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pasta

Fettuccini with Marinated Brussel Sprouts

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marinated sprouts

I really wanted to make a simple pasta. Something in the traditional vein of olive oil, diagnosis garlic and Parmesan. But if I leave it simple as that, I often find myself eating at least half a pound of pasta. Not quite as healthy as I’d like, but that was often my hangover cure in college, and I just can’t seem to stop myself around big bowls of noodles. So, in the interest of health, I wanted to add some kind of vegetable to cut the carbiness (Is that a word?) of the dish. I decided on brussel sprouts because they looked so fresh at the supermarket and because I’ve been wanting to try them raw (or close to it) dressed with olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper as a salad. This was close enough.

The final dish was tangy, light and flavorful and came together in less that 30 minutes. A total winner that will surely be added to the weekly roster.

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spicy, smoky, beefy

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pasta

I can never make whatever it is that I had planned for dinner. It’s probably the reason that I went to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods 5 times a week when I was living in New York. My excuse was that I couldn’t carry weekly groceries home in one trip. But I’m a liar. If I get a hankering for a meal, prescription I just want to make it right away, somnology even if it means an extra trip to the store for me (or my poor husband who humors me far too often).

Tuesday night I had homemade burgers and oven fries planned, approved but ended up with a sort of pasta and meat sauce instead. I happened to have a TON of mushrooms on hand of all sorts — portobello, shitake, oyster. I wanted to make a tomat0-based sauce that was earthy and rich, something that would stand up to the ground beef. First, I sauteed the mushrooms with some butter and red wine. Then I browned the meat and added fresh garlic and whole, peeled San Marzano tomatoes. In order to get that smoky flavor I was after, I added 2 bags of Lapsang Suchon tea. To add some kick, I also threw in about 2 teaspoons of New Mexico chile pepper powder. I only had Whole Wheat Lasagne, so I broke it into smaller pieces for the pasta. The result was a really hearty dinner that was much too heavy for a tropical summer, but was delicious anyway.

Recipe after the jump.

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seduced by lamb

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lamb chops

I’ve never made lamb, look and wasn’t really planning on it. Instead I was going to make a pizza as an appetizer with a big bowl of fettuccine for the entree. But then I passed the meat counter. It was early Saturday morning and these beautiful lamb chops caught my attention. I passed them once and then came back and stared. Menu changed, I asked the butcher to wrap some chops for me. Then i grabbed the last bunch of fresh mint and went merrily on my way.

After some quick research on epicurious.com about cooking times, I felt prepared to undertake the lamb. Since the chops were so pretty, I didn’t want to drown them in sauces or spices and opted for a nice, charring sear instead. The lamb came out beautifully and paired well with the minty, yogurt sauce I used to dress the pasta.

lamb chops

lamb dinner

A big ole dinner is nothing without a big ole dessert. I had some peaches and nectarines that were slightly passed their prime, but perfect for making into a bubbling cobbler. Also, since I bought The Perfect Scoop, I’ve been trying out new ice cream recipes. This time, I went with plain vanilla so that I could make my cobbler a la mode. It turned out to be the best vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had, creamy white and studded with black vanilla seeds. Personally, I like vanilla much more than chocolate, especially when it’s made with real vanilla beans. I’m sure I’ll be making this ice cream a thousand times just to try different sauces and mix-ins.

peach cobbler

peach cobbler

Recipes after the jump.

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fideos con chorizo

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fideos con chorizo

Ever since Ilan won last season’s Top Chef, men’s health I feel like Spanish food has become the trend to follow. For me, dosage Spanish food isn’t new or different, viagra approved I’ve grown up on it my entire life. My great-grandparents emigrated to Cuba from northern Spain and then made their way to Miami in the late 60’s. Croquettas, tortillas and paella have always been around my house. But, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and tried to make a Spanish-influenced dish that isn’t an update or a replica, but one that uses Spanish flavors in a fresh way.

I came up with fideos, spicy chorizo and baby lima beans in a fire-roasted tomato broth. I used lots of smoked paprika to add to the earthiness and used the baby limas to lighten the dish up considerably. Recipe after the jump…

fideos con chorizo

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crispy gnocchi

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crispy gnocchi

While browsing through the ever-delicious 101 Cookbooks, page I found a recipe for Golden, find Crispy Gnocchi. As soon as I saw it, information pills I knew what we’d be having for dinner as soon as possible. As soon as possible actually turned out to be Saturday evening, when the weather was lovely and warm and not yet as windy and rainy as it was on Sunday.

Because of my seeming inability to follow recipes, I used the idea of crispy gnocchi as my starting point, but disregarded the rest of the recipe. Instead of shelled beans, I added sauteed chicken sausage, grape tomatoes, shitake mushrooms, artichoke hearts and dandelion greens. For the gnocchi, I just heated a pan with some olive oil and cooked the gnocchi on each side until crispy and browned. To plate, I served the sauteed chicken and veggies first and topped them with the gnocchi so that they would remain crispy. All this was topped with some freshly grated parmesan cheese for the most delicious meal I’ve had in a long time. This is officially my new favoritest dish, and I can’t wait to try out different meats and veggies with the crispy gnocchi.

crispy gnocchi

We ate our dinner on the balcony with some Snowshoe Pale Ale, finishing everything off with some homemade Strawberry/orange sorbet.

sorbet

Just for fun, here’s a picture of what the kitchen looked like after I had extracted the hearts of 2 artichokes…

artichoke carnage

Recipe after jump…

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italian night

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pizza

Saturday night was Italian night. I made homemade ravioli (using wonton wrappers because who has the time to make pasta from scratch when it’s 78 sunny degrees and there’s a lounge chair with your name on it on the beach) and homemade pizza.

pizza

I got the All-Clad soapstone pizza stone for my bridal shower, rx and I wanted to test it out. It makes the MOST AMAZING pizza ever. The crust gets so crispy, information pills even in the middle, and even with a ton of toppings piled on, that when you lift your slice, it doesn’t even droop. (Hey, I like run-on sentences!) The idea behind a pizza stone is that it pulls the moisture out of whatever is cooking on it. No more soggy pizza crusts, no matter how juicy the toppings. Hooray!

The ravioli was stuffed with spinach, a little ricotta and artichoke mousse (a gift) and topped with homemade tomato sauce.

ravioli

ravioli

No recipes today…just photos.

spice

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baked gnocchi

I love baked things. I especially love baked things with browned, skincare bubbly cheese and crispy corners. I do not love that when you boil store-bought gnocchi, pregnancy it becomes and soggy mess. The solution? Bake the gnocchi in liquid-y sauce. The baking cooks them through without making them mushy. AND there’s melted cheese all over the top.

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baked deliciousness

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baked gnocchi

I love baked things. I especially love baked things with browned, skincare bubbly cheese and crispy corners. I do not love that when you boil store-bought gnocchi, pregnancy it becomes and soggy mess. The solution? Bake the gnocchi in liquid-y sauce. The baking cooks them through without making them mushy. AND there’s melted cheese all over the top.

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Pesto-y broken lasagne

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crostini

Inspired by Mario Batali’s Babbo Cookbook, prescription but not inspired enough to carry out the full recipe for Goat Cheese Truffles (it was a Monday night), I made these little goat cheese crostini. I just toasted some fresh, sliced Cibatta bread and topped them with goat cheese. Each piece had a different coating: fennel seeds, Spanish paprika or poppy seeds. Had I been feeling decadent, I would also have drizzled some good-quality olive oil on the goat cheese before adding the coatings.

They were so cute, no?

crostini

The crostini were an appetizer for Broken Lasagne, which I took from last month’s Food and Wine with some modifications. First, I cut back on the olive oil (wedding diet and all) and I added artichokes. I also substituted the walnut for almonds since Tom believes himself to be allergic.

broken lasagne

recipe »

super-layered lasagne

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lasagne

The wedding diet is starting to wear on me. All the fish, sale salad, and veggies — although marvelous — have left me with a yearning for anything carbohydrate. Or more specifically, for pasta. Loads of it.

Last night I decided to curb that pasta craving with Lasagne. A many-layered thing of homemade tomato sauce, red onions, ricotta and fresh spinach. I’d originally wanted to make inidividual-sized lasagnes in their own small dishes, so that all edges would be browned and bubbly like a corner piece. Alas, I had no individual-sized baking dishes (as they are all packed tightly in boxes), so I opted for the standard size.

Since I didn’t use any meat, the lasagne was really light — almost fluffy! Next time I’ll substitute wild mushrooms for the red onion, which was part of my original plan, but Tom forgot to buy mushrooms. Individual lasagnes would also have raised the tastiness factor exponentially. I’ll try to procure some individual baking dishes next time I make this.

lasagne

recipe »