Ribollita with Sausage (Hearty Tuscan White Bean and Kale Soup)

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Serving Size: 4 – 6

Podcast Recommendation: NPR’s Throughline: How The CIA Overthrew Iran’s Democracy In 4 Days

Ingredients:

Croutons:

• 2 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more

Soup:

• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled, finely chopped (0.25″ inch cubes)
• 3 celery stalks, finely chopped (0.5″ inch pieces)
• 4 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained, chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon better than bouillon garlic base
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves torn into 2” pieces (or bag of precut kale)
• 1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 4 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Instructions:

1. Using your hands, mix sausage and wine in a medium bowl until smooth. Cook in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until firm but not browned, about 4 minutes.
2. Add onion, carrots, celery, anchovies, garlic, garlic bouillon base, red pepper flakes, and apple cider vinegar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender but still hold their shape, 20 minutes.
3. While vegetables in step #2 are cooking, make croutons:
   1. Preheat oven to 350°.
   2. Toss bread cubes and 3 Tbsp. oil on a rimmed baking sheet (or silicon mat).
   3. Toast, tossing once at the 10 minute mark, until golden brown and crunchy, 15–18 minutes.
   4. Let croutons cool.
4. Add kale, beans, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until kale offers no resistance when bitten and flavors have melded, about 45.
5. Add a handful of croutons to the bottom of the bowl and ladle soup in. Divide remaining croutons among bowls and ladle soup over. Add more croutons and serve topped with Parmesan and drizzled with more oil.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit. First tried ribollita at Acanto.

 

Scallops with Pressure Cooker Mushroom Risotto

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 8 minutes | Inactive Time: 30 min (for scallops)

Serving Size: 3 – 4

Special Equipment: Pressure Cooker

Podcast Recommendation: Not a podcast but I was recently given an intro to classical music list by a friend and recommend Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor. I recommended to him this podcast (among many others) based on this New Yorker article I read but haven’t listened to the podcast yet. If you have, let me know your thoughts!

Ingredients:

For the Mushroom Risotto:

• 4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil (I used this shallot olive oil from Oliviers’ that we picked up on a trip to France), separated into two 2 – tablespoon amounts
• 1.5 cups arborio rice (I used the RiceSelect brand)
• 4 cups chicken stock (I used the Costco generic Kirkland brand, which is very good IMO), warm (heated on stove or microwaved – I microwaved mine directly in the glass measuring cup for 1.5 minutes)
• 1 – 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 pint oyster mushrooms, chopped
• 1 shallot, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic bouillon (see pic below)
• Garlic salt (Trader Joe’s grinder like this)
• Pepper (I used this one)
• 2 tablespoons butter (I use Kerrygold from Costcto for the higher fat content)
• 1/2 cup of shredded parmesan cheese (or more – whatever your preference is!), plus additional amount for garnish if desired
• Chopped Parsley (remove leaves from 4  – 6 stems and chop)

For the Scallops:

• One pound  scallops (11 scallops in my bag of frozen scallops)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Garlic salt (Trader Joe’s grinder like this)
• Pepper (I used this one)

Instructions:

For Mushroom Risotto:

1. Turn sauté option on pressure cooker and add olive or vegetable oil.
2. Once oil is hot (about 1 minute), add garlic bouillon and mushrooms and stir frequently to prevent burning, about 3 minutes.
3. Add diced shallots and sauté another 2 – 3 minutes.
4. Add minced garlic and sauté another minute.
5. Add rice and add remaining olive / vegetable oil and garlic salt and pepper.
6. Stir rice to coat evenly with olive oil, about 1 – 1.5 minutes.
7. Add white wine vinegar and let cook down for 30 seconds, then add 1/4 cut stock and deglaze bottom of pressure cooker pot. Taste broth. Add salt if needed.
8. Once bottom of pot is deglazed, add remaining chicken broth in and switch from sauté to pressure cook (on high).
9. Set time to 7 minutes.
10. Prepare scallops (see below)
11. Once time is up, add butter and parmesan cheese directly to risotto and give it a good stir to incorporate.
12. Sprinkle chopped parsley and additional parmesan on top (if making risotto separately from the scallop recipe below)

