Instead of water I’ll sometimes switch in Pellegrino – fizzy water. Drinking fizzy water gives me the same internal satisfaction as pop, but without the carbs.

For my own version of pop, I sometimes add juice. Just a splash. Right now drinking "Grapefruit pop" – actually far better than the stuff you buy at the store!

Why is it so expensive? Well, some consider that the El Bulli Restaurant is the best – in the world. So, with that, why wouldn’t the cookbook be the most expensive in the world?

“El Bulli : 1998-2002″ (Ferran Adria, Juli Soler)

Ferran Adria is widely considered to be the most innovative, most influential, and indeed the greatest chef in the world today. Culinary giants like Thomas Keller venerate him. El Bulli, the restaurant where he creates his masterpieces, has become a pilgrimage site of sorts; food connoisseurs from around the world journey down a dizzying coastal road to Roses, Spain to experience his unconventional tasting menu — often consisting of 25 or more courses. But if you want a reservation, get in line.

In El Bulli 1998-2002, Adria and his collaborators have created a completely unique guide to cooking which raises the profession to an art form never captured before. This volume, filled with full color photographs, presents not only El Bulli’s unparalleled recipes, but also an analysis of their development, philosophy, and technique. Visually stunning, El Bulli 1998-2002 is presented as a boxed set that includes the main volume, along with a detailed Users Guide and an interactive CD that contains each recipe, numbered and catalogued by year. El Bulli 1998-2002 is truly as awe-inspiring as the meals served at its namesake.

Update: Another overly expensive cookbook is this Culinary Encyclopedia: Grand Livre De Cuisine

World-renowned French chef Alain Ducasse believes that food arouses all the senses. In this sumptuous book, he takes us on a culinary journey for both eye and palate. Here he shares the culinary experience, knowledge, and love of ingredients he has refined over the past 25 years.

Today, Ducasse feeds his passion for cooking through restaurants all over the world and a professional-level cooking school. He is now ready to bring his know-how and enthusiasm to American professional chefs and experienced home cooks, providing 700 recipes from French and Mediterranean cuisine that incorporate 100 basic ingredients and use 10 major cooking styles. Each dish is described in full, with recipes for accompaniments included; complete instructions for plating the entire dish are given as well. An appendix offers an encyclopedia of ingredients as well as basic recipes (sauces, stocks, and so on). Illustrated with more than 1,000 photographs and original drawings, Grand Livre de Cuisine will be an indispensable reference-and inspiration-for years to come. AUTHOR BIO: Alain Ducasse is regarded throughout the world as one of the most prominent French chefs. Along with three gourmet restaurants, Restaurant Plaza Athénée in Paris, Le Louis XV in Monaco, and Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in New York, he has also created more than 15 new concept restaurants worldwide and a professional-level cooking school.

Via bookofjoe

Technorati Tags: cookbook, el bulli, recipes, ferran adria, Alain Ducasse

Mulling Spices

1 mandarin orange, or other orange

6 cardamom pods

1 tbsp cloves, whole

1 tbsp allspice, whole

12 cinnamon sticks of a small-average size

1. Eat orange but keep skin

2. Bake orange skin in toaster oven on 400degrees until golden and hard, but not brittle and burned

3. In a mortar, open cardamom pods and remove seeds. Crush some, but not all, to release flavour but not make into dust

4. Add remaining spices along with 1 tsp of orange peel, broken into little bits (reserve remaining skin for your next batch)

5. Tie into cheesecloth or like bag so it can be used in mulling. You can also use a few tea strainers in the same way. Cinnamon sticks can go free.

Mulled Cider or Mulled Wine

4L of apple cider or wine*

1. Dump the cider/wine into a large pot

2. Add mulling spices (in bag or tea balls) and cinnamon sticks. Heat to boil and simmer 25 minutes or more.

3. Serve warm.

*Note, you can use all of this at once, or do 4 smaller batches of 1L each.

Last year I discovered the joy of actually baking with pumpkin. I made pumpkin pies from scratch. It was a lot of work, but OMG were the pies good.

So, when pumpkins came into grocery stores, I lugged one home. And today, I hacked it to pieces, baked it, pureed it, and started baking with it. I started out with some Pumpkin Walnut Muffins and some Pumpkin Biscuits. I have about 10 or 12 cups of pumpkin left, so there are cookies and gingerbread and loafs and so much more in the works.

Of course, all my recipes are going up on Baking Low Fat... here’s a sneak peek at what I’m making for breakfast tomorrow morning. Ianiv is quite spoiled this week!

Why do I like pumpkin? Well, after the annoying part of cutting it up with crappy knives, it really is a great food to work with. It allows me to take out the fat in many recipes since it binds and moistens like many fats. Plus, it is so yummy. Goes so amazingly well with fall flavours like molasses and nutmeg and ginger.

So, if you’ve never actually done anything with a pumpkin but carve it and stick in a candle, take my suggestion and eat it!

Oh – if you do want to eat pumpkin, I suggest one of the sweeter varieties like the generic Pie Pumpkin you’ll find in the grocery store.

Well, it’s not as bad as it sounds. You don’t actually eat kitty litter or anything. You just make a cake, of sorts, that resembles kitty litter. And not empty kitty litter, at that. Maybe it should be a hallowe’en recipe, but it’s definitely a great gag cake.

