Originally this blog inspired me to start cooking and allowed me to be more daring with different styles of cooking.  It has continued to inspire me to become a more creative cook and to live a healthier life through food choices and it constantly motivates me to cook at home instead of taking the easy way out!  My fiance and I are trying to lead a low carb lifestyle… we eat very very low carb from Monday to Thursday and then we allow ourselves to eat anything we want on the weekends.  At first it was a really hard lifestyle to maintain because we still craved grains all of the time.  We discovered something called Miracle Noodles made from Shirataki root – and they are actually no carb, no calorie, no soy, no gluten!  I was skeptical at first… but we tried the Angel Hair and Fettuccini style noodles and were very impressed.  Now I’m on a Miracle “Rice” (really more like Israeli couscous) kick and tonight’s dinner inspired me to start blogging again.  I wasn’t sure you guys would want to read about low carb meals… but the more I found myself disappointed with my own Google searches for low carb/no grain inspiration that didn’t sound like Atkins propaganda and grease heavy – the more I realized that I should blog about what I’ve been up to in the kitchen.

Tonight’s recipe is for Miracle Mediterranean Beef Couscous.   What you’ll need:

• 1 lb 85/15 ground beef (or ground lamb if you prefer)
• 2 packages of Miracle Rice
• Handful of grape tomatoes
• 1/2 block of frozen chopped spinach
• 2 tablespoons of Goat Cheese
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of Better than Bouillon Lobster Base
• Lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon Cayenne pepper (I like it spicy – tone down if that’s too much for you!)
• 1 tablespoon Mediterranean Spice Mix (Paprika, Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme) – store bought or your own mix
• Dash of Ground Sage
• Dash of Salt
• Handful of walnuts

1. Cut open the two packs of Miracle Rice, empty into a strainer and run under the faucet for a minute.
2. Shake strainer and transfer Miracle Rice to a dry frying pan.
3. In a medium saucepan, turn the heat up to medium high.  Add a smashed clove of garlic (garlic press works the best) and add the ground beef.
4. Break apart the ground beef with a wooden spoon and mix in your spices, combining well.
5. Keep an eye on the Miracle Rice as the water evaporates, and when the water seems to be gone, add 1 tablespoon of Lobster Base and stir well.
6. Once the ground beef is browned, carefully pour out the grease at the bottom of the pan, and return the pan to medium/medium low heat.
7. Throw in your handful of grape tomatoes and the frozen chopped spinach and let simmer until the tomatoes begin to pop.
8. Using a spatula add the Miracle Rice to the saucepan and combine well.
9. Add two heaping tablespoons of goat cheese and stir until it’s all creamy and combined.
10. Serve with a sprinkling of walnuts on the top.

Life update: I’m blogging to you from my new kitchen in Boston!  To be fair – I moved to Boston around 6 months ago… and I’ve been so caught up in life and work that I haven’t even considered anything I’ve made to even be “Gourmet Analyst worthy!”  Lame I know… but unfortunately true.  Today is September 19th and I’ve already been to one Oktoberfest, drank hot apple cider and eaten butternut squash ravioli (more to come on that in a future post).  What I’m trying to get at is… Autumn is here and it’s my FAVORITE!  I’m so excited in fact, that for the first time in a long time, I was inspired to create in the kitchen… and I kind of missed you guys. 

Ladies and Gentlemen – I give you … Autumn Butternut Squash & Apple Soup!

• 1 Medium sized butternut squash – the most sexually explicit vegetable out there
• 2 large apples – I used juicy Fujis
• 3oz (a small chunk) of sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 small medallion/large scoop (2oz-ish) of goat cheese
• 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
• drizzle of EVOO
• 1.5 oz dark Rum
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbs  brown sugar
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 2 pinches salt (or to taste)
• dash of pepper
• 2 pinches nutmeg

1. Heat up the oven to 375F
2. Dice your butternut squash into 2 inch cubes.  I used the advice on The Kitchn’s Home Hacks “How to Cut a Butternut Squash”  Seriously it’s good advice and it might save you a finger… or at least 20 minutes of your life. 
3. Dice your apples into 1 inch cubes – you can leave the skin on if you want
4. Cover a baking pan with tin foil, or use pyrex and toss your cubed squash and apples in the pan
5. Drizzle the cubed fruits and veggies with a bit of EVOO and sprinkle with your 1tbs of brown sugar
6. Let roast in the oven until you can easily stab one of the squash cubes with a fork all the way through (this should take around 40 minutes)
7. Remove from the oven and transfer your squash and apples to a food processor add the low sodium chicken broth bit by bit as you pulse the mixture until smooth
8. Transfer your smooth mixture to a medium sized saucepan and add milk and rum, keeping heat at medium low.
9. Chop up the cheddar cheese into small bits and add into the soup with the goat cheese, stirring occassionally until melted, combined and sexy
10. Add in pinch of garlic powder, 2 pinches of nutmeg and a dash of pepper
11. Taste test and add salt until you reach desired flavor
12. Curl up next to a fireplace and enjoy – and then go run through some crunchy orange leaves with beautiful leather boots…

It’s a super flexible dish so feel free to add whatever vegetables you want to it.  I would have included red and orange peppers for flavor, color and overall sexiness – if there weren’t only shriveled, sad excuse for peppers at $3.99 each in Publix that week.

