Steak and Pepper Fajitas

I was skimming through Fitness Magazine on the eliptical machine & stole this recipe! I made it for Cara and Lee and they both raved about it....It is going to become a staple in our house- 416 calories, 32 g protein, 38 g carbs, 16 g fat (4.3 g saturated) & 7 g fiber! Less for me since I hate cheese :)

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook time: 25 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

1 lb flank or hanger steak (I used flank)
Juice of 1 Lime
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp mild chile powder
3 tsp oil
1/2 red onion, sliced
3 bell prepper (red, yellow and orange)
1/2 cup corn
8 small tortillas (I use whole wheat)
2 tbsp cilantro (I skipped!)

I also made it with my guacamole (other people add low fat Monterey Jack and sour cream, but you know how I feel about dairy!)

2 ripe avocados
1 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
3 tbsp cilantro
kosher salt
pepper
splash of tabasco
chopped tomatoes at end

Marinate steak in lime juice, salt, garlic and chile powder in sealed back for 20-30 minutes (love that you don't need to prep ahead!). As it is marinating, make guacamole!

Heat a large skillet over high heat for 5 mins. Add 2 tsp of oil to pan. Add red onins, bell peppers- toss frequently for 5 mins. Add corn and continue until peppers are charred and soft, about 3 more minutes. Transfer veggies to a bowl and keep warm.

Wipe skillet with paper towel and heat for another minute. Add remaining oil. Remove steak from marinade and pat dry w pape towel. Lay steak in pan, reduce heat to medium high and cook 8 mins for medium rare, turning once halfway through. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes! Make sure to let it rest to let it soak up juiciness!

Slice steak across grain and make fajitas!

Roast with Garlic Mustard Rub

Three years ago, I heard about Bonnie Stern, the Canadian cookbook author from Toronto, for the first time while enjoying an amazing butternut squash soup at Corryn's apt. The recipe made its way into my "most used recipes" every fall & I passed it on to my mom, who now makes it too.

Bonnie recently released a beautiful cookbook, "Friday Night Dinners", that has great family dinner recipes with inspirations from around the globe. With little time to cook, I keep looking at the very homey photos of the food and her family and wanting to start cooking. The perfect occasion came up last night when my parents came in from Montreal.

The recipes in the cookbook live up to the photo hype so far! I made a boneless top sirloin roast for the first time with a meat thermometer and all. It was not only unbelievably easy, it was a perfectly juicy medium rare with a crispy crust. Rave reviews from the Braude clan!
I suggest it for Friday nights or anytime you want to impress! Works great with carrots & parsnips roasted at 425 with olive oil, thyme and honey. Popovers would make a great accompaniment too...

My sister insisted on taking the rustic, non-plated photo..

Check out this link to see Bonnie live on YouTube making this rib roast on CBC tv (she used a standing rib roast, I opted for a boneless top loin)...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5vzp4toY1E. She is so cute, she reminds me of my mom and even pronounces "shallots" the same way!

Rib Roast with Garlic Mustard Rub
Serves 10

If you are using a standing rib roast, be sure to tell the butcher to cut off the chine bone to make it easy to carve between the ribs. If this means the roast won't stand up in the roasting pan, just wedge a couple of peeled onions underneath.

Use a meat thermometer to make sure the roast is cooked to medium-rare. (Don't take a chance after paying so much for such a gorgeous roast).

1/4 cup (50 mL) Dijon mustard
2 tbsp (25 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp (15 mL) finely chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh thyme, or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried
1 tbsp (15 mL) kosher salt
1 tbsp (15 mL) pepper
1 6-lb (3 kg) standing rib roast, boneless rib roast or strip sirloin roast
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3/4 cup (175 mL) dry red wine
1 cup (250 mL) beef stock

In a small bowl, combine mustard, oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Smear roast all over with mustard rub. Place in a shallow roasting pan, fat side up.

Roast meat in a preheated 425 degrees F oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F and continue to roast for 1 1/4 to 2 hours, or until a meat thermometer reaches 130 degrees F for medium-rare. (I did a 4.25 lb boneless top loin for 5 people and it took 20 minutes at 425 and 1.5 hours at 375)

Transfer roast to a cutting board and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving. While roast is resting, place roasting pan on stove over medium-high heat and skim off fat. Add shallots and wine and cook until reduce to 2 tbsp (25 mL). Add stock and cook until reduced to a 1/2 cup (125 mL). To carve, remove string from roast.

If using standing rib roast, cut off bones in one piece by cutting between meat and bones. Cut bones apart and serve with meat (to guests who want them the most!). Turn roast over on carving board so it is sitting boned side down and carve into slices.

Spoon juices over roast when serving. Enjoy with your family & friends

Nigella's Mirin Glazed Salmon

We got home from vacation yesterday with a few extra holiday lbs. Unsure of what the culprit could have been; guacamole every day? margaritas during the day? vino and dessert every night? Or maybe the pain au chocolat I had with my breakfast in Mexico everyday...Was I not in Paris?

