A Love Letter to the Berwick Street Brownie

Gabriella Simonian's Berwick Street Brownie is my go-to brownie recipe. I found it in 2013 or 2014 and have made it at least several times a year since. Thank goodness the Wayback Machine saved a copy before the author's blog disappeared! It appears she has moved on to a career as a professional photographer. I wish her well and thank her for all of the effort that went into this delicious recipe.

Changes (few and small)

• 180°C ≈ 355°F; 350°F is fine if your oven doesn't get that precise with the temperature setting.
• I add 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract along with the coffee. Clear imitation vanilla extract makes them taste more like box brownies, if that's something you like.
• I mix the cocoa powder into the dry ingredients instead of the stovetop mixture because I feel it gets mixed in more evenly this way.
• Sometimes I put in the walnuts, sometimes I don't. Tastes great either way.
• I cut mine into 24; cutting into 16 makes them pretty huge for my liking.

Variation:

• For the winter holidays last year, a couple of friends sent us a batch of brownies (not this recipe) that contained caramel chips and black walnuts they'd harvested and toasted themselves, and they were really, really good.
• I tried it with the batch pictured and the caramel chips unfortunately melted into the batter. They are much softer than chocolate chips, or at least Hershey's salted caramel chips are. I want little pockets of caramel chip in my brownies!
• Edit 6/24/19: This time I froze the caramel chips first and they stayed intact in the final product. Freeze your caramel chips before adding them to the batter and you'll get little pockets, though I think the caramel flavor is less pronounced this way than melting them into the batter. 
• I think this would also work great with peanut butter chips, if that's more your thing.
• Black walnuts have a unique earthy flavor that I really like with chocolate. If you can find them and you like nuts in your brownies, give them a try! My local Hyvee sells them, but you might have even better luck (and get better quality) if you go to a farmers' market. Toasting them before adding to the batter will deepen their flavor.

Some opinions on brownies
I have strong opinions on brownies.

• The best brownies are dense and fudgy. Brownies with cake-like texture are basically chocolate cake. If you want cake, make chocolate cake.
• Interior piece life. I was confused when I saw this brownie pan that ensures you have edges on every piece. Why would anyone want that? Clearly it is not for me. I'd rather have an edge brownie than no brownie, though. I'm not a monster. ;)
• Brownies from boxed mix these days are a joke. When I was a kid they gave you enough mix in the box to fill a 9x13 pan with brownies almost an inch thick. They've kept reducing the amount of the mix in the box so that now they barely bake up to half an inch thick. BOO. They also don't taste very much like chocolate, but they never did so this is less disappointing. Given how they've kept taking things away from it I don't expect them to start now.
• They make clear imitation vanilla extract now, which I have discovered is the one thing about boxed brownie mix that kept me crawling back. Yes, I know real vanilla extract is superior in basically every way but there's something nostalgic and still very much appealing about the aroma of clear imitation vanilla in baked goods to me. (Is it different from the brown imitation vanilla besides the color? It just smells and tastes better somehow.)

RECIPE: The Berwick Street Brownie

Gyoza (Japanese Style Potstickers)

For those unfamiliar with pot stickers, they are a type of Asian pan-fried dumpling filled with ground meat (usually pork) and vegetables. I first tried them during my year studying abroad in Japan. My host mother would occasionally buy dinner at the department store on days she didn't have time to cook, and sometimes she would get these.

You can usually buy pot stickers frozen at Asian markets and they are tasty and reasonably healthy for a quick meal, but homemade ones taste significantly better and are absolutely worth making yourself if you're up to the task. Filling and shaping them is admittedly a lot of work, and if you can recruit people to help you, you should make a lot of them and freeze them for later.

I think my favorite part about these is the meaty flavor of the pork mixed with the salty, tangy dipping sauce.

Notes:

• You will likely use a lot more than 1 teaspoon of filling in each one. I tend to fill them quite a bit more than that and I still end up with a few extra wrappers.
• I have used square wrappers when I couldn't find round ones. Fold them diagonally to form a triangle when you close them.
• I usually freeze them after assembling but before cooking. Freeze them on a pan for ~30 minutes before placing them in a freezer bag. If you throw them all in the bag at once and then freeze them, they will freeze into a giant ball and they are near impossible to cook properly from frozen that way. Yes, I have done this before and don't recommend it
• I like to serve these with freshly cooked Japanese rice (white or brown) and a steamed or boiled green vegetable like pea pods, edamame, green beans, or broccoli.

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RECIPE:

Gyoza (Japanese Style Potstickers)
very slightly adapted from the recipe in Let's Make Japanese Food! by Amy Kaneko
Makes about 48

Filling
1/2 lb napa cabbage or green cabbage, shredded and then finely chopped into lengths no longer than 1/2 inch and squeezed between paper towels to remove excess moisture
3/4 lb ground pork or chicken
2 green onions (white and green parts), minced
3 fresh (or dried and rehydrated) shiitake mushroom caps, minced finely
1/2 bunch fresh chives, minced (if you can't find these, use 2 more green onions)
1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger, or 1/4 tsp dried powdered ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 3 large cloves)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sake (I recommend Gekkeikan or Ozeki)
1 tsp soy sauce

About 50 round gyoza or other Asian dumpling wrappers, each about 3 inches in diameter (the thinnest ones you can find)
2 tbsp canola or other neutral oil, for cooking each batch
2-4 tbsp water, for cooking each batch (depends on the size of your pan)

Dipping sauce (per person, adjust to taste)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar (unseasoned)
A few drops sesame oil
A few drops chili oil or small amount of chili paste (optional, if you like your dipping sauce spicy)


Prepare the filling: Place the cabbage, ground meat, green onions, shiitakes, chives (if using), ginger, garlic, sesame oil, sake, and soy sauce in a large bowl. Mix together with your hands until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the filling.

