Lavender Citrus Biscotti

Lavender Citrus Biscotti

Really good with tea......

Ingredients

12 oz. Butter
1 3/4 cu Sugar
6 eggs
1/2 tea Orange extract
1/2 tea Lemon extract
6 cu All Purpose Flour
1/2 tea salt
2 tea baking powder
pinch fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 cu dried lavender flowers

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together until pale yellow. Add eggs one at a time until well incorporated. add extracts and blend well. Sift together Flour, Baking powder, and salt and add to wet mixture. Mix with a large spoon until well blended. Add nutmeg and lavender flowers and knead by hand. Turn out onto floured surface divide mixture in half and shape into two even loaves about 5" by 11" and slightly raised in the middle, bake on parchment paper 350 for 28-30 min. loaves should be firm when they come out of oven.
Let loaves completely cool then cut into about 1 1/2 thick strips. toast on a cookie sheet for 7 minutes per side.... and there ya go Italiano Biscotti. Buon appetito



Heres a link with some cool info about lavender.

http://www.herbalsupplements101.com/lavender-and-insomnia/

About Mushrooms By: Julius Auboineau Palmer

A study of Wild British Mushrooms written in 1800's

An excellent old reference book for picking wild mushrooms.

Broccoli Chicken Farfalle in bacon alfredo

An easy yet elegant recipe.. Plus anything with bacon is good!

Ingredients:


1lb Boneless skinless Chicken Breast (cut into bite size pieces)
3 Broccoli Stalks

8-10oz Farfalle Pasta

5 Bacon Strips

1/4cu Green onion (chopped)

2cu Parmesan grated

11/2cu Heavy Cream

1cu Pasta water (reserved from cooking pasta)

3tbl REAL Butter (Important for a velvety sauce)

1 Garlic Clove (crushed)

Black Pepper

Salt

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Trim broccoli and cut into pieces. Add broccoli to water and blanch, remove broccoli from water (do not pour water out) shock in an ice bath to preserve color and level of doneness. Add a bit of oil to boiling water and add pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions approx 13-15 minutes. Much less for fresh pasta. Strain pasta reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add a bit of olive oil to your pasta and coat by stirring to prevent pasta sticking. (Never rinse your pasta with water after cooking it's sacrilege)
2. Next heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon strips and fry until bacon is crispy to render all the bacon fat out. remove bacon strips to paper toweling (I love saying "paper toweling" makes me laugh every time). Add pan with bacon grease back to heat Salt and Pepper chicken pieces and add to pan in one even layer and saute chicken until golden brown and cooked through approx 8-10 minutes stirring often. Drain grease from pan.
3. Reduce heat to medium low. add garlic cook briefly, add pasta water to deglaze pan. Add heavy cream, butter, and Parmesan and stir until cheese is melted into sauce and it thickens.
4. Turn off heat and add green onion, broccoli, and pasta stir well to coat all pasta well.
5. crush bacon into bits and garnish each plated with about 1tblsp.


Written by: Tony Arevalo

Eating and drinking in San Diego!

Qualcomm Stadium

OMG! Brian Urlacher

Our View

Angela snapped it with the ball in midair

 A couple of weeks ago I was privelaged enough to be invited by my sister to a Chicago Bears(my favorite team) vs. San Diego Chargers pre season football game. Actually the first game of the season. This was the second time me and my sister had been to San Diego together and we vowed to visit a few key places in the Gaslamp district. First things first we tail gated and cooked hot links on the hibachi grill and started the drinking with a few Tecates. Our friend Julian who is also a bears fan came along and he started talking to a group of people next to us and turns out they were the family of one of the bears players. So far so good! Qualcomm stadium wasn't anything special the seating was cramped and made of uncomfortable hard plastic reminiscent of fourth grade. It's a typical stadium has nice fans, sub par food, over priced beer, and plenty of drunken fans yelling at the players... It was a Blast. The best part? The weather... San Diego seems to be 80 degrees with a gentle breeze no matter what the time of day or year. 

Click For Menu

 After the game, which we (meaning the bears) lost, we went back to the hotel for a quick change and then off to the Hard Rock Cafe San Diego for a look at some rock n roll hall of fame stuff and some much needed dinner. For starters we shared the following from the appetizer menu.

Jumbo Combo

A delectable array of our most popular starters that’s big enough to share. Includes Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. Served with four different sauces for mixing and matching

  The appetizer was your typical array of deep fried goodies seen at any chain restaraunt but it was prepared correctly and hit the spot after the beers earlier and the gin and tonic I was drinking. The rest of the meal was more of the same typical food you would expect. I had the Hickory Smoked BBQ Ribs and they were passable. The sauce taste like that Jack Daniels bottled stuff I had in my fridge at home. Coolest part for me hands down was the memorabilia, in particular a suit worn by Jonathan Davis of the Group "Korn" and a Vest worn by Jimi Hendrix. 

