So a big suprise came in the mail today. Well I suppose its not really a suprise if you know its coming, but I got in my Bertolli kit like the one yall are playing for. I was super excited!! The ladle is made by Crate and Barrel and has a reinforced and sturdy handle while being suprisingly light. So I love it!! And the coupons are for free frozen soup meals. It was suprisingly quick to get here too. So it should come to the winner quick.
Are you getting excited? Are you nervous? Well here are the standings so far:
1st Eddy 14pts
2nd Bobbie 12pts
3rd Ashley 10pts
4th Veronica* 9pts
5th Melinda* 6pts
*these people have a pass and will be submitting their answers late.
So here we are on the final day of the contest. I hope that everyone has had at least a smidgeon of fun during this process. I have thoroughly enjoyed this, but then again I am in the position of the giver and the one in charge. And thats always fun! So today's questions are going to focus on me. And yes it is a little egotistical, but hey that's life. lol! I thought about asking questions based on me because it might help broaden the gap between the leaders. And since there may be people playing that do not know me as well as my husband or immediate family I am only asking things that can be found throughout my blog. It's only fair that way. So here's to hoping for a great sprint to the end!! If all the answers are in before the deadline then I will go ahead and announce the winner. If not then I shall do it on Saturday morning.
1. I frequent an online spice site for most of my spice needs; what is the name of that site?
2. What TV show is my favorite, culinary wise?
3. There are lots of cannoli recipes out there but I have only ever used one recipe. Where did I get that recipe?
4. What is the key to a good broth only type soup?
Well there you have it. Questions are over and now it is your turn to take the baton and finish the race. May the best person win!!
I will not be posting the answers to yesterdays questions today. Two people playing were detained in other matters and could not answer, so I am allowing them to submit their answers to me later. And for that reason I will not post the answers. But I believe the ones who did answer, I sent you a private message to let you know how many you got and what the correct answers were. But heres how the scores shape up
Tied for first: Veronica and Bobbie 9pts
Tied for 3rd: Eddy* and Ashley 7pts
5th Melinda* 6 pts
*these two will be submitting their answers later
It looks like I stumped you pretty good yesterday. Sometimes it is hard for me to realize that not everyone loves food like I love food. And even if they do love food, they do not follow it as enthusiatically as I do. Ah the price you pay when you have a passion!
So what would a Bertolli giveaway be without questions on Italian food? And I LOVE Italian food. Pasta, sauces, tiramisu, braised meat in red wine, braciole, its all delicious!! And I think I have an aptitude for it too. So why not do questions on something Im pretty good at?
1. Who is considered to be the Queen of Italian cuisine in America (it is not the obvious answer)?
2. Meatballs seem to be a staple in the Italian genre of food. But where did they originate?
3. When using tomatoes in sauces what is the best kind to use?
4. Name 3 common dried beans in Italian cooking.
5. What is the name of the popular Italian festival in America, most notably NYC?
So good luck to all and I hope that you are enjoying this as much as I am!
So yesterdays questions were kind of easy I see! Well its gonna take a smartie to get these right! The answers were elbow, fusilli/rotini, bucatini, farfalle/bowtie, gemelli. I accepted both rotini and fusilli because you couldnt determine length from the picture and thats what differentiates the two. So heres our standings!
1st Veronica 8pts
tied for 2nd Bobbie and Eddy 7 pts
4th Melinda 6pts
5th Ashley 5pts
Its a close race so this may break someone away or may break your all! HAHA!!
