On Persevering

The last seven-plus months have been . . . difficult. Not bone-crushingly difficult, sure, but kind of hard.

I...
lost my chief taste tester to Oklahoma.
moved for the first time in 3 1/2 years (no small feat in New York City). 
learned to share a kitchen with two strangers.
felt horrified, confused, and generally lost when it came to feeding myself after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma.
suffered extreme guilt and anxiety every time I sat down to blog (anxiety thanks to being a perfectionist, an Assistant Editor, and big sister to a photographer).

But I enjoy chronicling what I've made and I really like hearing that something I've cooked has inspired a friend to try something new. So, I'm going to scale this thing back (less photos, less words--current rambling post aside) and try to become a more efficient communicator.

If you follow me on instagram (emelliaz), you know I haven't stopped cooking, I've just gotten a little self-conscious about this blog. Bear with me. And now, I leave you with a random image from last week.

Coney Island. Trust me, you don't want to see what the beach itself looks like.

Oh, and did I mention that my ancient (five-year-old) macbook is dying, making it really annoying to write and compounding the anxiety problem mentioned above? Donations welcome.

More soon,

Emellia

Brunch Dish: Brown Sugar Roasted Bacon

Easiest recipe ever. Just grab a package of bacon and some brown sugar.

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Open package of bacon.
• Arrange bacon in a single layer on a baking rack set over a baking sheet. (It may seem like overkill, but it helps make cleanup easier to line the baking sheet with foil).
• Sprinkle each slice of bacon liberally with brown sugar.
• Place in oven for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of your bacon and how crispy you like it).

before

And voila! Salty, sweet, perfectly prepared bacon. People will be very impressed with you and your skills. I made this for a brunch potluck on Sunday and it received rave reviews. (Is this special bacon? What did you do to this bacon? Why does it taste so good? )

after

Making bacon in the oven ensures that it bakes evenly, not to mention that you can make more pieces at a time than in a skillet. And baking it on a rack means that excess grease drips onto your baking sheet. Plus, you don't have to worry about burning yourself with grease splatters. Seriously, do you need me to give you more reasons to make your bacon like this, people?

yum!

Brunch for Dinner: Shakshuka

I've been wanting to post this recipe for one of my favorite brunch dishes for a long, long time. So I'm cheating by referring you to my friend Katie's blog, because though I did most of the cooking, she took the did the rest of the work by taking the photos and writing about it!

This is a vegetarian recipe, but it's super filling and totally satisfying.

Dinner in a hurry: Pizza

Sometimes I don't want to deal with making a grocery list. When this happens, I go to the store with an ingredient in mind that I've been craving, and then base my meal off that ingredient. This week it was artichokes. I really, really wanted artichokes for some reason (because they're delicious, obviously). So, I grabbed a can of artichoke hearts and decided to make pizza.

Pizza is not rocket science. With pre-made dough it's a little more involved than making pasta, but way more interesting. From start to finish this meal took about thirty minutes to make, and I had plenty of leftovers for lunch. Win!

What did you make for dinner this week?

Five Years

I moved to New York on January 8, 2007. No job, no friends, and basically no clue about what I was getting myself into.

Tonight, five years after starting this no-longer-new life of mine, I shared a tasty North Carolina-style barbeque dinner at The Cardinal with two of my good friends. Everything we ate was excellent, from the moist beef brisket to the flavorful mac and cheese to the juicy pulled pork to the subtly sweet bread pudding. (And that's only half of what we ate!) Yes, it was quite the feast. Should I have commemorated this anniversary with something more typically "New York," like pizza or a deli sandwich? Maybe. But to me, more than anything else, New York signifies delicious food from all over, eaten with people from all over. So I think my dinner was very fitting.

If I could, I would grab your hand, and take you to every place I've ever loved to eat from these past five years so you could taste a bit of what my life has been like. We would grow fat and tired and broke, but it would be glorious.

On Moving (and food)

I've lived in the same apartment for 3 1/2 years. Aside from my childhood home, this is the longest I've lived in one place. My close friends know that I have a hard time with change and a really hard time not getting attached to things. (Ex. I had a nightmare once that my favorite coffee mug broke. It was pretty devastating.) I move today, and it feels like I'm losing a friend.

Moving is the worst. Not only has it taken a toll on me emotionally and physically, it's wreaked havoc on my eating habits for the past two weeks. The last home-cooked meal I ate was a week ago (Mexican-style eggs). I've been eating a steady diet of toast and leftover pizza because I've wanted to avoid making a mess in the kitchen. Not good.

I'm sad to leave my home, but I'm excited about the meals I'll create and share with friends in my new apartment. The best part about my new place? It's literally two minutes down the street from Trader Joe's!

My old place, pre-move

Bag Lunch: Chicken, Chorizo, and Olive Empanadas

Life is a little crazy right now, hence my totally neglecting this poor little blog. I mentioned making these empanadas WEEKS ago and I can't believe I've held off on posting about it for so long. These are too good to keep to myself. They're a little involved, but they're a great project for a chilly Sunday afternoon when you have some time on your hands. I used this recipe, but ignored the directions to double the dough. You basically have to decide what you'd rather have: extra dough or extra filling.

Make the dough before you get started on the filling. That way it has a chance to sit in the fridge for an hour.

Here are my seasoned chicken legs browning in my fantastic skillet. If you don't have a skillet, go out and get one from Target right now. Don't even finish reading this post. Just buy a skillet. It will make everything you make in it cook and taste 100x better. And I suppose you could swap out boneless skinless chicken breast here, but only if you want something that doesn't taste very good.

Remove the chicken from the skillet.

Saute onions, garlic, and bay leaves for a few minutes before adding paprika and chorizo to the pan to brown (I used spicy Italian sausage because I couldn't get my hands on chorizo).

Add olives, wine, and broth to skillet and bring to a boil before nestling the chicken legs back in the pan. Let the chicken cook in the skillet for about 30 minutes.

Remove the chicken and bay leaves from the mixture to cool. Once the chicken is cool, remove the skin and bones and chop the meat. Add the meat back to the skillet and let the filling cool for about 30 minutes.

I'll just let the recipes guide you on filling instructions, but basically you divide your dough in half, form balls, flatten into disks, and fill with about two tablespoons of filling (which you'll have leftovers of, but will eat over rice for dinner and love just as much as your empanadas). Below is sort of what they should (or can) look like. You can also crimp the edges with a fork if you don't want to get fancy like I did. Brush the tops with egg wash and pop them in the oven.

After about 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven you get beautiful, brown empanadas. These keep really well in the fridge, and they're good cold or quickly warmed in the oven (or microwave). Two empanadas and a side salad make a great lunch.

Notice the flaky crust and moist filling. These are a delicious blend of sweet, savory, and a little spicy. I made them for lunch, and they'd obviously be great for dinner, but if you made them a little smaller they'd make great appetizers!