Cardamom and Tea

gigantes plaki (with pockets of feta)

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Let’s talk about baked butter beans! (AKA gigantes plaki in Greek). Oddly, they contain no butter whatsoever! This baked bean dish spans the eastern and western Mediterranean. And I have my own particular way of making it, involving nestling chunks of feta in the beans. They bake into melty pockets of cheese, and it’s just such a treat.

Jump to the recipe or read along for a few handy ingredient notes. Or watch this step-by-step video:

a note on beans for gigantes plaki

If you’re always in a hurry, don’t fret—I use canned butter beans instead of soaking and par-cooking dried ones. They don’t continue to soften once they bake with the tomato sauce, and so I’ve always had good luck using canned. Just make sure you look for a brand that doesn’t overcook them to begin with (you know how some brands are just absolute mush, and perfect for things like hummus? Avoid those here!).

If you can’t find canned butter beans, this recipe is also a wonderful way to cook cannellinis. If you’re starting from dried beans, it’s very important to soak them in lightly salted water overnight, and then cook them all the way through (stopping before they get mushy) before adding them to the tomatoes. Even though they bake for twenty-five more minutes, there is not enough moisture in the dish to cook them the rest of the way if they start out too al dente.

A note on feta (and how to make this recipe vegan)

Feta isn’t a necessary ingredient for delicious gigantes plaki, but it’s one of my favorite things to add. Instead of crumbling and sprinkling the feta, I like to cut it into big chunks and nestle them in with the beans, and then sprinkle a little on top. Just push the feta down, and then nudge the beans back over the tops. In the oven, the feta softens and melts a little with the tomato, turning into delightfully spreadable pockets of cheese.

This dish is wonderful served on thin slices of rye toast, but it’s also lovely served simply with basmati rice. Feel free to adjust the flavorings and seasonings to your preference. It’s easy to veganize it by using vegan feta, or leaving out the feta altogether. If you do leave the feta out, add some extra olive oil.

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gigantes plaki with pockets of feta

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  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: serves 6 as a main, or more as a side

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion (150-175g), chopped
  • 2–3 cloves garlic (10-15g), crushed through a press
  • 2 carrots (140g), medium diced
  • Salt
  • 1 teaspoon (1g) dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons (2g) dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon (0.5g) crushed red pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon (1g) black pepper
  • Two 14-ounce cans (2 400g cans) diced tomato
  • 1 teaspoon (3g) sugar
  • Three 14-ounce cans (3 400g cans) of butter beans, strained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup (12g) minced fresh dill fronds *
  • 3/4 cup (40g) minced fresh parsley leaves (reserve some for garnish)
  • 7 ounces feta (200g), cut into about 10-12 large cubes

Instructions

  1. Heat a large oven-proof 10 to 12” steep-sided skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, then add the olive oil, followed by the onion, garlic, carrots, and about 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions and carrots soften quite a bit (reduce to low if they start to caramelize).
  2. Add the oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper, black pepper, diced tomatoes, and sugar, and bring up to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20-25 minutes, just until it forms a very thick sauce.
  3. Preheat the oven to 425° F (218° C) convection while the sauce is simmering.
  4. Taste the sauce once it’s done. Adjust the seasoning, stir in the butter beans, and remove from heat. Add most of the dill and parsley (reserve a couple pinches for garnish). Distribute all but 1 of the feta cubes evenly over the surface of the beans. Gently push down the feta cubes so that they nestle among the beans. Gently nudge some of the beans back over feta cubes to make sure they’re not showing (it’s like planting tulip bulbs). Crumble the remaining feta on top, and bake for about 25 minutes, just until the exposed feta browns, and the whole thing is heated through. Garnish with the reserved parsley, and serve.

Notes

* Feel free to use a much smaller amount of dried dill (but make sure to use fresh parsley).

To make ahead: 1 or 2 days ahead of time, make the sauce, wash and mince the herbs (dry them very well first), and cut the feta into cubes. You can even strain and rinse the beans and leave them in the fridge, if you’d like to. Once you’re ready to bake, heat the sauce back up in the pan you’re going to bake it in (you might need to add 1-2 tablespoons of water). Once it’s warmed through, add the butter beans, dill, and parsley, stir together, and nestle in the feta cubes. Bake and garnish as usual.

