Giving Pizza a Make-over

I’ve found that I’m not drawn to pizza in the same way most Americans are. Granted, if it’s there, I eat it. A lot of it. But I never crave pizza, and after I do partake in some I feel the immediate “that wasn’t worth the calories” pang of regret. So, a few nights ago when my family mentioned they hand a hankerin’ for pizza, I took on their challenge to try and make a slightly healthier version.

The crust is actually a whole-wheat wrap up, which I thought would make a good flat bread when toasted in the oven for about 8 minutes. The sauce was okay. I made it from scratch, and it screamed “I’m being deprived of the fat and calories I deserve”. It was edible, but I think it could have used a different amount of spices.

My mom loves the hawaiian-themed Canadian bacon pizzas, so I topped the sauce with some fat-free mozarrella, and then a layer of Canadian bacon. Added on top was some fresh grated parmesean and pineapple, and then it was back in the oven for about 6 minutes.

I thought it tasted mediocre at best, but my family loved it and requested it again the following evening. That being said, I reinforce that I’m really not much of a pizza person.

-Mel

Out and About: Ferré

Ferré: “The interior displays an urban-like loft space reminiscent of the SoHo district in New York. Warm light radiates throughout, complementing geometric shapes in furniture and upholstery. An exhibition kitchen featuring a stone-fired pizza oven and open-fire grill is the centerpiece of the restaurant.

The bar/lounge area showcases an urban lifestyle al fresco patio, where an extensive wine list and unusual cocktails prevail. “

I had the Gnocchi with a vodka creme sauce, parsley, roasted pears, walnuts, and ricotta cheese.

For those who don’t know, gnocchi (nyo-key) is Italian for ‘dumpling’. You can read more about it and what it’s made of here.

Overall it was a good dish. A little heavy for a warm summer night, but “aint’ nobody kerr”. The pears really lifted the palate and added a nice acidity. The walnuts were a great contrast to the chewy dough and the ricotta was, well..cheese - and who doesn’t like cheese?

Mel had the fettuccine with shrimp, scallops, and asparagus in a lemon-basil broth. She enjoyed her dish, although she mentioned the seafood could have been a little larger. It was lighter than the gnocchi, and perfect for a summer evening. The potatoes pictured in the background were truffle-infused, and quite good. However we were both expecting a little more of a unique flavor out of them, when they were primarily just high-quality taters.

Ferré is now on the radar for future Italian themed outings. Top it with a blonde fox like Mel and you’ve got yourself a saucy Wednesday night!

-Johnny

Polynesian Pork Stir-fry

I came to the realization a few days ago that I lack exposure to pork products. I’ve never been a fan of bacon (put your pitchforks away please), and I think I’ve had pork all of once in the form of a pulled barbeque sandwich. I don’t know if it’s because I was a big fan of “Charlotte’s Web” and “Babe” growing up, but I’ve never sought out any portion of Piglet to feast upon.

So, for the sake of being adventurous, I thought I’d give pork tenderloin stir-fry a try. The polynesian form I chose included the ingrediants of onion, a small amount of chopped ginger root, stir-fry sauce, a tad bit of honey, sliced sweet potato, snap peas, pineapple, and of course the third little piggy. I also toasted a little bit of coconut to top the serving with if the consumer desired.

The prep time was longer than I expected. I’ve found my knife set to be less than perfect, and I was ignorant to the extreme difficulty of slicing a pork loin. After a lot of frustration and some help from the strong arm of the family (aka: my daddy), I got the pork sliced and it was fairly smooth sailing from there. If I’ve learned anything from Top Chef Miami, it’s that you don’t overcook a pork tenderloin, period. I was worried that I would turn my meat to concrete, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

The pork tasted great, not overcooked in the least. Granted, my palate hasn’t had much experience with pork, but it also received good reviews from my expert panel of judges– the mother, the father, and the best friend. The flavors in the sauce were fantastic, and the whole dish fit together nicely. All-in-all a success, but I do think there are other dishes I would prefer to eat on a regular basis.

I recently found an old crepe recipe book from the seventies tucked away in the depths of a long forgotten storage box. I’ve only had crepes a handful of times, but my-oh-my do I love them. I plan to track down a proper pan in which to cook them soon, in hopes of making them one of my next endeavours.

-Mel

Fettuccine and Shrimp

On today’s menu we have a fettuccine with shrimp topped with parmesan-reggiano. The shrimp was sautéed in tomato, basil, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, and white wine.

This was my first attempt, not only at this dish, but at anything that takes longer than it does to open a plastic bag. That being said, it turned out great!

I’ve been trying to “get into” wines lately, so before I made the trek to central market to get my shrimp I did a little research. I happened upon a simple page that is great for the wine newbie such as myself: http://www.foodsubs.com/WinesWhite.html

I heard somewhere that you are supposed to cook with a wine that is from the same country as the type of food you are making, so I went for the Italian rack. I chose a Pinot Grigio from Masi Masianco. Apparently Pinot Grigio is a great wine to be paired with seafood and pastas. An obvious choice. Not only did I add a splash to the shrimp, but I also drank a glass with the final product. De-lish.

