Many firms that rely on marketing have a similar scenario: The marketing staff has created various marketing pieces that work great as print pieces, but when they want to do some customized e-mail marketing, the effort boils down to sending attached PDF documents or using template based subscription services.
Month: February 2011
Categories
Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Feta Bruschetta
Quick & Simple
When I’m looking for a quick and simple appetizer for dinner, a bruschetta seems to be my go to option these days. Probably because this is like a favorite pair of jeans that you can dress up or dress down depending on the mood and what ingredients that I have on hand.
My Newest Recipe
I threw this together last night just on a whim and it turned out great. I love the flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, basil & feta cheese. I also did this same thing with Gorgonzola and it was equally as good.
- 1 baguette or loaf of French bread (depending on what size you want your bruschetta)
- Olive Oil
- Sun dried tomatoes (the kind in the jar in oil work great!)
- Fresh Basil
- Feta Cheese (I prefer the feta that comes in brine, but any will do)
- Kosher Salt
- Pepper (preferably fresh ground)
Directions
The directions for this boil down to putting the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste and then put on the baguette slices. But here’s my attempt at something that at least sounds a little more official…
Slice baguette diagonally into slices between 1/2″ – 1″ thick (this really depends on how you like it). Slice as many slices as you plan on eating. If I’m making a date night appetizer for 2, that usually means 8-10 slices.
Arrange baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush tops completely with olive oil. This creates a moisture barrier that keeps the juices of the bruschetta toppings from making the bread soggy.
Bake in a 400° oven until crispy, but not burned. If you’re in a hurry, you can broil the baguette slices, but you really need to keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.
While you’re waiting on the little toasts, you basically want to prep the bruschetta toppings by putting the sun-dried tomatoes, chopped basil and feta in a bowl and season to taste. I usually use about the same amounts (measured by mass, not weight) of each of the three, but this is where you want to eyeball it. For me that usually works out to 3-4 forkfuls of sun-dried tomatoes, about 1/2 of the basil that comes in one of those pre-packaged fresh herbs packets at the grocery store and 3-4 spoonfuls of feta for my 8-10 slices. Chop up the basil. If you’re using the sun-dried tomatoes in oil, there will probably be enough oil dripping off the tomatoes to moisten the mix. If not, drizzle a little olive oil in the bowl. Don’t forget the salt & pepper. Stir to mix and spoon on the baguette slices. Arrange in some cool pattern on an aesthetically pleasing serving dish and serve with wine. You’ll thank me.
The beautiful thing about this fast & easy recipe is that if you’re running short of topping for your slices, you can mix up more on the fly!
Categories
The Best Chi Tea Recipe I’ve Found
Try Chi! A Classic Recipe for Chi Tea
I have recently been thoroughly enjoying a re-discovery of Chi Tea. Yea, I know it’s been all the rage at coffee shops all over the place for what, years now? And I’ve tried it too, and never really got it until I ran across this recipe and made my own. I think the difference is the milk. It’s just not the same with water…
Here’s What You Need:
- Cardamom pods (really just the seeds from 2 of them)
- Star Anise
- Cinnamon stick (I use half if they’re long like the one in the picture above)
- Black Peppercorns
- Cloves
- Black Tea
- Fresh Ginger
- Water
- Milk
- Some kind of strainer (yes, you need it)
Here’s What You Do
To make your chi tea, Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small pot. While you’re waiting on the water to boil, use a mortar and pestle (anyone know which is which?) to grind up the seeds from 2 cardamom pods, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 2 black peppercorns and 3 cloves. You don’t have to make them powder, just smash ’em up real good. When the water boils, add 1 cup milk, heat to boil, remove from heat and dump in the spices, 3 teaspoons of black tea and one slice of fresh ginger. Steep for 3 minutes and then strain into 2 teacups (or 1 really big cappuccino cup).
You certainly can boil the milk & water at the same time, but I found that sometime the milk will scald the bottom of the pot and make cleanup a pain. And I’m all about easy clean-up.
Why Should You Like Chi Tea?
Well, aside from the obvious fact that it’s delicious and totally rocks, there’s evidence that cardamom counters oxidative stress and enhances the function of natural killer cells, and may even play a role in preventing certain cancers. So get yourself on the chi tea band wagon with this awesome recipe. You’ll thank me.
Another Freebie Tip…
Spices can be expensive. But I’ve found if your grocery store has a good selection of Mexican/Latino foods, you can usually find spices there for sometimes half the price of the McCormick’s and Spice Island stuff in the traditional spice aisle. Look around… you might save a few bucks.