a fun kid-friendly cookbook and a giveaway

Have you seen this fun new cookbook yet? It's called Picture Me Cooking and it's so much more than your run of the mill cookbook. It's a cookbook, photo album and activity book all in one! Children ages 3 and up will enjoy this book.



There are beautiful color photograph to go along with each recipe. And what's really fun are the plastic sleeves for placing your own photographs of you and your kids cooking up the recipe.



Picture Me Cooking contains recipes for Breakfast, Snacks, Drinks, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert. Also included is a section on kitchen safety, kitchen math, and a spot for adding in your own family favorites.



What a fun way to make memories and spend quality time with our kids, grand kids, nieces, nephews, God-children...

I received 2 copies of Picture Me Cooking. One for review and one to give to a friend or loved one. I thought it would be fun to give the extra copy to one my bloggy friends!

Leave me a comment and let me know you'd like to win. If you have a favorite kid-friendly recipe, feel free to mention it in your comment. I will keep this giveaway open until midnight Wednesday, August 25th. The 25th will be my son's 9th birthday! Giveaway open to US and Canadian readers.

Be sure to hop over to the Picture Me Cooking blog! There is lots of fun stuff going on over there!

Stay tuned! My kids and I will be cooking one of the recipes from the cookbook in the next day or two. :)





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wasabi chicken salad sandwiches and a cookbook review

I received this fun cookbook in the mail recently for review. Now, just how did they know about my crappy little kitchen? This book is right up my alley alright! Even if you don't have a crappy little kitchen you'll still love exploring all of the terrific recipes inside.



In addition to the fantastic recipes, there are also many fun tips including how to organize your CLK, the best tools and gadgets for your CLK, nine gourmet rules and more. Each chapter has little snippets of info titled Chefology, Swap it, and my favorite...Did you know this crap?.



Each recipe has a fun name, too. There's Wish I was a little Bisque Taller, Get Freaky Tzatziki, For a Good Time Call Champagne Oysters, Make-You-Want-to-Marry-Me Mussels Marinara, Better Than Nookie Sweet Potato Gnocchi, When the Saints Come Marching In Gumbo.... It goes on and on. There are appetizers, soups, salads, veggies, entrees, sides and desserts.



The Wassup! Wasabi Chicken Salad really caught my eye. My husband and I are both crazy for wasabi so I knew this would be a good choice.



This recipe includes ingredients like ginger, garlic, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, peanuts, cilantro and wasabi, all of which make this a chicken salad far from ho-hum. I also loved that it was so simple to prepare. I'm all about simple meals in the summertime.

Wassup! Wasabi Chicken Salad
adapted from Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens

Sea salt, to taste
1 lb chicken breast, boneless and skinless
1 lb chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp wasabi powder
2 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
black pepper to taste
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
3 tbsp chopped fresh mint (I left this out)
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (I minced mine)
1/4 cup peanuts (I roughly chopped mine)
1/2 cup roughly chopped dried apricots (I left these out)
Napa cabbage leaves (I shredded mine)
1 tbsp black sesame seeds (I used a blend of black and regular sesame seeds that I had on hand)

Fill a 12 qt stock pot halfway with water and place on high heat. When it begins to simmer, add 3 tbsp of sea salt and allow it to dissolve. Remove any remaining fat from chicken. When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat slightly down. Gently place the breasts and thighs into the pot. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove with tongs, place into a bowl and cover with ice for 5 minutes. Remove ice, pat chicken dry and chop into fairly small pieces and toss into a mixing bowl.

Pour the rice wine vinegar into a blender and sprinkle the wasabi powder over it. Add the sour cream and pulse the mixture until smooth. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while blending at low speed. Add the soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Pulse to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add 1/4 cup of the dressing to the chopped chicken and toss to combine. Add the cilantro, onion, peanuts (and the mint and apricots if you wish. Again, I left them out.) Taste salad to see if you would like to add more dressing, salt or pepper. I used every bit of this yummy dressing and was begging for more! I'll make a larger batch of it next time.

