La Romanella Oven Toasted Ravioli #LaRomanella Recipe

La Romanella Oven Toasted Ravioli
serves 4
1/2 bag La Romanella precooked frozen medium cheese ravioli (approx. 40 ravioli)
1/2 28 0z can La Romanella marinara sauce
3 eggs beaten

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4 Tablespoons water
1/2 cup La Romanella Seasoned Bread Crumbs
2 cups First Street Panko Bread Crumbs
4 Tablespoons La Romanella Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Vegetable spray

Preheat oven to 450 f. Place a wire rack on a baking sheet and spray with vegetable spray. Boil a pot of water, when it begins to boil, put raviolis in stirring lightly to separate. Leave in water with heat still on for 2 minutes, drain. Rinse gently in cold water and shake colander to separate raviolis and to remove excess water. In shallow bowl, beat 3 eggs with 4 tablespoons of water. On a dinner plate, mix together both kinds of bread crumbs and shredded parmesan cheese.
Start you 3 step assembly line by taking a cooled ravioli, dipping it in the egg, and dredging it through the bread crumb mixture and placing on the wire rack. Tip: You may find that you will want to repeat the egg dip and dredge process once to allow the coating to cover the ravioli. Bake for 15 minutes or until crispy. Serve with hot marinara sauce for dipping.

One of my favorite dishes is Toasted Ravioli and I always order it at my favorite restaurant back home. Traditional Toasted Ravioli is fried. Frying is one thing I try to avoid doing. Not that I don’t love fried food…I just don’t like dealing with the cooking and the mess part of it! Whenever I can, I try to recreate the fried effect in my oven. I find that red sauce Italian food is particularly easy for this because breadcrumbs toast up nicely and flavorful sauces are the main focus of the dishes.

I was invited to participate in a campaign for Smart & Final for their La Romanella line of products. I love the La Romanella line, especially love the fact that some of their offerings are organic. Creating a recipe was my main task so I set about looking at all the offerings at my local Smart & Final. I found the items generally categorized in specific areas. Produce had sundried tomatoes and fresh basil, refrigerated/dairy had cheese and sliced meats. The main grocery aisles had pasta and sauces together. The freezer section had frozen pasta and bread and finally, in separate grocery sections I located olive oil and bread crumbs. While I was in the store, an employee told me that La Romanella products vary by location.

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It seems that no matter how much I try to plan my day, I end up having the kids with me when I shop and underfoot when I try to cook. My goals were to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible and to have a recipe that would require minimum ingredients. I gave myself extra points for a recipe that could be prepared earlier in the day to be put in the oven just before meal time and one that easily allowed for leftovers. I do believe I checked off all of the above with my plan to make Oven Toasted Ravioli. I started in the refrigerator section where I picked up a bag of parmesan cheese, next I went to the freezer and got a bag of frozen ravioli. The aisle straight from the freezer shelf with the ravioli were the La Romanella bread crumba and The First Street Panko Bread Crumbs. I doubled back and pushed the cart, loaded with the kids, two aisles and pointed back to the front of the store stopping to grab a can of Marinara Sauce. I kept going and hit the check out, loaded the minivan and hit the gas. Everything else I needed, I already had at home. I have a Google+ photo album describing my trip, please take a look!

When you purchase La Romanella items from Smart & Final, you can go to www.smartandfinal.com/LaRomanella2012 between now and March 6, 2012, enter the code on your receipt with the purchase of La Romanella products. You will be entered to win some fabulous prizes! First Prize: a weekend trip to one of the most luxurious Italian inspired resorts in Las Vegas! Additional prizes include: (8) $50 SmartCash cards (2 per week given away) and (8) La Romanella Gift Baskets worth over $50 (2 per week given away. Also, when you are there, click the “recipes” button and you can vote for your favorite La Romanella blogger recipe!


This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias #CBias. All content is my own.

