To Make: Homesick Texan Dr. Pepper Cake

Let me just tell you: The topping? It's GOOD.

Just out of the oven.

House smells great.

Will I wait for the kids to dig in?

What do you think?

Homesick Texan Dr. Pepper Oatmeal Cake with Coconut-Pecan Topping

Related:

Homesick Texan Carnitas

Oh, yeahhh….

 

 

December 17 – 18: Weekend Links for Brooklyn Mamas

{photo via Peony / Melbourne}

Merry Almost-Christmas!

Holy crap, it’s almost here.

On my mind:

Good news — someone ELSE is cleaning my house this morning! And if you live in New York City, they can be cleaning yours, too. And you can pay with a credit card, no need to make sure you have cash on hand. And you can book online and they won’t cancel on you at the last minute. Call MyClean.

I don’t think I can make it through the holiday without some beautiful, perfect macarons from Laduree, now in NYC — must try to make it there this week, despite the fact that a friend went and had to wait in line an hour…. I’m thinking this can be avoided if I get there when they open — 9am Monday through Saturday, 10am on Sunday.

Speaking of cookies, I want to make these SmitKit gingersnaps.

And speaking of NYC, did you hear Gwyneth + Goop launched the first of their city guides this week, and of course it was NYC? Buy it as the app store.

Have fun buying, wrapping, baking, and eating!

It’ll be time for the fat man to come to town before you know it.

{photo: Peony / Melbourne}

Recipe of the Week: Homesick Texan Carnitas

Porky goodness.

So many things in Lisa Fain‘s new cookbook, The Homesick Texan, look good to me — and, of course, remind me of home — that I literally couldn’t decide what to make first. Then I saw Deb over at Smitten Kitchen tried out the carnitas, with great results, and I thought, OK, decision made.

Carnitas are basically tender-crispy bits of pork that you put into a corn tortilla, dress up with your favorite fixings, and eat as tacos. You braise the pork first in liquid — orange and lime juices, water, cumin, crushed garlic — and then sear to brown and crisp up all over once the liquid evaporates. It takes a good three hours start to finish and, I have to say, Chrissy and I thought the meat was absolutely delicious. Flavorful, perfect.

The recipe says to use pork shoulder or butt; we used shoulder. And the three pounds of meat was crowded in our medium-sized to large Le Creuset — so I’d suggest using the biggest damn dutch oven you’re got. Also: I’m not sure if it was in part because of the crowding, but not all of our liquid evaporated — we had to remove the excess ourselves. But it didn’t matter. We took out the remaining juice and let the meat brown nicely in the pot. Crispy, salty, addictive.

We made guac and piled on diced pickled jalapenos and cilantro, too. Yum, yum.

Carnitas, via The Homesick Texan (but as posted on Smitt-Kit — looks like Fain has adapted the recipe from her blog for her cookbook, so that’s what I’m linking to.)

For more Tex-Mex and other faves, scan the blog or buy the book.

Let me know what you think! (P.S. — The kids loved the meat, too, and there were plenty of leftovers.)

Recipe of the Week: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Marinated Gigante Bean Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Summer’s over, but we’re still making this light, lemony, garlicky salad and loving it. Don’t have gigante beans? Use butter beans or cannellini beans instead. No watercress in your fridge? Use any kind of greens or serve over sauteed spinach.

One note: Marinating the beans in olive oil, garlic, and scallions (or chives) for several hours before preparing is a key step in the recipe and makes a big difference in flavor. So do that earlier in the day and then assemble later for dinner — it’s fast and easy. And delish.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Marinated Gigante Bean Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Watercress.

What else is cooking:

Pork Shoulder Ragu

Spicy Veggie Burritos

Salmon with Sweet Chili Glaze

 

 

 

November 5 – 6: Weekend Links for Brooklyn Mamas

Tea time! (photo by Leslie Kalohi)

Thanks to Halloween, jury duty, and some fun new freelance ventures, I’ve had precious little time to blog this week. But I’m pulling my crap together today to get something short and sweet out — since I know there are, like, three of you sitting on the edge of your seats out there wondering, “God, when are they going to post again?!”

Well, my dears, here you go.

It’s pricey — $25 a kid — but dying to take the kids to this DIY (but with the help of a NYC chef) Yummy Tea Time Party at lovely DUMBO shop Pomme tomorrow. (Reserve a spot by email.)