The recipe says to place cabbage leaves on a platter and place the chicken on top. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use. Serve ice cold.

We put our salad on lightly toasted kaiser rolls with a bit of shredded cabbage and served with some kettle chips. I'm sure it's fantastic either way.

Print recipe

P.S. I was also thinking that tofu could easily replace the chicken for a vegetarian version. :)

Look for this cookbook, you'll love it!





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crab cakes and a book review

I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to review The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking by the award winning author, Joseph E. Dabney. This book transports you to charming destinations like Savannah, Beaufort and Charleston. It is bursting with rich history and tradition. Recipes come from down-home folk as well as chefs and restauranteurs. This cookbook is a delightful mix of mouth watering recipes including appetizers, soups, beverages, bbq, seafood, benne seeds, grits, greens, wild game and desserts. There is also a nice helping of delightful poetry, famous quotes, heartfelt prayers and so many wonderful stories from the past. You will laugh and quite possibly shed a tear...or two.



It was difficult to decide which recipe to try first. I almost went with the Alligator Ribs but then I thought about just how much it would cost to have fresh gator shipped to Oregon so...



I went with the Beaufort-Style Crab Cakes instead.



These cakes are packed with green and red peppers, mushrooms, onion and, of course, a pound of crab meat.



Shhhh! Don't tell anyone in Beaufort but I tweaked the recipe just a teensy bit. I added a clove of garlic. I also had a bit of trouble getting these lovely cakes to hold together so I threw in an egg, too. I'm sure my troubles were do to the fact that I am a complete crab cake making novice. I vow to master the art of crab cake making!

My daughter proclaimed these to be delicious and let me know that she could probably eat twelve of them!

I whipped up some spicy dipping sauce for my crab cakes as well. Just a mix of mayo, ketchup, hot sauce, chili powder and lemon juice.

Be sure and keep your eye out for this cookbook, it's definitely worth a read!



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mango raspberry summer soup and a cookbook giveaway!

Lately, I've been thinking that there aren't nearly enough giveaways going on here at the Ungourmet. Lucky for me...and for you, Amazon Encore sent me this wonderful book, The Berry Bible for review. They even threw in an extra copy for me to give away. Pretty darn exciting! . The author, Janie Hibler is a fellow Portlander and is a contributing writer for Gourmet, Food and Wine and Bon Appetit.




This book has a wonderful A-Z berry encyclopedia. It also holds 175 recipes for berries including cocktails, breads, soups, salads, main courses, sorbets, pies, cakes, pastries, puddings and much more.
I love this book! It's bursting with terrific information on wild, fresh and frozen berries. I had a difficult time deciding which recipe to make first. I almost made the Blackberry-Blueberry Cardamom Muffins. I also considered the Fallen Lemon Cake with Melba Sauce. The Sauteed Chicken Breast with Blueberry Port was also quite tempting.



I finally settled on this Mango-Raspberry Summer Soup. Isn't the color just beautiful!



I've never made a chilled soup so I was excited to see how this would turn out. The original recipe calls for banana. I was concerned about adding the banana and then letting it sit until tomorrow to serve. I thought the banana might turn brown overnight so I left it out.



I'm sure the original recipe is a touch sweeter with the banana but, in my opinion, the soup was still lovely and refreshing without it. This is a "souper" soup for summer entertaining. ;D

Mango-Raspberry Summer Soup
recipe adapted from The Berry Bible

Makes about 8-10 servings

2 cups mango puree (you can do this in the food processor)
1 1/2 cups fresh orange juice
2 pints fresh raspberries
2 bananas, peeled (I left these out)
1 papaya, peeled and seeded
1 cup milk
2 heaping tablespoons cream of coconut
mint sprigs for garnish

Put the mango puree, oj, raspberries, banana, papaya, milk and cream of coconut into a blender and blend until smooth. Using a damp cheesecloth, strain the soup into a large bowl. Chill before serving. Pour 1/2 cup servings into your container of choice and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Print recipe

If you would like to win one of these fabulous cookbooks, leave me a comment including your email. I will use the random generator to pick a winner. I will close the giveaway on Sunday night at midnight PST. U.S. and Canada only. Sorry! I just can't afford the postage for overseas shipping. I wish I could!




