Gourmet tips news

This is a really easy recipe for Spanish style empanadas which used wonton or gyoza wrappers for the dough. I have a really good recipe for empanada dough that uses beer given to me by my aunt, but it requires some resting time for the dough. (this is what I use when I am in a hurry). The recipe makes about one dozen large empanadas which I then cut in half and served with Arriba brand Chipotle salsa, (that is my favorite store bought salsa- I like spicy!). I had inadvertently run out of pimento stuffed olives so I used Jalapeno stuffed olives instead. This made the filling a lot spicier- which I loved, but if you aren't a fan of spicy food you might not want to make the substitution. Pretty much every time I make the filling it changes a bit, reflecting what's in the pantry, something I left out this time which I always love is the cubed potato. (cube and boil about 1 cup of potato in salted water and add to filling). The Wonton wrappers are square so I had to cut them into ci...

Banana Tarte Tatin is my interpretation of this French Classic. I like drizzling dulce de leche caramel over the top, it makes a great combination with the bananas and rum spiked whipped cream. I have sometimes made caramel for it, but in the interest of time I used some store bought dulce de leche and heated it in the microwave to soften it a bit. The dish comes together in under 40 minutes, including baking. A note about store bought puff pastry- not all brands are alike. Check the ingredient label and be use to purchase the type made with 100% butter. Some of the puff pastries available commercially, have vegetable oil instead and there is just no comparison, specially in a dessert like this one. The brand I prefer is from Whole Foods, it's a little pricier than others at $10 for a one pound sheet, but well worth the extra dollars because of the remarkable results it yields. I try to use Bananas which are just beginning to speckle, if they are too ripe they will fall apart. I us...

This month the Daring Bakers challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. The recipe was provided by Jen, from Canadian Baker. After reading all the reviews on the Daring Bakers website, I was a little apprehensive- it seemed like a lot of people had trouble with this recipe. Much to my surprise, I made the pie and tarts without any trouble whatsoever, I found the recipe to be good and well writen. The only part that sort of stumped me a little was the fact that the lemon juice is added to the filling once you remove it from the heat. I have never made lemon meringue pie filling in that manner before. I don't really understand the reasoning behind it, but nevertheless it still set up very nicely. Most people who had trouble with the recipe the filling is where they ran into trouble, for some it did not set. I used the blowtorch to brown the tarts and the broiler to brown the pie, I liked the way the torch browns a little better. The filling set up well, and had a nice mix of sweet and tartnes...

I have found most people have a love-hate relationship with coconut. Either they crave it and can't live without it or they want nothing to do with it. I am a coconut lover, when I was little my family used to go to the beach every weekend- and I mean every single weekend. We had coconut trees at our beach house and fresh coconut water consumed through a paper straw was the drink of choice. But, for me the best part was getting a baby coconut, drinking the water, then having it split in half and scooping out the still gelatinous coconut meat inside. In my world of food, there is not much that can top that. So until we moved to the United States, for me coconuts were always fresh. There is nothing like a fresh coconut, but in baking there isn't that big of a difference. (Well, aside from the coconut candies, but that's a whole other story!) I have recently found unsweetened coconut which is frozen, I like to use it in cakes and custards because it doesn't add extra sweet...

This is my other baby, Max...and this is what he has been doing since Monday afternoon. Staring at me with big sweet brown eyes. I have been feeling poorly and confined to my bed with a major upper-respiratory infection. He has been watching over me, not leaving my side, not asking to go outside, just being over all- sweet and cuddly. And of course- taking advantage of the fact I am allowing him to stay on the bed! This also explains the lack of posts this week, but I have been on the computer pretty much non-stop so I am inspired and ready to make up for it as soon as I feel well. Which I hope is soon as I have a catering this weekend and feeling ick not conducive to great beautiful food!

A few weeks ago, Melissa Schilling from sip snap savor contacted me and asked if I was interested in contributing to her project. She and Philip Wartena are going on tours around the country for the purpose of writing a documentary style cookbook about what people eat at home. In her own words, "sip snap savor is is a road trip project designed to photograph and capture regular people, in their homes preparing and enjoying life's simplest of pleasures. Food." I hosted them at the restaurant on Monday for lunch. It was a great experience, they are both full of energy and excitement about their project- and rightfully so, as I think it is a wonderful thing. Phil is a professional photographer and she is a wine and cheese instructor soon to become a published writer. We had a lunch of Shrimp Creole , then moved on to the kitchen for a while and waited for the lunch rush to end. Next they go to Austin and I can't wait to see what they discover there. I will certainly be...

I am not a very big meat eater, if you have browsed the list of recipes here you may have noticed meat is not one of my main ingredients. I am not a vegetarian, but I would rather eat vegetables, fruits, and grains more so than a big steak. I make this dish fairly regularly, specially on the nights I am cooking for myself. I love to eat this over some crisp greens while still warm or chilled as a salad, specially in the summer time. The color and flavor the Saffron imparts on the rice is wonderful. The longer the beans and peppers marinate in the dressing, the more flavorful they will become. The dish comes together in under 30 minutes. Caribbean Black Bean and Rice Salad 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice 2 cups water (to cook the rice) 2 pinches saffron threads, about 1/8 teaspoon 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced 1/2 red or orange bell pepper, diced 1 small tomato, seeded and diced 1/4 -1/2 jalapeno pepper (depending on how spicy you like it) 1/4 cup chopp...

I really enjoy eating a good triffle, so pretty to look at yummy to eat. While a large triffle is beautiful to look at, the individual portions don't look all that great. At home, that doesn't matter as much, but at the restaurant it just doesn't work. So when I found these mini triffle bowls, I knew they would be perfect. Since local berries are out and beautiful, I made a berry triffle. I layered with cream cheese pound cake, pastry cream, whipped cream and berries. The triffle came together rather quickly, in under 30 minutes (excluding the making of the pound cake). You could if in a pinch, purchase a good quality store bought pound cake instead. The recipe would work for a large single triffle is you prefer. In the summer, I might add peaches and blueberries as well. Notes: This pastry cream is very versatile and can be used to fill a cake, fruit tarts, or as I have used it here. It can be flavored with anything you like, this time I used Grand Marnier and vanilla. I ...

Thyme is one of my favorite herbs, I am able to grow it year round right outside the kitchen door. The only aspect about this wonderful herb I don't particularly care for is picking the tiny leaves off the tiny stems. At the restaurant they use it in such a large quantity, my husband has a simple solution to deal with this time consuming task. (He gets Thyme in 5 lb. bags from the produce purveyor...can you imagine picking 5 lb.'s of Thyme? I can not!) The solution is to freeze it for a at least a few hours, then place the thyme over a piece of parchment to catch all the leaves, shake the stems about and the little leaves just come right off- Genius! You can then store them back in the freezer or the refrigerator in a plastic bag. That's my kitchen tip for the day, I hope it comes in useful! This is my Mezzaluna knife, I use it when chopping a lot of herbs. Jack helps out with the chopping and with this knife I don't have to worry about his little fingers getting in the...

This is what comfort food is all about for me. This dish was born out of my craving for these beautiful little baby cauliflower. I spotted them at the market about a week ago and because I was rushed they didn't make it into my cart. I had been thinking about them for a week (yes, I know... it's a sickness), so when I went back to do my shopping today the baby cauliflower quickly made it into my cart. The challenge now was to prepare a dish in which they would not get lost- or mushy. I used dry Pappardelle pasta, but any shape would work fine. I could have left the bacon out, but the thought of frying the pine nuts and cauliflower in the bacon fat was too good to pass up- gotta love that bacon! baby cauliflower are a bit milder and more tender than the mature variety, but those could be easily substituted instead. I finished the dish off with a nice nutty Parmegiano-Regianno, I love good cheese. This is my favorite kind of food, simple, quick and satisfying, you can prepare thi...

This a light vegetarian soup with lots of vegetables and a nice broth. The weather here has been quite unpredictable, but mostly rainy damp and cold. I was craving a flavorful vegetable soup so I made Garbanzo (chickpeas) bean soup and served it with Israeli cous cous. Israeli cous cous is larger than traditional cous cous and is sometimes also called Marmaon. This soup is an easy weekday meal, it comes together in about 45 min from start to finish. If you are using dry Garbanzo beans, soak them overnight, drain and cook them for about 45 minutes covered with water. After cooking, drain and rinse the beans and proceed with the recipe as written. I have found the only brand of canned Garbanzo beans I like is Progreso, they can sometimes be found in the Latin American section of the grocery store. The others I have tried, including the organic variety tend to be undercooked and a bit crunchy. If you want to add some meat, shredded chicken or smoked sausage would make a nice combination, ...

I love Panna Cotta, it's one of those desserts that is light and oh so creamy at the same time. Strawberries are out early this year, since the week of Christmas I have been able to find beautiful local Lousisiana strawberries just about everywhere. I needed to lighten up my dessert menu at the restaurant and Strawberry Panna Cotta will be perfect- or so I hope. I had previously made a plain Panna Cotta, my favorite, with a mixed berry compote on the side and while I loved it, it did not sell very well. I think Panna Cota has since become much more mainstream so I am giving it another try. Panna Cotta should be very smooth, the strawberries here do give it a little texure, but the flavor completely compensates for the lack of perfect smoothness. If your strawberries are very ripe, you may want to decrease the amount of sugar. When unmolding them dip into hot water for a few seconds, pull it away from the edge a bit if needed then invert onto the serving plate. They will keep covere...

I find sometimes small simple meals tend to be the most satisfying. I find myself cooking for only Jack, my 6 year old and I more often than not. Jack unlike me, is unfortunately not a very adventurous eater (he's getting there though), so on these nights I am happy to have little dinners which are simple, but still yield great results. The shrimp crostini is one of them. The great thing about Shrimp Crostini is it does not require much planning, I usually keep a French Baguette around and Shrimp are always in my freezer; frozen in 1 lb. bags ready to be pulled out and quickly defrost as needed. Basically I toast some bread, make a buerre blanc, add shrimp and maybe grill some asparagus- perfect for a simple weeknight meal. The size of the shrimp you use doesn't really matter, I like 25/30's for this dish, but any size will work. Maybe I should explain that- Shrimp are graded by size, the numbers mean the number of shrimp per pound. The larger the number the smaller the sh...

As a little girl, I was used to always having a cake or some type of pastry around the house. It was called pan dulce, at my Grandparent's it was kept in a Tupperware box in the dining room- I was quite familiar with that box. The box always had something yummy in it and I became accustomed to ending every meal on something sweet. This is where my love of baking comes in particularly handy- to satisfy my sweet tooth. I make this pound cake often because it keeps well for at least a week under a cake dome in the kitchen. I found the recipe in a Bon Apettit magazine a long time ago, I have made it many times since. I changed nothing about the recipe, even the baking times- which I know seem a bit odd, but I promise if you follow the directions you will not be disappointed. The grain is fine, the cake is not dense, the crust has sort a crunchy feel, it is quite versatile, and best of all it keeps well. I like it with a simple Confectioner's sugar icing and seasonal fresh fruit. I ...

I don't know about you, but I tend to hold on to my food magazines. This comes as a result of two things: 1. I am part pack-rat and 2. I sometimes don't have time to read them as they arrive so I save them for later. Well, I've been catching up, I found this recipe in the (I'm almost embarrassed to tell you how old) August 2002 issue of Gourmet. Which proves my case in holding on to the plethora of food magazines I own- you never know when I might find something I like in there. I think it would make a great tea sandwich, the tapenade I can eat with a spoon and the carrots are really so yummy, mostly because of the unexpected flavors.I changed the recipe a bit, (I can't help myself) but, it's definitely a keeper. The carrots are delicious, the secret is to allow them to marinate at least 4 hours, although overnight is best. As with all recipes high quality ingredients will produce better results; use the best quality olives you can find, I like green Cerignolas...

I finally feel like my life is getting back to normal after the holidays. Unless I have I catering I don't normally work on Saturdays, I feel my place is at home with my little boy. So today, we did a little shopping in the morning, made dogie treats when we got home and after that I made rice pudding. Jack is not a big fan of rice, I think it stems from my over zealous meals when he was a baby- I gave him cous cous at about 7 months and he projectile spit it all back at me. When he got a little older, he wanted nothing to do with foods that had a grainy type texture. Which is really quite a sad for I feel he misses out on such yummy foods- like this rum raisin rice pudding. But today he totally surprised me, he was very curious when I was making it and when I finished he actually asked to try it. I tried to retain my composure and not show my shock, he tried it and said "hmmm I think I like it!" Well, needless to say I was thrilled, granted it's more creamy than it ...

This is my grandmother's crostata, it's beautiful, tasty and most of all- very easy to make. I had some friends over for dinner and since my menu was of the Italian inclination, it gave me the perfect opportunity to make it, (not that I really needed an excuse). It was sort of a last minute affair so we made a simple one dish meal of Pasta Pepperonata with Italian Sausage, a beautiful arugula and Cannellinni bean salad and for dessert I served the raspberry crostata. This was an easy and very satisfying meal which did not require a whole lot of work. I wish I would have had time to photograph everything, but eating and enjoying the food sort of got in the way! The crostata, I had prepared the day before, so it made it to the blog. You may use any kind of jam or preserves you like, I have used apricot, strawberry and pineapple before- they all taste really yummy. I also really like that the ingredients are simple are most likely to be in my pantry at any given time. The dough f...

It is a tradition in Latin America to eat tamales at Christmas, New Year's, and pretty much any special celebration. I did not have time to make tamales on Christmas eve, but today we did make tamales for New Year's Eve. Making tamales is a daunting task, but I find that if you split the work out throughout the day it makes the process a little more manageable. This year I made both sweet and savory chicken tamales. The savory are filled with chicken, capers, green olives, potato, and peas. The sweet tamales have sugar added to the masa and are filled with chicken, potato and prunes. The chicken is actually a hen, as they are more flavorful. I took some photos throughout the process, they aren't the best, but I think they will help if you've never made tamales before. The recipe made about 3 dozen large tamales. Notes: Maseca is the brand of the masa harina, this is the only brand I have used and it's available at most large supermarkets. The Banana leaves impart a...