Entree: Cheddar, Corn, and Roasted Tomato Pie (Parade of Pies, Part 13)

Finally, at long last, we have the top-rated #1 winner of the pie parade! This delicious, eclectic pie was inspired by smitten kitchen’s recipe, and then edited to the right level of moisture that I wanted for the inside of the pie by roasting the tomatoes instead of blanching them. The result is reminiscent of sun-dried tomatoes, and can be combined with various other veggies that roast well (leeks, spring garlic, etc.) to create fun variations on the filling for this pie.

Roasted tomatoes are a magical transformation of their fresh counterparts, but some types are too delicate for this process. I recommend a tomato that is likely to hold up in a roast and really retain a ton of flavor, such as Roma/plums, San Marzanos, or some local Heirlooms.

By switching to a cheddar cheese-infused crust, it really enhances the color and flavor to make this pie absolutely irresistible. Don’t forget to make some cute steam vents on top, they’ll brown up a bit at the end and show off this pie to make it a winner at any meal.

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Entree: Shepherd’s Pie (Parade of Pies, Part 12)

This photo does not do justice to the scrumptiousness that was this pie. It wasn’t pretty but it was one of the tastiest of all the pies, which is why it’s the second to last one on this list. A shepherd’s pie is a meat pie with a mashed potato topping. I decided to make this a deep dish casserole, and so I did not include a bottom crust. You might find this pie reminiscent of our staple biscuit-topped chicken pot pie.

While this was one of the least conventional pies we made, I’m so glad we included it. The gravy was savory and packed with flavor. My mouth is watering remembering this pie, even though I ate it over four months ago. Several friends at our pie parade told us that they thought they didn’t like shepherd’s pie until they tried this one. I can’t take total credit for it though – the recipe was Alton Brown’s. I made a few changes to stretch it for a larger group.

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Red Beans and Rice, a new staple ’round here

 

Adapted from Alton Brown’s fabulous recipe, this hearty donburi-type dish recently became an instant favorite in our regular dinner rotation. Not willing to pickle our own pork (for the time being), we found that using thickly-sliced slab bacon makes the whole texture of the dish turn to silk. You could leave the bacon out for a vegetarian/kosher version of the dish, but a good portion of the flavor and texture will be missing.

It seems funny to post about this hearty, belly-warming stew in the 90-100 F heat of July, but I assure you, once you get a taste of this from your own kitchen, you’ll want to enjoy some in the comfort of your own home with the A/C turned on!

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Luscious, Unbelievable Beets and Ricotta

I’ve always loved beets: their color, a magenta that still seems unnatural every time I see it; their texture, tender and meaty; their flavor, bright, earthy and fruity. As a beet fan, it doesn’t take much to convince me that something with roasted beets in it is going to be delicious.

But because I enjoy them au naturel, I don’t usually do much to dress them up. I’ll generally roast them (or buy them already prepared), slice them and throw them on a salad or just eat them as a side with some salt and pepper.  So I somehow never thought to chop them, mix them up with ricotta cheese of all things, and stuff them into pasta. Why complicate something that’s so good when it’s simple? Because it’s ungodly good, that’s why.

That’s what I found out last weekend, when my friend Emma from Follows The Sun visited. She brought along this recipe for Casunsiei (Beet and Ricotta ravioli), which reminded her of a formative summer she spent interning at the restaurant that is famous for them.

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Sweet and Spicy Morocco-inspired Tomato Sauce

After spending a weekend in a place even colder than New York, I really can’t help but dream of warmer places. Maybe it’s just me, but nothing warms me up like the deep seductive flavors of the Mediterranean. Thinking of food that even hints of places like Morocco seems to usher in a premature summer. At least for a moment. I think that my imagination is one of the only things getting me through this bitterly cold winter.

I was introduced to this dish by my host mom in France. She would let it stew in a makeshift tajine, with pieces of chicken folded into the sauce to soak up all the flavors. The scent of cinnamon, honey and tomato would waft warmly through the house. It was the perfect way to end a blustery Parisian day. We would eat it ladled over a mound of couscous, or just sop up the sauce with bread, licking it off the chicken and our fingers.

