I’m home from my last trip of the year and very ready for a few days off for Christmas. Originally I had all kinds of last minute errands planned for today, but it’s treacherously icy outside. After a brief trip to the grocery store, the freezing rain had us turning tail to get back inside. Now we’re all sorts of cozy – wrapping presents, baking cookies, assembling this year’s gingerbread house, and listening to Christmas swing music. Although I still have a bunch of miscellaneous little things to do tomorrow, I’m so much happier for being forced to take a rest day. December always feels like a bit of a sprint, and now I want to slow way, way down.

If you’ve left your Christmas baking to the last minute, like I inevitably do, I have a simple little cookie recipe for you. They may not be the world’s prettiest cookie, but these Pecan Crescent Cookies are wonderfully tasty. I just took a batch out of the oven and can verify that they are just as good as I remember. You can also make them from start-to-finish in less than 45 minutes with only pantry ingredients. Perfect for a day when you really don’t want to leave the house (see: freezing rain).

These cookies are incredibly easy to make. All you need to do is pulse the ingredients in a food processor, then shape and bake the cookies. I found the recipe in the giant Bon Appetit Cookbook last year, hidden amongst dozens of other cookie recipes. After the first batch received rave reviews, I made a second and third tray. Now in their second year on our Christmas cookie tray, I think we can declare these a Christmas staple. They’re crumbly and tender but not dry, and just barely sweet. They almost toe the line between sweet and savory. In fact, if you opt to skip the powdered sugar, they are delicious with a little blue cheese.

I hope all of you find a day or two to slow down over the next week. Have a wonderful Christmas if you’re celebrating!

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right, on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Thanks for reading!

Pecan Crescent Cookies

A simple, nutty, pecan crescent cookie perfect for the Christmas cookie tray. 

Recipe from The Bon Appetit Cookbook.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 20 cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup pecans
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 stick chilled butter
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch sea salt
• powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Place the pecans on a cookie sheet. Toast in the oven for 4-5 minutes, until just fragrant. Take care not to let them burn.
2. Add the toasted pecans and all other ingredients to a food processor. Pulse several times until the dough looks crumbly, then process on high until the dough begins to come together. Press a bit of dough together between your fingers – if it holds together, the dough is ready. If not, blend a bit longer.
3. Use your hands to gather the dough together. Pinch off a little more than a tablespoon of dough and form a short rope of dough by squeezing the dough in the palm of your hand. Place the rope on a cookie sheet and shape into a crescent, smoothing any lumpy parts. Repeat until you have used all the dough. Bake the cookies for 25-30 minutes, until just barely firm to the touch. Let cool completely, then sift powdered sugar over the top of the cookies.

The post Pecan Crescent Cookies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Yesterday, on the shortest day of the year, I was thinking about darkness, and about light. These past few weeks the dark has been so noticeable, dragging out the hours between when Trevor leaves for the restaurant and when it is reasonable to collapse into bed. I’m beginning to think that darkness, and not the cold and slush as I’ve always thought, is what makes this season so difficult, what pulls me close to apathy and lethargy and general lowness. The reason that, after that apocalyptic winter two years ago hit me so hard, I escape January as often as I can.

But darkness also makes room for us to celebrate light. Light is part of what makes Christmas feel magical. Standing in the cold, breath freezing in the air, watching the twinkling lights draped around the outside of homes. The stillness of a church full of candles, flames moving slowly, illuminating the faces of the people holding them. Sitting by the Christmas tree after the house is quiet, breathing in the sharp fragrance of pine, gazing at the reflection of the tiny lights on delicate glass ornaments. Light at Christmastime brings stillness and quiet and a certain sense of wonder. And it helps us get through the darkness, to remind us that, from today forward, the darkest day is behind us, that we are now spinning towards another summer.

Christmas is practically here, and I’m of two minds about it. Of course, I relish the chance to take a few days to relax with my family, and I love our traditions. On the other hand, I worry that a four day weekend of rushing between houses is not really the relaxation I need, and the need to “be ready for Christmas” (the presents! The baking! The decorations! We didn’t watch Elf yet!) feels like it’s coming from the wrong place, at times. I can say that I’m ready on at least one front and that’s the cookie front: we started baking early and we’ve been flush all month. I even ordered Dorie Greenspan’s new book, finding myself without a cookbook dedicated to cookies (hard to imagine, given the size of my cookbook collection).

The base of these Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches is a chocolate cookie from Dorie’s book called a Melody. The Melody cookies on their own are delicious – crisp, buttery, and chocolaty. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I decided to fill them with a simple peppermint-mascarpone buttercream and dip them in chocolate. This treatment makes them seriously decadent – definitely don’t have more than one! But really delicious, and beautiful to boot.

Have the most wonderful Christmas if you’re celebrating, and a relaxing long weekend if you’re not. As one of my lovely Colombian coworkers told me today, “I wish you not just presents, but love and health for the new year.” I thought that was the nicest sentiment, and I wanted to pass it on to you.

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right, on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Makes 13-15 large sandwich cookies

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup mascarpone
• 2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp peppermint oil
• 1 batch Melody Cookies, recipe below
• 9 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Beat butter and mascarpone together until smooth. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the remaining powdered sugar and continue beating until the consistency is light and smooth. Stir in the peppermint oil. Taste and add additional peppermint oil if desired.
2. Spread a large spoonful of frosting on the flat side of one of the Melody cookies, spreading it evenly out to the edges of the cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Place on a plate. Repeat until you have used all the cookies. Chill the cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes before dipping in chocolate.
3. Place the chocolate chips in a metal bowl. Bring a small pot of water to a gentle simmer. Place the bowl with the chocolate chips on top of the pot. As the chips melt, stir them with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides of the bowl. When the chips are just melted and smooth, remove them from the heat. Dip the cookies halfway into the melted chocolate one at a time, using a spatula to smooth the chocolate up the edges of the cookie as needed. Place the cookies on wax paper to dry. Place the chocolate back over the simmering water as needed for a few seconds to keep it melty. Once the chocolate is dry, serve the cookies or refrigerate them until ready to serve.

Melody Cookies

Recipe from Dorie’s Cookies. Makes about 30 large cookies.

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white
• turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

1. Whisk the flour, sifted cocoa, and baking soda together in a medium bowl until evenly combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and salt together until smooth and light, which should take a few minutes. Beat in the vanilla, followed by the egg white. Beat until smooth again and the egg white is fully blended into the butter. Add half the cocoa-flour mixture and stir just until there are no dry spots left. Add the remaining half of the cocoa-flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together.
2. Split the dough in half and pat into two round disks. Working with one disk at a time, place the dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out into a large rectangle with a thickness of ~1/8 inch. Stack the two slabs of dough (with the parchment paper separating the layers) on a large baking sheet and chill until firm, at least two hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and place on a work surface. Use a round cookie or biscuit cutter with a scalloped edge to cut circles out of the chilled dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle turbinado sugar generously on top of the cookies.  Bake the cookies until firm to the touch, about 15-17 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Reroll and chill any dough scraps before cutting out additional cookies.

The post Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Only two more weeks until Christmas! Hard to believe, right? I think, in truth, I have mixed feelings about this season. I want to slow down and enjoy it and spend long days just, I don’t know, being festive. Like when you were a kid. But there’s still work and projects and wrapping things up for the end of the year. So, like most things in life, I’m striving for balance, getting things done while also indulging in Christmas activities. I’m also trying not to set unreasonably high standards for myself about what it means to “celebrate.” What this balance translates to in my house is the Swinging Christmas Pandora station playing when I’m cooking dinner, even if dinner is not particularly Christmasy. It means watching Love Actually and The Grinch and A Muppet Christmas Carol with Trevor, even if we only make it through 1/3 of each movie every night. It means baking simple cookies that can be made on a weeknight and saved for later, and spending a few minutes every day just sitting by the tree and enjoying the lights. Because a little bit of Christmas spirit every day adds up!

One of my more ambitious Christmas kitchen projects this year was these Spiked Eggnog Éclairs with Nutmeg Glaze. These are a weekend project, good for a freezing cold Saturday like today. Or, in the spirit of what I wrote above, you can split the prep over a few days, like I did, making the eggnog pastry cream in the morning before work, then baking and filling the shells later. I love eggnog – it’s so indulgent but so good. With a splash of rum and just a hint of nutmeg it’s one of my favorite Christmas treats. So turned into a pastry cream and piped into freshly baked éclair shells? I am definitely into it.

