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					Sangria Upside Down Cake
					July 23, 2010
filed in: Bakery,Desserts,Fruit
				
				

Everyone in my family has a different notion of the perfect cake. My husband adores dark chocolate cake with matching buttercream frosting. My adult son favors banana cake with thick penuche icing. And my own longstanding preference is for unfrosted, not too sweet, fruit flavored cakes, such as the Blueberry Cheese Danish and Tangerine Poppy Seed cakes found on this site. Since I was home alone this week I decided to satisfy my own tastes by experimenting with new approaches to the old-fashioned classic: upside down cake.
This recipe was inspired by the idea of pairing red wine cake, which I’ve seen everywhere in recent months, with mixed seasonal fruits in a light, brandy-flavored glaze. In other words, this upside down cake incorporates the ingredients of the refreshing summer drink of sangria. Please note that the ingredients’ list for this recipe is quite flexible, and you should feel free to substitute other fruits, or wines, that might appeal to you.  [go to recipe...]
{ 11 comments }
				
			

			
				
					Green Chili Cilantro Cornbread
					July 14, 2010
filed in: Bakery,Side Dishes,Vegetarian/Vegetarian Option
				
				

Every culture has its quintessential comfort food staple dish, and my peripatetic career has exposed me to many of them. In the Philippines, rice is part of virtually every meal. In Kenya, ugali (corn meal mush) rules, as does motoke (plantain mush) in Uganda. Italians are comforted by their pasta, while many Middle Easterners and Indians delight in flat breads. And we natives of the American South do crave our beloved cornbread.
I don’t make cornbread every night, as did my grandparents, and I’m not a purist about the ingredients I use for it either, as they were. I frequently use non-traditional flavorings in the cornbreads I bake, such as in this recipe, which was inspired by the bold taste of Indian-style green masala. The combination of  fresh green chilies, cilantro, and spices does much to perk up and add a new flavor note to homey cornbread. [go to recipe...]
{ 16 comments }
				
			

			
				
					Tomato, Basil and Goat Cheese Gelatin Salad
					July 1, 2010
filed in: Dairy and Cheese,Gluten-Free,Salads,Side Dishes,Vegetables
				
				

I love jello. There, I actually said it. And I’ve never understood why it’s considered déclassé. It’s cool and refreshing in summer. It can be made with any number of fresh fruits, juices, vegetables, or seafoods. It’s pretty and fun to make. And finally, it jiggles. What’s not to love there?
This recipe for a retro-style tomato, basil, and goat cheese gelatin salad was inspired by a slapstick-like dinner we recently had at our house. We have a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes in our garden now and used them, for a change, to make our favorite variation on  Caprese salad. However, these tiny tomatoes kept rolling off our plates when we attempted to spear them, and we wound up eating the salad with our hands. Through the laughter, it occurred to me that encasing the salad in a 1950s-style vegetable stock aspic would make it both easier to eat and be suitably summery too. And the result of this recipe experiment? This salad requires more preparation time than a conventional fresh tomato, basil, and goat cheese salad, and its flavor is roughly the same. But it would work well when a special, make-ahead summer salad is needed that generates both smiles and wows.  [go to recipe...]
{ 25 comments }
				
			

			

			
Four Fruit Smoothie Popsicles: Mango, Raspberry Cheesecake, Blueberry/Coconut, and Avocado

				
“Summertime and the livin’ is easy….” That line from Ira and George Gershwin’s classic song keeps running through my head. Although “livin’” is supposed to be easy in summer, figuring out how to keep cool during the seasonal swelter can be quite a challenge where I live. Heating up the kitchen with elaborate cooked meals [...]
				
[go to recipe...]
			

			
Oven Fried Chipotle Chicken

				
My usual approach to making American-style fried chicken, a perennial comfort food favorite, is something of a cheat. Although the aroma and flavor of classic stove top fried chicken is heavenly, the vast amount of oil, mess, and cook’s time spent tending it is not. So, like many others before me, I typically “fry” chicken [...]
				
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Key Lime Cheesecake Bars

				
We Floridians don’t get serious about many things; witness our casual approach to the 2000 U.S. Presidential election. However, we and our sunstruck politicians can be roused by the important matter of key lime pie. In 2006, for example, after several months of vigorous debate in the Florida State Senate and House of Representatives, it [...]
				
[go to recipe...]
			

			
Roasted Asparagus with Caesar Dressing

				
I do my best to eat produce grown locally and preferably sourced from my own garden. However, there are several temperate zone fruits and vegetables that refuse to grow in my semi-tropical part of Florida and are too tempting to live without. Who can resist the glorious spring treat of asparagus? Not I. This recipe [...]
				
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Reuben “Sandwich” Bites

				
Grilled Reubens are my family’s idea of sandwich comfort food heaven, and it’s easy to see why. The origin of this superb sandwich is hotly contested, with some attributing it’s development to Omaha restauranteur Reuben Kulakofsky during the 1920s and others giving the nod to New York delicatessen owner Arnold Reuben in the 1930s. Whoever [...]
				
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