For Scallops:

1. Thaw scallops, if needed. Lay one layer of paper towels on cookie sheet. Put scallops in rows on paper towel. Lay another layer of paper towels on top of scallops and put another cookie sheet or cutting board on top to squeeze the water out of the scallops. Bring to room temperature for 15 – 30 minutes prior to cooking.
2. Once scallops have had excess water squeezed out, season both sides liberally with garlic salt and pepper.
3. Add oil to pan on medium heat (or medium-high if stove is not very hot – we have a gas burner and opted for the higher BTU stove when we redid the kitchen) for 1 – 1.5 minutes.
4. Put scallops in pan (do not overcrowd – I had to prepare in two separate batches) and let sit for 1.5 – 2 minutes in order for crust to develop.
5. While scallops are searing, plate the risotto (you may need to manually release the pressure from your pressure cooker in order to get the timing right) and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
6. Add 1 tablespoon (or more) of butter and let melt as you flip the scallops.
7. Baste the scallops with the melted butter for another 1.5 minutes.
8. Plate scallops on top of risotto and sprinkle some more parsley if desired (or drizzle lemon juice over).
9. Drizzle brown butter scallop juices from pan onto risotto and scallop.
10. Enjoy!

Garlic Bouillon

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Inactive Time: 1.5 hours (minimum)

Serving Size: 8 – 10

Podcast Recommendation:

Special Equipment:

1. Pasta Maker (I  use the Kitchenaid pasta roller and spaghetti cutter attachment).

Ingredients:

For the Spaghetti Noodles:

• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold water (ice cubes melted into measuring cup)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (for serving)

For the Meatballs:

• 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced 
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 3 cloves garlic, grated on a rasp grater
• 2 whole eggs 
• Splash of milk 
• Freshly ground black pepper 

For the Sauce:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced 
• Two 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced 
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• Crushed red pepper, as needed
• Freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions:

For the Spaghetti Noodles:

1. Combine the semolina flour, all purpose flour, and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, mix these ingredients together, then using a sifter, sift into another bowl. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs & beat well with a fork.
3. Add extra-virgin olive oil to the eggs and mix with a fork.
4. Add the cold water to the egg & olive oil mixture, and mix with a fork.
5. Pour the liquid ingredients into your mixer bowl and attach the flat beater.
6. Add half of the sifted flour mixture, turn to speed 2 and mix 20 seconds. Add the rest of the sifted flour mixture and mix an additional 20 seconds.
7. Exchange flat beater for the dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 to 3 minutes, until a dough ball is formed.
8. Remove dough from bowl and hand-knead for 2 to 3 minutes. NOTE: Good pasta dough should be elastic and pliable, but FIRM (not soft like bread dough). It should not stick to your fingers or fall apart. To test for the correct consistency, pinch a small amount of dough together after kneading for 2 to 3 minutes — if the dough stays together without sticking to your fingers or falling apart, it should work well. If too soft, add more flour by dusting the top of the dough and knead some more, continuing to dust the dough with flour until achieving the right consistency. If too dry, wet your hands and knead some more, continuing to wet your hands a little at a time & knead until the right consistency. (Achieving the right consistency isn’t hard at all — I got it just right the very first time I tried this recipe).
9. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1 hour (this step is important).
10. While dough is in fridge, make meatballs (recipe below).
11. Remove dough from refrigerator and let it rest for 15 minutes. Using your hands, roll dough into a log, about 12 inches long.
12. Cut log into 8 slices, then flatten each piece slightly. Spread slices out so they aren’t touching and cover with plastic wrap.
13. Using the widest setting on the pasta roller (1 on the Kitchenaid), turn mixer to speed 2 and taking one piece of the flattened dough, feed through rollers. Fold dough in half & roll again. Repeat 3 more times, lightly dusting the sheet of pasta in between each rolling if it feels the slightest bit sticky.
14. Move adjustment knob to setting 2 and feed the dough sheet through the rollers once.
15. Move adjustment knob to setting 3 and feed the dough sheet through the rollers once.
16. Continue to increase roller setting until desired dough thickness is reached: 3 for Thick “kluski” type egg noodles; 4 for standard egg noodles; 4 or 5 for lasagna noodles, fettuccine, spaghetti, and ravioli; 6 or 7 for tortellini, thin fettuccine, and linguine fini; 7 or 8 for VERY thin “angel-hair” type pasta/capellini or VERY fine linguine.
17. Separate sheets once desired thickness is achieved with a thin towel or piece of plastic wrap dusted with flour, so the dough doesn’t dry out too much.
18. To cut the noodles, exchange the Pasta Roller Sheet attachment for the cutter attachment of choice, either the fettucine cutter for wider noodles or the spaghetti cutter for spaghetti or linguine. Run each sheet through the cutter. NOTE: Each sheet can be cut in half or thirds before putting through the cutter to prevent “too long” of strips. I prefer to use the longer sheets, rather than cutting them in half or thirds, as this reduces the time it takes to cut each sheet & hang to dry.
19. After cutting each sheet, hang to dry on a pasta rack. Dry for a minimum of 10 minutes. If you don’t have a pasta rack, plastic hangers work great! IMPORTANT: Flour the pasta rack or the plastic hangers before placing pasta on them. ALSO, separate the strips of pasta as best you can, so they aren’t touching. This way they won’t dry sticking together. If you want to dry the pasta for later use, dry for several hours and then store in airtight plastic bags (i.e. Ziploc Freezer or Storage Bags).
20. When ready to cook, boil your water and add salt. For the 1.5 pounds of pasta, I use 2 teaspoons of salt. Oil in the water is not necessary.
21. Fresh pasta will cook faster than commercially bought pasta — about 2 to 4 minutes in vigorously boiling water.

