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Chicken Spring Rolls {a movie}

Jill Chen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:38:06 +0000

Superbowl Sunday is imminent and if your menu needs a little something crunchy and fun, these Chicken Spring Rolls from Jill will hit the spot. She even created a quick dipping sauce and a wonderful how to motion photograph to take you through each step. Thank you, Jill and Jill’s hubby, for showing us the basics behind the elusive spring roll! -Maggie

Hubby and I have been working on projects lately where we could show “how to’s” using a bit of motion. When Maggie said that spring rolls were perfect for Superbowl Sunday, we jumped at the chance to make them and this motion picture. This is me rolling spring rolls. Using your mouse, swipe sideways or click and drag to move me forward or backward; you’ll see each step and the roll will come together in a breeze.

This is a basic recipe using ground chicken, Napa cabbage and shredded carrots. The possibilities are endless, so use whatever turns your crank. Try ground beef, pork, shrimp, shitake mushrooms or savoy cabbage. Keep in mind that it can’t be wet, or you will have a spring roll that falls apart making it impossible for frying.

For the filling chop up your vegetables, thinly slice half a Napa cabbage.

Shred or grate one large carrot, and chop up one green onion.

Set your vegetables aside while you cook your chicken mixture. Once the chicken is opaque, add your veggies, water and soy sauce. Cover and simmer for a few minutes until cabbage is tender.

Let it cool in a pan. Place a tea towel underneath one side of the pan to let the juices drain down toward the other.

The spring roll wrappers should be covered with a damp cloth or paper towel to keep from drying out. One 8×8-inch package makes 50 spring rolls.

Remember to roll tightly, and don’t over-stuff. (I actually used a tad too much in the “How To” motion picture.) Fry in small batches, over medium heat until golden brown, and let drain on paper towel.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. I chose to improvise with a spoonful of chili garlic sauce, a dash of soya sauce, and a glug of Morris Kitchen’s ginger syrup from my Eat Boutique gift box. A no-fail dipping sauce combo: a little spicy, a little savory and a little sweet.

These spring rolls can be made and fried ahead of time, and reheated in the oven.

Chicken Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

1 package of spring roll wrappers
1 pound ground chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil in pan to cook meat mixture
1/2 nappa cabbage, finely sliced, yields approximately 9 cups
1 large carrot, shredded or grated
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup water

Directions:

Combine chicken, salt, sesame oil and cornstarch in a bowl and set aside to prepare your vegetables.
Slice and shred your cabbage, carrot and green onion.
Add oil to a large non-stick pan, and cook your chicken mixture over medium high heat, breaking up the lumps until the meat becomes opaque in color.
Add your veggies, soy sauce and water. Stir and cover. Simmer on medium heat until cabbage is tender.
Remove from heat, spread out to cool in a shallow cake pan. Elevate one side of pan to drain liquid.
To wrap your spring rolls, separate a sheet carefully and follow the “hot to”. Keep the wraps under a damp cloth to prevent drying out. Be sure to roll tightly and neatly. Filling should be dry and not sopping wet or you will have soggy spring rolls that fall apart when frying.
Fry spring rolls in about an inch of canola oil on medium heat. Remove when golden, and drain on paper towel line platter. Makes approximately 50 spring rolls. Enjoy with favorite dipping sauce.

All photos styled and photographed by Jill Chen.

Eat Boutique is a site + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local and comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send a gift box of handmade food today.

The Silver Palate’s Chili for a Crowd

Shelby Larsson — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:21:49 +0000

Everybody knows that the Super Bowl is really about the food. And catching all those fun, sometimes scandalous and creative advertisements. Oh fine, and football too. More than anything, though, the Super Bowl is a great opportunity to get your friends together for a fun evening of eating like insane people.

Seriously, I think Super Bowl Sunday might be the one night a year when I throw caution to the wind and let myself go crazy trying out all the different “game food” dishes that people bring along to the party. Mini pulled pork sandwiches, homemade stromboli, and various dips on one plate? Don’t mind if I do!

Though the variety at a Super Bowl is quite exciting, I like it the best when there is a fun assortment of appetizers, followed by a cohesive “main” course, like this fantastic chili from the Silver Palate Cookbook. The Silver Palate is one of those mainstay American cookbook classics held in high regard by those who were cooking up a storm in the ‘80s, or those of us who remember their moms doing so. (The most famous recipe to come from these pages was likely the Chicken Marbella, see Denise’s updated version here.) With the publication of the 25^th anniversary edition a few years back, the Silver Palate has earned a new set of fans looking for great food and tips for entertaining a crowd.

