Month: April 2013

Mother’s Day Gift Idea: Homemade Body Scrubs

So this is kind of a random blog post for me, but I have been experimenting with homemade body scrubs as a Mother’s Day present for my mom and I thought I’d share them so that others can make them at home too! They are super simple, plus they are made mostly from ingredients you can find in your pantry!

Homemade Body Scrubs

To snazz them up for gift giving, use some ribbons or tissue paper. Be sure to add labels so that the recipient knows what’s inside!

I’d suggest using organic ingredients when you can, just to keep mind of potential adverse reactions. I found organic sugar, olive oil, and coconut oil at Essene in Queen Village (Philadelphia) but I’m sure Whole Foods has a selection as well.

These body scrubs are completely customizable. You just need an ingredient that works as an exfoliant (sugar, salt, coffee grounds, oatmeal, etc.) and then an oil to moisturize (olive, almond, coconut, walnut, etc. — these are sometimes referred to as “carrier oils”) To make them smell amazing, add a little bit of essential oils, which can be found at specialty shops or online. A favorite local store of mine is Herbiary. You can even add food coloring if you’d like the color to pop. Here are a few of the ones I made this week to give you some inspiration:

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Steak Tacos with Lime Mayo

I had corn tortillas left over from making the Fish Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce. I needed another taco recipe that was completely different flavor-wise than the fish tacos, so I went for Cooking Light’s Steak Tacos with Lime Mayo in the May issue. (Note: the May issue has a ton of taco recipes, even a dessert one!)

Ingredients:

  • 20 baby sweet peppers
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed
  • 3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
  • the zest and juice of 1 lime
  • 2 garlic cloves, mined
  • 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 1/2 cup refrigerated fresh salsa
  • 2 ounces queso fresco, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)

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Fish Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce

I’m having a busy week at work, so I need some quick meals that still taste delicious but I can make in no time. My go-to for quick meals are Cooking Light’s tacos. I don’t know how they do it, but their taco recipes are awesome. Here’s one of their newest, from this month’s issue.

Ingredients:

  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
  • 1/2 medium jalapeno pepper
  • 1/2 cup cilantro stems
  • 3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 2 cups very thinly sliced red cabbage
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Cooking spray
  • 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

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Watermelon Feta Salad

East Passyunk Avenue is hosting “Flavors of the Avenue” this Saturday, an event where 25 restaurants will be handing out samples from their menus. I was given the opportunity to go to a media tasting for this event a few weeks back and have been unable to think about anything else since! I am SO excited for this event!

I must not be alone, pre-sale tickets are completely sold out, although some limited tickets will be available at the entrance to the tent on Saturday. During the media tasting, I was able to sample food from 7 of the participating restaurants.

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Pretzel-Crusted “Fried” Chicken

Did you know that April 26 is National Pretzel Day? In celebration, Quirk Books is having a few bloggers post pretzel recipes this week on their blog. And today is my post! So if I’ve peaked your interest with the title of this post (Pretzel-Crusted “Fried” Chicken), head on over to their website to check it out!

 

Don’t forget to check out the other delicious posts featured as well!

 

Fizzy Old-Fashioned

Last weekend, I had some friends over to celebrate my boyfriend’s birthday. I made a bunch of little bites for everyone to snack on, but I also wanted to offer a cocktail or two for everyone to try, like this Fizzy Old-Fashioned!

The most recent Cooking Light had this recipe for a Fizzy Old-Fashioned cocktail that sounded like a perfect warm weather drink. The recipe plays off a traditional Old Fashioned (muddled sugar and bitters, bourbon, orange rind) but adds in Blood Orange Soda to give it more flavor and a beautiful color!

Ingredients (4 servings):

  • 3/4 cup bourbon
  • The juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon Peach bitters (or whatever bitters you have)
  • 2 cups chilled blood orange soda (such as San Pellegrino Aranciata Rossa)
  • Ice
  • Garnish: orange rind twists

Note: Bourbon does include grains that contain gluten. However, distilled alcohol is considered gluten-free because the process of distillation removes the harmful gluten protein, which is why I have this recipe listed as gluten free. If you are highly sensitive to gluten, bourbon may be off limits for you.

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Rhuby-Lavender Lemonade

This weekend, we had two beautiful spring days: a little bit of chill in the air but sunshine and clear skies. To celebrate the return of outdoor weather, I wanted to make a lemonade. I found this Martha Stewart recipe for Lavender Lemonade and kicked it up a notch by adding in some Rhubarb Tea, a spirit made here in Philadelphia by the people at Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (the same makers of Sage, Root, and Snap).

Rhubarb Tea, or Rhuby, is made from rhubarb, beets, carrots, lemon, petitgrain (an essential oil extracted from the green twigs of a bitter orange plant), cardamom, pink peppercorns, coriander, vanilla, and pure cane sugar and delivers a tangy yet sweet flavor, perfect for this drink! Even better, the ingredients are all certified organic.

