Onion, Cheese and Herb Muffins

When it comes to breakfast, I always choose savory over sweet. I particularly love the rich flavor of caramelized onions, and thought I could throw some into my all purpose muffin recipe for a savory treat to bring to a potluck brunch. I wanted to use Gruyere but Safeway does not stock it (Safeway has been letting me down a lot recently - no okra!) so I went with a robust Irish cheddar. Some dried herbs round out these yummy little muffins.

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
3 medium yellow onions, chopped finely
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Caramelize the onions in the butter on low heat -- this took me around 30 minutes. Then take 2/3 of the onion off out of the pan and turn up the heat to medium. Let the remaining onion almost burn a little to create that intense onion-y flavor. They should really brown and crisp around the edges at this point. Set aside.
Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and herbs in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the milk, egg and oil. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well, then stir in the cheese and onion. Fill muffin tins about halfway, and sprinkle a little cheese on top. Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Dover Sole with Lemon Dill Butter

When I was a kid I would not eat fish, no matter how hard my parents tried to get me to. I had convinced myself that anything from the sea was beyond disgusting, and actually took this pretty far. I went to the UN School, and there was this Russian kid who sat next to me in first grade and he would bring herring in his little lunchbox every day. I remember demanding to be moved, and possibly even faking dry heaves. I was a really dramatic child. Anyway, the moral of the story is that people should try things before they make up their minds about them -- I now love fish and seafood, and wasted a lot of years fussing about nothing. So, here's a fish recipe.

This is another great weeknight dinner since its so simple and pretty healthy. Sole is so delicate, and this light, flavorful "sauce" complements it perfectly. I served it with rice and sauteed 'Indian vegetables' (zucchini, red onion, cumin, garam masala, ground mustard) and white wine.

2 pounds Dover Sole fillets (any white fish will work -- or even shrimp)

1 cup of white wine
1/2 a stick of butter
2 tablespoons of dried dill
juice from one lemon


Reduce white wine by about half. Whisk in the butter, lemon juice and dill and remove from heat. Let it cool to room temp and pour it over the raw fish fillets in a baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Roasted Almonds with Garlic, Sea Salt and Rosemary

My boyfriend comes from a tiny town in Northern California where there is not a whole lot going on except the cultivation and harvest of walnuts and almonds* . Almonds happen to be one of my all-time favorite foods. I told this to his parents and now every time I see them they give me an enormous, beautiful bag of orchard-fresh raw almonds. I usually graze on them all day or grab a handful for a quick snack, but recently I have been trying to think of something exciting to do with them. I looked at the herbs and spices I had at home today and decided to try this. Delicious!


* In this town, they call them 'amonds'. When I asked why, I was told it's because, to get them off the trees, "you shake the 'ell out of them." Hilarious!


6 cups of raw almonds
1 cup olive oil
a handful of rosemary
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons sea salt
1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper


In a large pan, heat the oil and salt and spices over low heat for about 8 minutes. Put your almonds in a large bowl and pour the oil over them, tossing till they are all well-coated. Spread on a cookie sheet (covered with aluminum foil) and bake at 350 for around half an hour. Let cool and start snackin'!

Spiced Oatmeal Cherry Cookies

Its fall in the Bay Area, and for the first time in the four years I have lived here I can actually feel autumn in the air. Maybe I'm becoming more sensitive to the almost imperceptible shift in seasons here...maybe not. I do know its sweater weather, so I thought I would make cookies. I like Oatmeal Raisin, but thought it would be fun to spice an old classic up a little, so I added dried cherries and ground cloves and nutmeg to a traditional recipe from the Sunset Cookbook of Breads. They turned out to be chewy and really yummy. The dried cherries are earthy and work really well with the cloves. Plus, the kitchen smelled incredible while these were baking!

1 cup butter at room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup dried cherries

With a mixer, cream together the sugar (brown and white) with the eggs, butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt, and then stir that into the wet mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins/cherries, and drop big, heaping spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, till the edges are golden.

Zucchini Au Gratin

This is a tasty little "side dish" I threw together with things I had on hand. I ate it as the centerpiece to my dinner, but you could serve it alongside roasted chicken or a steak. All the dried herbs make it very flavorful, and it couldn't be easier! Perfect for a Sunday evening.

3 large zucchinis, sliced into thin rounds
1 cup of milk
3 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
salt and pepper


Steam the zucchini slices in the microwave for a couple of minutes, until they are a litte soft. Grease a casserole dish with butter and sprinkle about half the breadcrumbs to make a crust. Pile in the zucchini and whisk everything else together in a large bowl. Pour it over and sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs over the top. Bake at 350 for around 40 minutes.

