I found some fresh apricots at my local market the other day, and couldn’t wait to get home to bake with them!

Just in the past year or so, I’ve fallen in love with these tiny tart stone fruits. If you’ve never tasted a fresh apricot before, I think they taste a lot like peaches…only tarter. They work beautifully in various pies and crumbles, but one of my favorite ways to enjoy them is in this rustic whole wheat crostata.

Think of a crostata as a very rustic pie. It’s perfect for people who aren’t that into baking because the beauty is in the imperfection. No need to crimp a perfect lattice pie crust for this! Just roll out your pastry, add your fruit and voila! Dessert is served.

This whole wheat version is crumbly and delicious. Make sure to let it cool completely on the sheet tray before serving so the pastry can firm up a bit {when it comes out of the oven, it’s soft like a cookie}.

Enjoy on it’s own or with a scoop of vanilla gelato!

Whole Wheat Apricot Crostata

Serve this whole wheat apricot crostata alone or with a scoop of vanilla gelato! Food blogger Jenna Weber describes flavors of apricots in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ice water
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• For filling
• 6 apricots, sliced thin
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, blend the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and butter with your fingertips until all the butter has been incorporated and the mixture resembles cornmeal. Drizzle in the water and mix with a spoon until a dough forms.
2. Pat dough into a large ball, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
3. While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Toss the sliced apricots with the sugar and flour in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Roll out the dough into a 12” circle on a flour surface. Place the sliced apricots in the center of the dough then gently fold the edges of the dough in towards center. Place crostata on your prepared sheet tray and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden.
6. Let crostata cool for 25 minutes before serving.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.

F. Scott Fitzgerald circa 1920

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age, and what F. Scott Fitzgerald would later describe as “the greatest, gaudiest spree in history” have all come to describe America under the influence of Prohibition. In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, we are introduced to the opulent lives of wealthy east coasters during one of the rowdiest periods in American history. How accurate is this portrait of Prohibition America, and what influences led our country into an era of drunken excess?

In the early 1920’s World War I had just come to an end. A new generation flocked from small towns to big cities in search of excitement, opportunity, and a “modern” way of living. Electronics like radios became more common, particularly in metropolitan households. Flashy new car designs rolled down city streets. Women had finally earned the right to vote, and their hard-fought equality and independence was reflected in their fashion– shorter haircuts, higher hemlines, less curvy silhouettes. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were creating names for themselves on the big screen. It was an era of change—and that change was not welcomed by all. Alcohol flowed like water in homes across the country, and drunkards filled America’s prisons and poorhouses. A powerful group of activists made it their mission to eradicate liquor in an effort to help the country return to simpler times. The movement, known as Prohibition, may well go down as one of the biggest legislative backfires in American history.

Alcohol dependence was a growing problem in the U.S. for over a century before Prohibition came into law. In 1830, American boys and men aged 15 and older drank an average of 88 bottles of whiskey per year, 3 times what Americans drinks today. Drinking wasn’t a new thing; alcohol had been an important part of the American food culture since Colonial times. Americans routinely drank at every meal– breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the early 1700’s, the most common drinks were weak beer and cider, which were only mildly intoxicating (around 2% alcohol content, compared to today’s beers which average between 4-6%). By the 1800’s, as American farmers began cultivating more grains, increasingly potent forms of distilled liquor became available, including rum and whiskey. Americans replaced weaker ciders and beers with these more potent distilled liquors. Before long, alcohol dependence became a widespread epidemic. Men lost their jobs and neglected their families, under the spell of “demon liquor.” Societies dedicated to sober living formed in several major cities. A movement began, and the groundwork was put in place for outlawing alcohol at the national level. A constitutional amendment to ban alcohol sales and production became law in 1920.

A Hooch Hound, a dog trained to detect liquor, sniffs at a flask in the back pocket of man fishing on the Potomac River.

Photo Source: Library of Congress

While Prohibition was meant to eradicate the temptation of liquor, it had the unintended effect of turning many law-abiding citizens into criminals. By barring liquor from the masses, the government unwittingly made it more desirable, more fashionable, and something eager consumers had to get their hands on. Prohibition gave birth to bathtub gin, cocktails, finger food and the elusive speakeasy. If you were able to provide your guests with an endless stream of libations, your popularity was assured. Better yet, if you were brave enough to invest in the illegal bootlegging business, your fortune might very well be sealed… as long as you didn’t lose your life in the process.

