Renown South Florida blogger, Burger Beast, brought the Burgie Awards back for a sixth year. The Burger Awards, which awarded 15 prizes for the best in South Florida comfort food, as free and open to the public. It was a great opportunity to catch a lot of the food trucks that I hadn’t gotten a chance to try in my travels.
For a full list of this year’s winners, visit Burger Beast’s page. (more…)
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The holidays have come and gone, leaving a trail of obesity and broken diets in their wake. I, for one, have no regrets. Sure, none of my pants fit me quite right anymore, but it was worth it. Plus, it’s a great time for some baking experimentation.
I came up with this recipe after I entered a baking contest at work, at the insistence of my coworkers. I originally planned to enter one of the candy bar cakes, but my friends urged me to come up with a dessert that used “holiday flavors.” Pumpkin seemed too obvious, so I tried eggnog. And, I went with cheesecake because I figured it would be something that few people would do.
These eggnog mini cheesecakes are spiked with a hint of rum, and are topped with rum caramel sauce. You can easily make these “kid-friendly” by omitting the booze, but I think it adds an extra depth of flavor to the overall dish. (more…)
After being on hiatus last year, the Festival of Chocolate returned to South Florida! This event, which is not to be confused with a similar event that takes place at Fairchild Tropical Garden around this time of the year, is a celebration of all things chocolate. There were plenty of vendors, cooking demonstrations, and fun trivia to be had. And, as an added bonus, it was held at the Miami Auto Museum. Lots of cool things to see, once you’d had your fill of chocolate. (more…)
Dining out on a budget is one of my favorite pastimes. So, it is only natural that I took advantage of Dine Out Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale’s answer to Miami Spice. When you have high-end restaurants offering $35 fixed price meals, it’s hard to pass up. Since it was a place that I have been meaning to try for some time, I made sure to pay Johnny V a visit. This Las Olas restaurant has made a name for itself since opening in 2003. I had to find out for myself if they would live up to their reputation. (more…)
About a year ago, someone made me promise to make my New Year’s Resolution to update my blog at least twice a month (one recipe, and one review). I hope I have made him proud.
I think 2014 was a great year for The Broke Baker, and I think 2015 will be just as good. Thank you to all of you that have continued to follow me on this journey. I hope that my insights and experiences have helped some of you. After all, life is too short to waste it on mediocre food.
Stay tuned for more recipes and reviews.. Here’s to 2015!
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Is there any beverage more “holiday” than eggnog? I didn’t think so. Take that, Pumpkin Spiced Lattes! To be honest, I don’t actually drink eggnog too much. I do, however, enjoy the occasional scoop of eggnog ice cream around this time of year.
That was the inspiration for this creme brulee. I wanted to capture the essence of this traditional holiday beverage in a dessert. My first attempt used the ingredients to make an actual eggnog, but the finished product didn’t taste enough like eggnog for me. I managed to solve this by substituting half of the cream with actual eggnog. This brought out the taste of eggnog in the dish, without ruining the delicate texture of a classic creme brulee. (more…)
It’s been a while since the food truck craze took off in South Florida. Yet, I haven’t exactly visited very many of them myself. That is kind of a shame, considering the massive amounts of comfort food that these trucks promise. As a food blogger, it was a big failure on my part to ignore their potential.
All of that changed one day, when the craving for some good mofongo hit me. Sometimes, a woman just needs a mound of mashed, fried green plantains and pork cracklings. That’s just how I roll. I’ve tried good mofongo, and not so good mofongo. But, I’m not the type to find a place that’s good and just stick with it forever. After all, you might be missing out on something better, right? So, when Don Mofongo popped up on a Google search, I immediately started stalking following them on Twitter. As soon as they parked in my neighborhood, I paid them a visit. (more…)
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Let’s face it – it was only a matter of time before it happened. The candy bar bug has bit me again. After the success of my two previous candy bar cakes (Kit Kat Cake and Twix Cake, anyone?), I just KNEW that I had to keep the streak going. Since I’ve been visiting family in Houston, and my chocolate peanut butter chip cookies were such a hit with them during my last visit, making a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inspired cake seemed like an obvious choice. Plus, when you have a state-of-the-art kitchen at your disposal, it’s a great excuse to be ambitious. While, I am not the biggest fan of peanut butter, even I have to acknowledge that something magical happens when chocolate and peanut butter combine. So, I went to work on making Reese’s cake.
I went through a few ideas in my head for how to go about making this cake. After all, one must find the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter, if you don’t want to be overwhelmed. I finally decided on making a chocolate cake with peanut butter cheesecake in the middle. And, because this is a Reese’s cake, I added some chopped peanut butter cups in the cheesecake batter. (more…)
For South Floridians, the mention of gourmet food will rarely bring to mind the Kendall area. Yet, tucked away out west in Kendall is Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar. It features upscale food with a “wine country” vibe. The restaurant is attached to a tiny strip mall, and is easy to miss if you’re not looking. In fact, we drove right past it on our way there. (more…)
Taste of Peru, the third in my annual Holy Trinity of Peruvian Gastronomic Festivals, returned yet again. Last year, I was underwhelmed by the turnout. This year, the Peruvians in Miami turned out in full force. Even better, some new vendors made an appearance at the venue. It was truly a testament to the growing prevalence of Peruvian cuisine in South Florida. (more…)