Category: From Scratch

Pear-Almond Cake [Dairy-Free]

This “cake” occupies a nebulous area somewhere between dessert and cornbread. Almond meal, whole-wheat pastry flour, and cornmeal add a toothsome bite to the soft, sweet pears. I brought this to a potluck as dessert, but I liked it even better when I served it for brunch alongside a frittata and baked oatmeal.  

Pumpkin-Orange Scones with Candied Ginger

My favorite weekends now include what I call Hannibrunch, which is my old Saturday-Morning-Fannibal routine kicked up a notch into Brunch with Friends.  Not only do I get to relive the psychological thrills of season 2, I get to bake breakfast foods for a group instead of just for myself. For our last session, I got a request for…

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Vegan “Unagi” with Shiitake

I love unagi, but with the endangerment of the glass eel population (as well as the rising cost), it might be best to cool it with the eel. Although I’ve been following the eel news for several months, I hadn’t considered alternatives, but I saw this recipe for “Mock Eel” in the latest issue of Saveur and…

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Slow-Cooker Vegetable Stock (from Vegetable Scraps)

Save those vegetable scraps, readers! We’re making vegan stock, and it’s as easy as saving and freezing clean vegetable peels, food scraps, and herb stems. (How does one take appetizing photos of frozen vegetables and stock?) Why make stock from scratch?

Apricot-Sage Cream Scones

These last weeks have not been good for breakfast. Life has been rather rough, and it’s brought on a depression that leaves me weak-armed and unwilling to consume anything but smoothies and soup. But it’s autumn, and we should have nice things to eat. Scones are easy, and sage doesn’t have to be just for stuffing turkeys…

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Fig-Almond Muffins (Dairy-Free)

More muffins! These fig-almond muffins are perfect for autumn. If you’re looking for a break from all the cinnamon and pumpkin products, try one of these!

Recipe Redo: Rosemary-Orange Ricotta Muffins v2.0

Plenty of food bloggers redo their own recipes after a couple years, but has anyone redone one after two months? I was making a double-batch of Rosemary-Orange Ricotta Muffins for Saturday-morning Fannibal (rewatching with an old friend). I didn’t have my oranges yield enough juice, so I substituted soy milk for half of the orange juice;…

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Slow-Cooker Heirloom Tomato Sauce

I really missed my Crock Pot while I was in Japan. You can definitely buy a reasonably-priced slow cooker (surô kukkâ, スロークッカー) online or large homegoods stores. A rice-cooker can double as a slow cooker for many recipes, but since the purpose of the rice cooker is to get the moisture out, it may not…

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Double Coconut Brownies (Dairy-Free)

This recipe is dairy-free if you are using vegan baker’s chocolate. If you want to glaze or frost it, you can use non-dairy milk for a glaze or my favorite vegan buttercream, but the brownies are rich and moist without it.

Hannicakes: Nightmare-Stag Petit Four

In honor of the season finale of Hannibal, I baked some mini-cakes in the style of petits fours for dinner with friends. These aren’t quite where I want them yet, but I wanted to share while it’s still timely!