Breakfast

Bacon Pancakes

August 16, 2014

This is one of those simple recipes that can easily become a family tradition by combining two breakfast staples into one epic signature dish.

Applewood Bacon

Lay a few strips of thick sliced applewood smoked bacon down onto a baking tray and bake in a 400°F oven for 10-15 minutes until nice and crispy.

Oven Baked Bacon

Remove the bacon from the oven and transfer onto a few dry paper towels to blot off any excess grease.

Pancake Mix

In a large mixing bowl, add the all purpose flour, sugar, salt, milk, melted butter, egg, baking powder, and baking soda.

Batter

Mix until smooth, but be sure not to over mix. Once the last of the lumps disappear stop mixing immediately.

Batter on Bacon

On medium-high heat, place a strip or strips of bacon in the pan and evenly pour the batter over the top of the strip of bacon.

Flipped Pancake

Cook for 2 minutes on each side.

Bacon Pancakes

Place the bacon pancakes onto a plate, top with warm maple syrup, and ENJOY!!!!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:25]

Tools Used

| Top Left: Glass Mixing Bowls | Top Right: Whisk |Middle: Tweezer Tongs |Bottom Left: All-Clad Large Pan | Bottom Right: Baking Sheet | 
 
Main Course

Valentines Day Dinner

February 20, 2014

    Me and my wife had a wonderful time at the St.Regis in Dana Point, Ca. Everything you would expect from a Forbes 5 star, AAA 5 diamond resort was easily noticeable and some to spare. We had an ocean view (although it was in the near distance), panoramic rolling coastal hills, an incredibly beautiful golf coarse, spectacular pool and jaucuzzi, spa, good food, and more.  I mean, I’m not claiming to be an elite hotel aficionado, but we had our own butler! I thought it was pretty nifty.  Anyhow, our stay was for only one night, so with all that said I’m guessing we didn’t get a chance to partake in the full St.Regis experience.  The one experience that I do want to share with you, since I’m such a food nerd (I hope you are too), was my dinner at The St.Regis’ fine dining restaurant Motif.  It was Valentines day and they had a tasting menu option aside from their regular a la carte menu, which I tend to gravitate towards anyways, so we ordered two glasses of the house champagne and two tasting menus.  Here’s what we got!

    The meal was fitting for a typical “fine dinning” Valentines day and we both enjoyed ourselves, especially with two glasses of champagne. I really wish I could say that the service was just wonderful, but we did have to wait 30 minutes for our bill (after asking for it 3 times) and it felt like that throughout the entire meal.  With that said, the hotel was wonderful and the complimentary in-room tea & coffee (via our butler) the next morning was a great way to finish off our stay.  Until next time St.Regis..….

Main Course

Food Facts – Pasta

February 14, 2014

-An Etruscan tomb showed a group of natives making pasta as far back as the fourth century B.C.

-Chinese people have been making noodle-like food as early as 3000 B.C.

-Thomas Jefferson was credited for bringing the first macaroni machine to America in 1789.

-Pasta existed for thousands of years before anyone ever thought to put tomato sauce on it.

-Spinach is used to make pasta green, tomato makes pasta red and squid ink makes pasta gray. Yes, there is gray pasta.

-The average person in Italy eats more than 51 pounds of pasta every year.

-The average person in North America eats about 15 pounds of pasta every year.

-Top-quality pasta is made from durum wheat, which is grown in North Dakota.

-The United States produces 1.9 million tons of pasta every year, while 2.75 million tons of pasts is produced in Italy each year.

-To make your own pasta, all you need is 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of water. The most important part of making your own pasta is allowing the dough to rest for 20 minutes. It allows the flour to absorb the water uniformly and makes the dough easier to handle.

-Noodles in Singapore are called “meat”.

-In Italian, “fettuccine” means “ribbons”

-There are over 600 pasta shapes worldwide.

-Pasta is categorized in two basic styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta is made without eggs and can be stored for up to two years, while fresh pasta will keep for a few days under refrigeration.

-100% whole wheat pasta contains more fiber; therefore gets digested slower than regular pasta.

-October is National Pasta Month.

-In the 13th century, the Pope set quality standards for pasta.

-The word “pasta” comes from the Italian word for paste, meaning a combination of flour and water.

