pasta

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My East Coast epicurean excursion

Left to right: me(Veronica), my sister Roxanne, my niece Amanda

For those of you who follow me on Instagram @collardgreenscaviar, your heads where probably spinning from my  posts of my East Coast eating adventure last month.

For those of you who don’t follow me, you are in luck because I will take you on a visual walk down “Mmm-mmm Good” memory lane to get you up to speed.

Top left to right: National Constitution Center Liberty Bell; Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. Bottom left to right: photo exhibit from National Museum of African American History and Culture; Statute of Liberty view from Staten Island Ferry.

My eight-day East Coast jaunt was a whirlwind of gastric and scenic proportions.  I visited Philadelphia, New Jersey, D.C., New York and a few other spots in between.  And like any tourist I visited the National Constitution Center, Central Park, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Atlantic City, New York City and  Staten Island – just to mention a few highlights. I  also dined out for eight consecutive days! For some, that’s par for the kitchen. For this home cooking enthusiastic, it was epic and unheard of.

I didn’t have a bad meal the entire time.  Here’s a few (not all by any means) fork-to-mouth highlights of my epicurean excursion:

Sabrina’s Café

Sabrina’s Café –  Collingwood, New Jersey
My sister, niece, nephew and I took the red eye from Los Angeles to Philly and arrived in the early morning. Our host and family member Karen Washington suggested we have breakfast and what a great breakfast we had at Sabrina’s Café. I ordered the Bella Vista Omelette. With this create-your-own omelet we added Provolone cheese, spinach, and  cherry-wood smoked bacon. The portion size was humongous,  so my sister and I shared it. This picture is a half serving plated with potatoes and toast.

Kelsey’s

Kelsey’s – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Kelsey’s is such a quaint restaurant whose food feed our souls. We enjoyed sharing this cornbread appetizer platter with butter. It had a lightly sweet, cake like texture.  I ordered the Chicken wing dinner which was accompanied with a side of collard greens and macaroni and cheese. My sister ordered the catfish dinner. It was comfort food at its best. And dining while listening to soulful, live music was such a bonus.

Whistlers Inn Bar and Pub

Whistlers Inn Bar and Pub – Cinnaminson, New Jersey
The food at this neighborhood pub was surprising good. Sometimes you just want good bar food and this place delivered. We ordered an array of foods to feed our hunger for something fried and crunchy. Featured here are a few goodies: fried appetizer basket of stuffed jalapenos, mushrooms and mozzarella sticks; nachos, fries and buffalo wings. They specialize in smoked ribs and I regret we didn’t try them, but like I said, I was craving fried and crunchy  food.

Bus Boys and Poets

Bus Boys and Poets – Washington, D.C.
This joint was dope. Yup I said that. It’s a restaurant, book store and community gathering place. It had a real cool vibe and we enjoyed some real cool food. I had the grilled Catfish served on top of a corn cake with collard greens topped with a lovely lemon butter sauce, finished with capers and chopped tomatoes. It was an OMG moment for my mouth. My sister enjoyed the Blackened Salmon which was served with wild rice, asparagus, roasted corn salsa, tomato, shallots, lemon butter sauce.

Frankie Boys Pizza

Frankie Boys Pizza, New York City, New York
The selections were mind blowing.  I decided on a slice of vegetarian pizza which is cool because in Los Angeles most pizza joints don’t sell it by the slice. But in New York, slices abound! This slice was the bit of heaven I had been craving. I even topped it with granulated garlic which I had not experienced in Los Angeles. It was so good and that additional zhuzh of granulated garlic was everything! Oh and a little side note: former NBA player Dennis Rodman ate there and his colorful food review/interview is on YouTube. Warning: it’s bit crude.

Lolo’s Seafood Shack

Lolo’s Seafood Shack – New York City, New York
Like Sylvia’s in Harlem, Lolo’s is a bit of a destination spot for tourists. We were tourists. But we were tourist who weren’t hungry  for fried seafood but hungry for a dining experience in Harlem. Lolo’s gave us that. The vibe was cool although it was just a bit too humid to dine in their open air picnic area. There were great alternatives to fried seafood and we enjoyed small plates of dirty rice, smoked wings, jerk  ribs, chilled broccoli salad and wok seared cauliflower that had a smokey flavor that kissed the roof of my mouth. Good eating folks! On my return visit I must try the crab cakes. They looked divine!

Carollo’s and Geno’s cheesesteak – oh and my brother Montie clutching his cheesesteak.

We couldn’t head back East without getting a Philly Cheesesteak either, right? I had a tasty one at Carollo’s in Pennsauken, New Jersey and in Philly we stopped into Geno’s Steaks to pick up a cheesesteak to take home to my brother. He was very happy.

