recipe 64: grilled banana boats!

So I think the jig is up on the birthday weekend decadence and revelry. After an amazing dinner at Babbo http://www.babbonyc.com/ last night where Tristan and I may or may not have eaten, among four other courses of food- EEK- pig jowls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanciale), and a decadent brunch with my family today, I think it's time to do some sort of cleanse! But first, some words on chocolate bocconotti. Bocconotti from Lucibello's (http://www.lucibellospastry.com/index.php) was definitely my favorite dessert growing up. My parents brought me some today and I think the cleanse really starts after I finish eating them. Here's what one looks like:

totally, totally my favorite dessert

When I was little, my grandpa used to always bring a big box of chocolate and vanilla bocconotti to birthday parties and holidays. I assumed it was every child's favorite dessert. I was shocked out of my mind to find out that other than my family, apparently nobody else on earth has heard of this. Bocconotti is virtually impossible to find outside of my family's little corner of Connecticut. In fact, I've never seen these outside of two Italian bakeries in New Haven. They're so good. So, so good! Maybe I'll learn how to make them one day. It looks like they might be a little difficult to whip up (what with all of that complicated-looking pastry dough and complicated-looking chocolate filling), so this project is on the back-burner.

And speaking of desserts, here's another grummer recipe courtesy of Stacey, courtesy, I believe, of this Whole Foods recipe: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2564.

GRILLED BANANA BOATS (serves 4)
Ingredients:
-4 bananas (leave the skins on)
-chocolate chips
-peanut butter chips
-sliced strawberries
-graham cracker crumbs
-mini-marshmallows
-chopped walnuts

Instructions:
1) heat the grill
2) slice each banana lengthwise through the top of the peel without cutting through the bottom side
3) pry open the bananas and arrange some (or all!) of the above toppings inside, making sure the marshmallows are on top
4) make foil bowls around each banana, leaving the top open
5) grill the bananas for about ten minutes, or until the toppings are starting to look melty

YUM!!!

recipes 60, 61, 62, and 63: an ode to corn, glorious grilled corn!

I don't think I've ever met somebody who doesn't love corn. And if I did, I probably wouldn't be friends with that person. Corn is the best and so are these corn recipes! The first three are from the grummer recipe vault of Stacey (and beyond that, I'm unsure of their source). The last one is slightly adapted from Skinnytaste: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/06/warm-mexican-corn-salad.html#more

CORN, TOMATO, AND PROVOLONE SALAD (serves 4ish)
Ingredients:
-4 ears of corn
-1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
-2 T mint leaves, torn
-1/2 red onion, sliced
-3 T olive oil
-1 lemon, juiced
-salt and red pepper flakes
-provolone cheese (desired level of sharpness, cubed)

Instructions:
1) de-silk the corn and soak in water in the husks for 10-15 minutes
2) grill the corn in their husks for about 15-20 minutes and cut the corn off of the cobs
3) toss the tomatoes with the corn and add the mint and onion
4) dress with olive oil, lemon, salt, and red pepper flakes
5) stir in the cubed provolone

Y-U-M!

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH CORN (serves 4ish)
Ingredients:
-3 ears of corn in husks
-4 beefsteak tomatoes
-1 T olive oil
-1/2 c chopped scallions
-1/2 c crumbled goat cheese
-1 T white wine vinegar
-salt and pepper

Instructions:
1) de-silk the corn and soak in water in the husks for 10-15 minutes
2) grill the corn in their husks for about 15-20 minutes and cut the corn off of the cobs
3) while the corn is grilling, cut off and discard the top third of the tomatoes
4) scoop out the tomato interiors and coarsely chop the interiors
5) mix the corn with the tomato interiors and then mix in all other ingredients
6) put the mixture in the tomato "bowls" and top with extra goat cheese, if desired

MEXICAN CORN (serves 8)
Ingredients:
Corn
-8 ears of corn in their husks
-1/2 c grated cotija cheese
-4 fresh limes, quartered
-2 T chopped chives

Garlic Butter
-1 stick of butter, slightly softened
-8 cloves garlic
-chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
-1/4 of a bunch of fresh chives, snipped
-salt and pepper

Instructions:
1) de-silk the corn and soak in water in the husks for 10-15 minutes
2) grill the corn in their husks for about 15-20 minutes and remove the corn from the husks
3) while the corn is grilling, make the garlic butter by mixing the above ingredients in a food processor
4) brush the corn with the garlic butter, sprinkle with the cheese, squeeze the lime on top, and sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and chives

