Culinary Vixen's New Vision

Look for new things up here at Culinary Vixen.  Its time to revamp the blog, give it new life and find my food voice again. I have a few themes up my sleeve; ready to be pulled out, dusted off and unfolded to share with the world. Here's a preview of some of the topics I'll be concentrating on in the future:

• Recipes from cooking school
• Sharing recipes I've kept for over 20 years.  There's a reason I still have these! 
• Exploring Culture - One recipe at a time
• I love ALL cuisines and exploring flavors from around the world keeps me excited about food. I will post amazing recipes from around the globe, to inspire your palate!
• Can we pickle it?
• In 2014 I became part of a kickstarter campaign called Kraut Source, an ingenious device (I hope, haven't received it yet. If you want details go to their kickstarter page for more information.). I plan on using these things to pickle any veggie I get my hands on. Small batch is where it's at!  Can't wait to dive into the healthy bacteria world! 
• We want cheese please!
• If you know me, you know I'm a cheese freak. QuesoBeso is slowly dying as the cheese world in the South Bay is being inundated by Murray's of New York via Kroger/Ralphs grocery stores. But fear not, I will still bring you awesome cheese selections, information and pairings. 
• I ate it - Here!
• Living in the South Bay of Los Angeles county we have an amazing choice of restaurants to choose from.  I enjoy eating out with my family and doing quick reviews to help others sort through it all and find the gems. Look here for lists of regional favorites - El Segundo, Hermosa, Redondo, Manhattan, Gardena and Torrance; just to get us started. 
• What do you do with this?
• Gadgets can be fun; let's explore them!
• MY food network
• I've been cooking, hard core cooking, for about 20 years. I have met many very interesting food people along the way.  Some of them I don't even remember how I met. I want to use Culinary Vixen to reconnect with my food family and share their particular knowledge with my readers.

Well, that's the gist of it.  New ideas and a brand new start for 2015.  I'm excited to get started.  If I can only figure out how (really, remember how) to get this thing formatted beautifully.

Thanks for your patience! :)

Vickie - Culinary Vixen

Please, no photos...

I don't have a lot of pictures on my blog.

I'm not a photographer.

I'm a cook and recipe writer.

Recently I've found that most pretty blogs really annoy me.  I don't think I'm much for the visual world of recipes. I must be odd that way, but I find myself scrolling past the pictures laying out each ingredient beautifully. I go straight for the recipe, the heart of the blog piece.  For me the recipe is all that matters.  Who cares what her kitchen looked like when she was cooking?  I certainly don't.  All I want is an inspiring recipe, something a little different.  

I also require well written recipes.  And I can spot a bad recipe in 5 seconds flat (Read the first paragraph of the Method.  Now look at the ingredients list.  Are the ingredients in the order they are used?  If not... I'm outta there.).

I suppose I'm living up to the title bestowed upon me years ago. This Culinary Vixen will continue to argue about the merits of good pictures vs. good food.

Stepping off my soap box now.

BLOT Sauce for Cheese Ravioli: Oscar Inspiration

Years ago I catered an Oscar party and one of the dishes I served was a Tomato, Escarole & Bacon pasta. I used lovely cherry tomatoes, cut in half and tossed into a hot pan where the bacon was crisping, some shallot and garlic were added creating an intoxicating aroma to entice the party guests. Fresh herbs as well a head of torn escarole, some white wine & chicken stock were added as well. It was finished off with luscious al dente cooked pasta which was all gently tossed together as the greens wilted and the flavors melded before it was quickly devoured by the hungry movie buffs.

Inspired by that dish and a large box of Pomi diced tomatoes in my pantry, I set out to create a more simple version which could be whipped up in 20 minutes. So I stripped the recipe in my memory down to the BLT ingredients, but added the O(lives) for texture and punch.

It's may not be Oscar worthy, but certainly does make a quick delicious dinner for the family.

Enjoy!