I first tasted this chili at a friend’s holiday party a few years back, where he was, in fact, hosting a huge crowd in his beautiful home. Served alongside plenty of different toppings (and next to a big bowl of vegetarian chili), it was clearly a huge hit. Meaty and oh-so-flavorful, I deeply fell in love with this chili, vowing to make it myself the next time I was hosting forty people.

Turns out, I can only fit about 8-10 friends in my small apartment, so I recently quartered the recipe and made Chili for a Small Crowd (I have included those quartered measurements below). Though the recipe calls for such different ingredients than I am accustomed to for chili (Dijon mustard, dill, parsley, lemon juice, sausage?), they all come together to create one of the best bowls of chili I have ever tasted. Try out this great recipe for yourself, and you and your crowd will surely agree!

Chili for a Crowd
Adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

Original recipe yields enough chili for 35-40 people (it’s for a CROWD, after all!). Quantities inside parentheses are quartered ingredients, and will serve 8-10 people.

Ingredients:

½ cup best-quality olive oil (1/8 cup)
1 ¾ pounds yellow onions, coarsely chopped (1/2 lb., approx. 2 small onions)
2 pounds sweet Italian sausage meat, removed from casings (1/2 pound)
8 pounds beef chuck, ground (2 pounds)
1 ½ tablespoons freshly ground black pepper (1 teaspoon)
2 cans, 12 ounces each, tomato paste (6 oz. can)
3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic (1 tablespoon, about 2 cloves)
3 ounces ground cumin (2 tablespoons)
4 ounces chili powder (3 tablespoons)
½ cup prepared Dijon-style mustard (1/8 cup)
4 tablespoons salt (1 tablespoon)
4 tablespoons dried basil (1 tablespoon)
4 tablespoons dried oregano (1 tablespoon)
6 cans (32 ounce) Italian plum tomatoes, drained (2 cans)
½ cup red wine (1/8 cup)
¼ cup lemon juice (1 tablespoon)
¼ cup dried dill (1 tablespoon)
½ cup chopped Italian parsley (2 tablespoons)
3 cans, 16 ounces each, dark red kidney beans, drained (1 {16oz} can)
4 cans, 5 ½ ounces each, pitted black olives, drained (1 can)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a very large, heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven. Add onions and cook over low heat, covered, until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes.
Crumble the sausage meat and ground beef into the pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until meats are well browned. Drain as much excess fat as possible.
Over low heat stir in black pepper, tomato paste, garlic, cumin, chili powder, mustard, salt, basil, oregano and dill.
Add drained tomatoes, red wine, lemon juice, dill, parsley and drained kidney beans. Stir well and simmer, uncovered for another 15 minutes.
With a large wooden spoon, break up the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Taste and correct seasoning. Add olives, simmer for another 5 minutes to heat through, and serve immediately.
Serve with an assortment of toppings, like shredded cheese, avocado, crushed corn chips, sliced green onions, sour cream, jalapenos, and this spicy jalapeno skillet corn bread. Enjoy!

All photos styled and taken by Shelby Larsson.

Eat Boutique is a site + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local and comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send a gift box of handmade food today.

Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding

Shelby Larsson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:49:44 +0000

I made a new baking discovery last weekend. As I sat inside, cozy and warm, watching the snow fall (finally!), I had the urge to whip up something delicious. Looking through my rather bare cabinets, I briefly lamented that the season would not lend itself to a pretty tart brimming with fresh strawberries or blueberries, but I also knew that type of summery dessert would not serve to satisfy my snow day cravings.

Nope, I needed something a bit heartier, and I found the answer: bread pudding, made with bananas and a heavy splash of bourbon. And with that, I think I might have found the perfect mid-winter dessert.

If this recipe looks a bit familiar, it’s because I used the same basic framework from my Blueberry Bread Pudding last summer. As I said then, I thought it would be a great base for future seasonal interpretations, suggesting that it would be fantastic with apples and warming spices in the fall, which I completely forgot to do. (I will NOT make the same mistake next October!) Happily, this winter version popped into my head, and I have been enjoying the fruits of my labor all week long.

Rich, smooth, and studded with banana, this simple dessert was a very welcome treat on a cold and snowy day. I wasn’t the only one who thought so—every time I went to sneak a slice, it was clear that others had been there first.

Did I mention that the recipe includes bourbon?

