The Holiday Party Twist: Mustard-Caper Pickled Shrimp

First and foremost, my thanks to Burning Pasta's patient readers. Last week's trip out of town was quite successful (a post about it shall be forthcoming at the end of December), and, while the resulting jet-lag is sure to linger for a day or two, we've returned full of new and wonderful ideas to fill the next few months of posts. Let's get right to today's recipe.

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Few things are as classic to holiday parties than the old warhorse appetizer known as Shrimp Cocktail. This isn't to say that the dish is a bad thing -- shrimp, horseradish, a nebulous tomato-based sauce; all of these things are quite delicious (no matter their provenance), and they work quite well together.

This being said, as one travels through the month-long antacid advertisement that is the holiday season, Shrimp Cocktail becomes more than ubiquitous. Why not serve something that will set your party apart?

Today's recipe is a great alternative, a sweet-and-sour Southern standard that's been sorely neglected across other regions of the country. It's festive, quick, easy, and can be prepared far before your guests arrive. Let's start cooking.

The Autumn Crunch: Stovetop Kettle Corn

Oh, man.

Mulled apple cider, the smell of burning leaves, touch football -- what isn't there to like about fall?

[Editor's Note: Or, as the Pasta Burner calls it, "the last few days while it's still not winter."]

It's a great season, especially for those of us in the Northeast. One of my favorite things about the season are the preponderance of apple festivals around the region -- but it's not the apples that I'm excited about. You see, where there's apple festivals, there's kettle corn; delicious, hot, just slightly sticky-sweet kettle corn.

The big secret, however, is that you don't have to wait for the whims of Mennonites to enjoy this delicious fall snack. Do you have five minutes and a pot that has a lid? Oh, good. Let's get cooking.

The Throwback Appetizer: Beet-Blue Cheese Terrine

Doesn't seem like it was that long ago, does it?

The salty breeze, the glare so bright you don't take your sunglasses off all weekend, the lazy crabs crawling over the rocks -- who doesn't love themselves a little summer getaway? My favorite part of these days is always right before sunset; the prickle of hot water on slightly sunburned skin, a G&T with lots of lime, and, of course, something to nibble on.

Today's recipe is one of those great vacation nibbles, polished up and made respectable for the winter months. I actually like it best with a ice-cold pilsner, but, no matter what you're drinking, it'll make you plenty of friends. Let's get right to it.

The Sweet and Tangy Slice: Buttermilk Plum Pie

The Pasta Burner loves to make biscuits.

And why not? There are few things more delicious right out of the oven than those buttery, flaky, still-steaming-hot buns. The first one is delicious. As is the next one. And the one after that.

The key to great biscuits, of course, is a cup or two of buttermilk; the tangy (and wonderful) side effect of whipping heavy cream into oblivion adds a lovely, pleasant lightness for which there really is no other substitute.

The only problem with biscuit making is that it's nearly impossible to just buy a cup of buttermilk; if you're lucky, a quart is about the smallest container you'll find. So what to do with the leftovers?

The answer is found in today's recipe; the combination of a classic southern dessert and the summer's last bounty of stone fruit. Let's get to it.

The Transmogrification, Continued: Spruce Barleywine, Part 2

First things first! As some of our eagle-eyed readers may have spied, we've relocated the website to www.burning-pasta.com -- a happy step towards Internet respectability. Don't worry about changing your bookmarks; we've set the website code up so that it will automatically forward you to the new address. Our thanks to those of you who have been reading us since the early blogspot.com days -- we'll be sure to remember you when we hit it big. (Ha!)

As for this week's post, we're wrapping up a story from earlier this year; specifically, the story of our Spruce Barleywine. As some of you may remember, I first posted in February about this beguiling brew, discussing the brewing techniques, the multi-stage additions of spruce (first, large branches for filtering the wort, then, later, tender tips for the boiling infusion), and the 1844 recipe that inspired Nolan and me to brew the beer in the first place.

