[2] Another popular fall combination: endive, pear, and maple-candied walnuts (photo © Barrel and Ashes [permanently closed]).

For inspiration, check the websites of salad cafes like Fresh & Co., Just Salad and Sweetgreen

At Just Salad, the fall menu includes:

 
At Sweetgreen, a fall highlight is:

 
Other favorite fall ingredients:

 
In addition to Recipe #1, Fall Salad, there’s a fall cheese course recipe below, along with a recipe for lime-flavored salt.
 
 
RECIPE #1: FALL SALAD WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS & SQUASH

Here’s another yummy idea from Sweetgreen: the Chicken + Brussels salad with roasted brussels sprouts, chopped romaine, mesclun, roasted chicken, sweet potatoes, and cranberry vinaigrette.

You can serve it with or without the protein, the former as a lunch salad, the latter as a side salad with dinner.

We didn’t have cranberry vinegar, so used pear balsamic vinegar—another fall touch (so is fig balsamic vinegar).
 
Ingredients

FLAVORED BALSAMIC VINEGAR

If you like balsamic vinegar, try flavored balsamics. They add sweetness without significant calories.

Here’s a sampler of organic balsamic vinegars in fig, pear, pomegranate and raspberry; and another sampler of apple cinnamon, blood orange, mango and pomegranate balsamics (not organic).
 

Turn your salad course into a cheese course with the addition of…cheese. In France, a salad with cheese is a popular follow-up to the main dish.

This one, from the Oyster Club in Mystic, Connecticut, is perfect for fall, with a delicious balance of flavors. Bloomy-rinded cheeses can have a subtle mushroomy undertone: perfect for fall.

Just roast the vegetables, toast the nuts, make the vinaigrette (olive oil and lime juice), and assemble the plate (see photo #3).

Ingredients For 4 Servings

 
If you’re not a fan of bloomy rind cheeses, any hearty cheese is fall-appropriate: aged cheddar, blue cheeses, Comte, real Swiss cheeses, washed rind cheeses.

Much as we love them, leave the fresh goat cheeses for spring.

Check out the different types of cheeses in our Cheese Glossary.
 
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*Bloomy rind cheeses have soft, often fuzzy, edible rinds that are a result of the introduction of molds like Penicillium candidum. They are known for the white color and mushroomy flavor of the rind. The two best-known examples are Brie, Camembert, and triple-crèmes. Bloomy rind cheeses are generally aged for two weeks, which produces a mild flavor and subtle aroma.

With a triple crème, the cream is added to the milk to create the richest, most buttery group of cheeses. Triple crèmes are a type of bloomy rind cheese and also are aged for about two weeks. In order to qualify as a triple-créme, the cheeses must have more than 72% butterfat content, which provides a smooth texture. As with other cheeses that have short aging periods, the flavors are mild and the aromas are subtle. Examples include Brillat-Savarin, Explorateur, and St. André. This group of cheeses pairs well with Champagne and other sparkling wines.
_______________________
 
RECIPE #3: LIME SEA SALT

It’s easy to make flavored sea salt at home. This recipe is from TheThingsILove.com.

While you can buy lime sea salt, it lacks the fresh lime zest which adds a punch of flavor and color.

If it seems like too much work for just a sprinkle: Lime sea salt is a terrific Margarita glass rimmer, a real step up!
 
Ingredients

[3] A fall cheese plate (photo © Oyster Club).

[4] Bloomy-rind cheeses (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[5] Lime sea salt (photo © These Things I Love).

1. PREHEAT the oven to 200°F. Combine the sea salt, lime juice, and zest in a small bowl. Spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

2. BAKE for 15-20 minutes, until the salt looks dry but not brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

3. BREAK up any clumps that may have formed. Store in an airtight container.

4. SPRINKLE a bit on the plate as a colorful element.
 
 

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[1] Roast chicken with grapes, recipe below (photos #1 and #3 courtesy Good Eggs). [2] Asian chicken salad with grapes, showing how a pop of color from red or purple grapes would have given the dish more eye appeal (photo courtesy California Table Grape Commission). [3]Use red grapes to add color, green grapes to pop in darker dishes, or a mix.

