When hosting a female-centric event like a baby or bridal shower, it's important to offer a special nonalcoholic drink for those who don't sip alcohol. My favorite mocktail? Raspberry lemonade. It's a combination of fresh raspberry syrup, lemon juice, sugar, and water. What I love about this recipe is its adaptability. If it's too sweet, dilute with water. If it's too sour, add more sugar. It's also easy to turn into an alcoholic concoction, all you have to do is add sparkling wine or vodka. Fabulous! Get the recipe I like here.
Posts for September 17th 2010
Chicken Tortilla Pie
From Everyday Food
Chicken Tortilla Pie

Ingredients
12 corn tortillas (6-inch), toasted
2 cups cooked, shredded dark-meat chicken
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles
1 1/2 cups green or red salsa
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (6 ounces)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an 8-inch square baking dish, layer 4 tortillas, 1 cup chicken, cup chiles, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/3 cup sour cream, and 1/2 cup cheese; repeat once. Top with remaining tortillas, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. Bake until top is browned and bubbling, 30 to 40 minutes.
Serves 4.
Do You Know What's Cooking This Week?
The food world's been afrenzy all week, especially with the series premiere of Top Chef Just Desserts and the much-anticipated season finales of Top Chef: Washington DC and MasterChef.
As the days toe the line between Summer and Fall, we've kept busy not only watching lots of television, but also cooking grilled clams, asparagus appetizers, and raspberry-rose syrup. Did you stick around to catch it all? Let's figure that out right now!
Take the QuizChipotle Braised Chicken
From Gourmet
Chipotle Braised Chicken

Ingredients
1 large onion, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 lb chicken parts
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1 cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
- Cook onion, garlic, and bay leaf in butter and 1/2 Tbsp oil with 1/8 tsp salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- Pat chicken dry and season with 1 tsp salt. Brown chicken in remaining Tbsp oil in 2 batches, 5 to 6 minutes per batch, transferring to a plate as browned.
- Discard all but 2 Tbsp fat from skillet, then stir in chile powder and onion mixture and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in water and bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits.
- Add chicken and cook, covered, over low heat, turning chicken once, until just cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken and onions with a slotted spoon to a platter. Skim off and discard fat from sauce, then boil until slightly thickened. Stir in lime juice and cilantro and spoon sauce over chicken.
Serves 4.
Berry Tempting: Fast Raspberry Scones
After satisfying my curiosity about the fine distinction between biscuits and scones, I decided I needed to heed my physical craving for them, too. And given my near-obsession with raspberries this month, what better way than to pull together a quick raspberry scone?
The best part of this recipe is the fact that it doesn't require a mixer of any kind; just a food processor — something I couldn't live without, anyway. In half an hour, these babies were in the oven, and 15 minutes later, they were in my mouth.
It's best to eat the batch within a day, so make these for a crowd. Or, you can follow in my gluttonous footsteps: I meant to sample one out of the oven, but wound up eating at least three. The recipe? It's right here.
Fast Raspberry Scones
From Everyday Food
Fast Raspberry Scones
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (6 ounces)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and pulse until pea-size pieces form. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and egg yolk. Slowly pour buttermilk mixture through feed tube into processor, pulsing until dough just comes together.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle raspberries on top. Knead three times to fold in raspberries (there may be loose pieces of dough and a stray berry or two). Gather and pat dough into a 1-inch-thick square and cut or pull apart into 2-inch pieces. Place pieces, about 2 inches apart, on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets and sprinkle tops with 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let scones cool slightly on sheets on wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 day.)
Makes 20.
Yummy Links: From Natural Cheese Sauce to Square Puff Pizza
- Must make: all-natural, homemade cheese sauce.
- Must make: all-natural, homemade cheese sauce. — Serious Eats
- The 16 restaurants that have mattered most, from 1995 to today. — Epicurious
- Q&A with Twitter mashup and Chow 13 nominee Ruth Bourdain. — Chow
- The first-ever Chick-fil-A hits Chicago, with more already on the way. — Grub Street
- Jamie and Jools Oliver have welcomed a new son, Buddy Bear Maurice. — Eater
- In the age of the gastroclub, restaurants are the new nightlife. — Details
- The forthcoming Noma cookbook is attainable and inspiring. — The Atlantic Food
- Would you eat a Domino's Square Puff pizza? — So Good
Savory Sight: Eggs and Chorizo
YumSugar Community member MandyWH recently shared this scrumptious Spanish breakfast photo in the Savory Sights group.

Fried eggs, potatoes, chilis, tomatoes, and chorizo at Cesar in Oakland. Way to start the day off right.
Do you have an image of something delicious that you recently made or enjoyed? If so, be sure to upload it in the Savory Sights group in our YumSugar Community!
Have You Tried Black Garlic?

Garlic is one of my favorite ingredients, and I'm of the mindset that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But the faithful staple has turned to the dark side, with rave reviews. Since being introduced in the US a few years ago, black garlic has been gaining momentum in the culinary world. This fermented version of the stinking rose is sweet and tangy with a jelly-like consistency, and apparently it won't give you bad garlic breath or heartburn. Sounds great, but have you tried it? What did you think?
Source: Flickr User avlxyz