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yellow curry powder + recipes

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This yellow curry powder recipe is primarily made up of turmeric, cumin, coriander, and fenugreek, with some warm and spicy background notes. This blend works well raw, but tempering in oil or roasting in a pan for 1 minute deepens its flavor. You can use this blend in a number of different dishes—check out the archives for a full list, but here are a few of my favorites:

Feel free to follow along with the recipe at the end of this post, or use this video if you’re more of a visual person:

History of curry powder

You’ll find yellow curry powder in a lot of Assyrian and Iraqi dishes. It’s become an important part of our cuisine in recent centuries, and it’s in everything from biryani to amba to masgouf. And it feels essential to the food that makes me think of home cooking. So many family recipes begin with a spoonful or two of Madras curry powder. But it’s important to note that the whole idea of curry actually has a history of colonialism and a connection to our shared experience with the Indian subcontinent (check out articles by Sucharita Kanjilal, Naben Ruthnum, and Little Global Chefs for more information and context). And while it’s not strictly an “authentic” Middle Eastern ingredient (nor an authentic Indian one), it’s certainly become a part of Iraqi and Assyrian cuisines.

What is authenticity anyway? Things are always changing. Some new things come from beautiful instances of cultural sharing. And some new things happen from violence and conquest. But in either case we’re left with whatever remains. When we take stock, maybe it’s just important that we remember and acknowledge our history and our circumstances, while working toward an equitable future.

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Yellow Curry Powder + recipes

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★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: about 3/4 cup

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons ground coriander
  • 2 tablespoons ground fenugreek seeds
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground mustard
  • 2 teaspoons ground curry leaves (optional)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom *
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground chili

Instructions

  1. Prep any whole spices by grinding them and then measuring them. Use a very clean coffee grinder, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle.
  2. Combine all ingredients and store in a sealed glass container for 6 months to a year.

Notes

* If you’re using whole pods, use green cardamom, rather than black, and discard the shells before grinding the seeds. If you’re using ground spices, green cardamom is the same thing as a standard shaker of cardamom you’ll find in the supermarket.

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Loubieh bi Zeit (Middle Eastern green beans)

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Loubieh bi zeit (or lubiyeh b’zetha as we say in Assyrian) literally translates to “green beans in oil.” These Middle Eastern green beans are a simple dish with a simple name, and they’re easy to make using one very simple technique. But don’t be deceived—they’re also big on complex flavor.

Jump to the recipe if that’s all you need to hear 😋, or read on to learn more.

Steam-Frying, the key to great loubieh bi zeit

If you google “steam-frying,” the main technique used here, you’ll find thousands of articles promoting the health benefits of this cooking technique. It’s super simple! You sauté food in some oil, then cover the pan to let everything steam and fry at the same time.

But I find it odd that folks seem to mostly use this technique as a healthy-life-hack alternative to pan frying. Because in my book, there’s one main reason to steam-fry. It’s a delicious way to cook vegetables.

What’s so delicious about it?

  • Steam frying results in a completely different taste and texture than straight up frying. The green beans don’t get the same caramelized flavor they would have if you were to pan fry them. Instead, they have a gently-fried flavor with just the faintest hint of caramelization. And they have a beautifully soft al dente texture.
  • It’s way easier than pan-frying. You don’t have to work in batches to make sure everything gets perfectly crispy, because uniform crispiness is not the goal here.
  • Since it’s a relatively low-heat frying application, you can use extra virgin olive oil without worrying about it scorching.

Helpful hints to get Middle Eastern green beans just right:

  • Don’t skimp on the oil! Think about the amount of extra virgin olive oil you’d use if you were dressing a salad. It’s the key to a rich flavor and glorious texture (I mean, it’s in the name, loubieh bi zeit—the oil is essential).
  • If you’re after truly granny-style Middle Eastern green beans, feel free to steam them for a little (or a lot) longer than the recipe suggests. This recipe as-is will give them a perfect amount of bite if you’re looking for more al dente beans.
  • If you have quality in-season fresh tomatoes, feel free to use 1 3/4 cups fresh here instead of diced. Add them a little earlier in the process, when the green beans are almost done steaming (this gives them a chance to soften more). I love this recipe with canned tomatoes, but it’s wonderful either way.
  • Read the note below the recipe to learn how to use frozen green beans here.
  • If you’re looking for more of a green bean stew, try my flat bean stew instead.
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Loubieh bi Zeit (Middle Eastern green beans)

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
  • 6 cloves garlic, coarsely cupped
  • 2 pounds fresh green beans, stemmed and broken into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces *
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Heat a large, steep-sided sauté pan or medium dutch oven over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the olive oil, followed by the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until they soften a little and turn very light golden (not brown).
  2. Add the green beans and stir for about 1 minute over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so (re-cover every time you give it a stir).
  3. Add the black pepper and salt, and stir for about 30 seconds.
  4. Add the diced tomatoes, lower the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the green beans are your preferred doneness.

Notes

* Feel free to substitute frozen, but be sure to taste them as you go after the first few minutes, because the cook time will most likely be shorter. You’ll also want to cook them uncovered for an extra 1 or 2 minutes.

