Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend in D.C.

I was lucky enough to spend this past long weekend with four of my favorite people. Here are bits of the weekend, (please forgive the image quality! these were taken with an iphone). As it tends to be in my family it all rotates around food, and this weekend was no different, just as I got off from the bolt bus, our first stop was the latin super market "el chaparral" to grab some ingredients to make mom's famous 'sopa de albondigas' and T's all time favorite soup (will post recipe as soon as i finish translating!). Next morning we had some incredible huevos a la ranchera! yum! next i got to see my youngest brother in action. love.

love.

We also got to see some lovely art at the National Gallery and the photography exhibit was especially cool. One of the highlights of the trip (beside discovering guitar hero - totally addictive wow!) was driving out to Potowmak farms a real farm to table restaurant on a farm. The food was using all local, organic, seasonal ingredients and it was delicate and exciting, simple but creative at the same time and overall delicious. The chef trained with the world famous chef Ferran Adria of el Bulli in Spain and you could see the influence on the beautiful plating and the play with words for instance the Croque Madame appetizer was turned upside down and inside out! It was a poached egg, then breaded and flash fried sitting on a raclette of cheese with frisee aux lardon on the side. My smoked wild steelhead trout was simply stunning but I have to say that the dessert really hit the spot for me! Salted caramel coffee torte with brown butter ice cream smoked chestnuts and amaretto anglaise! Yaowza!!! Yumpop! The sweetness of the caramel with the salty afternote the bittery coffee torte with the buttery ice cream and smokey flavor topped by the almondy flavor from the amaretto...was in the words of a wise old friend "A PARTY IN MY MOUTH".

And if that wasn't it enough we rounded out the food eating weekend festival with my Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs with Gorgonzola Polenta and Mixed-Herb Gremolata, one of Mr.A's favorite! (Please excuse lack of picture, we ate too quickly)Some roasted winter vegetables (parsnip, sweet potato, carrots and crimini mushrooms some mashed garlic, dash of olive oil, balsamic, salt and pepper), big green salad with radishes and roasted garlic dressing. Lovely weekend.

Helping Haiti

As we are all well aware by now, the earthquake in Haiti has been catastrophic. There are many ways to help and get involved. One of the fastest ways and literally at your fingertips is you can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts and/or text "YELE" to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts. I also have a friend who is helping organize a big shipment of supplies to help victims of the earthquake. She is working alongside a doctor who is involved with an orphanage that takes care of children, but this aid will help anyone who is in great need because of this catastrophe. If you would like to donate clothes, medical supplies, dry food, shoes, please drop off here or send to this address: Leila Antakly, 630 first avenue, Apt 34R NYC 10016, 36th and first
Or if you prefer please donate some money to UNICEF directly.

Image via Abby

Frio & Calor

I've always been fascinated and inspired by people's ability to express themselves through clothes, this to me characterizes style. Like any other art form, it is a form of expression and a talent. I love the the way this lady has mastered layers, mixing textures and neutrals. Inspiration for these cold winter days.

As I mentioned recently I am very much missing summer time, can't wait to start peeling off the layers!.
The Sartorialist was recently in Rio, with his ever discerning and stylish eye snapped this lovely enssemble. Her use of color is seamless, I especially love the scarf tied up that way. His girlfriend Garance Dore with her equally keen eye snapped this dreamy photo of a Girl on Ipanema. mr. a and I were recently there over the holidays, it really is paradise on Earth.

I love the way Ms.Garance describes Rio and the carioca way of life.

Images via All the pretty birds, The Sartorialist, Garance Dore

Easy Wheels

 

When you live in New York and you like to go food shopping as much as I do, a set of hands will not suffice (especially during the winter months when said hands are experiencing frost bite despite gloves). Salvation comes in the form of the shopping cart.


I always thought there weren't that "cool" looking, what was I thinking?! They are very French, you see people doing their food shopping all over Paris with these. When deciding between inexpensive model (new year's resolution to save, save, save)and more expensive sturdier looking one, indecision all over my face, the very nice gentleman helping me said "remember New York sidewalks". That did it! As I walked back home with said cart in tow (they graciously assembled it at the store for me, amazing)wf bag inside it, huge smile on my face I was so happy I had listened.
For similar models go here and here.

Oh Tropics!

I miss you...it's been sooo coooold in new york, i'm really longing for warm weather this morning and all the delicious fruit that goes with it...just a couple more months of winter, then spring, and finally summer. patience is a virtue.

Image via katie baum via forty-sixth at grace

"the 11 best foods you aren't eating"

I thought i'd share with you this NYT article, sent to us by a very special lady, who likes to make sure mr. a and i are eating our veggies and getting all the nutrition we need. Last night we tried to incorporate some of these foods into our dinner. More on that later.

Thanks NYT for the article and image.

Don't Panic!

