World Nutella Day

February 5, 2010 is the official World Nutella Day. Nutella was created in the 1940s by Pietro Ferrero, owner of the infamous Ferrero company. During the 40's, chocolate and cocoa were in short supply due to WWII rationing, so Ferrero ingeniously used hazelnuts instead. Thus, the scrumptious hazelnut spread was born. Even today, the spread is still so delectable that it gets its very own holiday when lovers of the stuff unite to celebrate its existence. If that isn't evidence of how truly tantalizing Nutella is, then I don't know what is!

In honor of this day, I've decided to make Shortbread Nutella Sandwiches. The recipe I used I created from several different baking recipes that I had on hand.

Ingredients:

1.5 C flour
1/4 C cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 C unsalted butter at room temp.
1/3 C sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Nutella

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes until smooth. Add the vanilla. In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a dough forms. Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface and use a circular biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for about 12* minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.


Once cooled, spread nutella on one side of the cookie and place another cookie on top forming a sandwich. Buon appetito!


*Please note: Everyone's oven is different. My cookies only took 12-13 minutes, but some recipes I've seen have called for 22-25 minutes. Monitoring your cookies is key to ensuring they do not burn.

Focaccia Bread

Who doesn't like fresh baked bread that comes straight from the hot oven? Exactly... so I decided to make focaccia bread to serve with chicken cacciatore that I made for dinner the other night. I have made this recipe a few times and am not sure why I haven't made it more. It's easy and delicious. The recipe I use is from the greatest baking resource that I know (besides my mother of course)... William Sonoma's Essentials of Baking.


This is an amazing cookbook that has everything from pain au levain to puff pastry to classic chocolate ganache. I would recommend this cookbook to the beginner or the experienced baker. It has all the classic baking recipes that are fairly stress-free and easy to follow. Hope you guys try this one and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
2 packages dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cups flour and extra for kneading
3 teaspoons sea salt
1.5 teaspoons dried rosemary*

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy about 5 minutes. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, the flour, and 2 teaspoons of sea salt. If using a kitchen aid, attach the dough hook and knead on low speed for 5-7 minutes (or knead by hand for same amount of time). Add up to 1/2 cup flour while kneading in order to prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl. Form the dough in a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for about 1-1.5 hours.


Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of oil on a half-sheet pan. Press the dough into the pan. If it's too elastic to spread out, let it rest for 5 minutes. Cover the pan with a dry kitchen towel and let rise again for 1 hour. Position a rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 450. Dimple the dough with your fingertips. Sprinkle with remaining sea salt and rosemary. Bake focaccia for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in aluminum foil or freeze. ENJOY! (Printable recipe)


*There are numerous variations for toppings you can choose from. Another delicious option is to saute onions and garlic in a pain until both are caramelized. Add to the focaccia just before dimpling the dough.

Whole Lotta Love Dog Biscuits

My aunt, uncle, and cousin recently came to visit my husband and I, and they gave us a wonderful dog biscuit cookbook by Bubba Rose entitled Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook along with a dog biscuit shaped cookie cutter! The cookbook has loads of wonderful dog biscuit recipes that would satisfy any canine sweet or savory tooth especially my 6-month old teething puppy's. One section of the cookbook has monthly recipes depending on the season or holiday. The recipe I made was called Whole Lotta Love dog biscuits in honor of Valentine's Day. The recipe is below and as far as I know, my puppy loves these (although he's teething and will settle for anything right now including but not limited to leather boots, blinds, crown molding, carpet, etc...)

1 c. oat Flour *(See note)
1.24 c. brown rice flour *(See note)
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 6 0z. can tomato paste
1 Tb. Beet powder (optional)* (See note)
1 egg
2/3 c. water

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all the ingredients and mix until a dough forms. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Use the dog bone cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits and then place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire cookie rack and store in an airtight container or in the refrigerator. (Printable Recipe)


* I did not use the oat flour or the brown rice flour since I did not have either on hand. I used white flour and figured that my teething puppy wouldn't mind that his dog biscuits weren't organic. I also didn't use the beet powder since I didn't have any. But this merely turns the biscuits red. I found that the tomato paste turned my biscuits orange and for various college basketball reasons, this color turned out fine by me and my puppy!

