recipes – Page 6 – The Kitchen Illiterate

Double-Coconut Cream Pie

[Update: Think this pie looks delicious? Enter to win a copy of Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe by Monday, September 5, 2011 at 8 am.]

Last June I received a cookbook to review from Library Journal that immediately sparked my urge to get into the kitchen and make something sweet. Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe is a tribute to classic Southern treats like Chess Pie and Hummingbird Cake, desserts I’ve heard of but never tried. The book is due out in September, and is a really lovely collection.

One of the first things that caught my eye is this Double-Coconut Cream Pie. I’ve always wanted to make a Coconut Cream Pie. Just the phrase evokes warm summer days and a clean apron tied around the waist and preferably a picnic at which this lovely pie can be presented. Fourth of July weekend provided just such an occasion.
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Spicy Shrimp Causa Bites

I love potlucks. They give me an excuse to experiment with dishes that are time consuming or complicated or involve unusual ingredients, or all of the above. I love to feed people, and even better, I love it when I make something that makes everyone in the room excited. These spicy shrimp causa bites did the trick: I made these for a Fourth of July party (and yes, I’m aware that was over a month ago. I’m a bad blogger). People loved them: They’re unusual and full of flavor and are fun to eat. Sure they’re a little time consuming, but they’re totally worth it.
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Pesto and Egg Potato Salad

Despite the fact that I’ve been trying to stop buying books lately, I picked up two new cookbooks shortly after we moved into our house. I figured they were worth trying to find the space for, and I was right. At first glance, Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi
and Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen are very similar: they are both vegetarian cookbooks full of innovative ideas, with a very similar design sensibility. And yet, I’m glad I bought both, because they are so inspiring! Not to mention just lovely.
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Lentil Stuffed Zucchini

I love stuffed vegetables. A humble green pepper or zucchini seems much more elegant when it’s hallowed out and filled with yumminess. And while it makes a lovely presentation, stuffed vegetables are generally very easy to make. These lentil-stuffed zucchini are a nice, light summer dinner, especially when paired with a green salad. I had hoped to find bigger zucchini, but it’s still early in the season, and these held a fair amount of filling, despite their petite size.
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Meyer Lemon Glazed Chicken

One of my favorite things about our new apartment is the little gas grill sitting out on our porch. Grilling has always been one of those quintessential California activities in my mind. When I was growing up a good portion of our meals were cooked out on the patio, and whenever we had a party, you could be sure to find Dad standing out back with tongs in one hand and a beer in the other. And sure, charcoal grilling can provide more flavor, but having a gas grill means you can fire it up and have dinner on the table in 20 minutes. We’ve been getting good use our of our little Weber, and one of the best things to come from the grill since we’ve moved here is this Meyer Lemon Glazed chicken.
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Spring Greens Risotto

Some of my long-time readers might see another risotto recipe posted here and sigh, thinking, “Doesn’t this girl ever get sick of talking about risotto?” The answer to that is no, I do not get sick of talking about risotto. Sure, it’s kind of the same recipe written again and again and again. But there are so many awesome variations on a theme, and I just want to share them all. This one, for instance, was just perfect for spring, and if you’re seeing the last of the spring peas at the market, I urge you to grab them up and get into the kitchen.
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Wild Greek Rice and Spring Onion Crostini

I’ve been loving all of the foodie shopping opportunities here in the Bay Area. I’m a bit of a grocery store junkie: whether it’s a big supermarket or a small gourmet boutique, I love browsing the shelves, looking for the unusual, the new, and the hard-to-find, seeking out good deals and inspiration. Oakland is full of great grocery stores: We’re only blocks from Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s is right up the road. Berkeley Bowl is a heaven of wonderful smelling produce, and the Rockridge Market Hall brings together all of my favorite things (bread, fresh pasta, sustainably-produced meat, wine, coffee, the list goes on) under one roof. And let’s not even get started on the Farmers’ Markets.
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Tarte Flambee

Several months ago, as I probably too often do, I bookmarked a recipe. Most of the time these bookmarked recipes slip quickly from my thoughts, only to reappear when I occasionally actually look at my recipe page in Delicious. But this recipe stayed with me: It was (surprise!) a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, for a bacon, onion, and cream pizza. Shortly after taking note of Deb’s recipe, I had dinner at Brasserie Four in Walla Walla, where I noticed a very similar dish on the menu, called a Tarte Flambee. I ate it, it was spectacular, and I became a little obsessed.
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Mushroom, Chicken, and Spring Pea Penne

Sometimes, when I’m walking home from work in the evening, or sitting on BART heading into San Francisco, or wandering through the Rockridge Market Hall drooling over fresh pasta, I’m overcome by joy that I get to live here, that this is, really and truly, my new home. Two weekends ago Mr. X and I took a trip into the city to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and I couldn’t stop grinning, despite the crowds and noise and madness. I felt like I was in my own personal version of heaven, surrounded by piles of glorious spring onions and purple carrots and flawless mushrooms of all kinds. I could spend hours wandering through that place, but luckily for Mr. X, I was content to cut the shopping short and sit down to enjoy a glass of cava once I found my new culinary magical ingredient: Umami paste.
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Persian Chicken Stew

It is no secret that I’ve been at a real standstill in the kitchen lately. It isn’t just culinary inspiration that’s been lacking, but the writerly inspiration, too. Even when I do cook something fantastic, I can’t seem to find anything interesting to say about it. For example, this stew. It’s great. It’s full of unique flavors, and I got to use some new ingredients, and I found all kinds of delicious things to do with the leftovers. And I’ve been trying now for weeks to sit down and say something that would make you all want to rush into your kitchens to get cooking. How am I doing?
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