Clean-out-your-fridge - Lavash Pizza

So here is a slightly healthier take on pizza, using lavash bread as the dough.  It's as easy as pie to make!...well actually it's WAY easier than pie! All you do is preheat your oven to 450, lay a piece of lavash on a baking sheet, and brush some olive oil onto the top of it.  On mine I put some cherry tomatoes that were on their way out which I cut in half, some sliced onion and fennel, and lastly some slices of leftover steak from the previous night's dinner.  After all that I grated some Parmesan cheese on top.  I then baked it for about 5 minutes or until the cheese was melted.  While it was baking I combined some arugula, a squeeze of lemon, olive oil and S&P and tossed that up.  After the lavash came out of the oven, I topped it with the arugula mixture and enjoyed the tasty creation.

This is super easy and you can really put whatever you want on top.  I just put whatever I had that I didn't want to go to waste and it came out great.  Next time I may try with eggplant and maybe a little mozzarella like in this recipe from Bon Appetit.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I love all things peanut butter so I decided to make some peanut butter ice cream because what could be better than that!  I did it the basic way with cream, whole milk, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla.  Here goes the recipe I used: mix 1 cup of PB with 2/3 of a cup of sugar until fully incorporated.  Then mix in 1 cup of whole milk and beat until smooth.  Stir in 2 cups of heavy cream and ~1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Pour into ice cream maker and let run for about 20 minutes until it's a good consistency.  Enjoy!

Cheese!!!!!

I love cheese!!!! The stinkier the better!!! Last week I went to another cheese class at Murray's, this time with Jimmy and Heather. This one was pairing cheeses with beer and cider.

In case you didn't know, cheese pairs much better with beer than it does with wine. And, as I discovered, with hard cider. My favorite pairing was an Etienne Dupont Cider from Normandy with one of my favorite cheeses, Camembert. Even in it's pasteurized form (the real stuff's illegal here) one bite of this cheese brings me back to the 2 weeks I spent in Normandy, where every single night with dinner Camembert was served with the salad course. Sooo grassy and earthy and delicious; and for those of you who are afraid of rind (I'm lookin at you mom and Siobhan), a bite with this bloomy rind adds another layer of complexity. As I exclaimed in the class, "it tastes like a steak!" ...that good. Anyway, it was so good with the cider, which arguably makes sense because they come from the same region. So we took home a little wheel of this Le Chatelain Camembert, and although the stench it has created knocks us over every time we open the fridge, the taste is worth it.

Our other favorite was the Prairie Fruits Farm Black Sheep - another creamy, gooey wheel of deliciousness. I don't always love sheep's milk cheese, but oh man this one was divine. SO yummy!!!!

Oliverio

For those of you folks who live in LA, you must check out Oliverio Restaurant at the Avalon Hotel if you haven't already.

It is an Italian restaurant that is situated around the pool at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills.  The ambiance is great and the food is even better!

Summer Wine Spritzer

I have never been a huge fan of white wine, but in the summer heat it is nice to have a cold drink.  So I bought a bottle of Pinot Grigio and decided to try to make a spritzer.  I did a very simple one and it turned out that I loved it!  It is very easy to make - put ice in a glass, fill it 1:1 wine to sparkling water.  Cut a few slices of lemon and squeeze them into the glass.  Stir and enjoy!  It is so tasty and refreshing!  And now I am a fan of white wine!

As a note, any sparkling water is good for this beverage.  But I think I prefer the flavored but not sweetened sparkling waters - grapefruit, lemon or lime have been my favs - because they add another hint of citrus to the spritzer.

Chinese Five Spice Pork

For those of you who are not familiar with Chinese Five Spice, you must check it out.  It is a mixture of ground star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and Sichuan pepper.  It gives such an amazing flavor any meat but is traditionally used with pork and duck. It can be used in marinades and to season meats, or even to flavor stirfries. I used it in a marinade for a pork loin roast.

Here is a link to a similar recipe.  The flavor is awesome with so many notes, and it is definitely something I will use a lot!

