Photo Credit: Williams Sonoma

It’s time to enter to win another All-Clad Deluxe Slowcooker! Why? Well… because it’s January. The holidays are over and it’s the right time of year for making delicious comfort foods in a convenient slow cooker!

Entering is simple… just share your favorite winter comfort food in the comments section below. Please use your first and last name and make sure your email address is correct. I want to be able to reach you when you win the cooker! The slow cooker will be shipped directly from Williams-Sonoma to the winner’s home.

Winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday, January 16th 2013.

THIS DRAWING IS NOW CLOSED.

CONGRATULATIONS TO RUSS BAILES! YOU WON THE SLOW COOKER!

Thank you to all who entered and shared your favorite winter comfort food. Stay tuned… I will be doing another giveaway soon!

If you’d like to be notified of future giveaways and new tips and recipes, please take just a moment to subscribe to my newsletter by clicking on THIS LINK

GOOD LUCK!

Disclaimer: This drawing is not in any way affiliated with Williams-Sonoma. All giveaways are paid for by me. I select giveaway items because I personally use them and like the products…and giveaways are fun! I am not being compensated in anyway by the manufacturer or retailer.

Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Stew

I was flipping through a recent Cook’s Illustrated and found a recipe for “Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew” that promised to be as comforting and delicious as any you would find in Tuscany. The article went on to say that Tuscans are known for their expertise in cooking Cannellini beans. The recipe itself wasn’t really that different from how I prepare a similar soup. But it did offer some tricks to make sure that the beans didn’t become mushy or explode. The result was as promised… a hearty, very flavorful and supremely comforting stew.

The recipe suggested not just soaking the beans, but brining them overnight by adding a healthy amount of salt to the water. Additionally, the stew is cooked on a low heat to make sure that it cooks gently without busting the beans. This process worked beautifully! The beans had a perfect texture that was still firm and in tact yet buttery at the same time. Of course, I had to make a few little changes to their recipe like adding chunks of sausage, more garlic and I used thick cut bacon in the base flavor to give it some depth. You don’t have to add sausage, it’s good without it. I used a great chicken sausage made at our local Whole Foods.  I’m happy with the result and hope you are too!

This spicy garlic Sriracha shrimp recipe rocks! I posted it on Babble.com last month and it received rave reviews. Sriracha has so much flavor and spice it compliments fresh shrimp beautifully. I saw a version of this recipe in Bon Appetit magazine. I made a few tweaks but overall it is their recipe. I must warn you though… it’s spicy. So if you are concerned about heat, don’t use as much of the Sriracha sauce or serve a little bit of plain yogurt as a dip and to cool off those sizzling hot shrimp!

Fall is here! Well, it’s almost here and I’m giving away an All-Clad Slow Cooker! In Colorado the arrival of fall weather is good news after this incredibly hot summer that started with dangerous and destructive fires. The air is cooler, the leaves are just starting to change and football is back! All of this means that I am in a good mood and feel like doing a giveaway! I can’t think of anything better to usher in fall than a new slow cooker from All-Clad.

This slow cooker is fantastic. I have had one for a few years and it produces delicious dishes. I also love the cast insert that you can put right on the stove to brown your meats before cooking them low and slow. The shiny stainless steel finish is so much prettier than those old fashioned slow cookers. I keep mine on the counter for months during the fall and winter soup seasons.

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment in the comments section below and tell me what recipe you would make first in your new All-Clad slow cooker. I’ll select a name at random on Friday, September 14th. Be sure to fill in your first and last name as well as your email address so I can reach you when you win!

Ready…. set….. GO!

UPDATE 9/15/12: THE DRAWING IS NOW CLOSED AND WE HAVE TWO WINNERS.

Thank you to everyone for entering and sharing your slow cooker ideas! I loved reading all the comments and it makes me wish I would win the lottery

so I could give each one of you a new slow cooker! In fact, this was so much fun I promise to give more of these slow cookers away this fall/winter. Due to the

issues with the comments section, I added a second slow cooker to the drawing to make sure everyone had a chance to win.

I randomly selected two winning names – one from these comments and one from the entries on the Facebook fan page.

Congratulations….

DORIS MERRITT

and

KACY SMITH

I will be in touch on Monday via email to arrange shipment of your brand new slow cookers!

Disclaimer: Photo credit: Williams-Sonoma.com. All-Clad and Williams-Sonoma are not affiliated with this giveaway. I will be purchasing this item with my own hard-earned money from Williams-Sonoma and it will be shipped directly to the winner soon after the winning name is randomly selected.

It dawned on me that I rarely make turkey or chicken burgers. Often times they turn out dry and lack flavor. So I decided to try and create a very tender Asian turkey burger that would be moist and flavorful.

I decided to use turkey thighs. The additional fat would help the burger retain some moisture and flavor. They were delicious. However, I have also tried this recipe using the lighter turkey breasts and they were also good and not at all dry. To add even more moisture I used milk-soaked bread instead of bread crumbs. I’ve always done this when I make homemade meatballs and it works really well. And it worked just as well with turkey burgers. If you have a family with a hungry appetite then you may want to double this recipe. These burgers go down easily!

I love the Asian-inspired flavors in this recipe but you can easily modify this with other ingredients. Replace the Thai chiles, soy sauce and ginger with some jalapeno, adobe sauce and fresh cilantro for a great Southwestern flavor.

