Toronto…the finale

So I told you I had fun when I was away right?? But unless you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook (Judy Chiappini) you may not know what exactly I was up to… It was a friend of mine’s birthday and he invited me to a party at his house… We had some dips (roasted red pepper and egg plant)… Some marinated and grilled shrimp… Grilled Octopus… Salads… (Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen ) (Photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen ) Grilled Pork Belly… Homemade Chicken Gyro’s… with homemade tzatziki, tomatoes, and onions… And then came the cake… You see how lucky I am???? Have you guessed who’s birthday it was yet? Peter @ Kalofagas had a birthday!!! and I got to meet Paula @ The Dragon’s Kitchen And Jasmine @ Confessions of a Cardamom Addict ? photo courtesy of Paula @ Dragon’s Kitchen Can you believe how lucky I was to be invited to this Greek feast?? Peter single handedly prepared and served us all night long.? Paula did make the birthday cake and it is by far one of my all time faves…Lemon Meringue Cake! We were able to meet up with Paula and Peter once again but just for a quick bite to eat after we went to the Science Center to see Harry Potter

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Toronto…the finale

Crossini Nonstick French Fry Baking Sheet – Chefs Catalog

? Foodbuzz Daily Special Innovative thermal base with perforated ridges enables heat to circulate around French fries for all-over browning and crispy golden results. Crossini nonstick baking sheet bakes any breaded food in the oven to a deliciously light crispy texture without frying in oil: fish sticks and fillets, shrimp tempura, chicken sticks or wings. Use this perforated pan to make healthy homemade potato chips, croutons or seasoned breadcrumbs, and easily roast vegetables, nuts and seeds without turning. End chute slides food directly onto a platter for ease in serving. Nonstick-coated steel with black exterior absorbs heat for reduced cooking times and allows quick release. Wide rim allows ease handling in and out of the oven. Oven safe up to 500 degrees F. Designed by Kaiser, leading German manufacturer of bakeware for more than 150 years. Hand wash. Product Features • Thermal base with perforated ridges enables heat to circulate around French fries for all-over browning and crispy golden results • Healthy way to prepare any breaded, frozen food without frying in oil: fish sticks and fillets, shrimp tempura, chicken sticks or wings • Bake frozen or homemade breaded appetizers, potato chips, croutons • Roast nuts, vegetables or seeds without turning • End chute slides baked food directly onto a platter for ease in serving • Nonstick-coated steel with black exterior absorbs heat for reduced cooking times and allows quick release of foods for easy serving and cleanup • Wide rim for ease in handling

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Crossini Nonstick French Fry Baking Sheet – Chefs Catalog

Homemade Caesar Salad

I am a huge fan of Caesar Salads.? When hubby had a restaurant I think that I lived on the Caesar salad that was topped with blackened shrimp.? Since the restaurant has gone I have desperately been in search of a Caesar Salad fix.? This has been going on for about 8 years…:( Then the other night we were watching TV and there seemed to be nothing on.? Turned on the Food Network and started watching “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and Alex was talking about her favorite Caesar Salad from a Steakhouse somewhere.? Can’t really remember all the details because I was totally and one hundred percent lost once I saw the tableside Caesar being made.? At that moment I just knew it had been way too long since I had had a perfect Caesar. ? Homemade Caesar Salad Ingredients: 1/2 head of chopped romaine lettuce 1 egg yolk (the egg is raw, I like to use cage free, hormone free and antibiotic free eggs when I am eating them raw) ground pepper to taste 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder 2 tsp chopped anchovy 2 tsp garlic, minced 1/2 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated 1-1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice Directions: Clean lettuce thoroughly and dry in a salad spinner or in towels. Refrigerate until crisp, at least 1 hour or more. In a jar combine egg yolk, pepper, mustard, anchovy, garlic, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese. Whisk until well blended. To assemble, place torn lettuce leaves in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the top and toss until well coated. Add the remaining Parmesan cheese.? Serve immediately! This Caesar Salad was perfect.? Lots of garlic and lemon.? Just the way I like it!? Hubby loves his with some bacon added in.? Tailor this to your taste but definitely try it! And here is the real kicker…this is only 5 WW Points!!!!

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Homemade Caesar Salad

Daring Bakers do Tiramisu

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking . They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession. It turned out perfect.? The only thing I will do differently next time is to dip the cookies in the espresso mixture for longer.? I was afraid of them becoming mushy! And what an incredible challenge this was!? And not because I screwed anything up this time!? They made us make this from complete 100% scratch.? Right down to? making our own mascarpone cheese.? I had to read through the directions several times just to be sure they didn’t want us making our own vanilla and rum extracts!!! I truly loved this challenge and for me it was probably one of the most rewarding.? If I had never done this challenge I would NEVER …

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Daring Bakers do Tiramisu

The Daring Bakers do Nanaimo Bars

And lucky me…I grew up eating these!!! The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen . Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca . I almost missed making these.? Something about them having to be posted on the 27th of the month just messes me up bad but with bold determination and severely lacking eyesight I forged ahead and got these done!!! I knew I had to make the graham crackers first.? I had already decided that as interesting as it would be to do them gluten free I really didn’t have the time or the money to be hunting down ingredients I would only be using once so I cheated and made them with Whole Wheat Graham Flour and they really are delicious!!!? I made these this morning and it went off without a hitch.? Had them out of the oven and I was on my way to the eye doctor.? Well. by the time I got home I couldn’t see a thing.? He had tricked me a dilated my eyes.? I was virtually blind, but the DB Challenge must go on!!!? I cut the recipe and copied it and then made it REALLY, REALLY BIG so that I could at least make out the measures.? The whole time I am kicking myself for leaving it til the very last minute…:-( Anyway…these turned out beautifully despite all of my self inflicted challenges and it brought back a lot of great childhood memories for me!!! ? These were taken after my eyes were dilated by the stupid eye doctor.? I was lucky to find the camera!!! Graham Cracker Recipe (that I used) by Cupcake Project Ingredients: 4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened 1 egg 6 T sugar 4 T honey (Some graham crackers use half honey and half molasses. You might consider trying that as a variation.) 1/2 t baking soda 2 t water 3/4 t salt 1 1/2 C graham flour (If you can’t get a hold of graham flour, there are plenty of graham cracker recipes that use regular whole wheat flour such as this graham cracker recipe from Baking Bites . You may also be able to directly substitute whole wheat flour in this recipe, but I haven’t tested it and I make no promises.) 3/4 C all-purpose flour Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Stir in the honey and blend. Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture. Add the salt, graham flour, and all-purpose flour to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable. If it is too “tacky” add a little more graham flour. Liberally dust a surface with graham flour and roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. For convenience in handling, cut the rolled dough into three or four sections that will fit on your cookie sheet. (I am not good at rolling things out. It doesn’t come up too…

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The Daring Bakers do Nanaimo Bars

Orange Soaked Pound Cake

This cake can be made in a variety of flavors. The one shown is made with 1 orange, peel and juice, cornstarch, sugar and

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Orange Soaked Pound Cake

Removing Fat From Cooked Meats and Sauces

There is an easy method for removing fat from homemade stock. After boiling your meat, allow it to cool slightly, pour it into a zip-top plastic freezer bag. Refrigerate the bag for 15-20 minutes. This allows the fat to rise to the top. Hold your bag over a large bowl and snip one corner from the bottom of the bag, letting the stock pour into the bowl. When you get to the layer of fat, pinch the corner shut and throw away the bag, fat and all. Another simple way to remove fat from dishes such as chili or spaghetti sauce is to let the sauce cool slightly allowing the fat to rise to the top. You can lay a slice of bread on top of the sauce and allow it to collect the fat or you can lay a paper towel over the top and receive the same results.

