Author: Tracey

The Year I Learn to Bake: Ina Garten’s Baked Chocolate Pudding

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My stand mixer has been sitting on the countertop, patiently waiting for me to remember my New Year’s resolution to learn how to bake.  I’ll bet you thought I’d forgotten about it, too!  More likely, I’ll bet you thought it would be so much more fulfilling to resolve to be more organized or eat fewer calories…or perhaps even exercise more?  And not that there’s anything wrong with being virtuous, but aren’t most resolutions broken by the middle of February anyway? So, this was my way of setting myself up for success.   This is how you WIN at resolution-making:  make resolutions that you actually don’t mind keeping long-term! Being that it’s Valentine’s Day and I’m not adept at this whole baking thing yet, I decided to try something easy; something fairly fool-proof that didn’t contain anything terribly exotic and could be whipped up in mere minutes.  This recipe for Baked Chocolate Pudding fit the bill perfectly! I found it in Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics” cookbook and true to Ina’s form, there were only seven …

Cocktail of the Week: Classic Gin Martinez

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For this week’s cocktail, we are going old school.  The Martinez is a classic 19th century cocktail comprised of four ingredients that should be included in any well-stocked home bar:  gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur and orange bitters.  The Martinez is a drink that begs to be savored, preferably in a darkened room festooned with lots of velvet and with a bluesy refrain playing in the background.  There are no frills here–no sugared rims, no floating flowers, just refinement and simplicity in a glass!  I was inspired to make this drink after seeing the recipe on Food52 and it is remarkably simple. I used Hayman’s Old Tom gin, Martini & Rossi sweet vermouth, Christiani Maraschino and Scrappy’s Orange Bitters. Now, go put on some good music and put your feet up for a while!  Cheers!

Valentine’s Day Shrimp and Grits with Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta

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Psst…!  I don’t wish to alarm you, but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!  Now, before you panic and grab your phone to try and make a dinner reservation, allow me give you a better option:  a totally fussy, outright gourmet restaurant-worthy dinner lovingly prepared in your own kitchen!  I don’t know about you, but I think that a home-cooked dinner beats going out to an overpriced, crowded restaurant any day!  First and foremost, I will warn you that this recipe will take some extra time and a few steps.  You will dirty not one, but a few pots and pans. After you’re done, your kitchen will likely look like a tornado hit it, and for this, I apologize. But, this is a special meal, and I promise you, it will be so delicious, your sweetie will happily volunteer to do the dishes for you!  Plus, no long wait times, overwhelmed servers and outrageously priced prix fixe menus! I think it’s a win-win! This recipe is a take on a traditional Southern classic – shrimp …

Chinese New Year & Cucumber-Enoki Mushroom Salad

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Last weekend marked a Trifecta of Celebratory Celebrations:  Chinese New Year followed by The Husband’s birthday, which landed squarely on top of Superbowl Sunday!  Oh, and Groundhog Day, too!  Shoot. Now it’s a Quadrant? Quadrifecta?  Anyway, there was a lot going on last weekend and all of it was surrounded by delicious things to eat! On Friday, the first day of the Year of the Horse, we ventured into Chinatown (yes, Las Vegas has a Chinatown, and a good one at that!) for Chinese soup dumplings, or Xiao Long Bao.  Now, if you’ve never had them before, let me tell you, they are amazing little feats of culinary engineering!  These little dumplings are traditionally filled with pork and a little gelatinized broth encased in a bun.  When the buns are steamed, the gelatinized broth melts and becomes like soup, so that when you bite into the delicate bun, you are treated to a steaming hot burst of soup and meat!  Delicious!  Actually, I’m not even sure why I’m getting you all excited about soup dumplings …

Downtown Las Vegas Pub Crawl!

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My stove has been broken since Saturday and according to the repairman, it’s going to remain broken for the remainder of the week!  I had the faintest glimmer of hope that it would be fixed today, but of course, there were parts that had to be ordered from Timbuktu.  I suppose I should be grateful that Timbuktu has rush delivery; and really I am…but I’m honestly feeling very out-of-sorts right now!  I tell you, nothing irks me more than things being broken, undone or under construction at home–not to mention being really tired of getting takeout! So, in lieu of a recipe, I wanted to show you what I got up to this past weekend: I went on my first Downtown Pub Crawl! I will be the first person to confess that I have not spent nearly enough time exploring the revitalization projects going on in Downtown Las Vegas!   I’ve been to the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, which is an awesome and wonderful addition to our city.  I’ve also spent time in …

Spicy Blood Orange Margarita

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You might be wondering why I’m having a margarita on National Pie Day.  Well, other than that fact that any day is a good day for a margarita, it’s mainly because my attempt at making pie crust this week drove me to drink.  Fresh from my stellar artisan bread success over the weekend, my starry-eyed self ran to Homegoods on Monday and bought a bundt cake pan and a tart pan (the two piece type that has a removable bottom).   I planned to break in that tart pan by making an amazing quiche from scratch with a blind-baked homemade crust.   I raced home from work and immediately began making a series of rookie mistakes.  First off, I didn’t thoroughly read the recipe all the way through.  I had assumed that the pie crust dough would be the same as a dough I had experimented with over the summer, so I didn’t notice that the recipe I had chosen required a two hour rest period in the refrigerator!  No matter, I thought, I’ll just …

Mussels with Fennel, Italian Sausage and Créme Fraiche plus Rosemary Lemon Bread!

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I should be telling you about the steaming pot of mussels I cooked up yesterday. I should be telling you about the tender, sweet shellfish swimming in a broth of white wine, tangy créme fraiche and fennel.  I should tell you about the little bits of hot italian sausage hiding in the mussel shells, like little yummy gifts waiting to be discovered.  But, what is currently hijacking my brain right now is the crusty loaf of lemon rosemary bread that I used to dip into that tangy broth, sponging up all that goodness!  That crusty, crackly crunchy shell hid an interior so creamy and custardy (hey that’s a lot of c-words in one sentence!) that I just need to take a moment to reflect on the wonder that is home-baked bread.   Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I can go back to telling you about those mussels!   Cooking mussels in a broth of white wine is as classic as it comes, and this recipe takes that basic dish and …