Food goodness

Happy new year, friends! My old friend M first found this recipe and I've made it a few times over the last few years, and decided it's basically foolproof. J and I made it last night, and it was massive -- far bigger than a dinner plate -- and wildly delicious. Thanks, Diana ! She recommends plumping the raisins beforehand by covering with hot water or brandy or fruit juice and letting sit for 3 to 5 minutes. (She also has bread machine variations and a few others on her website.) Ingredients : 1 tsp. granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups warm water 2 packages (1/2 oz./4 1/2 tsp./14g) instant yeast or bread yeast 7 to 8 cups bread flour (approximately) 1/8 tsp. powdered saffron or a pinch of saffron threads (optional) 2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup honey 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup (4 oz./8 tbsp./113g) butter or margarine, melted (or 1/2 cup vegetable oil may be used) 3 whole eggs 2 egg yolks 1 1/4 cups golden raisins, plumped *(See below on How to Plump Raisins) Egg Wash: 1 egg yolk

For those of you who read PW, she posted this recipe for Knock You Naked brownies which are a knock-off of DLM's Killer Brownies . Normally I do not use a box mix for anything outside of making Paula Deen's butter cake but 1.) I wanted to take something to work for our training session yesterday and 2.) I haven't had a Killer Brownie since before we moved from Dayton and 3.) they come together quickly. In fact, these brownies were served at my bridal shower in Ohio. Anyway, I made this even easier on myself and not only used cake mix but also used Fleur de Sel caramel from Trader Joe's. Here's the recipe: 1 box german chocolate cake mix 1 stick butter, melted 1.5 C toasted pecans, finely chopped 1/3 C evaporated milk 1 jar caramel sauce 1/3 C chocolate chips powdered sugar for dusting prior to serving Preheat oven to 350 and butter an 8x8 pan. Grease well or you'll have a devil of a time cleaning it later. Also, you can double this recipe and bake in an 9

I have a ridiculous swiss chard surplus from the garden. This year is the first time I've grown chard, and I didn't realize that after you cut it, it grows back, like spinach! Ah, the magic of leafy greens. So I've been trying to think of creative ways to use it, and one of the best I've found, inspired by this blog post , is to make a sort of hash. Chop tons of chard -- like, seriously, way more than you think is reasonable -- and dice the stems pretty finely, separating them out from the leaves. Heat some olive oil on low in a skillet and throw the stems in first, with chopped garlic and onion. (I like red onions the best for this because they make it sweet.) After a minute or two, throw in the leaves. When everything is soft, make little holes/nests in the chard mixture, so the bottom of the skillet shows through. Turn the heat up to medium. Spray a little more oil into each nest, so nothing sticks. Crack one egg into each nest and sprinkle with salt and pe

I'm usually not crazy about tabouli because I don't like the taste of bulgur, for some reason, so using Israeli couscous was a nice substitute. We had friends over for dinner last night and served this with stuffed green peppers , and we made the filling out of couscous, chicken sausage, onions, peppers, Parm and oregano. (Loosely based on this Food Network recipe .) 1 package Israeli couscous, about 1 1/2 c dry salt and freshly ground black pepper juice of 2 lemons a big glug of olive oil  generous servings of chopped herbs to taste; we used a blend of cilantro, oregano and mint  a few shakes of zatar (optional but good) 6 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced bunch of scallions, chopped Bring a medium-size saucepan of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the couscous and cook until al dente, 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the couscous, run cold water over it for a few seconds to prevent clumping, and set aside to cool. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, zatar, and salt and pep

This is adapted from Skinny Taste 1 onion, chopped 1 16-oz can black beans 1 16-oz can kidney beans 1 8-oz can tomato sauce 10 oz package frozen corn kernels 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies 2 1/2 tbsp cumin 3 tbsp chili powder 2 1/2 tbsp paprika 2 1/2 tsp. onion powder 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts Place chicken in crockpot, then add beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, and spices on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.

I made this tonight to have with chili, as an alternative to our usual cornbread. So, so tasty. And super simple. We all broke ours into pieces, and then stuffed the air pockets with the chili and ate sort of like a pita. Certainly not something you can eat all the time -- because it is fried dough -- but a totally good treat. I'm not even going to bother to transcribe the recipe, because I want you to go read all about fry bread at the Smithsonian . And then I want you to make some. We had a nice discussion at dinner tonight about how the Native Americans eat this, and then we got sort of serious about why they first made this -- reservations and how the government used to give them crappy food and how this is really food borne out of necessity. Gaby probably internally rolls her eyes and thinks "can't I just eat the tasty bread in peace?" Too bad she's stuck with us.

You guys, this is chocolate chip cookie (really chocolate chip pie) nirvana. It's what those huge cookie cakes from the mall should taste like. And I went a little overboard with the undercooking -- I love cookie dough and underdone baked goods in general, so I took this out after about 30 minutes instead of the 35-45 that Heidi suggests. It wasn't enough and the cookie was really kind of soupy (although delicious!)... until I put it in the fridge, still in the skillet overnight. Then the nirvana hit and it was sort of like just-barely-cooked solid dough. You. guys. So. good. Next time, though, I'll leave it in the oven for another 5 minutes -- I would have been nervous to serve it to anyone when it was that uncooked. (Note that it didn't stop me and Jared from eating the entire thing ourselves over the course of not very many days.) 3 cups whole-wheat flour [I used 2 c whole wheat pastry flour and 1 c AP) 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda

Made this for Old-Bay-loving J's birthday this year, along with the Old Bay version of the magic corn and bean salad and some fresh green beans from the garden. Mm. Be forewarned: It makes about six small cakes, and we finished the whole thing just the two of us. If you're feeding more than two, I'd double. 1/3 cup white wine 2 large sprigs parsley 1/2 teaspoon whole peppercorns 1 pound cod [I used the flash-frozen stuff from Wegmans, which I think is excellent, thawed in the refrigerator for a day] 4-5 tablespoons olive oil Kosher salt Freshly ground pepper 1/2 red onion, diced 1 clove garlic, minced 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish 1 teaspoon old bay [I used more like a tablespoon] 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 1/4 cup panko 1/4 cup mayonaise 1/2 cup flour Combine 1 c water with the wine, the sprigs of parsley, and the peppercorns. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. [the original recipe has you do this with a

J and I went to Blue Hill Farm for our anniversary, the foodie-est thing we've ever done and the best meal I've ever had. And now I want to figure out how to make wheatberry pudding and half-dehydrated peaches and egg yolk carbonara and lots of other things. We posted about it on our wedding website ; go forth and read if you so desire!

6 bell peppers 1 lb turkey 1 1/2 cup cooked rice 1 can flavored tomatoes (I used fire roasted with garlic) 1 t worcestershire sauce 2 T ketchup 1 t black pepper 1/3 cup water Use as many peppers as you can get in your crockpot, but this is how many I can get in my 6 qt. oval crockpot. Cut the tops off the peppers, clean them out. Mix turkey, rice, tomatoes, worcestershire sauce, ketchup, pepper together. Fill peppers and put the tops back on. Put peppers in crockpot. Carefully add water to the bottom (do not pour on top of peppers). Cook on high for 4-6 or low for 8 -- you want the peppers to be nice and soft, but not falling apart, and the turkey to be cooked through.