Gourmet tips news

I love cheese, and it all starts there. Ricotta is one of my favorites, it's so versatile and when you make it at home it is absolutely divine. I particularly like serving it with with peaches, berries or tomatoes.  I made grilled peaches with a honey glaze and lemon-thyme for the food truck and they flew out the window.  The food truck has been such a great adventure, I am having so much fun creating menus with what is in season and fresh every day.  I don't think I've repeated myself yet, there's just so much I want to make and this is giving me the opportunity to do so.  It is certainly a lot more work than setting a menu and repeating it, and I'm sure more cost effective too.  But that's not what this is about for me right now.  I am reveling in having to be creative enough to come up with three inventive quality menus every week.  I guess at some point I'll have to pick my favorites and go with those, but it seems that by the time that happens, it...

It's fig season in Louisiana, they start coming in around the beginning of July.  I usually have enough to harvest for about a month and it never seems quite long enough. I took advantage of the bounty and made these little fig happies for the food truck last week.   Oh yes, new project...In a collaboration with another restaurant owner, we opened a food truck called PRONTO.  The truck is parked in front of my shop, I open it as often as I can and let people know by posting the menu on Instagram and Facebook, (@gourmetgirls).  I'm doing most of the cooking so things have been have been extra hectic, but have gone remarkably well.  It's amazing how many familiar faces I've seen from my days at The Silver Spoon.  People have come out of the woodwork, it's been so nice to see so many loyal customers,  I feel really blessed.  The truck has proven to be a lot of fun, I've sold out every day so far which is extremely rewarding since I feel like I'm fill...

Strawberries and chocolate, I cannot think of a better combination for a scone. Add chocolate to anything and you have my full attention, they're almost like dessert.   These scones come together quickly and easily.  They keep best frozen and then just popped in the toaster or microwave for a bit if you're not planning on eating all of them within a day.   Dark Chocolate and Strawberry Scones Yield - 12-16 large scones 3/4 cup sliced fresh strawberries 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped 4 3/4 cups flour 1 T baking powder 1 t baking soda 1 t salt 1/2 cup sugar 9 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream topping: additional cream and sugar 1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender.  You are finished when the butter is evenly distributed in pea sized lumps. 3. ...

I have a new invention.... and we are very excited!  When I was making king cakes on Monday I had some extra dough, and never for a second did I think what has happened over the course of the last 4 days would.  Instead of throwing out the extra dough, as I typically would, I placed it in a jumbo muffin pan, baked and iced it like a king cake and soon had our king cake cupcake.  I posted it on the Gourmet Girls facebook page and voila, our King Cake cupcakes went viral.  I have to say I post a lot of food on facebook, and seldom does something get this much attention.  Since Tuesday we have had to shift our baking from traditional king cakes to king cake cupcakes.  We are having so much fun making them and can barely keep up. They are the perfect solution for those of us who will eat a whole king cake just because it's there, and it looks good and it tastes divine.... now you can have your own individual little portion! :) We start shipping early next week...

It's king cake time! We started making king cakes at the shop Saturday, it's the beginning of a very long Mardi Gras season.  Last year we made and shipped over 500, and for an operation the size of mine- that's a lot of king cakes made from scratch in a two week period.  Every day was ground hog day... Go into work,  start a batch of dough, wait 30 minutes, start another one and on and on and on. Every year I swear I don't really want to do it ever again once it's over.  Every year, I forget and start it all over again.  In order to get ahead, we started a large batch of Brioche Friday afternoon so I could walk in Saturday morning and not have to wait on the first rise.  We put it to bed in the refrigerator in a gigantic bowl, and left for the day in hopes of having dough ready to go in the morning.  Saturday morning I returned to find the very large bowl of dough upright on the floor in front of the refrigerator, and the refrigerator door ajar. ...

You may have noticed it's been a little quiet around here.  Well, I've been a a bit busy with work to say the least.  Posting in an of itself would not be the issue, it's really more about documenting everything I do with (beautiful and perfect) photographs that becomes troublesome. I am happy to announce though,  I have resolved to stop being such a freak and just post something I've made at least a few times a week.  I'll try to put recipes up when time allows, at very least I hope to provide some inspiration with the photographs. I made these little goat cheese balls and garnished them with edible flowers for a cocktail party a while back.  They're perfect to serve with crackers or crostini... I hope you like them!

This is my favorite Egyptian dessert, pieces of puff pastry baked in a clay bowl with nuts, raisins and coconut, covered in hot sweetened milk and cream. What makes this dish more delicious is the story behind how it got the name 'Om Ali'. Legend has it that Om Ali was the first wife of the Sultan Ezz El Din Aybek. In Egypt , women were not allowed to rule, but were permitted to be guardians to their sons who would become king when they came of age. When the sultan died, his second wife had a dispute with Om Ali over whose son would be the successor to the Sultan. The second wife was heavily guarded making it difficult for Om Ali to get rid of her.Om Ali hatched came out with a perfect plot to kill her.She was beaten to death by her handmaids while taking a bath.To celebrate her death, Om Ali made this dessert and distributed it among the people of the land. There are many variety of recipes available to make Om Ali', but i found this recipe to be super easy to do at home a...