It’s one of those gray December days that makes me feel like cozying up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. I know that it’s too warm for snow, but it looks like it could start flurrying any minute. It’s early enough in the season that I don’t mind. It still feels festive to stay inside by the Christmas tree, or even to bundle up and walk through the neighborhood at dusk, looking at everyone’s lights (and, let’s be real, the plethora of horribly tacky but also endearing Christmas inflatables in our neighborhood).

It’s also the perfect sort of day for slow cooking. It will be dark by 4pm, at which point we’ll start thinking about dinner and wonder what we have that we can pop in the oven. That’s what this short rib recipe is for. It’s for days when you have hours to while away indoors, when you crave something rich and tender, when you want an excuse to open a nice bottle of red wine before 5. This is your excuse – you’ll need a cup or two of wine to braise the short ribs. This is also your excuse to stay put while the short ribs roast, filling your house with the savory scent of beef slumping into red wine.

These short ribs are classic but wonderful. If you do a little research, you’ll find that most short rib recipes out in the world are fairly similar, with only minor tweaks in the order of operations and a secret ingredient here or there. You could argue that this means the recipe is ripe for innovation, or you could just take what’s been tried and tested by the world’s greatest chefs and go with it. This version is most closely inspired by Sunday Suppers at Lucques, my favorite cookbook. I go through periods when I can’t seem to cook from any other book, as I’ve mentioned before. It also takes a few cues from this Daniel recipe. Whichever recipe you use, the tricks I’ve picked up for great short ribs are as follows. One, season generously.  Two, brown until caramelized, not just grayish-brown. Three, set aside at least 3 hours cooking time and don’t be tempted to take the ribs out before they are super tender. Four, refrigerate overnight before serving in order to skim and discard as much fat as you can.

I had originally planned on doing a follow-up post as well – a short rib grilled cheese sandwich. They offer a similar sandwich, on rich challah bread, at Tatte. We made the sandwiches but, shockingly, they were too rich for me. It turned out I had met my match when it comes to how much richness you can squeeze into one bite. So I’ll save the short rib grilled cheese for another day, when I’ve cracked that recipe. For now, I hope these delicious red wine-braised beef short ribs will warm up your kitchen this winter.

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More winter braises…

Tunisian Lamb-and-Eggplant Stew with Farro and Harissa

Braised Lamb Shanks with Blue Cheese Polenta

French Beef Stew with Red Wine

Classic Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs

Classic beef short ribs, braised in red wine for hours until meltingly tender. Best served over creamy mashed potatoes, potato gnocchi, or buttered egg noodles.

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques and Daniel (via Serious Eats)

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in short ribs, about 10-12 oz each (3 lbs. total)
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 TBS fresh thyme leaves
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 2 cups full-bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1/2 cup port wine
• 3 TBS saba or aged balsamic vinegar
• 3 cups beef broth
• 1 bunch fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Pat the short ribs day and sprinkle the pepper, sea salt, and thyme leaves on top of them. Rub the seasoning in to fully coat the short ribs on all sides. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or medium heat, then add the short ribs to the pan (do this in batches if they don’t fit in a single layer). Brown the short ribs on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side, until a nice, caramelized brown crust has formed on the exterior of the ribs. Remove the browned short ribs to a plate.
3. Drain the rendered fat from the pan, reserving only 1 TBS of fat in the pan. Return the pan to the heat and lower the heat to medium-low. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaves to the pan. Saute until the vegetables are tender and translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the red wine, port wine and balsamic vinegar to the pan with the vegetables. Bring to a simmer and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer the wine until it has reduce by one third, which should take 5-8 minutes.
5. Add the beef broth to the reduced wine and stir to combine, then place the short ribs back in the pan. They should fit snugly in the pan and be just barely covered by the liquid. Tuck the parsley in to the pan around the side of the ribs. Cover with a lid and transfer to the preheated oven. Roast the short ribs for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, checking every 30-45 minutes and turning the ribs over in the pan at least once. When finished, the ribs should be completely tender, such that you can easily pull the meat apart with a fork. Remove them from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. For best results, cover and transfer them to the fridge overnight before serving.
6. When ready to serve, remove the ribs from the fridge. Skim off and discard the hard white fat on top of the dish (there will likely be a lot of this). Preheat the oven to 400F, and return the ribs, uncovered, to the oven for 15-20 minutes – this is to both reheat the ribs and to gently brown the exterior. Before serving, ladle the sauce and vegetables out of the pan and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the vegetables. Serve the ribs on mashed potatoes, gnocchi, or buttered egg noodles, topped with the strained sauce.

