Yogurt Cake Recipe
3 years ago
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Bacony goodness, part one.
Bacon, it's not just what's for breakfast anymore. On a recent foray to my favorite cheese boutique I found something I had dreamed of last year whilst making a bacon feta and chocolate omelet. Bacon Chocolate Bars. Yes you read that right. Sweet, salt, rich and smoke plus a little dark chocolate antioxidant benefit to balance out the so not -good -for -you-ness. It's a thing of beauty. And for those of you who don't do dark chocolate- there is also a milk chocolate bar. I haven't tried it. I just can't wrap my mind or my taste buds around the concept of milk chocolate and bacon- I just love that intense dark chocolate flavor. Dark , bold coffees, deep red wines, and deep dark chocolate bars. This bar may set you back as much as $8, but if you love bacon and chocolate, well what can I say, its a worthwhile purchase. Leaving the palace of cheese, I ran into friends having dinner. Excitedly I told them of my discovery. With great reverence one of them asked-"May I hold it, just for a moment?" Her lips quivered. With much regret she relinquished the bar, excused herself from the table and made a fast dash to purchase her own bar. Ah, the power of perfect flavor! You know you need to get your own now - share with friends, two squares is rich enough to satisfy most mortals, 4 squares if you are a choco-baco-holic. Here is the link for more info http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars. Enjoy!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Night Moves
Saturday night found me at Kartabar on Thayer St. I was looking forward to a fun night celebrating a friend's birthday and catching up with friends I had not seen in a few weeks. I'd had some decent pizza there once before outdoors , on a sunny afternoon, but this was a completely different experience.
Kartabar is a scenster see and be seen place. Go for drinks, go to cruise, go to dance. Expect to see older men buying drinks for pretty young things and lots of drinks on fire. Dinner not so much. Dance music is blasting so much that you can forget having any meaningful conversation in a large group. If you are a beer fan your choices are pretty limited to Guinness and Blue Moon. The wine list did feature a Natura Organic Carmenere that was sublime- like drinking velvet. However this is more of a cocktail establishment, especially ones that can be set aflame.
The menu held a questionable interest- flavors that intrigued but on closer inspection were not going to meld. One order of calamari marseilles and a lobster ravioli later and it was like getting halfway through a first date and really wishing you were elsewhere.
The calamari marseilles would have been great if there had been more than a hint of olive and a bit more fresh basil. The idea was good, the basil flavor on the calamari was divine- had the olive decided to show up it would have been one mouth tantalizing rendezvous. The lobster ravioli was shaped like little fish- a great eye candy, but so empty inside. The lobster was missing that special something that keeps you wanting more. The sauce flavor was sharp with tomato on mine and almost entirely lacking tomato on another diner's order. I was rather underwhelmed.
I'm sorry Kartabar. Maybe drinks and dancing sometime down the road, but really, I'm just not that into you.
Kartabar is a scenster see and be seen place. Go for drinks, go to cruise, go to dance. Expect to see older men buying drinks for pretty young things and lots of drinks on fire. Dinner not so much. Dance music is blasting so much that you can forget having any meaningful conversation in a large group. If you are a beer fan your choices are pretty limited to Guinness and Blue Moon. The wine list did feature a Natura Organic Carmenere that was sublime- like drinking velvet. However this is more of a cocktail establishment, especially ones that can be set aflame.
The menu held a questionable interest- flavors that intrigued but on closer inspection were not going to meld. One order of calamari marseilles and a lobster ravioli later and it was like getting halfway through a first date and really wishing you were elsewhere.
The calamari marseilles would have been great if there had been more than a hint of olive and a bit more fresh basil. The idea was good, the basil flavor on the calamari was divine- had the olive decided to show up it would have been one mouth tantalizing rendezvous. The lobster ravioli was shaped like little fish- a great eye candy, but so empty inside. The lobster was missing that special something that keeps you wanting more. The sauce flavor was sharp with tomato on mine and almost entirely lacking tomato on another diner's order. I was rather underwhelmed.
