We hit up a wine sale down in Point Loma this weekend. The sale prices were outstanding but I wasn’t blown away with most of the wines we tasted. I am sure it was just my palate having an off day.
After walking away with a few bottles of wine we walked across to the street to a little Italian spot for lunch. Old Venice is a part SD restaurant week, which as you know I love. It is the perfect way to try new restaurants, for $10, $20, $30 or $ 40 you can have a two or three course tasting menu. I had a pineapple -walnut salad followed by Cajun shrimp over black linguine, so good.
coloring at lunchNapkin on the head + Play dough is how I keep my toddler entertained.
We headed home with our bellies full so the little miss could take a nap and so Shane and Brian could start the wine making process. Yep that is right, Shane is attempting to make wine. Will it be drinkable is the question…
We enjoyed dinner outside since the weather has been perfect. Kaili has become smitten with ketchup, can you tell?
I have made a million different versions of this dish and it’s good each and every time. Okay maybe not a million but a lot. This one is a Nigella Lawson recipe and what caught my eye was the sweet chili sauce, how can it not be good? Her version calls for ready-cooked egg noodles but I am cool with boiling my own noodles. I didn’t change a thing to this recipe however I did omit the bean sprouts and I added crushed red pepper because I like the heat. It was good, just as I suspected. Kaili gave it a thumbs up too!
Welp, vacation is over so I guess that means it’s time to get back to good dieting and healthy eating. I have a bunch of good recipes for fall but since it’s still hot as hell outside I am going to stick with the ones that don’t require the oven, or cooking at all in this case.
Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus
Ingredients
1/3-1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1-2 jalapeno peppers, ribbed and seeded (depending on desired flavor)
1 clove garlic, peeled
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup water
6 tbsp. tahini
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 (14 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper ( large pinch if you like it extra spicy )
Directions
Combine the cilantro, jalapenos, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients have been finely minced.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and water.
In another bowl, whisk together the tahini and olive oil, set aside.
.Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl and add the chickpeas, salt, cumin and cayenne.
Process until almost fully ground, about 15 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.
Add the oil-tahini mixture and then continue to process until smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Scrape down the bowl again and with the machine running add the lemon juice-water mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube. Blend for 1 minute, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until the flavors meld, at least 30 minutes. Enjoy with whole wheat pita bread or veggies!
Our first full day in Paris has been great. I love it here. I don’t get why or how some people don’t. We started with espresso and croissants of course.
Then we decided to tour the Louvre. Overwhelming is the best way I can describe the huge museum. We took in a lot and I am sure we missed a lot. As the day went on the place got very crowded and that was our cue to leave.
Next up was lunch. For me, crepes and cafe au lait and Shane had the escargot. It was brilliant!
Sunday we leave Paris for Brussels, so after lunch we mapped out the trip to the train station. Luckily it’s an easy trip on the metro and hopefully it wont be too crowded since we will have all our luggage with us. We managed to get our train tickets to Brussels and to London without a hitch. From the train station we headed back on the metro and made our way to the Eiffel tower.
Notice the clouds in the sky. The weather is a far cry from the heat we had in Rome. As we left the Eiffel Tower to walk Rue Cler we were hit with rain. That was a good excuse to stop at a brasserie for a beer.
Rue Clear
Turns out we weren’t far from our hotel so we decided just to walk back. A few months ago I came across an article written by David Lebovitz. Some of you foodies may know who he is. Anyway, one of his favorite Paris restaurant just happens to be right across from our hotel. We took the opportunity to check it out.
J’Golamb + fig
We have one more day in Paris. What shall we do tomorrow?
We arrived at the Paris Beauvais airport about 9 o’clock this morning. After a long bus ride and a ride in a taxi we arrived at our Hotel by 11:00. Our room is small, a little too small. I already have a bruise on my knee from banging it on the bathroom sink. Hopefully we don’t kill ourselves just trying to shower.
For lunch we headed out to the street and were overwhelmed with all our options. There are hundreds of cafes, brasseries, gelato shops, street vendors selling amazing looking sandwiches and more cafes.
I chose the restaurant that had the Nicoise salad on their menu. The first time I was in Paris these salads were my favorite thing to eat. I recreated it at home many times after that trip but it never tasted the same.
Nicoise salad
You know what else is exciting? Look at what is right around the corner from our hotel…
Laduree Macarons
Eating a macaron from this shop in Paris was on my bucket list. I got the chocolate, check!