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We have a fridge! A fridge with a freezer! Which means: it’s high time for the summer’s first batch of homemade ice cream. Beyond high time, if we’re being truthful, as it’s been more than a year since I made a batch of ice cream. And the last batch was a really good one, too, so it didn’t last more than a week. Plus, I consider having enough time to make at least one batch of homemade ice cream per summer to be an essential indicator of sanity.

This particular ice cream is one that I’ve been mulling over for more than 2 years. It’s loosely based on this incredible Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream, which is still the best ice cream I’ve ever made. Adding cultured dairy products, like sour cream or cheese, to the ice cream base ensures that it is extra thick and sets up really nicely when frozen, which can be a problem with homemade ice creams. Using sour cream or goat cheese also adds a delicious tang to offset the sweetness of the ice cream.

Since I knew that I wanted to try a recipe similar to the original that used goat cheese in place of the sour cream, we get an abundance of blackberries from our bushes every year, and blackberries and goat cheese and red wine are a great combination on a cheese platter, I decided that those three elements were the basis for what was sure to be a delicious dessert. The ice cream base would be a sweet goat cheese custard with a hint of vanilla, and the blackberries and red wine would enter the picture via a sweet and jammy swirl of fruit sauce. I added a splash of balsamic to the blackberry-red wine component for a little extra depth. The result was everything I imagined, and just as good as the strawberry sour cream version. It’s a good thing I made this 2 days before leaving for a week, or it would already be gone.

I also wanted to use this celebration of our new freezer to take a minute to share the first pictures (and progress!) of our new house. When we knew we were buying the house I had grand plans of becoming a design blogger and documenting all the cool DIY updates we did to the house. But, considering that I seem to be barely managing to find the time to be a food blogger, I suppose I should probably stick with what I know for now. So here’s the summary version, at least as far as the kitchen is concerned…

We started with a kitchen that is basically a blank slate: linoleum floors, cheap cabinets that have seen better days, yellow walls, ancient appliances, and plenty of space. Since the day we moved in we have 1) replaced the dishwasher and fridge with modern, stainless steel versions; 2) removed some of the counters and cabinets and replaced them with these sweet industrial DIY pipe shelves; 3) added a temporary kitchen island and stools; 4) refinished one of the walls and repainted it to a dolphiny gray; 5) added an awkwardly bulky washer and dryer that we can’t wait to move to the basement. We’re also in the process of continuing to replace the upper cabinets with shelves to match the pipe shelving, replacing the disposal, and swapping out the kitchen sink and faucet. Where we are now is certainly not our dream kitchen, but we are at least getting to the point where it feels usable and friendly – good enough until we’ve saved up enough to remodel for real. And good enough to make delicious ice cream!

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Goat Cheese Ice Cream with Blackberry Red Wine Swirl

Inspired by the NYTimes. Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

• 7 egg yolks
• 1 1/3 c. sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 c. whole milk
• 8 oz. goat cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12 oz. fresh blackberries
• 1/3 c. red wine
• 2 TBS balsamic vinegar

1. Beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar in a heatproof bowl until smooth. Set aside. Place the heavy cream and whole milk in a medium saucepan and whisk in 1/2 cup of sugar. Whisking regularly, heat the cream mixture over medium heat just until bubbles begin to appear around the sides of the pan. Remove the cream from the heat.
2. Slowly drizzle the hot cream into the egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks vigorously as you do so. Once you’ve poured most of the cream into the egg yolks, pour the mixture back into the pan and return to the heat. Whisking constantly, heat the egg yolks until the mixture has thickened into a custard thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, which should take from 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Crumble the goat cheese into a large bowl. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl (to remove any bits of scrambled egg). Whisk the mixture until the goat cheese has fully melted into the custard. Stir in the vanilla. Let cool to room temperature, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap touches the surface of the custard and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine the blackberries, the remaining 1/3 c. sugar, the red wine, and the balsamic vinegar. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent the bottom from burning, until thickened and bubbly, about 15 minutes. Mash the blackberries with the back of a wooden spoon so that the mixture has a jam like consistency. Refrigerate the mixture until cold.
5. To make the ice cream, churn the goat cheese custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Scrape half of the ice cream into a storage container in an even layer. Top with half of the blackberry mixture, then drag a knife through the two layers to create a swirl. Repeat with another layer of custard and another layer of blackberries. Freeze until solid, at least 2 hours.

