Monday, March 31, 2014
What We Had for Lunch
While running some supplies up to the Frick Winery in preparation for our big event this weekend, we made a pit stop in beautiful Healdsburg. Ive wanted to try the famous pork cheek sandwich at Bovolo Restaurant for the longest time, and it was well worth the wait.
The tender, rich cheek sat on a crusty toasted roll, slathered in an intensely-flavored salsa verde and roasted sweet peppers. We also shared a charcuterie plate, and Michele had a lovely fried green tomato BLT. Enjoy!



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The tender, rich cheek sat on a crusty toasted roll, slathered in an intensely-flavored salsa verde and roasted sweet peppers. We also shared a charcuterie plate, and Michele had a lovely fried green tomato BLT. Enjoy!



super healthy Diet juice best natural diet pill for weight loss

Super healthy juice for weight loss....it detoxifies your body....
should take every day for about a month along with your regular food diet...either in the morning or evening...at a regular time......drinking this juice only will not help in weight loss...u need to do exercise as well...if you are on diet include this juice in a diet you will find fabulous results...many of my friends including me hav tried this juice it works amazing...it brought good charm in my face...itz rich in minerals, vitamins and fiber.

Ingredients:
Beat root---1/2
Carrot---1 large
Cucumber (kheera doskaya)--1/2
Mint leaves--few
lemon juice--2ts
honey--1ts
Method:
- Grind beet root+carrot+cucumber+ mint leaves together and filter juice.
- Mix lemon juice and honey to the obtained juice mixture and enjoy.
If you like my recipe plz follow my blog and leave your valuable comments...that makes me happy :)
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Catching a Foodbuzz with Black Box Wines at Spruce
The only way the evening could have been any more entertaining was if David Chang had crashed our dessert course and delivered a drunken rant about our cheese plate.
"F*cking come on, San Francisco chefs! Do something with your f*cking cheese!
Hey, can I get some f*cking figs?"
Hey, can I get some f*cking figs?"
The evening started with some beautifully presented charcuterie in Spruces "Library." This was my kind of library – sliced meats, crusty bread, wonderful wine, crackling fireplace, and absolutely no books. We were also allowed to speak above a whisper, which really works out great for me.
We moved from the Library to a handsome private dining room in the back of the restaurant. This was a good thing since theres nothing more annoying than trying to enjoy a romantic, softly lit meal, only to be subjected to the strobe-like flash lighting from a couple dozen cackling food bloggers.
Our first course was a visually arresting beet and pear salad. The deeply colored, carpaccio-style sliced beets were topped with aged goat cheese and walnut vinaigrette. The sweet, soft pear proved a perfect liaison between the sexy salad and the accompanying 2008 New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
I really enjoy chardonnay paired with mushrooms, and thought both worked very well, however, when we were asked which we thought was the better match, I chose the Monterey County, as did Black Boxs wine guru Steve Hosmer. Take that, bloggers that liked the other one better!
The dessert course was a trio of cheeses served with honeyed almonds, and dried cranberries. Its at this point in the evening when I stopped asking questions like, "what cheese is this again?" – I put away the camera and pen, and just enjoyed the end of a great meal. Talking food, laughing, winking, and just being in the moment.
It was impossible not to notice how prideful the folks from Black Box are when they talk about their offerings. They know they have some great wines, and you can see how much they enjoy the fact its packaged in a black box.
Thanks to Foodbuzz for another wonderful evening! Thanks to Black Box Wines for (see above), and thanks to Spruce for all the wonderful food!
Check out some of my fellow food bloggers recaps of this event:
Danielle at Bon Vivant
Denise & Lenny at Chez Us
Janet at Pretty Green Girl
Joel at Six By 10 Tiny Kitchen
Jesse at Beer and Nosh
Wonton Soup – When was the last time you got to “swallow clouds ”
The term "wonton" is mostly commonly translated as meaning "irregularly shaped pasta." But, the second translation I found is apparently from a popular Cantonese homonym that literally means "swallowing clouds." So, if given the choice between eating "irregularly shaped pasta," or "swallowing clouds," I’m going with the clouds every time!
When making wonton soup there are two basic approaches; make highly-seasoned, full-flavored wontons and cook them in a fairly plain broth, or make a more plain, subtlety flavored wonton and cook it in a highly-seasoned, full-flavored broth. You know we have to consider that old Yin Yang balance thing. My method, as seen in this clip, is closer to the first style. This is also a great soup to clean out the veggie drawers in the fridge, as almost any thinly sliced vegetables would work in this soup.
As you’ll see, the broth part of this dish is really simple, the pork filling is also extremely easy, but what scares the average cook away from trying this dish is the folding of the wontons. I have you covered! Not only do I show you how to do the basic fold in my clip, but below the ingredient list I’ve also added another clip, of another cook demonstrating three different wonton folds (and as much as I hate to admit it, he does a much better job!). So, after watching my clip, check out his clip also (he even uses a baseball analogy). Enjoy!
Ingredients:
For the Wontons:
1 pound ground pork
3 minced green onions
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 1/2 tbl fresh grated ginger or puree
1 tbl soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tbl dry sherry wine
1 tsp hot sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil
square wonton wrappers
For the broth
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock or broth
4 oz sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms
sliced bok choy (or any other veggies!)
green onion tops to garnish
Note: according to your taste, you can add more ginger, onion, soy, hot pepper, cilantro, lime, lemongrass, etc. to customize this broth. I went with a very basic broth for the purposes of this demo.
Extra Special Bonus Wonton Folding Demo (thanks to Chris aka cmtoy on YT)
PIZZA SAUCE
PIZZA SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
- Tomatoes chopped-6 medium sized
- Oil-2 tablespoons
- Salt-1 teaspoon
- Oregano-1 teaspoon
- Sugar-1/2 teaspoon
- Tomato ketchup-2 tablespoons
- Black pepper powder-1/2 teaspoon
- Water
METHOD
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add chopped tomatoes to it.

