New Year's Dress

If last year's New Year's dress was Old Hollywood glam this year's is going to be short and gathered and black and sparkly. Stay tuned!

Cranberry-Pistachio Cookies

Guys. These cookies? Are red and green. Whatever insanely brilliant mind discovered that cranberries and pistachios not look lovely and Christmasey together but also taste good deserves some sort of award. If you're looking for a last little recipe to fill out a cookie gift box or to stock up the cookie jar during the holidays, look no further.

Pork Tenderloin with Date and Cilantro Relish

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I'm a sucker for a dish that has three major components: 1)it must be delicious (duh) 2) the cheaper the better and 3)the less work I have to devote to a weeknight meal, the better. This dish neatly falls in to all three categories.

Clover Rolls

As you might remember, I promised everyone that I was going to go a little nuts this Thanksgiving. And I did. I made a ton of food which, for the most part, was gobbled down. There are certainly one or two things that I'm definitely going to turn into a yearly tradition, and this particular recipe was one of them. While I'm not usually the type of person who'll invest a couple hours into making dinner rolls for an everyday meal, these particular rolls are perfect for a special occasion. They're pretty and delicious and surprisingly un-temperamental to make.

Duck Week: Duck Soup with Rice Noodles

Duck week item three: a cure for whatever ails you. Intensely rewarding rice noodles swimming in happy, healthy hot broth of homemade stock and ginger, with cabbage and slices of salty ham. As my mother would say, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this soup. Plus, there is an intensely satisfying feeling of being able to use every part of an animal (in this case, the duck carcass for the broth) to its fullest extent.

Duck Week: Pan-Roasted Duck Breast With Apple and Caraway

Duck week, volume two! Continuing my obsession with any and all things Canal House Cookbook, I used this recipe straight from its hallowed pages for the duck breasts I harvested. I've tried a bunch of different methods cooking duck breast, usually pan-seared with some sort of berry or fruit reduction to offset the meaty flavor of the duck, but I have to say that this one turned out to be one of my favorites.

Duck Week: Duck Confit with Spicy Pickled Raisins

Item one of duck week: duck confit. I know that duck confit has been blown up in our cultural psyche to rather ridiculous proportions--the oh-so-French decadence of eating something that has been packed in fat, but sometimes I feel like you have to just gird your loins and go for it.

And boy, was I glad I did. 

Duck Week!

 Dear reader, I am pleased to announce the first annual Duck Week! In this week, I shall take a duck, take it apart and make stuff with all its bits. I'm hoping that this will become a tradition come November of every year.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread

Let's talk about gray, drizzly days, cups of tea and toast. Particularly this toast, from the Grand Central Bakery Cookbook, which is studded with sweet cranberries, crunchy pecans and bright and zippy lemon zest. It's just what you need when you require a little fall morning pick-me-up. 

Pork With Red Wine Shallot Reduction and Three Cheese Polenta

Okay, how on earth haven't I posted a pork recipe yet? I know I've used bacon, but...oh, dear reader, I apologize for neglecting you so. Let's get this situation under control immediately. I love pork because it can either be coaxed into being the star of the show or can take a backseat to be the perfect base for great sauces or sides. Here, courtesy of my beloved Black Dog Cookbook is this stunning recipe, with a pork chop (grilled, or if you're sadly grill-less like me, pan-seared), a red wine shallot reduction that I challenge you to not just eat straight out of the pan, and cheesy, creamy polenta that will blow your sweet mind.

Thanksgiving Plans

Thanksgiving. Let's discuss.

Paris: A Food Diary

This past summer my mother turned to my sister and me. "I have a conference in Paris in November," she said. "You guys want to come?"

Mind you, she phrased this as if it were a question.

Cardamom Rice with Poached Egg

This recipe is a simple weeknight meal that can be thrown together in a jiffy--most of the main ingredients can be found around the home and the rest (spices, for the most part) can be scooped up from your grocery store's bulk section. It's a bit of a variation on the phenomenal chicken and cardamom rice that I was so in love with from Jerusalem, but the idea of a slightly easier, mostly vegetarian version of that rice was immensely appealing.

