Posts Tagged ‘food drink’

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart

| Dessert

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel TartThis dark chocolate salted caramel tart screams Happy Valentine’s Day, at least for me. While my husband doesn’t eat chocolate, I haven’t had trouble sharing this tasty treat with the other Valentines in my life.

Seriously… this is a crunchy chocolate crust, filled with an ooey gooey sweet caramel, topped with a slightly bitter chocolate ganache and dusted with salt. Amazing. There are several steps to this recipe, which each require cool time, but it is definitely worth the effort! Read through the entire recipe to make certain you have plenty of time prior to serving. While the cool times may be several hours, each step only takes a few minutes to complete.

Try this… your loved ones will thank you!

Confession of a *wannabe* foodie… I had every intention of making a special treat for my lovely non-chocolate eating, Allen. Unfortunately, I couldn’t seem to make it happen this week, so not only am I a *wannabe* foodie tonight, I am also a *wannabe* sweet wife. There is always next year, right? (shame)

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Nutella Brownies

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Nutella Brownies

Happy World Nutella day!

It is so cold and snowy in St. Louis these days, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to warm up the oven for these ultimate comfort brownies.

I am always looking for any excuse to bake and celebrate!

These Nutella brownies are a fantastic way to celebrate the merging of two cultures!  Combining chewy chocolaty American brownies, with creamy delicious hazelnut Italian Nutella, is a fantastic tribute to our culinary and cultural histories.  The Nutella flavor is somewhat subtle in these brownies, so don’t forget the chopped hazelnuts to really amplify the chocolate hazelnut goodness!

Bake, eat, share, love!

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Nutella Coffee Creamer

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Nutella Coffee Creamer

February 5 is officially World Nutella Day.  World Nutella Day.

Let’s take a minute to let that set in.

One glorious day when the whole world unites to celebrate the smooth, creamy, chocolaty, hazelnut goodness that is Nutella.  One day to look beyond our political, religious, and economic differences to indulge, in solidarity, in one celebrated snack spread.

I will never forget my introduction into the world of Nutella, in 1998, during a spring break trip to Spain to visit my sister.  I shortly thereafter spent an entire year immersed in the Nutella motherland of Italy.  Nutella smeared on crusty bread, Nutella oozing out of warm croissants, Nutella churned into creamy gelato, Nutella encased by pillows of fried dough, oh the delicious Nutella.

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Roasted Lemon Garlic Cauliflower

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Roasted Lemon Garlic Cauliflower

Roasted Lemon Garlic Cauliflower

I am a firm believer that pretty much any vegetable is delicious tossed with a bit of olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese and roasted. Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and even cauliflower. The theme for our Supper Club was “Courtesy of the Character C,” and I could not pass up the opportunity to serve Crispy Cruciferous Cauliflower with Citrus, Cheese & Chopped Chives!

This roasted cauliflower really is delicious and keeps everyone in our house happy, even our 2 year old daughter.

Confession of a *wannabe* foodie… It is tough for me to willfully choose to roast any vegetable other than Brussels sprouts. I would eat roasted brussels sprouts everyday, if my family would let me. I am happy to be expanding beyond my Brussels sprouts obsession to include other cruciferous vegetables!
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Pork Crown Roast with Cranberry, Apple & Cornbread Stuffing

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Pork Crown Roast

Pork Crown Roast

I am seriously intimidated by cooking large cuts of meat indoors. My intimidation definitely comes from my lack of experience. With only two adults at home… a roast is a serious dinner party gamble or left-over meal commitment. We do a lot of barbecuing, pan-cooking, soups/stews, and meatless meals, but it is time…

I realize that I could have started with a pot roast roast, roast chicken, or roast beef, but in honor of supper club and our new dining room table, I decided to conquer a crown roast of pork. I called a local butcher a few days in advance to prepare the crown roast, and had a great experience in St. Louis with Kenrick’s Meat Market.

What a beautiful and impressive presentation of a tasty cut of meat! The crown roast was surprisingly easy to prepare and a great choice for a dinner party. The majority of my work in the kitchen was actually done a few hours before our guests even arrived!
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Cranberry, Apple & Cornbread Stuffing

| Celebrate

Cranberry Apple Cornbread Stuffing

Cranberry Apple Cornbread Stuffing

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a dining room table!  We also have an amazing cornbread, cranberry and apple stuffing that was definitely worthy of the inaugural meal at our new table.

One of the most exciting things about moving into a house with more space was the prospect of comfortably hosting dinner parties with friends and family.  I am not going to say that we ever let a small house stop us from cramming our previous home in the name of a good party, but I anxiously awaited the day to seat friends and family around a large dinner table for a comfy and tasty meal.

