As much as we enjoy baking fragrant loaves of whole wheat or rye bread, we prefer
baking breads made with soft doughs that act as the perfect cushions for smooth,
melting chocolate. In these pages we offer five recipes: a festive quickbread combining
tangy cranberries and subtle white chocolate; tender brioche rolled around a creamy
bittersweet chocolate filling that swirls with the crumb; buttery Pains au Chocolat, or
chocolate-filled croissants, that are readily welcome at the breakfast table; supple “snail”
rolls filled with a rich chocolate-almond mixture; and dark chocolate bread that startles
the palate while pleasing it with an unusual marriage of pure chocolate flavor and
decidedly bread-like texture.

* When we investigated the best chocolate for our breads, we discovered that any
semisweet or bittersweet works well, but there were some distinct advantages to using a
European-style bittersweet. These often are more refined that other chocolates, due to
longer conching times during processing. The refinement lends a depth and richness
that stands up well to elastic bread dough. What is more, because these breads are
inspired by European prototypes and because European-style baked goods claim center
stage in many American bakeries and restaurants, we thought it important to use a
chocolate that might be used by a baker in Switzerland or France.

* “Dark, rich bittersweet Swiss chocolate melts to a satiny, liquid pool like no other
chocolate,” says Arthur Oberholzer, national food service manager for Lindt &
Sprungli.

“We take great care that our chocolate maintains the quality demanded by the most
exacting pastry chefs in Europe.”

* We consider ourselves as exacting as any other baker and turned to these chocolates
when developing the recipes. Pleasingly, we found that Lindt Excellence, a Swiss
bittersweet chocolate, was the ideal bar for the Pains au Chocolat. A single row of the
tiny squares nestles snugly inside the unbaked croissants, thus alleviating the trickiness
of assembling them for baking.

* “We are thrilled our bittersweet works so well for the Pain au Chocolat, ” says Mr.
Oberholzer. “Our bars are stamped into small squares to facilitate baking and eliminate
the need for a lot of chopping. This helps greatly for melted preparations-and now we
see it helps, too, for croissants.”

* To help the baker further, our breads are all made using a heavy-duty standing
mixer with paddle and bread hook attachments. This dispenses with the usual 10 or 15
minutes of kneading necessary when making bread by hand. Let the mixed dough rise
in a warm, draft-free place, filling the kitchen as it does with the marvelous smell of
active yeast. After the dough rises and is shaped in loaves for popping in the oven, your
kitchen will next fill with the heady aromas of baking bread mingled with chocolate. We
ask: what could be better?

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services

By Patty LaNoue Stearns

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.–”I’m sick of skinless, boneless chicken,” declares Joyce Magill.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., resident doesn’t eat much red meat at home, but when
she dines at the pricey Morton’s of Chicago restaurant in the Detroit suburb of
Southfield, she orders a massive filet mignon.

She may hold the key to a trend that is sweeping the nation.

For years, beef has been the forbidden entree, the politically incorrect protein, the bad
boy of the dinner plate. In fact, if we believe its most vocal critics, beef ranks right up
there with smoking, drinking and unsafe sex as a social scourge of the ’90s.

Beef consumption has dropped dramatically since the mid-’80s, when Americans ate
an average 74.6 pounds a year. By 1992, it was down to 62.8 pounds, according to the last
figure available from the United States Department of Agriculture. When people do
indulge, they usually select smaller portions and leaner cuts than they did before
cholesterol and saturated fat became health issues. They increasingly opt for chicken,
turkey, seafood, legumes and grains as their main sources of protein.

But in steak houses across the nation, a quiet red-meat rebellion is raging. While the
rest of the restaurant world is getting by on a flat one percent increase in sales in the past
year, the National Restaurant Association says upscale steak houses across the country
are basking in a 12 percent uptick. Men and women who wouldn’t dream of buying
marbled porterhouses, filets and strip steaks in supermarkets are sneaking choice cuts in
steak houses, where like-minded souls can get a blast of beef without shame or fear of
being found out. After all, everybody else in the room is doing it, too.

So what’s the deal? Pent-up demand? Maybe. A longing for the good old days, when
cholesterol was unheard of? Probably. Even non-steak house restaurants are feeling the
impact of the beef craze. Paula Reauso, general manager of West Provision Co. in
Detroit’s Eastern Market, a supplier to country clubs and high-end restaurants in the
metro area, says her beef sales are up 60 percent over last year.