Thanksgiving 2011 - Recipe

I’ve never cooked a Thanksgiving meal. I’ve reheated meals I’ve bought from gourmet markets and I’ve helped by making a side dish and bringing it to a dinner someone ELSE cooked. I’m on track to avoid cooking again this year…But we’ll see. I was recently inspired to get a grip on Thanksgiving early by attending an interesting cooking class that taught us some great tips on cooking the big meal as well, allowed us to eat it and sent us off with leftovers and recipes! One of my best blogging buddies, Debbie of Manhattan Beach Momma arranged for a bunch of us LA area bloggers to attend a Thanksgiving Cooking Class at Simple Gourmet.

I learned some useful tips: 1) Get a fresh turkey. Frozen birds tend to dry out quicker during cooking. 2) Don’t cook a turkey over 18 lbs because it takes too long. If you need more turkey buy additional breasts and you can even cook them the day before and refrigerate them. On Thanksgiving, carve the breast and put in a pan with some turkey stock and cover with foil. Reheat at 350 degrees for 30 min.

I like stuffing. I never understood why it was sometimes, by some people, called “dressing”. I learned that night that stuffing is what is INSIDE the bird and dressing is cooked outside the bird. What remains a puzzle to me is…What if you have the exact same thing inside the bird and you have more of the same on the side in a dish baking in the oven? See? Thus, I prefer to use the word “stuffing” and to use “dressing” when I eat salads. That said, I will share with you a particularly intriguing side dish that was my favorite. It is a stuffing (dressing if you must) that has NO bread. Shake things up with your in-laws this Turkey Day and this out. Score extra points if someone needs to eat gluten-free.

Caramelized Parsnip and Farro Dressing with Sage Browned Butter
Serves 10

3 tbl butter
1 white onion, finely diced
4 cups finely diced parsnips
1 cup finely diced celery
1 tbl fresh chopped thyme
salt and pepper
6 cups cooked farro (to cook: add 3 cups to rapidly boiling water or stock. Cook until tender and drain)
2 tbl poultry seasoning (I recommend Bell’s Seasoning if you can find it)
1 egg
1/3 cup turkey or chicken stock
1/2 cup grated parmesan
6 tbl butter
2 tbl chopped fresh sage
Preparation
Heat a large skillet and add the 3 tbl of butter. Add the onions, parsnips, celery and thyme. Cook for 10-15 minutes over medium-high heat until veggies are soft and beginning to caramelize. Remove and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl, toss together the farro, vegetable mixture and poultry (Bell’s) seasoning. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
In another small bowl, whisk together the egg, stock and parmesan. Pour this mixture and the parsley into the farro and toss to combine.
Place a small pan with the 6 tbl of butter and sage over medium-high heat and cook until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
Butter a 9×13 casserole dish and fill with the farro mixture and drizzle with the browned butter. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes until golden on top. Serve warm with extra gravy from the turkey.

Sauza, Chef Marcela & Ladies Night in LA

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What an absolutely fun and yummy night we had last night!  I am going to admit I had no idea of how creative and high end you can get with tequila when knowing what to do with it!  Chef Marcela totally showed us how it’s done.  She prepared four cocktails, four dishes and one dessert!    Chef Marcela has kindly shared her recipes with us…The brussels sprouts were to die for!  We all had such a blast and Chef Marcela was so lovely to speak with.  I’d like to thank Sauza Tequila for sponsoring our party.  With the holiday season upon us, it is super important to realize that drinking and driving do not mix!  Sauza provided car service for all our blogger attendees, YDriveLA.com generously provided their service and The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club hosted two of our guests who traveled from out of town.  Additionally, I’d like to thank everyone who participated on Twitter and Facebook last night asking questions and joining in the fun.  Big thank you to Daytrippingmom for letting me use her iPad…Made it so much easier to tweet while simultaneously holding a cocktail. 

 

In case you missed the live stream, here is a video that my amazing co-host Deb Lavdas put together to show you all a some of our Ladies Night in LA:

 

Three of the cocktail and the shrimp recipes are included in the scattered images above.  The extremely popular lamb and brussels sprouts recipes are below.  You can find the other recipes Marcela prepared last night, including the Warm Winter Margarita, on the Sauza Tequila Facebook page.  Thanks for celebrating with us.  I hope you have a holiday season filled with fun, warmth and while you are at it, try adding some Sauza in to the festivities!