This recipe is adapted from Jenny McCoy‘s book Modern Éclairs, which is full of great recipes for sweet and savory éclairs, profiteroles, and other treats using pate a choux. I particularly like the savory recipes, like the Croque Monsieur Éclairs and the Cheddar, Chipotle and Roasted Corn Gougeres. But for Christmas, I couldn’t resist testing out the very seasonal Eggnog Éclairs. The original eggnog pastry cream recipe didn’t call for any liquor, but having tasted it both before and after adding the rum, I think the spiked version is superior. I always have a tough time piping filling into éclairs, so in the recipe below I call for slicing them in half to fill. But if you’re handy with a piping bag, by all means, fill away.

I hope your Christmas preparations are getting underway, too, if Christmas is your thing. And either way, I hope you’re finding some time to enjoy this festive season!

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right, on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Disclosure: I received a review copy of Modern Eclairs from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Spiked Eggnog Eclairs with Nutmeg Glaze

Recipe adapted from Modern Éclairs. Makes 20 large eclairs.

For the eggnog pastry cream:

• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 4 TBS cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups eggnog
• 5 TBS salted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup dark spiced rum

For the elcair shells and nutmeg glaze:

• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 10 TBS salted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1 1/2 cup bread flour, sifted
• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 TBS dark rum

1. To prepare the eggnog pastry cream: add the egg yolks, whole egg, cornstarch, and sugar to a large heatproof bowl. Beat vigorously until very smooth (you don’t want any lumps of cornstarch). Set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring the eggnog to a gentle simmer. Slowly pour the hot eggnog over the eggs while whisking the eggs vigorously to prevent scrambling. Return the mixture to the pot and cook over medium low heat, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the 5 TBS of butter pieces until melted. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Let cool about 10 minutes, then stir in the rum. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.
2. To prepare the pate a choux dough: add the water, milk, butter pieces, and sugar to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is boiling and the butter is fully melted. Turn off the heat and add the sifted bread flour all at once, stirring hard until there are no dry lumps of flour left. Turn the heat back on and cook the dough while continuing to stir it constantly until a skin begins to form on the base of the pot (or the dough begins to look slightly dry on the surface if using a non-stick pot), which should take about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Let dough cool for about 3 minutes, and then add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg into the dough completely before adding the next egg. The final dough should be thick and shiny and slowly run off your spoon when lifted out of the bowl.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Fit a pastry bag with a large star tip and fill the bag with the pate a choux dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe long, straight, and thick lines of dough, leaving 2 inches of space between them. Each eclair should be about 5 inches long and 1 inch wide. They will look awkwardly skinny but don’t be tempted to make them wider – they will expand as they bake. Press down any pointy tips with your finger. Bake the eclairs until deep golden brown and cooked through, about 45 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before filling.
4. To fill, use a serrated knife to cut the eclairs in half lengthwise. Fill a pastry bag with the eggnog pastry cream and pipe onto the cut side of each eclair bottom. In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and nutmeg until smooth, then add the rum and whisk until a smooth, runny glaze has formed. If the glaze does not drip easily off of a spoon, add a little more rum. Drizzle the glaze over the un-cut side of the eclair tops, using the back of a spoon to smooth out the glaze if necessary. Let the glaze dry before putting the tops back on the filled eclairs. Serve immediately.

The post Spiked Eggnog Eclairs with Nutmeg Glaze appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Every year I seem to end up posting Christmas recipes just days before Christmas is here. December is a busy month, and although I have the best of intentions to share delicious, festive recipes with you all month long, I always seem to get overwhelmed by the whirl of wrapping up projects and preparing for all the events and tasks that go along with the holidays. So here I am, two days before Christmas, with three Christmas cookie recipes for those of you who are planning on some last minute baking or some really early planning for next year.

Actually, if I’m being fully honest with you, this year is a bit different. I’ve been carving out more time to prepare for Christmas and here I sit, two days to go, with all my presents purchased and wrapped, three kinds of cookies in the freezer, two Christmas movies (and four of six Star Wars movies) watched, one party successfully thrown and several others attended. In fact, I’ve had these cookies baked and photographed for the past few weeks, I’ve just been having trouble finding the right words to accompany them. I’m trying to be more purposeful with the words I share on this space – less fluff and more meaning, and better use of the excellent education I’ve been so fortunate to receive (looking back at hastily written posts makes my former straight-A English student self cringe).

Earlier versions of this post, the ones that went unpublished and sounded eerily reminiscent of past Christmas posts, were filled with thoughts of stress and to-do lists and cold dark days, which is so counter to the idea of Christmas spirit that I couldn’t bring myself to publish them. But I woke up this morning, the first morning of my brief 5-day vacation, knowing what I wanted to say. So here it is: Rest. Take a deep breath. Stop worrying and enjoy being with the people you love, just for the next few days. Throw out your to-do list and congratulate yourself for everything you’ve already done. Celebrate Christmas with a calm and joyful heart. Drink a little too much wine or have an extra cookie and don’t stress about a few extra pounds. Take a break, because next year will be here before you know it and you need to rest every once in a while. I write these things with myself in mind more than anything – it’s so easy for me to forget to enjoy myself, even when I’m in the midst of something that should be a wonderful experience. So for the next few days, I’m going to focus on just that – enjoying myself.

And because I promised you cookies, here’s three. First, chocolate peppermint snowballs, dotted with chocolate chips and rolled in crushed candy canes. Second, soft and gently-spiced speculoos stars, dipped in white chocolate and colored sprinkles. Third, delicate, lacy florentines with candied orange peel, candied ginger, almonds, and a drizzle of dark chocolate, the most elegant holiday cookies you’ll put on your table. They’re all lovely, although I have a soft spot for the speculoos, which are like a gentler version of gingerbread. And with that, I’m signing off for a few days, hopefully to take my own advice and come back feeling refreshed and calm. Merry Christmas!

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door in the box on the right or on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Peppermint Snowballs

Recipe adapted slightly from Bon Appetit. Makes about 36 cookies.

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 stick butter, cut into quarters
• 1/2 c. finely crushed peppermint candies, plus more for decorating
• 6 TBS sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 c. milk chocolate chips

1. Place bittersweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, and butter into a medium saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring, until chocolate and butter are completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 c. crushed peppermint candies and sugar. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
2. Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture one at a time, then whisk in vanilla extract and peppermint extract. In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder, then stir into chocolate mixture. Stir chocolate chips into mixture. Cover batter and chill for 30 minutes, or until easy to roll into firm balls.
3. Preheat oven to 325°F. Roll cookie dough into balls that are approximately the size of a ping pong ball. Place on cookie sheets and bake until puffed and cracked on top, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with additional crushed peppermint candies or powdered sugar.

White-Chocolate Dipped Speculoos Stars

Recipe adapted slightly from Bon Appetit. Makes about 36 cookies.

• 2 c. flour
• 1 TBS ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 4 oz. high quality white chocolate, cut into pieces
• colored sugar sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients a few scoops at a time, beating to incorporate flour between additions. Dough will be slightly dry. Divide dough in two, flattening into two large rectangles. Wrap each rectangle in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out one of the dough rectangles to about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutter to cut out stars and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling dough as necessary. Bake cookies until edges begin to darken, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
3. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on low power, stopping to stir every 20 seconds, until the chocolate is runny. Do not overheat or chocolate will seize and you will need to start over. Brush or drizzle the chocolate onto the cookies, then sprinkle with the colored sugar. Let chocolate cool, then store the cookies between waxed paper sheets in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve.

Chocolate-Dipped Orange and Ginger Florentines

Adapted from Bon Appetit. Makes 30.

