37 Cooks

Lavender Berry Gin Fizz and More...

2013-05-24T19:00:00.000-04:00

Sciabica’s Lavender infused olive oil smells glorious. Secondly, it’s a lovely scented moisturizer. Thirdly, it is surprising how many flavors work well with lavender. Lavender is not just floral. It has citrus, herbal, and white pepper notes, too. It is marvelously complex. I found myself adding a few drops to almost anything, just to see what it was like. Like the Lavender Blackberry Vinaigrette. I just made a normal vinaigrette, added a little blackberry puree, and a little lavender olive oil to taste. Here’s a few other things I tried:

Lavender Lemon Curd

Lavender & Blackberry Ganache

Lavender Sugar

Lavender Berry Gin Fizz

The one thing that I really wanted to do was to make Lavender Macarons. Epic fail. The almond cookies taste delicious, but the technical aspects of making a perfect macaron elude me. The feet were imperceptible in one batch. In another batch, every single cookie cracked. In another batch, every single cookie spread into its neighbor and became one long macaron…again without feet. In another batch, I turned off the timer and forgot to pull the cookies out of the oven. Unable to admit defeat, I bought more almonds and sugar and eggs. I will master macarons.

Lavender Lemon Curd (this was supposed to be one of the fillings for the doomed macarons)

by Woo Brower

5 egg yolks (I used an all yolk recipe, because obviously I used all the whites in the doomed macarons.)

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of lemon juice

pinch of salt

1 stick of butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 tsp of Sciabica’s Lavender Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I like a tart lemon curd so there is a little less sugar than most recipes I’ve seen, but feel free to use a full cup of sugar.

In a double boiler, combine yolks, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Strain the mixture to remove any lumps. Stir in the butter pieces until melted away. Add the zest and Sciabica’s Lavender Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Pour into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the curd to prevent a skin forming as it cools. The lavender aroma and flavor was subtle. The lemon is front and center with the lavender subtly floral on the finish.

Lavender Blackberry Ganache (Yep, you guessed it. Another filling for the doomed macarons.)

by Woo Brower

6 ounces of fresh blackberries

3/4 cup of heavy cream, scalded

4 ounces white chocolate (I used Ghiradelli.)

1/2 teaspoon of Sciabica’s Lavender Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Puree the blackberries in a food processor, strain the puree to remove the seeds. Discard the seeds/pulp remaining in the strainer. Set the puree aside. Heat the heavy cream until scalded. Remove from heat and add the white chocolate. Stir to melt the chocolate. Add the blackberry puree and the Sciabica’s Lavender Extra Virgin Olive Oil, stir to combine thoroughly. Allow to cool and refrigerate, tightly covered. When ready to use, whip until fluffy. Can be used as a filling for cakes or hmmmm, I dunno, maybe macarons would be good.

Oh, yeah, the macarons drove me to drink. So I came up with two cocktails…with lavender. One involved an egg white and as we all know, the macaron egg white hex is upon me so that did not turn out…will work on it and report back. The other turned out well enough to soothe my ego.

First, a little Lavender Sugar to rim the glass. The flavor is subtle, as is the color which was derived from a combination of blackberry puree and a teen tiny dab of blue food coloring.

Lavender Sugar

by Woo Brower

2 Tablespoons of white sugar

2 pumps of Sciabica’s Lavender Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon of blackberry puree (turns the sugar pink)

teensy tiny bit of blue food coloring (turns the pink sugar lavender)

(or skip the blackberry and the blue food coloring and just use a teensy bit of purple food coloring)

Combine everything in a small bowl, stir, pressing with the back of a small spoon. Stir until the color is evenly distributed into the sugar. Allow to dry for a few minutes, stir again, until loose. To coat the rim of a cocktail glass rub a cut lemon along the rim and dip the glass into the sugar.

Lavender Berry Gin Fizz

by Woo Brower

1.5-2 ounces of Gin

juice of ½ a lime

2-3 teaspoons of Lavender sugar (to taste—Hunter thought it needed a touch more sweetness)

3 mint leaves torn

3 blackberries (or any berry) muddled

ice

chilled soda water (Lemon Pellegrino would be great, though sweeter)

Into a cocktail shaker add gin, lime juice, and lavender sugar. Shake or stir to dissolve sugar. Add the torn mint leaves, muddled berries and several ice cubes. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Pour into a tall glass, rimmed with the Lavender Sugar, and top with chilled soda water. Stir gently to combine. Alternatively, strain the drink into a chilled

martini glass rimmed with the Lavender Sugar, top with a splash of chilled soda water.

There are aromatic bitters, flower waters, and floral liqueurs that would be really good in this cocktail. Orange bitters, Crème de Violette, Orange Blossom water, St. Germaine to name a few. But, I wanted to try to make a cocktail with the floral element coming from Sciabica’s Lavender Oil.

Chiffonade’s Farro Niçoise with Sciabica Olive Oil

2013-05-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

Though I am not a fan of “fusion” cooking (“Sushi parmigiana anyone?”), I felt Italian could meet French with minimal casualties. Italian farro meets a classic French Salade Niçoise. Below are the directions to prepare the components of this salade composeé or “composed salad”. Each individual vegetable salad is placed as a mound atop a bed of farro, which has been cooked till tender but still slightly chewy and tossed with Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This might seem like a tour de force, but many of the components of the salade can be completed early in the day and the final salade can be assembled just before serving.

This quantity can feed six people generously – or eight people as a first course.

Chiffonade’s Farro Niçoise with Sciabica Olive Oil

by Chiffonade

Components:

farro

hard boiled eggs

roasted peppers

roasted beets

roasted new red and white (or gold) potatoes

green beans (haricots verts)

roma tomato salad (recipe below)

roasted shallot vinaigrette

fresh Blackfin or Yellowfin tuna steaks or loins

anchovies

Niçoise olives

crusty bread to accompany

lettuce leaves in which to place individual salad components

To Prepare Farro:

2 cups farro (see note about farro types)

4 cups water

1 Tablespoon salt

3 Tablespoons Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Combine farro, water and salt in large saucepan. Cook 25-40 minutes, depending on type of farro (see package for specific cooking times). Pour Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil into cooked farro, stir to combine. Spread farro on a half sheet pan and cover with plastic or use a wide, shallow plastic container with a cover. Allow farro to cool to room temperature; then store in refrigerator until ready to use.

To Prepare Hard Boiled Eggs:

3-4 large eggs

ice bath for cooling cooked eggs

Place eggs into a small saucepan and add enough water to cover eggs by one inch. Bring water to a boil and immediately turn off heat. Cover the pan and set a timer for 10 minutes. After ten minutes, drain the eggs and place them in the ice bath. Allow the eggs to cool until easily handled. Peel eggs and place them in a small bowl; cover bowl with plastic. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. At time of service, slice eggs in half vertically. Yolks should be yellow and pliable. (If using extra-large eggs, allow two more minutes for eggs to cook.)

To Prepare Roasted Peppers:

1 large or two small red bell peppers

1 large or two small yellow peppers

Place peppers on stove burners and crank the heat to high. Turn peppers until evenly charred all over. Place peppers in a paper bag, crimp the bag and allow to steam 10-12 minutes.

Peel away char by rubbing surface of peppers with fingers. If peppers are intact (unbroken and with no holes) it is ok to rinse away bits of persistent char. Pull the peppers apart into strips, discard seeds. Place strips of pepper in a bowl with any accumulated juices from inside peppers, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. (The dressing will be applied to the peppers in this bowl.)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

To Prepare Roasted Beets:

6 small baby beets of varying colors

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Wash unpeeled beets and trim off root ends. Place beets on a 12” x 12” piece of aluminum foil and add thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix to coat ingredients. Seal the packet and place on a half sheet pan.

To Prepare Potatoes:

3 small white potatoes (creamers)

3 small red potatoes

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

2 Tablespoon Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cut potatoes into large dice or small wedges. Place potatoes on a 12” x 12” piece of aluminum foil and add thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Mix to coat ingredients. Seal packet and place on the half sheet tray with the beets.

To Prepare Shallots for Dressing:

5-6 small shallots, peeled

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 Tablespoons Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place shallots on a 10” x 10” piece of aluminum foil and add thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil. Seal packet and place on tray with potatoes and beets. Bake the three packets for 45 minutes. Check each for doneness and if not done, return tray to the oven until tender.

Set aside beets, potatoes and shallots to cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel and quarter beets. Place beets in a small bowl, cover with plastic and store in refrigerator until ready to use. (The dressing will be applied to the beets in this bowl.) Place potatoes in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. (The dressing will be applied to the potatoes in this bowl.) Shallots may remain crimped in their foil for use in the dressing.

To Prepare Green Beans:

½ pound green beans (preferably haricot verts)

1 teaspoon salt

Have ready an ice bath to shock the beans.

Bring about 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt. Blanch beans approximately 3 minutes. Shock immediately. Drain, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. (The dressing will be applied to the beans in this bowl.) Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

To Prepare Tomato Salad:

1 cucumber

4 plum tomatoes

¼ small red onion

Peel cucumber, halve lengthwise and remove seeds with a spoon. Slice cucumber, place the slices in a medium bowl. Quarter tomatoes lengthwise. Remove and discard seeds and gel. Place in bowl with cucumbers. Thinly slice the red onion and add to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to use. (The dressing will be applied to the tomato salad in this bowl.)

To Prepare Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette:

roasted shallots (and any accumulated juices)

1 Tablespoon fresh thyme

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

¼ to 1/3 cup red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar

1½ cups Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Place shallots, thyme, salt, pepper, Dijon and vinegar in a blender pitcher and blend on medium speed until shallots are chopped and ingredients are incorporated. Slowly dribble olive oil into blender on medium speed (may need to scrape down sides of blender during this process). Add more oil if a thinner consistency is desired. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

To Prepare Tuna:

1-2 tuna steaks (depending on number of portions needed)

2 Tablespoons Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

sprinkling of salt

This tuna is barely cooked. It is easiest to achieve this by holding the oiled tuna with tongs and simply “kissing” it to a dry nonstick pan as follows:

Rub oil on tuna steaks. Ensure proper ventilation (this cooking method may be smoky). Preheat a non-stick pan for 2 minutes on medium/high heat. Using tongs, hold tuna against the preheated pan for no longer a time than it takes for 1/16" of the tuna surface to become opaque. This should take around 30 seconds or less. Repeat on other side of tuna steak and on the sides of the steak; and continue until all steaks are seared. Place on a plate and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

To Prepare Niçoise Olives:

1 cup Niçoise olives

Niçoise olives are rarely sold pitted. The only prep for these is to pit them. Do not serve the olives with pits.

To Assemble the Salade Niçoise:

Choose a large, wide platter. Remove all salad components from refrigerator.

Stir farro and spoon it onto the platter in one even layer (do not compact farro, it should be aerated). It’s a good idea at this time to choose the approximate location for each of the individual salads and the tuna and eggs.

With the back of a large spoon, create a divot in the farro where the finished salads will be placed.

Add desired amount of vinaigrette to roasted peppers, beets, potatoes, green beans and tomato salads in their respective bowls. Carefully spoon the individual salads into the divots in the farro. (Optional: Place a lettuce leaf in each divot to receive the salads, or simply “frame” each divot with a strip of

lettuce). Slice the tuna into medallions or strips. Place the tuna and eggs and once in place, drizzle a small amount of Manzanillo on them; sprinkle each with a little salt and pepper. Roll the anchovies and place them in a group in a prominent place. If scattered, one may be accidentally served to an unsuspecting diner who may not like anchovies. Scatter Niçoise olives all over platter.

Serve slightly chilled with crusty bread.

NOTE: Pearled farro will take less time to cook than semi-pearled, which will take less time to cook than whole. Cooking time can range from 25-40 minutes, depending on the type of farro used. Be aware of the type of farro used and follow package directions for proper cooking times.

