Garlic Scapes

I love how these things grow...

Spinach Cigars with Tzatziki

I knew I had to make these spinach cigars when I received the email from Tasting Table. I already had the phyllo languishing in my freezer, purchased weeks ago for the bisteeya that I still haven't gotten around to making. This was the first time I've worked with phyllo, and it wasn't as devilishly hard to handle as I thought it would be. You just have to work fast and not panic, even when the edges of the sheets start tearing. Also make sure the cigars aren't crowded together on the baking sheet. Mine were and the parts that touched each other ended up blistering and sticking to each other. Not pretty! I had to strategically arrange them for this photo.

Antep Pistachio Kebabs

Ok, so these technically aren't kebabs since I am skewer-less and, more importantly, barbecue-less, but I wasn't going to let details like that stop me from making these. I actually wasn't a fan of lamb the first time I tried it--some tough, overcooked piece I nabbed from a friend's dish at a Chinese restaurant--but I decided to give it another go when I had dinner at a Turkish restaurant uptown. I have to admit, it didn't completely win me over at that time either, but something about it appealed to me since some time after that, I decided to pick up a package of ground lamb when I noticed them at Whole Foods and that's it; that's all she wrote.

Oh Fiddlesticks!

April showers are announcing the arrival of spring (though the weather's been topsy turvy, yeah?), which means the arrival of asparagus, garlic scapes, rhubarb, and these gnarly things. I bought some fiddlehead ferns last year since people seem to go crazy over them; plus, they just look wicked cool, and I have a weakness for novelty items. Then the enthusiasm flew out the window the moment I ate a piece. They weren't bad - but there wasn't anything to merit all the fanfare. I vaguely recall boiling them to get rid of any toxins, then sauteeing some with butter and salt whilst tossing the remainder into a risotto. But all you guys out there can't be wrong, which leads me to the conclusion that I'm just not cooking them the right way.

So, anybody know any great recipes featuring these things?

Lemon Curd Cakes!

We've surprisingly received some snow here last night--just when we thought spring was here. Why not brighten your day with these gooey, sweet + tart treats? The cake was simple to make, but don't let that fool you: the silky lemon curd and butter gives it a satisfying dense richness. I love the bits where the lemon curd caramelized on the crust.

Roast Chicken Diavolo

This recipe calls for an insane amount of black pepper--an entire tablespoon of it--but it was surprisingly not overwhelming at all. It gave the chicken a nice kick, and the roasted pepper and onions balanced out the heat with their sweetness.

This is the third roast chicken recipe that I've tried from Mindy Fox's excellent cookbook, and it's as delicious as the other two. I finally couldn't stand the monotony of roasting chicken the same two ways I've been doing since I've started roasting the damn birds, and I had the good fortune to run across the book one weekend. Not only are there interesting recipes for roast chicken, there are the various side dishes and recipes for soups, salads, sandwiches and pasta that you can add your chicken to. This book is fast becoming a favorite--everything looks relatively simple and delicious!

Maple Crème Caramel

If you have a serious sweet tooth, you'll love this recipe. I'm not gonna lie, this was deliciously smooth and I enjoyed every bite, but seriously, it could have used a lot less sugar. I'd recommend lowering the amount of maple syrup for the custard and eliminating the sugar altogether; however, I'm not sure if this will affect the texture of the custard. It could have done without the caramel as well.

Tomato Fennel Soup with Fennel Orange Gremolata

For those living in the cold corners of the world, this post is for you. Spring has been flirting with us here in NYC, random warm days coyly flitting about here and there between periods of brutal cold. This soup is the perfect antidote, especially when served with a grilled cheese brioche sandwich. It's also easily thrown together and ready within the hour.

Fennel, Feta, Blood Orange Salad

I'm a bit ashamed that I've sadly neglected this blog for almost a year! I hope to redeem myself this year: I recently bought several cookbooks to inject some inspiration in the kitchen. Here's one of the dishes I made based on a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's Ottolenghi.

The original recipe calls for pomegranate seeds, but pomegranate season seems to have passed me by. I substituted blood oranges since they work so well with fennel. And there we go.

I'll give you guys the original recipe since I used it more as a guideline and I haven't a clue how much of each ingredient I actually used. Adjust to taste!

Gnocchi with Bison and Mushroom Ragu

For the longest time, I had wanted to make fresh pasta but had been too intimidated to try, but when I saw a recipe for gnocchi with pork ragu in Bon Appetit, I knew it was time to get down to it. I then promptly berated myself for waiting so long: it was fun, satisfying, and delicious! The dish was so addictive that I had to make it again a few nights later. A girl's gotta make up for lost time, right?

I decided to use ground bison instead of pork since it was more convenient, and I'd wanted to cook with bison meat for a while. Two birds, one stone: that's how we roll at WTF. I was also doubtful whether the gnocchi would turn out well as the blocks of dough plopped and sunk into the boiling water, but lo and behold, they miraculously floated up after a minute. Success!

Beef Stew with Craig's Beer Bread

So I was immediately intrigued when Craig happened to mention he had a wicked beer bread recipe at work one day. I've heard rumors of people roasting chickens or turkeys with beer, but never in bread, though it's rather logical when you think about it. Craig mentioned that his last batch made with a can of Bud came out really well, and I was all gung-ho to do the same, except I then found a forgotten bottle of Heineken in the kitchen. And really, if I don't have to buy an extra ingredient, so much the better. I thought I'd get a nice-ish bottle (we're only so classy here at WTF) of French wine for the beef stew to make up for the Bud, but then I found a small bottle of questionable wine that my grandmother had picked up as a party favor at a wedding. It contained exactly one cup of wine. Perfecto.

The beer bread ended up tasting like banana bread. Go figure. And the beef stew was great back when the weather was freezing. I might add more cumin next time, though.

Swiss Chard

This is a cop out as far as updates go, but isn't the Swiss Chard glorious?

I'll have a more substantial post within the next few days, stay tuned...