As the demand for illegal liquor increased, so did the methods for masking its production and consumption. Cocktails gained popularity—heavily flavored concoctions assembled to disguise the taste of potent bathtub gin with juices, herbs, sweeteners and syrups. Finger food became fashionable, which helped to increase liquor tolerance by ensuring that party-goers weren’t drinking on an empty stomach. Bootleggers, forced to produce liquor in secret, used questionable methods to ferment gin and other types of alcohol in their homes. Often poisonous ingredients, such as methanol (wood alcohol), were used. A government report from 1927 stated that nearly all of the 480,000 gallons of liquor confiscated in New York that year contained some type of poison. Jamaica ginger extract, also known as Jake, was sold in pharmacies as a headache remedy. It didn’t taste great, but it did contain high amounts of alcohol. Over time, more toxic ingredients were added that could result in paralysis, a condition often referred to as Jake Leg.

Confiscated barrel and bottles of whiskey circa 1921.

Photo Source: Library of Congress

Despite the reality of the situation, overall it seemed like Americans were having a lot of fun during Prohibition. No book captures this wild and carefree time period quite like Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The character of millionaire Jay Gatsby represents the extremes of 1920s wealth and decadence. Gatsby devotes his life to accumulating riches in order to attract the attention of his romantic obsession, the lovely but spoiled Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s fortune is evident in the raucous parties he throws from his mansion on Long Island’s north shore. These decadent bashes, free flowing with food and liquor, represent the indulgent excesses of the “flapper” period:

“At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from the other.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Gatsby character represents “new money;” he’s a seemingly overnight success with no known ties to family wealth. It is heavily inferred that Gatsby earned his fortune, at least in part, through bootlegging. How else could he afford his lavish parties with bottomless cocktails to spare? Daisy’s husband Tom gives voice to these suspicions during a heated argument, when he accuses Gatsby and his business partner Meyer Wolfsheim of illegally selling liquor through the drug stores they own. This fictional subplot is based in fact. For a small fee, doctors would prescribe their patients whiskey for just about any ailment, and sometimes no ailment at all. Crooked pharmacists would even sell forged prescriptions to their customers. As for Gatsby’s partner Meyer Wolfsheim, a character described as the man behind fixing the 1919 World Series, he was clearly influenced by a real gangster named Arnold Rothstein. The novel, at least in part, provides a reflection of the social issues and attitudes of the time period.

In honor of Gatsby, Fitzgerald and Prohibition, I decided to whip up a cocktail reminiscent of the time period. Gin is said to have been Fitzgerald’s drink of choice; he was under the impression that its scent could not be detected on his breath. This concoction was born during the years of Prohibition, when most liquor was low-quality bathtub gin that needed plenty of masking with other flavors. The cocktail is called “The Bee’s Knees,” a cute name and a popular phrase during the 1920s. To call something the “bee’s knees” is to say that it’s top notch and grand. The etymology of the phrase is unclear; it may be in reference to bees carrying pollen near the middle of their legs, or it could just be an idiom for “business,” since calling something “the business” was a similar compliment during that time period. Either way, the name represents this cocktail well, since it relies on the sweet flavor of honey to overpower the gin.

This recipe comes from a reprint of a 1934 book of cocktails called Boothby’s World Drinks and How to Mix Them. The original recipe calls for honey, which I’ve made into a syrup so that it will mix into the drink more efficiently. The Boothby’s recipe calls for 1 spoon of honey, but I’ve doubled the amount due to the fact that my honey simple syrup is diluted to half the sweetness of plain honey. Today’s gin is much smoother and tastier than bathtub gin, so feel free to cut the honey syrup in half—it will still be drinkable and the sweetness won’t be quite so overpowering.

As you sip this flapper cocktail, raise a glass to F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby, two American classics.

The Bee’s Knees Cocktail

Whip up a cocktail reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties. Tori Avey of The History Kitchen shares the origin of the drink and the history of Prohibition in a full post on her blog.

Ingredients

• Honey Simple Syrup
• ½ cup honey
• ½ cup water
• Bee's Knees Cocktail
• 1 oz (2 tbsp) honey simple syrup – method below
• ¾ ounce (1 ½ tbsp) gin
• ½ oz (1 tbsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ oz (1 tbsp) freshly squeezed orange juice

Directions

1. To Make Honey Simple Syrup: Combine water and honey in a small saucepan. Heat over medium, whisking often, till the mixture reaches a slow simmer and the honey is liquid and smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
2. To Make Cocktail: Combine 2 tbsp of the honey simple syrup, gin, lemon juice and orange juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a small chilled cocktail glass and serve.
3. Reserve remaining honey simple syrup for more cocktails. If left to stand longer than a few hours, the syrup will need to be re-simmered and recombined, then cooled again.

