She came along

Hello world! So... if you haven't been able to tell, it's been busy. Very busy. Work 5 hours every night and then 10 hours on the weekend kind of busy. There's a lesson and/or reward in here somewhere, even if it is not in my wallet. Le sigh.

Anyway, I try hard not to keep this a vent-free zone so, on to the good stuff. I came home to night to see my wonderfully miraculously intuitive boyfriend making the most delicious dinner. His by-now famous Tomatillo salsa with veggie tacos... whoo boy it was good. I picked up some Pacifico on the way home and as soon as I opened our apartment door and that jalapeno/garlic/mushroomy goodness hit my nose, it all made sense.
The boy genius never uses a recipe but from what I could get out of him, there is chipotle spice in the mushroom, garlic, and spinach saute, and garlic, tomatillo, jalapeno, probably other secrets in the salsa, which gets pureed before lightly cooked.

Ah so delicious. And not a speck of cheese in sight... !! To top it off, some new great tunes:

This one is mostly about the base. Great stuff. Hope your week is off to a good start as well! xN

Almond Horns

Last night's post reminded me that I have been keeping our Easter treats from you!

We had a friend over and stuffed ourselves silly. I retried my quiche to great success, and Nick made a little cornish hen for he and our guest.

I had been dying to make the soft and chewy almond horns with a slightly crispy edge that I've enjoyed at the bakery I mentioned last night but could not find a recipe that came even close when I went online! This is what I ended up with

They were OK. I froze half the batter to mull it over and this weekend decided the almonds needed to be toasted first and I added more almond extract. Definitely an improvement but they still need almond paste and maybe a few egg whites. When I get the recipe down, I will post, but in the meantime please please please let me know if you have a tried and true recipe!

I should mention that we finished Easter with fresh whipped cream, berries, crepes and a load of Economy Candy from our friend's new hood.

Holidays are delicious :-)  Happy Tuesday! xN

Petite dejeuner

The glorious weather we had this weekend meant that my mom and I spent hours and hours outside, racing from one fun activity to the next. We saw "Red" on Broadway which I highly recommend; intense but thought-provoking in a good way. It made me respect Rothko a bit more. Oh and the tickets were free through work; not too shabby!

Anywho, before that, we made time to relax a bit in the morning and enjoy the weather and ambiance at my favorite pastry shop where the treats are as authentic as they come. Take my standard order: Russian coffee (Espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped cream) with Baklava

Oooooh I want it all over again. It was painful to wakeup to what felt like a distant memory this morning. Sunshine illuminating dessert for breakfast= heaven. We were in a divine neighborhood actually. Check out the gorgeous church across the street

St. John's is the largest cathedral in the world. The WORLD people. If you look at the bottom left, you'll see the tiny specs of admirers.

Anyway, thoroughly exhausted and saddled with hours of "home"work to tackle tonight but still buzzing from such a nice weekend. Hope you enjoyed yours as well! xN

Paris in New York

My mama is in town which means we'll be out and about all weekend, yay! Wish it was a little warmer but I'll take the sunshine at least.

We found a bit of Paris in NY. Chouette!

Have a great weekend everyone :-) xN

Salad Nicoise

I miraculously had everything I needed tonight to whip up a Nicoise salad: Don't you love when that happens? Maybe I need to get out more, but that REALLY makes me happy!!

While in France, my host-father cooked many amazing meals but it is the little things that have become a part of my daily life that will always mean the most. One of these, was the Dijon dressing Francois made... Shallots, oil, vinegar, dijon, fresh herbs (oooh how I miss those herbs!) salt and pepper and we were in business. I tried a fancy recipe tonight for this dijon and was happy... 

It was like a refresher course to their cooking, which makes me miss them even more now! We are hoping to see them this summer so keep your fingers crossed for me that we'll meet up but in the meantime I leave you with this tremendously easy, and easy to please dijon recipe: 

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragonxt

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For the salad, be creative :-) xN

Grown Up Grilled Cheese

This weekend was so gorgeous that I am having a hard time getting my act together this week. Tonight I couldn't be bothered to make dinner, do you ever feel like that? Normally it relaxes me but oh tonight... Tonight I could barely keep my eyes open past 8pm. I remembered a bit of leftover pesto we had and was hit with a stroke of genius.

