Toaster Oven Talk

Once upon a time, before the existence of microwave ovens, people used a little invention called the toaster oven. Recently when our microwave decided to make its journey to Silicone Heaven we hit the store to buy a new one and found them sitting next to some toaster ovens. We'd been mulling over the idea of going with a toaster oven when our microwave and toaster died but now we were faced with that decision. I mean sure you can make something super hot super fast with a microwave but you mostly get rubberized food with all the flavor nuked out. With a toaster oven you can do pretty much whatever you would with a regular oven except you wouldn't raise the temperature of your kitchen which means if you get tired of grilling all the time this summer and start jonesing for a winter favorite, there's your trusty toaster oven for all your baking needs! Since picking up our toaster oven we've toasted things, made pizza, baked ziti, chicken wrapped in bacon and reheated leftovers.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with a traditional Sunday roast but in the meantime I'll be trying recipes and seeing what works and what doesn't. So far the only thing I can't do with a toaster oven is make popcorn, but I'm working on it:)

In the meantime, for anyone out there who have a toaster oven collecting dust or have been considering buying one. Here are some recipes to try:

Cannelloni

prep: 10 min, cook: 10min

10-12 pieces round

dumpling wrappers

3 oz. red pasta sauce

3 Cups ricotta cheese

2 Tbs heavy cream

2 tsp grated mozzarella

1Tbs olive oil

green vegetables or meat of choice

Bring a pan of water to a boil and reduce heat. Add wrappers individually, for 10 seconds at a time and spread them out (they will be sticky). Fill them with sauce and steamed vegetables or meat of choice, fold over. Spread olive oil onto a heatproof dish. Combine cheese and cream, pour it over the folded wraps. Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake in toaster oven for 10 minutes, until slightly browned.

Good Housekeeping has lots of great recipes including this one for Maple-Glazed Sausages and Figs and Big Oven has a terrific selection of toaster oven recipes including this one for Stuffed Chicken Breasts!

That's about it for this week except to announce my Christmas in July craft fair has been cancelled due to lack of interest. Oh well, guess I'll stick with Etsy and 1000 Markets for the time being. Next week I hope to announce my membership with a local Arts Group and dates of a rrrrreally big shoe (ok, ok, bad Ed Sullivan impression)! Chow for now!

A challenge on this the second day of summer...

Psst, see the comic strip above? It's a new feature of my blog and every week you'll see a new cartoon depicting a humorous but true adventure in the kitchen with "In The Weeds." Enjoy!

This morning I turned on the news to hear experts say knocking back multiple cups of coffee can fight certain types of Cancer, however, this afternoon these same experts say all that coffee from this morning can make you fat! Of course why worry about coffee affecting your waistline when you have this to contend with!

Yep, that's right folks Friendly's has decided to join the multiple attempts by fast food establishments to assassinate real cooking with a deluxe burger sandwiched between well, two grilled cheese sandwiches! The Epicurean inside of me gave a little gasp and began weeping when I saw this although not nearly as much as when KFC's latest monstrosity came out. Still, I don't get how Friendly's gastronomic disaster has almost twice as many calories as a "sandwich" made from two greasy pieces of fried chicken with two pieces of cheese, strips of bacon and some kind of mayonnaise sauce between them! I find myself laughing when I think of how not too long ago McDonald's and other fast food restaurants were forced to kill the super size options on their menu for cries of obesity, lawsuits yadda yadda yadda and yet as fast food "restaurants" leap at us with increasingly larger and more disgusting "sandwiches" I hear nothing but crickets. Is it because they're too busy wretching and twitching from grease and fat overload? While I do, on limited occasion, visit my local fast food chain (there are seven on my block alone) I recognize that these places are destroying American palettes. We spoke to someone just today who will be visiting friends in Europe for two weeks but admitted to being afraid of the cultures she'll be experiencing. We urged her not to be frightened and to try all the new dishes that will come before her! There are two things hubby and I detest in our travels, 1. Americans visiting a foreign country who yell in English REALLY REALLY LOUD LIKE VOLUME WILL SUDDENLY MAKE A NATIVE OF FRANCE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO ASK THEM.

