August 8, 2022
Good afternoon!
I am exactly like this when I cook. (TikTok)
It’s time to put actual veggies back in veggie burgers. (Eater)
What do you eat when you come back from travelling? What do you miss the most? I just got back from 9 wonderful days in Scotland — you can read all about our trip here — and honestly, my brain (and unfortunately, my internal clock) are still there. We made a beeline for fresh fruits, vegetables, and our beloved NYC tap water (no really, it’s a thing!), because we never get enough when away. But shortly after that, all I wanted were the flavors I’d missed while drowning ourselves in fish and chips and steak pies. Like fried rice with a crispy egg on top. Like tofu pad thai. Spicy chicken soup with crumbled tortilla chips on top. Melon with chile, lime, and salt. Bourbon whiskey. (Forgive me, Scotland!) So, this week is a celebration of those things. Plus, my very best recipe for shortbread which I feel I can humbly say, after scientifically sampling as many as I could over out trip to the shortbread motherland, could hold its own among them.
Cheers,
Deb
nine days in scotland
Where was I last week when I took a week off? Here! I poured every detail of our trip into this page and hope you’ll find it helpful if planning your own vacation to Scotland or at least entertaining if you’d never be crazy enough to travel with 5 kids (we travel with family friends with 3 adorable kids) 3 who mostly like buttered noodles. Previously: Iceland, Ireland, London, and Spain, how lucky we are.
✨ My third cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers, will be out in 106 days and I cannot wait to share it with you because I’m very bad at keeping secrets and am absolutely restless for you to be able to the most summery breakfast cobbler and brightest gnocchi and the chicken dish we crave more than all others. I hope you will consider preordering it so it’s deposited at your doorstep the moment it’s out in the world and you can dive in right away. Details here! ✨
Post-vacation cravings
chile-lime melon salad
This is my kind of fruit salad -- a little salty, a little sweet, a little spicy -- inspired by the cups of seasoned fruit you can buy on the street in Mexico. The moment I have a bite, I can no longer remember why I'd ever eat anything else on a hot day.
japanese vegetable pancakes
These okonomiyaki are heavy on vegetables, light on batter, charred at the edges and tender in the center. We like them with a tangy barbecue-like sauce and toasted sesame seeds. They're always gone too fast so you should make double.
ginger fried rice
This fried rice -- from a French chef, no less -- is legendary for good reason, the perfect weeknight dinner interval between bowls of summer produce.
simple chicken tortilla soup
This simple chicken tortilla soup is a weeknight favorite and a cinch to pull off even after a long day, while not skimping at all on flavor or texture.
crispy tofu pad thai
This is one of my favorite dishes and my best effort to do it crispy/crunchy, sour/sweet, salty/funky justice at home. The best part? The speed. Once you get a little prep out of the way, the faster you cook it, the better it tastes.
classic shortbread
Classic, tender, buttery, perfect-every-time shortbread cookies with three ingredients and virtually no fuss as good as you’d have in Scotland, trust me.
vermontucky lemonade
Maple syrup-sweetened lemonade and bourbon over ice cubes clinking in a very cold glass is exactly what I think we’ve earned by making it mostly through my first Monday after vacation, don’t you think?
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shop my favorites
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. For each item, I've attempted to provide a range of shopping links so we're not just focusing on one giant retailer. Let me know if there’s anything I’ve left off that you need.
See you next week!