Pi Day for Ron

Pi Day (or March 14th for the 3.14 in Pi) never meant much to me. In school, I had a number of math teachers who tried to make it fun, but math was never my favorite class.

My brother Ron, however, loved it. At his last job, he had instituted Pi Day festivities, sending out invites months ahead and rallying everyone to join in on a silly mid-week celebration. In fact, he loved anything quirky or odd or just plain stupid like Pi Day. That's just the kind of guy he was.

Ron passed away suddenly last year, and pretty much nothing has been right since. He was one of my best friends, and I think he was finally starting to see me as an adult and not his stupid kid sister. He was the one who was constantly finding things to share with me - YouTube videos, new TV shows, weird catchphrases - and this past year has been awkward trying to find and enjoy these things on my own. I've been left with a lot of sad memories, which I know he would have hated.

Pi Day, though. That's a thing he loved for no real reason other than it was quirky. It's something I can be damned sure I'm going to celebrate for the rest of my life because it made him happy. And if pie can't fix things, even just for a little while, then I don't know what else can.

Because I'd much rather remember Ron on a day like today, for reasons like pie.

Bacon Chocolate Cream Pie
1 1/2 cups crushed Oreos (about 15 cookies broken in a food processor)
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 pint heavy cream
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 package chocolate pudding, prepared as directed
5 pieces candied bacon, chopped

Mix together crushed oreos and butter until all the crumbs are moist. Gently pat into the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a mixer, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Don't overwhip the cream. Gently fold half the whipped cream into the pudding and pour into the prepared pie dish. Top with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with the chopped bacon. Chill before serving.

Fried Olive Salad Toppers

Like I said, olives are delicious and make me happy. I couldn't choose just one January Kitchen PLAY recipe featuring Lindsay Olives, so I tried a second one for kicks. Because what's not to love about CHEESE-STUFFED FRIED OLIVES?! Dear god, they're wonderful.

I followed Fake Ginger's recipe, subbing in feta for roquefort and adding a small oregano leaf with the cheese. I ate a few of these straight out of the fryer and of course loved them, but they needed something. I grabbed some arugula from the fridge and tossed it lightly with a little lemon vinaigrette (basically just 1 part lemon juice, 2 parts olive oil), then perched a few olives on top. What a perfect match! The bitter greens stood up to the saltiness of the olives, the tender leaves contrasted with the crispiness of the fried bits, and the unctuous of the olive oil and the olives tied everything together. So while these make a very tasty amuse bouche as Fake Ginger intended, I loved them far more as delicious little croutons on my salad.

Cheese-Stuffed Olives
1 can Lindsay black olives, drained and patted dry
2 ounces feta
handful small oregano leaves
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
about 2 cups canola or vegetable oil, for frying

Stuff each olive with a piece of feta and an oregano leaf. (If the cheese is very crumbly, just stuff in as much as you can.)

Heat oil in a tall-sided pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, work a few olives at a time: roll in flour, dip in egg, then coat with panko before adding to the hot oil. Cook until golden on one side, then flip and cook until golden. Cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the rest of the olives. Salt lightly before serving.

Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad

I know what you're thinking - that's not a photo of pasta salad. You're right, because when I started cooking, I wasn't aiming for pasta salad. If you can't have some flexibility in the kitchen, you're in trouble.

While going through January's recipes over at Kitchen PLAY sponsored by Lindsay Olives, I wanted to cook just about all of them. I'm a big olive fan, so they all looked good to me. And since I'm also a fan of anything wrapped in puff pastry, I opted to try the olive and goat cheese turnovers from Chez Us. Don't her photos of the turnovers look amazing?!

And yes, I did make the turnovers. I loved them - pillowy bites of salty olives and tangy goat cheese. I subbed in some red onion for the shallots, because that's what I had. I loved these and the sophistication they would bring to any dinner party. In fact, I might have to bring them to the next family gathering, as I know my family loves cheese wrapped in dough as much as I do.

But I had some filling leftover (I only used one box of puff pastry instead of two), and I wasn't going to let it go to waste. I was going to just spread it on crackers, but I didn't have any. But there was pasta! I boiled up a little bit of whole wheat pasta and tossed it with the cheese mixture and a little bit of the pasta water.

Oh my, what a wonderful pasta sauce this makes! I ate some warm and enjoyed it, but when I ate some cooled, I enjoyed it even more. This would be a perfect picnic dish (I mean, our weather has been so bizarrely warm that us New Englanders could even have a picnic right now), or even great for lunch at work.

Olive and Goat Cheese Pasta Salad inspired by Chez Us

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, minced
1 can Lindsay green olives, drained and minced
1 can Lindsay black olives, drained and minced
zest of 1 lemon
handful of fresh oregano, minced
black pepper
10 ounces goat cheese
1 box small pasta (like rotini)

In a medium pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add olives and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add lemon zest, oregano, and black pepper to taste. Let cool slightly, then stir in goat cheese until well combined.