2. People who visit foreign countries but will only visit establishments that are familiar to them. Why bother spending thousands of dollars to have the same experiences you can get at home for free? And sorry folks, Americans are NOT the only people guilty of this, nearly every country out there has people like this!

On this second official day of summer I know nearly everybody out there is in vacation mode. So whether you're travelling out of the country, around the country, across the country or just another part of the state, experiment! Every region has its own tastes and culinary delights. If you come across a local favorite, give it a try! Scarf down a Whoopie Pie, chow down on that Philly Cheese steak, indulge in good ole fashioned BBQ in a different part of the country than your own and snack on some Rocky Mountain Oysters... yeah, I know what they are but millions of people descend on Montana in August for them every year so they must be doing something right;) Even if you're too broke or busy to take a vacation this year, include a new area restaurant in your staycation. Challenge yourselves this summer by staying away from the local fast food joint and treat your tastebuds to something that isn't greasy, gooey, and dipped in fat... unless of course you're talking about a nice slice of NYC pizza or a deep fried Milky Way! Chow for now!

Cooking on TV

I was excited this morning to see a commercial for the upcoming Cooking Channel due to launch May 31st. A quick internet check told me it's a replacement of the Fine Living Channel (which is unfortunate because I LOVE that channel) and it's kinda, sorta but not really a spin-off of the Food Network (the same company owns both channels). By the sound of it, the Cooking Channel will be going back to basics and focusing more on the instructional cooking shows we all know and love but that Food Network has steadily been shying away from. I've never been a huge reality show fan and hate how Food Network seems to be cranking out more and more reality shows every season until ::gasp:: I'm just not tuning in as much as I used to.

Anyway, I'm especially excited about the news that the Cooking Channel will include shows on how to prepare international cuisine and will be including chefs from Canada and the UK among others! Upcoming shows will include Chuck's Day Off (who's Chuck?;), Chinese Food Made Easy, Everyday Exotic, and French Food at Home. However, if you're not sick to death of Ms. EVOO, want to see more of Bobby Flay and miss seeing Emeril on your screen, these three will also have new shows on the Cooking Channel.

I don't know how much good it actually does but their commercial says to call your cable or satellite provider about getting the Cooking Channel. The way I figure it, if your provider has been carrying the Fine Living Network you'll most likely get to see the new channel come May 31st. Meanwhile, as hubby and I already hate our cable company with the fire of 1000 suns *coughcough*Comcast*coughcough* and have firsthand experience of Direct TV's rotten military transfer policy, we're seriously looking to switch to Dish Network this summer.

On the candle front, tea light sets are now available for sale. You can choose from 10 different scents in clear plastic and come in Neapolitan (chocolate, french vanilla and strawberry) and Taste of the Tropics (pina colada, margarita, orange cream and lemon). You can also mix and match tea lights in assorted sets of 4, 6, 8 and 10 or just stock up on your favorite scent. I'm also adding to my Breakfast In a Jar line with Strawberry Preserve, Blueberry Preserve and Maple Syrup Jars.

Also, be advised Culinarychiq Concepts will not ship to areas experiencing a High Heat Advisory or Warning until it's been lifted by the National Weather Service. This is due to the fact that the wax I use is much softer and has a lower melting point than traditional wax and frankly there's too much risk of a candle being damaged while waiting in the mailbox or on the porch. I've seen them go liquid in direct Floridian sunlight so it's just too much of a risk to take.

That's about it, I think. I'm off to take my beasties for a walk on a very nice day:) Stay safe those of you in areas facing severe weather and condolences, thoughts and prayers to the people in Tornado Alley who have lost loved ones, house and home. Chow for now!

NEW CANDLES!

So, it looks like my latest experiment has paid off, introducing my new Ice Cream candles coming this spring! Pictured above is the scented Butterscotch Ice Cream Sundae, mmmm. Scrumptious French Vanilla blends with the creamy aroma of sweet Butterscotch for a treat so real you can almost taste it... and yes, that IS a scented cherry on top!