Anyway, after visiting the newest and cutest addition to the Colla family, I scooted over to the new Gourmet Garage for some ingredients for a home cooked meal. Got in a cab home 40 blocks= $27.00 and 30 minutes...go home tourists.

Good news is this healthy recipe took 8 minutes all in. The salmon was perfectly pink in the middle and the heat formed a gorgeous, sweet outer crust. I bought Nigella Express @ the 2008 NYC Food and Wine Festival "Nigella Talks". She was the buxom babe you see on TV...

I admit I have way too many unused cookbooks. My resolution for 2010 is to use them more to find quick & light creations like this one!

Mirin Glazed Salmon

Nigella Express, serves 4

"This must be the fastest possible way to create a culinary sensation. You do scarcely a thing — just dip some salmon filets in a dark glossy potion, most of which you get out of jars — and what you make tastes as if you had been dedicating half your life to achieving the perfect combination of sweet, savory, tender, and crisp." Mirin and Rice vinegar are in the Asian aisle of all grocery stores.

1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 4-oz pieces of salmon, cut from the thick part of the fillet so that they are narrow but tall rather than wide and flat

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1–2 scallions, halved and shredded into fine strips

1. Mix the mirin, sugar, and soy in a shallow dish that will hold all 4 pieces of salmon, and marinate the salmon in it for 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet on the stove.

2. Cook the salmon in the hot, dry pan for 2 minutes and then turn it over, add the marinade, and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Remove the salmon to whatever plate you're serving it on, and add the rice vinegar to the hot pan.

4. Pour the dark, sweet, salty glaze over the salmon and top with the scallion strips. Serve with rice or noodles as you wish, and consider putting some sushi ginger on the table, too.

Tofu Scramble with a kick

A couple of months back, I finally went from looking at the gorgeous "101 cookbooks" blog to trying some of the healthy & natural recipes. I dipped my foot in the water with Heidi Swanson's edamame with lemon vinaigrette- it was tangy and delicious. I'm not a vegan, a granola or a hippie- I just love to cook, bake & keep it healthy most of the time. Her blog is fantastic- so far, I have made 3 of her recipes & resounding success everytime! There is nothing like trying a new recipe, especially a time consuming one, to find that you've wasted your precious time, money and excitement (like last week's average mushroom barley soup that got rave reviews online). Her blog, so far, has proven to be a one stop shop for 5 star healthy and QUICK recipes with relatively few easy to find ingredients.

Here is the recipe:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/garam-masala-tofu-scramble-recipe.html

Don't let the word "scramble" turn you off- there are no eggs, I hate eggs!

I substituted pistachios & dried cranberries for chickpeas and almonds- you could put in whatever you have in the pantry & fridge.

My apartment smells beautiful and now I have 2 lunches for this week waiting in the fridge.

Perfect for a busy week when I start my new dream job working on launching a new line of authentically Italian illy chilled espressos in New York. How bad could a job be where they send you to illy's coffee university in Soho for 2 days? It would only be appropriate that I make you some illy mocha chip gelato in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

My First Tagine

I am not sure what about my trip to Jamaica inspired me to make tagine! Perhaps it was the fairly mediocre food there (minus the beef carpaccio at Half Moon's Il Giardini) that inspired me to get into the kitchen and start trying out some new recipes!

I got this recipe from my friend, Mara, who travels to work with me everyday. She got it from a book she picked up in Morocco- "The Scent of Orange Blossoms" by Danielle Mammane & Kitty Morse.

Loved the buttery taste of the root veggies and the tender beef after they had been roasted so long! Even though it's time intensive, it's just the cook time that takes time- the prep time is extremely minimal.

Next time, I want to spice it up a bit and will add harissa, cinnamon, some honey, some saffron...who knows? You can throw anything in- a sweet potato- whatever...Make it with beef, lamb or chicken and it will be ready to serve to Darren Farber in no time.

Tagine of Beef with Carrots & Turnips (Serves 4)

3 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch sticks
1 lb small turnips, peeled and quartered
2 onions, quartered
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup water
2 tomatoes, peeled and seeded
10 sprigs cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350. In an ovenproof pan (thank god for my Creuset Dutch oven!), heat oil over medium heat. Add meat and cook until brown 5-6 minutes, turn occasionally. Cover the meat with carrots, onions and turnips.

In a small bowl, combine s&p, ginger and turmeric with the water. Pour over the veggies. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and bake until meat is tender, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.

Sprinkle the tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic over the veggies. Continue to bake uncovered without disturbing the veggies until the tomatoes are cooked for 20-30 minutes.

Serve hot on some couscous to soak up all the delicious juices.

Freeze the rest for a night when you're too lazy to cook!

Stay tuned- I have big plans for Lebanese moussaka and Zingerman's mushroom and barley soup! I also just bought an ice cream maker (thanks little sister for my Williams-Sonoma gift card!) and am so excited to use it!

