outta mind outta site

A cooking delight

Remember, lo, a billion years ago, when I did my 30 while 30 project? (The tldr version for you who are newer: I listed 30 goals I wanted to accomplish while I was 30 - everything from learning to pitch a tent to paying off my student loans. I got most of them done!) One of my goals there was to teach myself to cook. That's right, I'd reached 30 and barely knew how to scramble an egg, boil a pot of water, or butter my own toast. I was a straight up disaster in the cooking front. 

In the years since then, mostly thanks to that 30 while 30 kickstart I've achieved what I would call "relatively decent cookdom." (TM) I'm not a great cook, but I'm not a bad one, and I can finally say I know my way around a kitchen. I even know how to make rice! (Seriously. I didn't know how to make rice at one point, so this IS an accomplishment.) I cooked everything from homemade pasta to fried chicken to scallops.

In December of 2015, when I was doing some reflecting on why the year had ended up so crappy, one of the things that popped to mind was that I had barely cooked at all. I, like many people, I think, take much solace in cooking. It is meditative; it makes you feel accomplished; it nourishes the body AND the soul (or whatever). So when I was making my list of goals for 2016, cooking once a week made the cut.

So far I've cooked several delicious things in the new year, and what I hoped was true: it's rewarding. It makes me feel happy. It keeps me occupied during my social media diet, hours I probably would spend otherwise scrolling endlessly through Facebook. To encourage the continuation of this, I blocked out Friday and Sunday on my google calendar to remind myself I have to cook one of those nights. It's worked so far, and I wanted to share the especially delicious things I've made in 2016. As I come across more good recipes, I'll share them here, too.

Dark chocolate salted oreo pie

This thing is like five ingredients and gloriously goopy and delicious. Definitely freeze it before you serve it though - I don't think I did for long enough and both the chocolate and caramel layers were really difficult to cut through and all the servings sort of ended up a mess. But they also all got eaten to the last crumb. I would definitely make it in a springform or a fluted pie tin where you can remove the sides, as that should make it a lot easier to cut and serve. I just did it in a regular pie pan and boy THAT was a mistake. WILL YOU EVER LEARN CATHERINE?

Roast chicken in milk

I'm a little of the mind that all decent roast chicken recipes are pretty good, but it's fun to experiment. This one creates a very moist, cinnamon-spiced roast chicken, with delicious accompanying golden lemony sauce to pour over it. Tip: I didn't brown it well enough up front (have you ever tried to brown a chicken in a small pot with a stick of butter using only a set of tongs and spoon up the chicken's butt? It's not easy) but I wish I'd tried harder because it would have made it taste even better.

West African peanut soup

Turns out if you mix broth, tomato paste, and a crap ton of peanut butter all together (adding in a lot of other stuff, of course) you get this tasty soup. It's nice and thick. I eat it over rice. Very easy and a good winter meal.

No-knead bread

I know I already raved about this in a different blog post and I KNOW all of you cool people have already made bread a billion times in your life but I NEVER HAD because making bread is like BEING A WIZARD and it seemed totally incomprehensibly difficult how exactly does a SOLID LOAF OF BREAD come out of some flour and water but it DOES and when it is done you're like I'M A FUCKING MAGICIAN and then you eat the entire loaf covered in butter and cheese and life is great. I'm going to make this every couple of weeks this year.

What recipes would you recommend to me for my 2016 cook once a week goal?  

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #28: Sweet Potato Ravioli in Cheese Broth

Last June Zach and I went to Brooklyn for the weekend. He'd lived there a few years before moving to DC and took me to one of his favorite spots, Frankie's in Carroll Gardens. I lucked out when ordering the sweet potato ravioli in cheese broth. It was enticing - sweet, savory, spicy, lots of other adjectives that start with S, etc - and I thought I hadn't had pasta so good since the last time I was in Italy, and despaired of only ever having it every time I went up to Brooklyn.

But just days later, my prapers were answered, and Serious Eats posted the recipe to the very dish I was obsessing over! You know what was funny? The ravioli was made with WONTON wrappers!

I set out a few weeks ago to recreate the dish and found it relatively easy for such a complex-tasting meal. It does require several steps, as well as finding wonton wrappers (I could only find egg roll wrappers at Whole Foods, which, when cut to circular sizes with a can, seemed to work), but it's well worth it. And the cheese broth - so simple, so delicious. Who knew adding a parmesan rind to some simmering water would end up so tasty? The one caveat is that making the ravioli, stuffing the wrapper, sealing it, etc etc, takes absolutely forever, so prepare some time. However, you can make these ahead of time and freeze them for later, too.

