Sweet Potato-Harissa Hummus

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It’s sweet potato season, and I’m committed to finding ways to enjoy this vegetable that grows prolifically in my state of North Carolina. Sweet potatoes are incredibly versatile and highly nutritious, yet they frequently get turned into something that looks like dessert, especially around Thanksgiving. I’m picturing that marshmallow crusted calorie bomb that everyone calls a casserole. Or my own classic sweet potato dish with loads of butter, brown sugar and pecans. Come to think of it, that one is quite delicious. It’s probably why I turned it into a signature cocktail a couple of years ago. But I digress.

Anyway, today I’m honoring the savory nature of sweet potatoes with an easy-to-make hummus, embellished with roasted sweet potato and harissa. It’s a fun little twist that celebrates the health benefits of sweet potato— antioxidants, potassium and lots of fiber— with just enough Moroccan spice to make it interesting and unique.

A little swirl of olive oil at serving time is the perfect finish.

I happened to mention this hummus recently when we were out to dinner with friends, and they were so intrigued that I’ve decided to make it again when they come over for cocktails and appetizers in a couple of weeks. I’m determined to heed my own advice about carving out time to get together with friends more frequently, even if it’s only for a casual bite (or maybe especially so). It’s the company that matters most, and who doesn’t love appetizers? Come along and I’ll show you how easy this one is!

Ingredients for hummus

Gather up a few key ingredients, including: garbanzo beans, which I like to call “chickpeas;” tahini, which is a thin sesame seed paste; olive oil and some seasonings. You’ll need a food processor or a good strong blender to make it, though I would not recommend using a bullet-style blender. The mixture will be somewhat hot, so you need to vent the container you use to blend it. If you only have a bullet blender, let it cool before you get to that step (for safety sake).

I generally take the shortcut of using canned chickpeas, but freshly cooked is probably even better— just be sure you cook them tender enough to blend well, and hold back some of the cooking liquid, too. Here’s a bit of good news for readers with certain legume allergies, including my high school bestie, who cannot eat chickpeas, soybeans or lentils. You can absolutely make hummus with other canned beans, including cannellini, which I think are divine! They are softer than chickpeas so a few adjustments are needed, and I’ll spell those out in the click-to-print recipe card you’ll find at the end of this post.

The process for making hummus

One burning question my friend, Charlotte, asked when I shared the exciting news of this sweet potato hummus was, “did you peel the chickpeas?” And this is a fair question, given that some traditionalists say it’s necessary. The answer is no, though I have done it once and I found it to be a complete waste of 90 minutes, only to end up with a pile of chick peas roughly half the size of when I started and a huge pile of skins that went straight to the trash. The theory behind this frustrating and tedious step is that the thick skins hinder achieving the smooth, silky texture that is so wonderful about hummus. And it’s true that the skins can be a little chunky, but I have an easier way around that.

My first tip is to look for chickpeas that don’t have “calcium chloride” listed as an ingredient. This additive helps beans hold their shape during the high-temperature canning process, and it may be fine if you intend to put the beans on a salad or crisp them up as a topping for something. But for hummus, you want them to blend smooth, so avoiding calcium chloride will help you get there. The easiest route to avoiding it is to pick up a can labeled “organic.”

My second tip is simple— heat the garbanzo beans in their liquid before blending, and add a pinch of baking soda to soften up the skins. Dump the entire can (liquid and all) into a small saucepan over medium low heat and let them go until you see small bubbles and steam coming off the pan. Strain the chickpeas through a mesh strainer, but keep the liquid because you’ll need some of it for blending.

Let’s make sweet potato hummus!

Save the other half of the sweet potato for another recipe, or share it with a very good dog if you have one.

Use the large bowl of a food processor (or a good blender with the vent cover off) to combine the warm chickpeas plus a little bit of the liquid, half a roasted sweet potato, some tahini and salt. Pulse several times until you have a somewhat smooth mixture of hummus. This was my first shot at using harissa in hummus, so I gave it a quick sample test and found it to be a great pairing with the sweet potato! If you are not familiar with harissa, it’s a spicy chile pepper paste common to Morocco and other mideast cultures. It usually includes some variety of chiles, plus garlic and seed spices, such as caraway, coriander and cumin.

This brand of harissa is labeled “spicy,” but don’t you believe it. I barely tasted any heat at all and my husband said the same. If you are sensitive to capsaicin heat, be sure you evaluate the level in your harissa and use your judgment on how much can be added without it sending you to the ER. If your body can’t take capsaicin at all, simply omit it. The sweet potato hummus is delicious without further embellishment.

Once you have the consistency right, stream in olive oil with the processor running.

For this final step, scrape down the sides of your processor bowl and then run it continuously until the hummus is a silky consistency. If you find the mixture to be too stiff, stream in a little more of the chickpea liquid and process again. Keep in mind that the hummus will be thicker once it’s chilled. Drizzle in olive oil while the machine is running. When it is smooth to your liking, give it one more taste test and adjust seasoning as needed. For mine, I decided to add a few shakes of onion powder to emphasize the savory flavor of the harissa, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Would you try this sweet potato and harissa hummus? What are your favorite appetizers for sharing with friends at home? 

Sweet Potato-Harissa Hummus

  • Servings: Makes about 2 cups
  • Difficulty: Average
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This is a fun, savory twist on classic hummus, using harissa paste from Morocco and seasonal sweet potatoes. Other beans may be substituted for chickpeas as noted.


Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato
  • 15 oz. can organic garbanzo beans (chickpeas)*
  • 1/8 tsp. baking soda
  • 3 Tbsp. tahini paste
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp. harissa paste (see notes)
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp. onion powder
  • Crackers, crostini or pita chips for serving

Note: Hummus may also be made with other canned beans, such as navy, Great Northern or cannellini. These alternative beans will be softer than chickpeas, so plan to adjust your liquid amounts accordingly. I still recommend warming them before blending for the smoothest consistency.

Harissa paste varies significantly by brand in both heat and thickness. Take note of the heat intensity before you add it to your hummus, so you may adjust the amount to suit your taste. My brand was Mina, labeled “spicy,” but had almost no heat at all. I’ve purchased other brands of harissa that were extremely hot, so it bears checking.

Directions

  1. Pour entire can of garbanzo beans (including the liquid) into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add baking soda and bring to simmer until you notice light boiling around the edges and steam rising from the pan. Remove from heat and strain the beans, reserving the liquid.
  2. Add beans, plus about 1/4 cup of the liquid, to the large bowl of a food processor or blender (with vent cover removed). Add sweet potato, tahini and salt to the processor and pulse several times until the mixture is blended but still slightly coarse. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl.
  3. Add harissa to the processor and pulse a few times. If the hummus seems too thick, add another tablespoon or two of the chickpea liquid to attain desired consistency.
  4. Run the processor consistently while you drizzle the olive oil into the chute. Give it a final taste test, adjusting as needed with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and/or pepper. This hummus is best after refrigerating for a few hours, and it will firm up a bit in the fridge.

