HALVA SPREAD

happy spring!!!! yayayayay!!!!!

things i'm excited for this spring:

-moving to the farmhouse

-turning a quarter of a century old

-being able to drive a rental car

-experiencing my first planting season

-getting my chickies

-naming my chickies

-petting my chickies

-watching game of thrones with my chickies

-waddling around with my chickies

-ramps

i thought winter was the greatest season ever, but now i think spring is going to be the greatest season ever. (i don't know, i also sometimes think fall and summer are the greatest seasons ever, too.) either way, let's kick it off in a sweet way with sweet tahini spread, aka halva spread! this comes as the result of being 1,500 miles away from brooklyn sesame, a trillion miles away from israel (where apparently this is super common), and after having had some major halva failures. major halva failures. while this spread comes in a different form than your typical fudge-like halva, it's just as yummy and making it won't cause you to feel like a big fat failure.

you can make this spread in the time it takes your coffee to brew, and you can eat it on toast, mixed into yogurt, with a spoon, or however else you please. you can also flavor it with a pinch of cinnamon, a splash of vanilla or almond extract, some cocoa powder or chocolate, or toasted nuts for a crunchy variety.

it's basically peanut butter's fancy schmancy cousin. 

halva spread

makes 1 1/4 cups, but can easily be halved, doubled, etc.

ingredients

1 cup tahini (i prefer ziyad brand, but other brands will work too)

1/4 cup honey

a  good pinch of kosher salt

optional: additional flavorings like cinnamon, vanilla, almond, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, toasted nuts

-yeh!

clues

mix all of the ingredients well. if your tahini is pretty thick and pasty, add flavorless oil (like vegetable oil) bit by bit until it gets creamy. 

taste, and adjust as desired. 

store in the fridge. 

lemongrass chicken rice bowls

until last week, one of my greatest stresses about living in the middle of nowhere centered on a root vegetable: the daikon. the happy cute radish that is an essential part of a bánh mì is something i sort of just concluded was a unicorn to my tiny town. i have made many grumpy faces about this, being all jealous of new yorkers and their jewelry store bánh mì and chicagoans and their ba le shops everrrrywhere. i have considered different options for how to live without it. (should i make a bánh mì but leave it out? should i sub a sugar beet? should i hop on an airplane right now?)

and then a few days ago at the local brightly lit grocery store called hugo, there he was, next to the celery root, staring me right in the eye and waiting for me to take him home. i got all bright-eyed and butterfly tummied and then i picked him up as carefully as if i were handling a dragon egg, gingerly placed him in the cart, and then took him home and gobbled him up.

this is how i ate him: quick pickled, covered in sriracha mayo, with lemongrass chicken inspired by the bánh mì that i had in new york in chicago, but over rice, and with a spoon, while i watched the cristina pato tiny desk concert. side note: the transition back into a life without olympics constantly streaming in the background is sad and weird, but i am coping with plenty of tiny desk concerts.

lemongrass chicken rice bowls

makes two servings

ingredients

for the chicken:

2 stalks lemongrass, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tb soy sauce or tamari

1 tb sesame oil

2 chicken breasts

for the daikon/carrot slaw:

(adapted from the kitchn)

1 c julienned daikon

1 c julienned carrots

a big pinch of salt

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c white vinegar

1 c water

for assembly:

2 c cooked brown rice (i used basmati, but really any kind will do)

1 jalapeño, seeded and sliced

some thin slices of cucumber

sriracha mayo (1/4 c mayo + 1 tsp sriracha, or more if desired)

hoisin sauce, to taste

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

-yeh!!

clues

mix together the lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. rub it all over the chicken and let the chicken marinate in the fridge for half an hour. immediately make the slaw.

for the slaw, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover, and then refrigerate until ready to use. (you want it to sit for at least half an hour.)

once the chicken is done marinating, slice it thinly and then cook in a little olive oil over medium heat. 

to assemble your bowls, drain the slaw, and then on a bed of rice, layer the chicken, slaw, and remaining fixins as desired.

enjoy!

OTTOLENGHI'S PERFECT MERINGUES, WITH MARZIPAN AND TOASTED ALMONDS

praise cheeses, january is dunzo.

january culminated in a tantrum of the dirty dishes kind. (you know, the kind where you yell no i am not freaking out in such a way that makes it obvious to everybody that, yes, you are freaking out.) i suppose that is the nature of living without roommates to blame your dishes on. my gosh, i hate dishes so much. 

but i am just so glad that the monday of months is over and we can now really get into valentine's day, spring break planning, and the idea that maybe mayyyybe it will start to warm up kind of soon-ish-ish. ish...

we took our christmas tree down.

there's a pile of string lights sitting on the floor in the corner of our living room, still connected to the outlet. it's as if our tree just vanished, alex mac style, and left all of its lights. it's running around naked somewhere. at least the corner is still lit up and happy.

i am celebrating february with meringues!

if i had one dollar for every time that i tried to make meringues and failed, i would be able to fly you and your entire family to sochi to watch jason brown and his ponytail lose himself on the ice. i have tried every recipe, i have winced at recipes that tell you to bake them overnight, i have watched too many egg whites deflate. oy. the meringue.

