My darling Clementine

Thanks to my sister Alyssa, Matt got the best Christmas present ever: the Jerusalem cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. We've been trying so many of their delicious, mouth-watering recipes, but our new favorite is for Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak. The flavors! You won't believe me until you try it yourself. The clementines are the genius ingredient that add a tangy sweetness to each savory bite.

The full recipe is available here, but make this dish soon: Clementines are only in season in New York for a couple more weeks!

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Rachel Khoo is back

I've talked about Rachel Khoo before: Ever since the New York Times' first wrote about her, I've been following her work, and her 'Little Paris Kitchen' in France. Fresh off the success of her first book, she's released a second, called My Little French Kitchen. In it, Rachel goes on a tour of the French countryside, uncovering new and delicious recipes as she goes. I can't wait to snag a copy, and start sampling her take on so many classic French dishes.

As a precursor, Matt and I attempted to make Soupe au Pistou from her debut cookbook The Little Paris Kitchen. It was delicious! Have you ever tried making pistou? It's a combination of garlic, basil, and olive oil, all mashed up into a purée. It was a challenge, given my limited culinary expertise, but added such wonderful flavor to this winter soup.

More from Rachel Khoo here, and a peek at her new book!

A snap from when I met Rachel in New York!

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The best kale and brussels sprouts salad

Since my friend Shalah was in town for a visit, we got to have an impromptu recipe session, just like old times! The dish she introduced me to? This delicious kale and brussels sprouts salad from Epicurious.com. If you like kale and brussels sprouts, this is a recipe you have to try. It takes about 30 minutes to make—including time to chop everything up—but it has just the right amount of zing and crunch. We served it with pizza, and it was a hit!

Do you have a favorite fall salad recipe?

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The best lemon pasta recipe

Lately, I've been craving lemons. I add it to avocado to put with my eggs at breakfast, I spritz it over broccoli as a snack, and I've been seriously thinking about snagging this citron pressé set from Provisions by Food 52. Over the weekend, I decided to kick things up a notch and try a new dish: lemon spaghetti by Giada De Laurentis. It was delicious! With six ingredients (spaghetti, lemon, olive oil, parmesan, basil, and black pepper), it's cheap and ready in 15 minutes or less. The dish is a new staple I'm adding to my recipe box.

Slowly, but surely, I'm working on my cooking skills!

More of me in the kitchen here, here, here, here and here.

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Kitchen essentials

I keep playing around with different ideas for wall art in our new Brooklyn kitchen. Something about these Etsy prints caught my eye. I love that they feature ingredients that can change and enhance the flavor of any dish. Basil, lemon, garlic—they're all favorites of mine. I think it would be great to hang these in a group in our kitchen near the stove.

What do you have hanging on your kitchen walls?

PS—Paris postcards.

(Images via Etsy) 

Easter eggs

Every time I go out for brunch, I find myself wavering at the question: "How do you want your eggs cooked?" I instantly flash back to that scene with Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride, where she needs to review all the egg options in order to make an educated choice. So, that's what I did: I bought a carton of eggs, found the appropriate recipes, and got out my whisk. Poached, over-easy, sunny side up—I cooked and sampled them all! The winner: Over-easy. (Although each style tasted pretty great.)

So now, I turn this question over to you: How do you like your eggs cooked? :) 

Gorgeous recipe cards

How do you keep track of the recipes you try and love? I'm pretty old school about it, jotting down step-by-step instructions on index cards and clipping those cards together to store all in one place. But I'm about to upgrade: After seeing these adorable recipe cards from Rifle Paper Co., how can I not? They are beautifully designed and clever, too. Plus, the heirloom recipe box gives storing them a vintage feel. I'd love to have this wooden file in my kitchen, ready to pull out anytime I decide to cook. 

What's your method for recording recipes? I'd love to know!

More recipes here and here.

(Images via Rifle Paper Co.)   

More heirloom tomatoes, please

Lately, my summer vegetable of choice is heirloom tomatoes. In sandwiches, in a salad, even as a tasty app before dinner. They're so fresh and flavorful, and I love the opportunity to prepare such a colorful dish. Two things sparked my recent addiction:

First, the August cover of Bon Appetit. If you haven't seen it, check it out (the heirloom tomato and feta sandwich recipe is delicious). 

Second, the chance to try Marcus Samuelson's tomato and watermelon salad (grab the recipe here). With jalapeno added on, it even has a bit of a kick!

Do you like heirloom tomatoes? What's your favorite summer vegetable this year? 

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Cooking Page: Take 2, 3 and 4!

I'm thrilled to report: my cooking lessons with Shalah have continued! And I think I'm improving, although I'd still call myself the sous chef. :) We're making the transition from the cold weather to warm in New York, and the dishes above reflect this change. 

The first: a delicious recipe for chicken parmesan. The fresh mozzarella and basil really made the flavor pop. It was a rainy, cold night when we decided to give this dish a try. Definitely warmed us right up!

The second: our mouths watered at the sight of Deb's recipe for extra garlicky pasta with broccoli rabe on her food blog Smitten Kitchen. As an hors d'oeuvre, we also made white bean dip from scratch, and served it with bread. This recipe was so easy to make. And fresh broccoli rabe — how can you go wrong?

The third: this week, we decided to have a burger party. Shalah picked up some ground bison, and we also made a vegetarian option, following Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe for homemade veggie burgers. The bison was a hit; the veggie burgers might take a bit of practice to perfect. :) As a side dish, we made a fresh zucchini salad, seasoned with lemon, salt and pepper, and a touch of cilantro and mint.

The cooking lessons will continue — check back for more recipe recommendations soon!

Polish your fingers: here's why!

The photos above are proof: a good manicure goes a long way! Chopping broccoli, slicing bread, doing any kitchen task, Piera looks polished and put together. The big reveal: she's wearing Essie's Geranium (thanks Pippa for letting us know!). Even bigger reveal: here's the recipe she's making.

Note to self: book that weekly manicure now!

(Images via Sous Style)

Cooking Page: How Easy Is That?

I'll admit: when it comes to cooking, I'm not the best chef. That said, I've made a 2012 commitment to showing noticeable improvement in my culinary skills. :) My secret weapon? The help of my friend Shalah, who is a natural in the kitchen. Instead of splurging on high-cost cooking lessons, we have created a girl's night where we choose a new recipe, one of us grabs the groceries, the other picks up a bottle of wine, and we get to work! I'm amazed at how much I have to learn. (If you don't believe me, ask about my lemon zesting technique for the recipe above.)

For our first dish, we made Ina Garten's lemon chicken from her Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? cookbook. It was delicious! As side dishes, we made roasted brussels sprouts and potatoes. This week, we're at it again with plans to attempt our own version of chicken parmesan. Details (and hopefully pics) to come!

Who taught you how to cook? Do you have any tried and true tips that every cook should know?

PS—I just picked up Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook — there are so many great recipes that I can't wait to try!

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Kitchen humor

This illustration made me smile — Marc Johns is not only a talented artist, he has an amazing sense of humor, too! Can't you just picture this hanging on your kitchen wall? :)

(Image via This Isn't Happiness)

Santa Hat Brownies

The cleverness of this Christmas treat made me smile. :) Don't these Santa Hat Brownies look too good to eat? Take a peek at the recipe here. In addition to being festive, they're easy to make!

(Image via Daisy's World)

How to Make Apple Pie

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Matt and I decided to take a class and learn how to make a delicious apple pie at One Girl Cookies in Cobble Hill. What a fun night! Francina — our teacher — was incredible (and patient). She really took the time to answer all of our questions, from how to slice the apples to how to apply an egg wash. We made our pies (including the crust) from scratch and even had time to take a wine and cupcake break! The pies pictured above are the end result. Trust me — they taste even better than they look. For an old-fashioned apple pie, try this recipe or this one.

Wishing each of you a happy Thanksgiving. I'll be back next week!