Katie at the Kitchen Door

Globally-inspired, seasonal recipes

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3 Breakfast

Whole Wheat Fruit and Nut Pancakes

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

For the last cleanse brunch meal, I decided it was OK to push the boundaries of my rules and let pancakes onto the menu. In part, I think it makes sense to ease your way back into normal eating habits by creating healthy versions of your favorite foods. If you can eat the foods you crave without all the negative health effects, it’s that much more likely that the benefits of “cleansing” will stick! These pancakes, adapted from SELF Magazine, not only have no sugar and use whole-wheat flour, they also have berries, bananas, and crushed pecans to up their healthfulness.

I was surprised by these pancakes – I was expecting them to be decent, but not particularly good. I just haven’t had that much luck with whole wheat baking in the past, and I also have really high standards for pancakes, having grown up in a house where mixes were sneered upon and a fresh batch of dad’s blueberry-buttermilk pancakes was a weekend staple. However, these healthy little guys ticked off all my pancake check-boxes – they were tender, moist, flavorful, and thick. The fact that I could eat two with a generous drizzle of maple syrup and not feel guilty about it was just an added bonus. I will definitely be making these again!

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Whole Wheat Fruit and Nut Pancakes

Adapted from SELF Magazine. Makes 8 pancakes / Serves 4.

  • 1 c. whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. rolled oats
  • 1/4 c. crushed or roughly chopped pecans
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 c. frozen or fresh mixed berries
  • cooking spray or a small pat of butter
  1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, pecans, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to combine. In another medium bowl, mash the banana into a paste, then beat in the egg, buttermilk, and almond extract to combine. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly mixed.
  2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-low heat, or melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat. Make pancakes using 1/3 c. batter each. Top each pancake with a few berries. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the batter is bubbling on the top of the pancake and the bottom is golden brown, then flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side. Repeat until batter is gone. Serve warm with extra berries and maple syrup. Place any extra cooked pancakes in plastic bags and refrigerate to store.

Healthy Fruit and Nut Pancakes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

2 Food

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

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

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

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

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

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

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

Adapted from Serious Eats. Serves 2 as a main.

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

Roasted Beet and Spinach Salad with Eggs, Goat Cheese, Pomegranate, and Orange {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

24 Cookbook

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpea {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

It seems as though we’ve entered flu season. I actually haven’t been sick yet, but I’ve seen several co-workers, a few family members, and lots of blog-friends succumb in the past week or two. I just want to send everyone a big bowl of chicken soup, but that seems unfeasible, given, you know, the logistics of shipping chicken soup around the country, so I made this lovely, thick, Greek-inspired bowl of avgolemono with chicken to inspire health in all of you (and I’m also hoping that eating it myself will help stave off illness a while longer). In particular, Grandma Joyce – I hope you’re feeling much much better!

This is another recipe that’s inspired by Maria‘s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. I really love this cookbook, but I’m always tinkering with the recipes, which sometimes gives me cooking guilt, as I know it’s not a fair test of the recipe (and that a lot of work goes into recipe-testing for cookbooks to get them just right)! I set out to make this one exactly as written, but realized as I started cooking that I didn’t have any scallions, and that I didn’t have any par-boiled rice on hand, and that I really needed to use up the chickpeas that have been sitting in my fridge. So I sighed, and adjusted here and tweaked there, and made it my own. I promise, I’ll make the next recipe from Maria’s book the way it says to!

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpea {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

As you might have guessed, this is another one for my winter cleanse. It’s great cleanse food – the avgolemono, a Greek technique that involves adding an egg and lemon mixture to thicken hot broth, makes it thicker and more substantial than your average soup, without adding a lot of extra calories. With chicken, chickpeas, and brown rice, it’s filling and warming and lovely. Give it a try… and feel better to all of you who are under the weather!

Greek Egg and Lemon Soup with Chicken, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas

Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. Serves 2.

