21 March 2006
World’s Largest Deliverable Pizza
Near Pittsburgh you will find—measuring 53.5 inches across—the world’s largest commercially available pizza at Mama Lena’s Pizza. While I have never been there, I have been to some really great pizza joints in Pittsburgh, and Mama Lena’s was voted the Best Pizza in the city in many recent years.
Their massive pizza [called “The Big One”] has 150 slices and costs a mere $99.99. To make the pizza, it takes 15 pounds of cheese, a gallon of sauce and 20 pounds of dough.
Next time I go to Pittsburgh, I want to have a big party just so I can order one of these pizzas.
Mama Lena’s Pizza
704 Island Avenue
McKees Rocks, PA 15136
+1 412.771.4534
posted by Becky at 21:35 | no comments
21 March 2006
Episode 7: Macaroons
10:25 | 14.8mb | QuickTime 7
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For this episode, I baked macaroons, a cookie that is many times associated with Passover. While my version cannot be enjoyed during Passover since it does contain a tiny bit of flour, my macaroons are tasty nonetheless.
Chocolate-Drizzled Coconut Macaroons
prep time: 10 min. | bake time: 20 min.
1 package [7 oz. or 2 2/3 c.] sweetened coconut
1/3 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 oz. semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate
1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until well blended.
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased and floured cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove immediately from cookie sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.
5. If you haven’t already done so, place wax paper underneath cooling racks. When macaroons are almost completely cooled, melt Baker’s chocolate in double boiler over medium heat while stirring almost continuously. This will take about 5 minutes.
6. Drizzle melted chocolate over macaroons. Let stand until chocolate is cooled and firm.
posted by Becky at 0:32 | 2 comments
17 March 2006
Episode 6: Fadó Irish Pub
4:39 | 6.6mb | QuickTime 7
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In honour of Saint Patrick’s Day, Jimmy and I made a couple visits to Fadó Irish Pub in Buckhead, and we recorded our 6th episode during our 2nd visit.
Last Sunday we visited Fadó for brunch. I ordered the Sweet Strawberry French Toast, which is sourdough bread dipped in sweet vanilla custard, then panfried. It comes with homemade strawberry sauce and whiskey anglaise. It was fruity and sweet without being overly sweet. The French toast came with bangers, which I promptly handed over to Jimmy. I rather enjoyed my brunch, and it went surprisingly well with my pint of Harp.
Jimmy ordered the Belfast Boxty. This is a boxty [potato pancake] surrounding scrambled eggs, Irish bacon, diced tomatoes, fresh garlic and spinach, all topped with hollandaise sauce. It came with crispy breakfast potatoes covered with red chili aioli. These potatoes were fabulous. I kept snagging them off of Jimmy’s plate; I probably ate more of them than he did.
French Toast & a pint of Harp; Belfast Boxty & scotch
We decided to try the chef’s special for dessert. This was an apple crumb cake. It was good, but didn’t blow my mind like the breakfast potatoes.
The next day we went back to Fadó for dinner. I ordered chips with curry sauce. The chips were nice and thick, plus they weren’t greasy. The sauce had a nice curry flavour without being too spicy. I also ordered an appetizer of pint-size cheddar and American sandwiches on sourdough bread. They were basically grilled cheese; however, the bread was thick, tasty and fried just right.
For his dinner, Jimmy ordered the shepherd’s pie, which was ground sirloin, diced vegetables with gravy, topped with colcannon potatoes.
For dessert, we went for the brown bread ice cream. This consists of caramelized brown bread crumbles whipped through vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. The bread added nice little crunchy bits to the ice cream for a more interesting texture.
Obviously I enjoyed the food at Fadó since I went there 2 days in a row. I recommend any of their brunch items, especially the breakfast potatoes. All of the rest of the food I tasted was ace as well. The food was a step above standard pub fare, in both taste and quality.
