new cookbooks

I recently got a peak at many of the new cookbooks that will be coming out this fall and can't wait for all of them to arrive in the shop! Here's my top picks for new and soon-to-be-released cookbooks:

Brown Sugar Kitchen: I'm pretty sure everyone in the Bay Area has been eagerly waiting for Tanya Holland to spill the beans on making her ridiculously delicious chicken and waffles.

Josey Baker Bread: Josey Baker, another local fave, has released a beginner's guide to making bread at home. Now devotees of the Mill's thick slabs of toast won't have to trek all the way to NOPA for their artisanal bread fix. 

The Real Food Cookbook: I'm reading Nina Planck's book Real Food for book club this month (which I highly recommend!) and I can't wait to read this accompanying cookbook. Planck encourages eating real, traditional foods like whole milk, eggs, cheese and lard - yes please!

Bar Tartine: The Tartine books always have the most gorgeous photography and food styling, and this one is no exception. Their recipes for curing and pickling are sure to be interesting.

Flourless: This looks like an excellent dessert book, whether or not you're gluten-free. Rather than using funky hard-to-find flour mixes and gums, the author focuses her recipes on ingredients that are naturally free of gluten. Genius!

Plenty More: I guess Yotam Ottolenghi heard the cries of the masses when we all shouted "The recipes in Jerusalam are amazing! We loved Plenty! Give us more! More!"

Dinner: The Playbook: I don't know about you all, but I've been in a dinner rut lately. Does a tomato salad and popcorn count as dinner? Anything to avoid making pasta again, right? I'm couting on this book to solve all my problems. 

Make it Ahead: The Barefoot Contessa is coming to help you this holiday season. Ina Garten's latest book will show you what you can prep and make ahead so you can throw a party and not be stuck in the kitchen all night. 

[Top photo via Bay Area A List]

kinda inspired: forest feast

Watermelon Salad

Lately, I've been feeling inspired by the illustrations and styling of The Forest Feast. The blog, and recently released cookbook, features the photos and illustrations of Erin Gleeson. She worked as a professional food photographer in NY before moving to the woods of Northern California, where she was inspired to start her blog as a way to capture the abundance of fresh, local produce.

Haroset

Her simple, seasonal recipes are brought to life with her watercolor illustrations and hand lettering.  The use of color and natural elements in her gorgeous photos make everything incredibly appealing, and the short ingredient lists keep the recipes approachable and easy.

Snap Pea Pasta

Persimmon and Brie

Even very simple recipes seem more enticing when accompanied with beautiful watercolors. I think this looks delicious, and I don't even really like persimmons!

Blackberry Negroni

And there's cocktails! What more could you ask for?

For more on the Forest Feast, check out the blog, the book, or this interview with the author (featuring photos of her gorgeous cabin!).


[All photos by Erin Gleeson for The Forest Feast]

pasta with yogurt, peas, and chile

It's English pea season! If you can get your hands on some fresh peas, you should make this pasta. Even if you have to use frozen peas, you should still make this pasta. If you thought pesto couldn't be improved upon, this yogurt sauce may be a contender. It's pesto's lighter, creamier cousin (that also has a bit of a spicy side!). Trust me, it's delicious. So, so delicious.

If you need any further convincing, just read Molly's description on Orangette. I'm not alone in my love for this pasta.

Pasta with Yogurt, Peas, and Chile
Adapted from Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

This recipe originally calls for the garlic to be added to the yogurt sauce raw, but I like to heat it briefly to calm down the bite a bit (am I the only one that finds myself tasting nothing but raw garlic for hours after I eat it?).

2 ½ cups (500 g) whole-milk Greek yogurt
2/3 cup (150 ml) olive oil, divided
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed or pressed
1 pound (500 g) fresh or thawed frozen peas
Kosher salt
1 pound (500 g) small pasta shapes such as conchiglie or orecchiette (my favorite is campanelle)
Scant ½ cup (60 g) pine nuts
2 teaspoons Turkish or Syrian chile flakes, or red pepper flakes
1 2/3 cups (40 g) basil leaves, coarsely torn
6-8 ounces (240 g) feta cheese, coarsely crumbled

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook until it is al dente.