Oh, and no gag kitty litter cakes allowed for our wedding. April fools day or not. :)

Recipe here

From what it seems, there are various cakes in there all mashed together with crunched up cookies, some green pudding, and some warmed up expanded tootsie rolls (need I explain why?). Serve it in a NEW cat litter box with pooper scooper, and the effect comes off nicely.

Best quote:

Bury the rolls decoratively in the cake mixture.

Yum.

Technorati Tags: cats, cake, litter

I love to bake. Don’t know if it’s the ingredients, the process, or just the satisfaction of eating the goodies, but I love baking far more than cooking. However, for health reasons, we try to be really healthy in the kitchen. I’ve found it quite hard to accomidate my love for baked goods into a healthy lifestyle. Baking is not really a low-carb diet, but I’m not a low-carb kind of person. Happen to love my carbs.

Fortunately, I have come across a couple of hard-to-get cookbooks and constantly search the web for tons of recipes and tips. So, I am able to enjoy the yummy baked goods without all the fat. Luckily, there are some easy ways to take out the oil and butter without sacrificing the flavour.

So, this blog is to share what I’ve learned. And, bonus, it’s a Drupal blog. So, you can share your recipes and ideas too. Subscribe to the blog, and join the community of healthy bakers.

* 2 parts savoury pie crust (for top and bottom of pie)
* 2 chicken breasts, steamed or cooked and cubed
* 3 small nugget potatoes, steamed and cut into chunks
* 2 carrots, diced largely
* 1 leek, sliced (root only)
* 5-10 mushrooms, sliced
* 1 can mushroom soup (not condensed) – you will use about half the can
* dash red pepper flakes
* salt & pepper to taste
* 1 tsp basil
* any other spices you like particularly well
* any leftover vegetables (onion, peas, corn, etc)

Cooking Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a large pot over medium heat, spray some PAM into the pot until hot. Add in carrots and any vegetables that are uncooked (leek, mushrooms, carrots). Add in 1 tbsp of the mushroom soup to help cook the vegetables. Cook until vegetables are almost soft.

3. Add in cooked potatoes, chicken and about half the can of mushroom soup. Stir until covered. Add more soup if the coverage is not generous. It should resemble a thick stew. Add the spices and cook 2-3 minutes.

4. Pull out your pie crust. Pour in your stew until you reach the brim of the pie plate. Top with other pie crust, squishing the edges together. Using a fork, put some small holes in the top of the pie to let out the steam.

5. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 20 mins at 400F, then lower the heat to 325F and bake another 35-40 minutes until the pastry is cooked through and golden on the top.

Ingredients

* 1 cup flour
* 1/8 tsp salt
* 3 tbsp cold margarine, diced
* 1/3 cup low-fat cottage cheese
* 1/4 cup low fat plain yogurt
* 1 tsp sugar (if sweet pie crust)

Cooking Instructions
1. Mix flour and salt. Mix in sugar if you intend to make a sweet pie; leave it out for savoury pies.

2. Cut the margarine into the flour using two knives until it looks crumbly.

3. Stir in the rest. It should want to form a ball. You may find it easier to form the ball with your hand. Don’t worry about the lumps of cottage cheese – this will disappear when you roll the dough.

4. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

5. Roll the dough on a floured surface until it is a 13″ circle. This will be enough for a 9″ pie plate, including what you’ll use to make the rim. Refrigerate until cold again. Before baking, prick the bottom with a fork.

You can bake the crust at 400F, if prebaked crust is needed. Don’t forget to weigh down the crust with dried beans on foil if you do this. 10 mins baking like this, another 5 without the beans.

If you are baking a pie that requires a top, don’t forget to make 2 batches of the above recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 red/yellow or orange pepper, chopped
2 cups corn, frozen kernels ok
1 cup chicken or veggie stock
2 large potatoes, cut up into equal sizes
2 cups milk
pinch salt
pinch pepper
pinch paprika

Method:

1. heat large pot with some nonstick cooking spray to medium heat. Add in the onion, celery, peppers – stir every once and a while until tender. About 5 mins

2. Add in corn, stock, potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender

3. Ladle about half of it all into the blender/food processor. Add milk. Blend until smooth. All of this will make the soup nice and thick.

4. Return it all to the pot. Mix together. Reheat. Add spices.

Enjoy!

Originally posted to our NEW Cooking Made Simple blog. Go there. Visit. Add your own recipes. Subscribe.

Ingredients:
- Chicken (I’m using chicken legs and thighs, but it could be done with any pieces…skin makes it crispy…)
- pepper
- salt
- oregano
- basil

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. I use my broiling pan, but you could also put a cooling rack on a baking sheet. I also cover the grilling area of the broiling pan with foil and put water in the pan below…helps with clean up.

Okay…this is super duper easy…

3. Take your cut pieces of chicken put on broiling pan or wire rack and spray with olive oil (or preferred).
4. Sprinkle on pepper, salt, oregano, and basil.
5. Put in oven
6. check and turn the pan every 15 mins…should take 30-40 mins to cook. Depends on your oven.
7. Eat when done.