Recipes

Ever notice how hand-shaped burger patties rarely stay flat when grilled?

The major "eating" holidays are coming to a fast close after Valentine's day, but that doesn't mean that I'm entertaining at home any less. I still want to serve festive looking desserts to my friends without weighing down their digestion or tempting them to break their New Year's resolutions.

When I make a lighter dessert, of course, I think about calories, but what about flavor, enjoyment, and taste. Aren't these the things we are all looking for in food? Eating locally and in season is another great way to get more enjoyment out of cooking the dishes and desserts you love so. That's why I picked grapefruit for this week's dessert recipe, because it is prime growing season.

I'm a sucker for a graham cracker crust and most store-bought versions are good, but it's so simple to make one yourself. In this recipe, the cinnamon in this crust plays off the tartness without clashing. Kefir is easy to find in your local health food store and has ten probiotic cultures that aren't damaged through freezing.

Get the recipe after the jump.

On a cold, wintry night, nothing warms you up more than a soft, roasted apple. These fruity delights have a deepened flavor that pairs perfectly with a seasonal cheese plate or can be served as simple, no-fuss desserts.

These apples, created by Sebastian Mary, are covered in a red wine sauce and served with roasted almonds and walnuts. To recreate this stunning presentation, peel the apple after it's roasted and slice it into 1/2-inch segments. Pile the slices on top of each other and pour wine sauce or glaze over the top. Finish them off with your favorite nuts or raisins.

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With chatter of Angostura's shortage of bitters floating around, I chuckled as I unpacked several 16 ounce bottles I lugged in my move to Mexico. I was more pleased with myself, however, to find an old recipe for homemade grapefruit bitters in some papers while unpacking. Several years ago I made a batch that I really liked, but for the life of me, couldn't find my scribbles of what I had done.

Homemade bitters are nothing new to the cocktail scene. Even Jerry Thomas has his own bitters recipes in his 1862 Bar-Tenders Guide.

With the hang of making bitters yourself, you can relax when reports of shortages get the rest of the world all flustered.