• 3 oranges, scrubbed
• 1 c. plus 4 TBS sugar, divided
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. plus 2 TBS heavy cream
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 TBS butter
• 2/3 c. sliced almonds, toasted
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 TBS finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1. To make the candied orange peel, peel the orange using a vegetable peeler, being careful to remove only the orange part of the peel and not the white pith. Finely chop enough of the orange peel to measure 1 TBS and set aside for the cookie batter. Place the remaining peel in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cook for 2 minutes, then drain. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water to the orange peel and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain, reserving the orange syrup for another use. Sprinkle 2 TBS of sugar on a plate or other flat surface, and transfer the candied peel to the sugar. Sprinkle another 2 TBS of sugar on top of the peel. Let dry for 20 minutes, then roughly chop enough candied peel to measure 2 TBS.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray generously with cooking spray (this is very important, as cookies will stick to aluminum foil if not prepared properly. You can also use silpat mats but you will need to let cool for longer before removing the cookies).
3. In a medium saucepan, combine cream, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, then add the 1 TBS of reserved un-candied orange peel, the 2 TBS of candied orange peel, the toasted almond, crystallized ginger, and flour. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat.
4. Use a tablespoon to scoop the warm batter onto the prepared pans, spacing cookies 3 inches apart as they will spread a lot. You can expect to fit about 6-8 cookies per pan. Place pans in the oven and bake until edges begin to crisp, about 10-12 minutes. Slide foil off sheets and cool cookies on foil, then carefully peel the cookies from the foil. Repeat until you have used all the batter.
5. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt on low power, stopping to stir every 20 seconds, until the chocolate is runny. Do not overheat or chocolate will seize and you will need to start over. Use a spoon to drizzle the chocolate on top of the cooled florentines. Let chocolate harden then transfer cookies to fridge for storage.

The post Ready for Christmas // Peppermint Snowballs, White Chocolate Speculoos, and Chocolate-Orange Florentines appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I like this time of year more and more as I get older. I’m not talking about the holiday season. That I’ve always loved, and actually the holidays seem to become a little more stressful and a little less joyful every year – but I’ll save that topic for another day. I’m talking about the time between the holidays, the normal, early winter days.

I typically approach winter with a feeling of dread. January and February are usually so HARD for me – it’s dark, the snow and the cold the past few years have been relentless, my skin gets so dry that I can’t sleep, and my emotions get all out of whack. Last year I tried to combat it with an end of January trip to the USVI, which helped a little, but February, and even March, to be honest, were brutal. Thankfully, we’ll be skipping a solid 6 weeks of that awful deep winter time this year – thanks to my job, it seems I’ve become a snowbird at a young age.

But December is a different story. I vividly remember walking home from work one night in mid-December last year – it was cold, but very bright. After I passed through the hubbub of Harvard Square, it suddenly felt deeply quiet, the kind of quiet that is rare in a city. The kind of quiet that I associate with being in the woods, with a soft blanket of snow reflecting the moon into the night. The moon was full, the trees, stripped of their leaves, left stark echos against the blue-black sky. And I realized, all at once, that I love that quiet, that stillness. It’s a stillness that only comes with true cold, with the earth settling into sleep. So there is a part of winter that I love, and it felt significant to me to recognize this, to embrace something I was dreading.

These past few weeks I’ve been experiencing the same thing – a feeling of calm on cold, moonlit evenings, and on brisk, crisply sunny mornings. Enjoying the quiet as I wait for the bus in the early morning light, watching my breath form puffy clouds in front of me. It’s a nice counterpoint to the chaotic joy of the holidays.

As you may recall, another reason I can get behind winter is warm cocktails. Over the years I’ve posted a number of my favorite recipes here, like this Burnt Sugar Hot Buttered Rum and this Nutella Melt. Last year I did a little round-up of all my favorite winter cocktails… which it seems I might have to update soon. My first contribution to that list for this season is this Mulled Spiked Cider with Port and Cranberries, which also has a little red wine, apples, and clementines. Like many of my favorite drinks, it’s inspired by Maria and Tara‘s genius book Winter Cocktails, which pretty much becomes a fixture in my kitchen at this time of year. This warm, sweet, boozy drink was the perfect thing to warm us up over the lazy long weekend… and the leftovers are just the thing to look forward to coming home to after a stressful weekday.

Mulled Spiked Cider with Port and Cranberries

Inspired by Winter Cocktails. Serves 4-6.

• 2 whole cinnamon stick
• 2 whole star anise
• 10 whole cloves
• 3 c. apple cider
• 2 clementines, scrubbed and cut into thin slices
• 1/2 c. fresh cranberries
• 1 apple, cored, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 2 c. red wine
• 3/4 c. tawny port
• brandy or Bourbon to taste, optional

1. Add the cinnamon, star anise, and cloves to a large saucepan or dutch oven and toast over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the apple cider, clementines, cranberries, apple, and sugar and gently simmer until fruit is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the red wine and port and continue heating just until the drink begins to steam, then remove from the heat and cover to keep warm. Ladle into mugs to serve, removing any cloves that you see as you do so. Adding a splash of brandy or Bourbon to each if you like your drinks a little stronger!

The post Winter Stillness // Mulled Spiked Cider with Port and Cranberries appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: Anyone familiar with Seattle’s restaurant scene will have heard of Renee Erickson’s four establishments – Boat Street Cafe, The Walrus and The Carpenter (an oyster bar and seafood spot), The Whale Wins (where the menu is centered around a massive wood-fired oven), and Barnacle (an aperitivo bar for drinks and tapas). Riding the wave of her success in the restaurant world, Renee has just released a cookbook, A Boat, A Whale, & A Walrus, that documents the evolution of her career and cooking style. The book, which is organized into seasonal menus such as a 4th of July crab feast and an autumnal Normandy dinner, is a lovely ode to simple meals designed to share with friends and family. Something about the book feels unhurried to me, perhaps because the structure is fluid and Renee meanders from a lengthy description of smoked salmon to a series of short-and-sweet “winter ingredients” recipes to a profile of her butcher to a short list of favorite holiday wines, all within a few pages of one another. Adding to the unhurried effect is the soft feel of the design, from the thick off-white paper to the muted, soft-focus images. The food is not fancy or overdone, but simple and refined – recipes to make at home and share, like a mushroom and leek strata for a winter brunch or a pot of manila clams, served with wine, creme fraiche, and herbs, as the centerpiece to a spring dinner. Some of the best recipes are hidden away on the seasonal ingredients pages, which feature short paragraph-style recipes for a handful of ingredients: in spring, favas (grilled whole favas over ricotta with honey), nettles (slow-braised nettle soup), and sorrel (salmon with sorrel cream sauce); in fall, brussels sprouts (brussels sprout carbonara with cayenne), eggplant (pickled baby eggplant), and radicchio (radicchio and comte tart). Of course, the fishing and foraging vibe of the Pacific Northwest comes through strongly, and mussels, salmon, clams, crab, mushrooms, and hearty greens all receive their due.

The Food: I’ve bounced all over the place trying to decide what recipe I wanted to make for you from this book. First it was the Celery Root and Celery Leaf Salad with Pomegranate and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette, but then after I purchased the ingredients Trevor told me he’s allergic to raw celery root, so that ship sailed. I toyed with the idea of making the Martinis with Anchovy-Stuffed Olives and Preserved Lemon for New Year’s Eve, but I’m really just not a gin person (although that recipe Trevor would absolutely love, so maybe I’ll make him one some night soon). Same goes for the Pickled Mussel Toasts with Garlic Aioli – sounds delicious if you eat mussels, which I don’t. I flipped through the pages of the book countless times, hemming and hawing. In the end, the recipe that called to me the most was this Molasses Spice Cake with Candied Orange Peel. Yes, it’s 100% a perfect Christmas recipe. And yes, Christmas Day has already passed. But we have a lot more cold winter mornings ahead of us and this cake is just as appropriate for January or February as it is for December. Besides, Christmas technically lasts until January 6th, so we’re having spice cake.

This cake is a rustic, bundt-pan affair. It’s dark and spicy, flavored with espresso, molasses, mustard, and black pepper, then glazed with orange juice and topped with candied orange peel. Trevor described it as elemental and I think that word is a good fit. It must be served with a healthy dollop of whipped cream, for the contrast of the cream’s sweet lightness to the cake’s spice and density. The only tricky parts about making it are adding a full cup of coffee to a butter-based butter without it separating (just go slowly) and perhaps candying the orange peel, although really that’s rather straightforward too. Even if you’ve put away your flour and sugar for this year, bookmark this one for the next time you need a cake that’s rich and wintry.

Recipe Shortlist: Celery Root and Leaf Salad with Poppy Seeds, Walnuts, and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette; Pickled Mussel Toasts with Garlic Aioli; Lacinato Kale Gratin; Mussels in Cider with Dijon, Creme Fraiche, and Tarragon; Parsnip Soup with Leeks, Apples, and Walnut Oil; Grilled Whole Favas over Ricotta with Honey and Lime; Crab Melts with Tarragon Mayo and Cheddar; Harissa-Rubbed Roasted Lamb

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of A Boat, A Whale, & A Walrus from Sasquatch Books, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Molasses Spice Cake with Candied Orange Peel

Recipe from A Boat, A Whale, & A Walrus. Serves 10-12.