As we unpacked our boxes and started to get the lay of our new land, Allen decided that he wanted to build our dining room table.  I instantly agreed and immediately began to romanticize how this table would hold and cherish our family history.  Our friends and family would gather around this table to share amazing food, beautiful stories, and endless laughter for holidays, birthdays, dinner parties, sleepovers, and more for years and years to come.   This table that would proudly be passed down from generation to generation.

I could not wait to get started…. I should clarify…. I could not wait for Allen to get started!
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Chicken, White Bean & Kale Stew

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Chicken, White Bean & Kale Stew

Chicken, White Bean & Kale Stew

The past three weeks were a pretty a fantastic blur of friends, family, coffee, wine, cheese, ginger cookies, caramel popcorn, dark chocolate salted caramel tart, roasted jalapeno artichoke dip, lasagna, roast beef, pizza, and…  did I mention wine… and coffee?!?

It is now January, however, the holidays are officially over and it is cold in St. Louis.  It is no longer the kind of cold that is trimmed with twinkling Christmas lights and warmed with hot cocoa… it is just January cold (and dark, but I will save the dark drama for a post on the February-funk).

In an attempt to not blow my New Year’s resolution(s) on January 1 or 2, I decided to head in the kitchen and tackle the remains of a roasted chicken.  I chopped and reserved the remaining meat for the stew and used the bones to make a quick and easy slow cooker stock, in an attempt to maximize our use of food and reduce our waste.

This is a pretty great way to up-cycle a protein and an easy and satisfying stew that will help you wean off your holiday indulgences.
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Annie’s Original Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Annie’s Original Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I can’t resist a good old original chocolate chip cookie.

I started baking when I was a kid. My sister and I spent many weekends broadcasting “Kids Cookery” from our kitchen, inspired by the latest section of “Hey Kids Let’s Cook” in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Pretty impressive for kids who didn’t have cable and never watched TV!

Turns out, I never really outgrew my adventures in baking or my experiments in the kitchen. This original chocolate chip cookie recipe was definitely worth all the botched batches to get it just right! I proudly won a blue ribbon at the Washington Town & Country Fair with these chocolate chip cookies back in 1995, and I continue to spread the cookie love whenever I get a chance!

The secret to these cookies is a greater ratio of brown to white sugar, extra vanilla, extra chocolate chips, dark chocolate, room temperature butter, and a specific mixing technique.

Confession of a *wannabe* baker… Every once in a while there may be a “Kids Cookery” encore that broadcasts from the Cavedine Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
3 cups of dark chocolate chips and/or chopped chocolate

PREP:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

MIX:
Add the room temperature butter to a large bowl and beat until light and creamy.

Add the brown and white sugar to the butter mixture and beat until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture is airy and light.

Continue beating and mix in the salt and baking soda.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gently add the flour. Mix on low speed until just combined; do not over mix!

Gently stir in 3 cups of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.

BAKE:
Scoop the cookie dough onto cookie sheets using a mini ice cream scoop.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy and share!

 

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Lentil Soup

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Lentil Soup

Lentil Soup

Happy New Year!  Do you all have any fabulous food traditions for the New Year?  I chose to stick with my Italian roots… or root… and opted for a steaming bowl of lentil soup on this freezing first day of the new year!

The inspiration for this lentil soup comes from la mamma Italiana and my year as an exchange student in Siracusa, Sicily.  The highlight of my year was definitely my amazing host family, but the incredible food was a close second.  I realize lentil soup may not be what traditionally comes to mind as you think of scrumptious Sicilian cuisine, but this is the perfect Mediterranean meal to warm up your winter!
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Caramel Popcorn

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Caramel Popcorn

Caramel Popcorn

 

Italians eat lentils in celebration of the New Year.  The small round legumes resemble small coins and symbolize wealth and prosperity.  The more lentils you eat, the more wealth and prosperity you will experience in the coming year.  I love lentils, I love tradition, and I will share my favorite tasty lentil soup recipe on the first day of the New Year.

Today, however, I celebrate the end of 2012 and initiate an amazing new tradition… caramel popcorn.  I hereby decree I will consume these crispy, crunchy, clusters of golden goodness each New Year’s Eve to symbolize my sweet successes of the past year and the golden opportunities that await in the year ahead.

Try this.  You will not be disappointed.  You can be good next year!

Confession of a *wannabe* foodie… This caramel popcorn is highly addictive.  It may be more addictive than Cheetos.  Consider yourself warned.
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