‘Top Chef’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Caramel and Toasted Coconut Rum Cake with Candied Walnuts {#CaptainsTable}

November 26, 2013 · Narrative

A delicious rum-infused cake with caramel and coconut that is perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

The Captain Morgan brand, along with Chef Hugh Acheson, recently launched the Captain’s Table Challenge, and during this challenge, a handful of bloggers, including myself, will be sharing recipes that we have created using the Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum and Black Spiced Rum. As a devotee of Bravo’s Top Chef, I am no stranger to Chef Acheson and his culinary accomplishments, and as I worked on tonight’s recipe, which happens to use a boxed cake mix and a box of pudding mix, I wondered if he would approve.

Since he is judging all our recipe submissions, I hope so, and I decided that Chef Acheson would appreciate a little efficiency in the kitchen from a working mom. After all, there are so many of us in that position, an accessible recipe is surely a good thing.

When the box of Captain Morgan arrived, I knew I wanted to work with the Original Spiced Rum first. This bundt cake was originally inspired by an old recipe from Jell-O, believe it or not, but I made some drastic changes along the way.

All in the name of lily-gilding deliciousness.

Because, after all, why just have rum when you can have rum with caramel, coconut, and candied walnuts?

The end result? A slightly sweet cake that is perfect for your upcoming Thanksgiving Day table. Because the glaze and caramel sauce are drizzled over the cake, as opposed to frosting, the sweetness is subtle, but not overbearing. A little soft, sweet bite from the toasted coconut, and a nice crunch from the candied walnuts … a simple but sophisticated cake with a hint of Original Spiced Rum, you’ll find yourself making this one again and again.

I am a big fan of social media, and even more so when we can use it for good. The generous folks at Captain Morgan will donate $1 to WhyHunger every time the hashtag #CaptainsTable is used across social media channels this holiday season. Which means if you tweet, pin, or facebook this post with the hashtag #CaptainsTable, a dollar is donated to fight hunger every time. If there ever was a time for sharing, this would be it.

I will be working on developing more recipes for Captain Morgan throughout the holiday season, so if you like rum, there’s plenty more to come. In the meantime, if you are looking for a perfectly classic cocktail recipe to go along with your turkey, you can’t go wrong with a Rum & Coke, with Captain Morgan, natch.

For all things Captain Morgan, and to see the recipes that the other bloggers are creating during the challenge, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Tomorrow? We talk Thanksgiving, as I share a quick round-up of our holiday favorites.

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Review: Cascade Platinum

June 28, 2013 · Ad-Free

The dishwasher is something in our kitchen that I don’t give a lot of thought to. Although Sarah will tell you I’m particular about how it’s loaded (who knew?); I load it up and empty it and that’s the end of that. I use a variety of dishwasher detergents, sticking with major brands, and a few times a year, I buy Jet Dry. Jet Dry is a necessary evil which seems to help immensely with getting our glassware crystal clear, instead of spotty, but it’s so expensive, I really hate having to buy it, in addition to the regular detergent. It makes me think my dishwasher is incredibly high maintenance, but it’s certainly better than having to wash everything by hand (especially this weekend as I’m prepping for our End of School Year Rainbow Cake Party!).

When Mom Central Consulting asked if I could give Cascade Platinum a try, I figured I had nothing to lose. I’m, of course, familiar with Cascade products, and use them often, but Cascade Platinum was new-to-me (it’s only been available since February). First off, I’m partial to the gel pac packaging, and prefer them over messing with the liquids and powders. Although the gel pacs can certainly be punctured, I just feel that with kids and pets in the house, they are less prone to problems (powder spillage, liquid leaking, etc.), and ever since the pac packaging came on the market, it has been my go-to.

So makes this one better? Or different?

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Review: Mount Vernon Restaurant, Somerville, MA

July 28, 2011 · Narrative

When Joanne, Patsy and I arrived at our destination on Saturday night, we were on the outskirts of Boston. Like about 5 minutes away. It was after 8 pm and we had just checked in to our hotel. And hadn’t had dinner. After stashing our bags in the room, we headed downstairs to the front desk to ask for recommendations. Because, you know, they’re from the area and should be an excellent resource. Ike at the front desk said “there’s a good seafood restaurant about 5-10 minutes away on foot.”

Seafood? Boston? It was a no brainer.

Our first mistake was asking Ike. Our second was thinking we were on our way to an awesome seafood dinner. We were soon to find out our adventures that evening had just begun.

First, the directions were as hazy as the weather, and after 15 minutes in one direction, in a hundred degree heat, we realized there was no restaurant to be had.

We walked the other way, passing Mystic’s namesake along the way.

Up a residential street. A hill. “We’re walking off our delicious seafood dinner!” we thought.

Passing a pizzeria that smelled of oregano. I half-jokingly suggested grabbing a slice and a Diet Coke and heading back to the room. But how could we pass up seafood?

We passed a group of rowdy bachelors and politely demurred when they waved us over for beer and food.

