J.P. Licks Customer Appreciation Day!

It’s Thanksgiving in April! As a “thank you” to customers…and to celebrate the Red Sox Home Opener, stop by any J.P. Licks on Monday, April 6 between noon and 9:00 p.m. for ice cream and fro-yo for $1/scoop.

While not The Diva’s favorite, Brigham’s “Curse Reversed,” J.P. Licks has some fun flavors named after our hometown team:

• Peanut Beckett and Jelly
• Very Berry Ellsbury Frozen Yogurt
• Pedroia’s Passion Fruit Sorbet
• rice DICE Kream
• Green Monster Tea
• One Sweet World Series
• Cherry Ortiz

The Diva likes both ice cream and the Red Sox, go figure! Unfortunately, she gets more ice cream than tickets to games, but what can you do, right?

Oh wait, J.P. Licks has taken care of that too! You can enter to win free Red Sox tickets on their web site. And if you win, of course, you’ll take The Diva, right? RIGHT!?!?

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

A little foolin’ around

Okay, yesterday’s post may have been a little April Fool’s hyperbole, but a girl can dream, right?

On to business. For an upcoming series on the blog, I’m looking for people out there that have signed up for full and half shares of CSAs or farm shares for the Summer season (preferably local to MA, but I’ll take anywhere) and would be interested in participating in a little project (with little time commitment to you). If you fit the bill and have interest, comment on this post or The Diva an email and I’ll fill you in on the details.

For the rest of you, you’ll just have to wait and see what’s coming up!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

The Diva Heads to Primetime

Foodies, after many weeks of sporadic posts and blogger neglect, I’m finally able to tell you all about something very exciting in the works for The Diva of Dining. Thanks to some savvy networking, friends in high places and a lucky introduction, your Diva is soon to be headed to NYC to film a pilot for a new Food Network show!

While I can’t give you a ton of information now (for fear of the legal gods casting wrath upon me), look for more details to come and a drastic redesign of www.thedivaofdining.com to fit with the new show!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

First, there was Aquanet, then cometh pancake batter in a can???

Not your same old bird.

The Diva understands that chicken is for many the go-to weeknight meal: its cheap, cooks fast and tastes like, well…chicken. But it can get boring very fast. The routine is the same: thaw out a breast or thigh, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then bake or grill until cooked. If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, maybe a side of broccoli or Minute rice.

Don’t deny it, we’ve all been there. Snore.

Well boys and girls, it’s time for a variation on a theme…and you can still go wild with the side of broccoli.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts


















2 chicken breasts (or cutlets)
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
1 small onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped fine
salt and pepper to taste
butcher’s twine or toothpicks

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saute pan, heat butter and 1 tablespoon of oil over low heat until melted. Add onion, salt and pepper and, stirring occasionally, cook on low until onions turn translucent and begin to caramelize. This can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes depending on the heat of your stove. Remove from heat.

If using chicken breasts, place each between layers of plastic wrap and pound them out (using a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, whatever) to approximately 1/4 inch thick (If using cutlets, just make sure they are even in thickness!).

In a small bowl, combine onions, parsley and goat cheese and mix well. Be sure to taste this mixture and add additional salt and pepper as needed.

To assemble, divide the onion mixture between each chicken breast and spread it out evenly. Slowly roll up the chicken breast and fasten with toothpicks or butcher’s twine. Season the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper.

In the same saute pan you used for the onions, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium high heat. Sear the chicken on each side. Don’t rush this step! The chicken will let you know when it’s time to flip, and release easily from the pan. If it’s giving you trouble, just relax and give it another minute before trying again.

If you’re using a stainless steel or oven safe pan, transfer the pan to the oven and let the chicken cook through. Cooking time will depend on the size of your breasts (insert snickering giggles here…you know you want to). Ahem, er…if you have a meat thermometer, feel free to use it.

