Spring for Recipe Contest Winners!

Thanks to all of you who sent in your best-ever recipe! To the top five (well, six), I’ll be sending cookbooks as prizes. And I shortly will post the winning recipes here on the site.

First place is shared, as a two-fer, by a pair of terrific Lasagna recipes from two different cooks (they’ll both receive, fittingly, the cookbook “Via Carota” from that much-sought-after New York City restaurant). I just couldn’t choose a premier between either, so they share first place. You’ll see and find out why.

Second prize is for a Butternut Squash Gratin that I cannot wait to serve at Thanksgiving. Third, fourth, and fifth prizes, respectively, go to a delicious-sounding recipe of Spicy Eggs, and to two desserts, Sicilian Fig Cookies and Ohio Buckeyes, with the latter’s always-winning combo of peanut butter and chocolate.

Here are the recipes for the Spicy Eggs and the Buckeyes Candy, teasers for the other winners’ recipes soon to come.

Much new on the site has sprung. Before we heat up to Summer, enjoy the last days of Spring with these:

Recipes: A trio of fresh fish dishes for you. A classic Sole Meunière, simply simply delicious. Want to trap all the aromas of a fish prep? Go for Fish “En Papillotte.” Max out juiciness and savor in seafood with Braised and Glazed Umami Salmon. If, before Memorial Day, the weather markedly cools off once more, try Fabada Asturiana; it hearkens to the casserole climes of the year’s cooler times. 

Basics: Lots new here, too, from basic info on Fermentation of all sorts, to Cooking for One, on the one hand, and Cooking With What’s on Hand, on the other. Looking for ways to eat up that spare dozen of eggs? Check out the tips in Three Ways With Huevos.

Ingredients: Interested in picking up cooking tips about various recipe ingredients? Check out cooking with Preserved Lemon and—a great idea for spring planting—Growing & Cooking Your Own Mushrooms.

Wine: Been busy on the vinous front posting new content here, too. Spring-like, fresh & zesty wines come from Austria, Italy’s The Veneto, and France’s Alsace. Increase your wine knowledge by reading up on (even controversial) topics such as Wine Scoring Points, Wine & Proper Glassware, and How to Read a Restaurant Wine List.