A Dash of Sass

Cherry Red Wine Sauce

kate — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:57:17 +0000

Do you remember the Mark Peel cherry ice cream sauce that I told you made me cry at the Silver Spoons event? That sauce was so incredible that I found myself daydreaming about it a week later. A dish that sticks in your mind like that must be recreated. Now, I’m no Mark Peel, but I figured I should be able to jimmy up a home-style version that would appease my craving. Oh people, I wish I could send each of you a little jar of this divine sauce so you believe me when I say that it may be the best thing I’ve ever made.

At the event, I actually had the nerve (ahem, cajones) to ask Mark what was in his cherry sauce. Wine. Vanilla. Star anise. Cherries. Working from that rough outline, I came up with a respectable tribute to his other-worldly original. A good red wine reduction sauce paired with juicy, fresh Bing cherries, freshly scraped vanilla beans and spooned over vanilla ice cream. Say hello to your new Grown Up Ice Cream Sundae.

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Italian and Southwestern Zucchini Boats

kate — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:39:19 +0000

Ever try something that is so perfectly ready for adaptation that you instantly begin dreaming of ways to make it better? A chocolate chip cookie leads you to a dark chocolate cherry cookie. Or a piece of pumpkin pie leads you to spiced sweet potato pie. Well, that was my experience with zucchini boats. So versatile. So healthy. So easy. So many possibilities!

Zucchini makes a perfect vessel for a variety of fillings. The insides of the zucchini are easy to scoop out, leaving a sturdy shell that is just asking to be heaped full of delicious goodness. Choose from an Italian filling with tomato sauce, peppers and topped with mozzarella cheese or a Southwestern filling with black beans, green chilies and topped with cheddar cheese (and sour cream!). With all these flavor combos, you will never again be screaming “What can I do with all this zucchini?!?!”

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Citymeals-on-Wheels Silver Spoons Benefit

kate — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 00:18:33 +0000

Every once in awhile, you get the opportunity to participate in something so astronomically awesome that you think that the organizers must have invited you by accident. You are not this cool. You have never been this cool. You may never be this cool again. Be careful not to trip or they may notice that you never should have been invited in the first place. And so went my evening at the Citymeals-on-Wheels Silver Spoons benefit honoring 25 years of James Beard award winning chefs.

The lovely folks at Foodbuzz and Nature’s Pride Bread invited me to attend a once-in-a-lifetime event and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Surrounding what usually is the ice rink at Rockafeller Plaza were individual booths serving up the dishes of nearly 60 name dropping-worthy celebrity chefs. Waxman. Palmer. Puck. Boulud. Georges. English. Nobu. Need I say more?

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Mashed Rosemary White Beans

kate — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:28:11 +0000

Meet my new favorite side dish. In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, I’ve been a little short on time these days. An elaborate side dish that requires lots of dicing and chopping and stewing is beyond my realm of thinking at the moment. Give me something fast, deliciously creamy and oh, can it please be relatively healthy too? Awesome.

A simple side dish that is packed with protein, fiber and happens to be incredibly flavorful, this will quickly become a staple in your recipe arsenal. The sauteed garlic and rosemary paired with the smooth, creamy white beans create a dish that will rival plain ol’ mashed potatoes any day. I hate to say it, but this may be the mistress that breaks up the eternal marriage of Steak and Potatoes! Gasp! Oh, the horror!

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Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Cheesecake

kate — Sat, 22 May 2010 22:52:36 +0000

People, I have a confession to make. Being a responsible grown-up is way harder than it looks! I know this is old news to you amazing folks that have been pulling it off flawlessly for years, but for a newbie to the Grown Up World, I’m still a bit in shock. Between working a full-time, crazy stressful job, grocery shopping, planning and making relatively nutritious meals, exercising, laundry, ironing and keeping an apartment in semi-presentable shape, how do you find time to do anything else (ahem, keeping up with a blog)? This specific blog post has been interrupted by at least three of the above mentioned items on five separate occasions.

And I don’t even have kids! I don’t know how all you Mommies out there do it. Consider me amazed. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not complaining … merely explaining my too-long-to-mention absence from your email inbox and feed readers. Let me make it up to you, please? Will these adorable summery cupcakes do? These lemon bottomed cupcakes topped with creamy raspberry cheesecake are the summer version of the popular Black Bottom Cupcakes. Tangy, light and with a perfectly moist crumb these pink and yellow lovelies are a party in your mouth.

