Here was my Get Forked Friday post for the Volusia County Moms!
Tag Archives: food
Get Forked Fridays!
For several months now, I have been submitting recipes for a local blog site called Volusia County Moms. (She has a FB page too!) Its very popular in the area and I have a section called Get Forked Friday! I have been enjoying having a larger audience for my recipes, but Ive been slacking to post in here lol.. so!
This was a recipe I posted not too long ago!
20th Annual International Epcot Food & Wine Festival
It’s that time of year again! Every year I say Im going to blog about the festival and I rarely manage to do it, so YAY me!
Firstly, I realized that out of 20 years I’ve only missed about 5! Wow! (No Im not that old 😛 )
Here are some of the dishes I ate, my not really worth it picks and my festival favorites.
I spent two days at the festival and will surely go a few more times before its all said and done. That being said Annual Passholders are able to get a free commemorative port glass this year! Go to Innovations and get a stamp in your passport each day you attend. Third stamp = free glass! This may not seem like a big deal to some but especially with the new insane cost of passes, anything free I’ll take, please and thank you.
Warning: Food Porn ahead!
Brazil -Crispy pork belly with black beans and tomato; this dish has been there before but it is most certainly one of my favorites! Its one of the ones I hope they never take away! **FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Japan -Spicy hand roll: Tuna and salmon with Kazan Volcano sauce; last year Iw as so disappointed this was not on the menu.. they had some sort of chicken sushi roll crap, wtf? Chicken is NOT sushi no matter how much you try.. and no, not even chicken of the sea. Happy to see it back this year!
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
France – Croissant aux escargots with garlic and parsley and a Sparkling Pomegranate Kir; The Kir was delish as always, but the new way they are doing the escargots, eh.. Ill take years past over this new version.
America – Hops & Barley Market; New England Lobster Roll
NOT to be confused with the Lobster Roll of Festivals past. While the lobster roll was delicious, I kept hearing all this buzz about “the Lobster Roll is back the Lobster Roll is back” no… its not. This is not the same Lobster Roll we all fell in love with a couple years ago.. This was more like a Lobster Salad on bread. Delicious, but bring back the past please.
Australia – Grilled sweet and spicy bush berry shrimp with pineapple, peppers, onions, and snap peas;
This was MUCH better than the shrimp they had in previous years! Little Tangy Little spicy, delicious!
Festival Center – Drinking Chocolate
A lot of times unless you book a class many people don’t make it into the Festival Center. I however, always make a point to go see the Festival center shop, and more importantly, go to the Ghirardelli section to see the chocolate creations, get my little piece of free chocolate, and a cup of drinking chocolate.. To. Die. For.
Chew Lab – Olive Oil-Poached Salmon with Fresh Corn, Bacon, and Pepper Jam
** FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Chew Lab is a new booth with food that The Chew TV Show host and hostesses created, Yummy stuff! I also had the White Sangria from the Sustainable Chew booth. The Chew was filming onsite this year, total bummer I had to miss it, but fun stuff!
Japan – Miso Udon: steamed shrimp, vegetables, and noodles in a spicy broth
I LOVE LOVE Brothy dishes. I was excited to see this on Japans menu, A New item this year, it was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be. If your in Japan, the Spicy Hand Roll is way more worth the money.
China – Happy Peach with peach liqueur and dark rum
This drink was good, but it wasn’t as sweet as I expected it to be (nor as peachy) if you don’t like sweet this may be a great drink for you, but I won’t be getting it again. On a side note, Candied Strawberries were one of my festival favorites for China. They didn’t have them last year, then they had them for Flower and Garden Festival, now they don’t have them again! What are they doing to me?!?! UG!
Mexico – Tacos de camarón: Battered shrimp, pico de gallo, pickled onions, and chipotle mayonnaise
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
While the San Angel Inn (inside by the ride) is one of my very favorite restaurants in Epcot, Ive always been a bit disappointed in the F&W Festival Kiosk in Mexico. This year they turned me around! Despite that they didn’t bring my my jalapeño margarita I love so much, the shrimp tacos were WAY better than previous years! Straight up Mexico! Love!
Patagonia– Grilled beef skewer with chimichurri sauce and boniato purée paired with Terrazas Reserva Malbec
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
Another year of Patagonia, another year of beef skewer goodness.
