Obsession Tuesday...Amaretto, it's not just for drinkin' anymore

I love a good cocktail and I must say I have grown particularly fond of anything containing this:

Disaronno on the rocks

I really can't get enough of it.  I love it on the rocks (ps check out those ice cubes pictured above...perfect huh?  You can find the trays on the link to your left) I love it with Ginger Ale, I love it in my coffee, as a Toasted Almond cocktail.  I'm sure it has much to do with my not so secret obsession with all things Italian.  Regardless it's a pretty rockin' liqueur.  

Amaretto comes from the Italian word "amaro" meaning bitter.  The history is a little fuzzy but, Disaronno (which has been around since 1592 with an unchanged formula...that's pretty impressive folks) claims to have been born of a lustful relationship between artist and muse.  

In 1525 Bernardino Luini was commisioned to paint a Saronno church with frescoes.  The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary so naturally he needed a model.  She was a young widowed innkeeper who apparently had a thing for painters (can you blame her?).  She wanted to give him a gift of gratitude and affection but was flat broke with her husband six feet under and all.  So she did what any industrious Saranno woman would do and created a liqueur that has since been enjoyed for centuries.  The original recipe involved apricot kernels steeping in Brandy, and the rest, as they say, is history.  

Amaretto also makes a pretty steller addition to this amaaaaahhhhzing syrup:

Ciabatta Italian Toast with Amaretto Cream Syrup

It's incredibly easy to make and has a homemade element that could even jazz up Bisquick (gag) pancakes...if you're into that sort of thing.  

Amaretto Cream Syrup

What you'll need:

1 C. Water

1 C. packed brown sugar (I prefer dark)

2 Tbl. Amaretto

2 Tbl. whipping cream

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

What to do:

In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Boil until the syrup reduces to 1 cup, around 10 minutes.  

Turn heat down to medium and add Amaretto.  Simply heat through (we are just burning off the alcohol folks...I suppose you could skip this step if you prefer a little breakfast buzz...and really who doesn't) about 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in cream and cinnamon.  

Keep the syrup warm over low heat until read to serve.  

Syrup can be made ahead.  Cool, cover, and refrigerate.  Reheat before serving.  

An EPIC Food Pairing!

It's no secret that I am a sucker for reality tv.  I'll happily watch anything Bravo tells me.  But this...this people...this is the stuff dreams are made of (tune in tonight Wed. 2/16 10/9c Bravo Tv).

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Top Chef Season 8 - It's Cookie Time! - Video - Bravo TV Official Site

MOST EPIC EPISODE EVER!

I am absolutely devastated that my beloved Fabio is no longer competing. Could you imagine him attempting to communicate with Elmo? People that's comedy gold!  The only thing that could make this episode better (mind you I haven't even seen it yet...it's just that safe a bet) is the addition of one 

Pepe The King Prawn:

Chef Pepino Rodrigo Serrano Gonzales

I don't think my little Henson loving heart could handle it, so perhaps we are better off with the trifecta of monsters, Cookie, Telly, and Elmo!  I hope they show up a judges table.  Could you imagine a muppet telling you to "pack your knives and go"?

Obsession Tuesday...What's in a Name?

Ok so the good people of England could have perhaps thought through the naming of today's obsession a bit better...

I mean "Lemon Curd"...come on.  It sounds disgusting, off-putting even, enough to have you fleeing from your grocer's aisle at the very thought of it.  But lemon curd is oh so delicious and just a bit misunderstood.

For those of you terrified by the idea, allow me to enlighten you:

Lemon curd is actually a cousin of jam but generally made with a citrus fruit of some sort and gently cooked with eggs to make an intensely flavored spread.  It's often used on breakfast bread products and is an essential ingredient in any lemon-meringue pie worth its salt.

I prefer lemon curd made with the addition of butter as it is a bit creamier and not as intensely zippy as those spreads made without.  It's also incredibly easy to make yourself and you have the added bonus of knowing its not chalked full of preservatives and weird artificial flavorings.

This is my go to recipe for lemon curd and it can easily be altered with just about any other citrus juice you desire.  Try a little drizzle over vanilla ice cream with raspberries on a hot July day...you can thank me later.

Lemon Curd

What you'll need:

4 fluid oz. Lemon juice
6 1/2 oz. Granulated sugar
1 oz. Cornstarch
2 tsp. Lemon zest
2 to 3 eggs, fresh, whole
6 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature

What to do:


Combine the lemon juice, 3 oz. of the sugar, the cornstarch, and the zest in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Place the eggs and remaining sugar in a bowl.  Mix well without aerating (that means no vigorous whisking folks, give the biceps a rest).

Temper* the eggs and remaining sugar with one quarter of the boiling juice.  Add the remaining juice and return to the stove.

Bring the mixture to a boil while whisking vigorously (oh biceps).  Continue mixing and boil for one minute.

