Fruit
Outmuscling the applesauce competition
TASTE KITCHEN By Debra Samuels | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Applesauce is the Swiss Army knife of comfort foods. Often baby’s first food, it pairs well with pork chops and poultry, is a nutritious snack, and a simple taste that’s appealing when you’re under the weather. We tasted seven commercially prepared brands of unsweetened applesauce with 13 …
Read moreCooking from the Hearth
This group of articles appeared in the G section of “The Boston Globe on January 13, 2013. They are all about cooking with fire. It was a lot of fun to write and research. Wood-burning ovens take on new life in restaurants Despite freezing temperatures outside, the door to the contemporary Brookline restaurant Lineage …
Read more13 Provencal desserts
CAMBRIDGE — Holidays are a time to celebrate tradition, but if your family is on another continent, you have to bring the traditions with you. This is what Fabien Fieschi, 39, consul general of France in Boston, has done. Originally from the coastal city of Marseille, Fieschi (pronounced Fee-es-key) arrived in this post in August …
Read moreBaked Winter Fruit
This baked winter fruit dish falls somewhere between a crisp and a compote. It uses some dried fruits, which are usually simmered in liquid. But whatever fresh fruits you have on hand can go into the dish, even those starting to show brown spots.
Read moreStrawberries Romanoff
This is an updated version of the old presentation that is served with vanilla ice cream and liquer-infused whipped cream. Here the berries are macerated in Cointreau and sugar. Strawberries Romanoff Ingredients: Serves 4 1 quart strawberries, rinsed and hulled (leave 4 berry stems intact) 1/4 cup Cointreau or other orange liqueur or orange juice …
Read moreGiovanna’s Candied Orange Peels
I was offered these homemade candied orange rinds that Giovanna Catinella, brought as a gift for the hostess at a dinner party in Palermo, Italy. The slender matchsticks of bitter orange with their crunchy sugar coating, were passed around with the digestive Amaro, a dark, spicy, bitter liqueur. Ingredients: about 100 strips 5 large thick-skinned …
Read moreStrawberry napoleon, deconstructed
Boston Globe, June 13, 2007 Some desserts, like one I was served recently in Italy, are stunning on the plate. In this case, triangles of puff pastry were set into a pool of vanilla custard sauce. Tiny strawberries were strewn around the dish, which was decorated with zig zags of chocolate. In fact, this impressive confection …
Read moreBerry nirvana is in full swing, and the dessert Pavlova, a fluffy creation of meringue, will make you feel like you’re floating on a cloud
Some desserts don’t seem right without strawberries. Tarts would be missing their bright red color and glory, shortcakes their intensely aromatic topping, and cobblers their fruity filling. Pavlova, the famous round of crunchy meringue, wouldn’t be as splendid without a crown of ripe red berries. Pavlova is so popular in Australia, where some say it …
Read moreZappin’ the Apple
Traditional methods for baking apples take almost an hour, but how about zapping an a apple for a simple dessert or a sweet start to your day with breakfast? A micro-waved apple takes only minutes — a great impromptu treat during apple season. You can even make an individual serving of fresh warm applesauce – …
Read moreIn the Lime-light
MIAMI — Ask any five people about Key lime pie and they will agree on one thing only — it should never ever be green. ”Honey,” said the slight waitress with weather-beaten skin at a little dive called the Crack’d Conch (where the choices for dessert were a slice of Doris’s Key lime pie or …
Read moreBento:Build a Better Lunch
Debra Samuels, bestselling author, food writer and cooking instructor, wants to give the American lunchbox a makeover. In the chapter on “bento,” the traditional Japanese lunch box, in her upcoming book, My Japanese Table, Debra encourages the use of color, texture and taste to create healthier and more visually appealing meals.
read more »
