Would you like the chance to win an entire case of FAGE Greek Yogurt?  BlogHer is giving away an entire case of FAGE every day for the next 30 days!  Check out my recent review of FAGE to learn all the details!

This is what we ate for dinner tonight and it’s so good, I just had to share a photo and point you over to Elise’s wonderful Beef Stroganoff recipe at Simply Recipes. I’ve also been meaning to tell you how much my husband and I have been enjoying whole wheat egg noodles, and this is the perfect excuse to do so!

So far, the only brand I’ve tried is Ronzoni Healthy Harvest, but they are so good I haven’t wanted to try any other kind.  While this Beef Stroganoff recipe is far from healthy, at least we’re getting some extra fiber and protein from the egg noodles (twisted logic, I know). Each serving of the pasta contains 6 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein.  Not bad, huh?

Of course there are probably healthier ways to enjoy whole wheat egg noodles, but lately I just can’t stop craving comfort foods!  If you’re in the same boat, you can at least make small changes (like using whole grain pasta) to increase the nutritional value of these not-so-healthy meals.  I think I’ll use these whole wheat egg noodles the next time I make Tuna Noodle Casserole, too!  They really are good.

Now back to the Beef Stroganoff.  I followed Elise’s recipe to a T and it is absolutely delicious!  The fresh tarragon and fresh-grated nutmeg sets this Stroganoff apart from anything I’ve had before.  And I suggest using a nice cut of beef just like she suggests.  I found some tenderloin in the freezer (how on earth did I forget about that?) and it turned this into a special occasion-worthy dish.  What’s the special occasion?  Well, is it wrong to still be celebrating my birthday?

I’m kidding, I grudgingly gave up the birthday celebrating early Monday morning when Justin woke me up asking if I could help him get out the door on time by making him some coffee.  Oh well, the party can’t last forever!

But tonight, with this meal, it kind of feels like a party all over again.  I hope you get a chance to try the Stroganoff at least once this season, it’s the perfect thing to warm you up on these cool winter nights!

Get it here:  Beef Stroganoff Recipe at Simply Recipes.

I’ll be back with my own recipes soon.  Expect many more fattening recipes throughout December!

The winner of this beautiful 9-inch knife from New West KnifeWorks is Adam, whose favorite thing to eat over the holidays is Mac and Cheese.  Congratulations, Adam!

I chose the winner using the Random Integer Generator at Random.org.  The random number chosen was 224, and Adam was the 224th person to leave a comment on the Knife Giveaway post.

Thanks to everyone who participated, it was a lot of fun reading about your favorite holiday foods! And thanks again to New West KnifeWorks for providing the knife.

I’ll be back later with today’s recipe. Stay tuned!

Well it’s been a while, hasn’t it?  We’re all settled in at the new house and although there’s still tons of work to do, it’s slowly shaping up and we are loving the new place more and more each day!

And now that I’m officially back to blogging, I thought I’d start things back up with a bang!  I have two gorgeous kitchen knives to give away thanks to the wonderful people at New West Knife Works.

As a food blogger, I am constantly bombarded with requests to write about new products.  For the most part, I kindly decline these offers.  But when I got an e-mail from New West Knife Works, I was instantly intrigued.

For one thing, I love knives.  A good knife is a cook’s best friend.  While I don’t generally accept expensive free products in exchange for a review, I did like the idea of accepting these quality knives to give away to a couple of readers.  I mean, you deserve it for putting up with my sporadic and infrequent posting!

New West Knife Works sent two different types of knives and they are both absolutely beautiful!  I have to tell you, it’s hard for me to give these things away!

The first one is the Fusionwood Chopper.  I love the colored wood handle and curved blade.  Here’s the description from the Web site:

Vegetables have nightmares about these pro quality kitchen knives. But for the slicing and chopping needs of your kitchen, this knife is a dream. The winner of the “New West Salsa Test”. The perfect knife for those who find a large chef knife unwieldy.

Just look at that beautiful blade! With a 5 1/2 inch blade, this knife is much smaller than what I am used to.  But it feels great in my hand and I am seriously thinking about adding the Fusionwood Chopper to my Christmas wish list!

