I LOVE Julia!

Last night the women of my family went to see the new movie Julie & Julia. I absolutely loved it! The inspirational tale of 2 women trying to make something happen in their lives through food and cooking. It was right up my alley. I couldn't wait to get home and start thinking of my ideas. How can I improve what I'm doing here? I love my blog and I think I had a pretty good idea at first, but I can only show you what I eat for so long before it gets boring. I think I'm going to try some new directions.

One idea, in similar form to my new friend Julie, would be to try out new recipes from my existing cobweb coated collection at home. When my maternal grandmother passed away 8 years ago, I wanted to keep every single thing that belonged to her. I have boxes of old costume jewelry, hats, scarves, and many other things. But one of my most treasured things is my collection of her cookbooks. They all still have multi-colored post-it notes throughout them so she could remember which recipes she enjoyed or had made, or wanted to make again. I open them to these pages often and think about her and why she picked that particular recipe. Why did she want to make a French Cassoulet? Was she having a dinner party? I've looked at these books time and time again, but I have never actually worked through any of the recipes. In fact, I abhor following recipes. I always tell myself that I am a way better cook than anyone else and using a recipe would be ridiculous and unnecessary. After seeing this movie, I am starting to think that maybe I don't have the patience necessary to follow a recipe. I think I might give it a try.

So, with my sweet grandmother's collection in hand, I might try and work my way through some of the recipes that she's marked. And of course, I'll keep you posted along the way.

Oh, and by the way, if you have a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" but haven't ever really looked through it... open it up. Read the forward. I could practically hear Julia's voice reading it to me. And I am officially inspired!

Brasserie Beck, Washington D.C.

My cousin was married this past weekend in beautiful Washington, D.C. It was such a lovely wedding! We all really enjoyed ourselves and the weather was amazing. On Sunday my aunt and uncle took all of us to lunch at Brasserie Beck. When I say this was probably my favorite restaurant I have ever been to ever, I'm not exaggerating. At least in the top 10 for sure. Everything was scrumptious and beautiful, so I thought I'd share a few pics with you.

Onion Soup with fresh and fried onion toppers and bubbly Gruyére cheese. Divine!

Fresh peach juice bellini

Nova Scotian fresh oysters with different dipping sauces

Pomme frites! with mayo trio - curry, garlic and red pepper

Steamy mussels in veal bolognese with fresh herbs & capers - best sauce in my life.

Chelsea's mussels were spicy with fennel & chorizo sausage

I thought these sides looked wonderful.

And interesting starters as well.

This was my aunt's beautiful grouper with lemon caper butter sauce and topped with garlic mashed potatoes.

Eggplant Roll Ups - Healthy Italian

I'm sure that I'm not the first one to do this, but it just came to me when I was thinking about lasagna and not wanting to eat all of those calories. The end result was so delicious, and I think I'll continue to play with this idea and all the possible fillings. For example, when I made it this time, I added gluten-free pasta shells to the filling. I wasn't too hip on that, and it didn't need them at all. You could also add ground turkey to the filling. That would be so yummy! I might have to try that next.

To start you will need the following:
1 large eggplant
2 or 3 large zucchini
1 can of small artichoke hearts
2 cans of diced tomatoes (I like the ones with garlic & basil)
1 cup of good low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup of grated parmesan
1 cup of cooked & drained shells (optional)
1 pkg. of browned turkey meat (optional also, but do one or the other. not both optionals.)
Italian seasoning
handfull of fresh basil
salt & pepper
extra virgin good stuff

Start by slicing 1/4" long strips of both the eggplant and the zucchini. Place the eggplant on a parchment paper lined sheet pan and drizzle with evoo (sorry Ray Ray, but it's so much easier to type), and a little salt and pepper. Roast in a 400º oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, watching carefully. You want the brown edges, but you don't want them falling apart.

Next start pan searing your zucchini in a little bit of olive oil over medium high heat. Try to get brown edges, but not cooked all the way through so that you can still work with them and they don't fall apart. Set them aside to cool as you go.

Once you have your strips of veggies set aside, you can make your filling. Combine your cottage cheese, half of your parmesan, a handful of roughly chopped basil, 1 can of tomatoes - drained, 1 canof baby artichokes - drained and diced, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper to taste. You can also add one of the optionals here too.

Now it's time to start assymbling the rolls!

Place 1 eggplant slice on your work surface.

Add 2 slices of the zucchini on top. If there are any holes in your eggplant, that's okay. Just cover them with the zucchini.

Next, place a little bit of the mixture at one end of the veggies and start rolling them up!

You can start placing them side by side down a casserole dish.

Oh - a good tip to keep the rolls from sticking, is to spread a little bit of tomato sauce along the bottom of the dish. Keep lining them up until your dish is full.

Pour over them the remaining can of tomatoes, with all it's juices. Top with the cheese and bake at 350º for 30 - 45 minutes, or until golden & bubbly.

Let me know what you think. Enjoy!!

more sushi please!

I have been making sushi like crazy lately. I love it! I also get a little thing of saki to have with my sushi and it just sets the mood. Sippin' on a little saki while I try to create beautiful little rolls to share and enjoy surely makes them taste better. I make mine vegetarian, but the possibilities are endless. These have carrots, cabbage, cream cheese, and avocado.

Here are a few tips that I've learned through all of my sushi practice as of late...

1. Use wasabi sauce (sauce, not paste) as the sealer for your roll. Brush the dry part with the sauce before rolling.

2. Use a very sharp knife for cutting and be slow and steady about it.

3. Variety. There's something so exciting about lots of little multi-colored rolls! 

wonderful wonton wrappers

Wonton wrappers are incredibly versatile little sheets of loveliness. They are great for potstickers of course, but also homemade raviolis that you can stuff with just about anything you like. In this recipe I've created fun little shells stuffed with poached chicken in wine sauce. You could also use them as chicken salad cups or even dessert cups for pudding with a dallop of whip cream. You can find wonton wrappers in the organic vegetable section of the grocery store, near the tofu and mushrooms.

Wonton Shells:

Preheat your oven to 375º. Coat a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray. Place one wrapper in each little tin, pressing around the inside edges and allowing the points to flow out around. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes watching carefully until they are golden brown. Pull them out and place them on a platter ready to fill with yummy goodness.

Poached Chicken with Wine:

In a large black skillet, sauteé diced onions in a little olive oil over medium high heat. {TIP: I use a heat safe brush to evenly coat my pan with the oil. This also helps to prevent me from using too much oil.} Next, add your smashed, diced garlic to the mix and lower the heat to medium. Then add one package of ground chicken or turkey and combine. Pour in about 1/4 cup of dry white wine and stir until the meat is all cooked through and the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp. of cream cheese. Place a spoonful of the mixture into each little cup. Top with sliced tomato pieces or chopped scallions. I served this with easy & crunchy green bean fries.

Green Bean Fries:

Clean and trim beans, but leave them whole. Preheat oven to 400º. Place the beans on a sheet pan and salt and pepper them liberally. Coat with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and toss with your hands. Spread them out as thinly as you can on the sheet pan. Cook for about 20 minutes or until they start to brown. Enjoy!

veg-e-table su-ahhh-she

My mother and I made homemade sushi last night. This has been something that I have always wanted to do, but never been able to do successfully because of the rice issue. It is so darn hard to create perfect sticky rice. Well, now that issue has been solved. Perfect sticky rice is right at our fingertips in a minute and thirty seconds. And it's brown rice to boot. I found this product in the grocery store recently right over near all of the other instant rice products. It has two ingredients: brown rice and water. No preservatives and other junk. And it works perfectly for homemade sushi.

You will need Nishiki instant brown rice, seaweed wrappers, cucumber slices, avocado slices, grated wasabi, mayo, and soy sauce.

 

Cook the rice according to the directions. Spread a thin layer of the rice along one half of the seaweed sheet. Top with thinly sliced cucumber and avocado in long strips. Top with a mixture of mayo and wasabi. Brush a little extra of this mixture on the top of the sheet to seal the roll. Then roll it up!

I know this is not the best photo, but here you have it. Really delicious sushi right at home!

Easter and such

I spent my Easter Sunday at one of the most beautiful places on earth, on the cliffs over looking the Cumberland River in Ashland City, Tennessee. My Aunt Liz and Uncle Nip live there in this wonderfully peaceful place. I went up Saturday to help get ready for the Easter festivities the following day. We had a great time. 

This little bugger tried to eat me on my way up the drive, but I didn't let him stop me! No sir!

I gathered river rocks to add to my collection. I've been painting them lately because of this chick.

My friend Grace asked if she could have a slumber party with me and I said sure! She's a great snuggle buddy.

I went to the creek and gathered wild flowers to decorate our table. I was so proud of my arrangements. I think they are my best yet. I'm not that great at it. My sister & Aunt Dancey have the green thumbs in our family.

And this is what I contributed to the Easter meal. Smashed new potatoes. I got this idea from my favorite food blogger. I boiled them until tender, then tossed them in olive oil and smashed them onto a baking sheet. Sprinkled them liberally with salt and pepper, and baked them at 400º until the edges got brown and toasty. They were so yummy! I served them with sour cream that I mixed with finely chopped herbs.