Yield: 1 serving

Altman, Linda Jacobs (1997). The Decade that Roared: American During Prohibition. Twenty First Century Books, Brookfield, CT.

Blumenthal, Karen (2011). Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition. Roaring Book Press, New York, NY.

Bolton, Ross (2008). Boothby’s 1934 Reprint World Drinks And How To Mix Them. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, US.

Boothby, William T (1934). Boothby’s World Drinks And How To Mix Them. Recorder Print. & Publishing Company, San Francisco, CA.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1925). The Great Gatsby. Scribner, New York, NY.

Prohibition. Dir. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. PBS, 2011.

You can uncover more fascinating food history on Tori’s website: The History Kitchen.

Tori Avey is a food writer, recipe developer, and the creator of two cooking websites: The History Kitchen and The Shiksa in the Kitchen. She explores the story behind the food – why we eat what we eat, how the foods of different cultures have evolved, and how yesterday’s food can inspire us in the kitchen today. Tori’s food writing and photography have appeared on the websites of CNN, Bon Appetit, Zabar’s, Williams-Sonoma, Yahoo Shine, LA Weekly and The Huffington Post. Follow Tori on Facebook: The Shiksa or Twitter: @theshiksa.

“Prohibition” from Ken Burns

PROHIBITION is a three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed. Continue

F. Scott Fitzgerald

American Masters profiles respected author F. Scott Fitzgerald including a career timeline and an excerpt from one of his essays. Continue

The Great Gatsby – An American Novel

In this special from American Masters, “The American Novel” highlights the greatest stories of our time including Gatsby, which is lyrical portrait of American values in the 1920s. Continue

In a culture that has a over-used word for the act of being wasteful, it’s no surprise that the Japanese have taken this humble treat made with stale bread and turned it into a booming trend. It’s reached such a fever pitch, that upscale neighborhoods like Ginza have shops specializing in Rusk with people queue up to buy $30 boxes containing gold and silver wrapped slices of the upcycled bread.

Why the heck would anyone pay for stale bread you ask? Put simply… it’s delicious. In its simplest form, Rusk is a buttery crisp cookie coated in a latticework of caramelized sugar, but it comes in a variety of flavors and is sometimes even dipped in chocolate.

What I don’t get is why people are willing to wait in line and pay so much when it’s ludicrously simple to make at home.

First, you’ll need some stale bread. I like using baguettes, but I’ve seen rusk made with everything from expired chiffon cake to croissants. The key is that it needs to be stale. Stale enough that you can cut the bread into thin even pieces, but not so stale that it’s like taking a chainsaw to a sandcastle.

I’ve outlined a basic recipe below, but you can mix in almost any kind of powdered flavoring such as cardamom, cinnamon, coco powder, vanilla beans, freeze dried strawberry powder, etc. You can also reduce the amount of sugar and dip the finished rusk in chocolate.

Rusk

Rusk is perfect for making use out of stale bread. It's fast and easy to make at home. Learn how to upcycle stale bread into a delicious, crispy appetizer in a full post from food blogger Marc Matsumoto on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 120 grams (4.2 ounces) stale baguette
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1. Put your oven rack in the middle position and pre-heat to 350 degrees F (175 C). Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and place a wire rack on top.
2. Use a bread knife and a sawing motion to cut the bread into even 1/4" (6mm) slices.
3. Melt the butter and put the sugar in a separate plate.
4. Use a pastry brush to brush a generous amount of butter onto both sides of each slice of bread. Dip both sides of the bread in the sugar and tap off any excess sugar. Place the bread on the wire rack.
5. When you've coated all the bread, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake until the bread is golden brown (about 15 minutes). You may need to turn the sheet around half-way through if the bread is browning unevenly.
6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the rusk to cool completely. The rusk will keep for up to two weeks in a sealed container.

Yield: About 25 pieces

Marc Matsumoto is a food blogger and photographer who spreads his passion for food through his websites norecipes.com and wanderingcook.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blogs in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marc’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.

Treat your mom to something extra special this Sunday! This sweet breakfast bread tastes just like a giant blueberry muffin and is the perfect addition to your Mother’s Day brunch.

I love the combination of lemon and blueberry together, especially in breakfast pastries! If you want to add an extra sweet addition to this bread, you can make a simple lemon glaze for the top using a tablespoon of lemon juice with enough powdered sugar to make a runny glaze. Pour the glaze over top right after the bread comes out of the oven and voila!

