Peanut Butter Bars

Tasty, satisfying, and easier to make than cookies

Labor Day has come and gone in our part of the world, which means kids are back in school. So maybe you need some snacks for them?

Like these Peanut Butter Bars. They’re tastier than cookies – not to mention more dense and less dry. Plus, they’re easier to make because you don’t have to form individual cookies.

Best of all, kids love them! And we’ve noticed that adults can’t resist them either. That includes us. Though whether we’re kids or adults is still up for debate.

Quick Pickled Red Onions

A tasty condiment for burgers, tacos, BBQ (or anything)

Quick pickling – also called refrigerator pickling – is an easy way to pickle almost any vegetable you can think of. It’s much faster (and much less work) than the traditional canning process.

Red onions are a great choice for pickling. They make a tasty topping for burgers, tacos, and BBQ. Even scrambled eggs. You can also use them as an ingredient in wraps and sandwiches. Or add them to a cheese/charcuterie board for extra color and flavor. Or just drop them atop cream-cheese covered crackers.

Some people say you can even eat them all by themselves, out of the jar, standing in front of the refrigerator. Not that we’d ever do that. 

The Cherry Bounce Cocktail

A riff on a drink made by Martha Washington

Cherry bounce dates back at least to 17th century England – and was quite popular in colonial America. In fact, Martha Washington made a big batch every year (we provide her recipe in the Notes).

Made the traditional way, cherry bounce takes a few months to age and mature. But we can’t wait that long. So we’re offering a cocktail version that’s much faster and easier to make, while still dispensing great flavor.

Martha (and George) would approve.

Glazed Radishes

Buttery, slightly sweet, with a mild earthy note – these taste like spring

It’s radish season!

Not impressed? This recipe may change your mind.

When you glaze radishes in butter and a bit of sugar, they lose most of their sharp edge. And they develop a deep, rooty flavor that pairs particularly well with roast meats. Best of all, glazing radishes is an easy way to cook them.

So make more than you think you’ll need. Everyone will want seconds. Maybe thirds. 

Cranberry Shrub Cocktail with Bourbon

You can also make a kid-friendly version of this holiday drink

Ready for some holiday cheer? So are we.

The season calls out for cranberries, of course. And bourbon is perfect for warming a long December night. Mix them both with a tangy, vinegary shrub syrup, and you have a cocktail that even Santa can’t resist. (But we know some of his elves don’t drink, so we provide instructions for a nonalcoholic version of the cocktail, too.)

Wishing you a berry merry December.

Berry Shrub (Nonalcoholic)

Use almost any berry or fruit to make this refreshing beverage

Shrubs were all the rage during colonial times, both here in the US and in Britain.

Shrub syrup is usually made from fruit preserved with vinegar and sugar. Berries are a popular choice of fruit – and they’re our favorite.

Shrub syrups tend to be used in drinks (with or without booze). Today we’re making a nonalcoholic shrub drink, so you can serve this one to the whole family. It’s easy to make too. Just add shrub syrup to soda water and you’ll have an old-timey beverage that’s better than commercial sodas.

So mix one up and quaff like Alexander Hamilton. No wig required.

Hungarian-Style Cold Cherry Soup

Red wine livens up this summer starter

Chilled fruit soups are popular in Central and Eastern Europe. One of the best known is Hungarian meggyleves (Cold Sour Cherry Soup). It’s traditionally made from sour cherries, cream, and sweet white wine (in Hungary, that often means Tokaji).

Here in the US, it can be hard to find fresh sour cherries. But sweet Bing cherries are in season now—and abundantly available. So we use them instead of sour cherries in our recipe. And to avoid making the soup too sweet, we replace Tokaji with a drier red wine.

The result? A refreshing summer starter with outstanding flavor. And one that can provide a fun change of pace at your next dinner party—especially since this is a dish that many people are not familiar with.

Your guests are sure to be impressed. So start practicing a modest bow. You’ll want to be prepared for their accolades.

Homemade Grenadine

Superb on Ice Cream — or in Cocktails

Grenadine is a bright red, pomegranate-flavored syrup.  You’ve probably heard of it, though it’s not a regular item on most grocery shopping lists. 

Which is probably a good thing.  Because, well . . . have you tried buying grenadine lately?  Every grocery store has something they call “grenadine” that they’ll be happy to sell you.  But take a look at the list of ingredients:  no pomegranate to be found.  Instead, you see high-fructose sugar syrup and “flavorings.”  And when you taste the store-bought stuff?  You encounter a sickeningly sweet liquid with a flavor that’s (very) vaguely reminiscent of cherries.  These supermarket concoctions bear almost no resemblance to real grenadine. 

Oh, there are quality commercial grenadines out there, but you have to hunt them down.  And when you find them, they’re expensive.  But the good news is, you don’t have to pay big bucks or troll the internet for obscure suppliers.  You can make excellent grenadine at home in just a few minutes — and begin enjoying the awesome flavor of the real thing. 

Grenadine is a traditional ingredient in several cocktails and “mocktails” (it’s a prime component of that kiddie favorite, the Shirley Temple, for example).  It’s also a great topping for ice cream and a wonderful flavoring agent for nonalchoholic summer coolers.

Bottom line:  Homemade Grenadine is flavorful, easy to make, and all natural.  And it’s so good, you’ll find dozens of uses for it.

Zabaglione

This Foamy Egg Custard is an Italian Dessert Classic

Looking for a festive dessert for a special occasion?  Like Valentine’s Day, maybe?  Something sweet but light — and different?

How about Zabaglione?  Pronounced Zah-bahl-YOH-nay, it can also be spelled Zabaione (same pronunciation).  In France they call it Sabayon. 

Once a staple of Italian restaurants, this foamy egg custard classic has become less popular in recent years.  I don’t know why — it’s a delectable dessert.  And a flexible one!  You can serve it freshly made and warm, or prepare it ahead of time and serve chilled.

Add some fresh berries and mama mia!  You’ll be a star.

Homemade Meringues with Strawberry Sauce

A Macaron Cousin for Mother’s Day

Meringues - egg white and sugar nests of airy sweetness - are one of those old-fashioned desserts that wax and wane in popularity.

Lately, they seem to have lost some appeal. Which is odd considering that macarons - a cookie-form cousin of the meringue - are all the rage these days.

When I was a child, meringues were the special-occasion dessert at our house, served with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries, and sometimes whipped cream.

Because meringues have the reputation of being somewhat finicky to prepare, I think my mother always mentally held her breath each time she made them. And she probably didn’t exhale until the first bite revealed that, once again, meringue success was hers.

And speaking of mom, Mother’s Day is just around the corner. What better dessert to celebrate with than meringues?

Strawberry Sauce

A Classic, Quick Topping for Desserts

Who doesn’t like strawberries?  They’re wonderful just to munch “neat” (whole or sliced).

And they’re delicious when macerated and served with whipped cream over shortcake.  Or baked into pies or tarts.  Or churned into ice cream.  You name it, their unmistakable flavor is one we crave.

So when strawberry season rolls around, we indulge  . . . and indulge and indulge.

At the height of the season, when strawberries are plentiful and inexpensive, we in the Kitchen Riffs household tend to buy carton after carton.  So many that, unless we do something with them right now, they run the risk of spoiling.

That’s often when we decide to convert excess, overripe strawberries into strawberry sauce.

Simple Syrup

Sugar has a split personality.

On the up side, it tastes good — really good.  A small amount can enhance and highlight flavors in many foods, making them sparkle.  It can also mute the harshness in foods that are too acidic (some tomato sauces, for example).  And in baking it has a myriad of uses, including tenderizing (it often replaces fat in “low fat” foods for just this reason).

On the down side, sugar’s detriments are only too well understood.  It’s highly caloric and of minimal nutritional value.  Some think it’s addictive.  And — oh, heck, if you aren’t already mentally listing a dozen “problems” with sugar, you aren’t half trying.

So should we embrace sugar for its positives or banish it for its negatives?

Well, the Kitchen Riffs household believes in moderation.  We don’t always practice that philosophy, mind you, but we believe in it.  So we use sugar, at least sometimes.  When it comes to sweetening cold drinks — especially lemonade or the stray cocktail — we like to use Simple Syrup, which is basically just sugar and water.

Simply Syrup has great natural flavor and it dissolves instantly in a drink.  It’s also one of the easiest recipes around.  I’m sure there will be no divided opinions on that issue.