Creamy Collard Dip

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In late 2018, my husband and I were invited to join our friend, Jerry, at a new-at-the-time restaurant in northeast Greensboro, North Carolina. Jerry was excited about this place, and we instantly felt the same about its casual vibe, beautiful bar and exceptional menu. Our only lament was that it was 45 minutes from our front door, and that meant that we weren’t able to visit as often as Jerry did, or as we would have liked.

Today, that restaurant is called Kau, an open-concept restaurant with high ceilings, retrofitted into a retired textile mill. It bills itself as a steakhouse— a fair description, given that it has an in-house butcher shop where you can also purchase an array of meats to take home— but we were impressed with its other offerings, including this addictive appetizer. Collard dip is hearty, rustic and comforting— perfect for fall— and as we enjoyed ours across the table at Jerry’s favorite new hotspot, I promised him that I would recreate the dip one day at home and put it up on Comfort du Jour. Even better, we’d have him over and chat over a cocktail, preferably bourbon.

What could be better than snacks and drinks with friends?

I had a difficult time making this dish last month. Not for its process or technique; that part is easy, as you’ll see in a moment. It was emotional because our friend Jerry passed away a few months ago, without warning and far too soon. Les and I were stunned, as was everyone else who knew and loved Jerry. We felt guilty for how much time had passed since we last got together with him, and it still doesn’t seem quite real that he is gone.

I missed a chance to share this recipe with Jerry. I know he would have loved it, and I’m certain that he would have made it at home himself as he often did with the recipes I posted on the blog. We tend to believe that there will always be more time for getting together with dear friends, but we never know, do we?

Yes, life gets in the way, and it can indeed be difficult to align our calendars when we are all juggling work, family and travel obligations. But the older I get, the more I’m seeing the importance of making time for our friends. The house doesn’t need to look perfect to have people over, and plans with friends don’t have to be extravagant. They can even be last minute and sometimes that makes it more fun. What matters is just doing it. Who would you miss most if they were gone tomorrow? Call them up, set a date and make something happen.

This one’s for you, Jerry. 💕 🥃

First, the collards

This collard dip recipe relies on having a cup or so of leftover cooked collards, so it’s best to plan ahead and make that component a day or two beforehand. I’ve shared several collard recipes on this blog, including kick-ass whiskey braised collards and smoky mushroom and tomato collards, either of which would be great in this dip recipe. For this recipe, I embellished my collards with onions, garlic, spicy sausage and a smoky chipotle seasoning. It’s bold and earthy, which is a terrific contrast against the creaminess of the other ingredients in the dip. Your choice of collards is subjective; just bear in mind that their flavor will play a major role in the final flavor of the dip. I promise that I’ll share the sausage version that I used here within the next couple of weeks.

UPDATE: The collards with beer malt vinegar recipe is now posted! Follow this link to get it. 😁

So hearty, it’s almost a meal on its own.

And now, the dip

This recipe begins as all of my creamy dips do, with a brick of cream cheese, some mayonnaise and a bit of sour cream. This combination creates a smooth, creamy base that is neither too heavy nor too oily. This collard dip called for bold flavors, so I tossed in some minced garlic and crushed red pepper seasoning, then I blended it into a creamy concoction in my stand mixer. 

This trio of ingredients is my template for all my creamy dips.

Cheeses came next, and for my collard dip, I followed Kau’s cue, using a generous amount of  aged white cheddar for its sharpness plus a low-moisture mozzarella for its melting attribute. Finally, the star of the show, the cooked collard greens. You could bring home some leftover collards from a restaurant meal and use those if you don’t feel inclined to cook them yourself. You’ll need about one cup of cooked collards, drained of all excess moisture and cooled.

Blend in the cheeses first, then fold in the collards.

For a delightful bit of texture and crunch, I toasted up some seasoned panko crumbs in olive oil to scatter across the top before baking, and then the oven did the rest. 

Toasted panko crumbs provide a little crunch with each bite.

This dip is a great starter for a casual meal, or for sharing over cocktails and conversation. For a lighter appetite, you might even find that it’s enough on its own, served up with pita chips or warm crostini.

Creamy Collard Dip

  • Servings: About 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Heartier than spinach dip, easy as pie to make. This satisfying dip makes use of leftover cooked collard greens and is perfect for all occasions this Autumn.


Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup seasoned panko crumbs
  • 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
  • 8 oz brick cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • A few shakes of crushed pepper flakes (see notes)
  • 1/2 cup sharp white cheddar
  • 1/2 cup low-moisture mozzarella
  • 1 cup seasoned cooked collard greens (drained of excess liquid and cold from the fridge)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Sturdy crackers, pita chips or crostini for serving

Notes: This recipe works best with full-fat cream cheese, mayo and sour cream, but light versions will be ok; expect a less cohesive texture if using light products.

My pepper flakes were chipotle with garlic and onion (from Flatiron Pepper Co.), but any crushed red pepper would work, or even a few dashes of hot sauce if that’s what you have on hand.

For best results, use freshly shredded cheese rather than pre-packaged. The packaged stuff contains anti-caking agents, which hinder proper melting.

Feel free to embellish your collard greens however you like. I made this version of collards with browned spicy sausage.

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350° F, with rack in center position.
  2. In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkle in panko crumbs and toss constantly until crumbs are toasted and fragrant. Remove from heat and toss in Parmesan. Set aside.
  3. Combine cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, garlic and pepper flakes in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle blade. Beat until evenly blended.
  4. Add cheddar and mozzarella to the bowl and mix until combined.
  5. Add the cooked collard greens and mix again only until evenly incorporated. Transfer to a shallow baking dish.
  6. Sprinkle toasted panko crumbs evenly over the top of the dip. Bake 30 minutes, or until dip is hot and bubbly around the edges. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

Peruvian-style Chicken

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There are only a few days left of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Recognizing and celebrating cultures other than my own is important to me, especially with the recent happenings in this U.S., and the government trying to wipe out diversity of any kind. I feel helpless in the face of it, but know I can still shine a light on the other cultures. And the best way I know how to do that is to explore and share their cuisine.

At our house, we observe the heritage of Hispanic cultures regularly— not only on months that “officially” mark the occasion— and that usually happens through food, and typically Mexican food. A few of my formative years were spent with my mother in Southern Colorado and New Mexico, so those flavors taste like home to me. But Mexico isn’t the only country with Hispanic culture; there are 21 countries and territories to celebrate, with most of them being in the Americas, some in the Caribbean (such as Cuba and the D.R.) and even an itty bitty country in Africa. What puts them in the “Hispanic” category is that Spanish is the predominant language and their cultures have been significantly influenced by Spain (which is, itself, an Hispanic nation).

