Beef Involtini - Slow Braised Meat Rolls

in , , , , ,

For the past 11 days I have been fighting a cold.  I experience every single symptom that every cold medicine list on their packaging. I don’t think I ever had a cold hit me this hard or overstayed it’s welcome - EVER!.  I had been, simply put – MISERABLE. And like anyone, when you are sick, the last thing you want to do is cook or be around food - at least that is the case with me. On top of all that I’m in the middle of interviewing for a new job, which has taken over my mental state.  

Tomorrow I will be going in for my third interview with this company and I’m about to crack – No joke. To have something that you want so very bad right there for you to take, but still beyond your reach, because other people are making the final decision - well, it’s sucks the big one.  I can honestly say that I comprehend what Top Chef contestant go thru doing everything in the power to reach their dream and still not have full control of the final outcome.

So, I know that I have neglected Sweetbites this past week.  But, hopefully this weekend I will be back in full swing and cook up a storm, and then you all be sending me emails to stop posting so much.  Just you watch.

But what I do have is a recipe that I made over a month ago, and just remember that it has been sitting on my DRAFT box all this time.

Read More

GCC: Menu 21 - Mushroom Risotto

in , , ,

This weeks gutsy cook choice was a favorite of mine – Risotto, in this case with mushrooms.

Most people fear risotto, they think that its complicated and risky.  Requiring constant, slow stirring, attention to detail and patience.  With no short cuts allowed. Even for a season cook the pressure to turn a great risotto dish may be too much.

You may think that being Italian I cooked this dish many time.  Not so, the first time I ever made risotto was last year.  As part of a Daring Cook Challenge.  Since then, I have made it so many times and can tell you, there is no need to panic.  Risotto is not that difficult, in fact, it is one of the easiest dishes to make, but like anything in the kitchen, the trick is organization before hand.  Risotto is all about technique.  Once you master it, you will be whipping it up and experimenting with countless seasonal flavors.

Read More

Sweet Kitchen Tips 25

in

Not all of us cook the same way. Some of us are super structure, some are on the fly, but at the end we all end up doing what works for each of us.  Case in point, the upside: Tom likes to cook – the downside: he is a mess in the kitchen! Every time he finishes cooking the kitchen looks like a hurricane went right through it.  For my compulsive self, this is just too much for me; I’m totally neurotic when it comes to how I cook and the state of the kitchen while I’m doing it.  The pre-prepping, the actually cooking, the cleaning.  At the core, messiness (for me) has no place in my kitchen, that is why I usually try to be as far away from then kitchen when Tom is cooking something.

Or my head explodes.

But regardless of how you utilized your kitchen, it has been proven that people who lurch from task to task become frazzled, get poor results and eventually abandon the task all together.  And for most frazzle first time cooks, after a kitchen disaster (which can totally be avoided) they simply announce that they cannot cook and loose the opportunity of experiencing such a gratifying talent.

Read More