Ricette Varie

I am using this blog to present various recipes (ricette varie) that I was not able to include logically in earlier posts.  The reasons for this range from keeping the number of Featured Recipes reasonable to simply overlooking them before this.  The Pickled Garlic recipe falls into the latter category.

I doubt I will convert many of you to Pickled Garlic fans, but you do need to know it tastes much much better than it sounds.  I doubted it, too, until I tried it.  The recipe comes from a lovely Spanish grandmother who shared her recipe from her stall in an outdoor market near Alicante in Spain many years ago.

I've never visited Ireland, but a little online research informs me that Shepherd's Pie (also known as Cottage Pie) originated there in the late 18th century, ostensibly to promote the use of potatoes, which had recently been discovered to be very nutritious and very affordable.  Not surprisingly, it is most often prepared with lamb.  In other parts of the United Kingdom, it is also prepared with fish (the eponymous Fish Pie).  This recipe calls for both lamb and beef, thus combining the succulent flavors of both meats.

Normally, I am not a big fan of cupcakes.  For some reason, however, this particular recipe for Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes caught my eye many years ago.  It's a recipe from Ina Garten, who as you know has become famous for her elegant, but simple, creations.  These cupcakes, you will discover if you try them, are just different than all others.  They are decadently rich and chocolatey, and about as moist and delicious as anything can be.

On the other hand, and as you already know, I am a huge fan of cherries.  I have also come to enjoy scones, but I have been frustrated in my attempts to make them properly – in the British tradition (soft and delicious), and not in the airport coffee shop tradition (think hockey puck).  After experimenting with many recipes, I have settled on two which consistently produce excellent results.  I published the first of these, for Blueberry Scones, in September.  It specifically calls for fresh or frozen fruit.  Today's offering, for Cherry Scones, is for dried fruit (cherries or otherwise).  The technique used to make the scones is identical in the two recipes, but because of the dried fruit, the ingredients lists differ somewhat.

FEATURED RECIPES

Cherry Scones
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
Pickled Garlic
Seafood Pasta
Shepherds Pie

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Shepherd's Pie.

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Seafood Pasta.

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I can't end without at least one Italian dish.  Thanks to two wonderful friends who shared their recipe for Seafood Pasta with me, I can now share it with you.  The combination of assorted mushrooms, seafood, and linguine – all in a rich buttery sauce – is incredibly delicious.

I hope I have tempted you to try at least one of these some time soon.  If you do, I know you will make it a second time.  Well, OK, maybe not the Pickled Garlic!

Buon appetito.