[2] Sneak spinach onto your “garlic bread” (photo © Good Eggs | SF).

[3] The spinach gets camouflaged with diced avocado (photo © Tio Gazpacho).

This appetizer, first course or snack elevates the humble garlic bread we know and love into a fancy (and nutritious) affair.

Garlic bread is toasted and topped with garlic butter or garlic-infused oil. Crostini are toasts topped with any variety of spreads, vegetables and proteins.

The California Avocado Commission fused the two concepts to create garlic bread loaded with avocado, spinach and tomatoes.

It has so many veggies, you can even serve it as the “salad course.”

You can adjust the toppings as you wish: Use different greens, add bacon and/or green onion, etc.

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 10 minutes. It is very easy to make the balsamic glaze rather than buy it: Just reduce a bottle of balsamic vinegar (not the top stuff) into a syrup.

For a wine pairing, California Avocado suggests Petite Syrah.
 
 
RECIPE: GARLIC BREAD CROSTINI

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
Ingredients For The Balsamic Reduction

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Melt the butter, add in 2/3 of the garlic, season with salt and pepper. Place the bread on a baking sheet and liberally brush it with the garlic butter.

2. MAKE the glaze. Pour the vinegar into a pan, add the brown sugar and stir over medium heat, whisking constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to low and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes. Cool. If not using that day, store in a jar in the fridge.

3. SAUTÉ 2 teaspoons of oil and the remaining garlic for 1 minute, in a small skillet. Add the spinach and stir just until it begins to wilt. Remove from the heat, squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice, stir and spread the topping on the prepared bread. In the same pan…

4. ADD the tomatoes and peppers; sauté for 2 minutes. Place atop the spinach; season with salt and pepper or for more heat, cayenne or chile flakes. Bake for 10-12 minutes. While the bread bakes…

5. CUT the avocado into bite-sized chunks. Toss the avocado with 1 teaspoon oil, more salt and red pepper as desired and a small squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Top the baked garlic bread with avocado and drizzle with balsamic reduction/glaze. Serve warm.
 
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*A large Hass avocado, about 8 ounces, is recommended for this recipe. If using smaller or larger size avocados adjust the quantity accordingly.
  

No doubt you’ve cut lemon and lime circles and twists for garnish, and wedges to squeeze over beverages, salads, seafoods, and so on.

We have long used a channel zester to carve vertical lines in fruits and vegetables, creating a design in the fruit and strips of peel for garnish.
 
 
THE GROOVY JOYS OF CHANNEL ZESTING

James Beard said: “Two of of my best friends are a stripper and a zester.”

When you use it to cut channels (grooves) into, you can create edible art—not to mention ingredients for recipes and garnishing.

 
 
CITRUS TRIVIA

Zest is the colored, outermost skin layer of citrus fruits; its volatile (essential) oils make it highly perfumed.

Zest is rich in antioxidants: flavonoids, bioflavonoids and limonoids. It is used to flavor sweet and savory dishes; it can be candied for pastry use or as a sweetmeat (e.g., candied grapefruit peel).

[1] Grooves cut with a channel zester.

[2] When sliced, the groves create flower-like slices (photos #1 and #2 courtesy IdTryThat | WordPress).

[3] Elaborate channeling creates beautiful food art (photo courtesy The Eddy | NYC).

Give a channel groover to an arty cook. You can get it in any kitchen gadget department or online.
 
 

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May 12th is National Nutty Fudge Day; November 20th is National Peanut Butter Fudge Day.

Here’s a recipe that covers both holidays! For National Nutty Fudge Day, add the honey-roasted peanuts.

An American confection, fudge was a happy accent in the 1880s, created by a woman trying to make caramels.

Read the history of fudge and you’ll see that it wasn’t so easy to re-create the accident.

Over time, however, recipes and techniques were perfected. The original recipe(s) used cream and butter. Today, everything from sweetened condensed milk to non-dairy milks are used.

You need just three ingredients to make this peanut butter fudge from Justin’s, an artisan specialist in nut butters.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BRING the sugar and almond milk to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

2. MIX in the peanut butter. You can add the optional mix-ins and stir, or use them as a topping, pressing lightly. Spread into a greased 8″ x 8″ pan and refrigerate until set. Cut into squares.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF FUDGE

> THE HISTORY OF PEANUT BUTTER