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”Brown Sugar Peach Crumble
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.
Homemade Sweet Corn and Jalapeno Ravioli
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.)
Rosemary Onion Donuts
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.
Coffee-Rubbed Smoked Pork Butt
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.
Pasta with Fresh Tomato Butter Sauce
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.
Fresh Tomato Basil Tart
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.
White Garlic Pizza Sauce
Obsessed with this sauce. Officially. Of course I’m obsessed because it combines roasted garlic with a creamy, parmesan-loaded mixture of butter and milk, and it goes on pizza. What’s not to love? I’ve gone on record before about my affinity for all things roasted garlic: noodles, pizza dough, butter, etc. This shirt pretty much says it all for me, except insert the word “roasted”. This is just one more excellent use for all that sweet, golden goodness. If you’ve never had roasted garlic before, you might think an entire head of it sounds like too much for one batch of pizza sauce. But you would be wrong! Roasting garlic transforms the harsh bite of raw garlic into something smooth and subtle, all in just about 45 minutes in a hot oven. It’s magic.
Continue reading “White Garlic Pizza Sauce”Garlicky White Pizza with Kale and Mushrooms
Lately, anything hanging around in our kitchen becomes an excuse to make pizza and I kind of love it. Since this pizza dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, I always seem to have some in the freezer. I’m stuck in a pizza loop and highly recommend you get stuck in one too. I posted the recipe for the topping to this pizza, Mushrooms and Kale with Breadcrumbs, last week, alluding to this moment, and today is the day! This garlicky, veggie-loaded pizza, with fluffy clouds of ricotta and a balsamic drizzle (if you’re fancy) is all yours!
charred veggies equal awesome pizza
There’s nothing wrong with a meat and cheese pizza, but the vegetables on this puppy really send it over the top. (That, and all the roasted garlic cooked into the white sauce. Duh🤷♀️) Since the kale and mushrooms are already cooked before they’re loaded onto this pizza, they end up powerroasting while it bakes. That’s a new term I’m throwing out there just for this recipe. Powerroasting (verb): deeply charring food, resulting in irresistibly delicious texture. It’s so good but, just a word of caution, the kale and mushrooms will change colors to dark green and brown… almost black? Don’t be scared, its exactly what you want. Charred perfection.
Mushrooms and Kale with Breadcrumbs
So exited to bring you this super elegant but also super effortless veggie recipe today! It’s sort of a means to an end, really. Spoiler alert, the end is pizza with this mushroom/kale combo on top! And a white pizza sauce with an obscene amount of garlic. But you’ll have to wait till next week for that. For now, make this, make extra of it, and save the leftovers for the pizza.
This beautiful mess of wilty kale and crispy-brown mushrooms came about when I cooked it up to go alongside roast beef the other night and, despite my deep carnivorism, it was my favorite thing on the plate. So, here it is for you!
Continue reading “Mushrooms and Kale with Breadcrumbs”