I recently discovered two things. First, Cara Cara oranges. Have you ever had one? They’re amazing. Whoever invented orange-flavored candies was definitely inspired by these guys. They are so much sweeter, juicier, and just more wonderful than regular oranges, and they’re a beautiful pink color inside, too. Although I usually associate citrus with January and February, Cara Caras seem to just be hitting their peak season now. At least, Wholefoods is full of them: no ramps or fava beans, just a lot of oranges. Although to be honest, I think my expectations for the seasonal produce that should be available in April have always been a little out of touch with reality. It was snowing two weeks ago, after all.

Writing the above paragraph has sent me down an internet rabbit hole looking for orange trees online. Because wouldn’t a Cara Cara orange tree be the perfect addition to our collection of trees that you probably shouldn’t try and grow in Boston? Our impulse-tree-purchase rate is way up this month anyways – last weekend alone we bought an olive tree and a coral bark Japanese Maple. What would harm could one more citrus tree do?

The second thing I discovered is that I’ve been cooking asparagus wrong. My standard cooking method for most vegetables is this: douse liberally with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, roast at 400°F until nicely charred. I like my roasted vegetables to be borderline carcinogenic. Especially brussels sprouts – I love the way the leaves get translucent and crunchy. Unfortunately, this method has left me unsatisfied when it comes to asparagus. If you roast asparagus even a little bit too long, it becomes stringy and mushy. So I recently tried a recipe in Diana Henry’s Simple which calls for you to lightly steam the asparagus by putting the thick ends in an inch or two of simmering water and pushing the tips just below the edge of the pot, without putting the whole stalk underwater. You only cook the asparagus for a few minutes, until they’re bright green, then drain immediately. This method resulted in asparagus that was fresh, tender, and perfectly cooked without being limp or mushy or stringy. Success!

In this recipe I’ve brought these two April delicacies together in – surprise! – a bowl. I just like things better when they’re in bowl form, OK? It’s a trend that makes me eat my vegetables. I’ve built on the Diana Henry recipe I mentioned above, which served the steamed asparagus with goat cheese and lemon butter, to build a warm bowl that screams spring. The base of the bowl is Israeli Couscous tossed with butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest while the couscous is still warm. Adding spinach, steamed asparagus, goat cheese, the lovely Cara Cara oranges, and shelled pistachios makes a healthy spring dinner that is complete and satisfying.

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Lemony Israeli Couscous with Asparagus, Oranges, and Goat Cheese

Inspired by Simple. Serves 2.

• 1 cup of uncooked Israeli couscous
• 2 TBS butter
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• black pepper
• 1/2 pound of asparagus
• 3 oz. of baby spinach
• 1 Cara Cara orange, peeled and supremed (cut into segments)
• 3 oz. soft goat cheese, cut into slices
• 1/4 cup of shelled pistachios

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat (the pot should be slightly less wide than the length of your asparagus stalks). Add the couscous to the boiling water and stir. Cook until tender and chewy, about 5-7 minutes, then drain. Transfer to a bowl and add the butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and black pepper while couscous is warm. Stir until the couscous is evenly coated with the lemon butter and set aside.
2. Add about 2 inches of water to the pot and return to the stove. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Prepare the asparagus by snapping or trimming off the thick woody end of each stalk, usually about the bottom 1 inch. (You can gently bend the asparagus to find the natural breaking point as a guide). Place the thick end of the stalks in the simmering water in the bottom of the pot. Gently bend the asparagus so the tips are resting just inside the pot but aren’t submerged in the water, so they will steam but not boil. Cook the asparagus in this way until bright green, which should take about 3-5 minutes depending on the thickness of your asparagus. Remove from the heat, drain, and run under cold water for 60 seconds to stop the cooking process.
3. To assemble the salads, divide the couscous and spinach between two bowls. Top with asparagus, orange segments, goat cheese, and pistachios. Serve warm.

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I recently received two lovely food samples – olive oil from Cobram Estate and blood oranges from Limoneira. While I don’t always end up using samples for recipes, the combination of the two was inspiring. Particularly after coming home from Portugal, where olive oil and oranges are often used together in sweets, I knew I wanted to bake something. I decided they were destined for a pound cake.

I’ll be the first to admit that this is not my most original idea. A quick Google or Pinterest search for blood orange and olive oil cake will reveal dozens of beautiful photos. Some cakes are simple, others are glazed with a lovely pink frosting, and others have paper-thin slices of oranges baked on top. They were all so pretty that I couldn’t resist adding my own version to the mix.

Zesting oranges and rubbing orange zest into sugar should be a winter therapy treatment. The smell is an instant mood lifter, and takes me back to sunnier, warmer days. Like the morning we spent eating tangerines straight from the trees in a sunny courtyard in Portugal. Or the afternoon we spent at a plum blossom festival in Odawara, buying sacks of fresh clementines from every other house we passed. One day we’ll live somewhere where it’s warm enough to grow oranges, where it doesn’t snow in March. Until then, we’ll have to rely on the scent of fresh oranges to trigger our happiest memories.

