efoodie

Burritos.....you can't make this stuff up!

I'm still on my Mexican kick, used up the last of my refried beans to make a little burrito for lunch and was just settling in to take my first bite, when I came across this article.  It's a hilarious, strange but true, story for a Friday afternoon. Hope you enjoy!       :) Pam

Making Diet Food 'Fun', Mexican Turkey Tacos

I really did start my diet on Monday.  I've talked about it for ages, but this time I really am doing it. This makes day 4 of behaving. My goal is to lose 20 pounds, (okay, I'd love to lose 30, but am being realistic). If I can remember how to get there, I am going to visit the gym for the first time this week too. :)

So, how does someone who loves food, who is always thinking ahead and dreaming about her next meal, diet? I've tried them all, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers.  The only one that ever really worked for me was Weight Watchers, because it addressed my biggest weakness, portion control. If it tastes good, I want to keep going.

So, I decided to take my chef friend Andrew's advice on dieting. He just shook his head at his wife Keri and I one day as we were sipping wine, and snacking on pate and cheese.

"I have a diet for you, it's fool proof." We looked at him eagerly.

"Eat less, exercise more."

Oh, yeah, that diet. Well, he's right, it does work, you just have to do it.

I read an article last week on that bestselling book, French Women don't get Fat, or something like that. The gist of it is that they eat whatever they want, but just a taste, enough to satisfy their craving.

So, how am I doing so far? Well, it's day 4, and I haven't cheated. Not even a glass of wine, and I was in the habit of having at least a glass or two a day, as I cooked dinner, or thought about what to eat. I told myself I can have a few glasses on the weekend, but during the week for at least a few months, I'm cutting out the wine, replacing it with water, and a few visits to the gym.

In order to stay faithful to the diet though, my food needs to taste good. I picked up a few lean cuisine frozen meals last week, in their new pretty packages, that somehow fooled me into thinking they might taste better. No, they were horrid. The salmon in particular was quite scary. So, no frozen diet meals. Instead, I stocked up on tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, and ground turkey.

I love Mexican food, it's my biggest weakness. Nachos, refried beans, burritos, bring it on.  So, I decided to experiment with low-fat, ground turkey breast instead of beef. I sauteed a pound of the ground turkey with a  tablespoon of olive oil, a few red pepper flakes, half a cup of good salsa, and a quarter cup of water. Then I added a package of taco seasoning, and let it cook for about 10 minutes total.

I made a great taco salad last night, with mixed greens, lettuce, tomato, avocado, a few crushed tortilla chips, half a cup of canned refried beans, and about 4 oz of the turkey taco mix, and more salsa.  It was surprisingly delicious.

And the picture above is today's lunch, a few tablespoons of refried beans, maybe a quarter cup of the turkey mix, a slice of low-fat cheese, tucked into a small fajita size tortilla, and baked at 350 for about 15 minutes. Served it up with salsa and a nice big glass of water.

I'll report in each Monday with the week's weight loss results.

:) Pam

The Perfect Lobster Roll in Plymouth

Over on egullet, I've been following a few lobster threads. The one on the best lobster roll in New England created a mad craving that had to be satisfied. I set out to my favorite local spot, Wood's Seafood, on the Waterfront in Plymouth, and ordered my usual, lobster roll with fries, for $10.95, which is a steal. As you can see from the photo, it is full of sweet, fresh lobster, with a dollop of mayo and sprinkle of paprika on top, and served in a buttery, grilled hot dog roll. A little squeeze of lemon, and I'm in heaven.

This is the best way I know of to use leftover lobster (assuming of course, that there is any left over). To make one yourself, it's very simple. Just take fresh lobster meat, any of it, tail, knuckles, claw, whatever you enjoy, and cut into large pieces. Toss lightly with mayo, sprinkle with paprika for color if desired, and serve in a hot dog bun that has been generously buttered on the outsides and grilled until golden. Some places also add lettuce....but I usually pull it out.

If you're ever in Plymouth, MA strolling around the waterfront area you'll have your pick of restaurants, but for the best value and freshness, I'd suggest Wood's for a classic New England style Lobster Roll.  I don't know them personally, but I've tried lobster rolls everywhere in town, and their's is the best all-around. They are a family owned and operated seafood market/restaurant, and I think you get a better experience here than at one of the local chains, like Lobster Hut or The Weathervane.

:) Pam

Pressed Potatoes & Greek Yogurt

Have you ever gone out to dinner somewhere, ordered a baked potato, and then left it untouched or barely eaten? I've done this many times, ignored my perfectly fine baked potato to concentrate on something a bit more exciting like lobster pie or maybe I just ordered too much food, appetizer, salad, etc. so that there was no room left. In the past, I've usually left them behind, but not any more.  Now I often purposely don't eat that baked potato, because I know I have something better planned for it, the ultimate leftover makeover.....pressed potatoes.

