunchy, smokey caramelization to me is unparallelled. The result was always a consistent, falling of the bone, sweet tender and smokey feast.

I recently spent a very nice long weekend with my dad and my brother and my stepmom, in my dad’s own childhood hometown for a family reunion. Over a bottle of Noah’s Mill and a fair few cigars, the men got down to a little reflecting. Andrew is great in the kitchen and regularly cooks from this website (often providing unsolicited feedback). My stepmom and dad are vegetarians and super accomplished crossfitters, and stronger than I’ll ever be. But, we equally enjoyed those memories of summer Saturdays, and we each were sure it was perfect.

At any rate, now that Katie and I have a grill, I’m making my own attempt at perfection. With the old tricks still fresh in my mind, I’ve been working a rib recipe that’s good enough to share. I’m definitely using some non-traditional flavors, but the philosophy is the same. So this probably isn’t the final product, but I think it’s a pretty good effort, and a good place to reflect on the way.

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Guava-Glazed Grilled Ribs

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original. Serves 2-3.

Note: Ribs are like an art project. All times, ingredients, implements and instructions are approximate. This is simply what has been working for me.

• 1 rack untrimmed  pork or beef ribs, about 4-5lbs. (increase cooking time for larger racks)

For the rub:

• 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp sumac
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder

For the sauce:

• 14 oz guava paste
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup water
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Trim any loose bits from the inside and edges of the rack.
2. Mix together all seven rub spices in a bowl. Completely cover the rack (and trimmings) with the rub and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 12.
3. Light grill, maintaining medium heat (300-350°F). Sear ribs on both sides for 5-10 min a side.
4. Move ribs to the perimeter of the fire and grill for about 2.5 hours, flipping every 30 minutes.
5. While the ribs are cooking, mix together all the ingredients for the sauce, until smooth. If the guava paste is lumpy, heat sauce gently over medium heat while stirring to help smooth it out.
6. Just before you are ready to take the ribs off the grill, brush the ribs liberally with the sauce, then allow the ribs to cook for 2-3 minutes a side, monitoring carefully to ensure the sauce does not burn. Remove the ribs from the grill, let rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

The post Guava-Glazed Grilled Ribs appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

As I complained about a few weeks ago, Trevor recently took a work trip to Oman. He brought back all kinds of spices and goodies from a market he visited while he was there, and used them to make these tasty grilled goat chops flavored with mint and sumac. I decided I wanted to blog about them, and by that I mean I asked him if he would write about his trip and type up the recipe. He’s the best so he agreed, and wrote the short novel below which makes me look bad as a writer/blogger, but I’m letting it go since it’s all about what’s best for my readers, right? We’re off on our next adventure now – I have posts scheduled for you while I’m gone, but if you want to follow along as we travel through the jungles and up the mountains of Ecuador, come see what we’re up to on Instagram, where I’ll be sharing pictures and stories and hopefully some really tasty food. And now to Trevor…

Not only did I get to travel to the middle east for work, I’m lucky enough to have an exceptional girlfriend that will let me blather about it on the internet just as long as there’s a recipe involved. At the company where I work, the exciting trips to exotic places don’t generally get thrown to the low guy on the totem pole. I constantly hear stories about floatplane rides in Alaska and almost-bar fights in Ukraine, and I’ve kinda been waiting my turn. I was getting ready for disappointment when this trip cropped up, but in the space of a week, everyone else was called off to different corners of North and South America and I totally lucked out.

At any rate, (back story: I’m a structural engineer) we were asked to take a look at a brand new shipyard in the soon-to-be port city of Duqm. As part of a plan to establish Oman as a shipping powerhouse in the Persian (Arabian) gulf, a massive port was built mid-way between the capital, Muscat and the southern port city, Salalah. The port of Duqm is designed to handle an incredible amount of freight, and the nearby shipyard can service (e.g. repair, paint, scrape-the-barnacles-off…) some of the most massive ships in the world, (VLCCs and some some smaller ULCCs for ship nerds). What they don’t have yet in Duqm are a ton of roads.

For the most part of our trip, we stayed at a very well-appointed resort-style hotel on the beach, replete with BBQ nights and Budweiser. It was extremely comfortable, and also the only thing for miles. Every morning we drove through beige desert, past places where the road would abruptly end, and where bits of infrastructure were being jackhammered out of the bedrock. We drove at incredible speeds; (a little alarm would go off at 160kph,) into a sprawling yard where fourteen cranes dwarfed the silhouettes of fishing dhows in the harbour, and every berth in the yard was occupied by a huge ship crawling with workers. The yard recently celebrated the docking of its 200th vessel in a mere 3 years of service, so It isn’t hard to imagine Duqm growing into a successful center of trade and industry.

