Blog Posts by FoodInspired

What you need:
2.5 cups -00- Fine Italian flour
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 to 1 cups warm water
1 tablespoon of good extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
Either a dough hook if using a stand mixer or a lot of your own hand power ;)

For the toppings, I use the following:
Dry Coppa (or any other salame of your choice)
Fresh Mozzarella Ball, 8oz package but you will need only 6oz (packaged in shrink-wrap, not water). It is great because it is fresh and light but will not water down your pizza and make it soggy
pinch of salt
and some red hot pepper flakes

I am using a mixer, so here it is...

Pour a 1/2 cup of warm water (about 100F, but no more, you want to be able to stick your finger in the water without burning yourself) into the mixer bowl and sprinkle the yeast and 1/4 cup of flour. Mix a little and let stand for 5 minutes until the mixture starts to bloom and create bubbles. Add an additional 1/4 cups of

Quail eggs are something of a delicacy. They are very small (and hard to peel when boiled and too easy to break when they are raw) but the flavor is superb!

For this recipe for 2 people, you will need a dozen fresh quail eggs
1/4 teaspoon of minced fresh dill
a tablespoon of diced Fresh Swiss cheese (you don't need a lot, but you can certainly use more)
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper
a tablespoon of water or milk

Preparation:
Break the quail eggs into a bowl, but be very careful as the inner membrane is hard to break through and the shell is very fragile. I hold the eggs between the two fingers and tap it with a sharp knife (being careful not to tap my own fingers). It seems to work without getting the shell everywhere (no one wants a shell in their omelette). Then wisk the eggs with water or milk, add a pinch of salt and cayenne, add cheese and dill, wisk to combine.

Preheat a non-stick pan on a medium heat (8 inch), add a drizzle of oilve oil and gently pour the

Summer is upon us and it brings a bounty of wonderful delicious fruit and berries. They are full of flavor, juice, and vitamins. This smoothie will refresh you.

What you will need:
2 cups of freshly frozen berries (use strawberries, sliced peaches or nectarines, blueberries, bananas, rasberries, pitted cherries in any flavor combination that you want). If you usually don't freeze your own fruit/berries, buy a bag what you like or freeze a batch a night before. One regular sized store bought bag is usually 2 cups of fruit.
1 cup of Vanilla Soy Milk (you can use Very Vanilla Soy Milk or any other milk that you prefer, like Almond, Hemp, Oat, or use a regular milk)
If using regular milk, add a quarter to a half of teaspoon of vanilla extract for a warm welcoming flavor
Blend to perfection and sip or spoon away!

If you prefer exotic, I suggest that you add a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh basil and a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh mint when you blend. It will add a depth of

Recently I was browsing the shelves at my local grocery store and I stumbled upon a Teriyaki sause. I thought that it will be a lovely ingredient for my simple Asian inspired dish that doesn't take a lot of time or effort.

For this recipe I chose to use Arctic Char, however, you can use chicken, beef, tofu, or any other fish you want. I also chose to use Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste & Glaze with Honey & Pineapple because it is almost syrupy which sticks well to the meats (or tofu) when baked and creates a lovely crust if you use broiler.

Arctic Char is the Cousin of the trout. The flesh is mild, tender, and a bit sweeter than salmon. Although it looks like salmon it is not the same. It is also a sustainably farmed fish, so if you are looking for something new and still want it to be environmentally friendly, this is a good choice. The fish isn't cheap (but is is worth every penny) and it is usually available at the better food markets (like Whole Foods).

What you will

Minestrone is one of the classic Italian soups. It is thick and rich and because it has no set recipe you can adjust it per your taste. Typically this soup includes vegetables in season, some type of meat, beans and sometimes includes pasta like orzo or rice.

Below is the recipe from my home to your table, but feel free to substitute ingredients to make it your own.

What you will need:
1 medium carrot - diced
1 large celery stalk - diced
if you like onions: 1 small white or yellow onion - diced, since we don't eat onions in my family, I used quarter of a medium sweet bell pepper (orange, but you can use red, yellow or green), all diced
2 table spoons of really good extra virgin olive oil
1/4 to 1/3 ground turkey (I used all ground, but you can use breast ground meat or chicken or ground lean beaf 8% fat or less). If you want vegetarian version, use 1/4 cup of orzo pasta (it looks like rice but it is pasta), or use rice.
1 can cannelini beans -

What you will need:
Your favorite brand of Capellini pasta (also known as Angel Hair), it cooks up in 6 minutes
6-8 Jumbo Pink Shrimp (or Tiger Shrimp), peeled, cleaned and deveined
2-4 pieces of Large Scallops
1/2 pounds of well cleaned mussles (make sure to scrub them and remove the "beard" the part of the mussle that attaches itself to the side of the dock/rock so that the tide doesn't sweep it away).
1 teaspoon of butter
1 tablespoon of good extra virgin olive oil (I personally enjoy the high polyphenol count oils from Sigona's Market in Palo Alto, CA)
2 medium celery stalks finely sliced
quarter to 1/2 of an orange (red or yellow will work as well) bell pepper, finely sliced
1 can (14 oz) of fire-roasted diced tomatoes in juice (I used DiNapoli Brand purchased from the Whole Foods)
1 sprig of fresh thyme (best if you use lemon thyme)
2 long leaves of sage
a splash of lemon juice, freshly squeezed if not using lemon thyme
1 tablespoon of Angelica fortified wine (or

So the pork is not yet done, but the house smells fantastic and I can almost taste it!
Here is what I have put into the pot to try my hand in making Mexican food:
Pork, cubed into 2 inch pieces (I used bone free rib meat)
2 cups of cubed red skin potatoes
1 medium carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 medium celery stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
half a packet of mole sauce, which is 4 ounces (Frontera brand)
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup of Italian tomato sauce
enough water to cover the whole thing (probably 2/3 of a cup to start with)
about 1/2 teaspoon of salt

I reserved 4 ounces of the Mole sauce to adjust the seasoning at the end of the cooking time and brighten up the sauce flavor. My pressure cooker is set to rapid pressure cooking for 35 minutes.

The pork will be paired with my spanish rice.

Rice recipe is:
1/2 cup of jasmine rice
2/3 cup of water
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of sweet paprika

This Christmas I have been blessed with yet another culinary present, my very own pressure cooker by Kuhn Rikon, called Duromatic. I love making stews and soups and slow cookings meats, but now with this pressure cooker my dishes are a snap to make. Who would have thought that a sumptuous oxtail stew now only takes 40 minutes to make for a fall off the bone tender, juicy goodneses (as opposed to 3.5 hours)? Or that a bone-in chicken, bean, and rice stew will be done in 25 minutes that just melts in your mouth, not the 2.5 hours that you have to dedicate to the traditional method? The possibilities are endless!

The oxtail that I made is so simple using a 3.5 quart pressure cooker...
1 pound of oxtail
2 small anchovies for that salty, nutty background flavor
4 bay leaves
6 juniper berries (whole)
1 Allspice (whole)
1 medium carrot (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 medium rutabaga or red skin potato (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 medium parsnip (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 cup of red wine