The Bitten Word

Potato Galette

Cook's Illustrated (April 2011)

One of our favorite potato recipes -- actually, one of our favorite dishes in general -- was a Crispy Potato Roast we made last year. Golden and roasted on the outside, warm and buttery on the inside, it's a knockout of a dish -- and how often can you say that about potatoes?  Since we wrote about it last January, we've heard from several Bitten Word readers that it's become an instant fave around their dinner tables, too.

So the bar was high when we spied this Potato Galette in the April Cook's Illustrated. But we were sold on CI's description of "a crisp, earthy-tasting potato cake" and the accompanying photo of beautifully layered potatoes. Plus, the article promises a great dish without all the fussy layering. 

Could this newcomer hold its own against the heavyweight Crispy Potato Roast?

Time for a potato-off!

Vote for The Bitten Word as Saveur's "Best Food Blog"

You guys! The Bitten Word has been selected as a finalist in Saveur's 2011 "Best Food Blog" Awards!

The blog has been nominated in the "Best Cook-Through Blog" category, which Saveur describes as, "a blog committed to cooking through a cookbook, chef's repertoire, newspaper section, or another similarly restrictive source." Thanks to everyone who may have nominated us!

We're extremely happy to be included in these awards! If you'd like, you can vote for us here. Voting closes May 12.

Thanks to all you readers for helping to make The Bitten Word so great!

 

Spring Lasagna with Asparagus, Peas and Stinging Nettles

 A Bitten Word Recipe

Our regular farmers market, Sunday mornings in Dupont Circle, is back to bursting. The flower stands are overflowing with beautiful tulips and irises; fresh spring vegetables are everywhere, and there's an overall excited energy about the place again. We were giddy -- maybe inappropriately so -- to learn a few weeks ago that the market not only opens a half hour earlier this season, but has also expanded by a block!

We had guests coming over for dinner last week and wanted a dish that would really show off all this terrific produce that's at the market right now, so we decided to try our hand at a spring lasagna.  

Before we get into it, though, we know what you're asking: What exactly are stinging nettles?

Thoughts on the Revamped Bon Appétit

Though we write extensively here about recipes from food magazines, we don't often write about the magazines themselves. But the truth is we're actually quite interested in the people and personalities that produce the food magazines we love to read each month. And we get excited when we see changes in the look and editorial of a magazine. 

The biggest change that's occurred at a magazine over the past year has been at Bon Appétit. The magazine was moved from Los Angeles to New York City, and the editor, Barbara Fairchild, was out after a decade at the helm. The January issue was the last on Fairchild's watch.  

So it was with bated breath that we've been watching the issues since January, knowing that the magazine was going to be "refreshed" under its new editor, Adam Rapoport, who came to Bon App from GQ. 

The February, March and April issues were business as usual. The only thing remarkably different was that there was no editor's letter. And then came the May issue, the first "new" issue of Bon App.

So here are some thoughts about the new magazine and its change in direction.

A New Way to Browse The Bitten Word: The Recipe Index

One of the nicest things we hear from readers is that they're using The Bitten Word not just to get reviews on the latest food magazine recipes every month, but that they're actually turning to us whenever they need inspiration for what to cook for dinner, what menu to plan for a party, or what dessert they need to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Well, now we're making it even easier for you to browse the site, because we're adding a Recipe Index.

It's a full, running list of every recipe and tip we've ever posted on the blog. Use it to get recipe ideas or menu inspiration. It should be easy to search the entire page for whatever you're looking for. Or if, say, you just know you want something sweet, you can scan the entire list of Desserts & Sweets. You can always find the Recipe Index in the navigation bar across the top of the blog, on in the column on the right.

Of course you can still browse by date, crawling back through the archives.  Or you can browse by topic or by magazine under "Categories" over in the right-hand column of the site. And if there's something specific you're looking for -- if, for example, you want to find all the recipes we used that included strawberries -- you can always search the blog using the Google search window in the column on the right.

Happy cooking -- and happy browsing!

Best Easter Brunch Ideas

With Easter coming up this Sunday, food magazines are full of lunch and brunch ideas to fit the occasion. We're actually having some friends over for brunch on Sunday, and we're excited because Zach's mom is sending us an Easter ham from the Loveless Cafe in Nashville!

[Updated: Check out this Spicy Zucchini Frittata, these excellent Morning Glory Muffins, and lots more great brunch ideas!]

Here are some of our favorite recipes for an Easter brunch. Whether you're planning more of a breakfast-y brunch or a lunch-y brunch (or some combination of both), we think you'll love these dishes!

Have any of your own faves?  Let us know in the comments!

