Room Service, PF Chang's and more in Tampa...

We have just returned from another work trip and this one worked out quite well. We left Miami on Monday morning for Tampa and just got back yesterday. It's not too far away -- about 4 1/2 hours -- and Baz was a little angel for the ride there and back.

Of course, traveling in Florida leaves much to be desired in terms of dining options. Add a baby to that and you find yourself scrounging for just about anything as long as it comes early and fast. Luckily we stay at the Intercontinental that has a nice rate for us New York Times folks. And their room service options are pretty good.

So, on Monday night after I finished videotaping our female Iraq War veteran attending her class at the SW Florida College, we ended up having a glass of wine and an appetizer (a delicious spinach, crab, artichoke dip) in the bar downstairs and then ordered a Cobb Salad and desert in our room after Baz went to sleep. What a good Cobb Salad! One salad was good enough for the both of us and we topped it off with a delicious slice of key lime pie -- my favorite!

I guess we were still full from the huge hamburger lunch we'd had on the road. We ate at Red Robin which I had never heard of, but turned out to be really tasty. I mean, it was not the healthiest meal I've eaten in a while. For instance, my burger had french cut onion rings right in the bun along with the BBQ burger and cheddar. Damien's was even worse with the same onion rings and gorgonzola.

Then on Tuesday night we hit up the PF Chang's across the street from the hotel. It's sort of a joke between me and Damien because I am not quite as ashamed of all the suburban things I like as Damien is -- he likes to hide his suburban side. PF Chang's is one of those chain Chinese places that tries to be a bit fancier. I love it and whenever we pass one I am always like, "Hey, PF Chang's! We should go there!" to which Damien replies, "No." But on a business trip in the state of Florida, PF Chang's is pretty much gourmet. So, I got my fix.

Then we were invited to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner on the other night. I had not seen my cousins in a very long time. It had been so long that I had never even met the six kids they've collectively added to the Oliva side of the family. It was utter chaos at their house, but it was just great to see all the little ones running around. Baz just sat there in awe -- too young to really participate, but old enough to know that they were all pretty cool.

My aunt Maria -- or Tia Maria as I call her -- made a delicious lasagna and salad and there was plenty of wine flowing. What a nice evening. She was also a total lifesaver because she watched Baz on Tuesday afternoon so Damien and I could tape our sit-down interview with our vet. I don't know what we would have done without her.

All in all, it was a great trip -- culinary and otherwise. Burgers, PF Chang's and homemade lasagna. You can't ask for more. The real dessert was the fact that Baz slept beautifully the whole trip. Sure, he had his moments, but for the most part he slept through the night allowing Damien and I to be in good form when doing our reporting. Thanks for that Bazmatazz.

Recession Prices at Cafe Prima Pasta

Damien and I haven't been going out to eat as much as we used to. Even after Baz was born we would take him out with us and he'd sleep soundly in his stroller while we enjoyed some nice meal at Ice Box off of Lincoln Road or Michael's Genuine Food and Drink, our favorite place in Miami. But, these days we have sort of become slaves to Baz's schedule because it is so freakin' painful when it's disrupted and he doesn't sleep for a couple of nights.

We discovered however that if we go out early enough, not only can we maintain Baz's routine, we can also get some great deals. Now we totally understand the whole Early Bird Special thing. It's not just for old people - it's also for people who took pay cuts because of the recession!

Our early bird special is at a fabulous Italian cafe that we frequented a lot before Baz was born - Cafe Prima Pasta. It's our neighborhoody place that has some of the most dependable service we've found in Miami so far and good old fashioned, if not a little overpriced, Italian fare. The only reason we stopped going there for a little while is because the last time we went Baz had one of his worst meltdowns ever, a meltdown that scarred us for life. So, in addition to the schedule thing, we also were way too embarrassed to show our faces there. Luckily we didn't have a repeat.

I ordered the fabulous Eggplant Parmesan special and Damien had the Chicken Marsala and we ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio too. We started off with a Tri Colore salad and they brought us some complimentary, homemade Amaretto to top things off at the end. The whole thing, including tip: $55. During the week, if you are seated before 6pm they give you a 50% discount.

I added a few dollars to the automatic tip and in addition to being on his finest behavior, we were home in time to give Bazzy his usual bath, bottle and bedtime. All in all, a great evening.

Leftover Chili and Cafe Bambini

Last time I tried to take some chili out of the freezer, I accidentally pulled out my saved Tortilla Soup. It was a happy accident partly because I really like the Tortilla Soup, and partly because I still had the chili to use at some point.

Well, that some point came the day before yesterday when I was still reeling from my horrible london broil cooking night. So, I reached into the freezer and pulled out the tupperware filled with my delicous chili.

It was perfect because I had also spent the afternoon at this neat cafe called Cafe Bambini in North Miami Beach. My friend Stasi discovered it somehow and asked if I wanted to meet her there to check it out. What a good idea! According to the web site, it was created by two stay-at-home mom's who were looking for a safe place to take their kids where they could also enjoy a great cup of coffee. They created a fun play space for kids that have things like a toy piano, one of those ball pits that the kids can jump around in and a science and discovery play station. And they have a wonderful little cafe that serves things like paninis and pizzas as well as Segafredo coffee products. You can also buy small packages of Cheerios and other kid friendly items.

You pay $5 for use of the play space and I have to say, it was pretty worth it just so I didn't have put everything back in it's place afterwards - or maybe I was supposed to, but how I could I with all those kids tearing shit up! The other kids made it pretty exciting for Baz, too. Not only could he play with - and get a big scratch on the face from - his good friend Sophia, Stasi daughter, but there were older kids who he could be in awe of.

He was pretty pooped after the whole thing, which meant a good sleep night for me. And Damien and I enjoyed a nice bowl of piping hot chili when he finally went to bed.

London Broil

Monday I had a bit of a dinner failure. It's not that the recipe was bad, it was all in my execution. I just screwed up.

I made a London Broil that I marinated for a short time prior to cooking. I served it with some creamed spinach and brown rice which both turned out quite well if not a little boring.

The marinade was pretty good. In a plastic storage container, I mixed the following:

London Broil Marinade
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestshire Sauce
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine all ingredients. Cover plastic container and shake.

For my london broil, I then sliced one small onion, added it to the marinade and then coated the london broil with the marinade in a zip lock bag. That made it easy to refrigerate as I marinated.

Sounds pretty easy and decent. Right? Well, I used a pretty thick cut of london broil. So, when I went to broil it in my shitty broiler, I wasn't quite sure how long it would take. I placed my piece of meat along with the onion and all of the marinade in a baking pan. I decided to broil for 10 minutes per side. Sounded reasonable to me.

The meat looked really nice. It was browned on both sides and the marinade had turned into a beautiful looking sauce. So, I took it out. I cut open the meat to see if it was cooked enough. It was definitely pretty red in the middle, but trying not to overcook it, I just put it on the cutting board and covered it with aluminum foil hoping it would continue to cook while I made the spinach. (I had made the brown rice much earlier so I could give it to the baby. It takes about 45 minutes to make brown rice, so plan accordingly.)

At this point I also took the pan I had cooked the meat in, put it on a medium heat on my stove top and added just a bit of water to scrap up the delicious browned bits at the bottom. That was the last of my good cooking.

I put a gravy boat in the sink so I could pour the sauce into it. But, as I was trying to pour the sauce, I knocked the gravy boat over ruining 90% of my delicious sauce. Then when I went to slice the meat, I realized it was really way too rare. Dammit! I just basically threw away the cooking juices and I needed to return the meat to the oven!

Meanwhile I had already spooned out my rice and spinach which were now getting cold on the plate. It was so annoying.

I finally got the london broil appropriately cooked and was able to salvage enough of the onion sauce for Damien's serving, but I had to resort to A1 sauce which I barely had enough of.

I think I should have marinated the meat for much much longer. Maybe 6 hours or so. Overnight would have been even better. It was fine, but not nearly as tasty as I thought it would be.

Anyway, not the best cooking night. So last night we decided to order the pizza we skipped on Sunday. Damien insisted that maybe I needed a break.

(NO PICTURES TO DOCUMENT MY FAILURE.)

Penne Alla Vodka

Usually on Sundays we have pizza, but since Damien and I had spent the day drinking beers and eating cheese and hummus while watching Juanes' Peace without Borders Havana show, we didn't feel hungry enough to place our usual order. We had a bit of risotto left from Friday night, but not enough for the two of us. So Damien suggested he'd be in the mood for Penne alla Vodka if it were simple enough to make.

I did a little investigating on the internet and figured out it is actually pretty easy. Here is what I did:

Penne alla Vodka
1/2 pound penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup vodka
14 ounces crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Parmesan cheese

Boil water for pasta. Pour in the pasta and cook to desired tenderness.

In the meantime, heat up olive oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking in a large saute pan. Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent and garlic is browned - bits should begin sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add vodka, scrapping pieces of onion and garlic off the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 1 minute to reduce and cook off alcohol. Add the tomatoes, stirring constantly. Stir in the cream. Add red pepper, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

When pasta is finished. Drain and return to pot. Pour sauce onto pasta and stir to coat. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

I think next time I'd like to add a little bit of pancetta before I add in the vodka. And you can adjust the amount of cream depending on your taste. Same goes for the red pepper.

It was the perfect end to a fun day. The concert was fun to watch and we enjoyed sharing the time with our friends Casey, Arian and their son, Luca who stopped by for a little while.

Plucking that Chicken

I saw this last week and am still laughing whenever I hear anything about it.

Since there is mention of chicken in it, I thought it would be appropriate to post it here:



My favorite part is the look on his co-anchor's face.

Enjoy! And keep plucking that chicken!

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.