Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods, and it's not hard to make them taste amazing. The easy way, my friends, is fat. A lot of it. I used to work at a restaurant where the cooks dropped a brick of cream cheese, a long swig of cream, and unmentionable amounts of butter into the joint's famous smashed potatoes. So there's that approach.
We have no idea if this dish comes from France, but its clever simplicity feels utterly French to us.
Give an American classic an upgrade. This recipe for onion dip was born of Lynne's first lonely weeks living in Brussels back in the '80s.
Mascarpone is a delicious fresh cow's milk cheese -- it tastes like a cross between whipped cream and cream cheese.
Equipment:
Zakuski is a spread of Russian appetizers, little dishes that, rather like Mediterranean mezze, can either start a meal or constitute the entire thing.
The Lazy Front Porch Supper menu includes: Pickled Red Onions with Cilantro, Corn and Haricots Verts in Lime Shallot Butter, Heirloom Tomatoes with Bacon, Blue Cheese and Basil, Shellfish Watermelon Ceviche, Grilled Steaks with Red Chile Sauce, and Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust and Lemon Mascarpone Cream.
This is one of the most sensual desserts I know. It's a cross between soft ice cream and rich custard. Serve it with dicings of ripe mango.
I love these things, caught in the interspecies synapse between hamburgers and meat loaf.