Lori Jean Cooks!

I'm moving!!!

2011-09-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

And you know what that means... lots of packing, rearranging and unpacking again.

I'm moving my blog to the address below...

http://mylifeaslori.wordpress.com/

Stop by for a visit?! I think you're going to like what you see!!!

RECIPE: Fish Tacos

2011-09-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

Mmmm.... fish tacos!!! There is no better summer dinner. None...

Here's where I started... mahi mahi, corn tortillas, a green onion or two, cilantro, cabbage and the amazing Southwest Dressing...

Oh yeah... and you must, must, must use the Liquid Gold aka the garlic-infused olive oil ... promise me you'll keep this on hand in your kitchen. You won't regret it!

Here's the quick run down on how the Lite Southwest Dressing is made... greek yogurt, cayenne pepper, cumin powder and chili pepper.

Several dashes of chili powder, a dash or two of cumin powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper...

And some kosher salt and black pepper...

Mix it together. Taste to see if it needs anymore kosher salt (it probably does) or black or cayenne pepper. Just make this to your own tastes. You can't go wrong with this... and whatever is left over can simply go in a container in the refrigerator for several weeks (just like the yogurt).

Next attack those greens... cabbage (sliced rather thin), green onions, cilantro...

Line 'em up where they will await their final calling in life...

Next is the fish... add about a tablespoon of garlic-infused olive oil to the skillet and bring it up to HOT! Then add the salted/peppered fish to the skillet and let it cook through, turning over half-way through.

While the fish is cooking you can throw the tortillas on a griddle to warm up a bit, on medium heat... turning over once they bubble a bit. Don't let them get too crispy... they'll just crack in half when you use them. And you don't want that to happen...

Once the fish is done you can remove it to another flat surface cut into strips...

Then the assembly process starts... line up your warmed tortillas, schmear them with a touch of Southwest dressing, topping them with a couple slices of fish...

Then add the cabbage, green onions and cilantro... and be prepared...

to enjoy a really yummy (and rather healthy) dinner!!!

We typically serve these up with a small side dish:

sharing a can of clam chowder

corn on the cob

black bean soup

Corn and Black Bean Salad

there really are so many options...

the only thing that ISN'T an option is making these tacos...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Things, they are a-changin'...

2011-09-06T05:53:00.000-07:00

he just said WHAT?!
a friend's husband said something to me one day in passing that really stuck with me. he knows about my food blog (due to consequent love for food) + my desire to lose weight and gain life = two things that have been at war with each other.

this friend's husband (who, for these purposes, shall remain unnamed. lest said husband wants to get punched by his wife - he knows who he is) said to me "if you spent as much time in the gym as you spend on that food blog i'm sure you'd see some amazing results."

he was so right. so very right.

i kinda wanted to hit him.

but i'll be honest with you, i knew that up until that moment in time i wasn't ready to hear that from ANYONE.

and i thought about it. pondered it. still wanted to hit him. but he was right.

that's around the time my postings on this food blog slowed down. my attention was drawn in other directions.

friend's husband will be happy to know that since then i have spent a bit more time in the gym - and lost over 20 pounds to prove it. (granted, up to that point i had been spending about 4 hours/week in the gym - i'm now up to spending about 7 hours/week "working on my fitness") but i've also started counting my calorie consumption. THAT will "do in" any food blog.... RIGHT?!

changes
so i've been busy revamping recipes by tearing them apart and tweaking them to a much lower calorie count, if possible. (some of our old food favs have since gone by the wayside, fortunately and unfortunately.) i've also been testing healthier food ideas altogether.

all the while i've attemped to wrap my head around how this changes the food blog. you see, i have had so much fun with this blog. i've met some new people while blogging. i've enjoyed taking pictures of food (the food doesn't complain about how it looks in the photo).

i've learned quite a few new things about cooking and baking and writing and blogging.

overall, i've been thoroughly enjoying my time at this. in fact, i've missed it immensely over the past 2 1/2 months.

so now what?!
so this post is my promise to you that i didn't go anywhere. but things are going to start looking a little different around here.

the freshness factor will remain.
the yumminess factor will continue.
the step-by-step tips and play-by-play photography isn't going anywhere.
dare i say, my fruity character will live on...

i will continue to forge forward without advertising on my blog.

but most importantly, i will continue to enjoy this fun adventure in the kitchen.

but it will look (and taste) a bit different around here. thankfully healthy food still tastes good!

come with me as I find new / yummy ways to be healthy???

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

WRAPS: His and Hers

2011-09-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Just as summer is coming to an end, I realized I hadn't yet posted one of our staple summer dinners...

Wraps... we make "his" and "hers" versions of our mediterranean chicken wraps. How easy can THAT be?!

But first I'll start with the low-cal dressing that goes on so many dishes in our house... it is adapted from a chain brewhouse-type restaurant. Instead of a mayo/sour cream base, I use 0% fat Fage yogurt to keep the calories down.

Low-Cal Southwest Dressing
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Instructions
1 cup Fage 0% yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Healthy pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch kosher salt/black pepper

Instructions
Whisk together. Give it a taste; add more cayenne or salt, if needed.

The grilled chicken gets cut into long strips...

The tortilla (aka wrap) gets thrown on the griddle real briefly to warm it up, on both sides...

Then the low-cal Southwest Dressing gets gets smeared on the slightly warmed sun-dried tomato wrap...

Then the rest of the to0pings-of-choice get placed atop the dressing... I chose lettuce, red onion, red bell pepper strips, chicken, havarti cheese and arugula. Mmm mmm good!

Cut it in half... and you've got an entire meal right there!

And for his... (he likes different toppings)...

Same wrap. Same dressing, lettuce, red onion, red pepper strips... but he prefers mozzarella cheese and some New Zealand spinach...

Oh! I forgot one more important thing... wrap it tightly and place back on the griddle for about 45 seconds, seam side down. This will help to hold the tortilla together at the seam.

There ya go... this meal earns major points, in my book!
- It's quick and easy.
- It doesn't require heating up the whole kitchen (which is a plus during the hot summer).
- It can be easily customized for each person.
- It can be easily wrapped up and taken with you.
- It makes for fantastic leftovers.

These wraps are just fantastic for easy summer livin'... and life is good!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Nutty, Fruity Granola

2011-09-05T12:03:00.001-07:00

They say "You are what you eat" ... and you know what that means: I'm nutty and fruity!!!

That being said, here's how I made my special granola...

I preheated the oven. I chopped some nuts. I got out every last mini dish I had in the kitchen... and I lined up all my ingredients.

The coconut flakes got toasted...

And set aside to cool, looking all toasty and scrumptious...

Next? I got the oat mixture into the oven after mixing together the oats, agave nectar, water, oil and sugar...

I spread it out on a baking sheet... and slid it into the hot oven. I closed the oven door and waited to smell the amazingness that is homemade granola.

The nuts and seeds? They got toasted in a little smidge of butter in a big ol' skillet. I melted a pat of butter (or maybe it was two) in a skillet over medium-low heat and cooked the raw taste out of the nuts.

Depending on how many nuts and seeds you have in that skillet (and the size of the nuts) this will take between 10-15 minutes.

I added the flax seed in the last 3-5 minutes... they are very tiny and don't need much cooking time...

I transferred the nuts and seeds to a large bowl to await the toasted oat mixture. Once they had cooled slightly (waiting was the hardest part) I added the oats, coconut and dried fruit to the nut/seed mixture.

It's so simple... you can do this too! ENJOY!!! But let me warn you, you might want to make sure you have enough of these ingredients to make a second batch... because it's so tempting that it will go faaaassst!!!

You might even want to make sure you have yogurt on hand so you can enjoy while the granola is still warm...

Or you can just put some in a little dish and carry it with you around the house, munching on it all along the way. That's what I did...

Just call me nutty (and fruity)!!!

Now... go make your own! And quit judging me...

Nutty, Fruity Granola
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups old-fashioned oats
¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or honey)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
¼ stick butter
¼ raw pecan halves, chopped
½ cup shelled pistachios, chopped
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup sunflower seeds (roasted/salted is ok)
2 tablespoons flax seed
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
Pinch kosher salt/black pepper
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ dried/chopped apricots

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread coconut on rimmed baking sheet; toast until light brown. Stir occasionally; about 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In large bowl mix together oats, canola oil, agave nectar, sugar and water. Spread in thin layer on baking sheet. Bake until oats are golden brown, stirring occasionally; about 20-25 minutes (or to your personal liking). Set aside to cool.

In large skillet, over medium-low heat, melt butter in large skillet. Add chopped pecans and pistachios, pine nuts, sunflower/pine/pumpkin/flax seeds. Cook until nuts are golden, stirring occasionally (about 10-15 minutes). Sprinkle with pinch of kosher salt and black pepper, toss well. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In large bowl mix coconut, oats, nuts/seeds, and dried fruit. Store in airtight container. Consume within 1 week.

Serving suggestions: Serve granola over yogurt, with fresh fruit, etc.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Another fav, another panini...

2011-08-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

It's summer... and you know what that means. It means we have bruschetta. And bruschetta ingredients + summer = panini.

So this version of "bruschetta" will be in the form of a sandwich. To do so we need a panini pan, bread, basil pesto, tomato and mozzarella cheese.

I started off by heating up the panini pan and then buttering the bread.

And for the pesto? In my opinion, the best basil pesto comes in a jar from Trader Joe's. I would prefer to only use this pesto for the rest of my life. 'Nuf said... So I went ahead and slathered a good deal of basil pesto on the inside of one of the slices of bread...

Then I sliced the mozzarella and tomato into a few pieces...

And I started layering the sandwich together right on the hot panini pan...

Buttered side of bread face down
Cheese slices
Tomato slices
Last slice of bread, slathered with pesto (buttered side up)

My panini pan is the kind that has a cast iron lid that you place on top of the sandwich.

I placed the lid on top of the sandwich and pressed down... after a few minutes I turned the sandwich 90 degrees and let it continue to cook. Turning it will create that cross hatch mark on the bread that looks so yummy!

After a few minutes I turned the sandwich over and let it cook on the other side too. (Note - some electric panini pans conduct heat on both sides. In this case you wouldn't have to turn the sandwich over.)

When the sandwich is done cooking I remove it to a cutting board and let it rest for a minute or two... just to let the cheese cool down a bit.

And I'll tell you right now, the waiting is truly the hardest part...

This sandwich was served up with the rest of the tomato and some tomato basil soup... life is good!!!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Corn and Black Bean Salad

2011-07-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know how grumpy I get in the heat of the summer. However, THIS salad makes it all better! Seriously, it's all better now...

The salad tastes great, comes together quickly and can be made from items in your own garden (if you're into gardening, of course)... here's where I started.

Corn, black beans, sweet red pepper, red onion, cilantro, canola oil and some seasonings for the viniagrette.

I start by mixing together the viniagrette... lime juice, canola oil, onion powder, ground cumin, kosher salt/pepper and at the last minute I also decided to add some dried oregano.

Then I added the red onion to the viniagrette so it could sit for about 15 minutes. I prefer the red onions to be "pickled" a little... letting them sit in the viniagrette for a bit tames them down a bit, just to perfection. But it's here that I also added a few teaspoons of our favorite hot sauce.

After 15 minutes or so I added the corn, black beans, sweet red pepper ...

Oh yeah, and the cilantro... and then it sits for another 30 minutes or so...

This time we served it up with our "house grilled chicken"... yummy! Make this salad this summer ... your loved ones will love you more for it!

Corn and Black bean Salad
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
2 cups frozen corn
1 can (14 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 sweet red pepper, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
¼ cup cilantro, diced
2 limes, juiced
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch onion powder
1 tablespoon cumin powder
Salt/pepper to taste

Instructions
In a large bowl make vinaigrette by whisking together lime juice, hot sauce, oil and spices. Add red onion and mix well; set aside. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes.

Add corn kernels, black beans, red pepper and cilantro. Mix well. Allow to sit for another 30 minutes or so, for the tastes to marry. Salt/pepper to taste before serving.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Peach Sangria

2011-07-06T19:31:00.001-07:00

Oh, how I love sangria!!! (why don't I make it more often?!)

And I'm glad you're here reading about it... because there's a few things you need to know about sangria... it's GOOD, GOOD, GOOD!!! Oh also, it's a great way to utilize excess fruit, the rest of the wine in a bottle that may not get consumed for a few days, and it can either be "red" or "white".

This is what I started with ... a pitcher, a dry white wine, peach schnapps, peaches and simple syrup (not pictured here).

First, pour the whole bottle of wine into the pitcher...

Next, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup peach schnapps... or another complimentary flavor like Grand Marnier...

