“I think it looks a little sad because I used my glass pie plate which is a deeper than I remembered so it doesn’t have that nice plumped up effect. It’s based on a family recipe that both my mother and my grandmother made, which we all tend to play fast and loose with. This pie combines half cooked fruit with half fresh fruit, so you can sugar and spice up the cooked part but still get the freshness of the raw fruit. ” (Thanks, Abby!

There was a special request for a basil or mint sorbet. This is a little more tricky, since there isn’t much there there when it comes to herbs and their volume. A handful of mint doesn’t have the same effect as a handful of berries, especially when there’s no dairy base to hold up the flavor. In many dessert recipes, apples are used as a base when bulk is needed, but not an overwhelming flavor.

This garlicly mayonnaise goes well with raw vegetables, and all grilled foods, so we like to serve it during the summer, but it is also a nice accompaniment to meats and fish cooked in other ways.Experiment by adding other flavors such as saffron, chipotle chile powder, or fresh herbs.

A Sicilian friend who once visited us for the weekend and offered to make lunch, taught me a great substitute for Parmesan. We’d run out, and his pasta dish commanded a topping. So he fried up some bread crumbs and declared them “Poor Man’s Parmesan” with a very Southern Italian flick of the wrist and lift of the eyebrows.

When you’re facing a whole season of ice cream making ahead of you, it’s good to review the basics. There are two kinds of ice cream, as far as the home-cook is concerned: those made custard-style, and those not. I find that knowing the custard-method down pat is important, and a great springboard for other flavors. So as you gear up for a warm summer weekend, I hereby arm you with a Basic Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.

Last week in an Open Thread, a reader left an inquiry for Coffee Chip Ice Cream. LED, this one is for you:Coffee Chip Ice CreamMakes about 1 quart 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder2 cups heavy cream2 cups milk1/2 cup dark coffee grounds8 egg yolks3/4 cup sugar8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine, or 8 oz. mini chocolate chipsIn a medium saucepan, heat the espresso powder, cream, milk, and coffee grounds until simmering. Remove from the heat and let stand about 20 minutes.

We’ve been drinking these margaritas for as long as we can remember, and I mean year-round.Right about now as the days get longer and warmer, the rest of the world catches up and decides it’s margarita time. With Cinco de Mayo celebrated today, what better time to share the recipe? Watch out, they’re strong.

We celebrated the birthday of a Bermudian friend a few nights ago. On the menu were Dark & Stormies and Rum Cake, of course. Being with child, I did not gulp a D&S, but I did enjoy the cake. The recipe, in its original form, comes from the birthday boy’s mother in Bermuda, who gets it from Bacardi.

Great news: shrimp have moved up on the Blue Ocean Institute’s Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood, and with the news, a craving for shrimp hit me hard. We were having some friends over for Sunday supper, so I decided to get the pasta machine out, and make a shrimp ravioli. It turned out beautifully – and enjoying that fresh shrimp flavour guilt-free was wonderful.

Hungry and thumbing through the Passover catering catalog from Eli Zabar’s that dropped out of my newspaper recently, I came across this gorgeous photo of their Mile High Lemon Meringue Cake and had an emergency drooling situation on my hands. Normally, I’m not a big meringue person, but this cake is so beautifully executed, it’s hard to recall those early childhood memories of meringue that didn’t do me right. And this is no pie, folks, this is a flourless cake.

Here’s a recipe from a reader, SarahW, for a simple pasta dish using Swiss Chard (it’s been a hot topic of discussion on the Open Threads for a while) and Feta cheese. With greens such as spinach about to come into season on the East Coast, this would make a great spring dish. Pasta With Greens and Feta 6 Tbsp. olive oil (or less) 4 cups chopped onion 8 cups packed chopped bitter greens (e.g.

Ouch. Pictures don’t lie, do they? Over the weekend, my cooking pal, Amy, and I attempted to re-create the Compotée d’Osso Buco that we had one afternoon in Paris (above, left). Pierre, the chef, had given Amy a loose idea of how he made it, so armed with a few notes, we hit the stove.We started with a great cut of veal from Florence Prime Meats (5 Jones Street @ West 4th, NYC), then followed Pierre’s vague instructions, adding a little of our own instinct.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, folks on yesterday’s open thread chatted about how to make corned beef. Several suggestions rolled in: • Faith pointed our attention to Slashfood’s “Corned Beef and Cabbage: Do you do it, and how?” • DrewB gave us his mom’s technique: “Remove it from the bag, wash off the brine, soak in two or three changes of cold water overnight.

Dare we call this a recipe? Really, it is more of a snacky reminder, in list-form, of the deliciousness of its ingredients – who doesn’t love a black bean and Queso Fresco? Black Bean Soft Taco serves 1, as a snack or a side 1 corn tortilla 1/4 cup cooked black beans dash ground cumin dash of salt and freshly ground pepper 2 tablepsoons crumbled Queso Fresco (or Feta cheese) A few pinches chopped cilantro In a skillet over a medium flame, warm the tortilla for a few second.

We gobbled up this granola all weekend. Sprinkled over yogurt, swimming in milk (cold or warm), or eaten by the handful, it was hearty and satisfying, without being too sweet. Try experimenting with other dried fruits and spices if those listed aren’t your favorites.(Thanks, Stacy!

Readers requested a great hot chocolate recipe to serve this holiday. Here’s one my mother used to make every Christmas morning.Mexican Hot Chocolateserves 41 quart milk (whole milk if you’re feeling decadent, lowfat if you’re holding back) 2 tablets Ibarra Mexican chocolate* (3.3 oz each), broken into small piecesHeat milk until just about to boil, do not allow to boil over.Place half of the chocolate in a blender.

This is a Restaurant Reproduction from Little Giant, a wonderful little restaurant on the Lower East Side serving “Seasonal American” food. Sautéing the beet greens in the pancetta may not be how it’s done at the restaurant, but we really liked the flavor. Of course, you can simply sauté in olive oil instead.

We were too tired to cook last night. So we went to one of our favorite no-reservations-needed little gems: Grano Trattoria (21 Greenwich Avenue @ 10th Street). There is a salad on the menu that they call Carciofini alla Romana, but our Italian isn’t that advanced, so we’re going with Warm Artichoke Salad with Pancetta and Sheep’s Milk Cheese. It always pleases our palates. Max goes so far as to say it gets better each time. Possible.