But we were looking for a little culture. So on our way home, back through Muscat, we begged for a tour of the city and for ideas of what to bring home to show off to our friends and family. We were treated to an evening tour through the beautiful old city and past the Indian-style palace built by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. It was explained to us that the Portuguese once invaded Oman in order to position itself along the same crucial trade routes that are used today. Old forts from this time flank the harbour and look down on a city in transition. More and more cruises are stopping in Muttrah, a city in the province of Muscat, as it becomes a destination of interest for National Geographic-style expeditions. We visited one of the oldest marketplaces on the Arabian peninsula, the Muttrah or Al Dhalam Souq (Darkness Souq) which now hosts only a few stalls catering to Omanis, and many which cater to tourists.

With our extremely gracious host guiding us, we sampled delicious gelatinous candy, and sorted through cheap knockoffs for old-school Omani coins. We sampled powerful perfumes and checked out a small grocery which was full of snacks, candy, oil extracts and spices. I managed to grab some sumac, which is a lemony spice from the sumac berry, and some whole turmeric roots, which are super funky looking. (Side note: I tried to buy two little nubbins of turmeric, but ended up with a whole kilo… so we’re set for life.) I also grabbed some rose petals for candying and then escaped for fear of blowing the weight limit on our checked bags. Everything we asked for was shoveled out of giant colorful sacks which created such an incredible set of smells that the other market-goers’ heads would whip around every time the door was opened.

Our last stop was the smallest stall yet; a six-foot square with walls lined floor-to-ceiling with bags and bags of frankincense. Just as we walked up, a small crowd formed of people firing off questions and haggling with a young man in the middle of the whole thing, perched at a raised counter. There was frankincense for chewing and making tea, frankincense for burning, and frankincense mixed with every kind of perfume and oil. We got away with a big bag of huge chunks of the dark, powerful-smelling sap, and a smaller bag of the clearer variety used as as a sort of panacea.

But that’s enough babbling. Our extremely friendly host treated us to a dinner of everything-on-the-menu at a lively outdoor restaurant full of men smoking sheesha and drinking fresh fruit juice, and then sent us on our way. Part of our feast included a small grill, placed on the table full of kebabs, lamb sausage and goat chops, all of which were super delicious, and one of which, I tried to recreate here.

Mint and Sumac Goat Chops with Tahini Sauce

Adapted from Bruce Aidells’ The Great Meat Cookbook. Serves 2.

For the Goat Chops:

• 2 small garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• ½ cup parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4-6 small goat chops (about 1 lb. in total)

For the Tahini Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water, or more if needed
• salt to taste

1. In a mortar and pestle, grind up the olive oil, garlic, mint, parsley, sumac, and fennel until you have a rough paste, and there are no huge chunks. Add the rest of the the spices and mix it up until it’s a uniform consistency. Trim the chops of any silver skin or ragged edges, then coat them with the rub. Let the chops sit covered in the fridge for two hours or so.
2. For the tahini sauce, mix the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil and water in a small bowl with a whisk, making sure there are no lumps. The sauce should have a syrupy consistency; season with salt.
3. On medium-high heat, grill the chops for about five minutes per side for medium-rare (125-130 degrees, internal temp). Let them rest for a couple of minutes after removing them from the heat and then artfully drizzle them with the tahini sauce.

The post A Trip to Oman // Mint-and-Sumac Grilled Goat Chops with Tahini Sauce appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: There have been a lot of big-name chef and restaurant cookbooks published this fall. I find that restaurant cookbooks can be hit or miss – not all delicious restaurant food translates well to home kitchens, and sometimes scaling restaurant quantities down results in more recipe errors. However, I took a chance on one of this season’s restaurant books, Le Pigeon, since I couldn’t get over the intriguing table of contents (tongue, fat liver, little birds, pork, horns and antlers, lamb, etc.). I’m glad I did – this book is a winner. While it’s not for vegetarians or timid cooks, adventurous eaters will find dozens of recipes that stretch the way they think about food – this is outside-of-the-box cooking. Every dish is creative and company-worthy, but there’s a broad range of accessibility: a newer cook might try the simple radicchio and pear salad with an addictive-sounding blue cheese dressing or the slow-roasted lamb served over risotto (featured here!). On the other end of the spectrum, even the most ambitious chef will probably be challenged by the 7-component banana cream pie with pineapple and macadamia nuts, or the 5-component calf’s head terrine with gribiche, sweetbreads, and bruleed eggs. Some of the recipes go a little too far for my taste – I get a little squeamish about offal and other infrequently used meats, so recipes like eel dumplings and foie gras served in eel consomme are not something I’m going to cook – but for some people these unique recipes could be the highlight of the book. One note of warning: as you might have gleaned already, some of the ingredients used in this book will be really hard for the average joe to find, especially given seasonality. The book itself is one of the heftier ones on my shelves, with over 340 pages, and plenty of big, full-page photos – of the food, the city, customers, and the chefs just goofing around. I’ve never been to Portland (the Oregon one) or eaten at Le Pigeon, but my gut tells me that this book, full of stories, notes from the chef, and lots of meat and offal, is true to the experience you might have at the restaurant.

