Recipe: Salt and Pepper Fried Pickles

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These salt and pepper fried pickles feature light-as-air and shatteringly crispy battered tangy dill pickle chips, seasoned with a tingly and complex spice blend, and tossed with fried garlic and chilies.

Maybe you’ve heard of salt and pepper tofu or salt and pepper squid? These are Cantonese-American classics that you’d find at your typical Chinese takeout spot in the US and they involve coating the main ingredient, whether it is tofu or squid or something else, in cornstarch before frying and then tossing them in a dry seasoning blend that leans heavily on the subtle and underrated white pepper powder.

I’ve come to realize that you can make salt and pepper anything, really. But I think I’ve come up with the best iteration of this simple but brilliant Cantonese concept, and that is salt and pepper fried pickles!

I am a massive pickle lover and beyond simply loving them for their taste or their practicality, what I love about pickles is that nearly every food culture has their own version of them. It’s one of those connectors that proves there’s common ground for us all. For this recipe, I used crinkle-cut dill pickle chips but I imagine there are other versions of pickles from around the world that would also be amazing for this recipe.

I can never resist fried pickles when I see them on the menu but they are also pretty simple to make at home. I usually associate fried pickles with being a Southern American thing, so the batter typically has a cornmeal component to it. This fried pickle recipe is different from other fried pickle recipes because it doesn’t have that cornmeal texture in the batter, nor does it utilize a cakey batter like the ones that you would find for fried fair foods. It’s also different from the typical Cantonese salt and pepper recipe because the pickles really need more than just a cornstrach coating to make them crispy and give them something for the seasoning to cling to. So instead, I made an incredibly light and super crisp batter, similar to a tempura batter. It fries up so nicely that they were still crispy hours after I fried them, when we finally sat down for dinner after I was done taking photos and frying up some wings to go with them.

Some notes about the ingredients for Salt and Pepper Fried Pickles

• Seasoning Blend: A “salt and pepper” dish is seasoned with more than just salt and pepper. I seasoned my crispy fried pickles with a blend of table salt, white pepper, five spice powder, ground Sichuan pink pepper, and ground dried porcini mushrooms. This blend is slightly tingly and big on umami. Sichuan pepper is typically sold dried and looks like peppercorns; this is typically used to produce “mala” or numbing spicy dishes. I grind it into a fine powder myself with a spice grinder. If you do not have the ability to make this ingredient, you could substitute for more white pepper instead. If you do not have porcini powder, you could substitute with a pinch of MSG or just omit it. Note that this recipe produces more seasoning than you would actually need for the pickles.

• Pickle Chips: I used crinkle-cut dill pickle chips by Grillo’s and they worked super well for this recipe. (Not sponsored, but please sponsor me because I love you, Grillo’s!) You could cut your own slices from a whole Kosher dill pickle or go with a brand of your choosing, but I’d recommend using something with a thickness of 3/8” to 1/4”. For best results, let the pickles sit in a single layer between paper towels for a bit to rid them of the excess moisture; if you are in a hurry, at least pat them dry with paper towels before they hit the batter to avoid splatter when frying.

• Dry Ingredients: The base of the airy batter is all purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and a bit of the seasoning blend from above. Sift them together to ensure a smooth and light consistency.

• Carbonated Water: Using cold, very carbonated water is the key to making the super light, super crispy batter. I have a Sodastream to carbonate my own water and at the very last moment, after my frying oil is already hot and my dry ingredients are already whisked together, I take a bottle of water out of the fridge and carbonate it until the machine makes angry sounds at me. If you do not have this option at home, I find that Crystal Geyser water is pretty carbonated.

• Fried Garlic and Chilies: All classic salt and pepper dishes get a finishing touch of being tossed with fried garlic and sliced chilies. The fried pickles are flavorful enough without this step, but it does kick it up a notch as well as keeping it true to the Cantonese-American inspiration, so I encourage you to go for it! I used thinly sliced serrano chilies. If you want this part to have even more of a spicy kick, go for Thai bird’s eye chilies instead.

Serving Suggestions

The recipe for the seasoning mix makes more than you will need for just the pickles (it was necessary for providing measurements that people could reasonably follow). I suggest making salt and pepper party wings to go with the fried pickles and to use up the remaining seasoning! To make them, follow my recipe for brined party wings here, and then season the wings to taste with the remaining seasoning mix.

These salt and pepper fried pickles go great with a bit of Japanese mayo (Kewpie) at the dipping sauce!

This recipe was adapted from @jun.and.tonic’s recipe for enoki mushrooms. You could also use any leftover batter from this recipe to fry up enoki or maitake (hen-of-the-wood) mushrooms.

How to Make Salt and Pepper Fried Pickles

Ingredients for the Seasoning

3/8 tsp table salt
3/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp five spice powder
1/4 tsp ground Sichuan pepper
1/4 tsp dried porcini powder

Ingredients for the Fried Pickles

30–40 dill pickle chips (about a 1-pint container)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp seasoning mix
3/4 cup cold, very carbonated water
neutral oil, for deep frying
3–4 cloves garlic, chopped
1–2 serrano or jalapeno chilies, thinly sliced
1–2 red bird’s eye chilies, thinly sliced (optional)
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 sprig dill, chopped (optional)
Japanese mayo, for dipping (optional)

Special Equipment

food processor

Procedure

Mix the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Place pickle chips in a single layer on top of paper towels to dry away the excess moisture.

In a small mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of the prepared seasoning mix.

In a dutch oven or other deep-frying vessel, add about 1 inch of neutral oil. Heat the oil on the stove to prepare for deep frying.

When the pickles are patted dry and the oil is ready, add the carbonated water to the dry ingredients and stir gently until incorporated. Working in batches that won’t crowd your cooking vessel, coat the pickles in batter and fry until the coating starts to turn color towards a pale golden brown. Repeat until all the pickles are fried. Keep the oil hot for the second fry.

Scoop about 1 tablespoon of the hot oil into a small pan on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and fry until it starts to turn golden, stirring continuously. Add the chilies and continue to stir fry until the garlic is crunchy and golden. Turn off heat.

Return the fried pickles all together into the deep frying oil and fry until the coating is golden. Remove and drain on a tray/plate lined with paper or paper towers. Combine the fried pickles plus the garlic and chili pepper mixture into a large bowl. Toss together to combine and then sprinkle the seasoning mix over everything to taste and toss again.

Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with scallions and/or dill, if desired. Serve with Japanese mayo for dipping.

10 Ways to Make an Edible Flower Bouquet (Without a Garden)

I love flowers just as much as the next girlie girl but what I love to receive more than anything is the gift of good food. And if your Valentine this year is like me, you might want to consider skipping that generic bouquet of roses for something homemade and edible instead!

One of the most frequent questions I get about making pretty food is asking where I buy the flowers I incorporate into my food styling. The answer is that most of them come right from my own backyard—growing your own edible flowers is the best way ensure the freshest and safest blooms that you can eat. I totally understand, though, that not everyone has their own outdoor space to grow in, which is why I also love creating flowers that are made directly out of actual food. The truth about edible flowers like pansies, violas, and zinnias is that while they make your food look beautiful, they don’t actually add that much, taste-wise. That’s why making your own flowers out of food is an even better option!

You won’t need a garden or access to a farmer’s market to make these pretty and impressive edible bouquets below! Whether you are looking to make a thoughtful dish to wow someone on Valentine’s Day or just wanting to treat yourself or your dinner guests with something special for the eyes as well as the palate, here are 10 ideas for how to make your own edible flower bouquet.

Sashimi Rose Rice Bowls

I love making these with salmon sashimi but you could use any kind of sashimi you wish. Use the thinnest piece and roll it into a tight spiral for the center, then continue to wrap pieces of sashimi around until you have formed your desired size for your “rose”. Serve these over a bowl of sushi rice, which will help to hold the rose formation in place. I usually like to style these with leaves cut from cucumbers. Here is where I learned how to do the cucumber leaves. You could also roll Japanese pickled ginger into roses and serve that as part of your edible sushi bouquet as well.

Charcuterie Board Pizza with Charcuterie Roses

My Valentine’s Day tradition with Spouse is to have a chill pizza night at home. You could make your at-home pizza date even more epic and romantic by turning your pizza into an edible bouquet! For this pizza, I was inspired by my love for charcuterie boards and I other than the melty cheese, I actually added most of the ingredients on top of the pizza after it was baked. Rolling slices of charcuterie like salami and pepperoni into roses is an easy way to make one of the most delicious edible bouquets.

I developed the recipe for this Charcuterie Board Pizza for 3 Little Pigs. You can find the full recipe here on their website.

Radish Violas on Toast

Dress up a simple toast with your favorite spread by adding these cute violas made out of purple daikon. Or make a whole bunch of crostini to snack on while having a romantic movie night at home.

Here are step-by-step photos that show how I made these. I used mini toasts for the base and pâté for the spread in the tutorial but you could use whatever spread as you want. You just need something that will hold the cut radish pieces in place.

For an alternative color option, soak the purple daikon slices in something acidic like lemon juice and they will turn hot pink! You could also use white daikon and soak them in some beet juice to make pink flowers if you can’t find purple daikon.

Sweet Potato Roses on Cheddar-Stuffed Focaccia

Unlike actual flowers, baking can often improve the appearance of flowers that are made out of veggies, curling their “petals’ and making them look more natural. I think that is very true when making roses out of sweet potato and baking them into the surface of an easy from-scratch focaccia. You can find the full recipe for this mushroom, sweet potato, and cheddar stuffed focaccia here on my blog.

Tomato Rose Caprese

I love making these tomato roses in the summertime when I can get all sorts of fun varieties of cherry tomatoes from the farmers market. But you can still make them with regular ol’ store-bought cherry or grape tomatoes; I actually find that it is easier to work with tomatoes when they are firmer, and adding a little sprinkle of salt at the end can really help improve the flavor.

Here are photos that show how I made these.

Use these beautiful raw tomato roses to make caprese, serving them with mozzarella (or burrata) and basil or a drizzle of pesto. Or, make an easy caprese-inspired tart by baking up a store-bought puff pastry for the crust, topping with something mild and creamy for a spread, and filling your canvas with these tomato roses before finishing off with some fresh herbs.

Labneh Painted Toast

I always say that toast makes a wonderful edible canvas. And I have found that thick, creamy labneh works great as an edible paint when it is combined with any number of natural powers to make different colors. You can make your own powders by blending dried herbs and freeze-dried fruits in a spice blender until very fine, and then mix that in with the labneh to get your desired shade. Here are some colors I have successfully made:

• red: chili powder, paprika

• orange: paprika + curry powder

• yellow: ground turmeric, curry powder

• green: matcha, moringa powder, spirulina powder

• blue: butterfly pea flower

• purple: elderberry powder, beet powder + butterfly pea

• pink: beet powder

• peach: hibiscus powder

I like to use a mini offset spatula to spread my edible “paints” onto my toast. And I sometimes use bee pollen or sesame seeds as finishing touches.

Savory Custard Tart with Veggie Flowers

This savory cheesy tart is more custardy than a quiche or frittata, but any of these eggy tart options are a great vessel for holding together a veggie bouquet. Simply make your egg mixture as you normally would, arrange your vegetable pieces, and then bake according to your recipe. I made these roses out of orange bell peppers; I used a sharp knife to cut off the exterior, keeping it intact as one long strip. Then I rolled the strip into a spiral to form a rose. I cut leaves out of zucchini using the same method that I used for the cucumber in the sashimi bowls above.