Julian, Kevin Clover (Part Owner/Piano Man), Me

 Next on our agenda was "the SHOUT house" home of the dueling pianos. Our mission was to stay here and close out the bar it was well within drunk person walking distance. I was drinking a Stoli Vodka and Tonic 

Click for Directions and Info

and sis was having Absolut and Cranberry juice our friend Jules was still drinking beer. When you hear dueling pianos it sounds a bit weird but this place was soooo much fun. Two guys sit at 2 pianos opposite ends and play requests from the crowd. The drunker the crowd gets the funnier... well obviously. I mean people get on stage and dance, bride to Be's spank there fiancees, the whole crowd is encouraged to sing and scream profanities, when cued, at the people who get on stage. I would recommend this place to adults of any age the songs they play are ones we all know and can sing. Its the first crowd participation bar I have been to.  The guy in the picture is one of the Piano players and as it turns out one of the owners. I am definitely going again! We closed the place down like we had planned and stumbled of to the hotel rooms and some power naps. 

 The following day was an early rise well for everyone but me.. I slept until the maid came a knockin. 
We had one last had to go place this trip and that was "Dick's last resort" A place that is known for its horrible service. Yes...that's right I said known for " Horrible 

Angela my Sister

Click to Enlarge 

 Service ". Let me explain me and my sis had been there before when we were last in San Diego together. We were working for the same Restaurant chain and as corporate employees we went to the franchise meeting in San Diego that year. The owner of our company took us and about twenty other there. And for anybody who has ever worked at or for a restaurant this is a must visit. It goes against everything customer service is about. As soon as you get there you can almost feel the vibe. And when you sit down you had better be ready to give your drink order or your next opportunity to get a drink might be a while. When our waitress came by finally she says " ready " very curt. I said "yes" and she says " well...c'mon I dont have all day." Then came the hats... the hats are the best part.. My sisters said" Scored high on my drug test " she was just hung over I assure you. Mine said " I like to Blow Bubbles" not so bad right? Well my friend Jules hat says " I'm Bubbles ".... Freakin Classic! Even though the food is kinda boring and bland. I had the "Bacon Cheddar" burger and it was dry as can be I only ate half. My friend Julian who is a cook as well said his "Garbage Burger" wasn't "all that" either. Angela had hot wings. Click here for the Menu . I still say its worth going just for the ambiance. Our server played a joke/trick on me that my sister recorded with her iphone. It was funny as well, Imma try an post it soon. Here is the VIDEO!

" Dick's Last Resort"

 Needless to say I had a great time! I CANT WAIT UNTIL NEXT TRIP!.....we are going again right sis?

Ricotta Custard with Dried Fruits and Blackberry Sauce

Ricotta Custard with Dried Fruits and Blackberry Sauce

A basic Italian custard all dressed up.....

Ingredients:

(Custard)

2 lbs. Ricotta Cheese

2/3 cups White Sugar

1/3 cup All Purpose Flour

6 Eggs

1/4 cup Chopped Dried Apricots

1/4 cup Dried Blueberries ( Dried Cranberries work good also)

2 tea Orange or Lemon Extract

2 tea Vanilla Extract

1/8 tea Ground Nutmeg

1/8 tea Salt

Powdered Sugar for Garnish (optional)

(Blackberry Sauce)

2/3 cups Blackberry Preserves (Seedless if possible)

1/4 cups Dried Blueberries

1/2 cup Warm Water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Set rack in the middle of the oven. Butter and flour a large Muffin pan needs to hold at least 8 muffins.
2. Place the ricotta in a large mixing bowl, and stir it as smooth as possible with a rubber spatula or whisk. Stir the sugar and flour together thoroughly into the ricotta. Stir in the eggs 1 at a time. Blend in the vanilla, orange extract,  salt, and nutmeg. Fold in dried fruits with a spatula. Pour batter into the prepared Muffin pan to the top. Should fill 8-9 servings.
3. Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, until a light golden color. Make sure the center is fairly firm, and the point of a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. It will sink slightly as it cools. Cover, and chill till serving time.

(Blackberry Sauce)

1. Soak the dried blueberries in the 1/2 cup of warm water for at least 1 hour.

2. Add preserves to a 1qt saucepan over medium heat. Add in blueberries and water they were soaked in.

3. Heat thoroughly whisking to incorporate preserves. Simmer uncovered stirring often until sauce thickens should take about 7 - 10 minutes.

4. Strain sauce through fine mesh sieve and chill sauce until ready to serve.

Serving ideas:

1. reserve dried blueberries from sauce and mash into a jam like mixture and use for garnish on top of inverted custard.

2. Serve with fresh whipped cream spiced with nutmeg, Cinnamon, and cloves.

Written By: Tony Arevalo Sr.

My Great Aunt Donna's Carrot Bread

My Great Aunt Donna's Carrot Bread

This is a great tasting bread!!!


Ingredients:


4 Eggs
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Veg Oil
1 tea Vanilla
1 tbs Cinnamon
1 tea Baking Powder
1 tea Baking Soda
1 tea Salt
3 Cups Flour
2 Cups Grated Carrots
1/2 Cup Raisins
1/2 cup Nuts Chopped (optional)

Directions:


Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla together.
Sift together dry ingredients.
Mix dry together with wet ingredients.
Fold in raisins and carrots (and nuts if using)
Spray two 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans with not stick spray.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool.

Serving ideas:

I like it with cream cheese frosting or whipped cream.

written by: Donna Rae Rea