I’m here in Phoenix all by myself until the end of the month, so that means I need to feed myself. The first thing I was thinking of was a spicy chicken dish and noodles. Instead of trying to find a real receipe, I thought I’d try making something of my own. You may try this recipe if you want, but I assure you, I have some warnings.

Continue Reading

Pike Place Market is a very popular tourist spot in Seattle, that each time we mention that we’ve been to that city, we’re asked if we went there. This time we’ve finally trekked down to the famous Pike Place Market. Where do we even begin to show you the area, its quaint stores, restaurants and cafes, and the abundant market?

Here’s the street view from the corner of the fish stall where the vendors give everyone a “show” of tossing fish, and occasionally throwing a fake fish toy to viewers (which sends people screaming and gasping) for kicks.

Continue Reading

There’s a new place in North Phoenix for healthy eating. It is tucked away off Camelback and 16th Street but don’t let the strip mall location scare you from trying this place. It’s Zoe’s Kitchen. It’s a quaint cafe-like place that serves up amazing dishes that are full of flavor and eye-appeal but are prepared without deep frying.

I visited this place using a free coupon that was given to the office and no one claimed it. They missed out on a great deal because this place did not disappoint on anything. This place offers a great vast array of great dishes, sandwiches, and salads. My coupon got me a platter of quesadillas. These were out of this world! It was not your usual quesadilla at all.

Chicken, spinach, scallions, and feta melted slightly between tortillas with a scoop of rice pilaf. I saw some of you drooling at the sound of that combination. It tastes just as divine as it it sounds. I wish I had a camera so I could share the awesome appearance of the quesadilla for you all. Even Joy, who says she doesn’t like wraps, said she would devour this dish from Zoe’s.

There’s locations in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Give this healthy alternative to the ordinary a try if you have one in your area! Enjoy!

I would like to deviate slightly from the normal Gourmeted path and share something that I feel needs discussing. 

By now, I’m sure you have heard the controversy concerning Robert Irvine fluffing his resume. He has always shocked me with what he is capable of performing. He has an amazing history of leadership and producing fantastic foods from the most unusual circumstances. Why should this impair his ability to perform when the point of the show is wholesome cooking entertainment?

I once believed that the episodes of Dinner:Impossible were staged, but the more I thought about it the more I realized there was more going on than just on the 30 minute performance. He may have had 20 people helping him over a span of 13 hours, but that is 13 hours of instruction, preparing, cooking, leading, and organization. There is amazing pressure to perform these tasks he has been given and he pulls through, almost always within the time given to him.

Pulling Dinner:Impossible will have a substantial impact on Food Network’s quality programming. There was an article released around the new year from the LA times discussing the future of Food Network and how they are faltering with attracting new viewers and retaining current ones. I believe Dinner:Impossible and Robert Irvine makes food preparation worth watching and exciting to follow. If Robert was given a cooking show that was different from Dinner:Impossible, he would bring a show worth watching that would compare to Emeril from so many years ago.

Revoking his command of the kitchen to one of Food Network’s most popular shows just because a few misunderstandings should not be his punishment. His track record speaks for itself. According to his Wiki page, he had a Chefography that was due to play this month, hopefully with this online petition I found here, we can learn more about his journey. Please sign this petition to bring back the glory that he has maintained over the years. Thank you very much for reading. Please continue on our journey of culinary teachings.

Behold! The official Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding Pie with Creme Fraiche Topping creation! I decided that on the second go-around, I would make the recipe word for word…well, kinda…we don’t have the rum to toss in, so I used extra vanilla extract. Then I also forgot about the extra cocoa at the bottom of the dish. I was offered to use the Valrhona Hazelnut chocolate for it. It was a 3.7 oz bar, so I used our new digital scale to weigh out the exact 2 oz it needs so we don’t use too much of the $5 chocolate bar. If you have not been here before, we made some significant differences in the recipe.

While we have the appearance differences, I will describe the taste differences as well. The crust is the most significant change as it was slightly sweet instead of mellow texture of the premade pie crust. Even when I was crushing the cookies, I didn’t believe that 1/2 the package of cookies would measure out to the right shape. The recipe states it equals out to 1 cup when complete. Just make it as you need, when you press it into the pie shell, it will line your pie shell evenly.

I will probably only take this one thing from Rachel Ray: Your nose will tell you when they’re done. She was referencing to the scent of roasting nuts, but in this case, you will be smelling the pie shell becoming ready to pull from the oven once it’s ready. The recipe says to heat it about 12 minutes, check it after 9. I let it go past 13 before I decided that the appearance was starting to change but I didn’t want it to go much longer. I spread the newly chopped chocolate after letting the crust cool a little bit so it melts a little.

Our other major difference was we used 60% instead of the 85%. This made the pie all the more heavenly! Not too sweet, not too tart, it was perfect! Then there’s the topping. I added the cream to the Creme Fraiche and whipped it. It made it all the more divine to the taste!

Another thing to note: while you may have been refrigerating the pie for 6-18 hours, let the pie sit about 20 minutes so it’s east to slice. I made this mistake and struggled to slice the pie effectively.

So whether you decide to make the cookie crust or you want to take the shortcut and use a pre-made crust, the end result will be the same, a rich, flavorful, delicious pudding that will please all of your guests. If you do decide to make either, please let me know how it turns out for you!