The Food: There were only a handful of recipes from Le Pigeon that were approved to be shared for promotional purposes, but they all sounded delicious. We were initially going to make the Maple-Lacquered Squab with Duck Confit Hash, but squab proved very difficult to find (actually, we bought cornish game hens as a potential substitute, but it turns out that they are not game at all, they’re just tiny, expensive chickens). So we pushed this review back a week and took the time to roast the 5-hour lamb for the Lamb with Green Garlic Risotto. The name of this dish does not do it justice – it’s incredible. Although relatively simple to put together, the three components of this dish – a lamb shoulder that’s roasted until falling apart, sliced, then quickly pan-fried before serving; a creamy pecorino and radish risotto; and a mind-blowing curry-pickled fennel and parsley salad – come together in an amazing burst of flavor. The lamb is intensely gamey, the risotto rich and cheesy, and the fennel bright and crunchy and exotic. I couldn’t get enough of the fennel, until I took a few bites without risotto and realized that it was the combination of the two that I was liking so much. Really, a showstopper. If you plan ahead and roast the lamb the night before, this is actually easy enough for a weeknight dinner. It is one of the simpler recipes in the book, so I hope we find the other recipes have the same great time to flavor payoff. Scroll down for the recipe.

Recipe Shortlist: Cedar-Planked Zucchini, Chevre, Almonds; Fig and Fois Gras Terrine with Fermented Black Bean Muffins; Pheasant Gnocchi, Sake Pears; Duck Nuggets; Smoked Rabbit Pie, Cheddar, Mustard Ice Cream; Creamed Rabbit, Polenta, Black Truffles; Potato and Nettle Soup, Crispy Pork; Lamb Shepherd’s Pie, Curry Mash; Honey-Bacon Apricot Cornbread, Maple Ice Cream

Pickles, Pigs, & Whiskey

The Book: Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey is a different sort of cookbook. With the strongly-felt influence of its chef-author, John Currence of City Grocery, it meanders through the foods that have influenced his culinary journey. You will find more than just dinner and dessert here, with whole chapters dedicated to condiments, canning, cocktails, and meat curing. Mostly rooted in Southern cooking (deep Southern and Creole cooking to be more specific), it occasionally veers into the culinary traditions of Latin America, Italy, and France. Between the different cooking techniques and different regional influences, all together this book is a bit of a hodge podge, but in a good way. It has personality. Most of the recipes manage to be both fancy and rustic at the same time – comforting stews and roasts and braises, but always with an elegant spin. Like Le Pigeon, many of these dishes are fairly meat-heavy – again, probably not the best choice for vegetarians or for those trying to eat lightly, but great for creating intense flavors. I’m not the biggest fan of the design of the book – the multiple photo layouts are a little bit too yearbook-like for me – but that’s obviously a matter of personal taste. What I do like is the inclusion of music to listen to while you’re cooking each dish; I think it’s such a fun and original idea to include playlists in a cookbook.

The Food: Perhaps we were being foolish, but the recipes we chose to test from this book didn’t contain any of the three title ingredients. In fact, they aren’t even that Southern, but Rabbit Cacciatore with Black Pepper Pappardelle was what sounded good to us on a freezing November night, so that’s what we made. I’m a big fan of rabbit, but I thought this recipe didn’t really showcase it – it actually ended up tasting kind of like chicken, where chicken was the protein it was intended to replace. Plus, it was a bit tricky to eat with the rabbit pieces left whole; next time, I would pull the rabbit meat off the bones before serving. The mushroom and tomato sauce was good, a little one dimensional perhaps, but with an unexpected smoky kick to it that I liked, and it had gained complexity by lunchtime the next day. I can’t really fairly review the pappardelle, since I accidentally used bread flour, thought I didn’t have enough, and added some semolina flour to make up for it – but it did end up coming out really well after some thorough kneading, and I loved the black pepper bite to it. All told, this was a solid recipe, but not particularly special, especially given the price of rabbit. I’m certainly not giving up on the book, but next time I think I’ll choose something a bit more Southern. Scroll down for the recipe.

