Beware of the blue tongue side effect from this delicious drink!

3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 drops blue food coloring
2 12-ounce cans cold Sprite
ice, to fill 2 glasses
1. Combine the water and the sugar in a small bowl. Microwave for 30-45 seconds, then stir to dissolve all of the sugar.  Allow this syrup to cool.
2. Add coconut extract and food coloring to the cooled syrup.  Stir well.
3. Combine the syrup with two 12-ounce cans of cold Sprite.  Divide and pour over ice. Add straws and serve.
Makes two 12-ounce servings.

Dishes like this really excite me. At first they look like any ordinary savory cakes, but a look closer and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the versatile revelation. These cakes are inspired by the famous potato latkes, which here in Germany are eaten as a side to several types of dishes. You'll...

[Read the rest of this post on my website]

I suppose I had what most people would call a stay-cation last week in nearby Marin County. My assignment was simple - take care of your sister's two dogs. Friends find this mildly amusing, because although I generally like dogs, I don't own one, and Heather's dogs aren't exactly petite. I'll just mention that one is a Bernese Mountain Dog and leave it at that. I settled into her house, made sure the dogs had plenty to eat, and used it as home base while she was in the UK. For those of you unfamiliar with Marin, most of it sits just north of the fog-bank that drapes itself over San Francisco each summer. Temperatures peaked in the 90s while I was there, and when I wasn't tossing squeaky toys to my two canine friends, I was exploring some of the nearby sites. This big, slurpy bowl of whisper-thin spinach noodles draped in a spicy curry and herb broth was inspired by a beautiful box of noodles I picked up in Mill Valley.

While walking around Mill Valley, I stumbled into Tyler Florence's new shop - yes, you know him, the guy from the Food Network! He lives in this area. His shop is called Tyler Florence West Coast Kitchen Essentials - it's sort of like Williams-Sonoma but infused with the slightest hint of Anthropologie, and let's say 5% generic country kitchen. There were a couple unexpected details and quirks that I'd love to see more of. For example, stacks of vintage Gourmet magazines you can take to the back of the store and browse while sitting in the cozy library cookbook alcove. You can't buy them though (I tried!). He also stocks adorable, handmade kitchen aprons and textiles by Ambatalia / The Fabric Society. This one came in a kids size, and although I rummaged through the shelves looking for an adult-sized version, it wasn't meant to be. There was a wall of various food products - oils, spices, vanilla and the like. I spotted a box of lovely, light, Cipriani spinach tagliolini and quickly grabbed a box. You see half of it here in today's recipe coupled with a selection of herbs that were congregating in my refrigerator door (again), and a nice jolt of curry paste.

In case you find yourself in that zip-code, and before you make your way to the recipe, here are a few other places worth mentioning. I spent my mornings at Emporio Rulli in Larkspur. There is one guy pulling shots who is particularly on point. If I lived in that area I'd have to ask him his work schedule is. Wayne came over on the ferry one day and we had fantastic Neopolitan-style pizza that night at Pizzeria Picco - and no, we couldn't resist the olive-oil drizzled soft serve with sea salt. And to counterbalance all that - I took a couple tough (but great) classes at The Dailey Method, conveniently located just up the street from Pizzeria Picco.

We ate this the first night back. You could certainly add broccoli for a bit of colorful crunch, and nutritional boost. Cauliflower might be good too.

Continue reading Slurp-tastic Herb Noodles...

MILK TOAST. MISS H. W.

Boil one quart of milk; stir into it two tablespoonfuls butter, mixed

with one tablespoonful flour, and a saltspoonful salt. Let the whole

boil five minutes. Have ready a dish of toasted bread; pour the milk

over it, and serve hot. Nice for breakfast.



October Horoscopes

Cookie Recipes

CHEAP COOKIES. MRS. BELLE BLAND.

