The Bitten Word

Pasta and White Beans with Broccoli Pesto

Everyday Food (January/February 2012)

Zach's sister Cassidy grew up a very picky eater. Sitting down to a meal was more like entering hostage negotiations between Cassidy and Zach's parents in an attempt to get her to try new things. Even through college, she was extremely particular about textures and colors, and she essentially allowed no vegetables to pass her lips. 

Since then, Cassidy's come around. She started testing the waters with things like cream cheese and olives, and now she'll eat everything from Brussels sprouts to foie gras. She's turned out to be one of the most adventurous eaters we know. (Perhaps she's making up for lost time?)

But there's still the matter of vegetables. Cassidy will eat them, and there are some she even rather enjoys. But she still doesn't think she eats enough veggies. Over the holidays, she told us she wants to get better at "hiding" vegetables into her diet, a la Jessica Seinfeld.

"Hiding them from...?" we asked.

"Oh," she said, "from myself."

Cassidy, this one's for you.

Thanksgiving 2011: Tomato-Olive Stuffing

Everyday Food (November 2011)

Because we've overdone it a bit with takes on stuffings that incorporate sausage and dried fruit, we knew we had to try at least one very different take on stuffing for our recipe auditions this year.

We wanted something that brings unique flavors to the Thanksgiving table, something unlike anything we had served before. 

And we found it with this Tomato-Olive Stuffing from Everyday Food.  

Thanksgiving 2011 Recipe Index: What the Food Magazines Are Recommending

Our Fakesgiving + Our Favorite Holiday Dishes

A little more than a week ago, we had Thanksgiving.

Or really, we had Fakesgiving, our annual tradition with friends and family where we pack as many seats as possible into our apartment, make a bunch of new dishes from November food magazines, and see what everyone likes and dislikes. This year, there were 13 of us. Zach's mom and sister came and helped cook the day before (we literally could not have done it without them), and we made 17 new Thanksgiving dishes. 

(This year's Fakesgiving crowd, minus the two of us.)

Below, you'll see the initial list of recipes we started with: more than 250 Thanksgiving recipes from 10 magazines. To be included in the index, the recipes had to be part of the magazine's Thanksgiving coverage. So this is not meant to be comprehensive -- there are many more recipes in this month's magazines. If the recipe is hyperlinked, it is available online. If not, it's not there yet. 

In preparation for this year's Thanksgiving coverage, we've also created a page of Our Favorite Holiday Recipes. There, you'll find a collection of dishes from Thanksgivings, Fakesgivings and holiday dinner parties past. We'll be updating it as we introduce new content and recipes on the site.

Enjoy the index! 

Thanksgiving 2011 Trends in Food Magazines: Pies, Pecans, Ginger and Green Beans

Thanksgiving is coming! Thanksgiving is coming!

And we're ready. We've scoured the magazines, tested recipes, and we're eager talk turkey, recommend dishes, and answer any Thanksgiving-related questions you might have.

We're kicking off our Thanksgiving coverage by looking at the trends in this year's crop of magazines. As in previous years, we've indexed every single one of the November Thanksgiving recipes from the magazines in our rotation. We'll share that list with you on Monday. There are some really exciting (and bizarre) dishes among the more than 250 recipes.

But today we're going to talk about trends. 

As we pored through this year's Thanksgiving features, some clear trends emerged. To illustrate many of the trends in this year's T-Day recipes, we created word clouds, like the one above, which illustrate how frequently certain words popped up. You can click on all the word clouds to enlarge them, so you can take a closer look. 

What's the general theme for this year? Well, for a lot of our magazines, the theme seemed to be, "Thanksgiving 2011: We're Just Not That Into You." Food & Wine and Saveur seem rather light on their coverage. Even Martha Stewart Living, which we would sort of hold up as the grande dame of Thanksgiving entertaining, seemed scaled back. (We hasten to add that we're not saying that's a bad thing -- Lord knows there are plenty of great autumn recipes out there that don't involve sweet potatoes or cranberry sauce.)

But there was one magazine that blew us away this year. You guys know we tend not to single out particular magazines or issues as favorites, but this must be said: Bon Appétit BROUGHT IT this Thanksgiving. Buh-ROUGHT. IT. From its "Feast from the East" feature, which showcased marvelous ideas for an Asian-inspired Thanksgiving, to the "Down South" feature on a Louisiana Cajun Thanksgiving feast, we were enthralled. Four turkeys, a host of awesome side dishes, and drool-worthy desserts (we need that Grape-and-Apple Pie) -- the November 2011 Bon Appétit is a pleasure. Even if you're set on your Thanksgiving menu, consider picking up a copy just for fun.

Anyway, trends.

As you can see from the word cloud above, the usual suspects are, well, the usual suspects. So here's a word cloud showing all the recipe words, minus "turkey," "gravy," "cranberry," "stuffing," "potatoes," "dressing" and "roasted" (a.k.a. the saddest Thanksgiving ever):

Eat This Now! 6 Dishes to Make Before the End of Summer

Kids, we've got a little bit of bad news: Summer is nearly over.

But you've still got a little time! Meteorologically speaking, you've got 23 days. And even if you count Labor Day as the end of summer, you still have the better part of a week.

