Last month, after drooling over all the posts from the Daring Bakers last challenge, Bostini Cream Pie, I knew I had to join. I don’t bake much, but I’m game for any challenge and DB gives me an excuse to eat pastries! I wrote Ivonne and Lis, letting them know that I can be quite clumsy when it comes to baking and asked if I could still join. They replied with warm welcome, encouraging me to join.

At first I was disappointed when I saw the challenge for my first month of daring bakery—Tender Potato Bread. The host of the month, Tanna, anticipated some fuss over a savory bread challenge at the very onset of the holiday season, and she explained that she’s more of a savory gal. Happy to know that the savory bread represented the host’s style, I started to get pumped. And then I started to get scared. I haven’t had much luck with yeast breads. Maybe I don’t proof the yeast properly (though I honestly try!) or maybe I knead wrong, but most yeast breads that I’ve attempted haven’t turned out right—edible, but nothing to brag about. And then to read that the dough would be much softer than normal (non-potato) bread! My whisks were tremblin’!

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Thanksgiving is tapping her foot impatiently on the doorstep. She’s poking me, inquiring why I haven’t started preparing yet—I haven’t even shopped! She’s rolling her eyes and hurrumphing at me as I flip through my cookbooks, looking at Christmas cookies.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m excited—ecstatic—about Thanksgiving this year. My sister and her husband recently bought their first home, and she’s hosting Thanksgiving for our family and his, somewhere around 20 people. We’ve divied up the tasks (living 2 hours away and not getting there until Thursday morning, I don’t have many) and decided who cooks what. Everything is planned and ready to get started on, but unfortunately I just can’t cook on Monday what we want to eat on Thursday. And in anticipation for the big day, I don’t feel like cooking much of anything else.

The thought of having a kitchen full of dirty dishes on Wednesday afternoon—when I have to start, in a frenzy, to cook my part of the dinner—is terrifying, so I’ve been trying to cook as cleanly and organized as I can this week. Thankfully, this paranoia about keeping a clean kitchen in prep for the holiday begat a wonderful, simple, and calming dinner of pasta with spinach, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sausage. The spices, which remind me of everything wonderful about the holidays—sans any stress—are warm and snuggly. Because you are saving so much time with a practically effortless dinner, I suggest eating by candlelight or a crackling fireplace—tell Ms. Thanksgiving to shove off and enjoy some relaxation before the big day!

Easy Pasta with Spinach, Nutmeg, and Sausage

adapted from Bon Appetit, Dec 07

serves 4

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1½ pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper, white peppercorns if you have them
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 pound cavatelli pasta, fresh or frozen if possible
• 12 oz (2 bags) fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Grana Padano (or Parmesan) cheese, with more for sprinkling

Heat oil in large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Add sausages. Sauté until cooked through and beginning to brown, breaking up with back of spoon and occasionally scraping bottom of skillet, about 10 minutes. Stir in pepper and cinnamon, then cream; bring to simmer.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite.

Add pasta to sauce. Add nutmeg.* Cook over medium heat, adding spinach in batches and tossing until wilted. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese; serve.

*Nutmeg gets a slightly off taste when heated for too long, that’s why I added it in after the other spices. The original recipe added the nutmeg during the first step, so the cooking time might not have been enough to give the nutmeg this off flavor, but I didn’t want to chance it.

Hey all! There were a bunch of great recipes submitted for this round of Blog or Bust. To remind you, the theme this go-round was fall. We all love fall food—pumpkin, apples, squash, with it’s comfy spices (nutmeg, cinnamon) and warm-up your heart feel. So, Blog or Bust this time asked for you to create a “Fall” dish—pumpkin pie, chili, gratin, soup, the possibilities are almost endless. Something comfortable, something cozy, something hearty. Something that screams “Come on, holidays, do your worst!” We need to prepare ourselves for winter, people, and the best way to do that is to fill our bellies with something delicious, nourishing, and homey. We don’t, however, want to feel like stuffed turkeys, so we kept things healthy! Below is the round-up, in no particular order, and all particularly delicious!

Elly from Elly Says Opa! pretended it was Thanksgiving back in October and made this Braised Chicken Thighs with Autumn Harvest Orzo, Mushrooms & Walnuts for the event. Slow cooking is on of my favorite ways to cook chicken, and I’m always amazed by how not-healthy a healthy slow-cooked dinner will taste. And Elly’s orzo was a blend of a blend of pumpkin, sage & chestnut orzo—Mmmm!