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It’s time for more pork and Pinot! If you remember, this summer I’m teaming up with La Crema wine to bring you a series of recipes pairing pork with their Pinot Noir. The first pairing was this Italian-inspired stuffed pork tenderloin – filled with mozzarella, prosciutto, and sage pesto. This time, we’re making a deliciously fatty, savory pork belly – the cut of meat used to make bacon. Pork belly is incredibly tasty (in small doses, only, please) and a bit of a food darling in a lot of major restaurants right now, especially given its importance in Asian and Latin cuisines. It takes a bit of time both to source and to cook at home, but the end result is completely worth it.

Sourcing pork belly can be a bit of a challenge, depending on where you live. I’m lucky to live in a part of the country where I can get almost anything within a half mile’s walk. Pig trotters? Around the corner. ‘Nduja? At the wine store across the street. Fresh morels? At the closest Wholefoods, if you’re willing to pay an arm and a leg for them. Dried chiles, palm sugar, and pretty much any spice you’ve ever heard of? All available at Christina’s. So for me, finding fresh, uncured pork belly was a matter of walking 45 steps around the corner to Savenor’s and handing over $12 for a gorgeous, 2 lb. slab of heritage pig. But I know it’s not that easy for everyone. Your local butcher or Wholefoods is a good place to start – if they don’t carry pork belly regularly, they may be able to special order some for you. You can also order it online and have it shipped to you, but it’s a bit pricier.

There are a lot of different ways to prepare pork belly, taking anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 days. There are also a lot of different ways it can turn out: roasted whole until it’s falling apart, sandwich-sized slabs with shatteringly crispy skin, small caramelized pieces with a candy-like coating… or as bacon, of course. I decided to take the longer route this time – although not the 5 day version, I’ll admit. To prepare the belly, I put together a rub of brown sugar, paprika, cayenne, and salt and let it marinate in the fridge overnight. Then, in the morning, I threw it in the oven for a few hours until the meat was completely tender and a lot of the fat had rendered out. After roasting, the belly sits in the fridge until firm again, and then gets used in the recipe of your choice. Although it requires advance planning for the chilling and roasting times, this method is not particularly labor intensive – I probably spent longer removing the skin from the belly than I did with all the other steps.

Post chilling, I divided my belly into two big pieces. Half was eventually destined for Banh Mi sandwiches, but for now, let’s talk about what I did with the other half – Red Wine Caramelized Pork Belly slices. I’ve had candied pork belly at bars before – the fatty, salty, sweet slices are highly craveable with just about anything you might want to drink. Since I was making these to pair with Pinot Noir, I decided to play up the pairing and candy the pork belly in a red wine caramel sauce. I served the sticky, delicious slices alone, as a simple and indulgent appetizer with a glass of La Crema Monterey Pinot Noir. All the flavors of the Pinot Noir are echoed in the pork belly, and amplified by the rich, umami flavors of the belly itself.

For full instructions and the recipe for Red Wine Caramelized Pork Belly, head over to the La Crema Blog!

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

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The post La Crema Pork and Pinot #2: Caramelized Pork Belly appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve been absolutely luxuriating in summer for the past week. Long afternoons spent sunning on the raft, hikes up and over hard rock and pine needle floors, piping hot fried fish sandwiches eaten overlooking the ocean, runs timed to coincide with brilliantly colored sunsets, early morning boat rides with thermoses of coffee to watch the harbor seals and pretend to fish, massive ice cream sundaes taking the place of lunch, reading a book on the season’s inaugural sail, and giant burgers topped with blue cheese and spicy onions and grilled to perfection. One of my new year’s resolutions was to engage more, live more, do more – or perhaps, to put it in the reverse, to spend less time doing nothing, or nothing-like things like worrying and regretting and waiting. And as nebulous as that sounds, I feel like I’ve been achieving that, especially during perfect weeks like this last one.

