Tabla's Main Dining Room - Photo Courtesy of New York Magazine

We celebrated Michael’s birthday this weekend by going to dinner at Tabla in Manhattan.  I had previously had the pleasure of dining at this eclectic Indian restaurant before and I had a feeling Michael would enjoy it too.

We started our meal with a complimentary shot of cold cucumber soup with cumin and basil.  A fresh and very different take on cucumber that we both enjoyed.  Next up were our appetizers with a watermelon, arugula, and peanut salad for me and a spice rubbed roasted quail with an avocado filled with pickled ramps and caramelized shallots for Michael.  Then we were treated again with a complimentary appetizer, this time a fried squash blossom stuffed with chipotle ketchup.  By this point, we were already full but we soldiered on.

For our entrees, I enjoyed the braised short ribs and spiced hanger steak with braised romaine and fingerling potatoes while Michael had the poulet rouge chicken with baby cauliflower, cashews, and pickle jus. I believe Michael’s entree was declared the winner in this round.

Finally for dessert, I chose the pineapple croquettes with a mild pink peppercorn ice cream, almond butter and ginger lemongrass sauce.  Michael sampled the dark chocolate ganache with peanut streusal, dulce de leche ice cream and thai chili gelée.

After this amazing meal, we had to revise our final plans for the evening.  As a tradition, we buy each other birthday cakes and this year I purchased a Cookie Dough Delirium cake from Cold Stone Creamery.  It was Michael’s choice of course.  However, after our incredibly filling and satisfying meal from Tabla, we had to postpone the cake until today.  It worked out though as Michael seemed pleased!

I’ve been busy lately and have neglected the ole site here.  In my defense though, I did go on vacation last week and I made sure to capture some food pictures from my travels.  I visited my home state which meant I ate a lot of fast food, but tasty fast food.  I know I’ve complained about chain restaurants before, but if there is a Sonic, a Braum’s and a Pizza Hut within my distance - I will go there.  I can’t help it.

I might also mention that the night I arrived in my hometown, they were having their annual Sandbass Festival.  This is a local festival that brings out the people in droves to hear live music, ride scary carnival rides, and eat all the unbelievably unhealthy foods available from various vendors.  (Picture a state fair, but on a much smaller scale.)  I made my way straight to the Strawberry New Orleans trailer.  Formerly known as a Strawberry Newburger, this dessert is a puff pastry filled with vanilla pudding and topped with strawberries and whipped cream.  It’s massive, it’s a pure sugar rush, and it was the best dessert I’d had in awhile.  I opted to take it home with me so as not to embarrass myself in public when I woofed it down.

As I mentioned above, I enjoyed my fair share of savory items too including fried striper and fried catfish.  I had never had striper before, but thanks to my Dad and his girlfriend, I am hooked.  In fact, I found it better than fried catfish which, had previously been the only freshwater fish I’ve eaten.  Let’s not forget that there were some french fries dipped in the same cornmeal batter and fried as well.  Oh yes, it was all very tasty.

While my arteries recover, I’m hoping inspiration will hit me this week and I’ll actually create something.

I recently received the latest edition of the Food Network magazine and found two salads I wanted to try.  First of all let me say that had I known the recipes featured in the magazine would also appear on the website, I would not have spent the money on the magazine subscription.  And with that rant out of the way, let me move on to the review for the two salads.

The Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad looked scrumptious in the magazine and the ingredients were simple enough.  But, blah - I was not impressed with this dish.  I wonder if part of the turn off for me was the cilantro used in the dressing.  I normally love cilantro, but I’ll admit my pregnancy may be throwing my taste buds out of whack.  It did not taste right to me at all!

I was hopeful the BLT Salad would be better and given that it was simple as well, I had hoped it would become a regular dinner for us.  Again, I was greatly disappointed.  I was not happy with the addition of the scallions and the thyme in this recipe as I found the two flavors over powered the dish.  Michael seemed to enjoy it so I guess it wasn’t a total loss.

I had purchased items to make a third recipe from the magazine, but I think I’ll hold off on that.  I still like the magazine for it’s information and articles, but I’m not happy about the recipe issue.

I’ve had tomatoes on the brain lately (along with pickles and cucumbers).  So I thought what better way to use tomatoes than a panzanella salad, something I usually have only enjoyed in a restaurant.  I had no idea what I had been missing out on by not making this at home!

I used the following recipe.  I only have one peice of advice, make this in a very big bowl!