  • 4 c. chicken broth
  • 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, fat trimmed (about 8 oz.)
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed or finely minced
  • 1/4 c. brown rice
  • 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas
  • 1 egg, separated, at room temperature
  • 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)
  • 1/4 c. chopped dill
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Add the chicken broth, chicken, minced/crushed garlic, and brown rice to a large pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 35-45 minutes, or until both the rice and the chicken are fully cooked – the rice should be tender and the chicken should be cooked through, with no pink in the middle when you cut into it.
  2. Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, tear into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.
  3. Beat the egg white with a whisk in a medium bowl until it is white and thick. Lightly beat the egg yolk, then add the egg yolk to the beaten egg white and whisk together. Slowly pour the lemon juice into the egg mixture as you whisk. The mixture should be pale yellow and fairly thick. Slowly add a thin stream of the hot broth-rice mixture to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs. Use about half of the broth mixture in doing this. Pour the tempered egg-lemon mixture back into the pan, whisking the soup as you do so. Continue to stir, and add the chicken pieces, chickpeas, and dill to the pot. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, to heat all ingredients through and slightly thicken the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve hot.

0 Food

Winter Cleanse 2013: Week One

Shakshuka and Chickpeas - Winter Cleanse Week One

So I know I’ve been talking about it for a while now, but I finally have the first week of this year’s winter cleanse menu ready to go. I struggle a lot with what to call this “cleanse” – I flip-flop between “cleanse,” “detox,” “diet,” and other typical health-food plan words. At it’s core, it’s really just a healthy eating plan focused on whole foods and vegetables. While I do tend to lose weight while doing it, not every recipe is low calorie, and some even include typical diet no-no’s like cheese, and chorizo. Still, the goal for me is to get a lot of the holiday junk out of my system and fill up on wholesome, nutrient-packed foods that will be kind to my body, so “cleanse” always ends up winning the word-choice battle.

Two Kale Salads - Winter Cleanse Week One

Last year I was a little too ambitious with my cleanse “rules,” and I ended up having a really tough time sticking to them. This year, I’m being a bit more generous with myself in the plan, but stricter about sticking to it. Basically, I try to limit sugar, dairy, meat, and gluten (although I have some whole wheat foods), and replace those foods with lots and lots of vegetables, whole grains, and beans. I have to have a green salad every day, and drinks are mainly water and tea, with an occasional latte built-in as a snack/treat. No booze. It’s not a super strict plan, but I find having everything mapped out and the rules firmly in my mind really helps with my motivation – and so far I feel great (and have lost 4 pounds in as many days)!

Apple Quinoa Cake and Chocolate Bluberry Smoothie - Winter Cleanse Week One

Another difficult part for me last year was the sheer amount of cooking that doing this required. There were definitely nights when I just ran out of energy – in particular, the night I stopped at a cafe and wolfed down a cheesy sandwich because I was too exhausted to think about getting more groceries comes to mind. This year, I put a lot more time into planning and prep so that this wouldn’t be a problem. I got all the groceries for the whole week in one go, and I’ve attached a grocery list (enough for 1-2 people doing the cleanse) for you as well (as well as a menu print-out to hang on your fridge). I also identified all the activities that could easily be done on the first day, Sunday, or any other time that you have a little extra free time, so that making meals the rest of the week would be quicker. I didn’t do all of these in one day, but spread them out over my free time:

Raspberry-Maple Quinoa and Avocado-Grapefruit Salad - Winter Cleanse Week One

A few last notes – the attached shopping list is written for one person to have enough to make all the meals in the first week, plus a little extra (you can’t buy half an onion!). For the most part, I scaled the ingredient amounts down to be enough to serve 2 – one serving for dinner, and one serving of leftovers for lunch the next day. There are some recipes, though, that just don’t scale as easily, and I did end up with a lot of leftovers. I froze all of the leftovers and encourage you to do the same, if you have them – it will just help you to continue eating healthily after the cleanse is over! You’ll notice that the weekends are structured a bit differently, with larger brunch and dinner meals and one substantial snack – this reflects the way I eat during the weekends, but feel free to bulk up these days with more healthy fruit and vegetable snacks (or leftovers from other meals). In general, mixing and matching recipes you like and don’t like is fine – I only have them in the order I do so that meals don’t overlap too much within a day (aka you don’t end up having eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and so that leftovers get used up. Last, if you miss a day or give in to something not on the plan, don’t beat yourself up over it – just start again with fresh focus the next day!

Menu Attachment
Grocery List Attachment

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, nutritionist, doctor, or medical professional of any sort.  I simply wanted to share my personal menu and goals for healthy eating, so please realize that I have tapered this plan to what I feel my own nutritional needs are, and carefully consider your own health needs/consult your doctor before following any diet, cleanse, or detox plan! 

