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pumpkin stuffed french toast
I had some mascarpone in the fridge, and I wanted to make something really special out of it. Something that would say fall. My mind got to work, and I decided something pumpkiny and breakfasty would be the right way to go. So I came up with this. The longer name for this is Almond-Crusted Pumpkin Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast. That’s what I announced when I made it last Saturday morning.
guacamole in 10 seconds
I recently received an email asking if I wanted to try a jar of Hot Cilantro Chutney from Bollywood Chutneys. When it came, I put it on the shelf, promising myself to get it out when I made something Indian. But then, on a Sunday afternoon, we had some avocados to use up, some corn chips, and a lime. I knew I’d be dreaming about guacamole into the night if I didn’t make some right then, but we were out of fresh cilantro. I then remembered the cilantro chutney, and within a couple of minutes, we had a perfect guacamole. Even my daughter liked it.
Jarred cilantro is now my new favorite invention. Whenever I buy cilantro fresh, I only use a sprig or two for one recipe, and then have to throw the rest away after it turns into liquid in my fridge. Then surely, a day later, I need to buy another bunch of it for another recipe. The brilliance of this chutney is that it even has hot chilies added in, so I don’t even need to try to find a wilted jalapeño at the bottom of the vegetable drawer.
homemade almond joy
A year ago, it seems like the internet exploded with homemade versions of all the fun packaged treats, i.e. pop tarts, Hostess cupcakes, peppermint patties, etc. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t do anything similar here on sophistimom. But just because I never rode that wave on my blog, it doesn’t mean my kids and I don’t love that kind of thing.
It’s a pretty regular Sunday afternoon ritual to come home from church, find out one of my kids didn’t get treats from his Sunday school teacher when one of my other kids did, and answer his or her whines with, “Don’t worry. I’ll make you some candy!” (Hm. Maybe that’s the trouble with my parenting: I make candy for them when they whine.)
Usually we end up making homemade Reeses peanut butter cups, which I can post another time (but the general idea is in this ancient post I did on making peanut butter turtles—and you can probably piece together how to do it from there). But a few Sundays ago, I wanted something a little different, so I tried making these homemade Almond Joy cups. I’m so glad I did.
Now if I could just figure out how to make those Almond Joy Pieces . . .
sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts on wilted greens with warm maple vinaigrette
My brother was just on the phone telling me I had hardly any savory recipes. This is for you, Joe.
It rained almost everyday last week. We even got snow on the mountains.
Those are the kinds of days I want to eat a skillet cookie for dinner. Or a big bowl of chili covered in melted cheddar, like this one my friend Shaina made. Those are the kinds of days I want something to warm me to the bone.
I think this salad accomplished just that.
brioche so easy it’s like magic.
One thing I’ve learned about french cooking is this: it almost always delicious, but not always easy. Brioche is one of those things I always wanted to make, but was either too intimidated or too tired to ever try.
But recently, the people at Magimix by Robot-Coupe contacted me to see if I would review their food processor, which they sell exclusively at Williams-Sonoma.
That’s just one of those questions you don’t have to think too long about before you answer, you know?
fresh coconut cream pie
A few years ago, I team taught a Sunday School class of teenagers. One Sunday, the woman I taught with invited all the students and their families to have a little pie party at her house. I honestly have no idea how she got together all those pies—with homemade crusts—that afternoon, but there they were: two lemon meringues, two apples, and two coconut creams. There may have even been more.
Of all the pies she made, I fell in love with her coconut cream. It was made from fresh shredded coconut—one more thing to add to my amazement in how she got them together so fast—and it was absolute perfection.
heirloom tomato salad with burrata cheese
Hello, my friends, I’d like you to meet my new friend, burrata. This little lump of cheese has made me one of the happiest people in the world. And I think it will do the same for you.
I was first introduced to this little orb of the creamier, dreamier relative of fresh mozzarella, when my peeps at babble took us out to dinner in New York last year. Since then, I have been searching high and low for it in Utah. I am happy to announce, that last week, I found it at Whole Foods, one of my favorite places in the world.
pêches brûlées à la glace
That’s French for “torched peaches with ice cream.” I made this the other afternoon, when I was eating a gorgeous peach whose flavor didn’t measure up to what I thought it should. I knew dipping it in sugar was the only way to make it taste good, but of course, taking fruit from the farmer’s market and dipping in sugar borders on blasphemy. Dipping it in sugar and then lighting it on fire . . . well, that’s another thing entirely.
I topped it with some vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce, and gave that mediocre peach a chance to shine.
Now just imagine how good this dessert will be when it’s made with a good peach.
pêches brûlées à la glace
1 large peach, cut into 16 slices
sugar, about 1/4 cup
vanilla ice cream
homemade caramel sauce
1. Dip peach slices in sugar on one side. Place 4 slices on each plate, with the sugar side up. Use a spoon to sprinkle any remaining sugar on top of the peaches. Use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar.
2. Top with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel.
fudgy gluten-free chocolate chip brownies
I am still getting used to the light in my new house. I am back to using a tripod again, and haven’t even unpacked my strobes. So this has been interesting. I love my new kitchen. You can see the backsplash in the picture, which I helped tile. When my five-year-old walked in while we were tiling, he said, “Wow, this looks so Martha Stewarty now!”
These brownies are almost the same as the Fudgy Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies I made years ago, but without the cream cheese layer. You could, of course, follow that recipe to make gluten-free cream cheese brownies. All you would need to do is swap out the all-purpose flour for something gluten-free. Since this recipe has so little flour, you can really relax about how the non-gluten flours will taste. The structure of these beauties lies mostly in the chocolate chips themselves. The flour is an afterthought. I think more desserts should be like that.
macaroni with sharp cheddar, bacon, and newman’s own
This is the macaroni and cheese I grew up on, and is nothing like what you find in a box. I suppose it is slightly reminiscent of a lasagna, made with layers of cheese and tomatoes. However, this dish, passed down to me from my mother, who got it from her mother, is layered with bacon. I’m sorry, but nothing else can compare to it. It is truly addicting.
When Newman’s Own* asked me to take a favorite recipe and make it my own using their pasta sauce, I thought of my Mom-Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese. Instead of using canned tomatoes and seasoning each layer with salt and pepper, I simply used Newman’s Own Fire Roasted Tomato and Garlic Pasta Sauce. It adds a new depth of flavor to the dish, cuts out the step of seasoning it, while keeping it as delicious as I remember it.
I’m excited to have this recipe appear in the latest issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. There is just something about her October magazines that make me giddy for cooler weather, sweaters, and socks. So if you see this issue, be sure to pick up a copy. I can’t wait to get mine. And Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt has a Newman’s Own recipe in Martha Stewart Living this month, as well, so you’ll need to see it. She made a gorgeous calzone.
