By LINDA GASSENHEIMER
The Miami Herald

Ginger-soy sauce seared salmon, coated with toasted sesame seeds and with a Chinese noodles side dish, is a perfect meal for Lent.

This quick recipe calls for wild salmon. If you can’t find it fresh, use frozen wild salmon. Look for "wild caught" on the label. Try not to overcook the salmon.

The general rule for cooking fish is to cook it 8 to 10 minutes for each inch of thickness. I like to cook it 8 minutes. The fish will continue to cook in its own heat once it is removed from the skillet.

Fresh snow peas add a sweet, crunch to the Chinese noodles side dish. Broccoli florets can be a quick substitute. Add them to the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes and then add the Chinese noodles.

Hint: Toasted sesame seeds can be found in some supermarkets. If toasting your own, to save cleaning time, brown the sesame seeds in a skillet for 30 seconds, remove and use the same skillet to cook the salmon.

Wine suggestion: One of the niftiest food-wine pairings you’ll ever try is rare, seared salmon with red, fruity pinot noir.

Sesame Seared Salmon

Serves: 2

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3/4 pound wild salmon fillets

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger or 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the salmon and sauté 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix honey, ginger and soy sauce together. Set aside.

Turn salmon and sauté 3 minutes for a 1-inch thick piece of salmon. Remove skillet from heat, spoon sauce over salmon and let warm in skillet for about 30 seconds.

Remove to individual dishes and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Per serving: 316 calories, 13.5 g fat, 78 mg cholesterol, 37.6 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 0.3 g fiber, 279 mg sodium

By BILL DALEY
The Chicago Tribune

Sometimes there’s a disconnect between the proclamations of food gurus and what regular folks eat. Not so in the case of meatballs. Once labeled "dish of the year" by Bon Appetit magazine, meatballs are welcome everywhere.

They were the unexpected star of the buffet table at a party I attended with 40 other guys. There sat six – six! – casseroles filled with meatballs, most of which were ground beef in tomato sauce. And nearly every ball was gone by the end of the night.

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By LINDA GASSENHEIMER

This sauce is so simple that it has become a tried and true standby for me – and it’s always a hit. Maple syrup, brown sugar and mustard blend with the pan juices to make a succulent sauce for the sauteed pork chops.

The sauce is great with pork, ham, turkey or chicken. Warm it on its own and serve with any of these cooked meats or use it as a dipping sauce. It can be served hot or at room temperature.

You can use any type of pork chop. I find boneless, butterflied pork chops have less fat and cook faster than bone-in chops. They need to be watched carefully, or they will dry out while cooking.

The secret is to sear them outside and then lower the heat and cook a few minutes more. Pork is ready when a meat thermometer hits 160 degrees.

Red or fingerling potatoes can be used in this recipe instead of yellow potatoes. Broccoli can be used instead of Brussels sprouts.

Start with the potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Then, while the potatoes cook, make the pork chops.

Vermont Pork Chops

Serves: 2

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Vegetable oil spray

2 6-ounce boneless, butterflied pork chops

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix maple syrup, brown sugar and mustard together and set aside. Remove visible fat from pork. Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with vegetable oil spray. Brown pork 2 minutes, turn and salt and pepper the cooked side. Brown second side 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook 2 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.

A meat thermometer should read 160°. Remove to a plate. Add sauce to skillet and heat several seconds, scraping up any brown bits in the skillet. Serve pork with sauce spooned on top.

Per serving: 343 calories, 8.4 g fat, 120 mg cholesterol, 38.1 g protein, 28.2 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 273 mg sodium

Want to cut down on your salt intake?

Use more rosemary in your cooking.

Throughout the ages, rosemary’s aromatic addition to food has improved the flavor of all kinds of dishes, including The Star’s Rosemary Grilled Shrimp and Vegetables with Brown Rice Pilaf.

Rosemary contains compounds that stimulate digestion, protect the immune system and improve circulation. It is a good source of iron and calcium as well as fiber.

Storage tip: Before storing woody herbs like rosemary in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, wrap stems in a damp paper towel.

Cooking tip: When cutting rosemary, make sure your knife is sharp. A dull knife bruises the leaves and makes them taste bitter instead of helping to release potent oils.