Celebrating the 4th as a cap to this week feels just right – I’m refreshed and energized and ready to celebrate this beautiful country and the gloriousness of summer. As I travel more and more, I’ve actually come to value being an American citizen more highly – sort of the opposite of what I expected, but this year I’m feeling especially grateful to live here in the good old US of A. Our celebration here in Maine will be small, but Trevor’s doing ribs, we’ll have some potato salad and grilled veggies, and I made a batch of sangria slushies with lots of fresh berries. Sangria slushies are an idea I’ve been sitting on for a long time, since I happened upon a company selling pre-made sangria slushie mix at an art fair in Denver a few years back. I thought it was a great idea, and have been meaning to try it at home ever since, but somehow never got around to it. I’m getting around to it now, though. The slushies are sweet and winey and ice cold, and topped with boozey fresh berries – they make an already delicious summer drink just a little more fun.

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Berry Sangria Slushies

Serves 4. Loosely based on Betty Crocker.

• 2 c. mixed fresh berries
• 1/2 c. fresh orange juice
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 bottle (750ml) of red wine
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. brandy

1. Add the berries, orange juice, sugar, and wine to a large pitcher. Stir for a minute to dissolve the sugar, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours to allow the flavors to meld.
2. Strain the wine into a large glass baking pan, reserving the berries. Add the water to the wine, stir briefly, cover with plastic wrap, and place carefully in the freezer. Freeze until solid, at least 12 hours.
3. Add the brandy to the reserved berries. Cover and let soak in the fridge until ready to serve.
4. Just before serving, remove the frozen sangria from the freezer. Use a fork to scrape the top of the sangria and flake it into slush. Spoon into wine glasses, top with the brandy-marinated berries, and serve immediately. Return any extra sangria to the freezer.

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The first thing I did with our strawberries was make jam. I know that for many people, jam is sort of a last resort thing, something they turn to when they’ve run out of ideas and their fruit is on its last legs. But I’ve been dreaming about filling my pantry with jars of strawberry jam, made from our very own strawberries, since the middle of winter, so for me getting a batch of jam on the shelves was my first priority. Canning still makes me a little nervous, but with every batch of preserving I get a bit more confident. This time around, I veered ever so slightly from the recipe I was using (Paul Virant’s Strawberry Pinot Noir Jam recipe from The Preservation Kitchen), adding a little bit more sugar (which, from what I understand, is basically always safe to do), and a whole vanilla bean. The resulting jam is sweet but not saccharine, loose but not runny, and very elegant. I only wish 2 pounds of strawberries made more than 3 little pint jars! It’s going to be torture to wait until fall to open the others, even though I know I’ll appreciate them much more when the prospect of meals based mainly on kale and sweet potatoes starts looming.

Of course, as delicious as jam is out of the jar, it’s still a condiment, and you typically need to serve it on something. As I waited for my canning jars to seal, my mind wandered off somewhere along the lines of “If you give a moose a muffin…” until it settled on black pepper buttermilk biscuits as the most appropriate companion for my strawberry pinot jam. Upon comparing a number of different biscuit recipes, I determined that the basic, accepted buttermilk biscuit recipe uses approximately the following ratio: 2 cups flour + 2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp baking soda + 1 stick butter + 1 c. buttermilk, with a bit of variation from author to author. I followed this general guideline, used the frozen grated butter trick and added a few hefty teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper, and the resulting biscuits nearly stole the show from my poor jam. But really, they’re best together – cold and sweet strawberry jam filling in the nooks and crannies of hot and flaky buttery biscuits. And if for some strange reason you get tired of that combo, my next recommendation is to use these biscuits as a vehicle for bacon-egg-avocado sandwiches, with vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam for dessert, of course. Really, you can’t go wrong.

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Strawberry, Pinot Noir, and Vanilla Jam

Adapted from The Preservation Kitchen. Makes 3 half-pint jars.

• 2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 1/4 c. plus 2 TBS sugar
• 1/2 (750ml) bottle of Pinot Noir
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 vanilla bean

