Jamaica, Fat Americans, Potato Gnocchi with Mushroom Sauce

God, I suck suck suck at posting and this picture does not do this meal justice. I’ve actually been keeping a mental log of all the things I need to post about. I can’t figure it out – am I busier now than I was a few years ago, do I not have as much to say? That can’t be it, I’m always spouting my mouth off. I don’t know what it is.

Here is what I do know. Jamaica is full of fat white people. Chris and I just got back from a quick trip to Jamaica. We had never been and didn’t know what to expect. It was great. We splurged a little and had a concierge room which means that among other things we had a stocked bar with rum, gin, vodka, whiskey and red wine – and a fridge stocked with sparkling wine, white wine, soda, juice red stripe, etc. So, if you think that I didn’t wake up every morning and rehydrate after my morning run with a crisp and refreshing mimosa – you’d be wrong. Chris on the other hand waited until the respectable hour of 10:00 to order his first drink, which was always a mudslide. I think he was trying to convince himself it was a brown just slightly unhealthy smoothie. It’s a milkshake Chris, with alcohol in it.

So, back to my original thought, Jamaica is full of fat white people. Wait, drunk, fat, white people. 

Every year we go to the Caribbean and every year I fret for months about what I am going to look like in a bathing suit, and then I get to the beach and think – I am the skinniest bitch on this beach. Have these people been here a month or more eating this all inclusive food – does no one else worry about what they look like in a two piece? Apparently not.  When will I learn?

And another thing, it doesn’t take a fucking rocket scientist to figure out how to put on sunblock. Why do I see so many people with the patchwork sunburn look? I actually saw a guy whose entire chest area was bright red said for a smeared hand print across his right boob. Seriously, how does that happen? You put the lotion in your hand felt yourself up for a fraction of a second and thought – “good enough!” Or maybe he was like me, but instead of a mimosa at 9:00 am he went straight for the whiskey and figured he wasn’t going to feel any pain on the entire vacation anyways so who gives a fuck.

I don’ know, I don’t know.

What I do know is that this recipe rocked!

Here is where I got it.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/gnocchi-with-wild-mushrooms

Rating: Damn Good

 

Fishing+ZucchiniPorn+Pasta

So, you take this.

And then your garden does this.

And you get this.

I didn't have time for a recipe, so I just to the garden grabbed a bunch of things, pulled the fish from the fridge, and boiled some pasta. This is pretty much how it went.

1/4 red onion

crushed garlic

those got all ovey dovey in a little bit of olive oil and buttah.

then I tossed in

1 zucchini cut on a bias

2 heirloom tomatoes cut into big chunks

2 bass filets cut into big chunks

1 sprig of fresh tarragon chopped

a few splashes of rice vinegar

a few hearty splashes of white wine

When that got a smelly and beautiful and created it's own juice I topped it off with fresh chopped parsely and another sprig of fresh tarragon chopped, and some grated Parmesan cheese.

I mixed it with whole wheat pasta.

In the middle of eating Chris stated. "this sauce is awesome". And it was, so much so that I think he did in fact go back for thirds, the first two helpings were eaten in a civilized manner, out of a bowl, the third helping he just moseyed on over to the stove and ate straight out of the saute pan. Caveman.

Damn Good!

Garden Pasta with Grilled Tuna

Mmm no recipe here, it was the kind of night where you grab a glass of wine, head out into the garden and say, "whatdaya got for me?" this night the garden gave me two japanese eggplants, two squash, two zucchini and a handful of San Marzano tomatoes to I took all the vegetables and sliced them the long way into thirds, put a little olive oil on them with salt and pepper and grilled them each side four minutes. I also took some tuna steaks and gave them the same treatment at the vegetables. 


While those were cooking I took a red onion from the garden along with a handful of basil and tarragon - I sauted the onion in a bit of butter and olive oil, added some garlic and when they were soft added two spilt of champagne  - when that had cooked down a bit I added the herbs to make a nice champagne herb sauce - yes, it tastes as good as it sounds. 


While the sauce was doing its thing I boiled a box of rigatoni to all dente. When all were cooked I cut up the vegetables and tune, and in a large bowl combined the veggies, tuna, pasta, and herb champagne sauce - mixed it all together gave it a little salt, pepper and parmesan cheese and a great dinner was on the table - so simple, so easy, so awesome to get almost all of it out of the garden. I must, repeat must move to a state with a longer growing season, one that has fig trees - that will be my barometer of the locale...


Me: "excuse me, realtor person, would it be possible to have a flourishing fig tree in the backyard here?"
Realtor: "No ma'am, this zone would not allow a fig tree to grow here year round, you'd have to cellar it in the winter."
Me: "I've seen enough - we'll continue either south or west from here, thank you for your time."


I got a manicure today - so of course I cut the nail with my big knife while chopping swiss chard, that's the way things always go, I never stub my toe unless I've just paid $30 for a manicure, and you always have the best hair dat of your live the day you are going to get it all chopped off.


Rating = Damn Good (and local too)

The Rapture Skipped Me (so I ate) Spaghetti with Anchovies and Bread Crumbs (Spaghetti con Acciughe e Mollica)

The rapture never came, and boy am I relieved because we all know that had the day of reckoning really come I'd be smelling in the sulfur and brimstone. I'm not a bad person all the time, but on a daily basis I have fits of bitch that just take over. I blame most of these fits on my commute and the asshole drivers that I am faced to deal with for at least two hours every week day. 

Or, like when you are at the grocery store, at check out, and you spend a few moments deciding which lane will move the fastest - and then you realize that you picked the lane where the check out person is incapable of doing more than one motor function at a time and doesn't give two shits about the fact that you want to get out of the store because they are going to be there all day anyway so why shouldn't you.  And who pays by check at the grocery store...why is the person in front of you paying by check. And if you can't decide if you want paper or plastic I will most likely yell at you for not bringing your own God Damn Bag, don't you care about this spinning circle you live on called EARTH.

But, then there are the times when I should be calm like in yoga, and I spend the entire class wondering why the Indian girl in front of me sucks so bad at yoga. I know wrong wrong wrong, but when an Indian person comes into class I prepare myself to be schooled in all yoga postures and I'm floored when the person just outright sucks at yoga. I actually wanted to tell her to get to the back of the class if she couldn't balance on one leg because she was throwing me off.

But, then I don't feel too bad about this thought because I came home from class last time and our neighbor Vibs who is Indian was over and I asked if that was an inappropriate thought to have about the Indian girl in front of me and his immediate response was..

"No, she's Pakistani"

I was dying after that.

Spaghetti with Anchovies and Bread Crumbs (Spaghetti con Acciughe e Mollica)

6 salt-packed anchovies or 12 best-quality anchovy fillets in olive oil (see Notes), divided

1 pound spaghetti

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 large garlic cloves, minced

1 or 2 small fresh or dried hot red chiles such as peperoncini or Thai, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley

3/4 cup Toasted Fresh Bread Crumbs, divided

If using salt-packed anchovies, rinse them under cold water. With your fingers, pry them open along the back and lift out backbone to yield 2 fillets. Rinse fillets again to remove any fine bones; pat dry on paper towels. If using anchovy fillets in olive oil, lift out of jar or tin, leaving oil behind (no need to rinse oil-packed fillets). Finely chop 6 fillets; set aside. Cut remaining 6 fillets into 4 or 5 pieces each; set aside. 

In an 8-qt. pot, bring 5 qts. well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender to the bite, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, put olive oil, garlic, finely chopped anchovies, and chiles in a deep 12-in. frying pan (with at least 2-in. sides) or wide pot and cook over low heat, stirring, until anchovies dissolve. Stir in parsley and remaining anchovies; turn off heat.

When pasta is almost done, set aside 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain pasta and transfer to pan of anchovy sauce. Toss quickly until all the strands are well coated. Add some reserved cooking water if pasta seems dry. Set aside 2 tbsp. bread crumbs, then add remainder to pasta and toss again.

Divide pasta among 8 warm bowls and sprinkle each serving with some reserved bread crumbs. Serve immediately.

The number of go backs that Chris has on a certain dish usually helps me rate the recipe. Chris went back for four servings of this. He really liked it.

Rating = Damn Good

two recipes for the price of one | Mango Avocado Salsa and Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

 

Its Wednesday, I love Wednesdays because I go to the psychologist, then I go to yoga with Angela and then we drink wine. Its therapy cubed, I've got my mental therapy, my physical therapy and then of course, my liquid therapy. Angela and I call it Wine and Yoga Wednesday, our Italian yoga instructor calls it our Detox/Retox, he's a clever one that yogi master. 

I'm a little late on my Cinco de Mayo recipes.  Woops. 

We had a great little dinner party last week to celebrate, I was in charge of the healthy recipes and Rick and Lisa were in charge of the Spanish wine. 

I made 

Mango, Avocado Salsa

Fiesta Lime Rice 

and 

Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

The salsa and the rice came from Skinny Recipes and the Fish Tacos came from Cooking Light. Links provided above.

Everything was great - although I didn't get any salsa because it disappeared in about four seconds, someone may have actually liked the bowl, I can't confirm that, though it would not surprise me. 

The fiesta lime rice, I thought it actually needed a little sushi vinegar in it, I think that would have perked it up a bit. 

The tacos were awesome, use the rub recipe that it calls for (delicious) - I couldn't find red snapper so I used mahi mahi - it was a perfect substitution.

We paired the salsa with a nice bright white from Spain and tacos with a nice light Rioja - then we had a much richer meatier Rioja after dinner. Perfect.

AM - If you are reading this - have you ever been to the Pink Door in Seattle for dinner? We are going in a few weeks - just wanted to get your thoughts on it. Thanks

And away we go….tofu and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I got into the kitchen the other day with the same vigor and enthusiasm that I used to have, back when I wasn't batshit crazy. It felt good; the washing, the chopping, the weight of the knife in my hand as I gave the vegetables the business side of things. I haven't wanted to cook in so long, and the smell of something home made filled the house with that warm cozy lived in essence. This activity was spurned on by the tremendous outpouring of love, encouragement and "at a way girl" that came from everyone who commented or emailed or just listened to me one on one. I cannot thank you enough, I repeat, and I mean it, I cannot thank you enough for all being part of my life and for caring. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve such amazing people in my life, I honestly still haven't figured that out, but I'll take it, that's for damn sure. 

Since I posted last week about my troubles and my decision to seek help and start therapy I've noticed a real sort of pick me up in my mood, sort of like the day that you are going to go to the hairdresser and get all your hair cut off, you will inevitably have the best God damn hair day of your life, just to fuck with you. But, I'm no fool, I know that this increased state of happiness has an expiration date if I don't get help, so the countdown is on, just a few more days. I will have to make something extra special fancy for that post…

So, Borders, poor sad Borders is closing some of its stores and yes, my store is one of the ones that will be vacated, so everything is on sale. Now, I usually turn my nose up at the recipe books with 1,001 anywhere in the title, purely because anything with 1,001 things in it clearly has not been vetted enough, but it was on sale so I thought what the heck and went ahead and bought a book titled 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes: Delicious, easy to make, healthy meals for anyone.

My first foray into this 1,001 recipe odyssey was this recipe, chosen purely because I had a block of tofu in the refrigerator threatening to walk away on its own if I didn't do something with it soon. And my suspicions were correct, these recipes will offer you the base for a great recipe, but tweaking will be needed to make them really good. I made this recipe according to the instructions and Chris and I both decided that the recipe would have been much better had the stuffing mixture been blended in a food processor instead of being left chunky, so - if you make this recipe, do as you want, but we both thought that it needed to be processed to make the recipe really good.

Shells Stuffed with Spinach and Tofu

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 package (10 ounces) baby spinach

3/4 cups finely chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 package (14 oz size) firm tofu finely chopped

1 1/2 cups (6oz) fat free mozzarella cheese (I used low fat or part skim)

2 tbsp grated fat free Parmesan cheese (I used regular)

20 jumbo pasta shells (6oz) cooked, warm

2 cups tomato sauce (I made sauce from scratch with diced tomato, tomato paste, garlic and onion)

1. Sautee onions and garlic in a lightly greased skillet until transparant, 3 to 5 minutes. Add spinach, parsley and basil and cook, covered, over medium heat until spinach is wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly; stir in tofu and cheeses.

2. Stuff each shell with about 3 tbsp cheese mixture. Arrange shells in baking pan and spoon tomato sauce over. Bake 350 degrees, loosely covered, until hot 20 to 25 minutes.

Rating = Meh, I really think this could be much better if everything was processed and perhaps fresh basil was used, throw in some sun dried tomatoes…you get the picture, I'd make it again, I's just tweak it.

35. still working on getting my shit together (oh yeah, and Shrimp Marsala - Housewife Style

With 35 beating my door down I feel that more than any other birthday milestone, this one has caused the most obnoxious case of naval gazing I've ever undergone. This post, may, just may not make any sense as I'm pretty much just gonna shoot from the hip with what is going on in my almost 35 year old brain. Here goes:

I feel that, by this age, I really should have gotten my shit together, and when I say that, I literally mean "my shit" - like the way I feel about myself and what I've done with my time and life so far. Older readers of this blog may think, 35, that's still young, you've got time, etc, etc, but frankly, its the oldest I've ever been, and by now, I would have hoped that I could see my reflection in the mirror and say "that works".  

I wear my past like a second skin, my reflection clouded by images of all the parts of me that I haven't liked, like dust, sure you can brush them off, but its a futile exercise, dust always finds its way back to the same exact spot.

Growing up we're always told that we should love ourselves. I don't think I love myself. If I do I've got a pretty disfunctional and f'ed up way of showing myself that I do, what, with the constant go, go, go, more, more, more, push push, harder, harder tempo of my life, like maybe if I move fast enough, the dust won't have a chance to settle and I won't have to face it. 

This year, for this birthday I just want an honest image in the mirror, and I want to honestly say to my twin looking back at me.  "That'll Do". And mean it. This will take some work and I'm scared to pull on that thread in case the whole thing unravels around me, but I owe it to the person that I should be, and I owe it to the man that has so graciously asked to share this life with me. So, here goes….

Seems awkward to transition into a recipe now, right, but I've never been one for gracious segues, so moving right along, here is a really awesome dish from Mario Batali…dig in.  

PS. I served this over pan seared organic polenta with garlic roasted asparagus on the side. For wine we served it with an awesome california cabernet. 

Due to copyright and all that crap I'm just including the link the recipe: 

Link to RECIPE

Please let me know if you make it and what you think of the recipe.

Rating = Damn Good

Also, comments on the above rant are welcome as well.

Shrimp and Squash Vindaloo - WW 5 points plus

This is what you get as an image for this meal for two reasons. 
1. The dish looked like yellow hell in pictures
2. Chris ate it so damn fast I really didn't have time to take pictures. Damn man take time to chew the damn stuff.

Needless to say. Awesome. That is if you like shrimp and squash and curry of you don't like that stuff than this would just suck for you, pretty much. Anyway, I love WW recipes that Chris really enjoys, it makes this whole trying to lose my fat ass thing a bit easier.


One thing I will say is that you don't need acorn squash for this - go ahead and use butternut if you want. I am actually also thinking about making a vegetarian version of this with cauliflower instead of shrimp, I think that would be very good as well. I served this over quinoa (is that spelled right), but I think cous cous would have been better, (adding this will add to the points value of this dish) I really didn't' think it needed anything, but Chris wanted to lay it on a nice bed of carbohydrates.


And another thing. I am officially sick and tired and then sick again of all this snow. We are getting another 6-10" tonight. Lovely. And it always comes during my morning or evening commute.
When its not snowing, its ass biting cold, like -2 degrees cold. I love that too. We have officially escalated the 15 year retirement plan to 12, I can't stand this weather. I want grape vines and farms that produce all year round, not this cold arctic tundra that is the I-95 corridor.


Shrimp and Squash Vindaloo | 5 WW points plus

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp Ground Cumin Seed, or other brand

1/4 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional

1 medium acorn squash

1 spray(s) cooking spray

3 medium shallot(s), peeled and minced

2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced

2 cup(s) vegetable broth, fat-free, sodium-free

1 pound(s) shrimp, medium-size, peeled and deveined

In a small bowl, stir the vinegar, curry powder, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, salt, and cayenne, if using, until the mixture forms a paste. Set aside.

Cut the squash in half along its "equator"; scoop out the seeds with a small spoon, preferably a grapefruit spoon. Set the squash cut side down on a cutting board; use a vegetable peeler to peel off the skin, shaving along the natural arc of the flesh. Cut the flesh into 1-inch cubes, repeat with the second squash half, and set aside.

Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic; cook, stirring often, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Do not let the garlic brown. Add the prepared curry paste; cook, stirring constantly, for 15 seconds.

Add the squash; cook, stirring all the while, until coated in the spices, about 20 seconds.

Pour in the broth; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly until the squash is tender, about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the shrimp. Cover again and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 3 minutes. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving. 

Rating = So Damn Good

ad hoc in da house - my thomas keller experiment

Is there anything more daunting than having the boss and his wife over for dinner? Yes, preparing dinner for them when they are used to meals prepared by  the likes of celebrity chefs, like Thomas Keller. I've only had one Thomas Keller experience, I bought a $3 chocolate chip cookie at Bouchon Bakery when Chris and I went to Napa last year for our fifth anniversary. Besides that I have merely walked by The French Laundry, Bouchon Restaurant and Ad Hoc, three of his restaurants. Oh, sure I could have gone in to one of these restaurants for dinner, (had I made reservations months in advance), but a meal at one of his restaurants is my more than I budgeted for dinners for the whole week we were on vacation.

So, when i invited the boss and Mrs boss over for dinner, I decided to give them a little Thomas Keller in your face right from my own kitchen. 

I looked at a few of his recipes on line, and then borrowed the ad hoc at home book from the library. I decided on Iceberg Lettuces Slices with Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes, Creamed Corn, and Seared Scallops. When I tell you that the creamed corn is most likely the best corn I have ever had in my life, I'm not being even remotely overreacting. I did make slight changes to the recipes, he calls for heavy cream, in all instances I used whole milk, and I reduced the butter amounts in the dishes as well. 

Here are links to all of the recipes that I used.

Iceberg Lettuce Slices with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

click here

Creamed Corn - look there is a reason its called this - its a virtual orgasm in your mouth, get it, creamed, whatever.

click here

Whipped yukon gold potatoes - the recipe called for putting the potatoes through a food mill or a potato ricer, I own neither of these, so I whipped them in a food processor - worked fine.

click here 

Seared Scallops - use the big ones U7 or U8

click here

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but they raved about the food, and even when we saw them a few days later at the office, they still were saying how awesome everything was. Need to impress some guests - this is the meal to do it.

PS - we pared each course with a california wine - that was pretty cool too.

Rating - so so so damn good.