How you doin’? What does summer mean to you? The one thing I miss the most is not being allowed to have an outdoor grill (not permitted in a high-rise condo). However, I received a Phillips indoor smokeless grill for my birthday, so all is not lost. While it is not completely the same it is the next best thing. The grill only takes about 5 minutes to heat up to its 450⁰F. Better yet, it only takes about the same amount of time to clean up. Grilled Margarita Chicken takes a certain amount of planning to allow for 5 hours minimum marinade time, or you can get started on the marinade the night before, put it in the frig and forget it. I purchase chicken breasts or thighs with the skin on to protect the tender nature of the meat. When grilling start with the skin-side down toward the heat. Margarita Grilled Chicken has the fantastic flavor of tequila cooked into the chicken with subtle hints of sweetness and a little kick from the jalapeño. The gang is all here in this flavor profile…Tequila, lime, and orange all come together to create the best ever Margarita Chicken. This is one recipe you have to try! Prep time: 10 minutes Marinade time: 5 hours or overnight Grill time: 15 minutes Yield: 6 servings Ingredients 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro 2 tablespoons coarse black pepper 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons onion salt 1 teaspoon jalapeño 1/2 cup margarita mix (the bottled stuff) 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 1/4 cup tequila 1/4 cup triple sec 2 tablespoons honey 1/2 cup light olive oil 6 skin-on, boneless split chicken breasts Directions
ChefSecret:
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. If you have a little extra in your pocket to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading, #GrilledChicken #MargaritaChicken #PhilipsSmokelessIndoorGrill #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020
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How you doin’? I hope you are enjoying the summer bounty of beautiful American stone fruit—peaches, nectarines, plums—and berries. When you are just 80 miles or so from the strawberry growing capital of the world—Oxnard, near Santa Barbara—you can get the most perfect, sweetest, beautiful strawberries ever grown. It’s also pretty easy to make a Costco stop and pick up a whole flat of strawberries, but if you’re not buying for the neighborhood, what are you going to do with all of them before they start to spoil? Infuse, of course! When you are out on the patio soaking up the afternoon sun, doesn’t a nice cool berry spritzer sound great? You might ask yourself--Self, what makes this wine spritzer so special? It contains a 1-ounce shot of homemade strawberry-infused vodka, that’s what! When you get a waft of the strawberry vodka in your nose, it smells just like a fresh strawberry pie. It smells so good you just might be tempted to sip it straight from the bottle. And, if you do, it’s wonderful, like sweet, perfectly ripe, fresh strawberries… with a little kick! In the spritzer, it blends with the added rosé wine and fresh basil, creating a drink that’s lightly sweet, very aromatic, and so perfect for early summer. FYI… I keep a fresh basil plant growing on the kitchen windowsill for just these occasions… her name is Emily. What? You don’t name your houseplants? Not only does the strawberry vodka smell and taste great, it makes a very pretty strawberry spritzer, too. The rosé and the strawberry infused vodka give it a deep pink blush, enhanced with the basil and crushed strawberries swirling around the ice. This is perfect for warm afternoon happy hours, or a Sunday brunch. So, if you are resolved to a pandemic “staycation” this year, don’t be blue—be in the pink, put on your best blush and enjoy your sunny patio. You will need to plan ahead. The strawberries need to steep in the vodka for up to a week. But once you have the strawberry vodka, you’re in like Flynn and can make all kinds of cocktails—from strawberry vodka lemonade to strawberry vodka tonics and even grown-up strawberry XXX-rated milkshakes—they’re the “berry” best. Fresh Strawberry Collins Yield: 1 serving Ingredients 1 ounce homemade strawberry-infused vodka (recipe below) 1 strawberry, sliced 2 to 4 basil leaves 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar (optional—use it if you need it) 3 oz rosé or white wine (Champagne works well also) 3 oz sparkling soda Ice Directions
Strawberry-Infused Vodka Ingredients 8 ounces of vodka 1 cup sliced, ripe strawberries, sliced Directions
ChefSecret:
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, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. If you have a little extra in your pocket to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #FreshStrawberries #RoseWine #Vodka #Cocktails #HappyHour #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020 How you doin’? I was surfing the internet the other evening and found a post for Stan Freberg and his commercials. When TV was still very young (and I was, too) Stan was one of the voices and puppeteer for Bob Clampett’s, Time for Beany. Stan was an original thinker who, in his 88 years, mastered being an author, actor, recording artist, voice over artist, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. And, that’s where I met Stan. He hired me as the art director on several of his cutting edge— more like biting edge— award winning commercials—Jeno’s Pizza Rolls and Banquet Frozen TV Dinners. In some cases, not only did Stan create the advertising, but there were rumors that he was the creative force in developing the products themselves. Pillsbury bought the Geno’s business in 1989 and dropped the name and the satirical commercials which disappeared from the air—but somewhere in the frozen food section you can still find frozen pizza rolls. Pizza Rolls are the perfect answer when you’re hit with a bout of the munchies. When fried correctly, they're crispy on the outside and sweet and savory on the inside. They're almost too easy to pop in your mouth and it's not uncommon to find yourself eating way more than you originally intended—that’s called the “crave factor.” Although there were several non-Italian “come-back” pizza roll flavors in the Jeno’s line I wanted to share what, at the time was my favorite—a basic pepperoni and cheese pizza roll. See ChefSecret for ideas for other fillings. Prep time: 20 minutes Fry time: 20 minutes Fun time: endless Yield: 20+ pizza rolls Ingredients 2 quarts peanut oil for frying 1 large egg 4 tablespoons water 1 (13-ounce) jar pizza sauce (I prefer Rao’s Pizza Sauce) 8-ounce package sliced pepperoni (I prefer Boar’s Head) 1 cup shredded mozzarella or jack cheese 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 1 package egg roll wrappers (with at least 20 wrappers) Directions
