Quinoa Salad with Pan Roasted Asparagus

I, first of all, would like to thank everybody for your support on this event. It was a lot of fun cooking live and also meeting so many wonderful people. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was invited to a cook-off organized by Veria TV and Whole Foods Market "Unlock the Taste of Summer" In which I had to create a healthy summery dish in 15 minutes using asparagus. I was really happy when I found out that my mystery ingredient was asparagus. I just love them.

I finally choose to make a quinoa salad with pan-roasted asparagus. I was pleased with the way it came out and I should mention this is a dish I eat a lot specially during the summer time. Quinoa is also one of my favorite things because it's super healthy and very versatile. It could easily be used in desserts too. 

The event went great! I had a great time cooking in front of a live audience along with the other two ladies, who did a great job. Barbara, a raw food specialist did a fantastic job making a very creative RAW dish (mango cream sauce, served over spiralized zucchini and yellow squash) Lisa, also did a good job using spinach. I am very happy with the results, I had a blast and would do it all over again!

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of water

1 small cucumber, diced

1/8 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 garlic clove

1 lemon

8 asparagus, bottoms trimmed

1/4 cup black olives, pitted

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Place the water in a small pot and add the quinoa and 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil. cover and reduce to simmer. Cook for about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain excess liquid, if any. In a pot, boil the asparagus in salted water for 2 minutes. In a sauté pan, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and then add the asparagus, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, saute for 2 minutes and add a squeeze of lemon juice. In a sauté pan with a lid, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil and then add the garlic, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, cook for 8 minutes covered with the lid, but do check on them often. Discard the garlic.

To assemble:

In a bowl, combine the quinoa, cucumbers, herbs, cherry tomatoes and black olives. Toss to mix thoroughly. 

Adjust seasoning, add a drizzle of olive oil and place asparagus on top.

Read more...

Unlock the Taste of Summer

I am excited to let you know that I will be participating in a cook-off organized by Veria TV and Whole Foods Market "Unlock the Taste of Summer" This televised event will take place on Sunday June 26, 2011 at the Glastonbury, CT Whole Foods Market. The challenge will be to create a healthy and delicious summer dish in 15 minutes! I will have 30 minutes to prep. The key ingredient assigned to me is asparagus so any ideas or suggestions on what should I make are welcome!!

If you are in the area you are more than welcome to stop by, celebrity chef Andrea Beaman will be the judge of this event and will be doing live demonstrations. It all starts at 11am. You can also drop by Veria's Facebook page at 11am E.T. on June 26th to see the action streamed live.

Well, wish me luck! I am nervous already but really excited to be there and I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Read more...

Linguine with Clams

"I have a surprise for you" my mom said. And I am thinking, what could it possibly be? it's not my birthday, mmm. She comes home and hands me a small cooler. What?? At this point, a million things are going through my head. I opened it, and I see about 15 pounds of clams. She has gone fishing and I think there was a clam convention were she went because she is telling me that they caught about 50 pounds all together and she saved some for me. Now I am thinking, hello summer! She loves to go fishing during summer time and I am happy to be one of the benefactor, how can I complain?

It's funny because clams was not the only gift I got yesterday! My hubby came home with an awesome tripod and a remote shutter release for my camera. I had no idea he will get that for me and for that, I thank you baby!

Well that brings me to my recipe. It's a simple recipe, when it comes to seafood I really like simple. A quick tomato sauce with white wine and saffron, simple but good.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of olive oil

3 tomatoes, diced

1 sm onion,  finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1/2 teaspoon saffron

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 cups of fish stock 

3 pounds small clams

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound dried linguine

Heat the olive oil, add the onion and cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for another minute. Then add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the white wine, fish stock and saffron, cover and boil for 15 minutes. Add the clams, cover, and cook until the clams are open, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add parsley. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente.

Read more...

A Trip to Chinatown and Coconut Crêpe Cake

Saturday was a great day to walk around the city and rediscover places. I have been living in New York for over 10 years and I forget sometimes how beautiful New York is. So, once in a while, I like to be a tourist for a day and pretend it's all new to me. This time I picked Chinatown. Let me start by saying this place is like another country.

