I picked up the first volume of Garth Ennis and Matt Dillon’s Preacher comic on a whim four or five years ago. I was home in Bangkok for Christmas break, and had found myself – as usual – prowling the shelves of Kinokuniya to kill a couple hours and find something new to read. I wolfed it down in one sitting that night (jet lag does have its advantages) and could not get back to the store quickly enough to get the rest. As the dog ears and cracked spines now suggest, these comics have seen quite a bit of traffic – probably more than most books on my shelf.

Ennis’ West is a modern day ode to that mythical, mystical place where steely-eyed men ride after the American dream with nothing but his horse, his revolver, and his resolve; where justice is served the old-fashioned way: with a side of whoop-ass.

Similarly, these brown butter Snickerdoodles brings complexity to a well-loved, well-trodden recipe that can, at times, come off as one-dimensional. The original recipe comes from Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito’s Baked Elements, another well-thumbed volume in our household.  While Matt and Renato recommend straining the butter before use, I like the added depth that the browned milk solids bring (besides, washing strainers is the worst). I also recommend using Vietnamese cinnamon if you can find it, since it is stronger and spicier than other varieties.

Recipe below the jump!

Continue reading →

These pumpkin muffins are moist and flavorful without being overly sweet (it’s a muffin, people, not a cupcake!). The toasted pumpkin seeds provide an added textural element. They’re perfect for breakfast or brunch right out of the oven, but will keep for a few days covered and refrigerated. There’s no better weekday breakfast (or midnight snack) than a muffin, split in half and toasted until golden brown, served with a knob of butter or cream cheese.

Here, I used canned pumpkin purée (the plain kind, not the pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling) because that’s what I had on hand and, as usual, I’d left myself less than an hour to put together Sunday brunch. With a little foresight, fresh pumpkin purée could, of course, be used instead.

Continue reading →