Cook pasta according to box. Mix the pasta and the cheese mixture until well combined. Add a little of the pasta water if the cheese is too clumpy. Refrigerate before serving.

Vampire Slayer Dip

I hate yogurt. Like, really hate it. I know that this, along with my dislike of pilaf and paklava, makes me a bad Armenian, but I can't help it. It's just gross.

But sometimes (like after taking antibiotics), yogurt is a must. I can stand the stuff as long as it doesn't taste like yogurt, and usually a strong dose of garlic (like in tzatziki) will do it. I had already made one batch of tzatziki, though, so I needed another way to incorporate garlic and yogurt. How about two heads of garlic and two onions? If that couldn't stop the yogurt flavor, nothing could.

Of course, all that garlic can also stop vampires. So this dip will not only help your stomach feel better, it will also save you from an untimely death due to vampire bites. You can thank me later.

Vampire Slayer Dip

1 large (or 2 small) head of garlic

1 sweet onion

1 yellow onion

olive oil

2 cups Greek yogurt

handful of parsley

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Remove loose papery layers from garlic head and cut off the top 1/4 inch. Place garlic in the middle of a sheet of tin foil. Top with a little bit of olive oil, wrap tightly in foil, and bake for 30-45 minutes (until cloves are soft). Let cool, then squeeze garlic cloves out of their papery shells.

Slice onions very thin. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add onions. Cook about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are a deep amber color. Onions may need a little more olive oil as they cook. Cool before using.

Add cooled garlic and onions to a medium bowl, reserving about 1/4 of the onions for later. Add yogurt, then blend (either in a blender or with an immersion blender) until smooth. Add remaining onions and a handful of parsley leaves and blend lightly so there are still pieces visible. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste, and stir to combine. Make sure everyone eats at least a little bit so you don't knock anyone out with your breath.

Caramel Nut Bars

Have you ever looked at a recipe and known - just KNOWN - that you'd love it? I like to think that I feel that way often, but in reality, after executing the recipe (maybe not to the T, but pretty damn close), I'm disappointed. I was prepared for that to be the way with the Butterscotch Blondie Bars with Peanut-Pretzel Caramel (they really couldn't have come up with a shorter name?) in the December 2011 Bon Appetit. I added them to my list of holiday baking, making sure I had plenty of cookies that were guaranteed to be tasty, and I set to baking.

And holy CRAP, these things are good! They're a nice mix of sweet and salty (but not too salty), crunchy and chewy, love and more love. I changed the recipe a little bit (by adding almonds), and I would change it further to include more pretzels (I have done so in the recipe below). 2011 apparently was the year I became confident making caramel, and this was the perfect way to end the year on that account.

As far as serving goes, I ended cutting these up into tiny pieces because it's so rich. I originally cut 36 or 40 bars from the 13x9 pan, and I doubt I could have eaten one in a go. Cutting them up even further made them last throughout the holiday, as well.

Caramel Nut Bars (adapted from Bon Appetit)

Blondie bar

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang so you can pull the bars out easily later. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Heat butter in a medium pan over medium heat, stirring until browned bits form at the bottom of the pan, about 7-8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer). Add brown sugar and beat until combined and the mixture looks like wet sand. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan - it will puff as it bakes, so don't worry if you think you're spreading it too thin.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and edges pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely before moving on to the topping.

Caramel Nut Topping

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup honey

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups roasted peanuts (or a mix of peanuts and almonds)

2 cups salted pretzels, coarsely crushed

In a large saucepan, stir together sugar and water over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil without stirring (seriously, hands off!) until caramel is a deep amber (or caramel, if you will). This always takes longer than I think it should, but I'd rather it take a long time than burn the caramel right off the bat. Add honey and return to a boil, stirring, for about a minute. Add butter and stir until melted. Add cream and whisk until smooth (maybe wear a pot holder because this will steam and bubble A LOT). Add nuts and pretzels and mix until everything is covered in caramel. Pour over cookie and press down evenly. Chill until cool, then remove from pan and cut into bite-size pieces. Store in the fridge but bring to room temperature before serving.

The King's Toddy, or My New Health Tonic

I have never been one to sip a little something when I'm not feeling well. I always thought it was an old wives' tale that having a dram of whiskey or something could cure your ills. I'm beyond thinking that now.

A few months ago, I was invited to the Boston launch of No. 3 Gin and The King's Ginger (a ginger liqueur) at Eastern Standard. I, of course, tried all the iterations of gin cocktails that were offered to me, but my favorite of the night was a simple hot toddy made with both No. 3 and King's Ginger. The King's Ginger especially was intriguing to me because it has a much better, richer, fuller ginger taste than the other ginger liqueur on the market. I couldn't wait to get a bottle for myself. Or I thought I couldn't. Instead, I forgot all about it.