------------------------------------------- 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, be positive, stay well, stay safe, be kind and always give thanks to our many first responders on the line who risk their lives for us daily. If you have a little extra in your pocket to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #PizzaRolls #JenosPizzaRolls #StanFreberg #TimeForBeany #BobClampett #Snacks #Appetizers #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020 How you doin’? Some bakers just can’t resist the urge to stick their finger in a bowl of raw cookie dough just to do a “quality” check—I sometimes do it myself even though I know the risks. Even more concerning is giving in to the kiddies who want to lick the bowl and/or beaters. DON’T DO IT! Every time you do that, you're risking your health (or theirs) due to food-borne illness caused by harmful bacteria contained in raw, unbaked cookie dough. WARNING: There may be bacteria lurking in that batch of raw cookie dough. Learn the simple tricks that make raw, edible cookie dough safe to eat — and it's not just leaving out the eggs. We used to think that the bacteria may be originating from raw eggs, so we created eggless (sometimes tasteless) cookie doughs. Yuck! We thought the way to make edible cookie dough safe to eat was to simply leave out the eggs. Some raw eggs can contain salmonella. But raw eggs alone are not the only problem. We’ve also discovered that E. coli can be viable in baking flour. Unbaked flour itself can contain E. coli contamination and can be just as damaging to your health as raw eggs. So, in short, it’s not advisable to eat raw cookie dough or other foods that use unbaked flour or raw eggs. “But I want to make my favorite cookie dough ice cream! What can I do?” Don’t play Russian Cookie Dough Roulette! Here are some safety tips so you can have your raw cookie dough and eat it, too! How To Pasteurize Flour Kill the bacteria in the raw flour by heating it to at least 165⁰ F to pasteurize the flour. You can quickly and easily pasteurize raw flour using one of these simple methods: Directions
Pasteurize the raw flour in your microwave or oven, let it cool, then use it in edible cookie dough recipes and no-bake cookie recipes so you can indulge in one of life's guilty pleasures—licking the bowl—with a lot less fear. How To Pasteurize Eggs Directions:
How To Make Edible Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Prep time: 15 minutes Yield: Approximately 2 cups Ingredients 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 pasteurized egg (see procedure above) 2 tablespoons heavy cream 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup flour, pasteurized (see procedure above) 1/2 cup chocolate chips Directions
ChefSecret: If you are planning on adding the dough to ice cream, portion out the dough into dime-size nuggets and then freeze when your ice cream comes out of the ice cream maker. Adding unfrozen particulate to ice cream will make it icy and not quite as desirable. Special Note: If you are looking for a Keto-friendly version of Edible Cookie Dough, drop me a note and I will send it out to you--ed@perspectives-la.com. ------------------------------------------- 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 also being posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe, be kind and always give thanks to our many first responders on the line who risk their lives for us. If you have a little extra in your pocket to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #Dessert #CookieDough #Ecoli #Salmonella #PasteurizedEggs #PasteurizedFlour #IceCream #FoodSafety #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020 How you doin’? As the weather continues to heat up, I am always looking for “cool” foods that don’t require much cooking. I grew up on Asian foods (I probably learned to eat with chopsticks before a knife and). My Saigon Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls recipe is a great Asian dish with training wheels that doesn’t require a lot of skill… just a little practice and patience to learn how to roll the rolls correctly, tight and neat. You may need to buy a few specialty Asian products from your local Vietnamese market, but most of the ingredients can easily be found locally. Make sure that you have all your ingredients prepped, sliced and cooked beforehand though as this will make assembling these fresh spring rolls more efficient. The dipping sauces adds the custom flavors. You should be able to find most in large supermarkets with an Asian section or a local Vietnamese market. The unique flavors are derived from palm sugar, lime juice and the hot sauce. I think you’ll find Saigon Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls are a light and refreshing change from the Chinese fried variety. Use them as a summertime appetizer or a light lunch. The delicious sauces make a difference. Prep time: 45 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Yield: 8 larger spring rolls Ingredients For the sauces 4 teaspoons Vietnamese fish sauce 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tablespoons palm sugar 1/2 teaspoon garlic-chili sauce 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce 1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts For the spring rolls 2 ounces Asian rice vermicelli (dry weight) 8 large rice wrappers (8-1/2-inch diameter) 8 large cooked shrimp, peeled, deveined and cut in half 1-1/3 tablespoons chopped fresh Thai basil (different from Italian basil) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 2 leaves lettuce, chopped Directions To make the sauces
To make the spring rolls
------------------------------------------- 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 also being posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe, be kind and always give thanks to our many first responders on the front lines who risk their lives for us. If you have a little extra in your pocket to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading. #SaigonSpringRolls #Shrimp #FreshSpringRolls #ShrimpSpringRolls #Appetizers #Peanuts #NationalPeanutBoard #NPB #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica ©PERSPECTIVES/The Consulting Group, Inc. 2020 |
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