Gourmet with Me

Lemon Cake with Blueberry Filling

2010-09-06T12:49:00.009-05:00

Two of my favorite summer tastes combined in one delicious treat. Lemon and blueberries. Living so close to Michigan, blueberries are so abundant this time of year. I made this yummy cake for my husband's birthday and it was definitely a hit. So much so that I had a request to remake it for Labor Day - only the second time I made it as cupcakes. The cupcakes were definitely a hit, but I think I'm recommending this as a layer cake. Getting mouthful after mouthful of tender cake, tangy icing and fresh blueberries is the way this dessert should be enjoyed. It will take a few steps, but it is well worth it.

Lemon Three Layer Cake with Blueberry Filling and Lemon Icing

LEMON CAKE (adapted from Cooks.com)
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. plus 3 Tbls. milk (I used 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup + 3 Tbls of 2% milk)
Zest from 2 lemons
1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract (or lemon juice I suppose)

Cream shortening; add sugar and beat well. Add egg yolks one at a time until combined. Beat at medium speed until well creamed.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt, and wisk together. Add flour mixure to creamed mixture alternatively with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add zest and lemon extract and blend well.

Pour batter into three greased and floured 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 25-30. Cool in pans for 10 min and then remove from pans to cool completely.

BLUEBERRY FILLING
2 cups + 1 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbls cornstarch
4 Tbls lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of blueberries, sugar and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer a minute or two. Strain most juice off of the blueberries (but reserve just in case your filling gets too thick). Turn off heat. Add cornstarch to lemon juice and mix until cornstarch is dissolved. Add cornstarch mixture to blueberries and stir until sauce is thickened. You're going to want it to be pretty thick so it doesn't run off of your cake. Add 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Stir a couple of times and let it sit to cool.

LEMON ICING
1 cup of softened butter or butter flavored shortening
Zest of two lemons
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk (a little more to get desired consistency a Tbls at a time)
1 Tbls fresh lemon juice

Cream the butter, zest, vanilla and lemon extract and salt until fluffy. Add sugar alternatively with milk until mixture is cream and smooth. Add lemon juice and blend. Add more sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency. P.S. - You will probably need to double this if you do a three-layer cake or use as much frosting as I do.

Frost the top of each layer of cake with a thin layer. Place blueberry filling on top of the frosting, in the center of the layer, leaving at least one inch around the sides. Stack cake, then frost top and sides of cake.

Here We Go Again . . .Again

2010-06-23T21:40:00.004-05:00

Wow. Where does the time go. I have no idea. A few weeks (months) ago, I said I was going to lose that last 10 before Memorial Day. Well, guess what. I haven't. But I'm holding steady. At 130. That's 33 pounds - and I've just hit a year since I've seriously started this weight loss journey. I've pretty much been holding here since Feb or so, and to be honest, that is fine with me. Of course I'd like to lose that 10 more, but I have never ever been a size 6 before and I plan on keeping this size (or less) for a while. So rather than looking at how sucky I've been at keeping my diet, let's take a look at things I've been doing right.

-- I've been getting to the gym - just about every day. I've missed maybe two days in the last month. At least 30 min on the elliptical, some weight training, and meeting with a personal trainer once a week.
-- I've been adding a second workout - a walk - about twice a week. I could probably do more, but with the kids out of school, its a little rough.
-- I drink some water every day. Mostly when I work out, but its at least 4 - 6 glasses.
-- I eat breakfast. My "go to" breakfast is two patties of turkey sausage - only 7 grams of fat, no carbs, a little spicy, and ready in 40 seconds. Gotta love it.
-- I'm getting a pretty good lunch or dinner too. Lunch is a lot of salad, mostly baby spinach with chicken. Dinner is almost always a grilled meat and a raw veggie.

OK - so here's the bad, or the diametrically-opposed-to-my-weight-loss-plan actions:
-- Baking! Baking! Baking! As you can probably tell by my most recent blog posts, I've been baking - bread, cookies, cupcakes, desserts. And I haven't even posted half of it! If I just wouldn't eat the results!!! I do share a lot, but I just love baking!
-- Getting through half the day with no carbs and then snacking on something bad (usually something I baked) half way through the day, ruining my morning. Ugh! I know that for me, personally, the 3:00 - 6:00 time is the roughest time of the day for my snacking. I've got to get some veggies or slices of turkey or something better around.
--I'm now headed for a couple of weeks vacation in New Orleans - that mean daiquiris, fried fish, sno-balls, mayonnaise, and Mandarin Chicken. The key will be for me to go walking (in 110 heat index) everyday, or finding a way to get a guess pass to the gym. I'm sorry, I can't give up my daiquiri or shrimp po-boy. That means I've got to bust some ass to not add 10 pounds while I'm gone.

So recently I bought this totally hot pair of jeans - and I sweartagawd I'm gonna wear 'em forever, so that means more gym, less tasting and baking.

So eating habits are taking a back seat to exercise lately, but I'll be back on track after New Orleans. Promise. Again.

Homemade Pretzels

2010-05-12T20:32:00.009-05:00

More bread backlash from my low-carb diet. I know I made a big fat deal about really kicking the low carbs into high gear and knocking off these last (in my mind) ten pounds, but it's really not working. I'm getting to the gym just about everyday and not snacking a whole lot, but I'm not completely passing up the bagels or a sandwich every now and then. And this baking bender I'm on is not helping either. But I am definitely maintaining - and that's a good thing. A really good thing. I'm just about a year away from when I started (I mean really started) this weight loss journey and I still feel like 33 - 35 pounds is a pretty good thing.

So on to my latest experiment - pretzels!! You know - those big, soft, salty pretzels meant for dipping in mustard or cheese. The kind you get at a carnival. I was really in the mood for the kind you get at the mall (a little more buttery and soft), but I decided to lay off of all that butter. So my pretzels definitely weren't low carb, but they were low fat. And quite delicious. A couple of kids, a husband and a neighbor (and, ahem, the cook) gobbled 'em up in no time.

I'm going to keep looking for another recipe I like better, but this one was pretty good. I couldn't get a good photo of the texture on the inside, but it was very soft with little bitty airpockets. While I made mine in the cute little pretzel shapes above, my kids enjoyed making them in fish and heart shapes too. And instead of salt on a few, I put cinnamon sugar.

HOMEMADE PRETZELS

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Pignolatti and the St. Joseph Altar

2010-04-24T13:11:00.023-05:00

OK, so it's taking me a little longer than I thought to finish documenting the St. Joseph Altar. Sorry about that. I do feel it is important to document the traditions of the past, so these recipes WILL get posted - eventually. And if you're interested, I created an entire photobook of the Altar. I have lots of pictures of the food and some recipes, but in the case of something like the Pignolatti, my few pictures don't do it justice. This post will be much more comprehensive. So, here we go.

These Sicilian cookies are so named because they resemble pinecones when they are finished. They are meant to symbolize the pinecones that Jesus played with as a child. I've seen it spelled Pignolatti and Pignolata, and it is pronounced pee-nyoh-LAH-tah. These are different from the Pinolate cookies you might be thinking about, but those can be included on the Altar, too. These are deep fried, hard, crunchy, sugar-coated piles of goodness.

There are two main parts to this recipe - the cookies, and then the coating and shaping of the cookies. The cookies themselves can be made a few days in advance if necessary, and must be completely cooled before moving to the next step. This recipe is HUGE and created a few of gallons worth of cookies (pictured to the right and in step 3 below), but you will be surprised at how fast you can go through the cookies once you start coating and shaping them. The cookies are pretty neutral flavored and you could certainly eat them just as they are - they are not sugary or sweet and just give you a taste of mild, comforting homemade goodness.

And this is definitely a recipe where you can't have too many cooks in the kitchen. You simply can't do this recipe with one or two people. Three, maybe. Four to six, even better.

The next step is when the fun comes in. You'll need a little extra equipment as I've listed below - the most important being a marble or granite slab - or something completely heat proof that the very hot sugar will not melt or radiate through. You'll be dumping hot, melted sugar straight onto it.

1. Melt the sugar until it is light golden brown and very liquid.

2. Pour cookies into melted sugar and remove from heat. Stir cookies until all coated.

3. Pour cookies onto oil-coated marble slab.

4. Begin to work quickly separating cookies into small piles. You can see that each person used two spoons to pull the cookies away and then push them into small piles. The sugar is still too hot at this point to use your hands.

5. Dip your hands in ice cold water and use your hands to begin shaping the piles of cookies into small pyramids - squeezing them together so the sugar will hold them together. Or use a metal funnel and stack the cookies inside. If the sugar starts burning your hands, quickly dip them back in the cold water and then start shaping again. (Try to dry your hands a little bit because too much water will keep the sugar from sticking together.)

6. Top with sprinkles before the sugar hardens.

7. You'll probably need to wash your hands and hopefully they didn't get too burned.

Pignolatti
5 cups all-purpose flour
9 eggs
Shortening for deep frying
2 cups sugar (several times over, at least 5)
Candy sprinkles

Oil
Large slab of marble or granite
Bowls of ice and water for hands
Spoons to separate dough
Metal funnels for shaping

Add beaten eggs to flour. Work with hands until a stiff, smooth dough is formed. Cut off small portions of dough and roll into pencil-like rolls. Cut into 1/4 inch pieces and fry in shortening until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and allow to cool completely. These can be made ahead of time and stored in airtight container.

Coat marble and inside of funnels with thin layer of oil. Melt sugar on low heat in very heavy pan (like cast iron, preferably not non-stick). Stir constantly so it doesn't burn. Cook until sugar is dissolved and has reached "string" stage. (Sugar will be liquid and turn medium-brown.) Remove from heat and quickly place two cups of fried dough into sugar and stir well until all pieces are coated.

Pour dough onto marble slab. Quickly use spoons to pull several pieces of dough together. Use funnels or hands to shape pieces into a pyramid shape. SUGAR IS VERY HOT. Dip hands in cold water frequently , but try to avoid wetting the dough too much because the pieces will not stick to each other. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles before sugar hardens. Move cookies to a parchment-covered cookie sheet for cooling.

A special thanks to my mom (Cheryl), her friends - Diane, Teeda, and Cheryl - and their spouses for inviting me to be part of this cookie-making tradition!!

St. Joseph Altar - The Italian Catholic Tradition

2010-04-07T08:36:00.015-05:00

Chances are if you're not Italian and you're not Catholic and you're not from New Orleans, you've probably never heard of a St. Joseph's Altar. They are popular in pockets around the country (including the Chicago area), but the tradition thrives in the Italian Catholic community in New Orleans. On my recent trip to New Orleans, I had the wonderful experience of participating in a St. Joseph Altar, and over the next few days I hope to share some of the traditions and recipes with you.

This altar was very special to me. Some wonderful family friends wanted to host this altar and ask St. Joseph to heal my father's cancer. So many people worked for weeks making plans for the altar, baking THOUSANDS of traditional Italian cookies, simmering gallons of tomato sauce, chopping pounds upon pounds of olives for homemade olive salad, stuffing hundreds of favor bags, and asking for donations to feed more than 500 who were expected to come to the altar.

The origin of the altar to St. Joseph is said to have begun in Italy when the people of Sicily prayed to St. Joseph to save them from famine. When the rains finally came and the crops flourished, the people showed their appreciation with their most prized possessions - food.

Today, people host a St. Joseph Altar to ask St. Joseph for a favor or blessing, or in thanksgiving for a favor received. Almost everything on the altar is based in tradition. All items are donated by the hosts or community - upholding the tradition of "begging for donations." All food is given away to those attending. Any money raised from candles or petitions or donations is given to the poor.

In addition to setting up this elaborate display of breads and desserts, the altar also feeds anyone who come to pray to St. Joseph. The food at the altar includes no meat, probably because St. Joseph's day falls during lent or the fact that meat was scarce in Sicily after the famine. Our altar served more than 500 people who enjoyed Pasta Milanese, crawfish pie, stuffed artichokes, olive salad, green bean and artichoke casserole, fresh bread and so much more.

FAVA BEANS
Everyone who visits a St. Joseph Altar wants to take home a fava bean, or lucky bean. History states that during the famine in Sicily, the fava bean thrived while other crops withered and died. Tradition holds that whoever carries the lucky bean will always have money in her pocket or food in her pantry. They also serve as a reminder to pray to St. Joseph. As a child I remember my grandmother having a small collection of fava beans in her wallet and on her nightstand.

A large bowl of fava beans was placed next to the altar with small stacks of prayer cards. By the end of the evening, the bowl was almost empty. Beans were also placed in the "goodie bags" that were available. The bags also had a pieces of blessed bread (which you should throw outside in a storm to calm the skies), several Italian cookies (recipes to come later) and a St. Joseph prayer card.

BREAD
Blessed bread is a very important part of the altar. Not only are their full loaves of bread, but much of the bread is baked into symbolic shapes, such as crosses and animals.

Over the next few days, I'll be posting some traditional recipes and more photos of the altar. I hope you'll be back!!

Here we go again!

2010-04-07T08:24:00.003-05:00

Wow! Where does the time go? All you gals with full-time jobs, full-time families and full-time blogs are my heroes. Sometimes I feel like I'm getting a whole lotta nothing done. I have a backlog of posts in my head and I really want to get them together. I have a ton of things to work on for the deli and a couple of personal projects going on too. I say this all the time - I'm living my life in two hour increments - enough time to keep afloat, but not enough time to concentrate and really focus on something.

But here's where I embrace it all. Make the most of it. Git 'r done. (Ugh! Did I just say that?) It's that little thing called time management that I've been chasing after since college. Coincidentally, today also marks the first day I am really back on my low-carb diet after a two week hiatus because of a long weekend in New Orleans and my kids' Spring Break. So I'm recommitting to everything today. Using my time more wisely. Making healthier choices. Being a little more patient. Striving to be more productive. Who's with me?

Just sayin'

2010-03-07T17:00:00.003-06:00

Dear Waiter in Fancy Restaurant,
Please don't tell me that you'll substitute my side dish for another side dish and then charge me for the other side dish. It makes me look and feel like a cheap bitch for questioning $3.95 on a $140.00 bill (which I didn't), and you look like a schmuck who can't get the bill straight (and just leave a bitter taste in my mouth after those delicious scallops).
Thank you.
Kristin

No Knead Bread - Everybody's Doing It

2010-03-02T18:13:00.008-06:00

I think I have OCBD. Obsessive Compulsive Bread Disorder. Maybe that's what happens when you've been on a low carb diet for nine months. The other day when I saw that recipe for Cuban bread, I couldn't resist and wound up making three loaves. Now I'm obsessed with this No-Knead Bread. I know lots of foodie blogs have made this recipe from the New York times, and as I was kneading and kneading the Cuban bread, I started thinking about the no-knead recipe.

Before I could even Google it, a chef friend of mine in Portland (Brendan) sent me his version of the recipe. I'm going to copy and paste it word for word because he has some good ideas about the flours and how to make the recipe work.

The only real difference between Brendan's recipe and the NY Times recipe is that second rise. Now that I've made this loaf several times, I don't think it makes a huge difference, but without the rise the loaf is a little more dense, and with the rise you get bigger holes. The crust is A-MA-ZING either way.

For my first loaf I used 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup Ground Flax Seed Meal and 1/2 cup Almond Meal. I would recommend a teeny bit less water for this combination. My second loaf was 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 bread flour. My next loaf (on the counter as I type this is all regular flour with about a teaspoon or two of dried garlic and dried oregano. I want my next loaf to be all grainy with seeds and nuts, but I'm going to have to wait a little while longer while I'm trying to stick to my low-carb diet.

So, why am I making all of this bread when I'm on a low-carb diet? I have no idea. I think it has something to do with the fact that I have gotten bored with indoor, winter, low-carb, meat and vegetable cooking, that I need a creative outlet. I've given away a couple of loaves to friends and neighbors and my kids have eaten a good portion of it. Of course I've tasted along the way, but I'm trying to keep it to a minimum. No weight gained so far, just slow losing. Still hanging out around 33-34 pounds.

(1/2 whole wheat flour, 1/2 white flour)

NO-KNEAD BREAD

TOOLS: bowl, large (like 3-4 qts min.)
Spoon, large & strong (I like wood for bread rather than metal)
Plastic Wrap
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Oven safe baking vessel w/ good fitting lid- like a 2-3 quart Corningware or enamel coated cast iron w/ lid, or a SMALL Dutch oven. Do NOT try w/ foil as lid- will not work- needs a proper lid

INGREDIENTS:
.25 tsp Yeast, active dry (sounds like not enough, but trust me- it’s plenty)
1.25 tsp Salt (I prefer Kosher salt)
3 cups Flour**** see notes below- esp for Health
1 5/8 cups Water (sometimes a little more [not critical to be exact as more is OK]- see flour notes)
.5 tsp **cornmeal OR rolled oats OR dry cous cous OR wheat bran…(see note in 3rd paragraph of METHOD section)

METHOD:
Combine salt, flour(s), yeast in bowl & stir well. Add water all at once (but somewhat slowly). Stir to combine & wet all flour- usually about 15-20 stir/folds will do. Cover w/ plastic wrap and place on a counter for 12-18 hours. (18 only in winter, really). Should be about double original size.