Last week, though, after feeling sick for most of this month, I was reminded of the cocktails I had tried at the event, and I remembered just how much I had loved that hot toddy. I searched around for No. 3 and King's Ginger (eventually finding them at Downtown Wine and Spirits in Somerville) and got to work.

I've made these toddies a few times now, and it only takes a sip or two to feel its effects. Between stress at work (Christmas retail in a store with concrete floors is HELL) and whatever illness I have that won't go away, I'm definitely more tense than I should be, but a King's Toddy soothes like nothing else. The warmth coupled with the intoxicating ginger, the subtleties of the gin paired with lemon and honey all add up to love in a mug.

The King's Toddy
1 oz No. 3 Gin
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz King's Ginger
tsp honey

In a mug, combine gin, lemon juice, ginger liqueur, and honey. Top with hot water and whisk to dissolve the honey. Garnish with lemon twist.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011 - Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

When an event has a name like The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, you know it's going to be a big deal. In the past few weeks, hundreds of bloggers have been busy baking and mailing their holiday cookie creations. It's been a nice way of building community that I've enjoyed taking part in.

I had some trouble coming up with a recipe I wanted to use, but as soon as I tasted the Candy Cane Coal from Trader Joe's, I knew what I had to do. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and simply swapped out the chocolate for the candy cane bits, and I had a perfectly festive cookie. I made these a little smaller than usual, so they were a little flatter and crispier, but just as tasty.

Now I just need to stock up on this candy so I can make sure I can make these cookies in the future!

And since this was a swap, I got some wonderful cookies in return. I received double chocolate coconut cookies (top left) from Elizabeth at A Chronic Venture, chocolate lemon ricotta cookies (top right) from Janet at Food Beautiful, and hazelnut linzer cookies (bottom) from Athena Plichta. You can be sure that I've made short work of all these cookies.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3-4 ounces chocolate-covered candy cane bits (like Trader Joe's Candy Cane Coal)

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in the candy can bits, then drop dough in heaping tablespoons on a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes until golden and puffed. Slide the sheet of parchment off the cookie sheets and let the cookies cool without disturbing them for a few minutes. Once they have cooled slightly, move the cookies to a cooling rack.

Berry Bellinis and Warm Raspberry Brie

On Friday night, I took part in my first Twitter party that was more than just a bunch of people discussing something for an hour. Driscoll's Berries and chef Rick Rodgers hosted the event, where tons of bloggers cooked holiday dishes based around raspberries, then watched (and discussed) as Chef Rodgers demonstrated the recipes live.

I headed to my friend Ann's house (where I do most of my cooking) and started prepping in the afternoon. The "party" started at 8, so we started mixing the drinks around just before, then settled in to a meal of appetizers and dessert. Five recipes were offered to us, and I cooked four of them (leaving out the wild rice, because I've never been a big fan of the stuff). We had a few rounds of berry bellinis, a fantastic dish of warm brie with raspberries and pistachios, roasted acorn squash with a raspberry sauce, and panna cotta topped with balsamic raspberries. We listened to the live chat on and off while discussing whatever geeky things were on our mind and stuffing our maws full of the brie (we polished off that dish in record time, especially impressive because one of the four of us doesn't even eat brie). When all was said and done, I came away with two recipes that I LOVED and intend to make again.

Berry Bellinis
1 oz St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur)
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
4 raspberries
3 oz dry sparkling wine

In a cocktail shaker, combine St. Germaine, lemon juice, simple syrup, and berries. Top with ice and shake vigorously.  Pour champagne into a flute, then top with St. Germaine mixture. Garnish with a raspberry.

Warm Brie with Raspberries and Pistachios
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 small wheel of Brie, top rind sliced off
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 package (6 ounces) raspberries

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a small saucepan, toast pistachios over medium heat, tossing occasionally so they don't burn. Transfer to a plate.

Place Brie, cut side up, on a small glass baking dish (I use a small pie dish, so it can go straight from the oven to the table). Bake until warm and top is softened but not oozing, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together honey, vinegar, and rosemary. Add raspberries and pistachios and gently fold the sauce over them. Pour raspberry mixture over the top of the cheese and serve immediately (I like water crackers, my friends preferred slices of baguette).

Full Disclosure note: The berries were provided via free coupons from Driscolls. I paid for all the other ingredients, though - well, the ones I didn't swipe from Ann's pantry.

Cthulhu Sticks

Every Halloween, my friend Ann and I throw a party, filled with candy, dry ice, costumes, pumpkins, and lots of good food. We always have a good time coming up with items that are both delicious and spooky. Last year, I came across an idea somewhere (probably in one of the many Halloween magazines we pore over) to make tentacle breadsticks. I used store-bought pizza dough and managed to make some vaguely squiggly breadsticks, which we immediately dubbed Cthulhu Sticks (what, we're not super geeky or anything).

