Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs

I did not warm up to deviled eggs until I was an adult because I was grossed out by mayonnaise until my teens, and too much mayonnaise can ruin food for me so I needed time to learn how much was too much for me, but I love them now. They are a great picnic food, and people get really excited about them at parties!

Deviled eggs are one of those things that everyone has their own way of making and thinks theirs is the best, probably because anyone who makes them regularly tailors their recipe to how they personally like to eat them. It's not necessarily a contest, it's about finding what you like! I love their versatility. I've developed my own recipe emphasizing what I love in a deviled egg:

• Simple: so as to let the egg flavor shine, and also because I am lazy. Gudetama would approve.
• Minimal mayonnaise: just enough to stick everything together. This makes the filling quite thick as deviled eggs go, and not necessarily pretty or easy to pipe (unless you make a lot of them at once) but it tastes good and has a nice deep yellow color. Quality is important here. I like to use Kewpie mayonnaise because I keep it on hand and I love its rich, eggy flavor. You can get it at bigger Asian grocery stores.
• Dijon mustard instead of yellow: I do not like yellow mustard so I use a mild Dijon mustard instead. Maille is my very favorite but it can be hard to find where I live; Grey Poupon or Emeril's brand works well too.
• Smoky flavor: Paprika is a common topping for deviled eggs. I love smoky flavor with my deviled eggs so I use Spanish smoked paprika. Evokes bacon without the work of cooking bacon or excluding vegetarians from eating delicious deviled eggs.
• A little spicy: If you like smoky AND spicy food, you can use dried ground chipotle (chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeño peppers!) instead of or in addition to the smoked paprika for an extra kick; Penzey's sells a nice one for my mild-end-of-medium spicy tolerance.

One of my former coworkers, Maria, served deviled eggs in a simple but absolutely beautiful fashion for a work potluck once, and I will include some instructions for it here because I am normally terrible at presentation but this is something I can handle.

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RECIPE:

Smoky Eggy Deviled Eggs
By The Matcha Chronicles
Makes 12; serves 3-4 people as an appetizer

6 eggs, the best quality you can find, refrigerator temperature
2 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
1 tsp smooth Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried parsley
A sprinkle of onion powder (the tiniest bit, so you can taste it but it doesn't make everything taste like onion)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
Smoked paprika and/or ground dried chipotle pepper, for garnish

For serving, if you're feeling fancy and/or want vegetables to eat with the eggs:
Green leaf lettuce or butter lettuce leaves
Fresh sweet peppers (red/orange/yellow), either cut into strips or finely diced


Place eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Add enough cold tap water to cover eggs. Place pan on burner and set heat to high. Heat to almost-rolling boil. Take pan off heat and let sit 18 minutes. Meanwhile, fill bowl with cold water and ice. Transfer eggs to the bowl of ice water after 18 minutes to halt cooking.

Once eggs are cooled to room temperature (about 10-15 minutes), peel them under cold running water. Cut each boiled egg in half lengthwise and gently push the underside of each half to pop out the yolks into a small bowl. Place egg whites on a plate or leave on the cutting board. Add mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, onion powder, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mash everything together, breaking up the yolks with a fork, then switching to a spoon after the mixture is fairly smooth. Spoon about a tablespoon of the mixture into the indent of each egg white. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and/or chipotle powder.

For serving: Place the lettuce leaves on a plate. If you cut your peppers in strips: scatter them over the lettuce. Arrange the deviled eggs between the pepper strips. If you diced them finely: Arrange the deviled eggs on top of the lettuce, then top the deviled eggs with a little bit of the diced peppers.

Sausage and Fennel Seed Rolls

While browsing for finger food type recipes to make for a tea party, I came across this recipe and thought it sounded delicious. I was a little worried about working with puff pastry because I'd never done so before, but it turned out to be just fine. I liked the finished product quite a lot! This is definitely party food and not an everyday food but I'd absolutely make it again for a special occasion. My version includes some very small changes from the original and is localized for people living in the United States.

Notes:

• I got plain ground pork and mixed my own set of spices and seasonings into it. I liked this quite a lot but if you have a favorite pork sausage mix or want to save time by getting pork sausage, by all means use that instead.
• Puff pastry is usually sold frozen and often comes in boxes of 2 sheets that measure about 15x10 inches. The original recipe calls for 375 g (~13.2 oz). I bought a 17 oz box and I had some left over.
• I prepared this the previous evening and refrigerated it overnight, then baked it a couple of hours before the party per the make ahead directions on the recipe. It worked really nicely.
• By the time it was done baking, there was a big puddle of grease at the bottom of the pan. I am pretty sure it was from the meat so if you are worried about that, or cannot or don't want to eat pork, maybe a leaner ground meat would work better, though it will not taste quite as rich as pork. I'd recommend ground chicken, turkey, or venison.

