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

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

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

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

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Craving more soup recipes? Here are a few favorites:

Black Bean Soup with Roasted Poblano

Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Soup with Brown Rice and Lentils

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Spicy Chorizo Soup with Israeli Couscous and Mole Sauce

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe.

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

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

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Well, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. It was lovely, actually. We managed to squeeze everyone around a long skinny table, and we had almost enough matching place settings, although it was a bring your own chair affair. The turkey (brined in maple, with rosemary-butter under the skin) came out beautifully, and we had far more side dishes than we could eat thanks to everyone’s generosity. The wine was good, and my mom brought four glorious, enormous pies for the ten of us. There’s still half an apple pie and two cups of freshly whipped cream in my fridge, calling my name pretty much every time I walk by.

And then today? I did almost nothing. I mean, I finished cleaning up the kitchen, I did some online furniture shopping from the comfort of the couch, I wrote, and I worked my way through a pile of Bon Appetit magazines, so not nothing. But, it was cold and gray and rainy and for the most part I indulged in a full day of sloth (with a short, one hour exception for a bracing run that actually felt really good). After this year (and let’s be honest, last year too), I could use about two weeks of days like this. But the next two days are a good start, and I’m going to use the pause to share a few recipes here, starting with this Tunisian Lamb-and-Eggplant Stew.

We had a dinner party recently, with a few friends. I’m so happy we’ve entered the dinner party stage of our lives (coinciding with the “hosting Thanksgiving” stage of our lives). What a lovely thing, to sit with friends around a table full of home-cooked food, to drink good wine and talk for hours. I served this Tunisian lamb stew, and I loved it so much that I made it again a week later to share here.

I go through phases where I want to come up with all my own recipes – phases during which I feel unstoppably creative and can’t stop jotting down ideas to test in the kitchen. But I also go through phases where all I want is to cook other people’s recipes, testing them exactly as written, respecting all of their hard work and creativity in developing them for me to eat and enjoy. This fall I seem to be more in the latter phase. More specifically, right now I want to cook my way through the “fall” section of Sunday Suppers at Lucques, which might be my all time favorite cookbook. Reading through the table of contents makes my mouth water, particularly in the fall section where it seems that all of the year’s best produce comes clashing together to be stewed and simmered and roasted to perfection in hearty autumn meals. Grilled Duck with Creme Fraiche, Roasted Grapes, and Potato Bacon Gratin? Braised Chicken with Saffron Onions, Italian Couscous, and Dates? Grilled Tuna with Potato-Tomato Gratin and Rouille? These recipes make me want to hideaway in my kitchen and cook for the next month.

The second time making this lamb stew, when I wasn’t also trying to make a Pumpkin Streusel Cake and a fancy Kale Caesar Salad and put out appetizers, this was actually relatively easy to make. I skipped a few minor steps and consolidated the number of pots and pans used to reduce clean-up, but generally stayed pretty true to the recipe, and it was very manageable for a slow Sunday afternoon. It’s spicy and intense and exactly the sort of homey but slightly exotic dish I want to be putting on the table during these dark November days.

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More from Sunday Suppers at Lucques:

Ricotta Gnocchi with Corn, Mushrooms, and Sage Butter

Fig and Almond Custard Tart

First-of-the-Season Summer Succotash

Tunisian Lamb-and-Eggplant Stew with Farro, Parsley, & Harissa

An incredibly flavorful North African lamb stew with a lot of spicy kick!

Recipe adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 6

Ingredients

• 3 lbs boneless lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 TBS caraway seeds
• 1 TBS ground coriander
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smahed
• 3 chiles de arbol, cut into small pieces (easiest with scissors)
• 2 tsp parika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 6 TBS olive oil, divided
• 2 small onions, peeled and finely diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• fresh juice from 1 lemon
• 4 cups beef or chicken stock
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 large Italian eggplant
• Farro with parsley and butter (recipe below)
• harissa paste, homemade or store bought, for serving
• 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, minced
• Sea salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Place the lamb in a bowl or a large ziploc bag with the cumin, caraway, smashed garlic, arbol chiles, paprika, cayenne, and 2 TBS of the olive oil. Season generously with sea salt. Use your hands to coat the lamb with the olive oil and spices, making sure to coat all the pieces. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, or zip up the plastic bag, and refrigerate overnight.
2. When ready to cook, take the lamb out of the fridge. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Add 2 TBS of olive oil to a large Dutch oven or wide pot and heat over medium-high heat. Add the lamb (and its marinade) to the pot in a single layer (if the lamb does not fit in a single layer without crowding, do this in two batches). Sear the meat until it’s well browned and caramelized all over. Don’t rush it! You want the lamb to develop a nice, dark brown color. As the lamb is browned, use a slotted spoon to remove it to a plate.
3. When all the lamb is browned, turn the heat down to medium and add the onion and bay leaves to the pot. Saute until onions are tender and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the lemon juice and cook 2-3 minutes, just to coat the onions. Add the beef stock and cinnamon to the pan and bring it to a boil.
4. When the stock is boiling, turn off the heat. Add the browned lamb to the pot. Cover with aluminum foil and a tight fitting lid. Braise the lamb in the oven for 3 hours.
5. About an hour before the lamb is done, cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Toss them with a teaspoon of sea salt and place them in a colander over a plate or bowl. Let them soften and drain for about 20 minutes. Heat the remaining 2 TBS olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the cubed eggplant and cook, turning frequently, until it is seared on all sides and tender, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess olive oil.
6. After 3 hours, check the meat for doneness – it should be falling apart and super tender. Taste the stew for seasoning and add salt and pepper if desired. At this point, you have two options. The easy option is to add the fried eggplant and the minced parsley to the lamb as it is, then serve. The second option, if you want a more elegant presentation, is to ladle most of the lamb’s braising juices out of the pan, and pour them through a strainer into a second pot. Discard the vegetables and keep only the strained juices. Skim the fat from the juices, then reduce the juices over medium heat until thickened. Add the reduced juices back to the stew, along with the eggplant, then stir in the minced parsley. Serve.
7. To serve, divide the farro between bowls and ladle the stew on top. Serve with harissa on the side.

Farro with Parsley and Butter

Recipe adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques. Serves 6.

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups farro
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 TBS butter
• 1/4 cup minced flat leaf parsley

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf and saute until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the farro, stir to coat with the olive oil, and toast for 2 minutes. Then, add 8 cups of water and the salt. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the farro is tender.
2. Drain the farro and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Add the butter and the parsley to the hot farro and stir until the butter is melted and the parsley is fully mixed in. Serve warm.

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Reading all of the blog posts out there about the end of summer is making me a bit sad. Fall is and has always been my favorite season, and I’m also guilty of having started writing my farewells to heat and long days and tomatoes, but now I’m feeling torn. Amidst all the manic travel and moving and house buying and WORK, did I miss summer? I think I might have. And there’s no going back now – the seasons are the seasons and they move whether we like it or not. We have no choice but to walk along with them – that or fly to the other side of the world. But I can tell you with certainty, having visited the other side of the world quite a bit this year, that another place’s summer is not quite the same as your own summer. Especially not a New England summer, that desperately awaited and gloriously sweet reward for New England winters.

