SUPER BRUNCH WITH BINGO: GOURMET GIFTS - A GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S

"BRUNCH WITH BINGO DAY"
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS SUNDAY'S

   SUPER BINGO BRUNCH BOOK CHOICE IS....

  GIVEAWAY ENDED
GOURMET GIFTS

100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion To

Make Yourself and Wrap with Style

BY DINAH CORLEY

Photos by Alison Shaw

ABOUT THE BOOK:

No gift demonstrates generosity and love more than one that is made by hand. And no homemade gift is more appreciated than one that’s edible, especially when it’s as pretty to look at and delectable to eat as the ones in Dinah Corley’s Gourmet Gifts. Corley offers up 100 scrumptious and splendidly crafted projects. It’s perfect for cooks who want to jump start their presentation skills, for crafters who want to give their food gifts a significant upgrade from the standard plate of chocolate chip cookies or pan of lasagna, and for anyone who wants to give a gift that’s decidedly personal and sure to please. Gourmet Gifts includes both money-saving gifts and opulent special-occasion gifts, foods that ship well over a long distance, gifts for people who are under the weather, and loads of ideas for the holidays. Forty beautiful color photos help readers envision the final gift.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Growing up, Dinah Corley’s mother taught her a very important lesson: “Never go to someone’s door empty-handed.” Dinah draws on her 30+ years of cooking instruction and artful gift-giving in Gourmet Gifts: 100 Delicious Recipes for Every Occasion to Make Yourself and Wrap with Style, a book that places emphasis on both the food as well as its wrapping. Before Dinah became an expert on edible gifts, she was less than stellar in the kitchen. “After college, I dated a man who scoffed at my inability to boil water,” says Dinah. “So for Christmas, he bought me classes to Le Cordon Bleu in London. After those were finished, I – to his surprise – kept on enrolling.”

Dinah attended Le Cordon Bleu in both London and Paris, and soon earned her Grand D’Plome – the highest distinction for a Le Cordon Bleu student. She also attended La Varrenne Cooking School in Paris, LeNotre at Versailles, and began living a whole season each year in the South of France. It was there that she apprenticed under food visionary Simone Beck, an experience that led her to further culinary studies with Roger Verge, Michelle Girard, James Beard, and Julia Child. Today, Dinah’s well-known cooking classes have created a widespread network of students. She has taught in Washington, DC, in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, and at Martha’s Vineyard, where she lived for roughly 20 years. There, she not only taught and wrote numerous food articles, she launched a second career as a restaurant designer and consultant. She helped redesign Atria, a fine dining, New England cuisine restaurant in Edgartown, Massachusetts, and is currently working on a new restaurant project for Martha’s Vineyard, slated to open Summer 2012.

Dinah is based in Shenandoah Valley, where she continues to teach her popular food classes.

SAMPLE FROM THE BOOK:

WHOLE PRESERVED LEMONS

A gift of a pretty jar holding a preserved lemon should thrill any experienced or adventurous cook. Salt-cured whole lemons preserved in extra-virgin olive oil are a staple in almost all Mediterranean cuisines. They are used to season slow-cooked dishes like tagines, and diced preserved lemon and its oil can be used to marinate or garnish grilled meats and seafood as well as feta and other dry cheeses. In Greek tavernas, small wedges of preserved lemon are served with drinks, along with slivers of dry, aged sheep’s milk cheeses, olives, and flatbreads. The oil alone is a perfect addition to marinades and vinaigrettes.

• Overall prep time: about 2 weeks (for curing the lemons)
• Active prep time: 2 hours
• Easy
• Moderately expensive
• Do not freeze or ship
• Can be doubled or tripled
• Shelf life: 6 months
• Makes: 12

INGREDIENTS:

12 small, firm organic lemons
5 tablespoons coarse sea salt
12 fresh bay leaves
4 cinnamon sticks, each broken into 3 pieces
12 small dried red chile pods
2 tablespoons white peppercorns
2 tablespoons cardamom pods
2 tablespoons fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
about 4 cups extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1) Scrub the lemons and cut each one into 8 wedges from the blossom end to, but not through, the stem end, so that the wedges remain attached at the stem end. Arrange the lemons in a glass or ceramic casserole dish. Gently spread the wedges apart and heavily sprinkle each lemon with sea salt. Tightly cover the dish with plastic wrap. Set the salted lemons aside in a cool place for 24 hours.
 

2) Meanwhile, prepare the jars: You will need 12 small wide-mouthed jars (½-pint canning jars are fine). Wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water, rinse them, and dry them in a 190°F oven. Keep the jars and lids warm until you are ready to fill them.
 

3) Drain off and discard any accumulated juices in the casserole of lemons. Put one lemon in each jar along with a bay leaf, a piece of cinnamon, a chile pod, and a small portion of the other seasonings. Fill the jars with olive oil, using about ½ cup for each jar, making sure the lemons are covered by at least a half an inch of oil. Use a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon to dislodge any air bubbles. Wipe the jar rims with clean paper towels and cover the jars.
 

4) Store the jars in a cool, dark pantry or closet for 2 weeks, or until the lemons are soft and you are ready to assemble and deliver the gifts.

HOW TO WRAP IT UP:

The lemons, spices, and rich green olive oil provide about all the good looks any small gift needs. But a great-looking label and a few recipes would complete this gift very nicely.

You should include a note with storage instructions, too: The lemons can be stored at room temperature, but as the lemons are used, the jar should be replenished with olive oil to keep the remaining lemons covered and fresh.

GIVEAWAY

I AM EXCITED TO HAVE THIS SUPER 

BOOK TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY

READER WHO WILL LOVE WINNING IT!

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN GOURMET GIFTS FROM WHAT YOU LEARNED ABOVE,  AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: VISIT DINAH CORLEY'S GOURMET GIFTS' WEBSITE HERE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND THERE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO TRY AND MAKE 

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY ON EACH IN ORDER TO RECEIVE EXTRA ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, FEBRUARY 19

GOOD LUCK!