Fadó Irish Pub
3035 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30305
+1 404.841.0066
posted by Becky at 9:46 | 1 comment
7 March 2006
Episode 5: Pebernødder
9:14 | 13.4mb | QuickTime 7
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For this episode, I made pebernødder or Danish peppernuts. These yummy little bite-size cookies get their flavour from cardamom and almonds, and they are baked and eaten a lot at Christmastime. However, I think they’re wonderful enough that they should be enjoyed year round.
Pebernødder [Danish Peppernuts]
makes 100s of cookies | prep time: 40 min. | bake time: 8 min.
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 c. pulverized almonds
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. each cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg
1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg and pulverized almonds.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Blend into the creamed mixture until a stiff dough forms.
4. Take a small portion of dough and roll between hands and work surface to make snakes that are 1/2-inch thick.
5. Dip scissors into water and snip off 1/2-inch pieces of dough. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Repeat rolling out snakes and snipping them up until all the dough has been cut.
6. Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies are a golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.
posted by Becky at 10:02 | no comments
18 February 2006
Light Lemony Goodies
My parents gave me some Leila’s Lemon Snaps from Olde Colony Bakery in Historic Charleston. These lemon snaps were so delicious; my small bag did not last very long. The snaps had a wonderful lemon flavour, were dusted with confectioners’ sugar, and were rather light. Another nice thing about them is that they were made with all natural ingredients. That was an added bonus to how tasty they were.
Olde Colony Bakery
1391B Stuart Engalls Boulevard
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
+1 800.722.9932
posted by Becky at 22:02 | no comments
13 February 2006
Episode 4: Solo V-Day Dinner
13:06 | 18.7mb | QuickTime 7
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Becky’s Veggie Pasta for One
prep time: 10 min. | total time: 25 min.
6 button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, sliced
1/2 small white onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 grape tomatoes, sliced
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 lb. whole wheat angel hair pasta
sauce [see below]
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Put garlic and all vegetables, except tomatoes, into the skillet. Mix well to cover veggies with olive oil.
3. Add black pepper to veggies. Stir veggies every couple minutes.
4. While veggies continue to sauté, boil water for pasta. As the water starts to boil, add a bit of olive oil to keep the pasta from sticking together. Cook pasta. Angel hair should take about 7 minutes to cook.
Note: If veggies seem like they’re cooking too much as pasta is boiling, turn the heat under the veggies down.
5. While pasta is cooking and veggies are sautéing, make sauce by mixing all of the following ingredients together in a small bowl.
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried basil
pinch of Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
6. Add tomatoes to sautéing veggies. Mix gently to avoid injuring the tomatoes.
7. When pasta is al dente, drain pasta.
8. Wondering if your veggies are done? When the onions have become translucent, they’re done. After veggies have been sautéed, turn heat down to low. Then add drained pasta to skillet. Pour sauce over pasta and veggies and mix well to evenly coat everything with the sauce.
9. Transfer the yummy pasta to a bowl. Slice thin pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top of pasta.
As I mentioned in this episode, you can mix and match what ingredients you use. You can use whatever vegetables you have lying around the house. And the measurements for the sauce are estimates. I never measure when I make this dish. I always just make it by adding how much I feel like adding. Sometimes I use only olive oil or maybe only olive oil, basil and pepper. Sometimes I add more balsamic vinegar; it just depends on what I’m in the mood for. But just remember that it’s best to add a little and then have to add more, rather than adding a lot all at once. It’s easier to add more than it is to try to remove something, especially if it’s the balsamic vinegar. [I’m speaking from experience after having made rather vinegary pasta one time.] This is 1 of my favourite pasta dishes, which is fabulous because it’s quick, easy and healthy as well.
posted by Becky at 14:29 | 1 comment
12 February 2006
Valentine Doughnuts
Krispy Kreme is offering heart-shaped sprinkled doughnuts until Valentine’s Day [this Tuesday]. Earlier today I stopped by Krispy Kreme in hopes of picking up some of these fun doughnuts, but unfortunately they were already sold out. The cashier said the heart-shaped doughnuts have been going by the dozens, and they usually sell out in the morning.
Krispy Kreme is also currently including 12 free valentines with the purchase of any dozen doughnuts. All the valentines are cute and of course doughnut-related, plus each includes a coupon for a free doughnut.