Saturday, June 26, 2010

A taste of Williamsburg


Sometimes when i'm in Williamsburg I like to pretend that i'm not a full-time student and treat myself to a meal at the Blue Talon Bistro. It is definitely not budget friendly, but it is too good to resist. My favorite starter there is the grilled asparagus salad. "A selection of vinaigrette dressed field greens with lightly grilled pencil asparagus a toasted Brie crouton, smoked bacon lardons and a soft poached egg."

I can't really say that I miss Williamsburg; but I do miss my friends, class, and the Blue Talon. In honor of that I decided to make my own spin on their grilled asparagus salad. I used a recipe I found online and tweaked it to make it more of a salad. I used it as a side to my pan-seared tilapia entree.

Pan-Seared Tilapia (2 servings)
2 fillets of Tilapia
1/2 cup of flour
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Rinse off the tilapia fillets and pat them dry with a paper towel. Season both sides of each fillet with salt and pepper. Place the flour on a plate, press each fillet into the flour to coat and shake off the excess flour. Add the olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook on each side for about 4 minutes. Rub the butter on the fillets once they are done cooking.


Poached egg and asparagus salad (2 servings)
2 eggs
10 stalks of asparagus
2 pieces of bacon
1 1/2 cups of arugula
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons coarsely grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

Break the eggs into 2 individual containers. Fill a large, low-sided pan with water, and add vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add two pieces of bacon to a skillet and cook until crisp. When it is done cooking, put it on a paper towel and let it cool down. Once it is cooled down, break it up into small pieces.

Meanwhile, bring a separate pot of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add asparagus spears, and cook 3–4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus with tongs, and set aside.

Dry the medium saucepan. Add olive oil, and heat over medium heat. Add garlic, and sauté about 1 minute. Turn off heat; add butter, and swirl pan. Add lemon juice, parsley, remaining salt, and pepper; swirl pan again to combine. Add asparagus and 1 tablespoons Parmesan; then toss with lemon-butter sauce to coat.

Slowly pour each egg into the boiling poaching water; cook 2 minutes. Turn off heat, and remove pan from burner. Divide asparagus among 2 plates.

Remove the eggs from water with a slotted spoon, 1 at a time, blotting bottom of spoon on towel to absorb excess moisture. Place each eggs on each mound of asparagus and arugula. Pour any remaining sauce over each serving, and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan and bacon. Serve immediately.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Simple Summer Salad



It seems like the only constant in my life here in Louisiana is going to the farmer's market every Saturday. After going to the farmer's market, Jason and I usually then go to the grocery store to pick up the rest of the food we need for the week. A few hours of shopping (for food) makes both of us hungry and ready for lunch as soon as we get home from the store. What is the quickest lunch to make? Salad.

Last summer the New York Times published a great article about simple summer salads. The recipe below is based on recipe #85.

Arugula Salad with Pasta (2 servings)
3 cups of arugula
1 cup of cooked wheat pasta
8 cherry tomatoes (halved)
Shave parmesan cheese on top
Lemon vinaigrette

Put the arugula, pasta, and cherry tomatoes on a plate. To make the lemon vinaigrette squeeze one lemon into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper. While whisking the lemon juice, add the olive oil (about 1/4 cup) slowly. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad. Shave parmesan cheese on top and you're done. Quick, easy, and delicious!


Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Roadtrip



Sometimes I go on the road with my fiance when his job requires that he travel. For those who don't know, he is on the road 2 weeks every month. We just got back from a trip to Vidalia, Louisiana located next to the Mississippi River across from Natchez, Mississippi. There wasn't much going on while we were there, but, I heard that Natchez is a hopping place in the fall.



While we were there we did hit up a pretty famous establishment that was featured on an episode of Alton Brown's how on Food Network. The Donut Shop, would be easy to miss because it looks like a run down building. I'm glad that Jason's colleagues told us about it. We went three times and tried a few different treats. We tried an apple fritter, chocolate glazed creme filled, chocolate glazed raspberry filled, and a maple glazed donut. The beauty of this place is that they fill the donuts with the item of your choice. There were plenty of fruit and creme fillings to choose from. So if you are ever in the area, make sure to stop by and pick up a few donuts!



Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday morning breakfast



Growing up both of my parents worked so I always hand to fend for myself during the week for breakfast. I never had eggs or pancakes so when my mom cooked on Saturday and Sunday mornings I truly appreciated it. As an adult, Saturday and Sunday are still the only days that I make something more than cereal or an english muffin for breakfast. My mom either made pancakes or omelets for breakfast on the weekends. To this day I've never had a better pancake than one my mom makes. She never follows recipes or writes things down so obviously I can't recreate her recipe therefore I had to find my own.

The recipe I use is from a brunch cookbook; Brunch:The perfect Weekend Treat. It is more appropriate for the fall and winter but I had some apples in the house so I decided to make it in the summer.

Apple Pancakes with Maple Syrup Butter (serve 4-6)
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 apples, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon butter

Maple Syrup Butter
3 oz butter, softened
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Mix the flour, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl and make a well in the center. Beat the egg and the milk together and pour into the well. Using a wooden spoon, gently incorporate the dry ingredients into the liquid until well combined, then stir in the grated apple.