Preheat to 425-450*F. Place baking vessel (without lid, for now) in oven to get intensely hot- like at least 10-15 minutes at temperature.

Remove vessel from oven. Sprinkle **cornmeal (or other choice from above) around bottom of pan (simply acting as a dessicant to make removal from pan that much easier later on). NOW, working rather quickly so pan doesn’t cool down too much, pour/scrape your dough into the vessel using wooden spoon to help get it out of bowl. If dough does not spread easily, gently shake baking vessel a little bit to disperse. Place vessel back into oven & cover w/ room temperature lid. Close oven & bake for 25 minutes (same temp). After 25 minutes, open oven and remove lid & bake about 25 minutes more. Remove pan from oven and tip loaf out (should come easily). IMPORTANT- place the loaf (using towel as it is HOT) on a cooling rack for at least 90 minutes. If you are w/out a cooling rack, improvise something to aerate the loaf. Store in same container you baked it in after cooling (b/c it fits there!) for up to 4 days before it starts to go stale. Freezes well too.
Enjoy!

NOTES ON FLOUR-
You do not need bread flour- All purpose works fine (bread flour works also though)
Personally, for health & flavor reasons, I like to mix in different flours.
My standard is 1 cup All Purpose, 1 cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup rye flour, and a ½ cup wheat bran (the actual bran of the wheat kernel- not a cereal- look in bulk section of good grocer for it) As long as it adds up to about 3 cups total, you can’t go wrong.
I also add to this healthy version 2 TBS Sunflower seeds and 1 TBS flax seed in the initial mixing- raise up that good cholesterol and add fiber….
--Courtesy of Chef Brendan from the Bronx in Portland :)

(whole wheat flour, white flour, flax seed, almond meal)

Cuban Bread

2010-02-25T17:22:00.005-06:00

Well this sure isn't good for my low carb diet. I don't know what got into me, but when i saw this recipe in the Chicago Tribune, I couldn't resist. And fair warning, not only did I make this bread, but I made three loaves. My kids gobbled down the first loaf, so I decided to make a double recipe. I have a neighbor who takes his snow blower and clears the sidewalks around the entire block - I thought he was deserving of a fresh loaf. The last loaf was for my husband and kids, again. And I ate some too. :)

The best thing about this bread was the crispy crust. The inside was dense and really tasty - the kind of bread that you want to dip in olive oil or smear with butter. I think the next time I make this recipe, I'm going to add some rosemary to the dough.

I'm still trucking along on the low carb diet. I gained a few pounds this past weekend after taking the kids out for fried fish at Del Rhea, making tortelini to go with some almond meal-coated shrimp (recipe coming) and a few glasses of wine. But I've gotten to the gym every day this week and I'm drinking lots of water. I've given myself plenty of time to lose the next 10. I'm headed to New Orleans in two weeks, so before then I'm going to try and be really dedicated. Because what you eat in New Orleans, doesn't stay in New Orleans. It stays on my butt :)

Cuban bread

CUBAN BREAD from the Chicago Tribune

This recipe doubles easily. The extra loaf freezes well; thaw it at room temperature for several hours. Wrap in thick foil and warm in a hot oven for 10 minutes before serving.

2 envelopes active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (I used three)

Cornmeal

Dissolve the yeast, sugar and salt in 1/2 cup of the warm water in a small bowl. Let stand until bubbly.

Mix the remaining 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup of the flour in large bowl until smooth. Stir in the yeast mixture until smooth. Stir in 2 cups of the remaining flour until soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, adding remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed to form a slightly stiff dough, about 10 minutes.

Put dough into a large oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto the board. Punch down slightly; form into a round loaf. Lightly oil a baking sheet; sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaf on sheet. Score an X into the top of the loaf. Cover; let rise about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a kettle of water to a boil. Place bread in cold oven. Place a large baking pan on the shelf below the bread. Pour the boiling water into the pan. Close the oven; heat to 400 degrees. Bake until golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped, about 35-40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition information: Per serving: 205 calories, 3 percent of calories from fat, 1 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 43 g carbohydrates, 6 g protein, 584 mg sodium, 2 g fiber

Traditional New Orleans King Cake

2010-02-16T08:58:00.005-06:00

I know today is Mardi Gras and I should have posted this last week, but I wanted to get it up before it was completely out of season! The King Cake is a Mardi Gras delicacy! Officially you can start buying and serving them on the day after Twelfth Night (January 6) through Mardi Gras day, but you can pretty much order them online all year 'round, but that just wouldn't be right. :)

Buying them in New Orleans is cheap ($6 - $15), but getting them delivered around the country gets expensive (upwards of $50). I get one delivered every year (thanks, mom!) for my Mardi Gras party, which this year was actually a Saints' superbowl party. But I was having a big crowd this year so thought I'd try making my own to have another on hand.

This recipe (adapted from here) is what I would consider an old-fashioned king cake (like the old McKenzie's if you know what I'm talking about), not like the Randazzo's filled danish-like King Cake that I love so much.

TRADITIONAL KING CAKE
1/2 cup warm water (100-115 F)
2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 teaspoons
3 1/2 - 4 cup flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest (I didn't use this)
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup butter (softened)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used about 4 or 5, mixed with a a Tbls of sugar)

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, for egg wash

Sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar over warm water in a small, shallow bowl. Allow to rest for 3-5 minutes, then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm, draft-free place until yeast starts to bubble up and mixture almost doubles in volume, about 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, mix 3 1/2 C flour, 1/2 cup sugar, nutmeg, lemon zest and salt. In mixing bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer or food processor, combine yeast , milk and egg yolks. Gradually add dry ingredients, and softened butter, adding additional flour, as necessary to achieve a medium-soft ball. Knead dough, again adding flour if necessary, until smooth, shiny and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Place dough in a covered, buttered bowl , in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. In the meantime, butter a large baking sheet and set aside. When dough has risen, remove and punch down. Sprinkle with cinnamon and form into a cylinder, then twist this cylinder into a circle. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Once again, cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 375° F. Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack completely before hiding baby doll inside or icing and decorating. Cover with icing (below) and then sprinkle with purple, green and gold sugar.

ICING (My own recipe)
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 block cream cheese, melted
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar, cream cheese and vanilla together. Add water slowly until desired consistency is achieved. Should be fairly thick and not runny.

Muffuletta Crisps - A Low Carb Mardi Gras

2010-02-16T08:15:00.007-06:00

The title of this post is complete sacrilege - a low-carb Mardi Gras. Whaaaa? If you've ever been to New Orleans, you know that the day (and the week before) is filled with Popeye's Fried Chicken, New Orleans Original Daiquiris and King Cake. Good thing I'm not in New Orleans this year - that's how I blew my low-carb start to last year. And I didn't have my Mardi Gras party this year because I had a Saints Superbowl party instead. So all is good in my little low-carb world.

Have you had a Muffuletta? You'll usually hear it pronounced "muff-uh-LOT-uh," but some people (like my mom) say "moo-foo-LET-ta." Either way, it is a giant sandwich, more than capable of feeding 2-4 people. Arguably the most crucial part of the sandwich is the bread, a dense, large, flat sesame seed bun about 10 inches across. It is split and then filled with Capicola, Genoa Salami, Mortadella, and Emmentaler and Provolone cheeses. It is all topped with salty, oily olive salad.

My Muffuletta Crisps are an easy, low carb way to bring a little New Orleans to your diet. You can prepare the salami a day in advance in you'd like.

MUFFULETTA CRISPS
1 lb. Salami, sliced(about 30 slices) (Genoa optional)
1 jar Olive Salad or Giardiniera, drained
1/2 cup finely shredded Provolone.

Place salami slices on baking sheet and bake in 375 oven for 8-10 minutes. (Salami will crisp like bacon and shrink in to small "bowls." Edges will be darker. Remove from baking sheet and drain on paper towels. After cooling, place salami on serving platter and fill each bowl with olive salad. Sprinkle all with provolone cheese.

Optional: Before baking you can top each piece of salami with a small slice of Capicola ham for an extra layer of meat.

Almond Meal Bread

2010-02-14T16:21:00.006-06:00

O . . . M . . . G. It's me. I can't believe it has been so long since I've blogged. I have a ton of photos I've taken of the food I've made over the past few months, but just haven't sat down long enough to write anything.

Despite the last few blog posts you see for cupcakes and frosting, I have been sticking pretty well to my low-carb diet. And that's part of the problem. Chicken and vegetables is not an exciting thing to blog about. But what IS exciting to blog about is that I've lost 34 pounds (since June 2009)!!! And if you count the last 8 pounds that I've lost over and over since Thanksgiving, I've probably lost 237! :) Just this past Thursday I hit my goal weight and I've decided to lose ten more. I went from a size 14 to a size 8, and I'm even wearing a pair of size 6 jeans. In addition to the low-carb diet, I'm doing at least 30 minutes of cardio just about every day, plus some simple hand-weight lifting.

I'm still staying away from bread, pasta, rice, sugar, and potatoes. But I saw a few recipes lately using Almond Meal or Almond Flour. Almond Meal is finely ground almonds and Almond Flour is the same but with the oil removed. I've read that they are pretty much interchangeable. I picked up a bag at Trader Joe's and I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with it, until I saw this recipe.

ALMOND FLOUR BREAD

-3 1/2 cups Almond Flour (I used Almond Meal)
-3 eggs
-1/4 cup melted butter
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1 cup yogurt
-1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in 350 F oven for about 45 min. (I think I went closer to an hour). Let cool almost completely in pan to ensure it stays together.

I served it with this:
HONEY BUTTER
4 Tbls. Butter (softened)
1 Tbls. Honey

Mix together well. Serve on bread or vegetables.

Well I don't have a carb count for either of these, but I know that the bread has WAY fewer carbs than regular bread, and the honey is the butter is all carbs. So unlike some of those ways that I've tried to replace carbs with look-a-like carbs (like spaghetti squash for spaghetti), this was REALLY good. The bread was moist and nutty. I used almond meal that included the almond husk, which you can see in the bread. If you can find it, shelled and unblanched almond meal will make a lighter colored bread.

I've got a couple more low-carb posts coming your way. But then I'll have no choice but to blog about king cake and brownies. :)

Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting

2009-10-11T16:07:00.008-05:00

Remember those cupcakes I made a couple of weeks ago? And how I wound up making WAY too many? Well, rather than give them all away, I stashed a dozen in the freezer just waiting for an excuse, I mean, opportunity to come along to enjoy them. And since most of the cupcakes were wasted in the undiscriminating palates of 6 yr. olds, I wanted to make sure these were topped off well and would be completely appreciated. And surprisingly, as much as I love baking and cooking, I had never made a frosting from scratch. Why? I don't know - must have something to do with the allure of those little-plastic-easy-to-use tubs.

I still had some buttermilk left over from making the cupcakes, and knew that it would make for a very rich and creamy frosting. My friends requested chocolate, so chocolate it would be.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERMILK FROSTING
1/4 cup butter
3 1/2 Tbls. unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbls. buttermilk
2 1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, cocoa and buttermilk in a saucepan. Bring just to the boiling point. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Slowly add 2 cups of powdered sugar while stirring well. Add remaining powdered sugar until frosting reaches desired consistency.

Lesson learned: Be sure to sift the powdered sugar or there will be little lumps in the icing, but it will still taste just as good.

And once again, one of my kids ate only the icing and one of my kids ate only the frosting. At least the adults enjoyed the cupcakes to the fullest.

P.S. - I frosted this cupcake myself. Isn't it cute?!

P.P.S. - Check out my story on honey marinades at Trib Local.

Great Seasonings from French Market Produce

2009-09-26T14:09:00.006-05:00

The New Orleans French Market has been around for nearly 300 years. It is much more than a flea market. You can find local artists, jewelry, handbags, clothing, souvenirs, food and so much more on the couple of hundred of tables that line the pavilion. Although fewer vendors have been at the French Market since Katrina hit, on Saturday and Sunday they are almost back up to pre-storm levels.

All summer long I've been using these great seasonings I picked up at the French Market. Let me state upfront that I bought these seasonings just like everyone else - no freebies here. (But if some fabulous company (hint, hint) offered to send me some of their fabulous products to try and/or give away, I wouldn't turn them down :) ) I just want you to know that I found these on my own and decided to write a review on my own.

French Market Produce is not a new company, but I believe these seasonings are (along with their cute logo). I have three of the five varieties - Killer Tomato Seasoning, Sea Lime Tro, and Garlic King. The remaining two are Boogalee Fleur De Lis, and Red Beans and Ricely Yours. At $6.50 a pop, they are a little expensive, so I might pick up the other two on my next trip in November.

With all of the fabulous tomatoes I've been growing this summer, I knew I had to have the Killer Tomato Seasoning. It's the one I've used the most. It is a coarse grind of Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Vinegar Powder, Basil and Cayenne. It was so great sprinkled right on my fresh tomatoes. The vinegar powder gives it a little tang that I love!

What I love the most about the Sea Lime Tro and the Garlic King is that they are a very fine grind. When I sprinkle them on meat, they practically melt. They do have a tendency to make me sneeze, but it's a good sneeze. The Sea Lime Tro seasoning is a combo of Sea Salt, Lime Juice Powder, Chipotle Chili Powder, Pepper, Garlic, Citric Acid, Cilantro, and Lemon Oil (plus Silica Dioxide). The first thing I tried it on was grilled Mahi - it was fabulous. I've also had it on Tilapia and I'm sure it would compliment any fish. The Garlic King is a little more basic - just Garlic, Black Pepper, Onion, Crushed Chili & Parsley. I've used it on pork, burgers and chicken.

You can order these online or pick them up while you're in the French Market. They'll also sell you the creole tomatoes to put the seasoning on (in season, of course).

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

2009-09-25T09:17:00.012-05:00

It's birthday time at our house, so I've been busy baking. We had both a family party and kindergarten girls party for my 6-year-old. Cake at the first party, cupcakes at the second and cookies (posted later) for the goodie bags. I wanted to make the Martha Stewart buttermilk cupcakes, but it was a huge recipe that made 36. I really only needed 12 and I was having trouble with the math!! I found this recipe at Baking Bites and ultimately decided to double it, just to make sure I had enough for the party. Kindergarteners love cupcakes!! But then I wound up making 36 cupcakes anyway. Ack!! Since I'm being really strong on my low-carb diet, I will be giving most of the rest away to my lucky neighbors. And I gave one to the mailman.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes (makes 12-24)
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour (I used cake flour)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Place liners in a 12 cup muffin tin. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla and almond extracts until mixture is smooth. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add buttermilk and stir, again, until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all ingredients are mixed in.

Divide batter evenly into muffin cups (2/3 full). Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the muffin pan. Cool completely before frosting.

The above picture is my finished cupcakes (goodie bags in the background). They may not be as beautiful as store-bought, but I think the kindergarteners will love them just the same. The more icing, the better! And the batter came out very light and fluffy (I did have just one bite without the icing). This recipe would also make a great cake.

UPDATE - What a realized today is that most kindergarteners will eat only the cupcake or the icing, but not both. Making from-scratch cupcakes for little kids probably isn't necessary!! But I'm sure everyone else will appreciate them. :)

Pear and Cherry Cobbler

2009-09-19T16:23:00.009-05:00

My friend Amy is the lucky recipient of pears that do not belong to her. Her neighbor has two pear trees and said he just really doesn't want to pick them any more. And I am lucky to have Amy as my friend. We left her house the other day with half a grocery bag of pears, and I just knew I would have to make a cobbler. Looking back now, I think I was more in the mood for a crumble, but this cobbler did just fine. And just about now you're saying, but Kristin, what about that low-carb diet? Yes, I did have a few bites, but I shared the majority with family and friends. A girl's gotta live, right?

PEAR AND CHERRY COBBLER
(picture is before cooking)

2 cups sliced pears
1/2 cup cherry pie filling
2 cups sugar, divided
1 stick butter
3/4 cup flour, 1 Tbls. flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Mix pears with 1 cup sugar and 1 Tbls. flour and let stand. Put butter in 2-quart casserole and place in 325° oven until melted. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 1 cup of sugar. Mix well. Whisk together the milk and egg; slowly pour the dry ingredients into the wet to make a batter. Pour the batter over the melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon pears over the batter. Put small spoonfuls of the cherry pie filling (trying to get more cherries than filling) over the pears. Do not stir. Bake at 325° for 50 to 60 minutes, or until light brown on top. Serve hot or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.

Of course, you can probably use just about any fresh fruit you like - peaches, cherries, apples, nectarines. And if I had given this dessert a little more forethought, I would have used fresh cherries and just put them in the sugar/flour mixture with the pears.

Spaghetti Squash Alfredo with Spinach and Tomato

2009-09-17T18:34:00.014-05:00

This whole thing was an accident. It started when I put my bag of fresh baby spinach in the freezer rather than the refrigerator. Whoops. Guess I can't make a salad with that anymore. In case you didn't know, fresh spinach, when frozen shrinks up and gets very watery. Not very pretty.