Serve this bread with scrambled eggs and fruit. You can bake the bread a day before you plan to serve it — just store it at room temperature covered with plastic wrap.

Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread

This sweet breakfast bread tastes just like a giant blueberry muffin. Food blogger adding additional flavor in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups blueberries (12 oz)
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• ½ cup plain yogurt, regular or lowfat

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and salt. Add the blueberries and lemon zest and toss to combine.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the yogurt then the dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated and being careful not to crush the blueberries.
4. Scoop batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting gently onto a plate.

Yield: makes 1 loaf

Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.

Legend has it that this pasta was invented by Sirio Maccioni, owner of the fabled Le Cirque, during a trip to Nova Scotia. Maccioni was tasked with cooking a meal for a group of culinary luminaries, but when it came time for him to cook, he wasn’t able to find any of the ingredients he needed for the dish he had planed. Instead, he scraped together a pasta using the ingredients that were in the fridge: asparagus, broccoli, peas, mushrooms and zucchini with a cream sauce.

It was a hit and soon landed on Le Cirque’s menu, prepared tableside. But somewhere between Le Cirque’s glamorous Midtown dining room, and the strip-mall pasta chains dotting the suburban landscape, Maccioni’s simple pasta inspired by spring became a cloying creamy mess synonymous with bad 80s cuisine.

Up here in the northern latitudes, the snow has finally melted and a recent trip to the market revealed a bounty of fresh spring veggies, including snap peas, asparagus, and baby ramps.

Inspired by my haul, I decided to come up with my own lighter version of this new American classic. My pasta primavera is chock full of sweet asparagus, crisp snap peas and garlicky ramps with each piece of farfalle gently kissed with a light glaze of cream and Parmesan.

Full of vegetables, lighter than the original, and taking about ten minutes to prepare, this spring pasta makes for the perfect weekend brunch or weeknight dinner.

For the snap peas, if you snap off the stem end of the pod and peel it back towards the other end of the pod, you’ll be able to easily remove the tough fibrous parts of the pod without having to use a knife.

By the time you read this there’s a good chance that the baby ramps have grown up, so just chop them in half or into thirds so they are easy to eat. If you can’t find any ramps, you can substitute spring onions or garlic scapes instead, or better yet, use whatever vegetables represent spring in your part of the world.

Pasta Primavera

Learn the interesting background to this dish in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog. Serve it with a glass of wine.

Ingredients

• 200 grams (7 ounces) farfalle
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 100 grams (3.5 ounces) asparagus, (2 large stalks) thick ends peeled then sliced
• 100 grams (3.5 ounces) snap peas, trimmed and sliced in half diagonally
• 100 grams (3.5 ounces) baby ramps
• 30 grams (1 ounce) Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/4 cup minced Italian parsley

Directions

1. In a large pot, add enough salt so that the water tastes salty. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (mine was 7-8 minutes)
3. When your pasta is about 5 minutes from being done, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot.
4. Add the asparagus and snap peas and sauté until bright green, but still crisp.
5. Add the ramps and continue to sauté, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
6. If you've timed things well, your pasta should be just about done. Drain the pasta.
7. Add the cheese and cream to the vegetables and then add the drained pasta and parsley. Toss to coat and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve immediately.

Yield: 3-4 servings

Marc Matsumoto is a food blogger and photographer who spreads his passion for food through his websites norecipes.com and wanderingcook.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blogs in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marc’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.

Let’s face it, sometimes chicken breasts can be a tad….well, boring. Not this time!

I love the Asian flavors at play here in this simple weeknight dish. This chicken just requires an hour to marinate, but other than that it’s on the table in less than twenty minutes.

Honey, soy sauce, ginger and spicy chili garlic sauce make up the marinade for these chicken breasts. When they are cooking, they’re brushed with sweet chili sauce, readily available at practically every grocery store around the country {in the ethnic food section}.

I like to serve these chicken breasts with some brown rice and steamed baby bok choy for a complete meal. They also make great leftovers and are equally yummy the next way when stuffed in a wrap for lunch.