The only thing for it, I think, is to enjoy all the time I do have here in the next month – to embrace the hot and humid days that still feel like August with the same enthusiasm that I enjoy blustery autumn ones and damp and drizzly ones. To go to the beach when it’s hot and photograph the leaves when they turn and drink chai lattes while wearing oversized sweaters when it’s gray and damp. The fact that I need to travel for work is not going to change in the near term, but what I do with my time at home is my decision. I’m not saying that every day is going to be great or that all my daily responsibilities are going to disappear, but the least I can do is enjoy each day for what it is.

One other thing I did about all this summer’s ending melancholy? Buy as much sweet corn and peaches as I could carry home at the farmer’s market. There’s really nothing like sweet corn eaten the same day it was picked – it doesn’t even need to be cooked. When I was sitting on the porch shucking it I couldn’t resist taking a couple of bites out of each ear to test the sweetness, and boy is it sweet right now.

Sunday was cool and drizzly all day, and all I could think about was soup and freshly baked bread. The new oven is so spotlessly clean and works so well that it’s making me dive head-first back into cooking, and part of me was sort of grateful to the drizzly weather for giving me an excuse to bake and roast the afternoon away (see? appreciating each day for what it is!). We turned the abundance of corn into a sweet and slightly spicy corn soup, topped with a deeply savory corn, chorizo, and manchego cheese mixture. The soup base is extremely simple – olive oil, onions, garlic, broth and raw corn kernels, simmered briefly then pureed into a sweet and frothy soup. The topping is a bit more complex, made from corn roasted on the cob with a generous slather of harissa-butter, then cut from the cob and tossed with hot chorizo. The sweet, salty, spicy balance on this was just right, and the fresh buttermilk rolls that Trevor made to go with it was like the icing on the cake. And it matched my feelings, too: corn because summer’s not over yet, soup because fall has already begun. It’s all a balance.

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Harissa-Butter Roasted Corn Soup with Chorizo

Serves 3-4

• 4 ears of corn
• 1 1/2 tsp harissa (jarred with olive oil, not ground spice)
• 1 TBS butter, room temperature
• sea salt to taste
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 c. chicken or vegetable broth
• 4 oz. fresh chorizo sausage
• 1 oz. manchego cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Husk the corn. In a small bowl, mix together the harissa, butter, and a pinch of sea salt. Place 2 ears of the corn on a large sheet of tinfoil and rub all over with the harissa butter. Close the tinfoil to make a package and place on top of a baking sheet. Roast the corn in the foil for 20-25 minutes, until tender.
2. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes longer. Use a serrated knife to cut the kernels off of the remaining 2 ears of corn, then add the kernels to the saute and saute for 2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Snap the corn cobs in half and add to the pot. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then remove the corn cobs from the pot and discard. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend on high until it is a smooth and slightly thick puree. Return to the pot and set aside, keeping warm over low heat until ready to serve.
3. When the roasted corn is done, remove from the oven and let cool until it is comfortable to touch. Use a serrated knife to cut the corn kernels off of the cobs. Set the kernels aside. Heat a frying pan over medium heat, and crumble the chorizo into it in bite-sized pieces. Cook the chorizo, stirring frequently, until it is browned on all sides and cooked through. Add the roasted corn and toss to coat with the chorizo, and cook for 2-3 minutes or until corn is heated through. Season to taste with salt, then transfer the mixture to a bowl.
4. Ladle the smooth corn soup into bowls. Divide the roasted corn and chorizo mixture between bowls, piling it into the center of the soup. Top each bowl with a few pieces of thinly sliced manchego cheese, and serve immediately with crusty bread or freshly-baked rolls.

The post Summer Goodbye // Harissa-Butter Roasted Corn Soup with Chorizo appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Another post brought to you from on the road, although this time it’s not exactly planned. Trevor and I spent the last 5 days on vacation in the USVI, for some much needed sun and unplugged time. I’m pretty sure it was not particularly high on Trevor’s all-time-best vacation list, given that he’s been battling a sinus/ear infection pretty much since we landed on the island, but it was still great to be outside and soak in the views, even if we took it a little slower than we might have otherwise. However, since we were supposed to fly back into Boston Monday night and Blizzard Juno (man, I really hate that they name snowstorms now) had other ideas, we are now on an unplanned, extended layover in Miami. It’s a little bit of a pricey layover… but things could be a lot worse. A) We aren’t stuck in Boston pining for a missed vacation and B) we’re on a beach while everyone at home is just listening to the wind howl and watching the snow pile up.

So I’m still mostly in vacation mode, but I am starting to think ahead to what needs to be taken care of when I get home, and what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks. And one of those things is the big game this weekend. I’m not really much of a sports fan, but over the past 5 or 6 years, I’ve watched my baby brother turn my parents into diehard Patriots fans, to the point where I’ll show up in the house on game day to find everyone dressed in jerseys and cheering loudly for individual players. It’s a bit incongruous with my memories of growing up – my dad always loved soccer, but baseball, football, and basketball were things we played outside, not watched on TV. I’m OK with it, though, because if there’s one thing I can appreciate about watching football, it’s the food that comes with it. Nachos, chili, wings, guacamole, and pizza – it’s like junk food heaven. Of course when my family is cooking, junk food tends to be not that junky – homemade pizza and chili with cornbread are a far cry from the greasy fryolator food we associate with huge crowds and stadiums.

These wings are another example of classic stadium finger food given a healthier and more refined twist. Marinated in an exciting, Korean-inspired sauce, then baked instead of fried, they’re a bit more gourmet than buffalo wings but equally delicious. The sauce is primarily a mixture of gochujang – a spicy Korean red pepper paste – and pomegranate molasses, which adds tang and depth of flavor in addition to sticky sweetness. A few other strong flavors: fresh ginger, honey, and umeboshi plum vinegar round out the intense sauce for a balanced, spicy-sweet chicken wing. Tossing the sticky wings in toasted sesame seeds and chopped cashews after baking gives them a bit more crunch, and adds another element of flavor. While beer is the obvious choice for football-watching, it’s not the only one. I’m personally much more of a wine-lover, and these wings go just as well (if not better) with a glass of light red as with a cold beer. If you’re also a wine-lover, the La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a great pairing for these. The pomegranate notes in both the wine and the wing sauce will complement one another, and the Pinot Noir’s relatively light body makes it a good choice for serving with spicy food.

Find the recipe for these wings over on the La Crema blog!

