[1] Ready for his close-up: Our crustacean friend is holding a piece of lime, to be squeezed into the soup at the HM Grand Central Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (photo courtesy Pexels).

[2] You can serve a larger bowl or a smaller bowl. We recommend a larger service plate under the bowlm so the crayfish tail can be pulled apart and eaten.

Pièce de résistance, a French term, originally referred to the principal dish of a grand meal, or a dessert, created to be a showpiece.

While the term literally translates as “piece of resistance,” the reference is to the most important or remarkable feature.

You don’t have to work too hard to create a pièce de résistance.

Here, a simple bowl of seafood soup is turned into a memorable dish by the simple addition of a crayfish*.

The crayfish looks like he’s ready to start a conversation (e.g., “Let me out of here!).

His tail is a tasty addition to the other seafood in the soup, and his claws are utilitarian: They hold a piece of lime to squeeze into the soup.

The take-away: Keep your eye out for a “piece of resistance” element for whatever you’re serving.

The book Play With Your Food is just one tome with lots of ideas.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF SOUP
 
 
TYPES OF SOUP
 
 
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*A crayfish is also known as a crawdad, crawfish, freshwater lobster, mountain lobster, mudbug, or yabbie. It is a freshwater crustacean resembling a small lobster to which it is related.

Before taking off for the holiday weekend, we share this delicious recipe for red, white and blue blondies from King Arthur Flour.

Well, they’re sort of red white and blue, if you count the beige blondie as the white color.

Otherwise, we have an addition to suggest:

 
 
RECIPE: RED, WHITE & BLUE BLONDIES FOR JULY 4TH

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square pan, line it with parchment paper or foil, and grease the paper or foil.

2. MELT the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

3. MIX in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until combined, then fold in the berries.

4. SCOOP the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes if using fresh berries; 35 to 40 minutes for frozen berries, until the edges of the bars just begin to pull away from the pan.

5. REMOVE from the oven and cool for 20 minutes before lifting carefully out of the pan (see “tips,” below) and setting on a rack to cool completely.

6. STORE, refrigerated, for up to 1 week.
 
 
TIP FOR CUTTING THE BARS FROM THE BAKERS AT KING ARTHUR FLOUR

Cutting bar cookies in the pan can be cumbersome. Solve the problem by lining our bar pans with parchment before baking, with the extra paper coming up the long sides of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Secure the paper to the pan with metal spring clips.

After the bars are baked and cooled, free up the short ends with a dull knife or bowl scraper. Unclip the paper and use it to lift the bars up and out of the pan to a cutting board, where they’re much easier to portion neatly.

[1] Red, white and blue blondies (recipe and photo © King Arthur Flour).

[2] Dandies mini marshmallows have a bonus: They’re vegan. Check out all the varieties of Dandies (photo © Chicago Vegan Foods).

[3] Guittard’s white chocolate chips (photo © Lake Champlain Chocolate).

*NOTE: If you are using chips or marshmallows, change the portion of blueberries and raspberries to 1/3 and 1/3, respectively.

†Using fresh berries rather than frozen will keep the berries from shedding their juice. The juice from frozen berries can make bars look muddy.

[1] It’s red, white, blue and crunchy, for lovers of crushed ice drinks (photo © Due West | NYC).

[2] Due West used this rum in the drink. It’s 126 proof! We stuck with the 80 proof (photo © Worthy Park Estate).

When Due West, a popular gastropub in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan, sent us this photo (#1), we had to have one ASAP.

We couldn’t get downtown to Due West, so ran to the corner supermarket and bought pomegranate juice (we had all the other ingredients on hand). We dragged our ice crusher from the back of the cupboard and set to work.

All of the crushed ice turns this red, white and blue charmer into a frozen drink: perfect for a hot summer day.

Try it yourself, for a festive Fourth. After the weekend, you can play with the recipe. We’re thinking Aperol on the bottom and blood orange juice on top.
 
 
COCKTAIL RECIPE: RED, WHITE & BLUE FROZEN DRINK

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. ADD the blue Curaçao to a collins glass. Then fill with crushed ice.

2. SHAKE the rum, banana liqueur and lime juice together. Carefully strain over the ice.

3. PACK the glass with more crushed ice and slowly pour the pomegranate/hibiscus juice on top.

4. CELEBRATE responsibly.

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*Due used Worthy Park Rum Bar Overproof Rum (photo #2). That’s 63% A.B.V., or 126 proof. Whew. Overproof rum is used to raise the alcohol content in a drink. We’ll stick with conventional rum, 40% A.B.V., 80 proof, thank you very much.

July 2nd is National Anisette Day, celebrating a clear, anise-flavored liqueur that became popular in Italy in the 1800s.

It is usually made from aniseed, although it can also be made from fennel, licorice, star anise, or a blend.

Before commercial production, people made their own liqueurs (and made their own wine, brewed their own beer, etc.).

The first commercial anisette was introduced by Marie Brizard in 1755.
 
 
IT’S EASY TO CONFUSE

Many people confuse anisette with sambuca, another clear liqueur that is made with both green anise and star anise.

Other sweet anise-based liquors from France include Pernod and Ricard Pastis. Pastis is sometimes confused with anisette, but it is made with both aniseed and licorice root.

Confused yet?

While all licorice-like liqueurs are popularly served with after-dinner coffee:

 
Similar-tasting spirits, which can be sweet or dry, include:

 
 
USES FOR ANISETTE

Beyond cocktails, anisette is used in conventional foods, including:

 
> Check out these savory recipes for anise.
 
