Baked Potato with Tomato-Basil Relish and Balsamic Drizzle. Sliced tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper are combined to create a zesty Italian-inspired relish that is spooned on top of a warm, baked Idaho® potato. Add a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze and serve.

February is National Potato Lover’s Month and we wanted to publish this before it ends.

In addition to being a splendid way to enjoy a baked potato—no butter or sour cream—it’s also a colorful alternative to beige food and gray winter.

This easy-to-make, festive and elegant side is titled Baked Potato with Tomato-Basil Relish and Balsamic Drizzle (it takes longer to say it than to make it, almost).

The potato is topped with a zesty, Italian-inspired relish of halved cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

For a tangy-sweet finish, a drizzle of balsamic glaze tops it all (photos #1 and #2).

The recipe was developed by Sylvia Fountaine of Feasting at Home for the Idaho Potato Commission.

See how Sylvia makes her baked potatoes in the oven, the microwave, the air fryer, and an instant pot.

> The Different Types Of Potatoes

> The History Of Potatoes
 
 
RECIPE: BAKED POTATOES WITH TOMATO-BASIL RELISH & BALSAMIC DRIZZLE

Halved cherry or grape tomatoes and basil ribbons are tossed in a flavorful balsamic vinaigrette, then spooned over baked Idaho® russet potatoes, and drizzled with a balsamic glaze. It’s a healthful, light, and delicious dish that is vegan and gluten-free.

What’s the difference between balsamic vinegar and balsamic glaze?

If you reduce balsamic vinegar into a syrup, you get balsamic glaze. It’s a luscious condiment for drizzling over savory or sweet dishes. If you haven’t had it, try it: You’ll become a fan.

Here’s a recipe and more about balsamic glaze.
 
Ingredients For 2 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the sliced tomatoes, garlic, basil ribbons, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl and mix to combine.

2. CUT a slit into the warm baked potatoes and fluff up the flesh with a fork.

3. DIVIDE the tomato relish between the two potatoes. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze and serve immediately.

[1] You can drizzle extra balsamic over the tomato-basil relish (photos #1 and #2 © Idaho Potato Commission).

[2] The view from above: a lovely dish.

[3] The nice thing about cherry tomatoes is that they’re available year-round from hothouses, to add color to dishes tomatoes aren’t in season (photo © Love Food Art | Pexels).

[1] Jambalaya Nachos (all photos © The Food In My Beard | Zatarain’s).

[2] Zatarain’s Andouille Sausage combines with shrimp and jambalaya rice.

[3] Make extra sausage because you’ll want to eat it from the spoon.

[4] Drizzling the cheese sauce.

Mardi Gras begins on March 1st this year*, we’re tailoring our meals to highlight special Mardi Gras dishes. Start here with 14 Mardi Gras recipes for cocktails, main dishes, sides, and desserts. Plus, there’s a “glossary” of another 14 iconic New Orleans dishes.

We’re adding to the list today with this fusion recipe for Jambalaya Nachos.

The recipe was created by Dan Whalen of The Food In My Beard for Zatarain’s, and shared by Zatarain’s with us.

Dan decided to make a cheese sauce for the nachos, rather than baking cheese on top, to smother the nachos with cheesiness. As a spicy twist, he added Creole seasoning to the sauce.

> Mardi Gras History

> Check Out More Zatarain’s Products & Recipes
 
 
RECIPE: JAMBALAYA NACHOS

Make a tray of nachos loaded with jambalaya ingredients like rice, sausage, and shrimp, topped with a Creole-spiced cheese sauce.

Prep time is 20 minutes, cook time is 20 minutes.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the milk with the cornstarch until smooth. Cook the milk in a small frying pan over medium heat, whisking constantly until it just comes to a simmer and thickens. Remove from the heat.

2. STIR in the cheese until it melts, returning to the heat once or twice if needed, but being careful not to overheat cause the sauce could separate.

3. STIR in the Creole seasoning and set the sauce aside. Dan’s tip: Put it in a thermos to stay hot until ready to use. If the sauce feels too thick you can add a splash of milk.

