Unique Father's Day Gift

Father's Day is just 4 days away. Have you purchased a gift for your Dad yet?

There are so many unique food gifts that you can give your dad this year from BBQ to beverages. But, when I saw these "Whisky Stones" at the store the other day I thought they would be the perfect Father's Day gift for the dad that loves Whisky, Bourbon, Scotch or any other fine Whisky.

Talk about “on the rocks”! For those who want to chill their whisky, but not dilute it, whisky stones are the elegant answer. As the blurb reads: These all-natural Vermont soapstone whisky stones are a must-have for lovers of fine whiskies and bourbons. Milled from a very select type of soapstone located only in Vermont, these whisky stones are handcrafted in some of the oldest soapstone workshops in the USA.

Scandinavians have used granite rocks for this same purpose for hundreds of years, but soapstone has superior thermal properties and being mostly composed of talc, won’t scratch your glass.

Whisky stones are perfect for aficionados who enjoy their beverages with a slight chill, but don’t want to water down the perfect balance of flavors in their chosen spirit. (Of course you could try to freeze them in ice cube trays like the "Cool Beans" way but because of the alcohol content they won't get to a hard freeze.)

These stones are nonporous, so they will not impart any flavors or odors to your drink. The perfect cube shape of the stones also forms a solid surface area that allows for a better and more even chilling.

To use, simply store them in your freezer and when needed let the stones stand for five minutes before dropping them into your drink. After use, hand wash stones in water and put back in freezer. Set includes nine stones and a muslin storage bag.

Just think of how grateful your dad will be now that his whisky won't be getting watered down anymore. Of course this is just one of the millions of fun and unique gifts you can get for dad this year.

Want to know where you can find a set of Whisky Stones?

Talk about Scotch on the Rocks! You might need to purchase more than one bag since all those drinking with dad may want some rocks in their whisky too!

Mediterranean Tuna Salad

I'm so happy to be able to make a post tonight since my computer got hacked into yesterday. I was so worried it wouldn't be up and running again for days. But, thanks to our tech guy Will, he had it fixed in no time flat.

So back to what I'm here to tell you about. A few summers ago I spent some time in Italy. If you've had the pleasure of vacationing there before you know how wonderful the food is, the sites, shopping and incredible history.

With the weather getting warm and humid like it has been the past few days I was in the mood for a light cool lunch. Thinking back to my days in Italy I decided to make a simple Mediterranean Tuna Salad something I had often for lunch while vacationing there.

Not in the mood to go to too much trouble to prepare lunch, plus having a million things to do that day, I came up with a simple version of what I had in Italy. Quite frankly they could have prepared it the same way only with their amazing tomatoes instead of the grape tomatoes I used. They were good but not superb like those in Italy.

If you're looking for something quick to toss together for lunch or even for dinner I recommend this salad. My son of course would eat it for breakfast, since he's all about the protein.

Mediterranean Tuna Salad
Serves 4

1 (12oz) can of tuna pack in water, drained and rinsed to remove the sodium. (Italy would use the tuna packed in olive oil)

1 can Cannellini Beans (white italian kidney beans), drained and rinsed
10-12 Pitted Kalamatta Olives (jarred), rinsed and sliced in half
15 grape tomatoes sliced in half
5 basil leaves chiffonade sliced
Salt and Pepper to taste

Balsamic vinegar dressing

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and blend together. Add homemade or store bought Balsamic Vinegar and toss lightly. Serve. Store unused portion in the refrigerator, covered.

If you wanted to jazz this up a bit add some buffalo mozzerella to the salad and serve.

This is delicious, light and best of all easy to put together.

I felt like I was right back in Italy again.

Fregola Sarda with Roasted Vegetables

I guess it must be that my craving for so many veggies lately is the fact that the warm weather is here and I just don't feel like eating anything heavy. I also didn't feel like going grocery shopping since I'd been running all day taking care of business. So when I got home I looked in the refrigerator and saw an abundance of vegetables. I knew if I didn't do something with them soon they would end up going bad. I hated the thought of throwing them away.

So I decided to cut up in cubes and strips most of the veggies I had. They consisted of eggplant, roma tomatoes, asparagus and butternut squash. I also had some Fregola Sarda that I thought would go great with these roasted vegetables.



What is Fregola Sarda? Well,it's toasted breadcrumb-like pasta from the island of Sardinia that is touted for having special health benefits. Plus they say you can indulge in this pasta without the typical carb and calorie overload. Although the carbs appear to be in line with all the others I looked at.

Fregola Sarda has a special kind of dietary fiber called resistant starch that helps maintain blood sugar and improves digestion...plus each serving has 6 grams of protein.

Fregare means "to rub," and this fregola pasta is made by rubbing coarse semolina pasta and water together to create crumbs. The crumbs are then toasted, which imparts a rich, earthy flavor to the pasta. The pasta is cooked a little like rice, with an excessive amount of water that is allowed to evaporate during the cooking process. It's really delicious!

So I cut up my veggies, tossed some extra-virgin olive oil on them and roasted all but the cut tomatoes in a convection oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. I then added my tomatoes to the batch for another 5 minutes.

By this time my Fregola Sarda was done so I drained it, placed some on a plate and covered them with my roasted veggies. Carefully using my microplane I grated some fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano over all. Mmmmm it was heavenly. I love the nutty taste of the Fregola with the vegetables. It was just what I was in the mood for. Light, healthy and delicious!