Oreos

I was something of an Oreo hound in my teenage years. At my best friend Mia's house there was always a large plastic tub filled with them that I exclusively commandeered every time I went over. Once, when Mia's mom found it necessary to ground me, my punishment was, among other things, no more Oreos. The horror!

World Peace Cookies

 "But Bailey," I hear you cry, "Why on Earth are there only two cookies in these pictures?" Well, friends, it's because these cookies were gobbled down in the blink of an eye. I was in the shower when Piper came home, found these in the cookie jar, and ate one. I was able to hear her un-printable exclamation over the sound of the shower. They're that good. Dorie Greenspan, who I'm starting to imagine (in a totally non-creepy way) as my fairy baking godmother, jokes that these cookies are called World Peace Cookies because if everyone in the world had one war would be a thing of the past. She may have been joking, but I think she's on to something.

Sicilian Fig Bars

When I told Peter that I was thinking of making Fig Newtons, he sounded less than enthusiastic. Fig Newtons were a cookie his mom used to eat when he was little. They were not, perhaps, the coolest cookie around. I've always had a fondness for them, though, and when I saw that Nick Malgieri's recipe for them was called "Sicilian Fig Bars," that just about did the trick. "Sicilian Fig Bars" made me think of lounging around on the patio of a villa outside Siena, munching on a cookie, reading a good book and watching the cypress trees sway in the distance. Who couldn't fall in love with that?

Red Fall Coat

 

 While I still worked at Anthropologie I fell in love with a plaid fall coat we carried the year before last. I was on the fence about buying it and wound up not doing so--we've all had that one (man, chance, plaid fall coat) that got away, and this was the one. Since then I've thought about trying to find one used on Ebay or something, but they run about $198 and that's a little too steep for a crafty lady like me. I accepted the challenge and tried to construct one myself. Here is the result!

Marinated Lamb Pizza with Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce and Yogurt Dressing

It's recipes like these that really help to transform the average weekday "pizza night" into something spectacular. What Katie Ate features a couple of truly delectable-looking pizza recipes that I've been dying to try since I got my hands on the cookbook; and this one in particular really leaped out at me. I mean, what's not to like about this amazing combination of ingredients? Marinaded lamb? Mint yogurt sauce? Oven roasted tomatoes? Salty feta cheese? Crunchy hot chiles and nutty almonds? Best of all, the recipe makes individual pizzas so you don't have to bother about sharing your portion with someone else.

Lemon and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Pink Peppercorn and Tarragon

While we're talking about obsessions, let's talk for a second about pink peppercorn. I'll admit that until recently I hadn't really been exposed to it very much, either as a seasoning or as an ingredient. I was over at my friend Hallie's house about to make what would develop into our delectable Pink Peppercorn Macarons when she pulled down her jar, opened the top and grinned. "Take a whiff of that!" I did--what an incredible sensation! Peppery and fruity and sweet all at once. I'd never smelled anything like it and boy, was I hooked. The flavor is unlike anything else and the visual appeal of that bright pink bumps up any dish.

Fricassée of Chanterelles

Have I mentioned recently how much I love mushrooms? I really love mushrooms. Maybe it was finally switching grocery stores (to one that actually carries varieties other than white button, grumble grumble), maybe it was finally buying the mushroom-loving cookbook Canal House Cooks Every Day, but there's just something about mushrooms that clicks with me. I love their weird, alien shapes, I love their infinite variety, I love the skill that it takes to correctly harvest them. But most of all, I love their taste.

Prom 2013

With my beautiful friends Megan and Katrina!

As promised (though they be a wee bit late), here are the photos of the finished prom dress I was working on this summer!

Cherry Frangipane Tart

If you're throwing or attending a little get-together, I think the best desserts are the ones that can be tossed together and thrown in the oven at the last minute (or warmed up until they're ready to serve). So when Peter's cousin invited us to a little dinner this summer I immediately decided to try this fairly no-fuss tart. Plump red cherries and a buttery pastry and a sweet almond filling? Count me in.