4. ADD a little oil to a pot and cook the sausage over high heat to brown on all sides. Remove the sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon, keeping the oil in the pot.

5. ADD the shrimp to the pot and cook about 3 minutes per side until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon.

6. ADD the contents of the Jambalaya Rice Mix packet along with the water. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cover, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

7. BUILD the nachos starting with a base of tortilla chips. Then layer the rice, topped with the sausage and shrimp. Finish with the cheese sauce. Serve with the extra tortilla chips.

*The date of Mardi Gras changes every year because it’s connected to Easter, which can fall on any Sunday between March 23 and April 25. Mardi Gras day always takes place 47 days before Easter. Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter, and Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Easter can fall on any Sunday from March 23rd to April 25th, with the exact date coinciding with the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring Equinox.

This Sweet Potato Apple Pizza recipe from Colavita Olive Oil is delicious for brunch, lunch, dinner, or even dessert. It combines two delicious pairings—sweet potato and apple—and offers variations: butternut squash instead of sweet potato, pear, or pineapple instead of apple. You can also substitute a different cheese for the Manchego.

There’s a lot more about Manchego, the great cheese of Spain, below.

February is National Sweet Potato Month, February 22nd is National Sweet Potato Day.
 
 
RECIPE: SWEET POTATO APPLE PIZZA

For a dessert pizza, add a bit more brown sugar.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 1 hour, until soft. Cool.

2. REMOVE the skins and mash the potatoes in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. RAISE the oven temperature to 500°F. If you’re using a pizza stone, allow the stone to heat up in the oven for 30 minutes before baking on it.

4. STRETCH out the dough onto a pizza peel dusted with flour. If you don’t have a peel and stone, use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Oil the parchment with a little olive oil so the dough doesn’t stick.

5. SPREAD a layer of mashed sweet potatoes on top of the stretched-out dough. Add the apple rings on top of the potato, spreading them out symmetrically.

6. SPRINKLE the brown sugar and a pinch of salt on top of the apples. Layer the grated Manchego cheese on top of the apples.

7. DRIZZLE 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top of the pizza. Slide the pizza into the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling.
 
 
WHAT IS MANCHEGO CHEESE

Queso Manchego (KAY-so mon-CHAY-go, usually just referred to as Manchego) is one of Spain’s most famous cheeses (photo #2). It is to Spain what Cheddar is to England.

Manchego is traditionally made from the milk of just one breed of ewe, the Manchega (photos #6 and #7), in the La Mancha region of central and southern Spain. (Other Spanish cheeses made with ewe’s milk are commonly referred to as Manchego-style.)

The Manchega sheep graze mostly on dry pasture, fallow land, and stubbly brush fields on a high plateau outside of the cities of Toledo, Albacete, and Cuenca, southeast of Madrid (photo #8).

One might think that these somewhat harsh grazing conditions would yield low-fat milk, but exactly the opposite happens. The sheep yield high-fat, thick, aromatic milk that gives Manchego its unique and distinctive character. The milk for the cheese must have at least 6% fat.

As a result, Manchego cheese has a fat content of up to 57% and a very rich flavor. In the process, the cheese undergoes a rigorous and detailed production process under 75% to 85% humidity [source].

Authentic Manchego is protected under the Denominación de Origen Protegida (D.O.P.). This law includes strict regulations on how a protected product must be produced.

For example, Manchego molds that weigh less than 1.5 kilograms have to be aged for at least 30 days, and anything larger requires at least 60 days of aging. At that point, it can be aged up to two years.
 
 
HOW DOES IT TASTE?

Authentic Manchego is a firm-textured cheese. It starts out whitish in its youth, ages to yellowed ivory, and can have a lovely golden hue.

It has an intense, zesty, piquant, nutty taste and a crumbly texture that’s rich and full, with a slight saltiness on the finish.

Its aroma is unique as well; it suggests roast lamb to some connoisseurs [source].