Can’t wait to make tracks to the new space for the Children’s Museum of the Arts. Looks awesome.

On tap to cook this weekend — gotta knock out the last CSA squash for the season — is Mark Bittman’s Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Bacon. If you’re looking to take down a lurker squash or two at your house, I recommend these Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes and Squash — made them last night and yum, yum. The balsamic vinegar adds a ton of flavor. One other late-breaking idea, from a friend I just had lunch with: Butternut Squash Risotto. This one, a Chez Panisse recipe, looks good.

I’m also eyeing this chili, from the fine folks over at Dinner: A Love Story.

Happy cooking, eating, socializing, wine drinking, kid wrangling weekend!

(flickr photo: Leslie Kalohi / never cool in school)

The Hot List: Finding Monday’s Bliss

Shiny Brite is all about what makes our lives better as moms. Sometimes it’s got to do with parenting tips on how to make things easier or a fun, kid-centric outing; sometimes it’s all about what keeps the moms happy and sane (essential to home peace.)

Today, people, in these rough fall times — have we mentioned how much we hated leaving summer behind? Oh, right, we have — the focus is on finding little pockets of joy where we can. Here’s my Monday list:

* OPI’s “Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ” — a deep, dark red — on my newly-polished toes. A warm fall hue for sure.

* The leek and gruyere frittata I just took out of the oven — how good it smells!

* A couple of potentially fun freelance opps I have brewing.

* How happy my kids were to see me at “Bagel Bits” (where parents get to come to kids’ classrooms and see what they’re up to) this morning at school. And I was so happy to see their math skills taking off — parental pride + heart melting cranked right on up to “high.”

* The bag of Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies I have close at hand. Crunch.

Everybody needs a little somethin’-somethin’ to get through Monday. What’s giving you your little high today?

Weekly Menu, August 21-27 (Paris Parens)

Well, we really are back. Almost three weeks now, and still everyday, I miss our carefree lives overseas. I’ve been reluctant to post again, not wanting to break the spell of our magical month away. Keep it sacred. And yet, here we are in the City, back to reality. More on that later.

Our last two days in Paris we didn’t write about. Probably because we were too conflicted about our departure.

Paris was beautiful. Just as it was when we arrived, but hotter at the change of July to August. We cabbed it to Appartement Blanc on a Sunday, dropped our things, and went out in search of fun. We found it in the Tuileries, at the trampolines. Ten individual trampolines. Two Euro for five minutes of jumping. I would have paid more. The kids loved it. Brilliant, brilliant idea. I may quit my job and bring it to New York.

Jumping, jumping, jumping

Next stop, the amusement park in the Tuileries, where the kids honed their bumper car skills, among other thing. And then home, for dinner out on the square.

The next day, we woke up early(ish) and headed to our local cafe for pain au chocolat, fresh squeezed o.j., cafe creme and espresso. Our last day! Melisa and I wanted to take the kids to the pyramid at the Louvre. And we wanted to walk.

This plan was met with some resistance from the train fetishist, but walk we did, through the Right Bank, and to the Louvre.

Waiting for the metro, in the Marais

On the way discovering some gorgeous streets, shops, passages, like this one:

Here’s the obligatory picture of the kids in front of another monument.

At the pyramid

There was down time.

Time for everyone to get in something they need.

Including our budding photographer Magnolia (or was this Jasper?).

Time for more monuments. Here’s one of my favorites: Notre Dame.

And the resolution of the gelato v. glace smackdown: we declare a tie.

It's all good.

We had a great day!

And then we were off the next morning, too early, too soon. We had just arrived; how could we be going home?

Back at Charles de Gaulle

I took some comfort last week in the words of someone new I met. Try to make a little of every day a vacation. Why wait for those precious weeks every year?

Weekly Menu:

Sunday: Great day on the beach! Chasing it with our version of Diana Kennedy’s Shrimp in Adobo sauce, with rice, avocado, and scallions.

Monday: Pasta with fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil and parmesan, side salad with CSA lettuce

Tuesday: Skirt Steak marinated and grilled with summer squash

Wednesday: Date night for Melisa and I! The kids will have burgers on the grill.

Thursday: Chicken Fajitas with grilled onions, mushrooms, fresh salsa and guacamole

Friday: Grilled whole fish stuffed with scallions and herbs and tomato/cucumber salad

Saturday: Might be time again for pizza on the grill! Melisa and I are partial to a white pizza and the kids like margaritas

May your week be filled with starry nights, sunny days, and melon and olives!