“But the big thing has been sirloin that’s usually the favorite with men. Women
usually prefer a filet.” The 12- and 10-ounce sirloins and 6- to 8-ounce filets are the most
popular sizes she supplies.

“When people eat out, steak is kind of a celebratory food,” explains Jane Lindeman,
coordinator of food service programs for the Beef Industry Council in Chicago. She also
notes the amazing popularity of oversize burgers at McDonald’s and other fast-food
places:

“People are tired of real, real restricted diets. They want a little bit of flavor once in a
while. They want to feel like they’ve eaten a good steak, a burger.”

But will this food flip-flop make people unhealthy in the long run?

“There’s nothing wrong with a piece of beef,” says Mary Smardzewski, coordinator of
clinical nutrition services for Detroit’s Harper Hospital.

“Beef can be very, very lean. But that’s in a moderate serving 3.5 ounces.” A high-fat
diet, she notes, has been shown to contribute to heart disease and various forms of
cancer, including of the breast, colon and prostate.

Of course, many chicken and seafood dishes in restaurants aren’t exactly low-fat,
either. Sauces and marinades add to their fat content, so beef isn’t always the worst
offender.

“You really have to look at the total picture of what people are doing. When they go
out to those places that have the huge pieces of beef if they’re doing it once in a great,
great while it probably won’t do anything if they’re really watching their diets in every
other respect,” Smardzewski says.

“Most of us are like children. When somebody tells you not to do something, that’s
exactly what you want to do.” If a person eats healthy 90 percent of the time, she says,
then an occasional beef blitz is fine.

“I think people have just gone back to sensible eating,” says West Provision’s Reauso,
adding that people’s fears about salmonella poisoning in poultry and reports of tainted
seafood are playing into their choices about beef.

“There’s nothing wrong with meat; it’s like anything else–in moderation.” Besides,
she adds:

“People are becoming more educated. You’re seeing a real decline in sales of turkey
franks, turkey ham, because all of a sudden people found out that all they did was
change the name on the label. They didn’t change the fat content, the sodium, the
nitrate. It just made people feel better. I think people are really getting into investigating
their own welfare.”

Davis agrees, and like others interviewed for this story, he’s tired of being told what
he can and cannot eat.

“There’s a large number of extremely vocal people in the U.S. who are afraid of
everything. And they’re prepared to enforce their will on the majority, no matter how
difficult it is, how much it takes or how much the majority resists. It’s a terrible disease,
and I hope we get over it in my lifetime, because I don’t think it’s any good for the fiber
of the country.”

So beef sneaks, hear this: It’s safe to come out of the closet. Put on your bibs, get out
your monogrammed steak knives, and chow down–once in a while.

By Patty LaNoue Stearns

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Aged beef, stored three to six weeks at 34 to 38 degrees in low humidity, undergoes an
enzyme change that intensifies its flavor, deepens its color and softens the connective
tissue. The longer meat is aged, the more quickly it cooks. Vacuum-packing meat via a
method with a vapor- and moisture-proof film enables aging to take place between the
slaughterhouse and the dinner table.

Marbling, the flecks of fat distributed throughout the lean part of the meat, gives beef
its flavor and juiciness. Grades, in order of marbling, are prime, choice and select, with
select the leanest and the toughest.

The lean part of the meat should be cherry-red, unless it has been cured or cured and
smoked. Beef, vacuum-packaged cuts included, is a dark, purplish-red color when first
cut.

At the market, choose steaks and roasts with a fat covering of &1/8 inch or less, or
trim the extra fat to &1/8 inch. Tenderize lean cuts by cooking slowly with moist heat,
cooking in liquid or marinating.

To prepare beef without adding fat, try roasting, broiling, pan-broiling, grilling or
microwaving.

Angel Food Cake

Unique because of its light texture, angel food cake is a supreme example of the
tremendous leavening power of egg whites. The batter is made with just egg whites,
sugar and flour and is baked in a tube pan.

Baba

Babas are small cakes made from a yeast dough containing raisins or currants. They
are baked in cylindrical molds and then soaked with a sugar syrup usually flavored with
rum.