 

Anyways, in short, very recommended. You make it in your kitchen and end up with a dish that tastes like it came out of a really great restaurant. Which, I guess, it does! You can find the full recipe here.

 

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #27: Pork Ragu with Homemade Pasta

Wondering what this is? As part of a list of 30 goals I want to accomplish while I'm 30, I promised that I would cook one recipe a week. You can see the list of recipes so far here.

Woo! I'm cooking again! Sunday, blessed Sunday. This past Sunday I had literally nothing to do except a quick brunch with my family. This meant two things: I could BUY ALL THE THINGS at the Bloomingdale Farmers Market, and I had several hours of uninterrupted time to cook to my heart's content. So I chose a rather involved recipe: This Macheesmo recipe for pork ragu. Not content with cooking something that took 6 hours, I decided to make homemade tagliatelle to accompany it. (Here's my original post on making fresh pasta; the recipe and method are the same as I used there.)

The result? 

It was mindblowingly good. And really, though the recipe DOES take several hours, it's mostly unattended simmering, so it's pretty easy. One thing of note: my ragu took far less time than Macheesmo's to finish simmering. So just keep a close eye on it, and look out for when the liquid has finish mostly reducing. But otherwise: perfection. Kriston and Lana came over to try it out and we couldn't stop stuffing our faces. Recommended!

>> See all Catherine Learns to Cook posts

Orange Polenta Cake with Vanilla-Scented Blackberry Plum Compote

It's been a while since I baked anything, what with all this ever-loving never-ending cooking I'm doing in the kitchen these days. But I knew I was going to be able to go to the Bloomingdale Farmers Market this morning for the first time in ages and ages, and I knew peaches and blackberries and plums and a million other amazing fruits were going to be calling my name, and I was determined to bake something delicious out of them.

I hit it on the nose with this cake. It's incredibly easy and a wonderful way to incorporate fresh fruit into a dessert. It's nice and spongy, with just a hint of orange, and the blackberries and plums are so, so magnificent. The recipe says to serve it with buttermilk ice cream, but the thought of making homemade ice cream in addition to everything else I cooked today was just exhausting, so I served it with a simple whipped cream. 

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #22: Shredded Pork Shoulder

Wondering what this is? As part of a list of 30 goals I want to accomplish while I'm 30, I promised that I would cook one recipe a week. You can see the list of recipes so far here.

One of my favorite things to eat in this city is the pork shoulder on a garlic trencher at Bar Pilar. Every time Zach and I go there we order it without fail (usually whatever variation of mushrooms they have, too) and every time, without doubt, it makes our eyes roll back in our heads, it's so good.

Zach left today for a 1-2 month stint for work out in California, and I figured since I'm going to have a lot of time coming up, I should try to perfect the elusive Bar Pilar pork shoulder. I started out with this Kitchn recipe, and holy moly. It was no Bar Pilar version (the flavoring was totally different, which I knew going in) but it ruled my world anyways. Photos and directions below.

I suppose I could have plated this a bit better.

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #15: Sweet Fennel Scallops with Caramelized Onion Orzo

Wondering what this is? As part of a list of 30 goals I want to accomplish while I'm 30, I promised that I would cook one recipe a week. You can see the list of recipes so far here.

Oh my, you guys. This past Friday I was googling around for recipe inspiration. The week'd been blah, I wasn't feeling the whole cooking enterprise, and nothing sounded good. Somehow I hit on the idea of scallops—I hadn't ever cooked them before, and they sounded light and refreshing and not too difficult for a novice chef. 

Instead of going to marthastewart.com or Epicurious, I just started surfing. Somehow, I came across this google image, and was like, "Holy moly. I must make that." And so I did.

The stars of the show. Bonus: More things to do with fennel!

The fennel/red onion/orange mix reducing.

The scallops, ready to go into the pan. Whole Foods didn't have "jumbo" scallops, so I just used..."normal-sized" scallops.

The only complaint about this recipe I had was the cooking time for the orzo was way too much. 15 minutes? I'd never made orzo before and figured maybe it needed some extra boiling time, but instead I ended up sorely overcooking it and it was a bit soggy. Lesson learned. But how can I complain too much when I ended up with this?

