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I know I do! Sure, in some supermarkets in the US selling liquor, they have those wine chillers so you can cool your wine before hitting the checkout counter. However, if you’re home and you already have your room-temperature bottle of wine, it would be a hassle to go out just to buy some wine. And if you’re like me who have impulse cravings for wine that doesn’t leave enough time to chill anything (and don’t own a wine chiller), that puts a damper on saying yes to instant gratification.

That’s where ravi comes in! ravi is an “instant wine refresher”. I prefer to call it my enabler of instant wine gravification. I just have to take out the inner cartridge out of the freezer, assemble the unit in two snaps and place on the mouth of the bottle of my preferred wine and I’m good to go!

ravi looks like the cartridge of a faucet tap water purifier, and is almost the same size. Yes, the liquid passes through it as it’s being cooled down. Instead of cooling the bottle, wine is being cooled as it’s poured. It doesn’t change the flavor in any way.

I put it to the test with a bottle of red wine. The wine’s original temperature is 25°C, as you can see here.

I took out the ravi cartridge out of the freezer and set it up as indicated. The first two glasses I poured registered an almost 10-degree drop in temperature right there. You will see that even after 30 and 60 minutes, ravi was still able to hold the chill and cooled the wine to about 17°C. That’s pretty good, I think. I drank the wine at the “start” and “ravi” temperatures and they difference is noticeable.

I mentioned above that ravi has a valve that you can block with a thumb. This valve controls the flow of liquid through the  cooling tube. The principle is simple: slow down the flow and the liquid stays in longer, thus chilling it longer. Based on experience, I didn’t have to do this for the first 3 glasses. It cooled down quite nicely to a nice 15°C.

The possibilities are endless: you can use ravi for red, white, or rose wines. Just like your ice cream maker bucket, you can place it in the freezer and forget about it until you need it. I put the cartridge in a resealable sandwich bag in the freezer door. Cleanup is a breeze–just rinse and dry the internal tubing with the included pump.

I can definitely see this coming to potlucks (at private residences) for instant wine chilling, and placed in a tiny cooler, or even in those lined keep-frozen bags when traveling. As a self-confessed “girl scout” who brings whatever may be needed, this is another great gadget to have on hand!

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I forgot to mention that this is part of my efforts to “Eat Down The Fridge“, which simply means that I try to finish the food that I already have in the fridge and pantry before moving on to buying more. You know how we sometimes just accumulate food? Well, that’s the point of this experiment with Kim O’Donnel of The Washington Post’s A Mighty Appetite.

As a child, my absolute favorite food aside from fried chicken, was fried tilapia. I sure loved my fried stuff. When I didn’t know what to eat or our maids didn’t know what to feed me, they’d cook this because it’s sure to make me eat a lot. See, when I was younger than ten years old, I was so skinny and underweight. It wasn’t that I didn’t eat. I just need to eat more.

Everyone had their own theory as to why I was not gaining weight. My favorite and most remembered was my grandmother’s (mom’s mom) hypothesis that all the nutrients were going to my then very long hair. Ha ha.

Honestly, if I was served fried chicken and fried tilapia, I would just continue to eat until I was fat. Unfortunately (well fortunately!) I didn’t really gain weight until I was in college and that’s the time you don’t really want to gain any weight. Hahaha. I still continue to eat and enjoy tilapia, though.

Similar to the fry-baked chicken, I cooked this with the same methods but with different flavors. I went for something very (cliche?) Asian: ginger and green onions.

Somebody told me that people don’t like looking at fish heads at the market and/or when cooking or eating. Uhm, do some people really think that the fish they eat are headless?