Try topping it with vanilla ice cream, a bourbon caramel sauce (there I go again), warm maple syrup (a breakfast treat?), or drizzled with hot fudge. Enjoy!

Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

1 loaf of brioche or challah bread, torn into pieces (about 4-5 cups)
2 cups milk
2 cups cream
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons Bourbon
½ teaspoon cinnamon
3 bananas, sliced
1 tablespoon butter, to coat the dish

Topping Ingredients:

¼ cup raw (turbinado) sugar*
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Gently heat the cream, milk, sugar and salt in a heavy bottomed pot until it is just about to boil. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, mix together the eggs, vanilla, bourbon and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon in a large bowl.
Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture, stirring constantly so that the eggs don’t scramble. Add the torn bread pieces and the banana slices to the custard and toss together well.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter a large baking dish (mine was about 9 ½ inches round with tall 2 inch sides)**
Pour the bread pudding mixture into the dish. Sprinkle the pudding with the cinnamon and raw sugar mixture. Cover the pudding with foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the center is set.
Remove the foil and cook for another 25-30 minutes, or until the pudding is set in the center. At the very end, put the pudding under the broiler for another 1-2 minutes to crisp up the top. Let the pudding sit for at least a half hour before serving.

* If you only have regular white sugar, that’s fine. The raw sugar creates a better crunchy crust, but it is not a big enough difference to deter you from making this recipe!

** The pudding puffed up a great deal while baking, I would recommend using a large baking dish, and putting a baking sheet underneath to catch any wayward pudding.

All photos styled and taken by Shelby Larsson.

Preserved Lemon Cocktail

Denise Woodward & Laudalino Ferreira — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:31:25 +0000

When Maggie reached out last week to see if we would be interested in sampling a preserved lemon syrup from Morris Kitchen, the polite thing to do was say, YES! I have been dying to get an opportunity to introduce Morris Kitchen to our liquor cabinet, ever since reading about their spicy ginger syrup. Visions of spicy cocktails are still swirling around my head.

Morris Kitchen is the brain child behind brother and sister duo, Tyler and Kari Morris. They believe the same thing we do; the best food is fresh and local. Tyler has been cooking in kitchens, from Sonoma all the way to New Year, for the past thirteen years. Kari has a background in art but is savvy around the restaurant business, as well. Together, they knew what was missing from the foodie scene, a simple syrup made with innovative flavors such as ginger and preserved lemon.

When I read about the hints of cardamon and pink peppercorn that would be in a bottle of preserved lemon syrup, I instantly thought of Mezcal. It did seem a little odd to break out Mezcal in the middle of “winter”, but what the heck, it’s fun to be a little dangerous in the kitchen. I found some gorgeous Mary Ellen limes at the market, and I plucked some Meyer Lemons from our yard, I just knew they would be a great addition, and off I went. As soon as I unscrewed the cap to the syrup, I could smell sunshine. Slightly floral with a hint of the sea. I really enjoyed the subtle taste of salt that lingered on my tongue after the first sample; there would be no need to salt the rims of our glasses. The smoky Mezcal was perfect with salty citrus; slightly tart and slightly salty. It was a perfect marriage: sweet Mary Ellen limes holding hands with smokey Mezcal.

Nice way to spend a lazy Saturday; don’t you agree?

Preserved Lemon Cocktail
Makes two cocktails

Ingredients:

4 ounces of Meyer Lemon Juice
2 ounces of Mary Ellen Lime Juice (or use regular limes)
3 ounces Mezcal
1 ounce Morris Kitchen Preserved Lemon Syrup
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Ice
Lemon slices, for garnish

Directions:

Juice fresh lemons and limes for this cocktail; makes a huge difference.
In a shaker, filled 1/4 of the way with ice cubes, add all ingredients. Shake like crazy.
Pour over ice in a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon slice.
Serve. Drink.

All photos styled and shot by Denise Woodward.

Eat Boutique is blog + market that celebrates the best pure, local + comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Order a gift box of food today.

Valentine’s Day Food Gifts

Maggie Battista — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:49:39 +0000

Relationships are difficult. And they get only more complicated around the month of February, mais oui?

My February holds two trips: a week in New York City and the start of a three-week trip to Paris. I also have a big birthday that, due to travel plans, will be spent away from my husband. Yes… I never get any sympathy for anything said after the word “Paris.”

While I don’t blame you, I can offer that this Paris trip will be different: I’ll be returning with souvenirs and I’ll tell you more about them soon… but let’s enjoy a Paris interlude, courtesy of choice photos from a Paris-New York friend?