And by all means, try it in your coffee or espresso, hot or iced.

Lemonade with anisette is also a treat. Try it!

[1] A glass of anisette, garnished with star anise—which is used in some distillations (photo © Belchonock | Panther Media).

[2] Floranis, also known as Anis Gras, was created in 1872 in Algiers, Algeria, by the Gras brothers, using the anisette recipe that had been in their family for generations (photo © La Martiniquaise).

[3] Marie Brizard sold its first bottle of anisette in 1755. Two hundred years later they released this bottle, from the 1950s. You can buy it from The Whisky Exchange.

[1] Melt Miyoko’s vegan cultured butter and toss it with popcorn (all photos © Miyoko’s Creamery).

[2] Spread Miyoko’s vegan cream cheese on a bagel.

[3] Serve a Loire-style soft cheese wheel with crackers and wine.

[4] Spread Miyoko’s roadhouse cheeses on bread, crackers or pretzels. Shown here: Biergarten Garlic & Chive.

[5] Create a beautiful vegan cheese board. Shown here: Sundried Tomato Garlic cheese wheel.

[6] Serve Fresh Loire Valley cheese with figs and membrillo (quince paste).

[7] Toss vegan cheese with hot pasta to create a creamy sauce.

Our colleague Hannah Kaminsky, a vegan food writer and photographer who lives in Northern California, told us several years ago: You must try Miyoko’s vegan cheese and butter.

While not a vegan, we were on top of the sweeping trend. We also are a proponent of sustainability† and try to watch our cholesterol (vegan foods help both).

At that time Miyoko’s Creamery had no e-commerce, and distribution only in California. These days, you can find the products on Amazon, at other e-tailers, and at 10 stores in my Manhattan zip code alone!

Miyoko’s has gone mainstream, and that’s a good thing. Here’s a store locator.
 
 
ABOUT MIYOKO

The increase in veganism—full or partial†—continues to rise. It was the number one food trend of 2018 [source].

Miyoko Schinner became a name in the Bay Area in the late 1980s, as a vegan restaurateur, host of cooking classes and author of cookbooks.

In the last decade, she has focused on creating the finest vegan cheeses and butter.

A lover of conventional cheeses—“The ‘good life’ isn’t complete without a glass of wine and some fine cheese,” she has said—she discovered that she had lactose intolerance [source].

That, along with her compassion for animals, led her to create “plant based cheeses that retained all the complexity and sharpness of their dairy counterparts.”

Miyoko’s uses traditional artisan creamery methods to create plant-based vegan cheeses from cashews and other “real food” ingredients. The result: creamy vegan cheeses that can easily substitute for dairy products, and even melt like dairy cheese.

We can attest, as a lifelong lover of fine dairy cheeses, that what she has created from cashews and coconut oil, among other ingredients*, is remarkable.

Her line is certified USDA Organic. The products are free of cholesterol, dairy, gluten, lactose and soy, and the ingredients are non-GMO.

As with their dairy counterparts, the cheeses and butter are cultured and aged (depending on product). The cheeses range from soft and spreadable to hard and sliceable.
 
 
PRODUCTS FROM MIYOKO’S CREAMERY

These vegan products are more tart than their dairy counterparts, in the way that yogurt is more tart than sour cream.

They are blessed options for vegans and the lactose intolerant.
 
Butter

Mikoyo has crafted a cultured vegan butter in the style of European cultured butters. We use it on toast, baked potatoes and vegetables.

Melt it and toss it with popcorn (photo #1), slide it over an ear of corn.

It also browns when cooking. It is a most welcome alternative to dairy butter.
 
Cream Cheese

A bagel no longer needs to be parted from cream cheese. Miyako’s makes three vegan varieties:

 
They will melt into creamy sauce; for example, if you toss them with hot pasta (photo #7).
 
Loire-Style Cheese Wheels

In the style of goat cheese wheels from the Loire, these vegan wheels are ready to enjoy with a glass of wine and a baguette or crackers (photo #3):

 
More Cheese Styles

Mozzarella, fresh or smoked: for a vegan Caprese salad, panini or pizza.

Rustic Alpine is made in the semi-hard style of Alpine cheeses: nutty flavor with sweet overtones. You can melt it into fondue or grate it into risotto.
 
Farmhouse cheeses are sliceable and uses beyond crackers and bread:

 
Roadhouse cheeses, the type served in European beer gardens, are spreadable, a perfect pairing with beer or wine, bread, crackers, and soft pretzels (photo #4).

Or, put a few cheeses together for a memorable experience. (National Vegan Day is November 1st.)
 
 
VEGAN DAIRY SUBSTITUTES YOU CAN MAKE

Miyoko’s cookbook, Artisan Vegan Cheese, has recipes for the above products as well as vegan creme fraiche, ricotta, sliceable cheeses, sour cream and yogurt.

The book has recipes to incorporate the products into appetizers, entrees, and desserts; for example, vegan Caprese salad, eggplant parmesan, mac and cheesecake.

You can find it on Amazon.

Discover more at Miyokos.com.

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*Other organic ingredients include, for the Loire-style cheeses: chickpea miso, cultures, herbs, nutritional yeast, rice miso, vegetables, sea salt and spices. For the European-style vegan butter: cultures, sunflower oil, sunflower lecithin and sea salt.

†While we are an omnivore, we are a “partial vegan.” Concerned about the planet and greenhouse gasses, we make vegan choices where we can. A vegan dish is just as delicious as one with animal protein.