Fun fact: Rosemary may be brain food: In ancient Greece, students placed sprigs in their hair while they were studying for exams.

Rosemary Grilled Shrimp and Vegetables

Serves: 4

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound jumbo fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined (about 16 to 20 per pound) or thawed, frozen, shelled, uncooked shrimp

1 medium sweet yellow onion, cut into wedges about 3/4 inch thick

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares

1 small zucchini or yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced 3/4 inch thick

6 to 8 button mushrooms

Brown rice pilaf (see accompanying recipe)

Low-fat feta cheese crumbles (optional)

Fresh rosemary sprigs and lemon slices, for garnish

In a small bowl, whisk together juice, oil, rosemary, parsley, salt, pepper, paprika and red pepper flakes. Measure out and reserve 2 tablespoons juice mixture.

Place shrimp in a small bowl. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon lemon-juice mixture. Toss to coat evenly. Thread shrimp onto 2 (12-inch) metal skewers. Thread vegetables onto 3 (12-inch) metal skewers.

Lightly oil grill grate or spray with nonstick spray. Preheat grill to medium or allow coals to burn down to white ash. Grill vegetables in a covered grill, over direct heat, 10 to 12 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender, turning to brown evenly and brushing generously with lemon juice mixture while grilling.

Grill shrimp in a covered grill, over direct heat, 2 to 4 minutes or just until shrimp turn pink, turning to cook evenly and brushing generously with lemon juice mixture.

Carefully remove vegetables and shrimp from skewers, and place in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with reserved 2 tablespoons lemon juice mixture and toss to coat evenly. Spoon shrimp and vegetables over Brown Rice Pilaf. Sprinkle with feta cheese, if desired, and garnish with rosemary springs and lemon slices.

Per serving: 231 calories; 11 g fat; 173 mg cholesterol; 10 g carbohydrates; 25 g protein; 305 mg sodium; 2 g dietary fiber

Brown Rice Pilaf

Makes 4 (1-cup) servings

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup brown rice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook 30 to 60 seconds, stirring frequently.

Add broth and water, and heat to a boil. Stir in rice, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 40 minutes.

Stir in fresh herbs. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender.
Spoon into a deep platter.

Per serving: 207 calories; 5 g fat ; 0 g cholesterol; 38 g carbohydrates; 8 g protein; 19 mg sodium; 1 g dietary fiber

His business is booming. The fifth season of his hit reality show recently began and has already birthed two spinoffs. And now he has his first cookbook on the shelves.

So what’s the frosting on Buddy Valastro’s cake?

The straight shooter with a piping bag now stars in a road show that brings the story of the Cake Boss to theaters across the country.

Valastro’s Bakin’ With the Boss Tour is the fourth-generation baker’s triple-layer, interactive show that is part motivational speech, part musical, part cake-decorating demonstration.

"It’s a show where you laugh with me as I show you what I do. I tell my story about how I became the Cake Boss," said the gruff-sounding but sweet-as-fondant baker in his familiar New Jersey accent.

"My story is the one of the American dream. It’s one where if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. Hopefully, it’ll inspire you to achieve your own dreams."

Or maybe it’ll inspire you to bake a cake. And that’s OK by Valastro, whose first cookbook, Baking With the Cake Boss: 100 of Buddy’s Best Recipes and Decorating Secrets (Free Press, $30), was published this month.

You and your wife recently celebrated your 10th anniversary by renewing vows. Who made your cake?

I made it, of course! I made the first one, so it made sense I had to make this one, too. I wouldn’t trust it to anyone else.

What was it like?

It was a traditional cake. It had a lot of details to it. It had a lot of big flowers on it.

The wedding was filmed for your series, Cake Boss. Your family is largely present in the show. Do you worry about becoming a reality-TV family?

To be honest, my kids are really not on the show that much, and that’s partly why. As far as our show is concerned, it’s about hard work and good family values.

Not fighting and screaming and stuff like that. There are days we don’t get along, but at the end of the day, we’re a family, and we do the best we can.

I know you’re going to Australia. How does Cake Boss translate abroad?

Cake Boss is viewed in 180 countries all over the world. It does well everywhere. Yesterday, I was at the Statue of Liberty, and I must have had 20 people stop me; most were from abroad, and they all know Cake Boss.

