Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha, Honey, and Lime

When the New Yorker lands in my mailbox each Tuesday, the first thing I read is the weekly restaurant write-up, Tables for Two. It's short and sweet, and usually contains a brief description of one or two stand-out dishes. Every once in a while, I hear one of the descriptions and think, that sounds like something I should try to make. Even more rarely than that, I actually get off my derriere and try to make one of the recipes. This is one of those times.

The idea came from The Vanderbilt, a restaurant in Prospect Heights. According to the New Yorker, "the best dish might be the roasted Brussels sprouts, dressed with sriracha, lime, and honey, each bite a perfect combination of sweet, spicy, and tart." They really did sound perfect, and given a) how simple the ingredient list sounded and b) the fact that I happened to have all four aformentioned ingredients in my house, I decided to give it a go. What better use of a snow day than turning dish descriptions into great food?

For my first (and thusfar only) try at this recipe, I used just the listed ingredients, oil, and salt. I imagine the restaurant may have thrown in some stock for balance, or any number of other things not mentioned in the name, but brussels sprouts with sriracha, lime, and honey sound just great. I was making only one serving, so I pulled out a little bowl and squeezed in a tablespoon of honey. I added a teaspoon of sriracha to that and stirred it to combine. Then I added the juice of half a lime and mixed it together. Upon tasting it, I decided it needed more tartness, so I added the juice from the other half of the lime: perfect. I poured it into a bigger bowl and added the trimmed sprouts. I mixed it all together, tossed the sprouts onto a baking sheet, drizzled them with olive, and put them in the oven at 375. 27 minutes later, I pulled out a tray of the crispiest, most perfect little sprouts. Transferring them to a plate and snapping a couple of pictures was all I could do to avoid eating them all immediately.

Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha, Lime, and Honey inspired by The Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights

serves about 6 as a side dish

4 pounds brussels sprouts, root ends trimmed, halved if large 4 tablespoons honey 4 teaspoons sriracha (you might want to start with less if you're sensitive to spice) juice of 4 limes salt about 4 tablespoons grapeseed or other flavorless oil

Preheat the oven to 375. In a small bowl, combine honey and sriracha. Taste and adjust for spice level. Add lime juice and stir to combine. When the sauce has the perfect balance of spice, sweetness, and tartness, transfer it to a larger bowl and add sprouts. Toss to combine. Transfer sprouts to a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer, and drizzle remaining sauce overtop. Sprinkle with salt (a couple big pinches will be plenty), and drizzle the oil overtop. Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven, until sprouts are fully crisped outside, and soft but not mushy within. Serve immediately.

Goat Cheese Caramel Cheesecake

The last several times I saw cheesecake on a restaurant menu, it always listed some cheese other than cream cheese as its defining ingredient: ricotta, farmers cheese, and goat cheese seem to make regular appearances.

This is with good reason: traditional cheesecake is overly sweet and very dense. It feels to me like a 1980's-era dessert, something that no one really serves anymore. I can eat only a couple bites of it before needing a break from the sugar shock, and while the texture is initially nice, it wears me out after a while. I suppose this is why I've made it only once or twice, ever. Inexperience notwithstanding, something about being a food blogger makes me foolish enough to believe that I'll master a recipe immediately, and so when I got a hankering for cheesecake this weekend, I was determined to make the perfect version.

As often as my culinary hubris has backfired, this time, I've gotta say, I think I pretty much hit the nail on the head. I auditioned several recipes beforehand -- everything from toffee crunch to chocolate-coffee to key lime -- just to make sure I considered all the possibilities. Ultimately, I settled on something akin to New York cheesecake, with lemon juice and zest to offset the sugar. I also drew inspiration from all those restaurant menus, using goat cheese in lieu of much of the cream cheese called for in classic recipes. I like goat cheese's tanginess, and I also find it lighter and thus more bearable than cream cheese.

I decided to top off my goat cheese cake with a coat of dark, smokey caramel. I added a bit of lemon juice to the caramel topping to echo the lemon in the cake and cut the sweetness, and included a generous amount of salt because I find caramel is no good unless it's equal measures sweet and salty.

The finished result was excellent. It was still creamy enough to please cheesecake lovers, but it certainly wasn't as dense or cloying as its classic sibling. The caramel was every bit as ooh-ahh tasty as I'd hoped, and the gingersnap crust I had chosen gave the final product a nice hint of spice. I may not make cheesecake very often, but next time I do, I won't need to think twice in choosing a recipe.

Goat Cheese Caramel Cheesecake inspired by Bon Appetit and Rose Levy Berenbaum's excellent book, The Cake Bible

Crust:

1 1/2 cups/ 7.25 oz. gingersnap cookies (I used TJ's brand "cat cookies") 5 tablespoons butter, melted 2 tablespoons light brown sugar

Cake:

1 8-oz. package cream cheese 16 oz. goat cheese or fresh chevre 1 cup minus one tablespoon light brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/4 cup heavy cream 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract zest of one lemon 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Caramel topping:

1 1/2 cups cane sugar 1/4 cup water 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1 cup heavy cream 1 1/4 teaspoons good flaky salt

For gingersnap crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray bottom of 9-inch springform pan with 2 1/2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Stir ground cookies, butter, and sugar in medium bowl until moist clumps form. Press cookie mixture firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Wrap outside of pan with 3 layers of foil. Bake crust until firm and beginning to darken, about 14 minutes. Leave oven on, and set crust aside to cool.

