Cluck of the Bells!

I know its not dogs, but I just love these chicks! PErfect way to ring out the old.....

A Recipe For Fun!

I know Christmas has come and gone but this is just too good to miss!

The Pawsitive Therapy Troupe outside of Chicago staged a canine version of the Nutcracker for the second year in a row. Watch this video and you will see why all performances sold out in 4 hours!

Things Other Than Food That Were Swallowed in 2011

You know your dog is supposed to eat food, but sometimes he or she has other ideas. These are the best of 2011--things that went down and we hope, came out again--from our friends at VPI Pet Insurance!

Bo is fit to Be Tied!

For your Christmas viewing pleasure, the making of Bo--a full family of which served as prominent and adorable White House Christmas decorations this year!

'Twas the Night Before...

Sweet dreams and may you get everything you wished for including The Culinary Canine!

Helping Santa Out

Last Saturday, Santa made a guest appearance at The Bark Avenue Boutique and Dogma in Wayne. There were lots of dogs--some up for adoption from Finding Shelter and lots who came to get their pictures taken with the Jolly One.



That would include this duo--a Great Dane and a chihuahua who made quite a pair!


And I even made a new friend and signed a few books!

Sabina's Recipe

Here's Sabina's recipe from Vetsreet.

Today's treat was provided by Sabina Louise Pierce, co-author and photographer behind The Culinary Canine. "Since it's just me and my two Fox Terriers, Maddie and Izzie, I bake a batch of mini muffins for them and muffin tops for me," she says. "I love when I can make food that we can all share — and so do they."

Sometimes Louise Pierce doubles the recipe, so she can also treat her rescue horse, Toby. "She really likes them, and they are good for her, too," the photographer says. "You can substitute cinnamon for the cardamom, but we like the taste of cardamom because it's a little different."

Apple-Cardamom Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients

1½ cups organic whole-wheat flour
½ cup rolled oats
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar (do not substitute artificial sweeteners, especially those containing xylitol)
Cardamom to taste
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk or water
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½-2 cups chopped organic apples (make sure there are no apple seeds, stems or leaves included)

1. Preheat oven to 400° and grease a muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugar, cardamom, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, stir together the milk/water, eggs, oil and vanilla until blended. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine. Then stir in the apple.

3. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake 15-20 minutes.

4. Allow muffins to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan to continue cooling. (Muffins can be frozen.)

Note: Keep in mind that if you feed your pet anything that strays from his regular diet — especially in large quantities — it may cause gastrointestinal upset, such as vomiting and diarrhea. If your pet has a pre-existing medical condition or if he's on a hypoallergenic diet, you should not feed him any treats or new foods until you have discussed it with your veterinarian.

A Visit to The Pet Village of Wayne

Recently our local news station paid a visit to The Bark Avenue Boutique in the Pet Village of Wayne, where they found The Culinary Canine. It is the second segment on the video--about 2 minutes and 40 seconds in!

Enjoy!

People Food

This is Keith Roberts, the executive chef at Loews Santa Monica and yes he is in the book. But many of you have asked for some people friendly recipes so here is his for Apple and Cheddar Soup, which sounds pretty good this time of the year!

Apple and cheddar soup

Ingredients:

3 Gala apples, small

1 1/2 Granny Smith apples, large

2 1/2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

3 stalks celery


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1/2 teaspoon, fresh thyme, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable bouillon powder

3 cups extra sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup apple cider

3/4 teaspoon Champagne vinegar

Yield: 6

Method:

Place all ingredients in a large stainless steel sauce pot and bring to a boil on high heat, simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Puree with a hand mixer in pot until smooth. Ladle into bowl and garnish with white cheddar crisp.

White cheddar crisps

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup extra sharp white cheddar cheese

pinch of salt

pinch of ground cayenne pepper

pinch of ground nutmeg

8 tablespoons butter, unsalted

Method:

Heat the cheese until almost melted then blend with all other ingredients. Roll dough into 1.25-inch wide tube and refrigerate until firm. Slice very thin and place on baking sheet and bake at 350 until brown on edges.