Next peel your nice fresh peaches, cut them up and add them to the pitcher... I used 5 for this pitcher. (I could have also added diced mango or orange slices too... but there's always next time!)

And did I forget to tell you about the simple syrup?

I make my simple syrup extra sweet... with a ratio of 2 cups sugar to 1 cup water. Bring it to a boil, stir well until it becomes a clear liquid... and allow to cool for a bit before using.

When the simple syrup has cooled a bit you can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup simple syrup to the pitcher... to taste. I added 1/4 cup and it was just sweet enough for me...

And here's the last 2 things you need to know about sangria... 1) make it the day before you plan to partake. The flavors "marry" a bit more the longer they sit. And 2) The last glass poured out of this pitcher is the best drink of the whole deal. So serve your guests first... that's what a good hostess would do! RIGHT?!

Oh yeah, how could I forget... the last thing you need to know is that when I serve up my sangria I top the glass off with a few dashes of sparkly water, er fizzy water. It's just THAT much more refreshing...

How do YOU like sangria? Fizzy? Red? White?

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: An easy stir fry...

2011-07-02T10:09:00.001-07:00

Looking for some more easy summer dishes? Here's one that I think will be enjoyed quite often this summer! That's because with stir fry the veggies are cooked at a super high heat, which cooks them very fast! Other than prep time you're hardly spending any time actually "cooking".

And I know you know that I love my short cuts... taking a short cut here we bought a frozen package of stir fry vegetables (from Trader Joe's, but most groceries should have this). It's chocked full of pea pods, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, soybeans, water chestnuts, carrots and mushrooms. And then to that we added fresh broccoli. (Whick veggies do YOU use for a stir fry?)

Next we move on to making our stir fry sauce... it's a combination of soy sauce, chicken stock, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, corn starch and dark sesame oil (not pictured here). Oh, how forgetful am I?! I forgot to buy more when doing this post... so instead I used a touch of canola oil - and of course it didn't quite taste the same. But it worked out alright... next time, there's always next time.

The ingredients were whisked together in a little bowl and the corn starch added.

Here's an interesting fact about corn starch - it thickens when it gets hot. So be prepared for the corn starch to settle at the bottom of the cute little bowl... you can whisk it up again real quick before adding it to the heat.

And we're ready to stir fry... since stir fry is a quick process I've gotten in the habit of lining up all the players so they are ready for use: frozen stir fry vegetable mix, broccoli bites, and our "house chicken" (sliced/cooked - which we'll cover in another blog post)...

Heat the oil up, over medium-high to high heat... and add those veggies. (Please note - after eating this dish I wish I would have cooked the broccoli a little more. So, the recipe below is written to let the broccoli cook for a few minutes by themselves before adding the frozen veggies.)

Isn't that beautiful?! Yes, the pan will sizzle when the veggies are added... that's the sound you're looking for! You want it to be hot, hot, hot... (kind of like it is right now, outside... UNLIKE how it is as I sit inside typing away in my air conditioned house! Ahhh.... )

Keep moving the veggies around the pan, stirring/tossing frequently. They will cook for about 6-8 minutes total...

And then the sauce and the chicken is added... remember, as the sauce heats up it thickens up. It will also soak into the veggies and chicken... and it's oh so yummy!!!

Stir it around... and when the chicken has heated through it's ready to serve up!

We enjoy ours with brown rice, a touch more soy sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds to top it off.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
¼ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 cups fresh broccoli, cut into small bite-size pieces (by volume)
8 ounces frozen vegetable stir fry mix (by weight)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 10 oz, cooked and sliced)

Instructions
In a small bowl whisk together chicken broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce, corn starch, sesame oil and crushed red pepper. Set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to hot sauté pan (or wok) over high heat. Add broccoli, sauté for about 2-3 minutes; tossing pan regularly to coat and evenly cook broccoli. Add the vegetable stir fry mix and continue to saute for another 5-6 minutes. (If using fresh vegetables reduce cooking time appropriately.)

Stir broth mixture one more time to make sure corn starch is completely mixed in and add to pan. Simmer for about 30 seconds; add chicken. Reduce heat and stir until chicken is warmed through

Serve with brown rice, a touch more soy sauce and a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Bruschetta Soup

2011-06-26T20:13:00.001-07:00

I love making pantry soups... and this one is super healthy! I bet you could walk to your pantry and make a similar soup.

But I have a flavor bursting tip... in a ridiculous moment of genius (I have one every decade or so) I used Trader Joe's bottled Bruschetta topping. Bruschetta (an italian/tomato-based topping for bread or lavash) consists of tomatoes, basil and garlic, as well as a little olive oil and salt. By using this jar I discovered the bruschetta topping was so packed full of flavor that I didn't need to use any additional dried herbs.

So, here's where I started...

Chicken broth, chicken, jar of bruschetta topping, carrot, celery, onion and corn (and the garlic and pasta is not pictured).

And for the close up of the star of the show...

And then it's time for the veg...

Diced onions...

Diced carrots and celery...

Saute until they are, well... sauteed.

In the last few minutes add the garlic, sauteeing until it is soft. It is at this point that the whole house starts to smell like dinner time... I blame it on the garlic.

Add the bruschetta mixture and the chicken broth, give it a stir and bring it to a boil...

The beauty of soups is that you can often take some very simple flavors... and when you add heat to them and allow them to hang out for a long time they create a flavor all their own. (Kind of like ol' friends!)

Don't forget to add the shredded chicken and the corn... cover and allow all of this to sit on the stove top, over low to medium-low heat, for at least 20-30 minutes.

And then about 10 minutes before you are ready to have dinner increase the heat to medium-high and add the pasta, and bring to a boil. Once the pasta is done you can dish it up!

This would be great with a panini... or all by itself is just fine too! Enjoy...

Bruschetta Soup
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 whole rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 jar Trader Joe’s bruschetta topping
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small red onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup frozen corn, uncooked
2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup pasta (medium shells or macaroni)
Kosher salt/pepper

Instructions
Heat oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot add onions, carrots and celery. Sauté veg until slightly softened, 3-5 minutes. Add pinch of salt and garlic, sauté for another 2 minutes or so.

Add bruschetta topping, chicken stock and corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes. About 10 minutes before ready to eat, raise heat to medium-high and add pasta. Cook until al dente. Taste for flavor. Add kosher salt/pepper is desired.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Cooking Class at Cafe Merlot

2011-06-25T06:18:00.000-07:00

At the end of May our team at work did a cooking class, as a team building. We had a blast... what a treat! Lots of laughter, lots of food and lots of learning!

Our class started off with an introduction and some background from Toni Kraft, one of the proud new owners of Cafe Merlot at Bernardo Winery, the oldest continuously operating winery in Southern California. Bernardo Winery is hidden in the hills of North San Diego County (in Rancho Bernardo, as a matter of fact)... a quaint family run winery boasting jazz on Sunday afternoons, a large courtyard to stroll through, a coffee shop, restaurant, a farmers market on Fridays, shops & artist studios and a beautiful lawn leading out to some of the vineyards.

Please, if you do anything this summer... make sure to visit Bernardo Winery. (But don't tell anyone else - we want to keep it "hidden"!) ; )

We had some appetizers...

And then Toni handed us off to Chef Daniel Reynolds, who schooled us! (In a good way...)

Let's see... what did we learn/make?

- We made bruschetta (and he explained that if we were pronouncing this word "BROOSHEDDA" then we would be laughed at). Note to self: It's "BROOSKET-TA!"
- We made a citrus viniagrette
- We made his Universal Marinade (did I write down all of those ingredients?! phew!)
- He showed us how to make his famed omelets, as well as how to FLIP an omelet! (I failed!)

Through all of those cooking lessons Chef Daniel shared with us some of his kitchen tips (like why it's important to "spank the herbs"), a few chef secrets, the importance of LABELING everything in the kitchen/refrigerator (product, date, etc), tips on the proper julienne cut and explained the dice, aka "brunoise".

After each lesson we'd get to taste test what we had made, of course...

And by the end of the day we were so full we had to sit down...

And once we sat down they brought to us one of the most amazing mimosas I've ever had in my life. I'm telling you - they serve a special mimosa that you'll have to try for yourself... using a unique-to-them champagne (that's apparently rather difficult to acquire), blood orange juice and I believe there was a third ingredient (which I can't seem to recall at the moment).

What a great day... we learned a lot, we ate some amazing food (THAT WE MADE OURSELVES) and have I said yet how much we laughed ?! Oh yeah, and one more thing we took away from the day? "Don't pull a Lori!" (obviously referring to how I failed on the one-handed flip of the omelet...nice!)

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Final steps for homemade Limoncello

2011-06-24T17:15:00.001-07:00

Yes, we finally have limoncello! (And also grapefruit liqueur...don't forget about that one!)

If you have time, check out my previous post for Steps 2 and 3 (also within that post is the link to Step 1): Steps 2 and 3 to homemade limoncello

And nooowww (drumroll please) we are ready to unveil the goodness that is this my pride and joy this summer...

Bottle on the left is the grapefruit liqueur
Bottle on the right is the limoncello

Here are the steps I took to finalize this long, long process...

- I strained the liquid one last time
- I found appropriately sized bottles for storing the liqueur
- I placed the bottles in the freezer
- Approximately 3 hours later I got them out of the freezer and poured a shot of each. Yes, a shot of each...

(The only other thing I need to do is create a label for the bottles... still working on a snazzy name brand. "Lori's Limoncello"? Seems to fall flat... any other ideas out there?)

But back to the tasting... I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and fresh and sweet and PERFECT they were! (In fact I could barely tell the difference between the homemade and the store bought version I've been sipping on for the past several years!) All by themselves they are great to sip on... but I've also discovered that I LOVE the limoncello this way: Heatwave Lemonade

And I'm working on a grapefruit martini (well, not at this exact moment... after all, it's not even 5:30 am... you know what I mean!) Stay tuned for more on that beverage...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Recipe: Lite Tex Mex Salad

2011-06-24T15:06:00.001-07:00

As my hero-of-a-hubby and I embark on an "eating-fresher-and-getting-healthier-in-the-process" adventure we're finding all sorts of new food combinations, cooking methods, tasty tricks, etc... and this salad was one of the first things we discovered. It will be a staple for us through the summer...

Here's the recipe we started with... it was originally in Eating Well magazine, but most recently featured on Cooking.com. As you'll notice, the recipe doesn't include the fried tortilla... we just crumbled up a few tortilla chips on top of the salad for some extra crunch. The meat has so much flavor... so, so much flavor! What a great salad...

Tex-Mex Taco Salad

We decided to use ground turkey (obviously a leaner meat which also contains more protein by ounce and isn't as high in cholesterol as ground beef)... and then we changed up the dressing to a lighter yogurt version.

The original Southwest Dressing post... Southwest Dressing

But NOW we are replacing the Ranch dressing with Fage greek yogurt. This reduces the calories and carbs dramatically. (And with all the extra seasonings in it you can't even taste the difference. It's a perfect substitution!)

Come with us as we dig deeper into the topic of nutrition and as we commit to eating fresher and being healthier!

Below is my "lite" version of Eating Well's Tex Mex Salad recipe...

Lite Tex Mex Salad
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
½ cup prepared salsa
3 tablespoons Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces ground turkey
1 large plum tomato, diced
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
2 teaspoons chili powder, divided
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
¼ cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Instructions
Make the lite southwest dressing first. Compbine Fage yogurt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, pinch of cayenne pepper and kosher salt. Whisk together until combined. Add salsa to yogurt mixture and stir well. Set aside.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until onions start to turn translucent. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute or so, stirring often. Add ground meat and cook until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Add kidney beans, cumin, chili powder and a pinch of salt. Stir well, lower heat and place lid on skillet. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes to ensure the beans get cooked. Remove lid, add tomato and cook for a few more minutes, until the tomato begins to break down (about 2 minutes). Remove from the heat, stir in cilantro and 2 tablespoons of the salsa mixture.

In a large bowl add lettuce and remaining salsa mixture – toss until all lettuce pieces are coated with salsa. Divide lettuce among two plates; top with the cooked meat/bean mixture, shredded cheese and a few crumbled tortilla chips.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Herbs: Cilantro, the experiment

2011-06-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

If you've ever attempted to grow cilantro you might understand when I say that it's TRICKY! But I so badly want to grow it... because I'm tired of buying a new bundle every week. I use it so often... why can't I just figure out how to grow it?!

I had given up at one point due to failing on more than one occasion. This time I set my mind to researching the known issues further, asking other herb lovers (and by "herb lovers" I mean, they like to GROW and UTILIZE herbs... not smoke them) and doing an experiment of my own.

