April 26th, 2011
Instead of presenting a bouquet of flowers to your mother for Mother's Day, consider a flowered lemon honey triple-layer cake. (AP Photo)
Instead of giving your mother a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day, consider a flowered cake.
This beautiful and easy-to-make cake features the flavors of lemon and honey and is swathed with a cloud-like blanket of honey meringue. It then it crowned with masses of sugared edible flowers.
Be sure to buy flowers that are safe to eat, as many flowers are sprayed with pesticides. Most grocers sell edible flowers with the herbs in the produce section.
Lemon honey triple-layer cake
Start to finish: 1 hour 20 minutes (40 minutes active), plus cooling
Servings: 12
For the cake:
2 cups sugar
1 cup honey
6 eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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Tags: cake, cream of tartar, honey, lemon, sugar flowers
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April 19th, 2011
This dish features panini press turkey medallions with mushrooms and asparagus. If you'd rather do chicken, just get thinly sliced chicken breasts or slice regular breasts into cutlets. (AP Photo)
Admittedly, I am totally late to the panini press party. But I’ve totally fallen for mine.
After purchasing one on a bit of a whim, then barely using it, I’ve suddenly discovered the many and often unexpected ways to use it to make my weeknight cooking faster, easy and less messy.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, for example, cooked so quickly and so well, there was no time for them to dry out. Bacon crisped up perfectly in no time. French toast on the panini press totally rocked. And don’t even get me started about the hash browns.
So for this recipe, I decided to do the entire meal on the press — meat and a veggie side.
For the meat, I opted for turkey tenderloins sliced into thin medallions. A quick Asian-style marinade effortlessly added tons of flavor and the medallions cooked in no time on the press.
Panini press turkey medallions with mushrooms and asparagus
Start to finish: 45 minutes (15 minutes active)
Servings: 4
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
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Tags: asparagus, ginger, hoisin, mushrooms, panini, rice vinegar, soy sauce, turkey
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April 5th, 2011
This honeydew-blackberry tart offers a nice balance between light and luxurious. (AP Photo)
What with its focus on a hefty ham or robust leg of lamb — not to mention all those chocolate bunnies — Easter dinner can be a heavy affair.
So consider serving a lighter dessert, such as this fresh honeydew-blackberry tart that offers a nice balance between light and luxurious.
As with any good tart, the crust is crispy and rich, but made from healthful ingredients such as white whole-wheat flour, ground almonds and some reduced-fat cream cheese. There’s also just enough butter to add that familiar flavor you’d expect in a crust.
The lime zest-laced custard filling is made with a few egg yolks to give it a wonderful texture, but also cornstarch to help keep the fat to a minimum.
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Tags: blackberry, cream cheese, honeydew, melon, tart
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March 29th, 2011
In this recipe for grilled lamb, lollipop shaped rib chops are paired with a fresh, gorgeously green chimichurri sauce made from fresh herbs and healthy olive oil. (AP Photo)
For many people, lamb triggers thoughts of spring. And fatty, tough meat.
But lamb — at least spring lamb — can be a healthy choice with a tender texture and mild flavor. It’s all a matter of selecting the right cut.
Lamb rib or loin chops, though a bit pricey, are lower in fat than the more popular (and less expensive) shoulder chops. And they have an exceptionally mild taste. A cooked 3-ounce portion (off the bone) of lamb rib meat has only 10 grams of fat (4 grams saturated).
In this recipe for grilled lamb, lollipop shaped rib chops are paired with a fresh, gorgeously green chimichurri sauce made from fresh herbs and healthy olive oil.
Grilling the rib chops is an excellent cooking method for lamb because it allows any excess fat to render out of the meat and drip into the fire, rather than ending up in the finished dish.
This simple recipe can be perfect for a Passover seder. Some Jews won’t eat lamb at Passover (or any roasted meats or poultry, for that matter), but others will eat it as long as it’s not roasted. For most, lamb is considered an acceptable entree. If you’d rather skip the lamb, this dish is equally tasty when prepared with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Grilled lamb chops with mint chimichurri
Start to finish: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
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Tags: chimichurri, cilantro, grilled, lamb, mint, red wine vinegar
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March 22nd, 2011
Savory and salty smoked trout makes this marinated spring vegetable and smoked trout salad substantial and satisfying without being heavy. (AP Photo)
With spring around the corner, it’s time to start watching the grocer for seasonal — and therefore tastier — produce, such as asparagus, fennel, watercress, radishes and avocados. And once you find them, you might as well combine them into a seasonal salad.