Cabbage and White Bean Soup with Sausage

This is a wonderful recipe I found from Bon Appetit that is perfect on a cold, dreary night. This hearty soup goes well with a nice crusty bread and a sprinkle of parmigiano cheese. I've changed a few things from the old recipe just based on my personal preferences. First, I used dried spices instead of fresh ones in order to keep the soup more rustic. Second, I used Italian pork sausages instead of chicken sausages, but you could use whichever type of sausage you prefer. Next, I sprinkled my soup with parmigiano cheese in order to give the soup an extra Italian kick. The soup was delicious and satisfying. Let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
4 Italian sausages
About 1/2 head of green cabbage thinly sliced
3 leeks cleaned and thinly sliced
2 cups of carrots diced
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
8 Cups of chicken broth
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
Salt & Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Brown the sausages on all sides for about 5 mins. After they've browned, cut up the sausages into smaller pieces and set aside. In another large stock pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil and saute the cabbage about 2 mins. Add the leeks and carrots to the cabbage and saute until soft, about 5 mins. Add the tomato paste, parsley, and rosemary, and stir for 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, the sausages, the cabbage, and the beans to the mix. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parmigiano cheese and accompany with a hearty bread. (Printable Recipe)

Restaurant Review: The Oval Room

My husband and I recently went to the Oval Room for Restaurant Week 2010 in Washington, DC. Every January and August we always choose one restaurant that is voted top ten in the Washingtonian’s Top 100 Restaurants list. The Oval Room was ranked number seven in 2009, so we decided to try it out.

Walking into the Oval Room and being escorted into the back dining room, we immediately were taken aback by the enormous glass chandelier that protrudes from the ceiling. Its lights were dim and the chatter was low enough to make this locale the perfect joint birthday dinner spot for my husband and me.

We both chose for our appetizer the sautéed shrimp with coconut and ginger rice and yellow curry and basil oil. The presentation was exquisite with the tender shrimp sitting jovially on top of the rice while the yellow curry and basil oil was encircled around the beautiful mound. The coconut and ginger rice gave a pleasant but subtle crunch to the shrimp and was an all too enjoyable veer away from the rubberiness that sometimes comes with eating bad shrimp. The yellow curry and basil oil was a light sauce that gave an added creaminess and subtle spice flavor to the shrimp. Having just come from the gym, I could have eaten two more plates of the stuff.

For dinner, I chose the New England sea scallops with cauliflower, caper-raisin relish and fragrant oil while my husband chose the crispy salmon with sesame puree, fried Chinese eggplant, and jalapeno garlic. Both meals were presented on simple white plates that made the colors of our dishes instantly pop. I am not at the liberty to go into depth about my husband’s meal since I did not have it, but I can attest to the fact that he could not stop talking about the fried Chinese eggplant. He commented on the fact that he had no idea what flavors this eggplant had been marinated in, but he could taste balsamic vinegar. For that reason, he became extremely enthusiastic about going to the grocery store to attempt to re-create this wonderful dish. Kudos to the chef who cooked the eggplant and for inspiring one of its diners! As for my entrée, I was in the utmost state of bliss. The scallops I had were buttery and soft. There wasn’t that irritating taste of grittiness that often accompanies scallops that have not been cleaned properly. The scallops were presented on top of the cauliflower puree with the caper-raisin relish off to one side just adding enough color to confuse your eyes into darting back and forth between the creamy, white mound and the greenish-purple anomaly. The anomaly, or caper-raisin relish, was unique in that the saltiness from the capers did not overpower my palate. Rather, the raisins added just enough sweetness to keep the salty capers in check. After the satisfying appetizer and entrees that we had, my husband and I were even more excited for the fact that we still had one more course to go; dessert.