I had learned a lot in the meantime ... how difficult can this be?! So, I purchased two cilantro plants and found similar size containers to put them in.

What I learned...
Cilantro does not like heat but it likes a lot of the cool morning sun.
The soil must stay moist and have good drainage.
The plant should be trimmed regularly to promote new growth.
Snails/slugs LOVE cilantro and can eat through a plant within about 24 hours.
Each plant will potentially harvest two or three bundles of clippings before bolting.
Depending on how much cilantro being use, plant more seed every 2-3 weeks to ensure continual availability.
Cilantro grows very fast!
When the plant bolts, you can use the coriander seeds to replant or save them and use them as a spice.

Sample #1
Grow INDOORS next to window that gets that most morning sun but in a room that does not get hot. Keep soil moist and trim regularly. (And since I don't have snails in my home I think this is the example that will work the best.)

Sample #2
Grow OUTDOORS, where it gets morning sun, but is in the shade during the hottest part of the day. Keep soil moist and trim regularly. (Watch daily for snails/slugs.)

Can you guess which sample is which?!

As you can see the sample on the right is not well at all. I had noticed quite a bit of dead sprigs on it and trimmed it back (it's first trimming). And gave it more water. It has not bounced back.

The plant on the left is Sample 2, which is the winner... the OUTDOOR sample is thriving!

Would you like to know more about it's current growing conditions?
The plant gets streaming morning light, but partly shaded direct sun for about an hour in the morning. It sits on a tall ledge, under the over-hang, by my front door. I keep the soil moist, by adding about a cup of water to the soil every other day. A good portion of that water drains out the bottom, but it holds on to what it needs.

I will be trimming a good portion of this back today. Stay tuned for future pictures of how long this planting lasts and what it looks like...

enjoy your time in the kitchen (and the garden)...

Herbs: why they "bolt"

2011-06-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had something like this shooting straight up from your herbs? (The above shot is a picture of a bolting sprig on my dill plant.)

I recently discovered this in my italian flat-leaf parsley (below) and started researching what that meant. Afterall, I didn't think parsley had flowers!

What I discovered is that this is called " bolting ". What I understand about bolting is that this is the plant's natural defense mechanism to stay alive. When the growing conditions change (ground temperature rises, the plant is growing in extreme heat conditions, etc) the plant's natural defense is to move on to the next stage of life... so it bolts. Literally! It sends this shoot straight up in the air, producing these interesting looking pods and goes to seed. It's so concerned about the next generation (seed) that it does what it can, while it can, to save itself.

Here's one thing to realize... once it bolts there isn't much you can do about it. The plant's energy is all re-directed to this shoot of the plant that the rest of it loses it's flavor and often times becomes extra "woody" and/or dies off.

We can often times slow down the bolting process by keeping the plant trimmed back (even if we aren't utilizing all of the plant it needs to be trimmed to promote new growth). Routine trimming also keeps the plant fuller looking.

And the second thing to realize? Almost all herbs (and some green vegetables, like lettuce of broccoli) will eventually bolt. That said, be prepared to harvest the items immediately, take advantage of the seed production and start a new pot from seed and/or purchase a new plant.

It's the cycle of life... and for us gardeners it's sad, but it's ok. We'll be ok.

(sniff, sniff)

enjoy your time in the kitchen (and your garden) ...

Wine tasting in Paso Robles, Ca

2011-06-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

On Memorial Day we packed up the car and headed north ... final destination Pismo Beach. Other stops included: Santa Barbara, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo and of course Paso Robles...

Every now and then I get a longing to drive through these rollings hills where I once lived... my childhood full of memories of beach days, camping trips, playing with frogs in the creek and that sweet feeling of surrender... so we made it happen! After MUCH deliberation we planned our trip... and wouldn't trade it for the world!

So today I am finally getting around to blog about our wine tasting tour through Paso Robles...

We parked downtown Paso Robles and waited for the The Wine Line bus to pick us up. How does The Wine Line work? Well, like a true tour bus...

Of course you can check out their website for the full story.

Lori Jean's version? Riders can hop off the bus at any vineyard or tasting room, hang out for a while, and then hop back on the bus when they're ready to move on to the next stop... and for the record, they are THE best way to experience Paso Robles' vineyards!

Since we'd never been through wine country in Paso Robles before we let them suggest which vineyards we should stop at and in which order. There was 1 additional couple on the bus with us... and we all just tagged along and enjoyed the day together. Afterall, we do love talking to strangers, meeting new people and finding out what we have in common... it was a perfect day!

Come with us on the pictorial review of our tour... ?

How wine tasting works in Paso Robles
As we visited various vineyards we found each vineyard has a different deal on prices for tasting. One place gave us 5 free tastings, another let us try ALL 10 of their wines for $3 and others were the standard $5 for 5 tastings. And yet another waived the tasting fee if we bought a bottle of wine.

You see, the proprietors want you to taste their wine in hopes that you'll buy wine (and buy a lot of it). Obviously they don't make much on selling tastings... they make their money by selling wine. (And sending people like us home share pics and talk about how great the wine is, friendly the vineyard staff is and how priceless an experience it all was!)

We started at Castoro Cellars ... where we learned they are currently bottling the "Coastal" brand for Trader Joe's. (note to self!)

The vineyard and grounds look like you'd expect a vineyard to look like. There is a long walkway up to the tasting room, rolling hills of vineyards, a large patio with chairs and tables placed strategically to enjoy the view, bundles of California poppies and lavendar speckling the planters and large empty barrels sitting about.

The tasting room was as comfortable as my imaginary italian aunt's home ... the walls painted in warm yellow tones and rich cabinetry... sofas and chairs and a big fireplace. Our Wine Line Guide was right... this was the perfect place to start!

While I had been wine tasting once or twice at local tasting rooms my hero-of-a-hubby has not. So we asked for the beginner's tour at our first vineyard stop. The friendly wine steward took her time to help us become comfortable with the "in's and out's" of tasting. She explained "how" flavors work, how to taste, how to ALWAYS ignore the first sip and to judge the wine off of the second taste.

She was patient with us, funny, knowledgable and excited about 2 particular wines that we couldn't wait to taste!

We tried 5 wines for FREE and bought a 2007 Zinfusion (this was not her favorite - but it WAS in our price range). Perfect way to start the tour!

I took a gander through their shop and stopped briefly in front of the syrups, jams, marinades, etc.

I could literally sit here all day... but alas, this is the just the beginning. We had several more hours of this.

So I kept walking...

Afterall, this is just the first stop!

We came, we tasted, we conquered! Time to hop back in the bus and move on to vineyard/tasting room #2...

Tasting #2 at Zenaida Cellars - surrounded by yet another awe-inspiring view from the patio...

This tasting room had a completely different feel to it... dark black-brown painted cabinetry, antiqued gray-tan walls, blue neon lights hanging from the ceiling. Just felt a bit more "cool" and updated, like a downtown loft.

We enjoyed 5 wines for a small fee... and took home their Zc Red. While my hubby was paying our bill I took the opportunity to stroll around their property a bit...

And you guessed it, again I found that I wanted to sit here all day!

But no sitting was going to be done quite yet. I just couldn't... afterall, it's only noon! We've got some more touring and tasting to do! Let's get a wiggle on...

Tasting #3 - (admittedly, my favorite stop of the day)... AronHill Vineyards

We drove up, climbed out of the van and saw THIS view...

Now THIS?! THIS is where I was going to sit for a while.

I mean, can you blame me?! Look at that view! It was a perfect 71 degrees outside with a slight breeze and we were among fantastic company!

Our Wine Line guide brought out the pre-ordered lunches (sandwich, potato salad and fruit) as we were treated to a remarkable wine tasting affair.

It is apparent that Judy, the proprietor of Aron Hill Vineyards, is in love with what she does on a daily basis! Not only did she personally deliver our tastings and talked to us about each wine... but she had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye that showed me she has found her passion in life and is living it outloud!

Can I tell you how much I love that?!

We sat, enjoyed lunch, enjoyed 5 tastings and took in this view...

We didn't rush to get up and Nic, our Wine line guide, talked to us about the history of this region, how certain aspects of the wine industry work and his personal travels.

We brought home a bottle of the best wine we'd tasted all day, Judy's 2006 Primitivo and two pieces of her stemware.

We helped ourselves to a self-guided tour of her new tasting room (it opened less than a month ago), which included her new shiny (and fully-stocked) chef's kitchen where they will soon start preparing/selling food for lunches, etc. I noted she had a few panini presses and said "Oh - we'll be back!"

Let it be known - the tour could have been over at this point. My expectations had been greatly exceeded and the rest of the day paled in comparison... (sorry in advance to the next 2 vineyards, I'm just sayin'... )

Tasting #4 at Norman Vineyards ... known for their Monster Zinfandel. We brought home 2 bottles...

It was obvious they were cat lovers (that's neither a good or bad thing) ... not to mention the company logo.

I enjoyed strolling around their property with my camera, and of course with the cats following every move...

And it was time to get back in the bus...

Tasting #5 at Rotta Winery... the oldest family-owned winery in San Luis Obispo county.

As soon as I walked in I wondered if I was on the set of "Will & Grace". Why? Our wine steward was the spittin' image of Karen! Rather weird and comical all at the same time... but I didn't say anything to her until the end.

On one end of the bar was a group of 3 guys who had obviously been drinking (oh, rather "tasting") for a good portion of the day (and one who smelled pretty ripe, I might say)... these boys were "good ol' boys" and were giving the wine steward quite the trouble. But it was all in fun...

Here we enjoyed a taste of each of their wines (I think a dozen of them?) for $3! Yes, only $3. We were definitely feeling our wine at this point...

Look at all those awards! They wanted us to TASTE what made them so good!

Ugh... it was now about 4:30 pm and we had been "tasting" since 11 am. Phew... I needed to sit down again (while I'm on that subject - why don't these tasting rooms have chairs to sit in?!)... but the tv show look-alike was keeping us on our toes!

We brought home the 2007 Estate Zinfandel... she explained that this was the reason we came in today. And she was right! It's pretty darn fantastic!

As we said our goodbyes at Rotta I asked the wine steward if anyone had ever mentioned her uncanny resemblance to Karen of "Will & Grace"... she laughed out loud (just like Karen, of course) and said "NO - but I love it!"

Then we hopped back in the bus, rehydrating with WATER and took the leisurely drive back into town... and our thoughtful and helpful Wine Line driver dropped us at a dinner locale downtown Paso Robles, just about a block from where we had parked. We slowly ate dinner, drank WATER and chatted over the favorite's of the day, how we were impressed with the whole experience, etc.

We eventually walked back towards the truck and made our way back to our hotel in Pismo Beach.

We talked about how glad we were to have been able to experience this, and dreamed about how soon we can come back! We are glad we toured Paso Robles for our first wine tasting tour together... it was a complete experience!

(And we have half of a case of wine to prove it! Sheesh!)

Best part of it, my hero-of-a-hubby and I haven't gotten away (just the two of us) for quite a number o years. We relished in the opportunity to reconnect, dream and relax together. What a treat...

And I leave you with this...

“When wine enlivens the heart, may friendship surround the table.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Tangy & Sweet Fruit Dip

2011-05-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

This is THE perfect dip for a large fruit platter. Being strawberry season and all ... it's the perfect time to post this.

Here's what I do for fruit dip... a cup of sour cream and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Whisk it into submission (aka "until all powdered sugar is dissolved") and give it a taste. If you like it sweeter add another 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

The sour cream makes it tangy. The powdered sugar sweetens it up... and it's just heavenly. It's like the perfect combination!

So, so, soooo good! You can also add a drop of vanilla extract or lemon zest, etc. Top it with a pinched off mint blossom... OR just dunk a strawberry in it and enjoy it as is...

This dip is also great served over blackberries or blueberries, to dip pineapple in, etc...

Sure there are healthier options than sour cream and powdered sugar... so have at it (like yogurt and honey)...

Get creative. Be your own chef. But promise me one thing: eat your fruit! It's good for you...

(Yes, I double dipped... don't judge me. It's my own kitchen and I rule here!)

(smile)

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

well THAT didn't work ...

2011-05-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up in the middle of the night (some of my best ideas happen either in the shower or with a startled wake up): "Ooooh! I'll make some cinnamon rolls in the morning!"

I've never made cinnamon rolls before. My mom used to all the time. And I know it took her a long time. And there was a lot of waiting involved. But I was prepared.

So I tackled it: I lined up all the ingredients and started snapping pictures... and by the time I got to the mixing stage I knew something was wrong. The flour and the wet mixture didn't really come together. The dough was just dry... and then I had to add more water to get the dough to look like what I thought it should look like.

But at a certain moment in time I knew these weren't going to come out like I had hoped. But I kept at it...

I followed all the rest of the steps: allow the dough to rest, divide in half, roll out, layer with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon/brown sugar (and half of them with raisins, for me)... placed them in a baking container and set them aside to rest some more.

Below is a picture of the rolls BEFORE rising.

However, as you'll see below, 2 1/2 hours later they still hadn't hardly risen at all.

They weren't possibly going to rise anymore after that amount of time... so I took my chances and baked them.

And then I started bargaining with myself: "Maybe I could suggest they are 'mini-cinnamon rolls'?" But when I pulled them out of the oven I noticed the outsides of the rolls were all flaky and cracking and looked dried out...

I drizzled them with frosting... and took a bite...

And then I changed my mind: "Maybe I should face reality and just call them petrified cinnamon rolls'?"

Sad, sad day ...

And to top it off, my hubby walked into the living room a few minutes later and sheepishly confessed: "Sorry honey. Don't take it personally, but I only ate two of them. My teeth hurt."

No matter the failure, I will try it again. I will start by buying some new yeast. And I'll take it from there...

Anyone else have any failed kitchen projects that you won't let get the better of you?! I want to hear about them!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: the BEST French Toast EVER, thank you to Alton Brown

2011-05-22T13:01:00.001-07:00

First off, I apologize about a few blurry moments in this post... so now that you know, well you can forgive me whole-heartedly... and just keep reading.

Alton Brown swears this is the only way to make french toast correctly. And my hero-of-a-hubby would completely agree... somehow Alton Brown found the perfect combination of ingredients and cooking techniques to make an outstanding french toast. You want to make this... soon!

Following Alton's recommendation, I started by letting the bread sit out over night. It's amazing what a little bit of oxygen will do to some white bread. The bread dries out and it then becomes the perfect canvas for some amazingness.

What else you'll need: eggs, honey and half + half.

Whisk it all together until it looks pretty and custard-like...

Transfer the custard to a casserole pan and set aside...

Then you can start the process of soaking the bread in the custard, about 30 seconds on each side...

Transfer the soaked bread to cooling rack, with a cookie sheet underneath it (to catch any drips). Continue on in batches, two pieces of bread at a time. Soak and drip, soak and drip.

In the meantime you can cook two pieces of bread in a saute pan with a little bit of butter, 2-3 minutes on each side (until lightly browned).

And while you're cooking go ahead and soak up the next couple pieces of bread...

Once the first step of the cooking process is complete, transfer the french toast to another baking sheet or place directly on an oven rack. At this point they need to cook for another 5 minutes or so...

The second part of this cooking process ensures crisp edges, but tender centers. And the french toast is rich, but not heavy.

Confession time: each of these slices of french toast are layered with butter and maple syrup. Don't judge me... just do me a favor: splurge on this! (You know you want to.)

And be prepared for your loved ones to hug and kiss you and beg for you to make more.

Serve up with your favorite brunch or breakfast items ...

But most importantly a huge shout out to Alton Brown ... thank you for making me look good!

French Toast
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Ingredients
1 cup half and half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
¼ teaspoon salt
8 (1/2 inch) slices day-old bread or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter

Instructions
In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half and half, eggs, honey and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch nonstick sauté pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

2 RECIPES: Alfredo Sauce and Italian Nachos

2011-05-08T18:47:00.001-07:00

Please forgive me, for I neglected to take pictures of all the players for this post... but you can catch up easily. Come with me...

We're going to make italian nachos... and for that we need some grilled chicken, alfredo sauce and nacho toppings. You will want to make these...

My hero-of-a-hubby and I first enjoyed these in Dallas at a Johnny Carino's restaurant... and we fell in love, with the nachos that is (as we were already in love with each other - obviously). We were in Dallas for my brother's wedding... and jealous they had a Carino's and we didn't.

Lucky us, they eventually opened a Carino's restaurant near us in Southern California and we got to go back and enjoy it again and again... to the point that I finally started making them at home. Sadly they recently closed their location near us... but we don't mind, I'm making my twist on our favorite Carino dishes in my own kitchen now...

Here's how we do the italian nachos. Start with wonton wrappers, cut in half to form triangles. (I used about half a package, or 30-40 wonton wrappers for two large dinner plates of nachos.)

Once the canola oil is heated up to frying temperatures then you can start frying the wonton wrappers, several at a time. Fry until lightly browned and then flip them over. With a spider remove them to a dish lined with paper towels (to soak up any extra oil). Continue with all of the wonton wrappers until they are all fried.

While you're working on the wonton wrappers grill up some chicken breasts. You'll see that I cut the chicken breasts in half. They cook a bit faster this way... and that suits me just fine.

Once they were on the grill I sprinkled them with garlic salt and black pepper. They cooked for about 3 minutes on each side... once they got flipped over they cooked for about 2 minutes. Nice and fast, eh?!

In the meantime, most of the wonton wrappers are ready... every now and then I sprinkled them with some kosher salt. And then they just sat over here and waited for their nacho destiny.

In the meantime I started the quick and easy alfredo sauce. This uses a block of cream cheese, half a stick of butter, parmesan cheese, milk, nutmeg, and kosher salt/pepper.

It's as easy as this... cube the butter and cream cheese. Place the cubes in a medium sized saucepan (over medium low heat), add milk and parmesan cheese and stir until everything is melted and smooth.

Add the kosher salt, black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Allow the sauce to sit over low heat, stirring every few minutes, until you're ready to use it.

Tonight my hero-of-a-hubby was helping with the prep work... see?! There are his manly hands slicing up some cute lil' pepperoncinis... yum!!!

And to give him a bit more credit... he also did 2 loads of dishes tonight (lucky me!), prepped most of the misc ingredients (also known as "mise en place"), manned the frying wonton wrappers, and looked over my shoulder each step of the way! We had fun doing this together tonight! (I'm one lucky girl!!!)

Lastly we begin the assembly... let's work on the first layer of "chips", sliced chicken, alfredo sauce and toppings of choice...

And we finish it off with just one more layer of all of these good things...

He likes only a few pepperoncinis and black olives, and no tomatoes...

But me? Load 'em up! I love the pepperoncinis, black olives, diced tomatoes... and I typically like cripier chips. So we made our own plates...

Johnny Carino's also offered them with crumbled italian sausage, which we did not use tonight... but it only makes these nachos better. There's always next time...

In the meantime... here's the recipe for the alfredo... enjoy!!!

Favorite Alfredo Sauce
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into small squares
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
¼ cup butter, cut into small squares
½ cup milk
Pinch of salt, black pepper and nutmeg

Instructions
Place medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Combine cream cheese, Parmesan, butter and milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Leftovers freeze well.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Step 4 to homemade limoncello...

2011-05-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

We are one step (and 40 days) away from being able to enjoy this limoncello. This process takes about 3 months from beginning to start... I cannot wait!

To see what the first steps look like, go here: Steps 2 and 3 to homemade limoncello. Within that blog post will be a link to Step 1.

This is today's finished product...

Here is where I picked up... I pulled the two containers of liqueur out of the dark and cool cabinet plus I need coffee filters, a funnel, a ladle, baker's sugar, and distilled water.

Hours before I was ready to tackle this time-involved process I made the simple syrup. I chose "baker's sugar" over granulated sugar simply because it is finer and dissolves quickly. The simple syrup must cool before it can be added to the liqueur.

To make simple syrup you simply add 2 parts sugar and 1 part water to a pot and turn on the heat. Once the sugar is dissolved and the liquid turns clear then it's done. Give it a few stirs throughout this process... it's that easy.

And when you're ready to start the filtration process here is how it goes...

Remove the lemon rinds... they have served their purpose here. Lacking their bright yellow color at this point they still smell like lemon, but the taste has been left behind in the liqueur.

The liqueur now needs to be filtered of the "floaties"... yes, take a close look. It's not pretty... but it will be much prettier later in this post.

Here we go... find a coffee filter, a funner and another container to strain the liquid into. You might be surprised how fast these filters clog with "floaties". So be prepared to switch out the filter with nearly each ladle-full of liquid.

This process is time consuming, but necessary and well worth it.

Once it was time, I simply plopped the used filter into a bowl and placed a new one in the funnel.

Already you can see how much clearer the liquid is...

So let's step back and take a look at the whole process here. And as you'll see I'm filtering two liqueurs. While I'm at it I'm trying my hand at a grapefruit liqueur as well. (YUM!)

Similarly you'll see that the grapefruit rinds have lost of lot of their color in the past 40 days. But they imparted some major flavor to the vodka. Wow...

And THIS is what the last ladle of limoncello looks like before it gets filtered. I'm happy to know it's being filtered out.

Also this is what's left behind in the last filter... blech! I'm glad it's in the filter and not in the prized liqueur.

And here is where I'm going to skip some pics... the liqueur got filtered again. Yes, it got filtered a second time. The second time around the process went a bit faster... yay!

The last step is adding the cooled simple syrup to the liqueur and then adding it back to cook, dark cabinet.

I snuck a sip of the grapefruit liqueur ... and if it's any indication of what this is going to be like in 40 more days... well, holy moly!!! That will be the day!

In the meantime I'm counting the days...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Boysenberry Linzer Torte

2011-05-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

So sooo soooooo good... and as with most desserts it can also serve as breakfast, right?!

In fact, that's how I feel about MOST desserts ... don't judge me.

It takes just 3 ingredients. Yes, that's all. Here's where I started... sugar cookie dough, boysenberry jam and almond slices.

Once you get over the guilt of not making your own dough, break open the packages. I used 1 1/2 tubes of cookie dough to make the crust on the bottom.

Press it into the pan firmly. And then top it with some boysenberry jam...

When layering the jam I left an edge of crust around the edge... this isn't a requirement. It's just my creative touch...

Then I tossed some sliced almonds on top... and started some not-so-fancy lattice work on top (made of dough).

I slid it into the oven for about 25 minutes... but I wish I would have left it in there a little longer. I would recommend more like 30 minutes. But each oven is a little different.

Allow it to cool a tad and then cut into 1" squares. But I would advise to enjoy this while it's still a little warm... just trust me on this one.

And when you do enjoy it you might want to have a cup of coffee handy... it's a perfect match.

And of course you can switch out the boysenberry for raspberry or strawberry or blackberry or whatever it is you like. Be creative... there's no rules with this one. Except for this: ENJOY!

Boysenberry Linzer Torte
Recipe courtesy www.epicurious.com

Ingredients
2 tubes of sugar cookie dough
6 tablespoons boysenberry jam
2 tablespoons almond slices

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9” x 13” casserole pan with cooking spray. Spread approximately 1 ¼ tubes of cookie dough over bottom of casserole pan, pressing firmly until dough creates a crust. Spread jam over surface of dough, leaving 1/2 inch border around the edge.

Using the remaining dough, create lattice work across the top of the jam (criss-crossing dough over the top in both directions).

Bake for 20-30 minutes until dough is golden brown. Bottom crust will bubble a bit. Allow to cool completely and cut into 1” squares.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Grape Nuts Peanut Butter Bars

2011-04-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Who likes their Grape Nuts? And how do you like it?

As a snack, all on it's own?
On top of yogurt or ice cream?
As cereal? With honey on top? <--- my fav!

But one morning I spied a recipe on the back of the box ... and it included peanut butter...

And it didn't matter what else was in the recipe. They had me at peanut butter.

Here's what else is included... sugar, light corn syrup and Grape Nuts.

Start with a large bowl (microwave safe)... and warm up the peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup. (Stir it half way through...)

Pour the Grape Nuts into the bowl and mix well.

Transfer the mixture to a greased 13 x 9 inch pan... and set aside to cool.

After the bars cool for several hours, cut them into small squares and wrap them individually in saran wrap for keeping in a cool/dry place.

They can be enjoyed for snacks, breakfast, dessert... whenever you receive a Grape Nut or peanut butter craving.

They are crunchy and sweet and peanut buttery... and a perfect afternoon snack! Good, good stuff here!

Grape Nuts Peanut Butter Bars
Recipe courtesy Post Cereal

Ingredients
¾ reduced fat peanut butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
4 cups Grape Nuts Cereal

Instructions
Microwave peanut butter, corn syrup and sugar in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes, or just until mixture comes to a boil, stirring after each minute. Add cereal; mix well.

Press cereal mixture firmly onto bottom of 13x9 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cool completely.

Cut cereal mixture into bars. Wrap individually with plastic wrap. Store in lightly covered container at room temperature.

Makes 2 - ½ dozen or 30 servings, one bar each.

Fruit bars/optional: prepare as directed, stirring in 1 cup dried fruit, such as raisins, cranberries, cherries or dried fruit bits, along with the cereal. (Or mini chocolate chips.)

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

When I was 8 years old I received my first cookbook

2011-04-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

A gift from my Mom's Mom, a fabulous Gramma. She was a wife and mother who was known to make a new dessert every night of the week. When you have a husband with a sweet tooth and 3 kids running the house... yes, it is necessary!

When I was 8 years old I started drooling over cookbooks. I remember standing for hours at the kitchen counter, reading each detail of each recipe... looking at all the details of all the hand drawn illustrations.

I mean, who wouldn't when you have graphics like this?!

In all seriousness, this kid's cookbook has more technical information in it that most "grown up" cookbooks! Check it out... this goes into detail on necessary items, safety precautions, proper names of kitchen utensils, cooking methods, etc! (I think I even learned something again when reading it again yesterday!)

I do recall making a killer cinnamon toast... thank you to my very first cookbook! Mmmm.... makes me want some now!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Steps 2 and 3 to homemade Limoncello

2011-04-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

Time to check in again on the homemade limoncello. At two weeks and then again at four weeks... it's time to take a gander and a stir.

But we're also checking in on the grapefruit liqueur... both of these liqueurs have been steeping for 4 weeks. After 2 weeks I took them out of their dark, cool cabinet to give them a stir. And now at 4 weeks we do the same...

This is what the grapefruit liqueur looks like... isn't that beautiful?! I truly look forward to enjoying this treat when it has fully steeped.

But we still have several weeks for that...

Time to check the limoncello...

And by "check" I mean, give it a stir... there's not much else to do here.

Except wait... the wait will go on for another month or so. Stay tuned...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

2011-04-11T19:53:00.001-07:00

Some really good cookies were made here in my kitchen today... they are kinda crunchy but mostly soft, really sweet and really rockin'!

This is where it all starts... cream together the good stuff (sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs).

Once it's all creamed together... mix together the dry ingredients: flour, oatmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

A little at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture...

But here is where it gets tricky... the mixture gets so thick that you will need to put some elbow grease into it. (In fact, I took the mixing bowl off of the mixing stand and did it by hand from here... taking breaks every few minutes.) ; -)

I chopped up the chocolate and added it along with the chocolate chips... you can either use 4 of the regular size chocolate bars or one of the King Size bars. It doesn't matter either way...

Mix it just one more time...

Scoop, scoop, scoop, scoop, scoop...

And then bake, bake, bake...

Try not to drool...

OK - you can drool now...

But only after you've gone to the store, stocked up on chocolate bars and made these for yourself. And it makes A LOT of cookies... so be prepared to share!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
(This is rumored to be Mrs. Field's recipe, but I haven't been able to ask her myself to confirm that.)

Cream together:
2 cups butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine the following ingredients and add to creamy mixture:
4 cups flour, sifted
4 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Once well combined, add
8 oz. semi-sweet choc. chips
7 oz. Hershey bar (chopped)
Optional: add 3 c. chopped nuts

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet, 375 degrees F, for about 8-10 minutes.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Perfect for Saturday brunch...

2011-04-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you Pillsbury for making my Saturday morning! A girlfriend was coming over for brunch in about an hour and I opened the refrigerator to pull out the ingredients to make a frittata... and I realized I had forgotten to purchase more eggs when I was at the grocery store. As you may or may not know, you can't make much of a frittata with only 2 eggs... hmm... NOW WHAT?!

Pillsbury to the rescue!!! I went searching online and found the perfect recipe: Hashbrown Egg Cups.

Brunch ended up being a complete success ... we got to choose from fresh fruit, fresh baked banana muffins and my personal favorite... oh yeah, and the piping hot hasbrown egg cups.

So, in this post I'll show you how I made the hashbrown egg cups... it's so easy! And my friend can vouch for how yummy they were... and comforting and filling and cute ... all at the same time!

I started by combining prepared hashbrowns, grated cheese, green onions and salt/pepper.

Then I greased the oven-safe bowl and added the hashbrown/cheese mixture by shaping it and pressing it aganst the walls, to create a cup shape.

I placed the bowls on a baking sheet and slid them into a preheated oven...

Following Pillsbury's instructions, the hashbrowns baked for a while. In the meantime I scrambled the eggs and counted the minutes...

When the time was right I added the scrambled egg and topped it with a tad more grated cheese.

You want to make these... I promise!

And yes, I do believe we'll be having some for dinner this week too... 'cuz we're "breakfast for dinner" kind of people.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Lovin' our homemade pizza...

2011-04-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

A new favorite in our house... an old classic. I found this multi-grain crust at my local Albertsons. "Culinary Circle" is their upscale store brand name. And wow... they sure know how to make a good upscale store brand pre-baked pizza crusts.

And then we topped it with some really good pizza toppings to make a Manly Meaty Pizza... garlic-infused olive oil, marinara of choice, Gallo salame and pepperoni, mozzarella cheese... you know, your favorite pizza toppings, whatever those may be.

On the "girly" side of the pizza I used my pesto of choice and a vine-ripened tomato... and maybe a few slices of pepperoni slipped in there too.

Next, I drizzled some garlic-infused olive oil on the crust... and brushed it over the top of the whole crust.

And I will say here that I'm convinced that broiler pans bake pizza doughs just as good as pizza stones. The air circulates up under the crust and dries it out... so it gets nice and crispy and perfectly done!

How did I discover this? Well, we've been using pizza stones for at least 10 years now (for frozen pizzas). And recently our pizza stone dropped and cracked in half. I hadn't had a chance to replace it yet before I wanted to make another pizza. So, I gave the trusty broiler pan a whirl... and voila! Perfectly, crusty crust!

Now, on to the toppings... marinara sauce on His side, pesto on my side.

I sprinkled mozzarella cheese across the whole crust... then...

On His side I topped with meatballs (cut in half)
On my side I topped with sliced raw tomatoes

And then more mozzarella, and (oh yeah) also some crumbled bacon. Yes, bacon.

Next, salame... and some more mozzarella.

Last, a layer of pepperoni... followed by? What else... mozzarella.

TIP FROM LORI: If you like crispy pizza (and we do) then do what we do. If the instructions on the crust reads to bake the pizza at 400 degrees F, then we actually bake it at 425 degrees F for a slightly less amount of time.

So, it's time for the close up shot...

Above: the Manly Meaty Pizza...

Below: the Girly Pesto Pizza...

Both are equally scrumptious... and a little sinful.

We also usually shake some red pepper flakes on top of one of those layers and sometimes some garlic salt too. Tonight I forgot... but we didn't send the pizza back...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Lasagna Cups

2011-04-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

May I present to you Lasagna Cupcakes...

It's quick, it's a great dinner party conversation piece and best of all... it's yummy!

Here's the short and quick of it: cut the corners off of wonton wrappers... yes, wonton wrappers. Tuck them into greased cupcake tins and then begin the normal lasagna layering process... just in much smaller quantities.

First start with the parmesan, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses... then spoon in some marinara sauce.

Add some browned meat (I used ground beef and italian sausage) seasoned with dried oregano, dried parsley and salt/pepper... followed by some more cheese and some more sauce and some more... yeah, you get the point.

Place the cupcake tin(s) into the preheated oven and let it bake away. It's done in about 20 minutes and believe it or not they are easy to scoop up out of those tins. And they are yummy... and sure to be a crowd pleaser! (But that's only if you want to share...)

Thank you Tablespoon.com for posting this idea just in time for this weekend's dinner party...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

lovin' homemade pizza...

2011-04-02T07:39:00.001-07:00

I tested this out last week... the full blog post to follow the next time we have this for dinner.

What kind of pizza is this?

2/3 of this pizza is "Manly Meaty Goodness" (meatballs, bacon and pepperoni)
The other 1/3 of the pizza is girly-pesto-pepperoni yumminess...

Easiest dinner I've made in a long time... and my hero-of-a-hubby has transferred the "hero" title to me, at least for tonight.

Tonight we used the broiler pan (because our pizza stone recently cracked in half)... and I'm convinced that the broiler pan is just as good. The air circulates up under the crust and makes it crispy - just like we like it! LOVE IT!

Watch for the full post... within the next week, I promise!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Simple Pepperoni Calzone

2011-03-25T20:19:00.001-07:00

This calzone is easy enough to throw together in 30 minutes and you'll be a hero in your kitchen! Once you crack it open you smell the metled cheese, the yummy herbs that add such flavor and, and... you want to make this!

This post is to celebrate having my camera back! For the last 5 months I've been using an "old camera" (a semi-broken, duct-taped together older camera)... but I keep it around for posterity sake. It was my first digital camera ... and it inhabits a soft spot in my heart.

THAT SAID, I'm once again getting used to this camera and feel the need to apologize for some of the blurryness (even though it's only in a picture or two). Pardon me, just getting reacquainted after 5 months...

However, my camera issues didn't keep me from being a hero in the kitchen tonight!

Here's where I started: prepared pizza dough, some dried herbs, crumbled bacon, pepperoni, mozzarella and ricotta cheeses and some garlic-infused olive oil.

But first preheat your oven... to 425 degrees F.

Mix together the cheeses, herbs, bacon and a pinch of red pepper flakes (not pictured here). Toss in the crumbled bacon.

Roll out the prepared pizza dough to about 12-14 inches (on a lightly floured surface).

Note on the pizza dough: I bought it at Trader Joe's, already prepared. It's sold in the refrigerated section (near the cheeses). And they sell both "plain" and "whole wheat". Tonight we went with the plain...

Pile the filling on one half of the dough (spreading it out evenly), top with pepperoni, leaving at least an inch of dough at the edge of the crust.

Drizzle with some of the garlic-infused olive oil and pull the other half of the dough over the filling.

Crimp the edges together and curl the dough under slightly.

Transfer calzone to a broiler pan and drizzle/brush on a little more garlic-infused olive oil.

Bake in a 425 degrees F oven, on a rack positioned in the middle of the oven, until it puffs up nicely and browns (about 18-20 minutes).

Remove from broiler pan with a pizza peel and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. And it doesn't hurt to grate some fresh parmesan over the top... right?!

Cut it into a few pieces and serve up... but more than that, ENJOY!

You'll be the hero too!

Simple Calzone
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
½ cup ricotta
½ cup bacon, crumbled
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Red pepper flakes, pinch
handful of pepperoni (about 18-20 slices)
1 store bought pizza dough
2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F; position rack in middle of oven. Toss together mozzarella cheese, ricotta, herbs, bacon and red pepper flakes. Unroll dough onto a lightly-floured flat surface. Roll dough out to at least 12-14 inch diameter. Mound filling on one half of dough; leaving 1 inch of dough around the edge. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil and top with pepperoni. Fold dough over and crimp dough together; fold edges of dough under to create soft edge.

Transfer calzone to broiler pan or pizza stone. Bake until dough puffs and browns slightly, about 20 minutes. Brush with other tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil. Transfer to a pizza peel (or cutting board) and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into 4 pieces and serving.

NOTE TO SELF: Next time I make this use meatballs inside of this! Yum!!!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Step 1 to homemade Limoncello

2011-03-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

Have YOU ever had limoncello? I first enjoyed this after a meal at a ristorante in a back-alley in Florence, Italy. The aperitif is said to clean the palate and leave the belly warm as you stroll through the streets at night...

Yes, it's THAT romantic. And ever since then I've had a small bottle of Villa Massa limoncello in my freezer.

So, let's try making it at home...

Here is where I started after researching dozens of recipes...

Step 1:

- Combine 750 ml bottle of vodka and 750 ml bottle of Everclear (tasteless grain alcohol) in a container with a lid, at least the size of a gallon.
- Add rinds from 15 large organic lemons (unwaxed, scrubbed clean with a vegetable brush). You will want to use the lemons with thick, bright skin that are mostly free of flaws/nicks.

Using a swivel peeler is the best (it will peel off just the skin)... but if you don't have one of those you can use a knife. Just make sure to skim the white off the back of the skin with a knife...

Note on peeling lemons... if you are using a knife you will most likely need to remove the white pith on the back of it. You don't want any of that white pith - it makes the drink bitter.

So, just keep peeling those lemons... one by one. And add the rinds to the alcohol. Below are the rinds from one lemon.

(It was at about this moment that I realized I needed a larger container. Hence, the different container in the next few pics.)

Yes, this is a labor of love... and believe me, it's very worth it! Keep peeling...

And of course, once you've peeled the lemons you will want to juice them. I poured mine into ice cube trays and threw them in the freezer. Summer's a comin'...

Where do I go from here?
What are the next steps?
How long does this process take?

Once I add the Everclear (tomorrow), I will transfer the fluids to a larger container (with a tight lid) and set it aside in a cool/dark place. Every two weeks I will gently stir the mixture. After 5-6 weeks I will test the lemon rinds.

