Folks, it's time for fall cooking.
Today, Sam and I are celebrating our 5(!!) year wedding anniversary. In honor of such a momentous occasion, I thought it might be fun to take a walk down food memory lane to our wedding. (Read: will use any opportunity I can get to look back on and share wedding photos).
Unsurprisingly, cheese was a main feature of our wedding hors d’oeuvres. We sourced cheeses from the cheese shop I used to work at, and had a spread of them, with platters and stands perched atop a collection of our cookbooks. For the main course, we served food family style—a nod to our love of sitting around a table and enjoying a meal together. The menu was pescatarian and included a roasted vegetable salad, stuffed zucchini, smoked salmon, roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. For cake, a white cake, with buttercream frosting and various fruit fillings.
One of my favorite elements of our decorations was inspired by an event we went to several months prior, where there were small terracotta pots with herbs at each place setting. Being the wonderful partner that he is, Sam executed on my vision and begrudgingly went to the local nursery, bought 150 small veg and herb plants, and potted them all. It was a fabulous evening.
Apple & Honey Pizza
The 411: You heard it here first! It’s officially time for fall cooking, and I kicked the season off with the falliest fall pizza by Molly Yeh. Thyme caramelized onion (bear in mind, they require both thyme AND time), cheddar, apple (!), and rosemary pizza, topped with spicy arugula, honey, and a drizzle of balsamic. Its fall. It’s sweet and salty. It’s herby. It’s delish.
Zoe’s Tips: Molly Yeh’s pizza dough is my favorite in the categories of flavor, crispiness, chewiness, and ease. Yet it’s the stickiest and most annoying dough to handle. The pros outweigh the cons and make it worthwhile, but I would highly recommend parchment paper and amply flouring your hands.
Taste-to-Time Ratio1: 9:5
Chili with Moroccan Spices & Butternut Squash
The 411: My hot take is that fall/winter cooking is easier than summer cooking. I love that you can make a big pot of something and coax out the flavors through techniques like caramelizing or browning. Lidey Heuck’s chili is my go-to veg chili. It’s packed full of veg—butternut squash, cauliflower, tomatoes—and other goodies: chickpeas, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, and of course, chili powder.
Zoe’s Tips: If you have the time, the longer you let the chili simmer, the more flavorful it will be. I do the simmer in Step 2 for ~45 mins, and the simmer in Step 3 for ~30 mins.
Taste-to-Time Ratio: 7:7
The Taste-to-Time Ratio is a ratio that evaluates flavor on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest) with time on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the fastest). For example, our family favorite mac and cheese that requires 2 types of cheese, toasted baguette breadcrumbs, approximately all your kitchen pans, and 2 hours of baking is a 10:3 - insanely delicious, but not a quick weeknight meal.