In New York we had the great chance to attend a cooking class on Friday night at Miette Culinary Studio. It was a blast.  All  4 of us went, along with 10 others  and we loved Chef Paul and his approach.  He taught us a lot of great lessons, tips and how to get it all to the table at once - Wonderfully. The  menu was sponsored by Saveur and it was an American Steakhouse Classic. It was a wonderful birthday treat for the four of us to cook and enjoy together. We made Clams Casino, Caesar Salad, Creamed Spinach, Twice Baked potatoes, Skirt Steak and for dessert: amazing Vanilla ice cream and with Molten Chocolate cake!  The recipes were from Saveur. Wow- each dish was over the top good and I want make it all over again soon.

Here are some pics of the evening and the web link:

http://www.mietteculinarystudio.com/


Our Saveur shopping bags with recipes:

Chef Paul explains how we'll get it all done in short order-

Sautéing Vegetables for the Clams

Chef Paul demonstrates how to use Sea salt for  supporting the clams on the baking sheet;  he likes lots of salt as you  can see-

Ah the tasty Clams Casino- so good hot from the oven-

The lovely French dining room where we dined after cooking-

The group gets wine reinforcement for the strenous cooking-

Exact measurements for the Caesar dressing-

Tempering the chocolate with butter prior to making the cakes- wonderful direction and a skill I needed to learn-

The meal- amazing and all hot at one time, all achievable recipes and so delicious-




The homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Molten Lava cakes- YUM

In our aprons ready for work! We had a great time- Thanks Miette Culinary Studio and the Sims gang!

WOW! New York City in the Fall!
I went for a birthday weekend and it was more birthday than I expected! The city has so much to offer in terms of fashion, style, good food, great wines and fun times. We went to a lovely wine tasting of Brunello Di Montalcinos at Eataly LaScuola Grande and it did not disappoint. It was in conjunction with the Consorzio Del Vino Brunello Di Montalcino. The instruction, the setting and the lovely ruby wines made it a great evening. These wines are from southern Tuscany and made from the Sangiovese grape. We had 2 courses with cheeses, prosciutto, figs and the first wines  followed by 3 more wines and a lovely pasta bean soup or "pasta fagioli". This is a new venture for Eatlay and is in the store footprint, with an entrance on 23rd street. Classroom style seating and a chef's demonstration kitchen. It was a great time as these photos tell. In  the daytime this classroom is being used for Pranzo a daytime lunch spot with chefs preparing food you are enjoying for your lunch and talking about the preparation and products.
http://eatalyny.com/eat/pranzo

'Sounds so good. I want to go back. Soon!


    http://eatalyny.com/learn

Brunello Di Montalcino

Pasta Fagioli

We shopped in SOHO Friday and returned to one of my favorite lunch spots. Bread on Spring Street in Nolita.

It is cute, funky and a good spot for a quick lunch. The tomato soup is a regular and hard to resist. The girls had soup and sandwich and I had my favorite  Special salad.

                   
                     Bread Special Salad- tuna , shaved fennel and avocado- yum!

On Saturday we had lunch at Eataly Birreria and it was delightful.  Sitting on the  roof top in the sunshine and beautiful day with scrumptious food and casked beers and wines made at Eataly was a real departure for a saturday lunch.

                     Sausage with home made kraut and spicy mustard

                    King Oyster mushrooms with Broccoli Rabe and a poached egg- Delicious!

This dish inspired me to seek out these meaty tasty mushrooms in the Eataly  Market. Here they are.

I want to cook with these soon. They would be perfect for a vegetarian dish as they have such a meaty taste. Lovely!

Grilled Veggies turned into Grilled Ratatouille Salad

I read this lovely recipe on Bon Appetite Healthy Recipe of the week. It came to my email and it inspired my Market shopping Saturday morning.Tonight it was a success. Very tasty and the grilled flavors are a very different idea of the traditional ratatouille I have enjoyed in the past.

I changed a few things, added more grilled Roma tomatoes  and they imparted a great flavor. Also limited the eggplant as B "does not like eggplant" although I will say it was delicious. They called it Salad; well we had it warm as soon as I chopped everything right off the grill and made the dressing. With grilled chicken it was a perfect meal.
Here's mine:

The lovely charred  marked on the veggies let you know your are going to get a grilled taste,  and the dressing  with grilled tomatoes are a terrific combination. I grilled a lemon ( I love grilled lemons) and squeezed the lemon over the vegetables after chopping them prior to dressing it. It added a fresh taste! I used  fresh Italian parsley for a little green as I didn't have tarragon. The dressing calls for grating grilled tomatos but truly I just squeezed them in my hand and held onto the pulp and used just the juices to add to the dressing with basalmic vinegar and olive oil. It needed a bit of salt and  next time I would add a few red pepper flakes for zing.