This cake was a lovely surprise, gently sweet and tender. Both the orange and olive oil are subtle but the flavors are distinctly present. The pieces of blood orange interspersed throughout the cake add a pop of juicy sweetness and keep the cake moist. It’s always a sign of a good recipe when I immediately begin running through variations for next time – meyer lemon, olive oil, and rosemary? Grapefruit and star anise? This one will be a staple.

Disclosure: I used olive oil and blood orange samples provided free of charge by Cobram Estate and Limoneira to create this recipe, but I was not otherwise compensated. As usual, all opinions are my own!

Blood Orange and Olive Oil Pound Cake

Recipe adapted from Melissa Clark via the New York Times.

• 4 blood oranges (3 for cake and one for glaze/garnish)
• 3/4 cup of sugar, plus more for candying oranges
• 1/3 cup of buttermilk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp orange oil (optional)
• 2/3 cup high quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup of powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Grate the zest from two of the blood oranges into a large bowl. Add the sugar to the bowl and use your fingers to mix the zest into the sugar. Cut one of the zested oranges in half and squeeze the juice into a liquid measuring cup – you should have about 1/3 cup of juice. Add the buttermilk to the measuring cup so that you have 2/3 cup of liquid in total. Whisk juice and buttermilk together, then pour the mixture into the sugar. Whisk until evenly combined. Add the eggs to the bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until no lumps remain. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir together until just combined. Stir in the orange oil, if using. Now add the olive oil to the batter a little bit at a time, using a spatula to fold the oil into the batter. Repeat until all of the olive oil is evenly incorporated. Set batter aside.
4. Using two of your remaining oranges (the one you zested and one of the others), cut orange segments into supremes. Do this by cutting the peel and white pith off of the outside of the oranges, then use a paring knife to carefully separate the orange flesh from the translucent membrane of each segment. If necessary, break the orange supremes into pieces that are about 1/4 inch big. Once you have supremed both the oranges, add the orange supreme pieces to the batter. Fold a few times just to incorporate the oranges into the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, using a spatula to distribute the batter around the pan if necessary. Bake the cake for 55 minutes, until golden on top and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then lift out by the parchment paper and cool completely on a cooling rack.
6. To make the glaze, cut the last blood orange in half. Squeeze the juice from one half of the orange into a small bowl. Place the confectioner’s sugar into a small bowl and whisk until it is free of lumps. Whisk in the blood orange juice a little at a time until the glaze drips thickly from the whisk when lifted out of the bowl. Cut the other half of the orange into paper thin slices. Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drip down the sides onto the parchment paper. If desired, candy the orange slices according to this method – this will make the orange slices tender enough to eat in addition to a pretty garnish. Arrange the orange slices on the top of the glaze and serve.

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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!

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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.

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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

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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.

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Here in Boston, we’ve reached that point in the year where the warm, crisp fall days have given way to truly frosty, windy mornings when even the brightest sun can’t entice you to stay outside. I’m sure we still have a few nice days left, but we’ve already had snow flurries twice, the winter coats are out on our coat rack, and I’m guessing that this is the last week for those leaves still clinging to the trees. I’m not exactly thrilled at the prospect of hunkering down for the next four months, but one thing I do love about cold weather is the chance to invent and enjoy warm cocktails. On a cold day, there’s little that I find more enticing than the thought of a steaming mug of sweet, boozy cider or a honey-sweetened hot toddy.

I think my love for warm drinks (at least for the alcoholic sort) must have been born during the four months I lived in Prague – I have a very vivid memory of sipping from a glass of piping hot mead at the top of a snow-covered mountain, the steam from the hot drinks and food condensing on the windows of the small wooden cabin. It was a completely blissful experience, at least in my memory. Since then, I’ve been collecting drink recipes from all the cold countries I’ve been to, and I’ve been waiting to share a new one with you since our trip to Ecuador in March. I was first served canelazo, a mixture of cinnamon, naranjilla juice, and aguardiente, when we arrived at our hacienda near Cotopaxi. The altitude in Cotopaxi means that it’s appropriate to serve hot drinks at pretty much any time of day/year. I loved the sweet-and-sour mixture (and perhaps the quick effect it had at altitude), and finished not only my own glass but the extra one on the tray. When I returned to Quito later in the year for work, a co-worker took us up to El Panecillo, a hilltop with a giant statue of a winged angel and a beautiful view of the city. At several of the stands near the statue, they were selling cups of canelazo, and at a price of $0.50, I couldn’t resist ordering one before dinner.

