Crab Cakes - It's what's for lunch

Happy New Year!

It's been awhile, huh?  Almost 5 months to be exactly.  I kept up cooking a posting a bit longer over at No ReEATS, but not much I'm sad to say.

Working for three people on a movie completely consumed the bulk of my time this past fall.  The craziness of the job, a few quick weekend visits back to Boston, and buying our first house kinda put a damper on my desire to cook and even made me too tired to seek out new restaurants.

Sad, right?

Seared Scallops with Bacon Braised Chard

The fabulous Domestic Diva is back with another of her healthy farm to table recipes. I spent quite a bit of time with her last week between our time at Camp Blogaway and hitting some fab restaurants while I was in LA, it was a foodie and food blogger's dream. Don't forget to check out her blog Domestic Divas and her articles on West Hollywood Patch after you drool over this recipe.

Braising anything with bacon just sounds sinful, doesn't it?

Even something disgustingly healthy like chard.

However, we all need a little bacon in our lives from time to time. Otherwise it's like going through life with lumps of coal in your stocking and sugar-free, fat free ice cream in your freezer.

I'm shuddering right now as I type this, and you're probably shaking your fist angrily at the sky and shouting, "They make sugar-free, fat-free ice cream? What kind of world are we living in!" A Skinny Cow world, but I digress with my existential bacon musings...

Salmon with Beans & Pesto

I have always enjoyed fish.  I love sushi and am a huge fan of steamed lobster, but honestly fish is something I haven't cooked all that much.  Growing up my mom would try pretty hard to keep us from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, we lived off of the fisherman's platters at our local restaurant.  Plus growing up in New England there is a bevy of delicious, fresh and cheap fish options.  I actually can't say why I never went out of my way to cook it myself, especially since I do cook a whole lot (in case you hadn't already figured that out). Maybe it's because the Boy is a meatatarian, a term coined by Wendy's commercials, maybe it's because I just don't have too much confidence in cooking it.  Who knows?

Since committing myself to a year of No ReEATING I've been trying to tackle those things that I never cooked very much before.  And as you already know fish is one of those things.  Luckily my meatatarian  hubs is on board with my trying to work more fish into our diet.  It's so good for you and adds so many options for dinners, something that's especially necessary this year.  As I was thumbing through one of my new favorite cookbooks, Jamie's Food Revolution I happened upon the chapter for quick cooking meat and fish.  Now don't get me wrong I love a good slow cooked pork shoulder or some short ribs, delicious, rich and homey it doesn't get much better.  But I just don't have the time to always cook that way, nor is it good for my waistline.  So quick cooking sounded good to me and so did fish since we hadn't had it in a few weeks.  I figure if anyone can help build my confidence with cooking fish it's Jamie Oliver, the king of teaching everyone to cook.  This recipe for salmon baked in foil with pesto jumped out since I love pesto on just about anything and I knew I had it in the fridge.  Plus cooking in any kind of a pouch is a win in my book since it means an easy clean-up.  This recipe took it one step further by cooking the beans along with it, making for an easy one pouch meal.

Almost Famous Chef Competition & a Valentine's Day Recipe

Shots of the chef's cooking the Calphalon Kitchen

Early this week I attending the judging and tasting of San Pellgrino's Almost Famous Chef Regional Canada Competition at the Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.  The Almost Famous Chef Competition started nine years ago and gives culinary students all over the US and Canada the chance to compete and be judged by nationally renowned chefs at the final competition in Napa in March.   I brought Carole from The Yum Yum Factor and No reEATS with me and while neither of us really knew what to expect, but were excited to go.

After arrival and check in, we heading down to the reception to check our coats and were immediately handed a glass of bubbly.  Anyone who knows me knows that this is an instant way to win me over, I love champagne, cava, prosecco...if it's sparkling I generally like it.  So I was a happy girl. As members of the press we were then whisked up to the kitchen where some of the students were still cooking their dishes (they have staggered start times and 2 hours to prepare their dish for the 8 judges). To say that this kitchen was gorgeous is an understatement.  I don't know about Carole, but I was green with envy at the racks of beautiful pots and pans, the spotless counters and gorgeous appliances, it was perfect.  Once I got done ogling the kitchen, I watched the cooking.  I have never been in a competitive kitchen like this before and you could absolutely cut the tension with a knife.  That being said the chef students were very calm, periodically checking their time and moving through their respective dishes.   We hung out a little, watched them work and took some photos before heading back down to hear some of the dish presentations and taste the food.

