The Bitten Word

Thanksgiving 2016: Hasselback Butternut Squash with Bay Leaves

Bon Appétit (November 2016)

Hasselback potatoes have been in fashion for years now. They show up on cooking shows and in food magazines, in cookbooks and on restaurant menus.

It sounds and looks fancy. But it's really just a simple knife technique, taking a vegetable, such as a potato, and slicing crosswise in close intervals down the length of the vegetable. The slices are deep but not quite all the way through, resulting in something that's often described as looking like a fan or an accordion. To us it looks like a letter holder -- you know, if people still got letters.

Here are some true (or potentially true) origin stories for hasselback potatoes:

• They were invented by Rosie O'Donnell to taunt Elizabeth Hasslebeck and the name is intentionally misspelled. (Not true, but we wish it were.)

• Ina Garten popularized hasselback potatoes in American kitchens after seeing them in a prepared-food shop window in London years ago. (Bitten Word reader Jim told us this; we hope this one is true, because, duh, Contessa.)

• They are named after the restaurant in which they were first made, Hasselbacken, in Stockholm, which opened in 1748. (This is true, at least according to the Internets. And we all know how reliable the Internet is.) 

 Wherever it came from, Bon Appétit gave it a twist this Thanksgiving by hasselbacking the heck out of some whole butternut squash.

It was so beautiful in the magazine that we had to try it. 

Thanksgiving 2016: Earl Grey–Bourbon Punch

Bon Appétit (November 2016)

Things to Talk About This Thanksgiving Other Than Politics:

• A December 2016 Bucket List: What do you really want to accomplish before the end of the year?
  
  
• The best book you read this year. (For Zach it was the new Maria Semple: Today Will Be Different. For Clay, it was Modern Lovers.) 
  
  
• Things you and yours might do instead of exchanging a bunch of gifts at Christmas this year. 
  
  
• Fantasy punch recipes. Use this framework: One part sour, two parts sweet, three parts strong, four parts weak
  
  
• What's happening on Westworld (Seriously: what IS happening on Westworld? We're not really sure. And the punch will not help this particular problem.)
   
• How delicious this punch is. Seriously, isn't it good? It's smooth and sweet and tart all at once. (Just don't serve too much of it. Your guests might start talking about politics.) 

 

Thanksgiving 2016: Cranberry Chutney with Orange, Figs, and Mustard

Bon Appétit (November 2016)

We had planned to write about this cranberry sauce yesterday. But then election happened and the Internet exploded and cranberry sauce seemed wholly inconsequential and, well, it still does today, but here we are, because life goes on and Thanksgiving approaches and perhaps you need something else to think about.

So here we are: distraction. 

Perhaps you don't care about cranberry sauce this morning. That's fine. The food magazines didn't care about cranberry sauce this year, either. It was a short, and fairly boring list of cranberry sauce options. So we picked out what seemed the most interesting of the lot: this Cranberry Chutney with Orange, Figs, and Mustard.

If you're looking to step up your cranberry sauce game, this is a good option.  

Corn Salad with Hazelnuts, Pecorino, and Mint

Bon Appétit (July 2016)

"You haven't been to All Purpose?"

"OMG how have you not had the fried chicken at Maketto yet??"

"Surely you guys have done the tasting menu at Kinship?"

"Conosci? Kyirisan? Convivial? Masseria?"

"Pineapple and Pearls? You haven't even been to Pineapple and Pearls???" 

No.

We haven't been to any of these buzzy Washington, D.C., restaurants.

Here's why.

Jerk Spice-Rubbed Chicken Legs

Bon Appétit (June 2016)

 

There are moments in friendships when you reach a new plateau, when you discover something new about someone that strengthens your bond together. Something that really sparks and takes the friendship to a deeper, truer place.

Such was the case when we recently found out our friend Thomas had never seen "Arrested Development."

We were with a big group at Thomas' for July 4th. Everyone was just chatting, and then someone said something -- who knows what it was? Perhaps a Lucille bon mot, or a particularly choice Busterism. And then Thomas said the 10 most glorious words in the English language: "I've never seen that show. We should marathon it together!"

Yes, we should, Thomas. Praise Jesus, Allah, Bhudda and Gob -- YES.

So we had Thomas over this week for his inaugural "Arrested" viewing, along with some Jerk Chicken Legs.