One good use of these waning days? Cook up a favorite summer dish!

We scrolled through our recipe index to round up 6 Summer Dishes that you should definitely make before fall. They're some of our all-time favorites!

 

Raw Corn and Zucchini Salad: This salad is simple, fresh and bursting with flavor. It's the taste of summer in a single bite!

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet and Spicy Fried Peach Pies: There's literally not a single word in the name of this dish that we don't love.

 

 

 

 

Pan-Roasted Corn and Okra: Just four ingredients: corn, okra, oil and salt. It doesn't get simpler, or tastier.

 

 

 

 

 

Best BBQ Chicken with Simple Barbecue Sauce: This is one of the most popular posts we've ever had on The Bitten Word, and for good reason. This dish is a knockout!

 

 

 

Basil-Blackberry Crumble: A crumble is just about the most perfect summer dessert you can find. We've made dozens of variations of this recipe over the past three years. Pick your favorite summer fruit, and get to crumblin'! 

 

 

 

Burgers with Blue Cheese Mayonnaise and Sherry Vidalia Onions: This is probably our favorite burger we've ever made. Sweet, smoky and tangy all in one bite!

 

 

 

 

As for us, we're heading to the beach for a loooong Labor Day week with a houseful of friends. We've got sunscreen, a stack of unread magazines and a bag full of books. We'll do some cooking, and we just may have a cocktail or two.

We'll see you in a week -- it's going to be a fantastic autumn! 

 

 

 

 

Chopped Green Bean and Celery Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Everyday Food (July/August 2011)

This time of year can be heady business at the farmers market.

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the piles of peaches, corn, tomatoes and melons that are spilling out of nearly every produce stand. We often emerge from the market dazed and confused, unsure of what all we just bought on our whirlwind spin through the stands.

But there's one vegetable -- from one particular stand -- that we almost never fail to buy: A paper bag full of Jade green beans from New Morning Farm. 

We just love 'em, and we can't pass up the gorgeous green mountain of them that's prominently displayed in front of the New Morning tent every Sunday at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market.

And the beans are so terrific to have on hand all summer long. They're delicious in a sauté with corn and onions, or heated in a skillet in a little bacon grease, or even just steamed on their own with no extra adornment whatsoever.

Here's a salad from the latest Everyday Food that gives us yet another way to enjoy fresh green beans.

Poached Nectarines

Everyday Food (July 2011)

The simplicity and deliciousness of summer produce can be really stunning. 

After dinner over the past few weeks, when we've wanted something sweet, we've mostly just been reaching for some raw fruit, like cherries or peaches. (Okay, we've also been reaching for a lot of chocolate, but usually we start with fruit.)

But when we had guests over for dinner one night last week, we decided to forgo the chocolate and serve something that showcases seasonal fruit with a touch of specialness.

And since we're not Alice Waters, we couldn't exactly serve a perfectly ripe peach on a platter and call it dessert.

So instead we opted for these Poached Nectarines from Everyday Food.

Frozen Chocolate-Mousse Trifles

Everyday Food (June 2011)  

When summer starts to set in, and the mercury creeps up toward triple-digit temps, there's really only one necessary ingredient for a great summer dessert: goosebumps.

A terrific summer treat should be a spoonful that's spine-chilling and skin-tingling -- a spoonful that makes you forget, just for a minute, how oppressively hot it is outside.

We're talking about something exactly like these Frozen Chocolate-Mousse Trifles. If you're looking for goosebumps, you've found 'em.

Grilled Mussels with Herb Butter

Everyday Food (June 2011) 

Is there any better way to herald the arrival of summer than firing up the grill?

Typically, of course, that means burgers and hot dogs. Maybe chicken or ribs. And we looooove all those things.

But this Memorial Day, we tried something brand new on the backyard grill: mussels. We love ordering mussels at restaurants, where they're usually steamed in a creamy, aromatic broth. But it had never occurred to us that we might be able to grill them at home, until we saw this recipe in the latest issue of Everyday Food. 

We might never think of mussels -- or summer barbecues -- the same way again.

Beer-Baked White Beans

Everyday Food (April 2011)

A slow-simmered pot of white beans can make for the most satisfying meal. We're talking about that Southern trifecta of white beans, ham hock and a side of cornbread. And we've had beans on the brain lately. As a Mother's Day gift, we just gave the gift of beans to Zach's mom, and ever since we've been drooling from afar as she's described slowly cooking the beans for hours, to be eaten for dinner with just a simple salad as an accompaniment.

But we tend to think of a pot of simmered white beans as a fall and winter dish. If we have a pot of white beans going, it's cold out. If it's warm and we're making beans, they're more likely the maple/ketchup/brown sugar variety. (If you're looking for a more traditional baked beans recipe, the Barefoot Contessa has a very good recipe, though be warned that they require some planning, because they simmer for six to eight hours.) 

So that's what drew us to these Beer-Baked White Beans. How would they stand up to the summer potluck variety that we grew up eating? Or to the slow-braised winter dish we sometimes make? 

The answer can be summed in one sentence that was uttered after we sat down to eat these beans:

"These are the best beans we've ever made."