Shape the gyoza: Fill a small dish with about 1/4 cup water and place it near you. Keep a clean, dry baking sheet lined with parchment paper nearby (this will hold the shaped dumplings). Remove the wrappers from their package and wrap the stack loosely in a clean, damp towel or paper towel so that they do not dry out while you work. Place a single wrapper in the palm of your hand. Spoon about 2-3 tbsp of the filling into the middle. Using your other hand, dip your fingertip into the dish of water, then gently wet half of the edge of the wrapper with this finger. Fold the wrapper, matching the wet edge with the dry, closing the filling inside. Pinch the edges firmly to seal. Pleat the edge about 3-4 times, pinching the pleats closed to keep them in place. Place the dumpling on the baking sheet with the pleated edge pointed up. Repeat until you have used up either all the wrappers or all the filling (I usually end up with extra filling.

If you are planning to freeze any dumplings, do so at this point. Make sure none of them are touching each other. Place the pan in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes, then remove them from the pan and put them in a freezer bag for up to 6 months.

Cook the gyoza: Place a frying pan on the stove over high heat. Make sure you have a lid handy that is big enough to cover the whole pan. Add the canola oil to the pan after about 5 minutes. When the oil is hot enough (you can check by flicking a drop of water into the pan; if it immediately begins sizzling the oil is ready), place your desired number of gyoza in the pan in a single layer, making sure they can all sit flat on the bottom of the pan and the pleated edges are pointing up. When the bottoms have browned slightly (after about 3 minutes), add about 2-4 tbsp of water, enough to just cover the bottom of the pan. It should sizzle and generate a lot of steam. Cover the pan immediately with the lid to trap the steam inside. Reduce the heat slightly and cook covered for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for several more minutes. They are ready when the water has completely evaporated from the pan (it will sound different when the water is gone) and the dumplings are a deep golden brown on the bottom. Remove the pan from the heat.

If cooking the dumplings from frozen, you can cook them directly from the freezer. When at the steaming stage of cooking, let cook for a few minutes longer than you would if they were fresh.

Gently slide a spatula under the cooked dumplings to remove from the pan so as not to tear the wrappers. Place on a plate, flipping them so that the browned side faces up. If you're really skillful, they will come out all stuck together in one big piece with the crust intact! Serve with dipping sauce.

Make dipping sauce: Place all ingredients in a small dish and stir to combine.

Nutmeg-Lemon Cutout Cookies

This is my mother's family's Christmas cookie recipe. My mother and I attribute this recipe to my grandma, though I am not sure if she came up with it, it was passed down to her from relatives or friends I never met, or found it somewhere, tried it out and loved it so much she just kept making it.

What distinguishes this recipe and what makes it so much more tasty and interesting than a simple sugar cookie is the sour cream, nutmeg, and lemon extract. The dough is soft but just firm enough after chilling to be rolled. They are initially somewhat crisp when they come out of the oven but soften after being frosted. They are not very sweet on their own, so they can take a bit of frosting and sprinkles without being overwhelmingly sweet.

The nostalgia I have for these cookies cannot be understated. This is what Christmas smells like to me. I have many happy memories of decorating these with my mom and siblings, and we even have home videos of this process from many different years. My favorite is the one where my 2-year-old sister was still up at midnight by herself with my mom, in a cycle of shaking the sprinkles onto the frosted cookies, shaking it too close and getting frosting on the sprinkle shaker top, and licking it off every time before continuing to sprinkle (lol ew). In another year, I wanted purple frosting (which was every year, let's be honest) and my mom mixed red and blue coloring but it turned a very gray purple instead, and we frosted circle shaped cookies with it, and my brothers called them "dirty snowballs" much to my dismay. The year I studied abroad in Japan, I couldn't go home for the holidays so my mom mailed me sprinkles (which are not widely available there) and I made these cookies for my host family.

You likely have your own family traditions, but if you decide to give these a try I really hope you like them. It's also worth mentioning that you don't have to wait for Christmas to make these! They're good anytime you want a frosted cutout cookie. My mom has been known to make these for Halloween too.

Notes:

• Be sure the dough is well chilled before you roll it and be generous with the flour when rolling because it tends to be pretty sticky.
• We had a set of Mirro cookie cutters in my house growing up (and I have some now too, because nostalgia). My mom went for simpler shapes without lots of skinny bits or points because she wanted to not have to worry about these bits warping or breaking, and wanted the cookies to bake evenly. This dough is able to handle being cut into more complicated shapes but you may have to be extra careful not to stretch or break them.
• If cutting more than one shape, try to bake shapes of similar sizes together.

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RECIPE:

Nutmeg-Lemon Cutout Cookies
from my grandma
makes about 4 dozen

Cookies:
1/2 cup Crisco or other shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Frosting:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Milk to thin to desired consistency (usually about 2-3 tsp)
Food coloring (optional)

Sprinkles, for decoration (optional)

Cream Crisco and sugar together in a mixing bowl until fluffy. Mix in egg, sour cream and lemon extract. Sift dry ingredients together and stir into Crisco mixture until well blended and a soft dough has formed. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to chill.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375°F. Roll chilled dough to ¼ inch thick on a well floured surface with a rolling pin, and cut into shapes with cookie cutters dipped in flour. Bake until edges just start to brown (about 7-8 minutes). Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. They may be frosted and decorated when completely cool.

To make frosting, beat all ingredients together in a small bowl until smooth. Tint with food coloring if desired, then spread about 1 tbsp of frosting on each cookie. Scatter sprinkles over the top for decoration before the frosting sets, if desired. Let stand on the cookie for about 30-45 minutes until frosting sets. Store at room temperature in an airtight container with parchment or wax paper between layers of cookies.

