Welcome back!  Today, we have an fresh and easy Italian dish: Caprese Salad! Caprese salad is possibly the most iconic Italian dish that isn't also loaded with carbs: it's really just cheese, tomatoes, and basil. These are also the three colors that make up the Italian flag, as well as the three ingredients that you find on the classic margherita pizza. There's just something refreshing about eating the juicy tomato with the creamy mozzarella together; plus, it's super healthy! Caprese Salad Ingredients: Fresh mozzarella cheese Tomato Basil leaves Extra virgin olive oil Balsamic vinegar Directions: Slice the mozzarella and tomato into similar sized slices. Aim for about a quarter of an inch. Pick and wash some basil leaves. Arrange the ingredients in the pattern of tomato, cheese, and then basil. Drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. Balsamic vinegar isn't always a necessary addition, but we found it to be a nice flavor contrast with the rest of the in...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a recipe for a delicious summer treat: Fruit Tart! When you find yourself with a wide range of fresh fruit - especially berries - you can put this dessert together for a dish that everyone will love. In addition to the fruit topping, you'll need a tart crust, obviously, and a nice pot of creme patissiere. In a way, that makes this rather similar to our Apple Tart  recipe, but the preparation is still slightly different! Fruit Tart Makes a 10" tart Ingredients: For the crust: 90 grams unsalted butter, softened 20 grams sugar 35 grams powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 20 grams almond flour 150 grams all-purpose flour For the filling: 2 cups milk 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cake flour 2 tablespoons corn starch 4 egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla pod For the topping: Fresh fruit, like berries, peaches, kiwis, mangoes, or whatever is in season. Directions: Prepare the crust as specified in our Sweet Tart Crust rec...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a recipe for a baking essential: Creme Patissiere, aka Pastry Cream! Creme Patissiere is a type of custard that is used in a wide variety of delectable desserts, like Fruit Tarts or Cream Puffs. It's a technique that you'll want to develop in order to broaden your repertoire of baked goods, but thankfully, it's not hard at all to master. Creme Patissiere Ingredients: 2 cups milk 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cake flour 2 tablespoons corn starch 4 egg yolks 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean Directions: Take the cake flour, corn starch, and 1/2 cup of milk and mix until there are no specks of flour left. The mixture should be very smooth. Put the egg yolks into this mixture and mix them in smoothly. Put the rest of the milk (1 1/2 cup) and the sugar in another pot. If you're using vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the pot, adding the pod in as well. Heat this on a stove and mix.  Once the milk is bubbling slightly...

Welcome back!  Today, we have another crust recipe: this time for sweet tarts! When making our Fruit Tart , we came across two distinct ways to prepare the crust: one being a pate sablée , the other being a pate sucrée . Pate sablée  involves forming more of a crumble with diced cold butter mixed with flour while pate sucrée  is made by creaming softened butter with sugar. Since it seemed that either was acceptable for our tarts and our previous Pie Crust recipe used a pate sablée , we decided to go for a pate sucrée  this time. Sweet Tart Crust Makes a 10" crust Ingredients: 90 grams unsalted butter, softened 20 grams sugar 35 grams powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg 20 grams almond flour 150 grams all-purpose flour You could also use only sugar or only powdered sugar, just be sure to use 55 grams total. Directions: In a bowl, cream the butter with sugar, powdered sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg. Add in the almond flour and sifted fl...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a recipe for high-end dining at home: Ahi Tuna Tower! Ahi tuna towers are defined by their layers of fresh and delicious sashimi-inspired ingredients. Although there isn't as much cooking involved - the fish is raw, of course - preparing this dish like you would see in a restaurant takes careful touch and an eye for visual balance. You'll actually see three different ways that we prepared this tuna tower, all with slightly different arrangements - hopefully you can get some inspiration for how you can put this dish together. Ahi Tuna Tower Makes 4 towers Ingredients: These ingredients are for a layer of mango/cucumber, avocado, crab salad, and tuna in each tower. For garnishes, you might need some extra, and if you want to edit what's in each stack, then you might need to change the proportions. 12 ounces sashimi-grade tuna, diced For the sauce - check out our  Poke  recipe for several examples 2 mangoes, diced 1 mini cucumber, diced (or Pers...

Welcome back! Today, we have an awesome Hawaiian dish: Poke! This is a pretty simple dish that revolves around raw fish (we used salmon) in a sauce. Poke actually has a long history; it has always been a traditional food of the Hawaiians, but with the arrival of many Asian, and particularly Japanese, immigrants, the seasonings that we see today are heavily borrowed from Asian cuisine, like with soy sauce and sesame seeds. Anyways, it's a great way to enjoy some raw fish in a way that is a little more special than just eating sashimi by itself. Salmon Poke Ingredients: 1 pound salmon, sashimi grade, cut into small cubes Sauces (each is good for one pound of salmon): #1: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar #2: 1 tablespoon mayo 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce #3: 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon wasabi #4: 1 tablespoon spicy yuzu sauce (we had some from Trader Joe's) Topping: 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds 1 tablespoon sc...

Welcome back!  Today, we have a fun little cookie-like recipe: Ladyfingers! Actually, ladyfingers are more cake-like in their preparation, but since the resulting product is typically thin and dry, it passes more for a cookie. That being said, this is a great way to enjoy cake in a more bite-sized and also crunchy fashion, though it's more usual to see these used within another dessert, such as Tiramisu  or Charlotte cake, for example. Ladyfingers Makes about 36 ladyfingers Ingredients: 2 egg yolks 20 grams sugar 2 egg whites 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar 30 grams sugar 40 grams cake flour 10 grams corn starch Powdered sugar Directions: Separate the yolks and whites of two eggs into two bowls. In the bowl with the egg yolks, add 20 grams of sugar and whisk until it is pale and thickened. Whisk the egg whites in their bowl. After they have been whipped up a little, add the lemon juice/vinegar and slowly add in the sugar and mix. Whisk until it reaches stiff peaks. Gently ...