It's a magical world

I called my father the other day and we spent a solid ten minutes kvetching about how much the process of making decisions/cooking/washing dishes has been wearing us down lately. I normally cook most of my meals at home, but as a friend recently said, that difference between "most" and "all" gets pretty killer after a while. I really miss spontaneous lunch while out running errands. I have temporarily solved this problem by ordering a box from La Cocina which should feed me for a good four days this week. 

Recipes

• Wookie cookies – It was Star Wars Day last week and these cookies are very good. I used light brown sugar, but you will get more of a Wookie aesthetic by using dark brown sugar, by upping the cinnamon to 1.5 or even 2tsp (depending on the strength of your cinnamon), and most importantly by replacing some or all of the chocolate chips with chopped bar chocolate. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers which mean they retain their shape after baking; chopped bar chocolate melds into the dough in a really wonderful way. I personally would use a dark milk and a bittersweet chocolate in these cookies in happier times of not buying whatever is on the shelf. Additional baking notes: you will get much better results for every cookie, especially chocolate chip cookies, if you age the dough for 2-24 hours in the fridge (or the freezer). Aging the dough helps it absorb some of the moisture and meld the flavors, and cookies will also spread less when you bake them, a nice side bonus. Finally, once you take the cookies out, cool them on the tray for two minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
• Savory Oatmeal – So I didn't fully realize that steel cut oats is not just rolled oats chopped up. I adapted this recipe for rolled oats and it was good, particularly since I didn't want to make decisions that night. I have now purchased actual steel cut oats and I look forward to repeating the recipe with them in the future.
• Charred Eggplant and Walnut Pesto Salad – I basically live on this recipe in the summer, and it's starting to be summer-ish here. This time I made it with penne, and I am pleased to report that penne also works just fine. I also finally shelled the random whole walnuts I had in my cabinet, and they were very good. 

• Avocado Toast – I'm kind of proud that I made it to week three before breaking this out. I don't think you actually need tips on how to make it, but back in the day I did find reading this over helpful. 
• Brussels Sprouts Mac & Cheese (Kimchi Variation) – I make this with kimchi about half the time now and it's very good: just use 6-8oz kimchi in place of the brussels sprouts and proceed as directed. 
• Cannellini Aglio e Oglio – A good way to use up some of those white beans; I just made a double batch to avoid having the half a can of artichoke hearts linger. It really is best on toast.
• Confetti Cookies – I ate so much of the dough before I even baked the cookies and I regret nothing.
• Congee – I followed Samin Nosrat's recipe from her Instagram stories and it was good. I used half chicken stock and half water and I might go 2/3-1/3 next time but it's not a dealbreaker.

My copy of the pie cookbook finally arrived and I'm excited to make a pie in the next week or two--given that I ate all of the cookies in about three days, I'm going to try to hold off on the dessert this week.

• Vegan Tarka Dal – I used lime zest + basil because I wasn't able to get to Berkeley Bowl for curry leaves. Maybe next week. And for some reason I thought "finger chilis" were jalapeños but apparently they aren't. Whatever, it was good with two jalapeños in the tarka too.
• Spicy Creamy Chickpeas with Eggs and Prosciutto – Good concept, needs a LOT more tomato paste + spices. I omitted the prosciutto and I would use soy milk next time.
• Sweet Potato Salad with Pepita Dressing – Not a bad way to use up the canned black beans that I got at the bodega which had been sitting on the shelf for who knows how long.
• Lentil Soup with Sausage and Chard – I make this vegan now, and I use fire roasted tomatoes to boost the flavor. 
• Cozy Cabbage Soup with Farro – I make this once a week normally; I switched it up with chicken stock last time, but it's delicious either way and it doesn't need the parmesan either if you want it to be fully vegan. Particularly delicious with the Penzeys Tsardust Memories spice blend.
• Black Bottom Oatmeal Pie – This was delicious. I used up the half-can of golden syrup that I'd had lying around forever and the corn syrup, ditto. It was delicious. You can't skip the syrup if you want that custard-y filling. So good.
• Weeknight Beans on Toast – A very good way to treat canned beans that have been on the shelf for, again, who knows how long. I used chicken sausage, because that was what my bodega had, but I think it would be delicious with vegan sausage too.

