Beets!

I've never made beets before. I have always thought they were super complicated or something. So instead, kind of like risotto, I usually ordered them when I saw them on the menu at a nice restaurant.

But, I was feeling a bit like superwoman today because I got up early and was able to get a ton of work done, all before 11am. Baz was not interested in napping, but it was fine since I was feeling very empowered and ready to handle anything! So, I took him out to run a few errands and found myself itching to go to Whole Foods. I've taken to this whole trying to buy local and organic lately even though I do think that the whole organic movement is more of a marketing ploy than about real health issues -- especially when we are talking about Whole Foods and their perfect rows of asparagus and bins of whole grains and extraordinary prices. I do think that there is something a little scary going on with the food industry though, and I figure that while I can afford it, it's probably marginally better for me and my family to eat organic when possible. Publix's selection of such items is limited. So, I went to Whole Foods.

And there were these beets! They looked so pretty up there on the misty row of perfectly presented vegetables. And they were from Punta Gorda -- the west coast of Florida. They had me at hello : )

Well, turns out they are not difficult to make at all and I can't believe I've been missing out for so long. I looked up "beets" on the internet and found myself on the Fitness and Nutrition section of the New York Times web site. They said to cut of the greens off leaving about 1/4 inch of the stems (and save the leaves for other dishes), wash them well and then put them in a baking dish with about 1/4 in. of water. Cover the dish tightly and then put them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes (30 to 60 depending on the size. Mine were medium to large.) You can test them by sticking a fork in them and seeing if they are tender.

After you cool them enough to handle, the peel comes off very easily with your fingers. Then I just sliced them up and pour a light vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper over them. They were awesome!

I served these delicious beets with the local jumbo shrimp I also got at Whole Foods and some organic asparagus, both of which I grilled on our BBQ. For the shrimp, I used the same soy, sherry, honey, ginger marinade I used for the pork loin last weekend. It worked really well. The whole meal was so tasty and felt very healthy.

The rest of this week is going to be a bit of a nightmare. I'm doing a video with Damien in addition to the corporate job I've been working on. And my usual babysitter is giving me a hard time these days, so I'm just hoping she doesn't flake on me this week. I really really need her. So, the dinners might suffer. I'll do my best, but I might not be able to blog too much. Wish me luck!

Let The Holiday Season Begin

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we have officially started the holiday season. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday -- with it being the kick off and all -- and it's a good thing too since I was able to enjoy two turkey dinners.

Our first was with my parents here at my Miami Beach apartment. My mother brought all of the side dishes and I was charged with making the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. It was a little stressful since I don't really make a whole turkey very often, never mind stuffing that is not from a box or cranberries that are not in a can. But, I did it -- and it turned out quite well. Luckily I have a whole bunch frozen so Damien and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving several more times before the end of the year.

Then we went up to Woo-stah, Massachusetts to see Damien's family. It was actually really special since all of the Cave's were in one house -- a rare occasion. So for three days we all hung out and enjoyed a second Thanksgiving dinner.

Then I went to Boston to see my brother, Raul and his family, Meera and Elan. Elan was scheduled to have his second surgery on his cleft lip and palate so it was great that we got to see him before the big day. Now the surgery has passed and they are all doing well. Elan is a little trooper and so are his parents. It can't be easy to watch their little guy go through something like this, but they are holding up well and setting a brave example for Elan.

So now we're home and I have never been so tired! Okay, that's not really true, but I am really tired. All of that traveling took a lot out of me. But, I did cook tonight so I wanted to make sure I shared that. I made shrimp creole and I have one major adjustment to make to the recipe I posted last time I made it. So check it out.

You need Parsley. I used half of a bunch that I bought fresh at Publix - completely stemmed. But, I suppose you could use dried parsley. Maybe a tablespoon or so. When I tasted my batch tonight it confirmed that it was exactly what the original was missing.

So, Parsley. Make sure you add it. And Happy Holidays!

Oh, and I'm sorry I've been so bad about keeping up the blog. I am done with my 36 Hours in South Beach video and no more traveling for a few weeks, so I should be much better.

Mom's Shrimp Creole

REVISED RECIPE!

Okay, you really have to try today's recipe. It is so good.

It's a good thing it worked out, too. Today was strange and unproductive, well, except I also made that fresh mozzarella cheese which turned out pretty well. A little hard, but still tasty served with some vine ripe tomatoes and a little bit of olive oil.

Anyway, about my unproductive day -- I just hate paying the babysitter when I don't feel like I got enough done. But with the weather being pretty crappy, I couldn't shoot much so I tried to digitize and get started on the editing. The beginning of this process always feels like this. Very slow and painful. I mean, I knew going into it that it was going to be slow. Just not this slow.