Baking Blind

This term refers to baking an unfilled tart shell to produce a partially or fully baked
crust. It is done by lining the dough with parchment paper or foil and filling it with pie
weights or dried beans to hold the shape during baking.

Bavarian Cream

This molded cream is made from custard sauce or sweetened fruit puree that is
bound with gelatin and lightened with whipped cream. Bavarian cream can be served
on its own or used as a filling for cold charlottes or molded cakes.

Boiled Icing

This icing, which is similar to Italian meringue, is used as a filling and frosting for a
number of old-fashioned American layer cakes such as devil’s food cake.

Butter Cakes

These cakes are made by first creaming butter with sugar to incorporate air. Whole
eggs or egg yolks are added and flour is stirred in alternately with the liquid (often milk)
at the end. When made with whole eggs, baking powder is often used as the leavener.
When only the yolks are added at first, the beaten whites are folded in at the end. Most
American layer cakes are butter cake-based.

Buttercream

Buttercream is basically a flavored mixture of butter, sugar and eggs that is used to fill
and frost cakes. Whole eggs, yolks or whites may be heated with sugar over simmering
water and whipped cold before adding the butter and flavoring, or a sugar syrup cooked
to the firm-ball stage can be poured over the eggs, then whipped until cold before the
butter and flavoring are added. Buttercream can also be made by combining butter with
pastry cream in a 1-to-2 ration or with custard sauce, 1-to-1.

Caramel

See Sugar Cooking.

Charlotte

This molded dessert is composed of a filling surrounded by ladyfingers or bread.
Apple charlotte is a golden crusted dessert made by baking a thick apple compote in a
mold lined with buttered bread. Cold charlottes are made in a ladyfinger-lined mold and
filled with a Bavarian cream; for frozen charlottes, a frozen soufflé or mousse
replaces the Bavarian cream.

Cookies

Cookies can be prepared in myriad shapes and textures and are usually categorized by
the way they are formed. Drop cookies are dropped from a spoon. Rolled cookies are
made from a chilled dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes. Bar cookies are baked
in sheets and then cut into squares or bars. Molded cookies can either be shaped by hand,
stamped with a pattern before baking or baked directly in a mold. Bagged or piped
cookies are shaped with a pastry bag or a cookie gun.

Cream Puff Paste (Pâte à Choux)

Somewhere between a batter and a dough, cream puff paste is made by beating flour
and then eggs into boiling water and butter. Once shaped and baked, it is crisp on the
outside, almost hollow inside and forms a convenient container for whipped cream,
pastry cream or ice cream (cream puffs, éclairs and profiteroles, e.g.). The dough
can also be deep-fried and rolled in sugar to make sweet fritters (beignets).

Custard Sauce (Crème Anglaise)

Often served as an accompaniment to sweet soufflés, fruit desserts and cakes,
custard sauce is also the foundation for Bavarian cream and for frozen desserts such as
rich ice cream. Sometimes called stirred or pouring custard, it is a mixture of egg yolks,
sugar and milk and/or cream that is cooked only until the yolks coagulate to thicken the
custard. The mixture must not boil or else the yolks will scramble; if this does happen,
whir the custard in a blender to emulsify it.

Dacquoise

This classic French cake is composed of baked nut meringues layered with
buttercream. There are many names for nut meringues and meringue-based desserts –
succès, progrès, japonais among them — and the proportions, size and
type of nut(s) used varies from one to another. Back to Meringue (if you linked here from there).

Dock

This term refers to piercing pastry doughs before baking. The holes allow the steam to
escape, preventing the dough from bubbling and becoming distorted.

Foam Cakes

In these cakes, air is beaten into whole eggs and sugar before the other ingredients
(starches) are gently folded in. Genoise is an example of a foam cake, and some other
sponge cakes fall in this category as well.

Ganache

Ganache is a rich chocolate mixture made by combining chopped semisweet chocolate
and boiling cream and stirring until smooth. The proportions of chocolate to cream can
vary, and the resulting ganache an be used as a cake glaze or beaten until fluffy and used
as a filling or as the base for truffles and other chocolate confections.

Gateau

The French word for cake (pl. gâteaux).

Genoise

Genoise is the classic, fine-crumbed French sponge cake made by beating warm whole
eggs with sugar until the mixture more than triples in volume, then folding in the flour
and sometimes melted butter too.