And then my daughter put a spaghetti squash in the grocery basket thinking it was a cantaloupe or melon of some sort. I've made spaghetti squash once or twice before and I knew it was a great thing for my low-carb diet. I was just trying to figure out what to do with it.

Then I was moving things around in my pantry to make room for this week's groceries and found a jar of alfredo sauce. One thing led to another and yada, yada, yada . . . dinner. Because I used the jarred alfredo sauce and the spinach was already wilted, this did not take long to throw together. Just a little advanced time needed for the spaghetti squash. (Be sure to slide past the recipe for two cool things!)

SPAGHETTI SQUASH ALFREDO
WITH SPINACH, TOMATOES, AND CHICKEN

1 Spaghetti Squash
1 jar alfredo sauce (I used Classico)
1 bag (6 oz) baby spinach (fresh or accidentally frozen)
4 plum tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1-2 cups chicken, chopped (I had leftover rotisserie chicken)

Cut squash in half and scrape out all seeds. Brush pulp with olive oil and cover in foil. Bake in 350 oven for about one hour. After cooking, use a fork to scrape out the pulp. Keep warm. In a saucepan over medium heat, pour in alfredo sauce. Add spinach and chicken and stir well. Heat 5-10 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir and immediately pour over spaghetti squash.

Lessons learned: If you're on a low-carb diet and want spaghetti squash to satisfy your craving for pasta, forget it. This meal was delicious, but next time I think I'll just pour the sauce over a piece of chicken.

OTHER NOTES:

My friend Mara over at What's For Dinner is having a yummy Alouette cheese prize giveaway. Be sure to check it out.

And I want to shout out a special thanks to Katie at Salt and Chocolate. I won a bottle of her homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract. It smells SOOOO good. I can't wait to use it. Thanks!!

Blue Cheese Broccoli Slaw

2009-09-16T13:06:00.001-05:00

Well, despite my last post, I am still working hard at my low-carb diet. I've hit a couple of minor bumps in the road, but am still down 20 pounds. Woooo hoooo!! But if I'm going to keep making dishes like this cole slaw, I'd better stay off the carbs. This is a pretty high fat dish, but it is SOOOOOO yummy. I was actually surprised at how good it came out. I served it with buffalo-seasoned chicken that I had in the crock pot all day.

I reviewed lots of blue cheese cole slaw recipes. Ina Garten's Blue Cheese Cole Slaw recipe has 13 ingredients and lots and lots of chopping. I'm sure it's good, but I don't have that kind of time. After looking at a few other recipes online, I came up with the following:

BLUE CHEESE BROCCOLI SLAW
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar (I used Stevia equivalent)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 bag broccoli slaw (10 oz. I think)
5 oz. crumbled blue cheese

In a bowl, mix together mayo, sour cream, sugar, salt and pepper. Add broccoli slaw mix. Stir well. Add blue cheese and mix well. Chill for an hour or so for best flavor if you have time.

My New Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie

2009-09-15T08:56:00.009-05:00

Everyone has their own personal favorite - some with more sugar, some with more chocolate chips, some with nuts. And even if you're not eating your favorite, chances are the one you're eating is still pretty good. Of course I'm talking about chocolate chip cookies. Ever since I watched that Alton Brown episode with the Flat, Puffy and Chewy chocolate chip cookies, I've tried lots of recipes, but strangely enough, not one of Alton's. Finally this weekend I tried two - the chewy and the puffy - both living up to their name. I'm going to have to say my favorite was the Puffy. No wait, the Chewy. Ok, the Puffy. Final answer.

I made minor changes to both and loved them, so I know the original recipes (below) will be great.

THE CHEWY

Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used 3 tsp vanilla)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup crushed oreo cookies)

Hardware:

Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

THE PUFFY

Ingredients

1 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour (I used AP Flour)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used 2 1/2 teaspoons)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks)

Hardware:

Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer's work bowl, and cream until light and fluffy. In the meantime, sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture. Then add vanilla. Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.

With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening and combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool and store in an airtight-container.

The results: The chewy cookies stayed chewy until the next day. They spread a lot so they were pretty thin and my chocolate chips and oreos seemed to pool in the middle. Maybe because I didn't chill enough. The puffy cookies were beautiful. They were amazing right out of the oven and were lightly crunchy, yet tender the next day. I love the chocolate chunks in them. The hard part about the Puffy is that you need shortening and cake flour, neither of which I normally have in the house.

Two More Honey Marinades

2009-09-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

I'm still working my way through the honey we received from a friend the other day.

Here are two more marinades I created:

HONEY LEMON ROSEMARY
1/4 cup honey
Juice of three lemons
Zest of one lemon
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 Tbls. chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and Pepper to taste

HONEY TERIYAKI
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 Tbls chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
8 chunks dried pineapple (Weird, I know, but we had a box of these lying around. I'm sure fresh pineapple would work just as well.)

The honey lemon marinade I used on bone-in chicken breasts. I put the honey teriyaki over pork tenderloin. I marinated it over night and then put the pork and the marinade in a crock pot for about 6 hours.

Tomato Herb Chicken

2009-09-01T21:49:00.007-05:00

Tomato season has finally arrived in Chicago. Since we got so very little warm weather this summer, my tomatoes were taking forever to ripen. Slowly over the past few weeks, I've gotten quite the harvest of big yellow tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes and red roma tomatoes. Too bad I missed a bunch while we were on vacation.

Mostly I've been eating right off of the vine, raw with just a little salt and pepper, sometimes a little balsamic vinegar. But I just had so many cherry tomatoes, I just had to find some way to use them.

TOMATO HERB CHICKEN
3 cups Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
2-3 Tbls. chopped herbs (I used basil, oregano and chives)
3 Tbls. olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Toss all ingredients in a bowl. Spread tomatoes on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350. Pour tomatoes over cooked chicken breasts. Top with cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted (about 3-5 minutes).

This was so simple and so delicious. The tomatoes were so sweet. This would be great over pasta, too, but since I'm on this low-carb diet, that means no pasta for me. It would also be fabulous on fish.

Stevia is my new best friend

2009-08-31T15:23:00.004-05:00

Even though I haven't mentioned it in a while, I'm still on my low-carb diet. I started off all gung-ho in January, then a trip to Mardi Gras in February threw me off track for several months. I picked it back up seriously in mid-June, after another trip to New Orleans. It is really hard to not eat carbs in New Orleans - I miss the food so much and just about everything is fried or on a piece of french bread, or both. And the New Orleans Original Daiquiris is probably the worst offender - a great big styrofoam cup full of sugar-y alcohol laden goodness. Luckily when I went back in August, I was determined to stay carb free and passed up all of my favorites (mostly). Sugar-free snoballs were my worst vice.

I've given up diet soda, too. The carbonation, the coloring, the caffeine, the artificial sweetener. I just figured it wasn't doing me any favors. I was drinking mostly water with a little bit of Crystal Light thrown in for some variety. But this week, I decided to start making Green Tea Iced Tea - and. Green Tea is all the rage - Lipton, Snapple, all the big guys are making green tea - either with unsweetened or sweetened with sugar or fake sugar. As a southern girl, you know I need my tea sweet.

Some time ago I read about Stevia - a natural herb sweetener that was not readily available in the US, but had been around for hundreds of years. You could buy it at specialty stores and it was marked as a "food additive" rather than a sweetener (something to do with the FDA and sugar lobby, so I've read). Only recently has the FDA approved it.

Trader Joe's carries stevia in several forms - packets, powder, pills and liquid. Each form has a different strength so be sure to read the package and find out how much you need - probably a lot less than regular sugar. Stevia has no calories and no carbs. The packets (which are a mixture of stevia and a neutral powder) were fine for a while when I was putting them in a cup of tea, but now that I've moved on to quarts of iced tea, I bought the full strength powder. It comes with a teeny tiny scoop. The green tea iced tea is so refreshing - I really wish I would have had it all summer. I know most people know how to make iced tea, but I had to fool with the recipe a bit to get it the strength I like (which is pretty strong and average sweet). Here it is:

GREEN TEA ICED TEA
Bring one quart of water almost to a boil. Turn off heat. Add 6 green tea bags and steep for five minutes. Add 7 (teeny tiny) scoops or 6 packets of stevia. Stir well and pour into two quart pitcher. Add one quart cold water and stir well.

I've got lots more to say about stevia, but I will save that for another day. :)

Bloom Where You Are Planted

2009-08-30T09:11:00.011-05:00

Last summer I made this little piece of yard art, using an old window from my Chicago-bungalow style house and stencils of my daughters' handprints. The butterflies and smaller flowers are actually my daughters' fingerprints.
If you can't read the top it says "Bloom Where You Are Planted." I can't seem to find the origin of the saying, but it is often used in a religious context and I take it to mean, sort of, do the best with what you have. This little window has been moved around our home a lot - it was in the front yard, it was near our back gate, and somehow earlier this summer it ended up on our patio. So it was only fitting that some little random plant decided to start growing right in front of it.

But's it not just a random plant - it is a tomato plant. We noticed a sprout growing in the cracks between the bricks of our patio. Now I'm pretty sure I didn't plant a seed a there. We're not quite sure how it got there, but it really took to heart the saying on my little window . Here is the full photo of our tomato plant:
And not only has it gotten absolutely huge with almost no tender loving care, extra water, special support stakes or fertilizer, it has many, many tomatoes ready to turn color. I normally plant a variety of red and yellow tomatoes and I am hoping these are yellow grape tomatoes, but I really have no idea until they turn. And check out the actual base of this plant, just squeezed between the two bricks. I'm guessing there must be some strong roots heading straight down.

Makes me wonder how much more I can do with all I've been blessed with. If this plant can thrive in bricks for goodness sake, I can certainly prosper with the support of a loving family, a beautiful home and so many, many blessings. Here are a few lessons from my tomato plant.

1. Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are - even the rockiest road can be the beginning of an amazing transformation and growth.
2. Even without support, if you search deep enough, the nutrients are there for you to thrive and blossom.
3. A little bit of sunshine paired with a little rain can go a long way. You've got to face what comes along and go with what you've got.
4. Make the most of what you have and in the end your efforts will be rewarded.
5. Sometimes you just gotta do what the sign says - like it or not.

Enough philosophy from me. Back to recipes tomorrow. :)

Honey Lime Chipotle Marinade

2009-08-29T21:36:00.004-05:00

We received a little gift from a neighbor today for picking up his newspapers while he was out for a few days. He brought us two "bear" containers of fresh honey from his friend who is a local bee farmer. One container was a little more amber and the other a more golden - both were delicious. I've never really used honey in anything, but was determined to use it for dinner tonight. I had already thawed some boneless chicken breasts and decided to make a marinade. Here's what I came up with:

HONEY LIME CHIPOTLE MARINADE
3 T Honey
2 T Olive Oil
1 teas. ground Chipotle Pepper
1/2 teas. salt
Juice of 4 limes
Zest of 1 lime

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Place 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast in a zip top bag and add marinade. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour. Cook as preferred.

This marinade was absolutely delicious. Not too sweet, not too spicy. We could have even added a little more salt and chipotle. You could really taste each ingredient in the marinade. This would also be great on fish.

And while we're on the topic of honey, check out my friend Mara's blog and contest. She is giving away some free organic raw honey from Tropical Traditions. Stop by and tell her Kristin sent you.

A TRU dining experience thanks to Foodbuzz.com

2009-08-25T16:16:00.027-05:00

As a featured Foodbuzz publisher, every once in a while I get a little bonus. Usually I'm not available or my name doesn't get drawn out of the hat, but this time I hit the jackpot. Thanks to Foodbuzz and Visa Signature, I was one of 20 lucky bloggers to experience a lavish multi-course dinner at Tru in downtown Chicago. I photographed each course - but these photographs cannot begin to convey the aromas and essences of the entire experience. You'll just have to believe me when I say it was phenomenal. The pic to the left is just my water. :)

We were first served a Basil Collins - Rain vodka with basil infused sweet and sour mix and club soda. Oh so very yummy and refreshing. I drank most of it at this point. :)

A canape of Cauliflower Sphere with roe and lemon peel.

Beef Wellington
and Scallop Wonton

Two delightful, small pieces of bread - one brioche-like and the other a deep pumperknickel.

Nigella Sea Cured Salmon with lemon gelee and bachelor button flowers.

Peeky Toe Crab with Prosciutto,
pequillo, and cantaloupe-cava consomme

Frog Leg with roasted garlic, carrot and watercress

Olive-oil poached Scottish salmon with Granny Smith apple, coconut and thai long peppercorn.

Braised Beef Short Ribs with Unagi, Scallion pistou and miso emulsion. This was the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef I've ever tasted. And, yes, unagi is eel. Tastes like chicken. Just kidding.

Seedling Farms plum, sarsaparilla cream, milk chocolate, ginger-lime marinade.

Mignardises
(Petite Desserts)

I didn't even mention the wines - Alma de Blanco Godello Monterrei 2008 and Niepoort Twisted Douro 2006. And, on top of everything else, Executive Chef and Owner Rick Tramonto stopped by our dinner to say hello. Oh, plus we got a tour of the kitchen and a bonus dessert while we were there.

I promise to post more often now that summer is over!! I have a million tomatoes to be creative with!!

Mai Tai Cupcakes

2009-07-07T09:30:00.015-05:00

Before I get started, I apologize, I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted. I have so many ideas backlogged, but I just can't seem to get rolling. Where has the summer gone?

Last night I participated in Iron Cupcake Chicago, a cupcake competition that began in Milwaukee and has picked up in some locations around the country. Here in Chicago, it is sponsored by Irma at Beautiful Cakes. There were 9 entries, but no judges as I had thought. Everyone one who attended had two votes - one for taste and one for appearance. And while I didn't win either category, how can you go wrong with tasting 9 fabulous cupcakes. And so, if I did my math correctly, that means I ate about 4 whole cupcakes. Not a good thing on a low carb diet. I walked extra fast this morning and for an extra couple of blocks to try and make up for it.

Now, on to the cupcakes. Mine first :) The theme was "tropical." I created a Mai Tai inspired cupcake - rum cake with orange/almond filling, lime cream cheese frosting and garnished with a flower-shaped dried pineapple round, a cherry and a fancy paper umbrella.

MAI TAI CUPCAKE
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3 Tbls. Rum Extract (or real rum)
2 Tbls. Triple Sec

Cream butter and sugar. Add milk and extract. Combine flour and baking powder together. Add to liquid mixture one cup at a time. Pour into 24 cupcake molds. Bake at 350 for approx 18 - 20 minutes.

FILLING
3 Tbls. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbls. granulated sugar
1 cup Half & Half
4 egg yolks
Zest from one large orange
1 Tbls Triple sec
1 Tbls Almond extract

Cook all ingredients except almond extract in a small pot over medium heat. Stir or whisk constantly until it turns creamy (kind of like pudding). Remove from heat, add almond extract, stir well and let cool. Use piping bag to pump filling into cooled cupcakes.

FROSTING
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Juice from 2 limes
Zest from 2 limes
4 - 5 cups powdered sugar

Mix butter, cream cheese and juice. Add sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.

DRIED PINEAPPLE FLOWERS
Slice top and bottom off of a whole pineapple. Slice off all of the outside rind and cut out any remaining eyes. Slice remaining core and fruit into very thin disks. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Place pineapple on parchment paper and bake at 225 for approximately 4 hours, flipping once.

Here is my full display:

Here are a few of the other entries:
Heather over at Flour Girl made these delicious Rice and Bean cupcakes with horchata:

The presentation winner was this chocolate mango cupcake:

And the taste winner was coconut with cocoa nibs. And I hope she doesn't read this, but she must have brought the most friends. I'm just sayin'.

A few other entries:

A Revelation About Me

2009-05-27T22:21:00.002-05:00

Today I realized that I will buy almost anything labeled Buffalo flavored or peppercorn ranch. Sometimes, even Cajun, even though I know what that really means.

Deep Fried Saturday

2009-05-19T19:23:00.018-05:00

We had been waiting. Waiting for a nice day. Waiting for the bitter cold of winter to fade away. Waiting, so we could . . . fry turkeys. Yes, that's what I said. Fry turkeys. My family has been frying turkeys for holidays since I was a kid - but that was in New Orleans, where it is easy to stand outside all day in the middle of December. However, here in Chicago, our (ok, my) outside winter time is limited.

We did fry one turkey this year for Thanksgiving, but peanut oil is so expensive to use for just one turkey. My dad always fried turkeys with friends, one after the other, so you could share the oil and only heat up one pot. So some friends and I decided to wait until the weather got nicer and spend the day frying turkeys. We cooked up four 10 lb. turkeys. Everyone took theirs home to cut up and eat and freeze. We shared ours with our guests, and boy, was it juicy and delicious. The skin was flavorful and crispy, if you like that sort of thing.

And while we had a big pot of boiling oil, we decided to throw a few other things in the fryer - oreos, salami, mango fritters, tortellini and bananas. Here are the photos and the info:

DEEP FRIED TURKEY
--12-24 hours before frying, inject turkey with marinade. You can find injectable marinade along with the other marinades in your supermarket. (We used Tony Chachere's Creole Butter). Sprinkle your favorite seasoning or more Creole Butter on the outside of the turkey.
--With oil at 350 degrees fry turkey for approx 3 min per pound, plus three or four more minutes.

