A while back an unexpected cardboard box from San Francisco arrived just before Christmas. Inside was a passel of humongous Dungeness crabs on ice which were promptly transformed into the Silver Palate's sublime crab mousse. Filling out the shipment was a bunch of large Meyer lemons plucked from my friend's small backyard on the sloping hills of the Mission neighborhood. (I … [Read more...]
READERS’ CHOICE: 2012 BEST READ AND MOST LOVED RECIPES
Here at Spectacularly Delicious we strive to present a little bit of something for everybody -- in the USA and the big wide world beyond. With our 2012 readership growing in such far flung reaches as Fiji, Laos and Azerbaijan perhaps, just maybe, we are inching along toward that goal. So let's close out the year with a look at the most popular stories and recipes visited by … [Read more...]
Pomegranate Cranberry Mustard: A Spectacular Home Made Christmas Gift!
Introducing SpecD's all-new Christmas 2012 mustard recipe: Pomegranate Cranberry Mustard! Home made mustard is just about the most perfect "loving hands at home" food gift one could ever hope for: - Surprisingly easy! - Wonderfully adaptable, so you can add whatever fruits and spices that strike your fancy!! - Joyfully inexpensive when you buy mustard seeds in bulk … [Read more...]
CHRISTMAS HORSERADISH
Foodstuffs pegged "Christmas" had better have some red and green in it -- as does this recipe for Christmas Horseradish, a pungent mix of thick shreds of fresh horseradish root speckled with bits of hot jalapenos and sweet red pepper. The ideal Christmas Eve dinner stars a hefty standing rib roast, gloriously rosy-red and juicy in the center cuts, with well-done end-cuts … [Read more...]
APPLE CRANBERRY PUMPKIN KETCHUP
Popular wisdom holds that motherhood, baseball and apple pie are about as American as American can be. Conspicuously missing from this list is ketchup. Whether it's old school Heinz or newfangled mash-ups like this recipe for Apple Cranberry Pumpkin Ketchup, ketchup has earned a place high up on the roster of What Makes This The Greatest Nation on Earth. Ketchup's roots are … [Read more...]
RECIPE: APPLE CRANBERRY PUMPKIN KETCHUP
Makes 8 cups This recipe is easiest when using a slow cooker such as a Crock Pot. If you don't have one, you can prepare this in a heavy dutch oven either on the stove top or in a hot oven, taking care to keep the heat even and low, stirring occasionally to to prevent scorching. 8 tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2" pieces 1 1/2 c. cooked pumpkin pureé (a 15 … [Read more...]
WILD CRANBERRY AND ORANGE SAUCE
The wild in this recipe for Wild Cranberry Sauce with Oranges refers to freshly picked crimson berries from your local natural bog. Napeague, the untamed stretch between East Hampton and Montauk, is home to the majestic Walking Dunes. Why "walking?" The undulating series of nearly 100' tall sand dunes, created by hurricanes and nor'easters, continually creep southward, … [Read more...]
HOT PICKLED OKRA
In my experience okra pickled with jalapeño makes for a much hotter pickle than one might expect. Don't know why, don't much care. Some like it hot and I am one of those some ones. HOT PICKLED OKRA Recipe - Makes 1 quart 1 pint fresh okra 3 jalapeño peppers 3 c. white vinegar 1 t. salt 1 T. sugar 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed Accordingly, people have paid … [Read more...]
MEXICAN CORN RELISH: A BIG BATCH BUSHEL RECIPE
Did I learn this recipe for corn relish when I lived in Mexico? No. But to me, "Mexican" indicates that some combination of cilantro, jalapeno, chipotle, serrano, cumin, oregano, lime and garlic feature prominently in the flavor profile. And of course corn is as Mexican as can be. Ask any Aztec. So whether or not this corn relish is anything like what might grace the tables … [Read more...]
WINNER! AMERICA’S ULTIMATE STRAWBERRY JAM
Once again Spectacularly Delicious took center stage at the astonishingly gorgeous 5th Annual House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year in Rockefeller Center. SpecD oversaw the fierce battle (state against state, blog against blog, USA against Canada) for the title of America's Ultimate Strawberry Jam Recipe. During the open-to-the-public judging my most excellent team of culinary … [Read more...]