It’s wild. It tells me that the underlying idea of Cake Boss is right: It doesn’t matter where you come from in the world, what race you are. What matters is that family. That translates in every language. People get that.

There are so many cake and cupcake cookbooks out right now, as well as a glut of baking on TV. What do you make of that? Why are cakes and desserts such a big deal?

People like desserts. People like cakes. Cake decorating is something that brings families together. You can do it together. Our demographics are crazy. We get from little kids to grandparents.

I’m a father of four. There’s very few things I can watch on TV where we have the same interest. Cake Boss is that compromise. The parents watch it, and the kids watch it. It’s not trash TV. It’s about a family.

Everyone who writes about food has at some point made reference to a dessert that might supplant the cupcake. What is the next cupcake?

You never know. Cupcakes have been big for years. I saw the cupcake trend coming in 2001. If it dies down, it’ll come back in 10 years. Things always repeat themselves. This cake-pop thing is popular right now.

What I’m good at is cakes nobody else can make, rather than making the new cupcake. But do I enjoy that as well? Yeah. But I’m making cakes that walk, talk and move. I’m trying to push the engineering of cakes.

- Greg Morago, Houston Chronicle

By Judy Hevrdejs

You love those little squeeze-top plastic bears, golden with honey, lined up stoically on supermarket shelves and at farmers markets across America.

Too bad your relationship with them begins at your teacup and ends with a dollop stirred into Greek yogurt.

Sure, many bears may look as if they hold nothing more than a one-note sweetener. But chat with beekeepers and take a closer look at labels and you’ll find honey flavors as different as the nectars savored by particular bees.

In-the-know chefs even team with local beekeepers to incorporate honey’s range of flavors in their cooking, from buttery avocado notes to mild tupelos and dark buckwheat.

Scotty Schwartz, a sustainably focused chef, had his honey epiphany when Naked Bee Honey Farm beekeepers arrived at 29 South, his restaurant in Fernandina Beach, with blackberry, cherry blossom and chestnut honeys.

"Instead of a condiment, this honey is now as important an ingredient as the protein on the plate," says Schwartz, who often finishes slow-roasted pork shanks with blackberry or chestnut honey before setting it atop polenta.

"It’s like wine. You are going to get terroir," he says. "If you’ve set up hives next to chestnuts, you’re going to get that. If you’re set up next to cherry blossoms, the flavor is going to be totally different."

Which is why tasting and inhaling the aroma of different types is important in deciding how to use a honey in the kitchen.

"I think all honeys are unique. Some are not going to have strong floral qualities, (but) others will," says Polly Lappetito, executive chef at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, Calif., which held its first educational honey summit for chefs this summer.

It included a tasting of alfalfa, buckwheat, avocado, clover, sage, star thistle, eucalyptus, wildflower and orange blossom honeys.

Lappetito, who has used honey in vinaigrettes, with roasted vegetables and in semifreddos, among other dishes, urges cooks to taste and experiment: "I always think honey adds a softer sweetness to dishes."

Or a little kick: "Take peppercorns and heat it up with the honey," she says. "Let it infuse the honey. It adds a certain spice and heat."

Chef and beekeeper Graham Dodds, who spent childhood summers in Scotland tending hives with his grandfather, drizzles honey on the popular bruschetta tastings at Bolsa restaurant in Dallas.

"I’ll drizzle raw honey over the top to tie it all together," he says. Tastings might include salmon, prosciutto, tomato and goat cheese bruschetta.

Chefs aren’t the only ones intrigued by honey, of course. We each ate about 1.3 pounds of honey last year.

And the National Honey Board’s Bruce Boynton says beekeeping groups around the country report increased interest in beekeeping classes.

Considering that bees in this country have lots of floral sources to check out – the Honey Board says there are more than 300 unique types of honey – cooks have a variety to sample and a wide range of flavors they can incorporate into their cooking.

CHEFS ALL ABUZZ WITH HONEY IDEAS

Valerie Zweig, Founding Farmers restaurant, Washington :

• Slather honey butter on corn.
• Tuck honey butter under the skin of chicken before roasting.
• Make a simple syrup, substituting honey for the sugar. ‘It’s the same 1-to-1 ratio,’ Zweig says. ‘Heat the water, then slowly mix that into the honey.’