The ingredients for canelazo are a bit tricky to find in New England. Naranjilla, which I mistakenly described as a clementine in my first mention of it, and as a sour orange in my second mention of it, is actually a herbaceous nightshade shrub – not a citrus at all. It does have a sweet-sour citrusy flavor and a bright orange exterior, hence the name “little orange.” Although I read that you can find its pulp in the frozen section of many Latin groceries, and I’m sure I could scrounge some up somewhere in Somerville, I wasn’t in the mood for a grocery store scavenger hunt today, so I used a mix of freshly squeezed orange, tangerine, and lime juice instead. I know that using those fruits may not make for a very authentic representation of the drink, and I’ve also used a much higher ratio of juice to cinnamon water than seems to be typical, but it’s still a bright, warming combination that’s worth giving a try. I did find the traditional aguardiente, a spirit distilled from sugar-cane and sometimes flavored with anise. If you can’t find it near you, either rum or cachaça would be a fine substitute. Now that I have the ingredients, plus a healthy supply of cinnamon sticks, I’m all set to make these babies throughout the winter.

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Ecuadorian Canelazo

Adapted from Laylita and Food.com. Serves 4.

• 3 c. water
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 2 c. freshly squeezed orange juice, divided
• 1 c. freshly squeezed tangerine juice
• 2 limes
• 4 to 8 oz. aguardiente or white rum
• tangerine slices for garnish

1. Place the water, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, and 1 cup of the orange juice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat slightly and simmer the syrup for 30 minutes. The syrup should be heavily perfumed with cinnamon and a dark brown color. Add the remaining orange and tangerine juice to the pot and heat just until steaming, then remove from heat. Ladle the cinnamon-orange mixture into four heat-proof glasses. Pour 1 or 2 oz. of aguardiente into each glass depending on taste. Squeeze juice from half a lime into each glass, then briefly stir. Garnish with tangerine slices if desired, and serve immediately.

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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 hope it’s been long enough since rhubarb week that you won’t mind if I post another rhubarb recipe – because this one is really, really good. It’s from the SPQR cookbook, in which everything is fancy and inspiring and makes me want to go back to Italy, stat.

I’m going to be up front here – this is one of those recipes that you should only attempt if you really enjoy cooking. It’s complicated. It has about a billion parts. Nothing is particularly difficult (perhaps with the exception of frothing an egg over a double boiler, I mess that one up sometimes), but you’ll need patience, and someone to help with the dishes. All of the components can be made a few days in advance, so if you do one part at a time it might not seem so bad. But regardless of how you choose to make it (if you choose to make it), the result is so, so worth it. Unmolding the frozen bavarese, spooning the brilliantly colored red and orange fruits over the top, and crumbling the addictively nutty biscotti crisp over the whole thing, you’ll be impressed with yourself. And when you take a bite, you’ll be even more impressed. The flavors work wonderfully together, it’s all sweet and juicy and creamy and crumbly and completely worthy of your finest company. Those folks over at SPQR really know what they’re doing.

A few notes: one, the butter, brown sugar, and biscotti crisp is so good that you will not be able to stop eating the leftovers. Consider yourself warned. Two, I actually prefer the bavarese at fridge temperature as opposed to freezer temperature, but experiment with the degree of frozenness that you like. Three, the red wine poached rhubarb, which in the original recipe was verjus poached rhubarb, is amazing as is, and would be good on other creamy things, like your morning yogurt (I won’t judge). Four, this whole thing was supposed to have powdered olive oil on top. I tried to make it. I even ordered the special tapioca maltodextrin powder online. But it didn’t work. Honestly, I don’t think this dessert needs any more elements. It’s ready to go.

Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

Recipe adapted slightly from SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. Serves 6-8.

For the bavarese:

• 2 c. drained ricotta
• 3/4 c. sour cream
• 1 sheet gelatin
• 1/4 c. orange juice
• 1 lemon (juice and zest)
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 6 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. In a large, heatproof bowl (big enough to place over the simmering water without touching the water itself), whisk together the ricotta and the sour cream. Place the bowl over the water and whisk until the ricotta curds are broken up and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl and set aside.
2. Soak the gelatin in ice water until softened. Place a new bowl over the simmering water and add the orange juice and 1 TBS of the lemon juice. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatin sheet and add it to the juices. Stir over the simmering water until dissolved, then remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream and 4 TBS of the sugar until the cream holds medium peaks. Stir in the vanilla extract. Stir the orange juice mixture into the ricotta, then fold the ricotta into the whipped cream. Set aside.
4. In a third heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg and remaining 2 TBS of sugar. Place over the simmering water and whisk vigorously until the egg is pale yellow and frothy. Remove from the heat and turn the pot of water off.
5. Immediately fold the whipped egg into the ricotta-cream mixture. Grate lemon zest directly over the bowl and stir to combine. Pour the ricotta-cream into 8 4-oz ramekins or 8 large silicone muffin cups, cover tightly, and freeze until ready to serve.