Rack of Lamb with Ancho Crust Serves 4 1 ancho chile, stemmed and seeded 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 3 large shallots, minced 2 teaspoons thyme chopped 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs made from French bread Salt and pepper To Taste 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 well trimmed racks of lamb (each about 1 1/4 pounds) 3 teaspoon Dijon mustard Jalapeño jelly (optional) Tear the chile into small pieces and place in a spice grinder. Grind the chile to a powder. Melt butter in large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and thyme and saute for 3 minutes, or until the shallots are soft. Add the chile powder and stir. Add the bread crumbs and cook for 5 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let the crumb topping cool. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet over high heat. Season the lamb racks all over with salt and pepper. Working in batches, add the lamb racks to the skillet, rounded side down. Sear for 6 minutes, or until brown. Transfer the racks to a large rimmed baking sheet, seared side up. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons of the mustard over each rack. Press the crumb topping into the mustard. Roast for 20 minutes for a medium rare, or until desired doneness. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing in to chops. Serve with jalapeño jelly is desired.

Brussels Sprouts in Morilla Cream Serves 4-6 Ingredients 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 pounds brussels sprouts. halved 1 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds 3 scallions (white and pale green parts only) 1 morilla chile, stemmed, seeded, and very thinly sliced 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream Salt and pepper To Taste Method of Preparation: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add the brussels sprouts and stir for 1 minute to coat them with butter. Add the broth, cover, and simmer for 7 minutes, or until the brussels sprouts are tender. Uncover and continue to simmer for 4 minutes, or until all of the broth evaporates. Transfer brussels sprouts to medium bowl. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in same pan. Add the sunflower seeds, scallions, and chile and saute for 2 minutes, or until the nuts are toasted and chile is tender. Stir in the cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, return the brussels sprouts to pan, and toss to coat them with the cream. Season the brussels sprouts to taste with salt and pepper.

There’s a Sauza Holiday Party in My House Tonight

And you are invited!  This evening, Monday December 6, Chef Marcela Valladolid whom some of you may know from her Food Network Show, “Mexican Made Easy” is coming to my house to share some of her favorite holiday recipes using  Sauza® Tequila.  I’ve been a fan of Marcela’s since I saw her compete on Martha Stewart’s Apprentice a few years ago and am really looking forward to meeting her tonight.  I’m fairly convinced I may have been Mexican in a former life because it is my favorite cuisine.  Chef Marcela will get the Sauza® Tequila out for a Ladies Night in with some of my really great food and mom blogger friends from all over So. California.  Here is the best part though…YOU are invited too!  You can join in the fiesta because we are streaming this live on Sauza's Facebook page from 7:15 PST - 8:30 PST.

Marcela is going to demonstrate and share her recipes including a shrimp dish I got some pre-party intelligence on—you won’t want to miss.  She is also going to make some tasty cocktails, because, it’s not a party at my house without some tasty beverages.  I love a margarita and am intrigued that Marcela will be showing us how to make her favorite Warm Winter Margarita.  Oh, and it gets even better!  I’ve got some of my favorite bloggers co-hosting with me: Sugar Jones, Deb Lavdas and Ana Flores.  In addition to talking to us live on the Sauza Facebook page, you can send your questions about tequila, Mexican Cuisine, general cooking questions…ask away to #LadiesNightInLA on Twitter and Marcela will answer them live.  Make sure you are following all of us on Twitter: @MintCool @laflowers @sugarjones and @deblavdas to get in on the party fun.  If you can't catch the webcast but want to join the discussion, visit tweetchat.com enter #LadiesNightInLA and you are good to go!  It’s going to be a blast, so make sure you grab your bottle of Sauza and get ready to follow along.  I’ll see you tonight!

