Tapas--"Caliente Baby"

food-dictionary.com tells us that tapas were originally "a slice of ham or chorizo sausage placed over the mouth of a wine glass, from tapa 'to cover', some say to keep out flies and others say to increase thirst.  Now consists of small portions of any kind of made-up dish or small snack served with wine in Spanish bars (although not exclusively Spanish in nature)."

I followed my Spanish theme this weekend and cooked a meal of tapas (although tapas in Spain are never meant to be the main course).  All the dishes looked so good that I couldn't keep myself to just one.  The first wonderful discovery for me was that these mediterranean dishes were all fabulously flavorful with a scant 4-5 ingredients.  The main staples (all my favorites) olive oil, garlic, salt (sea salt of course), pepper, lemon or lime juice and chopped parsley.

The best of the five tapas dishes that I tried was (blue ribbon winner by far) the "Lime-Drizzled Shrimp."  From the cookbook "Tapas" by Susanna Tee.

4 limes, 12 raw jumbo shrimp, 3 tbs spanish olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, splash of white wine, salt and pepper and 4 tbsp chopped cilantro (the recipe called for fino sherry which I didn't have and instead of chopped cilantro, it was flat leaf parsley, but I thought that the cilantro would pair nicely with the lime and I was correct).

grate the rind and squeeze the juice from 2 limes....cut the remaining 2 limes and use later.  Remove the shells from the shrimp (leaving the tail intact).  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add shrimp and cook 3 minutes (until pink).  Mix in lime rind, juice, and a splash of white wine then stir well together.  Transfer shrimp to a serving dish and season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cilantro.  Serve piping hot and accompanied by lime wedges for squeezing over shrimp.  Include crusty french bread for dipping in sauce and ENJOY!!!

My other dishes....

Sauteed Garlic Mushrooms, Crusty French Bread and Olive Tapenade, and Green Beans with Pine Nuts

Cool Idea

I hope that you find this an interesting twist for a food blog.  Really, my blog is just anything that I have an idea/opinion/care/concern about.....well you know what I mean.  Food tends to be central because really good home-cooked, borderline gourmet is one of my passions.  My other passion is reading finely written literature and trying to copy the masters and write a book of my own.  While I am slow at finishing my first book (just getting to chapter 3 and I haven't let anyone take a peek yet), I read other's works voraciously.  I thought that I would combine my two passions and follow a recipe that relates to my recent read.  I just finished "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.....oh my goodness, what a treat.  This book follows along the gothic lines and is a throw back to some of the great gothic novels of our time (do you really know Mary Shelley's Frankenstein....really???  It is not the hollywood version....read the original sometime).

Back to Zafon's novel.  Pick it up at Barnes and Nobles or order off of Amazon.  I promise that you will not be disappointed.  Zafon was born in Barcelona (that is Spain for all of you other geographically challenged folks out there).  "The Shadow of the Wind" is the most successful novel in Spanish publishing history AFTER "Don Quixote"....pretty good company, I'd say.  It is a gloomy mystery that combines a lost book, two previous lives, romance, lost love, death, and all other good, scary thoughts.

To follow along with my theme of combining my love of a good book with my love of a good bite of food.  I have a simple Spanish bread recipe (Pa Amb Tomaquet) that apparently is something that Spaniards "never leave home without"....

Toast hearty french bread slice and rub with a clove of garlic.  Then cut a very ripe tomato in half and squeeze the contents over the toasted, garlicky bread.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt and have fun!!!  Because I never cook a recipe exactly as I read it (this one is courtesy of recipezaar.com), I also chopped up some black and calamata olives and spread on the top with a very thin slice of wonderful vine-ripe tomato (even extra yummy).  Pair with my "wine of the week"......

Enjoy!!!!

No Cool

Time's short and apparently life as we know it on the Gulf Coast might be even shorter....balls of tar are arriving on the AL coastline thanks to BP.  Take a look at our beautiful beach while it still exists....

