olive oil

May 17, 2010

Homemade Pasta & New West KnifeWorks Giveaway

mel entree, recipe, sides & bites anchovies, breadcrumbs, olive oil, pasta, tomatoes

Homemade Pasta & New West KnifeWorks Giveaway

It is a truth universally acknowledged, information pills that once you’ve had pasta in Italy, you can never go back. Also, that every cook needs a really good knife. These truths might seem unrelated at first glance, but I assure you that in today’s blog post, they are not. (Mostly because I say so.)

First things first, I’ve been making fresh pasta every week since I got back from Italy. I used to think it was too much work to make it fresh. Why go through all that trouble when you can just open a box? And for the most part that’s true, but making pasta dough is actually kind of fun and not nearly as troublesome as I thought. Once you get the hang of it, it’s downright easy. Especially since I found this fabulous technique where you just roll the dough out super thin, coat it in flour, then roll it up like a cigar. Just cut off little pieces and you have noodles. It’s amazing!

Homemade Pasta & New West KnifeWorks Giveaway

This week I tossed my fresh noodles with oven-dried tomatoes, anchovies, lots of black pepper and fried breadcrumbs. It was by far my most favorite pasta recipe of the last year. The tomatoes were tart and tangy, the anchovies dissolved into delicious saltiness, black pepper lent some spiciness and the olive oil-toasted breadcrumbs gave everything a lush crunch. I am a sucker for pasta with toasted breadcrumbs. (I heart carbs.)

Homemade Pasta & New West KnifeWorks Giveaway

So, what does all of that have to do with knives? Nothing, other than I’m hosting my first-ever giveaway! Just like every girl needs a little black dress, every cook needs a really good knife. The nice people at New West KnifeWorks sent me a beautiful Santoku to test out. (Isn’t it just lovely?) To be honest, I’ve been lusting after one of these beauties for the past 2 years. After trying my knife out for the past 2 weeks, I’m sorry I didn’t buy one sooner. This is the Mercedes of knives. It feels wonderfully luxurious in your hands and chops like a dream. It also comes with a matching leather sheath – what more could you ask for?

Homemade Pasta & New West KnifeWorks Giveaway

The Contest: Leave a comment about what you’d like to see more of on this blog. It can be a type of food (Spanish, baked goods, salads) or an actual recipe. The winner will be chosen at random and will receive the Fusionwood Knife of your choice. Contest ends Friday, May 21st at 12pm EST.

September 1, 2009

Simple & Delicious: Rosemary Fried Almonds

mel recipe, sides & bites almonds, olive oil, rosemary, vegetarian

Simple & Delicious: Rosemary Fried Almonds

You know those days when you invite people over for dinner, more about but you also decide to go to the grocery store, misbirth kayak, store deep clean your house, and make a 3-course meal from scratch all in the same day? No? You’re not insane? Well, apparently I am since this is exactly how I spent my Saturday. Rushing from Whole Foods to the beach, then back home to clean and make ceviche, chile-braised short ribs and polenta.

So, when the guests arrived and I started pouring watermelon mojitos, I put out Rosemary Fried Almonds because I didn’t have the time or energy to make anything more complicated, and because they’re delicious. Fried almonds are also called Marcona almonds and are served at Tapas bars far and wide. They usually cost way too much money and are easier to make at home, not to mention more tasty when they’re fresh. They’re a toasty, salty and crunchy snack that goes well with cold cocktails and beer. A simple hors d’oeuvre (can this word be singular? Somebody help me out here…), but a delicious one.

August 28, 2009

Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

mel recipe cookies, molasses, olive oil, pistachio, sweet

Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

The Olive Oil Granola recipe made me a convert – I’m now mildly obsessed with adding olive oil to all things sweet. I must admit that this obsession started way before Olive Oil Granola took the food blogosphere by storm. As with many delicious indulgences, cough it all started with Mario Batali. Years ago, I went to Otto with my then-co-workers for some celebration now long forgotten. Because I have an undying need to order the most odd-sounding thing on the menu, my dessert that day was Olive Oil Gelato with Passion Fruit Granita. It was the creamiest, most luscious gelato. Smooth, sweet with just a hint of olive oil. It was fantastic.

Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

And so was the olive oil granola, and so too is olive oil cake. So, I ask you – what’s stopping me from making olive oil cookies? As of this morning, nothing! Using the same flavors and spices from the granola, I made these Spiced Olive Oil and Pistacho cookies. Just like the gelato, the olive oil flavor comes through, but instead of overpowering the cookies, it adds a lovely richness. The cardamom, cinnamon and ginger add enough of a bite and the pistachios give these cookies some texture.

Overall, I’m happy with the way these turned out. Though next time, I might add some unsweetened coconut or dried cherries, or both. Tonight, these cookies will become ice cream sandwiches with the pint of dule de leche sitting in the freezer. Tomorrow, they may become Passion Fruit Ice Cream sandwiches…

October 22, 2008

Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

mel entree, recipe, sides & bites black beans, bulgur, cumin, olive oil, paprika, roasted red pepper, soup, tomatoes, vegetarian

Black Bean & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I appear to be on a soup kick recently. This may be due to the fact that I haven’t really been grocery shopping in two weeks and I’ve been having to dig deeply into the pantry. So deep, find in fact, that the pantry is actually starting to look a little bare. It hasn’t been this bare since the week we moved in. But, I’m not knocking pantry meals. They’re usually quick, inexpensive and surprisingly delicious.

This morning I found myself in need of lunch. I take lunch pretty seriously, and have some requirements for my mid-day meal. It needs to be filling, nutritious, easy to eat at a desk (or meeting, or standing) and must be tasty. So I grabbed a couple cans of black beans, a huge jar of roasted red peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes and bulgur. Into the pot for 30 minutes with some garlic and spices and out came a surprisingly delicious soup. I actually wanted to eat some for breakfast, but held out.

Black beans and roasted red peppers compliment each other perfectly. A little cumin, cayenne, sweet paprika and sherry vinegar make this soup a little spicy, a little tangy, a little earthy. It just goes to show that you’ll always have a great tasting and healthy meal on hand if your pantry is well stocked.

On a side note, I promise this will be the last bean/soup recipe for a little while. I’ll post a fun one on Friday so stay tuned!

Other pantry meals:
Quinoa & Red Lentils
Sausage Bean & Barley Soup
Three Bean Vegetarian Chili
Green Rice & Beans
Sausage & Red Lentil Soup
Tomato Almond Soup
Double Curry Lentils

October 17, 2008

Beans with Crispy Prosciutto, Sage, Pecorino & Olive Oil

mel entree, recipe, sides & bites beans, olive oil, pecorino, prosciutto, sage

Beans with Crispy Prosciutto, <a href= heart Sage, hospital Pecorino & Olive Oil” />

I wasn’t going to post this recipe. This was supposed to be a super simple, bronchitis healthy weeknight dinner. Not interesting enough to deserve a whole post. But then I tasted it and knew I had to share. These beans are deceptively easy and mind-blowingly delicious. There’s something hearty and earthy about the combination of beans and smoky, salty, crisp-like-bacon prosciutto. Add a little fresh sage, Pecorino and fancy olive oil and you’ve got a quick and tasty dinner.

I used Rancho Gordo’s Black Calypso beans and grabbed the recipe idea from their site. You can substitute dried Anasazi beans, or even canned great northern beans if you’re not up to cooking dried beans. Either way, these beans are definitely worth a try.

And now it’s time for some shameless self-promotion. As you know, the Ile de France cheese company, sent me some goat cheese to blog about awhile back and I submitted my tartlets to their recipe contest. Well, it’s time to vote! Help a girl out and head on over to the contest page.

September 11, 2008

grilled chimichurri tofu sandwich

mel entree, recipe, sides & bites lemon, olive oil, parsley, pumpernickel, sandwich, tofu, vegetarian

grilled chimichurri tofu sandwich

Is it wrong to dress tofu in chimichurri? Maybe. But, pill it makes a damn good sandwich. Chimichurri is a delicious Argentinian sauce usually drizzled over freshly grilled meat, infection and most often over skirt steak. It’s made by blending olive oil, visit this site parsley (I like Italian Parsley myself), lemon juice, garlic, red pepper flakes and salt together like you would a pesto. The bright green sauce is rich, herbal, tangy and a little spicy. Just the thing for grilled meats, and apparently just the thing for spicing up an otherwise bland piece of tofu.

As you all know, I’m by no means a vegetarian. I love my bacon, beef, pork and lamb. Seafood, too. Yum! So, it may seem surprising that I’ve also grown to love tofu. You just can’t think of it as a meat substitute. It’s no replacement for steaks and burgers, but it has its own unique flavor and texture. I love how it soaks up its marinade and develops nice, crisp grill lines. Paired with some greens and piled onto toasted pumpernickel, it made a hefty and flavorful sandwich.

My beef-jerky-loving Midwestern man ate it up and asked for seconds. Chimichurri and a grill are always a winner, and can probably turn the most rabid tofu haters into tofu lovers.