a little salty, a little sweet
This cornbread is amazing – probably the best cornbread I’ve ever had. The texture is rich and moist without being overly dense, and it has just the right amount of sweetness to it from an ingenious honey glaze that is poured on the hot cornbread immediately after it is taken out of the oven. I ate this with my jerk chicken chili and it was the perfect complement to the chili’s spiciness. Next time, I think I might add some blueberries to the batter.
This surprisingly simple recipe is sure to impress anyone lucky enough to taste the results – if you don’t hoard all of these peanut butter cups for yourself! They’re the perfect little dose of nostalgia without the unfortunate toothache when you discover your favorite childhood candy is now way too sweet (for better or for worse, I just can’t handle the sweetness of most commercial candy anymore). Of course, you can make these exactly as sweet as you like by adjusting the amount of sugar in the filling and using your favorite chocolate. Because there are only a few ingredients here, you’ll want to make sure you’re using high quality chocolate and peanut butter (look for one where the ingredients are just peanuts and salt).
I’ll admit: simple pasta dishes are my go-to when I’m feeling a bit lazy and uninspired for dinner (for another quick pasta dish, see my Roasted Veggie Pasta with Pomegranate Balsamic Reduction). But there’s no reason why a lazy dinner can’t end up feeling inspired after all, and with a deliciously rich parmesan cream sauce and a dash of truffle oil, this pasta manages to do just that.
I recently had the pleasure of dining at Rasika, a very popular DC Indian restaurant, and trying their famous palak chaat. This dish is an amazing medley of textures and flavors, with crispy spinach playing off a sour-sweet chutney and sweetened yogurt, and I knew almost immediately that I had to try my best to recreate it. I’ve dedicated this week to a series of posts on recreating all the pieces of Rasika’s palak chaat. This post is the third in a series of three. See post 1: Chaat Masala and post 2: Date Tamarind Chutney.
Creating the perfect crispy spinach was the difficult piece of this recipe.
I recently had the pleasure of dining at Rasika, a very popular DC Indian restaurant, and trying their famous palak chaat. This dish is an amazing medley of textures and flavors, with crispy spinach playing off a sour-sweet chutney and sweetened yogurt, and I knew almost immediately that I had to try my best to recreate it. I’ve dedicated this week to a series of posts on recreating all the pieces of Rasika’s palak chaat. This post is the second in a series of three. See post 1: Chaat Masala and post 3: Palak Chaat.
This date tamarind chutney balances the sweetness of dates and jaggery sugar with the sourness of tamarind.
I recently had the pleasure of dining at Rasika, a very popular DC Indian restaurant, and trying their famous palak chaat. This dish is an amazing medley of textures and flavors, with crispy spinach playing off a sour-sweet chutney and sweetened yogurt, and I knew almost immediately that I had to try my best to recreate it. I’ve dedicated this week to a series of posts on recreating all the pieces of Rasika’s palak chaat. This post is the first in a series of three. See post 2: Date Tamarind Chutney and post 3: Palak Chaat.
Chaat masala is a classic Indian spice mix with some unusual ingredients.
Making pizza at my house is all about interactive cooking. People love assembling pizzas with a variety of toppings and watching delicious steaming hot pizzas emerge from the oven. Once you have a portion of the perfect pizza dough waiting in your refrigerator, it’s simply a matter of gathering guests and toppings. You’re going to want to plan on having one pizza per guest (and maybe one extra), and I find it’s easiest to provide the pizza sauce and cheese myself while requesting that guests bring a variety of toppings (check out my suggestions at the bottom of the post).
Keep in mind, one person will have to be dedicated to transporting pizzas in and out of the oven and keeping a close eye on them inbetween.
I’ve made a lot of pizza and I’ve tried all sort of dough recipes. But ultimately I’ve settled on this amazing standard, going back to the basics with just flour, yeast, salt, and water. Sugar and olive oil not only are non-traditional but also, in my experience, result in a dough that is harder to work with and not quite as tasty. Letting the dough’s first rise happen in the refrigerator adds a great complexity of flavor and texture – do not skip this step.
Make this dough today, and it will be perfectly aged by this Friday when I will post on how to host the perfect pizza party – with further instructions on assembling pizza, my unbeatable pizza sauce recipe, and some delicious topping ideas!
I’ve declared this week Zucchini Week. Harvest those last zucchinis in your garden or buy them up at the farmers market and grocery store on sale, and make these delicious recipes! See my Zucchini Chard Gratin and Zucchini Fritter Stacks from earlier this week.
This recipe is a great transition from summer to fall. Prepare for the cooler weather with the flavor of dry hard cider and the richness of aged cheese in this creamy risotto. The basic method for cooking risotto is also surprisingly easy and a good technique to have under your belt, as it can stand up to many adaptations.
Summer is ending, and I’m trying to take advantage of the last of the summer produce (and I’ll be posting more great end-of-summer recipes the next couple weeks). If you can still find some fresh local peaches at your farmers’ market or grocery store, snatch them up and make this delicious simple pie. Once you have a batch of the perfect pie crust from the recipe I posted Monday waiting in your refrigerator, this pie can be in your oven in 15 minutes.