Herb Cheese Muffins

One of my favorite recipes for winter menus are these herbed cheese muffins..great to accompany dishes or serve as an appetizer or alongside cheese or a salad for a light meal.
This weekend was spent shopping at some of the local farmers markets..my stylish shopping bags were great..I could be stylish and help the environment at the same time. Get $25 off any purchase use coupon code :maria2509 when shopping/..no minimum purchase required
Herb Cheese Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour


½ scallion

4 ounces of fontina cheese (can substitute provolone or asiago cheese also)

tsp of fresh thyme

tsp of freshly chopped parsley

2 tblsps of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

4 ounces unsalted butter

1 tsp of baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

3 eggs

dash of white pepper

dash of slat



Chop parsley and thyme together. Chop finely. Chop scallion finely and add to the herbs.

In a bowl place in flour, baking powder, soda, grated parmigiano cheese, white pepper ,salt. Mix with wooden spoon. Set aside.



In another bowl, whisk the eggs with a wire whisk. Add to that melted butter, milk. Add in chopped herbs and blend with wooden spoon. Add in the fontina cheese cut into small cubes. Blend with wooden spoon.



Pour flour mixture into egg mixture and blend lightly with wooden spoon. Butter muffin cups and place 2-3 tblsps of muffin mix in muffin cups. Cook for 25 minutes at a preheated oven of 400 degrees.

Fusilli Pasta Cooking in the Country Kitchen

copyright 2009, Maria Liberati

Wanted to share a recipe from The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Kitchen in Italy. We had a scrumptious lunch in the country with this..... and find more at  www.marialiberati.com/blog2

Fusili  Pasta & Sauce with a Touch of Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients for 4 people:
  1 lb grams of fusilli pasta curls
  2lbs grams of  red, ripe plum tomatoes or tomatoes grown on the vine
  1 small onion or scallion
  parsley
  fresh tyme
  olive oil
  salt and pepper
 Balsamic Vinegar

Scald the tomatoes, then drain, peel and remove the seeds.

Cut into cubes. 

Put the tomatoes into a casserole with the chopped parsley, a bit of fresh h, and the peeled and finely cut scallion. 

Add salt and pepper to taste, a few spoons of olive oil,  and 2 teaspoons of  Balsamic Vinegar . 

Cover and let rest for half an hour. 

Boil  lightly salted water for the pasta, and cook until just done. 

Place pasta  in sauce and saute for a few seconds over high heat. 

Serve immediately in heated plates.

**Just in time for the Holidays, get your copy of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking :Holidays & Special Occasions Occasions with over 140 recipes, menus, wine pairing tips, short stories of  Holidays spent in a charming mountain town in Italy

Maria

Great Flavors with Quinoa!

By :Eliza Chute, blog contributor

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is what we might call a “super-grain”. It has a lot of additional benefits as opposed to rice or other grains. “Compared to other grains, quinoa is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, and zinc than wheat, barley, or corn.” According to the same article on bodyecology.com those benefits include:

“Complete protein. Quinoa contains all 9 essential amino acids that are required by the body as building blocks for muscles.
Magnesium helps relax your muscles and blood vessels and effects blood pressure. Quinoa contains high levels of the vital nutrient.
Quinoa is a wonderful way to ensure that you consume valuable fiber that eases elimination and tones your colon.
Manganese and copper. Quinoa is a good source of these minerals that act as antioxidants in your body to get rid of dangerous cancer and disease-causing substances.”

So we get it Quinoa is great for you, but like a lot of things that are good for you we are tempted to think that it tastes bad. Fortunately, it is quite delicious and there are a variety of different things you can do with it. The first and most important step in using quinoa is soaking it in water for about 8 hours. This will remove the phytic acid and makes it easier to digest (bodyecology), then there is a bunch of great things you can do with it.

Looking inside my kitchen pantry I decided to make a quinoa salad with celery and dried cranberries. And then it dawned on me that this is really a versatile grain so you can make a great dish with it by adding in almost anything else you might like to add. You can make a large quantity of it and keep it in your fridge for quite a while and not have to make another batch. In addition quinoa itself makes a great addition to soups or salads (great source of protein for vegetarians). Also, quinoa van be used like rice and you can follow any sort of risotto recipe to make risotto with a 'twist'.