Teriyaki Steak in a Haze

I haven't cooked in a while, so I decided to shake it up tonight. I must have been inspired by the the heavenly salty caramel gelato I had at Otto last night. Or maybe it was the olive oil gelato? So glad it's bathing suit time in a matter of days.

I found an old cue card with my handwriting on it; a recipe for teriyaki steak- I don't know where I copied the recipe from, it was definitely from one of my mom's cookbooks. I tend to raid her cookbooks everytime I'm home.

I'm writing to you from a hazy, smoky 700 square foot (it's probably 625 sq feet and they're lying to ROB me monthly), but it's worth it. I just picked up yesterday's NY Times to finish it (so much stress to finish the damn thing!) and Mark Bittman did a bit about "granite being optional for real chefs". I have no fan, hardly any storage space, no outdoor BBQ but I can make it work (and well I may add after tonight's success)! So, I write you this recipe from my very smoky beefy couch! Talia knows what I am talking about- her last kitchen was a science experiment.

I didn't take a picture cause the smoke was a bit excessive. All in the name of a great meal.

Teriyaki Filets
(2) 5 oz center cut filets (or whatever!)
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp vinegar
3/4 tsp ginger
1 decent size garlic clove, minced

salt and pepper steaks. Marinate for 5-10 minutes. Grill on both sides on a grill pan.
Leave some sauce left over to pour on. I served with stir fried green beans and garlic.

Ratatouille (pronounced ra-ta-twee)

“What is Ratatouille?” is a very common question. 



Yes, it is a highly entertaining children's movie produced by Disney that features a rat as a chef. It is also, for the purpose of this Blog, a fantastic meal or side dish that is very healthy and easy to make! It’s a great alternative to soup when you need something warm and cozy on a cold day.

The recipe makes 8 to 10 serving and it can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for a week! 

You could be boring and freeze the leftovers OR you can think outside of the box and try using it on top of pasta, as a pizza topping and inside lasagna.

If you're trying to be skinny a.k.a carb cautious, try tossing it in with some spaghetti squash and crumbled Feta or use it as a sauce for a grilled fish like halibut.


3 cloves fresh Garlic

1 large Yellow Onion

1 Green Pepper 

1 Red Pepper 

1 Orange Pepper

1 Package of Mushrooms

2 Zucchinis
1 Eggplant

1 can of Tomato Paste with herbs and spices
1 can of Diced Tomatoes with herbs and spices

 1/2 tsp dry Basil
1 tsp Oregano

 2 Tbsp Balsamic Oil

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
 Salt & Pepper

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil



1. Cut Yellow Onion, Peppers, Mushrooms, Zucchinis into large chunky pieces. Peel the Eggplant with a potato peeler and cut it into large chunky pieces.



2. In a large soup pot, cover the bottom of the pot with the Extra Virgin Olive Oil and add the onions and the peppers and simmer with the lid on until the onions become transparent. Mince the garlic cloves and add to the pot.



3. Add the Mushrooms to the pot and sauté all of the vegetables on medium heat for 7-8 minutes with the lid on.



4. Add the Eggplant and Zucchini to the pot and sauté for 10 minutes.


5. Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot and let simmer for 30 minutes. While the pot is simmering, add brown sugar, balsamic oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning according to taste.



Assuming you have Garlic, Oregano, Basil, Balsamic oil, Brown Sugar, Olive Oil, Salt & Pepper in the house - you probably do if you are reading this blog since they are the basics - then the rest of the meal should cost you under $15.

Enjoy!


 Chef Cara

Tofu Red Curry

There is no worse feeling that trying a recipe for the first time to find out it stinks! Wasted time, excitement, effort and ingredients! Everytime I find a recipe on cooksillustrated.com, I know it will be a hit! This one was no different- recipe calls for flank steak (3/4 lb), but I had tofu so I used that! Would work with chicken, steak or shrimp too!

Thanks to Talia for reminding me about the red curry in my fridge!

Red Curry Stir Fry

Serves 2

This meal was so flavorful! Another hit from cooksillustrated.com.

They called for flank steak, but I had tofu in the fridge. You can buy coconut milk and red curry paste in the Asian aisle of your grocery store- no special trip necessary!

1.5 tsp canola oil

1 package of firm tofu (or use flank steak, chicken, whatever!)

2 tsp red curry paste (use a bit less if you don't like the kick!)

3/4 cup light coconut milk (or regular coconut milk if you want a thicker sauce)

1 Tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp light brown sugar

1 small red pepper

1/4 lb snow peas

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil

3 tsp fresh lime juice

Remove tofu from package and wrap in paper towels, put some weight on top of the tofu and leave there for 15-20 minutes to drain water out of tofu so it absorbs the curry better....

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add curry paste and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add tofu and cook until pieces separate and turn firm, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and peas and cook until peas are crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in basil and lime juice. Season with salt to taste. Served with brown rice or a flat noodle.

