Awhile ago I was contacted by Challenge Dairy and was asked to create an Entrée for their holiday recipe showdown. To help me get inspired to create my entrée they sent me a complimentary care package which included:
Are you ready? I know I am! Well ready or NOT, here is the 2nd installment of the Nutella Challenge! Last month there were some ah-mazing offerings. I hope you’ve had a chance to try a few of them out. If not, here’s the link where you can find them: Nutella Challenge ~ Round 1 So without further ado, I present to you my THREE LAYERED MINI CHOCOLATE TORTE WITH NUTELLA MOUSSE & RASPBERRIES (what a name LOL such a mouthful, yikes)….are you drooling? Well you should be. Read the rest of this entry »
Have I mentioned how much I love seafood? Well I do & any chance I get to add some to a dish I do - especially a pasta dish! I can’t go a week without having some type of pasta. Okay, more specifically, I really can’t go more than a day or so without some type of pasta. Thank goodness there are endless ways to prepare pasta & I’ll do my best to bring as many of them to your table as possible. Wouldn’t want to leave you out now!
I have been dreaming of food combinations lately (I know right, not the beach, not the spa, but food! LOL) and one that I have wanted to try is a fresh summer sammie. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of Poor Boy Sammies but am just not into the fried food right now during this insane heat wave, way too heavy for me!
So this is my fresh new take on a summer gourmet sammie. This is so quick & easy to do & beats the normal ham & cheese any day of the week.
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Risotto? I’m sure I have, it’s just so creamy & delicious. What’s not to love? And it’s insanely versatile. You can put just about anything into it.
I wanted to do an ultra luxurious risotto and I thought what’s more luxurious than saffron? Oh, glorious saffron! I know this isn’t the most budget friendly recipe but we can splurge every now & then! When you’re ready to splurge, this is one of those recipes.
I recently got a brand new Imperial Pasta Maker
There is nothing wrong with dried boxed pasta (I use them all the time) but there is just something special about fresh homemade pasta. It’s much easier than you would think. It is time consuming but not difficult. If you wanted to speed up the process you could even mix the dough in your mixer or food processor. The recipe posted will make enough for 4 regular portions. I usually make at least two of this recipe to feed my family of 5 but we’re big pasta eaters. If you were making this as a prima, or first course, I think one batch would be fine.
Summer time to me means lots of fresh seafood! I’m lucky enough to live fairly close to the coast & fresh seafood is abundant right now. (Well at least in my part of the world it is & if it’s not in your part of the world, fear not, there is always frozen to fall back on in a pinch.) It’s the perfect time to experiment with flavor combinations.
Scallops are delectable. So buttery & delicious & completely versatile. They take on flavors beautifully. You can use this recipe as an appetizer or fill up the plate & use it as your entree. Either way it’s simply scrumptious. The secret ingredient here is the Panko!
I have been craving scallops for a while now! Since the weather has started to warm up it was the perfect time to come up with a new recipe!
Typically you’ll either find a butter, garlic & wine reduction recipe or a fried recipe for your scallops. This one is neither & I’m really pleased with how it turned out & know you will be too!
The pineapple and mango reduction fuses beautifully with the scallops! Sweet, sweet harmony with a little kick thrown in at the end (cayenne)! You’ll look like a rock star in the kitchen when you serve this dish up!
I adore mussels. They are simply scrumptious. Some people tend to shy away from Mussels, because they’re not quite sure what to do with them. But, they really couldn’t be easier to fix and they’re quite a chameleon when it comes to absorbing flavors.
If you’re squeamish about cleaning them, feel free to ask your fishmonger to do it for you (they’re quite happy to). Otherwise, it just entails placing your mussels into a colander, running cold water over them, and removing the “beard” - the greyish little hair attached to them. Voila.
They take minutes to cook, depending on the size, and they’ll turn this beautiful shade of orange. Careful not to overcook them; as with most seafood, they will become tough & chewy. Not something you want to associate with your mussels.
These are perfect as an appetizer or an entrée. If you want to make it an entrée, I recommend serving it over a bed of yellow rice & arrange your shrimp on top, almost like a shrimp cocktail-but with rice! LOL Or if you prefer, you can place the shrimp onto a skewer when they’re finished cooking if you want to shake things up! Either way you serve them they are scrumptious!
The flavors are spectacular in this dish. The way the sugar/pepper mixture gives you that sweet & spicy at the same time is fab. You can’t just eat one, they’re addictive! I have found the easiest way to make these is to create a little assembly line: shrimp, pineapple, bacon, toothpicks & then season mix! Makes things go smoothly.
Quick tip: Be sure to NOT touch your hands to your face after you have handled the cayenne pepper! Trust me on this one. Wash your hands subito (immediately)! Read the rest of this entry »