The second knife is called the Petty and it is from their Phoenix collection. According to the Web site:

The Petty is the perfect peeling, paring, boning and carving knife for vegetables, fruits, herbs, and other delicate work. A traditional Japanese blade shape, the petty is becoming a must have for the American kitchen. The home user who finds a larger chef knife unwieldy will find the petty a suitable alternative as an everyday chef knife.

The Phoenix knives are made in Seki, Japan, a place known as The City of Swords. I love the delicate thin blade on this knife and it, too, might someday fit nicely in my own collection!

So, here’s how this will work.  In order to enter the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment and tell us why you would like a new kitchen knife.  If you already have a great set of knives, it would nice if you would sit this one out and give some others a chance.  But I’m not putting any restrictions on the contest.  If you would like to be considered, just leave a comment.

At the close of the contest, I will randomly select two people using a random number generator.  The contest will end on Thursday at 1pm (pst).  I will post the winners by the end of that day!

Good luck, everyone!

And thanks again to Corey and Michael at New West Knife Works for introducing us to their wonderful knives!

EDIT: The contest is over. Comments were closed at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 18

San Diego is known for many things. Beautiful weather and beautiful people? Yes. Beaches, great fish tacos, and palm trees? There’s plenty! Handmade artisan chocolate? Hmmmm.

Chocolate just isn’t something that come to mind when you think of California’s southernmost city. But Will Gustwiller, owner of Eclipse Chocolat, is on his way to changing that.

Besides being owner, Will is the head chocolatier of this San Diego-based artisan chocolate shop. This isn’t the corner candy shop you remember from your youth. Eclipse specializes in creating exotic chocolate infusions in truffles, chocolate bars, and a variety of other confections such as crème fraîche cupcakes and dark chocolate croissant bread pudding with creme anglaise.

But Eclipse Chocolat is a special kind of business for reasons other than its amazing chocolate creations. As you walk into the shop, you will see the Eclipse Chocolat Pledge painted on the wall:

• To provide the highest quality chocolates made from all natural and, when possible, organic ingredients. We never use additives or preservatives.
• To sponsor local and regional non-profit organizations by donating 10% of our net profits.
• To maintain “green” operations, using post-consumer paper products and reducing our eco-footprint.

Sounds like a good pledge to me!

Those of you who read Pinch My Salt regularly know that this post is a bit of a break from the norm. For one thing, I don’t normally frequent high end chocolate shops (I’m not much of a chocoholic). For another, I don’t normally write reviews of such places. So what the heck is going on?

Well, I was lucky enough to be invited to Eclipse Chocolat for a San Diego Foodblogger Mixer! That’s right, in addition to sampling some amazing desserts, I got to meet and mingle with a whole bunch of local foodbloggers!

As an American writing a food blog in Sicily, I was a bit isolated from the rest of the foodblogging world (geographically, that is). I was always jealous when I would read about other bloggers meeting up for dinner and becoming friends in ‘real life.’ All of that changed during my trip to New York and Chicago last summer when, for the first time, I got to meet some of my favorite foodbloggers in person. And it was wonderful to discover that they are all as much fun in person as their blogs suggest!

So when we finally had to pack up and make the big move from Sicily back to the states, one of the things I looked forward to was becoming a part of a local foodblogging community!

Although I haven’t been writing much lately, I was really excited when I received the evite from Will inviting myself and several other San Diego Foodbloggers to meet up and indulge in some complimentary dessert tasting platters. I admit I was a little nervous, as I always am in large groups of people I’ve never met, but the event turned out to be lots of fun and I met a great group people!

And let’s not forget about the desserts…

Chocolate and Olive Oil Fondue. The combination sounded strange but it was good, especially with the strawberries!

This is the latest seasonal tasting platter, which included: Frozen Chocolate-Mixed Berry Merlot Mousse (say that five times fast!), Grilled White Chocolate Carrot Gateau, Dark Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Creme Anglaise, and a White Chocolate-Chamomile Lemon Bar.

A better view of the bread pudding from the same platter.

Kim from Foolin’ Around in the Kitchen digs into that yummy frozen mousse!

Tyler of What We’re Eating with a Roast Beef Panini that apparently contained chocolate in some form or another. Yes, Eclipse Chocolat also offers sandwiches!

Surprisingly, this Lavender Vanilla Bean Lemonade was one of my favorite things!

Unfortunately I didn’t get a good group shot of everyone but as you can see, there was lots of mingling going on! Will had the great idea for us to wear name tags featuring our first name plus the name of our blog.

