The Omnivore's Hundred (updated 10-09)

I have seen this list on quite a few blogs recently and thought I would give it a go.  This list will reveal howunadventurous I am when it comes to food.  You will also discover that I hate seafood.

100 things every omnivore should eat at least once
Here’s what to do:
1) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

2) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (or turn red since i dont know how to do a strikethrough on blogger!)

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile 
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (updated 10-09.  raspberry wine.  delicious with really dark chocolate.  would go very well with a souffle.  Just a sipping wine though)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Soudough Bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar 
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I'm sure i have unintentionally)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (i have never had a big mac and I don't think i ever will.  Don't get me wrong, I love fast food.  But I usually get chicken nuggets.  Yum!!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (YUM!)
60. Carob chips 
61. S’mores (homemade marshmallow are a must!)
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (when I was young.  I wouldn't eat them today)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (no, yes, no, yes!)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho (sitting on the coast of spain overlooking the mediterranean with a pitcher of sangria...yes)
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost (looks tasty!)
75. Roadkill (I hope I haven't eaten it.  You never know with some restaurants!)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu (I wish!)
85. Kobe beef 
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Starbucks Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate

The Starbucks website describes this drink as...This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii.

I describe it as...amazing.  You must enjoy the whipped cream drizzled with caramel and sea salt first.  The salt and sugar topping is crunchy and powerful.  I was really only looking forward to the topping and I thought the "body" of the drink would be just like their regular hot chocolate with some caramel syrup in it.  Boy was I wrong.  The drink itself is a new blend of cocoas with a more sophisticated, European flavor.  The chocolate has a deeper, darker flavor and it isn't overly sweet.  I don't know what kind of caramel they put in it but it is heavenly.  The caramel flavoring is intense, buttery, and oh so tasty.

I highly recommend this drink.  I am craving one right now!  I was getting to the point of boredom with Starbucks, but they have redeemed their name!  THANK YOU STARBUCKS!  I LOVE YOU!

Iron Chef, Phase 2. Battle CHEESE

A co-worker and her husband wanted to throw an Iron Chef party and they thought of me as one of the chefs!  This event was very organized and a lot of fun.  

Here's how it went down...

There was a list of 5 ingredients (potato, prepared dough, cheese, bacon, and rice)  The day before the event we drew an ingredient (cheese!) and called the other two chefs.  We had all day Saturday to shop and plan.  We were to start cooking at 5:30.

My friend's kitchen is huge!  So it was no problem having 3 teams working away in there.  We had an hour and a half which was too much time for me but not enough for one of the other teams!

We had to plate one version of each of our 3 dishes.  Each guest had a score sheet.  Every dish was scored from 1-5 on taste, presentation, and originality.  The host then took all the score cards and entered them into an excel spreadsheet.  The winner was then announced...and then we ate more!

It was a great evening.  I hope you will enjoy the pictures!

The Winning Team

Baked Cheese Twists with Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Horseradish Cheeseburger Panini on Asiago Cheese Bread with Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce

Ricotta Blueberry Waffles with Cream Cheese Topping

Team Two

Baked Havarti Cheese

Ronnie's Famous Hamburgers

Sausage Cheese Balls

My Team!

Baked Brie with Caramel and Pecans

Baked Mac & Cheese

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

(I will post the recipe someday!)

What have I been up to?

I had a ton of pictures on my camera to blog about.  So here are a bunch of the misc. photos I had.  I have this problem, a lot of times I will take pictures while I bake but I will forget to take a picture of the finished product.  So, yeah...

This is a birthday cake I made for my boss who resigned 2 weeks later.  I didn't think it was THAT bad!  He he.  I made a flag to put in the hole.  I just never took a picture with it on!  The sand pit is crushed graham crackers.

Photos of "in the works" but no final photo!

Exhibit A - Baklava
Exhibit B - Caramel for Salted Caramel and Milk Chocolate Tarts (or whatever they are called)

http://tartelette.blogspot.com/2008/08/two-chocolates-some-salted-butter.html

Exhibit C - my "cake" plate!  (again, pre-fired.  I don't have a picture of the final product)
Exhibit D - I don't even remember what these two photos were from.  But this is adding vanilla to cream.  It just looked really cool.  The following is a double yolk!  I get really excited.  (the cup had some cream in it.  That's why it looks strange.)

