The Winner Is...

Vegyogini! Thank you to everyone for putting your name down and playing along (and your awesome comments!). I'll do another drawing again soon. So Vegyogini, please email me in the next 2 days with your name and address, so I can send you a copy of the DVD. You can email me through my profile on this blog.

Now, about the picture. This incredible bread is a Sin Dawg from Dave Dahl, of Dave's Killer Bread. It's incredibly delicious, and virtuous too! It's a lovely, soft whole grain dough wrapped up with an ooey-gooey cinnamon sugar filling. A-mazing!! Fortunately even if you don't live in Portland and frequent the Saturday Farmer's Market, you can still get your hands on one. Well actually three. Not only did Dave share the recipe with us, but he also filmed a segment of Everyday Dish, and will walk you through the entire bread baking process. Now there's no excuse for you not to bake up a batch at home. The recipe and video are up on Everyday Dish. The direct link to the video is here.

I'll be back in a couple of days with a review of a creamy new ice cream hitting the market. Until then, go bake yourself a batch of Sin Dawgs!

In A Nutshell...

Just to let you know, there's a new recipe & video up on Everyday Dish. The dish is Sauteed Chard With A Cherry Ginger Gastrique. It is really delicious, and comes from executive chef Derek Hanson at Nutshell restaurant in Portland, Oregon (which is a fantastic vegan restaurant). The dish is on their restaurant menu, though they serve it atop a creamy polenta at the restaurant. It's a very simple recipe and I encourage you to give it a try. This is a perfect way to use all of the yummy chard from the farmer's market.

We've been bookin' on the Everyday Dish segments and have some great ones (with some great chefs) coming up. I'll let you know here on the blog, as we post them each week.

On another note, check out the latest podcast of Stumptown Vegans with Jess (of Let's Get Sconed) and Webly (from Fueled By Popcorn). For the latest podcast, Jess and Webly invited me over to shoot the breeze and talk about vegan food and cooking.

Also, I thought that it would be fun to do another DVD giveaway, so if you want to be included in the drawing, please add your name to the comments. I will randomly select a winner by putting all of the names in a mixing bowl, and will announce the winner here on the blog. Once I announce the winner, I will need you to email me within 2 days, or unfortunately I will have to randomly select another winner. I’m not sure when I will announce the winner, so check back.

I think that's all for now. Happy cooking!!

Julie

Hot Artichoke Dip

I promised that I would tell everyone when the Hot Artichoke Dip video and recipe are up on Everyday Dish, and they are! This dip is really delicious! Chef Brian Igarta has some awesome recipes. Go check it out and make yourself a batch.


I also wanted to share some pics from my birthday last week. This is the birthday cake my daughter and husband made for me. They tried to bake it in a giant cupcake pan, but there were a few complications and only the top of the cake survived. It was an absolutely delicious vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and a little dusting of cinnamon. Truly, the combo of the cinnamon and vanilla made it one of the best tasting cakes I've ever had. It was also the perfect amount of cake for the four of us.

The best part of all was that my birthday dinner was homemade by my daughter and husband. We had a Mexican fiesta with awesome jalapeno poppers, tacos and all the fixins'. There was even a lovely agave tequila for that special authentic touch (that my daughter didn't have anything to do with). Dinner was perfect!

These are a couple of my fun new birthday toys. A special little rack for making grilled or roasted jalapeno poppers. This is super-cool and can go right on your BBQ or even in your toaster oven, and holds the stuffed peppers upright. No need to deep fry these babies. A Williams-Sonoma special.

My other new toy is a mini burger press, which my husband thought would make cute little sausage patties. I have to agree with him on this. I think it will make some cool vegan sliders too!

Chocolate Panini

A few people have asked me about my cooking segments on the morning show "Better", so I thought that I would explain further. I do the cooking segments once or twice a month, and get to cook a variety of easy and delicious recipes. As of last month I am now officially the "Entertaining Editor", which means that I get a nifty title on the screen when I do the segments.

This chocolate panini is what I made yesterday, although the segment aired this morning. The video can be seen here. Let me know if for some reason the link doesn't work.

So for those of you that want to make these chocolaty babies at home, it couldn't be simpler. I like to spread some organic nut butter (almond or peanut butter) on a nice rustic bread. Then I pile on chocolate, whether semisweet or dark, broken bars or chocolate chips. For the segment I used Maranatha nut butters , organic chocolate (vegan, of course) and Sunspire chocolate chips. Oh yeah, and a little Earth Balance too. Oh, and banana if you like.

If you don't like nut butter or you are allergic, no problem. Just omit it and you will have a super-duper melty chocolate panini!

Lightly spread the outside of the sandwich with a touch of Earth Balance and cook on a panini grill or in a heavy skillet. Cook the panini until the chocolate is melted and the bread is nicely toasted. Serve the panini warm, preferably with a glass of hazelnut milk.

Filled with chocolate and nut butter

Ready to grill

Now I just have to decide what I'm going to make for next month's segment. Hmmm, any suggestions?

Oh, and before I forget, we have a couple of new segments on everyday dish. Whole grain blueberry orange pancakes and chocolate chip orange biscotti. Both recipes are yum!

Kitchen Toys

(Butterscotch brownies from the book "My Sweet Vegan", baking away)

I guess by now, everyone knows how much I love my kitchen toys. I don't think it's quite at the point of needing an intervention, but I do love a fun kitchen toy or appliance. Just to set the record straight, I do have some pretty tough criteria. First of all, it needs to function really well and take the place of another tool/appliance, because let's face it, I have a pretty small kitchen. Real estate is at a premium here, and, I have a "deal" with my husband that as one tool arrives, another must go. Sometimes this works better in theory, but I really try to stick to the plan. And in case you're wondering where the previous "tenants" go, that is usually straight to my brother or mother's kitchen (my brother is a chef too). In my family, kitchen toys become a game of musical toys.

