The first three months of the year have been a total whirlwind. Since the last time I checked in, I’ve spent two weeks in Hong Kong, a week and a half in Singapore, and a few days in Thailand. And in the brief in between times back in the US, I left home again for weekend trips to Austin, Nashville, and Montreal. So despite the snowy remnants of the last few March Nor’easters, I’m relishing a few quiet weeks at home. I’m planning the garden and reading and cooking and just generally doing the small things that make me happiest. And it means I have the chance to blog for the first time since January!

Generally, I quite like the food in Asia. Particularly so in Hong Kong and Singapore, where you can find pretty much any type of food you want. It helps that Hong Kongers and Singaporeans are obsessed with food so everything meets a minimum standard of good. But after two weeks on the road, lots of Chinese and Thai and room-service gets heavy. When I hit that point, I turn to Vietnamese for brightness and fresh vegetables. Compared to the cuisines of neighboring countries, Vietnamese food is light and refreshing. Lots of mint, basil, cilantro, and pickled vegetables bring a greenness that I really crave when traveling.

One of my go-to orders is bún, a rice noodle salad with several options for customization. I like it best with grilled lemongrass beef and a mass of pickled carrots. After my last trip I attempted making it at home, and it was surprisingly easy to make a convincing replica of my favorite restaurant versions. I love the slightly floral sweetness that the lemongrass lends to the beef, and the contrast the hot beef provides to the cool noodles and vegetables. Bún is good pretty much any time of year, but it’s particularly refreshing when the weather is hot and swampy. So, why make it in March? Brightness. I realize we’re pretty far from days that qualify as “hot,” but I’m so, so ready to eat bright-tasting things in March. This fits the bill perfectly!

Bún Bò Xào – Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Lemongrass Beef

A quick and refreshing Vietnamese rice noodle salad named Bún Bò Xào. Stir-fried lemongrass beef, pickled carrots, and sweet-salty nuoc cham sauce bring tons of flavor to this bright dinner.

Adapted from Vietnamese Home Cooking.

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

Ingredients

For the Lemongrass Beef:

• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS sesame oil
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 1 lb thinly sliced flank steak

For the pickled carrots:

• 2 large carrots, peeled
• 1/3 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 whole star anise

For the nuoc cham:

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 3 TBS sugar
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 3 TBS white vinegar
• 1 Thai chile, stemmed and finely minced
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

For the bowls and assembly:

• 10 oz. dried rice vermicelli noodles
• 1 TBS canola oil
• One bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked off and washed
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, toasted in a dry pan for 3–4 minutes

Instructions

1. To make the beef marinade: Remove and discard the outer layer of each piece of lemongrass. Trim about 3-inches of the dry, stick-like part of the lemongrass from the top so that you are left with the plumper, white interior. Slice this interior into small coins, and then finely chop those coins until evenly minced. Place minced lemongrass in a medium bowl. Peel and mince the garlic and add to the bowl with the lemongrass. Add the sugar, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil and canola oil to the bowl and stir to combine. Add the sliced flank steak and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. To make the pickled carrots: Use a julienne peeler to shred the carrots into long, noodle-like strips. If you don’t have a julienne peeler, carefully chop the carrots into long, thin match-sticks. Place the carrots in a heatproof bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, water, and star anise to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer just for 30 seconds, then pour the hot liquid over the carrots. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, at least an hour. Discard the star anise before serving.
3. To make the nuoc cham: Place all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
4. To finish and assemble the bowls: Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Drain and rinse.
5. Just before serving, cook the beef. Heat the canola oil in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the marinated beef to the pan in batches (each batch of beef should easily fit in the pan in a single layer). Cook the beef for 1-2 minutes on each side, until deeply caramelized on the outside but just tender in the center. Remove to a plate and continue until you have cooked all the beef.
6. To serve, fill each bowl halfway with rice noodles. Top with a quarter of the pickled carrots, several pieces of the cooked beef, a small handful of fresh mint leaves, and 2 tablespoons of chopped peanuts. Serve the bowls with the nuoc cham sauce on the side, so that each person can dress their bowl according to taste.

Notes

If you pickle the carrots at the same time that you marinate the beef, this will only take about 20 minutes to finish up before serving.

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I’ve been running for most of my life. I started training for the cross-country team when I was 13 and never stopped. Ten miles a week, 52 weeks a year, and 15 years later I’ve run at least 8,000 miles. Probably more like 10,000 when you factor in the long runs, the half marathons, the heavy training periods.

When we were in high school, our coach used to read aloud to us from Once A Runner, to psych us up before races. I’ve never actually read the book, but the title echoes through my head all the time – it resonates. Running is such an essential part of who I am. It’s when I’m running that I feel most like myself, most in tune with my own thoughts. It’s my quiet time, the time when I allow my thoughts to spin unstructured through my mind and let them sort themselves out. When I’m angry I come back calm, and when I’m tired I come back reinvigorated. I’ve made my most difficult decisions in the space of 4 miles without even realizing I was making them.

Running has also taken me to corners of the world where I’d never find myself otherwise. Sunrise runs in Dublin along the quiet banks of the grand canal, past medeival cathedrals and castles. Hot, impossibly humid runs in Hong Kong along an elevated running track in the jungle, looking straight into the tops of skyscrapers. Just a month ago, we set out from Evora into the Alentejan countryside and found ourselves on a dirt path, running through olive and cork groves. It’s the most amazing way to explore somewhere new.

Don’t get me wrong – there are times when running is an absolute slog. When it’s hot and hard to breathe and I heave myself around the streets feeling like I weigh 100 pounds more than I do. But it’s not those times that keep me coming back. It’s the times when it’s cool and quiet and I feel strong and light. It’s the feeling of strength in my legs as my feet bounce repeatedly off the pavement. The sound of my breath in my chest, even and heavy, condensing in clouds around my face when it’s cold. The moment when I hit the second mile, which is always faster, looser than the first.

That steadiness, that strength and clarity, that feeling of self is why I keep running. It’s why I pull on fleece-lined leggings when there’s a wind chill of 0°F. Why I groggily lace up my shoes before dawn and run through the sunrise before my mind is even awake. Why I push through the awful runs and anticipate the great ones. Like they say, once a runner.

I’m writing this as part of my #EatSmarterMoveMore resolution this year. The “eat smart” part is so important to being able to feel good on a run. Running requires fuel – a mix of protein and carbohydrates – and nothing too heavy or rich. My parents used to host dinners for our team the night before we raced, and the living room would fill with skinny teenage girls who ate bowl after bowl of soup and homemade bread. Now that we’re getting into spring running, when the sidewalks are free of ice and my fingers don’t freeze during the first mile, I’m craving light, bright flavors as fuel. So I put together a falafel salad, dressed up for spring with bright, crunchy asparagus and carrot pickles, pistachios, feta and a green herb aioli.

