Blog Posts by Zester Daily

Widow's Kiss cocktail by the Hearty Boys. By Virginie Boone

Looking to throw the perfect cocktail party this holiday season? The Hearty Boys, otherwise known as Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith, have a new book with tips to show you how.

"The New Old Bar: Classic Cocktails and Salty Snacks From The Hearty Boys," is all about making home cocktails easier and more fun, with a nod to many favorite drinks of the past as well as bar snacks and appetizers to balance out those strong flavors.

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"The cocktail scene over the last five to seven years has been so hot on both coasts," notes McDonagh, who is based in Chicago, where he runs the restaurant Hearty. "But the average person still doesn't understand what's going on. This book is written for the regular person who feels intimidated by today's cocktail list."

He says it's also about empowerment, about showing people who don't know their Peychaud's from their Angostura (they're two types of bitters) how to make cocktails on

Banjo Bill's Anticipation with rum and cider.By Caroline Beck

When apple cider is pressed from an orchard full of heirloom varieties, the result has all the complexities of the best vintage red wine, but the finish is as crisp and clean as water from a spring-fed stream. Cider this good can be served ice-cold in a glass and downed in one long draw, making it the simplest of holiday drinks.

But as good as it is, there's still room for embellishment. Cider - hard or sweet - is enjoying a revival as the new "it" libation among the growing gluten-free crowd. And five minutes of prep time now will yield the perfect cocktail for a holiday party weeks away.

RELATED: How about clove-spiced brandy?

"Banjo Bill's Anticipation" is a simple cider-based libation that comes straight out of old-time Arizona. Although the cocktail's history stretches back to the late 1800s, you only need three to four weeks to steep the spiced rum that marries with fresh cider to create a rich, warm apéritif.

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Chef Jean Yves' flourless chocolate cake.By David Latt

When French pastry chef Jean Yves was looking to create a signature dessert for his Berkshire Mountains patisserie, he wanted something that would satisfy a chocolate-loving upscale clientele.

RELATED: Marshmallow pie improves on the classic Mallomar

He remembered the densely flavored chocolate and thick whipped cream he employed to make rich chocolate cakes when he worked in a German bakery. He applied French patisserie techniques to those ingredients.

RELATED: Chocolate cake with a real kick!

The flourless chocolate cake - topped with cocoa powder, swirls of freshly made whipped cream and hand-dipped chocolate-covered whole almonds - was one of the ways he celebrated his new life and business in Lenox, Mass..

Patisserie Lenox Flourless Chocolate Cake

Use good quality ingredients for better tasting cakes. Avoid butter, cream and chocolates made with artificial ingredients and stabilizers.

Serves 6-8

For the cake

6 eggs

Classic roast beef goes perfectly with a simple horseradish sauce you can make at home.By Lynne Curry

With its peculiar and overwhelming odor, horseradish is not universally beloved. But this crucifer's rousing scent and fiery flavor are precisely why some horseradish lovers go so far as to forage the wilds in search of feral horseradish plants so they can grind their own perfectly pungent horseradish sauce.

Armoracia rusticana is a weed that proliferates in back yards, fields, roadsides and homesteads throughout this country. Introduced from its native southern and eastern European roots by immigrants and adventuresome gardeners, the horseradish, once established, went feral and can now be found in the most unexpected and inhospitable places.

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Most people don't recognize the horseradish plant. Those who do often choose to ignore it. The reason for its disfavor isn't the fact that horseradish is misnamed; it is neither a food for equines nor a type of radish, but because it isn't a vegetable in the steamed,

Brining can give you a moist, tender turkey -- if you have the right recipe.By Louisa Kasdon

Turkey conversation season is upon us again, with our annual quest for a crisp, moist, perfect bird. Some swear by brining the turkey (or any poultry) in a bucket with spices and salt to improve flavor and texture. I'm a skeptic with a standard home kitchen. Our family is big, and so are the birds we roast to feed them. Do I really need to give my 18-pound turkey an overnight beauty bath? Is the mess worth the work?

RELATED: Pumpkin sage puffs make a great holiday appetizer

I asked Chef Tony Maws, chef owner of the award-winning bistro Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Mass. Maws, a recent James Beard Best Chef Northeast winner, is known around town as a perfectionist. One of the pioneers of the locavore movement and nose-to-tail cooking, in his early days Maws was known as a chef whose standards were so high that local suppliers wept during deliveries to his restaurant as he inspected and refused their local bounty. Maws has mellowed a bit. But he's still a

Getting the best pieces of the turkey means knowing how to carve the bird.By Clifford A. Wright

A lot of people say they don't like turkey because it's too dry. They are referring to the white meat, by far the most popular part of the turkey for most Americans. The white meat comes from the breast, and modern turkeys are raised to have large breasts (those Americans!). A turkey is a naturally moist and delicious tasting bird, so if you associate breast meat with dry and crumbly meat that's because of one thing only: The cook overcooked the turkey. Once a turkey is overcooked there's no going back, it's ruined. A roasted turkey should never taste dry.

RELATED: Turkey tips for first-timers

So, when cooking turkey you must pay attention. I recommend using thermometers, in fact, at least two of them in different parts of the turkey. One of the reasons people overcook turkeys is because the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many cookbooks, supermarkets - everybody - instructs you to cook the turkey until it has an internal temperature of 180 F. This

Thanksgiving is a daunting meal for first-timers. You need a few tips to cook up a perfect turkey dinner.By Clifford A. Wright

Every November, the advice about roasting turkey comes fast and furious. But for rank beginners it's a confusing world. Who do you believe with so many ideas and pieces of advice?

I cooked my first turkey probably when I was about 20 or 21 and away at college the year I didn't come home for Thanksgiving. The one thing I remember was that it was a joint effort and we were all clueless. I don't remember the turkey, but I bet it was dry and crumbly.

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The reason it's often late in life that we cook our first turkeys is for years we're always going home where our mom, aunt or grandmother does the cooking and we're playing football waiting for food. Then suddenly, perhaps in our late 20s, we've got to cook a turkey. So we hit the cookbooks to find their myriad pieces of advice: Do this, don't do that.

Here are the 10 steps to a perfect turkey, your first turkey. Follow these

Premade phyllo dough cups are perfect for an easy savory pumpkin sage filling.By Laura Holmes Haddad

There's a lot of waiting on Thanksgiving Day. There's waiting for family and friends to arrive, waiting for the turkey to roast, waiting for the potatoes to cook. All that waiting makes you work up an appetite, especially, and inevitably, when things run late.

Forget the sad bowl of nuts on the coffee table. Something warm and lovely is in order on Thanksgiving Day. Feed your guests a small bite to hold them over until the main event. These savory, autumn-inspired puffs are just the thing. They're creamy, crunchy, and bite-sized and perfect with a glass of Champagne. They look fussy but are actually a breeze to pull together.

RELATED: Turkey tips for first-timers.

Pre-baked phyllo cups are found in virtually every supermarket and you can make the filling the night before. Now just don't keep your guests waiting too long.

Pumpkin Sage Puffs

Makes 30 pieces

Ingredients

2 packages miniature pre-baked phyllo cups

2 tablespoons