Video attempt: One-Pan Pasta and Cherry-Almond Clafoutis

Making this pasta felt like performing a magic trick. I would recommend making it as soon as possible. As for the clafoutis? Provided you buy already blanched almonds and use a cherry-pitter, well, it's pretty magical too.

Cherry-Almond Clafoutis slightly adapted from A Platter of Figs

1 tablespoon butter

Flour for dusting the pan

2 pounds cherries, pitted

1/2 cup blanched whole almonds

6 large eggs

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter and flour a 10- or 12-inch gratin dish or large cast-iron frying pan and arrange the cherries in the bottom. Scatter the blanched almonds evenly over the cherries.

Beat the eggs with the brown sugar and flour. When the mixture is smooth, whisk in the milk. Add the vanilla extract. Pour the batter over the fruit.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool, then dust with powdered sugar. Clafoutis tastes best at room temperature. 

One-Pan Pasta via Martha Stewart Living

12 oz. dried spaghetti

12 oz. cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

3 sprigs basil, plus more torn ones for garnish

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive lil, plus more for serving

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

4 1/2 cups water

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Combine the pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and water in a large straight-sided skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly been absorbed, about 9 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil. Serve with olive oil and Parmesan.

Black Paella with Squid and Shrimp

Here lies a paella recipe I've been wanting to make for about three years. And now that I've done it, that's two, count 'em two times I've used my paella pan! While we're counting, it was also my second time using squid ink, which was not so easy to find here in this giant city of Los Angeles. I called around, and Monsieur Marcel was the only place stocking it. And in a moment of modern-day gallantry, Matt offered to go to The Grove on a Friday night and pick it up for me. For those of you who don't live in Los Angeles, just imagine trying to park at the mall on the day after Thanksgiving and you'll get an idea of the mess that is The Grove on a weekend. 

But back to the paella. My mom's been in town all week, and after much flipping through my various cookbooks, this is the recipe that won our hearts and minds.

Whenever we have visitors—but particularly familial visitors—I realize what a horrible control freak I've become. Suddenly, I have to use all of my will power to keep my mouth shut so that I'm not constantly telling my visitors how to live their lives whilst living them inside our house, e.g., "Is that chocolate on the couch? OK, that's it. No more eating upstairs!" Or, "Diet Coke before 8:00 am? Huh." Or the perennial, "It sure would be easier if you drove, don't ya think, Mom?" You get the idea.

But then, on the last night of my mom's visit, while we made this paella together, a dish I'd never made before, and thus, a dish I didn't necessarily know how to make properly, I realized I suddenly needed to know how my mom would go about doing things. "Should we add Andouille sausage? The recipe doesn't call for it, but I think it might be nice." And, "Do you think the pan is too hot?" Or, "How the heck are we going to get this filled-to-the-brim paella pan into the oven without spilling it everywhere?" (The latter of which, Mom had a great answer for: we reserved adding the last cup of broth to the pan until after we'd gotten it on the oven rack.) Point being, I'd like to publicly apologize to those who I've felt comfortable enough around to let you know exactly what you're doing wrong and why. Three specific names come to mind: Matt, Mom, and my brother, Bill. I'm sorry! I love you! I'll work on it!

As you can see, the end result was something quite magnificent, albeit slightly overcooked. (I left it in the oven for a few too many minutes as we caught up with old friends and drank shandies on the deck.) Oh, this is also a really great dinner-party dish. We served it to seven adults, two kids, and two dogs, and we still have leftovers. (Though the kids may have eaten spaghetti and butter and the dogs may have eaten dog food.)

