Our Favorite New Year's Recipes

Happy New Year's from the FoodPair Team! Here's to a healthy and happy 2012 for you and yours!

On New Year's Eve, everyone likes to celebrate, so we've decided to feature New Year's recipes with some pop and style. Get things started with your favorite Champagne cocktail- we like ones with fresh fruit and juice in addition to a bit of the bubbly. For the rest of the meal we found an award-winning appetizer with candied bacon and apple-- after all, 2011 was the Year of Bacon in many circles. For our New Year's entree, we like baked & wrapped fish dish with vegetables. By baking the fish in parchment paper, each guest will get to unwrap their own delicious present. You can customize the dish with any fish you like (cod, halibut, salmon, snapper, sea bass, etc.), seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc.).

We have over 800 recipes for Champagne to help you create inspired New Year's dishes. You can also use the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to select your favorite ingredients or recipe sites and browse from there. To help you get started, we selected 5 recipes to create your New Year's extravaganza.

Raspberry Champagne Cocktail
Celebrate New Year's in style with this tasty cocktail.
Ingredients: Champagne, Raspberry, Grenadine, Cassis

Party Mimosa
Get your party going with this fresh take on the classic mimosa.
Ingredients: Water, Champagne, Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate, Apricot-Mango Nectar, Pineapple Juice

Candied Bacon and Apple Canapes
Your guests will love this award-winning appetizer.
Ingredients: Pie Crust, Bacon, Egg, Apple, Lemon Juice, Sugar, Brown Sugar, Blue Cheese, Cayenne Powder, Cream Cheese, Sea Salt

Baked Fish Packets with Broccoli and Squash
Give everyone a main fish-dish wrapped like a present.
Ingredients: Garlic, Olive Oil, Shallot, Lemon Juice, Cod, Salt, Pepper, Seasonal Veggies (Broccoli, Squash), Fresh Herbs (Oregano, Basil)

Mandarin Champagne Sorbet
This sorbet works well as a light & flavorful dessert.
Ingredients: Champagne, Simple Syrup, Mandarin Orange, Orange Liqueur (such as Grand Marnier)


With New Years Eve right around the corner and these recipes in your repertoire, it's time to put that Champagne on ice!

If there are any themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight, post them in the comments or on our Facebook page. And while you're at it, Like us on Facebook for helpful food news, tips and recipes in your news feed.

Recipes for a Merry Christmas

Christmas is right around the corner, but it's not too late to plan a classic holiday feast for your friends and family. Christmas brings to mind comforting winter dishes with bursts of flavor and color from cranberries, persimmons and cherries.

The centerpiece of most Christmas meals is a holiday Ham, Turkey or Goose. Around that, we like complementary side dishes and sauces. Finish off your meal with a Christmas Trifle, Holiday Cookies and a little Chocolate-Peppermint Bark.

How can FoodPair help? For one, we have over a thousand recipes with the keyword "Christmas". You can also use the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to select ingredients such as Ham or Goose and browse from there. To help you get started, we selected 5 recipes to create your dinner for a very merry Christmas.

Baked Brie en Croute with Apple Compote
This elegant appetizer is delicious and easy to prepare.
Ingredients: Apple, Butter, Sugar, Brie, Water, Puff Pastry Dough, Egg, Plain Water Crackers, Ground Cardamom

Frisee Salad with Persimmons, Dates and Almonds
This flavorful holiday salad features persimmon and frisee.
Ingredients: Almond, Olive Oil, Leek, Date, Persimmon, White Wine Vinegar, Kosher Salt, Salad Greens

Glazed Ham with Mango Salsa
This ham has a sweet glaze and tropical salsa.
Ingredients: Honey, Mango, Red Onion, Mustard, Clove, Ham, Sugar, Soy, Pepper, Sherry, Lime Juice, Red Chili

Maple-Glazed Turkey with Gravy
You can't go wrong with a perfectly cooked and glazed turkey.
Ingredients: Turkey, Maple Syrup, Flour, Black Peppercorns, Malt Vinegar, Turkey Stock

Lemon Curb Trifle with Fresh Berries
Trifle is a classic and delicious layered dessert.
Ingredients: Egg, Mint, Butter, Sugar, Lemon, Whipped Cream, Pound Cake, Fresh Fruit, Grand Marnier (optional)


Now that you have the blueprint for a great Christmas meal, pick your favorite dishes and start cooking!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, Like us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.

