Tag Archives: food

A little more watermelon avocado salsa, please.

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Summer calls for lighter meals and this was an excellent example! Most fish falls in the category of lighter fare for me. The corvina (from the Pacific coast of South America) was no exception;  meaty, but extremely light in flavor, flaking off in large chunks. It looks and tastes like a cross between mahi and red snapper.

The watermelon avocado salsa was a last minute addition (luckily remembering the watermelon and avocado were sitting on the counter). Our meal was postponed for a half hour to let it chill, but it was worth the wait! A serving for 2 included half an avocado (chunked), the juice of 2 limes, 2 diced slices of watermelon (mini seedless variety), some very thinly sliced white onion, mint and cilantro, salt and pepper to taste, and a touch of extra virgin olive oil. Serve on top of the fish, in many heaping spoonfuls, for a nice contrast to the silkiness of the corvina.

Pink wine! I have to say (due to previous experience some years ago), I had a preconceived notion that pink wine is sweet and not very good.  However, I’ve been hearing excellent things about rosés (especially from the Finger Lakes), and wanted to give one a try. The Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Rosé is actually quite full bodied, and dry, as per the name. It had very slight hints of floral notes, as well as apricot and raspberry. The acidity paired well with the fish and the lime in the salsa. I love finding a Finger Lakes wine I will purchase again!

As it hit 100˚F in Rochester yesterday…….happy hot summer to everyone! Hope you get a chance to enjoy this meal soon!

Corvina topped with watermelon avocado salsa!

Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Rosé. Pink wine is good!

Mid-summer watermelon is wonderfully refreshing.

Fresh basil from the garden! Sliced super fine.

Just a few paper thin slices of onion.

An avocado just looks like summer.

Can a stack of pancakes be too tall?

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That was the question I asked myeslf…right before I made this stack. I came up with the answer…..only because it makes them hard to cut! I really didn’t eat all those by myself, but rest assured that in this house extra pancakes don’t go to waste. Here’s hoping you get some pancakes for yourself this week!

Now that's a stack of pancakes!

Red, white and blue “freedom” toast.

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I can’t give credit to the French for our 4th of July breakfast! Maybe for the Statue of Liberty, but I’m sticking to freedom toast for now. We just happened to have a few slices of rosemary olive oil bread left over and we couldn’t  let it go to waste. This is one of our favorite breads when fresh, and it’s a favorite when soaked in egg whites and cooked up as well!  My suggestion for freedom or French toast: skip the egg yolks. I also skip the butter to fry it and use a cooking spray, all in an effort to eat as healthy as possible. There is still tons of flavor!

We topped with fruit and powdered sugar for the red, white and blue effect. Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Rosemary olive oil, red, white & blue freedom toast.

We got Naked with chianti.

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Naked Pizza that is. Yes…the name of the chain is intriguing (and innuendo inspiring), so we thought we’d give it a try. We ordered the Mediterranean pizza for Heather and I, and a plain cheese for the boys. I think the cheese pizza was gone before we actually ate ours (due to some crazy photographer taking pictures). So, I’m pretty sure they liked it! As did we. It was very flavorful and true to its Mediterranean influence with artichokes, red onion, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives. We decided to pair it with a 2007 Chianti Classico that was #47 on the Wine Spectator top 100 list, from Casttello D’Albola. The wine was marvelous. Super red in color, easily drinkable, and perfect with Pizza. I suggest you get Naked soon!

The Naked Mediterranean pizza.

The 2007 Castello D'Albola Chianti Classico catching a big breath.

Where’s the Beef?

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Father’s Day. What would it be without grilled meat? Well, I guess it would still be a Sunday to celebrate how great our fathers are. But, it might not be quite as manly without the grilled meat! (and a beer as you grill!) So Happy Father’s day…a day after. I hope you got to enjoy something like this Italian themed burger!

As I said in the caprese burger post, it’s fun to make a burger that’s way bigger than you can easily take a bite out of. So, we did it again here! 90% lean irradiated ground beef was once again our beef of choice. For this burger, I chopped up oregano and parsley and mixed it in the meat when I created the patties.  Grill it medium, and it’s incredibly juicy and flavorful. Place it on your grilled Italian hard roll and top the burger with fresh mozzarella, grilled pepper, grilled onion, more fresh oregano and parsley, mixed greens and your favorite tomato sauce.

Make sure to hold it over your plate and have a few spare napkins nearby!

The juicy, dripping, flavorful Italian themed burger.

I can just hear the sizzle and smell the smoke.

