Flavorful recipes you can look forward to serving tonight
Listen up, friends – it’s fall! Ok, it’s been fall ever since this epically delicious mac and cheese found its way into our mouths and hearts. But in this moment, fall means cozy, savory hand pies stuffed with an earthy butternut squash and salty country ham filling. And did I mention the pastry is loaded with toasted pecans? Yup. Fully channeling autumnal North Carolina goodness here.
Rice Krispie Treats are back on this blog again… for many reasons. First, they are a no-bake dessert (read: perfect for lazy people, like me). Second, they are undeniably good. And third, they are an excellent vehicle for other yummy things, like brown butter and gingersnapssssss! Yuh. Oh, and I’ve thrown a big scoop of white chocolate chips in the mix, too, because, why not?
I want to say I pulled this recipe out today because I was just trying to use up some last bits of veg in my house. But, the truth is, I have a long-standing, undying love for vegetable fritters. Sometimes, a fizzy batter and a shallow fry in a skillet is the best treatment you can give a vegetable. That’s the case today with these sweet potatoes and collard greens.
Every once in a while a meal is created that you just want to curl up in bed and snuggle with. This is that meal. Macaroni and cheese already falls squarely in the comfort food category but when you add sweet caramelized onions and salty, smoky bacon to it… It’s a real situation. You might be thinking, “Nah, that sounds too rich for me,” to which I would say, “Get real. It definitely is not.”
Continue reading “Caramelized Onion and Bacon Mac and Cheese”I don’t know how else to say goodbye to summer other than by posting a peach crumble recipe full of rich, brown sugar flavor and lots of struesel-y crumble topping. It’s an overripe, fruity ode to sunshine and warm breezes that I’ll be sorry to see go away. But also, not that sorry because FALL is almost here. Yeeesss, right? Well, this crumble is the perfect transition dessert to carry you from juicy-fruit summer into sugar and spice fall.
Ok, are you all familiar with the amazingness that is homemade pasta? It’s in its own category of greatness, especially when you stuff it with ricotta, goat cheese, basil, and little pops of fresh sweet corn and spicy jalapeno. Come on – sweet, spicy, herby, and creamy? These are words I live my life by. And honestly, the texture of homemade pasta is just unbeatable. Once you try it, you’ll never look back. (Except when you feel lazy and just want a bowl of buttery spaghetti out of a box. I feel you.)
Well friends, this is a very special day! It’s donut day! But not sugary sweet, cake-like donuts. Nope, these are savory, herby Rosemary Onion Donuts that you dip in a salty, chivey butter and then you close your eyes and are like, “Wow, where have savory donuts been all my life?” That’s right – this is the 21st century and donuts do not always have to be sweet! Besides, a Rosemary Onion Donut with Chive Butter is kind of an ideal appetizer. It’s like bread and butter, only a bazillion times better. And, hello – party food? 100 percent.
In northeastern North Carolina, and several other parts of the country, summer really isn’t summer without smoked pork. That said, neither is fall, winter, or spring. This kind of cooking is a ritual and usually carries some subtext of a super relaxed afternoon, day-drinking, and some good company. The day before we made this Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Pork Butt, I’d been writing an article for Mashed about adding coffee to your steak rub. I couldn’t get the dang idea out of my mind, except I wanted to test it out on pork. So after some thought, I added ground coffee to Bon Appetit’s very basic 4-3-2-1 Spice Rub. Immediately, I knew it was all my luscious little pork butt needed. The rich, roasty, slightly bitter flavor of the coffee married perfectly with paprika, salt, sugar, and cayenne. The only thing left to add was a little smoke.
In honor of this very delicious tomato season, here is another fresh tomato recipe! This one comes in the form of a light, buttery sauce coating thin spaghetti, garnished with bunches and bunches of fresh basil, and a little grated Parm (if that’s your style). Ya’ll. It’s so good and perfect and easy. I made it for lunch the other day and I’m not usually someone who drags out a pan and lights up the stove for lunch. But these fresh, juicy tomatoes were calling my name.
The sun and the rain and the air have been really good to us on the OBX this summer and we have tomatoes for days. And basil is growing like a weed! I am reluctant to cook fresh garden tomatoes too much. Considering how sweet and juicy they are, it feels like a vegetable crime. But sometimes, an idea comes along that’s too good to resist and splaying these fresh tomatoes out all over a buttery, flaky tart dough showered with tons of fresh basil seemed like the best possible move. It’s like summertime on a plate. If the tomatoes in my tart picture look too round and uniform to have been homegrown by me, you are correct. I bought these from the farmer’s market because mine weren’t ripe enough yet. But, a week or so later, I proudly swung in from the garden with these beauties! Some of whom are definitely destined for another Fresh Tomato Basil Tart. Or, maybe this buttery tomato pasta? TBD.