Soups & Stews to Warm your Winter

With winter in full swing we're constantly looking for ways to help you stay warm and healthy. The first thing that came to mind was a post with flavorful and easy to prepare soups and stews. Why? Because when we're feeling cold, we make soup. And when we're feeling a little bit sick, we also make soup.

Soups & stews are warm and comforting and a cold winter night. Nearly every country and culture has a favorite soup, like chowder in the Northeastern US, onion soup in France, coconut soup in Thailand, and chicken soup in nearly every country from New York to Beijing.

With one click of the Soups and Stews box in our Course Filter, FoodPair will show you over 20,000 soup recipes. To help you navigate through a river of recipes, we took charge of the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine and handpicked 5 recipes featuring some of the best soups and stews from across the globe.

Savory Beef Stew
This hearty stew gains a unique flavor from cranberry juice.
Ingredients: flour, lean beef, bacon, onion, cranberry juice, beef broth, clove, bay leaf, marjoram, thyme, garlic powder, carrot, potato, frozen peas

Scallop Chowder with Bacon
Try this delicious chowder with fresh scallops and smoky bacon.
Ingredients: sea scallops, bacon, frozen onion, boiling potato, flour, whole milk, frozen mixed vegetables, thyme, salt, pepper

Easy French Onion Soup
We love French onion soup, especially when it's easy to prepare.
Ingredients: unsalted butter, olive oil, yellow onion, sugar, salt, flour, beef stock, dry white wine, pepper, French bread, garlic, Gruyere

Chinese Chicken Soup
Chicken soup, like this Chinese version, always makes us feel better.
Ingredients: sesame oil, turmeric, ginger, chile paste, chicken breast, chicken broth, sugar, soy, celery, ramen, lettuce, green onion

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Ka Gai)
Tom Ka Gai is a traditional and delicious Thai soup everyone will love.
Ingredients: galangal or ginger, fresh cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, fish sauce, lime, coconut milk, chicken breast, red chile


Now you have all the knowledge you need to beat the winter back with hearty soups and stews.

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, Like us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.

How to Cook with Citrus this Winter

Winter has arrived. That means shorter days and colder weather everywhere you look. Luckily, we found one way to brighten your day and wake up your taste buds: by cooking with citrus. Once you learn how to cook with citrus, you'll see how a squeeze of orange, lemon or lime makes salad dressing and seafood dishes come alive. In fact, a spritz of citrus is almost always a good idea because the acid helps cut through the richness of many popular dishes.

But wait, there's more! Citrus fruits are loaded with Vitamin C, which can help fight the cold and flu plus give you more energy. Many people enjoy eating a fresh grapefruit for breakfast, others like oranges as a snack. Then, don't forget to use fresh lemons and limes to flavor your dinner entrees.

Oranges are peaking in freshness right now and a quick search reveals that FoodPair has nearly 35,000 recipes with orange, covering 9 varieties. Here's a tip, use our Smart Ingredient feature to select a specific type of orange, like Seville or Orange Zest, or search them all by selecting Orange. To help you get started with a citrus-filled menu we used the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to find some great salads, main dishes and desserts using citrus.

Arugula, Fennel and Orange Salad
This light salad is loaded with citrus flavor.
Ingredients: Arugula, Olive Oil, Shallot, Lemon Juice, Navel Orange, Orange Zest, Orange Juice, Fennel, Dried Tarragon, Dijon Mustard, Salt, Canola Oil

Orange and Beet Salad
Oranges are a great complement to earthy beets.
Ingredients: Beets, Navel Oranges, Arugula, Red Onion, Walnuts, White Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Dried Mustard, Salt, Pepper

Roasted Lemon-Herb Chicken
Lemon juice adds flavor and keeps the chicken moist.
Ingredients: Chicken, Lemon Juice, Basil, Olive Oil, Parsley, Black Pepper, Kosher Salt, Oregano

Cardamom Citrus Fruit Salad
Using honey balances this tart citrus fruit salad.
Ingredients: Ruby Pink Grapefruit, Navel Oranges, Honey, Lime or Lemon Juice, Ground Cardamom


Enjoy! If you liked this post, share it with your friends!

