The Constant Craver

This past weekend I was the ultimate procrastinator in getting my Christmas treats and coquito done for the holiday season! I remember celebrating solstice and making happy brew and loads of cookies.....I mean, I think I gave everyone in my family a LARGE tray of cookies that could feed at least 50 people! Those were the wonderful holiday seasons when my Mother and Grandmother were still around, they were Christmas Fanatics! My grandmother would re-decorate the whole house from top to bottom, she even put out Christmas plates, soaps, and pillow cases! My mother always went overboard with the lights, her whole house had twinkling lights (that she managed to keep up for at least 3 months after Christmas) from top to bottom it seemed. My dad on the other hand played the role of scrooge and bah humbugged his way through December only to become a kid at a candy store on Christmas Day! I don't know whose face lit up more when I opened my gifts...his or mine....probably his! Being so far ...

I hate to say it, but I am addict. I am addicted to online food challenges, I don't know why, but I am. It's not like people can actually taste my food, they have to go by what I write and the pictures I post. I'm not a professional writer or Photographer, and unfortunately they are not hobbies of mine either, so why do I subject myself to the torture of having your pictures judged? I guess I am just a masochistic chef, because once again, I have decided to do a challenge. I am not just doing any ol' challenge either, I am doing THE DARING BAKERS CHALLENGE , people from all over the world log on once a month ( you must be a member to participate) and happily accept the challenge that is thrown at them. I guess I couldn't have picked a better time to actually do the Challenge ( i missed last months deadline), than this one. It is one of my FAVORITES. It was of course, Cannoli's. Not only were we making Cannoli's, we were making them from scratch!!! I've e...

Crisp Seasonal Pork Dumplings w/ Kumquat infused Dipping Sauce Don't forget to check out all of the contestants and vote for your favorite!!! Who Won Battle Chestnut and Kumquat? ( poll ) So, it seems that unless I am signed up for a challenge where I must post my entries onto my blog, the poor thing gets ignored, its like the red headed step child of my cooking world :( So this month I am of course doing the Daring Bakers and Daring Cooks challenges, but I also signed up for this one called Foodie Fights , you basically send an email saying that you would like to participate in their upcoming battle and they will send you an email telling you if you have been accepted? or I guess if you signed up in time. They then let you know the ingredients you are going to be using. I had the fortunate luck of being involved in Battle 16 , Kumquats and Chestnuts. What is a Kumquat you ask? any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella bearing small orange-colored edible fruits with th...

This is my first Daring Cooks Challenge . The lucky item this month was Sushi, unfortunately I have never been a fan of it, but I decided to give it a try anyway since the freckled one loves it. I opted to just do 2 of the 4 types of rolls because it would definitely be wayyyy too much for just the 2 of us, so here are my final results.

So, it seems that unless I am signed up for a challenge where I must post my entries onto my blog, the poor thing gets ignored, its like the red headed step child of my cooking world :( So this month I am of course doing the Daring Bakers and Daring Cooks challenges, but I also signed up for this one called Foodie Fights , you basically send an email saying that you would like to participate in their upcoming battle and they will send you an email telling you if you have been accepted? or I guess if you signed up in time. They then let you know the ingredients you are going to be using. I had the fortunate luck of being involved in Battle 16 , Kumquats and Chestnuts. What is a Kumquat you ask? any of several trees or shrubs of the genus Fortunella bearing small orange-colored edible fruits with thick sweet-flavored skin and sour pulp small oval citrus fruit with thin sweet rind and very acid pulp , according to Google and Princeton Ahh...and Chestnuts, was that your next question? che...

I decided to do the PaperChef challenge at the last minute. I entered last month, and had lots of fun making my cookie, I figured why not give it another go....unfortunately I decided pretty much at the last minute so I am scrambling to get everything typed up and posted before midnight. As my items are in the oven, I will take advantage and type the recipe, I don't know what I am calling it yet though, so I guess I will type it out, and then edit to add a name. I definitely decided to go with a pastry style dish, I didn't want lentil soup, or lentils as a side in general, so i decided to incorporate somehow. I thought of mashing it with the Yams, but I didn't want to take anything away from the beautiful sweetness that is a yam...i ended up cooking them down and then sauteing them with the chicken and some shredded carrot. I definitely wanted to embrace the sweetness of the Yam, so it will be a sweeter dish rather than ultra savory....ahhh, let me stop rambling away and g...

