Paper Palate

Media Meal: Every Day with Rachael Ray, March

Kelly Mahoney — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 22:24:52 +0000

Did Rachael Ray suddenly start publishing every other week? I’ve barely finished savoring my last Everyday with Rachael Ray and now I have the March issue in my mailbox. But I love the recipes inside, so here’s to March. Here’s what you can expect inside:

Beauty products made with sushi ingredients
A garden centerpiece made by Vern Yip
A history of Chinese food in America
Court show hosts’ favorite dishes (I had no idea there were so many of them. Yet Judge Judy isn’t included. She’s probably too big of a deal to do that.)
The best of frozen pizzas
A day in the food life of Vanessa Williams
Delicious pasta dishes, such as roasted potato penne
Dressed up take out recipes, such as Chinese five-spice chicken
A round up of the best toasters (my singing Winnie the Pooh model didn’t make the cut)
Seafood gumbo made with canned tuna (sounds fishy … I’m so punny)
One-pot recipes that sound amazing
A cute, no recipe twist on alphabet soup
Children’s birthday party recipes
A recipe book for a chili-themed party
A travel log of Bermuda
The fridge of Susie Essman

And with that and the impending snow warning, you know what I’ll be doing for the rest of the night — settling in with my cookbooks and Every Day in head-to-toe fleece. I can’t wait to go on vacation.

Everyday with Rachael Ray: February

Kelly Mahoney — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:00:51 +0000

In addition to my amazing stand mixer, Tim also renewed my subscription to Everyday for 2008. I just heart Rachael Ray. I got my first issue of the year recently; here’s what you can expect out for February:

A review of different kinds of oatmeal. It’s cold outside, and you need some food that sticks to your ribs.
A day in the life of Ashanti, specifically, what she eats all day (it isn’t much).
A review of juicers
10 ways to use granola — delicious ideas abound.
Valentine’s Day dishes for two, all with cutesy names.
Mardi Gras and Oscar party recipes
Interesting places to stay, such as renting an igloo in Canada or trailer in Bisbee, Arizona. I’ll have to try that if I ever get back to Arizona.
Reader-submitted tips of what to see in Fort Lauderdale.
A peek at Al Roker’s fridge. With all that weight that he’s lost, I’m surprised it isn’t empty.

There are quite a few recipes I’ll be clipping out from this issue. Enjoy!

Classic 30-Minute Meals

Kelly Mahoney — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:00:03 +0000

Let me share with you one of the favorite gifts that I bought myself for my birthday: Classic 30 Minute Meals by none other than Rachael Ray. I love Rachael Ray to begin with, and have many of her books. When I had a television, I really enjoyed watching her shows. I think I only started watching the Food Network in college because she was on it.

This is the first hardcover book that I have from her collection and it’s quite a find. It’s a compilation of her greatest hits from other various cookbooks and travels. I’ve seen some of the recipes before, but it’s nice to have them all in one place and categorized into sections like everyday, date nights and parties. The recipes are the same sort of thing you’d expect on her shows: fast and simple with recognizable and easy-to-find ingredients.

I also like the layout of the book (I’m a newspaper kid, what can I say? I notice these things). The font, colors and placement of many, many photos bring a scrapbook feel to the book. And I love having so many photos! I tend to cook better when I know what the final product should look like — even if mine doesn’t quite turn out like that. There are also pictures of her various shows and Rachael as a child. Only because she’s a celebrity does all of that work in this book. You can snag a copy of Classic 30 Minute Meals on Amazon for $14 or so, so check it out. It’s worth the minimal investment.

This article originally appeared on Kelly the Culinarian.

Gourmet Gift-Giving Guides

Kelly Mahoney — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:00:41 +0000

As my mother always says, food is love. To continue with holiday postings, I want to give you a heads up on two really great books about giving food as gifts. The reason I bring this up now is that some of these gifts need to steep or sit for a month or more, so time to get cracking.

The first is Homemade: Delicious Foods to Make and Give by Judith Choate. This beautifully photographed book is separated into types of foods, including breads, relishes and pickles and drinks. This recipe for limoncello is one I’d like to try:

5 pounds organic lemons
8 cups vodka
6 cups sugar
6 cups water

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the lemon peel. Pour vodka into a one-gallon container, add the lemon peel and cover. Place in a cool, dark place for one week.

Combine sugar and water over medium heat and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Then add to the vodka mixture and stir to blend. Strain the mixture through a sieve into clean containers and refrigerate for one month before serving or giving.

The other book I picked up from my local library is “Gifts of Food: 160 Delectable Recipes and How to Wrap Them” by Susan Costner. This book doesn’t have any photos, but has many drawings to explain things such as how to braid challah or wrap cookies. This book is arranged by gifts appropriate for various seasons and has a separate section on how to wrap food products. I liked the section on how to seal bottles with wax; it would be a great accompaniment to the limoncello above. I really like her recipe for individual Irish soda breads, which would be good for both the holidays and St. Patrick’s Day.

4 cups unbleached flour

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups dried currants

1 egg

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour and butter, working into consistency of oatmeal. Add sugar, baking powder and soda, salt and currant, stirring with your fingers. Beat egg and buttermilk together, then form a well in the dry ingredients for the wet ingredients. Stir well until blended; form into ball.

Knead on floured surface until smooth, three to four minutes. Divide into 16 buns and place on greased baking sheets. Flatten slightly and dip a sharp knife in flour, then make “x” s on top of the buns. Cook 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, cool on a rack.

Those are just some of the great recipes and ideas in these books. Check out what your local library has to offer as well. Remember, time is a wasting away until the holidays!

This originally appeared on Kelly the Culinarian.