Recipe Shortlist: Bourbon Milk Punch; Gumbo Z’Herbes; Pickled Sweet Potatoes; Top-Shelf Chicken and Dumplings; Chicken-Fried Duck with Caramelized Onion Gravy; Grillade and Grits Casserole; Pecan-Smoked Duck with Molasses Lacquer; Pork Fat Beignets with Bourbon Caramel

Recipes

Lamb, Green Garlic Risotto

Recipe from Le Pigeon. Serves 4.

For the lamb:

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 2 TBS kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 boneless lamb shoulder, about 3 lbs.
• 1 c. dry white wine
• 1 head green garlic, halved (use regular garlic + 2 shallots of green garlic is unavailable)
• neutral oil, for frying

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Stir together the garlic powder, onion powder, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then rub the lamb all over with the spice mixture. Place in a roasting pan with the wine and garlic. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 5 hours. Remove from the oven and let cool. Refrigerate until cold.
2. When ready to serve, remove the lamb from the fridge and cut into 6 equal round slices. Heat 1/4 inch of oil over medium-high heat, and fry the lamb slices in batches until heated through and crispy, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate line with paper towels. Serve on a bed of risotto with a spoonful of pickled fennel salad on top.

For the risotto:

• 1/4 c. butter, divided
• 1/2 yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 c. Arborio rice
• kosher salt
• 3/4 c. dry white wine
• 4 c. chicken stock, heated until steaming
• 1/2 c. grated pecorino cheese
• 1/2 c. thinly sliced radish

1. In a heavy pot over medium heat, melt 2 TBS of the butter. Add the onion and the garlic and saute until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the rice and season with salt. Cook for 3 minutes or until rice is translucent around the edges, stirring the whole time. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine has evaporated, about 4-5 minutes. Ladle the hot stock into the risotto 1 cup at a time, stirring the risotto constantly. Let each cup absorb into the rice fully before adding more stock. Once you have used all the liquid and the rice is al dente, stir in the pecorino, the radish, and the remaining 2 TBS of butter. Season to taste, remove from the heat, and serve immediately.

For the pickled fennel salad:

• 1 c. champagne vinegar
• 1 TBS curry powder
• 1/2 c. water
• 2 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS kosher salt
• 1 TBS ground fennel seeds
• 1 small fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 small yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
• 1 c. halved cherry tomatoes
• 2 TBS good quality olive oil
• a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

1. Heat the champagne vinegar, curry powder, water, sugar, salt, and ground fennel over medium heat in a small saucepan. Bring just to a boil, then remove from the heat and pour it over the sliced fennel and onion in a heatproof bowl. Let cool, cover, and refrigerate until chilled. (Can be made up to 1 week in advance)
2. Toss the pickled fennel with the parsley, tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt.

Reprinted with permission from Le Pigeon by Gabriel Rucker & Meredith Erickson, copyright 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.

Rabbit Cacciatore with Black Pepper Pappardelle

Recipe adapted slightly from Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey. Serves 6-8.

For the rabbit:

• 8 rabbit hindquarters
• 4 tsp + 3/4 tsp salt, divided
• 4 tsp + 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
• garlic-infused olive oil (we used regular olive oil plus two cloves halved garlic)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh oregano, divided
• 1 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 5 TBS olive oil
• 1 c. diced yellow onions
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded, stemmed, and diced
• 3 TBS thinly sliced garlic
• 4 c. sliced cremini mushrooms
• 2 1/2 c. chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 TBS fresh thyme leaves
• 1 TBS chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 c. crushed, canned tomatoes
• 1 1/2 c. chicken stock, plus more if needed
• 1/2 c. Marsala
• Parmesan cheese
• fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for serving
• fresh pappardelle noodles with 4 tsp of freshly ground black pepper added to the flour before starting, cooked for 3 minutes in boiling water

1. Season the rabbit pieces with 4 tsp of the salt and 4 tsp of the pepper, 3 TBS of the oregano, and some garlic oil. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, and remaining 3/4 tsp of salt and pepper. Dredge the rabbit pieces in this seasoned flour, shaking off any excess.
2. In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Brown the rabbit pieces in batches, cooking for about 2 minutes per side, then reserve them on a paper towel lined plate. Add the onions, bell peppers, and garlic to the pan and saute until they begin to sweat, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and chopped fresh tomatoes and saute for an additional 5-7 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 TBS oregano, the thyme, and the rosemary.
3. Return the rabbit legs to the pan, add the crushed tomatoes, stock, and Marsala. Bring to a low simmer, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Check the sauce every 15 minutes or so – if the sauce appears to be drying out, add more stock 1 cup at a time as needed. After 45 minutes, uncover the sauce, season to taste, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes uncovered. Serve over the fresh pappardelle noodles with parmesan and fresh parsley.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of both these cookbooks from Ten Speed Press and Andrews McMeel free of charge, but was not otherwise compensated for writing this review.

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