Restaurant Review: Evelyn's Nanaquaket Drive-In

 On this last day of summer I'm trying to hang onto the amazing summer I just had.  From the weather that made up for last year, to my amazing wedding and subsequent honeymoon, I'm just not ready to let go.  I can't think of something that exemplifies summer, and specifically this summer,  more than eating scrumptious whole belly fried clams along the water.  So I decided on this last day of summer I would celebrate the food of summer by sharing a review of one of my favorite meals of the season.

Growing up in New England I have a serious appreciation for seafood.  Super fresh and local seafood is so delicious and accessible that summer is filled with clam bakes, lobstah rolls and fried clams.  Since I moved from New England 5 years ago I've desperately missed this classic summer fare.  Getting married and spending 5 days in Newport, RI gave me the chance to gorge myself on all of it.  From a lobstah roll at the Barking Crab to our rehearsal dinner clambake at the Hyatt Regency I was on a roll.  I just need to fill my fried clam craving.  Lucky for me the week before we headed south for the wedding, the boy's favorite show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives aired an episode that featured a clam shack in Tiverton, RI a mere hop skip and a jump from Newport.  It was a no brainer, hitting up a one of Guy Fieri's faves is always on the boy's agenda and me getting my fried clam fill, everyone was happy.

Daring Cooks: Cod, traditional flavors powdered

Last month I joined the group Daring Cooks, one of the groups from the Daring Kitchen which also includes the Daring Bakers. I joined because many of my favorite bloggers also cook and bake along and because I was looking to challenge my ways of cooking a bit more with harder recipes and hopefully new techniques. Well I got more than I bargained for with this first challenge! For my first Daring Cooks challenge, our host Sketchy chose a recipe from Grant Achatz Alinea cookbook. Now for those of you that don't know who Grant Achatz is he is a chef that specializes in molecular gastronomy. Now what is molecular gastronomy? I personally didn't know much about it until a few years ago, so I went to good ole wikipedia for a definition:

Molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline involving the study of physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking.^[3] It pertains to the mechanisms behind the transformation of ingredients in cooking and the social, artistic and technical components of culinary and gastronomic phenomena in general (from a scientific point of view).

On of the more well-known techniques used in molecular gastronomy is spherefication, where something like olive juice is taken and formed into olive like spheres that burst when placed in your mouth. I know these olives are on the menu at the Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in LA, a place I've been wanting to visit on my next trip home.

On to the recipe, my thoughts on making and eating will follow.


Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - I used cod as it was a substitution allowed if you could not find skate
from Grant Achatz Alinea Cookbook

• 4 skate wings
• * Beurre monte
• * 300g fresh green beans
• sea salt/kosher salt
• 1 banana
• 454g butter - 4 sticks
• 300g lemons
• 5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet
• 150g cilantro
• 150g parsley
• 100g dried banana chips
• 300g spray dried cream powder (or powdered milk)
• 100g cup minced red onion
• 200g capers (brined, not oil)

* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Powders - prepare ahead of time
caper / onion
lemon powder
cilantro/parsley powder
'brown butter' powder

Powders
once dried, all powders should be pulsed in a coffee grinder/spice mill/morter and pestle then passed through a chinois or fine mesh strainer.

citrus powder
300g lemons
1000g simple syrup
5g citric acid/vitamin c tablet

zest 300g of lemons (10.6 oz), remove the pith from the zest and poach in the simple syrup three times. dry with paper towels and move to a dehydrating tray. 130 for 12 hours. pulse the zest in a coffee grinder, pass through chinois, and mix with citric acid/vitamin C powder.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 8 to 10 minutes at medium powder. Once dried, follow the other instructions.

cilantro/parsley powder
150g cilantro
150g parsley

blanch the parsley in boiling saltwater for 1 second, submerge the leaves in ice water for 3 minutes. Dry on paper towels and place on dehydrator tray. 130 for 12 hours. grind and pass through chinois.