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

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The post La Crema Game Day: Korean Gochujang Wings appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

As promised, I’m balancing indulgence with healthfulness this month – since my last recipe was for a sausage-stuffed grilled cheese sandwich, this one will be much more restrained. It’s a simple lentil soup, bulked up by oven-roasted tomatoes and given warmth and depth with harissa, cumin, ginger, and saffron. A swirl of cool Greek yogurt balances out the subtle spiciness. It’s a very good recipe for these very cold days – satisfying and nourishing at the same time.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite healthy cookbooks, A Change of Appetite, by Diana Henry. It was only released last summer, but it’s already become one of 4 or 5 books that I turn to when I need inspiration for whole eating. It’s also the only cookbook I purchased as a gift for someone this year, which I think says a lot. Anyways, if you’re looking for sources of inspiration for healthy cooking, I’d highly recommend it – and if you’re curious but not sold, read more about it in my full review from a few months ago.

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Lentil and Roasted Tomato Soup with Saffron

Recipe adapted slightly from A Change of Appetite. Serves 4-6.

• 6 plum tomatoes, halved
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp dried harissa powder
• salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
• 1 red thai chile, stem removed, finely diced
• 2 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 3/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• good pinch of saffron stems
• 4 c. vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 c. red lentils
• plain Greek yogurt, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Whisk together the olive oil, harissa, and salt and pepper, and pour over the tomatoes. Use a spatula to flip the tomatoes and coat in the oil, ending with the tomatoes cut side up. Roast the tomatoes for 40-50 minutes, stirring once, until slightly shrunken and charred in places. Set aside the 4-6 nicest looking tomato halves for garnish.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, thai chile, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and saffron and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the stock, the lentils, and the roasted tomatoes to the pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils have softened into a puree and the tomatoes have mostly dissolved into the soup. Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve with a spoonful of Greek yogurt and one of the reserved tomato halves.

The post Clean Eating: Lentil and Roasted Tomato Soup with Saffron appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

It was nice to take August off from holding myself to, well, much of anything. I needed the break. Of course, I was still working, and work was actually quite hectic – the main reason for needing to let everything else slide a little. But things have slowed down, and I’m finally feeling caught up on all the other aspects of my life. A part of that, of course, is getting back into a healthy daily routine, and that means the monthly fitness goals are back on.

I’ve known that speed would be the focus of my September goal since July, really. Since I started running again in January (after the longest hiatus I’ve probably ever taken last fall), I’ve been pretty diligent about getting out there. Starting back up again is the worst part of running, so once I’ve got a little endurance I like to hang on to it. So far this year I’ve run over 300 miles, and from January through June I was getting faster every month, moving from an average pace of 9’22” in January all the way down to an 8’04” in June. But July and August were full of hot, slow slogs, so I promised myself that once the weather cooled down, I’d focus on getting my pace back up. I set a goal of getting down under an average pace of 8’10” again, and although the first few runs of the month were a struggle, my last three were all sub 8′, and my current average is exactly 8’10”. But that doesn’t mean I’m done! I’ve run 20 miles this month and I’d like to get in at least 20 miles more, maybe even getting down to my stretch goal of 7’59”. We’ll see. For now I’m just glad to feel a little faster and lighter (not to mention cooler!) out on the road.

On a different note, let’s talk about these enchiladas. On our way home from Maine after Labor Day we stopped in at a little restaurant in Belfast called Chase’s Daily. It’s an airy space, and in the back they sell the most gorgeous local vegetables and flowers. Belfast is a small town, but the line to buy fresh produce snaked all the way down the counter. We sat down for a late breakfast, and although Trevor looked somewhat crestfallen when I told him it was a vegetarian restaurant, we both very much enjoyed our meals. I ordered the potato and roasted poblano enchiladas, which were smothered in the tangiest salsa verde, and liked them so much I knew I wanted to recreate them at home ASAP. Since they use lots of vegetables and we’re moving into that time of year where we all need to figure out how to make warm, comforting food be good for you, I thought they would do nicely for this month’s healthy recipe.

As I researched salsa verde recipes I saw two basic variations, one using raw tomatillos and the other using roasted tomatillos. Beyond that, and perhaps the ratio of chiles to tomatillos to cilantro, most of the recipes were nearly identical. As I thought about how to make this recipe my own, I decided that with equal numbers of recipes for raw salsa verde and roasted salsa verde, they must both be good – why not build in an extra layer of flavor and make a raw and roasted version? That was a good starting point, and yielded a salsa verde that was both tangy and a little sweet. For the enchilada filling, I grabbed a few potatoes out of the large bag we harvested last week and boiled them, then cooked them briefly with garlic, swiss chard, and diced roasted poblano. The potato-poblano filling gets rolled up in tortillas, smothered with salsa verde, and sprinkled with grated pepper jack, before a brief stint in the oven that yields crispy tortilla edges, golden-brown cheese, and steaming hot filling. I ate way too much of this in one sitting, but managed to save a little bit of leftovers (that I’m very much looking forward to for lunch tomorrow). It’s perfect on a chilly night – warm and filling but full of veggies!

I hope all of your Septembers are off to an equally healthy and productive start. It’s a good time of year to take stock, get organized and energized and charge into a new season.

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

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Potato, Poblano, and Chard Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Inspired by breakfast at Chase’s Daily in Belfast, ME. Serves 4-5.

• 2 poblano peppers
• 1 1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• sea salt
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1/4 c. diced onion
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 bunch of swiss chard (about 15-20 medium-sized leaves)
• Eight 8-inch tortillas
• 1 1/2 c. raw and roasted salsa verde, recipe below
• 1 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the poblano peppers on the baking sheet and broil for 10-15 minutes, turning with tongs every 5 minutes, until blistered and blackened all over. If you are making the salsa verde at the same time, do this while broiling the tomatillos. When the peppers are done, remove them from the oven and place in a bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and let steam for 20 minutes. After they have steamed, you will be able to easily peel and discard their skins. Do this, then cut into slices, discarding the stem and seeds. Chop roughly and taste for heat to get an idea of how much you should use in your filling.
2. Add the diced potatoes to a large pot and fill with cold water. Add salt to water and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes until just tender when poked with a fork, about 5 minutes once the water has reached a boil. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, sliced garlic, and smoked paprika and saute, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the stems of the swiss chard and add to the saute pan, then chop the leaves add add to the pan as well. Saute until wilted, about 3 minutes, then add the potatoes and chopped poblanos (start with one, add the second after tasting the mixture for heat). Saute for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat.
4. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread half a cup of salsa verde on the bottom of an 11×13 inch roasting pan. Mix the two cheeses together in a bowl. Fill each of the tortillas with a few spoonfuls of the potato filling, and 2-3 TBS of cheese, then roll up and place seam-side down in the pan. Repeat with all tortillas, filling pan completely, then spoon another half cup of salsa verde over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, then bake until cheese is bubbly and golden and edges of tortillas are crispy, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with leftover salsa verde.

