Chocolate Pie

Old-fashioned chocolate pie (famously seen in The Help) is one of my all-time favorite desserts. Luckily, it also happens to be one of the easiest things to make, and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, we all need a dessert trick up our collective sleeve, don't we? This version comes from my new favorite cookbook, The Homesick Texan, by Lisa Fain, the writer behind the very popular blog of the same name. I love it when talented bloggers get book deals that result in beautiful additions to my collection. It's her grandmother's recipe, and it's delicious. xo


Chocolate Pie
Adapted from The Homesick Texan, by Lisa Fain
Ingredients:
Filling ingredients:
4 tablespoons of cocoa or 1 1/2 squares of baking chocolate
3/4 cups of sugar
5 tablespoons of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 egg yolks, beaten slightly
1 tablespoon of butter

Meringue ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of sugar

Crust ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix oil and milk. Pour oil and milk into flour and salt and stir until combined into a dough. You can add more milk if dry. Roll dough into a ball and the press into a pie pan, crimping the edges with a fork or your fingers for decoration. Do this firmly and confidently for the best results. Place in your hot oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

In the meantime, make your filling: Mix sugar, flour, salt, cocoa, eggs and milk together with a whisk.
Cook while stirring on medium until it bubbles and thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes. If it becomes lumpy, just beat out the lumps. (It will not get any thicker in the oven so cook until it's as thick as you want it.)

Remove from heat and stir in your vanilla and butter.

Make your meringue: Beat egg whites with salt and when they start to get fluffy add the sugar. Pour the chocolate custard into the baked pie shell and top with the beaten egg whites. Bake it until the peaks on the meringue are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Library Lunch: What I'm Reading Now

If there's one thing I have an addiction to, it's probably cookbooks (and Isabel Marant, but I'm trying to wean myself off of that one before I end up eating at soup kitchens for the winter). I order them by the half dozen on Barnes and Noble's site about every few weeks or so, and then spend many cozy nights reading them cover to cover, and tagging all the recipes I want to make first. My latest stack is especially mouthwatering, including the much-anticipated first cookbook by Lisa Fain, the blogger behind The Homesick Texan, the classic insider's favorite, Sunday Suppers at Lucques, by Suzanne Goin, Cook This Now, by one of my absolute favorite food writers, Melissa Clark of the New York Times, and Blood, Bones, and Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton, the chef-owner of Prune (a tiny restaurant in the East Village that turns out some of the best food in NYC). Highly recommended, each and every one. xo

Fried Green Tomatoes

When I was a kid, I loved the movie Fried Green Tomatoes with Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy. I loved the themes of fiercely loyal friendship and good food, and how the character that Bates played transformed from a timid housewife to a roaringly confident woman by the end of the movie. But most of all, I loved the greasy brown paper bag of fried green tomatoes brought to a sick friend in a hospital room as the ultimate offer of comfort.

I've always wanted to be able to fry up the perfect slice of green tomato, but good green tomatoes are surprisingly hard to come by, so my attempts have been few and far between. When I happened to stroll past the tiny little farmers' market that sets up shop on Water Street down in the Financial District where I live, and saw a pile of gorgeous, deep green tomatoes, I scooped them up, and retreated to my apartment to experiment with my frying. This recipe was my favorite rendition--the tomatoes come out crisp as a french fry and unbelievably tasty. xo

Fried Green Tomatoes
Adapted from Cookie magazine, June 2008
Ingredients:
4 large, firm green tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 teaspoon paprika or pimentó
2 eggs
Canola oil 

Directions:

Sprinkle the tomato slices with the salt and pepper; set aside. Combine the cornmeal and paprika in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs.

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with 1/2 inch of oil, then place it over medium-high heat. Coat the tomato slices in the egg, then dredge them in the cornmeal mixture.

Fry as many tomatoes as fit comfortably in the pan until nicely browned, about 2 minutes a side. Transfer them to a paper towel-lined platter. Repeat until all the tomatoes are cooked.

How Will You Wear Your Leisure

One of the best parts of the holiday season (and yes, it is officially the holiday season right now) is getting to bundle up in big, cozy clothes that could double as blankets. Down comforters, even. Such is the case with everything I'm wearing in the photos above. The army green April, May jacket tends to swallow me whole, it's so soft and voluminous. The Qi dress I'm wearing is made of the fuzziest cashmere, and is perhaps, a size too big, which is just fine with me. And the super supple leather on the Marni boots feel like thick, sturdy silk. Nice way to go about the day.

