My girlfriend took one bite of these and said, “this tastes like Mac ‘n Cheese”. Voila, the Mac ‘n Cheese cracker was born.
I had been wanting to make more savory snacks and this was a really great place to start.
What I love most about this recipe is that these can be made in big batches, baked right away or frozen for future use, making last minute entertaining, either in our own home or at others, easy and stress free.
Lobster's back. First there was creamy lobster risotto for Father's Day. Now it's Lobster Fra Diavolo, a treasured Italian-American dish characterized by a spicy sauce for pasta or seafood.
Fra Diavolo, was the king of pasta in the 1990's. (I know this because it was Jeff's favorite entree to order at a "nice" restaurant when we were dating.)
The last time Jeff ate lobster fra diavolo, Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" was a number one hit. Though Jeff will always love lobster fra diavolo, he doesn't feel similarly toward Whitney, so I decided not to invite her to our lobster dinner.
I played Sinatra, our oldest and most favorite crooner, instead because Italian food always tastes better with ol' blue eyes.
Daddies, avert your eyes, because this is what your family will be serving you in bed on Sunday morning (Father's Day). However, it's so good, the kids might help you eat it all. And Mom, it's so easy to make, the kids can take all the credit...they will love that.
A few months ago, I didn't even know what Biscoff spread was. I kept seeing it everywhere in the blogs and finally I could no longer resist, I just had to try it. Honestly, I wish I hadn't. It's so addicting, sweet and good...it can only be described as crack.
My favorite way to eat it....with a spoon. If you are on a diet, I strongly suggest not bringing this into your home. It will call to you, as it does me, from the cupboard with its creepy siren song....ugh. It always wins. I give in. Every. Single. Time.
I already fed this French toast to my husband and after one bite he looked at me and said, "Good grief, this is dangerous."
If I had to make a shopping list based on what I tried at the Winter 2015 Fancy Food Show, here is what I would recommend buying.
I thought I knew something about maple syrup, but now after talking to Dori Ross of Tonewood Maple I know so much more. Tonewood Maple has gotten some serious attention for their solid maple cube that you can shave to create maple sugar, but it was their single estate varietals of maple syrup that blew my mind. When processed separately (something that doesn’t happen everywhere) you get amazing differences in the flavor. Each bottle is labeled with the actual sugarbush it came from. Some are sweeter, others earthier or even a little spicy. They also make a maple cream, which is something I discovered in Canada. On the East Coast it’s fairly common, but I’ve never seen it out here. It’s a creamy spread made only from maple that you would swear has butter in it. It’s great on toast, pancakes or waffles. They also have a maple tree adoption program that gives you an opportunity to support small maple producers and sustainable farming practices, and bottles of four grades of syrup.
Some years I see a lot of fancy ketchup, this year I didn’t, but a few unusual ones stood out nonetheless. Traina Foods makes ketchup with sun dried tomatoes. They are richer, less sweet, more intense and fresher to me than conventional brands, but can definitely be used the same way you’d use any other ketchup. This year they released a sun dried tomato and sriracha ketchup. Their ketchup has higher concentrations of lycopene and less sugar and salt than other varieties, and is gluten free. I tried it on a spoon but can’t wait to experiment cooking with it.
Blackberry Patch is now offering fruit ketchups. I tried the raspberry chipotle, blackberry and blueberry. These can also be used just like regular ketchup, but have a much more sophisticated flavor. They are tangy and you really taste the fruit. I would use them as a glaze on lamb, pork or even chicken. The company is owned and operated by two farmers and everything is made in small batches.
From the L.A. Times
Fried chicken is a beautiful thing.
Nothing beats the simplicity of a tender, moist piece of meat,
delicately seasoned and lightly dredged with a dusting of flour, and
then baptized in a pool of sizzling fat to crisp, golden perfection.
Quintessential comfort food that it is, fried chicken is unpretentious.
No haughty airs here. Eating with your fingers is not only acceptable,
it's all but required.
So maybe it's a little surprising to find that fried chicken has become
the hot culinary muse of the moment. Chefs, meet Eliza Doolittle. Fine
cuisine, meet fried chicken.