I was pleased enough with my experiment last year to try making them again, but not pleased enough. Instead of going the pizza dough route, I found a recipe for grissini (those long, thin Italian breadsticks).  The dough is pretty simple to put together and is fairly forgiving of being worked, plus I found countless tips online about using a pasta machine to roll out and cut grissini so that they're uniform (and last year, the tentacles were anything but uniform).

I am so much happier with how the Cthulhu Sticks turned out this year. I opted to color half the dough black (I used gel food coloring, but you could use squid ink if you want something more natural), which I think gives them a spooky feel. Sea salt on the black ones and poppy seeds on the white ones add a look of suckers to the tentacles, but you can add whatever toppings (or even mix something into the dough) that you'd like.

Cthulhu Sticks

1/2 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 3/4 cup flour, divided

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

optional: chopped herbs, food coloring, poppy seeds

Combine water, yeast, sugar, and 1/2 cup flour in a large bowl. Rest 10 minutes. Add remaining flour, oil, and salt (also any herbs or spices you could like. If coloring the entire batch, add food coloring now. Otherwise, wait until dough is more solid before kneading it in). Knead about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400° and move oven rack to the top position.

Divide dough into four pieces. Using pasta roller, roll into a roughly 9x4 rectangle on the thickest or second-to-thickest setting. Cut with fettuccine cutter. Arrange grissini on parchment-lined baking sheets, keeping one end straight (so they can stand in a vase) and one end tentacle-y. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle on salt or additional toppings. Bake 8-10 minutes until golden (well, at least for the ones that aren't black) and cool on a wire rack.

To serve, arrange in a vase to get the full tentacle effect.

Salted Caramel Apple Tart

There comes a point after you've gone apple picking when you can't possibly eat another apple all by itself. And I love apples. Once you hit that point, you've got to do something else with them.

Enter this delicious salted caramel apple tart. Caramel and apples just go together so perfectly. I would have made caramel apples, but, well, that's just an apple covered in caramel. Not different enough from a plain apple for my apple-exhaustion. For the tart, I made homemade caramel, but used store-bought pie dough (to even out the workload). It was so good, I had to make a second one (good thing the pie dough comes two to a box).

Salted Caramel
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream, warmed in microwave, plus more for brushing
1/4 tsp salt

Pour the water into a large saucepan, then pour the sugar into the center of the pan. Heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cook on high without stirring until golden brown (have cream warmed and waiting for this). Remove from heat and carefully whisk in cream (wearing an oven mitt helps - the caramel will release a lot of steam). Boil to thicken slightly (remember the caramel will thicken further as it cools), then stir in salt. Let cool before using.

Salted Caramel Apple Tart
1 large or 2 small apples (eating apples work better than baking apples), sliced very thin
salted caramel
pie dough (1 disk of store-bought or half of your favorite recipe)
sugar

Preheat oven to 450°.

Roll dough into a 1/4-inch thick circle. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spread caramel on dough, leaving an inch-wide margin around the edge. Lay apple slices overlapping in a fanned pattern around the dough (outer circle first, so the inner circle can overlap). Gently fold the edges of the dough up over the apples. Brush the top of the entire tart with heavy cream and sprinkle on some sugar. Place baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the top of the tart is golden brown. Let cool before serving.

Pumpkin Rice-Stuffed Lamb Roast

When Armenians say meat, they really mean lamb, and I can hardly think of a gathering of Armenians beyond my immediate family that hasn’t include at least one type of lamb dish. So when I was invited to participate in the inaugural Lamb Pro-Am, sponsored by the American Lamb Board and BostonChefs, I knew I would make an Armenian-inspired dish almost as quickly as I knew I would participate.

I was surprised at how fast I came up with a recipe for this challenge. We (me and 9 other Boston-area bloggers) were tasked with cooking a boneless leg, which ruled out any stew-like dish because there are better cuts for that. Immediately I thought of shish kebab – skewers of lamb (usually leg), marinated and grilled. But it was too simple (not to mention that Fall seems to have finally settled upon us with drizzly day after drizzly day). And then I remembered an often-talked-about dish that my grandmother used to make, and I KNEW.

My father’s mother passed away when I was very young, so I never got to experience her cooking, although my life has been filled with stories about her ruling over her kitchen. I spent a weekend this past summer with my horkur (Armenian for aunt, more specifically father’s sister), and after we baked treats that she remembered from her childhood, she gave me a copy of a cookbook she had written, which included many of her mother’s recipes.