How to test the rinds? Remove a rind and bend it in half... if it snaps apart like a crisp potato chip then it's time to move to the next step. The lemon rinds will impart a most beautiful flavor without sourness or bitterness ... just enough tartness to make it fabulous!

But it's a slow process. So what's the next step? After these 30-40 days there will be another 30-40 days in the process. Like I said, it's a labor of love. I can't wait to try this during the summer...

Follow along with me?

Stay tuned... you won't regret it...

AND, I'm also making this with grapefruit...

Can't wait... I can't wait!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Southwest Dressing from a certain (unnamed) Brewhouse

2011-03-17T18:56:00.001-07:00

Let it be known:
1) I searched high and low for this recipe online.
2) I couldn't find it online.
3) I frequented this Brewhouse's establishment a number of times and will continue to do so happily.
4) I fully understand that I probably should not have this recipe.
5) I am not being paid by anyone to share this secret.

And yet I will refrain from releasing the name of the locale. But they brew beer (and root beer) and make deep dish pizzas and some really good cookies for dessert... and they just opened a joint here in town. They serve this sauce with a few of their dishes (southwest spring rolls and fish tacos, for instance) ... and I just knew I had to figure out how to make this so I could enjoy it at home.

I ate at their location several times... going back over and over again just to taste the dressing (oh yeah, and to enjoy it on their fish tacos).

And then I just had to ask. And I finally found someone to share the ingredients of their recipe. (Thank you, my unnamed friend at this unnamed Brewhouse.)

But leading up to that moment I made my own versions of this sauce at home... at least 5 times. And each time I made it I got farther and farther away from the actual ingredients.

Here's how simple it is...

4 easy ingredients: prepared "ranch dressing", chili powder, ground cumin and cayenne pepper.

I used about 2/3 cup ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper. (But you can add more cayenne if you like things spicy.)

Give it a whisk and serve with just about anything... it can be used on fish tacos, chicken quesadillas, taco salads, a southwest burger... use your imagination.

You can thank me later...

Dear Legal Dept at unnamed Brewhouse... I apologize in advance if this should have remained some sort of secret. I couldnt' help myself. Your product is so good... I just had to share it.

Can you blame me?!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Lemon Curd

2011-02-27T20:41:00.000-08:00

There is NOTHING quite like a little lemon curd spread on a cookie, or IN BETWEEN two cookies)... or slathered on shortbread, or on a scone, or ... oh, so many ways to enjoy this!

It's quick and rather easy... and so, so worth it!

Zest a lemon...

Juice a few lemons...

In a double-broiler, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice... cook into a thick "sauce".

Strain the lemon mixture...

Remove the lemon mixture from the heat and melt the butter by whisking it into the lemon mixture.

At the very end, mix in the lemon zest and allow to cool.

And when you can't stand it anymore... spread it on top of SOMETHING, just about ANYTHING.

Lemon Curd
http://www.joyofbaking.com/

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon zest
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Instructions
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce). This will take approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate. Can stay in the refrigerator for up to a week.

If it will last that long...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: French Macarons

2011-02-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

I present to you... bliss...

Lori's disclaimer: I made lots of mistakes through this recipe (my first time throught it). And I'll share those with you throughout this post. Follow the instructions below and you'll be fine.

Here's where I started... almond flour (blanched almonds that have been very finely ground), powdered sugar, granulated sugar, water, cream of tartar, salt and egg whites.

Start by running the powdered sugar and almond flour through the food processor for about a minute. This will help remove any clumps and mix them together well.

Next, sift the two (a time or two) to make really sure that you've got out any large pieces of the almond flour. (Note from Lori: you may find the need to discard about a tablespoon worth of almond flour - or try running it through the food process/blender again to break it down a bit more.)

In a stand mixer bowl, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt ...

But first dissolve the sugar in the water and boil until it reaches approximately 240 degrees F.

While the sugar is boiling, whip the egg mixture (on high, for a few minutes) until soft peaks begin to hold.

Slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the egg mixture, still beating the meringue. Beat until it again holds soft peaks. It should be glossy and look very smooth.

Using a spatula, gently fold in the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture.

Using a spatula, stir the meringue mixture until the batter runs in ribbons... (

Here was my first mistake (which led to mistake #2): I don't think I stirred it long enough... when I would hold up the spatula to watch for the "ribbons", the mixture was dropping, not running like a ribbon. I believe that stirring for a bit longer would have created the "ribbon" affect I was needing.

So the next problem happened when I was dropping the meringue on to the cookie sheets... the dough wasn't thick enough, so it was runny. Mistake #2 was... I placed the cough too close together, so they meringue ran together ... you'll see what I mean in the next few images.

And do you see an ever-so-slight change in color in the row of meringue closest to you? I scooped up the first half of the dough and then decided to add just 1 small drop of yellow food coloring (for a 2nd version of the macarons - filled with lemon curd).

Note to self - next time add 2 drops of yellow food coloring.

And so I prepared a second sheet tray. (You will need to use 2 large sheet trays.)

The meringues will need to sit out on the countertop for about 2 hours... and then bake them off.

Allow them to cool completely on the sheet trays... when they are ready remove them carefully with a very thin spatula. (For the macarons that were "joined" I simply cut them apart with a paring knife... they weren't as pretty, but they tasted just as good.)

Then accessorize as you like... for the plain macaron I used a very soft carmel filling. And for the yellow macaron I used lemon curd.

The lemon macaron was the first to go...

And then it got ugly real quick... pardon me. I need to find a napkin.

French Macarons
Recipe courtesy King Arthur Flour Co
link to website: French Macarons

Ingredients
1 ½ cups almond flour
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
3 large egg whites, room temp
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cream of tartar
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon water
½ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Instructions
In a food processor, process flour and confectioner’s sugar for approximately 20 seconds. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Set aside.

Put 3 large egg whites, pinch of salt and cream of tartar into large bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan heat water and sugar over medium heat, until sugar dissolves. Then bring to a rapid boil. Boil for 2 mins. The temp of the syrup should reach between 235-240 degrees F. When it does take the syrup off the heat.

Immediately start whipping the egg whites, using an electric mixer. When they hold a soft peak on the end of the beater stop, grab the hot syrup, resume beating and pour the syrup steadily into the whites as you beat. Stop to scrap the sides of the bowl midway through.

Continue beating until the meringue is smooth, glossy and forms soft peaks. Fold in the almond flour/sugar. Once everything is fully incorporated, stir with a spatula until the batter runs in ribbons that disappear back into the mass in 10-20 seconds. Test frequently and stop stirring when you reach this point.

Using a teaspoon cookie scoop or pastry bag to deposit a generous teaspoon-sized round blob of batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Test cookie should flatten out, rather than remain in a tall blob. If it doesn’t spread, stir the batter some more.

Want to tint some? One or two drops of a gel-paste color. Add at this stage.

Allow to rest in a dry place with good air circulation (a counter top is fine) until you can gently touch the tops and come away with a clean finger, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Bake the cookies for about 25 – 30 mins, until firm on top. They’ll develop a “fuzzy” ring around the center; that’s a good thing. Remove them from oven, and cool completely on sheet.

Use a thin spatula to separate them/remove them from parchment.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Sinful (perfectly sinful) Cheesey dip

2011-02-06T12:17:00.001-08:00

I don't really know who to say THANK YOU to ('cuz I'm not real sure where this recipe actually came from)... so thank you to Campbell's, Kraft, Pace and Jimmy Dean!!! They create the perfect marriage of cheesy-spicy-creamy goodness!

(On a personal note, a huge shout out to Mardee for introducing me to this dip! You're going to make me look really good today when I take this to the Superbowl party today! And I just know my hero-of-a-hubby will LOVE it!)

Here's where I started...

I know, I know... it's not the healthiest (nor is it fancy or something you want to brag about, really...) And thankfully no one cares about calories on Superbowl. But this will also be great for Fight Night, poker night, a kid's birthday party... the list goes on.

Stir together the condensed coup and salsa...

Cube the cheese block... and throw it in the crock pot, on high heat to start with.

Top the cheese with the salsa mixture, and toss the cooked sausage on top.

Place the lid on top and cook on "high" heat for about an hour (depending on your crock pot). Here you'll see I have another crock pot going as well... I'll do a separate post on that Superbowl dish later...

After about an hour, give it a stir. If you don't see any cheese chunks then lower the heat to "low".

When ready to serve, drizzle over tortilla chips (or pour into a bowl and serve up with chips) ... and get ready to fall in love with the most sinful cheese dip you never knew you needed to make!

What you need:
2 lbs Velveeta Cheese
Pace Picante Salsa, medium heat
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 lb breakfast sausage, cooked

In a Crock Pot, heat on "high" for about an hour. Stir well and adjust heat to "low". Serve over tortilla chips...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Meatball Sandwiches just in time for the Superbowl...

2011-02-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

It's so easy it's almost like cheating... in fact, it is cheating. I have to admit. There is nothing fancy about these meatball sandwiches.

However, they are so yummy they'll be gone before halftime!

That's right... frozen meatballs and marinara sauce. I said "easy", right?!

Dump the marinara in the crockpot and turn it on high...

Toss in the frozen meatballs and pour more marinara over the top...

Put a lid on it and walk away. Come back in about two hours and toss the meatballs and marinara to make sure they are all covered with sauce. These will need to cook on high for another 2-3 hours (depending on your crockpot).

For the bread? Another frozen shortcut... I'm telling you, high-class baby!

But if you believe ANYTHING I tell you... believe this, your friends and family will be convinced that you kneaded the dough on these rolls yourself! So easy and so good!

I followed the instructions on the back of the bag to do a quick thaw (warm your oven to it's lowest temp, or about 170 degrees F and then turn it off). Brush melted butter on the top of each of them and let them sit in the warmed oven for about 1 - 2 hours.

Once they've thawed and risen properly... then they get baked. Follow the instructions on the back of the bag. It's that easy.

Disclaimer - as you can tell, this is only a partial blog...

With all the excitement of the Superbowl (and the endless amounts of food on the table... and the counter... and the tv trays... and the... ) I forgot to take a picture of the final product.

But I'm sure you can imagine what meatball sandwiches look like...

Cut the golden roll in half, shove in as many meatballs as possible (ladling some marinara sauce over the top) and add a slice of provolone or mozzarella. Enjoy...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash

2011-01-29T12:07:00.001-08:00

My hero-of-a-hubby woke up and informed me he's taking today off of work... WHAT?! We could've gone out last night and danced until the sun came up?! And you didn't tell me?! (HA!!! YEAH RIGHT!!!)

So, I guess we should do breakfast together... hmmm, what to make?! What to make?! Wait - what's in the pantry?!

Between the fridge, freezer and pantry we had the items for this hash... so it all came together quickly. What a nice surprise!!!

And once again, I'm the hero of the household...

My pantry shortcuts for this? They are the farthest from fancy/culinary cuisine... but I still believe in keeping "ready-serve" bacon and freeze-dried hash browns in the pantry. They always seem to come in handy in a pinch... especially this morning! Yay for pantry power!!!

Now he's jamming on his guitar and I'm in day-off heaven! life is good...

Because-It-Makes-My-Hubby-Happy Hash
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
5 slices bacon, diced
1/4 pound breakfast sausage, cooked/crumbled
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup cheddar cheese
½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
1 ½ - 2 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup cottage cheese
Pinch kosher salt/red pepper flakes

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Warm large cast iron skillet over medium heat.

In cast iron skillet, cook bacon and onion in butter. Add pinch of salt to help draw out onion juices. If using already cooked/crumbled sausage, add to mix at end of cooking. Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add cheddar, Monterey jack and cottage cheeses. Stir in hash browns. Add onion/bacon/sausage mixture; mix well. Transfer ingredients back to skillet and place in oven. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool/stand for 10 minutes before serving.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

My favorite form of chocolate...

2011-01-29T07:57:00.001-08:00

Prepare for your world to be rocked... the recipe calls these "brownies", but I made mine a bit more like cake. Either way - brace yourself!

A shout out to my boss who brought these brownies into work around Christmas time... thanks Marsha!!! So, so, so good! And thank you for sharing the Penzeys catalog you brought back from your road trip! I have appreciated reading about their product line and some of the other recipes they share in their catalog! THIS ONE, though, BY FAR, is my favorite!

The idea of pouring the cocoa frosting over the piping hot cake is stellar... it's like there are 3 layers of goodness to eat your way through: the top layer of cocoa frosting followed by a very moist and rich chocolate cake... but in between those two layers is a melty layer of fudge-like goodness (created by what I can only describe as a "melding" of hot cake and fresh frosting poured on top). Oh wow... this really IS chocolate nirvana!

