Category: savory

i know what you’re thinking: what is broccoli doing here? this is a baking blog! and more often than that, it’s a bacon blog! i know, i know, it’s a little jarring – and even i had some trepidation after our last look at casseroles, but you’ll just have to trust me. why? well, because this broccoli casserole is full of delicious things and topped with crumbled and toasted ritz crackers.

got your attention, didn’t i? this casserole has made an appearance at nearly every family function for the past 5 or 6 years, since my sister-in-law first made it and blew us all away with how delicious it was. it’s a great way to get something green on your plate, especially if you aren’t a big fan of veggies. oddly enough, i love vegetables, but given the choice between raw broccoli and an indulgent cheesy broccoli casserole, i’m going with the casserole. it pretty much defeats the purpose of eating vegetables in the first place, but i think i can live with that.

as far as preparation, the dish is pretty much idiot-proof. pour a bunch of ingredients in a casserole dish, top with crumbled crackers and a drizzle of melted butter, and bake. serve to friends you love, or just grab a fork and dig in. isn’t it nice to see how we’ve streamlined and simplified the casserole process since its heydays?

you’ve probably noticed by now that i’ve got a bit of sweet tooth. cake over steak. i’m usually happy to let the girl do most of the cooking (she’s an amazing cook), but there are times when i have to break out ingredients other than butter and sugar. the results? indulgent. full of bacon.

another common theme: appetizers for dinner. i love making a bunch of little finger foods and just eating them as a meal. growing up, this was a treat reserved for new years eve, complete with mozzarella sticks, potato skins, nachos and *gasp* birch beer (best soda ever). since i’m still young enough that it’s a novelty to go to the grocery store and get whatever i want, if i want snacks for dinner now, that’s what i’m having.

these stuffed mushrooms are straight up indulgent and flavorful bites that work just as well as a main dish as they do party starters. the combination of sweet sausage and earthy mushrooms mixed with caramelized onions and hints of parmesan cheese will make you rethink how you do dinner too. and the way the sausage just crisps up in the oven – i could go on if you want…

the great thing about recipes like this is that you can mix and match any ingredients you like. try turkey or chicken sausage (just had this for the first time recently – surprisingly good!). throw in any spices or herbs you might like, or even mix in some wild mushrooms for a kick.

i don’t actually have any pictures of the mushrooms once they came out of the oven. there’s a perfectly good reason – we finished them off before i could break out the camera. seriously.

just one week ago, i made a few new years resolutions, and baby, i intend to keep em!

bastilla (pronounced bas-tee-ya) is a moroccan dish that combines spicy and sweet chicken, almonds and scrambled eggs wrapped in phyllo dough and then dusted with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon. traditionally, it’s made with pigeon, but i went with chicken because american pigeon is so different from moroccan pigeon it wouldn’t have tasted very good in the first place. also, i wasn’t really in the mood to go pigeon hunting on the mean streets of dc.

what gives the chicken it’s awesome color is a combination of turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, parsley and cilantro. i can’t describe how delicious the apartment smelled when i was cooking.

you assemble the whole dish on layers of phyllo. what’s great about phyllo is that it’s so flaky and light. what sucks about phyllo dough is trying to get it to do anything you want it to do. every single piece of phyllo i unrolled fell apart in my hands like it was some ancient babylonian scroll. luckily, all you need is copious amounts of melted butter to repair it – no one will know.

this dish normally takes a few hours to make from start to finish, but in all the hubbub of decorating it and taking pictures, it cooled before i could cut myself a slice. at the time, i didn’t actually know if i was supposed to eat it warm, so i just had a piece cold. to be honest, it was amazing cold. i still haven’t had it hot – i can’t wait long enough to heat it before digging in.

i’ve been nervous about using different spice combinations in the past, but this recipe has helped things make more sense to me. i’m already dreaming of other things i want to make this week, like sweet and spicy chicken salad with grapes and red onion. mmmmmm…