- Amanda After a week during which my kitchen felt like an apple cake factory, I figured it was time for a salad. So I took the concepts behind escarole salad with warm bacon dressing and pear and blue cheese salad -- two salads I love -- and combined them. I crisped bacon in a pan, then sauteed shallots and figs, and finished the dressing with red wine vinegar and a little sugar. The warm dressing softens the lettuce leaves -- I used curly endive but you could use escarole, arugula or romaine -- and adds a little bitterness. And for a little salinity to contrast with the sweet figs, I crumbled some blue cheese on top.
- Merrill Recently, we've been trying to eat more fish in my house. One day I was at the market looking for wild salmon and discovered they were out of it. Although I had never cooked with it before, I bought some arctic char at the fishmonger's recommendation. That night, I improvised with a few things I had in the fridge, and the resulting recipe is one I've repeated many times since. It's simple and quick, but it never fails to please. Keeping the skin on, you coat the fish in a lemon herb mayonnaise and then cook it, skin up, at a very low temperature (250°) for 15 to 20 minutes. Then, you flip it over and broil it quickly to brown the top. The gentle cooking keeps the fish really tender and prevents it from drying out, and the broiler gives you the added benefit of some caramelization -- it's the best of both worlds. You can make this recipe with salmon, but char is a fish you should get to know if you don't already. Not only does it have a mild, rich flavor, but it's also an eco-friendly choice.
- Amanda (photo by Deborah Copaken Kogan) This past weekend, my husband and I had dinner at our friends' Deb and Paul's house. Paul had marinated a butterflied leg of lamb to grill on their rooftop patio, and he headed out there well after dark. The fall's earlier sundowns have never stopped people from grilling, but grilling in the dark usually involves a jury-rigged move with flashlights. Paul, an excellent cook, has come up with a nifty solution: he wears a camping headlamp from L.L.Bean. Nerdy, you say? I think not, after tasting his perfectly grilled lamb. For the recipe....continue reading.
Click the play button to see us prepare the two finalist recipes for Your Best Brunch Eggs: Cowinmyundies' Scottish Farmhouse Eggs and kamileon's Savory Bread Pudding. Merrill tries to control raw eggs, and Amanda burns herself. Again.
- Amanda I found this little pot when Merrill and I went on a shopping expedition to Williamsburg and stopped in at Whisk. Made by Krona, a moderately priced line of Norpro, the pot holds 12 cups (with measurements marked inside), has a comfortable tea-pot-style handle, a spout and a lid with small and large holes for straining -- in short, a lot of carefully thought out details. The pot is perfect for cooking small amounts of vegetables and pasta (without having to pull out a colander), scalding milk, making chai or hot chocolate and cooking soup. Plus it's cute! (Call Whisk to order one: (718) 218-7230; it's $45 at Amazon.) We'd like to know what your favorite pot is -- either comment below, or better yet, send us a photo ([email protected]) and we'll add yours to this blog post. Remember to tell us -- in a single sentence -- what you love about your pot. Can't wait to hear from you!
- Merrill Here at food52, we find the evolution of recipes a fascinating (not to mention educational) topic, as the transformation of one dish into another can occur in so many wonderful ways. Last week, I wrote a post about adapting someone else’s recipe in order to make it yours. This week, I thought I’d write about a recipe of my own that I have been making the same way for years but then suddenly decided to overhaul this weekend.
Click the play button to see us prepare the two finalist recipes for Your Best Fruit Tart: SmallKitchCara's Blueberry Tart and JackieK's Savory Plum Tart. Merrill conquers her fear of pastry dough, and Amanda invents a new cooking tool: the snissor. Leave your comments below!
Each week, we'll highlight not only the finalists in the contests, but here we'll let you know which recipes were named "Editors' Picks" -- recipes that we found promising and interesting. And when you do a recipe search, you can always filter the results to show all recipes that have been named Editors' Picks. This is one of several ways we're keeping the site curated, so you have access to the best recipes possible. In some cases, the Editors' Picks recipes are ones that were on our short list to test. In others, they're simply recipes that, although they may not have been good fit for the particular contest theme, are still noteworthy. If your recipe is named an Editors' Pick, you can still enter it in future contests. We realized with Your Best Tart theme this week that we should have more clearly defined the theme. For anyone who entered recipes that were galettes and crostatas, we will be holding a contest for these soon. So, without further ado, here are this week's Editors' Picks: Grilled Skirt Steak Salad by WinnieAb Spicy Thai Beef Salad with Mizuna by BigGirlPhoebz Peach Raspberry Tart by Jennifer Perillo Whole Wheat Pear and Cognac Crostata by Alejandra
(photo (obviously) not taken by Sarah Shatz) - Amanda For years I've been baking a peach tart recipe that my mother gave me. The crust is scented with almond extract and enriched with oil rather than butter, which makes it crumblier and a little snappier. The best part is that you don't have to roll out the dough, you just press it into a tart pan -- which means it's a great dessert for making with your kids and for when you're stranded in a rented house without your rolling pin.
- Merrill Every summer I spend a week or so on the coast of Maine, and during that time one of the tasks I assign myself is to eat as much local crab, called Peekytoe, as I can get my hands on. Peekytoe crab, which has only just become popular outside of Maine in recent years, originated as a byproduct of lobstering. For years, lobstermen's wives would pick and sell the crabs that found their way into their husbands' traps. The crab meat was popular among locals but considered somewhat pedestrian.
- Amanda At the end of every summer, we spend a couple of weeks with my husband's family in Wainscott, on Long Island. I pass most of that time running around to farmstands and eating as many peaches, tomatoes, corn and lobster rolls as possible. A few years ago, on my night to cook, I made a pasta dish with roasted tomatoes and corn. Everyone loved it, and then I forgot about it. I revived it again this year, and, determined not to forget it again, I've decided to write it down. Here.
- Merrill Canning is one kitchen activity that can intimidate even the most confident cook. The truth is, it's dead simple. Every August I make jars and jars of wild blueberry jam at my parents' house in Maine, and every Christmas I know exactly what I'm giving out as presents. The best part? It takes all of an hour to make the jam, and both the ingredients and equipment couldn't be simpler.
One of our first and most enthusiastic users, seattlebonvivant, recently told us about a project that she and some friends have set in motion. It's called Canning Across America (or CAA), and it's a national collective which aims to "promote safe food preservation and the joys of community building through food." We hope you'll pay a visit to their informative website, and then submit a recipe or check out the entries for this week's preserves contest. We also highly recommend seattlebonvivant's Twiitter stream, in our opinion an exceptional food journal.
-Merrill There was a time when I would have insisted that the best -- if not the only -- way to serve a ripe peach is on its own, sans accountrements. Now, however, I'm not so sure.
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