Pomegranate Olive Oil Muffins

I  had three leftover pomegranates from Thanksgiving. Marc and I had Missy and Andrea over last night and I was supposed to make a pomegranate feast. I had all these ideas in mind...Arugula, prosciutto, pomegranate salad...lamb chops with pomegranate relish...pomegranate glazed salmon....and then it hit! the bad mood...

Birthday pix!

I decided that to celebrate the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday properly, that I wanted to have all my close peeps over. My lack of desire to cook anything turned into some appetizers, which then snowballed into a gourmet feast. Thanks to andrea, sonia, and marc for all their help, we were able to whip up some hors d'oeuvres in no time! I won't post the recipes in the usual fashion as I followed them pretty much to a tee. I just wanted to share the links and some pictures. Thanks to drea for the pix or I would have nothing to show for this momentous anniversary! Because let's face it, you can only celebrate your 1st anniversary once....

Mock Tortilla Espanola

My friend Clea just moved back from Montreal so I have been able to see a lot of my little stinker lately. She taught me how to make tortilla espanola. I can not make it nearly as good as she can...so this recipe below is the bastardized version. The apples give it a hint of sweetness. 

Sad Dinner...

...this is what marc eats when I don't cook for him...

 poor, sad marc!

Curried Egg Salad

This recipe is adapted from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks. I wanted to eat something different for breakfast that wouldn't weigh me down. That and I knew I wanted to make homemade pasta for dinner so I wanted to budget the calories. This egg salad is delicious. It does require some chopping but it doesn't take forever to make. Next time I will double it and save the salad for lunch for the week!

Banana Bread

This recipe is adapted from one my dad gave me, from one someone else gave him. So typical! I feel like most my blog entries start that way. This bread is dense and delicious! Most important, you can make this from ingredients you probably have in the house. I always buy bananas when I go shopping. As they turn brown, I throw them in the fridge, and then the freezer. I use the frozen bananas to make bread or as a sweetener in baking instead of using so much sugar.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

No recipe. Just a few pictures of our pumpkin carving!

The cyclops seemed to be the right fit for the pumpkin this year!

Orange Fennel Salad

This is a great side to any fish. It is fast and healthy! I posted another fennel salad this past summer. This one is slightly different, but just as good.

Broiled Miso Tofu with Chili-Garlic Sesame Kale

This dish is very easy to make and is also delicious and light. It is similar to another post I did on broiled miso salmon. The recipe is adapted from Epicurious.

Serves 4-6.

Baked Garlic Chicken served with Bacon Mashed Potatoes and Beet-Arugula Salad

This chicken recipe I got from Marc's mom. She made it one night with baked potatoes and I nearly died. It was amazing. So after raving about it, she gave marc and I the spices so I could make it. So sweet! Like most recipes, this was told to me verbally so I'm sure that I don't make it exactly the same way...which is probably why it never turns out as good as when she makes it.

Tonight I decided that I wanted to use up some of the random things in my fridge like basil, heavy cream and bacon, soooo.....I made rather unhealthy mashed potatoes to go with the meal. I also made a beet-arugula salad. But other than the potatoes, the meal is really healthy. Serious food for fall!

This dish serves about 4.

Prosciutto-Sage Wrapped Pork Chops

This meal is super easy, yet very gourmet. I adapted the recipe from one of Jamie Oliver's. I served it with a side of sauteed kale and no starch since the pork is rich and filling enough already.

Amaranth Carrot Raisin Biscuits

These are not your ordinary biscuits. The taste of amaranth is very distinct and these biscuits are unlike any other.  They are a bit savory and a bit sweet.

Spinach-Matzoh Pie!

Sadly, this picture does not even represent how delicious this pie is. I have made it three times, and the last for my book club. I think it went over well. The good thing is it can be as healthy or as rich as you want it to be. I have made it with low fat milk and cottage cheese and it has turned out just as good. I think the trick is using fresh dill. And while it is not a requirement, two of the times I made it, I let it sit overnight in the fridge because I was having company and needed it to be prepared in advance. That is a true bonus--coming home and popping it in the oven. This recipe is adapted from Epicurious.