While the pasta cooks, warm 4 tablespoons (60 ml) of the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute briefly, just 30 seconds or so until fragrant, you don't want it to brown at all. Scoop out the garlic and set aside, then continue to warm the olive oil. Add the pine nuts and chile flakes, and cook for 4 minutes, or until the pine nuts are golden and the oil is deep red.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the yogurt, 6 tablespoons (90 ml) of the olive oil, the garlic, and 2/3 cup (100 g) of the peas. Process to a uniform pale green sauce.

Warm the remaining peas in some boiling water (I usually just throw them in with the pasta for the last minute or two of coooking); then drain.

Drain the cooked pasta into a colander, and shake it well to get rid of excess water that may have settled into the pasta’s crevices. Add the pasta gradually to the yogurt sauce; adding it all at once may cause the yogurt to separate. Add the warm peas, the basil, feta, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Toss gently. Serve immediately, with pine nuts and chile oil spooned over each serving.

Enjoy!

monday links

Happy (day after) Mother's Day! Hope all you mamas out there had a fantastic weekend filled with family- and beautiful flowers!

I am in love with Gray Malin's photography. His photographs a bit pricey, but I may just have to save up to invest in one because they are so, so gorgeous! The only problem will be deciding on which one. I love the colors in all his beach photography, the Antarctica series is both breath-taking and hilarious, and how can you not love these llamas? Warning: the Dolce Vita series will really make you want to go on vacation. The series he's currently shooting features a rainbow of dyed sheep! Whaat?!

A Cup of Jo featured a great round-up last week of sources for affordable art. She featured some great sites and artists I hadn't seen before. They've got me itching for some new art for my walls! I'm quite smitten with this painting "Married to the Sea" by Clare Elsaesser. 

There's a heat wave coming to the Bay Area this week! They're saying it could be 90 degrees on Tuesday! I'm thinking this might be the time to finally bust out my Zoku and make some popsicles with all the great fruit that showed up at the market this week. These recipes for boozy popsicles sound amazing, as does the raspberries and cream recipe from the People's Pops book. Bring on summer!


[Flower photo via Once Wed, Coogee Beach photo by Gray Malin, Married to the Sea photo by Clare Elsaesser, popsicle photo from Green Wedding Shoes]

monday links

It's my husband's birthday today, so I made him a batch of his favorite lemon bars- but made with key limes for a new twist. I always use this recipe for the Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar. It's a fairly involved recipe, but it yields the most delicious bars with a serious punch of tart citrus. Consider yourself warned: I brought these to a bake sale at work years ago, and two older ladies in my office literally begged me every day until I agreed to bring in more! This recipe doesn't make a lot, so I usually double it and make them in a 9x13" pan. Well, more specifically, I double the shortbread base and triple the lemon curd topping. If you want to try them with lime juice, I recommend using 2/3 lime juice and 1/3 lemon juice so they still end up nice and tart.

The Selby featured a home tour of John Derian's NYC apartment, and (not surprisingly) it's filled with an amazing assortment of unique and lovely things. If you're not familiar with John Derian's decoupage, visit his website and prepare to empty your bank account. 

Have you ever ordered from Golden Tote? It's a fun concept: you fill out a questionnaire about your style, pick out one or two pieces you like, and then they surprise you with up to five other items in your tote. My friend Kait is obsessed with it, and has got me thinking about giving it a try. The tote for April was released today, and some pieces are already sold out, but I've got my eye on this sundress for summer.


[Lemon bar photo by Carl Tremblay via Leite's Culinaria, John Derian home photo by The Selby,  sundress photo from Golden Tote]

guest post: loose leaf tea

I love tea and drink it everyday, but I've always been reluctant to buy and brew loose leaf tea regularly. Tea bags just seem so much easier and less expensive. My friend Michael Pieracci, whose love of tea puts mine to shame, has finally convinced me to make the switch to loose leaf. Michael is something of a tea expert- he travelled to India last year to work on a tea estate and is now hosting tea tastings while living in Berlin. He's here with a guest post today, to illustrate the basics of loose leaf tea and to show you how easy it can be to enjoy.

Read on for his tips:

monday links

I thought I'd switch things up a bit this Monday and share some fun links to get your week off to a good start. First up, the best 11 seconds you'll spend all day : watch the reaction after a penguin slips on the ice.

I am officially obsessed with the dressing from A Cup of Jo's Kale Caesar Salad. Making Caesar dressing with raw eggs makes me nervous, so I love that this one doesn't use any raw eggs or mayo. It's still creamy, but with a bright, salty bite to it. Tip: this recipe is easy to make, but does require you to dirty quite a few dishes, so go ahead and double or triple the recipe. It keeps for a couple weeks, and you'll have no problem using it. It's delicious with kale, lettuce, and as a dip for artichokes.

