Sweet Potato Spinach Curry

I love this curry. I've made it probably 30 times and it's my go-to for vegetarians (well, this and the pinto beans)... vegetarians who like spicy things. Let me go ahead and address your concerns: this is spicy, but you can tone it down just by reducing the red curry paste to a reasonable level, so be brave! It is also ridiculously easy to make. Really. You put things in a pot and you leave them there. The end.

Here. I'll show you.

First, dice an onion and mince some garlic (I used 3 cloves). Most of the things I cook start like this.

Shepherd's Pie w/ Sweet Potatoes

One day, about two months ago, I got it into my head that I needed to make a shepherd's pie. I have never made a shepherds pie, my mom didn't make them, my friends don't make them. Basically, why this became something that I needed is, at best, unclear to me. Things we learned: lamb is totally overwhelming and even cutting it with beef was too much for me. Apparently I only like lamb in the context of Indian food? However, if you do like lamb, then you're good to go. Secondly... I forgot to add the spinach (yes, spinach, I was going to put some in here, go with it), so you'll be seeing some spinach from me soon enough.

Also, I love sweet potatoes. Love them. They are happiness and sunshine to my palette. As a result, I made the pie with a sweet potato topping instead of white potatoes... though I did have a random yukon gold sitting in my fridge, so it went in the pot too. See?

Pretty, isn't it. The topping was phenomenal, and I think that if I just go with entirely beef next time, I'll become quite attached. It might also help if I remember the green things.

Creamy Corn Chowder

I understand that the food-related zeitgeist these days can be boiled down to “bacon makes everything better.” Now, I’m pretty sure there’s a line, and I’m even more sure that said line is definitely on the near side of bacon vodka (sorry, Jacob), but there is one thing that bacon consistently improves: chowder.

Much as with cheese, I grew up in a bacon-free household. Oh sure, we had turkey bacon, but unless I was at my grandparents’ house inhaling 2-4 ethereal BLTs at a time, I never had the real thing. I had the lowest cholesterol on earth… or at least I would have if I didn’t drink milk by the gallon… but I never learned how to properly cook using bacon. This all changed when I started taking cooking classes: bacon happens.

One of the classes focused on stocks/soups/stews/pretty much anything that is primarily composed of broth. Before this class, I thought that putting bacon in chowders was a uniquely southern habit, and maybe it is, but the class was in Boston and they still did it, so I ‘m going to assume that it’s fairly widely accepted these days. That day, we made a fennel corn chowder that, if I loved fennel, would have been perfect. As I do not really favor licorice-y flavors, however, I then went home and messed around with the recipe to correct the potato-corn balance (there was way too much potato) and substitute a big pile of sweet onion for the fennel. Delicious!

I’ve made it for a bunch of people and it rarely has leftovers. In fact, it may be my most commonly requested recipe. I’m going to be nice, even, and give you both the “good” way and the shortcuts. So, here it is and, in case I have somehow been unclear, do not omit the bacon!

(M)ole!

Yes, I am aware that the above photo is a rather sub-par. Unfortunately it's the best I have at this particular juncture for a recipe that, while you may not realize it yet, you really want.

First of all, if you do not like spicy chocolate, you are dead to me. Just turn around and walk away now.

When I was in Charlottesville, I frequented a restaurant with face-sized margaritas and surprisingly good Mexican food. I mean, come on, it's in the middle of Virginia, what are the odds? Anyway, I invariably ordered the enchiladas drowning in mole sauce and ate every bite on the plate. Much to my chagrin, the plate was several times larger than my stomach, so the remainder of the evening was spent curled up in the fetal position contemplating an early death. Worth it.

Upon moving away, however, I decided that it was time to learn how to make my very own mole sauce with the hoped-for side effect that I would be able to moderate my consumption thereof. This has... sort of... worked. On the one hand, I do not eat enough in an single sitting to philosophise on the merits of lying face down on the kitchen floor to counter the internal stomach pressure. On the other hand, this just means that I eat it for dinner one night, and lunch and dinner the next or until someone in the house has polished it off.

We'll say it's a wash.

Tenderloin: Always a good decision

If I want someone to propose to me, I will make him this. If I want someone to forgive me, I will make him this. If I want peace in the Middle East, I will make them this. Though maybe I should just leave that to negotiators who actually know what they are doing. Still, you see where I am going with this.

I am back in Atlanta for my Dad's birthday and I wanted to make something especially special for the occasion. About a year ago, my best friend linked me to this and I have been desperate to make it ever since. So, I called my mom and told her to get sirloin cut Chateaubriand at the butcher. For a number of reasons, we ended up with tenderloin - it is never a problem to have tenderloin. Also, since I have an almost pathological aversion to cilantro, I had to tweak the sauce a bit.

I really cannot adequately express to you how delicious this is. Nor can I describe my glee when I managed to cook it perfectly (medium rare, cooked evenly). And I really cannot convey the look of unadulterated bliss on my Dad's face. The tangy topper compliments the buttery meat so well that it's just sinful.

You really need to make this. Right. Now.

Chicken Tetrazzini?

This is my baby (One day I will have the full set and, on that day, I will become invincible... in the kitchen... or something):
And I get to make things like this in it:
Tasty looking, no?

Southern Living has a section called "Mama's Way or Your Way," and last month that featured chicken tetrazzini. Usually I side with the "Mama's Way" side of things, butter and all (yes, I exercise a lot to make up for these decisions). This time, however, some of the changes in the "Your Way" portion appealed to me. Still, the thought of bottled alfredo sauce is quite upsetting to me. So, my brilliant answer to this problem is to combine the two. I've used the mornay sauce from the original, but tossed in the peas, mushrooms and some pancetta (instead of prosciutto)from the modern choice. The reason for the "?" in the title is simply that I'm not sure it still counts as tetrazzini after all of these changes, but we're going to pretend that it does.

I frequently combine bits of separate recipes to make one delicious dish, though it's rarely quite so convenient as two opposite pages dealing with the exact same food. If you're wary when it comes to trying to piece together a (yummy) Frankenstein (well, technically the monster) recipe, this is probably a good way to start. After you've worked on a few this way, you'll start feeling a lot more comfortable taking a hatchet to all sorts of recipes.

On to super secret option C.

Sometimes you have to atone

On occasion I try to cook something new, usually because I am out of food and hungry. Generally speaking, this goes very well, or at least is sufficiently tasty to get me through the night. There are days, however, that are a bit less successful. Monday was one of those days. I took a series of perfectly good ingredients and ended up, somehow, with a salt lick. Because I am as stubborn as the day is long, I still ate a good bit, once I removed the salty cheese portion. After this mini-debacle, I needed to make something new and tasty - both at the same time - thus reestablishing my kitchen prowess.

Bolognese sauce to the rescue! In what I believe to be one of the more embarrassing omissions in my self-training, I've never actually made a bolognese. Today, I remedied this, and learned a few things along the way. For example, did you know that there is a product in the grocery store called "Meatloaf Mix"? Well there is. It's a combination of beef, veal, and pork meat that is perfect for something like a bolognese, despite the inherent creepiness of a single ground meat product produced from three separate animals. However, in a concession to health..ish... I decided to use about 2/3 strange meat mix, and 1/3 ground turkey. Also, once again, the store has decided to sell things in annoying quantities. Namely: each ground meat product comes in a 1.3lb portion, and I really don't need to use more than 2 lbs of meat in a single dish. I mean... come on. A girl has to draw the line somewhere.

This is extremely tasty. Extremely. So, next time you're at the store, grab the nearest blended ground meat product and go nuts!