Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

I recently went strawberry picking at a local pick-your-own farm. A word to the wise: skip the strawberry picking. It was backbreaking work. I now understand why they charge $5 a pint for strawberries in the supermarket. It's a bitch picking those little red queens off the vine. First of all, the vines are more like mini-bushes that are only about a half-foot off the ground. So the entire picking process is done on your knees or kneeling. For little kids this is probably not only easy but fun. It's literally at their level. But for an adult this is something that involves way too much bending and standing back up again. My back was aching, my knees were creaking. Strawberry picking made me feel old and out of shape. Not pleasant. And when it's over 85 degrees and humid out, it makes for a less than enticing afternoon. So needless to say, this was probably the first and last time I'll pick strawberries. But hey, it's all about the experience right?? For sure right.

Anyway, I did make some scrumptious ice cream with those fresh berries. I found this recipe in my ice cream bible, ie David Liebowitz's The Perfect Scoop .

While the book recommends eating this ice cream right after it's made, an opportunity I didn't quite have considering I made this at about 10 p.m. on a random Sunday, it was still good after some time in the freezer. As mentioned, I went to bed as soon as it was done and threw it in the freezer. Sorry David! Maybe next time. It was still very good and very refreshing when I ate it a few days after the fact. Enjoy!

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
Source: David Lebowitz, The Perfect Scoop

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla vodka or kirsch
1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)
1 cup heavy cream (I used half and half)
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I omitted this only because I had no lemons)
Slice the strawberries and toss them in the a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch, stirring until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand at room temp for 1 hour. Stirring occasionally.
Pule the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice in a blender until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.
Refrigerate for an hour and then freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Warm Grilled Zucchini Salad

This dish was inspired by some others I saw on Food Network's website. A very simple, very summery side dish, perfect with grilled meat or fish. Enjoy!

Warm Grilled Zucchini Salad

2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 vidalia onion sliced
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/4 mixed chopped fresh herbs - I used parsley and oregano from my herb pots
olive oil for grilling
half of a lemon
salt and pepper
grated Parmesan

Drizzle olive oil over your zucchini, mushrooms and onions and season well with salt and pepper. Place a heat proof pan on the grill - preferably a grill pan but you could easily use a foil pan here - and put your vegetables down inside over medium heat.

Cook until the vegetables are softened.
Once softened remove from the grill and toss with the pine nuts, fresh herbs and juice of half a lemon.

Serve warm with grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Our Anniversary Dinner at Fager's Island

For our 1st wedding anniversary we went down to Ocean City, MD for the weekend and had dinner at Fager's Island. They offer a beautiful view of the Chesapeake Bay where you can watch the sun set over the water while you eat. It was a bit breezy the evening of our anniversary so we asked for a table inside by the windows so we could get a good view of the sunset. Here's a pic of the view from our table at sunset time:


Fager's has two dining areas. Their fine dining restaurant, which is where we ate, and their casual bar and restaurant, which is fun for an inexpensive dinner by the water. The fine dining restaurant boasts a Mediterranean-style theme with white stucco walls, Greek-like columns on the balcony and simple dark wooden chairs. White paper lanterns hang from the ceiling as well. Here's a pic of me with the restaurant in the background to give you an idea:

We each opted for an appetizer and main dish. I got the strawberry spinach salad with peppered goat cheese. It was so good! I love goat cheese and the combination of this rich, dense cheese with light, fruity strawberries is great. The cracked pepper bits on the goat cheese gave it a nice spice.

My husband started with his favorite, cream of crab soup. If there is a cream soup or a bisque on a menu, my husband will sniff it out. He loves cream of crab soup especially and really enjoyed Fager's version.

For dinner I went with their special which was three softshell crabs with a lemon champagne sauce served with vegetables and a baked potato. The crabs were so good! I only started to appreciate softshell crabs a few years ago. Before that, eating the whole crab, shell, guts and all, really kind of grossed me out. But when they are cooked well there really is nothing better. The legs are crunchy crispy, the main shell tender and juicy and the crab meat sweet. Fager's lightly breaded and pan sauteed the crabs in butter, which is really all they need. Too much butter or too much breading ruins a nice soft shell crab. On top of that the crabs were the perfect size - not too big so they didn't have a lot of entrails. Despite their small size, I only finished two of the three and didn't even get to tackle the baked potato. I think I had too much bread beforehand! Oh well. What I did eat I loved.