The Spicy-Sweet Treat: Chewy Molasses-Ginger Cookies

There are few things that mean "fall" to me more than ginger snaps. In particular, Sweetzel's Spiced Wafers, the birthright of any southeastern Pennsylvania child, are specifically responsible for my Pavlovian response.

[Editor's Note: Ivins' Spiced Wafers, another Pennsylvania classic, are a fine choice as well.]

I can remember eating giant stacks of them with glasses of hot apple cider at both my grandparents' houses; the best ones were those that were just a little stale, when they'd lose their snap and get just a little chewy. Due to my love of the wafers (particularly the soft ones), I've been trying to develop a good Molasses-Ginger Cookie recipe of my own, combining and enhancing my favorite parts of the original.

Well, I think I've done it. These cookies not only provide that great chewy texture, they turn the volume way up on the spice level -- the distinct, peppery "heat" that will be sure to win the heart of the ginger-lover in your life.

I'm very proud of these -- dare I say it, I might even prefer them to the original.

The Sunday Morning Nosh: 24-Hour Bagels

This week, we've got yet another recipe for the students out there.

Like last week's soup, this isn't a fast recipe; that being said, the labor required is minimal, and the end results are truly fantastic.

Bagels are a staple of the student diet -- smeared with peanut butter and filled with banana slices, they're the perfect snack; piled high and broiled with cheese, they make an open-faced sandwich like no other. And on the weekends? A couple slices of lox, a schmear of Neufchatel, some ringlets of red onion, a little tomato, some capers...are you getting the idea?

Indeed, few foods are consumed by students more often, which makes the sad state of most bagels truly unfortunate. If you're going to eat lots of something, shouldn't it at least be good?

To that end then, this week, we're showing you how to make bagels -- easy, versatile, and better than any of the anemic specimens you'll find hanging around your local grocery store. Let's get to it.

The Student's Salvation: Kasha-Kale Soup with Roasted Walnuts

I've never been a huge fan of September, to be honest.

Lacking both the sweat-inducing, purifying heat of August and the autumnal colors and crisp chill of October, September is nothing more than four weeks that defy prediction, a month eternally in transition. Pair that with the general pension for dampness that this year's weather has supplied, and you could be forgiven for thinking that, at least meteorologically, the next three weeks have a less than rosy outlook to them.

That's not to say that all is lost, of course. For as any cook knows, when the temperature starts to drop, and the rain keeps drizzling outside, and you slip that first fall sweater over your shoulders, the concurrence of those events can only mean one thing -- it's time for soup.

The Not-Quite-Definitive Recipe: Fresh Fig Gulab Jamun

Two quick notes before we begin this week's post!

First, thanks go out to eagle-eyed reader Sarah Y. for catching an error in our last post. In the description of how to melt the chocolate, the text originally read to melt down "one stick of butter per 12 ounces of chocolate." It should have read "1/2 of a stick of butter per 12 ounces." The correction has been made to the page, hopefully soon enough to save all of you from runny chocolate and unnecessary coronary episodes.

Second, we couldn't help but notice that, six days after our own recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops with Sun-Dried Tomato Chimichurri went live, the New York Times ran this remarkably similar recipe. We here at Burning Pasta don't assume that Ms. Clark or any other NYT staffers read this page, but we do love a good coincidence.

On to this week's post!

The Modular Dessert: Dark Chocolate Cups with Matcha Buttercream

Candy-making can be intimidating, it's true. No one likes struggling with molten sugar and thermometers, and, all too often, what ends up being produced at home still isn't up to the quality and craftsmanship of store-bought treats.

And yet, there are a few quick treats that are, relatively speaking, painless to create, and which look as (if not more) attractive than their professionally-made cousins. Today's recipe falls into both of those categories, and it's incredibly versatile to boot.

The techniques and shortcuts I'm going to present today aren't particularly revolutionary, at least in candy-making circles. That being said, they're not well-known by most home cooks. Consider today's post a way to acquire a handy ability, a way to develop yet another skill you'll be able to call upon in the kitchen. Let's get to it.