Red Chicken Chili

A number of years ago I decided to get a side of chili with my hamburger instead of fries at one of my favorite pubs, and it completely surprised me. It was easily the best chili I'd ever had up to that point in my life. It was smoky but not incredibly spicy, and had chicken (even though it was a tomato based chili!) and dark red kidney beans and green peppers in it.

I quickly set to work looking for a recipe like it, and tried one from Everyday Annie. With a few tweaks, I was able to get it reasonably close to the restaurant version I so desperately wanted. After making this a bunch and re-trying the restaurant version, I am fairly sure the meat in the restaurant's version is smoked or there are smoked peppers that are less spicy than chipotles/jalapeños in the base, because I have not been able to get the same level of smokiness without it becoming too spicy for me to eat. However, the version below is close enough for me to be happy. It is my go-to chili and has warmed me up on many a cold day. It is less heavy than a beef chili, which I also like.

Notes:

• I have prepared the chicken shredded as well as diced, and I prefer the texture of shredded because it holds onto the soup a little better.
• I cook the onions and peppers until they're really soft because that is how I like them, but feel free to cook them less if you like them a little more crisp.
• If you want your chili to be less spicy, use less of the red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, and chipotle. Add more if you want it more spicy. Add more chipotle for more smoky flavor with your spicy heat.
• My favorite chili powder to use is Penzey's Chili con Carne spice blend since it adds lots of flavor with minimal spicy heat. Your preference may vary based on your level of spicy tolerance.
• If you can't find tomatoes packed in puree, get some that are packed in juice instead. You might also like to add some tomato paste in that case.
• Better Than Bouillon makes a really great tasting chicken soup base.
• If you don't like dark red kidney beans, you can substitute another color of kidney beans, or black or pinto beans.
• This freezes pretty well, though you might need to add a little more water after thawing.
• You can serve it with Greek yogurt, sour cream, crackers, corn chips, and/or grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese but it is also tasty on its own.
• *When I buy a can of chipotles in adobo sauce, because I eat so little of it at a time, I blend the entire can in the blender to make a paste, and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator. I generally use about 1 tbsp of this in a batch. Its spiciness diminishes over time but it will keep for a long time (it does not spoil because of the capsaicin).

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RECIPE:

Red Chicken Chili
Adapted from Everyday Annie
Makes about 12-14 cups; serves about 8

1 to 1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 tsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp dried Mexican oregano
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups chopped yellow onion (2-3 medium onions)
3 sweet bell peppers, seeds removed and chopped (any color you like)
2 cloves garlic, minced
56 oz (2 large cans) diced tomatoes, packed in puree
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely chopped (or 1 tbsp puree* see above note)
1 tsp chicken soup base
30 oz (2 small cans) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rub the chicken with 1 tsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken has cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Combine chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, Mexican oregano, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot and set burner to medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add onions and peppers and saute for 10-15 minutes until translucent and very soft. Add garlic and continue to cook another 30-60 seconds, until fragrant. Add dry spices and chopped chipotle, and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes. Pour in the entire contents of the cans of tomatoes (do not drain), turn the heat up to high, and bring the pot to a boil. Add the chicken soup base and stir until dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, uncovered, to let the flavors blend. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, shred cooled chicken with a fork or dice into bite size pieces.

When the 30 minutes are up, add the chicken and beans to the pot and stir gently to combine. If you prefer more liquid, add 1-2 cups water and 1-2 tsp soup base if desired. Allow to simmer for another several minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve warm.

Holiday Bakeathon 2018

Holiday Bakeathon, the 5th anniversary! While it's still a long day, I think we've got the process mostly figured out. This year's cookies featured extra fancy decorating with edible glitter and more piping tips. I think I even have a new favorite Christmas cookie (gasp).

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen) -- our old standby. I never get tired of how they taste with cream cheese frosting, and we keep coming up with new and/or funny ways to decorate them.
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
• Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix (Smitten Kitchen)
• Homemade Marshmallows (Alton Brown) -- we cut these into bigger marshmallows for the hot chocolate instead of mini marshmallows to save time. Use the best quality vanilla you can get your hands on, and don't bother with corn starch, use all powdered sugar. They were really good and I was sad when they were gone, so I made another batch and shared them with my work colleagues, who were surprised that you could make marshmallows at home. They taste so much better than store bought. They're also really kid friendly! My colleague's 7 year old daughter absolutely loved them.
• Linzer Torte (Maida Heatter via Smitten Kitchen) -- absolutely amazing, so good I wanted to cry. This is permanently going on my list of must-make holiday treats, whether I make it with my friends or not.
• Hazelnut-Orange Biscotti (Paul Hollywood via BBC)
• Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies (Dorie Greenspan via Smitten Kitchen) -- for the chocolate part, we opted for milk chocolate with toffee bits, and I think that was a good choice because they were kind of bitter otherwise.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014

Hunter's Pie with Brown Ale Gravy

A couple of friends recently gave us some ground venison that they hunted, and told us to make sure to cook it thoroughly. Normally with good meat I make simple burgers so as to let the meat's flavor shine but that was out of the question with wild game, especially deer. I got the idea to use it in shepherd's pie instead of lamb, and decided to call it hunter's pie instead. They call it cottage pie when you put beef in it, so why not change the name again for venison?

I very loosely based the filling on this shepherd's pie one by Sprig and Flours because I liked the idea of putting beer in it. I say loosely because as with much of my cooking, today I was cooking with the ingredients I already had rather than running to get the exact ones the recipe calls for. Different meat, slightly different vegetables, slightly different ratios of vegetables (I had lots of carrot), different beer (Newcastle brown ale instead of stout), no tomato paste, and I just winged the mashed potatoes.