For the Meatballs:

1. Combine the ground beef, pork, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, ricotta, parsley, crushed red pepper, salt, garlic, eggs, milk and black pepper in a bowl. Mash with your hands until thoroughly combined. Form into small balls (2 inches in diameter) and place in a glass casserole dish. Set in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. When ready to cook meatballs, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
3. Cover glass dish with aluminum foil to prevent meatballs from drying out and place glass dish in oven and cook for 25 minutes.

For the Sauce:

1. Puree whole tomatoes in food processor (do not dump the tomato water/juice from the can into the food processor to preserve sauce thickness).
2. Drain the meatball fat and juices from the glass dish into a sauce pan and add the garlic and onions and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomato puree, parsley, tomato paste, sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, and black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on to limit splatter cleanup. Check/stir occasionally to prevent ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
3. Add the meatballs back to the sauce pan and simmer another 15 minutes. Keep warm until serving.
4. To assemble everything, toss pasta noodles with grated parmesan cheese, then toss with sauce, and top with meatballs.

Pasta recipe credit goes here, meatball and sauce recipe adapted from Ree Drummond.

Pork Loin Banh Mi

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Inactive Time: 30+ minutes

Serving Size: 4 – 6 sandwiches

Podcast Recommendation: Fresh Air interview w/ Jordan Peele about his movie, “Get Out.” We watched the movie in Pittsburgh with some friends and it was excellent on so many levels. Definitely recommend watching the movie and then listening to the interview with Jordan Peele about it!

Ingredients:

For the Pork:

• 1 pound pork loin, very thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon diced ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ginger power
• garlic salt
• 2-5 dried thai chilis, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• small bunch of cilantro (5-10 stems) but rip leaves off and toss stems
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• zest of 1/4 lime
• 3 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

For the Pickled Veggies:

• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cucumber, shredded
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (I used this kind.)
• garlic salt
• 1tablespoon sugar

For Sandwich:

• 2 loaves french bread, each loaf cut in half (or thirds)
• mayo
• Sriracha
• thinly sliced jalapeño
• cilantro leaves

Instructions:

1. To make the pickled vegetables: In a bowl, toss together the carrots, cucumbers, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
2. Put all ingredients for the pork in a bowl and toss to evenly coat the pork. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and slice bread into halves/thirds and then in half for sandwich assembly.
4. Once meat is done marinating/you can’t wait any longer to cook it, put a wok/pan on medium heat for 30 seconds.
5. Put bread in oven to toast.
6. Since the marinade contains oil, there’s no need to add oil to the wok/pan. Dump entire contents of pork bowl into wok and cook, stirring frequently to get all faces of pork slices exposure to the direct heated metal of the wok/pan. When all surfaces seem cooked (this will take 1-2 minutes), turn off heat. Be sure not to overcook the pork or else it’ll get rubbery.
7. Take bread out of oven and while meat is cooling, spread mayo on top and bottom sandwich slices bread.
8. Put cilantro leaves on bottom layer to help prevent pork juices from absorbing into bread too quickly before you can eat it.
9. Layer pork slices on top of cilantro leaves.
10. Put sriracha on top of meat.
11. Put jalapeño slices on top of sriracha.
12. Put pickled veggie mixture on other half of bread.
13. Combine and enjoy!
    1. Tip: Dip the bread in the juices that spill out from the pickled veggies and meat!

Recipe adapted from the New York Times.

Banana Bread with Walnuts

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hr, 10 minutes

Serving Size: ~10-12 slices per loaf

Podcast Recommendation: BBC Documentaries Podcast: Reflections: Islam, People and Power Boxset. As the first in a series of podcasts examining Islam, Safa al Ahmad reflects on Islam as a religion, political philosophy, social contract, etc. through her own experience growing up in the Middle East and with experts/academics.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tbsp butter (1 stick), microwaved for 20 seconds
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2-3/4 walnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a loaf pan and then put a little bit of flour in and roll around the pan by physically moving/tilting the pan. This makes it easier to pop the loaf out once it’s done cooking!
2. Cream the sugar and butter with hand or stand mixer (low to medium speed) until light and fluffy (about 1 minute). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition (about 20-30 seconds per egg).
3. Add all bananas in and mix for another minute. Pour in milk, vanilla bean paste, and cinnamon and mix for another 20 seconds.
4. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix for additional 10-20 seconds.
5. Add 2 cups of flour in and mix until flour is well incorporated, scraping down as needed.
6. Add chopped walnut in and mix for another 20-30 seconds.*
7. Pour butter into prepared pan and bake 1 to 1 hr 10 min.** Bread should not wiggle when you pull the pan out to check on it (or you can use your own doneness test, such as with a toothpick).
8. Wait at least 5 minutes until bread has cooled and then pop out of the loaf pan. Cut and eat!

Recipe adapted from Food Network.

* At this point I added Christmas sprinkles, which melted unrecognizably into the bread. You can skip this step.

** I set the timer for 1 hr and then an additional 10 minutes thereafter when it was not done at 1 hr.

Chorizo Quiche, Take Two (No Milk or Cream!)

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes

Serving Size: 4-8 people

Podcast Recommendation: Not a podcast, but the Ken Burns documentary “The Central Park Five” was well done – both in its investigation into the failure of law enforcement investigators and prosecutors, and also in its probe into the life of the five boys (now men) after serving prison time for a crime they had no involvement in. It also highlights the failure of the most widely used interrogation tactic in the US (the Reed technique), which encourages false confessions and instructs interrogators to look for red herrings as signs of guilt. More on that in this Fresh Air interview.

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust (homemade or store bought)
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
• garlic salt
• 7.5 oz uncooked Mexican chorizo (I used one tube of the “El Popular” brand)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• parchment paper
• cast iron skillet or pie pan
• 3-4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• dried chives, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Sauté diced onions with chorizo over low/medium low heat (be careful not to burn the chorizo), about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a separate bowl to cool slightly.
3. Line cast iron skillet or pie pan with parchment paper.
4. Put the pie crust on top of the parchment paper.
5. Whisk eggs, garlic salt, cheddar, and gruyere cheese in a bowl.
6. Add chorizo onion mix to the eggs and whisk.
7. Pour egg chorizo mix into the pie crust.
8. Top with dots of goat cheese and chives.
9. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Paprika Chicken (Great for Stroganoff)