What is "Smoke Point"?

2013-05-24T08:30:00.000-04:00

Many of our cooks had a lot of questions about proper cooking temperatures when using the Sciabica oils. The oils are so fantastic; you don't want to waste a single drop on a cooking temperature mistake! We asked our veteran baker, cook, food blogger and all around outstanding 37 Cooks member, Donna, to investigate. Bookmark this article! You'll want to refer back to it in the future. ~37 Cooks

When you're about to throw some food into a frying pan, you probably want a little oil in the pan, too. But what's the right oil to use?

Flavor, of course, is a consideration. Sometimes you want to add the flavor of the oil to your dish. But sometimes you want the most neutral flavor you can find.

Cost is a factor, too. If you're deep-frying a turkey, you probably don't want to use an artisanal oil that's sold in cut-glass 4-ounce bottles. You want something that's sold by the gallon at a reasonable price.

Smokin' Hot!

And then there's the smoke point. Which is important, but somewhat mysterious, too.

The smoke point is the temperature where a particular oil will...well, smoke. It will begin to break down and burn when it reaches a high enough temperature. After the smoke point comes the flash point - the temperature at which the oil will burst into flames and you'll be calling the fire department.

Okay, maybe not that dramatic if you flame the tablespoon of oil in your frying pan, but still not a pleasant event. Flaming alcohol is good. Burning oil is not. Besides being a fire hazard, the flavor of the oil will change when it begins to burn and smoke, and generally not in a pleasant way. At best, you lose the subtle nuances of a great oil. At worst, it tastes really, really terrible.

If heating your oil to the smoke point is a bad thing, you might wonder why some recipes suggest heating your oil until you see the first wisp of smoke and then adding the food. Seems wrong, right? But in those cases, adding the food lowers the temperature of the pan (and the oil) quickly, so you're immediately below the smoke point. And your steak is nicely seared.

The confusing thing about smoke point is that for every type of oil, there's a range of smoke points, depending on how refined the oil is, how old the oil is (as oil breaks down over time, its smoke point get lower), and what brand of oil you're using.

The more impurities in an oil, the lower the smoke point. That's because it's the non-oil particles in the oil that are going to burn first. That's why butter, with all its lovely milkfat solids, has a much lower smoke point than ghee, which has had all those solids removed.

Impurities in oil are not necessarily a bad thing. The minuscule bits of olive particles in an olive oil can give that oil a lot of flavor. In fact, there are plenty of unfiltered olive oils that have a lot of those bits remaining. And there are flavored oils as well, with citrus, pepper or herb flavors infused into the oils. But are they good for cooking? Maybe...or not.

Some oils have a smoke point printed on the label, and if that's the case, that's the number you can assume to be correct. The manufacturer knows how filtered or refined the oil is, and probably has tested the oil to determine its smoke point. Other oils are labeled "high-heat" oil, and you can assume they're also going to perform well at higher temperatures.

But what about unlabeled oils?

Any highly-flavored oil is probably not intended for cooking, or at least not in great quantities or at high heat. Unfiltered or unrefined oils are also best used as finishing oils, or for very gentle cooking. So you know what not to use to fry your fries. But what oils are good for searing that steak?

After looking at bottles and checking online sources, I found a pretty wide range of smoke points for all of the common cooking oils.

Some of these oils are easily available in every version from unfiltered to very refined (like olive oil) while others are more likely to be refined (like canola or peanut oil). To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a non-refined version of canola oil, and I've only seen one type of unrefined peanut oil, and I'm pretty sure no one would have mistaken that for a high-heat cooking oil.

But somewhere, unrefined oils of every variety probably exist. So check labels for clues, and then you can figure out what the smoke point should be.

When you're cooking in a pan, how hot is that pan?

If you're deep-frying, you should be using a thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oil. But you can't measure the heat in a frying pan the same way. So how hot is a "hot" pan?

If you look at an electric frying pan or similar device, the temperatures probably look something like this:

High: 450°-500°F

Medium High: 375°-400°F

Medium: 325°-350°F

Medium-Low: 275°-300°F

Low: 225°-250°F

But remember how I said that adding food to a hot pot will lower the temperature of the pan? Think about it. Water boils at 202 degrees where I live (more likely 212 degrees where you live) so the temperature of that water will help keep the cooking pot (relatively) cool, no matter how hot you crank the heat. The water keeps the pan cool, because the water temperature can't rise above the boiling point.

Then, when you add room-temperature pasta to a pot of boiling water, that water stops boiling, since the cooler food has lowered the temperature of the water even more.

That same sort of thing happens in a frying pan, as well.

While you're not going to be boiling water in an oiled pan, your food has water in it, and since that water has an upper temperature limit, that will keep the heat in the pan down, at least where the food meets the pan. Of course, the solid matter in the food, as well as the fat, can reach a higher temperature, but those water molecules are never very far away.

And since the food you add to the pan is at a much lower temperature to begin with, that pan cools pretty quickly when the food goes in, just like the pasta water that stopped boiling when the noodles took a dive.

The actual cooking temperature of foods with a high water content, like that big pan of vegetables you're cooking, is likely to be under 300 degrees. Most foods are going to be below 375 degrees under normal cooking conditions. Of course, that depends on the type of pan you're using, how long you heat it, and what sort of food you're cooking. A cast iron pan on high heat for an hour might be glowing red and ready to incinerate anything it comes in contact with, but that's not how most people preheat a pan.

But most foods don't need super-high heat anyway. You want a really hot pan for searing a steak because you want that crusty exterior. But you probably don't want that same effect on your onions and garlic. Or your pancakes.

Taking its temperature - without a thermometer.

If you don't have an infrared thermometer to check the temperature of your hot pan, there are other ways to tell how hot a pan is. Below 212 degrees, a drop of water tossed into a pan will flatten out and evaporate slowly. Above 212 degrees, the water will hiss and evaporate quickly. When the temperature reaches about 375 degrees, droplets of water will dance across the surface of the pan, and that's what many recipes would call a "hot" pan.

Some recipes also suggest looking at the oil in a pan, waiting until it "ripples" in the pan, or waiting for those first telltale wisps of smoke. Which, of course, tells you more about the oil that has reached its limit, than about the actual heat of the pan.

Hot pan - cold oil, or cold pan - cold oil?

Which leads us to the question of when to add oil to a pan. You might have heard the phrase, "hot pan, cold oil; food won't stick" popularized by The Frugal Gourmet. But is it valid?

Harold McGee agrees that the pan should be heated before the oil is added, but he's not as concerned about the sticking. Instead, he says that adding the oil later means that it won't have as much time to break down as it heats up in the pan, so this is better for the oil. Which is better for the flavor of the food.

Others go a step further and say that they don't put oil in the pan at all, but coat their food with the oil instead. This gives the oil even less time to oxidize or burn. This method makes a lot of sense for grilling or when you're used a ridged grill pan.

Cook's Illustrated, on the other hand, allegedly insists on NEVER heating a pan unless it has oil in it. I couldn't find the original statement from them, but I found plenty of references to the admonition, and I heard the same thing from a Cook's Illustrated alum.

I'm not sure why they take this stand, but I suspect it's has to do with potential damage to the pan. It makes sense with nonstick or coated pans since you don't want to damage the coating or have it give off fumes. But I'm not sure what the problem would be with heating an empty cast iron pan, which is pretty much essential when making or heating tortillas, since they're cooked without any oil at all. And spices are often toasted in a dry pan as well.

Most cooking, though, is done with some fat in the pan, whether it's a cooking oil, butter, or duck fat. And pretty much any fat can be used in cooking, as long as you don't raise the heat too high.

I gleaned the following smoke point temperatures from a number of sources. The temperature ranges for some of the oils are due to different opinions on the smoke point. Others, like olive oil, are due to the fact that there are a wide range oils available.

When it comes to olive oil, the unrefined olive oil should probably be saved for use in cold preparations while extra virgin olive oil can take some heat and extra light olive oil can be used for high-temperature cooking.

Smoke Points of Common Cooking Oils and Fats

Butter: 250°-350°F

Butter (clarified or ghee): 375°-485°F

Canola oil: 375°-450°F

Coconut oil: 350°-450°F

Corn oil: 320°-450°F

Chicken/duck fat: 375°-392°F

Grapeseed oil: 420°-485°F

Lard: 360°-400°F

Olive oil: 320°-468°F

Palm oil: 420°-455°F

Peanut oil: 320°-450°F

Safflower oil: 225°-510°F

Soybean oil: 320°-460°F

Sunflower oil: 320°-440°F

Vegetable shortening: 325°-370°F

There are a number of other oils that can be used for cooking - even at high heat - like avocado oil which has a smoke point in excess of 500 degrees for the refined version. But it's a relatively expensive oil that most people would use for its flavor rather than its cooking properties.

To me, the interesting thing is that most oils - if you choose the refined versions - can be used in a pan that has passed the "dancing water droplet" test at 375 degrees. But just because you can cook with an oil, it doesn't mean that you should - some oils really are all about the flavor.

The Sciabica Olive Oil Challenge

2013-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

We get our sponsors in many different ways. Sciabica was a referral of one of our talented cooks and we could not be happier about it! With over 90 recipes submitted, this challenge broke every record for participation by our cooks! Here is Chiffonade's introduction to the challenge. Enjoy. ~37 Cooks

My first Sciabica experience was a potent one. I was introduced to these oils by my friend, Patricia. We planned an impromptu get together where she would provide “an olive oil tasting”. At first, I was skeptical of the flavored oils because I was not interested in partaking in a chemistry experiment. “The olives and whatever flavoring agent is on the label are combined in the press and the oil is never heated,” Patricia explained, and as she is the first cousin of Nick Sciabica, I took this information at face value. I tore off a hunk of crusty baguette, dipped it into the oil, and raised it to my lips.

The aroma that met my nose was incredible. I felt like I had buried my face in a bouquet of freshly picked globe basil. As the bread continued its journey into my mouth, I could feel my taste buds dance in anticipation and the tingle went all the way back to my ears. I tasted, I chewed, I swallowed, I rejoiced. It was like nothing I had ever experienced.

Since that first taste, I have met and dined with Nick Sciabica, enjoyed an entire dinner at SoHo Restaurant in Atlanta designed to showcase the brilliant Sciabica oils, and used them in my home every chance I get. I thought Sciabica oils would be perfect for 37 Cooks because they are so versatile. The varietals lend themselves to any sweet or savory dish and the flavored oils are downright inspirational. Food prepared with Sciabica oil is all over the map - savory, sweet and all places in between.

Whether we are drizzling them on veggies at the table or using them in recipes, Sciabica plays a part in our diet on a nearly daily basis. I like to bake with it and my partner loves to use it in grill marinades (as he would cook everything on a Big Green Egg if left to his own devices). However, sometimes I desire the most honest, pure, unadulterated Sciabica experience - don’t forget that simple, luscious baguette dip.

Meet Lori!

2013-05-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hi, I'm Lori Churchill and I'm thrilled to be part of this group!

I live in the beautiful mountains and high desert of Salt Lake City, Utah. I am a transplant from Washington State where I grew up, but I consider Utah to be my home. I am a proud military wife. My husband Carl (Army Ret. Lt. Col - 21 yrs.) and I have been happily married for almost 25 years. We have two awesome kids, our 19 year old daughter, Denai, and our 16 year old son, Trevor. I completely adore and am devoted to the three of them.

My life is pretty busy. Not only am I a mom and wife, but I'm also a licensed massage therapist of almost 9 years, I sit on the board of my son's Lacrosse team and I'm co-founder, along with my husband, of our specialty coffee company - Lock-n-Load Java.