Grilled cheese is always my go-to meal if I'm eating alone or exhausted from a long day. What is easier than buttering some bread and throwing cheese on top, with such a delicious reward! Anyway, that big white hunk is fresh mozzarella and somewhere below you would find basil and spinach. I also added some jarred artichokes for a bit more depth and I have to admit, the results were truly delicious and I ended up with something like a pizza sandwich.

It's been awhile since I cooked off recipe and it felt good to experiment. (Not that this was particularly challenging by any means!) Ok off to bed. xN

In her Easter Bonnet

During some spring cleaning I came across this blast from the past. I'm the giddy one with hands to my face, happy because I was wearing a new hat and there was promise of candy, I'm sure.

How adorable is my little brother!!! That tie! Those kicks! I could eat him.

Today we frolicked in the sun all day, and I hope you did the same! Such glorious weather, I hope it never changes.  Now a friend is on his way over for tasty treats, which we are gladly preparing. I'll post the recipes this week :-)  Happy Spring! xN

Potato, Beet, and Wild Mushroom Casserole

I made this gorgeous Casserole last week when it was damp and gloomy and we were in need of some hearty sustenance.

It is totally genius. You spoon (piping would be so pretty!) the mashed potatoes around the outer rim of the casserole dish, fill the center with this creamy onion, beet, horseradish, shallot deliciousness, and then  pile these nutty wild mushrooms and parsley on top. Then the whole thing bakes and magical scents dance throughout your house. Everything is already technically "cooked" so no one could stop you from say, sampling a few bites here and there, as it finishes. Not that I did.

I've been dying to make this for years because of the scrumptious photo in one of my oldest cookbooks (yes, years. This came from a cookbook that's been one of my favorites for over five years) and I am so glad I finally did because for all of the steps it was surprisingly simple. I was waiting for... A special event? Fall weekend with hours to spare?  Who knows. We celebrated an average early spring night with panache and savored every minute of it. We were joined by a heaping bowl of herbes de Provence vegetables.

The best part is that the extra bit of oven time crisps the potatoes up a little so the whole dish turns into some kind of giant and decadent potato skin.... especially if when re-heating the left overs, you happen to leave it in for too long. Even the mushrooms took on a bit of extra depth. This picture does not at all do the dish justice but I should point out that this is the serving dish after we went back for a third "last little bit" during the first night we ate it. Seriously good.

I'm beat but promise to post the recipe if not tomorrow, for sure over the weekend. xN

Spinach Quiche and a Harrowing Tale of Bravery, eek!

Tonight I endeavored to make made Deb's Spinach Quiche and a bit of Israeli salad to cut the dairy.

You should know that I will probably struggle with the guilt of not making my own crust for weeks. Don't judge me. Focus on the food... mmm... food,

Quiche in the oven, I was wham, bam ready to serve a great balanced meal to our family of two. Nick called to say he might have to work late, and he'd know in a minute if it was going to be a ten minute meeting or an all night meeting. This quiche was smelling SO good and was just about finished, so I was thinking, aw but also more quiche for me! 

Until Oscar started barfing. Sorry, if you're squeamish, but we've all been there and it's really more like mostly-dry heaving so I've become immune, especially because it is just another tactic he uses to get more food. Sneaky little bugger.

So, Oscar is barfing (again, sorry), and I bring him into the bathroom lest Tank get any ideas about inspecting said barf, and because all dogs deserve to handle their business in private. Quickly pulling the door shut, we're finished and cleaned up in about five minutes. As I said, this happens often.

Just as I turn to leave, I remember that our doorknob freakishly broke yesterday, and locked us in a few times. Now only able to be opened from outside, we had joked that it would suck if we got locked in when one of us was home alone.

Turns out it REALLY sucks to be locked in alone with a quiche in a 425 degree oven going on the 19th minute of its prescribed 25 minute baking time. Turns out that turning the knob really hard and cursing doesn't unlock a door after all. Nor does aggressive tugging, unscrewing strategic but apparently useless screws, kicking said knob, or even more tugging. After about 45 minutes, with the "all nighter" option flashing in my head and one scared dog scratching at the other side of the door as the scent of smoke reached my nose, I decided I had no other option.

I had to save my life! My dogs' lives! Right? What would you have done?

The beautiful, hilarious, sweet irony of life is that the minute I burst through the second panel of my door, I heard Nick's keys in our apartment door. Not only that, but I did not entirely thaw the spinach before baking it, and it needed extra time in the oven anyway! I burnt the crust (which is delightfully obscured in this image!), but if it is not home made, it doesn't matter much, as I'm out about $3, and not hours of my time making it.

