Lo Mein Primavera

I cannot wait for the sun to come out!!! Due to the nasty weather this week the pool at the country club has closed, therefore I can't work the pool grille. Thankfully this weekend looks promising!

It was actually nice to have today off though because we made the transition from the beach house to our regular house for the rest of the week. I was able to help my mom pack up and get home early to do a little shopping and prepare dinner.

I recently bought the new Good Housekeeping magazine. It was cool to read because I was a part of a few aspects of this issue (although I worked more on the October and November issue). The first week of my internship I went to Grenwich Village for a photo shoot for the dishes featured in this issue. I stayed for the shoots of these 2 one-dish dinners:

It's so cool to see the final photos in the magazine after seeing the amount of work that goes into choosing the perfect shot.

I was browsing through the recipes and decided to make the Lo Mein Primavera for my mom and I. I tried to follow the recipe almost exactly, but of course I added a few simple changes. Here's the recipe with my changes:

1 pkg. extra-firm tofu
9 oz eziekiel fettucini (or any whole grain fettucini/linguine)
2 T. coconut oil
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 zucchini, cut into half-moons
2 carrots, grated
1 bunch baby spinach
1/4 cup bragg's amino acids
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
chopped cilantro for serving

1. Cut in large chunks. Place on a paper towel lined plate and place another layer of paper towel on top. Place a heavy pot on top to press the tofu of excess liquid. Set aside while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
2. Cook the fettucini in salted boiling water until al dente. Rinse and set aside.
3. In a 12-inch non-stick skillet heat 1 T. oil on medium for a minute. Add the tofu in a single layer and cook about 10 minutes, until browned, turning once. Transfer to a plate.
4. In sames killet heat remaining T. of oil on medium. Add celery, pepper, and garlic. Cook a few minutes, unti ltender. Add zucchini and cook a couple more minutes, until tender, stirring.
5. Add carrots, soy sauce, and spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted and everything is cooked through. Toss with the pasta, tofu, and garnish with chopped cilantro. For extra heat add some cayenne pepper!

This was a delicious healthy meal! I'm so glad we have enough leftovers to enjoy this meal again tomorrrow for dinner! Way to go Good Housekeeping :)

Slow Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

We had a couple of visitors over last night for cocktail hour before dinner (my uncle and his girlfriend visiting from NY).. My mom asked me what we should serve for cocktail hour and I immediately thought of Barefoot Contessa's tomato caprese salad. This is no ordinary caprese salad... The tomatoes are slow roasted with minced garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a bit of sugar, and crushed black pepper. After roasting away in a low oven for a few hours the natural sugars of the tomatoes come out and the flavors are perfectly enhanced.

Right before our guests arrived I assembled the salad with sliced fresh mozzarella that we got from a local Italian deli and fresh basil from our "garden" (aka basil plant on the balcony). The caprese salad was a hit! I eat these tomatoes like candy and will be snacking on them and adding them to my lunch sandwiches throughout the week.

You can find the recipe here. I followed the recipe exactly, except I left the tomatoes in the oven for a bit longer (almost 3 hours!).

Sun Sun Go Away Come Again Another Day.....

I know, I know.. Where have I been??? This is the longest time I have ever gone without blogging. But, hey.. I've been busy!!!!! As you all know, I have been job searching ever since my internship has ended at Good Housekeeping. I have had no luck until a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden I received a bunch of calls in the course of 3 days. I scheduled interviews for basically whatever I could get and figured I'd see if any of the places seemed like a good fit for me.

I narrowed my potential career choice down to two... Di bruno brothers in Philadelphia and Battleground Country Club in Manalapan, NJ (only 20 min from my house). Both jobs were extremely different, but I trusted my gut feeling and went with the job in New Jersey. I felt really at ease with the employees of the company and felt that it was a place that I could really build my career. Di Bruno Bros may have been an interesting job, but I realized I may not be quite ready to make the big move out to Philadelphia.

Well, I started my new job as the pool grille cook and supervisor a couple of weeks ago. It was challenging at first to learn the ropes, but I quickly felt at home. It's not quite as glamorous as my internship at Good Housekeeping or any job I dreamed of having in food styling/food media, but I feel confident that I'm still doing what I love and I'm with a really good company that will treat me well. After labor day I'll move on to the country club restaurant and train to be a manager. I have always wanted to be a restaurant manager and feel that I will be really successful at this position given my customer service background (thank you, Nordstrom!) and culinary background. I'll keep y'all updated on how everything turns out!

Anyways, today was my day off and was a rainy and dreary day. Normally, I would be bummed out because that means I'm stuck inside and can't go to the beach or pool. However, today I was actually excited for the crappy weather because all I wanted to do was relax and watch sappy Lifetime movies with my mom. Sooooo..that's exactly what we did. Large mugs of tea were made as we cuddled with our puppies in front of the TV. Around 3:00, we started on dinner... yup, 3:00. What better thing to make on a rainy Sunday than homemade pasta?! This has to be my favorite thing to make (and eat!).

