This list is a little late since most of this information has been out for some time. And, while many trends are not surprising, lists vary depending on your source which is why I’ve compiled them into a larger “Yummly-ized” version for easy reading.
If you stop by Yummly in the near future you will see some of these trends appear as blog topics. As always we’d love to hear about any you’ve seen in your local area or neighborhood.
Finally, sorry to say I left off one trend (fried chicken) because although I love it, I feel like it’s been covered in the past. Happy to add it in if anyone disagrees!
Yummly’s interpretation of 2010 trends (dining and eating):
- Back to basics – think canning, pickling and basic techniques
- Beer – craft beers everywhere, also taps into the “new Austrian” trend
- Smaller portions (restaurant meals, desserts) – mini whoopie pies
- Burgers – chains will strive for better, premium burgers
- Children’s healthy food options – more for the home
- Cocktails – local liquor and culinary creations
- Casual dining – potlucks
- Eggs – the new bacon
- Asian + Latin – a dynamic duo (LA Kogi taco trucks)
- Farm branded meats – “Denver Steak”
- Lamb – the new pork
- Local, seasonal – check out the Cook Here and Now concept (Bay Area)
- Meatless meals and party foods – even for non-vegetarians
- Sustainable seafood, different varieties – Branzino, Arctic Char
- Superfruits – mangosteen, rambutan, goji berries, acai
- Sweeteners – stevia, turbinado, agave (and real sugar in sodas!)
Dungeness crab: seasonal and fresh.
To celebrate the new year AND tie into the list of trends, try the Celery Cup recipe below. It’s a refreshing, culinary delight.
Celery Cup #1
- 1 ½ oz. Square One Cucumber
- 1 – inch fresh English cucumber
- 2 – inch celery stalk
- Palm-full of cilantro
- 1 oz. fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz. organic agave nectar or simple syrup
- 1 celery stalk (garnish)
In a mixing glass, muddle the cucumber, celery, cilantro and lemon juice into a pulp. Add remaining ingredients, cover in ice and shake hard for 10 seconds. Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice and garnish with a piece of celery.
Recipe courtesy of Elixir and Square One.
Happy new year (again)!
A delicious, sweet, treat - chocolate chip banana bread.
Sometimes you’ve got just a few too many bananas on hand and they are driving you…well…you know…bananas. Rather than leaving them to turn brown and lose their appeal it’s a good time to turn them into bread for a nice treat.
This recipe comes from a book – Sunset’s Easy Basics – my mom gave me years ago when I was just learning to cook (things other than macaroni and cheese). It’s a simple recipe and one that’s always a winner.
I like to use two smaller pans to make different variations. Consider these options:
- Chocolate chips (handful)
- Nuts (pecans, walnuts)
- Substitution of one banana for crushed pineapple (squeezed to remove much of the liquid). Note: this results in a moist bread that’s sweeter than the version below – but delicious!
- Coconut (tropical flavor)
- Frozen bananas (instead of fresh). You’ll need to thaw and drain the liquid, but results will be almost as good as fresh.
Banana Bread
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted and cooled
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon each salt and baking soda
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
In a bowl, mash bananas; you should have 1 cup. Beat in sugar, then egg and butter. In another bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda; add to banana mixture and stir just until all flour is moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes (insert toothpick, if it comes out clean, it’s done). Makes one loaf (or two small).
Lemon tarts in flaky pastry
Flaky Pastry
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup solid vegetable shortening, or ½ cup shortening and 8 tablespoons (one stick) cold unsalted butter
Add the flour, sugar and salt to food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Cut the butter into small pieces (1 inch cubes) and add to the processor. Pulse the mixture until you have pea-sized pieces.
Drizzle 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water over the flour and fat mixture. Pulse until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls. Gently press a few small pieces of the mixture together between your fingers. If the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water. If not, drizzle 1-2 tablespoons additional ice water over the mixture. Note: the dough should look rough, not smooth, when done.
Divide the dough in half and press each piece into a thick, flat disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 6 months.
Baking the tart shells: Roll out the pasty and cut to fit the bottom of a small tart pan (or muffin cup). Press firmly and then bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (watch to avoid burning!)
Cook’s note: baking the shells upside down will result in flakier pie crust – if pressed firmly to the pan.
Recipe courtesy of Joy of Cooking, All about Pies and Tarts, Irma S. Rombauer
For better results - turn the baking process upside down!
Lemon Curd
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ¾ sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
Whisk together the zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and a pinch of salt. Add butter all at once and cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 10 minutes. Immediately pour curd through a fine sieve into a bowl, then chill, covered.
Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine (Epicurious)
Top these tarts with simple Whipped cream.