Over the next few days I'll be making and posting pictures of Hot Fudge Sundae and Strawberry Sundae. Also coming soon will be pictures of Banana Split, Italian Ices and Orange Cream Pop. As always, if there's something you'd like to see feel free to drop me a line and I'll see what I can do! Sundaes will price at $15 plus shipping, Banana Split will price at $18 plus shipping and Italian Ices and Orange Cream Pop TBD.

So keep checking this blog for updates and in the meantime scope out other goodies available for sale right now at the Culinarychiq Concepts store! Chow for now.

The Manipulation of a Recipe or Where Has All the Flavor Gone?

So I don't know how long this has been going on but I’ve been noticing an annoying little trend in ethnic recipes lately. I first noticed it a few years ago in a cookbook I bought from a terrific Spanish restaurant in St. Augustine called The Columbia and in watching the countless cooking shows that I do the trend seems to be popping up more and more. This trend is the watering down or flattening of a recipe.

Now for the average person who just wants to imitate a recipe but has guests, family members etc. who can’t handle intense flavors, spices etc. or doesn’t like anything foreign (which I think defeats the purpose of making the dish to begin with but I digress) this kind of thing might be ok. But for Foodies like me who are aiming for an authentic culinary experience or who want to recreate a dish that’s as close to something that was enjoyed while visiting a restaurant, a foreign land or might be having a foreign visitor for dinner, having an authentic recipe to follow is very important.

Being Puerto Rican and knowing the look and smell of a dish while it’s cooking and when it’s ready and being familiar with the seasonings and ingredients involved, when I come across a recipe for a familiar dish and the recipe itself looks a little off, it makes me wonder do all people of different backgrounds go through this or is it just a few select nationalities who have fallen victim?

Case in point, let’s go with one of my all time favorites, Relleno de papa. This is a fried potato ball filled with savory beef (also known as picadillo) and MAN is it good:-D However, on three occasions I’ve come across a recipe and procedure and the only thing all three seem to agree on is the ball should be fried in oil. I’ll show you what I mean:

According to The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook, you make mashed potatoes and allow them to rest at room temperature (this is so you don’t burn the hell out of your hands when forming the balls). Then you make 3 inch potato balls, make a well in said ball with a spoon, fill with a tablespoon of picadillo and then reshape, sealing the meat inside. Then coat with eggs and bread crumbs like when making something like chicken tenders or nuggets, cover and refrigerate for an hour. Then fry until golden brown on all sides. The picadillo (pronounced peek ah deeyoh and is not the Mexican cousin of an animal in Texas thank you) involves sauteing onions and peppers, adding tomatoes and garlic, then adding meat, oregano, bay leaves and cumin. Once you stop seeing red on the meat you add salt, pepper, vinegar, raisins, olives and wine and simmer for 15 minutes.

So as mentioned, I’ve got real problem with this. First, I HATE when people decide to add fruit to meat! I don’t know if it’s a thing done in Spain or the restaurant is trying to appeal to its non-Spanish consumers but I’ve never in life eaten, cooked or ever heard of RAISINS going into picadillo! This burns me as much as encountering raisins and grapes in curried chicken. I don't know if it's authentic but the resulting clash in texture, especially when unexpected, makes me want to punch kittens! I also wonder at the use of burgundy, cumin, oregano and garlic as the seasonings involved. Tasting the meat as I went along (I did NOT add raisins, sorry I just refuse, nyah), I found it to be flat and tasteless and only when I added sazon and beer (Budweiser not Heineken, it adds more of a kick) did the meat start to sing. I'd encountered this same problem with their Ropa Vieja recipe. What really got to me was the food at The Columbia is not flat and tasteless and the smells wafting through the restaurant are just phenomenal. It made me wanna cry:) So what was with the craptastic meat dish I kept getting? Is this common practice among eateries and chefs who put out cookbooks? Is it a fear of giving out trade secrets or that people will get so good at replicating the recipe they won’t come in and eat there anymore? If this is the case then fine, either don’t put out a cookbook, publish only recipes you're discontinuing if you do, or let us know this is only a variation of recipes used at the restaurant!