(The oven with freshly baked vegan hot artichoke dip. The oven did an amazing job baking it)

As well as enjoying playing with the new toys, I think it's important to offer feedback on these products, sharing how they hold up to a lot of wear and tear in a busy kitchen. Believe me, not everything makes that cut. I will try to give everyone feedback on products that I am really enjoying and think are worthwhile or could be a good addition to someone's kitchen.

Another reason for some of my counter top appliances is that I do a lot of cooking segments on television (I am the "entertaining editor" for a morning show called Better), and there isn't a kitchen set-up -just a table and an extension cord. I need to be able to bring these appliances with me, so that I can actually cook on set. In other words, my "toys" are also part of my lively hood. Anyways, on to a few new favorites.

The first is the Cuisinart Brick Oven. This is a counter top oven which really performs. I first heard rave reviews about it from Bryanna Clark Grogan. She was having an awful time baking bread and pizzas in her new oven, unable to get it hot enough to blister the crust. This began to pique my interest, because how cool would it be to use a counter top oven that not only baked extremely well, but actually saved the energy of turning on a large gas or electric oven/range.
As an added bonus, the oven is really well designed and beautiful too. In addition to standard and convection baking and broiling, it also toasts. Plus, the oven has built in brick/stones on the sides of the oven, as well as a removable one for baking directly on.

I have been having so much fun with this oven. It bakes extremely well and I was blown away with the results, whether cakes, cookies, bread or roasting or broiling. It's fairly large, which is nice because I can easily fit pie plates and brownie pans in it. I have it tucked into a corner of my kitchen. I give this oven 2 big thumbs up. If you have a sketchy oven or are just looking for a great counter top oven, check out the Cuisinart Brick Oven.

The next toy that I want to share is The Garlic Twist. This gadget was also recommended to me, and it did not disappoint. I use a ton of garlic in my cooking, so anytime I can mince it quickly it's appreciated. I know I could use a knife, but this gadget is awesome. I can do about 4 peeled cloves at a time with a quick couple twists of the wrist. Another benefit is that you can smash the garlic and store it temporarily in the container. This is an added benefit, because in order to get all of the healthy benefits from cooked garlic, it needs to sit for 10 minutes after mincing/pressing/smashing before being cooked. No problem with the Garlic Twist. It also smash/minces the garlic, which I think releases more flavor and oil than by simply chopping it.

(The Garlic Twist. I didn't take this pic, but rather borrowed it from their website. Our dark gloomy weather today wasn't too conducive to photography)

Another great item I've discovered recently is the new Zyliss Smart Touch salad spinner. It makes quick work of washing lettuce, greens and herbs, spinning them dry with ease. Obviously I wash a lot of greens, so this is a great time saver. My old spinner was tiny and you pulled a cord to spin the veggies dry. Well I had used it so much that the cord had cut a nifty rut into the side of the spinner. It seemed like an appropriate time to retire it and try something new and more efficient. Instead of a cord for this new spinner, there's a flat paddle on the top that you place your hand on, effortlessly pressing up and down. It's almost meditative. Suddenly my kids are volunteering to make salads. This can't be a bad thing, right? We all need to eat more greens, so why not make the task easier, and do it with a bit of flair? I am loving this stylin' new spinner.

(I didn't take this photo either. It's courtesy of the Zyliss website. Darn gloomy weather)

I don't sell any of these items, but have truly enjoyed using them. I'm sure that they can be found online with a quick Google search, or your local kitchen store. It's fun for me to share and pass my thoughts on to other kitchen enthusiasts.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm Back

Well, we have finished most of the living room (except for one wall to go). Actually, I should say Jay has finished it, because I can't really take much credit for it. He's the talent with the home remodeling.

So here's some pics of the new space. I didn't get a "before" shot, because he started so quickly I missed the shot. But you will notice that there's a mid-way shot. I'm so happy the messy part is done and we are left with a truly "grown-up" living room. I feel like such an adult now.

"Before Cabinets"

"After Cabinets"

Backing up a week and a half or so, we celebrated our daughter's 17th birthday. Her one request was a chocolate birthday cake. Unfortunately, as I was taking it out of the pan, it broke into pieces. I had to think quick on my feet, because I only had 30 minutes or so to finish off her birthday dessert. Trifle came to mind. I whipped out a large glass dish (shaped like a giant martini glass), figuring that would be a nice presentation. I had already made a batch of chocolate mousse and had some beautiful fresh strawberries. In a couple of minutes I layered cake cubes, mousse and strawberries, and had a "birthday-worthy" dessert. It was a huge hit.

(My daughter and her boyfriend. Pour thing didn't feel good that night. It sure sucks to be sick on your birthday)

Then, this past weekend, we had a guest chef come in to film 3 segments for Everyday Dish. He is the Maui Vegetarian, aka Chef Brian Igarta. He has some awesome recipes, which I am so excited to share . His first segment for Tropical Haupia is up on the Everyday Dish website. Haupia is a traditional Hawaiian pudding, made with coconut milk. He made both a coconut and a mango version, which are so incredibly delicious! Brian's haupia has my brain working in overdrive now, as I'm thinking of all kinds of new haupia flavor combinations.


Brian also made a fabulous hot artichoke dip (vegan, of course), that is out-of-this-world, along with a delicious Puerto Rican Soup (flavored with anatto seed). Needless to say The Maui Vegetarian knows how to cook some great vegan food, which I'm glad I got a chance to taste.



Edited to add: The Haupia recipe and video are up at everyday dish. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

Happy cooking!

Back Soon

I'm sorry I haven't put up a new post this week. We've been working on painting/fixing up our living room, which seems to be taking forever. I will post again soon. Promise.