Jun 18 2010

Zucchini Pasta

The last few weeks have been filled with carb loaded goodness, but it was time to start introducing veggies back into my world. I am feeling better now that the antibiotics are out of my system. Still not 100%, but my appetite is coming back and I’m once again excited about meal planning and cooking for the blog.

My parents got me a huge basket full of foodie heaven for my birthday. The bottom of the basket was lined with beautiful linens passed down from my grandparents. My Mom thought they would be fun to use in some of the photos, I agree. I also got some of the utensils and gadgets that I wished for on the blog,  a couple of cool books that I’ll talk about in another post, an awesome nutmeg grinder, a collapsible salad spinner and my new favorite kitchen gadget – World Cuisine’s Tri-Blade Plastic Vegetable Slicer.

The Slicer comes with three blades. They are shaped like pieces of bread and just slide right into the machine. The instructions that come with the slicer are pretty limited, but they do define the type of cut each blade makes.

The Simple Ingredients:

1-1.5 Zucchini per person/serving
Garlic and Parmesan infused oil  – One of my readers (Yuba John) gave me a small bottle of his home-brew  made  with sage, garlic, parsley, hot red pepper and chunked Parmesan infused extra virgin olive oil – Thanks John it was a killer addition to this recipe.
Garlic – I ended up not using my bulb, I used 2 cubes of Dorat crushed garlic from Trader Joe’s – found in the frozen section
Salt and Ground Pepper
Lemon Juice – not pictured – a few squeezes of my plastic fake lemon – hah!
Parmesan (Shredded as a topping)

First step: I selected the right blade and got my zucchini loaded into the torture contraption.

I suctioned the machine to the granite, chopped off both ends of the zucchini, pushed it onto the blade peg and brought the spikes closer. I then used the bottom lever to apply pressure while I turned the crank handle.

It was magic! I’m not joking when I say I seriously started jumping up and down in my kitchen. It was so easy to use and the zucchini noodles were coming out perfect! You can see the beginning of the circular core in the above photo.

Some of the noodles were over a foot long.  I ended up snacking on the core while I got my non-stick pan heated up. I added my zucchini noodles to the oil and added salt and pepper and a few splashes of lemon juice. I tossed the noodles for a good 2-3 minutes and when they started to turn the slightest bit translucent, I took them off the heat and put them into a bowl.

I topped the noodles with fresh Parm and WOW! I can’t even explain how awesome they tasted. My mind started racing thinking about the possibilities. Marinara sauce, teriyaki sauce – I can’t wait to try different combos. I will be adding this to my weekly rotation. I bet if you peeled the zucchini, added pasta sauce with ground turkey or ground beef, your kids could barely tell the difference. The texture is amazing! – it’s the green that gives it away as being a veggie.

I’m almost bummed that we have plans for the next 3 days – I want to spiral cut the entire produce section from my local grocery store. Thanks Mom and Dad for my wonderful birthday present, I love it!

Hope you all have a great weekend, it’s Friday – Woohoo!

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=426

Jun 17 2010

Layered Quesadilla

Three or so weeks ago when I was feeling healthy, we invited another couple over for dinner and they brought a recipe with them for some Foodiddy cookin’.

My girlfriend and I immediately got to work in the kitchen.

Guy Fieri made a “Coyote Quesadilla” on the En Fuego Fiesta episode of his show –  Guy’s Big Bite. – Michelle had tried the recipe before and was amazed that 1 quesadilla fed her family of 4 – not too shabby.

The recipe comes in 4 steps. First you have to make the blackening rub for the chicken. Next up is a wonderful black bean salsa, a chipotle ranch dressing and then the quesadilla creation.

Blackening Spice Rub Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic
1 Tablespoon Ground Pepper
2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Tablespoon Salt

Combine all above ingredients in an airtight container – this makes enough to use for probably 4-6 pieces of chicken.