When the chicken is cooked through, slice and enjoy!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Making food fun for the kiddies

The Diva doesn’t have any kids yet…but that doesn’t mean she’s ignorant to the struggles some parents have with getting the kiddies to eat their peas (and other foods). Enter, Constructive Eating’s bulldozer pusher, fork lift fork and front loader spoon!


I think these are absolutely adorable, and it makes me wish there were more little tykes around for me to buy little holiday presents for! According to the company’s web site (www.constructiveeating.com), the utensils are textured, have easy-grip handles and are modeled to scale. Parents can appreciate that they are dishwasher safe and are made with FDA-approved that are are PVC free, phthalate free and free of Bisphenol A (BPA).

The utensils come in a set that retails for about $15-$20 and can be purchased online from Creative Eating, or a number of other online retailers. You can find them locally at Kitchen Arts on Newbury Street in Boston (both as a set and sold individually).

A must for any pint-sized future foodie on your list!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Like clockwork, the changing fall leaves bring about this annual craving for butternut squash. Whether it’s mashed with brown sugar and butter or in these raviolis, I’ll take it any way I can get it. My recipe for butternut squash ravioli is stripped down, simple and no fuss. I cheat and use small wonton wrappers, but they are just as good – if not better – than using homemade pasta dough to make them. Also, by using store-bought wontons, it makes this recipe possible to throw together on a weeknight.

Butternut Squash Ravioli














For the Ravioli
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into half-inch cubes
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh sage, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 package wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

For the Sauce
4 tbsp butter (can be either salted or unsalted)
fresh sage leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine squash, oil, sage, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss well to combine and spread in one even layer on the baking sheet. Roast until tender and starting to brown, about 30-40 minutes. Remove any large pieces of sage and, using a potato masher or food processor, mash mixture until no large pieces of squash remain. Cool completely.

At a clean workspace, combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl. To make the ravioli, place a rounded teaspoon of the squash mixture in the middle of a single wonton wrapper. Using a small pastry brush (or your finger), moisten two edges of the wrapper with the cornstarch mixture.
Gently fold the wrapper into a triangle, joining opposite corners and taking care to remove any air bubbles and not push the squash mixture out of the edges. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges of the wonton, if necessary.

If not cooking immediately, place the completed ravioli on a parchment lined baking sheet or cutting board.

Freeze completed raviolis on a baking sheet for approximately 30 minutes or until firm and then transfer to a ziplock freezer bag.

To cook, bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Add a small handful of salt and return to a boil. In a small skillet melt butter over medium heat and add sage, salt and pepper and cook until butter begins to brown, about 3 minutes. In the meantime, add ravioli to the saucepan, one at a time, so that none overlap. When ravioli begin to float and turn translucent, remove from water using a slotted spoon. Transfer ravioli to the skillet and toss in butter sauce to coat. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes
Because these raviolis are a two-step process (roasting the squash and then assembling), it’s a good recipe to split up. I always end up roasting the squash and then tossing it in the fridge for a day or two before tackling the ravioli.

Since the squash is roasted and not boiled, it doesn’t get mushy or watery if refrigerated. That doesn’t mean you can’t make this with frozen squash or homemade mashed squash (or using some other type of squash) - I’d just recommend giving it some time to drain off or using cheesecloth to wring out some of the liquid. Trust me, you’ll be less likely to have ravs that fall apart when boiling.

I always end up with triangular ravs when I use wonton wrappers. You can use two wrappers to make a square ravioli, but I find the squares quite large and hard to handle when making and cooking. Personal preference.

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

A chill in the air makes for good soup in the pot

The weather’s getting a little chilly up here in New England, so it’s time to break out a few of my favorite soup recipes by Giada de Laurentis. I don’t typically make a lot of Giada’s recipes, but there are some that, with a few of my own tweaks, have grown to be staples in my kitchen.

Giada’s Italian Wedding Soup is a recipe that serves as a solid starting point for my own. It’s relatively simple and doesn’t require you to bake the meatballs before adding them to the soup. One less pan to clean, yea!