This was my first taste of venison, and it was a bit different from what I expected! I was expecting it to be kind of like beef. It's more like ground pork in terms of color and flavor, but leaner. I'd use it again in something like this.

RECIPE: Shepherd's Pie with Brown Ale Gravy

Hachapuri (Georgian Cheese Stuffed Bread)

This recipe is originally from Nigella Lawson's cookbook Feast, and is a go-to recipe for my friend Sarah. I have never made it myself, though I have helped her make it a couple of times. She usually makes it for large groups that I happen to be part of, and I'm never mad about that.

This particular day I was helping her cook dinner after a day of promotion tests for the university's  tae kwon do club, where she and my husband met and befriended each other many years ago. This bread was on the menu because people keep asking for it. Nigella describes its appeal quite nicely but I'll also add my own opinions: I love it because it's warm, comforting, and incredibly filling. The fact that it is usually made for me by people I love only adds an extra layer to those feelings.

RECIPE: Nana's Hachapuri

Salt Fat Acid Heat

While I was sick just before Thanskgiving I binge watched this short 4-part series based on the book written by chef, teacher, and author Samin Nosrat. I knew nothing about Ms. Nosrat or this series before I watched it. One of my friends who likes to cook may have mentioned it in passing at some point and then I saw it appear on Netflix, and decided someday I'd get around to watching it.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a lot. While I knew a lot of the basic information contained in the series, my favorite parts were the insights into the different countries she visited and her personality.

FAT
I hadn't realized this about Italy and it really, really made me want to go there.

SALT
A strong nostalgia for Japan hit me while I watched this. (I spent a school year abroad in Nagoya in college.) At that time, I remember being somewhat concerned about all the salt in the food because American culture tells you lots of salt is really bad for you...and yet the Japanese have a longer life expectancy than Americans. I still don't really know how to reconcile that but I guess neither does health research. I'm still going to enjoy my miso and soy sauce.

ACID
This made me really want to go to Mexico too! I had no idea turkey was so common as a food in the Yucatan. I noticed Samin's Spanish has a lot of Italian mixed in. I also loved that her first reaction to eating something way too spicy was to laugh.

HEAT
It's adorable that Samin got her mother in on this (but it makes a lot of sense, many of us learn to cook and develop our tastes for food from our mothers). The rice dish they make (tahdig) is how my favorite Indian restaurant in town makes their rice, and though I had read about it, it was cool to see the process in action.

Miso Sweet Potato Broccoli Bowl

I am a big Smitten Kitchen fan and lots of things I try end up being go-to recipes for me. I first tried her miso sweet potato and broccoli bowl about a year ago when I needed an idea for all of these ingredients I had on hand and fell in love pretty hard. It's filling and healthy and pretty easy to make. The slightly sweet, salty, nutty dressing has an acidic kick and a bit of heat from the ginger that works really well with the roasted vegetables -- it totally makes the meal. My partner loves it too, which is always a plus. :)

I have no complaints, just substitutions/variations based on what I had in the house at the times I made it, all of which have been pretty good:

Grains and veggies
- brown rice and wild rice for the grain
- winter squashes (butternut, buttercup, kuri) instead of sweet potatoes
- wilted kale instead of broccoli (it cooks faster than the broccoli would so you have to watch it or put it in later than the sweet potatoes)
- sauteed leeks instead of red onions

Dressing
- maple syrup instead of honey in the dressing
- hand mixing the dressing instead of putting it in the blender (only if I'm using the store bought minced ginger/garlic)

Topping
- only one color of sesame seeds instead of both white/black

I agree with her that we need to do more of these grain bowls topped with vegetables and possibly a protein -- every single one I've tried so far has been reasonably good and this is one of my very favorites.

RECIPE: Miso Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl

Home Style Applesauce

Apples are one of my very favorite fruits. Every fall I get so excited that I go straight to the orchard in September once Cortland apples are ready, pick more than I can eat, and then come winter I have these soft apples in my crisper that aren't really good for eating fresh or most baking anymore. But one simple, delicious thing you CAN still make out of them is applesauce. This is something my mom would make intermittently throughout the winter for a snack or dessert, though you could serve it on the side of some kinds of meat dishes (pork is a pretty common choice). It was especially nice when we were craving apple pie but weren't quite up to the work and had apples to use up. This is yet another instance where no store bought version can really compare.

The recipe has 3 ingredients -- most any kind of cooking/baking apple, water, and sugar -- and easily scales to the number of apples you have. Cortland is my favorite variety to use, though I've used Regent, Macoun, Northern Spy, and Macintosh apples in recent memory with good results. I do not recommend Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Gala apples, or any really crisp/firm variety.

Important Note: Please do not use Red Delicious apples for this or anything you actually want to enjoy eating. As far as I'm concerned, Red Delicious apples are not food. They were bred to look good and that's about it. Personal tastes aside, they don't really break down in the way that most other apples would when they cook -- they get mealy and grainy, which is not a pleasant texture for applesauce.

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RECIPE:

Home Style Applesauce
serves 4

6-7 medium-large baking apples
2 tbsp granulated sugar, or to taste
1/3 cup water, possibly more depending on preference
Ground cinnamon (optional), for finishing

Peel, core, and slice your apples into a heavy bottomed pot. Add sugar and water (if you need more than 1/3 cup, make sure it's just enough to boil to get the apples cooking on the bottom). Put on medium-high heat. When it boils and steam starts to come up, turn heat to low and cover the pot. Uncover and stir every few minutes to move the uncooked apples on the top toward the heat and to help break down the ones cooking toward the bottom. If it gets too thick and you're worried about it burning, add a little more water. After it's mostly cooked, taste it for sweetness. Add a little more sugar if you think it's not sweet enough. It is done when all the apples are cooked through (you should be able to cut the bigger pieces with a spoon with almost no effort) and the texture is to your liking. It usually takes about 15-20 minutes for me and I like it mostly broken down with some larger pieces still intact. If you like cinnamon, sprinkle it on the hot applesauce just before you eat it. Get you some Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon for a real treat.

