The KB is a Bad Girl Ventures Finalist! March 24, 2013

The Spring 2013 Bad Girl Ventures Class. (That’s the KB first row, second to the left.)

Hello dear readers!

Once again it’s been a crazy month here for the Kitchen Bitch and I have lots of great stuff to report!

First and foremost, the KB, aka The Delish Dish,  is a Bad Girl (as if you didn’t know that anyway)! What that means is that I am one of 10 women-owned businesses to compete in the Spring 2013 Bad Girl Ventures program for a $25,000 loan to get my business, The Delish Dish, off the ground.

Bad Girl Ventures (BGV) is a highly localized micro-lending organization focused on funding woman-owned start-ups in the Greater Ohio region, specifically Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland. As a nonprofit, BGV combines micro-lending with a 9-week business development course to help support women entrepreneurs in all the key elements of their business.

The 9-week business development course is open to anyone—woman or man; however, if you apply to be finalist, you not only get to take the business courses on scholarship, you also compete against 9 other women-owned businesses for a $25K loan provided by BGV.

In order to become a finalist, I had to complete an in-depth application describing my business and what I would do with the $25K loan. From 46 applicants, the BGV board of directors chose 14 women as semi-finalists. Each semi-finalist then had to give a 10-minute presentation to the board, bankers, and investors. This is where the fun began for me, because I was in Las Vegas for my first Catersource Convention and Tradeshow, so I had to give my PowerPoint presentation and speech over Google Hangout! Ah!

Man Meals: Southwestern White Bean Chicken Chili January 23, 2013

Brrr … it’s cold outside! It’s the coldest it’s been this winter here in Cincinnati, so that can only mean one thing:

CHILI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, with the Super Bowl coming up, I’m sure you’re also trying to find crowd-pleasing recipes—and let me tell you, this Southwestern White Bean Chicken Chili is it!

I’ve been thinking about chili for awhile now (is that weird? I sometimes think about recipes for weeks before I make them), and I really wanted to make something lighter than a traditional all-beef chili but with all the full, well-developed flavors that make us love chili in the first place. Sounds like a good plan, right?

Taste of the Tropics: Mango-Black Bean Salad with Lime Vinaigrette January 15, 2013

Let’s pretend it’s summer, shall we?

Yes, let’s pretend that everyone is wearing short shorts and flowy hi-low hemmed skirts and drinking milk shakes and having backyard BBQs. That it hasn’t rained every day for what seems like weeks and that the sun is really just hiding out behind those ugly gray clouds, waiting to make it’s move.

You see, sometimes, in the deep, dark of winter, I like to make tropical foods to remind me of the warm, sunny days yet to come. Luckily, there are a plethora of tropical fruits to choose from at the supermarket, especially in winter. And since berries and other summer fruits aren’t at their best, I really encourage you to pick up some of those funny-looking fruits—persimmons, kumquats, mangoes, starfruit, dragon fruit, etc.—and give them a try. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by some of the flavors you’ll find.

Italian Mash-Up: Eggplant, Mozzarella, and Saffron Rice Bake January 8, 2013

Happy New Year, dear readers! Like many of you, I’ve been plotting and planning for this coming year, trying to come up with ways to not only improve my business, but also myself, my marriage, my home (which looked like a tornado had gone through it just a few days ago while I was reorganizing just about everything), and this little blog.

I wanted my first dish of the year to reflect the way I’m feeling at the present—a little unsure about which way to go, but ready to grab life by the reigns and let it take me wherever the path may lead. And so I offer you this Eggplant, Mozzarella, and Saffron Rice Bake, which is in fact a combination of two classic Italian dishes, eggplant parmigiana and saffron risotto, although it’s a bit more healthful as the eggplant is baked instead of fried.

