I'm seriously obsessed with recipes. I clip them from magazines, copy them from the world wide web and seek out local dishes when on vacation to remind Bob and me of our travels.
I also love collecting cookbooks. They spill from our kitchen island to the pantry to my desk in the laundry room. Bob says we have so many that I could use one each night and not repeat myself for years. (You know how he can exaggerate!)
But when I get serious about cooking, I find myself preferring proven favorites like these new, go-to compilations from the pros at Fine Cooking, Bon Appétit and Better Homes and Gardens:
Fine Cooking Appetizers
Desserts 4 Today
How to Squeeze a Lemon
Bon Appétit Desserts
BHG.com
We're giving away:
FREE!
Click "Read More" for a taste of the delectable recipes in store for winners and details on how to enter. Contest ends June 30!
Fine Cooking Appetizers
Fine Cooking Appetizers: 200 Recipes for Small Bites with Big Flavor contains more than 250 pages of sensational starters. Perfect for entertaining and beyond, these "Ahhhhh"-inspiring little bites can add pizzazz to everything from holiday parties to weeknight nibbling. (Bob loves it when we dine on snacks!)
It includes mouth-watering minis like:
As a bonus, the recipes come with time-saving tips, step-by-step techniques and other handy advice from the experts at Fine Cooking. Want to make Spanakopita (Greek spinach and feta pie)? The instructions describe what you can do ahead, suggest substitutions for spinach and reveal the secret to working with Phyllo dough (there's a nice trick for keeping it from drying out).
You'll also find fun cocktails (bridal shower-right Champagne Cosmos) as well as tons of photos and tips to assure pretty presentation that could make this your one-stop for get-togethers all year round. Here's one of our favorite small bites from this delicious collection:
Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas with Guacamole
Homemade guacamole gives these quesadillas a burst of fresh flavor.
In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, combine the avocado, lime juice, and remaining cilantro and mash into a chunky paste. Season to taste with salt, pepper and more lime juice.
Spread the black bean mixture evenly over three of the tortillas. Scatter the goat cheese over the beans and cover with the remaining tortillas.
Lightly coat a large heavy skillet with oil and heat over medium heat. Set one of the quesadillas in the skillet and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Flip the quesadilla over and brown on the other side for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from the pan, cook the remaining quesadillas (add more oil to the pan each time), and cut each into eight wedges. Serve each wedge with a dollop of the guacamole.
Per serving: 250 calories | 8g protein | 24g carb | 14g total fat | 4g sat fat |
8g mono fat | 2g poly fat | 10mg chol | 460mg sodium | 5g fiber
Authors: Editors of Fine Cooking
Photographer: Scott Phillips
Other Works: Fine Cooking Breakfast, Fine Cooking Fresh and more
Publisher: Taunton Press (November 2010)
Time Out: 252 pages
On the Shelf: Amazon and most book retailers
Out of Pocket: $19.95 (Paperback)
Desserts 4 Today
Bob and I usually want a little something sweet to top off our meals. Since I'm often on the run, Desserts 4 Today: Flavorful Desserts with just Four Ingredients really speaks my language. Ideal for busy cooks, it includes 125 fantastic finales that you can have on the table in a flash. Many of these four-ingredient wonders come together in around 30 minutes from start to finish.
We're talking easy-to-make cookies, creamy desserts, frozen treats, fruit fantasies and pastries that WOW like:
In addition to her simple, fun-to-make recipes, author and former pastry chef Abigail Johnson Dodge offers thoughtful tips for making substitutions (she's high on embracing seasonal fruits) and adding finishing touches when you have a little extra time (or as she says "Gussy it up.") She also recommends ingredients, equipment and gadgets to keep on hand so you can prepare desserts like this delightful Crushed Raspberry-Mascarpone Whip anytime:
Crushed Raspberry-Mascarpone Whip
1 1⁄2 pints (18 ounces) raspberries, rinsed and dried Have ready 4 small serving bowls or wineglasses and make room in the fridge.
