I’m a firm believer that if you want to learn something, find a pro and ask them to teach you. Of course, you’ve got to find a nice pro who’s willing to share.

For eight years now, I wanted to learn how to make a savory breakfast-y cheese soufflé, but never really found the right person to ask. I was seeking something easy, fool-proof and a method that didn’t deal with delicately folding egg whites.

It’s breakfast, it shouldn’t be complicated and I certainly don’t do “delicate” anything early in the mornings. After all these years, I finally found my Cheese Souffle pro in Mount Dora.

We took a family trip to the very charming historic village last month and stayed at the quaint Tremain Street Cottages owned by friends Brian and Rachelle:

Oh, before I go on, don’t be fooled the town’s name, as there isn’t really a mountain at all. The town is 184 feet above sea level, and in flat Florida’s record books, that counts as a mountain.

Brian introduced us to Jim, innkeeper of the Mount Dora Historic Inn who invited us over for breakfast and cooking lesson. Eureka! Jim is a gourmet chef and lavishes his inn guests with homemade breakfast every morning.

The best part about his method is that there’s no stiff peaks, no delicate folding and Jim’s method only uses one mixing bowl. And it works, I witnessed the quick making of and the rise of the savory Three Cheese Soufflé.

===

How to Make Cheese Souffle

Really, only one mixing bowl. All of it comes together so quickly and effortlessly! This foolproof method only works for savory cheese souffle – not the chocolately sweet souffle.

Basically, shredded cheese goes into the bottom of the souffle dish, eggs are cracked into a mixing bowl, beaten. Then spices are added to the mixture and beaten one more time. Pour that egg mixture into the souffle dish and bake!

After 55-60 minutes in the oven at 350F….this is what comes out:

Guys, I doubt you can find an easier method of making cheese souffle…totally easy.

===

Mount Dora, Florida

If you’re in Florida, I highly recommend taking a visit to Mount Dora, we stayed for the weekend and just had one of the best mini-vacations ever.

Quiet, quaint and small-town. The downtown area is packed with fantastic eats – including some of the best sushi I’ve had in Florida at Mount Dora Sushi

Uni Shot with Quail Egg, Ponzu Sauce and Sriracha Chili Sauce:

Crusty, fresh pizzas at Pizza Amore

A dog-lovin’ town…we happened to crash the “Yappy Hour” in downtown (yes, they really do have a Yappy Hour!)

But most importantly, good karma. Rock on, Buddha…rock on.

More information on Mount Dora at What To Do In Mount Dora.

Last week, I was in Asheville North Carolina with a few of my very favorite bloggers. I do travel quite a bit, so when I have a chance to invite along Diane and Todd of White On Rice, I always do. And has nothing to do with how fantastic, gorgeous and radiant I look when the duo works their camera magic…

(Scott and I last month at Todd and Diane’s house)

Though is nice to have a friend that makes you look goooood.

Then, there are bloggers whom I’ve only have known through pixels, but thought it would be really interesting to meet in person, like these two:

(Helen of Tartelette and Brian of The Food Geek)

Oh, you wonder at what Brian is eating? That be a Bacon-Egg-Croissant with Homemade Chipotle Grits from Sunny Point. Feast Your Eyes.

And I got to meet some new friends. From the left is Alison of The Humble Gourmand , Brian of The Food Geek, Tami of Running with Tweezers, and Diane and to the right of me Todd of White on Rice.

(Helen if you’re reading this, I think you’ll understand and appreciate why this photo is cropped just so, sparing you and your lovely bosom from embarrassment.) <- i can’t believe i just typed that

On our trip, I did discover that I don’t belong in a restaurant kitchen, for starters they frown upon hair jewelry and whispy bangs.

Oh, yeah. Hot pink nail polish wouldn’t work with a hairnet.

But, a chef/blogger Iron Chef-like competition is much more fun when you’re working with a hot, young chef and sneaking a few glugs of cooking wine in little plastic condiment cups…

Speaking of alcohol, I think we had plenty of it, and the best was artisan beer brewed by a Chinese man born in Jamaica who owns a Scottish brewing company called Highland Brewing Company. But then we topped his beer off with hand-made ice cream by Ultimate Ice Cream Company.

Oh, so much for a job at the brewery…

Apparently I gave too much ___. <– my husband made me delete that word

The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa was so gracious to host our group, and so I decided to return the favor and treat them all to an Japanese Artisan Sake Tasting, courtesy of Vine Connections. Look at the sea of glasses!

