The Bitten Word

Corn and Amaranth Griddlecakes with Spicy Black Beans

Fine Cooking (February 2011)

Quinoa, Amaranth, Teff and Farro may sound like they're the newest additions to the Jolie-Pitt clan.

But they're really just classic whole grains highlighted in a terrific feature in the February Fine Cooking. (The feature also includes Millet, but that would be a ridiculous name for a baby...)

The Go for the Grain feature includes recipes for a Quinoa Salad with Apples, Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, and Gouda, a Swiss Chard, Sweet Potato, and Feta Tart in a Teff Crust, and a mouthwatering Millet and Cheddar Polenta with Roasted Vegetables.

But it was this recipe for Corn and Amaranth Griddlecakes with Spicy Black Beans that really caught our attention. The zesty black beans and the hot, fried corn griddlecakes sounded like a perfect vegetarian supper (in keeping with our goal of de-emphasizing meat in our meals). And we were excited to try out a completely new ingredient -- amaranth flour -- which the recipe said would add a "peppery" note to the cakes.

Crispy Chicken Thighs with Golden Raisin Compote

Food & Wine (February 2011)

Any time we get to visit New York City, we plan the weekend around food. It's typically reservations for lunch and dinner, with a healthy dose of art, shopping and drinks with friends thrown in, too. Sometimes, a "snack" (some might call it a "second lunch") is crammed into the schedule.

We feel lucky to have had some amazing meals while in NYC, and years later, a number of them still stand out, like a Honeycrisp apple salad at Cookshop, a jaw-dropping Porterhouse at Keen's and, believe it or not, Cornish hens at Prune.

When we visited Prune a few years ago, Zach ordered Cornish hens that were stuffed with raisins. The birds were delish, like super-flavorful roast chicken. And the raisins, mixed with herbs and other vegetables, were plump, sweet and delicious. We both loved the dish and we've thought about it ever since. 

So when we saw these Crispy Chicken Thighs with Golden Raisin Compote featured in Food & Wine, we jumped at the chance to make it. 

Cookbook Winner! Plus 3 Features Not to Miss in February Issues

 

Thanks to everyone who submitted such great comments on the gallery of February magazine covers! 

Though all of this month's magazine covers got raves, it seems that the majority of readers loved the Marta Stewart Living cover -- "In love with chocolate!" -- featuring the hot fudge sundae.  Ice cream and hot fudge in February? Perhaps we're all feeling a little resolutions-weary. 

Before these issues leave newsstands, we wanted to point out three features we think aren't to be missed this month. 

The first is from Martha Stewart Living, called "Chocolate Hot & Cold."  If you're a chocolate lover, you absolutely must pick up this issue. It features eight recipes that can be done, as the title suggests, hot or cold. For instance, there's a recipe for three flavors of ice pops that can also be made as hot cocoas, or a chocolate creme brulee juxtaposed with chocolate-creme brulee frozen sandwices (they both look amazing). We're especially dying to make the Baked Alaska with Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Ice cream.

In the comments you guys left, it seems meatloaf was a divisive dish. Many readers were vocal about loving or hating it, but the Fine Cooking cover featuring the Bacon-Wrapped Stout and Cheddar Meatloaf won raves. That dish is part of our favorite recurring feature in Fine Cooking, called "Cooking Without Recipes," in which the magazine gives you a framework for building your own dish using some basic guidelines. We've previously used these features for Short Ribs and Ice Cream. If you like meatloaf, definitely check out Fine Cooking's online tool for building your own.   

In addition to those beautiful brownies on their cover, Bon Appétit also has the United States of Chili feature that we discussed previously when we made their excellent Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash. If you're looking for new takes on chili, this feature has them. 

So who won the cookbook?  

Stovetop Chicken Pie

Southern Living (February 2011)

Maybe you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

But should you judge a recipe by its ingredients?

We frequently do, although we try not to. 

As we select recipes to try, we're always trying to keep an open mind, regardless of the recipe's ingredients or techniques. 

And so it was with this Stovetop Chicken Pie from Southern Living. It's part of a regular "Momma's Way versus Your Way" feature, in which the magazine offers both a classic dish and an updated version.

In this case, the classic dish is a traditional double-crust chicken pot pie, which looks truly phenomenal. The updated version -- the one we tried-- is made on the stovetop (sans crust), and then, to save time in the kitchen, is spooned over biscuits. 

So does it work? And what exactly gave us pause about the ingredients?

February Food Mags Covers Gallery + Win a Copy of the Power Foods Cookbook!