Panzanella

1/2 loaf of day-old white or wheat bread (a French baguette would work as well)

3 large tomatoes, cut into wedges

1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, roughly chopped

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 lemon

Salt and pepper

Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, tear or cut the bread into one inch pieces.  Add the tomatoes, onions, olives, basil, and parsley.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, the juice of the whole lemon, and salt and pepper.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over the bread mixture and toss to coat.

To serve, sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

I realized the other day that as of this May, this blog has been up for two years!  Wow.  This revelation caused me to contemplate the feel and direction of the site.  I seriously doubt I have many followers except for a few loyal relatives, and I’m not sure I’d be very successful in drawing in more fans.  (Do you realize how many food blogs there are out there?)  Despite this, I want to keep going and actually dedicate more time to the site.  There are more nights than I can count where I’ve neglected to document and photograph a meal I’ve made because I thought it didn’t deserve a post.  I realized this is rather stupid.  I’m a home cook with no formal training, so anything I throw together should be good enough for this site - a site I created to be my forum for discovering food and improving my cooking skills.  (Plus, I really should put my fancy camera to work more.)  So for my third year of operation, I am going to let it all hang out, so to speak.  And since we are being all honest and everything, I should finally mention that I’m pregnant with twins so the recipes could get more interesting in the next few months.  Maybe after my title changes to Stay At Home Mom, there may be more kid-friendly recipes as well.

Now for a little nostalgia, I’ve listed below a few of my favorite posts/recipes from over the years.  Enjoy!

Potato and Leak Soup with Dark Chocolate and Chili Garlic Sauce

Holiday Recap:  Appetizers for Christmas Eve

Simple Huevos Rancheros

So Many Apples, So Little Time

A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch at Ted’s Montana Grill in Manhattan.  Ted’s is a nice joint with a robust menu of American fare and though I had a good chicken sandwich, I found the real hit of the meal to be the fresh pickles they gave to our table to nibble on while we waited for our food.  I’ve been thinking about those pickles ever since that lunch and after a quick Google search for a recipe, I found there are a lot of other people out there thinking about them too.

The general consensus is that these delectable pickles are actually known as half sours and that Ted’s doesn’t actually make them in their restaurants.  Though I haven’t been able to find the true source of Ted’s half sours, I did find a few recipes that posters came up with to try and replicate the pickles.

Growing up my mother used to take slices of cucumbers and onions and soak them in a mixture of Italian salad dressing and vinegar.  After a couple of hours, those were the best cucumbers I had ever had and for a long time, the only way I’d eat cucumbers.  I figured the half sours must be produced in a similar fashion since they were still very firm and crisp.  So I came up with the following recipe for my own brand of half sours.

What I ended up with was more sweet than savory, but still very good.  That’s why I’ve decided to call these my Quick Sweet Pickles.  I only made a small batch to test, but I believe the recipe could be doubled if needed.  I would also recommend trying the recipe with either seedless or Kirby cucumbers.  Adding the hot sugar mixture to the cucumbers right away helps wilt the cucumbers ever so slightly.  I’m interested to see how the cucumbers hold up after a several hours in the sugar mixture though.

For my next batch, I plan to cut the sugar and add more spices.  Hopefully, I’ll come closer to recreating the Ted’s version I fell in love with.

Quick Pickles

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup raw sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt

3 cups of sliced cucumbers

2 cloves of garlic

1 pinch of red pepper flakes

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the vinegar, sugar, salt, and pinch of red pepper flakes to a boil.  Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Add the cucumbers and garlic to a large container/tupperware bowl.

Once the sugar mixture is ready, pour it over the cucumbers and garlic.  Seal up the container and place in the fridge to marinate and chill.

Several posts ago, I discussed a new dip I had discovered and my dismay that I couldn’t find it again at my local specialty food store or online.  I thought about trying to make it myself and I finally got around to it.

My creation was somewhat similar to the store version.  I’m hoping once the mixture sits awhile, the flavors will meld together a little more.  Initially there is a strong garlic taste which I like, but I’m hoping the artichoke comes through as well.  I have a feeling I’ll have to try this again though.

As you can see from my picture, I used my small food chopper for this task because I was lazy and didn’t want to dirty my big food processor.  I think next time I will have to bring out the big boy so that I can really get these two ingredients meshed together.  The way I did it required me to process the garlic and artichokes in batches.

