Bobby Flay is in the house! - so to speak - its a giveaway

What would be the next best thing to having Bobby Flay in your kitchen? That would be having Bobby Flay in your kitchen thats what! Its the 15th anniversary of the Mohegan Sun and I am giving away a signed cookbook by Bobby Flay! You might have had a chance to eat at his restaurant Bar Americain well now you have a chance to win a signed Bar Americain cookbook!



Check out some of the fun.

So how can you win? Easy. Leave a comment telling me why this would be the coolest thing in your kitchen because the coolest thing in your kitchen now is_____________? I will pick the best one and if they are all good then I will use random.org because I am fair like that. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: I wasnt compensated in any way to give this cookbook away - I did it because I wanted to.

Raviolis are easy so make some

Raviolis are such a fun way to kick up a pasta dish and they are easy to make. You might be a little intimidated by the idea of making your own fresh pasta but there is really no reason to fear - its easy and once you have made the pasta then raviolis are inches away.

Basic pasta is egg and flour but this pasta has boiled carrots, I boiled the carrots until they were soft then I incorporated them into the egg and flour mixture. You can use spinach, butternut squash - you could even use peanut butter, if you were so inclined.

Make the dough, roll out the dough and fill the dough - thats ravioli. You can watch this video for a little more of the tutorial,



Now, you dont need me to tell you that the best part about making ravioli is eating ravioli.

Go make some pasta and stuff it! Ravioli of fresh carrot pasta with a crab filling served with a pepperoncino arrabiatta sauce with cream, basil oil and crab roe - complexity with simplicity and layers and layers of flavor!

chicken fingers with a panko basil crust and two chutneys - how's that for specific?

So if you havent been paying attention or if you just so happen to live under a rock then I am here to tell you that it is officially "Appetizer Season" thats right its that time of year when we take many small bites. Cocktail party after cocktail party as we wind our way towards January 2. Why January 2? January 2 is the unofficial end of "Appetizer Season" thats why.  Here are two easy breezy little noshes to dazzle and impress. Chicken fingers are the same as chicken nuggets - you take ground chicken and flavor it up then you bread it with a mix of basil and panko and instead of frying these you bake them. Serve them nice and warm with a little mango chutney and a little tomato chutney - a nice mix of sweet, tart, savory and tangy makes these little nuggets of gold.

How about a little twist on the deviled egg? Get some little croustades from Siljns and fill them up with your favorite style of deviled egg. This is the entire egg pureed with a little curry powder and a dab of mayonnaise piped into a crispy little cup, garnish with some bits of carrot and parsley or you can use a little crab roe to really make them nice.

Stay tuned as we go through this season of nibbles I will be posting more easy to do little appetizers.