Lemon Chicken with Herbed Rice

Sometimes it's funny to have one of those moments when you look at your sibling and thing "Wow, we really are related." Case in point: this delicious lemon chicken recipe. When I had first rented What Katie Ate from the library in Portland this was the very first recipe I decided to try. And when I was back in Texas and brought it home as part of my birthday loot? I asked Piper which recipe she'd like me to make and she immediately pointed to this one. Maybe it's DNA...or maybe it's the fact that this chicken looks (and tastes) so darn good.

Caleb!

This was a painting project I decided to do for a good friend of the family. She is one of the best people I've ever met and never thinks twice about doing huge favors for others (as in, she mailed my KitchenAid mixer from Massachusetts to Texas, refused compensation, and included a card with $20). Since attempting to pay her back by any conventional means would pretty much be a wash, I decided to say thank you the best way I know how: painting a portrait of her beloved Labrador Caleb.

Pasta in Cream Sauce with Morels, Pancetta and Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

You know how sometimes life hands you lemons and then sometimes life pelts the lemons at you and then switches to grapefruit and then finally smashes a large melon over your head before cackling with glee? That's basically what's been going on right now. It's just been one thing after another and I feel like I'm just now beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Without getting too share-y, our apartment was basically out of commission for a while. Everything was packed up and inaccessible and Piper and I were living out of the trunk of our car--this atop health problems and school starting and internships and jobs. The only thing that kept me feeling remotely normal or sane was the ability to cook things in the kitchen. So when the tide finally turned I decided to celebrate by making this dish: a compilation of my very favorite things.

Tea-Poached Salmon Soba Bowls

As Sarah so eloquently puts it in her cookbook, there's nothing wrong with a meal in a bowl, especially one that contains three of my favorite things: noodles, salmon and oven-roasted broccoli, all seasoned and flavored to perfection.

Red Lentil Soup

I'm not usually a lady who really goes in for soups, not unless I already am familiar with them or they've really got something going for them. Which is why I love living with my sister. She'll be brave and go for things I normally wouldn't try, like this lovely, homey lentil soup from The Sprouted Kitchen Cookbook. I'm usually afraid of making soups for dinner because I feel that sometimes soup isn't substantial enough on its own, but trust me: this one delivers. Plus, it's healthy! Yay!

Chicken and Cardamom Rice

This is why I love cooking. You can think you've got it under control, think you're pretty flavor-savvy, and then boom. One day someone suggests that you mix in a little olive oil with your yogurt to make a sauce and it's like an entirely new world opens up. 

But seriously, guys. You have absolutely GOT to try this recipe. After hearing about its popularity with other fans of the fantastic Jerusalem cookbook, I decided I wanted to try it. And it completely blew my mind. This dish is everything; complex, sensual (yeah, I said it), exciting and deeply satisfying. As my mom said as she dug in, "Every bite gives you a different flavor." Make this and you will feel proud of yourself when it's done.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

My grandparents live in a little mini-Eden, slightly outside Eugene, Oregon. It's situated right on the Mackenzie River at the base of a beautiful forested hillside. My grandparents grow fruit, vegetables, grapes, apples, herbs and have a flock of sassy chickens that deliver some of the best eggs in the Pacific Northwest. After a recent visit, my grandmother sent me home with (among other things) a huge bag full of juicy, completely red strawberries. And what's a girl to do?

Lamb Kofta b'siniyah

Let's face it. Anyone and their great Aunt Sally can grab some Brie, grab a baguette, hack it up, bring it to a party and call it good. And it's as equally true that the guy who brings brie is usually a pretty popular guy (especially in my family). But there are some occasions when the urge arises to go a little above and beyond the cheese-plate call of duty. Here is a recipe for one of those occasions. 

Because everyone loves the meatball guy.

Suspiros

This is the type of recipe I love best. My mom has been making these (cookies? meringues? some weird hybrid of both?) for as long as I could remember. She got them from my great-grandmother Mary, who we used to visit at her retirement home in Santa Fe. I have nothing but the most magical memories of our trips to Santa Fe, and these magical little confections are a fitting reminder of those visits. The name is Spanish for "breath," and it's an apt moniker. One bite and the cookies dissolve into air.