Root Vegetable Rose Bouquet Tart

Pretty much any veggie ingredient that can be thinly-sliced and made soft can be turned into edible roses. I love making them with beets and fall squash because of the beautiful rich color that the beets bring to the edible bouquet.

My general formula that I have used for the many bouquet tarts I’ve made like this is to make a flavorful short crust and bake it all the way in the tart pan. Then, fill it with a cheesy spreadable filling that does not require baking. Then fill it up with a whole bunch of edible roses! For this specific version that I made a couple of autumns ago, you can find the full recipe here on my blog.

Pickled Pattypan Squash Toast

The cross-section of pattypan squash already looks like the shape of a flower to me so that’s how this idea came to be. Slicing the squash thin with a mandolin and then quick-pickling them allows the slices to become softer and more pliable for shaping them into flowers!

Bell Pepper Poppy Focaccia

I think I have saved the easiest idea for last! Inspired by the beautiful California poppies that grow in my neighborhood, I made this focaccia bouquet design using orange bell peppers to resemble poppies. I just cut the bottoms off of the bell peppers and did a tiny bit of shaping to define the petal shapes a little better. Any tender green stems and herbs would work great for leaves, including even the carrot fronds that I used here.

I hope this list will inspired to make your own edible bouquets at home! If you try one of these ideas and share it on Instagram, please tag me so I can admire how it turned out!

My Savory Christmas Cookie Box!

I’ve been pondering this idea of an all-savory Christmas “cookie” box all year and I am so excited with how it turned out. The purpose of this blog post is to share a little more detail about each item I included in the box, since I can’t include this much detail or links in an Instagram caption.

Hey, I love Christmas cookies too. But I will always crave and choose savory snacks over something sweet. Christmas cookie boxes are so pretty and festive, and I did not think it was fair that us members of Team Savory do not typically get to celebrate our love for salty, cheesy, and umami-y treats with the same aesthetic charm. (Popcorn tins and mixed nut boxes simply don’t do it for me.) So I made a selection of savory miniature treats that would look just as lovely tucked together in a little box as cookies and candies would.

A couple of disclaimers: I realized afterwards that everything happens to be cheese-flavored because I really, really like cheese, but I do want to mention that I am fully aware that there are other great savory flavors out there that do not involve being made of cheese. Also, I made this as a creative challenge for myself, using leftover items from other baking projects and small-batch versions of recipes; as it contains cheese and meat, it is not meant to be a mailed gift, since everything needs to be refrigerated. However, I think this would be a lovely gift idea for a cheese-loving friend that you are visiting in person, and I hope it inspires you to think outside of the cookie box with your own baking projects for this holiday season.

Here’s a list of what’s in my savory Christmas cookie box

On the left:

• Savory cookies with sun-dried tomatoes, feta, and za’atar: It took me a while to figure out exactly what a savory cookie would be like. I know there are savory shortbread recipes out there, but I wanted to include at least one “cookie” in my box that really resembled the shape of a nice thick cookie, and with the same satisfying bite. When I took a step back and thought about the process of baking cookies, I realized that drop biscuits were basically a savory version of a cookie! My recipe for these is adapted from a buttermilk drop biscuit recipe, but with tasty mix-ins of feta, sun-dried tomatoes, and za’atar to replace the chocolate chunks, dried fruit, and baking spices that are found in many Christmas cookie recipes. Get the recipe for these savory cookies here.

• Mini cheese balls: These cheese and walnut balls were inspired by the old school cheese balls covered in nuts that I remember being on grazing boards at my parents’ friends’ holiday parties when I was little. I used to really look forward to these because at my house, the only cheese items we ever had were the green can of parm and Kraft Singles. I made these by combining grated sharp white cheddar, cream cheese, garlic powder, and walnuts in the food processor and then rolling the resulting mixture into 1-inch balls. The ones on the left were rolled in chopped walnuts and the ones on the right were rolled in cheddar cheese powder (like the kind meant for seasoning popcorn). I love how these turned out looking like a visual dupe of the Russian tea cakes that my mom used to make at Christmas time every year.

• Homemade white cheddar “Cheez-Its” with dill and white pepper: For something bite-sized and light, I made my own Cheez-It crackers, based on this recipe by Don’t Waste the Crumbs. I only made one quarter of the recipe and used sharp white cheddar instead of orange cheddar, and used a bit of white pepper instead of garlic and onion powders. After cutting the crackers out with a scalloped round cookie cutter, I pressed little fronds of dill on them for decoration and poked a bunch of little holes to keep them flat. I thought of these as a savory counterpart to gingersnaps, since both are crisp and have a warming spiced note to them.

On the right:

• Cheddar gougères: These cheesy choux pastry puffs are a savory version of the same pastry shells used for profiteroles, eclairs, or cream puffs and are just as light as air and fun to eat. These were left over from a commissioned recipe where I filled the gougères with foie gras mousse. You can find the recipe for them here. Baked choux pastry keeps well in the freezer and simply needs to be popped back into the oven for a bit to be defrosted and brought back to life.

• Country pâté and cheese hand pies: These miniature pies are filled with brie cheese and pâté de campagne, or country pâté. They were inspired by British picnic pies and the meat filling is similar to a terrine or to Spam, so it holds its shape and is perfect for a little hand-held pie. I decorated these with a combination of parsley, dill, and pink peppercorns to give them that festive look. These were also left over from a commissioned recipe, which you can find here.

• Goat cheese mole “truffles”: To make these, I folded together soft goat cheese and chopped pepitas for a twist on the cheese and nut balls I mentioned above. After chilling the mixture in the fridge to firm up a bit, I rolled it into little balls, and then rolled that in a mixture of unsweetened cocoa powder and this Mexican mole-inspired spice blend to create a savory version of a chocolate truffle. After all, mole is a wonderful example of how chocolate can be savory too!

• Pie pastry leaves: I had some leftover pie pastry scraps that I shaped into leaves, eggwashed, and baked. These got tucked into the final little space left in the bottom corner of the box.

For extra decorations, I used winter savory (the herb, whose name I thought was very appropriate for this) and bay leaves that I cut into the shape of holly leaves using kitchen shears.

For 2024, I set a challenge for myself to reimagine desserts and other confectionary sweet treats and create savory counterparts that are just as beautifully styled. You can see other examples of my “make it savory” series here. I had such fun with this challenge and I still have more ideas that I didn’t get around to yet, so I will definitely be continuing this series in the new year!

Recipe: Savory Sun-Dried Tomato, Feta, Za'atar Cookies

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Here is another installment in my quest to reimagine dessert items with savory foods. I have been pondering the idea of a savory cookie for some time now. There are lots of savory shortbread recipes out there but that isn’t what I mean about a cookie. I wanted to come up with something for savory snack lovers that would have the same heft and give them the same satisfaction as it would for a sweet tooth biting into a nice, thick, chewy cookie fresh and warm from the oven.

The tricky part about coming up with a savory cookie recipe was conceptualizing what a savory cookie would even be like. Unlike muffins or pies, which begin with fairly neutral doughs and then get flavored or filled in ways that skew them sweet or savory, it felt to me like the very spirit of a cookie was its dessert-y nature. But it finally dawned on me! When I took a further step away from what I imagined a baked cookie to be, and thought instead about what the process of making them was like, I realized that sweet cookies are quite similar to savory drop biscuits!

I really should have thought of this sooner considering that what we Americans call “cookies” are called “biscuits” in England (though I think in England the term only applies to thin, crisp cookies and not the hefty ones I was trying to emulate). On the flip side, in the U.S., a biscuit is considered a type of quick bread with a dry exterior and a soft buttery interior. I love to make flakey biscuits with an almost laminated quality to them, with dough that gets rolled out and cut, so they puff up in the oven into distinct layers. But drop biscuits are made by a moist dough that gets all mixed up in a bowl before being dolloped right onto a baking tray; that sounds a lot like making cookies, doesn’t it?

So, the truth is that these savory cookies are actually drop biscuits with some yummy savory mix-ins, which I flattened slightly so they’d look like cookies after baking. They are soft, yet satisfyingly substantial and perhaps a little more dense than a sweet cookie. My recipe is adapted from a drop biscuit recipe from Simply Recipes.

A note about special equipment for making savory cookies: As these are really drop biscuits disguised as cookies, I wanted to stick to what I knew about keeping biscuits airy and soft, which is keeping the butter very cold and in small chunks that don’t melt until they reach the hot oven. I used a food processor to very quickly break the butter into tiny but chilled pieces amidst the flour mixture. If you don’t have a food processor, you could use a pastry blender or even just a butter knife to cut the butter into the flour, but you will need to work quickly to keep the butter cold.

Flavor variations for savory cookies: I think there are endless favor combinations to be explored with these savory cookies! This is just the first one I tried but I definitely want to play around with more. To get a look that resembled a white chocolate chunk cookie, I added chunks of feta and I also chose sun-dried tomato as a mix-in because it’s the holiday season and many holiday cookies involve dried fruit for whatever reason. (Plus I just love the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes). In place of the usual holiday baking spices, I used za’atar, which brought a wonderful complex savory flavor to the cookies. If you wish to explore other flavors, keep the amount of shredded cheese the same, and replace the 1/4 cup feta and 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes with 1/2 cup of whatever chunky add-ons you wish.

How to Make Savory Sun-Dried Tomato, Feta, Za'atar Cookies

(Makes 6 cookies)

Ingredients

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut in strips or small chunks
1/2 cup half and half
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 tbsp butter, cold, cut into chunks
1/4 cup grated cheddar or monterey jack
1 tsp za’atar
1/4 cup feta, broken into small chunks

Special Equipment

food processor

Procedure

Combine sun-dried tomatoes with a bit of hot water in a small bowl, to rehydrate them. Once the sun-dried tomatoes feel tender, gently squeeze away the excess water and set tomato pieces aside.

Combine half and half and lemon juice in a small bowl. Allow to sit while preparing the dry ingredients.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Add about half of the flour and all of the baking powder, sugar, salt, and butter into a food processor and pulse a few times. Add cheddar and remaining flour and pulse mixture into a coarse crumb texture. Transfer to a mixing bowl.

Mix in za’atar. Add rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes. Stir in half and half mixture. As dough starts to come together, add feta. Keep stirring until a sticky, cohesive dough is formed, but be careful to not overwork the dough.

Divide dough into 6 and scoop them into small mounds on the prepared tray, leaving at least 2 inches in between each. Using wet fingers, gently flatten the mounds to make them more cookie-shaped.

Bake for 18–20 minutes.

Recipe: Mushroom, Sweet Potato, and Cheddar Stuffed Focaccia

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For gatherings like Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving, instead of thinking about just the traditional or typical dishes, I like to brainstorm what will have the biggest wow factor for a group of people without any tedious steps. For this recipe, I partnered with Cabot Creamery to create a stuffed focaccia recipe that is simultaneously impressive and unfussy. Loaded with a combination of sweet potato, pan-roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, and—of course—lots of Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, this recipe bakes up a big slab of cheesy carby goodness that is easy to slice up and feed a group while serving up earthy, autumnal flavors.

This is a same-day focaccia recipe. For a more minimalist focaccia where you will want the dough itself to develop a more complex flavor, it is typically recommended to allow for a longer fermenting process of at least overnight or even a few days in the fridge. But since this one is a vessel for the mixture of delicious mushrooms, melty creamy sharp cheddar, and other goodies, I opted for a quicker dough recipe. Plus, something I struggle with when I am getting ready to have people over is fridge space, since I’m stocking up on more groceries than normal, so I wanted this recipe to avoid having a big bowl in my fridge overnight. 

