Guest Blogging in Tribeca

So what made Jillian so happy? A new dress? A little caffeine in her milk? Nope, not telling…you need to go over to Tribeca Yummy and find out!!

The Earth, Oprah, and Meat

Okay I have to admit, I love Oprah. I do. I know, lovely, but what does she have to do with food. I will get there, just give me a moment. I don’t get to watch her that often…kids you know… but I had taped her Earth Day program. Sadly last week I finally got a moment to put in on.

Egad. I will admit fully I am not a crazy environmentalist (not that being an environmentalist is crazy). I would rather categorize myself as a lazy or rather haphazard environmentalist. I don’t’ use any pesticides and only natural fertilizer (worm poo, banana peel). That is more a product of laziness and cheapness than anything. The fact that I also believe it is best for mother earth is a secondary factor. Most of my environmental “choices” are like that.

So then I watch Oprah. Egad. And it brings me to why I love her so much. She has a great ability to shape behavior and she uses it to the best of her ability. I always forget those stupid reusable bags when I go to the store, ALWAYS. Makes me crazy. Since watching her Earth Day show, I have not forgotten, not once. There is now a plastic bag ban in my household. Egad.

She had Michael Pollan on the show. He talked about the carbon footprint of food. Who knew? And then he says something that astounds me. If every family in the U.S. would eat one meatless meal a week….just one, it would be the same as taking 20 million mid sized sedans off of the road. Are you kidding me?

The reality is, for my family that is no big deal we love veggies. What better time of the year to give this a whirl than when everything is fresh and wonderful! Last week, with the exception of two days was all vegetarian. We started the week with grilled eggplant, mushrooms, corn , onions, and some sliced tomatoes. The leftovers of this got chopped and turned into a pasta sauce that was righteous (and the kids loved). Then one day it was corn and sliced tomatoes. Yum.

So, what does this all mean. No, I am not going vegetarian. However, I am encouraging you all to give it a whirl one meal a week. Come on, a little eggplant parm, can’t be so bad! :)

Finally, I have not been great at keeping up with my blog of late, but I am going to try to get two posts in a week. There is a poll to the side, please vote for what content you would most like to see most and I will try and get my rear in gear!

Grilled Peaches in Vanilla Ricotta

This is another recipe were there is not a lot of recipe. I have to say, this knocked my socks off. I used yellow peaches for this, I don’t think white would work. Just this gals opinion.

I made my own ricotta for this, however, the store stuff will work just as well. For about a cup of ricotta I added 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tbs of sugar (add more or less depending on how sweet you like things.)


I halved and pitted the peaches. I mixed equal parts honey and balsamic vinegar. I dipped the peaches cut side down in the mixture and then grilled them for about 10 minutes. If you let the peaches set a minute or two they will seep this lovely syrup. Put a little ricotta on the plate, put the peach on top, a dollop more ricotta and a spoonful of syrup…slurp.

Scallop and Sweet Cabbage Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette

Okay this has flat out turned into a flat out freakish obsession. I haven’t‘ been blogging much recently because I haven’t‘ been cooking much…other than salads. I fear there is danger I might turn into a rabbit. That said, it is that time of year and just like when I get the slightest hint of cool to the air, I whip out the stock pot for soup in summer I have a relentless obsession with salad, this year it is particularly bad.

Likely compounding the issue is that I have been starting to work Hubo‘s office which gets me out of the house for a change of pace and will (once he is done training me) get him more time with the kids, which is a win-win, but is SERIOUSLY cutting into blog time right now! It is also making throwing a quick salad together a necessary evil. Lucky husband is happy and Jillian (the 20 month) old loves her a salad (go figure?). Tristan…well he hasn’t been eating a ton of dinner recently, but he sure is hungry at breakfast!

There isn’t much of a recipe to this, so I will just break down what I did a bit. You can purchase a REALLY good cilantro dressing at Trader Joe’s. However, I just put a about a cup of cilantro, ¼ c. of vinegar and 1/8 c. of oil and slat and pepper and the food processor and processes until smooth.

The salad, put in what you like, peppers, onions, cucumbers. Whatever you love. I thought a little sweet cabbage sautéed would be good. Here is what I did


¼ of large head of cabbage
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs brown sugar

I sliced up about ¼ c. of cabbage and 1 clove of garlic (I sliced the garlic into really thin pieces). Meanwhile heat oil and put garlic in and sauté for about 2 minutes over medium heat. Add cabbage and toss to coat. Sautee for about 3 minutes and add sugar. Cook until just tender but not too soft. Remove and let cool.