Blueberry and Corn Crisp

Bon Appétit (July 2016)

 

A few weeks ago, we spent a long weekend on Fire Island with a big group of friends.

Fire Island is unlike anywhere else we've ever been. It's dotted with little towns packed tight with beach houses, but it's remarkably underdeveloped. There are no roads and only a handful of cars -- it's just a raised wooden boardwalk cutting through the trees. We were in the town called the Pines, but "town" is a bit of a misnomer. There's a coffee shop and a deli, and a couple places to get a drink, all clustered around the dock where the ferry gets in. But other than that, it's just houses and woods and an endless stretch of broad, sandy beach.

From a food perspective: Fire Island presents two unique challenges. First, you're likely cooking for a big group. (Our house slept 20!) And second, there's no grocery store.

How do you cook for a house full of people with no grocery store? With a lot of careful planning.

Coconut-Marinated Short Rib Kebabs with Peanut-Chile Oil

Bon Appétit (June 2016)

Short ribs mean winter. 

We've said this many times before: If there's any meat we most associate with winter cooking, it's beef short ribs. A pot of short ribs braising in the oven is, for us, as much a sign of cold weather as the first snowfall or those horrible car ads in which a husband surprises his wife with a new car in the driveway with a huge bow on it. (First of all, how misogynistic can you get? Second, you made a huge household financial decision as a surprise? That's just poor marital communication. Also: a huge bow? Seriously??)

But we digress.

The point is: Short ribs = winter. 

So we were more than a little intrigued when we saw these short rib kebabs in the new Bon Appétit. They're part of a really great spread on kebabs and skewers, which also includes Barbecue Pork With Blistered Chile–Pumpkin Seed Salsa, Cumin-Chile Lamb Kebabs with Garlic Yogurt, and Soy-Basted Chicken Kebabs with Sesame-Citrus Sprinkle. 

Those all sound really tasty. But it was these short ribs that caught our eye.

Short ribs in summer? We're on it. 

Spiced and Grilled Steaks with Citrus Chutney

Bon Appétit (April 2016)

It had been too long since we'd seen our friends Drew and Ralph. The two of us work 9-to-5 jobs, but Drew and Ralph run a successful group of Thai restaurants and a very popular art gallery here in D.C. So we have somewhat opposite schedules, and if we don't make solid plans to see each other, well, you know how these things go.

So one night last week, we found a night that worked and invited them over to catch up.

It was the perfect opportunity to try this Spiced and Grilled Steak with Citrus Chutney.

Coconut Chicken Curry with Turmeric and Lemongrass

Bon Appétit (March 2016) 

On Saturday, we had an urge to cook. And we had an urge to see our friends Mark and Ryan. Thus began a text exchange among the four of us: "Want to come over for dinner tonight?"

What followed was a "yes" combined with roughly 50 silly GIFs from Broad City, Girls, and Mean Girls: typical text activity among our friends these days. (Yes, 35-year-old gay guys are basically 14-year-old girls.)

We had been looking for a reason to make this Coconut Chicken Curry with Turmeric and Lemongrass. And we'd also been looking for a reason to not leave our house on a dreary Saturday.

Win-win?

Roasted Short Ribs With Cauliflower And Celery

Bon Appétit (February 2016)

There's something Nigella Lawson said once on her cooking show, and now, even a decade after we first heard her say it, it pops into our head from time to time.

We forget now what she was actually making that day, but it was some long-cooking thing like a braise or a stew. And Nigella said, in that gorgeous syrupy accent of hers, that quick dinners are great, but "there are other times when you really want to inhabit your kitchen."

We've always loved that idea. When you're not rushing to get a meal on the table for a midweek dinner, cooking can be an incredibly pleasant thing. When you have an opportunity to slow down and take your time, an afternoon in the kitchen can be lovely. You can truly inhabit your kitchen.

The current issue of Bon Appétit has a feature devoted to the joys of slow-cooking on a Sunday, called "On the Seventh Day, We Cook." There's a dish of Braised Duck Legs with Polenta and Wilted Chard and a Kimchi-Braised Chicken with Bacon that we'd love to try.

This past Sunday, a damp, dreary cold day that was perfect for inhabiting our kitchen, we set about making these Roasted Short Ribs With Cauliflower And Celery.