The tilapia was so darn good! Trust me, I’m a tilapia connoisseur from many years of first hand taste tests. ;-)

Fry-Bake Tilapia

Ingredients
•    1 med-large tilapia
•    1 onion (halved, sliced)
•    3 stalks of green onion
•    3 thin slices of ginger
•    1/2 cup chicken broth
•    1/2 cup dry white wine
•    1/2 tsp salt
•    3 cloves of garlic, mashed
•    olive oil

Preparation
1.    In med-high heat, heat olive oil and wait for it to ‘ripple’ in a frying pan. Fry the  fish about 2-3 minutes each side until golden brown. Here’s the cooking test I use as a guide: It’s good to flip once the skin doesn’t stick to the frying pan anymore.
2.    Transfer the fish into a rectangular glass baking dish. Preheat oven to 375°F.
3.    In the same pan, saute the sliced onions until they become dark brown on the edges, then add on top of the fish.
4.    Still using the same pan, pour the wine and allow to boil until it’s reduced to half. Add ginger slices and chicken broth cook for a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat and transfer everything in the pan to the tilapia in the baking dish. Put fresh ground pepper on top of fish. Cover the glass dish with aluminum foil with 2 edges opposite each other is open (i.e. there is a vent).
5.    Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil, put green oonion, and cover again for 5 minutes before transfering on serving plate.

First things first:

We’re going to BlogHer Food in SF this September! It will be the first blogging event we’ll go to, so we’re very excited. See you there? :)

Last weekend, the sun shone and it was beginning to get too hot for comfort in the house that there’s really no other thing I’d rather make with Fage yogurt** than strawberry fro-yo. I may be the most boring and redundant frozen yogurt maker, because I’ve posted about the same (yawn) flavor twice last year and coincidentally, around the same time, too! Can you blame me? I really truly believe that with a 2-cup tub of Fage, strawberries, some sort of sweetener and an ice cream maker, it’s HARD to get it wrong.

After I made this, just to spite me, you know what the weather gods gave us? Gray skies, rain (downpour!), aaand sunshine with hail. Snow would have completed the whole package, but that’s enough, thanks. I know you–yes, you Weather Guy up there!–made your point that Vancouverites can’t rejoice over good weather that much, but we still love it!

For the ‘recipe’, I just relied on my own ratio of:

one container of Fage : (maximum of) one Fage container of other liquids

[Speaking of ratios, I'll be talking about Michael Ruhlman's book called Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking this weekend. In a gist: I highly recommend it so go grab a copy!]

First, I made a simple syrup by heating 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water, then added about 1 1/3 cup of strawberry puree***, 2 tablespoons honey, and a teaspoon of lemon juice and cooked it until it looked like this:

I cooled it in the fridge for 30 minutes before blending all the cold ingredients with a hand mixer in a big bowl:  yogurt, sweetened strawberry puree, and 2 tablespoons of half and half light cream. Put it in your ice cream maker and churn it for 30-35 minutes, or until thick enough. Pour in a freezer-safe container.

One advantage of having a mother who shops for all sorts of things are finds like the thick metal fresh ice cream container that is so darn cute.

Freezing and letting the frozen yogurt ‘rest’ overnight is best for flavor and texture.

I couldn’t wait to eat it the next day. No suave scooping here; it was more like painful excavation of hard rock because I didn’t thaw it enough. I just took a few shots and devoured my sweet reward, despite of the soup it turned into.

Not a problem, I love ice cream soup!

- – - – - – - – -

** After having used the different fat percentages of Fage, the 2% is still the best for fro-yo, in my opinion.

*** I didn’t strain the seeds out this time. I like the ‘character’ it adds to the ice cream. I don’t mind the seeds at all, but you can remove it if you like.

Every now and then, an idea will spark for me from even the smallest triggers in life. This in particular was the result of a discussion about surprises. Mine was to be about dessert. The person that this surprise was for is someone special, so one cannot simply buy something from the store. I wanted to know what would make the best of the best. A kind of channeling of Tyler Florence, if you will.

I gave it a thought and I knew exactly what to do. Since my brother does not like cake, and my nieces and nephews tend to be picky, and my sister will eat generally anything with a sweet tooth, the only thing that made sense for me to prepare were brownies.

A quick google search led me here, The Ultimate Brownie Recipe. And I thought I had all the ingredients listed.

