Black Friday breakfast: Ricotta Pancakes with Sautéed Pears

Thanksgiving was a smashing success (or close enough). Now delight your weekend house guests with Marion’s light, creamy pancakes topped with sautéed fruit. Recipe from the Blue Kitchen archives below.

Ricotta Pancakes with Sautéed Pears

Thanksgiving is arguably the most important food holiday. Sure, food matters with other holidays, but for Thanksgiving, food is the holiday. For food magazines, the Thanksgiving issue is the September issue of Vogue, and the cover girl is invariably the turkey.

At Blue Kitchen, we prefer to focus on the periphery, providing interesting side dishes that liven up the holiday table. Sweet Potato Vichyssoise for a surprising, elegant first course, Kasha, a non-traditional traditional side in our house that gravy loves every bit as much as mashed potatoes, Potato Gnocchi with Roasted Root Vegetables, a tofu-free vegetarian main course or side… [read more here…]

A sweet Thanksgiving surprise times two: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Another trip into the Blue Kitchen archives as our needed break continues. If you’re looking for an unexpected Thanksgiving dessert, consider Marion’s whoopie pies with pumpkin cookies and two different cream cheese fillings—lemon and maple syrup.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

When I told my friends that for this week’s post I would be making whoopie pies, no one said, “Making what?”

Pretty much everybody in the United States these days knows what a whoopie pie is. A cookie sandwich with an icing filling, it’s simpler than cake, a happy intermediate between a cupcake and a sweet bread. Whoopie pies emanated from the American Northeast—Maine (where it is the “official state treat”), Pennsylvania and Boston all vow they invented it. Wikipedia reports that the world’s largest whoopie pie was made in South Portland, Maine in 2011. It weighed 1,062 pounds. This is a real thing, that happened. [Read more here…]

Cooking for one, well done: Lamb Chops, Couscous with Raisins and Onions

While Blue Kitchen is enjoying a short break, we’re sharing favorite recipes from the archives. This week, it’s actually two recipes—Pan-grilled Lamb Chops and Couscous with Raisins and Onions—plus some thoughts on the pleasures of cooking for one.

Lamb Chops Couscous with Onions and Raisins

Shortly after I’d moved to Chicago the first time, I bought a half ham. Trying to figure out what to do with it, I consulted Joy of Cooking, where I was greeted by these cheery words: “Someone defined eternity as a ham and two people.” Standing there alone in the galley kitchen of my tiny studio apartment, I did the math—my half ham and I were in for a long haul. [Read more here…]

Biscuits and the “meatiest” vegetarian red eye gravy you’ll ever make

While Blue Kitchen continues a brief break, we’re sharing some of our favorite dishes from the archives. This week, it’s Drop Biscuits and Vegetarian Red Eye Gravy, so umami-rich it might even fool a meat lover. (Also, with this post, we celebrate Blue Kitchen’s ninth anniversary.)

biscuits and vegetarian red eye gravy

At dinner with friends the other night, one of the diners at our table exclaimed over a vegetarian entrée on the menu. I realized at that moment that I will never willingly become a vegetarian. If there are meat or seafood options on a menu, I can’t get excited about vegetarian choices. Or as I put it to our companions, “It would take a death threat from my doctor to make me turn vegetarian.” [Read more here…]