In my version, I swapped beef for turkey, add parsley for additional flavor and breadcrumbs to help keep the meatballs together while poaching. I also prefer escarole in my soups, but any greenery will do.

Italian Wedding Soup
Adapted from Giada de Laurentis

For the Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 onion minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped fine
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

For the Soup
10 cups low sodium chicken broth (or stock)
1 head of escarole, roughly chopped and rinsed well
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for the meatballs. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix ingredients until well-combined. Using teaspoons or gloved hands, make small, rounded meatballs about an inch in diameter, and set aside on a tray or cutting board.

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a simmer and add escarole. Return to a simmer and drop meatballs in one at a time, pushing gently to submerge. Simmer until meat is cooked through, about 8 minutes. When meat is cooked, season as needed with salt and pepper. Stir soup in a circular motion and slowly stream in beaten eggs. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes
I used my trusty cookie scoop to make the meatballs uniform in size. I finished them by rolling them between gloved hands and dropping them right into the simmering pot. Be gentle with the soup right after adding the meat or you’ll end up with lots of meatball pieces instead of little spheres. Not so pretty, but still yummy.

When it comes to streaming beaten egg into soup, I’m miserable (and its part of the reason why I haven’t included any pictures of the plated soup…it’s just ugly!). Ideally, you’re supposed to get the boiling broth moving in a circular motion and then add the egg in a thin stream so it cooks up all stringy (like the egg drop soup you get at the local Chinese joint). Mine just looked like obliterated egg particles floating in the soup. Hey, as long as it tastes good, right? Hopefully you’ll fare better.

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Fun…and food at the Topsfield Fair

Last weekend kicked off the 190th annual Topsfield Fair, America’s oldest agricultural fair, which continues through Monday. While New England holds quite a few firsts in the American History department, it’s somewhat surprising that an agricultural festival in a small town on the North Shore of Massachusetts can trump the Midwest and South – in many ways the heartland of America’s farming industry – by being the oldest. Go figure.

Today, the Essex Agricultural Society has more than 1,200 members and the fair has been held annually since 1818 except for on six occasions, all mandated by government decree: it was suspended for three years during the Civil War and for three years, 1943-1945, during World War II.

What makes the Topsfield Fair so interesting, aside from the enormous gourds, blue ribbon steers and educational agricultural lessons, is the food – the prized local fare as well as the old, staple favorites that all of us, whether we’re six or ninety-six – look forward to when we enter the turnstiles. Lets take a look, shall we? Here are some fun facts about our favorite fair foods.

Cotton Candy
Different forms of Cotton Candy have been around since as early as the 1400s, when chefs in Europe added elements of spun sugar to desserts. The spun sugar was often thick and resembled blown glass rather than the light and fluffy Cotton Candy of today, but it was still malleable and took shape as webs, eggs, bird’s nests, castles and other designs. In the 1800’s, making Cotton Candy was a difficult and dangerous task. Loaf sugar (made from cane or beets) was combined with water and other ingredients and heated until just the right temperature and consistency. When ready, the candy maker would use a fork or whisk to pull the hot liquid out of pot and fling it in the air, cooling it quickly (just imagine the burns!). What we consider to be modern Cotton Candy was invented in 1897 by four men. John C. Wharton and William Morrison, a pair of Nashville candy-makers, developed a patented electric machine that used centrifugal force to spin and melt sugar through small holes. In 1900, Thomas Patton patented a gas-fired rotating plate to make Cotton Candy around a fork and debuted it at the Ringling Brothers Circus. Around the same time, Louisiana dentist Josef Lascaux made Cotton Candy available at his office (to drum up business, perhaps?). In 1904, Wharton and Morrison took Cotton Candy, or “Fairy Floss,” as it was known at the time, to the St. Louis World’s fair, where they sold 68,655 boxes for 25 cents a box, making a whopping $17,163.75 on the novel snack.