The result is this:

What was I missing? 3 unsweetened cocoa squares. Over 25% of the ingredient I needed was already used from what I thought was a full box of unsweetened cocoa.  What did I do? I dug up some semi-sweet chocolate chips and measured out on the scale 3 oz of the sweetened stuff.  I also reduced the amount of sugar by 1/4th cup to compensate for the sweetness coming from the chocolate chips.

Another thing I did differently was the choice of flour. I didn’t know the immediate impact on brownies but I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. I am also not a fan of nuts in my brownies, so I omitted the walnuts.

The result is this adapted recipe:

Better Than Ultimate Brownies

Ingredients:

• 5 1-oz squares of unsweetened chocolate
• 3 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butter
• 5 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 9 x 13 pan.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate squares and chips, and butter; set aside.

3. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes. [I definitely recommend a stand mixer for this.] Add melted chocolate mixture, salt and bread flour and mix until just blended. Let the batter sit on the counter for 20 minutes before pouring into the greased pan. Let air bubbles escape by tapping the pan.

4.Bake for 30 minutes and test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, take the brownies out to cool before serving.

I believe my substitutions made these brownies above and beyond that of the original Ultimate Brownies! Each square is dense and chocolate-y, and has a nice chewiness to it. It’s better than store-bought or just-put-in-the-oven brownies. If you happen to be lucky enough to have some left over after a few days, you’ll be fighting over the the last few bites of super-moist and ultimately soft and chewy brownies. A little sacrifice of instant gratification truly pays off for these. ;-)

Give them a try in your kitchen and let us know how they turn out!

A few months ago, Sara of Amazing Taste sent us packets of their seasonings to try. To tell you the truth, we haven’t really entertained the idea of having prepared packet seasonings, and the only thing I can remember that we had was the gravy packets from IKEA for the meatballs (sorry, food snobs, but it is our once a year guilty pleasure). So why not go for something new, eh?

The first thing that we tried was their burger seasoning. For test purposes, although we were very tempted to add our own things into the mixture, we stuck with the recommended recipe for the burgers to see how good they are. We baked them in the oven to demonstrate just how ‘lazy’ we can be!  Haha. I really like the subtle flavor of this one. It’s nothing complex, but it works. It’s tender and juicy, and just enough flavor.

We also tried the Malibu seasoning is a “zesty blend of garlic, onion, black pepper, and paprika” seasoning to meat, poultry and seafood. I just rubbed the chicken with it, poked it with a fork and marinated it for an hour before frying it.

These seasonings weren’t too salty and they do not overpower the flavor of the meats. I find the Malibu one wasn’t as tasty as the burger, but it’s possible that I didn’t put enough. Between the two, I’d pick the burger. We still have the rest of the flavors to try, by the way.

Overall, I think they are nice to have in the pantry. They’re better alternatives to getting fast food on busy days: just get your choice of meat, poultry or seafood out, mix it and cook. For those who want to prepare a home-cooked meal without the fuss of mixing their own seasonings and figuring out flavors, this would be a blessing. It’s also recession-friendly at a price point of $0.99 each.

Thanks, Amazing Taste, for letting us try your seasonings!

Disclosure: We were sent the packets to try, but are not paid for this post.

If you’ve heard of Bon Appétit’s Best American Restaurants episode from the Food Network, you will know that Pizzeria Bianco was named the best place in America to get a pizza. Between authenticity, taste, and quality of ingredients, it beat out countless thousands of  pizza chains and parlors in America. There is a great reason for it as well. Mr. Bianco himself is passionate about pizza as Joy and I are about eating it.

When we learned of this mecca of a pizza joint was in Phoenix, Joy and I planned for a date downtown. But this date did not come without setbacks. Our first challenge was getting there when it was open. We found that the restaurant is only open Tues-Sat. When we were able to get a night to do this, I wanted to verify my directions. In looking for them, I found a review and I thought I would cruise it. The review calls Pizzeria Bianco a low-rated location. His only argument? He had to wait 4 hours for a table. When I told Joy about this, she told me to call. The person who answered the phone confirmed. There was a 4 hour waiting list. This phone call took place at 4:05PM.