Big eyebrows are definitely making a comeback. Amelia from The Man Repeller recently grew her eyebrows out to look more "fashion-y" for Fashion Week. As someone with naturally wild eyebrows, this trend does sounds appealing to me, but it seems like it could be tricky to pull off. What do you think- are you in to big, bold brows?

Am I the only one that missed the memo that H&M is now selling their home collection online? Looks like I'm about six months late to this party, but they do have some cute new releases for spring. A lot of their stuff is a little too trendy for my taste, but they do have some cute accessories to brighten up your home on the cheap. I like this striped pillow, these pastel tea light holders, and these southwestern jacquard pillows.

And in case you're doing any shopping this President's Day, Refinery 29 has a full round-up of all the sales.


[From top: penguins from National Geographic, Caesar salad from A Cup of Jo, Arizona Muse eyebrows via Man Repeller, pillows from H&M]

kale and white bean soup

Now that cold, rainy weather has finally arrived in the Bay Area, I've been craving warm, hearty meals. I thought I'd share the recipe for one of my winter standbys: Kale and White Bean Soup with Sausage. This soup is my favorite kind of winter meal: its got protein, vegetables, and starch all in one big, comforting bowl. It's satisfying, but still relatively healthy (kale definitely cancels out sausage, right??).

I've made this soup many times, and along the way have made some tweaks to make it easy and pretty quick. Of course there's no substitute for simmering a broth from scratch all afternoon, but most of us rarely have the time for that. Adding the sausage at the beginning of cooking adds a big punch of flavor to this soup without hours of simmering. Feel free to experiment with different kinds of sausage to suit your tastes. I like to use fresh sausage, and my current favorite is lamb and rosemary. You can also switch up the greens if you'd like, swiss chard is a great substitute for the kale.

Though I prefer this soup with the sausage, it is still delicious and plenty hearty without it. If you want to make a vegetarian version, I'd use all vegetable stock instead of the stock/water mix, double the beans, and be sure to use the cheese rind for the extra flavor it will add. 

---

Kale and White Bean Soup with Sausage

based on a recipe from Gourmet Magazine, February 2002

Serves 4-6. 

ingredients: 

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 large onion, coarsely chopped

- 1 lb fresh or smoked sausage, sliced crosswise 1/4" thick

- 6 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces

- 2 garlic cloves

- 32 oz (1 quart) chicken (or vegetable) broth

- 32 oz (4 cups) water

- 2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1 bay leaf (not California)

- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh Rosemary (omit if using Rosemary sausage)

- 1 (3- by 2- inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind (optional)

- 1  15 oz can white beans such as Cannellini or Great Northern

- 1 large bunch kale (preferably dino/lacinato), stems and large center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped

Warm oil in an 8-quart pot over moderately low heat. Cook onions and sausage, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and sausage is lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add carrots and garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add broth, water, bay leaf, rosemary, cheese rind, salt and pepper and simmer 20-30 minutes,  until broth is fragrant and delicious. If broth is not flavorful enough at this point, try adding a pinch of salt, or a little bouillon (a cube of Rapunzel is my soup secret weapon) and continue to cook a little longer. Add beans and kale, cooking an additional 5-10 minutes until kale is tender. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Best served with cheesy garlic bread.

Soup will keep for several days, and the flavors will continue to develop the second and third day.

[photo by Lisa Hubbard for Gourmet Feb 2002 via Epicurious]

superbowl snacks

Are you planning to watch the Superbowl this Sunday? I'm not much of a football fan- I've had many people try to explain the rules to me, but I just don't care enough to try to figure out what's going on. 3rd down? Who cares. I'll tell you what I am of fan of though: snacks! Football is a great excuse to eat all those unhealthy foods that only seem like a good idea after you've had a brewski or two.

We've hosted quite a few Superbowl parties over the years, but this year, I've decided to drop the pretense of "watching the game" and just invite a few friends over to watch the Puppy Bowl and eat snacks (OK, we might watch the half-time show). Here are the guilty-pleasure Superbowl snacks I'll be making:

Buffalo wings! I have a not-so-secret love of chicken wings and have tried many recipes for making them at home. Serious Eats' recipe for Oven-fried Buffalo Wings requires a few steps and some planning in advance, but is still way easier than trying to deep fry them on the stove. Oven frying is a great way to make wings for a crowd, and they turn out super delicious. Serious Eats has really done their homework on this one, you can read all about the extensive R&D behind this recipe here.