Bulghur and Cinnamon Chicken, Chestnut Soup - Winter Cleanse Week One

Winter Cleanse Menu 2013 – Week One

Day One, Sunday:

Day Two, Monday:

Day Three, Tuesday:

Day Four, Wednesday:

Day Five, Thursday:

Day Six, Friday:

Day Seven, Saturday:

Update: Week Two Menu is now available!

Winter Cleanse 2013 - 16 Healthy Recipes from Katie at the Kitchen Door

0 Breakfast

Cleanse Breakfasts: Raspberry-Maple Quinoa, Broccoli & Mushroom Scramble

Raspberry-Maple Breakfast Quinoa {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

OK, last pre-cleanse post! Just wanted to get these two breakfast recipes up here so they’re included for the big round-up tomorrow. The first recipe is a favorite of mine, and a frequent breakfast staple, inspired by Heidi a few years back. I use frozen raspberries and stir most of them in at the beginning, so that the whole thing turns pink and has a lovely raspberry flavor. Then I add a few whole ones back in at the end, for that tangy bite. The second recipe is for a roasted broccoli and mushroom scramble – not really a recipe you need, but posted here for convenience of anyone following the cleanse. Both of these recipes are the sort that are infinitely variable, and you can change according to your taste – this is just the way I like them!

I’ll be back tomorrow.

Raspberry-Maple Breakfast Quinoa

Serves 2

  • 1/2 c. quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 c. skim milk
  • 1 1/3 c. raspberries
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 c. pecans
  • 2 TBS maple syrup

Add the quinoa, milk, and 1 cup of the raspberries to a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let simmer, uncovered, and stirring frequently, until quinoa’s “tails” have unfurled, about 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on it, as simmering milk frequently froths up and can make a big mess. Once quinoa is done, stir in cinnamon, pecans, maple syrup, and remaining whole raspberries. Enjoy warm, refrigerate any leftovers.

Roast Broccoli and Mushroom Scramble

Serves 1

  • 1/2 TBS olive oil
  • 5 large button mushrooms, sliced
  • sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 c. roasted broccoli (roasted with olive oil for 20 minutes at 375°F)

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a saute pan. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt. Beat together egg and egg white, then pour over mushrooms. Add roasted broccoli and cook scramble, stirring with a spatula, until eggs have reached desired doneness.

0 Food

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad

Grapefruit, Avocado, and Spinach Salad

Just here to quickly share the recipe for this salad, which is one of the first recipes in this year’s winter cleanse. I started the cleanse today, and so far haven’t cheated! (Except I had one single sour peach ring, because I haven’t seen them in ages, and I love them. I don’t feel bad about it.) I’ll be posting the full menu for week one of the cleanse on Sunday, along with some additional healthy breakfast recipes tomorrow or Saturday. Until then, you can take a peek at last year’s cleanse (week one, week two), or just enjoy this healthy salad, which manages to be both filling and refreshing at the same time.

Hope everyone’s resolutions are off to a good start!

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with Ginger-Cassis Dressing

Adapted from Bon Appetit. Serves 1.

  • 1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 large grapefruit
  • 2 large handfuls spinach or arugula
  • 2 TBS ginger-cassis dressing (see below)

Cut peel off grapefruit and cut supremes away from inner membranes. Layer grapefruit segments and avocado slices over the greens and drizzle with the dressing.

Ginger-Cassis Dressing

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Makes ~2/3 c.

  • 2 TBS finely chopped shallot
  • 2 TBS finely minced fresh ginger
  • 3 TBS high-quality olive oil
  • 3 TBS creme de cassis (black-currant liqueur)
  • 4 tsp sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small tupperware with a lid and shake vigorously to blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store extra dressing in the fridge and shake before serving.

0 Food

A New Year (and Butter-Roasted Cinnamon Chicken)

Bulghur with Cinnamon-and-Butter-Roasted Chicken and Almonds {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Happy 2013, everyone! I’m back from a lovely, restful long weekend in Maine with my family and Trevor, and am feeling refreshed and ready to start up some new projects. Maine is so beautiful at this time of year – we had 18 inches of snow, and spent many hours trekking about “exploring” like little kids, tracking the deer and snowshoe hares, and reveling in being able to be outside in such a pristine and quiet place. And once the sun went down, we had board games and reading by the fire, and warming meals of lamb curry and seafood lasagna. I was out like a light by 9 every night. Of course, I think I undid some of the restfulness last night… but it was completely worth it. We started off the evening by having tapas and cocktails at Dali with one of my oldest and best friends and her boyfriend, and then met up with some of my favorite people from high school for a relatively mellow but very fun night of board games and beer pong and excessive drinking. It was just right.

