​Blueberry Muffins 2
Yield: one dozen
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes

1-3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Wine-Braised Chicken with Mushrooms and Leeks
By Melissa Clark
The New York Times, “A Good Appetite”
December 29, 2021
 
Yield: 4 Servings
Time: 1 hour
 
INGREDIENTS
 
1 (3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (or use 3 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken parts)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal), plus more as needed
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
4 garlic cloves
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms (preferably specialty mushrooms, such as king, hen-of-the-woods, chanterelles or black trumpet, or a combination)
2 large leeks (4 cups), halved and thinly sliced into half-moons (use white and light green parts)
2 to 3 rosemary sprigs
¾ cup dry white wine (or use a dry red or rosé)
¼ cup crème fraîche, plus more for serving if desired
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus more for serving
½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley, leaves and tender stems

Most of the time I take my cue for nightly suppers from what appears on sale either in a food store’s app or their flyer. Recently Whole Foods had on sale Sustainable, Wild Caught Atlantic Cod Fillet. After perusing my favorite recipe apps, I found an interesting one on the website www.epicurious.com  for Roast Fish with Cannellini Beans and Green Olives. The recipe is by Claire Saffitz, a freelance recipe developer and cook book author.
 
For this recipe you’ll need fresh oregano, canned cannellini beans, pitted Castelvetrano olives, kosher salt, whitefish fillet (cod, haddock or halibut), shallots, Fresno chili, lemons and extra-virgin olive oil. Overall, the recipe had largely favorable reviews.

​Skillet Chicken with Silky Peppers and Green Olives is a terrific weeknight meal as it only takes approximately 45 minutes to prepare. Besides, we could all use yet another chicken recipe, can’t we? For this dish you’ll need bone-in, skin on chicken thighs (I used breasts), fresh or dried oregano (I had fresh from my cold frame), kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, 2 peppers (red, orange or yellow or combination of colors), garlic, a fresh tomato, extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper flakes, green olives such as Castelvetrano (found at Wegmans), fresh herbs (parsley, basil or cilantro or a combination, I used parsley) and lemon wedges for serving (I omitted).

​Do you ever crave a pasta dish with a rich, creamy sauce? Recently in the “Here to Help” column in the first section of The New York Times was a published recipe by Colu Henry for Pasta alla Vodka. This recipe takes a quick 30 minutes to prepare.
 
For the recipe you’ll need, kosher salt, rigatoni (or penne), olive oil, pancetta (optional, but I suggest you don’t skip), an onion, fresh garlic, red-pepper flakes, vodka, 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, black pepper, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, fresh oregano and fresh parsley. 

​A simple craving for pumpkin cream cheese. What to spread it on… pumpkin loaf cake.
 
I’ve been craving pumpkin cream cheese for the past two weeks. There is a bagel shop a few towns north of mine that used to make pumpkin bagels and pumpkin cream cheese. I haven’t been there in awhile and I’ve been resisting the urge to get a bagel. However, I did have some cream cheese leftover from a recent recipe and a can of pumpkin in my pantry. I was going to bake an autumn loaf or make  pumpkin-walnut flapjacks, both I have made before, but I wanted something more like a pumpkin bread.