Here is their recipe link:

http://bonapp.it/PxHFD5

and the photo that inspired mine:

We had some left over and I think this would make at terrific sauce  on pasta with grated parmesan cheese and perhaps some tarragon or more parsley.


Grilled Ratatouille Salad

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons safflower oil or other neutral oil

Kosher salt

2 medium eggplants (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes

1 pound mixed summer squash, halved lengthwise

1 red bell pepper

8 scallions, trimmed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh tarragon

PREPARATION

Build a medium fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to medium-high. Lightly sprinkle salt over cut sides of eggplant and let sit for 15 minutes (you will see beads of water form on the surface). Rinse eggplant and pat dry.

Lay eggplant, tomatoes, squash, bell pepper, and scallions on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 Tbsp. oil; season with salt and pepper.

Grill vegetables, turning occasionally, until tender, transferring them to a baking sheet as they are done. The tomatoes, scallions, and eggplant will cook the fastest (2-5 minutes); the squash and bell pepper will take about 5 minutes.

Slice three-quarters of the tomatoes in half and grate the cut side over the coarse holes of a box grater into a medium bowl (discard core and any tomato skin left in your hand). Whisk in vinegar and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil; season to taste with salt and pepper. Set vinaigrette aside.

Chop remaining tomatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Chop remaining grilled vegetables into 1/2-inch pieces and add to bowl. Drizzle tomato vinaigrette over and toss gently to coat. Transfer vegetables to a serving platter or bowl and garnish with tarragon.

Pickle Time:

At the Market, Frankie  had Kirby cucumbers and they were offering free pickling spices from Ball. So why not I thought? 'Seems easy, and guess what, it was. The choices include refrigerator pickles that cure for three weeks in the frig or  choose to preserve in hot water bath and  they last longer  on the shelf.  I did some of both. They were beautiful. This week at book club we cracked the first jars and wow- crispy and dill and oh so good.

Then today, I see that Food and Wine e-newsletter has lots of recipes for pickling.

http://bit.ly/OvgmbF

All of the recipes I reviewed looked easy and good. Grab some Kirby's and get canning.

These spicy dill look great!


So do these:

Labor day was busy and seems since then all I have  done is labor. But now, time to catch you up.The Bon Appetite shrimp recipe I mentioned in my last post was a HIT. We added grilled eggplant, cherry tomatoes and baby zucchini. When we enjoyed the shrimp the charred lemons were delicious. The feta mint greek yoghurt sauce  (the recipe called for dill but I used mint instead) was delicious on the shrimp but also the grilled veggies. This was a very easy recipe and I'd recommend it. Try it!

Here is the link:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/shrimp-and-lemon-skewers-with-feta-dill-sauce

For the holiday we grilled chicken and I made these home made Greek Gyros from The Londoner. She had it right on the tzatziki sauce. It was delicious and perfect with the chicken. We added tomatoes, lettuce and avocado. I didn't have the energy to run out for flat bread so we used grilled tortillas, a reasonable substitute. YUMMY.

Her photos are better than mine, but the taste was as good. Maybe my next efforts will be food photography or styling?

http://www.thelondoner.me/search/label/recipe

Here is her recipe for the sauce. I loved it and  can see it on veggies, sandwiches, grilled zucchini...

Tzatziki:
350g/12oz Zero fat Greek yoghurt
1 grated cucumber
Juice of 1 lemon
2 crushed garlic cloves
Pinch of salt
Splash of extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of paprika

In a large bowl, mix together your yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, garlic & salt. Swirl in your olive oil & mix. When you're done, cover it with cling film & pop it in the fridge.
The flavours will start to develop as it sits.


Bon Appetite has a good recipe for shrimp and tzatziki:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/2008/08/shrimp_skewers_with_tzatziki_spinach_and_feta

Since then, I have been committed to increased protein and veggies and the City Market doesn't disappoint. The late summer veggies are beautiful and the fall greens and arugula are a nice addition.
I've missed arugula these hot months and the big  leaf variety is wonderful. Several of the Market vendors have it and we scoot over early to grab it before the crowds buy it all.

I like arugula in a salad, this one from Pinterest and  http://www.marthastewart.com  looks perfect with beets and orange:

ENJOY!