It’s no secret how much I love ice cream, but I haven’t really tried to make much at home. With the beautiful weather we have been having, I figured it was time to try! I happened to have some shelled pistachios on hand, so why not make some Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream?
Pistachio ice cream is one of my absolute favorite flavors, and I had no clue how easy it was to make my own homemade version!
Note: I was sent samples of Spero Sunflower Cheese Products in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
It’s the time of year where having a few party appetizer recipes on hand can be very helpful, especially ones that you can create quickly and travels well, if needed.
I prefer to have some recipes that can fit different dietary needs, including an appetizer or two for dairy-free or vegan friends and family.
This recipe for Vegan Cranberry Goat Cheese Pistachio Truffles is made with Spero Alternative Goat Cheese. Spero, a plant-based company that offers sustainable and affordable cheese and egg alternatives, such as Spero’s Sunflower Cheese products. Spero has a bunch of yummy flavors of their cheese spreads, including The Goat, which is a smooth and tangy taste very similar to goat cheese.
Plus, this recipe is super simple and has just four ingredients!
One of my favorite things about having a blog is the opportunity to try new recipes and learn new cooking methods. I have never made Panna Cotta before, but it seems to be a relatively simple dessert to make.
Panna Cotta, which means “cooked cream” in Italian, is an Italian dessert traditionally made with sweetened cream and gelatin. Because of the gelatin, it maintains the shape of whatever vessel it is in.
It would have probably made sense to try to make a class panna cotta first, but my husband and I love all things pistachio, so I decided to try to make a Pistachio Panna Cotta as a treat for us!
Note: I was sent affiliate boxes from Sitka Salmon Share in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I’m back with another post using my Sitka Salmon Share! This recipe for Pan Seared Lingcod with Wilted Spinach uses Lingcod, which is a lean white fish native to the North America west coast. It has a mild flavor similar to halibut or cod so it’s very versatile.
I adapted this recipe from one on Sitka Salmon Share’s recipe website. The original recipe served this over mashed potatoes, but I went with a cauliflower puree instead. (To read more about Sitka Salmon Shares and get a promo code for a premium share, check out my other post.)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
5 ounces spinach leaves
salt and pepper, to taste
2 (6 to 8 oz) pieces lingcod
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped roasted pistachios
1 lemon, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
Philly a is a food town. I joke that when people come to visit, all I want to do is show off our restaurants and bars (although our museums, parks, and history are not too shabby either.) I love all of the different food events that happen in Philly as well – festivals, “weeks,” and of course, competitions. The region’s largest food competition is nearly here – the Philly Burger Brawl.
Philly Burger Brawl, now in it’s 9th year, is switching things up a bit this year with a new date in the fall and an all new, even larger, location at the Navy Yard. This year, over 60 Philadelphia region restaurants will fire up the grills and battle for Burger Brawl presented by Jim Beam. The grills come out and the gloves come off on Sunday, September 15, 2019, with VIP gates opening at 1:00pm and general admission opening at 2:00pm. Attendees are invited to enjoy all-you-can-eat samples of the very best burger in Philadelphia and then vote for their favorite. Food critics, writers and celebrity judges will also name one winning burger, “Judge’s Choice.”
source: phillyburgerbrawl.com
Tickets are on sale now at phillyburgerbrawl.com for $45 for advance general admission (or $50 at the door) which includes samples and one free cocktail. VIP tickets are also on sale for $100 with perks like early entry, a VIP lounge and unlimited drinks. Children under 10 are free, no ticket required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Twenty-one with identification to drink. Parking is free. Event is rain or shine.
source: phillyburgerbrawl.com
This event is one of my favorites because of its philanthropic side – all proceeds go to The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia to support hardware needs to implement math and reading literacy programs in underserved elementary schools. Specifically, event proceeds support hardware needs to implement math and reading literacy programs in underserved elementary schools. Past proceeds have helped fund the purchase of Chromebooks and associated equipment in many Philadelphia Schools. The hardware has enabled schools to implement curriculum plans where the hardware requirements were otherwise unfunded.