One recipe jumped out at me. It consists of rice and pumpkin and onion and raisins, and that’s pretty much it. I had wanted to try it since hearing about it years before, and I knew that my other grandmother had made a similar dish, so it couldn’t be bad if both sides of my family had their own versions. But instead of just serving the pumpkin rice alongside the lamb, I decided to fill the lamb with it.

The rice was surprisingly quick and easy to put together. The only hardship is the chopping of the pumpkin and the onions. I know 3 onions sounds like a lot, but light a candle and get chopping – you really do need 3 onions. Trust me. And because I was planning on putting the rice inside the lamb, I diced the pumpkin up into small cubes; if you serve it just as a side dish, you can cut bigger cubes. Use any kind of pumpkin or winter squash you’d like (I used my favorite, buttercup squash). This can be made a day ahead if need be.

Pumpkin Rice

¼ cup olive oil

3 onions, minced

¾ cup rice

½ cup raisins

2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

2 cups water

2-pound squash, inside cleaned out, and diced

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent, stirring often. Add rice, raisins, salt, and sugar, and stir to combine. Push mixture to one side of pan and lay down about a quarter of the diced pumpkin; move rice over the pumpkin and lay down another quarter on the other half of the pan. Even the rice out, then top with the remaining pumpkin. Add water, cover, and reduce heat to low. Let cook until rice and pumpkin are cooked through and tender, about half an hour. Stir together before using or serving.

Now, I’m no butcher. Butchers are trained and know what they’re doing with a cut of meat. Me, I just kind of hack at meat until it looks good enough. I lamely attempted to butterfly my leg of lamb, making sure to cut out the silverskin to ensure a tender roast. I definitely could have done a better job, but I also didn’t ruin the meat (whew!). If you give this recipe a shot (and don’t know what you’re doing, much like me), ask your butcher to butterfly the leg for you. You’ll be much happier.

Once the leg is butterflied, lay it meat side up (fat side down), sprinkle with a little salt, and lay some of the rice mixture evenly over it. There will be plenty of rice left – save it to serve with the meat later. Roll the meat up, trying not to squeeze out all the filling as you go, and tie it together to keep its shape (I found this video helpful, although it was more of a two-person job for me). Place it fat side up in a roasting pan and cook in a 350° oven until a thermometer inserted into the meat (make sure you avoid the rice filling!) reads 150°. Remove from oven, cover with foil, and let stand 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving. Reheat the rest of the rice to serve alongside – the pumpkin will mush a bit as you stir, making it appear more orange than it had before. The rice inside is a bit meaty and has imparted much of its sweetness to the meat, while the rest of the rice has a more pronounced pumpkin flavor, so it almost seems like two different rice dishes.

The rice got plenty of approval from my parents, who said it tasted just like they remembered, and the three of us devoured more lamb than we thought possible. Hopefully my grandmother would have approved as well.

Many thanks to the American Lamb Board and Boston Chefs, who provided me with this wonderful cut of meat. Please take a moment to vote for me here - the top four bloggers move on to the next round!

Cider That Packs a Punch

After making my apple cider pulled chicken, I was left with plenty of fresh, local apple cider to drink. At this time of year, I'm happy to drink the cider just as it is, but while looking at the other Kitchen Play recipes, sponsored this month by the U.S. Apple Association, I came across this mocktail combining apple and basil. Sounds good, right? But what kind of mojito doesn't have rum?! I couldn't let that stand.

This cocktail tastes like spiced cider and... that's about it. The basil adds a little bit of spice, as does the rum, and the apple slices soak up a lot of the flavor, so make sure to eat those after you're done sipping. You can't really taste the rum, which makes it a bit dangerous, but if you have some of that cider chicken to soak it up, you'll be fine.

Cider Basil Cocktail inspired by Cheeky Kitchen
3-4 apple slices (I used honey crisp)
3-4 small basil leaves
apple cider
spiced rum
seltzer

In a tall glass, muddle apple slices and basil leaves. Fill glass with ice, then add equal pours of the cider, rum, and seltzer. Stir to combine.

Apple Cider Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Fall in New England comes on like someone hit a switch. It'll be 80° and humid one day, then 60° and crisp the next. It's how you know the seasons are really changing and not that it's just one particularly cold day. Of course, crisp weather means time for crisp apples (and inevitably, apple cider).

The folks at Kitchen Play clearly agree, what with this month's recipes being sponsored by the U.S. Apple Association and all. I was hoping to be able to go apple picking before I got around to trying some of the recipes, but since that's getting pushed off into October, I stopped by a local farm stand instead. The pulled chicken from Savour Fare especially caught my eye - the recipe looked simple, plus I wanted to lick my screen, looking at her picture.

Whenever I do finally get around to apple picking, though, I'm pretty sure I know what I'll be making for dinner after. This recipe is super quick and definitely delicious, and although it packs plenty of apple flavor, it's still something to look forward to after gorging on apples in the orchard. The chicken is good hot on a toasted bun (the cool slaw gives contrast in texture and temperature), but I enjoyed it just as much the next day, cold out of the fridge with another big dollop of slaw on top. Really, what's not to love?

