My girlfriend took one bite of these and said, “this tastes like Mac ‘n Cheese”. Voila, the Mac ‘n Cheese cracker was born.
I had been wanting to make more savory snacks and this was a really great place to start.
What I love most about this recipe is that these can be made in big batches, baked right away or frozen for future use, making last minute entertaining, either in our own home or at others, easy and stress free.
Cobbler, slump, or grunt; have you heard of these desserts? Most people can recognize a cobbler, a fruit dessert baked in a casserole with a dough topping but with no bottom crust. A slump or grunt is almost the
same thing except that they are simmered on the stove, resulting in a
steamed dumpling-like top. Supposedly one dessert is named after how
the dumplings look (they slump) and the other after the sound the
bubbling fruit makes (it grunts). All three are considered New England
specialties dating back to Colonial times, when they would have been
made in a cast-iron pan over a fire. Luckily we now have the luxury of
using a stove or oven.
Many fruits make wonderful cobblers, slumps, or grunts. Apples are very
well known in cobblers, but I like mine with stone fruit, especially
peaches or plums. Nectarines and cherries, or a combination of all of
the above would work extremely well too. Recently I picked up a few
pints of very nice red plums at Sherwood Farm in Easton, CT. Lately
they have become one of my favorite farm markets selling a little bit
of every fruit and vegetable. When I saw those bright red plums, I
immediately knew that I was going to make one of these simple and homey
desserts.
Biscuits and gravy is a popular breakfast dish in the South. It consists of buttermilk biscuits covered in thick "country" or "white" gravy made from the drippings of cooked pork sausage, white flour, milk, and often bits of real sausage, bacon, ground beef, or other meat.
It’s usually served with a couple of eggs on the side. The gravy is usually flavored with black pepper, fennel and sage. In some parts of the southern United States this is also called sawmill gravy.
You can try any kind of ground sausage; Whole Foods offers a great variety. Turkey sausage works very well with this recipe.
Most people would call them muffins, or maybe cupcakes. But, that sounds so ordinary. You know. Just the same old, same old. Not that I don't make muffins or cupcakes. But when I do, and when I put them on a plate with a sauce and a topping, they become babycakes. And suddenly, they become extraordinary.
This is exactly what happened when I mixed a second bowl full of Maple-Walnut Cake batter that I made for my All About Food newspaper column this week. I greased some glass custard cups, spooned some of the batter into them, filling them almost to the top. They took only about 20 to 25 minutes to bake. Once I took them from the oven, I allowed them to cool in the cups for about 10 minutes, then nudged them out with a table knife and transferred them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
The baked cakes have the texture of moist banana bread. Loads of toasted walnuts give them great crunch, not to mention the health benefits they offer. If you're not a pumpkin pie-lover, I could see this cake, sauce and maple cream topping showing up when it's time for dessert on Thanksgiving.
Recently I had a tryst with an old flame. No, ‘old flame’ is not quite right. You see, I’ve mindlessly used him many times over the years--even recently--meeting him most often in dark movie houses. On rare, more daring occasions we met in my bedroom, on nights when I admit I much more anticipated my latest Netflix delivery or guilty-pleasure TV show. He was always a second thought; an accompaniment; a reliable, cheap snack I held back from enjoying fully, lest I spoil the more respectable dinner waiting for me at home.
But this night was different. I was alone. . .insatiable, yet I longed for something more substantial, more fulfilling. . .more memorable. Suddenly, and for the first time, I saw him in a new light. The idea seemed so silly given our past dealings, that I needed some kind of sanity check before making the call. I did what one does when faced with such a crisis. I grabbed my phone, and desperately tweeted:
No one did (talk me out of it), but when shortly thereafter I received an inquisitive tweet from none other than the brilliant Amy Ephron (“What does homemade mean?”, “Did you grow and dry the corn, or do you just mean ‘not microwaved’?”, “Recipe, please?”), I knew I was on to something, and that there was no turning back.