If you bought into the media hype, you knew winter storm Elliot was going to kill us all. Comparisons to the blizzard of ’78 were flying everywhere, and I understand there was nowhere nearby to get eggs, milk, or bread. In reality, we only got about an inch and a half of snow. But the cold. The cold meant doing everything possible to stay inside! With wind chills approaching -40, traveling any further than the sheep barn was not in the cards for us.
But, Xenia had foraged some winter oyster mushrooms ahead of the storm, and I had some old, leftover Neapolitan style pizza dough. It was really too old to make good pizzas, and since the pizza oven is an outdoor only appliance, I wasn’t going to be making pizzas anyway. But, a savory onion, mushroom, and cheese roll for breakfast? That sounds perfect for a cold day next to the wood stove!
I didn’t realize I hadn’t posted my Grand Marnier Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies to the blog. What an oversight! They’re only the best cookie in existence!
Who doesn’t love Indian food? And, among Indian food lovers, Chicken Tika Masala must be one of the absolute favorites.
I was sure it would work well in the crockpot, but it took me several tries to get a result that had the flavor I liked. In the end, I actually found the answer in a cookbook I already owned, Neela Paniz’ The New Indian Slow Cooker. Continue reading →
I love my bagels. My wife loves my bagels. People love my bagels. I’ve often been asked for the recipe for them. So I’ll share here. Continue reading →
A schmear is a bit of cultural appropriation, and probably shouldn’t be used. But it’s also a yummy topping for bagels. Schmears are simple and perfect for improvisation, so you can use this same process for different ingredients. They can be very seasonal: basil-sun dried tomato-seranno pepper is a favorite summer schmear. They can be savory: oregano-sundried tomato. They can be sweet: toasted walnut-honey. You get the idea.
My most frequent schmear, especially in winter when I need a reminder that summer will be back someday, is pesto schmear.