… from the California KitchenHow you doin’? This creamy, sumptuous chocolate dessert was one of the melt-in-your-mouth recipes that I originally developed for T.R.’s Restaurants in Wichita, Kansas. I don’t think old Teddy ever tasted anything as good as this. I still make it for friends and family when a chocolate dessert is on the menu. This goes to prove that a good recipe can outlive the life of a president or even a presidential-named restaurant. My French Silk Pie features a short-cut Oreo cookie crust, rich and creamy chocolate filling, and is topped with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings! This is the perfect end-of-the meal dessert! Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Chill time: 6 hours Yield: 6 to 8 servings Ingredients For the crust 20 chocolate stuffed sandwich cookies, filling intact (Oreos or store brand) (Option: See ChefSecret) 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted For the filling 1-1/3 cups granulated sugar 4 large eggs 8 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate, melted 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1-1/2 cups heavy cream 4 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar For the topping and garnish 1 cup whipping cream 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Chocolate shavings, for garnish Directions To make the crust
ChefSecret:
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “We’re starting to see the Covid-19 baby boom. In 2033, there will be a whole bunch of quaran-teens.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We have added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Baking #Dessert #Pie #FrenchSilk #Chocolate #Oreo #ChocolateFrenchSilkPie #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021
0 Comments
…from the California Kitchen How you doin’? You might be asking yourself… “why Mozambique Prawns?” Some of you may know that I spent the better part of 3 or 4 years going back and forth to Lisbon, Portugal. During the time of colonial Portuguese rule of Mozambique many southern African foods were brought back to Portugal. One such item was large prawns and you can still enjoy them today in Portugal’s many seaside restaurants. Mozambique is an African nation located in the southeast of Africa whose long Indian Ocean coastline is dotted with popular beaches and offshore marine parks. In the Quirimbas Archipelago, a 250km stretch of coral islands, mangrove-covered Ibo Island has colonial-era ruins surviving from a period of Portuguese rule. The Bazaruto Archipelago farther south has reefs that protect rare marine life including prawns. While Mozambique is famous for the quality of its fresh seafood there is a heavy Portuguese influence felt in dishes such as Peri-Peri (hot and spicy) Prawns and Peri-Peri Chicken. It is a cross-cultural country between food and music—Mozambique is famous for its traditional music, especially its marimba bands. Marimba bands made it all the way to Brazil in South America. You’ll see that this recipe calls for Amarula, a cream liqueur from South Africa. It is in the same family as Bailey’s (Irish) Cream. It is made with sugar, cream and the fruit of the African marula tree which is also locally called the Elephant tree or the Marriage Tree. It has a light alcohol content of 17% by volume (30° proof) and is a wonderful ingredient for both sweet and savory dishes. Prep time: 30 minutes Marinade time: 30-60 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients For the cashew nut Amarula satay 14 ounces cashew nuts 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon Amarula 1/2 cup warm water 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon soy sauce 4 teaspoons granulated sugar For the piri-piri prawns 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 tablespoon chili flakes Juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves, roughly chopped 1 fresh mild red chile, seeded, deveined and chopped 1-pound large raw prawns, deveined with shell and head on 1 fresh lemon Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Directions To make the cashew nut Amarula satay sauce
To grill the prawns
ChefSecret: If you don’t have access to a grill, you can cook the prawns in a griddle pan. Heat the pan until it is smoking before adding the prawns. Turn the prawns after two minutes and cook until just pink and cooked through. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “In life, in order to succeed, you must do the thing you thought you could not do. That does not apply to haircuts during quarantine.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. We added a new search feature to make it easier to navigate through our blogs. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Entrees #Prawns #Mozambique #Portugal #Africa #Amarula #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 … from the California Kitchen How you doin’? This recipe has been written to maximize versatility… it can be a chilled, healthful salad, and can easily be made into a warm, Wilted Spinach Salad with the addition of a couple of strips of bacon—more on that in the ChefSecret below. You can use baby spinach leaves, or you can buy more mature spinach and tear the leaves. Like romaine lettuce you never want to cut the leaves with a knife as that will bruise them—just tear them into smaller, bite-size pieces. I can tell you where the Cobb Salad was invented and where the Taco Salad was concocted; I even know where the Caesar Salad came from and it was far from Italy (it was Tijuana, Mexico), but the Spinach salad… not so much. Some think it came with the turn of the century German immigration rushes. Others think that it originated right here in the USofA… I really don’t know. But here’s how to make this simple, but mysterious salad. No surprise, Spinach Salad is a salad with spinach as its main ingredient. Common additional ingredients include chopped tomatoes, eggs, goat cheese, slivered almonds, walnuts, pecans and/or dried cranberries. Spinach salad is classically served with a warm bacon or vinaigrette dressing, but variations are endless. Prep time: 10 minutes Yield: 1 serving (7 Ounces) Ingredients 3 ounces (about 3 to 4 cups) fresh-torn spinach 1 large hard-cooked egg, 1/4-inch dice 1 ounce brown mushrooms, sliced lengthwise 1/8-inch 1 ounce tart apple, julienned cut 1 ounce caramelized pecans (store bought) 4 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette (see Cooking Lesson #235) Directions
