Have you ever seen one of these?

When I went to the farmer's market Saturday morning I only needed a couple of things. Tomatoes, onions, and some garlic. I paid for my things and then went over to the bakery and got some sweet treats for the girls and I. On my way back the biggest banana type thing I had ever seen caught my eye. Have you ever seen this before?


Apparently it is a Hawaiian Plantain. I took a picture of it in my hand so that there was some perspective on the size of this.

Guess what? It was delicious! It was so sweet and mild tasting and the flesh was a slight peachy color. I bought 2 of them and they were gone that day.

They can be treated the same as regular plantains as in cooked. But when these ones are nice and ripe like the one in my hand they are perfect for eating just out of the peel! I was also thinking that they would make a nice quick bread. I think they would give some banana bread some nice chunks in it!

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for these!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

I have seen this showing up on quite a few blogs lately, so I thought I would post my version. Andrew, who co-runs Very Good Taste, has made a list of 100 things he thinks every omnivore should eat at least once.

It certainly looks as though I need to expand my horizons here and start eating more Asian food!!!

Here's what to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

This was really fun to do!

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile-Alligator?
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Cognac and a cigar but not together? Count or not?
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole Insects (chocolate covered ants!)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu (why risk it?)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill (depends how fresh?)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (these were my favorite when I was young)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

This was really fun to do. It gives you some perspective towards the fact that what we think is normal to eat others think is crazy and vice versa!

Where do your foodie boundaries lie???

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

www.nofearentertaining.com

Homemade Tacos

This is an older picture of a taco with pico de gallo and tomatillo salsa

It was a crazy, crazy weekend.

My youngest daughter has decided that she really likes competitive ice skating and wants to do another competition. Seeing as she is only 6 I have decided to let her only do ones that are at our home rink. Saves me travel and more chaos! With this though it means more time is spent at the rink. We had lessons on Friday night and Saturday.

T. was away for the weekend so I had decided that my youngest one could finally have her sleepover that I promised her for her birthday. So while T. was away I had a couple more 6 year olds running around the house screaming. I have to say though that I love this age. Their isn't the drama that comes with the 8 year olds...yet!

T got home late Saturday night and was able to help with all of the girls in the morning. At least running herd on them while we got breakfast was easier then because they were tired!

Once all the kids were gone we decided to spend some nice family time together and go and have a picnic. One of the great things about having a tropical storm or a hurricane pass through is that it really dries out the air. Today was just beautiful. 88 degrees with low humidity is beautiful in our books. We went to the Caloosahatchee Regional Park and had some lunch and then took a short walk to the river and hung out there for a bit. After this we came home and I tried to figure out meals for during the week. With the new skating schedule and school about to get reved up I needed a plan.

I decided that we would have pizza on Tuesday which would be the late night. Wouldn't get home from the rink until 7:30 but I could make the dough before hand and then T. (pretty please) could throw the sauce and toppings on it and throw it in the oven.

Another night we could have tacos. I have a really simple combination of spices that is so versatile I can use it on anything that I can find...chicken, pork, beef or even seafood. When I make a batch of it I make enough to last for 2 meals. No more as I think the mix loses it flavor after too long in a bag. I can make this whole meal and have it in the fridge ready to be heated up in time for dinner. Can't beat that!

Love the colors of all of the spices mixed together!

Tacos

Ingredients:

1-1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp paprika

1-1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 lb of your choice of meat (buffalo (very lean), beef, venison (very lean), chicken, or pork)

1 cup of water

Directions:

• In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients but the meat. Set aside.
• Brown you meat of choice (we have recently used buffalo, beef, and venison.)
• Once the meat is browned add as much or as little of the seasoning as you would like. We find that this seasoning mix usually makes us 2 meals.
• Add 1 cup water
• Allow to simmer until the spice is absorbed and there is no liquid left.
• Place as much meat as you would like in your lettuce cup.
• Top with your choice of taco toppings (cheese, Pico de Gallo, hot sauce etc.)

This can be used with just about any meat or seafood. It can also be used to make nachos!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pasta, Salad and an Award!

