Getting to know: Rice

1. Almost all rice is categorized as "long", "short", or "med";  which simply refers to their length.  Long grain rice is about 4 to 5 times long as they are wide, while short grain rice is almost round.  Let’s imagine rice as people. Let’s say long grain rice would be played by someone like Cindy Crawford;  while Mr.Short Grain would be played by Danny Devito.  How’s that for a visual?!

2. The shorter the grain the starchier the rice.

 

3. When making dishes like Risotto, high starch content is essential. The starch released from the rice is what gives risotto its signature creaminess.

4. In general, short grain rice can be used in place of any other short grain rice in recipes, and the same goes for long grains. So feel free to sub Jasmine for Basmatti and Arborio for Calasparra, everyone will get along just fine.

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Willa's Lemonade Cheesecakes

“Where have you been?”

“What have you been doing?”

“Why haven't you posted a new recipe?”

These are frequent questions from my readers. And I’d love to tell you all that I've been busy filming my own show, or that I couldn't come to the computer because I was elbow deep in tomato sauce, but the truth is sadly something very different.

At 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant my husband and I lost our little girl. Her heart just stopped, and we don't know why. We never got to hear her voice, or see her smile, or know what she looks like when she first wakes up. We never got to have all those “firsts” that we had excitedly anticipated.

We were ready for her: diapers unpacked, tiny clothes in her dresser and a place for her to rest her head right next to mommy. It was supposed to be the week we brought her home, the week we stumbled our way through parenthood, laughing as we put diapers on backwards and figuring out the difference between a “boppy” and a “breast-friend”.

But that's just not what happened.

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Broccoli Tacos

A Horror Story:

Written by: Nikki Dinki

Sue and her date go to a local restaurant for a nice meal out. Sue orders the salmon, her date the steak and each meal comes with a side of vegetables. They chatter, flirt and then...the meal comes...all they can do is stare in horror at their plates.

It’s not the salmon or the steak that get their attention but that sad, mushy, flavorless, over-steamed broccoli thrown haphazardly on the plate. It’s blatantly obvious that no one at this restaurant cares about broccoli. And being advocates for Broccoli’s rights (ABRs they call themselves) they get up and march out of the restaurant.

For they know, as I do, that broccoli should NEVER be treated this way...

The end.

You see, I didn’t always love broccoli, I’ll admit it. The green tree-like vegetable and me had a bumpy relationship at first. But how can anyone fall in love with this green goddess when she is so often treated and dressed, so poorly?!

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Poblano Pizza

There are not often tears shed in my kitchen, but the event has taken place before. It actually became a frequent occurence years ago when I really got on a pizza making kick.

 

I had acquired the ESSENTIAL pizza making tool- the pizza stone. The magical stone that when pizza is cooked upon- the crust is crisp on the outside but remains chewy on the inside. It had changed my pizza making experience. There was only one problem, transferring the perfectly topped raw pizza onto the stone that had to be preheated in the oven...

And this is where the tears came in...

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Cheddar Cauliflower + Squash Soup

I'm convinced that the reason Broccoli Cheddar soup is so popular is because parents like that they can sneak a vegetable into a kids' bowl and disguise it as Cheese soup.

And let's face it! There are times when all of us would rather cozy up to a hot and cheesy bowl of soup rather than a bowl of steamy veggies.

And so we pat ourselves on the back for choosing such a healthy option while still feeding that inner child who is craving comfort food in a bowl.

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Roasted Acorn Squash

The squirrels in NYC can get a little close... too close for my liking.

Through years of experiencing that getting close to humans results in the receiving of french fries, pretzels and maybe if they're lucky a classic NYC hot dog (probably better that they eat it than us), these little guys have no fear.

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Zucchini + Tomato Pasta

I was reminiscing yesterday, remembering that very first cooking video I shot in my kitchen. The lighting wasn't great, the sound was a little off, and as I felt the need to explain everything in utmost detail, it was entirely too long.

But people started watching. And since I was featuring “Zucchini Noodles” a fairly new and exciting concept no one seemed to mind the low budget quality or rambling host.

That first video is what started everything...

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Mango Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

I love food (obviously). And I have made a happy deal with myself that I can have the pasta, garlic bread (and the brownie too) as long as I workout... but this can be a flawed deal.

I only have so many hours to spend in the gym working off said meal and let's face it, working out sucks. So I made a new deal. I cook healthier dishes during the week and the more indulgent selections are kept for the weekends.

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Pesto Crusted Halibut + Grape Risotto

Since being pregnant, I have been on a real fruit kick. I think I- or maybe I should say, the small human being in my tummy is craving sugar. SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR...and water!!

 

There is nothing like waking up in the middle of the night desperate to slurp water out of the faucet. Isn't pregnancy beautiful?!

 
 

So fruit is kind of the perfect food that my body wants right now. Sweet with natural sugars and jam packed with juicy goodness.

And yes, I'll admit, a little better for me than the sour patch kids and gummy worms which have been finding their way into my candy drawer lately.

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Food Network Star - Episode #9

End Of The Road, Not The End Of A Dream!!

Well let's just get right down to it...I got sent home this week... 

I spent the day dreading 9 p.m., knowing the tears I would inevitably have to watch myself cry. But at least everyone would finally know what happened and I could think about what was next.

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