Small Bytes: Curry, Allspice
March 10, 2012 - Written by DianaDid you know?
Curry powder is a commercially prepared mixture of dried spices – usually used in Indian and South East Asian Dishes. The actual mixture of spices can vary by quite a bit from mild to very hot depending on who makes the mixture. You can make up your own mixture of spices to control the way your dishes taste and in order to use fresh ingredients.
Allspice is the dried fruit of the Pimenta dioica plant. When dry the fruit is brown and resembles peppercorns. Like peppercorns, the freshly ground allspice berry is much more fragrant and has a longer shelf life than the pre-ground.
Food News – March 4, 2012
March 4, 2012 - Written by Diana- First up – The Wholly & Garden of Eatin’ Giveaway is over. Heidi was the winner – a big thanks to everyone who participated (all 4 of you!). I hope the rest of you picked up some coupons. Also, I participated in the Culinary Smackdown – Battle Cabbage and came out in the top 3 with my Lamb Cabbage Rolls. Pretty cool!
- March 4th (today), 9-10 pm – Oprah is embarking on a new Prime Time Series on her network called Oprah’s Next Chapter. This episode she and Gayle King visit Paula Deen.
After an exclusive, in-depth tour of her home, the “Queen of Southern Cuisine” takes Oprah and Gayle on some of her favorite backyard adventures. Dressed in their pajamas and rubber boots, the ladies bait their hooks and hit the catfish pond with bamboo fishing rods. They pick fresh eggs and check out the hens in Paula’s unbelievable chicken coop. Then, they sit down for a rare, revealing and intimate interview in Paula’s historic dock house. An emotional Paula talks about her private and debilitating struggle with agoraphobia, the loss of her parents, her obsession with her own death, …
Lamb Cabbage Rolls – Battle Cabbage
February 29, 2012 - Written by Diana
I met some really cool foodbloggers in Cicinnati at the #5B conference – and a couple of them intorduced me to Culinary Smackdown. It’s a challenge where you try to create a recipe using a particular ingredient chosen by the winner of the previous smackdown. February’s smackdown ingredient is cabbage – one of my favorite ingredients. I had cabbage from my market bag, so it was a no brainer. I was determined to use other ingredients I had already on hand – so I made cabbage rolls using ground lamb, but I added baby potatoes, onions, sweet red peppers and carrots, along with a few herbs and fresh sage. I made the dish really sagey – chopped sage inside the cabbage rolls, but also i threw more on top.
We each ate three cabbage rolls – and I stopped my husband from eating more, though he wanted too. My son was supposed to put the cabbage rolls in the oven, but forgot, so he only had a sandwich before leaving for work. I saved his …
Announcing Ben and Jerry’s New Greek Frozen Yogurts
February 23, 2012 - Written by Diana
Have you all been waiting with bated breath for Ben and Jerry’s announcement? Over the weekend the bloggers (there were 5 of us) were able to taste the new Greek Frozen Yogurts though when I asked if we would get a taste at the beginning of the trip, the response was pretty much we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of certain flavors. This is their way of not lying to anyone while keeping secrets as long as humanly possible as shelves are filling up with product. I will do a recap of my weekend later, but I thought I would address the big news for today – Ben and Jerry’s now has Greek Frozen Yogurts – Banana Peanutbutter, Vanilla (scoop shops), Raspberry Fudge Chunk, Blueberry Vanilla Graham, and Strawberry Shortcake.
While we were visiting, we were given a short lesson in scooping the Ben and Jerry’s way at their very own ScoopU. So while we were perfecting our 3 ounce scoops, we were able to snatch spoonfuls of the flavors on hand – 4 of them were the Greek …
Grilled Mozzarella and Kale Pesto Sandwich
February 12, 2012 - Written by DianaHave you ever been thinking about how to make a dish, or an ingredient you want to use and someone posts a dish that you say – Yes, I can make my dish this way and use her idea to do it. I had some fresh mozzarella that I wanted to use, plus I had Kale. I knew I wanted a grilled cheese, but I didn’t know how to do it, until I saw @erikakerekes – tweet. She said “{In Erika’s Kitchen} My ongoing love affair with kale: Kale pesto http://t.co/bqsFCuD0 #recipe #Superfoods”. That was my trigger. I could make my grilled mozz sandwiches with kale pesto, and dip the sandwiches in pasta sauce.