I’ve posted falafel recipes before – it was one of my first posts ever, and I shared this healthy Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafel from Green Kitchen Stories. But to be honest, baked falafel is just not the same. I don’t deep fry mine, I just pan fry them in a little olive oil, which works beautifully. I’ve also started using a 50-50 mix of fava beans and chickpeas, which gives the falafel more flavor and heft.

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Spring Falafel Salad

Serves 4.

• 5 oz. baby spinach leaves
• 3 oz. swiss chard leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 recipe Fava Bean and Chickpea Falafel, recipe below
• 1 cup roughly chopped Spring Pickles, recipe below
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 3/4 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup Fresh Herb Aioli

1. Mix spinach and chard leave together and divide between four bowls. Top each bowl with 4-5 pieces of falafel, 1/4 cup of spring pickles, 2 tablespoons of feta cheese, and 3 tabplesoons of chopped pistachios. Drizzle a few tablespoons of aioli on top of each bowl and serve.

Fava Bean and Chickpea Falafel

Adapted loosely from Epicurious. Serves 4.

• 1/2 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 c. cooked fava beans (originally dried)
• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 TBS flour
• 1/4 cup olive oil, for frying

1. Add onion, garlic, half of the chickpeas, half of the fava beans, and the parsley leaves to a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is finely and evenly chopped, but not quite a paste. Add the remaining chickpeas and fava beans to the food processor, and pulse a few times more – most of the mixture should be smooth with a few larger pieces of bean left intact.
2. Scrape the bean mixture into a bowl and stir in the ground cumin, ground coriander, sea salt, and baking powder until evenly mixed. Add the flour and stir. Form a small ball of dough with your hands – if the dough comes together easily without sticking to your hands, it’s ready. If not, add another 1 to 2 TBS of flour. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
3. When ready to cook, heat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Form the falafel dough into balls roughly the size of a golf ball. Add 5 or 6 of the falafel to the pan and fry until deep golden brown on each side, using tongs to gently turn them as each side cooks. Each batch of falafel will take 5-7 minutes to cook completely. Use tongs to remove the falafel to a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until you have cooked all of the falafel. Serve immediately.

Spring Pickles – Asparagus, Carrot, Radish, and Swiss Chard

Adapted from Splendid Table. Makes 2 quarts of pickles.

• 10 thin spring carrots
• 20 pencil-thin stalks of asparagus
• 8 swiss chard stems
• 10-12 radishes
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 cups of white wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups of water
• 1/4 cup of honey
• 1/4 cup of kosher salt
• 1 TBS dill seeds

1. Bring a large pot water to a boil. Thoroughly clean two quart-size canning jars and fill with very hot water. Set aside.
2. Cut the greens from the carrots and discard or reserve for another use. Wash the carrots. If the carrots are thinner than a sharpie marker, leave whole (cutting in half cross-wise only if they are taller than your pickling jars). If they are much thicker, cut them in half lengthwise. When the water is boiling, add the carrots to the water and blanch for 1-2 minutes, then drain them and run the carrots under cold water for 1-2 minutes.
3. Wash the asparagus stalks and cut in half cross-wise. Wash the chard stems and slice in half length-wise. All of your long vegetables (carrots, asparagus, chard stems) should be roughly the same length and width. Wash the radishes and cut in half.
4. Empty the canning jars of the hot water. Divide the vegetables between the two jars, standing the long vegetables up inside the jars and filling the gaps in with radishes. Add some of the garlic slices to each jar. Pack the jars as full as you can, and make them pretty!
5. Add the white wine vinegar, 2 1/2 cups of water, honey, kosher salt, and dill seeds to a small saucepan. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer for 1-2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Using a funnel if you have one, pour the hot pickling liquid into the jars over the vegetables. The pickling liquid should come all the way to the top of the vegetables. Let jars cool on the counter for 20-30 minutes before capping and refrigerating them. Refrigerate for at least 2 days before serving.

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People ask me all the time what my favorite thing to cook is. Once they find out that I’m a food blogger, it’s one of the first questions I get. For a long time, I didn’t know how to answer. Having a favorite thing to eat is one thing, but a favorite thing to cook? Do people have just one favorite dish to prepare? What if my favorite thing to cook changes weekly?

After years of thought, I have an answer: soup. Making soup is methodical and creative and easy. There’s something ritualistic and comforting about preparing it. It almost always starts with the same few steps – chopping an onion and sauteing it in olive oil, peeling and dicing vegetables, pulling out my favorite spices and flavorings. But from there, soup allows infinite creative possibilities. If I’m feeling healthy I’ll make a soup of lentils and vegetables and wholesome broth. For particularly cold days, a chili with lots of meat and beans and plenty of cheddar cheese is my go-to. Pureed vegetable bisques are elegant and great with fresh bread, and when I’m sick nothing but homemade chicken broth with egg noodles will do. I rarely use recipes, and the result is almost always good. And so, soup is my favorite thing to cook.

I’ll eat soup at any time of year, but it appears on our table most frequently during the winter months. From December until March you’ll find me making homemade chicken broth on the weekends, then experimenting with different soup recipes during the week. My most recent experiment resulted in a soup I loved so much that I immediately recreated it to share with you. It’s a Spicy Chorizo Soup with Israeli Couscous, made with fresh Mexican-style chorizo sausage, white beans and carrots and fennel seeds. But the real secret to this soup is a spoonful or two of mole sauce stirred into the soup just at the end. The mole gives the soup a little more heat and a lot more flavor – a bit of sweetness, some chocolatey notes, and a little nuttiness.

I just happened to have extra mole sauce in my freezer after making this Mole-Roasted Chicken, but I know that’s not a particularly common ingredient to have laying around. If you don’t have any, substitute another spicy chile paste, preferably one with some sweetness and depth of flavor. I think harissa would work well. Get ready to feel warm inside and out after a bowl or two of this!

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Craving more soup recipes? Here are a few favorites:

Black Bean Soup with Roasted Poblano

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Spicy Chorizo Soup with Israeli Couscous and Mole Sauce

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe.

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 lb fresh Mexican-style chorizo sausage
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 3/4 cup Israeli couscous
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch round slices
• 1 cup cooked cannelini beans
• 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 TBS plus 1 tsp cheater’s mole sauce or other spicy chile paste

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the fresh chorizo to the oil, removing the meat from its casings by squeezing it out with your hands into the pot. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break the sausage up into small pieces. Cook until the chorizo is browned all over, about 6-8 minutes, then add the onion and fennel seeds. Saute, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the couscous to the pot and stir to coat with the oil and chorizo juices. Toast in the oil for 1-2 minutes, stirring, then add the carrots, cannelini beans, and chicken stock to the pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Just before serving, stir in the mole sauce or spicy chile paste. Taste and add more chile paste if desired. Serve immediately.