Raw and Roasted Salsa Verde

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

• 1 lb. tomatillos
• 1-2 serrano chiles
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 TBS fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the husks and stem from the tomatillos and wash the sticky residue off the fruit. Cut the tomatillos in half. Place half of the tomatillos cut side down on the baking sheet. Set the other half aside. If using two chiles, place one of the serranos on the baking sheet as well. Broil the tomatillos and chile for 8-10 minutes, flipping over with tongs once about halfway through. Remove from the oven.
2. Add the roasted tomatillos and their juices to a blender, then add the raw tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro, water, lime juice, and salt. If you like your food spicy, remove the stem from the roasted serrano and add to the blender, then remove the stem from the raw serrano, roughly chop and add to the blender with the seeds. If you prefer a milder salsa, remove the seeds from the raw serrano, chop, and add to the blender. After blending, taste and decide whether to add the roasted serrano. Blend the tomatillos on high until a smooth puree forms. Taste, and add additional chile, lime, or salt if desired. Set aside.

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Last weekend, Trevor and I went on a little adventure. We drove up the coast into Maine, trekked out into the woods, and began our search for forest gold: chanterelles.

The first time I had chanterelles in any quantity was last summer in St. Petersburg. There’s a much stronger foraging and preserving culture in Russia than here in the states, and when chanterelles come into season, the whole city explodes with лисички сезон (lisichki sezon) menus, featuring chanterelles in every form imaginable. Although prized and celebrated for their texture and flavor, they aren’t the commodity that wild mushrooms are here, and while you may pay a few dollars more to have your mushroom soup made from chanterelles, it won’t break the bank.

Around Boston, however, it’s rare to find specialty wild mushrooms like chanterelles in grocery stores, even the upscale ones. When you do, they’re usually exorbitantly priced – I’ve seen morels go for as much as $70 a pound. Morels are delicious, but there are a lot of other delicacies I could buy for 1/3 of the price – like filet mignon and wild-caught salmon. So when Trevor’s uncle called to let us know that chanterelles were abundant in Maine, and offered to take us on a foraging trip, we jumped at the chance. Trevor’s uncle is a foodie in the truest sense of the word, without any of the negative connotations that word sometimes carries. An author and editor who has lived in both France and Russia, he has a deep understanding of food and its history from multiple cultural perspectives. Many of his books revolve around food: From Here You Can’t See Paris chronicles a year in the life of a restaurant in a rural town in France, while his cookbook, Fresh From Maine, shares recipes and stories from Maine’s up-and-coming chefs. In short, a good person to go foraging with, and an even better person to get ideas from for what to do with your bounty of mushrooms.

I had no idea that chanterelles grew in such prolific quantities in New England. Michael led us to hillsides covered with the small golden mushrooms, poking up from the pine needle-blanketed forest floor. Once we had found a good spot, we set to work gathering: down on our hands and knees, slicing the mushrooms from their stems, brushing the dirt and pine needles from the caps, then adding the clean mushrooms to our quickly filling bags. It’s a lovely thing to do, foraging for mushrooms – it’s quiet and focused, with the exhilaration of discovery and the wonderment of nature’s creations. Find someone who knows the forest and knows mushrooms and is willing to teach you – it’s worth it.

After only an hour of picking Trevor and I had gathered 5 pounds – as much as we could dream of using – and Michael probably picked twice as much as the two of us combined during the same time period, so we packed up our mushrooms and hiked out of the woods. We enjoyed a quick but perfect lunch of mozzarella, tomato, and basil on fresh baguette, then Trevor and I were on our way back home, where the task of further cleaning and processing our mushrooms awaited us. Although the cleaning and processing is not a small amount of work, we now have enough bags of butter-sauteed chanterelles tucked away in our freezer to get us at least through the fall. We froze about 2/3 of our haul, but we kept enough fresh mushrooms in the fridge for a week of good eating. We started off with a Chanterelle Carbonara, then these Chanterelle and Corn Tacos, and finished up with Chanterelle Burgers. All three recipes were delicious, and perhaps I’ll share the other two with you later, but for now, let’s focus on these tacos. I had been toying with the idea of a summery, mushroom and corn vegetarian taco for a while, so it was the perfect thing to try when we found ourselves with a surplus of mushrooms. The mushroom filling is as savory and satisfying as any meat-based taco, and the creamy and slightly spicy chile sauce is a little bit addictive. The tacos don’t need much more than that, but I added some sliced avocado and a bit of crumbled cotija cheese to finish them off. A worthy use of our chanterelles, for sure.

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Chanterelle and Corn Tacos with Chile Crema

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as an appetizer.

• 1/4 c. sour cream
• 2 TBS heavy cream
• juice from 1/2 lime
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 TBS butter
• 3 c. chanterelles torn into large pieces
• 1 ear raw corn, corn kernels cut from the cob
• 1/2 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 TBS minced fresh thyme leaves
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 avocado, halved, pitted and sliced
• 4 small tortillas
• 2 oz. crumbled cotija

1. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, heavy cream, lime juice, sea salt, chili powder, and smoked paprika until smooth. Taste, and adjust flavorings to your taste. Set aside.
2. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chanterelles and cook until soft and deeply colored, about 8 minutes. Add the corn, jalapeno and thyme to the pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn and jalapeno have softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. To serve, line each tortilla with a few slices of avocado. Top with 1/4 of the mushroom and corn mixture, then drizzle some chile crema over the top. Sprinkle with the crumbled cotija, and serve immediately.

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The Book: I want to open this review with a statement that’s much stronger than those I usually make in these posts: if you like Thai food (and who doesn’t), and you like to cook, you should buy a copy of Thailand: The Cookbook. With 500 traditional recipes, absolutely stunning photography, and the gorgeous design typical of Phaidon books, I already know it will be one of my favorite books this year, even if I mostly use it for daydreaming about the jungles and coasts of Thailand and colorful plates of Pad Thai and Papaya Salad. I wish I could let all of you flip through my copy, because I’m having a difficult time communicating how gorgeous the pictures are. They are certainly given pride of place, taking up full pages and even multi-page sections, and are drenched in rich colors that show up beautifully on the luxe matte paper. It’s mostly food photography, and an impressive portion of the 500 dishes are represented, but the landscapes and portraits are jaw-dropping. There’s not very much in the way of narrative here, but the recipe section is encyclopedic and decidedly authentic, meaning you will find, in all likelihood, hundreds of new-to-you recipes – I certainly don’t have any other cookbooks with recipes for Fried Crickets with Herbs or Spicy Dried Buffalo Skin Salad. Recipes within sections are often variations on a theme and are organized in a very logical progression, for example, moving from Spicy Vegetable and Fish Soup to Spicy-and-Sour Tilapia Soup to Spicy Eel Soup to Spicy Shrimp Soup. Given this, I’d imagine that if you cook enough different recipes from this book, you would develop a sort of intuition for Thai cooking and flavors.

