Written for Paper Palate on the Well Fed Network

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Gourmet magazine
is that it has too many advertisements. People get frustrated at the
amount of magazine space that is taken up by the ads and tend to skip
reading the issues all together because of this. I personally love the
ads in Gourmet magazine.
Ads for vacations, upscale kitchen appliances, food products with
recipes included, etc. These ads do not bother me one bit. In fact, in
issues like the May 2007 issue, I think the ads are what makes the
magazine. While reading this issue, I found myself bored and
uninterested, which has never happened to me when I have had an issue
of Gourmet in my hands.

The spring season seems to be the prime time for magazine publishers to post issues about travel.
With food magazines, this means the writers get to travel all over the
world to report back to us the hot spots and must have of certain
destinations. The May 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine has been deemed
their Special Travel Issue. The staff of Gourmet traveled to
Australia and Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Mexico and South
America, the Caribbean and the United States with the promise of giving
us the very best of food from these sources. They did scoop up some
wonderful recipes, but the content in between lacked much interest for
me.

If you are planning a trip to any of these destinations this summer,
you could pick up the May 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine and give your
taste buds a glimpse of the exciting flavors you will be tasting. Some
of the recipes I am tempted to try out include:

• Chicken and Cashew Stirfry pg 14
• Dulce De Leche Ice Cream pg 102
• Masala Spiced Potatoes pg 151
• Sugar Snap Peas with Tarragon Butter pg 152
• Scallion Biscuits pg 154
• Glazed Lemon Poppy-Seed Cake pg 156
• Quick Beef with Broccoli pg 164

The recipe I tried for Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce
made up for the mediocre issue and is a recipe I plan on keeping in my
monthly rotation. I made the recipe exactly as stated without the
additional cilantro garnish at the end. It was delicious and it was a
quick meal to put on the table… perfect for a busy weeknight.

Asian Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce

Enlivened with crisp water chestnuts and fresh cilantro, these
delicate Asian-inspired veal and pork meatballs are a world away from
their Italian counterpart — but they’re just as moist and irresistible.

1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
3/4 pound ground pork
3/4 pound ground veal
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canned sliced water chestnuts, rinsed, drained, and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus
1/4 cup sprigs
5 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sugar
Accompaniment: steamed white rice

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.

Pour milk over bread crumbs in a large bowl and stir until liquid is
absorbed. Add ground meat, egg, water chestnuts, salt, chopped
cilantro, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 2 teaspoons oil and mix with your
hands until combined well. Shape 3 tablespoons meat mixture into a ball
and transfer to a 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish. Make more meatballs
with remaining mixture, arranging meatballs about 1/2 inch apart in
baking dish. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together lime juice, water, sugar, remaining 4
tablespoons soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a bowl until
sugar is dissolved.

Transfer meatballs to a serving dish. Stir sauce, then drizzle
meatballs with 1 tablespoon sauce and sprinkle with cilantro sprigs.

Serve meatballs with remaining sauce.

Makes 4 (main course) servings.

Written for Kids Cuisine on the Well Fed Network

Getting creative at snack time is always a challenge for me. I know that other moms share this struggle as well. It is hard to get out of the cheese and crackers rut. Thank goodness there are resources out there to help us out. One of my favorite places to turn for snack time inspiration is Family Fun Magazine and the Family Fun website. This family of resources is my number one place to turn when I need something creative for the kids…whether it be a craft, party ideas or simple snack solutions.

A couple of years ago, Family Fun Magazine posted a snack recipe that caught my eye. It is a recipe that I make several times a month now for snack. It is simple, the kids can help to make it, we always have the ingredients on hand and it is a tasty snack that they love.

South of the Border S’Mores

The first time I ever made clover rolls it was a kitchen disaster. To this day I have no idea what went wrong. The rolls that I had such high hopes for were hard as a rock. My husband and I had a fun time kicking them around the kitchen. I tried to give our dog one and he, the dog that normally inhaled people food, took the roll in his mouth, ran outside and buried it. I think he knew deep down that these rolls should be out of site because of the danger they could cause if one was thrown and bonked someone in the head. We are talking concussion quality rolls.

That was a few years ago and I had stayed clear of clover rolls because of that one disaster. Today, however, I had a change of heart. I was trying to decide what to make for the Waiter There’s Something in My…Bread event. I was browsing through my recipes and was feeling uninspired. What happened next was nothing short of fate. I literally stumbled upon a food blog called "What We’re Eating". This blog sucked me in from the first post I read and I kept reading and reading. It is a brilliant blog. As I was browsing through the posts I noticed some amazing photographs. Particularly, a photo of some incredible looking Rosemary Clover Rolls. I knew that this was my sign to get back on that horse and try to make clover rolls again. I was going to give this recipe a try and hope that it would be a success.