>> See all Catherine Learns to Cook posts

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #14: Roast Chicken With Asparagus and Potatoes

Wondering what this is? As part of a list of 30 goals I want to accomplish while I'm 30, I promised that I would cook one recipe a week. You can see the list of recipes so far here.

Well, folks, this one's a winner. And just about the easiest thing ever to do. Also: seasonally appropriate! Asparagus! Also? Easy clean up, because everything is done in one roasting pan! 

The internet taught me a nifty trick about asparagus. All recipes always say to trim the asparagus, and I'm never sure what that means, or where I'm supposed to trim it. But I found a video that said to gently bend the asparagus in half from both ends until it snaps. Do it to a few stalks, and that's where you should be trimming your asparagus. You can line up those snapped ones with the non-trimmed stalks, then just take your knife to the rest and chop them to match up. Brilliant!

Pre-oven. The store was out of thyme so I subbed rosemary. And they were out of new potatoes so I subbed red ones. Lots of subbing going on, but it didn't detract from the deliciousness.

The finished product! The chicken was juicy, the potatoes unbelievable, and the asparagus flavorful and tender. The recipe is from Martha, naturally. Here it is. Accompanied by my "fancy Catherine salad": spinach, blue cheese, mandarin oranges tossed with vinegar and olive oil.

>> See all Catherine Learns to Cook posts

Catherine Learns to Cook: Recipe #13: Fresh Pasta

Wondering what this is? As part of a list of 30 goals I want to accomplish while I'm 30, I promised that I would cook one recipe a week. You can see the list of recipes so far here.

A couple of years ago, Lana gave me her Kitchen Aid stand mixer pasta attachment (because, I believe, she didn't have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and I did; either that or she's insanely generous/insane). I exclaimed in gratitude, then promptly stored it away in a cabinet, because honestly? The thought of making fresh pasta seemed completely overwhelming and involved. If my kitchen skills at that time including being proud for scrambling eggs properly, I think I figured making pasta would be like tackling Mount Everest when I could barely walk. 

But as mentioned before, this Catherine Learns to Cook series has given me some more confidence in the kitchen, and so, with two days off this past week, I decided to devote Friday afternoon to making fresh pasta. And guys, two things: 1. I'm never going back to storebought pasta 2. It's not really all that hard! My pasta, let me show it to you:

Catherine Bakes stuff: Caramel Cake

What with all the REAL LIVE COOKING I've been doing recently, it's a sad truth that my beloved baking has taken a back seat. But, what's this? A family birthday? My father is turning 68? Hello, opportunity knocking! This is Catherine, answering the door. Time to bake a muthafuckin cake. 

My dad was just a little bit older than the number of candles I scrounged up to put on his cake.

Catherine Bakes Stuff: Pumpkin Cupcakes With Brown Butter Icing

So, there's this bake-off at work that I organize annually. It's usually the web team versus the print interns and a few others. I'm not here to brag, but WE FUCKING RULE and have won two years in a row. The third annual Washingtonian bake-off is coming up this week, and I really have to keep the trophy where it belongs. So I tested out a recipe this weekend. And not to tip my hand too much, but I think it's a winner.

There's something really alluring about pumpkin recipes during the fall. Obviously. And Martha Stewart plays into that weird urge to turn everything around you into something pumpkin-flavored from October onward. "Pumpkin and brussel sprouts? Great idea!" "Pumpkin spinach salad? Divine!" "Pumpkin tuna casserole? CAN'T WAIT TO TRY!" Marthastewart.com was recently showing off a pretty pumpkin dessert slideshow, and I couldn't resist the Pumpkin Cake With Brown Butter Icing.

But what's even better than cake? You know what I'm going to say: CUPCAKES! TINY MORSELS FROM HEAVEN!
 
So I took this recipe and tweaked it. It makes about 18 cupcakes; instead of baking for an hour as you must for the cake, bake 18-20 minutes. And voila! You have in your hands a priceless bake-off-winning creation. That reminds me, I better go find my bribe money for the judges. 