The dough comes together very easily with the help of a stand mixer, and there are three rest periods for the dough where you just leave it to do its thing and can focus on other tasks, resulting in a nice bouncy, pillowy bread. The only step that involves some attention to detail is decorating, but that’s completely optional! This bread will taste great whether or not you opt to adorn it with extra ingredients as I have here.

I’m proud to have had Cabot as a partner for several recipes now, so when I visited Vermont in the early fall of this year, it was cool to spot Cabot’s distinctive plaid-accented packaging among goods labeled as locally made there. Cabot is a farmer-owned cooperative, which means the ownership of the company is comprised of a group of farmers working together; those New England farmers are also the same people who are raising the cows that provide the milk to produce their wonderful cheeses, butters, and other dairy products. Now that I am back home all the way on the west coast, I can find Cabot cheeses in my local grocery stores too—that’s the proof that those farmers grew stronger by being together.  The plaid motif on Cabot’s packaging is a nod to the fact that they are proudly farmer-owned, and to the fabric that connects them.

Even though I’ve gained plenty of confidence in my cooking skills over the years, I never want to take any chances when I am cooking for guests. If I want to make a cheesy focaccia—as I have done for many a dinner party now—I know that using one of Cabot’s cheddars is an easy way to set myself up for success. But let’s get into a little more detail about that, and everything else that goes into making this bread.

Notes on the key ingredients for this Mushroom, Sweet Potato, and Cheddar Stuffed Focaccia:

• Mushrooms: Working as a recipe developer has taught me to pay even closer attention to seasonal produce than I did before, and now one thing I look forward to in the colder months is mushrooms! While the standard round button mushrooms are in stores all year, some of the more exciting varieties—like golden chanterelles—are only prevalent at this time of year and to me, their earthy flavor conjures memories of fall and winter hikes crunching on fallen leaves on the damp forest floor. I really got carried away with all the options when I was shopping for mushrooms for this recipe and you definitely don’t have to use this much variety! I do recommend choosing at least a couple different kinds to bring some complexity. Specifically, I find that shitake mushrooms bring a ton of rich umami flavor to the filling and shimeji (or beech) mushrooms look very cute for decorating the top.

• Sweet Potato: Incorporating thinly-sliced sweet potato into this recipe brings the autumnal vibes, in terms of both flavor and color. I used a mandoline to get even, thin slices that easily cooked through while the bread was baking. Look for the kind of sweet potato that has vibrant orange or red-orange flesh inside, like a red garnet.

• Red Onion: A little caramelized onion brings a lovely subtle sweetness to the filling. The onion, as well as the mushrooms, get pre-cooked on the stove during one of the rest periods for the dough.

• Cheddar: This bread incorporates Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar in two different formats. I like to grate about one-third of the dairy bar to sprinkle into the bottom of the pan underneath the dough; this crisps up while the bread is baking and becomes the first thing that hits your tongue as you bite into the freshly-baked bread, bringing  a nice tang of that sharp cheddar flavor. I break the rest of the dairy bar into rough crumbles and layer some in with the filling, while reserving some to dimple into the bread’s surface. I like the idea of every bite being a little different, with some being a chunky piece of mushroom and others being extra cheesy.

Notes on decorating the stuffed focaccia: 

I wanted to add an extra wow-factor for my focaccia since we eat with our eyes first! The decoration that I created uses sweet potato slices to form fall-colored roses and some extra mushrooms to give a hint to what’s stuffed inside. I love that this floral motif can be achieved by anyone, even if they do not have access to edible flowers or the ability to grow their own (like I do for some of my other bakes on this blog). You can definitely get as creative as you like when you are making your own version of this recipe, but here are some tips I can pass on about decorating focaccia as I have here:

• Soak some—but not all—of the sweet potato slices in cold water. This will make them stiffer and more hydrated, which will make it easier to poke them into the dough’s surface and prevent them from burning as quickly. It also causes the slices to curl a little, making them look more like rose petals. You’ll also want some unsoaked slices to remain flexible so you can roll them into a spiral to form the center of each rose.

• Mushrooms work really well as decorations; since they are so naturally full of moisture they don’t shrivel too much as the bread bakes. I think the shimeji (or beech) mushrooms worked especially well on mine. I also used some golden chanterelles.

• Choose herb/vegetable leaves that are flat and tender. Leaves can easily shrivel and crisp up in the oven but for best results, you’ll want to select ones that can be pressed onto the surface of the dough. This direct contact is what will help them preserve their shape in the oven, so the flatter and more flexible the leaf, the better. I used red-veined sorrel here because I love how they have a bit of a purple tint when they come out of the oven and add to the autumnal vibe; baby red chard could be a good substitute. I also used some lemon thyme, which has more tender leaves and flexible stems than other varieties of thyme I find at the grocery store.

• Generously brush everything with olive oil before baking. This provides a protective coating on all your edible decorations and reduces how much they will shrivel in the heat of the oven.

Decorating is, of course, the most labor-intensive aspect of this recipe but the good news is that you can do something much simpler, or skip the decorating entirely! Here is how you can adapt the recipe below if you wish to make the yummy bread, but don’t want to spend as much time making the floral motif on top.

Easier version—Fall leaves: Use a cookie cutter to cut the sweet potato slices into fall leaves. You can place these directly on the surface of the dough along with a few mushrooms and baby chard leaves to create a cute autumn forest motif. Brush everything with a coat of olive oil before baking.

Easiest version—Mushrooms only: Reserve a few mushrooms and place them on top of the focaccia as the decoration. Again, you’ll want to coat everything with a generous brush of olive oil to preserve their form and texture. If you choose this option, I recommend using about half a sweet potato’s worth of slices as part of the filling, since you’re not getting any sweet potato flavor on the top of the loaf.

How to Make the Mushroom, Sweet Potato, and Cheddar Stuffed Focaccia

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus about 1/4 cup extra for drizzling
1 tsp kosher salt, divided
4 cups mushrooms, cleaned and broken down into small pieces
2 tbsp Cabot Salted Butter
1/2 red onion, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
8 oz (1 dairy bar) Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar
1 small sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
red veined sorrel or baby chard leaves, for decorating (optional)
lemon thyme, for decorating (optional)

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Procedure

Prepare the dough: Combine water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer and stir together gently. Allow to bloom for 5 minutes. Fit the stand mixer with a dough hook and turn on low; gradually incorporate flour, then 2 tablespoons olive oil, then 1/2 tsp kosher salt.

Turn stand mixer up to medium-high and knead for 5 minutes. Dough should pull completely away from the sides of the bowl while the dough hook is spinning, but feel a bit sticky when touched or when not in motion. If the dough seems too dry, add 1 tsp water, or if the dough seems excessively sticky and is not coming together, add 1–2 tsp flour. Knead for an additional 2–3 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball with your hands. Drizzle a small amount of the extra olive oil into the bowl, add the dough ball, and rub some of the oil on top. Place in a warm spot and cover with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel and allow to rest for 1 hour, or until the ball has doubled in size.

In the meantime, prep the cheddar. Grate roughly one-third of the dairy bar with a box grater. Set grated cheese aside. Break down the remaining cheese into small chunks, about 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch in size; you could cut them into cubes or just use the tip of a small knife to break pieces off. Place cheese chunks in the fridge until needed.

Second rest: Line a 7x11-inch (2 quart) baking dish with parchment paper and coat with a bit of the extra olive oil. Sprinkle the grated cheddar into the bottom of the dish.

Scoop the dough out of the bowl and press out the excess air. Divide the dough in half. Stretch each half into the shape of a rectangle that is slightly smaller than the baking dish; note that the dough will expand so it does not need to fill the size of the whole dish yet. Place one half over the grated cheddar in the dish. Keep the other half on a separate piece of parchment paper that has been lightly oiled with the olive oil. 

Cover both halves with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel and allow to rest for 1 hour.

Prepare the filling: While the dough is resting, pan roast the mushrooms and caramelize the onions. Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium. Reserve a few mushrooms for decoration and add the rest to the dry pan. Sauté until the volume is reduced to about two-thirds of the original and the mushrooms are squeaky as you move them around with a spatula. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.

Add the butter to the pan, then add the onion slices. Reduce the heat to low once you notice the color becoming more vibrant. Cook the onions until they are tender and start to brown on the edges, about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms back to the pan, as well as 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Turn the heat back up to medium. Stir often to encourage evaporation, and cook until the mushrooms seem to have released their excess moisture, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool until the dough is done resting.

Once the dough has completed its second rest, the bottom half should be able to be stretched to fill the bottom of the pan. Shape as needed. Then add about one-third of the sweet potato slices to the pan, followed by most of the cheddar chunks, followed by the mushroom and onion mixture. 

Third rest: Place the other half of the dough on top of the mushrooms. Press the two halves of dough along the edges to seal shut and tuck them under, though this does not need to be perfect. Allow to rest, covered, for an additional 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F.

Decorate the top of the bread and bake: Press the remaining cheddar chunks into the surface of the bread. Press your fingers into the dough to form additional dimples. 

To make a sweet potato rose, cut a slice of sweet potato in half and roll into a tight spiral. Roll the other half around the first. Place this firmly into the surface of the dough where you want the center of the rose to be. Starting with the smallest slices of sweet potato available, firmly insert slices around the rose’s center to form petals. Select gradually larger sweet potato slices and keep adding them as petals until the desired size is achieved.

Repeat to form other roses as desired. (You may not end up using all the sweet potato).

Add vegetable leaves and mushrooms to complete your decoration. Brush everything with a generous layer of olive oil. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt over the top.

Bake for 35–40 minutes or until the top is a light brown. Note that after 30 minutes, you may wish to check on your decoration and add small pieces of foil over the parts of the sweet potato that have darkened, to prevent burning. 

Carefully lift the bread out of the pan via the parchment paper and allow to set for a couple minutes before slicing and enjoying!

Thank you so much to Cabot Creamery for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to find out where you can get their delicious cheeses, such as their naturally-aged cheddars, near you!

Charcuterie Board Pizza

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Charcuterie board pizza—all the essentials of a good charcuterie board, except you can also eat the board because it’s pillowy carby pizza crust. This one is topped with fig jam, fontina and manchego cheeses, prosciutto, soppressata, pepperoni, fresh herbs, and mini pickles.

After shaping my pizza dough “board”, I swapped in a sweet fig jam in place of pizza sauce and baked on a nice gooey layer of creamy fontina cheese. I added all the other toppings—the charcuterie, shavings of nutty manchego, and the pickled cornichons/gherkins—after the pizza came out of the oven, so it still has that snack board vibe.⁣

Click here to get the recipe on the Three Little Pigs site!

Thank you so much to Three Little Pigs for sponsoring this recipe!

Halloween Fun for O Organics

I was commissioned to style and shoot some Halloween content for Albertsons (the grocery store company that also owns Safeway) featuring their O Organics line. This was my second time being hired by Albertsons to make and capture food art for them, and I love working with them because they ask me to include more human elements the photos (for example, hands-in-frame shots) than I usually include in the content on my own account and this challenges me to set up scenes differently and try different camera angles than my standard flatlay style that I’ve become known for.