Dinner for Centurion Aunt Edna

Another highlight of the trip was when the dials of two stove tops were handed over to me while in New Jersey. I was honored to prepare my signature grilled salmon, rice medley and sautéed savoy cabbage for a beloved family Centurion Aunt Edna. The sister Roxanne was a great sous chef!  Later in the trip, I prepared a vegetarian pasta for another lovely family member Karen Washington to thank her for being such a great East Coast tour guide.

Corn from Hunters Farm Market and Karen’s pasta

The pasta recipe I made for Karen is shared here. I call it Karen’s Vegetarian Pasta  simply because I made it specifically for her and as you’ve probably noted, she’s a vegetarian.  The star of the recipe is fresh, picked daily, sweet corn we got from Hunters Farm Market in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.

This pasta recipes features linguine noodles (but you can use any pasta shape you like) and is made with a mixed medley of cherry tomatoes and grilled asparagus. It’s a vegetarian delight.  You can certainly add some grilled or cooked protein, but honestly speaking, you don’t need it.

Karen's Vegetarian Pasta

  • Servings: 3 to 4
  • Difficulty: it takes some work but you can do it.
  • Print

A delicious vegetarian pasta.

Ingredients

2 pints cherry tomatoes,rinsed and halved
1 bundle asparagus, grilled and spears chopped in half
1 ear of corn, grilled and cut from cob
Fresh basil, chopped (eight to ten leaves will work nicely)
½ medium red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, cracked pepper, red pepper flakes
½ pound linguine (organic used here)

Directions

To prepare asparagus

  1. Trim woody ends from asparagus by snapping off the ends, or cutting with a knife.
  2. Rinse and pat dry.
  3. Heat 1-2 tablespoon of olive oil in a  medium skillet over medium heat.
  4. Add asparagus. Cook, turning occasionally, until tender (5 to 9 minutes).
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove and place on cutting board. Cut each spear in half and set aside.

To prepare corn

  1. To that same skillet, add 1 more table of olive oil and cook the ear of corn, rotating it in the in pan until it is lightly browned (5-9 minutes).
  2. Remove from pan, set aside and once cooled, cut kernels from the cob.

To prepare pasta sauce

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet set at medium heat. Add chopped onion and saute until tender and translucent about 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat resistant spatula.
  2. Add chopped garlic and saute until fragrant, just under a minute.
  3. Add halved cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives and  1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Mix well.
  4. Turn up heat to bring mixture to a gentle boil. Then cover with a lid and reduce heat to a simmer.
  5. While sauce is simmering, cook pasta according to directions until al dente.
  6. After simmering sauce for 10 minutes,  carefully mash tomatoes with a potato masher or fork until they are all broken apart.
  7. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, cracked pepper and red pepper flakes (perhaps 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon) to taste and chopped basil to sauce. Let it continue simmering until the pasta is done, about 5 more minutes.
  8. Drain pasta when done,  but reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.
  9. Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix well. Fold in cooked corn, asparagus and add half of pasta water to loosen sauce. Add more in necessary.
  10. Serve with Parmesan cheese grated over the entire pan or grated on separate servings, if desired.

 

 

 

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Recipe to the rescue, but a tad bit too late

Here’s a true  story. The names have been changed.

My friend Bob met a lovely woman on a very popular dating site. Her name was Dominique. One of the things he particularly liked about her profile was that she said she loved to “tinker around the stove top” and “was very intimate with her oven.”

“Writing like this showed she not only had a sense of humor, but revealled she might have some cooking skills,” Bob said as he shared his storied account.

After speaking on the phone, they discovered they both loved Italian food and decided their first date would be to meet at an Italian restaurant.

They met, had immediate chemistry and got along swimmingly (that’s my word) after that first date. Bob and Dominique had three subsequent dates in which he took her to upscale and eclectic restaurants in Los Angeles.

While talking over the phone about their next date, Dominique said,” I would like to invite you out to dinner.”

“Really,” said Bob. “Ok you can pick the restaurant.”

“I have just spot – Casa Domi,” she said.

Bob said he paused a moment and searched his mind for Casa Domi. When he suddenly realized what she meant, she said, “You sir will be dining at my table and I am making one of your favorite entrees – spaghetti with meat sauce.”

Dining at Casa Domi

Bob was really excited about the offer to dine at her table. After all, her profile said “she loved to tinker around the stove top and was very intimate with her oven.” And besides that, he reasoned things must be moving along nicely  with his new lady because he got an invite to dinner – something that has rarely happened to him.

