I’ve been working with La Crema for a while now, and we recently seem to have found a groove in a series of internationally-themed dinners to pair with their Chardonnays, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noirs. In July we did an al fresco Italian seafood feast, for Labor Day we had a Greek-American cook-out, and now, as the weather turns colder, we’re looking to the other side of the world to find the inspiration for this Korean-inspired dinner. I say Korean-inspired because, well, I’m not Korean, and I’ve never even been to Korea, and I don’t want to call these recipes something they are not. Because they are definitely not traditional, authentically-prepared Korean recipes, the kind of recipe that gets passed down from generation to generation and takes a lifetime to learn. What they are are a collection of delicious recipes that attempt to incorporate some of the influences and flavors of Korean cooking into the way I cook and eat at home.

With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to the food! The appetizer here is Vegetarian Lentil and Mushroom Mandu, Korea’s stuffed dumpling. Trevor walked in the door just as I was frying these up. “You’re just in time,” I told him, and he grabbed one (one of the ugly ones that I would let him eat before photos) straight from the frying pan. He bit into one and sort of grunted appreciatively before I said “they’re vegetarian.” At which point he looked at me with a mixture of anger and confusion, so upset because he didn’t even notice they were vegetarian. (Also when we eat vegetarian food without me telling him in advance he feels like I’m tricking him.) Because lentils and mushrooms and cabbage can taste as good as ground pork when wrapped up in a dumpling and fried. Not that I have anything against pork, I just love being able to create vegetarian food that’s as satisfying as meat. You can find the Mandu recipe here on the La Crema blog.

For the main event, we have two dishes – a simple Cabbage and Kimchi Salad with Sesame-Miso Dressing, and an Autumn Bibimbap. The salad is all about the super flavorful and creamy dressing – a mixture of tahini, miso, honey, ginger, and rice vinegar. It’s the kind of dressing that makes eating raw cabbage slightly addictive instead of slightly awful. The addition of kimchi – a funky, tangy, spicy fermented cabbage dish that’s ubiquitous at any Korean meal – brings an unexpected heat and excitement to an otherwise sweet and mild salad. The bibimbap, which is inspired by the book Bowl: Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and other One-Dish Meals, includes a few seasonal variations on a classic bibimbap: gochujang-roasted brussels sprouts and tamari-roasted portobello mushrooms. Mixed with the more traditional toppings of bulgogi-marinated beef, pickled cucumbers, and a fried egg, it makes a comforting, delicious fall dinner, especially served with a glass of La Crema Monterey Pinot Gris. The bright minerality of the wine is a good counterpoint to the spicy gochujang and rich egg in the bibimbap and the funky heat of the kimchi in the salad. (Find the bibimbap recipe here and the cabbage and kimchi salad recipe here!)

And for dessert, we have Red Bean Paste Filled Sesame Cookies, which are arguably more inspired by our time in Hong Kong and Japan than Korea but the flavors seemed to be loosely aligned with Korean desserts. I knew what I wanted these cookies to taste and look like, but I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. Incessant googling of variations on “crispy sesame cookies stuffed with red bean paste” didn’t reveal anything, so I had to experiment on my own. I started with the vague idea that these cookies should have the texture of shortbread, crumbly and buttery, with a distinct sesame flavor from a generous amount of tahini. And I knew I wanted them to be sizable, big enough that you could fill them amply with sweet red bean paste. I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out – and they were super easy to make. They’re not perfect perfect, but I’ll come back with an updated recipe if I end up tinkering with them any more.

Stay tuned, because I’m really excited about what La Crema and I have cooked up for Thanksgiving! Think chipotle, passionfruit, mole sauce… it’s going to be all kinds of delicious.

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

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!

Red Bean Paste Filled Sesame Cookies

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Makes 8 large cookies.

• 1 stick salted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 c. tahini paste
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 c. cake flour
• 1/2 c. sweetened red bean paste, store bought or homemade, chilled
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the tahini paste until it is evenly combined with the butter. Sift the powdered sugar into the butter-tahini mixture and beat until evenly combined. Stir in the cake flour and beat until a smooth dough is formed. Dough should stick together in a ball when you make one with your hands. If the dough is too difficult to work with, chill for about 30 minutes before continuing.
3. To form the cookies, take ~1 TBS of dough and use a cupped hand to form a half sphere with a hollow center. Fill the center of the cookie with 1 tsp of the chilled red bean paste, then carefully close the tops of the cookie dough over the top of the red bean paste. Roll into a ball and then flatten slightly to make a thick, disc-shaped cookie. Use a fork to gently press hash-marks into the top of the cookie and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Repeat until you have used all of the dough. Bake cookies until golden brown and just beginning to crack, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve warm.

The post Korean-Inspired Dinner: Red Bean Paste Filled Sesame Cookies appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I’ve somehow let over three weeks go by since the last time I wrote. Before our trip, I prepped and photographed six recipes to share with you while I was away, approximately one per week. It was good planning on my part, but I arrived home a few days ago and I seem to have only managed to post three of them. Whoops. In reality, I decided that this trip wasn’t the time to be fretting over my blog schedule and unanswered email inquiries – and I’m glad I did. It was nice to let go of some of it for a few weeks, to focus my energy each day on where we were and what we were doing. That’s not to say I traveled anxiety-free or without letting thoughts of home occasionally slip into my mind, but I let go of a lot more than I usually do, especially during our time in Japan, and I enjoyed the trip so much more for it.

I had originally intended this recipe for my February fitness goal post, but fitness goals are another thing I’ve let slide. I’m not too concerned about it – we spent 6 weeks walking 10+ miles a day, not sitting on a couch. Still, this is the kind of food I am very much looking forward to eating now that I am home – simple, light, and nourishing. We had fairly few “Western” meals during our 6 weeks in Asia – a few hamburgers in Hong Kong, a pizza one night. Both Hong Kong and Japan have such incredible food cultures, we were never bored with or tired of the local offerings. I wasn’t particularly anxious to get home, but walking through the door Monday night I was surprisingly happy to be here. And there are things that I’m looking forward to now that I’m back – yogurt and berries, real avocado toast, affordable wine and brie, giant grain salads. Planning for our garden this spring and getting back into decorating the house. Probably most of all, seeing my friends and family. And it’s almost spring! I might skip winter every year.

Now that I’m home, I’m also excited to be back in the kitchen (or at least I will be once we’ve managed to get some groceries). I’m full of inspiration for soups, noodles, dumplings, and street food – don’t be surprised if this blog takes a decidedly Asian slant for the next few months. But before we get to all that, I have this Nordic-inspired, healthy salmon and rice bowl for you, with pickled beets and dilled sour cream. It is super quick and easy to put together, and satisfying without being heavy. It’s also seasonally appropriate, beets being one of the few vegetables we New Englanders can get locally in the middle of winter. In fact, revisiting it now, I’m thinking this might be a good one to go on my grocery list this week. Enjoy!

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

Scandi Salmon Bowl with Pickled Beets and Dilled Sour Cream

Pickled beets adapted from Gourmet. Serves 4.

• 2 beets, boiled until tender, peeled, and thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp mustard seed
• 1/4 tsp dill seed
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
• 2 TBS minced fresh dill
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely minced
• sea salt, to taste
• 3 c. prepared brown rice, farro, or other nutty whole grain
• 8 oz. hot-smoked salmon, flaked into bite-size pieces

1. Place thinly sliced beets in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, water, cider vinegar, mustard seed, and dill seed, and bring to a gentle simmer over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, then pour over the sliced beets. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving.
2. To prepare the dilled sour cream, mix sour cream, lemon juice, dill and minced shallot together in a bowl until evenly combined. Season to taste with sea salt.
3. To serve, fill 4 bowls with a few scoops of cooked rice or farro. Top the rice with the flaked salmon, a few pickled beets, and a dollop of sour cream. Best served when rice is still slightly warm.