For this shoot, they also asked me if it would be possible to add a spooky foggy effect to some of the photos. Actually, they originally asked if it was possible for me to use dry ice in the photoshoot. However, I was nervous about the idea of shooting this dynamic element whose movement I wouldn’t fully be able to control—this is why I am a food photographer and not an event photographer! So instead, I asked them if they would be okay with me editing the spooky fog/mist effect into the photos and fortunately, they trusted me to do what I thought was best to achieve that mysterious Halloween vibe!

I had recently learned about the AI editing tools on Canva from my friend Anisa, The Wonky Stove. I learned how to use the Magic Edit feature from this post of hers. (I’ve since learned that I got very lucky with timing and this was a feature I was able to try for free at the time but is now behind their Pro subscription paywall.) I was able to upload my un-magical photos I’d shot, select the areas where I wanted to add spooky fog, and type a prompt to describe what I wanted to add to the photo. The AI is still in its early stages here (which I am definitely ok with!) so it didn’t immediately produce a result I wanted and instead changed up way too much of the photo. But I was able to use what I got out of the tool to then edit together the AI-altered photo and the original photo to produce exactly what I wanted. I imagine this is what movie editors do, but just at a way smaller scale. Conclusion: it was still very necessary for a skilled human (me!) to produce these photos so robots haven’t taken over my job just yet.

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Here are the before-and-afters of the photos where I used this process.

Without AI

with AI

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Without AI

With AI

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Here are some other photos from the shoot. Fun fact: I used black electrical tape over my nails in these hands-in-frame shots to look like I had black nail polish on!

Duck Confit Croquettes in Green Goddess Soup

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These crispy crunch little duck croquettes are so good and so addictive that even my weird spouse who does not like fried foods was like “wow these are yummy!” They make wonderful snacks for sophisticated soirée, or could be crowd-wowing appetizers with a nice aioli or figgy jam on the side. Here, I used these crispy duck bites in place of croutons on top of a healthy veggie-loaded green goddess soup, to bring some texture and make it a more satisfying meal (and I guess to make it a little less healthy…oops.)

They sound really fancy but they are actually quite simple to make! I developed this recipe for Three Little Pigs, using their rillettes de canard, which is like a pulled duck confit that is ready to eat. That’s all there is to the filling of these croquettes, and I just rolled it into little balls, breaded them, and fried them to make this super savory soup topping.

Click here to get the recipe on the Three Little Pigs site!

Thank you so much to Three Little Pigs for sponsoring this recipe!

Recipe: Hatch Green Chile and Summer Corn Cheesy Tart

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This savory cheesy custard tart is loaded with summer corn and one of my favorite savory ingredients—roasted Hatch green chiles from New Mexico.

Don’t go calling this tart a quiche, though. When I think of the texture of a quiche filling, I think of something distinctly eggy and a bit spongy. The texture of this filling is much more like a savory custard. If you are familiar with the classic Chinese steamed egg or Japanese chawanmushi, this is more like that. Compared to quiche, the filling of this savory tart is so silky and creamy and delicate. This is because the filling has a much higher cheese to egg ratio than a quiche would. I actually use the base recipe for this filling—which combines ricotta, goat cheese, and some sort of shredded block cheese like cheddar, with egg—all the time to make various savory tarts, but this combination of fresh corn and roasted Hatch chiles was so good that it finally motivated me to type up the recipe so that others could enjoy it too.

There is just something about these two ingredients together that tastes like summer to me and is so satisfying; maybe it’s how the sweetness of the corn balances with the smoky spicy flavor of the chiles? I don’t know how to explain it but I love it. Last year, I was lucky enough to visit Hatch, New Mexico right during the season for their famous green chiles. The big green chiles gleamed in the sun while sitting in big baskets and the smell of the fresh chiles tumbling in huge roasting machines was everywhere, and I had the best cheeseburger of my life—the Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburger from Sparky’s. And of course I picked up a big jar of the roasted chile peppers to bring home. I’ve been hoarding that jar until last week when I finally decided that this tart would be worth opening it up for. (Real Hatch chiles are very limited in season and availability but you can definitely sub with those canned roasted green chiles that are common to any US grocery store. Note that the ones from the Hatch Chile Company are not necessarily made from the variety grown in Hatch, NM but they are a good substitute.)

I decorated my green chile and corn tart with calendula and borage flowers, as well as some chives and cilantro. You can see what the unbaked version looked like below. Feel free to skip this elaborate decorating step and simply reserve a little bit of extra corn to sprinkle on top, along with a few cilantro leaves.

How to Make a Hatch Green Chile and Summer Corn Cheesy Tart

Ingredients

1 sheet ready-made pie dough, room temp
1 egg yolk, beaten, for crust eggwash (optional)
1 ear corn, husked
1/2 cup ricotta, drained of excess water
1/4 cup goat cheese, room temp
3 eggs
1–3 dashes habanero hot sauce (optional)
1/4 cup canned roasted green chilies, drained
3/4 packed cup sharp cheddar, grated
cilantro leaves, for decorating
edible flowers, for decorating (optional)
olive oil (optional)

Procedure

Preheat oven according to the instructions on the box of your ready-made pie dough. Press pie dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill in the freezer for 3–5 minutes. Dock the dough with a fork. Brush with eggwash if desired for a more shiny, darker crust. Then bake according to the package instructions for a blind-baked crust, using pie weights if required in the instructions.

In the meantime, prepare the filling of the tart:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the corn for 5 minutes, or until tender. (If desired, use a culinary blowtorch or gas stove to char the surface of the corn to give it a more roasted flavor.) Cut kernels from the corn cob and set them aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together ricotta, goat cheese, eggs, and hot sauce (if using). Fold in the majority of the corn kernels, keeping just a small amount aside for the end. Fold in green chiles and half of the shredded cheese.

Remove crust from oven when it is blind-baked. Set the oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese into the prepared crust. Pour the prepared filling on top and make sure the surface is even and smooth.

Working quickly the prevent the crust getting soggy, place cilantro leaves* onto the surface of the filling and sprinkle on the remaining corn. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until the filling is soft but set. Allow to rest of 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

*If decorating with edible flowers, maximize contact with the filling as you press them into the tart. Brush them with olive oil to help preserve their shape and color.

Savory Sandwich Cake with Truffle Pâté

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Surprise—This layer cake is actually bread! One of my goals for this year is to take dishes and food concepts that are normally associated with desserts and reimagine them with savory foods. For this recipe, I took inspiration from the Swedish smörgåstårta, which is basically a stacked sandwich made to resemble a frosted layer cake. But instead of tucking Scandinavian seafood fillings in between the slices of rye bread, I wanted mine to be a centerpiece version of the little tea sandwiches you might find at a garden tea party. ⁣

I developed this recipe for Three Little Pigs, using their truffle mousse pâté, homemade savory onion chutney, and cucumbers. The “cake” is frosted with a whipped goat cheese and mascarpone blend and decorated with dill, parsley, geraniums, daisies, and chamomile flowers.

Click here to get the recipe on the Three Little Pigs site!

Thank you so much to Three Little Pigs for sponsoring this recipe!

One-Pan Çılbır-Inspired Poached Eggs Yogurt Bowl with Burst Tomatoes and Chili Butter

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Here is my latest riff on my ongoing obsession with çilbir, which is known in English as Turkish eggs. Çilbir is a dish that, from what I’ve read, dates back to the Ottoman Empire, and it is a dish of garlicky yogurt topped with poached eggs and then drizzled with a chili butter made with a Turkish chili. This—and the various offshoots I’ve come up with—is my favorite type of breakfast.

In this lazier version, I opted to just use regular yogurt straight out of the refrigerated container to make things easier. But to make up for the lack of garlic in the base, instead, I top the poached eggs and yogurt bowl with blistered cherry tomatoes. While I eagerly await for tomatoes to be in season once summer rolls around, this recipe makes the best of even sub-par off-season cherry tomatoes by letting them burst in oil and melted chili butter so the flavors that are present get concentrated and complex. Be warned that it does cause a bit of splatter when you’re dealing with juicy tomatoes in a pan with hot oil but it is totally worth it.

This is one of those recipes that doesn’t need precise measurements. After all, it’s a lazy morning recipe, and to me that means not having to find or wash your measuring spoons. You can fill the bowl with Greek yogurt, or not. Go big on the chili powder, or don’t. Have a few extra springs of herbs left over from some other overly-precise recipe? Use them here. In the photos, I used dill, micro cilantro, and flowers from the three-cornered leek that I foraged near a creek. Chive flowers would be amazing here too, as the light onion-y flavor goes really well with the dish. But just use what you have and follow your heart with this one.

This super easy idea only requires one little (8-inch) pan to do everything you need to make a luxurious breakfast that will surely impress others and more importantly, yourself. The use of this pan can be broken down into three phases.

The three phases of this One-Pan Breakfast:

• Poaching the eggs: It might take a bit of practice to get it just right but poaching eggs in a shallow pan allows the egg whites to stay tidy and gives you a great looking poached egg. After the water is boiling, I add a splash of white vinegar and turn the heat down for a gentle simmer. Then I crack the eggs into small bowls, and gently tip them into the pan near opposite edges. After that, I turn the heat back up to medium-low for a more vigorous simmer and cook the eggs for 3 minutes before scooping them out onto a paper towel. (If you accidentally don’t fill the pan with enough water to fully submerge your eggs, you can just use a spoon to gently baste the tops with the boiling water.) If you are continuing on with the recipe and eating it right when it’s assembled, I find it is not necessary to plunge the eggs in an ice bath. If making multiple servings, you’ll obviously want a pan wide enough to keep some separation in between eggs.

• Toasting the bread: This phase is actually optional but trust me, you’ll want bread to scoop and mop up all that rich egg yolk, yogurt, and wonderful melted chili butter. I like to put enough olive oil in the pan to coat the bottom and then essentially fry one side of the bread slices in it. I let one side get crisp and keep the other side untoasted so it stays more flexible for making a scooping motion with the contents of the breakfast bowl.

• Making the tomatoes and chili oil topping: This phase involves cooking the cherry tomatoes in hot oil until the skins blister and they explode, releasing and concentrating their juices. Then the heat gets turned down and those juices get to mingle with sizzling butter and chili powder before the mixture gets poured over the yogurt and eggs. I use Korean gochugaru for the chili powder because it’s what I have in a huge shaker that I always keep out on the kitchen counter. Aleppo chili pepper powder would also be perfect for this, but you can use what you like.

Awkwardly Vague instructions for One-Pan Cilbir-Inspired Poached Eggs with Burst Tomatoes and Chili Butter

Ingredients

Greek yogurt
white vinegar, for poaching eggs (optional)
2 eggs
extra virgin olive oil
2 small slices of bread (optional, but recommended)
a handful of cherry/grape tomatoes
a pinch of kosher salt
1–2 tbsp butter
1–2 tsp chili powder (gochugaru or another variety of your choice)
fresh herbs or microgreens (optional)

Procedure

Scoop some Greek yogurt into a shallow bowl, bowl plate, or blate. Use the back of the spoon to create swooshes where the chili butter will be able to pool.

Make the poached eggs: Fill the pan with water and bring to a boil. Add a small amount of vinegar. Turn the heat down to low. Crack each egg into a small bowl. Gently tip the eggs into the pan near opposite edges. Turn the heat up to medium-low and poach for 3 minutes. Remove immediately with a slotted spoon and place the eggs on paper towels to drain excess water. Then place them on top of the yogurt. Carefully pour away the water from the pan and allow any residue to evaporate.

Toast the bread: Add enough olive oil to coat the base of the pan and set the heat to medium-high. Add the bread slices and toast until the desired crispness. If desired, repeat with the other side of the toasts.

