Looking for a great personalized gift idea? Look no further than Blurb Photo Books, this week’s Gourmet Giveaway prize. Two winners will be given $40 to spend on the website that allows customers to create their own personalized books.
Using hundreds of professionally-designed layouts (or their own, unique layouts) each winner could create a family cookbook filled with recipes and the memories they call to mind, a memory book full of family photographs and stories or other treasured memento.
THE PRIZE: Two winners will each receive a $40 gift certificate to spend on Blurb.com to create a cookbook, travel album or anything else they would like to cherish in bound-book form. Retail value: $40.00 each.
To Enter This Gourmet Giveaway: Go to the box at the bottom of our Best Reads Section and click to enter your email address for the prize drawing. This contest closes on Monday, August 9th at noon, Eastern Time. Good luck!
No grill? No worry! Photo courtesy Allen
Brothers, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.
You don’t have to have an outdoor or indoor grill to make a great steak. Try this chef-honed technique that uses the oven and the stovetop:
For two strip steaks or rib eyes (1-1/2″ thick) or filet mignons (2-1/2″ thick):
1. Remove steaks from the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking; pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Ten minutes before cooking, preheat the oven to 400°F.
3. Heat a heavy, cast-iron skillet over medium high heat, until a few drops of water evaporate within 3 seconds.
4. Coat the bottom with 2 teaspons of grapeseed or canola oil. Salt each steak with 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and sear for 2 minutes on each side, flipping once.
5. Transfer steaks in pan to the oven for 8 to 9 minutes for medium-rare (125° to 135 °F). Remove and let rest under a tent of aluminum foil for 5 minutes before serving.
Find more beef recipes and our favorite beef products in our Gourmet Beef Section.
Keep one of Amy’s new Organic Chocolate Cakes in the freezer—regular or gluten-free—and slice a piece whenever the mood strikes.
For a vegan product—no butter or eggs—the cakes are rich and moist, and a good quick fix. The gluten-free version disappeared from our freezer as quickly as the conventional recipe. The one thing we could wish for is a bit more cocoa flavor. But add a scoop of ice cream and you won’t notice.
For a crowd-pleasing dessert, top a slice with a scoop of ice cream and provide ramekins of chocolate and/or butterscotch chips, chopped nuts, dried cherries or other favorite toppings. People will have fun customizing their garnishes. Or drizzle a warm dessert sauce—such as recent Top Pick Of The Week, Sassy Sauces.
In addition to being organic, the cakes are certified kosher by Ner Tamid K.
Vegan chocolate cake, regular or gluten-free.
Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.
Melon soup can be served as a first course
or as dessert. Photo by Cristina Donnadieu | 21 Club.
When life gives you melons, make melon soup.
If you’ve never had melon soup—typically made with cantaloupe—you’re in for a big treat. There’s nothing more refreshing in the summer than a bowl of sweet, chilled melon soup.
We’ve obtained the recipe for delicious melon soup from New York City’s legendary 21 Club.
Melon soup can be served as a first course or as dessert. Since there’s Champagne in the recipe, you can pair the soup with a glass of Champagne. Now that’s refreshing!
If you love melon, try the recipe. It may well become a family favorite.