Maine in Winter

And now it’s 2013! By this point, you’ve probably seen dozens of New Year’s posts – round-ups of the best recipes of 2012, recaps of years both good and bad, hopes for the future, lists of resolutions, and rants about the futility of resolutions. It may seem a little silly for there to be so much fuss about reflection on just one day, but the truth is it’s nice to have a natural time to take stock of your world, to think back on what you accomplished in the past year, and to set goals for the future.

2012 was a good, stable year: nothing bad happened, and a lot of good things happened. You can’t ask for much more than that. At my real job, I worked on a series of interesting projects with interesting people – I traveled to Spain to hob-nob with CEOs, learned a great deal about terrorism risk, and became close friends with several of my co-workers. Then just a few weeks ago, I was promoted – a really positive way to move into 2013! On the blog, things moved much faster than I expected. Last year, I quietly set two goals which I felt were very ambitious – one, to have 500 subscribers, and two, to host a giveaway. I’m so pleased to have exceeded both, with over 1,000 of you out there reading on a regular basis, and two book giveaways this fall (and several more giveaways scheduled for the not too distant future!). So, thank you, everyone, for reading – it means so much to me that you enjoy this space. On a more personal level, the things that define this year for me include completing my first two half-marathons ever, starting adult ballet classes and totally falling in love with them, building a vegetable garden with Trevor, really settling in to life in Boston, and throwing a few really fun parties.

Maine in Winter

As for 2013, I have a good feeling about this year. I can see the possibility of being in a very different place in 12 months than I am right now, and I’m excited to see what the year brings. I definitely want this year to include more travel, with trips to Montreal and Italy in the works already. I also really feel the need to get serious about having healthier eating habits. Food blogging is a blast, but I indulge far too often. Trevor and I have grand plans for the Andover garden and orchard – I already can’t wait to start our seedlings. In general, I just want to do more – go camping, finally break in those ice skates, host more dinner parties, make more of an effort to see friends, etc. Oh, and I’m pretty set on going to adult ballet camp. Which is going to be awesome.

Bulghur with Butter-and-Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken and Almonds {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

With all that introspection done, let’s get back to food. January to me always calls for simple recipes, food that is wholesome and restorative without being fussy. When I saw a recipe in Maria’s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals for Bulghur with Butter-Roasted Almonds and Cinnamon, I was immediately brought back to a meal I had on a cold, winter-y day at the Lebanese restaurant in my hometown. It was similar to Maria’s recipe, but included shredded chicken, cooked until crispy in cinnamon-butter. I knew it would be the perfect meal for a cold day, so I recreated it, using Maria’s recipe as the base, and then threw in some pomegranate seeds at the end for a dash of color and sweetness. It was warm, nutty, buttery, and crunchy – a perfect first meal of 2013!

Bulghur with Butter-and-Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken and Almonds {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Bulghur with Butter-and-Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken and Almonds

Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. Serves 2-3.

  • 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1 large shallot, peeled and sliced into quarters
  • 10 whole peppercorns
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3/4 c. bulghur [with 1 1/3 c. water]
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 TBS salted butter
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 c. whole skin-on almonds, toasted lightly
  • 1/4 c. pomegranate arils (optional)
  1. Place the chicken, shallot, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick in a shallow pan, such as a dutch oven, and fill with water to cover the chicken by about 1/2 an inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat, boil 3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes for the chicken to finish cooking. Remove the chicken, check to ensure that it is cooked all the way through, and rinse under water to cool. Tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
  2. Bring 1 1/3 c. water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add bulghur and salt, stir, return to a boil for 1 minute then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, until bulghur has absorbed all of the water. Fluff with a fork.
  3. While bulghur is cooking, melt the butter over medium heat in a large frying pan. Once it has melted, cook for 2-3 minutes, until it smells nutty, is foamy on top, and has brown flecks at the bottom. Scrape the brown flecks up from the bottom with a wooden spoon, then add the cinnamon and cayenne powder and stir to combine. Add the shredded chicken and almonds (they will sizzle!) and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until everything is fully coated in the cinnamon butter and the chicken is beginning to crisp around the edges. Add the bulghur to the pan and stir just to coat. Remove from heat.
  4. Serve warm, garnished with pomegranate arils if desired!

