Category: Contests

Cooking With PAMA… Chestnut Stuffed Sesame Pork Chops with PAMA Balsamic Reduction

Did you miss me? I missed you. Not having a computer is unfathomable. And to top that off the car has been in shop for a week. No computer, no car, no man ( Certain Someone is away again) makes for a very bad time. But I’ve been cooking up a storm , so I cant wait to post. I want to thank my good friend Kat for fixing my antiquated computer circa 2005 and ridding it of all the bad guys. Its brutal out there is cyber space. Get checked people!

Anyway I was fortunate enough to receive a sample of PAMA Liqueur. I have had my eye on this spirit for while . I was asked to create a recipe as November is National Pomegranate Month!

Did you know that November is National Pomegranate Month? At the peak of their growing season, pomegranates are the perfect fall fruit. Packed with powerful anti-oxidants and Vitamin C, this super fruit is not only delicious but has even boasts proven health benefits, such as the prevention of anti-aging signs and heart disease. Make a toast to this amazing super fruit with PAMA, the first true pomegranate liqueur. This liqueur truly captures the essence of all-natural pomegranates with their complex, sweet yet tart taste and seductive ruby color. Made from all natural pomegranate juice, premium vodka and a touch of imported tequila, this liqueur is highly mixable and incredibly versatile.

Rather than reinvent the wheel with a cocktail or dessert, I decided to adapt my PAMA to a savory meat based dish inspired by Fall. There are elements of Asian fusion in here with the spices and use of Sesame. The dish went over well and is one I can see myself serving at an elegant dinner again. Enjoy.I will also enter this into the Cooking with Pama Contest. Just made the deadline!

Chestnut Stuffed Sesame Pork Chops with PAMA Balsamic Reduction

Balsamic Reduction

3/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 inch peeled ginger cut into pieces

2 tbsp brown sugar

3 whole allspice

1 clove

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 cup PAMA Liqueur

Additional Ingredients

2 Butterflied Pork Chops

1/2 onion chopped

5-6 chestnuts chopped

Fresh sage leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup Sesame Seeds to crust

1 egg white

In a small sauce pan bring Balsamic vinegar , brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, clove, and ginger to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Add PAMA and continue to reduce. Strain Mixture and set aside to cool. Pour into a squeeze bottle.

Make a stuffing of chestnuts , onion, a few leaves of fresh torn sage, slat and pepper to taste. Take your butterflied pork chops and add a few tablespoons of mixture.

Seal Pork chops with toothpicks at 1/2 inch intervals. This will prevent the stuffing from spilling out when baking.

Season chops with salt and pepper. Carefully brush the edges of the chops with egg whites and dip into a plate of sesame seeds.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a oven proof pan, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil. Sear Pork chops for a few minutes on each side( being careful not to brush the sesame crusted edges). Place in preheated oven and bake for 40-50 minutes or until internal temperature of 160.

Plate with a few decorative squeezes of Pama Balsamic on plate and over meat.

Mojito Cookies for Sugar Cookie Competition

Last year I entered the Pastry Chicago Sugar Cookie Competition. Of course this year I vowed to compete again. One day I will place and win. The theme of this years competition is citrus. Naturally lime or lemon curds came to mind. But Brainstorming one day while having a mojito, I thought how can incorporate this into a cookie? I traded some ideas with my Twitter sis Kayce and the basis for the Mojito cookie was conceived. The secret is the Mojito gelee.

The gelee recipe makes a large quantity but you can use the leftovers served in cubes and rolled in sugar like pate de fruit.

