Risotto Chips by New York Style – My Son Loves Them

Risotto Chips are an awesome treat, the whole family enjoyed them. They didn’t taste like risotto to me, they were delicious crispy (cracker-like) treats – that are gluten free.  We love the Parmesan and Garlic and the Sea Salt.  The Spicy Marinara wasn’t our first choice, but it was devoured too.

My son said that I have to let you know that these chips were so good he was willing to brush his teeth twice for them.  Here’s what I mean – he was ready for bed, and packing his lunch.  Instead of his usually pretzels, he grabbed the Sea Salt Risotto Chips.  He had brushed his teeth already, but said that even though he knew he’d have to brush his teeth again, he finished off the bag. He said it was worth it because they were so good.  I thought it was funny, but also, when he told me, I was disappointed, because there weren’t any left for me.  Then later my husband came looking to see if there were any left and he was disappointed that the bag was empty also.  I tried to hoard the Parmesan & Garlic but it was discovered and devoured. I loved the Parmesan and Garlic taste – one of my favorite combinations. The Marinara was delicious and a little spicy, but we liked the other two better.

These chips hold up well to dip and also hummus.  They were absolutely great with hummus.  The only drawback?  Not enough in the bag because you just can’t stop eating them.  Well, maybe it’s a good thing after all. My recommendation – Risotto Chips – Overall A+, Parmesan & Garlic – A+, Sea Salt A+, Marinara B+. 

 

 

 

The Details – I was given New York Style Risotto Chips to review.  This was my honest opinion.  Gluten-free, 0 grams trans fat and 11 grams whole grains

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Is Your Kitchen App Savvy?

If you have an Iphone or Droid or one of those other phones that are web capable, you may have a kitchen tool  or two at your fingertips – literally (I think that’s correctly used).  I have some Apps to suggest.  It’s really cool to find a recipe on your phone, to use for dinner.  There are organizational tools to help with shopping and dieting and even cool drink making apps – I think I’ll need that one while my daughter is home on spring break. Here are a few of my favorite apps, let me know in the comments what your best ones are.

• Bento- Cost 4.99 – If you are going to pay almost five dollars for an app, it had better be useful.  Bento is a very useful organizing tool based on different templates you can use.  I’ll talk about a few of them, that I’ve investigated. How it works – you get a template from those available and add it to your library.  For example – in the Diet Log, you add an entry based on their template and you can keep track of what you’ve eaten for the day, the number of calories eaten, put in some exercise notes and your weight. There are different templates available besides the Diet Log such as Recipes, and an Exercise log, an address book and quite a few others.  This app is definitely worth looking into and one of the few worth the 4.99.  I did get this one free, but I still recommend it as a one stop app to keep you organized.

 

• Strawberries – Cost free- Put out by the California Strawberry Commission – it has recipes and a page about nutrition and another page of how to find them on twitter and facebook.  My opinion that the app is good, but could be better because the number of recipes is a little limited.  To be a good recipe app, we should have more to choose from.  It is free though, so you won’t lose out by getting it.

 

• 8,500+ Drink & Cocktail Recipes Free – Cost Free – Pretty Cool App.  You can choose one particular ingredient and look through all the drinks using that ingredient, or you can just choose form the entire list.  Also, you can shake the app and come up with a whole new drink to try out – a random drink. 

 

• WW mobile – Cost Free – kinda – Weight Watchers Mobile – is a kind of free app.  If you belong to Weight Watchers, the whole app is free and it can be used to keep track of your points (or I think).  If you aren’t a member of Weight Watchers there are still daily recipes and articles you can view, plus a cheat sheet for pizza and cocktails.  Much more worth it if you are a member.

 

• Around Me – Cost Free – Good App for finding restaurants around you – as long as you have service and an exit.  I was checking to see what places were nearby when we were stuck last week, though there wasn’t anyway to get to them.  It’s a decent app to keep around.

 

• Eat This Not That –This was recommended to me, though at 4.99, I haven’t tried it yet.  It’s put out by Men’s health and is supposed to be similar to the book that was put out, giving suggestions of good choices at different places.  Has anyone tried it?  What do you think?