DEEP FRIED OREOS AND BANANAS
--Freeze oreos and bananas for at least two hours.
--Mix up your favorite pancake batter.
--Dip oreos and bananas in batter, place in hot oil (350 degrees) for approx one minute on each side.
--Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

DEEP FRIED MANGO FRITTERS
1 1/4 cup chopped mango (or peaches)
1 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbls. vegetable oil

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add egg, milk and oil. Stir until blended. Fold in mangoes. Our fritters were large (about 1/2 cup of batter) and required about 10 minutes of cooking time in 350 degree oil. Smaller fritters will cook faster. Drain on a paper towel and top with powdered sugar.

DEEP FRIED SALAMI - CHIPS AND STEAKS
--No prep. Just drop in oil.

DEEP FRIED TORTELLINI
--We used fresh pasta, not dried. But I suppose if you bought dried, you could boil it and then fry it.

Barilla Piccolini Smiles Photo Contest

2009-05-18T20:25:00.004-05:00

Have little ones who love pasta? Here's a great chance to show off! Barilla Piccolini pasta is sponsoring a photo contest and your child could win a $25,000 scholarship! Think of all the cute possibilities! Even if you don't win, your picture could be featured on the Barilla web site.

Click here for all the details and be sure to read the fine print - which includes a June 28 deadline and says no professional photographers.

---I'm just wrapping up two full full days at the National Restaurant Association show. Whew! I'm exhausted from all the walking and stuffed from all the sampling! I'm working on a couple of stories to post and a bunch of photos. Check in again soon!

Tilapia Recipe Contest.

2009-05-13T16:43:00.002-05:00

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that, thanks to Foodbuzz, I'll be attending the National Restaurant Association show next week as a press correspondent. I can't wait to see everything. I've been getting all kinds of correspondence from public relations agencies about new gadgets and products, but this is one I thought I would pass on to you right now. I love tilapia and I might just enter myself. May the best foodie win!!

Calling all creative and cost-conscious cooks! Regal Springs Tilapia, the world’s largest producer of the mild-tasting, popular fish, is searching for the best family-friendly tilapia meal for no more than $15. Six finalists will receive cash prizes. The grand prize winner receives $5,000 and may appear on the company’s website and promotional materials. The contest begins May 15 and ends August 1, 2009.

Anyone in the 50 contiguous United States and District of Columbia who is over 18 and enjoys cooking fish can enter the contest. Recipes must be original and meals must include a tilapia entrée, salad and vegetable or fruit to feed a family of four for no more than $15. The judges may consist of professional chefs, restaurateurs and managers in the food service industry. Winners will be notified by email and announced on the website by Sept. 1. Judges will base their decisions on the following criteria: creativity, ingredients, thoroughness of instructions, and other such criteria as may be determined by Regal Springs Tilapia. For complete Contest requirements, Official Rules and to enter the Contest, log on to www.regalsprings.com or stop by booth no. 4264.

Pork Stuffed With Sundried Tomatoes

2009-05-12T15:18:00.009-05:00

Well, I'm doing pretty good on the low-carb thing again. Not much weight loss to announce except what I had to lose again after Mardi Gras and Easter. I'm trying to be more creative than just putting meat on the grill, although I love to do that. We've been eating turkey burgers, chicken breasts and pretty plain stuff, so I thought I'd try something fancy - fancy for me, anyways.

My husband gave me a couple of great Trader Joe's products for mother's day - he did a good thing by not buying chocolate! I decided to try out the Sun Dried Tomato Bruschetta. But what do you do with bruschetta besides put it on bread? That was the dilemma.

I decided to stuff a pork roast with it. So easy. My roast was about 1.5 lbs and I used about half of this 12 oz. jar. I also mixed the bruschetta with some fresh parmesan cheese before I stuffed it inside the pork. Carefully slice an opening through the middle of the roast and spoon in the bruschetta. Seal the open end with toothpics. I cooked mine over indirect heat (about 300 degrees) on the grill for just under two hours. In the oven, I would probably do 350 degrees for just over an hour - it will depend on the size and thickness of the roast.

The flavors of the sweet sundried tomatoes and salty olives really went well with the pork and marinated nicely into the meat. This bruschetta was not very oily and was packed very densly into the jar, so it went a long way. You could use a lot less if you wanted.

If you have any other low-carb ideas for the other half of the jar, let me know!

Chicken Asparagus Roll Ups at the Wedding

2009-05-06T17:16:00.008-05:00

The scene:
The ballroom was bathed in white satin and candlelight. “Over the top” would be an understatement. Did we really need so many glasses at each place setting? Real crystal at that. It was bad enough that I was overly anxious about who would be seated next to me, but now I needed to worry about using the wrong fork or eating someone else’s bread.

I found my place card – not just any place card, but a mini-sterling silver frame with my name engraved across the top and a photo of the bride and groom inside. As I awaited the arrival of the others at the “we-don’t-have-a-date table," I glanced at the menu. Baby lettuce salad with roasted peppers and goat cheese. Choice of filet mignon with a red wine blue cheese sauce or chicken rolled with provolone, parmesan and asparagus with a creamy butter sauce. Chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. At least I won’t have food anxiety.

Slowly the ballroom filled with people who knew the bride probably a lot better than I did. But I’m guessing not one of them knew her well enough to say what I was about to say.

CHICKEN ROLLED WITH ASPARAGUS AND CHEESE
2 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
6 stalks of asparagus
Sliced provolone cheese (approx. 4 large slices)
Shredded or grated Parmesan (approx ¼ cup)
Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

CREAMY BUTTER SAUCE
3 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. flour
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. (Or marinate chicken in your favorite Italian-style marinade). Sprinkle chicken with Parmesan cheese. Layer the provolone cheese on top of the Parmesan. Place three asparagus stalks at the bottom end of the chicken breasts and roll to the top. Secure with several toothpicks. Cook in 350 oven for approx 25 – 30 min.

For sauce, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk well for about one minute, or until flour is dissolved in butter and starts to slightly bubble. Add seasonings. Add milk slowly and whisk to combine. Heat for 3 – 5 minutes over medium heat and whisk frequently.

Lessons learned – Use lots of toothpicks. It’s pretty hard to keep chicken rolled up when it is stuffed with stuff. And you don’t want all of that cheese getting out all over the place. And, you may notice in the photo that I grilled the chicken. I wasn’t about to let a mild Chicago Spring day pass me by without using the grill. The problem was that I didn’t use enough toothpicks, and the chicken decided to stick to the grill. You can see the missing grill marks in my photo. But the rest turned out perfectly – the asparagus on the inside was tender and just the tips were a little crunchy. The dish didn’t really need the creamy butter sauce, but it sure was good. Serve it on the side if you’d like.

Conversation over Taco Salad

2009-04-30T15:42:00.008-05:00

Scene:
“That is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard,” Sherry said.

“I know, said Casey. “I can’t believe he was crazy enough to do that. I could never.”

“Oh, don’t give me that, you do lots of gutsy things. Remember that time in college when you staged that fake protest?”

With a slight smirk, Casey glared at Sherry and took another bite of her taco salad.

“And that time you papered the tree in the quad,”

“Yeah,” Casey laughed and quickly maintained her composure. “But that was college. We were all carefree and stupid."

“Speak for yourself,” Sherry scolded as she reached over and took an olive off of Sherry's plate. “I was never carefree.”

A HEALTHIER VERSION OF TACO SALAD
1 lb. ground turkey (I used 93/7 lean)
1 pack Taco Seasoning (or make some yourself)
Baby Spinach Leaves
Black Olives
Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/4 cup salsa (I used black bean and corn salsa)

Brown ground turkey and mix with taco seasoning as directed. Mix sour cream and salsa in a bowl and mix well. Place spinach leaves in bowl and top with taco meat, cheddar cheese and olives. Top with salsa and sour cream mixture.

--Aren't those little peppers in my salad adorable? They are sweet red peppers. I haven't seen them at the grocery store, but bought a big bag of yellow, orange and red ones at Costco. They are great to crunch on alone, or with a dip. I saved some of the seeds and I'm going to try and grow some this summer.

Thanks Foodbuzz!

2009-04-28T08:16:00.003-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted many recipes lately. I've been trying to get back to no-carb basics and for a couple of weeks that means just plain grilled chicken, cheeseburgers and pork for dinner. I haven't done anything really fancy, but should be on track next week.

So, I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank Foodbuzz for helping me get press tickets to the National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place here in Chicago, May 16-19. I'll spend at least two days taking so many pictures and notes! And I'm sure I'll have a sample or two along the way. I can't wait to blog about it all. Count on several, several days of posts - filled with the latest the restaurant and food industry has to offer. Thanks again, Foodbuzz!

More recipes and photos soon, I promise!

Homemade Chocolate Marshmallows

2009-04-25T16:18:00.010-05:00

Some of you may remember my Christmas experiment of making homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate. Well, my neighbors are still talking about them and one had a special request for chocolate marshmallows, rather than chocolate covered marshmallows. This recipe was one that did not use egg whites, but I thought I would give it a try. And I'm glad I did. These marshmallows were a bit more dense and oh so creamy. About 500 times better than any marshmallow you buy in a bag. The chocolate flavor came through tasting like a really good hot chocolate. The cocoa and sugar coating is necessary to keep the marshmallows from being sticky, but also added a nice chocolate flavor from the very first taste.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS
Mostly from About.com

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup + 2 Tbls water, divided, see below
3 envelopes gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3Tbls. powdered sugar and 1 Tbls cocoa for coating

1. Prepare a pan (9x13 or cookie sheet) by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spraying in with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place water in small microwave bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Pour cocoa into the bowl of water and whisk to dissolve the cocoa.
3. Place 1/2 cup cold water and gelatin into bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment. Stir to distribute gelatin. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
4. Spoon warm cocoa into gelating and mix slightly to combine.
5. Place 1/2 cup water, corn syrup and sugar into medium sauce pan. Stir to dissolve. Cook without stirring over medium high heat until temp reaches 240 degrees. Remove from heat.
6. Pour sugar mixture into the chocolate/gelatin mixture (very carefully).
7. Whip at high speed for 15-20 minutes. Marshmallow will be creamy and slightly runny.
8. Pour the marshmallow into the pan and cover with another sheet of foil or parchment paper coated with nonstick cooking spray.
9. Let sit for 10 hours or overnight.
10. Combine powdered sugar and cocoa in small mixing bowl or, better yet, a sugar shaker.
11. Take top foil off of marshmallows and sprinkle with cocoa and sugar. Flip the marshmallows out of the pan, remove foil and sprinkle with cocoa and sugar.
12. Cut marshmallows into squares using knife coated with cooking spray, or I use a pizza cutter.
13. Put individual marshmallows into a large bowl and sprinkle all the sides with cocoa and sugar. Toss to make sure everything is covered otherwise the marshmallows will be very sticky.

Can be stored in airtight container. Do not refrigerate.

Bacon Salt - The Good and The Bad

2009-04-21T21:13:00.006-05:00

It all started at Christmas. I decided to stuff my husband's stocking with bacon-related stuff, Bacon Bandages, Bacon Dental Floss and Bacon Salt.

The Bacon Salt is an actual, non-joke product. We stuck it on a shelf after Christmas and I just recently decided to give it a try. A sprinkled a bunch of it into a brine I made for a whole chicken. I put some on some Tilapia. It was decent - smokey, salty, peppery - like bacon. Duh.

But then I read the ingredients. Salt. Garlic. Paprika. Blah, blah. Monosodium Glutamate. What??? I thought just about everyone stopped using that stuff. Unless this is old school chinese food or canned soup, haven't we all decided that MSG is no not a desired ingredient? I have a few friends who are allergic and I never would have thought to read the ingredients on Bacon Salt. There are quite a few other ingredients that I can barely pronounce - none of which I saw in actual bacon - but probably serve some sort of preservative and non-caking purpose.

The company that makes Bacon Salt also makes Baconnaise - yep, mayonnaise that tastes like bacon. The weird thing is that as I was sitting down to write this blog post earlier this afternoon, ABC News ran a story (warning: video) on the guys who created Bacon Salt. True entrepreneurs. They have big plans for all kinds of bacon products - like popcorn and ketchup. It is obvious that I am not a health nut - heck, I bought bacon salt - but I really don't need to buy anything else with MSG.

I think I'd rather buy Squeez Bacon.

Great Customer Service

2009-04-18T11:15:00.005-05:00

I know this is normally a food blog, but I was hardly home last week to cook anything blog worthy. So I just wanted to take a few minutes to point out some really good customer service I encountered in the last week.

The first one started with really bad customer service on a local level, and got saved by a national level. I took my kids to Cici's Pizza - you know, the really cheap buffet place. Well, they have a promotion where they are putting stickers on pennies to win free buffets and such. They leave the pennies in the parking lot and you are supposed to pick them up and bring them inside to redeem them. We picked up one that said "Free kids' buffet." Simple, right? We go inside (one adult, two kids) and hand it to the cashier who then says we need to drop it in a fishbowl and hit the target inside to get the free buffet. What's up with that - I had not seen that stipulation anywhere on line or in the store. Long story short, no free kids buffet, long line behind us - all presumably with pennies. We eat there anyway - because you can't explain to 7 and 5 year olds why you're not getting pizza.

So I go home and send a letter to a very generic cicispizza.com e-mail address. About three days later I get not one, but two personal (not computer generated) responses stating that the promotion does not work that way and they are sorry the employee did not understand. The fishbowl was for pennies that said "Enter for a chance to win" a free adult buffet. One letter simply apologized, and the other said to contact them for a free meal for the whole family. So I applaud Cici's corporate for responding personally to letters, but really fault someone at the local level for not understanding the promotion.

Next is www.verticalresponse.com. A friend of mine is president of the local NCJW and I offered to research e-mail marketing programs for her. E-mail marketing companies allow you to create e-mail newsletters with their templates and send to a big list, then you can track who opened it and who clicked on what. (Some others are Constant Contact, MailChimp, SubscriberMail and MyEmma.) I've used Vertical Response for personal businesses in the past and their program is easy to use and reasonably priced (by the e-mail, not by the month). Well they also have an AMAZING program for non-profits. If you have a certified non-profit program, you can get a free account with them and send up to 10,000 e-mails per month for free. I signed them up, filled out the correct paperwork, and sure enough, the program is completely free for real non-profts. And it doesn't stop there. I received not one, but two personal (not computer generated) phone calls - one when I initially signed up and another when we were accepted for the non-profit program. Both said thank you, asked if we needed help and left a name and phone number to call (on my answering machine, as I was not home).

I haven't decided yet if I want to go back to Cici's. Not because I was traumatized by the experience, but this is Chicago afterall. There is real pizza to be had. And I would recommend Vertical Response to anyone looking for a great e-mail marketing program.

Hopefully I'll be back to making some delicious dinners next week. I'm really working hard on getting back to low carbs and I really want to start walking - if it will ever stay warm in Chicago for more than one day.

Coconut Macaroons and the Gala

2009-04-10T21:33:00.007-05:00

Scene:
There she was. I couldn't let her out of my site for even a second. It was risky tip that led me here, but it paid off. As the server approached, I reached for the coconut macaroon on the silver tray without taking my eyes off of her. Pretending to eat my dessert, I walked slowly to the back of the room to be closer to the woman for whom I had spent two years searching.

“You didn’t tell me that,” she harshly whispered to the man.

“Deal with it,” he said. “What difference does it make?”

As I saw the waiter with the half-full tray of macaroons make his way towards the unlikely couple, I wished I could get as close as he was. He would be close enough to sense her fear. To hear the unforgiving tone in her whisper. And maybe, just maybe, find out enough to save her.

COCONUT MACAROONS by Ina Garten

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl, whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Lessons learned: I made mine pretty big because I think the recipe makes 20, but I only made 10. I added a little bit of almond extract, too. My macaroons had a little pool of cooked liquid around them. It tasted good, but looked yucky, so I trimmed all of them. I’m not sure if a little more coconut would give the liquid a little something more to soak into. I also melted some bittersweet chocolate and dripped it across the top. They were absolutely delicious – sweet, chewy and moist.

Blackberry Scones and Chai Tea Latte at the Cafe

2009-04-07T12:57:00.008-05:00

Scene:
Melissa takes the final bite of her blackberry scone and swallows hard. “Really, would you have done that?”

“No way. Sign of the times, I guess,” Gina says as she glances at the last few creamy drops of her chai tea latte.

“I would have expected at least a phone call. At least. Is that too much to ask?” She looks around the near empty café. Crumbs from the now forgotten scone speckle the small table, which is slowly transforming into a confessional.

“I mean really, just because we met online doesn’t mean he needs to dump me online.”

“But you didn’t even really like him,” Gina says. “You’ve really got to put this behind you. Don’t you think you have better things to worry about, like next weekend?”

“Whatever. I need a scone.”