Apple Cider Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Apple Slaw adapted slightly from Savour Fare
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup apple cider, divided
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar, divided
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp sugar
salt
1 apple, cut into matchsticks
1 lb cabbage, finely shredded
4 hamburger or bulkie rolls

Melt butter in a large saucepan; add onions and cook until translucent. Add 1/2 cup apple cider, 1/2 cup cider vinegar, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, cajun seasoning, and salt to taste, and bring to a boil over high heat. Add chicken breasts and enough apple cider to cover. Cover pan, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, whisk together Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, sugar, and salt to taste. In a large bowl, combine apple matchsticks, shredded cabbage, and yogurt mix, and toss to coat. Set aside.

When chicken is cooked through, remove from pan, shred with two forks, and return to sauce. Serve chicken on toasted rolls with a good-sized spoonful of slaw on top.

Black Cake for Dad

My father is the only person I know who actually likes fruitcake. He used to share the love of it with my grandmother (my mother's mother), and the two of them would share fruitcake in the winter and mocha almond ice cream in the summer.

A few years ago, when my friend Annabelle of Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen game me a sliver of black cake (literally a sliver, but it was so rich, I ate it over a few days - ok, it was probably more like a few hours), I knew I had found a kind of fruitcake that I could get behind, and one that I wouldn't mind baking.

And then I promptly forgot about it.

The idea of black cake popped back into my head for some reason this summer, and so I decided I would embark on the task of making some for my father for his birthday. I got the fruit soaking in rum, and then I had a hard time finding enough time to bake the cake, so the fruit ended up sitting for 3 weeks or so. The recipe says 3 to 5 days, but from what I've read, it's really a the-longer-the-better thing. The recipe also calls for soaking the baked cakes in more rum, but I personally don't like cakes with too much of a strong rum flavor, so I left that part out. The cakes have been fine in the freezer/fridge without the extra alcohol to keep them.

Since giving these cakes to my father a little over a month ago, he's already finished two of the four and is currently making his way through the third. Guess I'll have to bake him some more for Christmas.

Black Cake from Trinigourmet via Bite Me New England

Fruit Base
1 lb pitted prunes, chopped
1 lb raisins, chopped
1 lb currants
1 bottle dark rum
(I also added a few chopped apricots I had laying around)

Combine these in a large glass bowl at least 3 days before baking the cake. Cover and store in a cool, dry place.

Cake
1 lb brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1 lb butter
1 lb sugar
8 eggs
2 tsp lime zest
2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 lb flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp mixed spice (I used something like 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cloves)

Blend fruit base in a blender or with an immersion blender. It should be thick and just a little chunky, like tomato sauce.

In a large pot, heat brown sugar over medium-high heat until caramelized (it will take on a darker quality). Add hot water carefully and mix well. Set aside to cool. This product is called browning. (I worked quickly so I didn't worry about it hardening, but apparently that can be an issue - watch out for it so you can get it out of the pan!)

Preheat oven to 250° (yes, I said two-fifty). Grease and line with parchment 4 8-inch round cake pans (you can play around the sizes and shapes as you'd like - I think this would be great in a bundt shape).

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs gradually, mixing to combine, then add zest and extracts. Sift together dry ingredients, then slowly add them to the creamed mixture. Mix in pureed fruit base and browning.

Pour batter into prepared pans (you don't have to worry too much about them rising). Bake for 3 hours (yes, 3 hours - it's only 250°, remember?). Cool in pans slightly before removing. If you're going to soak them in rum, now's the time.

Lamb-Stuffed Eggplants

As autumn arrives full-force here in Boston, I'm left with lots of fresh produce AND a desire for heartier dishes. I've had lots of trouble with most of my garden this year, but eggplants and parsley are pretty much the two things I have plenty of (what a good Armenian girl I am!). It seemed like the perfect time to get cooking with them.

I've been growing Fairytale eggplant this year, which are adorable purple and white speckled fruits about the size of my thumb (below). They cook up very tender and have way fewer seeds than traditional eggplants. They're also the perfect size for cooking in smaller amounts or, in this case, making individual portions. I love them so much, I've pretty much decided that I will always grow these. If you can't find fairytale eggplants, try any long and thin eggplants (you can cut them in half to form more individual-sized portions).

Lamb-Stuffed Eggplants

10-12 fairytale eggplants
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound ground lamb
cayenne pepper
cinnamon
nutmeg
about 15 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 Tbsp minced fresh mint
3 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
zest of half a lemon
salt and pepper

Cut each eggplant in half and scoop out the insides, leaving about a 1/4 inch wall. Place scooped-out eggplants in a bowl of salted water to prevent browning. Chop up the insides of the eggplant, discarding any areas that are mostly seeds, and set aside.