Famous Cool

Ok....I have to admit that I am a closet hollywood junkie.  I don't know what I would do if I shared an elevator ride with a famous actor or actress.....probably just stare at the doors, afraid to start a conversation or say something incredibly stupid like "slow elevator huh....." with a goofy smile and leftover lunch stuck between my teeth (this is my own personal nightmare so just stay with me....).  I just found a new blog by Gwyneth Paltrow....www.goop.com.  As I read through the site and enjoy the newsletters, I find that her questions, concerns and care for her family are really the same as mine....pretty normal.....except she is staring in a blockbuster movie set for release, married to a superstar rocker, living in the UK and jet setting back and forth to the states.....yeah, the simularities are amazing!!!!

Burning Read

Ughhh.....so sorry for my hiatus.  How can I grow my blog visitors if I don't post on a regular basis?  Just a rhetorical question....no answers needed.  Well, I am back....for now.....and I have a great read to recommend.  Michael Connelly's 9 Dragons, his newest Harry Bosch series.  Great, entertaining, twist at the end (quick) read that you will blow through in a weekend (so don't pay full price.....).

Harry Bosch is a L.A. police detective who carries as many demons around as the criminals that he puts behind bars.  I have enjoyed other Connelly novels through the years, but the Bosch series include my favorite characters (some familiar folks show up in this story as well and some new that I expect will crop back up again in another novel or two).

The story is set in L.A. and Hong Kong with Harry chasing an Asian Triad....be ready for the twist!!!

Enjoy..... 

"Hot" Lemon Pepper Shrimp

I love shrimp and I am so fortunate to live in the backyard of "Shrimp Heaven."  In Pensacola, we have one of the top tourist attractions in the state, but I prefer to call Joe Patti Seafood "my seafood market" (me and 100,000 other Pensacolians).  Ever since I discovered that (for only $1 more a lb) I could buy "fresh" shrimp already shelled and deveined with the tails on, I have been in "shrimp" love.  I created this dish after I stopped by the fish market one Friday night and left with a lb of shrimp.  When I arrived at home, I took a peek in my pantry and just started pulling cans, boxes, etc....out.  The result below.....yummy!!!

box thin whole wheat spaghetti noodles (about 1/2 lb)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
1 onion
1 16oz can artichoke hearts (quartered)
1 whole lemon
lemon pepper seasoning
1 lb shelled and deveined shrimp
3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs butter
2 tbs white wine
breadcrumbs

Cook the noodles according to package directions and drain and set aside.  Add 3 tbs. olive oil to large saute pan.  Saute chopped onion and garlic until tender then add artichoke hearts and saute for about 3-5 minutes.  Add 3 tbs. butter and 2 tbs white wine and juice of whole lemon.  Saute for 3-5 minutes longer.  Sprinkle some lemon pepper seasoning.  Add cooked pasta and mix well.  Take off heat and cover.  In a cast iron skillet or another saute pan, spray lightly with olive oil.  Rinse shrimp and dredge in breadcrumbs mixed with about 2 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning (breadcrumbs on shrimp should be a light coating).  Saute shrimp for approx. 2- 3 minutes on medium heat on both sides (turn when shrimp looks pink....keep your eye on this process).  When finished, plate the spaghetti and veggies and add shrimp....top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and garnish with chopped italian parsley.
Enjoy.....

 

Hot Read

While, I love to cook, taste wine and experience fun adventures with my husband, my true "passion" is the written word.  I can't remember a time when I didn't have a book by my side.  Some of my earliest memories are of a wonderful "old" library in the California Bay Area (probably Castro Valley or Hayward), where I would experience the freedom of my own imagination putting life into someone else's creation (if I close my eyes and think back, I can still "smell" the ink on the pages).  Nothing allows me more pleasure than a stack of books and the time to read.  For my recent birthday, I asked my husband to buy me a novel by Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  I didn't know much about the author, but I knew it was crime fiction (my favorite genre) and the title had me hooked from the start.  I finished the 465 pages in just under a week (what took me so long???).....it was riveting material.  The story is actually a trillogy so I went immediately (did not pass "GO") to Barnes and Nobles and bought The Girl Who Played with Fire and I have preordered, through Amazon, the final in the series The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  One of the two main characters is a grown-up version of Pippi Longstocking (actually Larsson based his creation on the idea of Pippi as an adult....a girl with ADD and very much on the fringe)....Lisbeth Salander is the hero that I have been waiting for all my life.  Very strange, introverted and ready to kick some....well you know the rest.  But, she is also desperately searching for something.....maybe love and acceptance....or maybe not...hmmmmm.  Mikael Blomkvist is the protagonist that is the yin to her yang.  Along with Larsson's eccentric characters frought with indiosyncracies, the story also grabs you and slaps you awake.....one that you can't put down.....I promise.....go out and get your copy today!!!

As a side note, these books were published posthumously (to my deep regret) because Stieg Larsson passed away in 2004 (heart attack in his early 50's).  They were first published in Sweden and then translated into English by Reg Keeland.  The reading is interresting, beyond the crime mystery, because the first novel is set in Sweden and allows the reader a great understanding of the political climate, the culture and the geographic terrain.  For those of you that believe in the mysteries of life, the prologue mentions Pensacola, FL just briefly (my hometown) and then never returns to the states......dodododododododo....

Smoothie "Cool"

Dare I say it?  Is the sun actually trying to wrest winter away from the earth?  I sure hope so....  In honor of some warmer days, I include, today, my favorite way to get my day started....

Fruit and Yogurt Smoothie (recipe for 2, cut in half if for 1)

1 banana
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup frozen mixed fruit (don't let it thaw before mixing)
2 tbsp wheat germ (available in the cereal section of your grocery store--this is a high powered good for you food!!!)
1 tsp honey (use a local honey from your local farmer's market....not the grocery store brand--I promise eating the local honey will help your allergies)

Then use an immersion blender (preferred method, but it would work in a blender as well.  It will become thick and frothy and oh, what goodness!!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Hot Finds

I have the bad head today (stuffy, coughing, sneezing....well you know the drill) and I can't rest because my head is about to explode so nothing else to do but explore the net.  I recommend a visit to http://foodzie.com/ to check out hard-to-find gourmet food stuffs....vinegars, olive oil, cheeses....well you name it, they have it.  The neat trick is that you can order anything you want, as much as you want for a flat rate shipping fee of $7.00 AND free shipping for orders of $100 or more (easy to do when you are caught up in a frenzy of foodie delights).  Don't wait until you too are home sick with the creeping crud....visit the site today!

Sweet Valentine's Treat

I am a bit tardy in posting my Valentine's Day treat, but if you will indulge my story and enjoy my suggestion for an excellent weekend adventure.  Spur of the moment, we decided to spend the weekend in one of our fave places....Destin, FL.  Courtesy of a few Marriott rewards, we stayed in San Destin at the Courtyard Sat and Sun.  I highly suggest getting away for a few days with your Valentine.  We explored (Seaside), shopped (Outlets), listened to music (Brass Jazz Band at Stinky's fish camp....better than it sounds), ate some excellent food (again, Stinky's fish camp and although I am not a chain restaurant fan, the food was great at P.F Changs) and watched the smallest Mardi Gras Parade ever....

Enjoy....

"Smokin" HOT Easy Post Work Edibles

Always in search of GOOD food that falls into my definition of gourmet (my very loose interpretation is food that is not a prepackaged mix of any kind--ban all hamburger helpers--and tasty, not thrown together just to shovel into one's mouth in order to satisfy hunger), I searched the other day through my bag of tricks (recipes cut out from various magazines, etc...that I have stored i.e. shoved in a drawer for perusal someday) and found what appeared to be a tasty pasta recipe involving artichokes and chopped tomatoes.  After a few tweaks (I tweak everything), I found it to be a worthy (quick) week night meal.