BLACKBERRY SCONES (from the internet somewhere)
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbls baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk/cream/whole milk (I used evaporated milk)
8 oz. blackberries/halved (or a few more)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter until it is all well combined. Whisk milk with egg. Incorporate liquids into dry ingredients (do not overmix!) until well combined. Lightly coat berries in a little flour, so they won't sink to the bottom when you bake the scones. Fold in blackberries. Drop heaping tablespoons (mine were bigger) onto a very lightly buttered cookie sheet about one to two inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 6 very large scones, more if you make them smaller

---Lesson learned. These are not your standard English-style, dense, dry (in a good way) scones. These are almost like very airy muffin tops. Yummy, but not traditional.

CHAI TEA LATTE from 2basnob.com
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
cardamom pods
1/4 inch fresh ginger root (sliced thin)
2/3 cup of milk
6 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons of Darjeeling Tea leaves

Place water, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to low setting and simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk and sugar and again bring to simmer. Next, add the tea leaves, remove from heat and cover. Let steep for 3 minutes and strain. Enjoy!

--- Really? That seems like a lot of work. If you don’t have that kind of time or those ingredients, Oregon Chai is a delicious chai tea concentrate that you can pick up at just about any major grocery store. Make 6 or 7 chai tea lattes for what it cost for you to buy one at that fancy coffee store. If you want to brew your own tea, just look for Chai tea bags, then you can add milk and fake sugar to cut out a lot of the calories.

Homemade Hamburger Buns - Why Bother?

2009-04-05T22:07:00.007-05:00

So, here's more on my bread-making escapades. I was just itchin' to use the last three cups of bread flour that I had. And since I had pulled out some burgers to grill for dinner, I found a neat little recipe for hamburger buns.

So, before I give you the recipe and the pic, let me say that these buns came out great! They were delicious and fluffy and my house smelled SO good when I baked them. But really, I didn't save any money, and by the time they were mixed and kneaded, then rose and then baked - I was looking at over an hour. My friend Missy said, spend the two bucks to buy them at the store and use the time to drink a margarita. And the kicker is, that usually the buns only cost $1 if I buy the store brand.

But did I mention how good my house smelled? It was really wonderful. I guess the most important thing is the quality of the ingredients that went into the buns - flour, yeast, milk, egg, honey - you get the picture. No high fructose corn syrup, oil, carageenan, soy lecithin - or fifteen other things I can't pronounce. Which would also explain how these fresh-baked buns went stale pretty quickly (when I left one out.)

So ultimately, this was a great experiment, and everyone who tasted them loved them, but I seriously doubt I will be making my own hamburger buns on a regular basis. Here's the recipe - sorry I don't have a source.

HOMEMADE HAMBURGER BUNS
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter (I used salted)
4 1/2 cups flour (I used 3 cups bread flour, the rest all-purpose)
1 package (2-1/4 tsp) yeast (I used active)
1 Tbls. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, room temp

Heat the milk, water, honey and butter until butter is melted (liquid will be warm to the touch, not hot). Check temp and let cool to 120 degrees (or like I said, warm to the touch, but not hot). Beat egg in small bowl. Add a tablespoon or so of the milk mixture to the egg and stir. Add that to the bigger portion of the milk mixture.

Add yeast to about 1/4 cup of the milk liquid. Let stand for about 5 minutes. In a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl add two cups flour, salt, milk liquid and yeast mixture. Mix. Then mix in rest of flour 1/4 cup at a time. Mix well.

When the dough pulls together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min). Dough will be sticky, so be sure to flour your hands as well.

Divide dough into 12-16 parts. (I only made 10 buns.) Shape into balls, flatten slightly and place on baking sheet (use Silpat or parchment paper if you have it). Spray with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30-35 minutes. Most likely, the edges will touch.

When buns have doubled in size, brush with egg wash and, if desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

So, the good:
the smell, the taste, quality ingredients

the bad:
the time, no cost savings

Do what works for you!! Me? I think I will opt for the margarita.

"Tie Dye" Cupcakes

2009-04-03T21:28:00.007-05:00

Tomorrow is my daughter's 8th birthday. She saw these cupcakes on Semi-Homemade on the Food Network and wanted to make them. She did most of the decorating herself! To celebrate, we took a couple of girls to a movie theater, so these cupcakes actually went home as favors.

We made plain ol' box cupcakes with plain ol' white icing. Then with gel icing, we made stripes on the cupcakes, and using a toothpick, made lines, pulling the icing to look like tie dye. First one way, then the other. It was completely her idea to put the Sponge Bob toppers. Really, I can't take credit for that one.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

These cupcake boxes from Wilton are great! The single ones were hard to find at craft stores, but I'm lucky enough to live close to the one and only Wilton store in the country.

Pancakes for princesses

2009-03-31T15:52:00.008-05:00

My girls wanted pancakes this morning. And not just any pancakes, but pancakes with pictures. I'm sure most of you cooks out there know how to do this, but I thought I'd post them any way. I start off with a really basic fluffy pancake recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup of milk
1 egg
1 Tbls. sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted) or oil
1 tsp vanilla

Combine the dry ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients and pour into the dry. Stir well.

To make the designs, you can use a small spoon, but if you have a squeeze bottle it is much easier.

Heat up the pan, make your design with the pancake batter and let it cook for about 10-15 seconds. Then pour more batter over the design to make the rest of the pancake. Flip the pancakes when small bubbles rise to the top.

Remember, if you are making something that is not reversible (like an initial), be sure to make it backwards so it will be the right way when you flip it.

Asian Chicken with Green Beans and Noodles

2009-03-30T17:48:00.008-05:00

Here is tonight's attempt to do something creative with chicken. I have a TON of sauces, mixes, and seasonings that I am determined to start clearing out. So tonight's victims were an envelope of Stir Fry mix, my last few drops of low-sodium soy sauce, and some TSG Peanut Ginger Sauce.

Asian Chicken with Green Beans and Noodles

Chicken:
3-4 Boneless Chicken Breasts
Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
1 packet Stir Fry Seasoning (used just less than 1/2 packet)
Brown sugar

Pound chicken breasts thin. Sprinkle with soy sauce, stir-fry seasoning and brown sugar (I didn't use a whole lot). Let marinate for 20-30 minutes. Grill until done (very techinical!).

Noodles:
Small serving of pasta, cooked
Handful of fresh Green Beans, cut in 1/2
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Tbls. Peanut Ginger sauce (or your favorite black bean or Asian-style sauce.
1 tspn. Oil

Saute veggies in oil for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked pasta and sauce. Heat for several minutes until hot.

The chicken was really great - a little sweet, almost like that bourbon chicken you get at the mall. It probably would have been even more carmelized had I cooked it in a pan rather than the grill. Turns out the Peanut Ginger sauce was a little spicy, so it made a great accompaniment to the chicken. Still have a whole bottle of that to use.

A Biscuit Kind of Day

2009-03-28T17:11:00.004-05:00

While I'm on my homemade bread kick, I thought I'd make some biscuits this morning - I am from the south after all. I just picked a very simple recipe from some recipe site on the internet that went something like this:

2 cups flour (can use 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
3/4 cup milk or water
1/4 cup oil

Combine the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Drop pieces of the dough onto a cookie sheet (rough drop or roll and then flatten) and bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Well, it is the 425 part that I missed. I only had my oven at 350 - which explains why they didn't brown on the top. It's OK - they were yummy anyway. My kids didn't like them because they weren't flaky like the kind you get in the can. Whatever. More for me.

Homemade French-Style Bread

2009-03-26T20:33:00.005-05:00

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune had a big article on kneading and bread making and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Call it a backlash from the no-carb diet. Plus, just another excuse to use my stand mixer. I've made plenty of beer bread and bread machine bread in my life, but not real, do it yourself, mix it, knead it, watch it rise bread. So I tried out the recipe in the Trib, too, for a Basic French-Style bread from Chef Tom Beckman of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. The only thing I did different was to brush one loaf with egg whites before baking - which I definitely recommend. It didn't taste bad, either, but maybe a little bland.

Also, my bread seemed to have come out a little deflated, but not bad for a first try. The recipe actually made two loaves, but this one with the egg white wash was much prettier. Tomorrow I'm going to try the recipe that is on the back of the bread flour bag - it has a few more ingredients that should add to the taste.

Shrimp Stuffed Bell Peppers

2009-03-20T21:49:00.009-05:00

OK, so this Friday I wanted to really make something meat-free. I did not even realize until this past Tuesday or Wednesday that I put sausage in last Friday's Shrimp and Grits - totally defeating the purpose of eating seafood on Friday. Duh! I just wasn't thinking - but it sure was good.

So determined to make something truly meat free this Friday, I chose Shrimp Stuffed Peppers. I had a recipe as a guideline, but I changed it a lot - the recipe I had even left out one of the listed ingredients. So here's my version:

Shrimp Stuffed Peppers (serves 4 - 6)
1 Tbls Olive Oil
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 lb. raw shrimp (I used small Gulf shrimp), peeled
Cajun seasoning to taste (about 1 Tbls.)
3 Tbls. butter
1 cup rice, cooked
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, plus extra
1/2 can cream of shrimp soup (or cream of chicken or celery)
4 large green bell peppers (6 medium), tops removed and cored

Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in sauce pan. Add chopped celery, onion, and bell pepper. Saute on medium until tender (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink. Add butter, rice, soup, bread crumbs and seasoning. Stir until well mixed. Scoop shrimp mixture into bell peppers. Top shrimp mixture with bread crumbs. Place bell pepper in baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Lessons learned - You could add a more (a cup more) rice if you need this to stretch. I filled three very large bell peppers with a little left over. I'd probably add a few more bread crumbs to the mixture next time and a little more Cajun seasoning. If you use large shrimp, I would probably chop them. Bell peppers were cooked perfectly - tender, but still firm. Overall it was yummy. You could even use the filling to top fish or put in wontons.

Homemade Croutons and Sugar and Spice Pecans

2009-03-18T09:49:00.005-05:00

Went to a friend's for dinner last Saturday and wanted to make a really great salad. We were having pizza, so I knew I wouldn't be adding chicken or shrimp. At Trader Joe's I found a really great lettuce mix that included dill and cilantro. I also bought a really great Manchego cheese, that I sliced thinly down the long side, rather than shredding it. But my two favorite items of the salad were homemade croutons and spiced pecans. I had half of a leftover baguette and thought it would be perfect:

Homemade Croutons
1/4 french baguette, sliced into small chunks
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 Tbls. Penzey's Tuscan Sunset Seasoning
Sea Salt to Taste
Ground Pepper To Taste
1 - 2 Tbls. grated Manchego cheese (or any kind)

Toss all in a bowl. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes, flipping one time, until light brown and toasty. Be sure to keep an eye out because they will burn fast.

Sugar and Spice Pecans
1/2 cup pecans (not toasted yet)
1 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls sugar
1 Tbls spice rub (I used TSG's Peppery Herb Rub)

Soak first two ingredients in one cup of water for 10 minutes. Drain pecans. Place sugar and spice in small zip top bag. Add pecans and shake until all pecans are covered. Place in 350 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until sugar is slightly melted. Be very careful because sugar and pecans will burn quickly.

Ummm, and did I mention that both of these will burn quickly. I pretty darn near burned the pecans, and well, you can see the darker spots on the croutons. But both were yummy - crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Two Types of People

2009-03-17T19:13:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure what got me thinking about this today, but one thing is for sure . . . if you're not one thing, you're the other. And if you're the other than the one that you're not, the other than what you are can get on your last good nerve. Here's what I mean:

Those who fill the ice cube tray after taking out one cube. - Those who leave one ice cube in the tray

Those who like to fill the dishwasher - Those who like to fill the sink.

Those who clean up as they go along - Those who clean up at the end.

I'm not going to admit which categories I fall into, but mine is the right way! :) :)

Shrimp and Grits, Y'all

2009-03-13T21:03:00.007-05:00

I know my posts are getting far and few between. It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks and I've been cooking just the basics and a couple of things I've already posted. Fridays around here during Lent mean no meat, so I've been saving the little seafood I get here in Chicago for Fridays. A friend of mine was down in New Orleans this past week (without me!!) and had shrimp and grits at Nola's and loved it. To be honest, it is not a dish I grew up with, but have had a couple of times in places more "southern" than New Orleans. I just couldn't get it out of my mind and decided to look up some recipes. I came up with a combination between a Paula Deen recipe and another one I found, but don't remember where. Here's my version:

SHRIMP AND CHEESE GRITS (easily feeds 3 or 4)
3/4 cup regular grits, not instant
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbls. cream cheese

1 Tbls. oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 lb. smoked sausage (or 1 lb. would be even better), chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled, no tails
2 Tbls. white wine
1 cup cream
Cajun seasoning and hot sauce to taste.

Make grits as directed on box, except use chicken stock instead of water. At end of cooking time, add butter, cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Stir until melted, recover and remove from heat. Add hot sauce to taste (I added three dashes.)

In a separate pan, saute sausage in oil until browned. Add green pepper and onion and saute until veggies are soft. Season shrimp with Cajun seasonings. /Add shrimp and saute 5 - 7 minutes until shrimp are cooked. Remove shrimp, sausage and veggies from pan. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Add cream and let reduce for a few minutes. Add shrimp, sausage and veggies back into the pan. Add a little more cajun seasoning.

Place grits in bowl. Top with shrimp mixture. Enjoy.
This was really good - the grits were creamy and not fake cheesy. I only used 1/2 lb. of sausage (skinless smoked sausage), but I would use 1 lb. next time, and something a little spicier, like andouille, if you can find it.

One day, I swear, I'll get back to my low-carb diet!!

Pork Roast Stuffed with Olives & Sundried Tomatoes

2009-03-03T22:16:00.006-06:00

OK - back to the low carb dinners. Tonight's dinner was very easy and pretty tasty.

I had a pork roast supreme (both white and dark meat), sliced open a whole in the middle, filled it with chipotle seasoned olives, chopped sundried tomatoes, and fresh grated parmesan cheese. I seasoned the outside with olive oil and Penzey's salt-free Tuscan Sunset seasoning. Pretty simple. No leftovers - Mike ate most of it. :)

Before cooking:
After cooking:

Also today:
Breakfast -none
Lunch - Ham, Cheese and Turkey
Snack - Almonds and a couple of almonds.

Truf-FAUX-les

2009-03-03T13:30:00.003-06:00

Before jumping on the low-carb bandwagon again, I just had to try this recipe I saw for Cake Balls. I actually saw the recipe in the New Orleans Times Picayune and the balls were on a stick. OK - I can't keep calling them balls, but that seems to be what everyone's calling them. I just keep thinking about Alex Baldwin's SNL skit, Schwetty Balls. Anyway, I just saw a place on the web that is selling 6 for $16. WHAT?? I made over 50 with one box of cake mix, one tub of icing and a bag of white chocolate chips - less that $6.

While I would have made chocolate or red velvet, I was making these with my kids and their friends, so we used a yellow cake mix and vanilla icing. The sprinkles even came with the icing.

1 Box Cake Mix

1 Tub Icing

2 Bags white chocolate chips (melting chocolate would be better)

1. Prepare cake mix as directed. Let cool completely.

2. In a large bowl, crumble cake mix and add icing. Stir to combine. (I used my stand mixer.)Icing will soak into crumbs.

3. Optional: Place cake mixture in fridge during next step.

4. Melt chocolate in a double boiler.

5. Remove cake mixture from fridge. Using a spoon or melon baller, scoop cake mix and form into bite-sized balls. (Put balls on lollipop sticks if desired.)

6. Dip balls in chocolate. Decorate with sprinkles. Place in fridge for chocolate to harden.

I made these with my kids, so they are not perfect, but still adorable and delicious. And way better than paying $16 plus shipping for 6.

Before I get started again . . .

2009-03-03T09:33:00.006-06:00

I've been procrastinating starting my low-carb diet again. I've been on vacation in New Orleans for a week and JUST HAD TO eat (and drink) all of my favorite things - crawfish fettuccini, fried shrimp, daiquiris, beignets, more daiquiris. So I've officially started again today, but before I start posting low- carb recipes again, let me get all of the "forbidden stuff."

My favorite New Orleans restaurant is R&Os in Bucktown. It is definitely not a tourist stop. It is located on the other side of the levee that broke during Katrina, so the original restaurant still stands. Actually, the very original spot was next door, but they built a bigger location. My favorite was always the shrimp sandwich - their french bread is actually a more Greek style with sesame seeds, lightly toasted. They always have the most beautiful shrimp - which, at least years ago, they used to catch some themselves. I think now my favorite is the shrimp salad. My dad and I usually split a large one. They hand toss each salad - and I'm not just talking about the salad, I mean the dressing, too. There's no gallon jug of salad dressing sitting in the back - the mayo, vinegar and seasonings are all tossed in when the salad is ordered. There's at least a dozen shrimp in there! This pic is after we ate about 1/4 of the salad.