Today, my attention is on Peru, for no other reason than I freaking love this chicken! My first-ever experience of Peruvian roast chicken was underwhelming— it was a rotisserie bird from Whole Foods that barely tasted different from a plain one. But when I first had pollo a la brasa for real—fire-roasted chicken with paprika, cumin, vinegar and garlic—I was blown away by the intensely warm and smoky spices and the flavor explosion at the first bite. And it’s not just the spices on the chicken— it’s this insanely good jalapeño-based sauce that I would happily devour with a spoon.

I’ll bet you can smell it through the screen.

We’ve made this a few times at home now— first, with the rotisserie spit accessory on our Napoleon gas grill and later by spatchcocking the bird and grilling it flat— and I have a few thoughts to share for the best success.

Thought #1: Trust Kenji’s recipe!

It didn’t take long to find the recipe I would trust when I decided to make this at home. If you know me at all, you know that Kenji López-Alt has my utmost respect for his culinary approach and techniques. He’s the reason I dry-brine my turkey at Thanksgiving and salt steaks overnight before grilling. If anyone knows the right way to cook Peruvian-style chicken, it’s Kenji. The only deviation I made from Kenji’s recipe on the Serious Eats website is that we used our gas grill (we don’t have a charcoal one, darn it). Literally everything else about my method is the same. For this reason, I’m tagging his recipe below so that I don’t have to type it out myself. Be sure to read through Kenji’s narrative, too, for more tips and expert insight.

The rub includes spices, garlic, oil and white vinegar.
I did this part in the late morning and let the chicken hang out in the fridge all day.

Thought #2: Consider roasting parts rather than a whole chicken

Our rotisserie effort felt authentic and fancy, but the whole, flat-roasted chicken was just as good. Next time we make this recipe, I’ll probably buy packages of the chicken parts we like best— the thighs! It can be tricky to get the thighs and breast of a whole chicken done at the same time, especially on the grill, so why not buy the parts separately and give each the attention they need? Bone-in, skin-on is the way to go for maximum flavor.

The chicken starts on the cool side of the grill, and finishes directly on the heat.
It was on the grill for about an hour.

Thought #3: Make extra green sauce (trust me!)

I don’t know how such simple ingredients can become so delicious. It’s kind of ridiculous how good this sauce is, and the secret ingredient is a product called aji amarillo chile paste. Look for it in a Hispanic specialty market or online if your supermarket doesn’t carry it.

The aji amarillo paste is the star of this sauce show!

Aji amarillo has a uniquely earthy yet tropical, almost sweet flavor, and when combined with jalapeños, cilantro, garlic, lime and mayonnaise— well, it’s almost magical, with an addictive quality that will make you wish you had grilled a second chicken. But don’t worry, you’ll find plenty of other things to dunk into this sauce. It’s that good!

This sauce! 🤩 OMG

Make the sauce ahead of time, if you wish, so the flavors have plenty of time to meld in the fridge. If you have a charcoal grill, use it! But we had zero complaints with the outcome of our grilled Peruvian chicken. My mouth is watering again just looking at it!

Fantastic flavors – way to go, Peru!

Want to make this incredible dish?

This might be a first, that I followed a recipe to the letter! Get the recipe and complete technique and instructions: https://www.seriouseats.com/peruvian-style-grilled-chicken-with-green-sauce-recipe

Caramel Apple Kugel

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When I set out last week to make a somewhat traditional Rosh Hashanah meal to enjoy with my semi-observant husband, I felt a bit of a knot in my belly. What if I get it wrong and ruin Rosh Hashanah? Dramatic, I know, but this is me. I have no Jewish heritage myself— at least not that I’m aware of— and I always worry that my effort might be disrespectful to someone else’s tradition. Les says this is silly, and has at times even suggested that in all my diligence, I might even be more Jewish than he is.

Still, I gave much thought to our meal for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and I settled on roasted chicken with a bevy of root vegetables, including carrots, red potatoes and parsnips with a simple pan dripping gravy. Delicious! And for dessert, kugel, made with noodles, sugar, eggs and various forms of dairy. I want to emphasize that in a kosher household, this dessert would not be served with chicken because Jewish dietary law prohibits meat and dairy together on the table. This rule is born from the commandments in Exodus and Deuteronomy that you should not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk— which over time expanded to “no kind of meat with any kind of dairy, even if said meat doesn’t make milk.” Don’t blame me, I don’t make these rules.

Our meal was delicious and fully representative of autumn, especially with this kugel, with all the flavors of a sweet caramel apple from the county fair.

This smelled sooo good from the oven!

Apples are traditional at Rosh Hashanah, usually paired with honey and symbolic for sweet wishes in the new year. I had been thinking about apples and caramel together in a dessert after spotting a caramel apple display at the supermarket. Kugel is a dish perfected by the Ashkenazi (ASH-kuh-NAH-zee) Jews of Eastern Europe, and it is a blank canvas of sorts for any combination of sweet ingredients. It may seem strange the first time you make one; I mean, noodles in a dessert? But trust me, it’s delicious!

Here’s how my dish came together. Enjoy!

The caramel

Now, I may not be Jewish, but I come from a long line of improvisers, and my instinct told me that dulce de leche, a thick, rich caramel sauce, would be a reasonable stand-in for most of the sugar in the basic kugel recipe I had found, and for some portion of the milk as well. I blended the thick dulce de leche with cream cheese, cottage cheese, milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla, and folded in the buttered egg noodles, hoping that some measure of Ashkenazi wisdom would emanate from the wooden spoon that we had rescued from Les’s mother’s condo after she passed. Surely the spoon had done this before.

Think of it as bread pudding, but with noodles instead of bread!

The apples

My doubts set in again about the apples because kugel is usually dotted with dried fruits such as raisins, prunes or apricots. Should I cook the apples first? Or dice them up and stir them into the custardy noodles, or would the moisture cause the whole thing to become a big mess? In the end, I decided to par-bake the noodle custard, top it with thin slices of apple and a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon and then bake it again. It turned out to be just the right amount of apple, and the brown sugar-cinnamon topping emphasized the caramel flavors inside.

Adding the apple topping

This kugel was very well-received by my hubby, who had made his own version of kugel a few years back when we were clearing out the pantry for our kitchen remodel. We enjoyed this caramel apple version at Rosh Hashanah and again straight from the fridge later in the week, and I think we may even have a couple of slices left for our “break the fast” meal when Yom Kippur ends tonight.

Shana Tova!

Caramel Apple Kugel

  • Servings: 12
  • Difficulty: Average
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Jewish New Year calls for a celebratory dessert, and I chose apples and caramel to bring in some comforting fall flavors.


Ingredients

  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup small curd cottage cheese
  • 1/2 cup (or more) dulce de leche
  • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 12 oz. package extra wide egg noodles
  • 6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature (I used salted)
  • 1 large Honeycrisp apple, cored and cut into thin slices
  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, mixed with 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Notes: Dulce de leche is usually found in a can, in the same supermarket section as sweetened condensed milk, or possibly in the Hispanic section. If you cannot find this product, a thick, milk-based caramel ice cream topping would work fine.