• 2 1/2 c. AP flour, sifted
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
• 1TBS ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 10 TBS butter, softened, plus more for the pan
• 3/4 c. plus 1 c. sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. molasses
• 4 shots espresso, cooled, plus whole milk to equal 1 c. liquid total
• 2 organic navel oranges, washed on the outside
• freshly whipped cream, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Thoroughly butter and flour a bundt pan, tapping out any extra flour. I find it easiest to use a tablespoon of melted butter and a pastry  brush to brush the butter into all the nooks of the pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnnamon, mustard and pepper until evenly combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl or a stand mixer, beat the softened butter until pale and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and beat vigorously until sugar is fully incorporated, at least 1 minute. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing between additions. Beat in the molasses until it is fully incorporated. Slowly drizzle in the espresso and milk mixture, mixing the batter the whole time. If the batter begins to separate, stop the addition of the coffee and add a little bit of the flour mixture to the batter to help work the butter back into the batter, then continue mixing in the coffee.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the flour and stir until just incorporated. Batter should be fairly smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake onto a cooling rack.
5. To make the candied oranges, use a vegetable peeler to cut the peel from the oranges, being careful to remove only the orange peel and not the white pith underneath. Cut the peel into strips 1/4 inch wide, then place the peel in a small saucepan and cover with water. Boil the peel for 5 minutes, then drain. Squeeze the juice from the oranges into a cup, adding water to equal 1 cup of liquid. Add the orange juice and the remaining 1 cup of sugar to the saucepan with the orange peel. Bring to a simmer over low heat, and simmer until peel is shiny and almost translucent, about 10 minutes. Don’t turn the heat up too high or the liquid may boil over. Remove the candied peel with a spoon and let dry on a piece of parchment paper. Use the orange syrup in which you candied the peel to glaze the cake: brush the glaze on the cake while the cake is still warm, letting the cake dry for 2-3 minutes after each coat of glaze. Do this until all the glaze has been used and the cake is shiny. Serve the cake with the candied orange peel and freshly whipped cream.

The post Book Club: A Boat, A Whale, & A Walrus // Molasses Spice Cake with Candied Orange Peel appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

It’s finally the weekend! And not just any weekend, the weekend before Christmas. This week certainly dragged on, but Trevor and I both finished our classes on Wednesday night, work is winding down for the holiday break, and the path to more relaxing times is getting clearer. I have a few things to wrap up this weekend (holiday photo shoots! Christmas shopping!), but I’m definitely going to be spending some quality downtime with Trevor, and heading home to make cookies with my mom on Sunday. If you’re also planning on breaking out the sugar, butter, and flour this weekend, I have one more recipe for you to add to your lists – peppermint bark brownies.

Brownies are perhaps the hardest baked good to make from scratch, at least when it comes to making homemade ones that are as good as the box mix version. Some might argue that when the boxed mixes (especially that amazing Ghiradelli stuff) are so good, there’s no reason to tinker around with from-scratch recipes. And I’d almost agree with you, but there’s something about figuring out how to make a recipe work exactly how I want it to that’s very satisfying. Plus I really enjoy baking – the whisking, the melting, the folding – and I’m much more likely to have the ingredients for brownies in my cupboard than an actual box of brownie mix. All that said – if you’re a box mix person, make those, stir in peppermint bark at the end, and you’ll be very pleased. For the rest of you, a few notes on this recipe: this recipe makes a very fudgy, thick brownie with a crackly crust. They’re a lot better once they’ve fully cooled – the consistency improves – and the best on the second day. I thought the original was a touch too sweet, so I reduced the sugar slightly, with no adverse effects on the texture. I’ve tried a lot of brownie recipes, and this is definitely one of the best. The addition of peppermint bark gives the whole thing a slight mintyness and biting into big chunks of peppermint bark in the middle of a brownie is pretty satisfying. I took most of this batch to a holiday party at my old roommate’s last weekend (perhaps foreseeing my terrible lack of self control during times of stress), but I may have to make another batch this weekend to keep for myself.

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Peppermint Bark Brownies

Brownie recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated via Chew Out Loud. Makes 16.

• 1/3 c. cocoa powder
• 1/2 c. + 2 TBS boiling water
• 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/2 c. + 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 4 TBS salted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 recipe homemade peppermint bark, chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with tin foil, smoothing it out across the bottom and up the sides, then grease the tinfoil (don’t skip this, as the brownies will stick to the foil).
2. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Sift the cocoa powder into a large, heatproof bowl. Measure the boiling water out (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS) and pour over the cocoa powder, whisking until smooth. Immediately add the chopped chocolate and stir until fully melted. Add the vegetable oil and the melted butter and whisk until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, whisking to incorporate between additions. Add the vanilla, then add the sugar and whisk vigorously until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Sift the flour over the top of the chocolate mixture, then sprinkle the salt over the top of the flour. Use a spatula to gently stir until the flour and chocolate is just combined. Stir in 3/4 of the chopped peppermint bark, setting the remaining pieces aside. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the remaining pieces of peppermint bark over the top of the batter. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, then remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the tinfoil up and out. Cut into squares and serve.

The post Peppermint Bark Brownies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I have to admit to you all, I’m having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. I feel as though I’ve said this before, and when I look back at posts from past years, I see similar sentiments. It’s a busy time of year, and I’m struggling to be excited and engaged instead of just feeling kind of run down. I think the underlying problem is that so much of what I do every day feels like another item on my checklist, and not enough is spontaneous or just for fun. I’m hoping that this feeling starts to go away once I get some major things off my plate: my economics final next week, and a few big client deadlines coming up. And starting now, I’m going to try and focus on building more relaxation and spontaneity into my day-to-day.

I am trying to get in the spirit, though – to be thoughtful, and joyous, and rested. We’ve been cranking up the Christmas carols when we’re cooking, we put up and decorated our tree this week, I made the first batch of Christmas cookies and shared them at work, and I tried to go to Mass last weekend (it turned out that it was not actually Mass but a caroling concert put on by the Harvard Catholic choir – I still get credit for that, right?). I’m also sitting by the tree to write this post, hoping maybe it’s sweet smell and calming lights will wear off on me (it’s kind of working, too). So with two weeks to go, I think there’s still hope for me and Christmas this year.

Although this post itself may not be very Christmasy, I assure you that these cookies will make up for it. The cookie is dark, soft, and a little spicy, based more on a molasses chew than traditional gingerbread men. I chose cherry jam because I’ve been a little bit obsessed with the Bonne Maman cherry preserves we bought for this Chocolate Cherry Crepe Cake, and I’ve been putting it on pretty much everything, but other jams or jellies would work well too. Most thumbprint cookie recipes have you bake the thumbprints with the jam already in them, but since these cookies will rise and flatten quite a bit, I chose to repeat the indentation process immediately after taking them out of the oven, and then fill them with hot jam. The jam will dry thick and shiny, and these will still be very transportable. Plus they’ll look much neater than if you filled them pre-baking. I also thought these pictures needed a little oomph, so I whipped up a batch of one of my very favorite holiday indulgences – European-style hot chocolate – and spiked it with Cointreau for good measure. If anything will help put you in the Christmas spirit, it’s thick and boozy melted chocolate served steaming hot. In fact, maybe I better go make another batch right now and get this weekend started off right.

Like what you just read? Subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door on Feedly or Bloglovin‘, or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or Google+. Thanks for reading!

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam

Cookie base adapted loosely from Bon Appetit and America’s Test Kitchen. Makes ~30 cookies.

• 2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. dark molasses
• 10 TBS butter, melted
• 1/2 c turbinado sugar, for rolling
• 1/2 c. cherry jam

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt until evenly combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, and brown sugar until smooth. Add the molasses and melted butter and whisk until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together just until combined. Chill the dough for 20 minutes.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the turbinado sugar onto a plate or small bowl. Break off ping pong ball sized pieces of the cookie dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls through the turbinado sugar and place on the baking sheet. Use your thumb or forefinger to make a deep imprint in the center of each cookie. Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes. When you take them out, immediately reinforce the imprints (which will have risen slightly) by using the back of a teaspoon to press the circle back into them.
3. Heat the cherry jam in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is simmering gently. Simmer for 1 minutes, then remove from heat and spoon 1 teaspoon of the hot jam into the center of each cookie. Let cookies cool completely.