If you do not have a dehydrator, place in microwave for 30 seconds, turn over leaves and microwave for another thirty seconds. They should be dry by now, pulse in coffee grinder, pass through chinois and reserve.

onion powder
100g cup minced red onions

dehydrator - 130 for 12 hours
microwave at medium power for 20 minutes.

pulse in grinder, pass through chinois

Caper powder
200g capers (get the ones packed in brine/vinegar)

run the capers under cold water for two minutes to remove some of the brine.
dry on paper towels and dehydrate for 12 hours at 130 degrees.
microwave instructions are unclear. Dry them as much a possible with paper towels, the microwave on medium for 1 minute. Check the moisture content and stir them. repeat for 30 second intervals until they are dry. If you use this method, pleas post the time needed to dry the capers.

Once dry, pulse and sift the powder. Mix it with the onion powder.

Brown Butter powder

100g Dried banana chips (unsweetened if possible - many are coated in honey - the freeze dried ones would be brilliant)
300g spray dried cream powder

If you cannot find the cream powder, you can substitute Bob's red mill non fat dry milk powder, or even carnation instant milk powder. The substitutions will alter the flavor a little, but you will still get the general idea.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees, sift the cream powder into a fine layer on a silpat or on parchment. bake for 4 minutes, then remove for heat. If it bakes for too long, it will burn. Be very cautious with all powders in the oven. They all go from browned to burnt in a few seconds.

grind the banana chips in a coffee grinder and mix with the toasted cream powder. Pass this through a chinois and reserve.

---

* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

Skate
Prepare the skate - 50G v shaped cuts are recommended
Bring 100g water, 100g beurre monte, and green bean rounds to a boil over high heat. Cook until the water has evaporated (about 3 minutes), when the pan is almost dry, remove it from heat and season with 3g salt

bring 300g water and 300g beurre monte to simmer over medium heat, add skate wings and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and flip the wing over and let rest in pan for two more minutes. Transfer to warming tray lined with parchment and season with 5 grams of fine sea salt.

Plating

Take the tip of a small spoon and make a small mound of the citrus powder, the onion-caper powder, and the cilantro parsley-powder. Swirl these around in a hurricane type pattern. I found that it is easier, and you get finer lines if you lightly shake the plate to flatten out the mounds, then swirl the spoon through it to get the pattern.

Peel the banana into very thick slices (3mm) fan three slices on the plate, place green beans on top and place skate wing portion on top. On the tall edge, sprinkle the brown butter powder.

My first thought when going through the process of this meal was I now know why restaurants that specialize in molecular cuisine are on pricier end of restaurants. It's very time consuming. Drying everything for the powders in the over was a real test in patience for, someone who always burns bread in the oven. As it was I burned the red onions twice, so I decided to forgoe that powder because it just seemed cursed for me. I generally work best with set cooking times and with the powders there weren't any. That was tough. Making the buerre monte was tougher than I had first anticipated, I felt like I was hand whipping a buttercream icing. But this was a challenge and I love that I was challenged, I loved even more that I felt like I really accomplished something when it was all said and done something I NEVER would have tried before.

This dish is very interesting, the powders really make what is otherwise a very mild flavored fish sing. Both the boy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I truly had no idea what to expect from this first Daring Cook experience and it's funny I went through a whole range of emotions from the reveal of the recipe to posting about it now. It started with straight up fear and then being so overwhelmed I procrastinated making it until this past weekend to complete and total frustration to exhaustion and finally to accomplishment. I doubt I will cook anything like this anytime soon, but it has made me want to dine at a molecular cuisine restaurant even more. My wish list is ever growing Alinea, The Bazaar, WD-50, The French Laundry and Colborne Lane at the top right now. With Colborne Lane and The Bazaar being the likely ones I'll visit first, since the former is in Toronto and the latter is in LA tow of my home cities.

Please head on over to the The Daring Cooks Blogroll to check out everyone elses attempts. And please please post here to let me know if you have tried any of this cooking, I'd love to hear how it went. Enjoy!