We have a 9 month old Boxer puppy and three rescue cats. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment, but it was much easier than birthing and raising another child. Every time my kids asked for a sister or brother we ended up at the Humane Society. I admit the puppy was my idea…what was I thinking? Lol!

Nature is soothing to the soul and I feel at peace when I'm outside. I love the outdoors, picnics, skiing, mountain biking, hiking with our puppy Kingston, camping and sunsets with a good German beer or a glass of red wine in hand.

I was a vegetarian for 7 years, so having an organic garden is a must for us. I love the first tomatoes of the season with fresh basil, olive oil (mine will be Sciabica from now on) and a nice drizzle of Italian balsamic vinegar, there's nothing better! We are big fans of supporting our community and getting fresh, top quality ingredients by buying locally. We participate in a couple of CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) where members buy "shares" at the beginning of the season and then share in the harvest with the local farmer. We do both a local organic veggie CSA and a local no hormones pork, poultry, and grass fed beef CSA. As an adult, I've always felt the importance of getting back to our roots. My grandparents owned a dairy farm where they raised their own beef, chicken and pork, and grew their own veggies. They were self sufficient in every way, wasting nothing and conserving everything! I strive for a small carbon footprint in my day to day decisions in order to leave the beauty of the earth and nature to my children and grandchildren.

Before we moved to Utah, my husband and I spent 4 years in Germany. We enjoyed many European cuisines, coffees, beers and wines. We also spent time in France, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Crete, and Greece experiencing great food, spirits and culture.

Cooking is my passion and one of many things that brings me joy…it's an expression of love that I can share with my friends and family. I don't have a signature dish, but I am always up for learning something new. I love to read cook books, search the web for new recipe ideas and garden with my husband. Actually, I mostly just watch him do the work because he's better at it than I am, and he looks good in shorts without a t-shirt! Lol! But really, I do like to harvest everything he grows. It's a good thing he is the gardener, because it's been brought to my attention that I DO NOT possess a green thumb. He is a great cook and was a sous chef during his college days. That is a good thing, because 25 years ago when we first got married, I was on a steep cooking skills learning curve. During that time, he always smiled and ate everything I cooked, even when I couldn't eat it myself. Now we love each other's cooking and I get compliments all the time from him and the kids. Patience is a virtue, right?

If you're like me, a mom, wife and business owner, you have a pretty busy life style. You probably think you don't have time for the daunting task of making freshly prepared lasagna mostly from scratch. But I'm here to tell you that if you break this up into 3 days of small tasks, anyone can take this on.

Old World Garden Lasagna with Toasted Pine Nuts and Béchamel

Day 1 - Make red sauce, strain yogurt, and chop veggies

Day 2 - Make pasta and toast pine nuts and make Bechmel Sauce

Day 3 - Mix ricotta and strained yogurt, cook pasta, sauté veggies, assemble and bake

Ingredients
*Red Sauce

Virgin olive oil (enough to generously cover the bottom of the pan)

1 medium onion - diced

4 cloves garlic - pressed or diced fine

1 - 6 oz can organic tomato paste

2 - 15 oz. cans organic tomato sauce

1 - 28 oz. cans organic crushed tomatoes

NOTE - we often use fresh garden Roma tomatoes to make this red sauce, but canned works well when they are not available

1/4 cup fresh basil (tightly packed)

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 Tablespoon fresh oregano

2-3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar or red table wine

Pinch of salt

*Ricotta and Yogurt

16 oz. organic ricotta cheese

16 oz. organic yogurt (strained for 48 hours)

2 cloves garlic, minced fine

1 organic egg

1 Tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

*Veggies

2 - large organic carrots (thinly sliced)

2 - medium organic zucchini (medium to small dice)

2 - medium organic yellow squash (medium to small dice)

4 cups organic baby spinach

*Whole Wheat and Semolina Pasta

4 medium organic eggs

3 Tablespoons olive oil

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup semolina flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons warm water

*Pine Nuts

1 cup pine nuts (gently toasted)

*Béchamel Sauce

1/4 cup organic butter

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 1/2 cups organic whole milk

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 teaspoons balsamic

Pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper

*Other Ingredients for Assembly

Pecorino-Romano cheese

Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fresh basil

Virgin olive oil

DAY 1

Red Sauce

Sauté onion in olive oil in a large stock pot until soft and translucent. Then add 4 cloves pressed or chopped garlic and gently sauté for another minute. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and your fresh herbs (basil, parsley and oregano) minced. Add 2-3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar or red table wine and a pinch of salt. Now sit back, relax and let and it slowly cook and thicken all day. Don't forget to stir regularly. The house will smell GREAT!

Yogurt

Put three layers of cheese cloth in a strainer (place strainer over a bowl to catch the liquid from the yogurt). Pour the yogurt into the strainer, then cover yogurt with a piece of parchment paper so that it stays moist. I like to cover the yogurt and then loosely tie the four loose ends of cheese cloth together to keep the yogurt from forming a skin on top. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 48 hrs. Discard liquid from yogurt.

Veggies

Chop veggies thinly or dice with food processor. Put in gallon Ziplock freezer bag to store in refrigerator until the third day.

DAY 2

Make Pasta
adapted from Cooking with Chef Jaxon

Put eggs and oil in food processor and gently pulse 2 or 3 times to mix. In another bowl mix whole wheat flour, semolina flour, and salt. Pour all of this flour mixture into the food processor at once and gently pulse 4 or 5 times until the eggs and flour start to come together. Add 2 Tablespoons of warm water and continue to pulse until the dough forms into a ball. Take out and knead by hand for 2-3 minutes - adding dustings of flour until dough is smooth, slightly glossy, and no longer sticky. Put glass bowl over dough and let rest for 30 minutes. Now it is ready to be processed by a Kitchen Aid or similar pasta maker. I make lasagna pasta on measurement #4 on my Kitchen Aid. Allow pasta to dry on a parchment paper lined rack (we use a broom stick) until your fingers do not stick to it when you touch it (approximately 45 minutes). Cut into sections the size of your lasagna pan and stack onto a cookie sheet. Make sure the pasta is dry before you layer it or it will all be stuck together by the next day. Put a plastic bag over the cookie sheet and pasta, and store in the refrigerator.

Toast Pine Nuts

Heat a lightly oiled cast iron skillet and add pine nuts. Stir nuts over a medium heat to lightly toast and brown them, without burning. Store in a bowl overnight on counter.

Béchamel Sauce
adapted from Joy of Cooking

In sauce pan, melt your butter over medium low heat. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 3-5 minutes until a light golden color. Heat milk in a separate pan until hot to touch but not boiling. Pour heated milk into the flour and butter mixture while rapidly whisking it. Bring it to a boil and then turn down to a medium low heat and allow to slowly cook and thicken for approximately 10 minutes. Turn off heat and add balsamic vinegar, grated Parmesan cheese, and seasonings, stirring to thoroughly mix. Store in covered glass or stainless container in refrigerator until the next day.

DAY 3

Mix Ricotta and Yogurt

Finely mince 2 garlic cloves. Chop fresh parsley to yield approximately 1 Tablespoon. Add minced garlic, chopped parsley, ricotta, strained yogurt, 1 egg, and seasonings in glass bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Sauté Veggies

Sauté zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots in olive oil. I usually start with the carrots and sauté them for a couple of minutes and then add the zucchini and yellow squash for another minute or so. Be careful not to overcook since they will cook further in the lasagna dish. Wilt spinach in a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat. Put into a cheesecloth and press out excess water and chop.

Cook Pasta

Heat large stock pot of water to boiling. Add 5 or so pasta sections and cook only 2-3 minutes. You want them al dente - cooked but not soft. Take the sections of lasagna pasta out and place in a strainer, then transfer to a lightly oiled cookie sheet and allow to cool. Once cool, assemble your lasagna. I like to cook my pasta in a few batches so I don't have too much pasta cooking at once - this avoids overcooking and pasta sections breaking as you try to remove them. I cook enough for a section at a time and wait to cook the next section until I need it.

Assemble

Oil the bottom of the lasagna dish and cover with a thin layer of red sauce to begin with. Place your first layer of pasta in your baking pan, add ricotta mixture, veggies, red sauce, cheeses, pine nuts, a little Béchamel, fresh basil then drizzle a little olive oil, layering in this order until done. I was able to do 4 layers of pasta, ending with red sauce and lots of Parmesan cheese and pecorino-romano cheese on top. I would recommend doing at least three layers, but it's purely your preference. Change the direction of your pasta each time you place a new layer.

Cover with foil and bake at 450°F until hot and bubbly. Remove the foil 10 minutes before you remove your lasagna from the oven to brown the top. I like to bake it for a couple of hours and then let is set for 10-20 minutes before serving.

Meet Jackie!

2013-05-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and relocated to Wichita, Kansas in 2003.

Baking is my passion. I love anything and everything to do with the process. I love it so much that I recently opened an in-home bakery. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and I enjoy every minute of it.

My journey into cooking was a long one. I never knew anything about cooking. I thought meals came from a box with the directions printed on the back. I would learn many years later how wrong I was.

I never learned how to cook from my mother, only because by the time I was old enough to begin to understand what cooking was, my mom became very ill with cancer. She did the best she could to teach us other things she thought would be more important in our lives, and for that I am grateful. So, over the next 30 years or so of my life, I cooked pre-made packaged meals, went to restaurants and ate a lot of fast food.

I met my husband 14 years ago. I learned to cook by watching, listening and learning from him (by the way, he happens to be a phenomenal cook). I remember our first grocery shopping trip together. He said, "oh, spaghetti sauce", so I assumed he meant jarred sauce. Oh, was I wrong! He looked at me and said, "You need to put that back. I do not eat that, I make my sauce from scratch." (That was my first lesson.)

One day, about 2 years ago, I said I was going to make spaghetti sauce. My husband chuckled and asked me, "Are you sure that is where you want to begin?" I made the sauce and at dinner that night he took a bite and literally dropped his fork and said "Wow, you did my Grandmother proud!" My love and obsession with cooking had begun.

I do not have any formal training and I have never attended a culinary school. I just fell in love with cooking and find it very relaxing and therapeutic. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in January, 2012. Cooking and baking have been a life saver for me by keeping me motivated.

Besides the bakery I opened a few months ago, I am also the owner of several residential cleaning businesses, one of which I opened in Pennsylvania in 1982. I have since purchased 3 more in the past few years.

I would not consider this my signature dish, but a dish that I love. I was curious to see how the recipe would work using a few different ingredients, especially the roasted red pepper. I was not disappointed.

The roasted red pepper added just that touch of sweetness to the dish. Nothing overpowering, but just a nice off-set with the rest of the ingredients.

Cavatappi with Roasted Red Peppers and Pancetta

adapted from this recipe on goodhousekeeping.com

1 cup freshly grated cheese, divided
1 box or package cavatappi

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 package diced pancetta (if you cannot find diced pancetta you can buy the regular pancetta, cut it into strips, then cut crosswise into chunks)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup pasta water
salt and pepper to taste

1 chopped roasted red pepper (recipe below)

1 cup of cheese, grated and set aside (You can use any cheese you prefer, I used Manchego.)

In a 4 quart pan, add water and bring to a boil. Add cavatappi. Cook until cavatappi is al dente (I used ¼ of a box. You can adjust the amount based on the servings you will need).

While cooking cavatappi, in a medium fry pan over medium heat add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add pancetta and cook until lightly crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove pancetta from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel.

Add garlic and onion to olive oil. Cook until onions are opaque. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Return drained pasta and add the cup of reserved pasta water, pancetta, ½ cup of grated cheese and all remaining ingredients, up to the roasted pepper. Stir until cheese is melted and liquid has been absorbed.