Glazes

Glazes are used to give desserts a smooth and/or shiny finish. Cake glazes can be
water icing (confectioners’ sugar mixed with liquid), melted chocolate in combination
with cream, butter and/or sugar syrup, or fondant (a thick shiny opaque icing). Caramel
is used to glaze some cakes and small pastries; and sugar cooked to the hard-crack stage
can be used to give pastries sheen but no color. Tart glazes are made from sieved jam,
preserves or jelly, or a combination of the above. Pastry glazes (brushed on dough before
baking) can be an egg glaze made with whole eggs or yolks; milk, cream and/or butter
glaze (these produce a duller finish); sugar glaze (sugar sprinkled over milk or cream
glaze), or any combinations of the above.

High-Altitude Baking

Altitude does not begin to affect baking until above 2,500 feet. Higher than that, the
altitude will dry out ingredients, make doughs and batters rise faster, and make liquids
boil faster. Generally speaking, pans should be greased more heavily, oven temperatures
increased slightly, leaveners and sugar reduced and liquid increased. The actual
adjustments needed will depend on the altitude.

Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers are small sponge cakes, about 3 1/2 inches long, used primarily in making
charlottes. They can be formed with a pastry bag with a plain tip, in a ladyfinger pan or
with two spoons.

Lemon Curd

This cooked mixture of lemon juice (and sometimes grated zest), sugar, butter and
egg yolks makes a rich, tart spreading cream that can be used as a filling. Many
variations exist using other citrus fruits.

Meringue

Meringue, a beaten foam of egg whites and sugar, can be used as a pie topping, to
lighten other mixtures and, after being baked to a crisp layer or shell, as the foundation
of various cakes and desserts (see dacquoise). Simple,
uncooked meringue is made by beating egg whites, then beating in the sugar until very
stiff, shiny peaks form. Cooked meringue is more stable. Two forms are: Swiss
meringue– egg whites and sugar heated over simmering water, then beaten until long,
tall peaks form and the meringue is cold; Italian meringue — sugar syrup cooked to the
firm-ball stage, beaten into whipped egg whites, then whipped until cold.

Pastry Cream (Crème Patissière)

Pastry cream is a cooked mixture made with egg yolks, sugar and milk thickened with
flour and/or cornstarch and finished with a little vanilla. Butter is often beaten in at the
end to give it a silkier consistency. It is used as a filling or as the creamy layer in a fruit
tart. It can be flavored with liqueurs, chocolate or coffee; when flavored with almonds or
macaroons, it becomes a frangipane; with the addition of gelatin and Italian meringue, it
becomes crème chiboust. Lighten pastry cream by folding in 1 part whipped
cream to 2 parts pastry cream.

Pastry Dough

Pie dough or flaky pastry is the standard American dough for pies. It can be made
with butter, vegetable shortening or lard, but most often a combination of butter and
shortening is used. Whatever fat is used, it is rubbed or cut into the flour and then
moistened with water to form the dough. Salt is either dissolved in the water or added
to the flour at the start. The more finely the fat is rubbed in, the less flaky and more
mealy the baked dough will be. Pâte brisée, the French equivalent of our
pie dough or flaky pastry, uses the same proportions of ingredients, but the fat is always
unsalted butter and the liquid may be water, water and egg or all egg. When well made,
the pastry is flaky. Sweet dough, or pâte sucrée, is made in a similar way
with the addition of sugar and sometimes baking powder. It is often used for small tarts
where the filling is baked directly in the raw dough. Cookie dough, or pâte
sablé, is a delicate dough that is usually made by beating the fat with sugar, then
mixing in eggs, with the flour (often cake flour) added at the end. This dough is usually
baked blind and then filled after it has cooled.

Petits Fours

Petits Fours Secs (“dry” petits fours) are usually thin, delicate cookies often
sandwiched with preserves, ganache or praline paste, although plain butter cookies
could also fall under this heading. Petits fours glacés are tiny iced cakes
sandwiched with preserves, ganache or buttercream and delicately decorated. Petits fours
frais are miniature pastries like fruit tarts or eclairs that are filled either with pastry
cream or with buttercream.

Phyllo Dough

Phyllo is a tissue-thin pastry dough cut into sheets that is used in Middle Eastern
desserts, such as baklava, and is similar to strudel dough. Sheets of phyllo are brushed
with melted butter and layered before baking. Phyllo is increasingly available in the
freezer section of supermarkets.

