From My Bookshelf to Yours...

Some of you have asked for recommendations based on the books that I read. Every week I will post a new book. This week I am reading:

                                                  

Modern Sauces: More than 150 Recipes for Every Cook, Every Day 

by

 

Martha Holmberg, 

Ellen Silverman (Photographer)

This book is great for the beginner or the advanced cook. Easy to read and follow recipes. From the basics, to more modern sauces, and then on to advanced sauces. A great read!

Of all the recipes that I have read about so far, some of my favorites are:

• Tangerine-Brown Butter Vinaigrette
• Spicy Ginger-Lime Garlic Vinaigrette
• Balsamic Beurre Rouge (Balsamic-Red Wine Butter Sauce
• and Smokey Red Pepper Mayo

Lynfred Winery

I had the chance to spend my Sunday afternoon at Lynfred Winery, in Roselle, IL. My friend Renee 'twisted my arm' into submission. ;) We had a great time, and I had my first tour of the facility.  I cannot believe that I had never heard of the place. Lynfred is a quaint little B&B / Winery all in one. An unexpected happy find of some finely crafted wine in the suburbs of Chicago!

I brought home a bottle of Sangiovese 2009 Reserve and a bottle of Pomegranate. I have never been a fan of fruity wines until Renee gave me a bottle of the Pomegranate for my birthday. Just one sip turned me into a fan. I really love their Mango and Black Raspberry flavors as well. Next trip will involve trying more of the fruity flavors. Surprisingly enough, the Pomegranate pairs well with pasta. I am still a red wine girl at heart but I can definitely get used to the fruity flavored wine when I have a taste for something sweet.

Pasta alla Formiana and sauteed Green Beans

Sunday was a fun-day. Kim, one of my best male friends came over for dinner  and a movie. I enjoyed having the chance to cook a very hearty dish for him before he leaves for his new job that will take him over a thousand miles away. What made this meal even easier for me to make for this vegan-since-birth, was that he consumes dairy products. :)

Doesn't this look so yummy? You don't even miss the meat!

Pasta alla Formiana is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis that I made a few changes to. I added a chipotle pepper to the sauce because in my house we like heat in our sauce. I used some extra garlic and instead of using beefsteak tomatoes, I went with a hearty tomato that still used the title beef/steak. It was cheaper than the Burpee beefsteak tomatoes and tasted just as succulent. 

What I love best about the dish is that you don't have to cook the pasta before hand. I used the food processor to blend my canned crush tomatoes for the sauce along with some garlic and veggie broth. After a few pulses, I added the sauce to a pot and brought it to a boil. I also added some herbs to the sauce. I sprayed my baking dish with a nonstick coating and lined it with tomatoes on the bottom and sides. Added the noodles to the boiling sauce and then poured everything over the tomatoes. Lastly I topped the pasta with more tomatoes, drizzled some oil over and then added a thin layer of mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes at 450F.

(Make sure you buy a mezze penne or smaller pasta. Anything bigger and you will have to pre-cook the pasta until al diente. We wound up buying a penne instead of the smaller mezze penne so I had to pre-cook my pasta for 4 minutes. Half the time and no big deal because I had it cooking while the sauce was going.)

While in the oven...I blanched and sauteed some gorgeous green beans.

Then I couldn't resist mixing some brownie batter and popping it in the oven while we ate.

The men, my husband and Kim ate, and ate...until they were in a state of bliss! ;)

We threw in a movie - Django - and ate brownies.

Oh and I didn't forget about the wine! Kim and I shared the bottle, half for him and half for me. Now that is a great friendship. Don't you think?

A vegan kind of weekend...

I have a very dear friend coming over for dinner this Sunday. He is a vegan through and true since birth and I am cooking dinner for him. I am feeling a little intimidated because my house is full of carnivores. We take our meat very seriously. It will certainly be a challenge for tomorrow to develop a menu within his limits (and to eat without meat for one night) but it is a challenge I am prepared for. Tomorrow I will be a bit busy gathering some ideas and I look forward to sharing the menu and pictures with you all. Wine and beer are also a part of the nights festivities so you may have to wait until Monday. Have a great weekend and a wonderful Father's Day!