For dessert, I chose a pineapple upside down cake with caramelized pineapple and white chocolate ice cream. My husband chose a blondie brownie with caramel, a chocolate bar, and salted caramel ice cream. To our surprise and even angst, dessert was rather disappointing. Having the severe sweet tooth that I do, the upside down cake was dry with no hidden flavors that would suggest it was a pineapple cake. The caramelized pineapple was also a let down since I thought caramelizing a fruit was suppose to bring out its hidden sweetness rather than squash it. The white chocolate ice cream was sweet and for that reason, I opted to eat all three items together in an attempt to quell my sugar proclivity. My husband did not fare much better with his dessert. He enjoyed his salted caramel ice cream and since he does not have a sweet tooth like I do, he appreciated the fact that it was not overtly sweet. However, the blondie was hard to chew, and he said it tasted like it had been frozen, but did not have enough time to thaw. I took a bite (a hard one at that) and agreed with my husband: The blondie had either been frozen or it had way too much corn syrup. Needless to say, dessert was unfortunately a disappointment. Maybe the pressures of the first night of Restaurant Week got to the pastry chef or maybe I just have an insane sweet tooth and my husband has weak teeth. Whatever happened with the desserts we will never know. But my husband and I can agree that we enjoyed the Oval Room appetizer and entrees and appreciated the fact that they were executed so impeccably even if it was at the expense of the desserts. Maybe the person who gave the Oval Room a number seven ranking did not eat dessert? Just a thought…

Killing the Beast

In a recent NYT article entitled “Snack Time Never Ends,” author Jennifer Steinhauer discusses the unhealthy proclivity that Americans have towards snacking. In particular, she discusses the demands that American parents must face to constantly provide snacks for their children during and after extracurricular activities. I remember playing soccer as a young girl and having parents rotate each Saturday morning who would bring the orange slices to eat during halftime. But Steinhauer discusses how orange slices and carrot sticks have been pushed aside for far more unhealthy snacks such as Oreo cookies. Moreover, she discusses how children are accustomed to eating snacks after every basketball practice, violin lesson, or chess match that they participate in. Why are Americans so obsessed with snack time? In all honesty, the answer to this question seems extremely convoluted. Snacking is definitely an important aspect of American culture that many people have come to view as a habitual tidbit of their everyday lives. The age-old argument is that Americans eat too much and too frequently. I agree with this and also think snacking is an American cultural norm that is steadily increasing over time: “Indeed, this nation consumed $68.1 billion in packaged snack foods in 2008, up from $60 billion in 2004, according to Packaged Facts, a consumer research group.” This is a sordid fact, and I have not even compared this statistic with other countries. In fact, I am going to back away from that thought entirely because I think we can all agree that Americans most likely take the cake on that one (literally). So what are Americans to do?

Steinhauer concludes that parents should either bring snacks for their own children instead of the entire group or just stop snacking. Another obvious option is to cut back on snacking and when choosing to snack, make healthier decisions (i.e. opt for the carrots instead of the Oreo cookies). This is obviously easier said than done. But any baby steps that millions of Americans take towards limiting their unhealthy snacking is a million baby steps in the right direction towards healthier eating and living. In turn, eating healthier foods will hopefully decrease this obscene packaged snack food statistic.

Coconut Arborio Rice Pudding

I recently made this coconut arborio rice pudding from a Food & Wine Magazine recipe. Arborio rice is a short-grained rice named after the town of Arborio, Italy where it originated. Today, it is extremely popular in risotto as well as rice puddings like the one I made. The trick to using arborio rice is to constantly stir it. Arborio rice is something that cannot be left alone for a few minutes on the stove or else it will clump up and stick to the bottom of the pan. Constantly stirring is time consuming and annoying, but with a little love, the end result is thick and creamy goodness.

I like this recipe, but did make a few of my own changes. First, the rice pudding did not have as much coconut flavor solely from the coconut milk as I had thought it would, so I added some of the shredded, toasted coconut to the mixture. It gave it more of a coconut kick and also added to the texture of the pudding. Next, I used skim milk instead of whole milk. However, it should be noted that it is sometimes erroneous to substitute skim milk with whole milk. Skim milk is a lot thinner than whole milk and as a result will make your pudding thinner as well. Be prepared to either use less skim milk or more arborio rice. Last, I prefer cold rice pudding, so I refrigerated mine after allowing it to cool completely. I also dotted it with cinnamon since I can't have rice pudding without a little cinnamon!

Ingredients

1 quart whole milk (I used a little less than 1 quart of skim milk)

1 cup arborio rice (about 8 ounces)

1/2 cup sugar

One 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup coarsely shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (my addition)

Directions

In a large saucepan, combine the milk, rice and sugar with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and suspended in a thick, creamy sauce, about 30 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is very tender and the liquid is thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

In a medium saucepan, toast the coconut over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and golden, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Spoon the rice pudding into bowls, garnish with the toasted coconut (and cinnamon) and serve. (Printable Recipe)