I read about this great idea over on egullet. It turns a leftover potato into a giant, crispy hashbrown. It's perfectly okay if the potato is half eaten too, it just gives you that many more nooks and crannies to soak up the butter and get all golden brown and crunchy. What you do is take a skillet, throw some good sized hunks of butter into it, and slam the potato down on top, skin side up. Then take another pot, or heavy plate and press down hard on the potato so it flattens out and spreads. I've had some that filled an entire 8 or 9 inch skillet. You don't have to worry about the butter being spread evenly or melting, it will take care of itself in the oven. I usually leave a heavy smaller pot or plate on top of the potato, to keep it weighted down, and then toss it in a 350 degree oven. Start checking at about 20 minutes or so, and take it out when it's as golden or browned as you like.  I've made a meal out of a single potato this way, it's that good.

I also discovered a new great substitute for sour cream, that goes well with this. I was at my local Trader Joe's the other day, and saw something new in the yogurt section. New to me, that is. Greek Yogurt. I picked up a small container of the 2% lowfat version and brought it home, thinking it might be good with ripe strawberries. Ihe strawberries looked so fresh and juicy, that I fixed a little bowl of them when I got home, and opened the yogurt. I've never had yogurt like this. It's super thick and creamy. It's strained yogurt, so it is a bit more concentrated, and less watery than most, and doesn't have quite so much of the usual tanginess that you get with plain yogurt. I'm addicted to it now, it's that good, and reminds me of sour cream, with the texture and creaminess. The brand I tried is Fage, and should be at most Trader Joe's. The non-fat version is good as well, but the 2% at only 3 grams fat and 130 calories a cup, is worth it.  I wonder how it would be in onion dip, instead of sour cream?

:) Pam

"Trash Fish" to "Treasure Fish"

TGIF!  My first assigned feature story for The Cape Cod Times, was given back around the holidays, but they held onto it until now, thinking it was more of a 'Spring Food Story'. Of course, it's still cold here, and we even had snow flurries the other day, but the sun is shining, and hopefully it really will feel like Spring soon. 

This was a fun piece to write. I had mentioned to my editor that I had just taken a cooking class at Boston University on "Trash Fish", and she said, "Oh, that sounds really interesting, why don't you write about it."

Unlike the one I went to the other evening, for Barbara Lynch, that was about 100 people, and all demonstration, (while we sipped wine, and oohed and aahed), this one was much smaller, about 15 students, and it was a hands on cooking class. We were told to bring knives, and not to wear our best clothing. The teacher, Michael Leviton, is the chef/owner of a very respected and wonderful restaurant just outside Boston, in Newton, called Lumiere.

Michael encouraged us to 'feel' our way through the cooking, rather than relying strictly on the recipe. This is how I like to cook, but I could tell it was quite an alarming concept for some of the other students. I think everyone had a good time though. We discovered some great new ways to cook fish, and make homemade mayonnaise and an especially tasty remoulade instead of a basic tartar sauce.

Recipe-Prune Stuffed Gnocchi in Wine, Foie Gras & Butter sauce

This was so good, and I stumbled onto the recipe online, so here's a link. It's definitely a must-make recipe, from Barbara Lynch and No. 9 Park.

Prune Stuffed Gnocci in Vin Santo Glaze

An Evening with Barbara Lynch of No. 9 Park

I had looked forward to this evening for months, that's how long ago we signed up for "The Best of Barbara", a cooking class at Boston University, taught by Barbara Lynch, chef/owner of No. 9 Park.

My sister and her  mother-in-law and I had been talking about taking a cooking class together for a few years now, but this was our first one. I had a feeling they'd like it. No. 9 Park is known as one of the best restaurants in Boston, and each time I've eaten there it has felt like a special occasion because of the food. Barbara is especially known for her way with pasta, and I was thrilled that we were going to be learning about and sampling one of her signature dishes, Prune stuffed Gnocchi with Vin Santo Glaze.

My cellphone rang as I was parallel parking. I was running late because there were no parking spots to be had, all the lots were full, and I'd been driving in circles until I finally got lucky and saw someone leaving. It was my sister calling, wondering where I was. She told me to hurry, said the class was about to start.  I'd also told her earlier that the last class I went to had maybe 15 students, so I expected this to be the same.  Not quite. There were about 100 people in the theatre style room. My sister waved me to the back where they'd saved a seat for me. Three wine glasses were set up, 2 that were already full with a white and red.

Barbara was joined by Cat Silirie, Wine Director, Kristen Murray, Pastry Chef, and Ben Elliot, Chef de Cuisine. No. 9 Park has one of the best wine lists in the city, with over 400 different wines. The first one we sampled, which she explained was a great apperitif white burgundy, from France, was a 2002 A & P De Villaine Aligote de Bouzeron. It was a very dry, smooth white with a hint of apples. I could also imagine it going very well with shellfish, especially oysters.

The first dish on the menu was a beet salad, with blue cheese and black olive croutons. This is also one of their signature items at the restaurant. It is a simple composed salad. The beets are cooked, then cut into a small dice. The blue cheese, which is from Great Hill Blue, a local dairy, is set out to soften. Once it is about room temperature, it should be soft enough to spread, and fill the bottom of a small round mold, about 1/3 inch thick by 3 inches across. The cheese is topped by an equal amount of the beets, then a bit of frisee that has been lightly tossed with lemon and olive oil. Tiny croutons that have been baked with olive puree and oil, are sprinkled over the top, and then the mold is removed.  This was a delicious combination of flavors.

The next course was a sweet tomato tartin, which was a roasted tomato confit over carmelized onions, on puff pastry, with a drizzle of honey, and a dollop of marscapone cheese and fried basil as a garnish.  This was amazing. The sweetness of the onions and tomato enhanced by the honey, almost gave it a dessert-like flavor.

Next up was the dish I'd been waiting for.  The Prune Stuffed Gnocchi in Vin Santo Glaze. This is a delicate potato pasta filled with prunes that marinated in the  sweet wine. The reserved wine then makes up a decadent sauce, once a bit of cream and then equal amounts of foie gras and butter are added. The dish is finished when the gnocchi are plated, the sauce is spooned over, and the little indents at the top of the gnocchi are filled with slivers of seared foie gras, and then sprinkled with almonds. This was as good as I hoped it would be. The gnocchi were so light and fluffy, and just made me ridiculously happy. I actually smiled as I drove home, thinking about them.

Cat explained a bit about our next wine, and that it was chosen especially to match the next course, proscuitto wrapped chicken.  It was an Italian wine, from Piedmont, Italy. The 2000 Valdinera Nebbiolo D'alba "Santuoso", was a very dry, smooth red, with a bit of chewiness to it. It went very well with the chicken, which looked to be one of the easiest dishes to make. The chicken breast was filled with Robiola cheese, then topped with fresh tarragon. She then wrapped 2 thin slices of proscuitto around the chicken until it was completely covered. She pan seared the chicken in olive oil over medium  heat for about 5 minutes on each side, and then put the pan in the oven at 375 for about 8 minutes, or until a thermometer read 165.  She sliced the breast into 4 equal pieces of about an inch thick, and served it with a chopped salad of celery, frisee, onion, calamata olives, and tomato, tossed with olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.  This was wonderful, and is probably the first dish I will recreate at home. It is a great make ahead meal too. As Barbara explained, you could pan sear the chicken, and then refrigerate and bake it the next day. The Robiola cheese could also be substituted by any other that you prefer. The Robiola had a smooth, mild, and somewhat creamy taste. I'd like to try it with yogurt cheese or goat, and spinach as a filling.

Next up was dessert, and my favorite wine of the night. Cat came around with a small, chilled bottle of 2003 Braida Brachetto d'Acqui, a dessert wine from Piedmont, Italy. It was a deep rose color, with a wonderful fizz and flavors of strawberry and rhubarb, which is why it was picked to go with the rhubarb compote, topped with pavlovas and meyer lemon ice.  This was also a dish that looked fairly easy to make. The pavlovas can be made ahead, and are just whipped egg whites, sugar, salt, vinegar, and cornstarch. The mixture is piped into individual mounds, then baked at 225 degrees (oven is set to 300 initially, then reduced to 225 when they go in the oven to bake). The compote is rhubarb, superfine sugar, lemon juice and vanilla that stews together for an hour. The lemon ice is just 4 cups water, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup meyer lemon juice that goes into the freezer and is stirred once an hour until frozen.  This is also a dish I will definitely make. It was the first time I had rhubarb, and I loved the sweet tart flavor of the fruit and the sugary pavlovas that were chewy in spots and then just dissolved. We used to make pavlovas like this as cookies, and would add crushed peppermint stick and chocolate chips, which is a great combo.