I love blogging and food bloggers are turning out to be some of the best people anywhere. I guess maybe it's because we all share a common bond and are doing this because we have such a huge passion for it. Pretty sure none of us are being forced to do this?

That's why it is so incredible when you receive an award from one of your blogging friends. It's a form of validity...hey, someone really likes what I am doing! My sincere thanks go out to Val from More Than Burnt Toast for giving me this award. It came on the end of a pretty challenging time so it was doubly appreciated.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere.

Here are the rules to follow :

When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.
Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.

The hardest part about getting these awards is trying to come up with just a couple of names to pass this onto!

In no particular order:

Nikki - The Canarygirl
Robin at Caviar and Codfish
Jenn - The Left Over Queen
Heather at Gild the Voodoolily
Nuria at Spanish Recipes
Peter at Kalofagas
and last but not least Courtney at Coco Cooks

Thanks again Val!!!


Dinner last night was a thrown together meal of pasta and salad. The girl's are back in school today after their Hurricane Day on Tuesday which means homework and helping with the homework and redirecting to get them to do their homework etc... You get the idea. Homework is not the best time in our household. While my oldest daughter was doing hers I decided to make some of my favorite summer pasta dish. Pasta with Basil, Fresh Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic. This time though I just didn't feel like roasting the garlic so I minced it up and tossed it in with all of the other ingredients. It made the raw sauce taste even fresher than it did before if that was possible!

Pasta With Fresh Tomato, Garlic and Basil

8 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
3/4 lb ripe plum tomatoes (I just use whatever is tasting good right them)
1/3 C fresh basil (chopped)
1 Tbsp capers
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 box of long thin pasta (angel hair, linguine, spaghetti)

Directions:

• Dice the tomatoes (if the have a ton of seeds squeeze them out).
• Add the garlic, basil, capers, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
• Let stand for at least 20 minutes.
• Cook pasta.
• Mix sauce with pasta and serve warm or at room temperature. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I served the pasta with a herb salad mix and this nice, light and well balanced salad dressing.


Todd English's Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove minced 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage leaves (optional) 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions:

• Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a jar. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Homemade Super Rich Chocolate Brownies

See this picture the brownie almost has a heavenly glow to it! Well deserved too!

Way, way back in April (seems like a lifetime ago doesn't it?) I spotted these brownies on Bake or Break-Adventures of an Amateur Baker. They looked so good and I knew that one day I would need them so I saved the recipe! I am so glad that I did because Tuesday was just that type of day. We had the girls home from school for a Hurricane Day (yep...up north you have snow days and here we have hurricane days???!!!). Luckily it was nothing to worry about but it sure was a long day!

Late in the afternoon, after we had polished of a bag of potato chips while playing a game of Monopoly Jr. (which I won), I decided we needed something with more sustenance than chips. I sought out my brownie recipe and went to give it a whirl!

These were so delicious. Rich, fudgy, chocolaty brownies. Now I am one of those strange people who has no preference as to how my brownie should be. Cakey or fudgey, who cares? Bring on the chocolate!!!

I made several changes to these because of what I had on hand. I had no semi sweet chocolate so I used some bittersweet chips that I had. I also used 1/2 cup of AP Flour and 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. I may have needed to add another egg after the flour swap but these were incredible!

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8″square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches hanging over the sides. Butter parchment paper. In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir together butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool slightly. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with spatula. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet. Let cool in pan about 15 minutes. Lift brownies out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Okay so inspite of everything we have really been eating!

See how nice and simple it looks...Pure comfort food!!!

I know it seems like all of my posts have been about the weather. In between all the fretting, worrying and trying to figure out what to do we have been eating, and quite well at that!

The other night we had some ravioli that we had bought at Costco. We've had it before. See here

This time we had some spinach that we needed to use up so I made a cream sauce with garlic, spinach and some Parmesan cheese. I then topped it with some fresh tomatoes. This was a nice and easy meal which we needed to help take some of the stress away. You'll see that most of the foods that we have eaten the past couple of days have been real comfort foods.

Funny how you turn to food isn't it?

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Short video of Fay

A really short video. The weather we are getting is really nothing. Seeing this it is hard to imagine a storm with winds above 75 miles an hour!



This is only gust of about 30-40 MPH!

As Always...

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com