Something like a custardy baked pancake, clafouti is a French dessert that showcases fruit that is covered with a thick flan-like batter. Often dusted with powdered sugar, it’s served lukewarm or within 6 hours at room temperature. In this version, raspberries are the stars. Butter a 9-inch gratin dish. If you prefer, use a 9-inch cake pan. In a medium…
Hummus for Breakfast? Scrumptious!
Celebrity Interviews, Chefs, Cookbooks, Cooking, Melissa's, Produce, Recipes, VideosAfter our interview, I tried cookbook author Mark Bittman’s recipe for Turkish Breakfast, a cinch-to-make hummus paired with sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives and whole-wheat toast. I added a slab of watermelon and served it for a luscious eat-every-bite dinner. Better yet, I tried it for breakfast. Delicious. Much – so much – more flavor-packed than my lonely egg. Turkish BreakfastYield:…
Green Bean Shangri-La, Asian Sauce Gives Sweet-Sour-Spicy Personality
Cookbooks, Cooking, Melissa's, Produce, Recipes, VideosGreen beans cooked to perfection, somewhere between hard and soft, are delicious tossed with a sauce made with Asian-style ingredients. Oyster-flavored sauce, that bottled oh-so-tangy condiment, adds umami to the mix. Mirin, rice vinegar and sugar balance out the flavors with sweetness. Toasted sesame seeds add a gentle crunch and welcome nuttiness. In Chinese restaurants, a version of this dish often…
Roasted Pepper Salad Royale with Burrata – Appetizer or First Course Yum-Oh-Lah
Cooking, Melissa's, Produce, Recipes, VideosRoasting bell peppers adds a sweet, slightly smoky flavor. You can buy roasted peppers in a jar, but it’s so easy to do and the flavor is so much better. More delicious. I love them napped with vinaigrette and served with burrata and toast/ On small plates it’s a first course, on a platter it’s a scoop-it-up appetizer. To roast,…
This low-calorie Cream of Mushroom Soup with Green Onions is quick to make. Each serving is only 60 calories. The dark brown caps of cremini mushrooms add a delightful earthiness to the pureed soup. The concoction is frothy like a steamy cappuccino, especially if you use a handheld immersion blender to puree it. CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP WITH GREEN ONIONS…
Shaker Salad with just-right salty-sweet elements to make it irresistible I love Giada’s Shaker Salad. Limp greens and soggy veggies are often the fate of a made-ahead salad destined for the lunchbox. In Giada De Laurentiis’ newest cookbook, “Happy Cooking,” she provides a shaker jar strategy. Chill. Shake. Enjoy. Start with a wide-mouth quart-size jar. Giada’s Shaker SaladYield: 1 serving1 tablespoon store-bought…
Who doesn’t love apple pie? It’s an all American favorite, right? This one adds some surprises. There’s sour cream in the mix and a crunchy-sweet topping. I’ve been making it since I was 20. And trust me, that was decades and decades ago. Now my grown daughters bake it and claim it as their own. Let’s start with the crust…
Yes, I’m a Lidia Bastianich fan. I love the pace of her PBS show “Lidia’s Kitchen,” that recently started its tenth season. The programs move along to keep my attention but go slow enough to see how she prepares the dishes from start to finish. Her enthusiasm for Italian food and scratch cooking is contagious. Making her pasta dish that…