From what I can tell, I cannot link to the original recipe, which means, GASP, I have to retype it. Boo.

Roasted Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives, adapted from Real Simple Magazine

• 1 lemon
• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 1 head garlic, cloves separated but unpeeled
• 1 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 8 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 3-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine

Heat oven to 425. Use a vegetable peeler to cut long strips of zest from the lemon. Save the lemon. In a large, rimmed pan, toss the tomatoes, garlic, olives, thyme and lemon zest with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Nestle the chicken, skin-side up, among the veggies and drizzle with remaining oil. Season with (a lot of) salt and pepper. Put into preheated oven until the chicken is cooked, 35 to 40 minutes.

Remove chicken to a serving dish and cover with foil. Squeeze the lemon juice into the pan, along with the white wine. Gently stir, scraping up any bits stuck to the pan. Serve the veggies and pan sauce with chicken.

The original recipe called for kidney beans, but Patrick made the executive decision to use cannelloni instead. Kidney beans can’t possibly taste better, so I say you do it Patrick’s way. Serve with crusty bread.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think this soup would be tasty without the pancetta. If you are a vegetarian, I’m sorry. You made your decision.

Pasta e Fagioli

adapted from the Food Channel’s Giada De Laurentis

Ingredients

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 ounces pancetta, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 5 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup elbow macaroni
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Wrap the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and secure closed with kitchen twine (uh, sewing thread). Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, pancetta, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, beans, and sachet of herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the sachet. Puree 1 cup of the bean mixture in a blender until smooth, or just dunk a handblender in the soup and run it until you like the consistency (it should just be slightly creamy). Before putting the puree back into the soup, add the macaroni and boil with the lid on until it is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Return the puree to the remaining soup in the saucepan and stir well. Season the soup with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.

I made these with a friend’s birthday in mind, and they somehow never made it to her. I may be a bad friend, but I think the larger point here is that these cookies are effin good.

I didn’t have any pecans or walnuts to add, but I still wanted some diversity of texture. Also, I wanted to give the cookies a deep chocolate taste that might just stop me from eating a bunch of them all at once. My solution was cacao nibs. They gave the cookies a

slight crunch and a wonderful deep chocolate flavor. And yet, I definitely ate a bunch of them at once. Win some, lose some.

Next time, I think I will add more of the nibs. Otherwise, they were perfect.

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted from the brilliant The Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips

1/4 cup cacao nibs (next time, I plan to double this amount)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a stand mixer (or not) until it is fluffy and light in color. Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.  Add baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, cacao nibs and flour until cookie batter is well combined.  Mix in chocolate chips.  The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.  Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until tops of cookies are slightly firm to the touch.  Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes.  Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface.  Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Having learned that I am cliche (albeit one who enjoys vegetables), I would have to make do with the ingredients already in my pantry.

Which brings me to this puppy. I had most of what I needed. One major omission, which I noticed after half the ingredients were in the stand mixer, was oatmeal.

I used steal cut oats instead, which worked surprisingly well, making for a good, crunchy cookie. Next time, I think I will go halfsies between steal cut and rolled oats.

This is a keeper.

Salty Oat Cookies, via Svelte Gourmand

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (Who plans this far ahead? I cut up the butter and mix it until it submits)
1 cup packed brown sugar (I was about a quarter cup short of this, so I added more white sugar, and some molasses)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups oats (See note above. I used steal cut, but I will use half rolled oats next time)
2/3 cup raisins (I used about a cup)
Crushed sea salt (I used kosher)

Preheat the oven to 375º.
Whip the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until you have a smooth mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and flour. Add this to the butter mixture above and stir or blend using a hand blender well.

Add the oats and raisins. Stir until well-combined.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Place heaping spoonfuls of the dough on cookie sheets, about 1-2 inches apart.

Then, sprinkle the cookies with well-crushed sea salt or a bit of kosher table salt. You should be able to see the salt, the same way you would if you sprinkled sugar on top.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes (the cookies will look golden brown when done), then transfer to a rack or plate to cool before eating.

Incidentally, we also learned that it is the perfect blizzard food.

The recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated’s online database, to which I attribute any cooking skills I may have developed at all. We followed the instructions like our lives depended on it.