Goat Cheese Lamb Bolonese

I made this sauce tonight because I wanted something fast for dinner. This is definitely a good dish for the cold, wintery weather, even we aren't quite there yet! Can you tell I can't wait for the cold? The goat cheese is just enough to make the sauce creamy but not overpowering. As well as the lamb and the goat cheese complement each other nicely.

The sauce is inspired by Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbook's 5 minute tomato sauce but I kicked it up to a new level with the meat and the cheese.

I served my sauce over pasta with a side of sauteed rapini. For the rapini, I cooked in a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. This was the perfect side. The entire meal took 30 minutes to cook start to finish.

Steak with Bok Choy in Ginger-Soy Sauce

This meal is amazing because you can have it on the table in literally 20 minutes. It is another Jamie Oliver Inspired meal. I don't usually cook a lot of red meat but Marc's mom sent him Allen Brothers Steaks. They have some amazing cuts of meat. What a smart gift-- amazing steaks delivered to your door and poof! a live-in girlfriend to cook them for you!

Chicken in a Sage-Marjoram-Leek Cream Sauce

Here is another Jamie Oliver inspired recipe, however, I basically just highjacked the ingredients and then modified them to my own tastes. I did not follow his cooking methods at all because, well that's what I like to do with recipes!

Smoked Salmon, Leek, Tomato Omelette

I learned how to make an omelette two weeks ago. I know that probably sounds crazy. It is one of the few basic things that I had never attempted. So today I made brunch for Drea! Blueberry muffins, freshly squeezed organic orange juice, and omelettes were in order.

Salmon with Beet-Arugula Salad and a creme fraiche-horseradish sauce

I mentioned I was going to be working my way through part of Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef. This recipe was adapted from that cookbook. It is supremely delicious, healthy, and so fast!

British Dining: Mushy Peas and Fried Fish Sandwiches

When Marc and I went to London in March, our bodies almost fell apart. I don't think that either of us ate a vegetable the entire week we were there. I don't understand what it is about that place that noone eats vegetables. There was one night we attempted to order a salad and it came literally with 2 pieces of iceberg lettuce, canned corn and canned olives, drenched in oil! It was kind of funny, being that we usually only buy organic produce and in London we couldn't even find restaurants that were serving anything remotely vegetable-like.

But then there was this one day, where we ate the best fried fish sandwiches with mushy peas on the side. Since then I told him I would attempt to recreate the dish one day. So here it is!

Chicken Peanut Curry

I had a craving for curry and the drea was coming over for dinner. This was my first experience actually attempting to follow a recipe for chicken curry. I must say, it was a pretty good one. It was inspired from the following site.

It is relatively, easy. I will definitely make it again and next time might even try substituting half the chicken broth for coconut milk.

The blog's 3rd Trip! Olive-spice-stuffed Halibut in a spinach tomato sauce

 

Chocolate Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

 I have had this zucchini in my fridge and lately i feel like I have been making everything zucchini to use it up! Zucchini omlets, zucchini stir fry, the list goes on....and it seems like it just won't ever disappear.

Blueberry Pancakes

These are not your typical pancakes. I really wanted to make pancakes this morning but had none of the normal ingredients to do so. So I used a recipe from Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything, and substituted, well...basically everything. They turned out to be yummy.

Walnut Lentil Burgers

I should just change this website to be cooking through Great Food Fast.  This is another amazing recipe from the Martha Stewart cookbook. I made these burgers last night for some friends. None of us are vegetarian but these burgers kick ass.  I served them with a side of sauteed zucchini and spinach. They are very filling and super healthy.

Summer Shrimp Gazpacho

This recipe is awesome. While it was inspired by good ol Martha again, I changed it up a bit. It is extremely healthy and fast. To make this you will need a blender at a minimum, but either a food processor or an immersion mixer will help to whip this up in a snap. I also served it with fresh pizza bread from the bakery down the street. I love brooklyn!