The post Scandi Salmon Bowl with Pickled Beets and Dilled Sour Cream appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Although I personally am not going back to school this year (and I don’t have any little ones to account for either), I still am very much feeling the back-to-school vibe these past few weeks. Perhaps it’s just part of living in an area with such a high concentration of universities, or maybe it’s due to the fact that I have so many friends who are in grad school that are just coming back to the area after summers away. Or, it could simply be because when I’m on my morning runs the neon-vested crossing guards are back in place at every crosswalk and I usually jog by at least 2 or 3 elementary school kids, walking to school with backpacks and sneakers that still look conspicuously new.

Despite the fact that I’m not a student, teacher, or parent of a student, I still love the back-to-school feeling that September brings. It reminds me of cracking open brand new notebooks, family dinners around the kitchen table (after a summer of casual outdoor eating at dusk), and wearing maroon sweaters when it’s still way to hot to wear sweaters, because you just can’t resist. This September, I’ve teamed up with Old El Paso and Shaws to help create an easy, nutritious recipe perfect for those busy evenings when you’re just picking the fall routine back up. These Enchilada-Style Stuffed Peppers are a great solution for after-school weeknight dinners – they do take a little bit of planning ahead to account for overall cooking time, but require very minimal active time. They’re completely vegetarian (great for Meatless Mondays!), using lentils and brown rice flavored with Old El Paso taco seasoning mix as the filling in place of the more traditional ground beef. Once the filling is prepared and the peppers are stuffed, all you need to complete the dish are a can of enchilada sauce, some shredded cheese, and a quick bake in the oven. These have plenty of protein and limited fat, and they are just as satisfying (if not more so!) as a meaty version.

And don’t forget to clip the Box Tops from your Old El Paso products! Man, I used to get really excited about Box Tops. Now that I’m no longer a 5th grader they aren’t quite as exciting for me personally, but if you do have kids, it’s kind of a fun way to help generate money for schools. At my current life stage, my closest connection to schools is probably all of my teacher friends, and I know they appreciate every dime they can get towards improving their classrooms.

Enchilada-Style Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Serves 4-6.

• 5 large red or yellow bell peppers
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 packet Old El Paso Original Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1 c. brown rice, rinsed and drained
• 1 c. black French lentils, rinsed and drained
• 2 c. water
• 2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 c. chopped fresh tomatoes
• One 10-oz. can Old El Paso Mild Enchilada Sauce
• 1/2 c. shredded monterey jack cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stem and seed the peppers, then cut peppers in half lengthwise. Blanch the peppers in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, cut-side up, in a casserole dish.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions and the Old El Paso taco seasoning mix to the oil and stir to thoroughly coat the onions with the seasoning. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the rice and lentils to the onions and stir to coat with the seasoning. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add the water and vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir in the tomatoes, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the mixture, covered, until rice and lentils have absorbed all of the liquid, about 30-40 minutes. Taste to be sure they are tender then remove from the heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spoon the rice and lentil mixture into the peppers in the casserole dish. Pour the enchilada sauce over and around the peppers, then sprinkle the cheese on top of each pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cheese is golden brown on top. Remove from oven and serve hot.

Only Box Tops For Education registered schools can redeem Box Tops. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents to redeeming school. Limit $20,000 per school, per school year for Box Tops redeemed through the Clip Program. See www.boxtops4education.com for program details. 

Old El Paso products, found at your local Shaws store, are an easy weeknight meal solution.
Shoppers can clip the Box Tops found on the Old El Paso packaging, and on other General Mills products, to earn 10 cents each for their schools through the Box Tops for Education program. 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Safeway / Shaws and Old El Paso . The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Old El Paso Back-to-School // Enchilada-Style Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: Mexico: The Cookbook is the latest in Phaidon’s line of beautiful, country-specific recipe compendiums. I reviewed Thailand: The Cookbook earlier this year, and was excited to see that a Peruvian book will be released in the spring. All of these books offer a very different experience than most of the cookbooks being released today. They’re short on prose – no recipe headnotes or historical sidebars – and while the pictures that are included are lovely, they’re not the focus of the books. What these books lack in personality, however, they make up for with sheer thoroughness – Mexico clocks in at over 600 recipes. That volume of recipes means that there will definitely be something new and different to try for everyone who picks up this book. Besides the comprehensiveness, the biggest draw of these books for me is the authenticity – each recipe is tied to a specific region of the country and uses very traditional ingredients and techniques. In the kitchen, that translates to authentic home-style dishes and a deeper understanding of how different cooking techniques can truly open up new flavors. I was a little frustrated with the quality of editing in this book. While I’m sure it’s a massive project to edit a book with 600+ recipes in it, I tried four different recipes for this post and all of them had issues with clarity of instruction and ingredients, to the point of listing ingredients that are never used, and, the opposite, calling for ingredients that aren’t listed. Confident cooks will be fine adapting as they go, but just a warning to those who get frustrated by a lack of clarity in recipes. Other than that, I’m excited to have added this book to my shelf, and I’m sure it will be one of my primary references for Mexican home-cooking.

The Food: The team behind Mexico: The Cookbook, has joined forces with the folks at Casa Noble tequila to promote a great cookbook and a great tequila in one shot (no pun intended). Casa Noble offers crystal, anejo, and reposado tequilas, in addition to single-barrel versions of their anejo and reposado. All the tequilas are produced using traditional methods, and aged in French white oak to create a complexity of flavor that elevates the drink above most lower-end brands. Since tequila is my drink of choice most any night, I was eager to try a new brand and do a little boozy cooking. Although tequila tasting is definitely not an art I’ve mastered, I did take a few little sips (not shots, I promise!) of the reposado without anything to distract from the tequila itself – it’s very smooth, and I picked up a certain fruitiness while Trevor got mostly vanilla. The tasting notes also mention chocolate, citrus, and butter, but I don’t think my tequila palate is advanced enough to pick up on those.

There are about a dozen recipes in this book that call for tequila, including an amazing-sounding recipe for shrimp marinated in sangria and tequila then served in mole sauce, and a tequila-based drink I’d never heard of before, the lagartija. But the recipe that was calling my name the strongest last weekend was the Slow-Cooked Pork in Tequila. It’s a fairly simple recipe, calling for pork butt and ribs to be cooked slowly on the stove-top in a chili sauce, then finished up with a quick simmer in tequila. The book recommends serving it with “Pot Beans” and rice, so I made both those recipes as well. And even though it may not be traditional, I decided to make a Michoacan Avocado Salsa to serve with the pork and rice and beans, for a little punch of brightness and color. The combination of the four dishes? Phenomenal. I’m not exaggerating. It was everything I crave in good Mexican food – a little heat, a rich sauce, a certain heartiness, and brightness from the salsa. It tasted like something I could have eaten for dinner in a hole-in-the-wall family restaurant, cooked by a little old abuela. I was particularly enamored with the beans, which could not have been simpler but were incredibly creamy and flavorful. This meal left me so excited to keep cooking from this book – loving four out of four recipes is a pretty good hit rate.

