Apartment Dining

After making the pumpkin muffins in my last post, I was left with about six cups of roasted pumpkin puree in a tupperware container in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after the dozen muffins I made Sunday morning were almost gone by Monday morning, I decided to make two loaves of pumpkin bread with a modified version of the muffin recipe. The results were pretty good, evidenced by the fact one loaf is almost gone, while the other has been safely stored in the freezer. There were still four cups of pumpkin puree left, but those were also placed in the freezer as well to wait for a mid-winter pumpkin craving.  » Read the rest of this entry «

The fall harvest was in full swing at the farmers’ market this weekend. A pumpkin patch was one of the main draws and toddlers were walking around picking out their jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.   I didn’t pick one up at the time, but as I was walking home later in the day, I decided that I needed to make some pumpkin muffins from scratch. I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed the last sugar pumpkin they had and a few supplies.

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In my hometown of Binghamton, NY, there is only one place to go in the area for delicious, heart-stopping soul food. Theo’s Southern Style Cuisine on Main Street is located just over the border in Johnson City and its menu has everything from fried chicken to macaroni and cheese to sweet potato pie. They also cater events and make large quantities of wings to order. Just about every graduation party I attended after high school featured a few dozen of their wings.

On early weekend or summer afternoons during high school or college vacations, my friends and I would meet for lunch around the vinyl red and white checkered tablecloths in Theo’s simple dining room. My meal of choice was always fried chicken fingers with fries and Theo’s signature Sweet and Sassy Sauce on the side. This sauce is easily my favorite sauce in the history of the culinary arts and lucky for me, it comes in a bottle. The bottle pictured above (placed prominently on my bookshelf) was brought to Brooklyn by my friend Vince a few weeks ago and was actually hidden under my pillow so it would be a surprise in a tooth fairy sort of way.

This sauce served as a call to action to find a way to make delicious, sauce-worthy chicken without having to fry it as I don’t have the tools and don’t trust myself with all of that scalding oil on the stove. After doing some searching on the web and a test this evening, I think I reached a happy medium. » Read the rest of this entry «

While apples, pumpkins, and squash are the stars of autumn, pears seem to be one of the most overlooked harvests of the season. I picked up a bunch of Bartlett pears over the weekend and decided to try out a recipe for poached pears I’ve been meaning to make since last winter » Read the rest of this entry «

If you’re looking for a way to organize a small apartment kitchen, you only need to glance out your window for inspiration. It’s easy to draw parallels between limited kitchen space and the limited amount of land within New York City’s borders that’s available for development. The solution New York (and all other urban centers) found was going vertical, so why not apply that to the kitchen?   » Read the rest of this entry «

I picked up a pint of baby bell peppers at the Greenmarket last weekend for really one reason: they look adorable. I’m going to be completely honest and say they are not particularly delicious raw. They lack the crispness, moisture, and slight bite of their larger brethren and are a bit too chewy. But honestly, look at those tiny peppers and tell me you are not won over. They are vibrant and cute, the twee pepper of the pepper family.

I decided the best way to enjoy these peppers was to roast them and then add them to our Sunday steak tacos. Here’s a simple recipe for steak tacos with roasted baby bell peppers and heirloom tomato salsa fresca. » Read the rest of this entry «

When the temperature dips below 60° for the first time after the summer months, I get a serious craving for roasted acorn squash. I picked up two of the most perfect acorn squash I’ve ever seen at the farmers’ market two weekends ago, still coated in dirt from the farm.

The following recipe is incredibly easy once you get past the cutting of the squash in half. I recommend a sharp knife, patience, and great care not to cut yourself. You may want to have a buddy spot you or have someone on call to ensure you make it through the process with all fingers intact.

I’d also like to take a moment and acknowledge the fact I roast a whole lot of vegetables. I know the majority of my Farmers’ Market Picks have lead to roasting recipes, but I find that it allows the pure flavors of the vegetables to shine through. I promise to have some non-roasting recipes in the near future.

Roasted Acorn Squash
Makes 4 servings
-2 acorn squash
-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
-4 tablespoons brown sugar or real maple syrup
-Salt to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 400°

2. Cut acorn squash in half length-wise and scoop out seeds and stringy bits. Save the seeds for roasting later if desired.

3. Place the squash halves skin side down in a large ridged baking pan.

4. Rub butter on the squash flesh and sprinkle lightly with salt. Then, place 1 tablespoon of butter in the center of each squash half. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar or maple syrup to each squash half (add more if you want it to be extra-sweet).

5. Roast for 1 hour or until tender.

I decided to bake a test pie on Sunday to see if I could/should enter the Enid’s Apple Pie Bake-off next week. I’ve never made a pie from scratch on my own before and learned that it may be one of the most labor intensive kitchen activities one can engage in. This also makes it one of the most rewarding kitchen activities when the pie is successful, unlike some previous baking exploits documented on this blog.

If you’re not sure if you should bake a pie, here’s a quick questionnaire to review before picking up a pound of apples and getting coated in flour:

-Do you have nothing else to do for the next three hours?
-Do you have a sufficient playlist on your portable music device to get you through that length of time?
-Do you plan on going out for dinner tonight?
-Are your fully caffeinated with additional iced coffee at the ready?

If you answered yes to all of the questions above, then you may be ready to make a pie. Grab a rolling pin, a whole bunch of apples, and check out this recipe. » Read the rest of this entry «

In my cake post earlier this week, I forgot to address another moment of culinary near-failure. I was about to begin the Magnolia Bakery recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting when I realized, “Oh crap, you have nothing even close to a double boiler.” The recipe calls for 9 oz of chocolate melted in a double boiler and then cooled before being mixed in with the butter, sugar, etc.

I own only one metal bowl, so I filled my smallest saucepan with water, placed the bowl in it, and poured in the chocolate. I used an oven mitt to hold the bowl when I stirred, protecting me from hot metal and boiling water.

Next kitchen investment: a set of glass bowls.

Before last weekend, I had never encountered carrots other than your basic orange variety. I stumbled upon a display of carrots including purple, white, yellow, and a red-orange at the Greenmarket and decided I needed to take a bundle home and try them out.

Overall, the flavor of each variety was pretty similar to the standard orange carrot, with the yellow a bit sweeter, the white a little bitter, and the purple tasting almost identical. You can see above that the purple carrot looked almost burnt because the color was so rich around the orange center.

Before moving on to the simple recipe, I should also note that I bought a new peeler from the famous peeler guy. He can usually be found » Read the rest of this entry «