Pound Cake

This is the ultimate butter cake. It gets its name (and texture) from the traditional
proportions of its ingredients — one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour –
although over the years cooks have tinkered with the original formula and baking
powder is sometimes added to the batter.

Praline Paste (Praliné)

This smooth paste is made by adding equal proportions of skinned hazelnuts (or
hazelnuts and almonds) to hot caramel, letting it harden and then pulverizing until
creamy. A perfectly smooth praline paste is difficult to make at home, but is available in
specialty food shops.

Puff Pastry

This is the multilayered buttery pastry in napoleons and palmiers. The thin, crisp,
flaky layers are formed when the dough and butter are rolled together, then folded in
thirds like a letter and rolled again in a process called a turn; classic puff pastry is
“turned” six times, which creates over 1,000 layers of dough (thus the French term
mille-feuille, which means 1,000 leaves). Well-made puff pastry rises to 5 times its
original volume during baking. As it bakes, the water in the dough converts to steam,
filling the places previously occupied by the butter, which has already melted and been
absorbed by the dough. Preparing the dough from scratch is an exacting process and
many people prefer to buy the dough ready made. Quick puff pastry is made by tossing
large cubes of butter with flour before the water is added to form the dough; the dough is
then rolled and folded like puff pastry. Although it does not rise so high as classic puff
dough, the quick pastry has the same delicate, flaky texture and can be used for any
desserts where the pastry doesn’t have to rise as tall.

Royal Icing

This icing is a mixture of confectioners’ sugar and egg whites, and it dries hard. It is
the traditional icing for English Wedding Cake and is often used to make filigree
designs.

Savarin

Made from a yeast dough, like babas, but without the currants, savarins are baked in
large or small ring molds, soaked with a syrup usually flavored with rum or kirsch and
then painted with a fruit glaze. The center of the ring is filled with whipped cream or
pastry cream, and sometimes fresh or poached fruit is added.

Sponge Cake

Sponge cakes are leavened by beating air into whole eggs and sugar or by beating the
sugar with the yolks and whites separately. The cakes tend to be fairly lean, even when
they contain butter, and are often split into layers, moistened with a flavored sugar
syrup and filled.

Strudel Dough

A traditional Viennese strudel dough contains more fat (oil) than phyllo dough and
is stretched to a large tissue-thin sheet before being rolled around a filling to make one
strudel. Although prepared strudel dough is sometimes hard to find, phyllo can be used
in its place to make small strudels (both can be mail-ordered).

Sugar Cooking

When sugar is dissolved in water and brought to a boil, it forms a solution called a
syrup. Simple syrup is made with equal quantities of sugar and water. As the syrup boils,
the sugar becomes more concentrated and the syrup more dense. The various stages of
the cooked sugar solution can be measured with a candy thermometer. Simple syrup is
used to moisten cakes, and sugar cooked to various stages is used in the making of
fondant, buttercream, boiled icing, and Italian meringue. Sugarcooked to between 320
and 350 degrees becomes caramel, which is used for glazing and making spun sugar,
caramel cages and praline paste. Back to Caramel.

Tart

Tarts are shallow and straight sided (as opposed to sloped-sided American pies) and
usually have only a bottom crust, but this is by no means the rule. They are baked in
pans with removable bottoms or in flan forms (frames that support the sides of the tart
as it bakes on a baking sheet) and are usually served unmolded. Tarts can also be baked
free-form on a sheet.

Torte

Torte is the Eastern European name for a cake (pl. torten).

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services

By Charlotte Balcomb Lane

Orlando Sentinel

While most of the nation shivers under winter’s chill, Florida harvests its citrus
sunshine. This winter, the crop is about two weeks later than usual. Eight of the top 11
Florida citrus varieties are now in season. Look for navel oranges, ruby red grapefruit,
tangerines and tangelos to be plentiful and relatively inexpensive in supermarkets and
produce stands. Recent cold snaps have given the fruit extra sweetness, too.

When shopping for citrus, bigger isn’t better, said C. Jack Hearn, a citrus specialist with
the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Orlando. Smaller fruit usually has more intense
flavor than large fruit, he explained. And in general, you should ignore the color of the
peel. Bright orange fruit doesn’t taste better than fruit that hasa yellow or speckled skin.

You can almost choose fruit with your eyes closed, selecting those that feel dense and
heavy in your hands. Heavy fruit is juicier and more flavorful.

Here’s a guide to citrus and how to use it in recipes:

Grapefruit.
The crop of pink, red and white grapefruit is bountiful, and the fruit is sweet
and luscious. Color is not an indicator of sweetness, and white grapefruit are no sweeter
or more sour than pink or red varieties. Most types can be used interchangeably for
juicing, or to cut in half and eat for snacks with a grapefruit spoon. (Star ruby grapefruit,
a type of dark, red-fleshed fruit, is too crunchy to eat easily with a grapefruit spoon.)
Florida grapefruit are easy to peel and excellent for sectioning. Use three colors of
grapefruit to make a rainbow fruit salad, or add to ambrosia or spinach, avocado and red
onion salad.

Hamlin orange.
These medium-size oranges have a smooth, thin peel and few seeds.
They range in color from deep yellow to true orange. They are tart and best for juicing
but also can be peeled for sectioning. Use in fruit salads or add fruit and juice to baked or
grilled chicken.

Pineapple orange.
These are medium-size, seedy oranges used mostly for juicing. The
juice is brightly colored and tart-sweet. It tastes delightful in yogurt-fruit breakfast
smoothies, alcohol-free mocktails and in mixed drinks.

Valencia orange.
These are the queen of Florida’s juice oranges, but they’re seldom
available until March. The medium-size fruit has a sturdy peel and juice that is
tart-sweet and deeply colored. Section or slice the fruit and use it in salads, pancakes or
duck a l’orange.

Navel orange.
These extra-large oranges are perfect for packing in brown-bag lunches or
picnic baskets. The sturdy, pebbled rind makes the fruit easy to peel and section. The
sweet flavor is an excellent addition to salads and salad dressings. Add peeled sections to
yogurt or whole-grain breakfast cereal or chop sections and mix with jalapeno peppers
and cilantro to make a sweet-hot salsa for fish or grilled chicken.

Ambersweet orange.
This delightful new variety was developed in Orlando in 1989, so
trees are still too young to bear much fruit. But if you see Ambersweet oranges in the
market, buy them. They are almost as large as naval oranges, with an easy-to-peel skin
and a tart-sweet, slightly spicy flavor. They have few seeds and plenty of juice. Use
sections in fruit salads or arrange in a pinwheel atop a glamorous fresh orange tart. Add
the sections to salad greens and toss with a honey, mustard and orange juice dressing.

Temple orange.
These medium-size oranges have a deep orange color and a pebbly
surface that is easy to peel. Inside, they’re fairly seedy but delightfully sweet. Munch
them out of hand or juice them to avoid the seeds. Use the juice in cocktails or breakfast
drinks.

Tangelo.
This specialty fruit is a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit. (The name
comes from pomelo, the European term for grapefruit.) The fruit is fairly large, with an
easy-peeling rind and few seeds. The deep orange flesh is best when peeled and eaten
out of hand for lunch or snacks, but it also can be used for juicing. Section and toss with
dates, grapes and honey to make a winter-fruit salad or sprinkle sections on top of
pan-fried ham slices.

Sunburst tangerine.
This variety is what most people envision when they think of a
tangerine. The fruit is small, with a dark orange, loose rind that practically falls off the
fruit. They have a bright, sweet, juicy flavor and plenty of seeds. Because they’re easy to
peel, these are great packed in lunch bags. Remove the seeds and toss sections in salads,
layer in cakes or sprinkle over vanilla ice cream.

Honeybell tangerine.
This exceptionally sweet, juicy and seedless fruit once grew under
the name “Minneola,” but was changed to encourage consumers to try it. The season is
only six to eight weeks long, so buy honeybells when you see them. They have a thin
skin and usually bulge slightly at the stem end. Use sections in salads or dip them in real
honey for dessert. They’re great eaten in the afternoon for a pick-me-up. (Don’t confuse
honeybells with another tangerine variety simply called a honey, or a

Murcott.
Honey tangerines have an unattractive, thin, light-orange peel but a great,
sweet flavor. They are usually full of seeds but make excellent juice.)

Meyer lemons.
These large, thin-skinned lemons are seldom sold commercially, but the
trees are popular for landscaping. So, if a neighbor offers some off a backyard tree, take
them. They have abundant juice. They are sweeter than supermarket lemons, so they
make excellent lemonade. Use the juice also in marinades, sauces and cakes and
frostings.

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services

By Patty LaNoue Stearns

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Authentic seasonings are essential to Chinese cooking. Most supermarkets now stock
many of these ingredients, as do the growing number of Asian markets throughout the
metro area. Here’s a list of some of the most readily available spices and sauces:

Chili peppers: Add a hot and spicy edge to Sichuan-style dishes.

Chili paste: Made with mashed chili peppers, vinegar and garlic, a fiery flavor that puts
zing into Chinese.

Five-spice powder: Ground anise, Sichuan pepper, fennel, cloves and cinnamon. The
pungent blend is for flavoring meat and poultry.

Ginger root: A gnarled brown tuber with a lemon-zesty flavor; shaved and skin
removed, it’s great for stir-fry.

Hoisin sauce: A thick, reddish-brown concoction of soybeans, flour, sugar, salt, garlic and
chili peppers that adds a sweetish taste to cooked dishes and also is a good marinade or
dipping sauce for seafood and poultry.

Scallion: Mild, tender green onion with a small white bulb and tall green stalk, great for
soups and stir-fry flavoring.

Bamboo shoots: Ivory-colored, mild-flavored sprouts from the bamboo plant used in
stir-fries and soups; canned versions are most common.

Bok choy: Tall, thick-stalked cabbage for stir-fry, soups and pickled side dishes.

Chinese cabbage: Also called napa, the oval-shaped, densely packed, broad leaves are
juicy and slightly sweet. Use in dumplings, fillings, soups and stir-fries.

Dried mushrooms: Shitake, black and wood ear are among varieties used. Soak in water
before adding to soups and stir-fries.

Mung bean sprouts: Used in stir-fry and other dishes for their sweet taste and tender
texture.

Oyster sauce: A dark-brown mix of oysters, brine and soy sauce, cooked until it’s thick
and concentrated. Use in stir-fries and as a dip.

Peanut oil: Distinctive flavored oil for stir-fries.

Pea pods: Flat green pods with tiny green peas inside. Provide a fresh, sweetish taste
that’s perfect for soups, salads and stir-fries. Cook only slightly to preserve their crisp
texture.

Sesame oil: Nutty and pungent; add a teaspoon to finish a stir-fry dish.

Tapioca flour: Extracted from the root of the cassava plant; used as a thickening agent for
stir-fries.

The scientific name of the cacao tree’s fruit is “Theobroma Cacao” which means “food of the gods.” In fact, the cacao bean was worshipped as an idol by the Mayan Indians over 2,000 years ago. In 1519, Hernando Cortez tasted “Cacahuatt,” a drink enjoyed by Montezuma II, the last Aztec emperor. Cortez observed that the Aztecs treated cacao beans, used to make the drink, as priceless treasures. He subsequently
brought the beans back to Spain where the chocolate drink was made and then heated with added sweeten ers. Its formula was kept a secret to be enjoyed by nobility. Eventually, the secret was revealed and the drink’s fame spread to other lands.

By the mid-1600s, the chocolate drink had gained widespread popularity in France. One enterprising Frenchman opened the first hot chocolate shop in London. By the 1700s, chocolate houses were as prominent as coffee houses in England.

The New World’s first chocolate factory opened in 1765 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Sixty years later, Conrad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a cocoa press that enabled confectioners to make chocolate candy by mixing cocoa butter with finely ground sugar.

In 1876, Daniel Peter, a Swiss candymaker, developed milk chocolate by adding condensed milk to chocolate liquor – the nonalcoholic by-product of the cocoa bean’s inner meat. The Swiss also gave the chocolate a smoother texture through a process called “conching.” The name was derived from a Greek term meaning “sea shell” and refered to the shape of old mixing vats where particles in the chocolate mixture were reduced to a fine texture.

Milton Hershey established the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894, manufacturing and selling Hershey’s cocoa, Hershey’s baking chocolate and Hershey’s sweet chocolate (known today as dark or semi-sweet chocolate). Hershey was called the “Henry Ford” of chocolate because he mass produced a quality chocolate bar at a price everyone could afford.

Copyright © 1995 Hershey Foods Corporation