Simple Granola
Good morning. My standpoint on mornings falls somewhere between these two quotes:
“Mine was the twilight and the morning. Mine was a world of rooftops and love songs.” ―Roman Payne
“The morning always has a way of creeping up on me and peeking in my bedroom windows. The sunrise is such a pervert.”
―Jarod Kintz
Wherever you may land, enjoy this simple granola. 
Simple Granola
Adapted slightly from Cook’s Illustrated
Makes 9 cups and costs about $8
1/3 cup local maple syrup or honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
Few dashes of salt
1/2 cup olive oil
5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups raw almonds, coarsely chopped (use an apple corer)
2-3 cups of dried fruit, like cranberries
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 325 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk syrup or honey, brown sugar, vanilla, almond extract, and salt in large bowl. Whisk in oil. Add oats and almonds and mix well.
Transfer mixture to baking sheet and spread into thin layer, and compress with back of spatula. Bake 20 minutes, rotate pan and bake 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, cool, and break into pieces. Stir in dried fruit.
Use apple corer to crush almonds.
Snooze.
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Muffin Pan Mac & Cheese
Sometimes there’s a cool spring evening. With crumbly rain. And allergies. Sweatpants and single malt scotch. Season six of Weeds. Macaroni and cheese in muffin pans.
Muffin Pan Mac & Cheese
Adapted from Food & Wine
Serves 4 and costs about $8
1/2 pound of whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of milk
4 ounces of local cheddar cheese
4 ounces of local muenster cheese
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 bright orange egg yolk
Dash of paprika and pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook macaroni in boiling water for 5 minutes and drain. Spray muffins pans with oil or grease with butter. Melt butter in large saucepan. Whisk in the flour for about two minutes, then add milk and whisk until boiling. Add cheeses and whisk until melted. Remove from heat and whisk in egg yolk and paprika. Folk in macaroni. Spoon mixture into muffin cups and sprinkle with a bit more Parmesan cheese if you’d like. Bake for 10 minutes.
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Molasses Cookies at Midnight
There’s a certain something about baking in the dark of the evening. Time seems to carefully mark each second. The ignition click of the gas burner utters a plucky rhythm. The blue flame is vivid and lusty.
It’s not easy to use local ingredients in baking. I doubt that the molasses centerpiece of this recipe is produced near New York. I have, however, used whole wheat flour cultivated close to the city, and eggs, milk, and butter from an upstate farmer.
Molasses Cookies
Adapted from Saveur
Makes about 20 cookies and costs about $4
8 tablespoons of melted butter
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of molasses
1 egg
3/4 cup of milk
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
1 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter, sugar, molasses, egg, and milk and blend. Sift flour, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Carefully combine wet and dry ingredients and blend until well mixed. Drop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Cool and serve.
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Fort Tryon Tatin
A couple weeks ago, I received a tweet from Chez Us proclaiming that I’d won their cookbook giveaway. A couple days ago, Plenty arrived in the mail, and I’m enthralled.
Of the many vibrant recipes coloring the book, the Surprise Tatin was my immediate favorite. The tatin in the photograph seemed almost unreal, impossible. I never saw anything like it. 
I prepared the tatin for a dinner with friends on Sunday, and the dish came together in less than thirty minutes. With a few hours before our guest would arrive, I slid the tart in the refrigerator and went for a run through Fort Tryon Park. Nestled high on a ridge near the northern tip of Manhattan, the 65-acre park once sustained the colossal estates of some of the wealthiest New Yorkers. A lifetime later, the quiet archways still stand, and rusty succulents stretch up the rocky edifices. 
The colors and shapes of the park followed me home, and it seemed only fitting to name my version of the dish the Fort Tryon Tatin.
Fort Tryon Tatin
Slightly modified from Plenty.
Serves 2-4 and costs about $12
1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes (I used tomatoes dehydrated and frozen from last summer)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
1 pound new potatoes or the smallest red potatoes
1 medium diced onion
3 tablespoons of sugar
Salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, and thyme seasonings
4-5 ounces of goat or feta cheese
1 puff pastry sheet
Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 20-25 minutes. Carefully drain and cool. Trim off the tops and bottoms of each potato, and then slice into 1-inch discs. Saute the onion in 1 tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes.
