#MatineeMonday – Chef’s Table Asma Khan

One of the things that I’ve been doing for my new Hallmark book is to immerse myself in shows about chefs. I’ve always loved to cook and it’s been interesting to see the backstories about how some chefs began their careers and what their restaurants are like. One of the shows I’ve been watching is Chef’s Table on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/80007945). I actually got started on Season Six and while the first two episodes were interesting, it was the third one about Indian chef Asma Khan that had me almost bawling. I say almost because I was on the train while watching it and didn’t want to embarrass myself. But I found myself crying again as I told my daughter about this chef’s inspiring story and the amazing legacy she will leave not just for chefs, but for all women. Every woman reading this post should go and watch this episode. It is a truly amazing story about a woman finding her place in life and helping others likewise find their place. For more on this inspiring chef and woman, please visit http://www.asma-khan.com/.

British chef Asma Khan

Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry – #TuesdayTip

One of the things I love about an Asian-inspired stir fry is that you can do it as simply or as complicated as you’d like. I often use it to clean out the fridge of veggies that need to be cooked. The most important thing to do before you start cooking is what chef’s call mise en place (which literally means “putting in place” in French). Why is it important? Well not all veggies and meats cook in the same amount of time and you don’t want one thing overdone and another raw. You also don’t want to be scrambling to chop, etc. In this dish I do the meat first to keep the crispy coating crispier and then start cooking all the other veggies in order of how long it takes to cook them before finishing up with the addition of the sauce. Hope you enjoy today’s recipe!

Sauce

1/2 teaspoon gochu-jang (red chili paste)(and if you haven’t gathered this is my new go-to seasoning!)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium preferably)
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger

Ingredients

2 tablespoons corn starch or flour or Wondra flour
1 cup thinly sliced strips of beef (a tender cut or one which needs to cook fast, like flank or skirt steak)
10 asparagus spears cut on the bias into one inch pieces
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/4 cup red pepper in thin strips
1/4 cup sliced scallions (and include some of the green tops too!)
1/4 chopped walnuts (or peanuts or cashews)

Directions

Toss the beef with the corn starch and/or flour to lightly dust it. You don’t want a lot of flour/corn starch on the meat.

In a large skillet and/or wok heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil. Once it is shimmering and very hot, toss in the meat. Cook for a minute or so until the outside is light brown and flip. When the other side is light brown, remove from the pan and set to the side.

Add another tablespoon of peanut oil and heat until shimmering. Toss in the red pepper and asparagus. Cook for about 3 minutes and then add a 1/2 cup water and let the veggies steam until almost all the water has evaporated. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add back the meat and add the sauce. Stir for another minute or two before adding the scallions and walnuts. Shut off the heat and serve.

The nice thing is you can also mix things up by adding other vegetables. Mushrooms, but cook them first after the meat at high heat since they release a lot of moisture. Baby corn. Thinly sliced carrots. Broccoli. You name it. Make this recipe your own!
Beef and Asparagus Stir Fry

#ThrowbackThursday – Miami Seaquarium & My Hallmark Novel

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been offered a proposal to write a book for Hallmark. The tentative title is SOUTH BEACH LOVE and the story is set in the South Beach/Miami area. The hero and heroine are competing chefs who are helping out family to plan the most spectacular quinceañeras anyone has ever seen and I’m excited to be able to work with this kind of story. For starters if I wasn’t a writer I’d love to be a chef so I can vicariously fulfill that dream. Plus I had a blast planning my daughter’s quince and keeping alive that tradition. I’m looking forward to sharing it with all of you. Finally, I’ve laid out some of the scenes in my fav places in the Miami area, like the Miami Seaquarium. We visited many times as kids and as adults we took my daughter there. Today I’m sharing a photo from one of those visits! Have a great Thursday!
Miami Seaquarium

#WriteWed – What’s Up With the At the Shore Series and Celebration Time!

Many of you have been writing to ask when #3 in the At the Shore series will be coming out! Thank you! I’m happy to say that I’ll be releasing #3, tentatively titled A SEA KISS CHRISTMAS, on November 12th just in time for the holiday season. I love Emma and Carlo’s story and I hope you will also. Plus you’ll get to meet Carlo’s sexy brothers Tomas and Paolo and I hope to do their stories sometime next year.

Next year is also going to be exciting since I’ve accepted an offer from Hallmark to do a book for them and cross your fingers that it’ll be chosen to be a movie. The tentative title of that book is SOUTH BEACH LOVE and as you can guess from the title, the book is set in South Beach and the nearby Miami area. As soon as I can tell you more, I will, but for now, look for it to possibly be out in June 2020!

I’m also working on preparing the next books in THE CALLING IS REBORN vampire novels for release. I’m hoping to get DEATH CALLS out in the next month. In the meantime, the first three books in the series are out and I’ve got them specially priced at 99 cents. Just follow this link to check them out: https://amzn.to/2WxQBFd

Also look for the re-release of my sexy paranormal Nocturne Cravings novellas, The Vampire’s Consort, Amazon Awakening, and Night of the Cougar. They are also specially priced for 99 cents at the various online retailers.

Lots of good things happening and I want to thank you all for your friendship and support! I hope all is going well with you!

Original Concert Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Pesto Artichoke Pizza- #Tuesday Tip

I’ve had a rollercoaster of weight loss and gain my whole life. The last few years I dropped up to 40 pounds by eliminating carbs, but then put it back on the moment I had any carbs. I love carbs so sticking to that kind of lifestyle was impossible so this time I sought moderation. I’d have carbs, but only occasionally and so far it’s worked. It’s taken longer to lose the weight, but it hasn’t been a hardship and I feel like this is a lifestyle I can maintain.