What’s for dinner? Rich buttery Patagonian toothfish!?

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I had spent a couple hours roasting red peppers at the studio for a shoot (for roasted red pepper hummus), and I didn’t want them to go to waste. I asked Heather what we should get to go with them for dinner, and we decided on Patagonian Toothfish. Well, that’s what it was called until some clever marketing changed that not so pleasant name to Chilean sea bass (more upscale and in keeping with the rich, marvelous flavors of the fish). With a few sauteed mushrooms and red onions, (and the roasted red peppers), we served our pan seared sea bass over rice, topped with fresh chopped basil and drizzled with lemon extra virgin olive oil. What a decadent, flavorful treat!

We decided to pair the fish with a 2009  Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde. I might normally suggest a richer white, or even a pinot noir, but thought the light bodied wine would be a nice match given it was a very warm evening. The wine is dry with light fruity tones, and high in acidity. It actually worked very well as a pairing and made for an excellent meal.

Chilean sea bass, also known as the Patagonian Toothfish. Either way, it's excellent!

Drizzled with lemon extra virgin olive oil for extra flavor.

2009 Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde, from Portugal. A great summer wine!

Chef Mark’s dynamite napoleon!

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Chef Mark’s birthday…part 2! So what does a chef want for his birthday dessert? To make his own napoleon! This was fun to watch, so I captured a few steps of the process. The one very important chef’s tip that I learned was to create each pastry dough layer using a whole box of puff pastry. At first this sounded crazy, until Mark explained that you bake a whole box of dough (after unrolling) while compressed between 2 cookie sheets, to keep the dough from rising. Add some pastry cream and  raspberries between each layer, top with powdered sugar, and you have a dessert fit for a chef! (or a short French dictator)

Chef Mark's dynamite napleon!

Chef Mark hard at work, on his birthday!

Chef Mark….cookin’ the birthday food.

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Our good friend Chef Mark recently had his birthday, and we were fortunate enough to host his gathering. So what does a chef want for his birthday meal? To make his own pizza! Chef Russell generously offered to make some of his “secret recipe” pizza dough (thanks Russell!), Chef Mark brought over some delectable toppings, and we were off to start cookin’ the birthday meal! Since the recipe for the dough is top secret, for now I’ll suggest picking up some pre-made dough at the store. Be sure to bake it on a pizza stone for best results. Place the pizza stone in the oven prior to pre-heating, and heat your oven as high as it can go. We had ours at 550 degrees. This will create a pizza with a crisp outside and a nice tender center. Top with whatever your heart (and stomach) desires. For this particular pizza, we created a version of the margherite with tomato sauce, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil and sea salt. Get creative….make your own masterpiece! Let me know what you come up with…

Chef Mark making his own birthday pizza!

The homemade sourdough margherite pizza. Yum!!

A quick bite (and Heather says they’re cute).

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I wanted to make sandwiches for lunch. There was no bread in the house, except for a baguette. Normally, this would make for a fantastic sub-like sandwich, but this loaf was pre-sliced! So, I decided to run with it.  A few thin chunks of gruyere, some turkey, a couple of apple slices, baby spinach and dijon mustard to top it off……voila! Grill them in a sauté pan with some cooking spray, and lunch is soon ready. Mmmm..sandwiches.  Mini, grilled, tasty, (cute), sandwiches….yum!

Sliced baguette sandwiches. YUM! (don't forget the apple!)

A fun red and a fungi makes a great meal.

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It was suggested to us to try the 2006 Atwater Cabernet Franc with grilled portobello mushrooms. So…we did!

I find  portobellos to be a light, healthy, yet extremely flavorful, substitute for beef. They only take a few  minutes for each side on the grill….coated lightly in olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill a few small peppers at the same time. Slice them on a platter when done and throw on some blue cheese, letting it melt. Plate over a bed of arugula blend and thinly sliced red onion. Top with balsamic vinaigrette and you have a satisfying, healthy meal.

New York State doesn’t get a whole lot of credit for its red wines. The Atwater Cabernet Franc is one of the best ones I have had, so I think we’ll have to explore a few more. We thought the wine would pair well with almost anything grilled (including our mushrooms), not to mention the strong, earthy cheese. Its light tannins, blend of red fruit flavors, and slight earthiness made it very drinkable and a food-friendly wine.

It was a fabulous treat all around, and a great selection for a nice warm spring evening.

2006 Atwater Cabernet Franc.

Grilled portobello mushrooms over arugula blend. (click for bigger fungi)