Add 1 chopped roasted red pepper and fold into pasta. It is important to fold the roasted red pepper into the mixture so as not to turn it into mush. Place into serving dish and top with remaining ½ cup of grated cheese.

Roasted Red Peppers

2 medium red peppers

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Core peppers, remove seeds, cut in half and rub with olive oil. Place on baking sheet and pop them in the oven.

Roast peppers for 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven. Place a kitchen towel over peppers and allow peppers to sweat for about 15 minutes.

Peel outer skin from peppers. Place into an airtight container, cover with olive oil and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Meet Jennifer!

2013-05-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

I love vegetables. I think I could probably be a vegetarian. At least I could if bacon didn't exist. Or shrimp. Or scallops. Or Zewigle's white hots (look them up if you've never heard of them, which you probably haven't unless you are from upstate New York).

I'm not sure how this happened, since I grew up in a family that doesn't like "weird" vegetables. By "weird" vegetables, I mean anything other than corn, potatoes, green beans, lettuce, and radishes. Last summer, I got my sister to try arugula, and you would have thought I'd fed her kerosene. She was not a fan. Regardless of the fact that I am the culinary outcast of my family, a lot of what I cook is vegetable-based. I leave most of the meat cooking to my carnivore husband.

I not only love to eat vegetables, I love to grow them. I had my first garden while going to college in South Carolina. My elderly neighbor brought me some tomato plants and what I now realize was the most amazing compost ever. It looked like potting soil, but you could still find the occasional bit of eggshell or lettuce in it. It was good stuff. He let me borrow his tiller, which just about carried me off at first, but I got the hang of it. I dug a hole for each tomato plant, poured in some compost per his instructions, and filled it in. By the end of summer I had the best tomatoes I had ever eaten. I've now had a garden, in one form or another, for the past 10 years.

So, all of this brings me to one of my favorite dishes: Baked Ratatouille. It is not technical, difficult, or fancy, but it's still one of my favorites. To me, there is nothing better than being able to go into the garden and return with a basket full of dinner ingredients. It's like having your own personal grocery store. Although I've lived in Atlanta for the past year, I grew up and lived most of my life (and had most of my gardens) in Rochester, New York. The summers and the growing season are short, but the soil makes for great gardens, and this dish is a wonderful end-of-summer reward to enjoy as the temperatures start to drop and you know that fall is on its way. Although many (including my husband) consider ratatouille a side dish, I think that a bowl of it along with a couple of slices of no-knead bread makes for a perfect meal.

Unfortunately, the vegetables I used this time came from a grocery store, but I just prepared my plot at the community garden today, so hopefully it won't be long before I'll have my own home-grown ingredients.

Baked Ratatouille

adapted from this recipe

3 Indian eggplant, cut into cubes

2 small crookneck squash, cut into cubes

5 medium tomatoes, or equivalent, cored and cut into cubes

3 medium garlic cloves, sliced thin

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

1 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine vegetables, olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper in a baking dish. Roast for 60 minutes, stirring a couple of times during cooking, or until vegetables are cooked through. Stir in vinegar and top with pine nuts.

No-knead Bread

adapted from this recipe

3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surface

1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (7 ounces) water, at room temperature

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (3 ounces) mild-flavored lager

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Mix together flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Mix with a wooden spoon until dry ingredients are incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature overnight.

Pour dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about a minute. Form into a tight ball, pulling edges underneath. Lay dough, seam-side down, onto a piece of parchment paper coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 2 hours, until doubled in size.

Sprinkle top of dough with flour and make a slice with a sharp knife down the center of the loaf. Place dough, still on parchment, into a cast iron pot with a tight-fitting lid. Place covered pot in oven and heat to 425°F. When oven reaches 425°F, bake bread for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake until golden brown, 20-30 minutes longer.

Cool bread on wire rack.

Meet Carol!

2013-05-21T13:00:00.000-04:00

I will always be a Texas girl, no matter where I live, even though I have never cooked a brisket, and never made enchiladas, or chicken fried anything until I moved to St Louis. The Texan comes out in the ingredients I use more so than the style of my cooking, although I do like my food spicy, which should come as no surprise. I'm a little caliente myself. I have always been fascinated with fresh ingredients and I have a special affinity for Italian food. Luckily, I got to spend some time in Amalfi learning to cook the Italian way and I think these two strong, seemingly disparate cultures blend very nicely. I love many things, but cooking is what I do and nothing excites me more than getting creative with ingredients, exquisite or exotic, or just fresh from the garden, and materializing masterpieces from next to nothing. A glass of wine and good friends to share it with makes it that much better. Go ahead and get to know me, you'll think I'm amazing! And funny as hell, too

Life brought me to Annapolis a few years ago where I'm now serving my time until I get home. Luckily there are beautiful farmstands everywhere and I often receive CARE packages from my wonderful Lone Star friends, filled with the things I miss. And, of course, it helps greatly that I am surrounded by people who make me laugh - you know who you are.The lucky live-in recipients have been taught the ways of good food, which has helped them develop refined palates, but they still understand and appreciate the diversity of a Texas taco truck and a good crawfish boil! My daughter is more choosy, the boys more bottomless-pit, but all three share a love of good food. They've never used the children's menu in a restaurant, seemingly born knowing how to order what they liked. They once told a waiter who offered them a kid's menu that they weren't "normal" kids and proceeded to order things that caused him to raise his eyebrows. I mean, "How many pre-teens share calamari and artichoke heart appetizers?". I love it.I live for dinner parties and love cooking for people, in part, because I've always loved an audience; it just means I have to be more creative. Right now, my audience is most often a houseful of high school boys who are learning to eat outside the box! I miss being able to keep things like bread, milk and cheese around for longer than 5 minutes, but two of my kids are excellent cooks themselves. My daughter Stevie, now grown, married and living two hours away in NYC, is my collaborator; on this bio and most other things. She is also my right arm in the kitchen. My youngest son started at six and has been in charge of Superbowl eats ever since. My other son doesn't cook a lick, but he has also never had a bad day in his life - everything is always "GREAT". He depends on a big smile that melts girls' hearts, so it works for him. My kids are, by far, the best thing I ever cooked up!

It's all about good food, good friends and enjoying everything you can. *Clink*

This oil is probably on my list of my top 10 favorite things. As luck would have it, so is this salmon. I used to make this as a whole salmon for dinner parties, because I loved the presentation. It just isn't always practical. So here is the modified, whenever you want it version that still has a little style to it.

1 glass of wine

1 salmon filet cut crosswise into 1 1/2 -2 inch sections

6 or so squares of foil (depending on how many people you will be serving)

Kosher salt

Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Capers

Cocktail Onions

Pour the wine into your favorite glass. Sip. Proceed.

Take two pieces of salmon and place them against each other on a piece of foil, cut sides together. Sprinkle with kosher salt and drizzle with some of that amazing oil. Fold up the sides of the foil a little and cover the top of the fish with capers and cocktail onions. A little of the caper juice is good, too. Seal the packet and continue with the rest of the fish. Place on a baking sheet and cook in a 400°F oven for 10-12 minutes. Drink your wine and wait.

Place the individual packets on your serving dish, along with your favorite sides. Last night was roasted asparagus and yellow tomatoes. Of course, they had more of the oil! I'm trying not to drink it! Enjoy!

Meet Aimee!

2013-05-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

Aimee (left) and Carol (right) meet in
Knightdale, North Carolina!

I'm a 42 yr old single mom living in Raleigh, NC. I have a fantastic daughter, aged 6, and wonderful friends. I don’t think I have any particular style of cooking and I KNOW I am surrounded by much better cooks in this fantastic group! Let’s just say I am competent, always learning, willing to take chances and try new things and I pick things up easily. I grew up with PA Dutch (German) and French food. I can make good, rib sticking meals that my mom always made and every holiday I make the traditional food we had growing up. I don’t think anyone really taught me how to cook. I sort of learned on my own out of necessity. I either lived at home or with a boyfriend who was a professional cook (very convenient!) so it wasn't until I met my ex-husband that I really had to learn how to cook because he certainly didn't know how! I'll never forget that first Thanksgiving turkey I butchered (and not in a good way). I don’t have any particular type of food I like to cook. I don’t do overcomplicated stuff either. Mostly because I don’t want to spend a lot of money on ingredients I’m going to potentially ruin!

One really important thing about me is that I am a HUGE movie buff! I love all kinda of movies but especially old movies. And not just your usual classics like Casablanca and My Fair Lady. I love movie musicals and old black and white movies that no one has ever heard of. I credit my mother for my love of old films. Our favorite movie is Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell and I've turned many people on to that one. I'm a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock and love anything with Cary Grant, Bette Davis, William Powell and Myrna Loy (The Thin Man!), Doris Day, James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara...I could go on and on. If you have a movie question...ask ME! You need a movie recommendation...come to me for help! I love to share my knowledge with anyone who will listen!

It can be challenging to cook for just one or myself and my daughter. I’m trying to learn how to scale things down to 1-2 servings. I’ve been a fan of bento lunches for a few years now and make them for myself every day and make them for my daughter as well (although she’s harder to please). I try to incorporate my dinners into my lunch the next day as often as possible. It’s been really fun and I tend to enjoy my lunches more than I do my dinners!!! My favorite type of meal would be good cheese, some wonderful bread and a glass of wine. The recipe I'm submitting for my post is a simple stuffed mushroom. I can make a stuffed mushroom in my sleep and I happen to have a delightful photo to include.

I chose stuffed mushrooms because I love them and I don’t need a recipe to make them. I can generally make them any time I feel like it because I usually have the ingredients on hand! I really like to make big ones that you have to eat with a knife and a fork, and I really enjoy them with a dollop of Bearnaise sauce. I can eat these as a meal. They never taste the same way any time I make them. I also really wanted to attach the photo of one ready to go into the oven. I love that my little one can be seen in the background with a fork in hand, in her high chair. She has always loved mushrooms.

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 dozen large white mushrooms, cleaned
½ pound ground sausage (regular or spicy)
¾ cup finely diced red onion
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup finely diced red pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 Tablespoons cream cheese, softened
3-4 Tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
¾ cup chopped spinach (you can use fresh or frozen)
½ to ¾ cup bread crumbs

Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems. Finely chop the stems, set aside. Brown the sausage over medium heat. Set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat and add the mushroom bits, garlic, red pepper, onion, spinach and parsley. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5-6 minutes. In a bowl, combine the vegetable mixture with the sausage and stir in the cheeses. Season the mixture and add enough bread crumbs to thicken the mixture so it will easily form into balls.

To prepare your mushrooms, score the bottoms of each with an X. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and glaze each mushroom with melted butter. Place the prepared mushrooms into a baking dish. Stuff each mushroom and top with some extra Parmesan. Bake at 375F for 15 minutes or until the mushrooms are brown and cooked through.

Meet Sarah K!

2013-05-20T13:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! I'm Sarah, the creator of The Garden of Earthly Delights, a food-centric blog for which I write and photograph from my home in Toronto, Canada.

The love for making, sharing and consuming good food was instilled in me from an early age, and part of my childhood was spent living in close proximity to maternal extended family, who are all incredibly fond of food and see it as a way to bond and show their love. We spent countless days at our grandparents’ – my grandmother always saw to it that there were at the very least three different main dishes on the table and an abundance of rice; my grandfather marinated chicken and ribs for the grill while we collected ripe plums and crabapples from their backyard trees – and countless hours in restaurants, sometimes driving almost an hour outside the city just to visit a particular restaurant that my grandparents (and by extension, the rest of the family) favoured, where they laid dish after dish on the table(s), and carved our meat tableside while we watched with greedy eyes. Over mouthfuls of food we talked and laughed, and ate till we were stuffed, and there were always plenty of leftovers to take home.

