Jun 15
In case you missed it, I posted this recipe for alfajor de coco on Devour the Blog and wanted to share it here. Normally, having something this sweet on hand is dangerous – sneaking slivers on every trip to through the kitchen until it’s gone sooner than I’d like (or would ever admit to). In this case, the tart just got better with each passing hour so I had extra motivation to keep walking until I could properly indulge.
Jun 12
I was reorganizing my kitchen a few weeks ago when I came across the Portuguese weather cock I’d picked up in Soho at Kiosk. It’s lived on my kitchen shelves for a couple of years, and was supposed to change colors with the weather but stayed a resolute, all-clear blue. I assumed it was one-season rooster but a move to the window ledge has brought it to life. Each day I check its feathers to confirm what I can see for myself in shades of aqua, pink, and purple. I absolutely love it. Read more
Jun 5
I’ve had it flagged for a long time but it wasn’t until this weekend that I finally made a batch of Galician filloas. Served year around in northern Spain, they are most popular during early winter’s carnival season. Similar to crêpes, they’re made from with the usual suspects – flour, eggs, milk – but can also be blended with stock and cooked off with bacon fat or lard instead of butter. The thin batter is poured onto a hot skillet (or a stone), flipped and filled or sprinkled with sugar and served as dessert. Hovering somewhere between sweet and savory, they can be hard to classify. Read more
May 24
This spring, I spent a few days working on a how-to-make croquetas for the Cooking Channel’s Devour the Blog. What was supposed to be a fast and easy solution for leftovers, became an ongoing project as I tried a few different variations and even planned an entire brunch around it for friends (hereto known as croquetaspringa). Now that the post is up, I have a daily reminder when I open my freezer and batches of frozen croquetas launch out at me like so many breaded torpedoes. Before we head into summer, I thought I’d link up and take one look back at a spring well spent. Click here for the recipe and final post.
May 20
It was about a year ago today that I started a major kitchen re-haul (really a few hours) before throwing a surprise party in my apartment. I say started because, while everything was put back into some kind of order, I don’t think it was really finished until this week. Faced with the potential embarrassment of friends seeing my apartment in shambles, I made miracles happen and then took some time off (about 12 months to be exact). Most of the elements were in place but crowded, and I hadn’t gotten around to tying it all together. Read more
May 12
On May 15th, the International Culinary Center is starting a new session of Food Blogging with Steven Shaw, founder of e-Gullet. I’ve written about it before but I just can’t say enough about this class. If you read Amanda Hesser’s advice to food writers, followed the ensuing hashtag storm, and wondered if food blogs were really over but still want to start your own, then this might be the right class at the right time. Click here for more information about the next session of classes starting up next week!
May 7
I think I’ve put off writing my catching-up post because well…I’m no where near caught up. Several ongoing projects came to a boil all l at once and I’m still waiting for things to settle down again. Now that I realize it might never happen, I decided to take a break and go fishing (through my links)…
Apr 29
When I decided to make bollitos de carita – black-eyed pea fritters made from beans soaked for hours then husked and ground to a paste – I couldn’t believe no simmering would be required. Left overnight, they were supposed to blister and pucker leaving behind perfectly tender, creamy white beans. I loved that caritas roughly translates to “little faces” and imagined removing the peel would be as simple as slipping off a mask. Not so. Some popped right out but more needed coaxing, and no matter how many I did, there were always more. Read more
Apr 17
First of all, I am thrilled to announce that Hungry Sofia was nominated by SAVEUR as one of this year’s best blogs in the category of Best Regional Cuisine! I am so proud to be included in a fantastic group of bloggers and can’t thank everyone enough for putting my name into the mix. I’ve discovered amazing new sites among the nominees, so I hope you’ll take a moment to jump over to Saveur. Voting is open from now until April 26. Registration is painless and you can do it here then vote here! Read more
Apr 8
I hadn’t planned on a traditional Good Friday. I was supposed to meet my friend Carolina, who was visiting, at the Met but was falling behind. I’d spent the day making a tarta Pascualina or Easter pie to write about this weekend when the day got away from me when another friend who was moving to Chicago stopped by in the afternoon to say goodbye. For the past few weeks, Aaron and I had done a lot of before-you-go things in the neighborhood but helping me finish the pie was the absolute last. The pascualina done, I changed to plan to a low-key night at home with Carol and my sister Cami – the better to catch-up on the bear of a week we’d all had. We were about to sit down when we heard the procession outside the window. Read more
Finalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Award in the International Cookbook Category for The Cuban Table
hungry sofia 