You may remember a post back in September about a raffle that, my friend and former private student, Larry Fitzgerald, and I were doing for a charity event.

The winner, Bill Nassikas, was announced on October 1, 2009, and last night we finally held the cooking and dining event.  Bill’s guest was Beau MacMillan, chef at Elements at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa, which received a rave review in yesterday’s Arizona Republic.

Bill is the President & COO of Westroc, owners of Sanctuary, so there is that connection, and congratulations to you both!  We had a great night cooking together and then sitting down to enjoy the fruits of our labor. A BIG thank you to my BFF, Peggy, for assisting with the class and the evening, I couldn’t have done it without you! xoxo [Read more →]

Finally, this is the last of the Easter brunch recipes. Hopefully, this past week of posts has given you a nice repertoire of brunch, breakfast, and spring recipe ideas.

I’ve mentioned my love for Nutella before, so how about a little “history of Nuttela” this time?  This comes straight from the Nuttela website, “Nutella® spread, in its earliest form, was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy, to extend the chocolate supply.” There you go, a little history with your breakfast!

I served this at the Saturday office brunch last weekend and have some “do-head” tips for you. The brioche can be sliced, spread, and sandwiched together a day ahead. Place in an airtight bag or container and refrigerate until ready to cook. And the cereal-brown sugar mixture may also be ground together ahead and stored in an airtight container. Unsliced loaves of brioche can be found at Trader Joe’s.

Lastly, a shout-out to my girlfriend, Lorie, in Los Angeles… I couldn’t decide which old picture to choose, so I put up both of them.  Happy Birthday, Lorie! xoxo

Lorie, Sloane, Dave, and I at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 1998

Anne, Peggy, Lorie, and me about to board a private plane to California in 2005… good times!

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On Sunday, my friend and neighbor, Ronnie had a party to introduce and welcome new neighbors to “the hood”.  She made this colorful fresh and flavorful salad that we all went crazy for. It is inspired by a recipe she found in a cookbook by Rick Rodgers.

I had two servings, and would have had a third if I could have gotten away with it! The original recipe called for 3 ears of corn to be roasted on a grill. This simple take on that uses frozen roasted corn kernels found at Trader Joe’s.  One medium cob of corn yields about 3/4 cup of kernels. So that is convenience item number one.  

And here is number two … a new way to freeze and store chipotle peppers. As you know, chipotle peppers are sold in cans and they are packed in adobo sauce. The sauce is just about as good as the peppers themselves, spicy and smokey and just so addictive. I can’t think of a time when you would use an entire  7-ounce can of peppers. Recipes most often call for just a few peppers and then you have the rest of the can to deal with. In the past, I have placed the remaining peppers on a small greased baking sheet, frozen them, then removed the frozen peppers and placed them in ziplock bags to freeze. But now… I have an even better way. In the majority of recipes the peppers are very finely chopped, so why not freeze them that way?

First place all the remaining peppers and all the adobo sauce left in the can in a food processor and puree it. Next, carefully spoon the puree into the little holes of an empty garlic cube package. What is a garlic cube package, you ask. In a prior post, I told you how much I love to use the minced garlic cubes sold at Trader Joe’s. My freezer is full of them… so I reuse those empty containers and now I always have chipotle cubes on hand too.  One chipotle cube equals about 1/2 chipotle pepper. Plus they pop out just as easily as the garlic does.

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I recently learned of a great new convenience item available in the frozen food section of the local supermarket. OK, maybe it’s not new to the supermarket or even new to you, but it is new to me.

Frozen chopped green chiles and chopped red chiles can be found in plastic containers, similar to a sour cream container, in the freezer section. Locally, I’ve found them at Safeway, Fry’s, and Food City. Supposedly they come in hot and mild, but I was only able to find the hot, so I’m combining them with mild canned green chiles for this recipe.

Feel free to roast, seed, and peel your own mild long green chiles, if you prefer.  Pictured below: Frozen chile container (do not worry if you don’t find the same brand, any brand will do)plus a side-by-side comparison of mild canned diced chiles on the left and hot frozen diced chiles on the right.

