Category: Certain Someone

Little Neck Clams And Squid Ink Pasta

This is such a easy and simple meal that packs in the drama and flavah! Kind of like moi!Certain Someone is away tonight and you know what that means. Little Neck clams were singing to me in the supermarket.Just the perfect topping to some black squid ink pasta I had laying around. I steamed my clams in Garlic,Vermouth, Water , and Butter. Boil the pasta. And toss with some of that lovely parsley sauce I made yesterday (Parsley, garlic, lemon, mint, olive oil pulverized in a blender) and more olive oil. Simple ,fast, fantastic.

Whats this about you ask? Well the Caked Crusader tagged me with this Six Word Memoir thing going around.That’s me altered form picture taken in this incredible dive of a Chinese Restaurant in New York City’s China Town. Forgot the name but its well known.Anyway the wall paper is actual money you post up and leave your initials for good fortune. I think the only people getting rich was them!Anyway the six words to describe me is what I captioned. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that!.The rules are your to tag 5 more people. I’m not going to directly because I feel they would whip my ass getting another Meme. Plus I owe some people some Memes. Sorry. So feel free to play along if you want. I like trying to narrow down my essence in six words.
Rules:1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog (and include a visual illustration if you’d like).
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
4. Tag five more blogs with links.
5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
And before I hit the road again , I plan to cook up TAMALES this weekend. Don’t forget. Its really fun and not as challenging as you may fear. Hint. I’m making mine spicy and sweet! That’s kind of like me too.

I’m Back..Tomato Stuffed with Tilapia with Roasted Cauliflower

I had a very busy and productive time in Ft.Lauderdale. The trade show I attended was devoted to ‘The Americas’ and had a strong Latin feel. Everyone looked so sleek and polished and spoke Spanish, French, Italian , and English.I was fortunate to get upgraded to a suite ( my absent bosses influence).Check out what was parked outside my balcony.
Our Distributor for the Caribbean took a group of us to a great restaurant called Michaels in the Design District of Miami. Outstanding! I took bad picks that I wont even post. But the menu was divided by small, medium, large, and extra large plates to share. I had a yellowtail tartar to start, a slow cooked pork shoulder with cheese grits,and tangerine pot de creme served with baklava on the side.This was a very popular place worthy of the fine reviews. My only beef was the slow service. But my dinner companions were animated and fun ,so it was no biggie. I love great conversation with people from other countries.We then wrapped up the evening at the club set up for the show attendees. Many a deal is done with a drink on the dance floor.I finally got away and made it to bed well past midnight to begin round two of meetings.
So arriving to a chilly wet Chicago made me long for warmer climes. Certain Someone wont move to the islands, so I can only dream. I see he had ate the ‘smokey’ butterscotch puddings he protested about. I decided to make fish for dinner as he was at work. At Michael’s I had a side of roasted cauliflower in this wonderful sauce of oil and basil I think. The market was out of basil so I purchased mint and parsley. I had a head of cauliflower and tomatoes from the box last week begging to be used. I just pureed a bunch of parsley with some cloves of garlic,lemon juice,olive oil, sea salt,oregano, black pepper,and a few leaves of mint. It wasn’t the one at Michael’s but it was pretty good and packed with flavor. I seasoned and rolled my Tilapia fillets in hollowed out tomatoes. Oiled the pan . Then I added the cauliflowers florets and baked on a high temp of 450 degrees until finished. I also took the tomato pulp and lightly cooked it down with a squirt or two of tomato paste. The parsley sauce was artfully squirted through a bottle.
This was great light dinner loaded with flavor.

A Lazy Saturday Meal

I’m getting ready to go to sunny Ft Lauderdale on a trip related to my new role in the company. I cant wait. Its only for a few days, but I worry about my Certain Someone. Normally he’s away, not me. Then the following week I’m flying up to Toronto for some more work,and will get to meet Peter hopefully.Anyway Certain Someone and I were totally lazy and exhausted. We slept in but had some familial obligations and errands to run.Before we knew it half the day was gone. I was determined to make a meal revolving around some items that needed to be used quickly from this weeks organic vegetable box. My beets were getting soft and some onions were calling to be used. I got like 6 large onions . I immediately thought of caramelizing and cooking down four of them. I planned to toss them in a plain buttered linguine.I also peeled,cubed my beets and roasted them with a splash of oil, brown sugar, and balsamic. I planned to serve them along with some sliced cucumber and radish( in the box) and some feta cheese.I don’t even think we need to dress this cold salad. Its so warm and lovely out today. I wasn’t planning on a meat course, but Certain Someone requested the cheese breaded pork chops encore!For dessert I made a quick one from my newly delivered Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. Yes Ive joined the cult following after the recent Daring Bakers exercise. She had a Real Butterscotch Pudding that caught my eye. I had all the fixings and Certains Someones fine single malt collection at my beck and call. Ssshhh. Don’t tell. I used a wee dram of his Bowmore Mariner aged 15 years. I also topped it with buttered pecans.He raged afterwards and asked if I was nuts. From now one I’m regulated to Glenfiddich . At least he didn’t take back the new burgundy Blackberry Curve he just bought me. He said he tasted the smokiness of the Bowmore and I should have used one not known for smokiness.Like I would know the difference!

