I think by now you’ve caught on to why cooking in parchment or foil or sealed in any kind of packet is so desirable. For starters, there is little or no clean up (you all know how high that is on my list), it seals in all the juices so nothing ever comes out dry and it lends itself to lots of creativity. You can also prepare the packets ahead of time and refrigerate them until ready to cook.
I wanted to call this Mystery Soup because if I hadn’t made it myself, I would never have guessed it had cauliflower in it. Whether you love cauliflower or not, this fabulous soup defies discerning its ingredients.
Muhammara is a Syrian dip that is made with roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. It’s savory, sweet, slightly smoky, with just enough spice. The Pomegranate molasses in the dip is a flavor powerhouse.
The photo of these stuffed poblanos in Bon Appetit pulled me in and I felt compelled to try them. (Admittedly their photo was more glamorous than mine.) They are more work than I usually go to for one dish, but after tasting, I wasn’t disappointed. They are absolutely delicious.
Quinoa, the world’s oldest grain, makes a dynamite pilaf that goes with any roasted entree. Or almost any entree for that matter. It is a gluten-free, whole-grain carbohydrate, as well as a whole protein (meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids). You’ll find it in various colors of red, yellow and white.
Dear Friends,
You are probably surprised to be receiving an email from me telling you about a live class in my home in Palm Desert. I realize that most of you live around the country, but perhaps you have friends near me in Palm Springs or live here yourself and may be interested in joining my class next week.
The classes are small, only 12 people, and I demo for about 1 1/2 hours, then we go to the bar for a cocktail before we sit down around my dining room table for lunch. The class begins at 10:30 AM and you can sit and visit with friends for as long as you like.
Please email me if you are interested in joining this class.
I’d love to hear from you.
Warmly,
Marlene
Peanut sauces are the rage. In almost every supermarket ethnic section you will find some kind of peanut sauce from any where in the world. Every country has some version of it— including Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Mexico, China, India, Vietnam, Philipines. Although Thailand is probably most famous for it, it doesn’t claim to have peanut sauce at all. Their famous peant sauce for chicken satays is made of ground peanuts.
This a lovely coffee cake, It is tender, moist with a surprise of lemon curd sandwiched in the middle. For me, any cake with streusel is an automatic hit. I love texture, so the crunchy topping is important. Olive oil guarantees a very tender crumb. I use California Ranch Organic Olive oil, see photo. It imparts a slight olive flavor, which is perfect for a coffee cake.
This recipe comes from my Fast & Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays cookbook and I serve it often. It is a great salad for a buffet or when you are looking for something unusual to complete a meal. Whenever I bring it to a pot luck, everyone wants to know who made it. I assume that is because they liked it so much.
I wouldn’t say this is superior to all my candied nut recipes, but it is right up there. Plus it is the easiest. All my other candied nut recipes call for boiling the sugar syrup, where with this one all you need to do is measure out the ingredients and stir them together. And since I don’t like doing dishes, all I have left to wash is one bowl. The nuts bake on parchment so no washing needed.
Oftentimes my best recipes get buried in my files and forgotten. This is just such a recipe. I pulled it out to teach to my Foster City Village senior class and when my assistants and I tasted it, we were blown away with how good it is. When the class finally got around to making it, they wrote me glowing reports.
David Lebovitz is one of my favorite pastry chefs because he writes the most precise recipes and has exquisite taste. He was the pastry chef at Chez Panisse for many years and has written a couple of excellent cookbooks. His recipes always work and taste wonderful. This cookie is no exception.
Never have only three ingredients combined into more exciting results. I am not ordinarily this opinionated, but once your try this bacon, I know you are going to resoundingly agree.
An authentic molé has poblano and other chili peppers. Mine is definitely a shortcut version, with only jarred spices, but it still boasts layers of flavor. Chocolate is a common ingredient in molé to increase the flavor and color.
This recipe comes from Bon Appetit and I have an admission: I didn’t follow the recipe. Instead of cooking the 3 flavors of chocolate in 3 separate bowls over simmering water, I microwaved them. Perhaps they wanted the cream cheese batter to be firmer, so it would plop on the top, instead of run, more like camouflage. (I’ve never studied camouflage design, so I’m not sure what it looks like in detail.) Of course I could have waited until the batter firmed up a little or microwaved it less, but I think that my end result looks pretty damn good.
Here’s a show-stopping recipe for all those who want to elevate their Passover gefilte fish. If you are intent on purchasing the jarred stuff, however, you may want to read on for some fun history to add to your seder. I was so impressed with a gefilte fish article in the SF Chronicle in 2018, that I’ve saved it all these years.
I thought everyone had either made or tasted this recipe so I was hesitant to teach it to a recent class. But when I needed something quick and easy to fill in a time gap, I decided to go for it and make them. I was surprised that not one person was familiar with the recipe and they were all really excited to try them.
Palm Desert evenings get much chillier than I expected. (I miss all those flannel pjs I gave away.) I decided a great way to warm up would be to make a simple soup for dinner. I went through my pantry and fridge to see what I could fin
For over a year now, I thought I’d never want to look at another kale salad. I definitely had OD’d on kale. But then I came across this shredded Lacinato kale salad with shedded raw Brussels sprouts, apples and Parmesan cheese and thought it was worth a try. I’m so glad I did, because it is unlike any other kale salad I’ve ever tasted. It’s definitely intense—-bursting with flavor and textures. Kale Caesar, step aside.
I can’t quite put my finger on what makes this dish so delicious. As with all cooking, it is the harmonious blend of flavors. In this case, sweet apples and sweet potato, tangy and pungent bbq sauce, onions, carrots, zucchini, cranberries and the delicious drippings that result from all of them cooking together. Because the barbecue sauce plays a starring role, make sure to choose one you like. I prefer Kinder’s because it has a lingering hit of heat.