As I drove home, completely sated by a wonderful meal, the last thing I expected in the middle of April, was to run into a snow storm. Sure enough though, I drove right into a blizzard-like squall, that lasted about ten exits, and was quite bizzare. After the winter we've had, I was glad to put my days of driving like a little old lady behind me, leaning forward with both hands on the steering wheel, going 50 mph tops, and hoping my little car wouldn't slide off the road.  It didn't. I made it home, and went off to sleep, dreaming of gnocchi and pavlovas.

:) Pam

Inspired by the Olive Garden

I still remember a meal I had many years ago, when I was in college in Lakeland, Florida. A new restaurant had just opened up in town called The Olive Garden, and I ate there with a childhood friend who was visiting. She'd just returned from a semester abroad in Rome, so I made sure she picked out the wine. She chose a nice little chianti in a wicker covered bottle that went well with the outrageously delicious cheese tortillini alfredo with peas and proscuitto. I think she actually ordered that dish, but I know we shared it, because I have no recollection of anything else that I ate that night, except the endless salad.

We both fell in love with that pasta dish. It was such a good combination of flavors, silky cream and butter tangled with salty parmesan and proscuitto and the sweet freshness of peas. I was determined to recreate it at home, and finally got close, and then even experimented with a low-fat version, using evaporated skim milk instead of cream, and cutting back on the cheese and butter. But, for the full effect, I'd splurge and do it with plenty of real cream.

I've made this dish many times, most recently after going to the Olive Garden this past weekend with my grandfather. I didn't see it on the menu, so I opted for something healthier, a marinara with lots of olives, mushrooms and tomato. It was good, but going to the Olive Garden, for the first time in years, made me crave the tortillini alfredo. So, I decided to make it again, but this time adding mushrooms...and enjoyed it with one of my favorite Italian reds, Col de Sasso.

I first discovered this wine a few years ago when visiting a friend's family restaurant on the Cape. Il Maestro, is in Hyannis, and Col de Sasso is their house red. It goes equally well with tomato or alfredo based sauces, and is inexpensive, retailing at about $10 a bottle. It is an easy-drinking, full bodied red, and the winery describes it as follows:

Col di Sasso, which translates to "Stony Hill," is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes cultivated on the most rocky and impervious slopes of the Banfi estate in Montalcino, Tuscany.

""A wonderful baby 'super-Tuscan,' with ripe fruit but convincingly Italian structure.""

Michael Franz - Washington Post

I've also had pasta on the mind, because tonight I'm going to a cooking class, with my sister and a few others. It's taught by Barbara Lynch, chef/owner of No. 9 Park, which is one of my favorite Boston restaurants. She is known for her mouthwatering homemade pastas, such as fig gnocchi with foie gras.  I'm sure I'll post a bit about the class this week too.

In the meantime, try this pasta and the wine, it's a great comfort food combo, and as easy as making Kraft macaroni and cheese. Really!

Tortellini Alredo with mushrooms, proscuitto,  and peas

1 pound box cheese tortillini or tortelloni (whichever you prefer)

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup thickly sliced mushrooms

6 slices proscuitto, finely chopped

3/4 cup cream (or half and half)

1/2 cup fresh peas

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

Over high heat, boil water in large pot and add tortelloni, cook as directed.

While pasta is cooking, over medium high heat, in a large skillet, add half the butter.

When it melts, add half the chopped proscuitto, and the mushrooms. Cook for two minutes, until the mushrooms start to soften.

Add the cream, lower heat to medium low, simmer for five minutes, then turn the heat off.

Drain the pasta, then return to pot. Add rest of the butter, stir well, add the cream mixture, remaining proscuitto, peas and parmesan cheese. Stir well, add salt and pepper and pass with additional cheese, if desired.

Pour the wine, and enjoy!

:) Pam

Ruth Reichl's New Book Reads like a Novel

I stopped into Borders yesterday for one thing. A magazine, that they didn't have.

But, they had far too many new books, many of which I'd been waiting for. It's funny how sometimes when I'm really in the mood to buy a book, I can roam around for an hour, and leave with  nothing, and other times it's as if they are all calling to me.

So, I gave in. Plus, they were running one of those great, buy 2, get 3 sales on the trade paperbacks.  My arms filled up quickly, and I was heading toward the register, when yet another one caught my eye. Ruth Reichl's new hardcover, Garlic and Sapphires the secret life of a critic in disguise.  I put down my stack of books, started reading and was sold by page 2.

I dove into it last night, as I was watching TV, and immediately felt that thrill of discovery, when you know a book is going to take you somewhere wonderful. Sure enough, I was swept away, into Ruth's restaurant world, as she joined the New York Times, and donned her first disguise.  I felt like I was right there with her, as she was treated shabbily while dressed as a dowdy old woman, and then on another visit when they recognized her, she had an entirely different experience. She wrote about both, in the same review, for Le Cirque, and took away one of their coveted 4 stars.