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serving Size: 2

Podcast Recommendation: The Ezra Klein Show: Interview w/ Deborah Tannen on gendered speech and this election. The best piece of this interview is towards the end where Tannen talks about the general differences in the way men and women communicate as a result of our socialization as children (women trade on closeness and men trade on hierarchy) and how the different communication styles play out in the workplace. For example, in the companies Tannen looked at, women were just as effective as men in getting things done but because women are more indirect in their way of asking for things to be done due to the communication philosophy of communicating with subordinates as equals, the women were judged as less competent.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces chicken thigh, about 8 oz, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 tablespoons butter
• garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (or 1/3 bouillon cube + 1/2 cup water)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 piece of bacon, chopped small like pancetta
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Optional: cooked rice or egg noodles

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat, then add diced onions and bacon and cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes, stirring often so the onion doesn’t burn.
2. Push onion out to edge of pan, lower heat, and add chicken, spreading so there’s only one layer of chicken and each piece is touching the bottom of the pan.
3. Season chicken with garlic salt, smoked paprika, and garlic powder. Cook chicken for about 3 minutes or until it not longer sticks to the bottom of the plan, then flip the chicken pieces so the original raw up side is touching the pan and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Add chicken broth or bouillon water mixture to the pan, along with the white wine and worcestershire sauce and continue to cook on low (medium low if it’s taking forever to reduce) until reduced by half, at least 6 minutes for me.
5. Add sour cream and stir to incorporate well into chicken mixture and turn heat up to medium low if it wasn’t already at medium low. Cook for another minute.
6. Serve over rice or egg noodles!

Recipe was adapted from this chicken stroganoff recipe. I upped the paprika for the extra smoky flavor but cut paprika to 1 teaspoon and it’d be great with egg noodles for a traditional stroganoff or keep the recipe as is and serve over rice!

Chicken Thighs w/ Sage Jus and Zucchini

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serving Size: 4

Podcast Recommendation: This American Life: Seriously? This American Life tackles crazy aspects of politics 2016.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• garlic salt and ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or other high smoking point oil)
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine (I used this one)
• 2 cups chicken broth or water + 1/2 chicken bouillon cube – I used Knorr brand)
• 1/2 lemon zest + juice
• 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard (I used TJ’s dijon mustard)
• 3 tablespoons minced sage
• 2 tablespoons cold butter
• 3 zucchinis/yellow squash, diced

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Pat chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season on one side with garlic salt and pepper.
3. Heat ovenproof skillet on stove over medium-high heat.
4. Once skillet is hot, reduce heat to medium and add oil, then add chicken thighs, seasoned side down, cooking for 2 minutes.
5. While waiting for 2 minutes to pass, season the upward facing chicken thighs.
6. Flip chicken and cook another 2 minutes then put pan into oven and cook for 10 minutes.
7. Once 10 minutes are up, take chicken out of pan and let cool on plate.
8. Return skillet to stove over low heat, being careful to wear an oven mitt when handling pan since the handle will still be hot.
9. Add minced shallots and cook until shallots are tender, about 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
10. Deglaze pan with wine (using wooden spoon to scrape up browned bits from the bottom of the pan) and cook until reduced by half.
11. Add chicken broth, lemon zest and juice, and mustard.
12. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, reduce again by half, about 6 minutes.
13. Remove pan from heat and whisk in sage and cold butter.
14. Pour 2/3 of the sage jus onto the chicken.
15. At this point you can either put the chicken over the zucchini/squash raw OR, to cook the zucchini/squash, return the skillet back to the stove over medium-low heat and cook zucchini/squash in the remaining 1/3 of sage jus for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If zucchini/squash starts to burn, lower heat and continue to cook.

Recipe adapted from the Sur la Table Girls Night Out cooking class.