Information on Quinoa found at:
http://www.bodyecology.com/07/04/12/quinoa_benefits_guide.php


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For more recipes get yoru copy of the best selling book at http://www.marialiberati.com

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Hot Fun in the Summertime

Written by: Eliza Chute
Summer time means one thing, grilling. It is the best form of cooking in the hot heat of the season. Nothing is better than sitting around a picnic table in the warm sun, and waiting for those burgers to cook. Then waiting an hour before you can jump in a pool, or some sort of body of water. But what’s the best way to grill? Can you just throw some stuff on and leave it there until you smell burning? Well, not if you want to eat something that tastes good. There are two books that have served my family well when it comes to grilling. First is Williams Sonoma’s Complete Grilling Cookbook and the second is the less conventional Steven Raichlen’s How To Grill. But let me give them some individual attention.


1.Wiliams Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook
Let me first say that this book sure is complete, from vegetables to meat to even dessert, it doesn’t miss a beat. And, as most of their cookbooks are they are not without an array of beautiful pictures of what the food should look like, but doesn’t often, especially if the person making it isn’t a professional chef. But nonetheless is a great and useful tool to help you out on that perfect summer day when you just gotta grill.

2.Steven Raichlen’s How to Grill
Raichlin’s is also very complete, but seems to have a greater emphasis on the meat aspect, as shown by the cover (just check it out) . This guide doesn’t just show you reipes, but has a 30 page intro on the art of grilling. In addition it outlays your rubs sauces and condiments, as well as the gear. So not only does it have great recipes, but it provides you with all the necessary knowledge to really look like you know what you’re doing and sound like you know what you are talking about.

But the best grilling recipe that I have found, and by found I mean the much more experienced chef that is my mother showed me is in the Food Editor’s Hometown Favorites Cookbook. It is called Delmarva Barbecued Chicken, and it is delicious. I can’t give you the full recipe, because I think that might be illegal or copyright infringement or something but I can tell you that it involves an egg, and vinegar cider and you should pick up a copy of this recipe book if you have a chance.
Join me for The Basic Art of Italian cooking Programs at:
July 9th- WHole Foods Markte, Jenkintown, Pa- The Outdoor Kitchen, recipes for the beach, a picnic or dining al fresco. 6:15 PM call store at 215-481-0800 to register or email:events@marialiberti.com
July 11th-Chestnut Hill Book Festival, 2PM at Magarity's Warehouse at Germantown Avenue,Chetnut Hill, Pa. Email events@marialiberati.com for more info

July 16th-Whole Foods, Annapolis Md. A Tuscan Picnic, call store or email events@marialiberati.com

July 18th- Whole Foods, Fairfax, Va., A Tuscan Picnic and wine pairing. 1:30 PM Cal lstore or email events@marialiberati.com

July 25th- book signing and tasting, Whole Foods, Devon, Pa 1 PM Email events@marialiberati.com for more info

July 31 -August 2nd- Atlantic City Food And Wine SHow, email events@marialiberati.com for more info
Get your copy of the best sellling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at www.marialiberati.com

Meatless or With Meat..My Dilemma!!

Written by Elizabeth Chute

Remember the energy flow diagram we learned in middle school biology? About how plants turn the sun’s energy into nutrients through photosynthesis, then when they get eaten, only 10 percent of that energy gets passed on, then when that animal gets eaten only 10 percent of that energy gets passed on, but since it’s only 10 percent of the original 10 percent, its really only 1 percent of the original nutrients. Moral of the story: shouldn’t we always be eating vegetables? Well, that I’m not sure about, we do need the protein, but there are other ways to get it, like beans lentils and tofu. The official government food pyramid recommends to eat more fish beans peas nuts and seeds, and when eating meat to eat more lean meats and protein. So we all do know that red meat is not very healthy, but what about the taste? It is delicious. There is always fake meat, but does it really taste like the real thing? I went to find out.
First thing I discovered: for my tastebuds... nothing will taste like a hamburger that isn’t a hamburger. It doesn’t matter how many boca or veggie burgers I eat, or what I put on them. For my palate nothing replaces the taste of biting into a slightly red, juicy burger. So, sorry heart, but you’re just going to have to deal with that bit of red meat. Meatballs however are a little more replaceable. Gimme Lean beef comes in a tube, and while perhaps looking unappealing can be cooked so that they taste just like meatballs, especially when smothered in sauce and cheese. I cooked dinner for a friend the other night, giving him fake meatballs, and telling him they were real. He couldn’t even tell the difference.
When eating saucy dishes, I have some to find that tofu is better than other meat options. If you have a good sauce, tofu does the best job absorbing it, and with no other competing flavors, because tofu is the blandest thing on the planet, you get pure curry or teriyaki or whatever you decide to put on it.
Ok, but what about sausage? Who doesn’t love their morning sausage? Well I’ve found the solution. Veggie patch sausages are quite delicious. They even come in flavors, my favorite: jalapeño cheddar. The trick to making these sausages taste just right is slicing them up and cooking them in some olive oil. Although the texture of meat cannot be mimicked, you can find something that tastes just as good as red meat, and maybe a little better on the arteries.

