D.I.S.H

Holiday Cleanse

2008-12-01T10:37:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I enjoyed an amazing meal with friends in San Francisco thanks Claudine and Mary for being such good hostesses. Everyone brought such yummy food I thought I share a few:
1. Kendra made a mouth watering coconut milk sweet potatoes
2. Creamed Spinach and parsnip
3. Claudine made an amazing Stuffing
4. Yazmine's homemade Carrot Cake

I also wanted to share a new book by author and Adina Niemerow called Super Cleanse this is just what we need to get our diet back on track for the new year.

Happy Holidays,
Jillian

Susie's Samosas

2008-10-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I learned to make these samosas in an Indian cooking class I took in St. Louis last year. To me, they are better than most you get in actual Indian restaurants. I made them for an Indian feast my friend threw at his house and he was amazed. The recipe looks overwhelming at first but once you acquire all the ingredients, it's so worth it!

Filling:
2 Tbsp ghee
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup peas (fresh or thawed frozen)
1& 1/2 tsp peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
½-1 fresh Serrano or Thai bird chile, seeded and finely chopped
½ tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander seed, ground
¼ tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ lemon), or to taste
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Pastry: (Can use wonton wrappers instead of making dough from scratch)
1 & ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine salt
¼ cup vegetable shortening (preferably zero trans fat), chilled
1/3 cup cold water
2 cups canola oil, for frying

Preparation:
1. For the filling: Heat the ghee in a large, deep saute’ pan over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook just until the aroma is released, about 20-30 seconds. Add the onions and saute’ until tender and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.
2. Stir in the garlic and cook until the aroma is released, about 1-2 minutes. Add the peas, water, ginger, fresh chiles, turmeric, ground coriander seeds, cayenne, salt and black pepper and cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes to the onion mixture and cook another 6-7 minutes, stirring gently to combine. Remove from the heat, then add the lemon juice and cilantro. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Test the potatoes for doneness; if they are still crunchy, cook another 2-3 minutes. Chill the filling in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
4. For the pastry: Sift the flour with the salt into a large bowl. Rub in the shortening by hand until the flour resembles course cornmeal, then add the water and mix until blended; the dough will appear dry and lumpy.
5. Pinch off a piece of dough the size of a small walnut; roll it between your hands to form a ball. On a well-floured board, roll each ball of dough into a one-eight-inch thick circle about 6-inches in diameter; slice each circle in half to form 2 semi-circles.
6. Moisten the edges of one semi-circle with water, then form into a cone; fill w/ 1 Tbsp of the cooled veggie mixture. Moisten and pinch the top closed, leaving a ¼ inch seam. Repeat with the rest of the semi-circles.
7. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large sate’ pan. Fry the samosas 4 or 5 at a time, turning once, until they are deep golden brown. Drain on paper towels; serve hot with chutney (or spicy tangy sauce * recipe below*)

Make it ahead; The samosas can be fried, cooled and then frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months. To reheat, place in a 400 degree oven for 20-30min.

Spicy tangy sauce:
Mix together hoisin sauce, a touch of honey, some ground fresh chili paste (and maybe a touch of ginger, yogurt or lemon to taste)

Becky & Bob's Ravioli

2008-09-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Hi there food lovers,

First off, I wanted to thank Catherine for sharing her favorite restaurants in NYC. I can't wait to try one the next time I'm visiting. Also, I'm going to start a section of restaurants by city so there easily accessible and hopefully I can figure out a way for us to rate them. If any of you have suggestions let me know.

This past weekend Scott and I were treated to a Ravioli making session by Becky and Bob. Becky is one of my co-workers and part Italian so we were thrilled when she invited us over so we could get a taste of her Italian heritage. The boys were on Pasta while the girls handled four different types of filling .... the main filling was ricotta cheese and we also used goat, mozzarella and Gorgonzola. Below are our filling mixtures:

1. Herbs, Ricotta & Mozzarella
2. Fig, Ricotta & Gorgonzola
3. Mushroom, Ricotta & Goat
4. Mango, Ricotta & Goat with Cumin Spice

If you've never made pasta I highly recommend it but know that you may need a few extra hands to help you out.

Thank you Becky and Bob for an unforgettable Italian feast.

yum yum ! jillian

New York Restaurant List

2008-09-07T21:08:00.001-07:00

Just for anyone out there thinking of heading to New York, here are my must go tos for food and drink:
Prune: delicious a la carte bistro. mmm
La Esquina: a cute hidden tequila bar and amazing restaurant, make sure to make a reservation though. enter through the secret door right inside (the door says employees only) it's secret, so just remember, you want to go downstairs! not eat upstairs
Home: sustainable and local, what more do you want
Bubby's: well maybe in addition to sustainable and local, you want a place that makes their own pies and homemade sodas, they are also known for their approach to using the whole steer and not wasting a bit of meat.
Public: the apps and drinks were amazing and the atsmosphere is super elegant and cute. i can only imagine that the food is supurb!
Bar Tabac: brooklyn restaurant. great brunch and cute homey feel. eat outside for some fresh air.
Casa Mono: Just one of Mario Batali's New York brainchild's. all tapas and all great. try out the attached wine bar right next door too for an expensive glass of wine; Bar Jamon

New York Prune

2008-09-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Just returned from an amazing trip to NYC! I was so impressed with the quality of food at all of the places Brett and I went to. There are numerous restaurants that have local and organic produce to compliment amazing wines and drinks. I'll be uploading numerous restaurants that we went to. The first of which is Prune. This little jem, found in the east village, is packed with comfort foodish/unfussy dishes all served a la cart. We started out with some drinks paired with an appetizer of lightly buttered brown bread with aged goat cheese and salted red onion. Since the meals were a la cart, we shared a smokey eggplant with parsley potato chips on top and a prime ribeye steak for 2. delish! the best ribeye ever, and the eggplant was pureed and seasoned in such a way that abandoned the bitter taste many of us aquaint with eggplant. For the lack of photo for the dessert you'll figure out that we didn't even have enough time to take a picture. The dessert was light and delish; macerated raw rhubarb, greek yogurt and almond-Cardamom Candy. mmmm.

Stay tuned for more restaurants.

cool logo from side dish

2008-09-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

hi gals,

I had to share with you this very creative logo mark from a group called sidedish which is being featured today on designsponge. If you haven't already check it out they have some great photos and picnic recipes.

I'm off to a wedding in Napa and then I have another wedding at the end of the month so I'm thinking this would be a good opportunity to post some wedding food ideas. Be on the look out later this month.

Also, next week Catherine will be posting about her first trip to NYC. It will be great to hear about all her foodie finds in the big apple.

Have a great weekend.

yum yum! Jillian

Slow Food Nation 2008

2008-09-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Kendra and I had an amazing foodie weekend here in SF at the Slow Food Nation Convention. We kicked things off at the Market in front of City Hall eating, Scott Peterson of Watershed in Atlanta's, Ham Biscuits. The southern girl in me is bound to sniff out some hot biscuits and not until now did I realize that it's a collaborative creation of Indigo Girls' Emily Saliers who also owns The Flying Biscuit in Atlanta. No wonder it was one of my favorites treats.

I was so glad that Kendra told me about this event b/c it truly opened my eyes to the world of Agriculture and it's toll on the world. Kendra will be elaborating on all of are happening and diving into the amazing lectures we attended.

Thanks Kendra : )

Fried Chicken Cooking Class

2008-08-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 23rd 2008

Catherine Weis hosted a fabulous cooking class. All us girls know our stuff so we decided to take a few of our favorite recipes and make them our own.

Amelia, started things off with her almond & panko baked chicken. A recipe she learned from her Father-Law Chef Ron Nardinelli.

See Recipe: ChefRon’s Skinny Chicken
Serves 4
Active prep time: 15 minutes
Total cooking time: aprox 1 hour

8 Chicken thighs (skin off)
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1-2 Tbsp chili paste (you can add water to chili powder as well)
3-4 cups Panko
½ - ¾ cups slivered almonds (lightly toasted)
Salt/Pepper
1-2 Tbsp “Slap ya Mama” seasoning (mix equal parts red pepper, black pepper, garlic powder)
Cooking spray (optional)

To Cook: Rinse and pat dry the chicken thighs, season with salt/pepper and Slap ya Mama. Pour the buttermilk into a 13 x 9 baking dish and stir in the chili paste. Add the chicken and marinate for at least 20 minutes, turning once. Toast the almonds in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes then cool. Grind in a coffee grinder, blender or cuisenart to a corn meal consistency. Blend the panko and almonds together and season with S & P. One at a time, remove the chicken and coat with the panko mixture, place on a baking pan (cover bottom of pan with parchment paper for easier clean-up and minimal burning). Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 mins (moderately spray with cooking spray) and bake for another 25 mins. Enjoy!

Catherine, helped contain our appetites by preparing a asian avocado salsa dish that we dipped with pita bread. A great recipe found in the August issue of Bon Appétit.

Jillian, completed the meal with a green onion & cheddar cornbread along with a cumin flavored cole slaw. This recipe is by Joel Gott, founder of Taylor's Refresher in San Francisco and featured in the September issue of Bon Appétit.

Lastly, Catherine seduced our appetites yet again with a Fresh Stone-Fruit Chutney Salsa and Vanilla Ice Cream. She really knows how to bring out all the stops.

Great class ladies...looking forward to our next event.
Yum! Yum! Jillian