jersey fresh

As I am sure you have figured out by now, I just love this time of year. Everything is so fresh and to me, there's almost nothing better than just picked fruits and vegetables (except maybe just-baked oatmeal cookies).

Someone at work gave me these tomatoes and they really aren't from New Jersey, they are from an upstate New York backyard tomato garden. The fresh basil is from my garden. The two combine into one delicious snack!

Vine Fresh Tomatoes and Basil Recipe (I'm not sure I can even qualify this as a recipe, but try and humor me)

1 just-picked vine ripened tomato (preferably from your own or your friend's backyard. A farmer's market would work too).
6 just-picked basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice the tomato into 1/4" thick slices

2. Lightly salt and pepper each slice

3. Place one basil leave on each slice

Eat immediately and enjoy

*k*

couscous

I'm sure that many of you have heard of, seen, and probably even eaten couscous. It's a ground semolina pasta and comes in two varieties - Mediterranean and Israeli. The one on the left is Mediterranean and the one on the right is Israeli. You'll see it in Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, French, and other Mediterranean types of preparations. Aside from the obvious difference in the size of the grain, there doesn't seem to me to be much difference in taste. It essentially takes on the taste of whatever you cook it in.

There are countless recipes for couscous, here's one I made tonight with a touch of Moroccan influence and it's nearly fat free!

Moroccan Couscous Recipe
1 c. Israeli couscous (pearl sized)
2 c. water (or chicken stock or vegetable stock)
1 medium zucchini, cut into wedges
1/2 vidalia onion
1 hot wax pepper, diced
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 saffron strands
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
dash nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil

1. In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, the 2 cups of water (or stock). Add the saffron, cumin, tumeric and nutmeg. Once the water is boiling, add the couscous and bring to a simmer. Simmer, covered for about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed. After the simmering is done, remove from heat and let stand, covered for 5 more minutes.

2. While that is coming to a boil, heat up about 1 tbsp. olive oil in a saute pan. Once the oil is heated (about 3 minutes), add the mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the zucchini and onion and saute them until the zucchini is slightly browned and the onion is translucent.

3. Add the zucchini and onion mixture to the couscous. Add, the hot wax pepper, chili powder and salt and pepper to taste.


enjoy!

sushi lounge

so we went out to an impromptu dinner tonight. After a quick drink at the Hoboken Dubliner, upstairs bar (the tiki hut was too crowded, unfortunately), we took a trip around the block to the Sushi Lounge for a quick bite to eat before volleyball. I love the Sushi Lounge, they always have an awesome DJ playing techno sounds, but I have to admit it's a little pricey for what it's worth - luckily, I don't usually need to worry about that part :) In the spirit of being healthy, I ordered the Grilled Shrimp Salad. I know what you're thinking, that I ordered it only because there was mango in it - that is only partly true. Anyway, it came out on a bed of julienned green beans, red and yellow peppers and mangoes. Fabulous! (only problem is that I'm not a huge fan of peppers). It was really delicious though, despite the pepper thing.

Rob ordered a red hot roll and a tempura roll. Later, he questioned why he ordered the tempura roll, it was just so-so. The reality is, if you want tempura, order tempura. Don't order a tempura roll. Order something with fresh fish and accouterments that bring out its flavor. Save the tempura for your appetizer. The red hot roll was a tuna and avocado roll with a slice of jalapeno, a leaf of cilantro and a drizzle of hot sauce. Now that is one good roll!

Aside from the good food, Sushi Lounge always has a drink special and it's always something interesting. Tonight was a Strawberry Creamsicle, which sounded awesome, but would not be something my stomach could take before a volleyball match.

hope you try it sometime!

*k*

fast baked eggs

how many times have you tried to make baked eggs, only to realize you have to keep them in the oven at least 30 minutes. Well try this one on for size...

Fast Baked Eggs Recipe
(this recipe is for 1 serving in a ramekin, make as many ramekins as you like)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp herbs de provence
2 slices of smoked salmon
2 tbsp grated cheese of your choice (I used cheddar because that was what was in the fridge)

- put the eggs into a ramekin sprayed with non-stick spray and whisk the eggs for about a minute.
- mix the rest of the ingredients in the ramekin.
- turn the broiler on high
- put the ramekin in the microwave for 30-seconds at a time, for a total of 3 times (1:30), until cooked through.
- once the eggs are cooked through, put the ramekin in the broiler for 3-5 minutes until the top is browned.