Chip & Kelly Ripa Make Banana Splits for a Cause

My very good friend’s mom died several years ago from ovarian cancer.  Just thinking about it is totally crushing for me.  Steve’s mom was the cool mom who made sure she had the party house.  Pool in the backyard, great room with lots of sofas to hang out on, it was a fun place to be a teenager.  Steve and his wife had their first baby a year ago and I know his mom would have loved being a grandmother.  There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer and it is also difficult to diagnose making it an especially important disease to spread the word about.  I was honored when the Electrolux Team invited Chip and I to New York to help kick off “Banana Splits for a Cause” to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF).

Electrolux Splits for A Cause #1 from Liz Peterson on Vimeo.

At the event, in celebration of Electrolux’s new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer (the appliance pair has “split” up) Kelly Ripa teamed up with the “Emperor of Ice Cream” Stephen Bruce, owner and founder of Serendipity 3, the famous New York City restaurant and dessert spot.  [If you find yourself in Manhattan, I recommend making a stop at Serendipity 3 to try their Frrrozen Hot Chocolate—yum!]  Chip and I joined other bloggers and their kids from all over the country as Stephen instructed Kelly and the kids on how to create the perfect banana split.  Chip opted to go the all vanilla route while Kelly took a scoop of each flavor.  The signature technique, we learned, is to stick the bananas in so they look like horns.  For Chip, the key ingredient was the multi-colored sprinkles, of course.  Everyone’s creations complete, all the kids got busy eating!

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Electrolux Splits for a Cause #2 from Liz Peterson on Vimeo.

Now here is how you can get involved and make your own virtual banana split to benefit the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund: visit www.Kelly-Confidential.com and build your own banana split using virtual ingredients.  Ok, I’ll level with you that it’s NOT as tasty as the ones we made with Kelly and Stephen, BUT, these have NO calories and will never melt!  Plus, they are for an important cause!  For each “split” that is created, Electrolux will donate $1 to OCRF as part of its $750,000 commitment to help fight ovarian cancer.  To sweeten the deal, everyone who builds a banana split will be automatically entered for a chance to win the daily prize--$50 towards sweet summer treats—and the grand prize: the new stand alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux.  I got to see the refrigerator and freezer at the event and had total appliance envy.  The site also has Serendipity 3’s banana split recipes for when you’ve decided you need more than just the virtual kind.

Meeting Kelly was really fun.  She made her way all over the room several times chatting with everyone and seeing how the kids were doing.  I had tried to prepare Chip for meeting Kelly by putting on Live with Regis & Kelly a couple of times in the days before the event.  That morning in the hotel room, I put it on and Chip commented positively on Kelly’s high heeled shoes.  When Kelly came over to say hi, Chip got an attack of shyness.  I told Kelly that Chip had really liked her shoes on the show that morning.  At the event she was wearing a different, equally glamorous pair of heels.  Kelly said to Chip, “Thank you for noticing!”  I subsequently found out that Kelly was wearing a Gryphon dress and Brian Atwood shoes.  Luckily, the next time Kelly stopped by, Chip was a lot more talkative.  What a fabulous event, what an awesome cause!  Now split and make your split!  You have until September 7, 2010.

This post is dedicated in fond memory of Steve’s mom, Hilda.

Splits for a Cause #3 from Liz Peterson on Vimeo.

Legal information & disclosure:

Sweepstakes participants are not required to make a purchase or donation in order to enter.  Complete details are available in the Official Rules on www.Kelly-Confidential.com.  Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for each virtual banana split built at Kelly Confidential.  Electrolux has pledged to donate a minimum of $35,000 and a maximum of $40,000, as part of its $750,000 commitment to the cause.  My participation in the ‘Banana Splits’ Campaign for a Cause was sponsored by Electrolux who provided me with travel arrangements to and accommodations in New York to participate.

