Every corner café or coffee shop probably has a stack of beautiful yogurt parfaits layered with fruit and granola, ready for you to grab and go. But what about people like me, who like savory instead of sweet for breakfast? Loaded with sausage, cheese, and spinach, this grits parfait is just as gorgeous as its sweet counterparts.
The surge of amorousness come Valentine’s Day and the accompanying pressure to celebrate the holiday with an over-the-top bouquet and a fancy dinner reservation can be overbearing. Yet there’s no need to fret if impromptu tulips weren’t delivered or you couldn’t snag a table at that swish new French-Vietnamese restaurant. It’s far more fun to settle in for the night with low-cost bubbly, a casserole in the oven, and a flick. Choose one of these 10 gems, which all meld food and romance in distinctly memorable scenes.
Regular breadcrumbs and panko are standard go-tos for crisp breaded meat and fish, but what happens when you need a gluten-free option?
The answer is probably closer than you think. Sure, there are plenty of premade gluten-free breading options on the grocery store shelf, but you probably already have one of the best solutions for gluten-free breading in your pantry right now.
What do you do if your Valentine is someone who just doesn’t like chocolate? What if a fancy box of chocolates or a flourless chocolate cake doesn’t make your heart skip a beat?
Not to worry — there are plenty desserts out there that don’t rely on chocolate for their deliciousness. Pick any one of these recipes for a sweet dessert that your special someone will enjoy … even if that someone special is you!
For our over-the-top girly, Cheesy Valentine’s Day to-do, we knew we wanted to go pink for our color scheme — and I have to hand it to Ariel: My apartment looked like my five-year-old niece’s dream come true. (If only Princess Sparkle had been there, it would have been perfect). But I digress … to go with the balloons and streamers and overall profusion of fuchsia- and flamingo-colored decor, we also wanted to serve pink drinks. So, in addition to our fizzy raspberry sorbet and elderflower cocktails, we stocked up on bottles of that traditional warm-weather pleaser: rosé. And now that we’ve gone pink in the wintery months, we’re not sure why we hadn’t before. This blush-hued wine has earned a spot at our tables all year long.
Two kinds of bars — candy and cookie — come together in a superhero-worthy pairing that, yes, truly satisfies. A chewy cookie layer replaces finicky nougat in this homemade version, leaving you free to expend your energies on making caramel from scratch. (Yes, it’s simpler than you think! Just use that candy thermometer for guaranteed success.)
One of our favorite family recipes of all time is this simple and easy fish stew. It takes less than 30 minutes, start to finish, and is absolutely delicious!
This time of year, hearts are abundant in every way, shape, and form. There are the classic heart-shaped candies, of course, but also cookies, cupcakes, and pizzas. Even breakfast gets in on the action with heart-shaped eggs and bacon! (See all the heart-shaped things here.) But it’s rare we actually stop to think about our real heart — and I’m not talking about in the emotional sense.
Almost 10 years ago, when I was a child-free, single-chinned (bah) newlywed and this site was 6 weeks old, I passingly mentioned making the Belgian brownies they serve at Le Pain Quotidien. They were as delicious as should be expected from something that’s nothing but chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs and a smidge of flour. However, I never made them after that because, ever the pedant, to me they weren’t real brownies. Brownies are dense, fudgy and even a little chewy and these were featherlight and rich. I don’t know what’s wrong with me either.
These might have stayed in the substratum of the archives forever had my husband’s attempts to save me from hospital food after the arrival of this butterfly last summer included regular deliveries of Cobb salads and the aforementioned Belgian brownie at the LPQ by the hospital. I actually said “Oh, that brownie is never as good as it seems like it’s going to be” before taking a bite of what was the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life, or at least in 40 weeks of everything tasting decidedly mediocre. Those brownies, which I’d keep in the fridge and cut little wedges from all hours of the day and night over the next couple days, were everything. I vowed to refresh them here and give them the adoration they were overdue.
… Read the rest of belgian brownie cakelets on smittenkitchen.com
© smitten kitchen 2006-2012. |
permalink to belgian brownie cakelets | 48 comments to date | see more: Brownies/Blondies, Chocolate, Everyday Cakes, Photo
The anything-goes potluck dinner, those democratic shindigs where each guest comes armed with a homemade dish, is great fun to attend. After all, how often does one get to pile a plate high with a mélange of discordant items like vegetable lasagna, quiche Lorraine, and Cajun-spiced chicken fingers? But these convivial smorgasbords are also rife with risk, because what if no one has the good sense to make green beans, and there are three platters of chocolate chip cookies?
One aspect of these suppers that need not confound, however, is what to sip. It is entirely possible to find a bottle that goes well with caprese salad and doesn’t clash with tacos al pastor. Here are a few strategies from the pros, organized by type of wine.
