The Bitten Word

Sautéed Collard Greens with Six-Hour Caramelized Onions

Saveur (January 2016)

We were so smitten with Six-Hour Caramelized Onions -- how they made our house smell amazing, how we loved how the slow cooking brought out their amazing sweetness -- that their original purpose was, six hours later, just an afterthought.

We'd originally made them with these Sautéed Collard Greens in mind, thinking it was high time we changed up our collards game. We've been buying collards at the supermarket ever since winter arrived, cooking them about once a week by giving them a quick sauté over high heat. That method works fine, but is also feeling a little plain, as we've been making them that way for the several years now. 

In truth, we think these Sautéed Collard Greens succeed because of two elements: the phenomenal caramelized onions, and the right balance of vinegar. 

Six-Hour Caramelized Onions

When you're letting onions cook for six hours, you think about a lot of stuff.

 

HOUR 1

"Six pounds of onions is a lot. Our dutch oven is nearly full. Will they ever cook down?"

"Broad City can't start soon enough. Less than a month!"

"Could Donald Trump really be the GOP nominee?"

 

HOUR 2

"Tokyo: We're going this spring, towards the end of April. We have to start planning our time there. Do The Bittens have any recommendations?"

"How's Downton Abbey going to end? Will there be a flash-forward? Will we finally learn that Cora is a vampire?"

"Is Transparent our new favorite TV show? Yes." 

 

 

HOUR 3

"We've got to get to New York City for a weekend this spring."

"Good god, these onions smell amazing."

"Will it be 2017 before we see Hamilton? From the look of available tickets, the answer is yes."

"Zach's stepdad is having knee surgery on Monday. Need to call and wish him well!"

 

 

HOUR 4

"This stack of New Yorker magazines isn't going to read itself." 

"Wonder what's getting past its prime in our fridge right now? We've really got to cook some cauliflower."

"Wow there's still a lot of snow on the ground here. And our street hasn't even been plowed." 

"What are we going to do with all these onions? Part of them are for a recipe, but we're going to have a lot left over. Should we make a soup?"

 

 

HOUR 5

"Once the snow is cleared, we should really go see The Revenant. But it sounds like such a chore..."

"You know what was a really good read? Fates and Furies."

"What to read next? When Breath Becomes Air?"

"Wow: Six hours is a really long time."

 

 

HOUR 6

"Should we bake a chocolate cake today?"

"Death, Sex & Money and The Mystery Show are such great podcasts." 

"Why don't we make caramelized onions more often?" 

"Wow, these onions taste incredible!" 

Spiced Marinated Lamb Chops with Garlicky Yogurt

Bon Appétit (January 2016)

We feel the same way about lamb that we feel about new episodes of Downton Abbey: We don't want it every day, but when have it, we're reminded about how much we enjoy it.

We've made lamb a few times over the past couple months. it's lean and easy to prepare, and it's so flavorful that you don't need to do a ton to it to make it delicious.

When we've been futzing around with lamb on our own, we've followed this nom nom paleo recipe as a blueprint -- salt-and-pepper grilled lamb chops topped with an improvised chimichurri. (That preparation walks you through a chimichurri with mint, salt capers, red onion, red pepper, garlic and olive oil. It's wonderful, and it's also endlessly variable. Rosemary is great if you don't have mint, as is thyme. You can throw in an anchovy if you don't have capers. And on and on.)

These Spiced Marinated Lamb Chops with Garlicky Yogurt from Bon Appétit get their flavor in something of a reverse way: You marinate them in an herby yogurt for up to 12 hours and then cook them. 

That approach is fine in theory, but in practice causes some real problems in the kitchen.

Beet and Carrot Salad with Curry Dressing and Pistachios

Bon Appétit (January 2016)

Until recently, it's been an incredibly mild winter here in Washington, D.C. But now, two weeks into January, we're already feeling cold, damp and gray, gray, gray.

So when when we saw this salad and its explosion of color in the latest Bon Appétit, our faces lit up. The crazy tangle of red, orange and yellow, spiked with green pistachios, was like a breath a fresh air -- and a nice change from all the heavier foods we've been eating since Thanksgiving.

In the end, of course, a beet-and-carrot salad is, well, a beet-and-carrot salad.

This one, it turns out, is all about the curry dressing.

Roast Chicken with Salsa Verde and Roasted Lemons

Food & Wine (January 2016)

A new year, a new roast chicken recipe. 

In selecting the first dish that we would make for 2016 here on The Bitten Word, Jonathan Waxman's iconic Roast Chicken with Salsa Verde and Roasted Lemons -- billed by Food & Wine as "The Roast Chicken That Changed America" -- quickly made it to the top of our list. It's not hard to sell us on a roast chicken, and if a chicken recipe can change America, we think it's more than good enough for la Bitten Word. 

Plus, we've always loved Jonathan Waxman, recurring Top Chef guest and chef of Barbuto in NYC, Adele's in Nashville, and Jams, a NYC hotspot from the 1980s that has recently been revived. This chicken recipe, which originated at Jams, is currently on the menu at Barbuto and Adele's. In fact, back in February 2014, we were able to eat at Barbuto and we ordered the chicken, with its crisp skin and bright salsa verde. When we saw it pop up in Food & Wine, it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in years.

We were eager to see how this Roast Chicken with Salsa Verde and Roasted Lemons at home compares to the restaurant version.

The 11 Best Food Magazine Recipes We Ate in 2015

   

   

   

 

 

Hello, Bittens! Happy new year!

We are so excited to start cooking for 2016. But before we do, we want to take a look back at last year, and the best food magazine dishes we ate all year. Here are 11 of our favorites in chronological order. (We couldn't settle on 10, so 11 it is!)

Did you have a favorite dish of the past year? Share it in the comments!

 

1. Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts
Bon Appétit

"Even the most ardent Brussels sprouts hater will find it hard not to like this dish. [...] The Brussels sprouts are crisp and plump, with a nice crunch from the peanuts. The sweet-spicy sauce is actually borderline too sweet for us (next time we'll use less sugar), but the heat of the chili paste keeps it in balance."