One recent rainy night, between downing several pints of stout and an entire bottle of Laphroaig scotch, we invented a sublime, fatty fall concoction — roasted eggplant and potato mashed with sweet Thai basil and stuffed into fragile squash blossoms, caked with flour and pan-fried until crisp. This unexpected but opportune flavor mash-up led to one of the best questions you can ask inside a kitchen: “What else could we do with this?”

Well, lots of things. For starters, we thought: ‘Japanese yams instead of potato.’ Rather than mashed by hand, pureed in a food processor led to a much more luscious goo. What with the zen-mountain vibe of this creamy mixture, we tried piping it into egg-wrapper dumpling skins. While steaming, the dumplings become translucent, letting you see their vivid yam guts. We steamed and fried them, but that’s your call. Popping them in soup could work.

Meanwhile, the perfect recipe for those rainy-day squash fritters is still in the works. You can’t rush perfection.

Zen Yam Dumplings
(Makes 20)

2 Yams
2 Japanese eggplants
4 stalks lemongrass
2 – 3 scallions
1 cup purple basil
1 jalapeno
20 egg wrappers
1/4 cup kimchee (optional)

1. Peel your yams (if that isn’t a soul song waiting to happen, we don’t know what is…) and cut into large cubes. Add to a medium-sized pot of cold, well-salted water and put on high heat. Slice 2 stalks of lemongrass into 3-inch pieces, add to the pot for flavoring. Once you hit a rolling boil, turn down the heat and let sit in hot water for 5-10 minutes..

2. Set the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the eggplants in half, place face down on a well-greased baking tray or roasting pan. Stick in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until skin is brown and flesh is mushy to the touch. Remove to cool.

3. Strain the water retaining just yam pieces, and toss the lemongrass. Place yams in a food processor along with chopped scallions. When eggplants have cooled, peel their skins off and put just the meaty flesh into the food processor. Pulse for several minutes or until creamy.

4. Dump the yam-eggplant mixture into a mixing boil. Add kimchee for moisture and flavor if on hand. Thinly slice jalapeno and chiffonade your basil, adding bowl to the mixture and stirring well. Salt to taste, you wanna balance out that sweetness.

5. Put a large pot of water on to boil, adding the remaining two lemongress stalks and the sesame oil for steam-flavor.

6. Remove your egg wrappers and fill one-by-one. Place about 1.5 teaspoons of filling in the center of each wrapper, fold two opposite tips together to form a triangle and use a fork to press down the sides and corners around the filling. Set aside. Once all your dumplings are assembled, spray down your steamer or pot insert with canola oil to prevent sticking and place each inside delicately. Steam for about 10 minutes or until insides are blazing hot and skins are wrinkly and transparent.

7. To finish, carefully remove dumplings and let cool for several minutes. Heat a skillet or cast iron with canola oil and pan-fry the dumplings several at a time until brown on each side. Serve with a mixture of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and wasabi or ginger paste.

Beverage: The Bruery’s Coton
Soundtrack: Leonard Cohen and Patti Smith covering “Sweet Jane”

1 lbs. red seedless grapes
3 Tbs. kosher salt
1 cup red vine vinegar
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 tsp. olive oil
8 grape leaves in brine
8-10 oz. fresh chevre
1/4 cup goat yogurt
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. pumpkin seed oil
fresh chives
salt and pepper to taste
1. Prepare your pickled grapes, at least two days before. Remove grapes from the stem and wash and dry. Dissolve kosher salt in about 2 cups of water. Place grapes in jar and cover with salt water, add more water until they’re covered. Store out of sunlight for a day.
2. Once grapes have cured in salt for 24 hours, drain them and prepare a vinegar bath. Add both vinegars to a small saucepot placed on high heat. Once you attain a boil, add sugar and stir. Let simmer for a couple minutes. Add any flavor enhancers as desired (cinnamon stick, bay leaves, mustard seed, chili peppers…) Return grapes to clean jar and cover with still-hot vinegar solution. Let sit in fridge for at least another 24 hours.
3. To prepare salad day of: wash and dry cherry tomatoes. In a bowl, dress with olive oil, salt and pepper. Let sit while you roll grape leaf packages. Spoon a tablespoon or so of chevre into the center of each grape leaf, bundling them up by closing one edge after another. Conserve one serving of goat cheese for dressing. Bind the packets using chives as twine–when you sear them the chive will permeate the cheese.
4. Make yogurt dressing by combining with pumpkin seed oil and the tablespoon of remaining chevre, whisking together until creamy. Add chopped garlic clove and oregano and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Heat a pan on high heat, add a touch of grapeseed or canola oil for frying. Once smoking hot, pan sear the goat cheese packets for about 30 seconds on each side, just enough to make them hot.
6. Plate the salad. Start with a 2-tablespoon dollop of goat yogurt dressing, and spread by pressing down with the spoon making concentric circles to widen its mark on the plate. Place 5-6 cherry tomatoes down inside the yogurt circle. Then rinse and dry your grapes and place on top of tomatoes, gingerly. Rip up chives and place as garnish. Finally, slide two grape leaf-chevre packages onto the salad and serve with an extra dash of pumpkin seed oil.
Beverage: Consecration #3
Soundtrack: The Slits’ “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

