Culinary Curiosity™

Honey and Oat Whole Wheat bread!!

2011-11-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

My prettiest loaf yet! Deliciousness!!!

let me know if u want the recipe- C

Rainbow Ribbon Salad

2011-06-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

The 'Rainbow Ribbon Salad', I call the big alcoholic Jelly! I recommend you make it for a party or large group of guest.

I followed the recipe as best as possible... using Absolut Citron as the liquor, skipping the part about 'plain gelatin' and going directly in with the flavored Jelly, and Low Fat Plain Yogurt instead of Vanilla Yogurt. It took about 5 hours in and out of the kitchen, But it was worth it. Next time though, I will use 1/4 a cup of Vodka per layer (and another 1/4 cup of water) because this way is a bit too strong and it takes almost a whole bottle of Absolut just to make the Jelly! Anyway its very yummy and fun to eat...

This is the fruit of my labor:

Let us know if you try this at home!!!
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Tablespoon.com says...

Ingredients

4 1/2 cups water, divided
6 3 oz packages flavored gelatin dessert mix
3 envelopes plain gelatin (6 tsp gelatin powder, divided)
3 cups flavored rum or vodka, divded
1 1/8 cup vanilla yogurt, divided

Directions

1Place the bottle of liquor in the freezer for several hours before beginning recipe.
2Lightly spray bundt pan or gelatin mold with non stick cooking spray. Wipe off the excess spray with a paper towel. A slight residue should remain, just enough to help unmold your gelatin, without affecting the taste or appearance.
3Pour 3/4 cup water into a saucepan and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the plain gelatin. Allow gelatin to soak for a minute or two. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved (about 5 minutes). Wisk in the first package of flavored gelatin. Whisk for at least 2 minutes, or until completely dissolved. (I find the sugar free mix dissolves much faster than the regular!).
4Remove from heat. Add 1/2 cup of the cold liquor, and stir to combine.
5Pour 3/4 cup of the gelatin mixture into the prepared mold, and place in refrigerator. Allow to set for 20 to 30 minutes, until the gelatin is a little firm, but still sticks when touched. Very important – if the layers set up too much, the next layer won’t bond appropriated.
6Refrigerate the remaining gelatin mixture in bowl about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened (consistency of unbeaten egg whites). Gradually stir in 3 tablespoons of yogurt and stir until well blended. This cooling step is also important – the gelatin must be cooled to room temperature before adding on top of other layers, or the layers will not be well defined!
7Gently spoon the gelatin/yogurt mixture over set gelatin and return to the refrigerator Refrigerate about 15 minutes or until gelatin is set but not firm (Again, it should stick to finger when touched.) As the layers progress, the setting time will become shorter as the pan and gelatin becomes colder, and the layers become thinner as more layers are added to the mold.
8Repeat steps with remaining gelatin flavors, for a total of 12 alternating clear and creamy gelatin layers.
9After completing all the layers, refrigerate the gelatin overnight. To unmold, fill a larger container or clean sink with warm water (not too hot!). With clean fingers, loosen the gelatin around the edges of the mold cavities. Next, dip the mold almost to the edge into the warm water for just a few seconds (10 seconds worked for me). Dry the bottom of the mold with a towel and check the edges to see if they are loose, if not, repeat the dip for just a few seconds. Place your serving plate on top of the mold and invert. Viola!

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Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen

2011-02-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight, we dined at Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen!

604 Columbus Avenue

Boston, MA 02118

(617) 536-1100

   We had Chicken Wings * Peach Sweet Chile* for starters.
From the Entrees menu, Angelo had Blackened Sirloin Steak and I had the Asparagus & Swiss Stuffed Chicken. All of the dishes were delicious, but we can both agree that the best was the Chicken Wings a la Peach Sweet Chile (like Tyrone recommended). The dinner throughout was accompanied by a few glasses of Pino Noir from California.
   A good server is crucial to the experience of dining out, and our server , Tyrone, was wonderful. The atmosphere at the restaurant is very confortable, with an eclectic and friendly group of guests and live music, to start at 9pm.
   Our original pictures will be up soon!

The Ol'e Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

To celebrate Chef Angelo's 2 month anniversary with us, I baked for him this sweet batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies!

For about 4 dozen cookies:

¾ cup Granulated Sugar
¾ cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 Large Egg
2 ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon of Baking Soda
½ Teaspoon of Salt
1 bag (12 oz) of Milk Chocolate Chips

1. Heat oven to 375°F

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the sugar butter vanilla and the egg. Stir in the Flower Baking-soda and Salt. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips!!

3.On a cookie sheet drop tablespoons full of dough in circular forms . Leave a 2 inch distance between each one.

4.Bake 10 minutes, or until light brown. Cool 1 to 2 minutes, while you serve yourself a glass of milk and ENJOY YOUR COOKIES!

Farfalline with Zucchini and Tomatoes

2011-02-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

This was improvised and put together in 15 minutes by Chef Angelo.

To feed four:

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Yellow Onion
3 medium Tomatoes
4 Zucchini
Abundant Parsley
Parmesan Cheese

First wash and cut into small pieces the zucchini, tomatoes and onions. Sauté the onions until golden. Then throw in the zucchini and let them cook (10 mins). Add salt and pepper to taste. In the last 2 minutes add the tomatoes AND meanwhile cook the pasta in salt water. When both the pasta is done, drain it and then mix it with the vegetables and oil. Serve with parmesan and parsley.

BUON APPETITO!!!

Minestrone di Verdure (Thick vegetable soup)

2011-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Chef Angelo is making one of his Italian specialties; Minestrone di Verdure! Our Minestrone will feed 4. These are the ingredients Angelo is using:

2 Zucchini
3 Potatoes
2 Yellow Onions
Broccoli
3 Carrots
4 Pieces of Celery
2 Small Tomatoes
1 Small can of Cannellini(white) Beans

First, cut vegetables into bite-size pieces, put into a pot and cover with water, or preferably, vegetable broth. Make sure that you add more vegetable broth as it evaporates from the pot, so that it will never dry out completely. Let it cook on low for one hour. Insert beans 5 minutes before it's done.

While the recipe does not call for it, it is always an option to add 'Stelline'-type pasta or white rice to the soup, for variation.

Lemon Bars

2011-02-05T15:47:00.000-08:00

Tonight Chef Carmina and Chef Angelo made Lemon Bars from the Betty Crocker Cook Book. Since this is our first attempt at lemon bars and we made them on a whim, we decided to go with the Betty Crocker recipe rather than the one in our Cordon Bleu book because it was simpler.

The recipe calls for the following:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter , softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs (though we used medium)
Additional powdered sugar