Manchego is marketed at various stages of maturity from “cured” at 13 weeks to ”aged” at more than three months. It is delicious at all stages, but to get to know Manchego, buy young and older together for a comparison tasting. Look for:

 
The longer it is aged, the nuttier, spicier, richer, complex, and more intense the cheese is.

Cheese Trivia: Manchego cheese, like many others, contains casomorphin, a compound similar to an endorphin, which gives cheese a highly addictive quality. Casomorphin derives from the milk protein casein, which your body breaks down into casomorphins. These compounds attach to dopamine receptors in your brain, possibly triggering cravings for similar foods [source]. However, as every turophile* knows, the compulsion to eat more and more cheese is only dangerous to the waistline.

More Cheese Trivia: In his epic novel Don Quixote (1605 and 1615), Miguel Cervantes has multiple references to Manchego cheese. Don Quixote, of course, lived in La Mancha.
 
 
SERVING MANCHEGO CHEESE

Manchego is a true “workhorse” cheese, in that it does almost everything well, including melting.

 
 
NON-SPANISH MANCHEGO-TYPE CHEESES

In the U.S., Roth Cheese (formerly Roth Käse) makes its award-winning GranQueso (“big cheese”) in a Spanish style similar to Manchego—although Manchego is made from the milk of Wisconsin cows instead of Spanish sheep (photo #4).

[1] The flavors of fall and winter: sweet potatoes and apples. Find many more recipes at ColavitaRecipes.com (photo © Colavita).

[2] Manchego cheese from Spain is one of the world’s great cheeses (photo © De Laurenti).

[3] The best American-made Manchego-style cheese is the award-winning Roth Canela, made in Monroe, Wisconsin. It has the same sharp, nutty flavor, but with a sweet finish from the cinnamon rubdown on the rind red (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[4] A lovely charcuterie board with Manchego (photo © Susan J | @MissHappyBelly | The Feed Feed) .

[5] Manchego is aged in baskets that give the rind its special texture (photo © Iberian Foods U.K.).

[6] Manchega sheep give milk only in April, May and June, after lambing (photo © Petmapz).

[7] Thank you, ladies (photo © Noma Distribution | Australia).

[8] The La Mancha plains (photo licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Manchego is an ancient cheese. Archeologists have found that inhabitants of La Mancha were making cheese in the Bronze Age (3300 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E.) [source].

Historians of ancient Rome wrote of the area and its livestock farming.

For centuries, the pastures of the La Mancha of Spain were fought over between Spanish Christians in the north and Muslims in the south. The Muslims inhabited the area from the 8th through the 11th centuries. They called it “Manya,” ”land without water,” which evolved into Mancha.

In the 12th century, the Spaniards under King Alfonso VI conquered the region, and the Muslims retreated to the Andalucia region of Southern Spain.

 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHEESE

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHEESE
 
 
________________

*A turophile is a cheese lover or connoisseur, from the Greek tyros, cheese, and the English -phile, lover.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] The Integrated Milk Frother (all photos © Maestri House).

[2] Both frothers make four temperatures of foam, for iced and hot drinks.

[3] The Detachable Frother has a larger capacity milk jug, which can be cleaned in the dishwasher.

If you head out to Starbucks for lattes and cappuccinos that you can’t make at home, here’s a small appliance you could use in your own kitchen: the Maestri House Milk Frother. For the cost of 10 or so milky drinks from your favorite café, you can have the tool you need to prepare all the airy, frothy, silky, creamy drinks at home.

We gave up on the Aerolatte-type hand frothers a while ago; they just stopped working too soon. But after testing a Maestri frother, we’re happy to simply pour in the milk, choose the thickness of the froth, push the button, and top our favorite hot or cold coffee (yes, the machine makes cold froth as well as latte and cappuccino froths).

Maestri House makes two models of Milk Frother.

 
So the choice is smaller capacity and hand-wash, or larger capacity and dishwasher-safe.
 
 
FEATURES WITH BOTH FROTHERS

 
Maestri House milk frothers are the first machines in the world that can simultaneously adjust the temperature of the milk and control the thickness of milk froth.