To conclude the meal, I made some chocolate covered strawberries. I used Lindt & Sprüngli dark chocolate.

In the poorly chosen words of Joey from Top Chef Miami, “It’s like an orgasm in your mouth.”

Voila

-Johnny

French Toast Love

Summer has finally come to an end, and school resumes tommorrow. I realized this morning I won’t have as many opportunities to cook up breakfast foods in the coming months, so I decided to go all out for todays brunch. I bought a loaf of French bread 2 days ago at Market Street, and it was in perfect shape for some stuffed French toast.

I simply sliced off the end of the french bread loaf and made another slice 1/2″ in, cutting not quite completely through the bread. Then another slice 1/2″ out from the first, clean through the bread, forming an inch thick slice with a “pouch” of sorts in the middle. You can make the slices as thick or thin as you like– I know my dad said he wanted his slightly thicker.

I then spread a generous amount of cream cheese and strawberry preserves into the breads’ midsections providing the wonderful fruity filing in the center. I’ve come up with my own egg mixture (below) which I soaked each side of the bread in for about a minute and a half. Then it was straight to the skillet on medium heat to toast. Topped with powdered sugar, and fresh strawberry slices. I also added maple syrup to mine because well, I can’t get enough of the stuff. However the recipe really doesn’t need it, and my dad preferred his without it.

Delicious. Spectacular. Fantastic. Truely, a food sent from Heaven.

Egg mixture:
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/4c skim or 1% milk
1tbsp granulated sugar
A couple of good dashes of cinnamon

On a side note– I thought my presentation was “awh” worthy.

Enjoy!
-Mel

Carb and Chocolate Cravings

I, like many females across the world, fall victim to the classic cravings of carbs and chocolates regularly. By regularly, I mean daily. Maybe even hourly. After fighting the urge all day, my will power lost out and dinner became a means to satisfy my lust.

First: the carbs.

I could live all day, everyday off of various bread products and pasta. (My ideal heaven would be a 5-star Italian restaurant) Tonight, I decided a new pasta dish would be the best way to relapse in carbaholic-ism. After a trip to Market Street this morning left me in fresh produce up to my eyeballs, I decide on whole-wheat penne with vegetables in a tomato-basil sauce. Bonus points for making my endeavour healthy.

Ta-dah! This dish turned out excellent, much better than I could have imagined. A blend of chopped cooked onion and carrots, and some fresh zucchini slices in olive oil, then added to a sauce of diced tomatoes seasoned with basil, garlic, and oregano. Add some fresh parsley, top off the pasta and sauce with some fresh grated parmesean, and bada-bing bada-boom..

Delicious. Next time I’ll put more cheese on top, but all in all it was unbelievably flavorful, especially for a vegetarian dish.

Part deux: the chocolate.

I debated for a few minutes after the satisfying dinner on whether or not I should give in to the more sinful of my two vices. After a single small piece of dark chocolate didn’t fill the docket, I gave in. Low-fat chocolate ice cream with bits of chocolate brownie mixed in, topped with a generous amount of chocolate sauce.

Use your imagination- it’s better than any picture I could provide you.

-Mel

Eggies and Toast

On today’s menu we have scrambled eggs with cheese and turkey topped with a little hot sauce and a few toast wedges with strawberry jelly. This dish is also known as “I don’t know how to make anything else but eggs.”

Contrary to what you may have heard, strawberry jelly is in fact the jelly authority. All other jellies pale in comparison to it’s fruity…jelly..ness.

Voila

-Johnny

Salmon and Taters

It seems only appropriate to kick off “Love At First Slice” with something simple, yet classic. Everyone needs their Omega-3’s, and salmon seemed like a good starting point. I flipped through some recipes and found one for “baked cilantro salmon” in Betty Crocker’s Quick and Easy. I was also craving some mashed potaters, and they seemed like a good choice to plate with the fishes, although angel hair pasta was probably an even better option.

The salmon is seasoned with a blend of ground cumin and salt (the latter of which was probably slightly lacking), splashed with a good squeeze of lemon juice, and cooked for 20 minutes. The topping is a mix of margarine, cilantro, and lemon zest– very flavorful. The salmon was cooked perfectly, which was a pleasant surprise on my first go.

If you get the chance, I recommend using a potato masher. It’s a lot more fun than you’d think.

The potatoes were just like grandma use to make them, although I opted for half a stick of butter to her minimum of 2 sticks, but only because I’ve grown attached to my arteries. Her version with an extra 100g of saturated fat is obviously better, but I thought mine went quite well with the juicy nature of the fish. Unfortunately, they also could have used a little more salt. All in all, it was a surprisingly good meal, and I would love to try it with pasta again at some point.

-Mel