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are translucent. Add lamb and chopped eggplant, and cook until lamb is well browned, breaking up any big pieces as you go. Remove from heat and drain off excess fat. Add cayenne, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste (go easy on the nutmeg). Stir in tomatoes, mint, parsley, and lemon zest. Salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with tin foil. Remove eggplant halves, one by one, from water, and fill the cavity in the center with lamb mixture. If you press the mixture in with a spoon, you can mound it up a bit. Place on the baking sheet and repeat with remaining eggplant. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until eggplants are easily pierced with a fork.

Cashew Cookies

There's something so nostalgic about peanut butter cookies. I don't recall making them all that often with my mother (I think we made them more often in my Girl Scout troop), and yet, they call to mind the days when my mittens were clipped to my coat and my feet would dangle off the edge of my chair.



My favorite peanut butter cookies are barely cookies - just peanut butter and sugar bound together with egg. Regular peanut butter cookie recipes seem to lack that real nutty flavor, so I usually use this recipe and forget about using flour all together.



As I looked for a cashew cookie recipe to make for a coworker's birthday (she eats cashews all the time, so I thought it would be a nice touch), I came across a recipe in an old Martha Stewart magazine that looked good. A few tweaks here and there (what, you expect me to buy the right kind of brown sugar?!), and I had to stop myself from devouring them all straight out of the oven. I had found a cookie that tasted strongly of nuts but still had flour (so they're less fragile than the flourless ones). This might just be my new go-to for nut butter cookies.



For this batch, I followed the instructions for mixing in the crushed nuts, then baking as balls and flattening (I used the bottom of a glass) a few minutes into baking. That worked fine, but they're not very pretty. I would suggest a few ways of making them look nicer. Try omitting the chopped nuts, then press a whole cashew into the middle of the cookie after flattening. Or leave in the chopped cashews, but flatten with a fork (a la old school peanut butter cookies). The original recipe called for a drizzle of caramel (which would, of course, make these very pretty), but I think the caramel would make the cookies too sweet, and you'd miss a lot of the cashew flavor.



Cashew Cookies (adapted from a Martha Stewart cookie magazine) (specifically this issue)



2 1/2 cups salted cashews (or 1 cup cashews and 1 cup cashew butter)

2 Tbsp canola oil (omit if using cashew butter)

1 stick salted butter, softened

3/4 packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups flour



Preheat oven to 350°. Roughly chop 1 cup of cashews and set aside. In a food processor, chop remaining nuts until fine; add oil and process until creamy. (Obviously, skip this step if using jarred cashew butter).



Combine cashew butter, butter, and sugars in a bowl and beat until fluffy and uniform, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Slowly add in flour and chopped cashews.



Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place evenly (about 2 inches apart) on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 6 minutes, then flatten slightly (see note above about different ways to flatten); bake for another 6 or 7 minutes or until edges just start to brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Summery Gin Cocktails

When I woke up on the morning of my birthday party this year, anticipating a wonderful dinner of grilled pizza and make-your-own ice cream sandwiches with friends, I craved a light and summery drink to go along with everything else. I looked at my bottle of Hendrick's gin, which has been sitting quietly on my shelf since last summer (because I rarely drink at home by myself), and started researching.



I found a whole bunch of awesome recipes on the Hendrick's website, but my favorites are below. Between the lot of us, we sailed through at least a bottle and a half of Hendrick's before moving on to some lesser gin. The Floradora is sweet and tangy, and the ginger beer gives it a nice bite. The Basil Gin Smash (above) is herbal and welcoming, and I added a splash of seltzer to give it some bubbles as well.



Floradora

1 1/2 parts Hendricks gin

1/2 part lime juice

1/2 part raspberry syrup*

ginger beer



In a tall glass filled with ice, combine gin, lime juice, and raspberry syrup. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel and a raspberry.



*Raspberry Syrup

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 pint raspberries



Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add raspberries and let simmer for a few minutes, crushing the raspberries with the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to steep for a few more minutes. Strain out pulp and seeds before using.



Basil Gin Smash

2 parts Hendricks gin

1 part lemon juice

1 part simple syrup

5-6 basil leaves



In a shaker, combine ingredients and muddle well. Add ice and shake. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top with a basil leaf (I like a splash of seltzer as well).

S'mores Bars

I was one of those kids who never enjoyed making s'mores. I always managed to burn the marshmallow (although I preferred it un-charred), the graham crackers were too crumbly, and I'd just rather eat the chocolate by itself. But the idea of s'mores was something I did enjoy.



I don't know why I didn't think to make these s'mores bars before now. You get all the great taste of s'mores without all the negative burny, crumbly bits. The fact that they only take a few minutes to make doesn't hurt either.