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warak enab (Lebanese grape leaves)

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These Lebanese Warak enab are absolutely for meat lovers, and can be made with either lamb or beef. Loin chops line the bottom of the pot, shielding the grape leaves from scorching, while also becoming super tender as they simmer. The meaty stuffing is flavored subtly with a little bit of seven-spice blend. But most of the flavor comes from the tangy grape leaves and meat. With only 7 real ingredients, they’re so simple, yet so incredibly flavorful.

Feel free to jump to the recipe if you’re ready to go, or read through some helpful tips and tricks first. And don’t miss my whole collection of dolma and mahshi for lots of similar recipes (including vegetarian grape leaves).

raw lamb chops on butcher paper
warak enab in process
wrapping warak enab

How to stuff and roll the grape leaves

  1. Start with the dull veiny side up on a cutting board.
  2. Make a log with the filling in the center of the leaf.
  3. Fold up the bottom of the leaf.
  4. Fold the sides of the leaf up.
  5. Roll up, putting a little pressure on the roll as you go.

Notes for first-timers:

Here are a few extra-helpful tips, which will be especially useful if you’re making grape leaves for the first time. They’re all woven into the following recipe, but I thought I’d give a little more context here.

1) Make the components ahead and keep it organized.

If the process seems a little daunting, you can make the components ahead the day before you plan to serve. Blanch and prep the grape leaves, make the stuffing, and store both separately in the fridge. Then the day you want to serve, stuff the grape leaves, build the pot, and let it simmer away.

2) Neither over- nor under-stuff your leaves

I’ve made grape leaves with a lot of friends, and you’ve just gotta know whether you’re an over-stuffer or an under-stuffer. Many recipes will tell you “don’t over-stuff your leaves,” but I’ve seen some folks make grape leaves who should definitely hear the opposite advice. See the photos in the recipe for a guide, and try to wrap them a little snugly, but not extremely tightly.

3) Make sure you blanch your grape leaves if they’re from a jar or vacuum-sealed bag.

I’ve included blanching instructions in the recipe below, so just make sure you don’t skip that step. It is 100% mandatory if you want to end up with edible grape leaves.

Reasons why you need to submerge them in hot water, instead of just rinsing them: 1) You need to rinse off the excess brine from the leaves. But just rinsing them under running water is not enough to get in between each leaf. To do so, you actually need to submerge them and swish them around. 2) The brine is sometimes a bit oily, so hot water keeps the brine from clinging to the leaves.

4) Use your own judgment about how much salt to add.

Even after rinsing your brined leaves, they’re still going to be quite acidic and salty. Taste them to get a sense of what you’re working with. Then decide how much salt to add to the simmering liquid and meat.

5) The dull, veiny side of the leaf should face the stuffing (the shiny, smooth side should face out).

You can achieve this by placing the dull, veiny side face-up before placing the stuffing on the leaf. There’s no real practical reason to go shiny-side-out, so feel free to interpret this step as optional. But if you want your grape leaves to look authentic, you’ll want to follow this instruction. They just don’t look quite as appetizing with their dull, veiny sides showing. I also have a suspicion that they hold together better this way.

One caveat: If you plan to bring a pot over to an auntie’s house, this step becomes 100% mandatory. 😉

warak enab rolled in a pile
warak enab in a pot

What sets Lebanese warak enab apart from other grape leaves:

There is no one right way to make warak enab. Recipes vary a ton from person to person. But from conversations with Lebanese friends, and from reading lots of other recipes, here are some things you can probably count on:

1) Delicately thin rolls

In my experience, Lebanese grape leaves are usually rolled into elegantly thin wands. This shape works great with a more meat-heavy filling, since it’s easy to shape the meat into a long line before rolling it up. If you can’t get them quite as thin as you’d like, no worries—they’ll still turn out great. Above all, just make sure you don’t over-stuff them.

2) Simple, hearty flavors

Vegetarian grape leaves are a whole other story. But meaty warak enab are not usually flavored with a ton of spices or herbs. It’s usually more about the flavor of the lamb/beef, lemon, and grape leaves.