Directions

  1. Add cream cheese, cottage cheese and dulce de leche to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Blend together on speed 2 or 3 for about two minutes, or until the mixture is evenly combined.
  2. Add brown sugar and sour cream, whisking on low speed until blended. Gradually pour the milk into the bowl while the mixer is running, to avoid splashing. Add the eggs, one at a time and then stir in vanilla.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles until just tender, according to package instructions. Drain the noodles and toss with butter until fully melted.
  4. Pour the caramel mixture into the warm noodles and toss to combine. It will seem very liquid-y. Transfer this mixture to a buttered 9 x 13 glass baking dish and spread it out until even. Cover the dish and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 350° F, with rack in center position.
  6. Uncover kugel and use the back of a spoon to press down any noodles that have emerged from the caramel custard mixture. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, arrange sliced apples evenly over the top and sprinkle the surface with the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. Return to oven for 15 more minutes.
  7. Cool to room temperature before enjoying, and refrigerate leftovers. When chilled, the kugel can be cut easily into squares and served almost like brownies.

Just for grins

As desserts go, this one packs a substantial amount of protein with cream cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, sour cream and milk. It also doesn’t have as much sugar as you might expect, with only three tablespoons, plus the sugar in the dulce de leche. Les and I got into a lukewarm debate about the protein content of this dish, with him asserting that the ingredients are spread out across 12 portions, making each portion skimpy on protein. I disagreed, so I did the math to bolster my case and here’s the result:

INGREDIENTPROTEIN GRAMS
cream cheese, full-fat16
cottage cheese, 2%28
whole milk12
dulce de leche6
eggs18
sour cream, full-fat4
noodles(this number surprised me!) 40
butter2
Total grams protein126
divided by 12 servings10.5

Each square contains 10 1/2 grams of protein, significantly more than you can say for most desserts. A serving of vanilla ice cream, for example, typically contains 2 to 3 grams and a slice of chocolate cake is around 4 grams. I’m not claiming this to be a health food by any stretch of imagination. The fat and sugar content are high, and there are irrefutable downsides to that. I’m only suggesting that this could be considered something of a power dessert, if there is such a thing. 😉

Figroni!

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It’s no secret that fall is my favorite season. We are still a few weeks away from cozy sweaters, but the “official” arrival of the season has me feeling inspired. And to make things even more fun, this also Negroni Week, a fundraiser that benefits the Slow Food Movement, a cause that aims to make the world a better place with a focus on sustainability, equity and education around food and drink. Savvy bartenders get excited about Negroni Week because it gives them reason to flex their creativity with the classic Italian cocktail that is the event’s namesake.

If I had my own bar— and believe me, I’ve pondered it— this is the twist I would serve for Negroni Week. Traditionally, a Negroni is an equal parts drink made with dry gin, sweet vermouth and Campari, the red bitter liqueur that makes Italy proud. Mine is all of that, plus an easy infusion of sweet, earthy fig.

The lighter variety of fig helps keep the Negroni color true.

These flavors feel so right for fall, layered and complex, leaning more toward slow savoring than refreshment. This drink fits right in with cooler temperatures, gentle breezes and the first few leaves making their annual drift toward the ground. It makes me long for sweaters and cozy socks and conversation around our Solo stove. Negroni is delicious with cured meats, cheeses and olive trays, so this one gets high marks as a cocktail for casual entertaining.

To maximize the fig flavor, I chose to infuse with dried figs rather than fresh. The drying process leaves a concentrated sweetness and intensity behind, and soaking the figs in sweet vermouth pulls that flavor into the spirit without watering it down.

The giant Costco bag of figs always seems like a good idea at the time! 😂

Why infuse the vermouth?

My decision to infuse the vermouth rather than the gin or Campari was quite intentional. Gin is the highest proof spirit of Negroni and I didn’t want to mess with that. I also knew that some of the booze would soak into the figs that I would repurpose— most likely in a bread pudding— and I couldn’t wrap my mind around the thought of Campari-stained figs, so the vermouth won out by elimination. It also bears mentioning that I wanted to try the fig-infused vermouth in a Manhattan, too; alas, I used it all up in my Negronis, so I’ll have to make more. Had I realized how much the figs would soak up the vermouth, I’d have made a double batch! Let this be a lesson to you.

I snipped the figs into smaller pieces for maximum infusion.
Straining through a coffee filter was near-impossible, so I shifted to a fine mesh strainer.

All things being equal

Negroni is one of the simplest cocktails to make because it is equal parts of only three ingredients, plus an orange slice. This means, no math! If you want a small drink, use 3/4 of an ounce of each— gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. For a longer sip, go for a full ounce of each. Living abroad where ounces aren’t a thing? Use whatever measure makes sense to you, and make it the same for all three ingredients. Simple is good.

That Negroni color!!!

A classic Negroni is made directly in the glass, but I like a little dilution on mine to wake up the nuances of the booze. Plus, the dried figs have turned my vermouth into a thin syrup and I want to be sure it mixes well, so my ingredients went into a cocktail mixing glass with a large cupful of ice. You could use a shaker, I suppose, but don’t actually shake it; just pour it back and forth with ice a couple of times. Strain it over a giant ice cube and garnish with a juicy orange slice.

Always remember to garnish!

Would I make another round?

Absolutely! I found this cocktail to be a real charmer that has lingered in my mind long after the fig-infused vermouth ran dry. If you already like Negronis, you’ll love it. If you’re on the fence or you typically find Negronis to be harsh, I can confirm that the figs soften those bitter edges in a pleasant way. Fig also happens to pair very well with orange, so the classic orange garnish is right at home. You may notice that I also used Tanqueray 10 for this cocktail; it’s distilled with tons of citrus, and that’s working great here.

If you’re into Negronis, I hope you’ll seek out a bar or restaurant in your area that is supporting Negroni Week, going on through Saturday. If not, then encourage your favorite watering hole to participate next year, and at least take a moment to learn more about the Slow Food Movement, which benefits us all, cocktail or no cocktail.

Cheers!

Figroni

  • Servings: 1 cocktail
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Sweet, earthy figs lend their flavor to one of the most classic apertivo cocktails, making this a fun twist for Negroni Week.


Ingredients

  • 1 oz. citrus-forward gin, such as Tanqueray Ten
  • 1 oz. Campari
  • 1 oz. fig-infused sweet vermouth (details below)
  • Stir all together and garnish with an orange slice

Fig-infused vermouth is simple to make. Plan ahead, as you’ll need at least 24 hours ahead to infuse the vermouth.