There are lots of famous chefs out there these days. Some in the public eye that are known worldwide. For example there is Rachel Ray, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, etc. Most of these people are seen daily on the Food Network. But there are others that are not on Food Network and are known in the chef world, Eric Ripert, Thomas Keller, Wylie Dufresne, etc. Then there are some that are known because they were innovators like Julia Child. I love a range of these chefs and their styles of cooking. I love others that are not completely on everyone's spectrum like Rick Bayless who is the authority on Mexican cuisine in America. Then theres Hubert Keller who has a background in French food but owns the famous Burger Bar in Las Vegas. There is Anthony Bourdain with his quirky sense of humor and demeanor on his show on the Travel Channel. Roy Yamaguchi and his Hawaiian/Asian style food (BTW I have eaten at one of his restaurants and did not leave unhappy!!) But my all time favorite person has to be Jacques Pepin. I adore this 75 year old Frenchman. So todays questions will center on some of the chefs that are famous in their own rite and adored by me. Everyone has their favorites so feel free to let me know who your favorites are! Oh and I do not expect you to forgo using a search engine on these. I designed them specifically with that in mind!!
1. What are Jacques Pepin's prized culinary possessions?
2. Anthony Bourdain in one of his books endorses the best Chef's knife. Name that knife brand.
3. According to Roy Yamaguchi there is a culinary landmark in the city of Honolulu that still exists today. Name that landmark.
4. Julia Child was hot stuff when her book hit shelves but before she was "Julia Child" she wasn't a good cook and ate rather typical American style meals. She states at least 3 typical Sunday meals growing up in California. Give me one of those Sunday meals (mostly looking for the protein/meat).
5. Wylie Dufresne may be relatively unknown to most of you. He is a chef in the realm of molecular gastronomy. There was a discussion among Wylie and a few other chefs on the topic of ingredient driven food. According to others this means taking 3-4 really good ingredients and doing as little as possible to them. Wylie calls this something else. What does he call this?
Well it looks like there are only 4 people playing so every point counts! Hope everyone enjoyed day one. I realized I made a mistake in working on #1 which resulted in the next two questions getting wrong. I amended the question and gave you a chance to re-do your answer. However, only one person came up with the one I was looking for. The current spokesperson is Fabio Viviani and he was on Top Chef. His foundation is Firenze4Kids. Everyone got Fransesco Bertolli and he started in Lucca, Italy. The 5 herbs some people got them all and some people missed just one. They were Basil. mint, parsley, chives, and dill. Not my favorites, but they didnt ask me now did they?? So heres how everyone stands.
1st: Bobbie 4pts
2nd: Veronica 3pts
tied for 3rd: Melinda and Eddy 2pts
There is still plenty of time for scores to change so keep the faith!! I had hoped for some more people to join in our little games, but it is what it is. So if yall are still up for it, I will continue on with our game!!
Todays center on pasta! I adore pasta in all shapes and sizes. I do not think I have met a pasta I did not like. I could eat it every day in fact. And I know you might say I would get tired of pasta all the time, but no I genuinely think I could do it. But man what kind of weight would I gain?? So don't dare me to....ok? Lol! Well pasta is easier to do when you see pictures, so today you shall look at pictures and identify them. This also makes it a little harder to google! That's right.....I am conniving!! On that note...here we go!
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So here we are, day one. And I wanted to go back over the format of the week. I will be giving a couple of questions per day on a particular subject. I thought it would help to spread out the scores a little more with mutliple questions rather than one a day. These questions will be harder than you would expect due to the fact it is a google kind of world. Each question right will be counted as one point. I will do my best to keep a running tally of who is playing and their scores. I have also decided to accept answers on facebook. If you do not have a google account and do not want to create a google account just to play some little contest, then you can always post on facebook. I will post this blog every day on facebook. I will accept answers for the days questions until midnight Central time. The person with the most points at the end of the week will be the winner of the Bertolli giveaway. Bertolli was kind enough to give me one as well, although it has not come in the mail yet. When it comes I am going to try the meals and post a review on my blog. Figured I could give some love to Bertolli! This giveaway in case you have forgotten is:
-stainless steel soup ladle
-4 tasting coupons for the new frozen soup line
What better way to kick off the week contest than to start with the company who is providing the gift, Bertolli.