So if you're in the mood for something and also don't feel like running to the grocery store, just look in your refrigerator and pantry. Be creative and come up with something with the ingredients you have on hand. You might surprise yourself how inventive you are!

Limeade Spritzer

The other day I had a craving for limes. Since it was so hot and humid out I decided to make some Limeade. While making it I noticed I had some Club Soda in my pantry so I decided I'd make what I call a Limeade Spritzer.

On a hot summer day this hits the spot. Add some fresh thin slices of lime to your glass and plenty of ice and it's as cool and refreshing as it looks.

Of course here's the recipe for you to enjoy as well.

Limeade Spritzer

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups freshly squeezed lime juice

2 to 2 1/2 cups water


Cooking Instructions:

The key to making perfect limeade is to make a simple syrup which is just water with sugar dissolved in it.

First, start by adding one cup of water and one cup of sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil. This assures you that the sugar won't just stick to the bottom of the pitcher when making the limeade. While the simple syrup is cooling, juice the limes.

Now to a pitcher add the simple syrup, and the freshly squeezed lime juice. Next, add two to two-and-a-half cups of water depending on the tartness you like. Then add some lime slices and ice cubes.

In a glass add 1/2 Club Soda and 1/2 Limeade with some extra sliced limes to each glass as a garnish.

This Limeade Spritzer is a perfect refreshing summertime drink.

Enjoy!

Light and Healthy Sweet Potato Salad

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day.

Over the weekend I BBQ'd like many of you, and decided to make a Sweet Potato Salad to go with our meal. After viewing various recipes I came up with this one that turned out light and delicious. It was a nice twist on what typically is high in fat. I hope you like it.

Light & Healthy Sweet Potato Salad
serves 4-6

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1" cubes
1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chiffonade style*
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Place sweet potato chunks in a medium saucepan and add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to cool, and drain again.

In a large bowl combine yogurt, agave nectar, bell pepper, scallions, basil, vinegar,salt and black pepper then blend together. Add sweet potato chunks and mix all ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Can be served at room temperature or chilled.

*Chiffonade - to cut the basil chiffonade style, simply layer basil leaves one on top of the other. Then roll like a cigar and slice into thin strips.

Stuffed Jalapeño Chile Poppers

Looking for a fun appetizer this Memorial Day? Look no further. These hot little peppers are incredible on the grill. Cut the tops off, scoop out the seeds and stuff them with any variety of cheese, bacon, chutney, you name it. Once you've had these succulent little poppers you won't believe you've lived without them for so long.










Wondering how to grill these babies? Well leave it to Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue! Bible and How to Grill, for coming up with the Chile Pepper Grill Rack. This stainless steel, dishwasher-safe device makes it easy to impress your friends with poppers and anything else you can think to do with it. It comes with a chile corer that makes removing the membrane and seeds a snap.

Of course if you're having company for Memorial Day like most of us this rack holds 18 Jalapeño peppers. Although that may sound like a lot believe me it's not. You may want to purchase two of these racks since they are going to be the hit of the party. They're so good you just can't get enough of them.

I'm sure you're wondering how to make them. Well here's a video I found that SurLaTable put together using one of Raichlen's recipes. However, be creative and come up with your own.

Here are a couple other stuffing ideas that you might like to try.

4 ounces of goat cheese, softened
1 teaspoon chopped chives
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
½ teaspoon Asian Chili Sauce

In a bowl, mix together the goat cheese, chives, zest and Chili Sauce and put into a pastry bag or zip lock baggie with the tip cut off.

After cutting the tops off the Jalapeño Peppers and coring out the seeds, insert the tip of your pastry bag and squeeze the cheese mixture inside. Place chile peppers in the Chile Pepper Grill Rack then pop on the grill and see the magic happen.

You can also use a mixture of equal parts mango chutney or apricot jam and cream cheese. Stuff the same as above.

Trust me, if you grill these poppers up, family and friends will be talking about them for weeks. YUM!

Check out your local stores for these incredible racks or find them here.

You'll wonder how you ever lived without them!

Pineapple Sorbet

I just happened to be going through the grocery store yesterday when they were having their samplings of various summertime recipes. The one I sampled was so smooth, cool, refreshing and delicious that I went through the isles to pick up the three simple ingredients that were required to make it.

This recipe takes all of 10 minutes to prepare and can be whipped up in no time in your blender or food processor.




Since it was so hot out yesterday none of us felt like eating much for dinner. Tuna fish salad and fresh fruit was what appealed to us. So for dessert I thought this Pineapple Sorbet would be divine. And it was! It was just enough to satisfy the sweet craving we have after eating dinner.

If you're looking for a quick and delightful dessert to put together try this. It's wonderful.

Not a fan of pineapple, then try using peaches or mangoes instead with either vanilla yogurt or one that you like. I honestly don't think you could mess this up whatever you select.

Here's the recipe:

Pineapple Sorbet

1 package (16 ounces) frozen pineapple chunks
1 container (6 ounces) light or fat free lemon chiffon yogurt
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
fresh berries for garnish (optional)

In a food processor or blender add first 3 ingredients and blend until smooth. Serve immediately garnished with fresh berries if desired or place in the freezer and serve later for a firmer texture.

Now how easy was that? Delicious!!!