All in THE SELECT RECIPES
TASTE: SLOW COOKER LAMB SHANKS WITH LEMON, DILL + FETA
this is a perfect winter recipe: hearty, warming and incredibly easy to make thanks to the use of a slow cooker. we love the all clad deluxe slow cooker (read more about it here), which is perfect for this dish as you can brown the shanks right in the insert on the stovetop so you don't lose all of the yummy bits in the transfer. plus, you only have one pot to clean at the end.
TASTE: THE YULE LOG
Christmas means many things to many people. For us, one of the most important traditions is the Büche de Noel (Yule Log). It's like a yodel for grownups and it's surprisingly easier to make than you might think. We happen to love this one from Food 52 which is flourless, rich and includes mascarpone. Who can resisit?
TASTE: YOU GOT YOUR CHOCOLATE IN MY ALMOND BUTTER
Who doesn't love a dessert that's free of refined sugar, dairy and gluten and doesn't require any baking at all? I know I do, and these Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups from Aloha really deliver on taste as well as some pretty decent nutrition. They do require that you purchase some of the Aloha products, but I promise they are worth it, and you can have a look at Glow: Wellness for some more info. Check out their website as well as they're always posting greta recipes as well as tips on wellness.
TASTE: THIS LITTLE PIGGY ...
The holidays are mostly just an excuse to overindulge in every way, which is awesome, unless you’re the one in charge of food prep. This recipe for porchetta, from Marc Murphy’s Season with Authority: Confident Home Cooking is a true crowd pleaser and looks like you did much more work than you actually did. Serve it with a simple green salad and some roasted potatoes and sit back and prepare to accept enormous praise.
TASTE: SPAGHETTI SQUASH LATKES WITH SRIRACHA “MAYO”
'Tis the season for latke-making, and while this recipe is far from traditional, it's one that I am so in love with I don't even know what to say. It combines two of my very favorite things: spaghetti squash and sriracha and it's gluten free, high in protein and fiber, dairy free and there's SRIRACHA involved. I vow to make these a regular part of my rotation.
TASTE: BLACK BEAN BROWNIES. YUP.
WHEN I FIRST CAME ACROSS THIS RECIPE ON SKINNYTASTE ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I WAS SORT OF INTRIGUED AND SORT OF DISGUSTED. BUT I'M ALL FOR TRYING ANYTHING THAT GETS ME LESS SUGAR AND CARBS AND STILL CLAIMS TO BE DESSERT, SO I GAVE IT A WHIRL. AND ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW. THESE BROWNIES ARE INCREDIBLY RICH, DECADENT AND CHOCOLATE-Y. THEY ARE ALSO SUPER EASY TO MAKE. AND THEY'RE GOOD FOR YOU. ISH.
TASTE: ANNE BURRELL'S AWESOME SAUCE
One of the perks of having Chef friends is a sauce like this. To say this tomato sauce is the best sauce on the planet doesn't even begin to do it justice. You can use it for almost anything, but my fave is over avocado and poached eggs, which Anne has labeled my "bipolar breakfast" due to the fact that I ride such an incredible high when she hands me the bowl, and I sink into a deep depression when I finish it. There is no link to this recipe, because it exists nowhere but on my computer, and exclusively here on The Select 7.
TASTE: Thanksgiving? Already?
Thanksgiving. Wow - how did that happen already? This is the only holiday that I am 100% responsible for. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but the Chef in Marc shuts down one day a year, and this is it. So, 13 years ago I was forced to come up with my own Thanksgiving menu, and this turkey recipe from Bon Appetit has never, ever disappointed. The trick is the maple butter that gets rubbed all over the turkey in between the skin and the meat. It's a messy, fairly disgusting job, but I promise the end result is worth it.
TASTE: MARC MURPHY'S NO RECIPE POT OF CLAMS, SHRIMP + CORN
OK, so the downside to having chef friends (or husbands as the case may be), is that they often don't understand that cooking civilians need an actual recipe to follow. Case in point: this incredible summer staple of a giant pot of steamed clams, corn and shrimp in garlic and white wine that Marc makes at least once a week all summer long. This past summer though, Marc was traveling and I was dying for it. I asked him via text for the recipe, and this is what he sent back:
