Berry

Pat: We all have our vices, and mine is brownies—particularly these brownies, which have candy bars and crunchy pecans baked right in. They are some of the most decadent brownies you will ever eat. When I have one of these at two in the morning, I’m tempted to let out a loud moan, but then Gina would probably throw me out. Gina used to make them for me when we were courting hence the seductive additions. They say that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, so if you’re looking for a sweet deal to spark a little romance in your house, take my advice: Light a fire, add the Whipped Cream, fresh raspberries, and silky chocolate shavings, and you’ll be well on your way to a blissful ending!

This recipe was created for my friend Bill, who told me he couldn’t get his daughter to eat fruit. I asked him what her favorite food was and the response was “ice cream.” (Well, what would you say?) These pops are mostly fruit, with just a little bit of “ice cream” made from low-fat Greek yogurt and sugar substitute. But when the pureed fruit was mixed with it, she couldn’t tell the difference. At just about 60 calories a pop, you can eat these all summer long.

This is a gorgeous dessert and naturally low in calories, as long as you don’t add a ton of sugar and don’t serve it with whipped cream. It just doesn’t need it. In the heat of the oven, as they steam under the topping, the peaches and blueberries meld into a magical, flavorful filling that needs little help from sugar or fat. The spices are really all the fruit requires.

“To truly mousse or not to mousse?” That was the question. At first I thought I’d find a great low-fat packaged mousse mix and turn the flavors up by adding some interesting ingredients. I tried it...and decided you deserved better. This is as close as I could get to a real chocolate mousse, made with egg whites and chocolate and very little fat.

When you think about adding flavor to foods in the most healthful way possible, you think about the most intense flavor vehicles you can find. That’s why this recipe calls for vanilla bean. The tiny seeds inside pack a wallop of this most delicate and beloved taste. If you can’t find good strawberries, try whole raspberries or small slices of ripe peach.

I like to use frozen berries for this crumble. Not only can I have it any time of year, but the juices left in the bag after thawing provide sweetness (without adding a lot of sugar) and sauce for the crumble.

This dish is so simple, yet it could be served at any elegant dinner party. It is equally good warm or cold and makes a great addition to a Sunday brunch.

When I worked at Macy’s Marketplace in New York City years ago, we had a huge Italian import sale in honor of Columbus Day weekend. As part of the promotion, we handed out cookbooks entitled Columbus’s Menu, given to us by the Italian Trade Commission. The book listed adaptations of recipes as old as Columbus sailing the ocean blue. One of my favorites was a roast pork loin with balsamic- and basil-macerated strawberries. Here’s how you can make it in less than 30. Serve with salad and crusty bread.

This preparation takes fresh strawberries to another level. Paired with whipped or sweet cream, these berries are pure indulgence. They can be served over pancakes, waffles, or French toast for brunch, spooned over pound cake, or paired with biscuits for shortcake. They can even make a relatively healthy dessert spooned over nonfat Greek yogurt with a grating of fresh cinnamon or nutmeg to liven things up.

At Le Monde Des Épices, I delight in seeing how simple olives can be turned into a colorful appetizer by melding different kinds and colors of cured olives and doctoring them up with garlic, preserved lemons, oregano, and basil, and serving them in a large, clear bowl. Although the majority of the olives in the shop are grown in Spain and North Africa, many, like the tiny Picholines from Provence, come from the south of France. When I first visited, the olives were simply cured and kept in barrels. Now the many different- flavored varieties are displayed in attractive bowls to tempt the customers. When doctoring up olives you buy, just make sure to include some red peppers, orange kumquats, or bright- green herbs. I love to serve a variety of sizes and kinds in a clear glass or earthenware bowl. Remember to have a tiny bowl nearby for the pits.

For this delicately scented fruit salad, have a mix of fruit chosen from three or four of the following: peaches, nectarines, apricots, bananas, plums, grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, mangoes, melon, pineapple, dates, pomegranate seeds.

This versatile topping is great for cakes, pies, ice cream, and regular or frozen yogurt.

This simple preparation for fresh strawberries has long been a favorite of mine. The almond flavor of amaretto melds perfectly with the sweetness and aroma of lush, ripe strawberries.

This is what I do most often with fresh strawberries. Sprinkling the sweet strawberries of late spring to early summer with just a little sugar, then letting them stand, draws out their delicious juice. They become almost an instant sauce, perfect for serving over yogurt and frozen yogurt, or to simply enjoy on their own. This is also delicious as a filling for Miniature Fresh Fruit Tarts (page 243).

Whichever berry or berries please you most, here’s a tasty way to enjoy them

Smoothies are superb served with pizza meals. Try this or any of the other smoothies in this chapter the next time you make pizza. I’ve suggested these smoothies as part of some of the menus in Chapter Six, A Flash in the (Pizza) Pan.