Hellmann’s, Bobby Flay & Me

Last month I told you I had just shot a cooking video for Hellmanns.com with Bobby Flay as part of their new campaign: The Real Food Project.  I’m very excited that I can now tell you a lot more about it including links to my video and some behind the scenes footage.  The Real Food Project is all about solving America’s dinner dilemmas and showing you how.  One thing I want to clear up is that Hellmann’s is Best Foods west of the Rockies.  The jars look exactly the same otherwise.  It’s kind of funny because I grew up in Massachusetts so Hellmann’s seems totally normal to me, but as I’ve been working with Hellmann’s and telling people here in LA about it, I get some confused looks from the natives.  So, anyway, now that we’ve got the Hellmann’s and Best Foods Mayonnaise names straightened out, let’s get on with the campaign:  Last week, The Real Food Project was kicked off on Hellmanns.com by Chef (and dad) Bobby Flay and actress (and mom) Lori Laughlin who is herself an aspiring “Real Food Mom”.  As side note: my vey first blogging interview was with Lori Laughlin.  For that interview, I had Chip and Lulu with me and they were babies.  Lori was so great and we talked about her two kids who are also close in age.  When I heard Lori was on board with The Real Food Project, I thought what an excellent choice!  Bobby and Lori unveiled the Real Food Project on Hellmanns.com where you will find a comprehensive online resource offering tips and ideas on how to create real meals made with Real Food.

Since for many people, seeing is believing, The Real Food Project features a series of entertaining how-to tutorials – starring Flay (one with me!)–  to give parents the tools and techniques to prepare great-tasting, at-home meals for their families. The videos are available at www.Hellmanns.com.  Lori Loughlin says that her kids have unadventurous palates which is something that I think pretty much every parent can relate to.  It was something Bobby and I talked about at our shoot.  One thing Bobby and I agreed on is that you just keep offering new things to your kids and if they don’t like it, try it again in a week or so.  I know it’s tough to get shot down by your kid, but it’s something I try to do, just put a piece of whatever I’m serving on their plates and not make a big deal about it if they do or do not eat it.  The recipe Bobby showed me how to make is Green Onion Potato Salad.  One of of the really cool things about this recipe is that it uses Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise.  It didn’t even taste like it was light because it had so much added flavor with all of Bobby’s ingredients here is a link to the video of me cooking with Bobby and here is a link to the recipe both of which are on the Hellmann’s website.  In the Sunday paper last week, I saw an ad for Best Foods Mayonnaise (because I live West of the Rockies) that featured Bobby and MY recipe (well, Bobby’s, but you know)!!!  I was so excited I cut it out and scanned it for my blog post.  One really fun aspect of the shoot was that during a break I got a chance to whip out my flip video camera and ask Bobby some questions.  Here, exclusive to my blog is some footage from that Q & A.  Bobby is a really fun guy and I feel really lucky I was given the opportunity to cook with him and learn all about the Hellmann’s Real Food Project.

Hellmann's Elizabeth Peterson & Bobby Flay from Liz Peterson on Vimeo.

When you head over to Hellmanns.com you’ll find a wide range of recipes, including sandwiches, entrees and side dishes, that provide delicious meal solutions.  I took a look and I’m pretty sure you’ll find something for every member of the family. The Real Food Project site will feature tips and suggestions for everyday meals in addition to seasonally appropriate recipe ideas including spring, Memorial Day, July 4th, Back to School and Thanksgiving.  Visitors to the site can also play “The Wheel of Real” instant win game and enter the Real Food Sweepstakes for a chance to win great prizes including a food essentials bundle, Bobby Flay Grill It cookbooks and Hellmann’s and Best Foods products.  So, please check it out, test out some recipes and try something new!

Annabel Karmel’s Welsh “Rabbits”

Last Summer I had the pleasure of meeting British Children’s Cookbook Guru Annabel Karmel.  During that meeting, I came up with the idea of presenting Annabel’s newest cookbooks: Top 100 Finger Foods and Top 100 Baby Purees to the Silicon Valley Network of Mom Blogs for inclusion in our Book Club.  Being quite the non-cook, I was really excited by Annabel’s recipes and the easy to follow layouts of her books which are full of photos.  I was really happy when Annabel’s books were accepted for the book club!  So here I am, the not-so-much-of-a-cook determined to do this book club!  I flipped through the Top 100 Finger Foods and early on in the book I spied my salvation: Welsh “Rabbits”!  Perfect I thought.  Easter is coming and I could bring these in to my son’s preschool class for snack.  We are not obligated to bring snack in, but there are a lot of moms who seem to sign up an awful lot to do it.  I thought this would be a way to make a splash and it looked fun and I love themes!