Favorite Chocolate Brownies
Recipe courtesy Annette Gong, Penzeys Spices Fall 2010 catalog pg 53
Link: http://www.penzeys.com/images/F10.pdf

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 cup water
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting:
½ cup butter
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 pound powdered sugar (4 ¼ cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup chopped nuts, optional

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 10x15 rimmed pan or 9x13 pan (for more cake-like brownies) and set aside. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add the cocoa and water and stir well to combine. When the mixture starts boiling, remove from heat, pour over the dry ingredients and stir. Add the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into the pan for 18-20 minutes, 25 if baked in a 9x13 pan. (Note from Lori: I made mine in a 9x13 pan and found it needed more like 30 minutes.)

During the last 10 minutes of baking, make the frosting. In the same saucepan you used earlier melt the butter. Add the cocoa and buttermilk and stir. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Fold in nuts, if desired. As soon as you remove the brownies from the oven, carefully pour frosting over hot brownies.

Sidenote on making your own buttermilk - have you ever heard of such a thing?! I used to get frustrated buying buttermilk for a specific recipe and only needing 1/2 cup of it (knowing a good portion of it would go to waste). Well, I ran across a way to make my own buttermilk as a substitute for the real stuff.

What you'll need:
- milk (just under one cup)
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

How to prepare:
1. Place a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.
3. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

And it REALLY works! I love these kinds of kitchen tips...

Confession time:
As I prepared this blog entry, on a Saturday morning, I was enjoying a piece with a hot cup of coffee. As the saying goes, life is short - eat dessert first!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Quick Turkey Bolognese with Tagliatelle

2011-01-28T08:55:00.001-08:00

Bolognese... a style of sauce from the region of Bologna, Italy. Granted, my version isn't all that traditional. There are some shortcuts made and some ingredients substituted... but it's darn tasty!!!

So all you authentic italians out there... don't throw darts. You don't have to like my version. But we do... it's a quick dinner, having substituted ground turkey it's a bit healthier, and it's sure a hit in our household.

So, join me in the kitchen for a quick and uber-tasty dinner!!!

This is where I started... ground turkey, your choice of marinara sauce, red wine, milk, olive oil, diced onions/garlic/mushrooms (mushrooms not pictured), red pepper flakes, salt/pepper and parmesan cheese.

In a heavy bottom pan, here I'm using my favorite Dutch Oven, brown the ground meat in the oil. Once most of the pink is gone add your diced veg (onions, garlic and mushrooms).

Saute over medium-high heat for a few minutes... and then...

Add your vino and marinara...

Give it a good stir... lower the heat and simmer for several minutes. Taste it... if you think it needs it (and we do) add some kosher salt and red pepper flakes, to taste.

Allow it so simmer a little longer and then add the milk and parmesan cheese... once the pasta is al dente add it to the sauce and give 'er a toss!

Call the family to wash their hands and come to the table... dinner's on!!!

From prep to plate, it takes about 30-45 minutes. And most of that is cooking time. What a heart-warming dish... you can serve it by itself, or with a panini or a whole mess of garlic breadsticks (yeah - that's what we did).

Enjoy it... we do!

Quick Turkey Bolognese
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb ground turkey (or ground hamburger, if you prefer)
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
½ cup diced onion
½ cup diced crimini mushrooms
2 cups of your favorite marinara
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup red wine
½ cup milk
¼ grated parmesan cheese, plus some
Kosher salt/pepper

Instructions
Brown ground meat in heavy bottom pan; over medium-high heat. Once almost all the pink is gone add diced onions, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté and stir for about 5 minutes, until vegetables have softened. Add wine, marinara and red pepper flakes (to taste); stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for about 15 minutes; over medium-low heat. Taste to see if you want to add any salt/pepper. Stir in milk and grated parmesan. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, prepare tagliatelle noodles according to package. When the pasta is al dente drain transfer to sauce; toss until all pasta is coated with sauce. When plating add another sprinkle of parmesan.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Cakes

2011-01-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

Two nights ago my hero-of-a-hubby asked for a favor ... he wanted some chocolate treats in the house. Which means he wanted me to bake his favorite = brownies. But I had a full day on Friday and knew I wouldn't be able to get any baking in...

So I stopped by Trader Joe's. And I found these... Chocolate Lava Cakes!

They are packaged two to a box... already cooked, packaged and then frozen individually.

Remove the packaging, including the cup ... and then you can either cook them in the microwave (one at a time) or bake them together in the oven.

In hindsight though, I think I should have turned the cups over and so the cake was "upside down"... right? Not sure if the packaging instructed me to do so... but I seem to remember seeing them that way... right? Who knows... (admittedly, they won't taste any different)

My Friend Debbie also suggests to cook these about 3 minutes less than the box says... this will ensure that the "lava" flows freely from the center when they are broken into...

And of course she was right... the lava flowed. And my hero-of-a-hubby was happy to have chocolate.

Someday I'll bake these from scratch... but Trader Joe's version was a lifesaver last night!

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

The BEST Chicken Pot Pie I've ever made!!!

2011-01-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Cook's Illustrated for this... Chicken Pot Pie with Savory Crumble Topping. Well-written recipe... full of flavor, some serious flavor!!!

For just me and my hubby I cut the recipe in half and it was plenty... but we sure were wanting more! Wow... words CANNOT explain how yummy this was. I guess you're going to have to make it for yourself to find out!

Here's where I started... the" mise en place". I chopped, diced, measured, poured and got all the ingredients ready for the process. (I have an affinity for mise en place... what can I say?! I'm an organized person and this process is just so much fun for me.)

Chicken stock, canola oil, cream, butter, mushrooms, onions, peas, carrots, flour, soy sauce, tomato paste and lemon juice.

I've never used soy sauce, tomato paste or lemon juice in a chicken pot pie. I would consider these to be the "secret weapons" of this dish. THANK YOU to Cook's Illustrated for these secrets! (This idea opens a whole new set of ideas for me... when it comes to other dishes that might need a kick of flavor. Seriously - love it!)

In a Dutch oven I boiled the chicken until cooked...

And while the chicken cooked I worked on the savory crumble topping... which is good enough to just bake up and eat as a Friday afternoon snack! The topping is made of flour, baking powder, salt/pepper, cayenne pepper, butter, parmesan cheese and cream. Watch this...

Mix the dry ingredients together and added cubed/chilled butter... then with your hands (the best tools in the kitchen) rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse cornmeal. Stir in the cheese until well mixed and then add the cream.

Mix it with a spoon and crumble the topping into uneven globs of goodness onto a baking sheet... fun, huh?!

Bake off the topping in a hot oven while you start assembling the rest of your pot pie. (The pot below is the same Dutch oven I boiled the chicken in - no need to wash it. I transferred the chicken to a cutting board so I could chop it up... and I strained the broth and set it aside to use it later in this process.)

From here on it comes together pretty quickly. Saute the carrots, onion, celery in a little bit of veg oil and some salt/pepper, until soft... once done transfer the vegetables to a bowl.

Add a bit more veg oil to the Dutch oven and do the same with the mushrooms...

They will lose their moisture in about 5 minutes... then add the tomate paste and soy sauce and cook just a tad (until the moisture evaporates).

About now it will be time to remove the crumble topping from the oven... try not to snack on all of it... there IS another purpose for it!

Back to the Dutch oven... this is what has been left behind by the mushrooms, soy sauce and tomato paste process. That "brown stuff" on the bottom of the pan is pure gold in this dish!!! It's called FOND... and I'm very fond of fond. (My apologies... that was super cheesy!)

When you add moisture to fond it comes off the bottom of the Dutch oven nicely and imparts some amazing flavor to your dish.

As you can see I've removed the mushrooms from the Dutch oven. They are now in the bowl with the other vegetables, waiting for their next task.

We will now start building the sauce, starting with butter and flour. Stir the butter and flour together, allowing it to cook for a minute or so... otherwise the sauce will taste "flour-y".

Next pour in the reserved chicken stock and milk (or cream) and while stirring scrape the fond off the bottom and sides of the Dutch oven.

In the picture below, see the wall of the Dutch oven? And how easily that fond scrapes off? It will then just melt into the sauce mixture and that's where a lot of the amazing flavor of this dish comes from. Thank you Mr Fond! Give the sauce a little taste. If it needs a little more salt/pepper add it now.

Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and add the lemon juice, shredded chicken and vegetables (including frozen peas)...

Stir together a few times and transfer mixture to baking dish... since it's just the two of us I used a small round casserole (but the recipe from Cook's Illustrated calls for a 9" x 13" baking dish). Then add the crumble topping and place it on the middle rack in the oven.

About 15-20 mins later you TOO will be saying this is the best chicken pot pie you've ever made!!! You can do it... and you're loved ones will thank you for it!!!

A few tips from Lori:

- Always read through a new recipe completely before making it the first time. I've made this mistake so many times and am still learning it. So take it from me.... read it first, then get to it!

- Even if you don't like to, go through the mise en place process for this dish. Have all of your ingredients pre-measured, set aside and waiting for you to grab them. Just trust me...

But most importantly... ...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Tequila Lime Chicken

2011-01-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce you to a specialty from Sammy's California Woodfired Pizza... from the first bite I knew this was quickly going to become a regular in our household. The sauce is TO DIE FOR! From the pasta and chicken soaking up all that flavor to the fresh, crunchy vegetables... oh boy! This really is a treat..

Around our house we also call it "Chicken Tequila Fettuccine" or "the best rockin' pasta dish this side of the Atlantic"... and lastly, our "summer go-to dish"... it's an easy recipe to cut in half for a small dinner or GO BIG and serve at a dinner party with salad and bread and whatever else you simply can't resist!!!

But when I realized I hadn't posted about this yet I almost fell over... so I quickly made a "date" of it. I called My Friend Debbie over to enjoy the process with me. She's a great sous chef!!! Plus, she and I have history over this dish... LOTS of history over this dish. So we made a "date" of it... and planned it out for a beautiful evening on the patio, lots of laughter and had the perfect chance to catch up on life. It's unseasonably warm this time of year... I know, I know... we have perfect weather year round here in Southern California. So, we have to enjoy it, right?!

Before we start I'd like to show you a scan of the original recipe we found years ago... you can tell it was used, and reused and um... dripped on...

So, here's where we started... tequila, soy sauce, red/green bell peppers, red onion, garlic, limes, chicken and fettuccine.

Might as well start it off with the good stuff, right?! Measure out equal parts of tequila and soy sauce...

Then prep the rest of the ingredients... you know, the "mise en place". The coking starts by sauteing the veggies (2-4 minutes), then add the garlic (1 minute or so), then add the chicken...

Cook the chicken until no pink remains... tossing every minute or so to make sure it all cooks evenly.

Next add the mixture of tequila/soy sauce, stir in and bring to a simmer... allow it to simmer and reduce for about 5-8 minutes...

Oh, and add the lime juice too...

Bring it to a simmer... and while you're doing that...

... start the boiling process on the fettuccine... it all comes together pretty quickly from here on out...

The sauce will simmer and reduce... then add the heavy cream.

Here I used 1 cup of cream... but only use as much cream as you'd like. So, add a few ounces, stir it up and check out the sauce. You'll know when you find the combination you like the best.

Reduce heat to low and allow to sit until the pasta is done, the bread is ready (aka "torn into smaller pieces", aka "perfect size for dipping") and enjoy your evening!

And yes, if some of the bread accidentally "falls" into the sauce you'll certainly have to retrieve it... won't you?!

Lastly, toss the drained pasta into the sauce/veggie/chicken mixture until all of the pasta is coated with sauce and serve immediately! But don't forget to garnish... I used fresh cilantro here.

The My Friend Debbie and I headed to the patio... 'cuz we just couldn't help ourselves!

Enjoy... with spring and summer just around the corner you'll want to plan for this dish!

Tequila Lime Chicken
Recipe courtesy Chef Jeff Novak, Sammy’s California Woodfired Pizza

Ingredients
2 ounces butter
2 ounces olive oil
10-12 chicken tenders, boneless and skinless (or 4 chicken breasts)
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces gold tequila
8 ounces soy sauce
1 cup heavy cream
Juice of 3 limes
Optional: 1 teaspoon diced jalapenos
kosher salt/pepper to taste
1 package fettuccine, cooked to directions on box
garnish with 1 tablespoon cilantro, diced

Instructions
In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, sauté peppers and red onion in butter and oil until softened, 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle pinch of salt on vegetables to help pull moisture out and so they cook faster. (If you are using jalapeno add to sauted vegetables.) In the last minute stir in the diced garlic. Add chicken to vegetables and cook until no more pink remains, approximately 5-7 minutes.