Honey Soy Chicken with Sweet Chili Glaze

For a simple weeknight dish, this honey soy marinade livens up a chicken dish. Food blogger Jenna Weber shares her ideas for side dishes to pair with this entree in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• ¾ cup soy sauce {low sodium if possible}
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 tsp chili garlic sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh minced ginger
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• ½ cup sweet chili sauce for glazing

Directions

1. Combine the soy sauce, honey, chili garlic sauce, minced ginger and rice vinegar in a shallow bowl, such as a pie dish or cake pan. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and chill for one hour.
2. After an hour, heat up the canola oil in a large skillet or grill pan over medium/high heat. When hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for about 7 minutes per side, brushing each side with sweet chili sauce as they cook.
3. The chicken breasts are done when juices run clear. Brush additional sweet chili sauce on and serve.

Yield: 2-4 servings

Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.

With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I’m sure many of you are looking for an easy delicious meal to celebrate this adopted holiday. If you’re anything like me, Cinco de Mayo is probably more of an excuse to drink margaritas with friends than to commemorate the Mexican Army’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Rather than slave over a hot stove while my guests drink all my booze, I like to make simple dishes that can be prepared in advance.

These braised mushroom tacos are easy and take a lot less time to make than their meat-based brethren. When shredded, the bulbous stems of Eryngi (a.k.a. King Trumpet) mushrooms look almost like shredded chicken, and while the texture may be a little more firm, it’s meaty, flavorful, and filling.

For the mole, I’ve simplified it significantly from my usual take-a-day-to-make version. It’s a little less complex from a flavor perspective, but it’s still rich, spicy and satisfying, while being orders of magnitude faster to prepare.

The most time consuming component is caramelizing the onions, but if you’ve been following along and have a batch of caramelized onions portioned and frozen, this dish comes together in about 30 minutes.

Braised Mushroom Tacos

These braised mushroom tacos are quick and easy. Food blogger Marc Matsumoto explains how to avoid the usual time-consuming aspects of this recipe in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 2 small onions, sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 grams (0.4 ounces) dried Guajillo chiles
• 12 grams (0.4 ounces) dried Ancho chiles
• 200 grams (7 ounces) canned whole tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• 300 grams (10.5 ounces) Eryngi mushrooms (about 6 large ones)
• 140 grams (5 ounces) shiitake mushrooms (about 4 extra large ones)
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 12 corn tortillas
• thinly shredded cabbage
• cilantro
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Place the onions and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan and fry over medium low heat until caramelized (20-30 minutes). If you have frozen caramelized onions you can skip this step.
2. Boil a kettle of water.
3. Use scissors to trim the tops off of the dried chilies then cut them from end to end so you can open them up. Remove all the seeds and membranes inside the chilies. Place the chilies in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let them soak for 15 minutes.
4. While the chilies rehydrate, prepare the Eryngi mushrooms by cutting off the caps and using your fingers to pull apart the stems into thin shreds that look like shredded chicken. Slice up the caps along with the shiitake mushrooms.
5. Drain the chilies and transfer them to a food processor along with the caramelized onions, tomatoes, tahini, and water.
6. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the sauté pan, and put over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, cumin and cinnamon. Fry until fragrant, then add the mushrooms and salt. Sauté until the mushrooms have browned.
7. Strain the chili mixture through a sieve into the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Simmer until the sauce is very thick. Adjust salt to taste.
8. Serve with warm tortillas, shredded cabbage, cilantro and lime wedges.

Yield: 12 small tacos

Marc Matsumoto is a food blogger and photographer who spreads his passion for food through his websites norecipes.com and wanderingcook.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blogs in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marc’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.

I love the somewhat retro snack of potato chips and sour cream dip. Trust me when I say I could go through an entire bag of chips in one sitting! It may or may not have happened before. Just saying. However, my life pretty much changed for the better when I realized that I could bake my potato chips and they’d still taste delicious.

These irresistible chips are baked, not fried, and then served with an easy sour cream and onion dip. Once you taste how delicious this dip is, you’ll never buy it at the store again, that’s for sure! You can also use reduced fat sour cream here to save even more calories.

Keep watch while these chips are in the oven so they don’t burn! You want the edges to get nice and brown though. They won’t be as crispy as fried chips, but they’re still a pretty worthy substitute.

Baked Potato Chips with Sour Cream and Onion Dip

Enjoy a healthier version of the grocery store bags that you can add a homemade sour cream and onion dip recipe as well. Food blogger Jenna Weber shares her cooking tips for this recipe in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 1 large russet potato
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• salt and pepper
• bowl of ice water
• For the Dip
• ½ cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
• 1 large green onion, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment paper and set aside. Get your bowl of ice water ready.
2. Peel the potato using a vegetable peeler and thinly slice using either a very sharp knife (carefully!) or a mandolin. The slices of potato should be so thin that they should be translucent. Immediately after slicing, place potato slices in the ice water.
3. After you have sliced the entire potato, remove slices from ice water and press dry between four paper towels. Really press them here to get rid of any extra water. Place potato slices on your prepared sheet tray and brush with canola oil on both sides. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake potato chips for 5-8 minutes, watching closely. You want the edges to get nice and dark so they crisp up. When they are done, remove from the oven and set aside while you make the dip.
5. To make the dip, just whisk together the sour cream, garlic powder and thinly sliced green onions. Serve with warm potato chips and enjoy!

