My Little World of Food

MLWOF becomes Inspired Bites!

2008-06-17T21:56:00.005-04:00

Hi People! My Little World of Food is now Ispired Bites! Like the new name? I do, very much. It took weeks of brain power to come up with a two-word name that isn't already taken. By the way, I also took inspiredbites.com for future use. But I have some HTML programming to learn before I can use it.

So, why change over now to Inspired Bites? I was saving my new name and domain until I learned some online programming, but a few days ago my world was shattered.

An awful lot of the people who visit my site come here through a site called TasteSpotting, which shut down over the weekend without warning. I freaked out, wondering how I would get people to know that I'm out here in the World Wide Web.

I am now submitting my posts to a number of new sites that cropped up in the absence of TasteSpotting. It just makes sense for people to get to know me on these new sites under my new name.

I'm in the process of moving all my posts (or at least copying them) from My Little World of Food, so please be patient while I check my links and continue to move the 75 posts I have made since beginning my blog in March.

Follow this link and be welcomed to Inspired Bites everyone! I hope you like it there!

Meryl

I'm a liar!

2008-06-17T19:23:00.009-04:00

Saucy Grilled Salmon

2008-06-15T11:15:00.013-04:00

Recipe Revisit: Manchego & Tomato Salad

2008-06-15T07:09:00.014-04:00

Cucumber and Watermelon Salad

2008-06-09T21:15:00.006-04:00

The Next Food Network Star

2008-06-09T17:30:00.023-04:00

Bean and Cheese Pupusas

2008-06-08T07:41:00.025-04:00

Bourbon-Maple Scallops

2008-05-31T07:56:00.006-04:00

Brown Rice and Goat Cheese Cakes

2008-05-31T06:58:00.008-04:00

Grilled Asparagus with Sherry Vinegar

2008-05-31T06:23:00.002-04:00

Sicilian Pasta with Cauliflower

2008-05-26T17:00:00.001-04:00

A Trip to Boston

2008-05-25T20:33:00.022-04:00

Recipe: Corncakes with Fruit and Mascarpone Cream

2008-05-24T07:17:00.006-04:00

Recipe: Mascarpone Cream

2008-05-23T07:53:00.001-04:00

Recipe: Cornmeal Pancakes

2008-05-18T19:42:00.001-04:00

Battle of the Drunken Chocolate Figs

2008-05-18T05:41:00.005-04:00

A Dinner Date With Destiny

2008-05-17T00:13:00.010-04:00

Recipe: Black Bottom Coconut Bars

2008-05-16T13:42:00.002-04:00

Spain At My Doorstep

2008-05-14T08:18:00.004-04:00

No Glamourous Dinner Here!

2008-05-14T06:31:00.005-04:00

Recipe: Sweet Potato Gnocchi

2008-05-10T10:07:00.006-04:00

Let's Learn About Spain And Its Food

2008-05-03T21:04:00.004-04:00

My favorite restaurant in the closest city nearby is a Spanish one, Bocado Tapas Wine Bar. I have only been there a few times, but after being amazed by the food, I realized that I really know close to nothing about Spanish cooking, as opposed to Mexican and Central American cooking. I'd like to make a generalization here and say that the general population in this area has no idea about this distinction.

Why, just the other morning, I stopped at my local 24 hour Stop and Shop supermarket and I was in the ethnic isle. Their hanging sign called it "Spanish Foods," but I noticed that there isn't a single Spanish food in that isle. It's all Caribbean and Mexican. Interesting....

Other than my few dinners at Bocado, I've watched travel shows in which the hosts visit Spain and eat sardines, octopus, anchovies, and other things that sort of turn me off from the sea. I knew that there just had to be more that I was missing out on. Enter Public Television.

This past February a new series called Made in Spain with José Andrés began showing on PBS. On his Web site, his bio states that he is "internationally recognized culinary innovator best known for bringing both traditional and avant-garde Spanish fare to America." He has been recognized by the James Beard Foundation and has restaurants in Washington, D.C. Oh, and might I add that he was a guest chef and winner on Iron Chef America. Bravo, José!

I've watched the series about five times so far, and I have it set to tape all episodes on my DVR. The episode that I began watching today, titled The Magic of Saffron and Cervantes, is a good one! The episode takes place in the region of Spain called Castilla La Mancha (La Mancha for short), which is the setting for the famous epic Don Quijote (also spelled Don Quixote). In addition to the Manchego cheese that comes from this area, Castilla La Mancha has very well known for its windmills which were used to grind wheat.

Spain is located on the Iberian Peninsula, which it shares with Portugal. Politically, it has 17 regions (autonomous communities). Castilla la Mancha is the big, yellow one in the center.

But each of those regions gets further broken down into a total of 50 administrative provinces.

How timely, because I am also just starting to read a Spanish comic book version of Don Quijote de la Mancha so I can teach it to my students and have them read it. I am going to burn a DVD with this episode and share clips of it with my students so they can have a more enriching experience. The clips I'll show have examples of language, scenery, and lifestyle. Maybe I'll even share this dish for a tomato and manchego salad that I got from the episode with them.

Recipe: Manchego and Tomato Salad

2008-05-02T23:23:00.031-04:00

Mexican Cinco de Mayo Green Dinner

2008-04-29T09:42:00.021-04:00

Recipe: Pollo en Pipián Verde

2008-04-28T14:05:00.006-04:00

Recipe: Arroz Verde

2008-04-25T09:44:00.014-04:00

How To Roast and Peel Poblano Peppers

2008-04-24T16:29:00.022-04:00

Recipe: Southwestern Bean Salad

2008-04-22T18:24:00.041-04:00

How To Chop A Mango

2008-04-22T16:00:00.014-04:00

Memories of Breakfast in Cincinnati

2008-04-20T16:31:00.010-04:00

Recipe: Goetta

2008-04-20T09:57:00.029-04:00

Pondering Chocolates at CVS

2008-04-18T21:06:00.009-04:00

It was a little over a year ago that I attended a chocolate tasting class outside of Boston. It was fun, and I learned a little about chocolate, its ingredients, and varieties. Then we did some tasting. Cool.