And finally, happy Mother's Day to all you Moms! It's not an easy job with daughters like me out there ready to pull your chocolate-eating-upstairs privileges! xoxo

Black Paella with Squid and Shrimp slightly adapted from A Platter of Figs
serves 8-10

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 Andouille chicken sausages, sliced into bite-sized disks (optional, but a pretty delicious addition.)
1 lb. shrimp
salt and pepper
1 large onion, diced
1 lb. cleaned squid, bodies cut into thin rings and tentacles coarsely chopped
A pinch of crumbled saffron
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 tomato puree
4 garlic cloves, smashed to a paste with a little salt
1 package squid ink, about 1 tablespoon
3 cups Bomba or Arborio rice
6 cups light chicken stock or water

Preheat the oven to 350F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 12-inch earthenware cazuela or paella pan over a medium flame. Add the slices of sausage and cook until nicely browned on each side. Remove and set aside. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan before adding the shrimp. Season shrimp with salt and pepper and saute briefly, just until they turn pink, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove shrimp and set aside.

If the pan seems dry, add one more tablespoon of olive oil before adding the onion to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, to brown a bit. Add the squid, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 2 minutes more. Add the saffron, cayenne, tomato, garlic, squid ink, and rice, stirring well to coat the rice. Finally, add a large pinch of salt and the broth. Let the broth come to a full simmer. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Put the pan in the oven. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove and arrange the shrimp and sausage on top. Put back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove and cover the pan with a clean dish towel. Let the paella rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. It tastes best just slightly warm.

Video Attempt: Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Cardamom Rice

I've officially entered the slow-and-steady-(hopefully)-wins-the-race part of book-writing. It's the part where you have to keep your head down and your Internet usage at bay.  Point being, these videos are a nice break. And this chicken and rice dish was fantastic. Make it soon! (And wear an apron!)

Chicken with Caramelized Onion and Cardamom Rice adapted from Jerusalem
2 1/2 tbsp dried currants soaked in juice of 1 lemon OR 2 1/2 tbsp barberries (if you can find them!)
         soaked in a simple syrup of 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons water.
4 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 1/4 pounds skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, or 1 whole chicken quartered (I used thighs and drumsticks, but think that sticking to just thighs would've been better. It was just more difficult to crisp up the skin on the drumsticks.)
10 cardamom pods
rounded 1/4 tsp whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in two
1 2/3 cup basmati rice
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/3 cup  Greek yogurt, mixed with 2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Prepare your dried currants or barberries. (If using dried currants, soak them in the juice of 1 lemon.) (If using barberries, make a simple syrup by dissolving 3 tablespoons of sugar in 3 tablespoons of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Turn heat off. Add barberries and let them soak.) Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid over medium heat, add the onion, and cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion has turned a deep golden brown. Transfer the onion t a smlal bowl and wipe the pan clean.

Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and season with 1 1/2 teaspoons each of salt and black pepper. Add the remaining olive oil, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon and use your hands to mix everythin together well. Heat the frying pan again and place the chicken and spices in it. Sear for 5 minutes on each side and remove from the pan (this is important as it part-cooks the chicken). The spices can stay in the pan, but don't worry if they stick to the chicken.

At this point, I took a little break, turned the heat off the pan, and began boiling 2 1/4 cups of boiling water. While the heat's off, remove most of the remaining oil in the pan, leaving just a thin film at the bottom. Once your water is boiling, turn the heat back on the pan. Add the rice, caramelized onion, 1 teaspoon salt, and plenty of black pepper. Drain the currants or barberries and add them as well. Stir well and return the seared chicken to the pan, pushing it into the rice.

Pour the boiling water over the rice and chicken, cover the pan, and cook for 30 minutes over as low of heat as you can while still keeping the rice at a simmer. Take the pan off the heat, remove the lid, quickly place a clean tea towel over the pan, and seal again with the lid. Leave the dish undisturbed for another 10 minutes. Finally, add the herbs and use a fork to stir them in and fluff up the rice. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. (It probably does need it.) Serve hot or warm with yogurt.

