Applesauce Spice Muffins w/ Crumb Topping

Ingredients: homemade organic applesauce, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, salt, organic eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, toasted pecans

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As I was looking for recipes for applesauce, I stumbled upon this one, for applesauce-inspired muffins. I tweaked it slightly, but pretty much stuck to the directions - except I cut the sugar by half and reduced the amount of butter. No fancy equipment required for this, just a couple bowls, a whisk, and a muffin/cupcake tin!

The best part is probably the sugary crumb topping that makes it taste more like a coffee cake if anything. While in the oven, it inundates your kitchen and house with a warm, apple-y, and spicey fragrance that reminds you of the holidays. It's a great morning muffin and perfect served warm. 

Basil Pesto

Ingredients: organic basil leaves + flowers, organic garlic clove, toasted pine nuts, freshly grated Parmesan, kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil

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Alice Waters has a brilliant recipe for basil pesto - the first I've seen that doesn't have any appliances involved! If you don't have one already, go out and get a mortar & pestle. It's such a fun tool that is incredibly useful and highly underrated in kitchens. Mine's from Le Creuset, which frankly is a bit small, but any kind will work for this pesto. 

The first step is to throw in a crushed garlic clove and a pinch of salt in the mortar, mashing and pounding them together with the pestle until a paste forms. Then you add a handful of pine nuts and some freshly grated Parmesan and you keep mashing and smashing it all together until an even thicker paste forms. Transfer this mixture into another bowl and add the basil leaves, loosely packed, to the brim of the mortar; I also added the blossoming basil flowers, just for kicks. 

Working the fresh leaves and flowers down with the pestle released all the incredible essential oils and flavors of the basil. It takes a bit of elbow grease, but in the end, you will get a very dark forest green paste. At this point, you can add the pine nut/cheese/garlic/salt mixture to the mortar and just combine and mash together, slowly drizzling in about 1/2 cup of olive oil. 

The difference in flavor really is palpable and the essence of the basil is so much more fragrant and flavorful, especially when paired with some freshly made warm pasta. 

Chickpea Stew

Ingredients: canned chickpeas, chicken thighs, roasted red peppers, tomato paste, cumin, garlic, olive oil, bay leaves, crushed red pepper, kosher salt, lemon juice, water, Italian parsley

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This recipe caught my eye in this month's Bon Appetit magazine. I've been recovering from the flu this past week, so all I've been craving is soup and stews - this is perfect if you're in the mood for something hearty, warm, and comforting. It's incredibly filling and almost like a Lebanese gumbo. The flavors are perfectly middle eastern with the smokiness of the cumin mixed with the tangy spike of lemon juice and the earthiness of the bay leaves.

I followed the recipe to a tee, except that I omitted the jarred roasted red peppers and roasted my own fresh ones. This also called for serving the soup with some cubed, day-old artisan bread, placed at the bottom of the bowl, but it works just fine without it (or, you can grill some and use for dipping!). The fresh Italian parsley makes a world of difference, throwing some on each bowl just before serving. And you can also add as much fresh lemon juice as you want, I doubled the amount it called for and I could've still used more.

The stock and base for the soup was just a simple tomato paste / water mixture which yielded so much flavor and opens up the possibilities of all sorts of hearty variations (compared to your average chicken or vegetable stock). 

Homemade Peanut Butter w/ Honey + Sea Salt

Ingredients: roasted, unsalted, shelled peanuts, canola oil, clover honey, sea salt

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I've been looking for inventive and tasty high-protein snacks to get me through the work day and knew that peanut butter could be an option. I'm not very thrilled with the state of jarred peanut butter in the stores, so I thought I could try and work up a batch of my own. I referred to Alton Brown's recipe to get the basic peanut::oil ratio and then added my own touch of honey and sea salt.

It couldn't have been easier - just throw all the ingredients in the food processor and you're done; further proof that the food processor is possibly the best investment for the home cook. I just added the honey and sea salt to taste, drizzling in some oil to get the right consistency. The oil is key to this - not enough and it will be mealy and crumbly and too much and it'll just be a peanut sauce! 

I just made a great peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the first I've had in probably 20 years. Other ideas that I'm dying to try: nutella/peanut butter paninis, banana/peanut butter melts, or even just a piece of chocolate dipped in this stuff - it's heaven.