Recipe: Caprese Burgers

We made the Caprese Burgers recipe from Food and Wine Magazine (Aug 2012, p.64).  It was fine but not amazing.  It just didn't wow our taste buds, but it helped us use up some of the basil we've been growing.

Basically, the recipe calls for making a pesto using basil, salted roasted almonds, garlic, olive oil, pecorino-Romano cheese and salt & pepper.  The pesto is mixed into the meat and is also used on top of the burger which has fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. 

Again, it was fine.

But still, no burger compares to the Triple Smoke Burger recipe, the best burger recipe we've come across.

Recipe: Chile-Cumin Spice Paste on Pork and Grilled Green Beans and Peaches

Unlike the Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach and Cucumber Salad recipe that we made last week, the Chile-Cumin Spice Paste (Food And Wine Magazine, Dec 2011 issue, p. 146) that we used on pork and the Grilled Green Beans and Peaches recipe (Bon Appetit Magazine, Jun 2013, p.38) were just ok.  I wouldn't make them again.

I take that back. 

I'd make use the chile-cumin spice paste again but bump up the spice level by 100% (I'm a "spice girl" - ha ha) by using more chipotles in adobo, but I won't be keeping the green beans & peaches recipe.  It was just blah.  Really blah.  I think the peach and cucumber salad we made last week was tons better.  Perhaps we didn't carmelize the peaches enough, but the flavors themselves were just, well, eh.

Recipe: Raspberry and Aperol Floats

I am a huge fan of Aperol.  Aperol is like Campari and is actually produced by the Campari company.  It's hard to describe the taste -- it has a slightly bitter orange and herbal-y (I made up that word) flavor to it.

I made the Raspberry and Aperol Floats recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine (July 2013, p. 79) the other day, and it is delicious!!!!  If you like Aperol, try this drink.  It involves making a very easy thyme-infused simple syrup and then muddling it and the raspberries in a glass.  Add Aperol, ice cream, and club soda. . . Voila!

Recipe: Sambal Chicken Skewers

The cover photo of the July 2013 issue of Bon Appetit Magazine has Sriracha-Glazed Chicken Skewers (aka Sambal Chicken Skewers - recipe is on p. 69).  This recipe is hot, hot, hot!  It was really easy to make -- it just takes 7 ingredients that I've listed below -- but beware of the heat (note that I love spice and found these HOT).  We served these with rice and a refreshing salad.

• light brown sugar
• rice vinegar
• hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek which you can find in the international aisle of your grocery store)
• fish sauce
• sriracha (go easy on this -- a quarter cup is a lot)
• ginger
• chicken

What's food would you save from your fridge?

Last night, our power went out.  We were watching a movie, and all of sudden heard a boom and then everything in the house went dark.  It turns out the wire running electricity to our house went kaput, so we didn't have electricity for almost 9 hours. 

Great.

We had just gone to the grocery store and loaded up on groceries for the week.

Today, we cleaned out the fridge, and it made me think -- the next time the power goes out and there's a chance that it'll be out for more than 4 hours, we'll be heading to the grocery store to get ice so we can save some of the food and place them in coolers. 

What would YOU save from the fridge?  (For us, I think it'd be whatever costs the most to replace. . . plus all cheeses )

BTW, here's a link to the CDC's website regarding food safety when your power goes out.

Art-inspired Dinner

Rothko-inspired bramble jelly shot

Phase-Mother Earth inspired chocolate & vanilla cake

A few weeks ago, our friends threw an art-themed dinner party which was inspired by Caitlin Freeman's book Modern Art Desserts.  Everyone invited brought a dish, and we each had to guess what artist/artwork inspired the dish.  It was tons 'o fun, and I'm hoping we do it again soon.

We made 2 items:

1. A bramble cocktail jelly shot that was inspired by Marc Rothko's work.
2. A cake inspired by Nubuo Sekine's Phase-Mother Earth which is considered to be a pivotal work of the Mono-ha Japanese art movement of the late 60s and early 70s.  Phase-Mother Earth was a large cylindrical tower made of packed earth which was removed from a cylindrical hole with the same shape.

The jelly shots were a hit and fun to eat.  (From now on, I think I'm going to make a fun jelly shot for every dinner party we have.)

The cake turned out fine, we just had to do some minor repairs at the end.  Making the cake was an interesting undertaking as you probably imagine from looking at the photo.  I do need to find a great cake recipe that produces somewhat dense and moist cake AND that is meant for layering so if anyone has a tried-and-true recipe, please let me know and respond in the comments!

Recipe: Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach-Cucumber Salad

We've been on a roll with testing new recipes -- another great dish!  This one is the Three-Pepper Pork Tenderloin with Peach-Cucumber Salad recipe from Food & Wine Magazine's September 2013 issue (p.90).

It's a quick and easy dish to make during the weekday after work.  It took about 30 minutes max.

Tips:

• The pork was very peppery, so just beware!  
• Cut the salt in half.
• Used white peaches (my favorite).
• Take a look at the recipe link above to see the photo from Food & Wine Magazine.  The magazine didn't picture a photo, so I didn't think to dice up the cucumbers and peaches (I sliced them instead).  The dice looks nice.
• We had rice leftover from another meal, so I had that instead of naan, though, we'll try yogurt and naan next time.

Recipe: Shrimp, Chorizo and Corn Salad

This Shrimp, Chorizo and Corn Salad recipe from Cooking Light (July 2013, p.134) is a keeper.  We don't receive the Cooking Light Magazine, and I'm usually not a huge fan because their recipes often don't have enough flavor, but this one is GREAT, and we'll definitely be making it again as a quick weeknight meal.  Instead of having this as a salad, we had this for dinner as our main entrée over rice.

Few tips:

• We love garlic and so added extra
• We doubled the amount of red and yellow tomatoes
• Instead of Spanish chorizo, we used Andouille sausage
• Next time, we're not going to add as much lemon juice -- didn't think it was needed
• Added the basil at the very end

Recipe: Hanger Steak with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce

I don't have a photo for this Hanger Steak with Mushrooms and Red Wine Sauce recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine (Oct 2011, p. 54), but oh my gosh, it was DELICIOUS and so easy.  We made this for dinner with a side of mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts and had a nice Cab to go along with it. . .  I think the meal turned out better than many fine dining restaurant meals we've had.

When I say that the recipe was easy to make -- it was easy.  The ingredients include just olive oil, assorted mushrooms, salt & pepper, hanger steak, garlic, rosemary, dry red wine, chicken stock (we used beef stock) and fresh tarragon.

Recipe: La Bete Noire

I forgot to take a photo of the entire torte,
and now there's only one piece left and I can't seem to
take a great photo of it.  So, here's a close-up.

Need a flourless chocolate torte recipe (that just so happens to be gluten-free since there's, well, no flour in it)? 

Look no farther than La Bete Noir (meaning "The Black Beast") from Bon Appetit Magazine (Sept 2006) that one of my interns recommended to me.  This dessert is for chocolate lovers.  Take a bite, and the chocolate literally melts in your mouth in an instant and yet the dessert isn't too sweet -- it has a perfect balance of richness and sweetness. 

I craved a piece this morning and had a sliver with my morning coffee (after yoga!). 

Recipe: Garlicky Rice

We don't subscribe to Cooking Light;  however, my mother-in-law gets the magazine and passed the July 2013 issue to us.  We made the Spiced Chicken Thighs with Garlicky Rice recipe (p.58), and while the chicken was a bit bland, the rice was quite good!  

I usually make rice in a rice cooker, but here's their recipe for making it on the stove.

• Melt 1 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat
• Add 1 tbsp minced fresh garlic; saute for 1 minute.
• Add 1 cup of uncooked basmati rice;  cook 30 seconds stirring constantly.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water and 3/8 teaspoon of salt;  bring to a boil.
• Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes or until the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
• Let stand for 5 minutes.
• Fluff rice.
• Stir in parsley and black pepper.