The Ramos Gin Fizz: definitely shaken, not stirred

This classic New Orleans cocktail includes gin, orange flower water, half-and-half, an egg white, citrus juices and a whole lot of shaking. Recipe below.

Years ago, when I was fairly new to this drinking thing, one of the first cocktails I ever tried was a Ramos Gin Fizz. The identity of the date who suggested it has vanished from my memory bank—what a fate, to be remembered only for a long-ago beverage—but I do remember how much I liked the drink. Frothy, light, citrusy, it tastes like frivolity and—being mostly gin—can pack quite a wallop. Continue reading “The Ramos Gin Fizz: definitely shaken, not stirred” →

Flavor, heat and a cool back story: “Old Godmother” Spicy Potatoes and Pork

Storied Asian condiment Spicy Chili Crisp adds complex flavors and a little kick to this improvised dish of fried potatoes, pork, garlic and scallions. Recipe below.

Like a lot of people we know, we have a battery of hot sauces in our pantry. We don’t have, oh, 100 different hot sauces, but we have a few, from the familiar (Tabasco, Cholula) to the popular (Sriracha) to the hyper-local (Dia de los Tamales Tree Sauce, made a few blocks from our house). Our collection includes a healthy number of Asian greats: hot oil, gochujang, Szechwan chili paste, Szechwan hot bean sauce. Who could have guessed we needed another? Turns out we did. Continue reading “Flavor, heat and a cool back story: “Old Godmother” Spicy Potatoes and Pork” →

No ice cream maker? No problem: No Churn Strawberry Nectarine Ice Cream

Heavy cream, sweet condensed milk, fresh fruits or other flavorings of your choice and not much else create a luxuriously creamy, no churn ice cream. Recipe and variations below.

This whole thing started when our friend Laura Perry, one of the great home cooks we know, posted on Facebook about her success with a recipe for no churn salted caramel ice cream. I thought: huh? But sure enough, all of a sudden, I started noticing recipes for no churn ice cream all over the Internet. I was super skeptical of this whole thing—no churn? No… churn? But I have to say, as Laura notes, it is ridiculously easy and ridiculously luxurious. It just takes a bit of advance planning. Continue reading “No ice cream maker? No problem: No Churn Strawberry Nectarine Ice Cream” →

Cheesy, tangy, glorious: Cauliflower Kale Gratin

Steamed cauliflower and kale are tossed with a béchamel sauce and two cheeses, topped with panko and baked into a rich, tangy gratin. Recipe below.

This is what comes of reading a cookbook while riding around town hungry. On Saturday, we had an errand-filled day, hunting hither and yon for everything from geraniums to major appliances. On the way out the door, I grabbed the wonderful cookbook Off the Menu, which we’ve already written about here. Maybe reading cookbooks while hungry is not the brightest decision on the planet, and maybe it made me kind of hangry, but it also inspired this recipe. Like so many things on Blue Kitchen, it’s a mashup—in this case, a collision of two dishes from this fun, welcoming book. Continue reading “Cheesy, tangy, glorious: Cauliflower Kale Gratin” →

All the comforts of restaurant: Egg Drop Soup

This six-ingredient egg drop soup is as impressively restaurant-authentic as it is quick and easy to make. Recipe below.

THE LINE BETWEEN HOME COOKING AND RESTAURANT COOKING can get blurry at times. There’s a whole subset of restaurants that tries to serve—or at least convince us they’re serving—homestyle cooking. And in kitchens around the world, home cooks obsess over recreating chef-driven restaurant meals. But there’s another style of restaurant cooking that’s often overlooked at home, not complex or seasonal or locally sourced. Just humble fare, but soul-satisfyingly comforting. This is one of those recipes. Continue reading “All the comforts of restaurant: Egg Drop Soup” →

Braided bread with a sweet twist: Chocolate-filled Challah

Challah, a traditional Jewish braided bread, can be flavored in many ways, from simple to savory to sweet. Here, semi-sweet chocolate and brown sugar create an almost dessertlike loaf. Recipe below.

MY MOTHER, A BRILLIANT BAKER, used to routinely make elaborate, gorgeous, braided challahs with five, seven and even nine strands, filling them with chocolate, or candied fruits, or finely chopped nuts, or just cinnamon and sugar added with a cheerful generous hand. The scent, the anticipation, the burnished golden crust, all the ways we could use it: challah was a regular and wonderful part of my childhood. Continue reading “Braided bread with a sweet twist: Chocolate-filled Challah” →

The Procrastinator’s Holiday Gift Guide for Your Favorite Cook

Blue Kitchen is back live this week, with six last-minute culinary gift ideas. This may seem like a short and somewhat random list, but all these items have one thing in common—we actually use them in our kitchen and love them. Happy shopping.

KMN Aluminum Rolling Pin

Before we saw this rolling pin from KMN Home at the National Restaurant Association Show this spring, we thought we had quite enough rolling pins, thank you. After we saw it—and after a few weeks of being unable to stop thinking about it—we bought one. Made of aircraft-grade aluminum, it has a laser-engraved ruler. The aluminum body makes it easy to keep cool for rolling pie crust dough—just pop it in the freezer for a little bit. The ruler—with measurements in inches and millimeters—makes it easy to measure those crusts as you roll them. And with its smooth anodized finish, doughs do not want to stick to it. Available in red, blue and black, it is also handsome enough to display. When I bake, this is now the rolling pin I reach for first. The KMN Aluminum Rolling Pin runs around $40. Continue reading “The Procrastinator’s Holiday Gift Guide for Your Favorite Cook” →

Cooking with cabbage’s sweeter, prettier sibling: Savoy Cabbage Potato Soup

Mild, beautiful Savoy cabbage is the base for this simple, comforting, creamy soup. Recipe below.

A LITTLE WHILE AGO I WAS VISITING ONE OF OUR DAUGHTERS, who was a bit under the weather, and when I asked her if there was anything I could fix for her, she handed me a recipe for a Savoy cabbage potato soup. I don’t know where she got it—there are a lot of recipes kind of like this floating around online—but it looked so easy and direct that I was happy to give it a try. Continue reading “Cooking with cabbage’s sweeter, prettier sibling: Savoy Cabbage Potato Soup” →

Green beans get a surprising seasonal refresh: Charred Green Beans with Apricots

Vietnamese fish sauce adds a subtle unifying umami hit to the crisp green beans and sweet apricots in this colorful, seasonal side dish. Recipe below.

We don’t do enough side dishes here. Unfortunately, we only tend to think of this when we actually post one. So when this recipe showed up in a recent Food & Wine email, we made it pretty much the same day—of course with our own variations. Continue reading “Green beans get a surprising seasonal refresh: Charred Green Beans with Apricots” →

Too good to save for cold weather: Marion’s Simplified Three-bean Chili

Besides meat, beans and various spices, this weeknight-quick chili includes surprises like red wine and coffee. Recipe below.

FOR MANY PEOPLE, CHILI SEASON IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. For us, it’s always chili season. While a steaming bowl of chili may be especially comforting when winter’s chill settles in, we are always up for a good bowl of red. Like the one you see here. It’s from a batch I made the other night, with the temperature and humidity both flirting with 90. Continue reading “Too good to save for cold weather: Marion’s Simplified Three-bean Chili” →