a little salty, a little sweet
Summer is ending, and I’m trying to take advantage of the last of the summer produce (and I’ll be posting more great end-of-summer recipes the next couple weeks). If you can still find some fresh local peaches at your farmers’ market or grocery store, snatch them up and make this delicious simple pie. Once you have a batch of the perfect pie crust from the recipe I posted Monday waiting in your refrigerator, this pie can be in your oven in 15 minutes.
Growing up, beef and broccoli was always my favorite dish to order at Chinese restaurants. But naturally, the heavily Americanized versions feature an overly sweet and thick sauce that I now find much less appealing. This version of Chinese beef and broccoli is a bit more subtle, with the flavors of rice wine, black vinegar, and oyster sauce.
Shortening is not an ingredient that I keep in my house; in general, I feel strange about any food where I’m uncertain about its processing and how it came to be. Hydrogenated vegetable oil? No, thanks. So naturally, I was enthusiastic to discover this amazing all-butter pie crust recipe. This recipe yields a flaky and flavorful crust that has worked well in every pie I’ve made.
I love dim sum, and scallion pancakes are one of my favorite dim sum dishes. I always feel like I can just endlessly keep eating the flaky, crisp pancakes packed with flavorful green onions and often accompanied by an equally delightful dipping sauce. Unfortunately, the dim sum restaurant I regularly frequent does not have these little delights among the small dishes piled on their carts. But these pancakes are really quite easy to make and also freeze well, meaning that the next time a craving sets in or a guest stops by unexpectedly, I’ll be ready.
I love the abundance of fresh high-quality produce that’s available in the summer. The farmers’ market sets up shop one block from me every Sunday, and I like to spend my morning strolling through, sampling peaches here and heirloom tomatoes there, not to mention cheese from Keswick Creamery, bacon from Truck Patch Farms, and gelato from Dolcezza Gelato. Yes, I’m very spoiled (from May to November, at least).
My refrigerator is absolutely packed with homemade condiments and sauces. I love having lots of building blocks to add to the flavor of even the most basic meals. These Vietnamese pickles are a great addition to my stockpile, allowing for a twist on basic sandwiches and salads, and enabling me to create more authentic Vietnamese dishes like vermicelli noodles and banh mi sandwiches (recipes forthcoming). The carrots and daikon radish hold their crunch and are complemented by the sweet and vinegary pickling liquid. Since I like my food with a kick, I’ve also added jalapeno peppers to this recipe for a faint spicy note.
Reminiscent of the sweet mildly-cinnamon flavor of graham crackers, these graham cookies are a great treat. Using basic ingredients that most bakers will have on hand, they’re a snap to throw together and yet bake up to something a little unusual for when you’re feeling tired of traditional chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles (not that both aren’t delicious!). The texture is perfectly chewy, the honey adds a pleasant background flavor, and the cookies are rolled in cinnamon-sugar for a decadent finishing touch. Next time, I’m planning on substituting some of the flour with whole wheat flour for a nuttier taste.
Although I often enjoy spending multiple hours preparing elaborate meals, there’s a certain joy in creating a delicious simple meal in just half an hour. This pasta is perfect for that as the three main components can easily be prepared in parallel, and all of them are fairly straightforward. I always admire versatility in recipes, and this one is most certainly versatile; use almost any pasta or veggies to customize your meal.
This recipe is so simple it hardly seems worth posting. But this little recipe has enormous value; imagine never having to buy vanilla extract again! Once you’ve whipped up your first batch, you can simply add more bourbon as the extract dwindles, but remember to also occasionally toss in another bean. Every time I use vanilla beans for another purpose, instead of discarding the used beans, I simply rinse them and add them to my vanilla extract.
I pretty much always have bananas around; they’re cheap, tasty, healthy, and a great snack when I know that dinner is still a couple hours off. But I sometimes end up buying more than I can eat and I’m tired of traditional banana bread, so I’ve been keeping my eyes open for other banana-enriched baked goods. These muffins are perfect for overripe bananas – rich and moist with just enough of a nutty chocolate flavor from the Nutella. This recipe makes quite a lot of muffins so be prepared to share.