The scallops were easy as well. I heated about 1 tbs of sesame and 1 tsp of oil until smoking. Sear the scallops on both sides (about 2 minutes) and remove from heat.

I put the salad in the bowl and created a well and putting the cabbage in the well and the scallops on top. Dress with cilantro dressing (a ginger dressing would be awesome too). Enjoy!!

Beef and Asparagus Rolls

Okay folks the lackluster name does not do the outcome justice. I was really, really pleased with this. I used a marinade that my mom has used for asparagus for years. Oddly I did not marinate the asparagus in it, just the meat. However, I am sure if you did both in the marinade it would be great. You might find, as I did, most flat iron cuts will be too thick to roll, if so take a knife and cut the piece to have thickness down the length of the meat.


2 lb flat iron steak
2 lb asparagus cleaned and partially cooked

For the Marinade

¾ c. oil
½ c wine vinegar
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp chives
1 tsp salt
2 tsp tarragon
1-2 clove of garlic grated or minced
1/4 tsp pepper


Combine all ingredients for marinade in a bag and let meat marinate for at least 8 hours.

In salted water cook the asparagus until it is mostly done.

Depending on the size of the asparagus use about 3-6 per bundle. If you need to cut the meat to ½ thickness. Using the bundle to measure the cuts, cut the meat so that there is enough to easily wrap the bundle but with little overhang. Secure with a toothpick.

We did them on the grill. It took about 15 minutes on medium heat, however you need to turn it once so check half way through. Eat and enjoy!

Just a note, if you are note a beef fan, I think this would be great with chicken or pork. I think also I soy, ginger sesame marinade would work great too.

Spaghetti Phooey and Homemade Ricotta

Okay I took this picture today at lunch. My first thought was, “why, WHY??? Do people see spaghetti as such kid friendly food??” Yes they love it, but man, she had to go for a bath after and I had to scrub her little seat. Phooey I say. However, it reminded me that I still had something to share with you guys.

A while back I made stuffed Flat Iron and I stuffed it with Ricotta I had made. My friend Donna (well, I really don’t know her but I suspect if I did we would be friends) over at http://mytastytreasures.blogspot.com/ asked if I would be sharing how to make the ricotta. It took me a while (far longer than the ricotta will take you, but I am finally getting to it. Besides the joy of doing it yourself the cool part about making ricotta for scratch is that you control the consistency. For the ricotta I stuffed the beef with I let it hang a bit longer so it was very dry. I thought that way, It would be less likely to ooze out of the meat, and I was right. You can also add a sundry of herbs before hanging or some sugar (makes a lovely dessert mixed with berries…yumm). Really the options are limitless.


Note: This recipe came from Ricki Carroll and I got it in a cheese making class I took.

1 gallon milk
1 tsp citric acid (you can get at Compleat Gourmet, and I am sure many other places)
1 tsp salt (I use a little more, but I am a salt freak)


Pour milk into pot (can not be aluminum or cast iron) add citric acid and salt.

Heat the milk to 195 (I used a meat thermometer and it worked great). Stir often.

When curds and whey separate, take off heat and let set 5 minutes. You will know they have separated when the mixture seems a bit chunky and if you take a spoon and very gently stir you can see a separation of white solid (curd) and a yellowish liquid (whey).

Line a colander with cheese clothe or butter muslin and gently ladle the curds into the cloth. I have to say, I very, very slowly poured what was in the pot into the lined colander but you have to be careful and slow so that the mixture is “caught” by the cloth.

Tie the cloth to form a bag and hang and let drain for ½ hour or more depending on how thick you want it.

It will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks or can be frozen.

Also note, you can save the whey, and use it to soak rice in (and many other things I am sure) and it give the rice a really rich flavor.

Lovely Blog Award

Muneeba at http://anediblesymphony.blogspot.com/ awarded me with the One Lovely Blog award and I have 10 people to pass it on to! It needs to be new blogs I have found I love. I am going to bypass folks I just awarded something to, however, there are sure some of them I just adore!

Here goes:

Tatersmama of Taters Mama’s Take on Things

Krystal of Recipes of a Cheapskate

Joyce of Just Joyce

Holler of Tinned Tomatoes

Kristen of Whatcha Eating

Claire of Cooking Claire

Lynette of Nets Nook

Chris at Nibble Me This

Carrie at Carrie’s Cooking

Heather at Girlichef


Whew! So please go give these blogs some love!