Europe with Kids — Italy: One Thing I Loved Today

Breakfast four ways — and my pretty frittata

At home, I often find it annoying when everyone wants something different to eat — that typically means more work for me.

But on vacation — as with other things I’m noticing about our daily routines in a fresh, new setting — I find it less so.

This morning: zucchini frittata (with varying sides) for the moms, eggs sunny side up for Jasper, toast with honey for Miss Magnolia, and fruit all around.

Everybody gets what they want. Lovely.

More things I’ve been loving in Italy:

Campari by the pool

Our waiter at the hotel in San Bartolomeo al Mare

 

Destination Doughnuts: Dough in Clinton Hill

(photo: justcooknyc)

As anyone who knows me knows, I will happily travel out of my way for something good to eat. And doughnuts from Dough in Clinton Hill have been on my list since I sampled a delicious bite of one with friends at the Brooklyn Flea a few weeks ago. A trek over to the ‘hood had to happen, and it did last weekend.

The kids were with me instantly of course — who wants doughnuts for breakfast?! — and Chrissy wasn’t hard to convince.

Flavors tasted: dulce de leche with toasted almonds, chocolate with cacao nibs, chai cream-filled, and plain glazed — dulce de leche was the hands-down star, although the kids were pretty happy with the still-warm plain glazed. Sadly, the Earl Grey chocolate eluded me — some lucky girl in line ahead of me ordered the last one.

Dough was brought to Brooklyn by the same people behind popular cafe/takeout spot Choice Market, just down the street, and also worth a special trip. Just more reason to love the cool, evolving world of Clinton Hill.

YUM.

Dough

305 Franklin Avenue (at Lafayette)

347.533.7544

Top photo via justcooknyc on flickr

 

Recipe of the Week: Spicy Veggie Burritos

As you may have noticed, veggie burritos are in heavy rotation on the Weekly Menu. They’re a long-time, mostly vegetarian fave, and we can crank them out on auto pilot. But as commenter Melissa from Michigan recently pointed out, northerners and various others not raised on Tex-Mex might need a little help with ideas and inspiration!

So, here’s a rough take on how we throw them together each week — add in more or less of each ingredient based on what you like and want to taste more of. (Note: While the kids will eat plain cheese quesadillas, our burritos are a tougher sell. We like them full of spinach and mushrooms and turned up high on the heat — not really their thing. Also, picky little Miss M. is anti-beans AND -avocado — can she really be mine? — so it’s generally a moms-only dinner. But we’re working on it.)

Spicy Veggie Burritos, a Shiny Brite Kitchen Fave

Saute chopped garlic and chopped chipotle chiles in adobo (go easy on the latter until you figure out what suits your taste, maybe a quarter to half of one pepper plus a little of the smoky sauce) in olive oil for a minute or two.

Toss in some chopped red bell pepper and saute until tender; add in the chopped mushrooms of your choice (we use shiitake or cremini) and saute those, too.

Add one can (or most of it) rinsed black beans; we use Goya. Stir to combine everything. (If you have leftover grilled steak or chicken on hand, and are feeling in need of extra protein, you can add a little of that in, too.)

Add washed spinach and cook, stirring, until slightly wilted. Remove the pan from heat.

To assemble: Nuke flour tortillas wrapped in paper towels for a few secs to make them soft (we use Mission Whole Wheat Medium/Soft Taco size — there’s a little veggie overflow, but the Burrito size is HUGE. Trying to save a few carb calories where we can, but it’s a personal choice. If you want the burrito to fold up all nice and neat with no spill-age, you’ll need the big boys.)

Put a tortilla on each plate and spoon in the veggies; add grated cheddar or pepper jack cheese to taste. Fold in the ends first and then roll closed. Nuke again until cheese is completely melted; about a minute.

Top with a mix of any or all of the following: chopped tomatoes, diced fresh jalapeno, cilantro, avocado, scallions, salsa, sour cream spiked with a little of the adobo sauce from the chipotle chiles, and, of course, a few splashes of your favorite hot sauce.

Yum, yum.

And for two twists on the above, both of which we’ve tried and liked, try these, from Dinner: A Love Story and Smitten Kitchen:

Black Bean Burritos with Pickled Onions

Crisp Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw