Multigrain Pasta with Asparagus, Lemon, and Basil

I've been missing in action for a while now. The holiday season was busy and I did not get around to doing much computer work. I have started loosing weight with my new lifestyle and have been cooking healthy. It's hard to live healthy when you love so much rich foods. In a effort to try to have my "cake" and eat it too, I've turned to healthy carbs and less of them plus lots of veggies. I find that when I splurge and buy good organic vegetables or go to the farmers market that I feel much better about cooking light and eating light. I don't miss the heavy sauces and butters.

I don’t love the whole wheat pasta but the Barilla Plus Multigrain Pasta is good. Its high fiber, high protein, and high in Omega-3’s and tastes great. I’m serving this healthy recipe with a big green salad.

Serves 4

12 ounces cooked Barilla Plus Multigrain Spaghetti
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
10-12 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zest and juice
Fresh grated parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and reserve ½ cup of the pasta water.

In a large nonstick sauté pan, melt butter with the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Sauté garlic for 30 seconds then add asparagus to the pan. Continue to sauté until the asparagus becomes crisp tender about 5 minutes. Add lemon zest and fresh basil and pasta water; cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Turn off heat and add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss asparagus mixture with pasta and serve.

Pickled Grapes

Pickled Grapes

I had dinner recently at FIG in Charleston SC and it was a memorable meal. One of our courses was a Pate served with Pickled Red Grapes. They were brilliant! I loved them and came home from Charleston to make them. Here’s what I did.

2 pounds of red seedless grapes taken off the stem, washed and dried
3 cups red wine vinegar
2 cups sugar
3 cinnamon sticks

In a heavy pot boil the vinegar, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. Once the mixture boils and the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the heat. Add the grapes to the pan and give it a stir. Let the pan cool to room temperature. With a slotted spoon, fill jars with the grapes and then pour the liquid from the pot over the grapes. Seal the jars and place in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. These will keep for several days in the refrigerator. They are delicious served with cheese, crackers, and nuts or alongside any grilled or roasted meats especially rich meats like pork, and duck. My family and friends are raving about them. The next time I make them I’m going to add 3 or 4 whole cloves to add just a bit more warm spice.

Eating My Way Through Charleston SC

I recently attended the Personal Chefs Network 2008 Symposium in Charleston SC. While in Charleston I had the pleasure of eating at some of the best restaurants in town. Charleston is a true foodie town. There are so many great places for food from down-home southern cuisine to upscale French and American regional cuisine and wonderful seafood. Here are the restaurants that I ate at.

A group of 7 of us went to The Boathouse On East Bay (www.boathouserestaurants.com) where we were invited by warm wood and clean minimal nautical décor. I had wonderful appetizers of Fried Green Tomatoes on a bed of Arugula topped with Local Goat Cheese and Sweet Pepper Jam Buttermilk and Benne Seed Crusted Fried Calamari topped with Garlic Chili Sauce. For my entrée I had Fried Grouper with Spicy Remoulade with Tarragon Poached Asparagus and Smoked Gouda Mac&Cheese. No room for dessert. L

FIG (www.eatatfig.com) where the outside does not look like much but the interior was metropolitan chic. Chef/Owner Mike Lata created a tasting menu especially for me and my dining partner Chef Peg Nelson. Our course were as follows. Local Oysters on the Half Shell with Mingnonette, Agrumato, and Steelhead Roe, Chicken Liver Pate with Pickled Grapes, Toasted Brioche, and Watercress, Warm Sweet Onion Tart with White Buck Goat Cheese from Vermont, Heirloom Potato Agnolotti with Jumbo Lump Crab, Zucchini, and Wilted Greens, Grilled Triggerfish with Escarole, White Bean Puree, and Sweet Pepper Confit, Pork Shoulder Confit with Kabocha Squash Puree, Rapini, Roasted Grapes and Toasted Pine Nuts. Our finales were Banana Tart with Maple Ice Cream, and a Key Lime Steamed Pudding. Chef Mike truly gave Peg and I a meal to remember.