WARM MEXICAN CORN SALAD (serves 8)
Ingredients:
-6 ears of corn, in the husks
-3 T light mayo
-3 T fat-free Greek yogurt
-1 t chili powder
-the juice of a lime
-2 T chopped fresh cilantro
-3 T scallions, chopped
-1/2 c cotija cheese, grated (a good parmesan works well if you can't find cotija)
-salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce to taste to zing it up
-lime wedges for garnishing

Instructions:
1) de-silk the corn and soak in water in the husks for 10-15 minutes
2) grill the corn in their husks for about 15-20 minutes and cut the corn off of the cobs
3) combine the corn with all other ingredients, stir, and garnish with the lime wedges (don't stir in the lime wedges like I did by accident- it caused a scene much like playing that Under Cover Bears instant oatmeal breakfast game in the 80s)

courtesy of: http://reelfilmtalk.blogspot.com/2011/04/u-is-for-undercover-bears-instant.html

recipe 59: introducing cilantro lime grilled sweet potatoes

My streak of ridiculously good dining experiences and ridiculously ridiculous mouse experiences continues. Last night, those worlds collided. I shall start with the mouse situation. I have what I would describe as a diagnosable rodent phobia, and I'm starting to think that I also have pheromones that are magnets for rodents. So I'm sure you can imagine my horror when I heard some weird sounds coming from the bathtub and peeked in only to find a mouse squealing and racing around in scratchy laps. Tristan named the mouse Jeffrey (I know, weird, see footnote below*), caught it alive, and brought it outside. Gross. PS- Make my recipes! Anyway, since then, I've found ways to avoid my apartment. This week has been full of such outings. Wednesday, for example, marked the two year anniversary of when Tristan and I (aka "Tristany" in celebrity magazines) met in Bozeman, Montana.
Two years ago on a back porch in Bozeman:
Cameron: Tiffany, this is Tristan. Tristan, this is Tiffany. You're both New Jersey lawyers!
Tristan: I'm from New Jersey but I'm not a New Jersey lawyer.
Tiffany: Well, I'm not from New Jersey but I am a New Jersey lawyer.
And... scene. The rest is history. Good work, Cameron!
Last year: me accidentally dropping Tristan's blackberry into a heaping plate of saucy BBQ ribs at Neely's http://neelysbbqparlor.com/
This year: way too much food at Parm http://parmnyc.com/. This place was awesome. Amanda swears she's seen Jay-Z there.
Last night was my birthday dinner at Blank-Blank-Blank (Tristan says not to post their name because it will bring them disrepute. I'm flattered that Tristan thinks that my blog with its three readers would be powerful enough to bring anything disrepute). I will say that Blank-Blank-Blank has been a favorite of mine, until last night. Last night, we sat in the garden area. Halfway through dessert, a mouse scurried on by about seven feet away. I was the only person who had a direct line of vision to the mouse. I stopped mid-sentence and just stared with dropped jaw. Everybody immediately asked what was wrong, as it probably appeared that I was having a stroke. And then... nobody really believed me because I've been "crying mouse" a lot lately. Well, that is not exactly true. The waitress definitely believed me and immediately rushed over with shots of caramel infused vodka for everybody, which I chose to enjoy in a different area of the restaurant. Tristan advised that he'd invited Jeffrey to my birthday dinner. I wouldn't be surprised. Such is my life. Note: The last time I saw a rodent at a restaurant was a giant rat at a very dirty restaurant in Bangkok. I won't be going back to the Bangkok restaurant and I won't be going back to Blank-Blank-Blank.

Moving along to the cilantro lime grilled sweet potatoes. They are awesome. They come from Simply Recipes and were virtually unaltered by me, save for leaving their vitamin-y skins on and microwaving them a little before slicing and grilling: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_sweet_potatoes/

CILANTRO LIME GRILLED SWEET POTATOES (serves: lots!)
Ingredients:
-5 sweet potatoes
-3 or 4 T of olive oil
-salt, just a pinch
Dressing- mix together the following in a large bowl:
-1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
-1 t lime zest
-about 2 T fresh lime juice
-1/4 c olive oil
-salt, to taste

Instructions:
1) poke some holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork and microwave for a few minutes
2) slice the potatoes lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
3) mix with the olive oil and salt
4) grill for about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on how hot the grill is
5) toss the sweet potatoes with the dressing while they're still hot and serve

This is a pretty amazing photo and I can say that because I didn't take it. It was taken by Lana, who I've decided is my Blogtographer. She doesn't get paid for performing this service. Nor does she yet know the extent of her new title. But she is receiving this small accolade. If I'm bringing Blank-Blank-Blank disrepute, then I'm bringing Lana repute. I believe in balance in the universe. Honestly, I really love this picture! It might be my current favorite picture. It might be taking the place of the following picture, which has been my reigning favorite picture since the summer of 2003. It's called "Two Girls in the Mirror," and was the brainchild of me and my friend Jocelyn, who is in the picture. We entered it into an actual photography contest and we were recognized for our creativity.

Two Girls in the Mirror- photography contest winner! Location: Sea Isle City, NJ

*Tristan would like to note something about Jeffrey. Here's what Tristan says: "You were so afraid of the mouse that I decided the best way to deal with it was to personify it by giving it a name. Which, by the way, worked. You stopped shrieking and started laughing. So stop throwing me under the bus on your blog!"

recipe 58: miso sad vacation is almost over!

A lot has happened this week! Most notably, I only spent one day in my cube at the office and spent the rest of the week either in Florida, California, or at the Feast of St. Ann's in Hoboken, which Tristan and I frequented for meals not once but twice. It has been a week of culinary masterpieces from grouper sandwiches in Florida http://frenchysonline.com/locations/frenchys-original-cafe/ to short rib grilled cheese in Santa Monica at the Huntley Hotel http://www.thehuntleyhotel.com/ to scene-y sushi http://www.sbe.com/katsuya and marketplace Italian in LA http://www.sbe.com/mercatodivetro to scrumptious taco truck tacos in LA http://twitter.com/tacoselgallito/ to sausage and peppers at St. Ann's. I was going to go to hot yoga this morning because I really needed to after all of this amazing (read: gluttonous) eating. But that didn't end up happening and I'll go ahead and blame the jet lag. So Tristan was there for part of this trip but not for all of it and I realized that when that Eagle Scout is present, I'm more likely to a) be on time for planes, b) know what time zone I'm in, and c) not get lost. When he's not present, I spin around like a whirling dervish and still somehow manage to get stuff done, albeit while sweaty and flustered. My life would be totally streamlined and efficient if I could bring him to work every day, imagine! Aside from all of the exciting eating, I got to spend high quality time with my very dear friend Mehreen, her family, and baby Z, and also my very dear friend Priya, Jamie, and baby D. I decided that in about 20 years, I'm setting up baby Z and baby D. That is final, Mehreen and Priya, final! Babies Z and D will be going out on a date in approximately 2032. And if they need some prodding, Aunt Tiffy will send them this exact blog link predicting the future. It has been memorialized! My match-making abilities have been wildly successful before (ahem, Meredith and Erik- I expect a shout-out at your wedding, perhaps not everyone has seen the shout-out on your wedding website, thanks)!

Anyway, moving along to miso, which is the actual subject of this post... Priya and I ate the most amazing miso black cod at Katsuya, and this reminded me of my roller coaster of a relationship with miso paste. When I stumbled upon the vast miso paste section at my favorite Japanese grocery store http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/newj/eindex.html, I decided that I needed to buy some. I declared: "I think I might love cooking with miso! I loved my law school semester abroad in Tokyo! I ate miso stuff all the time! We're buying this!" Here is what "this" looks like:  

That container is bigger and more daunting in real life than it is on this blog. Sometimes I mistake it for peanut butter and that always ends in disaster. The missing portions of miso are accounted for by two very failed attempts at miso recipes that shall never be spoken of again, and one AMAZING recipe that will be posted forthwith. The AMAZING recipe will be made today for Tristan's sister-in-law Lana, who is a pescatarian and won't be eating the steak that everybody else will be eating. That's right- vacation is not over yet. There's still some grilling in today's future. There's also the season finale of The Bachelorette, which will be viewed in an out-of-my-home-setting-because-Tristan's-snarky-commentary-will-not-be-tolerated-during-the-season-finale. Here I come, Mehreen! Juice up the flatscreen! Who's going to win? My money has been on Arie since the first episode, although a lot can be said for Jef's consistently steady climb. We shall see!

This post has been very long. I attribute that to spending the past week doing stuff that can actually be publicized. And now finally... behold miso salmon with orange and scallions, adapted from Steamy Kitchen: http://steamykitchen.com/21477-miso-salmon-with-orange-and-fennel-recipe.html

MISO SALMON WITH ORANGE AND SCALLIONS (serves 4)
Ingredients:
-4 salmon fillets
-salt and pepper
-2 T miso paste
-1 T honey
-2 T sake (or, I suppose, dry white wine)
-ginger to taste (I use chopped up pickled ginger that I also purchased at the Japanese grocery store)
-1/2 of an orange, sliced
-10 scallions, chopped

Instructions:
1) marinate the salmon with the salt, pepper, miso, honey, sake, and ginger for at least an hour or overnight
2) preheat the oven to 375 degrees
3) layer the orange slices and the scallions on a baking sheet (no cooking spray necessary, oddly enough)
4) layer the salmon on top and drizzle on any extra marinade
5) bake for 15-18 minutes, until desired level of doneness

Here is an artsy version of what it should look like before it goes in the oven...