Let me tell all of you… I think these have got to be the best rolls, hands down, that I have ever made. They are tender, soft and crusty all at the same time. The addition of the kosher salt and cracked fresh pepper on top is what makes this recipe over the top delicious. I can just imagine the flexibility this recipe would allow with changing out the rosemary for a different herb. I will be making these over and over and over again and I will probably not change a thing. They are perfect the way they are.

To give these perfectly divine rolls a try for yourself, head over to the What We’re Eating blog and take a look around. To be tempted by other delicious breads, head over to the April edition of Waiter There’s Something In My…Bread event, hosted by the talented Andrew of Spittoon Extra.

Over the weekend I heard about a food blogging event put on by Barb of Winos and Foodies that will show our support for LIVESTRONG Day.

LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s (LAF) grassroots advocacy initiative to unify people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer survivorship issues on a national level and in local communities across the country.  LIVESTRONG Day 2007 will occur on Wednesday, May 16.

Barb is asking that all of us participate in her event "A Taste of Yellow". The challenge is to make a recipe using some kind of yellow food. I knew right away that I wanted to participate in this worthy event. Cancer has touched each of us in some way or another. We have an Aunt on my husband’s side who is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Two of my close friends are struggling with the recent diagonsis their dad’s have received regarding prostate cancer. I have several more examples but these three are the ones that are close to us right now.

As I sat in my kitchen trying to decide what yellow food to use, I glanced over and noticed some ripe bananas on my countertop. It is so rare that we have ripe bananas… my kids usually eat a few bananas a day between the three of them, so we go through bananas quickly. I knew right then and there that my yellow food was probably not going to be unique, but it would be tasty! Banana Bread would be my contribution to the "Taste of Yellow" event.

A few months ago Claire at Cooking is Medicine posted a banana bread recipe adapated from the Mitford Series books. Her recipe for Puny’s Banana Bread caught my eye and has been on my mind ever since. I made a few adaptations to the recipe. I used half brown sugar and half white sugar. I also used 4 bananas instead of three because that is what I had ripe and in my opinion you can’t go wrong with extra banana flavor in banana bread. The last touch was to add just a splash of vanilla. I baked the bread for an hour and it came out of my oven looking and smelling delicious.

I encourage all of you food bloggers out there to participate in Barb’s "Taste of Yellow" event. It is just one small way we can all unite to show our support for those friends, family members and strangers who are showing their strength and fighting this awful disease.

One more cause worth supporting…

April 30th is a One Day Blog Slicence in memory of the VA Tech victims as well as victims around the world. Click on the button in my sidebar to find out more. Thank you Suzy for making us aware of this important event.

I know a lot of people who claim to not like fish. They often say it is because of the "fishy" flavor that fish has. A lot of people I know who do like fish don’t like to make it at home because they think that the recipe has to be elaborate or the process of making the fish is time consuming. They would rather go out to a seafood restaurant and order up their fish than to make it at home.

My husband and I used to be like that. We would only go out to eat if we wanted seafood. We had a "fish phobia" that neither of us were willing to do anything about…we were intimidated by the entire fish process.

A few years ago this all changed when I decided to give Tilapia a try at home. I had several great attempts with various Tilapia recipes (click here to see some of my favorite Tilapia recipes). My confidence and desire to learn how to cook other varieties of fish grew. I discovered that cooking fish is really simple. I have no idea why I thought it was so difficult because it really is not.

One of the seafood recipes my husband and I love to make now is just about as simple as it gets. It is a cedar plank salmon recipe that uses few ingredients but packs restaurant quality flavor into every single bite. We don’t go out to eat at seafood restaurants anymore, thanks to recipes like this. If you are ready to get over your fish phobia head to your nearest fish market, of if you are in the midwest like us, head to Costco. Make it easy on yourself and buy your fish already skinned and de-boned. Then follow this recipe and take your first step into fish phobia freedom.

Easy Cedar Plank Salmon, from Recipezaar

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from David Rock, a rep for a product called Nandos Peri Peri Sauces. He was wondering if he could send me some of their products to try and then review. I took a look at their website and found out that Nandos is a company that manufacturers basting, cooking and marinade sauces as well as rubs and spices derived from the peri-peri chilli pepper. These products were right up my alley, so I agreed and within a few days a big package of goodies arrived on my doorstep.

 My package from David included the Medium Peri Peri Sauce, Hot Peri Peri marinade, and the Peri-Peri Coconut Curry cooking sauce. Also included was a nifty looking T-Shirt that my husband seems to have adopted for his own.

I was very eager to give these products a try but wasn’t quite sure which one to try first. Lucky for me, the May 2007 issue of Food and Wine magazine appeared on my doorstep a few days later and included in the issue was a recipe for a  Jamaican Chicken Rub that required the use of hot sauce. At first bite, I noticed a difference in what I was tasting. You know how with most spicy foods, the spice tends to overpower the flavor of whatever you are eating? Well, with this hot sauce, you can still taste the food. The flavor of the chicken and the spices in the rub came through loud and clear and then…a short while after my first bite… the heat hit. It was truly delicious.

