Before there were macarons, the popular French meringue cookie sandwiches, there were macaroons.

The chewy, gluten-free* coconut cookies are a delight year-round, but especially appreciated by Passover observers.

Made of shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, and egg whites—without the flour or leavening that are verboten during this holiday—they happily replace other baked sweets.

Dan Cohen of Danny’s Macaroons, author of The Macaroon Bible, is one of the country’s—and probably the world’s—most creative macaroon makers. Beyond his grandmother’s plain and chocolate dipped, he’s brought macaroons into the new age of flavor.

His cookies are certified kosher (by United Kosher Supervision), but are not specifically kosher for Passover. Still, those who observe the spirit of the law if not the letter of it, will enjoy every bite.

Bonus: Danny Macaroons are not jumbo like some, but a more elegant size: fewer calories!
 
 
DANNY MACAROON FLAVORS

Choices include with or without caramel, chocolate or nuts. Some flavors vary seasonally. The current choices include:

[1] Danny’s chocolate-dipped macaroons (photo from The Macaroon Bible, © Harcourt Houghton Mifflin).

[2] Use a tiered plate to show off the macaroons (photo courtesy QVC).

[3] Get the book and bake your own! Photo courtesy Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

The first macaroons were almond meringue cookies similar to today’s Amaretti di Saronno, with a crisp crust and a soft interior. They were made from egg whites and almond paste.

Macaroons traveled to France in 1533 with the pastry chefs of Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henri II. Two Benedictine nuns, Sister Marguerite and Sister Marie-Elisabeth, seeking asylum in the town of Nancy during the French Revolution (1789-1799), paid for their housing by baking and selling the macaroon cookies, and thus became known as the “Macaroon Sisters” (the French word is macaron, pronounced mah-kah-RONE).

Italian Jews adopted the cookie because it has no flour or leavening, an agent that raises and lightens a baked good, such as baking powder and baking soda (instead, macaroons are leavened by egg whites).

The recipe was introduced to other European Jews and became popular for Passover as well as a year-round sweet. Over time, coconut was added to the ground almonds in Jewish macaroons, and, in certain recipes, completely replaced them.

Coconut macaroons are more prevalent in the U.S. and the U.K.—and they’re a lot easier to make and transport than the fragile almond meringues that became the norm in France.

Here’s more macaroon history.

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*The traditional recipe is made from sweetened shredded coconut, sweetened condensed milk, egg whites, vanilla extract and salt. Different ingredients may be added to create specialty flavors. Not all of these are gluten free.
  

[2] Uncooked broccolini (photo courtesy Bodecology).

[3] For presentation, set the protein atop the cooked broccolini. Here, roast branzino with caper vinaigrette from Chef David Burke.

Not into green beer and green bagels?

A healthy green food for a St. Patrick’s Day meal is this Sautéed Lemon-Garlic Broccolini from eMeals, a recipe subscription service with 25 different meal plans for every diet (there’s a 14-day free trial).

Set a piece of your favorite protein on top or to the side: a fish fillet, sliced steak or chicken, shrimp, or another favorite.
 
 
RECIPE: LEMON-GARLIC BROCCOLINI

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini, garlic, and red pepper flakes; sauté for 4 minutes.

2. ADD the broth. Cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook 6 minutes or until tender.

3. STIR in the lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Sprinkle on the chile and serve.
 
 
BROCCOLINI VS BROCCOLI VS BROCCOLI RABE:
THE DIFFERENCE

Broccolini is not a young growth of broccoli, although it looks like small broccoli florets atop long, slender stems.

Rather, broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and gai-lan (kai-lan), a Chinese chard, both cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea, the powerful cruciferous vegetable family.

Broccolini is not a young form of either broccoli or broccoli rabe: it is a hybrid.

It can be eaten cooked or raw, and is sweeter than broccoli florets.

Though much more expensive than broccoli, there is little waste. The stems don’t even need to be trimmed.
 
The History Of Broccolini

In the late 1980s, breeders at Japan’s Sakata Seed company crossed broccoli and gai-lan and named the new vegetable asparation. Sakata partnered with a Mexican grower, and then with Mann Packing in California, to grow asparation. Mann gave it a more consumer-friendly name: broccolini.

Broccoli rabe, with which broccolini is often confused, has a profusion of leaves at the top.

Here’s how to end the confusion between…

Broccolini, Broccoli & Broccoli Rabe

 
 
HOW TO SERVE BROCCOLINI

Like broccoli and broccoli rabe, broccolini is low in calories: about 35 calories for six stems. It is a good source of calcium, folate, iron, potassium and vitamins A and C (100% DV).

Treat broccolini as you would broccoli, broccoli raab or asparagus:

 
If you want a sauce, Asian sauces like soy-ginger-sesame or ponzu, work well, as does a light mustard sauce or vinaigrette.

For a garnish, your favorites work nicely: crumbled bacon, pine nuts, seasoned breadcrumbs, etc.
 