Mussels with White Wine Fennel Sauce & Blue Cheese

Mussels are almost a religion in my family. I've been eating them for as long as I can remember. When I was in Brussels for 1 day 10 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long) I knew I had to get mussels and frites. Any time I am at a French bistro it takes all I have to not always order mussels and frites, as they are on any decent bistro's menu.

Last Friday the boy and I went to Tati Bistro and adorable French Bistro in the West End of Toronto, that a friend of his owns. They had mussels & frites on the menu and I surprisingly resisted and had a fabulous meal of beef carpaccio and black cod. As we loved the place I'm sure I will be back to sit at the bar, eat mussels and frites with a delicious glass of the Chateau d'Angeles rose. Seriously check out Tati if you are in Toronto, the boy's steak frites were amazing, the cheese selection is wonderful and they wine list is solid.

I've now completely gotten of topic. Mussels. I love them. Since I opted not to have them on friday night, I decided to make them at home. What I realized in buying them is that here in Toronto, lovely PEI (that's Prince Edward's island for those not in the know) Mussels are surprisingly inexpensive. We got a bag for $4.99! I think we'll be eating more mussels this summer. IN another twist of fate, it turned out that the Food Network had an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown focusing on mussels and frites. I only caught bits and pieces of the episode but I did see that the hometown favorite and, of course, winner used blue cheese on his mussels. We had blue cheese in the fridge so I decided to incorporate it into the recipe I had come up with

Mussels with White Wine Fennel Sauce & Blue Cheese

3/4 cup chicken stock - it all I had but I'm sure a fish stock would be lovely here too
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 large fennel bulb - sliced
1 Tbsp fennel fronds
1 shallot roughly chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 lbs mussels
175g blue cheese
salt & pepper

1. Go through mussels and remove nay that have cracked shells or are open and don't close when tapped. Remove the beard, the stingy part that sticks out of the shell and then let the mussels sit on cold water for a 5 minutes, stirring everyone in awhile to help get rid of any sand. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and then place in a colander and rinse one more time with cold water.
2. In a large saute pan (one that can comfortably accommodate the mussels) heat olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add in the chopped shallots and cook until translucent. Add in sliced fennel saute for 2 minutes or until just begin to soften.
3. Add chicken stock and simmer for approximately 3 minutes. Remove saute pan from heat and add white wine. Return to heat and let simmer for 3-5 more minutes, until most of the alcohol has burned off.
4. Whisk in remaining 2 Tbsp of butter, salt & pepper and then add in fennel fronds and mussels, cover and steam until all the mussels have opened, another 3-5 minutes.
5. Turn off heat, remove lid from pan, discard any mussels that haven't opened and sprinkle blue cheese crumbles all over mussels. Serve in a large bowl with lots of broth and nice crusty bread.



This was a perfectly easy dinner that is packed with flavor and I loved the way the blue cheese crumbles tasted melted on the mussels and in the broth. It was a really interesting and delicious combination. The fennel added great depth to the sauce and was beautifully tender. I can't wait to make this one again.

Don't forget to enter my Blogoversary contest...Enjoy!

Domestic Diva's Tilapia with Spring Onions & Heirloom Tomato Salad

The lovely Domestic Diva is back to share another fabulous and fresh fish dish with us. I can't wait to try this one! When you are done checking it out don't forget to head on over to her blog for delicious recipes ideas, wine tasting notes and much more. - Jen

The Diva is back on Piccante Dolce! I'm here to bring you one of my favorite, simple summer recipes. This dish is light, refreshing and simple to make and captures the flavors of spring. Tomatoes are just about to come into season, and I managed to score some beautiful, organic heirlooms this week. If you want to transform it for the grill, instead of tilapia, this dish can be made with a steakier fish like Mahi-Mahi or Halibut and instead of oven roasting the spring onions, the foil packet can be thrown on the grill. So with further ado, here's the recipe!

Domestic Diva's Tilapia with Spring Onions & Heirloom Tomato Salad

2 tilapia filets
1/2 cup white wine
1 sprigs tarragon
1 tsp lemon juice
1 heirloom tomato, cut into thin slices
1 bunch spring onions, tips removed
2 tbsp grapeseed or canola oil
1 tbsp good olive oil plus more for drizzling
salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the spring onions on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold them up in the foil and roast them in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until they're tender. Remove from the oven.