If you need to store it long term, it can be frozen in a plastic bag for up to a year. Just thaw and serve it hot.

Chicken Dumpling Soup

I made chicken dumpling soup today because I have been craving it ever since I was sick, but couldn't settle for anyone else's.

I don't really have a recipe for how I make mine because soup is so forgiving, but the basic steps are:

• Saute roughly chopped onion and celery (with some of the leaves) until soft. Carrots will be in there too but they probably won't get soft yet.
• Add herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf), salt, and finely ground pepper, and saute a couple more minutes
• Add broth (usually I use water + refrigerated base; Better Than Bouillon is my favorite) 
• Bring to a simmer and cook ~15 minutes, until carrots are soft. Cut raw chicken thighs into bite size pieces (if they're frozen, I thaw them a little bit in the soup as it simmers) and prepare dumplings in the meantime.
• Turn up heat to medium. Add chicken and then dumplings. When chicken is cooked through and dumplings float, it's done.

Lots of restaurant dumpling soups I've had make the dumplings so big they take several bites to eat (messy since you have to throw the half eaten dumplings back in, and they might fall off your spoon and splash), and they're often not done in the middle, or they are and the rest of the stuff in the soup is overcooked). Or on the other end, they disintegrate and thicken the soup in a gross way. And often they have no flavor, just gummy floury ick. I know that's a little bit what dumplings are, but they should still taste good.

But I cry no more! I have found what I love. My go-to soup dumpling recipe is from Natasha's Kitchen. They're small enough to fit on your spoon with other elements of the soup, they are a bit chewy, they cook at the same time as the chicken, and they have a nice flavor (thanks to eggs and butter). I often use plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream because it's what I have on hand, and olive oil instead of butter when I'm too lazy to melt butter. I even halve the recipe when I'm making a smaller batch of soup and it works great.

Tonight I used white whole wheat flour in the dumplings instead of all purpose flour, though...and I wish I hadn't. They were still edible but had a grainy texture. Live and learn.

RECIPE: Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Butterscotch Walnut Blondies

I made butterscotch blondies to bring to a Thanksgiving gathering. We had to work the next day so we didn't go to visit our families, but our neighbors invited us to their family celebration. We were asked to make a dessert of some kind, and I wanted to make a pie but was recovering from being sick and was not quite up to the work. Then I decided since we knew the other desserts were going to be pie, maybe I'd do something that was not pie (and easier to make).

For most of my life blondies were never high on a list of desserts I'd actively choose to make/eat, but butterscotch ones made an appearance at a tae kwon do club post-promotion test dinner a couple of years ago (made by my friend Sarah, who introduces me to all kinds of new recipes) and I ate WAY more of them than anyone should because they were so delicious. I decided I needed to be able to make them too. They're an addictive combination of buttery, sweet, and salty. Kids love them too, or at least my neighbors' kids and their cousins did.

I made this recipe from My Kitchen Addiction, adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe.

My adjustments, mostly out of convenience rather than trying to improve the recipe:

• I lined the pan with parchment instead of greasing it (so you can lift the entire thing out of the pan easily, plus it's easier to clean).
• Since I didn't have butter rum extract, I put in about 1/2 tbsp of bourbon whiskey instead (increased the amount because I imagine butter rum extract is quite strong). I have also substituted spiced rum before, and I think I like the spiced rum better.
• I sprinkled fleur de sel on top of the batter before putting it in the oven.

I still don't know what recipe Sarah used and I feel like this one is good and close but it's not *exactly* what I was going for. Maybe the chocolate and shredded coconut in Dorie's recipe would help? I have also tried miso butterscotch blondies and I thought those were yummy, probably because of the extra layer of saltiness. I also seem to remember trying Smitten Kitchen's Blondies, Infinitely Adaptable with butterscotch chips (I didn't need an entire 9x13 pan of them, or so I thought) and I seemed to remember that batch being particularly good. I think next time I'll try the SK version again. Come to think of it, both SK and the miso ones had browned butter. Maybe that is what makes all the difference.

RECIPE: Butterscotch Walnut Blondies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Possibly an unpopular opinion: the best chocolate chip cookies have oatmeal in them.

These was my mom's go-to cookie recipe when we were growing up, and the first cookies I ever learned to make by myself. It's the recipe on the back of the Quaker oatmeal box with semi-sweet  chocolate chips. My mom tells me these were also her mother's (my grandma's) go-to cookies as well. When she learned to make them, my grandma impressed upon her the importance of only putting half the bag of chocolate chips in, rather than the full 12 oz bag it called for. I imagine it's because she had 9 children and not a lot of money for chocolate, but I think there is such a thing as too many mix-ins in a cookie. At some point you have to stop calling it a cookie. Plus, I've had too many chocolate chip cookies where the cookie part is an afterthought -- a sugary, tasteless slog just to get to the chocolate bits. The oatmeal part of the cookie is just as good as the chocolate bits here. :)

I still remember the first time I made them because that night I learned an important lesson. I was probably 11 or 12 years old. I got ambitious and made a batch of these cookies after dinner one night while my mom was at work, all by myself. Being that it was my first batch of cookies, I saw that the ingredient list included salt. But sweet things don't need salt, I reasoned, and deliberately skipped it. My mom came home and was pleasantly surprised that I had made cookies and used the oven all by myself (and most importantly I had not burned down the house). I gave her one to eat. She took one bite, and the first thing out of her mouth was "they're good, but you didn't put salt in them!" and I was like "HOW DID YOU KNOW??" Then I remembered a batch of egg bread she had made a while back that we all thought tasted weird. The memory stuck in my mind because it was the weirdest tasting bread I had ever eaten. We both looked at the recipe and mom realized it hadn't called for any salt. I suddenly understood how my mom would know just by tasting. Salt is important, kids.

I had to retrieve the original recipe from my mom's stash because the one currently on Quaker's website halves the salt and then calls it "optional" (as if). You need some salt. It makes them taste better. Reduce it if you must, but do not leave it out completely. Below is the recipe as I make it. I take Grandma's advice with the chocolate chips, and cut some of the butter out because I was too lazy to cut a third stick in half once, and I never miss it.

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RECIPE:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Quaker Oats, with input from three generations of my family

1 cup (2 sticks/225 g) butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 g) baking soda
1 tsp (5 g) kosher salt (less if you're using salted butter)
3 cups (260 g) old fashioned oats, uncooked
6 oz (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 F/190 C. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed until thoroughly mixed, lightened in color, and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and mix on very low speed until just incorporated. Add one cup of oats at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until incorporated. Either mix in chocolate chips by hand or with the mixer on low speed until evenly incorporated. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (about 2 tbsp each) or scoop balls of dough with a medium size cookie scoop onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Makes about 3.5-4 dozen.

Edit 7/8/22: I've made these a couple of times now with half butterscotch chips and half chocolate chips and I really like them this way.

Niratama Donburi (Garlic Chive Omelet Over Rice)

I spent a school year studying abroad in Japan in college, and one of the most profound impacts it had on my life was expanding my food horizons. Between the wildly different food culture and watching my host mother while she cooked meals, I learned a lot about Japanese food but also other kinds of Asian food. Donburi (a bowl of rice with a topping, usually a protein and vegetables) quickly became a favorite of mine. They are served both in restaurants and at home, and the variations are endless.

I began growing garlic chives (nira) in my garden in 2010, and as they proliferated I began to wonder what I could do with them besides chop small amounts to garnish dishes with. I tried a few recipes but they were all kind of labor intensive for what the end result was. I gave up for a while and the chives continued to grow.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, when I was browsing Namiko Chen's Just One Cookbook, when I found her Niratama Donburi recipe. I really like eating eggs and rice together, and it would use up a significant amount of my chives at once, and be relatively quick and easy, so I gave it a try.

It is quick, filling, and satisfying. The savory flavors work really nicely together. I am so pleased. It is one of my go-to recipes for a quick meal when I have chives in the garden.

To make this recipe work the best it can, use a bowl-shaped/wok like pan rather than one with a wide/flat bottom, be sure your pan is hot enough before you try to cook the egg mixture, and do not try to reduce the amount of oil. The puffy texture of the egg you want is from it cooking in enough oil to essentially deep fry.

Some substitutions/variations/additions I have tried:

• Brown short grain rice, and white or brown jasmine rice. I personally have come to love the texture of brown rices, so if you like it in other applications, you'll probably like it here too.
• Sauteed leek instead of garlic chives when I was really desperate. It's a little sweeter and less visually appealing, not quite as good but scratched the itch. Green onions or regular chives would probably be too sharp unless you significantly reduced the amount.
• Drizzling sesame oil and/or soy sauce over the top of the finished dish.

RECIPE: Niratama Donburi

Fluffernutter Cake

I never had the nostalgia for fluffernutters (peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches) that many people who post fluffernutter related recipes seem to have. I never had one as a child because to my mom, a sandwich with marshmallow fluff on it was dessert, not lunch. My mom enforced a sort of unspoken ban on most all non-dessert items that were really sugary. Our sandwiches were always on brown bread. She would only buy things like Lucky Charms, Pop-Tarts, or toaster strudels (lol remember when those were a thing?) once in a great while. I remember one of my siblings learned to make cinnamon-sugar toast at school once, and she got mad when we tried to make it for breakfast. I don't feel deprived -- we still got other breakfast cereal whenever we wanted (which she did let us put some sugar on), there were plenty of other sugary treats in our lives, and as an adult now I am thankful she fought our impulses to raise us on food with some semblance of nutrition, as I think a mother should.

But I did not try peanut butter and marshmallow together until I was an adult and I wondered where it had been all my life. I think I came across it while reading recipes and cooking blogs, trying to figure out what kind of cake to make my husband for his birthday. I thought a fluffernutter cake sounded good so I suggested it to him, and his eyes lit up and he got excited. Deal. I remember not being particularly happy with the cake part of what I made for him that year but the frosting made quite an impression on me. I dreamed about it for long after it was gone. For years after that the only thing he wanted for his birthday was dirt cake (a favorite of both our families, as it turns out) but I wanted a redo, another chance to make a fluffernutter cake I was satisfied with.

This year I got the chance, and I enjoyed this one much more. It's dense, with a texture like a peanut butter cookie but more fluffy. The peanut butter frosting from my previous attempt was used for filling and decoration because I wanted something thick enough to firmly stick the layers of cake together and something that would hold up to piping. It worked for its intended purpose, and I am happy to report it is still every bit as delicious as it was the first time I made it. For the outside, I wanted a lighter textured frosting to contrast with the dense cake and strong flavor of peanut butter, so I made a seven-minute marshmallow icing for the outside. I forgot one of the egg whites somehow so the icing ended up a bit grainy and soft, but it was still edible. The peanuts sprinkled on top were a last minute decision and I rather liked the bit of texture and crunch they brought to the party. I have made better looking cakes, but this tasted good and he liked it. Happy birthday to my love.