Cook the toppings: Add a generous splash of olive oil into the pan and heat it on high. Carefully add a handful of tomatoes and season with salt. Allow the skins to char and blister, occasionally tossing the tomatoes around in the pan. (Note: there will be oil splatter, so please be careful.) Once most of the tomatoes look like they have burst, turn the heat down to low and add the butter. Once the butter starts to foam, add the chili powder. Use a spatula to gently stir the contents of the pan and incorporate the chili powder with the butter. Continue stirring until all the butter is sizzling.

Pour the tomato and chili butter mixture over the eggs. Top with fresh herbs or microgreens, if using.

Enjoy with the toasts on the side for dipping and scooping.

Lastly, if you are as obsessed with çilbir as I am, you may also want to check out my other variations: poached eggs in burrata and sambal butter, and Turkish eggs with charred tomatoes and sweet peppers.

Recipe: Savory Veggie Cupcakes with Cheesy Cauliflower Frosting

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For this recipe, I partnered with Cabot Creamery to create a savory version of a cupcake! These moist and tender cakes are loaded with broccoli and sharp cheddar and made both flavorful and fragrant with the help of a touch of curry.  Believe it or not, the “frosting” is savory too—it’s actually a smooth cauliflower purée loaded with sharp cheddar!

One of my creative challenges for myself this year is to explore making savory versions of foods that are usually associated with desserts. I’m someone whose taste buds always crave savory flavors over sweet, but I admit that my eyes are so often drawn to the beauty and visual delight of dessert confections. Just looking at a cupcake already brings me joy. But then I realized that there’s no reason for why savory foods can’t get that same visual attention, and that’s exactly what I set out to do with this savory cupcake recipe.

I’m glad that Cabot Creamery was willing to encourage my crazy idea, as their wonderful cheddars have become a regular tactic for bringing richness and cheesy goodness to my savory dishes. Cabot is a co-operative owned by farm families throughout New England & New York and 100% of profits go back to the farmers, which is another reason to love their stuff. I used their Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese in both the cake and frosting components of this recipe, which brought such a nice buttery tang that meant I didn’t even need to use butter in this recipe. With Cabot Creamery’s cheddars having 0 grams of lactose per serving, this savory cupcake recipe was developed with my lactose-sensitive pals in mind, too!

I hope you find these savory cupcakes as joy-inducing as I do! Let’s get into the details about these unique baked goodies and the ingredients you’ll need to make them for yourself.

Notes on the key ingredients for the cakes:

• Broccoli: I thought a savory cupcake ought to be veggie-forward to make it something that—unlike its sweet counterparts—could be enjoyed throughout the day while getting some nutritional goodness out of it too. For this recipe, I used the very tops of the broccoli florets only and chopped them super fine (as shown in the photo) such that the cakes would have an even and delicate texture throughout.

• Onion: A must to bring flavor and aromatics to any savory dish, I incorporated onion into my savory cake recipe too. I cut the onion into a fine dice and sautéed it with the broccoli before adding it to my cake batter so that it would basically dissolve into the background and all you would notice is the added flavor complexity from it.

• Cheddar: For me, cheese is what brings excitement to a savory dish; it’s what makes something ordinary feel rich and indulgent. So in order to make these savory cupcakes feel just as decadent and luxurious as sweet ones, I loaded this cake recipe with lots of Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar. Its boldly sharp flavor and smooth consistency are perfect for tying together the veggie and spice components of the recipe. I grated the bar using the standard holes of my box grater for this part of the recipe.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Inspired by sweeter olive oil cakes, I leaned on a high-quality extra virgin olive oil to keep my savory cakes moist.

• Oat Milk: In keeping with the challenge to avoid ingredients containing lactose, I used a full-fat oat milk here. You could definitely sub with your favorite nut milks if desired.

• Curry Powder: This addition is what makes the cake interesting! I just love the combination of curry and cheddar together and I think the curry really takes the flavor profile of these out of breakfast muffin territory and into something more special. I used a Japanese style curry powder which brings a complex blend of spices without adding any spicy heat.

Notes on the key ingredients for the frosting: 

• Cauliflower: I made a cauliflower purée to act as the “frosting” for my savory cupcakes. Boiled cauliflower is easy to get smooth and spreadable in the food processor without adding extra cream and it is also so very foolproof (unlike potatoes that can get gummy if over-handled). I’ve been pretty obsessed with cauliflower lately because it’s light and absorbs other flavors so well. After boiling the cauliflower, you’ll want to squeeze out the excess moisture before adding it to the food processor to avoid your savory frosting being too runny; you don’t want to wring it bone-dry but you do want to give it a good squeeze until water is no longer actively dripping from it. 

• Leeks: These mild alliums will bring a savory-sweetness to the frosting without overpowering the gentle cauliflower. I used only the white and tender light green parts of the leek for this recipe to keep the frosting smooth as well as neutral in color.

• Garlic: I added just a touch of garlic to the frosting for savory complexity. A recipe with just one clove of garlic is unusual coming from me, but in this case, it is possible to overdo it; in my recipe testing I tried raw garlic and more cooked garlic and those tests were  too overwhelming for those whipped, light, frosting vibes. Trust me on this one. You’ll want to gently sauté the garlic with the leeks before combining it with the boiled cauliflower.

• Cheddar: Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar is what brings the main flavor here to this frosting. Since the cauliflower’s taste is pretty neutral, it leaves room for the delicious cheddar flavor to shine, so this frosting is very cheesy tasting indeed. I used a grater with small holes to finely grate the bar so that it would incorporate smoothly into the purée.

• Lemon Juice: This brings some brightness to the flavor of the frosting and enhances the buttery tang of the Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This helps keep the purée smooth and emulsified.

• Miso Paste: I used a white miso here which is sweeter and milder than other types of miso. It brings an extra umami and saltiness, and it rounds out the savory flavor profile and makes it feel more complete. If you have a different type of miso, I suggest reducing the quantity; if miso paste is difficult for you to source, I recommend just adding a little extra salt, to taste.

Note that this recipe makes more than enough cheesy cauliflower frosting to do a casual coat over the tops of the cupcakes. But if you want to get your piping bags out and pipe a big ol’ swirl, or at least do a nice thick layer that you can decorate with pretty flowers like me, then this recipe will allow for those creative discretions!

How to Make Savory Veggie Cupcakes
with Cheesy Cauliflower Frosting

(Makes 12 cupcakes)

Ingredients for the Frosting

1 head cauliflower, cut into chunks
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided
3/8 cup + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup leeks (white and light green parts only), roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
6 oz Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar, finely grated
2 1/2 tsp white miso paste
1/4 cup lemon juice

Ingredients for the Cupcakes

2 cups broccoli florets chopped very fine
1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
2/3 cup + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp Japanese curry powder
4 oz Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar, grated
2 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup oat milk, at room temperature

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Procedure

To make the frosting: Add cauliflower to a pot and cover with water. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Boil until very tender and almost falling apart (about 10-15 minutes). Drain and allow to cool.

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet on medium-low heat. Add the leaks and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. When they start to become fragrant, add the garlic. Continue cooking the aromatics, stirring occasionally, until they are tender (about 3–5 minutes).

Squeeze out any excess moisture from the cauliflower and add the cauliflower  to the food processor. Add the cooked aromatics. Pulse until the cauliflower resembles a grain-like texture. Add the miso paste and one-third of the cheddar. Process until the ingredients look combined. Repeat with the rest of the cheese in two more batches. Add the lemon juice and the remaining 3/8 cup olive oil and process the mixture until very smooth, using a spatula to scrape the sides as needed. Transfer the purée to a bowl or piping bag and set aside or, optionally, allow to chill in the fridge. (Note: I found it to be easier to pipe/spread after chilling briefly in the fridge.)

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with paper baking cups.

Heat the skillet again on medium-low heat, with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion and salt, and sauté until translucent. Add the broccoli and stir gently, cooking just until it becomes a vibrant green. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, garlic powder, cumin, and curry powder in a large mixing bowl. Add the cheddar and mix until it is evenly distributed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and remaining 2/3 cup olive oil until well-combined. Add the cooled broccoli and onion mixture and stir to combine.

Gently fold the wet mixture into the dry one, until the liquid seems fully absorbed and no floury streaks remain. Mixture should be very thick. 

Divide the mixture evenly into the paper baking cups. Bake at 425°F for 5 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue to bake for 15–17 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes in the pan for an additional 3 minutes to set before transferring to a cooling rack.

Once the cupcakes are cool enough to handle, they can be frosted and decorated as you wish! (The photos show the cupcakes decorated with nasturtium, wild radish flowers, and thyme.)

Thank you so much to Cabot Creamery for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to find out where you can get their delicious cheeses—which are naturally-aged and have 0 grams of lactose per serving—near you!

Photoshoot for La Playa Hotel

La Playa Hotel is a bespoke luxury hotel in the dreamy Carmel-by-the-Sea. They recently underwent some major renovations and back in March, I was hired to shoot photos that captured their new look, as well as new menu items at the restaurant and bar on their property, Bud’s, for them to use on their social media. I have been working with the hospitality group that owns La Playa since pretty early on in my photography career (before the pandemic) and it is always so meaningful to be asked back by old clients because it means they were truly happy with my work.

For this shoot, their marketing team wanted to focus on little details and interesting vignettes that make staying here feel like an elegant and uniquely luxe experience. I noticed a motif of deep greens and a “modern coastal retreat” meets “old glamour” vibe and I held these themes in my mind as I approached the shoot. These days, I don’t do many on-site shoots, but I had so much fun sourcing props for this one and the team is always so lovely to work with.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the work I did for La Playa Hotel and Bud’s.

Recipe: Easy Tomato Soup

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As much as I wish it did, soup season does not correspond with tomato season. But it turns out, that’s okay! Because my favorite recipe for tomato soup—one that tastes rich and velvety without any cream and is full of tomato flavor—uses canned tomatoes! Reliable and super-duper easy to make at any time of year, all you need is good canned tomatoes, a blender, and a few other basic ingredients to make that classic tomato soup that goes oh-so-well with a good grilled cheese sandwich (or topped with grilled cheese sandwich croutons)!

Blender soups are obviously my favorite soups to make because they are just so damn easy. And for this recipe, there is something about the onions and butter getting blended together that gives this tomato soup a great creamy texture without pushing the soup into bisque territory. And with a touch of my secret ingredient—fish sauce—to bring some extra umami, it will taste like this soup simmered in a grandma’s kitchen all day when it really takes hardly any time at all to make.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make my recipe for this easy tomato soup:

• canned tomatoes: I’ve made this with various brands of canned tomatoes and I am always happy with the results but I will usually go for the San Marzano or San Marzano style tomatoes because they are more dense and have a better tomato flesh to seed ratio. Also note that tomatoes that are packed in puree or a thick puree-like tomato juice will obviously render a thicker, more flavorful soup that the ones where the tomatoes are packed in water. This means you will have to adjust the water-to-tomato ratio a bit as you make the soup, to get the consistency that is to your liking. (After watching this in-depth review of canned tomato brands by Ethan Chlebowski, I typically get the brand Cento.)

• butter: Salted or unsalted is fine. Since canned tomatoes typically come with a considerable amount of salt, there’s not need to fuss over whether your butter has salt in it or not either. This is a recipe where you are going to want to taste for seasoning while you go.

• onion: If I’m lucky enough to find sweet onions at the grocery store, I like to use them when making this soup. But I’ve also made this with regular red onions or yellow onions; any of these will do perfectly well here.