At the time I was just starting to branch out from eating Hershey’s and trying brands like Vosges, Café Tasse, Dolfin, Pralus, Chuao, and Green & Black’s. I liked them all, and once in a while I’ve been buying good brands either online or in Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) when I’m there.

It seems like I’m riding the wave of Americans who are buying more sophisticated chocolates, and now grocery stores and pharmacies are offering better selections and trying to cater to people like me. But unlike those people, I distrust the Hershey’s Reserve, the Russel Stover, and the others (even Ghirardelli). I’m okay with Lindt. I do buy it – it’s readily available, and I like the small squares, even if it is sort of mass-produced.

Just last week I was in the checkout line at CVS and I noticed they had a number of little Starbuck’s chocolate boxes filled with tasting squares.

According to Cybele at The Candy Blog, Starbucks and Hershey’s are collaborating in making this product line. I’ve also noticed recently that Hershey’s bought Scharffen Berger chocolates and I guess somehow they also own the organic Dagoba line of organic chocolates which a lot of people like.

I bought the Starbucks variety pack with milk, dark, and mocha dark chocolates. The box says they are “bite sized excursions to new realms of chocolate and coffee.” How tempting! The package weighs 2.64 ounces, and it was a little expensive at $4.99 for the 15 miniature tasting squares. But I decided to indulge.

While a little on the expensive side, for the most part, I enjoyed them. I’m really not fit to judge the milk chocolate ones. I’m much more into dark chocolate, and I only got the milk because it was part of the package.

The dark was nice and smooth, melted well on my tongue, and I liked the flavor. The squares are really thin (perhaps even wafer-thin), so there wasn’t much “snap” which people will tell you is important when judging chocolate. That is because “snap” indicates a good balance between cocoa and butter. Dark chocolate should snap easily and make a clean break. That all got me thinking that maybe it’s not good to produce the squares in such a thin style. It’s also hard to let it melt on your tongue because it’s so thin that it melts almost immediately.

Let me just say that all tasting squares are on the thin side, but these were thinner than most. Oh, but id did have a pretty picture on the chocolate of a chocolate pod growing on a plant.

It’s kind of funny, because at first taste I liked the mocha dark the least. But in the end, I think I liked it the most! It’s got ground-up coffee beans in the chocolate, which throws me. I like a smooth chocolate experience, and this one is grainy. But maybe because the chocolate is so thin, it needed that extra texture. It had good flavor.

Would I buy these Starbucks tasting squares again? Not the milk, but I might try the others again. And I guess there are other flavors that I didn’t see and they sound interesting: passion fruit tea, chai, and citron flavored chocolate.

I had another visit to CVS today.

I stopped there to drop of a prescription on the way to work and I got a bar of Green & Black’s 70% dark. The petite 1.2 ounce bar cost $1.49. It has 12 tiny little squares that break apart. The squares are chunky – thick and small.

I probably haven’t had any of Green & Black’s chocolate for close to a year now, so I was looking forward to it when I opened the little bar and placed a tiny square on my tongue to melt. The melting was good, the chocolate was very smooth, but the taste was all wrong. It was totally burnt. I don’t think I’ll ever buy Green & Black’s again! How sad.

Did I become a chocolate snob?

No! I still like M&M’s, so it can’t be that. In fact, I love M&M’s. I love the candy coating. I have a little routine where I put the M & M in my mouth, standing up between my top and bottom teeth. I gently cut down, and the coating breaks away from the chocolate. I crunch it in my mouth and then let the little drop of chocolate melt on my tongue. It’s a moment of pure heaven. And because there’s a bunch of little M&M’s (even in a little fun-pack), I get to have that experience over and over before the package runs out.

Maybe that bar of Green & Black’s was a bad batch? Or, more likely, I guess I just no longer like their chocolate. That was a surprise.

Two Dinners of Latin Flavors

2008-04-15T20:15:00.014-04:00

Recipe: Cuban Pork Tenderloins

2008-04-15T19:40:00.007-04:00

Recipe: Coconut Rice with Ginger, Chiles, and Lime

2008-04-14T20:39:00.016-04:00

Taco-Making 101

2008-04-13T15:39:00.014-04:00

I made these tacos with regular store-bought tortillas (Mission brand). But you can't just throw the ingredients in the center and fold them over. It just doesn't work that way.

I learned how to do it when I studied in Mexico for a summer. I went to Mexico to study Spanish. I began my stay with a family that I didn't care for. On top of that, the mother didn't cook! So when I asked my program for a family-transfer, requested to live with a family where the woman cooked. I am glad to say that I learned a little about Mexican cooking while I lived with them and studied Spanish.

Without a little taco-learning, you might just try to put your taco fillings on a corn tortilla and microwave it for a few. But it will break and fall apart when you try to eat it. It doesn't look pretty.

Here are some taco fillings on a tortilla:

Right after I took this picture, I folded the edge over, and this is what happened when I removed my hand:

This need not happen to you!

Here is one little trick I picked up in Mexico. Not only will your tortilla be more pliable, but it will taste better too!

Heat up a small nonstick pan.
Add maybe a teaspoon of oil. It should be just enough to lighly cover the surface of the tortilla when you put it in the pan.