• 1/2 box penne rigate
• 3 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 half of frozen spinach, de-thawed or  two big handfuls of roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower florets, bite sized
• 1/2 tbs cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin

• Empty can of coconut milk into large skillet on medium-high heat and add the red Thai curry paste, gently stirring with wooden spoon until paste has dissolved.
• Add in cayenne pepper, coriander, garam masala, paprika and cumin and stir well.  Taste as you go, or use smaller amounts of the spices if you are looking for a more mild sauce – but remember that half of the heat is already in the curry paste.
• Now that all of the spices are in, add in your chopped cauliflower florets and spinach.  Turn skillet to medium-low heat and let simmer, stirring often, until the stem of florets are easily pierced with a fork and the spinach has wilted but is still bright green.
• At this point the coconut milk should have reduced by around half and taken on a creamier texture.
• Toss in 1/2 box of penne rigate cooked al dente until completely combined.

This vegetarian dish is perfect to warm you up on a cold day.  If you’re looking for more protein, feel free to add in grilled chicken or shrimp.

Mister Ganache also sells whole truffles in jars, Marky’s Caviar, a variety of European and South American chocolates, imported teas, beautiful gift baskets, and a lot of other colorful & crinkly packages that you know you don’t need, but want to swipe for either way!  I wasn’t there for packaged chocolate that night – I went straight for the glass case of beautifully designed Eric Girerd haute couture chocolates!!  Gilles offers different size boxes of chocolates and I chose a box of 4.  The hard part was choosing only 4!  Finally decided on Sensual, a dark chocolate and rasberry chocolate(because I can’t say no to my favorite fruit), a coconut truffle, a wasabi infused chocolate, and a lovely [Veuve Cliquot]champagne truffle (side note – if you haven’t already – all professional women should read Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense and Sensibility -by Mireille Guiliano, former CEO of Veuve Cliquot – she is an absolute inspiration)!

The raspberry chocolate was a lovely balance of bold dark chocolate and rich raspberry sexiness, but to be fair, there aren’t many things involving chocolate and raspberry that I don’t fall in love with instantly.  The wasabi infused chocolate didn’t have the massive wasabi kick in the cheek that I think I was expecting, but still an interesting blend of spice and sweet.  The coconut truffle was delicious and the champagne truffle was so light that it danced on my tongue while the ganache slowly melted!  Alright – I’m obviously lying about the slowly part… they were so good that I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy!

 All around awesome visit to Mister Ganache – they have locations in Paris and NYC as well – definitely plan a visit soon!

• 1/2 pound of fresh (cleaned) calamari tubes
• 4 oz. jar of quartered marinated artichokes
• 2 large tomatoes
• 3 cloves of garlic
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• EVOO
• 1 whole large lemon
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Salt
• Pepper

• Strain the artichokes (reserving the liquid) and chop them up into bite sized pieces along with the tomatoes.  Set aside.
• Rinse calamari tubes, and with a very sharp knife slice into narrow rings around .5cm wide.  Mix calamari rings in a bowl with one minced garlic clove and a pinch or two of both the salt and the pepper and set aside as well.
• Drizzle the bottom of a medium sized pan with EVOO and set on medium high heat.  Add 2 cloves of minced garlic to EVOO and cook until it begins to brown.
• Toss tomatoes and artichokes into pan with the 1/2 cup of reserved artichoke marinade and cook for two minutes or so.
• Add calamari rings and a splash of balsamic vinegar to the pan and stir 2-3 minutes as the rings pop and cook through.  Be careful not to overcook the squid – it will get too tough very quickly.  Taste test when you think it’s done… but as a general rule with calamari – if you think it might be done… it is.
• With a slotted spoon scoop out the tomatoes, artichokes and calamari and transfer to a bowl.  Add 1/2 cup of feta cheese and the juice of one lemon and toss well.

This recipe will serve 3-4, as a side.  Feel free to change the recipe to accommodate more for a cocktail party.  Also tastes great cold!

I have a mouth watering blog post all ready for you guys – but first I wanted to take a moment to share with you something I’m really excited about!  A good friend of mine from college, Dan Schawbel runs, among other things, Personal Branding Blog.  He approached me with the opportunity to interview celebrity chef, Guy Fieri – and as a hardcore foodie … I couldn’t say no!

I asked him a load of questions about everything from being a crazy TV personality to his new knife product launch and his personal brand!  To read the whole interview go to Personal Branding Mag and sign up for a subscription to his magazine, or to try before you buy – go here for a free trial issue and read my interview there!

Here’s a quick sample of what we chatted about… for more – go to the links above!

How could an entrepreneurial foodie or blogger follow in your footsteps to become a household name?