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE PUDDING PIE

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 1 cup chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (about half of one 9-ounce package; about 23 cookies, finely ground in processor)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), finely chopped

For the Filling:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups whole milk, divided
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• (60% cacao), finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, divided

For the topping

• 1 cup chilled crème fraîche*
• 1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Bittersweet chocolate shavings or curls (optional)

Preparation

Crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack positioned in the upper middle rack.
2. Pulse cookie crumbs and sugar in a food processor. Add melted butter. Mix until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture against the bottom and sides of a 9-inch glass pie dish. Bake until the moist evaporates, pressing the crust with the back of a fork to flatten puffs, about 12 minutes.
3. Sprinkle chopped chocolate over the bottom of the crust and leave until those soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread melted chocolate over the bottom and sides of the crust with a small rubber spatula.  Chill crust in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to let the chocolate set.

Filling:

1. Whisk together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Slowly add 1/3 cup milk, whisking until it forms a smooth paste. Whisk remaining milk and 1/4 cup milk.
2. Heat saucepan over medium heat. Stir mixture with a heatproof spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the pan as you go. Cook until pudding thickens and bubbles appear at the edges, about 5 minutes. Add chocolate and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
3. Pour hot pudding mixture into the crust and spread evenly. Cook at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

Topping:

1. Beat crème fraiche, whipping cream, sugar and vanilla  in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Mixture needs to be thick enough to spread. Don’t overbeat to prevent curdling.
2. Spread topping nicely over the top for the pie. Swirl and gently tap the surface at random spots to create peaks.
3. Using electric mixer, beat crème fraîche, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl just until stiff peaks form and mixture is thick enough to spread.

10. Sprinkle chocolate shavings on top of the pie for decoration. Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes

This pie can be made 2 days ahead before consumption consuming, as long as you keep it refrigerated.

You have heard us comment about the place, now it is time for me to review the place that we have referenced about: Sauce! It’s the pizza and wine restaurant concept from Fox Restaurants (No relation to the Rupert Murdoch corporation) that offers a variety of specialty flat-bread pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and pastas.

Continue Reading

Over the weekend, Joy and I had our share of visiting friends. When I was waiting for her at the local outlet mall, I decided to pick up a digital kitchen scale. If it were not for Alton Brown and his several episodes about weights and volume and the flour test, I would have been none the wiser to the value of this contraption. My brother-in-Law’s brother uses his scale to measure out his meal portions and he says he’s sticking to it. So I picked one up and then I realized what the first meal prepared with this scale would be. Breakfast.

It was 12:05 on Sunday afternoon, so you know what that means; its breakfast time! Please join me and my assistant Teddy in making this breakfast perfect.
Continue Reading

Now it’s my turn to answer –

[Don't forget, you can answer the meme through the Comments OR post it on your own blog/site!]

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was completing my second year at the community college pondering my transition to Arizona State.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

I was waking up at 5:30 in the morning to drag my bum to work. (And on rare occasion, saying good night to Joy ;) )

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Cookies

2. Pretzels

3. BBQ chips

4. Chex Mix

5. Chocolate

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Sleep.

2. Start a business.

3. Buy a house with a big kitchen (Yes, toys too…)

4. Travel a bit.

5. Buy myself a Tesla, Joy gets the Jaguar.

Five bad habits:

1. Rushing to get things done

2. Stressing the small stuff.

3. Being Easily distrac….what was that?

4. Not working out.

5. Eating too much junk (see above)

Five things you like doing:

1. Coming home to Joy.

2. Cooking.

3. Gaming.

4. Watching movies.

5. Reading.

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Tidy-Whiteys

2. Turtlenecks (if I can avoid ‘em)

3. The same clothes twice without washing first. (It counts!)

4. A size extra small

5. Polyester

Five favorite toys:

1. My Laptop

2. the Wii

3. My car

4. The Waffle Maker

5. The TV (which was donated by a family friend)

In December’s issues of Bon Appetit magazine, it featured a year in review of the best recipes of the year. The winner last year was a chocolate pudding pie, Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding Pie with Creme Fraiche Topping, as the official title of the dessert dish. This one little dish is what started our chocolate posts. Enjoy our recreation of the dish.

Continue Reading

If you want to eat something that is not the usual, in Phoenix it is not that hard to do. Once you go outside city limits it becomes less and less likely you will find something unique. Tea Light Cafe has been around the Valley for almost a year now in North Scottsdale and we enjoyed our dining experience there every time.

You may think we are nuts, but Tea Light Cafe is another restaurant in the North Scottsdale 101 shopping center. (We have a few more places to review in this place, the rest are just fast food places.) What makes this place different is that it is Vietnamese dishes. We tried to find a website before this post, but it did not happen. They have none. A simple Google search will give many other site reviews. I think I will add one more to that list now.

Unique is a great name to describe this little cafe off the beaten path. They have a cute little setup for seating a few families only because of the small space they have for sitting. Don’t let the small place fool you, however, Tea Light Cafe is full of flavors. Pho, Chicken, brisket, and more.

Don’t let the Pho scare you. Simply speaking, it a giant bowl of beef and noodle soup. There are obviously other flavors in the bowl, but I recommend you try it out! When we visited on Friday, I tried the chicken sandwich. An unbelievable change of pace that was perfect for a night out. I wish I knew what it was about the chicken’s flavor and the dressing because it was neither bland or mayo.

Come on over to this North Scottsdale location for lunch or dinner. You will not be disappointed. I hope to see you there soon. Enjoy!