0 Cookbook

The Great Meat Cookbook: Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

The last time I saw my Grandpa Archie was this summer, at my cousin Danny’s wedding. My grandparents (and most of the rest of my family) all live out in Colorado, so I see them infrequently, at best.  Grandpa Archie, who is 100% Onondaga Indian (I know, cool, right?), and not the most verbose man, is hilarious to hang out with, and the wedding was no exception. Being from Colorado, he’s also a true meat-lover, and as we were driving from the ceremony to the reception, six of us packed into a five person car in the pouring rain, he turned around and said to me: “So, Katie.  On that blog of yours, you ever cook any meat?”  I tried to explain that I eat a lot of vegetarian food because it’s cheaper and I mainly use meat as a flavoring, to which I got the response “Just give it to me straight.  Do you cook meat?”

I had to admit that, no, I don’t really cook much meat. And it’s not because I don’t like it – when I go out to eat, I frequently order lamb and duck and burgers, and when I’m at my parents, one of my favorite meals is grilled steak tips and baked potatoes. But besides a little bit of chorizo or bacon, or the occasional beef stew, meat doesn’t typically enter my weekly cooking rotation. The biggest reason for this? I don’t really know how to cook meat, and it makes me nervous to think about how badly I might ruin a $20 steak if I tried to cook it at home.

Lamb Chops {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

So when I received Bruce Aidell’s The Great Meat Cookbook, I flipped through it with a mix of excitement and trepidation. My first instinct was to bookmark recipes I felt comfortable with, which basically fell into two categories – things made with ground beef, and things where you cook a tough cut for 3 hours until it’s super tender. But as I did so, I realized that cooking things I already knew how to cook wasn’t the point – I wanted to learn how to put an impressive roast on the table! So I began to dig into Bruce’s explanations, which are thorough and straightforward. I think this book could teach you most of what you need to know about meat: some of the topics covered include how to judge meat quality while shopping, how to tell when meat is done cooking, the label choices we have today (grass-fed vs. organic vs. natural, etc.), and dozens of cuts and how best to cook each one for each animal covered (beef, bison, pork, lamb, goat, and veal, plus a section on various cured meats). For a meat newbie like myself, there’s a lot to absorb.

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Once I had convinced myself that I needed to try something new, I fell to the task of choosing a recipe to make. Not an easy choice, given all the delicious-sounding contenders! High on my list were Roasted Ginger-Orange-Glazed Prime Rib Bones, Grilled Pork Chops Stuffed with Fontina, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Prosciutto, and Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Olive Crust. In the end I chose to make Turkish Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Shoulder Chops and Carrots. Not quite a show-stopping roast, but a cut and cooking technique that was new to me. Even though I scaled down the recipe quite a bit, and accidentally bought the wrong type of lamb chop (even after all that reading about the cuts), this recipe was really good. Sitting down to a plate of tender lamb with a sweet pomegranate molasses glaze and a pile of carrots and parsnips sprinkled with pomegranate and mint, I felt like I had really accomplished something.

Turkish Lamb Chops {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I’m going to keep working with this book, and maybe by next Christmas I’ll be able to put the Standing Rib Roast with Bacon and Rosemary Jus and Yorkshire Puddings on the table to oohs and ahs!

The bottom line: The Great Meat Cookbook is a straightforward and complete guide to cooking beef, bison, pork, cured meats, lamb, goat, and veal. It covers the entire process of preparing meat in detail, from choosing a cut and picking out the best pieces in the grocery store, all the way to what to serve with it. The recipes themselves are appealing and clearly explained, with plenty of globally-inspired preparations alongside American classics. For any meat-newbie, this book is a valuable and non-intimidating introduction to preparing dishes that will impress!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary review copy of The Great Meat Cookbook, but was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Turkish Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots

Recipe from The Great Meat Cookbook. Serves 6.