The Giveaway: Casa Noble and Phaidon have generously offered to give away an additional copy of Mexico: The Cookbook, to one Katie at the Kitchen Door reader. To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment below, telling me about your favorite cooking/eating experience involving either tequila or authentic Mexican cuisine (or both!). By entering the giveaway, you are agreeing to the official rules:

• No purchase necessary
• Void where prohibited
• One entry per household, and only entries addressing the question above will be considered!
• The sponsors of this giveaway are Phaidon and Casa Noble.
• The estimated retail value of the book is $50
• The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received
• This contest is only open to U.S. Citizens over the age of 18
• The contest will open today, December 10th, 2014 at posting time, and will close at 11PM EST on Friday, December 19th, 2014
• One winner will be selected randomly and contacted via email (so please leave an accurate email address!). If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours, the winner forfeits their prize and an alternate winner will be chosen.
• I will post the winner here by Friday, January 2nd, 2015

Recipe Shortlist: Duck in Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce; Short Ribs in Chili and Coffee Sauce; Lamb in Cider Sauce; Goat Stew; Green Chile Soup with Corn; Divorced Eggs; Tuna with Chipotle Crust; Plantain-Stuffed Chiles; Corn Cake with Eggnog Sauce; Mexican Bloody Mary; Caramel Gelatin with Drunken Sauce

Disclaimer: I received a copy of Mexico: The Cookbook, a bottle of tequila, and reimbursement for ingredients from Casa Noble and Phaidon. I was not otherwise compensated for this review and all opinions are honest and my own.

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!

Slow-Cooked Pork in Tequila

Recipe adapted from Mexico: The Cookbook. Serves 6.

Note: I’ve written the recipe as we’ve made it, which used significantly less chiles than the original, which called for 200g. I’ve also included some other notes and clarifications that aren’t in the original.

• 50g mixed dried chiles (preferably a mix of cascabel, ancho, and jalapeno)
• 3 TBS of canola oil, duck fat, or lard
• 1 1/2 lb. pork butt, diced into 1 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 lb. pork ribs, meat cut from bones and diced into 1 inch cubes
• sea salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large white onion, cut into chunks
• 4 TBS tequila
• white rice, to serve
• prepared pinto beans, to serve
• Michoacan Avocado Salsa, to serve (recipe below)

1. Boil a pot of water and pour about 3 cups of boiling water over the chiles in a heatproof bowl. Let steep until chiles are soft and water is a deep red, about 15 minutes.
2. Heat the oil or fat in a large saucepan. Add the pork butt and pork rib meat and cook over medium-high heat, stirring and turning frequently until evenly browned. Season with salt.
3. Place the chiles, the chile soaking water, the cumin seeds, oregano, garlic, and onion into a blender and blend on high until smooth. Strain into a bowl, then add the sauce to the pork. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and has absorbed most of the sauce. If the sauce begins to look dry at any point, add water.
4. Add the tequila to the pan and continue to simmer, without the lid, for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with rice, beans, and avocado salsa.

Michoacan Avocado Salsa

Recipe adapted from Mexico: The Cookbook. Makes about 1 cup.

• 3 tomatillos, papery husks and stems removed
• 3 serrano chiles
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large avocado, peeled and pitted
• 2 TBS finely chopped cilantro
• sea salt, to taste

1. Remove the seeds from 2 of the chiles and the stems from all 3. Put the tomatillos and chiles into a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer the tomatillos and the chiles to a food processor. Add the garlic to the food processor and process until combined. Add the avocado flesh to the food processor and process until smooth. Stir in the cilantro and season to taste with salt.

The post Book Club: Mexico: The Cookbook // Slow-Cooked Pork in Tequila, and a Giveaway! appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I totally spaced on October’s fitness goal. I didn’t have a particularly bad month, health-wise, it was just such a whirlwind that setting a new goal, sticking to it, and writing about it just didn’t happen. It didn’t help that I spent 12 days out of the country, 8 in Malaysia and 4 in Ireland, and that exercise while traveling is usually a take-what-you-can-get situation for me (20 minutes on the treadmill between meetings and team dinner? Sold!). But so far November looks quiet, and as we move into the season of holiday parties, big family meals, and shorter, colder, darker days, I want to be especially diligent about working out and eating right and finish the year out strong.

I was originally going to do a sort-of-vague, sort-of-boring goal relating to increasing my number of weekly workouts. I do want to be sure that I’m working out frequently enough, as it’s so much harder to motivate myself to get out of bed for those early morning runs when it’s 40°, but I’m not as good as sticking to goals when they don’t excite me. Then last weekend while Trevor was out with friends, I found myself having one of those sort-of-secret mini-dance parties I tend to have when I’m home alone (just me? no?) and thought, what better way to ensure that I get into the habit of winter workouts than to dance more? So my goal for November is to get to at least 6 (hopefully more!) dance classes throughout the month. Not only is this goal a lot more fun than counting miles or sets of crunches, but I’m hoping that I find a few new classes to keep me energized during those icy weeks when outdoor exercise isn’t even an option. Of course, I’ll still be running throughout the month – 6 workouts in total certainly wouldn’t cut it – but I’ll be making dance class a priority.

And let’s not forget the food! My diet these past few weeks has definitely been missing a fresh element. Again, the 8 days of delicious Malaysian curries and 4 days of potatoes and Guinness did not lend themselves to the most commendable eating habits. I came up with this rice bowl, which combines warm, comforting ingredients with fresh, bright ones to try and find a balance between the stick-to-your-ribs food I crave at this time of year and the need to continue consuming fruits and vegetables. I love roasted Brussels sprouts, and my favorite part are the leaves that fall to the side and get wonderfully crunchy and caramelized, so I sliced the brussels sprouts thinly to encourage that effect. They combine wonderfully with the brown rice, a super simple lemon creme fraiche sauce that gets tossed with rotisserie chicken, and fresh pomegranate seeds for sweetness and crunch. It’s nothing earth-shattering in the creativity department, but it’s easy, flavorful, and nourishing, which is about as much as I can ask for in a healthy recipe at this time of year.

Past Fitness Challenges

January: 10 Visits to the YMCA; Recipe: Gluten-Free Olive-and-Feta Corn Muffins
February: One vegan meal every day; Recipe: Pakistani Chickpea Pulao with Sweet-Hot Date-Onion Chutney
March: Run 40  miles in 20 days; Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Butter Cookie Bites
April: Walk 8,000 steps a day; Recipe: Herb-Flecked Spring Couscous
May: 180 minutes of Nike Training Club; Recipe: Warm Arugula Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing
June: Fresh fruit/veggies at every meal; Recipe: Chickpea Crepes with Grilled Curried Chicken and Mango Salsa
July: 8 different types of exercise; Recipe: Homemade Spinach Wraps with Chopped Greek Salad Filling
August: Relax; Recipe: Green Tea and Zucchini Noodles with Honey Ginger Sauce
September: Average mile pace below 8’10”; Recipe: Potato, Poblano, and Chard Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

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!

Crispy Brussels Sprout, Lemon Chicken, and Pomegranate Rice Bowl

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

• 1 1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 1/2 lbs. large brussels sprouts
• 3 TBS olive oil
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 c. cooked, shredded, rotisserie chicken
• 1/2 c. creme fraiche
• juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp minced fresh chives
• 1 c. fresh pomegranate seeds

1. Rinse the rice in cold water and drain well. Place the rice in a saucepan and add 3 cups of cold water and the butter. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and simmer for 35-45 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the water and is tender. Remove from the heat and leave covered.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the stems and outer leaves from the brussels sprouts and discard. Slice the trimmed brussels sprouts into round about 1/4 inch think and place the slices on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add any leaves that have fallen off to the pan as well. Drizzle the brussels sprouts with the olive oil, then sprinkle generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and use a spatula to flip the sprouts so they are evenly coated with the mixture. Roast until golden brown and crispy on the edges, about 20-25 minutes, flipping once about halfway through.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the creme fraiche, lemon juice, black pepper, and chives until evenly combined. Season to taste with sea salt. If your rotisserie chicken is still warm, simply toss the creme fraiche sauce with the chicken to thoroughly coat. If the chicken is cold, reheat the chicken in the microwave or on the stovetop, and then toss with the sauce.
4. Mix together the rice, chicken, roasted brussels sprouts, and fresh pomegranate seeds. Serve warm.