My husband ordered the mahi mahi fish special topped with a fresh tomato salsa. He was debating between the salsa and a caper lemon butter sauce and wished he had gone with the latter. Unfortunately, he said the fresh salsa was a bit acidic and oniony. On top of that his fish had been slightly overcooked. It wasn't awful though, just not very remarkable at all. I want to believe because everything else was so good that this was a fluke and not typical of Fager's kitchen.

We decided to drink our dessert rather than eat it. I went with the Tiramisu Martini and my husband ordered a coffee drink with some kind of liqueurs in it. The martini was a little on the sweet side, but I definitely picked up the flavors of Tiramisu.

Overall a very nice dinner. It ended with a beautiful sunset to which the restaurant plays corresponding classical music. The music ends in a grand crescendo as the sun finally drops down below the horizon. Fager's fine dining is a definite must for any special occasion you'll celebrate while down at Maryland's eastern shore.
Enjoy!

Grilled Eggplant Rollatini with Fresh Mozzarella

I adore eggplant. I really love fried eggplant but it's so messy to make and not exactly healthy for you. I find grilling eggplant is a far superior way to go - especially in the summer. The grill adds a smoky flavor and the eggplant really chars up beautifully in a matter of minutes. There's nothing prettier than a set of grill marks on a thick slice of eggplant.
I made these simple rollatini for an appetizer the other night. I thinly sliced an eggplant, drizzled it liberally with olive oil on both sides and then seasoned the slices with salt and pepper.

I threw them over a hot grill until they were softened and nicely charred on each side. Then I took some fresh mozzarella and cut it into strips. I cut some fresh basil from my herb garden and rolled up a strip of mozzarella and a piece of basil inside a slice of my soft, smoky eggplant.

That's an old photo of my basil plants. With all the rain we've had they are huge now!! In fact all my herbs are flourishing, thankfully.

Then I topped it with more fresh basil and a drizzle of sweet aged balsamic vinegar - some of THE BEST stuff on earth.

You can buy this in any Italian specialty grocery store. It's not cheap though. It'll run you anywhere from $25 to $100 a bottle, depending on quality. I got this bottle on Market Street in Philly's Little Italy. It's so rich and thick and sweet you would never believe it's vinegar. Scrumptious!

Curried Tofu and Avocado Dip with Oregano Pita Chips

I saw this recipe in my June Food & Wine Magazine and was really intrigued about combining the three title ingredients. Curry? Tofu? Avocado? In a dip? Things that make you go hmmm....turned out to be things that make you go MMMMMM!!
Yeah that was cheesy. Sorry.
Anyway, this dip was great. It combines silken tofu (which I've never used before) with light sour cream and fat-free Greek yogurt. So it's a dip that's good for you as well as light and easy to whip up. The curry flavor is quite strong so if you're not a fan of curry then you might want to steer clear. Or replace the curry flavor with something else perhaps? Maybe chili powder and cumin? Making it sort of a Mexican style dip rather than an Indian style dip. I think that would work! Give it a shot and let me know. Here's the recipe!
Enjoy!

Curried Tofu and Avocado Dip with Oregano Pita Chips
Source: Food & Wine Magazine, June 2009

4 whole wheat pitas, split
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (I used oregano because I have an overabundance in my herb pots)
Salt
7 ounces soft or silken tofu, drained
1 Hass avocado—peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1/4 cup Greek-style, fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons chopped mint
Freshly ground pepper
Grape tomatoes, cucumber slices and radishes for serving
Preheat the oven to 325°. Stack the pita halves and cut them into 6 wedges; transfer to a bowl and add the olive oil and rosemary. Season with salt and toss. Spread the pita wedges on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake until crisp, 30 minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree the tofu, avocado, sour cream, yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, garlic, honey, curry powder and mint until smooth. Season the dip with salt and pepper and refrigerate until chilled. Serve the dip with the pita chips, tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes.

Cedar Plank Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Basil Vinaigrette

If you've never used a cedar plank before when grilling then this summer is the time to try it. It's so easy and it imparts such rich depth of flavor to grilled meat and fish. You do have to do some planning ahead for cedar plank grilling because you must soak the board in water for about 2 to 4 hours beforehand. Soaking the board helps it from burning up immediately when you put it over a hot fiery grill. I've never soaked mine in anything but water, mainly because I like the cedar taste and don't want it to compete with much else. But I've heard people soak their planks in wine, cider, vinegar and other concoctions. I keep it simple and stick to water.

Now while I have done salmon on the cedar plank countless times, I saw this idea for scallops at Proud Italian Cook and couldn't resist trying them out. She wrapped her scallops in prosciutto but I had some leftover raw bacon from breakfast that I didn't use so I wrapped mine the classic way, with bacon strips. Between the smoky bacon and the cedar plank these were out of this world! I'll definitely be trying them again. I decided to top them off with a fresh basil vinaigrette to add a green, citrusy bite and lighten up the smokiness a bit. It was the perfect combination. Enjoy!