The little streets, the signs, the food of course. I feel like I need a passport to be there. I like Chinatown but I don't really go there very often because it's ALWAYS CROWDED and I don't really like to be in places where there is a lot of people. That's why I don't like Times Square or Soho on a Saturday by that matter. But overall, I had fun.

                         

On Sunday, I made a crepe cake I had been planing to do for a while. It's quite a lot of  work, I won't lie, but the final product is so good,  it's hard to describe. I went for coconut pastry cream cover with chocolate glaze. Coconut and chocolate is simply an irresistible  combination for me. I love coconut. That's one of the things I miss from Honduras. The accessibility to fresh fruit right from my backyard. I had a nice variety of fruits and veggies, guava, coconut, lemon, avocado, corn, just to mention a few. But on the other hand, I do LOVE the versatility of New York. I guess we can't have it all.

Ingredients:

Crêpe recipe here

(Do double recipe)

For the coconut pastry cream:

6egg yolks

1/2 sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup whole milk

1 1/4 cup coconut milk

1 vanilla pod

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon coconut extract

Sift together the flour and cornstarch. Whisk together the egg yolks and half the sugar until pale. Add the flour/cornstarch mixture and mix until smooth. Place the milk, coconut milk, vanilla pod, coconut extract and the remaining sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and add it to the egg mixture, stirring continuously. Pour back into the saucepan and cook stirring until the cream is thick but smooth, about a minute. Stir in the butter. Transfer to a bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap placed directly over the top. Let it cool completely.

For the Chocolate Glaze:

8oz 70% Dark chocolate, chopped

150 grams of unsalted butter cut in pieces, at room temperature

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the bowl is not touching the water. Once the chocolate and butter are completely melted, stir in the corn syrup. cover the surface of the chocolate with plastic wrap placed directly over the top. Let it cool to room temperature.

To Assemble:

Lay 1 crêpe on a cake stand and cover with coconut pastry cream. Repeat until you use all the crêpes. Cover and refrigerate for half and hour. Cover with chocolate glaze and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Note: Add the chocolate glaze right before serving.  

Read more...

Cherry and Raspberry Galette

My son Lucas is finally walking. That means less time for me and more time chasing him around. It's so cute

to see him walk, he is still kind of scared but he gets better everyday. He has so much energy but he gets tired 

faster since he walks, which makes him nap longer, and that's when I take advantage.

Cherry season inspires me all the time. It's my favorite part of Spring. I have been waiting all Spring to make a cherry galette. I find the cherries to be a bit sweeter at the end of Spring. To me, that's when they are at their best. Of course, I had to make a cherry galette. It wouldn't be Spring to me if I didn't. I was so pleased with the way it came out this time, I started to eat it before my photo shoot was over. If it wasn't because I promise one to my cousin Raquel, I would have probably eaten the whole thing. I should probably mention 

that I ate all the cherries I had bought for the galettes and I had to take a second trip to the market to get more. But on my defense, it was worth it.

I also add raspberries, that's what I did new this time, the flavor combination was simply delicious. Any fruit combination would do the trick, just work with what you have on your fridge. I also love savory galettes, try leek and gout cheese, I love that combo. 

Ingredients:

12oz Cherries, pitted

8oz Raspberries

1/4 cup vanilla sugar, plus more to sprinkle the galette

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cornstarch

the juice of 1/2 lemon

egg wash (1 egg mixed with 2 tablespoon of water)

Find a tart crust recipe here 

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a sauce pan add all the ingredients and mix them with a wooden spoon.  Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes stirring occasionally. We want some of the liquid to evaporate to avoid the compote to ooze out while baking. Let it cool completely. 

Divide the dough in 2 parts. Lightly flour a work surface and roll each piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick, round. Place half of the filling in the center leaving 1 1/2 inch of uncovered dough around the edge. Fold the 

outer edge of the dough in toward the center. Don't worry if is not perfect, that's the beauty of the galette. Wrap the entire baking sheet with plastic film and chill for 1 hour. When ready to bake, brush each galette with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake them for about 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. 

  

Read more...