May 25, 2022

BBQ chicken

May 25, 2022/ Rebecca Davis

A short marinade in olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, and soy sauce followed by the best ever spice rub (seriously, triple the recipe and use it on everything), makes this a BBQ chicken worthy of your most discerning guests.

Take me to the recipe!

We’ve used this marinade and rub on all kinds of chicken: breasts, thighs, bone-in, skin-on, boneless, skinless, and an entire chicken. It has worked with every iteration! I was really tired one day and put the sugar in the marinade instead of the rub—still great. My husband likes to put the rub on WITH the marinade and let the whole thing sit for 30 minutes—also great. So if, like me, your attention is divided while trying to make dinner, this is the recipe for you.

A note on cooking chicken:

Roast the chicken between 425 and 450. I use the lower temperature for skinless and boneless varieties to avoid drying out the meat. The higher temperature works with the bones and skin, but keep an eye out to ensure that the skin doesn’t burn. A loose piece of foil over top usually does the trick.
Grill the chicken by heating up the grill on the highest temperature and then turn it down to medium just before putting the chicken on the grill. Cook until the internal temperature is 165 in the fattest part.

BBQ Chicken

Yield: 3 lbs chicken
Time: 60-90 minutes, depending on how long you cook your chicken

3 lbs chicken (any type, but I prefer boneless, skinless thighs or a whole spatchcocked chicken)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder

Combine the olive oil, apple cider, soy sauce, and yellow mustard. Place chicken in a large container (plastic bag, glass container, mixing bowl, or whatever will hold all of the chicken) and cover with the marinade. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, but up to an hour.

Combine the dry rub ingredients.

Heat the oven to 425-450 (see note above).

Take the chicken out of the marinade, but DO NOT pat dry- we want a little extra liquid. Cover with the spice rub on all sides and massage it into the chicken.

Place on a sheet pan or in a large cooking dish and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes (a whole chicken or very large chicken parts will take longer to cook, usually about 45-50 minutes). Check for doneness and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 in the thickest part of the chicken.

If any sauce remains in the pan, save it for pouring onto the chicken before serving.

February 28, 2022

Creamy mushroom soup

February 28, 2022/ Rebecca Davis

This creamy mushroom soup is a far cry from the gloopy, gray stuff that comes in a can, but is almost as easy to make.

Take me to the recipe!

Two mushroom recipes so close together, huh? Yes! But hear me out. This recipe is so unctuous, so creamy, so warming, and so filling, that I couldn’t hold onto it any longer.

What makes this better than the canned version? Well, the color, first of all. The golden sautéed mushrooms, the purple shallots, and the red paprika lend this soup a much richer and nicer color than the gray stuff (it’s not delicious).

A note about adding dairy to hot soup: It’s possible to split the cream if you add cold dairy to other hot liquids. Split dairy basically looks like you’ve added thousands of little dots of cream rather than the soup looking uniformly creamy. Does that makes sense? It’s totally fine to eat and will taste good, but it sometimes doesn’t look as appetizing.

To avoid this, you can either heat up the dairy or cool down the base soup. The fattier the dairy, the less likely it is to split, so if you’re using heavy cream as I recommend for this recipe, let the cream sit at room temperature while making the rest of the soup. If it still feels chilly when you’re ready to add it, microwave it for 30 seconds before adding. If using a lighter milk or non-dairy milk, I would actually heat it to just simmering in a separate pan on the stove or significantly cool the base soup before adding it.

The texture is also completely different to the canned version. Theoretically, you could throw the mushrooms into a food processor and whizz for a few seconds to quickly chop the whole lot, but I like to cut them myself to get a range of sizes and shapes. I halve the really small shrooms, quarter the medium sized ones, and chop up the large ones. Remove the stems or don’t- that’s entirely up to you.

A note about how I tell if my mushrooms are cooked enough: I cook the mushrooms until they release some water and then that water evaporates. They will have cooked down significantly.

Creamy mushroom soup

½ cup heavy cream
24 oz mushrooms, cut into various sizes
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Heaping ½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp paprika
2 tsp kosher salt
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2-3 large shallots, minced
½ cup white wine
4 cups stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)

Time: about 45 minutes
Yield: 5-6 cups of soup

Measure out the heayy cream and let sit at room temperature while you make the rest of the soup. See note above about using other types of dairy in this soup.

Chop the mushrooms in varying sizes (see note above).

In a large pan, melt 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of olive oil over a medium flame. Once the pan is heated, add the mushrooms and cook over a medium flame, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and that liquid has evaporated, about 8-10 minutes.

Prep the rest of the ingredients while the mushrooms cook.

Once the mushrooms are relatively dry, add the thyme, paprika, salt, garlic, and shallots. Cook until the garlic and onions are fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes. If the mixture seems very dry, add another Tbsp of olive oil.

Add the wine and stir, while scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the stock and increase the flame to medium high. Bring to a boil. Lower the flame all the way and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Add the cream and stir.

January 28, 2022

French toast casserole

January 28, 2022/ Rebecca Davis

Don’t throw out the sandwich bread crusts and heels that your kids won’t eat! Turn them into a simple, fast French toast casserole that’s crunchy, eggy, cinnamon-y, and caramel-y.

Take me to the recipe!

Why don’t kids like bread crusts? Is that universal? I thought it was bullshit until I had kids of my own and one day, the older one disavowed bread crusts FOR NO REASON.

Funnily, my husband was horrified when M started insisting that the crusts be cut off because he was like, “that’s where all the fiber is!” To which I laughed in his face because what?! Bread isn’t an apple.

Anyhoo, this recipe is the perfect way to use up bread scraps. However, this isn’t a good recipe for that rock hard baguette or formerly crusty loaf that you forgot about. This is for the ever-so-slightly tougher outer layer of sandwich bread that you’ve been saving in a bag in the fridge so it didn’t get too stale.

Why do I advocate for using softer, fresher bread? I’ll tell you! Because most French toast casserole recipes require an overnight soak. But I, for one, am way too tired at the end of the day to plan for tomorrow’s breakfast. This recipe requires no waiting, something I am not very good at anyway.

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A couple of notes:

Amounts: As always, the amounts listed here can be considered guidelines or ratios more than hard and fast rules. If you want the caramel on the bottom to be more like what you’d find in a sticky bun, feel free to increase the butter and sugar! Or if you have more or less than 6 cups of bread, adjust accordingly. This one is very forgiving.
Eggs: You want the egg/milk/vanilla/cinnamon mixture to come up about 3/4 of the way to the top of the bread. But pour in the amount listed and squish the bread down gently with your hands. If you can easily see the liquid underneath, you have enough. If you have to push down more firmly to see any liquid or if it just doesn’t feel like enough to you, add more. It’s better to have a little too much liquid than not enough. But DO NOT cover the bread with the egg mixture.

French toast casserole

Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 large servings

Adapted from https://belleofthekitchen.com/french-toast-casserole/

4 Tbsp butter
½ cup brown sugar + 1 Tbsp (reserved for later)
6 cups roughly torn bread hunks
2 cup milk
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon (or any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger, and cloves)
3 Tbsp coarse sugar (or substitute with granulated)

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a large ceramic baking dish (though if metal is your only option, melt the butter and sugar in a separate bowl and then add to the baking dish), combine the butter and ½ cup of brown sugar. Microwave on high for 30 seconds or until the butter has just melted. Stir for 1 minute or until the butter and the sugar are mostly combined. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of your baking dish.

Top the melted butter and brown sugar with the roughly torn bread cubes.

In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

Pour over the bread cubes. Push down gently on the bread to assess how much liquid is in your baking dish. If the liquid doesn’t come up about ¾ of the way to the top of the bread cubes, whisk together another ½ cup of milk and 1 egg and add as much of the mixture as needed to achieve that depth of liquid.

Combine the remaining 1 Tbsp of brown sugar and the coarse sugar and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the middle puffs up and doesn’t jiggle when you gently shake the baking dish.

December 20, 2021

Maitake mushroom salad

December 20, 2021/ Rebecca Davis

This warm, simple salad is so special thanks to the maitake mushrooms and the variety of textures and flavors. Made from expensive ingredients, this salad is meant for special occasions (or just the occasion of treating yourself), but I promise it’s worth it!

Take me to the recipe!

This salad is based on my best memories from a tiny little restaurant in Brooklyn called Little Dishes that I used to frequent with my husband before it tragically closed. I remember running to this place in the thick snow when someone was having a craving for their Mac and cheese. Their food was so simple, but so thoughtfully prepared that the dishes ended up being much greater than the sum of their humble parts.

Maitake mushrooms, sometimes called Hen of the Woods, are my absolute favorite variety. They’re meaty and slightly herby with a wee bit of forest floor funk. I state from the outset that this is an expensive salad because maitakes definitely don’t come cheap and I wouldn’t substitute any other mushroom variety here. I mean, you CAN, but your salad with end up fine, instead of ethereal.

The original recipe used a local cheese that was somewhere between parmesan and gruyere. Use either in this recipe or any other favorite cheese that falls in the nutty, slightly dry realm.

A couple of notes:

Cooking the mushrooms: I like to leave the mushrooms in slightly large pieces. It will feel awkward to cook them at first because they’re pretty stiff until they heat up somewhat. Once you sear them on one side, the mushrooms will get much floppier and easier to cook.
Cooking the radicchio: I seared half of the bitter lettuce and left the other half raw for a bit of textural difference, but you don’t strictly need to do this step. I left the lettuce in pretty large pieces for the photos, but definitely slice them much thinner for the real salad.

Maitake mushroom salad

2-3 large maitake mushrooms, each cut into about 4 large pieces
1 small head of radicchio, sliced into very thin wedges
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
4-5 cups arugula (1 small bag of pre-washed lettuce is perfect)
Shallot vinaigrette (recipe below), to taste
Parmesan or gruyere cheese, to taste

Shallot vinaigrette
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp minced shallot
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp mayonnaise
1 large pinch of salt

Heat the butter in a large skillet over a medium high flame. When the butter has begun to bubble and brown slightly, add the mushrooms and cook, turning every 1-2 minutes, until well browned on all sides and very floppy, about 6-8 minutes. Remove the mushrooms to a plate and sprinkle with salt.

Add the olive oil to the pan and heat until very hot, but not smoking. Sear half of the radicchio on one side and then flip to the other side and sear again. If the pan is hot enough, this should take about 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with salt.

Add the mushrooms back to the pan with the radicchio to warm back up, but don’t turn the flame back on.

Add the arugula and the raw radicchio to a large plate or bowl. Add half of the dressing and toss well. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Top with the warm mushrooms and radicchio. Pour on more dressing to taste.

Add large flakes of the nutty, salty cheese on top to taste. Serve immediately.

December 06, 2021

Chocolate anise crinkle cookies

December 06, 2021/ Rebecca Davis

Heading to the spice cabinet can up your cookie game considerably! A subtle hint of anise elevates this basic chocolate crinkle cookie, but is still chocolate-y enough to be a crowd favorite.

Take me to the recipe!

I used to hate the flavor of licorice. HATE with a hard H, long A, and hard T. Hate. But somewhere between kid one and kid two, I had a weird impulse to try black licorice again and…I love it. I can eat a whole bag in one sitting. I can’t explain it. Except to say that tastes change and I’m not sure I ate a piece of licorice between the ages of 5 and 37, so I may have been unnecessarily denying myself for years.

So, if you think you hate the taste of licorice, maybe try again? Or try these cookies instead? The anise flavor is VERY subtle. It’s just enough to make you take another bite and wonder, “What is that? Licorice?”

The chocolate is still the star of the show and the texture is her very talented co-star.

This recipe is BARELY adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s one for Snowy Topped Brownie Drops from her cookbook Dorie’s Cookies. I made about 1 million of these cookies before circling back to this base recipe. I swapped in bread flour for the AP, tried a combo of melted chocolate and cocoa powder, and fiddled with many ingredient ratios. Nothing beat the original, which should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who’s baked or tasted one of Dorie’s recipes.

What I love about these cookies isn’t just the taste and texture. I also love how they are SO EASY to make. Nothing needs to come to room temperature. You don’t need a mixer. You only need one pan. There are only a handful of ingredients, all of which you probably have in your cabinets right now. They are perfect.

A quick note about oven temperatures: If I’ve said in once, I’ve said it 1,000 times: Get to know your oven. It will make you a better baker and save you heartache and wasted ingredients. I bought two cheap oven thermometers and placed one in the back of my oven and one in the front. Wouldn’t you know it, the back of my oven is about 25 degrees warmer than the front. So now I always set the oven slightly below whatever temp the recipe calls for and rotate my pans halfway through baking. Works like a charm!

Chocolate anise crinkle cookies

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan
Time: 20 minutes of prep, 30 minutes of chilling, 12 minutes of baking
Yield: 12 cookies

2 1/2 Tbsp butter
4 oz chocolate chips
6 Tbsp granulated sugar (75 g)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 - 1 tsp ground anise
Heaping 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
6 Tbsp AP flour (51 g)
Powdered sugar for rolling

In a large bowl, melt the butter and chocolate chips in the microwave or over a small pan with 1/2 an inch of simmering water. If using the microwave, start by heating on high for 30 seconds. Stir, and then heat in 10-second bursts until everything is nearly melted. Stir well to let the residual heat finish the job.

Let cool for about 5 minutes.

Add the sugar and mix well with a spatula. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix well.

Add the anise, salt, and flour and mix well. If you are feeling fancy, you can whisk the dry ingredients together separately and then add them to the wet ingredients, but I have not had a problem with distribution when dumping everything into the bowl together.

Cover and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. (See note above!)

Scoop about 1-2 Tbsp of batter and roll into a ball between your palms. Drop into the powdered sugar and cover completely and liberally with the powdered sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The cookies should be slightly under-baked because we want them to have a gooey, brownie-like texture in the middle.

Me & The Moose

Me & The Moose

Elevated family food

Me & The Moose

BBQ chicken

BBQ Chicken

Creamy mushroom soup

Creamy mushroom soup

French toast casserole

French toast casserole

Maitake mushroom salad

Maitake mushroom salad

Chocolate anise crinkle cookies

Chocolate anise crinkle cookies

Me & The Moose