🌹🍂🍎Apple Rose Tart w/ Sweet Custard and Walnut Crust🍎🍂🌹

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes + 2 hrs custard chilling time

Serving Size: 4 smallish tarts or 1 full-size tart

Podcast Recommendation: NY Times: The Run-Up: The Trump Tapes, Part I: ‘He Doesn’t Know Himself’ Michael Barbaro interviews Michael D’Antonio, the last man to extensively interview Donald Trump and his family for a biography (in 2014) and gets his take on what drives Trump, the coping mechanisms he has developed, the amount of self-reflection that Trump practices, and some of D’Antonio’s explanations on how Trump’s upbringing has shaped the man we see today.

Ingredients:

Walnut Crust:

• 2 ½ cups walnut pieces
• 4 tbsp (half a stick) butter, melted
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 egg white
• ¼ tsp salt

Custard

• 1 ½ cups milk (I used almond milk)
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ cup pure maple syrup (I didn’t have any on hand so I used this sugar free breakfast syrup)
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

🍎Apple Roses🌹

• 2 apples, sliced as thinly as possible while still slicing entire pieces from skin to core
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions:

Walnut Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Put walnuts in food processor until they are about the size of breadcrumbs.
3. Place the chopped nuts in a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients, tossing together with a fork.
4. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of tart pan or pans and up the sides but indented in the center. Bake for 15 minutes if using a 9-inch tart pan and only 10 minutes if using multiple smaller tart pans. Cool completely, then fill with Maple Custard.

Custard

1. Pour the milk into a small pot and place over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges (not boiling!).
2. Whisk the egg yolks, syrup, cornstarch, and salt together in a bowl until combined.
3. Slowly pour the hot milk over the egg mixture, while whisking, to warm the eggs.
4. Transfer the mixture back to the pot and place over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes very thick then immediately turn off the heat and add the vanilla.
5. Place plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent gross skin from forming and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Apple Roses

1. Right before you are ready to take the custard out of the fridge, cook the apple slices.
2. Warm butter in pan over medium low heat with sugar, cardamom, and vanilla bean paste.
3. Once the butter is melted and incorporated with the other ingredients, dump apple slices into pan and lower heat. Don’t worry about moving the top layer apples to the bottom. The steam formed from the layers of apples should cook all of the apple slices to a point where they are pliable. This will take about 8 minutes on low heat with very occasional turning of apple slices just to coat evenly with butter mixture – being careful not to tear apples. Test apples by holding one slice and bending it without the slice cracking. If the apple slice cracks then keep cooking apple slices on low heat and turning occasionally to coat apple slices evenly.
4. After apples are done cooking, form roses in custard in tart. you can create one big flower by laying apple slices down from the outer perimeter in. You can create individual roses by forming the outer circle of the rose and then working inwards, forming the center of the rose by rolling up one slice small and then sticking in the center.

Recipe married between this one and the Sur la Table Girls Night Out cooking class!

Beef Chili (Perfect for Chili Dogs!)🌭🌭🌭

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serving Size: 8-10

Podcast Recommendation: Lore: Trick or Treat 2016 – Set 1: Just rediscovered Lore in my podcast repertoire and listened to four in a row today. Lore explores different spooky stories and tales from around the world. Just in time for Halloween!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large or 2 small onions, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1.5 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 12 oz can dark red kidney beans, drained
• 1.5 cups water
• sour cream, for garnish
• grated cheddar cheese, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add bouillon cube, bell pepper, onion, and celery and sautee about 5 minutes, being careful not to burn the vegetables.
2. Clear the vegetables to the outer edge of the pot so the bottom of the pot is exposed in the center and add ground beef and minced garlic, breaking up quickly so the beef cooks crumbly.
3. Add all the spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, and ground black pepper),worcestershire sauce, and the tomato sauce and incorporate well into the beef and vegetable mixture, stirring frequently until beef is cooked all the way through, about 8 minutes.
4. Add kidney beans and stir for 30 seconds.
5. Add water and diced tomato and stir again. Turn heat down to medium-low or low heat and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent stuff from burning onto the bottom of the pot.
6. Top with sour cream and cheese and enjoy! We spooned the chili over hot dogs the night of and the leftovers were equally delicious as standalone chili the next day!

Recipe amalgamated from here, here, and here.