Put your fingers on top of the tortilla and glide the tortilla around the pan so that the oil underneath the tortilla spreads out its coverage on the bottom of your tortilla.

to the left

to the right

Flip the tortilla over and repeat with the oil that is already in the pan.
Cook the tortilla in that pan over high heat so it just barely toasts.
Flip it back over and toast the other side as well. Here's the toasted tortilla:

The whole process only takes 2-3 minutes. Afterward, you will have a nice, tasty, pliable tortilla that you can fold over once your ingredients are on it.

When I folded these over, I put a plate on top for about a minute.

Then, when I removed the plate, the tacos held their shape. How awesome is that!

Here's my finished product:

Recipe: Quick Black Beans

2008-04-13T14:03:00.005-04:00

This is a great, fast side dish for any meal. The Sazón Liquido adds a great flavor with just a small amount. If you like heat, either add more jalapeño or don’t remove all the seeds like I did.

Quick Black Beans

1 cup chopped onion
1-2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbs. Goya Sazón Liquido

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan. Add the onion and sauté ¾ of the way. Then add the garlic and jalapeño. Sauté till the mixture is to the color and consistency that you prefer. I prefer mine well-sautéed with nice color and carmelization.

Add the drained and rinsed beans and the Sazón Liquido. Heat and serve.

Battle of the Foil-Packed Salmon

2008-04-12T06:23:00.017-04:00

Recipe: Tasty Salmon Salad

2008-04-12T05:55:00.010-04:00

I eat this salmon salad for lunch several days a week. Not only is it tasty, but it's satisfying and loaded with protein and omega 3 fatty acids which protect your heart.

My favorite cracker to have it on is rye-flavored melba toast.

Ingredients:
1 foil-pack of Bumble Bee premium pink salmon
Hellmann's mayonnaise (approximately 2 Tbs.)
ground black pepper to taste (I do 10 twists on a coarse grind)
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 scallion, finely sliced
2 Tbs. finely minced celery
dill to taste

Squeeze excess liquid out of the salmon pouch. Put salmon in a bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix it up well and chill until ready to serve.

We Will Never Buy Stale M & M's Again!

2008-04-12T05:52:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Serious Eats, for educating the world on how to avoid stale chocolate candy!

http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2008/04/learn-the-secret-product-codes-to-avoid-stale-candy.html

After reading this article, I immediately ran to my pantry to check the date on the two fun-size packages of M & M's that I have. One of them was a little old, manufactured in the 40th week of 2007. The other one was made less than two months ago.

Oh, and if you are wondering, I do notice the difference in taste.

Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

2008-04-06T06:33:00.013-04:00

The Bocado Experience

2008-04-06T06:15:00.003-04:00

Last night my husband and I went to my very favorite restaurant. Our friends Dave, Karen, and Todd came with us. It was an awesome night!

My favorite restaurant is Bocado in Worcester, MA. Worcester is the closest city to where we live. It’s not a great city, but there are some good restaurants!

Bocado is a tapas restaurant. Tapas is a style of eating from Spain where you order little plates of food. In a tapas restaurant you can try a whole bunch of different tapas and share with everyone. You can also order a main course, but the tapas are so fun! And they offer flights of wine, which are like tapas because you get three small portions of different wines instead of just one larger glass.

So Karen, Todd, and I each got different flights of wine. Karen likes whites. Todd had one white, one semi-red, and one red. Mine were three wonderful dry reds – flight #7, the Rioja New to Old World Flight with these wines:

· Cortijo III Tinto(Tempranillo), Rioja
· Faustino V Riserva (Tempranillo/Mazuelo), Rioja
· Faustino I Gran Riserva (Tempranillo/Mazuelo/Graciano), Rioja

Then, as a group, we decided to get the Bocado Experience for Four. You get to choose four of their cheese or cold meat plates and 10 different tapas dishes. Then you get one pan of their paella, a plate of churros with a chocolate dipping sauce, and their house flan (pomegranate orange custard with fresh fruit). The Bocado Experience for four costs $125.00 and is worth every penny!

So, here are the plates we chose for the cheese and cold meat plates:

· jamón serrano (the famous ham of Spain - it is similar to Italy’s prosciutto)
· manchego el trigal (manchego is a Spanish cheese)
· cured pork loin
· smoked duck breast with balsamic syrup

Then came the tapas. We decided to order 2 additional tapas dishes since we had five people and it was the Bocado Experience for Four. Keep in mind that these are small portions on a plate. For instance, with the ham and cheese croquettes, there were four croquettes on the plate, each about the size of a jalapeño pepper. For the scallop dish, there were four bacon-wrapped scallops on the plate.

Here’s what we enjoyed:

· fried calamari with garlic, lemon, parsley & orange horseradish cream
· sautéed shrimp with garlic, parsley,& olive oil
· grilled Serrano ham wrapped asparagus with roasted garlic
aioli & shaved manchego
· ham & cheese fritters with remoulade & rioja drizzle
· a salad of lettuce, red onion, hearts of palm, tomato, avocado,
and manchego
· piquillo pepper stuffed with tasso ham, garbanzo beans & goat
cheese with grilled onion crema
· bacon wrapped scallops with white truffle honey & red pepper flakes
· kobe beef mini burgers (two little burgers)
· braised rabbit in tomato & roasted garlic sauce with rustic toast
· baked crab & vegetable filled savory pastry (empanada)
· sautéed mussels tossed with garlic, sun dried tomato, basil,
cracked black pepper, white wine & cream
· grilled lollipop lamb chops with rosemary mustard oil

They bring out the tapas a little at a time. Then, by the time you finish what they brought out, they bring more!

I don’t think Todd understood that we were still going to get the paella dish once the tapas had ended. We were all feeling satisfied by that time. So we tasted and took the rest home. Skinny Dave was chosen to bring it home, but he stayed at our house and left it in my refrigerator. I’ll enjoy it later!

Luckily, the desserts were small. The flan was the best flan I ever ate in my life! I think we all agreed on that. I'm guessing it was a 4" diameter flan. Oh, and the churros were wonderful.

The meal lasted almost three hours, so it was an entire evening of dining and great conversation. It was a real treat.

With our drinks included and the two extra tapas plates, the bill was $203, which came out to about $50 per person once we left a 20% tip.

If you are ever in or near Worcester, MA, you should try to get to this restaurant.

Anticipating Chocolate Again

2008-04-05T08:01:00.007-04:00

I'm excited.

I placed an order for chocolates yesterday evening. This time I'm ordering from John and Kira' Chocolates. John and Kira are the owners of this community-friendly and responsible chocolate company.

Their chocolates look so exciting. Right now, as Spring begins, they have hand-painted ladybug chocolates. As much as I thought they were so beautiful, I went with the Drunken Chocolate Fig Tower. OMG! Talk about temptation! My mouth began watering as I read about those chocolate ganache and whiskey filled Spanish figs (dipped too).

The tower also has a box that contains all of their bonbon flavors: raspberry, pistacchio, honey lavender, coffee whiskey, lemongrass, bergamont, mint, ginger, strawberry, and something called starry night. Yum! I'm drooling!

Since it's still cool out, I went for the standard shipping which is so much cheaper than the overnight options. I think I'll put a little cooler on my doorstep and ask the mailman to put it in there instead of leaving it on the full-sun step.

The waiting is agonizing on one hand, and fun on the other. It only stinks when the chocolates arrive and don't live up to your expectations. But I just know this one will!

Photo: Shitake Mushrooms

2008-04-05T07:38:00.009-04:00

Gimme Some Of That Less-Fattening Kugel!

2008-04-01T20:34:00.012-04:00

Recipe: Meryl's Lightened Kugel

2008-04-01T19:54:00.017-04:00

Don't Forget About Me!

2008-04-01T18:47:00.003-04:00

Being an adorable little doggie isn't always easy or fun!

I took pics the other day for a post I will do later on a chicken dish. I was setting up the pictures of the chicken and Petey followed his little sniffer to my set. He definitely wanted in on the action. Don't worry people, I took care of him with some yummy chicken bites later when I it was time to eat!

Peep Season - A Week Late

2008-03-28T22:25:00.003-04:00

I bought some Peeps the other day. They were there, on sale, and it was a nice, small package of five Peeps. they were the cute little purple chicks. I liked the color. Too bad I didn’t like the Peeps.

I wasn’t surprised. This seems to happen every year. The Peeps call me and say, “hey, here I am!” I buy them, I take a bite, I think about how stale they are. Were they that stale when I was young?

So, I think a lot of people have decided that the best thing to do with a package of Peeps is to play with them and have some fun. And what fun they have!

Here are some sites that are great Peep fun:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/gallery/070402/GAL-07Apr02-69859/index.html
The Washington Post has an annual Peeps Diorama Contest. Here you will see creative Peeps photography at its best. Each photo is of a scene from a movie or is reminiscent of something we’ve all seen. It is really worth a visit. Try to guess what you are looking at before you read the caption on the upper left.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2008/03/21/GA2008032101983.html?sid=ST2008032102694
Here’s Peep Show II. It is the second annual Sunday Source Peeps Diorama Contest. These photos are of the 37 best entries out of over 800 entries total.

http://www.lordofthepeeps.com/lotp/fotp.html
This is a photo essay of Lord of the Rings done with Peeps (The Fellowship of the Peep). I enjoyed it, and I never saw or cared for Lord of the rings.

http://www.asylum.com/2008/03/18/peep-of-faith-the-most-heavenly-easter-candy-dioramas/
This is a great gallery of the best of the internet peep pictures. Some of them came from my other links, but most were new to me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17025280@N00/sets/72157600038845249/detail/
Peeps for Passover photo essay. It depicts the 10 plagues with peeps. It is really creative and inspiring, and definitely fun.

This next link is not really Peeps, but a Peep-inspired set of video games:

http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/peep-game/
Here you will find two fun-filled video games, Peeps style. One of them is Peep Invaders and the other one is Peepsteroids (Asteroids). I could see wasting a lot of time here, doing what I do best – procrastinate!

Lastly, here are some great individual photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix_feet/446042714/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/l_stegall/445587074/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/l_stegall/445587070/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fishbowl_fish/447809163/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7400337@N02/437922873/

Photo: Lemons are so Beautiful

2008-03-23T09:58:00.004-04:00

Experimenting with Sea Bass

2008-03-22T20:24:00.003-04:00

Recipe: Chilean Sea Bass with Citrus Butter Sauce

2008-03-22T19:48:00.006-04:00

Recipe: Sauteed Spinach

2008-03-22T17:30:00.009-04:00

The Zest, The Zester, and the Zested

2008-03-22T16:43:00.009-04:00

Recipe: Scallops With Asparagus

2008-03-21T22:37:00.008-04:00

The Great Cookbook Throw-Away

2008-03-21T21:18:00.003-04:00

Where would so many of us be now without cookbooks? I pay homage to the wonderful chefs and cooks who create and share with the world.

But I have a secret to share with you. Psst..... I have a bit of a clutter problem. Actually, I’ll admit that “a bit of a clutter problem” is a gross understatement. And to make it worse, I have a constant battle going on inside of me, a little devil who encourages me to hate doing something about it.

Let’s put it this way. My husband, Joe, wants me to tell you that I have a high tolerance for filth and squalor. It’s true.

So, things build up, and my inner battle explodes, and I go on a rampage from time to time. A couple of years ago, my cookbooks were at the receiving end of my battle, and I through almost all of them away.

