Monthly Archives: November 2011

Baked Kale Chips with FAGE Garlic Basil Dip

Posted on November 26, 2011 | 1 Comment

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program, I have agreed to participate in the FAGE Total program and blog about good living in exchange for being entered to win an extraordinary eight day trip to Greece.

I have been using the FAGE products for quite a while and love them.  I’ve been on a quest lately to make some changes to our family diet.  One of Mr. Foodie’s biggest downfalls is potato chips.  It amazes me how many chips he can down in a sitting!  So, in an effort to make a change, I thought I would try some kale chips.  I am a big fan of kale generally, but I wasn’t sure exactly how Mr. Foodie would feel about them.  To my surprise, he really liked them and munched on them through the evening.  While the chips are a great snack on their own, I thought I’d try to create a little dip for them using some FAGE yogurt I had on hand in the event I ever wanted to use these ‘chips’ at a gathering.  It was a simple dip and I thought it complemented the chips very nicely.  If you haven’t tried these very popular morsels yet and are trying to work on a healthier lifestyle for yourself and family, I really recommend giving them a try.  They might not taste just like the junk food chips you are used to but they are definitely a tasty snack!

BAKED KALE CHIPS WITH FAGE GARLIC BASIL DIP

Ingredients:

1 Bunch of Kale, washed and dried (any variety is okay)

1 TBS Olive Oil (you can add more to your taste)

Sea Salt, to taste

Fresh Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

3 TBS Fage Total 0% Greek Yogurt

Fresh Garlic Paste, to taste

Fresh Basil Paste, to taste

Water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

2.  Remove all stems/ribs from kale then toss in olive oil.

3.  Place kale on cookies sheet in a single layer.  You want to minimize the overlap as to reach maximum crispness.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.

4.  Bake kale for 20-30 minutes.  Ovens will vary so continue to check until they reach your desired crispiness, be careful not to let them burn.

5.  While the chips are baking, combine yogurt, basil and garlic in a small dipping dish.  Mix together well, adding tiny amounts of water to thin the sauce out a bit.  The yogurt tends to be thick and sometimes the kale chips will break off into it.  Thinning it out makes dipping easier – it does not take much water to do this, maybe a few drops.

7.  When chips are done, remove from oven and sprinkle with additional salt and/or pepper if desired.  Let cool and serve immediately.

“As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway“

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The Pumpkin Pie Post

Posted on November 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

Some say it might be obligatory, it being Thanksgiving and all.  Either way, here it comes:  my pumpkin pie post.

Recently, I’ve been pinning the heck out of things on Pinterest.  (I’m on there as Foodie Interrupted – follow me and you will see proof of my obsession.) I kinda feel like I’m a serial re-pinner.  I oogle over peoples boards of food dishes and fun  crafty projects and re-pin away.  I do this, of course, because I will make every single one of those dishes and crafts one day.  I swear.  No, really…  Well, one of the things I pinned recently was a cinnamon roll pie crust.  With this pie heavy holiday upon us, I thought this was a perfect fit, so I went for it.  I also needed something to take to the in-laws and who better to experiment on?  (Besides, I was asked to bring the pumpkin pie.)  My crust didn’t look as pretty as the original one I pinned over at Pinterest, but I was still very happy with it.  Here’s a pic of the cinnamony goodness:

The cinnamon roll crust only goes to the top edge of the pie plate so I decided to get all fancy and make a nice leaf crust around the top.  You don’t have to do this at all but I thought it looked better and there may be some crust lovers in the crowd that this move would please.  Please note that I sort of did the fancy schmancy leaf thing as an afterthought, so when you read my directions for adding it – BE CAREFUL!

I have not actually made pumpkin pie in a few years, somebody else is usually in charge of that!  I generally don’t have a set in stone recipe, either.  I know, who doesn’t have a pumpkin pie recipe, right?  Well, this girl doesn’t.  I contemplated doing something different with the pie filling but since I had already done the cinnamon roll crust, I didn’t want to mess too much with the filling.  Sometimes, less is more.  I was already sweating bullets debating whether or not to add more cinnamon to the filling with the given crust and concerned about serving a ‘cinnamon pie with a hint of pumpkin’ to my in-law family.  Well, what I ended up making worked, it was a good pie.  Foodie Jr. and Baby Foodie woofed this pie down.  Baby Foodie even screamed at his big brother to share more.  Brothers fighting over pie, who woulda thunk it?

This could be one of the worst iphone food pics in the history of the world.

