foodblog

pot au feu

A “pot-au-feu” is a kind of mixed pot, a beef stew or literally “pot on fire.” I used it as an entry title for something else, because the post had a lot of diverse “ingredients.”

It, and all the food-related trappings on Hannibal, have got me thinking about my own foodie journeys upcoming this month.

The first is my own foodie tour to Chicago. I’ll be sure to take photos and make an extensive report. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a ton of food! The second is one of my upcoming releases for this month:

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A Competitive Edge is coming out at the end of May, and I’ll be having a blog tour to accompany its release. What sort of topics would you like to see? What food-related posts, what sort of details about Alex or Nik, or perhaps what missing moments might you enjoy reading?

On a related tangent, are you looking for great stories to read? Jamie Sullivan has one worth checking out. Imaginary is releasing this coming week! Click here to get details on her giveaway and the upcoming blog tour to accompany her new story. Not only am I a fan, but Megan Derr says the story is amazing, so it shot to the top of my to-buy list.

Have a great week, everyone, and I’ll strive to keep this updated more often! April was a bit of a slump for me but I foresee amazing things for this month, and hopefully the rest of the year.

Tour de Foodie: Recipe for risotto

It’s the day after Appetite: A Cut Above the Rest released; did you pick up your copy? Or did you sign up for the giveaway?

Today, the Tour de Foodie continues over at Babes in Boyland. I have for you my very own pumpkin risotto with toasted pine nuts and oven-roasted Brussels sprouts.

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Seen here, pictured without the Brussels sprouts. (They give it a nice pop of color.)

At the end of the recipe I give a bit of a tie-in to the novel as well as the excerpt that I had far too much fun selecting.

Going to try the risotto? I hope you’ll let me know how you liked it, if you do!

A day in pictures

Today was fun-filled and tasty! Probably a little too tasty; I’ve only been working out four days this week, and I’m down to half an hour from that hour-long Insanity workout.

This morning, I woke up to this cute little face.

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We’d planned an outing to Bridgeport today, which meant late lunch, because first up was a showing of Jack the Giant Slayer.

Delightful movie, it hit all the right high points and had enough conflict and high stakes to keep things interesting. Nicholas Hoult was adorable if not quite strong enough to carry the hero role, but I really like his geeky, lanky, somewhat awkward looks. We enjoyed him so much in the movie, we want to go see Warm Bodies next weekend.

It was a nice day at Bridgeport Village!

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Bit chilly, but the sun warmed things up later on. After the movie we went to Sinju Sushi for a tasty lunch.

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I had to get a shot of the bamboo outside our window. We declined patio seats but the hostess wanted to give us a seat near the sunlight.

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One of my favorite parts, the miso soup. The sunomono has a bit too much sesame and I didn’t want to fill up on it because we had this coming…

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Tasty, tasty sushi. This is a tuna avocado roll with tobiko on the outside, and I had to get some salmon which was so very delicious, it practically melted in my mouth.

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For my lunch, I opted for the combo lunch with Sinju steak and mixed tempura. It was all really good, and didn’t give me as much trouble as fried food usually does.

After lunch we walked around a bit, picked up food for dinner at Whole Foods and some olive oil at a discount because we tend to go through a ton, and stopped by Starbucks before we hit the highway.

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I had to give the hazelnut macchiato another try! It’s nothing that really hooks me, I think, but it’s a tasty change of pace.

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To finish off the day we picked up a few cupcakes for later. The “Wedding” cake, almond cake with almond buttercream, was absolutely divine. The one problem I have with their cupcakes is that the frosting ratio is too generous.

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That was my foodie adventure for the day! Now I’m going to settle in with some television and catch up on my nail polish tumblr, before surfing for recipes to adapt for next week’s nourishing but yummy lunches.

Drop by tomorrow to catch the first day of the giveaway for A Cut Above the Rest, and gear up for the Tour de Foodie!

Recipe: Zucchini Fries

The short stories for Valentine’s Day were a bust, my apologies! I was exhausted and sore on Thursday, so I stayed in and skipped my workout and watched bad television with my BFF.

Today I’ve decided to post a recipe, in honor of the Appetite tour coming soon in March. This is a bit of a warm-up, you see.

Part of my regimen of working out and getting healthy, and losing weight in a controlled, healthy manner, has been sneaking in extra servings of vegetables, and substituting high-calorie or high-fat options for something lower and more reasonable but also tasty. Along those lines, I bring you:

Oven-Baked Zucchini Fries

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What you’ll need:

Three to four firm, bright green-skinned zucchini
1/4 to 1/2 c egg wash
1 c panko crumb or bread crumbs
Italian seasoning
salt
pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. After washing, lop the ends off your zucchini, cut them in half, and quarter the halves.

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We’ll be breading the zucchini, lightly, so you’ll need to have a few things set up. Put down a couple of plates and portion out about half of your egg wash. I use an egg substitute for the consistency.

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Portion out about half of your panko crumbs or more.

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Now, to add flavor!

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I like to add Italian seasoning, but it’s really up to individual taste.

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Don’t forget to add the salt!

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And of course, several shakes of pepper.

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You can do all this in a bowl first if you like – make sure to give it all a good stir to mix your seasoning in with the panko.

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Don’t forget to spray your aluminum-lined pan with non-stick spray.

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Time to coat the zucchini. Dip in the egg wash first. Roll it to ensure all sides are covered.

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Working quickly, transfer the zucchini to the panko crumb plate, triangle side down, pressing it firmly into the crumb. Cover it with crumb on top and pat that crumb gently.

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Take the zucchini by the ends and free it from the crumb. Don’t shake it, just transfer it to the pan.

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Work quickly, and repeat until all your zucchini wedges are laid out and ready to go!

Bake in the oven for ten minutes, check to see how they’re doing, and optionally flip them at the halfway point. Bake the zucchini for another ten minutes until they’re looking golden brown.

Remove the tray from the oven, serve, and enjoy! You can eat them plain, with ketchup, or as my BFF chose, with a side of ranch. (Light ranch?)

The zucchini fries are tasty, filling, and come with less guilt than making oven fries – though I do have a good, light recipe for those too. I also use a whole-grain sandwich thin for my hamburger, instead of a full bun.

Hope you enjoyed my foodie entry, because there’s more to come as we ramp up toward Appetite’s release.

Today I’m watching cooking shows as I edit the third volume in preparation to send it back to the editor. I’m also planning another giveaway, so keep your eye on this space.