So as if my schedule can take yet another blow, there’s the sometimes adored, sometimes depressing, always feared Valentine’s Day. After years working at a dating website and then in the floral design world, I would expect the magic of February 14th to be lost on me. But as long as I approach the “holiday” as a non-holiday, just another day of the year to say “I love you,” it’s all good. It’s even better when there’s food. And when the food is handmade by small business, well, then maybe we can really think of it as magical.

Be My (Big) Valentine Gift Box

Be My (Sweet) Valentine Gift Box

Be My (Hip) Valentine Gift Box

Last year, we sold out of our Valentine’s Day gift boxes of handmade food. A little publication announced them to the world and they were snatched up in what felt like seconds. This year, I wanted to launch them a few weeks early, to give you time to pre-order a gift box (or ten) for all your lovers or loved ones.

We tried to thoughtfully craft two different boxes full of flavors I know I want to enjoy right now: warm caramels, all sorts of bright citrus flavors, a bit of nuttiness and a touch of spice. There’s a little chocolate too – because just a little is perfect – especially in the form of chocolate pate de fruit. And when you put the items from both gift boxes together into a crafty larger one, well, that’s a big box of love that a couple can enjoy for days and weeks.

These three boxes are packed with love, with a hand-written card, and available until they sell out. All orders will be shipped in time to arrive to their destination by Valentine’s Day. Essentially, you place your order and then leave the rest to us!

Thank you, in advance, for your order. I promise we’ll take good care of it! I also promise to share more about those Paris souvenirs soon… until then, a couple more pretty Paris shots…

All gift box photos taken by Heidi Murphy/White Loft Style and the Paris photos were taken by karigee.

Eat Boutique is an online magazine + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local and comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send a gift box of handmade food today.

Winter Salad, Miso & Ginger Dressing

Jill Chen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:08:15 +0000

KALE is one of the most nutrient-rich leafy green you could ever eat, and we’ve been eating this super food every which way possible, all in an effort to take better care of our body and soul in 2012. When Maggie asked me to do a post on a winter salad, I knew it had to be kale.

Not only is kale a winter-hardy veggie to grow in your backyard (yes! it will survive winter with very little help), we are even growing kale “micro-greens” and sprouts indoors.

Sorry for the slight detour, but it’s so great to be puttering in my “garden” while it’s snowing outside. Who needs to wait till spring to be growing fresh greens again?

Now back to the salad… Cut your kale into bite-size pieces. Be sure to trim off the tough center stem (and feed it to your critters).

Thinly slice a small radicchio and finely chop half of a shallot.

Shred a large carrot and cut up a blood orange. I love citrus in a salad; look at that color! Toss it all in a large salad bowl then make your dressing.

This dressing is creamy, rich and big on flavor. Combine equal parts of tahini, miso paste (I used red, but you can use any kind), and ginger syrup. We’ve been loving the ginger syrup from Eat Boutique’s gift box (thank you, Maggie!). If you don’t have, then substitute with honey and a bit of grated fresh ginger instead.

Add a little water and a squeeze of citrus to thin it down to a thick pourable consistency. Wasabi almonds found in the back of my fridge added a nice crunch to this salad.

This winter salad is heavier than your typical light green summer salad. It is chewy, “meaty” and hearty enough to be a main meal, or a perfect side to grilled salmon or chicken. This would be phenomenal in a fish taco with some fresh cilantro thrown in.

Winter Salad with Miso & Ginger Dressing

Ingredients:

1 small bunch of kale
1 small radicchio
1 small shallot
1 large carrot
1 blood orange
Sprinkle of almonds

Dressing (start off with 1 heaping tablespoon of each):

1 part miso paste
1 part tahini
1 part ginger syrup (or honey with 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger)
Water and squeeze of citrus juice to thin

Directions:

Wash, slice, chop and trim your salad ingredients and place in salad bowl.
In a small bowl, thoroughly mix dressing ingredients together, adding a squeeze or two of citrus juice, and water to thin to a thick pourable consistency. Pour over the salad, toss and serve.

All photos styled and photographed by Jill Chen.

Eat Boutique is an online magazine + market for food enthusiasts to celebrate the best pure, local + comforting handmade foods. We call it: food that hugs you back. Looking for the perfect gift? Eat Boutique sells gift boxes filled with handmade sweet and savory treats. Send a gift box of handmade food today.

