Procrastinator's Gift Guide

The holidays are here. I know you forgot about them because it's 60 degrees outside. If you haven't found the right gift for the last few people on your list, here's a great gifty roundup....

Pan-Seared Peaches with Tarragon Basil Syrup

Seared or grilled peaches is a dish that's been on my summer cooking wish list for years, but sadly I never get around to it. Since I'm writing recipes for a living now, I'm spending a lot more time in the kitchen, testing and experimenting. Last weekend, I finally seared a peach. I took it one step further by making a tarragon and basil infused simple syrup to drizzle on top of the sweet, warm stone fruit. I seared my peaches in a pan with some butter because I didn't feel like setting up the grill just for one lonely peach, but if you prefer to grill your peaches, just brush them with olive oil and sear them on both sides for a few minutes until they develop nice grill marks and are warmed through.

Avocado Fries

The avocado fries at Brooklyn restaurant, El Almacen, were the inspiration for this recipe. I had never had fried avocado before and was under the impression that avocado shouldn't be cooked. But apparently, it should definitely be breaded and fried. I hope my readers don't think that I bread and fry everything. I really don't. I do it just for you guys. Anyway, it's finally spring time and our porch is decorated with big, white, flower-filled planters, a white bench, white Adirondack-style chairs and maybe soon a white umbrella. Our porch might get invited to a P.Diddy party.

Crispy Pan Fried Fennel

I'm not sure why I've never breaded and pan fried fennel before now. Fennel is one of my favorite vegetables, and anything tastes ten times better when covered in bread and fried in oil. Since I'm going on a beach vacation in about nine weeks, I have to hold off on covering foods in bread and frying them in oil. But if your beach vacation has already passed, you should immediately buy a head of fennel and try this recipe, even if you don't like fennel.

 

Homemade Horchata

I finally attempted homemade Mexican horchata after weeks of guzzling my faux-horchata made with packaged rice milk. Mexican Horchata is a sweet, rice-based, cinnamon-y beverage. I love it over ice with tequila and a salty, limey Tajin rim. I whipped up this first batch for a New Year's Eve trip to a cabin in the Poconos with a bunch of friends. I'm happy to say that the whole jug was finished by the evening of January 1st. I enjoyed welcoming 2015 with a glass of cold horchata and tequila by the fire between rounds of karaoke, boardgames and feasts of pasta and tacos. Tall thin trees and a waterfall visible from the porch made an awesome backdrop.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

The holidays are heading towards me at full speed so I'm making sure that I get a sufficient amount of baking and holiday movie watching into my schedule before it's time to kick the Christmas tree to the curb. I was going to make a sweet potato cheesecake for Thanksgiving, but was intimidated by the cheesecake water bath technique.

Sweet Ham and Gouda Crepes

Crepes are my kryptonite. I make homemade crepes once every 4 or 5 months, always on a weekend. And I eat those crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast, I’ll top a stack of crepes with fresh strawberries or bananas and a hefty pour of maple syrup. For lunch and dinner, I’ll use crepes as a blanket in which to wrap savory things. For dessert, I’ll have crepes with maple syrup again, or Nutella if it’s on hand. 

 

Salmon Fritters

I've always had a fear of leftover cooked fish and all its cold clamminess. That is, until, when recently faced with some leftover salmon, I searched the internet for “what to do with leftover fish” and changed my world forever. Leftover cooked fish can be used in fish tacos, stews, salads, sandwiches and fish cakes. Who knew? The key is to either gently bring the fish up to room temperature or reheat it for a very short amount of time.  Salmon cakes sounded the most appealing to me so I faced my fear. 

Late Summer Bruschetta

Working at a food company means that I often get to eat really delectable lunches. A few weeks ago, one of my bosses put together some crusty bread with homemade mayonnaise, heirloom tomatoes and basil while my other boss took pictures of us eating it. Let's hope a picture of me stuffing lunch in my face does not surface. I decided to borrow that combination of flavors for a late summer bruschetta using some heirloom tomatoes from my trip to Long Island this past weekend. 

 

Pickled Grapes

I'm always looking for an unusual, yet simple recipe.  One food blogger that I follow writes a beautiful blog called Not Without Salt.  I like her pro-salt blog title as well as the feeling I get when I read her words and look at her photographs.  I picture her life being one big lush, misty Washington morning with a cup of coffee in a mason jar.  When she posted a recipe for pickled grapes, I flagged it and took the next opportunity to make them, which was a summer dinner party at home.