For the rhubarb:

• 1/4 c. red wine
• 1/2 c. water
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 7 oz. rhubarb, trimmed and cut on an angle into 1/4 inch pieces (about 2 cups total)

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together red wine, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, lower heat and add the rhubarb. Poach the rhubarb for 3 minutes, just until rhubarb starts to soften. Remove the rhubarb with a slotted spoon and set aside. Return the syrup left in the pot to a boil and boil until syrupy about 7-10 minutes. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb and refrigerate until needed.

For the biscotti crumble:

• 1 c. crushed biscotti (150 grams)
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. melted salted butter (1 stick)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pulse the biscotti and the brown sugar in a food processor until mixture is finely ground. Drizzle in butter and pulse to combine. Spread thinly on the lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until mixture is firm and beginning to crisp around the edges. Let cool completely then break into chunks.

For the orange confitura:

• 1 orange
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the peel away from the orange in long strips. Slice into thin lengths, then add to the boiling water. Blanch for two minutes, then drain and run under cold water until cool. Pat dry.
2. Bring the sugar and the water to a simmer over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add the blanched orange peel and simmer until lightly candied, about 6-8 minutes. Cool the peel in the syrup and refrigerate until needed.
3. Cut the orange away from the pith into supremes, and set aside.

To serve:

1. Unmold the bavarese into bowls (you may need to soften them for 15 seconds in the microwave for them to pop out of their bowls, a hot knife run around the edges can help too). Spoon the chilled rhubarb over the top. Place a few slices of candied orange zest, some crumbled biscotti, and a few segments of fresh orange on top. Serve immediately. You may also serve the bavarese slightly defrosted – they will still taste wonderful but won’t look as smooth.

The post Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Don’t tell anyone, but I’m taking tonight off from my cleanse to go out and celebrate my friend’s birthday. We’re going to Masa, and I’m so excited to a) drink margaritas, and b) eat cheesy, meaty, gluten-y things that are decidedly un-cleanse-worthy. I promise I won’t go too crazy – I don’t want to undo all my hard work thus far! – but I am looking forward to the meal.

To make up for tonight’s planned splurge, I made my other main meal today a super satisfying and healthy salad. With loads of spinach, roasted beets, hard-boiled eggs, pomegranate seeds, oranges, goat cheese, and a delicious honey-almond vinaigrette, it’s fresh-tasting and filling enough that it doesn’t need any accompaniments. I made extra hard-boiled eggs and roasted beets so that I can easily make it again throughout the week. I’ll probably bring some to work Monday… having a lunch that I’m looking forward to always makes Monday morning a little easier!

I’ll be back tomorrow with a healthy and delicious brunch recipe (got to ease back into healthy eating after a night out, right?). I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Eggs, Pomegranate, Orange, and Almond-Vinaigrette

Adapted from Serious Eats. Serves 2 as a main.

• 2 medium beets, greens removed
• 4 TBS olive oil, divided
• sea salt
• 1/4 c. blanched whole almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1 TBS honey
• 1 TBS sherry vinegar
• 1 TBS minced shallot
• 1 navel orange
• 1 blood orange
• 4 large handfuls of clean baby spinach
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils
• 2 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Scrub the un-peeled beets and place in the center of a large sheet of tinfoil. Drizzle with 1 TBS of the olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Fold the edges of the tinfoil up to make a sealed packet. Place the packet on a baking sheet, and roast for 1 hour, or until a toothpick can easily penetrate the center of the beets. Let cool for ten minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle comfortable. Slip the beets out of their skins, then thinly slice them and set aside.
2. Whisk the toasted and chopped almonds, honey, sherry vinegar, shallot, and remaining 3 TBS of olive oil together to form the dressing. Season to taste with sea salt.
3. Cut the peel and pith from the oranges. Supreme/segment the oranges to remove the membranes. Set the orange segments aside.
4. Divide the spinach between two plates and drizzle each generously with dressing. Top each plate with orange segments, one and a half hard-boiled eggs, roasted beets, pomegranate arils, and fresh goat cheese.

The post Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese, Eggs, Pomegranate, Orange, and Almond-Vinaigrette appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’m pretty pleased with how these Monday morning resolutions are going. What I started on kind of a whim I’ve actually been able to stick with!  I haven’t eaten a single piece of chocolate from the chocolate box at work for 5 weeks now (huge accomplishment), and I haven’t skipped a day of walking the extra 15 minutes to my office in at least one direction, rain or shine. I’ve been slightly less consistent with some of the eating stuff – getting four green salads in per week has been surprisingly difficult. But what I think I’m proudest of is the strength training. Although I got off to a rough start during Thanksgiving week, over the past two weeks I’ve actually started to look forward to my daily 10 minutes of strength and stretching, and some nights, I’ve even managed to do 20 minutes. While I haven’t lost any weight in pounds, I definitely feel stronger and more flexible – last night I did 25 push-ups in a row (probably an all-time high for me), and I’ve been holding my balances much longer in ballet. It’s really encouraging.

