Seafood Lunch

Yesterday was our first meal served by the culinary class at school. Its called menu day when they make a 6 course menu and serve it to classmates as though your in a restaurant. PRETTY awesome. The food was amazing! I really thought i was in a restaurant. Though, there was one plate i didnt care for too much and it was the Scungili Salad which is conch meat. Its tough and rubbery. It was the only plate i didnt like everything else was pretty good. I forgot to take a picture of the first plate because i was so eager to eat it but it looked beautiful. The first course was served on a spoon so it was intended to eat all in one shot and it made so much sense. The combination of flavors went so well together that if you ate them separately it wouldnt have tasted quite the same.

I thought the meal that they pulled off was definitely something that was finessed and it got me really excited at the thought of it being my turn to do the same thing! ENJOY THE PICTURES!

^ this was incredible!

School!

I'm super excited! School seems like its going to breeze by. I'm going to be posting tons of pictures and a ton of info almost everyday. My at home cooking will happen here and there but im trying really hard not to become a house! Next step is joining a gym! See ya back here real soon :)

Gnocchi with Wild Mushroom Ragu

Last night i made Gnocchi. Its like a soft little pillow of yums! Its texture is so soft and its not a texture that any other food really has. Its pretty unique and its not hard to make at all. I made mine from scratch.

I got this recipe from the Food Network Magazine: August 2010. The magazine supplies you with pictures on how to make it -- heres the link. Its alot tastier to make your own fresh because sometimes frozen dough can taste a little gross when it sits for a while.

The sauce was insanely delicious. Had such a good flavor. I want to try to make it with maybe ground beef and add regular pasta to it. Its a really hearty sauce. DELISH!

Heres the recipe for the sauce and what you'll need for the gnocchi.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 pounds wild mushrooms, stemmed and diced if large
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup canned whole San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh gnocchi (4 russet potatoes, 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1 large egg, salt and pepper to taste, 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour)
• Mascarpone and/or fresh mint, for topping

Preparations:

Use the simple, step-by-step instructions for making homemade gnocchi.

Heat half of the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add half of the wild mushrooms and cook until golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then push to the edges of the pot. Add the remaining olive oil and wild mushrooms and cook 3 to 5 more minutes. Add the cremini mushrooms and cook 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes. Add the wine; cook, scraping up any browned bits, about 2 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, 2 cups water, the bay leaves, coriander, fennel, red pepper flakes, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium heat, about 30 minutes (thin with water if needed). Season with salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi, stir and cook for 1 minute after they float, about 3 minutes total. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the pot with the sauce and gently stir over low heat. Serve topped with mascarpone and/or mint.

So since fall is here, its time to make warm and comforting food. This recipe is a great start!

Its pumpkin season so look forward to a few recipes including them. Not going to be cooking this week; ran a little low on funds again! I will be back around the first week of October or so.

Enjoy!!

Sushi + Avocado Egg Rolls

I have grown a love for sushi ever since i was in high school and ive always wanted to take that scary risk of making it at home myself. So when my Food Network Magazine had a recipe on the HOW TO's for sushi, i decided i wanted to try it finally.

The recipe was for vegetable rolls but my favorite rolls are Philadelphia rolls and California. So i choose to do those 2. Its a little harder than i thought. Yes, in essence its just doing a roll, but the seaweed is so delicate that too much sticky rice can tear the seaweed very easily and in turn making your sushi roll well, not a roll. I had this happen with one of my Philadelphia rolls; a Philly roll is with the seaweed on the outside so that means the amount of sticky rice you put inside has to be a small and thin amount. I did the opposite and it tore my seaweed and ruined my roll. Failure #1. Failure#2 was when i was making my California rolls (rice on outside) i packed on TOO much rice again and the rice didnt adhere to the seaweed and it completely fell apart.

Lesson learned: NOT ALOT OF RICE ON INSIDE OR OUT.