Slow-Simmered Pinto Beans with Crema and Queso Oaxaca

Unlike many of my food-loving peers, I don't belong to a CSA. (I know, you're as shocked as when we found out that Khaleesi speaks Old Valyrian. (Obligatory Game of Thrones reference.) I'd love to really delve into this topic with a psychologist, but the short of it is that the idea of committing to a lot of random produce feels stressful to me. I'd much prefer to do small grocery shops every other day. That said, for the second time in a few months, I've been in charge of someone else's CSA box, and I think I'm beginning to change my tune. Partially because of these adorable dried pinto beans I picked up this week. 
About three years ago, I made some slow-simmered pinto beans that were just OK. With three more years of cooking under my belt, I knew I could do better this time around. And when I found a recipe that called for lard and queso Oaxaca, I was sold. When I first began to cook, anything that called for lard was a major turn off, but now I know to hang on to that leftover fat from cooking bacon and voilà: lard. As for the Oaxacan cheese, there's this store called El Rancho market very close to where I live that I'd been told has really good queso fresco. Surely, they would have queso Oaxaca, no?

Uhm, bingo!

(Apparently queso Oaxaca is Spanish for giant string cheese.)

Of course, once I'd gathered all of my ingredients and started to cook, I couldn't find the lard I was so excited about using. (The truth is I don't cook bacon very often, and I remember wondering about how long it had been in there during my last refrigerator clean-out. So, most likely, I tossed it, like an idiot.)

I substituted with canola oil and tweaked the original recipe a bit, adding garlic, a tomato, cilantro, and two jalapeno peppers, to make sure my beans would be flavorful. And, bingo again, because they absolutely were.

This has got to be my favorite way to cook: throw a bunch of ingredients in a pot and let them simmer away for a few hours until it has transformed into something delicious. This meal also represents my favorite way to eat: something hot and comforting paired with something fresh and citrusy, all served with a few tortillas.

And speaking of favorites, Matt took me to one of the sessions of the NCAA gymnastics championships, which were held this past weekend at UCLA, and uhm, I had a lot of fun. (And I think so did all the other 13- and 14-year-old girls I was sitting by.) Matt, on the other hand, well, he had fun at the Stanley Kubrick exhibit we went to at LACMA afterwards. So, all in all, a totally normal day!

Slow-Simmered Pinto Beans with Crema and Queso Oaxaca adapted via Saveur
serves 6

1 lb. dried pinto beans
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. lard or canola oil
1 large tomato, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
10 springs of cilantro
2 jalapenos (I made a slit in one of them, hoping to add a bit of a kick to the beans, though it didn't really. If you like things spicier, I might experiment with chopping one of the peppers in half before tossing in, though... this might make it too spicy? I don't know!)

Kosher salt
Mexican crema or sour cream, for serving
1 cup shredded queso Oaxaca or mozzarella, for serving
pico de gallo, for serving

warm tortillas, for serving

Bring beans, onion, lard, tomato, garlic, cilantro, jalapenos, a tablespoon of salt, and 8 cups warm water to a boil in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until beans are just tender and begin to split open, about 2 hours. Taste. Add salt if necessary and continue cooking, mashing some of the beans in the pot as they cook, until beans are completely soft, about 30 minutes more.

To serve, ladle beans into serving bowls and garnish with a spoonful of crema and some of the cheese. Serve with pico de gallo and tortillas.

Bon Appétempt Goes to Scottsdale

A million thanks to Mary Anne, Adam, and their families for throwing such a beautiful wedding in the desert.

Granola slightly adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day

Note: do not leave out the grated orange zest. It adds such a lovely, delicious, fragrant note to this granola. (I couldn't / wouldn't stop eating it.)

4 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups walnut halves or bits (Heidi's recipe calls for walnut halves, but I used a bag of what was more like quarters and it worked fine.)

1 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded large-flake coconut
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2/3 cup dried currants
Grated zest of 2 oranges
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 300F with racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Set out two rimmed baking sheets, (or, if you're like me, an assortment of baking pans that offer the equivalent surface area as two rimmed baking sheets).

Combine the oats, walnuts, coconut, salt, currants and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir in the maple syrup. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then pour the maple mixture over the oat mixture until everything is well coated, at least 30 seconds. Divide the mixture equally between the baking sheets and spread into a thin layer.

Bake, stirring a couple of times along the way, for about 40 minutes, or until the granola is toasty and deeply golden. You may want to rotate the pans once, top to bottom, to ensure even baking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.