3) A nice amount of olive oil

You’ll usually find a decent amount of olive oil in most recipes, both in the filling and in the simmering liquid. It makes them super rich, but not heavy. I learned this particular secret from chef Maria Bizri.

warak enab in a pot
warak enab on a tray

A world of grape leaves

There are lots of different kinds of stuffed grape leaves out there. Even within one country, you’ll find a ton of variation from region to region and family to family. Here are a few others to keep an eye out for:

  • I grew up with Assyrian stuffed grape leaves (prakhe), which my family makes with a ton of parsley, dill, and cilantro. We often made ours vegetarian with mushrooms and walnuts.
  • Syrian grape leaves (yabraq) are a little sweet and sour, like my friend Tony’s recipe, which has a ton of meltingly-tender whole garlic cloves.
  • There’s a lot of regional variation within Palestinian grape leaves (warak dawali), and my friend Abeer’s recipe is flavored with lots of different vegetables on the bottom of the pot. Her recipe’s stuffing is also super flavorful, with seven spice and parsley.
  • Persian grape leaves (dolmeh barg) are super fragrantly flavored and often folded into perfect pentagons.

All just to say, there is a ton of variety out there! These were just a few highlights, and there are about two dozen other regional variations I could’ve added to this list.

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warak enab (Lebanese grape leaves), with beef or lamb

warak enab in a pot
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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours
  • Yield: serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

  • About 125–150 grape leaves, jarred or vacuum sealed (about 600g after draining)
  • ½ tsp neutral oil
  • 7 to 10 small lamb* chops (450-650g)
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 pounds ground lamb* (905g)
  • 1 1/2 cups uncooked medium grain rice, rinsed (300g)
  • 2 teaspoons Lebanese baharat (3g)
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (80g), divided in half
  • 2 cups stock or water (480g)
  • 2/3 cup lemon juice (160g)

Instructions

Notes

* To make this recipe with beef instead of lamb, use ground beef for the filling instead of ground lamb, and use potato slices or scraps of beef in place of the lamb chops.

** How to roll grape leaves:

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upside-down plum cake + A Dish for All Seasons (my book!)

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Exciting news! My cookbook, A Dish for All Seasons is available for preorder wherever books are sold! 🎉 I am so excited to share it with you. Preorders are a huge help to new authors, so if you reserve a copy, please do message me so that I can thank you. 😊

This book flips the script on seasonal cooking. It’s made up of adaptable base recipes, like frittatas, grain bowls, and (you guessed it!) upside-down cakes. You can adapt each base recipe to feature whatever produce you’ve got. And each one comes with four beautiful seasonal variations.

So go to the market without a plan and just see what inspires you. Or choose a recipe and rest assured that you’ll actually be able to find the ingredients. (I mean, ever gone to the store hoping to find persimmons in spring or good tomatoes in late fall? Just me?).

plum upside down cake, shot from the side
A Dish for All Seasons, opened to the upside down cake section, with cake off to the side

For instance, here are the four seasonal upside-down cake recipes (pictured above):

  • chocolate apricot raspberry cake (summer)
  • fig semolina honey cake (fall)
  • pineapple gingerbread cake (winter)
  • strawberry rhubarb chocolate cake (spring)

Or if you don’t feel like following a recipe, you could come up with something else entirely. Like this cinnamon plum cake! Or a cherry chocolate cake *or* semolina peach cake *or* vanilla blueberry cake, or really whatever’s on your mind! Just use the seasonal produce charts and base recipe, and you’re all set.

plum upside down cake, shot from overhead, just the plums in the bottom of the pan before batter is poured on
plum upside down cake batter being smoothed out

Since I make so many things over and over again while recipe testing, I never like making the same thing more than once when I’m just cooking for fun. So instead of making one of the seasonal variations from the book, I thought I’d have fun using the base recipe to make something totally new.

I love the combination of cinnamon and plums, which work beautifully in this upside-down plum cake. I tweaked the cake batter a little to incorporate olive oil instead of butter, and brown sugar instead of granulated. Plums are on their way out of season here in Australia, but you should start seeing them in supermarkets in the northern hemisphere in the next couple weeks. Eek! Very exciting.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this one, or reserve a copy of A Dish for All Seasons and make your own upside-down cake, or your own whatever! And if you do, let me know what you come up with!

plum upside down cake, baked
plum upside down cake, flipped over and the pan being removed to reveal the cake underneath
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upside-down plum cake

plum upside down cake, shot from overhead
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adapted from A Dish for All Seasons

  • Author: Kathryn Pauline

Ingredients

For the fruit:

  • 3 Tbsp [40 g] extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup [100 g] dark brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 cups [300 g] 1/2-inch thick plum slices

For the batter:

  • 1 1/2 cups [195 g] all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 Tbsp [40 g] extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 cup [150 g] dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup [60 g] milk
  • 1/4 cup [60 g] plain, unstrained yogurt*

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F [180°C]. Butter a 9 in [23 cm] round cake pan. Cover the bottom with a parchment round.
  2. Prep the fruit: Combine the olive oil, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Stir together until completely combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan. Use an offset spatula to spread everything out evenly until the bottom is covered. Arrange the plums in a single layer over the buttery brown sugar. Set aside.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and olive oil together until very well incorporated. Then add the brown sugar, milk, and yogurt, and beat to combine well.
  5. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir together just until everything is combined. It won’t be completely smooth, and there might be some tiny lumps; this is completely fine. Don’t overmix!
  6. Carefully pour the batter over the plums, smooth out the top a little bit with a spatula, and bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes in the cake pan. Then trace around the edge with a butter knife to make sure it’s loosened from the pan. Invert onto a serving plate, let cool for at least 30 minutes more, and serve.

