blog appreciation: smitten kitchen

To follow up with yesterday's late night post, here's a bit about my current obsession with cooking blog success story, Smitten Kitchen. The obsession began last month on the day I happened to commence a week long fruit-and-veggie-only detox. Food (and the lack of it) must have really been on my mind as I decided to venture over to smittenkitchen.com and discover what all the fuss is about. By the next day, I had gone back 75 pages, and by Thursday, I had skimmed every entry and made a mental note of at least 10 recipes I wanted to try. Self-inflicted torture at a time when I couldn't eat a stitch of Deb's culinary suggestions? Yea, I must be sick. But as soon as the detox was over, I marched happily to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for two SK recipes: shakshuka and potato and artichoke tortilla. Guess I had eggs on my mind!

Shakshuka is an Israeli dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. This recipe was so delectable that Alex and I finished the entire batch in one sitting-- and I believe I ate the leftover sauce out of the pan with my finger.

A few nights later, my friend Eliza joined me for the tortilla, a Spanish take on the omelette and traditionally served in slices as a tapa. Savory, delicious, and another egg-tastic success!

This week, back from freezing Europe and back to equally freezing Boston, all I wanted was some warm, winter fare to heat up my chilly bones. In addition to throwing together a batch of mushroom barley soup for myself and Alex (who's been sick with a cold all week), I returned to Smitten Kitchen for a couple hot, stewy recipes: three-bean chili and mushroom bourguignon.

I changed the recipe up a bit by adding cinnamon. The recipe already calls for cocoa powder, and my favorite chili has always been one that contains the two sweet flavors. So easy to make, warm and satisfying in your belly and SO FREAKING YUM.

{All photos from Smitten Kitchen}

I have a confession: I cheated on my Kosher-style eating ways when I was in Paris and tried the boeuf bourguignon at Le Coupe Chou (no words.). But back to reality means back to avoiding the meat and dairy combo and SK's mushroom bourguignon is the perfect vegetarian substitute, as the recipe traditionally calls for butter. Two and a half hours of cooking, allowing the stew to reduce, and anxiously awaiting our supper, Alex and I drooled as the fumes of mushrooms and wine filled our apartment. And two and a half hours was definitely worth the wait.

So all around, Smitten Kitchen has made our apartment a happy one: happy bellies, a happy roommate (she's lucking out having me cook for her all the time now!) and a happy me. The kitchen is one of my happy places and I'll make it a point to hang out in there more often.

Peace, Love and Neon,
Marisa