pasta with mussels & clams

1/2 a box of pasta shells

2 bunches broccoli

1 package grape tomatoes, roasted

2 lbs mussels

1 dozen littleneck clams

1 c. white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)

garlic

red pepper flakes

Roast the tomatoes: toss a pint of grape tomatoes with olive oil & coarse salt, and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet. Add some stalks of fresh thyme if you have it. Bake in a 450-degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Set aside when done.

Cook pasta in well-salted water. About 5 minutes before the pasta is done, add the broccoli to the pot.

While pasta is cooking, heat a pan with a couple of TBSP olive oil, sliced garlic & red pepper flakes, until fragrant. Add the mussels & clams, and 1 cup white wine. Cover and cook until the shells open (about 5 minutes). Keep an eye on them, because you don't want to overcook them (they're done as soon as they open).

Drain the pasta & broccoli, add to the mussels & clams, and toss. Top with the roasted tomatoes (they'll get crushed if you add them pre-tossing). Season with salt & pepper. Keep in mind that the broth will probably be pretty salty already, so taste before you season.

(made enough to stuff 3 people and have leftovers)

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This was my first time cooking mussels & clams myself, because I always felt intimidated by it (worried about food safety issues). The key is making sure they stay alive until you cook them. Turns out, it's very easy to tell:

Before cooking: discard any whose shells are open or do not shut when you tap on them.

After cooking: discard any that do NOT open.

Recipe based on watching Giada De Laurentiis.

potato rosemary pizza

Whole wheat pizza crust topped with paper-thin slices of red potato, rosemary, olive oil, salt & pepper. Finished off with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction.

plum galette

Recipe here.

garlic-basil chicken

I make variations on this dish often, and while I don't really have a specific recipe, this is my general method:

-Heat a pan on med-hi and add olive oil.

-Season both sides of cutlet (chicken, pork, beef, etc) with salt & pepper, and sautée until done (thin cutlets will only need a couple of minutes per side).

-Remove meat to a plate, drain any excess oil out of the pan, and add some kind of acid (wine, citrus juice, etc) to deglaze the pan. Maybe add in a splash of chicken stock as well.

-Add thinly-sliced or minced aromatic (garlic, onion, shallot, etc), turn down heat a bit, and let the liquid reduce most of the way.

-Turn off heat, add in a pat of butter and some fresh herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, etc), and maybe a little squeeze of lemon juice.

-Add meat back into the pan, and turn to coat in the sauce. Done!

Use whatever ingredients you like or have on hand. Some possibilities:
-chicken+white wine+garlic+basil (as seen here)
-pork+white wine+onion+lemon+parsley
-beef+red wine+shallot+rosemary

mozzarella-basil salad with herb-crusted salami

blueberry ginger pie

Recipe from Everyday Food magazine.

breakfast sausages

in a pool of maple syrup



(I was at a diner eating this—with waffles, not pictured—while my bf was doing a triathlon... is that wrong?)

gazpacho

When I think summer, I think gazpacho.

There are tons of gazpacho recipes out there, but I chose this one from Anne Burrell, because I was intrigued by her incorporation of bread (an ingredient that never would have occurred to me). I think the bread added a wonderful body to the soup, so it feels like you're eating something substantial (gazpacho can sometimes tend to be a bit watery). If you're looking for a good gazpacho recipe, I highly recommend Anne's.

french toast

dinner at sandra's

A glorious July 4th meal prepared by my friend Sandra...

Shrimp with hot peppers:


Baked asparagus with oil & balsamic:


Roasted fennel:


My contribution—Crostini with nectarine, goat cheese, scallion & jalapeno:
(is it just me, or does it look happy?)


Homemade pesto:


Fried zucchini:


Manchego with the chorizo, before it was cooked:


Chorizo and onions sautéed in red wine:


(don't worry, lonely chorizo, I will eat you.)


Biscotti and raspberries, with a raspberry lambic:



Thank you, Sandra!
As much as I love to cook, sometimes it's nice to just be the eater :-)

potato-crusted tilapia with chives and rosemary

I used this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.
(the recipe calls for purple potatoes, but I just used regular yukon gold)

chorizo & fried bananas

the chorizo: sliced & sautéed in a little oil, until edges are crispy.

the banana: sliced, dipped in egg wash (1 egg + 1 TBSP water), dredged in panko, seasoned with a little salt, and sautéed in oil until crispy.

soft pretzels

I used this recipe from Bobby Flay.

amaretto-cherry ice cream

A bowl of cherries splashed with amaretto liqueur makes a fine dessert. But it's even better when served over vanilla ice cream. In this case, it's nice to transform the amaretto into a syrup. Just boil the amaretto in a saucepan on the stove, until it reduces to a syrup-y consistency (cool for a few minutes so it doesn't melt the ice cream upon impact).

paris revisited

Feeling wistful for my incredible Paris trip in May '07, so I pulled some photos from the archives...

les escargots (very garlicky)...


a wonderful steak, saignant (cooked very rare)...


croque-monsieur (toasted ham & cheese with melted cheese on top)...


and one of my favorite meals: picking up various food items from the markets, and assembling them into a meal in the hotel room, looking out the terrace...