Since then, I’ve made a lot of changes to this recipe. Sometimes I add slivered almonds, I almost always add spicy roasted chickpeas, and I’ve even toyed with swapping out eggs for chicken for a shakshuka inspired dish. I usually have rice around more often than couscous, so I pour it over rice instead. Like many tomato sauces, this one is quite versatile, so try it and enjoy it any way you like.

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Warm, Creamy Smooth Carrot Soup (Potage Crécy)

Bundling up in this cold winter can only do so much to keep you warm. While I was studying in France, I remember seeing vending machines that dispensed steaming cups of potage, a smooth and thick peasant’s soup of winter vegetables, and thinking that the French had the right idea. Healthier than a cup of hot cocoa, and as simple as a soup can be, potage crécy uses just carrots, potatoes, leeks (or onions in this case), and a spot of milk.

This is my favorite kind of dish: filling, delicious, easy, quick and made with ingredients I pretty much always have around. I found this recipe in a rare but well used cookbook from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs called “America Cooks” that we came across in a used book store for one dollar years ago. I’ve since tweaked the recipe so it is a bit different from the original, though I must say that if you ever find a copy of one of these books, it is a great resource to have around.

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Mashed Potatoes and Hearty Greens

Potatoes and hearty greens are a huge staple of our diet when it starts to get cold outside. The days get shorter, and we get lazier. When you want something that will stick to your ribs, keep you warm, but also deliver a daily dose of greens, this is a stupidly-fast and easy dish to make.

This dish is based on the Irish classic colcannon, made a bit lighter with more greens, and vegetarian. Done this way, the dish is a more about the succulent flavorful greens than the potatoes.

Potatoes are always on hand in our pantry. When greens are plentiful, we stock up and always have some raw in our fridge or chopped and pre-cooked in our freezer. If you don’t have access to fresh, frozen greens are just as nutritious and can simply be defrosted and drained to add to the potatoes in this recipe.

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Shakshuka: Eggs poached in tomato sauce

When you’re down to the dregs of your pantry, and your refrigerator is about to be bare, what do you make for dinner? Well, if you’re me, and you’ve put off shopping for some weeks (out of business and a bit of laziness), you take the last two eggs you’ve got and crack them into a bubbling pan of tomato sauce.  Add a few hunks of bread and you’ve got a quick meal of shakshuka, a Middle Eastern dish, for one or two to help clean out your pantry.

This meal can be done quick with just a few eggs and tomato sauce from a can, or it can be elaborate with chopped onions, peppers, an a dozen eggs baked in the oven. Like all of my favorite recipes, it’s really up to what you’re in the mood for and what ingredients you’ve got on hand. And no matter how much you pretty it up, it will always be a relatively cheap, satisfying dish. It would be really  hard to mess this dish up.

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Soul Food Success: Fried Chicken, Sweet Potato Wedges, Corn Pudding

As promised, following up from last weekend, here are the results of the Mother’s Day soul food feast. I think the pictures practically speak for themselves. The food was a triumph! The only problem now is that since I know how very easy it is to make perfect fried chicken at home, I’ll want it all the time. I made a few adjustments to the recipes that were new to me (I can never resist). Keep reading for notes on how I made the perfectly fried chicken, sweet potato wedges and corn pudding.

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Mother’s Day Soul Food

I usually post after a meal is eaten and gone, but I’m going to try something a little different this week. I’m going to share the recipes for what I’m making before I make it, and then I’ll let you know how it went and if I made any adjustments to the recipes while cooking. And of course, I’ll include pictures, because I know that’s mostly what I read food blogs for anyway.

For Mother’s Day I want to treat my family to a hearty soul food dinner. Being in Harlem and so close to so many soul food meccas, I first thought I would pick up some giant pieces of fried chicken from Sylvia’s Restaurant, but even though ordering in would be so easy, I’d so much rather try to make it myself. I want to cook up what I imagine (being a Jewish girl from New York) would be a perfect after-church picnic. Considering my mother’s all-time favorite food is chicken, I know she’ll just love it.

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