Carmelized Onions and Rosemary
4 large onions
2 sprigs fresh Rosemary
olive oil
butter
1/4 sherry or brandy
salt
pepper

Slice onions.In a large skillet add a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.Add onions and slowly brown, This should take a awhile.Add the rosemary.Stir occasionally do the onions don’t stick and burn. About after 20 minutes add some sherry. Continue to slowly brown the onions as they wilt and turn translucent. Add the remaining sherry in stages to deglaze the pan.Season with salt and pepper. Onions should be golden brown in color.
You can toss with pasta, use in cheese tarts, add to meat,top with pizza, etc.

Real Butterscotch Pudding ,Baking From My Home To Yours ,by Dorie Greenspan
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 3/4 cups of milk
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons butter ,cut into 4 pieces
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Scotch Whiskey,preferably a strong single malt
Whipped Cream and Buttered pecans optional.

Place brown sugar and water in sauce pan. Heat on medium and bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Lower heat and and boil for 2 minutes.
ADD 1 1/2 cups of milk and cream and bring to a boil. The mixture will curdle .
While the milk is heating mix cornstarch and salt in a food processor.Put on a piece of wax paper and set aside. Add sugar and yolks to food processor and blend for 1 minute,Scrape down sides of bowl and add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk. Add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to blend. Very slowly pour in the hot liquid as the machine runs.Process and pour it all back into the sauce pan. Whisk until thickened. Do not boil. Scrape the pudding back into processor and add the scotch , vanilla, and butter. Pour pudding into ramekins and chill for at least 4 hours. Add plastic wrap to keep film from developing.

Chicken,Fennel,Sun Dried Tomato Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit Crust

Today is Day 2 of how I used my vegetable box.I decided to focus on fennel .I was stumped because I have only had fennel in salads. A Internet search pulled up the same types of recipes. I could have roasted it with and served it up with fish or chicken. Nah. I decided to use in a Chicken Pot Pie. Why Not? I had a really good chicken pot pie in the company cafeteria and wanted to do it my way. Rather than a short crust I decided to make a Buttermilk Biscuit crust( need to use that leftover buttermilk from the Daring Bakers Challenge). I figured Certain Someone may like this .Plus there would be leftovers as he and I towards the end of the week will be in opposite directions. While I’m sunning( working ) it up in sunny Florida he’ll need some good leftovers to pull out.I decided to use Martha Stewart’s Biscuit recipe for the buttermilk biscuit.The filling is my inspiration.It wasn’t to thick , all the better to sop up the sauce with your biscuit crust!
Coco’s Chicken,Fennel,Sun dried Tomato Pot Pie with Buttermilk Biscuit Crust
Filling
1 bulb of fennel sliced thin(remove tops).
3/4 cup of frozen peas
3 boneless chicken breasts cooked and cut into cubes( I cooked mine in ground sage, salt ,pepper, bay leaf and parsley.Save any liquid).
1 cup plain yogurt
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
9 sun dried tomatoes snipped into pieces
2 tablespoons of flour
2 tablespoons of butter
Preheat oven to 375 .Mix chicken , sliced fennel,peas, and sun dried tomatoes in dish you are baking in.In a pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add flour. Mix like a roux until incorporated.Gradually add chicken broth while whisking. You should have a slightly thickened sauce. Add the yogurt and thoroughly mix.Pour over chicken and vegetables.Make Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Biscuit ( note I reduced this by half). Roll out a round of dough to top dish.You can add cut outs with the leftover. Brush the tops with Buttermilk and bake for approx 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

 

Dont forget about Tamale Open!

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

I received my first vegetable box this morning. I have wanted to start this for a while but the membership fee and costs seemed prohibitive to me. It made sense in the long run, but I didn’t want to deal with wait lists, pick up, etc. My belly dance instructor at the new gym I go to referred me to a place called Timber Creek Organics. I love them because there are no memberships fees, you can adjust your order, and even skip a week. All of it is tailor made for you! I decided to go the cheapest route of a basic vegetable box based on seasonal produce. No fruit these two weeks. I received a gorgeous bulb of fennel,onions, radishes, garlic,tomatoes,red leaf lettuce, cauliflower, and two bunches of dandelion leaves.

The first time I ever had Dandelion leaves was in a salad in the early nineties at the Royalton in NYC with my old roommate from college. I came home on the train with a full blown seasonal allergy attack. When I told my mother what I ate, etc she mocked me for a year because I ate overpriced weeds which I had no business eating with my allergies. She was harsh as only a mother can be.Anyway I haven’t had them since. I think my body could handle a salad, but I wanted something hot. Plus Certain Someone wouldn’t want a salad. I found this informative page and decide to cook them up with some bacon. A spoonful of bacon makes the medicine go down. Is it the most healthiest way? No. But it tastes good and he’ll eat it. I was craving pork chop too. Another food I haven’t had in a long time. Guess I’m fished out! I breaded the chops in a mixture of Parmesan Reggiano cheese. I learned this trick from Marie at Proud Italian Cook. Certain Someone loves it. I use it for chicken and pork.

Dandelion Greens with Bacon and Fig Balsamic

4 strips of bacon cut into cubes

1/2 onion

1 clove of chopped garlic

2 bunches of Dandelion greens washed and cut into pieces

a splash or 2 of Fig Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon of natural sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Brown bacon. Drain fat. Add onion and garlic.Saute until translucent Add dandelion leaves and balsamic, and sugar. Cook until wilted.Salt and pepper to taste.