Food By Franz

Couple of fun “foodie” events happening this month.

SuperBowl and Valentines!
Helmets off to the New Orleans Saints! Hope your Superbowl was an opportunity to gather friends, eat and watch the game! Hopefully some regional favorite foods will grace your game table! If you are a Saints fan, and want to bring some local cuisine – check out last month’s Recipe of the Month – GUMBO! Your gumbo can be made as mild or spicy as your crowd likes it. Or if you are looking for finger food, try the “cajun angels“. Either a light mustard sauce or a sweet chili sauce work well as a sauce for the cajun angels – although they are just fine as is.

Now Valentines is a entirely different matter for food – maybe cupcakes or cookies for the kid’s? Or possibly may a romantic dinner for two be on the menu? If so, the recipe of the month will blend right in. Its a simple pasta dish made with prosciutto (an Italian ham) and green peas – its warming with contrasting sweet (the peas) and salty (the ham). Creamy sauce blends it all into a cozy dish – add a little salad and atmosphere – let ones imagination wander from here, ok? Its has my husbands seal of approval – its one of his favorite pasta dishes, see if you can tempt your guy’s taste buds with it.
Accordingly to go along with the ROM, the vegetable of the month, is Peas. I found out some interesting things about peas in my research for this article – they are nutritiously packed little gems – only 67 calories in a half cup. Read the article for some easy ways to be green Usually when we think of peas, the ones that first come to mind are the traditional green peas or english peas. There are snow or sugar peas and snap peas, which are a cross between the two. Some interesting facts regarding peas are included.

The Herb/Spice of the month is the most humble of spices today, it is so common (and commonly overlooked) that we hardly appreciate Black Pepper. It has a fascinating history though – one of the first spices traded, known to ancient civilizations. Learn all about black, green, white pepper and even pink peppercorns in this short article.