One of the beauties of Thai cooking is how fast it is. Sourcing the ingredients will easily be the most time consuming part of preparing most of these recipes, with many prep and cooking times under 15 minutes total. Many of the recipes are also scaled to serve 2 or 3, which is convenient for a couple like us. There will definitely be recipes that are impossible to make outside of Thailand – I doubt I’ll be coming across banana blossoms or giant water bug eggs in my local market – but don’t let that scare you away from this book, as there’s more that’s accessible than inaccessible, especially if you have a good Asian grocery nearby, or even a well-stocked Asian Foods aisle in your Wholefoods/Kroger/Shaw’s. In short, for anyone with a love affair with Thailand and its sweet and spicy food, this book is a must buy – personally, I’m so excited to finally have an authentic Thai cooking resource in my collection.

The Food: The first recipe I tried out from Thailand: The Cookbook was Drunken Noodles with Pork, because, well, who doesn’t love drunken noodles? I was looking for a recipe for lunch that would be filling but not too heavy, quick to prepare, and for which I could find the ingredients at the small specialty butcher around the corner, as I only had about an hour before we needed to leave the house. Whipping up these noodles was dangerously easy – a handful of chilies and garlic pounded into a paste, a few thin strips of pork tenderloin, a bowl full of Chinese broccoli and mushrooms, and a quick sauce of soy sauce and sugar, stir-fried one at a time over high heat, and in 10 minutes I had a steaming bowl of sweet and spicy noodles, just as good as the ones from the takeout spot down the street. These noodles are definitely going into my “quick and craveable” dinner rotation. I’ve barely cracked the surface of this book, but after my first foray into authentic Thai cooking, I’m even more excited to delve further into these recipes.

Recipe Shortlist: Thai Pork Fried Rice with Fried Eggs; Chicken Curry Puffs; Thai-Style Hot Pot; Dragon Fruit Frappe; Spicy Strawberry Salad; Chicken and Coconut Soup; Beef Massaman Curry; Green Chicken Curry; Grilled Duck with Tamarind Sauce; Coconut Custard with Fried Shallots; Sesame and Sugar-Coated Peanuts; Jasmine Flower Flan

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Thailand: The Cookbook from Phaidon, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Drunken Noodles with Pork

Recipe from Thailand: The Cookbook. Serves 2.

Note: There were a few items I had to substitute based on what I could find at the store – 2 serranos for the bird’s eye chilies, broccoli rabe for the Chinese broccoli, chopped red pepper for the baby corn, and baby shiitakes for the straw mushrooms. I tried to keep the substitutions very close in flavor profile to the original ingredients. I’ve included both the original ingredients and my substitutions below.

• 7 oz. flat rice noodles
• 2 TBS vegetable oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, pounded to a paste
• 5-7 red and green bird’s eye chilies, pounded to a paste (OR substitute 2 serranos)
• 3 1/2 oz. pork tenderloin, sliced into thin strips
• 5 oz. Chinese broccoli, stems removed, leaves chopped into 1 1/2 inch pieces (OR substitute broccoli rabe)
• 7 baby corn, halved lengthwise (OR substitute 1/2 c. of chopped red bell pepper)
• 5 straw mushrooms (OR substitute 1/2 c. baby shiitakes)
• 2 TBS soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 handful of Thai basil leaves

1. If the noodles have been kept in the fridge, wrap them in cheesecloth and steam in a steamer for 2-3 minutes until warmed through. Alternatively, heat in a microwave for 1 minute. If noodles are dry, prepare according to package directions. Set aside.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add the pounded garlic and chilies and quickly stir-fry for 30 seconds, until sizzling and fragrant. Add the pork slices and stir fry for 1 minute, or until cooked through. Add the broccoli and baby corn and stir-fry for another 1-2 minutes. Add the prepared noodles, soy sauce and sugar, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until the noodles are soft and fully flavored. Remove from heat, stir in the basil, and serve immediately.

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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).

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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.

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Merry Two-Days-After-Christmas! I’m sorry I didn’t get to pop in again before the big day and share some last minute sweets – after 6 months of intense work, travel, and just generally keeping it together, my body finally called for a time out, and I was out cold with the flu from Friday afternoon until Wednesday morning. I’m still taking it pretty easy, but I’m on my feet again and actually grateful for all the time I’ve had to rest. Time to do a few little things I’ve been meaning to get around to forever, like order a new bed and organize my photos from this year. And more importantly, time to reflect, to think about all the accomplishments of this past year and to take stock of what I’d like for myself in the next one. Although having the flu isn’t the most ideal of circumstances for vacation, I’m glad I’ll start the new year refreshed and refocused.

I made this simple black bean soup the other night to eat while snuggled up in front of a movie. I’m thinking ahead to my annual winter cleanse and testing out new recipes to see if they’re worth including. This soup seems to fit the bill – meat and grain free, low fat, flavorful, quick and easy to put together from cupboard ingredients, and filling enough for dinner on a cold December night. The soup itself is not very complex in flavor, but all the add-ins – feta cheese, pumpkin seeds, and lime wedges – add good contrast and brightness to the smooth and spicy broth. Be warned, the poblanos are surpisingly hot! They look sort of non-intimidating, but they pack a punch.

Black Bean Soup with Roasted Poblanos

Adapted slightly from Bon Appetit. Serves 3-4.

• 2 fresh poblano chiles
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 large dried ancho chile
• One 14.5 oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 3 c. chicken or vegetable broth
• 3 c. cooked black beans (about two 14.5 oz cans, rinsed and drained)
• kosher salt to taste
• 4 TBS roasted, salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

1. Preheat the broiler. Place the poblanos on a foil-lined baking tray, and broil for 8-12 minutes, turning every few minutes with tongs, until the peppers are blackened all over. Remove the peppers from the oven, and place them in a bowl, covering the bowl immediately with plastic wrap. Let the peppers steam under the plastic wrap for 15 minutes, then peel off and discard their skins, remove and discard the seeds and stems, and finely dice the pepper flesh.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic cloves and saute until onion is golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the seeds and stem from the dried ancho chile and discard. Place the ancho chile in the pan with the garlic and onion and cook, stirring, until chile has softened and become pliable, about 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic, onion, ancho chile, and tomatoes to a blender and puree until smooth, then return the puree to the saucepan. Stir in the broth, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and simmer until the soup is thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in the beans and the diced poblanos and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
3. Divide the soup between 3 or 4 bowls, topping each with 1 TBS of pumpkin seeds, 2 TBS of crumbled feta cheese, and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve immediately.

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“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another”

-Anatole France

That quote has been running through my head all week. I actually heard it at a change management workshop at my real job, but it resonated so strongly with the mental state I’ve been in for the past few weeks, that I’ve been repeating it to remind myself that everything I’m feeling is normal. Although more than half the work of moving into our new place – washing, sanding, painting, packing, unpacking – is done, I’m still feeling a little overwhelmed and, honestly, sad whenever I think about leaving my house. So I think it’s important to take a moment to reflect, to have my melancholy, but then start to focus on the positive, on all the changes that I really have longed for.