My first brisket

So I finally did it! I made my first roast! Something about it scared the hell out of me so I kept making a safe choice to make my meatballs. I chose a Barefoot recipe to conquer my fear because you can't go wrong.

Served it the night before Yom Kippur and it seemed to be received well (they could have been lying). The taste was great, but next time, I am going to cook lower and slower. I found that it didn't fall off the fork, so I am going to keep trying to perfect it! Today, I met Nigella Lawson at a New York Times Talk and asked her for her advice- she agreed with some dude on chowhound.com, lower and slower....300... So I will adapt the recipe below to reflect the advice I got!

Ina's Brisket with carrots & onions

Serves 10-12 people

*Note: I adapted for 8 people with a 5 lb brisket and reduced ingredients accordingly..

6 to 7 pounds beef brisket

1 tablespoon kosher salt (less than she recommends cause everyone said too salty in the reviews)

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon minced garlic (4 cloves)

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

8 stalks celery, cut into 2-inch chunks

6 yellow onions, peeled and sliced

6 fresh or dried bay leaves

1 (46-ounce) can tomato juice (I used low sodium V8)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (I am changing- 350 is too high!)

Place the brisket in a heavy roasting pan. In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano. Rub the mixture on the brisket. Pile the carrots, celery, onions, and bay leaves on the brisket and pour in enough tomato juice to come about 3/4 of the way up the meat and vegetables. Cover the top of the pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper, then with aluminum foil. (The tomato juice will react unpleasantly with the aluminum foil if they touch.)

Bake for 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the pan and keep it warm.

Place the pan on 2 burners and boil the vegetables and sauce over medium heat for another 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened.

When it was done, I refrigerated over night and then sliced against the grain and froze....Reheat at 300 for an hour.

I am no longer scared to make brisket! If anyone has any ideas, send them my way.

Grilled Tuna with Basil Pesto

In my last post, I alluded to the grilled tuna with basil pesto that I enjoy everytime I'm at my new stomping ground, Bar Stuzzichini. Tonight as I was thinking about what I was going to make for dinner, a thought came to mind. Why not use the basil I bought for my couscous (Ellie Krieger recipe from her new cookbook, will keep you posted on results) to try to replicate my Stuzzichini tuna? Not a bad idea considering the fact that everytime I buy basil, I always let it go bad. Those who know me know that my meals are rarely invented...I follow recipes to the tee and leave little room for creativity.

Good news- job well done by me! The result was a delicious, healthy grilled tuna with a phenomenal basil pesto...It was quick, easy and perfect for a weeknight. Bonus- my apartment doesn't reek since tuna only needs to be grilled for 90 seconds on each side! I froze the extra pesto in an ice cube tray so I could thaw it and make this meal even easier next time.

Let me know how it goes for you!

Sherri's Grilled Tuna with Basil Pesto
Serves 2

8 oz wild yellowfin tuna

kosher salt & ground pepper

1 cup of basil

1 garlic clove

1/8 cup of pine nuts

1/2 cup of olive oil plus a tsp for brushing the steaks

Equipment: food processor and grill pan or BBQ

Combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a processor. While machine is running, slowly add in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Add kosher salt and pepper to taste.

Brush tuna steak with very little olive oil, place on grill pan for 90 seconds on each side.

To serve, drizzle basil pesto on the tuna.

Bon Appetit!

Pan Con Aceite De'Olivo

Lee and Sherri in Palma De Mallorca
A Cliff between Deia and Soller
Above: Lee and Sherri in Gaudi's Parc Guell, Barcelona
Below: Vegetables at La Boqueria market, Barcelona

Sherri and Lee at Hotel La Residencia, Deia

One of many cappucinos

The Pool at La Residencia, Deia
Patata Bravas at El Xelini Barrigon, Deia
Hotel La Residencia Front Lawn
Paella at Las Palmeras, Deia

We just got back from Barcelona and Deia, a village 30 minutes outside of Palma De Mallorca. After a year of reading Travel and Leisure, Food and Wine and Frommer's in preparation for our big trip, it finally came and went.

Why does everything taste better in Spain? The tomatoes tasted nothing like the ones in New York- they were sweet and juicy. The olive oils (or "aceite d'olivo") with fresh bread at the beginning of each meal got me so full, I was ready for dessert after my appetizer. The sangria was a perfect end to every lazy day. I always knew I liked tapas, but this was the real stuff. How am I going to live without daily patatas bravas?

We found many gems in Spain, so here is a guide of where to find them:

Deia- a village 30 minutes outside of Palma De Mallorca in the hills

Eat at El Xelini Barrigon: Xelini is the village tapas restaurant housed in one of many stone buildings. The locals and tourists flock here alike. After reading about Xelini in Elle, we went there on our second day for lunch. Through out our 6 days in Deia, we ate at Xelini 4 times. The patata bravas, chorizitos, tomato and onion salad, mushrooms and chocolate mousse were unreal. We also tried tumbet, a Mallorcan vegetable dish with a layer of potatoes, eggplant and tomato sauce. If you are in Mallorca and decide to drive up to Deia, this is a must stop. We ate at a few really expensive places in town and this well-priced tapas place tops them all.