For cheesecake: Beat cream cheese, goat cheese, and sugar in large bowl (using a hand mixer) or food processor until smooth. Beat in butter, then cream, then eggs, 1 at a time, until just blended. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour batter over crust in pan. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cake uncovered about 45 minutes. Do not open oven; turn off heat and allow cheesecake to cool in oven 1 hour without opening oven door. After 1 hour, remove cheesecake and cool uncovered in refrigerator at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

For caramel topping: Stir sugar, water, salt, and lemon juice in large saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until mixture turns deep amber, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with wet pastry brush, about 9 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Chill until thickened but still pourable, about 15 minutes.

Spoon caramel over top of cake just to edges (do not allow caramel to drip down sides). Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake; release pan sides.

Serving tip: wet knife slightly before and in between slicing; this will help prevent the blade from sticking to the caramel, which is very sticky.

Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread

If it wasn't obvious from my cookie page, I've got something of a permanent craving for bite-sized crunchy/chewy treats. Hanukkah isn't really a cookie-focused holiday -- it's more a celebration of your deep fryer. But Christmas is just around the corner, and every year, I get swept up in the holiday spirit. This year is no exception, and I'm more than happy to bake off a few batches in honor of the holiday cookie season. Just doing my duty, people.

Tonight's first batch was my favorite chocolate chip cookies. Everyone's got a favorite recipe: mine are pretty close to the NYT recipe, only I don't mess around with the two different types of flour, I use natural sugar instead of bleached white stuff, and I use a mix of ghiradelli chocolate chips and chopped bittersweet chocolate for textural contrast.

After a few of those were in the oven -- for D, of course, just wanted to please my lady -- I moved onto batch number two: hazelnut shortbread. Less sweet but just as buttery and full of toasted nuts, these shortbread are chocolate chip cookies' sophisticated sibling. They come together in a flash, and can be baked in any number of ways. If you're in a rush, roll the whole pile of dough into a log and stick them in the freezer for slice-and-bake action later. If you have more time, form them into little individual log cookies. Either way, dunk the finished shortbread into shiny melted chocolate (or just drizzle the chocolate on top using a fork), and roll in toasted nuts on top for some truly elegant December desserts. Oh, and by the way: they make a lovely holiday present.

Speaking of holiday presents, if buying toys isn't your thing, why not make something homemade? Fudge, sea-salt caramels, cookies, truffles, and even home-assembled cake mixes (dry ingredients layered decoratively in a jar, with instructions included) all make great gifts.

Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Shortbread adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup finely ground husked toasted hazelnuts (about 2 ounces) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped 1/3 cup coarsely chopped husked toasted hazelnuts or shelled, unsalted pistachios

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in 1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until just combined.

Shape dough by tablespoonfuls into 3-inch-long logs. Place on prepared baking sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until light golden brown around edges, about 20 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool cookies completely.

Stir milk chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Place 1/3 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts in small bowl. Dip 1 end of cookie into melted chocolate, then into coarsely chopped hazelnuts (or pistachios, which I love for their green color). Return to rack. Repeat with remaining cookies. Let stand until chocolate is set, about 1 hour. (Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

My Hanukkah Wishlist

Christmas season is upon us, and the obsessing about presents is underway. I've seen about 15 gift guides, some food-specific, some not, with ideas for the food lover, the wannabe foodie, the horrible cook, the cool-chef-dad, the apron-clad mom, and everyone in between.

This isn't really a gift guide -- it's really just a haphazardly-compiled list of things I'd love to have. But all the same, here goes:

Cookbooks

Michael Symon's Live to Cook

This is the first cookbook from Cleveland chef Michael Symon. I haven't seen the book, but the one recipe I made from it -- tomato blue cheese soup -- was hands down the best tomato soup I've ever had. If the rest of the book has recipes like that one, I'm sold.

David Chang's Momofuku

By now you've all heard me wax poetic about David Chang's New York restaurant empire, Momofuku. The food at these restaurants -- and I've been to three of them -- is some of the best I've had in New York, and you know it's good when, in a city with as cut-throat a restaurant culture as Manhattan, the man's managed to open up five joints in no time, all of which frequently have lines at the door. This cookbook (which I've peeked at several times) brings Chang's mastery of flavor into the home. His proportions are spot-on, and he makes deliciousness from such simple ingredients. I made his soba with scallion dressing, and what looks like a big pile of scallions with brown sauce all over them turns out to be a phenomenal bowl of noodles. I'm hungry for more.

Canal House Cooking, Vol. 1

This is the first in a series of what will be four cookbooks, one for each time of year. The books are written by Christopher Hirsheimer & Melissa Hamilton, who are as skilled in the art of food photography as they are at developing damn good recipes. I've peeked in these cookbooks at BN, and they're just gorgeous. The book evokes that feeling I get toward the end of a lazy summer weekend afternoon, when the sun is setting over my neighborhood and the air is cooling off, and the most important thing I have to do is sip a good glass of wine.

Canal House Cooking, Vol. 2

The second volume, devoted to fall and winter. I haven't seen it yet, but it's gotten rave reviews.

Foodstuffs

A bottle of Tokaji. Ever since having a glass for dessert at Komi, I've been wanting a bottle to enjoy on a special occasion at home.

A gift certificate to Cowgirl Creamery

Cowgirl Creamery is my favorite cheese shop here in DC (also in SF). It has a large selection and the most helpful staff, and I always find something new. Notable discoveries include Tomme de Bordeaux, Soccotenere (a creamy semi-soft cheese with truffles), and Cowgirl's own fromage blanc with herbs.

Some Taza Stoneground Chocolate (available at Foodzie)

I love the rustic, almost gritty texture of this chocolate. It's not smooth like the well-tempered bars we've all come to love, but it's got real texture, and it tastes fresh and light and almost fruity.

I also want a roasting pan, but I'm still not sure what kind. If you've got a recommendation for a good one, leave it in the comments.

That's all that's on my list. But even higher on my list is being able to spend the holidays with the people I love most. That, I can already check off my list.