Vasili’s Blog

Dec 4, 2009My Five Favorite Recipes from Smitten Kitchen

I have to admit it. I'm a little obsessed with this site. I regularly tweet about recipes that I find absolutely delicious sounding. I spend my free time, late at night, browsing the site by hitting the random button and then saving the ones that I will make.

In total, I've made nine different recipes. I probably would have made more but I go through the butter so quickly for some of these recipes, and my mom has ceased from buying any more unsalted butter at the moment. I'd like to give you a little roundup of five of my favorite recipes from those nine that I made.

1. springy, fluffy marshmallows - I love this recipe. It was the first one I made and the marshmallows came out so well that I knew I was going to have to make them a second time. It was actually fun to make them because I got to watch the molten sugar get fluffy by putting my mixer on high. I actually have to make another batch tomorrow for my mom because she liked them so much (she doesn't really eat marshmallows). A fun little recipe to try that only requires eight ingredients, but needs a candy thermometer.

2. italian bread - I made this bread at my grandmother's house. I made sure that we followed every step because she doesn't always do it the way that the book tells her to. It took about a day to make (including the time to make the biga), but it was worth the effort. The crust was so nice on the bread, one of my favorite parts!

3. salted brown butter crispy treats - I will never eat a rise crispy treat from a box again. It would also take some convincing to get me to get a homemade one that didn't include a whole stick of butter with some added sea salt. These were the best thing I ate probably in the whole month of November. If you are willing to use a whole stick of butter for these, make them as soon as you finish reading this. If you aren't, convince yourself that you should and go make them. They were delicious. I made three batches.

4. bourbon pumpkin cheesecake - Now, I make a really good New York style cheesecake. That's the only thing that people ask for when my family goes to a family event. "Can Vasili make cheesecake?" "Vasili made cheesecake?! WHERE IS IT?!?!" Personally, I love cheesecake and pumpkin pie equally. This recipe is like the child of both of them. If you're in the mood for either and you like both cheesecakes and pumpkin pie, get your springform pan out and start reading that recipe! FYI, I omitted the bourbon, and it still tasted amazing.

   I was asked (shocker, right?) to make something for Christmas for my uncle's house when we go down there on Christmas Eve. They say to make this, but I'm still deciding over the pumpkin cheesecake, yummy caramel cheesecake, and heart attack on a plate cheesecake.

5. mushroom strudel - I could eat sautéed mushrooms only, and still be as happy as ever. I could also eat buttery, flaky phyllo and love it. When I read this recipe that combined the two, I knew I had to make it. They take a little bit of time to make, but the work was well worth it. I will be making these again when mushrooms go on sale.

I don't know how many of you have ever heard of smitten kitchen, but I absolutely love it. The recipes I find on there almost always come out tasting perfectly delicious. Along with their amazing flavor, the process to make them really isn't that hard (except for the marshmallows, which you have to watch; otherwise the sugar would burn). What are some of your favorite recipes, whether they be online or something found in a cook book?

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