Oven-Roasted, Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus
May 27, 2008 | Filed Under Asparagus, Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Lucullian Delights, Vegetables | 17 Comments
"This is good!" my mom exclaimed after she took a bite of my oven-roasted, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, courtesy of Ilva’s recipe. She sounded and looked very surprised as she continued to eat it. She’s right: It WAS good.
I mentioned in a previous post that I never used to like eggplants — till I started cooking. Well, you can add asparagus to my list of ‘Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started Cooking’. Back in the day, I’d purse my lips, scrunch my face and turn away from the offending green spear. I tried to keep asparagus far away from my plate. Today, I love asparagus — especially roasted. In this recipe, the prosciutto added an extra special delicious taste. Yup! It tasted good, indeed. Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
Oven-Roasted Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus
Fresh green asparagus, not too thin stalks
Prosciutto crudo or Parma ham
Extra-virgin olive oil
- Clean the asparagus, snap off the lower part, you can peel it if it is to thick skinned.
- Wrap approximately half a slice of Parma ham around each asparagus stalk, you have to judge yourself as the size of the slices may vary.
- Grease an oven-proof form with a litle olive oil and put one layer of asparagus in it.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/347°F) until the ham is crisp and the asparagus has softened. It takes about 10-15 minutes.
New York Monday #124: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
May 25, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 13 Comments
Passing by Central Park and 59th Street. At ten in the morning, it felt good not to be in the office but outside, instead, enjoying the view. Have a great week, all!
Paz
Blue Cheese Burger
May 21, 2008 | Filed Under Beef | 17 Comments
I haven’t eaten a hamburger in a long time. I haven’t eaten a really good hamburger in an even longer time. Well, I broke the hamburger-eating drought when I found this Blue Cheese Burger recipe on Elise’s recipe site. I’d never had a Blue Cheese Burger before. It was time to do something about it.
I made the burgers in a grill pan. After I took my photos of the burgers, I realized that they weren’t cooked all the way through. Ugh! I hate when that happens. So I had to put them back on the grill pan, till they were well-done. Much better.
The recipe suggests serving the burgers on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayonnaise. Yum! That’s when I realized that I didn’t have any hamburger buns, lettuce, or mayonnaise. I would have added a slice of tomato, too, but I didn’t have any tomatotes, either. Haha!
So, what did we do? We ate our burgers the way they were. Guess what? They were still delicious! No one complained.
Paz
Ed. Note: Okay. So, I made this hamburger again on another day. So delicious! I still didn’t have hamburger buns or tomatoes, but I did have the lettuce, mayo and regular bread, which is what I used. And this time my hamburger cooked all the way through on the first try. Yes! Check out the last two photos below.
Blue Cheese Burger
Here’s a tip, alhough you might be tempted to go with extra lean hamburger meat for this burger, given all the cheese. I don’t recommend it, unless you want blue cheese flavored dry burgers.
1 pound ground beef (16-20%)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cloves minced garlic
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese (get Pt. Reyes blue cheese if you can find it)
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1- Put ground beef, mustard, garlic, onions, blue cheese, and egg into a large bowl. Use your hands to gently mix the ingredients together until just incorporated. Do not over-mix. Shape into patties, about 1/2 inch thick and larger than your bun. Chill until you are ready to cook.
2- Prepare charcoal or gas grill for cooking over high direct heat. Using tongs and a folded up paper towel dipped in vegetable oil, oil the grill grates. Make sure grill is hot and well oiled before laying down the patties. Season patties with salt and pepper. Place the patties on the clean, well-oiled grill grate. Grill the burgers for about 5 minutes per side. Do not press down on the burgers while cooking. If you don’t have a grill, you can use a grill pan or a cast iron frying pan for the burgers
Serve on hamburger buns with lettuce and mayonnaise.
Makes 4 burgers.
Bluecheese burgers made again on another day. This time I had lettuce, mayo and regular bread. Still no hamburger buns or tomatoes but it still tasted delicious!
Yum!
New York Monday #123: Flowers for You!