  • 6 lamb blade shoulder chops (about 3 pounds total)
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 TBS olive oil
  • 1 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
  • 1/2 c. finely chopped shallots
  • 1 c. finely chopped onions
  • 1 c. chicken broth
  • 1 c. pomegranate molasses
  • 2 lbs medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths
  • 1/2 lb parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths
  • 1/2 c. fresh pomegranate arils
  • 1/4 c. toasted pine nuts
  • 2 TBS fresh basil chiffonade
  • 2 TBS fresh mint chiffonade
  1. Cut each chop into two pieces by cutting between the flat side of the blade bone and the meat. Combine the red pepper flakes, salt, cumin, pepper, cardamom, and nutmeg in a small bowl, then rub over the chops on both sides. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
  2. Heat the oil and butter in a large, deep frying pan over medium high-heat. Once completely melted, add the chops and brown for 2-3 minutes per side. You may need to do this in two batches – try not to crowd the chops or they won’t brown as nicely. Remove the chops to a plate and set aside.
  3. Add the ginger, shallots, and onions to the pan and saute, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, then add the pomegranate molasses and reduce to a simmer. Return the chops to the pan, cover, and cook for 40 minutes, or until the chops are tender. Skim any fat floating on the top and discard. Move the chops back to the plate and set aside.
  4. Add the carrots and parsnips to the pan and stir to coat with the braising liquid. Cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Place the cooked vegetables on the plate with the chops, and bring the remaining liquid to a boil. Reduce until it thickens and becomes syrupy, 5-10 minutes. Return the vegetables and the chops to the pan, lower the heat to very low, and cook, turning everything frequently, until the chops and vegetables are reheated and covered with a thin glaze.
  5. Place the vegetables and chops on a platter and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, basil and mint. Serve warm with a side of rice or bulghur.

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops and Carrots {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

0 Dessert

Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae

Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Sundae {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I think Peppermint-Stick might be my favorite flavor of ice cream. At least, it’s up there with Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and New York Super Fudge Chunk (and all the other Ben & Jerry’s flavors…). I think I partly like that it’s so girly and pink, and that it tastes like it looks – sort of simple and sweet and refreshing. This is certainly the time of year that peppermint is all the rage, but I love this ice cream regardless of the season – it actually brings up very vivid memories of standing on the lawn at the Bagaduce Lunch, eating a quickly melting waffle cone of the sweet, pink stuff and soaking up the sun. Mmm, ice cream in the summer. So good.

Espresso Brownies {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

But ice cream in the winter is also good! Since I worked today and I’m working tomorrow, and since resolutions don’t need to start for almost another week, I thought I’d make a little treat to reward myself for working during the holidays. And since Starbucks has already proved to us that peppermint, chocolate, and coffee are an excellent combination, I decided to throw a few scoops of this on top of an espresso brownie, and then drizzle it with mocha sauce for good measure. Voila! A Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae. Because that’s just what we all needed the day after Christmas. (Don’t worry, this year’s cleanse is coming up soon, and then this blog will be sorely lacking in sugar and heavy cream).

This sundae was pretty perfect, in my book. If you’re looking for something to do with extra candy canes and/or you’re not ready to give up all the sugary goodness of Christmastime, definitely give it a try!

P.S. It’s National Candy Cane Day! How timely!

Peppermint Mocha Ice Cream Sundae {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Peppermint-Mocha Ice Cream Sundae

  • 1 large scoop peppermint-stick ice cream (recipe below)
  • 1 espresso brownie (recipe below)
  • 1/4 c. mocha hot fudge sauce (recipe below)
  • whipped cream
  • crushed candy canes, for garnish

Assemble all ingredients and dig in!

Peppermint-Stick Ice Cream

Recipe from Dawn’s Recipes. Makes 1 quart.

  • 1 c. whole milk
  • 2 c. heavy cream
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
  • 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
  • 10 candy canes (about 5 oz.), crushed into small pieces
  1. Whisk together the milk, 1 c. of the heavy cream, the sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and heat, whisking occasionally, just until milk begins to simmer.
  2. While milk is heating, prepare three other bowls – in one bowl, whisk together the six egg yolks. In the second bowl, pour the remaining 1 c. of heavy cream, and set a fine mesh strainer over the top. Fill the third (largest) bowl halfway with ice water.
  3. Pour the hot milk slowly over the egg yolks, whisking the egg yolks vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs. Pour the custard mixture back into the pan and return to the heat, whisking the whole time. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, just until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl with the heavy cream, and stir to combine. Add the peppermint extract and food coloring, and place bowl into the ice bath. Stir until the custard has cooled.
  4. Cover the custard and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Once thoroughly chilled, pour into prepared ice cream maker and process according to directions. Just before the ice cream has finished thickening, pour in the crushed candy canes and let churn for 1 minute more to incorporate. Freeze the ice cream until ready to serve.