So, as promised, I’m sticking with it. This week’s new resolution is inspired by Hannah of All Things Lovely‘s comment last week: to have a hearty, healthy breakfast at home each day. To kick things off, I made a batch of healthy whole wheat muffins from Maria Speck’s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. With dates, apricots, orange, and pistachios, they remind me very much of Christmas sugarplums (which I need to make a batch of soon…).  They’re packed with good stuff, and have plenty of natural sweetness and flavor, but I did find them a little dry. I’m going to tinker around a bit with adding buttermilk or Greek yogurt to see if that moistens them a bit – until then, I’m leaving you with the original recipe. Let me know if you try it out! And as usual, please share your resolutions in the comments if you want to play along.

That’s all for now. I’ve got a bunch more Christmasy recipes to share with you over the next few weeks, so stay tuned! Also, Trevor and I are halfway through this year’s gingerbread house (see last year’s model of the Zakim bridge, and 2010’s gingerbread treehouse to get a taste of what your’e in for). I’ll hopefully be back with pictures of the finished product by the end of the week!

P.S. Other healthy breakfast recipes from Katie at the Kitchen Door:

• Apple Quinoa Cake
• Baked Eggs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Kale
• Breakfast Polenta with Honeyed Yogurt
• Carrot and Apple Muffins
• Shakshuka (Eggs in Spicy Tomato Sauce)

Healthy Orange-Date-Apricot Muffins with Anise

Adapted slightly from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck. Makes 12 regular muffins.

Note: As mentioned above, I found these muffins a little bit dry as written. I’m still tinkering with the recipe, but the original (below) still makes a very healthy muffin with great flavor and natural sweetness. I’ll update the recipe below if I find a way to make them less dry. Also, Maria calls for a topping made of 2 TBS sugar, 1/2 tsp ground anise, and 3 TBS chopped pistachios – I opted to top these with pistachios only.

• 2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground anise seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. chopped dried dates
• 1/4 c. chopped dried apricots
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. honey
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 2 tsp freshly grated orange zest
• 3/4 c. freshly squeezed orange juice (from ~2 medium navel oranges)
• 1/2 c. + 3 TBS chopped roasted pistachios

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard-sized muffin tin with muffin cups or grease the pan itself.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, anise, and salt. Add the chopped dates and chopped apricots and stir briefly to coat the fruit with flour.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs. Add the honey, olive oil, orange zest, and orange juice, and whisk until smooth. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to fold the two together until just combined – do not overmix. Stir in the 1/2 c. chopped pistachios, and add a heaping 1/4 c. of batter to each muffin cup. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 3 TBS chopped pistachios. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until domed and golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

The post Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Yes, I know it’s not the morning anymore, but at least it’s still Monday! And I did do my new resolution today, I just didn’t get the chance to tell you about it. Actually, there are a bunch of things I want to tell you about, all somewhat unrelated, so excuse this post for being a little bit jumpy…

Let’s start off with this week’s resolution: to bring a healthy snack to work each day (with the ultimate goal of staving off those mid-afternoon junk food cravings). Today I brought half an avocado and a clementine, tomorrow I’m thinking nuts and dried cherries. Anyone out there have any great snack suggestions for me? I’d love to hear them.

More on the resolutions – I did a pretty good job with them last week, except I ate only three green salads instead of four. I’ve forgiven myself, though. If you’re new to my little resolutions challenge, you can read about the impetus behind it here, and please join in by posting your own resolutions in the comments (or updating me on how they’re going, for those of you who have already shared)! And to continue holding myself accountable, here are all my cumulative resolutions thus far:

• Week one: No chocolate from the chocolate box at work
• Week two: Walk to or from Park St. Station each day (an additional 15 minutes of walking on my commute)
• Week three: Do ten minutes of strength training and stretching every day
• Week four: Eat at least four green salads per week
• Week five: Bring a healthy snack to work every day

Moving on: the reason I was late in posting today was because I spent the weekend away on a girl’s weekend with my mom, as my (very) belated birthday present to her for her 50th. I had so much fun and it was really nice to get away, so I just wanted to share a few trip notes and pictures. We stayed at a cute B&B – William’s Grant Inn – in Bristol, RI, through a LivingSocial deal, and while we were there took a tour of The Breakers (which was all decked out for Christmas!) in Newport. It’s stunning how much detail went into those houses. As part of the deal we had a lovely dinner at Le Central, where I was pleasantly surprised by how yummy the food was. Sunday we spent some time walking around Bristol shopping (I picked up a great set of Spanish bakeware at an antique shop – I can’t wait to photograph it), and then went on a neat little hike in the Norman Bird Sanctuary. Such a nice little getaway!