The post Monthly Fitness Goals: November // Crispy Brussels Sprout, Lemon Chicken, and Pomegranate Rice Bowl appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

After a long business trip, it always takes a few days to shake off the whirl of travel and settle back into my routine. While I’m out on the road, every day is a long mix of work and exploration, and I often lose sense of the boundaries I have between my work and personal lives when I’m at home. Of course, the one piece of my life that I’m truly missing when I’m away is Trevor, and the first thing I want to do when I walk in the door (well, maybe after a shower) is to just spend time being together.

Last week I returned from a 10 day trip to Malaysia, and although it took me a bit longer than usual to get over the jet-lag and general plane-induced malaise, by Sunday I was feeling like myself again. Although some might argue that when you live together and don’t have kids, every night is date night, in my book it’s nice to set aside time that’s solely about spending time with one another. So I declared Sunday night an official date night, and we set about brainstorming recipes (because in our house, date night almost always means cooking). This particular date night was spruced up a bit by some new kitchenwares from Uncommon Goods, an ethically-minded retailer for unique and unusual gifts. Part of Uncommon Goods’ mission is to support independent artists and designers, as well as to feature American-made goods, and it’s easy to get lost browsing the resulting collection of products they’ve curated. Of course, although they carry a broad range of items, the section I’m drawn to the most is dining and entertaining, especially the wine (here) and kitchen gadget (here) collections.

When Uncommon Goods offered to send some of their products our way for us to try out, we quickly agreed. We’re constantly breaking our wine glasses, so choosing some new ones from their collection of fun designs was high on our wishlist. We ended up going for this set of stemless aerating wine glasses, in addition to this very classy wine carafe. And despite Trevor’s protests about how cheesy it was (pun intended), I couldn’t resist adding this mini fondue pot for two to our shopping list as well. New kitchenwares in hand, we set about putting them through their paces for our date night – wine was decanted, glasses were set out, and we whipped up a curried tomato and gruyere fondue, kept steaming hot in the tiny tea-light powered fondue pot. Never ones to be satisfied with something too simple, we passed on the bread and crudites for dipping and instead fried up a batch of Indian-spiced rice balls stuffed with mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and peas. The combo of the crispy rice balls and the rich and spicy cheese sauce was spot on, and we polished off the whole batch in one sitting (although I’ll admit that we may have been helped along by the generous glasses of wine we poured).

Sometimes when I’m doing a post for the blog, I get so wrapped up in getting the right shots and taking notes that I forget to enjoy what we’re doing. This was not one of those times – sitting around the tiny fondue pot, joking about cheesy rice balls, taking goofy pictures of each other, and drinking (gulp) the whole bottle of pinot, it really felt like date night, not just a photoshoot of date night. It was fun. A lot of fun. So, corny as it may sound, I genuinely want to thank Uncommon Goods, not only for supplying us with some great new products for our kitchen, but for inspiring us to get in the kitchen and create and laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Definitely hop over to their site to see if anything inspires you!

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: This post is sponsored by Uncommon Goods, a retailer for unique and unusual gifts. All opinions are honest and my own.

Curried Tomato-Gruyere Fondue with Indian-Spiced Arancini

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 3-4 as an appetizer.

For the arancini:

• 2 c. cooked Basmati rice
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 tsp grated fresh garlic
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and stemmed, finely diced
• 2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated
• 10 crimini or button mushrooms, stems removed, very finely diced
• 1/3 c. frozen peas
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/8 tsp cayenne powder
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 eggs. lightly beaten
• vegetable oil for frying

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the grated garlic, grated ginger, and diced jalapenos and saute, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and peas and saute, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add cooked rice, ground ginger, ground turmeric, and cayenne powder and stir to thoroughly combine, fully coating rice in spices. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Add the beaten eggs to the rice mixture and stir to combine. Form the rice into golf ball sized balls, pressing firmly to remove any excess liquid, and set aside on a plate. Heat 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Once the oil is hot (test it by adding a small piece of rice to the oil and seeing if it sizzles immediately), fry the rice balls in batches, about 1-2 minutes per side, then drain the rice balls on a paper-towel lined plate. Serve immediately.

For the curried tomato fondue:

• 1 TBS butter
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tsp grated garlic
• 1 c. crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 lb. gruyere cheese, roughly grated

1. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the grated ginger and grated garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and curry powder and stir to combine. Cook tomatoes, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, then lower heat to low and add the grated cheese. Stir the cheese into the tomatoes until completely melted and just beginning to bubble around the edges, then transfer immediately to prepared fondue pot. Keep warm in fondue pot and serve with Indian-spiced arancini, crusty bread, or other foods for dipping.

The post Date Night with Uncommon Goods // Curried Tomato-Gruyere Fondue with Indian-Spiced Arancini appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: The newest cookbook on my shelf is Eating with the Chefs, a photography-driven book that documents the family meals served at the world’s greatest restaurants. The goal of the book: to take you behind the scenes, into the kitchens and after-hours, to experience the “family life” of the people who make these restaurants run, and the “honest, simple food” they make for each other outside of the dining room. From the pillars of America’s modern dining scene (The French Laundry, Chez Panisse, Blue Hill at Stone Barns), to the international innovators that have been making global headlines for the past few years (Noma, Attica, Mugaritz), you will get a little taste of the experience and flavors of each restaurant, without needing to hop on a plane and fly to Denmark/Australia/Spain (as nice as that would be if you could). Like all of Phaidon’s books, Eating with the Chefs is gorgeously designed, an art book as much as a cookbook, if not more. The pages are thick and matte, the text sparse, and the stories are told primarily through the gorgeous and subtle photographs of Per-Anders Jorgensen, the book’s creator. The restaurant stories and recipes are found interspersed between the pictures in text “inserts,” further emphasizing the focus on the photography. It’s a book you’ll want to leave out on the coffee table. As for the recipes themselves, between the seemingly universal unwritten rule that family meals should be straightforward and comforting and the immense talent and creativity of the chefs cooking them, the 50 recipes included in this book fall right in the sweet spot of how I love to cook.

The Food: As soon as I saw the recipe for Indian Butter Chicken in Eating with the Chefs, I knew it had to be the first recipe I tried. I’m forever on the hunt for recipes that accurately approximate my favorite Indian takeout dishes, but making good Indian food requires such a thorough study of cooking techniques and knowledge of Indian pantry ingredients that it can be a real challenge. I’ve had good success with recipes like these Pea and Potato Parathas and this Pakistani Chickpea Pulao, but none of them have been “takeout-y,” by which I mean over-the-top rich and spicy and addictive. As you might expect from one of Australia’s pre-eminent chefs, this recipe hit all the right notes of great Indian food – creamy, spicy, salty, savory – and was perfectly balanced. I’m really excited to have added this one to my repertoire, and if the other recipes in the book are as dead-on as this one was, I’m going to have a lot more dinners in my rotation.

Recipe Shortlist: Basque-Style Garlic Soup; Emmer Wheat Foccaccia; Quark Pillows with Corn and Grilled Peaches; Holiday Cannelloni; Squab Torte; Roast Chicken with Apple and Onion Confit and Pommes Mousseline; Lentil Stew with Pork Ribs; Quay’s Green Chicken Curry; Chocolate Ripple Cake

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

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Eating with the Chefs from Phaidon, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Indian Butter Chicken

Recipe from Eating with the Chefs. Serves 2.

• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 lb. 2 oz. skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 3 TBS butter
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 TBS grated fresh ginger
• 1 TBS whole cumin seeds
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1/3 c. canned diced tomatoes
• 1 fresh red chile, seeded and sliced
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp tomato paste
• 1 TBS ground almonds
• 3 sprigs fresh cilantro, to garnish
• salt to taste

1. Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, turmeric, salt (to taste, approximately 1/2 tsp), garam masala, and ground cumin in a small bowl and stir to combine. Pour over the chicken, making sure chicken is fully coated, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. When ready to cook, melt the butter and oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 10 minutes or until translucent, stirring occasionally. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and cumin seeds, and cook for 3 minutes, until spices are fragrant and onions are lightly browned.
3. Add the cinnamon stick, diced tomatoes, and sliced chile to the pan and season with salt, then cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and it’s marinade to the pan and stir to combine, then cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Add the chicken broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the cream and tomato paste, and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked through. Stir in the ground almonds and cook for a final 5 minutes. Serve with rice, garnished with fresh cilantro.

