Food recipies

I�ve never tried to make panettone before, mostly because of how notoriously difficult it is to make, or so I was told. Turns out that wasn�t the case, unless people are factoring in the time, as this does take three days to complete, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty straightforward bread recipe. I think bakers like us regular folks to believe everything is super hard to make, so as to elevate their standing in society; or, maybe this is difficult, and I just got lucky, but regardless, I was thrilled with how this came out. I may add a bit more vanilla next time, and possibly a few extra tablespoons of sugar, as it wasn�t quite as sweet as I imagined, but other than using all the fruit, I don�t think I�d change much else. Speaking of the dried fruit, there are so many other things you can include, such as nuts, and chocolate chips, just in case this seems too healthy. You'll find the panettone baking molds at places like Sur La Table, or other kitchenware stores at th...

I don�t remember that much about the lobster thermidor I ate in culinary school in the early eighties, other than not really being able to taste any lobster. Instead of the nice, light sauce I used here, the meat was hidden in a thick, eggy, cheese sludge, which looked great broiled to a bubbly, golden-brown, but wasn�t the best method if you actually wanted to know you were eating lobster. Lobster is sort of sweet, and rich tasting to begin with, so covering it in a super heavy sauce never made much sense, which is why I like this approach so much more. Our sauce is just heavy enough to coat the chunks of meat, without hiding it, and while we�re not adding handfuls of cheese, or a bunch of egg yolks, we�re still going to enjoy a fairly decadent dish. Not only is this great for a fancy dinner party because it looks and tastes great, but you can also do all the prep ahead of time, and then just pop them in the oven when you�re ready for service. If you go that route, they�re going to be...

In addition to sharing an easy, and beautiful edible holiday gift idea, I wanted to make this chocolate bark so I could test a simplified technique for tempering chocolate without a thermometer. It sounded too good to be true, but worked fairly well, which is the problem. Is fairly good, okay?  Properly tempered chocolate will snap when broken, and retain that gorgeous glossy sheen. Poorly tempered chocolate is sort of dull grey, and the texture is soft, and waxy. This was somewhere in the middle. Using this method, you will get close to properly tempered chocolate, and you might get lucky, and actually end up with perfectly tempered chocolate, but in hindsight, since using a thermometer isn�t really hard, and the extra steps required not that strenuous, I�ll probably just do it the right way next time. In fact, I may do a future chocolate truffle video as an excuse to show you the �professional� method, but in the meantime, check out this great article I found on Allrecipes , as...

That is the question, and for me the answer depends on what else is on the menu besides this delicious butternut bisque.  When you roast butternut, you caramelize, and concentrate the flesh, and get something sweeter, starchier, and richer, which is perfect if you�re enjoying it as a meal, but maybe not such a great thing if it�s going to be followed by additional courses. The last thing you want when you start a big holiday meal with a soup course are your guests feeling full when they finish. Of course, as with all things food, this is highly subjective, but I did want to share my thought process on skipping the roasting step. I really enjoyed the festive, seasonally appropriate garnish seen herein, but if you are going for more of a stand-alone meal, it�s pretty amazing embellished with a handful of crispy bacon, and spoon of cr�me fraiche. So, whether you roast or not; whether you�re going to serve at some fancy feast, or just some chilly Tuesday night, I really hope you give ...

Many holiday main course recipes involve expensive ingredients, and/or time consuming, complicated techniques, not to mention the anxiety that comes along with worrying whether all that time and money will have been worth it. I�m looking at you, dry, overcooked beef wellington. If you want to avoid all that, maybe consider making tourti�re. This French-Canadian meat pie is hearty, satisfying, easy to make, visually impressive, relatively affordable, and since it�s best served at room temperature, doesn�t require any kind of precise timing. You can also easily tailor this to your own tastes, since other than the ground meat and mashed potato, pretty much anything goes. Or, make it just like this. I�ve only had tourti�re a handful of times, so I�m certainly no expert, but I thought this came out extremely well, and I wouldn�t change anything when I make it again. Although, I may try it with some beef gravy, as a few of my Canadian friends have suggested. Some even suggest ketchup, which...

After posting the long, and relatively complicated croissants video last week, I decided to take a little mental break, and do a video for how to put together a holiday cheese board. I�ve wanted to do this one for a while, and since we�re in the middle of entertaining season, I thought the timing was perfect. It�s always stressful to have people coming over this time of the year. You want to please, and impress, but there never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially in the kitchen, and that�s when a well-designed cheese board can save the day. They�re fast to put together, and you don�t need any special skills, other than being able to talk to strangers at the fancy grocery store. Most feature extensive cheese selections, and it�s been my experience that the people who work in those departments love helping you pick out your cheese.   I know this, since I�m married to one of those people. Michele used to sell cheese in various shops and charcuteries, and her s...

I wouldn�t describe homemade croissants as an easy recipe, since there are multiple steps, and it does take a least half a day, but it�s really not that hard either; and certainly simpler than flying to Paris, which is the only other way to enjoy these amazing pastries. Sure, some of you may live near an authentic French bakery, maybe even one of the few that still use pure butter, but for the sake of this post, let�s assume that you don�t. Besides, sitting next to a basket of homemade croissants raises your foodie street cred like few other things. Despite taking a fair amount to time, this is actually the quick version, in that we�re not leaving the dough to rest overnight, before laminating with the butter. I don�t think there�s a huge difference, but I did want to mention in case you�d prefer to start the dough at night, and do the rest of the work the next day. The technique is pretty straightforward, but be sure to pay attention to the temperature of your butter.   If you�re...