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Tag Archives: Food Blog Event
This weeks challenge was brought to us by Lyb of And then I do the dishes and she picked the cake that Dorie got fired over: the Chocolate Armagnac Cake.
I have to say right off, I am glad that Dorie got fired over the creation of this cake – it is FANTASTIC! Basically, Dorie got bored day in and day out of making the same thing and decided to get a little creative when making this cake, in the end she was fired for being creative! I love that! Not, that you lost your job, Dorie; but, the part about being creative and taking a chance.
The past couple of weeks I have made two incredibly dense chocolate cakes that require very little flour if any at all, which I find interesting as the texture is really amazingly light, so different from your tradition cake. This particular recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate and I used the deepest I could find, Scharffen Berger 70% as well it uses ground pecans. I did toast the pecans a bit before grinding which gave them a nice toasty and warm taste. As well we got to flambe prunes in Armagnac, this is the second recipe of Dorie’s that I have gotten to flambe and it is a very fun addition to your baking afternoon. Now you may be thinking to yourself, prunes in a cake? This addition made the cake incredibly moist. The cake is frosted with a simple glaze of more chocolate, very little sugar and butter.
This is a recipe that will become a fall back onto for us. It was ultra moist, dense, nice bite of deep bittersweet chocolate and not overly sweet. With the addition of prunes we like to think it is healthier for us as well, after all we all could use some fiber with our chocolate! It really is a fantastic recipe.
Be sure to check out all the other wonderful Tuesday With Dorie bakers!
Okay this post is very late. I have to apologize to the hostess of this event, Christy over at Balance Food, sorry Christy!
I picked the Superfood Blueberries for our last weeks challenge food and the course was breakfast – I know I know, not very creative!!! I had all intentions of making some crazy blueberry waffles for breakfast or steel cut oats slowly cooked and then loaded up with brown sugar and blueberries or these outrageous blueberry muffins. Then I woke up on Saturdy, started the espresso machine, went to the fridge to grab the milk and the blueberries and they were GONE!! Someone no names being named ate the entire basket of them. We were on to plan B, go out to breakfast with friend from out of town and order something with blueberries – the place we went to did not have any fresh blueberries! So here I am apologizing to our hostess for not only being late on this post but also for being lame with my blueberry breakfast! (I did run 3 times). Now to the round-up …
 Trish over at Gluten Free in SLC made a sweet little breakfast treat, a Dutch Baby with Blueberry compote. A Dutch Baby is a large eggy pancake that is baked in the oven. Trish went the extra mile and made it gluten free. She made a beautiful blueberry compote which was flavored with orange juice and zest. Even though she felt her attempt at making a blueberry breakfast treat was a bust, I thought it sounded tasty and looked very good! She has the recipe on her site as well.
Christy over at Balance Food made Blueberry Breakfast Mini Pies. They are adorable. The crust is a granola based crust of oats and brown sugar which she shaped in muffin tins. After they were cooled she filled them with Browns Cream Top Yogurt (which by the way is our favorite) and topped them with a blueberry topping – YUM! Christy has a recipe as well.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this challenge, it was really fun and you all did a GREAT job! Thank you to Christy for asking me to co-host this with you, I had a lot of fun (even though I suddenly got so swamped I am really glad I did it) and really enjoyed it! This is a great event and really helps you jump start your healthy eating habits – I look forward to doing it again next year!
The super-food this week with be the Blueberries and you need to use it in breakfast. Yes, boring, I am sure. I had all intentions of picking something crazy for the breakfast category but have not had anytime to really do my research. So … we are ending this challenge on the norm!
It is believed that consumption of ellagic acid, an antioxidant found in blueberries may reduce a person’s risk of cancer by blocking the metabolic pathways that can promote cancer. Laboratory research has found that ellagic acid may actually slow the growth of some cancerous tumors. Blueberries are very good for you!! Not only are they great with breakfast but we love to have them around for snacking!
I also have to admit … I did not get to my challenge for last week. It is sitting in my fridge and I will make it this week. The good news, I ran 4 days in a row and it felt great! Check out the GREAT roundup that Christy posted – everyone did a great job!