-My Store

Desserts

“Thin Mint” Macarons

February 12, 2014

Macaroons are one of those tricky recipes that once you pull off baking, correctly, you can give yourself a serious pat on the back! Check out my detailed recipe at the bottom of this post for even more helpful tips to ease you through the process.

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Start by whisking the sugar and butter (at room temperature) together.

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Once fluffy, add the whole egg and throughly whisk together.

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Add the cocoa powder, all purpose flour, baking soda, and peppermint extract to the other ingredients and give it another good whisk.

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Fold it into the butter mixture until it becomes one solid mass.

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Take the cookie dough out of the bowl and roll it out to about ⅛ of an inch thick.

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Cut 1½ inch circles out of the dough and place them onto the lined baking tray.

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Bake in a 300°F oven for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and allow to cool before use.

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In a small sauce pot bing the heavy cream to a simmer.

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Pour it over the dark chocolate and stir.

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Mix in the peppermint extract and scoop the ganache into a piping bag and set aside.

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In a medium bowl add the egg white and begin whisking until foamy.

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Add the granulated sugar and continue whisking until the meringue has semi-soft peaks. Be careful not to over mix or you will have to start over.

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Sift the almond flour, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar into a separate bowl.

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You’ll want to fold the meringue into the dry ingredients a half at a time.

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Scoop the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small round metal tip and pipe out the macarons slightly larger than the “Thin Mint” wafers.

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Tap the tray to make sure there isn’t any air trapped inside the batter and allow to dry for 15-20 minutes.

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Once dry bake in a 300°F oven for 12-15 minutes.  After, allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing them from the tray.

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Once the macarons have cooled down flip half of them over and pipe a small amount of the ganache onto the macaron.

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Place a “Thin Mint” wafer on top of the ganache…

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…and top the wafer with more ganache.

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Sandwich everything together with another macaron shell and ENJOY!!

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:24]

Main Course

The Science Behind Salt & Sweet

February 4, 2014

 Salty and sweet is just flat out good, but why?

   We all know that taste buds allow us to taste (it’s in the name, after all). But what you may not know is that each taste bud contains 50 to 100 taste cells, which are actually what do the tasting. Each of these cells responds to a different flavor: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or umami. We perceive taste (let’s use sweet as an example) when sugar and a sweet receptor protein interact, causing the sweet cell to become excited and send a signal to the brain, which then registers the flavor as sweet. This is a process that scientists have known for a long time. But recently the process has been further complicated by what researchers have found out about certain sweetness receptors. A study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that certain sugar receptors that were thought only to exist in the gut were spotted on sweet taste cells on the tongue. Researchers, led by Dr. Robert Margolskee, of the Monell Chemical Sense Center, found the SGLT1 receptor — which transports sugars into cells only when sodium is present — on sweet taste cells on the tongues of mice. This could explain why sweetness is accentuated by salt — the receptors are activated when salt accompanies sugar.

  So there you have it. The next time you enjoy caramel corn, you’ll know what to thank: good old SGLT1 receptor. Read the full article….

-Article credit: Justine Sterling

Desserts

Origins of The Macaron

February 1, 2014

  Where did these trendy cookies come from?

‘The Macaron cookie was born in Italy, introduced by the chef of Catherine de Medicis in 1533 at the time of her marriage to the Duc d’Orleans who became king of France in 1547 as Henry II. The term “macaron” has the same origin as that the word “macaroni” — both mean “fine dough”.

The first Macarons were simple cookies, made of almond powder, sugar and egg whites. Many towns throughout France have their own prized tale surrounding this delicacy. In Nancy, the granddaughter of Catherine de Medici was supposedly saved from starvation by eating Macarons. In Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the macaron of Chef Adam regaled Louis XIV and Marie-Therese at their wedding celebration in 1660.

Only at the beginning of the 20th century did the Macaron become a “double-decker” affair. Pierre Desfontaines, the grandson of Louis Ernest Laduree (Laduree pastry and salon de the, rue Royale in Paris) had the idea to fill them with a “chocolate panache” and to stick them together.

Since then, French Macaron cookies have been nationally acclaimed in France and remain the best-selling cookie in pastry retail stores….. read the full article

 Article Credit: MadMac