It wasn't that I had a problem with the contents, I just had a problem with their physical existence.

In my personal opinion, bookshelves are ugly. You get a mishmash of books that don’t go together. You squeeze them on these shelves. Loose papers end up between them, magazines, 3-ring binders. Then you end up with a wall that is full of uncoordinated dust-collectors, and I'm very allergic to dust.

But throwing away all my cookbooks was a good thing, and that’s because of computers and the Internet. I was already using the Internet much more than my actual books. The variety of recipes is tremendous, and just a click away. And I can copy and paste them into a Word document, and store them in the clutter-free file cabinet on my hard drive. I can even store them in multiple locations. Oh, and if I still can’t find what I’m looking for, I can do a search. It’s just great.

Not only did the computer help me get rid of the clutter and dust, but there are such great sites to visit. An original recipe is posted, and then all of the people who make it can rate the recipe and comment on it. They can tell us the things that worked, and the things that didn’t. And they can tell us about the changes they made to the recipe and make further suggestions.

My favorite recipe sites are:

· http://www.epicurious.com/
This site is where all of the recipes for Bon Appetit and Gourmet Magazine are stored. They allow you to rate and comment on all the recipes. When a picture is available from the magazine they post it.

· http://www.recipezaar.com/
This is a recipe community where people post their recipes and pictures. Then everyone can try them out and rate and comment. And, they give you all the nutritional information. That’s cool!

· http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/
A sophisticated collection of recipes. I just started hanging out here, and subscribing to the magazine. The only bummer is that you can’t rate the recipes. But I think they are trying to stand apart and I respect them for it.

· http://allrecipes.com/
A friendly recipe community. People post their recipes, others comment, rate, and even add their own photos of the finished product.

There is one other site that used to be a favorite. I’m posting it here with a warning:

http://www.cookinglight.com/cooking/
I’ve been subscribing to Cooking Light for many years now. Recently, however, their online collection has been merged with their sister magazine, Southern Living. I don’t like that. If I’m searching for Cooking Light recipes, I don’t want the high fat and calorie recipes of Southern Living coming up in my search. If I wanted that, I’d go to their site. So all be warned. I am visiting this site a lot less often since they changed it.

Recipe: Asparagus in Warm Tarragon-Pecan Vinaigrette

2008-03-21T20:30:00.004-04:00

One of the few cookbooks that survived my rampage was Vegetable Heaven by Mollie Katzen. I used it more than the others, and was unable to part with it.

The author, Mollie Katzen, had a public television show that was the companion to the cookbook. Joe and I had just moved to Nashua, NH together and I had my tiny little galley kitchen (my kitchen now isn't much bigger). She inspired me that day when she made this recipe on the show and I just had to have the book.

Over the years, I made the recipe so many times that I became confident to make it without a recipe, making slight changes to suit my taste.

Thoughts on this recipe:

I always look for thin asparagus. I think that it's more tender, and less fibrous. When you cut the asparagus, leave the tips in tact!

A time saver is to buy the already chopped and toasted pecans available at Trader Joe's. Gosh, I love those things. BTW, they do it with almonds too.

If I had it on hand, I'm sure that 2 Tbs. fresh tarragon would be better than the dried stuff I use.

Asparagus in Warm Tarragon-Pecan Vinaigrette

adapted from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven

One bunch of fresh asparagus, cut on a diagonal into 1" pieces
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
2 tsp. dried tarragon

Mix the vinegar, sugar, and tarragon together and set aside.

Sautee the asparagus on a high heat till just tender (3-5 minutes). Add the vinegar mixture. Let it sautee for one more minute. Toss in the pecans and it's ready to serve.

A Memorial Cheese Tattoo

2008-03-20T23:13:00.004-04:00

Recipe: Matzo Brei

2008-03-20T21:33:00.010-04:00

3rd Time's a Charm!

2008-03-20T20:59:00.005-04:00

Everyday Food Magazine - a contemplation

2008-03-18T19:13:00.004-04:00

Recipe: Scallops and Beets and Creme, Oh My!

2008-03-16T11:48:00.007-04:00

Food and Wine Reminds Me of Passover

2008-03-16T06:57:00.004-04:00

I recently started a subscription to Food and Wine Magazine. I bought it to support a fundraiser and it was one in a list of magazine subscriptions that I could choose from. So far I’ve gotten two issues, and I’m enjoying them.

I’ve tried two recipes in this latest issue. It is the issue that precedes the Jewish holiday of Passover, and therefore offers a sampling of their takes on Passover recipes.

While I’m not particularly religious these days (and I’m married to an ex-catholic), I was brought up in a Jewish home, attended Hebrew School, went to synagogue almost every week, and had a successful Bat Mitzvah at the age of 13. I will try to remember my lessons from so many years ago to explain the holiday.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Passover (or Pesach in Hebrew), it is a week long (actually 8 days) holiday that commemorates the Jews liberating themselves from slavery. If I remember correctly, the story goes that God told the Jews to put lamb’s blood on their doors. Therefore when the city was raided, the sign of blood would be seen on their doors and the people inside would be “passed over” instead of killed.

Afterward, the Jews escaped to the dessert. They made unleavened bread, or matzo, because they were unable to stay in one place for any length of time and let the bread rise.

So today, Jews forgo leavened bread during the week of Passover, and therefore have a number of traditional recipes that are typical during this week. Food and Wine this month included recipes for a Potato Kugel, Matzo Ball Soup, and a version of tzimmes called Honeyed Carrots with Currants and Saffron. That is the Passover recipe I chose to make.