- Lemon Tarts in Flaky Pastry
Here are a few simple holiday recipes you can make – and enjoy – with your kids. Enjoy!
English toffee
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Four – 7/8 oz. chocolate bars
- ¾ cup pecans finely chopped
Combine sugar, butter and water in a heavy saucepan. Cook to 300 degrees (hard crack stage), stir constantly to prevent burning. Add vanilla and pour in a buttered 9”x 9” pan. Lay the chocolate bars on top and spread them evenly as they melt. While still warm, sprinkle chopped pecans over the top. Cool thoroughly and break into pieces.
Peanut butter bars
- 2 cubes butter or margarine
- 1 lb. box of powdered sugar
- 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
- 1 – 12 oz. package chocolate chips
Melt butter. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, cracker crumbs and sugar. Spread thick dough in 9 x 13” pan. Melt chocolate chips and spread on top. Let cool and cut into bars.
Colorful cathedral cookies.
In case you didn’t get enough sugar from all the cookies at the office, here are a few recipes to make sure your holidays are extra sweet.
This weeks’ posts include recipes from my 7th grade “mini-class” or elective cooking course. The recipes, which require few ingredients and no oven time, are perfectly tailored to those less experienced in the kitchen.
These goodies are, of course, not just for kids. The cathedral cookies (also called “church windows”) studded with multi colored marshmallows and wrapped in rich fudge, are my personal favorite.
Cathedral Cookies
- 1 package chocolate chips
- 2 sticks butter
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
- 1 pkg. multicolor marshmallows (funmallows)
- ¾ cup pecans, chopped
Melt chocolate chips and butter in double boiler. Don’t stir. Cool. Beat 2 eggs and add to the first mixture. Add the powdered sugar. Stir in the package of marshmallows and nuts. Roll like a pecan roll. Place in the refrigerator to cool. When set, unroll and cut into 1/2” thick slices.
Notes:
Peanut Brittle
- 1 ½ cup white sugar
- 1 cup Karo (corn syrup)
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 lb. raw peanuts
Mix sugar, corn syrup and butter. Boil to amber color. Add soda, stir lightly. Quickly add nuts, mix and then pour out on cookie sheet*. When cool, break into pieces.
*Cooks note: once the soda and nuts are added you’ll need to work fast before the mixture sets.
Panettone is festive whether served simple or dressed for dessert.
As we head full swing into December I can’t help but think about desserts and all things sweet. And speaking of sweets, right about now you will see stacks of panettone in your favorite grocery store (or online
!) These are the big, festive boxes loaded with fruit studded bread – perfect for desserts (bread pudding) a holiday version of french toast or mini panettone and pear sandwiches.
Cheers to the season of friends, fun and food. Enjoy!
Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce
Sauce:
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ cup amaretto liqueur
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Bread pudding:
- 1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
- 8 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups whipping cream
- 2 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
To make the sauce: bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Warm before serving.)
To make the bread pudding: lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce and serve.
Recipe courtesy of the Food Network, Giada De Laurentiis
Two layer cheesecake with cranberry orange compote
Growing up our Thanksgiving table was full of the usual items like turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberries….from a can (insert sound of record scratching or nails on a chalkboard here.) If I close my eyes I can still see the indentations in the jelly-like stuff and the wobble every time someone bumped the table leg.
Although I actually admit to eating and liking the cranberry jelly then, I now find myself hoarding bags of fresh cranberries when they appear in stores. Well-suited to the freezer, cranberries are versatile (desserts, meat dishes) healthy and just plain delicious.
Below is recipe for cheesecake composed of two layers; one a traditional Philly cheese and the other a blend of sour cream and Greek-style yogurt. It’s the perfect carrier for the tangy, sweet cranberry orange topping. Enjoy!
Two layer cheesecake with cranberry orange topping
Graham cracker crust
- 4 T unsalted butter
- 3 ½ oz. graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
First layer
- 2 – 8 oz packages Philadelphia cream cheese
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Second layer
- 1 1/4 cups sour cream
- 2/3 cup thick Greek-style yogurt
- 2 ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cranberry orange topping
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 t cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
- ½ teaspoon grated orange peel
Preheat oven to 375. Finely grind the graham crackers in a food processor. Melt the butter and pour over the graham cracker crumbs. Mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Beat the ingredients for the first layer together thoroughly. Pour over the base and smooth on top. Place on baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until just set. Set aside for 20 minutes to firm up.
Mix the ingredients for the second layer and spoon evenly over the first layer. Return to the oven for 10 minutes then take out and cool.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
For the topping, stir sugar and water in medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium; add cornstarch mixture and simmer. Add cranberries, cook until beginning to pop, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in orange peel. Cool completely.