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Strawberries and (Not) Cream

kate — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:30:23 +0000

At the first sight of ripe, red strawberries at the grocery store each spring, I go absolutely bonkers. Bonkers, people. Three pints for $5? Great, I’ll take six … that kind of bonkers. After a long, cold winter of nothing but apples, pears and imported oranges, strawberries are a sign of all things summery to come. Visions of warm days filled with cookouts, burgers and fruit salad dance through my mind. Of course, this all leads to thought of lounging poolside in a bathing suit, which immediately puts a damper on my desire to swirl those beautiful strawberries into a batter of sugar, flour, butter and all kinds of badness.

What is better than a bowl brimming with fresh, ripe strawberries topped with a lush, creamy vanilla yogurt? Not much. The beautiful thing about this dessert is the utter simplicity of it. When it’s too darn hot for thinking of turning on the oven, this cool bowl of deliciousness is a perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth without sabotaging your bathing suit body! Rather than topping these beautiful berries with gobs of whipped cream, the topping is a mixture of Greek yogurt, agave nectar (or honey) and vanilla. Super simple, low-calorie deliciousness to keep you in bathing suit shape!

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Miso Ginger Salmon

kate — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:39:09 +0000

I wish I could say that I’ve always been confident when it comes to cooking fish at home. I wish I could say that, but I can’t. For years I’ve been terrified of working with fish at home. Fish is delicate, hard to handle and liable to go awry at any moment. Leave the fancy seafood to the fancy restaurant chefs. Fortunately, in an effort to be fearless and incorporate this healthy protein into my diet, I have debunked the myth that fish is too finicky for home cooks. You too can be a fancy seafood chef, amazing your family and friends alike.

A miso-based ginger glaze coats this tender salmon fillet. Pairing sweet agave nectar with salty soy sauce and the tang of fresh ginger, this is a flavor packed meal that will impress even the most skeptical dinner guests. Salmon has a remarkably fast cooking time (less than fifteen minutes), which makes this gourmet meal a viable candidate for your weeknight schedule. Weeknight seafood gourmet? Go on …

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Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

kate — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:45:26 +0000

I know that my calendar says that it’s going to be March tomorrow, but that can’t be right … can it? What happened to February? I distinctly remember having a conversation with a co-worker near the end of January commenting on how I predicted that my February was shaping up to be nothing but a giant blur. Looking back on the past four weeks, I remember (1) work, (2) snow, (3) eating things that can be made in 30 minutes and (4) more work. Everything else is a blurry haze.

Blurry haze aside, I do remember making this Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake in my favorite mini-springform pan and, given it’s low-guilt factor, wishing that I had made two more! A crust made from low-glycemic whole wheat crackers is filled with a luscious (sugar-free!) cheesecake filling swirled with raspberry preserves. Even in the midst of a month that was a complete blur, this cheesecake is utterly memorable.

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Caramelized Onion Dip

kate — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:01:19 +0000

Have you heard about this big football game that’s coming up next week? It’s this once-a-year excuse to go all out, throw dietary caution to the wind and eat massive quantities of wings, dips and chips. Or is that only at my house? From what I understand, this is a nationwide phenomenon. In case you are suffering from a last minute panic about what to make for the big game, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite football appropriate recipes, starting with this so-good-you’ll-want-to-eat-it-with-a-spoon onion dip.

I know that it’s so simple to grab a packet of powdery nothingness to whip up a batch of onion dip, but who is excited about telling their guests that the dip they are consuming at a furious pace came from a powder? Astronauts eat food that comes from a powder. Us earth dwellers should expect better. This dip is so far beyond powder-based dips that you will never go back. This takes traditional onion dip and cranks the volume up to Irrationally Good. You may have to hide your spoons.

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Pretzel Dogs

kate — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:12:12 +0000

Something about a warm, soft pretzel is utterly irresistible. The crisp, salted crust hiding a perfectly chewy center. Something this delicious must be insanely difficult to make. There is no way that I could possibly replicate that perfection in my tiny, amateurish kitchen. First big surprise of the year: Pretzels are ridiculously easy to make. Dangerously easy.

Using this simple base recipe, you can make pretzel dogs, pretzels stuffed with garlic and cheese, cinnamon sugar coated pretzel twists and other endless variations. Like the baked corndogs, these are perfect party food. They are addictive, filling and will be devoured quickly. Serve them with a variety of flavored mustards and you will be the talk of the town. Let’s just say that you may have to scrape a couple jaws off the floor when people say “You made these?!?!”

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