Oatmeal Lace Cookie Bowls with Maple Mousse

This is my second month participating in the Daring Bakers, a monthly baking challenge and I guess I'm not in the swing of things quite yet. I knew about the challenge, thought a lot about it and was planning on completing it this weekend because I thought it was due next week. Then I go check out the website tonight and realize that it's due: TODAY! and it's already after 8:00pm. Do I give up? No. So here is my response to the challenge to create a Maple Mousse and an edible container.

Grilled Shrimp with Chive Butter

Sometimes simple is just perfect. I've been craving seafood lately and I got some shrimp this last weekend. I love seafood but since my wife doesn't like it I just don't end up making it very often. I wanted to make something amazing but just couldn't find anything that great that really featured the shrimp.  Then I found this recipe that is so simple I almost passed it up. It just bastes the shrimp in this chive butter and then uses the same mixture as a dip. Our chives are growing like crazy and it sounded interesting enough and of course I was right. The chive butter is simply amazing and would work on almost anything. I made some steamed artichokes along with the shrimp and dipped the leaves in it as well.

MN Food Bloggers @The Local in Minneapolis

Where can a beautiful spread of food be placed out and then have people wait patiently while it's photographed before jumping in and devouring it? Not an Elite Yelpers event of course. :)

Last night the Minnesota Food Bloggers were hosted by The Local, an Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis. Drop any preconceived notions that came up when you read Irish Pub now, because I don't think many of them are going to fit this place. A far cry from your typical bar food, the spread in front of us was a beautiful combination of charcuterie and fresh takes on everything from fish and chips to veggie burgers.

Orange Cinnamon French Toast

It's one of those breakfast for dinner kind of days. Minnesota just can't make up it's mind on this Spring thing and it's supposed to snow a few inches tonight. Breakfast for dinner is a pretty frequent occurrence around here so I did branch out a little bit and went with a new recipe just to throw in a little variety, for the kids of course. I grabbed my Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen because I thought I had seen some breakfast recipes in there and it's been a little neglected since I bought it a few months ago after seeing a demo of Tom in action.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Fresh Mozzarella and Basil

This is a slightly different take on the traditional Caprese Salad and came as a result of this months Daring Cooks challenge. The challenge this month was to create an edible container and something to go in it. I actually had a really hard time coming up with something, I just kept trying to think of something really "different". While this combination isn't entirely unique, it's spring time here and this is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Fresh Mozzarella paired with a thick juicy tomato and a basil leaf is so refreshing and a perfect entrance to the great food season to come.  The basil vinaigrette is a vibrant green that adds additional flavor and can be added to taste.

Ciabatta Take Two

 

I made a Ciabatta bread back in January, but it was a more traditional flat dimpled bread that was made using a sourdough starter. It was a great bread but it took some time and effort to make, enough so that I haven't made it again. I came across this recipe in the local newspaper, it's adapted from Jim Lahey, now famous for his no knead breads. It is incredibly simple and produces a light airy bread with a perfect chewy crust. Like Jim's other breads, it takes time but minimal effort. Plan ahead and give yourself 18-24 hours before you want the completed bread.