Notes

* In A Dish for All Seasons, I use buttermilk, which you can use here in place of the yogurt and milk (just use 1/2 cup [120 g] buttermilk in place of both).

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red velvet brownies

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These red velvet brownies combine my favorite features of frosted brownies and red velvet cake. They’ve got all the flavor of red velvet cake in the form of a chewy brownie slice.

Just like your favorite red velvet cake, they’ve got the fluffy cream cheese frosting, that classic vanilla and lightly chocolatey flavor, and a lovely dark red color. But I’ve transformed their light and airy cake batter into chewy brownies and baked them in a square pan.

It’s the best of both worlds!

red velvet brownies being iced, photographed from a 45 degree angle
red velvet brownies being iced, photographed from a 45 degree angle

a few recipe tips:

doubling the frosting:

Feel free to make this recipe with 2x the frosting if you like a ratio that’s more like 1 part frosting to 1 part brownie. Right now it’s more like 1 part frosting to 2 parts brownie. If you’re mostly in it for the frosting, I’m not gonna stop you!

1 batch of frosting uses half a brick of cream cheese. So if you’re just trying to use up that whole brick of cream cheese (but don’t want extra frosting), you could always double the whole recipe and bake it in two square pans.

I have to admit, I tested this recipe a couple more times than I actually needed to, so I vote option 2!

customizing the frosting:

If you’d like your frosting to be more set, feel free to increase the butter to 4 Tbsp [60 g] total. I like a light and fluffy cream cheese frosting with a texture more like sour cream frosting. This one is dollopable right out of the fridge (as you can see from the photos), but holds the shape of swooshes, kind of like cream whipped to medium-soft peaks. Adding extra fat will help it solidify more when it chills. Just make sure to let it warm up a bit if it’s not spreadable straight from the fridge.

storage:

These brownies keep super well in either the refrigerator or the freezer, and can even be enjoyed frozen. Cream cheese frosting is a perishable dairy product, and should be treated like whipped cream—so the brownies should really be kept chilled for food safety reasons.

But it just so happens that they taste amazing chilled. So it’s a win-win! They’ll stay fresh for a couple days in the fridge, and will stay fresh for a month or two in the freezer when sealed tightly. Once we’ve enjoyed a few fresh, I always pop the leftovers right in the freezer, because they taste so good frozen.

red velvet brownies without icing
red velvet brownies being iced, photographed from a 45 degree angle

Ok so now I’m about to get a little nerdy about dessert mashups, so feel free to skip to the recipe if you’re not into the intersection of desserts and venn diagrams.

red velvet brownies mashup!

Whenever I make a dessert mashup, I try to make sure the final product represents both desserts pretty equally. And then I draw a venn diagram because I’m a dork. If one side isn’t fully represented in the center, it means I need to do a little tweaking. And if an essential feature of one dessert is left out, it means it’s probably not the best idea.

red velvet brownies venn diagram: The red velvet cake side contains 1) Dark red, 2) light and fluffy cake texture, 3) vanilla and light chocolate flavor, 4) layer cake, and 5) cream cheese frosting. The frostedbrownie side contains 1) chewy/fudgy texture, 2) intense chocolate flavor, 3) squares with chewy edges, and 4) cocoa butter cream. The center overlapping area (labeled red velvet brownies) contains 1) dark red, 2) chewy/fudgy texture, 3) vanilla/light chocolate, 4) squares, and 5) cream cheese frosting.

Here, you can see that the frosted brownies side is doing just fine. Cocoa buttercream swaps out for cream cheese frosting. And they’ve still got their chewy/fudgy texture.

But at first glance, they’re going to be a little lacking in chocolate flavor, compared to a traditional brownie. So to make sure they still taste like actual brownies, I increased the amount of cocoa so that it’s somewhere between the amount in a red velvet cake and a standard brownie. So now they’re a bit more chocolatey than a red velvet cake, but less chocolatey than a regular brownie.

The red velvet cake side is doing great too. Since I didn’t add too-too much cocoa powder, their red color still pops. They’ve also got that classic red velvet vanilla/light chocolate flavor, and they’re frosted with cream cheese frosting. Leaving either of those features out would be an absolute deal-breaker for me.