- Cook them well till they start leaving oil.

- As they leave oil, add a little quantity of water to it.
- Boil it well & then add salt, sugar, black pepper powder & oregano & mix well.
- As oil starts appearing on the sides & tomatoes start giving a shining look, add tomato ketchup & mix well & turn off the flame.
- Pizza sauce is ready to be used for the pizza.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
BBQ Chicken Pizza
I am traditionalist when it comes to pizza, though it may not appear so by this BBQ Chicken version I fashioned for dinner last night. Without a doubt my favorite pizza ever is of the thin crackly crust variety simply topped with fresh tomato sauce, verdant sweet basil and mild fresh mozzarella with a few shards of Parmesan tossed on for good measure. A while back, however, I was intrigued by the idea of using my leftover BBQ chicken to pile high atop homemade pizza dough, blanket it with mild cheddar cheese, sliced sweet onion and hot pickled jalapeno peppers. It was simply sublime! Now, I almost go out of my way to have BBQ chicken just so I can look forward to my new favorite pizza, the BBQ Chicken Pizza.
If you read yesterdays entry on Oven Roasted Salmon with Hoisin Barbecue sauce, then you knew that I was saving the remaining sauce for just this purpose.
Hoisin BBQ Sauce
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1-2 tablespoons Asian hot sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
Basic Pizza Dough adapted from a recipe by Chris Bianco in "The Gourmet Cookbook"
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and dredging
3/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
Stir together yeast, 1 tablespoon flour, and 1/4 cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until surface appears creamy, about 5 minutes.
Stir together 1 1/4 cups flour and salt in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, oil, and remaining 1/2 cup warm water and stir until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour (about 1/2 cup) so dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead dough on a dry surface with lightly floured hands (reflour hands when dough becomes too sticky) until smooth, soft, and elastic, about 8 minutes. Form into 4 balls for individual pizzas and put on a lightly floured surface and generously dust with flour. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours.
To shape the dough, do not punch down. Carefully dredge 1 ball of dough in a bowl of flour to coat and transfer to a dry work surface. Holding one edge of dough in the air with both hands and letting the bottom touch work surface, carefully move hands around edge of dough (like turning a steering wheel), allowing the weigh of dough to stretch to roughly 4 inches. Transfer to a floured tray and work edges with fingers to get desired shape. Let side on tray for about 15 minutes before preparing as desired.
To assemble the pizza, spread the dough with the Hoisin BBQ sauce or other sauce of your choice. Top with leftover bbq chicken or other shredded chicken such as a store bough rotisserie. Place several slices of fresh mozzarella on with some shredded cheddar, sliced sweet onion, spicy pickled jalapenos and a grating of Parmesan cheese. Bake in a hot 500 degree oven for approximately 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing and eating.
Thyme Pasta Frittata with Desi Touch
Few month’s back I watched Giada’s cooking show in food network where she made Thyme Pasta Frittata which was good and a great recipe. Then immediately I tried it out as my husband would like it as he is a Pasta lover.
Used her recipe as a base and made couple of changes by giving desi touch to it. By adding garam masala, red chilli powder and made use of less cheese.
This is an excellent Pasta Frittata recipe as it is full of herbs and lemon zest and a great recipe for brunch and picnics.