Espresso Brownies

Recipe adapted slightly from Crustabakes. Makes 16 small brownies. 

  • 5 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 1 stick salted butter, cut into quarters
  • 3 TBS cocoa powder
  • 2 TBS instant espresso powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 c. sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 c. flour
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-in baking pan with tin foil so that the foil hangs over the edges (for easy removal of the brownies).
  2. Heat a large, half-full pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place chocolate and butter in a smaller saucepan and place over the boiling water. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder. Let cool slightly.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour in the warm chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Fold in the flour until just incorporated, then pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top of the brownies are beginning to crack and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached to it. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan, then lift out using the foil.

Mocha Hot Fudge Sauce

Prepare this recipe, adding 2 TBS of espresso powder when you add the cocoa powder.

3 Breakfast

Christmas Morning Brunch

Christmas Brunch {Katie at the Kitchen Door}The week before Thanksgiving I was chatting with my friend Veronika about food traditions.  She was headed to her boyfriend’s family’s for Thanksgiving and was nervous about missing her favorite dishes – a fear I 100% understand. We quickly segued into talking about Christmas, a much more important food holiday for her (she’s Bulgarian – remember her? – so Thanksgiving kind of takes a back seat), and we traded stories about what we eat before, during, and after Christmas. And amidst all the talk of Swedish meatballs and phyllo-wrapped cheese pies and fondue, I thought of this brunch, which my mom has made every Christmas morning for the past four years, and knew I had to share it with you.

Christmas Morning Brunch - Spiced Turkey Sausage, Gruyere Egg Custard, Buttered Potatoes {Katie at the Kitchen Door}I know at this point (only two more sleeps ’till Christmas!) that it’s highly unlikely that any of you will run out to the grocery store to get the ingredients to make this for Christmas morning. And that’s OK. I just wanted to take a morning to indulge in the scents and flavors of Christmas and to slowly enjoy it with Trevor, since we’ll be waking up separately on the 25th. Truth be told, all of these dishes would be good at any brunch, not just once a year. Plus, it’s remarkably simple to put together, given the result (utter deliciousness).

Citrus and Star Anise Salad {Katie at the Kitchen Door}The original menu from Gourmet, which serves eight, has nine dishes: Pomegranate Mimosas, Cafe au Lait, Citrus Salad with Star Anise Syrup, Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives, Crisp Oven-Browned Potatoes, Turkey Sausage Patties, Maple and Black-Pepper Bacon, Honey Almond Granola, and Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake. The first year we made everything, but now we skip the bacon and the granola, because they seem a bit extraneous amongst all the other goodies. The potatoes, also, are really nothing special – they need a little more flavor, or cheese, or crispness or something – but I’ve included them here since we do usually serve some sort of potato. Just feel free to doctor the recipe up with fresh herbs or a little cheese or to turn them into your favorite gratin.

Pomegranate Mimosas for Christmas Morning {Katie at the Kitchen Door}That means that the recipes that really define this meal for me are the mimosas (doubly appropriate today since I’m celebrating the fact that I got a big promotion this week!!), the citrus and star anise salad (which I’ve actually written about before), the eggs, the sausage, and the cake. All of these recipes are tried and true – and everything is easy. The eggs are just a matter of grating some cheese, chopping some chives, and blending eggs and milk, yet they’re puffy and flavorful and perfect. The sausages have nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, and cloves to make them really taste of Christmas. And the cake has a tender vanilla-scented crumb with a beautiful stripe of cranberry running through the middle. All festive, all perfect.

So, like I said, maybe this menu isn’t for this year, but consider it for New Year’s, or for some chilly morning in February when you want your house to feel cozier, or even bookmark it for next Christmas. But trust me that each of these recipes is worth making, on it’s own or all together. And that’s all from me until after the big day! Have a merry, merry Christmas.