Nacho Cheese! I'm telling you, these Serious Eats dudes are really serious about their eats. Their ingenious Cheese Sauce recipe is so simple and delicious I want to make it every day (except I might have a heart attack). This recipe doesn't require you to make a bechamel, or use any fancy equipment- if you can melt cheese and stir, you can make it. And it's made with real cheese and only four ingredients, so you can feel a little better about eating it (at least better than eating that weird nacho cheese that comes in a jar). Pro-tip: don't use pre-shredded cheese, the extra starch it's coated with will mess things up.

What are your favorite guilty-pleasure snacks? Any good recipes?


[Top photo from Blisstree, center and bottom photo from Serious Eats]

the kitchen diaries

I love the way Nigel Slater writes about food. One of his early cookbooks, Appetite, was the first cookbook I ever read cover to cover. His writing is casual and comforting, like a good friend hanging out with you in the kitchen, nibbling on cheese and offering recipe suggestions. The tagline for Appetite is, "So what do you want to eat today?". For each recipe, Nigel offers a full page of possible substitutions to suit your tastes and what you happen to have in the fridge. 

I recently picked up a copy of Slater's The Kitchen Diaries. It was originally published back in 2005, but it was reprinted last year due to popular demand. The Kitchen Diaries is Nigel's account of a year of shopping, cooking, and eating in his kitchen. It is a collection of his notes about the weather, what he ate when feeling too lazy to cook, as well as proper recipes. His idea behind keeping the diary was an attempt to eat seasonally and document when food is at its best. As he puts it: "learning to eat with the ebb and flow of the seasons is the single thing that has made my eating more enjoyable". 

I decided to start this January and read The Kitchen Diaries in semi-real time, month-by-month throughout this year. Of course, he is in London, so his seasons are bound to be a bit different from mine (especially if our 70 degree weather keeps up), but I think it will still be interesting to follow along with what he ate each month. 

January features a few delicious recipes I can't wait to try:

- Onion Soup without Tears - featuring the genius idea of roasting halved onions before chopping them

- Double Ginger Cake - looks amazing, but I have to track down some golden syrup, or maybe I can substitute molasses or honey? This is one problem with cookbooks from the UK.

- Sausages with Salami and Lentils - if it ever gets cold enough here to need comfort food, I think this extra meaty casserole should do the trick

Nigel recently released the follow-up to Kitchen Diaries called Notes from the Larder, which I'm looking forward to reading next.


[top photo by me, second and third photos from The Kitchen Diaries, photographed by Jonathan Lovekin]

homemade treats

Still working on finishing your Christmas shopping? It's not too late to whip up some homemade treats! Homemade goodies make great gifts for people that can be hard to shop for or you don't know that well. Most people enjoy a delicious treat, and will appreciate that you put time and effort into making them something.

Cookies or fruitcake are of course the traditional foods to give this time of year, but the internet is chock-full of other creative options. In the past few years, I've made jam, lemon confit, and granola to give as gifts. If you're in a time crunch, I recommend spiced nuts or granola- both are relatively easy and can be made in an afternoon (or at midnight on Christmas Eve if that's how you roll...).  For more ideas, check out these round-ups from Country Living and BuzzFeed.

If you do end up making something, be sure to make more than you think you need.  Having a few extra treats stashed away can be a lifesaver when you need a last-minute hostess gift, or your neighbor surprises you with a gift and you've forgotten to get them anything.  

[both photos from Country Living]

my favorite granola

I'm afraid I need to make a correction. I must retract my excitement for TJ's Pumpkin Spice granola that I shared a few weeks ago in this post. Once I tried it, I must report that, like most store-bought granola, it is too sweet for my taste. I don't know why I continue to be lured into thinking boxed granola will be delicious when I've already found my perfect granola recipe and it is so easy to make. My favorite granola is an adaptation of Early Bird Foods' Farmhand's choice granola.