Next we hit up Notre -Dame Cathedral, Paris’ most beloved church. Pretty amazing stuff.
Notre-Dame
After a short sieste, we headed back out into the hustle and bustle of the Parisian night life. We weren’t up for much more than dinner, what really sounded good was a good nights sleep. We ate dinner at a little restaurant that featured a prix fix menu. That seems to be the way to go for dinner here.
I had the french onion soup, shrimp risotto and ended with creme brûlée. It was all very good. Shane had the french onion soup, beef bourguignon and ended with the apple crisp, he was pleased.
This recipe is an old favorite. I think I got it out of one of my magazines years ago. The nice thing about this dish is if you are like me then you probably have most if not all the ingredients in your kitchen already. It’s low in calories and can be served over rice, couscous or quinoa.
I use 2 serranos like the recipe calls for but I can’t imagine everyone liking it that spicy, because it is hot! So if you have a heat tolerance I would start with one.
Ingredients
1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breast ( or 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs )
3 cloves garlic
2 Serrano’s
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp red chili paste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
2 cups fresh basil
Directions
Cut the chicken into small pieces, then finely chop the garlic and chillies.
Preheat a wok over medium-high heat. Add the oil, the garlic and the chilis and fry for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.
Add the chicken pieces to the pan, cooking them until they’re lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, red chili paste and sugar, and continue to cook until the chicken is done all the way through, another 3-4 minutes.
Add the pepper and basil and cook until the basil is just wilted, about two minutes. Serve immediately.
I love this recipe. LOVE it. Warm or cold and it can stand alone or be served along something else. It takes no time to whip together and you can make it as spicy as you want.
Whisk together honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper and set aside. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Julienne the green onions, carrots, and bell pepper; and mince the garlic. Heat the seseme oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the carrots, saute for a minute or two, then add the garlic, bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Saute until crisp tender. Add the liquid ingredients and heat through, stirring gently. Then add the pasta and toss until coated. Garnish with the chopped cilantro.
This popular middle eastern salad is made with Tabbouleh instead of bulgar. I like the substitution because I have a big Costco size bag of Quinoa in my pantry all the time. I could eat this once even twice a week, it’s just so easy to throw together. This light and tasty dish and pairs well with any meat.
Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; fluff with a fork. Stir in tomato and remaining ingredients. Cover; let stand 1 hour. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
One thing I like to do at night is watch Americas Test Kitchen while laying in bed. The great thing about watching it at night is I sleep off the desire to make all the delicious food. One of the last episodes I watched was how to make perfect thin crust pizza. It looked so good I had to try it out. The secret to the crust was to let is slowly rise in the refrigerator over night.
I prepared the dough a day ahead so it was all ready for Shane to make his famous BLT pizza on Friday night.
It was a little time-consuming to make but I will do it again, just next time I will do it when I am not alone with baby girl. The final product was delicious!
BLT pizza, minus a few bites.
Along side the pizza I made a chopped salad loaded with green beans, radishes, onions, heirloom tomatoes, peppercinis and topped with blue cheese.
Ingredients
3 cups (16 1/2 ounces) bread flour, plus more for work surface (see note)
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/3 cups ice water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for work surface
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
Directions
In food processor fitted with metal blade, process flour, sugar, and yeast until combined, about 2 seconds. With machine running, slowly add water through feed tube; process until dough is just combined and no dry flour remains, about 10 seconds. Let dough stand 10 minutes.
Add oil and salt to dough and process until dough forms satiny, sticky ball that clears sides of workbowl, 30 to 60 seconds. Remove dough from bowl and knead briefly on lightly oiled countertop until smooth, about 1 minute. Shape dough into tight ball and place in large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days.
One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to second highest position (rack should be about 4 to 5 inches below broiler), set pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. Shape each half into smooth, tight ball. Place on lightly oiled baking sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart; cover loosely with plastic wrap coated with nonstick cooking spray; let stand for 1 hour before topping and baking.
I don’t pull out my crock pot for much these days but this my friends is a good reason to. See recipe here. The only thing I did different was I used a couple serranos in place for the jalapeno. I also found the amount of coleslaw to be way too much, so I just used half a bag and guesstimated the sauce ingredients. I regret not trimming away all the fat off my roast which caused it to be a little greasy, next time I will take the extra time to do that.
Over all this was very good and I will do it again…soon. Don’t forget to top it with Sriracha!
The Art of Thyming 