The Best Recipes Of October 2015: Sweet Potato Quick Bread, Muas
Make pastilla or chile-chocolate cake, and you'll see why we had the best October ever
We're on a winning streak: tons of candy tomorrow, one extra hour this Sunday and a whole heap of excellent recipes to add to our cooking itinerary. The Ottolenghi guys made Morocco's national dish for us, and we carbo-loaded on lentil pasta (a lot more delicious than it sounds) and not-so-classic carbonara all this month. And now you can join in, too, with our favorite recipes of the month.
① Pasta e Lenticchie (Pasta with Lentils)
We can't believe there's no butter in this ultra-savory Neapolitan pasta dish. Instead, cooking the noodles together with lentils and aromatics gives you all the lip-coating richness you need.
② Chocolate-Habanero Cake with Chocolate-Avocado Buttercream
We know avocados belong smashed and sprinkled with flaky salt on toast, but now, thanks to Hartwood chef Eric Werner, we know they're essential to buttercream frosting. The buttery fruit lends Werner's chile-spiked cake a pleasant vegetal flavor and extra creaminess.
③ Holubtsi (Ukrainian-Style Stuffed Cabbage)
Stuffed cabbage is no longer sad brown food in London chef Olia Hercules's hands. She tucks sour barberries into the mix, then cooks the bundles of meat in lovely tomato sauce.
Get in the Halloween spirit with The NoMad Bar's sinfully spicy cocktail. Slip Thai bird chiles into Aperol, then shake it up with rye and Cherry Heering for a wickedly delicious drink.
⑤ Muas (Italian Breakfast Porridge)
Your mornings just got a little more Italian, and we're not talking about the cortado in your hand. Spoon up this custardy porridge from South Tyrol, fortified with brown butter and cinnamon sugar, for the ultimate morning routine.
⑥ Katsu Sando (Japanese Pork Cutlet Sandwich)
Pounded and crispy-skinned chops aren't just for the Germans. The Japanese have perfected the art, dredging the meat in crunchy panko bread crumbs and serving it with a Kewpie mayo-lathered egg salad.
⑦ Carbonara with Kale and Hazelnuts
We're messing with a classic—egg yolk-tossed, guanciale-studded Roman carbonara—and it's a good thing. Bitter Tuscan kale and crunchy hazelnuts are your new carbonara companions.
⑧ Khao Soi
Time for a chicken noodle soup upgrade. Kanlaya Supachana cooks the curry paste in coconut for this fragrant soup, making for one luxurious sip that gives tonkotsu a run for its money.
Road trips with the whole family just got a lot better. Fill your travel mug with chai tea and a few glugs of rum and honey, and you're set for the backseat and endless sing-alongs.
Save the bananas for pancakes and make the most of this season's sweet potatoes with a simple, satisfying quick bread, here, speckled with cardamom and nutmeg.
Impress the pants off in-laws and dinner party guests with this showstopping Moroccan pastry, stuffed with cinnamon-spiced chicken and layered with Catalan-style spinach.