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SubscribeFriday, April 25, 2008
Grapes and Grappa, Figs and Olives + Free Cooking Light Cookbooks!
Since I’ve been working on my cookbook, which is all about modern Asian cooking, almost everything edible that comes out of my kitchen has been Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian or Korean. Yes, it can be tiring and I’m considering starting a new blog called “Steamy Kitchen, UnAsian” just to break the monotony. Gimme some Brazilian! Moroccan! Australian!
My family has been begging for something different, and everytime that I ask the kids, “so what do you want for supper tonight?” They chime excitedly, “McDonald’s HAPPY MEALS! Hip, hip, HOORRAYYYY!”
Which is fine. I give in. Because I do love me some McD french fries dipped in soft serve ice cream. I know, You’re groaning. It’s a leftover habit and craving from my pregnancy days.
Please tell me that I’m not alone in this craving! Please tell me that you, too have strange culinary cravings and secret flavor combinations that just make other people squirm uncomfortably in their pants.
Tell me and I’ll enter you in the drawing to win one of three gorgeous Cooking Light The Complete Cookbook – this baby is MASSIVE, weighing in at 4.4lbs with 1,200 recipes, 630 color photographs and a companion DVD. Plus I think there is an offer for 1 free year of Cooking Light magazine subscription inside.
OHOHOH! And there’s a bonus…at the end of this post.
Perks of Being My Friend
I get many cookbooks and products for review. Things I don’t like, I don’t mention on the blog and just give it away. The things that I do like, I review, write about it and give you all a chance to win the product for free. One of the many perks of being in close proximity of my mailbox each day at 4pm when I check my mail is that you can be the first to call “dibs,” as I often give the book or product away when I’m done with the review.
MiMi (grandma), visiting from Buffalo, just happened to be there right as I was opening the box from Cooking Light’s PR agency. She called dibs and happily flipped through the book as if it was hers already.
But then later that evening, I finally had a chance to flip through it. HOT DAMN!! I love the book! And I’m keeping it. There’s no way I’m letting this baby go! (Sorry, Mimi, you’ll just have to enter in the contest and see if you can win it!)
The reason I love this book so much is the variety of flavor combinations that I normally wouldn’t have come up with myself. See recipes below.
adapted from Cooking Light The Complete Cookbook. The recipe calls for boneless chicken thighs, cut into chunks. What I did instead was use whole bone-in chicken thighs, had Scott grill them outside on the BBQ grill, and just made the sauce separate to pour over when the chicken was done grilling. I love this recipe- this is definitely a keeper and all my dinner guests raved about it.
Moroccan Chicken: Figs, Olives and Honey
Prep : 12 min. Cook : 16 min. Serves 4
2 teaspoons olive oil
1-1/2 lbs chicken skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into large 1-1/2″ pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup quartered dried Calimyrna figs
1/4 cup chopped green olives
3 tablespoons sweet Marsala or Madeira wine
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Stir in chopped parsley and next 9 ingredients; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 minutes; stirring occasionally. Garnish with parsley sprigs if desired.
inspired by Cooking Light The Complete Cookbook. Original recipe was Grapes and Grappa with Quail. But I didn’t have a quail handy and craved a warm salad instead. The original recipe called for Prosciutto, but when I went to the market, Prosciutto was *#$@!* $8.00 for 6 paper-thin slices. WTF? So I know this cookbook is cooking LIGHT. But I wasn’t about to pay that kind of money for crappy prosciutto. So I used bacon instead.
I think I just upped the caloric intake by a hundred or so. Feel free to slap me.
Grappa is an Italian liquor distilled from grape pressings left over after winemaking; cognac is a good substitute.
Grapes, Grappa and Bacon: A Warm Salad
serves 6-8
1 bag of salad greens
1/2 lb grapes, cut in half
4 slices of turkey bacon, bacon or prosciutto
2 ounces grappa
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
OPTION #1: I’m gonna give you a choice. If you’re gonna use bacon or turkey bacon, the cooking light way would be to crisp in the microwave on paper towels. Once it’s cooked, crumble and set aside. Heat a medium, nonstick skillet over high heat and add 1 tbl olive oil. When oil is hot, add the grapes and cook for 15 seconds. Add cider vinegar, grappa, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 seconds and pour over salad greens. Top with crumbled bacon.