Summer Cocktails

Written by: Eliza Chute

In the summer, when it’s hot and humid (when you are in the northeast at least), nothing makes you feel better than a nice cold beverage or perhaps a cocktail. Lemonade has always been the classic summer beverage, but if you are tired of the same old summer drink, there are several variations on it to spice it up a bit. At allrecipes.com you can find a multitude of variations on the classic lemonade; from Rico’s Passionate Pink Honey Lemonade, to Pepper-Mint Lemonade. For the more calorie conscious lemonade drinker, I would recommend Vitamin Water Multi-V lemonade. It’s a refreshing, but a little less sweet alternative.
If you are looking for a thicker drink, smoothies are always the way to go, and they are fairly simple to make. Just add ice, yogurt, juice and fruit to your blender and it’s like you just came back from your local smoothie place. For an extra kick, try blending coffee, ice and banana, and some vanilla yogurt, for that morning wake-up or mid-day refresher.
In the quest for a new refreshing summer cocktail, I went and bought a variety of juices. After several hours in the lab (i.e. my kitchen), I finally came up with one. I haven’t picked out the perfect name yet, but to make the drink, you fill a cup one eighth raspberry vodka (if you have a smaller budget Burnett’s works well or if you could splurge on Smirnoff), then three quarters with cran-apple juice and fill the rest up with champagne. It’s a newer, stronger, more dynamically flavored take on an old favorite: the mimosa. Another less complicated, but delicious concoction I created, though less original, was vanilla rum and V8 splash tropical blend. However, I don’t recommend making a lot of it, the sweetness of it makes it difficult to drink more than a glass.

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Summer-Sips-Refreshing-Summer-Drinks/Detail.aspx

Quick & Yummy Picnic Ideas

Written & Edited by Eliza Chute

Who can have a bad day, when the sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky? But better question is, who wants to be inside? Picnics are a great outdoor activity, whether it’s taking lunch in the park nearby your office, or hiking through the mountains to a beautiful peak point, and settling in there. If you are tired of the same old portable food options you have always been bringing, and looking for easy alternatives, try reading The New York Times article by Mark Bittman (link below) that outlines 101 20-minute dishes for picnics. My personal favorite thing to bring on a picnic, is a pesto and mozzarella sandwich. It’s fast and easy to make and even good cold. All you do is spread pesto on toasted bread, add the cheese. I also like to add tomato or sun dried tomato for a little extra flavor. (It also makes a nice pesto grilled cheese if you are at home, in that case it is especially
good with Monterey Jack.)
Although picnics are a great summer activity, picnics on the beach get a little bit more complicated, sandy food is less than desirable. There is nothing worse than the crunch of sand as you bite into a sandwich you’ve been waiting all morning to eat. The key to avoiding such a catastrophe: packaging. First and most common mistake: baskets. Although they are cute and the quintessential picnic accessory, there are holes in them, so sand gets in. Due to the environment of the Beach, I doubt you will be able to have a salad without every bite getting ever more crunchy as it travels from your Tupperware to your mouth. Sandwiches are probably the best way to go, however if you are really craving a salad try putting it in a whole wheat wrap for a healthier lunch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/dining/02mini.html


For more recipes & articles

To get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking go to www.marialiberati.com

June 15th 7 PM-Join Celebrity Chef Maria Liberati at the Cooking Cafe at the Willingboro Library in Wilingboro, NJ for a book signing and cooking demo with sampling. Free and open to the public. Call the library or email: events@marialiberati.com

July 11th- 2PM_Chestnut Hill Book Festival, Maria Wil be on a pane lfo cookbook authors to discuss writing your cookbook.

July 16th- Whole Foods market, Annapolis Md, A Tuscan Picnic, book signing and cooking demo from the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. Open to the public, call the store for info or email events@marialiberati.com

July 18th- Whole Foods Market, Fairfax, Virginia, Tuscan Picnic & wine Pairing will include a cooking demo of recipes from the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking and wine pairing with 4 wines and 4 recipes, samples, book signing. Free and open to the public. Call store or email: events@marialiberati.com