Previous Catherine Bakes Stuff:

pumpkin swirl brownies
strawberry custard pie
blueberry crumble bars
giant chocolate cake
not-so-red velvet cupcakes
cherry cobbler
triple citrus cupcakes
pecan bread pudding
rhubarb coffee cake
blueberry mascarpone gingersnap tart / lemon bars
ginger-chocolate brownies
pecan squares
pine-nut cookies with rosemary 
chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

Catherine Bakes Stuff: Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Hi there! Wow, my baking recently has been just as bad as my blogging record. Worse, maybe. But now, it's fall! Season of pumpkin! Nutmeg! Cinnamon everything! And once again, I seem inspired to bake. I made these brownies this morning, and as I type, I have a completely failed pie in the oven. How do I know it failed? Because as I poured in the pie filling, the crust melted apart and floated to the top before my very eyes. But I'm baking it anyways. Why? I'm a masochist, I guess.

Anyways, you can't get more delicious or fall...y than these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from my fave baking lady, Martha Stewart. They are giant and gooey and dense and just goddamned delicious. I'm willing to bet that, according to my general chocolate baking rule, that they will be even better by tomorrow morning. If there are any left to eat, that is.

previous catherine bakes stuff:

strawberry custard pie
blueberry crumble bars
giant chocolate cake
not-so-red velvet cupcakes
cherry cobbler
triple citrus cupcakes
pecan bread pudding
rhubarb coffee cake
blueberry mascarpone gingersnap tart / lemon bars
ginger-chocolate brownies
pecan squares
pine-nut cookies with rosemary
chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

catherine bakes stuff: giant chocolate cake

well, this recipe delivers on its rather hilarious name. it  is giant, it is chocolate, and it is a cake. i also was a fan because it didn't involve baking multiple cake layers.

i made this for my mom's birthday, and the entire family raved over it—and took most of it home, thankfully. so it gets a gold star recipe rating!

this recipe calls for a 12" cake pan, which i didn't have, so instead i just used a 9" springform, which worked well when i didn't end up pouring all the batter into it; i think that would have been too much. i also skipped the edible flowers.

make a day ahead if possible! make the ganache the day of, and let it set for at least two hours.

previous catherine bakes stuff:
not-so-red velvet cupcakes
cherry cobbler
triple citrus cupcakes
pecan bread pudding
rhubarb coffee cake
blueberry mascarpone gingersnap tart / lemon bars
ginger-chocolate brownies
pecan squares
pine-nut cookies with rosemary
chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

gold star recipes

so you know i bake a lot and stuff. some of it is good, some of it is average, and some of it is a complete failure (those recipes usually don't end up on the blog, and believe me, they happen). and some of it? some of it will BLOW YOUR MIND! the fact is, it's not because i'm such an awesome baker that some of the recipes turn out so well. baking doesn't take any talent, except for, you know, being able to read, and measure properly. it's the recipes that do it. with that in mind, i've created a tag for the recipes that have been enormous crowd pleasers.

they can all be found here.

enjoy! and any suggestions on what to bake next?

catherine bakes stuff: cherry cobbler

i rolled out of bed sunday morning, ran a comb through my hair, brushed my teeth, got my coffee at big bear, strolled over to the farmer's market, and i saw them: rows of fresh, fresh cherries from reid's orchard. though i've been off my baking game for a while, i knew right then: if i didn't eat them all in approximately seven minutes, i was going to make something delicious with them.

and i did! i wavered back in forth between a cobbler and a clafoutis (which almost won because you don't necessarily have to pit the cherries) but then i remembered i have a classic, classic cobbler recipe, so i went with that.

i pitted the cherries using MY RAW STRENGTH! (it's actually really easy; twist and push). you toss them with some sugar and some cornstarch, you make the super easy cobbler topping, you bake you bake you bake, and you get this:

recipe below the fold!

catherine bakes stuff: crumb coffee cake with rhubarb

rhubarb is a weird ...vegetable? fruit? i'm not even sure what it is. i have no recollection of having ever eaten it in all of my life, in fact, though i'm sure i have at some point, as strawberry-rhubarb pie is one of my dad's favorites. despite a lack of a previous relationship with rhubarb, though, as soon as i saw this recipe, i knew i had to make it. one, i knew rhubarb had just come into season. two—i mean, just look at it. the entire internet should be making a run on rhubarb for this recipe.

i went to the whole foods the other night and they didn't actually have any rhubarb out. but i pleaded with one of the stock guys and he went in the back and brought out a box for me to pick from. "it just came in," he swore, winking. which was nice of him, but, um, why were they hiding the rhubarb in the back? who knows. success was mine, and i went home to tackle this coffee cake.