Last month's giveaway and covers gallery were so popular, we've decided to do another!

This month, we're giving away Power Foods: 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients, by the editors of Whole Living Magazine. If you're not familiar with Whole Living, it's a Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia publication. 

We featured this cookbook in our most recent Leftovers column, praising its use of interesting ingredients and beautiful photography.

Want to win a copy of Power Foods?  Simply leave a comment telling us which of the February magazine covers below is your favorite, and why.

We'll accept comments until midnight (EST) this Sunday, February 20. After that, we'll randomly choose and feature the winning comment on Monday!

And now, on to the covers!

Chocolate-Cherry Clusters

Everyday Food (January/February 2011)

It's Valentine's Day! Time to impress your sweetheart with your culinary prowess.

You've chilled the Champagne; you've bought the lobsters. You've hired the violinist, lit the candles and wrapped up the teddy bear holding a heart.

But -- wait a minute!  You've forgotten dessert!  Somehow on this sweetest of days, you've overlooked the sweet finish to your dinner of romantical elegance and elegant romanticism.

You need a dessert that's sweet, chocolaty -- and super quick to make, with ingredients you have lying around the pantry.

Enter these Chocolate-Cherry Clusters to the rescue!

Cauliflower Couscous

Food Network Magazine (January/February 2011)

When we were in L.A. last month, we had a really great dinner at Hatfield's, which in August was ranked by Bon Appétit as one of the 10 Best New Restaurants in America.

We enjoyed lots of the dishes we tried -- especially the drop-dead-delicious croque-madam, made with yellowtail sashimi, prosciutto, quail egg and brioche.

But the most intriguing and innovative dish (and maybe the most fun) was a plate of roasted cauliflower with golden raisins, toasted almonds and -- are you ready for this? -- sautéed plantains! It was a whole new take on cauliflower, pushing the vegetable in a sweet direction that was a completely new experience for us.

We definitely still want to try to recreate the Hatfield's dish. But when we got back from L.A. and saw this Cauliflower Couscous in the February Food Network Magazine, we knew we wanted to try it first.

Our Third Blogiversary!

Today marks the third anniversary of The Bitten Word!

Three years ago, we posted a Pork Cheek and Black-Eyed Pea Chili (which we actually still think of quite fondly), and The Bitten Word was born.

The past three years have been such a blast! We have loved sharing in cooking adventures with you, and we've always enjoyed getting to hear from you about what you like and what you don't.

As always, you can email us anytime with questions, tips or suggestions for things you'd like to see on the blog.

Thank you so much for three wonderful years!

--Zach & Clay

(P.S. These are photos of us sampling citrus at the Santa Monica farmers market on our trip to LA a couple weeks ago. Citrus at the farmers market?!  Amazing!)

Celery, Fennel, and Black Olive Salad with Parmigiano Dressing

Fine Cooking (February 2011)

Celery -- usually relegated to the role of supporting player in salads, braises and stir-frys -- rarely gets a chance to shine in a dish.

So we were excited to see Fine Cooking do a feature on new uses for celery. Their premise is that it's readily available and often cheap, so it can be used as more than just a vehicle for eating peanut butter. 

In fact, this feature on celery reminded us of another of the magazine's features that we loved from a few years ago, which focused on cooking with grapes. We love the thinking behind features like this, taking an overlooked or neglected ingredient and using it in new ways.  

Fine Cooking offers several new twists on celery -- including Celery Sauteed with Leeks and Mushrooms and made as a Cream of Celery and Celery Root Soup -- but we opted for this Celery, Fennel, and Black Olive Salad with Parmigiano Dressing.  

Your Questions: Where to Find Chiles in Adobo?

Our latest Your Questions comes from reader Irene: 

Hey Guys, 

I keep seeing Chiles in Adobo pop up as ingredients in delicious-looking recipes that I would love to try.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find them anywhere! Tragedy, I know. Am I walking right past them at the grocery store?  Please help! 

Many thanks,

~Irene

Irene is right. It seems like this ingredient, often listed as either "chipotle peppers in adobo" or "chiles in adobo," is popping up with increasing frequency in recipes.

So where do you find them? We typically find that chiles in adobo are hiding in the International aisle of the supermarket, along with other Latin ingredients. Less frequently, we've found them stocked with canned tomatoes. They usually come in short, 2-inch-tall (or so) cans, similar to the size of most tomato paste cans. 

So what do you do with them?  And if a recipe calls for only one pepper, what do you do with the rest of them?