finding time for cooking | for the time-starved or curious culinary adventurer

Fresh Orange Ricotta-Mascarpone Tart with Rosemary Crust

November 22, 2020

Yeah, I know that’s a mouthful. But while this orange ricotta-mascarpone tart feels fancy, and like it should be fussy and difficult, it’s actually really simple.

While it’s not a traditional holiday dessert, I think it would be a perfect addition to Thanksgiving or other holiday meals because it’s so light…the opposite of the desserts you usually have.

The star in this ricotta-mascarpone tart is the fresh orange zest and juice giving a great citrus flavor. I add the zest of half a lemon as well though, which brings a bit more of the tart citrus through…otherwise it can be a bit sweet.

And while it’s totally optional, adding fresh rosemary in the pastry crust really elevates the entire tart, and the rosemary and orange are a match made in heavy. The herb flavor isn’t strong, just a hint that balances everything really nicely.

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Subtle & Delicious Salted Honey Custard

November 15, 2020

Y’all, I feel so fancy. After a billion hours of watching Great British Bake-Off, I actually undertook the omnipresent pastry cream or “creme patissiere” myself with this absolutely delish salted honey custard.

And here’s the thing—IT’S SHOCKINGLY EASY. (Side note, why don’t American desserts have more pastry cream?? Missed opportunities…)

Now granted, this recipe uses cornstarch (or “corn flour”, as the Brits call it), which Mary Berry seems to consider a cheat for the skill levels of GBBO contestants.

But it’s normal in most pastry cream recipes, and is definitely our friend here in achieving a thick, pipe-able pastry cream that is great for filling cakes, cream puffs, and more (you can see it trying to spill out of the cream puffs below).

And let’s talk about this flavor, which is so DREAMMMMMY. It’s sweet enough, but the salt balances it out nicely. Quite subtle. I’m not a caramel person and so have never really understood the appeal of salted caramel. Now I know that *this* is my own personal salted caramel.

I discovered this salted honey custard as a component in the cake I initially made for my birthday…”salted honey orange cake” sounded right up my alley. But I ended up finding that neither the cake nor the frosting really did anything for me.

This custard on the other hand was my everything, and so I did a birthday cake re-do recently—“Elvis” cream puffs with these as the filling.

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Flaky, Buttery No-Yeast Flatbreads (Using Yogurt)

November 14, 2020

I interrupt this Thanksgiving recipe programming to bring you something I’ve been kind of obsessed with for the past month. With working from home, I’ve been able to play around with some easy but unique recipes for lunch or things that require a little planning ahead for dinner, and these buttery, flaky no yeast flatbreads have been a basis for several delicious meals.

The fact is that Smitten Kitchen rarely leads me wrong. I so appreciate her recipes, the clarity and detail of the steps, the tweaking to make it perfect but still super easy. And these delicious no-yeast flatbreads are no exception.

On the one hand you’ll probably look at this yogurt flatbread recipe and go “wow, that’s a lot of steps”. BUT WAIT…I know it might look fiddly but I promise it’s not. It’s just that the steps are written to be very detailed so you never feel lost. These really are easy and don’t take much hands-on time.

Because I’m only cooking for one, I usually make a half batch, which is five flatbreads in total. And because I can rarely resist eating the first one out of the pan just by itself, tearing pieces off, that leaves me with two fresh and usually two as leftovers.

A couple things that come in handy (though certainly not required) are a scraper tool and a silicone basting brush. I’m also in love with my thin rolling pin, so much easier for this type of task than the traditional fat kind with the handles.

These no yeast flatbreads come together in three easy phases, over the course of a couple hours…but not much hands-on time. I literally do it in between conference calls, about 5 minutes to mix up the dough, and then about 10 to roll them out into the “snails”.READ THE POST

Easy, Awesome Homemade Caramel Popcorn

November 10, 2020

It’s weird because I don’t really like caramel, and I’m not super into popcorn…but I’m ALL IN on this homemade caramel popcorn.

My mom’s been making it since I was a kid, and it’s a must-have on Thanksgiving for my family. It’s just SO GOOD! She makes a massive tub and we munch on it all afternoon while playing cards and watching .

It’s also so easy…caramel can feel quite daunting. I’ve watched approximately 1,250 hours of Great British Bake-Off and caramel is always tripping up the bakers.

But the caramel we’re making today is the opposite of fiddly. And the actual hands-on portion of this recipe is quite minimal.

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The Best Thanksgiving Recipes: 20+ Of My Family’s Favorites

November 8, 2020

Thanksgiving is a BIG deal in my family. And that includes the food…which is why I feel like I have some of the best Thanksgiving recipes around. You know, the tried-and-true ones that the family requests over and over.

See, I have a big extended family, and we spend the day before baking, cooking, and prepping. The morning of Thanksgiving is always insane—my mom’s up super early with the turkey, then leaves around 10:30 to get down to my grandma’s. I get up a little later, go for a run, finish up all the remaining dishes, and head down around noon.

We eat a huge lunch, then graze all afternoon and have leftovers for dinner. We play football, watch football, play cards, and talk. Chase the kids around.

