Panna is the video cooking magazine for iPad, iPhone and the web, where top chefs demonstrate their favorite recipes so you can follow along and create them perfectly at home. Try the Free Recipe Collection opens in a new tab, which includes 12 video recipes by master chefs. A year subscription opens in a new tab gives you access to the current issue as well as the next six bi-monthly issues, with 12-13 video recipes per issue.When my husband and I were young newlyweds, every Saturday we eagerly tuned in to Chef Rick Bayless’ show, Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Usually dinner that night would be inspired by whatever Chef Rick made. We’d spend the evening immersed in the ingredients and techniques we learned on the show — husking tomatillos, roasting chiles and making masa for tortillas.
Life has gotten a little busier since then and we don’t often have the luxury of lounging around watching TV on Saturday afternoons anymore. But that hasn’t stopped our love affair with learning from and being inspired by great chefs who are experts in their cuisine.
That’s why I’m giving my husband a subscription to Panna’s video cooking magazine for Christmas. (Find out more about Panna’s holiday gift options on their site opens in a new tab.) He can watch and cook along with short, in-depth videos of expert chefs making their recipes, learn their techniques and get their tips, all on his iPad and on his own time. Me? I’m looking forward to all the delicious meals I’ll be eating!
Panna’s current issue is Holiday Celebration. Look inside this issue opens in a new tab for free recipes – Burnt Caramel Pudding from Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs of Food52, and Jim Meehan’s Gin Martini – and then purchase the full issue for more recipes and how-to videos, including this gorgeous Crunchy Kale Salad opens in a new tab from Whole Foods Market’s healthy-eating friend, Chef Chad Sarno.
CRUNCHY KALE SALAD
Equipment
Medium sauté pan
Large mixing bowl
Medium mixing bowl
Large wooden spoon
Japanese mandolin
Ingredients
1/2 cup pecans
Seeds from 1 small pomegranate
1 large bunch kale (any variety works well)
1 ripe avocado
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 medium shallot
Sea salt
1 English cucumber (for garnish)
Step 1
In a medium sauté pan, toast the pecans over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned.
While the pecans are toasting, prepare the pomegranate. Cut the pomegranate in half, along the equator. Hold a cut half over a bowl and knock the seeds out with a wooden spoon. Repeat with the other half.
Step 2
Strip the kale leaves from the tough stems. Coarsely chop the leaves and add to a large mixing bowl.
Step 3
Remove the toasted pecans to a cutting board and coarsely chop. Set aside.
To prepare the avocado, cut around the seed, twist in opposing directions to pull apart, remove and discard the pit and coarsely chop. Add the avocado to the kale.
Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the kale mixture. Season with salt to taste. Gently massage the salad with your hands, breaking up the avocado and distributing the lemon juice and salt.
Mince the shallot and add to the salad. Add the pomegranate seeds and pecans, and toss to combine.
Step 4
To plate the salad, shave the English cucumber lengthwise with a Japanese mandolin. On a plate, arrange a few slices in a ring and mound one serving of the salad inside the ring. Garnish with additional pomegranate seeds and pecans, and serve immediately.
Find out more about recipes, chefs and articles you’ll have access to with Panna opens in a new tab.
Do you love to cook? What do you hope is waiting under the tree with your name on it?
