Recipes

A tasty Asian salad dressing, with the heat of the chili oil, the sweetness of the hoisin, and the nuttiness of the sesame oil all combine to make this a favorite cold dish. Add the crispy vegetables and crunchy nuts to the pasta and you have a delightful salad that can stand alone as a lunch, or part of a larger meal. For a more complete meal, add stir fried chicken or diced tenderloin of pork.

This is a very basic, very simple buttercream frosting. It works well if you don’t have the time for the Italian or Swiss versions. You can change it a bit with adding different extracts, in addition to the Vanilla like Mint or Lemon, and even add a touch of food coloring. Also try adding a 1/4 cup of cream cheese instead of the sour cream for a bit different flavor and slightly different texture.

A delicate lemon essence infused into the cake layers, tart lemon custard, creamy, buttery frosting and sweetened coconut shreds combine to make this cake a winner for any event. One of the nice things about this cake, is that it can be made in stages. The buttercream and lemon filling can be made a day or two ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator, and the layer cake can be made well ahead and frozen. You simply just assemble it when needed.

This light and airy chocolate cake is perfect with a chocolate buttercream frosting, a coffee buttercream frosting, or sweetened whipped cream. It has a rich cocoa flavor, with an underlying hint of espresso. It’s also fun to put a thin spread of seedless raspberry preserve between the layers, particularly if you are choosing the chocolate buttercream. The lightness comes from incorporating air in both the initial blending of sugar with butter, oil and egg yolks, and the secondary lightness from the egg white meringue. Remember, the lightness of the sugar/butter/egg mixture is made possible by all the ingredients being at room temperature, and beating the mixture for several minutes. Adding cold eggs or cold half & half will greatly diminish the rise and airiness of the layers.

A tasty savory tart that can be eaten hot, room temperature or cold. It’s great for lunch with a salad, part of a picnic spread or even a light dinner. The curry and cumin gives the tart a wonderful aroma, as well as depth in flavor. The spices pair perfectly with the firm, lightly processed rice blend as well as the medley of vegetables.

This is another in a series of basic pastry doughs. It is used mainly in savory dishes like quiche, the rice and vegetable tart and meat or chicken pot pies. The dough can be made ahead, refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to a month, or several months if you use a food saver vacuum sealer. As with most pastry doughs of this type, it is best when worked as little as possible, and that all ingredients be very cold. When rolling out the dough, you should be able to see small pieces of butter. This will ensure that it will be tender and flakey when baked.