Barcelona

1. Divina Pasta, 115 Bailen in Eixample- While walking on our Gaudi tour between Casa Mila and La Sagrada Familia, we came across Divina Pasta, there was a large crowd of locals laughing loudly. There was no English menu and not a tourist in sight. We sat down and ate homemade pasta. I had the best pasta dish I have ever eaten (I haven't been to Italy though)- "Papardelle con tomato natural, hierbas aromaticas y aceite suave de ajo". The place is well-priced and phenomenal. It's owned by Argentine Italians and a Uruguayan.

2. Taller de Tapas is a modern tapas place on Ramblas Catalunya. They have outside seating on the cobblestone walkway and serve great tapas. I had the creme catalan, their version of a creme brulee, and it was delicious! If you're staying on Las Ramblas, this place is really close without the Time Square tourists.

3. Cuines Santa Caterina is a modern restaurant in the Mercat Santa Caterina, which is famous for its coloured, tiled, rippled roof in the middle of El Born/La Rivera. The produce comes right from the market stalls 2 feet away. It is very close to the cathedral in the Barri Gotic and to The Picasso Museum in El Born. Lee had an incredible omelette.

4. La Boqueria- Our first morning in Barcelona, we walked over to La Boqueria and had a great capuccino at Bar Pinoxto. We roamed around all of the stalls of gorgeous produce, meat, chicken and lots of jamon! Fun place to sample a bit of everything.

I came to the realization after eating in numerous fancy restaurants like El Olivo and El Raco D'es Teix in Deia, Restaurant Gaig in Barcelona and Comerc 24, a restaurant that is famous for its molecular gastronomy (read: FOAM PARTY), that the local well-priced places are the best. Although all of these restaurants were good, I didn't think they were great.

When we got home from Spain, I made my new quick dinner:

Roasted jumbo shrimp with garlic and olive oil

Buy Jumbo Shrimp in the frozen section of Trader Joe's. Run water on the shrimp for 5 minutes to defrost them. Throw them in the oven with some minced garlic and olive oil for about 10 minutes at 350. When they come out of the oven, squirt lemon juice on top of the shrimp. If you want to make life really easy, roast asparagus with the same garlic and olive oil for 15 minutes on the same baking sheet. A healthy, one pan meal.

Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa

I have been out of the kitchen for a while, I seem to be spending more time in the elevator (going to meet the delivery man) than cooking. This weekend, I got back in the kitchen. I started by baking some low fat apple muffins yesterday. Today, we went to Whole Foods to get ingredients for a homemade dinner.

It is a rare day when the Barefoot Contessa decides to think healthy...her producers must be pushing her to "modernize" her butter-laden recipes. A while back, I saw her making this recipe from "Barefoot Contessa Parties" on her TV show and added it to the arsenal of recipes I wanted to try.

This recipe was very good, but it's not a weekday one! The salsa is mostly sweet with a great kick from the jalapeno. Although searing tuna is the quickest dinner on the planet, it took 40 minutes to make the mango salsa. So, make this one on your day off! It's worth the process, it's a "winner"! No side dish necessary...it's a meal on its own.

Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa (serves 2)
Barefoot Contessa Parties!

2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra for searing
1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion (2 onions)
2 teaspoons peeled, minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 ripe mangos, peeled, seeded, and small diced
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno pepper, to taste (1 pepper)
2 teaspoons minced fresh mint leaves
2 tuna steaks (6 oz each is good!)

Saute the olive oil, onions, and ginger in a large saute pan over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the mangos, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 more minutes. Add the orange juice, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and jalapeno; cook for 10 more minutes, until orange juice is reduced, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and add the mint. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

Heat a saute pan over high heat for 5 minutes until very hot. Season the tuna liberally with salt and pepper. When the pan is very hot, add a drizzle of olive oil and then the tuna steaks. Sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until the outside is browned, but the inside is very rare.
Serve the tuna on top of the mango salsa.

Thai Tom Yum Soup

Since I first made this soup, I had tom yum soup at my favorite Thai restaurant in the West Village, Galanga, and I went to the Institute of Culinary Education's "Essentials of Thai cuisine" to learn how to make tom yum soup. This version was much better tasting and better for you. This recipe is from Self magazine and was concocted by the chef from Tao in Las Vegas.

Disclaimer: this soup is not an easy meal, it takes a while to make. It's perfect for a Sunday dinner- bring the rest to work on Monday.
The reward is a zesty soup packed with lean protein that tastes different than every other night's dinner.

