Master Chow declares that this is his favorite chicken dish. No contest. Another Ina Garten winner! And it is so easy to do. It will, of course, leave the entire house smelling of garlic and ginger for hours. Really.

I have altered the cooking time from the original recipe to what works best for me.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

• 4-5 pounds of chicken (I usually make this with all breasts)
• 1 cup soy sauce (preferably naturally brewed)
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh garlic

Combine ingredients in a sauce pan, over low heat, until well mixed. Do not boil or overheat. Place chicken, breast (or skin) side down, in oven safe baking dish. Pour the cooled marinade over the chicken. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. I usually rotate the pieces after about four hours, but before it goes in the oven, I make sure the pieces are breast (or skin) side down again.

Remove chicken from refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan to cook it. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken in the oven, still covered with the foil, for 45 minutes.

Remove chicken from oven and flip the pieces over. Return the chicken to the oven, uncovered, for another 15-30 minutes. The additional cooking time will vary depending on the size of the chicken pieces.

Enjoy! Definitely to be served with rice!

This is a dish my mother used to make when mussels were in season. Very simple, but very tasty.

Amounts are approximate. Change quanitities to suit your tastes! I would recommned mincing the parsley and garlic by hand, and not using a food processor. For some reason, processing those two ingredients really changes the flavor of this dish, and not for the better.

• 4-5 pounds of fresh mussels
• 5-7 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 cups loosely packed parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• pinch of kosher salt
• splash of white wine

Clean and de-beard the mussels just before preparing. Heat olive oil in pot over medium heat, until the oil starts to shimmer slightly. Add the parsley and then the garlic to the pot, along with the butter, salt, and wine. Immediately add the mussels and put the lid on the pot. Cooking time will vary according to how deeply the mussels are stacked, and the quantity of mussels, about 8 to 15 minutes.

When all the mussels have opened, empty them into a serving bowl along with all the juices. Serve with a crusty bread and a green salad.

I’ve been out of the food blog loop for a while, so some of these posts may not be news to you, but they were to me!

• The amazing Cupcake Courier, which holds up to three dozen cupcakes! Via Gezellig-Girl.
• Accidental Hedonist conducts a garlic peeling experiment.
• Chez Pim discloses her secrets for making pad thai.
• I discovered four blogs: Dessert First, Exploring the Silver Spoon, Baking and Books, and Homesick Texan.
• Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice, a blog from which I derive constant inspiration, had a croissant face-off with some friends. I needed a nap after reading how much work was involved, but I am now motivated to give it a shot myself!

While I was visiting my aunt in the frigid midwest, I indulged myself by purchasing an inordinate number of cookbooks (all were on sale!), including the mouthwatering The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle. I also picked up Artisan Baking, and The Bread Bible: 300 Favorite Recipes. You know you’re hooked on baking when you buy a book like the Bread Bible, which has no pictures – not even line drawings!

Julie’s post on this cake inspired me to try it out. It’s remarkably similar in texture to Elvis’s Favorite Poundake – very dense, with a tight crumb, and not too sweet. Master Chow liked this one, too.

Sour Cream Pound Cake
(From Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri; Julie edited these instructions for simplicity’s sake.)

Step 1

• Preheat oven to 350°
• 3 cups flour
• ½ t. baking soda
• ½ t. salt
• Butter and flour 12-cup tube or Bundt pan. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Step 2

• ½ pound butter, softened
• 2¾ cups sugar
• Beat on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes.

Step 3

• ½ t. lemon extract
• ½ t. orange extract
• ½ t. vanilla extract
• Beat the extracts into batter

Step 4

• 6 large eggs
• Beat into batter, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.

Step 5

• 8 ounces sour cream
• On low, alternately beat in flour mixture and sour cream, beginning and ending with flour.

Step 6

• Scrape into greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until cake tester comes out clean. Let sit in pan 10 minutes and then turn out on rack to cool completely.

***UPDATE*** – From Rose’s blog:

Keep in mind that if there are any holes in the crust the sticky filling will find its way there, leak below the crust, and stick to the pan’s bottom. To avoid holes best not to pierce the bubbles that form during blind baking, after removing the rice or beans to weight it down, but just to gently press down the crust a few times as it bubbles and finally it will set and be flat.

