Recipe: Chocolate-Espresso Snowballs

Chocolate-Espresso Snowballs

[I forgot to take a photo!]

 

I found this recipe I'd flagged in Food & Wine Magazine's December 2011 issue (p. 120).  I had all of the ingredients at home (butter, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, nuts, confectioners sugar) and thought I'd try it out since I needed to bring a dessert to a little get together this past week.  I substituted hazelnuts for pecans.

 

If you love Mexican Wedding cookies but wish there was a chocolate version, you'll absolutely love this recipe!  These are perfect with a cup of coffee . . .

 

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/chocolate-espresso-snowballs

Are you a super-taster?

Are you a super-taster? 

I'm not based on the first test below : (

Take these two tests to find out.
1. Take one packet of artificial sweetener and combine it with two-thirds of a cup of water. If the water tastes mostly sweet, you’re an under-taster. If bitterness dominates, you’re a super-taster. If you experience both flavors, you’re a normal taste.

2. Using a Q-tip dipped in blue food coloring, swab your tongue’s surface. In general, the bluer it looks, the fewer taste buds you have. The more pink spots (densely clustered), the more sensitive you are.

Source:  http://www.parade.com/health/2012/07/29-are-you-a-super-taster.html

Turning a $43 Box of Wine into a $600 Burgundy

I recently read the article "Trading Up: How I turned a $43 Box of Wine into a $600 Burgundy" in Food & Wine magazine (September 2012, p.74) -- at first, thinking that it was an essay on how to take a box of wine and age it to taste like an expensive Burgundy.  I was mistaken. 

It's a fun article on how the writer (who works at Christie's in their wine department), was given the challenge by Food & Wine to take a $43 box of wine and trade it up for more expensive wines until he reached his goal of obtaining a wine 1) he had never tried before and 2) one costing at least $500.

After 6 smart trades, he ends up with . . .  well, you'll have to read the article to find out!

Check Your Phone at the Door in Exchange for 5% Off Your Bill

Would you check your phone at the door of a restaurant in exchange for 5% off your bill?

Half the restaurant patrons at Eva Restaurant in L.A. do.

Owner and chef Mark Gold says, "For us, it's really not about people disrupting other guests. Eva is home, and we want to create that environment of home, and we want people to connect again.  It's about two people sitting together and just connecting, without the distraction of a phone, and we're trying to create an ambiance where you come in and really enjoy the experience and the food and the company."

I understand his point but still wouldn't check my phone at the door.  I like having it with me; plus, I often take photos of my food (don't worry, I do it discreetly and not at all at fine dining establishments).

L.A. restaurants pay customers to put away their phones

Drink Recipe: Blueberry Ginger Cocktail

This is my new drink of choice -- and I feel "healthy" drinking it because it has blueberries which are full of antioxidants.  Ginger is supposed to be good for you too.

• Take about a 1/4 cup of frozen wild blueberries (or regular blueberries), thaw them and place them in a glass.
• Add 1 1/2 oz of light rum
• Add a teaspoon of light brown sugar (you can omit this if you want to cut down on the sugar)
• Fill the glass with ice
• Top with Ginger Beer -- I recommend the Fever Tree brand
• Squeeze a little lemon on top
• Pour back and forth into a mixing tin or another glass

Enjoy!

I've also tried this with dark rum and dark brown sugar which give the drink a richer and deeper flavor which I like as well.

Food Dichotomy

Dinner tonight = a dichotomy. 

Filet mignon and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

Julia Child's New Biography "Dearie"

Julia Child was born August 15, 1912 and would have been 100 years old today.  She was the first "celebrity chef."

A new biography on Julia called Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child was released this month, and while I haven't read it, it's now on my list!

PARADE has published a long excerpt (the prologue) from the book to give us a taste.

Happy Birthday, Julia

Hatch Chile Festival

Dallasites, it is Hatch Chile Festival time at Central Market until August 21st!

Now, I've never cooked hatch chiles before and am not exactly sure how I would cook them; however, Central Market has recipe upon recipe of really interesting dishes.  Check it out here.  I'm going to try Tash's Hatch Chile Chicken Enchiladas recipe this week. . .

I did purchase some Hatch Chile tortillas (delicious) and also a Hatch Chile Chocolate bar just for kicks today.   (I was in the chocolate aisle looking for some interesting dark chocolate since I was reminded recently how chocolate has been linked to lower BMI.  The greatest news ever!)  I had really low expectations of the chocolate bar, thinking I wouldn't be able to taste the chiles, but wow - it was spicy and flavorful.  Really nice, rich chocolate -- and only $2!  Give it a try and let me know if you have any great hatch chile recipes I should try.

Happy National S'mores Day

In honor of National S'mores Day today, try this martini recipe -- one of my favorites!

Ingredients:

• Ice
• 1 1/2 oz Vodka
• 1/2 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
• 3/4 oz Monin Toasted Marshmallow Syrup
• 1/2 oz Hershey's Chocolate Syrup
• Splash of Half & Half
• Crushed Graham Crackers (for the rim)

Recipe:

• Take a martini glass and create swirls in the glass using the chocolate syrup.
• Dip the glass rim into a small plate of chocolate syrup or simple syrup and then into a plate of finely ground graham cracker crumbs (crush the graham crackers yourself or buy pre-crushed ones).
• Fill a cocktail mixing tin 2/3 with ice and pour in the ingredients above and shake.
• Strain into your pre-prepared martini glass.
• Garnish with a marshmallow on top ~ you can skewer it with a toothpick or stick.
• Enjoy!

Recipe: Tomato and Watermelon Salad

If you love watermelon and avocado as much as I do, you will LOVE this easy and refreshing summer salad we made last night.  It basically calls for watermelon, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, fresh herbs (we used cilantro and basil), a pinch of ground coriander, and olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt & pepper.

Try it before watermelon is goes out of season!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tomato-and-Watermelon-Salad-352389

Innovative QR Code

This is old news, but we were talking about QR codes with our friends last night, and I mentioned Taco Bell's code made of avocados in an ad I'd seen in one of our food magazines we subscribe to.  They also have one made of lemons.  Use your QR code scanner on your phone and scan the image right here on my blog -- it works! 

By the way, Taco Bell's new Cantina Bowl (try the chicken one) is pretty good for what it is, being fast food.  However, I still prefer Chipotle.



Recipe: $4 Spaghetti That's Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti

I was reading Food & Wine's August 2012 issue last weekend and came across the recipe on p.56 called '$4 Spaghetti That's Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti.'  It's Lesson 8 in the article called Summer School:  Easy Chef Lessons.  It sounded intriguing. 

"'The $24 spaghetti from Scott Conant's Scarpetta in NYC is so delicious,' says Roy Choi of L.A.'s Kogi empire.  'My $4 version tastes almost as good.'  Roy's trick:  flavoring tomato sauce with a quick mushroom broth and slow-cooked garlic."

What does $24 spaghetti taste like?

The recipe was delicious, but not $24 per serving worth delicious.  Maybe $10 per serving.

A few tips:

• The recipe itself is really easy -- it just takes a lot of TIME. Make sure you have 2 and a half hours to hang around the house and cook. Or, if you make this during the weekday, prep the mushroom broth and garlic the day before.
• We used bucatini pasta instead of spaghetti.  I just love bucatini.  There's something about long, hollow pasta that is fun.
• We added meatballs (obviously from the photo) stuffed with mozzarella to add some protein to the dish.
• We were scared to use so much garlic.  We should've used all 4 heads and will do that next time.  We used about 3, and I couldn't taste much of the garlic.

OpenTable's Top 100 Scenic View Restaurants

Yesterday, OpenTable announced the Top 100 Scenic View Restaurants in the U.S.

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck (one of my favorite restaurants in Dallas) was a winner.  And I'm not surprised that Seven Glaciers in Alaska makes it on the list every year.  Blog contributor the woman who ate everything and I dined there a while back, and the view is amazing.

Happy National Tequila Day!

Today, July 24th, is National Tequila Day.  Tequila is not exactly my favorite spirit, but I do like it in the occasional margarita or other cocktail. 

Just a quick primer on this spirit:

• Tequila comes from the blue agave plant
• It must be produced in the state of Jalisco in Mexico to be called tequila  (Note: There is a city called Tequila in this region)
• There are 3 main types of tequila you'll see in the liquor store:
• Blanco (white)/Plata (silver):  un-aged or aged less than 2 months; is usually clear in color
• Reposado:  aged a min. of 2 months but less than 1 year in oak barrels; not clear but has a slight yellow tint
• Anejo:  aged less than 3 years but a min. of 1 year;  usually dark yellow tint and complex in flavor because of the aging

What is your favorite tequila?  Do you have a favorite margarita or cocktail recipe to share?

Recipe: Toast for Dinner

Friday night. . .we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner, and I didn't feel like a major cooking endeavor.  I flipped through a few of our cooking magazines and had marked p.16 of Bon Appetit's July 2012 issue.  It was Adam Rapoport's editor's letter called 'The Toast of Summer' where he recalls a backyard dinner party where he forgot to prepare an appetizer/munchies to eat pre-dinner.  So, he frantically rummaged through his kitchen and ended up grilling some bread and layering the toast with avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and red pepper flakes.  This simple dish was the highlight of the meal.