Heat the grapeseed oil in a saute pan. Salt and pepper the tilapia filets. Add them to the pan, cooking for a few minutes on each side. Remove from pan. Add the white wine and reduce in half. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, place a bunch of spring onions on the bottom of the plate. Top with a piece of fish. Spoon the white wine reduction over the fish. Layer the tomatoes on top, add a sprig of tarragon, and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Drizzle with some good olive oil. Enjoy!

Domestic Diva's Fennel & Apple Poached Halibut

The Diva here with another fab guest blog for Piccante Dolce! To celebrate spring, I wanted to do cook a recipe with clean, crisp flavors. Halibut, one of my favorite fish, has just come into season. Usually, I grill or saute it, but I decided to do something different this time around. I opted to make a homemade vegetable stock with a fennel and apple base. Then, I poached the halibut in the stock and served the warmed broth with the fish. Poaching is a great way to cook fish - and also very healthy. I added whole wheat noodles and delicately poached cremini mushrooms to the recipe to give it an earthy touch. I topped the fish with fresh drizzled olive oil and julienned granny smith apple. The resulting dish felt like the very epitome of spring! Light, fresh, clean, delicious!

Domestic Diva's Fennel & Apple Poached Halibut (inspired by Charlie Trotter)

2 4oz halibut fillets (salmon also works great)
3 cups homemade vegetable stock (see ingredients and recipe below)
1/4 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 granny smith apple, julienned
1 small fennel bulb, julienned with tops preserved
2 tbsp good olive oil
2 cups whole wheat spaghetti, cooked al dente
salt and pepper

Vegetable Stock:

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1 small fennel bulb, chopped
1 tbsp peppercorns

Directions:

To make the vegetable stock, simmer all of the ingredients in filtered water for at least an hour. Strain and return to stovetop.

Bring the vegetable stock to a simmer. Add the julienned fennel and mushrooms, cooking them in the broth for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Next, add the fish to the broth and poach for a few minutes until cooked through. Remove from the broth and season with salt and pepper.

Finally, season the broth with salt and pepper, keeping it warm.

To plate, place the noodles in the bottom of a wide bottomed bowl. Place some of the mushrooms and julienned fennel around the bowl. Add the fish and then ladle some of the warm poaching liquid around the bowl. Top with the julienned apple and drizzle with good olive oil. Sprinkle some fennel tops around the bowl. Enjoy!

Wine Tasting Notes: Sea Smoke 2005 Southing Pinot Noir

To go with the clean, crisp flavors in this dish, we decided to pair a nice pinor noir from Sea Smoke, one of our favorite California producers. The 2005 pinots have been drinking great these last few months, and this was no exception. This wine, made from grapes grown in the Santa Rita Hills, one of my favorite places to find great pinot noir, had great cherry fruit on the front end, good tannins and nice acidity. I recommend checking out Sea Smoke and getting on their mailing list. Suggested Retail Price: $50

FFT: My Life in France

For this month's Food For Thought Book Club (head on over the The Clean Plate Club if you want to read with us) we read My Life in France by Julia Child. I was really looking forward to digging into the book. But alas the month is over and while I have started, the nuttiness that is work when you are about to start shooting a movie didn't allow for much recreational reading. That being said from the bit I did read, I was totally inspired. There is a passage where Julia talks about her professor, Chef Bugnard, at the Le Cordon Blue and his delicious sole a la normande. I decided to try my own take on it, cutting out the egg yolks and a bunch of the butter and actually not using any recipe just using the flavors she wrote about as inspiration.


While it was pretty tasty it didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, so I'll hold back on the recipe for now. What had inspired me, was Julia how wrote of this dish being virtually transcendent and my sole just didn't have enough flavor. The sauce and mussels were excellent though and I think I'll make some mussels with just this sauce next time. Below is the sauce I made and how I'll serve it next time.


White Wine Steamed Mussels in a Cream sauce

1 cup white wine
approx 30 mussels - enough to fit in one layer in your large saute pan
10 thyme sprigs
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp Herbes de Provence

1. Place the mussels in one layer in a large saute pan. Pour the white wine over top. Tie the thyme sprigs together with kitchen twine and place in the pan. Cover pan, turn heat onto medium high and steam mussels until the open.
2. Uncover pan and carefully remove mussels to a serving bowl. Lower heat to medium low, whisk in butter until melted, then whisk in cream. Add in lemon zest and spices, whisk all together to combine. Add salt & pepper to taste. Pour cream sauce over mussels and serve with crusty bread.