If you want a breakfast-y brunch...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Best Blueberry Muffins
• Bacon with Citrus Glaze
• Crusty Buttermilk Biscuits
• Granny Ragland's Chocolate Gravy
• Eggs with Ramps and Asparagus
• Strawberry Scones
• Breakfast Buttercups
• Classic Eggs Benedict
• Kentucky Mimosas

If you want a lunch-y brunch...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing

Bourbon Mint Tea

Sugar Snap Pea and Radish Salad

Pineapple-Mustard Glazed Ham

Spring Shells and Cheese

Butterflied, Rolled and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce

Popovers

Perfect Carrot Cake

Tres Cocoas Leches Cake 

Plus, 6 Great Tips for Planning a Brunch

Butterflied, Rolled and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce

Martha Stewart Living (April 2011)

Over the past week, hints of spring have popped up all around us. Tulips are seemingly everywhere and freshly planted pansies are settling into the yards on our street. Asparagus and ramps have made their debut at our farmers market. And the seedlings in our own garden are starting to resemble actual plants. 

So when we had a friend over for dinner last week, we wanted to showcase spring. So we decided to try a lamb dish. After all, they're bountiful in this month's magazines, as we saw in our latest covers gallery.

Though we loved the idea of the Garlic Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb from Food & Wine and the Lamb Chops with Lemon from Bon Appétit, we were most intrigued by this recipe for Butterflied, Rolled and Roasted Leg of Lamb with Fresh Mint Sauce from Martha Stewart Living. 

We've been around the seasonal block enough times to tell you that spring is primetime for lamb, but the recipe's author -- Lucinda Scala Quinn (she of our Chicken Chili and Vinegar Glossed Chicken raves) -- uses this recipe to introduce us to a new spring combination.

For Lucinda, it's not just lamb, but the combination of lamb and artichokes that announces spring.  As she says in the article, they're "made for each other." Well these two Southern boys have very little experience with artichokes, so it was news to us!  And really, who are we to argue with the combined wisdom of Lucinda and Martha?

Garlic-Herb Pinwheels and Harissa-Sausage Pinwheels

Everyday Food (April 2011)

When you have guests over for dinner -- or any get-together, really -- it's always nice to have some snacks for them to nibble on. After all, depending on how the cooking is going, you may have some time to kill. We've served more than our fare share of late dinners while entertaining, so we're always sure to have some sort of snack on hand in case, you know, dinner actually ends up being served at 9 p.m.

And while crudités, crostini and a bowl of nuts are great, they can get a little tiresome, so it's always good to have a few other tricks up your sleeve. We love to serve something that's easy to make but also impressive on the plate, like pinwheels: pre-made dough filled with flavors of your choosing, rolled up, sliced and baked. 

For our book club meeting last week (where we also served Bagna Cauda Dip with Assorted Vegetables), we wanted something simple and tasty, so we were happy to see these Garlic-Herb Pinwheels in Everyday Food. And they inspired us to try our own version -- a Harissa-Sausage Pinwheel.

Easter Challenge: Dyeing Eggs with Food from Your Pantry

Inspired by Food Network Magazine (April 2011)

Growing up, we dyed Easter eggs all kinds of ways. (Zach's mom, especially, loved trying out unconventional dyes and designs.) If you can do it to an egg -- Paas, glitter, tie-dye, crackle-finish, ombre, marbling, shrink-wrap sleeves with cartoons of Peter Cottontail -- we probably did.

But we'd never thought of dyeing eggs using household food items until we saw a feature in the current issue of Food Network Magazine, which suggests using things like turmeric, Kool-Aid and Red Hot candies to tint eggs for Easter.

Inspired, we opened up our own pantry to see what we could find.

Cookbook Winner! And Our Favorite Features from April Food Magazines

Thank you to everyone who entered our April covers contest! 

The April issues of food magazines not only had beautiful covers, but they're also filled with features that we really enjoyed.  Before we get to the cookbook winners, here are the features that really stand out to us this month:

If you're not into lamb, Everyday Food's Easter feast features a Brown Sugar and Mustard Glazed Salmon that looks great and is a different take on Easter (at least for us). The issue also has a feature called "Raising the Bar," about sweet treats. We'd love to try the Fudgy Rock Road Bars and the Salted Peanut Bars. This issue of Everyday Food -- as well as the April issue of Martha Stewart Living -- is also available on the iPad -- if you've checked it out on the iPad, we'd love to hear your impressions.

We know she can be a divisive figure, but we really enjoyed Food & Wine's feature on Gwyneth Paltrow, about her new cookbook, My Father's Daughter. Her food looks great and we look forward to making her Fried Zucchini Spaghetti this summer. 

Fine Cooking has two features we think are great. The first is a Cooking Class feature on how to make French Macaroons. The macaroons themselves are beautiful. And this month's Make Your Own (which we've extolled the virtues of before) is about creating your own Thai Curry.  

Martha Stewart Living has a Passover Makeover by New York Times columnist and cookbook author Melissa Clark, and we loved the idea of her Meyer Lemon Brisket with Pomegranate Gremolata. The issue also has a beautiful spread about Cooking with Herbs that we recommend that you check out -- the photos are amazing. 

Bon Appétit teaches you to be a master of Meringue, showing you different ways to use them. And lastly, in the Saveur Sandwich Issue, you'll find some sandwiches that will boggle the mind. 

So who won the cookbook??