CINNAMON ROLL PUMPKIN PIE

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell, pre-made or homemade is fine

1 TBS Butter, melted

Cinnamon, enough to sprinkle all over single pie crust

15 oz. of Pumpkin (canned or fresh – I used canned Organic)

1 Cup Evaporated Milk

1/2 Cup Whole Milk

2 Eggs

3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp (scant) Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/8 Tsp Ground Clove

Directions:

1.  Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Place pie crust on a lightly floured surface and brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle cinnamon all over the entire crust – as if you were making cinnamon rolls.

3.  Tightly roll the pie crust up and cut into 1/2 inch segments.  Line a 9 inch pie plate with the cinnamon rolls by placing them flat side down and pressing them into the dish, all the way to the edge.

4.  For the pie, place all remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl and blend together very well – I used a hand held egg beater and it worked great.

5.  Pour the pumpkin mixture into your pie shell and bake in the oven for about 40-45  minutes (ovens will vary.)

6.  Remove pie and cool before serving.

NOTE:  If you wish to make the additional leaf crust: Use any extra pie crust you have and cut leaves out (I used the Wilton cut-outs.)  Keep them refrigerated and then dip them in an egg wash and add to the edge of your pie, the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.

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Cranberry Jalapeno Sauce

Posted on November 24, 2011 | 2 Comments

Or ‘cranapeno’ sauce?  Whether you go with the long drawn out name in the title or the cutesy nickname I gave it, it tastes the same – good.  I’ve known a lot of people over the years who make a version of this and I generally put my feet up and let someone else make the cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving but this year, I thought I’d give it a try.  (Frankly, I did not even start eating any kind of cranberry sauce until maybe five years ago, it never did anything for me.)  And though I now love my beloved can-shaped, congealed, whatever that is that graces family tables every year (I know, I know) this kicks butt on that.  I love the sweet heat of this sauce and can’t wait to try it with my bird tomorrow.  Confession?  I can’t wait to try in on my leftover turkey sandwiches after Thanksgiving.  Even bigger confession?  I will probably dump this on cream cheese or ricotta and eat it with crackers before it even takes it’s place on the table next to that stinkin’ bird.  So, from my table to yours, I hope you have a really great Turkey day and relish is all the things you are most thankful for.  Oh, and if you need something to be thankful for – make this.

Okay, so once I threw the jalapeno in, I just loved the festive color of the dish.  It made me want to start playing Christmas carols, almost.  So, I wanted to share this photo because well, I thought it was pretty.

CRANBERRY JALAPENO SAUCE

1 12 oz Bag of Fresh Cranberries, washed

1 Cup Water

1 Cup White Sugar

1-3 Jalapeno Peppers, cleaned, seeded and chopped (This pepper amount is dependent on how big of a spicy kick you want your sauce to have.  I used one larger one and one medium one and liked it just fine.)

Juice from 1/2 a Lime

1/4 Cup of Cream Sherry

Directions:

1.  Add sugar and water to a sauce over medium-high heat and bring to a slow boil.

2.  Add cranberries and lower heat, simmer for 10-12 minutes.

3.  Add Jalepenos and lime juice and continue to simmer another 10-15 minutes, until you get the consistency you want.

4.  Add in Cream Sherry and simmer a few minutes longer.

5.  Remove from heat and serve either room temp or chilled.

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Cali Roll Salad To Go

Posted on November 21, 2011 | 1 Comment

Foodie Jr. LOVES California Rolls.  He would eat them all day, every day, if I let him.  He isn’t too fond of salad though.  This was my attempt to compromise with him on a very busy night that had us on the go.  We keep a pretty busy schedule around here and being able to whip these up while he was at school for quick assembly  at dinner time was a big help.  I normally would make these with real crab but I had the surimi on hand the day I made these and no time to get to the store to buy lump crab meat.  (Shrimp would be just fine to use as well.)   Foodie Jr. will eat them either way, so I luck out there.  I do not think this is an earth shattering recipe or anything, but it might be a helpful idea to some, especially busy families.  You could easily replace the crab with tofu or simply load it with more avocado if you do not like seafood.  Mr. Foodie and I enjoy these as well and they make for a great, light meal or a quick appetizer for a gathering.  I generally make a platter of them at a time but it is fun to let your guests make their own as well.

CALIFORNIA ROLL SALAD TO GO

Ingredients:

-Lump Crab Meat (flaked) or Surimi (chopped), lightly tossed with Japanese or regular mayonaise.

