DimpleArts Photography
Dec 10
Easy Appetizer
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 12 10th, 2009 | | 5 Comments »

Picture this…You find out last minute that you’re going to host a small get together. What’s the first thing that goes through your mind? I don’t know about you, but for me the first thought is “What will I put on the table?”. Well, today I present you with an easy solution. Granted this dish might have to grow on some. But with my Russian background this appetizer is just mouth watering to me.

I won’t hold you in suspense any longer. I present to you sprats crostini!
Sprats-Crostini

For those of you that might not be familiar with sprats, they are smoked sardines in oil. I generally purchase my sprats in Russian grocery stores. However, as I just found out, you could purchase the exact same sprats on Amazon.

These little poppies are the perfect appetizer sandwiches. Here is what you will need to prepare a plate full:

Ingredients:
Baguette
1 can of sprats
Lemon slices (cut into halves)
Garlic cloves

Cut baguette into slices, place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 5 minutes, or until golden. Cut the edge off a clove of garlic. Once the baguette slices are toasty, rub each slice with the cut part of the garlic clove. Place one sprat and one half circle of lemon on each garlic rubbed baguette slice.

Dec 7
Happy Holidays!!!
posted by: DimpleArts in Photography on 12 7th, 2009 | | 17 Comments »

The holiday season is once again upon us. The SITS girls came up with the great SITSmas idea.
To join in the holiday spirit, I want to wish everyone happy holidays! I hope you all enjoy this holiday season and spend whatever holiday you may be celebrating with family and friends.

For those of you celebrating Hanukkah on December 11th…

Happy-Hanukkah

Dec 1
A New Family Tradition
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 12 1st, 2009 | | 9 Comments »

Traditions come in different shapes and forms. Since this is a food blog, the new family tradition I am referring to is the Chicken Broccoli Braid I’ve been making for the last couple of years. This dish has slowly transformed into somewhat of a staple at the big family dinners and gatherings.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com a few years ago, and our family and friends have enjoyed it so much that I started getting requests to make it for different functions. First it was for my father-in-law’s birthday and then it was a huge success again at the Thanksgiving dinner.

So without further a due, here is our new family tradition!
Broccoli-Chicken-Braid

The recipe for this delicious dish is simple. The most important point is that you can make about two to three braids in about an hour and a half. Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:
Cooked Chicken breast (1 per braid)
Broccoli (half a bunch per braid)
Red Bell Pepper (half of a pepper per braid)
Crushed garlic (1 cloves per braid)
Shredded cheese (Cheddar is suggested, but I use mozzarella)
Mayonnaise (I use about a one and a half table spoons per braid)
Dried dill weed (2 teaspoons)
Slivered almonds (2 table spoons)
Diced onion (less than half an onion per braid)
Refrigerated package of crescent roll (1 per braid)
Egg white, beaten (for brushing)

Dice chicken, broccoli, red bell pepper, and onion. In a large bowl mix the diced chicken, broccoli, bell pepper, onion, cheese, garlic, mayonnaise, dill weed and almonds. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Roll out the crescent roll dough on the lined cookie sheet. Pinch the perforated lines of the dough together to create a single sheet of dough. With scissors cut strips all along the long sides of the dough toward the center. Spread the mixture along the center of the dough. Fold the strips over the mixture, alternating (as if creating a braid). Pinch the strips together and brush with beaten egg white to seal.

Bake at 375F degrees for about 25-28 minutes, or until golden brown.

Nov 27
Thanksgiving Rogaliki
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 11 27th, 2009 | | 7 Comments »

My Grandmother sent me a few of her recipes. She’s made amazing dishes over the years, which I enjoyed since childhood. I was finally able to recreate one of her recipes. For this Thanksgiving dinner, which my husband and I hosted at our house, I made my version of my Grandmother’s rogaliki for dessert. Rogaliki (a Russian term) could most closely be equated to crescents. (But sooooo much better).
Rogaliki_2

The recipe is simple. The rogaliki I made were slightly different from the recipe my Grandmother sent and I will share my recipe here.

For the dough you’ll need the following:
3 egg yolks
1 stick of margerine
100 grams of sour cream
Flour (as much as needed to get the dough consistency)
Raspberry preserves (for the filling)

Mix the egg yolks, margerine and sour cream with flour until the mixture has dough consistency. Separate the dough into 3 or 4 balls and refrigerate for about 3 hours or over night. Roll out the dough into a thin circle (using additional flour, to prevent the dough from sticking). Cut the dough into 16 triangles. Place a small amount of raspberry preserves onto the wide side of the triangle and roll away from you to create rogaliki. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls. Place rogaliki on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake for about 15 minutes at 375 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Once rogaliki are out of the oven, sprinkle them with powdered sugar and serve once they cool off.
Rogaliki_1

Enjoy these as a tasty dessert or a morning pastry!

Nov 26
Napa Valley Getaway
posted by: DimpleArts in Photography on 11 26th, 2009 | | 3 Comments »

This isn’t exactly on the topic of food, but thought I’d share my recent getaway. My husband and I had some time off, so we decided to take a drive up to Napa Valley for a little getaway. We did some wine tasting…
IMG_7705

IMG_7580
…enjoyed the food…
IMG_7642
…and took in the views…
IMG_7626

Overall a very relaxing getaway.

