Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Singapore-Style

Last night, I picked up a few lobsters and set to work making the first recipe from a cookbook I've been pretty intimidated by ever since I received it. The book is Gordon Ramsay's Maze, and it really is a beautiful cookbook. It's organized in threes, with three dishes using one main ingredient, before moving on to another. I was intrigued by the recipe for Native Lobster Singapore-Style, and I was right, it was delicious. However, I wish I had gotten softer shelled lobster because when a sauced dish uses lobster still in its shell, it can make for a very messy dinner!

This recipe started off with a little bit of murder...I know, don't judge me. I had my husband do it because it's still a bit difficult for me to do myself. The best way to do it is by using a heavy chef's knife to quickly cut into the natural cross of the lobster's head, and then cut down and slit it in half. It takes a minute for the lobsters to stop twitching and that can be a bit startling, so be prepared. Once they are good and, well, dead, the recipe asked me to cut the tails into pieces, keeping the meat in the shell. The claws needed a good cracking which was quite difficult with these really hard shells. I panfried all the pieces of lobster in a large wok of heated peanut oil. This made for some really succulent lobster meat - I was totally impressed by this technique!



Once the lobsters were pan-fried to perfection, I removed them and set them off to the side while I heated some diced onion, minced garlic and ginger, a chopped red chile and some salt and pepper. After a few minutes, I added bean paste, sweet chili sauce, ketchup and 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped. After another minute or two, I added some sesame oil and soy sauce, stirred it together and turned the heat down, allowing the mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes. As you can see, the dish comes together quite quickly, so I'm glad I had my sticky rice cooking all this time in the rice cooker.

I poured a cup of stock into the wok, and returned the lobster as well. At this point, the heat gets increased and a mixture of cornstarch and water, as well as a slightly beaten egg are added to finish off the sauce. This will quickly thicken the sauce and give it a velvety texture. Now, let me just say, this recipe concludes with a line "Eat with your fingers..." We did have to do that because of the hardness of the claws, and the need to use a nutcracker to get at the meat but it certainly wasn't a clean process. The sauce was thick and gooey, which was delicious, but I think we went through a roll of paper towels! If I made this again, I would most certainly take the meat out of the claws before adding it back to the wok. Aesthetically, it was a prettier plate with the shells. Logically, not so much.

The third part of this "menu" was supposed to be a Champagne and Raspberry Gratin...but unfortunately, there were no raspberries at the store yesterday. I'll keep my eye out for them because I would like, at some point, to complete this menu. Besides, doesn't that dessert sound decadent?

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Sfince! (A Sicilian Dinner : Part 3)

As promised, last night I made the third part of my Sicilian dinner menu. Sfince are fried puffs of dough, and they are magical! The dough is simply butter, water, a tiny bit of sugar and salt and some flour. Once all of that is incorporated in a pan, you pour the hot dough into an electric mixer and add four eggs, one at a time. What you get is a very thick batter, and now it's time to fry!

After heating a pan of oil, I dropped a few spoonfuls of the batter in, and they immediately multiplied in size! They puff up so quickly, but you've got to nurse them for a few minutes until they become golden brown and crispy. (The first batch did not stay in the oil long enough...they were spongy and light in color - I learned my lesson!) Once I'd fried them all up, I drizzled the platter with some warm honey and they were ready to eat! Light, fluffy and crispy all at the same time! My husband had a great idea to drizzle them with some maple syrup too, and that was delicious as well!

Sfince


This concludes the Sicilian dinner! Up tonight: Native Lobster, Singapore Style!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

A Sicilian Dinner : Parts 1 and 2

Tonight, I decided to go with the Sicilan option from the current menu: Sicilian Salad and Pasta "Timballo" with Fresh Ricotta. You may notice that there was a dessert included in the menu, but we were so full after dinner that I decided to save dessert for tomorrow night, and serve it after the leftovers from tonight's meal! Siciliy is a part of Italy, but it might as well be it's own country! Sicily was ruled by many different groups, including the Normans, Arabs, Spanish and French, so their cuisine has influences from many of these conquerors.