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Removing Fat From Cooked Meats and Sauces

Daring Baker’s do Puff Pastry and Vols-au-Vents

The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon . She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan. ? Wow, was this month’s challenge ever a “challenge” .? Our temps here in Southwest Florida are still in the mid 90’s every single day and if I turn my A/C to more than 80F I end up with an electric bill that is $350+!!!? Anyone who has ever worked with puff pastry knows that these are not ideal circumstances for making the dough…But I DID IT!!!!? And look how pretty and puffy these turned out!!! There was a lot of refrigerating going on though and I had butter popping through and melting all over my counter so I was shocked at how nicely these turned out.? Unfortunately they took me a whole day to make and then I let them chill over night.? After all of that I just ran out of time for making the wonderful lemon mousse that I had planned to fill them with.? Whatever, the girls loved them filled with fresh blueberries and drizzled with chocolate.? Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway??? For this challenge we had to make puff pastry (Michel Richard’s recipe) and form at least part of it into vols-au-vent… The recipe and directions: Equipment: -food processor (will make mixing dough easy, but I imagine this can be done by hand as well) -rolling pin -pastry brush -metal bench scraper (optional, but recommended) -plastic wrap -baking sheet -parchment paper -silicone baking mat (optional, but recommended) -set of round cutters (optional, but recommended) -sharp chef’s knife -fork -oven -cooling rack Prep Times: -about 4-5 hours to prepare the puff pastry dough (much of this time is inactive, while you wait for the dough to chill between turns…it can be stretched out over an even longer period of time if that better suits your schedule) -about 1.5 hours to shape, chill and bake the vols-au-vent after your puff pastry dough is complete Refrigerate the assembled vols-au-vent on the lined baking sheet while you pre-heat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). (You could also cover and refrigerate them for a few hours at this point.) Once the oven is heated, remove the sheet from the refrigerator and place a silicon baking mat (preferred because of its weight) or another sheet of parchment over top of the…

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Daring Baker’s do Puff Pastry and Vols-au-Vents

Garlicy Crab Cakes

I’ve been finding it really hard to find time to blog lately…between a long vacation, birthdays, school and now a new member of our family, my time has been well accounted for and unfortunately blogging has not made the list. It’s all good though…it’s been a fun and full couple of weeks. And speaking of a new member of our family…I would like to introduce you to Dexter. He is the sweetest little guy. I adopted him from my sister Lina , who has been his foster mom for about a month now. He needed a home and once we met him it just felt right. He’s a Black Lab/Hound mix and is 14 weeks old…and he fits right into to this already crazy household! Ok…on to the eats. I made this last weekend for lunch and it was such a treat! We don’t eat crab cakes too often, for the obvious reason that crab meat isn’t cheap, but when we do we relish every bite. My husband goes nuts over crab cakes. When I make crab cakes I normally follow the Old Bay recipe found on the side of the can…but this time I got a little creative. I added lots of pressed garlic and used Dijon instead of regular mustard. They turned out great and I am happy to say I would make them this way again! I served them over a delicious salad full of good stuff…fresh spinach, romaine, red pepper, red onion all tossed in a homemade dijon vinaigrette. Garlicy Crab Cakes Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen 1/2 cup panko 2 TB mayo 2 tsp Old Bay 2 tsp fresh chives, snipped (or 1 tsp dried) 1/2 tsp Dijon 1 egg 4 cloves pressed garlic (or finely minced) 1 lb lump crab meat In a large bowl, combine panko, mayo, Old Bay, chives, dijon, egg, garlic and crab meat. Mix gently and form into patties. Broil or fry until golden brown on each side.

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Garlicy Crab Cakes

Stir, Laugh, Repeat – Review by Holli Castillo

This is my latest review for my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat.. Finding Joy While Playing in the Kitchen Perfect for cooking with little ones, July 28, 2009 Review By – Holli Castillo, Author of “Gumbo Justice” I hate to cook. I’ll admit it. I don’t mind baking cakes or cookies, but cooking is not my thing. My kids, however, love it. Being that they’re only 7 and 10, if they want to cook, I have to do it with them. Enter Stir, Laugh, Repeat. This cook book is simple enough that I can supervise while my kids do all the work. They have a good time, I have a good time, we all get fed something homemade. It’s a win win. We have tried over half the recipes in this book, and so far they are all easy to make and taste great. The best part is that, with a very few exceptions, most of the ingredients are normal things we have in the kitchen anyway. There is no special shopping trip or big ordeal involved. We just go to the kitchen, open the book, and start cooking. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with children who have an interest in cooking. Not only do you get together time with the little ones and an excellent meal, the kids also develop a sense of

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Stir, Laugh, Repeat – Review by Holli Castillo

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