Its a little hard to explain how to make a roll in words. Videos on YOUTUBE and other sources online like pictures of step-by-step's are what helped me get started.

Ingredients

Philadelphia and California Rolls:

*Proportioned to amount of rolls your going to be making: usually each roll gives about 6 pieces

• Nori sheets
• Crab meat
• Mayonnaise
• Smoked salmon
• Cream cheese
• Cucumbers
• Avocado
• Red onions

For the rice:

• 3 cups short-grain Japanese rice, rinsed
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Salt

Preparations: (Rice)

Make the rice. Combine the rice and 3 1/4 cups water in a rice cooker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. A rice cooker is the best way to get perfect sticky-firm rice, but if you don't have one, just use a saucepan.

Fold in the vinegar. Combine the vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer the cooked rice to a large wooden bowl (traditionally, a wooden tub). Drizzle a quarter of the vinegar mixture over a wooden spoon or spatula onto the rice. Fold the rice gently with the spoon to cool it and break up any clumps; be careful not to smash the grains. Fold in the remaining vinegar mixture and let the rice sit 5 minutes.

Like i said you can always find videos online on how to make the rolls themselves. Since i got the recipe from the magazine, i had the pictures to help along the way.

So out of the 5 rolls i made i only managed to salvage 2. But it was a good first attempt. Bobby made one and i made the other.

On to the next dish....

I love the avocado eggrolls at the Cheesecake Factory. The first time i had them i was immediately hooked and that sauce, its so amazing and different. I never had something like it before. Its sweet and a little spicy but its not a typical sauce. You really have to try it.

I googled the recipe for a COPY CAT version of it and i must say its pretty spot on. I got the recipe from HERE. It doesnt give a way on how to cook the eggrolls but i followed the directions on the back of the package of egg roll wrappers and they came out perfect.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 2 green onions
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon tamarind pulp
• 1/2 cup honey
• A pinch of powdered turmeric
• 1/2 a cup of chopped cashews
• 2/3 cup fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves

For the filling:

• 1 tablespoon minced red onions
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• Pinch of salt
• 3 egg roll wraps
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, & diced
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped

Preparations:

Stir together vinegars, tamarind, honey, and turmeric in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute.

Stir until tamarind is dissolved.

In a blender, puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin.

Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in oil.

Set aside.

Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, and salt.

Distribute filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper.

Follow directions on back of package on how to fill correctly and cook.

Serve with sauce.

You wont be disappointed. I must warn you though, EXTREMELY addictive! The sauce pairs so well with avocados and the sweetness isnt overbearing at all. Such a good recipe and great appetizer... ENJOY as always....

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Warm soft chocolaty cookies! LOVE!

Bobby, my mom AND my dad are peanut butter fanatics! So i decided to make this yummy treat especially for them.

Bobby got me this book for our anniversary called The Golden Book of CHOCOLATE; its literally like 700 pages and its truly a chocolate bible. Everything in this book has chocolate incorporated in the recipe some how. Ive been thinking on making every recipe in this book but i think way too highly about being healthy and not being an obese lady; even though the process may be amazing the end result wont be something to look forward to. So much to my dismay, ill make them a little at a time and probably not every single one.

This recipe makes a batch of about 16 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter; softened
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 4 oz semisweet (dark) chocolate; coarsely chopped

Preparations:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Butter a baking sheet.

Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until creamy.

Beat in the peanut butter.

Add the vanilla and egg to the wet mixture just until blended.

With the mixer on low speed, add in dry mixture a little at a time, followed by the chocolate.

Shape into small balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake until just golden at the edges, 10-12 minutes.

Cool on baking sheet till cookies firm slightly, about 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies came out so delicious. So soft and peanut buttery, a new favorite type of cookie. The raw sugar creates like a crunchiness but not a hard crunch just a little texture. It was really good. Perfect cookie for a tall glass of milk.. Enjoy!