• garlic: Gotta have a little garlic in tomato soup! I usually do about 6 cloves because I love garlic.

• fish sauce: The (not so) secret ingredient! I add fish sauce to any tomato-based soup or sauce I make because I think it really adds an extra depth of flavor and brings out the tomato-y flavors. It will not taste fishy but it will taste delicious.

This soup may be amazingly easy to make but it’s also quite presentable with the help of some little finishing touches. Look at what a glorious blank, vibrant red canvas awaits you below! Some leaves of fresh basil, a drizzle of good olive oil, some cracks of black pepper, or even a little swirl of crème fraîche would make this soup as a much a treat for the eyes as the taste buds.

If you wanna get really crazy, make your favorite version of a grilled cheese and cut it up into little cubes to top your tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons. For the image at the top of this recipe, I made mine with sourdough, white cheddar, gruyere, and a drizzle of sriracha, and used herbed butter to toast/fry it up in the pan.

Note: This recipe makes 2 generous portions that are enough for meals in my household when paired with grilled cheese sandwiches.

How to Make Easy Tomato Soup

Ingredients

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into rough wedges
4–6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
28 oz can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes
water
1/2–2 tsp fish sauce (or to taste)

Optional Garnish Ideas

fresh basil leaves
cracked black pepper
chives
crème fraîche
extra virgin olive oil
parmesan cheese
grilled cheese croutons

Special Equipment

blender

Procedure

In a Dutch oven or study medium-sized pot, gently melt butter on medium-low heat. Add onions and sweat them until they start to become translucent. Add garlic and turn heat down to low, stirring regularly until it becomes fragrant and loses its raw bite but doesn’t brown. Transfer to a blender.

Add the can of tomatoes, including the liquid/puree. Fill the can a quarter of the way with water (about 7–8 ounces) and slosh around to incorporate any remaining tomato residue from the can; add this to the blender as well.

Set the blender to liquify all the ingredients together then return everything to the pot on low heat. If the soup seems too thick, add a small amount of water at a time to get the desired consistency.

Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce and then taste for seasoning. There’s a possibility that if you had a lot of salt in your canned tomatoes and/or you used salted butter so you won’t need to season any further. If needed, continue to add fish sauce, a little bit at a time, until the seasoning is to your liking. You won’t need to cook down this soup much after it comes out of the blender, so be sure to taste it at that point and add seasoning to your preference.

Keep the soup on low heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s hot all the way through and starting to bubble or simmer. At this point, it’s ready to serve. Top with your desired toppings and enjoy!

Recipe: Rosemary Honey Butter Dinner Rolls

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These pull-apart dinner rolls are fluffy and puffy and soft, just like every good dinner roll should be. But these are no ordinary good dinner rolls! First of all, they are so fragrant from being loaded with fresh rosemary. But additionally, they’ve got a special secret hiding underneath them—sticky, gooey, delicious bottoms where they’ve been baked in a pool of honey butter.

I got the idea of making a savory, rosemary flavored, slightly-sweet baked goodie from Panadería Rosetta in Mexico City. Their bollos de romero were life changing—savory, just a little sweet, and with a beautiful rosemary flavor. I knew I could never replicate this magic at home but I was determined to create a more simple recipe that would be easy to make without a lot of fuss and, when eaten, would at least have enough essence of Rosetta’s bollos to satiate those hungry memories.

I started testing this recipe in 2022, and did a version with some cute Christmas decorations, as seen below. When I posted them on Instagram I guess they sorta went “viral”; or at least it was my most liked post by a landslide. But the rolls I photographed then were not the recipe that I wanted them to be, so I was pretty bummed to not have something to share with others. I really lost momentum with recipe testing after that, and didn’t pick it back up until almost a year later. This time around, I am very pleased to be able to share with you all a recipe that I am very proud of, for delicious dinner rolls that are exactly the way I wanted them to be.

If you have ever had a cinnamon roll or sticky bun with a gooey bottom that’s soaked up a bunch of syrup, these have that same kind of wonderful stickiness on the bottom but they are way way less sweet. The rest of the bun is savory and herbaceous, so they definitely still function as a dinner roll for a festive holiday table but are also plenty good on their own. I brought them to my brother-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving last week, and they got warm praise from grandmas and teenage boys alike, which is why I am so confident in this recipe now!

Notes about the ingredients

• Please use good clover/flower honey. The flavor of the honey is really noticeable here, since there is quite a lot of it for the sticky bottoms. So use one you like. Do not use makuka honey or that thick spreadable light colored stuff. You want the good old fashioned stuff.

• Use good butter. Do not substitute with some kind of fakey crap.

• Use fresh rosemary, not dried. You don’t want to be stabbing your gums or crunching on bits of dried rosemary here, and plus I’ve never tested it with anything but fresh. Leave out any hard or woody bits. You just want the tender leaves here.

Some Notes about Decorating Your Dinner Rolls For the Holidays

Decorating these dinner rolls is honestly completely unnecessary. I have to do it for the ‘gram, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be here reading this blog post right now. But decorating is also fun, and gives these a little extra charm if you are looking to impress someone (though I think the taste is already impressive enough). Here, I will answer some common questions I received about this decorating technique using dill, parsley, carrot fronds, and pink peppercorns:

• Can you taste the dill?: I personally cannot if the dill is just coming along with a normal bite, and I think I have a pretty good sense of taste. The amount of dill is so negligible compared to the flavors that the roll intends to be (honey, rosemary, fluffy bread) and I really think it loses some of it’s dilliness when it bakes, so I don’t think you’re getting a hit of dill unless you pick off all the dill on the whole batch and eat it plain. But if you hate dill that much, fennel fronds could be a good alternative!

• Are you really eating whole peppercorns? Yikes!: So, to every person who made a comment like this, I asked them if they have ever had PINK peppercorns before and guess what? The answer was always no. Look, pink peppercorns are very different from the black peppercorns that people are much more familiar with. Pink peppercorns have a nice fruity flavor and they are much smaller and they are delicate and easy to chew, especially after baking. They are not “spicy” or intense like black peppercorns. Just as every type of chili pepper tastes vastly different, people shouldn’t really assume that all peppercorns are exactly the same. I thought that they added a great spice (NOT spicy) note to the rolls.

• How do the herbs stay green and pretty after baking?: As with any time you use fresh herbs to decorate a baked good, moisture is the key. Use soft, flexible leaves. Brush a bit of honey butter on the dough to act as glue. Gently press them onto the surface of the dough so that they are fully in contact with it; anything sticking up will likely shrivel from the heat of the oven. Then, give them another coat of that honey butter to help lock in the moisture.

You could do this type of decoration with dill, parsley, and pink peppercorns on any dinner roll or bun recipe, really. But I do hope you’ll try this one.

This recipe was adapted from Ariel Lee’s Cheesy Everything Buns recipe, which I also love.

How to Make Rosemary Honey Butter Dinner Rolls

Ingredients for dough

1 cup warm milk or barista style oat milk
1 1/2 tsp dry instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
2 3/4 cup bread flour, plus a little extra
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, beaten
4 tsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped

Ingredients for Honey Butter Sauce

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey

Ingredients for finishing touches

flaky salt
fresh herbs such as sage, thyme, parsley, and dill (optional)
pink peppercorns (optional)

Procedure

Make the dough. Place milk, yeast, and honey in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir gently to dissolve the yeast. Let stand until the yeast starts to bloom (about 5 minutes).

Fit stand mixer with a dough hook. Turn the stand mixer on to the lowest setting (speed 1) and gradually add flour. Add salt and butter and once those are slightly incorporated, add egg and rosemary. Scrape everything to the bottom of the bowl and turn the stand mixer up to the medium setting (speed 5). Knead for about 5 minutes so an elastic dough forms, pausing as needed to scrape the contents of the bowl back down to the bottom. (If the dough still feels very sticky, add an additional teaspoon of flour at a time, kneading in each time, until the dough feels smooth and elastic.)

Roll the dough into a taut ball and return to the bowl (you shouldn’t need to grease it). Cover dough with a damp tea towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Line a 7x11-inch (2 quart) baking dish with parchment paper.

Make the honey butter “sauce” by adding the butter to a small saucepan and melting on low heat. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the honey. Continue whisking on low heat until the consistency is runny and homogenous.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pour about three-quarters of the sauce into the baking dish and smooth out to an even layer. Divide risen dough into 12 equal pieces and shape into tight balls. Arrange balls evenly in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for a second time, for 30 minutes.

If decorating: Brush tops of dough balls with some of the remaining honey butter; note that you may need to reheat the honey butter on low heat to get it to be brushable. Decorate as desired; make sure the herbs come in full contact with the surface of the bun to preserve their color and shape. Brush more honey butter on top.

If not decorating: Reheat the remaining honey butter if needed to get it to a brushable consistency. Brush tops of the rolls generously with honey butter.

Sprinkle a small amount of flakey salt on top of each.

Bake for 25–30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Chinese Sticky Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

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This is a great way to use all those cute mini pumpkins you bought as fall decorations and turn them into a fun fusion side dish. I know you’re gonna ditch them for Christmas decor soon anyway so you might as well fill them with savory satisfying sticky rice, sweet Chinese sausage (lap cheong), and umami-rich salted egg yolks.

If you’ve had the lotus leaf bundles filled with sticky rice at dim sum places, that is lo mai gai. Gai means chicken. This recipe is inspired by the dim sum classics but with a couple of differences: there’s no chicken to fiddle with, so the recipe is a lot more foolproof, and instead of wrapping the rice mixture in lotus leaves and steaming the bundles to give the glutinous rice its addictive, sticky texture, the rice is stuffed into raw mini pumpkins! As the pumpkins roast in the oven, the rice gets treated to a cozy steamy environment that gets the same job done. (Note that you will still need a bamboo steamer setup for the first round of cooking the rice.)

I just winged it when I made the rice mixture for these, but I have attempted to capture the necessary info below for you to replicate this idea yourself. This dish is super flexible, and the great thing about making it at home is that you can adjust it to your own tastes! I, for one, am always bummed that there’s only like one little piece of sausage and not enough salted egg yolk when I order lo mai gai, so I included way more here.

Some notes about the ingredients:

• sticky rice: This is an Asian short-grain rice that is often labeled glutinous rice. (It does not contain gluten!). It’s quite firm and starchy so you’ll want to soak it overnight and wash it thoroughly before using.

• lap cheong: This is Chinese cured sausage with a slight sweetness and visible fatty bits. I like the brand Kam Yen Jan.

• dried shiitake mushrooms: You will need to soak these for a few minutes before they can be sliced.

• salted egg yolks: I buy these ready-made in a vacuum-sealed pouch at the Asian supermarket.

• mini pumpkins: All roasted pumpkins are safe to eat! But they definitely vary in texture and flavor. Play around with what you have and make note of what you liked best for next year! If using pumpkins that you’ve had lying around since fall began, be sure to check that they are still unblemished and un-moldy.

Please note that measurements below are estimates. Taste along the way and adjust to your preferences!

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Chinese Sticky Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

Ingredients

1 cup glutinous rice
1–2 tbsp shaoxing wine, or to taste
1–2 tbsp light soy sauce, or to taste
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp kecap manis (optional)
1 large dried shiitake mushroom
2 Chinese sausages (lap cheong), cut on a bias into 1/8-inch slices
about 4–5 salted egg yolks
1–2 scallions, chopped, whites and greens separated
2 water chestnuts, thinly sliced (optional)
about 4–5 mini pumpkins, gutted and seeded
neutral oil (like peanut or avocado)
kosher salt
thyme, for garnish (optional)

Procedure

The night before, leave the glutinous rice to soak in regular water. The next day, transfer the rice to a fine mesh colander and rinse, using your hand to agitate the rice, until the water that comes out is noticeably less starchy.