Anyway, whenever I make a dish, any dish, I tend to research it for various methods, spices, flavors etc. and possible history in an attempt to make it as authentic, and tasty, as possible. I royally suck at chicken teriyaki, yes I admit it, hell I can't even spell the thing never mind make it but I will persevere! So after a couple of battles with my favorite cookbook I started googling and came across a recipe that looked and felt more like what I was used to and aiming for and I found it on a great site called El Boricua.

According to El Boricua.com, picadillo is ground beef or pork seasoned with sofrito (if you’re like me you love making it fresh but tend to be a bit lazy or don’t have time, resulting in a large jar of the Goya stuff finding a home in the fridge) but when preparing picadillo for the relleno you lessen the amount of liquid so that the meat is dry but still a bit moist. For the potato balls they suggest making mashed potatoes from potato flakes and the mixture should be thick, dry and sticks to a spoon before mixing in a slightly beaten egg. Once again it’s suggested you shape the balls (oiling up your hands first so the mixture doesn’t stick to them), making an indentation and sealing up a tablespoon of picadillo inside. Then the balls are rolled in cornstarch so as to not fall apart during frying.

Now, I know the purists and old school readers out there are balking at the idea of using instant mashed potatoes instead of making it from scratch and I agree, if you have the time you absolutely should do it from scratch. Nothing tastes better than a meal that’s made completely fresh. However, in a pinch, I have used instant mashed potatoes and flakes and depending on the type you use (I REALLY don’t suggest going generic on this one) it doesn’t come out too bad.

Finally there’s Food Network’s Sunny Anderson who has some fairly decent ideas but she comes across to me as someone who’s trying SO hard to be the next Rachel Ray that she turns me off completely. Anyway, she recently attempted Relleno de Papa, calling them “Chicken Stuf’t Potato Puffs” and suggests combining butter and sazon in a glaze, making mashed potatoes with potato flakes, chips or panko, egg, cornstarch, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. The filling, which no longer qualifies as picadillo, blends peppers, rotisserie chicken, oregano, and salt and pepper. To make the balls she agrees on rolling the mixture by hand and making an indentation, however, she then suggests making a second ball to sandwich the filling in between and pinching the seams betwixt the two. Then you roll the ball again between your hands before coating it with egg and more potato flakes (repeat egg and flake coating if you didn’t cover it completely the first time) before frying.

Now, other than the obvious no-no of cross contamination by repeatedly dipping the ball between the egg and flakes (why not just make sure you get it right the first time?), the biggest challenge when cooking relleno de papa is keeping it together during frying. This is why you cool the potato mixture down, make the deep well, don’t overstuff, seal it off correctly by rolling just right and finally dipping. By sandwiching two balls together you run a real risk of the whole thing falling apart and causing a hot burning mess that no one can eat. Oil flies everywhere, things burn and before you know it you’re so discouraged you toss the whole thing away and vow never to make anything ethnic or unfamiliar again thus losing out on a truly terrific epicurean experience.

I’d just like to take a moment to advise anyone attempting Relleno de Papa, especially for the first time, to be sure to have lots of time on your hands as we’re easily talking a 3 hour process. Most people suggest assembling and refrigerating them the night before and leaving the frying until right when you need them to avoid the hassle and chaos that could ensue if you don’t. One final note, as you’re bringing the temperature of the oil up for frying, I highly suggest allowing the balls to get as close to room temperature as you can or at least taking the chill off and keep the kids away from the stove as the impact with the hot oil could be fairly volatile to start with.

Anyway, I’ve gone off track. In my attempts to duplicate dishes from the various ethnicities on this great planet of ours I ask my fellow Foodies for assistance. What pitfalls are there to avoid when cooking certain dishes? What rookie mistakes are made that can be avoided? Have you noticed ingredients or methods being substituted or sacrificed in the interest of time and modernization that just shouldn’t be? What is that the books aren't saying? Share with us won’t you?

El Boricua’s Picadillo recipe
Sofrito Secrets
The Columbia Restaurant
Sunny Anderson’s chicken stuffed potato balls