One thing missing is a layer cake arrangement and light/fluffy texture, since those features aren’t compatible with a brownie. But because we kept all their other important features, they still very much feel like red velvet brownies.

One other potential problem is the lack of buttermilk. Brownie batter has no room for extra liquid, but you’ll find buttermilk in most red velvet cake recipes. It’s not an absolutely essential ingredient, so we could get away with just forgetting about it. But just to add a little extra tanginess, I added a little bit of vinegar to the batter. We’re also using a tiny bit of baking powder, which doesn’t need vinegar to activate (unlike baking soda). So we’re just using the vinegar for its acidity, not its leavening power.

Without further ado, red velvet brownies!

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red velvet brownies

a sliced red velvet brownie with swooped frosting, photographed straight-on
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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Ingredients

For the frosting:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar [120 g]
  • 4 oz cream cheese [115 g], at room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter [30 g], at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract [10 g]
  • 1 pinch salt

For the brownies:

  • Butter for greasing the pan
  • 1¼ cup flour [160 g]
  • 3 Tbsp cocoa powder [20 g]
  • ½ tsp baking powder [2.5 g]
  • 3 large eggs [150 g]
  • 1⅔ cup sugar [335 g]
  • ½ tsp salt [5.5 g]
  • ⅔ cup canola oil [140 g]
  • 2 Tbsp liquid red food coloring* [30 g]
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract [10 g]
  • 1 tsp white vinegar [5 g]

Instructions

  1. Decorate the brownies once they’ve cooled: Dump all of the frosting into the center of the brownies. Use an offset spatula to work the frosting almost to the edges. Then make a few swoops in it with the spatula. Slice into 16 pieces.

Notes

* I developed this recipe with liquid food coloring because it’s easily accessible for most folks who read this blog. But if you have gel coloring, you can totally use it here instead. You’ll just need to use much less. Add it gradually to your wet ingredients until they’re deeply red.

Also note that natural food colorings will not dye your cake as dramatically as artificial colorings. This won’t affect the flavor, so feel free to use a natural food coloring, but adjust your expectations accordingly. And don’t use a bunch of extra liquid coloring to compensate, or it will throw off the amount of moisture in the recipe.

** If you let it chill for too long, it’ll stick to the pan a bit when you try to remove it. If so, just let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it’s easier to remove from the pan, and re-trace around the edges.

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tahini chocolate chip cookies

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These tahini chocolate chip cookies are big and chewy, crisp around the edges, crackly on the surface, and have that perfect combination of milk chocolate and tahini. And you can absolutely use dark chocolate if you prefer.

Skip to the recipe if you’re ready to bake, or read on to learn all about what sets this recipe apart (and to get some useful tips and tricks to getting the perfect tahini chocolate chip cookie).

why I love these tahini chocolate chip cookies

There are a ton of tahini chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, so here are some things I love about this recipe in particular:

1) milk chocolate + tahini

Most recipes with tahini and chocolate insist on dark or semi-sweet chocolate. I feel like this is because tahini is often typecast as extremely ✨sophisticated✨. But to me, tahini is full of childhood nostalgia. And while it’s great with dark chocolate, it’s a whole different kind of amazing with milk chocolate (think sesame-flavored Reese’s cups).

2) crackly sesame seed coating

The sesame seed coating on these is next-level good. It helps them get that extra-craggy texture with lots of cracks and crinkles on the surface. And it adds so much extra toasted sesame flavor.

3) chewy-crunchy texture

These cookies are perfectly chewy-crisp. The key is knowing exactly when to pull them from the oven. I’ll share a bit more about that in the recipe notes below.

a few tips and tricks:

If you follow the recipe below, you’ll do just fine, but here’s a bit more info on what works and what doesn’t:

1) why rest your cookie dough?

You can absolutely make the recipe below with 0 minutes of resting. But even just a quick snooze in the fridge will do them so much good. Resting allows the flour to fully hydrate and the sugars to melt. Resting is the reason why store-bought cookie dough bakes up so dang well.

Even just 30 minutes makes a difference, in my experience, but you’ll get a lot more payoff from resting it more like 2 hours or longer. After the first 6 hours of resting, there are diminishing marginal returns, but it’ll just keep improving over the first day or two.

2) storing leftover cookies or dough:

Leftover cookies will keep at room temperature for a few days before staling. If you’re baking for a crowd, feel free to just bake them all up at once, but if you want to make them for fewer people, do the following:

  • Let the dough rest however long you’d like.
  • Form all the dough balls and coat in sesame seeds, place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and smash their tops down slightly as in the recipe.
  • Bake however many you want right away. Place the rest of them in the freezer until frozen solid, move to a sealable bag, then store in the freezer. You can bake them right from frozen, but note that they will take an extra minute or two. Keep a close eye on them.

