Welcome Miles!

I'm your neighbor, sort of, up the road in Modesto. We share a highway as well as beastly hot summer weather. I'll look at your link and blog as time permits. Looks good!

I am actually planning a lunch get together with a pal in Bakersfield. It's a midway spot for us. Got any suggestions? Middle price range. He's a meat and spuds kinda fellow. I'll eat nearly anything as long as it it's well prepared. I'm not big on fried foods, though.

Eileen

Miles glad you took the bait :)
I "invited" miles to join the CF group here - I have been impressed with the contributions on the Dec Forum & thought this would be a good fit, once I discovered the food talent! I know I will enjoy your presence!

Eileen- I could suggest Hungry Hunter- American- on Rosedale Hwy, Sandrini's- Italian/American- on "Eye" street downtown, Wool Growers- Basque- (which I think is on 21st...?). When I think of more I'll post 'em here.

Thanks for the invite, mag's!!

Welcome Miles, glad you are joining in.
This is a fun group and we even cook on occasion :))
I took a peek at the mag....nice!!

Nancy

Welcome, Miles.

I know I will thoroughly enjoy your food pix and knowledge.

Now about that Mango Orange Granita.....care to share the recipe? It looks delish!

Linda

Ask and ye shall receive!

Classic Italian Granita (Orange Pineapple pictured)
You will need:
 1 cup cold water
 ½ cup granulated sugar
 3 cup of your preferred fruit juice (orange, pineapple, pomegranate are just a few suggestions)
Place water in a large sauté pan and pour sugar into the center of the pool. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and set aside to allow simple syrup to cool to room temperature. Add fruit juice and whisk to combine. Pour mixture into a large glass baking dish and place in freezer. Now hereÂs where a little attention needs to be paid: Every so often, return to the freezer and stir up the Granita mixture with a fork. You DO NOT want one large frozen clump of juice. Instead, you want to break up the ice crystals as they form so that the mixture becomes slushy. This may require several trips to the freezer over a couple of hours so allow plenty of time. While the Granita is freezing you can prep your other party cuisine so not all is lost.
When it comes time to surprise your guests with this crisp Italian treat scoop into serving dishes. Feel free to get creative by using chilled martini glasses and garnish with a sprig of mint. For a little extra kick, drizzle a half ounce of Chambord over the ice.

The Hungry Hunter doesn't interest me so much because it is a chain. And I rarely eat at chains unless I'm dragged in by my hair. I'm hoping for something more unique. Wool Grower's is a possibility. It's rather well-known, isn't it?

Welcome Miles - Fabulous - simple but elegant and SO Italian! -maria

Miles Welcome! Thanks for the link, really looking forward to perusing through the magazine! Looking forward also to more posts and recipes from you.

Shelley

Welcome and what a beautiful picture to share to start out with. Please share more.

Welcome Miles.

Care to try your hand at Molten Lava Cakes? Its our version of an initiation to the forum.

Hey Miles, this is my first home so it's good to see you on this forum. I have enjoyed your contributions to the Home Decorating forum and really enjoyed your magazine and thought this would be a great place for you.

Cathy

Miles, Welcome to the cooking forum. I'm looking forward to your contributions. Enjoyed looking at your photos and recipes.

Ann

So nice to have you here on the form...enjoyed looking at the link...

Linda

Welcome Miles....great picture I'm still trying to figure out the light source!
Wondering if a couple of tablespoons of white rum or vodka would retard the freezing of the granita to make the desired shlushy texture easier to attain, or if even that small amount would make it taste "boozey".
Linda c

Linda- the light soure is both natural and candelight. The pictures were taken outside to take advantage of the twilight and then I used a bunch of votive candle. The granita are on a mirrored serving tray which helped to reflect the light upwards.
As for the granita, I would imagine some alcohol would keep it from freezing into a block. The texture I try to achive is more like crystals and less like slush. That is why I think it's worth the few extra trips to the freezer to "rake" the freezing juice with a fork every now and then. But if I were to try a booze I think I'd try Triple Sec first (orange-based liquor).

Jessy- you're on! My own recipe or do you supply it? Traditional presentation or can I go crazy?
Bring it!

Thanks, Miles! I love making granitas and sorbets, so this one will be in my freezer very soon!

Linda

Welcome to the forum Miles! I'm a relative newcomer here and everyone has been very welcoming. The collective knowledge in this forum is just astounding! I've never had the chocolate lava cake initiation ceremony though...

Bri

Miles,

As MLC virgins, Peppi, BunnyMan, and I had to "deflowered" in front of an audience so consider yourself lucky!

Here ya' go:

Molten Lava Cakes -From Sol
½ pound bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ pound butter
6 whole eggs, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup flour

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter the bottom and sides of 8 6-ounce ramekins and sprinkle with baking cocoa, tap to remove excess cocoa. Set aside.
In the top of a double boiler or in a microwave, gently, melt the chocolate and butter. Whisk until completely melted.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and flour until just blended. Gradually whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined.
Evenly divide the mixture between the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are firm and beginning to crack and the edges are set. Remove from oven and serve immediately, with ice cream, your favorite chocolate sauce, a few chocolate-covered coffee beans and giddyap baby!. I can almost feel my zippy-self coming back to life, just thinking 'bout it ;-Ã
Note: I didn't use ramekins. Instead I used mini wonder-molds for these cakes 'cause I liked their shape. These molds are quite a bit larger than the ramekins, so for me, this recipe only yielded 5 servings.

Chocolate Sauce

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract or liqueur

Heat the cream, sugar, salt and corn syrup in a saucepan over low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Allow to stand a few minutes until the chocolate has melted, then whisk gently until smooth. Whisk in vanilla or liqueur.

Hi Miles and welcome......mind you there are certain rights of passage! Lava Cakes for sure and then you may have to graduate to nipples.

One rule around here....don't ever bring up corn bread! If you want to talk corn bread you better post it on the Hot Topics forum!!!

What a lovely pic! I hope you'll share more of your food styling tips as you go.

And how about some of the Basque recipes that Bakersfield is famous for? I've been to Bakersfield (spent some time there working on Katrina relief for the Red Cross) but I didn't have a chance to try one of the Basque restaurants.

Speaking of cornbread....

Oh great... another food pornographer.

;-)

Welcome Miles!