Autumn

Good morning everyone!

So it looks like autumn is here. A few weeks ago I'd walk or sprint in the morning and it would be nice and sunny outside at 6:30 AM. Now it is still dark and pretty gloomy, boo. I always get a little sad when fall comes, I love spring and summer so much, especially the nice long days.

But all is not sadness and despair, no! :) This morning I went for a nice long walk around my neighborhood and noticed something that I LOVE about autumn, and that is: MUSHROOMS!

I used to go mushroom hunting a lot when I lived up north. Now, well, I don't have any mushroom hunting spots in Southern Cal (except the poison ones growing in my neighborhood). Maybe it's time for a road trip soon!?!

But guess where I found awesome shrooms? At the farmer's market. I got some chanterelles this morning. YUMMY! Saute them up in some butter...heaven. Sure it's better when you find them in the woods yourself...
Any mushroom hunters out there? Ever notice that when you eat them you can get a rush...like some kind of primal energy? Wild mushrooms are so mysterious.


On another topic, do you listen to music when you work out? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But I notice that when I do, I want to go 2x longer. Only problem is that I really really have to force myself to resist singing and dancing in public. Typically I don't mind embarrassing myself, but that just takes it a bit too far. Well, I am a sucky singer too...

What do you listen to when you exercise? Pounding heavy metal or smooth jazz or rap or pop or podcasts or nothing at all? Do you have any recommendations for me? I think I need some new tunes. Please give me your song suggestions! What are your favs? (I like it all...)

Enjoy the day today! Dance and sing a little! :)

Tangy Shrimp with Mint

My mom gave me a cookbook a few years ago and I decided to take it off the shelf and make a recipe from it. The book is 1,000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra. There are quite a few interesting meat and veggie recipes to try.

I was planning to make lamb koftas but I realized at the last minute that the recipe called for a substantial amount of cilantro, which I didn't happen to have on hand. HORROR! So I decided to make "Tangy Shrimp with Mint" because I had most of the ingredients.

Following is the recipe as I made it (1 big serving, or 2 if you eat something else with it):

2-3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (basically equal parts fresh ginger and garlic ground up together)
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind paste (I used Goya's frozen tamarind, that stuff is great!)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2" piece chopped ginger
10 fresh curry leaves, minced (recipe called for 2x as much, but I think curry leaves have a strong taste)
1 large jalapeno, chopped
1 small tomato, diced
1/2 tbsp cumin (recipe called for coriander but I didn't have any)
1/4 tsp turmeric
5 jumbo shrimp (recipe called for 16-20 jumbo shrimp)
yellow squash, eggplant (I added these instead of the additional shrimp)
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Directions: Cook veggies 90% done however you like and set aside. In a medium saute pan, cook diced ginger in the coconut oil until golden, add ginger/garlic paste, curry leaves, jalapenos - cook on low heat for 1 minute or so. Mix in tomato, cumin, turmeric, tamarind paste - cook for 1 minute. Add shrimp and cooked veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes until sauce is pretty dry. Add coconut milk and cook an additional 3 minutes until sauce is thick. Serve with fresh mint on top.

OK so...now that I blabbed the whole recipe I will give you my review. It was OK. It did have a depth of flavor and tasted exotic. Would I make it again exactly like this? Probably not. I realized that I am not that into curry leaves. I guess they kind of remind me of these bushes we had in front of our house when I was a kid. They just don't taste like food to me...for some reason they taste like landscaping.

Have a wonderful amazing fabulous Tuesday!!!

Red curry chicken

Hey kids! Happy Monday!!! I'm fasting today for Yom Kippur and sitting in temple, but I thought I'd share a simple simple meal idea with you. I think I even posted about it before.

I don't know if any of you reading (if anyone actually is reading...) is a flavor fiend like me? I love spices and flavor in my food. I am typically not a big fan of the bland and boring. But I also like easy, simple and quick meals.

I have found that curry paste is a great way to quickly add flavor to my meals. It keeps so well in the fridge, tastes great, and has no weird ingredients. In fact, all the spices have antibiotic qualities and make you feel like a million bucks!