Polly Lappetito, the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, Calif.:

• Make a glaze for vegetables with honey butter. ‘We use honey and butter, and cook it down with a bit of stock,’ says Lappetito.
• Flavor honey with black pepper, thyme or truffle oil, then pour a little over cheeses.

Graham Dodds, chef-beekeeper, Bolsa restaurant, Dallas:

• Stir into a homemade chutney.
• Mix a little into your favorite spice-rub recipe to coat roasts before grilling.
• Serve comb honey alongside cheese, especially goat, on a cheese platter.

Honey-Caramelized Peaches with Grouper

Chef Scotty Schwartz of 29 South in Fernandina Beach suggests using a darker honey, such as avocado or wild blackberry, in this recipe.

Serves: 4

4 fresh freestone peaches, halved, pitted

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cracked black pepper

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

4 halibut or grouper fillets

4 cups arugula

Season peach halves with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over high heat.

When oil is shimmering hot, put peaches flesh-side down in oil. Saute until dark and almost charred.

Add honey; toss peaches gently. Honey and oil will form a caramel glaze.

Remove from heat. Sprinkle with rosemary. Drizzle peaches with a little of the glaze.

Meanwhile, season the fish fillets with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook fillets, turning once, until opaque and flaky, 5 minutes per side.

Toss arugula with a remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil; divide arugula among 4 plates. Set a fish fillet and caramelized peaches atop each. Drizzle with any remaining glaze.

The creative minds of chefs are buzzing with plenty of uses for honey:

By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz

As a general rule, I love anything Spanish. But I’ve never understood the appeal of gazpacho, which usually tastes to me like thin, cold V8 and offends my expectations of soup as an edible Snuggie.

That changed a couple of months ago, when I accompanied a colleague to the launch of a new craft brewery and fell head over heels for the gazpacho being served as a food pairing.

This gazpacho, served in a shot glass for the occasion, was thicker than any I’d had, almost creamy, with subtle spice flavors that felt substantial while still being refreshing.

I was eager to meet the caterer behind my newfound gazpacho crush, only to discover it was no caterer at all, but the work of Rita Benavides-Munoz, mother-in-law of one of the brewery owners.

With the help of her daughter, Benavides-Munoz had pulled off an eagerly devoured multicourse menu for some 75 people gathered to taste the new beers.

Benavides-Munoz, a native of Lima, Peru, a country with a rich culinary tradition, has never worked in a restaurant or run a catering business. Rather, as the wife of a globe-trotting diplomat, she has taken dozens of cooking classes around the world and hosted countless dinner parties.

"I love to receive people at home," says Benavides-Munoz, who lives in Miami. "I’ve had 180 people at the house, easily."

Since settling in Miami, Benavides-Munoz has become an inveterate dinner party hostess, as the couple’s international friends often pass through. So she practices what she’s learned in her travels and invents new dishes that combine disciplines.

Which brings us back to her delicious gazpacho.

While visiting her daughter in Mexico, where she was living at the time, Benavides-Munoz was enlisted to make gazpacho for a lunch – only to discover that the kitchen had no green peppers, a regular ingredient in the soup. What it did have was poblano chilies.

She credits those poblanos, which she popped in the oven, for giving the soup its hearty, smoky flavor.

Gazpacho al Chile Poblano

Serves: 6

2 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes

1 large cucumber

1 red bell pepper

1 small piece day-old bread, about 3 inches, preferably baguette

1/4 cup sherry vinegar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoons salt

2 poblano chilies

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 small onion, quartered

Ice water

Croutons, chopped poblano, chopped cucumbers

Roughly chop tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper and bread; place into a bowl. Mix with sherry vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil and salt. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Heat oven to 400º. Spread poblanos, garlic and onion on a baking sheet; drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Roast until poblanos are blistered, 10-15 minutes. Cool.

Peel garlic; skin, stem and deseed poblanos. Puree tomato mixture in a blender on high speed, about 30 seconds. (You may need to do this in batches.)

Add the garlic, onion and poblanos; puree until creamy and smooth. Taste for seasoning; add ice water if soup is too thick.

Cover; refrigerate until chilled, 2 to 3 hours.

Serve with bowls of croutons, chopped poblano and chopped cucumber for garnish.