Have an idea of what you are and who you are in food. You have to start somewhere, find out where that is. Experience definitely helps. You have to remember you’re dealing with smart people who know how to cook and what they like. Even if they don’t know how to cook they know what they like. You have to have awareness of what you’re doing in food, and you have to surround yourself with it. Put yourself in every single market you can. Talk to everyone you can about it. Take every business card you can get. The opportunities in food today are greater than ever before. So, experience, contacts, surrounding yourself in food, applying it, sticking to it and knowing your CPOV. Your Culinary Point of View—what is it?

• Two thin chicken cutlets
• Handful of cashew halves
• Two cloves of garlic, minced
• One red pepper
• One yellow pepper
• Low sodium soy sauce
• Stir fry sauce
• White wine
• 2 tbs butter
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• Fresh ground pepper
• Lime juice

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Pepper the two chicken cutlets and set onto a baking sheet covered in tin foil.
• Cut up your peppers into narrow strips, making sure to remove all seeds.
• In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and cook the minced garlic until it becomes aromatic.
• Add in the pepper strips and the cashews and let simmer until the peppers soften.
• Add a dash of cayenne pepper to the peppers… being careful to make sure that the steam doesn’t get in your eyes… ouch.
• At this point, add a splash of soy sauce and around 2 tbs of sweet stir fry sauce.
• Mix with soft spatula and add a splash of white wine and lime juice.
• Spoon the pepper/cashew mixture on top of the two chicken cutlets.
• Toss in oven and bake until fully cooked.  Since we’re using thin cutlets… I would check them at 20 minutes.

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• Handful of baby carrots (or large carrot) – chopped up
• 1/2 cup of flour (plus more if you need to thicken sauce)
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup white wine
• 2-3 cups of cooked chicken (leftovers are great for this!)
• 1-2 cups of cauliflower chopped
• 1 package of potato gnocchi
• 1 cup dried cranberries

• Bring a medium pot of water to boil and add gnocchi, scooping them out as they rise to the top, straining them and and setting aside in a bowl.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet and add chopped carrot and cauliflower.  Cook on medium heat until veggies soften.
• Add the 1/2 cup of flour to the vegetables and butter and mix with a soft spatula until flour is completely mixed and skillet contents take on a paste-like consistency and brown a bit.
• Add 1 cup of white wine and 3 cups of chicken broth slowly, whisking as you go.
• After about 10 minutes, when mixture begins to thicken, add your cooked chopped chicken and cranberries to the skillet and let simmer until it reaches the consistency of the inside of a chicken pot pie!  If you need to, feel free to add another cup of chicken broth.
• Add in cooked potato gnocchi, combine well and serve with a side of cranberry sauce!

Pre-Thanksgiving in under 45 mintues!  La la laaa.

Here’s a great recipe for you to bring into the office to get extra brownie points for your end of the year bonus (haha), make for a holiday party, wrap up and give to the neighbors, bribe someone with… or just eat by yourself with a fork and gallon of milk.

It’s super easy and fun to make, but please remember that even if it looks cooled off, the dulce de leche is freaking hot.  I had a huuge blister on my pointer finger for two weeks just for being a fat kid and trying to scoop up some with my finger.  Definitely not a good idea.

• 1 stick of butter plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 cup flour plus a handful more
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
• 3/4 lbs of milk chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of dried cranberries
• 2 handfuls of crushed walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Spray Pam (or your nonstick cooking spray of choice) inside a 9in by 9in pan – completely coating it.  Drop extra handful of flour in pan and shake around until entire interior of pan is coated with flour.
• Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl.  Chop the butter up into small cubes and add to bowl.  If you have a mixer or a food processor, this next part will be easy for you.  If not – do what I did and use a pastry cutter… or a wire whisk.  Work the butter with your dry ingredients until you have the consistency of tiny pebbles and all dry ingredients are included.
• With your hands, press the shortbread dough into the bottom of the pan and bake until the edges turn a nice golden color.
• Take out of oven and let cool completely to room temperature.  I know waiting is agony, but trust me… if you don’t wait, you’ll destroy it.
• In a sauce pan on medium heat, empty out your can of condensed milk and drop in the extra tablespoon of butter.  Keep a really close eye on the milk; if it burns it will probably destroy your pan too.   Stir mixture continuously with a rubber spatula.
• Keep stirring over heat until the milk changes consistency to a soft caramel/dulce de leche texture and turns a nice hazelnut color (15 minutes or so).
• When dulce de leche is done, pour over completely cooled shortbread pan and spread it around evenly with the spatula.
• Now for the final step, set up a double boiler on your stove.  (You can set a large glass bowl on top of a smaller sauce pan with an inch or two of water.)  Pour the chocolate chips into glass bowl and check every few minutes – stirring chocolate to melt evenly.
• When chocolate is completely liquid, add your cup of dried cranberries and turn to coat.
• Spread chocolate/cranberry mixture over the top of the cooled dulce de leche layer and before it can dry, crumble your walnuts on top so that they stick to the chocolate.
• Let cool, cut and serve!

Carol Phillips is the President of her consulting firm,

In the end of her blog post, Carol listed 10 women bloggers under 30 who inspire and influence her – and she listed me at #7! I’m honored to be on her list – so thank you Carol!

For more on Generation Y studies – check out Carol’s blog @ http://millennialmarketing.com and follow her on Twitter @Carol_Phillips!