The Bites Site

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies

There were the most beautiful looking and fragrant strawberries at the market today. Spring is finally here! And the rhubarb were deep red and lovely. I didn't want to make and entire pie so I decided to make hand pies with the fruit instead. The easy thing about hand pies is literally that you can take any pie crust recipe you use with any fruit filling recipe you use and make the hand-pies in their shapes instead of an entire pie. The pie crust I use is an adaptation I have made to a Martha Stewart Pate Brisee recipe. The ...

Grown-Up Fish Sandwich with Scallion Aioli

What a wonderful sandwich! I really enjoyed this. Its a fried sea bass patty on a potato onion bap topped with endive, radish, avocado, and onions with a scallion aioli spread. The flavors and textures were delicious. And while it's an enormous sandwich, my taste buds were saying "more" when there was none left. It was a year ago that I found a recipe for fish sticks with a ramp aioli in Food and Wine Magazine by Shea Gallante. I made them and they were simple and delicious. The aioli was magnificent. I have been thinking about those fish sticks for a ...

Chocolate Caramel Tart

This was amazing... Just amazing. I absolutely loved this tart - perfect. I don't know what the best part of this tart is. Was it the crust - soft, hard, and crumbly all at the same time. Chocolaty enough yet not too sweet for the caramel. Was it the caramel - just the perfect consistency, sweetness, and color. Was it the chocolate ganache - smooth, velvety and rich. Or yet was it the grey sea salt - the perfect balance to an otherwise overly rich treat. Perhaps it was the collaborative effort of all four groups, individually strong ...

Truffled Gnocchi with Peas & Chanterelles

I have a list of things that I have never made before but want to. It seems like the list keeps growing and growing. Home-made gnocchi has always been on my list. I have always loved gnocchi done right. Done right? I suppose you won't know what this means until you've eaten gnocchi "done right". It's light. It's what I imagine the sensation of floating on clouds to be (of course, translated to the sensation of what that would feel like in my mouth). Have I lost you? My friend "A" used to be a cook in Gramercy Tavern. She started there ...

Bo Luc Lac - Vietnamese-Style Beef

This dish was very refreshing. It was also easy to make in very little time. Instead of using tenderloin, I used sirloin, and instead of using watercress, I used baby mache. I did not feel that the changes altered the deliciousness of this dish at all. And when it was all done and plated, I reserved the left over juices/sauce from the pan to use on another day to go with dumplings. If you a looking for a low-carb, quick to make dinner, this one's great and tasty. Serve it as a dinner, appetizer, or even canopy with toothpicks on ...

Sole Meuniere with Avocado Salad

This is a very healthy dish that literally takes 15 minutes start to finish. In fact, its one of those recipes where there isn't a need to follow the recipe. Read it once, and you'll be able to make it over and over again. It has incredibly well rounded flavors, and while it's light, it very filling. This is one of my favorite week-night dinners. The sole recipe is from Ina Garten. I have added the avocado salad myself and found that it was a wonderful compliment to the sole. The salad makes it a really well-rounded meal. Hope you enjoy! Sole ...

Chocolate Cake with Butterscotch Sauce

Ladies Lunch (cont...) So I have a recipe for a molten chocolate cake that I love. I have posted it on this site in the past. But my friend Christina has a different recipe for a molten chocolate cake and she makes a butterscotch sauce to top it off with... are you drooling yet? (I am) Christina took some cooking classes at Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco, CA. She speaks very highly of it as a place that is fun and offers practical recipes and guidance. She learned this recipe there and has been putting smiles on friends and family's faces ...

Roasted Salmon Nicoise Platter

Ladies Lunch (cont.) ... As I discussed earlier, yesterday I had lunch at my friend, Christina Sethi's, house. Our other friend Amanda was there as well, and we had a wonderful day of cooking and eating. While we were all baking, Christina made this beautiful lunch for us. It is an Ina Garten recipe and its simplicity truly let all of the ingredients shine. The marinade on the salmon made it pop and the champagne vinaigrette was a perfect dressing, bringing out the flavors of the veggies but not overpowering them. If you're having lunch with a bunch of friends, this is a great idea. Christina ...