a la minute (pronounced 'minoot')

buona sera!

you guessed it, pasta tonight. and a surprise, i cooked again = not a very exciting entry. the Chef went under "the knife" yesterday but even still was hobbling around the kitchen by the time i arrived home from work. he started it, i finished it, and i learned a new term - a la minute; meaning, at the last minute. that was how i made the garlic bread. but i did a little more than that, i boiled the water, threw in the rigatoni, and mixed in Chef's homemade spinach pesto. Added a little chopped kalamata, crushed up some toasted walnuts, sprinkled some cheese and served it up.

So here's a little more informative information that i have acquired by being the Missus. Subject: Pesto; Opinion: what a wonderful thing. AND it can be made by much more than just basil. I don't mean just Basil. In fact, I love basil and there is so much diversity in basil! it is such an inspiring herb (i hope you pronounced that with a hard h, like uncle herb because that is how i meant for you to read it). Adoration aside, just about any green stuff can be used to make pesto. Since we went away for the weekend, we were afraid that the spinach we received in our CSA share on Friday would spoil and so, pesto'd that leafy green using walnuts, the Chef toasted those on the stove, and of course the standard some olive oil, grated parma, and s&P. Our other 'great moments in pesto' took advantage of loads of spring asparagus in the spring. (yes, i do know i repeated spring in the prior sentence, get it?) And another time, we foraged garlic mustard. Yes! You should try this wonderfully strong garlicky ubiquitous weed! Just be sure to take little tastes often as you pesto. If you don't know about this ah hem herb, you'll see it in a few weeks most likely everywhere, a very undesirable and invasive plant. You pick it, you got free eats and picking it makes space for native species to fill in. Another little notable is that we have been freezing our leftover pesto in ice cube trays, and then popping out little cubes when we need it. Now, I wonder how that would be in a bloody mary ...

a little rusty

I did something tonight that I hadn't done in a long time...I cooked. Go on, get your jokes in now - hahaha. Yes, we are still alive.

The Chef is on the mend, so I made soup. Just soup. Hey, its a start, alright! You must be thinking, "These people eat a lotta soup!" Its true, we do.

Le Soup de nuit - manhattan clam chowder. The only little kick was that instead of using white potatoes, I used sweet potatoes, because that was the only tater left. I can't believe we went through our cache of taters so quickly! Finished the soup with some fresh parsley, and scrumged it up. I know, you can't wait to have a meal that is scrumge worthy too.

My husband, the CHef, not only survived an operation today, he also survived my cooking! Viva Miguel!

weekend update

here's my quick & dirty update from the weekend

Friday: leftovers! though i hadn't always been into the idea when I was younger, I really don't mind leftovers these days. We had re-heated asian crazy veggie soup from earlier in the week. I think I left out the detail about the Chef using fresh ginger in his asian dishes. That's a big flavor punch. Here's to ginger! Another great salad: bed of spinach, hard boiled, avocado, radish, homemade vinaigrette. Marvelous! And talk about a nice clean up, then we hit the road avec le chat, fromage, and off we went to Jers...

now, my intention of this blog is to present dinners prepared at home and not exactly everything i eat, and not every time i go out to eat either. but if something warrants sharing, sobeit, i shall share...

Saturday: hibachi pig out. big family gathering at a landmark on the mountain in the NY/NJ area. i'm not sure how rules go about mentioning commercial enterprises on blogs that nobody even reads, but here is me coloring within the lines. so at this 'place' we all got some hibachi and entertainment. check out the pic & video (notice the mountain of noodles!)

mangia!

pasta night at the chef's table:
chef made ravioli filled with a melange of wild wild mushrooms - foraged ourselves. this would mostly be our hen o'the woods find from the fall. (ravioli had been frozen, but homemade nonetheless). these little creatures were served with a puttanesca fantasy: capers, kalamatas, 'maters (canned). Served with a fiendishly good & garlicky bed of steamed SPINACH!! oh the garlic slivers were like candied crunchies; and yes I am currently feeling that cotton mouth...love it!

and that salad! the last (sniff sniff) of the week's baby lettuce, cabbage base. some slivered carrots, slices of radish, cauliflower, the famed aquacate (is it me, or have avocados been favorably priced this year?). what else, oh surprise, a half of a hard boiled egg (yes: from our CSA - thanks George!). THe Chef's blend oil & vinegar (balsamic tonight) dressed this lovely bowl.

Satisfied? yes. Spoiled? most definitely.

east meets west

 I ate with chop sticks tonight...an entire meal with chop sticks, a personal best. thank you, thank you.

stove is back on line, (notice the missing adjective)

here was the eats tonight:

firsti: east

asian winter veggie soup: miso broth, you name it it was in there veggies, shallots (my favorite onion), shelled edammame, thick rice noodles, tofu cubes, a sheet of spicy-ish seaweed garnish

secondi: west

warm mediterranean potato salad: a winter white potato from our CSA& kalamata olives, parsley, tossed in homemade mustard and olive oil & cider vinegar

dolci:

the last of my v-day's gift <- sniff sniff -> dark chocolate 'bar' with Bali sea salt from a local chocolatier. 

my thoughts: ahh life is good. the Chef's asian soup literally gets better and better. i had picked up some (organic) tamari after work and he finished the soup with it which added a nice flavor. He will sometimes, create these "clean out the fridge", which is chock-full of whatever vegetable that has taken up residence in our fridge with a bean or a noodle or really both. so the asian winter tonight was just a twist on that with asian flavors and the soy beans & curd   tofu, sesame seed garnish and seaweed sheet. The salad! Totally tasty, not too puckery mustardy but just right. And the kalamata olives, so I might be a pushover for olives but i loved it with the warm potatoes, a little mashed but mostly big chunks of that mystery white winter tater. And served on a bed of those baby greens with a light drizzling of olive oil, cidar vinegar and kosher salt. As for you chocolate, sorry to see you go but it was inevitable.

orange crockpot soup!

naturally the LL failed to come through on that stove. cynicism aside, the situation beckoned a resourceful save for the dinner hour. hoila, a genuine, one of a kind orange crockpot soup: a nice butternut squash soup with chunks of roasted carrots & sweet potatoes - orange goodness! salt, pepper, shallots with parsley were the other key ingreeds. and roasted? you may ask. toaster oven save! and what else for dinner...homemade baguette made by the Chef (did i mention he's a certified baker, too? yes, there's a difference) at school the other day topped with some roasted eggplant, zucchini and onions leftover from last week's lasagna, make that killer lasagna. Super nice bread with zesty topping. yes, resourceful is our theme tonight! and then to end the meal, another smashing salad. now i realize i may have omitted the dressing from my last blog (a nice o&v with s&p on the spot).. tonight's was the Chef's lemon tahini concoction, creamy and zingy! the rest of the salad included beet chunks, avocado slices, ooh shallots, our home sprouted crunchy sprout mix, atop a tender baby lettuce mix. the belly was a-bulging afterward!

out at the local

oven's dead. The joys of renting in 'charm city', having to convince the landlord of malfunctioning appliances. Did I mention it is a gas range? Enough of that, since we are promised a new stove - we are expecting skratch & dent specials from the curb, tomorrow is trash day afterall - we were forced to dine out. Over to the ip & bite we went. I normally enjoy eating out, for one cleaning up after the Chef is quite a task, but with a fridge full of all kinds of goodies + the aforementioned salad superstardom, I "grudgingly" went out to eat. My choice, a filling and consistently good omelette. The santorini, filled with kalamata, feta, spinach, onions, and 'maters. Served with my pals, home fries, and a nice side of warm pita. Very tasty indeed, and I am full! And the Chef ordered some meaty thing covered in gravy...blah, meat. Enjoy the pic.

at the chef's table

Swordfish tonight! After a visit to the fish counter at wegman's and then a look at the frozen selection, we went with the fresh, product of the USA, swordfish steak. A little bit of a tough decision, we went back and forth with a couple different fishies, even eyeing up the suitcase of king crab legs. But the price tag ($99.99) put the kah-bosh on that. Back at home, Chef sauteed the fish with a lemon caper butter sauce with shallots & a hit of white wine and parsley. Tasty! On the side, we had a nice helping of roasted fingerling taters and roasted brussel sprouts (sorry dad, i like brussel sprouts). Yum as well! A nice salad (eaten after the mains, always) finished up the meal. I love My Chef's salad creating vision, a real highlight of every meal. It's like I finish the meal each night a little sad that its over and then I remember there is still a salad to devour! Tonight's specialty was a baby lettuce base with some green cabbage chops, avocado, fresh home-sprouted sprout mix, shallots, for-real artichokes, ricotta salata pieces, and a coating of pecorino. Crispy, crunchy, fresh & creamy!  

onto my blogging saga

Admittedly not much of a saga, but a start nonetheless. My culinary (and of course romantic) prayers were answered several years ago when I met a most talented, gifted, and kind m-m-m-man(!) who actually was into the idea of me and getting hitched. With all the food obsessed blogs already out there, here's my shot at it & the intro to the next set of entries...beware/forewarned/get ready...