Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

Posted on January 8, 2012 | 6 Comments

Choosing a recipe can sometimes feel like putting together a baseball team.  It is the home chef as general manager.

In each field, the objective is the same — to please the folks at home by offering them a winning dish while remaining within the allotted budget.  The objective is straightforward.  As is the theory behind it:  acquire the best ingredients, assemble, and serve warm.

But this process is never as straight forward as it seems.  Expensive ingredients, like high-priced free agents, may Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees

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Vegetarian Tofu Chili

Posted on December 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

As the Holidays come to an end and the weather turns from cool to downright frigid, a warm bowl of chili becomes all the more inviting.

While I was in Cincinnati, I made a version of that city’s namesake chili.  In that effort, I used ground turkey to thicken the chili and give it that hearty depth.

This year, Caitlin and I have been striving to eat less meat, all Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees, Soup

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Blondie Layer Cake with White Chocolate Icing

Posted on December 9, 2011 | 6 Comments

Caitlin celebrated her birthday last week.  And in preparation of the big day, I scanned my collection of recipes and cookbooks, searching for the perfect layer cake.  Last year I made her the pumpkin crepe cake.  The year before that, the butternut squash layer cake.

This year, I decided, it was time to stray from the harvest theme.  I was looking through my cookbooks, feeling uninspired, when I resolved to make my own cake.  No recipe.  No guide.  I would just with it. Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Aloo Gobhi Masala

Posted on November 30, 2011 | 4 Comments

The other day, when I was in the gym, I was flipping through the channels, searching for something to hold my attention while on the treadmill.  After a few clicks, I stopped, landing on the familiar fedora of Indiana Jones.

As Indiana trekked through the jungles on his elephant, I immediately recognized this movie as the second installment in the series, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  I wasn’t old enough to see the movie in the theaters — I was only four — but I can remember watching the movie as a young teen, perhaps catching the movie on television late one weekend night.

Owing to my young age, Continue reading →

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Weeknight Spaghetti with Roasted Butternut Squash

Posted on November 6, 2011 | 3 Comments

This meal answers that important, incessant, weekday question.

After braving our respective routes — Caitlin, the Red Line, I, the Beltway — we arrive home around 7:00 p.m., tired from the day’s activities.  After a quick moment of reprieve, we often head down to the apartment gym to get some much-needed exercise.

Once we’re back upstairs, the question rears its head.  The question that creeps into our minds every night, demanding an immediate answer.  The question is bandied about Continue reading →

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Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies

Posted on October 5, 2011 | 6 Comments

You have to applaud the marketing efforts of Nutella.  Nutella is, as the box proudly proclaims, little more than sugar and a mix of hazelnuts and cocoa.  Indeed, the first ingredient listed is sugar.  Owing to its healthy mix of hazelnuts, the spread also has its share of fat.  And yet, Nutella is branded as a necessary component of a balanced breakfast – as if it contained some vital, indispensable nutrients.  In almost all of its marketing literature, Nutella is featured at the breakfast table.

In fairness, Nutella does not advocate downing spoonful after spoonful of its spread.  Instead, the company notes that without Nutella, you might forego that piece of otherwise boring whole wheat toast.  In that respect, Continue reading →

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New Mexican Posole: Part II

Posted on August 30, 2011 | 5 Comments

In preparing for my move, I worked on paring down what I needed and what I did not.   I went through my closet to determine what clothes I was wearing and what clothes I was not.  I looked around my bathroom, and decided what items had outlived their utility.  And naturally, I went around my kitchen, searching for redundancies, coordinating with Caitlin to ensure that we did not arrive with two or three of every useful kitchen device.

Beyond these steps, I also worked to use up my food.  There was no need to stack my car with bags of flour and sugar.  By the same token, there was no sense in throwing away perfectly good butter or eggs.  The last few weeks saw a veritable flood of baking and cooking.

Among these items, Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees, Soup

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Homemade Yeast Doughnuts

Posted on August 19, 2011 | 13 Comments

This has been quite the whirlwind week.

Once again, I’m preparing to move:  this time from Cincinnati, Ohio to Silver Spring, Maryland.  This past week has been devoted to finishing up my projects at work and cleaning and packing up my apartment.  But in between those two activities, I have been doing my best to take advantage of my last few days in Cincinnati.

Last Tuesday night, I drove to Mt. Adams, the neighborhood overlooking downtown Cincinnati from its eastern perch.  I got lost navigating the winding one-way streets, as always, but eventually found a narrow street sandwiched between two apartment buildings and leading up to the edge of the Mount.

I unpacked my camera, set up my tripod, and took in the lights Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads, Breakfast

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Jalapeno-Cheddar Cornbread

Posted on August 7, 2011 | 9 Comments

Cornbread is a so-called quick bread, because it doesn’t contain yeast and doesn’t require any rising or kneading.  All of which makes it ready to bake in a flash!

Another great thing about cornbread is that no two recipes need be alike.  You can mix and match ingredients as you see fit.  Play with the type of cornmeal (coarse or medium), the flour (whole wheat or not), the cheese (cheddar or monterey) and the acid (buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt).  Add corn or jalapeno slices . . . or both . . . or neither.

I made this particular recipe twice, Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads

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Tuscan White Beans

Posted on July 31, 2011 | 7 Comments

These days there are legions of bloggers, forming a veritable army of individuals tapping dutifully on their keyboards from all around the world.  And for those who aren’t blogging, there are still brigades of those tweeting and providing regular status updates on facebook.  All of which can seem very much like overkill.

But maybe it isn’t.

I’ve been listening to Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees, Soup

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