Extra Schmaltz!

Alex writes from Austin, "Mom, do you know any particularly good chocolate cake recipes?" What better time to post this beauty: Texas Sheet Cake. It is easy and quick and tastes just plain yummy. Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup butter (so far it sounds pretty good, right?) 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 eggs 1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk 1 1/2 tsp vanilla Grease a rectangular baking pan, set aside. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and sale. set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup butter, 1/3 cup cocoa, and 1 cup water. Bring to boil stirring constantly (yes, Alex, you can do this while talking on the phone). Remove from heat. Beat cholocate mixture into the dry mixture until thoroughly blended. Add eggs, buttermilk, an dvanilla. Stir or beat until batter is thin (about 1 minute.) Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 about 25 - 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Err on...

This soup is simple and satisfying and turns out great in the crockpot or pressure cooker. It's essentially a flavorful lamb-based broth with large chunks of root vegetables floating in it. It's traditionally served with strips of flatbread immersed in it, which I think is even tastier when the bread is stale. You can use any kind of bone-in lamb, as long as the individual chunks aren't too big (i.e. don't use an entire lamb shoulder). Try your best to find turnips because these really give it the flavor it needs. Despite the simple seasonings and broth-iness, this soup is hearty and satisfying. I normally leave the turnips in larger pieces, but some of mine had hollow centers I had to cut out. By keeping things in large chunks they don't fall apart and cloud the broth as much. 1.5-2 lbs. bone-in lamb chunks 1 large onion 1 tsp. ground coriander 2-3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced or chopped 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into thick diagonal slices 3-4 potatoes, peeled an...

This recipe is great for when you want something really nice and simple, especially in hot weather. It's adapted from the "Sundays at the Moosewood" cookbook, where it's called Tauhu Goreng Kechap. The sauce is definitely more than the sum of its parts - I really like it. Sauce: 2/3 light soy sauce 3-4 cloves garlic 2 Tbsp minced onion/scallion/shallot(I usually use green onions) 1-2 small bird chilies 1/4 c fresh lime juice (I recommend more) 1/2-1 tsp. sugar Fry up some tofu, make some rice. I recommend adding some vegis - they recommend steaming some mungbean sprouts, but I personally skinned and seeded a cucumber, and blanched some thinly cut carrots. Put the vegis and friend vegis on the rice, then pour sauce over to taste. Depending on the season, it might go well with some miso soup or something. A picture of it made all fancy (served with a side of broccoli...and sake, even):

This might be the first sandwich recipe on the blog. When Dan returned from a daytrip to New Jersey, he admitted that he'd had a sultry and unforgivable lunchtime affair with a Garden State native who "had more meat than I could get in my mouth". Some asshole named Vesuvio. Turns out Vesuvio is a sandwich. Our family has never been big on sandwiches, and it's a bit odd to think of a 'recipe' for one, but this is a fantastic combination of ingredients that deserves posting . The key is to use fresh, high quality bread. I recommend something like a mini ciabatta roll, which has a springy, airy texture, but without the mouth-shredding crust of some other European-style breads. Assemble: deli slices of smoked turkey roasted red peppers from a jar provolone cheese a fresh ciabatta roll Try to have a ratio of cheese:meat of about 1:5. No need to add any other kind of condiment, especially if your bread is fresh. Enjoy! PS: When I posted this I checked to see if th...

You know it's late summer when you've had sweet corn with 9/10 of your past meals. If you're anything like me, you wind up with leftover ears, either cooked or raw, that you weren't able to get to before you started on the next batch. This phenomenon coincides nicely with the arrival of cooler weather--all together this means it's the perfect time for corn chowder. This recipe is pretty basic, but feel free to spice it up with curry or red pepper chunks or anything else you can imagine. I made it with 4 ears of corn, but anywhere from 3-6 would probably work. I don't like mine too creamy, but if you like it that way then just add more dairy. 3-6 ears of corn, raw or cooked 3 strips bacon or a hunk of salt pork, diced 1 onion, diced finely 2-3 ribs celery, diced 1 tsp. red pepper flakes 2-4 potatoes, cubed (~1.5 c.) 1-2 qts. chicken broth 1/4 c. vermouth or dry sherry 1 tsp. thyme 1 tsp. marjoram lots of black pepper Tabasco or chipotle sauce (optional) 1/2 - 1 c...

I remember looking this recipe up on the internet in around 1998 and I had to do exhaustive searching to find a single recipe. Now there are tons, as well as several videos of how to make it. Pão de Queijo are just as easy to make as buttermilk biscuits, but are arguably more delicious. They are springy little puffs of tapioca starch and cheese and go well with virtually anything--what's more, they only take about 35 minutes to make from start to finish. The only hard part is keeping tapioca starch (aka tapioca flour, manioc flour, cassava flour) on hand, though this is easy to find at any Asian store and is usually cheap. You also need a hard, mild cheese that won't overwhelm the puffs. I used a combination of parmesan and white cheddar. 2 c. tapioca starch 1 c. milk 1 c. water 1/2 c. vegetable oil 1 tsp. salt 2 eggs ~1 c. grated hard, mild cheese Preheat the oven to 450. Place the tapioca starch in a large bowl. Bring the milk, water, vegetable oil, and salt to a boil. Pour i...