Iron Chef - Phase 1

A few months ago my family did an Iron Chef competition for dinner.   

We had two teams, the boys team and the girls team.  We all voted for a few different "secret ingredients" and then we drew one from a hat.  We all had 1/2 hour to come up with our recipe.  The ingredient was CITRUS! Then we all jumped in the car and went to the store.  We had a $40 limit.  We were to do one main dish and one side dish.

The girls did orange chicken over rice with ambrosia salad as a side.

The boys did citrus and rosemary pork chops with a vegetable side.
We all voted on presentation and taste.
The girls won because our dish was unmistakably citrus.  Although the boys dish was tastier!  

(that's me on the right)

So Iron Chef #1 was a success!!!

Daring Bakers August - Better Late Than Never!

So yeah, I'm not really good at deadlines.  I had these done mid August, I just never posted.  These were my tropical storm Faye project.  Ok, I won't post the recipe because everyone else has.  I will just post my results.

YUMMMM!!!!

Ok, so you are probably looking for a little more info than yummmm.  

I had never made pate choux before.  I had no problems making it.  It was actually fun!  I piped the dough and put both sheets in the oven and rotated half way through.  Well, one sheet had perfectly puffed eclairs and the other sheet had half puffed and half FLAT!  It was strange.  But, they did not go to waste.  I was able to "inflate" them with the cream.

I made the chocolate pastry cream just like the recipe had it.  I thought it sounded great, so no need to make any changes.  

I had no problems making the cream.  The recipe said to cut the eclairs open and pipe in the cream.  Where's the fun in that?  I stuck a tip on my pastry bag and shoved it in an end of the eclair and filled that baby up!  Way more fun!

Then came the glaze.  I was confused about the glaze.  Make a sauce, then add x, y, z, and dip in the eclairs.  Ummmm yeah, I made a simple ganache and drizzled it on the eclairs.  Simple, delish.

First Cheesecake

I know, i haven't "blogged" in quite some time!  Not for lack of subject matter, just lack of time.  I never stop baking.  Just ask my family, friends, and co-workers who curse me when I "force" them to eat my treats!

A few MONTHS ago I made my first cheesecake.  It was a co-worker's birthday and he said that cheesecake was his favorite...so...I made a Turtle Cheesecake!

It had a chocolate crust, topped witha layer of melted caramels and pecans and then chocolate cheesecake.  It didn't even crack!  I didn't think it was done because it just wouldn't set up in the oven.  I left it in for like 20 minutes extra!

After it was cooled I added the chocolate ganache and pecans.  It was quite tasty.  The caramel layer was so good because it became a little chewy.  It's a keeper!

The Recipe was found here!

http://fruittart.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/turtle-cheesecake/

Turtle Cheesecake

Crust:

24-26 Oreo (or store brand) cookies, crushed

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

Filling:

30 vanilla caramels

1/4 - 1/3 c. whipping cream

pecans

Cheesecake:

2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese

2 (8 oz) pkgs neufchatel cheese

1 1/2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1/2 c. whipping cream

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Ganache:

1/3 - 1/2 c. whipping cream

8 oz chopped chocolate

chopped pecans

caramel sauce (ice cream topping)

whipped cream

Stir together crust ingredients. Press into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool.

Heat caramels and whipping cream until caramels are melted and smooth. Pour into cooled crust, making sure you don’t spread it completely to the edge of the pan. Leave 1/4-inch band around the edge. Sprinkle liberally with pecans.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cheeses until smooth and creamy, scraping the sides often; don’t leave any lumps. Add the sugar and beat again. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition, scraping the sides and being certain to incorporate any lumps from the bottom of the bowl. Add the whipping cream and melted chocolate and beat until smooth and evenly colored. Pour on top of pecans.

Bake at 325 F for 50 min with a pan of water on the rack below in the oven. Cool completely.

In a small saucepan, heat whipping cream until it simmers. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until completely melted. Spread over cheesecake.

Garnish with chopped pecans, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. Refrigerate overnight or until serving.