May 18, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 16 Comments
While walking up Fifth Avenue, these beautiful flowers caught my eye. Made me stop and pull out my camera to take pictures, while a doorman closely watched me from the doorway of a nearby apartment building. Afterwards, he joked with me and told me that I had to pay him for taking photos there.
"How about I pay you with a nice smile and a good morning greeting?" I asked him.
He agreed to my suggestion.
Happy Monday! Have a great week!
Paz
Chili Sauteed Eggplant with Beans, Parsley and Lemon
May 14, 2008 | Filed Under Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Salad | 18 Comments
After some dental surgery the other day, I am finally able to eat something other than "soft" food. I still have to be careful about what I put into my mouth and decided to make Ilva’s Chili Sauteed Eggplant with Beans, Parsley and Lemon. Actually, I didn’t have any chili peppers and used crushed red pepper. It worked. I not only liked the taste of the food but the texture as well — the sauteed eggplant, the soft cannelini beans, and the fresh parsley.
In many of my older posts, I’ve mentioned several foods that I never liked until I started cooking. Eggplant is one of those foods. Now, I love it and enjoy all the recipes containing it. Ilva’s recipe was no different. As with many of her recipes, this was NOT time-consuming to make. Yes! Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
Chili Sauteed Eggplant with Beans, Parsley and Lemon
Eggplant
Fresh chili pepper
Garlic
Cannelini or Borlotti beans, cooked
Parsley, chopped
Lemon Juice
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Clean and dice the eggplant.
Chop the chili pepper and the garlic, heat them up in olive oil and add the diced eggplant. Salt it.
Saute unitl the eggplant is golden, then take it out of the pan and let it drop of excess fat on kitchen towel paper.
Put the beans in a bowl, add plent of parsley and squeeze a good squeeze of lemon juice over it all.
Add the eggplant, mix well and serve.
New York Monday #122: Outside the Frick Museum
May 11, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 2 Comments
Outside the Frick Museum on Fifth Avenue.
Happy Monday to all!
Paz
Happy Mother’s Day!
May 10, 2008 | Filed Under Holidays, Mothers Day | 9 Comments
Tulips found on the East Side
To all women out there! Happy Mother’s Day! Happy Sunday!
Paz
Zucchini and Eggs
May 5, 2008 | Filed Under Eggs, Foods I Never Liked Before Until I Started to Cook, Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska, Vegetables, Zucchini | 12 Comments
I found this very easy and delightful Greek recipe on Laurie’s wonderful blog, Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska. I already had the basic ingredients (zucchini, eggs, lemons, onions, feta cheese. and bread) so I made it for dinner. With this simple recipe, I was happy I didn’t have to exert a lot of energy in the kitchen after a long day’s work. The only things missing were the olives and a glass of ouzo but my dinner was still delicious. ;-) Perhaps I shouldn’t point this out but the zucchini slices are supposed to be nicely browned but as I was preparing it, I was too hungry to wait for it to properly brown. It still tasted good — brown or not.
Paz
Zucchini and Eggs
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as part of an appetizer spread
Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska
2 medium zucchini (1 pound)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow onion, 1/4” dice
4 eggs
Lemon wedges
In the same pan, adding olive oil if necessary, sauté the onions, lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, until they soften and begin to turn golden. Add the cooked zucchini and gently mix the zucchini and onion. Spread the vegetables out evenly over the bottom of the skillet.
Whisk together the eggs, and pour evenly over the zucchini. Sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover, turn down the burner, and cook over low heat until the eggs are set. Slide the Zucchini and Eggs onto a serving platter, cut into quarters, garnish with lemon wedges, and serve immediately.
Zafiris serves Zucchini and Eggs with slices of feta cheese, olives, bread, and a glass or two of ouzo.
New York Monday # 121: Let’s Go on a Carriage Ride
May 4, 2008 | Filed Under New York Monday | 7 Comments
On Eighth Avenue, heading towards Central Park. Who wants a ride?
Paz (who’s never taken a carriage ride before)