Garlic Artichoke Dip

4 cloves of garlic

1 can of artichokes

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper

In a food processor (big or small), add the garlic cloves and artichokes.  Blend until everything is well chopped or mashed.  Transfer to a bowl and add in the lemon juice.  Taste the dip and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Recently I saw a new episode of the Barefoot Contessa and witnessed Ina make a new shrimp salad with a hint of orange.  I’ve been thinking about that salad for awhile now and so after discovering I had both shrimp and oranges in the fridge, I decided to make it.  Of course I had to make two small substitutions.  I did not have white vinegar so I used rice vinegar instead.  Also, I omitted the dill because I didn’t have it either, but I did add in a little dried parsley for looks.  Despite these modifications, the salad was very tasty.  I would definitely make this again both by the recipe and by my version.  I served it with a side of taboule and roasted asparagus and zucchini.

I got a new batch of groceries yesterday and in my continuing effort to eat better (sometimes accomplished, sometimes not), I bought several goodies to make a few salads with.  First up is this Shrimp Chopped Salad which, I admit I was inspired to create this after watching one of Giada’s recent recipes.  I have never really been a big fan of salads at home because I’ve always thought they were boring.  I love salads from restaurants though, so it donned on me to search out some favorite restaurant menus for salad ideas as well.  This little idea may pay off as our wallets get tighter!

I thought for a long time about the dressing for this salad and in the end I decided to go with a very traditional or rather lazy route and make an Italian dressing from a mix.  Despite this unoriginal idea, the salad was amazing.  Feel free to try it with your favorite dressing though I’ll recommend you stick to an olive oil based one.  I did however break a sweat and make my own croutons. Using two ciabatta rolls, I cut the bread into bite size pieces and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I then baked the croutons at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes and then let them cool before adding to the salad.

Shrimp Chopped Salad

1/2 head of raddicho, chopped

1 bunch of romaine hearts, chopped

1/2 a pound of small to medium size shrimp, cleaned and deveined

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove of chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice (usually half a lemon)

2 tablespoons of cooking sherry

Pinch of salt and pepper

1/2 cup of sundried tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon of salted and roasted sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon of capers

1 tablespoon of grated Parmesean cheese

1/2 cup of dressing of your choice

Croutons of your choice

In a large bowl add together the radiccho, romaine lettuce and sundried tomatoes.  Pour on the dressing and toss to coat.  Set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sautee the garlic for a few seconds.  Add in the shrimp, lemon juice, sherry, and salt and pepper.  Cook the shrimp until done and set aside.

To plate the salads, prepare each dinner plate with a good portion of the lettuce mixture and top with half of the shrimp.  Sprinkle the sunflower seeds, capers, Parmesean cheese, and croutons as you like.

I love pasta.  It is so versatile and can make any cook look like a pro.  You can literally throw anything with it and it tastes good and looks like you put some effort into it.  Tonight, I actually did put in quite a bit of effort to come up with my latest creation.  I’m down to the last of my groceries so after finding a recipe I liked, I was off to the corner market to buy supplies.  Of course that is when I decided to change directions and go my own way with the recipe, which is usually how these concoctions are made.

Don’t be turned off my the inclusion of the soup in this recipe. It really does keep the pasta moist while it is baking.

Baked Cavatappi Pasta with Mushrooms, Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 packages button mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed and quartered

1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup cooking sherry

1 teaspoon each of Herbs de Provence, basil and oregano

1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup

1/8 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup reserved porcini liquid

1 can chopped spinach, drained

1 cup and 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

1 pound/box of cavatappi pasta

1  tablespoon of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Steep the porcini mushrooms in two cups of boiling water.  Set aside.

In a large stockpot, boil the pasta in salted water.  When done, drain and set aside.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onion and garlic until tender.  Next add in the button mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, Herbs de Provence, basil, and oregano.  Add a little salt and pepper to the mixture.  Reserving the liquid, drain and roughly chop the porcini mushrooms and add to the pan along with the cooking sherry.  Lower the heat and gently saute the entire mixture allowing the sherry to be soaked up by all the vegetables.

Meanwhile, mix together the soup, heavy cream, spinach, and porcini liquid.  When combined, add in the cup of pecorino romano and salt and pepper to taste.

In the large stockpot with the pasta, add in the mushroom mixture and the soup mixture.  Transfer the entire mixture once combined to a 9″ x 13″ greased baking pan.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and bake the pasta for 35 minutes.