Sidenote: I’m second guessing my purchase of this Pier 1 Imports plate. I think I overpaid for a glorified paper plate, hah! Seriously, it’s a beautiful ceramic plate, but it looks like paper in my photos – might as well just use paper, faster clean-up!

O.k. – back to the recipe. Next up, the black bean salsa.

Black Bean Salsa Ingredients:

15 Ounce Can of Black Beans – Rinsed and Drained – We used low sodium
15 Ounce Can of Low Sodium Corn – Drained
1 Roma Tomato – Seeded, small dice – We used 2 tomatoes
2 Tablespoons peeled and finely diced carrots – Used 2 small carrots
2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion – Used probably double or triple that
2 Tablespoons finely chopped green onion – Used 4 green onions
2 Tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper – Used 1/2 bell pepper
1 Tablespoon finely chopped cilantro leaves – Grabbed a handful
1 Teaspoon lime zest – Didn’t measure
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 Teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Gently mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes or more.

Super colorful ingredients…

Mixed and ready for chillin’ in the fridge.

Next Step – Chipotle Ranch Dressing/Sauce

1/2 Cup Ranch Dressing – We used a packet and made our own – Michelle said it made a big difference compared to using store bought the first time.
1/4 Cup Sour Cream – used more like a 1/2 cup
2 Tablespoons Chipotle Peppers

Process all ingredients in a blender. We loaded the sauce into a squeeze bottle and stuck it in the fridge.

Finally – time to grill the chicken. The original recipe used an iron skillet with oil – the grill was a nice substitute – no oil needed.  We set it on a really high heat and let the seasoning get nice and black.

We cut the chicken into pretty chunky pieces and began the construction of our three-layered masterpiece.

We also used the BBQ to grill our 3 flour tortillas. Just stuck them on the grill straight out of the package – no prep necessary.

Quesadilla Ingredients:

1 6 oz. Chicken Breast – We used two.
1 Tablespoon Blackening Spice – We just coated and didn’t measure.
6 oz. Refried Beans – We used spicy jalapeño.
3/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella – No joke, we probably used triple that. I’m now seeing why Michelle’s fed her entire family, hah!
3/4 Cup Shredded Pepper Jack – We used 1/2 the small block
2 Tablespoons Chopped Green Onion
1 Roma Tomato – Diced
3 Large Flour Tortillas
Black Bean Salsa
Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Let the layer building begin.

Layer order on the tortillas – Beans, Cheese, Chicken, Green Onions – next tortilla and repeat the process. After the third tortilla goes on – finish with tomato, cilantro and more cheese – then place into a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes – it took ours about 15 – probably due to the amount of cheese.

Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes and then cut into 4 pieces and serve with the black bean salsa and chipotle ranch dressing.

This was freakin’ amazing! I loved it. Seems like a lot of work, but with someone else in the kitchen, we were able to work at our little stations. I had black bean salsa and chipotle ranch for the rest of the week – perfect for salads!

I give this recipe two thumbs up and will definitely be making it again. Thanks for all of the well wishes – I am feeling better and I hope to resume normal cooking and eating next week. Woohoo!
 

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=406

Jun 15 2010

Top Chef Tour – San Francisco

Utensils down, hands up! – It’s no surprise to any of my friends that Top Chef is one of my all time favorite TV shows. Combining my obsession with reality TV and cooking… genius!

The Top Chef tour truck rolled into Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, CA on June 11th as part of their 21 city tour. My girlfriend surprised me with tickets! She happened to have a friend with a connection to the tour manager, so we got VIP seating for the event. Best birthday surprise ever!

That’s me standing on the back side of the semi – the seating was under tents in front.

This is the other side of the truck. We sat at the front two seats to the right of the stage.

One of the people in line took a picture of us hugging the Top Chef Tour sign.

We got called to sit down first – VIP treatment definitely had its advantages. The tour manager chatted with us for a bit and then introduced the two chefs.

Jamie Lauren – Top Chef, Season 5 – New York City. She currently lives in San Francisco and is the Executive Chef at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar with an upcoming  planned move to Los Angeles to start something new.