I am already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow! A note that I used extra sharp cheddar because the flavor goes a long way, a bit of aged gouda that is also very flavorful, and shredded parm in this version, hence the bright cheeses. I will absolutely make this again... without the extra activities. Is it Friday yet?! xN

Artichoke Failure and a Belated Recovery

Artichokes are one of my favorite signs of spring. Gorgeously green and purple they called out to me immediately. I had never steamed fresh artichokes on my own and with this dreary weather I thought it was high time I tried.

One of my bff's steamed a pot of artichokes one time back when we lived in a trailer called a "mod" in college and I remember her anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the stove while I was glued to lifetime television for women. (I couldn't be bothered to cook a tremendous amount back then!) Just when I would think they were finished, they would need another 20 minutes, I couldn't believe it! Nothing could be worth that wait, right?

I can't actually remember if she had succeeded in cooking them to her liking... But tonight I certainly did not. Failure is an understatement. Somehow Nick had a miracle choke that tasted great but mine was dry, crispy, unflavorful, and then there was the heart... I will have nightmares for weeks about that heart. Nick said "Oh eat the furry part, it is the best." I looked at mine dubiously and thought, nah, it looks prickly. He urged, and I gave in. People, it WAS prickly. Like eating a cactus! I am pretty sure I'll have these spikes wedged in my throat for a good few weeks.

He looked at mine after seeing my reaction and went, "Ew, it's spikey!"

Yes. It. Is.

That was over the weekend. So we wouldn't be artichoke jaded, he came home tonight with a jar of hearts and we made a lovely little pizza.

This is pre-bake, the fact that I forgot to take a pic after it had fully baked should tell you something about the incredible smell in our house. The artichokes actually baked down substantially and we both wished there were more on there. Next time.

As for steaming... anyone have any good tricks? Unlike my usual fumbles, I actually followed the directions to a T this time.

Scallops Provencal

Oooh look what flew into our fridge! Remember when I said I wanted to try Hitchachino Nest Beer?

I finally found this sucker in the far back corner at Whole Foods, and it was quite the pretty penny. 1 Pint was about $11 and I stood deliberating over those $11 for a good 10 minutes. Finally I succumbed and I had this little lovely (and some clementines):

That was where the excitement ended unfortunately. I tried the White Ale which was really a really unique flavor. A little bit sour while also a bit sweet. Not my favorite flavor. Nick deemed it undrinkable, but he likes brown ales so his opinion was biased from the beginning. I would be interested in trying the other brews under this label if it wasn't so darn expensive! Why spend that much on a pint when I can get a 6-pack of Toatsted Head or Blue Point for less then $10? I wouldn't...

On a side note, I noticed during this beer run that Whole Foods has "happy hour" prices at the tap for a few bucks off the growler refill charge. Cheers indeed!

We complimented the white ale with Scallops Provencal. A heartier scallop recipe, with divine flavors, I've posted it below and urge you to have faith. It seemed sac-religious to bread such beautiful seafood but it ends up not really "breading" them, more like "lightly seasoning" the flat sides. MMM I want it again already. Thanks to Chef Nick on this one! xN

Recipe from Food Network

• 1 pound fresh bay or sea scallops
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots (2 large)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 lemon, cut in 1/2

Directions

If you're using bay scallops, keep them whole. If you're using sea scallops, cut each 1 in half horizontally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.
In a very large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add thescallops in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes, total. Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine, cook for 1 minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice

Swiss Chard Calzone

Mmm tonight was a night that begged for comfort food. It is hard to believe you can feel such a chill after the gorgeous weather we had this weekend, but I was chilled indeed!

With fresh dough and swiss chard that we washed and trimmed this weekend (thanks for the memorable tip Rachel Ray!) I was primed to make a pizza until Nick suggested we make a "Spinach Pizza" style calzone. Genius! Growing up, when his mom would have plans that required her to be absent during dinner, she would prepare spinach, sausage, cheese, onions, tomatoes, and a few secret ingredients on top of dough and... fold it all together! All the rest of the fam had to do was pop it in the oven. Nick was skeptical when I first made a vegetarian version of this dish but since then we've enjoyed it several times.

