Cooking
I didn’t actually cook this this week but I FINALLY published my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese recipe, and I hope you like it!
Other things I cooked:
Glazed chicken meatballs subbing in ginger powder for the paprika, tossed with store-bought teriyaki sauce instead of the sauce in my recipe (+ a splash of rice vinegar, soy sauce and chilli oil to liven it up), served with rice noodles and stir-fried veg in coconut oil.
Vegan banana oat cookies: Saw these linked on Instagram and they were… ok. I think they’ll make for a good weekday snack with tea, not really a “weekend cookie”. My tweaks: add ½ tsp salt, bake for double the amount of time to make them crispier, use only 1 cup of chocolate chips. Taste kind of like the top of banana chocolate chip muffins.
“Clean out the fridge” enchiladas: I made OSG’s Enchilada sauce, my filling was sauteed onion, bok choy (I know, an odd choice, but was cleaning out the veggie tray!), cherry tomatoes, frozen corn, black beans, diced chicken breast (pre-cooked in the oven), cubed roasted butternut squash, some sauce + lime juice, topped with cheddar cheese. Baked at 350F for 30 mins.
Crispy Oven Bacon and Eggs: wow this method is sooooo genius! The eggs were perfectly cooked, had a great, even texture to the set whites, and I was able to bake 5 eggs at the same time! Perfect method if you’re cooking eggs for a crowd.
Soft Sugar Cookies with Raspberry Frosting: these were unreal. I didn’t know where to buy freeze-dried raspberries so I defrosted frozen raspberries and pushed them through my fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds and just get the raspberry juice. The icing was soooo good. Looks alarming but tastes like fresh raspberries!
Reading
The Birra Boom is Complicated, But Simply Delicious - a great commentary on Tik Tok food trends and the real history behind dishes that are often simplified and white-washed through their virality.
Following
@grossypelosi - I’ve linked his vodka sauce many times in this newsletter but his account is a joy to follow. Fun, nostalgic Italian-American recipes.
Listening
To this jam by the Teskey Brothers.
Using
My NY Times Cooking app subscription. I realized that a lot of the recipes I link in this newsletter are paywalled - sorry about that! I subscribe annually to the NY Times and use their Cooking app often! It’s a great resource if you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for recipes with lots of reviews.
Thinking
About travel because I started watching Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy and mannnn I want to go on a trip. I want to explore and eat delicious food and drink and listen to local live music and and and...
Laughing
Have a great week,
Kaleigh