Yield: 1-2 servings

Jenna Weber is half of the Fresh Tastes blog team. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 2008 and, since then, has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and freelance food editor. Currently, Jenna blogs full-time on EatLiveRun.com where her delicious daily recipes and quirky culinary musings appeal to thousands. She lives in Northern California and, when not in the kitchen, can usually be found on her yoga mat.

Hearst Castle

I grew up near San Luis Obispo, an idyllic town on the Central Coast of California. The rugged Pacific coastline, dark sapphire waves and golden hills provided me a bountiful natural playground. I spent countless childhood weekends hunting for seashells, fishing for sanddabs and exploring the tide pools. Growing up surrounded by natural beauty was a privilege, one I appreciate all the more now that I’m living in the noise and traffic jams of Los Angeles. Every so often, I feel the need to return to my roots… to the open spaces and bracing ocean breeze of the Central Coast. In the summer of 2012 I did just that, taking a road trip up the coast of California. My first stop was Hearst Castle, the historical ranch home of William Randolph Hearst. Nestled in the hills above Highway One, 42 miles north of San Luis Obispo and 94 miles south of Monterey, this magnificent estate was Hearst’s dream home, an unfinished 28-year construction project that now stands as a state historic park and museum. Today, the castle receives roughly 1 million visitors per year.

William Randolph Hearst, 1906.

William Randolph Hearst was a wealthy and powerful newspaper publisher who changed the face of American journalism. Born in San Francisco in 1863, Hearst first gained prominence when he took over the San Francisco Examiner newspaper from his father in 1887. Hearst employed some of the best journalists in America and used new tactics to help his paper gain a massive readership. In 1895 Hearst acquired another paper, the New York Journal, putting him in direct competition with rival newspaper proprietor Joseph Pulitzer. His success with the Journal helped him to acquire 28 additional newspapers and magazines, as well as radio stations and movie companies, making him one of the wealthiest men in the world.

Hearst lived a colorful, often controversial life. For several years he dabbled in politics; in 1906 he ran for governor of New York, narrowly losing to opponent Charles E. Hughes. After giving up his political ambitions, Hearst embarked on a long-standing extramarital affair with actress Marion Davies. Orson Welles’ film Citizen Kane is very loosely based on Hearst’s life story. Over two decades after Hearst’s death, his granddaughter Patty Hearst gained notoriety after being kidnapped by a violent revolutionary fringe group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army. In a likely case of Stockholm Syndrome, Patty sympathized with her kidnappers and helped them to rob a bank, after which she was arrested and jailed (she was later pardoned). Even now, more than 60 years after his death, Hearst’s life and achievements continue to fascinate. Nowhere is his impressive legacy more evident than at Hearst Castle, the most beloved project of the newspaper magnate’s life.

Hearst Castle stands on 250,000 acres of coastal ranchland that William Randolph Hearst inherited from his father, George Hearst, a wealthy silver and gold miner. The ranch site was originally 48,000 acres; William later acquired over 200,000 more. Originally known as “Camp Hill,” the land served as a rustic ranch. Hearst traveled there frequently to escape the city; his family and friends would camp there in elaborate tents. Over time, Hearst desired a more permanent residence, a place where he could entertain his world-famous guests in style.

Entryway to the Main Residence, Hearst Castle

In 1919 Hearst enlisted the help of Julia Morgan, a famed San Francisco architect, to design the estate. For the home site, Hearst chose a rocky perch with a view for miles. He named the site “La Cuesta Encantada” – The Enchanted Hill. Working together, Hearst and Morgan spent 28 years designing Hearst Castle. By 1947, they had created an estate of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways.

In its heyday, the Castle played host to world famous celebrities, intellectuals, politicians and luminaries. Numerous Hollywood stars enjoyed the estate, including Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Louis B. Mayer, Lionel and John Barrymore, Jean Harlow, Buster Keaton, Erroll Flynn, Carole Lombard, Barbara Stanwyck and Cary Grant. Other notable visitors included Winston Churchill, Calvin Coolidge, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Lindbergh and Howard Hughes.