A Fairly Swanky Summer Luncheon

As much as I love the feeling of discovering a new cookbook, selecting a recipe, putting together a grocery list, and finally concocting the dish there are nevertheless some days when I love to go to the grocery store, pick up whatever is looking fresh and delicious and just arrange all that goodness on a plate. And then eat it all up with a loved one. This is one such lunch Peter and I enjoyed this summer and I hope it inspires you to try a swanky summer lunch of your own. Keeping it classy also justifies drinking white wine before 1 p.m., at least in my book.

Poached Chicken Risotto with Tarragon and White Truffle Oil

Oh, creamy, cheesy, truffle-y, chicken-y risotto heaven. How I love thee. This is an incredibly rich weeknight (or party time) meal; it requires a lot of attention and stirring but the results are fairly heavenly. There are some pretty decadent ingredients (saffron, truffle oil) which you can decide to use if you want to splurge. (Bailey note: I would suggest looking in Trader Joe's for the saffron--$5.99, yeeha!--and our HEB in College Station has very modestly priced truffle oil that I've been steadily been making my way through for over a year). The creamy rice is sumptuous and addictive and the chicken is tender, flavorful and really bolsters the satisfaction of the dish. A little goes a long way here and the serving described can easily serve five. A real winner.

Tuckers

Is there a coconut hound in your life? When you make a steak, do they casually suggest that you use dried coconut flakes as a crust? Do they buy coconut rum and then endlessly try to foist in on you? Then I have the cookie for you. It's got, like, four ingredients, it has a fun, unusual method of preparation, it's adorable and surprising in its shape and presentation, and it will get snapped up before you know what's happening. This little helped endear me to Peter's dad when I went to his house over Christmas; apparently the coconut fiend gene is hereditary.

Prosciutto and Arugula Pappardelle

The reaction to this dish was pretty much as good as I could have hoped for. Peter cleaned his plate, looked at me and said, "This might be the best thing you've ever cooked for me." Part of me could have been a little miffed (as this dish is far easier than some of the others I've made for him over the years) but when your goal is to satisfy and please the ones you love with food, well...that's a job well done right there.

Lemon Cheesecake with Fresh Summer Berries

First of all, hello from Austin! I know I've fallen off the posting train as of late but trust me, I've got a lot of fun stuff queued up, which will hopefully all be out in the next few weeks. It's not like Peter and I weren't cooking. Quite the opposite. This first recipe is one of my favorites and is ideal for a brunch or lunch party; this particular instance I used it as a fresh, lemony, berry-filled treat for a 4th of July barbecue. Hence the overwhelming patriotism of the berry arrangement.

Dill-Crusted Salmon and Summer Herbed Couscous

Even though Peter and I are dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying carnivores, there's times when he and I both just feel like having a light, healthy, largely vegetarian meal. I'm sure you've felt the same way yourself from time to time. It was Peter's turn to cook last week and when he asked what I wanted I told him something light and healthy. I came home to find this meal being thrown together. Let me tell you, folks, it was perfect.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Cake

This is definitely one of the most unusual (in a fantastic way) confections I've ever come across. It's hard, really, to pinpoint exactly where in the baking realm it falls (pie? cake?) but what is certain is that this is a beautiful way to showcase the standout fruit of early summer, namely rhubarb and strawberries. A light, cloudlike cake gives some structure to the dessert, topped with fruit and finished with a brown sugar crumb. The original name for this was "snacking cake" and it's easy to see why. When this is sitting out on the counter it sort of beckons you over every time you walk by.

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

I figure you and I are friends by now, dear reader, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret: this is one of the best recipes ever. Are you spending a lot of time on a fancy dinner and don't want to worry as much about dessert but still want something nice to serve to your guests? Don't want to buy a lot of weird ingredients? Make this. It uses one saucepan, is ready (literally) in ten minutes from start to finish and never fails to impress.