We started out by making the pasta dough:
-1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
-1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
-1/2 tsp. salt
-4 eggs
-1 T. olive oil
-3 T. warm water

Combine the flours and salt. Form a well and add the eggs, olive oil, and water. Whisk and incorporate. Knead the dough until smooth (5-10 min-- upper body workout number 1). Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 min.

While we were cooking, we snacked on some heirloom cherry tomatoes from the Asbury Park farmer's market. They were sooo sweet.. we ate them like candy:

Next, we took our large bunch of roma tomatoes (also from the farmer's market) and concasse'd them (aka blanched). To make tomato concasse, simply core the tomatoes and mark an "x" on the other end of the tomato with a pairing knife. Plunge them in boiling water for a mere 10 seconds and them immediately shock them in ice water. Peel off the skins and remove the seeds. My mom and I started removing the seeds and realized that these small roma tomatoes didn't have that many seeds, so we decided to save some time and skip this step. I simply roughly chopped the peeled tomatoes and set them aside for our sauce.

The other prime ingredient that we needed for our sauce was fresh basil. My mom and I skipped out to our garden (I kid you not) and picked a large bunch.

Yes, our garden consists of a large pot of basil on our condo balcony....

Did I mention we have a wine garden too? We apparantly grow empty wine bottles...

Finally it was time to make some PASTA!

Last week my mom and I bought this crafty pasta machine from William Sonoma. We chose to make bucatini (well... I chose to make bucatini). What is bucatini? It's a thick hollow spaghetti..my most favoooorite type of pasta! Well, let me tell you.. I got some workout making this pasta. This machine is not electronic and quite hard to use. In fact, my mom and I are considering returning it after all of the work it required (especially cleaning). We noticed as we were making hte pasta that it was all sticking together, despite the large amount of flour we were constantly sprinkling on it. We just prayed that it would all separate once it dried out a bit and was cooked.

I also browned some hot italian sausages to go with our pasta meal.
Unpictured was a fresh salad that we enjoyed with the rest of those cherry heirloom tomatoes, craisins, and a balsamic vinaigrette.

Ohhh, but how can I forget the sauce?! The best part of the meal!!!!!!!! It was so simple, yet sooo good. Usually I am not this simle, and when it comes to making a pot of sauce, my mom and I add tons of ingredients. However, this was a simple farmer's market sauce and contained only the simplest, fresh ingredients.

I started out by heating extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan. I added about 5 small cloves of garlic (minced) and sauteed for 30 seconds, until fragrent (DON'T BURN THE GARLIC!) Next, I added those delicious peeled and chopped tomatoes. Seasoned it with a bit of salt and pepper and let the mixture simmer for an hour or 2. At the very end I added in torn basil from the "garden".
Oh so fresh and yummy! I'm sure you want to see a final picture of my plate with the pasta, sauce, cheese, and basil.............

Ummm.. well... I was hungry.. and um well.. I forgot to take a picture. I'M SORRY. I promise you, it was a beautiful plate that was devoured in minutes. My mom and I literally sat at the table after everyone was done and licked our plates...and everyone else's plates...and all of the pots. Ha, you think I'm joking...

Fried Ricotta Stuffed Zucchini Flowers

I made these zucchini flowers as a fun cocktail hour treat for my mom's birthday. It really brought back memories for my mom since her grandma used to make them all the time. While I followed my mom's traditional family recipe, I added my own little spin to make them extra delicious! I stuffed them with a ricotta cheese mixture before coating them in egg batter and frying them in coconut oil. Here is the recipe for this outstanding Italian treat:

Ingredients:
15-20 zucchini flowers
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup pecorino or parm, grated
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 cup flour
2 large eggs
salt and pepper
oil for frying (any oil--I used coconut for its health benefits and sweet coconut flavor)
marinara sauce for dipping

1. Wash the zucchini flowers REALLY good-- You might find some bugs inside (yuck!).. Pat dry with paper towel
2. Mix together the ricotta, pecorino, basil, and a touch of cracked black pepper
3. Spoon about a teaspoon of the ricotta mixture inside each zucchini flower. Twist the tops to secure.
4. Heat a large frying pan over high heat and add about 1/4 inch of oil.
5. In a shallow bowl, mix the flour with salt and pepper to taste.
6. In another shallow bowl whisk the eggs.
7. Dredge the zucchini flowers in the flour and then dip in egg. Fry in the hot oil on all sides until brown. Drain on a paper towel. Fry the flowers in batches so the oil stays hot (you may have to add more oil for the other batches).
8. Serve with warm marinara for dipping!
9. Mangia!

Farro Risotto

I was watching a show on the cooking channel the other day and they were making a risotto with farro instead of arborio rice. I have never heard of making a risotto with this healthy grain and was instantly intrigued. My mom reminded me that we had a package of farro that we bought a while ago and never used... so last night I experimented with this farro risotto!