And here is a less artsy version of what it should look like before it goes in the oven...

NOTE: this can also be grilled- mix the scallions into the marinade and grill the salmon on the grill. Grill the oranges alongside the salmon, and then place them on top of the salmon while the fish finishes cooking. The grilled version is equally delicious!

recipes 55, 56, and 57: beans meet caprese!

First of all, WHAT? A post on a weekday morning? That's right! Moving along... Allow me to introduce my favorite diagram, the Venn:

Here is the history of the Venn diagram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram.

Here's how it relates to this blog: Everybody loves caprese salad! Everybody (well, maybe not everybody) loves bean salad! What happens when caprese meets beans? Two things: first, the intersection area of the Venn happens! Second, a flavor explosion of fresh summer deliciousness happens! The first recipe, Auntie Flo's Bean Salad, is from Auntie Flo. The second recipe was sent to me by my mom from, I believe, Family Circle. The third recipe is made up, and can be made up by anybody!

AUNTIE FLO'S BEAN SALAD
Ingredients:
Salad
-equal parts: garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, and cooked green beans (I use one can of each and then an equal amount of green beans)
-thinly sliced red onion and chopped green pepper, to taste
Dressing
-1/2 c cider vinegar
-1/3 c olive oil
-1/2 c sugar
-1 T salt
-1/2 t black pepper

Instructions:
1) mix salad ingredients
2) whisk dressing ingredients
3) mix together and refrigerate for at least a few hours

THREE BEAN CAPRESE SALAD
Ingredients:
Salad
-1/2 lb green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (I did not heed this directive and my green beans were too long and awkward; I have learned for the future)
-handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
-1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
-1/2 lb of small mozzarella balls
-1 can of kidney beans
-1 can of garbanzo beans
(note: the bean to tomato ratio can be tweaked depending on your preference for a bean-heavy or caprese-heavy salad)

Dressing
-1/3 c balsamic vinegar
-1/2 T mustard
-1/2 T honey
-salt and pepper to taste
-1/4 c olive oil

Instructions:
1) add the green beans to boiling water and cook for about 4 minutes until crisp-tender; drain and rinse with cold water
2) whisk the dressing ingredients, whisking in the olive oil last
3) mix the salad ingredients and drizzle with the dressing
4) chill and serve

TOMATO MOZZARELLA SALAD
Ingredients:
-1 pint grape tomatoes (halved) and equal parts of small mozzarella balls
-salt and ground black pepper, to taste
-chopped fresh basil, to taste
-olive oil and balsamic vinegar, whisked together, just enough to coat the salad

Instructions:
1) mix, chill, enjoy! SO SIMPLE!

recipes 52, 53, and 54: three old school timeless pasta salad recipes

These old school/classic/timeless pasta salad recipes are simple and straight from my childhood. They remind me of back yard barbeques and family parties in the eighties. Here you go and Happy 4th of July!!

MOM'S ANTIPASTO PASTA SALAD
Ingredients:
-1 lb of spiral pasta (or really, whatever shape you like)
-sliced green olives to taste
-sliced black olives to taste
-1 small red onion, finely chopped
-1 small green pepper, finely chopped
-grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
-1/4 lb of sharp provolone cheese, cut into small cubes
-1/4 lb of salami, cubed or cut into small bites
-1/4 lb of pepperoni, cubed or cut into small bites
-enough Italian salad dressing to coat

Instructions:
1) cook pasta according to package instructions, drain, and cool
2) mix the pasta with chopped ingredients (adding more or less of any ingredient as you choose) and the salad dressing
3) refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, adding more salad dressing if needed

MOM'S TORTELLINI SALAD
Ingredients:
-7 oz frozen tortellini, cooked according to package instructions and cooled
-1 c small, fresh broccoli florets
-1/4 c chopped fresh parsely
-1 T chopped (drained) pimento
-2 scallions, chopped
-2 1/2 T chopped fresh basil
-1/2 c oil-based salad dressing of your choosing
-sliced black olives, to taste
-a pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
-good parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1) mix the cooked and cooled tortellini with all ingredients except the olives, tomatoes, and cheese
2) refrigerate for at least a couple of hours and then stir in the olives, tomatoes, and cheese right before serving

MOM'S FRIEND DAWN'S GREEK PASTA SALAD
Ingredients:
-2 cucumbers, sliced and then quartered or halved
-1 large red onion, chopped
-1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
-1/2 to 1 full package of feta crumbles, to taste
-1/2 package of desired pasta
-1/2 bottle of Good Seasons or Greek salad dressing

Instructions:
-cook pasta according to instructions, drain, and cool
-mix pasta with all other ingredients and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving