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January 4, 2015 Food

10 Recipes for Clean Eating

I’m not doing a cleanse this year. To be honest, it’s too much work – between planning, cooking, photographing, and typing up every recipe, I always end the two week period a little worn out and seriously craving some chocolate and pasta and other good things. In general, I think I’ve found a pretty good balance between indulgence and healthfulness, both on this blog and behind the scenes in my daily eating habits, and I plan to continue that without putting too many rules around it. I’ll certainly be posting new healthy recipes in the coming weeks and months, but I’m also toying with the idea of a new “cravings” column featuring homemade versions of my favorite take-out foods, and I’m certainly not giving up dessert any time soon. So, you’ll continue to see a mix of things in these parts.

That said, if you are looking for a more structured eating plan for the new year, I’ll direct you to the last three years of two week winter cleanse plans I put together. Although each year is slightly different in its approach, the plans include two weeks worth of healthy, seasonal breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, with grocery lists and meal plans included.

And for my own inspiration (and hopefully yours), I’ve rounded up ten of my favorite healthy, wintery main course recipes, dishes that are easy to make, nutrient rich, and still hearty and warming enough for cold weather eating. Many of these recipes take their inspiration from Indian and Middle-Eastern cooking, two cuisines that have a knack for turning simple vegetables and grains into flavorful meals with just the right combination of spices.

Pakistani Chickpea Pulao with Sweet-Hot Date and Onion Chutney

A hearty and slightly saucy mixture of spiced chickpeas, rice, and tomatoes, served with a head-clearing chutney. Flavorful and filling and completely vegan.

Lentils, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, and Dukkah-Rolled Eggs

From one of my favorite cookbook releases this year, A Change of Appetite, a simple, nourishing combination of eggs, tomatoes, and lentils, gently spiced with Middle-Eastern flavors.

Bangladeshi Yellow Pumpkin Curry

A vegan recipe that really amazes me – made from only vegetables, water, and spices, it results in a creamy, flavorful, and balanced curry that tastes a lot richer than it is.

Crispy Brussels Sprout, Lemon Chicken, and Brown Rice Bowl

This easy combination of shredded rotisserie chicken, crispy roasted brussels sprouts, brown rice, and lemon sauce has been one of my go-to recipes this fall.

Baked Herb and Pistachio Falafel

Baked instead of fried, wrapped in cabbage leaves instead of pita, and served with homemade pickled beets and tahini sauce, this falafel is about as virtuous as it gets.

Chickpea Crepes with Grilled Curry Chicken and Mango Salsa

This sweet salsa brightens a plate of grilled chicken and gluten-free chickpea crepes for a much needed winter-dose of bright, crunchy, fresh vegetables and fruit.

Black Bean soup with Roasted Poblanos

Simple and spicy, this soup is easy to put together but packs a head-clearing punch of flavor. It’s a good one for days when you don’t really feel like cooking but you do feel like having something warm and nourishing.

Potato-Poblano Enchiladas

These enchiladas are definitely not the lightest dish on this list, but if you’re craving comfort food, a serving of these is a great way to satisfy that craving without totally blowing your diet.

Lamb, Butternut Squash, and White Bean Chili

This chili strikes a nice balance between meat and veggies, and the lamb and butternut squash give it a unique flavor. Rich and saucy from a healthy dose of spices, cocoa powder, and dark beer.

Palestinian Couscous with Chicken, Chickpeas, and Pearl Onions

With 8 different spices and 2 pounds of onions, this feast-worthy dish is packed with warm flavor. Serve with salad or sauteed greens for a balanced plate.

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January 2, 2015 Drink

2014 – A Year in Review // Rye Blini with Smoked Salmon Dip and Russian Beet Salad

As has sort of become a tradition for me (and so many other bloggers – I secretly love reading everyone’s year end reviews and getting a little glimpse into their highs and lows), I wanted to take a little time and a little space here to reflect on last year and look forward to the next. I’ll try to keep it relatively short and sweet, but if you’re just hear for the food (no shame in that), skip down to the end for some delicious Russian-inspired zakuski from our New Year’s Eve festivities.

2014, A Year in Review

It was a pretty big year for this blog, especially in the last few months. There were a few months where revenue from this space was actually enough to cover my rent (!), Trevor and I wrote and photographed our first in-print article (I can’t wait to share it with you when it’s published), I worked with a number of great new sponsors and brands, and I created some content I’m pretty proud of. Although sometimes it’s hard to feel progress when you’re working on something day after day, taking a minute to look back at how it has grown over time highlights all the changes.

Personally, this year felt mixed. It may be that I’m letting the stress I’ve been feeling for the past two months represent too much of the year, but like any year, 2014 definitely had its highs and lows. I actually ended up having 3 different jobs this year, all with the same company, which was exciting, but not without its transition stress. I traveled a ton – this was certainly my biggest year yet as far as travel is concerned. I made trips to 6 countries – Ecuador, Hong Kong, Canada, Italy, Malaysia and Ireland – and all of them except for Italy were places I’d never been before. I wrote detailed travelogues of my family’s trip to Ecuador (Quito, The Amazon, Baños, and Cotopaxi) and shared some pictures and memories of our over-the-top dinner at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal, here. The rest of the trips were for work and were mostly documented through Instagram, but in short: Hong Kong is incredibly vibrant and alive and I would love to spend more time wandering through it’s crowded streets; a long-weekend spent solo in Rome in May is just about the loveliest thing there is, for the unhurried bowls of fresh cacio e pepe eaten al fresco, long runs through the Villa Borghese, and afternoons spent poolside; the best part of Malaysia was undoubtedly the food, which was abundant at every meal and convinced me that I would be perfectly happy eating sweet and creamy curries for breakfast for the rest of my life; if someone asked me to move to Dublin I would be happy to go, for the friendly people, the twisty streets, the lively pubs, and unlimited quantities of amazing Irish butter.

Besides travel and blogging, there were a few other things that defined this year for me. I definitely got back into a solid fitness routine over the course of the year, which I documented through these monthly “Fitness Challenge” posts. I started from a place that I was very unhappy with – heavy, tired, and a complete stranger to my old running habits. Getting back in shape was a slow process, but by springtime I was running regularly and eating better, and I managed to keep those habits going all year. And of course, there’s the stuff that really matters – family and friends. I love how much time I was able to spend with my family this year, and being able to drive over for gardening and Sunday dinner almost every week is something I really treasure. I perhaps could have done a little better in prioritizing some of my friendships last year, but it’s something I hope to focus on more in 2015. And finally, Trevor is still the best, I love sharing my life with him, and I love that even after 7 years together I still feel excited to be with him. So that’s a big fat plus sign for 2014.

On to 2015!

Although I’m still reflecting on how I want to shape 2015, there’s a few things that I already know will be focus areas. One thing that I want for myself is to be less stressed. This is probably easier said than done, but I’m trying to think about what habits and routines I can change to allow myself to be more flexible and less likely to end up in a stressed-out, to-do-list-dominated state. I also want to find ways to build more joy and spontaneity into my life, to be more flexible, and to forgive myself and others more easily. I’ve been toying with the idea of some sort of gratitude journaling or instagram project, to keep myself in a positive and thankful frame of mind, but am a little worried that I’ll turn it in to one more thing I stress out about getting done every day. Have any of you tried something like this? What did you think? On a lighter note, I want to read more books, take better advantage of my travels, have more regular date nights with Trevor, and maybe learn to dance on pointe (I have no idea if this is even within my reach, but I’d like to think it is!). What are your resolutions and thoughts for the new year? I’d love to hear about them.

And if you’ve read through all that (not as short-and-sweet as I promised, huh?), then it’s time for some New Year’s eating! We had a fairly mellow New Year’s that was just right – movies and drinks with my brothers, then Veronika came over for snacks and champagne, before we headed with her and Scott to a late dinner in Harvard complete with fun party hats and free champagne. The snacks were sort of a last minute decision, but once I’d gotten the idea of a little Russian-inspired blini spread into my mind, I couldn’t get it out again. New Year’s Eve is a much bigger holiday in Russia than Christmas is, and the evening is filled with lots of zakuski, a buffet of hot and cold appetizers, and vodka toasts. So I whipped up a batch of rye and caraway blini and two easy dips: one made from hot-smoked salmon and cream cheese, and the other from chopped beets, honey, and vinegar. Both got generous helpings of dill and red onion, and spooned onto hot blini for a delightful mix of flavors. For drinks, I went with a sparkly pink number inspired by this Bon Appetit recipe, with fresh grapefruit juice, vodka, campari, and prosecco. Everything was delicious and all together it made for a festive spread.

Rye and Caraway Blini

Recipe adapted from Food & Wine. Makes 30-40 blini.

1 1/2 c. buttermilk
3/4 c. AP flour
1/2 c. rye flour
2 eggs
3 TBS butter, melted
1 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp whole caraway seeds
1 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. seltzer or club soda
canola oil, for brushing the pan

Place the buttermilk, both flours, eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, caraway, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a blender. Blend on high until a smooth batter forms, stopping to scrape excess flour down the sides with a spatula if necessary. Let batter sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, or in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to cook the blini, stir the seltzer into the batter. Heat a little canola oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then pour tablespoon-sized drops of batter into the prepared pan. Cook until bubbles on top of pancake have popped, then flip. They should cook for about 60 seconds on each side. Remove to a plate, and repeat until you have used all the batter, adding more canola oil to the pan whenever it runs out. Best served warm.

Hot-Smoked Salmon Dip

Makes about 1 cup.

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 TBS creme fraiche or sour cream
2 TBS finely minced red onion
2 TBS finely minced fresh dill
1 small wedge preserved meyer lemon, finely diced
4 oz. hot-smoked salmon

Beat the cream cheese, creme fraiche, red onion, dill, and meyer lemon together until the mixture is even. Use a fork to flake the hot smoked salmon out of its skin in bite-sized pieces. Gently stir the salmon pieces into the dip. Serve chilled.

Russian Beet Dip

Recipe inspired by Cooks.com. Makes about 2 cups.

2 medium beets
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 TBS finely minced red onion
2 TBS honey
1 TBS cider vinegar
1/4 c. chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the greens and tails from the beets and place the beets in a large saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil, boiling until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork, about 25-40 minutes, depending on their size. Remove the beets with a slotted spoon and run under cold water, rubbing the skin off with your hands as you do so. This works best when the beets are still warm.
Dice the beets into 1/4 inch cubes. In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, red onion, honey, vinegar, and dill until evenly mixed, then stir in the cubed beets. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve cold.

Pretty in Pink

Inspired by Bon Appetit. Serves 2.

2/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, from one large grapefruit
Two 1.5 oz. shots of vodka
One 1.5 oz. shot of campari
Chilled prosecco or champagne

Add grapefruit juice, vodka, and campari to a cocktail shaker with a few cubes of ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into two coupe glasses. Top each glass off with prosecco and serve immediately.

December 29, 2014 Cookbook

Book Club: A Boat, A Whale, & A Walrus // Molasses Spice Cake with Candied Orange Peel

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

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

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

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

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

Molasses Spice Cake with Candied Orange Peel

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

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

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

December 27, 2014 Breakfast

New Year’s Day Brunch with La Crema

I had really wanted to get a few more holiday-ish posts in before Christmas. There are so many great Christmas cookies and cakes and drinks to share! But when I found myself running around in the rain the morning of the 24th, scrambling to finish my shopping and get everything wrapped and packed for the weekend, I decided to cut myself some slack. I know that I’ve been needing a break – a real break, one where I leave my computer at home and don’t try to squeeze in a photo shoot here or there – and if you can’t take a true, unplugged break for 36 hours over Christmas, then you never will.

I think it worked – I woke up yesterday morning feeling more relaxed than I have in ages. I spent Christmas Eve sitting around the fire with Trevor and my parents and my brothers, noshing on smoked salmon, Swedish meatballs, roasted veggies, and sliders, sipping prosecco and eggnog in equally large quantities. It felt indulgent: four hours spent just sitting and eating and talking, with a little bit of book reading thrown in here and there. Christmas morning I woke up in my childhood bedroom to the sound of rain on the roof and Trevor sleeping next to me, with a pile of goodies in the stocking at the end of my bed. Brownies eaten in bed and a card detailing a surprise getaway to New York to see Les Mis preceded more presents under the tree, mimosas, and the most luxurious creme-fraiche scrambled eggs and slices of stollen slathered with butter. Then in the afternoon, my family and Trevor’s sat down together to share roast beef, yorkshire pudding, buttered cabbage, and meyer lemon tart before a sunset walk to a nearby farm and a little street football. It was wonderful.

I hope you all had lovely, relaxing Christmases, too, and are enjoying an equally relaxing long weekend. Do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself, and try not to let the joy and calm of the big day fade too quickly! And, although we’re just at the beginning of the holiday break, if you’re thinking ahead to New Year’s already, or are just looking forward to a few indulgent and lingering brunches over the next few weeks, I have two New Year’s Day brunch recipes for you. I partnered with La Crema Wines to develop these recipes for pairing with La Crema Monterey Chardonnay. The main event is a vegetarian wild mushroom strata: with a goat cheese and rosemary sauce, sauteed wild mushrooms, mashed roasted garlic, and tuscan kale simmered in chardonnay, the strata makes egg-soaked bread feel upscale and seasonal while still being absolutely craveable and satisfying. For dessert, a clementine and rosemary upside-down cake makes the most of juicy winter citrus in an easy and wonderfully pretty dessert. Since it’s un-frosted and not too sweet, serving this for brunch feels enough like serving coffee cake that you can get away with it. A hint of nutmeg in the cake batter punches up the wintery feeling, and enhances the sweet citrus and piney rosemary. Since the flavors of both dishes all work well together – orange, rosemary, mushrooms and goat cheese – and also all pair well with chardonnay, it’s a natural serving choice. You can find both recipes over on the La Crema blog. Here’s to long lazy mornings, dining in good company, and starting the new year off right!

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

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December 19, 2014 Dessert

Peppermint Bark Brownies

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

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

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Peppermint Bark Brownies

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

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

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

December 13, 2014 Dessert

Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam

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

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

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

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Gingerbread Thumbprints with Cherry Jam

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

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

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

December 10, 2014 Cookbook

Book Club: Mexico: The Cookbook // Slow-Cooked Pork in Tequila, and a Giveaway!

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.

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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)

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.
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.
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.
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

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.

December 7, 2014 Fall

Monthly Fitness Goals: December // White Bean and Parsnip Soup with Guanciale and Fried Sage

November’s fitness goal turned out to be such a fun one! Dance almost never fails to lift my mood and energize my body. I tried a new class, BollyX, a bit like Zumba or Cardio Dance in that it’s a hybrid between actual dance and an aerobics class. It’s got great upbeat Bollywood music and was packed with other young women. The nature of Bollywood dance – big movements, lots of jumping – made it easy to follow along and dance big without feeling self-conscious. I also stuck with ballet, although I’m going to a new class early Sunday mornings and it is so hard to do ballet first thing in the morning. My range of motion is about half what it is at the end of the day. In the interest of total honesty, I have to admit that I didn’t quite make it to 6 classes during November. But I did go this week and trying something totally new was a big win for me, so I’m giving myself a slight pass.

I’m going to make December’s goal about something that I’ve been explicitly avoiding all year: weight. In part, I’ve avoided making a weight-focused goal because I truly believe that these goals are about health and fitness, not a number on a scale. And I stand by that. But there’s also a part of me that’s a little bit afraid of that number, because I know that whatever I may tell myself, it’s a pretty good representation of the progress I’ve made. Of course, I could lose a ton of weight and be extremely unhealthy, both physically and mentally, or I could gain a ton of weight and attribute it all to muscle mass. But, at least for my body and personality, neither of those scenarios is very realistic. Although it kind of scares me to write numbers down here, I’m going to. I started the year at a weight of 145 pounds, which is easily an all time high for me. It’s hard to admit, but it’s a weight that’s decidedly too high for my 5’3″ frame, and looking back at pictures from last January does not make me feel good. Over the year I’ve slowly worked my way down to a weight that’s closer to a healthy weight for my build, hitting 132 at my lowest. Now I’m hovering around 136, a weight that’s healthy but a bit too close to backsliding for my taste. I’d like to start 2015 feeling really good about my health and fitness, so I’m aiming for the 130-133 range. If I can accomplish that during the biggest eating month of the year, I’ll be very proud.

In a way, this goal represents all the things I’ve learned about what does and doesn’t work for me over the course of this year. Some rules I’m living by to make this happen:

No alcohol on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays. This should be easy, but I’ve definitely slipped into a habit where a glass of wine after work is the norm, not the exception, and I don’t want that habit to go too far. In a season when holiday parties, happy hours, and hot toddies seem to be around every corner, it’s easier to have a simple rule – so I don’t end the week wondering why I’m completely dragging and then realize that I had a drink every night.
No sweets for breakfast. Starting the day out with something savory and protein-rich may take a little extra effort, but so much of the “easy” breakfast food is packed with sugar. I’m curious to see how much of an impact this has on my energy levels (and how long I can stick with it!)
Target 5 workouts a week. 4 workouts a week seems to be my magic number for maintaining my weight, 3 is a little too light, and 5 is the max that’s doable if I want to maintain the sanity of my schedule. I want to make the most of the dry streets and relative warmth before we slip into three months of ice and cold (e.g. no running).
Remember vegetables! When they’re not staring me in the face from the excess of our garden, it’s easy to forget about them. I’m trying to sneak as much spinach and broccoli into my diet as I can this month.

I’m not planning on continuing these monthly goal posts in 2015. While they’ve been a helpful tool for me to hold myself accountable, I’ve actually been thinking about how to make my life less list and goal oriented and more relaxed next year. For the most part, I’ve accomplished what I set out to do – get myself back in shape (from a point of absolute zero), and make regular exercise and conscious eating a natural part of my routine. But, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop sharing healthy recipes and thoughts on health here! This month’s recipe is a Roasted Parsnip and White Bean soup, topped with Guanciale and Fried Sage (arguably counteracting the health benefits of a vegetable-based soup, but oh well). It’s a recipe I came up with while walking home from work one day, playing around with different ideas for our parsnip harvest. The sweetness of the roasted parsnips is complemented beautifully by the creaminess of the white beans and the salty, fattiness of the guanciale topping. It’s a thick soup, almost more of a puree, but a swirl of cream added at the end lightens it and gives it a luxurious mouthfeel. This recipe used up the last of our parsnips, otherwise I’d be making more of this ASAP and freezing it for later.

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

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Roasted Parsnip and White Bean Soup with Guanciale and Fried Sage

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

6 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
3 TBS olive oil, divided
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 oz. guanciale, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (about 1/3 cup)
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
12 leaves sage, divided
1 large yukon gold potato, cut into 1 inch cubes
4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 TBS salted butter
1/2 c. heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss parsnips with 2 TBS of the olive oil, then spread out on a roasting pan. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Roast parsnips until tender, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Remove from the oven and set aside.
In a large non-stick saucepan, heat the remaining 1 TBS olive oil over medium heat. Add the guanciale and cook, stirring frequently, until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked guanciale and set aside. Chop 4 of the 12 sage leaves finely. Add the onion, garlic, and chopped sage to the saucepan and saute, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook 2 minutes longer, then add the roasted parsnips and the stock.
Bring soup to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the rinsed cannellini beans, and cook until heated through, another 5 minutes. Transfer the soup to a blender and blend on high until very smooth. Return to the pot and keep warm over low heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Before serving, melt 2 TBS butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once fully melted and bubbling, add remaining 8 sage leaves to melted butter and cook until crisp, about 30 seconds. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the cooked guanciale cubes and the fried sage leaves. If desired, drizzle 2 TBS of heavy cream on top of each bowl. Serve with toasted sourdough bread.

December 4, 2014 Dessert

Stacy’s Salted Caramel Pita Chips with Cinnamon-Apple and Whipped Greek Yogurt Dip

Although I’d be hard-pressed to argue with you if you told me that the combination of pita chips and a really good hummus couldn’t be beat, some situations just call for something a little sweeter. Stacy’s, long known for making tasty, extra crunchy pita chips, has released a limited edition flavor that meets just this need: Stacy’s Salted Caramel Pita Chips. When the team at Stacy’s challenged me to come up with a dip that would pair well with their latest flavor, I readily agreed. I’ve been a fan of Stacy’s pita chips since I was a kid – they make a great snack, and are one of the best vehicles for scooping up hummus, muhamarra, and other Middle Eastern dips.

I knew I wanted to put together a dessert dip, but I really didn’t want it to be cloyingly sweet or overly rich. I initially intended to use whipped mascarpone as the base, but at the last minute decided that a whipped Greek yogurt would add some much needed tang, as well as reduce the caloric implications of indulging in this dip. I think it was the right choice – the dip is light and airy, with a hint of sourness from the yogurt balanced by the sweetness of the apple mixture. It definitely has an apple pie flavor – the slightly salty, buttery chips serving as the crispy crust, the apple mixture a similar consistency and flavor to pie, and the sweet whipped yogurt like a very generous portion of whipped cream (or melted ice cream, if that’s more your style). If you’re looking for an appetizer or dessert to add to your holiday party menus this year, consider whipping up some of this. Check out Stacy’s Pinterest board for more fun dip ideas, too.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Stacy’s Pita Chips. All opinions are honest and my own.

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Cinnamon-Apple and Whipped Greek Yogurt Dip

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

1 large Macintosh apple, peeled
1 TBS salted butter
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 c. apple cider
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/3 c. heavy cream
One 6 oz. container of Greek yogurt, vanilla or maple flavored
3 TBS powdered sugar
Stacy’s Salted Caramel Pita Chips, for serving

Core the apple and slice into pieces about 1/4 inch thick, then dice slices into small cubes. Add the butter to a wide frying pan and melt over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice and stir until sugar is melted and spices are evenly mixed in. Add the diced apples, then add the apple cider. Cook until apples are tender but not mushy and cider is mostly evaporated, about 4 minutes. Stir in salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
Beat the heavy cream on high with a stand mixer or hand-held mixer until the cream has formed soft peaks. Add the yogurt and beat until incorporated. Sift the powdered sugar through a fine mesh strainer into the yogurt mixture, and beat until the mixture has a light consistency and the sugar is completely incorporated. Note that the final consistency will not be as light as whipped cream is on its own, but it should be significantly airier than yogurt.
Place the whipped yogurt into a bowl, and top with a swirl of the apple mixture. Alternatively, mix the two together to thoroughly combine. Serve the dip with Stacy’s Salted Caramel Pita Chips or other sweet dipper.

December 3, 2014 Cookbook

Book Club: Heritage // Rabbit Stew with Black Pepper Dumplings

The Book: As I’ve told you in the past, I’m a sucker for good Southern food. Although I’m a New England girl through and through in most other aspects, the four years I spent in North Carolina were very formative for me in terms of learning to truly appreciate good food. Because of this, new Southern cookbooks get pride of place on my cookbook radar, and Heritage, the new cookbook from Sean Brock, was no exception. Hailing from “the part of Western Virginia that should have been Kentucky,” but receiving his culinary education in South Carolina, Brock makes food that has Southern roots both deep and wide. There’s a strong sense of purpose in the pages of Heritage – to embrace local food not only for its ethics and flavor, but for its history and story. I love how much narrative Brock has included in this book; it really helps me feel engrossed in the food’s history and culture. A strong emphasis on understanding your ingredients, where they came from, and how they can vary – for example, chicken is not just chicken, but poussin, broiler, fryer, roaster, or stew hen, depending on its age, and a different preparation is appropriate for each bird – completes the local, ethical, Southern vibe. The recipes skew more toward restaurant food than home-cooking, with multiple components and appliances required for many (the carefully composed plating of the photographed dishes will tip you off to this right off the bat). This isn’t a negative for an adventurous cook, but I do wish there were a few more homestyle dishes that would be easy to make and serve on a casual weeknight. Organized by source of food – the garden, the mill, the creek, the pasture- there is a great variety of recipe type, with a whole chapter dedicated to preserving (The Larder) and another one to cocktails and bar snacks (The Public House). Between the extensive narrative and the diverse recipes, most readers will find plenty to hold their interest in Heritage.