Are you ready to froth?
 
 
GET YOUR MILK FROTHER

> Detachable Milk Frother

> Integrated Milk Frother

On both pages, scroll down for the video.
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF COFFEE & COFFEE DRINKS
 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ESPRESSO & ESPRESSO DRINKS

Each year on National Margarita Day, February 22nd, we publish a Margarita recipe. We’ve covered classic recipes and numerous fruits and other flavors: cherry, cranberry, ginger, guava, grape, grapefruit, kiwi, orange, peach, pineapple, pomegranate, strawberry, watermelon, and even a veggie Margarita with spring peas and tarragon. We now have more than 30 Margarita recipes.

Today, a new fruit enters the fold: passionfruit, in a Margarita recipe by Chef Tom Fraker of Melissa’s Produce (photo #1).

The recipe is below. But first, the history of the Margarita and a bit about passionfruit.

(You can spell it passionfruit or passion fruit. Both are correct. Its name is different in other languages*, including liliko’i in Hawaiian.)
 
 
WHAT IS PASSIONFRUIT?

The purple passionflower climbing vine (Passiflora edulis f. edulis), a plant with spectacular flowers (photos #3 and #4), is native to subtropical South America.

The origin of the purple passionfruit stretches from southern Brazil to northern Argentina. The much larger (and less flavorsome) yellow passionfruit (Passiflora edulus f. flavicarpa) may have also originated in Amazonian Brazil, but it is not known for certain.

Neither variety was well documented before the arrival of Europeans, but it was part of the local diet. European missionaries used it as an educational aid while trying to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity.

The design of the flower was used to illustrate the five wounds in the crucifixion of Christ. It got its English name around 1700, when it was called the passionflower after the Passion of Jesus.

The fruit of the passionflower is, in turn, the passionfruit (photo #2).

Passionfruit is actually a large berry. It’s round, about three inches long, with a thick, waxy rind that becomes wrinkly as the fruit ripens (photo #3). The gelatinous pulp inside is composed of sacs filled with orange-colored juice and seeds. The seeds are small, black, and crunchy seeds.

The hard outer rind contains the pulp, sacs of orange-colored juice, and black seeds. The pulp can be easily scooped out with a spoon.

Or, scoop the pulp into a bowl. If it’s too tart, sprinkle it with a bit of sweetener. Some people add cream.

The more wrinkled the skin, the riper the fruit (photo #3). Green passionfruit isn’t ripe.

In addition to eating the pulp, it can be:

 
The juice, curd, and jam in turn can be made into ice cream, sorbet, puddings, pies, tart filling, smoothies, soft drinks, syrup, etc.
 
 
RECIPE: PASSIONFRUIT MARGARITA
 
Ingredients For 2 Drinks (photo #1)

 
Preparation

1. FILL half of a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the salt. Place the cap on the shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.

2. RUB a lime wedge around the rim of 2 Margarita glasses (substitute rocks glasses). Pour the salt onto a plate and dip and twist the glasses into the salt to coat the rim.

3. POUR the drinks into the glasses.

[1] Passionfruit Margarita (photo © Melissa’s Produce).

[2] A passionfruit is smooth-skinned until it’s ripe. Then, it wrinkles (photo © Zuzu Sparkling Cocktails).

[3] When wrinkled, passionfruit is ripe and ready to eat (photo © Good Eggs).

[4] Passiflora edulis, the passionflower (photo public domain | Wikipedia).

[5] Another subspecies of passionflower (photo © Karen Park Jennings Photography | Spring Hill Nursery.

________________

*Spanish missionaries called the flower of the Passiflora edulis the flor de las cinco lagas (flower of the five wounds) because it illustrated the crucifixion of Christ.

†The juice is made from simply squeezing the juice sacs. Passionfruit nectar is made from the entire passion fruit, rind and all; not just the pulp. The fruit is cut up and simmered in water until soft. It’s then strained (if desired) and sweetened. Here’s a recipe.