When Bob arrived, she greeted him at the door wearing an apron, the sign of a real cook he thought to himself. And the smell of garlic wafting through the air was almost intoxicating.

He sat in the family room adjacent to the kitchen sipping a generous pour of pinot noir  she gave in a beautiful etched, long stem wine glass.  He could see a pot simmering on the stove top and vegetables for a salad on the cutting board. Bob said he felt like a little boy anxiously waiting for his favorite dish.

The long awaited main course

Dominique called him to the table and they started with a garden salad and garlic bread.  After they had finished  the salad,  she said  it was time for the “ll platto principale” which she quipped meant “main course” in Italian.

The bowl of pasta and ground meat she placed in front of him left him almost paralyzed. Never had he seen such an unappealing bowl of contents swimming in a red, waterly liquid.

“It was an absolutely disappointing site Ronni,” said  Bob, which is my nickname. “And to make matters worse, it tasted sweet and reminded me of Campbell’s SpaghettiOs with  ground turkey pilled on top.

Bob said he struggled through the meal and ate most of it.

Recipe rescue needed

“My lady needed a serious recipe rescue Ronni,” said Bob adding that he just couldn’t bring himself to tell her how awful he thought it was.

My friend Bob is a great guy. He’s stilling seeing his new lady and he asked me for a simple spaghetti recipe he can make when he invites her over for dinner.

This is my go to recipe when I want to make spaghetti that is familiar, yet updated and slightly – if I dare say – elevated. The sauce is rustic and flavorful. The Kalmata olives give it a Mediterranean vibe. The sliced chicken garlic sausage is a healthier choice and takes this dish just beyond ordinary.  Using the quick cooking fettuccine noodles makes it quick to get on the table so you can get to the business of enjoying the company of your date.

While this recipe wasn’t the lifeline Dominique needed to save her kitchen credibility,  perhaps it could the lifeline to save yours. Oh and by the way –  if you are silently saying “thank you,” imagine me saying “you are welcome.”

Easy Date Night Pasta

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

A fresh, light, Italian-inspired pasta recipe perfect for an intimate dinner.

Ingredients

1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/3 cup Kalmata olives, halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Cracked pepper to taste
1 pound Hillshire chicken garlic sausage, sliced
1 -15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes )
1-8 ounce can tomato sauce (El Patio Salsa de Jalapeno featured here; for saucier dish use two cans and increase salt and oregano to taste)
Olive oil for sautéing
1/3 cup olive oil
Pasta (this recipe used about 8 ounces of al dente Artisanal egg fettuccine noodles)
Fresh chopped basil or flat leaf parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

Directions


1.  Fill a large Dutch oven pot with 5 quarts of water. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil.

2.  Next, to a large non-stick skillet set on medium heat, add 3 tablespoons olive. When oil is heated, add chopped bell pepper and onions. Sauté 2-3 minutes until tender, stirring frequently.

3.   Add garlic, chopped oregano and halved Kalmata olives and sauté until garlic is fragrant, stirring frequently, about an additional 1-2 minutes.

4.  Add can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1/3 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to the skillet. Stir well. Cover and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.

5.  To a separate non stick pan, add a little olive oil and lightly brown sausage slices on each side. Once browned, remove from pan and set aside on a plate lined with a paper towel.

6.  Add pasta to the water, which should be boiling vigorously at this point. Cook pasta according to al dente instructions.

7.  Once pasta is done, drain thoroughly and add pasta along with browned sausage slices to simmering tomato mixture. Use a large wooden spoon or thongs to gently toss and incorporate noodles and sausage into the sauce. Turn off heat and cover.

8.  Serve with fresh chopped basil or flat leaf parsley and Parmesan cheese. Makes about 4 servings.

Simple ingredients make this dish easy and delicious.

Simple ingredients make this dish easy and delicious.

This sauté of onions, bell pepper, garlic, chopped oregano, oregano  and halved Kalmata olives is intoxicating. 

All ingredients incorporated and pasta is ready to be plated.

Easy Date Night Pasta plated with fresh chopped flat leaf parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.

 

 

 

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Be a fearless Valentine

Love can be scary.croxetti-pasta-heart

Now that I have your attention, I’ll repeat it again – love can be scary.

It has frightened me many a time because it requires such vulnerability, compromise and dare I say surrender.

But to find love and experience love requires a bit of fearlessness not only in your pursuit of love but in your expression of love when you think you have found “the one.”

Why am I, a food blogger, talking about love?

Valentine’s Day has a way of making me think about the pursuit of love and more importantly, the preservation of love.