I served the Five Spice Pork with brown rice and broccolini.

Quick Studio Dinner

Tonight I start my Monday night ceramics class a few doors down from the new studio. It's from 7-9, so I decided to grab a quick dinner before it starts. There is so much good food in this hood (Williamsburg)... this is a very yummy and filling White Chicken Chili from a little Mexican hole-in-the-wall around the corner. It's SO good! White beans, grilled chicken, sour cream and cheese garnish... all for $3.75! I want to make something like this soon!

Pasta with squash and tarragon

If you love tarragon and have it growing in your herb garden like I do, this is an easy light pasta you should try with some lovely summer squash. Here's the recipe I used, from Martha Stewart. I didn't use ouzo because I didn't feel like buying it, but it was still yummy!!

"Ice cream cone" cake pops!

In honor of Grant's 40th birthday, I made some cake pops in the shape of ice cream cones.  I thought they turned out pretty darn cute so I will definitely be putting them into the rotation.  And most importantly, Grant loved them! Happy birthday Bro!!

Stir-Fried Chili Scallops with Baby Bok Choy

This was my first time stir-frying scallops. I've been a little afraid of cooking scallops since I got food poisoning from them several years ago. It took me a while to even eat them again. Man, those little guys really are delicious though aren't they. This stir-fry was a really good way to have them too. It's another one from my favorite stir-fry cookbook, but I found the recipe online here for you. Enjoy!

Penne Puttanesca

I have been wanting to make this for a while but haven't because I haven't had the anchovies for it.  But over the weekend I went to Monsieur Marcel Gourmet Market to buy some.  And by the way, if you haven't been there you should go!  It's awesome!  They have all sorts of specialty foods, from olive oils to cheeses to anchovies and sardines.

The recipe I used is from David Rocco and it is really simple and REALLY tasty!  And don't be afraid of the anchovies - they just add flavor to this pasta and basically melt away in the olive oil.  They add a great flavor to the sauce.  I will definitely be making this again!  I think it took all of 15 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes!!!!

If you recall, I recently had some amazing pancakes out at one of our neighborhood brunch places. Well, I've been dreaming about them ever since. And I don't even really dream about pancakes! Anyways, I MADE THEM. Oh man they were sooooooo good too! I made them without bourbon banana, and with many more berries, b/c I generally can't get enough strawbs and bloobs. I made the batter less sweet than your average pancake batter, with a touch more salt. I poured it into egg rings on the skillet to make them set up thicker, and added the chocolate chips after a few seconds. Yumm!!!!!

Brazilian-style Flan (Pudim de Leite)

I am on a mission to find the best flan recipe out there.  I prefer the Brazilian Style to the Mexican Style because it has a creamier texture and better flavor in my opinion.  The main difference is condensed milk for Brazilian vs evaporated milk for Mexican.  The best I've ever eaten and the one that I compare all other flans to, is at Fogo De Chao a Brazilian Churrascaria in LA.  In Portuguese it is called pudim de leite.
Over the weekend I made pudim de leite that turned out pretty good.  I used one can of sweetened condensed milk, filled the same can up with half and half, and 3 eggs all mixed together.  I melted one cup of sugar in a cake pan, then poured the egg mixture over that, and finally cooked it in a water bath in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.
The consistency of this one was a little smoother than when I made it the last time with regular milk rather than half and half.  The next time I may even try heavy cream and see how that comes out!

Ice Cream, East Side

So Siobhan and Grant and I all got ice cream makers for Christmas this year. So, following up Siobhan's refreshing coconut post, here's my first delicious creation: mint chocolate chip. The recipe was from Thomas Kellar's cookbook Ad Hoc at Home, which Jimmy and I got for ourselves after drooling over Harold's Christmas present from Siobhan. We used mint from our garden... soooo yummy!!!

So Grant, the pressure's on. We want to see your ice cream soon!! :)

More Cake Pops!

I made these ones for the 2nd birthday of my God-daughter Alaenna.  I changed it up this time using cookies for the inside rather than cake.  And it seems like they turned our pretty tasty!