*enjoy*

simply delicioso... simply

Ok, I'll admit in the first 3 minutes of Ingrid Hoffman's show on Food Network, I was not completely enamored. It felt a little contrived, over-written, maybe even slightly over-rehearsed. But a few minutes into the show and I was kind of hooked. She was making an orange glazed chicken, orange granita and a summery quinoa. It all looked so good! I have all the ingredients for the quinoa recipe and have been thinking about making something quinoa for quite some time now.

I'm interested in quinoa because I've read a lot about its health benefits and thought it would be a tasty alternative to couscous. It's an ancient grain native to South America and popular with the early Incan communities. It has lots of amino acids, helpful in the repair of damaged cells and touted for easing migraines and improving cardiovascular health.

I'll let you know how the dish comes out. :)

a lesson in the use of utensils

This utensil is called a cheese slicer. It was originally invented in Norway because many of the cheeses eaten in the Scandinavian countries are hard cheeses that are eaten atop bread. To use this utensil, lay it along the top of a cheese wedge, with the handle pointing toward you. Firmly press the utensil into the cheese wedge and pull the utensil toward you. This will allow the slicing blade to cut through the cheese and create a nice thin piece of cheese that you can then put on a slice of bread.

Oh, you knew that already? You didn't think this was a pie slicer with a funny opening in the end? That's great!

Now feel free to have a laugh out loud belly laugh at my expense, because until the other day, I had no idea what this was used for.

The "healthyfoodie".... *pshaw* I may have just lost some of my credibility. But at least I'm honest :)

*k*

things you take for granted

I have been remiss in updating this blog, let's just say it's been a bit of a hectic week. I did have the opportunity to visit a (new to me) restaurant in Montclair, Trattoria Rustica located on Bloomfield Avenue near the intersection of Park. It was really fabulous, let me set the stage here. I took my father, his companion and my sister to this restaurant. They live in rural Florida and are used to the Italian restaurants that have linguine w/clam sauce, chicken parmigiana and stuffed shells. Now, there is nothing wrong with that type of traditional menu, some of my favorites actually. That is the type of menu they were expecting, but that is not the type of menu offered at the Trattoria Rustica.

We arrive at the restaurant and I should have known better, it was BYO and I didn't bring anything. So I left my family to look at the menu while I walked around the corner to pick up a bottle of wine. When I came back, my father, who was almost in panic mode, said that I had to explain the menu to them and that nothing looked familiar. It seemed familiar enough to me, but I guess even though the menu wasn't pedestrian, it seemed somewhat traditional to me. They had things like seared sea scallops over escarole and cannellini beans, gnocchi with roma tomatoes and mozzarella, veal milanese, cappellini with mixed vegetables, coconut crusted salmon over orzo. I think that living in an area where there are so many types of restaurants to choose from and many restaurants need to have more unique offerings in order to succeed, I get used to it. In fact, I was in shock when they said they didn't know what anything was (orzo? gnocchi? seems like regular fare to me). I realize now that these are some of the things I forget are not the same everywhere and end up taking them for granted.

On with the restaurant review already... It's a cozy place, and even somewhat romantic with it's smallish tables, and dim lighting. Make a reservation if you plan on going over the weekend. Even though we went there during the week and business was light, I can see how this place would fill up quickly. The wait staff was very attentive and accommodating. They were very willing to answer all of our questions and offer suggestions about the dished being served. The food itself was prepared to perfection and with adequately sized portions (I'm so sick of going out and having gigantic portions served that we don't end up eating). I ordered the sea scallops over escarole and cannellini beans, it was served in a balsamic reduction. The scallops were cooked exactly right, not overdone (which I find sometimes happens when I eat them in a restaurant). My sister ordered the gnocchi and she loved it. She had never had it before and usually orders ravioli or stuffed shells. She was very happy with my suggestion to try the gnocchi as it was a little bit familiar to her. My father and his companion ordered the coconut crusted salmon over orzo. A first for them as well. It was one of the restaurant's specials and the only thing I didn't care for was the sweet chutney that was on top of the salmon. Other than that, the salmon was very nicely cooked, medium rare and held all of its juices.

I will definitely be visiting this restaurant again and I hope you do too!

*k*

looking for a hit at your next bbq?

I had a bbq the other day and wanted to make something beforehand that would already be prepared when my guests arrived so that I could spend more time with my guests and less time over the hot grill. Rob kindly cooked all of the meat, over the hot grill, in the sweltering heat, so I definitely owe him one. I had something similar at a bbq a few days before, so this is what I made beforehand and it was more than enough for my 6 guests:

Grilled Vegetables Recipe (served cold)
1 large eggplant, sliced into rounds
1 bunch asparagus
1 large vidalia onion (or 2 small), slided into thick slabs
4 portabella mushrooms, cut into thick slices

Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Separate veggies into 2 large baking dishes (try to lay them out flat as much as possible, because you'll want the marinade to cover all of them). Pour the marinade over the veggies and make sure they are completely coated. Chill them for at least 1 hr and up to several hours.