Remove mixture from the heat and chill over an ice bath until the mixture reaches 120 F.

Add the butter in five parts, stirring well with a spatula after each addition.

Once butter is fully incorporated into the mixture place in lidded vessel (to prevent a skin from forming on top) and refrigerate.

This recipe yields a 1 lb. 6 oz. of lemon curd, that seems like a tremendous amount if you intend only to use it as a spread, so jar it up and share the wealth.  Otherwise it's a perfect amount for pie or tart filling.

*Ok a note on tempering; this is to prevent the eggs from curdling (I know, seems counterintuitive given the name of the recipe, but trust me you don't want chunks of scrambled eggs floating about in your otherwise perfectly delectable spread).  You'll need to slowly incorporate one quarter of the boiling juice into the rest of the egg and sugar mixture relatively slowly while whisking (ok now put those biceps into it!).  Then you'll be able to add the egg and sugar mixture into the rest of the hot mixture without ruining the overall texture of the product.

Oh for the Love of Humanity!

I was doing the Twitter this morning (tweeting just sounds weird) when I came across a link Mark Bittman provided.  Mark Bittman is a well respected food journalist and author, but I came to know and love him as Mario Batali's surly sidekick in Spain...on the Road Again.  It was a spectacular culinary road trip through a pretty steller country and I'll even forgive the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow made a few appearances (because Claudia Bassols more than made up for her fair share of estrogen).  I fell in love with this series, it aired on PBS and you can still find clips (the title above provides the link).  I also received the companion cookbook for a birthday gift last year and it is absolutely fantastic, I pretty much want to eat the pages (although that's not an unusual reaction for me).


The show made me come to respect Bittman as more than just a self-indulgent foodie who claims to know How to Cook Everything.  He's actually quite delightful and always hungry (that's why I think we may be kindred spirits) and his Food Matters series is the kind of thing that makes the hippy in me smile.  Anyhoo, back to doing the Twitter...he posted a link with this simple statement "You could not make this up: "sushi" produced from powder and water". This piqued my interest as I could easily consume my body weight in sushi on a fairly regular basis (no seriously...I've tried).

Why why why does this exist?!?!?  I don't care if it's actually candy!  It's downright disturbing!  Can you even imagine the number of chemicals that go into making such a monstrosity?  I bet you glow in the dark shortly after it enters your mouth.

Franken-food!

Ok, so the tobiko (flying fish roe...those little red balls toward the end of the video) is pretty intriguing and I do get a kick from molecular gastronomy (and maybe I want to order a box just for fun)...but seriously...Seriously!?!

Talk about foods that make you go hmmm....

Curious to know your thoughts.  Leave them in the comments below!

Obsession Tuesday!

It's Obsession Tuesday folks, the wonderful day of the week when I share a food related item that has me in a tizzy.  This week's item is often overlooked as simply an ingredient in a dip or topping on a salad, but it is so much more.  In fact, all by its lonesome it makes a wonderful snack.

I am conclusively, all together, heart and soul, obsessed with avocados.  They happen to be relatively inexpensive this time of year (my local market has had them 10/$10 for 2 weeks running) and are oh so delicious in the obligatory game day guacamole.  Being somewhat of a food purist (no fuss for me) I prefer to eat them like this:

Just a simple drizzle of olive oil, a few good grinds of cracked black pepper, sea salt, and a wedge of lemon to add a little zing. 

It's absolutely delicious and one of my all time favorite snacks.  I've been known to add a crusty piece of bread and a good hunk of cheese and call it a lunch.  Try it, you can thank me later.

And now a few little known facts about the mighty avocado:

The word avocado comes from the Aztec word for testicles due to their shape and the fact that they grow in pairs.  

It's also referred to as the alligator pear, which makes perfect sense when you consider the shape and that bumpy skin.



The avocado is a very successful cash crop for California where 95% of the United States avocado harvest occurs.

Like the banana it matures on the tree but ripens off the tree (bonus points, this is known as a climacteric fruit)

These little gems have 60% more potassium than bananas and are a source of heart healthy fats.

So eat up folks, the Governator will thank you!

Foods That Make Ya Go Hmmm...

My supremely talented cousin Craig recently came to town and (gasp) joined me in a Turkish feast.  We dined at Aya Sofia and it was delicious!  Many many kudos go out to his better half Jessica for exponentially expanding his palate with her delicious and adventuresome cooking.  (Jessica's supremely talented too. Click here to read her blog!)

This family get together reminded me of an email exchange Craig and I had some time ago about the etymology of food.  This topic absolutely fascinates me.  Have you ever considered the unlikely path the first human took toward a cow's teet, or the happy accident of busting open a pomegranate?

Let's hear it for Vitamin C!