Thai Seafood Hot Pot
Self Magazine, November 2006

4 oz dried rice noodles

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 can (14 oz) diced tomato, with juice

1 cup light coconut milk

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

Zest of 2 limes (1 Tbsp)

1-2 Thai red chiles, thinly sliced

1 Tbsp sugar

1 stalk lemongrass, minced (if you don't mince, you will taste hard pieces)

6 sprigs cilantro

2 sprigs basil

1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

4 large sea scallop, cut in half

1 cup frozen calamari rings, thawed

juice of 1 lime

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Stir in noodles; remove from heat. Let stand until noodles soften, 7 to 10 minutes; drain. Heat oil in a large pot over medium hear. Cook shallots, garlic and onion until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add stock, juice from tomatoes, coconut milk, vinegar, fish sauce, lime zest, chiles, sugar and lemongrass. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add cilantro and basil; reduce heat to medium low; simmer 10 minutes. Remove garlic, cilantro and basil from pot; add tomatoes and mushrooms. Return to a simmer. Add shrimp and scallops; cook for 2 minutes. Add calamari and lime juice. Season with s&p. Divide noodles among 4 bowls; top with broth and seafood. Garnish with basil and cilantro, if you'd like.

Ricetta Salsa Verde from Firenze

A Real Italian Cookbook

Ricetta Salsa Verde
Homemade tarts with pastry cream & cognac glazed pears served with ginger ice cream

Thanks to the man in Todd (pictured above on the right), Braude's Bites is being published from bed today as I enjoy the new benefits of being wireless. I feel free in so many ways :) About a week ago, Lee and I were invited to a stranger's for dinner. All I knew about Gioia was that we shared a personal trainer, a love for cooking and a friendship with Karina & Todd. These nuggets, along with the fact that she is from Florence and adores entertaining, convinced me that her dinner would be worth traipsing to Brooklyn for in the middle of the week. I like Brooklyn, don't get me wrong, but Lee and I are known to stay home or within a 10 block radius from our apartment during the week. Not only did I make a new friend, we also ate a dinner to remember. Move out of the way, Giada DeLaurentis! Gioia is the real deal. Before we arrived, Karina & Todd scared her letting her know I do not eat cheese. Gioia called me to better understand my hatred for cheese and told me she had a cousin that hated cheese, but if you hid it, she wouldn't know. I explained her that if cheese came within a foot of any of my senses, I would know. The Italian goddess was thrilled to take on the no cheese challenge and delivered a meal that fell from heaven (and I appreciate it!). Her kitchen was so eclectic, full of authentic Italian cookbooks, rare spices and top of the line kitchen gadgets. Her mandalin was taller than me. When we got there, there were pears boiling in cognac, tarts shells coming out of the oven and a succulent tenderloin roasting. We started with a fettucini with salsa verde that was smooth & nutty. It tasted like it was from an Italian restaurant, which could be called Buon Gioia (I don't take credit for inventing the name of this "would be" hotspot). Moved on to my tuna tartare for a Hawaiian course in the middle of an Italian meal. For the main course,we had a wonderful salad with fennel, jicama (pronounced by Gioia as GI-CA-MA) and pears with a juicy medium rare beef tenderloin and crispy roasted new potatoes. For dessert, we enjoyed home made pear tarts with ginger ice cream. The crust, the pastry cream and the cognac glazed pears were delightful....so delightful, I ate Jorge's uneaten half as well. Who says I have class?

Gioia's Ricetta Salsa Verde

30 grams flat leaf (Italian) parsley

1 large garlic clove

2 filets of anchovy in olive oil (drained)

1 tsp dijon mustard

15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

45 ml best olive oil you can get

salt and pepper

Put garlic, parsley, anchovies and salt in the blender and mix. Add lemon juice and mustard - blend again. At low speed, pour the olive oil in a bit at a time. Add pepper last.

This salsa verde would be great with pasta, the way Gioia served it, or on beef tenderloin and/or roast beef sandwiches.

Buon Appetito from Buon Gioia!

A Coincidence: Allison's Spicy Peanut Noodles & Shrimp

A while back, I clipped a recipe out of Cooking Light magazine for spicy peanut noodles with shrimp. At the time I clipped it, I paid no attention to who had created the recipe.

As months would pass, we would be watching tv and Lee would exclaim: "Hey, that's Allison Fishman!". She would keep popping up in commercials for ICE and on Dave Lieberman's show. Since then, I have become e-mail buddies with Allison, an old friend of Lee's from high school, who is a cooking teacher, food stylist and recipe developer from Brooklyn. Check out her yummy recipes, cooking classes and blog at The Wooden Spoon.

The other night, I was flipping through my recipe binder, landed on the spicy peanut noodles with shrimp and realized it was created by Allison. So, I made it....and it was yummy without tasting "light"!

Enjoy!