Farro Risotto with Roasted Asparagus over Portobello
-1 cup farro
-4 cups chicken stock
-1/2 cup white wine
-2 T. olive oil
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 small bunch asparagus, cut in small pieces
-1/2 cup grated parmaggiano reggiano
-salt and pepper
-2 portobello caps
-grated pecorino romano

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the asparagus on a baking sheet with 1 T. olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring the chicken stock to a simmer and have it on standby for the risotto.
3. In another medium saucepan, heat 1 T. olive oil over medium heat. Sweat the onion until translucent. Add the farro and toast for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the wine and cook until absorbed. Add in the chicken stock 1 ladleful at a time, constantly stirring. Once the stock is absorbed, add another ladle. Continue until the farro is cooked (it will still be a little chewy, as farro has a bit of a different texture than rice).
5. Season with salt and pepper and add the parm (off the heat). Stir in the roasted asparagus.
6. Spoon out the gills in the portobello caps and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.
7. Spoon some risotto in each of the mushroom caps and top with pecorino. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Enjoy your risotto with the rest of that white wine :)

Restaurant Review: Hotel Tides

Another hidden gem in Asbury Park: The restaurant in The Tides Hotel.

My parents and sister discovered this restaurant last week and raved about it. They loved it so much, that they were dying to take me there so I could see for myself. As we walked a few blocks away from the beach in some of the sketchier areas of town, I was hesitant about where they were leading me! Long and behold, we showed up at the hotel... it was not what I was expecting. The outside decor seemed rundown and unimpressive. However, as soon as we walked in, I realized my parents wouldn't steer me wrong. The dining room was exquisite and we were led to a cozy booth off to the side. The lack of crowd at 7:30 on a Friday night was a bit discomforting, but the quiet atmosphere was quite enjoyable.

Naturally, we checked ahead to see if we could bring our own wine. You all should know by now that we are wine snobs and would rather bring a nice bottle from home and pay a corkage fee than have to choose from a short selection of overpriced wines from the restaurant wine list. My dad surprised me by bringing my favorite.. Cask:
My mom and I started off with a lovely beet salad. It was served with lightly dressed arugula and ricotta salata.
My dad started with cornmeal crusted calamari served over greens and a smoked paprika remoulade. It was out of this world!!
For our main dish, my mom and I both ordered the cod that was served over white beans, artichoke hearts, and a sage butter sauce. It was a very light dish with a lot of flavor. I loved the sage flavor that really came through in the beans!
As much as I enjoyed my meal, my dad's meal is seriously worth mentioning! It is pretty clear that I'm not the biggest meat eater and I rarely order meat out at restaurants. However, I would go back to this restaurant and order this dish.. the rack of lamb:
This was the most tasty meat I have ever eaten! The seasoning was incredible and every component to the dish was wonderful. I especially loved the vanilla-scented fennel slaw on the side.. so unique and flavorful! The chef even came out to greet us as we were eating our dinner. I was gnawing on a lamb bone as he came up to our table... that's how good this lamb was. I don't gnaw on bones! My mom, who doesn't eat red meat at all, even had to try a bite..and agreed that it was incredible!

Overall, it was a great night of wonderful food, service, and atmosphere. The restaurant should really work on its marketing to get more customers in. If more people knew about what they have to offer, they would have a packed dining room every night!

"Vegan" Spinach Quiche

Lately my mom and I really enjoy vegan food (even though we are definitely not vegan). I started reading the book Promises to Keep by Jane Green (a fun beach read). Coincidentally, one of the main characters in the book is a vegan chef. After every chapter there was a fun recipe. I particularly noticed one recipe for a "vegan spinach quiche" and showed my mom. She begged me to make it ASAP! And so I did....

For the crust:
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 T. quinoa, rice, spelt, or whole wheat flour to bind (I used whole wheat)
2 T. flaxseed
Small bunch of basil and thyme, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

For the filling:
1 package firm tofu, drained
Juice of 1 lemon
10 oz fresh spinach
1 clove garlic, minced (I threw it into the vita-prep whole)
1/2 tsp. tumeric (I used paprika because that's all I had)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (I'm a dummy and forgot to get this, so I made this quiche non-vegan and added pecorino romano)
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup toasted pinenuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix quinoa, flour, flaxseed, herbs, salt and pepper. Grease a flan tin with a removeable base and press the mixture firmly and evenly over the base and up the sides (I forgot to grease the tin, but it still came out fine!!)
3. Combine the tofu with lemon juice in a blender (I used the vita prep) and puree until smooth. Add the spinach and pulse until blended, then add the garlic, turmeric, salt, nutmeg, yeast, and mustard, blending briefly until combined. Pour into the crust, sprinkle the pine nuts on tops and bake for 30-40 minutes. (I also sprinkled the top with halved cherry tomatoes).
4. Serve hot or cold. I sprinkled my slice with crushed red pepper and extra pecorino!
This was so delicious and healthy! My mom and I really enjoyed it :) We're especially excited about how the crust turned out and brainstormed some other ways to use this crust for other recipes! Stay tuned!