I must give props to the author although I have no idea which magazine that I tore the page from.....

Recipe adapted from Heather Hayes.

Artichoke and Tomato Penne (serves 4....or 2 very hungry folks)

1lb penne pasta
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 medium onion (finely chopped....I recommend food processor)
2 6 oz. jars marinated artichoke hearts drained and finely chopped (again....get that food processor out or chop, chop, chop by hand)
2 14 1/2 oz fire roasted tomatoes with garlic (do not drain)
1 tbsp italian seasoning (or a mixture of oregano and basil)
pinch of red pepper flakes (adjust for heat....a little goes a long way folks)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions (al dente)

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil on medium to low heat and add onions and garlic (saute about 3 minutes).  Add artichokes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add tomatoes and juice and cook 5 minutes while stirring.  Remove from heat and add italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.  Stir in cooked pasta and serve immediately.  Top each serving with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Hint:  next time, I might saute a few shrimp in olive oil, fresh garlic and a little basil and add to the past.

Include a BIG salad, garlic bread and enjoy....I might also add that a glass of Wente Shorthorn Canyon Syrah complements the meal well....

By the way, the salad is a mixture of greens, strawberries, mandarin oranges, goat cheese and chopped glazed walnuts....topped with a raspberry balsamic vinagrette (recipe provided in earlier posts).  This is really, really....REALLY good....now ENJOY!!!

Cool Views out the Front Windshield

So....my husband and I went to the cheese farm this weekend....yes, THE CHEESE FARM.  Where the heck is the cheese farm....where else, but Elberta, AL.  A place that if you blink, you miss your turn.  Really....our mission was to find some decent seafood and a cold beer--I wanted to check out a place in Magnolia Springs, AL (another spot that if you blink....no actually sneeze, you will miss it) called Jesse's (check out the website http://www.jessesrestaurant.com/).  So actually the cheese farm was simply ON THE WAY.

A quick turn off of hwy. 98 takes us down a long road, past a gaggle (I know cows don't form a gaggle, but trust me, this was a gaggle) of cows and another turn down a dirt road to THE CHEESE FARM (hence the picture).

 

Such a busy little place....only open on Fri and Sat 10-5.  We head to the front door of a tiny, one room general store.....open the door and ahhhhhh the smell of fresh cheese (not a good smell....trust me), but soon the smell dissipates and we are faced with 30 - 40 different kinds of cheese (all local, home grown goodness).  The proprieters will let you sample and taste anything you like (I asked my husband what they would do if we just stopped in and tried everything then said thanks and left.....probably not cool). 

I made my choices and pulled out my AMEX, but of course, cash or check only.  The conversations going on between the owners and the other guests can only be described like the Alec Baldwin skit from Saturday Night Live (Schwetty Balls....catch the rerun sometime).  I felt like I was in some small town in Vermont rather than in the middle of nowhere in S. Alabama (but totally worth the experience).

Clutching my little brown sack, full of the best the cheese farm has to offer, we head out to find that cold beer.  We drive about 30 minutes further West on Hwy. 98 and pass the one road to anywhere in Magnolia Springs (the road to Magnolia River, where mail is still delivered by boat--only place in the U.S.).  After a quick u-turn, we find our pot of gold (or mug of golden barley hops) at a place called Jesse's.

A couple of Stellas (in cold, frosty mugs) and one hamburger, one grilled tuna sandwich AND the best homemade onion rings ever.....

Then....we explored the area a little more....beautiful ancient oaks and old Southern shotgun style houses....

What did you see through your windshield this weekend?

Hot Shrimp....Cool Salad

When is a salad cool (AND I don't mean the temperature)?  Throw on a few cajun grilled shrimp, sliced California Haas avacados and a few cukes for good measure....Oh and, by the way, dress it up with an avacado ranch dressing--yes....you have a COOL salad for 2....

Recipe courtesy of Danyell....

