Sticky honey chicken with ginger and sesame seeds

I’m so glad that I finally got around to making this recipe again and that it’s finally up on the blog! This is one of the first things I learned to make on my own, back when Jé and I had just gotten together. I remember trying so hard to impress him (even though he’s really not much of a foodie), making stuffed bell peppers (another recipe that I don’t think is even on here!), pumpkin pie from scratch and then, this chicken. It felt like such a triumph. It was incredibly easy, actually, but something about it seemed complicated. Almost fancy even. It was pure instant gratification, and I made it on a regular basis for a long time, until one day, it just fell out of my rotation. And I haven’t made it since. And then the other day I randomly thought about it, and remembered how it was just as good as any take-out I ever ate in America and a million times better than what I can find in France, and just like that, sticky honey chicken was back!

Banana pancakes with caramel sauce

Usually, when you have over-ripe bananas, you make banana bread. I am part of the rare group of people who doesn’t like banana bread. I know! But I just… don’t. So when I found myself with three bananas that were way too ripe to just eat, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I’d been craving pancakes lately (my new favorite thing is forcing Jé to eat dessert for dinner, which usually involves pancakes) so I decided to give banana pancakes a try, for dinner no less!

Caramel chicken with onions and garlic

I wasn’t sure how excited I was about the end of summer. Transitions from dresses and sandals to tights and boots, from fresh salads to soups, from endless days to waking up in the dark and coming home to the dark. Then I went grocery shopping and picked up the season’s first Brussel’s sprouts and sunchokes. Then I got the latest Bon Appétit and bookmarked about five fall recipes that I knew I had to try. And this caramel chicken was the first on my list!

Culinary school 101: crêpes, two ways

Ahh, the crêpe! The French answer to the American pancake, crêpes are thinner, eggier and, in my opinion, more versatile. I guess I’ve never tried a savory pancake and there are probably tons of awesome recipes out there, but for me, nothing beats a thin and crispy buckwheat crêpe filled with whatever savory ingredients my heart desires. Usually it’s ham, egg and cheese. Sometimes it’s bacon and caramelized onions, or even egg, olive and spicy guacamole. A crêpe is the perfect envelope for whatever you’re craving, and I’m going to tell you how make them according to my newest culinary bible, “La Cuisine de Référence,” otherwise known as the official guidebook for French culinary students.

Plum pinwheel cupcakes

A few weeks ago I came across some lovely plums at the market. Yellow and dark red, I knew I had to transform them into some sort of sweet and tart dessert that I could eat for breakfast if I wanted. I’d already made an amazing earthy-sweet hazelnut and plum cake, so I decided to go a slightly different route with this recipe. A lemony cupcake, almost more of a muffin, really, with fresh plum slices and a dousing of cinnamon and dark cane sugar.