And now for everyone’s favorite part – the food! The pictures here are of a super delicious crespelle recipe from a beautiful new book on Italian food, SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. I’ll be posting the full review later this week, but I couldn’t wait to share these lovely little treats. Crespelle are just the Italian version of crepes, and these particular ones are filled with a mixture of sweetened goat cheese, mascarpone, and ricotta, then simmered briefly in an orange-caramel sauce. To top it off, the crepes themselves are made with nutty browned butter and are as light as air, with crispy lacy edges. The cumulative result is kind of sigh-inducing, and totally worth the extra work. If you’re looking for a more savory crepe, check out these Mushroom and Goat Cheese Crepes I created for Life’d last week (it appears I’m on some sort of major crepe kick). And one last thing I wanted to mention before I leave you with the recipe: I’m being featured on NoshOnIt on Wednesday, if you’d like to check it out. Personally, I’ve been loving reading their daily emails and discovering great new food bloggers and recipes, and I highly recommend them.

Ricotta and Goat Cheese Crespelle with Orange-Caramel Sauce

Adapted from SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine. Serves 3-4.

Notes: The original recipe made a lot of crepe batter, so I’ve scaled the proportions back to make it more manageable for a small household. However, I thought the ratio of filling to crepe in the original recipes was a bit off, so I’ve left the amount of filling at the original amount. Feel free to fill them according to your taste. The crepes are very thin and delicate, and flipping them takes a little bit of practice. You also have to plan ahead a little for this one, as both the batter and the filled crepes require a little chilling time in the fridge. Refrigerating the batter overnight will yield the most delicate crespelle.

• 1 1/2 TBS + 1 TBS salted butter, divided
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c. + 2 TBS flour
• 1 1/2 TBS + 1 TBS sugar, divided
• 1/4 c. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. mascarpone cheese
• 1/3 c. ricotta cheese
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. powdered sugar, sifted, plus additional for garnish
• 1 navel orange, zest and juice (1/2 c. juice needed)

1. Make the batter: Melt 1 1/2 TBS of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter until it bubbles and begins to smell nutty, then pour into a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the milk to the same saucepan and return to the heat. Heat the milk for 2-3 minutes, just enough to scald it. Remove the milk and let cool slightly (it should feel warm to the touch but you should be able to touch it without hurting yourself).
2. Add the warm milk and the eggs to a blender and pulse to combine. Add the flour and 1 1/2 TBS of the sugar and blend to combine. Drizzle in the butter (with the blender running, if possible), and blend until fully combined. Strain the batter through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate the batter for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
3. Make the filling: in a medium bowl, stir together the goat cheese, mascarpone, and ricotta until smooth. Add the vanilla and the sifted powdered sugar and stir to combine. Zest the orange and add 1 tsp of the orange zest to the mixture. Reserve the remaining zest for garnish. Stir to combine, then refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Cook the crepes: Heat a very small pat of butter in a large non-stick saute pan over medium heat, then carefully wipe most of it out with a paper towel. Pour 1/4 c. of batter into the heated pan and quickly swirl in a circle to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 minute, until light golden brown, then carefully and quickly flip to cook the other side for 1 minute. Remove the cooked crepe to a plate and continue with remaining batter. This should make about 8 crepes.
5. When the cooked crepes are cool, spoon 1-2 TBS of the cheese filling in the middle of each crepe. Spread in a vertical line about 1/2 inch thick, then roll the crepe up like a burrito. Place the filled crepes on a platter, cover, and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, to firm up the filling.
6. When ready to serve, heat the remaining 1 TBS of butter in your largest saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the filled crepes, seam side down, and toast for 2 minutes, before carefully flipping each crepe over. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS of sugar. Once it dissolves, and the orange juice from the orange. Cook down the mixture until the juice is slightly thickened and has been absorbed somewhat by the crepes. Remove the crepes to individual plates and top with the extra orange caramel. Garnish with powdered sugar and any extra orange zest.

The post Monday (Morning) Resoultions: Italian Crepes with Sweet Cheese Filling and Caramel Sauce appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Last week I wrote about a new little thing I’m trying – making a week-long resolution relating to health and trying to stick with it all week. The trick is that you have to make the resolution specific enough that it’s not mentally daunting, e.g. “No chocolate from the candy box at work” instead of “No dessert at all.” Doing something for a week is challenging enough to feel like an accomplishment when you’ve finished, but not so challenging that you give up after three days. If, at the end of the week, you’re glad that you were able to keep your resolution for the week, try to keep that one going for another week and add a new one as well.

So far, I’ve completed two weeks of these little resolutions, and I’m feeling pretty good about it so I’m going to try and keep it up, at least for a little while. This week, I’m going to try and do 10 minutes of strength training and stretching every day. Strength training is something I do sporadically, at best, but I know that doing it regularly will both help me feel better about how I look, and help my balance and coordination in ballet. If you’re interested in joining me, I’d love to hear your own resolutions in the comments – and if you commented last week, let me know if you were successful!

To keep track of my resolutions so far…

1. Week one: No chocolate from the chocolate box at work – Success for week one and week two! This is huge.
2. Week two: Walk to or from Park St. to work at least once each day – Success! I even went in the rain.
3. Week three: Do ten minutes of strength training/stretching every day

And now for the food. Trevor and I took a trip to Wholefoods this weekend and, silly me, I went without a list. This resulted in a lot of impulse purchases, like camembert, Haitian mangoes, blackberries, satsuma oranges, and clementines. None of it local, all of it too tempting to pass up. I was originally tempted to use all the fruit in a mango-cream tart, but since this week is such a big eating week, and since I had just made a batch of chocolate cookies, I managed to talk myself into a healthier option – mango, satsuma, and black rice salad.

When I realized that I had bookmarked this salad from multiple sources, I knew it was about time that I tried it. Strangely, this salad seems both like summer food and winter food – summer food because it’s light and fruity and healthy, and winter food because it’s bright and citrusy and nutty. I doctored the original up a little bit, adding sour cherries and increasing the amount of orange. Feel free to play with the ratios to get it the way you like – an extra handful of peanuts, all scallions instead of the red onion, etc. It’s an easy and forgiving recipe!

Mango, Satsuma and Black Rice Salad

Adapted from Bon Appetit. Serves 4-5 as a side.

• 1 1/2 c. black rice, rinsed and drained
• 2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 satsuma tangerines or 1 c. canned mandarin oranges, drained, plus 1/4 c. of the drained juice
• 3 TBS fresh squeezed lime juice (from 1 large lime)
• 2 TBS canola oil
• 1 mango, peeled, sliced, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 c. red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 c. roasted salted peanuts
• 4 scallions, white and dark green parts removed, sliced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 c. dried cherries

1. In a medium saucepan, combine rice, water, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 15 minutes longer.
2. If using fresh tangerines, peel tangerines, remove as much of the white pith as possible, and separate into segments. Using a small knife, carefully slice along the skinny length of each tangerine segment, then use your fingers to remove the skin/membrane of the tangerine. Save the membranes with the little pieces of fruit attached (some staying attached is inevitable). Squeeze the membranes over a bowl and collect the juice – you should have about 1/4 – 1/3 of a cup. If you have less, squeeze one or two of your tangerine segments into the bowl to make up the difference. If you’re using canned mandarin oranges, you can skip this step, just be sure to save 1/4 c. of the juice.
3. Whisk together the tangerine juice, lime juice, and oil. Pour over the black rice and let cool.
4. Stir the tangerine segments, mango, cilantro, red onions, peanuts, scallions, jalapenos, and dried cherries into the salad. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt or lime juice if desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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This is the kind of meal I make all the time, when I don’t feel like cooking for more than 15 minutes but I want something hot, hearty, and wholesome.  I almost always have all of the ingredients on-hand, so it appears frequently on weeknights when I get home late, days before I go to the grocery store, and lazy Sundays when I don’t want to leave bed for too long.  For something which takes so little effort, the flavors in this are fantastic.  When cooked properly, the chickpeas develop a crunchy, garlicky outside that give way to a soft creamy interior as you sink your teeth into them, with little hints of lemon and chili-powder spicing up the experience.  The yogurt sauce is sweet and cooling, with a refreshing hit of mint, and combined with the hot savory chickpeas, absolutely perfect.

I initially started making fried chickpeas because of this recipe on 101 cookbooks.  Later I tried these fried chickpeas, and this chickpea and spinach salad, and since then I’ve morphed all of these experiences into my own favorite way of combining these flavors, and feel safe in calling this particular recipe my own.  Isn’t that really how all recipes are created, anyway?  The final recipe definitely plays strongly off classic Middle-Eastern flavor combinations, and would make a great side dish for a Middle-Eastern lamb dish, or mixed with couscous for a more complete meal.

I included this recipe as part of my winter cleanse rotation – you can find the rest of the recipes for week one here.

Fried Chickpeas with Orange-Mint-Yogurt Sauce

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original.  Serves 2.

• 2 c. cooked chickpeas
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp whole cumin seed
• 1/8 tsp cayenne powder
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 TBS minced garlic
• 1 6-oz. container of plain greek yogurt
• 2 small oranges or clementines
• 10 large leaves fresh mint, finely diced
• 1 TBS honey

1. Slice one of the oranges in half.  Squeeze the juice from the orange halves into the yogurt container, and stir.  Add the honey and diced mint and stir until evenly combined.  Taste for sweetness and flavoring, and add more of any ingredients you feel necessary.  Set aside.
2. Peel remaining orange and separate segments, cutting into bite sized pieces if necessary.  Set aside for topping the chickpeas.
3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan for about 1 minute, then add the cumin seed and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to turn brown.  Add the onion, chickpeas, and cayenne powder and cook, stirring every 2-3 minutes, until onions are soft and chickpeas are golden-brown and burnt in places, with a crunchy exterior, about 15 minutes.  Add sea salt, lemon juice, and minced garlic, and cook for another minute (the lemon juice and garlic should sizzle quite a bit when added to the pan), then turn off heat and serve, hot, with dressing spooned on the top and orange segments placed on top of dressing.

