Post-Tribune

An Easter dish with Southern roots

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:09:01 -0500

Southern Easter celebrations are the stuff made for magazine pages. The South is lucky, though, for there is rarely a risk of a frosty Easter Sunday. There’s no waiting for spring in the South. It arrives right on time, and with it comes pretty pastel eggs shrouded in thick lengths of Kentucky Bluegrass, pillbox-capped ladies strolling out of church, and the first smells of tulip heads and daffodils peaking out from the soil and ripening in the warm Southern sun. This is the first blush of spring for the South, so why not celebrate with absolute panache when Mother Nature …

Baked eggs with salmon a savory Lenten breakfast

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 06:07:27 -0500

Meatless Fridays are easy to endure, save for one meal: breakfast. Eliminating bacon, sausage and ham wouldn’t be such a sacrifice if there was another protein to fill that tummy-rumbling void. Fickle appetites and applause for general breakfast blandness have practically put into practice a law that segregates fish from eggs — at least in this region of the world. It’s rare to find fish showing up as the staple protein on a breakfast menu, except for an occasional shrimp and grits recipe or lox, the old standby. It’s even rarer when the fish gets paired with a fried egg. …

It’s time to tap into pure maple syrup

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:19:55 -0500

While the ground is still hard and covered with an icy rug of snow, it’s time to tap into the gritty soul of late winter. Beneath a maple syrup moon, the knotty scars of yesteryear’s taps are present on century-old trees, beckoning to be reopened once more. It’s March and it’s maple syrup time. Fervent fans of the stuff tread out on the frostiest of morns, bucket in hand, for a chance to exhume the stuff. The entire event — from tree to jar — takes a lot of time and patience, making you wonder if the old adage “as …

New ingredient for a classic cookie

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:12:28 -0500

A good chocolate chip cookie is like a tight hug on an otherwise bad day, the first smell of lilacs on a breezy summer afternoon, or the sight of a rafter of turkeys crossing the road on a Sunday drive. Although small and modest, it’s an instant pick-me-up — something that makes you smile. A good chocolate chip cookie won’t shake the earth, but it will make it seem a little bit better for just a few bites — perhaps longer if an ice-cold glass of milk is its accompanist. Its popularity in this country vouches for that fact. But …

Potato-chip crust gives new flavor to fish fillets

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:09:35 -0500

There’s no escape from finding fish on a Friday Lenten menu. As sure as you toast the upcoming weekend, it’s bound to be there. For most of us, though, it’s not a punishment. We wait all year for just a few special meat-free Fridays when fish fries and seafood recipes reign as king. But a change to the mundane can be a real novelty during a season that is ruled by deep-fried cod, tuna sandwiches and baked trout with lemon — especially when it is something tasty and unique that can be prepared with ingredients already stowed away in your …

Breathe new life into apple cider

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 07:15:43 -0500

The unpretentious nature of an apple cider glaze is indicative of feel-good winter comfort food. It erupts with the aura of a high-brow meal, but it also settles in with the flavors of homespun American cuisine. That’s a combination that will reel you in every time it’s presented on a plate. If apple cider is a component of upscale comfort food, then this is the season to flaunt this cuisine. Late winter sees an accumulation of apple cider. It starts in the fall when the first frost nips the air, and our craving for the spicy sip of fresh cider …

Take away the chill with hot chocolate

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 06:11:15 -0500

Sleety days mixed with sub-zero nights. Frosty car windows that have glazed over with a thick, impenetrable layer of ice. All 31 days of January seem thawless. A fierce combination of dampness and frigidity, this lion of a month pioneers a menacing attack on our nearly frost-bitten extremities. Why is it that after spending some time outside on a cold January day our frozen feet always feel soaked to the bone? January yields no letup from the cold. Even in our own homes, it’s a difficult task to take the chill off. That’s why you have to start from the …

Tasty trend for 2013: Twist on Asian comfort food

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 03:28:42 -0500

It isn’t unusual to experience a little deja vu with food trend predictions for the new year, but one of 2013’s biggest trends of the year — Asian comfort food — isn’t a trend at all. It has been mainstream for probably a decade or more. Kimchi fried rice, Korean barbecue tacos, Vietnamese pho and anything with Sriracha sauce boast cult followings all over the United States. And let’s not forget green tea: the flavor that has infused everything from ice cream to vodka martinis. But perhaps this year, the Asian twist on comfort food classics is moving outward from …

Nothing beats homemade taste

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 01:34:15 -0500

There are those recipes that call for certain processed and packaged ingredients. Turkey dressing made with seasoned bread cubes, a quiche made with a frozen pie crust, and pizza with sauce straight from a jar can get away with the label “homemade,” but those who cherish the art of truly homemade components might cringe at the description. But it all comes down to the flavor. From-scratch recipes yield bolder tastes, crispier texture and something unidentifiable that just makes the entire recipe seem a little bit fresher. That can be said for one recipe that is almost exclusively a semi-homemade meal: …