Here’s a list of all attendees:
Bainbridge Street Barrel House
Barbuzzo
Bernie’s University City
Black Cat Tavern
Brick & Brew
Brickwall Tavern
BurgerFi
Chic-a-delphia
Craftsman Row
Culture on the Circle
Del Frisco’s Steak House
Elevation Burger
Flannel
Frankie and Jimmy D’s
Greenhouse, New Hope
Hanks Place
Hard Rock Café
Harper’s Garden
Hip City Veg & Bombon Bar
JT Brewskis Pub
Lucky’s Last Chance
m2o Burger
Milk Boy
Misconduct Tavern
Moonshine Philly
New Wave Cafe
Outlaw’s Burger Barn & Creamery
Pineville Tavern
PJ Clarke’s
Profeta Farms
Prohibition Tap Room
Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft
Rouge
Sabrina’s Cafe
Second District Brewing
Shrimpy’s BBQ
Steam Pub
Stove and Tap
Taproom on 19th
The Bercy
The Common
The Red Owl Tavern
Three Monkey’s Café
Tradesman PHL
Tredici Enoteca
Twenty Manning
Twisted Tail
Village Whiskey
Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro
Yards Brewing Company
So how did the Philly Burger Brawl come to be? In 2011, Maggie and Rob Wasserman created a culinary competition on the playground of The William M Meredith Elementary School. They invited several of their restauranteur friends to duke-it-out with their best burger – The Philadelphia Burger Brawl was born! The Burger Brawl team partnered with The Fund for the Philadelphia School District to provide financial management and direction. Together they engaged leadership in the Philadelphia School District to help identify literacy programs that required funds to be launched. Since 2011, the Philadelphia Burger Brawl has raised over $283,000.00 (and counting!) to fuel much-needed programs.
source: phillyburgerbrawl.com
To highlight the event, I wanted to share a take on my personal vote for best burger in Philly. My favorite burger I’ve ever had in Philly was about two years ago. Yes. It was that good that I still think about this burger ALL the time. One of my favorite bars, Watkins Drinkery, has a rotating seasonal menu that always includes awesome burgers (and other food. Seriously, their menu rocks). But their Fall 2017 menu had the BEST burger – “signature beef blend, shaved pumpkin, whipped bleu, pistachio, brioche.” So this little burger is my ode to that fantastic-ly awesome burger.
Ingredients:
1/2 sugar pumpkin or squash of your choice (I used 1/2 Kabocha Squash, a couple of Delicata Squash would be great too)
4 oz whipped cream cheese
4 oz blue cheese
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used a blend of 80% lean and Wagyu ground beef)
I haven’t the faintest idea who decided to put zucchini into bread (and the internet really wasn’t much help), but I’m happy they did. At first blush, it seems like an odd choice. But the zucchini in the batter makes for a wonderfully moist bread!
Zucchini is one of my favorite summer produce items, and we have been experiencing some truly lovely summer-like weather in Philadelphia. So, even though zucchini season is a month or so away (July through September), I couldn’t resist buying a bunch of zucchini recently. When I realized over the weekend that I had yet to use them, zucchini bread immediately popped into my mind!
This Cranberry Pistachio Zucchini Bread uses one of my favorite flavor combinations – pistachio and cranberry – but is really versatile. Feel free to experiment with different nuts and dried fruits, or omit them altogether.
Ingredients:
cooking spray
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly grated zucchini (~1-2 zucchini)
Because I usually have a recipe in mind when I go food shopping, it’s pretty rare that I come home with a rogue ingredient. But recently, while picking up ground beef and sausage for my Meatballs and Tomato Sauce at Primal Supply, I noticed that they had ground lamb, and felt compelled to buy it.
I didn’t exactly have a goal for the ground lamb, but decided to work with ingredients that I know work well with the flavors of lamb: cumin, saffron, mint, and cinnamon.
The result was Spiced Lamb with Saffron Couscous: saffron couscous, topped with flavorful ground lamb, pistachios, feta, dried apricots, and fresh mint!
Ingredients:
Couscous:
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed between your fingers
This past Sunday was crum-my. It rained ALL day. So I was in comfort food mode. Along with making another batch of Lemony Red Lentil Soup, I decided to make a rice pudding recipe in my slow cooker, heavily inspired by Phyllis Good’s Stock the Crock recipe for Coconut Rice Pudding.
My version for Slow Cooker Coconut Rice Pudding uses a different flavor profile, so be sure to check out the original in the cookbook as well as the below. (I made another recipe from this awesome cookbook as well. Go check my post on Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala here.)