The goal was to find a sweet treat sugar dunces like us could replicate that would stand up to the awesome power of dessert beers, high-octane stouts like Speedway Stout or Old Rasputin. Cookies, right? But how to make them a little weird, a little more extreme? After reading competing cannons on cookies we experimented with a technique found on the other coast: Resting the dough for a full day and a half, which vibed real well with our current obsession with the slowness of bread.
The (essential) finishing touch, a hefty pinch of smoked salt, elevates the butter and egg saturated dough to a Goliath like height; a place where we got over ourselves and donned the shroud of sugar.

Smokey Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Jaques Torres
(Makes 3 Dozen)

1 and a 1/4 stick Butter
1/2 plus 1/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. white sugar
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup bread flour
1 cup minus 1 Tbs. cake flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
10 oz. bittersweet couverture chocolate pistoles (not chips)
1 Tbs. finely ground Smoked Salt
1. In a counter-top mixer, blend the sugars and the butter together using the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes on medium speed until creamy.
2. Sift the flours, soda and powder, and salt (regular salt, not the smoked stuff yet) together in a separate bowl.
3. Add the egg and the vanilla extract to the mixer and continue to mix for another three minutes.
4. Add the flours and slow the mixer to low speed: Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl so that everything gets mixed in.
5. Add the chocolate and mix for another three minutes.
6. When the chocolate is totally embedded in the dough, stop the mixer. Turn the dough out onto some plastic wrap and form the dough into a square shape. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap – -double wrap so that it doesn’t absorb and flavors from your fridge–and chill in your ice box for at least 24 hours.
7. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
8. Take a 2-tablespoon piece of dough and roll it into a ball a little less than 1″ in diameter. Repeat. Place the cookies on a silpat or line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Space them about 4 inches apart.
9. Sprinkle a hefty pinch of smoked salt on each cookie ball; don’t be afraid.
10. Bake for 7-8 minutes; until they are settled, but not brown on top. Let them cool for ten minutes before serving.
Beverage: Ruben and The Jets
Soundtrack: The Buzzcock’s “Why Can’t I Taste It?”

1 King Trumpet mushroom
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
2 fresh eggs
1 tsp. smoked salt
3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. soy sauce
1. Slice off the bottom 1/2 inch off the King Trumpet. It’s equivalent would be the woody stem at the base of an oyster mushroom (the King’s close cousin). Now slice the mushroom into long fillets, about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Rub with a little smoked salt and set aside.
2. Slice your garlic and shallots 1/4 centimeter thin.
3. Heat a medium-sized skillet (cast iron or non stick) on high heat for 3 minutes. Place the mushroom slices face down in the dry pan. After 2 minutes, flip the shrooms; they should have a nice tan by now and have begun to expel some of their water.
4. When you’ve colored both sides of each slice, drizzle in another teaspoon of olive oil to coat the “steaks.” Add the shallots and garlic in the empty space around the mushroom and continue to cook; flipping the mushrooms every minute or two to make sure they cook evenly and do not burn. When the mushrooms have crisped around the edges and are quite firm to the touch, they are done. Add the soy sauce evenly and toss to coat, remove from heat.
5. Serve with a fried egg of your choice, toast, and Sriracha hot sauce.
Beverage: Cafecito Organico‘s BRazilian Peaberry
Soundtrack: “Air Talk” with Larry Mantle