Again, I do not consider myself to be a chocoholic and I freely admit that I prefer milk chocolate over dark. But truffles, whether made from milk or dark chocolate, are one of my weaknesses. The one below consisted of caramel chocolate ganache dipped in milk chocolate, topped with Lavender-scented gray sea salt and we were each given one as a parting gift.

Oh my!

Not sure how I managed to photograph that truffle before biting into it but it really was as good as it looks! I loved the crunchy sea salt on top and the hint of lavender worked well.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. My only regret is I didn’t get a chance to chat with everyone who was there. I guess we’ll just have to plan another event! Some of the bloggers I did get a chance to meet were:

Marie from Adventures of an Amateur Foodie
Kim from Foolin’ Around in the Kitchen
Alice from Alice Q. Foodie
Tyler and Amanda from What We’re Eating
Roger from The Fifth Deadly Sin
Katherine from Koko’s Corner
Darlene from My Burning Kitchen
Dennis and Elena from Sea Rocket Bistro
Liz from Fooding 411
Caron from San Diego Foodstuff
Marcie from FoodBuzzSD
Angie from CrazySalad
Ben from Ben Bakes a Cake
Josh the SD Chowhound
Will from Eclipse Chocolat Blog

I apologize because I’m sure I’m missing a few of you! If you know of anyone I’ve left out, let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

In short, the San Diego Foodblogger Mixer was quite a success. Not only did I get to meet a great group of people but I was introduced to a wonderful local chocolate shop that I probably never would have sought out on my own.

So, if you happen to find yourself in San Diego and in need of a serious dessert fix, Eclipse Chocolat is the place to go!

Eclipse Chocolat
2121 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92104
619-578-2984
info@eclipsechocolat.com

Store Hours:
Mon-Thurs 9am-10pm
Friday 9am-11pm
Saturday 10am-11pm
Sunday 10am-6pm

Eclipse Chocolat Online
Eclipse Chocolat Blog

And did I mention they have a very comfortable couch and free wi-fi? These are the things that make me happy in life

I loved his recent post about why he refuses to buy vinaigrette.

On another note, I’ve really been enjoying Bittman’s latest cookbook, How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. The book is a great resource for anyone, vegetarian or not, who is interested in incorporating more vegetables and whole grains into their diet. But it’s not a book about health food. It’s filled with every meat-free recipe you can imagine. And it’s a huge book. I think it’s well worth the 2o bucks or so you’ll pay for it on Amazon. Don’t believe me? Go read Heidi’s review of the book on 101 Cookbooks.

So, go check out Bitten if you’re ready for a daily dose of Bittman. And if you’re ready for a great new cookbook (who isn’t?), pick up a copy of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Good Food.

This is a continuation of my previous review of Nando’s Peri Peri Sauces. I had three sauces to try out–Roasted Reds Cooking Sauce, Peri-Peri Marinade, and Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce. I used the first two sauces in my chicken pizza, but I had different plans for the Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce. It seemed like the sauce might be good on some chicken wings, so of course I tried it out. Guess what? It was good on chicken wings

I had never cooked chicken wings before but I decided I wanted to grill them rather than fry or bake them. So, I turned to my favorite book on grilling, Elizabeth Karmel’s Taming the Flame. Sure enough, she had instructions for grilled Buffalo-Style Chicken Wings. I adapted the recipe a little but definitely can’t take credit for creating this one!

I used a bag of frozen chicken drummettes, but you’re welcome to use whole wings if that’s what you prefer. This recipe uses a combination of indirect and direct grilling, If you don’t understand the difference, read this before you get started. I didn’t give exact amounts of seasonings, just use your best judgment

Nando’s Honey Garlic Wings

3 – 4 pounds chicken drummettes
olive oil
garlic powder
salt
pepper
4.7 oz. bottle Nando’s Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce
2 T. Butter
2 T. honey

• Light briquettes or preheat a gas grill.
• Defrost chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels.
• Put chicken pieces in a large bowl; drizzle with olive oil; season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper; stir until all pieces are coated.
• Grill chicken pieces, covered, over medium indirect heat for 20 – 25 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking time.
• While chicken is grilling, combine hot sauce, butter, and honey in a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil, whisking occasionally, and reduce heat to low. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Take 1/3 of the sauce to the grill and brush on the chicken. Grill for an additional 5 -10 minutes.
• Remove wings from grill and place in a clean bowl. Pour remaining sauce over the chicken and stir until they are well coated.
• Return the chicken to the grill, this time over direct medium heat. Grill for a few minutes on each side until brown and caramelized. Watch chicken carefully because it will burn quickly!
• Serve warm with blue cheese dip.