 

 Here’s a cool tool for your Iphone – it’s called an IDOX – a stand for your Iphone.  On the plus side, it will hold up your Iphone and make it easier to be hands free while you are cooking from the recipes you’ve stored there.  I did think it was useful and works well, and is very low tech.  On the negative side, you have to remove your case in order to fit the phone into the IDOX.  You can actually replace your case and just use the IDOX as a case, but it makes it a little clunky.  So I think it’s better to pull it out of it’s case and put it into the IDOX when you are cooking in the kitchen.  Other uses besides in the kitchen that are suggested, as an alarm when you are travelling, or also so you can watch movies without holding your Iphone the whole time.  It is more protection for your phone than regular a regular Iphone case.  As for the price – I’m a little hesitant tell you about it because 34.99 is a bit pricey, though it is a sturdy case.  I have a free review case and I do like it, so you’ll have to decide about the cost for yourself.

 

 

 

Disclosure -  I received a free copy of Bento, as well as a free IDOX, both reviews are my honest opinion.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Black Quinoa – Red Quinoa too.

Yesterday I posted a picture of Black Quinoa.  We’ve mentioned quinoa before, it’s one of the best grains to get on your plate.  Black Quinoa was one of the main ingredients I used in my dinner the other night.  I liked the contrast that the Black Quinoa added to the bowl, they’re the little speckles in with the bigger grains.

The black quinoa has a little more earthy flavor than the white quinoa, and also a little bit crunchier texture. Therefore it takes longer to get to a mushy texture than the white quinoa.  You have to be a bit more careful with the white than the black, I think.  I got my package of black quinoa from Alter Eco to try out, so this quinoa is fair trade as well as organic.

Quinoa is also gluten free.  My daughter often uses leftover quinoa for a salad the same as she does with leftover couscous.  If you desire gluten free ingredients, quinoa is a good substitute for couscous and also, if you cook it a little longer you can substitute it for oatmeal and eat it as a hot cereal.

 

I found a box of Ancient Harvest Inca Red Quinoa at the grocery store.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I wanted to let you know it’s available to add to your dishes.  I like the idea of having the red grains in my recipe for a little color.  When I visited the Ancient Harvest website, I found they have quite a few recipes .  They also have pastas, flours and flakes made out of quinoa too and kosher products. However, I don’t know that they are a fair trade product.

 

Don’t hesitate to add quinoa to your dishes and try out something healthy and new.  My family is enjoying my foray into wholegrain goodness.  (Robyn sorry, I probably can’t help your husband and son.)  Give it a whirl and see what you think.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen

Never one to be overly impressed with Vegan foods, Tal Ronnen has made an impact in my thinking.  Tal Ronnen wrote the Conscious Cook – Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change The Way You Eat.  Tal Ronnen’s book while talking about the benefits of veganism, also shows how to make delicious, and yet totally meat and dairy free. The book is filled with beautiful color photos, and recipes, Tal also interviews with vegan innovators, the discoverers of powerhouse foods and has guest chefs.

Tal Ronnen lists his larder, and throughout the book lets you in on all his favorite ingredients to work with, whether it be a grain, vegetable, herbs or greens.  Plus you learn about the fake foods like Gardein chicken – it’s not real chicken.  We actually bought a package of it when we were shopping, we’re going to try it out.

My favorite thing that I learned is about making cream out of nuts.  Plus you can take it a step further and make cheese, or whipped cream.  If you’re allergic to dairy, it’s amazing that you can still make a cool cheese cake without any cream cheese.  I made some cashew cream, just to see how it worked.  The cream wasn’t bursting with flavor, but it had a decent thickness and texture.

I like that Tal Ronnen uses some of the same ingredients in more than one place.  If you buy something in the store you want to use it in more than one recipe.  The cashew cream is used quite a few places.  I think I can get enough ideas for how to make substitutions in regular meals so that they are vegan.  That said, I’m not a vegan, and not likely to become one, but maybe I’ll lean a little further towards healthy vegan meals sometimes. 

One of the best interviews is with Don McKinley, the Quinoa Smuggler.  They discuss all about how quinoa was brought into the US from the Andes and how it’s grown here.  Most interesting is the fact that we can grow quinoa, but we can’t get seed because our days in the US aren’t  long enough, since we’re further away from the equator. So they import it from Bolivia. Throughout the book there are interesting conversations, so it’s not just a cookbook.

 

My grade for the book is an A+.  It’s very well written and the recipes are very clear with wonderful photos.

 

Cashew Cream

2 cups raw cashews rinsed very well ( Whole foods has tons of different raw nuts)

Put cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate over night.

Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water.  Place in blender with enough cold water to cover by 1 inch.  Blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. (If you’re not using a professional high speed blender such as Vita-Mix, which creates an ultra smooth cream, strain the cashew cream through a fine mesh sieve.) To make thick cashew creams which some of the recipes in this book call for, simply reduce the amount of water for the blender, so that the water just covers the cashews.

Here’s a YouTube with Tal Ronnen making a scaloppini using Gardein.

 

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Let ‘em Handle It

Some days that’s my attitude.  My son likes his friends to come over, and he likes them to stay.  It can become an evening of preparing and cleaning food for me, if I let it.  Sometimes I like to impress.  Today he was home for another snow day, but I had to trudge into work.  When I got the call from my son asking if his friends could come over and stay, I was willing, but only so far.  I told him I didn’t have anything ready for them to eat, and I didn’t want to run into the store (no extra driving please).  He said there were a couple of boxes of mac n cheese in the pantry, they could make it up and have it for dinner.  I thought well, they’ll live, let them handle it. 

Truthfully, it’s not the way I like to eat every night, but I keep things in my pantry because I don’t want to always deal with dinner and figuring out how to make teenage boys happy.  Lazy, maybe, or it could be that one of life’s important lessons to teach my son is that if he wants something, then he has to figure it out.  Something else to think about is that the boys are at my house more than each other’s. So, while I don’t mind providing, it can be expensive and time consuming for me if I decide to go overboard.  Letting them handle it puts the breaks on that – after all, they don’t care about the food so much as the game playing.

One of my tips for letting them handle it, without intervention is to provide the tools that make success easy. Shortcuts like boxes of mac n cheese help.  I also had Tyson’s Seasoned Beef Brisket in Fire Roasted Onion Sauce in the freezer.  Dinner was ready in 10 minutes.  They actually spent more time at the table gabbing, goofing and singing to the phone than they did cooking.  I did learn something new, you can’t carry around your cell phone and cook at the same time. 

My husband and I scraped the pots clean when they were done, it was good enough for us also.  Delicious as a matter of fact.

I have more Tysons Frozen cooked dinner foods in the freezer because they go over well.  I also have hot dogs, tater tots, and chicken fingers in the freezer as well as tuna, mac n cheese, noodles and sauce in the pantry and cans of soup in the cabinet.  I’m sure my son will have his fill of them when he’s on his own.  There are times we work on the meal together, chopping, peeling, sautéing, but then there are the shortcuts and really, I’m okay with that. Let ‘em handle it. 

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Looking for Gluten Free Desserts – Katz to the Rescue

There was an amazing coincidence this past holiday visit to the family homestead in NJ.  One day before leaving I received a box of Katz gluten free-dairy free-nut free goodies to try out. That same day on a family forum, a discussion formed around my nephew’s girlfriend who as it happens has Celiac disease.  My mom was providing alternatives for her for the dinner, hoping it would work out.  I threw all of the desserts in a sack and took it with us.  I figured I could judge the taste just fine, but this was  an opportunity to share it and maybe make a holiday meal a little more fun.  My mom was making jello for her dessert, but I decided to wait and surprise the girlfriend and see what her opinion was.  Well, she was not only surprised but thrilled at eating some treats that she hasn’t enjoyed in years.

I want to say, for my part of the tasting that everything tasted exactly the way it would if you weren’t gluten free.  That was amazing to me.  Most of my experience with gluten free is that the foods come out doughy, or a little different tasting, though it’s still acceptable and even delicious.

  The chocolate chip cookies were crisp and great for dunking. Best gluten free chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. 

The challah rolls we had with dinner were a perfect accompaniment to the ham she had (and went well with turducken also).

  Rugelach tasted like cinnamon rolls but maybe a little flakier or crisper (exactly like rugelach is supposed to )  .

We didn’t share the chocolate rugelach because we wanted a taste of something before we brought it along.  It was so delicious.

The piece de resistance was the marble cake.  The marble cake is moist and divinely good.  That’s the one I had trouble parting with the most. 

I gave the leftovers to the girlfriend, though any of us could have and would have eaten it.  I know how dear gluten free products are in cost and availability.  I received a thank you note from my nephew letting us know how touched his girlfriend was that we brought desserts she could enjoy.  Like I said it was an amazing coincidence that I was thrilled worked out for everyone. 

My grade on all of the Katz Desserts products is A +.

 

My question to all of you who can’t allow gluten in their diet, how do you handle gatherings?  Do you bring your own?  Is it bought or homemade?

 

Disclosure: I was sent the Katz gluten free/dairy free/nut free products to review.  My review is unbiased and honest.  I regret not having more marble cake.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Book Suggestions for the Cookerati 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

Gadgets, and tools are great gifts, but cool ideas and inspiration come from great books too.  I like to give books out, though sometimes I have a hard time parting with the ones I like best.  I’ve got a few choice suggestions for you and I hope whatever books you choose – whether they’re from the list or not, they help to inspire you throughout the new year.  Cooking should be an adventure, we should all step out of our comfort zones and tryout something new for us. First I want to admit, that I haven’t tried a recipe out of every book like I usually do, due to lack of time. I will however, try to get to that and let you know about how the recipe turned out at a later time.  I will tell you honestly how I feel about the book as a gift though based on what I like in a cook book.

• My Picks. - My two top picks for books are The Seasons On Henry’s Farm, and New England Soup Factory Cookbook.

The first book is not really a cookbook. It’s more about your food, and the constant planning, planting and picking that goes on in a farm, specifically Henry’s Farm.  The book The Seasons On Henry’s Farm – A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm by Terra Brockman was a fascinating peak inside the lives of Henry Brockman, brother to Terra Brockman and the entire Brockman family (including Terra) as they work Henry’s farm for a whole year.  The book starts out talking about the soil and whether they will get the garlic in, and ends the next fall talking once again about whether they’ll be able to get the garlic in the ground in a small space of time when the ground dries out enough to plant, but hasn’t frozen yet. In between, we learn about preparing the vegetables that are going to the market, planning the farm market stands, gathering vegetables for the csa and the downtime  of taking a nap in the truck on the way to the market for an extra hour of sleep. The winter time is still very filled with work, building the hoop houses for planting the seeds early in the year in order to have a head start on the other gardens.  Then into the Spring and the Olympic summer gardening where they’re racing against time and daylight to get everything done during their heaviest producing part of the growing season.

Throughout the book Terra has sprinkled some family recipes to go with the produce they grow.  I love how she defines the vegetables and fruit that are a little too ripe, or have a bad spot as forus.  They save it for themselves, clean it up and use whatever they can.  This part always reminded me of my grandmother’s toy and card store – the toys with the broken boxes, or having a missing piece (nothing important) or a ripped lid, became forus also. Terra Brockman has a way of describing what she sees, smells and feels as she works the farm, that makes you fall in love and yet feel all the aches at the end of the day from all the hard work.  It’s not a book that romanticizes the garden, but it makes you know how they feel about the land they work.  The Brockmans don’t use the chemicals for pesticides, or fertilizers, they encourage you to bring your own bags for your groceries, and try to find ways to work things out for the long run betterment, not the quick fix. 

The farm is family run, and family is such and important part of this book.  Terra tells about her father and his physical health issues that plague him, about the death of her grandmother, and her relationships with her siblings.  It’s important to see how important even the kids are to the farm and how much of an impact it has when they go back to school at the end of the summer, but also how even the smallest can do small things to help out – big things too.

My words for describing this book are so inadequate for how I feel about it.  I want to own this book, and keep it forever, but also share every word, it’s that good.  Terra Brockman is such a gifted writer.  My Grade – A and two dozen pluses wouldn’t be enough.  This book is a treasure.

 

New England Soup Factory Cookbook: More Than 100 Recipes from the Nation’s Best Purveyor of Fine Soup by Marjorie Drucker and Clara Silversteinis a great book too.  Soup is a staple in my home and it’s one of my favorite meals to prepare. This book is very well laid out, starting with the basics of broth making.  It has all the favorites when it comes to soup, like chicken, tomato, chowders, all the soups you would expect.  Then of course there is the pumpkin soups, the bisques, the vegetarian soups – soups different enough to feel like you’re really trying something new. The last part of the book deals with sides, and sandwiches, because soup needs a little something on the side.  The photos are fantastic and drool worthy, the pages glossy and the book nicely laid out.  Here’s something –  I made the Pumpkin and White Bean soup.  My idea of what this soup would taste like was no where close to the actual results.  This soup raised our expectations to a to a higher level, seriously. These people are the experts at developing the flavor of soup. My grade A+

 

• Baking - I have two baking books on my list. Baking Books should be an essential in every person’s library.

The Baking Answer Book – Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face, Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask by Lauren Chattman . I liked this book, though I only got to see a pre-published copy that was a little rough looking.  However, the important part of the book had to do with every baking problem you can think of.  It is laid out in a question and answer form, but also it is divided into sections. The sections are ingredients, equipment, science for bakers, know your oven, and then into all the different type of baking products – quick breads, cookies, cakes, pies, etc, and ending with metrics and high altitude baking. Each section addresses the basics of that section and gives a recipe.  Sprinkled throughout are drawings.

Baking to me is more science than the other forms of cooking and more precise in the order, quantity, and quality of ingredients, as well in which ingredients to use. Sometimes you can follow directions – and still somehow end up with a different product than intended.  This book will help you see where you went wrong and how to correct any issues.  That’s the real value in this book, figuring out how to make it come out perfectly the next time.  My grade B +.

 

The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book: Great Dairy-, Egg-, and Nut-Free Treats for the Whole Family by Kelly Rudnicki  The title pretty much covers it.  These are baking recipes that don’t use dairy, egg or nuts.  It basically takes the recipes you love and substitutes for those ingredients you need to avoid. I actually like that it shows us how to redo blueberry bread, or pizza, or cookies.  Kids are wary of strange looking meals and foods.  If a kid has an allergy, sometimes they feel alienated from others.  If you provide baked goods that look like what they have in their own homes, they won’t think twice about eating it. I’m serious, I’ve made plenty of meals the kids just rolled their eyes at.  Soft cover book, with beautiful glossy pics.  My grade A.

 

• Elegance and Entertaining – these books are for making meals that you would serve when you want to create something with a wow factor or maybe you just like to look at food creations with a wow factor.  The sales of each of these books will benefit a charity of their choice.

Park Avenue Potluck Celebrations: Entertaining at Home with New York’s Savviest Hostesses Compiled by Florence Fabricant and the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.   The recipes in this are organized by holidays.  First you get a menu, lovely table setting pictures, and then each recipe in the menu along with a little paragraph about the special remembrance when this menu item was made and some personal serving suggestions. While the book exudes Elegance and Entertaining, the recipes look reasonable and not too difficult to prepare, using ingredients from your local grocery store.  This is a nice size hard cover book, with lovely pictures and very clear directions.  There are pictures, but I wish there were more. It focuses more on the table settings than the food.  Sprinkled throughout are entertaining tips, and ideas.  The sales of this book benefits Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Society.  My grade A-.

 

The Bryant Family Vineyard Recipes From Great Chefs and Friends by Barbara Bryant and Betsy Fentress – This is more of a coffee table size book than a regular cookbook. I love that every recipe is paired with a wine, so you know exactly what to serve.  All of the recipes were provided by acclaimed chefs and friends, inspired by the Cabernet Sauvignon that the Bryant Family Vineyard is known for.

First produced in 1992, the Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon enjoys the reputation of a "cult favorite" among wine connoisseurs and has a waiting list of over 6,000. As Park B. Smith of Veritas Restaurant noted in the foreword: "All of the chefs who have contributed to this book are artisans of their vocation. Their culinary delights are best appreciated, however, when teamed with the art of a winemaker. Food and wine are natural complements to one another." The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook helps readers achieve the ideal marriage of food and wine with helpful information on pairing each dish with a complementary wine.

The recipes are well laid out and anyone can prepare them.  Great vineyard and wine pictures throughout.  Lovely recipes, good for entertaining.  I didn’t count, but I think there is a high percentage that involve mushrooms.  So if you like mushrooms, this is definitely the book for you, they aren’t in the desserts though. No pictures of the actual food to judge by, which is a negative for me, but the book is really a quality book. Some of the proceeds will be donated to the Bowery Mission. Great Gift for the wine, fine food and mushroom connoisseur.  My grade B +.

 

Elegant Entertaining Seasonal Recipes From the American Ambassador’s Residence in Paris. - This is definitely a coffee table book.  It combines the history of the American Embassy with the idea of entertaining in France with French Chefs.  Plenty of the Residence pictures, plenty of food and entertaining pictures.  The book is organized by holidays and it describes all of the different traditions with a French twist to the menu.  These recipes are  elegantly prepared, and displayed using out of the ordinary ingredients.  Nice book for someone who likes history and traditions along with French/American cooking.  My grade A-

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Last Minute Sweets for the Foodies Who Have Everything

I’ve been remiss in my gift giving suggestery. All this hall decking and fa-la-la – ing is keeping me from my laptop, which really isn’t a bad thing when you think about it. However, Diana sent me a note today suggesting I post something because her busy-ness is more important than my busy-ness and I’m obliged to oblige. Besides, I feel bad for her because our parents loved me best.

I have a couple of cool gift suggestions for folks who enjoy their just desserts. Mind you, I do have to get my disclaimer on and advise you that I’ve received samples in exchanged for me getting my review on, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be honest in my findings. Allow me to share:

Baklava and Enrobed Macroons with Almonds from Sinbad Sweets

I still haven’t come down off the sugar high I obtained after enjoying the Baklava. Ooey and gooey, they’re everything good baclava should be. I always found these Greek pastries to be a little on the sweet side so I brought them to my husband’s family Thanksgiving dinner and they were enjoyed by all.

We sampled two different types of baklava. The traditional, be-triangled variety and mini chocolate drizzled squares. So yummy.

Also popular were the Enrobed Macaroons with Almonds except I didn’t share them as much. I love coconut and coconut and chocolate is simply decadence. I let the inlaws share a couple, but I hoarded most for myself. Whereby I immediately went into sugar shock followed by a week straight on the treadmill.

Each set of treats arrived in an elegant gold box. Simply tie a ribbon and you’re good to go.

About Sinbad Sweets
Sinbad Sweets is the country’s foremost specialty baker of the Mediterranean delicacy baklava and many old-world style pastries.  Their baklava varieties, nut tarts, and macaroons are hand-crafted by a team of highly skilled artisan bakers. The unique combination of old-world recipes and proprietary innovations allow Sinbad Sweets to keep their assortments of sweets consistently delicious and authentic.

Sinbad Sweets’ holiday line up priced at from $16.95, $24.95 and $26.95 (shipping included). Check the website for more details.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Cookerati’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide Recommendations

I am a lover of things that are useful. I do also love the decorative and if they are both all the better for me. For years my husband balked at buying cooking things for me because it just wasn’t right. Now I give specifics, and he sometimes follows through because it’s what I want.  I have been trying out a bunch of stuff and I’m here to review and recommend. I’ll probably have other recommendations, but since you’re list checking now we want you to know what we think. These are the best of the best.  I still have a few more things to put out, including a book round up with some great choices, and some quality products to use when making gifts.  Those reviews are on the way.  I like to thoroughly try out my products before I give a review, I want Cookerati to be the place you can trust. 

 Cooking Tools:

Calphalon  ReNew –  Fantastic idea.  You buy the new pots, and send them back the old to recycle for you.  I’m sending back the pots my son stuck inside each other that will no longer separate, which is the reason I needed new pots and pans.  I never tried Calphalon before, but I wasn’t thrilled with my previous non stick pans because they scratched off so easily. I now have the Calphalon Unison Nonstick 10-Piece Cookware Set  and this is my number one recommendation. Nobody should deal with macaroni and cheese stuck to the bottom of the pot.  If you have teenagers, you have stuck macaroni, let me tell you, but not with my new Calphalon.  The rivets are a love/hate thing.  They’re nice and big – which means the handles won’t come off like they did on the cheapo pan my husband bought last year, but on the downside you’ll have to be careful to clean them well.  It’s not really that bad, I like that the handles won’t unscrew. Another great point, you can start your eggs or food on the stove and pop them into the oven – up to 500 degrees. I’ve done that with my eggs and roasts – better than using two pots or doing all on the stovetop. They’re heavy enough that they don’t wobble on my glass top stove, like some of my older pots.  Cleaning is easy with a washrag. Some of the pans are made for searing, and others for the food (like eggs) to just slide off.  I love , love, love this set. You can find it online or instore.  My grade A+++ And give it another plus or two for recycling the old pots! In addition, approximately 35 percent of Calphalon cookware is made from recycled aluminum, another wow.

WMF Trend Ceramill Empty Grinding Mill – I bought this at the North Market. Kay Davenport , the proprietor of North Market Cookware helped me pick it out. She pointed out that ceramic does better over heat and steam. This pepper grinder is so much better than those prefilled pepper grinders you find in the spice section of the grocery store. A couple of turns and you have a nice fine pepper sprinkling over your food instead of big pieces that take over your food. I really like this grinder. My Grade A.

 

Microplane Classic Series Zester/Grater–Soft Handle – Kay also pointed this out to me. We were talking about whole nutmeg which she didn’t have, but I also needed a way to grate the nutmeg. This is a terrific item. I’ve been asking for a zester in my Christmas Stocking for years now and no one in my family could figure out what I needed. I’ve used this to grate cheese, and to zest lemons and oranges. It was so fantastic; I was gushing about it and my family thought I was nuts again. Last night, I let them use the microplane to grate parmesan over their spaghetti and they were dually impressed. Kay – if you’re listening, I’m sending my husband back for an herb grinder. Please help him, he knows nothing. My Grade A.