I bought the Four and Twenty Blackbirds cookbook (where the oatmeal pie recipe came from), so expect more pies in the future.

Well, it's December 1 and a balmy 65º and sunny here in Tokyo (more respectable, i.e. colder weather is at least on the forecast starting tomorrow) and that means Christmas is coming, at least for me; I even had the Christmas chicken with Caesar sauce for lunch today, to prove it. I've been trying to clean out my folders and stuff on my computer (I need to do another mail purge, too, but that's a task for several uninterrupted hours), and I found my excellent recipe for mulled wine in my Dropbox. It comes from my Great Conversation professor in my freshman year of college, and it is delicious. It's easier for me to keep track of it online, so I'm sharing it with you, too.

Also, there are still slots available on the December posting meme!

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Charlie Wilson's Julglogg (Mulled Wine)

* One bottle dry red wine
* Two cups port/cognac/brandy, or however much is left over from the last holiday (optional)
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar (more or less to preference)
* 4 inches orange zest
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 5 whole cloves
* Seeds of 5 whole cardamom pods, crushed
* 1/2 cup almonds (whole or sliced), plus more for each glass
* 1/2 cup golden raisins, plus more for each glass

Put alcohol in a enameled pan for lowest heat. Add sugar, spices, and orange zest. Simmer over lowest heat; float kettle on water bath, if one's heat cannot be very low. When it is heated through and steaming: add almonds and golden raisins. Steam them through--they puff up when they have given the julglogg some flavor. Time to serve with some raisins and almonds in each cup and a spoon. Essentially, one steams off the booze with a long slow heat.

Greetings from California, DW circle! It is finally raining a tiny bit here, and serendipitously I was making thingswithwings' excellent chili this morning, and it feels much more appropriate than it would have felt on a new-normal, plague of sunshine day. t'wings' chili has become my go-to chili recipe, and I wanted to share the steps that I go through when I make it, because a) more people should know about this chili; b) I am sure that t'wings is a much better improvisational cook than I am, and I wanted to write down what I do so that I won't forget it; and c) as a gesture of appreciation for thingswithwings, who has brought much fannish joy to my life in many ways and whose post on food and cooking is a wonderful read.

Notes on ingredients
- Canned tomatoes: The one thing I splurge on when buying canned goods is tomatoes; I really like Muir Glen, though I know other people swear by the very pricey San Marzano. Regardless, I recommend that one of your large cans of tomatoes be fire-roasted. Nom.
- Corn: I often buy canned because it's right there on the shelf when I'm loading up on the beans and tomatoes, and I haven't noticed a taste difference (today I raided the freezer and chucked in the sad remnants of a bag of frozen corn, noms). The first time I made the chili I thought it was too sweet, but I think that was a problem with my method. I would recommend at least half a bag of frozen or two cans.
- Spices: The second time I made this chili I also added smoked paprika and it was almost too spicy, even for me. Today I added two teaspoons cayenne and three heaping teaspoons cumin, total (all the cumin we had, actually), and it is still quite spicy, but also delicious.
- I use two large onions, two medium zucchini, and two green peppers.
- I omit the "textured vegetable protein" because I don't really care for seitan or similar and the beans are quite enough protein for my tastes.
- Beer: You do really want a good dark beer, something like a dark ale, or today I used a Full Sail bock that was very tasty. Nom. I just use a whole bottle, minus a swig for me.
- If you like a good strong smoky chili, you can also follow the advice of the Homesick Texan and pour in cold coffee that you have lying around, up to about half a cup.
- Pepper: I use a habañero, because it is the smallest and fruitiest pepper my grocery store stocks.