OPTION #2: Using prosciutto. Cut prosciutto into small, bite-sized pieces. Grab a large skillet, add 1 tbl olive oil and heat over medium heat. When hot, Add prosciutto. Fry crisp. Add grapes, let the grapes sizzle in the olive oil for 15 seconds. Add grappa, vinegar, sugar, S&P, and mustard. Let simmer on low for 30 seconds. Pour over salad greens. Eat and then go jogging around the block.
OPTION #3: The shameful, sinful method that I used. Cut bacon into small, bite-sized pieces. Grab a large skillet and add bacon in skillet. Cook bacon over medium heat. until crisp. You should have about 1 tablespoon of bacon fat in the pan. (wince!) You can spoon some of the fat out if there’s a lot. Add grapes, let the grapes sizzle in the fat for 15 seconds. Add grappa, vinegar, sugar, S&P, and mustard. Let simmer on low for 30 seconds. Pour over salad greens. Eat and then go jogging around the block.
***
Drawing for the free Cooking Light cookbook!
All you have to do is comment below. Tell me a flavor or ingredient combination that isn’t mainstream. It doesn’t have to be strange or exotic – just maybe a little different, innovative or…ok, strange is cool too. p.s. I like pickles + pate in a baguette too.
Here are mine:
Seaweed sprinkled with salty/sweet plum powder (li hing)
Canned smoked oysters + apricot jam
Winners have been announced!!! See who won.
***
I will really regret typing this…
But for shits and giggles, when I announce the 3 winners of the cookbook in a couple of weeks, I will let YOU vote for which strange flavor concoction for met to try. I will make it and videotape myself eating it, all for your sick and twisted enjoyment.
You’ll decide in a couple of weeks. And maybe…just maybe I might do this on television.
Now, that’s web-ertainment. Beat that, Zimmern.
Contest is over, but come vote for which strange flavor concoction that I will try (and whoever you pick also gets a nice Steamy Kitchen care package.
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408 Responses to “Grapes and Grappa, Figs and Olives + Free Cooking Light Cookbooks!”
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Cookbook
101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight's Dinner
by Jaden Hair -
Favorite Stuff
Pitt Mitt - Use all 5 fingers instead of trying to wrestle hot items with puppet hands.
Hurom Slow Juicer - The very best juicer in the world - Bon Appetit names it best new appliance.
Gravity Pepper Mill - Spice it up one-handed, just turn it upside down.
SK Store
and If I could spell omElette that would be even better!
Apple pie a la mode with caramel sauce and…hot buffalo sauce! It’s amazing.
I like frozen pancakes, straight out of the freezer and into my mouth.
I will also eat spoonfuls of my Mom’s relish, right out of the jar.
Those are not to be eaten together and are not a flavour combination, so I guess I’ll have to go with scrambled eggs and jam.
I was raised in a DC suburb, but my parents are displaced New Englanders who used to regale us with stories of a marvelous, magical place called Cabot’s in (Watertown? Newton? don’t remember exactly… somewhere around there) where regulars knew to dispense with the burgers and just order french fries and sundaes. When we finally got them to take us there, it was every bit as great as we had been promised it would be.
Miss Vickies Jalapeno chips dipped in Japanese mayo, you know the one. Kewpie… with the msg. Delicious.
Well, it is really not strange, but my ‘Merican friends think so. Soy sauce on friend eggs for breakfast. From living in Japan. Delish.
Also, not strange, but I sub spicy hummus for mayo when making tuna salad. Add some dill relish and it is moist and tasty and much healthier.
I adore Cooking Light. About 90% of the recipes I’ve made from Cooking Light mags have been great and easy.
When nobody is looking, I dip my pickles in ketchup.
hmm, tomato Jam with cinnamonbread (from Ikea) and goatcheese.
chili-bellpepper chutney with a cinnamon topped on chickenbeast.
Growing up my dad would whip up this concoction of tomatoes, condensed milk and ice into a slush. To this day I would crave it every so often.
Growing up my dad would whip up this concoction of tomatoes, condensed milk and ice into a slush. I would crave it every so often…especially on a hot day for something refreshing. Maybe I’ll add a bit of mint?….
A toasted, buttered bagel with sliced kosher dill pickles piled high on top. I’ve been making that as a snack since high school. Sooo tasty.
Hi Jaden,
No worries if you can’t recommend any!
