I love a slice of this pound cake with my beloved morning coffee. It also satisfies my after-dinner sweets craving. Recently, I poked a few (yes, just a few!) candles on top to celebrate my chocolate-loving mother’s birthday. I will be baking it over and over again. Before you rush off to preheat your oven, I want to share a few things I learned that will help you bake the best chocolate pound cake ever....
Food writer and activist Toni Tipton-Martin has done just that with Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking. The title of her cookbook directly references the day that honors the freedom of enslaved Americans, but she extends that term to celebrate the contributions Black Americans have made to cooking. She writes, quite simply, “We have earned the freedom to cook with creativity and joy.” The book is pretty radical in that regard, and its recipes are pretty delicious....
Bruschetta is the perfect lazy summer dinner—it requires less than 30 minutes (from start to finish) and I never use more than five ingredients (not including pantry staples like butter, salt, and pepper). And the form is extremely flexible; I can top the toasted bread with any seasonal vegetables I’m craving or to use up whatever I have in my refrigerator or pantry. Your Bruschetta Can Be Topped With More Than Just Tomatoes Many people probably think of bruschetta as small pieces of bread topped with chopped tomato, but the form is actually far more flexible....
It’s ready in about 20 minutes, making it a truly quick appetizer that you can whip up even at the last minute. Isn’t this dish just gorgeous? I love serving it to my family, but it’s also very appropriate to serve when you have company over. It’s festive, elegant, and very tasty. When I serve it to my family, I like to serve it as our main course, so I serve six mushrooms per person plus a side or two....
Cranberry orange nut bread is a great loaf for late fall and early winter as cranberries, oranges, and walnuts are all in season. Buy an orange and squeeze it fresh to get the best juice for this recipe (grate the peel first for zest to add to the batter). How to Prep Fresh Cranberries You can easily prep the cranberries by pulsing them a few times in the food processor, or manually cut them in half first, then do a rough chop....
This. It’s incredible. It tastes like a cheesecake….but also like french toast. It’s soft and custardy and buttery. A little bit sweet, but not too sweet. The top of the loaf has a thick, golden crust, reminiscent of the golden crust you get from traditional pan fried french toast. Then you have that incredible cream cheese layer. It’s SO SIMPLE, but so perfect for this french toast loaf. I got the filling recipe from Mira at Cooking LSL, from her Cream Cheese Filled Banana Bread with Coconut Oil....
I confess this simple vegetarian side dish dropped below my radar in recent years until my cousin called me for my grandmother’s recipe. My grandmother’s holiday spinach was embraced by generous amounts of butter and cream with the occasional pinch of nutmeg, which let the vegetable shine. Modernizing Grandma’s Creamed Spinach Things have changed since Grandmother’s day. I suspect she used frozen spinach, but with pre-washed baby spinach leaves now ubiquitous in every supermarket, why not use those tender and sweet leaves?...
And while I’m always happy to work around dietary needs, cooking for my younger brother takes a bit more consideration. Not only is he lactose intolerant, he is also allergic to gluten. (Sadly, this means every single recipe from my mac and cheese cookbook is off the table!) Rather than see these dietary restrictions as inconveniences, I prefer to see them as challenges. Or, at the least, an excuse to buy and explore alternatives such as buckwheat and amaranth flours....
Now this is what I call vegetarian food for carnivores. They’re so good, it was almost enough to persuade me to buy that deep-fat-fryer that Chris wants us to get. The lure of creamy, crispy delicious fried foods is calling me, with a little ’no don’t do it’ voice coming from the healthy part of my brain that loves the smoothies and the soups. I think a fryer may well drag me away from my ’everything in moderation’ motto, and over to deep frying anything-and-everything (I can see myself now, frying up Mars bars like I’ve heard they do in Scotland)....
And they have the best flavour – a pure, clean flavour that’s simply magical! Duck Fat Potatoes You’ve heard of them, you might’ve even seen them on the menu of fine dining restaurants. So – what’s the big deal with Duck Fat Potatoes? Here’s why they’re held as the best roast potatoes in the world! Crispiest crust that’s thick and craggy, with a deep golden brown colour; Stays crispy rather than going soggy within seconds of coming out of the oven like “normal” roast potatoes; and The best flavour, a pure, clean flavour that doesn’t taste of duck but has a distinctly richer flavour than oil....
Using an electric fondue pot, it’s surprisingly easy to make at home! And you can vary the basic recipe, using any melty cheese that you like and enjoy. There’s something about melted cheese. The Swiss know it (fondue, raclette dinner). The French know it (French onion soup), and the Americans know it (grilled cheese). Fondue is obviously an amazing dish. What can possibly be better than dipping tasty morsels of food into delicious melted cheese?...
A Note On Oats: The best oats for our simple granola recipe are old-fashioned rolled oats. If you have quick oats on hand, they’re an okay substitute. The texture won’t be exactly the same, but if you’ve got them at home, feel free to use them. If you are gluten free, make sure to use gluten-free oats. While oats themselves are gluten free, they are at very high risk of contamination....
What’s hummus made of? Cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. Purée everything, top with some paprika and a swirl of olive oil and voilà, you’re done. Use Quality Ingredients for Hummus With this few ingredients, their quality is important. You can cook your chickpeas from scratch or use canned, which is what we are doing here for our quick and easy version. Note that not all canned chickpeas are equal....
Definitely more homely looking than the Ratatouille recipe served up on the movie, but oh my, it’s very very tasty! That ratatouille in itself is a tasty meal, but I still haven’t got out of the mind-set of thinking of veg as a side dish. I’m training myself slowly. So I decided to go for some lovely salty feta to add a bit of tang. Cold feta just wouldn’t have been right, so I gave it a breadcrumb coating and shallow fried it until it was golden and crispy on the outside, and just slightly soft on the inside....
Rich, buttery shortbread biscuits filled with jam…… That is a jar of love. Honestly, what would you prefer? a) A little fluffy teddy bear hugging a red heart with some slushy words written on it b) Some kind of ill-fitting, slightly dodgy undergarment(s) c) A jar of lovingly made bite-sized biscuits Yes I know what I’d choose too. I’ve got to admit, Chris and I don’t really do valentines day....
Spaghetti Carbonara is one of those classic pasta dishes that is straight up comfort food. Plus, bacon. Right? For some reason I have lots of friends who are a little freaked out by the thought of putting raw eggs into the pasta. While the eggs definitely get cooked by the heat of the pasta in traditional carbonara, they still get a little worried. Then there are the friends and family with egg allergies!...
One of the absolute classic winter flavors is eggnog, a rich drink made with dairy milk, egg yolks, nutmeg and a healthy dash of rum or bourbon (for those that prefer their eggnog with a little kick). The flavors of eggnog easily translates into a soft, tender cookie that will make your entire home smell like the holidays! Serve these cookies with a large glass of real milk (of course), and enjoy!...