Notes on cooking
- Chop the onions and garlic first, and let them cook for 10 minutes while you chop the zucchini and peppers.
- Throw the zucchini and peppers in along with the spices when you're finished chopping or ten minutes are up, whichever comes first.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes, then add the beer, using your spoon or whatever to scrape up any sticky bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Cook about three to five minutes, then add the beans (drained and rinsed, except for the black beans, only drain those) and the tomatoes. I add about a large can of water by rinsing the tomato cans and pouring that water into the chili.
- Cook about half an hour, then add the ingredients in step two.
- Cook about half an hour, then de-seed the pepper of most of its ribs and veins (where most of the spice is) and cut into two to four chunks. Chuck those in and cook fifteen minutes to half an hour, removing the chunks when you feel like/when the pepper has gone limp and mushy and kind of pale.
- One of my good friends in grad school is a Texan in exile, and from her and the Homesick Texan I learned the most important rule of chili: it's done when you can stick your cooking spoon in it and it stands straight up.

Notes on serving
- I like cornbread with chili, and I always forget to buy the Jiffy mixes which are what I will always think of as cornbread, so I make this recipe instead. NB: As written it is way, way too sweet for me. I use a slightly rounded 1/3 cup of sugar and that is just about right. Also, I never have buttermilk lying around, but it works great with fake homemade buttermilk.
- Another way to cut the spiciness a bit is sour cream or creme fraiche, which is what I used today because I had some lying around. The full fat adds a nice silkiness to the texture. Nomz.
- Also grated sharp Wisconsin cheddar on top = nomz.
- If you have a lime lying around and you feel like brightening it up, you can squeeze a lime wedge on top.

DEVOUR. Thank you for sharing this recipe, t'wings!

littlebutfierce asked about my favorite thing I've cooked this year.

I cook a lot of food from Smitten Kitchen, and you can find just about every recipe that I've cooked and liked on starlady--I have a general recipes tag, a soup tag, a desserts tag, and a drinks tag. I do want to write up a few recipes I've been making that aren't online, but I am extremely slow at that. And I've written up the last round of recipes in my Pinboard that I haven't talked about below. You can also click my recipes tag for commentary on all the Pinboard links, more or less!

So, my favorite thing I cooked this year. This is always difficult! I cook a lot--I probably cook about 75% of my own meals, if not more, partly because it's cheaper and partly because I really like cooking. I think this year the recipes I liked best that were new to me were Burst Tomato Galette with Corn and Zucchini, which was just like the essence of summer in one forkful, and super easy, and the One Pan Farro with Tomatoes--it was so easy, and so good that I literally made it twice in a row at least twice. The Tomato and Corn Pie was very similar and also amazing. I basically lived on the Smitten Kitchen shakshuka in the spring semester, and on a very Californian note, the Date, Blood Orange, Almond and Parmesan Salad I made in February was also amazing, and I'm eagerly anticipating blood orange season so I can make it again.

# Baked Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage - Fed me for a while, was easy and delicious. Nom.

# Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese - I've made this twice now, and it hasn't actually been that spicy; you can definitely add more smoked paprika or cayenne than Deb does. But it's pretty tasty, with or without the mint.

# Miso Sweet Potato and Broccoli Bowl - OM NOM NOM this was so good, I lived on it for like four days straight. Things I've learned the hard way: you really do need rice vinegar (or rice wine vinegar in a pinch), which you will need to get in the Asian grocery aisle. NOMZ.

# Carrot Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Spinach - I just made this last weekend and it's delicious. Om nom nom. I didn't bother slicing the spinach because life is too short, and it made no difference.

# Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad - I took this to a potluck (a double batch) and everyone wanted the recipe. It's really good and really easy.

# Potato and Broccolini Fritatta - This was tasty and simple.

# Apple Slab Pie - I bought a bag of sale apples at Berkeley Bowl and made this for our Halloween party. Even though the apples weren't great and I overworked the crust, it was pretty tasty, and it fed the crowd.

# Multigrain Apple Crisp - With a little less sugar this could totally work as a breakfast item. I didn't bother with grinding the oats (lol no, life is too short), and it still worked fine.