Directions

  1. Cut up about two cups worth of dried figs (mine were Smyrna figs, which are light in color) into a medium bowl, and pour enough sweet vermouth to fully cover them. This should be a little over one cup.
  2. Let them rest at room temperature a few hours or overnight before stirring and transferring to the refrigerator for 24 hours.
  3. Strain out the solids through a fine mesh strainer and transfer to a bottle. This will keep in the fridge for two weeks, and should make enough for at least four cocktails. Save the vermouth-soaked figs for another use, such as bread pudding or quick bread.

Sweet Potato-Cornmeal Pancakes

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It’s a busy time of year for this food blogger— we are well into National Whole Grains Month and “Better Breakfast” Month, and today is also the first full day of autumn. Could there be a better time to present these pancakes? Whole wheat flour and cornmeal give them a hearty texture, and roasted sweet potato lends a seasonal sweetness that is out of this world. Top it with a smear of salted butter and some real maple syrup, and holy moly, what else can I say?

The color, the texture, the flavor… I loved everything about these.

In the spirit of transparency, I admit that I’m known to buy sweet potatoes with no specific purpose for them. Same with bananas, which gets sketchy because they are usually mottled with brown spots within a few days and so they end up mashed in a bowl in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks until I either make banana bread or muffins or dog treats. Sweet potatoes, thankfully, are hardier and will hold their integrity on the counter for a couple of weeks whilst I ponder the possibilities.

This recipe came to me when I considered how I might use sweet potatoes in a breakfast recipe. I considered a skillet hash (and might still make one), but I really had been craving pancakes, and then I spotted a jar of medium coarse cornmeal that had been left on the counter after pizza night. Why couldn’t I combine the sweet potatoes and cornmeal into a pancake that would be delicious either for breakfast or for dinner? So I did.

Soaking the cornmeal

This was a bit of an experiment for me, as I wanted the texture of cornmeal but without the grit, so I relied on a trick that I’ve used with some of my sourdough bread recipes: I pre-soaked the cornmeal for about an hour and strained out the water before mixing my pancake batter. This helps not only soften the grain, but also unlocks enzymes in the corn, making it easier to digest later.

The long soak makes the cornmeal soft and tender.

How to mix sweet potato into pancakes

One of the things I wanted to avoid with this recipe was having a batter that was too wet. Pancakes need a certain amount of heft to hold up when they hit the griddle, so I opted to roast my sweet potato rather than boil it in chunks. This also turned out to be an easier method, given that I didn’t have to mess with peeling or cutting up the sweet potato. I scooped out about a half cup of the flesh and blended it with egg, buttermilk and melted butter, then stirred it into the drained mushy cornmeal. 

My bullet blender did a great job here, but a regular blender or processor would work fine.

From there, it’s pancakes as usual, and you know I couldn’t resist spiking the flour with some spices to welcome the autumn season. Cinnamon was my go-to, and I threw in a little pumpkin spice blend as well. Butter on the griddle, and a warm oven to keep them cozy while we finished up the whole batch. 

It’s time to turn the pancakes when the edges are dry and you see bubbles on the tops.

Welcome autumn!

What I loved about these pancakes, besides the sweet potato flavor and spices, was that the insides were creamy and almost custard-like, thanks to the soaked cornmeal. They were so comforting and delicious with a pat of butter and real maple syrup, plus smoky bacon on the side. A lovely introduction to the season. I’d make these again in a heartbeat, and I probably won’t wait until next autumn. What flavors are you looking forward to this fall?

Sweet Potato-Cornmeal Pancakes

  • Servings: 9 five-inch pancakes
  • Difficulty: Average
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Pre-soaking the cornmeal helps give these tender pancakes a custard-like interior. The sweet potato makes them perfect for fall breakfast, brunch or dinner.


Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup medium grind cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup roasted sweet potato (warm)
  • 1 egg, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1 Tbsp. sorghum, maple syrup or honey
  • 3 Tbsp. melted butter
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, nutmeg or pie spice

Notes: It helps to have the sweet potato baked in advance. Do this in either the oven or microwave. Cool and then scoop out flesh to measure 1/2 cup for this recipe. Use remaining sweet potato in another dish, or double this recipe and freeze extra pancakes between layers of parchment paper when cooled.

Directions

  1. Pour enough boiling water to cover cornmeal in a small bowl. Stir to break up any lumps. Rest this at least an hour before draining through a mesh strainer.
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices in a batter bowl.
  3. Combine sweet potato, egg, buttermilk, sorghum and melted butter in a blender. Pulse or blend until smooth. Stir in soaked cornmeal.
  4. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, folding gently to combine. Do not overmix; there may be a few lumps.
  5. Heat griddle to medium heat. Melt butter in spots where you’ll cook the pancakes. Add batter and cook until the edges are set and the top is bubbly. Use a spatula to gently turn pancakes to cook the other side.
  6. Keep pancakes on a plate in a warm oven until all batter is cooked. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

On Earworms

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You know the drill when a song gets stuck in your head and certain parts of it play over and over and over, driving you nearly mad? It might be a song you love or one you hate, or maybe even one that you love to hate, and sometimes (but not always) its sudden appearance in your mind is triggered by something someone says or perhaps a TV commercial or a fleeting memory. Or it could just be completely random. In any situation, it drives me nuts, and the only method I’ve found for releasing it is to lean in. I search out the offensive song on Spotify and actually play it. Singing it loudly seems to help as well, and then I can get on with my life.

This phenomenon is widely known as an “earworm,” and research suggests that as many as 98% of people have experienced it, though it’s rarely considered to be a serious condition. 

An earworm is not the same as a brain worm, which is a far more daunting phenomenon in which a weak human brain becomes invaded by a parasite that eats the lobe associated with common sense, leading to conspiracy theory-driven psychosis that prompts the afflicted to seek a government leadership position so that they can eliminate longstanding, important public health policies in favor of nonsensical theories, such as rendered beef fat possibly being more beneficial than monounsaturated plant oils or the notion that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they aim to prevent, or that food dyes in soda are a greater enemy than childhood cancer. But I digress.

For some reason, the songs that become earworms in my head are generally tunes that annoy me— that damn “Piña Colada Song” from 1979, for example, or the repetitive hook that’s currently making the rounds on social media, actually creating the very anxiety it speaks of. Or (dare I suggest) “Pink Pony Club.” And there are occasionally good earworms that I actually enjoy— one of them being an old Schoolhouse Rock ditty, and I frequently bust out the chorus these days, easily recalling from my Gen-X childhood every single word of the Preamble to the Constitution. Again, I digress.

My latest earworm, however, is not musical. It is more an obsession with color and possibility, and it was re-triggered after an activity my husband, Les, and I enjoyed last weekend when we visited the Van Gogh Immersive Experience (speaking of people crippled by persistent thoughts). This was a multimedia adventure, filled with detail about the artist’s life, work, death and legacy, and we concluded our visit with a virtual-reality experience that was by far the coolest part of the exhibit. Since then, visions of sunflowers and starry night scenes have been swirling in my mind, and I’m not exactly fighting them. I’m leaning in, allowing the visions to swirl, and trying to immerse myself in them. For years, my muse has been challenging me to produce two specific, highly creative things from my culinary bucket list that are directly connected to Van Gogh’s art. I’ve accepted the challenge, and I’ll tell (and show) you how it goes.