Tonight's version has swiss chard, smokey robusto cheese, onions, tomatoes, and whole wheat dough. Delicious! This was the only remotely-salvagable image but I thought it was better than nothing! What family meals from your youth have made it into your adult rotation? xN

Cockles and Whole Wheat Linguine

You know you've seen them before. The cockles sit sweetly between the mussels and Cherrystone and you've thought about getting them before, but what do they taste like? How to I prepare them? Will they be gritty? Or maybe you don't stress about minor decisions such as this (like me!) and you've been wise enough to grab a pound for yourself. Lucky dog.

I am such a sucker for naturally colorful foods, which is good, because those are the variety that tend to be the best for you. Purple! Green! Spring! This picture doesn't do these shells justice, as they actually became more vibrant the longer they cooked. (Isn't it funny that most junk foods like anything fried, cheesy, salty, etc. are actually among the least appetizing looking? I digress.) Wikipedia tells me that the most common variety of these sweet little clams is widely distributed along the Northeastern European coastline. I seem to recall the Whole Foods chalk board informing me that these we ate were from the WF dock in Mass. Regardless, these beauties were delicious. Sweet, tender, not at all gritty: a clear addition to our little bag of culinary tricks.

We cooked these as we would clams (olive oil, shallots, white wine, parsley, s&p) and had a super simple meal with more homemade pasta. Which reminds me... I've been itching to get a pasta crank for some time now. Let me know if you see any affordable ones that will fit into our wee little space! xN

Pesto gnocchi

Nick's sister is coming into town this weekend so we had to scramble a bit to clean up. We are not one of those "when is the house keeper coming" families to say the least. I remembered we had basil to use up and within 5 minutes had this ridiculously easy pesto.

There is no real recipe, but I used the cuisinart to chop together about 1/2 cup e.v.o.o, 1/2 cup parm, 1/2 cup pine nuts, a few cloves of garlic, 2 bunches of basil and some salt and pepper. We had fresh pasta from whole foods which is ready after boiling for a nanosecond so just minutes later we had this:

The extreme close up seems a little pornographic, sorry! I was merely trying to steady the camera on the bowl but it does look tasty enough to dive into haha. I was really delicious and super easy. Now it is time to clean! xN

Pickeling

One of our favorite restaurants in the city is not in the city proper, but across the way in Brooklyn. We've been there for dinner a bunch and most recently we went for brunch, where we picked up a copy of "Diner Journal," a seasonal magazine that provides recipes, stories, and a printed forum for foodies. Nick spotted a recipe for pickeling and I jumped when I saw a special on these shortie cucumbers, which seemed downright snackable.

McCormick's makes a "pickeling" spice which we used for this batch, but I think it is still a little on the too sweet side. The cinnamon is a tad too strong so I'm not including the recipe because you may be able to find better. Regardless, we really enjoyed it with crisp veggie sandwhiches.

The taste and color both make this a really rewarding little snack. I think we'd make these again for house guests to munch on while playing board games. Overall the process was fun so I hope to try pickeling more veggies soon! What would you want to pickel? Cauliflower? Carrots? Exciting signs of spring.  xN

Soup a l'oignon

Whoo boy this was quite a recipe. I decided to make it on a night when Nick was out and thank the lord I did because we would have been eating at 10pm if I hadn't! I ended up snacking on pita and hummus while I made this and just decided to call it a night once the soup was finished. But we had it the next night... and oh my was it delicious! Again, I was astounded by the simplicity of the ingredients: Onions, stock*, a touch of flour, sugar, and salt and you're finished.
Well you're finished after the onions caramelize of course.

And caramelize.

And caramelize some more.

And more... For three separate periods of 30-40 minutes, the onions sautee softly in their own juices, something that beings to resemble milk. Nick protested that I must have added some kind of cream, but I promise, nothing but natural in this here soup. The recipe called for 5 cups of onions and I used 6 but I think you would have been happier with 7 even. We also skipped the cognac becuase I couldn't find a shooter and did not want to pay $40 for a bottle to gather dust but I would suck it up next time because the soup was a little thick and I think it would have added depth to the flavor, while thinning it out. I also toasted some grated parm on whole wheat pita's instead of the 40 minute-baked cheese toasts the recipe called for, for a quick and healthier alternative. We're supposed to get a ton of rain this weekend so stock up on onions! xN

*I did not want to use beef stock so I substituted with this non-chicken stock I found at a health store. I think you could have also used mushroom stock for an equally nice flavor but I really enjoyed this and would use this again, especially since the color darkened as I hoped it would.