Refreshment Port – Pineapple Dole Whip soft-serve ice cream with Bacardí Coconut Rum
**FESTIVAL FAVORITE
This year they made this stand (Which is always there year round) and actual stop on your passport. We didn’t mind considering they had Dole Whip with Rum, but WAIT, don’t get TOO Excited yet.. This ain’t your mommas Dole Whip. This is just Soft Serve with Rum Poured on top, This is NOT like the Dole Whip Served at Magic Kingdom. But still O so Tasty!
Dominican Republic – Soufflé de yuca: Yuca soufflé topped with riddled cheese
This is where the Puerto Rican booth was last year, while I wish the cheese was a bit hotter so it didn’t harden up as much as it did, it was still delicious. and the Yuca Soufflé? omg. So good!
I ate many more foods but these were the tips and thoughts I wanted to share for this round. Stay tuned in hopes that when I go again, I actually sit down long enough to do another blog post!
Thanks for reading!
The Cellar.
My review for Floridian View Magazine Aug. 2012
Growing up in this area I’ve known of the home my entire life, built in 1907 it was the home of our nations 29th president Warren G. Harding. Today it is the location of one of the most beautiful and delicious restaurants in the Daytona area, The Cellar. Owned by Sam and Lina Moggio it is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
With a desire for something different and to seek out an eating experience in a more tranquil setting, we chose the Cellar. Would it meet our expectations?
Currently, the upstairs dining area is being remodeled so we were led to a lovely, cozy dining area downstairs. Our waiter, Gene, courteously advised us of the specials and wine choices but ultimately suggested what we considered the best choice to sample everything The Cellar had to offer: the tasting menu.
The tasting menu is a five-course selection of pure, fresh, amazing food. You can order the menu with or without wine pairings. We elected to choose our own and selected a Chianti and a “Merchant of Venice” which is a beautiful, crisp Prosecco with pomegranate syrup instead. They were delish!
We made different selections from the Tasting Menu so that we could share a bit of everything. Starting with an Amuse’ of Tuna tartar, the tasting took us on a journey of culinary expertise and care that tickled our taste buds at every turn. The highlights of the evening for me were the Air-Dried Beef with arugula, peach vinaigrette and apple salad garnish, as well as the fettuccine, smoked duck & seasonal mushroom ragu. The only misstep in our entire meal was that the potatoes in my main dish, which was a Paillard of snapper with fine chopped vegetables, potato galette and walnut oil, were a bit overdone for my liking.
One area of the Tasting Menu generated consensus with my dining partner and myself: Dessert! We both insisted on ordering the Dark Chocolate Torte with creme anglaise and chocolate sauce. Served warm, the torte was delicate and rich every bite making us want another, it did not disappoint.
It’s clear from the flavors and presentation that Sam and Lina have a love for fine, fresh foods, and the flavors of Italy. It shows in every dish, as well as the way Lina floats throughout the dining room greeting each guest with her beautiful smile and charming accent. I recommend you give this quaint old home a taste, you won’t be disappointed!
A Taste of Webster: Amuse-bouche; a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons, but, when served, are done so for free and according to the chef’s selection alone
Vegas Foodie.
My husband and I went to Vegas for New Years Eve. I did a Full review that doesn’t all consist of food, but there was lots of food involved, and some food porn pictures to tantalize your taste buds!
Enjoy!!
http://iunfiltered.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/vegas/
Spaghetti Chicken Tetrazzini
What you need:
1 package Baby Bella sliced mushrooms
olive oil
4-5 Organic boneless skinnless chicken thighs,
Salt & Pepper
5 cloves of fresh garlic finely diced
1 cup of white wine (if you wouldn’t drink it don’t use it)
1 box of spaghetti
1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream
2 cups freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated mozzarella
1 sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked and torn into pieces.
4-5 thinly sliced pieces of prosciutto ripped into pieces
2 Fresh roma tomatoes cut into large chunks
What you do
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a pan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil.
3. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and sear them in the oil.
4. Remove the chicken and add to the pan the garlic (sauté for 1 min) Then add fresh mushrooms.
5. Add the wine, and chicken and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well.
6. Add the cream to the pan, The tomatoes and the torn prosciutto then bring to the boil and turn the heat off.
7. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
8. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well.
9. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well.
10. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and the mozzarella and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp.
You can add more parmesan when serving if you wish.
YUM!
Feelin’ Crabby?