The stories she tells are fascinating enough, but her descriptions of the food she eats made my mouth water, and my hands involuntarily dipped into a bag of tortilla chips. Not quite fois gras or linguine with truffles, but better than nothing.

I am looking forward to searching out her earlier books, Tender at the Bone and Comfort me with Apples.  If you like reading about food experiences or ever wondered what it might be like to be a food critic, you'll enjoy this book.

Here's some more details on it,

This delicious new volume of Ruth Reichl's acclaimed memoirs recounts her "adventures in deception," as she goes undercover in the world's finest restaurants. Reichl knows that "to be a good restaurant critic, you have to be anonymous," but when she signs up to be the most important restaurant critic in the country, at The New York Times, her picture is posted in every four-star, low-star, and no-star kitchen in town. Managers offer cash bonuses for advance notice of her visits. They roll out the red carpet whether she likes it or not. What's a critic in search of the truth to do?

Reichl dons a frumpy blond wig and an off-season beige Armani suit. Then on the advice of a friend, an acting coach with a Pygmalion complex, she begins assembling her new character's backstory. She takes to the assignment with astonishing ardor-and thus Molly Hollis, the retired high school teacher from Birmingham, Michigan, nouveau riche from her husband's real estate speculation, is born. And duly ignored, mishandled, and condescended to by the high-power staff at Le Cirque. The result: Reichl's famous double review, first as she ate there as Molly and then as she was coddled and pampered on her visit there as Ruth, The New York Times food critic.

When restaurateurs learn to watch for Molly, Reichl buys another wig and becomes someone else, and then someone else again, from a chic interior decorator to an eccentric redhead on whom her husband-both disconcertingly and reassuringly-develops a terrible crush. As she puts on her disguises, she finds herself changed not just superficially, but in character. She becomes Molly the schoolmarm, Chloe the seductress, and Brenda the downtown earth mother-and imagine the complexities when she dines out as Miriam, her own mother. As Reichl metes out her critical stars, she gives a remarkable account of how one's outer appearance can influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites. 

:) Pam

A Wine Experts Advice on Learning about Wine

As I've grown more and more interested in wine over the years, I've also discovered how little I know, and how much ground there is to cover. It can be a bit intimidating at times, and I've often felt impatient, wanting my knowledge to catch up to my enthusiasm and feeling overwhelmed by where to start.

Boston University offers an in-depth wine education program, designed for students planning a professional career in the food and beverage industry. I've heard excellent things about the course, but it is expensive and designed for full-time students, not part-time curiosity seekers.  I've taken the occasional wine class, offered by the Boston Center for Adult Education, as well as wine dinners and tastings from different restaurants and those offered during the yearly Boston Wine Expo.

But, I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface.  So, I took the opportunity to pose the question to one of Boston's top wine experts, Cat Silirie, Wine Director for one of my favorite restaurants, No. 9 Park, as well as Barbara Lynch's two recent additions, B & G oysters and The Butcher Shop.  I really enjoyed a wine class that Cat taught several years ago, and was looking forward to meeting with her.

Of course one of the first things I asked her was if she'd seen Sideways. She hasn't, and as it turns out, everyone has been asking her that.

     "I think it's a shame when people just jump on a bandwagon and follow the majority in deciding that 'merlot is out, and pinot noir is in'.  I'm sure I'll eventually see it, but I'm a bit sick of all the hype."

She did admit though that Pinot Noir sales are up significantly across all three restaurants.

She also had some excellent advice for how to focus efforts in learning about wine.

"Don't try to do it all at once. Pick a type of wine, say Merlot, or Chardonnay, and try all kinds of wines within that category. You'll learn to discover what you like, and don't like and it's all so subjective."

She also recommended individual book study.

"There's some great resources available to learn about wine. Books that explain all about the geography and vintages and the history of wine. You can go at your own pace, and find a book that works for you."

But the most interesting advice, I thought, was to be found in your own back yard.

"Make friends with your local wine merchant. Be loyal and let him or her get to know what you like. Soon, they'll start knowing your taste and making suggestions as new wines come in. It's really an often overlooked way to discover wine, and the merchants love to share their knowledge."

Sounds good to me.  Today is our first really gorgeous, warm day here in Plymouth, MA. I've got a bottle of my new favorite sauvignon blanc, Monkey Bay chilling now, and am heading over to my friend Jen's house soon. I'm hoping it will be warm enough still to sit out on her deck overlooking the bay, but if not, it will be soon. There's a bit of Spring Fever in the air today....and, the Red Sox beat the Yankees!!!

:) Pam