Category: Misc.

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.

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.

A Euro Evening with The Green Fairy

I can just imagine my Monday morning water cooler chat.


Absinthe.
Originally uploaded by DonnellyImages


How did you spend your weekend.Oh I tried some Absinthe and went to see ATB.They would look at me blankly and wonder what the hell I was talking about. ATB was new to me, however Absinthe was on those ‘Things to do before I reach 40 list”,which is rapidly approaching. Where did all those years go?Back in the day , just released from the nuns at a school which will remain nameless, my parents turned me loose in Paris. A night like last night would be a weekly occurrence.Certain Someone loves DJ’s like ATB. Unfortunately he was away and I had to represent . I planned to have fun because I havent had a evening like this in a while. A German friend had brought over some Tabu Absinthe. Its legal now to bring into the US, and there are some US producers. A few of the group had it in Prauge and don’t have pleasant memories of it, taste wise.In reading I hear the Czech ones are the worst. The Thirty Something Frat Boy men gathered shots glasses lighters,and sugar and tried to prepare it.No one knew what they were doing. I was trying to recall this sexy scene with Susan Sarandon and Jude Law in Alfie where she tries to educate him on to prepare a proper glass. Cant find it on You Tube. Needless to say we just downed it with some sugar on the bottom. Now water ,as I am to find out is essential. However I read the brand we consumed can be taken straight. Half liked the anise flavor,and half wanted to hurl. All of us were warm and fuzzy as it was 100 proof someone said.We all started talking about how old were getting and how our joints don’t seem to be like before.I thought it was just me. We were skeptical of the twenty somethings that would be at the event. Nothing hallucinogenic happened to us that evening. We all continued to imbibe vodka as we watched the Go Go type dancers in their neon pink underwear and boots, on raised platforms , dance to the ‘Messiah’ like DJ. Thank goodness we were cordoned off in our Yuppish VIP section while the masses in hundreds danced on. Where did these people come from and what do they do by day we asked. Then I remembered I was one of them once and I turned out alright.All in all a clean crowd. I was rather surprised. I made it to bed at 4:45 forgoing the after hour party in some Russian Bath House. No Thanks. The old timer Thirty Somethings grabbed some Burritos from one of those Taquerias on Ashland(good eating), and bitched about how we were going to make it through the week. I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a truck, and I didn’t even get drunk.That’s why I don’t party anymore. I leave you with Monsieur Creepiness to see how to prepare Absinthe properly.