1. In a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, wine and lemon juice. Split the vanilla bean down the middle, scraping the seeds into the berry mixture, then adding the bean pod. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved and the strawberries have released some of their juices. Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 3 days to allow the berries to continue macerating.
2. On the day you will can the jam, fill a large pot or canner with water and bring to a simmer. Scald 4 half-pint jars in the hot water to sterilize, leaving them there and a gentle simmer until you are ready to can. Soak your lids and rings in hot water to soften the seals, and sterilize your other equipment.
3. Strain the juices from the berries into a large pot, reserving the fruit on the side. Place the juices over medium high heat and cook until they have reduced by half and have reached a temperature of 215°F, about 25 minutes. Add the fruit back to the juices and continue to cook, skimming any foam off the surface with a ladle, until the mixture has reached 212°F, another 15-20 minutes. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the consistency of a jam by dropping a few drops of liquid on a frozen plate – if the chilled liquid gels, then your jam is ready.
4. Drain the hot water from your jars, and place the hot jars on the counter. Use a funnel to fill the hot jars with the hot jam, leaving a 1/2 inch space between the top of the jam and the rim of the jar. Wipe the rim with a clean paper towel, then place the lids on the jars, and screw the rings on until snug but not tight. Use canning tongs to transfer the jars back into the simmering water, increase the heat to a boil, then boil the jars for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the water for a few minutes, then remove the jars from the water and let cool completely. Listen for a pop as you remove the jars from the water – that indicates a seal has properly been formed. Note: Do not process any jars that are only partially full – it is only safe to process full jars. Any partially full jars should be stored in the fridge and eaten within a few weeks.

Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes 12-15 biscuits.

• 2 c. AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stick salted butter, frozen
• 1 c. cold buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Grate frozen butter over the coarse holes of a box grater, then add the grated butter to the flour mixture. Use your fingers to gently toss the grated butter with the flour, fully coating the butter.
2. Pour the buttermilk into the flour mixture, and use a fork to gently mix them together, just until the dough is moistened. Don’t overmix. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Knead the dough 2-3 times, just until it comes together, then flatten into a disk that is 1/2 an inch thick. Use a round cookie cutter (about 2-inches in diameter) to cut out biscuits, pressing the scraps together when you’ve run out of room to create a smaller disk. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Chill the biscuits in the fridge for 20 minutes, then transfer to the preheated oven. Bake until puffed and golden brown on the top and sides, about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

The post Ingredient of the Week: Strawberries // Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits with Strawberry Pinot Noir Jam 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.

Update: Congratulations to Amanda of Something Savory on winning the giveaway!  Please contact me with your information so I can send the book.

There are a lot of great cookbooks coming out this fall.  And I mean a lot.  Like, so many that Eater had to split up their fall cookbook preview into two parts due to post size restrictions.  As an avid cookbook devourer, blogger, and all around food dork, this is pretty exciting to me.  Even more exciting?  The fact that I have a stack of these cookbooks on my bedside table to review – and a few to giveaway to you.  I hope you don’t mind a bit of a cookbook and recipe frenzy here for the next few weeks!

First up is Home Made Winter, released as a follow-up to Yvette Van Boven’s wildly popular cookbook, Home Made.  Full of warming Irish, French, and Dutch recipes, this book has arrived just in time for what seems like it may be a long, cold winter – at least here in New England.  It’s a whimsical, playful tribute to the sorts of hearty, made-with-love foods that get those of us that live in colder, darker, Northern climes through the winter.  This playful spirit is set as early as possible – on the copyright page, which is covered with doodles and a “welcome cocktail” to draw you into the book.  Throughout the book various recipes are drawn out and illustrated rather than typed and photographed, which I think is cute – and a good way to remember to not take cooking too seriously.

Recipe-wise, I like this book.  There is a pretty broad range of time commitments, levels of difficulty, healthiness, and flavors represented here.  Some examples: homemade apple cider made in your food processor (time consuming), quinoa apple cake (healthy), rarebits with pear and blue cheese (easy, bad for you).  But even the time-consuming recipes are un-fussy, which appeals to me – home cooking never needs to be pretentious (even if sometimes it’s fun to be a little pretentious about it).  I’m also a fan of the comforting Irish classics Yvette included – dishes I’ve read about but never had the opportunity to try, like steak and kidney pie, bannock bread with devonshire cream, and colcannon.  Yvette’s French and Dutch roots are represented too (tartiflette, gevulde speculaas), but the Irish recipes stuck out to me the most.

Design-wise, I both like and dislike this book.  The thing I love about it is the fun – the sketches, notes, paper cut-outs, and overall friendliness of the design.  What I’m not so crazy about is the photographic style, which is not really my speed.  The photographs are a bit too, well, wintry and realistic for me – many are shot indoors with that characteristic yellow overhead light glow, some are fuzzy and blurred, others are of dark, gray, wintry landscapes – no pristine snowscapes here.  On the one hand, it’s appropriate – it truly brings to life the feeling of winter, being stuck inside, wishing it wasn’t so grey for so long, and finding comfort around the warm light of the kitchen table.  I’m sure this was deliberate, and it’s done well.  But I find that whole aesthetic kind of depressing – I typically want opening a cookbook to be an escape to somewhere beautiful and inspiring and filled with light, not a reminder of where I already am.  Now, this is not a comment on the skill of the photographer (who is also Yvette’s husband) – there are many photographs in the book that are beautifully shot and lit – it’s just a stylistic choice that doesn’t draw me in.