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I’m so happy that I’ve had this week at home. I expected fall to be over by the time I got back from Portugal last Friday night, but instead, I woke up early Saturday to find a brilliant, glowing fall morning. I went for a walk at sunrise (jet lag problems) and reveled in the pink sky, the orange leaves tinged with sunlight, the blue-green frost on the grass, the smell of woodsmoke, even the cold, which is still exhilarating and festive feeling, and not yet the menacing cold of January and February. All week I’ve been marveling in the outdoors, as well as in the simple pleasure of being home. It’s weeks like this that make me think I will always end up back in New England, no matter how far afield my adventures take me.

This week was also a bit of a roller coaster, for many. In my circles at least, there was a lot of negative emotion being dumped into the world – shock and anger and frustration. No matter what your political opinions are, it’s difficult to be surrounded by people who are upset. We all absorb each other’s emotions – empathy is a critical component of being able to function in our society – but when that emotion is overwhelmingly negative sometimes I feel the need to withdraw. So this weekend I am taking things slow, taking care of myself, fighting off the beginnings of a cold before I get on a plane again tomorrow night. And part of that care is this soup, into which I crammed as many autumnal flavors as I could. The base of this soup is roasted pumpkin and carrots tossed with curry powder, then pureed into a light and creamy bisque and topped with fried prosciutto and sage. I’m glad to have gotten at least one pumpkin recipe up this fall before we transition into holiday flavors (is it possible that there are only 7 weeks left this year? How absurd). I hope you enjoy the soup and these last few days of autumn!

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Curried Pumpkin Bisque with Prosciutto and Sage

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4-6.

• 1 medium (3 lb.) sugar pumpkin or acorn squash
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into one inch pieces
• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder, divided
• sea salt
• 2 TBS butter
• 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and sliced into thin half moons
• 8 sage leaves, divided
• 1 TBS minced fresh ginger, from a 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for garnish
• 3 thin slices prosciutto, torn into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut the top off the pumpkin and set aside. Carefully slice the pumpkin in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and pulp and discard or save for roasting. Cut the pumpkin halves into thick wedges and place on a large rimmed baking sheet, along with the carrot pieces.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 TBS of the olive oil, 1 tsp curry powder, and about 1/2 tsp sea salt. Drizzle over the pumpkin and carrot, using your hands to rub the oil onto both sides of the vegetables. Roast until the pumpkin and carrot are tender, about 30-40 minutes, flipping once halfway through. Use a spoon to scoop the soft roasted pumpkin flesh away from the skin, saving the flesh and discarding the skin.
3. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and saute until translucent and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Roll 4 of the sage leaves into a cylinder and thinly slice, then add the slices to the onions and butter. Add the minced ginger. the remaining 1/2 tsp curry powder and the cumin seeds to the pot as well and saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the roasted carrots, roasted pumpkin flesh, and chicken stock to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for for about 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the heavy cream. Transfer the soup to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend until very smooth and creamy. (Always be careful when blending hot liquids! If your blender is not designed to blend hot liquids, wait for the soup to cool to room temperature before blending). If necessary, thin out the soup with more cream or chicken stock until it reaches the desired consistency.
4. Before serving, heat the remaining 1 TBS of olive oil in a small frying pan. Roll the remaining 4 sage leaves into a cylinder and thinly slice, then add to the olive oil. Fry sage until crispy, about 3-4 minutes, then add the prosciutto pieces and fry until prosciutto is crispy, another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. To serve, divide the soup between bowls. Drizzle with a little cream and top with the fried sage and prosciutto. Serve immediately.

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A few weeks ago I told you about the pork belly we made for our collaboration with La Crema Wines this summer, which is taking us through all the delicious porky things that pair well with La Crema’s Pinot Noir. We used the first half of the pork belly in a super-indulgent appetizer of Red Wine Caramelized Pork Belly slices, which was delicious, but now we want to share the real reason we made pork belly – to make bánh mì sandwiches.

A classic bánh mì has five important elements—a single-serving Vietnamese baguette, a pork-based filling, pickled carrots and daikon, fresh vegetables and herbs (most typically thinly-sliced cucumbers and cilantro),  and a spicy/fatty combination of condiments, such as chili sauce and mayo. The pork can take a variety of forms, but my favorite versions include chunks of sweet-and-sour caramelized pork belly, so that’s what we went for.

Lately, I can’t seem to get enough pickles. Pickles and mustard. Before you ask – no, I’m not pregnant. I just seem to have developed a taste for all things sharp and salty, all the better if they’re a little bit spicy, too. Capers are another one, although I mostly blame the Latin American tendency to put them on everything for that. And these bánh mì pickles, well – they’re just about as craveable as anything. Since we made these sandwiches a few weeks ago I’ve ordered bánh mì for lunch from a few different places, but nothing has hit the spot quite like the homemade version did, and I’m crediting the pickles. I guess that just means we’ll have to make this recipe again sooner rather than later – this time, with bigger batches of everything for more leftovers!

For full instructions and the recipe for Pork Belly Bánh Mì Sandwiches, 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

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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 #3: Pork Belly Banh Mi Sandwiches appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: Iceland is at the very top of my travel wishlist. The dramatic landscapes and vast, untouched wilderness have me aching to throw my hiking boots in a bag and hop on a plane across the Atlantic. In reality, I’ll be getting on planes to a lot of different places in the next few months – Colombia, Chile, and Charleston for starters – but none of them will be going to Iceland. I certainly can’t complain about the wonderful places I will be going, but that doesn’t mean I can’t daydream about Iceland at the same time. The book North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland, is one way to amp up my daydreaming. It’s a cookbook, sure, but I have to say that it feels like more than a cookbook to me. The interviews with food producers and stories of life on the island are as important to the book as the recipes themselves. The book is organized not by meal or by region, but by producer – a chapter for the arctic char smoker, one for the salt maker, and for the birch and mushroom forager. It was truly fascinating to learn about rugbraud, the hearty rye bread that is baked in underground geyser ovens, and about Siggi Henningson, a fisherman who spends his afternoons rapelling over cliffs to collect seabird eggs, not for himself, but for the entire town. The structure of the book and the stories paint a clear picture of where Iceland’s food comes from, on both land and sea.

I knew in advance that many of the recipes in North would be too esoteric to ever make at home, but was thoroughly intrigued anyway. The flavors throughout the book are consistent and coherent: smoke, salt, rich dairy, bright pickles, oily fish, and grassy herbs, the foods of a cold and isolated island. The fact that some ingredients may be hard (or impossible) to find outside of Iceland (seabird eggs, anyone?) is readily acknowledged, and many substitutions are offered – the authors have even provided an email you can reach out to with questions. The recipes also skew towards fine dining more than rustic eating – one of the authors is, after all, the chef at Dill. But although I know that I will never go to the trouble of making Lumpfish Roe with Smoked Mayonnaise, Beer Vinegar Jelly, and Horseradish Cream (smoke your own oil to make your own smoked mayonnaise, make your own beer vinegar and then turn it into jelly, you get the picture), other recipes can certainly be tweaked to fit into my repertoire – like Fennel Salad with Cottage Cheese and Spiced Nuts, or Poached Cod Cheeks in Roasted Cod Soup. Whether or not I find myself cooking from this book regularly, it’s so full of general inspiration that it deserves a place on my bookshelf, esoteric recipes or not.