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How to Ripen Avocados and More

Many of you have asked how to ripen and store tricky fruits and vegetables like avocados, bananas and pumpkins. To find an answer we assembled a crack research team and pulled them away from their desks and into the produce aisle. After plenty of testing (and sampling the goods) we're happy to say we learned a thing or two, plus we're feeling healthier from eating all the samples!

Most people aren't sure what to do with avocados, but even though they look intimidating, they're actually similar to most other fruits. Avocados will ripen slowly if left on the kitchen counter for a couple days. To speed things up, you're going to have to use a little technology- a brown paper bag.

Paper bags are perfect for ripening fruit because they trap ethylene gas, a compound released by fruit that speeds the ripening process. The bags keep the gas close to the fruit while still allowing some ventilation. Certain fruits, especially apples, produce plenty of ethylene, so adding them to the bad with your avocados and bananas will kick the process into high gear. At that point, you'll want to check on the fruit every day to make sure ripe doesn't turn to rot. Besides avocados, paper bags are great for ripening mangoes and bananas. Keep the bag dry and out of direct sunlight for best results.

For the funky kiwi, we found that a plastic bag with some holes works best, though paper bags were fine too. Pumpkins ripen best when exposed to sunlight, so place them on a window sill for a couple days and then put them back on a shelf or in the shed.

Once your avocados and bananas are ripe, toss them in the fridge where cold temperatures slow down the ripening process. It's also important to keep them away from other fruits, which will expose them to unwanted ethylene when they're already ripe enough. We also like to put ripe fruits in places we can see them, which helps us remember to eat them.

One last tip: once you cut into an avocado or apple, the fruit exposed to the air will begin to oxidize and turn brown. To slow that down, spread on some lemon juice, lime juice or olive oil, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Turns out, the avocado pit doesn't do any good!

All this talk of avocados made us hungry, but luckily our site has over 8,000 avocado recipes for you. With all these ripe tips, we think you're going to want to do some cooking. To help, we used the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to find some tasty dishes featuring the avocado. Ripen away!

Green Apple Guacamole
This clever recipe pairs avocados with the apples used to ripen them.
Ingredients: Green Apple, Avocado, Cilantro, Jalapeno Pepper, Kosher Salt, Lime Juice, White Onion

Pan Seared Salmon with Avocado Remoulade
This healthy dish makes great use of avocado as a sauce.
Ingredients: Avocado, Olive Oil, Salmon, Shallot, Parsley, Salt, Black Pepper, Lime Juice, Dijon Mustard

Chipotle Chicken Panini
Here, avocados balance the tangy chipotle seasoning on the chicken.
Ingredients: Avocado, Olive Oil, Country Bread, Chipotle Seasoning, Mayo, Monterey Jack Cheese, Chicken Breast


Enjoy! If you liked this post, share it with your friends!

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Your Thanksgiving Guide has Arrived!

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest and best food holidays in the world. Within a couple days we'll be feasting on our favorite cuts of turkey and all those fantastic sides like stuffing, mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce and dinner rolls to wipe up anything we missed.

Earlier, we explained how to make the best Thanksgiving turkey. This year, we'll be pairing that succulent turkey with new-school side dishes like mashed blue potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes with banana and brown sugar, plus rustic stuffing with greens, currants and pine nuts. Now we're ready to bring it all together with our Guide to the Ultimate Thanksgiving meal.

Our Guide hits the 4 keys to a great meal: a refreshing cocktail, classic roasted turkey, tasty stuffing and flavorful gravy to tie everything together. We like to pour gravy over everything, including the turkey, sides and stuffing. But, we know some people like to keep it on the side for dipping, which is also cool.

As we do for every major culinary event, we turned to the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine and used our personalized filters to build our ultimate Thanksgiving feast.

Thanksgiving Star Cider
We like to start things off with a light & refreshing cocktail.
Ingredients: honey, lemon juice, star anise, red wine, pear nectar, dried hibiscus blossoms

Roast Vermont Turkey with Gravy and Vegetable Stuffing
This complete recipe pays homage to the original Thanksgiving.
Ingredients: fresh turkey, lemon, apple, onion, thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley, bay leaf, vegetable oil, leek, turkey stock, giblets, hard-boiled egg

Brined and Roasted Turkey
This top-rated recipe guarantees a perfectly cooked bird.
Ingredients: turkey, brine (recipe follows), unsalted butter, onion, orange, celery carrott, bay leaf, thyme, stock (for basting)

Thyme-Infused Gravy
We love gravy enhanced with fresh herbs.
Ingredients: pan drippings from turkey, butter, thyme, flour, white wine, kosher salt, chicken broth, salt, pepper

Bourbon Gravy
Kick that gravy up a notch with the caramel notes of bourbon.
Ingredients: giblets and turkey pan drippings, flour, garlic powder, bourbon

Classic Mushroom Gravy
Vegetarians will love this gravy with chopped, fresh mushrooms.
Ingredients: fresh turkey stock, dried porcini mushrooms, butter, white mushrooms, salt, pepper, flour, Madeira

Sausage and Kale Thanksgiving Dressing
This stuffing is packed with tasty sausage, fresh kale and more.
Ingredients: Parmesan, egg, butter, leek, sausage, kale, focaccia, kosher salt, pepper, turkey stock, butternut squash


Now that you have all the recipes you need for Thanksgiving, it's time to start cooking!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! Like us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.

New School Thanksgiving Sides

Thanksgiving is almost here! With one of the biggest and best food holidays right around the corner we knew it was time to start planning a great feast. Sure, most of us will eat as much turkey next week as we do for the rest of the year. But, it's the side dishes that can really steal the show on turkey's biggest day.

Since we love stuffing and mashed potatoes, we decided to highlight new school versions of these classic Thanksgiving sides. These days everybody loves bacon so we found a loaded stuffing recipe from Food.com that also features pear and pecan. On the potato front, we've got blue potatoes plus two sweet potato dishes without all the marshmallows. Don't get us wrong, we love marshmallows and sugar on mashed potatoes, but they've graduated to the classics category at this point.

To sort through all the new school Thanksgiving side dishes we used all the features of the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to find 6 great dishes that'll wow your guests.

Rustic Stuffing with Greens, Currants and Pine Nuts
We love adding greens and pine nuts to stuffing.
Ingredients: garlic, olive oil, butter, pine nut, onion, thyme, bread, dried currant, lemon peel, chicken broth, mustard greens

Stuffing with Pears, Bacon, Pecans & Caramelized Onions
Stuffing loaded to the max!
Ingredients: butter, bread, bacon, pecan, pearl onions, brown sugar, pear, celery, parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, eggs, chicken broth

Dried Apricot, Shallot and Hazelnut Stuffing
This stuffing has a great mix of savory and sweet.
Ingredients: garlic, olive oil, shallot, butter, hazelnut, parsley, thyme, sage, bread, salt, pepper, chicken broth, dried apricot

Blue Potatoes Mashed with Roasted Garlic
Blue potatoes are our new favorite!
Ingredients: blue potatoes, roasted garlic, sour cream, butter, Parmesan, salt, pepper

Rosemary Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
Shallots and Rosemary put a new spin on a classic.
Ingredients: extra-virgin olive oil, shallots, brown sugar, sweet potatoes, rosemary, sea salt, pepper

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Bananas and Brown Sugar
Bananas? A little secret from the kitchen at Le Cirque.
Ingredients: sweet potatoes, banana, unsalted butter, heavy cream, cinnamon, light brown sugar, pepper


Now that you have recipes for great Thanksgiving side dishes it's time to start cooking!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, "Like" us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.

Chopping an Onion without Tears

Is it possible to chop an onion without tears? Many of you have asked us that question. After a couple hours (of sometimes painful) research, we're happy to report that the answer is Yes.

Chopping onions without crying is a big deal because so many recipes use onions for flavor. They're staples of many cuisines and FoodPair's recipe search engine has over 100,000 recipes with onions for your cooking pleasure. If you're going to cook you can't live without onions, but you can live without the pain and tears. Onions cause us to cry when they're cut because they release a gas that reacts with the natural tears in your eyes to form sulphuric acid. That's right, the pain is caused by sulphuric acid, the most dangerous thing they would let us play with in high school chemistry class!

