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A Soup Worth Chopping For
 My mushroom and leek soup
 The photo from Bon Appetit
THE RECIPE: Mushroom and Leek Soup with Parsley Dumplings
Bon Appetit, February 2010
Would you make it again? YES
Time (including stock): 2 hours
I am pleased to announce that my Mushroom and Leek Soup with Parsley Dumplings was a shortcut free dish! That's right, readers, I, Bridget Moloney, resisted the urge to use pre-made stock or pre-sliced mushrooms and did this whole thing from scratch. And I am so glad I did. Actually, next time I make this I'm going to use the pre-sliced Trader Joe mushrooms. Old habits, etc.
This soup--from the February issue--spoke to me extra loudly. It said, "BRIDGET, YOU LOVE SOUP ALMOST MORE THAN ANYTHING AND YOU LOVE MUSHROOMS THAT MUCH TOO, MAKE ME IMMEDIATELY."
As a side note, you may remember that our editor stopped selecting the dishes Chris and I cook for Project Recipe. Well, this has resulted in a parade of soups. I guess we both love them. Chris is allowed one more stew and then we're forbidden for a little while, or else we might have to change the name of the blog to "Project Soups and Stews."
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The Perfect Soup for Rainy Days: Ribollita
 My ribollita
 The photo from Bon Appetit
THE RECIPE: Ribollita
Bon Appetit, January 2010
Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes, plus overnight soaking
Would I make it again? Without hesitation, and maybe just as the soup alone.
Ribollita--which means "reboiled" in Italian--is one of those humble, day-after dishes (like corned beef hash and chilaquiles) that has successfully eclipsed the originally more-important meal from which it was derived.
If you were sitting in Tuscany one hundred years ago with a big pot of minestrone and fresh bread, it would be a big deal. A few days later, when all you had was the leftover soup and stale bread, you'd mix them together to make ribollita. I didn't want to skip that first step, so I served the soup with hearty peasant bread one night (but skipped the last step in the recipe: mixing in coarsely torn bread), let the soup sit in the fridge for several days while my peasant bread went stale. Then I made the ribollita.
This approach has advantages. The flavors deepen and blend deliciously
as the soup rests, and stale bread holds up better than fresh when it's
mixed in.
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Bison Shepherd's Pie for a Cold February Night
 My shepherd's pie
 the photo from Bon Appetit
THE RECIPE: Bison and Red Wine Shepherd's Pie
Bon Appetit, February 2010
Active Time: 1.75 hours (you kind of have to stand there while it cooks)
Total time: 2 hours (both on the stove top and in the oven)
Would I make it again? Yes
My cousin is an incredible cook. I'm always hoping she will invite me over for dinner. Or Brunch. Or drinks (because there will probably be snacks too). My husband and I hosted a News Year's Eve potluck and she brought over very-delicious boeuf bourguignon and mashed potatoes. We filled our bowls with the stew and then topped them with potatoes. The second and third time I went back, I think I did potatoes first, boeuf second. Details, details. While I was happily eating I had a thought: "This is like a deconstructed shepherd's pie!"
Shepherd's Pie is one of those dishes, much like pot pie, that I was wary of for years. I didn't like the idea of gravy suspending carrots and meat under a crust. But once I had actually made gravy, I realized first hand that it's made of ingredients I eat regularly and with pleasure. That New Year's combo got me thinking about how much I like shepherd's pie and how I'd like to try making one myself. The recipe gods must have heard me because the February issue of Bon Appetit arrived with a recipe for Bison and Red Wine Shepherd's Pie.
If you're in a hurry: This is delicious and you should make it.
If you're at work or avoiding doing the dishes, please read on.
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The Best Lamb Meatballs to Tuck into a Pita
 My kofte
 the photo from Bon Appetit
Bon Apptit, January 2010
Total time: 1 hours, 20 minutes (yogurt/tahini sauce: 5 minutes; boning and grinding lamb: 20 minutes; meatballs and onions: 35 minutes; muhammara sauce: 20 minutes)
Would you make it again? Is Hagia Sophia big and old and in Instanbul? YES!
The East Bay, where I live, offers a dizzying plateful of ethnic food choices, but Turkish food is pretty hard to come by. All the more reason to make my own kfte kebabs at home.
Kofte (or kofta, or kefta, depending on the language you're using--and every country East of Zagreb has a name for it) is basically a spiced meatball (usually ground lamb or chicken), and the starting point for practically endless variations. Wikipedia says that there are 291 types in Turkey alone. 
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The Crab Cioppino Didn't Do it for Me
 My cioppino-style roasted crab
 The photo from Bon Appetit
THE RECIPE: Cioppino-Style Roasted Crab
Bon Appetit, January 2010
Time: 50 minutes
Would I make it again: Probably not
Occasionally a meal is no more than the sum of its parts. No harmonizing happens, no bright burst of culinary magic, just the ingredients hanging out, bumping into each other. I'm sad to report that this dish was one of those.