The Sicilian Salad is actually something most Sicilians would not think to eat, as they prefer eating their vegetables cooked, but the author of Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys
felt that the mixture of ingredients tasted to him like Sicily itself, and thus, the name of this salad. Thinly sliced fennel and radish, along with scallions, lettuce and arugula is dressed with some lemon juice, smashed garlic and olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper. Before serving, the salad is tossed with orange rounds and torn mint leaves. It is a very refreshing salad, and even my 4-year old niece was asking for more salad with oranges in it! I'm glad we've got leftovers for tomorrow night!

In A Sicilian Kitchen


A "timballo" is a classic Sicilian dish, usually made on special occasions. The recipe I used is a very simplified version, as the original is covered with breadcrumbs or pastry and has the image of a birthday cake after it is unmolded. This was a much looser take on the traditional "timballo" but it was delicious. I made some homemade tomato sauce with garlic cloves, yellow onion and fresh tomatoes that I peeled, seeded and chopped. That's a time consuming task but it's worth it for the taste of tomatoes in their prime. To peel a tomato, you want to boil it in water for 2-3 minutes, and then dunk it in ice water, allowing it to cool. The skin will peel away easily from the meat of the tomato. This hint was not included in the recipe, so I'm glad I had that little trick up my sleeve. It makes things much easier!



I decided to add some proscuitto ribbons to my sauce, for a bit more substance. This is a vegetarian dish, as it is written in the book, but I wanted to alter it a little bit to include meat, and proscuitto seemed like a logical solution. Once my sauce was done, I boiled some "calamari rings." The recipe calls for anelli pasta, which are rings but much thinner. The "calamari rings" pasta that I used were thicker, and multi-colored (and flavored - red being tomato, I think, and green being spinach). Once the pasta was cooked, it was to be tossed with some olive oil, salt, pepper and red chili flakes. Half of the tomato sauce is spooned on to the bottom of a baking pan and mixed gently with half a pound of ricotta. I used part-skim ricotta since I was using a large amount of it. The pasta is poured on top and then topped with the rest of the tomato sauce. Spoonfuls of ricotta blot the top of the baking pan, and then Pecorino cheese is sprinkled on top. After 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven, it's ready to serve, so I sprinkled some basil on top and plated each dish. The "timballo" is very hearty and really tasty! Even though five of us were eating dinner, there's still enough left over for dinner tomorrow night, including the Fried Puffs with Honey (Sfince).

So stay tuned for Part 3 of this menu, which will conclude tomorrow evening. It sounds pretty incredible and I'm looking forward to trying them after what I already know is a delicious meal!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

One of the Best Dishes in Boston!

We went to Island Creek Oyster Bar to celebrate my husband's birthday last night. Instead of telling you about my entire meal, I really felt it necessary to discuss one particular dish on their menu. This is one of my favorite meals in the city of Boston, and possibly...ever. The award goes to: Lobster Roe Noodles. The dish includes grilled lobster, braised shortribs, chanterelle mushrooms and a bit of pecorino romano cheese to top it all off. Let me tell you about it!

Lobster Roe Noodles
Sorry for the dark image - it was dark in the restaurant!


The noodles, which are fresh pasta noodles with the addition of lobster roe, are a pale orange color, and creamier in texture than other noodles. They almost melt in the mouth. The shortribs are so tender and just fall apart with the fork, while the grilled lobster is tender and succulent. The chanterelle mushrooms add a wonderful earthiness to the dish and the Pecorino adds the perfect amount of saltiness to each bite. The addition of baby cucumbers to the dish was a really great one. There are all these decadent, earthy flavors, and the crunch of a refreshing cucumber pairs nicely.