Sweet Bavarian pretzel new holiday tradition

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 06:08:22 -0500

Early holiday celebrants expunged the cookie baking from their systems a while ago. The long Thanksgiving weekend gave them a chance to research new recipes, experiment with their favorite varieties and still have time to make trades at cookie exchanges. By now, their plates are filled with an ever replenishing supply of gingerbread, fudge and sugar cookies. As for those only now finally celebrating the season, the art of holiday cookie baking dabbles between being pointless and being excessive. After all, they’ve already been given platefuls of cookies from those who have been celebrating with this seasonal tradition for well …

18th century nockerl a fluffy culinary delight

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:03:36 -0500

An Austrian city, relatively small in size but exceptionally rich in history, is the birthplace to many notable people and ideas — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, being one of them, of course. The other is a fluffy culinary delight that remains unknown on our side of the globe — the Salzburger nockerl. With roots in the early 18th century, nockerl is a large, baked meringue custard erected into three large peaks that represent three of the five mountains surrounding Salzburg: the Nonnberg, Mönchsberg and Gaisberg. A legend surrounds the treat that names its creator as one of Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich …

Make the most out of leftover cranberry sauce

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 06:09:22 -0500

Several naps and about 4,500 calories later, it’s time to put away the leftovers. Or better yet, reinvent them. While it’s always exciting to look forward to Thanksgiving 2.0 on Friday afternoon, the very next upgrade of this holiday feast is known for its hiccups. It’s the same spread of food, but now everything is days old. Luckily for those of us with palates that get easily bored, there are plenty of recipes for turkey leftovers. But what do we do about the fixin’s? Sides are the best part of the Thanksgiving feast, but they never quite taste as good …

Simple oyster dish brings glamour to your table for 2013

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 06:06:27 -0500

Maybe enjoying the first few days of 2013 has some merit. While the holiday season has a certain magic to it, that same glamour can be recreated at home — even after the magic is over. A homemade meal to celebrate New Year’s week has all of the allure of a prix fixe menu at a restaurant, plus a splash of personality. Homespun recipes with fresh ingredients are much appreciated by guests. New Year’s custom calls for the consumption of seven lucky foods during those first few days — fish being the easiest of the seven to flaunt as the …

Try butternut squash for Thanksgiving appetizer dish

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 01:29:28 -0500

If it’s noon on a Thanksgiving, there won’t be a lunch bell ringing. Hunger might kick in, but holiday feasts offer no sympathy. Hours of food preparation, fire stoking and last-minute cleaning demand a late afternoon celebration. Eating a regularly scheduled lunch would just spoil everyone’s appetite for the big event. Rather than sneaking a slice of the turkey before it makes it to the table, munch on an appetizer that is a planned part of your Thanksgiving meal. Appetizers, albeit an obvious necessity to any dinner party with guests, don’t get a lot of Thanksgiving hype. Cheese spreads and …

Indian pudding: A Colonial classic rich with fall flavors

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 06:12:19 -0500

Desserts have certainly metamorphosed into sweeter developments over the past century or so. There’s no denying it, and there’s no reason to be ashamed of it. This evolution is probably just a result of our ever-broadening palates. New flavors, new ingredients, new unions stomp out the simplicity of early American confections and transform them into something sweetly complex. Doughnuts made of red velvet cake and doused in a layer of thick cream cheese glaze extinguished our once rather plain craving for a plain ring of cake with a side of hot coffee. A simple slice of cake, nearly archaic in …

Marisa Renwald: Make memorable autumn meal

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 01:23:00 -0500

For Americans, until Thanksgiving rounds the corner in late autumn, Halloween gets all of the glory. On a day dedicated to the saccharine collection of gooey sweets and chocolatey treats, we can stuff our gullets full of candy until our teeth get gritty from the sugar. Only in the aftermath do we think about our next celebration with food. But for the French, a short two-day holiday follows Halloween and signals the inauguration of the forthcoming holiday season. La Toussaint, or All Saints Day, incorporates this holy day of obligation on Nov. 1, as well as All Souls Day, which …

Pumpkin the principal player in fall food

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 01:26:09 -0500

Clearly, there’s a fixation with pumpkin foods this time of year. Relentlessly leaping beyond the traditional pie, pumpkin is the principal player in nearly every fall food. Beer or ale, cakes or cookies, soups or scones — if it’s a seasonal edition, chances are, pumpkin is the protagonist in this recipe. Oddly enough, it isn’t really overkill. It doesn’t have enough time to become overkill. Like a week-old carved-up jack-o-lantern, the brief seasonal fad will wilt away when the winter flavors take over for fall. In the meantime, imbibe in the curious selection of pumpkin recipes. On the sweet side, …

Marisa Renwald: Bite-size treats have taffy apple taste

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 01:56:20 -0500

Taffy apples, with their strange interlude of savory, sweet and tart flavors, dig themselves a necessary spot on autumn menus. In the wake of apple season, the brisk weather signals the first sign of buxom caramel apples and taffy apples peering out from candy store windows and bakery kiosks. If caramel and taffy apples were only bite-sized! Our fancy for this fall snack would be much more satisfied. In an attempt to compress the flavors of a classic taffy apple, countless variations on the dessert have been conceived. Candies, cookies, cakes and ice cream take partial credit for the reinvention, …