big crumb rhubarb coffee cake

It took me almost eight months to make this recipe. It took less than two seconds to regret waiting that long. Let this serve as a warning–it doesn’t have to happen to you.

Recipe

spicy sweet potato wedges + five etceteras

Five Bits of Housekeeping

- After a series of unfortunate kitchen mishaps over the last week, I decided to give up cooking for at least a couple days and focus my efforts instead on mixology at my friend Jocelyn’s Oscar Party on Sunday night. I guest-blogged Dove Cocktails over on her site today, though I prefer to call them Pomegranate Margaritas. [Dove Cocktails at, sorry, the now -defunct Pixxiestails]

Recipe

homemade devil dog, ding dong or hostess cake

There is a certain kind of cake so ubiquitous in grocery store checkout lanes, beneath lottery-stickered counters in bodegas and beckoning to office workers in a 3 p.m. slump through vending machine window and so lodged in American nostalgia that I am always surprised that more people don’t make it at home. I’m talking about a Ding Dong. Or a King Don. Or a Ring Ding. Confused yet? You’re not alone.

Recipe

greens, orzo and meatball soup

Seeing as I am a sucker for anything with the word “wedding” in it, be it an excuse to smash cake in someone’s face, bake cookies or in this case, put meatballs in soup. Of course, traditional Italian Wedding Soup (also known as Minestra Maritata or Pignato Grasso) is said to have little to do with happily ever afters, but the marriage between meat and vegetables in a soup. Associated with southern Italy, but more often parts of the Northeast, most recipes today have pork, a leafy green and some form of pasta in it, typically tiny ancini de pepe confetti. This soup is a quick riff on that, with turkey meatballs so good, I’d encourage you to make extra to serve with a future spaghetti dinner, escarole (though unable to find it, I used swiss chard), orzo and carrots in chicken stock.

I’ve been pretty slackish about making dinner lately, but this was one of those things that go me over it, albeit briefly, as it could be done in a reasonable amount of time on a weekday evening. Or a snowy night, tucked in with a good movie and some dreamy chocolate pudding.

Greens, Orzo and Meatball Soup

Servings: 4 as a main course
Time: 40 minutes
Source: Bon Appetit, February 2003
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[Previously called: Escarole and Orzo Soup with Meatballs]

2018 Update: Over the years, this has become a winter staple, a kid-friendly (meatballs, pasta, cheese, nothing not to love) but also fairly quick (the meatballs are the only real work) meal for weeknights. Originally written for escarole as the greens, while it works here, more often than not we use baby spinach, kale or Swiss chard greens instead; I’ve updated the title to note this. If you’ve got time, of course, it’s even more amazing with a homemade chicken or parmesan broth (or, even better, a chicken broth cooked with a couple parmesan rinds) but the meatballs do most of the heavy lifting here. We always serve it with extra parmesan on top. In 2018, the soup got some much-needed fresh photos as well.

It always occurs to me after the fact when I make this that if using a more tender green (baby spinach or chard), a few leaves could be well-chopped to replace the 2 tablespoons parsley in the meatballs, should you not already have parsley around.

This make 4 main-course servings, although with kids, we find it feeds 6.

Meatballs

1 large egg
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup plain dried breadcrumbs
12 ounces ground turkey
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Assembly

8 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 cup chopped peeled carrots
3/4 cup (about 4.75 ounces or 135 grams) orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
4 cups coarsely chopped escarole (about 1/2 medium head), swiss chard, kale or baby spinach (about 3 ounces of leaves)

Make meatballs: Whisk egg and 2 tablespoons water in medium bowl to blend. Mix in breadcrumbs; let stand one minute. Add turkey, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; gently stir to blend. Using wet hands, shape turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on baking sheet; chill while you prepare the next steps, or 30 minutes, if you have the time.

Assemble the soup:: Bring chicken broth to a boil in large (4 to 5-quart) pot. Add carrots and orzo; reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered 8 minutes. Add turkey meatballs and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chopped greens and simmer until turkey meatballs, orzo, and escarole are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls and serve.

Do ahead: This be made 2 hours ahead. Rewarm over medium heat, thinning with more broth if needed or desired. Leftovers go over well in thermoses for lunch the next day.

Recipe

pear and almond tart

A lot more than anyone should, I fixate on Paris. It’s not just that we got engaged there, returned a little over a year later just because we missed it and scheme to find a way to expat ourselves there one day or at least for a couple years; no, that would be too obvious. My obsession lies with the fact that, as with all things we pine for, the grass just seems so much greener over there, from the Velib bikes to the old buildings which are never crushed to make room for fugly glass and concrete monoliths, and do I even need to get started about the respect given to artisan crafts from pastry to bread baking?

Recipe

pasta puttanesca

Last Valentine’s Day, Alex and I had dinner at Prune. We had the most decadent meal, but I couldn’t help but go home with the nagging feeling that I had ordered from the wrong side of the menu. You see, chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s menus are an editorial delight, and Valentine’s Day was one for the ages.

Recipe

best chocolate pudding

All I wanted to give you for Valentine’s Day was some chocolate pudding. My logic was simple: decadent meals and rich desserts are dreamy things but, in my mind, not inherently romantic. More often than not, after such an evening I find myself too full for even a nightcap, and I want a nap.

Recipe

three from the files

Last month, when I was cleaning off my hard drive, I wasn’t just forced to confront pictures of recipes I’d forgotten to mention, but the 250-plus recipe bookmarks I had hoped to get to “one day.” Some people have cookbooks, others have recipe binders and while I have both, they’re never where I am when I’m trying to figure out what to cook for dinner.

Recipe

seven-yolk pasta dough

Last month, I was cleaning photos off on my old hard drive and discovered a glaring oversight on my food blogging part: I had never told you about one of my proudest kitchen triumphs to date, mastering the pasta nest!

Recipe

dulce de leche cheesecake squares

Dulce de leche, where have you been my whole life? Oh, sure, I knew what you were and I understood implicitly that you were a good thing. I knew that you were practically the national dish of Argentina and I knew I wanted to be the national dish of, well, anywhere, one day but I hadn’t yet taken you into my arms and my belly. I hadn’t yet really tasted you. I am sooo going to have to make up for lost time.