The Bitten Word

Chocolate-Rye Crumb Cake

Bon Appétit (January 2015)

 

We think it's only fitting to end January -- month of resolutions, revolutions and reductions -- with a big ol' chocolate cake.

More than a year ago, a group of Clay's coworkers made the kind of resolution we can definitely get behind: The BAKE-O-LUTION. The idea is simple: Bake a new recipe once a month, and bring it into the office to share. So for more than a year now, once a month, folks show up at work with their baked goods: cakes (so many cakes!), pies, cookies and brownies galore. It's a glorious thing. And it's the perfect inspiration to do more baking.

But in the year that the BAKE-O-LUTION has been going on, we've never baked anything for it. It's not because we're anti-cake (far from it!). We just never got our act together to plan, shop and bake for the monthly get-together.

It was time to break that streak. 

So for the first BAKE-O-LUTION of 2015, Clay showed up with this Chocolate-Rye Crumb Cake, from the latest issue of Bon Appétit. 

Roasted Cauliflower and Grapes

Food & Wine (January 2015)

Clay was having coffee with his friend Rachel, comparing notes about recent restaurant visits and recipes, when she offhandedly mentioned a recipe she had just made from the most recent Food & Wine: Roasted Cauliflower with Grapes. 

Rachel had loved it; Clay was on his way to the store after work, and needed no more convincing. 

Kale and Apple Salad with Garlicky Dressing

A Bitten Word Recipe

 

We know, we know. Kale Salad. It's ubiquitous. It's overdone. And we've already hit "peak kale."

But at our house, kale salad remains a staple. Sure, we're ardent kale fans, but really it's just the accessory here. 

This salad is all about the dressing: a potent garlicky concoction that makes kale salad an absolutely delight without having to add a bunch of salad toppings to hide the kale. 

Brussels Sprouts with Sausage and Cumin

Food & Wine (January 2015)

We've waited a whole year, but we can't wait any longer: It's time for another Brussels Sprouts recipe. 

Sometimes, we think we could do a monthly or even weekly Brussels recipe here on The Bitten Word, given how frequently we eat them (at least a couple pounds a week) and with such variation. 

But we largely spare you our Brussels addiction. Despite our seemingly insatiable appetite for the vegetable, there is, we fear, a limit for most of you. But for today, we're all going to revel in Brussels' glory, with this recipe we plucked out of the latest Food & Wine: Brussels Sprouts with Sausage and Cumin. 

Spanish Chorizo, Kale and Cranberry Bean Soup

Food Network Magazine (January 2015)

It's that time of year when we look into our pantry and think, "Who in the world bought all this stuff?" You see, our cupboards right now are a bit like the island of misfit toys. 

There are six kinds of mustard. Three kinds of anchovies. Seven (!) kinds of nuts. And so. much. orzo. Someone needs a Cupboard Cleanout. 

Though we love digging into our cupboard and making a complete meal out of it, we found this week that there are perils to doing that. Sometimes, the stuff in your pantry is just too old.

Case in point? We planned to make this Spanish Chorizo, Kale and Cranberry Bean Soup, a Bobby Flay recipe from the current issue of Food Network Magazine. We thought it sounded delicious, and we were especially happy because it would be a good excuse to use some beans we already had on hand.

We love this soup, but using "vintage" beans was a big mistake.

Roasted and Charred Broccoli with Peanuts

Bon Appétit (January 2015)

Broccoli.

Peanuts.

Broccoli + Peanuts?

Peanuts.

Broccoli.

We were simultaneously stumped and excited by this recipe for Roasted and Charred Broccoli with Peanuts when we got the January Bon Appétit. 

We love broccoli (and probably each eat about 3 heads a week during the winter), and we adore peanuts in all forms (except maybe boiled, but we still wouldn't really turn those down). But the two of them combined? 

Sure, why not. We'll try anything once. 

Plus, this recipe gave us an excuse to use a pantry ingredient that's getting a lot of play in our house these days: nutritional yeast.

