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Monthly Archives: April 2018
I think it is about time to do another dessert – and this time it is an easy no bake cheesecake. This cheesecake has a twist, it’s made with coconut cream and includes toasted coconut flakes in the crust. I like the no bake aspect of this dessert, just be warned you do have to plan this treat a minimum of the morning of the day you plan to serve it. The addition of toasted coconut flakes into the crust is pure genius for tying the coconut flavor throughout this dessert. Of course, I had to tweak that crust – using a split of ginger snaps and graham crackers. Ginger and coconut go together well so it was a natural addition. All that is left is…
In reading The Skillet the other day, I came across Claire Lower’s 3 ingredient cocktail feature. In exploring these drinks, the Rum Manhattan popped up. After reading the comments, I decided I had to try it – and share it with all of you. Many commenters mentioned the cocktail would be overly sweet, which is possible, but I think with an aged rum, this tipple would actually be very balanced and quite nice. BTW, I was correct – very balanced and quite enjoyable. So here goes… regardless of where you stand on this cocktail, don’t shoot the messenger. Thanks for another winning cocktail Claire! Save Print Rum Manhattan Prep time: 5 mins Total time: 5 mins Serves: 1 Ingredients…
How about a Saturday evening cocktail to ease into the binge watching one of your favorite shows? The Tuxedo Cocktail is what Jerry Thomas would call a ‘fancy martini’ – and this tipple seems to have as many variations as the previously posted sibling concoction – the Trilby. First up is the basic Tuxedo Cocktail – gin, sherry, and orange bitters. According to Punch, this cocktail was created during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries at the Waldorf Astoria Bar and was named after Tuxedo Park – an experiment in exclusive country club style living. Tuxedo Park was established in 1886 outside of Jersey City as a respite for wealthy New Yorkers seeking to live outside the city in comfort and…
Tonight my experiment was to make a simple chicken and artichoke meal sous vide – something with tender and juicy chicken and a delicious sauce. This dish does just that – flavorful sous vide chicken with a silky, savory, citrus tinged sauce. I like this type of dish in various other incarnations – chicken piccata, chicken marsala, etc. And I enjoy the subtle flavors added by the artichokes and sun dried tomatoes into this simple sherry and lemon sauce. I paired it with orzo and roasted Brussels sprouts, a delightful combination all around and the sides are just as simple to prepare as the main dish. Give it a try and enjoy this tasty chicken dish – easily prepared using your sous vide cooking device! Save Print Sous…
Well my new job has keep me quite busy and out of the kitchen, but this week I had a chance to work on a few new recipes – and here are the results from one of them. Swimming Angel is a popular Thai restaurant dish with steamed spinach, white rice, and a stir fried protein (and maybe some vegetables), covered in a spicy, yet sweet peanut sauce. There is a reason why this dish is popular, it is wonderfully delicious when done well. I think the key aspect of this dish is the sauce – slightly spicy, slightly sweet, slightly nutty, and silky smooth. I researched this sauce once in the past and this simple recipe produces the results I desire. The ingredients are just coconut cream…
Happy Friday the 13th! For all you triskaidekaphobics out there, put your worries about the 13th away and try this happy hour delight. Hot on the tail of the last week’s Old Fashioned cocktail post comes this variant. Do I sense a new theme here? Well, this variant will tickle your taste buds as I am substituting the sugar with St. Germain – that lovely elderflower liqueur that powered such favorites as St. Germain Spritz, Agave Bloom, Elderflower Thistle, Citadelle Germain, Next to the Last Word, and Holiday Spritz. And this cocktail really delivers. Part Old Fashioned, part Negroni in flavor, I like it. It is different, yet simple… and who doesn’t like that! Give it a try yourself and let me know…
Here is one of the bonuses of my new job – testing pre-production equipment. Tonight I used the Vesta Imersa immersion circulator to make a sous vide chicken cacciatore. Yep, you read that right and the process was simple. I placed the sauce ingredients into a large recloseable bag with a valve, suctioned the air out, and cooked it in the water bath at 185F for at least 6 hours. After the 6 hours (or more), I lowered the temperature of the water bath to 145F in order to cook the chicken. Here is a pro tip – adding ice to the water bath will bring the temperature down to the target. I placed a chicken breast in a small recloseable bag with the desired spices and…
During a recent conversation with friends about cocktails, specifically the old fashioned, a quick search of the blog from my phone left me quite embarrassed. I could not believe I have posted several variations of this classic, but never celebrated the original. Well, it is time to rectify that oversight tonight! This cocktail is considered one of the six basic drinks documented in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. It’s earliest reference is in an 1806 response to a letter as the definition of a ‘cocktail’ – to wit – a potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar. That is the very definition of the classic Old Fashioned, which really explains how this tipple received its name. I…
Last night’s dinner was another Korean dish I recently encountered while doing some research. I have enjoyed this wonderful dish at my Korean friends’ parties and honestly, I just had to pare and simplify this recipe down for one. Or two, depending on how hungry you are. From the recipe I used as a base, I had to find a way to make this easier so I broke out the components of this dish. Marinated stir fried beef. That is easy enough, I have done that several times in the past. Stir fried vegetables. Same. Korean glass noodles. Well, that is a new one for me. I have read several ways to prepare these sweet potato starch noodles – from what I can tell one…