The first time I had this dish, and I raved about it to our server, he told me that articles were written about this dish, before anybody wrote about the new restaurant, and I can see why. While I normally don't order the same thing twice at a restaurant, I just had to have it again. I have yet to find anything similar on any menu in the area, and I love a unique dish when I find one. Make sure to take a visit to Island Creek Oyster Bar and try out this entree!!! And of course, have some oysters while you're there!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Latin Infused

Tonight, my friends and I are going to the Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias concert. In celebration of Latin-infused music, I thought I'd leave you with the recipe for one of my favorite Latin-infused drinks, and the national drink of Brazil: The Caipirinha!


My first self-made cocktail... Caipirinha
from Flickr - by MorphixStudio
This drink uses cachaca (sugar cane rum), sugar and limes to make a sweet, refreshing libation.

2 tsp granulated sugar
8 lime wedges
2 1/2 ounces cachaca

Muddle the sugar and lime wedges into a glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes and pour in the cachaca. 
Saude! (Cheers in Portuguese)

Monday, September 19, 2011

A History of Chili

Prime Rib chili, corn pudding with poblanos, and spicy sweet potato chips with blue cheese dip leftovers have overrun my fridge, so we had it again for dinner tonight...and it was just as good as the first time! I was pleasantly surprised to find that everything tasted just as delicious! It's so often that you make something amazing, look forward to leftovers for the next 24 hours and then are stunningly disappointed by the lack of taste and substance left over in your tupperware. I'm so glad this one worked out because I plan on it being lunches for the rest of the week as well! In honor of "chili week" here at my house, I thought I would give a little background on chili as a dish, and where it has come from, as well as what it once was.

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In the epilogue to this chapter in Tyler Florence's cookbook, Dinner at My Place, he mentions that this Prime Rib Chili is a Texas-style chili, and Texas-style chili has no beans. He also goes on to explain that Texas-style chili got its start in prisons, where the cooks wanted to try serving something different than bread and water, and so took some cheap cuts of meat, cooked it down until tender with lots of spices, and chili was born. Inmates would rate jails on the quality of their chili, and freed prisoners would even write for the recipe, saying that what they missed most about prison was a great bowl of chili.

Obviously, that's not the first time chili was ever made, but it's where it got it's start in Texas, in the 1860's. Another form of chili that American frontier settlers used was a mixture of dried beef, suet, chili peppers and salt that was formed into large blocks left to dry, that could then be boiled in pots along the trail. I found some really interesting terms in the Wikipedia entry on chili. Apparently, there were women called "chili queens," during the 1880s. These brightly dressed Hispanic women operated around large gathering areas, appearing at dusk to light fires and reheat pre-cooked chili for sale by the bowl to passersby. The first version of a food truck? Maybe! Unfortunately, when the San Antonio health department imposed new sanitation laws that made the "chili queens" adhere to the same laws as indoor restaurants, they disappeared virtually overnight.

chili burn ...
from Flickr - by *mewot*

Before World War II, you could find "chili parlors" all over the state, run by families who each claimed to have their own "secret recipe." Dating all the way back to 1904, "chili parlors" were opening outside of Texas, and in fact, as recently as 2005, one of these "chili parlors" is still known to exist on Pine Street in downtown St. Louis.

Mike's Chili Parlor SIngle HDR,Softened and Posterized
from Flickr - by armadilo60

The arguments about what ingredients do and don't belong in chili are long and drawn-out but whatever way you like it, it's a hearty meal that warms you on a cold day, fills you up when you are feeling hungry, and makes for great leftovers!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Game Day!

I decided to start this "menu of menus" theme with Tyler Florence's menu, entitled Guys' Game Night, from his cookbook full of menus, Dinner at my Place. It's fitting, since we're watching the Patriots game this afternoon, and then my husband will go play in his hockey league before he comes home to a much needed hearty meal. And hearty this meal will be, with Prime Rib Chili, Corn Pudding with Poblano, and Spicy Sweet Potato Chips with Blue Cheese and Chive Dip. It all sounds so delicous, as I sit here with my tangerine iced tea, contemplating the game plan for this menu, and watching Bill Belichick's game plan put into action on the television!