I'm really enjoying this book and will sure finish it, maybe on one of the long plane rides I have coming up. I also really enjoyed these mussels, as the boy comment on how I inhaled mine when we were eating dinner.

Domestic Diva's Corn "Chowder" with Fresh Shucked Oysters and Crispy Bacon

The Domestic Diva coming to you with a guest blog for Jen H.'s divalicious Piccante Dolce! My BDFF Jen H. is the queen of whipping up mouth-watering comfort food, but with a healthy twist! We'll be regularly guesting on each other's blogs, so stay tuned for more great recipes and culinary inspiration!

Who doesn't love things that are piccante and dolce? We all need a little bit of spice and sweetness in our lives, whether it's in the bedroom, or the kitchen! In the spirit of hitting all flavor profiles, I made one of my favorite recipes: Domestic Diva's Corn "Chowder" with Fresh Shucked Oysters & Crispy Bacon. This dish has it all: spice, sweetness, tartness, salt and BACON! Now, I call it a chowder, but the soup is dairy-free, rendering this a healthier dish. The key to this recipe is the way all of the components come together harmoniously to give the soup great depth of flavor, from the sweet corn, to the fresh oysters, to the tart lemon, to the rich, meaty bacon. This soup is hearty enough to be served as a meal unto itself, especially when you pair it with thick sliced, toasted bread and a great salad (see picture above) like I did last night!

A few tips for making this recipe. First, using homemade chicken stock will make a huge difference! For a quick way to make stock, check out my recipe for Domestic Diva's Crock Pot Chicken Stock (click here)! Second, to coax extra corn flavor into the broth, I reserve two of the corn cobs and simmer them in the soup. Third, the fresh oysters are key to this dish! If you're worried about shucking them, usually they'll do it for you at the seafood counter of your local store, but try to preserve the oyster juices. Finally, special kudos goes to my Top Chef Brother for inspiring this soup - his restaurant has the most amazing oysters!! So without further ado, let's get down to business and start cooking!


Domestic Diva's Corn "Chowder" with Fresh Shucked Oysters & Crispy Bacon

2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion - diced
1 garlic clove - chopped
pinch of chili flakes
3 ears of corn kernels removed and two cobs reserved
8 small Yukon gold potatoes - diced
4 cups homemade chicken stock (store bought will work too)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp tarragon - chopped
2 slices bacon
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 oysters - shucked and juices reserved
salt and pepper


To make the soup, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Then, add the garlic and chili flakes, cooking for an additional minute.


Add the corn kernels and potatoes and saute for three more minutes.


Add the corn cobs, stock and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through.


Once the soup is cooked, remove the two corn cobs and salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare the oysters, in a small pot, add the oysters and their reserved juices. Lightly poach the oysters in their own juices over medium heat for a few minutes. Add a dash of lemon juice and then salt and pepper to taste.


To prepare the crispy bacon, throw the two strips down in a frying pan over medium high heat, cooking until crispy. Remove from the pan and place on paper towels to drain the fat.


To plate the dish, ladle some soup into the bottom of a bowl.


Then, add two oysters and some of their juices to the center of the soup.


Crumble crispy bacon on top and sprinkle with tarragon. Finish with a squeeze for fresh lemon juice. Enjoy!




Wine Pairing Notes: Saxum 2006 Broken Stones

Diva Rating: 3 1/2 stars

There's something about a great bottle of wine that makes me salivate! We paired this fabulous wine, a combination of 63% syrah, 24% grenache and 13% mourvedre, with this soup! My boyfriend, Kuzak calls it, "a backwards Rhone," based on the unique blending of grapes. We love Saxum Winery (click here for their website), a superstar Paso Robles winery, and this wine met our every expectation. Full of great fruit (raspberry, blackberry) and plenty of backbone, this opulent wine gave great early on and drank well throughout the night. I gave it a Diva Rating of 3 1/2 stars, a strong score if you know how selective I am about my wine. Broken Stones is a big wine that will no doubt drink well for many years to come! If you've never tried Saxum, seek them out. I promise that you won't be disappointed!