The Food: Trevor and I are big fans of cooking with rabbit, but we’ve had trouble finding recipes that really allow it to shine. This Russian Rabbit and Mushroom Pie is our favorite, but we were less impressed with the Rabbit Cacciatore from Pickles, Pigs & Whiskey. Sean includes a couple of rabbit recipes in Heritage, so we decided to give the Rabbit Stew with Black Pepper Dumplings a go. It’s similar to a rabbit stew we enjoyed at Alden & Harlow a few weeks back, and also one of the more straightforward recipes in the book. The stew is made by making a broth from the rabbit, then removing and shredding the rabbit meat, while thickening the broth with a roux. The dumplings (which are really biscuits) are formed and baked separately, then tossed in the stew for the last few minutes of cooking, which gives you more control over their size, shape and level of doneness. I have mixed feelings about the end result – the stew was certainly tasty, and even more so as leftovers the next day, but I’m not sure it was tasty enough to warrant the use of a rabbit in place of a less pricey chicken. This could have something to do with the quality of our rabbit, of course – there’s not a ton of choice for rabbit meat near us. I think it’s a recipe that I’d like to try again with some of my own tweaks, but a good starting point.

Recipe Shortlist: Low Country Hoppin’ John; Corn Goat Cheese Soup with Shrimp and Brown-Butter Chanterelles; Green Garlic Bisque with Herbed Buttermilk and Fried Green Tomato Croutons; Cracklin’ Cornbread; Charred Beef Short Ribs with Glazed Carrots and Black Truffle Puree; Rabbit Andouille with Braised Peppers and Lady Pea Gravy; Rhubarb Buckle with Poppy-Seed Buttermilk Ice Cream

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Heritage free of charge from Artisan, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Rabbit Stew with Black Pepper Dumplings

Recipe adapted slightly from Heritage. Serves 6.

For the dumplings:

1 lb. (3 1/3 c.) pastry flour, sifted and chilled in freezer
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS freshly ground black pepper
8 TBS unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/2 c. ice cold whole-milk buttermilk

For the stew:

1 large rabbit (2-3 pounds)
4 c. small dice white onions
2 c. medium dice celery
2 c. medium dice carrots
2 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 TBS unsalted butter
1/4 c. flour
1 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS hot sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the dumplings: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chilled flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper. Whisk to combine. Grate the frozen butter over the medium holes of a box grater, and immediately place the cold grated butter into the flour mixture. Use the tips of your fingers to toss the butter with the flour and incorporate just until the texture resembles coarse sand (a few bigger “pebbles” are fine). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Roll the dough out into a circle about 1/2 inch thick, and use a very small pastry cutter to cut small round dumplings (about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter – we used the bottom of an espresso cup as a cutter). Place the dumplings on the baking sheet and bake just until they start to dry, about 9-10 minutes. You don’t want the dumplings to brown at all, as they should finish baking in the stew. Set the dumplings aside at room temperature.
To prepare the stew: Remove the giblets from the rabbit. Place the rabbit in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, skimming any scum from the top of the pot. Once simmering vigorously, add half of the onions, half of the celery, half of the carrots, the thyme, and the bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer until broth is golden and rabbit meat pulls away easily from bone, about 1 hour to 90 minutes.
Remove the rabbit from the pot and let cool slightly. Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, discarding the solids left behind. Rinse the pot and return to the stove. Add the butter and melt over medium heat, then add the other half of the onions. Saute, stirring, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the celery and saute another 2 minutes, then add the carrots and saute until tender, another 8 minutes. Add the flour to the pot and stir so it absorbs the fat. Continue to stir the roux constantly until the flour coating the vegetables is no longer white but a light golden color, about 5-10 minutes. Stir in the reserved broth 1 cup at a time, allowing to thicken slightly between additions. Once all the broth is added, bring to a simmer and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
While the broth is simmering, remove the rabbit meat from the rabbit and shred into bite-sized pieces, discarding the bones, skin, and tendons. 5 minutes before serving, add the shredded rabbit, hot sauce, soy sauce, and dumplings to the stew and simmer until the dumplings are soft and the rabbit is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.