Cedar Plank Bacon-Wrapped Scallops with Basil Vinaigrette
Source: Me, Proud Italian Cook and Food & Wine Magazine for the Vinaigrette

1 untreated cedar plank (you can buy these in the grocery store and I've also found them in Bed, Bath and Beyond)
10 scallops
10 strips of bacon
olive oil for drizzling
cooking spray
salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette: (As seen in Food & Wine magazine's June issue)
1 small garlic clove
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
pinch of crushed red pepper
salt and pepper

For the scallops:
Soak the cedar plank ahead of time in a bucket of water for two to four hours. You'll need to weight it down with a brick or a heavy pot or pan because it will float to the top.
Meanwhile, rinse your scallops. Wrap each scallop in a strip of bacon. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat your grill. Once hot, place your plank on the grill grates, spray the plank with a little cooking spray and then line up your scallops on top.

They will take much longer to cook on the cedar plank than they would directly over the flame. So give it about 25 minutes or so. You'll see the scallops change color and the bacon start to crisp up of course.

Once they appear done, remove them from the grill and serve with a drizzle of the basil vinaigrette.

For the vinaigrette:
In a food processor pulse the basil and garlic until finely chopped. Add in the oil, vinegar and pepper. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

PW's Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

WARNING: If you have any reservations about eating rendered bacon fat then put down the mouse and step slowly away from the computer.

Otherwise, you've come to the right place!
This has got to be one of the most unhealthy salads on earth. Why? Two words: bacon grease. You make the dressing out of it, but it's what makes this salad so delicious. Making this salad takes a little more time than your average lettuce bowl. You have to make the bacon, hardboil the eggs, saute the onions and mushrooms and then make the dressing. But it's so worth it!!
I made a few additions to PW's roundup of ingredients. I threw in one chopped avocado and a handful of gorgonzola crumbles as well. So it almost ended up like a cobb salad.

Here's a link to PW's recipe along with step-by-step photos of how to prepare the dish, which she's famous for. I included a photo below of my creation with my special additions.

PW's Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

The Recipe for the best spinach salad ever

Barefoot Bloggers: Curried Couscous

I don't know why but I just never get these posts up on the actual "due date". I think it's because I don't have much time for cooking during the week. I usually cook one or two days during the week. The rest of the nights, we go out or I make some that isn't blogworthy. Also, Ina's dishes make nearly twice the serving size that she claims so I try to wait till the weekend so the whole family can partake in the new dish. It's more fun that way. So that's why this is late, as usual. But better late than never! And with this dish, that was definitely the case.
You can go here to check out what other bloggers thought of this dish, Barefoot Bloggers .

It was so tasty. The curry flavor wasn't overwhelming at all, which was a good thing since my husband is what I like to call, curry-sensitive. But we'll get to that later. I made a few ommissions, additions (in italics), and substitutions which I've outlined below. The biggest addition I did was a couple cups of sugar snap peas. It gave the salad a nice crunch and added some green color. Enjoy!

Curried Couscous

1 1/2 cups couscous (I used the grande couscous because I had some)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon curry powder
(juice of half a lemon)
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (omitted)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (Only used 1/2 teaspoon and it was MORE than enough!!)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup small-diced carrots
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup dried currants or raisins (used dried cherries - awesome!)
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup small-diced red onion (omitted - I don't like raw onion)
(2 cups lightly steamed sugar snap peas)
Directions
Place the couscous in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in the boiling water and pour over the couscous. Cover tightly and allow the couscous to soak for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, vinegar, curry, turmeric, salt, and pepper. Pour over the fluffed couscous, and mix well with a fork. Add the carrots, parsley, currants, almonds, scallions, and red onions, mix well, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature.

Linguine with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce and Chicken Milanese

This dish was inspired by two blogs I read frequently - My Italian Grandmother and Good Things Catered . I've made a lemon cream sauce for linguine countless times before. It's a staple I picked up in my early days of cooking. But I liked the idea of adding leeks, which I saw on Good Things Catered. I also added one bag of cooked baby spinach leaves as well to the sauce.

I served it with an old favorite that I haven't had in a while and saw recently on My Italian Grandmother, which is Chicken Milanese. It's basically pan-fried, breaded chicken cutlets. Here's the recipe for both! Enjoy!