ChefSecret: Spinach Salad is classically served wilted with a warm bacon-vinaigrette dressing. Following the directions above, start by cooking up 2 strips of chopped bacon in a sauté pan. When the bacon is cooked and crispy pour the dressing in with the bacon and then invert the pan over the greens and finish off the salad as directed above. Let the pan sit over the greens to wilt them. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Another pandemic discovery: if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid. Now, you have one missing sock and a lid that doesn’t fit anything.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Salads #SpinachSalad #WiltedSpinachSalad #Vinaigrette #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 … from the California Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? I looked to Europe for today’s Happy Hour cocktail. So, let’s travel to Northern Spain for the recipe for Zurracapote—a popular Spanish mixed drink. There are numerous recipes and variations however, the basic ingredients are always the same—sugar, lemon, red wine, cinnamon and dried fruits. Depending on personal preferences, it can be served over ice, chilled or at room temperature and it is typically poured into a goblet. Since Zurracapote originates from the Rioja region and surrounding areas, it is best to use local red wines when making the drink. Although this refreshing cocktail is quite like Sangria, Zurracapote relies on extracting flavors from dried fruits and spices over time, while sangria gets most of its flavors from fresh citrus fruits—oranges, lemons and limes. Prep time: 40 minutes, plus 3 hours refrigeration time Yield: 12 servings Ingredients For the Zurra red wine syrup 1-1/2 cups dry red wine 3-3/4 cups granulated sugar 6 juniper berries, bruised (can be found in select produce section or on the internet) 1 small cinnamon stick 3/4 cup diced dried apricots 3/4 cup golden raisins 1/2 cup dried plums (prunes) (optional) For the Zurracapote 1/4 cup Zurra red wine syrup 2 bottles red wine (I prefer Tempranillo) 1/2 cup Torres orange liqueur or Triple Sec 1/2 cup vodka 2 lemons, thinly sliced, for garnish 2 Fuji apples, cored and diced, for garnish 12 ounces Sprite Directions To make Zurra red wine syrup
ChefSecret: If you can’t find juniper berries, you can substitute with 1 sprig of rosemary, or ¼ teaspoon of caraway seeds (be sure to strain out before drinking), or about ¼ teaspoon of cardamom. For the best Zurracapote, allow the fruits and spices to macerate in the refrigerator for a few days in spiced wine. Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “I found a $100 in the parking lot last week. I thought to myself, What would Jesus do? So I turned it into wine.” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Cocktail #HappyHour #Zurracapote #Tempranillo #RedWine #TripleSec #Cheers #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 … from the California Kitchen How you doin’? Sheldon was a neighbor when I was growing up. His father owned a bagel bakery. This, of course, was when bagel bakers started working at two in the morning and still rolled all the bagels by hand… it was a union job—no rolling machines allowed. There were fifty or so “men” working around a large round table rolling and rolling and rolling for hours. Yes, they were all men—no women allowed. Sheldon’s dad invited us to come over to the bakery to see how bagels were made and try our hand at rolling a few. While the union guys were rolling 6 to 8 a minute, we were rolling about 1 bagel every 6 to 8 minutes. I found out two important things that morning… I didn’t like getting to work at 2am and that I liked bagel-eating a whole lot more than bagel-making! Here’s the “hole” story. It is believed that bagels made their way to New York with the migration of Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s. As Jewish refugees from Poland and Eastern Europe began to arrive in New York City en masse, they brought their traditional foods with them such as challah, brisket, knishes, and bagels. For many decades, bagels were little known outside of the Jewish community, where their popularity was widespread. Bagels became so popular among the Jewish community of New York, that by 1900, 70 bagel bakeries existed on the Lower East Side. In 1907, the International “Beigel” Bakers' Union was formed to monopolize the production of bagels in the city. By 1910, Bagel Bakers Local 338 represented over 300 bagel craftsmen in Manhattan. Why do New York City Bagels seem to be the best in the world? Many people claim the main difference in taste and texture of a real New York bagel is New York City tap water, which contains certain minerals they attribute to creating a better bagel. The low concentrations of calcium and magnesium found in New York water are thought to make the water softer which has been claimed to strengthen the gluten in the bagel dough, helping to create the chewy-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside bagel. While New York-style is the original bagel type available in the United States, various other cities around the world have their own distinct style of baking and serving bagels. Bagels remain a filling, tasty, inexpensive treat no longer just for Jewish immigrants living in Manhattan. In fact, I ate one just this morning lightly toasted with butter and jam. Prep time: 2 hours Proof time: 1 to 1-1/2 hours Boil time: 3 minutes Bake time: 10 to 12 minutes Yield: 12 Bagels Ingredients: For the bagels 4 teaspoons active dry yeast (make sure it’s not expired) 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1-1/4 cups warm water (110º F) 5 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons malt 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil For the boiling soda dip 4 cups boiling water 3/4 cup baking soda 2 tablespoons honey Suggested toppings Coarse kosher salt or bagel salt Sesame seeds Poppy seeds Caraway seeds Cinnamon-Sugar “Everything” spice blend (Trader Joe’s) Directions To make the bagel dough
ChefSecret:
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: I need to Social Distance away from the kitchen—I just tested positive for a big butt. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong and positive, stay well and safe and be kind to others. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Baking #Bagels #BoiledBagels #NYBagels #Breakfast #Brunch #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021 |
For over 4 decades collaboration and vision have been the cornerstones of our approach to developing innovative solutions. We fuel innovation, uncover opportunities, discover trends and embrace sustainability, turning imaginative ideas into profitable realities. Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|