Santa Monica chili

Serves 1 portion

Ingredients:

2 oz shrimp — rock

3 oz (one each) scallops — Day Boat

1 oz jumbo lump crabmeat

1/4 tsp. garlic peeled, minced

2 oz chablis cooking

1 oz butter unsalted

5 each fava beans, peeled and blanched

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper, ground

1 tsp. (1/2 large lemon) lemon juice

pinch of crushed chili flakes

1/2 oz olive oil

Method:

Heat olive oil in medium fry pan and sear scallops until well browned on both sides, transfer to tray or pan and place in medium oven to complete cooking while stew is finished.

In same fry pan sauté rock shrimp and salt pepper and chili flakes over high heat for 30 seconds, add crab, fava beans and white wine and simmer for 1 minute then remove from the heat and stir in butter. Pour into soup bowl or tureen and top with the seared scallop now cut in half. Serve with toast point or crouton.

Gifts for Pets

Here is some interesting news courtesy of my local WPVI television station:

Man's best friend is apparently becoming a bigger part of the family. Eight in 10 pet owners say they are going to get their four legged friends Christmas presents. One quarter say they will spend $50 bucks, according to a survey by Pet Plan, which sells pet insurance. Get this: 71% say they sign their pet's name in the family greeting card. A majority even have a special stocking for their pet.


What bout you? Planning on putting a special treat in your pooch's stocking? What about The Culinary Canine--the gift that keeps on giving as you make over 30 recipes for your best friend, the majority of which are people and pet friendly?

Looks great under the tree...

On the Shelf in Barnes & Noble

Spotted on the shelf in the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, NYC!

Here'a great holiday recipe from Roberta Dean, owner of Capers Catering in Los Angels and a top chef in the book. Try it, your pups will adore it!


PAW PRINT PUMPKIN BISCUITS

PREHEAT OVEN TO 325 (300 IF USING A CONVECTION OVEN)

1 CUP PLAIN CANNED PUMPKIN PUREE

1 CUP PEELED, 1/4” DICED, LIGHTLY BLANCHED FRESH PUMPKIN

1/2 CUP ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS, COARSELY CHOPPED

1 CUP QUICK-COOKING OATS

2 CUPS WHOLE-WHEAT FLOUR

1 CUP ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR

1/2 TEASPOON CINNAMON

1/2 CUP MOLASSES

1/2 CUP HONEY

1/2 CUP UNSWEETENED APPLESAUCE

1/2 CUP CANOLA OIL

MIX IN A LARGE BOWL

ADD WATER TO ACHIEVE A CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIE LIKE

CONSISTENCY

DROP BY TEASPOONS (FOR THE PETITE PUPPIES) AND

TABLESPOONS (FOR THE BIG GUYS) ONTO BAKING SHEETS

LINED WITH PARCHMENT PAPER ABOUT 2” APART

FLATTEN INTO ROUNDS WITH A FORK IN A CROSS-HATCH

PATTERN

BAKE FOR 10 MINUTES

SWITCH THE BAKING SHEETS FRONT TO BACK, TOP TO BOTTOM

BAKE FOR 5-10 MINUTES LONGER UNTIL GOLDEN AND FIRM

ADJUSTING TIME FOR TEASPOONS (A BIT LESS) AND FOR

TABLESPOONS (A BIT LONGER)

TURN OFF OVEN AND LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN UNTIL THE

TREATS COOL COMPLETELY

YIELD DEPENDS UPON SIZE OF THE COOKIE

On the Air

In case you missed the Sirius radio show on Saturday, The Focus Group, you can click below on the MP3 link and hopefully it will play. If not, you can go to the Focus Group website and download your own version to play on your computer.