Get your bamboo steamer setup ready. Pour rice into the middle of a large sheet of parchment paper. Double up the paper if needed. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of shaoxing wine over the rice. Fold up all the sides around the rice to form a bundle that you can place in the bamboo steamer. Steam rice for 20 minutes.

While the rice is steaming, soak the shiitake mushroom in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until soft. Discard tough stem and slice the cap thinly.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

When rice is cool enough to handle, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, white pepper, and kecap manis. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add sausage, scallion whites, water chestnuts (if using); mix together.

Brush oil all over the pumpkin bases and lids and season flesh with kosher salt. Place on a foil-lined baking tray. Fill each pumpkin with rice mixture then push a salted egg yolk into the middle. Place matching pumpkin lids on top and bake pumpkins for 40 minutes or until tender.

Fluff up rice. Optionally, you could remove the egg yolk and crumble it on top. Garnish with remaining scallion greens and, optionally, thyme.

When enjoying, be sure to scoop the tender pumpkin flesh and eat it with the rice!

Recipe: Cheddar Tart with Beets and Fall Squash

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For this recipe, I partnered with Cabot Creamery to create a cheesy tart that would be lovely to serve at fall gatherings. This tart features Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar in two ways: a snappy cheesy rosemary shortcrust that smells so good when it’s baking in the oven, as well as the filling that goes inside it, which is a flavorful layer of a cheddar and almond spread reminiscent of an old-school party staple, the cheese ball. This smoky, tangy, creamy filling helps to hold in place the topping for the tart—marinated roasted beets and honeynut squash that have been thinly sliced and rolled into rosettes. The edible bouquet in an autumnal palette is likely to impress your guests; but the great thing is, so much of it can be made ahead!

When I was a kid, I remember being completely wowed by the flavor combos from those cheese balls covered in nuts that would always be present at holiday parties with my parents’ friends. So, the filling in this tart is a tribute to that combo. It’s indulgently creamy and tangy from the Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, super savory, a little smoky with the addition of paprika, and has such a satisfying texture thanks to the inclusion of sliced almonds. 

I think I loved that combo so much because back then, my family did not keep cheese around very much in our fridge. In fact, up until probably middle school, I thought that the powdery stuff in the green can and the plasticky American cheese slices were the only cheeses that could be purchased directly for cooking at home. That’s why it still makes me so excited that, as a grown-up, I can now get Cabot Creamery’s delicious naturally-aged, rich-flavored cheddars to cook and bake with to my heart’s content. Cabot is a co-operative owned by farm families throughout New England & New York and 100% of profits go back to the farmers. Having access to such high-quality cheeses with that level of freshness would’ve rocked Kid Me’s world. Now, being able to make my own cheese spread at home, just how I like it, brings me so much joy—and I hope it does for you, too!

Here’s what you need to know about the key ingredients for making my Cheddar Tart with Beets and Fall Squash:

• Cheddar: The cheddar gets used in both the crust and the filling, so it’s gotta be a great one. I used Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar which is so good for those of us cheddar lovers who enjoy an intense, sharp flavor. I always like to go for their cheese bars and grate the cheese fresh right before I need it.

• Butter: Cutting the butter into cubes and freezing it is a major contributor to keeping the crust snappy and buttery without feeling greasy. I used Cabot Salted Butter for this recipe to bring extra rich savoriness to the tart shell.

• Vodka: Using vodka instead of water to bring the crust ingredients together is my other trick for keeping the tart shell super crispy! I have tested this crust recipe with just chilled water and I do not recommend this substitution.

• Beets: For this recipe, whole beets are first roasted until tender. The skins come right off after roasting. Then, the beets need to be chilled so they can easily be sliced into thin “petals” with a mandoline. The slices get marinated in a simple, bright vinaigrette before being rolled into rosettes. The autumnal colors of this tart are achieved by roasting 1 red beet and 3 golden beets together. The red beet slices are a deep maroon, while areas of the golden beets that come in contact with the red beet become a more vibrant red shade. To keep some slices at their natural bright golden color, keep them separated from the red beet.

• Squash: I used a honeynut squash for this recipe but butternut squash would work just as well. Unlike the beets, I peeled and sliced the squash before roasting. Keep the squash slices separate from the red beet if you want them to stay solid orange.

This recipe is great for gatherings because much of it can be done the night before. In fact, it is even recommended that you get the components prepped well in advance, for an easy low-key assembly when you are ready to serve.

Considerations for prepping ahead:

• For best results, make your pastry dough the night before and let it chill, molded into the tart pan, overnight. Then all you have to do is pop it in the oven the following day.

• The cheddar and almond filling can be made the night before and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The day-of, just take it out and allow it to come to a spreadable consistency while the tart shell bakes.

• The roasted beets need to be chilled slightly in order to be sliced by the mandoline, so do plan ahead for this. I recommend doing all the prep for the beet and squash rosettes ahead of time. I used a mini muffin tin to hold the rosettes together before I arranged them all on top of the tart filling. You could do this the night before so the rosettes are ready to just pop onto the tart before serving!

If you need an additional shortcut:

• This tart can be simplified by using a ready-made pie dough for the crust. The overall flavor of the tart will be less complex and less cheesy but there is still a lot of flavor in the cheese and almond filling and the roasted veggie topping. If you choose to pursue this shortcut, mold the pie dough to the tart container and then follow the package instructions to fully bake the crust before following the recipe for filling the tart.

One thing that can be scary about baking for guests is that a lot can happen in an oven! You put your lovingly-prepared dough, batter, or pastry in but you can’t truly be certain what it will look like coming out. This is why I like to make tarts where the shell is baked completely through first; the filling and topping here do not require additional bake time. The tart can be served at room temperature so it’s one less thing to worry about keeping warm while you are enjoying the conversation of your dining companions.

How to Make a Cheddar Tart with Beets and Fall Squash

(Makes one 9-inch tart)

Ingredients for the Crust*

1/2 cup (1 stick) Cabot Salted Butter, cut into small cubes then frozen
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 oz (about 1/4 cup) Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, grated then chilled
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
4–6 tbsp vodka, chilled

Ingredients for the Topping

1 medium (about 1/2 lb) red beet, trimmed and cleaned
3 medium (about 1/2 lb each) golden beets, trimmed and cleaned
1 medium (about 1 1/2 lbs) honeynut or butternut squash, peeled and cored
4–8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
kosher salt
black pepper
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
fennel fronds, for garnish (optional)

Ingredients for the Filling

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 oz (about 1/2 cup) Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, grated
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup sliced almonds, roughly chopped

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* For a shortcut version, see notes above about substituting a ready-made pie crust.

Procedure

To make the crust: Add the flour, Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, salt, and rosemary to a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine. Scatter in frozen Cabot Salted Butter cubes and pulse until the texture resembles wet sand. Add 1 tablespoon of vodka and pulse a couple of times; repeat vodka step, adding 1 tablespoon at a time and pulsing briefly after each, until the mixture looks like it is just barely starting to form clumps. Dump the mixture into a 9-inch tart pan and use a spoon to quickly press the mixture evenly against the bottom and sides, keeping everything as cold as possible. (A sheet of wax paper could also aid in smoothing out the mixture). Chill the unbaked tart shell in the freezer for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 1 hour or up to overnight.

To make the topping: Preheat oven to 400°F. (Beets and squash can be baked simultaneously; just keep an eye on separate bake times.)

Coat beets lightly with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Tightly wrap beets in foil, place in a baking dish, and bake for 1 hour or until tender. (If you wish to keep some of the golden beet completely yellow, wrap and bake those separately from the red beet.) When beets are cool enough to handle, gently rub off the skins. Then, place in the refrigerator to cool completely. 

Use a mandoline to thinly slice the squash. Coat slices lightly with olive oil. Arrange evenly onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. 

Slice cooled beets thinly with a mandoline and lay slices out on a baking sheet. Overlap red beet slices on gold beet slices to dye them as desired to create color variation, or keep some gold beet slices on a separate tray to preserve their color.

Whisk together apple cider vinegar, sugar, a pinch of kosher salt, and 2 teaspoons olive oil. Drizzle evenly over the trays of beet and squash slices and allow to marinade for at least 5 minutes.

Roll the beet and squash slices into rosettes. Start with a small slice of squash, and roll into a tight spiral (the squash  can usually be rolled into a tighter spiral than the beet). Fold or cut subsequent slices in half and keep wrapping them around to mimic the appearance of rose petals. For best results, place rosettes into a mini muffin tin to keep them together, and pre-assemble all the rosettes before placing them on the tart. (This can be done a day ahead.)

To make the filling: Add cream cheese, Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar, Greek yogurt, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and pepper to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to whip ingredients together until combined. Fold in almonds. (This filling can be made ahead. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator and allow to soften outside the refrigerator before spreading.)

To bake the tart shell: Dock the chilled shell with a fork to prevent it from puffing while baking. Line the inside with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights (or dry beans). Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake in the 400°F oven for 20 minutes. Remove the lining and weights, then bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before filling.

To assemble the tart: Spread the filling evenly inside the baked tart shell. Gently press the veggie rosettes into the filling; extra beet and squash slices can be used to fill in empty spaces after the initial rosettes are placed. If desired, garnish with a few fennel fronds, or fresh herbs of your choice. Be sure to use a nice sharp knife when slicing, and enjoy!

Thank you so much to Cabot Creamery for sponsoring this recipe! Visit their website to find out where you can get their delicious cheeses, such as their naturally-aged cheddars, near you!

How To Make Perfect Jammy Eggs

I am pretty sure the term “jammy eggs” is a term that only exists on Instagram. It is used to describe when the yolk of a boiled egg still has a ways to go before becoming the dry, chalky grossness called for in old-school deviled egg recipes, but it holds together much better than a completely runny or raw yolk. There’s a supple, gooey, almost gelatinous look and consistency to the yolks in this in-between zone, and that’s why they end up getting called jammy eggs.

But there is more to the perfect jammy egg (I’ve also seen them sometimes referred to as soft-boiled egg) than getting the texture of the yolk just right. There’s also the look of the egg as a whole when you cut into it. Even if your timing is perfect for cooking the egg to get that jammy yolk consistency, there are still things that can prevent your egg from being picture-perfect, such as a yolk that is completely off to one side, a big air bubble causing the shape to look completely wonky, or a bunch of the egg white getting stuck to the shell when you try to peel it.

I’ve made a lot of eggs for the ‘gram over the past few years. A lot of this is largely thanks to my ongoing partnership with Pete & Gerry’s who have been a wonderful supporter and sponsor of my work. (This blog post is NOT sponsored but I can honestly say their eggs are delicious and gorgeous, and that very lovely people work at the company.) But making eggs for sponsored work or a client shoot means even more pressure to get them to look perfect, which can be stressful for shooting a food preparation where so much can go wrong. So after cooking probably several dozen eggs in this style, I can share all that I have learned to set all the rest of you up for success in your future egg-making ventures too!

Phase 1: Choosing What Eggs to Use for the Best Looking Jammy Eggs

• Use good-quality eggs that are fresh from the grocery store. (I have not used eggs directly from the body of a chicken before so can’t attest to the nuances of eggs that fresh.) There is info online about how the shells will be harder to peel off when the eggs are fresher, but I’ll address how to overcome this in Phase 3.