Cheesecake recipe adapted from Fiona Beckett’s Cheese. Cranberry orange topping courtesy of Epicurious.
Luscious lemon bars!
A few years ago when I decided to update my yard I started by planting trees. Citrus, to be exact. It seemed like a good idea at the time; rather than flowery ornamentals I would add functional plants or things I could eventually eat (the fruit, not the trees themselves!)
I started off by planting a meyer lemon tree next to a small lime tree. Since there was space on the other side of the lime it seemed natural to add a Eureka (the more common type found in grocery stores). Turns out the lime tree was actually a dwarf lemon (they weren’t ripe yet) and the larger tree hidden by the fence…another lemon.
It’s probably a good thing lemons are not only useful around the house but are healthy as well. And as if it’s not obvious my favorite use for lemons is in desserts; whether in the shape of a pie covered with a thick cloud of fluffy meringue or in the guise of lemon bars. If you don’t have time for pie, try the shortbread lemon bar recipe (below). This is a super fast, easy recipe your friends and family will love.
Shortbread base
- 1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut butter in ½-inch pieces. In a food processor process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into a 13 by 9 by 2 inch baking pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes. While shortbread is baking, prepare the topping.
Lemon Bars
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- Hot shortbread base
- 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
In a bowl whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until combined well and stir in lemon juice and flour. Pour lemon mixture over hot shortbread. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake confection in middle of oven until set, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan and cut into 24 bars.
Bar cookies keep, covered and chilled, 3 days. Sift confectioners’ sugar over bars before serving.
Recipes courtesy of Epicurious.
Asian apple pears are a welcome farmer's market surprise!
During a walk through the local farmer’s market this weekend I came across a vendor selling Apple Pears. I picked up a few because he seemed quite genuine in his enthusiasm for the fruit, telling me to refrigerate for optimum taste before cutting.
Upon returning home I followed his instructions by placing the fruit in the “crisper” section of my refrigerator. A few hours later I returned to retrieve one of these beauties was quite impressed when it was cut open. The Apple Pear is like a cross between an apple (in texture) and a pear (hence, the name!) Best of all, there’s a nice hint of sweetness balanced by a slightly floral flavor.
If you find these available in your area pick up a few and try them. They seem to be perfect for snacking and could substitute nicely in an apple tart. Enjoy!
Buttermilk cupcakes
Last week as I was looking through my semi-empty refrigerator I spotted a rather large, unopened container of buttermilk I purchased some time ago. With the expiration date looming I realized I was in a race against the clock before I would be forced to throw it out. The challenge? Find recipes using one ingredient – buttermilk – but NOT introduce new ones into the mix. It was a challenge I accepted (although only the cat was around to witness and she’s keeping quiet for now.)
After scouring recipes, sites and my cupboards I found a few options, one being a Devil’s food buttermilk cake recipe printed on the side of an unopened box of cake flour. A friend recently mentioned that the recipes on boxes of products (eg., cake flour, chocolate chips) are somewhat foolproof because they’ve been thoroughly tested by the manufacturer to ensure a quality outcome.
The outcome of my leftovers was a tasty batch of cupcakes and the satisfactory feeling that something so good isn’t all that bad (except for the buttercream frosting piled on top.) Despite it’s name, buttermilk is lower in fat and calories than regular milk and high in potassium, vitamin B12 and calcium. It’s also more easily digestible than whole milk and contains more lactic acid than skim milk.
All good news given the amount still left in the rather large carton in the fridge. If I’ve learned anything here it’s to buy the smaller carton next time or give the cat a treat!
Deluxe Devil’s Food Cake/Cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
1 t clear vanilla
¾ t almond extract
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups Pillsbury softasilk cake flour
1 cup dutch processed cocoa powder or unsweetened cocoa powder (valrhona)
2 t baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ cups buttermilk
Heat oven to 350 F. Place paper cupcake fillers in a pan (approx. 24-30)
Beat sugar, 1 cup butter, 1 t clear vanilla and ¾ teaspoon almond extract in a large bowl with electric mixed on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat eggs on at a time. Mix cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; beat into creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk on medium speed. Beat 1 minute longer. Pour into cupcake liners.
Bake 18 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack. Cool completely.
Makes approx. 24 – 28 cupcakes.
Recipe courtesy of Pillsbury.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
8 ounces unsalted butter (1 cup) cut into cubes, room temperature
2 pounds powdered sugar (8 cups)
½ cup milk (start with ¼ cup, add more until desired consistency)
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
6 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate, cooled
In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and milk, alternately then add vanilla and salt. Mix on low speed until fluffy and smooth. Melt chocolate until smooth. Cool. Add to the buttercream.