The way to the heart

We’ve all heard the adage that the way to the heart is through the stomach, right? Well actually you heard it this way; the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. But I submit that this phase should be gender neutral because my heart has been enraptured a time or two by a gentleman whose  fearless culinary skills took my breath away with each bite of  a  wonderfully prepared meal he made for me.

Valentine’s Day is approaching and perhaps you had a fleeting thought of making a romantic meal then that thought vanished as quickly as it appeared. I say be a fearless Valentine and make that romantic meal.

My Roasted Yellow Bell Pepper Alfredo Pasta with Pan Grilled Shrimp is a fearless choice and Valentine’s Day worthy.

The pan roasted yellow bell peppers and the hint of nutmeg makes this creamy sauce warm and cozy. The grilled shrimp makes it decedent and satisfying. If you can find Croxetti pasta,  you will certainly elicit a “wow what an interesting pasta” response.  If you can’t get your hands on a bag of Croxetti, use Farfalle or Bow Tie pasta. Yes, this dish arouses the palate and the senses as well.

Here’s a suggested menu for your Valentine:

Starters

Salad featuring your favorite garden greens. Be adventurous and add some thinly sliced Asian pears or Honeycrisp apples brushed with a little lemon juice, walnuts, cranberries and a little roughly chopped fresh mint. Toss the salad with a delicate champagne vinaigrette you can purchase from most grocery stores or specialty markets.

Entrée

Yellow Roasted Bell Pepper Alfredo Pasta with Pan Grill Shrimp – recipe below.

Dessert

Pound cake (store bought or homemade) with vanilla ice cream drizzled with a Limoncello liquor and shaved white chocolate if you dare.

If you decide to pass on making this meal for Valentine’s Day, by all means plan some time to make it at a later date. The love shown in making a meal for someone who puts a sparkle in your eyes shouldn’t be limited to Valentine’s Day. Preparing a meal for that special  someone is definitely a way to their heart all year long.

Roasted Yellow Bell Pepper Alfredo Pasta with Pan Grilled Shrimp

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Ingredients
1 large yellow bell pepper
1/3  cup chopped red onion
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tablespoon butter
16 ounces half and half
3 cup Croxetti  or bow tie pasta (uncooked)
½ fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 pinch of nutmeg
½ – 1  teaspoon salt to taste
1 pound shrimp, shelled and deveined
Oil (canola, corn, grapeseed)
3 tablespoon pine nuts
cracked pepper
parsley, roughly chopped

Method
To a non-stick skillet set on medium heat, add pine nuts and stir until lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside in a separate dish.

Rinse shelled and deveined shrimp and pat dry. Add a little cooking oil (about 1 tablespoon) to a non-stick skillet set on medium heat. Add half of the shrimp, lightly sprinkle with salt and cook until medium brown on both sides. (Remember over crowding the pan will cause the shrimp to steam instead of cook and get a nice, brown color.) This may take approximately 2-3 minutes for each side until they are done.

Remove shrimp from pan into another dish and keep warm. Add more oil if needed and repeat with the remainder of the shrimp. When done, remove and cover with foil to keep warm.

picmonkey-collage-pine-nuts-shrimp
Cut bell pepper into strips. (Note: for best results, steam bell pepper strips 3-4 minutes in a steamer basket before browning in skillet.)

Lightly coat a non-stick skillet with cooking spray.  Heat pan on medium heat. Add bell pepper strips and brown on both sides. Color should be slightly charred. Remove from heat and cool.  Place bell pepper on a cutting board surface and chop into pieces. Set aside.

picmonkey-collage-bellpepper
Begin cooking Croxetti or bow tie pasta accord to al dente directions.

croxetti-pasta

In the same skillet used for the bell pepper, add butter. When melted, add chopped onion and sauté  on medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.

Add half and half, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and Parmesan cheese to pan with the onion and garlic mixture.  Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently about 2-3 minutes until sauce is thickened.

Remove pan the from heat and carefully pour sauce into a blender. Add chopped bell pepper to the blender. Place a towel over the blender top and hold it down securely. Blend the mixture until smooth.

picmonkey-collage-croxetti-in-sauce-shrimp
Pour mixture back into a skillet. Add a little cracked pepper.  Heat about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add cooked pasta and lightly toss pasta until it is completely covered with the sauce.  Add pan grilled shrimp to pan and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Serve with fresh chopped parsley and addition grated Parmesan cheese if you like.

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A recipe for helping planet earth

Earth-Day-2016I love planet earth.

I love Earth Day.

When you think about it, every day is Earth Day. But each year on April 22nd the world pays collective homage to the planet that sustains our lives and  pauses to raise our awareness on how we can protect it. Continue reading →