The first recipe I tested from this book was the Daube Provençale – a French beef stew simmered long and slow in red wine, citrus, and olives.  I served it over super-creamy garlic mashed potatoes, and it was as scrumptious as it sounds.  The beef was fall-apart tender and packed with flavor, and the wine-y notes and salty olives made it stand out from other traditional beef stew recipes.  It was also easy (although it takes some planning ahead), so I’ll for sure be making it again!

The bottom line:  Home Made Winter is a fun, accessible cookbook packed with comforting, cold-weather recipes.  The recipes are a mix of traditional and innovative – I think there’s probably a little something for everyone in here.

Giveaway:  Thanks to the folks over at Abrams Books, I’m giving away one copy of Home Made Winter.  To enter, leave a comment below, answering the question: What is your very favorite winter weather recipe?  For one additional entry, you can subscribe to Katie at the Kitchen Door via email or RSS, and leave a separate comment letting me know you have (you can also do this if you’re already a subscriber).  One winner will be picked at random on Wednesday, October 24th.  Be sure to include your email in the comment form so I can get in touch with you!  If the winner doesn’t respond to me within 48 hours, they forfeit their winnings and I will pick a second winner.  US only, apologies to my international readers! Giveaway is now closed!

A final note – lucky for us, (spoiler alert!), we haven’t seen the last of Yvette – she tells us in the introduction to Winter that Home Made Summer will be released sometime in the not too distant future.  In the meantime, enjoy this delicious French beef stew, enter the giveaway, and look out for two more recipes from the book to be posted here over the next week!

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: A review copy of Home Made Winter was provided to me free of charge by Abrams Books.  I was not compensated for writing this review, and all thoughts and opinions are honest and my own!

More like this…

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops

Beef, Mushroom, and Ale Pot Pie

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Gnocchi

Daube Provençale (French Beef Stew with Red Wine)

Recipe from Home Made Winter, by Yvette van Boven.  Serves 8.

A note on the orange/grapefruit: Several people have been disappointed in the orange flavor that leaving the rind in the stew gives – if you are concerned, consider omitting it. I found that, when using a grapefruit, leaving the entire grapefruit in the stew gave it a slightly bitter aftertaste (a reader using grapefruit as well found the same thing). Although not mentioned in Yvette’s original recipe, I’d recommend separately adding the zest of the grapefruit and the fruit of the grapefruit to the stew, avoiding the bitter pith. 

• 3 lb stew beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 (750-ml) bottle Cote du Rhone [I used Bordeaux and it was fine, but Yvette recommends Cote du Rhone, Vacqueyras, Gigondas, or Minervois]
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 orange, washed well and cut into 8 wedges [I substituted grapefruit]
• 1 large onion, peeled and cut into rings
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• olive oil
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 3 1/2 oz. pitted black olives

1. Season meat with salt and pepper on all sides.  Place meat in a big bowl with wine, thyme, bay leaves, carrots, orange, onion, and garlic.  Cover and marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours, and preferably 24 hours.
2. Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot.  Remove the meat from the marinade and brown the pieces in the oil on all sides.  Pour the marinade (including the oranges, bay leaves, etc.) over the meat and bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes, skimming any foam from the surface.  Lower the heat to a simmer, stir in the tomato paste, and add 4 1/2 c. water.  Cover, and let stew on low heat for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. 15 minutes before the stew is ready, add the pitted olives.  Let cook for 15 minutes on medium heat without the lid to thicken the stew.
4. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Serves 6-8.

• 6 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• salt
• 8 cloves garlic, cut in quarters
• 1/2 c. heavy cream

1. Place cubed potatoes in a large saucepan.  Cover with cold water, salt liberally, and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, skimming starch foam from top occasionally and checking to keep from boiling over – lower heat if necessary.  Drain potatoes and place in a blender.
2. Return saucepan to heat, lower heat to low, and add garlic and heavy cream.  Heat until garlic is fragrant and cream begins to simmer, then add to blender.  Blend until potatoes are a totally smooth puree.  Add water or skim milk as necessary to even out texture.

