Cambro Sweet Experiment - Modern Twists on Old Classics

I entered a contest held by Cambro called Sweet Experiment: Mini desserts are making a big impact! Now is your chance to showcase your most creative mini dessert creation with Cambro's Dessert Glass and have a chance to win $3,000 in Cambro products! Free to enter — we send you the dessert glasses, you create the sweet experiment!

So I figured, hey, I can get a cool set of mini dessert glasses (6) and make some creative mini desserts. The $3,000 in Cambro products was for the business establishment that employs me in my food service role, so it was not entirely a selfish involvement. Ha! Who would not enjoy new products in the kitchen/food department that they work in?

Unfortunately, I did not win. But I had fun entering, receiving my free glasses, and being creative with the desserts.

I titled my dessert submissions 'Modern Twists on Old Classics'. In the below pictures are my submissions from left to right.

Left: S'mores, graham cracker pieces or crumbs, marshmallow, and chocolate. Easily heated in the microwave melting marshmallow cream and chocolate. ( either melt marshmallow in pan or use the marshmallow cream or sometimes called fluff, because if you try to melt this dessert to desired taste in the microwave the marshmallow expands in the glass and pushes other ingredients out)

Middle: Creamsicle, layered vanilla bean ice cream and orange sherbet topped with a mandarin orange slice...reminiscent of that popsicle offered at the corner store or ice cream man riding through the neighborhood.

Right: Peach Cobbler, layered peaches, banana bread, homemade granola, and caramel sauce...spices with a little cinnamon and brown sugar.

Calamari Pasta / Gragnano Italy

A few nights ago I wanted to throw something simple together and reached way back into the bottom cupboard because I knew there was a bag of 'gourmet' pasta back there somewhere. I say 'gourmet' very lightly because it seems everything nowadays is 'gourmet' or 'artisanal'. Humph. Whatever.

I just wanted to cook it up and use it. The one I found is called calamari because the pasta rings look thick cut and big like rings of real calamari that are usually fried and eaten as an appetizer at most restaurants.

Starting by pan searing some Italian sausage then throwing the pan in the oven to continue to cook while I put together a quick marinara sauce with roasted garlic. Pasta water just started to boil so I salted it heavily then threw the pasta in...meanwhile the sausage came out of the oven and I put them in the pan with the sauce and let simmer till the pasta was done. Because of the size of the pasta I used a spider (instead of using a colander) to fetch all the pasta out of the water and dump it in the pan with the sauce and sausages.

Even when the whole dish was done the pasta still had a bit of a chew and great taste. I was surprised. So today I looked up the name of the pasta and where it was from because it seems like any knucklehead company is making any pasta shape they want and pass it off as being 'gourmet'. Well, there is an actual pasta called calamari that comes from Gragnano Italy where the company there still uses bronze cutting die  and they still air dry the pasta.

My wife and I loved it even before I checked for the origin of it, and like most dishes of this nature my wife said it tasted even better the second time around. She took it to work and shared it.

We usually buy bits of food things here and there 'on sale' and throw them in the cupboard or fridge to try later...sometimes disappointing, sometimes surprisingly good.

Silpat and PlayDough RCT #12.28.12

Random Culinary Tip

When starting to teach your child how to have fun and create with PlayDough use a Silpat (cooking/baking pan insert) as a play mat. No mess, no fuss, and works good for not sticking to table or other things. But really the first rule will be "DON'T EAT IT!".

Christmas Dinner

A lot of people have asked either my wife or I what we had planned for dinner, and or what we had for Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner. Hate to disappoint others but we usually don't do 'traditional' meals for holidays.

This year it was just us (wife and I) and the boys. There was to much sickness going on with friends and extended family so it was small and...no not intimate, remember we have two young boys...loud and rowdy, BUT FUN!

Back to the topic. On Christmas Eve I made Chicken Tortilla Soup (our own recipe) but I sure do miss the grilled whole chickens I used to get from Mi Pueblo's in California I used! They would grill those chickens out in front of the store and the rub/marinade they used on them was excellent! Kind of like a rotisserie seasoning, but much better. I searched online for a copycat recipe to no avail.

Christmas dinner was my own homemade thin crust pizza made with a dough I developed for it. Nothing secret or special to it except I know exactly how our family likes to eat and I like to put a few herbs and spices right in the dough and use certain techniques to get the crust and chew to come out just perfect for us. Oh, I made some breadsticks too...

Thoughts on Coffee

I have traveled quite a bit on ships, trains, planes, and automobiles thru the Caribbean, Central American, Europe, Africa, Canada, and of course the U.S.. I have also tasted and visited a few coffee places, estates, fields, and shops. That being said I will not call myself and expert except on the subject of my own palate. So for a moment lets knock out any one-off coffees and talk about chains and corporate. Here is what I found for my tastes...

Although I am from the South and Krispy Kreme seems to be the doughnut king when the light is on...it's coffee is lacking. Starbucks is great for specialty coffees and maybe buying their coffee and making it at home but why does their house brew always taste bitter, burnt, or harsh? My wife and I LOVE Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf both specialty and regular cup of coffee but this place is not found to many places in the USA, some high traffic cities and mostly California...and oddly enough a bunch of them in Malaysia! So still no everyday options for me. Waffle House has good coffee that is pretty consistent from coast to coast (because it is made the same) but lacks that inviting atmosphere and is not available for purchase at home. From what I remember Tim Horton's was pretty good (Canada) but that was a distant memory. Illy coffee imported from Italy is hands down my favorite coffee that my palate loves straight from the French press but OH does it cost a pretty penny.

But as I sit here today in the first of many Dunkin Doughnuts coming to my city in the South I am reminded of my trips to Boston and New York where every corner seems to have one on it. it also reminds me of why I love their coffee so much. I get just the regular coffee with cream and sugar (they add it) and the mix and taste seems to be just right for me every time. The price does not break the bank. Their take-home bags of coffee taste just as great when you make them at home and are affordable...and I guess their doughnuts aren't to bad either! (Wink!) But don't tell Krispy Kreme I said that.