Spicy Goodness!: My Guest Chef Turn at Williams-Sonoma

For many, the mention of spice connotes heat--and little more.  And while spice can be a carrier of heat in some instances, it is only one facet of its many variations. In fact, the world of spice is a broad spectrum that encompasses sweetness, smokiness, depth, richness, intensity of flavor, and much more--along with that most familiar characteristic, heat.

And on last Saturday afternoon, I had the privilege of celebrating the world of spice during my guest chef event at Williams-Sonoma.  With the Fall season upon us and the cooler temperatures in tow, I wanted to showcase recipes that resonate warmth, along with bold, delicious flavor.  In short, I wanted to serve my own brand of spicy goodness!  And I'm pleased to say that I did.

Serving up tasting samples and engaging the crowd

It was such a thrill for me to bring D.M.R. Fine Foods to the Williams-Sonoma customer base, as well as to my dear friends, clients, family and "fans" who came out, and to fulfill my passion for sharing all things culinary.  I loved every moment of the event, most especially my interaction with the lively, inquisitive and fun group.  From my cooking demonstration, to informal Q&A, to the tastings and immediate (positive) feedback, it was a grand time in keeping with Williams-Sonoma's tradition of grand cuisine. 

As I purposed, we talked of--and tasted--the world of spice.  And now I'm thrilled to similarly unfold that world to you here on DMRFF by sharing that day's recipes; ones that are sure to become favorites in your dining and entertaining repertoires.  You can also check out a few additional photos from that day's event here.

So here's to spicy goodness (as featured below in three delicious recipes which were a big hit!)--and, as always, Happy Eating!

Spicy Three Bean Chili

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

12 oz. water

1 ½ tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper

Salt

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced*

1 15oz. can chili beans

1 15oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 15oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels

Several splashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)

Instructions:

Pre-heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot under medium heat.   Add the onion, bell pepper and ½ teaspoon salt.   Cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Add in garlic and cook for another minute. 

Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, spices and seasonings, chipotle peppers, 1 teaspoon salt and Tabasco.  Stir until mixed thoroughly and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add in corn and beans and cook for an additional five minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

*Cook's Note: If you want to temper the heat factor in this spicy chili dish, you can reduce the amount of chipotle peppers or, omit them altogether.

**This recipe converts perfectly into a turkey, chicken, or beef chili.  Simply add in 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of your meat of choice when you begin sauteing your onions and peppers and allow meat to brown thoroughly. 

Sugar, Herbs and Spiced Nuts

Ingredients:

2 cups assorted nuts, roasted

1 1/2-2 tablespoons butter

¼ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon allspice

¾ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon herbs de Provence

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350° F

Place nuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside.

Mix spices, salt and herbs and set aside.  Put butter in a large skillet over medium heat and as it melts add in sugar, spice blend and water and stir together until a glaze forms, about 1-2 minutes.

Turn off heat and add roasted nuts to the skillet.  Toss nuts until they are completely coated.  Pour glazed nuts onto a foil-lined baking sheet and spread out into one layer to prevent clumping.  Allow glaze to set for 10-15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

*Note: Nuts should be stored in an airtight container to preserve freshness.

Hot Mulled Cider

Enjoy this warm and delicious sip from the DMRFF recipe archives: Hot Mulled Cider.

 

 

Go Green: The Perfect Green Smoothie Guide

Source: None via Dawn on Pinterest

Link Love: Food Apps, Recipes + Lots of Other Goodness

In today's post, I'm sharing some of my favorite links from around the web.  Enjoy--and let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment or two.   

Happy Eating!

1.  Jacques Pepin's Take on Becoming a Great Chef + more...

2.  10 Food and Cooking Apps That Will Make You a Better Cook (for iPhone and iPad)

3.  20 Skinny Habits to Live By

4.  Dive Into Food History!

5.  Delectable Bites...Swiss Chard with Shiitake Butter

HOW TO EAT: Pasta

If you've ever been guilty of cutting your noodles down to size or even using a spoon to assist in eating that universal delicacy known as pasta, then today's "how to eat" tutorial is just for you.

Beloved the world over, there are likely no shortages of ways people like to eat their pasta, and today we'll get you going in the right direction for some yummy--and proper--noshing.

Happy Eating!

Eating Pasta:

To eat spaghetti (or other long noodles), use your fork and separate a few strands.  Hold the tip of the prongs against the plate and twirl the fork around to gather the strands onto it.  Don't stir and don't use a spoon.  Even in Italy the use of a spoon is frowned upon except at very informal, family-style meals.  Small-sized pasta such as tortellini, ziti, and penne are eaten with a fork.



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Roasted Vegetable Baklava

This past weekend I celebrated the birthday of a good friend by making dinner.  The menu was vegetarian, by request, so I knew it called for a stellar entrée that was commandeering and substantial enough to hold its own as the star course.  In chatting with my friend about options, I was reminded of the savory baklava dish that I had prepared a few years ago to ring in the New Year.  This version, like its renowned sweet counterpart, scored high marks, and I was excited to bring it back into my cooking fold once again.

