Unrivaledkitch

Recent Posts

12/11/2011

Black Market Liquor Bar

In keeping with the theme of modern inspired eateries, I have a small sampling of a couple of dishes brought to you by Chef Antonia Lofaso and company of Black Market Liquor Bar. Located in the posh styling of trendy small plate establishments is Black …

chef theory, dining out, valley

by unrivaledkitch

12/08/2011

Tamales and Pozole by Unrivaledkitch

Hello, my sweet friends! I know most of my readers are from out of state or out of country even but I’d like to extend my culinary services to you all as well. Order your holiday Tamales and Pozole. Celebrate this joyous season with homemade, …

Uncategorized

by unrivaledkitch

12/03/2011

Shaved Pattypan and Crimini Mushroom Salad

Sometimes we think of salads as those boring dishes that are on the table just because people should eat their greens. I have a blatant fondness of salads, but also a sheer disgust of them, because if I had to eat salad every day (like I used to when I was trying to be way too skinny or when I was too lazy to cook something), I’d probably not want to eat them anymore either. I like the versatility of pasta salads, potato salads, vegetable salads, etc. People tend to get locked up in ideas of lettuce and dressing, so I say to you all: give up the mixed greens and take the plunge of eating salads that make you happy and change up what you’d normally eat.

We could all use a number of fresh ingredients added into our diets and sometimes a perfect salad is the best way to incorporate all of those things. This Shaved Pattypan and Crimini Mushroom Salad is something that can change the way you think about raw veggies. The mild marinating of balsamic vinegar and vegetables helps to take that sometimes unpleasant raw flavor out of the lovely little pattypan. I love pattypan. It’s one of my very favorite vegetables to eat, along with most zucchini for that matter. For those of you who don’t know what they are, pattypan are squash that are mild in flavor and are the shape of a large top or also described as sunburst. It is normally a summer squash, so it may be a little difficult to find around right now; if so, you can substitute yellow zucchini, which works well. I hope this little salad, inspires you to give cold vegetables a go with a beautiful light dressing.

Shaved Pattypan and Crimini Mushroom Salad

10 pattypan, shaved on a thin setting with a mandolin or sliced thin with a knife

10-15 crimini mushrooms, wiped down with a paper towel to get off excess dirt and sliced thin (like the pattypan)

1 small hand full of cherry tomatoes or heirloom cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

2 stalks celery or the celery heart with the leaves attached, cut into small pieces

¼ cup feta cheese crumbles

Salt

Pepper

2 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 sprigs minced parsley (optional)

5 large green olives, pitted and sliced

In a medium sized mixing bowl, add mushrooms, tomatoes and pattypan. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a small amount of black pepper. Add vinegar and oil to pattypan mixture. This mixture can be done ahead of time up to 15-20 minutes in advance and if you’d like a longer “pickling” affect from the balsamic, you may refrigerate and keep longer.

When ready to serve add celery, feta, olives and parsley to the mixture and toss together.

Taste for seasoning.

Enjoy

Cheers

-Unrivaledkitch

Food Photos, Recipes, salads

by unrivaledkitch

12/01/2011

Capellini Green Beans and Sweet Tomato Sauce

I’m pasta crazy. I always have been and I always will be. It’s one of my favorite things to eat in the world. I first had something similar to this dish at a friend’s house with bread instead of pasta and so much oil I …

family food, Food Photos, Pasta, Recipes

by unrivaledkitch

11/30/2011

Little Brother’s Big 25 and Recipe for Pork Chop “Saltimbocca”

As time goes by, it seems that things change and we get lost in the adult whirl wind of life. Though I don’t believe I’m truly an adult at heart, the time has come to come to grip with the fact that I’m not a …

family food, Food Photos, Menu's, Parties/caterings, Pork, Recipes

by unrivaledkitch

11/26/2011

What We Ate on Thanksgiving

Here we are, giving thanks for this extreme bounty of food and great times. I’m so lucky to have so much love in my heart. This is the menu I prepared for Thanksgiving day. I hope you enjoy the photos and had a magnificent feast yourselves.