The Food: One of the recipes that felt approachable enough to try was for Bacalo Potatoes with Fennel Ribbons and Sorrel Ash. I had to be a bit generous with my interpretation of this recipe, taking inspiration as much from the headnote and author Jody Eddy’s description of the ways they ate this throughout their trip, as from the recipe itself. The base of this recipe is creamy mashed potatoes mixed with bacalo, or salt cod, a combination sometimes called brandade. As written, the potatoes and cod are served topped with sorrel ash, roasted carrots, fennel ribbons, soft boiled eggs, and freshly grated horseradish. Since both sorrel and horseradish are hard to come by without planning ahead, I nixed them and decided to take a more rustic approach to the meal – serving the mash on hearty whole grain bread spread with mustard (a decent replacement for the pungent horseradish). I also skipped the eggs, as once you smear potatoes on toast you don’t feel like you need that many more things on top. Although I usually try to stick to the letter when testing recipes for cookbook reviews, here, I don’t feel bad about it. Eddy writes ” One night, Gunnar served it on toast; another, he substituted smoked haddock, an ideal replacement for the cod. The profusion of herbs he added was dictated by whatever we foraged that day.”  It’s a recipe that is more idea than science. I’ve written it here the way I made it, inspired by the instructions in North.

Recipe Shortlist: Salted Cod Tartar, Dill Mayo, Dulse Powder; Parsnips Three Ways with Arctic Char Roe; Cauliflower, Seabird Eggs, Burned Butter; Roasted Lamb Shoulder, Braised Cabbage, and Pickled Onions; Smoked Lamb with Skyr and Nutmeg; Stone Bramble and Cottage Cheese with Whey Caramel and Whey Granita; Red Beet and Rosemary Sorbet, Almond Cake, and Sugared Almonds

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland from Ten Speed Press, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Bacalo Potatoes with Carrots and Fennel

Recipe adapted from North: The New Nordic Cuisine of Iceland. Serves 4.

• 1 lb. salt cod
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 TBS olive oil, divided
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 lb. waxy potatoes
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 4 slices whole grain bread
• 2 TBS mustard
• 2 fennel stalks, peeled into ribbons using a vegetable peeler

1. Place the salt cod in a bowl and fill to cover with cold water. Soak in the water in the refrigerator for 24 hours, changing the water 2 to 3 times. When you are ready to prepare the meal, drain and rinse the soaked fish. If it has them, remove and discard the skin and bones. Set the fish aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the carrot pieces with 1 TBS of the olive oil and sea salt and pepper, and spread on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring every 10 minutes, until tender all the way through, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your pieces. Transfer the roasted carrots to a bowl and set aside.
3. Add the salt cod to the roasting pan and roast until warmed through, about 8-10 minutes. Break into flakes and keep warm.
4. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Add to a large pot and cover with cold water. Salt water generously. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil until potatoes are tender, about 5-8 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash with a potato masher. Add the heavy cream and mash until incorporated, then stir in the warm salt cod pieces. Season to taste with pepper.
5. Rinse and dry the roasting pan, then brush the bread slices with the remaining 1 TBS of olive oil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and toast the bread until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes per side. Remove the bread from the oven and spread with the mustard. Top with a generous heap of the potatoes and cod, and several pieces of roasted carrot. Just before serving, shave the fennel stalks into thin ribbons using a vegetable peeler and place on top of the potatoes. Serve immediately.

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The Book: When Hillary Davis reached out to me about reviewing her newest book, French Comfort Food, it was the middle of summer, and the days when I’d be craving French Onion Soup and Coq au Vin seemed almost too distant to imagine. Now that we’ve seemingly catapulted from fall straight into mid-winter (Snow? On Novemebr 2nd? The worst) though, French comfort food seems like exactly the sort of thing I want to be pulling out of my oven, and I’m glad to have a copy of this book to turn to. These are classic recipes – nothing fancy or convoluted here. Many of them will be familiar to the average American cook: cheese souffles, leek and potato soup, croque madames, bouef bourguinon. For many, these are the dishes that first come to mind when we think of French cooking – in a way, the dishes feel almost retro, meals that would have been a hit in upscale restaurants during the 80s. But of course, they have all been timeless classics in France for centuries. For classic bistro food that will stick to your ribs without complicated preparations or expensive ingredients, this book is a great resource.

The Food: The first recipe I made from French Comfort Food was a vegetarian shepherd’s pie that used a ratatouille sauce instead of ground beef as the flavor base. I made it mostly because it was a time when our fridge was overflowing with tomatoes and eggplants and it seemed as good a way as any to use some up. I added the ground beef back in, used our freshly harvested potatoes, and didn’t skimp on the cheese. It turned out great – we ate half in the first day, and froze the second half for a rainy day. I was planning on featuring a different recipe for this post, because shepherd’s pie just isn’t that French, and I’d already made it so I thought I should branch out. But then, last weekend turned out to be that rainy day, and the reheated leftovers were so good that I knew I had to share the recipe with you. So here it is: not particularly French, not particularly vegetarian, but definitely comfort food. Make a big batch while there are still eggplants and peppers hanging out at the markets and be sure to freeze some for that unknown future time when you’ll really need it. I do have to note – while I usually try to stick to the letter on recipes when doing book reviews, I took all kinds of liberties with this one to suit my tastes. I’m telling you this so that you know that it’s a forgiving recipe, so feel free to adjust a bit here and there. That said, the brilliance of this recipe – using a meaty vegetarian ratatouille sauce as the base instead of beef – is all Hillary’s.

Recipe Shortlist: Ramekins of Salmon, Wine and Shallots; Caramelized Onion and Roquefort Clafoutis; French Rolled Omelet with Cherry Tomatoes and Parmesan; Perigord Garlic and Chicken Soup; Normandy Pork Chops with Apple Brandy Cream Sauce; Gascony Roast Leg of Lamb with Anchovies and Garlic

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of French Comfort Food from Gibbs Smith, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Ratatouille Shepherd’s Pie

Adapted from French Comfort Food. Serves 6-8.

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, stem and seed removed
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• 1 medium eggplant, stem removed, chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 (14.5 oz) can of chopped canned tomatoes, or 3 small fresh tomatoes, cored and cubed
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 2 TBS flour
• 6 medium yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 TBS butter
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere or sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 lb. ground beef

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the onions and garlic and saute, stirring frequently, until soft and fragrant, about 6-8 minutes. Add the bell pepper, leaves from the rosemary and thyme, carrot, and eggplant and saute until beginning to soften, another 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix the tomato paste and flour together in a small bowl, then stir into the ratatouille mixture until fully incorporated. Let sauce cook until eggplant is tender, about 20 minutes.
2. While the sauce is cooking, place the quartered potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Season generously with salt, then bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil until tender, about 10 minutes, then drain potatoes. Add butter and milk to potatoes and mash or blend potatoes until very smooth but still stiff enough to hold their shape, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more milk if you’d like the potatoes to be smoother. Stir 1 cup of the grated cheese into the potatoes and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly oil a 9×13 casserole dish. Spoon the sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish. Wipe out the saute pan and return to medium heat, then add the ground beef to the pan. Cook until browned all over, about 8-10 minutes. Drain the grease from the pan, then spoon the cooked beef evenly on top of the sauce. Next, spread the mashed potato mixture evenly over the top of the beef, using a spatula to smooth it out to meet all the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top of the casserole, then place the casserole dish on a baking sheet (to catch any bubble ups) and place in the oven. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.