This recipe for apple cinnamon dutch baby pancake is delicious, easy and only takes about 15 minutes to bake. My son loves anything that tastes like apple pie, so I kept that in mind when I added the apple cinnamon flavors.  He looked pretty excited when this came out of the oven. Don’t you think?

The great thing about this breakfast treat is you probably already have the ingredients in your kitchen. It only takes 10 minutes to prepare and another 15 minutes to bake. You can flavor these pancakes with other fruit or just make them plain. My favorite variation is to zest a little lemon on top of them while baking and then squeeze a little lemon juice and dust with powdered sugar. No syrup required!

I posted the recipe for this apple cinnamon Dutch baby pancake this morning over at Babble’s Family Kitchen. Click HERE to get the recipe!

This margarita is ridiculously delicious. It is possibly the best strawberry margarita recipe ever. Seriously. I posted it earlier this week on Babble. It takes some time but the rewards are worth the effort. Nothing tastes more like summer than the fruity and tart flavor combination of strawberries and rhubarb. If you love those flavors too then this marg is for you!

I received this recipe in an email this spring from our local culinary school in Boulder, Auguste Escoffier . Since that first email, I’ve probably made this 5 times this summer…. it is that good! Fortunately, rhubarb is still in available for a few more weeks so whip up a pitcher of these before its too late!

To get the best strawberry margarita recipe, please visit my post on Babble’s Family Kitchen!

My mom was one of the best cooks I’ve encountered. She had a knack for adding a splash of freshness and elegance to every dish she created. And she really loved cooking for friends and throwing parties. So much so that dinners when I was growing up usually consisted of her experiments with party food and appetizers. Capturing her culinary creations was one of the reasons I started a food blog years ago. It was a way to encourage her to write down her recipes. She never did that, as she did everything by instinct and taste. A dash of this … and a splash of that.

Today, I’m grateful that I started that blog and successfully collected her recipes. This past December, 4 days before Christmas, she lost a 4 year battle with breast cancer. We had fun emailing recipes back and forth and she loved seeing them live on my website. It also gave us something positive and productive to do during her cancer fighting years. She inspired me on many levels including our common passion for cooking and throwing fun gatherings for good friends. Thanks Mom.

This slaw recipe takes some time due to all the chopping and prepping but it’s so worth it. You can make it with a little bit of mayonnaise for a more traditional coleslaw or use the dressing recipe with Asian flavors instead. That’s the beauty of a good recipe, you can make it your own. However you choose to dress this gorgeous and colorful slaw, your guests will love the combination of crisp, fresh flavors. And unlike other recipes, this won’t be swimming in mayonnaise and sugar. You can adjust the amounts of all the ingredients to your tastes. It’s hard to say how many this serves because of the varying sizes in the vegetables we purchased. However, I do usually double the recipe if I’m serving more than 10 people. If you want leftovers, simply set aside some of the combined vegetables and don’t dress them until you want to serve them again the next day.

When you make corned beef and cabbage, you get a two for the price of one comfort food. Is there anything better on a winter weekend then homemade corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast? I think not… If you need some great recipes for making corned beef check out these 5 variations I posted on Babble’s Family Kitchen.

We wanted a recipe that was like a delicious restaurant quality dish but was also easy to make. I think we found a winner with this dish by one of Seattle’s most popular chef’s - Tom Douglas. His recipe was featured on Serious Eats several years ago. They adapted it and I adapted it slightly again. I think you’ll love this recipe and will decide to make further adaptations to make it your own. In fact, I think it’s one of the best corned beef hash dishes I’ve had.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Easy step by step photos show how to make homemade mayonnaise

Photos and Recipe Credit: Chef Viviane Bauquet Farre – FoodandStyle.com

It’s funny… In the last several years the trend towards homemade, organic and generally unprocessed foods has affected home cooks across the country. This is true in my own kitchen. But what is funny… is I still catch myself buying pre-made, processed condiments like mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup. And I use these condiments on so many dishes. There is the great sandwich on homemade or organic bakery bread with free range roasted turkey breast and organic heirloom tomatoes… with… jarred mayo? How ironic. So maybe the quality of what I buy has improved over the years as I tend to gravitate towards natural or organic products. But why am I buying still buying mayonnaise? Seriously! It’s so easy to make and to quote my friend and fabulous chef, Viviane Bauquet Farre… “Commercial mayonnaise might be convenient, but it’s totally devoid of flavor and bears no resemblance to the homemade kind.”

Agreed Viviane! So I am turning over a new leaf and will make my own mayonnaise at home. Here is Viviane’s recipe from her gorgeous and popular food blog Food and Style. It’s so simple and you can add or enhance the flavors to your liking or to create variations like her Lemon Mayonnaise. And…. “once you’ve tasted it, you’ll never want to buy another jar of that whitish, bland substance again.”

You can make this recipe a little easier if you have a food processor.  Just make sure you add the oil slowly to the egg and mustard mixture.

The Recipe:

makes 1 1/4 cups

active time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (at room temperature)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup canola or safflower oil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon vinegar (balsamic, red wine or sherry)

To make your own homemade mayonnaise, follow the step-by-step instructions and photos on the following slide show. Thank you Viviane!