So, how do you avoid onion stink-eye?

1. For starters, work in a well ventilated area and use a sharp knife. Dull knives break more onion cells and release more of those noxious fumes you're trying to avoid.

2. Next, work near an open flame. A kitchen candle or gas stove will do the trick because the flames knock out the harmful compounds from the onion.

3. Chill your onions. Putting any onions in the freezer or fridge for 15-30 minutes before chopping will also cut down on tears.

4. Other options. There are a couple other ways to avoid tears, but we found them a little odd. One is to chop the onion under running water. Sounds cool, but we lost a lot of the pieces down the drain. Another is to put vinegar on your cutting board. Again, that works fine, but you'll have to put up with everything smelling like vinegar, which isn't the best.

With all this onion info, you're going to want to do some cooking. To help, we used the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine to find some tasty dishes featuring the onion. Chop away!

French Onion Soup
We're huge fans of this classic French soup.
Ingredients: onion, fresh thyme, bay leaf, salt, butter, flour, dry white wine, beef broth, pepper, baguette, Gruyère, Parmigiano-Reggiano

Caramelized Onion-and-Goat Cheese Bread
These little toasts are a great appetizer.
Ingredients: pecans, butter, sweet onion, sugar, garlic, goat cheese, salt, pepper, baguette, honey

Roast Chicken with Herb Butter, Onions & Garlic
Onions are a great complement for roast chicken.
Ingredients: butter, parsley, thyme, rosemary, fennel seeds, salt, roasting chicken, onion, clove, chicken broth, dry white wine, flour

Spiced Lamb Burgers with Caramelized Onions
It's hard to beat candy apples with a twist.
Ingredients: clove, cumin seed, cinnamon, mint, parsley, onion, salt, cayenne pepper, ground lean lamb, olive oil, hamburger buns


Now you're ready to slice and cook all those onions. Enjoy!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, "Like" us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.

Dishes to Fight Old Man Winter

No one (least of all the TV weather-watchers) predicted that the northeast US would get socked with a huge snowstorm before Halloween. When cold weather hits we'd all like to follow the birds and fly to Florida. But, most of us can't take our jobs on the road so we have to do the next best thing- fire up the stove to cook winter dishes that'll warm us from the inside out.

Cooking for winter is easier than you think. Focus on soups and stews that can simmer for hours on the stove. The best thing about these dishes is that they often taste better and better as leftovers because the flavors continue to concentrate. Another thing we love about winter dishes is that they use great ingredients missing for the rest of the year like chestnuts, pomegranate, apples and cinnamon. Wash it all down with some warm, spiced apple cider and you're back in business!

To help you plan the perfect winter dinner menu, we revved up the FoodPair Recipe Search Engine and built a complete menu from appetizer to dessert.

Winter Squash Crostini
Start your winter meal in style with these tasty crostini.
Ingredients: olive oil, shallot, salt, black pepper, butternut squash, baguette, almond butter

Favourite Winter Salad
Jamie Oliver delivers a great salad with watercress and halloumi.
Ingredients: anchovies, creme fraiche, olive oil, little gem lettuce, watercress, fennel, halloumi cheese, pomegranate

Roasted Squash Soup with Chestnut Puree
This classic winter soup is hearty and delicious.
Ingredients: butternut squash, chicken stock, chestnut puree, heavy cream, brandy, olive oil, salt and pepper

Spiced Lamb Stew with Walnuts & Pomegranate
It's hard to beat candy apples with a twist.
Ingredients: lamb shoulder, flour, red onion, celery, garlic, cinnamon, walnuts, bay leaves, pomegranate

Apple Cider Pie
Finish it all off with a delicious apple pie.
Ingredients: pie crust, apple cider, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract, apples, egg, pumpkin-pie spice


You have the colorful Halloween recipes, now all you need is a costume!

Any other favorite themes, ingredients or dishes you'd like us to highlight? Post them in the comments section or on our Facebook page! And while you're at it, "Like" us on Facebook for helpful updates in your news feed.