The post Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

As promised, I’m back with the drinkable half of my submission to Captain’s Table Christmas. Trevor did rum-cocktail research while I was away in Russia/Spain, and his favorite discovery was the Tom & Jerry, a variant of eggnog that is served warm. Apparently it’s a traditional Christmastime cocktail here in the States, but it was new to me, perhaps because it isn’t typically found outside of the midwest. I’m curious, have any of you ever had one? Do you have any favorite flavors? We decided to flavor this version with chocolate and orange, another traditional Christmastime combo. To make the “batter,” sweetened cocoa-powder and egg yolks get folded in to whipped egg whites, and then the batter is mixed with rum and orange liqueur and frothed with a little bit of warm milk, resulting in a sweet, strong, frothy drink with lots of Christmasy flavors. Give it a try! And then the next time you go to Wisconsin or Minnesota you’ll be that much more culturally attuned.

Remember, use the #CaptainsTable hashtag in your tweets/pins/instagrams/posts about holiday recipes and entertaining and $1 will be donated to WhyHunger every time. So mix up a drink, snap a picture, and share!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Captain Morgan, who provided me with product samples and monetary compensation in exchange for my participation in this program. All opinions are honest and my own, as always.

Chocolate-Orange Tom & Jerry

Serves 4.

• 2 eggs
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 TBS cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 2 c. milk
• 4 oz. Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum
• 4 oz. Cointreau or other orange liqueur
• zest from 1 orange

1. Separate the eggs. Whip the egg whites until white and frothy, so they hold their shape but are not stiff and shiny. In a separate bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat the egg yolks together with the cocoa-sugar until very smooth and runny. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the yolks until the mixture is even in color and consistency.
2. Heat the milk over low heat, until it is just beginning to steam, then turn off the heat. To prepare the drinks, add a few TBS of the chocolate egg white “batter” to each of four glasses, then add 1 oz. of rum and 1 oz. of orange liqueur to each glass. Stir gently to combine. Add 1/2 c. of warm milk to each glass, and stir vigorously to froth the drink. Taste, adding more milk or chocolate batter to your liking. Serve immediately topped with orange zest.

The post Captain’s Table Christmas // Chocolate-Orange Tom & Jerry appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

 I can’t believe Christmas is only ten days away. I was in St. Petersburg for a quick trip from last Tuesday to Saturday, then yesterday flew over to Madrid. It’s always exciting to travel, but both trips have been fairly busy, and I’m missing out on critical Christmas-preparation time (thank God for Amazon Prime). Knowing I would feel this way, I made sure that last weekend was Christmas-activity heavy – we went and picked out a tree (our first! Trevor even let me take a gratuitous self-timer picture in front of it), played carols, watched Love Actually, and made this gorgeous roasted duck for the next round of the Captain Morgan Captain’s Table Challenge.

After making a sweetish side-dish for the last round, we knew that this time around we wanted to do a stunning, savory, Christmas dinner centerpiece. This whole roast duck with a pomegranate, orange and rum glaze is just that. The flavors are a perfect mix of fruity, bright, herbal, and salty; the skin is golden and crispy; the meat is tender. Surrounded by a boozy chestnut, apple, and pancetta stuffing that echoes all the flavors in the duck itself, it’s the perfect thing to grace your Christmas dinner table if you’re having a small gathering. I genuinely loved the complexity the rum gave to both the duck and the stuffing, and I might have to make the whole thing again soon even if just for a cozy Sunday night dinner.

Also, I have to take a moment to brag here (not a humblebrag, I’m still working on that skill) – Trevor and I won the first round of the Captain’s Table Challenge with our sweet-potato souffle and sparkling cranberry-ginger cocktail! I think the most exciting part for me is that Hugh Acheson was the judge, and it feels quite validating to have a successful chef say your recipe seems decent. Finding out was just the momentum we needed to come up with this duck recipe. Stay tuned for our drinkable submission to the Christmas round later this week – Trevor’s been testing out cocktails while I’ve been away, so he’s getting to be an expert on rum-based Christmas drinks.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Captain Morgan, who provided me with product samples and monetary compensation in exchange for my participation in this program. All opinions are honest and my own, as always.

Rum-and-Pomegranate Glazed Roast Duck

Serves 4.

For the duck:

• One 5-lb. whole duck
• 1 TBS coarse sea salt
• 1 TBS finely chopped rosemary + 3 whole sprigs rosemary
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• zest of 1 orange, finely grated
• juice from 1 orange
• 2 c. pomegranate juice
• 1/2 c. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
• pomegranate-rum glaze (see below)

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Remove giblets from cavity of duck and reserve for another use. Pat the duck dry and place on a cutting board. Cut off any excess skin, as well as the wing tips (to prevent burning). Truss the bird by tying the legs together over the front side using kitchen twine, tucking the tail between the legs. Score fat on breast-side of duck all over in a cross-hatch pattern, making sure to cut down to the meat. Flip the duck over and prick the back and the legs all over with a sharp knife.
2. Add the salt, 1 TBS of chopped rosemary, black pepper, and orange zest to a mortar and pestle, and pound until rosemary is crushed and mixture is somewhat moist. Rub the paste all over the duck, making sure to get under the skin. Place the duck in a roasting pan. Pour the orange juice, pomegranate juice, and rum over the duck into the bottom of the pan – bottom of the pan should be covered by liquid to a depth of a quarter inch, if it is not, add more pomegranate juice. Add the rosemary sprigs to the liquid, and place duck in the oven.
3. Roast the duck, for 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting the duck with the pan juices every 15-20 minutes. Before the last 15 minutes of cooking, take the duck out of the oven and brush all over with the prepared glaze, then finish off. Let rest 5-10 minutes before carving.

For the glaze:

• 1/2 c. drippings
• 1/2 c. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
• 1/4 c. pomegranate molasses
• juice from 1/2 orange

1. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until reduced to a syrup, about 10-15 minutes.

Boozy Chestnut-Apple Stuffing

Inspired by Yankee Magazine. Serves 4.

• 1 large baguette, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1/4 lb. pancetta, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 honeycrisp apples, cored and cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 c. roasted chestnuts
• 1 TBS minced fresh rosemary
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c. chicken stock
• 1/4 c. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
• seeds from 1 pomegranate

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toss the bread cubes with the olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until golden brown and crispy, about 10 minutes.
2. Place a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the cubed pancetta and fry until crispy on all sides, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onion and apple to the pan with the pancetta fat and saute until the onion is soft and translucent and the apples are beginning to soften, about 10 minutes. Toss the onion and apple with the cooked pancetta, then stir in the chestnuts and rosemary. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, chicken stock, and rum. Add the toasted bread crumbs to this mixture and toss to coat, then add the apple-chestnut mixture and stir to combine. Butter a medium baking dish, then pour the stuffing into the prepared baking dish. Bake until the top of the stuffing is golden and crispy, about 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the pomegranate seeds.

The post Captain’s Table Christmas // Rum-and-Pomegranate Glazed Roast Duck with Boozy Chestnut-Apple Stuffing appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve been writing about my favorite cookbooks pretty much since I started this blog, but I started writing cookbook reviews in earnest – reaching out to publishers, keeping track of new releases, etc. – only last fall. Since then, I’ve written about 35 cookbooks, 26 of which were released in 2013. My shelves are getting crowded. Since there are new cookbooks coming out seemingly everyday, I want to take a moment to revisit my five favorite books from this year, so they don’t get lost in the fray and buried under newer books without being properly utilized. And, thanks to the very generous people at Taunton Press, Quirk Books, and Rizzoli, one reader will win a copy of all five books, a little holiday present from us to you. Giveaway details are at the end of this post, but first, the books! (In no particular order, choosing my favorite five was hard enough).

The Chef’s Collaborative – I was so pleasantly surprised by The Chef’s Collaborative, which contains a collection of recipes from over 100 of America’s best restaurant chefs. The recipes are universally creative, and all celebrate truly local, seasonal produce from all over the country – from quinces and fava beans to fiddleheads and wild crab apples. The food in this book is exciting and packed with unique flavors, but the restaurant-quality recipes are brought down to a level that’s accessible for most experienced home cooks.