We finally reached the top of the hill, rounded the corner and saw sparkly lights in the tree. Ah, this must be the place. That walk up hill in the steam bath called Summer in New England was starting to pay off.

It wasn’t especially clear which door was the entrance, but we found it. As soon as we threw it open, the smell of fresh seafood hung in the air. This was looking better and better.

We slid into a booth and were handed menus nearly immediately.

Side bar: If you walk into a restaurant on a Saturday night and there are only a few tables occupied, that would be an important clue.

We all perused the menu, each description sounding better than the last. We all chose seafood. I mean, c’mon, seafood restaurant in Massachusetts, how could we not?

The waitress asked if we wanted popovers or Italian bread with our meal. Joanne and I exchanged looks. Popovers don’t really fit with the seafood theme, but sounded intriguing enough that we took a leap of faith.

Behold the popovers.

Quite overdone, we dove in, broke them open and each took a bite anyway. No flavor. No salt. Just a whole lot of nothingness. We pushed them aside and asked for the Italian bread.

The salad arrived. Standard issue. Iceberg lettuce, sliced cucumber, not-quite-ripe-enough tomatoes. But ok.

Then it started to go rapidly downhill from there.

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Recipe: Spike Mendelsohn’s Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake

January 11, 2011 · Narrative

A decadent milkshake from Bravo TV Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn. Totally worth making.

Whether you’re following a clean eating plan, Weight Watchers, or something you cobbled together, I believe that you have to give yourself permission to indulge. Just a little bit. Within reason. Every now and then. Even my old hardcore Triathalon competitor personal trainer was known to indulge too, but here’s the key (as he explained it)… make it count. If you feel the sudden need to have a wee bit of ice cream, make it Haagen Dazs, not the store brand, you know? Don’t waste the calories and sugar on some also-ran store special.

And so it was with these Toasted Marshmallow Milkshakes on Sunday night. I worked out in the morning, cleaned the house with the kids, and ate clean the entire day. Come Sunday night and company for dinner, I wanted the teensiest bit of indulgence, and these milkshakes were just the ticket. The recipe makes four, and I eeked out six servings, so we all had a little less to feel guilty about. But, OMG were they good. And since that’s coming from someone who doesn’t get excited about milkshakes like ever, let alone anything with marshmallows, that’s saying a lot.

The recipe comes from Spike Mendelsohn, and Top Chef fans will recognize him from Season 4. He owns the Good Stuff Eatery in Washington DC and created this milkshake to celebrate the 2009 inauguration. If you’re in the mood for a little sweet celebration, this one might be just the ticket. Drink up.

Project 365
January 11, 2011, Photo #11This is what Madeline’s room looked like as we left the house at 8 am this morning. The photo is completely unretouched. It makes me smile every time I see this room. When the curtains are drawn, it makes the room this wonderful shade of deep pink and it can’t help but make you happy as you dash out the door. That and the blinding pink helps me ignore the mess she leaves in her wake.

Tom Colicchio’s Meatloaf

June 2, 2009 · Narrative

I’m not going to lie. The men-with-no-hair thing just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not talking about men that are balding. I’m talking about men that have zero hair on top a la Michael Jordan, Moby, Vin Diesel and the like. But that being said, Tom Colicchio, on the other hand, is a whole ‘nother story. He is a little drink of hotness served up with a side of sparkling blue eyes. Never heard of him? He’s the head judge of Bravo TV’s Top Chef and has a string of successful restaurants and cookbooks. I don’t know what it is about him, but for him, my man-must-have-hair rule quickly goes out the window.

People magazine has been running a Meals Under $10 column, and one of the recent celeb chefs to make an appearance was Tom himself. With meatloaf. Love meatloaf. Total.comfort.food. A stick-to-your-ribs dinner one night, and a delicious lunch sandwich the next, how can one not like meatloaf? I’ll never understand it. I think I actually look more forward to the warm sandwiches the next day than the original dinner serving. Toasted white bread, healthy amounts of ketchup and mayo, total yum.

Usually when I make meatloaf, I wing it. Ground beef, a little bit of this, a dash of that, and a whole lotta something else. I don’t measure, I just do. But for Tom, I measured. I poured. I mixed. I followed the recipe, his recipe, to the letter. I always use a loaf pan when making meatloaf. I never do the whole shape-it-into-a-loaf on the baking sheet thing. But, of course, Tom wanted me to. So I did.

When the meatloaf came out, it was bubbly and juicy and just so incredibly mouthwatering that I couldn’t wait to dig in. As much as I love meatloaf, I’m not sure it’s the type of dish that can ever be elevated to OMG status. I mean, really, it’s a hunk of meat. You want it moist and juicy and you want it to taste like meat. This does. So does mine. No matter which recipe you use, as long as it covers the basics (egg or other binder, meat, light seasonings, ketchup), you can’t go wrong. If you’re looking for a recipe, feel free to use Tom’s version below. I don’t think he’ll mind one little bit….