So, I tried to redeem myself by making a great dinner which began with a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up some of the ingredients I would need. I don't normally stock pimientos and I was out of tomato sauce.

This recipe is so super easy but you need a food processor (or, I guess a blender would work too -- and it would probably help to have a child who does NOT burst into tears every time he hears the roar of the processor motor. Poor little Baz is terrified every single time.)

Here's how you do it:

Shrimp Creole
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 6.5 ounce jar of pimientos
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
REVISION: 1/4 cup fresh parsley, stemmed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound shrimp

Place the green pepper, onion, garlic, pimientos, tomato sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper and parsley in a food processor. (If you have a small one like me, you may have to do two rounds. Poor Baz.) Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, stir in the olive oil and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, clean and devein the shrimp removing the shells and tails. When the sauce has 5 minutes left of cooking time, add the shrimp and continue cooking.

Serve over white rice. And you may want to throw in a side of sweet plantains. Yummy!

I hope you like as much as I do. It is actually really great left over so throw a few extra shrimp in there for tomorrow.

Chicken and Shrimp Enchiladas

Tonight, I decided to go back to my friend, Kita's, enchilada recommendation.  Her sister sent her this recipe and I have adapted a few things to my taste and what I had available.

For tonight's version, I replaced the beef I originally used with both chicken and shrimp (since I realized a little late in the game that I was running low on shrimp, I just sauteed a chicken breast that I had seasoned with salt and pepper.)  I didn't use them together but instead made two different kinds of enchiladas.  I also used two kinds of red salsa instead of green salsa because the Publix I went to only had some lame El Paso Salsa Verde available.  I used the mango and peach salsa I bought a Costco a while ago as well as Publix brand of medium salsa which was actually quite nice.

The mango/peach salsa was pretty tasty with the shrimp enchiladas in particular.  The only thing I didn't like was that it didn't taste particularly Mexican.  But, whatever, it was a little gourmet and Damien seemed to like it, too.

I also mixed up the veggies a bit.  I did use the squash and corn like the recipe calls for, but I also threw in a poblano pepper and a half of a jalapeno to make things a little spicier.

All in all, it was pretty good.  My apologies to Kita and her sister, Mollie for screwing with an already terrific recipe.  You're original is still the best. 

The Best Risotto EVER!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, Damien came home yesterday, so I decided to try and make something a little special. As an ode to my adorable little boy, I broke out the Balthazar Cookbook.

While it is slightly embarrassing to admit, Baz is named after our favorite New York City restaurant, Balthazar. Sure there were other reasons too, but the main one is that we used to go to this restaurant for special occasions, when my parents were in town and paying for dinner or when we just wanted to splurge on a really great meal. When we began the name search for our boy, we were thinking of meaningful places we had been and Balthazar came up.

I started going there when it first opened in 1997. On my first visit, I was alone and sat in the bar area for lunch. It was so extravagant for me. I was just a lowly advertising assistant making maybe $20,000 a year, including the late night meals and cab rides they'd pay for when I worked past 8pm. But, I ordered a steak frite, a glass of red wine and took in the awesome scene while documenting it in my journal. After I'd spent a good amount of time there, I was ready for my check. It was bustling and busy, so I asked the maitre 'd to help me out. He said, "Oh no, you can't leave without having dessert!" I replied that I would love to but that I really needed to go. I think he recognized that the real issue was I couldn't afford the additional $8. He said, "Please, wait one more minute." Just then, a server swooped in and placed the most beautiful and perfectly browned creme brulee in front of me. The maitre 'd gave me a big smile and said, "Bon appetit on me." It was the most delicious creme brulee I had ever had.

So I had to keep going back. It was the first place I had oysters (thanks to my dad) and a dirty martini. It's where we went after we got engaged - and fulfilled my dream of ordering Le Grand (their three tiers of unbelievably delicious shellfish). And when we went back this summer for the sale of our Brooklyn Heights apartment, that's where we went to celebrate, taking little Balthazar for his first visit. (See picture to the left.) They didn't seem particularly impressed when we told them his name. I'll let that slide.

Since Damien's homecoming was a somewhat special occasion (sure he travels a lot, but I'll have the ability to sleep in a little bit longer so that makes it a special occasion) I decided I should go to The Balthazar Cookbook. And boy, oh boy was it AMAZING!

I decided to make the Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto. Now, this was not the easiest thing in the world to make and I must give a special shout out to my baby without whom I would not have my newly muscular arms that enabled me to endure the incredible amounts of stirring it required. It is quite labor intensive, but it was so worth the effort.

Here is the recipe (adapted, of course, from The Balthazar Cookbook):














Shrimp and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto a la Balthazar
Start by making roasted red peppers a few hours before you are to start making the risotto. For this you will need:
6 red peppers
olive oil
salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Split and remove the seeds for the peppers. Slice the peppers into 1 inch strips. Lay them on a cookie sheet, peel side up, and brush the peels with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt. Place in the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until the peppers are turning black.

Remove from the oven, put the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the peppers. They should come right off. Set aside or put in the refrigerator.

You can also prepare chicken stock at this point, however, I did not have time for that so I did the awful thing of buying canned chicken stock (I'm so sorry Keith McNally). Next time I make a chicken, I'll try making my own.

Now for the risotto, you'll need:

6 cups of chicken stock
6 roasted red peppers (from above)
30 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 cups Arborio rice (Italian risotto rice, regular rice will not do)
1/2 cup white wine
3 scallions, cut into 1/4" rings on a bias
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped finely
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat 5 cups of the chicken stock over a medium low setting until it simmers. Lower the heat to the lowest setting to keep warm.

In the meantime, cut the roasted peppers into large chunks. In a small saucepan, combine them with the other 1 cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a medium low setting and cook for 10 minutes. Put the mixture in a food processor and blend for a few seconds - until smooth, but a few small pieces of pepper remain.

Dry the shrimp with paper towels and season them with a little salt and pepper. Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan until hot but not smoking. Saute the shrimp (in a single layer) until just cooked through (about 1 1/2 minutes per side). Remove from pan and set aside.

In a big saucepan or dutch oven, melt the butter with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and a sprinkling of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent and soft (about 2 minutes). Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with the butter/oil and to lightly toast them (about 2 minutes). Add the wine and stir until it is fully absorbed into the rice (about a minute.)

This is where you'll need the endurance. You'll be adding the warm chicken stock to the rice in 1/2 cup increments. After each addition, stir constantly until the liquid has been fully absorbed into the rice. Then add the next. This will take about 20 minutes, maybe more. Towards the end, start tasting the rice to make sure it has not become too soft. It should still be al dente after the last addition. After the last 1/2 cup has been fully absorbed, stir in the scallions.

Then start adding the red pepper puree. You will add this in three increments, stirring constantly and letting it fully absorb before adding the next. Again, keep tasting the rice to make sure it is not becoming mushy.

When the puree has been absorbed and the rice is at it's perfect consistency, stir in the shrimp, basil and Parmesan. Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper to taste.

This risotto is best served immediately with an additional sprinkle of Parmesan. Bon Appetit!!!

It was seriously some of the best risotto I've ever had (if I may say so myself. Actually, Damien said so, too.) The stirring was made less painful by the couple of glasses of wine I drank as I cooked : )

In the cookbook, they explain a way to partially cook the risotto so that you can prepare it to a certain point and finish it later. I find this helpful because there is really no way you could prepare this for a dinner party, unless you don't mind spending the whole time in the kitchen stirring risotto while everyone else is drinking wine and having a good time.

Now, as if this weren't enough for my hardworking husband's return, I went a step further. I made THE BEST CREME BRULEE EVER, also from The Balthazar Cookbook.














Creme Brulee (adapted from The Balthazar Cookbook)
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean (split and with the seeds scraped free from the bean)
1/2 stick cinnamon
5 large egg yolks

Preheat the over to 300 degrees.

In a saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over medium heat, watching carefully so that it won't boil over (which it is wont to do if you are not careful.) Put the mixture into a glass measuring cup (because it has a spout.)

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. In a bowl that will fit into the ice bath (but not yet), lightly beat the egg yolks with a whisk. Begin adding the hot cream to the yolks, in a very light stream and whisking constantly so as not to cook the egg yolks. Cool the bowl down by placing it in the ice bath. Let it cool until room temperature (about 30 minutes.)

Once cooled, pour the mixture into individual ramekins nearly to the top. Balthazar uses 4 inch shallow dishes because in the end, after you have created the sugar crusted top, you get the perfect ratio of crunch to cream. Since I don't have those, I used a deeper, but smaller ramekin. This made 4 servings.

Place the ramekins in a large baking pan. Fill the pan with warm water until it reaches halfway up the ramekins. Cover the whole pan with aluminum foil and carefully place in the oven.

Cook the custard for 45 minutes. You'll know it's ready because the custard is set and firm when you jiggle the ramekins.

Let the ramekins cool a bit and then put them in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

When you are ready to serve, create the crisp sugar topping. You will mix 2 tablespoons of brown sugar with two tablespoons or regular granulated sugar. If your brown sugar is moist, put the mixture in a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes to dry it out. Then put the sugar in a food processor and mix.

Evenly sprinkle a layer of sugar over each serving of custard, making sure to get all the way to the rims. You can use a kitchen blowtorch or you can cook it under a broiler for about 2 minutes or until the sugar is brown and bubbly. Then sprinkle a second layer of sugar over them and repeat. I wish I had a blow torch because one of my favorite things about Balthazar's creme brulee is the warm crispy top over the cool custard. Broiling it heated up the custard too.

Regardless, it was delicious! I also have to tell you that the vanilla bean was sort of difficult to find and was wicked expensive (one bean costs me $7) so I suddenly don't feel like the $8 price tag at the restaurant is that outlandish. But, making it at home had the added bonus of being served so incredibly fresh. While the complimentary dessert I got at Balthazar on my first visit will always hold a special place in my heart, the creme brulee I made for Damien's return has now replaced it as the best creme brulee I've ever had.

End of Summer Shrimp Scampi

After a wonderful holiday weekend, the summer is supposedly over and it's time to get back to work. I wish I could say I jumped right on it and had a productive day, but I can't really say that. Instead, I tried to figure out new and creative ways to keep my 7 month old stimulated so that he wouldn't get bored and start to fuss. It's getting harder and harder to do and I wasn't entirely successful.

I decided to try this park that is located nearby in Surfside. It's right on the intercoastal on Bay Drive and it seemed like a nice spot. It was. I liked that it had a play area for bigger kids that was separate from the play area for much younger kids. So we hit the swings in the little kid area and sat on the grass to watch some of the older kids playing around. I think Baz enjoyed that.

I got the idea because this past weekend we took Baz to brunch with us and then went to a park down in South Beach where he rode his very first park swing. And he loved it! It had been such a good day too. We had brunch at Big Pink on Collins and 2nd Street which was the perfect place to bring a baby. It's crowded, lively and loud so even if he had cried it wouldn't have been noticed. Plus with so much going on, Baz loved every minute of it. He flirted with the waitress and customers alike and enjoyed his time in the high chair. It was a very successful outing for us.

But, it's time to start cooking again. Tonight I thought I'd go for one of our old standbys - Shrimp Scampi. It's so easy to make and can look pretty impressive if you ever want to make it for company. I use frozen shrimp that I get at Publix which makes it super easy since they are already deveined.

So here's how you make it:

Shrimp Scampi
1/2 box capellini or linguini
16 to 20 medium to large shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how spicy you like it!)
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

Put a pot of water on to boil. Add pasta and begin to cook to taste (I like al dente).

While pasta is cooking, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion and saute until golden. Sprinkle the hot pepper flakes over garlic and toast it. Add white wine and allow it the alcohol to evaporate (a minute or so.) Add salt and pepper.

A couple of minutes before the pasta has finished cooking, add butter to the garlic/wine sauce. As it is about to finish melting, add shrimp. Cook shrimp in the sauce until firm and pink (about 3 minutes).

Drain pasta leaving just a bit of the cooking water in the pot. Return pasta to the pot. Pour the shrimp and sauce over the pasta and mix well. Add the parsley and mix well.

We like to add a bit of Parmesan cheese over the individual servings which I think might not be authentically Italian. (I don't think Italians mix seafood and Parmesan cheese. But I like it.)

Kita's Tortilla Soup Recipe

I have some reader input! Kita Murdock, who was part of my inspiration for starting a blog because of her awesome chronicles of moving her young family out west (threegirlsmovewest.blogspot.com), has shared one of her favorite recipes and I think I'll give it a shot tonight. Sounds delish!

Tortilla Soup
Saute in 2 T. olive oil:
1 1/2 cups onion, diced
2 tablespoons fresh garlic
1 cup poblano chiles charred (I put them right over my burner for a minute or two) seeded, and chopped
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 teaspoon each of oregano, coriander and cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

ADD:
4 cups chicken broth
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 15 ounce can black beans drained
2 soft corn tortillas diced
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken ( I cook it chopped in olive oil on the stove)
or you can add some peeled shrimp at the end instead
MMMMMMM........

I am excited to try this recipe especially since it is not something I would likely have found or sought out on my own. It sounds terrific! We might add a bit more cayenne or something else to make it a little more spicy. And I think we'll give the shrimp a try since I have a bag of Publix frozen shrimp in my freezer.

Thank you, Kita. She just moved the whole family to Boulder, CO in a whirlwind trip. They were settled in Los Angeles one day, back east for a family gathering the next and moved into their new home and starting school in Boulder all in less than one month. Amazing!

So a special good luck to her girls who are starting at their new school this week. As someone who was the new kid a whopping 6 or 7 times, I feel for them. But I also know that I wouldn't be who I am today without the experiences. I think that our moving so often made me adventurous, flexible and well rounded having been exposed to some many new people and places. And I think the humbling experience of being new in town made me more compassionate, too.