I love hot and spicy food, but I hate it when the heat of the food makes my eyes water, sets my mouth on fire and completely overpowers whatever I am tasting. Nandos has hot sauce down to a science. It truly is a unique product.

Later in the week I needed a quick and tasty dinner. I opened my pantry and the first thing I noticed was the Nando’s Coconut Curry sauce sitting on the shelf. I got it out and looked at the directions. You simply cook your meat, add whatever veggies you want, pour the sauce over all of it and cook through. As my son would say "Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy". This was exactly what I needed on a hectic weeknight. As dinner was cooking the aroma that filled my kitchen was divine. I couldn’t wait to take my first bite. Delicious! Just like with the hot sauce, you could actually taste the blended flavors in the food and then a short while later, the taste of the "heat" kicked in. How Nando’s does this, I have no idea. What I do know is that I am officially addicted.

Nandos has such a variety of products to choose from. I personally cannot wait to give their Grinders/Rubs a try as well as some of their other cooking sauces. If you like the "heat" of spicy food but also like to actually taste what you are eating, head over to the Nando’s site and see what stores are in your area. If you can’t find any stores, you can always feed your addiction by shopping online through their website. Don’t say I didn’t warn you… be prepared to be addicted. 

Bundt cakes always get a bad rap for being boring. When I think of bundt cakes, I think of little old ladies and their church pot luck suppers. Bundt cakes seem to be all over the place at those events.  People seem to like bundt cakes, but they rarely get the ooohhh’s and ahhhhh’s they deserve. Is it the lack of frosting that gives them their less than stellar appeal? Is it that they tend to be a simple, dense cake without a lot of flavor variation? I really do not know what the reason is, but I am here today to change your mind and to convince you to give the simple little bundt cake another chance.

I needed to make a cake this weekend for a party we were having. For some reason, I had it in my mind that I wanted to make some kind of bundt cake. As I was browsing through my recipes at home I could not find anything that stood out. I did not want boring… I wanted a cake that people would leave asking the recipe for. After an unsuccessful attempt browsing through my own recipes, I decided to turn to Recipezaar. I typed in "Bundt Cake" and a zillion recipes popped up. I sorted the recipes by rating and as soon as I did that a recipe for an "Irish Cream Bundt Cake" popped up. I opened it up and started reading the reviews. People loved this bundt cake! With 23 high star reviews and all of the ingredients right in my pantry, I knew I found the recipe I would be using for my bundt cake.

This cake is amazing. AMAZING! I am not exaggerating when I say this. The Irish cream comes through nice and strong and the texture of the cake is true to bundt cake form…dense, moist and delicious.  I think we could all pull together with this recipe and change the reputation of bundt cakes around the world. We could start a movement to put bundt cakes on the "Hot List". Bundt cakes could become one of "Oprah’s Favorite Things". Some hot celebrity would sign on to be the Bundt Cake activist. It may take some time for bundt cake to become cool. I suggest that you become a trendsetter now and give this recipe a try. Pass it around to your friends and neighbors and people will come around. Trust me.

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

I have a friend who does not like for her kids to get messy. Her kids don’t know about condiments…dipping things in ranch dressing, ketchup, barbecue sauce, etc is something they have yet to experience. Jelly on their sandwiches? Forget about it… too messy. Pancakes and waffles simply get butter. There is no such thing as sticky maple syrup allowed in their house. To that friend and any of you reading who are against messy, stop reading now. This post just may put you over the edge.

Don’t get me wrong… cleaning up messes is not my idea of a good time. I would prefer to live in a nice clean world free of sticky chairs and tables. I would love to not have to remind my kids to wash their hands after eating…no worries of messy fingers leaving goo all over the house. It would be a thrill to live life without needing the Tide Stain Stick or Shout Wipes.

Yes, a sparkly clean life would be pleasant, but how much fun is that?  No fun at all. When you are messy, it means you have really experienced something to its fullest. You have gumption, passion, and a lot of laundry to do.

The ultimate get sticky experience comes from my kitchen and could help break you of your need for clean. I dare you, Mr and Mrs Clean, to break out of your comfort zone. Live a little…get sticky. Grab a napkin if you must and sit down at the table with a plate of Monkey Bread in front of your family. Resist the urge to grab forks…eat like a monkey using your own hands as your utensils. Once you give this oooey gooey treat a try you will agree with me that staying clean is overrated.

You can find many variations of Monkey Bread on Recipezaar. I jump around from recipe to recipe using my own variations of each (using homemade bread dough when I have time or canned biscuits when I am in a pinch.) Which ever recipe you use, I promise it will get you over the need for clean. Monkey Bread is well worth the mess every time.