Next on the list is an old favorite that I don't indulge in every time I visit - beignets (ben-yays). They are french-style doughnuts topped with lots of powdered sugar. The most famous location for beignets are the original Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. I didn't want to face the crowds and lack of parking during Mardi Gras with the girls, so we went out to their Metairie location. And can you believe my girls would not even touch these! Well, I wasn't going to force them to eat dough and sugar, so I just had them all myself!!

And the last (but certainly not least) of my indulgences is pralines. Pralines are creamy blobs of brown sugar and pecans. After sampling many over the years, we love Loretta's Pralines the best. They used to be available right in the French Market, but since the storm and the renovations, you have to go to Loretta's store on Frenchman and Rampart. I've made pralines that taste the same, but I can't get her creaminess. I brought a few back this time to give as gifts. Her store also serves hot lunch during the week, and has other homemade cookies, candies, ice cream and more. Miss Loretta was nice enough to come out and chat with us. She had met my mom about a year ago at the pharmacy and gave my mom her cell phone number so we could get pralines when I visited even if the store was closed. How nice was that? Only in New Orleans.

Heartattack Chicken

2009-02-17T22:21:00.008-06:00

Took a few days off from cooking anything noteworthy. And I've pretty much blown my diet until I get back from Mardi Gras. Nevertheless, I did something creative for dinner tonight that would have been not-so-bad for me had I really been following a low-carb diet.

Bleu Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken - oh yeah, you read that right. I still had a small tub of Bleu cheese butter from the other week that I wanted to use, so I searched around for a couple of recipes and here's what I ultimately came up with.

Bleu Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breast
4 - 6 Tblspn blue cheese butter
4 slices bacon

Preheat oven to 350. Pound each chicken breast to 1/8 inch thickness (or really thin is what I mean). Place bleu cheese butter at one end of chicken and roll up. Wrap two slices of bacon around each roll. Tuck all edges in. Bake at 350 for 35 - 45 minutes.

To stick with the bleu cheese theme, I served it with pasta in a Buffalo flavored sauce (from Target).

Lessons learned: You probably don't need the bleu cheese butter, regular blue cheese would probably do just fine. It's a little tricky to make sure the chicken is cooked because you don't want to cut it open until you serve it.

Beer Brined Chicken

2009-02-12T11:46:00.006-06:00

This post is 24 hours in the making. I was going to make this yesterday, but decided too late to brine a chicken. This was a small roaster that I was just going to stick on the grill, but found this recipe at homebrewchef.com. A friend brought over a bunch of beer we weren't going to drink, so I figured this was a good a way as any to use it. Of course, I had to change it just a little bit because of what I had on hand.

Beer Brined Chicken

1 whole roaster chicken

4 Bottles of Beer (I used Corona)
1 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 Bay Leaves
2 Tbls. Dry Oregano
1 Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped
1 Lime, quartered
4Each Garlic Cloves, peeled and sliced

Water or ice to cover chicken

In a large pot, add beer, salt, sugar, bay leaves, thyme, onion, lime and garlic. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat. Let cool in fridge or add ice. Place chicken in pot (or large tupperware) with cold brine and top with cold water to completely cover the chicken. Place in fridge for 6 - 24 hours. Cook as usual.

The beauty about this brine is that you can use just about any beer, herbs or veggies that you have on hand. It is the salt that helps this brine work - but won't make your meat salty. Ask Alton Brown why - I don't know.

I served it with beer bread (none for me) just to round out the night.

Well I got on the scale this morning and it showed that I lost all the pounds I gained over my three day-high carb blowout last weekend (something like five pounds!!). I've been drinking lots of water, and it took everything I had today to pass up that fresh-baked-still-hot-from-the-oven bagel at the deli this morning. Even though I'm way down for the week, I'd like to lose two more pounds before I head to New Orleans next week.

Probably no posts from me through the weekend - dinner at a friend's on Friday and indoor waterpark with the kids Saturday and Sunday. We'll see.

Also today:
Breakfast: Eggs with turkey bacon and cheddar from the deli
Lunch: Hot Dog
Snack: Chipotle Olives, Pepper Jack Cheese, Pecans

Oh, I did have a few handfuls of popcorn - like really good movie popcorn. Couldn't pass up the smell of the kids' bags from Target.

Leftovers and Old Favorites

2009-02-12T10:57:00.004-06:00

Short post about yesterday:

Breakfast: Atkins Daybreak Bar
Lunch: Leftover Sesame Chicken
Snack: Chipotle Olives and Pecans
Dinner: Turkey Sausage and Peppers

Turkey Sausage and Peppers
1 Red Bell Pepper chopped in big chunks
1 Green Bell Pepper chopped in big chunks
1 Can Roasted Garlic and Onion Chopped Tomatoes (Red Gold)
1 lb. Hot Turkey Italian Sausage (Jenny O) (which was not spicy at all.
1 Tbls. Penzey's Tuscan Sunset seasoning

Cook Turkey Sausage in 400 oven for about 20 minutes. Slice. Combine with all other ingredients in large pan and cook over medium heat until heated through (about 10 minutes).

Ode to Semi-Homemade

2009-02-10T21:34:00.005-06:00

I love that show on the Food Network, Semi-Homemade. I haven't watched it in a while, but I take a look at her recipes quite a bit. -- but I'm warning you, if you open up that page (or any other page on the foodtv site), a video pops up and starts making noise. I HATE THAT. I am going there less and less to find recipes. I don't need web sites talking to me. Anyway, my main course tonight was two simple ingredients - a jar of Spicy Red Pepper Marinara Sauce and a Top Sirloin Roast.

I browned the roast in a cast iron skillet, topped it with the marinara sauce, and let it simmer for two hours. There ya go. A lot of the water boiled out the sauce and it left a very concentrated, fairly spicy. For my husband, I served it with a side of pasta.

Lessons learned: If you want to slow cook a roast, do it in a slow cooker - not a cast iron skillet on low. Maybe add some red wine to the sauce.

Also today:
Breakfast - Two eggs with a tablespoon of Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Lunch - Chicken Salad from the Schmaltz Deli, but I added in some chopped pecans
Snack - more pecans in the afternoon and after dinner

I'm trying to resist getting on the scale, but I'll probably get on tomorrow.

Back in the game

2009-02-10T08:43:00.005-06:00

Since I had such a high carb weekend - and the scale shows it - I knew I needed to get back in the game yesterday. I wasn't very hungry until late, so I stopped an picked up an Unwich from Jimmy John's (don't tell the deli). Had a few pecans and almonds for a snack, oh, and a slice of pepper jack cheese. It was a little warmer here in Chicago yesterday so we were finally able to grill!! I grilled some corn on the cob for Mike and the girls, and chicken for everyone. Here's the marinade I used (you know I almost never use a measuring cup):

SESAME MARINADE
Sesame oil
Low sodium soy sauce
white wine
sesame seeds
toasted flax seeds

Mix all in plastic zip top bag with chicken and place in fridge for at least 1/2 hour.

It was really yummy and nutty.

I'm trying to drink lots of water to still compensate for the weekend. And today will be even warmer than yesterday, so after I finish a volunteer project at the girls school, I'm going for a walk.

The High Carb Weekend

2009-02-10T08:18:00.007-06:00

Ok, so I'm a couple of days behind in posting. The weekend really got away from me. And I knew I wouldn't be doing low-carb, so I didn't really have much "good stuff" to post. But I threw a little Mardi Gras soiree this weekend and served Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Hot Crab and Artichoke Dip and King Cake.

This king cake came from www.mannyrandazzo.com. Straight from New Orleans. This is the cheese filled. Now really, was I supposed to pass this up?

I thought my crab dip was amazing. I looked at a bunch of recipes and kind of just threw something together, so to the best of my recollection, here is the recipe:

HOT CRAB DIP

2 Tbls. butter

1/2 cup (or more) "holy trinity" (celery, bell pepper, onion)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese.

1 lb. lumb white crab meat

2 blocks cream cheese

2 teas. cajun seasoning

Saute celery, bell pepper, onion in butter until tender. Over low heat, add cream cheese and stir until melted. Add crab meat, parmesan cheese and crab meat. Stir until all is combined and warmed through. I put mine in a crock pot to keep warm through the party. Serve with crackers.

Sausage and Veggie Frittata

2009-02-03T20:09:00.010-06:00

I love recipes like this - I was able to use so many things in my fridge. Like the buy one, get one free dozen eggs. The leftover turkey sausage. The last bit of mozzarella. That zucchini I kept meaning to eat. This was a perfect recipe for a low-carb diet - and would work for breakfast or dinner.

Sausage and Veggie Frittata

1 T EVOO
1T Butter
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup red bell pepper
2/3 cup cooked Italian sausage (crumbled)
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 small tomato, chopped or sliced
8 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 T TSG Over The Edge Herbed Spinach *
1 cup shredded cheese (I used mix of mozzarella, pepper jack and parmesan)
1/4 block of cream cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Heat olive oil and butter in oven proof skillet (I used an 8" cast iron pot). Saute onion in oil and butter. Add peppers and zucchini and saute for a few minutes.

In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and Herbed Spinach seasoning. Add cheese and stir. Add sausage, then pour over veggies in cast iron pan. Remove pan from heat. Dollop cream cheese on top of the egg mixture. Top with slices or chunks of tomato.

Place pot in oven and bake for 25 minutes. (A wider pan would take less cooking time.) Frittata will be slightly brown around the edges and firm in the middle. I also broiled mine for a couple of minutes to brown the top. Let stand for five minutes after taking out of the oven.

Also today:

Breakfast: One of those Atkins breakfast bars. It had peanut butter. Hope I don't get salmonella.

Lunch: Salad with chicken and roasted veggies (not very many) from Trader Joe's.

I didn't even have time to snack today.

Oh, I didn't lose any weight last week. WTF? I weighed exactly the same. And this weekend is not looking good. (Didn't I say the same thing yesterday?)

Probably no post tomorrow - I'm going to a friend's for dinner and I'm not sure if she'd appreciate me snapping a pic of her salad.

* - TSG is going out of business. Can't get TSG Over The Edge Herbed Spinach? Try Tastefully Simple's Spinach seasoning. Or just add some dill, parsley and salt. You can order the TSG items for about two more weeks at http://www.gourmetwithme.com .

Chicken Salsa

2009-02-03T08:31:00.005-06:00

Didn't have time to post last night. One of the challenges at my house is making something everyone will eat. With two picky young girls it usually involves one type of meat made several ways. That's what happened last night. The girls had plain, pan fried chicken breast. For my husband and I, I took the same chicken breast, pan fried it, topped it with fresh salsa and mozzarella, then place it under the broiler for a few minutes.Now when I say fresh salsa, I mean the kind I bought in the deli section, not the kind in the snack aisle. Did you think I actually had time to make fresh salsa? Not on a Monday, anyway.

I paired my chicken breast with some Greek salad from the deli. Yum.

Other meals today:

Breakfast: 6 Blackberries
Lunch: Country Club Unwich from Jimmy Johns (ham, turkey, cheese, tomato, mayo wrapped up in lettuce - no bread)
Snack: Slice of 2% cheese, handful of pecans

Trying to drink lots of water, but keep drinking lots of diet coke instead. And, I'm starting to notice that all of my food pics are looking the same. Will try something different. :)

Foodbuzz Sunday - Italian Sausage and Tomatoes

2009-02-01T15:46:00.007-06:00

Sunday is the one day a week that I usually have any time to try out real recipes. Every other night I feel like I'm just throwing something together. So I'm trying to make a new Foodbuzz recipe every Sunday. This Sunday I made Roasted Tomatoes and Italian Sausage from The Duo Dishes. If you have a suggestion for my next Foodbuzz Sunday recipe, let me know!!

Let me start by saying that it would help if I would read the recipe closely before getting started. I'm going to give you their recipe and then tell you how a changed it up a little.

Roasted Tomatoes and Italian Sausage
3 cups cherry and grape tomatoes, mixed
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 - 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped
1/4 cup parsley
Salt, to taste

1. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 5 whole garlic cloves. Roast at 400 degrees for approx. 25 minutes or until tomatoes darken and begin to burst. Remove from oven.

2. Mince last clove of garlic and cook with remaining olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add sausage as garlic sizzles and cook until done.

3. Add cooked tomatoes and balsamic vinegar to sausage and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

4. Top with basil and parsley.

Well, I wasn't going to serve this over pasta (more than enough carbs in the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar already), so I upped the sausage to one pound. Plus, I wasn't paying attention and instead of buying Italian sausage links, I bought bulk Italian sausage. And I bought turkey sausage - so that's all a big change from their original recipe.

Then, I also cut all of the tomatoes in half before roasting them. I probably also used 4 cups or more of tomatoes to compensate for more sausage.

In the end, even if was a little different than the original recipe, it was really tasty. While cooking and smelling the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, I was worried the dish would be too sweet, but it wasn't. The balsamic vinegar added a nice richness to the dish. This was so simple to make!!

So a decent amount of carbs came from the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. I learned that different balsamic have different amount of carbs. Mine, that I thought was pretty good and aged 8-12 years, had one gram of carb per tablespoon. One that I had the other day had 4 grams of carbs. It was very thick. So all I can say is read the label. ---But like I've mentioned, my diet right now is all about no bread, flour, sugar, potatoes and pasta. I'm not freaking out about the carbs from tomatoes.

Also today:
Breakfast: Scrambled egg with cheddar cheese , two slices bacon
Snack: Almonds

Shrimp with Proscuitto

2009-01-30T21:06:00.004-06:00

OK - Quick post tonight. It was a busy day. Made a stop at the grocery to prepare for the weekend. A couple of weeks ago I purchased some procuitto to make a procuitto, goat cheese pizza, but I just couldn't deal with having my delicious flat bread within eating distance.
So tonight I decided to wrap some shrimp in the proscuitto, drizzle it with a little olive oil and bake it. I skewered the shrimp and procuitto, but I'm not sure that was necessary. I paired it with some turkey italian sausage. Low carb, remember!?! I really need to work on some fresh vegetables.

Notes: Proscuitto was pretty salty and dry. The wrapped shrimp were OK alone, but would be better with some kind of creamy sauce to balance the salt. Or maybe use low-sodium bacon next time. But not a bad option for a low carb dinner - and pretty easy to make. Plus, I really miss seafood and would love to make it as much as possible.

We don't have many plans for this weekend, so I'm going to try to do some creative low-carb cooking. Sunday I'll be making the Gimme More Meat recipe from my friends over at The Duo Dishes. I'm sure it will be delicious.

Sweet Surprise!

2009-01-30T12:31:00.007-06:00

I just got home from a crazy morning of dropping kids off at school, running errands, getting gas, blah, blah, blah. And when I pull into my driveway there's a box at my door. Imagine my surprise when I find it is full of candy!!

Now, for a low-carb eater like myself, it is pretty tempting - but I have two girls (the youngest is above with the candy), a scout troop and lots of neighborhood kids to share in the bounty. It was a gift from http://www.sweetservices.com/. They were running a little contest on their blog and I applied. They have a great selection of popular, jelly, sugar free, chocolate and nostalgic candy - all at wholesale prices! With Valentine's Day right around the corner, you could give candy to everyone you love!

More Canned Tomatoes

2009-01-29T17:23:00.007-06:00

My life is about simple dinners. Now, simple low-carb dinners. Everyday on Foodbuzz I read a ton of fabulous recipes, but I don't happen to have lamb or truffles or pancetta around my house. Now don't get me wrong every special occassion deserves a special recipe. But Thursday 'round my house is just another night. Tonight we have a friend coming over who is doing weight watchers, so I needed to make something low-fat and low-carb. And easy.

So I had two cans of diced tomatoes. The DelMonte brand is made with high fructose corn syrup. Completely unnecessary. I am only using them because I already bought them, but I will not buy this brand again. The Jewel (our store) brand is made with sugar - again, not sure if it is necessary, but real sugar is better than the HFCS. But both defeat my low-carb intentions. Can't wait until summer again when I can grow my own. Maybe I'll learn how to can.

Turkey Sausage, Tomato and Peppers

2 lbs. Lean Smoked Turkey Sausage - sliced
2 medium green peppers - sliced in chunks
2 cans diced tomatoes (mine had garlic and onions, too)
2 T Penzey's Greek Seasoning

In large pan, heat turkey sausage (it is already cooked) until browned on edges. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Serves at least 4 with leftovers.

Other food today:
Breakfast: Turkey
Lunch: Morocan salad from Cosi
Snacks: 2% cheese, olives, almonds

Today's menu - 1/28/09

2009-01-28T21:24:00.002-06:00

Boring day of eating, but trying to be really good with low carbs. And note to self: don't be so hungry that you eat everything before you take a picture of it.

For breakfast and lunch I had turkey. Plain 'ol turkey. I had some almonds and pepper jack cheese for a snack.

Dinner: Hamburger patty topped with the blue cheese butter and red wine sauce that I used on the filet the other night.

Yes, I did resist the new batch of Friendship Cake that I smelled all day. I also made pancakes for my girls. Oh, woe is me. Why do I tempt myself so? :)

Crockpot Pork Roast with Giardiniera

2009-01-27T18:37:00.007-06:00

So, I've lost a total of 10 lbs. in three weeks and a day. Not bad at all. Losing the carbs is really working and it has not been a bad journey at all. My initial goal was to lose ten pounds by Feb. 20, so I am way ahead of schedule. The weekend of February 7 will be a rough one because we are having a little Mardi Gras get-together and I plan on eating King Cake and whatever other New Orleans food I decide to cook. So I'm trying to be really good this week and next. Soon I'll start introducting whole grain items and a little more fruit.