# Tomato and Corn Pie - OM NOM NOM SO DELICIOUS. I took a few extra minutes to de-seed the tomatoes and it was definitely worth it--the pie still generates a fair amount of liquid from the corn and the tomato flesh itself, and it is SO GOOD.

# One-Pan Farro with Tomatoes - I made this twice in two days. It's delicious, either on its own or with a poached or semi-fried egg over top. I will say that one batch really only feeds two people, if they are me.

# Peach Blueberry Cobbler - I made this twice and ate it for breakfast. It is delicious with yogurt or with plain whipped cream (I made some in a Tupperware), although I would definitely make sure to grab fairly ripe peaches.

# Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper - I am slowly getting in to pickling things. These were super easy and are super tasty! I only used a pound of grapes, but realistically I think I would have been fine packing the quart-sized jar I had without increasing the brine amount.

I make these so often I should have it memorized, but I don't.

Ingredients
¾ c unsalted butter, frozen, plus more for dish
1 ¾ c all-purpose flour
¾ c confectioners' sugar
¾ tsp coarse salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ tsp coarse salt
¾ c fresh lemon juice (from 6-7 Myer lemons)
¼ c whole milk
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9x13 inch glass baking dish, and line with parchment.

2. Whisk together flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a large bowl, then grate frozen butter over the bowl and stir to combine, until mixture looks crumbly. Best results if your butter has frozen for at least an hour.

3. Transfer mixture to prepared dish and press evenly onto bottom with your hands. Freeze crust 15 minutes, then bake until slightly golden, 16 to 18 minutes. Leave the oven on.

4. Whisk together sugar, flour and salt in the bowl from the crust mixture, then whisk in lightly beaten eggs. Stir in lemon juice and milk and whisk until smooth. Pour over hot crust.

5. Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF, and bake until filling is set and edges are slightly golden, about 18 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack. Lift out and cool completely on rack before dusting with confectioners' sugar. Cut into 2-inch squares. Eat immediately, or keep in fridge for up to 2 days. (I find they're best after a few hours in the fridge.)

--Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies

# Pear, Apple, and Cranberry Crisp - I needed to use up the last of my roommate's friend's apples, and this seemed the way to go after seeing this same kind of crisp for sale at the farmer's market. I would just like to note that I have officially gotten over my animus against pears, which I have had since I had one in a fruit basket (I think for my grandfather's death, actually) when I was four years old. More importantly, though my roommates liked this, I did make some changes and will again - although I squeezed half a lemon that I had lying around into the filling, I didn't bother with the zests or orange juice, and I wound up adding another 1/2 cup of oats to the crisp topping. I would also decrease the sugar in both the filling and the crisp topping next time, and maybe decrease the butter a bit too. I also added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, which was good. This makes a lot of crisp; you could probably halve the recipe and still get good results. I used Cornice pears; I might try for tarter ones next time. (D'Anjou?)

# Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread - I usually just use Jiffy mix, but I didn't have Jiffy mix and I did have cornmeal. I also didn't have buttermilk, but I just always make my own using vinegar and normal milk, and it works fine. This cornbread is still slightly sweet for my taste; next time I will probably use only 1/2 cup sugar.

# Roasted Figs - I made these a while ago, when figs were in season, and they were delicious. I used the more savory variation and was very happy.

# Quiche with Herbs and Goat Cheese - I used herbed goat cheese, which made for a very soft, very herby quiche, but it was really good even though my crust was not the right size for my pan and there was overflow.

# Butternut Squash Salad with Farro and Pepita - This is really easy and really good, though I've been doubling the pickling ingredients and would highly recommend not using more than 3 Tbsp olive oil at the end, and maybe even less.

# Apple Mosaic Tart with Salted Caramel - Pretty easy relative to how good it looks. I made this for our Halloween party and it was snapped right up.

# Spaghetti with Broccoli Cream Pesto - This is really good, and I've been doing it one-pot style with my immersion blender, and it's pretty easy. I will say that keeping the broccoli-to-pasta ratio constant appears to be key. Also, don't forget to reserve the starchy past water; that is also key.