Recipes to try: Thai Pork Sliders with Pickled Cucumbers and Sriracha Aioli; Broccoli-Cheddar Hush-Puppies; Chestnut Waffles with Roasted Apples and Cream; Wild Ramp and Farmstead Cheese Strata with Roasted Tomato Wine Butter; Smoked Rabbit and Andouille Gumbo

Vegetarian Everyday – This is my new go-to cookbook when I’m craving something simple and light that will still taste good. So far the recipes that David and Luise, the talented couple behind the blog Green Kitchen Stories, have included in this book have not disappointed. A few of the recipes from this book have already become standbys in my kitchen, the truest testament to how good a cookbook is, especially during busy weeks when I need to get healthy eating checked off quickly. Many of the recipes in this book are not only vegetarian, but vegan and gluten-free as well, making it the perfect book for someone transitioning, or considering transitioning, to one of these lifestyles.

Recipes to try: Quinoa, Cauliflower, and Ramp Cakes; Baked Blackberry Oatmeal; Roasted Tomato and Chickpea Soup; Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafels; Orange-Kissed Seed Crackers; Savory Tacos with Corn and Mango Filling

Le Pigeon – This big gorgeous book from Le Pigeon, the restaurant in Portland, is one of many chef/restaurant books that came out this fall. Despite many of the recipes being fabulously complicated, I find myself wanting to step up to the challenge because the flavors are just so intense and good. Be prepared to find a lot of recipes for less popular types (squab, rabbit, pheasant) and cuts (liver, tongue, brains) of meat, and definitely look elsewhere for vegetarian food.

Recipes to try: Fried Lamb with Green Garlic Risotto and Pickled Fennel; Smoked Rabbit Pie with Cheddar and Mustard Ice Cream; Creamed Rabbit with Polenta and Black Truffles; Lamb Shepherd’s Pie with Curry Mash

Jenny McCoy’s Desserts for Every Season – So much of our food-culture centers around using local, seasonal ingredients to maximize flavor, but often we forget to carry this through to dessert. This book counteracts that, providing elegant, modern, and truly seasonal dessert recipes for fall, winter, spring, and summer. It’s a beautiful and subdued book, and it will be the one I turn to for the perfect way to finish off a dinner party in any season.

Recipes to try: Pumpkin Milk Chocolate Pie with a Gingersnap Crust; Pumpkin-Maple Ice Cream; Chestnut-Chocolate Layer Cake; Cocoa-Lavender Cream Puffs; Peach and Sweet Corn Ice Cream Cake; Plum-Poppy Seed Kolache

Winter Cocktails – Although we’ve only had this book for two months, it’s already hard to imagine what we would do without its inspiration on cold winter nights (answer: drink less). There are so many great cocktail recipes in here that some nights it’s hard to decide which one we want to try next, or whether we should just repeat one of our new favorites. Some cocktails are served hot, others are rich and creamy, and still others are served in big, sparkling batches of punch, so no matter your taste, you’re sure to find a few new favorites here.

Recipes to try: Burnt Sugar Hot Buttered Rum; Nutella Melt with Frangelico; Applejack Hot Toddy; Pumpkin-Bourbon Eggnog; Chocolate Stout Affagato

Giveaway Details!

Congrats to Trish of JellyBones on winning these books! And thank you everyone for entering… I loved reading your Christmas wishlists, and I hope everyone has a peaceful and joyful Christmas! xo, Katie

I’ve teamed up with Quirk Books, Taunton Press, and Rizzoli to send a copy of each of my 5 favorite cookbooks from this year to one reader. To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what you most want for Christmas/the holidays this year. By entering, you are agreeing to the official rules as listed here:

• No purchase necessary
• Void where prohibited
• One entry per household, and only entries answering the question above will be considered!
• The sponsors of this giveaway are Katie at the Kitchen Door, Quirk Books, Taunton Press, and Rizzoli
  
• The estimated retail value of this giveaway is $178 USD
• The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received
• This contest is only open to U.S. Citizens over the age of 18
• The contest will open today, December 11th at posting time, and will close at 11PM EST on Friday, December 20th, 2013
• One winner will be selected randomly and contacted via email (so please leave an accurate email address!). If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours, the winner forfeits their prize and an alternate winner will be chosen.
• I will post the winner here by Friday, January 3rd.

Please spread the word on twitter and facebook, too!

All 2013 Reviews:

Every Grain of Rice – authentic Chinese home-cooking
Breakfast for Dinner – sweet and savory breakfast combinations re-purposed for dinnertime
The Little Paris Kitchen – classic French cooking made simple enough for every day by TV star Rachel Khoo
Sicilia in Cucina – gorgeous, dual-language cookbook focused on the regional flavors of Sicily
Venezia in Cucina – sister book to Sicilia in Cucina, but focused on Venice
Vegetable Literacy – highly informative vegetable cookbook/encyclopedia, a great resource for enthusiastic kitchen gardeners
The Chef’s Collaborative – creative recipes from a number of chefs celebrating local, seasonal produce
Home Made Summer – a sequel to Home Made and Home Made Winter, packed with simple, summery recipes that make the most of the season’s bounty
Try This At Home – a fun introduction to molecular gastronomy techniques through the ever creative eyes of Top-Chef Winner Richard Blais
Cooking with Flowers – full of sweet recipes that can be made from the flowers in your neighborhood, like lilacs, marigolds, and daylilies
Vegetarian Everyday – healthy, creative recipes from the couple behind Green Kitchen Stories
The Southern Vegetarian – favorite Southern comfort food classics turned vegetarian by the folks at The Chubby Vegetarian
Le Pain Quotidien – simple soups, salads, breads, and desserts from the well-loved Belgian chain
Live Fire – ambitious live-fire cooking projects that range from roasting an entire lamb on an iron cross to stuffing burgers with blue cheese to throw on your grill
True Brews – a great, accessible introduction to brewing your own soda, kombucha, kefir, cider, beer, mead, sake, and fruit wine
Le Petit Paris – a cute little book of classic sweet and savory French dishes, miniaturized for your next cocktail party
Wild Rosemary & Lemon Cake – regional Italian cookbook focused on the flavors of the Amalfi coast
Vedge – creative, playful vegan recipes from Philadelphia’s popular restaurant of the same
Full of Flavor – a whimsical cookbook that builds intense flavor around 18 key ingredients
Le Pigeon – ambitious but amazing recipes for cooking meat of all sorts, from lamb tongue to eel to bison
Pickles, Pigs, and Whiskey – a journey through Southern food in many forms, from home pickling and meat curing to making a perfect gumbo
Jenny McCoy’s Desserts for Every Season – gorgeous, unique desserts that make the most of each season’s best fruits, nuts, and vegetables
Winter Cocktails – warm toddies, creamy eggnogs, festive punches, and everything else you need to get you through the colder months
Bountiful – produce-heavy, garden-inspired recipe from Diane and Todd of White on Rice Couple
Melt – macaroni and cheese taken to extremes you would never have thought of, in the best way possible
The Craft Beer Cookbook – all your favorite comfort food recipes infused with the flavors of craft beers, from beer expert Jackie of The Beeroness

The post Top 5 Cookbooks of 2013, A Holiday Giveaway! appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

It’s that time of year again. Time for decorating and cookie-baking and holiday parties and racking your brains for inspiration for the perfect present. I know some people find gift-giving overly stressful and materialistic, but I actually love trying to find something that will be well loved by the people I love the most, something that will make them smile. So even though everyone and their mother seems to be writing a gift guide (or 6) this week, I’m throwing my picks into the ring, too. All of the items I’ve included here are related in some way to food, because this is, after all, a food blog. And really, do you know anyone who doesn’t like food? I mean, I actually do know a couple of those people, but I certainly don’t understand them, so I can’t really tell you what they want for Christmas. Also, all my gift suggestions are themed, because I like themes. And organizing things. Anyways, I hope you find some inspiration below, and if not, check out last year’s gift guide, or these ones from Ashley, Joanna, and The Every Girl.

