Home Wong Nga and Black Cty: food

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, May 4, 2012

Cinco de Mayo: Aztec Chocolate Chile Cookies

Sweet, spicy and chocolate—Aztec Chocolate Chile Cookies are perfect for Cinco de Mayo. I learned to make these cookies during the winter and served them with chocolate chile espresso pot de creme. My husband and I decided that these are among the best cookies in the world! In other words, these cookies will disappear rather quickly.

The recipe that I used came from the blog, Savour Fare. I altered the recipe by using powdered ancho chile instead of chipotle. My photos were taken with an iPhone and therefore don't really show the darker color of the chocolate cookies as the photos on the recipe blog.

The cookies while cooling...before they disappeared!

I used Madagascar vanilla and Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa. Using quality ingredients will give you the best results. The cinnamon, honey and ginger add so much to the flavor and if you love ginger snaps, just imagine those flavored with intense chocolate and dash of spicy chile. The chile isn't overwhelming at all, so don't let that ingredient prevent you from trying these easy cookies.

One tip that I'd like to pass along is my non-messy method for rolling cookie dough into balls. Using a regular flatware spoon in my left hand, I scoop out the dough. In my right hand, I swirl another spoon on top of the dough to create perfectly rounded balls without putting my hands in the dough. This method makes quick work of the task as well.

With no eggs in the dough, you can pass the bowl to hungry onlookers to clean it up for you!

Rolling the dough with spoons keeps hands clean.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Socca, A Niçoise Specialty

Socca being made and baked over a fire at
the Marché Provençal, Antibes, France.
March 2012.

Freshly baked, piping hot socca
is a Niçoise specialty
made from chickpea flour and olive oil.

Socca is a specialty of the area of France around the city of Nice on the Côte d'Azur. At the Marché Provençal in Antibes, we enjoyed a piping hot socca made over a fire. For only two Euros ($2.67), my husband and I shared the socca. Made from chickpea flour and olive oil, it has to be healthy, right?

This was my first taste of socca as there are always long lines of customers waiting for these pancakes to come out of the oven.

If you're interested in making socca at home, here's a recipe from David Lebovitz, an American pastry chef and cookbook author, who lives in Paris.

Hot work!

Baking Biscotti

I faced and conquered a fear. On a January evening, I was bored with reading the Internet and watching TV. I avoided reading a novel because I was writing a novel and didn't want someone else's fictional work to influence my own. I needed a challenge that was creative and different. It was time to attempt to bake biscotti!

Biscotti is a twice-baked Italian biscuit. The "twice-baked" aspect is what seemed daunting to me. Every time I took a bite of a biscotti from a bakery, restaurant or store, I was in envy of the baker behind the product. How difficult can it be?

Ingredients in my kitchen led to my choice of a recipe. I had almonds and dried cherries on hand. Finding a Williams-Sonoma® recipe for hazelnut and dried cherry biscotti was close enough. I didn't want to go out and purchase more ingredients, so I substituted almonds for the hazelnuts. Other than the substitution, I followed the recipe, adjusting my oven temperature down by twenty-five degrees to use the convection baking option.

I was so pleased with the results! There was nothing difficult about baking biscotti except for allowing the amount of time to cool between baking. The tasty slices stored well but didn't last long as my husband and I enjoyed the biscotti with our coffee...that I can no longer drink...but, that's another story. I now drink decaffeinated ginger tea for breakfast.

Go ahead and bake a batch of biscotti!

(All photos were taken with my iPhone. Click any photo to view enlarged in a slideshow.)

Biscotti after first baking.
I used parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

After cooling,
cut slices diagonally and turn on sides.
Bake for the second time.

Let biscotti cool again.
Shake off loose crumbs and store
in airtight container.

New Love ~ Pomegranate

I am recovering from the procedure I had last week and taking it easy.
In the meantime, let me introduce my new favorite food... pomegranate.

I was at the grocery store one day, and all of a sudden, I had this urge to eat pomegranate. I always have been a big fan of pomegranate juice (not to mention that I also have face wash with pomegranate in it), but I never really purchased them to eat.

Oh, how I LOVE it!!

I have been eating them on my salad, mixing them in yogurt with other fruit or eating them as is. I never get tired of them.

Do you have any good recipes for pomegranate? If you do, please share! :)

Local Dining: Follow That Food Truck!

Food truck dining is taking the Triangle Area of North Carolina by storm. Foodies make a game of finding new and exciting food trucks. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and late night options are flexible and fun while the prices are reasonable.