-English Cucumbers, peeled, sliced thin and marinated in Mirin (or rice wine vinegar)  and black pepper for a few hours

-Avocado, chopped or slice per your preference

-Nori Komi Furikake (Japanese Rice Seasoning)

-Hearts of Romaine, broken in half to form a sort of lettuce cup to hold salad

Directions:

1. Layer ingredients onto romaine lettuce cup, I usually go crab, avocado, cucumber and top with furikake.

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Flipped Sausage and Apple Cornbread

Posted on November 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

I was given this recipe a long time ago from a friend and with the abundance of
apples I have, I thought I would try it out again.  I think it is a good brunch recipe.  It is not too sweet and the cornmeal definitely gives it its own texture which got mixed review from my crowd.  I love the idea of this recipe and will definitely play with it in the future to give it a more smooth, cake-like texture as I think that would go better overall with the balance of savory and sweet.  Having said that, I think the recipe stands alone just fine, I would just be tweaking it for my own personal taste.  I do love the combination of apples and sausage though – definitely high on the yum factor scale!  If you are looking for a good holiday recipe or simply went apple picking and find yourself saying, “What am I going to do with all these apples?” you might want to give this one a try!

FLIPPED  SAUSAGE AND APPLE CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Sausage Links (pork or turkey is fine)

4 TBS Butter

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

4 Small Apples (of your choice) – peeled, cored and sliced

1 Cup of Flour

3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

3 TBS Brown Sugar

1 TBS Baking Powder

1 Tsp Salt

1 Egg, beaten

4 TBS Melted Butter

1 Cup Milk

Directions:

1.  Grease 9 inch round cake pan and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Brown sausage in skillet over medium heat, remove from pan once done, leaving about 1-2 TBS drippings in skillet.  Cut links into small pieces and set aside.

3.  Add butter and brown sugar and stir until sugar melts.

4.  Add apples and saute until soft, about 10-12 minutes.

5.  Add sausage pieces and apples slices in a single layer to prepared baking pan and pour skillet juices over the top evenly.

6.  Let apple-sausage mixture sit until room temperature while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

7.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

8.  Add egg, melted butter and milk and stir until well combined.

9.  Pour batter over apple sausage mixture, smoothing out to cover entire pan.

10.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean.

11.  Remove from oven and immediately invert onto serving dish.

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Foodbuzz Festival 2011 Recap

Posted on November 11, 2011 | 4 Comments

This past weekend, I headed into the City (San Francisco) to check out the Foodbuzz Festival – a huge gathering of Food Bloggers.  Due to time constraints and other commitments, I was only able to attend their Taste Pavillion, not the entire festival as originally planned.  But, nonetheless, the Taste Pavillion was a great event.  Basically three straight hours of meeting food vendors (and other bloggers) and tasting FOOD – always a great thing in my book.  I brought a fellow food lover along for the ride and I am pretty sure we tasted everything in the Pavillion!  I only brought my iphone to take pictures since I didn’t want to lug the DSLR all over with me, thankfully my girlfriend brought hers.  Between the two of us, we got some good shots.  (Clicking the pics will bring you directly to the vendors site for more information.)  I loved that most of the vendors were somewhat local and as always, fresh ingredients are a big plus!  Some of my favorite things:

House of Balsamic – Oh my dear Lord in Heaven, their white balsamic jelly was crazy good.  I can’t even describe this to you.  I am a lover of all things balsamic and this was just the perfect condiment.  Can’t wait to place my order!

Frog Hollow Farms – Ahhh, the Warren Pear.  I have been on a huge pear kick lately and this was a great one.  So crisp and clean.  They were nice enough to take the time to answer our questions and educate us about the pears.

479 (Degree) Popcorn – I just got done  selling popcorn for my son (who is a Cub Scout) so popcorn is probably the last thing on earth I wanted to see or taste.  BUT, their Black Truffle and White Cheddar Popcorn is the perfect snack.  Thank goodness the sample bag was so small because I would have literally just kept eating this all day.  Great accompaniment of flavors!

Sonoma Syrup Company – Meyer Lemon Cheese Drizzler.  A. M. A. Z. I. N. G.  They had this served over some ricotta cheese (more on that later) and I swear to you, it was the most simple, perfect dessert ever.  Me and my sidekick went back for seconds (or was it thirds?)  When it comes to desserts, I will almost always pick chocolate over fruit but this was so pleasing to my palate, I would be hard pressed not to pick this over most other desserts.