Dani from Average Cook cooked up a chunky two bean and beef chili. Dani writes, “Not too spicy, just a little kick, perfect for me. The cinnamon added an interesting taste to the chili, in a good way. I served it with some sour cream (light), shredded cheddar (fat-free), and diced avocado. It really hit the spot. It’s a keeper.” And to top it off, there is 10 grams of fiber in the chili—nice!

Lisa from Lisa’s Kitchen created a salad of beet and feta. Pickled beets and feta cheese are dressed with a light vinagrette and fresh mint, noting that “the strong taste of beetroot goes very well with the sharp flavour of feta cheese.” It sounds invigorating and delicious!

Deeba of Passionate About Baking started off her post on a healthy apple crumble with a quote: “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns.”-George Eliot. Her apple crumble is equally poetic, with lightly toasted oats, cinnamon, and walnuts— something to love.

Mansi from Fun and Food gives us a decadent dessert, Sour Cream Raspberry brownies! “The secret ingredient is Sour Cream,” giving the dessert “a moist and rich texture to the brownies and the raspberries give it the luscious taste in every bite that makes these beauties almost irresistible!” YUM!

On Halloween, Sara from What Smells So Good? spooked up with a Ghoulash! She gives us the nutritional facts, “A succulent meal for serving over noodles, brown rice or mashed potatoes that has 241 calories, 7g of fat, 3g of fibre and 130% of the daily recommended Vitamin A intake per serving!” That’s scary good!

Mocha from Masala Box gives us another chili, this one made with turkey (Thanksgiving chili, anyone?) This is a great, one pot meal (Mocha calls it OPM), perfect for a busy autumn night. Topped with sour cream, green onions, and a little cheese, this is a meal to cozy up to.

Maria of Dinner and Drinks made a slow-cooker apple butter that taught me a little something—I had thought apple butter was actually a butter, when really it’s more of a preserve. Knowing that, I was psyched to try apple butter! Maria writes, “What could be more fall-like than apples, brown sugar and spices slowly cooking all day long? So I made a big batch of apple butter! The aroma that this makes as it cooked away in the crock pot was amazing. It doesn’t take much to get lots of flavor, it is a mix of sweet, tart and spice all at once.” …I’m sold.

Zlamushka from Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen made a baked Hokkaido pumpkin with herbs, which I’ll let her explain to you. “Back in Slovakia, orange pumpkin is considered exotic. Only recently, it started appearing in stores some time around autumn. However, most people do not buy it, for one simple reason. They have no idea what to do with it. Hokkaido pumpkin (how we call it) is very sweet compared to our traditional white-greenish pumpkin (in English spaghetti squash or white “pattypan” squash). Therefore the vendors started attaching little recipe books to the pumpkin when selling. My mum all excited brought one home for me. It was my very first time cooking pumpkin, so I was quite excited myself. I prepared one of the simple baked dishes featured in the little attached recipe book.” With so many wonderful herbs in the dish, it sounds divine, and perfectly autumnal!

And finally, I blogged about cranberry applesauce a while ago, submitting the recipe to this event. It’s a great applesauce on its own, and I’m using it as a sub for cranberry sauce this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And keep cozy!

You may remember that a few weeks ago I threw a pity party for myself over some braised short-ribs. They had come out too tough, but the sauce I had made to go with it was too good to go to waste, so I ate the mediocre dinner and then cried to you about it. Being the seasoned chef that I am (that’s supposed to be a joke) I for some (god knows what) reason decided to give my own advice on how to make good short-ribs—even though I had never successfully made short-ribs.

“In the end, I learned that short ribs are probably best cooked over a long period of time, marinated the night beforehand, and then refrigerated once cooked, reheated and served the next day.”

OK, so that’s bullcrap and I’m here today to bite my tongue. And to give you a succulent recipe for tender short ribs, that only takes 2½ hours, and that has a tangy, creamy sauce that will make you forgive me for all the silly culinary things I say!

