Quick & Simple Video Cooking Tips-
Recipes....
Simple Roasted Beets
Ingredients:
6 each, medium sized beets, washed, peeled and left whole (red, gold or various colors are ideal, but work with what you have available)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Aluminum foil
Method:
-After peeling the beets, coat them lightly with olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper.
-Wrap the beets in individual foil wrappers like little packages, making sure that the whole beet is covered up.
-Place the packages on a sheet tray/cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven and roast them for about 1 ½ -2 hours.
(If the beets are super small they will roast much quicker so keep your eyes on them and adjust the timing accordingly. I have found that with medium to large sized beets, they should come out perfectly if you use the timeline above. The test is taking a sharp paring knife and testing to see if it slides right through the beet similar to the way you test potatoes.)
-Once cooked properly, remove from the oven, leave them in the foil and allow them to cool as the steam in the foil can be very hot, so be careful.
-Once the beets have cooled, remove from the foil and slice them into ¼ - ½ inch slices. Sometimes the bottom of the beet gets really caramelized, so double check to make sure it doesn’t taste burnt in flavor before using it in your salad.
****These beets can be used for just snacking or finish them off with a lite vinaigrette and some greens along with a sprinkle of bleu cheese and the nutmeg cashews from Flavor Quest , Vol. 2 . If you never liked beets because they were always from a can, give these a try and you might change your tune.
More Cocktails, Please...
Let’s talk about The Brooklyn Blues. I love Brooklyn and it does not give me the blues but since I used Blueberry and Pom juices I had to get the blues in there somewhere. If you haven’t tried the new Absolut Brooklyn, you need to try it, as its red apple and ginger flavors work so well together. Spike Lee actually did the artwork for the bottle which is real cool and this is truly one of the more unique flavored vodkas that I’ve tasted in awhile. These drinks go down way too easy; I created this drink this past summer in Vermont on a summer excursion with the Girvin Family, fun times for all.
The Brooklyn Blues from "Flavor Quest, Volume 2"
Yields 1 cocktail
**Absolut Brooklyn is a delicious mix of red apple & ginger, yummy
Ingredients:
3 oz Absolut Brooklyn Vodka
6 oz POM Blueberry Juice (pomegranate & blueberry)
2 oz ginger ale
Bucket glass
Ice
Method:
Throw your ice into the bucket glass and stir up your Absolut Brooklyn and POM blueberry juice. Top with the ginger ale and give another stir and you have a cocktail that it way to easy to make and way to easy to drink. The bonus, it’s full of antioxidants.
The Sweet Stuff...
Easy Chocolate Truffle Cake (See Video Below)
Yields about 8-10 (2 oz ) miniature cakes
Ingredients:
8 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (the better quality the better the cake will taste)
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
6 large eggs
1 cup Mini Chocolate Chips or premium chocolate/cocoa nibs at premium grocers
powdered sugar for sifting over cakes
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and generously butter 10 (2 oz) muffin tins or aluminum disposable baking cups.
Melt chocolate and butter in a metal bowl over hot water and whisk until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and whisk in granulated sugar and vanilla.
Add flour and salt and whisk together , then slowly add the eggs one at a time.
Place about 2 oz of batter into each tin and then sprinkle in a few chips or cocoa nibs.
The cakes bake quickly at about 5-8 minutes, max. Keep a close watch the first time you make them to gauge your oven. I like them kind of gooey in the middle but you can cook them a bit longer if you like. You will see the cake firm up around the edges and then keep your eye on the center as it will cook more solid as you go and remember they will keep cooking a bit after you bring them out of the oven. These cakes really work best if you bake them at the end of the meal and serve them immediately with salted whipped cream or my Whipped Mascarpone Cream and a mint leaf for garnish along with a few more mini chips. You can have the batter pre-made and then just load your tins and bake away. It is possible to bake in advance but you won’t have the same effect and the cakes could dry out when you reheat them for the truffle effect.
**you can also make larger versions in regular muffin tins just adjust the baking time and double the recipe so you have enough batter to make it worthwhile.
Date Night Dinner with Divya Gugnani from Behind the Burner...
Tenderloin Martini with Carrot Mashers & Asian Ginger Pan Sauce & Striped Bass glazed with Roasted Garlic Butter over Seasonal Roasted Veggies
