Good Things by David

Considered a power food because of its fiber-rich, high-protein content, Amaranth is a grain that we should consider adding to our diets.  The leafy variety, that I wrote about last year , is highly delicious and very good for you, but it is the grain which makes a tasty, hot cereal for breakfast or for brunch.  We just started making it here at home and I am glad it has now become a part of our menu rotation. These small seeds, or 'grains', originated in Mesoamerica and were used for festivities and ceremonies throughout the area before the Spanish conquest. Nowadays only a small amount of the global amaranth supply is grown in this region, with India and Nepal cultivating the bulk of what we purchase in the health food aisle. As I said, cooked amaranth seeds are a good source of fiber, protein, manganese, magnesium and iron.  In addition to this, it is naturally gluten-free, but aside from these healthy benefits, one of the things that appeals to me about coo...

Summer is a great time to entertain.  Everyone likes to have company over at least once or twice during the season, so that one can share good food, lots of laughs and the best of the best.  I'm all for going to the farmers market every single week to pick up the most colorful, juiciest and flavorful fruits & vegetables for us to feast on here at home, but if I happen to be harvesting summer berries or other fruits from the property, even better.  Should I have company over for an afternoon luncheon or dinner, then I make an extra effort to bake a pie or a cake and pick the most flavorful meat for burgers or perhaps some Maryland blue crab for savory crab cakes, if I'm in the mood for them (this is most often the case during summertime).  After I choose a main course and at least one dessert, then everything else falls into place.  The dinnerware, flatware and glassware can be dressed up or down depending on the ambience I want to create. Here ...

Granola is always in my pantry because it's a quick go-to breakfast or snack for us here at home.  I've shown you one of my favorite recipes before and have since altered it here and there over the months, from batch to batch.  For the Fall season I decided to add a bit of spice and expand on the dried fruits & nuts in order to make it even more tasty.  Autumn seems to herald in all of those sweet combinations that suggest warmth & spicy aromas, so what better way to capture it than with some delicious granola? You have to understand that I make a large batch of this so that it can be packaged up and parceled out to people in the neighborhood, but one can always cut the recipe in half if need be.  I like to keep some in one of my vintage Ball jars so that during the week I can have a light breakfast with my yogurt & banana, but I also love to have it in the afternoons when I want a boost of energy.   Packed with oats, wheat germ, a...

The Perfect Royal Icing  is finally yours.  For those of you who bake and ice cookies throughout the year or bake and ice festive cakes with highly decorative work, having a good, reliable royal icing is absolutely essential. Everyone wants their royal icing to pipe well, flow beautifully and finish off with a smooth surface.  Moreover, the perfect royal icing has to taste as good as it looks and it has to be easy to remember so that one can whip a batch at a moment's notice. Over the years I have tried many recipes from various sources, but not until now have I actually approached coming up with one of my own.  What I did was what any responsible recipe developer normally does.  They study sources and then experiment in the kitchen until the recipe is to his or her specifications and perfect.  In my pursuit of the  perfect  royal icing I turned to those trusted sources from my personal cookbook library, remembering which recipes I h...

French macaroons are light as a feather and tres tres chic .  These little morsels which are extremely popular in France are really taking America by storm, so I thought I'd make my own version of the cookies for everyone to try.  Nothing more than meringues which have the added bonus of finely ground blanched almonds, French macaroons are quite simple to make.  With the addition of some food coloring and various fillings to sandwich each cookie, an endless array of them can be assembled in no time.  Visit one of your specialty food stores and expect to pay quite a bit for these treats, but if you gather a handful of ingredients you can quickly make some at home and enjoy the pleasure of dozens of them. Rather than piping them in the familiar wafer shape that we all know, I thought my version of them would be best if made into rosettes.  The lovely macaroons can stand on their own and be nibbled just as they are (my favorite way), but they can also ...