Shopping doesn’t get you into the holiday spirit? How about baking? Yeah? OK, good. Because I just made my first batch of Christmas cookies and I think you’ll like them. I thought I was being really creative when I thought of chopping up homemade peppermint bark and putting it in cookies, but, as with most recipes, a quick google search revealed that lots of people had this great idea well before me. Heidi made plain and chocolate versions of these way back in 2003, and hers were based on an apparently famous Neiman Marcus recipe. Still, the thought of these was too tempting to ignore, so I forged ahead and made my own version. They’re fudgey in the middle and just minty-sweet enough, and if you temper the chocolate correctly while making the peppermint bark, it should taste really smooth even when baked into the cookies. Scroll down for the recipe!

1) For the brewer

This has been a big food DIY experimenting year for us, and for many other food-focused Americans. (I don’t really want to self-identify as a hipster, but I’m worried that that’s kinda what that last sentence means…). Home-brewing has been our most successful form of experimentation, and our interest was kickstarted by Emma’s book, True Brews. Once we realized that home brewing is actually pretty easy and very rewarding, we were on a roll, with watermelon soda, blackberry wine, homemade sake, and cranberry mead all gracing our cabinets. Anyone with a back-to-basics ethos and an abundance of fresh fruit will appreciate being able to turn it all into booze.

1) Fruit Wine Brewing Kit; 2) Cookbook: True Brews; 3) Fruit Straining Bag; 4) Bottles for Serving; 5) Champagne Yeast (for Sodas, some Ciders, some Meads); 6) Fruit and Wine Press

2) For the grillmaster

Personally, I like the idea of grilling more than I actually like grilling, but maybe all I need are some cool gadgets (like a smoking box!) to motivate me. There were a lot of great grilling cookbooks released this year, and the concept of cooking with live fire seems to be getting more popular in the food world. Bonus: if you get any of the below for someone you see frequently, you might even get treated to some really excellent hickory-smoked burgers.

1) Smoker box; 2) Apple, Mesquite, and Hickory Smoking Chips; 3) Cookbook: Where There’s Smoke; 4) Barbecue Pit Gloves; 5) Himalayan Salt Block; 6) Grill Tools Set; 7) Cookbook: Wicked Good Burgers

3) For the ice cream fanatic

A few years ago for my birthday, my parents got me a cute red ice cream maker, and I love, love, love being able to make ice cream that’s ten times better than store-bought (well, not than Ben & Jerry’s, but that would be impossible) whenever I want. I use it all year, for treats like Pumpkin-Maple Ice Cream in the fall, Peppermint Stick in the winter, Strawberry-Sour Cream in the spring, and Cherry-Chocolate in the summer.

1) Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker; 2) Zeroll Ice Cream Scoop; 3) Cookbook: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones; 4) Sundae Glasses; 5) Sundae Spoons; 6) Paper Cups; 7) Sandwich Maker

4) For the healthy food lover

To make up for the times when I’m indulging in Creamy Chicken Pot Pie, Braised Lamb Shanks with Blue Cheese Polenta, and other blog treats, I try to stick to the lighter side of the food world when I’m not blogging. Green smoothies are a favorite of mine (and I really love that smoothie water bottle pictured below), and just generally eating more vegetables and farmer’s market produce is a huge step in the right direction. Make that easier for someone you love with some healthy cookbooks, a cute market tote, or a CSA subscription!

1) Compact Juicer; 2) Great Water/Smoothie Bottle; 3) FitBit; 4) Cookbook: Vegetarian Everyday; 5) “Oh Kale Yeah” Market Tote; 6) Olive Oil Mister; 7) Cookbook: Eat Your Vegetables; 8) Local CSA Subscription

So now that we’ve promised ourselves we’ll be healthy when we’re not indulging… let’s indulge. Christmas cookies!

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Chip Cookies

Base recipe adapted from In the Sweet Kitchen. Makes 18 cookies.

• 1 c. plus 2 TBS AP flour
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 stick (1/2 c.) salted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
• 6 TBS sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 1/4 c. (about 8 oz.) peppermint bark bits, recipe below

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, then whisk together until evenly combined. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the butter with the brown sugar and regular sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until thoroughly combined. Beat in the vanilla and peppermint extracts.
3. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in two additions, stirring to fully moisten the flour between additions. Stir batter until fully moistened, but don’t overmix. Stir in 1 c. of the peppermint bark bits until evenly combined.
4. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and place rounded spoonfuls of batter on the cookie sheet placed at least 2 inches apart. Place one or two pieces of the remaining 1/4 c. of peppermint bark bits on top of each cookie. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the outside edges have begun to crack slightly and the center is set. Cookies will still be very fudgy in the middle when you take them out of the oven, but will firm up as they cool. Let cool for 3-5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

Peppermint Bark

Recipe adapted slightly from Sara Moulton. Makes 2 lbs.

• 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 12 oz. white chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 12 candy canes, crushed (about 1 c. of crushed pieces)

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil, making it as smooth as possible on the bottom. Place the semisweet chocolate chips in a metal bowl, and set the bowl over the simmering water. Stir the chocolate chips until they are all just barely melted and the chocolate is thick and shiny, then use a spatula to scrape onto the lined baking sheet. Use the spatula to smooth the chocolate into an even layer of about 1/4 inch thickness – the chocolate will probably not fill up an entire baking sheet, which is fine. Place the baking sheet in the fridge until the chocolate has just started to set and is no longer shiny, about 10 minutes. You don’t want to let the chocolate get too cold, or it will not adhere to the white chocolate. On the other hand, if it’s still too warm when you add the white chocolate, you will not get clean layers but the two will marble.
2. Clean out and dry your metal bowl, then add the white chocolate chips to it. Melt over the double boiler in the same manner as the semisweet chips. Once melted, stir in the peppermint extract. Remove from the heat. If your semisweet chocolate layer is not cool enough yet, alternate keeping the white chocolate over the double boiler and off to the side every 60-90 seconds to keep it about the right temperature. Once the semisweet chocolate is ready, pour the white chocolate on top and smooth out into an even layer. Sprinkle the candy canes on top of the white chocolate, pressing them in lightly with your fingers. Place the baking sheet in the fridge until the chocolate is fully set, at least 30 minutes. Stick a sharp knife into the chocolate in several areas to break up into smaller chunks. If it gets difficult to break up, put it back in the fridge until it becomes brittle again. Store in the fridge.

The post Food Lover’s Gift Guide 2013 // Chocolate Peppermint Bark Chip Cookies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I think Peppermint-Stick might be my favorite flavor of ice cream. At least, it’s up there with Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and New York Super Fudge Chunk (and all the other Ben & Jerry’s flavors…). I think I partly like that it’s so girly and pink, and that it tastes like it looks – sort of simple and sweet and refreshing. This is certainly the time of year that peppermint is all the rage, but I love this ice cream regardless of the season – it actually brings up very vivid memories of standing on the lawn at the Bagaduce Lunch, eating a quickly melting waffle cone of the sweet, pink stuff and soaking up the sun. Mmm, ice cream in the summer. So good.

But ice cream in the winter is also good! Since I worked today and I’m working tomorrow, and since resolutions don’t need to start for almost another week, I thought I’d make a little treat to reward myself for working during the holidays. And since Starbucks has already proved to us that peppermint, chocolate, and coffee are an excellent combination, I decided to throw a few scoops of this on top of an espresso brownie, and then drizzle it with mocha sauce for good measure. Voila! A Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae. Because that’s just what we all needed the day after Christmas. (Don’t worry, this year’s cleanse is coming up soon, and then this blog will be sorely lacking in sugar and heavy cream).

This sundae was pretty perfect, in my book. If you’re looking for something to do with extra candy canes and/or you’re not ready to give up all the sugary goodness of Christmastime, definitely give it a try!

P.S. It’s National Candy Cane Day! How timely!

Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae

• 1 large scoop peppermint-stick ice cream (recipe below)
• 1 espresso brownie (recipe below)
• 1/4 c. mocha hot fudge sauce (recipe below)
• whipped cream
• crushed candy canes, for garnish

Assemble all ingredients and dig in!

Peppermint-Stick Ice Cream

Recipe from Dawn’s Recipes. Makes 1 quart.