when i was in london two summers ago, all of the bakeries had piles of massive meringues, flaunting themselves in the window. so fluffy, so jolly. i figured they couldn't be that difficult to make, but at their big softball size, my otherwise go-to recipe cracked and was just too brittle. then recently, at the beginning of my ottolenghi obsession, i found his recipe, which uses a method i've never done before. it calls for heating the sugar before adding it to the egg whites and then beating the whites for way longer than i normally do. the result is a super sturdy mixture that will allow you to make a bigass meringue cookie that'll bake in two hours and leave you with a yummy delight that is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

fact: this is my favorite meringue recipe.

ottolenghi's meringues 

here, i have halved ottolenghi's recipe (the original calls for 10 (!!) egg whites) and made a few additions to make them almondy in all sorts of ways. this size recipe makes about 8-12 large meringues.

ingredients

1 1/2 c white sugar

5 egg whites

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c crushed toasted almonds

cute marzipan hearts

a few pinches of kosher salt, optional

clues

preheat oven to 400ºf. distribute the sugar in an even layer onto a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. while sugar is baking, crack your egg whites into a stand mixer. i like doing this one egg at a time in a separate small bowl, in case i break a yolk. even the tiniest bit of yolk will prevent whites from getting fluffy.

once the sugar has been in the oven for 7 minutes, begin beating the whites on high. after a minute they should be foamy. with the mixer still running, gradually sprinkle in the warm sugar. once all of it has been added, add the extracts. beat on high for 10 minutes, until the meringue is cold.

reduce the oven to 225ºf.

prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment. place the toasted almonds on a plate. using a large ice cream scoop or two large spoons, scoop up a big dollop of meringue and place it on the plate of almonds so that they stick to the bottom. use a spatula to carefully transfer it to the baking sheet. decorate with marzipan and, if desired, sprinkle on a tiny bit of salt.

bake for two hours, until the outsides are crunchy and the insides are still slightly soft.

enjoy!

and then check out this cool chart with ways to use up egg yolks.

the meringues will keep for a few days at room temperature.

-yeh!

TAMAGO

ok! you guys. i am cold when i go outside. you are cold when you go outside. australians are hot when they go outside. we are all experiencing a weather situation, so here are some things that aren't about the weather but are equally (more?!) exciting!

(say it, don't spray it, i want the news, not the weather. 10 points and infinite emoji to the first person who names that tune.)

-roomful of teeth nailed their grammy performance and won a grammy and then cyndi lauper called them teethful of awesome. omgomgomgomg. 

-yotam ottolenghi. can i be yotam when i grow up? maybe at least just for halloween? because jerusalem and plenty are the greatest things to happen to my spice drawer since salt. 

-chinese new year! i feel like such a turd face for not throwing a party this year. but you should, and here are two recipes to make: donny's chicken buns and my potstickers that were posted on betty crocker today (complete with eggboy's hands as props).

-we are on an adult volleyball team. it is the most amount of fun i've had in a gym since parachute day. my contribution to the team is a rad underhand serve and loud cheers. eggboy's is game face and more game face.

-my mini cakes did not convince tema to move to fargo. but we had such a fun time at her concert and afterwards, at mezzaluna, drinking too many cocktails and eating their amazing fabulous delicious tasty bruschetta. 

-our mrs. meyer's iowa pine hand soap has run out, which means it is officially the end of the holiday season, which means we need to take the christmas tree down already, which means mrs. meyer's basil hand soap has swooped in for the win. so much win.

ok i'm done with exciting things, i'm gonna go eat a cucumber. 

oh but first, a word about tamago: it is tied with a million other things as my favorite way to eat an egg. it is sweet and salty and comforting and you simply have not had it at its best until you've had it freshly made, warm out of the pan. speaking of the pan, there are people in this world that will tell you to get a fancy rectangular pan for it. i don't have one, i just use a regular circular pan, and then it equals more fun for me when i get to trim the edges and eat the scraps. yum.

you can cut it into slices and make sushi out of it, or you can eat it hot like an omelette, or you can keep it in the fridge for a quick little snackee.

tamago

makes two servings

ingredients

4 large eggs

1 tb each: sugar, soy sauce or tamari, mirin

flavorless oil, for the pan

clues

beat together the eggs, sugar, soy sauce, and mirin. 

heat a pan over medium low heat and coat the bottom of it with oil. pour in just enough of the egg mixture to coat the bottom of the pan. once most of it has firmed up, start at one end of the pan and use a spatula or two to help you carefully fold over 1-inch of the egg. fold that over again, and continue folding until you get to the other side of the pan. (the reason you don't want it to be fully firmed up on top is because the moisture will help keep the folds stuck together.)

with the roll at one end of the pan, brush the open part of the pan with a bit more oil, and then pour in more egg mixture to coat the pan. gently lift the egg roll so that the mixture can get underneath it. once this new mixture is mostly firm, fold over the egg roll and continue to fold it over this new layer until you get back over to the other side of the pan. 

repeat with any remaining egg.

enjoy immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for later!

-yeh!