To this day I favour entertaining as my grandparents did; long, leisurely family-style meals with plenty to spare.
My cooking style varies wildly with the situation, but I'm a big fan of variety on the table, so I often make things that can be served in small portions. These scallop "sandwiches" are a great two-bite party food - serve them secured with cocktail picks or peeking out of a parchment "wrap".

Scallop, Avocado & Bacon Sandwiches

12 large (U/10 count) sea scallops (dry-packed is best to get a good sear)
8 strips of bacon
1 large avocado
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Minced chives

Cut each strip of bacon into thirds, crosswise. Fry in a skillet until done. Drain on a paper towel.

Remove the "muscle" from the scallops and pat them dry with a paper towel. Heat a pan with some of the rendered bacon fat, and sear the scallops on high heat. You'll want to cook them in small batches, so that they aren't touching each other, or they won't get a good sear. This should take about 2-3 minutes per side. It's okay if they are slightly undercooked in the middle when you remove them - as they rest, they'll finish cooking.

While the scallops cool slightly, remove the flesh from the avocado and pour the lemon juice on top. Mash it up with a fork.

When the scallops are cool enough to touch, slice them in half with a sharp knife. Place a spoonful of avocado, a sprinkling of chives, and two pieces of bacon on one half of the scallop, and then sandwich with the other half.

Enjoy!

Meet Matt!

2013-05-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

I'm Matt, a.k.a. Matt the Butcher! I hate talking about myself, but here it goes. I live in central Florida, where it's way too hot for eight months out of the year. I've been cooking for most of my adult life. I really can't remember cooking as a kid, or what got me started cooking. I just know that I do love to cook, for myself and my family, and I get great pleasure watching others enjoy the food that I've prepared. I don't think I have any particular cooking style so to speak, but some of my favorite things to cook are a nice Boston butt that's been on the smoker for 10 or 12 hours, a Detroit-style pizza that I've been experimenting with, and any odd cuts of meat I can find, which includes most any kind of
offal. I'm a butcher by trade, working in a large grocery store. I absolutely love cutting meat and sharing recipes with all of my customers.

I'm also a self-taught cake decorator. When my kids were very young I started making their birthday cakes. Just the usual round 2 layer cakes, but as they got older the cakes became more and more complex, up to the point where I've made wedding cakes for a couple of my kids! So, if I could learn to make candles, I guess I'd be the person you've all heard of but never met: The Butcher, the Baker and the Candlestick maker!

When I'm not working or cooking, I like riding my old Harley or playing racquetball with my kids and grand kids. I'm addicted to tattoos, having about 15 or so. I'm in the process of getting my entire arm completely covered in ink. I like to think I've had a big influence in my kids being interested in cooking. My oldest son placed third in a Boston butt cook-off last year, and most of my other children love to cook, as well as my grandchildren! I can remember my oldest grandchild, Kay, sitting on the counter watchin' Grandpa cook when she was just a baby. She's 17 now, and cooks for her brothers and sisters when her Mom works late. At the moment, we have our 3 year old grandson living with us and he's my little sous chef, taking every pot and pan out of the cabinets and cooking along with me on the floor in the kitchen. My namesake grandson, Matthew, is 7 and he likes to cook on the BBQ while his Dad keeps an eye on him.

Matt the Butcher's Almost World Famous Mac 'n Cheese

Of all the different things I cook, I think this is my wife's favorite. Kinda her comfort food.

1 pound elbow macaroni
6 Tablespoons butter, divided in half
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
3 Tablespoons flour
3 cups milk (any kind)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon annatto, if desired (for coloring)
1 pound extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Cook macaroni until it's about 2/3 of the way done (remember, it's gonna cook more in the oven). Drain macaroni and set aside. Melt 3 Tablespoons butter and mix with the bread crumbs; set aside. In the same pot that you cooked the macaroni in, over medium heat melt 3 Tablespoons butter and whisk in the flour, stirring and cooking for about 5 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add the milk and spices, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat and add the cheese in 2 batches, stirring until all the cheese is melted. Add the drained pasta and mix well. Turn the mixture out into a 9x13 inch baking dish, cover with the bread crumb mixture. Place in a 450°F oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are browned and the cheese is bubbling. Try and wait for about 15 minutes before serving. :)

Meet Sarah!

2013-05-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

My twin brother and I were adopted from Costa Rica when we were three. We grew up in a very loving home by the best Mom and Dad anyone could wish for. My Mom was the main cook in the house, always preparing a comforting classic meal that included a protein, a vegetable and a starch. In 8th grade, my Grandmother moved in with us and did a lot of the cooking and baking. It was always delicious. While my Dad didn’t do a lot of the daily cooking, he is quite the master when it comes to things like chili, pasta sauce, ribs and shrimp scampi. Thinking back, I grew up eating very, very well!

I never took an interest in being in the kitchen except for when it was time to eat. I now regret this because the beloved foods I grew up eating were lost when my Mom passed away in 2007. I wish I had taken the time to learn more about how she did things in the kitchen. I still dream of
her roasted chicken!

I really began cooking and taking a real interest in food after I met my fiancé, Mike. If I hadn’t, I would be eating dinosaur chicken nuggets and blue box macaroni and cheese every night, which is his specialty. One of my greatest pleasures is cooking for Mike and having him enjoy what I prepare. Although I don’t feel I have a specific style of cooking, I can say that I love simple, satisfying meals. That works for Mike, too, as he is definitely a man of simple taste. Though my Mom never had the chance to cook for him (we met two months after she passed away), he prefers meals with a protein, a vegetable and a starch, also. He would have loved her! I get very excited when Mike tries something new and discovers that he likes it. With my help, he is eating a lot more vegetables!

Mike is my rock and is always very supportive and encouraging. It doesn't matter if it’s getting through college, my career as a crime analyst for my local police department, or being a part of 37 Cooks, he is always there for me. Without him, I doubt I would make my deadlines for 37 Cooks! Even though Mike likes to say I have a food “problem” (eating, cooking, watching, reading and thinking about food 24/7 isn’t a problem, right?), it all leads to us sitting down to a home cooked dinner together, which is my favorite part of each day.

Not My Mom’s Meatloaf Dinner

I always keep my mom with me in everything I do, including in the kitchen. What is more classic comfort food than a meatloaf dinner? I remember having meatloaf my mom made and the family dinners we enjoyed. My meatloaf is different than my mom's, but it's just as delicious! As she always did and Mike likes best, I serve it with starch and veggie side dishes. Make your favorites, these recipes are what I had on hand! Also, I made this dinner for two, so if you are cooking for a family you can double it up.

Meatloaf:
Olive oil
1 celery stalk, finely diced
¼ small onion, finely diced
4 baby carrots, finely diced
2 strips bell pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
Salt and pepper
½ pound lean ground beef
1 egg
4 Tablespoons ground flax seed
Parsley, finely chopped
Few shakes Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Squirt Dijon mustard

Have a pan on medium high heat and drizzle in a bit of olive oil, enough to cover the pan. Add in all the veggies, the tomato paste, salt and pepper and sauté until soft. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and the cooled veggie mix. Mix to combine. Separate the mixture into two and free form two meatloaves onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Serve with a“baked potato” and greens.

Easiest “Baked Potato”:
2 medium sized russet potatoes

This isn’t a recipe, it's just how I do my potatoes the easiest way when I want a "baked" one to go with a meal. I’m not reinventing the wheel, of course, so I let the microwave do the work! Punch the potatoes with a fork a few times all around, and nuke it until soft and tender, about 7-8 minutes. We like to open it up; add a few dabs of butter and salt and pepper.

Sautéed Greens:
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Big pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 big handfuls of chopped chicory
2 big handfuls of chopped escarole
2 big handfuls of spinach
Juice from ½ lemon
Salt and pepper

This just happened to be the greens I had in my fridge, but you can use any delicious mix! Cover a pan over medium hot heat with olive oil. Add in the garlic and crushed red pepper. Add in the greens, a bit at a time, until they wilt and you can fit more in. Once they have all wilted down and are tender, add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and serve.

Meet Maurita!

2013-05-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

My name is Maurita Plouff, and I'm a rustic cook.

When I was growing up, I was only allowed into the kitchen to dry the dishes. I started cooking when I went off to college, because I figured it would be cheaper to cook for myself. I was right, but along the way, I had to learn to accept some fairly horrible meals. Thus I had an interest in improving rapidly, and fortunately I learned quickly. Cooking soon became an abiding interest. Sometimes I wonder if this is an ongoing act of rebellion, because to this day I refuse to dry the dishes with a towel.

My interest and skills grew over the years. I have worked in the food biz as a personal chef, and my business did well for 7 years, but I'm cooking only for my family and friends now. I prefer to eat local foods in season - they're fresh! they taste fabulous! - and do my own canning and preserving. I suppose I'm an old-fashioned cook.

The best word to describe my cooking style would be 'rustic' - with connotations of homemade, charmingly simple, imperfect in appearance. I would much rather cook (and eat!) simple food prepared well, than an ambitious concoction that's been tortured into a perfect sphere. In my kitchen, food isn't ever fussy.

Inspiration for my cooking comes from the season, the weather, what's in the market, and what I have on hand. Today it is grey, rainy, and cold; I don't want to go out of the house. Hm, what to cook? I rummage through my preserves cupboard, and find a big jar of peaches I put up in the summer. Ahha! That will become a cobbler, and I'm off to the kitchen.

I give up: choosing just one recipe to represent what I cook wasn't going to happen; I rarely cook the same thing twice. Instead, I thought I would write about a typical "Market Day Menu". Now this does represent me, my approach to cooking, my recipes, my lazy Saturdays, and my philosophy in the kitchen.

I cook local and seasonal food, and I take a relaxed attitude toward cooking it. Saturday mornings will typically find me at the local Farmers Market. I have special connections to some of the farmers, and go back to them week after week for the best food around. Last Saturday was absolutely typical: I got to the market early, walked around to check out all the stalls. I went home with the first rhubarb of the season, leeks, and two whole chickens.

The rhubarb came from a greenhouse, and oh, it's wonderful after the long winter. I sit down with a cup of strong tea, and start to plan. Hm, it's chilly: let's use the oven. Rhubarb crumble, it's the easiest ever, get it in the oven first. Then prep the chicken with the last of my winter citrus and a handful of hardy sage. There's enough to invite friends over, and we'll hang out in the kitchen, playing cards or chatting, during the lazy afternoon.

Welcome to my rustic kitchen!

Rhubarb Crumble
serves 6-8

Filling:
2 pounds rhubarb, washed, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 to 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Crumble Topping:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces), very cold

Heat the oven to 375F. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the rhubarb and the sugar -- use more sugar if you prefer it sweeter, though I rather like it tart. Mix in the flour, cardamom, and vanilla extract, and toss to combine. Spoon into a 3-quart (9" x 13") baking dish.

Make the topping: put the flour, salt, and brown sugar into a food processor and pulse to combine. Cut the butter into small cubes, and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse several times, until the bits of butter are pea-sized. (If you prefer, use a pastry cutter or two knives for this step.) Spread the topping mixture over the rhubarb.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the topping is lightly browned. Let cool for at least half an hour before serving.

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Herbs

1 4-pound chicken
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 lemon (or 2 Meyer lemons)
1 bunch herbs (sage, rosemary, and thyme are all great)
1 Tablespoon oil

Prepare the chicken: remove the neck and any bits left ragged around the cavity. Dry the cavity, then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of kosher salt inside the cavity. Chop the lemon(s), and put the pieces, along with the herbs, into the cavity as well.

If you're not going to use a rack in your roasting pan, position the wings to stabilize the bird: twist them so that the bird is "crossing its wings behind its back". Spread oil over the bird, so that the skin will brown nicely all over.

