Author: Kathy Hunt

Doubly Delicious, Double Apple Muffins

Published by Kathy Hunt

Walk out your front door on any given day this week and what do you see? Withered leaves scattered everywhere. Portly pumpkins plunked on stairways. Colorful mums planted here and there. On the sidewalks people stroll by in coats and scarves, warming their bare hands with take-away coffee cups. For me, these sights can only mean one thing. Apple-picking time is here. Whether you raid your old neighbors’ orchard as I brazenly do or come by your apples honestly, you may soon find yourself glutted with this pome fruit. What to do with that extra pound, peck or bushel is an age-old quandary. When you’re tired of baking apple pies and tarts and boiling down applesauce and apple butter, I’d suggest moving on to moist cakes, breads and muffins. Back in March I shared an apple cake recipe inspired by a winter trip to Switzerland. As its name suggested, apple-almond kuchen was packed with tart apples and sweetly savory almonds. Want to reduce your apple supply by a few pounds and enjoy a deliciously fruity …

Hometown Favorite — Stracciatella

Published by Kathy Hunt

This Saturday I’ll be back on my home turf, speaking at the Pittsburgh Public Market about writing, cooking and writing a seafood cookbook. While I’m in town, I won’t just be talking about food. I’ll also be eating my way through the city. Primanti’s fry-filled sandwiches, Pamela’s massive pancakes and Pierogies Plus’s handmade namesakes all appear on the weekend menu. Somewhere along the way I hope to encounter a bowl of steaming stracciatella, too. To me, stracciatella is what plain, old chicken noodle soup is to most—a restorative dish for when you’re cold, sick, blue or just craving a taste of home. A specialty of Rome but popular throughout Central Italy and, of course, my hometown, stracciatella may remind the uninitiated of egg drop soup. Granted, it does feature two of the same major ingredients, eggs and chicken stock. Yet the resulting dish seems far more velvety and savory than the Chinese soup. I suspect that the ever-present Parmesan cheese and occasional addition of herbs such as basil and parsley are what make the Italian …

Delightful Danish Brown Bread

Published by Kathy Hunt

At the end of summer I spent two idyllic weeks in the magical, Scandinavian land known as the Kingdom of Denmark. Vikings, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Hans Christian Anderson as well as Legos, Lars von Trier and Chef Rene Redzepi have all called this series of lovely islands home. Frequently ranked as the world’s happiest country, Denmark has the world’s highest minimum wage, a high per capita income, environmental and historic preservation, free university education and universal healthcare. It’s a country of breathtaking architecture, influential designers, renowned writers, fervent cyclists, golden fields, rugged coastlines and amazingly fresh, tasty, wholesome foods. Weeks after returning from vacation I remain wildly smitten with Denmark. Top among my obsessions are Danish pastries, films, mystery writers, the TV series Forbrydelsen, Ilse Jacobsen rain boots and the country’s dark, nutty brown bread. I first tried this hearty specialty six years ago in Sweden. There it’s known simply as Danish bread. In Denmark it’s called rugbrød, a flavorful, dark rye bread chocked full of whole grains and fiber. Danes eat it at breakfast. …

Back in Season & in Kitchens – Oysters!

Published by Kathy Hunt

When the invitations to oyster festivals start rolling in, I know that fall is here. Any diehard oyster fan will tell you that during the months of May through August these shellfish spawn, becoming watery and not terribly tasty. Hence the old rule of not eating oysters in a month without an “r” in its name. Once September kicks into full swing, these guys come back, ready to dazzle diners. Although certainly not the most beautiful of bivalves, these gray, rough-shelled creatures have long held tremendous culinary allure. Considered to be a delicacy and an aphrodisiac, they were over-consumed during the 19th century. This, unsurprisingly, led to shortages. Today both American farmed and wild oysters are abundant, healthy and relatively inexpensive to buy. What should you do with a mound of live oysters? Like their bivalve brethren, they do well when baked, broiled, grilled, or steamed. They also can be poached, roasted, or sautéed. As evidenced by the event menu above, they’re quite popular when fried, made into a stew or consumed raw on the …

Swedish Chokladbollar

Published by Kathy Hunt

Six years ago, while visiting a friend in Stockholm, Sweden I tried my first chokladbollar. Rich, chocolatey and with the pleasing chewiness of oats and coconut, this unusual sweet lingered on my mind for months. The next time that I went to Sweden, I tracked down not only the confection but also — and more importantly — a recipe for it. Just what is chokladbollar? Translated, it means “chocolate balls.” Think of them as very hearty truffles or no-bake cookies. Taking mere minutes to make, they feature cocoa, sugar, oats, butter and a smidgen of coffee. Mix the ingredients together, roll a tablespoon or so into balls, blanket them with coconut and refrigerate until you’re ready to nosh. Served alongside coffee or tea, they’re a delicious afternoon pick-me-up or after-dinner treat. Two weeks ago I turned up in Southern Sweden where one of the first things that I looked for, besides a hotel room, was a coconut-dusted chocolate ball. Turns out that I was in the right place, at least when it came to chokladbollar. …