Rules for the challenge
Post your entries some time this week on your blog, and send me an email at denise@chezus.com with the link to your post and a picture. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Entries are due Saturday evening before midnight (PST). Have fun!
The Superfood Challenge Week 2 entries are in, drum roll ….
You still have time to join us for the remainder of the challenge. It is not too late to join in. The rules are simple and the rewards are even greater – you healthier and your workout/cooking regimen jump started! As well you will be entered into a drawing to win Scott Conant’s book, Bold Italian.
Challenge 1: Run 26.2 miles (I suggest a mile a day)
Challenge 2: Swim 2.4 miles*
Challenge 3: Bike 112 miles**
Challenge 4: Cook 3 of the 4 superfood “iron-chef” challenges.
Each Sunday I, or my co-host Christy over at Balance, will post the week’s superfood and category, and you have a week to come up with a dish that blows us away. Go visit Christy for this weeks challenge.
My co-host Christy over at Balance. Made empanadas which were filled with a flavorful mixture of Kale, potatoes and beef. They look fantastic and what a great twist for using Kale. Empanadas are very easy to make and Christy’s recipe with step by step photos will put your mind at ease. Recipe
Briana over at Eat More Toast made a wonderfully warm soup using Kale. She was inspired by a Brazilian dish called couvee, which has long strips of Kale that is sauteed with garlic, onion and oil. She improvised by using whatever she had on hand (I love doing this) and made this fantastic looking soup! Recipe.
Trish over at Gluten Free in SLC made us Crispy Mediterranean Polenta and it is all gluten free. Trish made homemade polenta and cut it into triangles which were laid on a bed of Kale and then topped with fresh tomatoes to bring the dish together she sprinkled it with Feta and warmed under the broiler. Recipe.
Diana over at Dianasaur was very movited by the Kale. Not only did she make one dish but she made two. Lucky for us her husband did not like the first dish with was Kale sauteed with garlic and topped with goat cheese balls. At least she gave it another try as her hamburgers with Kale mixed into the burger was a sure hit! Recipe.
Over at Chez Us we made a Kale with Farro dish that was very similar to risotto. Farro was a nice combination with Kale as it gave the tender greens a nutty flavor as well the farro has a nice bite to it. Lots of texture with this dish. Recipe.
Be sure to run over to Christys’ to find out the superfood for this week!
For our first challenge Christy picked the Avocado. The avocado is also known as the butter pear and is native to Mexico, South America and Central America. It is also a fruit. Avocado is a “good” fat and has been known to lower cholesterol levels only after a 7 day diet rich in avocado intake. These subjects also showed a 22% decrease in both LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels and 11% increase in HDL (good cholesterol) levels. Avocados are a great super-food to add to your daily diet to help aid in weight loss and maintenance.
For the RSBC challenge Christy asked to to make a dessert with this super-food. I have to say it took some time for me to figure out what I could possibly come up with using the avocado. We eat them very often but never as a dessert. I put a twitter out there asking my fellow foodies if they have any ideas – I got tons of them! As well this dessert was going to be for a dinner party so I wanted something that would look like dessert! Nicole from Pinch My Salt, sent over a recipe for an avocado pie, which looked fantastic. The recipe is so easy especially when you pick up a premade graham cracker crust. Basically you mix the avocado with condensed milk and lemon juice, I used fresh lime juice as I wanted to trick our diners into thinking it was key lime! Instead of using whip cream as a garnish I made a slightly sweet meringue for the topping. The result – it was fantastic! No would have guessed what it was, if Lenny did not keep grinning and asking, what do you think it is? Thanks Nicole!
With regards to rest of my challenge, I am sorry to say I was not that good. Completed: 3 miles of running and 1 culinary challenge. This week will be better. Don’t forget to check out Balance for to see how everyone did with this challenge.
The super-food this week with be the Kale and you need to use it as the main ingredient for dinner. Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory. It is high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin and rich in calcium.
Rules for the challenge
Post your entries some time this week on your blog, and send me an email at denise@chezus.com with the link to your post and a picture. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. Entries are due Saturday evening before midnight. Have fun!