Once the veggies are chilled, preheat the grill to medium / high. Place the veggies on the grill and grill them for a few minutes on each side until they have grill marks and appear to be done but not mushy. You may want to put the onion in a grilling basket to avoid any grill casualties.

Once all of the veggies are done, arrange them on a serving plate (I put all the asparagus together, all the eggplant together, and so on). Chill the veggies on the serving plate at least 1 hr. or until ready to serve.

You'll need to do this early in the day so that everything is done by time your guests arrive.

enjoy!
*k*

nothing better than beer in the AM

we woke up early. We had to, beer was on the agenda. We decided to take a tour (free!) of the Anheuser-Busch facility. This was a great tour, the tour guides were very knowledgeable and it was entirely free, with beer and pretzels at the end of it. You see the entire brewing process, the clydesdales and dalmataions. If you haven't been there and have the chance to, do it. It's worth the time. Enough of that plug... so we did that and had a great time.

After that, we went over to a butterfly house that was really kind of cool. You end up walking through a greenhouse sort of structure that is filled with lots of plants, flowers and thousands (yes thousands) of butterflies. I was actually a little scared at first, I know that's ridiculous, they are butterflies after all. After that adventure, we headed back to downtown, with a pitstop at Imo's, the signature pizza of St. Louis for 40 years (who knew?). I liked it, but what's with the cheese? The thin crispy crust was great and it had a creamy, gooey, almost liquid cheese that tasted a little like cheddar on top. Definitely never had that before. Next, we went up in the arch and caught a few beers at the mad Hungarian's saloon (Al Hrabosky's Ballpark Saloon). This is a great place to hang out before the game, if you're a Cardinal's fan. HA! Just kidding, it's a great place, lots of sports memorabilia and generally festive atmosphere. At some point we saw a really bad ballgame from really great seats, courtesy of my former boss. The game was delayed by a torrential downpour, and we filled our bellies (at least I did) with lots of ballpark fare. Big plus for the Cardinals stadium - they had veggie burgers, and they were good! The game, on the other hand, was not so good. The Brewers really beat up on the Cards, can't say much more than that.

Our grand finale was to a little hole in the wall called the Broadway Oyster Bar. We saw some live music, a band with a ska influence, and a few disappointed Cardinal's fans looking to forget about the game they just saw. We hung out there for a while before heading back to the hotel. Another big day was coming up.

*k*

a slacker, eh???

now that I've been called a slacker (?!?), I'll have to catch up on all my posting to save face. So onward in the midwest. From Kansas City, we took a short hop across scenic Missouri to St. Louis. It took about four and a half hours and we saw a few cows and corn fields. There was also an inordinate amount of billboards. After checking in and taking a quick look at the view of the ballpark from our hotel, we headed to the arch. It was crowded because one side broke (and we're going in this thing?!). From there, we went in search of the signature food of St. Louis. Yeah, we didn't know what it was either. We later found out that it's toasted ravioli and Imo's pizza.

Off to The Hill, a quaint little neighborhood dotted with Italian restaurants. We followed the footsteps of Rachel Ray and went to Cunetto's. It was funny, it looked like it was dead when we walked in. And then the hostess took us through the bar area around to the dining area and it was packed! We walked through the dining area, around the corner and the place is huge. Much bigger than I anticipated from the outside. The menu was chock full of traditional Italian fare. I asked about the toasted ravioli and was surprised to find out they were meat ravioli. I didn't order any, but my friend did. She described them as not quite fried ravioli, lightly toasted, nice marinara sauce. Way to go Rachel Ray! I ordered a house salad, which was essentially a giant bowl of cheese with some salad in it. Don't get me wrong, I like cheese, but this was a little over the top. If you really love cheese, you would love this salad, and the dressing was good too. Along came our entrees, spaghetti with a garlic, oil and anchovy sauce, and veal saltimbocca. It was generally okay food, but definitely not what we are used to being from the Italian capital of the USA, northern NJ and NY area.

From there, we found a local watering hole called Maggie O'Brien's, because it was touted to have lots of TVs and several satellites. This was going to be the perfect place to watch the Yankee game, and it was. We met some very nice (but very odd) local St. Louisites who kept us entertained after the Yankees started to lose.

We left there and headed back to the hotel, the next day was going to be busy.

*k*