It's always fun to look back over the last year to see which recipes resonated with you. I posted 152 recipes in 2017 (phew!), and, in order of popularity, these were your favorites.
Thyme and Apple Cider Pisco Sour
This apple cider Pisco sour is a wonderful winter cocktail. If you like whiskey sours or side car cocktails, you'll enjoy this one with thyme simple syrup, Pisco, fresh lemon juice, and boiled apple cider.
Shallot and Gruyère Cheese Muffins
These muffins are loaded with sautéed shallots and lots of melty gruyère cheese. With a thick, cheesy batter, these are almost biscuit-like in texture.
Eggnog Waffles
You can make a pile of these eggnog waffles and keep them warm in the oven to serve a crowd. You can also make them and freeze them, and then have homemade waffles ready for the toaster in the morning. And to spread out the anticipation even more, you can also make the batter up to a day in advance and keep it in the refrigerator.
Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with dulce de leche are rich, spicy, and deeply flavored with Dutch processed cocoa. The addition of a small amount of cayenne pepper adds a subtle warmth to the cookies.
Champagne Babas
Babas are made with a dough enriched with butter and eggs, and then soaked in a boozy syrup (usually rum) and then topped with an apricot jam glaze.
Making homemade turkey soup after Thanksgiving or Christmas is probably the biggest food tradition that Mr. Kitchen and I share. He is a big fan of soup of any kind, so, years ago, when someone told him that you could make homemade turkey soup from the leftover carcass, he decided to take on making turkey soup from scratch.
This pan fried halibut with lemongrass is an adaptation of a fish dish common in Vietnamese cooking, called Cá Chiên Xã. You can use any firm fish, such as mackerel, sea bass, cod, rockfish, or catfish. I just happened to have a gorgeous Alaskan halibut filet that worked beautifully with this recipe.
Whole Wheat Santa Lucia Buns
This time last year, I posted a wonderful traditional Santa Lucia buns recipe, which included saffron, currants, and Swedish pearl sugar. Be sure to visit the post to find out more about the holiday.
Chocolate Mint Torte
Making this chocolate mint torte was definitely an exercise in flexing new baking muscles for me.
When Laura asked if I would be willing to review her new book, I jumped at the chance.
Almond-Spice Christmas Wreath Cookies
These almond-spice Christmas wreath cookies would be great to make with kids who are interested in baking. You'd just need to have double the amount of maraschino cherries on hand so they could sneak a few during the decorating phase.
Eggnog Cheesecake
This Eggnog Cheesecake is the smoothest and creamiest cheesecake I've ever eaten. It's dense, moist, rich, and delicious.
This eggnog cheesecake recipe is a tasty way to use up leftover eggnog, although, after trying this cheesecake, you may just find yourself buying or making eggnog just to bake this cheesecake.
Foolproof Holiday Cookies
I love that these Foolproof Holiday Cookies are so easy to cut and bake, yet they taste delicious. They can be decorated with just a glaze and some sprinkles, or you can go all fancy with royal icing.
Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies
These peppermint candy cane cookies are flavored with both peppermint and vanilla extracts, which give them a wonderful flavor and aroma.
Apple Streusel Muffins
These apple streusel muffins are loaded with chunks of tart apples, topped with a brown sugar and cinnamon streusel, and then drizzled with a vanilla glaze.
Provençal vegetable soup is from Provence, in the south of France. It's typically made with white beans, green beans, onions, leeks, carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and pasta. Cooks also add other fresh vegetables such as yellow squash, tomatoes, peas, and corn from the weekly markets throughout the region.
Shrimp Stuffed Cuban Potato Balls
These shrimp stuffed Cuban potato balls are inspired by the potato balls served by Porto's, a Southern California family run Cuban bakery with a serious cult following. Their pastries are gorgeous and delicious, but their potato balls/papas rellenas filled with picadillo are in a class of their own.
No Knead English Muffins
These English muffins are "baked" on a griddle rather than in the oven, and the dough is one-third whole wheat flour, which gives them a slightly sweet hearty flavor.
Orange Chicken {copycat Panda Express}
I've been on a quest to find an orange chicken recipe that tops the one from the chain with the little panda. I'm a little obsessed with orange chicken because, if you ask my oldest grandson what is all time favorite food is, he will tell you that it is orange chicken, and I have been on a quest to find the recipe that beats his favorite take-out version.
Pull-Apart Dill Bread
With a 2/3 cup of chopped dill per loaf, this bread is loaded with dill flavor.
Blackberry Pie
I made a pie! I am so giddy about this blackberry pie. It's so fresh and fruity, you could almost justify having a slice for breakfast.
Rosemary Parmesan Crackers
These Rosemary Parmesan Crackers are really hard to put down once you get started. This recipe makes about 4 dozen crackers, and I'm pretty sure I ate about half of them.
Slow Cooker Classic Bread Stuffing
Bread stuffing is my all time favorite Thanksgiving side dish, right in front of mashed potatoes.
Sourdough Barley Bread with Figs and Pecans
This sourdough barley bread with figs and pecans has a wonderful soft and airy crumb. The bread is filled with chunks of dried figs and toasted pecans, and has a very mild sourdough tang. I'm thrilled with how it came out.
Blueberry Muffin Tops with a Cheesecake Drizzle
These blueberry muffin tops are from a recipe from a new book by Lisa Huff from the blog, Snappy Gourmet.