When people ask me what my favorite dish has been over the course of Project Recipe, I always tell them the Lobster and Shrimp Cioppino that we cooked in June 2008. It cost more than a spa treatment, took two days, and forced me to confront my mortality, but it was deeply delicious. So I jumped at the chance to make Cioppino-Style Crab from the January issue of the magazine. If there is a seafood soup, stew or pasta in the offering, I'll take it.
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Make this ASAP: Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich Recipe
 My version
 The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Pork Meatball Banh Mi
Bon Apptit, January 2010
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes
Would I Make It Again?: For sure. In a hot second.
A month ago I was riding along in my friend Natasha's Coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck (a post on that coming soon...) when a young woman approached the window with two 12-inch sandwiches. She was one of the proprietors of the Nom Nom truck and she wanted to arrange a sandwich swap: her banh mi for our ice cream. A career in a food truck looked better than ever. We did the deal then we feasted!
The Banh Mi has been experiencing a well-deserved moment in America. They're a French-Vietnamese hybrid, a sandwich on a baguette that's made with a combination of wheat and rice flour. They are usually stuffed with pat, pickled veggies, cilantro, meat or tofu, and a mayonnaise spread. Many of my favorite restaurants serve banh mi, but I'd never tried to make one at home (I feel like I say that all the time on this blog). So I chose the pork meatball banh mi from this month's Bon Apptit as my Project Recipe.
This sandwich is delicious. I suggest you make it as soon as humanly possible, and if your new year's resolution involves the late Dr. Atkins, I would suggest you make just the meatballs as soon as humanly possible.
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Light-Yet-Satisfying Chicken Tagine
 My version
 The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Chicken Tagine with Fennel and Olives
Bon Apptit, October 2008
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Would I Make It Again? Yes!
After the overindulgence of the holidays, January is the perfect time for resolutions. In my case, they practically make themselves: "I will say no to fourth helpings;" "There really is such a thing as too much champagne punch;" and "I do not need to eat my own weight in latkes."
Some of these will be harder to keep than others (I really like latkes), so it makes sense to start with an easy one, like, "I will make a simple, hearty-but-light dish using seasonal produce that my entire family will love." I have just the recipe for that: Chicken Tagine with Fennel and Olives.
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Changes for Project Recipe
Since the launch of this Web Site in May 2008 our fearless blog writers Chris and Bridget have been cooking their way through our Top 100 Recipes. We've assigned them recipes, they've evaluated, and we've had a great time along the way.
Nearly two years later, it's time to change things up a little. We're retiring the "Top 100 Recipes" feature (because change is good!).
Starting with their next posts, Chris and Bridget will decide which recipes they'd like to cook from the current issue of Bon Apptit, and they won't cook the same recipe each time.
This approach means we can cover a little more ground, and it will allow Chris and Bridget to cook what they and their families love (or at least, what they think they'll love--as always, the writers can criticize our recipes freely once they've tried them.)
We'd love to hear your thoughts--and any changes you'd like to see in Project Recipe--so please post in the comments section.
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Warm, Chunky, Delicious Chili
 My version of the chili
 The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Texas Beef Brisket Chili
Bon Apptit, October 2008
Prep Time: 50 minutes (soaking, peeling,chopping, slicing, cutting)
Cook Time: 4 hours and 15 minutes (seriously! Plus an hour to cool!)
Would I make it again: Yes
I want to start this post by telling you, dear reader, that this dish is absolutely worth every penny and moment of your time. I want to make sure you know that, because when you start cooking at 7pm on Friday for your football party Sunday (giving the flavors time to meld) you have many hours of peering into a huge stock pot ahead of you. You might panic when you realize that you can't leave it unattended. You might think, "I am so tired, I am going to have to set an alarm to nap while it's cooking covered and uncovered" and then you might think, "Is this even worth it?" and "Why do I trust Bridget Moloney?" And the answer is "Yes it is worth it" and "Because I have a winning charm." Ok, so we got that out of the way.
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A Chili Recipe for Meat Lovers
Note from the Project Recipe's editor: After a brief hiatus (apologies on my part) Project Recipe is back. We have some very exciting changes coming to the blog, which we'll post about soon. In the meantime, please enjoy Chris and Bridget's posts on this belly-warming chili recipe from Bruce Aidells. --Emily Fleischaker
 My version of the chili
the photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Texas Beef Brisket Chili
Bon Apptit, October 2008
Active time: 50 minutes
Total time: 4 hours
Would I Make It Again?: Yes, with chuck instead of brisket and a broader range of chiles, but this is a great base recipe.
In my early twenties I was obsessed with "authenticity" in the kitchen, convinced that close attention to detail and avoiding shortcuts would yield the iconic "purity" of a dish. Take my chili, for example. It started off with five pounds of boneless chuck, six or more varieties of dried chiles, pork chorizo, onions, garlic, Mexican beer, and spices. It took eight grueling hours to prepare and cook. It was also largely inedible, but that was beside the point: It was "authentic."
This brisket chili recipe from meat maven (and local Berkeley hero) Bruce Aidells takes a few detours from austere purity, but then again it takes half the time to make. And it's delicious.