Last night I had a bit of scare, I was on my way to whole foods to buy few things I needed for the "sicilian style: pasta con le sarde' I'd set out to make...when all of a sudden I realized, I didn't have my wallet! I looked in all the usual places and unsual ones and nothing. I sat down, anxiety started to set in... very carefully I traced back my steps to the last time I'd used it...whole foods! called them, the lady on the other end said "ah no wallet here, sorry hun". Back to square one. When mr.a got home I casually said "btw seen my wallet anywhere" trying to hide my panic, to which he replied "noooo...have you misplaced it?" should be noted he did a lot of re-arraging/organizing this weekend, while I was elbow deep in flour with the pear tart and having a bit of a meltdown over the cuisinart. We looked in the closet he rearranged, now two of us tracing back all the steps over the weekend, at this point i'm getting a headache thinking all the stuff i need to do if wallet has in fact been misplaced. When all of a sudden it dawns on me, my old NGI tote! that's what I'd used last time I went food shopping and mr. a had moved it into some little obscure corner of the closet (id left it in plain sight). As I reached for it my little heart pounding at the speed of light, there it was!!! I was so happy to be reunited with it! Why I'm telling you all this dear reader is because I had to get creative with dinner since I wasn't able to go out and gather few things I needed. So my "sicilian style: pasta con le sarde" was with a few twists. No pine nuts, I used walnuts I had at hand, instead of 1 onion I used a leek and a shallot, and few other alterations. It was eaten so quickly it didn't get it's photo-op! (Thus the Sicilian landscape picture above)

Sicilian Pasta Con Le Sarde
Serves 4 (or 2 very hungry people)

Ingredients
For sauce:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 leek, small dice
1 large shallot, small dice
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 t fennel seeds, lightly toasted and ground*
1/2 cup fennel, small dice (1/2 med bulb)
1 can tomato paste (6 oz can)*
1 1/2 cups water, vegetable OR fish stock
tiny pinch of saffron, dissolved in 1 T of hot water*
1/4 cup currants, soaked in hot water to cover (about 5 min) do not drain
3/4 pound fresh sardines, cleaned and cut up OR 1/2 pound canned sardines, coarsely chopped (we made ours with fresh, it is so worth it!)
sea salt and red pepper flakes to taste

For the Breadcrumb Topping
1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
4 anchovy fillets, minced or 1 T anchovy paste
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped
2-3 T extra virgin olive oil

For the Pasta:
1 T sea salt
1/2 pound thick whole wheat pasta (bucatini, fettuccine etc.)

Procedure
To prepare Sauce:
1. In large skillet, heat oil on medium flame. Add shallots and leek, cook 2-3 minutes until begin to soften. Add garlic, fennel seeds and fennel. Lower heat and sweat, covered, until fennel begins to soften.
2. Add tomato paste, stock and saffron. Add currants and their soaking liquid. Add sardines.
3. Let sauce simmer, covered on low heat for 20-25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper flakes to taste.

To prepare the breadcrumb topping:
1. In a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs, anchovies and pine nuts. Add oil one T at a time until mixture has a consistency of wet sand.
2. In a medium frying pan, toast breadcrumbs mixture on low heat until mixture is slightly browned. Set aside.

For the Pasta
1. Bring a 6-8 quart pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta. Cook 10-12 minutes or until al dentel.
2. Drain pasta in a colander. Place pasta in a metal bowl and toss with all the sauce.
3. Place pasta in a serving bowl. Sprinkle seasoned breadcrumbs on top of pasta.
Devour immediately. Enjoy thoroughly. Happy eating!
* you can omit these ingredients if not at hand and trust me it will still be amazing

Thank you Coldplay for the title
Image by Angela M. Lobefaro via Flickr

French Pear Tartalicious

I have been following Dorie Greenspan's blog for some time and ever since I read the post on this French Pear Tart (almost exactly a year ago,yikes!) I book marked it and dreamt of making it and even more eating it. Finally this past weekend, I put my spanking new Cuisinart to use and set about making this delectable tart. Dear readers, it was to say the least, sublime. For the recipe go here. The only change I made was substituting the 2/3 cup of sugar for light brown sugar (which I had at hand) in the almond cream. This, as mr. a so poignantly remarked, gave the filling a 'dulce de leche' taste to it, yum! Making this tart can be a bit time consuming for the amateur tart maker (moi), but If you have a little time on a wintry Sunday morning it is worth every second. Sublime...did I say that already, well it was. It is true delight with a pipping hot Jasmin tea on the side. Enjoy! Happy tart making!

p.s. although ours didn't come out as beautiful as images above, it was absolutely scrumptious and gobbled up same day we made it. thank you Ms. Greenspan.

Images via Dorie Greenspan

Taking the plunge

Switching careers at any point in one's life, can be very scary to say the least. You just have to take the plunge. And so I did, from the world of art into the delicious and familiar world of food. I grew up in a family where food has always been right, left and center. Food and family meals were at the center of our lives.
Food world, here I come!

As part of my new year's resolution to eat more healthfully but with sweet tooth in mind, i'd like to share with you this banana-nut muffin recipe i scooped up and adapted from goop.com. Your taste buds will not believe this is actually sugar free! I recently served these at brunch chez nous and I can't tell you how quickly they were devoured! Thank you Gwyneth. Cheers! Here's to 2010 and happy cooking!

Banana Nut Muffins Adapted from Goop
Ingredients
3 medium ripe bananas
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup barley flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried currants
1/2 cup walnuts
2 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoon oil (canola or sunflower)
1 cup whole spelt flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup white spelt flour (or all purpose/plain white flour)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350º F (108º C) and roast the walnuts on a sheet for approximately seven minutes, then finely chop.
Sift the flours and baking soda into a medium-sized bowl, add the salt.
Puree the bananas in a food processor and add the remaining liquid ingredients. Mix well.
Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mixture (scraping the processor bowl well) and fold together until the flour is moistened.
Add the walnuts and raisins and fold just a few more times to incorporate. Don't mix over or you will have tough muffins!
Line the muffin tin with papers or brush with oil. Use an ice cream scoop to distribute the batter evenly among the cups.
Bake approximately twenty five minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Cool in a pan for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Image via GOOP