New York Style Cheesecake

Today I am going to make a New York style cheesecake for a coworker's birthday. I thought it would be nice to bring some of the flavors from my home city into some deprived Californian's life...though if I were really nice I would show these poor, misguided people what pizza is actually supposed to be. I have discovered that "New York" cheesecake is really just "Jewish" cheesecake where I grew up, which means it uses mostly cream cheese. The alternative, "Italian" cheesecake, relies on Ricotta for its creamy tanginess. I did some research, and apparently cheesecakes are known to crack during the baking process. According to joyofbaking.com, this can be avoided by not overbeating the ingredients, and not overbaking. I am so nervous! Here goes...

For the crust:
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
20 graham crackers, crushed into crumbs

For the filling:

4 8oz. packages of cream cheese (not low-fat or light)
3/4 cup of milk
/4 cup flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs @ room temp
1 cup sour cream (again, full fat. I love those words)

Mix the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a bowl, and press it into a 9 inch pie pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then, with an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Only do this as much as is necessary, and keep it on the lowest setting. Then, switch to a wooden spoon (to avoid overmixing and getting too much air into your filling) and mix in the milk and eggs, one at a time. Mix only enough for everything to be incorporated. Then, mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour till smooth. Pour into the crust and put it in the oven. Bake for ONE HOUR, then turn the oven off and let the cheesecake sit in their for around 6 or 7 hours to set. Again, this serves to prevent that dreaded cracking. Take out, top with fresh raspberries or something delicious, and put it in the fridge till you are ready to eat it.


Note: I actually made two cheesecakes, since I had enough filling for two and a leftover frozen pie crust in the freezer. The one with the graham cracker crust cracked like a millpond in April, but the other one came out OK for the most part. That is the one I am going to use, even though the crust is non-traditional for a cheesecake. I think I put too much filling into the graham one, so next time I will be very careful...though there probably won't be a next time. I think cheesecake is one of those things I will just buy from now on.

"Greek" Lasagna with Lamb and Eggplant

I woke up this morning to thunder, lightning and rain, which make it really easy to curl up and stay under the covers for a very long time. Now I'm looking down the barrel of a gray, drizzly day and this makes me want the ultimate comfort food: lasagna. Instead of making my go-to lasagna (stolen from my dear friend, Patty, who rocks my world with her spinach and cheese version) I decided to experiment with Greek flavors and ingredients because...well, Greek is my favorite. Since I have the whole afternoon, I am going to take my time and do this in several steps. Lets see how it goes!


For the meat sauce:
32 ounces fresh ground lamb
1 24 ounce can tomato puree
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 cup red wine
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of powdered cloves
salt and pepper
olive oil

For the Bechamel sauce:
1/2 a stick of butter
5 tablespoons flour
3 and a half cups milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese


1 eggplant
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles (probably the best food invention of our time)
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

Step 1: Make the meat sauce
In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil till it starts to get translucent. Then, add the lamb and break it up with a spatula as it browns. As it cooks, add the spices and wine, and let it simmer for about 8 minutes. At this point, the lamb should be a little pink in places, but browning up nicely. Add the tomato puree, stir a couple of times, and let this simmer for a long time (basically while you are doing everything else, and then it will be lovely and thick by the time you are ready to use it).

Step 2: Fry the eggplant
Peel the eggplant and slice it into thin slices (around 1/4 of an inch thick). Salt like crazy and fry in olive oil till both sides are golden. I had to do this in 3 batches so it took a while. Set aside.


Step 3: Make the Bechamel sauce
In a large sauce pan, melt the butter and then whisk in the flour over medium-low heat. DO NOT STOP WHISKING EVER. If you do, things will get lumpy and you will regret it for the rest of your life. You are essentially making a roux, so keep whisking for around 3 minutes. Then, whisk in the milk and whisk, whisk, whisk for another 5 minutes. Whisk in the egg - a little at a time so it does not scramble. A minute later, whisk in the Parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper. If you have white pepper, use that since its a little more delicate. Keep whisking! At this point your Bechamel should be thick and gorgeous...and your arm should feel like its going to fall off.

Step 4: Construct the lasagna
Spread about a cup of the meat sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Then, place lasagna noodles over that, making sure they do not overlap. Spoon some more meat sauce over them (a little less than a cup) and over that place a layer of eggplant. Spoon Bechamel over that (1/2 a cup) and then sprinkle about a quarter of your feta cheese over that. Do a layer of noodles, and keep going in this pattern until you run out of things. Try to make it so your top layer is Bechamel and then feta. Cover with foil Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 15 minutes. Let it cool and serve!

Update: This ended up being delicious, but next time around I am going to use LESS LAMB (like maybe half as much) since this dish was overwhelmingly lamb-y. Also, more eggplant and maybe add some zucchini or something to lighten it up. And lemon juice on the vegetables. The feta and Bechamel sauce added a nice cheesy-creamy element, so overall I would say this was a success.