  • What happens if you skip this tip: You want fresher eggs because the air bubble inside of them will be smaller, resulting in a nicer boiled egg shape. Over time, due to moisture loss within the egg, the air bubble at the wider end of the egg gets bigger. Using an old egg will result in the boiled egg having a big crater in the bottom, because the big air bubble prevents the egg white from fully taking on the shape of the egg shell.

Phase 2: Boiling the eggs

• Step 1: Use a safety pin to poke a hole in the wider end of each egg. This allows airflow in and out of the egg and can also help mitigate the impact of the air bubble inside the egg on the shape of the final result. Keep the eggs out on the counter to bring them closer to room temp after this step.

  • What happens if you skip this tip: Pressure can build up as the contents of the egg get heated in the boiling water. This could cause the egg to crack and some of the white to leak out, ruining your perfect boiled egg shape.

• Step 2: Bring a pot of water to boil on high heat. Make sure there’s enough depth to fully submerge the eggs. While you’re waiting, you could also get an ice bath ready for the end.

• Step 3: Gently lower the eggs into the boiling water. Set your timer according to the guide below:

  • 6.5 minutes: Fully set whites and runny yolks. Perfect for ramen.

  • 7 minutes: Jammy yolk consistency on the outer parts of the yolk, liquid gold right in the middle

  • 7.5 minutes: Perfect jammy yolk consistency throughout

  • 8 minutes: Jammy yolks that aren’t going anywhere. Perfect for tamago sandos like the one shown above.

• Step 4: Keep the eggs moving! Use a slotted spoon to continuously spin the eggs around their own axes as well as occasionally lift them out of the water and immediately lower them back in. Do this for the entire cook time. The centrifugal motion will keep the yolk positioned nicely as the egg white cooks, and lifting the egg in and out might help with reducing the impact of that pesky air bubble (if the eggs are relatively fresh).

  • What happens if you skip this tip: The yolk will settle in the egg before the egg white has had a chance to cook/solidify. When you cut it open, you will find that the yolk is in a weird spot and you have an ugly cross-section.

  • Credit to Eat With Your Eyes Closed for teaching me about egg yolk centrifuge.

• Step 5: When the timer is up immediately transfer the eggs into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Move them around for a bit to really allow the heat to disperse and get the eggs to cool down.

Phase 3: Cooling and Peeling the Eggs

You could cook the eggs perfectly and still end up with ugly eggs if you don’t get this post-production phase right. If you followed Phase 1 correctly and used store-fresh eggs, they can be notoriously hard to peel, resulting in frustration and little bits of egg white (and all your hopes and dreams of a perfect-looking egg) being lost. Patience and cooling time are the keys to doing this phase right.

• After your eggs are cool to the touch from resting in the ice bath, gently knock them against each other or a countertop to make little hairline fractures in the shells. I like to grasp the egg and encircle it with my palm when I do this, to help support the egg structure.

• Especially concentrate on creating fracture lines at the wider bottom of the shell. Due to that air bubble, it will be easiest to start on this end anyway when you peel.

• Place the unpeeled eggs in a bowl of cold water and put them in the fridge. Let them continue to chill for as long as you can, up to overnight! The cold temperature will cause things to shrink inside the shell and water will seep in between the cooked egg and the shell, creating separation.

• When it is time to peel, start from that wider end and go gently and slowly, continuing to fracture the shell into little pieces as you go, rather than trying to peel off a big chunk at once.

  • What happens if you skip these tips: The egg white may stick to the shell!

Phase 4: Enjoying the Eggs!

Now you are ready to take photos of your eggs if you so choose, but more importantly, you are ready to eat them! Below is some inspiration for how to incorporate jammy eggs into your meals. I hope you found this blog post helpful, and I wish you eggcellent jammy eggs in your future!

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chili Garlic Eggplant Salad on Labneh

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Eggplants, aubergines, brinjals. I never understood why people don’t like them. I think people who say it’s a texture thing are eating ones that are not cooked properly. People who say they are bitter must be eating ones that aren’t fresh. When cooked properly and at the right time, eggplants—especially Chinese and Japanese eggplants—shouldn’t be anything but silky flavor sponges. And this recipe features these long eggplants in their very best form, with a completely melt-in-your-mouth texture and a rich, tangy, fragrant, and numbing spicy sauce that is absolutely addictive.

Chili garlic eggplant—as in, the stir-fry kind found on many Chinese restaurant menus in the US—used to be the thing I’d make to treat myself when my anti-eggplant spouse was out of town. He has since come around to admitting that he actually does enjoy eggplant, just not in the crappy eggplant parms he had during his Italian-American upbringing. So I get to have stir-fried chili garlic eggplant a lot more often nowadays. But this is not a recipe for that dish.

I just got back from London where I had dinner at Ottolenghi and every single dish we ordered came with some pool of creamy dippable/scoopable yumminess beneath or next to wonderful soft vegetables, whether it was yogurt, labneh, toum, or whipped feta. It was all so good, and fueled my obsession for serving absolutely everything on a pool of labneh, as if it wasn’t maxed out already (see: here, here, here). So when I got home, I was determined to make my own eggplant-on-labneh dish, but I wanted to put a Chinese spin on it. This is the recipe for that dish.

One thing I was determined to do with this recipe was make sure that the beautiful purple color of the eggplant was preserved and the eggplant did not turn brown when cooked. I was so happy that this cooked eggplant turned out a shade that almost exactly matched the purples I have going on in my garden. Here are some useful resources I came across when I was researching how to preserve the purple color of eggplants after cooking:

• https://noobcook.com/how-to-retain-the-beautiful-purple-of-eggplants-after-cooking/

• https://yingchen.life/2019/06/28/two-methods-to-keep-eggplant-from-turning-brown/

I ended up going with an oil blanching technique because I wanted the eggplants to be ultra silky soft but also have a hint of caramelization from the cooking.

So what does this dish taste like? This dish combines my homemade numbing chili oil + my usual Chinese cold appetizer dressing + silky eggplant + an herby salad + creamy labneh. It’s like the smashed cucumber salad you get at a Sichuan restaurant but with much gentler textures and kicked up a few notches of luxury. It might be the best eggplant dish I’ve ever had and it’s definitely the best I’ve ever made. Note that for experimentation purposes I used a medley of all sorts of herbs (mint, cilantro, Thai basil, Italian basil, arugula, nasturtium, lemon balm) to build out the salad component of this eggplant salad—so that’s what’s in the photos—but I found that the bites with the cilantro tasted far better than the others, so that’s what’s reflected in the written recipe below.

This recipe was adapted from Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s.

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Melt-in-your-Mouth Chili Garlic Eggplant Salad on Labneh

Ingredients

2 Chinese eggplants cut into long wedges
4 cups water
2 tbsp kosher salt
vegetable oil, for frying
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts divided
1 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp chinkiang vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp homemade mala chili oil, plus more to taste
labneh
cilantro

Procedure

In a large bowl or rectangular tub, dissolve the salt in the water. Add eggplant, and place a plate or something on top to make sure it’s all fully submerged. Let brine for 1 hour.

In the meantime, combine the garlic and olive oil in a small pan and fry gently on medium low, stirring continuously. Once the garlic starts to turn golden, remove from heat and keep stirring to allow the residual heat to cook the garlic through. Then, drain off the oil into a separate bowl and set both aside.

Heat enough vegetable oil to deep fry the eggplant in a Dutch oven. In the meantime, pat the eggplant dry.

Dry off your brining bowl and use it to make the dressing. Whisk together the garlic-infused olive oil plus the white parts of the scallions, sugar, both vinegars, soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of chili oil. Set aside.

On another burner/hob, get a dry wok ready on very high heat.

Oil blanch all the eggplant by adding it at once to the dutch oven. Once you start to see some browning on the edges, remove the eggplant and allow it to drain well. Then, add it to the super hot dry walk, cut side down. As you start to see caramelization occurring, remove the pieces of eggplant from the wok and add it to the dressing bowl.

After all the eggplant has been caramelized and blistered, toss it around in the dressing.

Coat your serving platter with a thin, swoopy layer of labneh. Add the eggplant. Drizzle on extra chili oil to taste. Then sprinkle on the fried garlic, sliced scallion greens, and lots of cilantro.

Poached Eggs in Burrata and Sambal Butter

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I don’t have an exact recipe for this but it is maybe my favorite breakfast that I have ever made for myself so I had to document it here, if anything so that I could remember what I did. This is another poached egg bowl born out of my obsession for çilbir, which is known in English as Turkish eggs. Çilbir is a dish of garlicky yogurt topped with poached eggs and then drizzled with a chili butter made with a Turkish chili. This one has those general components (creamy base, eggs, spicy melted butter) but done a little differently in favor of some of my other obsessions.

This post is not sponsored but it uses some of my favorite storebought products to bring together a most epic of flavor combos:

• Toom garlic dip: I love this when I am too lazy to make Lebanese toum from scratch

• BelGioioso black truffle burrata: My absolute favorite burrata, I’m obsessed! Great stracciatella action inside with a thin casing and the perfect amount of truffle flavor.

• Azalina’s sambal: A Malaysian company local to me in SF! I feel grateful to have them around to stay connected to the flavors of my heritage.

• Mizkan Sushi Seasoning: This is my cheat for when I want a simple salad vinaigrette and I am too lazy to make one.

This dish also includes a beautiful little salad that I made out of mostly things I “foraged” from my backyard garden. Now that my edible garden is well underway and in full bloom, I love being able to go out there and snip little bits of leaves from here and there to make an herbaceous salad whenever I want to bring some freshness to a dish. This would also be great with a salad of any tender herbs you have remnants of in your fridge, or mild cresses, or baby arugula.

Oh yes, and a delicious bread is an absolute must to serve with this dish, to spoon on all the creamy goodness and mop up the bowl. Here, I had it with slices of a garlic loaf from my favorite Bay Area bakery, Wild Flower Bread!

Awkwardly Vague instructions for Poached Eggs in Burrata and Sambal Butter (with a little herby salad)

Ingredients

2 eggs
white vinegar, for poaching eggs (optional)
scoop of Lebanese toum (garlic dip)
4 oz ball of black truffle burrata
1 persian cucumber, sliced into ribbons with a veggie peeler
4 tbsp salted butter
Malaysian sambal
a small handful of fresh tender greens
seasoned sushi vinegar
chopped dill
chopped chives

Procedure

Make the poached eggs. (I keep wavering between doing the whirlpool method vs not. In this case I thought the shape would be better for the dish without the whirlpool so here’s what I did instead:) Bring about 4 inches of water to boil in a pot. Crack the eggs into small bowls. Turn the heat down to low, add a small splash of vinegar, and slowly tip in the eggs. Turn the heat up to medium-low and allow eggs to poach for 3 minutes. Transfer eggs to an ice bath.

Smear a scoop of toum into the bottom of your bowl. Break up the burrata and add it evenly on top of the toum to form a base for the eggs.

Arrange the cucumber ribbons and poached eggs on top.

In a small pan, melt the butter on medium-low heat. When it starts to foam, add in as much sambal as is to your taste. Break down the sambal paste with a spatula and mix it in with the butter until fully incorporated.

Toss your little collection of greens with a splash of the sushi seasoning.

Pour the sambal butter over everything in the bowl. Add the salad to one side and then sprinkle dill and chives over everything.

Serve with some amazing bread.