 

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

Who says only the Easter Bunny brings colored eggs?

The St. Patrick’s Day Leprechaun (i.e., you) can also bring them.

We loved these designs from Terra’s Kitchen, a healthy meal delivery service.

You can make them for the family, or get everyone involved in designing.

Here’s how to make fancy colored eggs.

Make green hard-boiled eggs for St. Patrick’s Day (photo courtesy Terra Kitchen) | Facebook.

[3] Cook and bake to your heart’s content. How about peanut butter and jelly cups with beer jelly?

[4] Beer jelly is a delicious glaze for proteins, and makes an easy sauce.

For a few years at the big annual specialty food trade show, we’ve been enchanted by a line of artisan jellies from Potlicker Kitchen in Stowe, Vermont.

So why haven’t we written about them?

We were overwhelmed because the beer and wine jellies deserve a special focus, as do the fruit jellies and jams.

So today, we take the first step: recommendation of the beer, with the fruit and wine jellies to come in a separate article.

Potlicker started as a food blog that focused on canning. The recipes, and the acclaim they received from friends and family, evolved into a small business.

Says Nancy Warner, the jelly maestro: “The canning pot never left the stove and I turned everything I could pick, purchase, and grow into preserves.

“One very long winter and a late night of canning, I ran out of fruit to turn into jam. I turned to my fridge and cabinets, which may have been void of fruit but were reasonably well stocked with beer, wine, and booze. I knew of wine jelly and quickly whipped up some Rosemary Garlic Chablis wine jelly, after adapting a recipe from the Ball Blue Book.

“Totally thrilled with the result, I immediately knew I needed to make a beer jelly. I had never heard of beer jelly. As a craft beer lover, it was important to me to make an unadulterated beer jelly that actually looks and tastes like beer, not spices or apples.”

She succeeded!

“Eventually…I packed up my canning and a bit of baking and went to market. People loved the [jelly] flavors I made, but the beer jelly really stole the show. It was the first thing to sell out and I thought “Maybe I’m onto something.” So I just followed the path as it opened in front of me.”

We’re so glad that she did.

> The history of jelly.

> The different types of jelly and jam: a glossary.

> The history of beer.
 
 
THE BEER JELLIES

The beer jellies are made with Vermont craft beers.

What does beer jelly taste like? It tastes like the beer it’s made with, which is why you need to use great beers.

India Pale Ale Jelly has the distinct flavor profile of an IPA; a Pumpkin Ale Jelly will
 
 
HOW TO USE BEER JELLY

When you get your first jar, you’ll want to dip into it with a spoon—and that’s just fine. But, use it any way you would use jelly or preserves.

In addition to your own creations, here are suggestions and recipes:
 
As A Condiment

 
Mains & Sides

 
As A Sweet

Current flavors include:

 
Most jars are $8 for eight ounces. You can also buy 3-packs, 6-packs and 12-packs.

In fact, with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day coming up, we recommend it!

And plan ahead for the holidays, for your beer-loving friends.

Head to PotlickerKitchen.com.

Follow the blog for great recipes.
 
 

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

Today, 3/14*, has been named Pi Day: 3.14. As you learned in high school geometry, the Greek symbol is used in mathematics to represent the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, a constant which begins with 3.14159.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PI DAY

Pi Day was founded by physicist Larry Shaw in 1988; a non-binding resolution acknowledging it was passed by the United States House of Representatives In 2009.

Pi day started as an event at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where Shaw worked as a physicist.

On that first day, both staff and public marched around one of its circular spaces, and then at fruit pie. The Exploratorium continues to hold Pi Day celebrations, and the tradition expanded across countries that use the month-day format*—because who doesn’t want an excuse to eat pie?

(If you don’t like sweet pie, have a pizza pie.)

Some bakers make a pastry cut-out of the pi symbol to decorate the top crust. This ambitious baker not only did that, but added cut-outs of the first 31 digits of pi to the rim of the pi.

Here’s more about Pi Day.

Today we present a Key Lime Pie by Audra, The Baker Chick. Key limes are a sweeter, less acidic lime from the Florida Keys. They are also grown in Mexico, so are also called Mexican limes.
 

RECIPE: KEY LIME PIE

Audra adds two touches that create a more complex recipe. First, she uses salted butter instead of sweet in the crust, contributing to the salty-sweet pairing that has become so popular.

Next, she adds some sour cream to the filling, adding more dimension than the provided by the sweetened condensed milk alone. We love Audra’s recipes!

This is a quick recipe to make: just 25 minutes until it emerges from the oven. Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 15 minutes.

Ingredients For 1 Nine-Inch Pie

For The Crust

 
For The Filling

 
For The Topping

[2] Key limes are round. They can be either green or yellow-green (photo below). The more yellow, the more time they have spent ripening on the tree (photo courtesy Melissa’s).

[3] A comparison of the larger Tahitian Or Persian limes, the conventional supermarket lime, and the Key or Mexican limes (photo THE NIBBLE).