Ingredients:
Eggs – 4 no
Whipping cream/Milk – 2 tsps
Parmesan Cheese – ½ cup
Penne Pasta – 1 ½ cup
Freshly chopped Thyme leaves – 2 tsps
Freshly chopped Parsley leaves – 1 tsp
Lemon Zest - 1 no small
Salt – ¼ tsp ( or as Required)
Grounded Pepper – ¼ tsp
Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1tsp
Oil – 1 1/2 tsp
Preparation
- Boil Pasta in water, based on the instructions given in the packet or till cooked.
- After cooked remove water from pasta and keep aside
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and cream.
- Mix cheese, pasta, thyme , parsley , lemon zest, salt and pepper.
- Add red chilli powder, garam masala and mix well.
- In a 8-inch pan, heat oil and on medium heat.
- Pour the egg thyme mixture into the pan and cook for 6 to 7 minutes until the edges begins brown.
- Remove the pan from the heat and using spatula slide the frittata onto a plate.
- Now carefully invert frittata back into the pan and continue to cook for another 5-6 minutes or till cooked
- Cut into wedges and serve warm.






Friday, March 28, 2014
PERFECT CHEESECAKE TRICK
I love any kind of cheesecake. It doesnt make much difference, to me, whether it is perfectly baked or if it has a big old crack in the middle of it ... I will enjoy it just as much.
HOWEVER, there ARE those special occasions where you want your cheesecake to impress company, so here is a trick that has not failed me yet: bake your cheesecake at a super low temperature for a longer time. It will come out ultra-creamy and will NOT crack.

CRUST
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Spray the bottom and sides of your springform pan with a little cooking spray. Mix everything well and press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 300 for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
(4) 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs (room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Mix in vanilla.
Pour over graham cracker crust and smooth the top. Set the pan on a heavy cookie sheet and bake at 350 for fifteen minutes, then TURN YOUR OVEN DOWN TO 200 and bake for 75 more minutes. DONT FORGET TO TURN THE OVEN DOWN!!!!!!!!!!! After 75 minutes, the center of the cheesecake will be almost set. Take it out of the oven and loosen the sides of the cheesecake by running a VERY thin blade around the edge. Leave it in the pan and let it cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge. Chill for several hours, or better yet, overnight.
PRALINE TOPPING (this is sinfully delicious!!)
¼ cup butter
1¼ cups brown sugar (packed)
16 large marshmallows
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
dash of salt
1 cup of evaporated (canned) milk
½ cup toasted pecans (or almonds)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the sugar, marshmallows, syrup and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer gently for one minute. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes. Stir in evaporated milk, nuts and vanilla, mix well. This is good warm or cold over the cheese cake.
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HOWEVER, there ARE those special occasions where you want your cheesecake to impress company, so here is a trick that has not failed me yet: bake your cheesecake at a super low temperature for a longer time. It will come out ultra-creamy and will NOT crack.

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Spray the bottom and sides of your springform pan with a little cooking spray. Mix everything well and press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 300 for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.
(4) 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs (room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Mix in vanilla.
Pour over graham cracker crust and smooth the top. Set the pan on a heavy cookie sheet and bake at 350 for fifteen minutes, then TURN YOUR OVEN DOWN TO 200 and bake for 75 more minutes. DONT FORGET TO TURN THE OVEN DOWN!!!!!!!!!!! After 75 minutes, the center of the cheesecake will be almost set. Take it out of the oven and loosen the sides of the cheesecake by running a VERY thin blade around the edge. Leave it in the pan and let it cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge. Chill for several hours, or better yet, overnight.
PRALINE TOPPING (this is sinfully delicious!!)
¼ cup butter
1¼ cups brown sugar (packed)
16 large marshmallows
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
dash of salt
1 cup of evaporated (canned) milk
½ cup toasted pecans (or almonds)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the sugar, marshmallows, syrup and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer gently for one minute. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes. Stir in evaporated milk, nuts and vanilla, mix well. This is good warm or cold over the cheese cake.
Its a PARADE!

