Sriracha, Top Ingredient of The Year by Bon Appetit

Sriracha (pronounced sir-ra-cha) was voted by Bon Appetit magazine as the top ingredient in 2009. They are so right. Sriracha is a amazing chili sauce that adds just the right amount of heat to a dish. You can buy it in almost any local grocery store in the Asian section. It runs around $6.00 a bottle and will last you along time. Remember, a little goes along way when adding heat to a dish!!!

Enjoy!

The Firehouse Chef's Recipe For Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe was featured on an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Keith Young, The author of The Firehouse Chef Cookbook, won the Throwdown competition with his version of Chicken Cacciatore. Not only is it an inexpensive recipe to prepare it is nutritious, filling, and versatile. He prepared it over saffron rice, which I did as well. It was simply delicious. The next night it was even better , as many dishes are that are prepared in advance, over pasta.
A great meal for a cold winter's night!! You can google the recipe!!

Enjoy!

MIXSHAKESTIR

This book is a must for any home entertainer. It is a collection of recipes from Danny Meyer a multiple restaurant owner in NYC. It is exceptional. Great cocktail recipes. Pairing advice with your meal. It really makes you realize how important it is to pay the same attention to detail with your cocktails as you do with your menu. By using his advice it will put your party over the top!!

Go to Amazon and buy now!! You will thank me!!!

Happy Holiday!!!

I tried a fabulous new appetizer Christmas evening prior to my family dinner. I had seen it prepared first on Barefoot Contessa. It seemed so easy I had to add it to my menu. It was a Ham and Gruyere cheese in puff pastry. I changed a few things from the original recipe. Instead of Gruyere I just used Swiss cheese. I had it on hand and it also is a fraction of the cost. I also cut the recipe in half by using one sheet of puff pastry and cut the pastry sheet in half. This made 12 pieces.

The Recipe:
*One sheet of thawed puff pastry. Cut in half. Roll out on flour board to equal sizes. Spread bottom pastry with a ample amount of Dijon mustard. Top with Ham (great use of left over ham from the holiday) and slices of Swiss cheese. Use egg wash to brush pastry border. top with remaining puff pastry. Crimp with a fork on all four sides. Brush top with egg wash. cut three slits on top to release steam. Bake at 375 until golden brown. Cut into squares. It should yield
12.

Enjoy!!!

Brushetta Updated

We have all made or at least had brushetta before. There are so many different ways to top a piece of brushetta. Until today, after a good friend shared her secret to brushetta with me, I had always toasted my rounds of baguette in the oven. This made for a very crisp base for my topping which I thought was great. Today, I tried my new friends method and I will never prepare it any other way. She pan seared her baguette rounds in a very hot pan with Olive oil until golden brown on each side. It was AMAZING instead of crisp all the way through it was crispy on the outside and so wonderfully soft in the middle.
I topped mine with a combination of chopped Roma tomatoes, yellow peppers, garlic, fresh basil, extra virgin olive, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

What a quick vegetarian appetizer!!!

Enjoy

Everything Food...

My company is Simply Elegant Catering. I am a small caterer that services the DC Metropolitan area including Maryland and Northern Virginia. My Scope of events are vast ranging from the gourmet picnic for 2, dinner parties, cocktail parties, office events, weddings and galas of all sizes.
I am living my dream career.
My passion for food and entertainment is not only my business but a focus in my personal life. My family, friends, clients and I converse daily on everything food. Be it the multitude of food shows, magazines, cookbooks, recipes, speciality food stores etc. that are out there. Hence my reason for beginning this blog. My goal is to share my thoughts on all the research and testing of wonderful recipes and entertaining ideas that I spend everyday working on. I hope by doing this that not only can I reach those I know already but hopefully make some new friends as well.

I look forward to sharing!!!