We decided that we will brave the wait. It was the perfect night to do it. It was not that cold, not too hot. After finding the location and being told it was a 3 hour wait, we took a couple of couch seats in the bar until the sun went down and ordered from their appetizers. I recommend the meat platter! The ambiance of the bar is cozy and their music library is a great mix of R&B, lounge, and other mixes for a comfortable experience.

Three hours later, slightly starving, our name is called.  We were moved to a table in the corner of the main house and we knew exactly what we wanted. I ordered “Wiseguy” — a sausage and onion pizza,

Joy got the “Margherita” — the basil and tomato pizza. It was the most flavorful pizza we’ve ever had!

But, was it worth it? Was the opportunity cost worth the value of the pizza that we waited for? I think it was, but, I think some little things could have been changed to make the flow of customers better.  The bar where we stayed at was filled with tables and chairs which could have easily been used for patrons to get the pizza. The location does not take reservations, for obvious reasons, but you can make one if your party is 6 or more. I think if we go again, we’ll get a couple of friends together and make sure we can get them to experience this pizza as well because this is a pizza worth the price, but not so much the wait.

Why, printed on a card of course!

A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I would be interested in blogging about a food photographer’s cards, and in exchanged I would receive the cards. I jumped at the offer because what’s not to like? There goes my love for paper AND food. It’s perfect!

The package arrived while I was in Vancouver, so Dan just told me about it. At first he said “You got a package from the photographer.” And I thought — uh, from a…photographer? A wedding photographer? How baffling. Haha. When I got back, it turns out it *is* from Chef Susan, who’s also a food photographer.

And these are the beautiful cards:

Coming from a paper addict, let me just say that these beautiful photos (she’s also a food stylist) have just the right amount of food and impeccable style that is nicely printed on high quality 100 lb. cardstock. In a few words: They are fantastic!

They would be hard to “let go” and mail because they’re just too pretty to use. Decisions, decisions. I want to start writing, but I don’t know which ones to pick!

They are beautifully packaged, too.

Visit Chef Susan’s Etsy store and get your cards now:
Blue Egg Photography

And just a random fact: they smell like good paper. If you know the magazine “The Believer“, the cards smell like that. I’m one of the weird ones who love the scent of new books and paper.

P.S. I’m super thankful that there are no photos of cookies or cakes. Why? that will make me hungry at midnight. Like right now.

Joy’s birthday was last week and I wanted to give her something special. Joy got that something special, me. No, not like that, I proposed to her. Ring and all. In typical Gourmeted fashion, I made her a cake [Possibly posted later] with the question written on it. After a long pause and a ‘Are you Serious?,’ She said yes.

The dinner of her birthday was something to be special as well. She had hinted on T Cook’s of the Royal Palms here in Phoenix.  She said she heard about it from a few websites and friends that it is one of the more romantic dining spots in the Valley.  That’s a high standard to hold and I wanted her to remember her birthday forever.

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[Alternate Titles for This Post: How To Recycle An Old Favorite or How To Coax Your Boyfriend To Eat What He Doesn't Like]

We absolutely loved this simple dessert of Apples in Honey and Pine Nut Caramel and have made it on more than one occasion. So one morning, with one too many apples forgotten, I finally used them with the a variation of the recipe to top off the breakfast oatmeal. I skipped the cream and pine nuts (because we didn’t have either, honestly) and decided to stick to just butter and honey. Mmmm.

I cooked old fashioned organic oatmeal in whole milk. God I love that. I made sure not to overcook it.

This was a winning combination. Yumm.

You might be wondering about the second alternate title. Well, Dan dislikes oatmeal. It’s one of those things on his long Will Not Eat list. This does not sit too well with me as I’m pretty open to all kinds of food and when I travel, I try as much local fare as I can. Food, as in life, is an experience — and for me, you’re missing out if you don’t at least try new things or revisit old ‘ew’ stuff labeled from the days you couldn’t even spell your name.