• 1 c. whole milk
• 2 c. heavy cream
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
• 10 candy canes (about 5 oz.), crushed into small pieces

1. Whisk together the milk, 1 c. of the heavy cream, the sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and heat, whisking occasionally, just until milk begins to simmer.
2. While milk is heating, prepare three other bowls – in one bowl, whisk together the six egg yolks. In the second bowl, pour the remaining 1 c. of heavy cream, and set a fine mesh strainer over the top. Fill the third (largest) bowl halfway with ice water.
3. Pour the hot milk slowly over the egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs. Pour the custard mixture back into the pan and return to the heat, whisking the whole time. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, just until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl with the heavy cream, and stir to combine. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring, and place bowl into the ice bath. Stir until the custard has cooled.
4. Cover the custard and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Once thoroughly chilled, pour into prepared ice cream maker and process according to directions. Just before the ice cream has finished thickening, pour in the crushed candy canes and let churn for 1 minute more to incorporate. Freeze the ice cream until ready to serve.

Espresso Brownies

Recipe adapted slightly from Crustabakes. Makes 16 small brownies. 

• 5 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 stick salted butter, cut into quarters
• 3 TBS cocoa powder
• 2 TBS instant espresso powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c. flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-in baking pan with tin foil so that the foil hangs over the edges (for easy removal of the brownies).
2. Heat a large, half-full pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place chocolate and butter in a smaller saucepan and place over the boiling water. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder. Let cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour in the warm chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Fold in the flour until just incorporated, then pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top of the brownies are beginning to crack and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached to it. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan, then lift out using the foil.

Mocha Hot Fudge Sauce

Prepare this recipe, adding 2 TBS of espresso powder when you add the cocoa powder.

The post Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I know at this point (only two more sleeps ’till Christmas!) that it’s highly unlikely that any of you will run out to the grocery store to get the ingredients to make this for Christmas morning. And that’s OK. I just wanted to take a morning to indulge in the scents and flavors of Christmas and to slowly enjoy it with Trevor, since we’ll be waking up separately on the 25th. Truth be told, all of these dishes would be good at any brunch, not just once a year. Plus, it’s remarkably simple to put together, given the result (utter deliciousness).

The original menu from Gourmet, which serves eight, has nine dishes: Pomegranate Mimosas, Cafe au Lait, Citrus Salad with Star Anise Syrup, Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives, Crisp Oven-Browned Potatoes, Turkey Sausage Patties, Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon, Honey Almond Granola, and Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake. The first year we made everything, but now we skip the bacon and the granola, because they seem a bit extraneous amongst all the other goodies. The potatoes, also, are really nothing special – they need a little more flavor, or cheese, or crispness or something – but I’ve included them here since we do usually serve some sort of potato. Just feel free to doctor the recipe up with fresh herbs or a little cheese or to turn them into your favorite gratin.

That means that the recipes that really define this meal for me are the mimosas (doubly appropriate today since I’m celebrating the fact that I got a big promotion this week!!), the citrus and star anise salad (which I’ve actually written about before), the eggs, the sausage, and the cake. All of these recipes are tried and true – and everything is easy. The eggs are just a matter of grating some cheese, chopping some chives, and blending eggs and milk, yet they’re puffy and flavorful and perfect. The sausages have nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, and cloves to make them really taste of Christmas. And the cake has a tender vanilla-scented crumb with a beautiful stripe of cranberry running through the middle. All festive, all perfect.

So, like I said, maybe this menu isn’t for this year, but consider it for New Year’s, or for some chilly morning in February when you want your house to feel cozier, or even bookmark it for next Christmas. But trust me that each of these recipes is worth making, on it’s own or all together. And that’s all from me until after the big day! Have a merry, merry Christmas.

“Merry Morning” Christmas Day Brunch from Gourmet

This entire menu has been adapted very slightly from Gourmet Magazine’s 2008 December issue. Menu serves 8. If you’re making the whole menu and want to do some prep before-hand, here are my tips: The night before, peel and segment the oranges and grapefruits and reserve in a bowl in the refrigerator. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, place in a large plastic bag, and reserve in the refrigerator. Make the turkey sausage mixture and refrigerate overnight. Last, make the coffeecake and, once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and leave on the counter overnight. If you do all these things ahead of time, in the morning you will simply have to mix the drinks, drizzle the citrus with a quick simple-syrup, pop the eggs and the potatoes in the oven, and fry the sausage. Done this way, you’ll only need about an hour to finish preparing the meal on Christmas morning.

 Pomegranate Mimosas

• 2 c. chilled pomegranate juice
• 1 c. chilled fresh orange juice
• 1/2 c. orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau
• 1 bottle well-chilled Cava or Champagne
• pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)

Stir all liquids together in a large pitcher. Pour into champagne flutes and sprinkle a few pomegranate arils on top, if desired.

Cafe au Lait

• 8 cups hot milk
• 4 c. very hot brewed espresso
• sugar, to taste

Heat milk to steaming in microwave or over low heat on stove. Use an aero-latte foamer to froth milk in two batches. Divide espresso between 8 mugs and top off with foamed milk. Stir in sugar to each person’s taste. (P.S. We love using the stove-top Bialetti to make espresso at home).

Citrus Salad with Star Anise Syrup

• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. water
• 3 whole star anise
• 5 grapefruits
• 4 oranges, a mix of navel oranges and blood oranges

Cut the peel, including the white pith, off the grapefruits and oranges. Cut the segments free from the clear membranes and place in a bowl. This is tedious but worth the effort! In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, water, and star anise. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Pour star anise syrup over fruit, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives

• 2 c. coarsely grated Gruyere cheese (about 6 oz.)
• 1/2 c. chopped chives
• 10 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. whole milk
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle gruyere and chives evenly over bottom of dish. Place eggs, milk, cream cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth, then pour over the cheese and chives. Bake until the eggs are puffed and golden, 35 to 40 minutes

Crisp Oven-Browned Potatoes

• 3 lb large Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1/2 stick salted butter, melted
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Peel potatoes and slice as thinly as possible. Add to a 4 quart baking dish and toss with melted butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil, turn heat up to 450°F, and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the top is browned and crisp.

Turkey Sausage Patties

• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 5 TBS olive oil, divided
• 1/2 c. coarse, freshly ground bread crumbs
• 3 TBS milk
• 2 lb ground dark-meat turkey
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 egg yolks

Heat 1 TBS of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion until golden brown, 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. While onions are cooking, soak bread crumbs in milk and let sit for 5 minutes. Add cooked onions, turkey, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, salt, pepper, and egg yolks to bread crumbs. Form turkey into small, relatively flat patties. Heat 1 TBS of remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook patties in batches until browned and cooked all the way through, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Cover with tinfoil to keep warm until serving.

Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake

• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 c. fresh cranberries (6 oz.), rinsed
• 2 c. plus 1 TBS flour, divided
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 stick plus 1 TBS unsalted butter, softened, divided
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 c. whole milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-by-2 inch pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Add sugar to a food processor. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Remove the sugar to a bowl. Add 1/2 c. of the vanilla sugar and all the cranberries back to the food processor and pulse a few times until cranberries are coarsely chopped but not pureed. Set aside.

Stir together 1 c. of the flour and the baking powder. Take 1 c. of the remaining vanilla sugar and beat together with 1 stick of the softened butter until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter and stir to incorporate. Stir in the milk until incorporated, then add the remaining flour and stir to incorporate. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the cranberry mixture on top of the batter, not quite reaching to the edges. Spread the remaining batter over the top of the cranberry mixture. Use a fork to press together remaining 1 TBS flour, 1 TBS butter, and 1/4 c. sugar to form a crumble topping. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and the edges have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then remove and cool completely, crumb side up.

The post Christmas Morning Brunch appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

On Monday, I posted the richest, most decadent dessert in my repertoire – Bailey’s Chocolate-Chip Cheesecake. It’s one of my all-time favorites, which shouldn’t be a surprise, coming from a girl who has been known to order a blue cheese salad, followed by pasta carbonara, followed by creme brulee when out to dinner. (Read: I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I were lactose intolerant). But even I have limits, and as I was making that cheesecake and actually seeing what 2 pounds of cream cheese looks like in a bowl, I knew I’d have to exercise some self-control. And then atone for my gluttony.

Enter these baked apples. Stuffed with dates and pecans and drizzled with just a touch of maple-flavored mascarpone cream (yes, there’s still dairy…), they are significantly lighter than most of the desserts of this season, yet still delicious, festive, and elegant enough to serve to company. And, dare I say it, these might even be healthy enough to have for breakfast. At least on a special occasion. Like a Tuesday.

Head on over to Greatist for the recipe, and check back here on Friday for more Christmas-time treats!

The post Greatist Collaboration: Baked Stuffed Apples with Maple Cream appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.