With that disclaimer, we made pizzas over the weekend and since so many of you asked after seeing them on Facebook, here’s my recipe for a delicious Pesto Artichoke Pizza!

Ingredients

For the Pesto Sauce

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 cup basil leaves
2/3 cup pistachios (shelled)(you can also use the traditional pine nuts or walnuts)
2 cloves of garlic cut in half

For the Pizza

1 lb pizza dough (makes two 8-9″ individual pies or one big pie)(Bridgeford dough works or check your local supermarket. Most carry fresh dough now)
1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts (I used bottled marinated ones and drained off the oil)
2/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2/3 cup caramelized onions
3 sliced cloves of garlic (You can cook these with the onions)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
6 slices crisply cooked bacon
Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil your pizza pan and spread out the dough to the edge. Create a little lip to form the edge of the crust.

Once the oven is hot, cook the dough for about 10 minutes until it has a slight crust. While the dough is baking, prepare your pesto sauce.

Place oil, garlic, and basil in blender or food processor and blend on low until it basil is chopped. Add nuts and blend again. If the mixture is too tight/thick, add oil little by little until you can easily spread. Don’t overdo oil though since we do want to keep this a little healthy.

Remove dough from oven after ten minutes and begin to top the pie.

Spread out your pesto sauce all around up until the lip of the crust. Spread out the caramelized onions and garlic. Spread the chopped artichokes next. Then add the roasted peppers. Break the bacon into big chunks and layout all over the other ingredients. Layout the mozzarella cheese. Feel free to break the slices apart to create an artisan look to the pizza. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown along the edges and on the bottom.

Let sit for a few minutes and then slice and serve!

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Of course, you can vary it yourself. Try sausage instead of pizza. Add capers. Use goat cheese instead of mozzarella. Spice it up with some jalapeños or make up your own combo. That’s the fun of making your own pizza at home!
Pesto_artichoke-pizza

#ManCandyMonday – Sexy Chef Carlo da Costa

I love to cook and had a blast writing #3 in the At the Shore series which is Emma and Carlo’s story! You’ve met Carlo in all of the books so far, but it was great to finally give him and Emma their story. You’ll also see lots more of Carlo in #2 WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER!

I went searching for a fun photo of what Carlo might look like and think this might fit the bill for today’s Man Candy Monday choice. What do you think? I wouldn’t mind cooking in the kitchen with him! Would you?
Carlo da Costa

You can purchase WHAT HAPPENS IN SUMMER at these retailers:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2y6hi4h
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2y92UIQ
B&N: http://bit.ly/2BJNcov
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/2hKg3BW
iBooks: http://apple.co/2hKgP1J
Kobo: Coming Soon!

Also, don’t miss out on the special 99 cents pricing on ONE SUMMER NIGHT! You can purchase ONE SUMMER NIGHT at the following retailers:

Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/2krMwfE
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/2kYLWZV
B&N: http://bit.ly/2kNuo0p
iBooks: http://apple.co/2qsqdwx
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2fuEphL

Eggplant Un-Parm #FoodieFriday #FitnessFriday

One of the things about changing up how I eat is to keep food fresh and flavorful, but healthier. After all, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to create a lifestyle that you can live with every day.

I always watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the things the chefs mention is building layers of flavor. With that in mind, I tackled an update to one of my favorite meals: Eggplant parmigiana.

Eggplant is tough on several levels. It can be bitter although that doesn’t normally bother me. It sucks up oil like there’s no tomorrow. Plus there’s the frying in the parmagiana essential. So I decided to change it up by grilling and also, by not going heavy with sauce and instead also grilling the tomatoes. The grilling added a great smokiness to the dish that was offset by the tang of the goat cheese I used. I think you’ll love this!

Ingredients

2 medium eggplant sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 20 rounds when I finished)
5 tomatoes sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 10 rounds when I finished)
5-6 ounces of goat cheese
6 ounces of a mix of shredded provolone & mozzarella (Bought this pre-shredded and mixed)
4 garlic gloves
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup fresh parsley
1 cup fresh basil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Preheat your grill on high and brush/spray with oil.

Place 1/2 olive oil, garlic cloves, vinegar, parsley and basil into either a blender or food processor. Blend until you have a sauce (kind of like pesto).

Place eggplants in a tray and put about 3/4 of the pesto mixture over the rounds. Toss to coat each one. Place on hot grill and cook for about 3-4 minutes a side. Don’t worry about cooking all the way as you’ll finish this dish in the oven, but don’t undercook. Eggplant is squeaky and unappealing when not totally cooked!

Remove eggplant rounds and place on a tray. You can put two on top of each other for now if you’d like. I used a greased cookie sheet that I later used to bake everything. Why wash more than you have to?

Place tomatoes in the tray and put remaining pesto mixture on them along with remaining 1/4 cup oil. Tomatoes stick a lot more hence the extra oil. Coat well with the mixture and place on hot grill. Cook for maybe 1-2 minutes a side. Don’t worry if they break. Place tomatoes in another bowl and let cool until you can handle.

Put one eggplant round on the greased cookie sheet and top with one tomato round. Add a sprinkle of the shredded cheese mix. Top with another eggplant round. Place 1 teaspoon or so of goat cheese on this layer and top with a little more shredded cheese mix. Enough to cover the goat cheese.

Repeat until all rounds are done.

Cook in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Serve with a little grated parmesan cheese on top and a side salad! It sounds like a lot of work, but it really only took about 20 minutes of prep time and it was DELICOUS!