Author Archives: Amanda

Filet Mignon

Fillet Mignon with Portobello Mushrooms
Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Insalata Caprese

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.
Ingredients
1lb pack of Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
3 Tomatoes
1 bunch Basil
Extra Virgin olive oil (drizzle)
Balsamic Vinegar (drizzle)
Salt and Pepper to taste
What to do:
Slice tomatoes.
Slice Mozzarella to a similar thickness as the tomatoes
Pick the basil leaves off the stalk.
Assemble on plate, first with the tomato, [...]

Coi, San Francisco

When I heard that Coi was a favorable choice amongst the foragers such as René Redzepi from Noma, I knew I had to visit, since my plans to fly to Denmark for a meal doesn’t seem to be on my plans for 2011. The waiter told me in conversation that fellow forager Peter Gilmore (Quay) from Sydney also dined at Coi just a few weeks ago.

Calorie free Miracle Noodle?

It seems that a humble Japanese ingredient has been re-marketed to “Miracle Noodle“. Could it become the next diet craze?
In Japanese cuisine, konjac (known as konnyaku) appears in dishes such as oden. It is typically mottled grey and firmer in consistency than most gelatins. It has very little taste and is valued more for its texture than flavor.
Konnyaku made [...]

T.. Te… Tequilla!

To ring in the new year, our friends at Sauza® Tequila has created some simple margarita recipes that are not only delicious but, most importantly, guilt-free.

Risotto al Tartufo Bianco

The amount of effort you put into your risotto is directly correlated to how wonderful the results will be. The simplicity of this rule allows anyone to have the skills to re-create a restaurant quality dish.

The most important thing you must consider is the quality of your ingredients, if you are spending the amount of time and effort to make a risotto it will only be ruined if your ingredients are sub par to begin with.

Darren Simpson @ Casa Barilla

The Council of Italian Restaurants in Australia (CIRA) fosters all things tasty and Italian‚ offering insights into regional Italian cuisine and a range of cookery classes with our favourite Italian chefs.

Liquid Indulgences

The 1982 Dom Pérignon still had a lovely array of bubbles gently sparkling through the crystal flute. A beautiful golden color dressed with nice honey scents on the nose. The flavors are just bursting with a great chardonnay fruit, fresh, lightly creamy and incredibly toasty with some sweet nutty fruit and butter. Balanced and beautiful like a ballet dancer tip toeing gracefully on our tastebuds.

Butternut Penne

Butternut, also known as Butternut pumpkin is a wonderful winter squash with a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. The ripe flesh is a beautiful deep orange with a good sweetness to it and always in its prime during the winter months. I thought that instead of using the usual pasta sauce, I would create a recipe that used only butternut, which makes it very quick and simple to prepare.

Lazy Bolognese

There are many recipes out there for Bolognese sauce, and we all have our own favorite. There are master combinations of pork/veal/beef mince, blend of vegetables to make a killer sofritto, cooking time that goes on for hours and hours… which produces divine results. But for all those times where we just want to prepare a [...]