A couple of quick notes about canned tomatoes. I buy a lot of canned tomatoes - some diced, some with garlic and onion, some with Mexican flavors. When I went to use one brand last week, I noticed high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient. So when I went to the store I searched around and found others with sugar, some with just tomatoes. Even in the same brand, some had sugar and some didn't. So shop around - who needs extra sugar? or high fructose corn syrup?

Here's what was on the menu for today:

Breakfast: Turkey

Snack: Pecans and Cheese

Lunch: Turkey and Greek Salad (cucumber, tomato, olives, feta)

Snack: Spinach and Artichoke dip with green peppers.

Dinner: Crockpot Pork Roast

CROCKPOT PORK ROAST WITH MUFFELETTA GIARDINIERA

1 bottle of Muffeletta Olive Salad or Giardiniera
1 can Hunts Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 Pork Roast (1-2 lbs.)

Put all ingredients in crock pot on low for 6 - 8 hours. Serve port in slices and top with giardiniera or shred the pork, mix with olive salad and serve on a bun.

Filet with Blue Cheese Butter and Red Wine Sauce

2009-01-26T16:56:00.009-06:00

Since it is ZERO degrees here in Chicago, there's no way I can grill my steaks. And everything I've stuck in the oven lately just seems so bland. I wanted to do just a blue cheese sauce for my little filets, but came across this mouthwatering recipe from The Weekend Griller. Today, unlike most of the rest of the week, I had a little time so I decided to give it a try.

Seared Filet Mignon Steaks with Maytag Blue Cheese Butter and Red Wine Sauce

Ingredients:
Maytag Blue Cheese Butter
½ cup Maytag blue cheese
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

Red Wine Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup finely diced onion
20 black peppercorns
½ cup Cabernet Sauvignon Wine
2 cups Veal Stock

Steaks
4 Omaha Steaks Filet Mignon steaks, about 8 ounces each, sliced crosswise into 2 medallions (The Weekend Grillers think that Filet Mignons are overrated and bland. We always choose Omaha Steaks Ribeyes, Sirloins or T-Bones. They work just fine.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Blue Cheese Butter
whisk together the cheese and butter in a mixing bowl and refrigerate until set.

Sauce
Heat the butter in a sauté pan.
Add the onion and sauté over medium-high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion turns translucent.
Add the peppercorns and sauté 2 to 3 minutes longer.
Add the wine and reduce the mixture until almost dry.
Add the stock and reduce the liquid by half.
Remove the pan from the heat, strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan or double boiler, and keep warm.

Steaks and final Instructions
Dust the Filet Mignons (or better cuts - Mark) with salt and pepper then grill to the desired doneness.
Place the steaks on a plate and top immediately with a dollop of the blue cheese butter.
Spoon the sauce over the butter and meat and serve immediately.

MY CHANGES: Used merlot instead of cab. Probably used really cheap blue cheese. Couldn't get my pepper grinder open, so I cracked lots of pepper.

This is really rich and high in fat - perfect for a low carb diet or special occassion. It was really delicious and not that difficult - just a little time consuming to make the red wine sauce.

Rest of today's menu:

No breakfast, again!!

Lunch: Chicken salad from the deli.

Snack: Pecans

Weigh in tomorrow!

Stir Fry and Pizza

2009-01-23T22:18:00.004-06:00

Well, this has been quite a week. I've hardly been home for a meal it seems. And I've conquered quite a few tempations (with special thanks to my old friend Tara). This morning my daughter and her friend wanted to make and decorate brownies - lots and lots of icing! Brownies are hard to resist. But I did it!

Then I went to the deli for a few hours to get some work done - and that means Challah bread and bagels. Again, no cheating!! Yea for me!

Then to my friend Lisa's for dinner with the kids - homemade pizza. Stop already! You're killing me!! Luckily I brought a salad and we added some sliced turkey to it, and I just ate the tops of a pizza - cheese, sauce, tomatoes and basil. Just enough to satisfy the craving.

I'm really trying to make it through this weekend with basically no carbs. I'm having a little Mardi Gras party on February 7 and I don't think I can pass up a slice of king cake.

Today for lunch I ate some left over stir fry with chicken, bamboo shoots, red and green pepper, water chestnuts, white and black sesame seeds and black bean and garlic sauce.

On to the weekend!

Two Sisters Gourmet Closing

2009-01-22T20:47:00.004-06:00

If you've checked out some past entries of this blog, you'll see that I was promoting Two Sisters Gourmet products. It is a home party company, and I was a pretty good sales consultant if I must say so myself.

Well, the company has announced that it will be closing in the next few weeks. If you've ordered from me before, you can stock up on your favorites within the next week or so at http://www.gourmetwithme.com/. Blackberry Cherry Pepper Conserve, Flat Bread Mix, Island Ponzu Sauce, Sweet & Spicy Pepper Jelly, Hint of Mint Chocolate Sauce. I could go on and on. I still love the products, but I'll have to stock up just like everyone else.

I'll pick up with my low-carb menu tomorrow. Today I didn't even eat anything worth writing down.

And I think for now I'll keep the blog up even though I won't be talking about TSG anymore. Check me out on foodbuzz - http://www.foodbuzz.com/foodies/us/illinois/downers_grove/profile/gourmet+with+me

Low Carb Pizza

2009-01-21T16:18:00.005-06:00

My friend cancelled dinner, and so I decided to make tomorrow's dinner tonight. I've been craving pizza and remembered reading a recipe that used sausage as the crust. Definitely not low fat, but low carb. I couldn't find that recipe tonight, so I just started putting things together with what I had around. Here's what I came up with.

LOW CARB PIZZA

.75 lb bulk Italian Sausage
3 oz. tomato paste

1/2 green pepper, chopped

8 black olives cut in half

Cheese - lots of cheese - mozzarella, parmesan, white and yellow cheddar, pepper jack.

I made the sausage into one big pattie - to fit in my 8" springform pan. I pan fried both sides of the pattie and rested in on a paper towel. I placed the pattie in the springform pan and topped with tomato paste, then some cheese, then the green pepper and olives, then some more cheese. I gave it a sprinkle of oregano and popped it in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes. The "crust" was already cooked, so I really just needed to melt the cheese.

Lessons learned: The Italian sausage was pretty bland. Also make the giant patty very thin. It will shrink and bulk up when you cook it. More sauce.

Today's menu 1/21/09 (and yesterday, too)

2009-01-21T06:18:00.003-06:00

I completely ran out of time yesterday to post my little diary. I spent the morning at the deli, the early afternoon watch inauguration stuff, then leading the brownie scout meeting and then playing bunco. I barely had enough time to post that picture of the big, huge corned beef sandwich, which by the way, I ate the insides of for lunch. Oh, not all of it - that was one huge sandwich.

Breakfast - nothing!! I've got to stop that.
Lunch - Corned beef from Schmaltz and broccoli slaw.
Dinner - Turkey and broccoli slaw.

I am now officially out of broccoli slaw - I love that stuff! It was bunco where I probably blew the day. I stayed away from all the snacks - even Molly's amazing blueberry white chocolate crumble bars, and snacked on red peppers and pepper jack cheese. Oh, plus had lots of red wine!! Haven't gotten on the new digital scale yet today, but will do in just bit.

As for today, I promise to eat breakfast. I'm going to a friend's for dinner tonight so I'm not sure what I'm having, but she promised to keep it low-carb friendly.

Schmaltz Delicatessen Corned Beef Sandwich

2009-01-20T13:48:00.004-06:00

Today's menu - 1/19/09

2009-01-19T20:24:00.003-06:00

Well, I didn't really do a great job on the diet today. The girls had off of school and I took them to the movies. So that means movie popcorn. And four - just four, I swear - M&Ms. I'm trying to drink a couple of big glasses of water tonight. And I bought that digital scale today. Uh-oh. More work to do than I thought.

Breakfast - None.

Lunch - Chicken caesar salad from Boagie's. Good chicken, bad dressing.

Snack - Lots of movie theatre popcorn.

Dinner - White meat pork chop seasoned with jerk seasoning. Artichoke hearts with olive oil, garlic, oregano and freshly grated parmesan cheese (baked for 10 min at 350).

Today's Low Carb Menu - 1/18/09

2009-01-18T15:05:00.005-06:00

Well , I know you're only supposed to get on the scale once a week, but right now I'm too obsessed. As of this morning I've lost 7 lbs since January 5. I had to check anyway because I really should buy a digital scale. I'm sure it will tell me my current scale is wrong. Maybe that's why I haven't bought one yet.

A little about my diet - I've basically ruled out bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, flour and sugar. Whaaaaat? So, right now I'm not even doing whole grain bread, brown rice, and all those other good for you complex carbohydrates that still make you want to eat a big giant bagel or baked potato. I'm getting carbs from vegetables, nuts, beans, dairy - and whatever random carbs happen to be in some of the processed things I eat.\

So I long will I go on like this? Probably until I go to New Orleans at the end of February for Mardi Gras. You really don't expect me to pass up a fried shrimp po-boy, do you?

Breakfast - One and a half eggs with one slice of ham and some shredded cheddar cheese

Lunch - I think I just ate some of the leftover broccoli slaw and one slice of pepper jack cheese.

Snack - Some of yesterday's Buffalo Chicken Dip and celery sticks.

Dinner - Almond and Pecan encrusted boneless chicken breasts, pan fried. I know I had fish the same way yesterday, but I wanted to use of the rest of the coating.

Oh, and I had a very small piece of friendship bread before bed. No one else in my house is eating it, and it was just calling my name.

Today's menu - 1/17/09

2009-01-17T19:54:00.008-06:00

Breakfast - One small egg and a slice and a half of bacon.

I guess I need to call that brunch for today because I didn't officially have anything for lunch. I did make a pretty substantial snack. I had been craving this dip that I had a party a couple of months ago - Buffalo Chicken Dip. The hard part on a low carb diet is what to dip in the dip. Since this was similar to buffalo chicken, I used celery. Not a bad option I guess. I ate a bunch.

Dinner - Almond and Pecan encrusted catfish, bacon wrapped shrimp and over-the-edge broccoli slaw.

ALMOND AND PECAN ENCRUSTED CATFISH
--2 catfish filets
--1/2 cup ground almonds and pecans
--salt, pepper, TSG Chipotle Chili Seasoning

Filets were pan-fried in a little butter. Lesson - Don't bother trying to season the pecans and almonds before cooking. Might as well sprinkle a little seasoning on after the fish cooks.

OVER THE EDGE BROCCOLI SLAW
--1 bag chopped broccoli slaw
--1 - 2 Tbls. TSG Over The Edge Herbed Spinach Seasoning
--4 - 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
--1/8 - 1/4 cup of mayo (use light if you'd like) I never measure.
Combine everything and refrigerate for about an hour before eating.

If it were really Friendship Bread . . .

2009-01-17T10:53:00.010-06:00

It seems to go around every year or so. Some love to get it, other dread it. You might have heard it called Friendship Bread or Amish Friendship Bread. But let me tell you right now that a true friend would tell you up front that you need a large box of vanilla instant pudding mix at the end.

I'm probably one of those people who doesn't mind getting the friendship bread chain letter and starter - but it's pretty rough when you're on a low carb diet. So I did what every good friend would do - mixed it all up, divided up the starter, baked muffins instead of a loaf, and divided it all up among four friends. Plus, I bought four boxes of vanilla instant pudding to put with the package.

I'll admit, though, I cheated. I had about a two inch square of the friendship bread - it was really really good.

If you're unfamiliar with Friendship Bread, a friend gives you a plastic bag with about a cup of batter in it. This batter comes from a batch of the bread she made. Your batter comes with a page of instructions that tells you what to do with the batter for a week and a half, like mush the bag, or add flour and sugar. Eventually you add items and then divide some of the mixture up to give to four of your friends. Then you bake the rest into a tasty cinnamon bread with a streusel topping.
Friendship Bread Starter Recipe

Here's the recipe from the sheet that comes with the starter batter:

Day 1: You receive the fermented batter in a 1 gallon ziploc bag. Do Nothing. Just place the bag on the kitchen counter.

Day 1: Do nothing. This is the day you receive your batter. Place it on the kitchen counter.
Day 2: Mush the bag.
Day 3: Mush the bag.
Day 4: Mush the bag.
Day 5: Mush the bag.
Day 6: Add to the bag 1 cup each of flour, sugar and milk. Mush the bag.
Day 7: Mush the bag.
Day 8: Mush the bag.
Day 9: Mush the bag.

Day 10: In a large, non-metal bowl, combine batter with 1 c. each flour, sugar, and milk. Mix with a wooden spoon. Pour four 1-cup starters into individual gallon ziploc bags. Give away starters to friends with this set of directions. It is important to follow this sequence exactly.

To the remaining batter add:

1 c. canola oil
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
2 c. flour
1/2 c. milk
1/2 t. baking soda
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding
2 t. cinnamon
In separate bowl, mix 1 t. cinnamon and 3 T. sugar. Sprinkle into well-greased loaf pans and coat the sides with sugar mixture. Do not use Pam or other non-stick spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until done.

Today's menu - 1/16/09

2009-01-16T08:05:00.003-06:00

Well, the kids are home from school today because of extreme cold- -23 to be exact, and that's without wind chill. Brrrrrrr. So, on lazy mornings they always want pancakes, which are just one giant carb circle. But being the good mom I am, I made the pancakes and didn't even taste one.

I haven't even really been craving carbs. Yesterday at the girls' gym class it seemed everyone (my girls included) had a bag of Doritos. Really! Even two of the parents.

So what am I going to eat today?

Breakfast - One egg with ham and some cheese.

Lunch - If I'm at the deli I'll have a salad, if I'm home, leftover stir-fry.

Dinner - Burgers - no bun for me. I think I'll make some sort of rich, fancy cheese sauce to go on top. I have gorgonzola, parmesan and mozzarella handy. Will report tomorrow.

Here's the simple pancake recipe I use:
1 cup of flour
2 tbl. of sugar
2 tsp. of baking powder
1/4 tsp. of salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

A little sweet - almost like cake - perfect for little girls!

Today's menu - 1/15/09

2009-01-15T12:35:00.000-06:00

Breakfast - Egg White Scramble with one slice of ham, a sprinkle of Tony Chachere's and a little bit of cheese.

Lunch - The other half of my favorite Schmaltz salad. I must have eaten most of the veggies out of it yesterday. Added 1/4 lb. turkey to beef it up.

Dinner - I haven't decided yet - The kids have gym class and we have dentist appointments after that, so I'll probably be picking something up for them. I think I'll have the left over stir fry from the other night - boneless chicken thighs, peppers, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots in black bean and garlic sauce.

Today's menu - 1/14/09

2009-01-14T13:58:00.000-06:00

Breakfast - 1/8 or so lb. of turkey. Yes plain turkey. I just couldn't look at another egg this morning.

Lunch - 1/2 Stilton salad from Schmaltz. (Lettuce, cucumber, tomato, artichoke hearts, almonds, bleu cheese, balsamic vinaigrette)

Dinner - Pork tenderloin basted with TSG Porcini Mushroom Balsamic Vinaigrette, and whatever vegetable my friend Michelle brings over for dinner.

Must look for good snacks. Pecans are getting old. Maybe a little bit of pepper jack cheese today.

Today's menu - 1/13/09

2009-01-13T17:53:00.000-06:00

Breakfast:
Egg Beaters 100% Egg Whites with Two Sisters Gourmet Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Lunch:
Schmaltz Deli, 1/2 Overstuffed Herald Square on tortilla, minus tortilla, and 1/4 of Stilton Specialty Salad

Dinner:
Stir fry of Boneless chicken thighs, red and green bell pepper, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots with black bean and garlic sauce. I also attempted to make MooShoo Wrappers (crepes) with egg whites, a little flour, stevia and some milk. Probably not any where near low carb so I will probably not eat any.

Low carb livin'

2009-01-13T17:27:00.000-06:00

So, this is a little different than my regular posts. Me, along with most of the free world, decided to go on a diet at the New Year. Technically, mine didn't start until January 5th, becuase there was no way I was going on a diet while I was still in New Orleans.

Well, its been a week. I'm trying to drink lots more water and I'm limiting myself to one diet soda a day. (Diet Cherry Coke is my poison.)

Here is my attempt to hold myself a little accountable for following this diet. I've decided to try low-carb. I have no idea if I'm following Atkins, Sugar Busters, South Beach or whatever. But for the time being, I've given up my beloved Schmaltz's bagels, sugar, flour - the really nasty carbs. So far, so good. Three pounds down the first week.

I've been eating a meat and vegetable for dinner, a salad or some turkey for lunch, and an egg white or egg beaters mini-omelet for breakfast. I've been snacking on raw pecans, a little bit of cheese, turkey and green veggies.