The post Book Club: Eating with the Chefs // Indian Butter Chicken appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

My January fitness challenge went pretty well – although I may not have stuck to the letter of the goal, I certainly accomplished the spirit of it. Starting from a place of zero athleticism at the end of the year, I wanted to work my way back into regular exercising, so I bit the bullet, joined the Y, and vowed that I’d go there at least ten times during the month of January. I only ended up making it to the Y eight times, but I also went to Brooklyn Boulders twice for a combo rock climbing and treadmill workout, so I’m counting those as well, because, well, they’re both gyms, right? All told, I worked out on 23 of the 31 days of the month, and I think I deserve a big pat on the back for sticking with the plan. I’ve definitely gotten my base back, both from an aerobic and strength perspective, and now it’s time to build on that. I had a lot of thoughts about how February’s goal could build on January’s success: I could focus on speed, stamina, strength, or workout frequency. But really, I think the next step is that stubborn number on the scale, and that basically means one thing: healthier eating.

Boooo, I can hear you all thinking, what is this, January? But hear me out, I promise it’s not that bad. After waffling back and forth between trying to not eat out at all during the week (including coffee breaks, takeout, happy hours, and the snack drawer), and doing Mark Bittman’s Vegan Before 6:00 program (wanna know more? check out Emma’s honest review here), I decided to start simple and just choose one meal a day that would be vegan. Now, I don’t ever want to actually be vegan, but I know that cheese, milk, butter, eggs, and salty meats (bacon, sausage, prosciutto) are frequently part of my go-to comfort foods, so I wanted to consciously remind myself that there are other options, and replace one potentially cheesy meal each day with something more fresh-vegetable-based. I’ve also been trying to be generous with the term “meal” by making it encompass a full 3-4 hour period after the meal itself, to keep myself from cheating and sneaking on non-vegan snacks immediately afterwards. E.g., if I have a green smoothie at 9, no latte at 10, and no brownie at 3pm after my virtuous lunchtime salad. You get the picture. So far I’ve stuck to it 95% of the time, with a slip or two for which I blame the allure of the office chocolate box in the afternoons. I think the biggest benefit is just that I’m more aware of what I’m eating. And I’m already hyper-aware of food, so that’s saying something. I have also noticed that it forces me to actively plan out my meals every day, because I know that every single day I need to have budgeted in something healthy and vegan and I can’t just wing it. Ten days in, I’m happy with it, but we’ll see if it has any impact on the scale by the end of the month.

Now, on to the good part – the food! I recently bought myself a copy of Mangoes & Curry Leaves, the first cookbook I’ve purchased for myself in over a year. Cooking Indian food that tastes even reasonably well-balanced is tricky, and I love Indian food so much that I really wanted to learn how to do it well, step-by-step. This book is great for that, and also happens to be the perfect resource for finding vegan recipes that don’t taste like they’re “missing” something – so much of Indian and Asian cooking is naturally vegan, with spices and precise cooking techniques supplying the flavor we often rely on dairy for. I’ve been cooking up a storm from this book – from Sri Lankan Beef Curry, to Mountain Dal, to Potato-and-Pea Parathas, to this Pakistani Chickpea Pulao that I’m sharing with you today – and everything has been amazing. This pulao is definitely comfort food, but the kind you can feel good about. Warming, filling, and slightly saucy, the mixture of rice, chickpeas, sweet onions, tomatoes, and spices is packed full of heartiness and flavor, and has lots of good protein and vitamins. With a spoonful of the sweet and spicy date and onion chutney stirred in, it becomes a head-clearing mess of goodness that’s almost impossible to stop eating (completely negating my weight goals, but c’est la vie).

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

Pakistani Chickpea Pulao

Adapted very slightly from Mangoes & Curry Leaves. Serves 4.

Note: The rice needs to be soaked at least an hour in advance, so plan ahead. This can be made on the stovetop or in the oven. If you plan to finish it in the oven, make sure you use an ovenproof pot with a lid for the initial stages. Because the cooking times are relatively short for each stage, it’s important to have your ingredients prepared ahead of time – i.e. measure out your spices, pound your garlic and ginger, and slice your onions before you start cooking.

• 2  c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt, divided
• 1 c. basmati rice
• 4 c. water, divided
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• one small piece of cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 2 medium onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1 c. crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 c. coarsely chopped almonds, for garnish (optional)
• 1/2 c. chopped cilantro, for garnish (optional)
• Sweet Hot Date-Onion Chutney, for serving (optional, recipe below)

1. Toss together the chickpeas and 3/4 of a tsp of salt. Set aside. Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water, then add 3 cups of cold water and let the rice soak for at least one and up to three hours. After this time, drain the rice and set it aside.
2. If using the oven (for finishing the cooking, you may also use the stovetop), preheat it to 325°F. Place a wide, heavy-bottomed pot that has a lid over medium heat (use an ovensafe pot if finishing in the oven). Add the vegetable oil, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaf, stir together, and cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
3. Place the garlic and ginger into a mortar and pestle and pound into a paste. Alternatively, finely mince both. Add the garlic and the ginger to the spices and stir fry, stirring constantly for about 1-2 minutes, until golden brown. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring frequently, until very soft, about 10 minutes. If onions are starting to brown before they soften, lower the heat – you want the onions to remain a pale golden color.
4. Add the chickpeas, coriander, cumin, black pepper, and cayenne to the pot, stir to coat the chickpeas with the spices, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes, turmeric, and remaining 1 c. water to the pot. Bring to a boil, then sprinkle the drained rice over the top. Return to a boil, then lower the heat and tightly cover. Place covered pot in preheated oven, if using, or keep at a simmer on the stovetop. Cook for 45 minutes in the oven or 30-40 minutes on the stovetop,then remove from heat and let stand, still covered, for 15 minutes. If you’re cooking on the stovetop, you may want to check once or twice for burning on the bottom while it’s cooking – just give it a quick stir and then replace the lid.
5. If you can spot them, fish out the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, clove, and bay leaf before serving, to avoid inadvertently biting into them. Serve in bowls with chopped almonds, cilantro, and sweet hot date-onion chutney.

Sweet Hot Date-Onion Chutney

Adapted very slightly from Mangoes & Curry Leaves. Makes about 1 cup.

• 3 dried Thai chilies, stems removed
• 1 TBS vegetable oil
• 1 TBS sesame oil
• 1 large sweet white onion, about 1/2 pound, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. chopped pitted dates

1. Bring a kettle of water to a boil, then pour about 2 cups of the boiling water over the dried chilies in a heatproof bowl. Let stand and soften for 10 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable and sesame oils to a frying pan, and heat over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and the salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden brown all over with darker brown spots, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Drain the chilies from the water, then place chilies in a food processor with the chopped dates and pulse several times to coarsely chop. Add the cooked onions to the food processor and pulse several more times until the mixture is coarsely ground. Season to taste with salt. Store in a sealed glass container in the fridge for up to several weeks.

