Product Review | Jaden's Steamy Kitchen

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.

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April 25th, 2008 in *MY FAVORITE RECIPES*, Chicken & Turkey, Fast, Feel Good, GF-Adaptable |

E-Cards are soooo 2007 - Send Your Own Recipe Greeting Cards!

I know that you've not known me that long, but you've gotta believe that when I squeal in excitement like a monkey in heat - it's good. Real good.

See those cards? My photos, my designs, and inside? My recipes!

Ok, ok. Let me share with you how I did it, because it was sooo easy and you could do the same. OMG, where do I start? I'll just show you.

All you have to do is:

Upload photo/graphic for front of card
Type in the inside text. The font can even be in your own handwriting.
Choose recipient(s). Click SEND.

The company called Send Out Cards prints, stuffs, stamps and sends out your card. No licking envelopes, finding a stamp or buying ugly greeting cards at the store.

And a few days later, your recipient gets a real card in the mail. No more stupid spyware infected e-cards! YEAH!

The cost is 1/3 the cost of a greeting card at the store, starting at $0.31 for one card (meaning you don't have to buy in bulk. cards are professionally printed and sent one at a time)

Here's the front of one of the cards:

They are glossy, thick (like the expensive Hallmark cards) and the photo quality is amazing. I customized the front of this one with, "Sunday Morning with the Boys."

The Inside

This particular card I chose to be tri-fold and inserted more photos and told a story about how the boys made German Oven Pancakes. Basically, I turned my blog post into a beautiful card and sent it to my Mom, who loved it. This tri-fold card cost me $1.24 to make and send + $0.41 postage.

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March 5th, 2008 in Uncategorized |

Ginger, Coriander & Orange Braised Chicken + Free Spice Drawing!

I teased about this awesome package that I got and asked for several testers to help out with product testing. Thank you to the 15 testers to responded! I sent each of them 1-3 samples of tsp spices, and they each cooked with the spice and gave me a short 2 sentence review.

You guys rock.

What is tsp?

tsp spices are organic spices in perfectly measured, freshly sealed, single-use packages. Each tin comes with 12 spice packets - each 1 tsp of the spice. Their products, “packets of pure adventure,” make measuring spoons obsolete and also protect spices from light and air to ensure freshness and the fullest flavor. A reprieve from spice cabinet chaos, these one-teaspoon spice packets are stored in tin cans that look great displayed on the kitchen counter, which makes them a perfect gift for home cooks.

Dried spices lose their potency after 6-12 months and the more light and air that gets exposed to the spice, the shorter the shelf life. Simply put, if you've still got that ground ginger in the back of your pantry, inherited from old Aunt Martha, your food is gonna taste like...well...crusty Aunt Martha. Nasty. I love the concept of tsp, because I only open what I need. the rest stays fresh and sealed.

(photo from tsp spices)

Such fancy packaging...are they expensive?

$7-$9 a box (12 tsp per box) - which is about 30% more than I pay for non-organic supermarket spice. However, I've learned something this year. Rather than go find the best deal possible, I've decided that I want to buy less and splurge on things that are beautiful, lovely to use and good for my family. I want to really savor and enjoy the things I have in my home, especially in the kitchen. Let me tell you, these spices are gorgeous.

Actually, when I first opened the package, I said out loud to Scott, "Damn. All this packaging - so wasteful! What's the point of organic spices if you're going to waste earth's resources for the packaging?"

And of course, Scott replied, "Stop bitching. Reuse the boxes." So now my boys' matchbox cars smell like Oregano.

read on....I'm giving some tsp spice tins away!!!

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February 26th, 2008 in Chicken & Turkey |

No-Knead Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut Challah

No Knead Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut Challah

Wow, I can't believe how many of you made the No Knead Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls! As promised, I'm not going to leave you hanging with extra dough in the refrigerator. Here's your recipe for No-Knead Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut Challah from the book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. By the way, if you haven't entered the contest to win a copy of their book, make sure you do!

Ok, I love their basic Challah recipe, but thought I'd be a bit fancy and make a Nutella and Roasted Hazelnut version. Screw the diet - just for a day, ok? Hey, don't look at me like that - I've been testing the book's recipes all week long JUST FOR YOU and I took ~~one~~ 3 lbs for the team!

Damn. I need to review a diet book next. Anyone have a good diet book that needs reviewing?

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January 13th, 2008 in Uncategorized |

No-Knead Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

Do you know what I call smart? Taking something from "works awesome" (No-Knead Bread) to the level of "KICK-ASS." Which is exactly what authors of the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois have done.

Oh yeah, and I hold them both directly responsible for the extra 3lbs I've just gained testing their recipes.

Keep reading for the recipe and a free cookbook drawing!

So, they've taken the basic No Knead Bread recipe and added 2 big concepts to it:

1) Make enough dough to store in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Pinch off what you need and bake. Return the rest to refrig. This allows you to bake a loaf of artisan bread in as little as 20 minutes rest + 25 minute bake any day of the week. Perfect for spontaneous cooks like myself. Want dinner rolls for just 2 tonight? Pinch off a smaller chunk of dough. Plus, the "aging" of the dough produces the most amazing flavor, something that was lacking in the original No Knead bread.

2) Create over 100 different bread/pastry recipes, all no-knead. Um. Let me see if I can whet your appetite (I love the ones in red)

PEASANT LOAVES: Baguette, Batard, Pain d'Epi, Ciabatta, Crusty White Sandwich Loaf, Olive Bread, Caraway Swirl Rye, Limpa (Scandinavian bread wit honey and orange zest), Portuguese Corn Bread, English Granary Style, Oatmeal-Pumpkin, Raisin Walnut Oatmeal, Vermont Cheddar Bread, Caramelized Onion & Herb Dinner Rolls, Spinach Feta, Sun-Dried Tomato & Parmesan, Granola Bread, Roasted Garlic Potato Bread, Eastern European Potato Rye, Bagels, Bialys, Soft Pretzels, Montreal Bagels

FLATBREADS/PIZZAS: Pizza, Spinach & Cheese Calzone, Philadelphia Stromboli with Sausage, Prosciutto & Olive Oil Flatbread, Pissaladiere, Focaccia with Onion & Rosemary, Olive Fougasse, Fougasse Stuffed with Roasted Red Pepper, Sweet Provencal Flatbread with Anise Seeds, Pine-Nut Studded Polenta Flatbread, Arabic Za'atar Flatbread, Pita, Amenian Lavash, Moroccan Anise and Barley Flatbread, Naan, Scandinavian Rye Crisp bread

ENRICHED: Challah, Turban Shaped Challah with Raisins, Onion Pletzel, Sticky Pecan Caramel Rolls, Brioche, Brioche a Tete, Almond Brioche "Bostock", Brioche Filled with Chocolate Ganache, Beignets, Chocolate or Jam Filled Beignets, Panettone, Soft-Style American White, Buttermilk Bread, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Chocolate Bread, Swiss Muesli Breakfast Bread, Sunflower Seed Breakfast Loaf, Chocolate Prune, Chocolate Raisin Babka, Apple & Pear Coffee Cake, Sunny Side up Apricot Pastry, Blueberry Lemon Curd Ring, Braided Raspberry Almond Cream Pastry, Cinnamon Twists

Wipe that drool off the keyboard!

The first recipe I tried was to satisfy my sweet tooth. I love the No-Knead Bread from Lahey, but after an entire year of spoiling myself with crusty, homemade round loaves, I yearned for a sweet bread. This Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Roll truly is a no-knead, no-brainer! Read the recipe first, then the free cookbook contest!

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January 12th, 2008 in Uncategorized |