Set aside about 12 raspberries for garnish. Put the remaining berries and 1⁄4 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl and lightly crush with a rubber spatula. Set aside.
Put the mascarpone, heavy cream and remaining 1⁄4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until medium-firm peaks form when the beaters are lifted (don't forget to stop the mixer before lifting!).
Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the cream into the serving bowls or glasses. Top with about 1⁄4 cup of the crushed berries. Spread about 3 tablespoons cream over the berries. Repeat layering with the remaining berries and cream. You'll have a total of 3 layers of cream and 2 layers of raspberries not including the garnish. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve or for up to 1 day. Serve chilled with the remaining whole raspberries on top.
In place of the raspberries, switch in one of the following:
Fold 1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon basil into the whipped cream before layering it with the fruit. Garnish with the reserved berries and small sprigs of lemon basil.
Author: Fine Cooking contributor Abigail Johnson Dodge
Photographer: © 2010 by Kate Sears
Other Works: The Weekend Baker, an IACP Cookbook Award finalist, and six other cookbooks
Publisher: Taunton Press (September 2010)
Time Out: 188 pages
On the Shelf: Amazon and most book retailers
Out of Pocket: $17.95 (Paperback)
How To Squeeze {a} Lemon
How do you cut a lemon wedge so it won't squirt you in the eye? What's the secret to moist and juicy roast turkey? How do you select a ripe pineapple?
How to Squeeze a Lemon: 1,023 Tips, Food Fixes and Handy Techniques answers all these questions and more. It features been-there-done-that advice from the ace cooks at Fine Cooking (they've learned a lot from triple testing all those recipes) as well as other cookbook authors, chefs and savvy Fine Cooking readers.
You'll find how-to instructions for brining, braising, freezing and just about everything from baking to grilling. A cooking fiasco chapter called "When Things Go Wrong" helps right cracking cheesecakes, sticky pie dough, burnt-bottom cookies and other kitchen calamities now or next time. A food storage guide reveals food shelf lives, the safest way to freeze and thaw foods, and when you can refreeze. And that's just the beginning.
This kitchen resource is also packed full of smart, why-didn't-I-think-of-that tips like:
No matter your skill level, How to Squeeze a Lemon offers insightful answers to help you become a smarter, better cook. Since Bob and I have a thing for Italian food, we really appreciate these Fine Cooking Test Kitchen tips for cooking perfect pasta.
How To Achieve Perfectly Cooked Pasta
Cooking pasta isn't difficult, but if you know a little about the science behind the cooking, you can help your pasta dishes really shine.
When you drop pasta into a pot of boiling water, starch granules on the surface of the pasta instantly swell up and then pop. The starch rushes out, and suddenly the pasta's surface is sticky with this exuded starch. Eventually, most of this starch dissolves in the water. Here are a few tips that will help you manage these surface starches for perfectly cooked pasta.
Use plenty of water. This helps prevent pasta from sticking together by quickly washing away the exuded starch. A big pot of water will also return to a boil faster after you've added the pasta.
Stir at the start. The first minute or two is the crucial period when the pasta surface is coated with sticky, glue-like starch. If you don't stir then, the pasta can fuse together as it cooks.
Add salt, but not oil. A generous amount of salt in the water seasons the pasta internally as it absorbs liquid and swells. Pasta that's cooked in oily water won't stick together, but it will become slippery and, as a result, the sauce will slide off the pasta rather than get absorbed.
Don't rinse. In addition to cooling the pasta too much, rinsing can wash off any remaining surface starch, which at this point you don't want to do. Any surface starch that remains on the pasta is now beneficial: it can help to thicken your sauce slightly.
Toss hot pasta with hot sauce. As pasta cools, the swollen starches crystallize and become insoluble, which means the pasta can't absorb very well. So to help the pasta really soak up your flavorful sauce, be sure the sauce is warm when the pasta is done.