Until we get there, please enjoy this quick recap of the Van Gogh Immersive Experience, along with one of Les’s very favorite ear worms. 

Fried Green Tomatoes (with Mexican Street Corn)

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Some decisions come back to bite you. I know this because I have really missed having fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes and zucchini this year, and I’ve felt twinges of regret over having ripped out my deer-ravaged garden a couple of summers ago. I just didn’t have it in me anymore, but at least we have the farmers’ market. I recently invited a neighbor to join me at our fabulous Saturday market, and I brought home a few fresh tomatoes as well as some green ones. 

Most people assume that fried green tomatoes are a delicacy of the American South, but this is only because of the now-classic 1991 film based on the Fannie Flagg book, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was set in 1920s Alabama. But food historians credit midwestern newspapers and Jewish cookbooks with the first published recipes for this dish.

Wherever the heck they came from, I’m grateful. And today, I’ve put a fun flavor twist on this classic, in the form of— you know it— Mexican street corn.

Didn’t I tell you there’d be more elote to come?

How do you make fried green tomatoes?

Confession time: I had never made these before, and so I was relying mostly on a recipe from Southern Living magazine as well as my own memories of having eaten fried green tomatoes at some of our local hot spots. The trick, apparently, is to use tomatoes that are truly green, freshly picked off the vine or farm stand while still firm and solid. This is necessary because frying won’t work on softer, juicier tomatoes. I bought my tomatoes on a Saturday, and by the time I got my proverbial ducks in a row on Tuesday, two of my maters were already headed toward varying shades of pink, but they worked out fine.

Still green enough, thankfully!

You’ll need a dredging station— that is seasoned flour, buttermilk with beaten egg and a seasoned cornmeal-flour mixture— and a hot skillet with a half-inch or so of neutral frying oil. I used peanut oil, but grapeseed, soybean, canola or safflower would be good options. Olive oil has a low smoke point and is not good for frying at this temperature. Save that for sautéing and salads.

The fun part: frying the green tomatoes!

Because I wanted to marry these fried green tomatoes with Mexican street corn, I took the liberty of seasoning every layer of my dredging station. This meant a couple of dashes of local hot sauce into the buttermilk mixture and a few shakes of Trader Joe’s “Chile Lime” seasoning into both the flour and cornmeal mixtures.

One of my kitchen mottos: “Never miss a chance to add flavor!”

The tomatoes are sliced to approximately 1/3-inch thick, and then dredged and laid carefully into the hot oil until browned and crispy. This only takes a few minutes on each side. As with anything fried, give it a quick salt when they emerge from the pan, and keep them warm while you finish the remaining slices. 

These cooked up quickly and crispy.

About these Mexican street corn flavors

I’ve been all about elote lately, and this dish was simple to adapt, beginning with those flavor embellishments to the dredging ingredients. To seal the deal, I squeezed a few drizzles of spicy mayonnaise over the hot fried green tomatoes, and then scattered them with leftover grilled corn, some crumbled Tajin-flavored feta (my new favorite ingredient) and fresh chopped cilantro.

These flavors were made for fried green tomatoes!

The marriage with street corn felt like it was meant to be, and the grilled corn played so well with the cornmeal crust on the tender green tomatoes, which were delightfully tangy underneath that spicy mayo and salty feta. My intention was for this to be a side dish, but they were so filling, we found them to be perfect on their own and called it a meal. 

Fried Green Tomatoes (with Mexican Street Corn)

  • Servings: About 4
  • Difficulty: Average
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These tasty treats are bringing a south-of-the-border flavor to what has become a staple appetizer in the American South. A great way to use any green tomatoes that linger on the vines this fall.


Ingredients

  • 3 good size very green fresh tomatoes
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided (see directions)
  • 1 cup fine cornmeal
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • Several shakes chili powder or Trader Joe’s “Chile Lime” seasoning
  • 1/2 cup real buttermilk (thick is best)
  • 1 large egg
  • Bottled hot sauce to taste
  • Neutral cooking oil for frying
  • 1/4 cup spicy mayonnaise
  • Kernels of one grilled corn on the cob
  • 1/2 cup Tajin-flavored feta (or make your own, or use traditional cotija)
  • Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped (for garnish)

Notes: It’s crucial that you select very firm green tomatoes. Juicy tomatoes will not yield a good result. Arrange your ingredients before you begin, as the cooking moves quickly.

Directions

  1. Slice tomatoes cross-wise into roughly 1/3-inch slices and pat dry with paper towels. Heat enough oil in a cast iron or electric skillet between 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch deep. The oil should be 375° F; use a thermometer if you have one, or consider cooking a test tomato and adjust the temperature as needed.
  2. Combine buttermilk and egg in a shallow bowl, and beat in a few shakes of bottled hot sauce. Place 1/2 cup of the flour on a deep paper plate. Combine the rest with the cornmeal on a second plate, and season both plates with a few shakes of chile lime seasoning, plus the salt and pepper.
  3. Moving quickly, dredge the tomato slices in the flour, then dip into the buttermilk mixture and finally into the seasoned cornmeal mixture. Shake off excess breading and carefully lay the slices into the hot oil. Cook for about three minutes, until you can see the edges turning deep golden color. Use a spatula together with a fork to turn the slices over (this will help you avoid splashing the hot oil). Cook the second side two to three minutes, then carefully transfer to the wire rack placed over a baking sheet. Season tomatoes with salt promptly, and repeat with remaining tomatoes.
  4. To dress them up Mexican street corn-style, stack three tomatoes onto a plate and drizzle spicy mayonnaise over the top, then follow that with the grilled corn, feta and cilantro.

Black Forest Cupcakes

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There’s a reason my dessert page is overrun with the chocolate-cherry flavor combo. The “reason” is my husband, Les, who loves this combination and regularly yearns for it on special occasions. This past weekend was his birthday, and I couldn’t resist adapting my decadent “Black Forest Cake” into individual cupcake treats. Needless to say, Les approved this decision.

With chocolate, cherries and bourbon, these cupcakes were a winner for my husband!

The adaptation was not quite as simple as switching pans and adjusting the bake time. My Black Forest cake is powered by sourdough and doesn’t have quite the structure needed for handheld cupcakes. The cake, after all, is syrup-soaked layers held together by mascarpone filling, and that wasn’t going to work for cupcakes. For this switch-up, I looked instead to the recipe I used for the Irish Coffee cupcakes I made for St. Patrick’s Day, with a few flavor swaps, of course. Irish cream had no place in these, so I exchanged it for bourbon (which Les never refuses) and I also replaced the cold coffee with milk. 