See what I mean about Diane and Todd making me look so damn good, even when I’m drunk off my ass?

Even Dodie, who organized our entire trip, couldn’t help but fall under Diane’s magical beauty spell…

Anyways, I have more to share…including photos and stories about goats, cattle and trout…but another time. I need to make myself a cocktail!

Here’s a recipe for you, from Grove Park Inn – this Xanadu cocktail is a must-try. The flavor combination of fresh grapefruit juice and basil leaves are incredible – perfect for hot weather.

Many of you know that Japanese sake is made from rice, but did you know that premium artisan sake is done mostly by hand? Very little machinery is used, which is why this is a true art form. I’m continuing my series on Premium Artisan Japanese Sake and this post is dedicated to telling the story of how the sake is made.

I didn’t think a slideshow was good enough — so I spent 6 hours putting this little movie togther for you. Yes, you heard right…6 glorious hours putting together a 10 minute video. It would have taken another 4 hours if all of the content wasn’t already there from my sake partner-in-crime, Vine Connections.

How Premium Japanese Sake is Made

• (0:30) Just like wine, region matters for Japanese Sake. Each brewer comes from a different prefecture (or region) in Japan and its geography, climate and “recipe” all affect the final product.
• (0:50) In its final bottled form, Japanese Sake is about 80% water, so the purity and quality of the water has a significant impact to the taste of the sake.
• (1:17) The rice used for premium sake is different than table rice – many artisan brewers use Yamada Nishiki rice
• (1:35) It’s all about the rice! See photos of the rice grains – from regular table rice to Ginjo rice to Daiginjo rice. Compare how different they look (shape and color.) Brewers use modern milling machines to remove the unwanted outer layers of the rice.
• (3:00) After milling, the rice kernals are washed, soaked and then steamed
• (3:44) Koji mold is sprinkled onto the rice to start the fermentation process to convert starch to sugar to alcohol. See how it’s done by hand!
• (4:40) Photo of koji and rice after 48 hours – it smells faintly like sweet chestnuts
• (4:50) Moto, a yeast starter is added and over 100 million yeast cells develops in just 1 teaspoon!
• (5:07) Over 4 days, more koji, steamed rice and water is added and stirred by hand with long poles – impressive photo
• (5:22) The carbon dioxide that bubbles up to the surface of the fermenting mixture or “moromi” is mixed back in through a crude foam beater
• (5:33) The moromi is fermented at low temperatures – while industrial sake brewers can finish this in as little as 18 days, artisan brewers can take as long as 32 days to ferment
• (6:00) See an artisan brewer’s sake press. Once the moromi is finished, the sake is pressed through this simple machine called “fune”
• (6:41) An even more extravagent way of pressing sake is simply letting it drip down in hanging cotton bags through its own weight
• (7:10) Extreme Sake?! Yes totally! This sake, called Divine Droplets is drip-pressed in a hand-made igloo built right outside of the brewery
• (7:50) Pasteurization also done simply by hand and in small batches
• (8:07) Learn how to read a sake label – the sake that Vine Connections imports all have a distinct label that tells you region, grade, type of rice and flavor profiles
• (8:48) Fantastic new product called sparkling sake that I love! sake2me is made with premium junmai sake and infused with all-natural flavors.

==

Japanese Sake Posts

Here are other sections that we’ll be covering in the next few weeks

Japanese Sake Grades

How is Sake Made? (this post)

Artisan vs. Mass Produced Chart

Food and Sake Pairing

How to Read the Labels

How to Serve Sake

How to Have Sake Tasting at Home

What’s a fun, modern way to enjoy sake? Sparkling Sake: sake2me

Tasting Notes: Living Jewel

Tasting Notes: Divine Droplets Sake

Tasting Notes: Wandering Poet Sake

Tasting Notes: Snow Maiden Sake

==

Steamy Gifts For You

You still have a couple more days to enter my giveaway – I’ve actually got 3 giveaways going on:

• A Club Med Vacation! (ends sometime Monday June 15th) HURRY!

• $50 Sur La Table Gift Card Giveaway (ends on Tuesday June 16th 12pm EST)
• Dr. BBQ Cookbook Giveaway (ends June 21st 12pm EST)

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 19

Dr. BBQ shares his championship baby back ribs recipe

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 19

Dr. BBQ shares his championship baby back ribs recipe

Lots of photos above in the slideshow – we’ll show you how to fold the tin foil to encase the ribs so that the apple juice/honey doesn’t spill out.

