Cut back on fat and still enjoy fried food.
Fries for four require just one tablespoon of
oil. Top of ActiFry not shown. Photo
courtesy T-Fal.

It’s a healthy gift, because it uses a fraction of the oil required to fry in a conventional pot or deep fat fryer. This saves calories and enough money so that the appliance will pay for itself over time.

 
Head to your nearest store or order the ActiFry online.

We tried to switch to baked “fries,” but found them to be no substitute for the real thing. Here, we can have our fries just as we like them, with no guilt. It’s worth buying a special appliance!

With the flavors of Campari (a red apéritif made from fruits and herbs) and pink grapefruit, this winter recipe will please from Thanksgiving until spring.

The recipe was developed as part of a partnership between Belvedere (RED) vodka and (RED), the fundraising campaign that raises money for the Global Fund, the world’s leading financer of programs to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

There’s a special edition holiday bottle design of Belvedere (RED) vodka on retailers’ shelves. Fifty percent of profits from its sale will be contributed to the Global Fund.

ANTIQUE PUNCH, A VODKA HOLIDAY PUNCH

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. Combine first five ingredients in a punch bowl.
2. Top with ice, mix and top with the garnishes. (We added the strawberries with leaves on, not part of the original recipe, for a red-and-green garnish accent).
3. Serve.

GOT PUNCH (BOWL)?

There are punch recipes for every season. Treat yourself to an affordable punch bowl and make punch a part of your regular entertaining menu.

Two glass punch bowls we like are:

 
While acrylic punch bowls are inexpensive, we suggest avoiding them: They scratch easily.
  

A Christmas cocktail. Photo courtesy
Belvedere Vodka.

GIVE A FIG COCKTAIL RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation
1. Whisk sugar into pomegranate juice in a shaker.
2. Add rest of ingredients and shake with cubed ice.
3. Double-strain into a rocks glass and garnish with a split fig.

*Adapted from a drink created by Aaron Rosa, Purple Bar, Sanderson Hotel.

Red ale, or Irish red ale, is, as its name suggests, an ale with a slightly reddish color. The color is intentional, and results from the use of a small amount of roasted barley in the mash.

If it comes from Ireland, it’s called Irish ale. In the U.S. and elsewhere, it’s called red ale or red beer. Some Americans use the term amber ale, but this typically describes a darker beer—truly amber instead of reddish.

Serve a red ale at your holiday celebration (add a cucumber wheel for a bit of green; or a lime wedge if your guests prefer to drink from the bottle.

If you need a holiday gift for a beer drinker, put together a six-pack of different red ale brands (see below).

How Well Do You Know Your Brews?

Take a look at our Beer Glossary.

Here are the top 10 red ales as rated by judges in the 2011 U.S. Open Beer Championship.

1. Pursuit of Hoppiness – Grand Teton Brewing, Idaho
2. O’Regan’s Revenge Irish Red Ale – Sound Brewery, Washington
3. Bomber Mountain Amber – Black Tooth Brewing, Wyoming
4. River Falls Red Ale, Thomas Creek Brewing – South Carolina
5. Cameron’s Auburn Ale – Cameron’s Brewing, Canada
6. Celtic Ale – Harpoon Brewery – Massachusetts
7. Red Mountain Ale – Silverton Brewing, Colorado
8. Samuel Adams Red Ale – Boston Beer Company, Massachusetts
9. O’Hara’s Irish Red – Carlow Brewing – Ireland
10. Kilgubbin Red Ale – Goose Island – Illinois

Cheers!

Two of the seven Crazy Cuizine varieties.
Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

But in half that time, we can remove the Crazy Cuizine from the freezer and microwave our own.

Crazy Cuizine is a line of frozen Asian entrées—Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes—that you can find at select Costco locations and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs nationwide, and at some regional chains.

About The Entrées

Ready to heat and eat, the line comprises sauced meat dishes—mostly chicken—that are high in protein and free of preservatives, trans fats and MSG.

The entrées can be microwaved in five minutes or less—one-quarter of the time it takes to microwave an appropriate amount of conventional rice. That a heaping plate of tender meat can be available in a few minutes is a great convenience.

While the line claims “authentic recipes,” some of the authenticity needs to be added.

• Add seasonings. Neither the sauces nor the meats have secondary seasonings that create a complex flavor. They’re fine for kids—or adults who don’t have a demanding palate—but we like to think that even these two groups deserve to have more educated tastes. We added thin-sliced green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and herbs or spices: minced fresh garlic and/or ginger, or their dried cousins; fresh or dried jalapeño; and fresh basil (which is more Thai and Vietnamese, but works well, and we always have some).
• Add vegetables. Amost all Asian dishes use them. We used what we always have in the house: broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms and onions—not necessarily all at the same time. If you have water chestnuts, bamboo shoots or baby corn, toss them in. We either steamed the veggies in the microwave for three minutes prior to making the rice, or sautéed them on the stove top while the rice cooks.

Orange chicken is ready in five minutes. Photo courtesy Crazy Cuizine.

• Assemble the dish. You can choose to heat the sauce packets with the veggies. We used a different technique: We heated the sauce before the meat; then added it to a bowl with the meat and veggies. Then toss to blend.

The ingredients are U.S.-sourced and the dishes are produced at the company’s state-of-the-art facility in Southern California. The chicken is all-natural white meat, and has very good chicken flavor. Some are sliced, some are breaded.

The sauces tend to be adaptions of the same recipe, thick and slightly sweet. The choices include:

• General Tso’s Chicken: The sweet and spicy, deep-fried chicken dish was invented in the U.S. and named after one of the greatest military leaders of China’s history, General Tso (1812-1885). This version fares well, if nowhere as hot and spicy as the real deal. The general’s name is correctly pronounced sow, not so or tso.
• Korean BBQ Chicken: Our favorite. A delicious Korean dish featuring chicken breast topped with Korean BBQ spicy sauce.
• Orange Chicken: Pretty good, but lacking the orange peel added to restaurant dishes. Add your own small strips of peel. We added green onions, too.
• Potstickers, Chicken & Pork: The pork version is more flavorful. Both have the same excellent dipping sauce, made of soy sauce and vinegar.
• Tangerine Beef: Not tasted.
• Teriyaki Chicken: We weren’t crazy about this one. The sauce doesn’t resemble traditional teriyaki sauce, so the dish doesn’t resemble teriyaki—at least not the kind you’d get at a Japanese restaurant. It’s better to make your own: Thoroughly combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup mirin (rice wine) and 2 tablespoons sugar in a sauce pan; bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for two minutes. Cool to room temperature or slightly warmer. If you don’t have mirin, use 1/2 cup saké mixed with one tablespoon sugar. Both mirin and saké are types of rice wine.

The 20-ounce boxes have a suggested retail price of $8.99.

Given that we pay between $5.00 and $6.00 for an order of six poststickers, delivered or in-restaurant, the 28-30 pieces from Crazy Cuizine are a bargain.

Learn more at DayLeeFoods.com.