Sunday, April 14, 2013

Sunday Meal Planning


Finally, after two and a half years of living at my apartment, I have curtains! Sorry to all the gentlemen living across the street and big thanks to the boy for getting all manly with a drill and hammer and putting these up for me. I also have a new standalone bar so I have more room in my kitchen for glassware and dinnerware that isn't dedicated solely to alcohol. 


But, more importantly, my brother and his girlfriend got engaged this weekend! My family and her family spent Saturday celebrating the engagement and it was a great time all around. We went to some pretty cool bars in the Gunks.


I hope everyone has a great week!

Monday: Garlic-shallot salmon with buerre blanc

Tuesday: chicken milanese

Wednesday: salmon with avocado/tangerine salsa

Thursday: salsa chicken burritos with mexican rice

Friday: chicken bundles (family recipe to come) 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Meal Planning


After the past week of having something to do literally every night, I need a break...and some good home cooking. I've also made a new spring resolution (it is kind of like a New Years Resolution for procrastinators like myself) to blog my meals more! I refuse to let being busy at work keep me from showing you the delicious meals I eat on a regular basis. So you'll be seeing a lot more of me!

Also, happy passover to my Jewish readers! 


Monday: Happy Passover to my Jewish readers! I'll be having roasted garlic-shallot salmon with veggies

Tuesday: tuscan shrimp with cannelini beans

Wednesday: compound butter- broiled mussels

Thursday: sole meuniere with spinach

Friday: butter and beer boiled clams

Saturday I will be going to my parents for Easter Sunday and, unfortunately, the house is still under construction and there is no kitchen to be found! So unless the weather magically warms up to be grilling-temps, we'll be going out to dinner. Good news is that I'll be going to my favorite place, Ardmore Farmer's Market, and will be bringing back delicious meats to highlight the next week.

Also, has anyone else noticed that it is supposed to snow tomorrow...and we're only a week out from April? I'm officially a believer in climate change...


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Fettucine with Peas and Pancetta

I spent this past weekend in Baltimore with the boy. We had a lovely time going to numerous (too many, in fact) restaurants (for anyone in Baltimore, I highly recommend this one) and probably should have stopped while our wallets were ahead.

After eating out every single meal, we decided that a nice home-cooked dinner was in order before I got on my train back to New York. I rarely eat pasta at home, since I try to focus on eating fish and veggies, and jumped on the opportunity to try a new one. The boy, who is not one to complain normally, obviously had no issues with me taking over dinner. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was darn happy about it.

Note: we made this for four people so that he would have leftovers for the week, so feel free to cut this down as appropriate




Ingredients:

1 lb. fresh fettucine
1/2 lb. cubed pancetta
1 clove garlic, finely minced
4 tbsp. butter
1 small white onion, finely diced
2 tbsp water (or chicken stock)
1 c. light cream
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Directions:

1. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat olive oil and garlic. Add pancetta when hot and cook until golden. Set aside in a small dish.

3. In the same pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft. Add in the water and season with salt and pepper. 

4. Stir in the pancetta and cook for about 2 minutes. Add cream; bring to a low simmer and cook 5 minutes until thickened.

5. Add cooked pasta to the saucepan. Mix well to coat the pasta fully with the sauce. Lastly, stir in the peas and Parmigiano and enjoy!


For sides, we made roasted asparagus and garlic bread (cause what is better than carbs on carbs??)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Meal Planning


Leprecon didn't happen this weekend...instead, my friends and I all went to a fabulous brunch at Revel and then played the fabulous game Pub Golf. It is basically a pub crawl with a sports theme. Interested? Check out the rules.

This week for me? Healthy, quick food:

Monday: salmon with red pepper sauce

Tuesday: beer and bacon clams

Wednesday: huevos rancheros

Thursday: brown butter halibut with mushroom brother

Friday: shrimp tacos with apple chutney

Saturday: shrimp and guacamole tostados

Sunday: broiler mussels


Tuesday, February 26, 2013

French Beef Stew

To all my loyal readers, I apologize for going MIA for so long. Work has been super hectic since I returned from New Orleans, but it has not all been for nothing...Last week I officially received my promotion! Yay me!

I went home this weekend to celebrate my promotion with my parents and to celebrate my brother's and his girlfriend's birthdays (who happen to only be three days apart, how cute is that?!). Friday we went to St. James in Suburban Square, which is super convenient since I take the Amtrak to the Ardmore stop (aka 35 yards away.) On Saturday we all went to the amazing sushi restaurant Nectar and chowed down like it was going out of style.

Although I have not been blogging, I have been cooking. I made this recipe on a cold Sunday when I had time to watch the bubbling, boiling mix become a delicious stew. It was perfect for a snowy day.

Ingredients

3 lb. cubed stew beef
750ml bottle of Bordeaux or Cote du Rhone
Salt and black pepper
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
5 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
5 carrots, peeled and cut into slices
1 orange, washed and cut into wedges
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
Olive oil
16 oz. can of tomato past
4 oz. pitted black olives, chopped

Directions

1. Season meat with salt and pepper on all sides. Please meat in a large Ziploc bag with wine, thyme, bay leaves, parsley, carrots, onion, garlic and orange wedges. Cover and marinated in the fridge over night--at least 12 hours, perfect would be 24.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Remove the meat from the marinade and brown the pieces. Pour the marinade over the meat and bring to a boil. Keep at a rolling boil for 5 minutes, skimming off the foam.


3. Lower the heat to simmer, stir in tomato paste and add about 5 cups of water. Cover and let stew on low heat for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

4. 15 minutes before the stew is ready, add the pitted olives. Let cook for 15 minutes on medium heat without the lid to thicken. Serve over mashed potatoes, as I did, rice or pasta


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Sunday Meal Planning



Happy Oscar night! Best dressed nominee for me is clearly Naomi Watts--she looked gorg! 


I'm calling Daniel Day Lewis for best actor and Argo for best picture--because the Academy totally screwed up not nominating Ben Affleck for best director, he's a shoe in for picture.

Here is my Sunday Meal planning list:

Monday: toasted baguette with pesto, garlic and prawns

Tuesday: chicken schnitzel with arugula salad


Thursday: baked mussels

Friday: brown riced stuffed peppers

Saturday: Leprecon in Hoboken!

Sunday: sausage and red pepper pasta

Monday, February 11, 2013

New Orleans

Hello real world. To be entirely honest, I did not miss you.

In case my lovely readers have been wondering where the heck I went, I just spent a magical five days in New Orleans for Mardi Gras weekend. It was an awesome trip filled with delicious (fried) food, great new and old friends, a ton of beads and other fun objects thrown from floats and, luckily, no boobs (cause really, what women wants to see those)!




My very first parade. Before I left, I was concerned that I wouldn't like the parades and would be the odd man out. Boy was I WRONG.




One of my friends from college (and my new love, his sister) live in New Orleans and their dad is part of a Krewe. We got to go with their dad when he dropped off all his accoutrements to riding on a float, and were able to see all of the floats in the warehouse and even get on a few. 


Best never-before-seen tourist spot ever!




Every house was super decorated for the holiday. Move over Christmas, Mardi Gras in NOLA has you beat FOR SURE.




It took me a while, but I figured out how to "win" the parade game. Next time--I'm buying ball tickets!

While I was not sure how much I would enjoy the parades (LOVE!!!), one thing I was not in the last bit concerned about was liking the food. I mean, who doesn't like fried food served with more fried food served on bread. It was every dieters nightmare, but, for a vacation, it was perfect. I must say, the one thing I am happy about coming home for is the healthy food (salmon and asparagus, here I come). I need a serious detox...




My first meal off the plane--peacemaker po' boy. Half fried shrimp, half oyster, remoulade sauce and all deliciousness. But seriously, fried food served on bread with fries as a side? Carbo-load anyone?





We got the above po' boy and this fried soft shell crab platter (served with fries AND hushpuppies. Seriously. Michael Phelps would fill up on this food) are from the delish Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter





Muffaletta from Napoleon's House, a restaurant known for their drink the Pimm's Royale. And they're $17 bottles of house wine, which was delicious and perfect for a large party.





On Friday, we all went to my friends house for a crawfish boil. I learned from expert NOLA-residents how to de-shell a crawfish and chowed down on these little nuggets, corn, sausage and a delicious beer from NOLA Brewing





Friday night we walked from my friends to Dat Dog, a hipster-ish hotdog stand that looks like it used to be a gas station. Obviously I ordered the chili cheese fries and...





...a polish kielbasa topped with guacamole. 





and tried a bite of this deliciousness--polish kielbasa topped with creole mustard and sauerkraut


Other NOLA food recommendations from places where I chowed down much too quickly to take a picture included:
  • John Besh's Domenica - the tagliatelle with rabbit and duck was to.die.for.
  • Cafe Adelaide and the Swizzle Stick Bar - i got a lamb shank that looked like a brontesaurus bone
  • The charbroiled oysters at Dragos, which may have been the single food highlight of my entire trip
  • Last, but CERTAINLY not least, is the wonderful Praline's By Jean, owned by my friends' family and the location for our parade shenanigans. I highly recommend going there to meet the sweet Jean and devouring the pralines. Seriously. Stop reading. Go now. Your stomach will thank me.
Basically, I can't wait to go back and eat even more deliciousness. Is it Mardi Gras 2014 yet?