In case you are curious about learning more about Bertolli you can click here. So without further delay, here we go! Good luck to all!!
1. Who is the spokesperson for the Bertolli company?
** It has come to my attention that there are multiple people that could fill this answer. I am looking for the most current spokesperson**
2. What famous show was this spokesperson on?
3. What foundation is this person setting up?
4. Who was the original founder/owner of the Bertolli company?
5. Where was this person originally from (city, country)?
6. According to Bertolli there are five herbs every chef loves, what are the five herbs?
Good luck to everyone playing!! Hope we have a fun week of food!!
So last nights dinner was Bahn Mi. This is a Vietnamese style pork sandwich. The very first time I saw the recipe I fell in love and after making it, I was not disappointed. I have since made it several times and for various people. They all seem to enjoy it. I got a hankering for pork tenderloin and this recipe popped in my head and I realized I hadnt made a post about this and that is a crime against food humanity! So now I will share with you a wonderful and different type of sandwich that will impress all of your friends and family. And to be honest it is so simple.
Recipe:
1 pork tenderloin
chili garlic sauce*
1 pkg broccoli slaw
1 radish, sliced thin
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
2-3 green onions, sliced thin
bean sprouts
1/2c apple cider or red wine vinegar
1t sugar
1t salt
1/2c mayo
6 sub rolls or large french baguette cut into 4-6inch lengths
*Chili garlic sauce is exactly what you think it is, a blend of chilies and garlic into a paste that can be rubbed on meats, placed in skillets and cooked with, added to mayo for a spicy condiment...it is a great little sauce to have on hand. I prefer the Lee Kum Kee brand the best. But sometimes you buy what you can find!
Season your tenderloin with salt and rub chili garlic sauce all over the pork. Place your pork tenderloin on a pan lines with foil and cook at 325 degrees for about an hour or until cooked through. Remove from oven and let rest. You could even do this step the night before and place in the fridge until ready to slice.
Slice the meat into 1/2inch thick medallions.
Place in a skillet and if you like heat, add some more chili garlic sauce to each medallion as it heats up. Remove from pan and place all medallions on a plate.
Place vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together to mix. Add your broccoli slaw and sliced radishes. This needs to marinate 30 minutes to 3 hours before you are ready to eat. Cover and place in fridge until ready to assemble.
Mix 1/2c mayo and 1t chili garlic sauce in a small bowl. Mix together well and cover and place in fridge.
Now that everythings prepped and ready to go, you are ready to assemble your awesome sandwich!!
Take your bread and cut it in half, if its not already done. Then slather with chili garlic mayo. Layer in some slices of pork tenderloin medallions. Then top with pickled broccoli slaw, cucumber slices, green onions, and bean sprouts. Try your best to shut the sandwich and enjoy!!
I hope that everyone enjoys this sandwich as much as we do. I didnt have cucumber so I used the bean sprouts only. You just want to cooling crunch from those items to counterbalance the heat from the chili garlic sauce. Asian style food is a good combination of heat, sour, sweet, crunch, soft, color. And I think this sandwich enbodies all of that. So try something different with that pork tenderloin in your freezer and get out of your own food rut.
So hopefully by now yall are intrigued and interested in winning this Bertolli giveaway. But perhaps you are wondering what you are going to have to do. And I have finally decided. It is not fair to have someone cook something and send a picture for me to judge. Some of you dont cook all that much due to time, just the one of you, energy, or youre just not good....no one I know of course :)....so I have devised a series of questions to be answered. And since it would not be fair for the first one to answer to win with people ranging across time zones and varying schedules, so we are going to do a week of questions. Each correct answer will result in a point and the person with the most points at the end of the week will win the giveaway. I am going to make the questions relatively hard since this is the age of Google and I am sure you will all use it to gain an answer. In the event of a tie I will have a tie breaker to determine the winner. I will submit your address to the Bertolli company and they will mail out your giveaway.