Things I’ll miss:

• My roommates. I have three great roommates, and it’s nice to have people to chat with at the end of the day. We mostly sit and talk in the kitchen, or crash on the couch at the same time to watch trashy TV. Having someone to watch trashy TV with is not to be taken for granted. I hope that I’ll still be friends with them, but friendships are never the same as when you share day to day concerns and experiences. I’ve been lucky to have such a happy living experience with them!
• My house. It felt like home the very first night I slept here, and it’s breaking my heart a little bit to leave it behind. It’s a beautifully maintained single-family home, full of light and interesting architectural details. It was such a great find – I think it would be a miracle to find something that was so great with so little work again.

• Morning runs on the bikepath. I’m less than a quarter mile from the start of the Minuteman Bikepath, a flat, 11-mile path that goes through some beautiful parts of Greater Boston. It’s super convenient for running, and now that I’ve finally been converted to morning running, I’ll miss how quiet and peaceful it is at that time of day.
• Davis Square restaurants. Dave’s Fresh Pasta. Five Horses Tavern. Boston Burger. The Painted Burro. Mr. Crepe. Of course, I can still go to these places – I’m only moving two miles away! – but they won’t be as readily accessible. And the Davis neighborhood in general is just a fun, lively place to be, with more great restaurants opening all the time.
• My backyard. While it’s not huge, it has a fence that makes it feel private, and a lovely shady patio with a table for eating out on nice days. I use it to garden, to work-out, and just to look out at from the kitchen as I wash dishes or eat my breakfast. Our new place also has a small yard, but it needs a lot of work before it will look like this one.

Things I’m looking forward to:

• Seeing Trevor every single day. Of course, this is the whole reason for moving. After 3 years of long-distance dating, and 2 years of living separately in the same city, I think we’re both excited about being even closer to one another. It may mean less independence, but it will mean more sharing, in a good way. I’m sure there will be challenges, but I’m hopeful that the whole experience will make our relationship stronger and even happier than it already is.
• Having my own fridge and freezer. If there’s one thing that’s not great about living with three roommates, it’s the amount of fridge space you get allocated. After spending a good hour cleaning in and around our new fridge, it is pristine, and awaiting much delicious produce. Hopefully from our garden.
• New restaurants. This one is pretty much an even trade – well-loved Davis restaurants will be replaced by new well-loved restaurants. The Biscuit, for coffee and savory croissants. Thai Hut, for late night takeout. Dali, for lively dinners of delicious tapas and lots of wine. And maybe even the restaurant my new landlords are opening next year.
• Living less than half a mile from a brand new Wholefoods. I’m so looking forward to being able to run out and get pretty much any ingredient I want (especially since I’m also a stone’s throw from Savenor’s).
• Trevor making me dinner. Like he was doing as I wrote this. Seriously, the boy can cook.

And now goodbye to you guys too, but only for a few days – I’ll be on a business trip to Russia for the rest of the week! Don’t worry, I’m leaving you with a treat, the last thing I’ll make in my old kitchen. These little tartines are from Le Pain Quotidien, which I reviewed the other day, and they are so good! The spicy corn cream is super tasty – I love how rich it is and the heat is just strong enough to make your lips tingle. Together with the fresh tomato salsa and the goat cheese, these tartines make an excellent celebration of summer flavors. Just be warned – these should be eaten with a knife and fork. You’ll make a total mess if you try to pick them up whole.

And when I get back, I’ll make you a little something from my new kitchen.

Corn, Jalapeno, and Goat Cheese Tartine

Adapted slightly from Le Pain Quotidien. Serves 2.

• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, divided
• 2 TBS + 2 tsp finely chopped cilantro leaves, divided
• juice from 2 limes, zest from 1/2 a lime
• 1 slice cooked bacon, crumbled
• 4 TBS creme fraiche
• 1 tsp finely chopped jalapeno pepper (seeds removed)
• 1 ear fresh corn, kernels removed
• 2 big slices sourdough bread
• 2 oz. soft goat cheese

1. Make the tomato salsa: combine the diced tomato, chopped onion, 1 of the garlic cloves, finely minced, 2 TBS of the cilantro, and the lime juice in a bowl. Stir together, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Add the crumbled bacon, creme fraiche, lime zest, and jalapeno to a small saucepan, along with 1 TBS of water. Crush the remaining clove of garlic and add to the pan. Stir, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the corn kernels and simmer for 1 minute longer. Remove from heat.
3. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet. Divide the corn cream between the two slices – the liquid will soak through the bread. Dot the top of each slice with goat cheese. Broil on high for 3-4 minutes, or until the goat cheese is melty and beginning to brown. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tsp of cilantro leaves. Serve immediately – with a knife and fork!

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Update: The giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Amy of U Try.It on winning! And thank you everyone for sharing your perfect Valentine’s Day dreams… so fun to read.

If you live in Somerville, MA, you’ve almost definitely heard of Taza Chocolate.  If you live elsewhere in Greater Boston and have ever gone to any event remotely food-related, you’ve probably heard of Taza Chocolate.  But if you’re further afield, you may never have had the delicious experience of eating their stone-ground Mexican chocolate, and so I’m here to share the love, because I really do love Taza’s chocolate.  It’s different – gritty, not super sweet, and infused with flavors like chipotle and cinnamon and orange – but it’s addicting.  Trevor introduced me to it a few years ago and I’ve gotten more and more excited about it ever since.  Visiting the Taza factory in Somerville has been high on my “to-do in Boston” list since I moved back, and when I finally got around to it (which, admittedly was kind of a while ago at this point…), it was well worth the trip.

I’ve been on a decent amount of food tours – to breweries, cheesemakers, cider houses, farms, and restaurant kitchens – and they can definitely be hit or miss.  The Magic Hat Brewery Tour was a disappointment and I learned very little.  Visiting Prodigal Farm in North Carolina was truly fascinating (you can read more about it here).  The Taza tour was way up on my quality scale – honestly, it was one of the most interesting and informative tours I’ve ever been on, and I’m not just saying that because there was a constant supply of chocolate samples during the tour.  It probably helped that I knew very little about the chocolate making process to start.  Did you know how huge cocoa pods are?  Or that they grow straight from the trunk of the tree?  Or that they turn beautiful colors in the fall?  Just the images of the cocoa trees themselves fascinated me.  Then we moved onto the harvesting, shipping, roasting, winnowing, and grinding processes, and every piece of information was new and exciting.  I don’t want to give away their whole tour, in case some of you would like to actually hear it from the Taza people themselves rather than in an overly-excited and garbled form from me, but I will share some of the highlights.  Like that one of the co-founders of Taza spent a year in Oaxaca learning to properly dress the traditional millstones used to grind the chocolate.  Or that their winnowing machine is an old Italian giant they found on a cocoa sourcing trip.  Or that they travel to the countries from which their cocoa beans come every year to pick the best quality beans and make sure the farms they come from are fair.  Or that the difference between European and Mexican chocolate is the addition of milk and a thorough mixing process to smooth it out.

I highly recommend a trip to the factory if you live in the area or are ever visiting. And if you’re really looking for the full chocolate experience, Taza offers a week-long trip to Belize every March in which you go through the entire process of making chocolate, from picking cocoa beans to making your own bars (sometimes I really wish I was richer). If a quick jaunt to make chocolate in the jungle isn’t in the cards for you this year, either, I have two other things you might enjoy – one, a delicious chocolate mousse recipe, and two, a Taza chocolate giveaway.

Typically I just eat Taza chocolate straight – my favorite flavors are the salt & pepper and the cinnamon – but since we’re getting close to Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d step my game up and make a Mayan Chocolate Mousse, inspired in equal parts by Food & Wine’s Mayan Chocolate Pudding, and Bon Appetit’s recent article on the perfect chocolate mousse. I went all out with the cinnamon, using two packs of Taza cinnamon chocolate discs, replacing the espresso with my favorite cinnamon tea, and topping it off with a sweetened cinnamon whipped cream. It came out amazing, if I do say so myself. I really loved that the mousse still held the essence of Taza chocolate, it didn’t just taste generically chocolatey. I don’t know if I’ll even be able to wait until the 14th before making it again…

Giveaway Details: Interested in trying Taza chocolate? Enter to win the Chocolate Mexicano Classic Collection, and you can try six of their flavors (a cinnamon disc is included, leaving you just enough to make a portion of this mousse for two…). To enter, leave a comment below telling me how you would spend your ideal Valentine’s Day if money wasn’t an option. For a second entry, follow both me (@Kitchen_Door) and Taza (@TazaChocolate) on Twitter, and tweet to both of us about the giveaway, then come back and leave me a second comment letting me know you tweeted. The giveaway will close at midnight on Tuesday the 5th, at which point I’ll randomly choose a winner. Open to U.S. readers only. If the winner doesn’t respond to me within 48 hours of me notifying them they’ve won, I’ll have to pick an alternate winner

P.S. I LOVED reading all your comments about your most memorable Valentine’s Day on my last giveaway. It was so fun to hear all the stories!

Disclaimer: Taza is hosting this giveaway, but I discovered the product myself and truly love it, and have not been compensated in any way for writing this post.

Mayan Chocolate Mousse

Adapted from Bon Appetit and inspired by Food & Wine. Serves 4.

Note: Chocolate Mousse can be a little bit finicky – I accidentally scrambled my first batch of egg yolks! – so carefully follow the instructions provided and make sure your ingredients are at the correct temperatures. If you mess up, don’t fret – the end result will be worth trying again!

• 3/4 c. chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
• pinch cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• 4 TBS sugar, divided
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 c. strong cinnamon tea, at room temperature
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 packages of cinnamon Taza chocolate, or 5.4 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/8 tsp cayenne chili powder
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon if using regular chocolate + 1/4 tsp cinnamon for whipped cream

1. Measure out 1/2 c. of the heavy cream into a medium bowl. Whisk vigorously until foamy, sprinkle with the cream of tartar, then whisk until stiff peaks firm. Cover and chill.
2. Beat egg whites vigorously until soft peaks form. Sprinkle 1 TBS of the sugar over the top, and continue beating until stiff, shiny peaks form. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a gentle simmer. In a medium metal bowl, or a smaller metal-bottomed pot, whisk together the egg yolks, 2 TBS of the remaining sugar, room temperature tea, and salt. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk vigorously until mixture is pale yellow in color and doubled in volume. This will only take about a minute – remove immediately when it’s ready (or a second before you think it’s ready, as this is where it’s easy to accidentally scramble your eggs). Add the finely chopped chocolate and stir until it’s melted. If chocolate is not melting, it’s OK to set back over the simmering water for intervals of 5-10 seconds while whisking the mixture, but finely chopping the chocolate should remove the need for this. Once chocolate is melted, add the cayenne, allspice and 1/4 tsp cinnamon (if not using cinnamon chocolate) and whisk to incorporate. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in two additions, only folding until just incorporated. Fold in the whipped cream until just incorporated. Divide between four dishes and chill for at least 1 hour.
5. Just before serving, beat remaining 1/4 c. of heavy cream and 1/4 tsp cinnamon until soft peaks form. Sprinkle with remaining 1 TBS of sugar and whisk to incorporate. Dollop a bit of whipped cream on top of each portion, and serve.

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I really wanted to call this “the fastest soup in the west.”  ‘Cuz, you know, I just cut up some chicken and opened some cans and threw in some spices and BAM, there was dinner.  No pre-meditation, just a sudden flash of inspiration followed by a rush to the kitchen to create the meal I has just tasted in my imagination.  And, you know, it’s Southwestern, and it was fast, so… fastest soup in the west?  Yes?  Man, my cheesy side is just dying to get out right now.  Dying.  But I feel a little better at least having told you how kinda-funny I think I am.

Anyway, this recipe was created mostly out of laziness.  On the cleanse menu for Saturday night was Pink Parsley’s Red Chile Chicken with Black Beans and Rice, which has been on my to-make list for almost forever, but I was procrastinating making dinner because I didn’t feel like making multiple components to a meal (although on looking back at that recipe, it actually is pretty easy.  Still, one pan is better than two).  Plus, I wanted soup.  Big, hearty, spicy soup.  So I took the four ingredients in the name of that recipe (chile, chicken, black beans, and rice), and morphed them into a soup in my head.  And once I got the idea of a spicy, tomatoey chicken soup, I couldn’t shake it, so I went down to the kitchen and made the soup I was imagining.  And it turned out really good, for very, very minimal effort. So I wrote down the recipe, and here it is.  Make it when you’re feeling under the weather or lazy or bland or too tired to make anything else, and I’m pretty sure you’ll be pleased with the results.

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

Chili-Chicken Stew with Black Beans and Rice

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original.  Serves 4.

• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 TBS minced garlic
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 tsp sauce from canned chipotles in adobo
• 1 TBS harissa (or chili-powder, adjust amount to spiciness of your favorite brand of chili powder)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 c. rice
• 3 c. chicken stock
• 1 c. water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 c. frozen corn
• fresh cilantro, lime wedges, and jack cheese for garnish (optional)

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-heat, and add onion once oil is hot.  Sautee onion for 3-4 minutes, until translucent, then add garlic, and sautee for another minute.  Add chicken pieces, chipotle sauce, harissa, and oregano, and brown chicken on all sides, which should take about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Add tomatoes, beans, rice, stock, water, and bay leaf to pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer on low, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.  Check pot occasionally during this time, and add water if necessary to keep rice covered.  After 30 minutes, check chicken and rice for doneness, then add frozen corn and cook for another 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, and serve hot, garnished with cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice, and jack cheese.