So I mix up a TON of red curry paste with some coconut milk. I have said it before....Mae Ploy is my new favorite brand. If you can't find it, use whatever, or email me and I will buy some and send it to you! I slather this mix all over some cut up chicken breast and let it sit in the fridge for a while. Then I stick it on skewers and throw it under the broiler or on the grill. This time, I stabbed kaffir lime leaves in between the chicken pieces which added a lovely aroma.

Eat it up with some cilantro and lime on top and your favorite veggies. Makes great leftovers.

Saturday farmer's market

This morning I went to the farmer's market. So much good stuff! Last of the figs and peaches. So sad. Summer is over. We're moving on to grapes and persimmons and butternut squash...

You can't really see it but the leaves in the little baggies are kaffir lime leaves. Have you had these before? They are excellent! We have this really cool farmer - Coleman - who sells all kinds of exotic greens and herbs. I love checking out his green leafy stand and seeing what is new and different.  I'll take a photo of the bounty for you next time.

Here's where I wish I was today, floating along in a daze watching the clouds... This is my new computer desktop photo at the office! Only problem is that it makes it hard to work when staring at something so peaceful and relaxing.

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Syrian lamb recipe

I just got the most awesome cookbook that I have been lusting after for a few years now called Aromas of Aleppo. It is a book of Syrian Jewish recipes and it is very cool.

I was craving some red meat so I picked up some free-range lamb at the store. I made lamb kabobs out of the ground meat, and ooh they were tasty. Here is the recipe from the book:

1 lb ground lamb
1 onion, finely chopped (I didn't really chop them very well as you can see)
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
t tsp salt


Of course, you may know by now that I am incapable of following a recipe...I added aleppo pepper and used fresh mint instead of parsley. I swear I meant to use parsley but...argh.  I only used about 2/3 lb of lamb and I used the same amount of spices as specified. I made blobs out of the meat, stuck them on (oiled!) skewers and threw it all under the broiler for a while.

To go along with the lamb I scrounged in the fridge and found some shisito peppers, olives and cherry tomatoes. I threw them in a pan with some thyme and a sprinkle of allspice. YUM! I also made a little sauce for the lamb of lemon juice, aleppo pepper, yogurt, mint and cumin. I got this sheep milk yogurt at Whole Foods and I wanted to taste it. It was darn good.

A few red grapes for dessert. An EXTREMELY yummy meal if I don't say so myself! I really love the flavor of lamb. I must say that after being away it was nice to have a meal I cooked myself. After this I passed out cold since I had been awake for almost 24 hrs at that point.

Enjoy your day today! It's Friday!!! What's going on this weekend? I'm going to a football game tomorrow baby!!!

I'm back!!!

I'm back from vacation, back at work in the office, back in a suit and heels - yuck! But with the addition of about 30 mosquito bites as souvenirs!

I had a blast! Did y'all miss me? I am sure you did not! :) But I missed you!

I thought I'd share a little meal we had in NYC one night. It was tasty! We went to this little wine bar and they had interesting appetizers so we selected a sampling. The meat platter was the most delicious...a grilled chicken sausage with herbs, some kind of thick cut homemade prosciutto, and duck mortadella. The mortadella was AMAZING! It had cranberries and pistachios mixed in, plus some kind of warm spices - maybe allspice and cloves?

We also had a salmon tartare with a curry flavor and boiled chicken meatballs with a cinnamon flavor. Very interesting. As you can see we also sampled some very yummy cheeses. 

Can I go back on vacation please? Have a GREAT day!!!!

Happy New Year

Shana Tova!

In case you don't know what the heck I am talking about and think I am in a time warp speaking nonsense, it's Rosh Hashana - the Jewish New Year. So Happy New Year to you all! I love how the new year starts with the beginning of autumn harvest season! I guess I am a pagan at heart.

One ritual for the new year is to eat apples with honey, to make the next year "sweet". I love this! I remember doing it in Hebrew school as a little kid. FUN!

