Add easy variety to your cooking with contrasting flavors

If you're looking to add variety to your cooking repertoire, you don't have to spend a lot of time searching for new recipes or invest in special cookware. Instead, let your imagination run free and add contrasting flavors to your favorite meals.

For me, the most satisfying dishes bring the range of sensations to the palate in just one bite. The taste might first be savory and then finish on a sweet note, or vice versa. This is the concept behind the amuse-bouche, the little treat chefs offer to begin a special meal. They generally combine contrasting tones with the goal of waking up your senses to enjoy the cuisine that's about to be served.

As to why blending flavors in this way is so fulfilling -- well, I believe it's just like other aspects of life, in which the more experiences you have, the better and more engaged you feel.

It can be very easy to bring expanded dimension to the meals you make at home. Start by incorporating a single new flavor into a dish you prepare frequently. You could:

Add lemon zest to a sauce of peppers, onions and tomatoes.

Sprinkle a bit of lime or orange zest over fresh vegetables.

Slip a bay leaf into tomato sauce.

Put a small amount of allspice or clove into beef or pork gravy.

Pour a little wine into a stew and let it cook off.

You might be reluctant to modify a tried-and-true recipe in this way, in case it turns out not to your liking. A great way to get around that is to put a little of the new flavor into just a spoonful of what you're cooking and see how it tastes. That's something I do all the time; in fact, frequently I have five or six spoonfuls lined up so I can experiment with each before settling on

exactly the flavors I am going to add.

This recipe for filet and crab Frangelico is a delicious and easy-to-prepare example of how complementary flavors can make a dish stand out. The hazelnut and vanilla in the Frangelico liqueur really bring out the natural sweetness of the crab meat. It's so delicate we jokingly call it "dessert sauce" in our kitchen. It pairs beautifully with the savory, tender filet.

Executive Chef Eric's Filet and Crab Frangelico

8 ounce can jumbo lump crab meat

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces diced shallots

16 ounces heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ounces Frangelico liqueur

Salt and pepper to taste

4 (six-ounce) filet mignons

For sauce: Heat sauce pan on medium heat. Add butter and shallots. Cook shallots until translucent. Add cream, and reduce by half. Add vanilla and Frangelico. Add salt and white pepper to taste. Add crabmeat. Be sure not to stir the sauce too much once the crabmeat is in; the crabmeat should remain in large chunks.

For the filets: Season filets with salt and pepper. Pan sear them and finish in a 350-degree oven.

Serving: Place each filet in center of plate and spoon some of the crab sauce over top.

Serves 4.

Eric Babb, executive chef at Freedom Village Bradenton, a continuing care retirement community at 6406 21st Ave. W., Bradenton, can be reached at ebabb@brookdale.com. Two of Freedom Village's restaurants, The Tuscany and The Grapevine, are open to the public.

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Add easy variety to your cooking with contrasting flavors."