Kung Pao Salad A La Cinnamon and Spice

First, Muneeba at http://anediblesymphony.blogspot.com/ awarded me with the One Lovely Blog award. My task it to pass this on to 10 new blogs I have found! So I will be gather my list of folks over the next few days, until then please go to An Edible Symphony and check it out!

Let me start by saying this makes a big salad. It easily serves 4 people very hearty dinner sized salads, VERY easily. You can use whatever veggies or lettuces you want, this is just what I used. Also, if you don’t eat meat I think if you used tofu for this it would be amazing.

The original Kung Pao recipe came from Reni over at Cinnamon and Spice, http://cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.blogspot.com/ . I can’t tell you how much I love this recipe. I have made it about 4 times now. The other night I had everything I needed but the rice….go figure. I did have soba noodles, but that wasn’t quite doing it for me. You guys know I have been on a crazy salad kick… well I thought… why not. It was wonderful. Actually so good the first time I made it we ate it up like little piggies (I had brought ½ over to my folks for dinner…so don‘t judge!) and never got a picture. Sigh…I guess this just meant I had to make it again. Another side, is if you want to cut calories or cut hassle you can bag the soba noodles (they are surprisingly calorie dense). They don’t add a lot, but are good flavor catchers, but not necessary if you are trying to simplify.


Salad
1 zucchini ribboned
2 small carrots ribboned and chopped
1 bunch of green onion
½ bunch cilantro (remove the stems just add leaves)
½ head of broccoli blanched
2 heaping handfuls of spinach chopped
¼ package soba

Boil water and add soba noodles and cook to package directions, drain and let cool. Add all veggies to a bowl and toss.

Chicken
1.5 lb of chicken diced
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
4-6 fine slices ginger, each cut into quarters
3-4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns(I use red pepper flakes)
1 tbs oil

Heat oil add pepper and fry the peppercorns for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken, garlic, ginger, and onion. Stir-fry these to allow the flavor to come out, then add the peanuts. Take of heat and allow to cool.

Once chicken and soba are cool add to salad.


Dressing

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons red rice vinegar
1 table spoon cooking wine


Wisk together and toss with salad. Eat…yummy.

Grilled Salad

I have been on a salad kick here for a while now. The other day I had some eggplant and zucchini and corn that needed to be used and viola this salad was born. I have to say, it was luscious. The eggplant didn’t add much for me, which was surprising since that is really the veggie that kick started the whole concept for me…but it didn’t hurt wither.


2 ears of corn
2-3 zucchini sliced
1 eggplant thinly sliced
1 lb flat iron steak
Then whatever else you like in your salad we had tomato, onion, cucumber, lettuce



Season everything, I used a grinder mix of garlic, sea salt and red pepper. Grill. Slice your meat thinly, and cut the corn off the ears and assemble your salad. I used a Greek yogurt dressing that could not have gone better with it all (below). We had some grilled flat bread to sop it all up, got to love summer!


Dressing

½ c. Greek yogurt (I use Fage)
Juice of one lemon
1 clove of garlic grated
1 tsp fresh oregano chopped super fine
Salt and Pepper

Mix all and chill

Tagged and Jamming

Okay two fun things happened the other day. First I was tagged by Tatersmama's Take On Things and asked to post the 6 picture in the 6th folder under my pictures on my computer. Then I was to tell about the picture and tag 6 others to do the same. Ironically my 6th folder was the original picture folder I set up for Mommy Gourmet. Even more interestingly the 6the picture is the first post I did where I took a picture. It was my fourth post but the first where I took a picture.


Sadly ,it was not great culinary feast, veggie pasta salad. Kinda ho-hum. I am going to be equally as uninspired and pass this mission on to my first 6 followers minus who tagged me! So here is who gets tagged my me, go visit their sites!

http://megscreationsinajar.blogspot.com/
http://justsweeterthansugar.blogspot.com/
http://rachelvsthekitchen.blogspot.com/
http://iloveflavourme.blogspot.com/
http://www.theparaplegicchef.com/
http://thehappylittlehome.blogspot.com/






Though not so ho-hum and certainly a much more interesting photo are the one of my jam session the other day with my friend and neighbor from Punch Photo http://blog.punchphoto.com/ . He had been on mission throughout the neighborhood pilfering mulberries.