Getting my ducks in a row makes things go smoother.

Let’s get baking!

My trusted technique for cupcake batter involves first creaming the butter and sugar, mixing in one egg at a time, and then alternating the dry ingredients with the liquids to achieve an even, smooth batter. Easy enough, and these were ready for the oven. 

This technique works for me every time.

The cherry filling was also easy, with frozen dark sweet cherries cooked with sugar, corn syrup and a splash of juice from our cocktail cherries. I reduced the filling longer than usual because I didn’t want it to make the cupcakes soggy from the inside. The jury was still out on this, but I had purchased a can of cherry pie filling as a backup, hoping that I wouldn’t have to use it.

Don’t miss an opportunity to add flavor. I saved the liquid from our cocktail cherries for just such an occasion.

Even the icing was easy; just a half-recipe of my usual salted butter-powdered sugar-splash of booze buttercream. And given that I planned to only pipe it around the outer edges of my cupcakes, it turned out to be exactly the right amount. 

Next time I need a half-batch of buttercream, I’ll use my hand mixer.

Trouble with ganache

Why is it always the easiest part of a recipe that trips me up? Never mind, I know the answer to my own question. I’m far more likely to get lazy or take a shortcut on the part that seems like a no-brainer. And I pay for it every single time. By the way, did I mention that I was trying to make these glorious birthday cupcakes on the sly while Les worked a half-day? He wasn’t supposed to see these or even know that I was making them, and I was feeling the pressure with only 45 minutes remaining before he was due home. 

The ganache, which contains only two ingredients— in equal parts, I might add— became the problem. I think it was the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who lamented,“the hurrier I go, the behinder I get,” and that certainly was the case for me, as I decided in a rush that I would not take five stupid seconds to cross the room and grab my digital scale for proper measurements. Nope, I eyeballed the ratio of dark chocolate wafers and hot heavy cream, and I missed the mark.  And then, in my rush to finish, I didn’t give the cream enough time to melt the wafers before I started stirring it. So now I was in a fix of my own making, which happens more than I care to admit. 

Three minutes and five seconds would have saved me a bunch of trouble here.

About this time, I panic-texted my high school bestie for a quick sanity check on how to best save the ganache. As expected, both options Christine suggested would take more time than I had, so I finished what I could— filling each cupcake with two or three boozy cherries and piping the buttercream onto the edges. The rest would have to wait, as I crammed the cupcakes and the half-assed ganache into the garage refrigerator, speed-washed the dishes and tried my best to “act normal” when Les walked in the door. 

I could at least get the cupcakes ready for the ganache!

A decision bigger than ganache

Though I had made some special plans for us that afternoon, which included a couples’ manicure and a cool visit to the Van Gogh Immersive Experience, half of my mind stayed behind in the kitchen, deciding how to pull this off without spoiling the surprise. This was not a milestone birthday for Les, but I really wanted to make the day extra special because A: I love him to pieces, and B: he had pulled off a stunning party for me one month earlier when I hit a zero-ender birthday. When you love someone, you want to do your best for them, right?

But here’s the thing about my husband— he’s about as easygoing as they come, the kind of guy who appreciates the heartfelt gesture far more than the outcome. In the end, I simply piped the ganache (which resembled milk chocolate pudding) into the well created by the buttercream, topped it with a cocktail cherry and a birthday candle while he changed into comfortable clothes. Does he look bothered?

All’s well that ends well. 🥰

Naturally, I told him about my ganache faux pas, and assured that the rest of the cupcakes would get the right ganache. Letting this go allowed me to dismiss my disappointment in myself and get back into the special moment of sharing these yummy cupcakes, which Les absolutely loved. Especially the second time!

What a difference careful attention makes!

Just for grins, here’s a side-by-side of the correct ganache with the first batch, and let my lesson be one for you, too. Grab the scale, wait the 10 minutes, take whatever time is needed to avoid unnecessary stress. And if the worst thing that happens is that you end up with an extra bowl of too-creamy, not-so-dark chocolate ganache, well, how is that ever a bad thing? 

Black Forest Cupcakes

  • Servings: A baker's dozen
  • Difficulty: Average
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This was a fun challenge, creating a cherry-filled chocolate cupcake with all the wow factor of my Black Forest cake, but in a single serving birthday treat for my husband.


Ingredients

  • 1 stick (8 Tbsp.) salted or unsalted butter, softened to near-room temperature
  • 3/4 cup organic cane sugar
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp. bourbon
  • 1 Tbsp. Cherry Heering liqueur (optional, or another of bourbon)
  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour (see tips)
  • 1/2 cup Double Dark Dutch cocoa (see tips)
  • 1/4 tsp. salt (increase to 1/2 if using unsalted butter)
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 heaping tablespoons dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chips)
  • Cherry filling, buttercream and ganache, as noted below
  • 12 stemmed cocktail cherries (optional, for pretty presentation at serving)

Tips: Cake flour is very fine and lower protein than regular baking flour. Find it in specialty stores or online at King Arthur Baking. If you cannot find it, all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute. Be sure to measure using the “fluff, sprinkle, level” method so that you don’t end up with too much flour and dense cupcakes.

The cocoa I used is very dark and intensely flavored. I purchase it online from King Arthur Baking. Hershey’s also makes a dark cocoa, which would be a good substitute.

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350° F, with rack in center position of oven. Line a 12-cup cupcake tin with doubled liner papers.
    2. 2.In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat softened butter until it’s light and creamy. Pour sugar in very gradually, continuing to beat until the sugar is fully incorporated. Stop the mixer a couple times to scrape down sides of the bowl.
  2. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to the batter, one-third at a time, alternating with the milk and ending with the dry mixture. Slowly stir in bourbon (and cherry liqueur, if using).
  3. Use a large cookie scoop to fill cupcake papers. They will be about 3/4 full. If necessary, line custard cups with papers for any excess batter.
  4. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 22 minutes, turning pan halfway through for even baking. Remove from oven to cool several minutes, and then transfer cupcakes to a wire rack to finish cooling.
  5. Use an apple corer or paring knife to carve out a small plug of cake from each cupcake (reserve them). Carefully spoon two or three cherries into each cupcake cavity, and then replace the reserved cake plugs.
  6. Load buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe buttercream only around the outer edge of each cupcake, leaving the center of each cupcake top naked (this is where the ganache will go). Refrigerate cupcakes for an hour or two to firm up buttercream.
  7. Spoon ganache into open top of cupcakes. Place a cocktail cherry on the cupcakes when you are ready to serve them.

Boozy Cherry Filling: If you want to save time, consider using a quality canned cherry pie filling in place of this scratch-made mixture.