This isn’t related to your current post, but I was wondering whether you could recommend a deep fryer? Didn’t find any entry on that in your Products Review page, and oh well, just thought I’d ask off-hand since you’re the lady with a lot of gadgets.
Thanks for your time and best wishes,
Jasmine Lee
I like to eat unripe green mangos dipped in a thai sauce made with roasted dried thai chilis, fish sauce and sugar.
My kids LOVE McDonald’s fries dipped in their soft serve ice cream! I am not a fan of that combo myself. Nor am I a big food combiner. I did gross out a lot of people in the college dining hall because I put ketchup on so many foods. I think it was due to the lack of flavor of even their simple things like chicken breast or to cover up the bad tasting stuff!
Don’t care so much about the cookbook at this point. I just want to try a lot of these suggestions. But just remembered one of my favorites. And though PB has been mentioned too many times I will add yet one more.
Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle Sandwich
Anyone I’ve mentioned this to, outside of my brother (who also loves it), recoils in fear. It’s got sour, salty AND sweet all tempered by the great moderator – bread. And please, do use the crunchy peanut butter, it goes beautifully with the crunch of the dill pickle.
I really like the taste of smoky bacon with chocolate or sweet custards
just wanted to tell you- i just finished my midterm today. i made your orange coriander braised chicken, the citrus-soy fish fillet (i used halibut, but overcooked it =/. i did add some butter at the end of finishing the sauce, which made it really nice), and i made the ginger mint lime cooler. it all came out super awesome! my group also made up some green tea panna cotta, ginger-vanilla bean creme brulee with mango-kiwi coulis, lychee banana mint wontons with ginger-cinammon caramel, and some other stuff. i have pix of the dishes and i wanted to send u the ones of your dishes. thanks so much for your recipes, my chef loved them!
Its mangoes mixed in curd rice. For some its gross, but I like its peculiar taste
Scrambled egg burritos with mayo and dill pickle slices. I’ve eaten them since I was a kid and then when I introduced them to my kids, one of them added potato chips to give the burrito more “crunch.” I saw the french fry and ice cream combo mentioned. My contribution for the french fries is to dip them in root beer.
my strange combination is advocado and soy sauce! I know it sounds weird, but to my defense, there’s advocado in california rolls and we all eat california rolls with soy sauce, right?! =P
Nice blog!
When in high school my group of friends would go together to MC D’s, each of us would have fries with our meal, and then we would get an ice cream sundae (chocolate, please!) and those who liked would dip their fries in the ice cream. At first I thought it was weird, but after tasting it there was something about the sweet and salty together that really made it fun to eat!!
Now, I want to participate of the book drawing, so for my weird combination… well, it is not weird at all for me, but at our home we love AVOCADO MILK SHAKES!
Put milk, avocado and sugar to taste in a blender and puree until very creamy and delicious, yummmmm!!! (adjust milk and sugar to your tastes and to obtain a desired consistency of the shake)
It is so creamy, and as much as it might seem weird, I bet most people would like it if they tried.
Maybe you will…. will you?!!
Ana
hmmm…
i always thought dipping fries in ice cream was NORMAL…was it just something i picked up working 5 years at dairy queen??
I LOVE the following combination for a wrap sandwich:
Wrap, Hummus, Goat Cheese, Mesclun Greens, Kalamata Olives and Grapes.
Even just the hummus, goat cheese and grapes are great together!
I don’t mean to post again contest-wise, but my fiancé came up with another weird flavor combo last night: red pepper and agave nectar syrup! Strange, right? And here I thought red peppers were sweet! Silly me [smacks forehead]!
I haven’t had this in years, but this used to be my go-to PMS remedy!
In a bowl, combine
1 small bag Chili Fritos
1 bag Reese’s Pieces
Mix with fingers (you’re not going to share, anyway) until they turn reddish from artificial coloring and candy gets sticky.
Serve (yourself) immediately.
Voila! Bitch be gone.
I’ve definitely dipped my fair share of MickeyDee’s french fries into MickeyDee’s chocolate shakes, but I suppose my weirdest flavor/food combination falls under the same savory-sweet category.