2 plates of mixed greens (amount your choice)
1/2 avacado chopped
1 cucumber chopped
2-3 green onions chopped

Divide everything among two salad plates

3/4 lb peeled raw shrimp
cajun seasoning (anything you have on hand....)
olive oil

spray or pour a small amount of olive oil on shrimp and dust with cajun seasoning.  Heat small (about 1 tbsp.) olive oil in large grill pan (or cast iron skillet OR you can skewer the shrimp and do on the barbie).  On medium heat, place the shrimp in grill pan (turn after 3 minutes and grill on the other side for approx. 3 minutes).  Pull the shrimp off the heat immediately and let cool slightly then divide up and place on top of the salad.  Top with avacado ranch dressing.

Avacado Ranch Dressing

1 1/2 tbsp. Ranch Seasoning
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup milk (fat free fine)
1/2 avacado

Mix in food processor and let chill in fridge for hour or two.

Enjoy!!!

Feed Your Soul

Today, feed your soul....check out your local NPR station.  Just go down low enough on your dial until you hear the melodic, dulcent tones of an interviewer talking with Salman Rushdie OR giving extended coverage to some normally unknown world plight OR playing tunes that you normally only hear in the dusty, murky depths of a hole in the wall jazz club somewhere in the city....explore funk, soul or rock and roll, you can find it all on NPR http://wuwf.org/radiotv/wcx.shtml

Sublime Eats

Scamp, crushed pecans, a touch of olive oil, and a sublime beurre blanc sauce....may I use the word orgasmic?  In celebration of the Grammy awards last Sunday, I prepared sustinence for two that escapes adequate explanation except to say that I give thanks to the Gods for this Gulf of Mexico seafood that generously bestows upon us meals that may be fit for Kings and Queens, but soon to be consumed by us commoners.  This bounty requires some extra effort, but well worth your time and tastebuds:

Start with a Goat Cheese and Mandarin Orange Salad w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette

approx. cup or two of mixed greens for two
5-6 slices of mandarin oranges on each
1-2 tbsp. chopped glazed walnuts
2-3 tbsp. goat cheese crumbles

Raspberry Vinaigrette (Recipe adapted from Bobby Flay's Grilling For Life)

1 small shallot
1/4 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Mix all ingredients in food processor or bowl with wisk.  Slowly add oil until emulsified.

Next, the entree....Pecan-Crusted Scamp (adapted from ESP Pensacola's Fiesta Seafood Cookbook)
2 cups milk
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup crushed pecans
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
4 (8 oz) scamp fillets (or grouper)
1/4 cup olive oil
splash of white wine

Whisk milk and eggs in bowl.  Mix the flour and next 5 ingredients in a shallow dish.  Dust the fillets with the flour mixture then dip in the egg mixture.  Repeat the process for double breading.

Heat the olive oil in large oven proof saute pan (cast iron is excellent) and add the fillets (medium heat) for 3-4 minute per side or until golden brown.  Drizzle with splash of wine. Bake at 400 degree oven for 4 minutes.

Serve over smashed sweet potatoes drizzed with honey.  Optional:  spoon small amounts of beurre blanc sauce over top of fish and sweet potatoes.

Serve with crusty whole-wheat italian bread and a glass (or two) of quality chardonnay (suggestion--Chalk Hill Chardonnay--pricey, but worth every drop....). 

Enjoy....

A Superb Treat

Check out Melody Gardot:  http://www.myspace.com/melody Music that touches your heart.  Maybe her long journey from the brink of death has inspired a different kind of cool.  A cool that eminates from her soul because music saved her.  In short, after a motorist, running a red light, slammed into her while she crossed an intersection on her bicycle, Melody, faced with a long road to recovery (a recovery that continues today as she has constant pain and walks with a cane....a very cool cane), turned to music to trigger the part of her brain that would help her recover her thoughts, memories from before her accident.  Melody is HOT and so very cool.....Her music inspires--I hope that she inspires you today to enjoy something new, cool, hot or sublime.....