He asked if I would be up for trying to make some mulberry jam. I am up for most challenges, so I said, “Yessirree!” He came to our place, equipment and berries in hand. I wasn’t sure how good mulberry jam would be. However, the flavor I would tell you is a mix between a grape and a raspberry. It was surprisingly luscious. And I scored a jar in the deal!





So Tristan and I had a decadent afternoon snack… Punch… man I will help you any time!

Almost Heaven…Bistro Twenty Seven…

So yesterday was a great but jumbled mess. Earlier in the week we had been invited to movie night at a friends house. At the time I was really frustrated about trying to line up a babysitter for a future engagement to seemingly no avail, that I had turned down the invitation simply because I just didn’t have it in me to try and line a sitter up for another outing because it was seemingly an impossible task. Cue hot hubbie...


So, Friday afternoon Joel calls me up and says, “So you feel like a movie tonight?” Thinking he meant a rental I said, “Sure what did you have in mind?” He says, “Whatever they are playing at movie night.” Huh???? So he goes on to say that one of the sitters we called a week ago to try and line up for this engagement in June finally called back (we had since lined someone up). So Joel asks if she is free for that evening and she was. So sweet…such a man….I then had to explain that these people were not planning on us (they were also serving dinner and had other guests attending), and to call the day of to say, “Hey….lucky you… we are coming!” would be rude. Sigh. However, big kiss and bravo for the effort. So then he says, “Well, then would you like to go on a date with me?” Swoon. Really, how could a girl resist? So it was a date. He picked Bistro 27 and I was glad. We had been once before and I adored it so I put back the leftover pizza I was going to eat for lunch (mind you it was 3 in the afternoon...kids…sigh…) and made a small salad to tide me over.

Where to begin. It never ceases to amaze the restaurants that seem to get a ton of hype and play while the ones I find the be the best in town get a nod at best. This is one. So let me lay it out for you…..


Joel calls to make reservations. They guys says to him, “What time?” Joel responds, I am guessing more thinking out loud than anything like he typically does, “I don’t know…7:15, 7:30? We would like to have a drink at the bar and ease into the evening.” They guys puts us down for 7:15. This should have been perfect, the sitter was coming at 6:30 which means we could be there by quarter till 7 and have nice slow drink at the bar. However, it did not happen like that. The babysitter was a little late, our son was being clingy our daughter wouldn’t go to sleep, you know…life was happening. That said we make it to our 7:15 reservation by the skin of our teeth. When we get there and give the host our name he asks if we will be sitting at the bar. I think we look a little confused , and he says, “I thought you were the person that called and wanted to sit at the bar and have a drink and ease into the evening.” Joel said, “I did, however, we are running late. “ He tells us we have time and to go ahead. At that point I was impressed. Impressed he remembered or made note of it. Impressed. I don’t know if he is the manager or the owner, but he clearly is someone who takes great care in making his patrons happy. I don’t expect that level of care, but it certainly impressed me and was nice.

So, we sit our happy behinds at the bar. I have a martini. I love martinis (as many of you know by now) but I hate to order them (as many of you know by now) because everyone puts too much olive juice in. This has lead me to asking flat out for just a tiny bit, and still sometimes all I get is an olive juice spritzer. So now I feel like Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally ordering a martini and I hate that. So I ordered it and I am sure the cute little bartender thought I was a pain, but he was super sweet and could not have been more accommodating. I have to say it was the best martini….EVER. Joel turns to me while I moan and says, “Almost as good as mine.” That man does make a mean martini. Sheepishly I had to say, “Better.” I think I hurt him a little. However, his bourbon took the edge off I am sure!

We had our drinks and then were seated. From here I will short hand the evening a bit. The service was great. The host/manager/possible owner (Ken is his name by the way…when you go… and you NEED to go!) checked on us several times. The waitress was stealth, unobtrusive by on top of things. The setting is lovely. I could go on, but you get the idea. We order the Carpaccio di Manzo as an appetizer to split. Joel ordered the Spring Beet Salad and Ravioli di Manzo e Fontina. I ordered the Fillet with Black Truffles. I don’t even know where to began. Really. I have said before that I am not the girl to talk about the notes in the food, at the end of the day, for me it is a simple..good..bad. All I can say is……GOOD. Grunt inducing, lick your plate, smack your husbands hand for trying to snag something, I think I might cry…GOOD. I don’t want to belabor things by breaking down every bite I had. The fillet was huge. It had a beautiful char on the outside but was still blood red on the inside (like I like…grrr.). The truffle was rich, earthy and lovely. The Beet Salad (my husband was nicer than I and shared) was just one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. In fact at some point, I told Joel the salad was… and I am a bit embarrassed to say this… the salad was making love in my mouth. Shut up… you would have to have it… it was THAT good. His ravioli was amazing. I said I wouldn’t belabor this and I am… spot on. That is all I can say… everything was spot on.

