Archive for August, 2009
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
I was inspired to create this recipe for a Fresh Peach Cooking Contest conducted by The Fruit Bowl – a local and very famous produce market in Stockton, California.
Follow these 5 simple steps for Fresh Peach Chutney
1. Saute 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion in 1/4 cup olive oil over low heat.
(Maui or Vidalia are sweeter than plain yellow or white ones!)
2. Add 1 pound peaches that have been rinsed and chopped into medium pieces.
3. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, a pinch of crushed rosemary and a pinch of sugar.
4. Cook over low to medium heat stirring occasionally.
5. After 20 minutes add 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon Marsala wine.
Cook for 5 more minutes or until the liquid has evaporated. Garnish with 1 tablespoon pine nuts.
Serve as a topping to cooked meat, fish or chicken or on a cracker with cheese.
For a unique mixture, combine equal parts of Fresh Tomato Sauce (see Claudia’s blog from Aug. 14 2009) with the Fresh Peach Chutney. You will agree it’s sublime!
Let your imagination guide your cooking adventure - Cook, Eat, Laugh. Claudia
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Simple Italian Family Recipes Everyone Can Make
Rima Barkett & Claudia Pruett
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Power of Dinner – No Excuses
In the past 20 years family dinners have declined 33 percent and family vacations have decreased 28 percent. As parents are working longer hours and kids’ schedules are bursting at the seams, there is a decline in ordinary family togetherness. Rima Barkett and Claudia Pruett, authors of the new cookbook, Cooking Dinner (Mega Productions, September 2009) concur with the CASA Institute (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) that family meals are an essential ingredient in raising healthy children, and that even the busiest families can learn how to cook and enjoy a great meal together – beginning today.
In response to the social and health problems resulting from families missing the intimacy of cooking and eating together, Barkett and Pruett were compelled by their experiences as instructors, chefs, restaurateurs and mothers to create a cookbook that would help families learn to cook simple, delicious, and healthy meals. Their labor of love evolved into an inspired cookbook, graced with stunning full-color photographs which showcase the authors Italian backgrounds and fresh, natural ingredients.
Their five simple steps presented as a cornerstone of the book, are specially designed to protect family well-being. More than a simple collection of recipes, Cooking Dinner represents the age-old Italian tradition of spending quality time together with food as the focus.
An interactive cookbook with a companion website (http://www.atavolatogether.com) Cooking Dinner includes weekly menus, tear-out shopping lists, and numerous kitchen secrets. “Helping Hands” sidebars offer hands-on suggestions for getting young children involved. The simple recipes are designed to build confidence in hesitant cooks, while the meal planning strategies and delicious flavors will entice the most experienced ones.
Through their A Tavola Together Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes healthy cooking and eating to school age-children, Barkett and Pruett teach cooking to students through their program Kids Can Cook 2. Based in Stockton, California, A Tavola Together has worked in classrooms and community youth associations, incorporating life skills as they teach basic cooking techniques.
According to Dina Eastwood, “In these busy times, when it’s easy to forget tradition, Cooking Dinner reserves us all a prime seat at the ever-important family dinner table. This book celebrates two of my favorite things: family and food. These recipes will create lasting memories for all of us.”
Cooking Dinner: Simple Italian Family Recipes Everyone Can Make is a “must-own” cookbook for moms, dads and kids who cherish family time.
# # #
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
RIMA BARKETT and CLAUDIA PRUETT are busy moms and professional women who love to cook. Both were introduced to the love of cooking and entertaining by their mothers and grandmothers. They refined their skills through teaching, catering, owning and operating a restaurant, Café Luna Spaghetteria in Stockton, CA. They have prepared over 12,000 meals for family, friends and celebrities. Their passion is cooking and teaching basic life skills to children through A Tavola Together Foundation, helping them know the joy of cooking and making nutritious food choices. For more information, visit them at: www.ATavolaTogether.com
Cooking Dinner: Simple Italian Family Recipes Everyone Can Make
By Rima Barkett and Claudia Pruett
Mega Productions
September 2009 · 264 pages · $34.95 · hardcover
ISBN 978-1-59700-778-8
Distributed by Publishers Group West
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Today I made a fresh tomato sauce with red ripe tomatoes picked fresh from the garden.
This sauce is so easy and versatile.
Follow these 5 simple steps for Fresh Tomato Sauce:
1. Saute 1/2 cup chopped onion in 1/2 cup olive oil over low heat.
(If you have sweet onions like Maui or Vidalia - that’s even better!)
2. Add 2 cloves of garlic and saute for 2 more minutes.
3. Add 6 tomatoes that have been chopped into medium pieces.
4. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
5. Cook over low to medium heat stirring occasionally.
After 30 minutes the sauce is ready! After 45 minutes the sauce is even better!!
What’s so great about this sauce, besides its great flavor, is its versatility. At the 30 minute mark it makes a perfect pasta sauce – especially if you finish cooking the pasta in the sauce – like they do in Italy. (see page 130 of our cookbook Cooking Dinner for the technique) At 45 minutes the sauce is thicker and quickly becomes a tasty spread on your favorite bread, a delicious topping on scrambled eggs or a flavorful addition when stirred into cooked rice. Let your imagination guide your cooking adventure - Cook, Eat, Laugh. Claudia
