October, 2008

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Recipe: Rosemary Roasted Pecans

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Some dear friends threw us an engagement party last Saturday. One of the couples in attendance, Lilo & Tom, gifted us a large jar of “Lilo’s Southern Love Nuts.”

They are now gone. Yes, gone.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday- three days. Really, is that all?

Well, they’re that good. Enjoy.

Lilo’s Southern “Love Nuts” (Rosemary Roasted Pecans)

1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
4 cups pecans

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Line two cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

2. In a small saucepan, heat oil, rosemary, salt, garlic powder, and pepper until warmed through. Pour mixture over pecans in a bowl and toss. Drain excess oil using a colander.

3. Quickly spread in even layers on cookie sheets. Roast nuts for 15 minutes. Cool and pack in tins. Store in cool place.

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Tech Tool: Find wine tastings in your zip code

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

LocalWineEvents.com is a helpful website for anyone looking to learn more about wine or just throw back some free sips around town.

On the main page you select your location, and then you will be presented with a long list of current wine (and sometimes food) tastings, dinners, tours, lessons, and classes near where you live.

I subscribe to the newsletter version (“The Juice”), which is emailed to me every week or so. I prefer the layout of the newsletter because I find it easier to scroll down looking for events with “free” in the cost column.

Thanks to LocalWineEvents.com I have discovered some good wine shops as well as nice wines. Sometimes if I know I’ll have an hour to kill in Manhattan between, say, an appointment and dinner, I will look up whatever events might be in that area during that time. Nothing passes the time like a few tastes of wine.

Posted in Happy Hour, Wine | 1 Response »
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Tea: Vanilla Caramel Truffle

Monday, October 20th, 2008

Tea seems to be getting fancier all the time.

Lipton Pyramid Teas are not ordinary flat teabags but rather three dimensional, with larger tea pieces inside.  I bought the Vanilla Caramel Truffle flavor and really like the flavor.  I can taste both the vanilla and caramel while the traditional black tea flavor remains.  It tastes a bit sweet even without anything added.

It’s a good tea to have on hand at work for around 3pm when I get sluggish.  It’s around this time that I have been known to convince myself that vending machine-type fare is a good idea (I’ve gone as far as thinking neon-green Pop Tarts sounded palatable).

With this tea around, I can have my truffle and drink it too.

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Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

I love these cookies. So simple and only 3 ingredients. There are hundreds of nearly-identical recipes for this on the Internet.
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar (a combination of white/brown sugars is ok)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix egg, sugar and peanut butter together. Roll into balls, whatever size you want.

Place on an ungreased, parchment-lined cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork, making a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. Cookies are done with they are light brown and a little shiny in the middle.

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Song for a Saturday: Abba

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

Knowing Me, Knowing You

1976

Maybe it’s my Swedish ancestry.

Maybe it’s how a year ago this weekend I saw Mamma Mia on Broadway.

But I think it’s worth a watch.

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Recipe: Bacon Gorgonzola Dip

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

There are two types of people: those who put healthy ingredients into almost every recipe and those who figure that healthy foods should stay in the vegetable kingdom.

I figure I’ll be prepared when I have kids someday because I have already perfected the art of “sneaking” healthy foods into everything from muffins to, well, bacon Gorgonzola dip. This recipe (secretly) features sauerkraut. Fermented foods like sauerkraut aid digestion and overall health. I figure as long as I’m trying to eat nutritional powerhouses I may as well prepare them in tasty ways.

Bacon Gorgonzola Dip

Adapted from Great Lakes Kraut

6 slices bacon
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 blocks (16 oz) cream cheese, softened (low-fat or nonfat okay)
1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 small tomato, diced
2 Tbsp milk (low-fat or nonfat okay)
1/3 cup chives, finely chopped
1/3 cup sauerkraut, drained (reserving 2 Tbsp of juice)

    1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut bacon strips in half and cook over medium high heat until crisp. Remove from pan and crumble. Discard bacon drippings, leaving only enough to sauté garlic. Add garlic and cook until soft.

    2. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese until soft and creamy. Add sautéed garlic, cheese, diced tomato, milk, chives, and bacon. (Reserve some chives and bacon for sprinkling on top.) Mix until well blended. Add the sauerkraut and reserved juice.

    3. Spread evenly in an 8″ x 8″ ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the remaining chives and bacon on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes.

    Serve warm with crusty bread, bagel chips, or raw vegetables.

    Posted in Appetizers, Recipes, Tea, Techniques, Uncategorized, Vegetables | 1 Response »
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    Seeds of Change Organic Greek Feta Salad Dressing

    Thursday, October 16th, 2008

    It can be tough to find a good bottled salad dressing.  Often I make homemade vinaigrettes, but when life gets busy bottled dressings are very helpful.

    Seeds of Change makes some great dressings.  The Greek Feta flavor is one of my favorites.  It has a nice balance of sweetness, saltiness, acidity and oil.  A splash over some mixed greens, a few tosses, and you have an elegant, simple salad.

    Some finely diced red onion or a few artichoke hearts would also complement this dressing nicely.

    Posted in Products | 1 Response »
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    No Loves It: Zenergize

    Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

    Even optimists can’t like everything.

    Case in point: Zenergize Energy+ Orange Squeeze Flavor. It tastes like an orange-colored alka seltzer, unsweetened.

    While I appreciate its lack of artificial sweeteners, a whole tablet is hard to get down. Even knowing it has many vitamins and minerals, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d rather swallow a multi-vitamin tablet. In addition, the Zenergize disc doesn’t dissolve easily, causing unfortunate clumping and odd swallows of flavor.

    I’m hoping that some of the other flavors are better, because some do sound more promising: raspberry, peach, and acai+pomegranate.

    Posted in Products | 3 Responses »
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    Gadget: Custom Coffee Grinder

    Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

    As I’ve stated previously, I’m not inclined to buy a lot of gadgets to clutter my kitchen, but here’s one that is worth its space: a custom coffee grinder.  I have the Hamilton Beach model pictured above.

    If you’re a coffee drinker, it allows you to only grind a few days’ worth of beans at a time and thus enhancing freshness.  You can set the lever to various grind sizes within categories of “auto drip” or “espresso.”

    But I also use it for other things: if I need to quickly grind up an herb or a spice, or when I want to make some raw/demera/turbinado sugar more suitable for recipes (or to better dissolve in coffee).

    Save yourself a future heart attack, though, by carefully wiping down the blade if you use sugar or any other substance that could get sticky.  Not because a sticky blade will cause a heart attack, per se, but because a sticky blade may not turn and will thus make you think your coffee grinder just died, which may cause severe distress.  But it didn’t die, and you can calm down, it’s just sticky.

    Posted in Gadgets | 1 Response »
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    Book Club: The Reach of a Chef

    Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

    The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman follows The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef, neither of which I have read.  Thankfully, they were not prerequisites for understanding or enjoying The Reach of a Chef.

    Thinking about food, cooking and restaurants through the eyes and minds of chefs was interesting and almost made me want to be a chef myself.  Even more, it made me want to eat at the restaurants at the best and most innovative chefs in the world.  Specifically, I am determined to make it to Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago.

    So determined that I wrote a [fictional] poem for a contest on Eater to win tickets to an book/tasting event hosted by Achatz in New York on November 6.  I don’t know yet if I won.  And as far as I can tell, Eater is taking its (his? her?) sweet time in choosing a winner, and even in determining a deadline by which to choose a winner.

    But I do have it written on my calendar.  I do, after all, enjoy contests.

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