Tecate Tortilla to-do

We had our friend George over this weekend for an impromptu fiesta. George cut and fried the tortillas  (look at that blue corn!) while I made the avacado salsa and Nick DJ'd.

I have never made so much salsa in my life... but with chips this good, I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we were practically licking the bowls out after George left. Ok maybe we were actually licking the bowls out... You'll never know!

These photos are horrible, I know, but I couldn't resist this posting because we truly had so much fun... and such good eats! There's not even really a recipe for this one: cut and fry the tortillas until crispy and sprinkle salt on them before they fully dry. Salsa is tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, cilantro, and avacados with some s&p. Happy monday. xN

Cauliflower soup

I adore soup, don't you? Especially when it has rained inches on top of snow and is close to freezing and everything is cold and wet... soup seems to be the only thing that can warm my bones.

The best part of this slikly cauliflower soup is that it took practically no time at all thanks to my CUISINART!!!!! One of my favorite gifts ever (thanks mom!). Nick prepped the cauliflower last weekend so I only had to sautee, boil, puree and we were golden. I even had time to kick-back and enjoy a Newcastle with Nick while the soup cooked... for all of 20 minutes. TWENTY minutes people. I can't think of many proper meals that take less than 30 minutes.

Something else that amazes me is that for over a quart of soup, I used barely any seasoning (one turn each of the S&P mills) and the flavor was intensely delicious. Make this now! Original recipe from Dave Lieberman (I used vegetable stock and did not find it lacking in any way). Enjoy! xN

P.S. I forgot to mention earlier... I know it looks like prison food. I know. But I promise, it is REALLY good. Maybe a sprinkle of paprika would be pretty on top? I considered before serving but was too nervous it would adversely affect the already perfect flavor. 

Kumato caprese

We heard birds chirping this morning! Somewhere, February is melting into spring, even if we can't feel it yet. In need of a little sunshine on our plates, we cooked up some caprese. A disclaimer: if the sun is not shining on a regular basis and the heat index is not above 70, I cringe at the sight of a vine tomato. I don't dislike tomatoes, it's actually quite the opposite. Who can resist a plump, lush, warm off the vine Jersey tomato consumed in its prime: Summer. Winter usually yields dry, wrinkly, crumbly shadows of their tomato-selves which are only good for sauces. Nick doesn't like my usual winter stand-ins, the cherry or grape tomatoes, so when I saw these Kumato at Food Emporium, I was intrigued. Put-off at first by the brown skins, I slowly walked past to the leafy greens, before circling back. $4.99 for 5 small tomatoes was not cheap, but I'm a sucker for new foods so I gave it a try.


Here's a note from the Kumato website if you are also unfamiliar with the food. If you are lazy about linking, which I totally am, here's the summary (in UK English):

How are Kumato® tomatoes different from traditional tomatoes?
The colour of Kumato® tomatoes varies from dark brown to golden green. This is its natural appearance. Although they may look as if they are unripe and they will be bitter to the taste, this family of tomatoes has an authentic and intense flavour. They are sweeter than normal tomatoes, with a contrasting slightly sour note, which makes for a unique and clearly defined taste sensation. Furthermore, Kumato® tomatoes are very juicy and firm in texture, which means they are an excellent choice when preparing delicious salads and many tomato-based recipes.

Apparently they ripen from the inside out so there is none of that skin wrinkling. Particularly for a winter tomato, the Kumato was a very rich flavor that was not overpowered by the mozarella nor basil in this dish. I was pleasantly surprised and I would definitely recommend experimenting with these in your kitchen. Also I swear that the longer the slices sat, the more red they became. Maybe I am just going crazy, ha! The picture above doesn't doesn't really accurately represent the color difference between the two varietals so I included the dreaded winter vine for contrast below:

Blogger hates me tonight and no matter what I do to this image, it keeps posting as if I wanted it turned 90 degrees clockwise, which I didn't. Sorry. I'm tired of fighting with the machine tonight so hopefully I'll figure it out in the am, or if not, you can live with the twisted image. G'night xN

Mousse au chocolat

Nick is a genius. There is no better way to keep a girl happy than to spontaneously pick up little treats to surprise her with, especially if they are made of chocolate mousse, dark chocolate, and beware combining the two. Truly potent results! Happy Monday eve. xN