But how about savory dishes? Versatile grapes fit easily into everything from roast duck to risotto.

In addition to snacking, cheese, and fruit kabobs, consider:

Sandwiches, sliced onto everything from grilled cheese to chicken salad to bagels and cream cheese

 
For Dessert

 
For Cocktails

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Salt and pepper each side of the chicken and set aside.

2. ADD 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to the bottom of a deep rectangular roasting dish; swirl it to lightly coat the bottom of the dish. Arrange the potatoes in a layer, slightly overlapping just the edges. Sprinkle the potatoes with salt.

3. TOSS the grapes, olives, shallots and rosemary in a bowl with a few pinches of salt. Pour over the potatoes and spread the grapes into a single layer.

4. PLACE the chicken on top of the grapes, leaving a few inches of space between each piece of chicken.

5. BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring the grape mixture occasionally. If anything starts to brown too much, cover the dish with foil. The chicken is done when you insert a knife and the juices run clear. Eat immediately—although this one is great the next day for lunch too …
 
________________
*We use a terrific, super-thick and chunky blue cheese dressing from Kathryn’s Cottage. You can use another blue cheese dressing and mix it with regular or whipped cream cheese for the desired consistency, or make your own from scratch.

RECIPE #2: PAN SAUCE WITH GRAPES

Use this sauce with braised, pan-fried or roasted chicken, duck, fish, pork or scallops. Just deglaze the pan and add the grapes.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. REMOVE the cooked protein and add the grapes, wine and rosemary to the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping the skillet to incorporate the fond (the browned bits that stick to the pan). Boil until syrupy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. ADD the chicken broth and any juices that have drained from the meat. Boil, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about half, another 3 to 4 minutes.

3. REDUCE the heat to low and add the butter; swirl it in the pan until melted. It’s ready to serve, over or under the meat.
 
RECIPE #3: ROASTED GRAPES AS A SIDE & DESSERT

This tasty dish can be a side or topping with roasted or grilled fish, meat and poultry. Also use roasted grapes in fruit salad, as a dessert topping, or as the dessert itself, topped with a dab of mascarpone.

You can also make an easy grape tart or tartlets.
 
Ingredients

[4] Use roasted or pickled grapes as a garnish for fish (photo courtesy California Table Grape Commission). [5] It’s easy to roast grapes. Just try not to eat them all before serving time! Photo courtesy Alexandra Cooks; here’s how she uses them on crostini).

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 475°F a rack in the center of the oven and heat.

2. TOSS the grape clusters with the honey, the olive oil, zest and salt. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast, turning halfway through, until they collapse and are somewhat caramelized, about 15 minutes.

4. SERVE the roasted grapes warm for mains, warm or room temperature for desserts. , with a dollop of the sweetened mascarpone.
 
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†You can use another spirit that complements the protein. For dessert, consider a complementary liqueur (orange, raspberry, etc.).
  

[2] These carrot pancakes, with salted yogurt, are gluten free. Here’s therecipe from Jessica Koslow at Bon Appetit (photo © Bon Appetit | Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott).

[3] You don’t need to use wheat. Check out these flours (photo courtesy ).

September 26th is National Pancake Day. Normally, we’d make our favorite: buttermilk pancakes topped with smoked salmon, crème fraîche and chopped dill.

We’d love them with a topping caviar: We’ll have that daily when our ship comes in.

But until then, we’re not highbrow: Another favorite is chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips, topped with bananas and sour cream.)

Today’s tip is: Take a fresh look at pancakes.

Cultures around the world eat pancakes, both sweet and savory. Some have them as a main dish, some enjoy them as street food.

There are so many choices from East to West:

 
Click the links above for the recipes.

And take a look at the different types of pancakes in our Pancake Glossary.

