• Last updated 4/19/13 by kaneohegirlinaz

    5 ½ - 6 cups cooked medium grain white Rice 1 can Spam, sliced equally into 8 pieces 2 sheets of Musubi Nori Sauce: ¼ cup Brown Sugar ½ cup Soy Sauce 1 Garlic clove, smashed   Steam the rice and allow to cool down enough to handle, but still warm.  In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients until the sugar dissolves, set aside.    In a dry skillet, brown the Spam well; set aside.  Wipe out the pan, add in the sauce and bring to a bubble; add back in the spam, turning occasionally, cook until the sauce thickens.    Time... read more

• Last updated 10/14/12 by Jim

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream The seventh in a series on ice creams, custards and sorbets Jim Berman CCI       Fall. Halloween. Pumpkin. And ice cream is always on the calendar. This installment in the series on frozen desserts covers a genuine fall staple. Pumpkin shows up in everything as of late, but I have always been a fan of pumpkin pie ice cream. From back in the day as a wee, curly haired chubby kid causing general mayhem on the streets of Pittsburgh, I used to wander in to Baskin Robbins and ask for a sample of their Pumpkin ice ice cream. And ask for... read more

• Last updated 9/23/12 by Jim

Edamame-Ginger Frozen Custard The sixth in a series on ice creams, custards and sorbets Jim Berman CCI   A recent event in Wilmington, Delaware pressed into service a partnership between local farmers and thirty of the area’s restaurants in a down-home culinary throw-down. Set to push the thinking of using local produce as well as kickstarting the egomaniacal competitive spirit of neighboring chefs, there would be no ‘just get it done’ in this affair. Rather, shock and awe would be the prescribed approach by this crew. An abundance of young soybeans stirred... read more

• Last updated 8/20/12 by kaneohegirlinaz

When we travel, I like to bring back very different things as souvenirs. On our recent trip to Hawaii, I brought back a mold for Maki Sushi and powdered Sushi Seasoning mix.  I had seen these the last time that we were back home, but passed them by at the time. This morning I was clearing out the refrigerator and I was going to put a half of a pot of cooked white rice into the freezer.  We eat steamed Calrose or sticky rice (I think it’s a medium grain) with many of our meals. DING!  Why not try out my new toy?   I heated the rice back up in the microwave... read more

• Last updated 8/20/12 by Tracy Brown

Making your own pizza at home has tons of advantages: the kids can help, it's easy and fun to make, and you can use all the leftovers that just lay around in the fridge - everything from yesterday's anti-pasti to the last piece of pepperoni that you know no one is going to eat.  Enjoy! Ingredients    Dough: 3.5 cups (500 grams) flour (preferably bread flour) 8 g dry yeast Quarter cup (300 mL) warm water 1 tablespoon honey Half teaspoon salt Sauce: 4 tablespoons olive oil Leaves from three branches of fresh oregano 2 garlic... read more

• Last updated 8/18/12 by Tracy Brown

  This is the perfect desert for hot summer days. It's really easy to make, and in my opinion it's better than ice cream.     ½ cup sugar 150g Bleached almonds, halved 1 tablespoon oil 2 egg whites 2 egg yolks 180g icing sugar 500 ml heavy cream Place the sugar in a heavy pan, over medium heat. When it turns golden sprinkle the almonds in, lower the heat, and cook until golden brown. Remove from heat. Spread a tablespoon of oil on a large plate, place the almonds on it and set aside for 30 minutes. Smash the almonds into... read more

• Last updated 6/5/12 by Jim

  Cantaloupe Ice Cream The fifth in a series on ice creams, custards and sorbets Jim Berman CCI Cantaloupe ice cream is a tough gig. There are variables that need addressed; the sweetness of the cantaloupe is a biggie. The ripeness is another. And when pondering a frozen dessert with cantaloupe, it is even a tough call to go the ice cream route or the custard path. Of course, a sorbet would be an easy option. The seasonality of this melon makes for interesting fodder for the frozen churner. Color is a consideration, as well. In this fifth installment on... read more

• Last updated 5/11/12 by Jim

Sorbet The fourth in a series on ice creams, custards and sorbets Jim Berman CCI       Sorbet is little more than sweet water and fruit purée or juice. Therein the simplicity holds vast complexity; just a few ingredients work harmoniously to unfold into clean flavors. No dairy and little air worked into the base bears a sweet invention that is bright, often subtle and bracing.   Using the Lello Musso Pola 5030 Dessert Maker, the sorbet goes from raw ingredients to finished product in less than half of an hour. The following is a classic sorbet,... read more

• Last updated 5/4/12 by JackBlack

  It's common knowledge that bread made with whole wheat flour is much healthier than if made with refined flour, and it's a misconception that whole wheat bread be heavy and sodden. But expecting a homemade loaf of whole wheat bread to resemble a soft and squishy supermarket loaf is unrealistic; they are two entirely different breads. Plastic-wrapped supermarket breads have paragraph-long ingredient lists—dough  conditioners, additives, and a litany of unrecognizable words—but a loaf you make at home can have as little as four ingredients. This said, it is possible... read more

• Last updated 4/18/12 by JackBlack

  “Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living. For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.” –Louis P. De Gouy   A few weeks ago as I left my sister's house on Thanksgiving's eve I carried with me not only a very full belly but also a picked-over turkey carcass. Safely enclosed in a plastic bag, I placed it in the rear of my small pickup truck and that's where it stayed for the night. In the morning while still in my pajamas and with coffee cup in hand, I stumbled with a tryptophan hangover outside... read more