I'm wearing an April, May jacket, gifted Qi dress, Marni boots, Alexander Wang bag. All photos by Mark Iantosca. xo

Happy Home: Pic with a Tip

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm spending the weekend relaxing, working on a second revision of my book proposal, making a roast duck with apples and onions, and finishing up some cool holiday collaborations I'm doing with a couple of brands I love. And my boyfriend's coming home from an extended trip to South America on Sunday (yay), so I'll be cooking up a big Sunday supper (I'm thinking a classic roast chicken, sage stuffing, and haricots verts with bacon and chestnuts for an early Thanksgiving). What are you guys up to?

And back to the subject at hand, today's "Pic with a Tip" comes in the form of chic, shiny objects. According to Deborah Needleman from WSJ, "Like magpies, we are attracted to bright, shiny objects, and for good reason: our homes need them. As our eyes flit around the room, they alight on and are delighted by those bright spots. Especially if your style veers toward the earthy, a bit of sparkle brings a focused sharpness to the look of natural materials and organic shapes." And look how well it works in the pic above. I love the combination of all the little silver trinkets mirrored by the bigger silver boxes. And that chic shagreen surface is just beyond words. So Tip #1: Invest in some shiny trinkets to place strategically around your space. See y'all on Monday. xo

Roasted Cremini Mushrooms

Whenever I eat at an Italian restaurant, especially in the fall, I'm immediately tempted to order a side of cremini mushrooms. I love the buttery, nutty taste that magically emerges when the mushrooms have been slowly roasted with nothing but a simple coating of very good olive oil, kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. The guys from one of my favorite restaurants, Frankie's Spuntino, swear by white pepper instead of black, and they use it on just about everything they make, as evidenced by their beautiful little cookbook. I used it here and the results were fantastic.

I love these mushrooms all on their own or to eat with spaghetti and meatballs, but incidentally, the dish also happens to be a pretty perfect Thanksgiving side. All photos by Mark Iantosca. Recipe down below. xo

Roasted Cremini Mushrooms
Adapted from The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual, by Frank Falcinelli, Frank Castronovo, Peter Meehan
Ingredients:
Cremini mushrooms
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and white pepper

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim off the bottoms of the mushroom stems and discard. Wash the mushrooms in a colander under running water and shake them dry. Pat gently with paper towels.

Arrange the mushrooms in an even, well-spaced layer on a baking sheet. Dress them with olive oil, a large pinch of salt, and a few turns of white pepper.

Pop them into the oven, and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're browned and shrunken and caramelized. (If you're cooking more than one package of mushrooms, pull the pan from the oven after 15 minutes and carefully tilt it to pour off the liquid the mushrooms have exuded.) Serve warm or at room temperature. Dress with a generous amount of olive oil and a good pinch of salt.

Braised Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

Yet another chicken stew recipe for you! Are you guys excited? Well, you should be. Because, even though I've probably made just about every single type of stewed/braised chicken under the sun, this still stands out as being an especially good iteration. The chicken is browned until crisp in a large skillet or Dutch oven, and then smothered in a fragrant, heady mixture of spices, and finally simmered in stock until it's falling-off-the-bone tender. The last-minute addition of a handful of olives and preserved lemon rinds adds an extra zing of taste that really makes this dish sing.

I lifted the recipe out of my brand new copy of the newly released Food52 cookbook, which I spent most of the weekend reading from cover to cover. I couldn't really tear myself away. It's filled with the winning recipes from the best home cooks in their robust online community, complete with mini bios, notes from the rest of the community, and recipe prefaces from Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of the site. Really, it's a fantastic concept, and I'm only jealous I didn't think of it first (or have Hesser's star power to drive it home, for that matter). In any case, I highly recommend it! It's a perfect hostess gift for those Thanksgiving dinners or, for you early holiday-shoppers, for the cook on your gift list. xo

Braised Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives
From The Food52 Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs 
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons canola oil
2.5 pounds chicken legs and thighs
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 1/2 cup small diced onion
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2-3 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1/2 cup green olives, rinsed
2 preserved lemons, pulp removed; rind cut into strips
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Dutch oven or large, deep skillet or over medium high heat. Dry the chicken pieces and season them with salt and pepper. Place them in the skillet in batches and brown on all sides. Remove the chicken and place on a plate.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook until slightly softened. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne pepper and stir together. Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat with the spice mixture. Pour the chicken stock into the skillet so that 2/3 of the chicken is submerged. Add the saffron and stir to combine. Bring liquid to a simmer, cover the skillet and simmer on medium low heat 20-25 minutes. Add the olives and preserved lemons. Cover and cook another 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and turn the heat to high. Cook for another 6-8 minutes until sauce reduces slightly. Stir in the cilantro. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serve chicken on a bed of couscous. Spoon sauce over the top. Garnish with cilantro.