Author: Chef M

A liqueur originally created by bartender Martin Wilkes Heron in 19th century New Orleans, Southern Comfort adds aromatic notes of buttered almond, baked peach cobbler, and herbs to an extra-comforting cup of hot cocoa. It’s a reminder of a time when sitting on the front porch in a rocking chair and waving as the neighbors go by was practically an art form. The drink is so good, as they say in the South, it “makes your tongue want to slap your brains out.”

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Working as a singer in a French cabaret, Gabrielle Chanel acquired the name “Coco” from a popular song of the early 1900s, and she went on to change the course of fashion history. Coco believed that her favorite beverages, red wine and hot chocolate, would keep her young and sooner or later someone was bound to combine the two. The secret of this seductive pairing is a big, fruity red wine, such as Merlot, Shiraz, or Zinfandel.

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In the cage match of bread versus crackers, crackers win every time. Crackers have crunch. Crackers last for weeks in the pantry. Crackers come in every flavor and seed combination you can think of. They’re sort of juvenile, I guess sometimes when I pack them in my lunch, an alternate reality flashes before my eyes: I’m a parent! I have a kid! I’m making her lunch and rushing her off to school! What’s happening? But no, the kid is me. I’m the one eating crackers for lunch. So fine, cracker lunches are simple. But they’re also kind of sophisticated. When…

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In Denmark, Christmas will never be Christmas without these little pancake balls. The word æbleskiver literally means ‘apple slices’, because in the 1700s these were actually slices of apple, dipped in batter and fried. Nowadays, people rarely use apple the balls are usually cooked, dusted with sugar, dipped in raspberry jam and eaten. That said, I think that apples give these a bit of a lift. If you prefer them plain, simply leave out the filling. These are also found in southern Norway, where they are known as munker. You will need to use an æbleskiver pan a round pan…

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