Dessert was amazing too. Joel got a Crème Caramel and I had the Monte Rosa Italian Cheesecake. Joel’s dessert was amazing, but let me just tell you about mine for half a second. It was perfection. That is it… all I have to say.

Let me just end this spewing of happiness by talking turkey. Cost. I find Bistro 27 to be a bargain. Their entrees rang from $13-$22 dollars. It seems to me that the going rate at most descent restaurants in Richmond is more like $18-$29, however that $18-$29 doesn’t typically get you the level of service and quality I think Bistro 27 is offering. Just like my husband said when he met me, it is just the whole package.

So Richmonders (or anyone willing to travel)if you have not been…go to Bistro 27 and get some mouth love making food. Now. Your mouth will thank you…sigh..

Flat Iron Steak Meets Homemade Ricotta….Mmmm

Okay so we took a cheese class at The complete Gourmet. So fun and I found myself shocked…shocked I say at how simple it is. Ricotta could NOT be easier. It is simply milk, heat and some citric acid, strain, viola. I added some chopped parsley and garlic to the ricotta. I filleted the steak, smeared the ricotta mixture, rolled, seasoned (garlic, salt pepper) , threw it in a backing dish, doused with a about ¼ for red wine and baked at 350% for 30 minutes. Yummm, yummy, yummy.


As an added bonus the cheese makes large amounts a whey and whey is great to soak brown (or any type you like) rice in and make a rice salad out of it. It gives it a great richness (I learned this trick from my handy friend Ellie). The rice had chopped onion, squash carrots and fennel top and rice wine vinager to taste. It was out of this world.

So no real recipes, but super easy and good. Expect to see more cheese in the future…now to get some goat milk…


Again, don’t forget to stop by and see the contest winner, Give Recipe http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html . Her blog is incredible!

And the Winner Is….

Please go by and say congrats to Zerrin at Give Recipe http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html .
She won not only the recipe contest but the contest for the evening folks would most like to join. She has a wonderful blog full of Turkish lovelies. The food is amazing and the pictures are gorgeous!


Thanks for participating to everyone!

Cheese! The Polls End Today!

Okay, first let me just remind you…the contest ends in like 11 hours (and may I say some smoked loin is at stake folks) so get voting. Go visit these posts and then please come back and vote!

http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html

http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.



So coming up soon you will see a piece of flat iron steak that I stuffed with ricotta…that I made. Yep you heard me. Made it! Joel and I took a cheese making class and it was super. We learned out to make a farmers cheese, mozzarella and a ricotta. I was amazed at how easy it can be. Sadly I didn’t need anything to encourage me to eat MORE cheese, but alas… a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

River City Supper Club Strikes Again

Saturday was another installment of the River City Supper Club and Joel and I hosted. We decided to do Tapas. We lucked out and it was a great evening to eat outdoors which always makes me happy.




Starters

Serrano ham, Rosy Goat, Olives

Dinner

Quince paste crackers with bacon and goat cheese, Paella Croquets, Ceviche, Tuna Empanadas with goat cheese and capers, Stuffed Anaheim’s, Pinchitos Morunos (small spicy Moorish kebabs), Ensaladilla Rusa (Spanish potato salad).

Dessert

Pan de Calatrava





For the most part everything came out well. The nice thing is we were able to make most things either the day before or before everyone got there then put in the oven to keep warm. This allowed us to actually enjoy our guests. Sadly, neither I nor Joel thought to cover the Kebabs and since they were the last course, they were a bit dried out by then. The flavor was still okay… but a little more jerky that succulent! Oh well, a lessoned learned.

It was another evening with lost time. We had messy kitchen as clear evidence that a good time was had by all. Oddly I love a messy kitchen at the end of a great evening… it gives me time to clean it and digest the evening. Saturday, however it was about 1 a.m. and the kids would be up in 5 hours...so you think we cleaned it up before bed??





Nahhh, this would wait until morning. There would be plenty of time to relive the evning tomorrow!


Please remember to vote! Voting ends Friday!

http://www.giverecipe.com/summer-dream.html

http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.


http://cookappeal.blogspot.com/2009/05/f-f-f-and-f-f.html

http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/thai-inspired-dinner-with-good-friend.html.