Here are recommendations from Chef Charlie Baggs, of Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations in Chicago, to which we’ve added some of our own suggestions.

The original article was written for Flavor & The Menu, a magazine and website for chefs that made these suggestions for their menu during the six weeks of Lent when seafood sales soar.

Chef Baggs offers different techniques for cooking seafood in both traditional and more modern preparations. You can try a different one every day!

Make a hearty bouillabaisse. Photo courtesy MackenzieLtd.com.

 
We’re sure we’ve left out other favorites. Don’t hesitate to let us know.
 
Read the full article about Lenten dishes on Flavor & The Menu.

Perhaps eight years ago, we saw an article in a trade magazine about a pilot pizza chain in California. All the pizza varieties were served in cones made of pizza dough. The founder’s concept was to make it easy to walk down the street eating from a cone instead of a drippy slice.

We loved the idea, but to our knowledge, the business never went anywhere.*

Recently, we discovered a pizza cone kit from Pizzacraft that enables you to turn out pizza cones at home. The kit is less than $19, is easy to use and includes everything you need to make two pizza cones at a time (you supply the food items).

You can eat most any food in a cone, and as an alternative to pizza dough, can make waffle cones on a round waffle maker or a pizzelle maker. (Leave the sugar out of the recipe unless you’re using them for dessert.)

Then, fill with any of your favorite fixings, including:

Pizza in a cone. Photo courtesy Pizzacraft.

 
Can’t wait? Neither can we!
 
*UPDATE

Right after we published this, we read today’s newsletter from Nation’s Restaurant News and learned, by pure coincidence, about Kono Pizza. The franchise chain has breakfast, lunch/dinner and dessert cones. The concept was created in Italy and is “popular around the world,” with 140 locations. The first franchise just opened in Edison, NJ, with Orlando and Iowa scheduled next.
  

Diced or minced ham is mixed with diced bell pepper, celery and onion or other favorite raw vegetables; perhaps with some hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, pickle relish or green peas; and bound with mayonnaise (we use a mayo-Dijon blend).

It’s one of those traditional Anglo-American sandwich salads, along with chicken salad, egg salad and tuna salad.

It’s also served sans bread on a bed of green salad ingredients, perhaps with a scoop of another protein salad or a starch-based salad such as potato salad, macaroni salad or chopped vegetable salad.

But there’s another, more sophisticated way to serve ham salad: as a first course with prosciutto or Serrano ham.

Prosciutto, or Parma ham, is classically served as a first course with melon in Italian cuisine.

At Olio e Piú in New York’s Greenwich Village, the chef takes a different direction, adding a salad of vinaigrette-dressed bitter greens (we like baby arugula, watercress or a mix) atop the prosciutto and topping it with some fresh-shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

WHAT ARE BITTER GREENS

Bitter greens are part of the larger family of leafy greens, which include the lettuces, known as “sweet greens.” The bitterness can be mild or strong. Greens harvested earlier in the season tend to be less bitter than more mature plants harvested later.

Many bitter greens are dark green in color, although some are pale (endive, frisée) and some are red or have red accents (amaranth, chard, radicchio). If you like your veggies, you’ve likely had more than a few of these:

Both prosciutto and Serrano hams are dry-cured: salted and hung in sheds to cure in the air. Both are served in very thin slices. Country ham, preferred in the U.S., is smoked, and a very different stye from dry-cured hams.

While prosciutto and Serrano hams can be used interchangeably, they are different.

 
MORE HAM

[2] You can place crushed peanuts in the bottom of the pan, sprinkle them on top, or mix peanut halves into the fudge for a bigger bite of peanut flavor (photo © Jif).

[3] How about Peanut Butter & Jelly Fudge? Here’s the recipe (photo © Caroline Wright for PB & Co).

[4] A double treat: Peanut Butter-Chocolate Fudge. Here’s the recipe (photo © Back For Seconds).

[5] Chocolate PB fudge with a salty garnish: crushed potato chips and pretzels! Here’s the recipe (photos #5 and #6 © Taste Of Home)

[6] How about some peanut butter fudge pie? Here’s the recipe.

March 1st is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, one of the year’s 13 PB holidays.

Combine that with 5 fudge holidays, and you get today’s recipe.

Fudge is so easy to make. You most likely have the ingredients on hand, and it will take less than 15 minutes to prepare.

Then, whenever you have a craving or need a last-minute gift, just whip up a batch.

There are different ways to make fudge, using butter, cream, whole milk, or sweetened condensed milk. This recipe, adapted from one by Alton Brown, uses butter.

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time is 4 minutes, plus two hours in the fridge.

It’s also a fun activity when you have guests, young or old.

National Peanut Month is March: 31 days to treat yourself to this easy PB fudge!

Below:

> Super-easy peanut butter fudge recipe.

> More fudge recipes.

> More fudge holidays to celebrate.
 
Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of peanut butter.

> The history of fudge.

> The year’s 13 peanut butter holidays.

> The year’s 7 peanut holidays.

> The year’s 5 fudge holidays.

> The year’s 60+ candy holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

You can customize this recipe with optional mix-ins.

Ingredients For 64 Pieces

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the butter and peanut butter in a 4-quart microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes. Use caution when removing this mixture from the microwave, it will be very hot.

2. ADD the vanilla and sugar to the peanut butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. The mixture will become hard to stir and lose its sheen. Add optional inclusions.

3. SPREAD into a buttered 8 x 8-inch pan lined with parchment paper. Fold the excess parchment paper so it covers the surface of the fudge, and refrigerate until cool, about 2 hours.

4. CUT into 1-inch pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature for a week.
 
 
MORE FUDGE RECIPES

 
 
MORE FUDGE DAYS TO CELEBRATE

 
Plus:

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day is July 25th.
 

[7] For an extra treat, top the fudge with whole or halved mini peanut butter cups (photo: The Nibble).

Dave’s Killer Bread is “the best bread in the universe,” according to the company website.

While we might add other favorite breads in the tie for “best,” Dave’s Killer Bread is up there. It’s the #1, best-selling organic bread in the U.S.

And it is, indeed, killer: all natural, whole grain breads packed with protein, fiber, omega 3 fatty acids and great flavor. Whole grain bread has never tasted better.

The line of organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, vegan whole grain breads began 10 years ago with Blues Bread (with blue cornmeal). You can tell how much the locals love “DKB”: That original loaf has expanded to 14 different killer breads ranging in flavor and texture, plus dinner rolls and a whole grain cinnamon roll. The line now sold nationwide.

We tried samples of two varieties and are converts. This is the best seeded, whole grain bread we can imagine. We wouldn’t use anything else for sandwiches and toast.

Photo courtesy Yvonne | TriedAndTasty.com.

A Cornucopia Of Delicious, Better-For-You Breads

 
What’s in those breads? Depending on the loaf, you’ll get:

 
Bread lovers: Get up, go out and get some! Here’s a store locator.

Or, order online.

Thanks, Dave, for each delicious bite.