S'mores Bars

6 Tbsp butter

2 (10 oz) bags of mini marshmallows, divided

5 cups Golden Grahams (or other graham cereal)

4 cups Cocoa Krispies (or other chocolate crisp rice cereal)

1 cup mini chocolate chips, divided



Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.



In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter, then add 1.5 bags of marshmallows and stir to melt. Remove from heat and mix in cereals and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. When everything is well-coated with marshmallow, press into the prepared baking dish (spray your hand with cooking spray if the mixture sticks too much).



Preheat broiler. Sprinkle remaining marshmallows across the top of the cereal mixture. Place under the broiler to brown marshmallows; pay close attention so they don't burn! Remove from oven and sprinkle on remaining chocolate chips. Let cool completely before cutting.

Summery Orange Pasta Salad

Another month, another stab at a Kitchen Play recipe. (Really, if you're not checking out the monthly Progressive Parties on Kitchen Play, you're missing out. I won a prize for making nachos last month). This month's sponsor was Dreamfields Pasta. I'd seen this brand in the store, but I eat pasta so rarely, I never bother with any of the stranger varieties on the shelf. So when it came time for me to actually buy my pasta and I took the time to look at the Dreamfields box, I was impressed - 5 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein in one serving, and yet it doesn't taste dense like whole wheat pasta! I'm definitely a fan after tasting the stuff, too.

There were so many tasty looking choices on this month's menu, but I was intrigued by Foodalogue's pasta salad with orange sauce. I just so happened to be on my way to a family gathering, and knowing us, I would need to make something that could sit on the table all afternoon while we grazed (and graze we did, for 7 hours straight - pretty typical for us). Unlike so many pasta salads, this one didn't have any mayo or, really, anything that would go bad in the summer heat. Bonus points for lots of fruit and veggies and plenty of taste in each bite.

I loved how fresh and bright the orange dressing made everything taste. I think I'm going to try it on a regular salad sometime soon.

I didn't plan on making any changes to the recipe, but then, I can never really follow a recipe to the T. I left the garlic out of the dressing and the cheese at the end by mistake, but I actually really like it like that, so I'm leaving it out of my version of the recipe. I doubled the recipe for our family gathering, but the recipe below isn't doubled. I also cut my veggies into matchsticks instead of julienned so they would be the same size as the penne - the better to eat it up, my dear!
Summery Orange Pasta Salad (from Foodalogue)
1/2 box Dreamfields penne pasta
1 large navel orange, zested and peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
heaping 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
salt to taste
dash of honey
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 red pepper, cut into matchsticks
1/2 fennel bulb, sliced thin, fronds chopped and reserved
toasted pumpkin seeds
oil cured black olives, pits removed and roughly chopped

Cook pasta according to package.

In a food processor or a blender, combine peeled orange segments, olive oil, spices, and honey, and blend to emulsify. Season with salt to taste, but remember, there will be more salt from the olives later.

In a large bowl, combine vegetable matchsticks and cooked pasta. Add orange sauce and toss to coat. Add chopped orange zest, fennel fronds, pumpkin seeds, and chopped olives and toss to combine.

Lemon Basil Shortbread

I don't know if my mother taught me this, or if it's something I just figured out on my own at a very young age, but the best way to make friends is with baked goods. Don't believe me? Try bringing a batch of something homemade along the next time you go somewhere and you don't know anyone.

Case in point: I've been enamored by a new sewing and craft shop in Cambridge since the moment I heard about it. Gather Here is, as the name implies, a place where people can get together to work on crafty projects. They have loads of classes and sewing machines that you can rent by the hour, as well as weekly gatherings where all are welcome. Anyone who knows me in real life, and many who know me only through the interwebs, know I'm a crafty person, but I'm especially obsessed with embroidery. And when I learned about Gather Here's weekly Saturday morning gatherings, how could I not attend, stitching in hand? (The piece above, a Tower of Babel meets Supernatural piece, was the one I dragged along.)

Of course, I was headed into a group that, for all I knew, were the best of friends who met every week, so I decided to whip up some cookies too. Hey, couldn't hurt, right? I have a load of basil growing in my garden right now, so I decided an update on one of my favorite recipes was in order.

(By the way, the Saturday morning group at Gather Here is awesome, and I'm looking forward to getting back there when my schedule allows. They also meet every other Thursday evening. And yes, everyone liked my cookies, so at the very least, I had that to talk about.)

Lemon Basil Shortbread
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tsp lemon zest
pinch of salt

Cream butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add in flour, basil, lemon, and salt until combined. Halve dough and shape each half into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in parchment paper and freeze until firm, at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 375°. Cut dough into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Place rounds on parchment-lined cookie sheet, and bake until edges are golden, about 15 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown, just look for hints of color at the edges.