• While Fabio's date waits for him at an upscale bar, he gives us the skinny on how to make delicious low-calorie, scandalous drinks.

    Tips:

    • Skip the sugary syrups and reduce calories with natural flavor. Stevia, agave and pomegranate syrups all have great sweetening qualities without excessive sugar.
    • Muddling fruits and vegetables into a drink (mashing them up and straining them), imbues fresh flavors without adding calories.
    • To take champagne or sparkling wine over the top, combine it with absinthe.

    SMART & SEXY COCKTAILS

    Recipes courtesy of The Library Bar at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

    Currant AttractionCurrant Attraction

    Yield: 1 cocktail

    Ingredients:

    5-7 red and black currants (substitute: raspberries and blueberries, respectively)

    4 wild arugula leaves

    ¾ oz. fresh lime juice

    ¾ oz. agave nectar

    juice of one blood orange

    2 oz. tequila

    Method:

    In a cocktail shaker, add the first five ingredients in layers, in order.

    Muddle all the ingredients together.

    Read More »from Fabio's Date Night Survival Guide: Cocktails
  • Outrageously Expensive Liquor

    New Record Holder for Most Expensive Cocktail Costs $12,916Wine aficionados have a reputation for being discriminating collectors, yet other types of liquor have their cultured devotees of their own. In 2008, if you wanted the most expensive cocktail in the world, you needed only $2,500 for the drink and a $2.25 subway ride to New York City's Plaza Hotel where it was sold. That changed this February, when Club 23 in Melbourne, Australia introduced the "Winston," a cocktail with a label price of almost $13,000, according to The Wall Street Journal.

    The high price is due to a single ingredient: an 1858 Croizet cognac. This liquor, which fetched over $160,000 at a Shanghai auction for a single bottle, was allegedly quaffed by the cocktail's namesake, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as he planned D-Day. Despite the high price and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, however, the cocktail's anonymous buyer took only a couple of sips, then got up and left.

    Scott Abramson, vice president of the Park Avenue

    Read More »from Outrageously Expensive Liquor
  • Virtuous and colorful: two words that should always be associated with a weeknight dinner at home, but too rarely are. Deep violet radicchio roasted with meaty, pink shrimp are a simple and brillant pairing. EmilyC adds a few halved cherry tomatoes, but it being the beginning of Feburary you may not want to use them (or maybe you do, we won't judge!). If this all sounds just a little too virtuous, well, unlike those cherry tomatoes, clementines are in season, which means that it'd probably be a good idea to make a pound cake with them. Like maybe SavvyJulie's? And if you decide to serve it with a sizeable dollop of whipped cream, even better.

    The Menu

    Roasted Radicchio with Shrimp and Warm Bacon Vinaigrette by EmilyC


    Serves 2 to 3 as a main course; 4 to 6 as a side dish

    2 small heads radicchio
    1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
    3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
    Kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper
    1 pound medium shrimp,

    Read More »from Dinner Tonight: Roasted Radicchio and Shrimp + Clementine Pound Cake
  • A steakhouse-caliber classic, ready in minutes at home

    By the editors of Men's Health


    Cook Seared Sirloin with Red-Wine MushroomsCook Seared Sirloin with Red-Wine Mushrooms


    INGREDIENTS:
    1 Tbsp olive oil
    4 six-ounce steaks (trimmed sirloin or petite filets)
    Salt and pepper to taste
    2 shallots, minced
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    1/2 lb white or cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed, and sliced
    1 cup red wine
    1 cup low-sodium beef stock
    2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

    MINUTES 1-10
    Sear the steaks

    Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat the oil in a large cast-iron or oven-safe skillet on high. Season the steaks with salt and plenty of black pepper and add them to the hot pan. Sear for 3 to 4 minutes until a deep brown crust develops on one side. Then flip the steaks over.

    Which type of beef is best? Click here to learn the difference between different beef cuts.

    MINUTES 11-18
    Transfer them to the oven

    Place the skillet in the oven to finish cooking (6 to 8 minutes for medium rare; an instant-read thermometer

    Read More »from Cook Seared Sirloin with Red-Wine Mushrooms
  • House Beautiful's new food columnist for 2013, celebrity chef Alex Hitz, puts a distinctively gourmet spin on down-home dishes. Here, he shares an elegant and festive oyster stew recipe. And don't forget to check out his new cookbook, My Beverly Hills Kitchen.

    If there's any month that needs to include a bit of celebration, it's February. Don't let the winter gloom get you down. Here's an easy, elegant, festive dish that's simple to prepare, yet bursting with incredible flavor - and it takes no more than 20 minutes from start to finish. Less, really, because most of that time is just spent simmering it to concentrate the flavors. It's got "Romantic Dinner for Two" written all over it. (Not to mention, of course, that it's actually an aphrodisiac!)

    To celebrate, pour a glass of Champagne, set the table, and make this stew (then, finish with some of my chocolate mousse that I'm sure you already made yesterday).


    Related: Sandra Lee's Pesto Cheese Straws

    Few things are as

    Read More »from Alex Hitz's Oyster Stew Recipe
  • Salmon with Red Pepper Pesto

    If you don't like the bite of raw garlic, drop the clove in boiling water for 1 minute to blanch, then proceed with the pesto.

    Salmon with Red Pepper Pesto

    Ingredients

    4 (6-ounce) fresh or frozen sustainable salmon fillets (such as wild Alaskan)
    3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
    Cooking spray
    1/3 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained
    1 tablespoon tomato paste
    1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
    7 whole blanched almonds
    1 garlic clove

    See More: Superfast Seafood

    Preparation

    1. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange fish in pan; cook for 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

    2. While the fish cooks, combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, bell peppers, and remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Serve pesto over fish.

    Read More »from 20-Minute Recipe: Salmon with Red Pepper Pesto
  • By Leah Bourne, The Vivant

    The Most Expensive Cocktail There's a new record holder for the most expensive cocktail set by Australian bartender Joel Heffernan. The cocktail costs a staggering $12,916 (and we thought spending $25 on a drink was expensive).

    Related Article: Entertaining 101: How To Throw a Fashion Week Worthy Party Yourself

    Heffernan, who works at Club 23 in Melbourne, named the cocktail the Winston for Winston Churchill, and it includes two nips of 1858 Croizet cognac (a bottle of which sells for $157,000), Grand Marnier Quintessence, Chartreuse Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolonge, Angostura Bitters, and chocolate nutmeg dust.

    The previous record holder was London's Salvatore Calabrese's $8,835 cocktail-so this drink is quite the step up.

    Watch this video, and tell us what you think in the comments below.

    More From The Vivant:
    Andy Cohen Tells Us His Favorite West Village Spots Include a Lesbian Bar and a Used Bookstore
    The Vivant's Top 10: What Celebs Get Paid the Most To Attend

    Read More »from New Record Holder for Most Expensive Cocktail Costs $12,916
  • These dumplings are delicious whether you put the classic pleats in them or not.
    by Gourmet


    Gourmet/Yanes,Romulo AGourmet/Yanes,Romulo Ayield: Makes 4 main-course servings (makes 32)
    active time: 1 1/4 hr
    total time: 1 1/4 hr

    ingredients
    1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
    1 (2-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger
    1/2 cup light soy sauce
    1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
    3/4 lb ground pork (from shoulder; not lean)

    special equipment
    a 3 1/4-inch round cookie cutter

    See more: 15 Perfect Pasta Dishes

    preparation
    * Stir together flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a bowl until a dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface until just smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 10 minutes.**

    * While dough stands, halve ginger, then finely chop 1 half and cut remaining half into very thin matchsticks (less than 1/8 inch thick).

    * Combine 5 tablespoons soy sauce with ginger matchsticks in a small bowl.

    * Reserve 2 tablespoons scallions for garnish,

    Read More »from Pork Dumpling Recipe to Ring in the Chinese New Year
  • Better Than The $1 Menu: Superfoods That Ring In For 99 Cents Or LessBy Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D., EatingWell Magazine

    Every few months, it seems, there's hype about the latest, hottest superfood--chia seeds and acai berries spring to mind. But LOTS of foods, many of which are stocked in nearly every grocery store in America, are "superfoods"-foods brimming with various disease-fighting nutrients, usually without providing too many calories.

    Don't Miss: 7 of the Healthiest Foods You Should Be Eating (But Probably Aren't)

    The added bonus to eating more of these easy-to-find super-healthy foods? They won't break the bank. These 12 healthy foods clock in at under a dollar per serving and deliver a lot more nutritional bang for your buck than the offerings you'd find on fast-food dollar menus.

    1. Lentils
    Cost Per Serving (1 cup): 15¢
    Why lentils are so good for you: Like beans, lentils are high in fiber and protein (8 grams and 9 grams per half cup, respectively), which makes them great for your heart. They have the edge over

    Read More »from Better Than the $1 Menu: Superfoods that Ring in for 99 Cents or Less
  • I first tasted king cake at a Mardi Gras party in my fifth-grade classroom in Mississippi. Striated with cinnamon-sugar and cream cheese, and glazed with a sticky icing, my slice included a surprise: a small plastic baby. King cakes, which commemorate the Epiphany-the wise men's discovery of the baby Jesus-are eaten the world over in various forms, but they're nowhere more beloved than in New Orleans, where the cake is associated with the festivities of Mardi Gras. Introduced by French settlers in the 1600s, New Orleans's traditional cake is sweetened, yeasted bread stuffed with a filling (cinnamon and cream cheese, say, or praline), shaped into an oval ring, topped with white icing, and garnished with purple, green, and gold sanding sugars. A figurine, which some say symbolizes the infant Jesus, is hidden inside; whoever gets the trinket is named king. The title comes with strings attached: it obligates its bearer to buy the cake for the next party. -Ben Mims

    RECIPE: King Cake

    This

    Read More »from The King of Mardi Gras: New Orleans King Cakes

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