Ah, anesthetist Summertime in Miami. The thermostat hits 80 before the sun rises and the air wraps around you the second you step outside. It’s so hot and sticky, buy you don’t want to do much other than sit on the beach enjoying the ocean breeze and a cold beer. But of course, more about I have these silly things called responsibilities. Like going to work. And since I bring my lunch to work every day, I want something refreshing, a respite from the sweltering Miami heat. Something like Gazpacho.
Gazpacho is the perfect soup when it’s too hot outside. Made from tomatoes and bread, topped with crisp, fresh vegetables and croutons – it’s refreshment in a bowl. Not only is it a chilled soup, but (with a teensy tiny exception here) you don’t even cook it. I know I brag about my central air conditioning all the time, but I remember how darn hot my kitchens in NYC and Boston got in August. You don’t want to be turning on the stove, least of all to make soup.
The base is a tart and tangy blend of tomatoes, stale bread, garlic, lime juice, jalapeno, olive oil, vegetable stock and sherry vinegar blended into a creamy soup. This is your base, but the beauty of gazpacho is in the toppings. Sweet and crunchy, they contrast with the tomato soup perfectly – diced cucumbers, red and green bell peppers and toasted croutons. (If you don’t toast your croutons, you will from now on. Homemade toasted croutons are life-changing. I promise.)
This is a more traditional recipe for Gazpacho, but feel free to experiment with your favorite crunchy toppings. I really want to try some perfectly grilled corn, but I have to wait until sweet corn is in season. Maybe some bacon, too. Maybe I’ll report back later this summer with a grilled corn and bacon gazpacho. Just think of the possibilities!
Earlier this week, diagnosis I asked you guys what you wanted to see more of on the blog. I got quite a few requests for salads, anabolics in-season produce and vegetarian dishes among others. It’s a total coincidence, sale but I already had this recipe ready to go. It’s a salad, cucumbers and tomatoes are in season and it’s vegetarian – 3 for 3.
I hope this one makes it into the rotation for a lot of you. For me, it’s the perfect salad to pack for lunch. It’s easy to make, travels well and keeps for a few days. It’s your basic Greek salad: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and feta, but I used wheat berries instead of lettuce and added chickpeas to make it even more hearty. I didn’t have any olives, but they would be a very welcome addition and I recommend you add them if you’ve got them.
The dressing is made with fruity olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano and tahini. It’s light and bright and refreshing. I also sprinkled the top with Za’atar, a Middle Eastern condiment made with sumac, thyme and sesame seeds, for a little bit of that exotic flavor, but that’s totally optional.
This salad is also versatile. Use your favorite grain – spelt, wheat berries, farro, couscous – or a combination of your those. It’s a dish that Tom and I both love and I think you’ll love too. It also makes you feel better about eating way too many of those Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookies.
And the winner of the New West KnifeWorks knife is Commenter #143! Congratulations Reba!
Thanks to everyone for participating! I really enjoyed seeing what everyone likes about the site and also what everyone would like to see more of. I read each and every comment and here’s what I’m planning for the next few weeks:
There’s nothing better than a really good cookie. Usually when I want one I make Chocolate Chip. Because I love a classic cookie with bits of melty bittersweet chocolate, hepatitis crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. It’s the kind of thing that makes the world a better place and exactly what I wanted Sunday afternoon. So I raided the fridge and pantry to see if I had everything I needed. I didn’t.
After a few minutes of internet searching, stuff I found Smitten Kitchen’s Peanut Butter Cookies and – score! – I had almost all of the ingredients. The only thing I was missing was peanut butter chips. I was just going to use more chocolate chips, but then I spotted some dried banana chips in the pantry. Banana, peanut butter and chocolate can never be wrong together. I knew these would be good. Really good. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie good.
And they were! The banana chips gave the cookies a slight crunch and subtle banana flavor. Not the overpowering taste of ripe bananas you get with banana bread, but even better with the crunchy/salty peanut butter. And of course, chocolate chips make everything better. These have got to be some of my favorite cookies of all time. I know they’ll be the ones I bring to the beach this summer. If you love peanut butter and banana, this is the cookie for you. I froze half the batter and am so glad I did. Otherwise I’d have to go buy some bigger pants.
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!
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.)
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?
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.
I don’t know about you, viagra 40mg but I’m so ready for summer. Long, help hot days at the beach, flip flops and the smell of sunscreen, and cookouts. There’s no better way to end a day at the beach than with something grilled and a frosty beer. And you always need a good side dish for all of that grilled goodness. This potato salad is one of those things you can pull together in the morning let it hang out until you’re ready for it. Not only will it keep a long time, the flavors will actually get better.
