TECHNIQUE
You're sure to fall for fennel
One of the least familiar and most intriguing vegetables of fall is fennel (sometimes labeled sweet anise), a Mediterranean favorite. It looks like a bulbous head of celery and has a licorice-like taste.
TECHNIQUE
Veteran cooking teacher Carole Kotkin is the manager of the Ocean Reef Cooking School in Key Largo. She co-hosts ''Food & Wine Talk'' from 11 a.m. to noon Mondays on WDNA 88.9 FM, and is the co-author of MMMMiami-Tempting Tropical Tastes for Home Cooks Everywhere (Henry Holt). She is a founder of the American Institute of Wine and Food's South Florida chapter and a charter member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Miami chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier.
E-mail her at ckotkin@miamiherald.com.
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PETER ANDREW BOSCH/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
TECHNIQUE
Vanilla's not just for flavoring desserts
If you thought chocolate topped the hit parade, you would be wrong. It's vanilla that is America's No. 1 flavor. And it's far from ``plain vanilla.''
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TECHNIQUE
Do the jerk as the Jamaicans do
Many island dishes, from rice and beans to fried plantains, are shared across the Caribbean, but jerk belongs to Jamaica. It began as a way for the Maroons (runaway slaves and their descendents) to preserve wild pork, and evolved into the island's most famous dish.
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TECHNIQUE
Turn fresh fruit, simple syrup into refreshing desserts
Nothing's more refreshing in the heat of summer than sorbet, and homemade is, as always, fresher and more flavorful than store-bought. An array of glorious-tasting, fruit-flavored sorbets could become your signature dessert.
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TECHNIQUE
Toss in some blueberries, the dusky delights of summer
When we had a vacation home in the North Carolina mountains, I adored blueberry picking with my family. There was always a race to see who could fill their container first and another race home to bake those berries into pies or muffins.
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TECHNIQUE
Mussels exude briny flavor of the sea
Few seafoods bring to mind the taste of the sea as readily as mussels. These meaty mollusks are also a pleasure to cook -- a quick burst of heat will open them, releasing natural juices that form a ready-made sauce.
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TECHNIQUE
Pineapple's perfect for the grill
If you're firing up the grill for dinner, keep it going for dessert. Pineapple was made for grilling. Direct heat caramelizes its natural sugars with scrumptious results.
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TECHNIQUE
Quesadillas simple or sophisticated
Quesadillas, Mexico's fun take on grilled cheese sandwiches, can be as simple or sophisticated as you want. The basic quesadilla is nothing more than cheese wrapped in a tortilla and heated until melted inside and crispy outside.
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TECHNIQUE
Crispy garlic fries get a double dipping
French fries, once the snack of fast food restaurants, are now on every sort of menu. Chefs are sprinkling them with sea salt, grated cheeses such as Gruyère, aromatics like olive or truffle oil -- and sometimes all of those at once. They're so good you wonder if you should skip the appetizers entirely and tuck into a big stack.
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TECHNIQUE
Comfort food with a crust
The homey flavors and textures of chicken pot pie take people back to their youth, even if the pie was a frozen Swanson TV dinner. This delicious culinary staple has been around for nearly 600 years when scraps of pastry covered stews made of rabbit, fowl and boar.
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TECHNIQUE
Simple methods best for artichokes
To the uninitiated, spiky artichokes with their fuzzy chokes may seem like more trouble than they are worth. Artichoke lovers know differently.
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TECHNIQUE
Slow-cook lamb for festive meal
Lamb shanks have symbolic importance on the Passover Seder plate, but they also make a delicious entree for the holiday -- or for any festive meal.