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. frozen dark sweet cherries
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. water
  • 2 Tbsp. bourbon (or liquid from cocktail cherries)
  • 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup (prevents crystallization of sugar; sub maple syrup if you wish)

Directions

  1. Place cherries, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved and cherries are completely softened. Simmer for several minutes to reduce the overall liquid in the pan. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon or cocktail cherry liquid.
  2. Cool completely and refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the completed cupcakes.


Buttercream icing: This half batch was a little tricky in the stand mixer; alternatively, make the icing in a separate bowl with an electric hand mixer.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 stick (4 Tbsp.) salted butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. heavy cream (if needed, to thin and smooth out icing)

Directions

  1. Add softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip butter on speed 3 or 4, until light and fluffy.
  2. Add confectioner’s sugar, one-half cup at a time, until fully blended. Stop mixer and scrape down bowl as needed.
  3. Whip in heavy cream if buttercream seems grainy or heavy. If desired, blend in a splash of bourbon.

Ganache: Take time to measure and/or weight the ganache ingredients, so that you get the optimal consistency and flavor. This will make more ganache than you need for the cupcakes, but I trust you’ll think of a way to use the extra. 😉

Ingredients

  • 4 oz. dark chocolate melting wafers
  • 1/2 cup (4 oz.) heavy cream, heated to steaming point but not boiling

Directions

  1. Place chocolate wafers in a deep measuring glass. Pour hot cream slowly over the wafers and set a timer for 10 minutes.
  2. Using a small whisk or spoon, gently stir ganache mixture from the center of the cup, gradually swirling more of the mixture as it melts together. It should stir up nice and smooth. If it doesn’t, place the measuring cup into a bowl of shallow hot water for a few minutes and whisk again.

Southwest Wedge Salad

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Sometimes a food captures me in such a way that I can’t think about much of anything else. I just want more of it, and I call up all the possibilities for enjoying that food. It’s like falling in love, I suppose, and I’ll be the first to admit I have become somewhat obsessed with the flavors of Mexican street corn. I’ve been daydreaming about new ways to incorporate the sweet kernels of corn, creamy spicy mayo, Tajin, tangy lime and fresh cilantro into our menu plan, as I did when I made the Mexican street corn potato salad a couple of months ago. Today’s salad is not specifically a Mexican street corn dish, but it was definitely inspired by its flavors. Expect a few more “street corn” creations in the weeks ahead, as I am undeniably head over heels.

All my cravings are covered here, from crunchy to creamy and cool to spicy!

Keeping meals cool in the hot summer

It’s been a brutal summer in North Carolina, with temperatures far exceeding the typical, plus too much humidity. This week has been more tolerable, but all of July and the better part of August were sweltering. When it’s too hot, we try to make the most of our outdoor cooking by grilling up extra proteins (and sometimes vegetables) to use later in the week. Chicken is the simplest, and I love the ease and flexibility of tenders, which can be seasoned any number of ways for sandwiches, wraps and salads. This time, we had grilled our tenders with Tajin, and that was quite on purpose because my muse was already busy developing this salad. Here’s how the rest of it came to be, starting with the lettuce.

During most months of the year, I am a lettuce snob, opting for romaine over less-expensive varieties. Plus, I generally prefer the substantial texture of romaine for a Caesar or garden salad. But in the summertime, there’s something irresistible about iceberg— that crispy, hydrating crunch and refreshing, slightly bitter flavor— and it is obviously the star of any wedge salad.

Easy and done!

The simplest way to clean iceberg lettuce is from the inside out, and that requires removing the core. You could carve it out with a knife, I suppose, but I rely on a simpler trick of smacking the head on the counter to break the core from the leaves, then the core just pulls right out. This makes it easy to rinse the lettuce head, and then shake out the excess water and let it drain in the fridge for a few hours.

A shortcut to flavor

I made the dressing early in the day so that the flavors had a chance to meld before dinner. I knew that I wanted a creamy, ranch-style dressing, and I considered making it from scratch before I found a packet mix with simple, clean ingredients. For southwestern flair, I subbed in a spicy mayo along with the buttermilk. It was perfect for this salad, and saved a bunch of time.

Changing the mayonnaise turned this into a completely different dressing.

The street corn inspiration is evident here, but I wanted more pop and color, so I also prepped a handful of baby tomatoes, some diced red onion and cubed avocado. The only thing left to do was build this salad!

I love when the simplest of ingredients become something special.

A south-of-the-border twist on a classic wedge

A wedge salad is exactly that— a wedge of the lettuce head— and so I cut this crunchy iceberg in half, then halved one side again for our two portions. The dressing is spooned over the cut edge so that it runs down the sides, and then it was simply a matter of piling the other ingredients on and around it, finishing the salad with all those lovely Mexican street corn flavors. We used the Tajin-flavored feta that Les had found for the potato salad, and it was a perfect stand-in for the bleu cheese you’d normally find on a wedge. 

Even the colors are exciting!

Delicious as this was, I doubt that it has satisfied my fervor for Mexican street corn, and I’ll be dreaming up other ways to incorporate the flavors again very soon. I’m open to ideas, of course! And I’m curious whether you have a similar experience with being obsessed about particular foods. What can’t you get enough of that you want to present in new and interesting ways? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

Southwest Wedge Salad

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Easy
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The wedge salad, classic though it is, can also be a blank canvas for interesting flavor twists, such as this one with vibrant southwestern flavors and a hint of Mexican street corn.


Ingredients

  • 1/2 large head iceberg lettuce (rinsed and chilled)
  • Southwest ranch dressing (choose bottled or make your own from a packet, using spicy mayo in place of regular)
  • 4 large grilled chicken tenders, pre-seasoned with Tajin spice blend (see notes)
  • 1/2 ripe avocado, cubed and dressed with a squeeze of fresh lime to preserve color
  • 1/3 cup leftover grilled corn (we seasoned ours with Trader Joe’s “Everything But the Elote” seasoning)
  • 1/4 cup minced red onion
  • Handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered and seasoned with salt and pepper
  • Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, rough-chopped
  • 1/4 cup Tajin-seasoned feta crumbles (see notes for substitution ideas)

Notes: For a tasty seafood option, consider spice-grilled shrimp or cubes of grilled firm fish, such as halibut or tuna.

If your specialty cheese section doesn’t have the Tajin-seasoned feta, make your own by crumbling a handful of feta into a small bowl with a spoonful of Tajin. Shake gently to coat, and perhaps do this a few hours ahead so that the seasoning melds into the feta. Alternatively, if you want less spice, use plain feta or cotija, which is the traditional Mexican hard cheese used in street corn.

Directions

  1. Using a large knife, cut the iceberg into equal wedges and place them, curved side-down, onto a chilled plate. Spoon about two tablespoons of the dressing over the top, allowing it to run down both sides.
  2. Scatter sliced pieces of chicken around the wedge, and top the wedge with the corn, tomatoes, red onions and avocado cubes. Sprinkle with cilantro and feta.
  3. Enjoy!