GOOD TASTES COOKBOOK SAMPLER CONSIDER THESE COOKBOOKS FOR HOLIDAY GIFT-GIVING.MIXING UP CAKE MIXES: Want to whip up a dazzling homemade dessert in a hurry? Pick up a copy of ``Betty Crocker's Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook'' (John Wiley & Sons; $24.95). It celebrates more than 50 years of the company's cake mix history (cake mix was one of the first convenience foods) with 150 recipes, including 25 of the most requested ones from the boxes. There are all kinds of ideas for casual and special celebration cakes, cobblers, cheesecakes, coffee cakes, cookies, muffins, scones, crisps, tortes and more. In the holiday section you'll find recipes for Candy Cane Cake, Holiday Eggnog Cake, Old-Fashioned Gingerbread gingerbread In architecture and design, elaborately detailed embellishment, either lavish or superfluous. Though the term is occasionally applied to such highly detailed and decorative styles as the Rococo, it usually refers to the hand-carved and -sawn wood ornamentation of , New Year's Eve Champagne Cake, Best-Ever Fruitcake fruit·cake n. 1. A heavy spiced cake containing nuts and candied or dried fruits. 2. Slang A crazy or an eccentric person: "a fruitcake under the delusion that he was Saint Nicholas" Loaves, Snowman Cake and Gingerbread Cake Cottage. Want to make that kid-loving, all-time favorite train cake? You'll find the directions and a photo here. Or how about those ever popular frosted Cupcake Cones? Among other favorites are the Harvey Wallbanger Cake, Chocolate Turtle Cake, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Peanut-Caramel Candy Bar Cake, Ultimate Carrot Cake and Raspberry Poke Cake. Even an easy cake-mix version of the usually complicated Tres Leches Cake A Tres leches cake, or Pastel de Tres leches (literally: "cake of three milks"), is a cake or, rarely, a butter cake, soaked in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and either whole milk or cream. is in this volume. In the chapter on simple, fabulous frostings and glazes that are mostly made from scratch (only a couple use those dreadful frostings in a can), you'll also find some decorating tips (how to make rosettes, use pastry bags and decorating tips, etc.). Cookie fanciers may enjoy trying Chocolate Crinkles, Lemon Cheesecake Bars or Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies. Sprinkled throughout are colorful, tempting photographs and an array of Betty's baking tips. Nutritional information along with high-altitude directions accompany each recipe. For the cook with limited time, or one who likes to doctor up cake mixes, this user-friendly book is a must. - Natalie Haughton FABULOUS TOFFEE: The almond toffee from Enstrom Candies Inc. in Grand Junction, Colo. is irresistible. Once toffee fanciers try it, they'll be hard pressed to eat any other. The toffee is made with sweet butter, coated with milk chocolate and covered with crushed almonds. I'd highly recommend it for a wonderful, special holiday gift. The toffee should be stored refrigerated re·frig·er·ate tr.v. re·frig·er·at·ed, re·frig·er·at·ing, re·frig·er·ates 1. To cool or chill (a substance). 2. To preserve (food) by chilling. (it will keep 2 to 3 weeks) or frozen (4 to 6 months). A 1-pound box is $14.95 (plus $5.50 for standard shipping); 2-pound box, $28.75 ($5.75 shipping); 3-pound box, $41.75 ($6 shipping); 5-pound box $65.35 ($6.75 shipping). Order by Dec. 10 for guaranteed Christmas delivery by calling (800) 367-8766 or on the company Web site www.enstrom.com. The toffee is available year round, so keep it in mind for other occasions, too. - N.H. NEW VANILLA ICE CREAM: Ben & Jerry's is offering a full quart of its new Vanilla for a Change flavor for the price of a pint. The flavor is made with a special blend that includes vanilla made from beans sourced from family farms in Indonesia with help from organic agricultural experts at ForesTrade. Tasters gave the ice cream, with its rich, delicious flavor, a thumbs-up. Look for it in the freezer sections at supermarkets. - N.H. DINING OUT From such starters as his roasted cauliflower cauliflower (kô`lĭflou'ər, käl`ĭ–), variety of cabbage, with an edible head of condensed flowers and flower stems. Broccoli is the horticultural variety (botrytis); both were cultivated in Roman times. soup with a poached poach 1 tr.v. poached, poach·ing, poach·es To cook in a boiling or simmering liquid: Poach the fish in wine. oyster ($6) to an Iberian ham crepe crepe (krāp), thin fabric of crinkled texture, woven originally in silk but now available in all major fibers. There are two kinds of crepe. with rabbit confit con·fit n. 1. Meat, such as duck, that has been salted and then cooked and preserved in its own fat. 2. A condiment made by cooking seasoned fruit or vegetables, usually to a jamlike consistency. ($12), chef David Lentz makes sure diners at the new Opaline won't be bored by any copycat menu items. Opaline, situated in a burgeoning restaurant row on Beverly Boulevard, calls itself a Mediterranean-inspired bistro and is co-owned by David Rosoff, previously manager at Michael's in Santa Monica and a recognized wine expert. Lentz cooks Gulf coast snapper snapper, name for members of the Lutianidae, a family of spiny-finned food and game fishes found chiefly in tropical coastal waters. Snappers are carnivorous, active, and voracious, with large mouths and sharp teeth. Most species travel in dense schools. ($21) Catalan-style, pairs braised braise tr.v. braised, brais·ing, brais·es To cook (meat or vegetables) by browning in fat, then simmering in a small quantity of liquid in a covered container. beef cheeks with orecchiette Orecchiette is a type of pasta native to Apulia, whose shape resembles a small ear (in Italian, "ear" is orecchio). In the Taranto area it is still called by the synonym chiancarelle. pasta ($17) and utilizes Moroccan spicing with his braised pork shoulder ($18). The opal green-themed decor carries through in a full bar and casual dining area called the Den and in the main dining room featuring Pullman booths and a circular couch in the room's center. There's a special small-plate menu in the Den with 10 items priced from $4 to $8 each. Opaline's desserts ($7 each), also created by Lentz, range from a fig bread pudding to a pear and quince quince, shrub or small tree of the Asian genera Chaenomeles and Cydonia of the family Rosaceae (rose family). The common quince (Cydonia oblonga tart. The restaurant, open for lunch weekdays and dinner nightly except Sunday, is at 7450 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Reservations: (323) 857-6725 or taken online at www.opentable.com. - Larry Lipson CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) no caption (``Betty Crocker's Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook'') (2) no caption (Toffee) (3) no caption (Ben & Jerry's Vanilla for a Change ice cream) |
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