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Shrimp
"Cooking Light" Magazine, Allison Fishman
serves 4 people

Peanut Sauce

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I used reduced fat)

1/4 to 1/3 cup of water

2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 to 2 tsp chile paste with garlic (I used 1.5, we like it spicy!)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt, divided

Shrimp

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Cooking spray

Pasta

4 cups cooked thick udon noodles or linguini (8 oz uncooked)

1 red bell pepper, julienned

3/4 cup chopped, seeded cucumber

1/4 cup diagonally cut green onions

3 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts

2 tbsp cilantro leaves

4 lime wedges (optional)

1. To prepare sauce, combine the first 6 ingredients and 1/4 tsp salt and stir with a whisk.

2. To prepare the shrimp, toss with 1/4 tsp salt. Saute in a nonstick skillet coated with Pam over medium high heat for 3 minutes on each side or until done.

3. To prepare pasta, combine peanut sauce, shrimp, noodles, bell pepper, cucumbers and onions in a large bowl, toss well. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

The meal is less than 425 calories and tastes great. Go Allison go!

Note: I used soba noodles instead.

Spicy Filets & Cool Mint

Coffee rubbed filets- YUM


In my 4th of July post, I talked about how it was worth it to smell up your small apartment for some good grill marks. I have finally decided that without a fan or outdoor bbq, grilling recipes are a big commitment....to having a smoky apartment for 2 days. With that being said, I have been experimenting. I made Bobby Flay's coffee rubbed steak last night after picking up 1 lb of beautiful beef tenderloin from Citarella.
Instead of grilling ribeyes, I roasted 2 filets for 25 minutes at 425 degrees until they were medium rare. Not only does my apartment not smell, the result was exponentially better! Once you make the spice rub once, you have leftovers for 2 more times, I will definitely be making these juicy filets for guests, Lee told me it was one of the best meals I have ever made him- restaurant quality! What a charmer :)

NOTE 12/24/06: Since I originally posted this, I have tried this recipe again with filets from other grocery stores. Here's my learning: the reason the beef from Citarella tasted better was cause it was center cut USDA Prime...I am no meat expert, but much to my surprise, the taste difference is undeniable. As Ruth Reichl writes in the book I am reading now, "Garlic and Sapphires", "great steak is bought, not cooked". This recipe was case in point.

I also made Geneve's Moroccan chicken. Instead of grilling it like I did last week, I baked it in the oven. It tasted great as well. With the baked Moroccan chicken, I made a yogurt mint sauce that cools down the spicy bite of the chicken. I got the idea from a recipe card I picked up @ Williams Sonoma. Try this easy & healthy yogurt mint sauce with chicken or the spice rubbed beef:

Low Fat Yogurt Mint Sauce (adapted from a Williams Sonoma recipe card)

1 cup of fat free Greek Yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp of lemon juice

Chicken from Fez

Another weekend is here. It's Saturday and I've had my favorite breakfast: a Dunkin' Donuts hazelnut coffee and what seems to be one of my very last yogurt, granola and berries of the season. The berries of October are not tasting the same as the tart, juicy summer berries..go figure, the fruit vendor at the corner lied to me! After my breakfast, I headed to the gym and now I gotta make this post quick, I need to watch the Barefoot Contessa.

Thursday night, I made a very easy Moroccan chicken recipe that Geneve e-mailed me a few years back, well before we decided that our blogs would be our creative outlets. Until I get a kitchen fan or a backyard with a bbq, I have to stop making this recipe, so suburbanites, please enjoy it for me! The Le Creuset grill pan is really making my apartment smell like a bbq pit for 48 hours after.

The result is a succulent and spicy chicken that would be great with fattoush, hummus, babaghanoush and tabbouleh.

Play your Middle Eastern music, make some mint tea and enjoy this great Middle Eastern meal!

Geneve's Moroccan Chicken Skewers for 2
Marinade 2 chicken breasts for 30 minutes in this mixture and then grill:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1.5 Tbsp cumin
3/4 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 cup fresh parsley (I skip this if I don't have it)

It's quick, healthy and tasty, perfect for a week night.

Feasting Before the Fast

Before the Yom Kippur fast on Sunday night, Lee and I hosted a feast for 3 of our close friends, Mark, Naomi and Dave....all lonely Canadians who couldn't make it back home for this 24 hour holiday.

One of the highlights of the feast was my mom's sweet and sour meatballs. I grew up with these meatballs and am delighted to keep the family tradition going! These meatballs exemplify "comfort food" at its very best and they are served to accolades everytime!

Mom's Sweet and Sour Meat Balls (serves 6)

2 lbs minced meat
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp fresh garlic
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp bread crumbs
20 oz tin tomato juice
1 cup or less of ketchup
1/2 cup or less of sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Combine meat, eggs, seasonings, water and breadcrumbs and mix well/ Form tiny balls. Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to boil. Add meatballs one by one. Once you have covered the bottom of the saucepan with the first layer of meatballs, make sure the first meatballs are greyish and do not burn before adding the rest of the meatballs to the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Remove cover and simmer 15 minutes longer.

I cook the meatballs in a dutch oven and put them in the fridge after I finish making them. They're perfect for the holidays cause they can be made in advance. An hour before you're ready to entertain, simmer them on the stovetop.

