contest

Gingerbread Snow Globes #KerrygoldGingerbreadContest

December 18, 2015

I immediately knew what I would do when I first heard about the Kerrygold Gingerbread Contest. It just popped up in my head and I was hooked.

I had recently seen the most adorable snow globe cupcakes on Pinterest, and I was intrigued. The glass part of the snow globes are made out of super thin gelatin that had coated a balloon. The balloon is deflated and the cast gelatin then holds its shape. So cool.

From there I created a plan and then did my shopping.

Thankfully Amazon had everything I needed, even the water balloons that were impossible to find in stores as it’s off-season for them now.

Once I had my supplies in hand, I got to work!

The gingerbread cookie base came together easily. Plus, it made the house smell great.

Autumn enjoyed helping out too!

I made gingerbread men and bunnies to put in the snow globes. Our mini bunny cookie cutter always sits on our kitchen window along with a bigger one to go along with my random collection of rabbit pictures and prints around the house in honor of our rabbit.

I made the cookies in advance and set them aside to then focus on the bubbles.

The bubbles were tough!!!

The instructions were clear to follow (thankfully!) but I did think that there was not enough gelatin to really cover the balloons. I’d actually make a lot more gelatin next time. But other than that, it was fun to do something challenging but creative!

It took 24 hours of the bubbles to cure, but once they were done I was ready to start to decorate and assemble the snow globes. I wish I had more pictures of this process of I had my hands fill and I mainly Snapchat’ed the experience.

I’m admittedly, not great at decorating cookies. But I don’t do it often so I don’t find much fault in that.

And of course, the gel icing for the eyes ran on the bunnies! gah!!!!

I did the best I could in the time I had so I think the snow globes came out well.

I certainly hope I win the grand prize, a trip for 2 to Ireland!, or one of the runner up prizes, a year’s worth of Kerrygold cheese and butter, but I’ll at least be super proud of myself that I accomplished this fun contest entry.

#KerrygoldGingerbreadContest

Potato, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Spinach Salad with Warm Mustard and Shallot Dressing

May 7, 2012

I love a good challenge. I love to try something new in the process as well. Well, that is exactly what happened when I saw a mustard contest on the Stonewall Kitchen blog. Stonewall Kitchen specializes in various jams, jellies, and mustards, as well as gift box collections and kitchen wares. They were looking for bloggers to create recipes using their mustards. After browsing their mustard varieties I decided on their Blue Cheese Herb Mustard.

The package from Stonewall Kitchen arrived at work and I started to tell my coworkers about the mustard and the recipe contest. I was asking around for their ideas and one of my coworkers suggested a potato salad. That intrigued me because I began to wonder how I could create a recipe around that idea. Would it be mayo based? Would it be vinegar based like German Potato Salad? The more I thought I about it I decided to use that term ‘potato salad’ loosely and develop a salad with potatoes. To tie the Blue Cheese Herb Mustard into the dish would use it in the dressing and use blue cheese in the salad as well. And of course I would have to add bacon so it, because what good salad doesn’t have bacon?

The salad is hearty enough to be a whole entrée. The potatoes are flavored from the bacon fat and are crunchy adding a nice element of texture to the salad. The bacon of course adds a great texture to the salad, but it also adds a nice flavor component to it as well. The combination of the bacon and blue cheese reminded me of a burger which tricks the mind into thinking this is filling meal from a salad. The warm dressing is very flavorful with the shallots and the mustard in the vinegar dressing. I didn’t add oil to the dressing because the bacon adds fat to the dish and the shallots were cooked in olive oil. The warm dressing wilts the spinach greens so this dish should be assembled right before serving.

Potato, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Spinach Salad with Warm Mustard and Shallot Dressing

serves 4

Ingredients

7 oz bag of baby spinach
1 1/2 pounds of small potatoes (such as Trader Joes’ teeny tiny potatoes)
1/4 pound thick cut bacon (approximately 4 slices)
2 large shallots
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup red wine
4 tablespoons Blue Cheese Herb Mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake
salt and pepper
4 oz of crumbled blue cheese

Process

Rinse the baby spinach and set aside in a large bowl.
Rinse and halve the potatoes. In a medium pot, bring water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until fork tender. Strain the potatoes and set aside.
Cut bacon into small pieces and cook in a large skillet on medium-low heat until the bacon is cooked thru. Set aside on paper towels. Drain off the bacon fat reserving 2 tablespoons in the skillet.
Turn up the heat for the skillet to medium-high and add the potatoes. Let sides of the potatoes to crisp up before stirring them. Make sure each potato is crisp before removing them from the skillet and setting aside on a plate.
Thinly slice the shallots. Gently cook the shallots on medium-low heat in the skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the onions are softened and golden brown, add in the wine and 2 tablespoons of mustard. Mix together until the mustard is incorporated into the wine and shallots.
While the shallots are cooking, mix together the vinegar, garlic, remaining 2 tablespoons mustard, red pepper flake, and salt and pepper in a medium size bowl. When the shallots are done add them to the dressing in the bowl.
It is now time to assemble the salad. Gently toss the dressing into the salad. Layer the potatoes, blue cheese, and bacon on the salad.

