In my book, an apple-cider donut is one of the best bets in the bakery box, both in flavor (apple and spices) and texture (crunch, crunch of sugar-salt-cinnamon-nutmeg coating). This loaf cake captures those lovely traits. The apple note comes from reducing apple cider to intensify the sweet-tart beauty; it’s used in the batter, atop the cake just out of…
Pork Marries Mangoes-A Roast with Sweet-Tart Flavor Merriment
Cookbooks, Cooking, Melissa's, Produce, RecipesThe soft flesh of a ripe mango is an alluring blend of pineapple and tree-ripened peach, but it’s sweeter and more exotic. The scent is enticing too, a blend of pine forest and tropical jungle. No wonder it is the most widely consumed fruit in the world. Roast pork and fresh mango are a luscious combination. In this dish, pork…
Crisp-Roasted Baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes w/Pickle Salad
Cooking, Melissa's, Produce, Recipes, UncategorizedThank you Chef Jamie Oliver. I’m a longtime fan of potato salads napped with vinaigrette. But Oliver’s concoction is over-the-moon delicious, teaming crisp spuds with a topping of crunchy vegetables adrift in an oil-less vinegar “pickle” concoction. ‘Such a creative and appealing combination of tastes and textures, as well as contrasting temperatures. It’s a whole new take on conventional potato…
This recipe is a perfect example of food that excites more than one area of the palate. It blends the cool sweetness of melon with sour lime and hot chili syrup. Any ripe, firm-fleshed melon will work work here. Once the chili syrup is made, this dish can be thrown together just before serving. “Fire and Ice” CantaloupeYield: 8 servings1/3…
Thank you, Carole Bloom. These Chocolate-Caramel Shortbread Bars are one of my all-time favorite bar cookies. The recipe is from Bloom’s book, “Caramels” (Gibbs Smith, $24.99). These delicate, very full-flavored bars bring together all my favorites. The dark brown sugar used to make the shortbread provides a richer taste than traditional shortbread that is made with white sugar. But it…
The sauce under the bird is divine. I wish you could see it in this photo! But, it is snuggling with other really good stuff. Trust me, it’s under there! I adore the flavors in this chicken dish. Herbs and olives, capers and anchovies team up to create chicken and its surrounding sauce with addictive deliciousness. And chicken thighs bought…
If you like mild anise flavors, more than likely you will love this salad. Fresh fennel combines crisp texture with its lovely licorice notes. It makes a lovely counterpoint with the smoked salmon. Of course you can serve it with cocktails (a summertime gin & tonic comes to mind), but it can also be a dinner entree if serving two….
Here are two of my favorite easy appetizers that I like to make that utilize cherry tomatoes: There isn’t anything complicated about the three layer tray-passed appetizers that Yvon Goetz served (back in the day before Covid at a reception at The Winery Restaurant in Newport Beach). I remember that guests gobbled them down and seriously jockeyed to get more….