The rest of the menu was walnut and panko crusted chicken, kasha and bowties and caramelized butternut squash. For dessert, we enjoyed Ina Garten's fabulous apple crostata...I also enjoyed it last night...again :) and chewy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from another blogger at the Canadian Baker!

Tofu & Soba: A Ladies' dinner

About 6 years ago, while I was in Australia, I fell in love with tofu. I don't remember why I decided to pick it up at Coles in Bondi, but I did.
In my single life, tofu was one of my staples. With my late nights out,went my tofu....although I am sure a lot of men like it, my bet is that most don't....My good friend, Talia, and I made dinner on Tuesday night. It was healthy, Asian and vegetarian.

Mint and Scallion Soba Noodles- Sarah Moulton, Gourmet
Makes 6 servings

12 oz dried soba noodles (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped mint
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (1 1/2 bunches)

Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling noodles until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and drain well. While noodles are cooking, stir together vinegar, oil, soy sauce, sugar and salt until sugar is dissolved. Toss noodles with dressing, mint and scallions.

This was my first time using soba noodles, they have a very unique taste. They mix so well with the ingredients in this recipe to make a perfectly healthy side dish that can be made easily in advance and thrown in the fridge. The soba noodles would make a great side dish to my tequila lime chicken for a summer bbq. This recipe will be a staple in my house.

Ginger-Sesame Grilled Tofu (Cooking Light Magazine, Aug 05)
Serves 4

1 lb reduced fat, firm tofu steaks ( I like Nasoya brand)
2/3 cup ginger sesame vinaigrette (see below for recipe)
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
8 lime slices

1. Place tofu between paper towels and cover with cans to make water come out. This is a must when working with tofu, so the water comes out and the marinade clings to the tofu better. Let stand for 20 minutes, pressing down occasionally. Combine ginger sesame vinaigrette, soy sauce and cilantro. Remove 1/4 cup of cilantro marinade and set aside. Pour the rest of the marinade over tofu in a 13 x 9 baking dish, cover and marinate for 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

2. Prepare grill (or grill pan in my case!) to medium high heat

3. Add lime slices to marinade. Grill tofu and limes on both sides for 2 minutes each and baste frequently.

Calories: 307 , Fat: 9.3 g, Protein 16.3 g, fiber 4.8 g

Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup yellow miso paste
1/4 cup chopped green onions (shallots in Canada)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
4 tsp canola oil
2 tsp dark sesame oil

Combine first 2 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whish until smooth. Stir in green onions and the remaining ingredients. This yields 1 1/3 cups. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, stir well before using.

This recipe is high maintenance cause of the making of the vinaigrette and the marinating. I would recommend making the vinaigrette in advance.

Enjoy!

One Click Swordfish

Many who know me think I work undercover for Freshdirect, an online grocery store that has been delivering in Manhattan for 4-5 years. I was an early adopter and got on the online bandwagon very early on. Why was I going to go the corner grocery store to get $5 moldy raspberries in aisles too small for shopping carts? The kicker is that I then have to shlep 6 bags home. Freshdirect allows you to shop when you want, where you want, and promises only the freshest produce. There is a feature called "quickshop" that has your entire shopping list on it from previous deliveries, making shopping that much more convenient. The best part is if I'm not home, the order stays with the doorman for an hour or two!

If you don't live in the NY area and you like food, you should check out their site, it's pretty and gives you beautiful visuals of different kinds of fish, meat and veggies. It also educated users with a seasonal guide and storage guide for fruit so we can figure out when a berry crumble would be more appropriate than an apple crumb pie (both sound good to me always). Their newest feature is "one click recipes". My first recipe was a hit! FreshDirect has thousands of recipes at my fingertips. It was as easy as searching for an ingredient or type of cuisine, finding the recipe to suit your taste and the ingredients will be automatically added to your cart. Genius!

Swordfish with Lime and Coriander
(from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook)

3 lb swordfish steak

1/2 cup olive oil

juice of 3 limes

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

lime wedges

4 tbsp butter

Marinate the swordfish in olive oil, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of coriander. Let it sit for a few hours, turning the fish over a few times. Remove the fish from the marinade, reserve excess marinade. Season the steaks and grill on both sides, basting with reserved marinade frequently.

Remove the steaks from the grill, spread them with butter and the remaining 1/4 cup of cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Here is the official recipe on Freshdirect. I left out the butter to make it healthier and used a sprinkle of lime juice on each steak after it came off the grill. I also used my indoor grill pan...no coals :)

Although I have tried similar recipes involving lime juice and swordfish, this one click recipe was the best ! A nice zesty crust formed outside the swordfish and the meat was very juicy. I didn't even miss the butter I left out.

It would be great if you could change the serving sizes automatically and review the recipes online, a feature I really enjoy on www.epicurious.com.

This one's easy, enjoy it on a weeknight!