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The key to making an entire menu full of recipes is timing...it's all about timing. It's not complicated, but it's important. Before starting anything in the kitchen, you'll want to sit down, read over all of your recipes and make, what I like to call, a gameplan. We'll talk about this a lot over the next few weeks as we work our way through the current menu posted on this blog. I'm pretty sure this chili is going to last us a few meals so I'm okay with the amount of time it's going to take, for sure (besides, it sounds amazingly delicious!). As I look at all the recipes, it looks as though the chili itself will take about 2.5 - 3 hours. There's a chili powder I need to make for both the chili and the potato chips, so that's something I should do first. The corn pudding looks like it will take about an hour, including prep time, and the potato chips will take 25 minutes. The dip can be made in advance so I'll do that at the beginning as well. I find it best to make the things you can put aside first, because the sense of accomplishment can catapult you into the next step of the process. Taking on a menu is a daunting task if you don't have a gameplan. While the chili cooks, I will work on the rest of the pieces and pull everything together in time for my husband's arrival back at home! Let's get to it, shall we!?

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I started prepping for the chili since that was going to take the longest, and by the time I got into the kitchen, I realized I needed to get a move on! I removed the fat from the prime rib and cut it into cubes. After prepping all the other ingredients, I got a pot on the flame with some oil in it, and started searing the beef cubes. Once they were browned nicely, I added diced onion, halved garlic cloves, chopped chipotle, and minced jalapeno to the mix and mixed it all together before stirring in the chili powder mix that I made from a bunch of different spices. The tomato paste goes in next, along with a can of whole tomatoes in their juices. After crushing the tomatoes with the back of my wooden spoon, I added some grated unsweetened chocolate to the mix and the chili is set to cook for the next 2 hours! That leaves my hands, knife and counter space open for the next step - Corn Pudding with Poblano. After the 2 hours were up, it cooked for another 30 minutes after shredding the meat and seasoning with salt and pepper, as well as some corn meal to thicken the chili.

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The corn pudding is a very interesting recipe, and after tasting all parts, my favorite part of this menu, actually. I removed the husks from all of the ears of corn and placed them in a pan with some smashed garlic cloves, thyme sprigs and a pint each of whole milk and heavy cream. After bringing it all to a simmer over a low flame, I shut off the heat and covered the mixture, allowing the corn to steep for 15 minutes. At that time, I removed the cobs and cut the kernels off, reserving them for the next step. The mixture gets strained and then placed over a high heat, and the cornmeal gets whisked in until a porridge consistency forms. Again, I removed it from the heat, and folded in the corn kernels, chives, chopped poblano peppers, salt and pepper. One blended, I mixed in 3 egg yolks, one at a time, until I had a batter consistency, and then folded in 3 egg whites that had been beaten until stiff peaks formed. I poured the batter into an 8x8 baking dish and put it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I put it in when the chili had 30 minute left to cook, and everything was ready together!

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While the pudding cooked and the chili simmered, I sliced my sweet potatoes and began to fry them in small, single-layer batches. Once pulled from the hot oil, they drained on some paper towels and while they fried, I mixed up my blue cheese dip. My favorite part of the blue cheese dip was the tablespoon of honey that was added to the mayo, sour cream, blue cheese crumbles and chives. It added an amazing "something" to the taste of the dip, and set it miles apart from others I've tried in the past. Before serving, I dusted the chips with more of the chili powder that I made earlier, as well as some salt and pepper.

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Everything in this menu went together so well, and it was a really hearty meal for Sunday Game Day. I have tons of leftovers for dinner tomorrow night, and then a few lunches throughout the week as well. I really enjoyed the corn pudding, and while not all of my sweet potato chips were as crisp as I would have liked, they paired so nicely with the blue cheese dip! The chili had the perfect amount of kick to it and the meat was so tender and rich. I'd say we're off to a good start with this "menu of menus," no? :)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Menu of Menus

Hello there, and apologies for not writing the past few days. It's been a bit hectic with dinners out, working early and through lunch, and lots of other things in between, but I've finally gotten the next menu together! I sat down to go through my cookbooks, waiting for something to inspire me about this menu, and it finally hit me! A menu of menus!

A lot of cookbooks sort their recipes by meals the reader can cook, including appetizers, side dishes, and desserts...not just one entree dish. There are times when I like to take recipes from different places to make my own menus, but there are other times that a ready-made menu comes in very handy. I decided to feature full menus this time around, and you can check out the upcoming meals here! (Or, just click on the current menu tab at the top of the page!)

Cookbooks


I don't think I'll be doing a huge shopping for everything at once since I know of quite a few days coming up where we won't be home for dinner, and I don't want to see all of those beautiful ingredients go bad. Having said that, I see a few smaller trips to the grocery store and farmers market in my near future. Bringing home the ingredients for one or two meals at a time can be useful when there are lots of intermittent plans and you want to limit the amount of waste in your kitchen!

Tonight, we'll be out at Masa for a birthday celebration, but tomorrow marks the start of the new menu. Which meal should I start with? Does anyone have a suggestion? They all look so good...I can't wait to start cooking!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Go Get Your Truffle Oil!

Hey Everyone! The sale is now open! Go get a fantastic deal on Black Truffle Oil at FoodSherpa!


Once you get it, don't forget to try out my recipe for Truffle-Scented Sweet Potato Gnocchi! Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Breaking News: What a Deal!

I would be remiss if I didn't let you know about this amazing deal taking place on LivingSocial today!


 Pay $10 for a $20 voucher to Whole Foods. How can you pass this up?! Use it to make a special dinner you would have skipped over otherwise. And when you do, share it with us here!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Vegetarian Goodness

Tonight, we had friends over for dinner...and massages. Yes, we have a friend that's a masseuse! I made dinner to coincide with their arrival so we could enjoy a nice meal together before massages. Because they are vegetarians, I reached outside my comfort zone to make something we could all appreciate. I decided to make a Kung Pao tofu dish from the Whole Foods Market cookbook. From the same book, I chose a side dish of Emerald Sesame Kale.

Once everything was prepped, this dish pulled together extremely quickly, so I'm glad that I prepped things ahead of time. The kung pao sauce consisted of brown rice syrup, rice wine vinegar, cornstarch, tamari and cayenne pepper, so I got those mixed up. In another bowl, I mixed some teriyaki marinade with a pound of extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes.

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While the tofu cooked in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, and my rice cooker went to work with some brown Jasmine rice, I started on the base of the dish. Some sesame oil and canola oil get heated in a wok and to it, you add crushed red chili flakes, minced ginger, minced garlic, and some chopped peanuts. After 3 minutes of sauteing time, the tofu gets added to the wok along with some sliced scallions. After another minute, I added half of the kung pao sauce and allowed it to thicken. Once thickened, it is then okay to add the rest of the sauce, as well as the green and red peppers, allowing them to cook until firm-tender.

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As for the kale, it was so simple. While the Kung Pao Tofu was cooking up, and the rice was coming to a finish, I threw some chopped kale into a pot with some minced garlic and minced ginger and allowed it to cook for about 4 minutes. After tossing it with a bit of tamari and some sesame seeds, it was ready to go!

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The kale, the Kung Pao Tofu and the brown rice came together nicely, in a timely manner. It was a really delicious, hearty meal, with a great kick to it. So, next time you've got some vegetarian friends coming for dinner ... or just want to have a "Meatless Monday," give this recipe a try! The flavors were great, the dish was lovely, and I'm full! :)

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Sunday, September 11, 2011

An Easy Dinner and Planning for the Week Ahead

After a busy weekend, filled with fun times and good friends, we settled in for the first Sunday football games and decided on a very easy dinner of some marinated steak tips and a nice, spinach salad. We didn't have the ingredients for any of those things so I had to run to the store, but I hadn't planned my menu yet! I think the next week or so will consist of some quick trips to the farmer's market/grocery store as I figure out a plan for the next menu.

We are having friends over tomorrow night, and they are vegetarians, so I promised them a good meal...sans meat. I don't normally cook with tofu, but I'm going to give it a shot! We're going to try a recipe for Kung Pao Tofu, from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook, served with a side of brown rice and some kale. I hope it's good! I added the ingredients for these recipes to the list and off to the store, we go!

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Easy, pre-marinated steak tips on the grill, and a delicious spinach salad. I bought some adorable heirloom tomatoes the size of cherry tomatoes, and threw those in along with some minced shallots, and crumbled feta. I tossed the salad with this awesome avocado dressing that Matt found at the store, and dinner was ready! This left me plenty of time to write to all of you, my culinary comrades, and then get down to work on the upcoming website. I think that we're going to do things a little differently with the menu for awhile. As I need to photograph, use, and write about certain ingredients for the site, I'll be using them and writing about them on the blog. That way, I'll "kill a few birds with one stone," so to speak, so I'll have posts for you on a daily basis, and still get in the writing I need to do to bring this website to you as fast as possible!

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That being said, if there's an ingredient you want to learn more about, comment here and let me know. I'll move it to the top of the list!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Autumn is here!

Well, it's been a busy week. I've worked overtime in the office, rushed around in the evenings, and also celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary last night! There's been little time for cooking and so we've been surviving off of leftovers and of course, my go-to, chicken breasts over arugula with lemon juice. Yummy! Autumn is definitely upon us, with cooler days, much cooler nights, and evenings that become dark much earlier. With Autumn comes different vegetables in season and heartier, heart-warming meals!

Autumn in the Berkshires
from Flicker - by bluebird218

It's time for a new menu...I know, we never got to visit Germany on our little culinary world tour. I couldn't find veal cutlets anywhere, so the Weiner Schnitzel went out the window. Next time I see them at the store, I'll be all over them, and we'll revisit that one. This weekend, I will work on that new menu, as well as hopefully get to the store for a little grocery shopping. I'm looking forward to soups, stews, and the re-appearance of parsnips, turnips and celeriac as stars of the dinner table.

What do you look forward to in the Autumn months? What would you like to see on the next menu? Leave me a comment and let me know - I know my husband has made a request for another batch of delicious Bi Bim Bap this time around, so I'm already on the right track to a full, delicious and hearty menu! I hope you all have a good weekend, and to all....a good night!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Truffle-Scented

La Tourangelle is a wonderful company that makes a line of sophisticated, gourmet oils. I have numerous bottles in my pantry, including walnut and hazelnut oil, both wonderful for making seasonal salad dressings. However, my favorite in their collection has to be the Black Truffle Oil. Even better, our friends at FoodSherpa are going to be offering a special deal on this wonderful oil on September 14th! Keep your eye on their site for the sale!

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I decided to get creative again this evening, and yet again, not a cookbook cracked. The second recipe in my would-be cookbook? Hmm...it's all coming together, isn't it? I decided that I liked the idea of concocting some sweet potato gnocchi, and incorporating the truffle oil into the recipe. To make truffle-scented sweet potato gnocchi, I slowly added the oil at different steps of the process to build on the flavor without becoming overbearing. While cooking the potatoes, I added a bit to the water. When I mixed the dough for the gnocchi, I added a bit more oil. I've made gnocchi before, so I won't go into detail, but I had to use more flour than I normally do because the consistency of a sweet potato is a bit less starchy. The dough became a bit goopy until I worked extra flour in, but it all came together. Like any dough, you just keep adding flour if its sticky, and water if its dry until you get the right consistency. If you don't want to make your own gnocchi, I happened to see sweet potato gnocchi for sale in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods the other day!

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Once the gnocchi was made, I boiled some water to cook it. While I was waiting for the "watched pot," I  added a stick of butter to a large saute pan, and a few sprigs of sage. I was going to make a sage butter to saute my gnocchi in once they were boiled. After the butter was melted, and had simmered for a few minutes, the aroma became very sage-y. At this point, I added some sliced sausage to the pan and allowed it to fry a bit in the butter. I had pre-cooked the sausages separately, pulled them off the heat before they were fully cooked, and allowed them to rest and cook the rest of the way. That way, they were still really nice and moist when I sliced them and added them back to the heat. I pulled the sage sprigs out at this point.