Linguine with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce and Chicken Milanese

For the cream sauce:
1 leek, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
juice of 1/2 lemon (or if you want it really lemony use the whole lemon)
1 bag of baby spinach
1 handful of parmesan cheese
1 box of linguine

In a saucepan, add your chopped leeks, butter, garlic and olive oil. Cook until the leeks are tender, about 15 minutes. Add in your cream, chicken stock and lemon juice. Whisk together and allow it to come to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer until it thickens a bit. Add in the baby spinach and allow it to wilt into the sauce. Add in your parmesan cheese and pour it over a bowl of cooked linguine. Serve with extra parmesan.

Chicken Milanese
2 chicken breasts
1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
2 cups panko breadcrumbs mixed with a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
2 eggs, whisked
1 teaspoon dried oregano
olive oil for frying

In a fry pan, pour in olive oil till it's about 1/4 of the way up the pan. I don't use as much olive oil as most recipes call for but if you really want more of a deep fry then by all means use more. Heat over medium heat.
Place your chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap and pound till thin. In three separate bowls arrange your breading ingredients - flour in one bowl, eggs in another bowl whisked with the tablespoon of oregano, breadcrumbs in a third bowl. Dip your chicken cutlets, first in flour, then in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Once well coated they are ready for the pan.
Cook until browned on both sides and crunchy and remove. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes total. Lower the heat if they seem to be burning.
Remove and serve.

Italian in Puerto Rico?? Oh yes!

It may sound surprising that we found one of the best Italian restaurants I've ever been to in Puerto Rico. Who would have imagined that? But it's true. Il Perugino is not only a charming little place, but they are turning out some of the freshest and most delicious Italian food I've had in a long time. I've been to Italy twice and this reminded me of food that I ate in many restaurants there. From the outside, the restaurant beckons the eyes with it's bright yellow stucco facade and dark wooden doors and shutters.

When you walk inside the quaint feeling continues. The walls are painted in the warm colors of Tuscany, sunset orange, sunflower yellow. There is a muted mural of the Italian countryside on one wall. Arched doorways and Italian accents like small Roman statues make you feel like you're in a courtyard, not a restaurant.

Il Perugino features their own wine cave which is situated down a makeshift well in the middle of the main dining room. Waiters are decked out in vests and crisp white shirts. If you're looking for a special occasion restaurant while in Old San Juan, Il Perugino fits the bill.

We started out with some great appetizers. Creamy tomato soup; a salad of freshly made goat cheese and arugula topped with basil pesto and chopped toasted walnuts; the Caprese salad - made from ripe red tomatoes and buttery mozzarella cheese; and we shared a plate of their homemade ravioli of the day - asparagus and ricotta. I never thought of using asparagus in ravioli filling but it was so good. I'm definitely going to have to try to recreate this one at home.



For dinner we all opted for the fresh fish specials, which included poached halibut and seared rare tuna. All were cooked perfectly! The sauce on the halibut was so light and flavorful. I wish I could have identified exactly what they used, but unfortunately I couldn't. I'd love to recreate it if I could. All entrees, which were huge by the way, were served with crisp green beans and a picture perfect serving of mashed potatoes. The potatoes were so smooth and fluffy! I tried to avoid them but couldn't hold myself back. So good!


While Il Perugino was definitely the most expensive meal we had in Old San Juan, it was also by far the best. You could easily go here and share one dish between two people to cut down the costs. But our group had spent the day tramping through the Puerto Rican rainforest and then frolicking on the beach so we were HUNGRY! And we downed two bottles of wine. Hey - what else is vacation for!
Here's a pic of our group - my husband and I on the left and my brother and his girlfriend on the right. Two of the best traveling companions I know!

Puerto Rico: Old San Juan

On our first day we explored Old San Juan. It POURED down rain for nearly an hour so we got soaking wet, but we still enjoyed walking around, looking at El Morro and San Cristobal forts, and taking in the colorful architecture. Here are a few shots:

We started out with breakfast at La Bombanera - the oldest bakery in San Juan! Even Rachael Ray has been there on her $40 a day show:


This is a picture of their signature breakfast sandwiches, egg, ham or bacon, and cheese on a Puerto Rican-style danish (similar to a kaiser roll but much more buttery). It's pressed on a hot grill and then topped with powdered sugar. The sweet and salty combo is quite tasty believe it or not:


Then we made our way to the forts in the rain:






Here are some shots around Old San Juan:









And after a long, boring tour at the Bacardi Rum Factory - I'm telling you please don't waste your time doing this!! - we rewarded ourselves with dinner and mojitos at Raices:

They had great authentic Puerto Rican cuisine and the waitresses wore traditional island dress:


More tomorrow!