I'm sorry Kartabar. Maybe drinks and dancing sometime down the road, but really, I'm just not that into you.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Snow Food
Yesterday we were supposed to be hit with 8-12 inches of snow. I cleared my afternoon schedule and planned to hunker down for a snow day. Snow days are a treat, a day to play and tackle some at home projects, a few things at the home office and cook. I put on my apron and headed for the kitchen to make carrot ginger soup. The buckets of snow did not fall in my part of the state. I have to say I am sorely disappointed. But now I have beautiful gingery carrot soup.
Gingery Carrot soup is really easy to make and the variations are endless but here are the basics.
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, yellow or sweet vidalia
6-8 large carrots
fresh ginger root
4 cups water or soup stock either vegetable or chicken
Optional seasonings (adjust to suit your tastes, if using soup stock you may not need much, if using water you may want lots)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp curry
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika
Adding a little celery and an apple could also be great flavors to add , but again optional.
Chop the onions into small chunks or dice depending on your texture preference. I use organic carrots- wash them, trim the ends and then test a piece to see if the outer peel is sweet enough. If its sweet I don't peel them because there are good nutrients that you get rid of in the peel. If , however you taste a bitter flavor in the peel than by all means , peel away. Then chop the carrots into chunks.
In your favorite soup pot, put in 2-3 tbsp olive oil, add the black pepper, thyme, curry, paprika.
Put the heat on enough for sauteing and put in your onions and carrots. Saute til onions are soft 3-5 min usually. While the onions and carrot are sauteing - peel and chop a good 2-3 inch chunk of ginger root- feel free to use more if you crave an intense ginger kick! Please note the chunks of ginger can be a little fibery- I don't mind this but if you do you can remove them once the soup is done. If you have a juicer you could also juice the ginger root and just add the juice to the soup.
Put the ginger in with the carrots and onion, add your 4 cups of water or stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 to 25 min. Remove from heat and let the soup cool. Get your handy blender out and when the soup has cooled enough, ladle the carrot and onion chunks into the blender, cover and puree. Pour back into soup pot. You can puree all the veggies or leave some chunky depending on how you like your textures.
Reheat the soup to desired temperature. Serve with a garnish of parsley or chive and a grilled cheese sandwich.
Gingery Carrot soup is really easy to make and the variations are endless but here are the basics.
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, yellow or sweet vidalia
6-8 large carrots
fresh ginger root
4 cups water or soup stock either vegetable or chicken
Optional seasonings (adjust to suit your tastes, if using soup stock you may not need much, if using water you may want lots)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp curry
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika
Adding a little celery and an apple could also be great flavors to add , but again optional.
Chop the onions into small chunks or dice depending on your texture preference. I use organic carrots- wash them, trim the ends and then test a piece to see if the outer peel is sweet enough. If its sweet I don't peel them because there are good nutrients that you get rid of in the peel. If , however you taste a bitter flavor in the peel than by all means , peel away. Then chop the carrots into chunks.
In your favorite soup pot, put in 2-3 tbsp olive oil, add the black pepper, thyme, curry, paprika.
Put the heat on enough for sauteing and put in your onions and carrots. Saute til onions are soft 3-5 min usually. While the onions and carrot are sauteing - peel and chop a good 2-3 inch chunk of ginger root- feel free to use more if you crave an intense ginger kick! Please note the chunks of ginger can be a little fibery- I don't mind this but if you do you can remove them once the soup is done. If you have a juicer you could also juice the ginger root and just add the juice to the soup.
Put the ginger in with the carrots and onion, add your 4 cups of water or stock. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 to 25 min. Remove from heat and let the soup cool. Get your handy blender out and when the soup has cooled enough, ladle the carrot and onion chunks into the blender, cover and puree. Pour back into soup pot. You can puree all the veggies or leave some chunky depending on how you like your textures.
