I think this is a great dish when you’re thinking of spring, of primavera. This dish is adapated from Serious Eats, and besides the bit of cream it was very healthy. I’d also recommend using wheat pasta although you don’t get quite this bright almost neon green sauce. Johnathan hates peas but ate this disguised dish gladly. Here’s how it goes:

Serves 2

1/2 pound of pasta, any kind you have

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 medium onion diced

1 package of frozen green peas

3/4 cup of cream

3 slices of Canadian Bacon cut into bite sized pieces, browned

salt, pepper, parm for finishing

1. Bring pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the box - al dente is best.

2. Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of butter, or olive oil, or I like Smart Balance in a medium skillet. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until they sweat. Add the frozen peas and cook another 2-3 minutes until they’re cooked through.

3. Transfer peas to a food processor or blender. Blend and add the cream until it’s thick and pulverized. Place a sieve over a small saucepan. Pour the pea purée into the sieve, pushing it through with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Discard solids. Over a low flame, warm the purée through. Remove from heat and season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Optional: a pinch of ground nutmeg will accentuate the sweetness of the peas.

4. Toss the pea sauce, pasta and Canadian bacon together in a large bowl and serve with freshly grated parm.

When I started this site, I was so excited about cooking. I wanted to try everything, especially if it was a classic and required technique and presented the greatest challenge. I enjoyed cooking dishes from my childhood, Jamie Oliver and Julia Child. But 6 months of cream, butter, creme fraiche, and homemade pasta have caught up with Johnathan and I. Alas, it is a new season for my cooking, but I promise to keep it interesting. There will be a lot less butter, if any at all, and I’m learning the miracle of fewer ingredients, frozen vegetables and canned tomatoes. In the article previous to this, theres a great recipe for veggie chili that’s chock full of good things. Here I’ve also created a warm comforting tortellini soup that blows Rachel Ray’s 30 minutes out of the water. This is something I’ll take to work and reheat and feel a lot better about rather than joining my boss in her BLT binge to cope with the economy. Here’s to a happy and healthier new year!

Quick Tortellini Soup

Serves 4-6

3 Cloves of garlic minced

1 carton of Chicken Stock (32oz, about 4 cups)

1 package of frozen tortellini - mine was 14oz

1 package of frozen spinach, thawed

1 can diced or stewed tomatoes (14.5oz)

Dash of fresh oregano

the usual suspects - Olive Oil, Salt and Fresh ground pepper

1. In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat about one teaspoon of olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and brown. Add the chicken stock and frozen tortellini. Cover and wait for it to boil. Uncover and simmer for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, oregano, and spinach and simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now that the cold miserable winter has set in, you may be realizing just how much you ate and drank during the December festivities. Not just alcohol, but meat can be an overwhelming part of holiday celebrations. I think my husband and I ate meat at every meal while visiting family,  including breakfast which is a lot more than usual. But how can you pass up Sonny’s BBQ and Seafood Gratin? Now that the guilt has set in, I wanted to “beef” up our veggie and fruit intake and have a few suggestions if you’re feeling the same way.

Here is a hearty brunch or breakfast (or lunch or dinner) without the bacon:

Leftovers with Asparagus and Eggs
Serves 2

1/2 lb apsaragus

1 head of garlic, top cut off

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 cup veg or canola oil

1/2 cup melty cheese ( I used fontina, you could cheddar, gruyére, whatever you have on hand)

2 slices leftover baguette

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in tin foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until cloves are soft.

2. In a large bowl that won’t slip (I put my stainless mixing bowl on top of a pot so it won’t move while whisking) put in your egg yolks, dijon, lemon juice, and 2 cloves of the roasted garlic. Whisk until emulsified (everything is mixed together). In a dripping stream, while constantly whisking, dribble in your oil. This is the tricky part, this is where you know whether your mayo will come together or not. Keep whisking and adding oil until you get your desired consistency. I used about 1/2 cup of the oil because I wanted mine a bit looser and less like a spread. Add salt to taste. You’ve just made mayo without all the junk from store bought!

3. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in asparagus for 2-3 minutes. Remove and immediately place in an ice bath (this is called blanching). Remove from cold water and dry on a paper towel. Bring a second pot of water to boil and add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar for poaching your eggs. Drop your eggs one or two at time into the vinegar water. I break mine into a ladle and put the ladle in the water, it helps keep the egg white from floating everywhere. Remove eggs after about 3 minutes or when the white is cooked.