Monkey Bread

1. Cut each biscuit in fourths with scissors.
2. Shake biscuits in bag with sugar and cinnamon.
3. Layer biscuits into greased tube pan.
4. Melt margarine and brown sugar and boil 1 minute.
5. Pour over biscuits.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
7. Let stand 10 minutes before removing from pan.

I love Trifles. They are one of my favorite desserts to make because they are always delicious and they always make a beautiful presentation. The problem with trifles is that they are almost too pretty. When it comes time to serve them, the very thought of scooping into the big trifle bowl to tear apart the creation is enough to send shivers down my spine. Isn’t it good enough to just sit and look at the pretty dessert without destroying it? Apparently not…for some odd reason people actually want to eat the trifle. Admiring the beauty just will not do.

Last evening, my good friend Sara had my family and another friends family over for Easter dinner. My assignment….bread and dessert. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, with a Martha Stewart worthy table setting and friendly conversation. Once it came time for dessert, Sara pulled the trifle out of the fridge and handed it to me. "You serve it," she said. "No…this is your house, you are the host… you serve it." "I can’t bring myself to cut into it…it is just too pretty," she said. Reluctantly, only because I knew the guys would not understand not getting dessert because it was too pretty to cut in to, I picked up the spoon and scooped out the first serving.  Trifles are not nearly as beautiful plopped down on a plate, are they? At this point though, appearance doesn’t matter. One you have the first spoonful of this trifle in your mouth, you will not care at all what it looks like or the beauty you destroyed. Trust me when I say this…cutting in to any trifle is well worth mutilating it in the process. Very well worth it.

To create a trifle for your own mutilating pleasure, follow this recipe. Light versions of all of the ingredients can be used without sacrificing flavor.

From Recipezaar:

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle 

Texans are proud people. If you want proof, pass over the border in to Texas, stop at the nearest visitors center and you will be greeted with friendly folks eager to pass out their giant "Don’t Mess With Texas" bumper stickers. You will see big Chevy trucks with the "Lone Star State" emblem on their back windshields. You will find little old ladies, proud of their Texas history, handing out brochures about all of the great things to do in Texas. You will pass by football stadiums, from pee wee to college, packed to the gills with faithful Texas football fans week after week (OK…well this part is solely based off of one of my favorite TV Shows, Friday Night Lights, but I’m sure it is true!). Texans are proud and they like to do things in a big way.

A couple of weeks ago, the newest issue of Taste of Home magazine arrived in my mailbox.  The cover title of this months issue is Crazy for Cupcakes. Well…I’m crazy for cupcakes and the photos on the front had me intrigued. I stopped what I was doing, sat down and opened the issue to browse through it right away. One of the things I like about the magazines put out be Reiman Publications (Taste of Home, Simple and Delicious, Light and Tasty) is that the recipes all seem doable. You don’t have to be a gourmet chef to be able to put something tasty on your table every night. Their recipes are for people like you and me… busy and tired yet we enjoy cooking and want to be able to make a home cooked meal each night that won’t take an entire day of preparation. I always can find more than enough recipes in their magazines to keep my menu plan full.

You are probably wondering what the heck these two paragraphs have to do with each other. What do proud Texans and Taste of Home magazine have in common? To be honest with you, I am really not sure except that in this months issue I found a recipe I couldn’t wait to try called "Texas Chocolate Cupcakes".The recipe promised to deliver two of my favorite flavors…chocolate and caramel. What could be better?

I do not know where the name "Texas Chocolate Cupcakes" came from as the woman who wrote this recipe is from Virginia. My only guess would be that these are cupcakes to be proud of….Texas proud. If you make these cupcakes you’ll be proud in a big way. They are moist chocolate cupcakes with a sweet whipped caramel frosting. The flavor is big…just like Texas. In fact, I can see the state of Texas changing their marketing materials simply because of these wonderful chocolate cupcakes. The Chevy trucks will now have cupcake emblems instead of the Lone Star. The ladies at the visitors center will be passing these out along with the new bumper stickers that say "Don’t Mess With Texas Cupcakes…they are perfect just the way they are." Get on the bandwagon now and be one of the first to have that Texas Cupcake proud feeling. Here is the recipe so you can try it out for yourself.

Texas Chocolate Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring cocoa, water, oil and butter to a boil. Gradually add to dry ingredients; mix well. Combine eggs, buttermilk and vanilla; gradually add to batter and mix well (batter will be very thin). Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For icing, in a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium. Do not stir. Cook for 3-6 minutes or until bubbles form in center of mixture and syrup turns amber. Remove from the heat; transfer to a small mixing bowl. Cool to room temperature. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Spread over cupcakes. Yield: 2 dozen.