As part of entering this Stonewall Kitchen Mustard Contest I received a complimentary jar of mustard to use in creating a recipe.

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Mexicasian Tacos

January 31, 2011

A few weeks ago I came across a call for entries for an Alaskan Fish Taco contest using fish native to Alaskan waters to create new taco recipes. I love fish tacos so this was a no brainer. I just had to give it a try and enter.

I love fish tacos for their lightness and balance of flavor. I never feel too stuffed after having one. It probably has to do with the lack of heavy salsa and cheese. Either way, a fish taco is a perfect combination of fried or grilled fish and fresh vegetables that provide it with some bite. For example, most fish tacos I come across have some radish slices or some picked cabbage.

I decided to head in teh direction of an Asian themed taco. I felt that the light crisp flavors of summer rolls, or veggies stir fries would be similar to the picked vegetables that are often found in California based fish tacos. We always seem to have bok choy in the house ebcause it is a favorite for our rabbits. We cook it often in stir fries so I was familiar with the texture and flavor it would bring to the fish taco. Adding ginger to the bok choy would help it bring out more flavor and enhance the Asian flavor experience.

I used cod fish, a fish that was approved for the contest. This is light flavored fish that holds up well to light frying. It would work well with the taco because the texture would a nice contrast to the tortilla and softened bok choy.

Overall I think this is a successful Asian inspired taco because the flavors are distinctly Asian, the taco has texture, and the taco is flavorful from the sriracha, ginger, and cilantro. I knew it was a good taco recipe since Pricer, who is uneasy about fish, ate it and enjoyed it. Victory!

Mexicasian Tacos

Makes 8 fish tacos

Spicy Mayo Sauce

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce

Juice of half a lime

Stir fried Bok Choy

4 bulbs of baby bok choy

1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoons wok oil or canola oil

Fried fish

1/2 pound of cod

1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Flour

1 egg

Panko bread crumbs

Oil for frying

8 corn tortillas

1/4 cup Cilantro

2 limes

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Preheat oven to 200 and place tortillas on baking sheet to warm. Warm until desired temperature, flipping at least once to evenly warm.

To make the spicy mayo, combine the mayo, sriracha, and lime juice. Let chill until ready to serve.

Cut your 1/2 pound cod fillet into 8 even taco sized pieces. Combine the rice wine vinegar with the soy sauce to marinate the fish. Marinate for approx 15 minutes, much longer will result in a bitter tasting fish.

Prepare a breading station with individual bowls for flour, beaten egg, and panko bread crumbs.

While fish is marinating, slice the bok choy parallel to the bulb base, creating thin ribbons, and grate ginger. Over medium heat, heat wok oil in a skillet. Add both the bok choy and ginger to the hot oil. Stir fry for a few minutes until the boy chow is tender, remove from heat.

Over medium, heat oil in a large deep skillet. Coat each piece of fish with flour, then egg, then panko bread crumbs. Immediately place breaded fish into hot oil. Gently fry fish for 2-3 minutes on each side, careful not to burn the panko breadcrumbs. DO NOT overload the skillet, this will make flipping harder and reduce temperature of oil, effecting proper browning. Place cooked pieces of fish on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Assemble tacos with fish, boy chow, spicy mayo, a few cilantro leaves, and serve with a lime wedge.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

January 23, 2011

I recently went to a new farmer’s market, Somerville Winter Market, and I picked up a bottle of pure maple syrup from Vermont. I just needed something to do with it, besides pancakes and waffles. Luck would have it that I came across a contest that required maple syrup to be incorporated into the recipe.

I bugged Price endlessly about what I should make… something sweet? something savory? make a bread? cake? dinner entree? sandwich? what????? I feel I went a little safe with the oatmeal cookie but it just works so well. A little drizzle of maple syrup works perfectly over a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal. So I went with the “keep-it-simple-stupid” approach when I decided to make a cookie.

These cookies are soft, chewy and studded with crunchy walnuts. The maple flavor is pronounced without being ‘Hey I’m a Maple Cookie!’. The taste reminds me of fall days. It is the perfect kind of cookie to enjoy with a glass of milk or cup of tea.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

yields 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teapoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pure maple syrup
4 cups quick cooking coats
1 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Process

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at at time, until combined. Add vanilla extract and maple syrup to butter mixture.
Mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Once the flour is incorporated, add the walnuts and oats and gently mix until combined.
Spoon 1 1/2 inch rounds on to baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes prior to removing from sheet (otherwise they will crumble), let cool on a rack.

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