The only good thing Verizon has ever done for me was sending me an ex-chef to fix my internet. When Jay, the ex-chef technician, told me he was making these Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Caramel Balls for Thanksgiving, I knew I had to as well. Here’s the recipe…(drops the microphone).
Everyone knows the song “The Girl From Ipanema” with the line “when she passes each one she passes goes, Ahh…”. That would be the same reaction Brigadeirao, a Brazilian Chocolate Fudge Flan would get if it were sashaying down Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janiero. It’s HAWT!!!
Write on the blackboard 1,000 times: Food Gifts Do No Save You Money. Drill it into your head and give up this crazy notion. Labor + ingredients + packaging + delivery all come with a dollar value. My mom and I discovered this false economy the year she decided to sponsor a Save-the-Children child instead of giving people Christmas gifts. She made them a little something, including her famous Cheese, Onion, and Tomato Pies. Don’t bake this pie as a gift; give a copy of The Vegetarian Epicure (Random House) from whence the recipe comes as a gift, perhaps with a pound of cheese to put in it.
Tired of the same ol’ slaw? This striking Pistachio Cherry Red Cabbage Slaw is a head turner that makes the transition from a summer grill side dish to a fall grill side dish and adds a sparkle to your autumn buffet.
I call my Southern-style potato salad, confetti because it’s colorful and tastes like a parade is happening in my mouth! My taste buds are like little cheerleaders marching, screaming with delight and doing cartwheels with every bite! There’s something about the combo of potato chunks, mayo, American mustard, sweet relish and hard boiled eggs that comforts me and makes me feel cozy and loved. Plus, you get a good dose of veggies, so it must be healthy-ish.
The 4th of July screams potato salad, but did I make it this year? No. My host and co-party chair made German potato salad for our Independence Day 2015 barbecue. I shelved this recipe until our Labor Day “End Of Summer” celebration. We threw a small shindig for eighty guests. We had so many people we made two different potato salads because we could!
I’ll admit I felt a twinge of sadness as I prepped this salad.
Since my Trinidadian sister-in-law was amongst the family visiting sweltering New York City this week for my nephew Kaden’s baptism, I decided to make her favorite beverage, Sorrel. It’s an iced tea made from hibiscus flowers. I added mint and lime to give a bit of a mojito treatment and am now calling it Hibiscus Mint Limeade.
Is it lazier to use dried split chickpeas to make hummus so you don’t have to slip the skins off each whole chickpea? Or is having to soak and boil the split chickpeas considered more work? What if you have a pressure cooker?
Whatever method you use to get skinned chickpeas, do it. Your hummus becomes downright sexy when you do.
“Stuff ‘em” is my usual stance when I invite guests over to a meal at my house. You will never leave hungry. You will be fed to the point of bursting. You may need to nap between the meal and the dessert. Lately, I’ve been easing up when it comes to dessert. When our guests woke up from their between-meal naps after the brunch Marlena Spieler and I whipped up this past Saturday, I served them this ethereal and light Pudim Molotov with Crème Anglaise, a Matcha (Green Tea) Cream and Caramelized Black Sesame Almonds. Oh, it’s gluten-free, to boot.
Do Indians host BBQ’s like Americans do? If they do, is there an Indian spiced coleslaw on the menu? I don’t know the answer, but I know that my Indian Spiced Slaw was a hit at both the picnic and the BBQ I took it to recently.
My rules for summer cooking is either not cooked or quick-cooked with low heat dishes. Since we find ourselves eating outdoors, I will add to my rules dishes that stand up to sitting out at warm temperatures like this Potato, Cauliflower & Green Bean Salad in Dijon-basil vinaigrette.