Author: The editors, contributors and readers of Fine Cooking
Other Works: Fine Cooking Breakfast, Fine Cooking Fresh and more
Publisher: Taunton Press (November 2010)
Time Out: 266 pages
On the Shelf: Amazon and most book retailers
Out of Pocket: $19.95 (Hardcover)
Bon Appétit Desserts
Sure to leave a delicious impression, Bon Appetit's 680-page Desserts collection is a comprehensive guide to "all things sweet and wonderful." This must-have kitchen resource includes more than 600 Bon Appetit-endorsed recipes, many of them never before published, for heavenly cakes, cheesecakes, pies, tarts, ice creams, cookies and much, much more. Yum!!
Easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions guide you in preparing everything from basic Old Fashioned Brownies to wedding-worthy Tiered Almond Cake with Mixed Berries and White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting. Each recipe's one- to four-whisk rating signals what's ahead, with one whisk being the simplest and four whisks reserved for showstoppers requiring more time and talent to make. Whatever your choice, many recipes include ingredient substitutions, suggestions for scaling serving sizes up or down, and other hints to help guarantee success. For example, you can make the Passion Fruit Tart eight hours ahead so long as you chill it uncovered. Regardless, melt the chocolate for this exotic indulgence in the microwave on low and check it at 10-second intervals to avoid burning. (Good to know.)
Both newbies and experienced cooks can learn something from this one. There are helpful chapters on the ingredients you'll need most often (like good-quality chocolate, cornstarch and cream cheese), equipment that's handy if you're serious about baking (measuring cups, parchment paper and a kitchen scale give me a head start) and how-to techniques that can advance your skill level (including a way to peel peaches that I can't wait to try!).
Even better, you can feel confident these recipes are winners because the experts at Bon Appetit have tested each one to make sure they turn out perfectly every time. For a taste of their masterpieces, try the recipes for Chilled Lime-Coconut Pie with Macadamia-Coconut Crust and Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake below.
Chilled Lime-Coconut Pie with Macadamia-Coconut Crust - 2 whisks; Makes 8 to 10 servings.
The combination of lime, coconut, and macadamia nuts gives this pie a tropical flavor. You can find sweetened cream of coconut in the liquor or mixers section of most supermarkets.
CRUST:
FILLING:
TOPPING:
Additional powdered sugar (optional)
Crust: Finely grind cookies and nuts in processor. Transfer to medium bowl. Mix in coconut. Add melted butter and stir until blended. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter metal or glass pie dish. Freeze 30 minutes.
Do Ahead: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and keep frozen.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake crust until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.
Filling: Whisk cream of coconut, yogurt, lime juice and lime peel to blend in 4-cup measuring cup or large bowl.
Pour 3 tablespoons cold water into small metal bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Set bowl in small skillet of barely simmering water; whisk until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute. Whisk into coconut mixture and pour into crust (filling will reach top of crust). Chill pie until filling is set, about 4 hours.
Do Ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
Topping: Beat cream and 2 tablespoons powdered sugar in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe whipped cream around edge of pie. Dip lime rounds into additional powdered sugar, if desired, and arrange around top edge or in center of pie.
Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake - 3 whisks; Makes 12 servings.
For this rich, dense dessert, you'll want to use a delicious, top-tier bittersweet chocolate (with a 70% cacao content) like Scharffen Berger; if it's not available, try Valrhona, Callebaut or Lindt.
CRUST
FILLING
TOPPING
Bittersweet chocolate curls
Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 and 3⁄4-inch-high sides. Blend cookies and sugar in processor until cookies are finely ground. Add melted butter and process until well blended. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake just until crust is set, about 8 minutes. Cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.
Filling: Stir chopped chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water; cool chocolate until lukewarm but still pourable. Blend cream cheese, sugar and cocoa powder in processor until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Blend in eggs, one at a time. Mix in lukewarm chocolate. Pour filling over crust; smooth top.