Fruits and vegetables aren't a far stretch in this scenario:

"Hrmph me hungry, me want yum yum.  Skything eat yum yum...me eat yum yum.  Me call it berry!"

This could, of course, have gone horribly wrong with worms and twigs, as I'm mostly convinced it probably did at one point or another.

Mmmm Iron!

Then we jump to meat.  Easy enough to imagine, as we have incisors for tearing apart meat, so it had to have been somewhat instinctual.  But how did the first carnivorous people know what to leave behind?  I know offal meats were more than likely consumed.  But how did anyone know to leave behind the entrails that could give you ecoli?  Well I can pretty easily sort that out too, it's called survival of the fittest.  Some poor sap actually died from ecoli, and the rest is, as they say, history.  

I can take the leap from human teet to animal teet.  I'd guess the first human to explore a cow's nether-regions probably took a few swift kicks to the teeth, but clearly the process has been streamlined and refined over the years.

Calci-yum!

Now an egg...people, I'm gonna need a bit of help with this one...

What possessed cro-magnon man to go after an egg (I'm stretching here, I know chickens aren't prehistoric but birds in general pre-date man by a good long run)?

Naturally occurring Vitamin D?  Yes please!

"Me want thing from skything's butt!"

Seriously?!?!  Eating just about anything out of anything's backside sounds less than appealing, but I'm unaware of any species that eats their own eggs to even encourage this behavior in the first place.

The balut, however, absolutely, no questions asked, hands down, takes the cake in the egg category of foods that make you go hmmm.  Haven't heard of it?  Allow me to enlighten you.  I was blissfully unaware of anything so vile existing until a student appreciation day held at my alma mater.  The chefs had put together a food relay ala fear factor that included a deconstructed caesar salad (just for fun try a glob of raw egg and then wash it down with vinegar) and ended in this gem;

The most vile thing I've ever seen anyone ingest!

That's a fertilized egg!  (How anything that even resembles something so disgusting could ever be included in an event with "appreciation" on the invite, I will never know.)  It's actually a delicacy in much of Southeast Asia and it makes me want to hurl.


And now let's move onto cheese, 'tis a puzzlement (and one of my main food groups):

There are arguably thousands of reasons to eat cheese, fungus and foot funk are of course, being the caveats.  Stilton and Pont l'Eveque come to mind respectively.

How exactly did either of those scenarios go down?

               

Fungus

Foot Funk

"Ooooh looks like this one heres been rotting a right long while chap."

"Clear off mate, I called dibs!"

"Zzhh oder is so intoxzzzzicating, no?"  

"Ahh, oui, it zmells like mon pied.  How can we rezizt?"

And this is perhaps the all time clincher of foods that make you go hmmm:

I'll take things that attract the un-dead for $1,000 Alex!

It looks unsuspecting enough...cute even.  Well, it smells like rotting flesh and has been outlawed on several forms of public transportation in Southeast Asia.  Riddle me this Batman, what poor sap was the first to crack that puppy open in desperate search of food?  

Have your own list of foods that make you go hmmmm?  Share with the class in the comments!

         

We Had a Dream and a Spoon...Nutella Lovers Unite

'Tis perhaps the most spectacular day of the year.  A day to celebrate the cocoa shortage created by WWII.  A day to revel in the wonder of the most delicious spread known to man. A day to tip our hats to the pure genius of Mr. Pietro Ferrero.  

What's that?  You've never heard tell of this glorious day?  Friends, Countrymen, Italians, and Stoners, today is....

WORLD NUTELLA DAY!!!!!!!!

To celebrate I'm sharing my favorite sweet snack of all time.  Now I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but this particular delight is unmatched in its intoxicating hazelnutty goodness.  It's amaaaaaahzing on just about everything, but here is how I prefer it, in it's simplest form:

It's also pretty mind-blowing on toasted ciabatta bread with bananas on top!

Aaaaand...did you know the good people of Nutella have designed a spreader specifically to aid in your quest for removing every last morsel of love from the jar?  Well they have and if that isn't international diplomacy at its best I'm just not sure what is...and you can buy it here:

Official Nutella Website

If you need further inspiration visit here (and you can thank me later):

The Official World Nutella Day Website

Nutella is more than just a “chocolaty hazelnut spread,” it is a way of life.

Happy 5th Annual World Nutella Day!

It's Recipe Friday Y'All, Super Bowl Edition!

Let me start by saying you can't grow up in small town Mid-Missouri where it's all about the Friday night lights and not get a little bit excited to see the pigskin tossed around.  I've spent countless chilly Fall evenings bundled under a blanket sipping cocoa and cheering on a team with a rich tradition reaching back two centuries and boasting a winning streak that lasted from 1958-1966 (Go Jays!).

Although I don't follow professional football per se (college...of course...Go Tigers!), I do enjoy a good game, and I can't resist good water cooler talk, so a part of me tunes in for the commercials.  