Christmas Morning Brunch {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

“Merry Morning” Christmas Day Brunch from Gourmet

This entire menu has been adapted very slightly from Gourmet Magazine’s 2008 December issue. Menu serves 8. If you’re making the whole menu and want to do some prep before-hand, here are my tips: The night before, peel and segment the oranges and grapefruits and reserve in a bowl in the refrigerator. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes, place in a large plastic bag, and reserve in the refrigerator. Make the turkey sausage mixture and refrigerate overnight. Last, make the coffeecake and, once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and leave on the counter overnight. If you do all these things ahead of time, in the morning you will simply have to mix the drinks, drizzle the citrus with a quick simple-syrup, pop the eggs and the potatoes in the oven, and fry the sausage. Done this way, you’ll only need about an hour to finish preparing the meal on Christmas morning.

 Pomegranate Mimosas

  • 2 c. chilled pomegranate juice
  • 1 c. chilled fresh orange juice
  • 1/2 c. orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau
  • 1 bottle well-chilled Cava or Champagne
  • pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)

Stir all liquids together in a large pitcher. Pour into champagne flutes and sprinkle a few pomegranate arils on top, if desired.

Cafe au Lait

  • 8 cups hot milk
  • 4 c. very hot brewed espresso
  • sugar, to taste

Heat milk to steaming in microwave or over low heat on stove. Use an aero-latte foamer to froth milk in two batches. Divide espresso between 8 mugs and top off with foamed milk. Stir in sugar to each person’s taste. (P.S. We love using the stove-top Bialetti to make espresso at home).

Citrus Salad with Star Anise Syrup

  • 1/3 c. sugar
  • 1/3 c. water
  • 3 whole star anise
  • 5 grapefruits
  • 4 oranges, a mix of navel oranges and blood oranges

Cut the peel, including the white pith, off the grapefruits and oranges. Cut the segments free from the clear membranes and place in a bowl. This is tedious but worth the effort! In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, water, and star anise. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Pour star anise syrup over fruit, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Baked Egg Custard with Gruyere and Chives

  • 2 c. coarsely grated Gruyere cheese (about 6 oz.)
  • 1/2 c. chopped chives
  • 10 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 c. whole milk
  • 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle gruyere and chives evenly over bottom of dish. Place eggs, milk, cream cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth, then pour over the cheese and chives. Bake until the eggs are puffed and golden, 35 to 40 minutes

Crisp Oven-Browned Potatoes

  • 3 lb large Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 1/2 stick salted butter, melted
  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Peel potatoes and slice as thinly as possible. Add to a 4 quart baking dish and toss with melted butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil, turn heat up to 450°F, and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until the top is browned and crisp.

Turkey Sausage Patties

  • 1 small onion, very finely chopped
  • 5 TBS olive oil, divided
  • 1/2 c. coarse, freshly ground bread crumbs
  • 3 TBS milk
  • 2 lb ground dark-meat turkey
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 egg yolks

Heat 1 TBS of the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute onion until golden brown, 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. While onions are cooking, soak bread crumbs in milk and let sit for 5 minutes. Add cooked onions, turkey, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, salt, pepper, and egg yolks to bread crumbs. Form turkey into small, relatively flat patties. Heat 1 TBS of remaining olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook patties in batches until browned and cooked all the way through, about 4 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Cover with tinfoil to keep warm until serving.

Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Cranberry Vanilla Coffeecake

  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 3/4 c. sugar
  • 2 c. fresh cranberries (6 oz.), rinsed
  • 2 c. plus 1 TBS flour, divided
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 stick plus 1 TBS unsalted butter, softened, divided
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 c. whole milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-by-2 inch pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Add sugar to a food processor. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Remove the sugar to a bowl. Add 1/2 c. of the vanilla sugar and all the cranberries back to the food processor and pulse a few times until cranberries are coarsely chopped but not pureed. Set aside.

Stir together 1 c. of the flour and the baking powder. Take 1 c. of the remaining vanilla sugar and beat together with 1 stick of the softened butter until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture to the batter and stir to incorporate. Stir in the milk until incorporated, then add the remaining flour and stir to incorporate. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the cranberry mixture on top of the batter, not quite reaching to the edges. Spread the remaining batter over the top of the cranberry mixture. Use a fork to press together remaining 1 TBS flour, 1 TBS butter, and 1/4 c. sugar to form a crumble topping. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and the edges have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan for 30 minutes, then remove and cool completely, crumb side up.

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