The post Monthly Fitness Goals: February // Pakistani Chickpea Pulao with Sweet Hot Date-Onion Chutney appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Ever since getting back from Russia, I can’t seem to get enough soup. I’ve been daydreaming about it: creamy sweet potato bisques, homemade chicken noodle spiked with chili oil, my mom’s El Cid chili with cornbread (for Sunday afternoon football watching), tangy tomato soup thickened with bread, and hearty bowls of Portuguese-style kale and linguica soup. I’ll take them all. Thankfully, soup is an easy, healthy way to feed yourself, so I can do more than daydream – I can make soup as often as I please. I find that making soup is the most intrinsic, relaxing form of cooking. There’s a rhythm to it, the chopping of onions and garlic, the sauteeing, more chopping, more sauteeing, adding spices, broth, root vegetables, stirring, simmering, smelling, stirring. When people ask me how they can start to learn to cook, I always recommend starting with soup. It’s wonderfully forgiving, and it’s hard to make a bad one. This soup – an Ecuadorian chicken and rice stew spiced with achiote, smoked paprika, and cumin – is no exception.

I really enjoyed making this last Sunday. Trevor had tickets to the Pats game with his coworkers, so I had a long, chilly afternoon to myself. I went running, caught up on reading, swung by the grocery store, and made this stew, all without feeling rushed or stressed. After four frenetic months moving, traveling, and adjusting to a different pace of life, the fact that I’ll get to spend the entire month of November at home, cozying up with Trevor feels like an early Christmas present. Last Sunday afternoon was the first time in months that I really felt slowed-down, and filling my house up with the rich, spicy smell of this soup just cemented that feeling.

As far as taste goes, this stew is a winner. It’s quite hearty, made thick and creamy by the addition of rice and potatoes, and just a bit spicy from a combination of smoked Spanish paprika, achiote paste, and a dash of hot sauce. The recipe, which comes from Jose Garces’ The Latin Road Home (I reviewed it here last year, if you’re interested – it’s a great cookbook), said it serves four, but I think this recipe makes a huge batch, at least 8 filling servings. Which means, not only is it delicious, but also economical for feeding a family. Give this one a try this fall, I think you’ll like it.

Ecuadorian Chicken and Rice Stew

Recipe adapted slightly from The Latin Road Home. Serves 8-10.

• 3 lb. bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 TBS whole cumin seeds
• 2 TBS achiote paste (I used a Latin spice mix with achiote in it that I found at Wholefoods)
• 1 tsp Spanish smoked hot paprika
• 2 TBS tomato paste
• 6 c. chicken stock
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 1/2 lb. fresh tomatoes, preferably plum, cored and cubed
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 2 lb russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 lb. frozen peas
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 c. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 c. minced fresh cilantro
• hot sauce to taste

1. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, and sear the chicken pieces in batches. Cook thighs until skin is crispy and golden brown on both sides, flipping over once, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
2. Lower the heat to medium, and add the onion and red pepper to the pot. Cook until softened and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin seeds, achiote paste, and paprika to the pot and cook, stirring, until spices are toasted and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, then return the chicken pieces to the pot. Add the chicken stock and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the rice, potatoes, and carrots, return soup to a simmer, then cover, and cook until chicken is falling off the bone and rice is fully cooked, about 40 minutes.
3. Uncover the soup and stir in the peas, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. Let peas heat through, then season to taste and serve with hot sauce.

The post Soup Season // Ecuadorian Chicken and Rice Stew appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

So we’ve had a little rhubarb cocktail, we’ve folded it into a whipped custard for dessert, and we’ve looked at all the amazing things other bloggers are cooking up with it – now let’s talk a little more about rhubarb as a plant and as a culinary ingredient. Since it’s one of the earliest “fruits” ready for harvest, rhubarb is usually heralded as a spring ingredient, but really it keeps growing all summer, and certainly stays tasty through September. I use “fruit” in quotations since it’s not technically a fruit, although in the U.S. it’s regulated as such, but a member of the knotweed family, which also includes sorrel and buckwheat.

In cool climates, growing rhubarb is surprisingly easy. It pops out of the ground in early March, and quickly proceeds to become a huge leafy giant. Some varieties always stay green, while others ripen over time to that gorgeous deep red most people expect. Usually, the stalks we harvest in our garden are red partway through but still greenish towards the top – this is totally fine, and they still taste delicious. To harvest rhubarb, reach your hand down to the base of a stalk, inserting a finger a little way into the ground right against the stem, and give a little twist-and-tug to pull the rhubarb stalk up from its base. It should come out fairly easily. Make sure you cut off and discard the leaves – they’re poisonous (to both people and some bugs – it has even been used in insecticides!).

In the United States in particular, rhubarb is known for it’s use in sweet dishes, and I would venture to guess that most people don’t really encounter it beyond its appearance in strawberry-rhubarb pie. So well loved are rhubarb pies that rhubarb is also known simply as “pie plant.” Beyond the classic strawberry-rhubarb pairing, rhubarb also goes well with cinnamon, orange, honey, and cream, all of which are typically thought of as sweet ingredients. However, if you dig back into rhubarb’s history, you’ll find recipes from its places of origin – China, Russia, Mongolia, and other parts of Central Asia – that use these pairings in savory dishes. I was fascinated to learn from Vegetable Literacy that before sugar was plentiful, rhubarb was actually used as a detoxifier and curative herb. It was during this same general time period that rhubarb was considered a luxury good, included in lists of trade goods side by side with rubies, diamonds, silks, and satins.

Inspired by all this history, I decided to try out one of these savory rhubarb recipes, this Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice. While Persia/Iran isn’t technically part of Central Asia, it’s right on the border and certainly shares some culinary heritage with the region. Although this is admittedly not the most photogenic of recipes, I really enjoyed the flavors at play in this dish. It’s quite sour, but I thought the rhubarb gave it a lot of depth and character. That being said, as written, I found that the ratio of rhubarb to beef was a little high for my taste, so I’ve shared it here with a little less rhubarb than the original called for. This recipe is a bit adventurous and might not be the best thing to serve a picky eater, but if you like Middle-Eastern food and intense flavors (or you have a bumper crop of rhubarb), definitely give it a try.

Please note: Some of this information came from Vegetable Literacy, a cookbook that also provides a bit of a garden/history/culinary education! I also used information from Wikipedia.

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice (Khoresht-e Rivas)

Adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Serves 2-3.

• 3 TBS butter
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 lb. lean stew beef, cubed
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 3/4 c. short grain brown rice
• 2/3 lb. fresh rhubarb stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 c. chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Heat 2 TBS of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the onion and saute until golden, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Add the cinnamon and allspice and stir to coat the beef – cook 1-2 minutes longer, until fragrant.
2. Add water to cover the beef and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until meat is tender. Check water periodically and add more to keep beef covered and prevent burning. When it is nearing serving time, allow most of the water to evaporate so that the sauce is thick.
3. While the beef is cooking, prepare the rice. Add the rice and 1 1/2 c. of cold water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to low, cover saucepan, and simmer rice, covered, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
4. Ten minutes before you are ready to serve the meal, heat the remaining 1 TBS butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the sliced rhubarb and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes, then sprinkle with lemon juice and cook 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat and add rhubarb to beef. Stir in chopped parsley. Cook entire mixture for 2 minutes longer, then remove from heat and serve over rice.

The post Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

My shelf in the fridge is kind of a disaster right now. There’s leftover tamarind and palm sugar from three batches of Pad Thai, dark mushroom soy sauce and Chinese broccoli from Gong Bao Chicken, tahini from Roasted Carrot and Tahini soup, failed grapefruit and ginger bars (a precursor to these cookies) that I don’t want to eat but can’t bring myself to throw out… it’s crowded in there. I love having all these fun condiments available, but when you’re sharing a fridge with four people (read: four bottles of milk, four cartons of eggs, four bottles of soy sauce, etc.) it can feel like they’re taking up room for real food. You know, like vegetables, and chicken. The fridge situation is complicated by the fact that tonight, I’m getting my first delivery from Blue Apron, with ingredients for 3 delicious meals that will also need to make their way into the fridge. Conundrum.