When you’re cooking for a big crowd (anywhere from 25 to 50 in past years; usually around 25-30 these days), there are some realities in the kinds of dishes that make sense. Anything super time-intensive that doesn’t yield a lot of servings is automatically out.

So these are some of my favorite relatively easy Thanksgiving recipes that I’ve contributed over the years, and it’s all about the sides, breads, desserts, and cocktails. Turkey just…exists. Hope you enjoy and everyone has a safe, happy (American) Thanksgiving with family and friends!

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A Whiskey Cocktail for Fall: Preservation Punch

November 2, 2020

First of all, the look of this cocktail is just dreamy. Second, it’s absolutely delish and you need it in your life immediately.

What we have here is “preservation punch”, a lovely whiskey cocktail where sweet berry preserves are offset with acidic lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. The result is a balanced drink that makes me think of the transition between seasons.

Beyond how pretty it is, this is a flavor profile that really works for me. Partly because I’m a well-known lover of jam. But also just because it doesn’t *taste* like jam.

Once shaken with the other ingredients, the jam ends up providing texture and body without adding much sweetness.

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10-Minute Stovetop Blood Orange Curd

October 31, 2020

It’s like I’m sandwiching the seasons with curd, somehow. I talked about falling in love with my easy pink grapefruit curd as the cool, sunny spring days gave way to summer. And now I’m clinging onto that feeling with this unique blood orange curd, as I cling to denial in a chilly, rainy fall taking a nosedive into true winter.

This recipe is similar to my pink grapefruit curd, in that I use a little less butter and go scant on sugar so as to not overpower the more delicate citrus flavor of the blood orange. While a lemon or lime can really punch through, I find that orange, grapefruit, and blood orange are a little more subtle and need a lighter hand.

I ended up using 2 blood oranges…just the zest of one but most of the juice of both (about 1/3 cup total). A little bit of extra lemon juice can help brighten just a bit, and a tiny pinch of salt just brings everything into balance.

The natural color of this curd will be a duller dark pink, possibly closer to a light brown. You can add a tiny bit of pink or red gel coloring if you want it to be a brighter pink, red, or orange…I didn’t here, but it would be super easy.

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Delicious & Easy Kale Salad

October 25, 2020

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to give this a try. I’ve been wanting to find an easy kale salad recipe for forever, something I could put in my regular dinner rotation. And don’t roll your eyes…when done properly, kale can be totally delish.

When not done properly it’s a tough, chewy mess. Fear not, this is not that kale.

As I said above, I’ve been wanting to lock down a great basic kale salad for forever. But then I stalled and stalled…partly waiting to actually find lacinato kale in my grocery store (it’s like a unicorn!).

Finally I gave up and tried this with curly kale, and totally loved it. It’s such a simple combination of flavors, but can be super flexible depending on the ingredients you have and is equally great with either curly or dino/lacinato kale.

I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe, mostly to the dressing. I felt it had WAY too much lemon juice so I halved it, and also added a bit of dijon mustard for some creaminess and tanginess.

I love the fall feel this salad brings, but it’s honestly great any time of year. I also love that it takes less than 10 minutes to throw together.

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5-Minute Healthy Breakfast Tacos

October 21, 2020

These healthy breakfast tacos have been giving me *life* the past several days!

I’ve been on a bit of a “detox” the last couple weeks, nothing super extreme but the kind where you tell yourself you need to LOCK. IT. UP. I’ve been focused on eating simple, unprocessed foods as much as possible, lots of fruit and veg, largely staying away from alcohol…you know the drill.

And these easy breakfast tacos have been playing a big role in enabling my “being good”. I can be on a conference call, taking notes and speaking up, and still whip these babies up in 5 minutes. They’re a great fast lunch when on the go.

I also love how simple they are, yet how satisfying they are…I don’t feel cheated in any way, and I’m full for hours.

They’re also really versatile, so you can get as creative as you’d like with extra toppings or seasonings. Even calling this a “recipe” feels like it’s overstating things a bit—they’re that easy.

If you’re timing this, here goes…READ THE POST

Addictive Peanut Butter & Jelly Babka

October 18, 2020

Y’ALL. Peanut butter and jelly babka. This is just such an all-time flavor combo, and I’m kind of obsessed with it right now to be honest (stay tuned for a boozy pb&j milkshake comin’ at ya…).

It’s no secret I’m into basically peanut butter anything, but there’s something so comforting about a classic pb&j…this peanut butter and jelly babka is basically a fancy, addictive pb&j sandwich from when you were a kid. It’s what you WISH your sandwich had been.

Don’t be put off by the seemingly-long list of instructions…I’ve been super detailed to help make everything go well, but while this needs plenty of time in rising and baking, the actual *hands-on* parts are not difficult or time-consuming at all.

There *will* be a point when you’re trying to twist the two cut parts together where everything is falling apart, jelly and peanut butter oozing everywhere, and you’re like WHAT HAVE I DONE??? But just push through, the mess doesn’t matter. It’ll be fine. Lick your fingers when you’re done.

One other note of importance, I found I only needed just over 2 1/2 cups of flour to get the right consistency, as I didn’t want to make the dough too dry and tight. Personally I often find babkas drier and denser than I prefer, so I wanted to keep this one light and soft.

So let’s dive in, shall we??READ THE POST