Two observations that would seem to be quite unrelated: chestnuts are in season again (!), and wow, food processors sure are handy! One dish that makes the two connect: flourless chestnut chocolate cake made in a food processor. Ridiculously easy, ridiculously tasty — using steamed chestnuts instead of flour gives the cake a dense, fudgy [...]
Continue reading about Having Your Chestnuts and Your Cake, Too
Even with plug-in ice cream makers that churn the mix all on their own — as opposed to the old-fashioned, human-powered crank models — making ice cream can still be a challenge, especially if you’re not adding heaps of sugar and fillers. (Both of which lower the freezing point and keep the ice cream scoopable [...]
First it was omega-3s, then it was antioxidants; now, the food rage is probiotics. (Mind you, these have all been mainstay elements of whole, unprocessed foods for millennia, long before food scientists and genetic engineers and corporate interests got involved in our food chain. Thankfully, we’re now “discovering” that traditional cuisines contain plenty of foods [...]
Who doesn’t like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup? Peanut butter and chocolate just go together. But I guarantee that once you make your own PB&C in solid form or smoothie/shake form, you won’t ever want to go back to the prepackaged kind. The homemade variety tastes better, it’s a whole lot better for your health, [...]
There’s a time for crusts and ends and corners, but that time isn’t all the time. Sometimes you just want what’s in the middle without having to bother with anything else. If you’re a big pumpkin fan like I am, you might prefer no-holds-barred, maximum pumpkin, especially at this time of the year when it’s [...]
In the States, we eat it with jam or in cookies. If we’re getting really creative, we might throw in an apple or a stalk of celery with raisins. (Remember your childhood “ant-on-a-log” snacks?) In other regions of the world, though — notably Africa and southeast Asia — peanut butter is incorporated into everything from [...]
Continue reading about Sweet, Savory, and Everything in Between
You may have tasted currant jam or jelly, but have you tried fresh currants? They come in a variety of tastes and colors: black, red, white (really more of a golden hue), and pink. The black ones are the most common and has a very distinctive flavor–they remind me of a woodsy, almost-creamy blend of [...]
People are usually stunned when I say that I don’t have any cereal in my house, but there are so many great (read: healthier) options out there! From peanut-butter-banana-yogurt smoothies to toasted zucchini bread to scrambled omelettes, there are countless quick ways to prepare a tasty breakfast. Some–like pumpkin bread or lemon-coconut muffins–can be kept [...]
As part of my continuing quest to find more flavorful (and healthier) alternatives to white sugar–especially when I want to bake something tasty for breakfast–I decided to try my hand at maple syrup creations. (See Sweeteners for more information on natural sweeteners.) The result? A lightly-sweetened bread with the warm undertones of maple, the smooth [...]
When I was living in Costa Rica, I visited a sugarcane and coffee plantation. Standing in the 100-degree sun surrounded by bamboo-like sugarcane and bright red coffeeberries was an amazing experience…and so was tasting a piece of raw sugarcane that one of the workers snapped off and handed to me. Now I know what sugar [...]