It may be a New Zealand/British thing… not sure, but I absolutely love baked beans and a fried egg on toast. A childhood friend was from NZ and she introduced me to it, I’ve loved it ever since. Sometimes I’ll even make them into sandwiches (though rather messy
Something my sister loves: cheeze-its (or just plain cheddar cheese) dipped in ranch dressing… I could never buy into that. She’d make great big bowls of cheese cubes and then smother ranch dressing all over it. *shudders*
Oh, and I agree with Barry too! Pickles an PB may be Elvisesque, but they are very tasty!
Rooster + Brownies = Heaven
Nutella + PB + Cinnamon Sprinkle = w0w
Mine is not exactly weird, but it turns my family members off, it is chicken roll with peanut butter and strawberry jam slapped between 2 pieces of wholemeal bread.
my mom used to make grilled cheese with strawberry jam for my college friends.. at first, they stared at each other kinda grossed out but she made converts out of all of them..
i also like ketchup on cold pizza…
oh, and melted american cheese mixed with HOT asian rice with a dash of soy sauce to help the mixing….. add a fried egg on top and it’s quite heavenly…
vanilla ice cream with bacon bits on top
This isn’t that strange, but my sisters thought I was weird when I ate this. I prefer to think of it as a tropical twist on the flavors in a creamsicle. I like vanilla ice cream with pineapple juice.
hmmm… i thought, i put my weird combo here. guess not. here goes – when i was a kid, i made myself a concoction of fried spam with peanut butter and jelly sandwich and loved it! as an adult, i don’t know if i can still eat that. haha.
i love the combination of a dark chocolate bar and prunes.
cheddar and fig compote sandwiches.
i love the combination of a dark chocolate bar and prunes.
cheddar and fig compote sandwiches with radicchio.
I indulge in fresh jackfruit with pungent ,raw milk cheeses . Almost any good, ripe blue or Epoisses (my favorite) pairs perfectly with the ripe, tropical flavors of the jackfruit.
Hey! I’ll personally Fed-EX a WHOLE fresh jackfruit to you if my combo makes the final cut!
The salad looks marvelous! Love the grapes and bacon combo!
My husband would be certain it’s the crunchy peanut butter I like with apples, but I’d have to say it’s chocolate ice cream with potato chips. Sweet and salty, yum!
Hmmm I notice that a lot of people share my french fries + soft ice cream habit haha
What are some more strange and exotic combinations? I confess I’m a “mixer,” and by mixer I mean I’ll take a bit of everything, mix it all up and eat it. And by everything… …
Anyway, it drives my friend nuts. She would eat from a bento box for all her meals if she could.
Ripe mango mashed in youghurt and rice
I’m another mcd’s fries into icecream girl. My Mom claims she’ll know I’m pregnant when I start craving _normal_ food.
I used to love dill spears with cream cheese. yum!
Ok, some UnAsian… I’ll give you some Brazilian for you to try: rice and black beans! You can have black beans mixed with lean pork, pork foot, tail and ears (these are optional), italian smoked sausage, smoked bacon – serve with rice and kale and yucca or coarse corn meal stuffing. Yummy!
I have always loved sweet and salty combinations – anytime I have ice cream I have to also have chips, pretzels, or anything I have on hand that’s salty with it.
For a quick breakfast spread for toast or or a waffle, I mix diced bacon , peanut butter and diced apricots or other dried tart fruit and nuke for just a few seconds to incinerate the bacon bits. Doesn’t take long. Mmn – salty, sweet, tart, nutty and charred. Perfect!
I don’t think this is a weird combo, but my fiance does. I like to dip fries in a chocolate malt or a just a chocolate milk shake if a malt isn’t available.
vienna sausages and daikon pickles (the Vietnamese kind)…mmm…Yeah, I need to be cooking light…
Gimme sweet macaroni: Campbells tomato soup, scoop (1/4 C?) of brown sugar, half stick butter, in cooked elbow macaroni, served hot. Childhood fav. AND gimme one of those cookbooks. Puhleese? Pick me, pick me.
My strange combo is spam and mango in a sandwich!
I like to combine a can of chunk tuna with cooked spagetti.
alright I’ll bite and enter – I like my flavors more regular than most of these guys, GAWD I fear for what you will have to try
I like sweet potatoes fries with cajun mayo- don’t know how out there that is but I like it..
Peanut butter, banana, mayo and lettuce (iceberg!) sandwiches!
I’m not British but I don’t know why marmite and toast has STILL not caught on here in N. America! Yum Yumm…
Ever since I was young, I LOVE to dip Ritz crackers in iced tea!