The sweet side of Guacamole...

On Wednesday we had tostadas for dinner. Nothing fancy, I had two more bowls of leftover refried beans from my husbands birthday dinner that needed to get eaten.So instead of a salad topping, I made my half mashed, half chunky sweet guacamole.

Ingredients:

2 avocados (dark = ripe)

cherry tomatoes (1 carton will do)

1 sweet pepper (I like Ancient Sweets)

1 bunch of green onions

The juice from 2 small limes

2 to 3 garlic cloves (minced)

salt

pepper

2 tsps of olive oil

You want to make sure you chop the cherry tomatoes, sweet pepper, and green onions very fine into small dices. Then add everything into a bowl. Mash to your desired consistency and enjoy!!!

I was able to have a couple of tablespoons right after I first made it to taste all the flavors. I went back to the fridge to get more the next day and it was all gone. I did not put any on my tostadas. I was not very hungry at dinner time and now I wish I had some. My guacamole lasts as long as chocolate does in our house. I should have made twice the amount and I made a very large bowl of it. I never learn...

Now you can certainly switch out the cherry tomatoes for regular tomatoes but if you are going to do that I would suggest a roma tomato, however, any tomato will do. Taking out the cherry tomato will remove some of the sweetness in the guacamole. 

If you are looking to add heat you can certainly switch out the sweet pepper. This was my first time using Ancient Sweets. I usually just use a red pepper but it wasn't in stock that night. So if your store doesn't carry the Ancient Sweet, don't fret and don't be afraid to try something new. The best part about cooking, is always experimenting with different flavors.

The Flight Deck

Last night my husband and I were invited to a graduation party at the Flight Deck Bar and Grill in Rochelle, IL. The atmosphere is warm and friendly and it is a fairly new place. The Flight Deck is where they hold sky diving lessons and jumps. They have many televisions playing sports games but last night every one of them was playing the Blackhawks game. Let's not forget about the food and service. The servers, owner's and managers were always asking if we needed anything. The place was packed and the food was amazing. I had the Balsamic Marinated Steak special while my husband had the burger. He loves his burgers. My steak was cooked perfectly! For appetizers we had some sliders and they were delicious as well. I was able to try a few other appetizers, all so very amazing. The food has so much flavor. It is quite a long drive yet very worth the use of your gas and time. They have a garage door that looks like a window and when it was raised, we were able to enjoy the beauty that is mother nature while we ate. Head down there and check it out for yourself. You will be glad you did!

(They forgot to blanch the green beans before they sauteed them and didn't salt them. If you look closely, you can see the loss of  color but that was the only flaw I found all evening.)

Flight Deck Bar and Grill 

1207 West Gurler Road, ​Rochelle, IL 61068

(815) 561-3664

http://www.flightdeckbar.com/

A Birthday dinner for my husband.

I got home late last night and started my husband birthday dinner for Monday night. We will be having Refried Beans Stuffed Poblanos, Rice, and Pork Enchiladas. Last night I soaked the beans while I slept. 3 cups of water per 1/2 pounds of dry beans. It is much cheaper and tastes way better than buying them in the can! I woke up at 6am, after 7 hours of them soaking and put them to warm. Then I marinated the pork and went back to bed. Here is what they looked like at 7am. The only ingredients I added, aside from water, was an onion (minced) and some minced garlic.

When I got up around Noon, hey, don't judge, I was tired, I cooked two sticks of chorizo and added them to the beans for a little kick. We love chorizo with the beans in our house. Other than that I just added a little salt to taste and let it cool a bit before I stored the beans in smaller bowls. Into the fridge they went and I was done with the beans. We did have a little taste before they were put away and all I can say is...Yum! Is it Monday yet? :) Here I am mixing in the chorizo.

For the pork marinade -  I used the juice of 2 whole limes, salt, pepper and my special dried pepper blend that I grind from dried peppers. If I gave all my secrets away, no one would come over to eat because they would all be eating at their own home. I wrapped it tightly in plastic and then placed it on the bottom shelf in the fridge at 7am. Around 2pm I put it in the crock pot with some water and it will sit and cook for about 8 hours. When the meat is done I will shred it and put it away until tomorrow. 

Come back later...I will update this post as I keep cooking. I still have mole to make today as well as roast the peppers. Tomorrow will be a whole new post of the meal and the dessert! Have a great day everyone!!!

This was the pork after it was done. I tried to get a pic of it whole but the moment I tried to lift it out of the crock pot, it fell apart. So I shredded it in moments and put it away for today. I woke up very early this morning and didn't remember to take pictures of the stuffed peppers but, I do have a picture of the final meal! All I had to do was assemble the enchiladas and the peppers, pop them in the over at 350 F for 35 minutes.

Here you go...Pork Enchilada's with Mole and Chihuahua Cheese, Refried Bean stuffed Poblano and Refried Beans. There was Guacamole made, then it was eaten. Sorry, no pictures but if my husband is as awesome as I know he is, he will get me some more avocado's and green onions and I will make it later this week and give you all the recipe. It really is amazing! You are probably wondering about the rice. Sorry, I took a little break to sit down and ran out of time. No one noticed and/or cared! :)

Hungry yet? :)

A wonderful find...

Sometime in March...yes, that long ago, was Chef's week all over the City of Chicago. I was able to enjoy a dinner with my husband and my best friend RC at Balena. I had been dying to go there for sometime and RC made that happen! :) She knows the Chef and got us a table. I have to say I was very impressed. Valet parking, courteous staff and a much larger place than what you can tell from the outside. The place is a modern take on being rustic and definitely a very unique experience. They managed to keep the old brick in tact as well. Before I forget to mention, that food was amazing too!

For starters we ordered the Herb Focaccia, Ricotta Burrata di Panna and the Margarita Pizza. We shared everything, very reluctantly, I am, wait that was me who was being selfish. :) While we waited for our main entry to arrive, the Chef was awesome enough to bring out a couple of things for us to try, on the house of course. The Rigatoni Pork Ragu and the Hen Egg Tajarin were brought to our table and fought over until the last bite was consumed.The favorite seemed to the Rigatoni Pork Ragu, however, I loved both and yes, you guessed it, I was the one with the last bite of each! :) I have issues and I am aware of it.

Our meals were individual, actually, not so much, we shared everything. With the exception of me counting who took how much of what. What can I say? The food was just that good! :) We ordered the Ravioli, a 36 oz Bistecca with a Roasted Garlic Head (for my husband and I), Baked Polenta with Tomato Fondue and lastly, a Sweet Onion Gratinato. Now, my husband and I are not big fans of the onion but the Sweet Onion Gratinato was delicious!! RC wasn't into sharing all of it but it was very kind of her to let us have a taste. The Bistecca was done to medium and the crust on the outside was this beautiful salt, pepper, spice crunch that was truly an orgasm in one's mouth. I kid you not!! The Polenta was good, I was hoping for a little more moisture, it seemed a little dry to me but sometimes that happens with Polenta or really any dish. Not everything can be perfect all the time on any table.

For dessert we had the Tiramisu and the Pistachio Gelati. No one shared because Chef was kind enough to bring out a refreshing Grape Fruit Sobetti just for me! :) I have a tree nut allergy that we told the waitress about when we walked in (the Chef's menu had tons of nuts on it and so we ordered a la carte) she remembered and he remembered. Made the experience all that more wonderful. Dessert was just as wonderful as the meal itself. If you get the chance head on over to Balena. I can't wait to go back!!

Balena
1633 North Halsted St.
Chicago, IL
60614
(312) 867-3888
www.balenachicago.com

I'M STILL HERE

Well I know that I haven't posted in a while. Trust me when I say I have wanted to and that I thought about frequently but it was a tough April with a lot of papers to write and finals the first week of May. Then, I got very sick the day after my last final. I had the pleasure of feeling great just in time to attend the Restaurant Show at McCormick Place and then, I was sick again for the next week. I have a lot of back posts that are half written, that have not been proof-read. I promise to get on that write away. Thanks for being patient. I have the summer off of classes and so much to tell you about! :)