Remember the Sesame Street game "One of these things is not like the other?" In the Williams-Sonoma corporate office, Tre Balchowsky was the one who didn't fit the mold. Her shocking pink hair was like a lighthouse in a sea of designer clothes, manicures and meticulously coiffed hair. I instantly knew this was someone I was going to like...a lot!
Since that first day, Tre and I have become friends and we've shared work challenges, career changes and, of course, recipes.
Not long ago she sent me her recipe for cobbler. Now I know Tre likes her cocktails but the amount of booze in this is insane! There is almost a full cup of spiced rum in here. Honestly, I thought the spiced rum was going to overpower the fruit, but it didn't. The flavor of the rum came through but the alcohol didn't. It is a nice balance of flavors and is something I know I'd make again and again, trying different combinations of fruits.
A few days ago I created a "fancy" peach tart that has a cheesecake-like layer inside a graham cracker crust and topped with peaches and blueberries. Since I had leftover peaches and blueberries I decided to create a simple "cheese-less" version, something I'd be more prone to whip up on a work day evening. It's also fantastic the next morning for breakfast.
It's a given, potatoes will explode in a microwave if you don't poke them, right? Have you ever tried it?
A few years ago the US Potato Board came to the magazine I was working for and showed us new techniques for baking, mashing and roasting potatoes in the microwave. I'll be honest, I was surprised the techniques worked as well as they did but the one that stood out for me was the mashed version. They went against "common sense" and didn't poke holes in them before nuking them.
This classic Italian rice dish usually takes anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour to prepare and requires you to stir it the entire time. With a few modifications I was able to make a great tasting version with about 20 minutes actual hands-on time. I know I'll probably get a few people giving me grief that this isn't a true risotto, but for a quick springtime dinner I think it's pretty damn good.
One of the hardest things about going dairy-free is you end up constantly comparing what you're eating with it's dairy counterpart. Sometimes it's better than the original while other times you end up being disappointed.
Tofu-based puddings always fell in the disappointment category for me. I've tried a number of versions and not one of them was even remotely close to dairy-based puddings. My solution...stop comparing the two.
Even after switching to soy milk a number of years ago, I still can't say I'm totally in love with it. I long for the days when things didn't have that 'toasted marshmallow' flavor I typically associate with soy. So I was happy to see almond milk recently show up in my local store. It's still fairly new on the market and may not be available everywhere so if you can't find it bug your grocery manager.
I was surprised how good it was in my morning latte but the true test came when I tried to make it into pudding. In making a pudding or custard you want a nice, rich mouth feel when you're eating it. Since almond milk is pretty thin, the texture of the first batch was also thin.
