Watership Down Kitchen

Pizza Knots On football Sundays, there is nothing I want more than take out. I crave eggrolls, wings, pizza, crab rangoon, fries, burgers, ribs; something that screams “cheat food!” (And in all honesty, my joy for football Sundays is solely due to the food; I don’t really watch the games). But armed with the excuse that football provides, I thought about what treat I have been craving the most lately, and what I had on hand in the kitchen to make it happen. I saw some left over marinara sauce, and decided that I wanted the garlicky, bready, buttery deliciousness known as garlic knots. When I lived in Boston while going to college, my school was a stone’s throw away from several wonderful pizzerias. But the place to get garlic knots was at Crazy Dough’s Pizza on Boylston. This recipe takes me back to late nights with friends, exhausted after long rehearsals. When making these, I decided to up the wow factor of a garlic knot by stuffing them with cheese and pepperoni...

Homemade marshmallows are a labor of love, but worth every minute spent in the kitchen making them. They make unparalleled s’mores, rev up your hot chocolate, and can even be used in various baking recipes.  The flavor and texture of a homemade marshmallow is a world apart from store bought. First, they actually have a sumptuous vanilla flavor, rather than tasting like, well, sugary air. Second, they have a more substantial texture that is meltingly smooth and light.  I prefer to use vanilla bean paste for this recipe since it has the little vanilla seeds and I think they looks so lovely running through the marshmallows. However, vanilla extract will also work if you cannot find vanilla bean paste. Give a jar of these as a gift, and you will be hailed as a hero. The process may be slightly finicky, but the result is well worth it.  Equipment note: I will say that you must have a stand mixer to make this. I use my KitchenAid; I tried making this with a...

Hot Chocolate Winter in New England can be a chilly affair. In the frozen depths of January, there is little I want more than a mug of hot chocolate, a good book, and a blanket.  Hot chocolate is one of the first things I can remember making on my own; I felt so clever to mix Swiss Miss with scalded milk rather than boiling water. This recipe I have created by trial and error; I find it is a happy medium between thick, incredibly rich hot chocolate made solely from milk and chopped chocolate, and the comfort of the predictable Swiss Miss mix. Now, I need to confess something here and now; I do not like dark chocolate. I have the palate of a child when it comes to chocolate; the darker, the more bitter to me and my tongue rebels. I greatly enjoy the creamy, melting sweetness of good milk chocolate. I do have an open mind, however, and am trying to learn to appreciate the complexity of dark chocolate. Black coffee and I are friends, so I hope that someday you will see ...

Somedays, I crave a dessert that is both beautiful and delicious, creamy and tart, intricate yet simple. On those days where I really want to impress, I like to choose something that involves beautiful layers of color and complementary flavors. I love the creamy yet firm texture of a panna cotta. It is an incredibly easy dessert to make, easier than making vanilla pudding from scratch, so long as you measure your ingredients carefully (too much gelatin and the result is rubbery). I also absolutely adore the flavor of passionfruit. I remember the first time I had passionfruit flavored juice (some blended thing by tropicana) and I had to have more. The first time I tasted passionfruit curd, I almost cried. Then I found out how very difficult and expensive it is to buy them up north in America. If I can find one at my local grocery store, they are about $2.50 a piece. For this recipe, you will need 2 cups of the juice, which is something I just cannot afford. (And that is saying ...

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake I do have a day job. I mean, I have to pay for my baking goods, random whisks and gadgets and appliances somehow, don’t I? Happily, the place where I work is wonderful; wonderful because it’s a great place to work, and wonderful because I get to bring in my treats for other people to enjoy. I also get to dress up for holidays (as in, Mary Poppins for Halloween, a pilgrim for Thanksgiving, a parade of various ugly sweaters and santa outfits for Christmas, all red for Valentine’s, an explosion of Irish flag colors and Celtic knots for St. Patrick’s Day, and of course, the Easter Bunny for Easter). Easter is coming up. My outfit planned and prepared, I decided that I wanted to bring in a treat to work. I had made Andes mint brownies a week ago for St. Patrick’s day, so chocolate was out. And I wanted something more spring like, so a treat with fruit seemed just the thing. Onto a blueberry crumb coffee cake. Special equipment? None- this time I wa...