Welcome to the Cooking with C.C. Blog. I will be discussing all things food and travel related. Be sure to join me for information from recipes, cookbooks, restaurants and places to visit. I look forward to hearing from you!
“Classic” Tiramisu
One of Lori's favorite desserts is Tiramisu. In fact, when we took our trip to Italy she had Tiramisu for dessert on 9 of the days we were there. (Just so know, Gelato didn't count - we got that as an afternoon snack just about EVERY day....) What we found interesting was that each one was different from the one before. Whenever we are at an Italian Restaurant and Lori sees Tiraimisu on the menu, more times than not, one will be ordered. The challenge is that I don't like coffee, so I'm not really a fan. Lori wanted me to learn how to make it at home - and it seemed like a decent idea since it would probably be a good recipe to have in an Italian Cooking Class. The challenge I had was determining what really constitutes a recipe for "Classic" Tiramisu. Let's face it - we were in Italy and every Tiramisu she had was different. Her favorite one in town is the Strawberry Tiramisu at Terranova's. I looked at recipe after recipe and a few things everyone seemed to agree upon - you started with egg yolks and mascarpone cheese, some sugar, coffee soaked ladyfinger…
Amizetta Wine Dinner
Have I mentioned recently that I love having friends that share great wines? Well, if I haven't - I need to. I have been introduced to many wonderful wines and wineries through friends in Huntsville. A number of years back, I was introduced to the wines from Amizetta Winery of Napa Valley. My first tasting experience with Amizetta was a wine dinner hosted at the Ledges with Spencer and Amizetta Clark here in Huntsville for the dinner. The Clarks founded the winery in 1979. The vineyards are on a steep hillside at the end of Howell Mountain overlooking Lake Hennessey. They produce a variety of wines from grapes grown on the estate. In 2013, Lori and I had the opportunity to visit the winery during one of our trips to Napa and Sonoma. Our hosts for our visit were Perry and Edward Clark, two of Spencer's sons and they are now operating the winery with Edward serving as the Winemaker and Perry as the President of the company. We signed up for the Amizetta Wine Club during that trip and we've been enjoying a variety of their wines ever since. I have shared these wines with other friends and everyone we…
The Importance of Food to Travel and Place
I'm a little behind on some of my projects - I've been working this week to try to finish up a photo book from our trip to France. We were in France at the end of June 2009. Any travel to France is certainly going to feature some fantastic food. But it is amazing how when we travel the food and drink of the place plays such a central role in the trip. I took along a blank notebook and at the end of everyday, I would sit down with Carly and she would dictate what she thought was important about the day. I've been reading back through for the first time in 6 years to get information to add some notes to the photo book. I have been amazed at the impact of food along the way. Everyday, she had me write down what we had for breakfast, lunch, dinner and more importantly, snacks. Every since the trip, she hasn't looked at chocolate croissants and Nutella the same. I took lots of pictures, but I wasn't writing a food blog back then, so I didn't take hardly any pictures of the actual food - we were too enamored with…
St. Patrick’s Day Steaks
Once again it's the time when everyone is Irish and green reigns supreme. But, if you are looking for an AWESOME dinner, look no further. Every holiday seems like an excuse to eat a really nice steak! This recipe is great for this time of the year when grilling can be a challenge (although this week is looking great - unlike the snow and ice of the last few weeks....). The only thing a really great steak needs is a really great sauce to go on top. This recipe is the one you want for St. Patrick's Day (or really anytime you want a nice filet inside....). I learned the beginnings of this recipe while I was assisting at the Central Market Cooking School in Austin TX. I've adapted it over the years and I think this will be a "go to" recipe for you! I taught this recipe in my class this past Saturday night - Irish Dinner. Everyone seemed to enjoy this dish on Saturday and since I had one uncooked filet left over, we bought another one today so that Lori and I would have a nice St. Patrick's Day dinner (a day early....). All they had…