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The Book: Bountiful is the first cookbook from Todd Porter and Diane Cu, the couple behind the beautiful blog White on Rice Couple. Having followed their blog for some time, and feeling a little like I already know them, I found myself completely immersed in the stories of their childhoods, journeys, and lives together that they share throughout their book. The book, like their blog, is heavily inspired by their gorgeous garden (you can take a peak at it in this video), one of the main reasons I started following their blog in the first place (especially to drool over those citrus trees!). I loved reading their introduction to garden design, and I can only hope that our garden gives us enough fruits and veggies to try many of their recipes next summer. I also identify with the way they cook and eat – primarily vegetarian, but naturally so, with meat appearing here and there to bulk up a dish or add extra flavor – and the recipes they’ve included in Bountiful are simple and accessible, with easy-to-find ingredients and a focus on fresh produce. Organized by vegetable/fruit type, this book would be a good choice for anyone just learning to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables into their meals. Many of the recipes are for things I already make – rosemary lemonade, cream of tomato soup, kale and avocado salad – but even as an experienced cook I can see myself turning to this for inspiration for quick weeknight dinners and healthy homemade lunches. And I can’t forget to mention that their photography, like their writing style, is warm and peaceful, making you feel like you’ve been invited over for a casual afternoon garden party at their house. In short, Todd and Diane are just good, likeable people who make good, likeable food – if you don’t already know them, I think you’ll be pleased to meet them.

The Food: I’ve been wanting a good chicken pot pie recently, so when I saw the Creamed Dill Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry recipe in Bountiful I knew it was the one I wanted to test, especially since I already had all of the ingredients in the fridge/freezer (which is a perfect example of the accessibility of this book). I love my mom’s chicken pot pie recipe, which is very traditional, so I was curious about how I’d like the different elements in this one – the brandy, the wine, the heavy cream, the corn, and the dill. All together, it was rich, creamy, and slightly sweet from the brandy and the corn, a very satisfying cold-weather dinner. Using ready made puff pastry for the crust made it pretty quick to put together (actually, if I’m being honest, Trevor did 95% of this one, so maybe it just seemed quick to me). And it smelled amazing, really, one of those recipes that will have you drooling at the oven door. Definitely a contender for a new winter dinner standby.

Recipe Shortlist: Homemade Barbecue Sauce; Creamed Haricot Verts with Toasted Almonds; Roasted Asparagus Spring Rolls with Bacon; Roasted Broccoli and Grilled Cheese Melt; Truffled Butternut Squash Crumble; Miso-Sesame Cucumber Salad; Blackberry Cabernet Crisp with Honeyed Whipped Cream; Cherry Bourbon Delight Cocktail

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Bountiful free of charge from Abrams, but was not otherwise compensated for writing this review.

Creamed Dill Chicken Potpie with Puff Pastry

Recipe from Bountiful. Serves 6 to 8.

• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken breasts or thighs
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 4 TBS butter, divided
• 4 medium shallots, peeled and sliced
• 4 medium cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
• 1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 2 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 2 TBS brandy
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 c. heavy cream, plus more for brushing the pastry
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 TBS grainy mustard
• 1/4 c. minced fresh dill
• 1 lb. frozen puff pastry dough, thawed according to package directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. If the chicken pieces are thick, pound them flat between two sheets of wax paper (or carefully slice in half lengthwise). Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
2. Heat 2 TBS of the butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
3. To the same pan, add another 1 TBS of butter, the shallots, garlic, carrots, and corn. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the shallots begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and brandy to the pan and simmer until the pan is almost dry, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the remaining 1 TBS of butter to the pan and let melt, then stir in the flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the cream and stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Cut the browned chicken into 1/2-inch chunks and add them to the cream sauce. Stir in the mustard and the dill, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Fill a 2-quart baking dish with the dill chicken mixture. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry into a sheet large enough to cover the top of your baking dish. Trim the pastry to the size of the baking dish, then place on top of the filling. Cut a few small slits in the top of the pastry to allow steam to vent. Brush the top of the pastry with heavy cream. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is deep golden. Serve hot.

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I’ve recently had a change of heart about sandwiches. See, I used to firmly believe that there was no way a vegan sandwich could ever taste good. Sandwiches are for cheese, and deli meat, and mayo, and bacon. Not for vegan things. Then I tried a bite of Trevor’s “Vegan Pressed” sandwich from our local bakery, The Biscuit, and now I’m obsessed. It’s got roasted sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and some kind of amazing tahini spread, that almost tastes better than cheese when it’s all warmed up, if you can believe that. It may even have topped Finale’s California Turkey (bacon, turkey, avocado, chipotle mayo), and Diesel’s Pilgrim (thick slices of turkey, hot stuffing, cranberry sauce, and cream cheese) on my list of all-time favorite sandwiches. OK, not the Pilgrim. But still! It’s really good.

All of this is just to prime you for the fact that I’m sharing a non-traditional sandwich here, and I want you to keep an open mind about it. Ever since I saw this on Ranjani’s blog, over a year ago, I’ve been intrigued. No, I probably wouldn’t order the “carrot panini” at a deli either, but hear me out. The carrots are thinly sliced, then marinated in a sweet, Moroccan-spiced dressing. You quickly blend up a fresh olive tapenade, layer it on bread with a few thin slices of feta cheese, stuff the middle with the carrot strips, and pan-grill it until it’s hot and melty. It’s a satisfying mix of sweet, salty, and carby, like any good sandwich, but with no bacon in sight. Take a chance on it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

Adapted from Gourmet via 4 Seasons of Food. Serves 4.

• 6 medium carrots
• 2 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS lemon juice, divided
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil, divided, plus more for the pan
• 3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives
• 2 TBS capers, drained
• 1 anchovy fillet
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 8 slices bread
• 4 oz. of feta cheese, thinly sliced

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the carrots and discard the peel. Use the peeler to create thin, wide slices of the carrots. Drop the carrot slices in the boiling water and blanch for one minute – they should be crisp-tender. Drain immediately.
2. Whisk together the sugar, 1 TBS of the lemon juice, the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, chile powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 c. of the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Add the blanched carrots and toss to coat in the dressing. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
3. To make the tapenade, add the olives, capers, and anchovy to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil and pulse a few more times.
4. Assemble the sandwiches: Place 1 oz. of feta cheese on each of four slices of bread. Spread a tablespoon of the tapenade on the remaining 4 slices of bread. Divide the carrots in to four portions and layer on top of the cheese. Top with the tapenade-covered bread. Heat a thin layer of olive oil on a griddle or in a frying pan. Place the sandwiches in the pan, and cook until golden brown on each side and cheese is melty, flipping after about 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately.