Lucky for me I am in NY and so I am on the hunt for my favorite Honeycrisp apples. I first had this hybrid variety when I was here two years ago. I bought one at the farmer's market in Ithaca because the name sounded cool and they looked so incredibly pretty. I figured it better be good since each big apple was $1.00!!! Whoa. It was the yummiest apple ever! Perfect blend of sweet and tart.

I've had Honeycrisp from other areas but those ones from upstate NY are the best!

Look for different apple varieties in the markets this year...I make it a point to try all kinds of random heirloom varieties I find at my farmers markets. Some of them are yucky but there are a million to try.

I'll be eating lots of apples and honey in the hopes that this next year is the sweetest one for us all!

Off to NYC

I'm off to New York for the weekend! Yay!

Here is a photo from two years ago when I was in NYC at the same time of year. I visited the Union Square farmers market because...well, I just had to of course!

This sign cracked me up! Can you see it?
It says the grapes have "foxy flavor"!

Have a good one, my friends!

Dinner

Hi all, Happy Tuesday!!!

I had a few peeps over for dindin the other day and cooked up some vittles. I thought I would share some pictures with you!

A couple of snacks to start...

Sliced black mission figs, La Quercia prosciutto, arugula, balsamic vinegar - simple but decadent with some red wine.

And sauteed shisito peppers with cumin and hawaiian pink salt. Have you had shisito peppers before? I love them! I haven't seen them in any regular groceries before, only the asian grocers and the farmers market. I cook and serve them sort of in the style of pimentos de padron - have you heard of those? Popular tapa in Spain, I guess, though I haven't had them YET!
These are an awesome drinking snack...salty, slightly spicy, yummy. Goes great with beer, or my personal fav drink - champagne!

Then for the main meal, I made my chile crusted pork loin. It is coated with chile powder, cumin, garlic salt, red pepper flakes and olive oil. Then I throw it in the oven for about 20-30 minutes at 350-400. I take it out every 10 minutes or so, flip it, add more spices. Sometimes, I throw it under the broiler so the crust dries out a little. After it cooks, take it out of the pan to rest, then make a sauce with the drippings plus lime juice. I usually add more spices and olive oil because the sauce is the best part. Make sure to cook the spices if you add more, they taste gross "raw". You can do this on the stovetop or throw the pan in the hot oven for a few minutes.

Served it up with cauliflower rice, and roasted zucchini and eggplant. Here's an overflowing plate!

A big thank you to Alisha who recommended just breaking up the cauliflower in the food processor instead of grating it. YES! It worked just as well. No bleeding grated fingers! YAY! I added turmeric to it to give it a pretty color.

Have a great day my friends!

Spices

As promised, new poll about spices!

What are your favorites? Any you dislike?

Lately, you might have noticed that I am really into Pimenton de la Vera. People, let me tell you...this is some good stuff. REALLY GOOD!

I first heard of this spice on TV, yes I am a dork and I love PBS cooking shows. Have you seen Jose Andres' show Made in Spain? He's adorable, very enthusiastic! I also had the pleasure of dining at one of his restaurants here in LA called Bazaar (and I saw him there too!) Amazing experience. 

Anyway you can find smoked paprika in some stores - specialty groceries and Whole Foods and the like. I haven't tried them all, but I will tell you my opinion anyway. Get the ones that say Pimenton de la Vera. It is totally different than the other stuff. Has an amazing smoky taste and great depth of flavor. The other ones I have tried in comparison are bitter and dull. Of course, I get the spicy one - but there are "hot" and "sweet" versions. (this container is so cute too)


Other favorite spices of mine are cumin - love it, and any chile. I love all chiles. I must have red pepper flakes in my house at all times.

What are YOUR favorites? Any you hate?

I will tell you one spice I don't like - and I will even foolishly tell you why! I have an aversion to nutmeg. The reason is that when I was a teenager I was insane. My friends and I heard that you could get a high if you ate nutmeg so we ate spoonfuls of it. DISGUSTING. Let me warn you, do not try this. Nothing happens except you feel really sick and you hate nutmeg! Stupid stupid stupid! haha!!!

Tell me - any spices you love or hate? Something I need to try??? My next foray is aleppo pepper.