So along with a green salad, garnished with spiced nuts and dressed with a classic vinaigrette, and moist, melt-in-your-mouth citrus pound cake and ice cream, the roasted vegetable baklava made for a delectable indulgence, that kept the seconds--and thirds--flowing (to my delight), and marked yet another memorable celebration of the joys of friendship.  It was a good day.

Like the traditional Greek dessert, this dish brings us the irresistibly, flaky phyllo dough.  It serves as the perfect "casing" for hearty roasted vegetables, herbs, seasonings and a walnut mixture, that come together in the form of an elegant and scrumptious dish.  I adapted my recipe from the original Gourmet recipe by adding some additional touches to amp up the flavor quotient.  My final compliment of the night was that it was a "divine dinner". 

Now that it's back on my radar, I'm confident that this recipe will find its way into my repertoire more often and help to serve up more great memories and loads of... Happy Eating!  

Roasted Vegetable Baklava
Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnuts (2 ounces), toasted
1/4 cup fine dry plain bread crumbs
1/2 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
1/2 pound Sweet potatoes
2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, reserving fronds, bulbs halved and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
3/4 pound parsnips (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
1/2 pound carrots (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
1 large onion, halved and sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Herbs de Provence
1/4 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese
Salt and Pepper
3/4 cup olive oil, divided
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup chopped dill
8 (17-by 12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen

Equipment: a shallow 3-quart oval or rectangular baking dish

Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Pulse walnuts with bread crumbs in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped (not ground).

Peel potatoes and slice 1/4 inch thick. Divide all vegetables between 2 large 4-sided sheet pans and toss each pan of vegetables with 3 tablespoons oil and a generous sprinkling of salt, pepper and herbs de Provence.

Roast vegetables, stirring and switching position of pans--and adding in minced garlic--halfway through, until softened and golden brown in spots, about 1 hour.  Leave oven on with 1 rack in the middle.

Add 1/3 cup water to each pan of vegetables and stir and scrape up brown bits from bottom.  Chop 1/4 cup fennel fronds. Combine all vegetables in 1 pan and toss with fennel fronds, dill and cheese.

Brush baking dish with some of remaining olive oil. Cover stack of phyllo sheets with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel. Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet on a work surface, then gently brush with some oil and sprinkle with 2 rounded tablespoons of walnut mixture. Place another phyllo sheet on top and repeat brushing and sprinkling. Top with a third sheet and brush with oil.

Drape phyllo stack into one half of baking dish, gently pressing it into bottom and up side and leaving an overhang. Make another stack with 3 more phyllo sheets, more oil, and remaining walnut mixture. Drape into other half of dish (phyllo will overlap in center of dish).

Spoon vegetables into phyllo shell. Fold overhang toward center over filling (it will not cover vegetables) and brush edge with oil. Brush remaining 2 sheets of phyllo with remaining oil, tear in half, crumple, and arrange on top of filling.

Bake in middle of oven until phyllo is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Gourmet 2008

 

Join Me as Williams-Sonoma's Featured Guest Chef!

I was recently invited to be Williams-Sonoma's featured Guest Chef on Saturday, October 22, 2011, from 2-4pm EST at Lenox Square Mall, Atlanta, Georgia--and I want you to be my guest!

I'm excited to collaborate with one of my favorite gourmet food brands to share my love for the world of food--including a cooking demonstration, recipes, tastings and more!

So mark your calendars and make plans to join me for a fun afternoon of yummy eats and inspiration.

I hope to see you there!

XO, Dawn


Venue Details:
WILLIAMS-SONOMA
LENOX SQUARE

3393 PEACHTREE ROAD NE

ATLANTA, GA 30326

(404) 812-1703

Toast With This!: Bloody Mary Mocktail

The weekend is here!  And if you're looking for something extra special to wash down the yummy breakfast and brunch eats you have on the menu, look no further than a delicious Bloody Mary mocktail.  This drink packs a bold, savory punch as the flavors of tomato, horseradish, celery, worcestershire, garlic, and more, come together into an unforgettably scrumptious sip.  Promise.                                                                

There are many variations on this classic, but I personally favor Ina Garten's recipe (sans the alcohol--and hence our mocktail version.)  So as you relax, relate and release this weekend, don't forget to toast with this!  

Happy Sipping!

Bloody Mary Mocktail  

Ingredients:

• 3 large stalks celery from the heart, including leaves, plus extra for serving
• 36 ounces tomato juice (recommended: Sacramento)
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1 teaspoon grated yellow onion
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 dashes Tabasco, or to taste

Cut the celery in large dices, including the leaves, and puree in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Process until finely minced.  In a large pitcher, combine the rest of the ingredients. With the food processor running, pour 1/4 of the tomato juice mixture into the food processor through the feed tube.  Then pour the contents of the food processor into the pitcher with the remaining tomato juice mixture.  Chill.  Serve over ice with a stick of celery.

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