recipes // and
If ever there is a time that I need to process big feelings, I am stuck in my writing process, I’ve got a bout of the Sads but have a little something in the tank, I feel pent up energy in my body I can’t place, I am celebrating, I am grieving- you can find me in the kitchen. It isn’t always a project bake or a labor intensive afternoon of fresh pasta, marinara, and meatball making. Sometimes it’s making a loaf of no-knead bread (a gorgeous place to start for the baking-adverse), or a stock in my pressure cooker that I can cool and properly store for future use. Sometimes it’s pizza dough that I can freeze to use the following Friday, biscuits that I prep and freeze to bake another time. Sometimes it’s something as simple as taking a minute to assemble a bowl of full-fat yogurt, freshly sliced fruit, and a bit of granola (homemade granola is so easy and so good and you can control the level of sweet which I love since I find the store bought stuff to be too sweet. On this note, consider using olive oil and a good amount of salt if you really want to curb the sweet, as I do), taking the time to make it look a bit nicer as opposed to whacking it in a bowl and calling it good, as I do 98% of the time if I am feeding myself.
recipes
THE butter moon bake co. buttermilk
biscuit recipe
These biscuits have been written about in newspapers and magazines, championed locally and across the country, have made me cry, have made me exceedingly excited. I made biscuits on repeat every day for months and months until I was satisfied with the results. Turns out, I was quite good at making biscuits— documenting my wins and misses along the way until I had created a recipe of my own.
peach (whatever fruit) crisp bars recipe
Peach crisp, any fruit crisp, is a delight but what I really want more of is the crisp which is to say I want more carbs. I also like when desserts have a bit more structure— I love a hand-held whatever. Use fresh fruit, use apples instead of peaches, use this as a guide.
almost a soup recipe
If you’re ever feeling unsteady in the kitchen or want to flex your creativity just because, soup is the place to start. You can make it real brothy or scale the liquid back and make a stew. You can start off with a stew and then add more liquid the next day to stretch it. You can cook pasta or rice separately (my general recommendation) so that you can switch up your leftover game or maybe serve it with neither but add some garlicky breadcrumbs when serving or make some giant croutons and toast some cheese on top of it. Maybe you’ll toss in potatoes and then some cheesy croutons! Soup is for creatives— that’s a hill I’ll die on.
There are anecdotes to cooking that are my gospel. Rules that I have not only adapted but preach. If ever I am in church again, let it be within the confines of a space with proper cutting boards, sharp knives, and a Dutch oven.
Take what feels relevant and leave the rest behind.Kitchen LessonsTaste your food. You have to, and I cannot stress this enough, taste your food and taste it frequently. You won’t know if a dish is flat or ___ until you get in there and find out for yourself.
Don’t salt your onions or veggies that you’re beginning to soften immediately upon putting them in your pan. Give them a minute, literally 60 seconds will do, to begin to sweat on their own and then proceed with giving them a helping hand.
Vinegar or citrus. Almost everything, and I do mean everything, needs some kind of vinegar or citrus to brighten and even deepen a dish.1Season in layers. When I make chili, something that requires a lot of dried spices, I season with all of the spices I’m using 3 or four times. Once in the beginning as I am sweating down and softening my alliums and veg, again when I add whatever meat I’m using, once more just before I add any liquids IE stock, beer, tomatoes, beans etc, and then once or twice more during its actual cook time. This allows flavors to meld and build. It also aids in giving life to spices that may be older and therefore lacking flavor.23If you prefer to use stainless steel pots and pans, you’ve got to use heat but also understand the heat. If every time you make something in your stainless steel and it sticks to the bottom and you’re scraping off burnt eggs until the end of time, your pan, and whatever oil you used as a base, wasn’t hot enough. Don’t be scared. Get it up there, make sure a water droplet steams off or crackles in your oil. Put down your meat, let it stay high and hot for a minute or two, even your eggs even if it’s just for a minute, and then knock it down.45I hope you find these things useful if not gentle reminders of things you may already know. Do a kitchen thing this weekend if you feel so inclined. Work out something you’ve been needing to work out. Find out what adding a splash of vinegar does for your dishes.