Tag: tasty

  • Caprese Terrine

    Caprese Terrine

    Growing up, whenever there was a caprese salad at a party, or served at dinner, I would steal the mozzarella slices, and eat nothing else. Of course, as I got older, I began to love tomatoes, and appreciate how the flavors all melded together. Still, whenever there was a caprese salad, I would still just eat the cheese.

    A terrine is a mixture that has been prepared in advance and left to set in its container. It is then generally served in slices. As caprese is a personal favorite of mine, I decided to make it into a terrine.

    Let me tell you, it worked so much better then eating the slices separately. Suddenly, it was easy to see how a caprese could be more than just a salad or a side dish, but rather as a course in itself.

    Here’s the recipe if you’re craving some caprese salad.

    *Feel free to omit the red peppers, they just add more substance to the dish.

  • Candied Ginger

    Candied Ginger

    Ginger in any form is a huge player in my house. At any given time, I have more than 3 different forms of ginger root in my house. Today I have candied ginger, pickled ginger, powdered ginger and ginger syrup. All will be used and eaten and will be replaced by…. EVEN MORE GINGER. 

    In case you weren’t already aware, ginger is a celebrated ingredient the world over, with its roots (haha, pun intended) being in Asia, specifically China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. It’s used in India extensively, Burma, the Caribbean and even Western cuisine. Depending on where you are, the use of ginger varies.

    I use ginger in the traditional Asian way,  flavoring seafood, vegetarian and meat dishes. I also make my own pickled ginger, like what is served with sushi. I use it in the Western way in ginger drinks, gingerbread and candied ginger. I use it in Indian pulse curries and spiced masala chai on occasion. Basically, I find it to be one of the most versatile ingredients out there. 

    Find the recipe for my candied ginger here.

  • Pecan Pie Bars: Cookbook Review 1

    Pecan Pie Bars: Cookbook Review 1

    This month, Zoe & Eric are reviewing The Ultimate Shortcut Cookie Book, a cookie/dessert cookbook. This cookbook is all about shortcuts, making cookies with pre-made mixes and other shortcuts to make the process easier and faster.

     

    Zoe’s Take:

    8/10

    I love pecan pie. It’s my favorite at Thanksgiving and my favorite at Christmas too. The biggest problem I have with pie is that the crust is often too much. With these pecan pie bars, I felt like I didn’t have to deal with a large amount of crust while I was eating it, which was definitely a plus. What I didn’t like so much was that the shortcut in the recipe made it so the pecans I added last didn’t really want to stay on the top, they just sunk into the batter. I also didn’t use corn syrup, I used honey instead, which didn’t make a big difference. I would definitely recommend these bars to a pecan pie lover, or someone who has a ton of people coming over for the holiday.

    Eric’s Take

    8/10

    This cookie bar was delicious. It’s really just a denser pecan pie that you can cut into bars. The big “short-cut” here was using cake mix for the bottom. The recipe called for a 18.25 ounce package. The problem with that is most cake mixes don’t come in that size. It’s difficult to account for measured conversions when baking with eggs, so I just ignored the fact I was missing some mix. This was used in the crust, which is baked first. The dough wasn’t the easiest to spread, but I eventually got it level. The mix was easy enough to put together, but in following the directions exactly I believe I over-mixed my “Filling” (The pecan/custard part). The directions called for mixing for a minute on low speed, then a minute on medium speed. This recipe was also very rich. A square inch of this bar is enough for me. Those last two reasons are why this recipe lost two points. Overall very good and they ended up being a crowd pleaser!

  • Bob’s Burgers Burger Book Review #2

    Bob’s Burgers Burger Book Review #2

    The Sweet Home Avocado Burger is an all-beef patty coated in a sweet lime sauce, topped with fresh avocado slices, sweet onions, tomatoes, peppers and stevia leaves (if you can find them).

    Think… fresh crunchy veggies meets tangy sweet limeade.

    Zoe’s Take:
    7.5/10

    The sweet and sour of the lime and honey marinade was interesting and totally different than what I normally look for in a burger. The vegetables on top were basically a simple fresh salsa. I love avocado, so that was perfect no matter what. It definitely needed a little more salt added on top of the avocado. I chose not to use a whole wheat bun, but that’s my personal preference. I would have liked something not so sweet on the burger, so I would have changed out the regular peppers for jalapenos or serrano peppers.

     

    Eric’s Take:
    6/10

    This burger has a great concept. Bring in a lot of sweetness and combine it with buttery avocado and a slight bitterness from the stevia leave. Unfortunately…stevia plants are NOT easy to find, especially in the fall. I actually went to a few nurseries and spice shops and had no luck. I did find out that Lowe’s Home Improvement carries stevia plants in the spring, so I might try this burger again. The other issue I had was that the ingredient proportions were off. I ended up with a lot more veggies then I needed. Overall the flavors were really good. Marinading the beef in a lime juice made it slightly more tender. The instructions were a little confusing, so I didn’t add the honey to the lime juice when marinading the meat. Still added a nice flavor. This burger also had great textures. The four points for me were lost on difficulty of sourcing the ingredients, ease of instructions, appropriateness of ingredient amounts, and a missing component to cut the sweetness.

Exclusive Offer!

Sign up for our mailing list and receive a free 30 minute consultation!