This was the inspiration for our dinner which included the grilled toast below -- as well as burrata (didn't get a photo of that since I ate it with a spoon).  All of the toast was lightly rubbed with garlic.

Ricotta, lemon zest,drizzled with honey

Avocado, extra-virgin olive oil,
sea salt, red pepper flakes
Next time, we'll dice up the avocado.

Tomatoes, basil, extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt

Ricotta, lemon zest, figs

Truluck's Carrot Cake Haiku

I'm not a poet, but dessert last night made me want to write this haiku:

Truluck's Carrot Cake

No other dessert compares

Each bite is heaven

If you even remotely like carrot cake, you must go to Truluck's to try theirs.  It is an amazing, craveable dessert -- one of the best desserts in Dallas.

Defending Wine Snobs

I love this article by Lettie Teague at the Wall Street Journal that defends wine snobs:  Think While You Drink: In Defense of Wine Snobs

Foie Gras Retaliation

I thought this was interesting  -

California foie gras ban prompts French call for California wine expulsion
Source: Just Drinks by Stuart Todd 7/4/12

"A politician in France has called on retailers and restaurants in the country to stop offering Californian wines to their customers.

The call to arms follows California's ban on the production and consumption of foie gras in the state from 1 July. A law passed in the US state in 2004 declared that the act of gavage - the force feeding of corn to geese and ducks - was harmful to the animals' well-being."

Recipe: Double Cheeseburgers with Caramelized Onions

Our single (not double) cheeseburger
with caramelized onions

The Fourth of July. . . you have to have a burger (or a hot dog), right?! 

I had flagged the 'Double Cheeseburgers with Caramelized Onions' recipe in Food and Wine Magazine's June 2012 issue (p. 32), and only upon closer reading, realized that this is a recipe from Chef Ron Boyd who works at Daniel Patteson's Plum in Oakland, CA.  Plum is a wonderful restaurant that I dined at and blogged about back in September.

After making this burger and the Triple Smoke Burger , I just can't bring myself to order a burger in a restaurant anymore.  These recipes are out of this world, seriously, and beat any restaurant burger I've ever had.  Try them and you'll understand why.

For this recipe:

• We left out the cornichons and the fresh flat-leaf parsley, but I think we should include them next time to add additional flavor dimensions.
• As you can see from the photo, we made these with single, not double patties.  (Trying to be healthy!)
• We grilled the burgers instead of cooking them on a griddle.
• We used just a little EVOO -- the 1/4 cup isn't necessary.
• The fresh brioche buns and the mix of cheese along with the paprika mayonnaise make this burger incredible.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/double-cheeseburgers-with-caramelized-onions

Recipe: Spiked Pretzel Chocolate Caramel Martini

Just a commentary about the dessert situation in Dallas.  Last night, we wanted dessert but not just any dessert, a phenomenal dessert that was worth the calories.  We racked our brain, thinking of all the places we've had dessert in Dallas;  looked at the Dallas Observer and D Magazine dessert "winners" (from their annual polls);  read suggestions on Chowhound. . .

The only phenomenal desserts we could think of were Truluck's Carrot Cake and their Chocolate Sack, La Duni's Quatro Leches Cake and the desserts at Fearing's, Abacus and Marquee Bar & Grill.  While we haven't been to Lucia or Bolsa (for dessert), both won many best dessert awards from Dallas publications recently.

Our big realization was how mediocre and unmemorable the desserts in Dallas are.  For instance:

• Stephan Pyles:  Heaven & Hell Cake;  Coffee & Doughnuts
• R&D Kitchen:  Carrot Cake;  Ice Cream and Banana Sundae
• Ocean Prime:  Carrot Cake;  Baked Alaska
• Wolfgang Puck's 560:  Sour Cream Apple Crumble
• Toulouse:  Beignets & Coffee;  Pear Tart
• I can't even think of other desserts we've had since they weren't memorable at all.

If you know of any desserts that are amazing, craveable, memorable, and all in all phenomenal here in Dallas, please post a comment with your reco!

All of that to say that my hubby suggested we resort to making our own dessert and try recreating the spiked milkshake that he had at The Cheesecake Factory recently -- Twisted Salted Caramel Pretzel made with ABSOLUT Vodka, Licor 43, caramel, pretzels and ice cream.  Using the provisions we had at home, we made our own version using vodka, Godiva Caramel, pretzels, chocolate ice cream and milk.  It was worth every sip.