The Parlour Ice Cream truck parked
behind the Chirba Chirba Dumplings Truck.
At MotorCo in Durham.

Roving diners search out trucks for simple fare, the unusual or to satisfy sweet cravings. Want a homemade pimento cheese sandwich with a side of tomato soup? Find the Grilled Cheese Bus. Got a thing for caramel? Try a caramel apple cupcake at Daisy Cakes followed by salted butter caramel ice cream from The Parlour!

Chirba Chirba Dumplings Truck.

The best thing about dining from a food truck? These are LOCALLY owned and operated. In fact, my husband and I were so impressed by the many young adult owners and operators. If these folks were trying to establish a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, the cost and risk would be high. This new trend is an affordable option for breaking into the restaurant business.

These friendly entrepreneurs conjure up beverages, pizzas, sliders, ethnic foods and more. Young culinary artists craft their food with a passion for quality. The results are delicious! The long lines that form outside the trucks are proof of popularity of this new food scene.

The epicenter of food trucks is Durham, located west of Raleigh and north of Chapel Hill, between Interstates 40 and 85. While it is easy to find these cities on a map, the trucks are always on the move throughout the entire Triangle area. They often show up in smaller towns such as Hillsborough, Carrboro and Pittsboro.

To find the names of trucks to follow on Twitter® use the search term “Durham food trucks.” As food trucks are quickly gaining popularity across all of North Carolina, check Twitter for trucks in the cities where you live or visit.

The trucks typically “tweet” their location several hours or days ahead of schedule. Most maintain regular stops, but schedules are subject to change as museums, farmer’s markets, local events and private parties invite the popular food trucks to serve their attendees or guests.

If you’re lucky, you may find a “food truck rodeo” or “roundup” where multiple trucks gather at the same place. There is camaraderie among the truck owners who cheerfully recommend other favorite food trucks. The trucks sometimes organize their menus around a theme, such as chocolate! Do you want a spicy, sweet chili chocolate crepe? Really. Parlez-vous Crepe did that!

Parlez-vous Crepe was in
Carrboro during our visit.

A Sampling of Triangle Area Food Trucks on Twitter®:

Bluesky Dining @blueskydiningnc

Bulkogi @ncbulkogi

Chirba Chirba Dumplings @ChirbaChirba

Bike Coffee @bikecoffeedrm

Daisy Cakes @daisycakesnc

Dang Good Dogs @DangGoodDogs

Don’s Classic Ices @donsclassicices

Farmhand Foods @farmhandfoods

Grilled Cheese Bus @grilldcheesebus

Indian Food Truck @IndianFoodTruck

KoKyu BBQ @KoKyuBBQ

Locopops @locopops

Onlyburger @onlyburger

Parlez-vous Crepe @parlezvouscrepe

Pie Pushers @piepushers

Slippin Sliders @slippinsliders

The Parlour Ice Cream @parlourdurham

Valentino Truck @valentinotruck

Will and Pops @willandpops

Not all Food Trucks are trucks.
Bike Coffee set up at Motor Co in Durham.
They are going to be pedaling a bike!

I received no free food, pay or incentives for writing this story. However, I dined well!

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Make Espresso at Home

Need an extra jolt of caffeine to get you started in the morning? It is very easy and inexpensive to make good quality espresso at home in ten minutes.

Come along as The Musician demonstrates how he makes espresso coffee on the stovetop.

Espresso is used for making cappuccino and lattes. All you do is add steamed milk and foam to the espresso shots. If you have a way to steam your skim milk to 140°, then you can make all three coffee beverages.

An espresso cup (shot) is roughly 1/3 of a measuring cup and a regular size cappuccino cup holds two espresso shots, plus milk and foam. Therefore a 4 cup espresso maker will produce 4 espressos or 2 regular size cappuccinos.

What you need to make a simple espresso:

A stovetop espresso pot. We prefer stainless steel instead of aluminum and purchased the Primula® Stainless Steel Espresso Coffee Maker, 4 cup for around $30 USD at our local Macys®.
Good quality espresso coffee. Make sure you purchase espresso strength as regular ground coffee will not be good. We select beans at the local shop, A Southern Season®, and have them grind the beans for us. If you can't get fresh espresso coffee, the Illy® brand is very satisfying.
A tablespoon to measure the ground espresso coffee.
A stovetop burner.
Four Espresso cups—or two cappuccino cups if adding steamed milk/foam.

