Western Mass has reverted back to winter. Back to roasting and comfort.

The simplest dessert is a bowl of raw fruit. To cheer it up, it is useful to have some homemade cookies around, especially some that will keep in an air-tight container. (Adding a heel of stale bread to the container helps to keep the cookies fresh.) These three out-of-the-ordinary cookies—if a macaroon can be called a cookie—are versatile enough to go with many flavors.

Recipe: Ginger Wafers (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)
Recipe: Chocolate Macaroons (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)
Recipe: Classic Ladyfingers (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)

(This is the fifth installment of The Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology.)

I make a soufflé once a month, usually on a Sunday. Yesterday morning, it was dreary and rainy and I had a few fresh eggs on hand, so I decided to whip one up.

Before I started, I looked back at my last soufflé-related post. I wanted to follow that recipe as closely as I could to see if I got the same results. I didn’t have parmesan in the house, but I did have a big wedge of emmental.

Coarsely grated, the emmental seamlessly substituted for the parmesan—until I got to the 5th step of the recipe:

5. Butter a medium soufflé dish, and pour the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan into the buttered dish. Pick up and rotate the dish so the parmesan coats its bottom and sides. Pour the soufflé mixture into the prepared dish.

I knew that the parmesan clinging to the sides of the dish acted like a scaffolding, helping the soufflé rise. But would strips of coarsely grated emmental encourage or impede the rising process? I decided to press the emmental against the sides of the dish to find out.

The soufflé ended up rising higher with emmental than it did with parmesan. (It fell faster, too). Does emmental make a better (at least in the short term) scaffolding than grated parmesan? Or was it the freshness of the eggs? Or the weather? Or something else?

Recipe: Parmesan Soufflé (Cookthink
Reference: What is a soufflé? (Cookthink)

Though we can never remember what the difference is between sardines and anchovies, we’re always happy with either. Sardines are an intense source of flavor (as well as Omega-3s) and the subject of Root Source Challenge #13.

Our favorite recipe featuring sardines will be featured in the Root Source and published on Cookthink.com. The author will receive a copy of Sweet Myrtle & Bitter Honey, by Efisio Farris.

Submissions are due by 12pm EST Tuesday, May 13. Send us an email to rootsourcechallenge [AT] cookthink [DOT] com with your name, email address, blog URL and a permalink to the recipe. Please put “Root Source Challenge #13: Sardines” in the subject line of your email. Click here for the complete rules and to see past winners. Good luck!

(Thanks to The Lisa Ekus Group for providing us with books for the Root Source Challenge.)

A chewy, doughy disc of bread. Now, with pockets.

We had some incredible entries to the root source. Ivy, of Kopiaste, submitted our favorite recipe, Sheftalia in Cyprus Pita. We can’t wait to get our hands on some caul fat to try it out.

Also whetting our appetites? There was a gorgeous Tuscan Style Pita Pizza from Wine Imbiber. We’ll be picking up some lamb this week to try We Are Never Full’s Lebanese Spiced Lamb Smothered in a Garlic-Yogurt-Pomegranate Sauce and The Culinary Chase’s Turkish Lamb, Feta and Spinach Melts. We’re also excited about this Deconstructed Duck Fattoush from Notes from a Kitchen. Thanks to them and to everyone else who submitted.

After all this eating, we’re going to need a stiff drink. Good thing bourbon is the subject of this week’s Root Source Challenge. Top off our glass with your best bourbon recipes. Submissions are due Tuesday.

Remember when Jack McDavid regularly schooled Bobby Flay on Grillin’ & Chillin’? (Actually, I don’t know that he “regularly schooled” him, but he definitely seemed to have more fun.)

The set-up of that show, which aired during the Food Network’s early glory days, was simple: McDavid, the country boy, used charcoal, while Flay, the city slicker, used gas. Each show, they played off of one central ingredient or dish, and then just kind of ribbed each other. Jack was a bumpkin who couldn’t control his heat. Bobby was a pansy who cared more about presentation than flavor. It never got old.

