Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Good morning!
… From snowy NYC! We woke up delighted this morning that snow had actually fallen overnight, breaking a 701-day streak of no snow accumulation, much to the disappointment of snow-lovers like me and my kids. It’s quickly turning to slush, which is more our norm, but I’m glad at least one of my kids had time to stomp around in the unblemished accumulation on the terrace before school.
We had a busy weekend in which I cooked up an absolute frenzy, first a party to celebrate a friend’s divorce being finalized with champagne, a seafood platter plus lots of shrimp cocktail, two batches of homemade fries, buttered noodles for kids and kids-at-heart, a giant caesar salad, and then I attempted a Taylor Swift-style “stabby” cake and it was really fun. [You can see it in the last part of this IG highlight.] Then yesterday, we had family over for lunch and I made shakshuka, spanakopita, homemade pitas, a tomato-cucumber salad, a batch of pickled carrot sticks to snack on, and chocolate babka. Does anyone want to come over and empty the dishwasher for the 7th time in three days? Thanks, in advance!
Which brings us, at last, to my winter obsession: citrus. There is nothing like a January day when the sun still rises after 7, sets before 5pm, and looks like it might not come out at all today to make you crave bright fruit with a big dose of Vitamin C. Below, my favorite citrus-focused and -finished foods that make me feel like I’m eating sunshine. I hope it does the trick for all of us.
Cheers,
Deb
I’ve written three cookbooks and I’m a tiny bit biased, but I think you’d love them all. Wondering what you might cook from Smitten Kitchen Keepers in the depths of winter? I thought you’d never ask! The soup section is one of my absolute favorites with everything from a perfect weeknight ginger garlic chicken noodle soup, simple black bean chili, winter squash soup with red onion crisp, slow-simmered lentils with kale and goat cheese that you scoop onto grilled bread, cozy chicken and dumplings,
and a creamy tomato chickpea masala I could probably live on if allowed. To finish, I recommend the oatmeal date shortbread, better-than-classic pound cake, and/or toast with chocolate olive oil spread. Were you looking for a list of all the recipes in each of my cookbooks? I’ve added these in a separate page and hope it makes it easier for you to find everything you want to cook.
french onion baked lentils and farro
New: French onion baked lentils and farro are my dream winter hibernation dish: Loose like risotto, hearty enough to be utterly filling, and tasting so precisely like french onion soup, blistered broiled gruyere on top and all, that we find it impossible to tire of.
mixed citrus salad with feta and mint
Just when I'm convinced it's going to be all bleak and wintry from here on out, better citrus arrives and everything is a little more luminous again. Here's a favorite salad -- I love it with or for breakfast, and it's pretty stunning with dinner too.
lemon potatoes
My spin on blissful lemon potatoes. They're crisp at the edges and almost melting in the center with pan juices that reduce to a sticky, intensely flavored concentration. Finish with herbs and eat exactly like this, or as a side to a bigger meal; they're unforgettable.
crispy broccoli with lemon and garlic
Crispy charred broccoli is a top ten food for us; half the tray rarely makes it to the dinner table. Try one of the suggested riffs (crispy egg and crunchy crumbs! burrata sandwich smash! fish sauce vinaigrette!) and you too can unleash your inner broccoli junkie.
simplest spaghetti al limone
The simplest way to make spaghetti al limone is also my favorite, enlisting an uncooked sauce, but no cream, butter, or other clutter. It's sunny and triumphant, a delicious way to end a long day.
cabbage and lime salad with roasted peanuts
Halfway between a salad and slaw, a mix of cabbage, spinach, roasted peanuts, and lime juice dressing make a very pretty, very tasty salad that goes with anything you're thinking of making this week. Or, you know, just a fork and a bowl.
roasted cauliflower with pumpkin seeds, brown butter and lime
Simple roasted cauliflower with four ingredients that I hadn't combined in exactly this way before that became a new instant favorite. Add some sliced avocado, beans, and hot sauce for an unforgettable taco filling.
lamb meatballs with feta and lemon
A thing I love: Meatballs untethered from spaghetti. These Greek-inspired meatballs (lemon, feta, olives, and oregano). I like them best with lemon potatoes, or homemade pitas, or even a simple Greek salad (all on the site!).
cold rice noodles with peanut-lime chicken
Cold noodles + grilled chicken + crunchy vegetables + two perfect sauces, one loud with chiles, lime and fish sauce and the other cozy with ginger, peanuts and sesame = I could eat this forever.
flaky blood orange tart
A magnificently flaky blood orange tart is all the evidence you need that you can make excellent fresh fruit desserts even in the dead of winter. A salted butter caramel sauce for serving is optional... well, maybe for other people, never us.
grapefruit yogurt cake
Why do baked goods so often celebrate lemon, orange, or lime, but rarely grapefruit? This 2007 cake felt defiant at the time, but remains a beloved January fixture in my kitchen, perfectly crumbed and not too sweet with a ruby red glow.
lime curd tart
This lime spin on a classic French lemon curd tart is a forever favorite. These days I make it in fewer steps, which means that I get to make it more often. I like that it uses whole eggs, instead of just yolks, so you don’t have any leftover ingredients; that it doesn’t, like so many lime desserts, demand tiny, harder-to-procure key limes; and that it takes full advantage of the lime zest, for full-bodied flavor.
lemon sorbet
Lemon sorbet is basically a beam of sunlight in a bowl and this recipe, adapted from David Lebovitz, is our go-to with a full-bodied lemon flavor and the perfect tart-sweet balance. A perk of making it at home is that you can go to your freezer for a spoonful whenever life requires a burst of refreshment.
shop my favorites
Ever wonder where I get my cutting boards, paring knives, offset spatulas and more than you see when I cook? I've created a page on Smitten Kitchen with links to some of my favorite kitchen items, the ones I'm asked about the most. I recently added several new favorites I’ve bought in the last year. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer.
See you next week!