There are different versions of tzimmes. In general, tzimmes is an orange vegetable dish that is sweetened with honey and fruit. The type of tzimmes that I am accustomed to has sweet potatoes, carrots, and prunes. It is a heavy side dish. My mother says that her mother’s tzimmes was extremely sweet. She said she tried to make it, but it never seemed to come out right. To be honest, Mom was never much of a cook though, and I really want to get hold of that recipe now and give it a try. But until then, I decided to give the Food and Wine recipe a try.

Recipe: Honeyed Carrots with Currants and Saffron

2008-03-16T06:53:00.004-04:00

This recipe is from Food and Wine Magazine.

The Honeyed Carrots with Currants and Saffron is a light dish. It is pleasant and somewhat sweet. I like the addition of the saffron. When I made it, I think I cut the carrots too thick and needed extra broth to cook them. Also, the currants I used were from Trader Joe’s and seem to be monster-sized. I think I would prefer smaller currants.

Here’s the recipe.

¼ cup canola oil
3 ½ lbs. carrots, sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
2 tsp. finely julienned fresh ginger
1 tsp. ground tumeric
a pinch of saffron threads, crumbled
½ cup fresh orange juice
3 Tbs. honey
1 cup chicken stock
¼ cup dried currants
salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil. Add the sliced carrots and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the fresh ginger, tumeric, and saffron and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the orange juice and honey and cook until the juice is reduced to a glaze, about 8 minutes. Add the stockand currants, season with salt and black pepper, and cook over maderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is thickened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and serve hot or at room temperature.

I must create!

2008-03-15T18:24:00.004-04:00

It was a super-stressful week at work. I planned a very large event (not in my job description) and it was one of those things that would build my reputation professionally and personally. So while I felt a need to be creative this week, I had to hold on to that energy.

After about 12 hours sleep last night, I woke up and started my work. It began with the flowers. A few weeks ago I tried to create a classy bouquet. But I was unhappy with it and decided it needed work. It needed more silk flowers than I had, and a different vase. I was very happy with the end result.

Isn't it pretty?

Then, onto the jewelry! A little over a year ago a friend of mine introduced me to the wold of beading. I got hooked and spent way too much money on beads. But about a month ago, one of my favorite necklaces met it’s death when it fell from the railing at the top of the stairwell. I’ve held on to the pieces, and today’s the day the necklace got tackled.

I had worked up a hunger, and was ready to make some sushi. My favorite sushi is a spicy tuna roll. This time I had sushi-grade tuna to work with and had made a nice, fresh batch of sushi rice just last night. I was ready to go!

Recipe: Spicy Tuna Roll

2008-03-15T16:52:00.019-04:00

Rice Cookers

2008-03-15T16:10:00.005-04:00

When I started making sushi and semi sushi I decided to invest in a rice cooker. I had flashbacks to my old college days. They used to kick us out of the dorm during the summer and leave us to find housing off campus. One summer I roomed with three Japanese students. It was funny because each of them had their own separate rice cooker, and they sat on a buffet table in the dining room, constantly plugged in. At the time, they didn't have digital readouts like this. They each had little lights on them, and I'd look at them in the dark room and they looked like little space orbs. They kept the rice at the perfect serving temperature all day long.

These days, that kind of rice cooker looks like this:

These rice cookers can cost several hundred dollars. But I wasn't up to spending that kind of money.

I did a little bit of research on rice cookers. They say to make sure to get one that is nonstick and that has a removable pan so that you can clean it easily. I ended up buying this rice cooker:

It was only about $31 on Amazon and it's nice and small (holds 3 cups of rice). It got good ratings. I've used it quite a bit now and it's perfect.

It makes cooking the rice so easy. It comes with a cup measure. Then you don't have to measure the water. You just put the inside pan under the faucet and fill it to the appropriate mark on the inside wall which is based on how much rice you are cooking.

Then you just click the button and 20-30 minutes later you have perfectly cooked rice.

Fran's Chocolates

2008-03-15T15:52:00.003-04:00

Ordering really nice, expensive chocolates makes me feel special. Okay, I know that I’d be a healthier person if I had replaced the first part of that sentence with the words “working out at the gym,” but it’s the chocolates that do it for me. My latest thrill came from Fran’s Chocolates.

Fran’s Chocolates is impressive right from the start. Their Website (http://www.franschocolates.com/home.php) is kept current and displays beautiful pictures of seasonal choclates. Right now Spring is approaching and their site pictures beautiful Easter baskets with pastel spring colors, chocolate bunnies, an pretty bows.

I immediately hit the truffles link. Fran’s offers milk chocolate truffles, imperiale truffles (liquid-filled), dark truffles, and a truffle assortment where I can see a few white truffles in the picture among the milks and darks.

Dark chocolate is my thing, so I clicked on the link. I was so happy to see a key to the types of truffles that come in the assortment. There’s plain chocolate ganache (in both 56% and 66% cocoa), raspberry, orange oolong tea, espresso, and single malt whiskey! I had to have that.

I also visited the link to the caramels. They offer salt caramels, milk and dark chocolate caramels, and caramel assortments; some of which contain nuts.

When you order the truffles, you can choose Occasion gift boxes that combine their different products, but I decided to get two separate boxes so I could have more of what I wanted and none of what I didn’t!

Packaging does matter when you are spending what you consider to be a lot of money on fine chocolates (when compared to choclates you buy in the pharmacy). It adds to the experience and to an immediate good feeling when you open the FedEx package. Fran’s will make you feel special. For the chocolate assortments, different assortments have different packaging. My truffles came in a lemongrass colored package with a pretty green satin bow. They also offer collections packaged in leather boxes and a washi box which has Asian designs and colors and was designed by a local artist.

As for cost, I got an 18-piece assortment for $24. I also ordered the 15-piece assorted caramels for $22. I believe my shipping was $14 for 2nd day air. I don’t have experience ordering caramels, but I can tell you the $24 for the truffles actually wasn’t a bad price. I have seen smaller chocolates for more money per chocolate in plenty of other places.