Seasons Greetings 🙂

Menu prepared by yours truly

Roasted lemon and herb sweet brine turkey
Roasted zucchini, scallion and olive pork stuffing
Braised sausage with red Swiss chard and kale potato gratin
Roasted asparagus with garlic, red pepper flakes and crispy pancetta
Green bean casserole with soaked “buttermilk” fried onion strings
Beef and tart apple dressing with roasted carrot shreds
Homemade cranberry jelly
Roasted shallot cream corn
Bacon and gorgonzola shrimp
Mashed potatoes
Fall aromatics and roasted giblet gravy
Garlic bread sticks
Basil, spinach and green olive tapenade
Arugula and spinach salad with roasted spicy baby bellas, feta cheese, tomatoes and avocado in honey balsamic dressing
Brown sugar and marshmallow candied yams

Additions brought by family members and friends included dips, snacks, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, carrot cupcakes and ham. Some of my dishes weren’t photographed.

Over indulgence to the max. I could probably do with running a hundred miles, but I won’t.

Time to finish my menu for my brother’s 25th birthday party. I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend.

Cheers-

Unrivaledkitch

family food, Food Photos, Menu's, Parties/caterings

by unrivaledkitch

11/23/2011

Happy Thankgiving. Giving Thanks!

On the eve of Thanksgiving I would just like to share my extreme love and gratitude with you all. This last 30 days of my life has been brilliantly trans-formative in so many ways, and even in the last year of my life, I couldn’t …

family food, Food Photos

by unrivaledkitch

11/21/2011

Cyrus’s 2nd Birthday… The Candyshop and Red Velvet Cupcakes

Today is one of my favorite little boys very special day. I remember the day my friend Katie called me to tell me she was expecting and thereafter, all the midnight to 2 a.m. phone calls and text messages with horrible stories of pregnancy woes, …

Baking, cupcakes, Food Photos, Parties/caterings, Recipes, sweets

by unrivaledkitch

11/17/2011

Spinach and Cabbage Minestrone

What is Minestrone? It’s said to be a soup comprised of the things you have on hand; maybe vegetables, meat, broth, beans or pasta. In Italian, minestrone, roughly translated, means the big soup. The kind of minestrone I like, is simmered for long periods of time, made with love and flavor that’s suited to my own pallet, which tends to include what I’ve recently bought at the market. I like perfectly plump white beans that have been simmered with onions, carrots, bay leaves and a slight heat from some red chili flake with tons of vegetables, cooked for different lengths of time to very textures.

I also love tomatoes in my minestrone. They bring richness, sweetness and acid, to a sometimes watery sea of vegetables. I used to make about five 22 quart containers of minestrone every week for the restaurant I used to work in, but this is not that minestrone. This is a combination of the flavors I had on hand, spices I love and flavors I adore, with an inspiration and a memory of the essence of what we used to create.

Very seldom do I keep to my old recipes, but I often try to escape new light into old favorites and this is just that. I won’t be able to tell you just how to make it, because there is no certain way to tell this particular tale in perfect soups, but know years of minestrone down the road, you’ll find the exact recipe you’re looking for and it probably won’t be written down. As you know, most of my recipes are ideas and schemes I’ve put together on the fly. I hope during these fall festivities you find yourself with a delicious bowl of hearty soup.

Ingredients I used:

Cabbage

Spinach

Carrots

Brown onion

Garlic, mashed

Oregano

Basil

Chives

Diced tomatoes

Broccoli

Zucchini

Slow cooked Fresh white northern beans

Bay leaf

Red pepper flake

Black pepper

Salt

Garlic powder

Coriander

Olive oil

Finishing with best olive oil you can get your hands on

Water

Tips and Tricks

Always cook root vegetables first, because they need the longest times to break down and develop flavor.

Soft vegetables and herbs can be placed in last minute, to maximize flavor and texture retention.

If using canned tomatoes, develop flavor by cooking them for a longer period of time with root vegetables.

Beans are never cooked with salt, because they have the tendency to lose their shape and won’t absorb water well. Cook beans aside soup base and add seasoned beans to vegetables at ¾ the way through and simmer together to increase flavor in soup.

Taste your soup throughout the process.

And don’t forget, it will taste better tomorrow.

Cheers
-Unrivaledkitch

Chef plates, family food, Food Photos, Recipes, soups/stews, Uncategorized

by unrivaledkitch

11/14/2011

La Super Rica, Hollister Brewing Company, Jeannine’s in Santa Barbara

The first part of this adventure is here. Enjoy 🙂 We then waited until hunger struck again, which ended up being around 9:00 p.m. and headed over to downtown Santa Barbara to La Super Rica. This is a very famous restaurant in SB. They are …

Beer, dining out, ventura county

by unrivaledkitch

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