So when I was thinking about what to make for Greatist this week, I knew it couldn’t require anything that wasn’t already in my fridge/freezer/pantry. As I thought about it, I realized that this is a way I should try to eat more often – using up what I have instead of always running out to get something new in order to make something just so. It’s less wasteful. So I mixed up a delicious tahini, soy sauce, and honey sauce, marinated some chicken I had waiting in the freezer in it, added some blanched Chinese broccoli, and cooked it all up in a frying pan with rice. It came out amazing – sweet and salty and satisfying – and just goes to show you that a good sauce can go a long way! Head on over to Greatist for the recipe – and feel free to use it as a blueprint for using up whatever you have languishing in your fridge.

The post Greatist Collaboration: Sesame Chicken Bowl appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I made small changes to each of the three recipes I tried. In general, I don’t think it’s fair to review a recipe that you’ve changed, since you’re no longer reviewing the recipe as the author tested it. In this case, however, what I was really testing were the sauces, and for the most part, I didn’t change those. I also made each dish in a way that was practical to me – e.g. I don’t eat shrimp, so I’d never include it, and I’m unlikely to have “sweet preserved shredded radish” around, even if I were to cook Thai food regularly.

Some general tips for cooking any of these recipes – have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go before you turn on the stove, as things will move quickly once you begin cooking. Use fairly high heat so that your ingredients sizzle as you add each one. And last, don’t overcook any of the ingredients – you want your veggies to remain a little crisp and your egg to not completely dry out.

1) Bon Appetit Pad Thai

While I have a feeling that this recipe was the most authentic, it was actually my least favorite of the three. It was too sharp tasting and not balanced enough for my liking. Of course, as I mentioned above, I did make a few changes – in this case, scallions in place of garlic chives, chicken instead of shrimp, no tofu, and no preserved radish. Admittedly, these changes are fairly substantial, but the sauce just didn’t do it for me. Now, if you like a sour and slightly spicy Pad Thai, you might enjoy this dish, but it’s not going to get you that takeout flavor I suspect most of us are looking for.

2) Mark Bittman’s Pad Thai via Serious Eats

This recipe straddles the line between authentic and take-out quite nicely. It has all the complexity and flavor that I’m looking for, but the sauce was a little too thin, the sauce to noodle ratio was too high, and I found the vinegar flavor a little bit too strong. Further investigation led me to the fact that Mark’s original recipe has some substantial differences from the Serious Eats version, but I didn’t test that one out – I’ve added it to the list for the future. The changes I made to this recipe were as follows: vegetable oil instead of peanut oil, chopped endive instead of Napa cabbage (only because the only Napa cabbage at the store would have been far too large to fit in my fridge), and chicken instead of shrimp. After tasting the sauce, I also added two tablespoons of palm sugar to the sauce, as I found the sauce as written to be too sour. With the additional sweetener the flavor was pretty close to what I wanted. I think to get my perfect Pad Thai recipe, I’d have to somehow combine this recipe with number 3…

3) Easy Pad Thai from Brownies for Dinner

This recipe is decidedly the least authentic, but it was also super-duper easy, with fairly good results. I followed this one almost to the T – I just replaced the brown sugar with an equal amount of palm sugar, since I had already bought the palm sugar and I figured it would add a little more complexity. Flavor-wise, this recipe was the least challenging of the three – it would be easy for kids and picky eaters to palate. However, the trade-off was a loss of depth, and I did think the soy flavor was a little out of place. If you’re new to Thai cooking, though, I’d start with this recipe – for the amount of effort (and investment in special ingredients) you put into this recipe, I think you’ll be pleased with the end result.

The conclusion: I haven’t found my ideal Pad Thai recipe yet, but I feel a lot more knowledgeable about what works and what doesn’t. I’ve scribbled down some ideas about how I might combine recipes two and three to get what I’m looking for, and I’m going to keep testing recipes – I’ll let you know when I find a combination I love. In the meantime, if you have a favorite Pad Thai recipe, please share!

The post Pad Thai: Taste Test 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.

The post Monday Morning Resolutions & A Mango, Satsuma and Black Rice Salad appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

At 902 pages, I think that Gran Cocina Latina may be the only cookbook I own that can truly be referred to as a tome. It’s massive, exhaustive, focused – and incredibly exciting.

I won’t lie, I’ve been a little bit daunted by this cookbook. It sat on my bedside table for a few weeks, teasing me, during which time I opened it four or five times, flipped through it, drooled  a little bit, and then got nervous. I’ll save it for when I have more time, I kept telling myself, for this is a cookbook that clearly needs time. When I received my copy of Home Made Winter, I spent a lovely sunny Saturday morning in bed with it, drinking coffee and taking notes. Three hours later, I felt like I really knew the cookbook – I had bookmarked all the recipes I wanted to make, read every word Yvette had written, and absorbed the style and message of the book. I was satisfied. This book would take 3 dedicated weeks, if not more, to feel the same way. But I don’t want to scare you off! This book deserves the time. And besides, it’s the kind of cookbook you’ll have on your kitchen shelf for the next 20 years, so you don’t have to rush things.

Maricel Presilla is not your average cookbook author – she’s a scholar. And so, this book is not your average cookbook. It’s not about pretty pictures and glossy pages – it’s about learning. Learning how to cook truly authentic Latin American cuisine from the ground up. It’s literally packed with information – from how to select and prepare quintessential Latin ingredients such as plantains, yuca, and passionfruit, to the difference between avocado varieties, to deconstructing the infamous mole type sauces in order to master the technique for making them. Beyond the kitchen, there are legends and histories of the various countries as Maricel takes you from country to country, from the past to now. As a testament to the thoroughness of the education that this book will give you: the first 200 pages of the book barely make it through the flavor-building essential sauces and condiments that authentic cooking requires; every recipe is given a thorough head note, is broken down into manageable steps, and is clearly written; when an ingredient may be unfamiliar or a technique difficult to explain, simple black and white sketches serve to illustrate the process. Clearly, this book has been a long time in the making, and it shows.

The recipes themselves run the gamut, from the simplest of the simple, such as Simple Boiled Quinoa, to well-known classics, like Tres Leches Cake, to exotic and enticing recipes that would be a reach in difficulty for even a seasoned home cook, like Quinoa and Broccoli Rabe-Stuffed Calamari with Panca Pepper and Pisco Sauce. You’ll find almost every country and island on the continent well represented – Peruvian Purple Corn Punch, Brazilian Feijoada, Argentinian Beef Empanadas, Ecuadorian Shrimp Cebiche with Peanuts, even Puerto Rican Salt Cod Fritters. You could easily cook your way up and down the continent several times over, and probably find several new favorite meals along the way.

To get over my intimidation of this book, I opened it to the middle, read through 20 pages of recipes, and started cooking the recipe that inspired me the most. (Please note, this is extremely unorthodox for me. I like list-making and being methodical. Don’t expect such brash behavior from me in the future.) The recipe? Rice with Corn, Chickpeas, Green Beans, and Chorizo. Yes, I kind of just picked a recipe with five ingredients that I love in the name. This recipe also happened to be a two-fer, since you had to prepare the Green Beans with Bacon recipe separately to be included in the rice dish. Two done, 998 to go. (I made that up, but I wouldn’t be surprised…). Both recipes were solid – well-balanced flavors (and nutritional profiles), simple techniques, easy to execute quickly and well. The kind of things I’d make on a weeknight when I wanted something warm and filling and delicious but without any fuss. And these two are just a start… I can’t wait to cook my way through the rest of this book.

The bottom line: Gran Cocina Latina is an authoritative, exhaustive, and incredibly educational cookbook – think of it as The Joy of Cooking for Latin America. If you enjoy cooking or eating Latin food, this is a book that will likely be close at hand in your kitchen for the next 20 years. Typically I recommend cookbooks I like to a particular audience I think will enjoy them. This book is an exception – if you cook at all, do yourself a favor and buy this book. It’s a great resource for any level of cook and the information and recipes you’ll find within are more than worth the $25 you’ll pay on Amazon.