Ingredients (this recipe makes 4 drinks):

  • 4 lemons
  • 1/2 cup dried lavender
  • 1/2 cup raw honey
  • 6 oz Rhubarb tea

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Badenjan Chalow

This month, Pomi asked that I try to create a recipe using one of their tomatoes paired with eggplant. I have been craving my favorite Afghan meal from a restaurant in Philadelphia called Ariana so my mind went immediately to trying to replicate it. The meal, Badenjan Chalow, is a lamb dish with eggplant, cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and spices served over basmati rice.

Pomi’s strained tomatoes are perfect for this recipe. Although I’d love to put this in a slow cooker and let it cook all day, I wanted to make this weeknight meal friendly.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cooked basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 eggplant, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
  • 1 lb lamb chunks
  • 1 container Pomi strained tomatoes

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Vegetable Couscous Salad

The weather in Philadelphia decided to take a break from the cold and give us two days of summer! We hit temperatures above 80 degrees so I wanted to prepare a light meal that didn’t involve much time over a stove. This Vegetable Couscous Salad from Cooking Light is perfect for summer dinners. It also travels well, so it would be a great addition to a barbecue, just make it ahead of time and bring it with you!

Ingredients:

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 (.6 ounce envelope Italian dressing mix) or Italian spice blend

Salad:

  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 cup uncooked couscous
  • 2 cups chopped red bell pepper (I used two peppers)
  • 2 cups chopped tomato (I used two beefsteak tomatoes)
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
  • 1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

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Peeps S’mores

Anyone else still have a house full of Peeps following Easter? Those poor little marshmallow leftovers are past even their somewhat stale crunchy stage and are just kind of hanging around at this point. So I decided it was about time to put them to good use. Peeps S’mores time!

Ever since I made the S’mores Milkshakes, I have had S’mores on my mind. So what better way to utilize a house full of sugar coated marshmallows than by making a batch of festive after-Easter Peeps S’mores?

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

  • 2 graham crackers, halved
  • 1 chocolate candy bar, halved (milk or dark, I prefer dark)
  • 2 Peeps

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Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken

Certain foods just seem to be ingrained in what we thing about certain cities, countries or regions. The South is known for its barbecue (which is different state to state), Italy is known for its pasta, Philadelphia is known for its cheesesteaks… you get the idea. I was recently sent a cookbook that plays off of this idea of a region’s traditional foods: The Yankee Chef: Feel Good Food for Every Kitchen by Jim Bailey. The cookbook is filled with traditional New England fare, from pot roasts to chowder, but also gives a “Yankee” spin to other foods, such as Lobster Fried Rice.

Jim, the Yankee Chef himself (or, more appropriately, third generation Yankee Chef) fills the pages of the cookbook with background stories, tips, and a bit of humor, which had me reading the cookbook page by page. Not to mention, the photos are breathtaking! I wish my photos looked like the ones found on these pages.

I wanted to test out one of his recipes so I went for the Plum Sweet and Spicy Chicken because I don’t think I’ve ever made anything like it, and it sounds fantastic! I altered the recipe so that I didn’t have to cook a whole chicken and added some fresh seared plums to top it off. I also made a quick homemade chutney that I thought would highlight the plums in the dish.

Ingredients:

Chutney:

  • 2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, divided
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 strip of orange peel
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1 tablespoon golden raisins
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1/2 each lemon and orange, sliced
  • the juice of the other 1/2 of the lemon and the orange
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Chicken:

  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 chicken breast and 1 leg (multiply as needed)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/2 cup plum preserves
  • 1/4 cup cranberry-citrus chutney (recipe below)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
  • 1 plum, sliced

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“Jim Dandy on the Cape” Cocktail

Philadelphia is a food lovers dream. The city is filled with amazing restaurants around every corner. I love living here because no matter where I go to eat, I am inspired by what the restaurants are able to deliver. I do my best to emulate my favorite dishes and drinks throughout the city, with a bit of a twist.

I recently attended a new menu launch event at Serrano. An Old City staple, Serrano has been open for over 25 years. I’ve only eaten here once before, before attending a show at Tin Angel upstairs, so I was excited to revisit the restaurant. Serrano is a cozy restaurant that’s warm atmosphere feels like miles away from the busy Old City streets.

from Serrano’s website

Chef Gina Rodriguez has compiled a truly delicious spring seasonal menu. The restaurant was also debuting two new cocktails, The 6th Thyme and Jim Dandy in the Everglades. The 6th Thyme is made with in house made mead (made with locally sourced honey), Aperol, thyme, and white cranberry juice. The drink was garnished with a sprig of thyme, a perfect spring drink. Jim Dandy in the Everglades, made with orange vodka, peach bitters, and Proscecco was refreshing and right up my alley.

The 6th Time (Left) and Jim Dandy in the Everglades (Right)

I decided to do my own spin on the Jim Dandy in the Everglades to go along with my review of Chef Rodriguez’s menu. My recipe uses a homemade cranberry-orange vodka but keeps the rest of the drink true to form. (The addition of the cranberry is why my drink references the Cape instead of the Everglades).

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