Monday, February 12, 2024
Good afternoon!
… from a human that could use a third day in her weekend — how about you? I cooked up a storm this weekend. On Saturday, I made a chocolate sheet cake with chocolate buttercream and salted caramel that could have fed 70, instead of the 35 invited to a friend’s birthday party — “whoops!” I’ll get that recipe to us later this spring. To a Super Bowl party, I brought some key lime pie bars (just experimenting; not a recipe yet), buffalo cauliflower (ditto), and then an abundance of garlic bread to go with the pan of everyday meatballs another friend made and yes, I think I figured out why I need a nap.
But first, some excellent things to share: First, you can hear to the trailer for my new podcast with J. Kenji Lopez-Alt that launches on 2/26. You can listen to The Recipe with Kenji and Deb anywhere you get your podcasts.
Second, in case you’ve never made my Quick, Essential Stovetop Mac-and-Cheese [Reel, TikTok], Grapefruit Yogurt Cake [Reel] or French Onion Baked Lentils Farro [Reel, TikTok], perhaps the videos linked will convince you?
Third, should you be looking for the perfect things to cook for Galentine’s/Valentine’s/just for you because you’re awesome, a few of my February 14th favorites are below. I hope they leave you endlessly inspired.
Finally, today we have an interview with Samantha Seneviratne about her new cookbook, Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers in the depths of winter? I thought you’d never ask! The soup section is one of my absolute favorites with everything from a perfect weeknight ginger garlic chicken noodle soup, simple black bean chili, winter squash soup with red onion crisp, slow-simmered lentils with kale and goat cheese that you scoop onto grilled bread, cozy chicken and dumplings,
and a creamy tomato chickpea masala I could probably live on if allowed. To finish, I recommend the oatmeal date shortbread, better-than-classic pound cake, and/or toast with chocolate olive oil spread. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
I've been making this soup since before Smitten Kitchen even existed (the dark ages, of course) and it remains a forever favorite. Don't be put off by the beige; it has so much more flavor and heartiness than the humble-looking bowl suggests.
This is the kale salad that converted me, once a skeptic, to the dark green leafy side, and shortly thereafter, both of my kids. Cut into thin threads and tossed with vinegar-soaked golden raisins, sharp cheese, toasted walnuts and crispy breadcrumbs, we could eat a mile of this -- the perfect contrast to a decadent meal of fries, steak, and chocolate puddle cakes.
Most winter comfort foods are soft, rich, carby and white. This is everything but: brightly, crunchy and piercingly fresh. It improves winter morale, especially on days with a new February snowstorm on the way.
Penne alla vodka was the first meal I ever cooked for my husband, but I make it so differently these days -- more flavorful, quicker, and because kids make you totally square (sure, Deb), less vodka. This updated recipe uses my favorite pasta shape and is a cinch; we should definitely make it for dinner tonight.
Steak salads are a weekend favorite of ours because they check so many boxes -- a little luxurious, lots of greens, and a bright vinaigrette makes them anything but sleepy. Add a crusty baguette and some wine and wonder why you don't do this more often.
A forever favorite, you do not need one fancy thing to make this, save the freshest clams you can find. You can pick them up on the way home from wherever you’ve been today, knowing that cooking dinner will be the easiest part of it.
What, you don't know what's for dinner either? I pick this. The sauce is so nuanced and delicious, it's hard to believe how short the ingredient list is.
A special occasion dish (galbi jjim) that we don't always wait for a special occasion to cook, we just make one by having these. Plus some thoughts on the great cooking robot of our time (the Instant Pot), which allows us to eat these as soon an hour after we bring groceries home, hooray.
Little bits of cake almost saturated with bracing, boozy espresso then burrowed in cream (that’s ethereally light and fluffy for containing an unholy amount of mascarpone) and dusted generously with cocoa is my favorite dessert on earth, and sometimes I even share.
Two perfectly-sized molten chocolate cakes that take under 15 minutes to both mix and bake, are flourless, mixed in one bowl, and use ingredients you probably have around are, almost without question, the very most perfect date night dessert.
I have a hunch that it's too long since we last made White Russians -- they're cozy and lightly sweet while packing a sneaky punch, so perfect for the arctic week ahead.
My shelves are full of wonderful cookbooks I don’t get to talk about enough so I’ve added this section so you can get to know the cool people behind them. Today we're chatting with Samantha Seneviratne. Samantha’s cookbook, Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours, came out last year and was named one of the best cookbooks of 2023 by The New York Times and Bon Appetit.
1. What inspired your cookbook?
I wrote Bake Smart because people tell me all the time that baking intimidates them. I want to help! Dessert is just for fun and pleasure so the process should be that too. And I think there is joy to be had in the making of all manner of desserts - all the way from simple, one-bowl cookies to delicate layered pastries. It's all achievable.
2. What recipe are you the most proud of in the book, or felt the most triumphant when you got it right?
I'm really proud of the Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. The simplest recipes are often the hardest to get right but these are pretty close in my opinion. I think these cookies have the perfect texture - chewy and crisp at the edges and slightly soft in the center. I highly recommend keeping the portioned dough in the freezer and baking them to serve.
3. What recipe is so low-effort, high-reward that it's worth cooking for dinner tonight, even if we're tired and don't want to cook?
The Chocolate Banana Oat Cookies are dead simple to make and are so satisfying. You don't have to use a mixer. You don't have to age the dough (unless you want to). And you probably have everything you need in your pantry right now. Sometimes I make and eat them for breakfast!
4. What's something you wish more people knew about your book?
I hope to explain some of the why, not just the how, so bakers can feel empowered to make decisions about their own baking. For example, in Bake Smart I have two recipes for pie pastry. The ingredients are almost the same but the methods vary. The resulting pastries are different, but both are excellent. I included both as full recipes so that bakers can decide what they want, what they have time for, and what they’re in the mood for. I want to help people make choices that suit themselves and guide them towards something delicious no matter what.
Thank you, Samantha! You can order Bake Smart right here.
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. I recently added several new favorites I’ve bought in the last year. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!
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