Welsh Rarebit is something my mom used make when I was a little kid.  I think we used to call it Welsh Rabbit though.  It was toast with ham, tomato and cheese sauce all broiled.  I think it is considered pub food in England and is often made with beer in the cheese sauce.  Although, to be in honest, all the time I lived in England, I don’t believe I ever saw Welsh Rarebit on any pub menu.  I never did go to Wales, however.  Anyway, to me it’s real comfort food.  The fact that I was sharing an echo of my childhood with Chip’s classmates made the recipe appeal to me.  I also felt fairly secure in the fact that it seemed to essentially be “glorified grilled cheese”.  What kid doesn’t like melted cheese on toasted bread?  With that mental encouragement I set off to the store.  I lucked into a “breakfast sale” where English muffins were half price and a dozen eggs were .99 cents.  I took it as a sign that I was on the right track.  I secured the shredded cheddar cheese next.  Then I had to focus on the rabbit face.  I knew presentation would be key.  Peas, check.  Black olives, check.  Fresh chives, located with the help of cute produce guy, check.  Snow peas, check.  Next I had to get into substitution mode.  The teeth called for scallion.  I couldn’t see coming up with enough white part.  Cute produce guy suggested parsnips and showed them to me—white carrots!  Parsnips look just like white carrots.  Educational Bonus: I learned what a parsnip is in conjunction with writing this post.  As a final touch I grabbed a bag of baby carrots because rabbits eat carrots.

Last night I prepped everything, and got it into containers.  I lined the cookie sheets with tin foil.  We had pizza for dinner so I could reuse the boxes to transport the Welsh Rabbits to school.  I had it all planned.  I would take Chip to school for 9am.  Come home and take care of Lulu and do some preliminary prep of the cheese and egg mixture.  The sitter was due to arrive at 9:45am.  Then all I would need to do would be to broil, assemble and go!  Of course that’s NOT how it went.  Right around midnight last night Chip woke up with a fever.  A pretty high one, 105.  So I gave him Motrin and sat up worried and watching.  His temperature went down but I didn’t really sleep.  I woke up a few more times to check on him.  No school for Chip.  I figured I’d still bring the Welsh Rabbits in because 1) I bought all the stuff and had it prepped to go and 2) I was all set to write my fun post here.  But, part of my well oiled plan was that when I dropped Chip off I was going to ask the teacher when to time my arrival with the Welsh Rabbits.  So now I had to call the school and ask the director to ask the teacher what time I should arrive.  The director was insisting I didn’t need to come in since Chip was sick.  I was insisting I really wanted to.  Frankly, I just wanted to see my well oiled Welsh Rabbit plan through and nothing would stop me.  So the response came back that 10:15 would be the perfect time to come in.  My sitter arrived and I swung into action.  I executed 16 Welsh Rabbits in about 20 minutes and headed out to the minivan.  I kept the snow peas and baby carrots in separate containers for the plating.  Cool mom victory was at hand.

I reflected a bit about the recipe.  To be honest, I wouldn’t typically have all the ingredients on hand to make Welsh Rabbits.  But, cheese and English Muffins are fairly typical staples in an American kitchen.  From there you could leap off and use whatever fruit or veggies to make a character or animal.  Asparagus for antennae, apple slices for ears or cucumbers for eyes.  I kind of realize that a lot of recipes get adapted to what works for you or what you have on hand or simply what you like.  This is definitely one that I think I could do again with whatever I have in my veggie drawer.  I also think this could be a fun do-it-yourself activity for kids.  So, at about this point I pulled into Chip’s school (without Chip) and headed into his classroom.  While the kids were finishing up an Easter story and went to wash their hands I plated their Welsh Rabbits for them.  The kids came in and sat down.  I guess I don’t know what I was expecting.  Oohs and aahs?  Wow, isn’t Chip’s mom the coolest?  It was funny almost…If I hadn’t worked so hard on those rabbits!  I guess I should understand my audience is a bunch of kids who are all about to be 4 yrs old within the next couple of months.  I did put something in front of them that they had never seen.  Slowly, though, the kids warmed up.  A couple of the boys really started chowing.  One tiny girl asked for more snow peas and another asked for more carrots.  A lot of the kids started nibbling.  My son’s teacher said I needed to give the kids some time, that they would probably eat.  To be fair they also had me in the class so that might have made things a bit odd.  The mindset of toddlers is not my strong suit.  At least none of the kids said “yuck” or “ick”.  I mean a number of them really were eating the rabbits.  I don’t know what I was expecting…I guess I just thought that when I was 3 I would have thought the Welsh Rabbits would have been cool to get for my snack.  So, I packed up my stuff and sauntered out.  I glanced back and saw the kids were still working on the snacks, so I would say you could call that a hit.

