‘Oprah’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Devils on Horseback {Appetizer}

November 20, 2012 · Narrative

So this past Saturday, I shared a table at a vendor show with a friend. From 10-3. And then hosted a party with girlfriends at 6. {More party details coming soon}

I needed to make a few eats for the party and needed to keep it super simple.

Because time? There was, like, none to spare.

Apparently Oprah heard my silent plea and came through because just last week, a link for her 10 Minute Appetizers landed in my inbox.

True story.

I scanned through and chose two to make.

One with figs, one with dates.

And another true story? I actually really don’t like figs.

Or dates.

But I am adult enough to know that sometimes something needs to be presented in a different way to get you to like it.

And this is about that.

I have a little bit of a problem with the “ten minute” claim. Unless she means 10 minutes to assemble, and not from start to finish.

But either way, you’re done in thirty minutes, with minimal work.

And I can live with that.

A little sweetness from the date. A barely perceptible taste from the cheese, interestingly enough. And the bacon?

I mean, really.

Everything is better with bacon.

Word.

After the first bite, it was a round of OMGs.

And halfway through the night, the entire plate was gone.

Completely and utterly gone.

If you need something a little different to round out your Thanksgiving dinner table, make these. And if you don’t, make them anyway. Or pin them and make them another time.

But make them.

Because if I know nothing else, I know you need these in your life.

Oprah thinks so too.

So there’s that.

PS – And Devils on a Horseback are actually nothing new. They’ve been around forever, in various forms, and were quite big in the 1970s.

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Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins from Baked Bakery

October 26, 2009 · Narrative

In the stack of books on my nightstand, amongst the chick lit, biographies and business and finance books, you’ll see a few cookbooks nestled into the stack as well. I like reading cookbooks too. Half of you may think that’s weird. The other half will totally get it. I like reading the history of the chef, or how a restaurant got its start. I like reading the intro to the recipes and hearing how it was created and where the inspiration came from. I like thumbing through and sticking Post-Its on recipes that I want to make. Reading a cookbook is as satisfying as reading any of the other books in my stack. It just touches a different part of my psyche.

Last week, I made it to the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking cookbook, a tome of recipes from the 4-year-old bakery in Brooklyn. The introduction told of how the partners got their start, defying the odds and creating their space from an old church. Just to keep the construction project going, and the momentum to boot, they filled orders from their dining room table. When the bakery finally opened in January 2005, they were making just 48 cookies a day. Six months later, it was 200 a day. And now? Well, let’s just say that after being featured in both Oprah‘s magazine and on an episode of Martha Stewart, they’re a little more than the little bakery that could. They’re the little bakery that did.

With four bananas on the kitchen counter that seemed destined for banana bread (the babysitter kept threatening to throw them away – as if!), as soon as I saw this recipe for Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins in the cookbook, I knew they were meant for greater things than just banana bread. Muffins are an easy sell in this house, and the perfect grab-and-go breakfast for Nick, who never leaves enough time to sit down and eat a leisurely breakfast on school days. With the chocolate in them, they were a no-brainer.

After the kids were in bed, I turned the oven on and started getting out the ingredients. Half an hour later, Nick wandered downstairs, asking what smelled so good. The smell of these fresh-baked muffins literally hung in the air for days, and every time someone came over, they asked the same thing, “What smells so good?!”

Nick grabbed a napkin, and a muffin, and headed back upstairs. The next morning, he grabbed two for breakfast, and an extra one for his lunchbox. After school, he polished off two more. Although he likes muffins, and baked goods with bananas in them, I’ve never seen him go through muffins that quickly. He was responsible for polishing off at least half the batch himself over the course of a few days. And no wonder.

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Recipe: Roasted Asparagus Salad with Goat Cheese and Bread Crumbs

May 18, 2009 · Narrative

To be completely honest, I wanted to post this picture and just write two words: make this. Or maybe MAKE THIS. Because some recipes don’t need words. They just need a call to action.

But then I worried that perhaps that wouldn’t be enough to entice you to make this recipe. And I wanted to make sure that you did. Well, not necessarily all of you. I’m looking at you, asparagus lovers. You who rejoice at those fresh green stalks. THIS is the recipe for you. This is the recipe why lemon juice exists. Why sea salt is here. Why goat cheese is magical when it gets all warm and melty. This is the recipe for which we celebrate asparagus season.

I spied this recipe in a recent issue of Oprah magazine. In her Love That! column, this could not have been in a more appropriate place. I made this recipe for me, and me only, because no one else will eat asparagus here. Well, after tonight, it turns out that Madeline does, but that’s not the point. When I was putting the final dish together, I spied my neighbor outside in her garden and decided to split the batch and bring a plate over. She still has 10 weeks to go until her baby #2 is here, and she’s feeling like she’s about 19 months pregnant. I hadn’t even had a bite of this, but I knew it would perk her right up. If I had tasted it first, I can almost certainly guarantee that she wouldn’t have had any of this. It’s the perfect combination of simple flavors that, when married, make magic.

So make this. MAKE THIS. Make enough that you can share. Or be greedy and keep it all yourself. This is why asparagus exists.

P.S. Do not skip the lemon juice because it truly makes this dish sing. I used less when I made this the second time and it was still excellent, but not nearly as magical.

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Cristina Ferrare’s Roasted Chicken

April 8, 2009 · Narrative

When you think of Cristina Ferrare, you don’t think about cooking. You probably think more about her modeling and acting career, or maybe her marriage to John De Lorean. But last year, I was introduced to her recipes through an appearance she made on Oprah. It turns out that Oprah goes to Cristina’s for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner every year, and when you think that Oprah can pretty much have dinner anywhere or with anyone, that says an awful lot about Cristina’s cooking. (I have since discovered she also has a cookbook as well.)

Her appearance was a little bit before we were in such a whirlwind of recession, economic downturn and budget-speak, but her recipes were perfect for a time of cutting back nonetheless. Cut back on the spending, but not the flavor. That’s a movement we can get behind. One of the recipes she made, and that Oprah raved about, was her Roast Chicken with her famous marinade. Consisting of only three ingredients, but strong flavored ones at that, you can have it in your oven in five minutes flat.

The recipe is for making two chickens, one to eat now, and one to make into something else for another night (check out her other recipes for the second chicken here). So for five minutes worth of work, you can get two flavorful main courses for under $15. How ya like them apples? Now personally, when it comes to playing with whole chickens, particularly raw ones at that, I tend to get a little squeamish. I hate cleaning them, emptying the cavity, even just seeing all the parts intact. But I hold my breath and do it as quick as I can.

Since the episode first aired, I’ve made this recipe a few times and when it hit the table again last week, I was reminded of how good it really is. With flavors like soy sauce and Dijon mustard, you can’t go wrong. The only change I make to the recipe is to stuff the inside of the chicken with onions, as well as the lemons called for. Add some roasted vegetables (like those maple ones we made recently) and dinner is done for under $10. Oh and how does it taste? It is hands down the juiciest chicken I have ever made, bar none. Don’t miss this one!

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