Recipes of the Week

Finally - a post that's not about site updates! This is our first ever Recipes of the Week feature, and from now on, it'll occur every Wednesday. The following recipes were all posted this week on Boston-area food and drink blogs (maybe yours!). I either stumbled upon them myself or they were brought to my attention via this spiffy nomination form, which you should use if you'd ever like to submit a post for future Recipes of the Week features. All photos are used by permission. (Would you like to give me permission, in advance, to use your photos for a future feature? Fill out this other form.) Without further ado, here are the winners of the inaugural Recipes of the Week! We've got a drink, two main courses, and two desserts.

Rosemary Infused Vodka
Brian Samuels ~ A Thought For Food

Brian returned from a weekend on the Cape to find his urban garden not doing so well. "We came home to find the leaves on the tomato plants shriveled up," writes Brian. "The only explanation we could come up with was that they had gotten blight. And that was the end of our flourishing garden. Except for one thing: the herbs...were still hanging tough." Some of the surviving herbs went into baked goods, others into olive oil, and finally - the rosemary went into vodka. Simple and lovely. Bonus: Brian also includes a Rosemary Vodka and Tonic recipe.


Linguica and Bitter Green Quiche with a Stuffed Double-Bacon-Fat-Tortilla Crust
aarn ~ lick my balsamic.

Wait, what? Double bacon fat? Whoa. There's a lot going on in this one, and I don't quite understand how it all comes together, but it sounds...wait, there's linguica in there too? Drool.


Lady Gouda's Neighbor's Turkish Fish Stew
Shelby Graham ~ LadyGouda

An awkward encounter with a neighbor leads Shelby to a delightful food discovery. "Is it really Turkish? Not sure. Is it really good? Yes. And it is pretty healthy, very filling, and quite budget friendly," she writes. Ah, if only all neighbor interactions could result in deliciousness.


Sweet Potato Brown Rice Pudding
Lauren Zembron ~ Healthy Food For Living 

When I came across Lauren's post, the photos of rice pudding made my mind wander to the amazing cream of wheat at a certain wonderful brunch place in Somerville. My boyfriend has threatened to break up with me if I blog about this place because the lines are already too long, but if you live in Somerville, particularly in the Union Square neighborhood, you probably already know the secret. The name of the restaurant is in this paragraph. *Snicker.* Anyway, Lauren's sweet potato brown rice pudding just looks so delightfully comforting, just like that cream of wheat. "If I could choose one and only one food to live off of for the remainder of my life, it would probably be roasted sweet potato puree," writes Lauren. "Velvety smooth, perfectly sweet and flavorful in its unadulterated state, and inarguably one of the world’s healthiest foods, homemade sweet potato puree is a staple in our refrigerator."


Chocolate Molten Cake & Coconut-Hibiscus Sherbet
Elissa Bernstein ~ 17 and baking 

My eyes were drawn to Elissa's blog post due to that beautiful dried hibiscus flower garnishing the plate. The first part of her post details her first days as a server: the inevitable wrong orders, dropped plates, sore feet. Tempting photos of molten chocolate cake are interspersed. Then, the pay-off at the end, a lovely recipe for coconut-hibiscus sherbet. (The cake recipe comes from Epicurious.) 


Well, that's all for this week's featured recipes! Be sure to get your nominations in for next week, fill out the photo permission form to give me the go-ahead, in advance, to use your photos in future weekly features, and come back Friday for the first Restaurant Reviews of the Week feature!