Should a hole develop, fill it with a little dab of egg white and return it to the oven for about 30 seconds. And if worse comes to worse and the crust sticks, just serve the pieces–no one will complain. This pie is the very definition of heavenly!

Be sure to use the Lyle’s golden refiner’s syrup which is so much more flavorful than corn syrup in a butterscotchy/tangy way, and preferably light Muscovado sugar (I love the one from India Tree). And be sure to weigh or measure the yolks. For this pie/tart that calls for 4 yolks I needed to use 6 to equal the right amount as they were so small. Without enough egg yolks the filling will not set effectively.]

One last word of caution: When heating the filling go by the thermometer rather than looking for signs of thickening. And when baking test at 15 minutes. I find it usually takes 20 but it should just shimmy slightly when moved and begin to puff.

This is the best pecan pie recipe I’ve come across, courtesy of the The Pie and Pastry Bible,by Rose Levy Beranbaum. The use of Lyles Golden Syrup makes it less cloyingly sweet. The egg yolks give the filling a thicker consistency, and the addition of bourbon makes it hard to resist.

Pecan Pie
Adapted from the “The Pie and Pastry Bible”

• Crust for a 9 1/2-inch tart, prebaked. I used Rose’s Favorite Tender and Flaky Piecrust
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves (5.25 ounces = 150 grams)
• 4 large egg yolks (2 full fluid ounces = 2.6 ounces = 74 grams)
• 1/3 liquid cup (lightly greased) Lyle’s Golden Syrup (refiner’s syrup)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (3.75 ounces = 108 grams)
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (2 ounces = 57 grams)
• 1/4 liquid cup heavy cream
• Pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 Tablespoons bourbonPreheat oven to 350°F.Chop about half the pecans, and leave the rest whole. Place in the bottom of the baked crust.

  On top of a double boiler, combine egg yolks, syrup, brown sugar, butter, cream, and salt. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula and without letting the mixture boil, until it is uniform in color and just begins to thicken slightly (160°F on candy thermometer), 7 to 10 minutes. Strain at once into small bowl and stir in vanilla and bourbon.

  Slowly pour filling over pecans, coating their upper surface.

Place a foil ring on top of crust to prevent overbrowning; bake about 20 minutes or until filling is puffed and golden and just beginning to bubble around the edges. Filling will shimmy slightly when moved. Cool completely on a rack, about 45 minutes, before unmolding.

This ebelskiver did not survive long after this photo was taken.

I received and ebelskiver pan for Christmas, much to my delight! Williams-Sonoma had a luscious-looking recipe in its latest catalog, so I dusted off the pan and put it to the test.

Ebelskivers are little, round Norwegian pancakes made in a special pan. They are usually filled with fresh fruit or a jam. Here is another photo of the cooking process. Er, or should I say the overcooking process:

Surprisingly, these little briquets still tasted delicious, a testament to the rich batter!

Some thoughts: Ebelskivers are tricky to make, but boy-oh-boy are they tasty. Flipping them over, without making a mess, is not easy and, even on medium heat (as instructed), they overbrowned. For some reason (the excitement of trying a new recipe??), I was so distracted that I forgot to add the beaten egg whites to the batter until I made my second batch. Not much of a taste difference, but the egg whites do lighten the batter considerably, and allow the center to cook through.If you use a jam filling, use a good one. I chose Bonne Maman cherry preserves. I also added extra lemon zest to my batter.

The entire cooking process is kind of messy and fast-paced . . . but did I mention these little gems are really tasty? Oh, yes, I see that I did. They’re worth the effort, and I think worth the practice to get them right!

Ebelskivers

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma’s Recipe

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 egg yolks plus 5 egg whites
• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese ( used part skim)
• 5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
• 7 Tbs. jam, as needed
• Confectioners sugar for dustingWhisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside.

  In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Whisk in the buttermilk and ricotta. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the mixture will be lumpy. Set aside.

  In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the whites into the batter in two additions.

  Put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well, place 1/2 teaspoon jam in the center of the batter, and top with another 1 Tbs. of batter. Do NOT use more batter.

  Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Using 2 wooden skewers, turn the pancakes over and cook until golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and jam. Dust the pancakes with confectioners sugar and serve warm. Makes about 30.