Grease a 9-inch cake or pie pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Using a small pan, cook the remaining butter and sugar until caramelized. Quickly pour the caramel into the cake pan and spread to cover bottom. (Don’t burn yourself..) Scatter seasonings around the parchment paper.
Lay the potato slices close together, cut-side down, into the pan. Press onion and sun-dried tomatoes into the gaps between pieces and use any leftover to cover the rest of the tart. Slice and layer the goat or feta cheese evenly over the potatoes. Cover the potatoes with the pastry, and tuck the edges down around the potatoes. Trim away any excess. At this point, the pastry can be chilled for up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce to 350 degrees and cook 15-20 minutes more. Remove from oven, gently slide a knife around the rim of the pan. Hold an inverted plate or service dish firmly on top of the pan and carefully/quickly flip. Peel off parchment paper and serve. Pairs well with sauteed winter greens.
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Mustard Roasted Potatoes
If you grew up with the old school Yukon potato like me, I recommend giving other local varieties, like Adirondack blue, a chance. The dynamic shapes, colors, textures, and tastes will bring real flavor to your meal life.
Mustard Roasted Potatoes
Adapted from Gourmet
Serves 4-6 and costs about $5
1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne, and cumin to taste
3 pound of assorted potatoes, scrubbed and chopped
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Whisk ingredients in a bowl, add potatoes and onion and spread on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, toss, and roast 20 minutes longer.
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Goat Cheese Stuffed Burgers
There’s a couple of things I know for sure: the world would be a much better place if people held doors open for one another, and burgers are best served with cold beer. I don’t claim to be an expert on supreme kindness, but I do a thing or two about making a good burger at home. 
Start with one pound of ground turkey or beef that you can trust. I’m talking meat from animals that were raised the old-fashioned way, like the folks at WildCraft Farms in New York. They make the journey every Saturday to my farmers’ market in Manhattan, and I’m more than happy to spend $8.99 on a pound of their product. (I’ll bet you have someone like them near your hometown.) Next, add one egg you can trust. (I like Knoll Krest Farms in the Hudson Valley.) Then a cup of oats, a handful of chopped spinach, half of a chopped onion and seasonings to taste. 
Using your hands, form the mixture into a ball, then grab a small piece to form a burger, and then add about one tablespoon of goat cheese to the center. Toss them on the grill if you’re lucky enough to have one. (Manhattan folks like myself have to make do with our stove tops.) Cook to your liking, add a slice of kale or extra spinach, condiments of your choosing, serve with some roasted Brussels sprouts or paprika potatoes and a local beer.
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Pear Bread
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about how a simple smell can conjure a thousand memories of childhood. Like Proust and his madeleine cookies. Idgie Threadgoode and her fried green tomatoes. How many of us would add McDonald’s chicken nuggets to our list? I know I would. How depressing.
Smell your way beyond the fast food fryers, and I bet you’ll encounter a fragrance from your childhood kitchen. Chocolate chip cookies, maybe. Or a chicken casserole. Lately, I’ve been remembering homemade bread cooling in small loaf pans on the counter. In our house, the table knife stayed right in the pan, beneath the aluminum foil, for easy access to another sliver.
My mother has this recipe called A-Z Bread, and I’m lucky enough to have a typewritten copy of it. (In fact, I have a whole cookbook of typewritten recipes from her. Pretty great, right?) The idea is that while the base of the bread is the same, your main ingredient can vary depending on your taste. A for apricot, R for rhubarb, Z for zucchini, etc. I’ve modified the recipe a bit, but it still stands up after all these years. Try it now with some seasonal fruit, like apples, quince, or pears.
A-Z Bread
Makes two loaves and costs about $4
3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of oil
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
2 cups of chopped pears (or other A-Z ingredient)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup of chopped nuts
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs in large bowl, adding in oil and sugar. Add pears and vanilla. Combine with dry ingredients and nuts. Spoon into two greased loaf pans and bake for one hour. 
Remove and cool slightly. Add a scoop of ice cream, pour a cup of tea, and watch an episode of Downton Abbey. Doesn’t get much better than that.
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My So-Called Corn Bread Muffins
It’s August 1994, and my aunt invited me over for dinner. Two big things happened that night: my first taste of corn bread, and the debut of My So-Called Life. Ever since, whenever I taste corn bread I can’t help but dream of Angela, Rickie, Rayanne, and Jordan Catalano trafficking the halls of teen angst and flannel.
My So-Called Corn Muffins
12 muffins for about $4
1 cup of corn meal
3/4 cup of flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
1 cup of milk
3 tablespoons of butter
Honey or maple syrup for drizzling (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together corn meal, flour, baking powder, and sugars. Add eggs, syrup, milk, and butter. Add batter to greased muffin pans and bake for 20 minutes. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup.
Add batter to muffin pans.
Cool slightly in pans and serve warm. Drizzle with honey.
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No-Can Pumpkin Pie
Over the holidays, I was overwhelmed by the amount of blogs, episodes, and photos that centered on pumpkin pie. They all looked really great, but I noticed that only one or two recipes did not use pumpkin puree from a can. Whether you’re nervous about BPA levels from canned food or are just hoping to go completely homemade, this is for you. 
Pumpkin Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart and Kitsap Sun
Makes one pie and costs about $5
Shortbread pie crust
4 tablespoons of butter, softened
3 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Filling
2 cups of pumpkin puree (see below)
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Dash of ground cloves and ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
To make pumpkin puree, choose one baking or cheese pumpkin, remove seeds and chop into 2-inch pieces. (Some farmers sell slices of cheese pumpkins good for one recipe.) Roast, skin side down for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
Meanwhile, prepare shortbread crust. Mix butter and sugar in a bowl. Fold in eggs, flour, and sea salt. Press crust into 9-inch pie pan and stick in freezer for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer, let stand for 5 minutes, and then add to oven with pumpkin puree for 15 minutes. Remove and set on wire rack.
Withdraw pumpkin from the oven, and slice off peels from the flesh. (Some folks will say to let the pumpkin sit for 1 hour. I don’t have that kind of time.) Working in batches, add pumpkin to food processor or blender and puree. Measure 2 cups of puree and freeze the rest for a later use. Add all of the ingredients for the filling to the bowl and mix well. Add more milk if necessary.
Pour wet ingredients into shortbread crust and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
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Sweet Potato Enchiladas
I returned to New York City after a week celebrating the holidays with my family and friends in Wisconsin. I spent hours devouring breakfast biscuits, egg bakes, oven-roasted ham, and sort-of local Kaukauna Cheese, not to mention endless games on the Wii with my nieces and nephew, snowball fights, and walks down cold country roads. On the last night of my stay, I prepared simple sweet potato enchiladas to accompany my mother’s beef stroganoff for dinner. My sister, a remarkable portrait photographer, graciously provided me some much-needed pointers on food photography, and took the photos for this post.
Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Serves 4-8 and costs about $10
3-6 sweet potatoes, mashed with skins on
2 large shallots
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes
10 corn tortillas
3-4 cups of local cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups of enchilada sauce, preferably homemade
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare sweet potatoes for mashing using microwave, boiling water, or roasting. Meanwhile, slowly saute shallots, onion, garlic, and seasonings with one tablespoon of butter. Combine the shallot mixture with the mashed sweet potatoes. Lightly grease 8x10 casserole dish. Scoop a generous helping of sweet potato mash into the center of each corn tortilla, fold shells, and place seam-side down in casserole dish. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas and top with grated cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-30 minutes more.
I tend to cry while chopping onions. Nothing personal.
While potatoes cook, slowly saute shallots, onions, and garlic.
Spoon a generous amount a sweet potato mash onto corn tortillas.
Fold corn tortilla and place seam-side down into baking dish.
My 11-year old niece gives me a hand.
Pour enchilada sauce over corn tortillas.
Served with a local wine from Door County.
View down river from my parents’ home in Wisconsin.
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