Pad Thai

I don't know about you, dear reader, but when I see something advertised as "pleasantly funky," hoo boy, I'm the first one to line up. (Is there anything better than "pleasantly funky" cheese? No.) I've been wanting to attempt Pad Thai for a while now, and when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit--from Pok Pok overlord Andy Ricker, no less--I knew I had to give it a try. And I'm glad I did. You should too.

Almond Apricot Macarons

Trust me: these wee little fellows pack quite the punch. I'd made a fairly large batch of apricot-habanero jam and after consulting flavor wizard Hallie for compatible flavors (I'd half-expected her to text back "CLAMS! CLAM MACARON! NO ONE'S EVER DONE IT BEFORE!") decided to up the almond ante and see what came of it. These sweet and spicy treats are perfect for a little midday pick-me-up, which is probably why I made quite a few bite sized ones (like those pictured here). 

Rhubarb Cream Cheese Hand Pies

Remember that book called How to Win Friends and Influence People? There should have been only one page in that book and it should have been a picture of a hand pie. Hand pies hold the answers to so many of life's little dilemmas. For example, how does one maintain one's dignity when one is caught by one's roommate shaving off a wee bit of pie slice in the middle of the morning? What if one's roommate gives himself a larger slice of pie than you and rather than speak out against this gross injustice one must accept one's cruel fate? The answer, dear friends, to all these problems is the hand pie; a perfect medley of fruit filling and dough, appropriate for any occasion.

English Muffins

Breakfast can be beautiful in its simplicity or astonishing in its breadth and complexity. What is not beautiful or astonishing is when your boyfriend (a grown, 26-year-old man) informs you that for breakfast he had a cookie and some yerba mate. I am not a nutritionist and I am a professed fan of ramen noodles, but that sort of thing strikes me as not the best thing you can do for your body, especially after you've made it wake up at 6:55 in the morning. And while I religiously eat cereal for breakfast most days of the week, I can appreciate those who, like Peter, are in search of something more. Enter the English muffin.

Soft Pretzels

Pretzels have always held a soft, salty, comforting place in my heart. I can't tell you the number of times I've been schlepping through a train station in a distant Germanic country only to realize that I have just enough money/time to quickly snatch a pretzel and some mustard before I have to make a train. They've kept me going, and for this I thank them.

Summer Cherry Pie

Is there anything more summery than cherry pie? Maybe, but things such as sunlight, sand, and soft green grass aren't as edible (or at least as tasty). Now that I'm back in Portland and she has decided to temporarily bestow warm, sunny days on all of us I've had summer on my mind pretty much nonstop. Peter's had to break out the fan for the room, and I'm cranking my way through Agatha Christie books like no one's business. And, of course, I'm baking pie.

Get Well Soon!

One time last year my buddy Katie got sick, so I drew this picture of her favorite things (always a good idea if you need a get well soon card idea). The anthropomorphic penguin always works.

Chai Caramel Sandwich Cookies

This is a continuation of Hallie's and my happy little foray into tea-infused sugar cookies. I suggested that we try chai and Hallie threw in the caramel idea. And hoo boy, you have no idea how beautifully these turned out. Not too sweet, with a shortbread-like texture and an exciting, comforting zing of chai spices. These are perfect for filling your cookie jar, for an afternoon snack or, heck, for filling up with caramel and snarfing down like there's no tomorrow.

The Reminder

Peter introduced me to the wonderful, magical musical world of Feist, so for Christmas 2011 I gave him this silhouette of her as a present. She's got a really cool nose.

Riders on the Storm

Jim Morrison for my mom. She had a huge crush on him. Also her office doesn't have a window so I figured this would be a much nicer thing to look at than an empty wall.

Almond Honey-Whiskey Cookies

Warning. These cookies are definitely for those in the 21-and-over set. It all started that other night when Hallie and I were stress baking our final paper feelings over a bottle of wine. "Hey, look what I have," Hallie said. She said it in this super-casual way that usually portends disaster for the peace of mind of her boyfriend Charlie and her cat Sylvia. "I have a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey," said Hallie. "Let's put it in a cookie," I said, taking a large swig and reaching out to replay "Single Ladies" for the third time in a row. Charlie and Sylvia glanced at each other and headed for the back room.