Archive for the ‘Kitchen/Tableware’ Category
Here’s a linguine recipe with a little extra salmon kick! While you can use charred, cooked, or baked salmon, smoked 
salmon tends to work best with this recipe.
Ingredients:
~8 oz. uncooked linguine pasta
~3 tbsp. melted butter
~3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
~1 tbsp. ground pepper
~2 tbsp. sea salt
~8 oz. smoked salmon
Directions:
First, you will want to cut your smoked salmon into bite-sized chunks. Over medium-high heat, cook your linguine pasta until it is soft, then drain and return to the pan to keep it warm. Add the butter and olive oil, and toss your pasta; season with pepper and a few cracks from one of your salt mills. Then add the salmon chunks and toss again. Plate the pasta and serve with pepper and salt as desired.
As its name suggests, prime rib is one of the most flavorful and popular cuts of meat. Here is a simple and delicious recipe for preparing classic roast prime rib.
12 lb. prime rib roast
2 tablespoon House Seasoning
Pan Sauce:
2 cups beef stock
sprig of fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoon Merlot Wine Steak Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Rub the roast with the House Seasoning. In a roasting pan, place the roast, fat side up, so the ribs act as a rack. Roast for 30 minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Continue to roast for 2 hours or until the internal temperature measured by a meat thermometer registers your desired doneness. Transfer to platter and let rest for 15 minutes.
While roast is resting, prepare pan sauce. Skim off the fat from the pan drippings. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and add the stock and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the Merlot Wine Steak Sauce. Add salt and pepper from one of your pepper mills to taste. Serve warm alongside the prime rib roast.
NOTE: Medium Rare 140 degrees F, Medium 150 degrees F, Well Done 160 degr
Losing weight doesn’t have to be a tortuous experience. It can be hard to give up our favorite fatty foods, but the process is made easier by developing a regular routine. The first step is to sever all ties with fast-food addiction. When you get out of work, just keep on driving past that beckoning neon sign. Make a stop at the grocery store and pick up some fresh ingredients.
Healthy dieting gives you the chance to reconnect with quality home cooking. Feel free to explore a number of exotic recipes; let your imagination guide you in your culinary endeavors. Most people assume that healthy food has to be bland and flavorless, but most herbs and spices have few, if any, calories. Explore a variety of new spices to discover flavor profiles for yourself—and if worse comes to worse; you can always breakout the traditional pepper mill.
When my in-laws invited my wife and me over for dinner last week, I was a bit apprehensive. Not that I don’t like her parents, it’s just that they have never invited us over for a meal they had prepared themselves. I致e heard horror stories from my wife about how horrible their cuisine was; so on the way there, I was already devising ways to conceal my contempt for the meal.
As it turned out, the food wasn’t horrible, but it certainly wasn’t something to write home about either. Everything was cooked adequately, but it was all rather bland and lacked basic seasoning. Of course, I raved about the meal and showered praise upon the chefs. However, I would like to help my in-laws improve their cooking while still being tactful. I think that for one of their birthdays I will buy them a Cilio pepper mill and salt mill, which will hopefully encourage them to be a bit more liberal with their spices.
Here is an excellent recipe for cranberry rice pudding; a sweet treat that isn’t too fattening.
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked medium grain rice
1 ½ cups water
2 tablespoons of orange peel
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ teaspoon salt from a salt mill
3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
Directions:
Combine rice, water, orange peel and salt in a saucepan. Heat until boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat, cover the saucepan, and let simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is gone. Removing the cover, increase the heat to medium-high and add sugar, milk, and dried cranberries. Heat until boiling, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cook until thick and creamy, 25 or so minutes, stirring occasionally. Wait to cool before eating.
Many people scour through supermarket shelves in search of products with low or no sodium, and with good reason. Too much sodium in a diet can cause dehydration and contribute to a myriad of health problems. However, there is another explanation as to why many people—including top chefs—prefer to stock their pantry and refrigerator with salt-free products.
Whether you’re baking, simmering, roasting or grilling, it is important to be able to control the salt content of your dishes, both for nutritional and flavor purposes. As the saying goes, “you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.” To that end, purchasing low or no salt products allows you to utilize your Cilio salt mill to achieve the perfect combination of seasonings.
Here is a recipe for a delicious toasted sandwich with a little bit of Italian inspiration. In addition to the ingredients, you will need a sandwich toaster or toaster oven.
Ingredients:
~2 slices of Italian bread
~Mozzarella Cheese
~Sliced Tomatoes
~Prosciutto
~Basil
~Sliced Red Pepper
~E.V.O.O. (extra virgin olive oil)
Directions:
First make the sandwich as you would any sandwich. Spreading a little butter on the inside of each slice of bread will make it a bit moister. Once you’ve created your sandwich, brush the outside of each piece of bread with the extra virgin olive oil. I like to add some salt and a few cracks from one of my pepper mills as well. Then, using your sandwich toaster, press the sandwich between the hot plates. Experiment with different ingredients for a taste best suited to your liking!
We all have those memories of arriving home from school just in time to taste those fresh-baked cookies mom made. Just the smell of baking cookies can bring you back to those childhood times. The first thing many of us did when we got home was to reach in the cookie jar to see if mom had made any treats. Store-bought cookies never taste as good as the ones made by a mom. Why not start baking your own homemade treats to share with friends and family? Many cookie recipes offer that homemade taste without the fuss. Here is a simple 
recipe for oatmeal cookies that you start with:
Traditional Oatmeal Cookies
~ ½ cup butter
~ ½ cup white sugar
~ ½ cup brown sugar
~ 1 egg
~ ½ tsp. vanilla
~ 1 cup flour
~ ½ tsp. baking powder
~ ½ tsp. baking soda
~ ½ tsp. salt from one of your salt mills
~ ¾ cup rolled oats
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugars. Blend in egg and vanilla. Then stir in the dry ingredients until well blended. Roll into balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Great food has a way of bringing a family even closer. A communal meal provides us with an excuse to get together and talk about the day’s accomplishments and activities. If it weren’t for dinnertime, we might find ourselves living among relative strangers. Pasta sauce recipes like the following marinara recipe are quick and convenient. They allow you to spend less time fussing around in the kitchen and more time catching up with your spouse and kids.
Ingredients:
2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt to taste
¼ tsp. ground black pepper from a Cilio pepper mill
6 Tsp. olive oil
1/3 cup finely diced onion
½ cup white wine
Directions:
1. Put tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Sauté onion in olive oil over medium heat, adding tomato sauce and white wine. Place bay leaf in mixture and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir regularly.
Deceptively simple in its preparation, pasta has been a cooking staple for centuries. Americans alone consume 14 pounds of pasta per year; imagine the vast quantities of spaghetti the Italians surely slurp. Few images say ”family” like a boiling pot of pasta in a busy kitchen.
We all think we know how to cook pasta. Believe it or not, there are a few basic techniques used to improve the taste and texture of pasta. Try adding a few cracks of sea salt from a salt mill to the pot to set up a tasty base for the succulent sauce. To anticipate the perfect consistency, do as the Italians do: test your pasta by tossing an occasional strand against the ceiling. If it sticks, you’re ready to dig in.