I get Bon Appetit every month, savor it, look it over page by page, critique the photos and dog-ear the recipes I intend to make... and then put it in the stack of all the other Bon Appetits and rarely actually pick it up again. This is stupid.

Take this recipe, for example. Had I not started to feel really guilty about my choosing the internet over print I would probably have just forgotten about it and moved on. Luckily May's issue came smack dab in the middle of what seems to be an annual internal debate about the role of internet in our lives.

So long story short, I made this pizza. And it was so so good. I would make it again in a second.

Roman-Style Pizza with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Cheese

Roll or stretch the dough as thin as possible to get a classic thin and crispy crust.

4-6 servings

• PREP TIME: 1 hour
• TOTAL TIME: 2 hours 10 minutes (includes rising time)

Ingredients

2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
7 1/2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tsp. kosher salt plus more
2 1/4 cups (or more) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 lb. cherry or grape tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper
Semolina (for dusting)
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, divided
2 cups grated mozzarella (about 8 oz.), or 6 oz. buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced, divided

Chopped fresh basil

Preparation

Combine 3/4 cup warm water (105°-115°), sugar, and yeast in a large bowl; let sit until spongy, 4-5 minutes. Mix in 1 1/2 Tbsp. oil and 1 tsp. salt. Stir in 2 1/4 cups flour. Turn out onto a work surface; knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if sticking, about 6 minutes. Grease a large bowl with 1 Tbsp. oil. Add dough, cover bowl with plastic; let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, position one rack in top third of oven and another in bottom third; place a pizza stone on top rack and preheat oven to 500°. Scatter tomatoes on a large rimmed baking sheet. Add 1 Tbsp. oil, toss, and season with salt and pepper. Place on lower rack; roast until skins split, 10-12 minutes. Let cool on rack. Continue heating pizza stone for 45 more minutes.

Sprinkle a pizza peel or rimless baking sheet with semolina. Divide dough in half; roll or stretch each into a 13x9" rectangle. Cover with kitchen towels; let stand for 15 minutes. Transfer 1 rectangle to prepared pizza peel. Brush with 2 Tbsp. oil, sprinkle with half of the Parmesan, then mozzarella, and top with half of the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Set front of peel at far edge of stone; gently jiggle peel side to side, sliding pizza onto stone as you remove peel. Bake until crust is browned and crisp, 9-10 minutes. Using peel, transfer pizza to work surface. Garnish with basil. Slice and serve.

Repeat to make second pizza.

After all that fun my body decided it was payback time, so I spent most of this week sick with some sort of flu- stomach cramps, body aches, a chest rash (?!). Soup was in order. But not just any soup- it had to be Halloween themed. I may be sick, but I still have my holiday dignity. After some searching I found this recipe. It called to me because I only had to buy yogurt and a lemon for it, two things I knew I could carry home without having to take a whimper break. I wish I'd read the comments on Epicurious first. Many of them suggest adding pumpkin to it, which sounds great. So if anyone does that, please let me know how it turns out.

I like this soup because it wasn't too carrot-y; it had a surprising balance of flavors for how little time and work it took. I highly recommend it. Also, I just used bought ground cumin and it tasted great so feel free to skip that step if you want.

Moroccan Carrot Soup 

Bon Appétit  | April 2010 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 cup chopped white onion

1 pound large carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 2 2/3 cups)
2 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred to loosen

 Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Mix in carrots. Add broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir cumin seeds in small skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 4 to 5 minutes; cool. Finely grind in spice mill.

Remove soup from heat. Puree in batches in blender until smooth. Return to same pan. Whisk in honey, lemon juice, and allspice. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle yogurt over; sprinkle generously with cumin.

spaghetti with braised kale

This picture isn't that great. It shows the meal reheated the day after. Normally I wouldn't even bother taking its photo let alone post it, but I had to share this recipe. It was so so so good. I will probably be making this once a week for a while. In fact, I may actually make it again tonight.

spaghetti with braised kale via Bon Appetit, Oct. 2009

Ingredients
1 pound lacinato kale (about 2 bunches), large center ribs and stems removed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 pound spaghetti
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I added a lot more)
Finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Rinse kale. Drain; transfer to bowl with some water still clinging.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes. Add sliced garlic and sprinkle with salt; cook until onion is golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add kale and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss until wilted, about 3 minutes. Cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking until kale is very tender, stirring occasionally and adding water by teaspoonfuls if dry, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in medium pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add cooked spaghetti to kale mixture in pot. Add lemon juice and 2 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid; toss to combine, adding more liquid by tablespoonfuls if dry. Sprinkle spaghetti with grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

curried chickpea and cauliflower stew

After moving on the first, I didn't have internet until yesterday, so it was all Amish for me for a while. That's absolutely not true. I had lights, I rode in cars, I zipped up my pants, but it all felt very old timey without the magic box. To get recipes I had to look in this thing called a magazine and flip through its pages. My boyfriend actually had to call 411. Yeah, that does still exist. It's cool, I didn't know either.

So I looked through my old Bon Appetits and actually made some of those recipes I dog-ear every month. Turns out they're really good! Last week it was an awesome oil and vingegar potato salad. Unfortunately I only seemed to make it late at night and then finish the left-overs by the time I remember to take a picture of it the next day (this actually happened twice). I'm sure I'll make it again next week, so just cool your jets.

Last night I went with the curried chickpea and cauliflower stew recipe. Oh my! So simple, so tasty, I'm all aflutter. I forgot that cooking is fun when there's good food at the end! Don't call it a comeback, cause I never left.

crispy black bean tacos

I made these tacos last night. They were ridiculously fast, easy, and delicious. Also, all the ingredients costed around $8 total. I think this may be a meal I make weekly for a while.

Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw
(from February's Bon Appetit)


1 15-ounce can black beans, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 cups coleslaw mix
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 white or yellow corn tortillas
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Bottled chipotle hot sauce or other hot sauce



Place beans and cumin in small bowl; partially mash. Mix 2 teaspoons olive oil and lime juice in medium bowl; add coleslaw, green onions, and cilantro and toss to coat. Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 teaspoons olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tortillas in single layer. Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture onto half of each tortilla; cook 1 minute. Fold tacos in half. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Fill tacos with feta and slaw. Pass hot sauce alongside.

operation furniture

I got my first issue of Bon Appetit in the mail yesterday. It was my Christmas present to myself, and after looking through it I'm feeling pretty inspired. I have at least three recipes dog-eared to make. Hopefully they will be delicious and we can finally tip the post scales to yummy instead of ones that mention barf or acid farts (keepin' it classy in '09).

Hosting a dinner party has been on my mind a lot lately. No one has any money to go out, and I feel like with the frigid weather I never see my friends anymore. Last night, all lit up on food magazine bliss and a glass of wine, I started planning a menu. I actually got pretty far (written invitations or phone calls? place mats or tablecloth?) before it occurred to me that I only have two chairs. Damn. So I guess furniture should probably move to the top of my list. Move over lemon curd.

While I'm working on that, here are some blogs I have internet crushes on:

• http://www.lottieanddoof.com/ -- I don't know these people, but I sure would like them to invite me over for dinner.


• http://www.blue-kitchen.com/ -- I don't know this guy either, but I pretend he's my uncle. Just for fun.


• http://pinkcollar.tumblr.com/ -- This is my friend Andrea. She's amazing.


• http://www.thekitchn.com/ -- This is where I got my barf pasta recipe, but I don't hold that against them.