Florida Agenda

This famous dessert was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by the “Demoiselles Tatin” in their restaurant on the Loire River in France. It is caramelized sliced apples oven-baked in a skillet with the pastry on top; when done, it is turned upside-down so the crust is on the bottom and the apple [...]

By CHEF JEAN DOHERTY Chowder refers to a wide variety of thickened stews, often milk- or cream-based, made with seafood and vegetables.  The most well-known are New England clam chowder, which is made with clams and cream or milk, and Manhattan clam chowder, which substitutes tomatoes for the milk/cream. Other common variations include corn chowder, [...]

By CHEF JEAN DOHERTY In Burgundy, they eat their snails swimming in delicious, garlicky, parsley butter, spearing them from their shells with two-pronged forks made just for that purpose. But beurre d’escargots is not just for snails: It can be spread on warm crusty bread, a knob can be set to melt on a freshly-seared [...]

Some recipes are just too good to overlook and this one, for All-American Chocolate Fudge, certainly qualifies. It originally ran in Florida Agenda on September 8, 2011. The smooth consistency of delicious chocolate fudge is what makes it a delectable treat. It’s the cooking temperature that separates hard caramels from fudge and tiny micro crystals [...]

By JEAN DOHERTY This is a “hot” vegetarian dish, or vegetable accompaniment to any poultry, meat, or fish dish you like. It will make any reluctant squash-eater a total fan— believe me I know what I’m talking about. I was one. For 4 servings you’ll need: Ingredients: • 2 lbs of zucchini (about 4 or [...]

Aioli is a kind of garlic mayonnaise sauce from the south of France. It is a great accompaniment for grilled fish, crab, shrimp, poached fish, and all sorts of vegetables. In small towns in the south of France you can find yearly festivals known as “la fête de la grande aioli.” Here the aioli is [...]

JEAN DOHERTY This recipe is pretty easy to do, and it’s cheap to prepare, as well. It can be served warm or cold, and it looks spectacular, especially when you announce that you are the chef! For 6 slices, you will need: Ingredients: • 1 ½ lbs of salmon filet, skin off • (You can [...]

By Jean Doherty Traditional steak au poivre has been served as a pan sauce since at least the mid-19th century. Regardless of the concoction, the same pan should be used to create the sauce as was used to cook the steak. But we are in South Florida, and a grill is as likely to be [...]

By Jean Doherty Crème brûlée, French for “burnt cream,” (in Spanish, “crema catalane,” and in English “Trinity cream”) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base, topped with a layer of hard caramel. Most people assume that crème brûlée is a French dish, since the name is French. Chances are, crème brûlée is another [...]

By Jean Doherty This delicious and easy-to-make soup is loosely derived from Russian and Ukrainian variations of traditional borscht. (Who knew?) I made it last week because we had bought too many carrots and other veggies, including beetroot, for our juicing—and, of course, we weren’t juicing! “Right,” says I, “I’ll make a soup with that,” [...]