3 cups small shell pasta
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 stick butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 white onion, minced
4 Tbs. all-purpose flour
4 tsp. porcini mushroom powder
2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1 # Fontal cheese, shredded
8 oz. Smoked Chevre
8 oz. Parmesan Reggiano, grated
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Kettle chips
1 whole nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh tarragon
1 tsp. paprika
1. Bring a medium pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil and drop pasta shells. Let return to a boil, turn down to medium heat and let cook for 5-6 minutes, or until shells are cooked al dente. Remove, drain and rinse with cool water. In a large bowl, toss with olive oil and let sit.
2. Start your sauce in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Toss in butter and let melt while peeling and mincing garlic and onions. Add both to the pot and cook until onions are see-through, about 5 minutes. Bring heat down to low and roux-ify your sauce by adding flour to the mix, one tablespoon at a time, whisking vigorously until all the flour is incorporated into the butter. Now stir in your porcini powder, still whisking. Cook for an additional minute or two before whisking in the half and half slowly and steadily. When all the half and half is incorporated, add the cream. Don’t let the mixture boil.

3. Now cheese your sauce. Add your Fontal first, small handfuls at a time while stirring until fully mixed in. Next, break off 1-inch chunks of smoked chevre and stir in. Finally, add one-fourth of your grated Parmesan, saving most of it for your mac tops. Let bubble and thicken for a minute or two before removing from heat.
4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
5. In a large mixing bowl, toss your shells with sauce in small increments until slightly goopier than you think proper. Then season with salt and pepper to taste. Fetch your ramequins and fill nearly to the top with sauced pasta.
6. Prepare your garnishes: Pulse your potato chips in a food processor and chop your tarragon. First top each pasta dish with a dusting of Parmesan. You’ll want to save half for garnish. Next dust the cheese with potato chip crumbs, add tarragon and paprika. Finally sprinkle a last kiss of cheese on top and a quick grate of fresh nutmeg. Put your mac and cheese in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until tops are browning and crisped.
7. While you’re waiting, complete your garnish arsenal by baking off a Parmesan tuille (shown above). If you have a silpat pan mat, use it. Otherwise, just use baking parchment, or in a pinch, aluminum foil. Each parmesan-cookie will require about 4 Tbs. of parm. Bake alongside mac for about 5 minutes or until sizzly and light tan. Let the tuilles sit for about a minute to firm up and gently remove by carefully running a knife around the edge of the each “cookie.” Remove pasta and eat as is out of the hot ramequin, or dump out and mix for the mushy bowl mac.
Beverage: Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes’ Saint Bon-Chien
Soundtrack: Billy Joel’s Piano Man

2 leeks
2 cloves garlic
6 red-skinned potatoes
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup stout
2 oz. fresh chevre
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 carrot
2 shallot
1/2 white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small bulb ginger
1 tsp. cayenne
1 Tbs. sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh dill
1. Cut and clean your leek. On a oiled roasting sheet, splay out the leek and press garlic over the pan trying to evenly distribute it. Roast in the oven at 375 degrees until green edges get slightly crisp and black, about 10 minutes.
2. Half or quarter your taters, depending on size, and place in a deep roasting pan. Add 1/2 cup of stock and 1/2 cup of stout. Cover with foil and place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until thoroughly tender.
3. Remove both leeks and potatoes and add to a deep soup pot. Cover with the remaining veggie stock and bring to a near boil.
4. Meanwhile, neatly dice your other veggies into cubes (think of their shape like small pieces of ham) and toss in a pan on medium heat with oil, ginger sliced into thin spheres and cayenne. Season and toss in dill for a second and then remove from heat.
5. Once large pot has near a boil, get crazy with an immersion blender. Pulse until creamy and then add fresh chevre. Continue to blend until consistent. Add 2-3 tbs. of water as needed. Consistency should be airy and easy to ladle. Combine the sautéd veggies and return to heat for a few minutes. Garnish with bread and leek ends.
Beverage: Black Flag Imperial Stout
Soundtrack: Godspeed You Black Emperor’s “Blaise Bailey Finnegan III”