Archive | July, 2009

Fourth of July BBQ

6 Jul

What is the 4th of July without a BBQ?  Luckily, Mike and I were invited to the ‘burbs of Long Island to enjoy some good ol’ grillin’.  It so happened that we were eating Parve Kosher (that means no milk!) so this left me with quite a dilemma with baking.  I had a recipe in mind that I hoped would taste good enough that slight textural changed wouldn’t matter (margarine just doesn’t have the same texture/flavor as butter, and it was quite hard to find a parve margarine!).  It happened that TheGourmetFoodie had sent me her post to the recipe for Amaretto Chocolate Chip Cookies and I do love both amaretto and chocolate chip cookies.  I won’t repost the recipe since it’s right at that link, but even with margarine and soy creamer it was excellent.  I look forward to making them with butter and milk because honestly, it would be hard to make these better.  Cookie monster indeed!

We managed to eat all the cookies before I remembered to photograph, but here is a pic of the lovely spread from Saturday:

The High Line and The Park

5 Jul

The High Line is a very long awaited elevated park that runs along the West side of Manhattan. The story of The High Line goes back over a decade when people saw beauty in a very old elevated railway that was about to be demolished.  It took a lot of education, economic rationalization, and celebrity support to open up a beautiful esplanade-type park west of 10th Ave.  Now anyone that doesn’t know that area, it was a place no one went many years ago.  It has since turned into the very trendy Meat Packing District and South Chelsea with some of the best designers and famous chefs opening in the neighborhood.  I heard a rumor that they couldn’t sell an apartment for $300K (yes, that’s cheap in NYC) on 10th Ave and 13th Street and now they are selling in the millions with access directly to the High Line. 

I’d heard that it was so popular that at times they were only allowing people to walk from South to North (currently Gansevort Street to 20th Street, extending to 30th Street in 2010) and today was one of those days.  Not only could you only walk in one direction, but there was a line to enter. Normally I only do lines in Disney World, and only for the good attractions, but I was willing to wait for this NYC novelty on such a beautiful day and it wound up taking less than 15 minutes.  The park was everything I heard it would be, a beautiful architectural combination of the old rail yard with “wildflowers” overlooking an evolving part of the city.  They did an amazing job of blending the old with the new and I really enjoyed it. 

Upon our exit at 20th Street, I immediately remembered hearing good things about Cookshop (on the corner of 20th Street and 10th Ave) but they weren’t supplying their dinner menu until 5:30 (we were in the market for an early, 4:45 dinner since we hadn’t eaten yet all day).  We walked down the street and stumbled upon The Park and were immediately impressed by the outdoor yet indoor patio, huge expanse of a restaurant, and the menu selection.  I especially like the gnomes we were sat next to.

View out to the street from the patio

View from our seat to the bar inside

The bread we were immediately served, with our red sangria, was moist and delicious with a really nice olive oil.  The sangria at first tasted so-so, but it quickly did the trick and was quite refreshing on a warm day.

Action shot

As a voracious artichoke lover, I went for the steamed artichoke app.  It could have been cooked a little more, and a bit bigger since I can make these babies at home, but the sauce was really great.  It was a Lemon Beurre Blanc and went perfectly with the artichoke.Artichoke

Mike ordered the Yellow Fin Tuna with Eggplant Couscous and Miso Ginger Vinaigrette.  The tuna was cooked well and the couscous decent, but the Miso Ginger Vinaigrete was especially delicious.

Yellow Fin Tuna

I went with the center cut pork chops marinated in molasses in a fresh peach sauce with grilled plums.  The plums were very good (though a little tart, so they needed the peach sauce) and the pork chop itself was cooked well and good, though nothing show stopping.  The sauce, however, WOW! (Noticing a theme yet?)  I actually wound up eating the remainder of the sauce with my fork, it was just that good.  I wanted to drink it with a straw.

As for a “Stumble Upon,” Mike and I are still very lucky.  Overall it was a very good meal, but the sauces pushed it over the top.  Bonus 1/2 Nom Point for the sauces.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

Healthy and Delicious Quick Veggies

2 Jul

I love food.  WAY too much for my waistline.  I find it hard to eat healthy since I always feel like I’m missing out on food.  I try to make good decisions (whole grains rather than white starches, portion control, avoiding fried foods and being aware of the hidden calories in things like juice and salad dressing) but usually I don’t want to have to trade my hearty, rich, favorite meals for anything else. 

When I come home from a good workout at the gym, however, it’s usually late and I don’t want to eat too heavy or totally kill my hard work on the treadmill.  Tonight I wanted something with good flavors that would leave me satisfied, though I wasn’t overly hungry.  I planned to sautee some zucchini in olive oil, garlic, and shallots (if you don’t cook with shallots, start now), however, upon entering the supermarket and seeing a lovely rack of grape tomatoes, I decided it couldn’t be that hard to make blistered tomatoes (I hoped).  Turned out there are few things easier.  It turned out absolutely delicious and my calculations tell me the recipe is only about 300 calories (and I could only eat half! That’s less than 20 minutes on the treadmill!). 

_______________________________________________________________

Sauteed Zucchini and Blistered Tomatoes

  • Slice zucchini into halved 1/8 inch slices, small mince 2 shallots, wash tomatoes, and mince garlic (or substitute with garlic powder) to prep
  • Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet
  • Add garlic to pan and cook until tender but not brown
  • Place sliced pieces of zucchini in pan and let cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Place shallots into pan and mix with zucchini
  • Add tomatoes to pan and cook until tomatoes begin to blister, about 6 minutes
  • Salt to taste

Happy Nomming!