Heat the butter in a large nonstick skillet over low heat until melted and bubbling. Add tablespoons of the pancake mixture to form 3-4 inch circles. Cook each pancake for about 1 minute, until it starts to bubble lightly on the top and look set, then flip it over and cook the other side for 30 seconds, or until cooked through. The pancakes should be golden brown; if not, increase the heat a little. Remove from the skillet and keep warm. Repeat the process until all of the pancake batter has been used up (it is not necessary to add extra butter).

To make the maple syrup, melt the butter with the maple syrup in a pan over low heat and stir until combined. To serve, place the pancakes on servicing dishes and spoon over flavored butter. Serve warm. ENJOY!



Sunday, June 6, 2010

Farmer's Market


When I move to a new area there are a few "nesting" routines I go through to make myself feel comfortable in the new area. Having moved recently for graduate school and then again for the summer, I've really narrowed down those routines to three things I have to do to be happy. One, hang up pictures in the new place, find a good shopping center, and lastly, I have to find a fabulous grocery store. Moving to Shreveport presented a bit of a challenge for two out of the three things. After asking a few of Jason's colleagues, I finally found a grocery store last week, Brookshire on Line Avenue. I also decided that I needed to find a farmer's market since summer produce is the best. Success. Jason and I went to the first Farmer's Market of the season here in Shreveport on June 5th. It was exactly what I needed. If my friend Leah were with me she'd be screaming, "community" the whole time. I finally found two things I love, heirloom tomatoes and a sense of community. Below are some of the pictures I took while at the farmer's market.



I only picked up a things during my trip because I got there too late. As someone who has spent a lot of time at farmer's markets, i know better than to roll up to the market after 10am, but, I was moving slowly. I did pick up a few heirloom tomatoes, some peaches, cucumbers, and olive oil (a lovely man talked to me about his olive oil creations so I bought a bottle, it was tasty). I happily took home my purchases and made a great salad for lunch using the tomatoes and herbs from my new herb garden (another project I have taken on).


Caprese Salad
2-3 tomatoes (I love heirloom so that is what I used)
1/2 pound of fresh mozzarella
8 fresh basil leaves
1-2 tablespoon(s) of Olive Oil (I used a specialty Olive Oil that had garlic and other herbs in it)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice up the tomatoes and and mozzarella and arrange on a plate. Chop up the basil (i like to keep it in long strips) and put on top of the tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle olive oil on top, then sprinkle salt and pepper. Delicious.

Also, a few of you have been inquiring about my herb garden so here are a few pictures! I'm growing sweet basil, boxwood basil, mint, cilantro, chives, rosemary, and dill.


Saturday, June 5, 2010

Summer drinks

I went on vacation, from my vacation, with my amazing fiance. He took us on a 7 day cruise to the western Caribbean. It was out first cruise and was exactly how I thought it would be. A relaxing, carefree trip that required very little planning on our part because Carnival took care of everything. We had a good time getting a little taste of a few different countries so that we know which ones we'd like to go back to and explore more.

The point of that little story was to explain where I've been and why I haven't blogged in a long time. Jason and I were pretty busy this week so the cooking was pretty basic and I didn't try any new food recipes. We did however bring back some tasty alcohol from our trip so I made a few summer cocktails that I thought I would share.

A taste of paradise (I made up this title because well, I drank it while on vacation with my love)
1 part Malibu Rum
2-3 parts Pineapple Juice



Pour into a cup of ice with a pineapple wedge.

I ordered this drink a lot on our trip because it is delicious and because it was cheaper than ordering lots of the fruity frozen concoctions Carnival tried to get us to order while laying out by the pool everyday. Our wallets at the end of the cruise thanked us.

Easy Margaritas
1 can of frozen Limeade (12 oz)
14oz of water
1 cup of Tequila (1800 Silver- I prefer silver or white Tequilas)
4oz of Triple Sec



Mix in a pitcher, pour into a cup of ice with a salted rim and a slice of lime. I really only drink margaritas on the rocks so this is how I made them. I think if you replace the water with ice (maybe 2 cups of ice) and put it in a blender, you could make them frozen if you prefer them that way.

Last night I decided to be a good fiancee and have some treats ready for Jason when he got home from work. I made margaritas and guacamole and used the Tequila we got on our trip.

Guacamole (for 2)
1 large avocado
2 table spoons of chopped onions (red are best, white are fine)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1 tablespoon of cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of Sriracha Sauce (or hot sauce)
1/2 teaspoon of salt (add more after you've mixed everything together)



Add the onions, garlic, cilantro, sriracha sauce (i love this stuff and it adds a good amount of heat and flavor to any dish), and salt into a medium sized bowl. Press the ingredients together and against the side of the bowl using a fork for a few minutes. The goal is to create a paste like consistency. Then add the diced avocado to the mixture. Don't mix too much because you want to leave some chunks. Taste to make sure more salt is not needed. I over salted last night so i added some tomatoes to my guacamole to help with the saltiness. As a general rule of thumb, I don't add tomatoes because I think they change the flavor and texture a little. But that is just a personal preference.