Recipe adapted from the personal recipe of Rita Benavides-Munoz of Miami.

Per serving: 278 calories, 73 percent of calories from fat, 23 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 16 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 455 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.

Apples go well with pork. That’s a classic savory-sweet complementary team. But by that token, so should the stone fruit of summer: the peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots.

We know of many a fall or winter recipe that calls for such fruits in their dried state to pair with a pork loin roast. But not so many that toss fresh chopped peaches or their orchard kin into a skillet with, say, a pork chop.

This dinner does that, with juicy results. A touch of bacon deepens the savoriness, while a hint of basil is a welcome surprise.

Serve with a side of orzo pasta or steamed rice and sauteed red bell peppers.

Tips

• Instead of peaches, sub in any of the stone fruits. Adjust with a bit of honey or brown sugar if you use tart plum varieties.
• Accompany the dish with a dry rose wine or perhaps a wheat beer.

Pork Chops with Peaches

Serves: 4

2 strips bacon

4 pork chops

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil, optional

3/4 cup dry white wine

3 to 4 fresh peaches, chopped in ½-inch cubes

6 to 8 leaves fresh basil, sliced in thin strips

Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp; drain on paper towel-lined plate. When cool, crumble.

Meanwhile, season chops with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Add oil to skillet if needed so that chops won’t stick; add chops to skillet. Cook over medium high heat, turning once, until browned on both sides, 5 minutes per side. Remove from skillet; keep warm. (If using thick chops, you may need to finish in the oven; do so at 350º, 10 to 15 minutes.)

Add wine to skillet; cook, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any bits from the chops, until reduced slightly, 2 minutes. Add peaches to skillet; season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until warmed through and slightly softened, 5 minutes.

Return chops to skillet; spoon peaches over. Divide chops among 4 plates, topped by peaches, crumbled bacon and basil.

Per serving: 218 calories, 49 percent of calories from fat, 12 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 7 g carbohydrates, 20 g protein, 422 mg sodium, 1 g fiber

Rhubarb deserves a bigger role at mealtime. Sure there’s strawberry-rhubarb pie. And your favorite eatery does a roast pork with a sweet-tart rhubarb sauce – or was it duck with rhubarb gastrique? Either way, the red stalks are in season with rhubarb festivals on tap worldwide.

Just don’t call it a fruit. "It might look like red celery," writes Sheri Castle in her book The New Southern Garden Cookbook, "but rhubarb is a member of the buckwheat family and a close relative of sorrel and dock, which might explain why it is so sour."

Its tartness (a bit like cranberries) means it plays well with rich meats, sauces and beverages, plus pairs with strawberries, raspberries and apples. And it’s easy to freeze: Rinse trimmed stalks, pat dry, cut in 1-inch pieces, spread on a sheet pan then freeze. Seal frozen pieces in freezer bags, label and store up to 6 months.

But remember: Eat only the stalks. The leaves are toxic, notes the USDA’s Healthy Meals Resource (healthymeals.nal.usda.gov).

Castle’s book offers this chutney-type accompaniment to "everything from french fries to fine cheeses."

Spiced Rhubarb Ketchup

Makes 3 cups

4 cups trimmed, chopped rhubarb

1 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unfiltered cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1/2 cup orange juice

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

1 tablespoon peeled, finely grated ginger

1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, whole yellow mustard seeds and kosher salt; and teaspoon ground cloves.

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

1/2 teaspoon whole yellow mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons ruby port

Stir all ingredients together in a large, non-aluminum saucepan. Heat to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove pan from heat, cover and set aside 30 minutes.

Return saucepan to stove. Cook over medium heat until rhubarb is very tender and liquid is thick enough to coat back of a spoon; about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons ruby port; cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled. Keeps up to 3 weeks.

June ought to be called the freshest month. College graduates move into their lives, newlyweds set up house, and a new crop of cooks hits the kitchen.

New York food writer Brooke Parkhurst has been there. When she graduated from Davidson College in 2002, she moved to New York for a career in TV journalism. Instead, she became a novelist with Belle in the Big Apple, and married a chef, James Briscione.

Today, Parkhurst and Briscione have their own cookbook, Just Married & Cooking (Scribner) and a website, justmarriedandcooking.com.

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