"cooking light" news and stories

A dessert - or any food, for that matter - does not have to be exotic or outrageous to be delicious, nor are those the qualifications for it to be food porn. This Sour Cream Raspberry Swirl Loaf from Paula, a.k.a. the Cookbook Junkie, looks like something that your mother or grandmother might make to serve to family coming over for brunch and it is a good example of comfort food. You could even make it to serve to your own grandmother. The recipe comes from Cooking Light (though this picture makes it look tastier than theirs does) and can be made ahead, as it keeps well in both the fridge and freezer. A light and delicious treat is always a good thing to have on hand.

Source

I debated over what to name this dessert. The recipe that inspired it was in a recent issue of Cooking Light and was called a sorbet, but I felt that the rich, smooth taste of the dessert did not really fit the sorbet name. To me, sorbet inspires an icier treat and not a creamy one, not to mention the fact that most sorbets contain no dairy products at all. Ice creams usually have cream in them, but I think that in this case we can make an exception because the dessert, Black Cherry Buttermilk Ice Cream, is delicious enough to satisfy any ice cream lover.

I saw this recipe in an old issue of Cooking Light (from 2003) that I had lying around and it immediately caught my eye. Why I didn't make it the first time I saw it, I'll never know, but I'm glad I did it now.

Waldorf salad isn't something that you see too often, but the combination of apples, raisins, celery and walnuts is not only addictive, but crunchy and satisfying. Coleslaw, too, is crunchy and refreshing, which is why it is such a popular side to accompany rich and meaty meals. Of course, both salads are slathered in mayo, so they're not exactly healthy foods despite having low-cal ingredients. This is one of the reasons why I liked the Cooking Light recipe, since it eliminates a lot of the fat but still tastes great. Combining the elements of the two salads into Waldorf Coleslaw worked beautifully.

I have to confess that I don't really care for fish tacos, but I imagine that if I could taste these that they would change my mind. Joe, at Culinary in the Desert, whipped up a batch of these very colorful Fish Tacos based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine and if they taste even half as good as they look, they're probably outstanding. They use cod, fresh tomatoes, green onions, lime and cilantro, along with a little chili powder for some heat. The cod is cooked quickly in a skillet, so this sounds like it would work well as a summer dinner when you don't want to heat up the kitchen too much. Check out the recipe if you're interested in making them at home!

Source

If people would only look to the cookie all our problems would be solved." - Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld (The Dinner Party)

Black and White cookies are one of the best things to ever come out of New York City, where they are so popular that they could be the city’s food mascot, with thin crust pizza running a close second. At first glance, the cookie looks relatively simple, but achieving Black and White perfection isn’t, well, black and white.

A real Black and White cookie has a thick, cakelike base. It is softer than a cookie and lacks the chew that a sugar cookie – which many bakers unfortunately choose to use as their base – would have. It also is not nearly as sweet as a sugar cookie, an important element because the cookie has to stand up to the sweetness of the icing on top without overwhelming the taste buds. The icing on the top of the cookie is a key element in the Black and White, not just because it creates the color pairing that gives the cookie its name. The icing – not frosting – is a relatively thin layer of chocolate or vanilla that is poured smoothly onto the cake-like cookie. A thick glob of overly buttery or sugary frosting would upset the balance of flavors – not to mention that it just wouldn’t taste that great on a cookie.