Bellwether Farms – Now, back to that ricotta…. Bellwether Farm’s Ricotta was so creamy and and delicious.  I also loved their creme fraiche.  Their products had such a fresh taste to them, a real quality product.  The pairing of their ricotta with the Meyer Lemon Cheese Drizzle mentioned above was perfect.

Fentimans Botanically Brewed Beverages – I am not a soda drinker by any means but I really loved their Cherry Tree Cola.  One of the reasons why I don’t care much for soda is the aftertaste and the thick feeling it leaves on your tongue but the Fentimans had none of that.  It was not too sweet either.  Yum!

The Chai Cart – The Masala Chai from here was definitely worth a try for Chai lovers.  Heck, even if you aren’t a Chai lover, you might like this stuff.  Honest to goodness spices and flavor.  Our sample was warm but I imagine it would taste great cold too.

Vignette Wine Country Soda – I know, I know, liking TWO different soda type drinks when I’ve declared that I don’t care for soda.  I swear these are different.  Vignette’s drinks are based on the grapes used to make wine.  I really enjoyed the Cabernet while my friend preferred the Chardonnay.  You say tomato, I say tomahto, I suppose.  Either way, they were tasty and refreshing.

Biscotti – There were two biscotti folks there giving samples – Biscotti Bari and Hottie Biscotti.  I enjoyed both of them – not that I didn’t already know I would!  From Biscotti Bari I really enjoyed their almond and chocolate pistachio varieties and from Hottie Biscotti, I loved their peppermint and white chocolate biscotti.  Either of these would be a great sidekick for your coffee…or just to eat.  Oink.

Ticings – Okay, so this isn’t so much a food tasting thing as it is a cake/dessert decorating thing…They basically make customizable dessert toppers.  They had mounds of sprinkles out on the table is a sort of mix and match fashion.  I thought this was such a fun idea – to just be able to customize your sprinkle color mixtures.  But, I totally geek out on cake decorating type stuff so that was to be expected.

Sweet – Organic Creme Brulee?  Ummmm, YES PLEASE.  They had three flavors: vanilla, chocolate and coffee.  All of them?  Sooooooo good.  Rich without being heavy and not overly sweet at all.  I don’t suppose this would be a suitable replacement for my Greek yogurt but oh, how I would try.

Three Twins Ice Cream – How can you not like them just off their name alone?  I tasted their chocolate and vanilla varieties and liked them both.  They were really personable and let me take a picture as the third twin with them, quite funny.

The Girl and the Fig – I really liked their red onion confit.  I tasted it both on the pork and crostini (with cream cheese) and enjoyed it.  I make a similar thing for appetizers and I thought theirs was really yummy.

Lest I do a write up on every single vendor and morsel I put in my mouth, I better quit while I’m ahead.  If you’re a food blogger, I highly recommend becoming a part of Foodbuzz’ Tastemaker Program and heading out to next year’s festival.  Hoping I can hit up the entire weekend next time.  Thanks to Foodbuzz for putting on a great event!

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Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Latte

Posted on November 5, 2011 | 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to be chosen again to try out Godiva‘s new coffee products via Foodbuzz’ Tastemakers program.  This time, they sent me two of their Fall blends – Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark.  It was tough to make a choice between which flavor I would ultimately use in my drink, but the Caramel Pecan Bark won me over since I had never really heard of a coffee similar to this and really, you cannot go wrong with caramel or pecans!  With my Godiva coffee last time, I chose to do an iced drink so I wanted to experiment with a hot drink this time – it’s been getting chilly here!  So, I made a Caramel Pecan Bark Latte.

I did try both of the coffees they sent and I can say that I really enjoyed the flavors of both.  I general brew plain coffee and then add my flavorings to it but these Godiva flavored coffees have a great flavor without adding a bunch of syrups or anything so I really like that aspect of them too.  I have always enjoyed Godiva’s candy products and they have now won me over with their coffees too!

GODIVA CARAMEL PECAN BARK LATTE

Ingredients:

-4 oz. Freshly Brewed Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Coffee

-4 oz. Heavy Cream

-Sugar or Sweetener of your choice, to taste

-Whipped Cream

-Praline Sprinkles (general found with ice cream toppings)

Directions:

1.  While your coffee is brewing, heat your heavy cream over med-low heat on the stove,  be sure not to overheat.

2.  Pour brewed coffee in desired cup and sweeten to taste.

3.  Pour milk over coffee.

4.  Top with whipped cream and praline sprinkles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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