I was 20 years old living in good old “102″ with the girls when I decided to try this recipe for the first time.  I believe Maleesa’s comment was “Kayla, I think this is my favorite meal that you’ve ever made.” So with that as enough encouragement, I’ve had the recipe memorized ever since. Believe it or not, this is one of my “go-to” recipes when I have guests coming to dinner or friends visiting from out of town. It’s surprisingly simple to make and tastes DELICIOUS. The combination of hazelnut, gorgonzola, and sage flavors will fool you into thinking you’re dining at a four-star restaurant.

With the abundance of nocciole (hazelnuts) in Italy, I had to make it again.

Ingredients

• 2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (which I haven’t found in Italia)
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup chopped hazelnuts, available on baking aisle
• 4 (6-ounce) pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup Gorgonzola
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves, plus extra for garnish – substitute 1 teaspoon dried sage and stir into sauce, if fresh is not available

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix flour, poultry seasoning and garlic powder in a dish. Beat egg whites in a shallow plate or bowl. Place hazelnuts on a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap on a cutting board or work surface.

Preheat a nonstick skillet with oven safe handle over medium high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Turn in flour to dust the breasts, then turn in egg whites, then press breasts into nuts on both sides. Wash hands. Add extra-virgin olive oil to the pan and add chicken. Brown the nuts and chicken 2 minutes on each side then transfer to the oven and finish cooking the chicken through, about 8 minutes.

In a small pot, warm milk over medium heat. Add cheese and melt it into the milk. Stir in 2 tablespoons of chopped sage and simmer 5 minutes.

To serve, place chicken on plates and pour a couple of spoons of the Gorgonzola sauce over the center of each piece. Garnish with chopped sage. Serve with vegetable of your choice and rice/couscous.

What do you think?

_K

Recipe from the kitchen of a Florentine, Italian mother; recreated by the girls of the Florence Chateau.

-b

Ingredients:

1 large package ladyfinger cookies
1 cup freshly brewed espresso
5 eggs, separated
1 large tub mascarpone cheese
5 spoonfuls sugar
1 large bar dark chocolate, finely grated

Directions:

Stir together egg yolks, mascarpone, and sugar. Beat egg whites until the peaks can stand and fold into the other mixture. Dip ladyfingers into espresso and line the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan. Spread one third of the egg mixture on top of the cookies and sprinkle with one third of the grated chocolate. Repeat two more times to make 3 layers. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Another option: Fold the grated chocolate into the egg mixture before spreading over the ladyfingers and dust the final layer liberally with cocoa powder.

One last feast with family in my California backyard in summer.

Fresh California cuisine vs. Rich Italian food

Who will win?

-b

We made this.  It was freaking good.

We used the “Basic Granola Formula” from Blue Jean Gourmet and added lots of spices, vanilla, pecans, walnuts, and toasted coconut.

Yum!

Give it a try.

-b

“THEY HAVE FEET!!” we cried in triumph, taking them out of the oven. ***

Our first time making French Macarons and we had success.  Maybe the humidity was just right, or the KithenAid whipped the whites perfectly stiff, or maybe these stubborn confections knew how angry Meadow and I would be if they didnt make a stunning debut at her party.  Either way, the Macarons were beautiful and delicious and quite popular at the soiree, and because of them, Meadow and I have graduated into a new level of culinary prowess.

*** “Feet”: The telling feature of a properly made macaron. The evidence that the macaron was perfectly piped into a smooth shell that traps the air bubbles as the macaron cooks, causing the meringe to rise and grow “feet.” You can see those “feet” on either side of the filling.

-b

Need a diagram?

Here is one Google came up with:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
½ cup powdered almond meal
2 large egg whites
5 tablespoons granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Crack the eggs and keep just the whites in a bowl.  Allow them to sit out until they are absolutely at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 285 degrees Fahrenheit–or as close as you can get.  Prepare a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch round tip.
3. Pour about 1 cup almond meal into a food processor and pulse until it becomes a fine powder–from here you can measure out the 1/2 cup you need. Cut open half of the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the powdered sugar.  Sift together the almond and sugar+vanilla seeds.
4. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add granulated sugar and beat until very stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in sifted dry ingredients in two batches until no streaks of egg whites remain.
5. Scoop batter into pastry bag and pipe onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Wet your fingers with water and lightly pat down any peaks that appear on the piped Macarons.
6. Bake for 15-17 minutes.
7. Did they grow feet???  Wether they are in a puddle or puffed and pretty they will still taste good.  Take them out of the oven and let them cool while you prepare the filling.