The Neptune Pool, Hearst Castle

As a child I visited the Castle a few times with my grandparents and on elementary school field trips. On my most recent visit, I took the Grand Rooms tour, which gave me a glimpse of the main social rooms in the residence. Of particular interest to me, of course, was the Dining Room. Today it is known as the “Refectory,” the term for a monastery dining hall. If this room looks familiar to you, it may be because you’ve seen the Harry Potter films. The dining hall set at Hogwarts Academy was modeled after it.

The Refectory

The Hearst Castle Refectory is very grand, large in scale and filled with rare museum-quality furnishings. The room measures 67 feet long and 27 feet wide. The walls rise 27 feet to an ornate carved wooden ceiling, which originally belonged to a 16th century monastery in northern Italy. The walls of the room are lined with Gothic Flemish tapestries and paneled with 15th century choir stalls from a Cathedral in Spain. Silken Italian flags known as Ward banners, some over 400 years old, hang between the French Gothic windows. An enormous French Gothic fireplace gapes at the end of the room, the largest of 38 fireplaces in the Castle. The dining tables are monastic refectory tables. Pieces of Hearst’s large antique silver collection can be seen throughout the room.

Despite its valuable antique tapestries and museum-like decor, the food served at Hearst Castle was somewhat rustic. Hearst had always envisioned the castle as his “ranch residence,” which meant that the meals were comprised of fine quality comfort-style foods.

Here is a sample daily menu from the ranch. The menu always included a film that would show in the Castle’s movie theater after dinner. This menu was served on November 28, 1945:

—

MENU

La Cuesta Encantada, San Simeon, California

November 28, 1945

Luncheon

Salad

Spare Ribs – Hominy

Fine Herb Omelet

Pastry, Ice

Dinner

Lentil Soup

Roast Ringneck Pheasant

Bread Crumbs, Bread Sauce

Gravy – Mashed Potatoes

Buttered String Beans

Apricot Tartlets

“Blythe Spirit”

Rex Harrison – Constance Cummings

“Newsreel”

United Artists – MGM Exchange

Breakfast 9:00 to 12:00 – Luncheon 2:00 – Dinner 9:00

—

Hearst Castle Place Setting

Food was served on Real Old Willow English China. Casual silverware and paper napkins were used, even though the room itself was filled with fine antique silver. As you can see by the menu, meals served at the Castle were generally far more relaxed and “ranch-style” than their refined surroundings.

A few months before my trip, I ordered a used cookbook online called “The Enchanted Hill Cookbook.” It has since been republished under a new name, “The Castle Cookbook.” Two Hearst Castle kitchen staff members wrote the book; it contains several recipes from the estate’s glory years. After my tour of the castle, I picked up the book and began browsing through the recipes. I came across a simple recipe entitled “William Randolph Hearst’s Welsh Rarebit.” In the book’s introduction, Hearst’s son William Randolph Hearst Jr. makes reference to the dish as he discusses his father’s eating habits:

Lunch would be about 1:30 p.m., dinner about 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., followed by a movie, and if the night would run, as it frequently did, for an hour or so later, the chances were better that even he would be in the kitchen either grabbing a snack of cold meat and cheese for himself, or making a Welsh rarebit for all comers. The latter dish he made with pride and some beer, but whatever the recipe, I know it was a favorite of all those who were fortunate enough to partake of it. For all I know he might, in some quarters, have been considered a gourmet. Certainly he knew, appreciated, served and ate good food.

The cookbook contains Hearst’s own recipe for Welsh Rarebit, as recalled by the Hearst Castle kitchen staff. Though it may sound like an old-fashioned dish made of rabbit, Welsh Rarebit (sometimes called Welsh Rabbit) is actually a simple dish made from toast and melted cheese. For Hearst’s version of this dish, the cheese and butter would have been procured from the castle’s on-site dairy. The bread would have been baked fresh on site. In fact, most foods at the castle were grown and made there. Fruits and nuts were picked from the orchards, fresh vegetables were grown and raised nearby, and beef and poultry were raised and butchered at the ranch. Dry ingredients and pantry items, like flour and Worcestershire sauce, were purchased in bulk.

As I made Hearst’s Welsh Rarebit at home, I began to daydream about the castle. I imagined myself in the grand kitchen, together with a cast of Hollywood legends, watching Hearst make us a late night snack. What a fun way to taste the history of La Cuesta Encantada.