Bacon, escaroLe, Olive & Tomato - BLOT Sauce
for Cheese Ravioli or Tortellini

(Serves 4, more or less)

Ingredients:
6 oz. diced bacon
2 lb. can or box of Pomi diced tomatoes
1/3 Cup Kalmata olives
salt, pepper
dried Italian herb mix or Oregano to taste
1 head of Escarole
1 lb of cheese ravioli or tortellini


Method:
Fill a large pot with water and put it on to boil.* Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced bacon and continue to occasionally stir the bacon as it cooks for about 8 minutes until very crispy.
Meanwhile, thoroughly wash the head of escarole.  Cut out the core and trim off the coarse white ends. Tear or cut the leaves into 2" pieces. Set aside.
Pit and coarsely chop the olives. Set aside.
When the bacon is crispy remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Pour out 1/2 of the bacon drippings in the pan (if you are a whimp, I left them all in there.).
Return pan to the heat and pour in the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a slow simmer.
Add a little salt and pepper and a teaspoon or so of a favorite dried spice mix (I used a Greek blend because I really love Greek oregano, but use whatever is on hand.) to taste.
Add the escarole and olives. Stir to combine thoroughly.  Partially cover.
Cook the ravioli pasta al dente, don't over cook. Before you drain the pasta, add 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water to the tomato escarole sauce.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Stir gently to thoroughly coat the ravioli.
Don't forget to add back the bacon into the pan.**
Serve to hungry family.



*A very smart friend has passed on the advice of a wise chef & that is to always first put a pot of water on to boil, you will need it for something, surely.
**Honestly, I was taking the picture I shared on my blog of this dish & saw the bowl of bacon I had completely forgotten to put back into the dish.  Ha, mediocre dish avoided!

Sharing my cheesy knowledge over at the Lybations blog - LybationNation.

Quick little post about labeling the cheeses you are sharing this holiday season: Chalk it up to Great Taste

Happy Holidays!

It's Come To This

I've been using email consistently since the 1980's. I was working at an Internet research institute when the World Wide Web (which is what those three little w's stand for kiddies!) was first created. Before the first Internet browser was created I was logging into Usenet groups to swap recipes and download free cookbooks. So, let's just say, I'm a bit tech savvy.

Two years ago I created this blog so that I'd have a creative outlet for my food writing. Last year I discovered Facebook and found it to be a fun and easy way to keep in touch with many friends. Last month I created a twitter account and have thoroughly enjoyed tweeting daily about my culinary life. But now I find that my writing time has diminished. I'm working at the Farmer's Market on Sunday's. I'm taking care of my kids, husband and our life during the rest of the week. I'm tweeting, facebooking, blogging... and I believe the blog gets the short end of things. It's much easier to tweet and update your status than it is to write a decent article.

So, it's come to this, I'm recycling writing I've been doing for The Heritage Kitchen, and posting it here on my blog. The following recipe comes from our August newsletter. We've been publishing a monthly one-pager since February which contains a feature article, product highlight, Back To The Future rant and a seasonal recipe. Stop by our booth on Sundays,at the Pacific Palisades Farmer's Market between the hours of 8am - 1pm and you can pick up a copy. Sample some cheese while you are there!

V





Market Fresh Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Fresh black-eyed peas are an August special at the Farmer’s market. Cooked for four hours on high in a slow cooker, they become a hearty ingredient ready to use in soups, salads, or with rice for a nutritious meal.


Ingredients:
1 lb cooked—fresh black eyed peas
4 ears fresh corn
3 small zucchini diced
3 small yellow squash diced
6 Roma tomatoes, cored, diced
8 green onions, sliced
1/4 Cup Sherry vinegar
1/2 Cup Plain yogurt
1/2 Cup Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 bunch Italian parsley, coarsely chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste







Method:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add two tablespoons of salt to the water. Shuck the ears of corn and put in the pot to cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove cobs from the water, drain and let cool. Cut the corn from the cobs and place in a large bowl. Add the zucchini, squash, tomatoes, green onions and cooled black eyed peas.
Pour the vinegar into a medium bowl and whisk in the yogurt, and a little salt and pepper. Continue to whisk as you slowly pour in the olive oil creating an emulsion. Taste the dressing for salt and pepper, adding more to taste. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and combine gently. Sprinkle the parsley over the top.


Serves 8 as a main, 12 as a side dish.