I was thinking about that show recently because we’re in the market for a grill. We moved last week (just down the street) and are finally getting settled. Last night, we cooked dinner for the first time in the new kitchen—simmered red curry barramundi. With a high today of 81F and the nights still cool, I’m itching to cook some meat over fire and relax.

The problem is that I don’t know a thing about buying grills. I’ve been using a neighbor’s low-end gas grill for the past few years, and while it’s worked fine, I’m thinking it’s time to get my McDavid on. Brys recommends this Weber One-Touch Gold charcoal grill (as do 74 Amazon reviewers).

Any thoughts?

So far, Angus has happily gummed everything we’ve given him. Peas have gone down the slowest though.

So many of the dishes we cook—soups, stews, braises, sauces, sautés, ragouts, stir-fries, and pastas come to mind—need some kind of liquid to give them body and help the cooking along.

Homemade chicken broth is delicious, but it takes a while to make, and can overpower dishes that don’t otherwise have chicken in them. Vegetable broth is relatively easy to throw together with a pot of water, a handful of leftover vegetables and herbs, some salt, pepper and 20 minutes of active work.

It occurred to me the other day that I ought to make vegetable broth more often. Here’s how I got started:

(more…)

In case you missed these mentions, here’s a short round-up of recent Cookthink.com-related press:

Last week, Mark Bittman featured Cookthink.com at his Bitten blog: “Are these recipes keepers?” (Congratulations, Mark, on the IACP Award for How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.)

In it May issue (on newsstands now), the Canadian lifestyles magazine Wish listed Cookthink.com as one of its 5 food trends you need to keep an eye out for right now. (Also listed: a microwave-in-a-drawer that may have Kristin reconsidering.

As devoted readers of dwell, we were excited yesterday to see Audrey Tempelsman’s post about Cookthink at the Dwell.com Kitchen Blog. “As a self-admitted epicurious.com addict, I’m loath to turn to other cooking sites for help,” she wrote. “But cookthink is worth a mention…” Thanks Audrey.

Finally, Chow’s Tea Austen Weaver picked up the Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology, the new project we’re working on with one of our favorite cookbook authors.

If you’ve discovered Cookthink through one of these sources, welcome! We’re glad you’re here. Be sure to sign up for a free Cookthink account.

A sorbet of one kind or another makes a perfect ending to rich meals. Sometimes, when I’m feeling lazy, I use an ice cream maker, the electric kind. I have the mixture prepared and refrigerated, and then I freeze it as we eat.

In the absence of an ice cream maker, you can freeze sorbet in a metal ice cube tray. It takes longer to freeze, but is also easy. Just before the semi-cubes are fully frozen, throw them into a food processor or mixer. Put back in the freezer until set. All of these are best freshly made.

The most basic element of most sorbets is the simple syrup, a combination of sugar and water brought to the boil and boiled for five minutes. The most ordinary mixture is one part water to one part sugar, but this can vary to two parts water to one part sugar (or alternatively two parts sugar to one part water). Remember: the greater the amount of sugar (or of alcohol) the slower the freezing.

A lighter syrup—less sugar—should be used with small amounts of liquid flavoring, for instance lemon juice and grated lemon zest. Heavier syrups should be used with a large amount of fruit puree such as pineapple (one of my favorites) or strawberry, usually with lemon juice added to maintain an acid balance.

Unlike a sorbet, a granita is not meant to be smooth, but somewhat crystalline. It is usually made in an ice cube tray without the dividers (a metal pie plate would work as well). As the mixture nears freezing, it is mushed up with a fork. This is done again just before serving. Granita is often served with whipped cream and a straw.

A less common but sensational technique is to us an Italian meringue instead of a simple syrup. The meringue is also cooked on top of the stove, but it is more work than a simple syrup. It’s also more stable and will make the sorbet keep longer. The same procedure will work with other fruit purées.

Recipe: Chocolate Sorbet (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)
Recipe: Lemon Granita (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)
Recipe: Extra Smooth And Fluffy Strawberry Sorbet (Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology)
Related: What’s the best tasting sorbet you’ve ever had? (Cookthink blog)

(This is the fourth installment of The Barbara Kafka Dessert Anthology.)