March 11, 2011

Spicy Citrus Tofu

The past two weeks have been nothing but a long food fest. I’ve been to two food and wine festivals and eaten almost every single meal out. I’ve barely seen the inside of a kitchen and just today picked up my knives from being sharpened. I have eaten so many fantastic meals – most about which I’ve shared the details. It’s been a great two weeks off, but I’m eager to get back to work and…umm…back into my jeans.

I’ve got two huge dinner parties to prep for this week, so this afternoon I roasted a batch of this amazingly flavorful tofu (an adaptation of a Peter Berley recipe from The Flexitarian Table – one of the best cookbooks I own) and blanched some green veggies so I have something light and healthy to grab while I’m working, leaving me less tempted to skip meals and eat bread and butter and cheese and cookies.

You know me. I’m not a tofu girl. But, this week, I’m pretending to be one until I leave for SXSW.  So I don’t have to wander the streets of Austin wearing sweatpants.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lbs extra-firm tofu
  • 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons braggs liquid amino acids
  • 2 tablespoons canola
  • 1 ½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

  • Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
  • Wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel and sandwich it between two plates. Set a 28 ounce can of vegetables on the top plate and let the tofu drain for at least 20 minutes.
  • Unwrap the tofu and slice it into 1/2 inch-thick triangles.
  • Whisk together the orange juice, garlic, balsamic vinegar, Braggs, canola oil, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
  • Lay the tofu in a single layer in the casserole dish and pour the liquid on top.
  • Roast for 20 minutes. Turn the tofu over, basting with the marinade in the pan.
  • Roast until the tofu is well browned and most of the marinade has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes.

Notes: You can replace the Braggs with soy sauce if you don’t have any on hand. You can find Braggs at any health food store.

What you’ll need: Two plates, a small bowl, a whisk and a casserole dish.

What you want to know: One serving is 215 calories, 11 grams of fat, 16 grams of protein, 10 grams of carbs, 2.5 grams of fiber, and 5 Weight Watchers points.

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March 9, 2011

Fat Tuesday starts with Fat Monday

and it leads to Fat Wednesday.

Still stuffed from my weekend in Charleston, I continued the food fest Monday night with a six course Mardi Gras dinner at Locanda Verde. I had no business eating such a decadent meal, but I couldn’t pass up an evening of dishes from Locanda’s Andrew Carmeliini & Karen DeMasco and L2O’s Laurent Gras.

It was a good call. Though, two days later, I still feel like a fat cow…with good reason.

The meal kicked off with the tiniest little Shrimp Po’ boys with Red Remoulade, followed by giant bowls of Louisiana Crawfish and Oysters Rockefeller. I must say I’ve been a little over oysters (*gasp*) but these little guys were just the thing I needed to get back on the bandwagon. I’ve been dreaming of them since.

Next up was a Coonass Seafood Gumbo with Popcorn Rice. It’s just plain fun to say the word Coonass and with a little spice, a little funk and a lot of seafood, this dish truly tasted like New Orleans.

After bringing out warm biscuits covered in honey, platters of Blackened Char with a fruity mango slaw were placed in front of us. At this point I felt like I was approaching my wall – and we still had two more courses to go. Though the dish had great flavor, I had to save room for…

…the Pecan Duck with Dirty Rice. I love dirty rice, a love that started early with my first taste of the dish at Bojangles – a southern fast food joint specializing in Cajun food. Rich and creamy with little nuggets of chicken livers, this dirty rice was light years better than the rice I remember from my childhood and may have been my favorite dish of the evening.

The meal began to wind down with DeMasco’s Beignets. Served with lemon curd, chocolate mousse, and a burnt caramel sauce that I wanted to pour straight into my mouth, these perfectly fried little pillows of dough put me close to the edge.

The bowls of Pistachio & Rum Vanilla ice cream, which was honestly the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted, did the job of pushing me over. I ate at least three servings – straight out of the communal serving bowl with the communal serving spoon, the last scoop topped with the remaining burnt caramel sauce.

I found a new limit. Now I need to find myself a Weight Watchers meeting!

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March 8, 2011

A weekend of food, friends and fun in Charleston

Last weekend some friends and I headed to Charleston for the Charleston Wine & Food Festival. After a fun, but exhausting trip to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival the previous weekend, this little southern get away was just the trip I needed to relax and get re-energized.

While the Grand Tasting and After Dark events of the festival were very well-done and enjoyable, the best times of the weekend were sharing some of my all time favorite spots, discovering new favorite spots, and enjoying a relaxing Sunday full of fresh caught seafood with some of my favorite friends.

Old Time Favorites

Seafood Over Grits from Magnolia

After 15 years, the Seafood Over Grits at Magnolia’s is still on my top five favorite dishes list. It’s right up there with the Octupus at Le Bernardin and the Melon Salad at Blue Hill at Stone Barns – all perfect dishes.

Cypress is an old favorite, but this trip was the first time I’d tasted Craig Deihl’s House cured Lamb Bacon. It’s hands down one of the best morsels of charcuterie I’ve put in my mouth. Rumor has it he offers an Artisanal Meat Share. If you live in the Charleston area, I’d get in on that.

BBQ Shrimp and Grits from 82 Queen

The She Crab Soup at 82 Queen is definitely the best she crab soup ever ladled into in a bowl. But their Barbeque Shrimp and Grits will blow your mind with an explosion of sweet, smokey, tangy, and salty among both creaminess of the grits and the crunch of the bacon.

Okra and Shrimp Beignets at Hominy Grill

I hate to leave Charleston without a stop at Hominy Grill. Luckily, our flight was delayed yesterday leaving some extra time for a quick lunch before we came home. Though Robert Stehling’s shrimp & grits is a fan favorite, I must say that my favorite snack of the many we ordered was the okra and shrimp beignets. They’re outstanding. As was the pimento cheese platter with pickled okra, country ham, and pickled eggs. And being with Elissa as she tried both boiled peanuts and sweet tea for the first time was an event in itself.

New Favorites

Pimento Cheese & Housemade Sausage from Jim 'N Nicks

A trip to the South isn’t complete without pimento cheese. And I made sure the trip was more than complete by eating pimento cheese every day I was in town. As I mentioned before, the pimento cheese at Hominy Grill was tasty, but the pimento cheese from Jim ‘N Nicks is amazing – especially when topped with a slice of their house smoked sausage and some jalepeno slices.

My only regret is that I didn’t have a chance to enjoy a meal by Mike Lata, 2009 winner of the James Beard Best Chef Southeast Award. Though I was able to enjoy many a cocktail at Lata’s restaurant, Fig, at the unofficial festival after party on Saturday night. The bourbon and champagne were flowing. A trip through the kitchen into the back-yard put me in front of a gigantic roasted pig and in the ompany of Matt and Ted Lee, some of my favorite Charleston chefs, a number of familiar faces from NYC, and Carla Hall, who is just as awesome in person as she is on Top Chef.

FRIED. CHICKEN. SKINS. from Husk

Saturday’s fun turned into Sunday’s hangover – a plight that was easily cured by my first trip to Husk. Three words – Fried. Chicken. Skins. Oh my lord, they’re good – especially when dipped into the accompanying bowl of hot sauce and honey. The spicy Bloody Mary served with a pickled dill pickle and a slice of shaved country ham helped as well. As did the bowl of Black Pepper Biscuits with Sausage Gravy and a steaming serving of the best butter grits I’ve ever tasted.

Husk has been called the most important restaurant in southern cooking. Now I know why. I blown away by Sean Brock’s food, but I was most excited about what he’s doing for southern cuisine, ingredients, and dishes. Everything that’s used in the kitchen is a product of the south – even the salt and the olive oil – taking the term local to a new level.

Later on Sunday afternoon I bumped into him at a party, telling him I appreciated all he’s doing for southern food. His response, “Well, I appreciate all that southern food has done for me.”

Favorite way to spend a Sunday

Low Country Boil courtesy of the lovely Soa Davies and Jeremie Kittridge

After leaving Husk we wandered over to a dinner social hosted by my friends Angie, Soa and Jeremie. They’d rented an old Charleston house on Broad St and invited in town chefs, out of town chefs, local foodies and writers, and our motley crew from NYC for a lazy after noon involving two porches, a dozen rocking chairs, mint juleps, and a table piled high with the goods from a low country boil.

It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend.

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March 2, 2011

South Beach Wine & Food Festival

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival could not have come at a better time. Exhausted from the past few months and what seems like an endless bought of freezing cold in NY, I have never been so excited for a weekend away – especially a weekend that involved friends, sun, food, and lots of wine.

The days were a good balance of business meetings and pool time lounging; the nights were filled with parties, festival events, and more parties. As I slowly recover from the weekend, I wish that there were more pictures to remind me of all of the fun we had. But it’s hard to take pictures when you’re constantly managing a plate in one hand and a drink in the other. So we’re just going to have to settle for a top five list of favorites from the weekend.

Sadly in it’s last year at the festival, Bubble Q perfectly combines barbeque and champagne, two of my favorite food groups, not often served together. It’s a match made in South Beach. And an event I will miss next year!

Jonathan Waxman, Rick Bayless, and Michael Symon served the best bites (according to me), but to be fair, I didn’t have a chance to make it through the second half of the venue. As you can see from the crowd, it was a packed house. So instead of fighting the crowd for more snacks, I stuck close to the champagne bar!

Let them Eat Cake. Let them throw a party on the top of a parking garage. Let them hang from the rafters. Let men carve giant blocks of ice into sculptures with chain saws. That’s how Lee Schrager celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the SOBE WFF. It was amazing.

The who’s who of the food world gathered together to celebrate the occasion. Rubbing elbows with celebrity chefs is always fun – well, until Wylie Dufresne asks for a restraining order. I kid…I hope.

As if the cake and dancers and liberally flowing champagne wasn’t enough, they passed out Shake Shack burgers at the end of the night. This means I started and ended my day eating Shake Shack. (Full disclosure: I’d had the Shark Attack Concrete that morning for breakfast.)

photo by Tracy A. Block (@TRAYdaDIVA)

The Best Thing I Ever Ate at the Beach was one of the most fun events of the weekend. I wasn’t blown away by the food AND I was starving, but I kept running into familiar faces from NYC which always makes me feel like I’m filming something on location. (Remember when Saved by the Bell would go to Hawaii?)

Because a selection of chefs and food personalities were offering their picks for, well, the best thing they’ve ever eaten at the beach, I was expecting to leave fat and happy. But there was one shining star. Daniel Boulud and Hedy Goldsmith’s selections of Croque Monsieurs were not only the best bites there, but the Croque Italienne – a little brioche square with cheese and truffles, stuffed with a soft boiled quail egg – was hands down one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life.

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas After Party by Bullfrog and Baum was my favorite party of the weekend. After leaving the Best Thing I Ever Ate still wanting to eat, I couldn’t have been in a more perfect place. After stepping of the elevator onto the roof of the Geary building, I was handed a cocktail and offered a piece of Blue Ribbon fried chicken. Six steps later, I stumbled upon the raw bar where I found myself parked for half of the night. The music, crowd, and vibe at this party was even better than the food.


Those red drinks (Beets & Tequila) were soooo tasty!

After the party is the after party: As if seven hours of food and partying wasn’t enough, every night there’s always an “after party, after party” to continue the fun until the very wee hours of the morning. The guest list is scaled down –allowing chefs, talent, and food execs to relax and cut loose and making entry into this party the hottest ticket in town. Most people wanted in to hang with the chefs. I was just happy to hang out near the bar with close access to the beet cocktails. They were the best drinks I’ve sipped in months.

Oh, and if you’re ever throwing an after-party, after-party – do not forget to put the gals from the Food Network/Cooking Channel on your guest list. They make the party. Don’t believe me? Just ask Bobby Flay how much fun he had getting down in their conga line.

Thanks to KitchenAid, Cooking Channel, Bullfrog & Baum, and my awesome friends Jessica, Lock, Lindsey, John, and Kristin for making this great weekend possible!  Thanks to Kate Krader who always seems like my biggest cheerleader, Anne Burrell for stories that will continue making me laugh out loud, and Aarti Sequeira and Brendan McNamara for being two of the most down to earth and awesome people I’ve ever met! And I can’t forgot to thank Lee Schrager and Devin Padgett for all of their ridiculously hard work that goes into pulling the whole thing off.

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February 25, 2011

Short Ribs with a Red Wine Gravy

It seems like a rarity these days that I’m cooking for one. Actually, these days it’s more likely that I’m cobbling meals together from leftover dishes I’ve prepared for various clients or events. A friend of mine and I laughed the other day about how my clients eat lamb chops and duck confit croquettes while I grab hummus and crudite from the grocery section in the new fancy Duane Reade by my house.

But long before I started cooking for a living, I was cooking for myself. And sometimes on a cold winter night I wanted what is my ultimate comfort food – braised short ribs. So it seemed fitting that I shared an old trick for cooking for one on my first segment on the TODAY show.

As promised, here is my go-to recipe for a braised short rib base that can be served immediately with a red wine gravy. I usually eat it the night I make it with some roasted carrots and sauteed kale. Then I turn the leftover meat and braising vegetables into a short rib ragu that has countless possibilities.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 pounds bone-in short ribs
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  • 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (about ½ cup)
  • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 1 bottle dry red wine, cabernet sauvignon
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 cups crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus two teaspoons adobo sauce
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Additional ingredients for the Red Wine Gravy

  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1-2 teaspoons butter

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Heat the oil in a medium dutch oven. Season the ribs on all sides with salt and pepper.
  • Add them to hot pan and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until browned and crusty on all sides, about 10 minutes.
  • Transfer the ribs to a plate.
  • Add the onions and stir until they are fully coated and start to brown.
  • Pour in 2 cups of red wine (if you’re making the gravy reserve one additional cup. If not, drink the rest!) and increase heat to high. Boil until wine is reduced by half, approximately five minutes.
  • Add the carrots, celery, garlic, crushed tomatoes, cocoa, balsamic vinegar, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce, and tomato paste.
  • Stir until all ingredients are blended and bring back to a boil.
  • Nestle the short ribs into the liquid. Cover and place in oven.
  • Cook for two hours or until meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone.
  • Transfer the meat to a clean, shallow baking dish, discarding the bones as they fall off.
  • Place a strainer over an eight cup glass measuring cup. Using a ladle, scoop the vegetables from the braising liquid into the strainer and press slightly to extract any liquid.
  • You may have to work in batches, transferring the vegetables from the braising liquid from the strainer to a medium saucepan or a storage container after each batch.

Directions for the Red Wine Gravy (*see notes section)

  • Skim off as much fat as possible from the liquid in the measuring cup
  • Return this liquid to the dutch oven.
  • Add 1 cup of red wine, 1 tablespoon cocoa, and 1 tablespoon balsamic to the liquid and bring to a boil.
  • Once the liquid reduces down to one cup, remove from heat and whisk in butter.
  • Serve over short ribs.

Notes: This total recipe serves 4-6 people. As I said before, when making it for myself, I usually eat it on the first night and use the leftovers for a short rib ragu, which I separate into individual, freezable containers. I often freeze the leftover red wine gravy in a ziploc and serve it with the individually wrapped fillets I keep in the freezer for nights I want to treat myself.

What you’ll need: A dutch oven with a lid, a mesh strainer and a large glass measuring cup.

What you want to know: 2-3 short ribs with 1/4 cup of red wine gravy is 442 cals, 26 grams of fat, 43 grams of protein, 5 grams of carbs, 0 fiber and 11 Weight Watchers points.

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February 24, 2011

Braised Short Ribs

This morning I had the pleasure of cooking with Hoda and Kathie Lee on TODAY! It was a hoot and a half. They have way more energy than I’d even imagined. The segment previous reptile segment ran long, cutting into our time, so we didn’t get to go through the whole thing.

But here’s the reader’s digest. I was demonstrating braising short ribs as part of a “Cooking for One” segment. I mean, if you’re gonna braise short ribs, you should go ahead and braise more than one serving. I give you a recipe for a solid braise base and once you remove the ribs from the oven, you have the basic ingredients to make two completely different dishes – Short Ribs with Red Wine Gravy for one night and a few servings of a Short Rib Ragu that freezes beautifully for a few nights later in the month.

Stay tuned for the recipes!

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February 23, 2011

Mushroom Bisque

It’s so cold outside. Yesterday when I woke up at 5 AM the weather genie on my iphone said it was 17 degrees and “feels like 4 degrees.” Two hours later it read 19 degrees and “feels like 2 degrees.” The wind was so strong it blew Sheldon’s little hind legs out from under him when he jumped up on a curb.

So windy. So cold.

So I’m back on the soup kick – this time making soups out of the excess veggies and herbs in my fridge. I rarely have excess mushrooms. They are usually cooked and consumed within two days of purchase. But not this week. So I decided to make a creamy soup with as little cream as possible. And with a vitamix blender, that’s usually a pretty doable task.

But in my rush to finish this soup before running to a meeting, I poured it into the vitamix before it has sufficiently cooled. AND was careless about checking to make sure the lid was tightly secured. This, my friends, is a recipe for danger.

I scalded my right arm. And was wearing more soup than was left in the blender. And returned home from my meeting to the task of cleaning mushroom soup off the floor, walls, and CEILING.

But after the kitchen was clean, at least I was able to enjoy a nice, warm bowl of creamy mushroom bisque!

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/4 pounds cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 6 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 3 tablespoons fat free half-and-half

Directions

  • In a medium stock pot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium.
  • Add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook until the onions are soft and golden, about 20 minutes.
  • Add the butter and increase heat to medium high.
  • Add the celery, mushrooms and garlic, another pinch of salt and a pinch of black pepper.
  • Raise the heat to high and sauté until the mushrooms give up their liquid, sizzle, and begin to turn darker brown, 7 or 8 minutes.
  • Add two tablespoons of sherry and stir until it is completely absorbed.
  • Add the stock and cayeene and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and let cool for at least ten minutes.
  • Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.
  • Add cream and return to the heat. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Notes: This recipe makes about 5 cups. The soup doesn’t freeze well, but is great when reduced over pasta or served as a sauce over Swedish meatballs and egg noodles!

What you’ll need: A medium stock pot and an immersion blender. You can use a food processor or a regular blender. JUST. BE. CAREFUL.

What you want to know: One cup serving is 161 calories, 8 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein, 17 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber, and 4 Weight Watchers points.

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