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RECIPE:

Sausage and Fennel Seed Rolls

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Makes 2 logs, about 20-24 pieces total; serves about 6-8

Sausage filling

14 oz plain ground pork

2-3 cloves minced garlic (about 1-1.5 tsp)

2 tsp dried powdered or rubbed sage

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp water

Pastry

2 sheets puff pastry

1 tbsp fennel seed
1 egg or egg yolk, beaten, for brushing onto pastry

Place all ingredients for the sausage filling in a medium bowl and mix with your hands or a spoon until evenly mixed. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Divide into 2 halves. Place one half of the sausage mixture on a piece of saran wrap about 16 inches long. Shape the mixture into a cylinder or log about 12 inches long, then wrap it tightly in the saran wrap. Transfer it to a tray or plate and place in the refrigerator. Repeat with the other half of the sausage mixture. Let chill for at least 15-20 minutes (you can chill it for longer).

Preheat oven to 390°F (400°F if your oven doesn't set to 390°). Unfold puff pastry sheets onto a flat work surface lined with parchment paper. Cut one of the pastry sheets in half lengthwise (to make 2 pieces 15 x 5 in). Unwrap the chilled sausage logs and place one in the center of each piece of the cut puff pastry. Top each with 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds. Using a sharp knife, make cuts every 3/4 inch from the edge of the pastry to the meat along the long sides of the puff pastry to create little tabs; if you're very precise about your math you should end up with 19 cuts/20 sections on each side. Fold up the ends. Starting at one end, pick up a tab from one side of the roll and drape it over the sausage, then repeat with the one from the other side. Do this until all of the tabs are folded over the sausage. Repeat with the other roll. If you are baking them immediately, lift the rolls onto a baking sheet (the parchment paper helps with this) and brush with the beaten egg.

Cut six 3/4 inch wide strips lengthwise from the other puff pastry sheet (15 inches long by 3/4 inch wide). Reserve the leftover pastry for another use. Lay 3 of the strips with their tops overlapping, pinch the ends together, and braid them. Once you have braided all the way to the bottom, pinch the ends together to keep them from unraveling. Repeat with the other 3 strips. Place one braid on the top of each of the sausage rolls, and if you are baking them immediately, brush the braids with the beaten egg.

Place rolls in the oven on the second rack from the bottom and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the outside is golden brown and pastry has puffed up. Once baked, they can be sliced and served immediately, or they can be served at room temperature.

If making ahead: Do not preheat the oven while you prepare the pastry and do not brush the rolls with beaten egg. After shaping, cover the rolls with saran wrap or place inside a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to bake (up to 24 hours). They may also be frozen for several months and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight before baking. If you freeze them, place in the freezer for about 1 hour on a flat surface to firm up, then wrap tightly in saran wrap and store in a plastic freezer bag. Brush rolls with beaten egg just before baking.

Bacon and Corn Okonomiyaki (Cabbage Fritters)

As a student of Japanese language and literature, one inevitably learns about Japanese food. Japan happens to have an incredibly rich food culture, and each region of the country has great pride for their local specialties. Okonomiyaki is a regional specialty of Osaka. At its simplest it is a mix of battered shredded green cabbage and scallion, fried like a pancake on a griddle, and brushed with a glossy, sweet-salty Worcester based sauce and topped with squiggles of Kewpie mayonnaise. Generally, if you go to a grill restaurant (teppanyaki) in Japan for okonomiyaki, you are provided with all the ingredients for your choice of type of okonomiyaki and cook it yourself at your table, which has a griddle built into it. Some people also make it at home either on the stove or a tabletop electric griddle, especially for parties because it is easy to make a lot and easy to share.

The idea of okonomiyaki can be difficult to explain concisely to people unfamiliar with Japanese food. I prefer to make it for them first so they can taste it without expectations. I usually call it "vegetable pancakes" since "cabbage pancakes" can put some people off. Cabbage seems to get a bad rap where I live (though after living in an Asian country and especially after trying okonomiyaki, I think cabbage is incredibly underrated by Americans in general). The okonomi in the name translates to "what you like" but that doesn't explain at all what's in it.  I've also heard it called "Japanese pizza" which on one hand is misleading because the main ingredients are totally different from the food we know as pizza, but on the other hand it's conceptually very similar to pizza in that it lends itself to a huge variety of topping and filling ingredients that each diner can vary to their diet and preferences to enjoy their food to the fullest.