The Personal Chefs Network members enjoyed Brunch at High Cotton (www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/highcotton) featuring a very tasty Bloody Mary, Sweet Iced Tea, Charleston Crab Soup, Crab Cakes Benedict, and Pecan Pie.

On my last night there a group of 10 of us dined at 39 Rue De Jean (www.39ruedejean.com) a classic French Brasserie with oddly enough, a sushi bar. Who’d a thunk it. I had Foie Gras with Brandied Cherries and Toasted Brioche, French Onion Soup, and Fried Goat Cheese Salad with Arugula, Red and Yellow Beets and Lingonberry Balsamic Vinaigrette.

This week was not good for my diet but it was good. There is nothing better than eating in a fine restaurant with a fine group of chefs. My PCN friends make the best dining partners in the world. I could not be in better company.

The Journey

My journey began on Tuesday Oct. 7th, 2008. It was that day that I made the commitment to myself to stop relying on food for emotional support. It was that day that I began to eat only when I was truly hungry and eat only enough food to make me feel satisfied. It was that day that I stopped overeating.

At age 45 and 5 feet tall my weight is 227 and I rely on food to make me feel good about myself and the world around me. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, and Cancer run in my family. So I’m faced with some tough decisions; get healthier or have to rely on medications and doctors to keep me alive. I HATE doctors!

Now, I’m a chef AND a certified nutrition coach. Being a chef is all I want to be. I love cooking and food, I love living the life of a chef, I love being around other chefs and food lovers, I love reading about food, talking about food, taking pictures of food, attending food and restaurant shows (showen above at the Southwest Foodservice Expo), creating wonderful food. Food Food Food – do we see a pattern here? Well I’m not walking away from my passion and my income. Being a foodie is what I am and that will not change. As a nutrition coach…well, it’s like the shoe maker that goes bare foot himself. You take care of the needs of others but never yourself. As a woman like most women we care for our families, job, friends, and everything before ourselves.

My problem is not what I eat – I eat and cook for my family very healthy for the most part. We eat whole grains, lots of veggies and fruit, lean meats, lots of fish and seafood, and use very little fat and then mostly all good fats. We eat well, just too much. You know what they say “Too much of a good thing is still too much.” The key for me is moderate exercise, reduce my snacking and PORTION CONTROL. Eating less of those good things that I cook. I’ll keep a diary of everything I eat and drink and post weekly on my progress.

I’m not going on a DIET. Do you know why the first 3 letters in DIET are DIE. Because when you’re on one you wish you were dead! J I’ll eat regular, freshly made food (not frozen or packaged chemicals disguised as food) and not be going to meetings (who has time for that). I’ll cut my portion sizes to the proper size (aka spa portions) and cut my calorie intake by 1/3. I’ll be happy and satisfied when I eat and won’t feel deprived of anything.

Vegas Vacation

Well I got home from Vegas and came down with a cold. So now that I'm back on my feet again, I'll tell you that Vegas was a great time and was unprofitable. Well we can't all win, can we?

I met my Aunt Janet and cousins Paula, Claudia, Billy, and Mary. We all converged on the Golden Nugget Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. This was the first time I've stayed downtown and the Golden Nugget was wonderful. Great restaurants, a pool area to die for, wonderful rooms and a nice casino. I'll stay there again on another visit.

We had lunch at Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay's restaurant in Vegas where we had the BEST MARGARITA IN THE WORLD. This was simply the very best I've ever had in my life and that's no lie. The Spicy Tuna & Salmon Tartares served with red and green hot sauces and crispy plantains and blue corn flat bread was lushious and the Goat Cheese Queso Fundido served in a cast iron crock with blue corn tortilla strips was to die for. The bread basket for lunch contained jalapeno scones (I'm so making these), cornbread, and assorted sweet bread. That alone was worth the trip. There was never a doubt that I was going to experience a great meal and I was not dissapointed. When at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas check out Mesa Grill. You won't be sorry.

Polenta

I love Southern food and one of my favorite things to eat is Grits smothered in butter, salt, and pepper and topped with a poached egg. So it’s no wonder that I love Polenta. Made of fine ground corn meal (course ground is also available) this creamy comfort food is a perfect substitute for mashed potatoes or rice. I usually use quick cooking Polenta but there is no substitute for the slow cooked and version that takes 45 minutes to 1 hour of almost constant stirring. But with the right care, the quick cooking Polenta can be just as creamy and satisfying.

The best thing about Polenta is how versatile it is. Once cooked you can serve it immediately topped with any meat/gravy combination, a mushroom ragu, some crumbled bleu cheese, grilled sausages and peppers, roasted vegetables, butter and maple syrup for breakfast, the possibilities are endless. Or you can pour the Polenta onto a greased sheet pan and spread it out then let it cool to set up. Cut it into squares, triangles, rounds, or any shape you want with a cookie cutter. It can now be grilled or baked and served with anything. I love to cut it into about 1 ½ inch squares and grill them then top them with sundried tomato pesto and fresh basil and serve at room temperature.

For quick cooking Polenta bring 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock to the boil over high heat, turn the heat to medium-high and slowly whisk in 1 cup of quick cooking Polenta. Continue to stir for 3 minutes. Then take it off the heat and add 2 tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup heavy cream or ½ & ½, and any fresh chopped herbs you like. Add ¼ - ½ cup of cheese if you like. Season with salt & pepper and serve. The other night I used a combo of fresh basil & fresh rosemary because that’s what I had in the house and about ¼ cup fresh grated Romano cheese. This makes enough for 6-8 servings making it very cost effective.

A fun thing to do is to pour the cooked Polenta into a deep dish pizza pan and top it as you would a pizza then bake it. Cut into pizza slices and serve. Kids love this.

For tons of awesome Polenta recipes go to www.FoodNetwork.com or just go buy some quick cooking Polenta and play with it. You’ll come up with lots of uses for this simple peasant food.

The First Meal

We finally arrived at our new home in Clearwater on Sept. 1st. It took me several days to unpack boxes and get my new kitchen in order. It's a crappy small kitchen but I'll be remodeling it soon. At least it's better than the kitchen in our last apartment. LOL

Last night I decided to cook our first meal in my kitchen. We are sick of poorly prepared restaurant food that we've been eating since we started our move. It's been 2 weeks since I've cooked anything. I shopped at Fresh Market, very nice gourmet grocery store. Not very big but the seafood and meats there are very good. However, I'll still be looking for other gourmet grocery items in the Clearwater area that I was unable to find at Fresh Market. We were both in the mood for seafood so I decided on the Sea Scallops. Here is my recipe for Seared Sea Scallops with Tarragon. I served this with some simple sauteed asparagus and a baby greens salad topped with a bit of blue cheese.

Seared Sea Scallops with Tarragon

Serves 2

3/4 pound Sea Scallops

2 tablespoons EVOO

1-2 tablespoons Penzey's Florida Seasoned Pepper (or use the Seafood Seasoning Blend of your choice)

1/4 cup white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc)

zest of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon cold butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped tarragon

sea salt to taste

Pat scallops dry and sprinkle with Florida Seasoned Pepper and sea salt. Heat EVOO in a saute pan over med-high heat. Add the scallops to the pan but do not crowd the pan. Saute the scallops until browned and on both sides and cooked just until done. About 2-2 1/2 minutes on each side. Do not overcook the scallops or they will be tough. They should feel firm but bounce back when touched. Remove the scallops and keep warm.

Return skillet to stove and add the white wine, bring to a boil. Deglaze by scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, boiling until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Reduce heat to low and whisk in the cold butter and lemon zest. Then whisk in the heavy cream and tarragon. Taste and adjust the seasoning with seasalt and fresh cracked pepper and reduce slightly. Plate scallops and top with sauce. Garnish with additional lemon zest before serving.