Eat Boutique Editorial Planning

Shelby Larsson — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:59:17 +0000

Do your meeting agendas typically include time set aside for gossip, socializing, and afternoon tea featuring espresso and clementine panna cotta? Mine don’t either, unless, of course, I’m at Eat Boutique headquarters for a full day of editorial planning.

Maggie and I started these planning sessions slowly, months and months ago. Over glasses of wine in Boston or Cambridge, we would excitedly blurt out ideas for Eat Boutique, scribbling them down on napkins before we forgot them, which is easy to do when you jump from topic to topic in a stream of consciousness blur.

Realizing that we were a great editorial planning team, we began to get a bit more organized, planning ahead for these marathon sessions by putting aside entire weekend afternoons and bringing in edible reinforcements. But it still wasn’t enough. So earlier this month we planned to spend the majority of a Saturday together, thinking about the first few months of 2012 for Eat Boutique.

Armed with an enormous chalkboard, lots of colorful chalk, coffee, and tea, we set about draining out brains and planning out the Eat Boutique editorial schedule through April. We thought our readers and friends might get a kick of seeing a few images from that day, and perhaps you might be interested in getting a tiny glimpse behind the Eat Boutique curtain. As always, if there is something YOU want to see here, we want to hear from you!

All photos taken by Maggie Battista.

Cookbook Conference, Part 1

Maggie Battista — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:05:19 +0000

I love cookbooks. Like so many of you, I harbor hundreds of them, a trove of gems, each sparkling and shiny and waiting to be my next gleefully consumed novel. They sort of call out to me from my shelf, like a pretty vintage handbag that surprises me each time I dig it out from the back of my closet.

Some of my cookbooks are handed down from previous generations, thank goodness for a mother-in-law that saved everything. I have an original 1969 copy of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook held together with some grey electrical tape, and a 1971 print of Playboy’s Host and Bar Book which is kind of more than a little sexy, filled with quick cocktail recipes (quick = my favorite kind) and photos that would be considered quite hipster today.

So I love cookbooks. And I knew that when the Eat Boutique Local Markets finally got into full swing, cookbooks just had to be involved somehow. It just makes sense to have people who craft amazing food and people who create amazing books about food in the same space. I guess it felt right to you too, because you came, you bought and you left with signed books from some great local authors.

Thank you for that, really. The cookbook authors thank you too.

But what did come as a surprise was how the authors and publishers have embraced our little event. And now I’m invited to participate on a panel at next month’s Cookbook Conference. Believe me, I’m still rubbing my eyes in disbelief. I’ll be in the same room as Judith Jones, Melissa Clark, Barbara Fairchild, Dorie Greenspan, Amanda Hesser, Molly O’Neill, and so many others. Did I mention that I’m still rubbing my eyes?

I’ll be sure to share a conference recap and specifically how the “Working with Bloggers” panel unfolds. I’ll be in New York City next month, probably freaking out, so pass me a cocktail to ease my nerves and wish me luck!

By the way, Harvard Common Press is sponsoring three scholarships to the Future of the Cookbook case study on Thursday, which means a free ticket for a few lucky folks. Spread the word.

The lead photo was taken by Heidi Murphy/White Loft Style. The two wide open cookbooks were shot by Wendi Dunlap. The photos in the center montage were taken by Kristen Bonardi Rapp and shinzui.

Holiday Local Market Recap

Maggie Battista — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:23:06 +0000

Wow, it’s hard to believe that our Holiday Local Market was last month. On December 10th, more than 600 of you enjoyed handmade food samples and carefully chose from all those special items for holiday gifts. All the food makers were so pleased to meet you – thank you for spending time with us, tasting all those treats and for making us believe that there’s a special place in your hearts for small-batch handmade food!

As we craft our Spring Local Market and our Summer events calendar, it’s perfect timing to gather your thoughts, both in general and very specifically about our last Local Market. We need your feedback to make our event(s) exceptional. Would you mind filling in our Local Market Survey? (It’ll take 5-7 minutes, promise!)

While you fill it in, we’ll show you some pretty photos from our Holiday Local Market. Heidi Murphy of White Loft Style was on hand to take old-fashioned actual film photographs of the event and she did a lovely job. I hope they depict a pretty story of our wonderful day.

Just a quick last note: Many of you have been sending our gift boxes as well wishes for the new year. In fact, some of you have emailed directly requesting custom gift boxes crafted for someone special. We’re always happy to create a personal mash-up of handmade food items just for you, so please email us anytime!

All photos taken by Heidi Murphy/White Loft Style.