However you choose to wrap your head around the concept of okonomiyaki, it's delicious and worth trying!

This particular recipe is not exactly authentic but it embodies what I love most about okonomiyaki. It was developed by a friend who didn't have much first hand experience with Japanese food but likes to cook, and I like his better than any other okonomiyaki recipe I've ever made. The batter clings to the ingredients nicely but isn't too thick or floury tasting, and cooking the meat beforehand and mixing it in ensures that it gets fully cooked, you get some of the flavor in each bite, and it doesn't awkwardly fall off when you try to eat it or cut the pancake. The bacon adds salty, savory, and smoky flavors, and the corn adds some sweetness. If you don't like or can't eat bacon or corn, you could easily substitute those for any number of other ingredients that suit your diet and tastes.

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RECIPE:

Bacon and Corn Okonomiyaki
adapted from my friend Eliot's recipe
Makes 4 pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup water
2 eggs
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 green onions, including tender green parts, roots removed, chopped fine
Dash of seasoning salt
1 tbsp sake or plain vodka
About 1/3 medium head green cabbage, chopped into ½” pieces (4-5 cups)
1 cup corn, canned (drained) or frozen (no need to thaw)
½ cup Rice Krispies cereal (optional)
¼ to 1/3 pound uncooked bacon (4-5 strips), chopped into small pieces
Okonomi sauce, for serving
Japanese mayonnaise, for serving (optional)
Aonori or shredded toasted seaweed, for serving (optional)
Bonito flakes (katsuobushi), for serving (optional)

Combine flour, water, eggs, garlic, green onions, seasoning salt, and sake in a large mixing bowl. Stir cabbage, corn, and Rice Krispies into batter until just incorporated. 

Fry bacon pieces in a large skillet until almost crisp (8-10 minutes). Remove bacon pieces from the grease and stir bacon into batter.  Reserve grease (pour into a mug or small heatproof bowl). Wipe any grease drips off the underside of the pan.

Heat skillet again on medium heat with ½ tablespoon bacon grease in it. When hot, put about 1 ½ cups batter into skillet and spread to create a 6-7 inch circle (don’t make it too big or you will have trouble flipping it without breaking it). Fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown, then flip and repeat on other side. Slide onto a plate. Top with 1-2 tbsp okonomi sauce, a few squiggles of mayonnaise, aonori or toasted seaweed, and bonito flakes. Repeat with remaining batter, regreasing pan each time. Serve hot. Makes about 4 pancakes.

If storing for later, fry the pancakes but do not add sauce or toppings, let cool, cover, and place in refrigerator. Reheat in 350°F oven or toaster oven for 10-15 minutes.

Transcendental Granola

For those unfamiliar with the Youtube channel You Suck At Cooking, it is mostly silly and humorous but also provides actual recipes you can replicate. The granola made in Episode 43 looked so good I needed to try it myself. This particular episode pokes fun at new age culture and it's wonderfully spot on. Watch the video for a more entertaining walkthrough of how to make the granola.

I have made granola in the past but I'm pretty sure the prospect of dried blueberries and knowing where I could get some gave me the motivation to try it.

I personally don't bother with the pyramid thing but if you want to, go ahead ;)

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RECIPE:

Transcendental Granola
from You Suck at Cooking, episode 43 (July 12, 2016)
Makes about 6 cups

3 cups rolled oats
2 cups nuts, roughly chopped (any kind you like; I used almonds and cashews)
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup pure maple syrup or honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup dried blueberries or other dried fruit of your choice (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place oats and nuts in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, heat coconut oil in 20-second increments until melted. Remove from microwave and stir in maple syrup or honey, vanilla, and salt. Pour coconut oil mixture over the oats and nuts and stir until evenly coated. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes, checking every 5 minutes or so to make sure it doesn't get too brown (take it out before the second 15 minutes is up if it starts to get darker than golden brown). Let it cool to room temperature. It will get crispy as it cools.

Once cooled completely, stir in the dried fruit if desired. Store in a glass jar at room temperature. It will keep for several weeks.

Holiday Bakeathon 2016

Holiday baking day #3 and hitting our stride, though we were still at it for nearly 12 hours. We made a lot of truffles this go around and the white chocolate horchata ones I tried to design were an abject failure. White chocolate is so finicky! Someday I will figure it out. Again, we had a mix of old favorites and new ideas to try.

