Sources of Foodie Inspiration (and Recipe Raves!)

First, let's state (and repeat as required) that a Savvy Host does NOT have to be a good cook - or even to have time to cook – in order to entertain.  Let's take that requirement off the table (again)…permanently.

BUT, if you do like to cook or have the slightest interest in preparing food, you've likely explored or experienced some number of the thousands of recipe sites, YouTube kitchen videos, foodie blogs and televised chef cooking demonstrations available to help plan a menu, or simply a meal, you want to prepare.

Searching for a specific recipe – for us – is a structured, left-side-of-the-brain type of task.  For this exercise, we are happy to turn to trusted cookbooks and/or encyclopedic websites to find what we’re looking for quickly and efficiently.  Online resources are usually the easiest way to pinpoint the details, and some of our favorite recipe references include Cookstr, Epicurious, Kitchen Monki, and Project Foodie.  (See our post, Best of the Web - Top 10 Recipe Resources).

But there’s another side to our menu planning.  It involves the right-side-of-the-brain - our artsy side - and it isn’t often satisfied by the first approach.  Finding inspiration for a particular dish ... indulging in our cuisine creativity (however limited on capability we might be ;-)... identifying the right mix of seasonal, local, available ingredients for our gathering ... all this involves more of a visual brainstorming type of exercise. 

What's needed are flavorful pictures and descriptive techniques to trigger our foodie imagination, combined with simple enough cooking steps to give us the confidence that our efforts will be a success.

Where is this magical combination to be found?

Here are 20 delicious blogs that satisfy our culinary creativity and contribute well to the “foodie” component of our entertaining.  We’ve also shared a post from each focused on a recipe that inspired us (and was delicious enough to receive rave reviews!).  

• Bell’alimento – Limoncello and Nutella Caramel Hazelnut Brownies
• Cannelle et Vanille – Zucchini Blossoms
• Cookin’ Canuck – Grilled Mahi Mahi with Red Pepper & Cilantro Pesto
• Food and Style - A Unique Cheese Course, 5 Artisan Cheeses, 1 Truffle Honey and a Fizzy Hard Cider
• Hot Off the Garlic Press – a toss up between Red Wine Braised Leg of Lamb with Carrot & Sweet Potato Mash and Alaskan King Crab Cakes with Dijon Aioli
• In Erika’s Kitchen – Green Garlic Bacon Quiche in a bread bowl and Green Garlic Hummus with Preserved Lemon and Sesame Seeds
• Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen – Minestrone Soup
• La Tartine Gourmande – Potato Salad (Salade de pommes de terre)
• Laura’s Best Recipes – Grilled Chile-Marinated Filet Mignon Tacos (don’t forget to serve with her Simply Wonderful Guacamole!)
• Little Locavores – The Asparagus are Coming, The Asparagus are Coming!
• Noble Pig – Fresh Corn and Chicken Chowder
• Perfect Pantry – Miso, a Pantry Staple (Recipe: ginger-maple-miso salad dressing)
• smitten kitchen – Classic Cobb Salad
• Tallgrass Kitchen – Lentils and Toast and Lemon Garlic Pasta
• Tartelette – Radish and Watercress Salad
• The Amateur Gourmet -  The Best Chili of Your Life
• The Gastronomer’s Guide – two notable ideas ~ Cold Soba Noodles with Tofu, Shitakes, and Miso and Arugula Salad with Shaved Fennel, Blood Oranges, and Crumbled Feta
• The Hungry Mouse – Roasted Garlic, Three Ways
• the kitchn – How to Make Bacon Fat Popcorn
• Whipped – Carnivore Carnival Pizza 

So subscribe by email, grab the RSS feed, or add to your Google (or other) reader list to find your own creative menu inspirations from these delightful blogs.  Hope you enjoy these culinary treasures as much as we do!