It’s been a loooong week that included a looong train ride and excruciating business trip… so instead of writing anymore text that will undoubtedly come out sounding crabby, here’s the recipe:

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Horseradish Cream

from The Gourmet Cookbook

Serves 4

• 1 T black peppercorns
• 1 tsp dried thyme, crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 pounds short ribs
• 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped, plus 1 T chopped celery leaves*
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine, such as Burgundy
• 4 cups veal stock**
• 1/4 cup creme fraiche
• 1 T drained bottled horseradish

Wrap peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaf in a square of cheesecloth and tie into a bundle with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni.***

Pat ribs dry and sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over moderately high heat until just smoking. Add ribs and sear, turning with tongs, until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Transfer ribs bone sides up to a roasting pan large enough to hold them in one layer. Set aside.

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375ºF.

Add onions, carrots, celery ribs, garlic, bouquet garni, and wine to skillet, bring to a boil, and boil until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir stock into vegetables and bring to a boil. Pour stock mixture over ribs and cover pan tightly with foil. Transfer to oven and braise until meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 2½ hours. Let cool slightly.

When ribs are cool enough to handle, remove any excess fat and discard bones.**** (Set pan aside.) Transfer beef to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

Pour cooking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a small saucepan, pressing on solids; discard solids and skim fat. Bring to a boil and boil sauce until reduced to about 1 cup, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together creme fraiche, horseradish, celery leaves, and remaining 1/8 tsp salt in a small saucepan and heat over moderate heat, stirring, just until hot.

Serve beef topped with sauce and horseradish cream.

*Try to use organic celery. Otherwise, the leaves have a chemical-like taste to them.

** I used a good beef stock (not homemade).

*** If you can’t find cheesecloth, you can make a bouquet garni using kitchen string and a coffee filter. Add all ingredients into the filter, then close top and tie off with string. Works perfectly.

**** I left the meat on the bones, because I like that feeling of eating everything off the bone at the table. Carnivorous and such. And also, only discard the bones if you are crazy and don’t want to make stock from them. Even if you don’t want to make stock soon, just wrap them in a freezer bag and pop in the freezer until you are ready. Then, next time you make this recipe, you won’t have to use the store bought stuff!! :)

All in one day.*

Jim and I ventured to the city Saturday, with tickets to Tom Stoppard’s play. We walked up to the theatre, passing an unusually large mass of police and cop-cars, as well as some angry looking people, and learned at the entrance that the play was cancelled. The stage-hands had gone on strike.

After a few minutes of pity-partying, we decided that we’d make a good day out of our trip—we’d gotten someone to come over to walk the dog, planning to be out for over 12 hours, so why not take advantage of that?

Without even planning it, the day revolved around food. We had already eaten lunch at Jean-Georges, lunches of tuna tartare and then hake with coconut-milk broth and mango (for me), and mushroom soup with curried chicken and enoki mushroom and then petite filet with brussel sprouts and couscous (for Jim). The lunch was finished with a chocolate cake (or more like a chocolate marshmellow over a graham-cracker crust) with pumpkin ice cream. Everything was superb. The flavors were at once bold but not overwhelming, and the dessert captured the sense of “autumn” more perfectly than I could ever imagine. And this menu, prix-fixe, cost 24.00 per person. I am still swooning.

After that lunch, it was hard to get too disappointed about the play—we were already having such a good time and the meal alone was worth the trip into NYC. Wanting to walk off the dessert, we linked hands and strolled over to Union Square, to check out the farmer’s market. We bought some wonderful spiced hot apple cider and sipped the fragrant drink on a bench in the park, happily people watching, almost in a daze.

From there we wandered to Momofuku Ssam Bar—you know, the restaurant/gourmet fast food joint owned by David Chang. The one with the steamed pork belly buns. They are as good as the hype. Unctuous pork belly is offset by piquant pickles and the perfectly steamed buns make for a chewy, glorious little sandwich. It was probably the fattest sandwich I’ve ever eaten, but every single calorie was worth it.

Finishing our Japanese beers, we headed off for a long walk from the village to the Time-Warner building. Since we were at Momofuko at the tail end of their lunch menu, we didn’t get dessert (which is only on the dinner menu). Passing the Time-Warner building, headed for the car, I suddenly remembered that Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery was in there, a floor below Per Se. We excitedly ran in, and ordered two sandwiches, an eclair, a chocolate tart, and two cookies—a little snack for when we got home. The bakery’s food was fantastic as we munched on it hours later in the apartment, and I can imagine that Per Se is off the charts if this is what Keller offers as ready-made prepared food. Popping in a movie and feeding each other chocolates for the rest of the night, I was actually glad the stage-hands were striking.

*photo yoinked from New York Times website.