Joan over at the site Foodalogue, invited us to join her on a culinary adventure as she travels around the world. We decided that we would love to have her over to our “Portuguese” home for a traditional meal and that it would be even more fun to broadcast it live (we aren’t *dorks* we do this for a living – okay kind of *geeky*) so our family could jump in as well. Disclaimer – this is the first time I have really made a Portuguese meal.
We would love for you to join us live as well. Here is the link and feel free to jump in and out anytime after 700pm (pst) on Sunday – I guess you could say, it is kind of like Chez Us TV. Here is the link!
We had a great time webcasting the cooking of this dinner. It was fun to twitter with everyone that jumped on to watch us. Just to name a few of the people who joined us for dinner, there was Savory TV, Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy and Chewy . and our Portuguese food authority from the Boston area, Maria Moniz …… we tried not to Twitter with sticky fingers!
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It has been a year since I participated in Balancefood’s RSBC challenge. I loved this challenge last year as its timing was perfect for our lazy bones. January is always a wash for us with regards to getting back into the gym routine – we are just so busy from working and trying to catch up from the holidays that it is hard to find the time. This challenge is a great jump start on getting back into a workout program, eating better and you still get to cook! As well it is fun to be challenged with a new superfood. Last year we had to become creative with kale, quinoa/beets, pumpkin and coco.
I was honored when Christy thought of her west coast coach potato friends to co-host this years event with her. This will be great fun! Here’s the skinny: You have 28 days to do one of the challenges, some of the challenges or all of the challenges. For every challenge you complete, you will get one entry into a drawing for Scott Conant’s book, Bold Italian, there will be one (1) lucky winner.
Challenge 1: Run 26.2 miles (I suggest a mile a day)
Challenge 2: Swim 2.4 miles*
Challenge 3: Bike 112 miles**
Challenge 4: Cook 3 of the 4 superfood “iron-chef” challenges. Each Sunday we will alternate and post the week’s superfood and category. You have a week to come up with a dish that blows us away.
Before you start talking yourself out of this very fun event, remember you have 28 days to complete this. You get an entire month to do your triathlon. This is about YOU getting your body moving, the superfood of the week and your kitchen going at it for 7 days.
This weeks Superfood challenge will be the Avocado – read all the details over at Balancefood! Remember to have FUN!
Notes:
* One water aerobics class = 0.4 miles
**One spin class = 12 miles
Rules: Enjoy the event. Send an email to the host for the week, with a link to your blogpost for the week. Your post should highlight where you are in the event, and/or have a mouthwatering pic of your ironchef entry for the week.
This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux and Savory Tuiles from Thomas Keller.
I am going to start this off by saying this was the hardest Daring Baker’s Challenge I have done and you would never guess it by how they look, would ya? When I saw the challenge listed I was pretty excited to try these out as I had seen Helen (Tartlette) add them to her Opera Cake , and I love snacking on them when I do buy them … so light and delicate. I had visions of chocolate tuiles with a cup of espresso. I also had visions of making them into fortune cookies for Chinese New Year. Then I read through rest of the challenge and saw that I could also make savory ones and the recipe was from Thomas Keller which was no brain-er for me especially since I have never made any of his recipes and I have not had the honor of dining there – YET!
Basically, you make the batter (which is very easy, flour, egg whites, butter, salt & sugar), spread it on a pan using whatever stencil shape you desire, bake and then shape. Well, I tried making them into cute little snowflakes, but the cuteness of the shapes ran together. Then I decided to keep them as circles and then roll them into little cigarettes. Well, when your oven is 400 degrees, the items coming out of it are also pretty damn HOT! I was completely scared! Visions of third degree blisters all over my fingers were whirling through my mind. I tried cover my precious little finger tips with paper towels, but by the time I got them (and I only had to walk 3 feet, remember we have a 20 sq. ft kitchen), the tuiles were not hot enough. I ask you, my fellow Daring Bakers, how did you do it???? Our tuiles became cute little circles, whose edges gently flipped up.
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