Put the chicken in a shallow baking pan, and roast at 375F. After an hour and a quarter, check the bird for doneness - I wiggle the drumstick, and if it falls off in my fingers, the bird's done! - and let it rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

TIP: roasting 2 chickens in a larger pan takes about the same effort and time as roasting one. And you get all that lovely chicken meat to use later!

Meet Donna!

2013-05-16T13:00:00.000-04:00

I really don’t remember a time when I wasn’t helping in the kitchen – peeling, chopping, mixing … or standing on a kitchen chair in front of the stove melting butter for popcorn.
Growing up, we lived in a tiny apartment, so I was never far from the kitchen. Even if I wasn’t paying attention, my mother was nearby, chopping, stirring, seasoning, and serving. She seldom used recipes – everything was done by taste, and that’s how I learned to cook. I can’t really say that she taught me how to cook – it was more like I absorbed it from being around it all the time.

I have to say that I was completely surprised when I found
out that people used recipes for things like soup or turkey stuffing or meatloaf. I thought everyone cooked like my mother did, and that recipes were for things like making pickles.

My mother didn’t do much baking, but once I left the maternal nest, I fell in love with baking bread. There’s something magical about the way a mixture that’s mostly flour and water can start off so lumpy and ragged and sticky, but end up smooth and stretchy and bouncy.

When I first started making bread, I used recipes. But I found that most bread recipes made two -- or sometimes even three -- loaves of bread. It never made sense to me to make two loaves at a time, so I started modifying recipes to make a single loaf. Then I started experimenting with different flours and crazy ingredients. And when I started my blog, Cookistry, I posted a lot of bread recipes.

I don’t know if I actually have one signature bread recipe, but I have one that is the template for many of my breads. I swap flours, change the type of sugar or fat, or change the shape of the bread because I know the basic recipe is so reliable. This bread recipe is nearly foolproof, and it works with a variety of different kneading methods, from hand kneading to machine kneading to no-kneading. I also use this same recipe in my bread machine, but with less yeast.

Basic White Bread

1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
11 1/4 ounces (2 1/2 cups) bread flour
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, let it sit for a minute or two, then add the flour. Knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth. Add the salt and olive oil and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest until it doubles in size, about an hour.

Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Knead the dough just enough to knock out the air, then form it as desired. This will make 1 loaf or 12 buns, and you can make the loaf free-form or use a bread pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until it has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Uncover the bread (or buns). If you made a loaf, slash it as desired.

Bake at 350 degrees until the dough is nicely browned, about 30 minutes.

Let the loaf (or buns) cool on a rack.

Meet Susan W!

2013-05-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, I’m Susan Whempner. I live in pretty, sunny Southern California with my wonderful husband of almost 28 years, and our 24 year old son, who is a recent college graduate. I enjoy quilting, photography, gardening, travelling and my husband and I have recently taken up the hobby of target shooting. Of course, I also love to cook.

When I was growing up, my mom was a very good home cook, as were both of my grandmothers. I have fond memories of my mom’s Toll House cookies, her spaghetti sauce, and her wonderful meatloaf, which she made on top of the stove instead of baking it in the oven. I
also loved all of the different goodies both of my grandmothers used to bake. As a young girl, I don’t remember spending a lot of time in the kitchen helping out. When I was a little older, I started making meals once in a while after my mom went to work for my dad, who had his own business at the time. It wasn’t until I got married and started making meals for my husband that I really came into my own and discovered my love for cooking, especially baking.

I’m busy all the time, whether it’s getting a quilt finished for a gift, running errands, getting things done around the house or helping out a friend, so my style of cooking is usually quick and simple. While it’s a lot of fun to fix fancy, complex dishes, when it comes right down to it, what I usually make is comfort food that I can fix in a hurry, but is packed with lots of flavor. If I can get more than one meal out of a dish, even better! I have a great time playing with recipes, tweaking ingredients, and I also enjoy developing my own recipes. When I do follow a recipe, I rarely make it “as is” because it’s fun to put my own twist on things. I enjoy trying lots of new dishes and I have a very bad habit of forgetting to make a note of where I found a really great recipe. The running joke in my family is “don’t get used to this (fill in name of dish here) because we’ll never see it again”.

Here is one of my very favorite ways to prepare chicken when I’ve had one of those busy, on the go days. It’s easy to make, and it proves that a recipe doesn’t have to be complicated or have a lot of ingredients to be delicious. I always roast more than we need for that particular meal because the leftover chicken is great in quesadillas (recipe below), soup, or shredded and tossed into a nice crisp, cold salad on a hot summer day. The possibilities are endless.

Simple Oven Roasted Chicken

One large package of bone-in fryer chicken pieces, or you can make this recipe with a whole chicken
Extra virgin olive oil (my favorite is to use a garlic infused olive oil)
Your favorite spices or spice blend (here’s one of our faves)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rinse and pat the chicken pieces dry. Brush all over with olive oil and sprinkle both sides with your seasoning choice. If you’re roasting a whole chicken, rinse and pat dry. Brush outside with olive oil; rub some of the seasoning inside the cavity and sprinkle all over the outside. Roast until internal temperature reaches 165°F (about an hour to an hour and a half for chicken pieces, or 1 ¾ to 2 hours for a 3 to 4 pound whole chicken).

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

2 cups leftover chicken from Simple Oven Roasted Chicken, shredded
one small can (4 ounces) fire-roasted, diced chilies
¼ to ½ teaspoon cumin (according to taste)
¼ to ½ teaspoon chili powder (according to taste)
enough softened butter to spread on tortillas
4 burrito sized flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese (I like a blend of Monterey Jack and Cheddar)
your favorite salsa
sour cream

Combine the chicken, chilies, cumin and chili powder in a microwave-safe dish. Cover and microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, until hot. Lightly butter one side of each tortilla. Now start heating up a skillet over medium-high heat (don’t add anything like butter or oil to it). On one half of the non-buttered side of each tortilla, sprinkle some cheese, then some of the chicken mixture and top that with more cheese. Now sprinkle a drop or two of water on the skillet...if the water "dances" around the skillet then it's hot enough. Place quesadilla directly on heated skillet and cook until golden brown. Flip and do the same for the other side. Cut each into wedges and serve with your favorite salsa and sour cream, if desired. I usually make these for a fun weekend lunch and serve along with some tortilla chips. If I make them for dinner, I add Spanish rice and refried beans as sides for a complete meal! Quick, easy and delicious! Serves 4

Meet Traci!

2013-05-15T13:00:00.000-04:00

Hi! I am Traci and I live in The Piney Woods of East Texas. I consider myself a comfort cook. It is just my husband and me, so we kinda play it by ear when it comes to meals. While I do try to plan for the week, something will happen, like working late, or having to run errands after work. We love to cook outside when we can. I have become a fan of smoking foods out on our deck. While I am not good yet, I enjoy the thrill of it.

I am a passionate baker! Every week, I make a sweet for my Honey to share with others at work. Yes, I do take requests. Some even come from his customers. I am so thankful to be a part of 37 Cooks. We started as acquaintances, and have become friends. I have become a better person in the kitchen and I ADORE having 36 other voices for encouragement and answers!

Fried Chicken Wings

This is a recipe I came up with after having too many overly breaded wings in my life. This is a light, well seasoned breading. We love wings prepared in many different ways, but this one is my favorite, so I chose to share it with you. I use this breading on shrimp, and even used it recently on some avocados.

8 whole wings separated at joints (tips are added to my chicken bag in the freezer to save for stock)
1 cup All-Purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne (ancho or Aleppo will also work)
1 teaspoon salt (always optional)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup hot sauce

vegetable oil, for frying

In a large bowl, beat the eggs well and add the hot sauce. Add the wings, toss them in the mixture and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of your ingredients. I have been known to let them marinate for an hour or so.

Combine all dry ingredients in a vessel of your choice (I like to use a plastic gallon-sized baggie). Mix well. Grab your chicken wings from the refrigerator. Use the largest frying pan you are comfortable with, you can always fry the wings in batches. You don't want to crowd them while they are frying.

Heat the oil over medium heat. At this point, I like to cook one wing for a taste test. Using tongs, take 1 piece of chicken out of the egg mixture, dredge it in the flour mixture and place into the hot oil. I cook it for about 6 minutes on each side; the chicken is ready when the juices run clear. This test will give you a better idea of how long you need to cook it. When it is done, drain on a paper towel. Taste and adjust seasoning of the flour mixture, if needed. Cook the rest of your chicken. These wings have such great flavor, we don't even dip them in anything. Of course, you could serve them with extra hot sauce, ranch, and even honey mustard.

I hope you try these wings and enjoy them!

Meet Christine!

2013-05-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

I get my fondness for cooking from my grandma and mom. My grandma was a stay-at-home-stick-to-your-ribs kind of cook, and my mom was a wrap-it-in-foil-then-bury-it-in-the-campfire kind of cook. We spent the summers waiting for my grandfather to get home from work so we could go down the hill, dig for clams and catch fish, or whatever happened to crawl in the traps. Back then, mussels were considered bait for the traps. Now I spend a lot of money for them. Who would of thought? Growing up, we were always told to take at least one bite and if we didn't like it, we didn't have to eat it. Well, I usually loved it. Now this is what I tell everyone at my table when I dish up something new. There have been many adventures in my kitchen. I love to try new things and with my family, friends and my 37 Cooks family, I have discovered a whole new adventure to get lost in...

Fish & Chips & Scallops Hugged Tight with Bacon

Fries:
deep fryer or large sauce pan

oil for frying

heat enough oil (about 3 cups) to 350°F

4 large russet potatoes

wash potatoes and trim any bruised parts

slice into long sticks about 1/4 inch thick

When oil is hot enough, fry for about 5 minutes, remove and drain on paper towels and set aside.

While fries are cooking, wrap your scallops:

1 lb sea scallops, rinsed and patted dry

1 slice bacon per scallop

toothpicks or kabob sticks

Wrap 1 slice bacon around each scallop and secure with a toothpick, or place 2-3 on a kabob stick.

Place each, bacon side down, into the oil and fry about 4 minutes per side, until bacon is crispy.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

While scallops are cooking make your fish batter:

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

2/3 cup cold beer or water

Mix until smooth and thick.

Then the fish:

2 pounds haddock or cod

Rinse and pat dry. Trim any unwanted skin and check for pin bones.

Cut into serving size pieces, or you can leave whole.

Dip fish into batter, let any excess drip off and fry until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Turn every few minutes. Drain on paper towels. While fish is draining, place fries back into oil to finish cooking, about 3-4 minutes. Remove and drain. Serve with rolls, lemon, tarter sauce and malt vinegar.

Meet Jenny!

2013-05-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

I was taught to cook by my grandmother at a very young age. My grandmother is also my inspiration for attending culinary school. I am currently a junior at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, studying culinary nutrition and hope to become a registered dietitian after graduation. I graduated with my associates degree culinary arts in November 2012. I was diagnosed in 2008, at the age of 26, with Celiac Disease and have been cooking and baking gluten-free ever since. I started my website, Creative Cooking Gluten Free right after my
diagnosis. I knew very little about the disease, but I knew I had to get really creative with my cooking, hence the name of my website. My time at culinary school has helped me hone my skills as a chef and recipe developer. I also co-founded and am the vice president of a gluten-free group on campus where we raise awareness of Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten intolerance/sensitivity. I love cooking all foods from different regions, but love cooking with Asian flavors the most. This probably stems from my slight obsession with the Asian cultures, cuisine, and diet. Thankfully, Bryan loves Asian cuisine as much as I do, we could live on it, and almost do. On my website, you will find many "regular" recipes that I have reformulated to be gluten-free, especially those from P.F. Chang's. My favorite recipes include a version of a P.F. Chang's classic: Beef a La Sichuan and my grandmother's meatball recipe. These two dishes scream comfort food to me but for very different reasons.