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Remember when I competed (and won 2nd place!) in Duke’s Iron Chef competition and got a fancy pasta machine and went on and on about how I was gonna use it all the time?  Well, if your definition of all the time is approximately once every two months, then I guess you could say I was telling the truth.  And even if I don’t frequently have the opportunity to spend a few luxurious hours rolling out pasta dough, I do really enjoy it when I get the chance.  Kneading, stretching, cranking, folding, and re-cranking the dough is just an activity that really focuses me.  When Trevor and I went to the pasta class with Terrence, we used a food processor to mix and a KitchenAid to roll out the dough, but, while efficient, it really wasn’t the same.  Maybe it’s just that I’m so entranced by the idea of moving to Italy and living in a Tuscan farmhouse and growing my own perfect tomatoes and walking barefoot across the stone floors while singing (in Italian of course) and kneading pasta dough that I feel like practicing the kneading part now will leave me in good stead when I inherit an Italian estate.  Or maybe I was an Italian grandmother in a past life.  Or maybe I’m just trying to snag an Italian lover.  Who knows?

In any case, last weekend Trevor visited and it was a completely rejuvenating 3 days.  It was sunny and 70 degrees every day, I pushed aside all thoughts of work, I slept more than 8 hours each night, we went mushroom picking in the Duke Forest with Justin and Clark, Trevor made his debut at shooters… all in all, pretty good stuff.  And of course, we had to play around in the kitchen just a little bit.  What better to occupy a few hours in the kitchen than fresh pasta?

Ever since I had been totally awed by the beautiful color of these beet ravioli they had been in the back of my mind, so I decided to go for it.  They were incredible!  While the beets made the dough a bit more challenging to work with than an egg-based dough, they also lent a wonderful tenderness to the finished pasta.  Stuffed with a goat cheese, ricotta, and parmesan filling that melted out of the ravioli with every bite, they were a total win.  Last weekend we simply served them with some caramelized onions, a bit of melted butter, and grated parmesan cheese, and this weekend, for round 2, I mixed up a blood-orange and fennel butter sauce, based on a combination in The Flavor Bible.  Neither sauce was perfect, although I think I enjoyed the simple crunchy-sweetness of the onions more.  However, the blood orange sauce definitely won out in terms of sophistication and presentation.  If you try either preparation or think of something new, definitely let me know.  Either way, if you feel like spending a little time working with your hands and/or pretending your a five year old with the largest, tastiest quantity of purple play-dough you’ve ever encountered, definitely try this recipe.

Don’t forget to vote for my entry in Marx Food‘s Ridiculously Delicious Challenge, March 1st – March 4th!

Beet and Chevre Ravioli in a Blood-Orange and Fennel Sauce

Beet ravioli recipe adapted from Martha Stewart via Madeline’s Adaptations. Three beets makes about 2 pounds of pasta, probably enough for 80-100 ravioli.  Extra dough can be frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, for several months.

For the ravioli:

• 3 beets
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 5-8 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt

For the filling (makes enough for 3-4 servings of ravioli):

• 1/3 c. ricotta cheese
• 1/3 c. goat cheese
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

For the Blood-Orange and Fennel Sauce (makes enough for 3-4 servings of ravioli):

• 3 TBS butter
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely ground (can leave whole if desired)
• juice of 1-2 medium blood oranges
• zest of 1 blood orange

For the pasta dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Chop off beet greens, wash beets, and wrap in foil.  Roast in foil for 45 minutes to 1 hour (beets should be tender).  Allow to cool enough to handle, then peel off skin, and puree beets in blender.
2. Mix beet puree, eggs, olive oil, and salt in a large bowl.  Add 3 cups of flour, and incorporate fully with a wooden spoon.  Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time, kneading by hand between additions, until the dough is elastic, does not stick to hands, and has been kneaded for at least ten minutes.  I ended up using about 8 cups of flour to balance the amount of liquid that 3 beets added to the dough.
3. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes.  Roll out using a pasta machine, or with a rolling pin as thinly as possible.

For the filling and ravioli:

1. Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  Season to taste.  Place a teaspoon of filling inside a 3 inch square of pasta dough.  Fold one edge over and seal edges, pressing together firmly with fingers.  Trim with a ravioli cutter for presentation.  Boil ravioli for 2-3 minutes in a gently boiling, salted pot of water.

For the sauce:

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan until beginning to foam.  Add fennel and sautee until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add blood orange juice and reduce to desired consistency.  Season with salt as necessary.  Serve over ravioli; top with blood orange zest.
   

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