Nov 22
Killer Garlic Rolls
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 11 22nd, 2009 | | 2 Comments »

Last weekend we took a trip to sunny Los Angeles for a friend’s wedding. We had the morning free to browse around L.A. and decided to spend it at Venice Beach. Venice Beach is definitely an interesting place to visit. My husband refers to it as Haight Street on the beach. A couple of our friends suggested that we check out C&O Trattoria in Marina Del Rey, for a midday snack. We were told that the “Killer Garlic Rolls” were to die for. Well…they were right….those little things were very tasty. We had to hold ourselves back to leave room for the actual meal. Being that I love carbs, it was difficult to stay away. Take a look for yourself…isn’t it hard to hold back from having a few?
Killer-Garlic-Rolls

Delish!

Nov 15
Asian Pear and Arugula Salad
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 11 15th, 2009 | | 1 Comment »

You’re probably wondering why I haven’t been around for a while. With the kitchen remodel and the change of seasons it’s been difficult to get any day light time. My friend V, and occasional food contributor was very kind to gift me a subscription to Food & Wine magazine. I am loving my new subscription. I’ve a made a couple of things based on the recipes from F&W already (unfortunately didn’t get a chance to photograph them). Finally I was able to capture my latest dish.

This is a super easy salad to throw together. I was flipping through my first issue of F&W magazine and came upon the Asian Pear and Arugula Salad with Goat cheese. I threw this together for a refreshing lunch for my husband and I.

Asian-Pear-and-Arugula-Sala

I very slightly modified the original recipe. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
Baby Arugula
1 Peeled, cored and thinly sliced asian pear
Slivered Almonds
Extra virgin olive oil
Honey
Chopped fresh thyme
Lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
Crumbled goat cheese

For the dressing:
Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey and chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, toss together arugula, asian pears, and slivered almonds. Add the earlier mentioned dressing and toss well. Top with goat cheese and serve.

Asian-Pear-&-Arugual-Salad_

This salad is perfect for a light and refreshing lunch!

Oct 31
Birthday Cake
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 10 31st, 2009 | | No Comments »

Happy Halloween everyone ! I know it’s been some time since I’ve posted. I do apologize, however, I have a very good reason for this. We’re in the finishing stages of our kitchen face lift. As a result I haven’t been able to cook anything in about a month. I will of course be providing the “before” and “after” photos once everything is complete.

Now getting to the topic at hand…last week we celebrated the hubby’s birthday but taking the family out to a Sunday brunch at Il Fornaio. The restaurant was kind enough to offer my husband a piece of tiramisu birthday cake with a birthday candle. Happy Birthday A! Make a wish….
Birthday-Tiramisu

Oct 12
Calling all great chocolate challah recipes!!!
posted by: DimpleArts in Food on 10 12th, 2009 | | 1 Comment »

Dear readers, a few years ago I tasted an absolutely fabulous chocolate challah at a dinner party. Ever since then I cannot stop thinking about it. It was so rich and moist and just delicious. You’re probably wondering, why it’s taken me this long to make one myself? Well, I can’t seem to find a good recipe for a fabulous chocolate challah.

Normally I share my recipes with you, but now I need your help finding a recipe for a great chocolate challah. If you can help me find a great recipe, I promise to make the challah and post the photograph with the recipe, right here!

I am really excited about finding that great chocolate challah recipe!!!

Please send your recipes by leaving a comment or by filling out the “Contact Us” form.

Oct 10

We have come to the end of our visit to Reno series. I decided to save the sweetest dish for last. We ended our visit to Reno with some AMAZING french toast, fruit salad and some tasty mimosas. Let’s start with the french toast.

Y from She Suggest…adapted her recipe of the Honey Bun French Toast from the Joy of Cooking All About Breakfast & Brunch cookbook.
Honey-Bun-French-Toast

The ingredients you’ll need:
3 tbsp of honey
4 tbsp of butter
1 cup chopped pecans
4 large eggs
2/3 cup of apple cider
2 tbsp (or more) of cinnamon
dash of vanilla
dash of all spice (or nutmeg)
bread slices

To prepare the french toast:
Preheat oven to 400.
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons of honey in a baking dish until butter has melted and honey starts to bubble. Remove from stove and add 1 cup chopped pecans. Return to oven for a minute if you like your pecans extra cooked, if not just let stand until you put in the bread.
In a separate bowl mix 4 large eggs, 2/3 cup apple cider, 2 tablespoons (or more) of cinnamon, a dash of vanilla and a dash of all spice (or nutmeg). Add bread slices (with or without crust) one or two at a time. Turn them in the mixture until thoroughly saturated but not falling apart. Arrange the soaked bread over the nuts and bake until golden brown (it’s supposed to take 15-20 minutes but because of altitude ours take longer). So adjust according to your location. Y likes to flip hers after a while to give both sides the pecan coating.

The french toast was served with a delicious fruit salad made of watermelon, strawberries, cantaloupe and mint.
Fruit-Salad

Of course no breakfast is complete without tasty mimosas. Other than the normal champagne and orange juice, we got little frozen raspberries in our flutes. It was delish.
Champagne

Start your Sunday off right…with delicious french toast and fruit salad.
Honey-Bun-French-Toast_1
It was a great Sunday morning!

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