A Sweet Treat From Germany: Lebkuchen Spice Cookies December 20, 2012

I’m proud to say that I’ve almost officially made it through my first holiday season as a personal chef and caterer at The Delish Dish! Wohoo! With all of my big events behind me, including The Delish Dish Homemade Holiday, it’s time to focus on what’s really important at this time of year, besides family, friends, and Christmas, of course:

COOKIES!!!

As you may recall, we’re big into sweets in my household, and my husband just loves cookies, especially these Five-Spice Snickerdoodles I made just for him last night. While Doug loves crunchy cookies like these Hazelnut Crescents with Vanilla Bean Sugar, I love cookies with a combination of crunch and chew and spice and icing, so it’s no wonder these Lebkuchen cookies caught my eye as I was flipping through Food & Wine magazine this month.

Canning Favorites: Homemade Spiced Apple Butter November 29, 2012

As usual, life is racing by this holiday season. I made it through the first round of my newest project, A Delish Dish Homemade Holiday, with more than 150 jars of jam, jellies, and preserves sold by Thanksgiving! Pictured above is an Instagram photo of my full line of homemade goodies from Thanksgiving (follow me @KitchenBitch), and I’ll be swapping in some new favorites for Christmas, like Christmas Plum Conserve, Apple-Jalapeno Jelly, Blueberry Maple Butter (hello, pancakes!), Fig Strawberry Jam with Balsamic Vinegar, and my first-ever low-sugar preserve for those with diabetes, Mixed Berry Apple Spread. I make everything myself in small batches, and the 4 and 8 oz. sizes are perfect for gift giving! Click here to download the new order form!

Fall 2012 Menu + A Delish Dish Homemade Holiday November 8, 2012

Holiday prep is already in full swing here for The Kitchen Bitch aka The Delish Dish, and I’d like to share with you my new Fall Menu, as well as tell you about the launch of A Delish Dish Homemade Holiday! You can check out the new menu on my website or you can download a PDF of my new Fall Menu here.

Monster Mash Up! This Week at Japp’s October 29, 2012

The Delish Dish (that’s me!) is back at Japp’s Since 1879 this week! Japp’s is hosting a Monster MashUp costume party to raise money for three charitable organizations: Shriner’s Children’s Hospital, the Starfire Council of Cincinnati, and Caricole. I’ll be dishing up Halloween-themed grub—hopefully in costume if all goes right! Stop by and say hi, grab some grub, and get your groove on! Of course, I couldn’t resist serving this Halloween treat!

For Tasha: Sausage & Cheese Grits with Tomato-Pepper Sauce and Fried Egg October 24, 2012

Let me start by saying: I could eat this dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Or brinner. Or brunch.

It’s what you might call a “crossover” meal, as anything with a fried egg can be deemed breakfast OR dinner, at least in my book. (And I’m sure many of you, dear readers, agree).

It’s savory. It’s comforting. It’s satisfying. It’s a big bowl of simple ingredients put together to make something truly special—something worth waking up on Sunday morning just to make.

Sopa Seca (Mexican Noodle Casserole) October 4, 2012

As the first months of our marriage go by, Doug and I seem to be eating more and more classic Mexican food each week. And it’s not just because Doug has developed what seems to be an endless affinity for the stuff (when we first met 4 years ago, Doug hated Mexican food because he had never had the real deal; now he requests tacos at least once a week). It’s also because I never grow tired of cooking it and sharing it with folks who have never experienced the pleasures of simple, traditional dishes made in homes around Mexico. And recently I got to cook this homey Mexican dish for my longtime friend and neighbor, Matt. (Thanks for stopping by, boy!)

Sopa seca, aka dry soup aka Mexican Noodle Casserole, is something that I’ve mentioned on this blog before. I made it in culinary school once, but this was the first time I’ve had a chance to make it at home, and WOW! I love this version from Saveur. Sopa seca is like the (spicy) Mexican version of noodle soup—it’s filling, comforting, and good for the soul. There’s no meat in it, but you won’t miss it—at least I know we didn’t, and that’s saying something.