Gotta love some Cajun

In honor of this this season's Top Chef finale taking place in New Orleans and Mardi Gras being yesterday I decided to make my own Cajun-inspired meal. I say Cajun-inspired because neither of these recipes are specifically labeled as Cajun, but for the soup I took into account alot of the spices that are used in Cajun cuisine and the shrimp are just something my family calls Cajun Shrimp and the first time dad made them we had them on our version of Po'Boys. Now in the event that anyone who actually know Cajun cuisine intimately reads this, please know that this is just a Northern Girl's interpretation of what I have learned are Cajun flavors.

Now that that's out of the way, onto the food. I made a slow cooker Black Bean & Corn Soup and Spicy Cajun Shrimp. Because I knew I wanted to incorporate some Cajun flavors I did some research. The most important component in Cajun & Creole cuisine is "the holy trinity" which is onions, bell pepper and celery all chopped up and sauteed in oil or fat. This is the base of many of the traditional dishes and where I decided to start my soup. I also used cayenne and bay leaf because according to the write up on Cajun cuisine on Wikipedia, they are spice commonly used as well

Black Bean & Corn soup

1 lb dry black bean
10 oz frozen corn
2 stalks celery - chopped
1 small white onion - chopped
1 green bell pepper - chopped
6 cups chicken stock - this can also be made in the slow cooker I loosely followed this recipe to make mine)
1 can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
salt & pepper

1. Let beans sit covered in water overnight. In the morning drain beans. Put chopped vegetables at the bottom of slow cooker. Pour drained beans on top and add in frozen corn.
2. In a bowl mix together tomato sauce, salt, pepper & cayenne. Pour onto of vegetables in slow cooker. Add in chicken stock and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hrs.
3. Enjoy topped with chopped scallion and creme fraiche



This soup was one of those throw everything in the slow cooker and see what happens and what happened was very tasty. The broth was amazing! Heat with just the right amout of sweet from the corn. It's definitely a brothy soup, but if you prefer something thicker you can either mash up some of the beans in this recipe or use 1/2 lb of dried black beans and 1 can of refried black beans. You can also tailor the amount of cayenne to your liking. I like spice and this has a nice heat that comes at the end of each bite. If you are sensitive to spice I'd cut pack to 1 tsp or maybe even 1/2 tsp.

Onto a family crowd pleaser Spicy Cajun Shrimp. My dad first made these years ago and they have become a go to in our family ever since.

Spicy Cajun Shrimp

1 lb of shrimp - shelled & deveined
4 cloves garlic - finely minced
1/4 olive oil
1 tsp paprika or Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
2 Tbsp dry sherry or dry white wine (I used dry white wine)
1 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Place the oven rack in the top position, just a few inches from the broiler. Preheat broiler. While preheating place an oven safe skillet or a boiler pan in the oven to heat.
2. While the oven is heating mix together all ingredients. Carefully pour into heated pan and broil for 4-5 minutes until shrimp are pink and golden.
3. Serve with crusty bread and spicy mayo (I mixed some mayonnaise with chipotle puree and a few pinches of sugar)

I love these shrimp they are a great appetizer or great with a meal. Had the soup been thicker I may have even served them on top of the soup and not used the bread or spicy mayo. I did cut back a bit on the red pepper flake, simply because I knew the soup had some heat and I didn't want everything to be really spicy.

The boy gave both dishes a thumbs up which was impressive since I knew going in that he's not a huge black bean fan. It was a nice low-key Mardi Gras inspired feast. Enjoy!

Baked Scallops with Creamy Spicy Sauce

Last night I was craving the Scallop Dynamite Roll from Sushi Mac, an uber cheap sushi joint back in LA. I knew I had to do laundry and pack for my trip back to my parents house for Thanksgiving, so I didn't want to spend too much time trying to find a sushi place near my house that may or may not even have what I was craving. So I did a Google search for "spicy scallop" and found this recipe. I really love how the sauce incorporates both chili sauce and sugar, making this dish the epitome of "Piccante Dolce".