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I was planning to post this last night, but for some reason when I got home from my run in the 35° weather, I just didn’t feel like a cold veggie smoothie. I felt a lot more like this pumpkin, black bean, and chorizo soup (delicious, we added half a jar of tomato jam for sweetness and it was perfect). But this morning when I woke up, carrot-grapefruit-mango smoothies were the first order of business.

Some of you who follow me on twitter or instagram may have heard that I recently became the owner of a Vitamix. And a pretty fancy one at that. It was a bonus of sorts from my real job (I love the thing, but I can’t ever see paying $600 for a blender), and perhaps it’s just because it’s new, but I’ve been blending up a storm. Green smoothies (or orange ones as it may be), have become a daily treat, and I love starting my day with them – they’re so immediately energizing, I feel like I should make a video game powering-up noise when I drink them. I know a lot of people who think drinking green smoothies is a completely frou-frou thing to do, but I’ve been trying to convert them one sip at a time. Seriously, green smoothies taste like mangoes or bananas or apples, not spinach. The spinach is just a bonus.

Since I made drinks for both rhubarb week and pea week, I figured it was only logical to whip up a carrot based drink as well. Carrot juice and booze did not strike me as a stellar combination (although I think this could change my mind), so I decided to go the healthy route and turn my stubby little garden carrots into a frothy smoothie. The trick to making a smooth drink from whole, raw carrots is to peel and grate them first – a little time consuming, but worth it for the creamy texture you’ll get (and much cheaper than buying carrot juice!). The Vitamix could probably handle them just cut up into chunks, but I’m still getting the hang of the correct ratios for using it, so I grated them this time around as well. The result was a thick, vibrant, tangy breakfast full of beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, and fiber. Drink your vegetables!

Carrot-Grapefruit-Mango Smoothie

Serves 1. Inspired in part by this and the Carrot-Grapefruit Juice in Vegetarian Everyday.

Note: This can be made in any blender, but if you’re using a weaker one, you’ll want to chop up your grapefruit and blend on high. If you’re using a Vitamix, you could probably get away with not grating the carrots, but I like the extra smooth texture that grating them gives.

• 1 c. water
• 2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 c. frozen mango
• 2-3 ice cubes (only if using Vitamix)
• maple syrup or agave to taste (optional)

1. Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Blend on high until thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

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This is how I thought I should start this blog post: “To kick off carrot week, we took a typically sweet dessert, baklava, added carrots, feta cheese, and caramelized onions, and made it savory. Today, we’re taking the opposite approach and reinterpreting a classic carrot-based dessert: carrot cake.”

Trevor read this, gave me his best “could-you-be-any-duller” grimace and began dictating: “My boyfriend is allergic to carrots. I’m making these recipes this week in an attempt to kill him. Living with him these past few months has been unbearable, so unbearable that I’ve been forced to stay out late drinking too much on Monday nights with my friends, which in turn leads to me being behind in my blogging schedule forcing me (and him) to make carrot crepes way past my bedtime. If the act of making these not-very-well-recipe-tested crepes doesn’t get him, hopefully eating them well.”

I think I might just stop trying.

Anyway, we made carrot cake crepes, and assembled them into a huge cake with layers of whipped cream cheese frosting. It’s a good concept, although to be fair, it’s not really my concept – I was going to make Deb’s carrot cake pancakes, until I saw one of her readers comment about making a crepe cake version, and I wanted to try. I googled “carrot crepes” a lot of times, but I couldn’t find a recipe that incorporated raw carrots. In hindsight, there might have been a reason for that. The first few attempts to cook these came out kind of raw and mushy, but with a bit of tinkering, we got these to work out nicely. If you have your own adjustments, please, share – they definitely aren’t perfect yet. The frosting, on the other hand, is amazing – you could always just make that and eat it off a spoon.

I will do my best to begin writing before 9PM tomorrow, for all our sakes.

Carrot Cake Crepe Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Inspired by Lili’s comment on Smitten Kitchen. Makes 1 cake.

• 1 c. whole milk
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced into 1-inch chunks
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS canola oil
• 1 (8-oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
•  1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1 lb. powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• butter, for greasing the pan

1. Add the whole milk and the buttermilk to a blender. Add 1/2 of the sliced carrots, and pulse the blender a few times to break them into chunks. Once they are broken up, slowly increase pulsing speed until the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining carrots and repeat to make a thick, smooth mixture. Add the eggs and pulse the blender a few times to combine, then pour the batter into a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Whisk in the brown sugar. Add the flour mixture to the liquid in batches, stirring to combine between additions. Stir in the canola oil until fully combined. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.
3. While the batter is resting, make the frosting. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and easy to stir. Add the heavy cream 1/2 cup at a time, beating thoroughly between additions to lighten the cream cheese. At the last addition of heavy cream, use a whisk to thoroughly beat and aerate the frosting. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth and lump free, then whisk in the lemon juice and vanilla. Taste and add more sugar or lemon if desired. Set aside.
4. Heat a small pat of butter over medium-low heat in a medium frying pan. Add about 1/4 of the crepe batter in the center of the pan, and swirl to make a large, thin circle. Cook the crepe until golden brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes per side (this is much longer than your average crepe recipe, but don’t be tempted to flip them too early or they’ll tear). Once fully cooked, remove and let cool fully on a cookie rack before transferring to a plate.
5. To assemble the crepe cake, place one crepe on a cake stand or plate, and place a small dollop of frosting in the center of the crepe. Use a spatula to gently spread the frosting out in a circle to make a thin layer covering the entire crepe, up to about 1/4 inch from the edge. Place a second crepe on top. Repeat until you have used all the crepes and frosting. Top with a final dollop of frosting, and garnish with grated carrot and crumbled walnuts if desired.

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I started an “Ingredient of the Week” feature earlier this year, challenging myself to make the most of a particular in-season ingredient by posting a creative recipe starring that ingredient for 5 days in a row. I managed to feature rhubarb and green peas, and had grand plans for doing blackberries and peaches and zucchini and tomatoes by the end of the summer, but the summer sort of got away from me. Still, just because home grown produce isn’t as bountiful now as it was in August doesn’t mean that there aren’t seasonal ingredients worth celebrating. This week, I’m celebrating one of the last vegetables we were able to harvest from our garden – the carrot.

While not as popular as another sweet, orange fall vegetable (although I do feel like the pumpkin mayhem is a little more under control this year), the carrot is a humble, under-utilized little root. Usually, when I think of carrots I think of them as part and parcel with onions and celery for starting out a soup, or as stubby little dippers for hummus. But they’re so much more versatile than that! Cakes, sauces, juices, roasts – if you take a minute to think about it, you’ll realize that carrots add sweetness and depth to many different meals.

Whenever I kick off an ingredient of the week feature, I first spend an evening sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of cookbooks, searching for the most interesting recipes I can find. Once I have a big list compiled, I choose the four or five recipes that I think are the most unique and delicious-sounding. The most interesting recipe from this weekend’s cookbook research comes from a new member of my collection, Maria Elia’s Full of Flavor. In her “roots” chapter, amidst more typical presentations like carrot and herb salad and spiced carrot puree, I found this recipe for a savory carrot, feta, and almond baklava. I’d never had a savory baklava before, and loved the idea. The carrots are thinly sliced and stewed with cinnamon, lemon, caramelized onions, and dill, before a portion of them are pureed. Layered with feta and crushed almonds between butter-soaked sheets of filo dough, they are then baked to crusty perfection and drizzled with honey. I loved the sweet and salty play of the honey and feta cheese, and think these would be a great (if a little messy) vegetarian party appetizer at any time of the year. A good start to carrot week, if you ask me.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava

Recipe adapted slightly from Full of Flavor. Serves 8-10.

• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
• 2 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, including roots, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 c. chopped dill)
• 1 TBS ground cinnamon
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• sea salt
• 9 sheets filo pastry (about 3/4 of a package)
• 6 TBS butter, melted
• 2/3 c. whole almonds
• 1 2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 4 TBS honey

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the sliced onions. Caramelize the onions over medium heat until dark and sticky, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This should take 15-20 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic, carrots, dill, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and season with sea salt. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups of water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Process the almonds in a food processor until they are the consistency of a coarse breadcrumb, then set aside in a bowl. Mix the feta cheese with the ground almonds. Add 1/3 of the carrot mixture to the food processor and process until smooth, then stir back into the whole carrots.
4. Unfold the filo dough, and cut to the size of the baking sheet you will be using (ideally around 9×13. Save the extra dough. Cover the sheets you will be using with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out as you work.
5. Brush the baking sheet lightly with melted butter, then lay one sheet of filo dough on it. Brush the filo with melted butter, and top with another sheet of filo. Repeat to have three sheets of filo in the first layer. Spread half the carrot mixture gently on top of the filo, pushing it out to the corners. Sprinkle half the feta-almond mixture on top of this, pressing down lightly to smooth. Repeat the filo-butter process with three sheets of filo, then spread the remaining carrot and feta mixture on top. Finish the baklava with another three sheets of butter-brushed filo. Before brushing the top sheet, score gently with a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamonds. Then brush with the remaining butter and sprinkle with cold water. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before drizzling with the honey.

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If any of you follow me on Twitter (do it! I promise I’ll do my best to say vaguely entertaining things), you may have noticed that I’ve been tweeting some nonsense about #March15ADay for the past 7 days. Basically, I’ve challenged myself to workout for at least 15 minutes every day in March. Things that count as workouts are running, lifting, jump rope, ballet, and NTC workouts (which I’m really loving). Things that do not count are walking to the subway and lying on the floor with my arms spread out while telling myself that I’m stretching (I have, in the past, counted this as exercise). Vigorous cooking does not count either.

Tonight marks the end of my first week – I’ve gone running twice, done a 20 minute jump rope session, and done targeted strength training for my arms, abs, and back. I’m kinda sore. But proud of myself! When it’s 10 o’clock at night and I haven’t done anything yet, I close my eyes and imagine myself looking fabulous in a linen dress that I don’t own yet on a hillside in Italy where I’ll be in 49 days (49? Am I prematurely excited?) and it’s highly motivating. I’d love it if any of you want to join me for the remainder of the month and tweeted your workouts! It’s always helpful to have a group of people to hold you accountable for something like this.

To support my health kick, I’m also trying to eat a lot more green stuff. I’ve said it before, but I sometimes have a tough time with salads – I want to like my salad, so as I walk down the salad bar I add ingredients I love, and before I know it, I have a container full of bacon, hard-boiled eggs, feta cheese, and chickpeas, with a few pathetic leaves of spinach on top. NOT THE POINT, KATIE. So when I find a salad recipe that’s both tasty and healthy, and that I can easily make ahead and bring in to work all week, I’m thrilled. This roast vegetable salad, from the newly released The Little Paris Kitchen (see my full review here!), fits the bill perfectly. Make the goat cheese mousse if you’re feeling creative, but if not, regular goat cheese crumbled on top would be just as yummy.

Roast Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese Mousse

Recipe adapted slightly from The Little Paris Kitchen. Serves 4.

• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 large beet, trimmed and scrubbed
• 7 TBS olive or sunflower oil, divided
• salt to taste
• 4 oz. bacon, cut into pieces and cooked until crisp
• 2 TBS cider vinegar
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. whipping cream
• 5-6 oz. of salad greens (I used spinach)

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the carrots, apples, and parsnips with 2 TBS of the oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt. Spread out on a large baking tray. Place the beet inside a tinfoil package, drizzle with 1 TBS of the oil and a sprinkle of salt, and seal the tinfoil package. Place on the baking tray with the other vegetables. Roast for 45 minutes, flipping the chopped veggies once to prevent them from burning. Remove the chopped vegetables and set aside, and continue to roast the beet until you can pierce it easily with a fork (the length of time will depend on the size of the beet, it could take an additional 10-30 minutes). Once the beet is cooked, remove from the oven and let cool just until you can handle it comfortably. Then, peel the beet with your hands – the peel should slip easily off. Thinly slice the cooked beet and place with the other veggies. Toss the roasted veggies with the bacon pieces.
2. Mix together the remaining 4 TBS of olive oil with the cider vinegar to make the dressing. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.
3. Beat the cheese and the milk together until soft and lump free. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cheese a bit at a time, until it is thoroughly combined. Place in a frosting piping bag.
4. Arrange the salad leaves on four plates. Top with the veggie-bacon mix, and drizzle with the dressing. Use the piping bag to place small blobs of the goat cheese mousse on top of the salad. Serve immediately.

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To so many, Paris is the ultimate destination – timeless, elegant, romantic and confident in its own charms. It’s the city of lights, the city of love and, one might argue, the ultimate city of food. Centuries of tradition have defined French cuisine as the haute cuisine, with dishes such as duck a l’orange, boeuf bourguignon, and chocolate souffle being practically synonymous with fine dining for many years. But classic French cooking doesn’t have to be intimidating and stuffy. As Rachel Khoo shows us in The Little Paris Kitchen, French food can be simple, wholesome, and yet still remain effortlessly chic.

Rachel is an all-around food personality – she has a pastry degree from Le Cordon Bleu, has written three cookbooks, and been the star of a cooking show. She’s more of an European personality than an American one, but I think the release of a US version of The Little Paris Kitchen, may change that. The book is a little glimpse into Rachel’s life in Paris, as shown through the food she makes to feed herself and her friends.