It’s been in the mid to high 80’s the last few days here in AZ, but we’re expecting rain and a cooling trend for the rest of the week.  It may be our last chance to really enjoy a nice steaming bowl of chili for many months to come. Marissa requested this recipe so she could make “roomie” dinner tomorrow for her four beautiful roommates; Kaley, Petra, Kelsey, and Paige.

Petra, Paige, Marissa, Kelsey, and Kaley

Girls, I hope you enjoy it, ‘cause summer and 100+ degree temps are just around the corner!

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…That is the slogan for a fab new restaurant in town, The Grind.  My beautiful sister, Sloane, and I enjoyed a delectable dinner there last night.

Chef Matt McLinn is at the helm, so you know it’s gonna be good (that’s Sloane and Matt, pictured above). I first met Matt nine or ten years ago when he and Sloane worked together. They dated for quite a while and that meant that we shared some wonderful holiday meals together too.

It’s no wonder Matt’s food stands out, he has cooked alongside some of the culinary world’s most recognized names – such as world-renowned Chef Alain Ducasse of the Michelin three-starred restaurant Le Louis XV of the Hotel Paris in Monte Carlo and Chef Dominque Bouchet of the Michelin three-starred restaurant, Les Ambassadeurs, located in Paris, France. He also studied at the Michelin two-starred Le Hotel Carlton in Cannes, France, and Michelin one-starred Le Maison du Seigneur in Brussels, Belgium. He is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy and a member of the James Beard Foundation.

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I don’t know why, but I can’t get enough fish lately. Just the other day in a post, I said I was not into frying fish … two days later – here I am doing just that, go figure! I dedicate this recipe to Tram Mai, the host of Valley Dish (weekdays at 4:30 on Channel 12). When I was on earlier in the month making sweet jalapeño mini corn muffins, Tram asked what could be done with the rest of the jalapeño jelly in the jar.  I stammered and said something stupid about putting it on cream cheese and serving it with chips – hey that’s good stuff, but it was a totally lame answer!  Since then, another guest has used jalapeño jelly on the show. So, Tram here’s another one, especially for you…

The recipe calls for self-rising flour. If you don’t have any handy and don’t feel the need to purchase a one-pound bag and then only use the one cup needed here, you can make your own. I’m not sure if you know just how much valuable information is on this blog. Let me tell you, a lot! If you look over to the left, you’ll see a “Tip Index” and that puppy is loaded with good stuff…. including the very useful “conversion and equivalent charts”  Check it out sometime, and if you want to make that self-rising flour now, CLICK THIS LINK and it will take you to the conversion chart… scroll down until you see “Flour” and there it is, easy as pie!

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Usually, I’m all about the candied pecans, but sometimes it’s nice to have the more natural flavor of the pecan come through. There is no better way to achieve that than to toast or roast them… and that is true for all nuts. Because when heated, the natural oils come to the front and the flavor just pops! Not only are we roasting the pecans, but also tossing them with a little butter and salt. And we’re doing the same thing to fresh dates. Because of a date’s natural sugar, the added butter and salt enhance the sweetness and it becomes its own little candy morsel!

The idea for this recipe came from my dear friend and colleague, Kim Howard. Kim told me about a pecan and date salad with a late harvest vinaigrette that she had at a restaurant. It just sounded too wonderful to not try and duplicate at home, so here goes…Kim, let me know what you think. I can tell you that my plumber, Larry of Lawrence Plumbing, loved it! He happened to arrive soon after I took the photo and right after Connor turned it down for his lunch… he wanted bagel bites… College boys, what the heck!?! But Larry was more than appreciative and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate him… if you ever need a plumber, let me know, because he is the best, promise!

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Friendships are amazing and wonderful things. Especially those which have lasted the test of time and/or distance. My longest-standing childhood friendships are with Jayne Meadows McKay and Sheri Wigodsky Thal, both of whom were neighbors and school friends. Jayne lived across the street and is the second of six kids and Sheri is the second of three girls and lived five houses down from me. After grade school, our friendships changed as we all moved on, but even so, when I see either of them, it’s like we were never apart… we just pick up where we left off. That truly is a beautiful thing!