You think that a food enthusiast like me and a beef aficionado like my husband would have already dived deep into the black, charred world of charcoal.

But no, I must confess that, until this weekend, we’ve been tethered to an ugly white liquid propane gas tank I’m always scared will explode on the car ride home. So I make my husband drive 20 mph and avoid speed bumps and curbs. Which makes our drive to the market to refill the tank just about as boring and uneventful as the third time ’round It’s a Small World at the Magic Kingdom.

I had never been interested in charcoal because anything that contributes to or directly causes my pile of laundry to increase is a no-no in my home. Just looking at an open bag causes my skin to break out in housewifery hives.

Recently, my good friend, Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQ, came over with a nice little present for me: a Big Green Egg. He also lugged in a bag of charcoal and some hickory, but I didn’t whine about the black glitter on the carpets. Nor did I obsessively dab at my husband’s shirt with the bleach pen. When you’ve got Dr. BBQ in your home, you just let him do his thing.

Ray taught us the basics of barbecuing and how to use the Big Green Egg, which looks more like a bomb shelter than a grill. The smoked salmon came out silky with the perfect hint of hickory (though Ray says for salmon, cherry or alder wood chips are best). When it came time to grill our steaks, the flames shot straight up. Oops, that was my fault. I’m used to lubing the steaks with cooking oil to coax some flame action from our regular lame-o grill.

Ray left the Egg for us, and we’ve put it to use every night since. I’m considering spray-painting the darn thing hot pink in case he comes back to get it. I really can’t see that man rolling a Big Pink Egg to championship barbecue competitions.

<– THIS IS DR. BBQ. He knows his shit. Ray has authored these books:

and Ray is the reason I’m 1 degree away from Justin Timberlake (Ray is the executive chef of Southern Hospitality, Timberlake’s restaurant)

<– THIS IS THE BIG GREEN EGG. It’s ugly. I love it.

Dr. BBQ Cookbook Giveaway

I’m giving away a signed copy of one of Dr. BBQ’s Big Time Barbeque Cookbook. Just comment below and tell Dr. BBQ: GAS OR CHARCOAL? (and why!?) until June 21st to enter. This book can be yours and lovingly signed by the man himself.

My email subscribers get a bonus entry (just enter twice – just type in “I’m an email subscriber” in your bonus entry). Want to be an email subscriber? There’s a signup form on the right in the sidebar.

CONTEST OVER!

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 6

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 6

Slideshow of Korean BBQ Beef on Crispy Wonton Chip

Fundraising events these days usually include children hawking stuff I don’t need (enough magazines already!) athletic events (can’t I just drive that 5K?) or food and wine events (oh yeah, sign me up baby!) These folks who run food and wine festivals sure got the formula right. Have a bunch of local restaurants dish out samples of their food, wine and beer companies dole out unlimited pours. All they need to complete this formula is maybe a few tour buses, you know, the good ones that have reclinable seats and drive you around town and let you sleep off that gorge-and-glug fest.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Florida Aquarium’s SeaGrapes event. Tables and tables of vendors snaked in and out, around and about the aquarium. Over 800 people sipped and snacked their way through the event. It was a record year, they netted over $87,000. People were bidding like crazy at the silent auction! These silent auctions are such a smart thing, get a bunch of people happy-drunk and let them compete with each other to bid on prizes. Love it.

At the Florida Aquarium SeaGrapes event, almost every restaurant vendor served seafood. You know I love my fish…but it was just sorta weird to be waving hi to Nemo while enjoying one of his mates on my plate. But then I found Chef Rick from Publix Apron Cooking School who made a Korean BBQ Beef on Crispy Wonton Chip appetizer that my meat-lovin’ husband just raved about. I’ve modified their recipe a bit, making it easier for the home cook.

The flank steak is marinated in Korean-style sauce. While technically this isn’t “Korean BBQ” it does use similar ingredients in the marinade and the secret ingredient….grated pear.

The pear does 2 things. It sweetens the marinade and it also tenderizes the beef. It’s the secret ingredient of authentic Korean BBQ beef. You’ll grate the pear with a large-holed grater. Traditionally, an crispy Asian pear is used, but you can really use any type of pear.

==

More Korean BBQ Beef…

Korean BBQ Kalbi (Short Ribs) and Bulgogi Recipe

or how about Korean noodle dish to go with it?

Korean Glass Noodles – Chap Chae/Jap Chae