Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

So melting potatoes are a thing?? Apparently so. These were so delicious. They were a little crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. Two things that make potatoes taste great. I followed the recipe exactly - well OK not exactly. I used regular old russets. I also used a selection of dried herbs (actually I got them as a sample from Penzey's *) *You don't know about Penzey's ??!! This is a great company that has all sorts of spices, cocoa, and vanilla too. They often throw in some free samples with your orders. I choose to support them because, there's been a bit of a boycott (on the right) because of some of their polictal beliefs. This makes me want to buy even more things from them! Hey quality products and the same political views as me - win/win.

I had this recipe from Smitten Kitchen open in a tab on my browser for quite some time. I was just itching to make it. And then I finally found the excuse.  Once again I followed the recipe (what has gotten into me??) and only added 1t of vanilla to the cake batter. This recipe is pretty impressive because it mostly contains items that you probably already have in your house and no eggs??! As I was making the glaze I was wondering if I really liked the idea of olive oil in the glaze too. You get that sort of fruity flavor from the olive oil. It actually worked quite well with the cake. The cake was quite moist and had a pretty chocolate rich flavor.

I very recently saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and said hey I have that book. Why didn't I notice that recipe? Then I looked at the Prune cookbook and saw the bookmark was only about 1/4 of the way through the book. I guess that's why I didn't see that recipe. It's not that I didn't like the book (so many people have had much to say about Gabrielle Hamilton both good and bad), I just have not gotten back to it and it sits amongst a few other goodies also. The one maddening thing  about the book is that there is no freaking index - what's up with that?? Anyway, I decided to give this a try since strawberry season is upon us, and I've been buying buttermilk a lot lately (what's up with that?). I remember having strawberry Quik when I was a kid. I would say that we had that less often than regular chocolate Quik. It was known as Quik back in the olden days not Nesquik as it is today. We only had the powdered kind not the newfangled liquid kind. So...

OK - so it's really a Potato Kugel. I'm calling it a potato pancake because I thought a Kugel was made with noodles?? But what do I know? When I first saw this, it was one of those recipes that I needed to make immediately. I've made potato pancakes before and they do come out delicious but they are a lot of work. Drying out all those potatoes and frying - ugh! This recipe is so easy and comes out just as good. Giant Potato Pancake (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen ) 2 onions 3 lbs potato (baking potato)* 3 green onions, chopped 1/3 c flour 2 t Kosher salt pepper 3 eggs 4T duck fat (or olive oil) 1T olive oil Buzz up the onions in a food processor with the regular blade. Empty into a large bowl. Change to grating blade and grate potatoes. Place in bowl. Add green onions, flour, and salt/pepper. Gently toss with hands. Add eggs and toss until evenly coated. Heat duck fat in a large cast iron skillet until really hot. Carefully pour in potato mixture and spread...

We accidentally bought summer squash plants instead of zucchini plants this year - not that I find that much of a difference in taste. It has started to come in now. I was poking around looking for a recipe for squash and pasta and found this over at Smitten Kitchen. I tinkered with the recipe minimally.  I made a pound of pasta because if I'm boiling water for a 1/2 lb why not for a full 1lb and get a few more meals. I also used Gruyere cheese instead of the mozzarella because that's what I had. I used basil because I wanted some of that green to add to the color of the dish - yellow squash is a little blah looking. It came out very good but it is definitely a summer meal that you want to make on a cooler rather than hotter day. I liked that it was a one pot meal. While the pasta was boiling I was prepping the other ingredients. Then I used that pot to saute the squash although it was a bit slow going. Then all into the pot and right into the oven - yes at 400 it was a ...

Christmas brought a bounty of things: family, friends, significant others, food, drink, food gifts, and food gadgetry. I received a Spaetzle Maker from the eldest's significant other (Gee what country is he from?). Of course, I could not pronounce it correctly - you know that NY accent is very difficult to change! I was very anxious to give it a try (the spaetzle thing not changing the accent thing - that will never happen-it's too ingrained). There was a bounty (is this the word of the day or something? - scream real loud*) of recipes out there. I tried this one because it said they were light and that was what I was in the mood for. Spaetzle (Adapted from Smitten Kitchen ) 7 eggs 1/4 c milk 2 c flour Beat the eggs and then add milk. Whisk in the flour. Let sit for at least an hour in the refrigerator.  It will look very liquidy. Remove from refrigerator. Boil water and add salt. Place a colander or Spaetzle maker over water.  Pardon the elbow in the way there ...

2 lone lemons I've patiently been waiting for the lemons on my lemon tree. We've had the "tree" for about 4 years. Every year I get real excited because it gets tons of flowers and then gets tons of little baby lemons. Then they all fall off one by one and we end up with 2 lemons. They usually are ripe anywhere between November or December. I always try to make something special with them since they are such a scarce commodity. Something where lemons are center stage. They have a very thin skin and are very lemony. Look how thin the skin is So this year it was a classic dish - Spaghetti al Limone. I came upon this via Smitten Kitchen who came upon it via American's Test Kitchen. Spaghetti al Limone 1lb spaghetti, linguine,  angel hair pasta 1/4 c olive oil 1/4 c heavy cream 3 lemons or about 1/3-1/2 c lemon juice zest from 3 lemons 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup fresh parsley Fresh basil (optional) salt/pepper Boil pasta in salted...

I know, I know,  I already posted a lemon pasta recipe but this one is a little different. I had some lemons in the refrigerator and was all ready to make that recipe again but then I realized we had a nice little crop of spinach in the garden waiting to be picked. Basil, Spinach & Garlic ready to go Lemon Pasta with Spinach (loosely based on Smitten Kitchen ) l lb pasta 1/4 c olive oil 2 cloves garlic 3 lemons, juice and zest 1/4 c  heavy cream handful of basil a generous bunch of fresh spinach, chopped into strips 1/4 c grated Parmesan salt/pepper Cook pasta until al dente in salted water. Remove pasta and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.  Set pasta aside. Dry pot and pour olive oil into pot.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Carefully add lemon juice. Stir in heavy cream.  Add basil and spinach.  Stir and then add pasta.  Stir in Parmesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper. Add some of the pasta water if you feel...

I never used to like hummus. When you think about it, it's not really the most appealing looking dish. It's sort of tan-ish and the texture can be quite awful. But I'm here to tell you the secret to smooth hummus. It's removing the skins from the chick peas.  I first read about it over on Smitten Kitchen . The first time I tried it, it was revolutionary! Now it may seem a little time consuming to be squishing those chick peas out of their skins, but I tell you, it is well worth it.  You just need to press on them a little and the skin comes right off. Hummus 15oz can of chick peas or about 1c dried chick peas (soaked) juice and zest from 1 lemon 1 shallot 1/4 c Tahini salt/pepper 1/4 - 1/2 c olive oil If you are using the dried chicken peas go to Hip Pressure Cooking and read how to use your pressure cooker to cook them. It is well worth the effort to use the dried chick peas but if you are in a rush go ahead and use the canned. Skin the chick peas.  You ju...