One teaspoonful of baking powder mixed in flour, two cups of white

sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of sour milk, one teaspoonful of

soda dissolved in the milk, one cup of chopped hickory nuts. Take

enough flour to mix very stiff, and bake in a quick oven.



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When you rub your hands over little branches of lemon thyme, a refreshing lemony, lemongrassy, and earthy thyme fragrance floats into the air.

This was one of the most successful herbs I planted in our garden and we enjoyed its flavor in various savory dishes over the summer. Now its light perfume fills the air as it hangs drying from hooks in our kitchen.

Lemon thyme is a compact, upright shrub that grows to a height of 12 inches. The leaves are tiny and heart shaped, ringed with a splash of yellow. As the name implies, lemon thyme has a bit of a citrus tang, but is milder than most other thyme. This makes it a natural choice for seasoning seafood dishes and even sweets. The citrus flavor also helps to lighten fatty dishes. The natural, volatile oils also work as a digestive aid. These same pungent oils make lemon thyme a favorite in aroma therapy for the treatment of asthma. - Sally's Place

Weekend Herb Blogging, the creation of Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen, is being hosted by Valentina at Trembom this week. Valentina will share the entire WHB round-up next Monday with us.

Both grilled fish dishes and creamy potato gratins are perfect blank canvases for lemon thyme. This wonderful, aromatic herb is also amazing with chicken.
This recipe requires a substantial amount of lemon thyme, but once you taste the rich, herb flecked sauce poured over the golden brown chicken, you'll see that it is just the right amount.


Chicken with Lemon Thyme
from The French Farmhouse Cookbook by Susan Herrmann Loomis

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chicken (3½-4 pounds; 1¾-2 kilos), cut into 8 pieces (2 breast pieces, 2 wings with portion of breast attached, 2 legs, 2 thighs), with giblets reserved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large onions, peeled and diced
5 cloves garlic, peeled, cut in half, and green germ removed
1 large handful fresh lemon thyme prigs plus 1/3 cup (loosely packed) fresh lemon thyme leaves
1/4 cup (60ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add the chicken, season it with salt and pepper, and brown it on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. The chicken should be deep golden.
2. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until the onions turn deep gold on the edges, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, and return the chicken to the skillet. Add the lemon thyme sprigs and the lemon juice, and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the giblets, cover and cook until the chicken is nearly tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Stir 2 tablespoons of the lemon thyme leaves into the chicken, cover, and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked though. about 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Remove the lemon thyme sprigs, stir in the remaining lemon thyme leaves, and taste for seasoning. Let sit, covered, for about 10 minutes before serving.
4. Transfer the chicken pieces, all of the onion and garlic, and any of the cooking juices to a warmed platter, or simply divide them among four plates. Serve immediately.
4 servings
See full article.

Related Entries:

Weekend Herb Blogging 2 - 01 September 2007

Weekend Herb Blogging 3 - 09 September 2007

Thom Fleming Skincare Launches at Silver Spoon Emmy Suite - 02 October 2007

Weekend Herb Blogging - Green Tomatoes - 06 October 2007

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If you’re looking for something a bit different, completely savory and sumptuous and more than a bit over the top, this is the meal for you.  Preperation is relatively simple and the flavors are something that most only experience in high-end establishments, thinking that something of this calibur could never be prepared in a home kitchen.  While there is a bit of long-term preparation involved the process really isn’t all that hard, it’s just the big fancy name that makes it sound daunting.

To quote the Grand Dame of the American Culinary Revolution:

“Noncooks think it’s silly to invest two hours’ work in two minutes’ enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet.” ~ Julia Child

For most people, confit automatically brings to mind images of something cooked in duck or goose fat.  While this is the current trend, confit is actually a much simpler premise than that.  The definition of confit is quite simple:

Confit: [kohn-FEE] A meat slow cooked in its own fat with spices. Or a jam-like sweet spread.

