Apps and Sides

Melon Granita

July 12, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

Granita siciliana, as the name suggests, is a granular, semi-frozen dessert with Sicilian origins. (Granita means “grained” or “granular” in Italian). Granita is a simple dessert, usually made from pureed fruit and sugar. The mixture is then frozen, and periodically scraped to give the dessert its granular texture. Indeed, breaking up the ice crystals is essential: it gives the dessert its signature crunch, and works to enhance the flavors within the dish.

The sugar and alcohol in the recipe help prevent the mixture from getting too solid. Beyond that, it helps to …

Classic Hamburgers

July 8, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

Jeffrey Tennyson, an artist and satirist, once remarked that the real American icon is not apple pie, but the hamburger. And Tennyson would know; he spent a good part of his life writing about the hamburger and collecting hamburger memorabilia. When it opened in 1993, Tennyson’s memorabilia formed the core collection of the now-defunct Hamburger Hall of Fame, in Seymour, Wisconsin.

Seymour, Wisconsin, according to some, is the birthplace of the hamburger. In 1885, Charles Nagreen stuck a meatball between two slices of bread, and served the sandwich at the Seymour fair, giving rise to what would later become the modern burger.

Meanwhile, in New Haven Connecticut, Louis Lassen was busy grilling the leftover trimmings …

Grilled Sweet Potato and White Potato Fries

July 7, 2009 by Charles 12 Comments

It seems almost unpatriotic to serve a burger without fries. So when grilling my favorite hamburger, I always make sure to have a few servings of these grilled sweet potato and white potato fries ready!

These fries are yet another expression of my love for sweet potato wedges and/or sweet potato fries. Like those recipes, these grilled fries are a healthy alternative to deep-frying. Throwing them on the grill makes them quick and easy to make, with less mess. The colors and grill marks …

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Curried Couscous

June 28, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

After I made the curried couscous, I thought it would make a great base on which to lay an entrée. Always eager to fire up the grill in our courtyard, I decided on tuna steaks. As luck would have it, the colors and flavors of each worked well together.

I cooked the tuna for four minutes on each side, with the grill cover up. The steak cooked through but without being tough or overdone. If your preference …

Curried Couscous

June 28, 2009 by Charles 2 Comments

Making the perfect couscous is kind of like doing laundry. It requires washing, drying, steaming, and sorting. Just boiling a pot of water is not going to cut it. The same way wrinkled sweat pants don’t quite compare with creased slacks, instant couscous has nothing on old-fashioned Moroccan-style couscous.

And just as dressing well takes effort, so does making the perfect couscous. But if you have the time, it is well worth the effort. You will need …

Mozzarella Stuffed Tomatoes

June 22, 2009 by Charles 3 Comments

Tomatoes have long been a source of suspicion and derision.

Tomatoes were first cultivated by the Aztecs around the 8th Century, who had given the fruit the name “tomatl.” A few centuries later, the Conquistadors brought tomato seeds back with them to Europe. But despite its arrival in the Old Continent, the tomato was not yet for eating. European botanists placed the tomato alongside the Solanaceae family, a group of poisonous and narcotic plants, and came to view tomatoes as poisonous and hallucinogenic.

Even once edible, tomatoes still served as a source of derision. During the days …

Overnight Oats

June 17, 2009 by Charles 9 Comments

Most of my morning routines cannot be done the night before. Making lunch the night before would produce a rock-hard sandwich. Shaving before bed would move my five o’clock shadow to just around noon. And relying on yesterday’s hair care is simply laughable. But breakfast – that works.

Overnight oats are best done, well, overnight. Soaking the oats …

Mango Pineapple Lassi

June 14, 2009 by Charles 7 Comments

Predicting another hot weekend in Saint Louis, I decided to freeze a pineapple and two mangoes. The next day, when the mid-afternoon sun hit, I was ready. I ran each fruit under some hot water to loosen the skin, diced the fruit, and then dropped them in the blender to make a cool lassi.

Lassi is an Indian drink with a yogurt base,…

White Chocolate- and Chocolate-Chip Blondies

June 9, 2009 by Charles 9 Comments

A little while back, Caitlin and I were invited for a trivia night. The invitation was somewhat last minute, so we needed to find a dessert we could make quickly. These blondies were prepped and done in a flash. And naturally, they were great. That is, the blondies were a much bigger success than we were that evening. (People definitely had more blondies than questions we answered correctly).

The next time you need a travel treat,…

Brioche Loaves

June 4, 2009 by Charles 11 Comments

From a Croque Norvegien to an ABB&M, I’ve been in sandwich mode recently. Which got me thinking. Instead of running out and grabbing a new loaf of bread, maybe I could make my own.

I settled on brioche, a butter- and egg-enriched yeast bread, French in origin. Yet, despite its French origins, the French put their brioche in the viennoiserie basket. Unlike something in the bread basket, a viennoiserie (meaning “in the Viennese style”) boasts the addition of eggs, butter, milk, cream, or sugar, which gives it a pastry-like character.

Viennoiseries are leavened, often layered, and commonly served in the morning. Beyond brioche, …