I currently lives in RI with my boyfriend Bryan (who has his own dietary restrictions) and our awesome ten-year old Jack-A-Bee Penny that we adopted last year.

P.F. Chang’s Beef a La Sichuan

Sauce Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce (I use San-J)
2 Tablespoons gluten-free Hoisin sauce (I use Dynasty)
1 Tablespoon garlic chili paste
1/2 teaspoon Chinese hot mustard
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chili oil/or Mongolian Fire Oil (made by House of Tsang), optional
1-2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Stir Fry Ingredients:

3-4 medium celery stalks, julienned
2 medium carrots, julienned

1 pound flank or sirloin steak sliced thin
1/4 cup corn starch

1/2 cup peanut oil or canola oil (you may use less if using a non-stick pan, I only use about 1/4 cup)
Green onion stems, optional

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or whole Tien Tsin Chinese chili peppers)

1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Julienne your carrots and celery and set aside. It is important to get these done first because when it comes time to stir-fry them, it is a very quick process.

An important step is “velveting your beef” – thinly slice your beef and place in a bowl. Add the cornstarch and toss to make sure each piece is thoroughly coated. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Rinse the beef free from all cornstarch and pat dry – you do not want any moisture, or the oil will splatter when you add the beef to the pan.

In a skillet (or wok), fry the sliced meat in hot peanut (or canola) oil until crispy to your liking. Remove from the oil, drain on paper towels.

In the same pan (or wok) add the sesame oil and the following ingredients in this order: celery, crushed red pepper flakes (or Tein Tsin Chinese chili peppers), followed by the carrots. Do not overcook these ingredients – you want them to be nice and crispy.

Add the fried meat and green onions.

Add the sauce and bring to a fast boil, cook for 1 minute and serve immediately over white or brown rice.

This last step should take only 3-4 minutes – it is a very quick process so be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't overcook.

Notes:

I sliced my beef a little bigger than P.F. Chang’s does but not by much and didn't fry it as much as they do. Sometimes the beef can become a bit tough when it is fried for too long, so I left mine a little tender but it still had a slight crunch to it.

The veggies were perfect – like the directions above say DO NOT OVER COOK them, they are supposed to be nice and crunchy. This process goes very quickly.

I drained off most of the remaining oil from frying the beef before adding the sesame oil and veggies. I didn't want it to be too oily.

The recipe called for chili oil but I couldn't find it anywhere around me (my grocery stores aren't so good with stocking “international” cuisine products) so I left it out and didn't miss it at all.

The sauce was created from memory so if you have had it more recently and attempt to make it at home please adjust the measurements to your liking.

I cooked this in a wok but you can use a large sauté pan.

Gram’s Meatballs

(Just a little bit of a note: my grandmother has made this recipes for so many years, none of us are quite sure of the exact amounts, but I’m going to include some that I find work best in the gluten-free version.)

1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs – use 2 slices of gluten-free bread and pulse in a food processor until fine

1/2 teaspoon water

1 pound of ground beef (or 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork – the method I prefer)

1 egg

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan

1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground)

In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and about 1/2 teaspoon of water. You want the crumbs to be moist but not wet. This will help with the binding process in the meatballs.

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well, but do not overmix.

Roll meatballs to your desired size.

Stove top: cook the meatballs in tomato sauce over low to medium heat until the meatballs are cooked.

Bake: you can bake the meatballs in the oven to your desired likeness.

Meet Chris!

2013-05-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there! My name is Chris, and I'm SO thrilled to be a new addition to 37 Cooks! I am a true Texas gal, born in Fort Worth, raised on a ranch out West, a UT- Austin grad, and a current Houston resident!!! I love my Longhorns, Astros, and Texans (amongst others), but more than any of those, I love to cook!!! I am a bilingual elementary school teacher who loves her job, puppies, and cats. I love my hubs, "S", as well. But that's another story. I
also like to camp, travel, and read, but again... back to the food!!!

I must admit that growing up in a farm-style environment has definitely influenced my work in the kitchen today. I personally feel that there is a nice balance to be found in life, food included. Baking is fun on occasion, but I'm a cook at heart. A recipe, to me, should be a guideline, not a blueprint. I can't draw, paint, or sculpt, but I express my creativity in the kitchen. And I LOVE it!

I did live in Venezuela for awhile, so I have a certain nostalgic take on lots of recipes. If I were to describe my cooking style, I'd have to say that I am... a serious Texan, including BBQ, brisket, and Tex-Mex... with a German mother and a love for New Mexican and Caribbean influences... lots of spice and Latino flavors are hanging out in my kitchen, and I'm trying my hand at more Creole/ Cajun and Seafood. My surroundings inspire me, and I am proud to be who I am. Oh, and we do enjoy adult beverages around here, so don't be surprised if you stumble upon a concoction every once in awhile!

I'm really excited to be a part of this awesome group, and I look forward to sharing a lot of new ideas with you all! Cheers!!!

Caribbean Corn Bread, Texas-Style
adapted from a recipe in At Blanchard's Table by Melinda and Robert Blanchard

I'm always looking for new ideas and inspiration. This, however, is a time-tested, group-approved, down-South (well Texas Coast, at least) side that goes with just about anything. The original recipe is from the cookbook "At Blanchard's Table", by Melinda and Robert Blanchard. The (extra and varied) cheese mixture and jalapeño additions make it mine! I think that it's a good representation of my style of cooking -- a little sweet, a little rich, a little spicy... all rolled into one. Can be enjoyed with BBQ, chicken, salads, or as a nibble. I've even sliced a piece open, tossed in some sausage, and called it breakfast!!! Please try it -- and enjoy every bite!!!

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ pound butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
1½ cups cream-style corn
½ cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 1/2 cups shredded jalapeño Monterey Jack and "the sharpest" cheddar that you can find (a mix of the two)
3 Tablespoons minced pickled jalapeños
2 Tablespoons pickled jalapeño juice, from the jar or can

1. Heat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a large, deep pan, 9" x 13" (disposable is best). I usually line a cookie sheet with foil and place the pan on top of that. Trust me, it's worth the extra effort!!!

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the corn, pineapple, and cheese. Mix to blend.

4. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until blended well.

5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour, 1 hour and 15 minutes. (It usually takes longer.) Don't undercook!!!

6. The cornbread is done when there is a nice, firm, browned top on the dish. The "toothpick" test doesn't really work on this, as you want the bread itself to be moist and crumbly. Once you have a solid top on the cornbread, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes.

*** A Little Tip... If the cornbread will be eaten in 2-3 days, it is okay to leave it, covered, on the counter. If, however, it will be hanging out longer than a few days, stash it in the fridge. Since pineapple and jalapeño are moist, they are susceptible to mold and I have had a couple of sad, sad instances of it. It also freezes really well. Let it cool, cut it up, and toss it into some Ziplock freezer bags. Then defrost -- just let it sit out -- and warm in either the microwave or oven. Microwave will produce a softer texture, while the oven will give you a nice crust and fresher taste. It's really up to you... But do please try it, it's a pretty simple recipe that always has people asking for more!!! Cheers!

Meet Diana!

2013-05-13T13:00:00.000-04:00

Well, hey. Hi there! I’m just a nutty woman who loves, and I mean loves, to cook. While I love cooking for everyone, my family and dearest co-workers are the ones I like to cook for the most. They’ve got my back, and so therefore my food, ya know?!

I tend to cook spicy, savory foods. I rarely do sweets, but when I do, they often have something hot, like my beloved Aleppo chile pepper in them.

Bread and flour are my current passions. I have a flour stash from hell (try 90-120 pounds of different flours). My dining
room is now my flour pantry. I make a boatload of yeast breads and we probably have pizza 2-3 times a week.

Do you dream about food? I do. Some of my best dishes have come from food dreams. Yeah, I know, it’s weird. Some of these dreams come from walking around the farmer’s market. Others come from childhood memories. As spring approaches, and my thumb gets itchy, my dreams will be green with all of the herbs I want to plant and play with in the kitchen.

What am I best known for? Well, amongst my sons’ friends, it would probably be pizza. I’ve been known to make it at 11 o’clock at night for late night pool parties. They probably will remember me as the crazy mom in flour covered pajamas. While I make many things, SDS, aka Secret Dipping Sauce, with homemade ciabatta bread is probably on the most requested list. The sauce recipe makes more than a gallon and I’m lucky if I can keep it in the fridge for a week.

And so on that note, I will leave you with SDS.

SDS

6 cups olive oil (just your basic cheap kind--I used Wegman's)

1 cup sliced garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup pickled Thai chiles (depending on how hot you want it)
4 ounces Asian chili oil
2/3 cup honey
96 ounces crushed tomatoes (of course, I used Sclafani!)
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt

Cook the garlic on medium low in the olive oil until golden (I used a stock pot). Strain garlic from oil and reserve both. Puree Thai chiles with chili oil in blender--set aside. In stock pot with olive oil, add tomatoes, honey, salt and pureed Thai chiles in chili oil. Puree mixture with stick blender or puree in batches in blender. Whisk in garlic by hand. Store it in mason jars in the fridge. This sauce is great with calamari, on chicken wings, over pasta, with bread or just straight up with a spoon. Enjoy!

Meet Luke!

2013-05-13T10:00:00.000-04:00

I am Luke Deville and I am from the metropolis of Ville Platte, Louisiana. We have a whopping 10,000 people that live "in" the Ville Platte area. We are a small Cajun town, with strong family ties and we all love to cook. Cajuns cook, that's what we do. When we get together we usually have ten times the amount of food than we actually need. I really don't know why other than we like to cook and eat! My family loves to cook and we cook often. That is what drives me to cook like I do.

I learned how to cook by watching my mom, dad and grandparents. I remember always being in the kitchen watching them. After my mom and dad let me stir the pot a few times, I began to catch on to this cooking thing. There were times when I would walk into the kitchen at my
grandparent's house on Sundays and my grandparents would be talking in English, then all of a sudden they would start talking in French. I guess they did not want me to hear what they were talking about. In time, I began to catch on to what they were saying and they would often be talking about us kids. Anyway, they showed me the basics on how to make a "sauce". I loved eating my grandparent's meatball fricassee, and after 100 times of eating it I began to fall in love with it, and I love to cook it. My Grandpa Teet (Teet is short for petite in French, especially Cajun French where we cut words short) loves to cook and really loves to eat. He was a cook in the Army during WWII and I'll bet the guys liked it when he was at the stove! I know that my family's love for food stems from my Grandpa Teet's store that he and my Grandma Ruby opened in the 50's here in Ville Platte. I can go on and on about the different things that makes me cook the way I do, but I'm running out of space!

A lil Cajun Fricassee a la Teet

I had a tough time choosing which dish to prepare for this challenge. I was stuck on cooking a smoked ponce, wildlife, and this magnificent fricassee. I stuck with my gut on this one, so here is my version of my Grandpa Teet's fricassee.

You will need the following:

6 meatballs

3 pork backbone chops

2 chicken leg quarters, separated at the joints

2 diced potatoes

3 quarts of water

1 jar of Kary's Roux

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

3 cups of diced green onions (1 cup will be used in meatballs)

2 cups of diced parsley (1 cup will be used in meatballs)

For meatballs:

1/2 pound of ground pork

1/2 pound of ground beef

1 cup of diced bell pepper

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced green onion

1/2 cup of diced parsley

1 Tablespoon of red pepper

1 Tablespoon of black pepper

1 Tablespoon of paprika

1 Tablespoon of salt

Spread ground meat onto wax paper, mix in seasoning and greens well. Then ball up into meatballs. You can even coat the meatballs with flour to ensure they hold together and to add thickness to your fricassee.