I first tried Early Bird's granola when it was given to me by my sweet friend Lauren as I was moving out of New York. It was part of a care package of snacks for the road, and once I opened it, I don't think it lasted beyond New Jersey. This granola was unlike any I'd ever tasted, it was crisp and crunchy, but without those tooth-cracking clusters. It was lightly sweet and a little salty. I didn't know then that it was a combo of olive and maple syrup that gave it such a fantastic texture, I just knew it was delicious. Once I finished off that first bag, I was far from New York and didn't know where to get more. Years went by, and I would occasionally think of it when eating yet another mediocre granola. I cannot tell you how excited I was when I stumbled upon the recipe on the blog Orangette last year. I immediately went out and bought the ingredients to make it, and it was every bit as great as I remembered.

The Best Olive Oil and Maple Granola
adapted from Nekisia Davis and Food 52

Makes about 7 cups.

ingredients:
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, hulled
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1 1/4 cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup pure maple syrup (I prefer grade B)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar (optional)
1 tsp coarse salt, plus more to taste

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat to prevent sticking.

Combine oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut, pecans, syrup, olive oil, sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl and stir. Spread granola mixture in an even layer on the baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until granola is toasted, about 45 minutes.

Remove granola from oven and season with more salt to taste. Let cool completely before serving or storing in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

This recipe is delicious as written, but can be easily adapted to suit your tastes. I sometimes omit the brown sugar for a less sweet everyday granola. The pecans are excellent, but walnuts or almonds are also a tasty way to switch it up. Dried cherries, cranberries, or raisins are a delicious addition once the granola is baked and cooled. One ingredient I must recommend you do not omit is the coconut flakes. I'm generally not a fan of coconut, but the flakes don't have much of a coconut flavor once baked. You can usually find them in the bulk section of natural foods stores, and they bake up to a light, crispy texture that really sets this granola apart.


P.S. I do still stand by my recommendation for Trader Joe's Pumpkin Greek Yogurt. It is particularly delicious with this granola.

[photos from Food 52]

queen mary

This Queen Mary cocktail sounds delicious- like a light, fresh version of a bloody mary. I might have to make some this weekend while there's still good tomatoes to be had at the market. I can't believe its already the end of October, I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer produce!


[photo by Molly Wizenberg via Food 52]

baked oatmeal

Now that the weather is cooling off, I find myself wanting something warm and comforting for breakfast. I like regular oatmeal just fine, but its no comparison to baked oatmeal. My favorite is from Heidi Swanson's book Super Natural Every Day. It is absolutely delicious, and provides a healthy dose of whole grains, fruit and protein with just enough sweetness. The best part is, you can make it over the weekend and the leftovers provide you with a quick breakfast for the rest of the week (I just reheat in the microwave, adding a little milk if it seems dry).

Click below for the recipe:

burger time

We're hosting our annual Burger Cook-off next weekend and I've got burgers on the brain. Last year's winner was a Spicy Lamb burger, so I'm on the hunt for an extra special burger recipe to beat the competition. I think there could be some contenders in Food & Wine's round-up of 10 Favorite Burger Recipes. I've got my eye on this Chile-Stuffed Cheeseburger- hard to go wrong with a burger stuffed with cheese and peppers, right??

I've also been working on the homemade trophies for this years contest. Lucky for me, the thrift store did most of the work this year- just look at these beauties! Who would ever give away such a magnificent eagle trophy?! Now I've just got to figure out what I'm going to use to cover up the bottom to turn these into 1st, 2nd and 3rd Best Burger trophies (and maybe try to cover up their minor flaws, like the one in the center who is missing an eye...)

I found some great burger paraphernalia in the dollar bin at Target earlier in the summer, so I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate those as decorations too. I'm thinking the beer cozies will make good runner-up prizes.

You can check out last year's trophies and the how-to here.


[top photo from Food & Wine]

strawberry jam

I opened up a jar of my latest batch of strawberry jam over the weekend and was thrilled with how delicious it was! I've been making jam for a few years now and have experimented with a number of recipes to find a great strawberry jam. A few recipes I've tried have been too sweet, and I've definitely ruined a batch or two by overcooking the strawberries. This time around, I collaborated with my friend Kelsi from Oakland Bakes to make jam after our fruit picking trip to Brentwood. We tweaked a recipe from the Blue Chair Jam Cookbook a bit, and I think we found a winner.

Every good jam starts with good fruit. No amount of sugar or flavoring can compensate for unripe or out-of-season berries, so be sure to start with the most delicious fruit you can find. Your best bet for the freshest fruit is your local farmer's market (unless you want to take a trip to the farm of course!). Most market vendors will often cut you a deal if you want to buy a whole flat of berries, especially near the end of the day.

Click for the recipe and more photos after the jump: