Short Stack! Super Designy Short-Format Cookbooks By Awesome People.

Hey there, lovely friends! I've been hearing a lot about this super-rad new cookbook project, called Short Stack, and I'd love to spread the word for a few reasons:

1. The small Brooklyn-based company has started publishing cookbooklets, each penned by a single author and focused on a single ingredient...and they're gorgeous! You can pre-order here.
2. Two heartthrobs of the New York food-media sphere are involved in the project and they're chaps you should definitely know about! The first is Nick Fauchald, former TastingTable.com editor and one of the creators of Short Stack. The second, my lovely chum Ian Knauer, who wrote the first edition (all about eggs)! Here he is as a cartoon...
3. In keeping with all things Brooklyn, each cookbooklet is made using "old-school craftsmanship." The pages are printed locally on beautiful thick paper, then stitched together by hand using baker's twine. Oh! And the covers are stunning—I'd love to frame a little series in our kitchen.
4. Short Stack looks after their writers. Authors are paid for each copy of the book printed, which (if you're familiar with the fine print of book publishing) is kind of amazing.
5. Susan Spungen wrote a cookbooklet of strawberry recipes! She's one of my food lady crushes (as evidenced by this post), so needless to say I'm psyched. 

Anyway! I just found Short Stack's website this morning so I was inspired to share. Keep an eye out for their books this summer—I have a feeling they're going to be a big deal. My guess is Anthropologie will stock 'em by fall :) In the meantime, here's a recipe for Snow Pudding with Blood Orange Curd and Lavender from Ian's egg cookbooklet...

[photos and illustrations from Short Stack's website]

Ramp Biscuits—Make Them Before Ramps Are Gone In About 2 Weeks!

 
Good morning, lovebirds! Our dear friend Ian, a brilliant culinary talent and author of the cookbook The Farm, brought us ramps from his family's farm this weekend. We've been trying to use them in new ways (there's only so much ramp pasta a girl can eat)! I love making savory chive biscuits at home, so I decided to swap Ian's ramps into the recipe to see what would happen. Surprise, surprise: It was a huge success! Darn ramps, they do everything right. Mixing the chopped bulbs and leaves into the dough gave the biscuits a deeper, more interesting onion-garlicky flavor. Actually! I thought they strangely tasted just like Red Lobster's biscuits—I'm one-thousand percent sure they're not using ramps but the similarity was kind of spot-on! Anyway. Make these biscuits while you still can. Ramps will only be around for a few more weeks. Why not make the most of it, right? Here's how you do it...

RAMP BISCUITS
MAKES: 6 to 8 biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped ramps (about 1 small bunch), white bulb and leaves
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 450˚. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Whisk the flour, ramps, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add the cream to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix by hand until the dough comes together. Form dough into a ball in the bowl.
3. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and pat into a 1-inch-thick disk. Use a cookie cutter or mason jar to cut out biscuits (press scraps together and cut out more biscuits, as needed). Dip each biscuit, both sides, in the melted butter. Arrange on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each biscuit with Maldon sea salt, if desired. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and the centers are just cooked through. Store in an air-tight container up to 3 days. Reheat before eating. 

Quick note: This is my super lazy-girl way of making biscuits. Feel free to roll and cut them out on a cutting board like a normal person, if you'd prefer :) xo Erin


 

Best Holiday Appetizer Ever: Beet-Pickled Deviled Eggs!

Two worlds collided today when I spotted my dear friend Ian Knauer's beet-pickled deviled eggs on one of my favorite blogs ever, Cupcakes & Cashmere, by Emily Schuman! She did such a beautiful job making them, didn't she!? Emily chose Ian's pink-tinged eggs because they're a high-impact appetizer that aren't that complicated to make—and good lord are they tasty! Head over to Emily's blog or Epicurious for the recipe.

(And if you're still in need of a perfect last-minute gift for the food-lover in your life, snag Ian's gorgeous cookbook from your local Barns & Noble or online, here!)

[Photograph by Emily Schuman for Cupcakes & Cashmere]

Prepping For A Pig Roast: What to Bring & How-To Do It!

We're quickly approaching one of my favorite food days of the year: the annual pig roast at my friend Ian's family farm. Ian was a cook at Gourmet magazine (you've definitely seen his incredible recipes, like this pumpkin bread pudding and this grilled caesar salad, a concept he totally invented by the way!) and I dare say there's nothing you can throw at him that the man can't cook—including whole pigs. Last year we pig-roasted in the middle of hurricane Irene, remember these pictures? Crazy. Welp, we're driving out to Pennsylvania again Saturday morning and I cannot wait. I even know what I'm packing, already! Here are my essentials: 

Have you ever had a pig roast? Last year was my first time. If you'd like to host one yourself, Ian explains exactly how to do it in his cookbook, The Farm (shameless plug, I know! But it's so fabulous). There's an entire section on how-to roast a pig. And if that's too large-format for you, there are about a zillion other perfect recipes in the book—like his famous potato nachos. Ooo! Actually, watch this short video: Ian goes through the recipe, plus you can sneak a peek at the farm we'll be at this weekend. 

[Pig stamp available on Esty, here!]