3) knowing when to pull them from the oven:

Even if you use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is calibrated (as I and many other recipe developers do), your oven still might be a little quirky. Ovens are an incredibly finicky heat source. All ovens conduct heat a little differently, and all ovens lose heat a little differently when you first open the door. And if you don’t weigh your cookie dough blobs (I mean, I do, but you 100% don’t have to!), they might take a little longer or shorter to bake, depending on their size.

With something like a loaf of banana bread, it’s no big deal, but 1 extra minute can make or break a cookie. And this goes for any cookie recipe, so keep it in mind!

So for sure set a timer, but also keep an eye on your cookies. It might take 1 to 2 minutes more or less for them to become the perfect consistency. I’ve included some visual and tactile clues in the following recipe.

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tahini chocolate chip cookies

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

  • Yield: about 20 big cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups [230g] flour
  • 1/2 tsp [2.5g] baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups [240g] milk chocolate chips
  • 1 stick [115g] unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup [100g] granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup [100g] brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp [3g] salt
  • 1 large egg [50g]
  • 1/2 cup [125g] tahini
  • 1 Tbsp [15g] milk
  • 1 tsp [5g] vanilla
  • 2/3 cup [90g] sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Combine the flour and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together until evenly blended and lump-free. Stir the chocolate chips into the dry ingredients.
  2. Place the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until a little lighter and fluffier. Scrape down the sides, and add the egg, tahini, milk, and vanilla. Beat at medium-high speed until silky-smooth and lighter in color (about 1 minute).
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix at low speed just until it all comes together. Stop mixing once it’s combined.
  4. Cover and rest the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, up to 48 hours.*
  5. Once you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F [190°C] and line some sheet pans with parchment paper.
  6. Shape the dough into scant-1/4-cup blobs [50g]. Roll one between your hands until smooth, then roll in the sesame seeds, and then place on a prepared sheet pan. Gently press the dough ball’s top down slightly so it’s just a little flattened. Repeat with the remaining ones, leaving space between each cookie (they will spread).
  7. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are set, but the centers aren’t completely set. Slide the parchment off the pan and let the cookies cool right on the parchment.

Notes

* The longer you let it rest, the better the cookies’ texture will be. This step isn’t really about chilling the dough, as it can be baked the moment you finish mixing it. See the note above the recipe for more info on resting.

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authentic vegan baklava (the easy way)

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This baklava recipe isn’t a veganized version of classic baklava—it’s actually a traditional vegan baklava! Lots of Assyrians spend a big chunk of the year fasting from animal products. So during certain months (Lent, advent, and a few other fasting days), we sub out our clarified butter for extra virgin olive oil. So this is exactly how we make our baklava for the vegan times of the year, and how we’ve done so for centuries.

Strangely, extra virgin olive oil tastes more buttery than butter itself. And while clarified butter isn’t quite as high-maintenance as it might seem, there’s nothing easier than opening a bottle of olive oil. So these days, my baklava is vegan more often than not!

what makes this vegan baklava so easy

1) Slice and pour instead of brushing each layer individually.

My grandmother has been making her baklava this way forever, and it turns out perfectly every time. Just stack, slice, and pour. The olive oil seeps into each layer, and it ends up super flaky and rich. See the video above or the recipe below to see this technique in action:

2) Just pop open a bottle of olive oil!

Literally, just open the bottle, measure, and pour! No need to fuss with clarifying butter (or vegan butter substitute).

3) Use a food processor to chop the nuts.

I’m gonna be really embarrassed if my grandmother reads this one (😬), but here’s my secret: Use a food processor to chop everything! Just make sure you stop short of turning the walnuts into walnut butter. Once they’re finely chopped, stop pulverizing them. Do the pistachios first, remove from the food processor and set aside for later, then move onto the walnut mixture without washing it between.

4) Start with the right proportions for a fail-proof syrup.

To make a simple syrup with the perfect consistency, you need to do one of two things: use a candy thermometer, or start with the exact right amount of sugar and water, boil it just until it dissolves, and then continue to let it simmer for a couple minutes with the lid on to prevent crystal formation.

Many recipes have you start with excess water, and then boil it down for a certain number of minutes, but this will result in a wide range of consistencies if you’re not using a thermometer. Depending on how wide your pan is, more or less water will boil off in the amount of time. And it’s very tricky to determine whether it’s the right consistency while it’s simmering (unless you’re already a pro).