Mojito Cookies

Mojito Gelee
2/3 cups of key lime juice (approx 1 lb of key limes)
2 1/2 cups sugar , reserve 1/2 cup for later
2 cups water
3/4 oz fresh mint (1 package)
1 package Pomona’s Universal Pectin
1/3 cup Rum
Combine key lime juice, 2 cups of the sugar, and water into a heavy bottomed sauce pan.Bring to boil. Turn off heat. Add fresh mint and allow to steep and infuse for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, strain liquid from mint. Add back to saucepan. Bring to boil. While waiting to boil, prep Pomana’s Universal Pectin according to package( you will use the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar to mix with dry Pectin). Add the Pectin and calcium water(activates Pectin) from package,to the boiling lime sugar mixture, stirring constantly until dissolved and well mixed. The mix will be very thick due to the ratios .Cook for a few minutes and remove from heat. Stir in Rum.Pour into a baking sheet or cake pan. Let cool until room temperature, and place in the refrigerator to chill until solid.
Cookie
1/2 lb Plugra European style butter or 16 tbsp
2/3 cup Confectioners sugar
1 tsp Nielson Massey Vanilla Powder
1 tsp granulated sugar
Zest of 2 Key Limes
1 1/4 cups All Purpose King Arthur Flour flour
*green food coloring gel optional
*green sugar optional
In a stand mixer beat butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla, zest and granulated sugar until fluffy. Gradually add flour. The dough will be crumbly but soft and buttery. With your hands finish mixing, forming into a solid ball. At this point with a wooden skewer you can spot the dough with green gel color and marbleize the dough. Do not over knead.You can either chill dough for 1 hour at this point to make rounds, or pipe straight away for star shaped cookies.
Preheat oven to 350F.
On a parchment lined baking sheet take a walnut sized piece of rounded dough or pipe, and indent with your thumb to create a well. You can then flatten the edges with a fork to refine shape. Repeat and space cookies apart by 1 inch. Take your Mojito Gelee and add approx 1/8-1/2 tsp of gelee into indentation. Sprinkle green sugar over the gelee pat of cookie. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden and gelee starts to bubble.
Announcements:
Be sure to visit the new photo blog of Certain Someone and myself,Cocos Eye. Just visual and not much words from all over the world.
I have a winner for the Un Constipated Gourmet Giveaway! Anne of Annes Food. Send me you address and its yours!

The Real Housewives Cocktail Contest Roundup

I’m finally getting a chance to post the roundup for the Real Housewives Cocktail contest. I’m on vacation right now and attending Pastry Camp( all Chocolate ) at the French Pastry School Chicago. Can I just say I am am having the best time and this course is changing my life. Literally! Stay tuned for some Glamh-a-rous pastries coming.

So back to the purpose of this post. Unfortunately I didn’t get many entries. But they were all stellar! I did try to get prizes for the actual housewives and husbands to no avail. But I did find this great prize to give away to whomever wins the poll,The Williams and Sonoma Bar and Wine Guides. A great set of books for any bar.
Judy from No Fear Entertaining gave us this fabu CelloRita. A sinful yet refreshing concoction go Limoncello and Tequila inspired by the Barneys from Orange County.

Chris from Mele Cotte was obviously inspired by the local flavor of peaches and those sassy Atlanta wives with Sheree’s Sassy Southern Stance.

Michelle from Big Black Dogs gave us the Red Patent Leather Swinger inspired by the most flamboyant honorary ‘housewife’, Simon. Need I say more?


And finally my cocktail The Countess’ Cherry Lime Gin Rickey. I will post mine in the polls, but naturally am not eligible for a prize.

On Twitter I got a great recipe from a non Food blogger, Nadiart inspired by the not one of Bravos Housewives, but a a more Desperate one Bree. Perfection in a glass. Rose Lemon Drop Martini in under 140 characters. She then advises how to garnish:

” it looks pretty garnished w/ rose petal, slice lemon & pinksugar rimmer – if I had the ingredients I’d make one and send u a photo”

So here are some great cocktails for the weekend. Enjoy and go vote for one on the left sidebar.

