Want to know a secret? I’ve never really enjoyed caramel corn. My grandmother used to buy those massive tubs that were divided into three sections, one with regular popcorn, one with caramel corn, and I don’t remember the last one. I was never interested in the sweet popcorn, only the salty stuff.
But that has never meant that I don’t enjoy actually making caramel corn. This one is particularly good because it combines the sweetness of caramel with the saltiness of peanuts and pistachios and the mild sweetness of coconut. Basically, it’s the perfect sweet and salty snack.
Growing up, whenever there was a caprese salad at a party, or served at dinner, I would steal the mozzarella slices, and eat nothing else. Of course, as I got older, I began to love tomatoes, and appreciate how the flavors all melded together. Still, whenever there was a caprese salad, I would still just eat the cheese.
A terrine is a mixture that has been prepared in advance and left to set in its container. It is then generally served in slices. As caprese is a personal favorite of mine, I decided to make it into a terrine.
Let me tell you, it worked so much better then eating the slices separately. Suddenly, it was easy to see how a caprese could be more than just a salad or a side dish, but rather as a course in itself.
Here’s the recipe if you’re craving some caprese salad.
*Feel free to omit the red peppers, they just add more substance to the dish.
We are big fans of Julia Child here at One More Bite. This is NOT her Beef Bourguignon! However, it is a great recipe for taking that classic flavor and paring it with any cut of meat you’d like! Steak Tips, Sirloin Steak, Filet Mignon…you can prepare any cut with this recipe.
Cacio e Pepe is a deliciously creamy and cheesy pasta dish from Roman cuisine that despite it’s rich creamy texture, involves no cream at all. The name literally means cheese and pepper, and the only ingredients are black pepper, pecorino romano cheese and pasta.
For my cacio e pepe, I toasted my black pepper in butter first to give the pepper a more extenuated flavor. Toasting spices is a well known method for bringing out even more flavor, and my cacio e pepe is very peppery.
And although it is never mentioned, you should ALWAYS salt your pasta water. Not just a little bit, at least several TBSP. This adds flavor and will definitely elevate the pasta dish you’re making.
This month, we are reviewing a fantastic cookbook that I actually use on a regular basis. Soframiz is a book full of vibrant Middle Eastern recipes from the Sofra Bakery & Cafe in Boston. We’re so excited to review this cookbook and to show you some amazing food.
Our first review is Flower Pogaca Rolls. They are a common breakfast item in Turkey. While not usually made in the style of roses or flowers, these rolls are just as good formed as a regular roll.
Zoe’s Take: 10/10 I might be obsessed with these rolls. I have a deep love of feta cheese, but also of bread and the soft buttery texture of the rolls, combined with the salty feta is absolute perfection in my mind. I have nothing bad to say because there is nothing bad about them.
Eric’s Take: 9.5/10 I really loved these rolls. The recipe was easy to follow, the ingredients were easy to find and work with. This was by far my most successful bake on a bread, which makes me believe they’re “fool-proof.” The bread was soft and flakey, and remained so for about two days. This was a big surprise as the recipe called for no butter and only one egg. The only reason I dropped the recipe a half point is that there was nothing in the cheese mixture to cut the saltiness from the feta. Otherwise this was perfect!
This was not an easy project to start, but it was so sweet when it was finally done (intentional pun). A crouqembouche is a tower of cream puffs, decorated with a caramel-like spun sugar.
Now, cream puffs themselves are not so hard to make, it’s just the time and effort that gets rough. The first step is to make the pate a choux pastry. This is the most versatile pastry, i think. You can use it for crouquembouche (obviously), profiteroles, eclairs, beignets, dumplings, gougeres, craquelins and churros. There are more wonderful things you can make, but you don’t need to know all of them right now. To get our delicious pate a choux recipe, subscribe to our mailing list for the exclusive recipe!
Each puff is then formed and baked until dry on the inside and then filled with a light and luscious pastry cream. Finally, you make your spun sugar (which I cooked a little bit too long), and stick them either to a mold or free build your own out of puffs by sticking them together with the sugar. A word of warning: The sugar is HOT and will definitely burn you if you get it on your fingers.
Your last, and unnecessary step, unless you’re going for that real fancy look, is to wait until the sugar reaches a honey-esque texture. Using a silpat and a spoon (or fork), drizzle the cooled sugar into cool shapes and lines. If you’re using a silpat, the sugar will come right off and you can drape it around your croquembouche. The sugar will harden, and stay put, but will be brittle.
Unless you are well schooled in croquembouche and pastry, this will be an all day project for you. It’s daunting, but entirely possible.
It’s national Bloody Mary day, or as I like to call it…national hangover day! We whipped together an “almost” classic recipe and garnished with some fun ingredients. There’s celery stalks, bacon, shrimp, pickles, vienna sausage, and a pepperoncini. We also hollowed out a sausage stick with a skewer for a straw.
Try our Bloody Mary HERE! And tell us how you like to garnish yours below!
Happy New Year’s Eve! It’s National Champagne Day! Instead of a simple mimosa recipe or toast, we wanted to do something fun and different. Today we made a champagne poached salmon. Eric isn’t a huge seafood, but he even enjoyed this dish.
For this recipe we used a Brute Blush Champagne, however any type will do. Micro Herbs/Greens come in all different varieties, but we chose one with Amaranth because of the deep purple color.
That’s slightly a lie, I sometimes drink. Mostly I drink when I make these drinks for all of you out there, because I have to know what I’m making. Since we’re past Christmas now, but New Year’s is only a few days away, we’ve brought you a drink you can serve at your New Year’s Party… if you’re having one.
It’s kind of a thrill to infuse your own vodka. Actually, infusing anything is a pretty good time. (I do it a lot and not just with alcohol). But don’t take my word for it, make it yourself here.
Ginger in any form is a huge player in my house. At any given time, I have more than 3 different forms of ginger root in my house. Today I have candied ginger, pickled ginger, powdered ginger and ginger syrup. All will be used and eaten and will be replaced by…. EVEN MORE GINGER.
In case you weren’t already aware, ginger is a celebrated ingredient the world over, with its roots (haha, pun intended) being in Asia, specifically China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It’s used in India extensively, Burma, the Caribbean and even Western cuisine. Depending on where you are, the use of ginger varies.
I use ginger in the traditional Asian way, flavoring seafood, vegetarian and meat dishes. I also make my own pickled ginger, like what is served with sushi. I use it in the Western way in ginger drinks, gingerbread and candied ginger. I use it in Indian pulse curries and spiced masala chai on occasion. Basically, I find it to be one of the most versatile ingredients out there.