Ryan Scott – Top Chef, Season 4 – Chicago. He too currently lives and works in San Francisco. He has a catering business, teaches cooking classes and is about to launch a meal delivery service with lots of other exciting plans – he mentioned a S.F. store, but was pretty secretive about the details. You can check out his website – Ryan Scott 2 Go.

Both chefs said the best place to follow them is on Twitter and Facebook.

The recipes that they make on tour will eventually be posted to Bravo’s Top Chef website, but they aren’t there yet. I tried to take notes on my iPhone, but didn’t get measurements, etc. and guessed at the names of things.

Ingredients for Marinated Anchovy Bruschetta

White Marinated Spanish Anchovies
Baguette – from ACME Bread Co. in the Ferry Building Marketplace in SF.
Maldon Sea Salt
Garlic
Beets – Fresh/Boiled
Micro Basil
Burrata – Fresh Italian Cheese
Argumato Extra Virgin Olive Oil Pressed with Lemons (This is one of the items Jamie brought with her to the Top Chef show)
Apple Cider Vinegar

That’s all I got… Ryan toasted the baguette pieces while Jamie made a beet puree by adding olive oil and apple cider vinegar to the beets.  She used a Vita-Mix blender (another one of her favorite kitchen items) – here’s where I got side-tracked – they were joking around back and forth. There was banter about getting a red/rubber spatula, a few calls to Stefan Richter (Top Chef – Season 5) and I didn’t really pay attention to the order of things, I was laughing too hard.

I think it was baguette with olive oil brushed on before toasting, fresh garlic rubbed on the toasted pieces – beet puree, anchovy, burrata cheese, sea salt (on the cheese only), Argumato Extra Virgin Olive Oil with pressed lemon drizzled on top of that and then the micro basil.

This photo was the phone call to Stefan. Ryan had a rough time getting his speaker phone to work.  Jamie claims that the crush between Stefan and her during the show was genuine. There were jokes back and forth about cute straight guys falling for hot lesbians – hah!

Ryan then unbuttoned his chef coat to unveil his T-shirt – the crowd cheered and went wild.

We then got to taste samples of the bruschetta – which BTW, is on the menu at Absinthe.

I didn’t care that I had the stomach issues, I was determined to taste what they made, anchovy and all.

It was delicious! I am going on a local hunt for the Argumato – the pressed lemon oil was out of this world!

They also did a question and answer session where the audience could ask anything – it was hysterical. Both Ryan and Jamie were super sarcastic and kept the audience engaged and laughing the entire time. Someone asked what they had in their fridges at home – basically condiments and vodka – both eat at their jobs or are satisfied with the tasting they do throughout the day at their jobs. Ryan did give some shout-outs to a local taqueria and pizza place.

They signed autographs and posed for photos after the show.

I purchased a Top Chef Quickfire Challenge Cookbook and they both signed it.

I got to tell Jamie about the blog and she said that she loves all the foodies in San Francisco and the surrounding areas.

Foo Diddy yo!

Jamie is TINY in person. They had to build a platform for her to see above the cooking counter during the event. I felt like a giant next to her.

Ryan also signed my Quickfire Challenge cookbook.

My girlfriend has the photo of Ryan and I on her camera – he was really sweet and chatted with everyone.

We posed with cardboard cut-outs of Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio – judges from the show – too bad they weren’t there too. We also played a spice guessing game – we guessed all 3 correctly… garlic powder, cloves and oregano – easy ones. We got pizza cutters for playing the game.

It was a gorgeous day, clear skies and in the 70’s. We crossed the street from the plaza and strolled through the Ferry Building Marketplace – foodie heaven for sure. We bought some bread at Acme, snapped the above photo on the outdoor patio and then we headed home.

Awesome time, awesome show – set your Tivos – The new Top Chef Season 7 – Washington D.C. starts Wed., June 16th on Bravo.

Happy cooking and watching indeed!

Permanent link to this article: http://foodiddy.com/?p=362