combo blog - coming soon

It has been a bit since I have posted a new recipe on my recipe blog due to the amount of time it takes to type up the ingredients and get a picture that is just right. I knew something had to change. I recently found a wonderful blog/recipe blog Your Homebased Mom or what I term a “combo” blog. She blogs about her life as well as recipes. I decided that was just the thing that I needed to do! It is less maintenance and keeps me all in one place. So I will very soon be introducing my new combo blog but, for now you can see all my recipes and new ones at www.karmenskreations.blogspot.com

RAVIOLI FRITO & ANTIPASTI - Giada De Laurentiis Style

Remember I said for my turn hosting book club I went with an italian theme for the food. It was a surprisingly simple and delicious experience. I just turned to Giada. I speak of her as if she is my friend...actually I feel like she is...her cookbooks are very user friendly for thos

e of us who aren't familiar with italian cuisine beyond spagetti and lasgna. I took all my recipes from her "Everyday Pasta" book. This first one is delicious and appears once platted that it takes great effort but looks are deceiving. It is nothing but easy and even better nothing but yummy! I had every plan to make a homemade marinara sauce but at crunch

time I went with Napa ValleyBistro Homemade-style marinara sauce by Mezzetta. I am so glad I did because it was unbelievably good for a store bought or homemade sauce and was the perfect complement to my ravioli frito. This recipe is a new family favorite.

Ingredients:
Olive oil, for frying
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1 box store-bought cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated, for dipping
Directions
Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.
When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.
Sprinkle the fried ravioli with Parmesan and serve with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

Flourless chocolate cake

WARNING: THIS RECIPE IS ONLY FOR SERIOUS CHOCOLATE FANS!!

You see I am a fan...a fan of Bakerella...a fan of Paula Deen...and a die hard fan of C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E. It was a wonderful chain of events inspired by chocolate. It began with Paula and her "Chocolate Celebration 2008" magazine which in turn inspired Bakerella which in turn inspired me.

It was my turn this month to host the book club and I wanted to do something fun and yummy. We read the book "Galileo's Daughter" and I was at first trying to come up with some kind of food to do with the solar system or the stars (I know, funny right?) Then it hit me how simple it was. Galileo had a deep love for Florence (Italy that is), his home. As a result, I chose food from Tuscany the region of Italy in which Florence is located.

So naturally I thought of this delicious cake. Naturally? You ask. Naturally for me...Rodrigo took me to a very popular Italian restaurant,Cucina Rustica, while on our honeymoon in Sedona, Arizona and this was the very dessert we ate. This was not only the beginning of our love affair but of our love affair with Italian cuisine.

It was the first and last time I have eaten flourless chocolate cake until now. I was afraid of attempting the recipe myself as I often have this experience of food tasting better in my memory than in my real life re-creation. However, this one did not disappoint. It was as fabulous made right here in my home as it was sitting in that very pricey but wonderful restaurant. So, don't be afraid...go ahead...give it a try.

I'll list the ingredients here but, Bakerella gives such a wonderful explanation on preparing it that I'll just leave her link to it at the bottom.

What you'll need:

• 9 inch spring form pan
• parchment paper
• non-stick cooking spray
• 6 large eggs (yolks in one bowl and whites in another)
• 8 0z semi-sweet chocolate
• 4 oz dark chocolate
• 2 sticks of butter (1/2 lb)
• 1 1/4 cup sugar

BAKERELLA INSTRUCTIONS