Bake cheesecake until center is just set and top looks dry, about 1 hour. Cool 5 minutes. Cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Place warm cake in pan in refrigerator and chill uncovered overnight.
Topping: Stir cream, chopped chocolate and sugar in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until chocolate melts and topping is smooth. Cool slightly. Pour over center of cheesecake and spread to within 1⁄2 inch of edge, covering any cracks. Chill until topping is set, about 1 hour.
Do Ahead: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with foil and keep chilled.
Author: Barbara Fairchild, editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit Magazine
Other Works: Bon Appétit Cookbook and Bon Appétit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (November 2010)
Time Out: 680 pages
On the Shelf: Amazon and most book retailers
Out of Pocket: $40 (Hardcover)
Better Homes and Gardens BHG.com
One of my favorite online cooking and decorating muses, BHG.com, recently got a facelift. This fresh, new design includes larger photos (perfect!) as well as options that simplify saving the ideas you want to remember and sharing them with others.
Short on time? The new BHG.com can help. It offers:
And narrowing down the choices has never been easier thanks to new user ratings and at-a-glance views of baking and preparation times. That's why it was a snap to select this Grilled Chile-Lime Shrimp (found online and in Better Homes and Gardens, June) to share with you. It has a five-star rating and requires only 45 minutes from start to finish.
Grilled Chile-Lime Shrimp
Prep: 20 minutes; Marinate: 20 minutes; Grill: 5 minutes
Preheat grill to medium-high. In medium bowl, combine all ingredients except shrimp and stir well. Peel shrimp except for tail, and devein. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels.
Place shrimp in large resealable bag. Add marinade. Through bag, rub marinade into shrimp. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Halfway through, turn bag and give shrimp another marinade massage. (Do not marinate longer than 20 minutes, or the acidic lime juice will cook the shrimp.
Place shrimp on cutting board and nestle them together in groups of six. Using two bamboo skewers for each group, skewer the shrimp together (this is nice for presentation, keeps shrimp from falling into the grill and makes them easier to turn).
Grill shrimp on an oiled grill rack 2 minutes per side, or until opaque. Serve with Toasted Couscous with Grilled Mango and Zucchini. Makes 4 servings.
Calories 211 | Total Fat (g) 6 | Saturated Fat (g)1 | Monounsaturated Fat (g) 2 | Polyunsaturated Fat (g) 1 | Cholesterol (mg) 259 | Sodium (mg) 320 | Carbohydrate (g) 4 | Total Sugar (g) 1 | Protein (g) 35 | Vitamin C (DV%) 10 | Calcium (DV%) 9 | Iron (DV%) 23 | Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
*Hot chile peppers, such as jalapeños, contain oils that can burn skin and eyes. Avoid direct contact as much as possible. Wear plastic gloves. If using bare hands, wash hands well with soap and water. lb. medium shrimp (about 6 per person)
You could win one of three, Fine Cooking-inspired kitchen companions, a collection of more than 600 to-die-for, Bon Appétit dessert recipes or a one-year subscription to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine ... FREE.
To enter the contest, email your name, mailing address (no PO Boxes please) and phone number to Enter@BoomerBrief.com by June 30 and put "Let's Get Cookin'" in the subject line.
Prepare your own Mexican quick fix with this Chipotle-inspired bowl. Carbs are moderated by filling the bowl with beans, extra veggies and chicken. No need for rice, since the beans count as carbs.
Tips:
If you love tomatoes, increase the quantity to 1/2 cup, but note that the carbohydrates will also increase.
If preparing this recipe for one person, cut all of the ingredients in half. Or simply prepare the full recipe up to the end of step 2 and store leftover chicken and vegetable-bean mixture in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave on High for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through, and continue with step 3.
Health Bite: The iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc in black beans help to keep bones strong and healthy.
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