4. Spread one roasted garlic clove over each piece of bread. Top with cheese and broil in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melty. Top bread with poached egg, asparagus, and drizzle with aioli.

And now for a great veggie dinner. This is a recipe my mom has used for years and has won several chili competitions. You won’t miss the meat and it’s full of great veggies and good for you beans!

Vegetable Chili
Serves 8 – or lots of leftovers and lunch that will make  your co-workers jealous!

¾ cup olive oil
2 zucchini, cut into ½ inch dice
2 onions, cut into ½ inch dice
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 large red bell peppers, cored and cut into ¼ inch dice
1 can (35 oz) Italian plum tomatoes, with their juice
1 ½ pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch dice
2 tablespoons good-quality chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
½ cup chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
1 cup canned dark red kidney beans, drained
1 cup canned chick-peas (garbanzos), drained
½ cup chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
4 scallions, sliced

1. Heat ½ cup of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, and sauté until just tender, 5-7 minutes. Transfer the zucchini to a large casserole or dutch oven.
2. Heat remaining ¼ cup oil in the skillet over low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bell peppers. Sauté until just wilted, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the casserole, along with the oil remaining in the skillet.
3. Place the casserole over low heat. Add the canned tomatoes and their juice, the fresh tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, fennel seeds, and parsley. Cook, uncovered, stirring often, for 30 minutes.
4. Stir in the kidney beans, chick-peas, dill and lemon juice; cook for another 15 minutes. Stir well, and adjust the seasonings to taste. Serve with bowls of sour cream, grated cheese, and sliced scallions alongside.

Bon Appétit!

A great way to keep up with the food world without working in the biz is to read the glossies. Although they rarely reveal any juicy gossip, reasons for chefs leaving restaurants, or any personal information they are quite entertaining for foodies everywhere. As I’ve mentioned before my favorite food porn comes from Bon Appétit and Food & Wine, although this months Food & Wine January’s is a bit light. Other great reads are Saveur and Cooks Illustrated for the more serious readers. And now there’s another one, perhaps my favorite of all. I stumbled onto this while on a recent trip to the UK. Jamie Oliver has launched his own magazine. And there was rejoicing. His launch issue is on newsstands in the UK and it’s quite stunning.

You can tell from the cover it’s an expensive endevour. Glossy and matte paper beautifully printed. Also with this launch issue comes a Jme catalog. Jme is Oliver’s new housewares/kitchenware/food collection available online. The issue is chock full of articles rather than ads for pages and pages which tends to happen with Bon Appétit. However one could argue that the entire magazine is an ad as most of the articles are about purveyors and people involved in supplying the new Jme collection. And after each article there’s a reminder to go online and order the whisky or the platters displayed in the previous pages.

The photography is nothing less than the cookbook standard you see in all of his cookbooks. Rustic, romantic, and simple.  Speaking of, he interviews “bud” Brad Pitt and asks all the prerequisite food questions I assume we’re all dying to know. Although he did give some good restaurant recommendations in New Orleans. There are lots of Jamie- type recipes – simple and rustic. Unlike the other big Brit cooking publication, Delicious. he doesn’t concentrate so much on just British dishes but a wider range of fare.

A couple of highlights for me were:
1. Baby’s First Dozen: Here the writer suggests giving a friends or family’s new baby a case of carefully selected wine. Obviously not meant for the parents post birth but for the child when they grow old enough to appreciate it. They also make a list of wines that will age well as well as two different price lists. I think even just one nice bottle of wine for a newborn to be opened decades later would be a nice keepsake.
2. From India to the East End and Back Again: About an Indian chef who travels all over the world with major stops in London’s East End for more enlightenment and practice of his native cuisine. There are great recipes and traditional dishes to try while traveling as well as a great spice guide complete with pictures.
3. Long Weekend in Stockholm: No food publication seems to be complete without a token travel article with various recommendations. The pictures certainly make you want to hop on the next flight but it does recommend some local spots and shops which is always more useful than the Lonely Planet guide.
4. Monthly Menu: A cool pull out poster of 30 meals that are quick and tasty. Things like this are easy to save in your recipe folder and a good go-to when you need a quick dinner.

So what’s the subscription price? Probably the most expensive magazine you can get stateside – converted from pounds as of 12/12/08 = $67.24, and it’s bi-monthly. Worth it? Only if you’re hard core and are craving a truly different sort of food magazine.

Ok, I hate to admit I liked it, but I did. Dallas BBQ here in NYC (it has nothing to do with Dallas actually) was pretty good. I’m no BBQ expert so I’m easy to please, but Dallas has a KILLER Early Bird Special. Some friends and I found ourselves near Times Square, which we try to avoid, on Sunday afternoon. The special is TWO plates for $9.99!! If you want the honey or BBQ sauce, it’s a dollar more per dish. It comes with rice or fries, cornbread, soup, and half a chicken. I was skeptical when I got pulled into the tacky massive tourist trap. But we ate a lot, including a Texas sized margarita, and didn’t break the bank even in Times Square. Early bird hours - Monday-Thursday 11:30am-6pm and Friday, Sat, Sun - 11:30am - 5pm, and they have a few locations around the city, others much cooler than Times Square.

When I was thinking about this subject, I realized I should have been taking notes. In a year, it’s easy to forget the truly great meals you’ve had, and more specifically what those dishes were. I can barely remember what I ate last weekend, although nothing about it was particularly memorable. Most of our life-changing, eye-opening meals are spent with certain special people, or in a special place for a special reason. I had very few great meals that weren’t wrapped up with some other event or special someone. As I write this, I also realize that not all the best meals of this year had the best food. I’ll share a few of these, and hopefully jog your memory of some great time you’ve had spent over food. Don’t forget to write them down, 2009 will be full of some more great times and new food to taste.

* Ladies Poker Night. I had some lovely ladies over from the store I was working at. It was one of those amazing nights where gossip and bickering was put aside for some serious booze and card playing. The different personalities laughed and chatted and we shared classic Trader Joe’s frozen appetizers and a Domino’s Pizza, which I was charged twice for; I never did get my money back. The hangover was also memorable.

* The Rock Pool. One of Sydney’s greatest restaurants, with super fresh seafood and a special Pacific flavor. A friend and I were visiting one of our closest friends who was attending school there. She hadn’t eaten a really good meal the whole time she had been in Sydney, it’s surprisingly expensive. We did the works – Prosecco, appetizers, mains, dessert. I remember boisterous laughter and closing the place down and having the waiters giving us the eye to leave. There was also incredible squid ink pasta and homemade caramels. I also realized how much I missed the three of us getting together and had to travel half way around the world to recreate it.

* Dottie’s True Blue Café, San Francisco. My husband started working for a company in San Francisco and we traveled out there together a couple times. Nothing makes a city feel more like home than when you find “your” place. We rarely go anywhere twice but Dottie’s is special. It’s an amazing breakfast eatery in a shady part of San Fran, which ends up being right behind the hotel we always stay at. They open at 7:30am (late for breakfast in NYC) and we like to be there by 7:10am to get in line and be at one of the first tables. The owner is always behind the grill and he hasn’t advertised for 13 years, no website, no color ads, and there’s a line every morning. One breakfast stands out – black bean cakes with fried eggs, salsa and sour cream. Everything is homemade, and you should always order from the specials board at the back.

* Moto, Brooklyn. It was harder to remember a great meal close to home. My senses are always heightened on a trip or vacation, and eating here in NYC is usually rushed, or I have some much on my mind I don’t pay attention as closely. This place has been mentioned as being “the last bohemian place left in Williamsburg”. It’s off the beaten track, and is really on the border between South Willamsburg and Bushwick, which is close to where we live. It’s walkable from our apartment and we didn’t even see it for over a year. It’s in an old check-cashing store, and there’s not even a sign outside telling you what it is. You have to know. When you step inside, it’s dark, and feels like a Tim Burton movie, but in a great way. You can hear the J train go by overhead but you forget where you are and what decade you’re apart of. The menu is simple, but delicious. The mac&cheese is ordered at almost every table. We’re planning a brunch trip there soon. A great way to end the year.

Early November was a landmark week for America and with the largest American holiday fast approaching, I felt unusually patriotic and nostalgic for some classic American meals. I didn’t feel adventurous to explore anything exotic, I wanted comfort and guaranteed results. These are dishes I’ll be serving my friends and family while creating great memories around the table.

My husband and I hosted some friends on election night to watch the elections results. We celebrated with a tri-color pasta, cheese and tomato bake, which feeds 6 easily and donkey cookies supplied by my favorite person and baker, Adrienne [Pip]. There was much chatting and commentary, and champagne drinking. At 11pm it became a remarkable night shared with great friends and great food. Something that is so important to our family, and my family growing up was the dinner table and especially now, I appreciate that time so much. When my husband and I visit my parents in Atlanta, the best time is still around the table with wine and lots of lively conversation. We don’t have a large family, so I think dinner at the table feels even more important. I was reading an article on the New York Times website which said, “The importance of the family meal has been shown mainly in studies from the University of Minnesota, Harvard and Rutgers that have looked at family eating habits of nearly 40,000 middle-school students and teenagers. The research has shown that those who regularly have meals with their parents eat more fruits, vegetables and calcium-rich foods, ingest more vitamins and nutrients, and consume less junk food. Some of the research has shown that kids who regularly sit down to a family meal are at lower risk for behaviors like smoking and drug and alcohol use.” Neither my husband nor I had trouble with substance abuse, though we did have two very different ideas about how to eat when we got married. He had to choose most of his meals growing up because of parents working late, and how well do you think a 16-year old growing boy is going to choose the right food? Needless to say, there were lots of TV dinners, and fast food stops. While my family was certainly not above quick easy dinner stops we did have as many sit down-TV-off, dinners as possible. I think this drastically changed and shaped my view of why we eat together. It still influences how I cook today – I always prefer to serve as many people as possible around a table. My husband and I still eat dinner while watching Dancing With the Stars, uh, I mean while watching the History Channel…. But nothing satisfies me more than connecting with our favorite people around a great meal. I found this quote on Grist.org and it really sums up our philosophy, “cooking is a vital, spiritual act that should be performed with a certain reverence. After all, we are providing sustenance to the ones we love — can anything be more important?”

Below, you’ll find the recipes we made this week to celebrate our country, our friends, and the awesome changes taking place.

Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Sloppy Joe’s and Butternut Squash Chips

Crispy Hot Wings with Butternut Squash Slaw

Four-Cheese Baked Bow Ties

GRANDMA BOLDI’S sugar cookies:

2 sticks butter
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla *see note from Adrienne
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs.

3. Combine flour mixture with butter mixture in three stages with electric mixer

4. Roll out and cut into donkeys (or other preferred shape). Bake at 375 for 5-8 minutes

Note from Adrienne:

I use vanilla sugar instead of vanilla, almost exclusively in baking.  One packet works for, I think, 1-3 teaspoons of vanilla.  It is said to give richer flavor than extract because there is no alcohol to burn off during baking….. could be true… who knows.  Either way, its good to feel like you have a secret ingredient when you bake.

Like so many people in America now, I have a love and deep interest in Africa. I had the privilege of going to Uganda last year and had my first taste of African cooking. The hotel we stayed at in Kampala didn’t offer true African cuisine, but when we traveled up North to Kitgum I was introduced to how a lot of rural Africa eats, well at least in Central Africa. After I returned I went to a South African restaurant in Brooklyn and found it not similar at all and eventually went looking for some cookbooks and inspiration to start my own African cooking. What surprised me in this search was a complete lack of resources and well-written African cookbooks. One I found that I really like is The Africa Cookbook by Jessica B. Harris. The only other African cookbook I found in large bookstores was Marcus Samuelsson’s Discovery of a Continent, which was sold at Starbucks for a while. I found it very hard to follow, and more of a travel log and personal journal than a serious cookbook. I also enlisted the help of my friend who also loves to cook and is South African. She had a few recipes and a book about Nelson Mandela with some recipes, but most of her serious cooking was in Afrikaans. As I continue to search for African cuisine outside of Africa, I became curious why there was such a lack of resources and interest in African food. Bookstores are lined with shelves of Italian, French, American, Organic, Spanish, cooking - I could go on and on. When I went looking for African cookbooks I usually found Moroccan and Marcus Samuelsson’s book, which I already owned.  I do recognize that African cooking is not extravagant for the most part nor particularly complex on the palate. It is however earthy, natural, simple, and usually full of protein and nutrients. When I was in Uganda I had no meat – it was not an option outside of the walls of the hotel, and usually wasn’t safe. I deeply enjoyed and savored the vegetarian dishes that were made for me at every meal by Josephine who was studying catering and hospitality. So far, I’ve made a Senegalese Peanut Butter Stew (Mafé), and South African Chicken Sosaties, which I added a great curry couscous for a side. What this quest has left me asking whether there will be a revolution and/or interest in African cooking like there is in French. Who will be the Julia Child to bring African cuisine to the Western palate?

Here’s the link to the South African Chicken Sosaties I made earlier.