Assembling the pot and heating the espresso:

Fill the bottom of the pot with water per instructions

with the espresso maker.

Our pot is filled with water to the line just below the

screw shown on the front of this section.

Drop the espresso basket onto the bottom section

of the pot.

Fill basket with espresso.

Do not pack tight, loosely smooth.

This pot makes 4 espresso shots and uses

2 heaping tablespoons of espresso coffee.

Screw top of the pot together

over bottom/basket.

Place over medium low heat.

Listen for gurgling sound.

When gurgling stops, remove

immediately from heat.

Pour into 4 ESPRESSO size cups and enjoy!

Cappuccino variation:

Before espresso is ready—heat 1/2 cup of skim milk to 140° using a special steamer device with a stainless steel pitcher and thermometer. There should be ample foam on top of the milk.
Hold foam back with a spoon and pour hot milk into 2 cappuccino cups until 1/3 full.
Spoon foam on top of hot milk until cup is half full.
Immediately pour hot espresso (2 shots per cappuccino) through the foam in a steady stream.

If you prefer a latte, grab a mug and use all of the espresso, all of the milk and less foam! It's that simple!

Some cappuccino and latte recipes will instruct you to pour the espresso first, then add the milk and foam. We prefer to carefully pour the espresso through the foam and into the steamed milk to mix it without stirring.

As you experiment, you may want to adjust the ratio of espresso, milk and foam to suit your taste.

Carefully pour espresso through steamed foam and milk

to make a cappuccino.

WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY !! ..........

Well, there they go.......... the husband's were off to the Le Mans Classic in my brother-in-law's Morgan .......... A kiss and a wave and then it was off to Horsham town for us vintage car widows, for a bite to eat ..........

This is Tristan's, a wonderful restaurant, situated in one of the oldest buildings in Horsham ..........

Isn't it gorgeous ? Just right for lunch ..........well, the boy's were off to France, so us girls couldn't and shouldn't be left behind !!!!! ..........

A little ' amuse bouche ' to start off with ..........

Then we chose lamb with cockles .......... de-lic-ious .......... then a summer fruit sorbet and coffee, all of which was washed down with a nice Sauvignon Blanc and then, a little retail therapy was in order !! ..........

This is a delightful shop that I am devoting the rest of this post to .......... Oh, my week away has provided me with material for quite a few posts !!!! As you walk in, you just know that it is going to be a wonderful shopping experience. First of all, there are clothes !! A quick peruse and a try-on of a few garments, resulted in my first purchase !! A little something for my upcoming holiday in Italy. I'm sorry .......... it had to be done !! Trouble was, this was the first shop that we had been in and I had already made a purchase !! Note to self .......... try to go shopping before lunch and before drinking a couple of glasses of wine !!

We then climbed the first set of stairs ..........

At the turn of the stairs was this gorgeous, beautifully worn leather chair .....no, have a little restraint, it won't go in my car !!!! ..........

This was what greeted us on the first floor.......... silver votives, a distressed silver mirror and an angle-poised lamp ..... NICE ..........

A fabulous full length old mirror, vintage accessories, and a wonderful chair ..........

Fantastic whitewashed floorboards, vintage plates on the floor, a '40's dress and a beautiful piece of lace, casually thrown over another old mirror .......... oh, and I HAD to buy that piece of lace, I just HAD to !!!! ..........

Doesn't that bowl look brilliant with the hair clips in it ? It's the little things, isn't it ? ..........

Amongst the vintage dresses on the rail, was the most wonderful wedding dress. I forgot to take a photograph of it but, take my word for it, it was exquisite.

Up another flight of stairs to the attic, passing a great chest of drawers along the way, and into another fantastic room. It was like exploring someone's house, with precious items strewn all over the place. I just loved the way that they had displayed everything. The shop is owned by three sisters and they had all brought their artistic talents to the layout of the shop ............ and, nothing was particularly expensive ..........

Another old, distressed leather chair and an old screen. If I could have got them home, I would have bought them.

There were even rose petals strewn across the floor !

Well, there we are .......... our first half day on our own ! .......... and this was just day one !! See the carrier bag ? Well, that's mine, Suprise, suprise !! I was hoping that Mr. Home and Mr. Brother-in-Law were experiencing their own delightful pursuits ( within reason !!) Well, they were in France, after all. My sister and I were just trying to keep up.

To be continued ..........