Food Maker, Chef, and Traveling Diner
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 …
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 …
Overindulgence! Phew, I need to get back into the yoga studio. But it’s not for nothing, that’s for sure. I just need to work a little harder and I can make up for all this delicious decadence I’ve been subjecting myself to. My dad’s birthday was at the end of August and we decided to have a little Italian celebration with plenty of pasta and lots of love. I guess I still got it because everything was pretty spot on. I love these dishes and I made a couple of things a few different ways because my family is a mesh of different flavors and tastes. My mom, dad, grandma, brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in-law, my niece (thought she didn’t eat) and I all sat down to a great meal. I’m very excited to share it with you.
Spicy Seafood Linguine- Clams, mussels, shrimp and scallops simmered in a white wine, garlic and basil tomato sauce with red pepper flakes
Seafood Linguine
Linguine and Herb Parmesan Meatballs
Antipasto Salad
Tomato and Basil Bruschetta topped with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
I absolutely love seafood linguine. My dad is a huge fan of it and I would make it for him when my family would visit me at the restaurant. I made a huge pot of marinara, one of my all time favorite sauces, slow simmered with lots of fresh vegetables and herbs. Seafood linguine is something to master, because the ratio of liquid from your shellfish to the perfect timing of tender shrimp and scallops can be three seconds from disaster. Once you accomplish making it, it’s a perfect crowd pleaser.
We were all definitely full of pasta, wine and tomatoes. We had plenty of meatballs for the next day.
I love you Dad. Happy birthday!
Cheers
Unrivaledkitch
As I walked through the many miles of culture and community that Chicago has to offer I was struck in awe but the simple beauty of a big city by the lake. It was all such an amazing group of places situated in the heart …
My trip to Chicago is more than words could ever really put together. Just as my trips to Tokyo, Seattle, North Carolina, and Vegas, my whole world is always centered on food. Maybe that makes me a lush, maybe it makes gluttony my number one …
As our evening progressed and I departed from my CARNEVINO experience I walked the rest of the way back to my hotel where I was to meet the ladies for our evening out amongst adults. I got back to an empty hotel room and was met by my friends, we drank mixed cocktails with more vodka than mix and got out on our way. We stopped and said hello to my friend Michelle who was also in Vegas with some of her friends and then went off to the Cosmopolitan Hotel to the Chandelier Bar We decided that it wasn’t probably the best suited for our dire need to dance, so we went back to our hotel and up to Chateau nightclub and garden . We danced the night away. After that Katie and I ventured out for early morning junk food and slots. People watching and hiking the Vegas strip finally around 530 in the morning we were back and in bed for the sun rise.
Michelle and I
Me, Katie, and Hollee
Dance Party!
Still full and probably a little tipsy, we woke up and checked out of the Paris Hotel. Slipped on some bathing suits and headed to the pool for a while. During which time Katie’s cousin went to visit with her uncle and grandfather after we took in enough sun and popped in the pool a couple of times, we decided to walk over to Ceasers Palace for lunch.
We walked around for a while trying to decide where a good place to eat would be and finally we came to Max Brenner a cute little crazy candy shop which also serves food from brunch to dinner. The menu covered a wide range of things from salads to pizzas burgers and sandwiches which were perfect for lunch. The menu is pretty extensive with lush desserts and any kind of coffee/sweet drink you could imagine. But most of all the restaurant itself was adorable. Beautiful crazy decor everywhere with accents of fresh chili pods, cocoa beans, coffee, and chocolate everywhere. Think Modern day stylish Willy Wonka.
Look at this salt and pepper! adorable
We decided on
Greek Style Cucumber Salad which included
Feta, red onions, tomatoes, olives, hummus crustini and red-wine vinaigrette
This salad was simple and presented well. The dressing was tangy and delicious and the pile of cucumbers on top was seeded and crunchy in a spinach based salad, basic and done well.
We also had Sliced & Diced Steak “Pillow” Panini certified angus beef
char gilled & thin sliced skirt steak tossed with diced caramelized onions on a bed of asiago cheese crisps. baby spinach, roasted tomatoes, red pepper aioli
This steak sandwich was very good. The meat was chopped very fine but still tender and as it melted in your mouth. The aioli as well as the tomatoes left a very sharp spicy roasted flavor that the meat played well with and the asiago cheese crisp gave a crunch to the sandwich that just made it better than I thought. I also really enjoyed the bread homemade pickles on the side and waffle fries. Presentation on the plate was really cute served on a cutting board with the fries in a glass.
The service was sweet and to the point.
I wanted dessert badly but too much of a good thing is always the case; I’ll definitely have to go back for a latte and dessert sometime.
Katie and I then played some slots in Ceasers and waited for her cousin. We roamed around Vegas for an hour or so visiting the Bellagio which is gorgeous and then the girls were off back to the valley by that evening.
I met up with some other friends who were visiting in Vegas as well, Jeff, Jabari and Valinda, and spent the rest of the evening with them.
After relaxing in the condo with friends having a couple of beers and hanging out we finally got out to the strip. Valinda was in search for french onion soup so we went back to Paris Hotel only to be disappointed because it was so late that no one was really open. So we decided to give up the search and head down to Excalibur and then walk over to New York New York to see what they had to eat. So after circling the casinos a couple of times and the angst of hungry people we finally found a restaurant that was open.