/Users/kit/Desktop/12-03_CulinaryCanine_PaulHagen_P1-1.mp3

Throughout December, our friends at Vetstreet.com are highlighting some of the recipes in The Culinary Canine. The series kicked off last week with yours truly! I actually contributed one of Roberta' Deen's recipes--not in the book but really delicious--for pumpkin treats.

Here it is for you adventurous chefs. And for those of you less adventurous, just substitute more of the canned pumpkin for the real stuff!


Paw Print Pumpkin Biscuits
Ingredients
1 cup plain, canned pumpkin puree
1 cup peeled, 1/4-inch diced and lightly blanched fresh pumpkin
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds, coarsely chopped
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Mix ingredients in a large bowl, while slowly adding water to achieve a chocolate chip cookie-like consistency.

3. Drop teaspoonfuls (for petite puppies) or tablespoonfuls (for big guys) of dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Using a fork, flatten the dough into rounds and make a crosshatch pattern on the surface.

4. Bake 10 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet and bake another 5-10 minutes (less time is needed for the teaspoon drops), until the cookies are golden and firm.

5. Turn the oven off, open the door and allow the treats to cool completely.

Sam's Birthday Cupcakes

Last Sunday was Sam's birthday (he turned 4!) and in his honor I prepared his favorite birthday cupcakes! Since today is the Martha Stewart Show airing--10:00 AM EST on the Hallmark Channel--on which Chef Harry is going to make a delightful dish for his dog Blitz (it's in the cookbook!), I thought I would share the recipe for Sam's Birthday Cupcakes with you.

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey
2 eggs or the equivalent in Egg Beaters
about 2 cups uncooked Quaker Oats

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a muffin or cupcake pan. I use Pam to spray the sections
Combine raw turkey, eggs and oatmeal until it is a consistency that holds together when formed. You may have to use more or less oatmeal.
Press the turkey mixture into the cupcake tins almost all the way to the top. This doesn't rise so you don't have to worry about it cooking over.
Cook in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until browned and when a toothpick inserted in the center of each cupcake comes out clean. You want to make sure they're cooked through.
Allow to cool and serve to the birthday pup and his/her friends!

And if any of you are in the vicinity of the Penn campus tonight, Chef Eileen Watkin is doing a cooking demo at the Inn at Penn, complete with doggie bags. We will be signing books so stop by!

Martha Would Approve

Wondering what to get the pet lovers on your list? Wonder no more. Just click here and all your gift giving problems will be solved and delivered to your doorstep.

As Martha would say, "It's a good thing."

Chef Harrys Recipe

You've come to the right place if you heard about The Culinary Canine from The Martha Stewart Show. Or as we like to think, it's a very good thing you found us!

For those of you who would like to try Chef Harry's recipe (the one he prepared for his dog, Blitz), here are the ingredients:

Quick cook oats enough to make 1/4 cup cooked oatmeal
3 pork loin medallions, 2 ounces each
1 tsp canola oil
6 baby carrots
2 cups low or no-salt vegetable broth

And here is what you do:

Cook the oats with boiling water only and allow to cool.

Brush the pork medallions with the canola oil. Grill the pork over medium high heat until medium well done. Remove from grill and cool.

Poach the baby carrots in the vegetable broth until tender. Drain and cool the carrots and reserve a small amount of the broth. Puree the carrots with just enough of the broth to make a saucelike texture. On the show, Harry cooled this "sauce" and put it in a squeeze bottle to write Blitz's name across the plate.

With a sharp knife, cut the pork into small bits. Roll 1/4 cup of oatmeal into small truffle like balls. Spread the carrot puree artfully on a white dinner plate. Arrange the pork in a mound in the center of the puree. Dot the plate with oatmeal truffles around the mound of pork on the puree.

Serve to your begging pooch and watch it disappear!

There are plenty more mouthwatering recipes, good enough to share with your pup in the book, which you can buy here.