This is my first week participating in the Follow Friday Social Parade and I am soooo excited. Its a terrific way to get introduced to new and wonderful blogs and follow them too.! Welcome to my new followers, I hope you come back to visit often and, please, comment anytime. I love conversations! I will visit everyone who jumps on board here and follow you too!
HAPPY FRIDAY!!!



Thursday, March 27, 2014
Chinese cutlets
Chinese cutlets

Ingredients
- Chicken boneless breast 2
- Boiled noodles 1 cup
- Chopped green chilies 4
- Crushed red pepper 1 tsp
- Green onion finely chopped ½ cup
- Soya sauce 1 tbsp
- Chopped coriander leaves 2 tbsp
- Bread crumbs as required
Ingredients for white sauce
- Flour 4 tbsp
- Salt 1 tsp
- Black pepper ½ tsp
- Butter 2 tbsp
- Milk ½ cup
- Make thick white sauce with all the given ingredients, now mix boiled and shredded chicken, boiled noodles, chopped green chilies and coriander leaves, chopped spring onion, crushed red pepper and soya sauce in white sauce, mix well, make into cutlets, dip in egg, roll in crumbs and deep fry.
Birthday INXS

But first, we had to say hi to the puppies...or my sisters, if you will.

This cake is something of a tradition in our house, and all of Texas for that matter, what with its spongey chocolate cake and cooked fudgey chocolate icing. And while Im not generally a fan of chocolate-on-chocolate, the tons of sugar in the cake helps to cut the sweetness. Know what I mean?


Remember the pie I told you about a minute ago? Well, technically my mom made it for Kyle. Hes a big fan of pecan pie.

It wouldnt be a birthday without presents! Youve already seen what Kyle got me, but I was totally surprised when my parents gave me my newest sequined UGG boots (a pearlescent white I didnt even know existed!!). Theyll go perfect with the ones Kyle got me for Christmas in gold.
{Boots: UGG}
Its like I told you...my mom taught me to get it in EVERY color!!!!
Two birthday desserts, puppies, family, and sparkly footwear--what more could a superficial consumer obsessed with excess ask for?? No, but really, what else should I ask for????
Hosting Event with Surprise Gift for Thanks Giving 2011
Friends Thanks giving is approaching, I hope every one has started googling recipes. Turkey is the common recipe in every home for thanks giving. I think this will be a great advantage for those who are searching for the thanks giving recipes. Hope you will post your favorite recipes for thanks giving to me. There are no rules, the recipe can be newly prepared or which you have prepared for the last thanks giving. The winners will get a surprise gift. This contest is open to all. You need not have to be a blogger to participate in this contest.

This LOGO is must on your blog.
Just you should have a photograph and recipe.
Please email your recipe with photograph to
foodblognews(at)gmail(dot)com
and also with
Your Name:
Blog Name:
Link to recipe:
Recipe title:
Ingredients:
Method:
Photograph:
Leave a comment here when you Email me

Please keep visiting my blog for more wonderful recipes!!!!
I hope you will post the recipes and make this contest a grand success!!!!

This LOGO is must on your blog.
Just you should have a photograph and recipe.
Please email your recipe with photograph to
foodblognews(at)gmail(dot)com
and also with
Your Name:
Blog Name:
Link to recipe:
Recipe title:
Ingredients:
Method:
Photograph:
Leave a comment here when you Email me
Please keep visiting my blog for more wonderful recipes!!!!
I hope you will post the recipes and make this contest a grand success!!!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Gluten Free Soda Bread Spotted Dog and tips on baking gluten free
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| This Spotted Dog Irish bread is yeast-free and gluten-free. |
The Mother of Invention
If I call this new bread an Irish soda bread, traditionalists will snicker. Raisins are not traditional in an Irish soda bread, you see. If a yeast-free soda bread has raisins in it, it's called Spotted Dog. I never knew this, growing up on the white clapboard wilds of the Connecticut shore. I was blithely ignorant of this quaint canine moniker, despite a hefty streak of familial Irish blood. We ate more pierogies than Irish soda bread.
So when I started baking, my Irish soda bread had raisins. Why not?
When it comes to traditions, I admit, I'm an upstart. I wiggle and chafe beneath constraint and "should" like an itchy little girl with pinching new shoes. I admire traditions. From afar. At least, in theory. In an abstract, symbolic way. The meaning and the message is more interesting to me than formula. When it comes to formula, I usually prefer to wing it.
Which is why I enjoy gluten-free baking.
My skill set groove runs deep on the intuitive side.
I bake like I paint. Observing. Listening. Responding to what is in front of me. If a recipe calls for x amount of flour and I sense the dough is too wet, I'll add more flour until the dough feels "right" to me. Experience helps. No doubt about it. The process of trial and error gives you a feel for gluten-free dough, an inkling about the muffin batter and how it might behave on any given day. Which varies, I hate to tell you.
So I pay attention to elements like humidity, and room temperature. Weather.
Bread dough will behave differently on a hot and humid day than it will on a windy, cold one. So recipes may have to change a bit. The amount of milk or brown rice flour may need to be adjusted. Baking gluten-free is more of an art than a science.
I recommend you tune in to your ingredients and learn how they behave. Learn how humidity affects flour- notice it's dampness. Or dryness. Dry flours will soak up more liquid. A cool and drafty kitchen may require a longer rise time. A thin metal bread pan may bake the outside faster than the inside can keep up. Your oven may run a tad hot. Or lag behind and never quite pre-heat itself.
Gluten-free baking requires your full attention. A dash of patience. An intimacy with your ingredients. A willingness to adjust. And most of all, developing an intuition you can trust.
Even if it goes against tradition.
Fried drum sticks
Fried drum sticks

Ingredients
- Chicken wings ½ kg make into loly pop shape
- Salt ½ tsp
- White pepper ½ tsp
- Sugar ½ tsp
- Chopped garlic 1 tsp
- Egg 1
- Corn flour 2 tsp heaped
- Flour 2 tsp heaped
Method
- Marinate your drum sticks with all above, mix very well, deep fry for 10 minutes, then remove and re fry once again for 10 minutes till crisp and golden brown.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
A Month of Cupcakes in Review
How does it feel to see me back? Are you sighing sighs of relief? Do you finally have a reason to get out of bed in the morning?? Are you going to buy a new outfit to celebrate!??
Id apologize for the lack in posting, but that would be an admission of wrongdoing, and since I practically wrote the book on being perfect, that simply wont work. Instead, Ill just summarize all the cupcake news Ive been collecting over the past four weeks.
Did you hear about Food Networks new TV show Cupcake Wars? Its pretty much what it sounds like. That is, of course, unless you think it sounds like cupcakes fighting to the death at Battle of the Bulge.Hmm, "Battle of the Bulge"...I smell a spin-off!!



Read More..
Id apologize for the lack in posting, but that would be an admission of wrongdoing, and since I practically wrote the book on being perfect, that simply wont work. Instead, Ill just summarize all the cupcake news Ive been collecting over the past four weeks.
Did you hear about Food Networks new TV show Cupcake Wars? Its pretty much what it sounds like. That is, of course, unless you think it sounds like cupcakes fighting to the death at Battle of the Bulge.Hmm, "Battle of the Bulge"...I smell a spin-off!!
- Speaking of Cupcake Wars, Hello Cupcake held their own last Saturday, hosting their first Design Your DC Cupcake contest. This Chinatown-inspired cupcake went home the winner. Only because I didnt show up!

- Did you see SATC 2?? Well, I have the same apron as Charlotte. In fact, I have two. Im pretty sure Patricia Field is stalking me. What else is new??
- And while were on the topic of things I do better than most people, I also tried my hand at selling my baked confections this month. It was a flop, but not because they werent delicious. Its all about picking the right audience. Can you believe some people arent craving cupcakes 24/7?? Who ARE these people??
- Oh, I went to Houston a while ago and spotted this:
Nuff said
- And a teaser for Katy Perrys new music video for California Gurls came out this week. I have tow words for you: Cupcake Bra.
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