RECIPES:
Cake: Peanut Butter Cake (from Sally's Baking Addiction, baked in two 6-inch springform pans)
Filling and decoration: Peanut Butter Frosting (from Eat, Live, Run; I halved the recipe)
Icing: Grandmama's Failproof 7 Minute Frosting (from Southern Plate; this made more than I needed but half the recipe probably wouldn't be enough)

Apple-Almond Cream Cheese Tart

I forget exactly how I found it, but I am never going to forget it. I think I was looking for something other than pie or crisp to make with the apples I had picked one autumn, and decided to give this recipe from Joy of Baking a whirl and threw some almond extract in. It exceeded my expectations in every way. This is one of those things that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is now one of my very favorite things to make with apples and I try to make it every year in the fall.

Notes:

• I have also made this in a regular 9 inch round pan but it is harder to get out and the crust texture is not quite as crisp somehow. It does still taste good though.
• The original recipe has directions for making this with a food processor but I did not have one at the time so I adapted it for making it without one. I imagine a food processor would speed things up a bit.
• Cortland and Regent apples are my favorite apple varieties to bake with, but any firmer baking apple will work nicely.

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RECIPE:

Apple-Almond Cream Cheese Tart
adapted from Joy of Baking
Serves 8-12

Crust: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Filling:
8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract

Topping:
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 large apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices (about 3 cups)
1/3 cup (35g) sliced almonds
2 tbsp powdered sugar (optional, for serving)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place rack in center of oven. Grease a 9 inch round springform pan, or line the bottom with parchment paper.

Make the crust: Place the flour and sugar in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add butter and almond extract, and then, using a dough blender or a fork, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until dough just begins to come together. (I find that after the butter gets into small enough pieces, you can also use your hands to help the dough come together.) Press the dough into the bottom and about 1 inch up the side of the pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and set aside in the refrigerator.

Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer in a bowl with high sides until smooth. Add the sugar to the cream cheese, and beat again until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and almond extracts, and beat until mixture becomes smooth. Take out the crust from the refrigerator, remove the plastic wrap, and pour the filling into the crust, using a spoon or spatula to spread it evenly. Cover and return the pan to the refrigerator.

Make the topping: Stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the sliced apples and toss to coat. Remove pan from the fridge, uncover, and arrange or pile the apples evenly over the filling. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the apples.
 
Bake the tart: Place a baking sheet underneath the springform pan or on a lower oven rack to catch any leaks. Place springform pan in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, apples can be easily pierced with a fork, and filling is set. Take out pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature, with a dusting of powdered sugar if desired. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I've always been ambivalent on zucchini cake and bread, but this is one I actually get excited about eating. Once upon a time we lived next door to some really awesome people who got to be our friends, and they shared this cake with us one August. She didn't remember where she got the recipe, but no matter -- I liked it so much that I immediately went looking for something like it and came across this one on Epicurious. I made it for a potluck party soon after and I'm pretty confident I found the same recipe because it was just as good as what my neighbor made for us. The chocolate chips and walnuts on the top really make it special.

Most recently, I made it and shared it with my current neighbors to thank them for something nice they did for me. :)

Notes:

• The recipe says to make it in a 9x13 inch pan, but I have successfully made this in 8x8" glass and metal pans, bread loaf pans (usually around 9x5"), and bundt cake pans, as well as in cupcake tins (about 25 minutes I think). Shorten the baking time, watch closely and test it as you would the regular cake until you figure out how long it takes.
• If you have a particularly large zucchini, you may want to peel it anyway because the skin on really big ones can get tough. Also make sure that you scoop out the middle to remove large seeds before you start grating. (This may be obvious to some people but the first time I made zucchini bread I didn't know that I should do that and the bits of seeds in the bread were unpleasant.)

Verdict: This is one zucchini dessert that's worth your time.

RECIPE: Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Soba Noodle Salad

Last month I was at a wedding in California catered by The Bodega and it was like every food they touched turned to delicious gold. The absolute best fried chicken sandwich I have ever had in my entire life (simply called "The Bodega Sandwich", fried buttermilk chicken, smoky aioli, and herby slaw) and crispy grilled brussels sprouts that I still dream about all the time.

Unfortunately I live thousands of miles away from their food truck and my friends have since moved from the San Francisco area to Los Angeles, so I have no idea when I'm going to be able to eat their food again. But that's not stopping me from trying to make everything I loved about that meal to get as close to that feeling as I can.

The Bodega posted a cold soba noodle salad on their Instagram (@thebodega_ca) a few days ago and it looked so good I had to try making it for myself. I'm sure theirs is better since they've made it enough to perfect it, but this one was refreshing and tasty on a hot day.

It also brings to mind a number of zaru soba meals I had in Japan, but that's a dish for another day.

Notes:

• Other vegetables that I think might taste good in this: kohlrabi, celery, daikon
• Adding some kind of salad greens to this might be yummy too!
• You could substitute some marinated grilled chicken for the tofu. Marinate the chicken in the dressing for 1-2 hours before cooking it.
• You will likely have extra salad dressing left over. It goes great on all kinds of vegetables.
  

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RECIPE:

Soba Noodle Salad
by The Matcha Chronicles, inspired by The Bodega in Petaluma, CA
Dressing recipe from Just One Cookbook
Serves 4

15-19 oz medium firm or firm tofu, drained
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into thin coins
About 6-8 small or 5-6 medium radishes, sliced thinly into rounds
2 cucumbers, sliced thinly in rounds and cut in half
Juice of 1 lime
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
12 oz dried buckwheat (soba) noodles
6 tbsp tahini
4 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Fresh cilantro, for garnish
Black or white sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish

Drain tofu and pat dry with paper towels. Slice into pieces about 1 by 2 inches by 1/2 inch thick. Dry fry in a single layer in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Set aside.

Place carrots, radishes, and cucumbers in a medium bowl. Sprinkle lime juice and salt on and toss to combine. Let stand for about 15 minutes, then drain the liquid.

While vegetables are standing, cook the soba noodles in boiling water according to package directions, then drain and rinse in cool water until they are chilled. Set aside.

