Watership Down Kitchen

Do you desire dangerously good cookies? Do you love chocolate chip cookies but want to make a more delicious, more sophisticated version? Brown the butter. Browned butter adds an incredible depth of nutty flavor to the chocolate chip cookie. It’s a marvelous flavor enhancement, and it takes very little time and no special skills. The only thing to be wary of is eating all the cookie dough. It’s completely addictive- 100 times more potent than your average cookie dough. Fair warning. Enjoy these warm from the oven or completely cool with a tall glass of milk. Enjoy! Ingredients: 2 sticks of butter 2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips Method: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, then bring to a boil. Once boiling whisk constantly until the butter froths

It’s summer; I want spicy, fast and refreshing. Shrimp tacos check all of those boxes. Spice from cayenne and sriracha, crunch and cool from the perfect slaw, and perfectly crispy-on-the-outside and tender-and-juicy on the inside shrimp wrapped in the comfortable carby-ness of a white flour tortilla. YUM. Both the mayo and the slaw only involve dumping ingredients in a bowl and whisking. Do these first since letting them sit and the flavors meld together really improves the final product. The shrimp is a little messy with the flour, egg, panko dipping, but the effort is well worth the result. A short frying time and assembly and bam- the perfect meal to have with a beer on the deck.  Ingredients: 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp 6 flour tortillas 1 1/2 cups seasoned panko breadcrumbs 3 whisked eggs 3/4 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt  pepper to taste vegetable oil for frying Slaw: 2 cups coleslaw mix (red and green cabbage, carrot) 1/3 cup pickled red o

Briny, acidic, buttery, beautiful chicken- this is chicken piccata. Piccata is the italian translation of the french word pique, meaning sharp. Here, it refers to the sharp tang of lemon, caper and butter. Traditionally, this dish is served with noodles, polenta or rice, but I greatly enjoy eating it with roasted cauliflower.  This chicken is absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make. If you don’t have wine, use chicken stock instead. The whole dish will come together in about 15 minutes including prep time and you almost certainly already have the ingredients on hand. Well- what are you waiting for? Go! Cook! And enjoy! Ingredients: 4 tablespoons butter 2 large chicken breasts, cut in half 3/4 cup dry white wine 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 lemon sliced into rounds 2 tablespoon capers salt and pepper Method: Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat two tablespoons on butter over medium-high heat. Add the breasts

For loyal readers of y blog, you know that I have a love affair with specialty appliances. I have a professional ice shave machine, cotton candy machine, a compression freezer ice cream machine and a freezer bowl version, a frozen plate ice cream machine to make rolled ice cream, waffle irons galore, and now, an at-home compression freezer soft serve machine. I received this as a gift from my husband four our 15 year anniversary (since we started dating- married 9 years this summer!). Clearly he knows me well! Why is this machine special? Same as my ice cream machine, it has a freezing unit built-in to the marine, so no bowls to freeze. Unlike the ice cream machine, this freezes at a lower temperature and whips a great deal of air into the soft serve (called over-run in the industry) which lets you achieve the correct soft serves consistency- frozen quickly, no large crystals, super fluffy. You can buy mixes for this machine, and develop your own recipes. Since soft serv

My parents are on a health kick lately; my dad lost 25 pounds this past year, lowered his blood pressure and his cholesterol. I am inspired to opt for more healthy options myself recently (think fish or black bean burgers standing in for hamburgers, lots and lots of salads and smoothies, and lots of fresh veggies and fruits). Happily, today’s recipe is healthy, delicious, and requires cooking (I can’t very well offer you a recipe of blueberries and cottage cheese, can I?) My mother made hummus the other night (recipe to come!) and packed me up some leftovers. It’s heavenly to dip veggies in, but also makes a wonderfully creamy sauce for a sandwich. I adore sausage, onion and pepper sandwiches so this sandwich is my idea of a healthier take on the affair. I sautéed onions and mushrooms, added and thin slice of deli cheese, plenty of bean sprouts, and lightly buttered my buns to keep them crunchy (and delicious. I am sorry but I cannot quit and never will quit butter). Thi

It’s July 4th which means cold drinks, delicious food, sunning poolside and ending the day on a delicious and festive dessert. Enter this incredible fruit crisp, chock full of red strawberries, blue blueberries, accompanied by peaches (not white but definitely pale!) and topped with glorious white whipped cream. This recipe is a spin on my apple crisp recipe. The three big changes here are that we are using peaches, strawberries and blueberries in place of apples (that might be a duh, Mary remark), we are swapping pecans and walnuts for sliced almonds, and we are only using dark brown sugar instead of light brown and granulated. The result? Nuts that pair perfectly with these fruits; in my opinion, peaches and almonds were made for one another. The crisp itself is darker and has a richer, molasses flavor, which contrasts nicely with the tartness of the berries. Top with some whipped cream, and you have a dessert that cannot be beat. Happy 4th! Ingredients: 2 p

I love a decadent but not decadent meal. Something that is incredibly delicious but less bad for me in a way that I can’t put my finger on. Enter the spaghetti squash! It subs in for actual spaghetti but loses the simple carbs and adds nutrition! A win for my health. A win for my tasebuds is the lemony white wine butter sauce I make to coat those squashy strands liberally. This is easy to make but it does take some time. Just plan ahed to roast the spaghetti squash and the rest of the meal comes together in mere moments. I enjoy this most with a glass of cheap not-actually-champagne champagne, because I am fancy like that. Enjoy! Ingredients: Spaghetti squash 14 ounce can cannellini beans 1/3 stick butter 1/4 cup olive oil  1/2 cup white wine 1 onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, minced juice of half a lemon salt and pepper to taste 1 bunch minced parsley (about 1/4 cup) Parmesean cheese Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the spaghetti sq