Basil Juleps

I write to you from upstate New York where Alan's super awesome band, Ten Minute Turns, is rehearsing for an upcoming recording session. Being secluded in a rural area is giving me time to make blog posts, read, write and learn about stock trading, my newest obsession. Last month's obsession was part-time veganism. A month before that, it was jewelry making. I like to dabble. No matter what you're getting into on the weekends, do it with a basil julep. Alan and I made juleps with herbs from our porch-garden. He made his with mint and I decided to go out on a limb and make one with basil. Here's how to do it (no fancy julep cups necessary, but highly encouraged)...

Almond Milk Margarita aka Lazy Man’s Horchata Margarita

We discovered a little bar a few blocks away from us called Dick and Jane’s.  It’s been there for three years but we never knew it as it’s tucked away on a side street behind thick, black wooden barn doors.  They serve a cocktail there called Tigre Blanco which is a horchata margarita.  Horchata is a sweet, rice-based Mexican drink.  The bartender lines the rim of the glass with a smoky, limey salt similar to my favorite cabinet dweller, Tajin, a lime and chili infused salt.  I used and raved about Tajin in this corn salad last summer.  

Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

On Valentine’s Day, Alan and I decided to stay cozy at home and make some homemade pasta and bolognese sauce.  How romantic-o. Plus, I’d been craving a hearty meat sauce all week.  As the sauce simmered away, we cranked homemade pasta dough through the pasta maker he gave me for Christmas.  The dish turned out really good and we were so stuffed, we could barely move.  

Pumpkin Muffins and Pear Muffins

I’m picky about muffins.  Many times they’re too big, or too crumbly or too fruit filled or too sweet.  And I’ve yet to find a bran muffin that doesn’t have raisins in it; I’m not a fan of cooked raisins.  I like making muffins at home where I can control the size and what goes in ‘em.  Recently I made pumpkin muffins out of a sugar pumpkin that I baked and pureed.  The muffins came out of the oven all moist and soft with a bit of crunch from the pepitas that I sprinkled on top.  Recently, Alan’s dad sent us the gift of pears, so I used a couple of those to make pear muffins using the same recipe, and I topped them with some candied ginger that I made.

Candied Cranberries

I heard about candied cranberries last week and I was like, are those just dried cranberries? So I looked them up and found out that they’re totally not.  They’re gorgeous little round, sugar-coated cranberries that look like frosty Christmas ornaments.  Below the crunchy sugar coating is a firm cranberry that pops in your mouth and unleashes a burst of tart juice.  I image them at a party in a decorative bowl or champagne coupe on the cocktail table or side bar as a refreshingly tart accompaniment to cocktails or as an after dinner palate zinger.

BBQ Sides and Condiments

I started a brand new job this week at a company in Brooklyn that is doing some really cool things with locally farmed foods.  I am so excited that I finally found a place where I can merge my skills and my passion for food.  To celebrate, I decided to have a small BBQ celebration. I ended up cooking for about 12 hours straight in preparation.  When I start cooking, it’s hard to get me to stop.  I start rummaging through the fridge and cabinets looking for ingredients that I can turn into dishes.

Mascarpone and Lemon Zest Gnocchi

Working on the deck in a tank top under the warm sun while guzzling Mexican Cokes is enough to make me want to call in sick for the whole summer.  All I want to do is drink cocktails on a lawn chair, cook up a storm and garden until I pass out.  We took a ride to Home Depot this weekend to buy a big box of starter plants and a car load of wood to build new planters.  Alan power-sawed the planks behind a cloud of wood dust as I dug dirt out of planters and nudged baby plants into the holes.  

Berry Clafouti

Lynyrd Skynyrd once sang, "Ooh that smell, can't you smell that smell".  I like to believe they were singing about the heavenly scent of berry clafouti baking in the oven, but really they were singing about the “smell of death”; naturally.   I first made clafouti, a traditional French tart, with three strangers at a group cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education. 

Matzo Brei

The first time I had matzo brei and matzo ball soup was just a year ago when friends of ours invited us to their family’s home in Charleston, South Carolina for Passover.  We hopped in the car after work and drove 15 hours straight, taking shifts and fueling up on rest stop coffee, candy and regional chip flavors.  We arrived in Charleston the next morning, took a long nap and then headed into town to explore Charleston’s main strip, lined with palm trees and pastel shops.  The next night I had my first Passover meal.  

Eggy Popovers

It was ladies’ night at Buttermilk Channel on an ass-whipping cold Monday night in early February.  The six of us sipped on assorted cocktails while discussing first bought homes and career changes over kale salads and fresh pickles.  Out of the blue, a complimentary plate piled with golden pillows of dough was placed on the table.  ‘Looks like popovers’ I thought.  I tore one open delicately as if I were untying a bow from the neck of a mouse.  Warm steam blossomed from the dough almost visibly, but I think that was a hallucination.  They were soft, light and hollow with a hint of honey and sea salt; they had the fluffiness of a pancake but the eggy quality of a crepe.