These wings have a little kick but they really aren’t too spicy. But even though these aren’t as spicy as traditional buffalo wings, the Nando’s Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce really gives them a wonderful flavor and I have to say that I enjoyed them as much or more than most wings I’ve had in restaurants and bars. They also got several thumbs up from a group of Sailors here that I recently recruited to be Pinch My Salt taste-testers. Thanks guys!

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How it is that I’ve gone this long without tasting any of Nando’s Peri-Peri sauces, I will never know. But now that this wrong has been righted, I’m definitely a Nando’s convert. I like spicy foods and I like hot sauces but I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur. I always have a supply of a couple different Tabasco sauces on hand (I’ve also tried Texas Pete’s and Louisiana brands but I’ve always been a Tabasco girl), but my pantry hot sauce collection doesn’t usually get much bigger than that other than maybe some Cholula and a mild tomatillo-based green sauce. And of course, there’s the occasional Asian chili paste and I am now always fully stocked with Italian chili paste (crema di peperoncino). But really, considering the variety of hot sauces available in this world, my tiny collection doesn’t even scratch the surface.

I had never even heard of the Peri-Peri pepper (also known as the Pili Pili, Piri-Piri or African bird’s eye pepper). My chili pepper knowledge just doesn’t really go beyond jalape?±os, haba?±eros and the Italian peperoncini that I’ve become totally addicted to since living in Southern Italy. But now that I’ve tasted a few of Nando’s sauces, I want more Peri-Peri! I’m curious to know how many of you are already using Nando’s sauces or perhaps have even eaten at the restaurants. Apparently I’m one of the few who had never heard of Nando’s! I mean Oprah, Ricky Gervais, and Nelson Mandela are all fans…where have I been?? Oh yeah, in Sicily.

But if you haven’t yet tried the sauces, it seems that they are widely available in stores. The Nando’s Web site has a nifty little store finder to help you find one close to you. And if, like me, you can’t get the stuff in a store, the sauces can easily be ordered online!

So, here’s what happened. I got a nice e-mail from Dave over at Nando’s Peri-Peri asking me if I would like to taste some of their sauces and maybe review them on Pinch My Salt. At first I was a little skeptical of accepting the free sauces. I was torn between really really wanting to get free stuff in the mail and not wanting to feel obligated to write a review for a product that I might not even like. So, I didn’t respond at first. But then I did a little research on the Peri-Peri pepper and finally curiosity got the better of me. I wrote to Dave and told him that I would love to try some of the sauces but that I wouldn’t review them unless I was really impressed with the product. Dilemma solved.

When I got the package in the mail, I was excited to see that I received not one but three different sauces to try! One was a big jar of Roasted Red Pepper Cooking Sauce (mild), one jar of Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce (medium), and a jar of Peri-Peri Marinade (hot). I wasn’t so sure about the cooking sauce and marinade because I’ve tried to get away from store bought sauces but when I opened the jars and tasted each one, I must say that I was really impressed with all three!

So, here’s my review for all of the Nando’s sauces: YUM! Go get some now!

Ok, now that the review part is out of the way, let’s move on to what I do best…creating recipes, cooking, and eating!

A very strange thing happened in the moment I tasted the Roasted Red Pepper Cooking Sauce, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I think it was the first time that a single taste of a new ingredient instantly inspired an entire recipe! I immediately knew this slightly sweet, slightly spicy, mouth-wateringly tangy sauce would taste great on a pizza and I knew for certain that the pizza should be covered with cheese, grilled chicken, pineapple, and fresh cilantro. I just knew.

I don’t make pizza at home very often because I live in Sicily and I can go out and get really good pizza anytime I feel like it. Since I don’t have a wood-fired pizza oven, nothing I make at home will compare to the pizza here I can get here. But this pizza would be different. I wouldn’t be trying to replicate a Sicilian pizza. It would be my very own Nando’s Grilled Chicken Pizza and I couldn’t wait to taste it!

