Browsing Archive: February, 2010
Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, February 28, 2010,
In :
Desserts
Shortbread has never appealed to me the way it does to, say, my mom. To me, "shortbread" is just shorthand for bland, dry cookies that leave me wishing I'd done something better with all that butter and sugar. However, I've been seeing all these recipes for sables everywhere, recipes that claim they're different from the unsatisfactory shortbread I'm accustomed to. These little French cookies have a sandy texture (from which they got the name sables), and thanks to the brown sugar I u... Continue reading ...
Chana Masala
Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 27, 2010,
In :
entrees
Vegetarian. Spicy. Filling. Made from ingredients I already had lying around. Did I just fall in love with a recipe? Yes, I b'lieve I did.
A weird thing I noticed after moving to Davis three years ago is that the dirt here smells different from the dirt in Albany after a rain. The smell of dirt is one of those things you take for granted until it changes on you, and then you suddenly realize what a complicated bouquet of smells dirt really is. I mention this because I've been g... Continue reading ...
Potato Gratin with Green Onions
Posted by Emma Barker on Sunday, February 21, 2010,
In :
Sides
After working all three days of last weekend, this weekend I didn't get scheduled to work at all. So how did I spend my first free weekend of the quarter? After promising myself that I would get ahead on homework later, going to the grocery store and buying some overpriced cookies from some adorable girl scouts, and watching the first few minutes of this season of Survivor only to give up in disgust when I realized they were just recycling the same people who had already been on the show ... Continue reading ...
Chicken Enchiladas
Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 20, 2010,
In :
entrees
After a week of beautiful weather that got everyone's hopes up for spring, the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped today. It's gotten to that point in winter where I've grown so accustomed to wearing heavy jackets that I feel almost naked without the added layer of puff. I just can't wait for the sun to come back! Until it does, I decided to heat things up with some chicken enchiladas. The recipe I used is adapted from Annie's Eats, which attributes it to America's Test Kitchen. The... Continue reading ...
Black and White Cookies
Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 13, 2010,
In :
Desserts
Valentine's day inspires a lot of mixed emotions in different people. Those who sarcastically celebrate SAD (single's awareness day) risk being branded as bitter singles, while those who buy into the chocolates and roses are accused of confusing love with commercialism. My solution is this: rather than buy things for Valentine's day or try to ignore the holiday altogether, I bake. This year I made black and white cookies, adapting a recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Although they are not t... Continue reading ...
Jaeger Schnitzel
Posted by Emma Barker on Thursday, February 11, 2010,
In :
entrees
In the Sound of Music, Maria sings about her favorite things-raindrops on roses and whiskers on kitttens, brown paper packages tied up with strings, crisp apple strudel and... schnitzel with noodles. I was always a little curious about why this particular dish made it onto her list of favorites, but when I actually tried jaeger schnitzel with spatzle at the Tyrolean Inn in Ben Lomond, I got it. German food is stereotyped as being bland, so I hadn't been expecting much when my parents took... Continue reading ...
Gordon Ramsay's Sticky Lemon Chicken
Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 6, 2010,
In :
entrees
I don't think I'm alone in saying that Gordon Ramsay scares me a little. His famous temper is well-documented on Hell's Kitchen, where botched risottos and undercooked Wellingtons send him into towering rages. Although I wouldn't ever want to cook with him yelling in my ear, there's no denying that he knows food. This recipe for sticky lemon chicken is adapted from the TV series Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food, and the couscous pilaf I served with it is my own recipe. The chicken turned out bea... Continue reading ...
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Posted by Emma Barker on Saturday, February 6, 2010,
In :
entrees
Because my dad works full time, my mom does most of the cooking from day to day in our family. However, when he has the time to do it, my dad really likes to cook. I don't always agree with his methods (or his erm, unusual substitutions), but one thing that he makes that I do like is spaghetti alla carbonara. The whole idea that one could eat spaghetti with anything other than tomato sauce and meatballs always seemed pretty revolutionary to me. On the other hand, it's hardly surprising th... Continue reading ...
Butterscotch Bites
Posted by Emma Barker on Monday, February 1, 2010,
In :
Desserts
My mom and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to desserts. For instance, she doesn't care for whipped cream, while I could happily sit and eat bowls full of whipped cream with nothing else for dessert. She also doesn't think that cakes always need frosting, whereas I think if you have frosting, what do you need cake for?
One dessert we have never disagreed on, a simple sweet that neither of us would change one thing about, is her rice crispy butterscotch bars. There is nothing... Continue reading ...
|
About Me
Welcome to my blog! I'm Emma, a recent college graduate with a BA in French. I am passionate about cooking and writing, among other things. Come share in my love of food!
|