Butterbeer

Disclosure: at the moment I am sick and chilly, and a hot beverage described as “the best thing [Harry] ever tasted, [a drink that] seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside” sounds pretty appealing.

Buttered Beer is actually a real drink dating back to Tudor England involving ale, butter, egg yolks, and various heady aromatics like aniseed, licorice root, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and what have you. Butterbeer, however, is a fictional tipple summoned from the clever mind of J.K. Rowling. Read more »

Flammkuchen

I tried flammkuchen for the first time in Freiburg, Germany, at the edge of the Black Forest, in the dead of winter.

We were fleeing the city for the weekend, my friend Hillary and I. (No one tells you this, but Paris is dreadfully dreary in the winter, and sometimes in the spring, summer, and fall, too.) We rented a car, and drove a squiggly line eastward across France, pausing in Reims just long enough to see the grand cathedral, its two towers lit from below like some magisterial jack-o’-lantern. Hours later, on the outskirts of Strasbourg, it started to snow.

We’d made two decisions to save money: rent the cheapest car possible (a manual, which obligated Hillary to drive the whole distance) and take small highways, instead of the national road. The former allowed us to bypass toll fees; however, it also meant we relinquished certain amenities like wide lanes, and the illumination of highway lamps.

By the time we crossed into Germany, our single lane road was dark and slick with fast-falling snow. Wind rattled the bones of our small car, and the only light shone blearily through snow-hampered headlights. We slowed to a crawl. A trip that was meant to take six hours quickly lengthened considerably. Read more »

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Holy macaroni, I am fatigué. Yesterday was full of cooking, cooking, cooking, and a fair amount of eating as well. There was a turkey, of course, rubbed in thyme and rosemary butter, and spiked with cider gravy. And potato puree, strained strenuously through a ricer and laced with cream and butter. I roasted carrots and radishes (with honey and apple cider vinegar) and broccoli florets (with roasty lemon juice and Parmesan).

I vow this year was the last I use bagged stuffing: I’ve done so before out of habit and tradition, but last night I finally had reason to check the salt content, and, well; I already doctor the dish with apples and onions and herbs, why not cut my own bread too? I don’t think the transition will be difficult, although I hope there won’t be backlash from the diners.

There was canned cranberry sauce on the table too, although I am not ready to give that up any time soon. Read more »

Rosemary-Cheddar Apple Pie

Hold onto your hats, ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to part two of The Roaming Kitchen’s two-part series: Thanksgiving Desserts!

At the moment, I am down in sunny Florida visiting family, and feeling very glad that I baked and photographed this pie before I flew down here. (Although, to be honest, I spent all of today indoors, laboring over three pots of turkey stock–because I’m insane–much to the Frenchman’s chagrin. I vow to fully enjoy the waves tomorrow!)

Since apple pie is a standard at any Thanksgiving table, I offer you the version I’ve been baking lately, should you wish to honor tradition while deviating slightly where flavor is concerned.

The incorporation of rosemary and cheddar tack the pie ever so slightly in a savory direction, while keeping a firm foot in the flavors of fall. Once the crust is made (which you can do days, or even weeks, ahead of time), simply slice the apples, toss with sugar and spice and everything nice, and pop that puppy into the oven. It’s really quite simple. Read more »

Spiced Pear Chocolate-Caramel Tart

As promised, welcome to part one of The Roaming Kitchen’s two-part series: Thanksgiving desserts. Please try to contain your excitement!

I wanted to try my hand at a poached pear dessert, so here we are. I wondered if I should pair my poached pears with chocolate, or perhaps ginger, or possibly caramel, or perchance figs. And then, because it’s the holidays and a time for a wee bit of decadence, I decided to include them all.

This tart has quite a few steps, it might be true, but none of them are difficult, and all of them are an excuse for family participation in the kitchen. If you don’t feel up to making the whole tart, however, you can simply make the poached pears alone, and match them with: ginger snaps, a drizzle of chocolate or caramel, a dollop of mascarpone whipped cream, a sprinkle of crushed, toasted hazelnuts, a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, or whatever else you wish. All would make a pretty (and delicious) picture on your Thanksgiving table. Read more »

Pear-Vanilla Bourbon Warmer

Since the holidays are fast approaching, I wanted to fashion a weather-appropriate drink with enough versatility to please a crowd. I think I’ve succeeded. (At any rate, I think it’s pretty delicious.)

The result of blending pears with nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla is a warming, satisfying cocktail that takes a hint of freshness from Meyer lemons. As a bonus, whipping up the syrup will make your house smell insanely great.

The pear-vanilla syrup recipe yields about 1/2 cup. If you don’t use it all for cocktails (or mocktails for the kids), warm it and pour it over: yogurt, ice cream, fruit, hot cereal. Stir it into tea, or a hot toddy. It can be brushed onto cake or pastry as a glaze. Read more »

Onion Soup

One of the more entertaining aspects of my relationship with the Frenchman is our collective opportunity to play with language. At any given moment, one of us is speaking in a third language, and so mistakes are made. More often than not, we bend it to our liking in the name of wordy nerdiness.

While we met in Spain and started our friendship in Spanish, it’s probably our least fluent language now. Still, we both weave Spanish words and expressions into conversation, and use it to aid French and English when we don’t know a word. (I have recently taken to employing “tranquiler” as a French verb meaning “to calm down”. The problem is, the French word is actually “calmer”, far more similar to English than the Spanish “tranquilizar”. I will not be stopped!)

Before I met the Monsieur, I never gave much thought to the ‘Frenchisms’ we’ve adopted in English. Some make sense, like “French Toast”: French people really do eat pain perdu (“lost bread”) when baguettes go stale, although in France they make it far less sweet than we do, and it’s more likely to be served as dessert than for breakfast. Read more »

Sweet Potato “Fries” with Za’atar and Labneh

Inspiration for this recipe comes straight from the pages of Jerusalem, the new cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. As with Ottolenghi’s last book, this volume happily demonstrates how colorful, complete, complex, and satisfying a plate of vegetables can be. (No one is paying me to say that, but for the record, I accept payment in the form of Kitchen Aid Mixers and candied pecans.)

As is my habit with new cookbooks, the first thing I do is flip through the pages and look at the pictures. (Before I delve into the text, I like to imagine what ingredients a given dish might hold; this makes it easier to come up with adaptations and fresh ideas, before I know what I’m ‘really looking at’.)

And so it was that I planned this recipe in my mind-grapes, before I knew what I was really looking at: a plate of roasted butternut squash with red onions, parsley, and toasted pine nuts. What I picked up from the picture alone was the image of bold, orange roasty roots, za’atar, and tahini. Read more »

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