home fries.

No, unfortunately I'm not talking about this cinematic gem. I'm talking baked-in-a-skillet sticks of sweet potato slathered in the dreamiest fixins I could find in my fridge.

Thus

• 1 sweet potato, cut up all fry-like
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 3 wands (rods?) of scallion, diced
• a handful of cashews

tossed with

• 2ish TBSP olive oil
• chili powder
• sea salt
• ground pepper
• fresh cilantro and shredded gouda-parrano (after cooking)

cooked in a cast-iron skillet at 450F for about 45 minutes (checking and re-tossing occasionally)

became:

There was only one small hiccup:

Nice second-degree burn, dumbass. Now it looks like I have ring worm. And all because I didn't double-wrap my superheated skillet handle. Sigh.

I also went all Julia Childs--literally--and made my own mayonnaise from scratch (see it here but halve the recipe). Then I made it into a spicy aioli by adding a ton of Sriracha.

Poverty never tasted so good.

Until we eat again,

MK

gluten-free chocolate & port cakes.

SECRET: these are simply my voluptuous Red Velvets recipe minus a gallon of red food coloring and plus Evenus Zinfandel Port. Not only does it come in a lovely bottle (observe), it's not too bad for sipping surreptitiously while baking with it.

Also got to try out my new frosting tips. Above: #32. Check them sexy peaks.

Do you trust me?

thirty days has september...

Hopefully it won't take me that long to post again.

But life has been more than a bit hectic lately between adventures in Canada and moving to New York. Sigh. I'd love to get some more delectable treat pics up soon, but groceries ain't cheap (read: gluten-free flours, all new sugars, spices, mixing bowls and muffins tins...) and I'm still vying for a dreamy baking job in the city. Thus, no recent activity in the kitchen.

In the meantime, my few and far-flung readers, satiate yourselves with these Sweet Potato Ricotta Cinnamon Rolls. Or, even better, my reeeeal sexy, even tastier GF version:

Honeyed Pumpkin-Pecan Brunch Buns.

Once we finally get some furniture in this joint I'm going to bust out these suckers for a September Sunday morning Bed-Stuy brunch. How, you may ask? EASY.

• Swap out the 2 C AP flour (BORING) with my signature GF flour re-mix:

1 C rice flour

1/2 C cornstarch or arrowroot powder

1/2 C potato starch/flour or tapioca starch/flour

• Since we've nixed traditional flour, make sure to add 1 tsp Xanthan Gum to bind your dough. I'd also sprinkle in a bit o' baking powder for good measure.
• Ditch the veg. oil for applesauce.
• No ricotta? Just blend some organic cottage cheese till creamy.
• Add a nice sloppy tablespoon of pure vanilla extract. OR...
• If you have chai from concentrate (especially Bhakti or a similar peppery, ginger spice chai) try adding a tablespoon of that instead of vanilla. It's really delicious nuzzled up against that pumpkin flavor.
• Substitute 1 C canned, pureed pumpkin--not to be confused with yucky pumpkin pie mix--for the sweet potato, which some of us just don't have time/energy to peel, boil, cool, mash and erect a monument for.
• Once your buns are rolled and in the pan, sprinkle on some charming chunks of pecan and drizzle with raw honey or maple syrup if you're feeling superfancy. Then dust them buns with cinnamon, cardamom, maybe a little allspice...
• Devour remorselessly alongside a huge cup of Abuelita Mexican Hot Chocolate and a heap of scrambled eggs with cracked pepper and gruyere.

Anyway, stay tuned for more belle-cake bakery porn (hopefully coming soon)...and keep your fingers crossed that I charm myself into a tasty new job!