pasta with tuna and black olive vinaigrette

My family and I went to Barcelona a few years ago, and we fell in love with La Boqueria, the city's famous open-air market. On one of our daily trips, we discovered a family-run stall that sold exceptional pastas and salads. One of our favorites was a pasta dish with tuna and black olives. A year or so later, I came across this recipe in Real Simple Magazine for a similar dish. It brings us back to Barcelona everytime we eat it.

Pasta with Tuna and Black Olive Vinaigrette
Adapted from Real Simple Magazine

1 lb. penne
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. capers, rinsed, drained, and chopped
1/2 c. kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
2 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 6-oz. cans tuna, drained

Cook pasta in salted boiling water.

Heat 3 tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the capers and olives and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in parsley and cook until wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice, pepper, and the remaining oil.

Top pasta with tuna and olive vinaigrette.

parker house rolls

Not much beats these soft, buttery rolls, warm out of the oven. Their tenderness comes from the whole milk, their chewiness from the bread flour, and their incredible flavor from the butter. They’d be great at your next dinner party!

Parker House Rolls
From Gourmet, November 1999

3 tbs. warm water (105 to 110 degrees)
3 tbs. sugar
1/4 oz. active dry yeast
1 stick unsalted butter
1 c. whole milk
2 c. bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 2 c. all-purpose flour

Stir together warm water, 1 tbs. sugar, and yeast in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Melt 3/4 stick butter in a small saucepan. Add milk and heat to lukewarm. Stir together yeast mixture, remaining 2 tbs. sugar, butter mixture, bread flour, and salt in a bowl with a wooden spoon until combined well, then stir in enough all-purpose flour to make a slightly sticky dough that forms a ball.

Butter a large bowl. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, kneading in more all-purpose flour if dough is too sticky, 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic, but still slightly sticky. Form into a ball and put in buttered bowl. Turn to coat with butter, then let rise in bowl, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.

Butter a 9-inch baking pan. Divide dough into 20 equal pieces and roll into balls. Arrange evenly in 3 rolls of 3 and let rise, covered loosely, in a warm place 45 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk. Make a deep crease down of each roll. Let rolls rise, covered loosely, 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt remaining 2 tbs. butter and cool slightly. Brush tops of rolls with butter and bake in middle of the oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rolls cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool to warm.

chocolate covered strawberries

Happy Valentine’s Day! There are few food combinations as perfect and simple as chocolate and strawberries. Dip and swirl strawberries in the melted chocolate of your choice (I prefer semisweet), and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour, until the chocolate is set. Enjoy!

chocolate-dipped butter cookies with raspberry jam filling

While I love homemade cookies, there’s something special about bakery cookies. They are usually chewier and more tender, which are my favorite qualities in a cookie. I have tried tweaking recipes to make bakery-style cookies, without tremendous success. The butter cookies made from the following recipe, however, tastes just like professionally-made cookies. Tender butter cookies are filled with raspberry jam. Then the sandwich cookies are dipped halfway in melted semisweet chocolate. No one will believe that you made them at home!

Chocolate-Dipped Butter Cookies with Raspberry Jam Filling

2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 c. flour
1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Seedless raspberry jam
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter, flour, sugar, and vanilla until it comes together. Wrap in plastic, and shape into a disk. Refrigerate 2 hours.

Roll out dough, and use 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out cookies. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.

When cool, spread the bottom of one cookie with seedless raspberry jam. Place another cookie on top to make a sandwich.

Melt chocolate chips. Dip half of cookie into chocolate, and place on plate covered with parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator to set the chocolate.

apple spice bundt cake

Apple spice cakes seem to be hit-or-miss; most are too dry, some are overly spiced, some are under-spiced, some have big, unappetizing chunks of apple inside. Bon Appétit’s Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze is a hit. It is moist, even without the glaze, and has a perfect balance of spices. The finished product resembles Greek honeyed walnut spice cake. My family and I like it best when it’s still warm, but it keeps well for a day or two.

Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2007

For cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbs. ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1 3/4 lbs. Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, coarsely grated, and squeezed dry in a kitchen towel
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed golden brown sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

For glaze:
1/2 c. packed golden brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/4 c. low-fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray.

Sift flour and next six ingredients into medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, both sugars, and lemon peel in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla and lemon juice. Beat in flour mixture. Mix in grated apples. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze:
Stir all ingredients in small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; whisk until glaze is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Invert cake onto rack set over baking sheet. Using small skewer, pierce holes all over top of warm cake. Pour glaze over top, allowing it to be absorbed before adding more. Cool cake 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

snowman cupcakes

Today, I am celebrating winter by making snowman cupcakes. I found inspiration for the decoration of these cupcakes from marthastewart.com. Atop yellow cupcakes, I spread a generous amount of vanilla buttercream. Then, I assembled the snowman. They are very simple to make, with one large marshmallow for the body, half of a marshmallow for the head, half of a Mini Oreo (without the cream filling) for the hat, brown sprinkles for the eyes and red sprinkles for the buttons, and a sliced orange jelly bean for the carrot nose. And there you have a fun winter treat!

butterfly cupcakes

Martha Stewart has such cute ideas for cupcakes! These butterflies, made with pretzels, red licorice, an m&m, and piped frosting, would be perfect for a child’s springtime birthday party.