I said I was not going to make pumpkin pie this year. And then I discovered this recipe. It’s pumpkin pie…with scotch in it!
The caramelized brown sugar combines with heavy cream and scotch to give this pie a depth of flavor unlike any other pumpkin pie. This recipe is not exactly a reinvention of the classic, just a slight improvement. Here is the recipe…
Filed under Pies and Tarts, Sweet
Parsnips used to puzzle me. They look like a carrot but aren’t and I never really knew what to do with them. I had them mashed once and, though memorable, I did not rush out to recreate the dish myself. The other day I used them as part of a vegetable medley along with sweet potatoes, carrots and potatoes at the base of a roasted chicken and that was nice. And then I found the ultimate use for parsnips. And so I share a recipe for Maple Parsnip Cake.
This cake is delicious! The texture resembles carrot cake – moist and dark – and the maple syrup adds sweetness that cannot be derived from sugar alone.
As usual, I halved the recipe and used my 5″ mini cake pans so as not to have a lot of extra cake in the house. However, after tasting this one, I wished I had made the full recipe.
And so I am now left with a big decision to make. Maple Parsnip cake instead of Pumpkin Pie this Thanksgiving? Here is the recipe…
Filed under Cakes
I love fennel but am never quite sure what to do with the leftover fronds. When I discovered this recipe for Porchetta that actually calls for the fronds and not the bulb, I filed it away in my mental cookbook for the next time I needed fennel for something.
Then, at the Union Square Farmer’s Market, I found something I have never seen before–baby fennel. Heavy on frond and lite on bulb, I picked up a bunch and set out to make Porchetta.
Once the weather cools, there is something about nice, long, slow cooked dishes. They may require a bit of work on the front end but the payoff is almost always worth the effort. This recipe is from Italian Slow and Savory by Joyce Goldstein and is the epitome of a wonderfully slow roasted dish.
Porchetta is street food from central Italy, usually sold from a cart, sliced to order and served in sandwich form. It often involves using a whole pig, which I could never do.
This version is seasoned in the same classic manner used for a whole roast pig. The pork loin is generously rubbed with a savory garlic and herb paste, tied, and then allowed to roast in the oven for about three and a half hours. Talk about being worth the effort–the end result is unlike any other roasted pork, deeply flavorful, delicious hot or cold and a wonderful kick-off to fall and the chilly weather ahead.
Here is the recipe…
Lucky me. I just returned from a wonderful trip to Portugal. The food was spectacular and one item that was on just about every menu, and one that we consumed on many occasions, was fresh, grilled sardines.
One of the world’s healthiest foods, sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and are known to promote cardiovascular health. And, unlike many other forms of seafood, they are extremely low in mercury.
Although best enjoyed fresh off the grill with a cold beer (preferably on a beach in Portugal), you can also enjoy this healthy treat in your own backyard.
Filed under Seafood
Cathy loves ginger and Cathy loves lemon. So, over the years, I have made ginger cookies as well as lemon cookies for her. This year, I decided to combine the two flavors and send them to her on her birthday. She says these are now her favorite cookies.
I had lemons as well as crystallized ginger but no molasses, a common ingredient in the chewier ginger snap. I perused the cookbook collection for a recipe that was molasses-free and came across this one in an old Martha Stewart cookbook.
The lemon zest ensures a real lemony flavor and the crystallized ginger adds the necessary chew to this otherwise crisp and delicate cookie. Bet you can’t eat just one. Here is the recipe…
I know, enough about the margaritas. I had planned on keeping this latest discovery to myself but, after recreating it at home, I simply have to share.
We went to Cafe Frida recently on the Upper West Side. They have a jalapeño margarita on the menu that is so good I had to have two of them. We asked our server how to make them at home and he was kind enough to tell us. The drink is made from jalapeño-infused tequila, fresh squeezed lime juice and an orange flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier, Cointreau or triple sec.
The infusing of the tequila is the tricky part. Not knowing exactly how all of this would turn out, I decided to make a small batch to start. I used 8 ounces of silver tequila, and one and a half fresh jalapeños, unseeded, sliced width-wise into 1/4 inch disks. I added the jalapeños to the tequila and let it rest for 36 hours.
WOW. The mixture was entirely too spicy and our first margarita was undrinkable. I recommend a couple of potential fixes here. Either use less jalapeño, seed them, or let the mixture rest for a shorter period of time. Also, since you never know how spicy each individual jalapeño is going to be, I suggest tasting the tequila after 24 hours.
Once your infusion is where you want it to be flavor-wise, strain the tequila and discard the jalapeños or, better yet, use them to garnish your margaritas or cook with them.
From here on out it is basic margarita making – 2 oz of infused tequila, 1 oz of fresh squeezed lime juice and 1 oz of Grand Marnier, shaken with ice in a cocktail shaker. Instead of the usual salted rim for the cocktail glass, mix some chili powder with the salt. Cheers!
M wanted a cobbler the other day so I made this one for him. If there’s anything he likes more than cookies, it’s blueberries and he eats them all summer long.
It starts when they are first available and we buy them even when they are still a bit too expensive. The price drops as the months go by and as the price drops, it has the opposite effect on his consumption.
Sadly, it ends as it began. Scarcity sets in, prices rise, and then the blueberries disappear until next year.
The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Nigel Slater’s The Kitchen Diaries. ”Right food, right place, right time” is his belief. The book is written in diary form and chronicles a year in the kitchen creating seasonal dishes from local and readily available ingredients.
This recipe is actually from July 15, but it can be made any time you are lucky enough to find fresh peaches and, of course, blueberries. Here is the recipe…
Filed under Desserts
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