This recipe uses the exact right amount of both water and sugar, for a syrup with the perfect consistency no matter what. Just make sure you don’t let it continue to boil uncovered, or it will reduce and turn into hard candy.

Also note that this syrup may crystalize a little as it cools, which is completely fine and won’t affect the final product. This is a side effect of not starting with more water and cooking it down, but a small price to pay if you’re not working with a candy thermometer (which I realize most folks don’t have on hand). If, on the other hand, you get crystallization while the syrup is cooking, it’s because a little bit of sugar stuck to the side of the pot and fell back in, which is just a mistake that can happen when making any syrup. In that case, you should start over, because it probably won’t be very pourable.

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authentic vegan baklava (the easy way)

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★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

Ingredients

For the syrup:

  • 2½ cups [500 g] granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup [235 g] water
  • 1 tablespoon [15 g] rosewater

For the baklava:

  • 16 oz [455 g] unopened container filo dough sheets
  • 16 oz [455 g] walnuts
  • 2 teaspoons [4 g] ground cardamom
  • 2 teaspoons [4 g] ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon [1 g] ground cloves
  • 1 cup [210 g] extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing

To decorate: Optionally use 1/3 cup [55 g] finely ground pistachios and/or a sprinkling of edible dried rose petals, or just leave it plain.

Instructions

  1. Place your filo in the refrigerator overnight to thaw.

Notes

* Note: If your pistachios are not already ground, throw them in the food processor before washing it while your baklava bakes. Pulse them until they’re finely ground, but before they turn into a paste.

** If the kitchen is a little on the warm side, feel free to place them in the fridge to help them set more firmly.

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fluffy buttermilk mashed potatoes

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Fluffy buttermilk mashed potatoes are straightforward enough: boil some potatoes, mash them, and fold in some buttermilk and melted butter—and voilà! You’ve got some very decent mashed potatoes.

But if you want to up your game, I’m sharing a few tips and a fail-proof recipe below. Lucky for us, fantastic mashed potatoes are just as easy to make as the standard fare.

  • buttermilk mashed potatoes being drizzled with butter
  • buttermilk mashed potatoes topped with chives and butter

how to make the best (and easiest!) fluffy buttermilk mashed potatoes

1) Use plenty of buttermilk

Many recipes call for just a splash of buttermilk. But for light and fluffy mashed potatoes, you’ve got to add a little more than you might think. My recipe below calls for a whole cup of buttermilk, which gives mashed potatoes the most delightful texture. If you’re skeptical (or if you’re not sure how much your potatoes weigh), feel free to drizzle it in slowly, stopping once you reach your desired consistency. Just make sure you mash your potatoes fully and don’t leave any big chunks; otherwise, cut back on the buttermilk.

2) Add whole garlic cloves to the boiling water

I love roasted garlic mashed potatoes as much as the next person, but I don’t usually have the patience (or forethought) to roast the cloves. The next best thing: Add your whole garlic cloves to the boiling water along with your potatoes. By the time your potato cubes are light and fluffy, your garlic will have become spreadably soft (and absolutely not soggy, in case you were worried). It obviously doesn’t take on the same caramelized flavor as roasting. But they’re absolutely lovely, and have a similarly mellow flavor and texture. Once you mash them into the potatoes, I think you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

3) Use a starchy potato variety

To maximize fluffiness, choose russets or another starchy variety. Yukon golds will also work here, but definitely stay away from anything like the waxy red varieties. (If for some reason you do go with a waxier variety, you may need to cut way back on the buttermilk).

4) Add some toppings (if you want to!)

But don’t feel like you have to. These mashed potatoes are wonderful without any chives or extra melted butter. But feel free to have fun and get creative.

  • buttermilk mashed potatoes topped with chives and butter
  • buttermilk mashed potatoes topped with chives and butter
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fluffy buttermilk mashed potatoes

buttermilk mashed potatoes topped with chives and butter
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Ingredients

  • 4 to 5 medium peeled russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes [905g peeled]
  • 8 to 12 medium peeled garlic cloves [30 g]
  • 2 tablespoons [30g] butter
  • 1 cup [240g] buttermilk
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • Salt, to taste
  • Chopped chives (optional) and more melted butter (optional), for serving

Instructions

  1. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and garlic cloves. Let it come back up to a boil, and then reduce the heat to maintain a low boil. Let them boil for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes and garlic are both completely tender.
  2. Strain the potatoes and garlic, and leave them in the pot removed from heat. Add the butter and mash everything together. Once the butter melts and the potatoes and garlic are smashed, stir in the buttermilk, black pepper, and salt to taste (about 1 tsp), and place back over low heat. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes, just to allow it to warm up. Place in a large bowl, and top with chives and a little more melted butter, if using.

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