I have a new Food Editor gig for a new magazine out of the West Palm area! It’s an exciting adventure and the first issue was called Flavors! (check em out on FB!)
My recipe for Crab salad was on the cover, so I thought I would share it with you guys! It’s a light and easy recipe, check it out!
- Juice of 1/2 Fresh Lemon
- 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon Real Mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 24 ounces crabmeat, drained, picked over (if you can get fresh crab legs, Julianne the mean from the legs for presentation purposes)
- 1 head of Butter Lettuce
- Fresh Micro greens for garnish
Whisk the lemon, mustard, mayo, salt and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the oil. Add the crabmeat and toss gently to coat. Place in a bowl (or a martini glass if you want to have fun with it) on top of a butter lettuce leaf, and garnish with micro greens.
For a Special treat, top with some caviar.
iBlog
Greetings Traveler.
I have decided since I always have so much to say on many subjects other than food, I needed another outlet, so I started an offshoot of this food blog here on WordPress to express my never ending thoughts lol.. Please Follow me at:
Take a little stand
Around the corner from our neighborhood is a little self service farm stand. They have tomatoes, onions, sometimes, spinach, green beans, kale, etc. It’s a family Affair, Benedict is his name, farming is his game! His Cousins, and other relatives farm as well, and most attend farmers markets to sell their goods, but Benedict has his own little stand on a little corner of his property that for many years sat out in the middle of nowhere all by itself, but now.. the growth of this community has caught up to his location, which I am sure has increased his sales.. but has also increased his headaches. Often times you’ll see him throw up a sign threatening to close, or chewing people out for stealing veggies, vandalizing, or worse stealing the money. When his relatives do not sell out at the market they often times include their stuff at his stand, so you get quite the array of stuff when you catch it just right.
It’s a normal stop for us, if we are heading out to the grocery store, we swing by Benedict’s first to see what he has to offer that we can not only get cheaper, but its locally grown, no chemicals that threaten to eat our insides (always a plus), and its farmed right next door! Example: Red bell peppers half the size of his are $3.99 a pound in the stores, at this stand they are usually around $1.00 each and HUGE.
So Last week I found some green beans! I decided to play with some Asian style! Now, I forgot to measure anything, so these measurements are approx. but you can get the general idea! No more excuses for “easy” Frozen or canned green beans people, this is about as easy as it gets for FRESH goodness!
What you need:
- FRESH green beans, tips off
- 4 cloves FRESH garlic crushed
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp olive oil
- S&P to taste
- Sesame Seeds for garnish
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp real butter
What to do:
- After taking the tips off your green beans place in a pot of boiling salted water and blanch for approx 2-3 minutes
- In a Sautee pan add oils and butter and allow to heat up on medium heat, add garlic and sauté until light golden brown
- Add Green beans and Sauté for approx 2-3 min then add the soy sauce.. Cook for another 3-4 minutes on low
- Add Sesame seeds remove from heat and serve!
- I like my Beans a bit still crunchy, you can cook them (or blanch them) a bit longer if you like them softer.
Variation: Next time Im going to add some fresh grated ginger to the party!
Best Dressed: Really, it has honey.
So as many of you know, I was the food editor for a local magazine. Recently the magazine when through some pretty dramatic changes, lots of drama, lots of chaos, and a new managing editor was brought in. I was called one day and told “I brought in my own people, a real food writer” (Cuz you know, Im fake.) So although I am writing for other magazines, I no longer write for that one. I do however, still get one each month in the mail, and shake my head (and ok laugh a little) every time I see one of the recipe’s from the “real writer” that has missing ingredients, or that just sounds awful! So maybe the guy can write, but recipe’s isn’t it. The last month he wrote up a “Honey Vinaigrette” well one of my last submissions was a Honey Lime dressing, so I automatically turn to it, thinking “this better not be mine!!” Lo and behold it wasn’t, it was completely different, and in the ingredients list? Not one drop of honey. Not one. So why honey in the title? Your guess is as good as mine, but to make up for it, here is my honey dressing, and you guessed it, it actually HAS honey! *gasp*
Honey Lime Dressing for fruit
- 2 fresh Limes Juiced
- Pinch Kosher Salt
- Pinch of Freshly Ground White Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Good Quality Honey
- 1tsp Lime zest
- 4 tbs chopped fresh mint leaves
drizzle on fruit salad, or fold in some marshmallow fluff and cool whip and make a fruit dip!
Get Forked 