Because barley is the first crop to ripen in the spring it has become a symbol of new life and hope, making it the perfect grain for this vibrant springtime salad.
The addition of balsamic vinegar comes straight from my friend Meg Fish’s table. She ladled up big bowls of soup topped with four or five drips of the tangy, sweet liquid, and I’ve never gone back.
Holley Pearce, my coordinator of chaos and close friend, loves food but doesn’t do much cooking. We met because she dined in one of our restaurants four nights a week. When Holley, who’s from Mississippi, started working with me, her lack of cooking skills became a running joke. One weekend, we had a little gathering at my office, and Pearce (as her friends call her) brought something she called BLT dip. She said it was just something her family had always taken to the beach. Unable to stop myself, I stood by it snacking till all that was left of the dip was a puddle of pink mayonnaise-y bliss.
The hallmark of Dutch apple pie is its creamy apple filling, but we didn’t rely on the traditional cream to achieve it. Instead we added melted vanilla ice cream to the apple filling for extra creaminess and a rich vanilla flavor that nicely complements apple pie.
Banana bread was always a staple in my mom’s kitchen when I was growing up. Over the years, I have riffed on her recipe in dozens of ways: adding chocolate chips, nuts, or spices; swinging from quick bread to cake; icing or dusting it with confectioners’ sugar. Then, about a year ago, I decided to play with the idea of a banana upside-down cake, topped with banana slices and salted caramel, which both soaks into the cake and drips all around it when the pan is inverted. That little idea turned out to be a total keeper. Here it is.
American's Test Kitchen shared this recipe with us as part of their recent muffin tins equipment review.
It can be hard to resist a recipe that includes the phrase “lime-scented sour cream” so why even try. Cauliflower is simmered until tender, pureed until smooth, enriched with a scoop of that lime-scented sour cream and then served with crumbles of crisp chorizo and another dollop of that cream.
Pile them high, as much as you like, and to your heart's content.
These are true breakfast muffins, to be enjoyed with a morning coffee.
This panna cotta is like eating vanilla ice cream.