Some say the hummingbird cake, a Southern specialty replete with pineapple chunks, bananas, coconut, and walnuts, earned its name because each otherworldly bite makes you hum with delight. Others hold that the cake is as sweet as the sugared water used to attract the tiny birds. Adorned with dried-pineapple “flowers,” the cupcake variation makes a beautiful presentation for Mother’s Day. To give the flowers a cupped shape, cool them in muffin tins (instead of on a wire rack).
Author: Chef M
During Passover, the proscription of any sort of leavening (including wheat flour) can greatly limit a baker’s possibilities. Yet these cupcakes, inspired by Eastern European tortes, rely on egg whites for leavening and use ground walnuts in place of regular flour, making them a wonder-ful option for a seder or other gathering. They are also a good choice any time of year for those with gluten intolerance.
Across Lyon, the delis, butchers, and restaurants all claim to have designed the best pâté en croûte. This recipe brings together all my favorite elements for an ultimate and easy version.
This versatile fruit also packs a healthy punch: Black and red grapes are rich in anthocyanins powerful antioxidants that may lower your risk of heart disease and cancer and boost brain power. By adding the kombucha last, we preserve its carbonation, making for a crisp and refreshing cocktail.
Mussels seem fancy, but they’re secretly cheap and easy (not that your date needs to know that). This version has Mexican undertones, but you can use whatever you have on hand: white wine instead of the beer, cubed Spanish chorizo instead of the fresh Mexican stuff, and any herb, really, in place of the cilantro.
Less common (and less expensive) than leg of lamb, a lamb shoulder roast is an intensely flavorful cut. It’s ideal for slow braising, which breaks down the collagen and fats that add flavor and body to the cooking liquid, and produces fall-apart tender meat. We found that braising it in the oven and turning it once halfway through cooking provided more even heat than cooking on the stovetop, and browning the shoulder first added complex flavors. What really elevated this dish, however, was to simmer the lamb in ruby port along with rosemary and aromatics. After the long braise, the…
Like chicken, leg of lamb is commonly cooked en cocotte in France, in a covered pot at low heat, yielding its own flavorful jus, with no braising liquid necessary. We were drawn to the promise of succulent, tender meat with minimal hands-on work. Although a bone-in leg of lamb makes for a dramatic presentation, we had no chance of fitting one in our Dutch oven, so we turned to boneless and tied it into an even cylinder. Browning the roast boosted savory flavor and rendered some of the lamb’s fat, which kept our finished dish from becoming greasy or gamy.…