The post Cookbook Review and Giveaway: Home Made Winter appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Christmas always took an agonizingly long time to arrive when I was little.  I started flipping through the giant JC Penny’s toy catalog and circling the 625 items I wanted in October.  We had to wait for what seemed like ages to decorate the tree once December finally arrived.  And as soon as school got out the rest of the month was dedicated to absorbing Christmas – eating cookies, decorating gingerbread, doing the advent calendar, and watching A Muppet Christmas Carol (available on Amazon Instant?? My night just got so much better…) as many times as possible.  Then, of course, Christmas Eve itself was the longest night ever, and I rarely fell asleep within an hour of going to bed.  Now that I’m not so little though, Christmas seems to sneak up on me all of a sudden – I’m barely getting in the spirit when the day has come and gone.  It’s easy to get so caught up in your life – and the shopping, and parties, and rushing around that seem to epitomize Christmas now – that you forget to just enjoy the Christmas spirit.  And to think about what Christmas actually means – whatever that may signify for you.

Luckily, we all still have at least another 48 hours to soak up as much Christmasyness as possible, and I plan on doing just that.  And you know what’s helping the most?  The eggnog.  Sweet, rich, creamy, and just a little spicy, one sip of this eggnog and I feel a little bit more relaxed, a little bit less anxious, and a little bit more ready to enjoy the next two days for what they are.  Fifteen more sips and you can just imagine how good I feel. :-)  Really though, it’s extremely easy to whip up, and I even made a half batch just for Trevor and myself to enjoy on the spot.  If you have a little bit more time on your hands, chop up some apples, oranges, and pomegranates and throw a batch of this Christmas sangria in the fridge as well.  Turn on some Christmas music, plug in the tree, put out a plate of cookies, and pour yourself a glass of your drink of choice.  Christmas is here – enjoy it!

P.S. Recipe for the Chocolate Mint Thumbprint cookies pictured can be found here!

Christmas Sangria

Adapted from Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Serves 6.

• 1 bottle (750mL) red wine
• 2 c. apple cider
• 3/4 c. brandy
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 sweet, crisp apples, chopped into 1 inch cubes
• seeds of 1 large pomegranate
• 1 orange, sliced

Homemade Eggnog

Adapted from Food Network.  Serves 4.

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/3 c. sugar, plus 1 TBS
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 3-4 oz. bourbon or brandy
• 1 tsp nutmeg

1. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, whisk egg whites until foamy.  Sprinkle cream of tartar over, and continue whisking/beating until they form soft peaks.  While still whisking, sprinkle 1 TBS of sugar over them and beat until egg whites are stiff.
2. In a large bowl (preferably with a spout) or pitcher, whisk egg yolks and 1/3 c. sugar until pale yellow and creamy.  Whisk in milk, heavy cream, and booze until incorporated, then gently fold in egg whites until the consistency is even.  Divide between four glasses and top with nutmeg.  Drink right away.

*NOTE: This recipe contains raw egg yolks.  If you are uncomfortable eating raw egg yolks, heat the milk and cream over low heat until just beginning to simmer, then pour over the egg yolk and sugar mixture, whisking yolks rapidly to prevent scrambling, to temper the yolks.  Chill the mixture before continuing.

The post Last Minute Christmas Cheer appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I read recently that cherries are one of the only foods that are hard to enhance beyond their natural form.  Specifically, the comment was that  “nothing captures the essence of a cherry like a cherry.”  (See Ideas in Food, one of the coolest, most inspirational sites I’ve found.)  And it’s so true, isn’t it?  Their texture and flavor are really best when eaten straight out of the fridge, and when I think of cherries, that’s what I think of – how refreshing a cold cherry is in the middle of the summer.  For weeks I’ve been thinking about this and eyeing the piles of beautiful red cherries, and last week, when I saw the $1.99/lb sign, I finally bought some.  (Although they initially rang up at $7 a pound.  Seven dollars?  Per pound?!  Thank you very much but I’d rather have two pounds of steak at that price.)  And as I ran through things I might do with them in my mind, they slowly disappeared, one after the other, into my mouth.  I mean, come on, they’re fun to eat – you get to daintily pluck them off the stems with your teeth and roll them around in your mouth before fully biting into them.  Then your mouth is full of sweet juice, and you get to undecorously spit out the pits.  And your lips and fingers get all stained with cherry juice.  And maybe it’s a little bit sexual.  I digress.