Season your pork backbone and chicken leg quarters the same way, or use your favorite Cajun Seasoning.

For the fricassee:

Place water into a pot and bring to boil. Once boiling, add 5 tablespoons of Kary's Roux and remove pot from burner so that the roux will not boil over. Stir well, lower heat to medium and place pot back onto burner. Do NOT let the roux boil over, you will have a mess. Just keep stirring until roux is dissolved.

Once dissolved add diced onions, diced bell pepper, meatballs and backbone. Let it cook on a low boil for 35-45 minutes. Start cooking the amount of rice you desire, I usually cook 3 cups for 4-5 people. After 45 minutes, add chicken leg quarters and chopped potatoes, and cook for another 25-30 until chicken is cooked. Once chicken is cooked, throw in the rest of your parsley and green onions and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Cooking a fricassee is simple, let it roll, just don't let it roll over the pot! You are in for a tasty meal. One of my all time favorites. If you have any questions let me know!

Check out some of my other dishes on our blog. They all have some kind of Cajun twist, or you can go to www.teetsfoodstore.com and find a few more recipes that we use down here in Ville Platte, LA!

Bon appetit.

You're Meeting the Cooks and We're Meeting Too!

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Most of our cooks started off as folks who met through Internet cooking groups. Over time, people have developed friendships and today's cooks, Gary and Susan R, are just that! Great friends! Gary lives in Houston and Susan in Ambler, PA so when the opportunity arose, they and their spouses met up in New York City! They wanted to share this photo of them!

Most recently, Sus and Gary also met up in West Palm Beach for The Wine Dive/37 Cooks Recipe Challenge and when Gary was unable to be there for a television appearance for the event (he was a finalist in the competition), Susan was right there filling in for him!

We are 37 cooks from all over the United States and Canada but we are all doing our best to meet! This year there are or have been meet ups in Houston, Denver, New York City, Atlanta and Knightdale, North Carolina!!

Meet Susan R!

2013-05-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

When I think back to my earliest memories, they all seem to center around food and cooking. I now live in Pennsylvania, but I grew up in Maine. My grandfather was a Lobsterman in Cape Porpoise and my grandmother had the biggest vegetable garden I have ever seen. (Well, I was a little kid so it seemed big to me!) I learned at a very young age to respect the resources our land and sea provided. My grandmother canned fruits and vegetables, and she also made her own root beer. We loved to see the few bottles that fermented and pop the tops so they hit the ceiling. That didn’t win us any points! My mother was an amazing home cook. She loved to experiment and I learned to use my imagination in the kitchen after watching both my parents
and grandparents create flavorful and exciting food. Every family event is centered around food. My dad is an avid fisherman. He has travelled the world to fish and compete in many fishing tournaments. Not many people know this, but there was a United States Tuna Team, and in 1972, my dad was the Captain. That year he caught a 921-pound tuna! We were eating sashimi before most of America knew what it was. I visit him in Florida regularly to fish, and hopefully catch enough to bring some back home to Pennsylvania.

As I progressed in my quest to create unique and delicious dishes, I developed a passion for grilling. Most of my friends and family turn to me when they have grilling questions. I am very proud of my beautiful WeberQ. I grill year round, regardless of the weather. We don’t eat traditional Thanksgiving meals in our home. Each year, the menu is decided around a grilled protein and whatever side dishes we feel like having. I have created a number of exceptional rubs and marinades over the years. One of my daughter’s favorite grilled meats is my marinated and grilled pork chops. So that is the recipe I am choosing to share with you.

I am definitely not a baker. In fact, my oven is used to store pots and pans. It is a running joke with all of the great cooking friends I have! If I have to roast vegetables, I generally do it in my large cast iron skillet on the grill. If I have to use the oven, it is a daunting task to find places to put the hardware I store there. It is truly one of my goals to learn the art of baking. Some day. In the meantime, I will continue to embrace my love of creating great food. On the grill!

There is nothing complicated about this Marinated and Grilled Pork Chop recipe. Yet, it is one of the most requested grilled pork recipes of all time by my family. It happens to be my daughter's favorite and because of the simplicity, it is a regular on our holiday menus. I love grilling, and if you do too, I hope this recipe becomes a new favorite!

Marinated and Grilled Pork Chops

For the Marinade:

¾ cup soy sauce (I prefer lower sodium)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoon ketchup (I prefer Heinz)

1-2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I prefer Lea & Perrins)

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

1 teaspoon Sriracha or another hot sauce of your choosing

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 small yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped

4 pork loin chops (T-Bone), cut to 1 ¾-inch thick

Hickory wood chips (I use 1 cup)

Warm water

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a gallon-size zipper bag. Squeeze to combine. Add the chops, seal and mix well. Place in a bowl to prevent any accidental leaking. Marinate for a minimum of 3 hours, or up to 6 hours in the refrigerator, turning about every hour. (Soak the hickory chips in warm water for about an hour prior to lighting the grill.) About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the marinated chops and let them come close to room temperature. Preheat the grill to medium-high. When the wood chips are smoking, it is time to cook the chops! Remove the chops from the marinade (you can reserve the marinade and reduce it) and sear the chops for 4 minutes on each side, rotating the chops 90 degrees at the 2-minute mark. Stand the chops up on the flat side of the “T-Bone” and reduce the heat to medium-low. Close the lid and roast the chops for 12-15 minutes until they are cooked to medium, which is our preference. Remove the chops from the grill to a plate and cover loosely with foil. Allow them to rest for 10 minutes.

If you choose to reserve the marinade, it is a delicious compliment to the chops. Strain the remaining marinade through a fine mesh strainer to remove all solids. Bring to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan, reduce the heat to medium and allow the liquid to reduce by half. It is a rich and flavorful dipping sauce to serve along with the perfectly cooked chops!

**Note: Cooking time will vary depending on the grill. My grill reaches 800°, so the chops cook quickly. Use an instant read thermometer to ensure the pork is cooked to your desired temperature.

Meet Gary!

2013-05-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

I credit my parents for being the most important culinary influences in my life. Having been raised in a restaurant environment, I was exposed to not only classic Cantonese cuisine, but also what could only be described as genuine Soul Food. Chicken Fried Steak would often mingle with Chicken Chow Mein at the same table! The sights, sounds, and most importantly, the flavors of these restaurant years would inspire me to not only seek out and eat, but to learn to create delicious, balanced, Asian-fusion comfort food. An avowed carnivore, I love to take large cuts of meat (run, piggies, run!) and prepare them in delicious, often frugal ways, sometimes even making the leftovers more spectacular than the original meal (Spicy pork tacos, anyone?). I live in my hometown of Houston with my partner of 15 years, who eats most of what I cook. I currently work in Conference
Services/Event Planning for a global law firm. In my spare time, I incessantly post food pictures to Facebook and my blog.

Shrimp and Lobster Cantonese

Of all the dishes I have learned over the years, this one is probably the most inspirational. A sentimental favorite, it represents, literally, the center of the menu at my parents’ restaurant (Number 61 fell smack dab in the center of the “Cantonese Specialties” column, which ran down the middle of the menu). It is both a luxury and a comfort food; it offers a variety of contrasts, some subtle, some not. It contains some of my favorite ingredients: lobster, shrimp, garlic, and yes, pork! The cooking process is a study in the beauty of cooking transformation; when the beaten eggs are swirled into the dish, creating a smooth, supple, delicious gravy, it’s truly magical!

1 whole, live lobster (about 1 pound)

1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

Coarse salt

White pepper

1 Tablespoon dry sherry or dry white wine

1 teaspoon cornstarch PLUS

2 teaspoon cornstarch, divided use

½ pound ground pork

Freshly ground black pepper

Brown sugar

3 Tablespoons dried, fermented black beans, rinsed, drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon freshly minced ginger

3 Tablespoons peanut oil

2 cups chicken broth, warm, divided use

3 Tablespoons light soy sauce

4 Tablespoons oyster sauce

2 eggs, beaten

4 green onions, chopped

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Plunge the lobster in the water, head first. Cover and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the shell is bright red. Plunge into ice water to arrest cooking; drain. When cool enough to handle, twist the head from the tail, and separate the knuckles and the claws from the body. With a sharp knife, slice the tail into 1-inch pieces. Wrapping knuckles and claws individually in a kitchen towel, firmly hit with the back of a knife to crack the shell open and expose the meat. Rinse to remove any small shell fragments. Set lobster pieces aside.

In a large dish, place the shrimp. Sprinkle with salt and white pepper, sherry or wine. Toss to combine. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and set aside.

In a medium dish, place the ground pork. Season liberally with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with a pinch of brown sugar. Stir to combine and set aside.

In a small bowl, place the rinsed and drained black beans, minced garlic and ginger. Mash together with a spoon to create a coarse paste.

Heat a large wok or pot over high heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil begins to smoke, add the shrimp in one layer; do not disturb. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until lightly browned. Turn, and cook for another 1-2 minutes, or until the other side is just browned, and shrimp are almost completely cooked through. Remove the shrimp and keep warm.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok and heat until smoking. Add the pork and black bean mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes, browning and combining the pork and black bean mixture. (Additional oil may be added if pork is very lean) Toss again, breaking up the pork. Cook until browned throughout and the pork is no longer pink. Add 1 ½ cups chicken stock, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Bring to a boil. Combine the remaining 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with the remaining chicken stock. Add to the pork mixture, stirring until slightly thickened. Check the seasonings, adding more salt, pepper, and/or soy or oyster sauces to taste. Add the shrimp and lobster to wok. Toss to combine and heat through.

Reduce the heat. Stirring gently, slowly drizzle the beaten egg around the edges of the wok, incorporating the egg into the sauce. The sauce should be thick, but smooth (additional hot stock may be added if too thick). Add half of the chopped green onions and drizzle with the sesame oil. Toss to combine, and remove to a serving platter. Garnish with the remaining green onions, and serve at once.

Meet Tracy!

2013-05-09T13:00:00.000-04:00

I am a graduate of the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management. After graduating from college I was hired by the Army to run an Officers' Club in Washington State. I met my husband there and we have lived all over the country for the past 21 years.

I spent most of my career working in catering and event planning. I never had an interest in cooking because I spent most my days writing menus and selling food. After working in a Four-Star Four-Diamond hotel, I was intrigued by the beautiful trays and presentations put forth by the kitchen and decided to replicate some of the same beauty at home. So parties and party food became my passion. Searching for recipes in magazines and cookbooks, I began having parties at home.

In 1998, I became a stay at home mom. I have put away the party food and now cook meals for my family. I belong to a group that shares cookbooks and I write poems about the recipes I try.

Now with 37 Cooks, I enjoy cooking and I am becoming equally excited, if not more, about photographing my creations. Even though I cook a wide range of items, hors d’oeuvres are still my first love. The recipe I am sharing is Green Goddess Cucumber Cups.

I chose to share this dish because it is a winner. I have made it for years and always get requests for the recipe. They are easy and pretty and always a party-pleaser. They are refreshing and compliment any buffet. Don’t leave out the anchovy paste, no one will know it is in there and it really makes them a hit!

Green Goddess Cucumber Cups

2 English cucumbers, peeled and cut into ½-inch slices

1 8-ounce package cream cheese

¼ cup parsley, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tablespoons green onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons anchovy paste

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dried tarragon

With a melon ball tool or spoon, gently scoop out the centers of the cucumber slices, leaving a small amount of the bottom intact. Lay upside down on a paper towel to drain. In a food processor, combine all remaining ingredients until smooth. Place the cream cheese mixture in a pastry bag and pipe into each individual cucumber slice. Serve.

* These can be made a several hours ahead and stored in the refrigerator , covered with plastic. Bring to room temperature before serving.