William Randolph Hearst’s Welsh Rarebit

Welsh Rarebit is actually a simple bread and cheese dish. Tori Avey of The History Kitchen blog explains Hearst's personal affinity for this recipe in a full post here.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 lb (about 4 cups) grated cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup beer that has been open for at least 30 minutes, room temperature
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 1 egg
• Toast or crackers

Directions

1. In a chafing dish or large double boiler placed over simmering water, melt the butter. Add the grated cheese and stir until it begins to melt. Slowly add the beer, stirring. I used Sierra Nevada beer as a nod to George Hearst's gold and silver mining past, but you can use any beer you like.
2. Whisk in the seasonings. Beat an egg in a small bowl, then very slowly drizzle the egg into the hot cheese, beating constantly with a whisk to temper the egg and keep it from scrambling. When egg is fully incorporated, continue to stir till the mixture is smooth and heated through.
3. Serve cheese sauce immediately over crackers or toast. I used sourdough toast in honor of Hearst's San Francisco roots (crusty French bread would be lovely, too). I also garnished the dish with some fresh chives. The garnish is not in the original Hearst recipe, but it adds a nice flavor and a pretty finish to the dish.

Cook Time: 5 Minutes

Yield: 6 servings

You can uncover more fascinating food history on Tori’s website: The History Kitchen. She also blogs as The Shiksa in the Kitchen celebrating Jewish cuisine.

Collord, Marjorie (1985). The Enchanted Hill Cookbook: The favorite recipes of William Randolph Hearst. Blake Printing & Publishing, San Luis Obispo, CA.

“Historic People.” Hearst Castle History and Art. Hearst Castle California State Park, n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2012.

Nasaw, David (2000). The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY.

Tori Avey is a food writer, recipe developer, and the creator of two cooking websites: The History Kitchen and The Shiksa in the Kitchen. She explores the story behind the food – why we eat what we eat, how the foods of different cultures have evolved, and how yesterday’s food can inspire us in the kitchen today. Tori’s food writing and photography have appeared on the websites of CNN, Bon Appetit, Zabar’s, Williams-Sonoma, Yahoo Shine, LA Weekly and The Huffington Post. Follow Tori on Facebook: The Shiksa or Twitter: @theshiksa.

Aside from time it takes for the chicken to bathe in a garlicky marinade, this dish only takes a few minutes of chopping and a few minutes of stir-frying, making it perfect for a quick weeknight meal. Its preparation goes much like most East Asian stir-fries, but the decidedly West Asian ingredients make for a tantalizing array of flavors that will lure your taste buds into rapt attention.

Intensely sour and spicy, your first reaction may be surprise, but this dish has a way of drawing you in. A bite of plump garlicky chicken begs for a forkful of tangy fiery vegetables that will make your face pucker and mouth smolder. This in turn will lead you back to the savory chicken in a cycle that doesn’t end until you’ve eaten every last morsel on your plate, along with any leftovers in the pan.

If this sounds like too much excitement for your taste buds to handle, you can of course cut back on the chili paste and lemon juice, but then you just have an ordinary stir-fry that looks like it ought to be served on a sizzling platter with tortillas.

Here are a few points that make this dish special. By marinating the chicken, in garlic, salt and spices, you ensure the flavor penetrates past the surface. Allowing the chicken (and marinade) to brown ensures plenty of complexity in the dish despite the simple preparation. Adding the lemon juice and stock to the hot parched mixture quickly burns off the excess liquid creating a flavorful glaze without boiling the meat.

Lemon Chili Chicken

This lemon chili chicken recipe combines garlicky chicken and fiery vegetables. Food blogger Marc Matsumoto highlights the special points in this chicken dish in a full post on the Fresh Tastes blog.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 450 grams (1 pound) chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 small red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 teaspoons red chili paste
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Marinate the chicken in the olive oil, ground coriander, ground cumin, salt and garlic for at least 15 minutes or up to 24 hours.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the chicken in a single layer. Fry undisturbed until browned. Flip the chicken pieces and brown the other side.
3. Add the onions, and green and red bell peppers. Stir-fry until the vegetables are mostly cooked.
4. Add the chili paste and flour and stir-fry until there is no liquid left.
5. Turn up the heat to high, and then add the chicken stock and lemon juice and continue stir-frying until the sauce coats the chicken and there is very little liquid left in the pan.
6. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, and then sprinkle on the sumac. Serve with rice.

Yield: 3-4 servings

Marc Matsumoto is a food blogger and photographer who spreads his passion for food through his websites norecipes.com and wanderingcook.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blogs in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marc’s been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.