Panna cotta: It’s easy to make, it can be made ahead, and is a good alternative for a cold dessert. This version leaves a haunting flavor with fresh bay leaves and the sweet/savory intrigue of a strawberry-balsamic-black pepper combination.
It’s warm weather cocktail time! Have you met my friend, Hugo? He has a refreshingly light and easy-going personality with mint for cooling freshness, lime for a little “zing!” and elderflower for a subtle floral touch. Some would even say he’s downright sparkly! I think you’re going to like him, too.
Shifting into burger season, I’m reminded of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Trouble with Harry. As it turned out, the trouble with Harry was that he was dead. Burgers, especially turkey burgers, are often dead on arrival because they are often dry and flavorless. I won’t let that happen to you, I promise.
About six years ago, I had olive oil cake at an Italian trattoria for the first time. It was love at first bite. The concept featuring olive oil in a dessert fascinated me. I’ve honed my own version of a Mediterranean-style olive oil cake with simple ingredients, and simple techniques. Learn how!
Preserved lemons are easy to make and add a complex flavor to many Moroccan and Middle Eastern dishes. They are lemony, but so much deeper in flavor in ways that only fermentation and preservation can achieve. It’s lemon umami, and you can make your own!
Three meals, one dish. You choose. A warm side dish for dinner. A room temperature side dish for a picnic lunch. Or, my favorite, a hot savory breakfast entrée with an added poached, soft boiled or fried egg. Surprisingly light. Not surprisingly delicious!
A traditional pound cake is one pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. So not only a pound of each ingredient, but pounds on your waistline, too… Here’s an alternative that also uses equal weights of each ingredient, but one that’s healthier and far more unique and flavorful. Don’t have a scale? No worries, I have you covered.
Chicken thighs are not only delicious but super forgiving due to their high fat content. I use them frequently for braising and baking. Breasts, on the other hand, seem so simple, and yet…
My love of dairy goes way back. Does anyone remember getting deliveries from a milkman?…
Because I like sweet and sticky carbs, and so I could get what I wanted, from about the age of 14, I was our family’s weekend breakfast maker. This was mostly pancakes and other sweet stuff like my self-invented “whack and bake” French toast.
Greg Nelson Cooks 