Tastespotting

My beloved tastespotting.com,
Oh, how I loved thee. You inspired me on a daily basis. Just this past week I made something worthy of you and now I cannot post it. Please come back to us. We all miss you!

(Does anyone have any info on this? I am hoping it is just a Friday the 13th joke but it's not funny)

I've been tagged! First Time EVER!!!!

Ok, so I am pretty excited! April from Abby Sweets tagged me for a meme.

The rules: Each participant answers questions about himself. At the end of the post the participant tags 5 people. Their names are posted letting them know they’ve been tagged. They then have to read the participant’s blog. The tagged let’s the tagger know when he’s posted his answers.

Ok, now for the questions -

What was I doing ten years ago?
Well, I was 11. So, I was being homeschooled, taking ballet classes, dancing in the Nutcracker, and annoying my 2 brothers.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
Ummmm work!
1. After work I am going for a photo shoot with my mom for our new wedding design business.
2. eat dinner
3. watch So you Think you can Dance
4. go to bed.
That's only 4. Well, i need to drop some books off at the Library. There's five!

Snacks I enjoy:
Uh oh, ummmm anything that is bad for me.
1. Tender White Popcorn
2. Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips
3. Starbucks Iced Triple Grande soy extra caramel, caramel macchiatto.
4. McDonalds Hot Fudge Sundae
5. Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: (mostly all selfish!)
1. Buy a house with a secret room and a ginormous closet (in NYC)
2. Pay for my friends and I to travel Europe
3. Start a bakery
4. Buy a large house for my sister-in-law so she can adopt many children (her dream)
5. Open a B&B

Places I have lived:
1. Sarasota
2. Naples (wow, this is getting personal)
I have lived in 7 houses in the greater Naples area, so I think i am done on this one!

Jobs I have had: (paid jobs?)
1. Media and lighting specialist at my old church
2. Ballet Teacher for 3-5 year olds
3. Graphic designer for a real estate company
4. Pampered Chef Consultant
5. Executive assistant at a bank (current)
...ummm some paid web design

Ok, now for tagging. Ummmm i am pretty new so i dont have 5 "blog friends" yet. So here are friends and people I stalk!

Colette at Colette's Bakery

Jennifer at Use Real Butter

Hannah at Bittersweet (of course when I went to her site her first post is about how much she dislikes memes! Oh well!)

Allison at Cinnamon Love

Bakerella at Bakerella

Thanks April!

Daring Bakers - May Challenge

What an "opera"tunity!

The Daring Bakers are at it again. This month we took on the Opera Cake. The challenge was to create an Opera cake using only light, spring-y colors.

The cake consists of three layers of almond joconde with buttercream in between topped with an optional mousse and a ganache layer.

I chose to use raspberry and lime as my flavors. I added lime zest to the cake, made a lime simple syrup to moisten the layers, and then strained the juice from a bag of frozen raspberries to add to the buttercream (classy, right?) I used my own version of fool-proof, no-cook buttercream.

So here's the verdict:
Problems - I made the buttercream and then added the raspberry juice. It was about a 1/2 cup of extra liquid. This made the buttercream runny...So I added more sugar.
I attempted to make the mousse but when I added the almost cooled white chocolate to the whipped cream it turned very lumpy and greasy. So I tossed it! The cake didn't need it anyway. Other daring bakers said that they put the mixture into the fridge to set up and then re-beat it. They said it worked great. Oh well!
Taste - Too sweet. I am not a huge fan of white chocolate and the glaze was TOO sweet. The cake tasted the best when served cold. The raspberry and lime flavors were subtle but blended well.
Difficulty - This cake was much easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was forking out $10 for my almond flour. The joconde came together nicely. I just wish that I had baked them separatly rather than at the same time on different racks. The top one browned a little much on the top with a moist bottom and the bottom layer was too brown on the bottom with a very light top. The glaze poured on nicely. I chilled it and then trimmed the sides of the cake. It cut very well after being chilled.
Overall - Fun challenge...Thank you co-hosts Lis and Ivonne (daring bakers founders) and Franand Shea. I had always wanted to make an opera cake and here it is! I can't wait to make a more traditional one with chocolate and coffee flavors. THANK YOU!
*check out Ivonne's blog for the recipe.