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Cookbook Review Part 2: Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night

I enjoyed Daisy's cookbook so much that I decided to do a 2 part review. There are still so many great recipes I am dying to try!



This time I am trying Daisy's Puerto Rican Shortbread Cookies.



The recipe actually calls for Guava Jelly but I couldn't find any so I substituted Cherry Preserves.



The recipe also calls for almond flour. This is my first time working with almond flour. I have to say...I'm now hooked on the stuff!



These cookies are so flaky and yummy and not overly sweet.



They would be a perfect choice for a nice tea time (or coffee) with friends.



I sprinkled toasted sliced almonds on half of my cookies just for fun.



Puerto Rican Shortbread Cookies
recipe from Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night

2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
2 extra-large eggs, well beaten (I used large eggs)
About 2/3 cup of guava (or other) jelly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or use non stick baking sheets.

Stir the all purpose and almond flours, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until there is almost no trace of butter left. The dough should be loose and crumbly. Add the eggs and stir until the dough is smooth and no longer crumbly.

Using 1 level tablespoon for each, roll the dough into balls and set them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press down firmly on the center of each dough ball with your thumb to flatten it out and create a deep well. Spoon about 1/2 tsp of the jelly into each well.

Bake until the cookies are very pale golden around the edges, about 25 minutes (mine only took 20 minutes). Allow to cool completely before serving. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Handle them gently!

Whatever you do, do not accidentally tip the hot, jelly filled cookie and dump BOILING HOT JELLY onto your fingers! OUCH! ;0)

Try these, they will make you smile!





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Cookbook Review Part 1: Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a fabulous new cookbook called Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night. The recipes in Daisy's cookbook are inspired by her extensive travels with family throughout Latin America. During the trips, Daisy kept careful notes on the food she and her family enjoyed most. The recipes are easy to make and easy to follow and are loaded with bright, bold flavors.



I had a hard time choosing which yummy recipe to try first. I finally settled on the Pressed Turkey, Ham and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich with Roasted Red Pepper Spread.



I love to serve sandwiches like this for any meal. We actually ate this for lunch on Sunday. One of the best parts of this recipe is the Roasted Red Pepper Spread, it brings such a rich, creamy goodness and really sets this sandwich apart from the ordinary.



I had a hard time capturing a photo that looked as great as it tasted.



This is definitely a new found favorite and I can't wait to make it again.



Some other recipes that caught my eye were the Mayan Omelets infused with chaya, Braised Chicken with Coconut Milk and Curry, Pan Seared Red Snapper with Weeknight Salsa, Fava Beans with Serrano Ham and Cream, Twice Fried Plantain Cups, and Puerto Rican Shortbread Cookies... just to name a few.

Pressed Turkey, Ham, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich with Roasted Pepper Spread
recipe from Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night

For the Spread (Makes 2 Cups)

1 cup whole-milk ricotta
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, and peeled or 1 bottled roasted pepper, well drained

For the Sandwich

4 Croissants, split
4 thin slices deli ham (I used 8 slices, two on each sandwich)
4 thin slices turkey (I used 8 slices, two on each sandwich)
4 thin slices cheddar cheese

Make the spread: Process the ricotta, mayo and bell pepper in a food processor until smooth (I just stirred mine...oops!). Remaining spread can be stored for up to 1 week in the fridge.

Brush one cut side of each croissant generously with spread. Layer slices of ham, turkey and cheese over spread. Top sandwiches with the remaining croissant halves.

Cook the sandwiches in a panini press until the centers are warmed through and the croissants are grill-marked, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Keep your eyes out for this wonderful cookbook! It will be arriving in stores March 2, 2010.

Tune in next time for Part 2 of my review. I'm going to bake up a batch of the Puerto Rican Shortbread Cookies. Yum!




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