Top Gorgozola with fig preserves or fig jam
and serve! Photo courtesy BellaChiCha.com.  

In Italy, Gorgonzola Dolce (gohr-gohn-ZOH-lah DOHL-chay), or sweet Gorgonzola cheese, is often served for dessert with a drizzle of honey and perhaps some figs.

But you can turn the tables and serve it as an appetizer that’s easy to make and put out on the coffee table as everyone arrives for Easter dinner.

Get a slab of Gorgonzola Dolce, which is a spreadable and elegant version of Gorgonzola that lacks the sharpness of Gorgonzola Naturale, Mountain Gorgonzola. Spread with fig preserves or jam (Dalmatia fig spread has very good retail distribution) and serve with crackers and a fruity red wine. Or to celebrate the holiday, serve Champagne!

Bella Chi Cha sells a ready-made Creamy Gorgonzola Torta With Fig, but you need to live in California to buy it. (Retailer elsewhere: please bring this line in!)

Gorgonzola is an ancient cheese, dated back to around 879 C.E. Gorgonzola Dolce is the same cheese as Gorgonzola Naturale, but much less aged. It has a slightly salty aftertaste that is a nice counterpoint in the torta, paired with the fig jam.

Gorgonzola Dolce is also a favorite ingredient in risotto and polenta. It can be made into a dip, mixed into vinaigrette, melted on a pizza or used wherever cheese is called for. Serve it for dessert with berries, figs, pears, peaches or plums.

Spring, our favorite season, begins today. We’re celebrating with a floral flourish.

Look for edible flowers at stores that carry specialty produce. Not all flowers are edible (or tasty), but there’s quite a variety to choose from. (If you want to use flowers from your own garden, it’s OK as long as they are pesticide-free.)

Flowers are used in many types of cooking: Asian, East Indian, European and Middle Eastern cuisines are flower-friendly. Flowers in food were popular in VIctorian England. They were eaten by the early settlers in America—anything that could be eaten, was. The first recorded mention of edible flowers comes from 140 B.C.E.!

If edible flowers sounds like a strange concept, remember that lavender (used in everything from ice cream and syrup to scones and and tea, not to mention liqueur) and candied violets are popular accents in our cuisine. Squash blossoms, stuffed and fried in light batter or cornmeal are a delicacy served in fine restaurants. In addition to eating sunflower seeds, try the petals!

A colorful spring salad embellished with
edible flowers. Photo by Kelly Cline | IST.

We love roasted vegetables—we could make an entire meal of them.

If your family won’t eat their share of boiled or steamed veggies, try roasting them—it’s easy. (Their daily “share,” by the way, is three to five half-cup servings.)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Slice up root vegetables (or seasonal favorites). Beets, bell peppers, carrots, eggplant, onions, parsnips, turnips, zucchini—anything you have a hankering for (or that’s on sale). You can add sliced sweet potatoes or white potatoes, too. The slices can be as large or as small a dice as you like.

Toss the veggies in olive oil and season with a bit of sea salt and fresh-ground pepper, and any fresh herbs—parsley, rosemary, oregano, etc. Then, spread them out on a baking pan in one layer and bake until golden brown and fork-tender.

Roasted beets. Photo courtesy Zabars.com.

There are many variations to keep roast veggies interesting: Toss a bit of cinnamon, lemon zest, nutmeg or other favorite flavors with the olive oil.

Bake chocolate-covered mint cookies.
Photo courtesy Chocolat Céleste.  

We’re a week late in celebrating the 98th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, founded March 12, 1912. But there’s no reason to skip the celebration. And there’s no better way to celebrate than with homemade Thin Mint cookies.

We love the Girl Scouts—we won the top award in our troop for selling 100 boxes of cookies.

But, as the Girl Scout Law states that “I will do my best to be honest and fair,” this recipe for Thin Mint cookies, developed by Chocolat Céleste’s Mary Leonard, is so much better!

]]> http://blog.thenibble.com/2010/03/19/recipe-thin-mint-cookies-friday-319/feed/ 0 http://blog.thenibble.com/2010/03/15/food-holiday-national-pears-helene-day/ http://blog.thenibble.com/2010/03/15/food-holiday-national-pears-helene-day/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:04:36 +0000 admin http://blog.thenibble.com/?p=11648

Poire Belle Hélène, shown without the
ice cream. Photo by Teresa Kasprzycka |
Dreamstime.  

If you’ve never had Pears Hélène (more properly called Poire Belle Hélène), today’s the day: National Pears Helene Day.

The dessert owes its origin to the opera La belle Hélène by composer Jacques Offenbach. It’s a comedic take on the elopement of Queen Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, with Prince Paris of Troy. The opera debut, in, 1864, was a big success, and the dessert was developed by Auguste Escoffier as a tribute.

The dessert is composed of poaced pears, topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and crystallized violets (today sliced almonds generally replace the candied violets).

It’s easy to poach a few pears, top with ice cream and your favorite chocolate sauce, and sprinkle on the almonds. Make Pears Hélène for dessert tonight.

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Irish soda bread is irresistible any time. But St. Patrick’s Day provides an extra excuse to bake up a batch and treat family and friends.

Soda bread is a chemically-leavened quick bread* made with baking soda instead of yeast, which produces a lighter, airy crumb. Irish soda bread dates back to approximately 1840, when bicarbonate of soda was introduced to Ireland. It reacted better with the soft wheat grown in Ireland’s climate, and replaced yeast as the leavening agent.

When should you serve Irish soda bread? Anytime! As a slightly sweet bread, it’s a breakfast and tea time favorite; but it also disappears quickly in the bread basket at lunch and dinner.

For St. Patrick’s Day, you can also serve Irish soda bread with a selection of Irish cheeses.

Irish soda bread. Photo courtesy National
Honey Board.

Our easy-to-make recipe is slightly sweetened with honey and dotted with plump, juicy raisins.

*The term “quick bread” means fast rising. Read more about the different types of bread in our Bread Glossary.

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What should you bake/make for St. Patrick’s Day?

Find more of our favorite desserts in our Cookies, Cakes & Pastry Section.

Celebrate St. Pat’s with Irish Coffee
cheesecake. Photo courtesy National Honey Board.

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As lavender is to Provence, thyme is to Greece. The herb is native to the Mediterranean.

There are almost 100 species of thyme, which can range in color from deep green to gray and golden-green (look for golden lemon thyme). It’s a very aromatic herb—so much so that it lures honeybees (in ancient Greece, thyme leaves were rubbed over the hives to encourage a honey production, and thyme planted as a ground cover is still used to attract butterflies that pollinate fruit trees).

We all need more thyme—it’s one of the leading culinary herbs.

Thyme’s flavor is more delicate than sage and it can be used with similar dishes: eggs, fish, meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, salads, sauces, soups and stews. Toss sprigs into the water before you cook rice.

Thyme is part of the classic herb blend known as bouquet garni, along with bay leaf and parsley.* Use more thyme and less salt.

English thyme is one of a half dozen
varieties available at WhiteflowerFarm.com.

Thyme is so minty and citrussy that it can be used in dessert recipes, added to a citrus sorbet or a Mediterranean olive oil cake. And sprigs can be used to garnish desserts. Plant a pot on your windowsill or in your garden.

A cook’s trick: pull the stems through fork tines to easily strip the leaves.

RECIPES WITH THYME

*There is no set herb combination for bouquet garni: bay leaf, parsley and thyme are most common. But the bouquet—which is bound with string, put in an herb ball/tea ball, cheesecloth or a sachet—varies with the recipe. It can also include basil, chervil, rosemary, tarragon and other herbs.

You can get a sampler of mints from
WhiteflowerFarm.com. From left: Apple mint,
spearmint and peppermint.  

Native to the Mediterranean and popular in western sweets like ice cream and chocolate, mint is a staple in savory dishes as well: that famous English dish, roast lamb with mint sauce and buttered peas (a modern version is lamb stir-fry with mint (add some rosemary, too) and meat and vegetable dishes of Greek and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Mint also migrated east to become a basic ingredient in the meat and vegetables dishes of the Pacific Rim. The aromatic herb has a sweet flavor with a cool, refreshing aftertaste. Try adding a bit to tzatziki and raita.

A few sprigs will enliven a green salad, a beet salad or spicy arugula. Mint mixes well with basil and tomatoes too. It’s an ingredient in tabouli—bulgur wheat, parsley, mint and tomatoes. And it’s so refreshing in iced or hot tea or mineral water.

Mint is a cocktail essential (no mint, no Mojito). We freeze leaves of mint in ice cube trays to add “mint ice” to sparkling water, iced tea and juice.

There are numerous varieties of mint. Common types in the U.S. include apple mint, chocolate mint, ginger mint, orange mint, pineapple mint and the most famous duo, spearmint and peppermint. Each adds its own nuances to dishes. Start with a pot of spearmint. It’s what stores typically sell as “mint.”

Any of the three makes a delicious cup of mint tea.

Mint grows quickly. A pot in your window will encourage you to make the recipes we’ve listed more frequently; and you may become addicted to the fresh mint tea recipe, below.

Mint tea is the unofficial national drink of Morocco. Wherever you go, from shops to homes, you’ll be offered a glass of hot mint tea—green tea steeped with mint. While it is traditionally sweetened, it’s deliciously refreshing with no added sweeteners. Make yourself a cup:

Ingredients
- 1 cups water
- 1 teaspoon loose green tea leaves or 1 green tea bag
- 2-3 sprigs fresh spearmint
- Optional sweetener: agave nectar, sugar or non-caloric sweetener

Preparation
1. Boil water and steep tea. Cover and up to 5 minutes. Add the agave and stir to blend. Strain and serve.

2. Garnish with a mint sprig. While it’s not part of Moroccan mint tea, you can add a squeeze of lemon or lime.

If you are preparing multiple portions, add the bunch of mint to a teapot.

For iced mint tea: Let the tea cool to room temperature, transfer to a covered pitcher or bottle and chill. Serve in a tall glass over ice, garnished with a fresh mint sprig.

If you enjoy cooking with oregano, try it fresh instead of dried. While some people prefer dried oregano to fresh because the flavor is more powerful, the beauty of the fresh herb adds a lot to the visual presentation as well as the aroma.

Oregano is a more pungent relative of marjoram—oregano is also known as wild marjoram. If you’re out of one herb, you can substitute the other. Oregano is a relatively new top spice in America: According to one source, it became popular when soldiers returning from World War II posts in Italy wanted more of it. It’s also a staple of Greek cuisine.

Oregano has the highest ORAC value of the seven super spices. As a historical note, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, used oregano as an antiseptic (it does have excellent antimicrobial properties) and a cure for stomach and respiratory ailments. Some homeopathic practitioners still use oregano to soothe a sore throat.

A dynamic duo of Mediterannean and
Mexican oregano, available from WhiteflowerFarm.com.

As with all produce, there are different varieties that grow in different areas. Italian, Greek and Mexican oreganos, the most common, are used in similar ways. Mexican oregano, or “hot and spicy oregano,” has a more intense, powerful flavor that pairs well with chili, salsa and other Mexican dishes.

You can buy fresh oregano in the produce section of your market, but it dries out quickly and is often just a few steps removed from what you can buy in a jar. Try growing it in a pot at home. Then, don’t be shy—snip those leaves and get cooking!

While it’s most familiar in Italian dishes (the green, earthy flavor balances the acid of tomatoes), chefs use oregano in egg dishes, salads (a must with a Greek salad!), grilled vegetables, and to season lamb, beef (meatballs!) and poultry. Add some to a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. Try it on grilled cheese sandwiches and of course, in tomato sauce and on pizza. Add oregano at the beginning of cooking (while browning onions or beef, for example) to allow time for the flavor to blend with other flavors in the dishes.

Culinary history: Manhattan Clam Chowder is actually an Italian clam soup, arriving on these shores with Italian immigrants in the late 1800s. The oregano in the recipe comes from its Italian heritage.

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