Real Housewives Cocktail Contest…The Countess’ Cherry Lime Gin Rickey


If I had to relate to anyone on Bravos Real Housewives franchise it would be the Countess. What can I say, she’s great, Like a tall glass of lemonade that keeps going even when life throws some merde her way and her cast mates aren’t always the most gracious. LuAnn gets a lot of flack in democratic America for supposedly flaunting her title. But come on, most people would. Some old Glamah lore is that I hung around a few titled folks in my Paris school days, and the allure is there no matter how nonchalant you try to be. Its fascinating when one can trace their families achievements and scandals for hundreds, even thousands of years.The Countess earned that title being the consummate wife while her Count was off wheeling and dealing for the most part. Another aspect I relate to heavily as Certain Someone spends a great amount of time away for his work.
I chose to make a Gin Based drink with the Countess as my muse.Gin has been produced commercially for over 400 years and goes well with fruit.When I think of Gin I think of Old Line, Class, and another era. Naturally I used Gordon’s which is by Appointment to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth , the grandest title of them all.I made the drink more fun and common with the addition of lime juice and cherries. I can see The Countess drinking this while watching the polo at Bridgehampton or even sitting by her pool as she plots out the next chapters of her life without the lowdown Count.So raise you glass to the housewife with the most class.
There is still time darlings to enter The Real Housewives Cocktail Contest. You have until June 20th!
(Absolutely no affiliation with Bravo TV, just good ole food blogging fun).

The Countess’ Cherry Lime Gin Rickey
*thanks to Kayce for the inspiration and advice
6 organic cherries pitted
Juice of 1 organic lime
1 shot glass of Gordon’s Gin
2 tablespoons of simple syrup
Crushed ice
Club Soda or Seltzer Water
Muddle the cherries, lime and simple syrup in a tall glass. Top with Crushed ice.Pour in Gin and top off with Club Soda. Garnish with a slice of lime.

Historical Trivia on the origin of the Countess title.

Pytt I Panna ( A Swedish Hash) with Marx Foods Elk Sausage


I love Marx Foods offerings and contests. Recently they asked for all bloggers to leave a comment on what they would do with their game sausage sampler. They would pick 11 lucky people and ship them a sausage variety from the sampler to create a recipe by June 5. Then the polls would open and the votes begin. I was hoping for the boar variety to make a timbale or sartu ,but I got the Elk with Pears and Port Wine. When I think of Elk, I think of Sweden where the consumption is huge. Elk is low in fat and cholesterol and perfect alternative for red meat eaters who need to watch those things.
My Certain Someone ,as most of regular readers know has a house in Sweden. One of his favorite dishes to make for his boys on Poker night is Pytt I Panna( Swedish Hash), which literally translates to” small things in a pan”.Of course he uses the frozen variety. Both the Swedes and Danes have their versions and there are really no rules for Pytt I Panna, except that it contains leftover meats, cubed potatoes, onion, and bacon. Pytt I Panna is then topped with a fried egg and garnished with pickled beets and gherkins. It may not look like much, but its good and hits the spot. A lot of people use the ready made frozen variety but I wanted to make mine from scratch and more home style. The Elk sausage, while not a traditional meat for this dish, was really good. Certain Someone would have liked my potatoes smaller, but really loved the sausage and his plate was cleaned. So whether you want a quick brunch, hangover cure, or simple meal at home with your friend and loved ones with lack of pretension, try this humble dish and enjoy.The Elk sausage really raises it up a level.

Home style Pytt I Panna with Elk Sausage
serves 4
3/4 lbs chopped smoked bacon( slab cut)
2 3/4 cups chopped onion or approx 1 &1/2 onion
4 Elk Sausage with Pear and Port wine, sliced in to 1 inch pieces
6 medium potatoes boiled with skin , and chopped small
salt and pepper to taste

Parsley chopped
4 eggs fried to garnish
Picked beets for garnish
Gherkins for garnish

In a large skillet, brown bacon . When bacon is halfway done, but not golden, add elk sausage and brown. Bacon and sausage will continue to cook until golden and done. Remove meats from the pan and set aside. At this point you want to save the oils from the sausage and bacon and leave in pan. Add the onions to the hot oil and start to saute. Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Toss and stir occasionally to cook evenly and brown a bit. When potatoes and onions are soft and well mixed , add the meats( bacon and elk sausage) and continue to cook to brown.
I an separate fry pan fry up your eggs for each serving. Plate the Pytt I Panna and top each serving with a friend egg. Garnish with beets and gherkins.