Jayne in my childhood backyard before the first day of school in 1972

Sheri in front of my childhood home in the summer of ’75

Then there is Laura Galloway Heffron. Laura and I met during the first month of my freshman year at Saguaro High School.  We quickly learned that our birthdays are only a day apart and that we shared many of the same interests..so that was that, BFF’s for life! Laura’s parents and two sisters were truly my second family during those formative years and have always been such a true blessing in my life. Laura was my maid of honor and is Marissa’s godmother. Her sister, Mary Galloway Freeman, was one of my bridesmaids too. Shawna Galloway Reynolds is daughter number three and now all three girls, along with their own wonderful families, live only blocks from each other, along with their mother, Coleen, who is just down the street. I love and admire those four strong and beautiful women more than I can say.

Laura’s wedding in December 1986; clockwise from the beautiful bride- sisters Mary and Shawna, me, and Laura’s friend, Bernadine

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My girlfriend, Lorie, was recently in town from California; along with her sister, Cathy, who was in from Indiana. We had a great night out and Lorie was raving about a roasted vegetable and polenta lasagna she had ordered at a Los Angeles area restaurant called Zinc Café & Market.

Let me tell you, I am a fool for polenta and there aren’t too many things more fantastic than roasted vegetables! Since I won’t be getting to LA in the near future, I had to make my own concoction! The polenta fills in as the “noodle” layers in this healthy, gluten-free, and vegetarian lasagna. You can purchase prepared firm polenta in a tube at most grocery stores and always at Trader Joe’s. Thank you Lorie for a great night, dinner, the cute little glasses you gave me, and the idea for this scrumptious lasagna. It was a bonafide hit with Dave, me, and (believe it or not) even my Dad!

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Inspiration for recipes comes from many places, such as giving a standard recipe a healthy makeover or combining recipes to make something just right. Plucking fresh food from your garden or a farmer’s market, using other cuisines to spice up an old favorite, or in this case, out of complete and utter desperation!

Ever since last Friday, when I held a girl scout cooking class, my life and time management skills had been in a downward spiral. Some of that was due to my own bad planning, other parts were things out of my control, and the rest was just Murphy’s Law – “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

So the light at the end of the tunnel of this tornado that was my life came in the form of a party at my home. After racing from one thing to another and running on virtually no sleep, I had less than 5 hours to come up with a menu for the party, shop for the food and drinks, and make it all. Clean all the outdoor furniture (it’s been raining quite a bit here, so it was all a mess). And worst of all, clean a house that had not only been neglected but literally treated (by me!) as if it were a landfill, where I was actually just tossing things on the floor or any flat surface.

The picture below doesn’t really do justice to the hot mess the house was. The sun is shining so brightly against the more than a dozen glass bowls on the island that they are not really visible. But that was just one load of dishes spread out from unloading the dishwasher from the night before when I fell into bed right after putting in another (and the 3rd of the day) load.

So here is where this recipe begins. I had worked with Barb Fenzl at Les Gourmettes in the morning, where she taught a delicious class that included a Glazed and Grilled Asparagus. All the while I was thinking about what I could make, or pull from my freezer, or pick up at Trader Joe’s on my way home. There was leftover marinate from the asparagus, so I poured that into a jar and decided to make the asparagus as an appetizer instead of a side dish. I also had leftover sliced mozzarella, sliced black forest ham, and basil in my fridge from a food styling event I’d done the day before… voila, a recipe is born. OK, it may not be the most inspired, creative, or original thing I’ve ever come up with, but the point is, anyone can pull something together with what they have available to them by just giving it a little thought.

The asparagus portion of this recipe is thanks to Barb Fenzl and I thank her for not only that, but for the delectable frozen Blue Cheese Galette dough, she so generously sent home with me to use as well!

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