it was relatively easy to make, though since i don't have a kitchen scale i think i used too much rhubarb, and too little sugar to coat the rhubarb, so it came out a bit sourer/tangier than i would have liked. but both my parents declared it perfect, so i'll take their word for it. and undeniably, it was better the second day. i don't have much baking advice for folks (all i do is follow the recipes; i have no magic baking insight), but one tip i would advise everyone: if you can, make your baked goods the day before, and serve them the next day. nearly without exception, everything that comes out of my oven is significantly better after a day. not sure why this is. maybe the ingredients settle and mix a bit more? anyways, do it. this was way better; my lemon bars only got better as time went on; and definitely, absolutely, any chocolate baked goods will taste better a day or two later (if you store them in airtight containers, of course).

another note: this coffee cake would be great with a bunch of other fruits. the cake base is excellent, and the crumb topping with have you hoovering up leftover crumbs with your mouth as fast as you can. i think it'd be great with pineapple or cherries, though as smitten kitchen notes, you'd adjust the sugar levels because you wouldn't need nearly as much. as soon as cherries come to the farmers markets, i'm going to give it a shot.

previous catherine makes cookies:
blueberry mascarpone gingersnap tart / lemon bars
ginger-chocolate brownies
pecan squares
pine-nut cookies with rosemary
chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

catherine bakes cook...tarts, and bars, and other stuff

do you have a barbecue to attend this summer? you probably do. have you volunteered to bring dessert? no? well, do so now. because i have the perfect recipe for you.

this, my friends, is a blueberry, mascarpone and gingersnap tart. it is actually not from martha stewart (though the lemon bars i also brought to the bbq, TK below, were), which i am sure you will be shocked by. but that does not mean it is any less worthy!

catherine makes cookies: pecan squares

okay, so they're not technically cookies. but they do make an appearance in martha stewart's cookie recipe book—and also, they're really, really totally amazing. so definitely worth a blog post.

i had a big baking night recently (wild times in the life of catherine). first, i made these pecan bars, then i helped andrew make these carrot cake cupcakes. the cupcakes were a hit, andrew reports, so if you're interested, here's the recipe. but, man. these pecan bars. i can't stop talking about them. i brought them to a BBQ and actually got stopped by strangers who found out i was the one who made them and couldn't stop gushing about them.

you have to make your own crust for these, which is normally a process i find annoying (i guess handmade crust is impressive? but usually just seems like a waste of time to me), but it turned out well here. very buttery and shortbready and flakey.

the rest is easy. once the crust is cooled, all you do is mix a bunch of ingredients together in a saucepan till they're boiling, stir in pecans and vanilla, pour into the crust, bake till the filling starts to bubble, and voila! amazing pecan bars. little squares of heaven.

the recipe is here.

previous catherine makes cookies:
pine-nut cookies with rosemary
chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

catherine makes cookies: chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies

i would just like to say: martha stewart, you are a genius.

ask me a few years ago and i would have scoffed at the idea that martha stewart was anything more than a weirdo tv personality overly obsessed with things like how to make your own crocheted shower curtain and whose existence was a like living inside a plastic snowglobe of stepfordian experiences. or something. what does that even mean? i don't know.

but the times, they are a-changin'. i am a full martha convert. it started when i made a bunch of her cupcake recipes from one of her magazine issues, and everything turned out beautifully. i actually squealed with glee when lana bought me stewart's cookie recipe book. and now that i've made my first recipe out of them, i can tell you: this woman is for real. i still can't vouch for the crocheted shower curtains or making your own yoga mat out of your dogs hair, or whatever, but her recipes are bonkers and amazing. exhibit a? these cookies. photos below.

cupcakes

i've had baker's block for a while. it was sad. no delicious baked goods were being born in my oven; no tasty smells were wafting out of my windows; my kitchenaid stand mixer sat lonely, gathering dust.

until! lana picked up the recent issue of martha stewart living magazine (the one with all the pretty rainbow cupcakes on front) and holy heck, people. this is a good magazine! everything in it looked delicious. and there are so many helpful hints! that martha, she sure knows what she's doing.

anyways, on the cupcake spread page, one recipe in particular jumped out at me: brown-sugar pound cake cupcakes with brown-butter glaze.

people. this recipe. it is bonkers. and the cupcakes were, like, magical. like, you'd pop one in your mouth, and you'd be all, oh, that is good and stuff, but not life changing. and then. something kicked in, and your eyes widened, and then, you ate 37 of them in a row.

i also made her recipe for peanut butter cupcakes, which are tasty, but nowhere near as mind blowing. but i'll take 'em.