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Once again, I find myself sitting down to write and reflect on my cooking a long, well very long time, after my last Menu of Month dinner, but I’m cutting myself all the slack because this particular meal took well over twenty four hours and was without a doubt one of the my biggest culinary challenges to date- and I’m a teacher and we’ve gone back to in person learning and kids seem to have forgotten how to learn in person and I’m teaching four preps and it’s Homecoming week and really things really are just totally insane and…… whew.

Anyway, particularly during stressful times, cooking is so soothing and relaxing to me, and my younger brother’s Menu of The Month for July (I know- SO long ago) was no exception. He challenged me to smoke an entire brisket. On a gas grill. For three people. It was totally worth it. I had never smoked anything before, but my brother and I both really enjoy barbeque and I was excited to try something totally new. I read up on how to smoke a whole brisket for honestly, weeks before and while I’ll make a few changes when I do it again- I was really proud of the results.

I purchased all kinds of smoking related items including a few different types of wood chips and a bluetooth meat thermometer that monitored the temperature of both the meat and the grill at the same time and notified me with an incredibly obnoxious alarm sound on my phone when either got out of the temperature range that I had preselected. I don’t know much about smoking (yet) but I would NOT BOTHER attempting to smoke anything without a thermometer like this. It was pretty cheap on amazon and I’ve already used it a few times.

The process was of course, lengthy and did involve waking up at four O’clock in the morning to get the brisket to room temperature before putting it on to smoke for fifteen hours, but I really did enjoy hanging out in my house and babysitting the meat all day while I prepared the classic barbeque sides including corned bread, macaroni and cheese and baked beans.

A word to the wise- I planned to serve the brisket at right around the fourteen hour mark, only to go into a complete panic when, right around four PM the temperature of the meat simply stopped increasing and it seemed like there was no way it would be done any time that evening. Apparently, this phenomenon is called the “stall” and it’s super common when smoking a large cut of meat-something to do with the meat reaching a temperature where it begins to break down and get really tender, which seems like a good thing until the meat starts to release juices that cool the meat just enough to prevent the temperature from increasing to proper doneness. I’m sure there are far more elegant solutions that would better protect the integrity of your bark, but I, post-fifteen minute meltdown, simply wrapped the whole thing tightly in foil and let it go for another hour or so which totally did the trick.

I have to say I think I am most proud of this meal because really, deep down I believed that there was a very real chance that it wouldn’t work. I’ve struggled with large cuts of (expensive!) meat before (I’ve told the story about the leg of lamb right??) and I while I certainly worried- it was so rewarding and satisfying- not to mention delicious- when it worked out!

Since smoking a brisket I’ve also smoked ribs which I totally recommend trying for a crowd. It takes way less time than a whole brisket but you still get all of the amazing smoky, barbeque flavor and get to enjoy the process while having several cocktails on your parents’ deck over labor day weekend (No way that’s just me right?). Plus, it’s very impressive.

Fall is officially here (yay!) and is kicking off my favorite time of year to cook and celebrate EVERYTHING. I’m already dreaming of pumpkin everything, all of the soups and of course Thanksgiving and Christmas- here’s hoping I manage to write it all down before valentines day!

And while I’ve not written enough about it or adhered to my normal monthly schedule- I’ve still been cooking like crazy. I made pappardelle with pesto and tomato carpaccio, using vegetables and herbs from my garden. I’ve done chorizo carbonara, thai lettuce wraps, apple pie squares, smashed lemon potatoes, a million salads, thai steak, japanese ramen, flatbreads, a Momofuku Milkbar birthday cake… I can’t even remember it all, but it doesn’t really matter because of course, what’s important is who I share it all with and all of the fun we have.

Obviously, I love to cook all year long, but my favorite time to cook is during the holiday season. Since I can hardly prevent myself from getting carried away during the first ten months of the year, I don’t even try to fight it from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve.

This year, we, like everyone else, kept our celebrations small, which emboldened me to try a few recipes I had been dying to make, but was too intimidated to make for a big crowd. I had so much fun experimenting with new ingredients and techniques, spending tons of time in the kitchen as always, and even getting my family involved! Although it was a very different holiday season, and I really missed seeing my entire extended family and friends, it was truly perfect- and I feel rested, hopeful and inspired heading in to 2021!

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. I love an excuse to plan and prepare a huge meal, and I spend literally, weeks preparing. I pour over all of my cookbooks and even old issues of cooking magazines. I (sometimes) run ideas by my family and ask for their opinions. I make several shopping lists and organize them by when items can be purchased, I make homemade stock the week before and usually start cooking, baking and prepping on Sunday the week of Thanksgiving. This year, I actually came up with a HUGE list of recipes I wanted to try and let my family vote on a few in each category. I made A TON of food this Thanksgiving and relied on my ever-growing collection of cookbooks. The menu included:

-Buttermilk Brined and Roasted Turkey (Samin Nosrat)
-Classic Mashed Potatoes (old family recipe)
-Baked Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes (Ina Garten!)
-Classic Stuffing (my favorite)
-Artichoke and Leek Bread Pudding (also Ina!)
-Roasted Cauliflower Gratin (Alison Roman)
-Maple Roasted Carrots with Citrus and Tahini (Alison Roman)
-Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Joanna Gaines)

and THREE pies, all from “Sister Pie” in Detroit, just because I really wanted to try all three.
-Pfeffernusse Pie
-Toasted Coconut and Sweet Potato Pie
-Coffee Chess Pie

It was, admittedly, a lot- but it was also delicious, and so fun to sit around the table with just family and begin to reflect on what was good in 2020, and dream of 2021.

For Christmas Eve, I tried a dish I have been meaning to try for quite some time! I mentioned the idea of a Beef Wellington casually to my younger brother and he said he had always wanted to try it- so I ran with it. I am always BEGGING my family and friends to tell me what dishes they like so I can make them for them, so I was thrilled when Jack expressed and interest in a certain dish. I was pretty nervous to make Beef Wellington, having discovered seconds after placing the carefully prepared roast into the oven, that my parents do not own a meat thermometer, but some how, it turned out perfectly. It was a bit labor intensive and there are quite a few steps, but I truly love a “project” dish and get so much joy from watching each component come together. I served it with:

-Wine Roasted Artichokes with Lemon and Garlic Aioli (my first from-scratch mayonnaise!)
-Crispy Fried Potatoes with Onions
-Romaine with Vinegar Bacon and Herbs and,
-Sweet and Salty Cream Cheese Tart, all from Alison Roman.

On Christmas night, we did something a little more casual and a little different- I asked each member of my family to request an appetizer, and we just had heavy appetizers and cocktails! It was an interesting mix of brie cheese, spicy chicken meatballs, steak crostini, sliders and queso, but we had a great time, standing around the kitchen counter and snacking all night long. I didn’t even really take many pictures because it was such a casual and relaxed evening.

Finally, for New Years Eve, we had Roasted Tomato and Anchovy Bucatini from “Dinning In” with Ina’s Roasted Beef Tenderloin and a very classic Caesar Salad that my family always makes. We had a cheese board and champagne punch to start, and I served nothing for dessert because honestly, we have all been way too full for like, three entire weeks.

And with that, the year 2020 has come to an end. Everybody already knows what a challenge it has been, but I believe there are reasons for hope waiting for us in 2021. I have a few ideas for food and cooking adventures I’ll tackle next, gatherings with family and friends I can’t wait to host when it’s safe, and the learning I’ll continue to do.

I’ve officially been “blogging” for a year now! I’ve loved having an excuse to cook like crazy, try new stuff and share it with everyone I love. Hoping you find such joy and fun in the coming year! Cheers to your health, happiness and peace in 2021.

A look back at (a lot of) what I made this year…

Several weeks ago for October’s “Menu of the Month” dinner, I had my Uncle Tim, Aunt Kelly and my awesome cousin Brendan over along with my mom, dad and younger brother Jack. It was one of the last weekends where we could be outside, since it’s started getting cold in Michigan pretty quickly, so I set everything up on the little porch on the front of my house. I’ve discovered that this is my favorite place to host a dinner. The porch holds a bigger table than the tiny dinning space actually inside my house, and we get to look at the lake and watch the sunset as we eat. I was a little worried it would be too cold so I had a small space heater on standby, but we didn’t end up needing it.

For the menu, I tackled something I have been afraid of for several years. I LOVE lamb. I order it in restaurants whenever I get the opportunity. I love it roasted, I love lamb chops, I love it in greek dishes. So does my entire family, and so several years ago for Christmas, my dad and I special ordered a giant, beautiful leg of lamb which I planned to slow roast perfectly and serve for Christmas Eve dinner. To this day I’m not sure what happened. We have theories that my parents’ oven was not heating correctly. I think I may not have let the lamb come completely to room temperature before roasting. Some suggest I used a broken meat thermometer, but whatever the case- my beautiful leg of lamb turned out…not good. It was cooked. It was “fine” to eat. But it was not brown and crusty and well seasoned on the outside or perfectly medium rare on the inside. It was not flavorful, and on Christmas night, I became sicker than I had ever been in my whole life. No one else in my family got sick, so I think I just had the stomach flu, but still, it’s been hard to shake the memory of laying on the cold tile floor of my parents guest bath by myself until four in the morning on Christmas night.

But like I said, I LOVE lamb. So I have been dying to try it again- so I did! This time, I used Tony Tipton Martin’s Roasted Leg of Lamb Recipe and it was delicious. The recipe required a pretty different method- I ordered the leg of lamb butterflied from the butcher (which I think reduced the cooking time!) and covered the whole thing with garlic and herbs before rolling it up, tying it in twine and roasting for several hours. The whole thing roasted on top of potatoes which basically fried in the lamb fat and got crispy and golden. This attempt was a significant improvement, although I do think I made one misstep. The recipe called for the lamb to be generously coated in oil, salt and pepper before roasting to help develop a flavorful crust. I don’t think I carried out this step with enough enthusiasm. Next time, I will probably triple the amount of seasoning I use on the outside of the roast. Despite this one detail, I would say this was at least, a 90% improvement to my last attempt. It was juicy and flavorful and the potatoes were TO DIE FOR.

I paired the lamb with a few recipes from Ina Garten including an amazing salad with arugula, burrata and prosciutto. I added roasted tomatoes on the vine and served crostini with roasted butternut squash and ricotta during cocktails. Dessert was a frozen mocha mousse which, I did not get a decent picture of because I was too excited to dive in.

It was such fun to have my aunt, uncle and cousin to my house for what was most definitely, my last porch dinner of the year. They lived in Connecticut for several years, and have just moved back to Michigan, so we are getting to see them more often and it’s great! My little brother Jack, and cousin Brendan are very close in age and have NEVER escaped a family party without “going back to bak” to see whose taller. These days, this tradition usually includes a cocktail.

The weekend after this dinner, a few more aunts, uncles and cousins got together in my parent’s pack yard for an outdoor, socially distanced birthday dinner. I made this AMAZING chocolate peanut butter cake from Half Baked Harvest which I topped with tiny meringue ghosts because, why not?

On a different note, since these fun celebrations, the situation with COVID-19 has gotten even more serious all over the country, but particularly in Michigan, in the county where I live. It seemed like things were improving for a while, but there has been a dramatic increase in cases all around us, and so it seems we may not all be together like this again for a while, and while that is really hard, I know it’s the safest thing to do.

I am hopeful that we may be able to be together in small, socially distanced groups for the holidays, so I have started to dream about what I’ll make for Thanksgiving (possibly my favorite holiday??) and Christmas. This time of year is my favorite time to cook and bake for the people I love, and I am trying to maintain faith that I’ll have a chance to do that, at least a little bit, this year. I’ll note that I am writing this post the morning after Joe Biden was elected to be the 46th President of The United States. This gives me even more hope. Hope that by listening to science and to experts and recognizing that protecting each other is not a burden, this country may be restored to health, and safety and peace.

For now- I will be cooking and baking like crazy because that is what I do in times of joy and celebration, and in times of crisis or sadness. To me, feeding someone is a gesture that shows how much I love them, and I think everyone could stand to know how loved they are these days. Even if they are told with a large stack of buttermilk pancakes that they may or may not have even asked for.