Make the dressing by whisking or blending tahini, Japanese mayonnaise, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sesame oil together until smooth.

Divide soba noodles, tofu, and vegetables among 4 plates. Drizzle salad dressing over the top of each salad, and garnish with cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve immediately. If saving for later, keep the prepared ingredients separately in the refrigerator, and assemble immediately before serving.

Raspberry Pie

Raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. Until I was about 20 years old, I had only ever had fresh raspberries from the grocery store in the little plastic clamshell boxes. Expensive, few, and precious, a special treat. But now they are even more special because for me, they are steeped in the generosity of others.

My life experience with raspberry pie began rocky. My mom made a raspberry pie one time when I was a child, thickened with tapioca. I distinctly remember this because the tapioca didn't get thoroughly cooked and it was grainy and had white flecks. Then I met my husband, and he told me his grandma's raspberry pie was one of his very favorite desserts, despite not liking fruit pie in general. Early in our relationship, he went to visit his grandmother in the summer, and in typical grandma fashion she sent him home with a huge pile of fresh raspberries that she grew, the largest amount of raspberries I had ever seen in one place, way more than one could possibly finish before getting tired of them or the fruit going bad. I made a pie for him with my mom's strawberry pie recipe (which I like) but with raspberry ingredients. Half of it rotted in the fridge and I was a little sad but I have to admit that even I thought it was just OK.

We were still dating the next summer, and that year he decided to bring me to the annual family reunion to meet his grandmother. I was nervous but everyone was kind, especially grandma. She had brought raspberry pie since the raspberries were in season. It was in a 9x13 pan, and the filling was about twice as thick as a regular pie. I loved it and I told her so. From then on, she'd be sure to bring frozen raspberries to reunions to give to me, and she wrote up her recipe for the pie and gave it to me because she knew I liked to cook and bake too. A couple of times, the reunion was not going to happen because she and her boyfriend were planning a long vacation but she invited us to their farm (her boyfriend's dairy farm, but they also grew fruit and vegetables for their own use) to pick the raspberries while they were away, so someone could enjoy them (I'm thankful I got to be the one to do that).

One summer, she invited us to visit and pick raspberries while they were there, on my birthday. We picked fruit for about an hour, and she had of course made a pie and lots and lots of other food. They also gave us furniture they didn't want, and we got to play with the farm kittens. She even dug up some rhubarb and raspberry plants for us to plant in our yard now that we had one. It was a beautiful, relaxing day.

Unfortunately, since then grandma has not hosted a reunion and has had to move away from the farm into assisted living due to her health, and there's no one to care for the raspberries. My raspberry patch had a rough, slow start (my own fault for planting it where I did initially) but has finally established itself, though it still doesn't produce anywhere near enough to bake with.

However, the thread of love and generosity through raspberries continues to grow longer. My neighbors across the street inherited a large raspberry patch that gives their family more than they care to eat, and they share with me.

In the spirit of all this generosity, I try to share this pie with as many people as I can. The year she moved to my city, my sister and I ate nearly a whole pie by ourselves in a weekend while she hunted for apartments. I have brought this pie to work potlucks a couple of times, to rave reviews. Another year I made one, and the next day the electricity went out. The pie has to stay cold because of the gelatin in it but it was 90 degrees and humid outside. Around the 24 hour mark, the neighbors without electricity got together in the evening to while away some time, and we shared this pie so it wouldn't go bad (nobody complained about getting to eat pie). Another summer, my dear friend visited me for lazy vacation time after her bachelorette weekend and we picked raspberries and made a pie together. Picking goes a lot faster with two people, and you have someone to curse the mosquitoes with too. ;)

Grandma C's recipe makes use of ingredients and techniques I wouldn't normally consider to be quality cooking (Jello mix and an oil-based no-roll crust, for example) but the result tastes so good that I can't mess with it. The contrast of textures (crumbly crust, smooth gelatin, soft fruit) and balance of sweet and tart is what really makes this pie good.

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RECIPE:

Fresh Raspberry Pie
from my husband's Grandma C (Sandy)

Crust:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup (100 g) vegetable oil

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together flour, salt, 2 tbsp sugar, oil, and milk until combined. Pat into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown, pricking any bubbles with a fork or knife to release air. Remove from oven and place pan on a rack to cool. When it is almost or completely cooled, prepare filling.

Filling:

1 cup sugar

1 ½ cups water

2 tbsp cornstarch
3 oz (1 small box) raspberry flavored gelatin
4 cups (about 1 lb/450 g) fresh raspberries, washed (or 4-5 cups / 20 oz frozen raspberries; see notes)

Place 1 cup sugar, water, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Whisk to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often so it doesn’t burn. Let boil for about 3 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in dry gelatin until well combined; this usually takes about 2 minutes. Gently fold in raspberries and pour into pie shell. Refrigerate until set, about 3-4 hours.

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Notes:

• If you REALLY have a lot of raspberries to burn and a crowd to bake for, double the recipe and make it in a 9x13 inch pan a la Grandma C.
• One thing I have done to improve upon this recipe is making it work with frozen raspberries. Homegrown raspberries are best, of course, but frozen ones from the grocery store would likely work too since they're often harvested and immediately frozen at their freshest. Though the texture might not be as good, I think I may like the taste better than fresh raspberries (not to mention much less expensive...nothing like a $50 pie that also doesn't taste good). If using frozen berries, thaw overnight in refrigerator (or carefully defrost in the microwave) and reserve juice/liquid that comes out after thawing. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice to filling; decrease water in filling by 1 cup and use juice from thawed berries in its place.
• You can also make this with fresh strawberries and strawberry gelatin. I do not recommend using frozen strawberries.
• I usually end up with a little extra filling. You can pour it into small bowls or glasses, put it in the refrigerator to set, and eat