For added fresh flavors, we use a medley of parsley, cilantro, dill and basil. Meanwhile, savory and salty smoked trout (sold in the refrigerator case near the smoked salmon) makes the salad substantial and satisfying without being heavy. Smoked mackerel also would be good.
Marinated spring vegetable and smoked trout salad
Start to finish: 1 hour 45 minutes (30 minutes active)
Servings: 4
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
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Tags: asparagus, balsamic, fennel, smoked, spring, trout, vegetables, watercress
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March 15th, 2011
These dainty lemon and strawberry cream puffs can be filled with whipped cream, pastry cream (or pudding), ice cream or sorbet, or even a savory filling. (AP Photo)
The pastry that cream puffs, profiteroles and eclairs are made from is called pate a choux. It is made by cooking a dough first on the stove, then beating whole eggs into it. This mixture — which lies somewhere between a dough and a batter — then is piped or spooned onto a baking sheet and finished in the oven.
It’s during this final baking stage that the eggs release steam that causes the dough to puff up, producing hollow shells.
And it all sounds more complicated than it really is. These treats come together without too much trouble. Best yet, while these desserts may look substantial, they have just 116 calories (when filled with whipped cream).
You also can fill these pastries with pastry cream (or pudding), ice cream or sorbet, or even a savory filling (if the latter, omit the sugar from the dough). The puffs should be made the day they are served. In a pinch, they can be frozen.
Lemon and strawberry cream puffs
Start to finish: 45 minutes
Servings: 12
For the puffs:
3/4 cup water
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Tags: Cream puffs, lemon, strawberry, zest
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March 9th, 2011
A rich and creamy bacon, chard and fontina quiche is a great place to show off a great cheese. (AP Photo)
A rich and creamy quiche is a great place to show off a great cheese. And while quiche Lorraine may be the best known variety of quiche — sporting bacon, onions and Gruyere — quiche fillings can be varied and diverse. Recipes can include sausage, seafood, ham and nearly any variety of vegetables.
Our quiche takes a trip to Italy to show off the creamy cheese called fontina. We pair it with bacon and chard, but you also could use pancetta and spinach or another green. Be sure to cook any meats or vegetables prior to adding them to the egg base. And after cooking the vegetables, drain any excess moisture, as that will interfere with the setting up of the custard.
Bacon, chard and fontina quiche
Start to finish: 1 hour
Servings: 8
1 purchased refrigerated pie crust
4 slices bacon, chopped
1 bunch Swiss chard, tough stems removed, chopped
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
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Tags: bacon, chard, fontina, Italian, quiche
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February 22nd, 2011
These golden shrimp are served with a sweet-and-spicy Cajun sauce made with hot pepper sauce, mayonnaise and honey, all spiked with a Cajun seasoning blend. (AP Photo)
Start thinking about Mardi Gras and New Orleans, and it won’t be long before you’ve got shrimp on your mind.
The preparation of these party-perfect crispy shrimp with spicy Cajun sauce is somewhat similar to how you might make Buffalo wings. Raw shrimp are dredged in a seasoned mixture of Wondra flour, cornstarch and beaten egg, which gets wonderfully crispy when deep-fried.
The results are as irresistible as a basket of hot wings and even better, there are no bothersome bones to get rid of.
Crispy shrimp in spicy Cajun sauce
Start to finish: 50 minutes
Servings: 6
1 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey
3 to 4 teaspoons hot sauce, to taste
3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning blend, or to taste
3 teaspoons salt, divided
Peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
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Tags: cajun, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, shrimp, spicy, Wondra
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February 15th, 2011
AP Photo Maple-thyme poached salmon with skillet potatoes in Concord, N.H. The gentle sweetness of maple syrup mates with the richness of salmon in this recipe.
Maple-thyme poached salmon with skillet potatoes
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, very thinly sliced
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 pounds salmon, trimmed, skinned and cut into 4 fillets
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Tags: maple syrup, salmon, soy sauce, thyme
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February 9th, 2011
This cocoa-mango upside-down cake has a tropical flare with its mango layer and macadamia nut decoration. (AP Photo)
Sometimes on Valentine’s Day the most romantic thing to do is something unexpected. Upside-down cakes are the baking world’s version of this kind of whimsy. Build everything from the bottom up and give it flip before serving.
This cocoa-mango upside-down cake combines the winning flavors of ginger-tinged chocolate with a tropical layer of brightly colored mango. Decorating the edges with some chopped macadamia nuts adds a beautiful and simple garnish.
Cocoa-mango upside-down cake
Start to finish: 1 hour 5 minutes (25 minutes active)
Servings: 8
1 medium mango
1/4 cup light brown sugar
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Tags: buttermilk, cake, cocoa, honey, macadamia, mango, upside-down, Valentine
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