Recipes By Cristina Sciarra
15 recipes found
Raspberry Rosé-Sparkler Float
The Roman Raspberry recipe is written with raspberry jam, for ease, but if you have a little extra time, you can make your own syrupy raspberry compote.
Marinated Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pepitas
I make this salad constantly during the summer: it's crazy easy to pull together, and it pairs well with and/or sauces so many summer favorites: grilled chicken or skirt steak, fish prepared almost any way. It's lovely with goat cheese or mozzarella on toast. I often eat it for lunch, straight from the bowl.
Coconut Panna Cotta
Panna cotta for coconut lovers. Topped with jam or mango puree, it's an easy make ahead dessert for guests.
Goat Milk Yogurt Panna Cotta
I love the tang of Goat Milk yogurt. (I used Coach Farm’s Plain Yo-Goat Cultured Goat Milk). Try this Panna Cotta recipe, it's delicious and unique.
Butter-and-Goat Cheese Potato Purée
This recipe is a happy amalgamation of Sonali aka the Foodie Physician's Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese and Joël Robuchon’s famous Potato Purée. I suggest using the best quality butter, goat cheese, and milk you can find, because let's face it -- this is sort of a dairy recipe with some potatoes in it, rather than the other way around. It really is thoroughly delicious.
Basil-Lemon Sweet & Savory Meringues
I can't resist a good sweet-savory combination, especially when served in a delicate, bite-size package like this recipe. These meringues are fresh and fun.
Black Bean, Avocado and Pineapple salsa
So far, I've served this salsa with halibut, swordfish and tuna, but I suspect chicken and pork would also marry happily, or chips. It tastes better after the ingredients have spent some time together, so feel free to bring it along to a BBQ, a picnic or camping.
Sardine Butter
When I asked my boyfriend, an avid lover of seafood of all kinds, what I should make for this contest, he quickly and enthusiastically answered, “sardine butter!” Eaten on toast as an hors d’oeuvre or starter, it is the love child of two ingredients beloved by people from his region of France: sea salt-laced butter, and sardines. As a bonus, it is really easy to make and store.
Vanilla-Stewed Apples + Bananas
This quick fruit recipe is perfect for a chilly morning. The vanilla bean elevates the fruit, while the banana lends some creaminess. It also makes a good afternoon snack, or a light dessert. Delicious on its own, the addition of yogurt, nuts, and coconut does make for a rounder start to the day. It is also really easy to pack this to go.
Foie Gras au Gros Sel
My boyfriend and I are currently spending our second Christmas together at his family’s seaside home on the western coast of France. (I know, I have a really terrible life). We have only been here one day, but already I find myself one luscious recipe richer. While it is perhaps shameful to admit, before last night, I never considered that one could make foie gras at home. But you can! My boyfriend’s mother Isabelle, a veritable treasure trove of all things lovely and French, has generously shared her recipe for the smoothest, most buttery foie gras I have ever tasted. Her advice is to use the very best-quality liver you can get your hands on.
Salmon and Avocado Toasts
I know it's strange, but the truth is, I really hate seaweed. I do, however, love sushi. My seaweed aversion means that most of the time I am limited to sashimi and nigiri. Now, I'm not complaining, but sometimes a girl wants to mix it up a little. Occasionally, I get lucky and a restaurant is willing to make a roll using soy or rice paper (which blissfully tastes like nothing). When this is the case, I always order the same thing: salmon and avocado. Oh salmon and avocado, has there ever been such a glorious pairing? This hors d'oeuvre amps up the creaminess even further with a swash of crème fraîche. A liberal squeeze of lemon juice balances it out with some acidity. Sea salt and pepper brings the whole bite together.
Green and Red Endive Boats
Last year was my first Christmas away from home. At the time, my boyfriend was still living in France, while I was in graduate school in New York--not an ideal situation, let me tell you. Since he had visited me here over the summer, I was making the trek there for the holidays. We spent a week with his family in La Rochelle, a sea-side town famed for its oysters. Christmas day dawned bright and cold and with picnic baskets in tow, the whole family walked the short distance to the beach. Out came Champagne, boudin blanc and chevre and lardon toasts. There were also slivers of crisp endive, which my boyfriend's mother (an excellent cook) had topped with creamy Roquefort. I thought the slightly bitter endive made great vessels for party food, and when I got home, I started playing around with my own ideas. A week later, my boyfriend got word that he would be transfered to New York. We will return to France together for Christmas this year, where I hope to come home with at least one new recipe!
Abuelito's Super-Special Punch
I promise, this Special Punch recipe will make you very popular with kids of all ages. For an adult version, try adding a hint of rum. Cheers!
Isabelle's Cognac Punch
This recipe comes from my boyfriend's mother, Isabelle. I originally asked for her spiced wine recipe for this contest, which I tried last Christmas, ladled from a pot heated over the wood-burning fireplace in their family room. She told me that she didn't really have a written recipe for her spiced wine; it was just a little of this and a little of that, but offered me her Cognac Punch instead. Since she comes from Cognac, it feels extra authentic. This punch would be great for any holiday party, because it looks and tastes so festive!
Blood Orange and Ginger Punch (Cocktail)
Blood Orange juice & Ginger ale are paired with lime and, for the adult version, liquor, vodke or rum, to create this wonderful Cocktail recipe. Cheers!