Panna Cotta with Raspberry Puree

Panna cotta is a most delicious Italian dessert.  It is made with sweetened cream and vanilla and served chilled.  I made the panna cotta with a vanilla bean and it turned out wonderful, a creamy custard texture with a delicate vanilla flavor.  I love eating it with fresh berries, pureed or whole. 

Enjoy!

Eggs Benedict

I have been so busy lately, but I have been taking lots of pictures so it is my goal to try and get them all posted this week.  But for now, lets talk about hollandaise sauce.  Hollandaise sauce, need I say more?  This rich, creamy, tangy sauce is delicious on so many things, like eggs and bacon and English muffins, for example.  So easy, rich and delicious, eggs benedict makes a great meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The trickiest part of this meal: the poached eggs.  It took me awhile to get to the point where I felt comfortable poaching eggs, so don't get discouraged if you find this technique a bit tricky.  I found this website very helpful, check it out for some good pointers!

Creamy Tomato and Basil Soup

I have been crazy busy lately, so I've been whipping up some quick meals.  This creamy tomato and basil soup is so easy to make and it is yummy -a perfect meal during a chaotic time.  Wait!  Soup in the summer, I must be crazy!  Well, I probably am, but there is so much basil in my garden that I have to do something with it besides making boatloads of pesto.  Hence, the soup, the deliciously smooth and light soup.  I drizzled it with some olive oil, sprinkled some basil on top and  served it with grilled cheese sandwiches  -simple and delicious.

Enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes are one of the things I look forward to each summer before the tomatoes get ripe.  Crispy on the outside, tangy and juicy on the inside -they are mouthwateringly good.  Fry them up in a basic beer batter -I like to add a little bit of garlic powder and cajun seasoning to mine- and serve them with an ancho chili ranch dipping sauce (pretty much what it sounds like: ranch + sour cream + ancho chili powder) and you've got one delicious snack!

Two of My Favorite Hamburgers and Hot Dogs

I say two of my favorite hamburgers and hot dogs, because I really love grilling up burgers and hot dogs in the summer.  This hamburger is your basic burger recipe dressed up with fixings.  The fixings are my favorite part: lettuce, tomato, cheddar -so far pretty basic, but here is where it gets delicious: caramelized onions, BBQ sauce, bacon and sliced pickled jalapenos.  Yum, yum, yum.

I tried this hot dog combination at Fab Hot Dogs in L.A.  Favorite hot dog ever!  Wrap the dog in bacon and pan fry it, then throw it on the grill for a minute to add some flavor.  For the topping add yellow mustard, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, cream cheese and Tapatio Hot Sauce.  Seriously, this hot dog is amazingly good!

Spumoni Cake

Spumoni has to be one of my favorite flavor combinations -cherries, chocolate and pistachios, it doesn't get much better than that.  And can I just say how delicious this cake was? It was delicious and yes, I made this cake in a bread pan. Why? I'm not sure...an attempt at creativity? Well, spumoni cake was still a success, despite it's loaf-like appearance.   

Of coarse, you can also do something like this (below) if your looking for a more traditional looking cake.

 Mmmm..layers of cherry and pistachio butter cream frosting. You can't go wrong with that.

For the cake I used an easy fudge cake recipe with a few variations.  Instead of adding hot water to the batter I added hot maraschino cherry juice.  I also added 1/2 cup of  roughly chopped maraschino cherries.  For the frosting filling I made a swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  I halved the recipe and added 2/3 cup of finely chopped pistachios and two tablespoons of chopped maraschino cherries to the frosting. Garnish the cake with cherries and crushed pistachios and you've got one delicious spumoni cake!

Crispy Chicken with Lemon and Capers

I recently discovered the amazing goodness of homemade bread crumbs and I am never going back to store bought ones.  I'm telling you, homemade bread crumbs = awesome.  I made this chicken with some homemade bread crumbs and it was delicious.  The lemon and capers helped give this savory dish a tangy twist.  My Mr. claims that it is now one of his favorite chicken recipes, he loved it.  Try it, you'll see, I really am telling the truth! 

No-Bake Cheesecake

It has been hot here and the last thing I feel like doing is turning on the oven -blah.  So, I've decided to try my hand at no-bake recipes.  The first thing that came to mind was a no-bake cheesecake...mmmm.  I added about 2 teaspoons of lemon zest to the cheesecake and used chocolate graham crackers for the crust and decided to make them in mini molds.  It just happened to be the fourth of July when I decided to undergo this endeavor so, I layered strawberries and blueberries between the crust and cheesecake filling and made some chocolate "fireworks" to top off these cute mini cheesecakes.  They were so easy to make, you can really make them for any occasion -throw on some chocolate hearts for Valentines Day or an anniversary- or just make them to eat because they are delicious!

Enjoy!