Was it worth it? YES!!!!! In general, this was superior chocolate. It’s the kind of chocolate that you savor in your mouth and let dissolve because it’s so good you don’t want to lose that flavor too quickly. The ganache on the inside is dense. You can see it’s texture in this photo:

Here’s the lowdown on the different flavors.

#1 (Oolong)
The chocolate ganache definitely has a mellow oolong flavor. It was good, but I think I like earl gray and chocolate more. But they do get extra points for the pretty little lavender petal on top. In the entire box, the oolong flavor was my least favorite.

#2 (66% Bittersweet)
The chocolate flavor is intense and somewhat fruity. I hadn’t looked at the key yet when I first tried a little nibble. As it sat on my toungue, I could note a somewhat fruity flavor to the chocolate. Is that called fruit notes?

#3 (56% Dark Chocolate)
Their ganache is so soft, sweet, and delicious. It is velvety smooth and has fantastic flavor.

#4 (Dark Chocolate Espresso)
Tastes like a cup of Starbucks inside that luscious ganache. Quite nice!

#5 (Orange)
This truffle had the perfect amount of orange flavoring. I enjoyed it very much.

#6 (Raspberry)
I like this, but I wish the raspberry flavor was a little stronger overall.

#7 (Single Malt Whiskey)
Not being a whiskey drinker, I never knew there was single malt whiskey. But if this is what it tastes like, perhaps I’ll try it some time.

Caramels
Some were dark, some were miklk, some had gray salt, and some had smoked salt.

The caramel is the same in each type and it has the flavor of butter toffee. It’s an enjoyable experience and tastes fantastic!

As for the consistency of the caramels, they are semi chewy. When comparing it to something like Kraft caramels, it is very soft. But it is harder than the Charles Chocolates caramels I ordered last month. These hold their shape when cut into.

Recipe: Surimi Maki Sushi

2008-03-08T14:00:00.013-05:00

Shipping costs when ordering chocolates online

2008-03-08T05:49:00.005-05:00

When it comes to ordering fine chocolates online, I think that a note about shipping costs and choices is worth mentioning.

Most fine chocolatiers will force you to ship 2nd day or overnight. I can think of two reasons why. First, their chocolates are made with fresh ingredients and are meant to be eaten promptly. The other reason is that weather will damage chocolate, and when you are ordering this kind of chocolate quality upon arrival is important.

I have ordered chocolates in the summer and they have arrived in a cooler (Styrofoam and ice packets). I don't remember if they were shipped that way or if I chose to ship it that way.

Special Delivery!

2008-03-06T18:20:00.010-05:00

Mmmmm! These arrived in the mail today. I ordered them from Fran's Chocolates in Seattle, WA. I read about Fran's in a book I recently got called The Chocolate Companion:

It's a cool little book. I'm actually reading the text and not just looking at the pictures and the star-ratings. It teaches a little about the history of chocolate, how it's produced, how to appreciate it, and then what's good. It has a directory of many of the best chocolatiers in the world. I have vowed to try samples from as many of them as possible. Fran's got a 4-star rating (out of 5 total). The four stars stand for the very best quality available.

Just so you all know, Godiva got one of the lowest ratings in the book - barely above Lindt & Sprungli's 1-star rating (good for mass-produced).

I once went to a chocolate tasting class where we learned about the ingredients in chocolate and how to distinguish the good from the bad. We did blind taste tests. We didn't know what brands we were tasting until after we discussed which were the good and which were the bad. After we all agreed on which was the worst the brand was revealed. Guess what? It was Godiva. You can taste just how bad it is when you compare it side to side (blindly) with other chocolates.

Then we compared ingredients once all the manufacturers were revealed. Chocolate, we were told, should have differing quantities of five basic ingredients: the beans (which differ in flavor and quality), cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla, and soy lecithin (an emulsifier). Godiva skimps on it's ingredients. It doesn't even use real vanilla and then charges an arm and a leg for a crappy bonbon.

Last year I read about how the FDA, regulator of the chocolate industry, was going to lower standards. Chocolate lovers were outraged. You can read the story and about the petition on the FDA here: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-may19apr19,0,2342362.story?coll=la-home-commentary

Going back on subject, I can't wait to try my chocolates. But I will wait to write about my experience until I get to taste each type. For now, I will offer a simple, beautiful picture.

Recipe: Strawberry Pudding

2008-03-04T04:37:00.017-05:00

Doesn't it look totally scrumptious?

I watch a few shows on the Food Network. I used to watch it more, but they have turned from a channel where you really learn about food and cooking to a bunch of shows that help you get through the week with shortcuts. And they make you see a whole lot of cleavage to do it.

These days I go to the Food Network to watch two shows: Iron Chef America and Good Eats. This is a recipe I watched Alton Brown make on Good Eats.

It just looks so delectable! I love the pretty colors, and the stacking, and how it holds it's shape. And isn't everything even better with cream on top?

I'm hyping up how pretty it looks, but it really needs a recipe overhaul in my own personal opinion. It has a whole lot of potential to be a dazzling dessert that you serve to company. And this has been such a difficult winter, and this dessert brings you to warmer, cheerier weather.

There were three problems with the recipe

Problem #1: the wine. The recipe calls for macerating the strawberries in a mixture of sugars and wine. It never said what type of wine to use. I used a mellow Barefoot Merlot. But even the very mellow flavor of the wine completely overpowered the flavor of the strawberries. I couldn't even taste strawberries - but I did get a good buzz. In fact, I was disappointed with my first taste, but with each taste of the strawberry pudding, the recipe got better and better.
Problem #2: the "clotted cream" (which you can see is whipped cream in my picture). I followed the directions, which call for straining the cream through a coffee-filter lined strainer several times. It just wouldn't pass through the strainer after the first straining. So I took the liquid that was left and whipped it.
Problem #3: It says there were 4 servings. Impossible! I got a scant 2. The other one was only 2/3 the size.