I Cooked with Bobby Flay (and a fractured wrist)

I’ve fractured my wrist exactly twice in my life.  The first time was a few days before the start of 4th grade.  The second time was a few hours after I got a call to do a cooking video with Bobby Flay.  Yeah, I know.  Earlier this month Hellmann’s invited me to be the first blogger to shoot video content for their new initiative, The Hellmann’s Real Food Project which will be on their website in late March.  What a fun opportunity, I thought.  Later that afternoon I fell (story for another post) and headed to my orthopedist.  Crying, not from the pain, but from the frustration that I had blown my chance to do the shoot.  Bad news: my left wrist is fractured, good news: It’s not that bad, but I need a cast.  When I explained that in just eight days I’m supposed to shoot a video with Bobby Flay, my doctor says, “we can make it work and, I love Bobby Flay!”  With those words echoing in my head, his assistant put me in a cast that went from mid-hand to just before my elbow.  He asked me if I wanted to choose a color for my cast.  “Black,” I said.  The wrist felt fine all week and at my follow up appointment one week later the doctor said he was thrilled with how well I was healing and I could go into a splint that I could take off for the shoot the next day.  “Just be careful” he said “And say hi to Bobby for me”.  Since I’m right handed, I knew I’d be able to cook on camera, I gave myself a pep talk.  Still, I realized I had added an element to the situation that really raised the stakes.  Who doesn’t like a good kitchen drama?

The next day I woke up feeling great and headed to the shoot location in Los Angeles, a fun place called Hipcooks West.  I’d been there before when I met Michael Symon who, coincidentally is an Iron Chef along with Bobby Flay.  When I arrived I was escorted to my trailer and hung out.  Trailers are pretty much just mobile dressing rooms with a couch, make up table and bathroom.  I’m terrible at waiting and really wished I could go to the set and see what was happening.  Having worked in Hollywood all these years, I prepared myself for a lot of waiting around and brought something to read.  Surprisingly, time flew by and people from the Hellmann’s team came by to chat and I met with the director to go over the shoot.  Then there I was, unvelcro-ing the splint, walking into the kitchen and shaking hands with Bobby Flay!  Bobby is such a great guy.  Really interested in knowing about me and my blog.  I’m a fan of spicy food and told him about my mom being making tacos with sloppy joe mix when I was a kid.  Since we are both Irish-American from the East Coast, we commiserated about bland cooking.  Bobby said that was one of the main reasons he decided he needed to learn to cook.  Then we were off and cooking.  You’ll have to check back in a few weeks to find out exactly what we cooked, but, I assure you, you will want to the recipe.  It was so good and easy to make.  At the end of the shoot, Bobby gave me a signed copy of his cookbook, “Grill It!”, and told me we are family now.  Aw, shucks.  What a blast I had!  Stay tuned for the launch of The Hellmann’s Real Food Project and my online cooking debut.

They Say Good Food Comes in Threes

Isn't it funny how all of a sudden you have a theme in your life and you had nothing to do with it?  Over the past couple of weeks, that's been happening to me with cooking.  First off, many of you know I'm a Wii Enthusiast and just love video games.  I was totally pumped to be invited to an event being put on by The Food Network with Iron Chef Michael Symon.  The party was to announce the new Wii game, Food Network: Cook or be Cooked!  By Namco Bandai Games.  I had so much fun at the event.  First of all, I got to meet Chef Symon and spoke with him for a quite a few minutes.  He is so cool and such a fun guy.  He and I had a really funny exchange about Iron Chef America.  I asked him about the Chef line up at the beginning of the show.  I had heard that the chef's weren't really there if they weren't going to be competing in that show.  He confirmed that was true.  Then I asked him if he was going to take his model home to keep and to freak people out.  Turns out it's a real person who looks like the chefs, but is a stand in.  I had thought they were mannequins!  We both cracked up laughing.  See what you learn at these parties?

Namco Bandai had a bunch of plasma tvs set up with the game and we all got to take a turn.  You actually get to use the Wii controls as if you are cooking and using real utensils.  There are recipe challenges and you really learn how to cook and use proper professional technique.  The highlight for me was when Michael Morishita of Namco Bandai made a dish playing the game while Chef Symon made the exact same dish following along with the game, but in the demonstration kitchen!  It was so fun to watch them compete.  They both made a chicken broccoli stir fry from scratch.  The best part of the event was the fact that I really got to taste Chef Symon's stir fry.  On the way out, I received a couple of cool gifts: Food Network Magazine, which I didn't know about and a utensil from The Food Network products line that looks like a giant tweezers.  Food Network: Cooked or Be Cooked is coming out next month.  Stay tuned to my blog for a giveaway.

The second part of the cooking theme was when I was invited to have lunch with cookbook author Annabel Karmel.  I had actually heard Annabel interviewed on a radio show about cooking a few years back and was intrigued with her angle: Healthy cooking for kids.  In advance of our lunch meeting, Annabel's publisher sent over a sampling of her cookbooks (she has written about 20 of them!)  Some of my favorite titles: I Can Eat a Rainbow which is set up like a child's board book and shows fruits and vegetables in a colorful fun way. Mom and Me Cookbook which I really love because it actually shows photos of each step in the preparation of each recipe.  This is really helpful to someone like me, who isn't super confident in the kitchen AND children who are not yet able to read. 

Next I was off to The Ivy to meet Annabel for lunch.  Annabel is an absolutely lovely woman.  She is British and resides in London with her husband and 3 children.  Her motivation for launching her cookbook career was the tragic death of her first baby, Natasha.  She then became very over protective of what her next baby ate.  Her books are not just cookbooks, they contain many nutrition tips and information in a really manageable format.  Annabel's books are extremely easy to read and fun to look at.  Chip and I made Sweet and Sour Chicken which was soooo easy to make, I was really surprised.  The recipes are for meals that the whole family can eat.  I highly recommend Annabel Karmel's cookbooks to anyone with kids.  You can find a lot of recipes on AnnabelKarmel.com....Isn't Annabel Karmel just the best name for someone who writes cookbooks for children?

Now for number three!  My very good friend Maria works on the show Top Chef which was nominated for eleven Emmy Awards.  She invited me to be her guest at the Top Chef Emmy party!  It was so much fun and the food was my favorite, Mexican.  It was really great to meet the people Maria works with.  Top Chef is a fun show and the current season is underway.  New episodes every Wednesday night, check your local listings for times.
So now you see.....Good food does come in threes.

Zippy Dippy - Adobo Dip

I'm not much of a chef, but every now and then, I get inspired. My inspiration today was a Mom's Night Out Potluck. A friend had passed along a dip recipe a few months ago. Since I like extreme cooking (making something for the first time to serve to other people), the Adobo Dip seemed to fit the bill. So I'm home from the party now and the dip was a hit. Several moms were camped out chowing down and praising the spicy, tangy, smoky, yummy-ness that was my offering. So, I share the recipe with you:

Adobo Dip

1 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
3 medium scallions, trimmed and sliced thin
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
3 small chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced to a paste, plus 1/2 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 teaspoon grated zest plus 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime

Combine all the ingredients in medium bowl and mix until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate for at least 40 minutes; serve cold with tortilla chips. The dip will keep refrigerated for 2 days.

The chiles are sold in the Mexican Food section at the market.