Vanilla Buttercream Filling:

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup buter at room temperature
1/2 cup powered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
1 tablespoon cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and beat until incorporated and light.
2. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with 1/4 to 1/2 inch tip.
3. Pipe onto half of cooled Macarons to form sandwiches.

For Rose Flavored Macarons, omit vanilla and add a few drops red food coloring to make a pink batter.  For the frosting, also omit vanilla and add a few drops rose water to taste.

Comme un rêve,

un soir,

dans un jardin,

avec une princesse très belle,

une fête d’anniversaire,

d’un conte de fées.

-b

What a magical night we had celebrating Meadow’s 24th birthday!

20+ guests enjoyed a delectable dinner and charming decorations.

I was the sous chef in Meadow’s kitchen and party photographer.

The lovely birthday girl herself holding one of her handmade party hats (above).

Prince Benjamin stirring his soup (below).

Le Menu:

Beverage

Ginger Lime Punch with Raspberries

Small Plates Dinner

Baby Tomato Bruschetta

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Chilled Pea Soup with Garlic Cream Sauce

Desserts à la Carte

Raspberry Chocolate Frosted Birthday Cake

Crème Brûlée Pots

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Mini Cheesecakes

Vanilla Bean and Rose Flavored Macarons

Favors

Frosted Sugar Cookies

Handmade Party Hats

…

Bon Anniversaire!

I have new recipes emailed to me daily.  Many I delete, but this one caught my eye.  It is a simple summery soup that takes no time to put together, especially of you use frozen corn and pre-cooked ham or canadian bacon like I did.  I also suggest using only one can of the green chilies if you don’t like a lot of spiciness.  Get the recipe at MyRecipes.com (a part of Cooking Light).  Check out the nutritional facts to see just how healthy this tasty soup is!  Serve with a green salad…if you still have room after the soup.

-b

Katherine and I have been good friends since 5th grade.  Over the years we have developed a tradition of getting together to make cookies.  I’m glad we can agree that it is both acceptable and delightful to eat cookie dough!  After looking through the Martha Stewart cookie book, we adapted one of the recipes to fit the ingredients and level of impatience we had.  I was surprised to find that the molasses, not the cocoa gives the cookies their dark color.  The complementary flavors of deep chocolate and spicy ginger make these chewy cookies very satisfying.

-b

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons boiling water
8 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line your baking sheet with parchment or baking paper.
2. Sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa into a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light.  Add molasses and beat until combined.
4. Measure the baking soda into a small heat-proof bowl.  Pour in boiling water and swirl until the baking soda is dissolved.
5. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Add the dissolved baking-soda, then remaining flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips until evenly distributed. The dough will be very soft so you will need to freeze it for about half an hour or until it is firm.
6. Scoop chilled dough out with a spoon then use your hands to roll into 1” balls. Bake 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool several minutes before serving or storing.

]]> http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/gingerbread-chocolate-chip-cookies/feed/ 1 inyomouth chocoginger03 http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/dolce-tre-the-best-birthday-cake/ http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/dolce-tre-the-best-birthday-cake/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:56:32 +0000 inyomouth http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/?p=1581 ]]>

“The Best Birthday Cake” : A thick and fluffy yellow layer cake with a simple chocolate sour cream frosting.

I have been dying to make this cake for about a year now, ever since I found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Luckily out of all the cakes I showed Hanna, this was the one she picked for her birthday party.  She liked it so much, she insisted I make it again when we celebrated her birthday the following weekend with family. Smitten Kitchen was right, this cake is foolproof.  It is rather easy to make and it turned out beautifully both times.

Of course I modified a bit, using some unsweetened chocolate and extra espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor of the frosting, and offsetting the rich chocolate by adding powdered sugar to sweeten the sour cream mixture.  I can’t help but modify even the best recipes.  I did trust Smitten Kitchen’s cake baking tips and baked my cake at a lower temperature for a longer time then brushed it with vanilla water to help it retain moisture since I baked it a day ahead.  I also tried the flash freezing method with a crumb coat to make the frosting easier.

I did my research to make sure Hanna got the perfect cake and it was a success.  I highly recommend this gorgeous cake for your next birthday party  (…my birthday is in February by the way, in case you were thinking of baking me a cake).

-b

]]> http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/dolce-tre-the-best-birthday-cake/feed/ 0 inyomouth cake03 cake01 cake04 http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/dolce-due/ http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/dolce-due/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 08:32:17 +0000 inyomouth http://inyomouth.wordpress.com/?p=1599 ]]>

To continue the Italian dinner party theme, I chose to make these Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze, recipe by  Giada de Laurentis.  Thanks to Bailey for introducing me to these soft, zesty cookies!

-b