Tuesday is Mardi Gras. Being born during the carnival season is excellent. And I totally get to ignore Valentine's Day for a much better holiday!
We have made a tradition of King Cake for my birthday cake. And we always use Haydel's Bakery in New Orleans. Haydel's uses a cream cheese swirl in the cake and it is DIVINE. Strawberry is the go to flavor. I love king cake in the morning, warmed and with tea, coffee, or milk. :D
This year there was a special 50th anniversary Ltd. Edition King Cake available. Worth it for sure. Special beads, commemorative cup, mini poster, and a Mardi Gras Jazz CD joined the usual suspects of Chicory and Coffee, the porcelain figure (special to Haydel's!), and Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide.
February wouldn't be the same without King Cake and Mardi Gras.
It's snowing! Abnormal for Texas, especially this many times in one winter. I braved the wet snow (still got some down my back - thanks roof) and went and got goods to make a sandwich for lunch. This is pretty easy, and I highly recommend giving it a try.
The recipe calls for a sun dried tomato pesto. I could not find it - so I made it. Blended sun dried tomatoes with traditional basil pesto. Voila! And tasty. I had forgotten the tomatoes, but still delish. One other change? I put the roasted red peppers on the chicken and then back in the oven, not after. I also sliced my ciabiata bread in to sandwich sizes first, made things more manageable. And I recommend making double the amount of pesto.
Mediterranean Chicken Sandwiches
1/4 cup (about 2 ounces) sun-dried tomato pesto
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) loaf ciabatta
12 large basil leaves (or enough to cover the sandwich)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup sliced bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
Combine pesto and mayonnaise in a small bowl, stirring to blend.
Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken to cutting board, and cool slightly. Cut chicken lengthwise into thin slices.
Preheat broiler.
Cut ciabatta in half horizontally. Place bread, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Spread pesto mayo evenly over cut sides of bread. Arrange the chicken slices evenly over bottom half. Top chicken evenly with basil leaves, and sprinkle cheese over top. Place bottom half on baking sheet, and broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Arrange roasted peppers and fresh tomatoes over cheese, and cover with top half of bread. Cut into 4 equal pieces.
I was reading my February issue of Real Simple and came across several things that make me super excited. I don't care if you think it's lame, but kitchen tools are so super awesome. One reason I love perusing Chefs. I have a new site and tools that I really am dying to try.
First on the list is the Flavor Shaker by Jamie Oliver. A mortar and pestle for the modern age! And, they have one in purple (yeah, I have purple pyrex and dishes.... still want to add jadite in the mix). How can I not want one?! Be sure to watch the cheesy 2 minute video. The trick to this gadget it is it all encapsulated and a ceramic ball does the work for you as you shake it around.
Next, I think I want darn near everything from here, Fusion Brands. I thought nearly everything on the site was pretty ingenious and silicone being the new wave of materials being used in kitchen gadgets, well, they should be made in the shade (b/c I love baking with my silicone pans. Slides right out! Cooks even!).
My top 3 wants:
The Food Pod
Put your veggies, shell fish (break out the Old Bay!), eggs even in pot of boiling water, cook. Pull out and it strains automatically. O_o
Next up on the list of must haves from Fusion Brands? The Tender Press. It's a meat tenderizer you use like a rolling pin. Now that's smart. Yeah it won't serve as a good self defense object should someone break in (can't really slug someone with a silicone rolling pin!), but it's easier to use!
And finally the Love Handle. It is a removable handle grip that can be used on your pots and pans. Simply snap it in place and voila! Also has a built in spoon rest. Now that is handy.
Giada is coming to Target. Not sure I'll be getting any of her cooking things, however, she is also going to have a line of food items. That is what I am excited about. Pastas (her farfalle is pretty cute, even though I am a Barilla girl all the way), sauces, vinaigrettes. And I am dying to try the Parmesan Garlic Vinaigrette. At $2.99, you couldn't make it for that price. The main Giada page on Target even includes recipes. How cute.
World Nutella Day is coming. Problem is - I work on the actual day - Feb 5. I can do a recipe the day after or before. And here is the thing, *ducks from impending throwing objects* I have never had Nutella. When I was little, I lived in Germany. Hazelnut was everywhere. Mum got burned out on it, I didn't really have a palette for it. I steered clear for years. Now, I don't mind hazelnut anymore (kinda like how I couldn't have mango for a while after coming home from Costa Rica - love em can't get enough now!).
So I will ponder and search for recipes (maybe some brownies and take them to Dave's on Thursday...) and move along to other new things.
Whilst watching Tony Bourdain's Brittany episode (god I want to go to Brittany, long before I saw Tony there... delish sweets and SEAFOOD) he was talking all about the salted butter. The Bretons seem to have an almost Paula Dean-like obsession with the stuff. The Bretons do a salted butter caramel. I love caramel. I love salted caramel. Butter caramel - also good. But all three?! A holy trifecta in my mouth. I have been Googling and searching on Etsy. I finally found some imported caramels from Brittany on Amazon. (not so shameless hint - the birthday is coming up!) I MUST try these!
Another tasty looking Euro treat I HAVE to try? Speculoos (or is speculaas? I have seen both!). It's a tasty Belgian spread, and supposedly tastes a bit like graham crackers, slightly gingery. Whatever it is I must have it in my pantry. Wiki says...
This is aparently great on Belgian waffles, there are cookies made from it. I even found a cupcake recipe (LOVE CUPCAKES!!) - chocolate cupcakes with a speculoos ooey gooey filling. Yup, a must have.
I am still hoping for my traditional birthday cake - KING CAKE. Straight from Naw'lins. Haydel's Bakery has been the go to for us for this tradition. No one beats them on this, IMO. You can even choose cream cheese flavor! NOM. I recommend the strawberry. And slightly warm. Awesome with your morning coffee.