Potato and Leek Pizza
This potato and leek pizza starts with an easy no knead crust. I mixed the dough around eight o'clock at night, and made the pizzas around noon the next day. It's a totally flexible dough. Once your dough has risen, you can shape it into rounds, wrap it, and refrigerate it for up to three days.
Zucchini Brownies
These fudge-like brownies include a zucchini puree, along with Dutch process cocoa, espresso powder, and bittersweet chocolate chips.
Pea Soup Andersen's Split Pea Soup {Copycat}
This month, the members of our little Soup Saturday group were charged with posting soup recipes that represent our state or region. I'm sure this is easier for folks from any place but California.
Make this crab macaroni and cheese for dinner, and all you'd need is a green salad to go with it for a complete meal.
Chocolate Yogurt Snack Cakes
They are excellent with coffee or a cold glass of milk.
I topped these chocolate yogurt snack cakes with some sifted powdered sugar, which I think made them really pretty.
Vietnamese-Style Shrimp Cocktail
This Vietnamese-style shrimp cocktail is easy to put together, and it's wonderful as an appetizer or first course for a dinner party. I love how it's loaded with fresh vegetables.
There is something about the combination of chocolate and coffee together that enhances the flavor of both.
I used natural cocoa for these cookies, rather than Dutch process, but you could use either. Be sure to use good quality white chocolate for the ganache. If you want to add more coffee flavor, you could add some espresso powder to the cookie dough as well.
Pumpkin Cornmeal and Rye Pull-Apart Rolls
While these Pumpkin Cornmeal and Rye Pull-Apart Rolls are brightly colored from the pumpkin puree, they really don't actually taste like pumpkin. The biggest role that the pumpkin plays is to add an amazing long lasting moistness to these rolls.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies combine the flavors of cocoa and peanut butter in a delicious cookie, and then double-down with the most amazing peanut butter chips.
Walnut Levain Bread
This Walnut Levain Bread makes the absolute best toast. I also love it broiled with melty cheese or spread with goat cheese and fig jam.
Slow Cooker Korean-Style Beef Tacos
I could not stop eating these Slow Cooker Korean-Style Beef Tacos. The beef is marinated overnight in soy sauce, sesame oil, onion, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, and chili flakes. It is then braised in the marinade in the slow cooker for 8 hours.
Spicy Pigs in a Blanket
I decided to make these spicy Pigs in a Blanket to honor the old community cookbooks that, at one point, were the only cookbooks I owned besides my well worn copy of Joy of Cooking (I won't tell you which edition it was, because it makes me feel really old, and I like to keep up appearances).
Spinach and Olive Focaccia
One of the things that I love about this Spinach and Olive Focaccia is that it does not skimp on the spinach. In fact, you may actually get a full serving of spinach with a couple of slices of this bread.
This Spinach and Olive Focaccia begins with a no-knead stretch-and-fold dough.
Sourdough Date Nut Cranberry Muffins
I keep a sourdough starter in my refrigerator, which I feed regularly to keep it alive and ready to leaven bread. I've had this starter for at least seven years. That means there have been a lot of "feedings."
Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons
Coconut Macaroons, not to be confused with French macarons, are a mixture of shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and egg whites.
Swiss Rye Ring | Brasciadela
The dough calls for a combination of white rye and medium rye to simulate a Swiss rye called Type 1150 that is not available here.
The recipe for this black bean soup generously serves two, but it can easily be doubled or tripled to feed an entire family.
Spicy Grilled Rockfish with Garlic and Basil Butter
This spicy grilled rockfish with garlic and basil butter blew me away.
My cousin goes on an annual fishing trip to Alaska and brings back tons of glorious fish that is flash frozen on the docks and sent home. He is so generous in sharing it with our family.
Auvergne Crown | Couronne Auvergnate
There are actually bannetons (rising baskets) made expressly for theses loaves. While I love collecting bread baking toys, I do not have one of these, so I rigged up a large round deep dish pizza pan with a small inverted bowl in the center, and I lined the contraption with floured tea towels.
Kaiser Rolls
Kaiser rolls are a classic roll originally from Austria. The top is divided into five sections, sort of like the petals of a flower.
Pizza with a Sourdough Crust
The dough for this sourdough pizza crust includes one cup of starter. Because this is a "mixed method" dough (meaning: you also add a bit of yeast to the dough), your starter can either be freshly fed or little-used.
Pasta Carbonara Torte
This Pasta Carbonara Torte, as its name implies, takes what is a traditional spaghetti dish, and turns it into a pasta you can slice and serve.
Bacon and Gruyère Muffins
If I had to pick just one cheese to bake with, it would be Gruyère cheese. Even though it is an aged cheese with a firm and slightly grainy texture, it melts perfectly. It has a mild, sweet, and nutty taste.
To bring out the melty goodness of the Gruyère, I cut it into a small dice rather than grate it to better achieve little pockets of melty cheese.
Triple Oatmeal Cookies
It's been a long time since I've made oatmeal cookies. Too long! I used to have a recipe for an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that assuaged some of the guilt of giving my kids cookies because they contained oats. Sadly, somewhere along the way, my first recipe box, with the few recipes I ever mastered as a young mom such as my mom's meatloaf, my friend's Chinese chicken salad, and a pretty tasty tuna dip that another friend served at her Tupperware parties, disappeared.