Food & Wine March 2017

RECIPE KEY • FAST Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. • VEGETARIAN Contains no meat, poultry or seafood. • STAFF FAVORITE Recipe we especially love. Soups & Starters [FAST] Chicken-Orzo Soup with 10 Vegetables P. 89 [FAST][VEGETARIAN][STAFF FAVORITE] Everything-Bagel Popcorn P. 25 [FAST][VEGETARIAN] Mexican Corn Popcorn P. 25 Meet your new favorite happy hour snacks. [FAST][VEGETARIAN][STAFF FAVORITE] Persian Flatbread P. 76 [VEGETARIAN][STAFF FAVORITE] Persian Frittata P. 76 Pigs in a Blanket with Black Pepper Pastry P. 25 [FAST][STAFF FAVORITE] Prosciutto and Mustard Tater Tot Waffles P. 24 Shrimp with Green Banana Cocktail Sauce P. 64 [FAST] Smoked Salmon and Caviar Tater Tot Waffles P. 24 [FAST] Stracciatella P. 95 [VEGETARIAN] Truffled Egg Tater Tot Waffles P. 24 Salads & Vegetables [FAST][VEGETARIAN] Basic Roasted Carrots P. 91 [FAST][VEGETARIAN] Basic Sautéed Greens P. 87 [VEGETARIAN] Beefsteak Tomato and Burrata Salad with Olive Streusel P. 92 [STAFF FAVORITE] Caesar Salad with Anchovy…

THIS WINTER AT Food & Wine we've been thinking a lot about home—what it means, what it tastes like, how it should feel. And it struck us that our very definition of the word is a moving target. There was a time when "staying home" and "going out" meant two very different things. "Home cooking" conjured up the sort of elemental foods that might have emerged from your grandmother's oven on a chilly winter night: slow-cooked brisket, gooey mac and cheese or maybe a deeply decadent potpie like the one on our cover. Home meant simple, familiar and, above all, comforting. Meanwhile, "dining out" meant something more rarefied. We dressed, behaved and ate differently in restaurants. We sat up straight and never put our elbows on the table. We looked to restaurants…

NO PLACE LIKE HOME I recently moved to Brooklyn and am excited that now I have space to entertain. My style is very casual—I make pizza or pasta, and usually we're all sitting on the couch watching a movie or just catching up. Don't get me wrong: I love to go out and dance, but there's nothing like being at home with friends, eating good food. WINE 101 I've been trying a lot of different bottles in order to learn more about wine and to figure out my tastes. Right now, I tend toward Cabernet, but I'm still searching for my absolute favorite. In the meantime, it's a fun experiment. FANTASY FOOD DAY If I'm not getting ready for a shoot, then I would eat eggs Benedict for breakfast, pizza for lunch and sushi for…

Banner Road Baking Company St. Louis pastry chef Anne Croy combines oats, seeds, quinoa, Missouri pecans, dried tart cherries and coconut chips in her awesome sweet-savory mix. $11 for 14 oz.; bannerroad.com. Blackbird Food Co. Our tasters loved all of Blackbird's flavors, especially the orange-cardamom, an exotic twist on a classic combo of nuts and oats. $11 for 12 oz.; blackbirdfood.com. Little Apple Treats With its warming spices and loads of dried apples, including heirloom Pink Sparkles, the Orchard Blend is like guilt-free apple crisp. $12 for 8 oz.; littleappletreats.com. Michele's Granola The toasty Original flavor, made with brown sugar and vanilla, reminds us of the old-school bars we grew up on. $7 for 12 oz.; michelesgranola.com. Sommer House This lightly salted granola gets its nutty kick from coconut oil and pistachios. We'd suggest signing up for Sommer House's…

THE HOME ISSUE This month, while the rest of us are just emerging from winter's lingering chill, restaurants with kitchen gardens—like Olmsted in Brooklyn, pictured here—are busy laying the groundwork for spring. More chefs than ever are transforming precious real estate into verdant backyard and rooftop plots. Turn the page to see how they do it. BACKYARD It's not unusual for chef-owner Greg Baxtrom's pals to bring him finds like heirloom wasabi to plant in Olmsted's garden out back. To make room for more experimentation, he's taking over the space next door. "We want whatever is on our menu to be reflected in the garden," he says. Case in point: the rows of carrots he juices for this vibrant crêpe. olmstednyc.com. ROOFTOP "The garden keeps us honest," says Jeremiah Langhorne, chef at The…

IF WEDDINGS AND New Year celebrations are the only moments in your life that call for Champagne, Jen Pelka might want a word with you. "For me, Champagne turns any moment into a celebration," she says. "It can be a picnic or picking up a friend at the bus station. It's just a really good way to turn up the volume on a good time." To ensure that those good times keep rolling, Pelka took a radical step: Earlier this year, she opened The Riddler, a new Champagne bar in San Francisco's Hayes Valley. Pelka designed The Riddler to reflect her philosophy: It's a high-low haven, with brass-trimmed tables and a glam marble bar, where vintage bubbly is as likely to be paired with pigs in a blanket as it is…