 

 

Crypton Dog Doodle Apron – I always thought I wanted a pretty apron (these are cool don’t get me wrong – The Crypton Doodle Dog Apron features the artist William Wegman’s signature dog doodle) something frilly and womanly.  I received one of these to try out and I’ve changed my mind.  Give me something that I can wash my pots and pans in and never get wet.  I can move my roasting pan, and if it sloshes, I’m still okay.  This is a good work apron, that looks good too.  My husband has said he’s going to use it doing the dishes too, because he’s tired of sitting around in wet clothes afterwards.  It’s a hard worker, that repels stains and water, so it still looks good afterwards.  Just wipe it off and let it dry. 

The apron is made of eco-friendly Crypton fabric, which is not only odor and bacteria resistant, but also includes a built in moisture barrier that prevents grease and liquids from penetrating the fabric and staining clothes.

My Grade A  – I love it.

Teas:

1st Flush 2009 Organic Fair Trade Certified™ Green & White Tea – This is a great gift set, especially if you have a friend who appreciates fair trade and organic. 

This Taste of Origin comes from one of the oldest tea-producing gardens in the world. Located in the birthplace of tea-China’s Yunnan province-Mannong Manmai is an ancient tea garden where wild tea trees occur naturally, grown from 1,500-year-old seed stock.

Two Rishi Teas come with this set: Ancient Emerald Lily, Organic Fair Trade Green Tea & Ancient Moonlight White (2009), Organic Fair Trade White Tea – and not only are they delicious but beautiful to look at also. You put a tablespoon of tea leaves into the glass pot, and fill with hot (not boiling) water.  Let the tea steep for 4 minutes.

The glass teapot is fun to fill, but when you pour the tea into your cup, the tea leaves stay behind (something I was concerned about).  I also love that it all comes stored in a really nice bamboo basket with lid.   If you order this, order extra tea because it doesn’t come with a lot of tea.  There is enough for a few cups of each, but that’s it.  My Grade is an A. Available at www.rishi.com, Williams-Sonoma and Whole Foods

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea – If you like flavored Tea, this is a great place to get find the perfect fair-trade organic tea to suit your friends individual taste. These teas are infused with different flavors, so they’re not overpowering, but more of a light taste. My favorites – Chocolate Chai, Caramel Apple and Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Actually all of the chais were pretty good.  The tea bags look like round pillows, and come in a really nice tin. I hope the website comes back up so you can get a good look around. In the mean time, here’s a nice page showing all of the teas. Zhena’s Gypsy Tea.

My Grade A-. It just needs a touch more intensity, but otherwise, is really tasty.

Chocolate:

Scharffen Berger is my number one pick for chocolate taste. Scharffen Bergen is Artisan chocolate, used in a lot of baking, but I’m talking about gifts, so if you are buying a chocolate bar, or buying a gift of chocolate, Scharffen Berger has some great tasting stuff. I loved the milk chocolate. Don’t buy the cheap stuff in the grocery store. Get this, it’s worth it and would be a great stocking stuffer.

 

 

 

Theo Chocolates – Theo is the only bean to bar chocolate factory in the United States.  Cool, eh? Theo is an Artisan Chocolate also and fair trade.  Theo has such great combinations of flavor.  My daughter loved the Almond Cherry Chocolate bar and took it back to college.  Hazelnut crunch was my favorite.  Who thought of putting sea salt in chocolate?  I salty sweet chocolatey bite – fantastic. I’m not sure I tasted the bread in the Bread and Chocolate Dark Chocolate, but I got a little butter flavor. The only one we couldn’t finish was the Chile Dark Chocolate.  We would take a bite, and after a minute you got the heat, a lot of heat.  Maybe it would be great for a Mole – or my niece that makes the cayenne chocolate cake. 

My grade for both chocolates A. 

 

 

Disclosure – Some of the products were provided to me for review – while I bought a couple myself.  I gave all items on the page an A (of some sort) because they were all great products worth a great grade.  This was my honest opinion, I liked them all.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Put a Zing in Your Holiday Party Season with Partida Tequila and Spice & Ice

Tequila is one of our favorite basics for our movie night cocktails.  Recently we tried some Partida Tequila and we think it’s delicious (is that a good word for alcohol?). It really has a clean smooth taste, and has a waaarrrrmmmm in your belly, mmmmm.

Partida Tequila  is made from blue agave that it gets from one place,  it’s very own Partida Estate in the heart of Mexico’s historic Tequila region. Partida Estate is a family plantation who have been growing blue agave for several generation. The heart of the agave plant – la pina is baked slowly and gently for 20 hours, then distilled twice – not steam blasted. These agaves are used to create four tequilas: Blanco (not aged), Reposado (aged 6 months), Anejo (aged 18 months) and Extra Anejo Elegante (aged 36 months).

Partida also has an Blue Agave Nectar they produce that is 100 percent made from blue agave plants and is organic.  Blue Agave Nectar is a sweetener made from the blue agave plant, similar to honey, only lighter tasting and it has a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners.  My son uses agave nectar with his peanut butter instead of honey because it gives a little more sweetness similar to honey – and it doesn’t crystallize like honey (but maybe that’s just ours). 

 

 

 

So here I had this great tequila –  that I used to make Margaritas – plus I had this book to review called Spice & Ice by Kara Newman, what a great pairing.  I’m not big on heat in everything but this book is really a neat recipe book for making spicy cocktails.  Some of the ingredients are different from what you might have sitting around, but there are quite a few that use Reposado or Anejo Tequila, so I thought it was a perfect fit. 

  As the author of the High Spirits column for Chile Pepper magazine, Kara Newman is the perfect coach for crafting beverages that bite.  She offers spicy spins on classic cocktails, including Wasabi-tinis, Jumpin’ Juleps, Blackberry-Poblano Margaritas and Spiced Tangerine Caipirinhas.  Serve Hot Flashes at your next party with the girls.  Get seriously hot under the collar with a sweet/piquant Peppadew Cocktail, a Sangria Scorcher, or The Bloody Scary.  Next time you’ve got a crew of jaded cocktail enthusiasts to satiate, steam up the punch bowl with Spicy Pisco Punch.       

 

 

 

 

 

Funny true story.  I made the Dragonfire Cocktail twice.  The first time I wasn’t sure about the heat so when I put the pepper in the tequila, the first drink was made after it soaked for 2 hours.  My husband and I drank it, no problem a little heat it was fun.  Then I let the pepper sit in the rest of the batch of jalapeno infused tequila (I used a different pepper, I didn’t have a jalapeno available) for days.  I made up the Dragonfire Cocktail again took a itty bitty sip and boy that sucker was hot.  So I brought it to my dear husband  and asked him to take a small sip.  He took a sip, but not an itty bitty one like he should have – and gasped and coughed and drank water. I asked what he thought and he said unbearable.  Letting it sit for days might not be the way to go for us. 

I am keeping the Partida Tequila for us, we like margaritas and other drinks with Tequila plus Partida Tequila is amazingly good.  Spice & Ice is going to be a gift for my niece.  She made her mother a cayenne pepper chocolate cake for her birthday, and then made one for the family for Thanksgiving.  I think she’d get such a kick out of this book that I’m going to stick it in her Christmas gift bag. She’ll forgive the re-gifting because she’ll love the book. This book was very well put together, with lots of fun cocktails.  My grade A, but you have to like heat.

 

Dragonfire

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces jalapeno infused (vodka or) tequila (see below)
• 1 ounce triple sec
• 1 ounce orange juice
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1 lime wedge for garnish(optional)

Mix together the tequila, triple sec, and orange and lime juices in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake, strain into a tall glass, and garnish with the lime wedge.

 

Jalapeno Infused Tequila

2 cups Tequila ( Preferably Reposado Tequila)

1 to 2 hot peppers, washed and cut lengthwise

Combine the ingredients in a small container with a lid.  Steep for as little as 2 hours and as long as two days, until desired heat is achieved.  Strain with a fine mesh sieve, cover tightly.

 

 

If you don’t like spice, here’s a Partida Margarita Recipe for you.

Partida Margarita with 100% Organic Agave Nectar

• 1 1/2 ounces Partida Tequila
• 1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
• 3/4 ounce Partida Agave Nectar (to taste)
• 3/4 ounce pure water

Shake all ingredients with ice in standard bar shaker. Taste, Add additional lime juice if you prefer more tartness; add more agave nectar for more sweetness;  serve in glass on rocks.  No garnish, no salt.

 

Disclaimer: Both Spice & Ice and Partida Tequila were given to me to review.  The opinions expressed are my own.  No payment received, no warranty implied.

Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit Stumble This Post

Next Page »