Disclaimer: W.W. Norton provided me with a review copy of this book free of charge, but as usual, all opinions are my own!

Rice with Corn, Chickpeas, Green Beans, and Chorizo

Recipe from Gran Cocina Latina. Serves 6-8 as a side.

• 2 c. long grain rice
• 3 TBS achiote-infused olive oil [I subbed regular olive oil this time around]
• 6 oz. Spanish chorizo, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
• 4 medium plum tomatoes, fresh or canned, peeled if fresh, drained if canned, and finely chopped either way
• 1 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, or 2 c. plain cooked chickpeas
• 4 oz. Green Beans with Bacon [see below]
• 3 1/2 c. chicken broth

1. Rinse the rice in cold water, swirl with your hand, then drain in a sieve. Repeat several times, until water runs clear. Set rice aside.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chorizo and saute until golden brown, about  5 minutes. Then add the onion, green peppers, and garlic, and saute until the onion is translucent, another 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, corn, chickpeas, green beans, rice, and broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is mostly absorbed. At this point, fluff the rice gently, cover, lower the heat, and cook on the lowest possible setting for an additional 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, still covered, for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff the rice again before serving.

Green Beans with Bacon

Recipe from Gran Cocina Latina. Serves 4 as a side.

• 3 tsp salt
• 1 lb green beans, trimmed and sliced on a bias into 1 inch lengths
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 8 oz. bacon, cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 medium plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped [I used drained canned whole San Marzano tomatoes with good results]
• 1 TBS minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Add 2 tsp of the salt to a large pot of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the green beans and blanch for 2-3 minutes, until bright green. Drain, and immediately place the green beans in ice water to stop the cooking process.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the bacon and cook until golden brown and crispy. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, parsley, pepper, and nutmeg, and cook for a few minutes just to meld the flavors. Stir in the green beans, then season with remaining tsp of salt. Serve immediately, or use in other recipes as required.

The post Gran Cocina Latina appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I have a good friend at work who is Bulgarian, and who argues staunchly that every food attributed to Greece is actually Bulgarian in origin. This moussaka I brought in last week? Bulgarian. Those yummy little Greek cookies? Bulgarian.  Greek yogurt is her biggest pet peeve, and my coworkers and I kinda enjoy getting her riled up about it (although I will say, her argument that the back of Greek yogurt lists “Bulgarsko culture” as an ingredient is pretty convincing). I had a lot of fun running some of the potential recipes for this post by her and listening to her stories of how her mother makes the best version of each of the dishes I mentioned.

Whatever the true origin, Greek food is delicious, so I was excited to snag a review copy of The Country Cooking of Greece. If you’re an avid cookbook collector/nerd, you may remember that The Country Cooking of Ireland won the James Beard cookbook of the year award in 2010. I didn’t know it until recently, but there are two other books in this “series” – The Country Cooking of Italy and The Country Cooking of France. Such a fun collection! Here’s hoping they do somewhere dear to my heart, like the Czech Republic (or Russia!) next. But back to Greece.

This book is a beautiful compendium of traditional Greek recipes.  Although a Greek grandmother will probably always be your best bet for learning the secrets of Greek cuisine, this book – with 200 recipes, full-page photographs for the majority of the recipes, and dozens of sidebars on Greek ingredients, traditions, and cooking techniques – makes a suitable substitute.  I actually learned quite a bit from the sidebars, like that ouzo may be distilled from grain, grapes, potatoes, or a combination, or that there are 3 techniques for making avgolemono but the ratio is always the same – 2 eggs, 1 lemon, 1 quart of hot liquid.

The recipes in this book are a cut above the dishes you’ll find at your favorite Greek diner.  Classic pastitsio gets updated to include a citrus and fennel scented shrimp sauce, moussaka goes vegetarian and is made with artichokes and caramelized onions, and saganaki gets rolled in pistachios before being fried.  However, while I’m excited to have added a whole slew of totally new recipes to my to-try list, I’m a little disappointed that this book doesn’t have definitive recipes for some of my favorite Greek-American staples, like souvlaki, falafel, and baklava – I’ll have to keep looking for those.

Like other rustic agricultural cuisines, vegetables get plenty of attention from traditional Greek recipes. In fact, I was just reading an article about the incredible longevity of Greeks on the island of Ikaria, due in part to their vegetable and olive-oil heavy diets.  Intrigued?  There are recipes for Ikarian Zucchini, Chard, and Herb Pie, Ikarian Zucchini Fritters with Fresh Oregano and Mint, and Smothered Summer Vegetables from Ikaria included in this book – you, too, can live forever.  Much like Japanese Farm Food, gardeners and CSA-members will find plenty of new ways to use up their eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and greens.

So far, I’ve tried two recipes from this book – the Pupmkin and Sweet Potato Moussaka I made last weekend (which I admit to adapting significantly) and these Smyrna-Style Baked Sausages.  (I seem to be choosing recipes without the signature Greek food health benefits, huh?)  Both recipes were scrumptious – flavorful, interesting, and comforting.  These sausages reminded me of the gently-spiced sausages my mom makes on Christmas morning.  Together with the tangy tomato sauce, I tried them both on plain rice and whole wheat pasta with parmesan cheese – the pasta won hands down and was the most satisfying thing I’ve eaten all week.  I will say that both the recipes I tried took a bit of time – they weren’t complex, but both required making and then combining multiple components, which resulted in great flavor… but lots of dishes.  Other recipes on my shortlist that you may see around here in the future include Braised Lamb with Chickpeas and Tomato Sauce, Santorini Tomato Fritters, and Pan-Fried Semolina Cake.

The bottom line: The Country Cooking of Greece is a well-researched and beautiful book that will take you beyond the popular Greek-American classics to the food that’s been cooked in home kitchens for centuries.  Although recipes for some well-known classics are missing, the range and variety of recipes that are included more than makes up for it.  You’re sure to find at least one or two completely new ideas, and if you’re looking to recreate the meal you had in that tiny village restaurant in Greece… this might just be the place to start looking.

Disclaimer: Chronicle Books provided me with a review copy of this book free of charge, but as usual, all opinions are my own!

Smyrna-Style Baked Sausages

Recipe from The Country Cooking of Greece by Diane Kochilas. Makes 10 small sausages.

Note: Diane suggests serving this over rice or bulghur, but I liked it best over whole wheat spaghetti with a little bit of parmesan. If you plan to use it as a pasta sauce rather than a side dish, you should double the sauce quantities that are written below.

For the sausages:

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/3 c. coarsely chopped white onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp paprkia
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg
• 2 TBS dry white wine
• 1/4 to 1/2 c. dry bread crumbs (making your own is best!)
• 2 TBS olive oil + some for frying
• flour for dredging

For the sauce:

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 c. dry red wine
• 1 28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes, roughly chopped and their juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Make the sausages: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the onions, garlic, and spices. Add the ground beef and use your hands to mix together. Add the egg and wine and knead well to combine. Add just enough of the bread crumbs so that if you form a ball with your hands it stays together. Mix in the olive oil, then cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. While the sausages are chilling, make the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the wine, chopped tomatoes, sugar, and red pepper flakes, and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Form the chilled sausage mixture into small sausages about 3 inches long and 1 inch thick. Place some flour on a plate and roll the sausages in the flour, then fry the sausages in batches, turning over gently part way through cooking to brown on all sides. Once cooked, place the sausages in a single layer in a baking pan, then cover with the tomato sauce. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Serve hot, with starch of your choice.

The post The Country Cooking of Greece: Greek-Style Baked Sausages appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.