For the pizza dough, my trusted recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It uses both white and whole wheat flours and I think the flavor is the best of any pizza dough I’ve tried. For the grilled chicken, I marinated chicken breasts in Nando’s Hot Marinade before grilling them. I would have preferred to grill some fresh pineapple for this pizza but the pineapple at the store near me was just too expensive. Crushed pineapple worked fine (make sure to drain it well) but I will definitely try grilling some pineapple next time.

I have a pizza/baking stone in my oven and I highly recommend using one if you want great pizza from home. Put the stone on the bottom shelf in your oven and preheat it to 500 degrees. With the stone, you need to allow lots more time for the oven to come to temperature. I usually let it preheat for a full hour. And if you’re going to use a baking stone, you’d better invest in a baker’s peel too! Ok, now you’re ready to bake some pizza!

Nando’s Spicy Grilled Chicken Breasts:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to a uniform thickness
Nando’s Peri Peri Hot Marinade
salt
fresh ground pepper

Place chicken in a shallow container and pour on enough marinade to evenly coat all sides of the chicken pieces. They don’t have to be swimming in marinade, just make sure all pieces are coated on both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes. Preheat grill. Remove excess marinade from chicken pieces, season both sides with salt and fresh ground pepper. Place chicken over direct medium heat and cook about 6 minutes per side or until thoroughly cooked. Remove to a platter and let cool. When cool enough to handle, slice into bite size pieces and set aside for use on pizza or cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 C. warm water (NOT hot water)
2 t. active dry yeast (I use instant yeast)
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 t. salt
1 C. whole wheat flour
3 C. all-purpose flour plus extra for kneading

In a medium bowl, mix yeast with the cup of whole wheat flour. Add water and oil and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, stir salt into the remaining flour and then add flour to the wet mixture, a little at a time, stirring, until a shaggy dough is formed. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter or board and knead with well-floured hands until smooth (about 5 minutes should do it). The dough will be sticky but try not to add too much extra flour, a moist dough will result in a lighter crust.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl and turn once to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a towel and set aside in a slightly warm place (on top of the fridge is usually good) for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a counter and cut into four equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, place them on a lightly floured surface, then cover with a towel. Allow to rest for another 30 minutes.

Shape the dough: Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust it lightly with flour. Working with one piece at a time, and using floured hands, press the dough into a disc and then starting from the center, push the dough out using your fingers and the heel of your palm, trying to keep the circle as uniform as possible. Make sure the dough is not sticking too much by lifting and turning it occasionally and sprinkling extra flour as needed. Flatten dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick (or even thinner if you can manage it). Make sure to leave a rim along the outside that is slightly thicker than the middle. You should end up with a pizza that is approximately 10” in diameter.

Cover and let rest for 10 minutes before adding the toppings. Start rolling out your next crust while the first one is resting. If you are not planning on using all four crusts, wrap the extras loosely in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. When you are ready to use it the next day, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out. If you want to store the dough longer than overnight, wrap it well and freeze it.

Pizza Toppings:

• Nando’s Peri-Peri Roasted Reds Cooking Sauce
• Nando’s spicy grilled chicken breasts, chopped
• Crushed pineapple, drained well
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Fresh cilantro, chopped

Now for the fun part! The amount of toppings is completely up to you:

Spread a few spoonfuls of Nando’s Peri-Peri Roasted Reds Cooking Sauce evenly over the pizza dough. Next, sprinkle drained crushed pineapple over the sauce. Add shredded mozzarella and cheddar, chopped grilled chicken, and a little more pineapple. Top with a few extra sprinklings of cheese.

Slide pizza peel under the parchment paper and then slide pizza and parchment directly onto a hot baking stone in a preheated 500 degree oven. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until crust is very well browned and pizza is bubbly.

Sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro liberally over the pizza, then cut and serve!

I would like to thank Nando’s for giving me the chance to try out these wonderful sauces! My next post will feature one more Nando’s recipe…Honey Garlic Wings featuring Nando’s Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce so stay tuned for part two! But until then, you can check out a couple other Nando’s reviews by my friends Curt over at Bucky’s Barbecue Blog who tried out the sauces with some smoked chicken thighs, and Kristen at Dine and Dish, who reviewed Nando’s Curry Coconut Sauce…YUM!