Author Archives: Stephanie

Chocolate Swirl Buns

by Stephanie | 2 Comments

We hope everyone is having an easy and meaningful Tisha B’av. You know what can pass the time today? Baking! But a not-so-hard baking project. These have to rise a couple of times, giving you a break, but are involved enough to keep your mind off of how hungry you are.

We’ve made chocolate babka before, we’ve made cinnamon babka and we’ve made cinnamon buns. Twice. We even made rugelach when we first started blogging; it’s been three years, and we still can’t find those pictures!

I can’t believe I’ve never thought of filling cinnamon buns with chocolate instead, since chocolate is by far the superior babka flavor! And they’re so similar, buns and babka. A yeast dough, rolled and baked. Breakfast or dessert. Babka and buns basically the same relationship as cake to cupcake. And one person who I fed this to even mentioned rugelach, even that’s less doughy and more cookie-y. Continue reading …

Tiramisu Cake

by Stephanie | 6 Comments

It’s funny how some weeks can go by that I don’t feel like cooking at all, and then one day I’ll wake up and decide that I want to bake a cake with layers and icing and decorations. And while I’m baking, I’ll need to invite people over to help me eat said cake, so I’ll have to make a big dinner. In my tiny apartment. Did I ever mention that I have a miniature oven? Because I do.

Does that ever happen to you? Continue reading …

Summer Corn Soup

by Stephanie | 8 Comments

When you think summer, you definitely don’t think of eating hot soup, but I was looking for a new way to eat all of the corn I’ve been enjoying this season, because you can only eat so much corn salad, and this corn soup is definitely a nice, fresh summer soup!

You may also think it’s weird to eat avocado in a soup, or warm avocado in general (even though jessica eats baked avocado) but it actually works really well. you don’t actually cook it, and the creamy texture with the brothy soup, the crunch of the corn, and the crispy tortillas are an awesome combination!

You can make this with chicken stock, too, but I had some homemade vegetable broth in my freezer. I really don’t like the boxed kind, so I always try to have some stocked (heh) away. Instead of throwing away the ears of corn after cutting off the kernels, I simmering them in the soup; not really necessary, but it adds nice depth of flavor.

Did I mention how easy this is to make? Because the hardest part is figuring out how to get the corn to not fly all over the place when you’re cutting it. And it takes maybe 20 minutes from start to finish, including the chopping and dicing. So there!

Summer Corn Soup from Ruhlman

Ingredients:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large onion, small diced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked hot paprika or ground chipotle, or more to taste
  • salt to taste
  • 1 quart homemade vegetable broth
  • 1 plum tomato, diced
  • kernels from 2 ears of corn (keep the ears)
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • lime juice to taste
  • 2 avocados, large dice
  • 3 corn tortillas, baked crispy
  • cilantro to taste

Directions:

  1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil in a large pot over low heat. Add salt and spices.
  2. When the onion is translucent, add the broth—and, if you want extra corny flavor, the ears of corn —and bring it to a simmer.
  3. Add the tomatoes and kernels,  bring back to a simmer, and that’s it! Soup is ready to eat, it just needs some dressing up. Oh, discard the whole corn ears, too.
  4. Serve soup in bowls (duh) with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, garnished with diced avocados, tortillas and cilantro.

Salmon with Beets and Carrots

by Stephanie | Leave a comment

You know, I don’t really cook a lot of fish. Unless I’m having company, in which case salmon is my go-to main dish. Obviously, fish is a good dairy main dish for dinner parties, and it also makes a great centerpiece, because look how pretty that big piece of fish looks on top of that bed of root vegetables!

Continue reading …

Rhubarb Pie

by Stephanie | 2 Comments

Rhubarb is often paired with strawberries, since they come into season together. Not that I have anything against strawberries, but sometimes you just want the rhubarb to shine. I mean, strawberries are much more widely available, you can always get that flavor, but rhubarb, even here in NYC, isn’t that easy to come by, and it only makes a short appearance at farmer’s markets and specialty stores each spring.

We’ve experimented with just rhubarb desserts before: Tarts and Coffee Cake. Now to add a third rhubarb dessert to our repertoire, here’s a rhubarb pie! Maybe next time will experiment with some rhubarb combinations.

I made mine pareve, but with a nice buttery pie crust, it’s a special Shavuot dessert!

Continue reading …

Ramp Risotto

by Stephanie | 7 Comments

I wanted to share this recipe with you as soon as I took my first bite, but that would have been rude and my dinner would have gotten cold, so I decided to wait until right after I finished eating. Which was when I discovered that my internet was broken! Continue reading …

Soy Dijon Asparagus

by Stephanie | 1 Comment

Do you get excited when asparagus starts showing up at the farmer’s market? I do, and I usually just roast it with some salt and pepper, and maybe some paprika or garlic powder. But, obviously, I’m always looking for new ways to prepare my favorite foods, and this easy recipe caught my eye right away.

The asparagus is just blanched and dressed in a simple vinaigrette, so it’s totally different from my usual preparation, but shows off the fresh springtime flavors nicely. I bet the dressing would be delicious on a green salad, or even Brussels sprouts!

Asparagus Salad with Soy-Mustard Dressing from The New York Times
serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound thick asparagus, trimmed and peeled
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 egg yolks, preferably organic
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Extra virgin olive oil as necessary.

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook asparagus just until bright green but tender, up to 4 or 5 minutes for thicker spears. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water (or, better still, plunge into ice water). Drain again and set aside. (You can wrap asparagus and refrigerate for up to a day at this point. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

2. Whisk together mustard, egg yolks, soy sauce, lemon juice and just enough olive oil (start with a tablespoon) to make a smooth dressing. Toss with asparagus and serve.

Meyer Lemon Macarons

by Stephanie | 1 Comment

If you follow us on Twitter, you probably know about my adventures in macaron-making. I’ve been experimenting with these for a while, and you know I already made David Lebovitz’s chocolate macarons, but if you’re looking for a fruitier version, here you go!

Continue reading …