Food

by Julia Bainbridge, Bon Appétit

Parties tend to be pegged to something: birthdays, Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo. And that's all well and good. But what about a simple ode to the season? Sitting outside and eating good food with people you like for the sake of sitting outside and eating good food with people you like? Yes, it sounds amazing. So throw a spring garden party this weekend. Why the heck not? We've planned it all out for you: what to serve, what to serve it on, and even a fun activity.

What to Serve:

Nibbles to start:
Savory Spring Vegetable and Goat Cheese Tart

Smoked Salmon with Lemon Creme Fraiche

Main event:
Skillet-Fried Chicken

Sugar Snap Salad

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Chive Pesto

Roasted carrots with more chive pesto

Sweet finish:
Apricot-Anise Tarts
















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by Kemp Minifie, Gourmet

May is National Burger Month, but given the insane popularity of burgers year-round, every month is burger month. That said, millions of grills will be firing up for the Memorial Day weekend, and that means a whole lot of burgers.

See also: 10 Outrageous Pies

Purists like their meat plain, preferring to embellish with add-ons such as bacon, cheese, guacamole, onion-the likely suspects. But with mix-ins so popular in ice cream, it's tempting to slip a little surprise into your burger. Just don't blend in the tasty tidbits as if you're mooshing chopped up candy bars into a frozen scoop of cream. Gentle is the operative word here; handle the meat as little as possible, but just enough to get the additions incorporated.

Chipotle

Who doesn't weep with joy at that fiery hit of smoky heat? Finely chop chipotle chiles in adobo and include some sauce.

Double the action by adding smoked paprika-play it safe with sweet (dulce) Spanish pimenton, or get wild wit

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It was pretty tough to get back to the grind after my fantastic sisters weekend in Martha's Vineyard. It was also impossible to get the salad we shared on the first night of our trip out of my head. It was a combination I had never tried. French feta. Watermelon. Balsamic vinegar. And the French in French feta is really important. It's sheep's milk and it's delicious and miraculously it doesn't hurt my stomach (that much).

Watermelon & Feta Salad

French feta cheese, cubed
Seedless Watermelon, cubed
Balsamic vinegar or glaze
Arugula or basil (optional)

*The restaurant also served it with raw fennel and olives.

Combine feta, watermelon, and arugula. Drizzle balsamic. Enjoy.


Get other recipes, ideas, and stories on Love U Madly !!

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Inspiration for tonight's dinner: weather that simply can't make up its mind. Cold and drizzly one second, 80+ and downright muggy the next! Dressing for this kind of variation is enough to make anyone feel a little crazy, and coming up with dinner plans? Oof. You can start the day wrapped up in a big cozy robe with a big steaming bowl of oatmeal, and by the time you head home from work, a big icy margarita and some chips & salsa is sounding pretty great.

So, in this weeks' dinner tonight we shall attempt to address this silliness with a lovely asparagus soup to fight off any residual chill, and a refreshing radish salad. Alright spring, is it summer yet? We suppose with meals like this, we can hold out just a little longer.

Check out some more asparagus recipes and ideas for quick and easy dinners at Food52.com!

The Menu

Cream of Asparagus Soup by merrill

Serves 4
1 tablespoon safflower oil
2 large scallions, thinly sliced into half-moons

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OK, calling it the best might be a bit of a stretch: the true merit of something as beloved and simple as chocolate ice cream comes not just from its formula, but when and where it's consumed, the quality of the ingredients, and perhaps foremost, the mood. I can't control any of those variables, but I can give you a pretty simple recipe for chocolate ice cream to get you on your merry way.

I was inspired by two things. The first was Maxwell, an ice cream purist, who came home to my Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream two weeks ago and said "blech!" This is an effort to keep the man of the house happy.

The second was Faith's post about the ice cream making technique from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams who makes ice cream without eggs. Instead, she uses a touch of cornstarch and some cream cheese to stabilize her ice creams. I adapted her method to a basic chocolate ice cream, in order to honor the chocolate. It should be the star of the show: no eggs, no vanilla, no other flavori

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By Zester Daily Staff

The first long weekend of summer is upon us. Time to plan a backyard barbecue or, better yet, a picnic lunch to carry to some sunny park, newly opened beach or quiet spot along the wooded trail. But what to pack?

Zester Daily contributors have the perfect menu for a simple but sophisticated picnic lunch, including dessert and a wine selection.

MAIN COURSE: Fried Chicken. Nothing beats cold fried chicken for a picnic. Make this a day or so ahead and let it hang out in the fridge until you're ready to pack your picnic meal.

Fried Chicken

Serves 4 to 6. Adapted from "The Welcome Table."

Ingredients

2½ to 3-pound frying chicken, cut into pieces

vegetable oil for frying

½ cup flour

¼ cup white cornmeal

1½ tablespoons Bell's poultry seasoning

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash the chicken thoroughly and pat the pieces dry with paper towels.

2. Heat the oil to 350 F in a heavy c

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Determining which restaurants in the nation offer the steepest prices is a tricky task. Most of the restaurants on this list serve the rarest, most premium, and freshest ingredients available, from kitchens run by chefs with expert levels of craftsmanship and artistry, in dining rooms with an exceptional quality of service provided by the front of house staff. But regardless of the justifications, the fact remains that the restaurants on this list are outrageously pricey.

Click here to see America's 25 Most Expensive Restaurants

To arrive at the top 25 we compiled a list of restaurants commonly known for being outrageously expensive (such as Masa, which is known for its $450 per person omakase menu). We started by first pulling data from The Daily Meal's 101 Best Restaurants in America for 2012, and then expanded the research to include a more comprehensive spectrum of fine dining restaurants across the country. From there we gathered data compiled by Bundle.com (a site that tracks

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The Queen of Burgers has drawn together her tastiest recipes for the ultimate between-the-buns experience. Here's one that's sure to get your grill-and your family-all fired up! From The Book of Burger by Rachael Ray.

Serves 4
Make the chicken: Place the chicken in a medium pot and add the carrot, onion, orange, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pour in enough water to cover. Cover the pan, bring to a boil, and cook at a low rolling boil for 20 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones from the chicken and shred the meat. Strain the broth, return it to the pot, and bring to a boil over high heat to reduce for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, make the BBQ sauce: In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the BBQ sauce and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.

Make the slaw: In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, superfine sugar, salt, onion, and oil; season with pepper. A

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