But let's be honest one of the best parts about game day...the food!

Go Steelers!

Chili has always been standard fare at every football event I've ever attended...people that's a lot of beans, so I can say with some authority that chili recipes, preferences, heck chili philosophies run the gamut.  I don't claim to pledge allegiance to one form or another, as by now I'm sure you've figured out, I'm an equal opportunity eater.  I would, however, love to share with you one of my favorite versions.  I first discovered it out of necessity when my lovely neighbor began sharing the fruits of his raised bed gardening experiment.  I had a sack full of Anaheims, what's a girl to do...cut to this delicious Chili:

Roasted Anaheim and White Bean Chicken Chili

What you'll need:

1 lb. dried small white beans

8 fresh Anaheim chilies (approx. 1 pound)

1/4 C. butter (1/2 stick)

2 large yellow onions, chopped

1/3 C. all purpose flour

4 C. low-salt chicken broth

3 C. half and half

4 C. shredded cooked chicken (cheat and buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, my lips are sealed)

1 Tbl. chili powder

1 Tbl. tabasco sauce

1 Tbl. ground cumin

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. white peper

1 1/2 C. grated Monterey Jack cheese (approx. 6 oz.)

1 C. sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

What to do:

Place beans in a heavy large pot with enough cold water to cover them by at least 3 inches and let stand overnight (generally I'm all about shortcuts, so you're probably wondering, why the dried beans.  Seriously people, this is virtually labor free, you're just soaking beans while you sleep for crying out loud!).  

Char chilies over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides.  While chilies are charing shred the chicken.  Once blackened remove chilies from oven and carefully enclose in a paper bag (No bags? That's cool, try a large bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap, you're just sweating these puppies out of their skin, use any method you prefer).  Let stand 10 minutes.  Peel, seed, and chop chilies. Set Aside.  (And WASH YOUR HANDS, you don't want that heat migrating anywhere else.)

Drain Beans and return to pot.  Add enough cold water to pot to cover beans by 3 inches and simmer until the beans are almost tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.  Drain well.  

Melt butter in a clean heavy large pot over medium heat.  Add onions and saute until tender, about 15 minutes.  

Add flour and stir 5 minutes (Ok ladies and gents, we are creating the beginning of a roux here, so patience is key. You don't want to brown the flour, we are shooting for a blonde roux, so stir your little hearts outs and watch that heat!)

Gradually whisk in chicken broth and half and half (slow here we don't want lumps).  Simmer gently until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Add reserved white beans and roasted chilies, shredded chicken, and the next 5 ingredients.  Simmer gently to blend flavors, about 20 minutes.  

*If you are planning on consuming the entire batch in one sitting, say at a Superbowl party, then go ahead and add grated cheese and sour cream right to the pot, stir just until cheese melts (don't let the chili boil at this point, you'll have a mess on your hands, we are just melting the cheese). 

*If you will be eating this in smaller servings throughout the week then I'd recommend leaving out the dairy and simply garnish with it.  Reheating will be much easier without the cheese and sour cream already included in the chili.

Ladle chili into bowls and garnish with cilantro (another wonderful addition is a bit of tomatillo salsa, Trader Joe's has a pretty solid version).  Serve and enjoy!

Oh and did I mention Go Steelers!?!?

The Girl Scouts of America's Business Plan Can Suck it!

Finally...It's that time of year when getting hassled at the office to participate in some rugrats fundraiser is actually a pleasure.  That's right folks, it's Girl Scout Cookie time!

I myself was a Girl Scout, well technically I was a Daisy, then a Brownie, and then a Junior Girl Scout.  I never actually made it all the way to full-fledged Girl Scout.  Looking back that probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was never in uniform for the meetings, earned three measly patches, and was really only interested in one thing...those cookies...I mean can you blame me!  I don't even recall ever going door to door.  My parents did the grunt work for me and we always ended up with a surplus of boxes tucked away in various cabinets to spread the wealth so to speak, lest I eat all 20 boxes in one sitting, which was a scenario that always had strong potential as it was the only time we ever really had good ole' bona fide "junk food" in my house.

I have continued this rationing tradition and have gone to great lengths to hide Samoas in places only I would think to look.  There is always a package of Thin Mints tucked into the freezer, pulled out ever so slowly, one by one, until the next cookie season rolls around.

I'm pretty sure that if I ever landed myself in the slammer Girl Scout cookies would become my currency.

But as much love and affection my sugar-coated heart has for those cookies, I pretty much detest the business plan.  Seriously people, who in their right mind came up with this cockamamie scheme.  "Ohh I know let's bake crack into the dough and then only sell them ONCE A YEAR!" First bite's free.  I really think SNL writer John Mulaney says it best here:


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I mean really...WORST BUSINESS PLAN EVER (good thing I ordered 15 boxes)!