The recipes included are universally appealing, not in a way that made me think “Oh, I’d love to make that someday,” but in a way that made me add three recipes to my weekly menu after only 20 minutes flipping through the book. The fact that the food is simple but also interesting makes it easy to visualize incorporating into your everyday routine. Recipes such as Tartiflette Muffins, Onion Creme Brulee, and Cassoulet Soup with Duck-and-Sausage Dumplings are examples of the hearty, soul-warming food in this book that will probably be on my dinner menu soon. There are plenty of lighter, more elegant recipes that caught my eye as well – Champagne Sabayon with Strawberries and Cherry Tomatoes, Rosemary, Lavender, and Chevre Fougasse, and Cherry-Tomato Vanilla Jam are a few. In general, there’s a nice balance.

I should mention – this book has lots of pictures. And they’re beautiful pictures. In fact, every single recipe is accompanied by a full-page color photograph, a cookbook characteristic that I love – it makes it so much easier to decide what to cook when you can see the end result. There are also a lot of pictures of Rachel – Rachel shopping, Rachel riding her bike, Rachel holding a glass of wine and looking pensively into the distance, Rachel having a picnic with her attractive Parisian girlfriends. I think perhaps this would have stuck out less to me if I already knew more about her; as I didn’t, I found it a touch over-done. Just a personal thing. I will say that, along with the curly font and the pink text, the pictures of her out and about in pretty dresses definitely contributes to the overall girliness of the book’s style. It’s not over the top, but it’s definitely not gender neutral.

To test out the food, I started with two recipes – a roast vegetable salad with goat cheese mousse, and a chicken-dumpling soup. I’ll share the salad later this week, but for now let’s focus on this soup, which was even better than I was expecting it to be. The dumplings, also called quenelles, are made from ground chicken, soft white bread, and cream, and are then simmered for just a few minutes in a pot of chicken broth. The only other ingredients are a handful of just-cooked carrots and mushrooms and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. The result is a lovely bowl of super-comforting soup filled with soft, fluffy, deeply savory dumplings, the kind of soup that you wish someone would make for you every time you’re feeling down. (Solution: make some for yourself when you’re feeling good, then stick a bunch in the freezer for those days that you need to feel loved). It reminded me of matzoh-ball soup, but richer and more chicken-y (well, duh Katie). I loved it. I made a double-batch of the dumplings, and I’m saving the rest for the suggestion Rachel includes at the bottom of the recipe – broiling the poached quenelles with bechamel and grated cheese.

The bottom line: The Little Paris Kitchen is a book that makes classic French cooking an everyday affair. It’s a bit girly, and the author, Rachel, is strongly featured throughout the book (a la Giada or Rachel Ray), but the recipes are solid and the photography both beautiful and abundant. I can see this book quickly becoming a weeknight go-to for me with plenty of recipes that are quick and satisfying.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of The Little Paris Kitchen free of charge from Chronicle Books. I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Chicken Dumpling Soup / Bouillon de Poulet avec Des Quenelles de Volailles

Recipe from The Little Paris Kitchen. Serves 4.

• 6 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 7 oz boneless skinless chicken breast or ground chicken
• 3 1/2 oz. white bread, no crusts (I used burger rolls)
• 6 1/2 TBS of half and half
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp salt
• a pinch of pepper
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 5 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 bunch of fresh parsley, leaves roughly chopped

1. Bring the chicken stock and chopped carrots to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Boil for 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
2. In a blender, combine the chicken, bread, half and half, egg, egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and blend until you have a smooth and sticky paste. Use a spoon to form the paste into dumplings of about 2 TBS apiece, and drop the dumplings into the boiling broth. Cook the dumplings for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the mushrooms and cook for 1 minute longer. Check the inside of a dumpling just to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Serve the soup immediately, with a generous sprinkling of chopped parsley stirred in.

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I took today off, not to do anything in particular, but just to have a whole day to myself, to catch up on things, clean, get organized, write, etc. A one day staycation, if you will. I love days like this. It helps that the temperature got up to 50 (50! Spring! I can feel it!) and that after a full week of sneezing I’m finally feeling better.

I wanted to ask – how were everyone’s Valentine’s Days? Mine was just right. Trevor brought me flowers (yellow, my favorite) and chocolate and 9 little airplane bottles of booze with 9 accompanying packets of hot chocolate – boy knows how I like to drink. We had planned on going ice skating, but I got home from work too late. Instead, we meandered downtown just to see if we could find space at a bar for a few drinks. We ended up at Saloon, a very hipster-esque underground bar/restaurant. They were having a singles Swing Dance night, and it was fun to drink our fancy cocktails and nibble on sliders and watch people. It was even more fun to be with my favorite person and just talk and laugh. I feel so lucky to have that.

Sorry, enough schmaltz, back to my staycation. No day at home is complete for me without a little bit (or a lot) of cooking, and today was no different. I made another batch of these grapefruit and ginger thumbprint cookies (note to self, always make extra dough so you can whip up a batch of these in 10 minutes!), I worked on a spring salad feature for an online magazine (which you’ll have to wait to hear more about), I’m in the process of testing out Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil‘s new book, Breakfast for Dinner, and I made this roasted carrot and tahini soup, the perfect healthy and tasty treat for an afternoon lunch at home. I’ve tried a lot of different carrot soups over the past years, and never found one that I liked, until I realized that the trick was in roasting the carrots first. Now, I use this technique with most vegetable puree-type soups that I make. This particular soup was inspired by Smitten Kitchen – I used slightly different amounts and spices, I roasted the carrots instead of boiling them, and I went for a yogurt-tahini sauce instead of a thinner tahini-lemon sauce, but the gist of the two recipes is basically the same. The flavors are lovely and bright, the puree smooth and the crunchy spiced chickpeas addictive. I might just have another bowl for dinner.

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen. Serves 3-4.

• 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• coarse sea salt, to taste
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas, or canned chickpeas, drained of their liquid
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 6-oz. container plain Greek yogurt
• 4 TBS tahini

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss the carrots with 2 TBS of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast the carrots for 25 minutes, flipping once, after 15 minutes of cooking.
2. About 5 minutes before the carrots are done, heat 1 TBS of the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, and saute for 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the minced garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes and saute for 2 minutes longer, until the garlic and spices are fragrant. Add the roasted carrots to the pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add the cooked chickpeas to the same roasting pan you used for the carrots. Add the last 1 TBS of olive oil, to the chickpeas, then sprinkle with the cumin, paprika, and sea salt. Toss to coat evenly, then roast for 15 minutes.
4. Blend the soup in a blender until it is a smooth puree. If it is too thick, add more broth to the blender. Add the lemon juice to the hot soup and pulse a few times to incorporate. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt if necessary.
5. Spoon the soup into bowls. Top each with a large spoonful of yogurt and 1 TBS of tahini, as well as a handful of the roasted chickpeas.

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