Slow-Roasted Chicken with Shallot-Garlic Pan Sauce

Cook's Illustrated (January 2015)

Let's start the new year on a comforting note.

That's right, good ol' roast chicken, a perennial favorite of ours -- and, we're guessing, many of yours. 

We've done our fair share of roast chickens over the years, be they sauced, stuffed, herbed, tandoori-ed, or faux-tisseried.  Why so many roast chickens? 

Really, roast chicken is not a hard sell for us. It's the meal equivalent of slipping on a pair of sweat pants (or as they're called in our house, "fat pants"), crawling under the covers, and marathoning Gilmore Girls (please tell us you know the full series is available on Netflix, and please tell us you're watching).

And a roast chicken paired with a delicious sauce? We're IN. 

That's why we chose this dish of Slow-Roasted Chicken Parts with Shallot-Garlic Pan Sauce from America's Test Kitchen as our first recipe of 2015. 

The 10 Best Food Magazine Recipes We Made in 2014 -- Plus Our 5 Other Favorite Dishes

   

    

   

Happy New Year, Bittens!

We are so excited to start cooking in 2015!  But first let's take a quick look back at 2014.

In our ongoing quest to test-drive food magazine recipes, we tried out a lot of dishes last year. Some were good; some were duds. Here are the best things we made all year long, in chronological order. First up are our favorite food magazine recipes, followed by a few other favorites from last year.

 

The 10 Best Food Magazine Recipes from 2014...

1. Pork and Squash Stew with Chiles 
Tender bites of pork in a savory broth with a warm, comforting heat. It's the perfect dish for winter -- and, as we wrote back in February, an ideal make-ahead dish. 

 

2. Herbed Faux-tisserie Chicken and Potatoes
We have roasted a LOT of chickens in our day. This one is absolutely one of the top three ever.

 

3. New Orleans–Style BBQ Shrimp
Spicy and buttery and delicious. The next-best thing to actually going to New Orleans.

 

4. Edamame-Miso Tuna Salad Sandwiches
This is probably the one dish we've made the most since posting about it last year. The mix of miso, hot chile oil and edamame is a great new spin on tuna salad. We've made this (especially for lunch to take to work) more times than we can count.

 

5. Ayam Jeruk (Grilled Chicken and Toasted Coconut Salad)
We debated whether to include this dish in our year-end roundup, because we'd made so many substitutions in the recipe. But who cares? This dish was to die for, and we're sure it's even better if you can find fresh galangal. And shaved coconut. And candelnuts. And Asian shallots. And Balinese long peppers...

 

6. Asian Marinated Tomatoes 
These tomatoes are really more of an accompaniment or a condiment than a stand-alone dish. But they're marvelous. If we may quote our own post from last summer: "Imagine if a bowl of salsa spent a semester abroad in Thailand, and got really into meditation and mystic Buddhism and lemongrass, and then came home and hopped up on your grilled chicken." Who doesn't want that??

 

7. Spiced Lamb Burgers
Nothing we made last year was as drool-worthy as these lamb burgers. As we said back in July, "The lamb is flavorful and full of wonderful spice from the coriander, cumin and cinnamon. The fat from the lamb melts into the pitas, soaking them with flavor and making them crispy and amazing." If you're not salivating at that, there may be something wrong with you.

 

8. Vietnamese Pork Chops with Pickled Watermelon
In August, we solidly declared this the "DISH. OF. THE. SUMMER."  We stand by that. This salty/savory/sour/sweet/pungent/crispy/juicy dish is everything you want in a grilled entree.

 

9. The Barefoot Contessa's Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
It's highly possible that no dish we've featured has ever elicited a greater response than these potatoes that we made for our Fakesgiving test-run of recipes. We heard from countless -- countless! -- friends and family and Bitten Word readers who made these for Thanksgiving. And just about everyone has told us these are the best mashed potatoes they've ever made.  

 

10. Maple Syrup Pie with Crème Fraîche
This delicious pie was the crowd favorite at our Fakesgiving meal this past year. We could eat it morning, noon and night. 

 

... Plus 5 More of Our Faves.