Pesto is one of those things everyone has had a hundred times and mostly it’s nice but not exceptional. I’ve always liked, but never loved pesto. Now I know it’s because I had never had really, truly good Italian pesto. And I think the secret isn’t in the olive oil or the basil. I think it’s the cheese. You gotta go for the aged Pecorino – the good stuff. None of that pre-grated Parmesan nonsense. That will get you merely passable pesto. I also skipped the garlic. I know what you’re saying – pesto isn’t pesto without the garlic. But I swear I didn’t taste any garlic in my Italian pesto, so I skipped it. And it was just perfect. I never thought I’d prefer something without the garlic, but I do.
Now that you have your perfect pesto, a delicious side salad is easy. Pasta with fresh vegetables, whole grains, couscous or potatoes. You can put it on anything and your salad will be great. I chose potatoes and smoked salmon because that’s what I had. And now I have a lunch that I just can’t wait to eat!
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. There was just so much good food. Let’s start before the trip. I spent months searching the Serious Eats and Chowhound message boards for the best places, for sale meticulously making google maps for each and every town we were going to visit. If I was only going to be in Italy for 2 weeks, I wanted to make sure to eat the best possible food. Granted, it’s not that hard to get good food in Italy, but you’d be surprised by the number of English-menu tourist traps that crowd the big cities.
Though I spent most of my time in Italy, we did have that one day in Madrid and I made the most out of it by eating entirely too much. Just strolling through Madrid, it’s easy to see where my love of ham and cured pork products comes from. Tom kept saying, “I can see your family heritage. This country is full of ham and chorizo.” I know.
We had lunch at La Bola, a very old, very traditional Spanish restaurant. They’ve been serving up some of the best cocido madrileño since 1870. Cocido Madrileño is literally “boiled dinner” (see above). They bring you a bowl with some fideos (noodles), then pour a deliciously meaty, pimenton-spiked broth from a large terracotta pitcher. If you happen to peak inside the pitcher, you’ll see your next course – meat, pork, chicken, chorizo, chickpeas and potatoes. You spoon those out after you finish you broth and eat them with bread, onions, tomato sauce and hot peppers. It’s amazing.
Because we’re gluttons, we went to La Posada de la Villa for dinner where the house specialty is “1/4 of a Roast Baby Lamb for two.” Again, a very old place, it’s got pictures of the restaurant remodel and restoration covering the walls. The lamb is cooked in a wood hearth for a ridiculously long time until it’s smoky, fall-off-the-bone deliciousness. It was awesome, but I woke up with a meatover the next day. It’s like a hangover, but you’re full of meat instead of booze. So, with full bellies, we were off to Rome…
Rome was a bit of a challenge. It’s just covered in tourist traps with fixed price English menus. Not at all what I was looking for. The first night we went on a journey to find Trattoria Da Gino. It took us 45 minutes of walking around in circles, but we finally arrived at around 9 on a Tuesday night. The place was hopping, with only one tiny table open in front of the hostess stand. We let the staff order for us and had caprese salad, prosciutto with melon, spaghetti with cream, peas, mushrooms and guanicale (bacon), and braised meat of some kind. Everything was delicious.
The next day, we decided to make lunch our big meal and headed out to find Sora Margherita. Again, we walked around for about an hour trying to find it. Finally, we realized we’d passed it 2 or 3 times because it didn’t have a sign (see image above). When they handed me the menu – everything scrawled in pen on brown paper – I knew we were in for a treat. We had whole, deep-fried artichokes, which I would request as my dying meal they were so good. We also had Tagliatelle Cacio e Pepe (homemade pasta with fresh pepper, olive oil and cheese) and zucchini stuffed with beef in tomato sauce. This was definitely one of my favorites.
And of course there was gelato. Giolitti was our favorite and we went every afternoon. Best flavors include: cinnamon, gianduja (nutella), riso (rice) and caramelized fig. I wish I had some right now!
Next up – Tuscany, where we had the overall best food on the trip. We stayed at Mueble il Ricco, a great B&B right off the main square (if you’re a Twilight fanatic, that’s where they filmed New Moon) that had simply delicious breakfast tarts and a roof deck with a breathtaking view of the countryside. We had a bottle of wine up there as soon as we arrived. After a siesta, we headed off to Osteria dell’ Acquacheta for the most memorable dinner of the trip. This place was just plain fun. Thank God we had a reservation because the owner came out and told everyone who didn’t have a reservation to please leave. When you walk in, the first thing you notice is a beautifully lit side of beef hanging out at the back of the restaurant. It looked all ready for a photoshoot. We had fresh pecorino cheese baked with pears, tagliatelle with venison ragu, tagliatelle with a mountain of truffles (see below) and the bistecca – the signature steak. When you order the steak, the owner comes over to draw the cut of meat on the table and explain your options. You pick one, then he proceeds to the back of the restaurant. You hear a lot of hacking and he’s back minutes later with your beef on a brown paper. You admire it for a moment, then it’s fired up (barely) for your dinner (see above). Of course, it’s delicious.
Next day we had lunch in Montalcino at Osteria di Porta al Cassero. This was Tom’s favorite. We started with mixed crostini (chicken liver was the best), pasta with fried breadcrumbs (my fave), Wild Boar ragu on polenta (OMG) and white bean stew with boar sausages. We skipped dinner that night.
Our last favorite was in Venice. It’s off the beaten path, as most good things are, but it’s worth the hike. Locanda Montin has a beautiful back garden canopied in vines. It’s quiet and romantic until you get to the main course. Let me explain. We started with tuna tartare covered in a delicious and fruity olive oil (amazing and huge), then I had a gratin-ed pasta with zucchini flowers that was out of this world. Then grilled prawns which we ate with our fingers. Here’s where the polite romance ends. They were so good we sucked on the shells and licked our fingers. We can be downright rude sometimes. Then we had a Fritto Misto (fried fish) plate with grilled polenta. Whole fish and calamari fried to crisp, golden perfection. This place was crazy good. If you find yourself in Venice, make sure you seek it out.
And that, my friends, is why I am living at the gym for the next month or so. Every one of my extra pounds was worth it, though. Click the recipe link for a full list of restaurants and addresses and head on over to Flickr if you want to see all of our pictures.
Hello everyone! I’m back from my trip and I’ve missed my little blog so very much! While I was away, abortion I sampled some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted (a long post about that later this week). And I waited in line. Oh boy, approved did I want in line! Some of you may remember the Evil Ash Cloud that made air travel in Europe impossible a few weeks ago. I’m here to tell you – it was truly a nightmare.
I was supposed to leave for Paris on Friday, April 16. On Thursday, all airports in France closed. My flight was canceled and I had to kiss my plans for Paris (and the all money for my rental apartment … and all my croissant-filled plans) goodbye. Since we were only supposed to stay for 4 days before heading to Rome, I told myself all was not lost. We were confirmed on a flight into Rome for Tuesday. I would only lose 3 days of my vacation. But the Evil Ash Cloud was spreading and I was getting nervous. What if my flight to Rome was canceled? I had to get myself to Europe.
So we showed up at the airport Saturday morning and begged and pleaded our way onto a flight to Madrid that evening. I don’t know how we did it, but a very very nice lady named Maria helped us and we got on the standby list. We waited several long hours and somehow, we made it onto the flight! I jumped for joy like a little girl when they called our names and we were on our merry way to Spain. After we landed, we spent about 4 hours trying to figure out how to get to Rome. There was a lot of standing in line and I thought my feet were going to fall off by the end of it. In the end, we got a flight to Rome for Tuesday and spent 2 nights in Madrid. I know that we are some of the luckiest people on the planet for making it as far as we did when nothing in Europe was flying, trains were booked and rental cars were non-existent. It was hard to get there, but I am so glad we did!
Spain was wonderful, Italy was insanely delicious. And let me tell you about the markets. Wonderfully fresh fish, mountains of baby purple artichoke hearts, white and green asparagus and zucchini flowers. I very badly wished I had a kitchen so I could buy up all that amazing produce, but I contented myself with eating everything I could get my hands on. (If you need to get a hold of me this month, you can find me at the gym.)
Still, I couldn’t get those baby artichokes out of my mind, so I bought up the best ones I could find here. Prepped and sliced, I just drizzled them with olive oil and roasted them. Toss with lemon juice and Pecorino cheese, salt and pepper and you’ve got a very simple, very delicious spring side. You can also toss them with pasta, couscous or your favorite grain for a nice little side salad.
On a side note: I embellished the blog design a bit by adding that background picture. What do you guys think? Is the image too much? Let me know!
Spring is full of wonderful things! Since I moved to a place with no seasons, ed I can’t say that I’m experiencing any of those wonderful things, but I do remember those signs of spring. The first day it’s warm enough to wear a dress without tights and boots. The first yellow-green buds on the trees. The tulips. The first picnic. And the abundance of things-that-are-not-brown at the farmer’s market. Asparagus, spring onions, rhubarb, fava beans and pea shoots.
If you’re not familiar with them, pea shoots are lovely little green things that taste just like spring. So while it’s already hitting 80 degrees with 90% humidity down here, I can whip up something with pea shoots, close my eyes and remember the newness of spring. This pasta is one of those easy dishes – pancetta, shallots, pea shoots, lemon, olive oil and pepper tossed with linguine. It’s light and fresh and just tastes like spring! I am kind of in love with it and I think you will be, too.
And now for some housekeeping. I’m going on a long and lovely 2 week vacation to Paris, Rome and Tuscany. I’m so excited I can barely contain myself! I fully intend to gain 10 pounds and eat gelato, pastries, pasta and wine until my jeans no longer fit. So, things might be a little quiet around here starting next week, but I promise I’ll be back and inspired to cook and share everying I ate. Anyone got any must-eat places I shouldn’t miss? Leave them in the comments and I’ll add them to my very very long list.
Sunday morning the family came over for Easter Brunch. We weren’t a big crowd, health but there was enough food to feed a small army. I made those Baked Eggs with Chorizo and Gruyere I posted on Friday, cialis 40mg little tarts with vanilla honey goat cheese and raspberries, ascariasis and this Skillet Lemon Almond Tart. My mom brought a huge basket of breads and muffins, coconut bars and other assorted goodies. My mother-in-law brought fruit salad with orange-scented yogurt and cinnamon buns. And of course, the guamosas were flowing. After brunch, I thought I’d never be able to eat again. But that didn’t stop me from snacking on leftover cinnamon buns, fruit, cheese and salami later that night.
And about that tart, when I saw this recipe in the New York Times months ago I knew it would be wonderful. It’s full of things I just love: butter, almonds and lemon. I added one more thing I love: cardamom. This tart is perfect for the non-baker because it lessens the usually complex and tedious tasks of baking – weighing, measuring and leveling – down to something as simple as mixing together a frittata. Because this dessert is essentially just that – a sweet, almondy, lemony frittata. The most perfect accompaniment to a steaming cup of coffee with real cream. I recommend you make one as soon as possible.
Whoever came up with brunch is a genius. Sure, hygiene it just a late breakfast, sickness but it’s a late breakfast with Mimosas. And if you’re at my house, website it’s a late breakfast with Guamosas. That’s not a typo or some weird baby talk. Guamosas are Mimosas made with guava juice instead of orange juice and they are absolutely amazing. Nothing says celebration on a Sunday quite like a Guamosa. If you can get your hands on some guava juice (or guava nectar), I highly recommend you make some as soon as possible. And if you share them with friends, they’ll love you forever.
Now, onto the more sensible and commonplace part of brunch – eggs. If you’ve ever made brunch for a crowd, you know how impossible it is to get the eggs just right. Everyone’s crowding around drinking Guamosas while you tend to a pan of eggs, making sure not to overcook them. I’d rather be drinking Guamosas than standing in the kitchen tending to a skillet, so I usually make a strata, which is basically a very eggy bread pudding with cheese on top. Everyone loves it and your oven does all the tending while you socialize. The only thing missing for me is a beautiful soft yolk. I do like my drippy, glistening yolk. So I tried combining the awesomeness of a poached egg with the easiness of a strata in these baked eggs.
This is experimentation gone right. These little ramekins are pure delicious brunch-iness. Bread, heirloom tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, spicy Spanish chorizo (or ham or bacon or sausage), a little cream, a cracked egg and a generous pile of Gruyere. The tomatoes and cream soak the bread and make it the perfectly creamy, tangy base for chorizo and drippy yellow yolk. And the cheese is browned and melted and there’s nothing better than that.
These will definitely be making an appearance at Easter Brunch on Sunday and they just might outshine the Guamosas!
I’m always on the hunt for easy, information pills delicious appetizers that can be made in advance. Not really because I’m constantly throwing dinner parties or catering events. Mostly, sick because I love to eat tapas-style. Lots of little dishes, snacks and treats. Lots different flavors. Lots of sips of wine. Our dinner Saturday night consisted of: Truffle Pate, Gruyere cheese with jam and crackers, garlic-marinated fresh anchovies (boquerones), these polenta rounds and a nice bottle of Casa Lapostolle Cuvee Alexandre Merlot. (We visited this vineyard in Chile – wonderful!)
Though everything was great, these polenta rounds really stole the show. I cheated and used the polenta in a tube to save some time, but brushed it with olive oil and grilled to get those nice char lines and enhance their flavor. On top went red onions and shiitake mushrooms that I sauteed in butter and Gorgonzola cheese. Ran them under the broiler for a few minutes, then drizzled with balsamic syrup. They were just incredible. The mushrooms were almost meaty, the onions sweet, the cheese sufficiently funky and the balsamic syrupy and tart. A very successful appetizer and definitely a keeper.
Just a reminder, Friday’s the last day to vote for me on Saveur’s Best Food Blog Awards! Get on over there and vote! Please and Thank you.
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