Starting in December

As I have mentioned once or twice before, the sure sign that I have found the latest recipe of my dreams is that I make it more than once.  The field of tempting recipes available via cookbooks, websites and personal recommendations makes my head spin; therefore, I have made it my unofficial goal to try each and everyone of them in search of my sanity.  There are a few, great recipes that rise to the top of the heap — my mom’s lasagna, Aunt Karen and Uncle Tom’s Thanksgiving turkey, and my very own guacamole.  This tart, with a deep chocolate crust, sturdy caramel filling and gooey chocolate ganache topping is a new contender.

I found the tart recipe as four 4-inch mini tarts in my most cherished dessert cookbook, The Last Course, and a few google searches yielded a feature story from Saveur and a small recipe sharing controversy unearthed over at Lottie + Doff.  Apparently, quite a few people love this tart, and are not shy about calling it their own.

Continue after the jump >>

Without small children of my own, I have somehow overlooked that Halloween is this weekend.  Sure, I have passed by the plastic jack-o-lanterns at the drugstore  and adorned my mantle with the requisite amount of squash, but I have not had a bit of Halloween candy.  Not a single piece.  I’d like to pat myself on the back for exercise such self-restraint, alas I am beginning to worry I am quickly losing all of my marbles.  Chocolaty, chewy candy in flashy wrappers will fill my shopping cart this evening, I promise.  That is, if there is anything left to choose from.

Thankfully, I am assured there are some gray cells clinging on up there because I remembered to make this stew after bookmarking it a whopping 18 months ago.  At the time I thought publishing a stew recipe with winter squash and fresh corn was, um, how can I say this, irresponsible for the month of April?  Ranting aside, this stew was just right for an early fall evening.  In full disclosure, it was not the best thing I have ever made but the stew was slightly spicy, the textures were well balanced and the flavor fresh.  A vegetarian and vegan main dish, this could be an option for a meal to serve your meat-averse friends.  Plus, it made a mountain of leftovers — I will be having bean, corn and squash stew for lunch for exactly the rest of my life.

Continue after the jump >>

Scones can be little clouds of joy, bliss and what I imagine heaven to be.  As an avid coffee drinker (Peet’s Sumatra blend or their nonfat latte, in case you were thinking of surprising me with my favorite drink anytime soon), I hesitate to try my chances with an unknown scone while waiting in line at coffee shops because a solid 95 percent of the time they are not worth the extra heft they will inevitably bring to my lower half.  Flavor is usually the first thing noticeably absent from most store-bought scones and their texture can lovingly be compared to a flour-laden brick.  They are often sweeter than they need to be and I end up using my precious sips of coffee to force the chalky crumbs down my throat.  I think Mark Bittman (the source of my favorite weekly recipes and accompnying videos) would agree with my scone sentiments; he made a simple, easy to make version a few weeks ago that are flawless.

But in usual Marguerite style, I could not settle for the simple version and over the weekend I traded Bittman’s recipe for a somewhat fancier one from the adorable (and yes, deeply talented) Dorie Greenspan. If you are very lucky, you are already well versed in Dorie’s cookbooks and have found baking nirvana with her recipes.  She released a new cookbook earlier this month and it has shown a considerable amount of self-restraint that I haven’t already added it to my burgeoning library of cookbooks.  I am not going to be able to hold out much longer.

Continue after the jump >>

Biscotti and I get along, but I find them confusing (says the girl eying the nearly empty cookie sheet).  Technically a cookie, biscotti is baked twice to achieve that dry texture usually reserved only for dunking in coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate, or sweet wine, or so I’ve heard.  Although they are almost always sweet, rather than savory, biscotti are the polar opposite of a chewy chocolate chip cookie with a sandy crumb.  You have probably seen them stacked high in a glass jar next to the register at your local coffee house and for good reason: these suckers last forever and still manage to taste good.  Nay, taste better.  I’m not talking about months here, but you can count on about two good weeks of wonderfully dry cookies when properly stored in an air tight container.

Some recipes call for butter, some do not.  Shockingly, these mosaic biscotti do not contain any butter and it feels strange.  I typically favor a more gluttonous approach to food preparation.  However, there are plenty of chocolate chips.  And pistachios.  And hazelnuts.  They have served as the quintessential pre-holidays breakfast of champions for many a day now and I could not be happier.

Continue after the jump >>

Meet my new favorite cut of chicken: the leg.  Strictly out of habit, I’ve been a card carrying member of the skinless, boneless chicken breast fan club for the last 28 years.  I think I ate so many of them as a kid because the texture was even, there was no meat-identifying bone and the flavor didn’t dominate.  Buying them frozen by the 10-pound bag at Costco was just the ticket in college — I was comfortable cooking them, they never went bad and the price was right for my meager budget.  However, as my culinary horizon has expended, so has my curiosity about everyone’s favorite type of poultry.  I began exploring the easy way, by roasting split skin-on and bone-in chicken breasts in the oven and using the meat for chicken salads.  So juicy! So simple!  Granted, getting my fingers mussed with chicken skin, fat and other bits was initially shocking but I moved on quickly.  Boldness overtook me and I watched countless YouTube and Food Network videos on how to cut and carve a whole chicken. I think I need new knives.  Or, at least knives that have been recently sharpened.  Thomas Keller has romanced me with his quintessential whole roast chicken and I’ve fallen hard. It is perfect for company but for just two people I find an entire 4-pound bird to be excessive.

So when I found this recipe while flipping through the voluminous Zuni Cafe Cookbook I knew I had to try it.  This recipe calls for one leg (thigh + drumstick) per serving and is made lovely by getting browned in the pan, braised in the oven with wine and stock and brightened up with barely cooked fresh figs, honey and a drizzle of cider vinegar.  Originally written for four, I cut it down to two servings to avoid the dreaded leftovers (Why is it that leftovers become so unappealing once they are stuffed into plastic containers and shoved into the back of the refrigerator?  I know I am not the only one out there who finds them funky the following day).  After the legs were browned in the pan this recipe required very little attention once it went into the oven.  Infinitely adaptable, I foresee many evenings of braised chicken legs in Ryan and my future.

Continue after the jump >>