Candy Apples
Candy apples (or candied apples) first appeared in 1908, when Newark candy-maker William Kolb, experimenting with red cinnamon candy around Christmastime, dipped apples in the mixture and put them on display in the front windows of his shop. It soon became an annual item and spread all over the Jersey Shore and beyond. Today, the candy coating largely remains a combination of sugar, corn syrup, water, cinnamon and red food coloring that creates a hardened shell when it cools on the surface of an apple. In America, candy apples are typically found in the fall around Halloween, when apples are in season. A close cousin to the candy apple is the toffee or caramel apple, which was invented in the 1950’s by Dan Walker, a sales rep for Kraft Foods. Just as yummy.

Funnel Cake
The Pennsylvania Dutch and Spanish generally battle for the title of creator of the funnel cake. But whether you’re a batter frying German immigrant or a Churro fan from Mexico, you’ve certainly helped influence a nation’s love for friend snacks. Funnel cake is made by pouring batter through a funnel and into hot oil in a circular web pattern and frying it until golden brown. Depending on the region, it can be served with powdered sugar, jelly or any number of other toppings.Because they are quick to make and must be served or eaten soon after frying, they are a popular staple at fairs, ballparks and other events. How is funnel cake different from fried dough? Well, fried dough and elephant ears are similar to funnel cakes in that they are fried in hot oil, but the batter for these treats is made with a yeast dough. Funnel cake batter is made with unleavened butter.

Corn Dogs
The corn dog dates back as early as 1929, with a “Krusty Korn Dog baker” appearing in the Albert Pick-L. Barth catalog of hotel and restaurant supplies. While it was likely born out of the rise of street vendors in the early 1900’s, many lay claim to its invention. Carl and Neil Fletcher were the first to sell them at the Texas State Fair in the late 1930’s;The Pronto Pup vendors were feeding hungry masses at the Minnesota State Fair in 1941; Cozy Dog Drive-in, in Springfield, IL, claims to have been the first to serve corn dogs on sticks, in 1946, and also in 1946, Dave Barham opened the first location of Hot Dog on a Stick at Muscle Beach in Santa Monica, California.

What’s your favorite fare…at the fair?

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

The Diva explores The Omnivore’s Hundred

Prompted by a call from my mother wondering why it hasn’t appeared on the blog yet, I figured its time to post my results for The Omnivore’s Hundred, a list of 100 foods “every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life,” courtesy of the blog Very Good Taste.

For those of you who’d like to follow the bouncing ball and share the reaches of your gastrointestinal fortitude:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here linking to your results.

My list rounds out at 63. See below with witty commentary included:

1. Venison (mmm, venison meatballs)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (for dinner, for breakfast, all the time!)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (no way, Jose.)
7. Cheese fondue (cheese makes the world a better place)
8. Carp
9. Borscht (oh to vacation in Germany again)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (yum)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (my trusty alternative to the same old turkey sandwich)
14. Aloo gobi (and still don’t really like curries)
15. Hot dog from a street cart (“Well I love that dirty water….”)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle (I even got Picky Eater to eat these!)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (right off the bushes)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans (love with #3)
25. Brawn, or head cheese (cold, congealed meat from the head of a cow? gross.)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava (probably eat more than I should)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (tried both, but not simultaneously)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (COLLEGE! Much more fun when made into Jello Jigglers)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (yes, I’ve tried a few chocolate-covered creepie crawlies)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (not yet, but definitely on the list! Tingle tongue, tingle!)
47. Chicken tikka masala (there we go again with the curry)
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (thank you, Air Japan, en route to Tokyo)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (blueberry ale and smooth going down)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Rolaids anyone?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (stinky feet!)
66. Frogs’ legs (I’ll get around to it one of these days)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Haggis (um….no.)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (last time I checked, still banned)
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (tea snob)
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (I’ll eat anything covered in chocolate)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (*sigh* someday.)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (does rabbit count?)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (horses are for riding, not eating)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (just the e-mail version)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.