The restaurant was large and we sat on a type of patio. Wouldn’t you know it the only place open is Italian. I knew off the bat pretty much what I wanted from a place like this. Il fornaio is a chain of restaurants open in a lot of different parts of California and other states. The atmosphere was nice with linen on the tables and balsamic and oil with our bread. I ordered a Calzone. I love Calzone’s this one was very nicely done with ricotta cheese, mozzarella, ham and mushroom and tomato sauce. For what we were up against in our late night battle for dinner this was perfectly fine by me.
A last my final meal in Vegas. What an amazing trip. I’m so glad I got to be with such awesome people and that we were all together at some point in time. I can’t wait till my next visit. I hope this inspires you to go out and try something else.
After I finished putting the last punctuation on my last blog I took off to a dear friend of mines house as we prepared to go to Las Vegas. Our trip was filled with lavish drinks, dancing for hours, roaming the neon lights by the …
Life, I’m sure is overwhelming at times for us all. And if it’s not, please tell me what planet you’re residing on, I’ll take a ticket there any time. My life over the last 10 months has become a place where I frequently feel at …
Shattered Cauliflower Farfalle with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and spicy garlic rosemary olive oil
Shattered cauliflower is just boiled cauliflower till it melts off of its stems. I kinda wack it with the back of the knife and it shattered into small pieces. I love names for food.
I love this pasta I made it when I came home from yoga, glanced around the fridge and decided that salad just wasn’t going to do. The oil that goes in this pasta I had on hand because I use it as a very beautiful dip for fresh bread or brush over crostini which has gotten good feedback so you should use it as well.
This is Vegetarian and can be made vegan if you’d like by just not adding cheese at the end.
I love simple pastas such as these which are not heavy and loaded with sauce because honestly I could eat pasta boiled perfectly al dente with some extra virgin olive oil and cracked black pepper and rock salt for the rest of my life. I’m forever a pasta lover, I really believe I always have been but it’s something I cook naturally and it comes out wonderful.
I’ve made 100’s of pasta dishes I’ll make a million more in my life time. Pasta station at the restaurant was and forever will be my home. Countless water burns and sauce splashes, I miss those times.
This pasta can be made with short or long noodles whichever you prefer. I like farfalle in this because it makes the dish look elegant. I called it shattered cauliflower because I like this pasta to have the cauliflower a little softer then the way I normally eat my vegetables because it kind of melts into the oil and gives it a little sauce. You are more than welcome to cook the cauliflower less or to your liking.
Shattered cauliflower farfalle with kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes and spicy garlic rosemary olive oil
Ingredients
½ lb of pasta
¼ to 1/2 head of cauliflower
1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes
About 12- 15 pitted kalamata olives smashed or chopped
6 leaves of basil
2 -3 tablespoons of spicy oil with the garlic and chili flakes
3 tablespoons of pasta water
In a medium sized pot add water and salt to taste bring to a boil
Cut ¼ head to ½ depending on the size of the cauliflower off of the large stems, rinse with water till clean and place inside the boiling water
When it reaches your preferred doneness take out from water reserving water in pot and place cauliflower on paper towel hit it with the back of the knife to break it into small pieces then let dry
Add more water to the pot and bring back to a boil adjust water and use this for boiling the pasta
Cook your pasta as directed for the shape you’d like
To prepare spicy garlic rosemary olive oil
This oil is more than is necessary for the recipe so you can have extra for bread or just store in a jar with lid and can be used for up to a couple of days.
In a small sauce pan place about ¼ cup of good extra virgin olive oil
Add teaspoon of black pepper
1 pinch of salt
1 ½ teaspoons of red chili flake changed on your preference of heat
1 spring of rosemary leaves taken from the stem and minced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
Put oil on very low and add all the ingredients to oil
Heat till oil become fragrant and infused with spice, herbs, and garlic
When oil is done
Take about ½ of it and place it at the bottom of a small sauce pan
Smash pieces of the cauliflower so they become small and then put them in the pan
Sautee till coated with oil and seasoning
Add sundried tomatoes, kalmata olives and chopped basil to the mixture cook till everything is heated through
Then use some of your boiled pasta water about 3 tablespoons to create a little sauce with the cauliflower
Taste for seasoning and adjust black pepper and salt
Toss your pasta in with the cauliflower mixture
If you find it a little dry add a combination of oil and pasta water to create a little more sauce if you’d like
Put on a plate and top with cracked pepper and little Parmesan cheese and basil
Things to remember: Pasta is very much about how you cook the noodles, so make sure you keep an eye on it and know how to make pasta the way you like it. Also this doesn’t have a lot of sauce you’re getting a lot of flavor from the oil and the olives and tomatoes but make sure you season things in stages, don’t add too much salt in the beginning because you have the olives in the dish.
Pastas like this you have to have very good olive oil to make so please look into that and I hope you enjoy it.
Variations:
This can be done also by taking the vegetables and just putting them in a bowl marinating the cauliflower in the oil over night. The next day cook the pasta quickly and toss it all together. I would also add fresh arugula a squeeze of lemon at the end and make it into a salad. Fried capers would be good too.
Cheers
Unrivaledkitch
Twitter and Foodbuzz
So tomorrow is the big day for the Online bake sale to aid Japan
The preview with pretty much everything to bid on thetomatotart.com
Bid Bid Bid
Check out the other bloggers and biding tomorrow will start at 6am eastern time
I love food as a celebration. Large parties, huge spreads of tons of food that have peoples eyes opening wide and mouths salivating and pleasant aromas and sights to only be quieted by the shoveling of food in to mouths. Those are the times I …