I'll be posting some low carb recipes as I go along. My goal is to lose 10 pounds by the time I go to Mardi Gras at the end of February - I guess so I can gain it all back while I'm in New Orleans -LOL. Here we go!

Homemade Chocolate Covered Peppermint Marshmallows

2008-12-12T15:22:00.000-06:00

Seems like there are two theories on homemade marshmallows - one with egg whites, the other without. After trying both, I'd say that the ones without egg whites come close to the kind you buy at the grocery and the ones with egg whites come close to the kind you might find in pinwheel cookies. I guess it's up to you which one you like best.

I chose the ones with egg whites (this one is from MarthaStewart.com - Momma Reiner's). I added peppermint extract and, after a couple of experiments, changed the order of when the gelatin was added.

Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (3 packets)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Powdered Sugar for dusting

1. Lightly spray a 9-by-13-inch dish or pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over a small bowl filled with 1/2 cup cold water; let stand to soften.
3. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup, hot water, and salt. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Continue cooking, without stirring, until mixture reaches the soft-ball stage, about 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.
4. While that is heating, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Add gelatin mixture to egg whites.
6. With the mixer running, slowly add sugar mixture.
7. Add vanilla and peppermint and continue beating for 10-12 minutes until the mixture is not runny and looks like marshmallow.
8. Transfer marshmallow mixture to prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Spray a piece of parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray and cover marshmallow. Let stand overnight.
9. Remove parchment paper and invert marshmallow onto work surface. Trim 1/4-inch from edges of marshmallow. Cut marshmallows into 1 1/2-inch squares. Put marshmallows in a bowl and lightly sprinkly with powdered sugar to coat.
10. Dip in melted chocolate. (And I sprinkled them with Christmas non pariels.

Sweeet & Spicy Pepper Torta

2008-11-22T14:40:00.000-06:00

Now's the time of year where we all have to bring a little something to share to a holiday party or family dinner. Are you bringing brownies again? Ugh. Bring something that looks a little fancy, but is so easy to make.

Finally! A chance to use that springform pan I bought oh so many years ago. This has a great little kick to it, but the cream cheese really cools down the spice. I also tried this recipe with TSG's Pear Fig Preserves and it was fabulous. You could also try TSG's Blackberry Cherry Pepper Conserve for a sweet treat.

SWEET & SPICY PEPPER TORTA
8 oz cream cheese
1 jar TSG Sweet & Spicy Pepper Jelly, divided
5 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix all ingredients together using just ½ jar of the Sweet & Spicy Pepper Jelly. Pour into greased 6” springform pan.
3. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Torta will be slightly soft in the middle and browning around edges. Cool completely and remove from pan.
4. Spread remaining Jelly over top of cooled Torta. Serve with your favorite crackers.

junior's skyscraper chocolate layer cheesecake

2008-05-30T22:19:00.001-05:00

junior's skyscraper chocolate layer cheesecake
Originally uploaded by mccann98@sbcglobal.net

OMG. Look at the size of this slice of cheesecake. Get it at www.schmaltzdeli.com .

Sprinkler Refreshment

2008-05-30T22:04:00.001-05:00

August2007 395
Originally uploaded by mccann98@sbcglobal.net

Water from the hose always tastes the best!

Mardi Gras Party Food

2008-01-24T19:06:00.000-06:00

It's been 11 years since I've lived in New Orleans, but I get back at least 4 times a year. I just love it - the people, the food, the weather (even the humidity). Now's when I miss it the most. It's Mardi Gras time. This year, Mardi Gras is Tuesday, February 2 - pretty early.

I have a Mardi Gras party every year - and my friends are always amazed at the food! I tell everyone to come hungry! This is the second year I've incorporated Two Sisters Gourmet into my recipes - so check them out! They all have rave reviews.

And if you need Two Sisters Gourmet products, it is free shipping in January with a $50 order. Click here for my shopping cart.

Artichoke Pesto Crab Dip
2 jars TSG Artichoke Pesto
1 block cream cheese
3- 6 oz. cans of lump crab meat
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, chopped

Combine all ingredients in medium sauce pan and heat thoroughly. Serve warm. (I kept mine in a small crock pot.)

New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp
1 stick butter
1 bottle beer
2 tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 tbls hot sauce
3 tbls TSG Outrageously Garlic
3 tbls TSG Tearless Onion and Chive
1 tsp TSG Sea Salt and Pepper
1 – 2 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails on or off

Preheat oven to 350. Place stick of butter in 9x13 pan and put in oven for 3-5 minutes to melt butter. Remove pan from oven. Put next 6 ingredients in pan and stir. Place shrimp in pan, and put in refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours to marinate. After marinating, bake for 10 – 15 minutes, or until shrimp have turned pink. Serve shrimp and sauce in a large bowl or covered dish. Serve with French bread for dipping in the sauce.

Crawfish Tartelettes
1 stick butter
¼ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup green pepper, chopped
¼ cup celery, chopped
2 cans Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp Soup
¼ cup water
12 – 16 oz. crawfish tails, out of shells, chopped
¾ cup - 1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning – separated
2 boxes (60 count) TSG Tartelettes

In large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper and celery. Saute until vegetables are translucent. Add 1 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning. Add 2 cans of soup. Add water. Stir well. Add crawfish tails. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Slowly add bread crumbs. If necessary, add more to reach desired consistency (should be similar to a turkey stuffing).

Preheat oven to 350. Place crawfish mixture in tartellettes. Place tartelettes on cookie sheet and bake for 5 – 7 minutes, until crawfish is well heated. Serve warm.

Crawfish Beer Bread
1 pkg. Two Sisters Gourmet Beer Bread
1 bottle of beer (I like Harp)
12 oz. peeled crawfish tails
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together in bowl. Place in loaf pan. Bake for about one hour.

Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-15T18:41:00.001-06:00

What Thanksgiving would be complete without Cranberry Sauce. I'm not talking about -that jelly-out-of-a-can stuff. I'm thinking Zesty Orange Homemade Cranberry Sauce - it is easier than you think. I promise. Check it out!!

ZESTY ORANGE CRANBERRY SAUCE
1 bag (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries (3 cups)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup TSG Blackberry Cherry Pepper Conserve
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp grated orange peel

1. Combine cranberries, sugar, conserve and orange juice in large saucepan; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to pop, 10 to 12 minutes.
3. Stir in orange zest; let cool
Makes about 3 cups.

Note: If you must use a can - One can (16 oz) whole berry cranberry sauce may be substituted for 1 bag (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries. Omit 1 cup sugar and reduce orange juice to 1/4 cup. Simmer, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes. Makes about 2-1/2 cups.

And how about Beer Bread Stuffing? Coming up soon!

OKTOBERFEST!!

2007-09-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hey! It's Oktoberfest time! Time for all of that warm, savory comfort food. Try out these German-inspired recipes:

BEER BRATS WITH HONEY MUSTARD ONION RELISH

12 oz pale ale or beer
6 uncooked bratwurst or sausage
1 med onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup Two Sisters Gourmet Oh, Honey! Mustard
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp each salt & pepper
6 hard rolls, split, toasted

1. Combine ale, bratwurst and onion in large saucepan; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20 min. Remove brats with tongs; pat dry with paper
towels.
3. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown brats 2-3 min. per side.
4. Drain on paper towels. Drain onion; combine with honey mustard, parsley, salt and
pepper.
5. Serve brats in rolls, topped with onion relish.
Note 1 tsp. dried parsley flakes can be substituted for fresh parsley.
To toast rolls: brush sides of rolls with TSG Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette; place on baking sheet. Toast 375°F
for 6-8 min. turning once.

VANILLA CHEESECAKE WITH PEAR FIG SAUCE

1 pkg Two Sisters Gourmet Vanilla Temptation Cheesecake Mix
1 jar TSG Pear Fig Preserves
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tsp. amaretto or water
3 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
½ cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix cheesecake crust mix with butter in bowl. Pat evenly in bottom of 9” pie plate.
Bake in 375° F oven until set 6-8 min. Cool on wire rack.
3. Combine cream cheese and cheesecake filling mix in mixer bowl; beat until light and
fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Spread in crust. Freeze 30 min. or refrigerate, covered, 2-24 hours.
5. Combine preserves and amaretto in microwave safe bowl. Microwave, covered on
High 30 seconds; stir to blend. Let cool. Serve with cheesecake. Garnish with
almonds.
Makes one 9” cheesecake

Balsamic Vinegar

2007-09-07T10:09:00.000-05:00

Two Sisters Gourmet's Balsamic Vinegar is one of the best you can buy in its price range. It is aged 7-12 years and is so rich. I ate a lot of it this summer over tomatoes that I grew in my garden.

My tip of the day is to try it over vanilla ice cream - crazy, I know. But our TSG Balsamic Vinegar is so rich you can actually eat it over ice cream. Give it a try. To me, it has the lingerings of raspberry flavors.

Here's a great TSG Recipe that is perfect for low-carb diets.

SALAMI CRISPS WITH OLIVE RELISH
15 thin slices (1/16”) Genoa hard salami, about 1/3 lb
1 jar (4 oz) diced pimentos, drained
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp TSG Aged Balsamic Vinegar
TSG Sea Salt & Mixed Peppercorn Blend
1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange salami in single
layer on foil. Bake in 400°F oven until salami is evenly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
Transfer salami to paper towel-lined baking sheet to absorb excess oil. Let cool.
2. Combine pimentos, olives, cheese and vinegar in small bowl, season with pepper
blend; toss to mix. Spoon onto salami crisps.

Here's some info on balsamic vinegar from Wikipedia:
Balsamic vinegar is manufactured from the juice of white grapes (typically, trebbiano grapes) boiled down to approximately 50% of its original volume to create a concentrated must, which is then fermented with a slow aging process which concentrates the flavours. The flavour intensifies over decades, with the vinegar being kept in fine wooden casks, becoming sweet, viscous and very concentrated (what is gone is romantically referred to as "the angels' share," a term also used in the production of scotch whisky, wine, and other alcoholic beverages).

The finest and most traditional balsamic vinegar is very labour-intensive to produce; while it ages and gradually evaporates, the liquid is transferred to successively smaller casks made of different woods, absorbing the flavour characteristics of each wood and becoming more concentrated with each transfer. Oak, mulberry, chestnut, cherry, juniper, ash, and acacia are the most commonly used woods. Some older balsamic vinegar is added to the must to create a more complex and intricate taste, and to enhance acidity. At the end of the process, the vinegar is taken from the smallest cask: each cask is filled with the contents of the preceding (larger) cask and the cooked must is added to the largest cask.

Balsamic vinegar of the highest quality, labeled tradizionale, usually sells for very high prices; a small (100 ml) bottle can cost between US $100 and $400. Most producers, however, do not employ all seven of the aforementioned woods in the aging process; some employ only oak. Several mass-produced, less expensive varieties may not be aged in wood at all, being nothing more than ordinary wine vinegar with coloring and added sugar. Legally, according to the rules of the Consortium, these are not allowed to be called "traditional".

Commercial grade balsamic vinegar can be used in salad dressings, marinades and sauces. Cooks use tradizionale and condimento vinegars in small amounts in simple dishes where the balsamic vinegar's complex tastes can be noted. Young vinegars (3 – 5 years) are used in salad dressing while mid-aged balsamic vinegars (6 – 12 years) are used to enhance sauces, pastas and risottos. Old vinegars (12 years plus), which are very rich and thick, are used sparsely to enhance plain meat or fish, fresh fruit such as strawberries or even drunk from a small glass to conclude a meal.
_________________
Kristin McCann, Team Leader
http://www.twosistersgourmet.com/web/kmccann
eyecatching1@sbcglobal.net

---She always knew she could fly. Question was, how high?

Another day, another dinner . . .

2007-05-18T08:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.gourmetwithme.com

Another day, another dinner . . .

So tonight you’re not cooking for just your family. You’ve been invited to an impromptu barbecue. “Sure! I’ll bring a salad,” you reply without skipping a beat. Nevermind that your kids haven’t touched green food for the past three years. Nevermind that you don’t have time to run out to the grocery. You’ve got a pantry full of ingredients that would make a great salad – green or not.

Black Bean & Corn Fiesta Salad

2 cans (15 oz. each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (11 oz. each) yellow corn, drained
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
¼ cup red onion, chopped
1 Tbsp Two Sisters Gourmet Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp lime juice (1 or 2 limes)
1 Tbsp TSG Tearless Onion and Chives Seasoning Blend
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large serving bowl, combine all ingredients. Place bowl in refrigerator and allow flavors to blend. Stir before serving.

So you’re not the black bean and corn type? Try this salad for bright change.

Sisters Pasta Salad

2 cups pasta, cooked, any shape or size
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 can black olives, drained
2 carrots, shredded, chopped or juilienned
4 Tbsp TSG Garlic Parmesan Vinaigrette

In a large serving bowl, combine all ingredients except vinaigrette. Place bowl in refrigerator and allow flavors to blend. Add vinaigrette and stir just before serving.

If you’re missing a few of the above ingredients, feel free to improvise. Use green bell pepper instead of red. Add zucchini or mushrooms. Change the vinaigrette for Caesar dressing. Add chicken for a fabulous main course salad. The point is, go with what you’ve got. Make it colorful and creative, and you’ll receive lots of oooh’s and aaaah’s.

Kristin McCann is a stay-at-home mom and team leader for Two Sisters Gourmet, the innovators of in-home cooking parties. She loves making “gourmet food in take out time.” You can reach Kristin at eyecatching1@sbcglobal.net and http://www.gourmetwithme.com/.

Tailgaiting Treats

2006-12-29T16:07:00.000-06:00

http://www.gourmetwithme.com

Are you ready for the NFL playoffs? Maybe your favorite team has already clinched a spot in the playoffs or it's down to the wire this week. And whether your team is there or not, you can have a great time watching the games with friends. Here are a couple of recipes for you to make the agony of defeat or the taste of victory a little bit sweeter:

CHIPOTLE CHILI BISCUIT CUPS
1/2 lb ground beef
1 jar TSG Black Bean & Corn Salsa
1/2 to 1 tsp TSG Chipotle Chili Seasoning Blend
1 can (12 oz) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits (10 biscuits)
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Brown ground beef in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until
beef is not pink, about 6 minutes, breaking up into small crumbles. Pour off drippings. Stir in
salsa and chili seasoning. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Place 1 biscuit in each of 10 ungreased standard-size muffin cups, pressing dough firmly
against bottoms and up sides of cups. Spoon about 1/4 cup beef mixture into each biscuit
cup.
3. Bake in 375°F oven until biscuit edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle tops with
cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes. Loosen edges of biscuit cups with
knife before removing from pan. Makes 10 biscuit cups

SPICY WHITE BEAN DIP WITH PITA CHIPS
1 can (15 oz) cannelloni beans, rinsed, drained
¼ cup sour cream
2 Tbsp TSG Tandoori Sauce
1 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp salt
chopped parsley (optional)
Pita Chips (recipe follows) or 1 bag pita chips
1. Mash beans in large bowl with fork or potato masher to the consistency of a chunky spread.
Add sour cream, TSG Tandoori Sauce, lemon juice and salt; mix well. Garnish with parsley, if
desired. Serve with pita chips. Makes 1-1/3 cups
PITA CHIPS: Heat oven to 375°F. Cut each of 3 pita breads horizontally into 2 rounds; lightly brush cut surfaces with Two Sisters Gourmet Extra Virgin Olive Oil (approximately 1/4 cup). Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Cut each round into 8 wedges. Place in single layer on baking sheets. Bake in 375°F oven until crisp and golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to wire racks; cool. Chips can be made the day before. Store in airtight container. Makes 4 dozen.

Whip Up A Dip

2006-12-21T21:16:00.000-06:00

The holiday season is here and that means parties! How many parties are you going to this month where you have to bring an appetizer or snack to share. You might just even get a call tonight from a neighbor about a quick get together. Are you ready? Two Sisters Gourmet to the rescue.

I've got the perfect products that will take you from party to party and you'll still have plenty left for lots of tasty meals at home. Two Sisters Gourmet Outrageously Garlic, Over-the-Edge Herbed Spinach Seasoning, Peppery Herb Rub and Tearless Onion and Chive Seasoning each make a unique dip that you'll love to serve (and eat) again and again. All you need is 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. Then add your favorite TSG seasoning. It's as simple at that.

Check out these yummy products here.

After the parties are over, try making Outrageously Roasted Garlic Potatoes, Over-The-Edge Herbed Bread, Peppery Herb Porkchops, or Tearless Onion and Chive Meatloaf. You'll love these seasonings!

Try this out for dinner tonight!

2006-08-30T15:02:00.000-05:00

Peanut Ginger Chicken Bowl

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked & cubed
1 cup slivered almonds
1/3 cup Two Sisters Gourmet Peanut Ginger Marinade
4 cups rice

Combine chicken and almonds in a bowl - Pour Two Sisters gourmet Peanut Ginger Marinade over chicken and almonds and mix well. - Marinate for at least 1 hour in refrigerator - Warm chicken/almond combination in microwave - Mix into hot cooked rice.