In using this definition, anything cooked in its own fat is a confit, and to be tied to only using duck or goose fat would be a crying shame, since chicken confit is probably the simplest of all to make with just ingredients from your local BigScaryMegaMart, namely chicken leg quarters.

You know the ones.  You’ve seen them before.  They sit in the poultry section in a forlorn ten pound sack, partially packed in an impotent brine. These are the byproducts of the American love of the boneless-skinless chicken breast, cast off to obscurity because someone convinced an entire nation that white meat was the best meat.  In this case their loss is our gain.

The chicken sold in bulk bags is mostly from roasting chickens.  Roasting chicken are larger birds with a higher fat to body mass ratio and because of this have become less popular in todays marketplace.  Bulk chicken is also not trimmed for excess fat, it’s just sold by weight, meaning that the producers are not interested in making it look pretty.  It’s perfect for confit and it usually costs around $4.00 for 10 lbs of chicken!  The rest is almost blissfully simple.

So step out of your comfort zone for a moment and take a journey with me to the land of gourmet, where with just a bit of time and effort the most humble ingredients transform themselves into something more than you could have ever imagined where flavors and aromas transcend the parts that make up the whole and become something entirely wonderful.  The experience may only last a few moments, but it is very much worth the effort.

(...)
Read the rest of Chicken Confit with Mushrooms and Broccoli over thin Spaghetti (596 words)

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Post tags: Broccoli, chicken, mushrooms, Pasta

Two days, two batches. That’s how much my husband liked these muffins.

No, we didn’t eat 6 muffins each for breakfast. There were muffins for breakfast for us and our house guest friends, and perhaps I snagged one for a mid-morning snack. Then there was an after work snack or two and most definitely a midnight snack. And just like that, my husband was out of his new favorite muffins.

Since a muffin-stuffed man is a happy man, I baked another batch. These muffins are super tender and moist. If you’re like me and you’re not a big fan of sweets for breakfast, be sure to have a big glass of cold milk within arms reach.

Raspberry Muffins
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel
2 rounded cups raspberries
Fleur de sel or course sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Put liners in muffin cups or lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.

On medium-low, mix together butter, brown sugar, milk, and egg in a bowl until combined well. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add to milk mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in raspberries.

Divide batter among muffin cups - it’s two scoops of a #20 scoop per muffin cup, if you’re a scooper like me. Sprinkle tops with course sugar or fleur de sel (if using) and bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Adapted from: Gourmet, July 2006
Yields: 12 muffins

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This is what I've been drooling over this week.

Hooked on Heat never fails to disappoint. This month's recipe of Sautéed Spinach With Potatoes is Meena's perfect answer to the question of what to serve as a last minute vegetable side dish.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Andy Dean

Katie at Thyme For Cooking is in the middle of a house move and needed some comfort. It came in the form of an Apple Crisp, For One. No sharing required.

Cook Sister! combines chanterelle mushrooms, one of autumn's golden gems, with pork and serves up a gorgeous looking Pork Medallions With Creamy Chanterelle Sauce.

Some of the best food writing and recipes on the Internet can be found at Leite's Culinaria. This month's recipe for Georgia Peach Soufflé looks divine!

Another fantastic looking sweet treat is Peter's Plum Tarte Tatin with Cinnamon Ice Cream over at Kalofagas - Greek Food and Beyond. See full article.

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Spinach chlorophyll stars in molecular movie - 06 September 2006

RFID Could Save You From Spinach! - 03 February 2007

Cooking Magazine Windfall - 08 September 2007

WHB #106 - Spinach and Chickpea Soup - 28 October 2007

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LITTLE STEAMED PUDDING
Cream one-quarter cup butter with one-half cup
of sugar, add one-quarter cup milk, then one cup of flour sifted with
two teaspoons of baking powder and a pinch of salt, and last fold in the
stiffly beaten whites of three eggs. Have some small molds or cups
buttered, fill half full with the batter, cover with buttered paper, and
steam three-quarters of an hour. Serve hot with a sauce.

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