Curry with Potatoes, Cauliflower, Peas, and Chickpeas, from Cooks Illustrated

This curry is moderately spicy when made with one chile. For more heat, use an additional half chile. [We used one and a half chilies, and it was pretty mild, but maybe ours were weak.] For a mild curry, remove the chile’s ribs and seeds before mincing. Onions can be pulsed in a food processor. You can substitute 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon for the garam masala. Serve with Basmati Rice Pilaf (see related recipe), passing yogurt and at least one type of chutney or relish at the table, (see related recipes and tastings).

Instructions

1. 1. Toast curry powder and garam masala in small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until spices darken slightly and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove spices from skillet and set aside.
2. 2. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized and potatoes are golden brown on edges, about 10 minutes. (Reduce heat to medium if onions darken too quickly.)
3. 3. Reduce heat to medium. Clear center of pan and add remaining tablespoon oil, garlic, ginger, chile, and tomato paste; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add toasted spices and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute longer. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring constantly, until spices coat florets, about 2 minutes longer.
4. 4. Add tomatoes, water, chickpeas, and 1 teaspoon salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to boil, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Simmer briskly, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in peas and cream or coconut milk; continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes longer. Adjust seasoning with salt and serve immediately, passing condiments separately.

It was only after I started mixing the sugar and butter that I realized that the recipe only made six cupcakes. And, although that was probably just the right amount to bring, greeting a host with my measly six cupcakes just seemed wrong. So, I used the tiny cupcake pan. I’m clever.

They turned out pretty well. They weren’t too sweet, and the icing was very tangy. My only complaints were that the icing was a little thin, and the cupcakes were just a touch too close to muffins. But I like muffins, too, so everybody wins.

Citrus Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Icing, from Chocolate Shavings
Makes 6 cupcakes
3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Zest of 1 lemo
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 stick of room temperature butter
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon curd
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Icing:
1/4 cup of sour cream
3 tablespoons of lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a small bowl, mix the flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, add the sugar and butter. Using a mixer, beat the sugar and butter until the mixture is homogeneous (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one by one, beating until just incorporated. Add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon curd and beat until just incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture. Once the mixture is just homogeneous, scoop one ice cream scoop of batter into a cupcake-lined muffin time. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Leave to cool on a cooling rack while you make the icing.

Using a small whisk, whisk the lemon curd into the sour cream making sure to remove any lumps. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, ice them. Enjoy!

I suspect I will be making this salmon burger recipe a lot. Eventually, I might even carefully follow the directions. But the changes I made this time worked out great.

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients

• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh gingerroot (my ginger was laughably old and shriveled. Apparently didn’t matter.)
• a 3/4-pound piece salmon fillet, skin discarded and fish chopped roughly
• 1/2 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
• 2 scallions, chopped fine (nope, didn’t have em. Used celery, which worked great)
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 4 small green-leaf lettuce leaves (Didn’t have any. Would have been good, though)
• 8 slices firm pumpernickel (Negatory. I had Kaiser rolls. They were yum.)
• Dijon Mustard

Whisk together egg white, soy sauce, and gingerroot until combined well and add to salmon, bread crumbs, scallions, mustard seeds, and salt to taste. In a food processor purée 1/3 cup salmon mixture and return to salmon mixture remaining in bowl. Stir mixture to combine and form into four 3/4-inch-thick patties.

In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and cook patties until golden, about 2 minutes on each side. Cook patties, covered, over moderate heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes more. When they are done, sit them on a couple of paper towels.

Meanwhile open the rolls and toast them well, cut side up. Spread some mustard on and plop the burgers in them.  Man, I loved these guys.

Directions

1. Place mint, buttermilk, sour cream, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor or jar of a blender; process until thoroughly combined. Transfer to a bowl; set sauce aside.
2. Add 2 teaspoons oil to a large cast-iron skillet or broiler pan; place under broiler so that bottom is about 5 inches from heat source. Turn broiler on.
3. Score salmon skin crosswise in three places to roughly portion the fish into 4 pieces. Rub remaining teaspoon oil over skin; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
4. When oil in skillet begins to smoke, lay fish, skin-side up, in skillet and cook until skin is blistered and charring, about 5 1/2 minutes for medium-rare.
5. Cut salmon along scoring lines into 4 portions. Serve, skin-side up, with sauce.

From The Martha Stewart Show, January 2010

Bison Burger with Cabernet and Onions and Wisconsin Cheddar.

Barley Vegetable Soup

Tuscan Meatloaf with Roasted Red Potatoes

Spiced Chicken Stew With Carrots