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Easy Cheesy Potato Gratin
My potato gratin
The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Scalloped Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato Gratin with Fresh Herbs
Bon Apptit November 2008
Prep Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Would I make this again?: Yes, yes, a thousand time yes! I've decided this is my contribution to Thanksgiving this year.
This potato gratin is just terrific. TERRIFIC. If you were in the Eastern part of Los Angeles last week when I tried this recipe, you might have heard some shouting--that was me on the rooftops.
I have always been a gratin fan, even the ones that come out of box (yes, I admitted that), but a gratin with quality ingredients may just be the most comforting food out there. This one is a little different because it uses yams in addition to buttery Yukon Gold potatoes. (A friend of mine who doesn't like yams asked how yam forward this dish was, and I assured him it wasn't too much. The yams are tasty, but just become part of the larger cheesy herbal goodness that will make your heart sing.)
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A Thanksgiving Side That Can Steal the Spotlight
 My potato gratin
the photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Scalloped Yukon Gold and Sweet Potato Gratin with Fresh Herbs
Bon Apptit, November 2008
Active Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Would I make this again?: Absolutely
This delicious and simple recipe is fairly standard for a potato gratin. But there are three things that make it unique:
1) the sweet potatoes; 2) the proportions of the butter, cream,
and cheese; and 3) it may conjure an unsettling mental image of Simon & Garfunkel loitering about the stove in matching black turtlenecks.
Why? The delicious herbal flavor in this dish comes from healthy amounts of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Now, please forgive me, and try to shake the lyrics of "Scarborough Fair" out of your head.
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A Delicious Cake for All You Apple Pickers
The post was originally published with incorrect links and pictures.
We apologize for this error to Bridget and to our readers. -Emily
Fleischaker, web editor
 My apple cake
 The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Apple Spice Cake with Walnuts and Currants
Bon Apptit, October 2003
Active time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Prep time: 1 hour 35 minutes
Would I make this again: YES OH YES I WOULD!
When fall arrives, many people are thrilled to revisit their favorite cold-weather accoutrements: cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, flannel plaid shirts, and anything apple. This Fall, apple-picking has been the weekend getaway. Everyone is headed to orchards to fill bags (and themselves) with fruit, then return home to post the pictures on Facebook and email their friends looking for recipes that can get rid of bushels of apples.
This cake only calls for two apples, but it is a wonderful way to showcase fruit that you may have picked at an orchard, at a farmers' market, or out of a bin at the grocery store. It's rich, sweet, and frosted with a seriously good cream cheese frosting. (In fact, once the frosting was made, I thought about skimping on the cake so I can eat it with a spoon.)
If you want to make this cake but are daunted by the amount of ingredients--don't be. It's actually quite simple. As long as you aren't on the phone while you measure and sift, and accidentally add the flour too early and then have to start over. If you don't do that, it's a breeze. I would also recommend doing a full prep for this recipe: Measure everything and have it ready to go before you start cooking.
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Have My Cake (and Eat It Too)
The post was originally published with incorrect links and pictures. We apologize for this error to Chris and to our readers. -Emily Fleischaker, web editor
My Apple Spice Cake
The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE:
Apple Spice Cake with Walnuts and Currants
Bon Apptit October 2003
Active time: 2 hours
Total time: 4 hours
Would I make this again?: No, but everyone else loved it.
Okay, here's a confession: I really don't like apple spice cake. It falls pretty low on the list of things I would eat, right after "uncooked beans" and just before "stuff that grows under rocks." Consequently, my lack of enthusiasm had an enervating effect on my baking: This cake only took a couple of hours, but it seemed like an eternity.
It's a shame, because an apparently phenomenal recipe was completely wasted on me, like shoes on a snail. The people who love spice cake (that would be my office colleagues) deemed this one supremely moist and delicious as they stood around and cheerily stuffed it into their mouths.
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Great Brunch You Can Make In Your Sleep
 My bacon-wrapped eggs
 The photo from Bon Apptit
THE RECIPE: Bacon-Wrapped Eggs with Polenta
Prep Time: 1 hour (can be spread over a few days)
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Would I Make This Again?: Yes, but I might find a replacement for the polenta
I find rising before 11am on a Sunday outlandish. And the idea of having to feed people at that ungodly hour is only slightly more preposterous. So I served this stunning dish for dinner.
The ingredients aren't anything unusual. What makes this recipe different is the chic, surprising presentation; instead of being slung on a plate, everything is neatly molded into an cylinder thanks to ramekins. It's the brunch puck!
Technically this is a "shirred" egg (albeit, a swanky one), which is the name for an whole egg baked in a dish. The process is simple: line an 8 to 12 ounce ramekin with a couple strips of undercooked (still pliable) bacon, spoon in some prepared polenta, top with cheese, crack an egg, top with more cheese and some herbs, then tuck it into a 400-degree oven for about twenty minutes until the whites are just set.
The best part is that all the components can be made in advance. Let's take a closer look at them.
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