Cook fettuccine according to directions on package. Drain and set aside.

Pour in the tequila/soy sauce mixture and lime juice. Allow the sauce to simmer and reduce for 5-7 minutes. Add heavy cream; stir in well. Toss pasta with sauce and serve immediately. Garnish with cilantro.

Serves 4-6.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: reduced balsamic glaze

2011-01-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

You are looking at a baked salmon fillet glazed with a balsamic reduction, served over a simple Israeli couscous. YUM!

It's almost sweet, it's rich and savory... it's the perfect topping for salmon (grilled or baked or broiled or poached), for chicken (baked or grilled or bbq'd), or to use as a dip for grilled bread... and next I'm going to enjoy it drizzled over a plate of tomato and mozzarella slices.

Here's what I started with... balsamic vinegar, spicy brown mustard, sherry, honey, garlic and salt/pepper. Tonight I used this on baked salmon fillets... a perfect combination!

Over medium-low heat I sauteed the garlic (here I added a small bead of canola oil to the pan).

After two or three minutes I added the rest of the sauce ingredients: sherry, honey, mustard, balsamic vinegar and salt/pepper. I gave it a good whisk... and watched for it to start it's gentle bubbling.

Within about 5 minutes it had reduced slightly and thickened up a bit (unfortunately I neglected to get a picture of the bubbling action)... so I drizzled it over the salmon that had been waiting so patiently.

And since it goes well with these flavors I diced up some fresh stems of oregano (from my own herb garden) and sprinkled it on top of the salmon before baking the fillets.

Before serving up the salmon I drizzled just a tad more sauce over the top (and over the couscous as well, OF COURSE)... and then asked the world to be quiet for at least 3 minutes while I enjoyed the best part of the day...

Confession: I have been a bit intimidated to try this sauce at home. But after going out on a limb and trying it for myself now I'm slightly upset at myself for not being more adventurous in my kitchen... so, so, so good!

Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sherry (or white wine)
1 tablespoon honey (or agave nectar sweetener)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, lightly coated with non-stick cooking spray, sauté garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add sherry, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard and salt/pepper to taste. Whisk together and allow to simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes. Whisk every minute or so and allow to reduce slightly. Sauce will thicken slightly.

Immediately top fish or chicken and cook meat according to instructions. Brush additional sauce on meat after being cooked . Also great over tomato/mozzarella salad, as a dip for grilled bread… etc.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

RECIPE: Homemade Flour Tortillas

2011-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

When I was about 6 years old I had a babysitter named Ms. Ramirez. She was my favorite babysitter EVER! She was an adult, she was a cool adult, she was happy and bubbly all the time... and her mama made homemade tortillas!!! One day Ms. Ramirez sent us home with some fresh tortillas tightly bundled in foil... and the rest is history.

A few years later we moved out of town. But when we would go back for a summer camping trip we got to stop by and pick up some more homemade tortillas to rewarm over the campfire! Oh ... those camping memories... full of great food, laughter, good people... more than anything, our family camping trips built into me a sense of adventure (that now scares some people... mainly my Mom and my Husband). But let's get back to the kitchen...

For the tortillas this is all you need... flour, kosher salt, vegetable shortening, vegetable oil and warm water.

But first let's take a step back and see what my workspace looks like today: flat board, ingredients and trusty cell phone. Most of the time I work off of the recipes in my email.... is that funny or just down right weird?

Mix together flour and salt... cut in the shortening (or lard) and mix well until the mix is like a coarse sandy texture.

Then add the vegetable oil... and slowly drizzle in the water, stirring with a fork until it all forms a dough.

Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and begin to knead...

Knead it about 30-40 times. With the palm of your hand press the dough into the board and push it away from you. Fold the dough over on top of itself... and repeat.

Continue to knead until the dough comes together and turns into a smooth ball of dough.

Set the dough aside and cover with plastic wrap, for about an hour.

Next, let's talk about the griddle for a hot minute...

You can use a large flat skillet (no oil or butter or anything) or an electric griddle or a cast iron skillet/griddle. Here? I have a cast iron griddle that my hero-of-a-hubby bought me several years ago (our first Christmas together).

My life wouldn't be the same without it (or him). ::: grin :::

Let's turn our attention back to the dough... when you're ready to cook them cut it into 12 equal size pieces and work the dough a bit more by squeezing it into your palm a few times and rolling it into a ball. Then they need some time to rest again... another 10 minutes or so. (While you're waiting you can set the griddle to just a tad over low heat.)

And for the rolling...

Just barely sprinkle flour on the flat surface and prepare to roll...

I have found that by flattening the dough ball with heel of my hand it helps to keep the circular shape once you start rolling.

And then once the dough starts sticking to the rolling pin then I add just a light layer of flour to the rolling pin itself (not to the dough - because you don't want too much flour ont he outside of these tortillas).

Continue to roll until the dough is very, very thin... thinner than you think it should be. Aim for a 7 inch round... it will be slightly mishapen. If you're ok with imperfect tortillas then great... if not, roll it out a bit more and then cut off the rough edges.

Transfer the dough to the hot griddle... and watch the first one closely. Within about 30 seconds it will start to bubble and rise - this is when it will start to brown. Cook time for the first side will be about 55-75 seconds. When it's done to your likeness flip it over. It will cook for slightly less time on the second side.

Remove from heat and start a pile on a dish towel... and repeat...

And repeat by transferring to the pile... oh wait... what happened to the "pile"? Well, anyway...

(ahem) again, what happened to that "pile"? the previous tortilla keeps disappearing somehow!

repeat the above steps... what can i say?

continue to repeat... the cooking part, that is... afterall, you will eventually want to share these with the ones you love tonight.

But grant me one more minute for another glance back to the campfire memories... my favorite way to enjoy these is with some butter and salt. Thank you Ms. Ramirez... you left quite an impression on my life. While my tortillas don't taste QUITE like your mom's ... they'll have to do...

Homemade Flour Tortillas
Recipe courtesy Lori Tisdale

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cup vegetable shortening (or lard)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or butter)
½ cup warm water

OPTIONAL: 2 teaspoons baking powder
(Note - if you prefer thicker/plumper tortillas then add baking powder to the dry mixture.)

Instructions
In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening (or lard) with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture resembles meal. Drizzle vegetable oil over flour and slowly stir in warm water with a fork until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto very lightly floured surface. Knead dough 30-40 times until dough becomes smooth. If dough is sticky, lightly dust hands with flour while kneading.

Form dough into a ball, return to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest for at least 1 hour. Heat a dry well-seasoned cast-iron griddle, or skillet, over medium-low heat until hot. Turn dough onto flat surface and cut into 12 equal pieces. Knead each piece a few times and roll into a ball. Allow balls to rest for about 10 minutes.

Very lightly sprinkle flour on a flat surface and roll out the first ball. Use a standard rolling pin or wooden dowel (tip: use a 1 1/4 inch diameter wooden dowel cut to a 14 inch length. Use just enough flour to prevent dough from sticking. (Too much dough will make tortillas taste more dry.) Roll out each ball into a very thin round. (Thinner than you think you want it.) While rolling the tortilla turn it in quarter turns until you have rolled the tortilla flat, near to 6-7 inch rounds. Attempt to keep the thickness the same as you roll. Cook 1 tortilla on the griddle while you roll the next one. Within 25-30 seconds the tortilla will start to bubble and puff. The bottom will start to brown in spots in 45 seconds. Cook time on each side will be between 55 – 75 seconds. Using tongs or a flat spatula, turn tortilla once browned to your liking. Cook second side in same way. Remove to dish towel to cool. Stack and cover tortillas while cooking the rest.

Homemade tortillas are best enjoyed fresh. If you will be using them later that day wrap them in aluminum foil. But they can also be frozen (after cooling thoroughly). Warm thawed tortillas on griddle before using.

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Christmas gifts for my kitchen...

2011-01-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year I received a beautiful gift (one of the beauties below) and then I purchased my kitchen a gift, or two (yes - the rest of the beauties below). In fact, I will openly admit that I love to buy gifts, for myself.

When my hero-of-a-hubby asked me what I wanted for Christmas I couldn't think of anything except for kitchen stuff. I wonder if Gloria Steinem (or any of the NOW leaders from the '70s would be disappointed at this wish list.) All I could think about was how upset some ladies used to get when they received a blender (or other small appliance) as a gift. But I digress... and now I'm thinking of a writing new blog post!

Anyway, I had my eye on most of these items for months... researched, and saved up my "allowance" to buy each one in the months leading up to Christmas. While I had already been using them I still wrapped their empty boxes and placed them under the tree! My hubby just laughed... "Another gift from 'Santa', huh?!" (and yes, he made the quotation marks with his fingers...sigh!)

The first perfect fit I found was this Lodge Logic cast iron 5" skillet (pre-seasoned)... perfect for frying eggs, toasting spices and so many other things!!! Love, love, love... (the image below looks much larger than 5"... but 5" it is.) (Approximately $15 at Walmart.)

I also found a Lodge Logic cast iron chicken fryer (also pre-seasoned), with lid... in this you can also make cinnnamon rolls, chili, cornbread, and so much more... (Approximately $25 at Walmart.)My hero-of-a-hubby bought me this early Christmas present: Kitty - the KitchenAid stand mixer. (Yes, I've finally named her!) This is something I have told him for years I wasn't ready for you. You see... it's a bad problem to have. I only have about 4 feet of counter space in our tiny/nearly antique kitchen. And I wasn't sure I wanted to dedicate 1 of those feet to a mixer. This year I finally decided it was time. (Bought it at a great discount on Amazon.com several days before Thanksgiving... and the day after Thanksgiving it was only selling for $10 cheaper. I had it by then and couldn't have been happier.)

We had the money set aside for it... so we took the plunge. It's definitely an investment of both money and time... there's more cleaning involved (I mean, ones DOES want to shine it up after every use - unlike the little handheld beater I've been using for over a decade), if you're really into it you want to buy some of the accessories and additional attachments so you can grind meat, make your own pasta, etc... I'm not there yet. But I have a feeling I might want the pasta attachment at some point in the near future.

Um... and because I now had a stand mixer and could make some good doughs, then I also bought myself a Pie cutting board ... but my hero-of-a-hubby still thinks that was from Santa. (Shhh!) (Approximately $28 at Walmart.)

And lastly I stumbled across these Matryoshka dolls (Russian nesting dolls) that also serve as measuring vessels. And when I think of nesting dolls I think of my childhood... and I feel happy. So I bought them.

Aren't they adorable?!

Like I said, aren't they adorable?! I'm going to put them out on the cupboard and see how long it takes my husband to ask when the babushka's arrived... anyone want to place any bets? (These beauties were purchased at World Market, approximately $13.)

But lastly let me introduce you to a true gift... from an actual friend (not from "Santa"). A dear friend gifted me this adorable little porcelain birdy perched over the most perfect little porcelain bowl with the tinniest of porcelain spoons... from Anthropologie!!! (< -- love that place!)

This truly is adorable!

But I'm afraid to use it... 'cuz I'm notorious for dropping and breaking things. So, if you never see it in my kitchen again it's either because I entered it into witness protection program (for it's own good) or I have already smashed it to smithereens.

Love the porcelain birdy Mariam! Thank you for thinking of me and trusting me with this beauty...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...

Beignets with Maple Glaze

2010-12-27T17:15:00.000-08:00

It's Day 2 of Beignet Week... today we top with a beautiful maple glaze.

For the original post, click here: Beignets

Here's where I started...

I took a 1/2 cup powdered sugar and slowly added about 1/2 teaspoon milk and whisked.

Then I added about 1/2 teaspoon pure maple syrup... and whisked...

And a very small amount of pure vanilla extract... and whisked...

Then I tasted it and it needed more... so I added more syrup...

And more vanilla extract... but I also added a little bit of regular pancake syrup (not pictured here and I'm pretty sure it's currently unrated by the Maple Syrup Institute)... but that was the extra kick it needed.

(Confession: next time I might just use the unrated pancake syrup instead of the pure maple syrup from Canada. Don't take offense Canada... it's not personal. I think it's just a little more of that typical maple I was looking for here...)

Plate your freshly fried beignet and drizzle some of this light and easy glaze over the top of it.

This is not a place for maple frosting, like you'd find at the corner donut shop (although you would find my hero-of-a-hubby and I fighting over the last maple bar if that's what it came to).

For this light and fluffy beignet you want a light glaze. It's just perfect...

Did I say it was perfect?

And speaking of my hero-of-a-hubby, I guess I should set it aside and save some for him. Hmph...

enjoy your time in the kitchen...