Semifreddo, the Semi-Frozen Wonder

Published by Kathy Hunt

Ask me to name only three fantastic things about summer and I’d have to pick long days, fun getaways and cold foods. Right now I’m hooked on a chilled sweet that I first tried on a sunny, summer holiday in Italy almost a decade ago. Nope, it’s not icy granita, although, on a sultry afternoon, those sugary shards of ice are quite a treat. Instead, semifreddos are what have captured my heart and my spoon. Italian for “half cold,” semifreddo refers to any chilled or partially frozen dessert. This includes gelato as well as cakes, tarts and custards. More often than not, I see semifreddo in the form of semi-soft ice cream. As someone who prefers her ice cream a tad mushy and melting, who leaves half-gallons of Breyers and Ben & Jerry’s on the kitchen counter until the contents turn soupy, I am smitten with these semifreddos. If Spanish cuisine is more to your likening, take heart. In Spain this same sweet dish is known as “semifrio.” No matter what you call it, you’re …

Summer’s Bounty in One Bowl

Published by Kathy Hunt

Whether you belong to a community garden. shop at farm stands and farmers’ markets or tend your own vegetable patch, right now you’re undoubtedly enjoying some of the best of summer’s bounty. Ripe, luscious tomatoes. Crisp, juicy cucumbers. Cool mint and mildly peppery parsley. Thanks to the generosity of gardening friends and my husband’s passion for all things tomato-based, I’m often thinking of different ways to prepare and eat these gorgeous herbs and veggies. When we tire of gazpachos, salsas and tabbouleh, I turn these gifts into simple salads and let their flavors and colors shine. The following salad can be topped with feta, grilled and diced haloumi or crumbled Stilton or Gorganzola cheese. You can also use the salad as a filling for pitas and soft tortillas. “TOC” (TOMATO-ONION-CUCUMBER) SALAD Serves 4 to 6 4 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, quartered, and sliced 3 large scallions, whites only, chopped 1 small red onion, quartered and thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, minced Handful of fresh mint, chopped Handful …

Clamoring for Grilled Clams

Published by Kathy Hunt

Summertime and the grillin’s easy. Fish are jumpin’ and the shellfish supply is high. (And, no doubt, the ghosts of Ira and George Gershwin are horrified.) Although a lot of folks stick to cooking shrimp and the occasional lobster on their grills, I like to make my summer, shellfish meals a bit more intriguing with bivalves. Not sure if you’ve met this gang? You’ll surely recognize the members — clams, mussels, oysters and scallops. Of the aforementioned four, clams, specifically hard-shell clams, are my current favorite. As their name indicates, hard-shell clams possess hard shells. The other variety, soft-shell, has a brittle, thin shell that, because of a long, protruding siphon, doesn’t close completely. The clams that I grill are East Coast littlenecks. Possessing a grayish shell less than two inches in diameter, these are the smallest hard-shell clams. To clean my clams, I scrub them under running water with a stiff bristled brush. I then place them in a bowl of cold, salted water to soak. Here’s the cool thing about live clams. They …

A School of Lemon Sugar Cookies

Published by Kathy Hunt

Two weeks ago, as I cut and baked seven dozen fish-shaped, lemon sugar cookies for the Fish Market launch party, I thought of my late father and all the rolled, sugar cookies that we’d made together when I was a kid. Every Christmas and spring he’d pull out a large, aquamarine, Pyrex mixing bowl, wooden rolling pin and an eclectic collection of tin cookie cutters and spread these tools over the kitchen counter. This display of kitchen equipment could only mean one thing — we were about to kick off our biannual baking spree. No matter the season I’d insist on using every cutter, which meant that we ate bunny- and shamrock-shaped cookies at Christmas and reindeer and Santa Claus cookies at Easter. Then again, by the time that I’d finished slathering the cookies with royal icing, colored sugars, chocolate morsels and candy sprinkles, no one could tell exactly what he was consuming. Unquestionably, my dad was a good sport when it came to cookie making and decorating. Then and now, the secret to cutting …

Launching Fish Market

Published by Kathy Hunt

If you follow Kitchen Kat, you know that my first cookbook, Fish Market, has hit bookstore shelves. Published by Running Press, it covers 48 fish and shellfish and has handy, final chapter on seafood-friendly side dishes. As a longtime food writer, recipe tester and pescetarian (person who eats seafood but doesn’t consume meat or poultry), I am thrilled by its publication. Finally, I get to share all of my fish tales and recipes with you. Although you know about the book, you may not realize that I’m throwing a big party in honor of it and you all are invited! On Friday, May 31st, at 7 PM I’ll host the official Fish Market launch party at the Towne Book Center in Collegeville, Pa. A spacious, well-stocked, independent bookstore, the Towne is conveniently located near our work-in-progress farmhouse. If you’re going to restore an old house in the country, let it be near a good bookstore. Friday’s events include a sampling of dishes from my book, drinks, a brief talk about seafood, Q&A and a book …