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On the Fourth of July, I celebrated Cinco de Mayo.  So I’m a bit behind – that just means I’ll get to go to the fireworks on the Third of September, right?  My excuse: for the past month I’ve been mulling over the recipes in Antojitos: Festive and Flavorful Mexican Appetizers, a cookbook I received last year in a giveaway, but hadn’t given any serious perusal time.  Once I started looking, I couldn’t stop bookmarking recipes.  Soon I had a plan for a whole dinner party – I just needed someone to eat it.  That’s where the Fourth of July came in: everyone around and in the mood to celebrate, a whole day to cook in Maine (not that I’m particularly pressed for time on all the other days of the summer…), and permission to open up the tequila.

So while the rest of the country had hamburgers, potato salad, and red white and blue angel food cake, we had a fiesta.  The menu consisted of hibiscus margaritas; jicama, melon, and pineapple salad; grilled corn on the cob dipped in lime juice and chile-laced parmesan cheese; corn masa chalupas filled with guajillo spiced chorizo; and three dips to top everything off – charred serrano salsa, tomatillo guacasalsa, and chipotle crema.  Everything.  Was.  Delicious.  Seriously, this cookbook has recipes for some of the most flavorful and original food I’ve ever eaten.  My favorite was the corn – juicy sweet with a burst of hot from the chipotle and tangy saltiness from the lime and cheese, I couldn’t stop eating it.  The cooling jicama fruit salad was a close second, and both of these recipes may appear on this site sometime soon, but for now, the only thing I had time to take pictures of before everything was gobbled up were the salsas, which really tied all the food together.  The charred serrano salsa was both vinegary and hot with a beautiful color, the tomatillo and avocado guacasalsa was tangy and creamy with just a hint of heat, and the chipotle crema was just straight up delicious.  Since, in my opinion, the chipotle crema was the easiest, the tastiest, and the most versatile, I’ve chosen to include that recipe.  If you like it, or are intrigued by any of the other recipes mentioned here, I’d definitely recommend checking out Antojitos – it’s one of the best cookbooks I’ve used in a long time.

Chipotle Crema

Recipe adapted slightly from Antojitos: Festive and Flavorful Mexican Appetizers.  Makes about 2 cups.

• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 3 chipotles in adobo
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro, optional
• kosher salt

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse chipotles and lime juice until a smooth puree.  In a medium, non-reactive bowl, whisk together sour cream and heavy cream until smooth.  Add in the chipotle paste, using a spatula to scrape the sides of the processor.  Whisk until smooth and uniform in color.  Whisk in cumin and cilantro, if using.  Season to taste with the kosher salt.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving to allow flavors to blend.

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Yes, I’ve been home from Colorado for almost two weeks.  Meaning to write about my trip.  Meaning to make this great new side dish I discovered there.  But now that my life has slowed way down, to a level where for the first time in years, I have to create tasks for myself rather than do the ones that other people have assigned me, I’ve been lacking in inspiration a little bit.  I’m happy to be at home, happy to feel so calm, and very happy to spend a perfect June afternoon napping in the hammock, just a little bit directionless.

Anyway, I’m still here.  Ready to blog.  And I really had an incredible time in Colorado.  Almost my entire extended family on my mom’s side lives there – my grandparents, 3 of her sisters, her brother, and 8 cousins – and I used to go out to visit every other year.  Sadly, that ended after my freshman year in high school, when my school vacation calendar diverged from my brothers’, and so this was my first trip out there in 7 years.  They live in Grand Junction, a medium-sized city on the Western Slope encircled by the Mesa to the North, the Rockies to the East, the Colorado National Monument to the South, and Utah only 20 miles to the West.  It’s a beautiful place, with pretty much all the outdoor activity you could want right at your fingertips.  Heaven.  I was thrilled to be able to hike almost every day, with just a 5 minute drive bringing me to several different trailheads for the monument.  Actually, the hikes I went on were one of the highlights of the trip – particularly the trip to Royal Arch in Boulder with my friend David and to Liberty Cap on the monument with my brother and cousin Alex.  Luckily, I was there right in the middle of the desert wildflower season, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of the flowering cacti and other scrappy mountaintop flowers.  Or the sweet lizards.

Other highlights included a drive up and over the mesa with my Aunt Lynn to the site of their future yurt, during which we startled a herd of deer in the most picturesque, sun-dappled stand of aspens I have ever been privileged enough to encounter.  I’m pretty sure the pictures I took there are the best I’ve ever taken.  Photography career, you may begin.

Of course, I should probably mention that a big part of the reason I headed out to Colorado now, as opposed to any other time of the year, was that Trevor was competing in the college Ultimate Frisbee Nationals in Boulder.  I’d never seen him play before, and to be honest, I was a little skeptical about how compelling watching a frisbee tournament was going to be.  Let’s just say I’ve had a frisbee-riddled past and have not always taken the sport seriously.  However, it ended up being awesome.  With the help of my brother, who plays for Cornell, I picked up the rules, and by Tufts’ final game vs. Harvard, one of their biggest rivals, I was really into it.  Like holding my breath on the sidelines into it.  And also really impressed by how athletic the play is.  So, I stand a little bit corrected when it comes to Ultimate.  It should be stated, however, that it is still not, nor shall it ever be, more important than me.  Take note.

Lastly, and probably most importantly, it was so good to spend time with my family.  Just being able to sit around the dinner table swapping stories with aunts and uncles and cousins, to call up in the morning and make hiking plans, was a luxury.  And, to bring things back to food, at one dinner in particular, my Uncle Mark’s girlfriend, Julie, contributed the most delicious vegetable dish I’ve had in a long time – a mixture of summer squash, zucchini, corn, green chile, and a little bit of sharp cheese, a traditional New Mexican recipe called Calabacitas.  Not usually a fan of squash in any form, I loved the sharpness of the cheese and chiles against the soft freshness of the zucchini and corn, and immediately decided it needed to be added to my repertoire.  Julie shared her recipe with us, and I’ve pretty much followed that to the T here, although there is a lot of wiggle room to adjust for personal taste.  It’s a great summer side dish, especially given that gardens and farm stands always seem to overflow with zucchini in late summer and it’s always good to have another way to prepare it.

Calabacitas – Cheesy Corn and Zucchini Salad

Serves 4 as a side dish.

• 2 zucchini, 1/2 in. dice
• 1 yellow summer squash, 1/2 in. dice
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 TBS water
• 1 1/2 TBS minced garlic
• 10 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/3 c. diced green chile (I used the pre-chopped canned kind)
• 2 ears fresh corn
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• kosher salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c. cheddar jack cheese

1. Heat olive oil and water over medium-high heat.  Add washed, diced zucchini and squash, and sautee for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic, green chile, scallion, dried thyme, onion powder, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add kernels from corn cob.  Lower heat, and cook until everything is soft, about 5 minutes more.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese, allowing to melt completely and spread evenly throughout dish.  Serve warm.

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