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 Large Purple Onion
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 Yellow and 1 Red Roasted Pepper (I bought a jar of them mixed)
3 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 T parsley, finely chopped
2 T  cilantro, finely chopped
1 lb shrimp, fully cleaned and cooked
freshly ground sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

1. In the food processor chop onion. Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a frying pan. Saute all but 2 T of the onion over medium heat in the pan until it begins to brown.
2. In a blender, blend the can of diced tomatoes until it is smooth. Pour into a large bowl.
3. Peel cucumber. Dice half of it and set aside. Cut the other half into large chunks and add to the onions in the food processor. Do the same with the red and yellow roasted peppers, adding the diced peppers to the diced cucumber, and the large chunks of pepper to the food processor.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cloves of garlic to the food processor. Pulse all ingredients together until smooth (onions, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and garlic).
4. Mix the vegetable mixture from the food processor with the pureed tomatoes in the bowl. Add the cooked onion, and diced cucumber, pepper,  parsley and cilantro. Stir until well mixed.
5. Season with salt and pepper and one t olive oil. Add more cilantro or parsley if desired.
6. Serve topped with shrimp.

Rhubarb-Cherry Pork Chops (with mint sugar snap peas and sauteed potatoes)

These pork chops are killer. I have a thing for rhubarb and this sauce makes the pork super yummy. The mint peas are a nice complement. I have to thank Martha Stewart again for her recipe. Never thought I would like to cook so many of her recipes...but I can't stop raving about her new cookbook: Great Food Fast. If you are looking for a new cookbook I definitely recommend this one.

Orange Pernod Blue Fish, served sauteed fennel, and potatoes

 This recipe is not really healthy by any means because of the butter, but it is super flavorful. It is inspired from an Epicurious recipe I made last year. I found that recipe to be poorly worded and complicated. If you liked the easy fennel crusted blue fish recipe I posted last month on my blog, you will love this. The oranges and Pernod help to kick it up a few gourmet notches. The food processor makes this recipe a lot easier but everything can certainly be chopped by hand.

The blog takes its 2nd Trip!......Miso-glazed halibut (served with wasabi mashed potatoes and garlicky-spinach)

Quasi Mexican Breakfast for 2!

 This breakfast just fit my craving. I don't really know how Mexican it is....but it is basically eggs served with super yummy and quick tomato sauce, refried beans, and a tortilla. The tomato sauce is by far the best tomato sauce on the planet and is super quick. It is inspired from 101cookbooks' Heidi Swanson, one of my cooking heroes.

Ricotta Spinach Pasta with Summer Veggies

This is a fast, basic, summer pasta dish. I adapted the recipe from Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast.

Fennel Crusted Bluefish and Faux Panzanella

Veggie-Orzo Summer Salad

This summer salad is quick, healthy, and super yummy. It is loaded with vegetables but it has such a simple taste. I think that it will be the next picnic food for me. It would also be a great dish to serve on the side of some cooked fish.

It was inspired by this blog and that cook, Cate, was inspired by another blog! So as you can see, it is was a typical cooking experiment for me.

Buckwheat Asparagus-Prosciutto Pizza

Pizza is an old favorite of mine that I like to make. I do not make the dough the "proper" way but it always turns out just fine. My dad taught me how to make it years ago and this is my version which makes things a bit quicker because I do not allow the dough time to rise. Because, let's face it, when I start to cook dinner its usually 10 pm and I have just bought the ingredients from the store. If I let the dough rise I wouldn't eat till 1am!

Zucchini-Carrot Curry Soup

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast. I recommend buying her book if you are interested in making cooking a little more simple. I have a tendency to over-complicate dishes so I enjoy cooking the recipes in this cookbook.

 This soup is very flavorful and healthy. I think it would work well for a picnic food as well.

Pistachio-olive Lamb Chops (served with sauteed summer squash and wild rice)

This was my second attempt at making lamb, ever. It was delicious! Part of that might be due to the fact that I got the lamb from the Brooklyn Kitchen's Meat Hook! If you haven't been there yet and live in BK I recommend you go go go soon! All the meat sold there is local and treated nicely. It was a celebration dinner with a few close friends for getting 3 job offers! Finally, a chance to work in a hospital as an OT!

Lemon-Thyme Chicken with Kale Chips and simple glazed carrots

This chicken dish is crazy good, pretty easy and relatively healthy too. The flavor is very rich. I served it with glazed carrots (see below) and Kale Chips (see previous post) because I had already eaten enough carbs for the day but I would also recommend serving it with a side of potatoes or rice to dip in the leftover sauce. The best part about it is that you can basically make it with things you probably already have in the house.

Japanese Pizza with Sauteed Fiddlehead Ferns

This "pizza" is more like an interesting dinner omlette. The recipe is adapted from my favorite site 101cookbooks. It makes two mini pizzas and can serve four people.

Kale Chips

These chips are a fun side to a meal. They are also a healthier snack alternative to potato chips and quite possibly the easiest thing to make.

Crispy Cilantro-Lime Sea Bass with Baby Red Potatoes

Blog Travels to Sonia's Part Deux

Cold Cucumber Soup...the blog's first trip!

Warning: This is the easiest soup you will ever make! :)

Last night I went to my friend Sonia's apartment so we could cook together. Since we used to live together we make a great team in the kitchen. This experience cooking was very different from all others. Since I was in a funk, I was happy to distract myself in the kitchen. So, sonia happily sat at the bar stools scrounging the internet for ideas on how we should make the meal we decided on. She gave me instructions on what to do and I did it. Made it brainless for me. The first course was to a cold cucumber soup, and the second was sea bass cooked with a side of potatoes (recipe to follow in next post).

Ingredients
3 cucumbers, peeled
3 scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
32 oz fat free plain yogurt (Greek would make it the creamiest)
3 T fresh dill, chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

1. Cut cucumber and scallions (use greens and stems) into big chunks. Place in blender.
2. Add minced garlic, yogurt, dill, lemon, and salt and pepper (to taste) to the blender.
3. Blend until homogeneous. Serve cold.

Frozen Pretzel Raspberry Pie

Its damn hot outside. The weather forecast claims that it is only 83 degrees, but we all know that the weather lies. I am melting in my hot kitchen and the last thing I wanted to do was turn the oven on. Alas, I really wanted to make this frozen pretzel raspberry pie for a rooftop potluck I was going to, which required me to bake the crust. There are remedies for everything...

cucumber pb & j

I was browsing TasteSpotting (only the most fabulous, visually-stimulating food site) the other day when I saw someone had made peanut butter and jelly with cucumbers! I thought that was the strangest idea, if not even perhaps a little scary. So naturally, I had to try it for breakfast just now, yes breakfast at 1:30 pm! It's basic PB& J with slices of cucumbers and a pinch of sea salt. That's it!

The cucumbers make the sandwich so refreshing in this heat. I would even go so far as to say that the might even prevent your body from melting. I recommend giving it a try!

cold soba peanut noodles

Last night I went on a picnic with some lady friends. It was the first of the season, as all other attempts to picnic this spring were rained out. It turned out to be quite the feast. I didn't change the recipe that I used too much because it was nearly perfect. I have had other peanut noodles and the sauces weren't as good. This one really is a great way to feed a bunch of people at a picnic. I will definitely be making it to go to movies under the Brooklyn Bridge this summer!

Sauteed Great Northerns, Chick Peas and Kale

This past spring I started cooking with Kale. I had had it maybe once before but never got anywhere near it in the grocery store. I expected it to be very bitter and grose...sort of the same feelings I had about brussel sprouts as a kid. But I was pleasantly surprised by how great it tastes and now it is one of my favorite vegetables to cook with. According to Wikipedia kale is high in antioxidants, vitamins K, C, beta carotene, and calcium. Who can argue with that?

Pesto Sauce

This recipe is adapted from George Mateljan's, The World's Healthiest Foods. I recommend purchasing his book, which has rather lengthy descriptions of healthy foods and ways you can cook with them. His pesto recipe is great because it is much healthier than traditional pesto. Yes it has cheese and oil in it, BUT it is made with sunflower seeds instead of pignoli/pine nuts.

Homemade Pasta

Making pasta is not as hard as you think! With the right tools and ingredients it can be whipped up in less than an hour (including cooking!). I have tried making pasta by hand, machine, and with all types of flour. I have found that the best way to make pasta is to make the dough in a food processor because the dough always comes out to the perfect consistency. Making dough by hand is a lot more laborious, but it can be done. Then I use my pasta machine (thanks to Jeff and Sonia!) to shape the pasta. I use an Imperia dal 1932. I have the perfect system for this...I make the sauce and the dough and then Marc rolls the pasta through the machine. He loves toys so this is the perfect task for him. I'll give you some visuals to walk you through the process.

Fennel Salad

Simple, healthy, & fast...this salad serves as the perfect picnic accompaniment or side for a summer fish or pasta. Tonight I am made it to complement homemade pasta with pesto sauce (recipe to follow).