Even though I don't consider this recipe to be a success, I'm going to post it. I think you cna macerate strawberries without wine, and that would make this recipe better. Or maybe some smart and creative reader can make it better and let us know about their results.

Strawberry Pudding
Good Eats (Food TV)

Macerated Strawberries (recipe follows)
Clotted Cream (recipe follows)
1 Tbs. butter, room temperature
16 slices of potato Bread

Macerated Strawberries:

1 pint medium size strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/2 (325 milliliters)
bottle red wine
1/8 cup orange blossom honey
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup sugar

In a bowl combine all ingredients. Let stand in refrigerator for 2 hours. Yield: 4 servings

Clotted Cream

2 cups pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized) cream

Set a coffee filter basket, lined with a filter, in a strainer, over a bowl. Pour the cream almost to the top of the filter. Refrigerate for 2 hours. The whey will sink to the bottom passing through the filter leaving a ring of clotted cream. Scrape this down with a rubber spatula and repeat every couple of hours until the mass reaches the consistency of soft cream cheese.

To Assemble the Strawberry Pudding

Remove both ends from 4 (15-ounce) soup cans. Save 4 of the ends. Using one of the soup cans with the ends removed, cut the potato bread into 16 rounds. To avoid torn bread press straight down, do not twist. Let bread sit for 2 hours to dry out.

Butter 1 side of 4 of the bread rounds.

Place the soup cans on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the buttered bread round, buttered-side up, in each can. Spoon 2 tablespoons of strawberries with liquid to cover over each round. Dredge 1 side of 4 bread rounds in the strawberry liquid and place over the strawberries. (or place over them dry and spoon on the liquid with the new strawberries).

Repeat layering strawberries and dredged bread rounds until you have 3 layers of strawberries and 4 layers of bread.

Place reserved ends of soup cans on top of final round and weight with cans of soda. Refrigerate for 8 hours. Remove cans and serve with whipped cream.

Charles Chocolates

2008-03-01T17:31:00.007-05:00

I wish I lived in San Francisco. They are a great chocolate city. I live in the boonies where Hershey’s Cacao Reserve is the best I can get. Hershey’s really isn’t the worst, but I crave something better and filled with interesting flavors.

The closest big city I have is Boston, and one of its only fine chocolate shops picked up and moved to San Francisco! I have to say, that hurt.

So I tend to order good chocolates online from time to time.

This particular time I ordered from Charles Chocolates (http://www.charleschocolates.com/). It was the first time I ordered from them. Where are they from? Take a guess. Just one guess.

Scroll down while you guess . . .

You probably guessed right. San Francisco area. It’s actually across the bay in Emeryville. They do sell things across the country, but it probably won’t be their full line. I know that they sell things in Whole Foods and my favorite place, Cardullo’s in Cambridge. But it is a limited number of items.

I was exploring the Web site and I noticed the most brilliant idea they had listed. It's the PMS Collection! Ha ha ha! That's totally awesome. They send chocolates each month and you have to sign up for a certain number of months.

It was a day or two after Valentine’s Day when I decided to order some chocolates. Lucky me, they had their Valentines collections on sale! I ordered a large heart assortment that was originally $62 but post-valentine’s day it was $42. Oh, and I liked that they didn’t force me to ship using the most expensive way. I chose 3-day shipping – significantly less expensive. And since it’s winter in most parts of the country, I didn’t worry about packaging or melting.

I got a new camera, but the box was half-gone when I brought it home, so you can’t see all of the little yummies. Gone are the little nut clusters in dark and milk chocolate. I liked their small size, and they were totally delicious! Also gone were the silver hearts and the delicious fleur de sel caramels.

It took a long time to figure out exactly what I was eating. I personally think that every box of chocolates should have a little key to tell me what I’m eating. I had to do a lot of research – they didn’t make it easy. Here’s what I came up with:

Poire William Milk Chocolate Caramel

Their Web site describes these as "a rich milk chocolate caramel ganache in a 65% bittersweet circle with a splash of Poire William Liquor." It was buttery and sweet. I love the hint of the liquor.

Peanut Butter Butterflies

These were good, but so are Reese's cups. Call me crazy, but I might even prefer the Reese's cups. When I'm spending large amounts of money on chocolates, I would prefer to avoid these.

Kahlua

Wow! These are awesome. It was a chocolate center, but it was super soft and silky - almost as soft as the caramels. I'm glad there were two!

Honey, Lavender, Mint (not pictured) and Earl Grey

I had the mint one. It looked like these, but it didn't have a chocolate stripe going across it. The mint flavor wasn't overly sweet. It seemed like it was just picked out of the garden. It also seemed somewhat peppery, though the description didn't mention pepper.

I still haven't eaten the ones in the picture.

Marzipan

The different marzipan chocolates were flavored with either orange or lemon. It was very pleasant.

Ginger

It had very dark chocolate on the outside and a dense chocolate ganache inside. I tasted the ginger, but I wish the flavor was a little stronger.

Raspberry Ganache

The chocolate was light and fluffy. The flavoring was perfect. I wouldn't mind having an entire box of these.

I may get some Charles chocolates again sometime. There were things that I really liked, and some that I didn't care that much for. I think I would buy more specific items rather than an assortment. Also, I'd buy them if I saw them in a store and wouldn't have to pay shipping.

Recipe: Chicken and Orzo Frittata

2008-03-01T13:20:00.009-05:00

Hi People!

2008-03-01T08:44:00.002-05:00