Once the gnocchi was all boiled, I added it to the sage butter and sausage and allowed all the flavors to meld and heat together. I poured just a dash more truffle oil in the pan and threw a large handful of arugula on top, as well as some chopped sage. After tossing things together, the arugula quickly began to wilt and I seasoned the meal with salt and pepper. Right before serving, toss the dish with a good heaping spoonful of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Plate and add a touch more Parmigiano (because you can never have too much!)

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To recap, all you'll need is some salt and pepper, sage sprigs, a stick of butter, a handful of arugula, Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of nice quality sausage links, sweet potato gnocchi (truffle-scented, if you make it from scratch) and of course, TRUFFLE OIL! The oil really took this dish from delicious to decadent. Each ingredient added it's own bit of flavor to the dish and everything melded together really nicely. The sage added an earthiness, the arugula added some peppery bite, the sausage added some heartiness and the oil, well...the oil added decadence. I can't stress this enough...Definitely...try this at home!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Made-Up Mussels

Wow, this weekend was jam-packed with fun! Today, our last day of the long weekend, was spent in the beautiful weather of early September in Massachusetts. The leaves are beginning to change color, but the sun still beats down and makes for pretty warm days. We decided to get take-out omelets from a local establishment and enjoy them in a park near our home. We even brought Oia's breakfast too...and she sat by the bench, enjoying the weather and a nice outdoor meal with us.

Once we were fed, we drove to meet friends for a hike with them and their dogs. Six miles later, the puppies were exhausted, we were on our last legs, and ready for a nice cool drink! By the time we got home this evening, I wasn't in the mood to make anything elaborate, but I did have a bag of mussels that I really needed to use! I scanned my fridge for what I could make and I came up with a pretty delicious recipe...and I made it up...I didn't crack a single cookbook tonight! This might be the first recipe in what could be MY cookbook! :)

Okay, so, I took the bag of mussels out, discarded the ones that didn't close when tapped, and debearded the rest so they were ready to steam. I minced two garlic cloves and sauteed them in a tablespoon of butter until fragrant, and then added the leftover sausage mixture from those stuffed olives I made yesterday! That was just some sausage, taken out of its casing, with some salt, minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Once the sausage was cooked, I poured in about a cup of white wine and allowed it to come to a boil. Right before I added the mussels, I added a second pat of butter so that as the mussels steamed, the sauce thickened a bit and got a nice sheen to it. After about 5 minutes (or when all your mussels are fully opened), throw in a big handful of baby arugula and allow it to wilt slightly.

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I served it over some spinach fettuccine. Just scoop the mussels, along with the broth, over the top of the plain pasta and it will seep throughout the plate to coat the noodles. It was a garlicky plate of goodness, and the red pepper flakes from the sausage mixture went a long way to add a nice kick to the flavors! Dinner in 15 minutes? Totally doable!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

My Go-To Appetizer

This weekend has been full of end-of-the-summer BBQs, outdoor fun with friends, and long, leisurely hikes with our puppy! There hasn't been much time for cooking, but I did need to bring something to our friend Kenny's 30th birthday BBQ at his parents' house today, so this morning I ran to the store for some sausage, green olives and peanut oil. What could she be making, you ask?

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Fried, sausage-stuffed green olives, that's what! They are delicious. They are a crunchy little bite-sized morsel of yumminess. I spent the morning stuffing a concoction of sausage, salt, minced garlic and red pepper flakes into a bunch of pitted olives. Once they were all stuffed, they got tossed in olive oil, rolled in flour, dipped in egg and then rolled in breadcrumbs. I fried 'em up in batches and they were a hit!

I got this recipe from the Food Network Favorites cookbook, in the Michael Chiarello section. He's a great chef to look up if you are looking for entertaining ideas because the majority of his recipes are focused on group events! Here's the whole recipe for your reading pleasure! Click here.

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