steak, tomato romesco & the magic bullet

steak, tomato romesco & the magic bullet

[TO MY ANIMAL LOVIN FRIENDS: I'm so so sorry. I love meat, and eat it very rare, moo-ing is absolutely normal. I hope it doesn't offend you nor deter you from reading the recipe for the tomato romesco because it's DELICIOUS and would be great with some tofu... 143]

My older sister, Lauren, introduced me to Mark Bittman a bit over a year ago. I adore his contributions to the NY Times in his MINIMALIST column and monitor it religiously. His style of cooking is non-intimidating and incorporates flavors from all over the world. Most importantly, his recipes are simple and don't demand the finest ingredients, he suggust them if you have them, however encourages subsitution when you don't want to leave your house ;) In addition, he includes short and charming videos to augment his writing. The following recipe is a very slight rendition of his steak with tomato romesco   simply because I subsituted ingreditents I didn't have.

steak, tomato romesco & the magic bullet

1 lb. of flank or tri tip steak

1 handful of almonds I have small hands by the way ;)

1 handful of cherry or plum tomatoes you want the small ones

5 garlic cloves

1/2 lemon

2 t olive oil

2 t balsamic vinegar

1 t white vinegar I used white vinegar and balsamic vinegar because I didn't have sherry

crushed red pepper flakes to your liking

salt and pepper to taste 

Rub down the steak with some salt and pepper. Heat up a skillet on high with some olive oil if you have a cast iron, it would be better, I only have steel so it'll have to do...  You want it to be really really hot, so turn on the kitchen fan before your roommates start to haller at you. When you see the heat, add the seasoned steak, almonds and tomatoes to the pan. Add some more salt and pepper to the almonds and tomatoes. There will be smoke and the tomato and almonds will get blackend...you want this for a smokey flavor that will come out in your romesco. Sear this side of the meat for about 4 minutes. Flip the steak and scoop the tomatos and almonds into a blender or food processor. In my case, the magic bullet ;) 

Turn the oven on broil and place the pan without the tomatoes and almonds into the oven. Broil for 7 - 12 minutes, depending on the thickness and likeness of your steak. 

In the magic bullet that now holds the tomatoes and almonds add the olive oil, garlic, squeezed lemon juice, vinegar and salt to taste and blend away. You want a good gritty consistency... and there you have your tomato romesco. mmmmmmmmmm

Once steak is done, let it sit, so the juices can settle maybe about 8 minutes or so slice, and serve with your tomato romesco. Very easy, and very yummy. Tell me what you think!

ENJOY!

much love,

faris

buttery lentils

buttery lentils

Lentils are one of those foods that I crave. They're a great way to get your dosage of legumes without the hassle of soaking PLUS the texture has me hooked. Here's a simple recipe that's a great starter that you can always build upon.

buttery lentils Mmmmmmmm

2 1/2 cups of dried brown lentils

3 carrots

1 shallot

1/2 stick of butter

2 T of olive oil approximation... you may use more

1/2 lemon

1 T balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Throw the lentils and a pot and cover them with water, about 1 inch above the legume line. Add some salt about 1t & olive oil in about 1T and bring to a boil. Once boiling, place on low and cover you're gonna cook these for about 35-40 minutes, until tender... make sure you don't over cook because it becomes mushy You may have to add water while they cook, so check on them every 10 minutes or so.

While lentils are cooking, slice up the shallots. Melt the butter in a pan big enough to hold all the lentils because you'll be adding them in later and throw the shallots in with a dash of salt and olive oil.  Saute on medium/low...about 10 minutes. Chop up the carrots, and throw into the sautéed shallots towards the end of the 10 minutes.

Once lentils are tender, strain out the water and add them to the shallot/butter/carrot pan. Mix it all up the burner should be on low.  Make sure that all the beans are covered with the shallot butter.  Take off the heat, squeeze the 1/2 lemon over the lentils, mix in the vinegar, and add salt & pepper to taste, you might want some extra olive oil too.

And that's it. 

with love & a full belly,

farisita

asian fried eggplant

fried eggplant asian style

My eggplant had to be cooked up tonight it was starting to look not so good. It can be a tricky vegetable for me. I often create a mushy platter however there seems to be two solid ways that come out consistently: grilling and frying. Since its a tid bit nippy and I'm not tryin to light up the grill, I fried some eggplant and made an asian sweet soy sauce for dipping you can surely find better ingredients for the dipping sauce, but I'm going with what I had

fried eggplant asian style

2 Japanese Eggplants 

3 C Panko japanese bread crumbs, can be found at ANY asian market

1 C Flour

1 T Corn Starch
1 t Salt
6 C Peanut Oil or Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil
3 eggs


1 C Low Sodium Soy Sauce I always like to use low sodium because you can increase saltyness but not take it away
1/4 C Ketchup
1/3 C Sugar
1 T Rice Vinegar
Sriracha to taste

Go ahead and chop up the eggplant into 1/2 inch pieces and put aside. Combine Panko, Flour, Corn Starch and Salt on a flat dish. In a separate bowl beat the eggs. 


Dip the eggplant pieces into the egg, after soaked, dredge in Panko mixture, once breaded, put on a separate dish, they are ready to be fried. Everyone has their different assembly line system, I prefer to make about 6 at a time. Continue this process until all the eggplant is breaded. 


If you have a iron pan, great, if not, any old sauce pan will work fine. My dutch oven was occupied with some coconut chicken so I just used a regular pan. :) Because I'm not completely submerging my eggplant in oil, but rather I cooking them a side at a time, I like to  heat 2 cups of oil at a time. Heat up it  up on high, and when hot enough you can tell by sprinkling a little of the panko in the pan and it'll sizzle start frying them up! Again, I like to do about 6 - 8 at a time. I fry them until they're golden on one side and flip them until they're golden on the other if you check out the pictures below, it makes more sense, I think... Fry them all up and place them on some paper towels to soak up the excess oil. 


For the sauce: stir up all the ingredients into a small sauce pan on med-high and let it simmer for about 3 minutes, let it cool down and you have yourself some yummy sauce.


Frying can be intimidating, but it's super simple and very yummy... ENJOY!

with love and a full belly,


farisita

roasted chicken n grapes

roasted chicken n grapes

I came home tonight and wanted something comfy in my tummy. Again, too lazy to go to the store, I peeped my fridge to see what was available. hmmm... chicken, grapes... arugula, spinach, avocado... buttery yellow dutch taters, shallots... and lots of rice jasmine, short, long, brown, you name it, I love rice oh, and wine, lots of wine too.

I'm a big fan of mixing up meat and fruit... easy way to balance a savory dish wish sweetness. So how about chicken and grapes...? Here you go:

Chicken n Grapes

4 lbs of Chicken be it a whole chicken or pieces, it just so happened I had 6 legs

1 lb of grapes that's definitely an estimate, use your best judgement

5 shallots I LOVE shallots, I think they go with everything, you can us less if you'd like

2 cups of white wine I had some 2 buck chuck, pinot grigio to donate... wine purist puke if you will

6 sprigs of thyme I love thyme too... 

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil

Preheat your oven to 400 F

Chop the shallots length-wise in forths, strip the thyme sprigs leaving a few shot springs is fine, and separate the grapes. 

Toss them all in a bowl with some olive oil and put to the side. 

Salt, pepper and olive oil your chicken, rub it good. 

If you have a dutch oven, great!, if not, just a big pan just make sure that it'll fit all the chicken n grapes in will do. Heat up the pan with some olive oil and fry the outers of the rubbed chicken until it is ideally crisp and golden I'm always impatient so golden is fine for me :) you may need to do 2 or 3 batches depending on your pan.

Once golden, add in the grape mixture to the pan. 

Try and evenly disperse the fruit and chicken in other words, don't have all the chicken be at the bottom and all the grape mixture be at the top. 

Pour in wine, cover it up and pop it in the oven

Let cook for 1 hr - 1.5 hrs. 

While you wait, balance your nutrients and makes some sides.

I'm also a big believer in letting your meat sit for a minute about 10 is good so all the juices stay in as much as possible. Plate the chicken and scoop ladle the yummy juices and grapes in a separate bowl to enjoy while eating if you throw it away, you're a fool, this is the best part!

I served it with Dutch potatoes & shallots, arugula-spinach-avocado salad, and some rice it soaks up the best part so good 

Enjoy my friends did!

with love and a full belly,

farisita