Tonight for dinner we made a Kale pesto – not to exact recipe – I used kale and chard and forgot the lemon because I was making a small amount – though I think it would be good to add. I broke open a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce and we dined. My husband thought it was wonderful and suggested it would be …
Red Pepper Lentil Dip
February 5, 2012 - Written by Diana
Here’s a really fast and I think pretty healthy dip. Unlike sour cream dips, legume dips fill you up faster so you’ll eat a little less of the not so good stuff. My suggestion is to start with the bean dip with veggies to leave a little less room for those fattening things. You can revisit last years dip suggestions to see healthier alternatives for your gatherings.
Lentils – are a type of legume, and are very high in proteins. They cook relatively quickly and when mashed are similar to chickpeas used for hummus. You can substitute lentils for chickpeas in your hummus, or use it instead of refried beans in your bean dip. The red lentils have more of a mild flavor and aren’t as high in protein as the dark green, but I used them because I thought they would go well with the red peppers. Use this dip for crackers, raw veggies, pita or just chips. Serve warm or cold and to keep from drying out you can pour a thin layer of oil over top …
The Healthy Way to Get Through That Superbowl Party
January 27, 2012 - Written by DianaSuperbowl and healthy eating don’t seem to go hand in hand. We associate this testosterone infected party with fried finger foods covered in cheese, things you can toss back and swallow with beer – though in my case it would be wine or a cooler. The truth is, though I bring healthier foods, there will be other things there that I should stay away from. I’m going to try and give us some great ideas to help us get through this fat laden party in the next week. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll eat some of the bad stuff, but if I fill my plate with the good stuff, and just leave a little spot here and there for the other stuff that will be okay.
Tosca Reno the queen of the Clean Eating recipe books has produced a small guide book. It’s small in size, and you can stick it in your laptop case or your briefcase to reference whenever you need a little help. Tosca calls it “JUST THE RULES: TOSCA’S GUIDE TO EATING RIGHT
” – I think it’s a strong name for …
Genius Choppers – Great Tools When You Have a Lot of Chopping To Do
January 25, 2012 - Written by DianaRecently I came home to baked fries, that my son made and put into the toaster oven. No oil, not deep frying, just baking and they were fantastic tasting. He decided to use the Genius Nicer Dicer to cut the potatoes into uniform size – and I think it did the trick. Since the potatoes were uniform in size, they took the same amount of time to cook and were perfect. Because he used herbs, salt and pepper, they were tasty even without the oil.
We’ve been trying out the Genius Salad Chopper and the Genius Nicer Dicer, two chopping tools that are sold on QVC. They’re mostly self contained because you can store the blades, and slicers inside the container the Chopper sits on top of. It’s both a work and serving station.
The salad chopper bowl is huge, which will come in handy when you have a really big gathering and want to serve a big group though, t’s a bit oversized for a family of four. The Salad Chopper comes with two different sized blade inserts, an insert with two graters and a cleaning tool. The …
Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing
January 20, 2012 - Written by Diana
You knew I was going to do something with that kumquat ginger syrup didn’t you? I made another chicken roast, with a side of winter vegetables and a really cool tasty Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing. A little sweet, a little vinegary, but all good. In fact, my daughter ate it and then stopped and said – “Wait, this is slaw, you tricked me.” I asked if she liked it and she said she did, but it was still slaw.
We had a full house – both of the kids were home and the fiancee was at dinner too, so I brought out the leftover kumquats for a tasting. My daughter died laughing over the name and then refused at first to eat it. She wanted to peel the skin which I said was the best part. My son and the fiance popped them in their mouths without a second thought, but my daughter really had to get herself ready. Then she was fine until the tart juice squirted in her mouth making her pucker. Later I thanked …
Introducing Kumquats + Kumquat Ginger Simple Syrup
January 15, 2012 - Written by DianaWe are smack dab in the middle of kumquat growing season which runs from November to March. This is my first new ingredient of 2012, but hopefully there are plenty more to try. Kumquats look like little oranges and have the floral orangey fragrance, but are a little different from the larger juicy oranges.
Kumquats can tolerate a low of -10, and a hot summer between 77 ° to 100 °F. Though it can stand the lower winter temps a little, it does much better with a long summer in the lower states, like Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and California producing larger and sweeter fruit.
This is my first experience with kumquats – the whole fruit is edible, though the seeds can be used to create a pectin for jamming and can be easily removed from the fruit when you are using it. The outer rind of the kumquat is floral and sweet like an orange skin, but sweeter. The inner flesh has a tart juice inside but quite tasty.
Kumquats can be eaten raw, shaved in salads and added to your favorite cocktail. You …