Reheat the soup to desired temperature. Serve with a garnish of parsley or chive and a grilled cheese sandwich.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Winter Comforts- Chowder
Everyone has their favorite comfort foods. I have many. Wine, chocolate and pasta are in the top 5. Shrimp and grits vs. lobster mac-n-cheese are tied. Good soup or stew on a dreary, arctic day is a definite. As I write this it feels about 10 degrees out although the barometer says it is somewhere in the 20's. It's dour, grey, and there are flurries. I decided that really bright flowers and hot soup were needed to replace the sunshine I won't see until sometime tomorrow. Did I mention it's really dreary out?
I made chowder for the first time ever this week. I've eaten it so many times -corn, clam , scallop, monkfish., red, white, clear, New York, Newport , New England and Bahamian. How hard could it be?
It all started because I had made shrimp. Not just any shrimp - Whole Foods has fresh, wild-caught Maine shrimp in right now. They are so fresh and good I suggest you drop everything and go get some, really , they're that good! Steam them briefly - ask the guy at the counter and he will tell you the timing. It's barely 2-3 minutes. These are pink shrimp and they are beautiful. Season them with salt and pepper before steaming and save the water after . I used it to make the chowder.
This was one of those un -shopped-for ,hmm... what should I do with the shrimp broth? thoughts, that became lets make chowder. A quick consult to Joy of Cooking showed I was missing a few key things like cream and booze. Well, shoot, it's not Mardi Gras yet and half and half would just have to do.
Ever since having Bahamian monkfish chowder I like the idea of a little heat so I sauteed the onion, garlic,parsley and sweet potato chunks in olive oil with a generous dashes of Tabasco sauce. I used the regular Tabasco, but I'd be curious to taste the Chipotle Tabasco in the chowder-that would add a whole dimension on to the flavors, would it overwhelm the sweet corn and potato ? Perhaps I'll try that next time along with adding a bayleaf and bit of bourbon or sherry, but I digress...
After sauteing I added the shrimp broth leftover from steaming the shrimp and some leek broth, a little curry , thyme, paprika, more black pepper, micro-pinch of oregano, frozen corn niblets and simmered until the sweet potato is tender. I stirred in some half and half and the shelled cooked shrimp and simmered a bit more. The result: a yummy pot of spiced sunshine and a really warm belly. I'm going back for grateful seconds.
I made chowder for the first time ever this week. I've eaten it so many times -corn, clam , scallop, monkfish., red, white, clear, New York, Newport , New England and Bahamian. How hard could it be?
It all started because I had made shrimp. Not just any shrimp - Whole Foods has fresh, wild-caught Maine shrimp in right now. They are so fresh and good I suggest you drop everything and go get some, really , they're that good! Steam them briefly - ask the guy at the counter and he will tell you the timing. It's barely 2-3 minutes. These are pink shrimp and they are beautiful. Season them with salt and pepper before steaming and save the water after . I used it to make the chowder.
This was one of those un -shopped-for ,hmm... what should I do with the shrimp broth? thoughts, that became lets make chowder. A quick consult to Joy of Cooking showed I was missing a few key things like cream and booze. Well, shoot, it's not Mardi Gras yet and half and half would just have to do.
Ever since having Bahamian monkfish chowder I like the idea of a little heat so I sauteed the onion, garlic,parsley and sweet potato chunks in olive oil with a generous dashes of Tabasco sauce. I used the regular Tabasco, but I'd be curious to taste the Chipotle Tabasco in the chowder-that would add a whole dimension on to the flavors, would it overwhelm the sweet corn and potato ? Perhaps I'll try that next time along with adding a bayleaf and bit of bourbon or sherry, but I digress...
After sauteing I added the shrimp broth leftover from steaming the shrimp and some leek broth, a little curry , thyme, paprika, more black pepper, micro-pinch of oregano, frozen corn niblets and simmered until the sweet potato is tender. I stirred in some half and half and the shelled cooked shrimp and simmered a bit more. The result: a yummy pot of spiced sunshine and a really warm belly. I'm going back for grateful seconds.
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