So slowly, I’ve began to lead him into a new chapter in his Foodie life and have him retry food that he ‘hates’. He cringes when you mention “oatmeal”, “mushrooms”, “cabbage”, or “bananas” as if he was going to be sick at that instant. From the mere mention of the food. I told him that if he tries it again and still hates it, then fine. But to completely shun them would be a shame. There’s a whole world out there outside of steak, pasta, and potatoes. Come to think of it, it’s like training a child to eat veggies, really. Haha.

One thing about food aversion is that most of the time, it’s just the way it’s been prepared that brings out certain detestable qualities. Other times, you went to the wrong restaurant. When it comes to oatmeal, I found out that Dan doesn’t like the ‘mushiness’ of it, just like how bananas are mushy. And I completely understand that because I hate both mushy oatmeal and bananas. However, that only comes out when you overcook oatmeal and if you use the the instant ones. Even I find it gross. So I remedied that and cooked it my way — not overdone, and with whole grains to munch on. He really liked it! Plus he finished his bowl of cereal with fruit.  Bingo!

I’d say I have a feeding success rate of 80% when it comes to something “different”. So for those who are challenged by their boyfriends, husbands, or even little ones, I’ll share you with a few tips.

What I learned about feeding the (well-loved) ultra-picky eater:

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(Pictures taken with a LG9400 camera-phone)

Last week, my parents had a guest from Chicago who brought with him a care package of Portillo’s food. This has turned into a tradition for the past few years for us in Phoenix. I recently introduced Joy to the pleasure of this food as well and she is hooked now. I have always wanted to return to Chicago to do the simple things and in this post, I hope to hit on the big ones. Being born and raised in Chicago, there are a few things I need to require a vistor to do:

1) Visit a Cubs game (even if you are not a fan)

2) Visit downtown for the museums and Sears Tower

3) Eat a Deep Dish pizza (Either Lou Malnati’s or Pizzeria Uno’s, NOT the chain places outside of Chicago.)

4) Eat an Italian Beef. This one is a little tricky to some because it is essentially served like a French Dip sandwich but do not get it confused. The difference being an Italian beef is rubbed with spices, peppers, and you heat the beef in the au jus that you serve with it.

And last but not least, 5) Eat a Vienna Beef hot dog.

Oh, sure, the last one is probably common in your area by now, but have you noticed that is expensive? You are paying for the shipping from Chicago, really. Another thing to note. Do not read the nutritional label. You are getting this hot dog on a need-to-have basis. Besides, you are not in a diet if you do not allow yourself to cheat. You’re in the Second City, enjoy the flavor!

I have recently learned there are a few rules about eating a Chicago style hot dog:

1. -When making the dog in “The Works” fashion, the order and selection of your toppings is extremely important.
   Taken from Chicago HotDog.com:
   -Yellow Mustard
   -Bright Green Relish
   -Fresh Chopped Onions
   -Two Tomato Wedges
   -A Pickle Spear or Slice
   -Two Sport Peppers
   -A Dash of Celery Salt
2. Your bun will have poppy seeds and is steamed. Not fried, grilled, or cold. Steamed. So it is soft. If you can get it, I recommend S. Rosen’s for your hot dog holder. A quick Google search will have several outfits selling the packages online.
3. Any stand will do. Do not be afraid if the place you pick is a little ratty. It is supposed to be that way. I would at least recommend getting your dog at a restaurant and not a street vendor so you can pick up some fries and a drink as a combo.
4. While the above website says microwaving your hot dog is okay, I will add this to the rules of NOT doing. The optimal way would be a steam bath (Not boiling water!), followed by a good grilling. Leave the microwave for those Oscar Myer hot dogs.
5. This one is i m p o r t a n t! Did I stress that enough? good.
   In this image, I have performed a cardinal sin of the Chicago dog:Yes. There is not supposed to be ketchup (catsup, tomato paste, etc.) on your Chicago dog.

If you follow these simple rules, you will have enjoyed the finest hot dog in the US. The Chicago dog is often imitated but never replicated. I hope that this has enticed you to travel abroad and experience the joy that is the Vienna Beef Hot Dog.