As I sit here contemplating what I am going to do on my day off tomorrow, I have realized that I have A-LOT of cooking to do. Of the 10 countries/10 dishes challenge that I issued to myself for Hispanic Heritage month on my face book page, I have completed 5. That leaves me 2 days until the 15th to complete the challenge. I also have a daring cook challenge due, as well as a daring baker challenge. There is also a paperchef challenge lingering on the back of my mind, although it is due today, so I may not have time to even participate, I am thinking of a dish, but I am just not sure if I have time. There are times when I wish I didn't procrastinate sooo much, but then I think to myself, hey you work better under pressure! Why do I insist on lying to myself, lol. I have 2 dishes in mind for the Hispanic Heritage Month, which still leaves me with 3..... I also have the daring cooks challenge, which I am not allowed to blog about until the release day....as I said....A-LOT of cooking ...

If you have never been to my facebook page....WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! Seriously though, we have cooking competitions, 3 so far, and I thought it would be a good idea to let the winner of the previous challenge pick the the ingredients...hmmmm...last challenge winner, Ms. Simone Mims , a darling friend of mine and fellow foodie won and she chose... Phyllo (filo) Dough, Ice Cream, Nutella , Nuts and BALSAMIC VINEGAR. I've worked with every single one of these ingredients...but never together...and some, not in years. The last time I worked with Phyllo Dough, I worked at an outdoor restaurant named Luna Park, in New York City, it was a seasonal gig...steps away from the Union Square Farmer's Market, the focus of the cuisine was contemporary American...we would make roasted golden and red beet stack with goat cheese, and wrap it in phyllo , then bake it off... ughh .... I HATED making these things, now that I think about it, the phyllo dough never seemed to want to cooperat...

As I had promised Eva (thanks for reminding me!!!) Here is a recipe for Chicken and Broccoli , guaranteed to taste like the take out spot, or your money back, lol ! Hope you enjoy!! What you will need to do first: Chicken breast, thinly sliced and cut into 1 inch pieces 1 egg white 1 tablespoon of corn starch Once you have let it sit for half an hour you will need to assemble the following items: A Wok, or large frying pan 2 cups of oil, hot, or if you have a deep fryer its the perfect thing to use The next items you will need are : 1 tablespoon of oil 2 garlic cloves, minced Broccoli , washed and cut up 1/2 teaspoon sugar pinch of salt 1/4 cup of water AND Finally 1 tablespoon oil 2 tablespoons of Oyster Sauce 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce

OK, so I am in complete awww of Iron Chef's, Chopped contestants and Top Chef competitors...this was alot harder than it seemed....maybe I thought about it too much, maybe I was extra nervous because I have never ever submitted my recipes to be "judged", or maybe I just had too much time to work it out? Whatever it was...it was overall fun...fun because I had all of these ideas flowing, and I actually turned it into what I had imagined. Granted I am no kitchen novice, but, I am by far the furthest thing from a pastry chef...or a chef per se at this point in time. For those of you who know me, know it is by choice, I had given up cooking for a while because I had lost all passion. Can you imagine being an artist and not being able to stand looking at your favorite art supplies? That's what it was like for me, I needed time, I needed space and I needed to really feel that passion again. Am I head over heels in love with food again? No, but I am getting to know it a...

The first time I saw the Paper Chef blog, around the time I started this one, I knew that I would enter the next contest. I waited and waited, and kept checking back, and FINALLY the day came when the new ingredients were posted. This month's ingredients are Ricotta, Ginger, Dark Chocolate with Fall...any fall ingredient of you choice. My first dilema, of course is what exactly is considered Dark Chocolate. The judge did not specify cocoa content, so I googled to make sure I would be within the rules. In the US semi-sweet chocolate is considered Dark Chocoloate, while in Europe Bittersweet Chocolate is what is used when you say "Dark Chocolate". The next dilema is of course what kind of item do I make. The first thing that came to mind was a cookie. The holidays are soon approaching, and EVERYone loves cookies around the holidays. Why not come up with something a little unconventional for this holiday season. I decided to make a ricotta pumpin cookie, either with chocolat...

The Contest How can I make up a contest and not enter? Is it fair that I expect people to use their valuable time to be as creative as possible, and I, the creator of this thing totally disregard it and say I didn't have enough time?! I had plenty of ideas...Chicken Pot Pie...Chicken and Dumplings, Chicken Wellington...but I had already waited until the final day to make something, so I had to KISS (keep it simple silly). The freckled one and I had an idea from the beginning though, we would play on something most people just order @ a fast food restaurant rather than make it @ home. We would make Chicken Strips and French Fries. Simone beat us to the punch though...so time for idea # 2... Chicarron de Pollo , or extra crunchy chicken pieces. Since I was going to butcher a whole chicken I figured we could make it 2 ways, con hueso /sin hueso , or with and without bones. Since we were playing with the chicken, why not make Fries 2 ways...Sweet Potato and Cla ssic. Oh yea...did I m...