Bacon shallot dip

So I mentioned this recipe in my last round-up, I tweeted about it, and now I’m writing about it. How could one dip recipe capture my heart and mind so completely?!

Oh yes. I will tell you. Four words: brandy, bacon, caramelized shallots. I made it for the Superbowl, and lemme say, this little dip packs a touchdown of flavor!

Good thing I had practiced my caramelizing skills last week. It’s like I was in training to make this dip (lame sports metaphors now complete).

A side tip: you will smell like smoky bacon for the rest of the day. Not, you know, that is ever a bad thing. Some people even pay to smell like that.

Bacon shallot dip, adapted from Thrillist SF

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Scallops

Usually I gravitate toward weeknight dishes – not too fussy, with minimal mess and relatively healthy.

Sometimes you don’t need a weeknight dish though. You need a special occasion dish.

This is one of my mom’s special occasion dishes. I confess – we had these scallops AND this potato dish on Christmas Eve. (Any wonder I needed to take a cleanse?)

And now I am just torturing myself. Because I’m going to share with you one of the most decadent and scrumptious dishes I’ve ever had.

Scallops

Borani kadoo

Happy New Year! If you were in any state to cook Saturday, I salute you.

Looking for a great addition to your dip roster? Meet BORANI KADOO! I had never even heard of this Afghan recipe (to be fair, I don’t know a lot of Afghan recipes), but found it in the SF Chronicle in the deep dark past when I actually had a subscription.

I first made this delicious pumpkin dip for a party, back when I was first getting into cooking and didn’t understand the peculiar challenges of the gourd family. By “peculiar challenges,” I mean, “necessary sharp knife, hours necessary to cook, and venomous rage.”

Back to the first time I made this dish: I started hacking into the pumpkin, almost slicing off several finger-tips, going though 3 knives that each failed me and cursing like a sailor. Then I started braising the squash, which the original recipe told me to do for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes passed. My pumpkin was hard as concrete. Twenty more minutes. Still practically a weapon. In total, I had to braise for over an hour, and was practically frantic with rage at this tough little root vegetable.

My lesson, I suggest roasting the pumpkin before making. It makes the recipe time actually achievable. And you may even enjoy making it!

Borani kadoo

Guest post! Butternut squash tarts

Thanks to Mad for this awesome guest post! –k.

It’s not often you get asked to guest post on the most famous cooking blog this side of the Mississippi!

Last Saturday night, I assisted in hosting a holiday party of epic proportions. The menu of food and drinks was pretty spectacular, as far as house parties go, and included such past classics as beef empanadas and cinnamon chicken. This time around, we included something I knew would be a hit: butternut squash and caramelized onion pastries.

Although I had made these several times before, some sort of gastronomic amnesia prevented me from remembering how incredibly labor intensive they can be. Making anything bite-size is bound to end up a fairly monotonous exercise, but the end result is terrific addition for any appetizer spread.

I originally found this recipe on Patent and the Pantry, although I’ve made a few subtractions to it.

Butternut squash tarts

Deviled eggs

Have you ever had a signature anything? I’ve always dreamed of having a signature song, something that would play when I dance into rooms. I was thinking something like this. Or maybe a signature cocktail? Classy, yet simple? Something the bartender at your local watering hole could have ready by the time you’ve waltzed in from the door?

Tragically, I have none of those things. I do, however, have a signature party food. I brought a platter of it to a work event recently and my (older) co-worker exclaimed, “Didja bring this from the bingo church luncheon?”

I’ve never been to a bingo church luncheon but I get the gist. Deviled eggs are retro. They could be served next to Jell-O salad and nobody would blink an eye.

Their kitsch factor does not diminish their deliciousness. Prepare, serve, and you too can have your friends lining up at your dining room table.

Beef empanadas

I believe I mentioned that I was taking a trip to Argentina. The trip was awesome—Buenos Aires was intense and magical, Iguaçu Falls was marvelous, and the beef was good enough to coax me from part-time to full-time carnivore (more on that later).

Whenever I travel I always marvel at how, across cultures, humanity has found culinary common ground in the form of the dumpling–be it pierogis in Eastern Europe, potstickers in China, Hot Pockets in America, and, as I discovered, the empanada in Argentina.

Far be it from me to deny the pleasures of any fried dough, but the empanadas I had there were like scrumptious little hamburgers. My friend and I especially like how easy they were to order to those who speak  minimal Spanish (“Uno, con carne por favor!”).

So last night I attempted to whip up some empanadas of my own.