A little sunshine is always pleasant on a gray winter day, and the Florida Department of Citrus and the Better Homes and Gardens test kitchens want to make sure you get your share -- in the form of fruit, of course. Until the end of the month, you can buy a copy of "Fit, Fresh & Fast," a 96-page booklet that uses citrus to flavor and "lighten up" dishes from marinated flank steak to angel food cake. When you use the juice, you can reduce fat and sugar in all sorts of dishes.
The booklet costs $2.99, and is available at Giant, Safeway and other food stores. Here's a sample recipe:
Curried Chicken and Fruit Salad
Serves 4
3/4 cup tiny shell macaroni
3 oranges
1 1/2 cups halved seedless green or red grapes
1 1/3 cups chopped cooked chicken, turkey or lean beef (about 7 ounces)
1 8-ounce carton lemon low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup dairy sour cream
2 tablespoons milk
1 to 2 teaspoons curry powder
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta. Rinse with cold water. Drain well.
Meanwhile, peel, section and seed oranges, reserving juices. In a large salad bowl, toss together orange sections and juice, cooked pasta, grapes and poultry or beef.
For dressing, in a small mixing bowl stir together yogurt, sour cream, milk and curry powder. Pour dressing over salad mixture. Toss lightly to coat. Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours. Before serving, if necessary, stir in additional milk to moisten.
Designer dairy fare
Dairy with a difference will be on the menu at Hampton's when Jonathan White, owner of Egg Farm Dairy of Peekskill, N.Y., brings his "boutique" dairy products to Baltimore Feb. 20. Hampton's chefs will use the butter, buttermilk, clabber and cheeses to create a meal that includes smoked salmon cannelloni with clabber and chives, asparagus and field mushroom buttermilk soup, and steak and kidney pie with wild ripened Cheddar mashed potatoes. Hors d'oeuvres will be served in the gallery beginning at 6:30 p.m.; dinner is at 7 p.m. Price is $55 per person.
For information or reservations, call Harbor Court Hotel at (410) 234-0550.
Which wine is fine?
Wondering what wine to serve with tacos or Mandarin beef? "Food and Wines from France" has some suggestions for you. For a free, 32-page reference guide that includes French wines, cheeses, spirits, Champagne and ham, call (800) 522-WINE.
Cupcakes in cones
We're not sure what they're called, but kids in Baltimore are clamoring for them: cupcakes baked in flat-bottomed ice-cream cones. Any cake recipe will work; just use the ice-cream cones instead of paper liners and fill the cones half to two-thirds full. Bake according to cake directions.