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen)
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Chocolate Caramel Crunch Almonds (Smitten Kitchen) -- these didn't turn out quite right (sandy textured instead of glassy coating, the sugar did not end up melting again despite instruction that it would) but they were still tasty.
• Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti (Joy of Baking) -- colorful and tasty! We dipped the ends of some in melted white chocolate, the sweetness of which pairs really nicely with the sour cranberry.
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach -- a repeat from last year because we love them.
• Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix (Smitten Kitchen) -- a repeat from years past because it's really good.
• Toasted Coconut Marshmallows (Ina Garten) -- Sarah has made these before and they were just as tasty this time. I kept accidentally burning the coconut because I would get distracted with other baking tasks and forget! I finally got it on the third try, haha. I might crumble the toasted coconut into smaller pieces next time because it didn't stick very well to the marshmallows as large shreds.
• Peanut Butter Balls / Buckeyes (Irvin Lin via Simply Recipes) -- This was my first time ever making them. I had always wanted to try making them ever since seeing my grandma's recipe for them in my mom's collection as a child, but her recipe called for paraffin wax (yikes!) so we did not use it. I think these ended up a little soft, but we used coconut oil instead of dairy butter so they would be vegan, and that might have messed with the texture. I'd absolutely try again though. Make them smaller than you think you would like them, because they're quite rich.
• Dark Chocolate Coconut Truffles (Melanie Stephens, via Feed Your Awesome Machine) -- a repeat from 2014, still love them. Next time I want to roll them in toasted coconut.
• Irish Cream and Coffee Truffles (The Crumby Cupcake) -- delicious. I'd definitely consider making them again. I decided I don't like them coated in bright blue sprinkles though.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2015
• 2014

Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach

There are lots of rugelach recipes out there and I am sure many are good, but this is my personal favorite. A former coworker at a job I had for many years always made these for our year-end work party, and once I told her how much my husband and I liked them she would save extra ones just for us, which was really sweet. We made these once for a holiday baking day at my insistence and Caroline realized these are the same kind of holiday cookies she remembered her grandmother would make, but she never knew the name of and never got a recipe for before she passed away. It feels good to have reintroduced them into her life.

Notes:

• Use the highest quality cinnamon you have since it really shines here. I am partial to Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon.
• I have great luck using a plastic pull-apart pizza cutter to cut the rolled out dough.
• I can usually fit 24 of these on a single sheet pan.
• The last step of brushing more melted butter on the finished cookies is 100% unnecessary, but very delicious.
• The cinnamon sugar kind are my favorite, but I have also tried filling these with a number of other things. Omit the cinnamon sugar and walnuts, and try a fruit flavored jam or chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella) instead for a variation. Warm it slightly in the microwave so that it spreads over the dough more easily. For a more intense fruit flavor, you could use dried fruit.

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RECIPE:

Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
from my coworker Anne; makes 48 (4 dozen)

Pastry:
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Stir in flour and salt. Divide into 4 equal size discs. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll (~1-2 hours minimum).

Filling:
Cinnamon sugar: 2/3 cup sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon (you will have extra)
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out each pastry patty to 10" diameter. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle the dough with 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar and 1 tablespoon walnuts. Using a pizza cutter, divide each circle into 12 wedges and roll up from wide end to narrow end; shape into crescent and pinch ends closed. Bake for 25 minutes, or until turning golden brown. When cool enough to handle, brush with remaining melted butter and roll in leftover cinnamon sugar.

Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie

I never used to like pumpkin pie when I was a kid but I have grown to love it as an adult. My family did not make pecan pie so the first time I tried it was at my husband's family reunions. Now that we are old enough to be starting our own Thanksgiving traditions, I decided it was time to try new kinds of pie too (also because my husband doesn't like fruit pies). I decided to give this one a go because it combines two pies that I like...with bourbon! I love the extra layer of flavor that beer, wine, and spirits can give to foods.

I did not use the crust given in the recipe; I replaced it with Smitten Kitchen's All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough instead because I know how it behaves and I didn't have buttermilk for the other one. Other than that, it was made as written.

Verdict: This is some god tier pie. If you like pecan and pumpkin pie, it is not to be missed. I made another one about a week after Thanksgiving because I liked it so much. Somehow I don't feel like it turned out quite as good as the first time, but it was still really good.

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RECIPE: All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough
RECIPE: Salted Bourbon Pecan Pumpkin Pie