 
SAVORY PANCAKE TEMPLATE: CREATE YOUR OWN

1. SELECT a flour:

 
2. ADD your favorite ingredients:

 
3. PICK your toppings:

 
4. FRY and serve.

We love this article from National Geographic, and recommend it as a short read on the history of pancakes.

Archaeologists have discovered grains on 30,000-year-old grinding tools, suggesting that Stone Age man might have been eating grains mixed with water and cooked on a hot rock.

While the result not have looked like the modern crepe, hotcake, or flapjack, the idea was the same: a flat cake, made from batter and fried.

Ancient Greeks and Romans ate pancakes topped with honey, and a Greek reference mentions toppings of cheese and sesame as well.

These foods were not called pancakes, but the first mention of “pancake” in an English dictionary dates to the 16th century: a cake made in a pan.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “Flat as a pancake” has been a catchphrase since at least 1611.

For the rest of the pancake’s journey to modern times, head to National Geographic.

✔ Smoked salmon with dilled cream cheese: check.

✔ Great brunch food: check.

? Homemade biscuits, warm from the oven: check?

With all the good bread options available at retail, including refrigerated rolls biscuits, the art of the homemade-from-scratch biscuit is practiced less and less often.

Why not make one Sunday a month Biscuit Sunday, rotating among favorites: baking powder biscuits, buttermilk biscuits, cheddar-chipotle biscuits, cream biscuits, ham biscuits, maple-bacon biscuits, rye biscuits, sausage rolls, sourdough-onion-sundried tomato biscuits, and so forth?

You can find recipes for all of these at KingArthurFlour.com.

It comes to us from Vital Choice, where it was provided by Kevin Lynch of Closet Cooking. Kevin says:

“The dilled buttermilk biscuits came together quickly and filled my place with an amazing dilly aroma while baking. The biscuits are nice and light and go perfectly with the smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, and watercress filling.”

> Types Of Biscuits

> Types Of Gravy

> More Biscuit Recipes
 
 
RECIPE: DILL BISCUITS WITH SMOKED SALMON, CRESS & DILL SPREAD

This recipe comes to us from Vital Choice, developed by Kevin Lynch of ClosetCooking.com.

With their red-and-green accents, they also make a nice holiday biscuit.

You can also make bite-size versions to serve with red, white or sparkling wine.

Ingredients For 8 Biscuit Sandwiches

For The Biscuits

 
For The Filling

[2] Use fresh dill (photo © Paper Chef).

[3] Smoked Nova Scotia salmon from Zabar’s. Here’s the difference between smoked salmon and lox (photo © Zabar’s).

[4] Cream biscuits. Here’s the recipe from King Arthur Flour (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[5] Ham and smoked Gouda biscuits served with maple butter. Here’s the recipe from the National Pork Board (photo © National Pork Board).

[6] Baking powder biscuits and marmalade (photo © iGourmet.com).

Preparation

1. MAKE the biscuits. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. MIX the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix in the butter and toss until coated in flour. Add the dill and just enough buttermilk to form a sticky dough.

3. PLACE the dough on a lightly floured surface and form a disc about 1 inch thick. Cut the biscuits from the dough and place on a baking sheet. Brush the melted butter on top of the biscuits.

4. BAKE until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. While the biscuits bake…

5. MAKE the filling. Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, dill and lemon zest in a bowl. When the biscuits are still warm but cool enough to work with…

6. SPREAD the dill on both cut sides of the each biscuit. Assemble with smoked salmon, watercress and optional tomato slice in the the center.
 
 
BUTTERMILK SUBSTITUTE

If you won’t use more than the cup required in this recipe, it may make sense to make your own.

For 1 cup of buttermilk, substitute 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup.

But first, here’s what else you can do with leftover buttermilk:

 
 
CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BREAD IN OUR
BREAD GLOSSARY

And while you’re at it…

> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUTTER

> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF JAM & JELLY

Biscuits and rolls are both made from flour, fat (butter, shortening, olive oil), liquid (buttermilk, cream, milk, water), and salt (some rolls do not contain fat).

What’s the difference?

Biscuits are risen with chemical leavening (baking powder); rolls are risen with yeast bread.
 
 

If you can’t cook or want to entertain but can’t be both cook and hostess, you can still serve a feast in your own home—no assistance necessary.

As long as you can turn on the oven, you can serve a splendid repast any meal of the day, thanks to Babeth’s Feast gourmet frozen foods.

You can serve them the day they arrive, or put them in the freezer for future feasting

THE FEAST BEGINS…

Elisbeth, founder of Babeth’s Feast, discovered premium frozen food while living in Paris. French people shop daily for fresh ingredients to cook.

But they also frequent frozen food specialty stores. Elegantly prepared frozen foods enable them to serve more elaborate meals, just by turning on the oven.

To eat at home and entertain friends in style, she began to purchase frozen hors d’oeuvres by the dozen to host effortless cocktail parties. On weekends, she created elaborate brunch buffets from frozen breakfast pastries, meats, soups, quiches and desserts.

She became a champion of the power of flash-frozen foods to provide the flavor, quality, connection and convenience that busy people need.

To these prepared foods she added her own salad and wine, and friends never suspected the food was ready-made. These Sunday gatherings became known as “Babeth’s Feast.”
 
…BUT NOT IN THE U.S.A., UNTIL…

Upon moving to New York, Elisabeth was chagrined that no elegant frozen-food store could be found. She—and the entire European expat community—really missed that easy option.

Ordering in just couldn’t compare, and calling a caterer was cost-prohibitive.

Wanting the ease, the spontaneity and the quality selection, Elisabeth/Babeth decided to bring a premium frozen food store to her new hometown. After careful sourcing and extensive recipe development, she opened Babeth’s Feast, a shop on the Upper East Side.

And on the Internet.

Whether for fancy entertaining or simpler dinners for every day, you can dine as if you had a cook. (You do: Babeth and her team.)

A selection of 300 dishes span breakfast, brunch, lunch, cocktails and dinners.

Brunch with your favorite dishes, and no effort except heating. [2] Fine hors d’oeuvres with cocktails couldn’t be easier (photos courtesy Babeth’s Feast).

And it’s proof that you can’t tell the difference between flash-frozen foods and made-from-scratch (we challenge you, Gordon Ramsay!). They deliver flavor, quality and convenience to fine dining* at home.

So claim full credit for yourself, or let guests in on your secret. Babeth endorses both options.
 
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*It doesn’t have to be “fine.” There are plenty of choices for people who prefer mac and cheese, burgers and fries.

Did you make this rack of lamb dinner? Or this family-friendly salmon? Sure you did: You turned on the oven, didn’t you? (Photos courtesy Babeth’s Feast).

We received the gift of an entire feast for THE NIBBLE team:

 
For dinner alone, there are 15 meat and poultry choices, 10 fish and seafood choices, numerous sides from prepared vegetable dishes (Butternut Squash Crumble, Cauliflower Gratin), 10 different types of potatoes, 13 plain vegetables and 11 grains.

Desserts are individual portions, from American favorites like lava cake, chocolate soufflé and lemon meringue tartlets, to French pastries like Opéra Gâteau.

There are dairy-free, gluten-free and vegetarian options.
 
Can’t decide?

There are samplers in every category with the three best-sellers.

You can get servings for one, for a group, and kids portions.
 
HOW TO ENJOY YOUR OWN BABETH’S FEAST

NYC store: 1422 3rd Avenue between 80th and 81st Streets, Manhattan

Website: BabethsFeast.com

Phone: 1.877.968.3327

See more food photos at Facebook.com/BabethsFeast.

It’a a terrific gift for birthdays, anniversaries, new baby parents, new movers, and anyone who’d enjoy fine dining at home.

Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentin’s Day, and other times when you want to spend time with people instead of the stove.

And as a holiday gift?

Just yesterday, as we were describing Babeth’s Feast to a friend, she said: “Give me the URL. [The adult kids] send us Omaha Steaks every year for Christmas and we’d like something else.”

And yes, we’d like MORE!