Rice Pudding is found in different forms around the world. It is eaten as a breakfast, dessert, or sometimes even dinner. Many countries have a version of rice pudding that is traditionally served for Christmas.
My version adds some of my favorite flavors to one yummy dish: coconut, rose water, cranberries, and pistachios.
I almost always have pistachios in my house, they are a favorite of my husband and me. We both love them on their own, as a garnish, or incorporated into different recipes.
The flavor of pistachios is buttery and sweet, so they work really well in a number of different recipes. They are great in savory recipes sprinkled on top of a meal, or added to baked goods.
October is National Cookie Month, so what better time to try out a new cookie recipe?
This Pistachio Sugar Cookies recipe incorporates one of my favorite nuts into a chewy sugar cookie.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shelled pistachios, divided
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Note: I was sent a box of various Bob’s Red Mill products to make the below recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
I love pistachios. So when my friend and I were determining what freezer-friendly recipes to make for a cooking marathon last weekend, I immediately suggested we make pistachio muffins.
Luckily, my friend was willing to make a batch with me!
Note: This post is sponsored by Moyer Beef. All opinions are mine alone.
It’s definitely still summer weather for the most part, but this past week, we’ve had a bit of a cool down in Philly. Which got me thinking about more fall inspired dishes.
Hashweh, or rice stuffing, is a wonderfully flavorful ground meat and rice dish that is perfect for fall weather (or honestly, any weather, it’s really tasty!)
The dish originates in the Middle East and is typically made with lamb or beef seasoned with spices including allspice and cinnamon, served with rice.
Most recipes also include toasted pine nuts with some also having a sweet dried fruit.
This dish is a nice comfort food option that comes together in roughly 30 minutes. The spice profile makes it really crave worthy!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups white rice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups chicken broth
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 whole cloves
2 whole cardamom pods, smashed
1 lb ground beef (I used Moyer Beef’s 81% lean ground beef chuck)
If I was forced to eat one food for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t be terribly upset if it was salmon. That probably isn’t much of a surprise to those that follow this blog, I have almost 40 Salmon Recipes on here! So, I might as well add another one to the list, this recipe for Pistachio Crusted Salmon with Roasted Mustard Potatoes!
For whatever reason, I had a hankering for pistachios recently, so I figured I might as well crust my favorite protein in a pistachio-panko mixture, how bad could it be? Not bad. Not bad at all. In fact, delicious!
I made this salmon with some baby potatoes roasted in a stone ground mustard, so I added the mustard to the salmon as well to keep the flavors consistent. Since I whipped this up the first time, I’ve already made it twice more!
Ingredients:
For the potatoes:
1.5 lbs baby potatoes (I used a baby potato “medley”), halved
I was intrigued; I’ve never thought to use beets as a sauce for pasta!
What’s great about this recipe for Gemelli with Brown Butter Beet Sauce and Herbed Citrus Ricotta is that it doesn’t take that much time to make! Beets are typically roasted for 45ish minutes in the oven, but this recipe grates the beets before sauteing to cut down on their cooking time.
I changed the method a bit but the general idea is still there. The result is a beautiful brightly colored pasta with great flavor. It reheats wonderfully as well!
Ingredients:
3 beets, peeled and finely grated in a food processor
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest, more to taste, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 16 oz box gemelli (or other pasta of your choice)
I still had some plain yogurt leftover from making a batch of Mango Lassi over the weekend. I wanted to try to make my own combination and realized I still had rose water on hand. I love love rose water, which is a common ingredient in this sweet yogurt drink. I also picked up some ground cardamom when I was picking up all of the Indian spices. Cardamom is used to flavor a lot of desserts so I thought it would work great in the lassi as well. So I ended up with a Rose Water Cardamom Lassi!
Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon rose water
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons coconut milk
Ice cubes
1 tablespoon pistachios, chopped
Add all ingredients except the ice cubes and pistachios to a blender. Puree until well combined.
Pour into a glass over ice. Top with chopped pistachios.
Um. Yum.
The rosewater is oh so nice in this drink.
The pistachios add a nice crunch to the drink which I really liked.
Lassi is supposed to be super sweet, but if you’re sensitive to sweetness, you can limit the amount of sugar, or you can substitute vanilla yogurt for the plain yogurt and omit the sugar entirely.
I love how easy these are to whip up!
Lassi is traditionally served with lunch, but I honestly love it as a dessert drink.