So the cherries remained in their perfect, natural form for several days.  But two pounds is a lot of cherries for one person to eat alone, and those beautiful, perfect cherries were beginning to get soft.  They needed to be used, and so I began to think.  Key to my musing was the fact that I wanted to share the goodness of cherries with Trevor, who, although he continues to eat them rebelliously, is allergic to most fruits with pits unless they’re cooked.  So I wanted to go against my better judgment and achieve the impossible – to cook the cherries while maintaining their integrity, and also enhancing their flavor.

As I browsed through cherry recipes, I found that I kept clicking recipes with titles like “Boozy Cherry Molasses,” “Red Wine and Cherry Soup,” and “Kirsch-Soaked Cherry Sauce.”  Hmmm.  There was a trend.  And just like that, I knew what I wanted. I closed all of those recipes, and I just started inventing.  Into a saucepan went stemmed and pitted cherries, then some rum, some red wine, some lemon juice, sugar, corn-starch.  I almost added black pepper but I didn’t want to push it.  I think it might work though.  I’m trying it soon.  Then the cherries, robbed of their integrity despite my best efforts, went into the blender, and back into the pan.  I tasted it – the flavor had been enhanced, decidedly.  It was one of those rare times when tinkering in the kitchen goes completely right.

Now I had a pot full of delicious, boozy, fragrant cherry puree, and it needed a stage.  What I really wanted was danish.  Cherry, cream cheese, and almond danish, but grown-up, elegant, subtle.  I was all ready to go, cherries simmering, cream cheese softening, philo sheets defrosting on the counter, when Trevor reminded me, again, that philo and puff pastry are not the same thing.  Having never used either, I get confused.  Frequently.  So the philo went back in the freezer, the cream cheese went back in the fridge, and the cherries continued to simmer.  Now what?

The answer came to me quickly – brownies.  Ever since I saw these brownies on 101 cookbooks, I’ve been continuously craving a cherry-chocolate brownie.  My original plan was to wait until I got around to getting some dried cherries and kirsch, and do the whole soaking thing, but I decided that this puree would have exactly the effect I wanted.  So brownies, tinged with almond flavor and swirled with cherry puree, were created.  And they were chewy, moist, chocolatey, nutty, fruity, boozy, goodness.  Things in the kitchen are going right.

P.S. I haven’t given up on the idea of the cherry danish.  As soon as I get the time to make some puff pastry it will be here.  Hopefully on Friday.  Stay tuned.

Grown-Up Cherry Puree

Makes 1 1/2 cups

• 1 lb cherries, washed and pitted (yields around 3 cups)
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 6 TBS red wine
• 4 TBS rum
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 4 tsp water

1. In a medium pot, combine cherries, sugar, wine, rum, and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring and pressing the cherries apart with the back of the spoon.
2. Remove the cherries from the heat and carefully pour into blender.  Pulse 3 or 4 times, just enough to break the cherries up into small pieces.  (You want the puree to have some texture, and the fruit will break down more as it continues to cook).
3. Return the cherries to the stove, and continue cooking over medium heat.  In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water until cornstarch is fully dissolved.  Slowly pour the cornstarch into the hot cherries, stirring constantly.  Cook the cherries for another 5-10 minutes, stirring continuously, until they have started to thicken.  Depending on the desired consistency of the cherries, you may need to use more or less cornstarch.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Keep cherry puree in airtight container in fridge.

Grown-up Cherry Brownies

• 3/4 c. + 2 TBS cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate (2/3 c. chocolate chips)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 c. grown-up cherry puree

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Butter and flour an 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cake flour, salt, and baking powder, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine butter and chocolate.  Microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring vigorously in between, until chocolate and butter form a thick, completely smooth, mixture.  Do not over-microwave or you will burn the chocolate.  This step can also be done in a double boiler.
4. Whisk sugar into chocolate mixture.  Incorporate eggs one at a time.  Whisk in almond extract.
5. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture in 3 batches, gently stirring with a spatula in between additions.  When flour is fully incorporated and batter is smooth, pour into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula.  Spoon cherry puree on top of brownies and drag your spatula through the puree and brownies, swirling in large motions, as you would to marble a batter.  Smooth top as best you can.  Bake for 40-50 minutes.

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