Creamy Creole Crab Pots: Anniversary Dinner, the Second Way

For those of you who were expecting me to cook up a Creole feast for my anniversary surprise for Poppa Trix, I apologize. I  have just one dish to share with you - but what a dish it is! This little pot of goodness is loaded with sweet (local and sustainably-caught) Maryland lump blue crab meat that's carried to your mouth in a creamy sauce of mushrooms, shallots, thyme, onion, Amontillado sherry and (please forgive me, seafood purists!) Parmesan cheese, topped off with a lid of crunchy phyllo pastry.

Wedding Anniversary Dinner, Two Ways ... The First Way: Dinner Out at Zaytinya in DC

 

Ah, the view from the top ...

Poppa Trix and I love surprises, especially food-related ones.  So what better way to celebrate our  2nd anniversary than by taking turns surprising one another?  And Poppa came up with the perfect one for me: He took me to Zaytinya in Washington, DC, where Mike Isabella from last season's Top Chef cooks up some seriously good food. The specialty here is inventive Greek, Turkish, and Lebanese small plates, with a particularly strong selection of seafood dishes.

Summer "Noodles" of Yellow & Green Zucchini with a Cool Basil Oil Tomato Sauce: International Incident Noodles Party

Please don't misunderstand:  I adore noodles. Spaghetti, fettuccine, ramen, udon, soba, cellophane, rice - I don't play favorites, I love them all. Making them is fun; eating (or slurping) them all up is even better.

But I decided to forgo the dough for this latest noodles-themed International Incident Party.  Thanks to the summer heat and humidity (at least in my hemisphere),  the thought of kneading dough and getting covered in flour and then - horrors! - boiling a big pot of water leaves me  exhausted and dripping with sweat.  These days I find myself craving crunchy, cooling, refreshing foods. So I decided to make ribbon-like "noodles" out of the ultimate cooling summer vegetable, zucchini. (To  check out what all the others brought to the noodles party, please visit our lovely hostess, Penny aka Jeroxie!)

This  dish is composed entirely of  ingredients I got at the farmers market. In fact, I made this the same day I visited the market - and it doesn't get much fresher than that!

New Orleans Style Gumbo Z'Herbes: Guest Post for Jeroxie: Addictive and Consuming

 Penny aka Jeroxie recently surprised me by asking me to do a guest post for her awesome blog, Addictive & Consuming. How cool is that! So I cooked up something from my very favorite place in the whole U.S of A.: New Orleans, Louisiana.

Summertime Simplicity: Lime & Rosemary Granita

A friend was supposed to come over for dinner on a recent sweltering Sunday, but she canceled on me.  Hmmpf. This simple and refreshing granita is just one of the many scrumptious things that she missed!

Lime & Rosemary Granita

 1 cup sugar

2 cups water

1 large sprig of rosemary

Zest of 1 lime

Juice from 3-4 limes; more if you prefer things on the tart side, which I do (Also use more  if your limes, like mine, have been inexplicably dried-up and nearly juice-less. I had to use 5 limes for this.)

Combine all the ingredients except the lime juice in a sauce pot and slowly bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and add the lime juice. When cool, pour into a shallow rectangular casserole dish and freeze. Every 30-45 minutes, give the granita a stir in order to prevent the liquid from freezing into a uniform solid mass. You want a slushy consistency. Once there's no more liquid, it's ready to serve. 

The rosemary gives nice depth to a dish that could otherwise be somewhat one-note. And since my friend canceled, there's been more for me (and Poppa Trix, of course!)  to enjoy.  For extra oomph, splash a little (or ... a lot) of Hendrick's gin over the top before serving.  Hic!

Chilled Avocado Soup with Cornbread Feta Croutons

When Denise of Quickies on the Dinner Table put out a challenge to compose a dish that included both avocado and feta, my brain immediately started whirring. I love both of these ingredients, yet why was it that, to the best of my memory, I had never combined them in a single dish?

Flowering Kale & Garlic Scape Stir Fry ... a Bit of Gossip ... and my 99th Post

 

I know, I know. The 99th post is not a generally accepted blogging milestone worthy of fireworks and giveaways. I have two points to offer in my defense. First, I am very bad at math and somehow I got it into my head that this was in fact my 100th post. But then I added it all up again just before I started writing it and it turns out ... not so much.  

Secondly, I had a fabulous idea for my 100th post all set, but then it didn't work out, and as it turns out it wouldn't have worked no matter what. But I get ahead of myself. It's like this: I recently landed a gig as the online food and drink editor for a local publication - hooray! As part of my job, I have the *clears throat* exhausting job of going to events and tasting things and eating free dinners and sipping free drinks  from time to time.  Serendipitously (or so I thought)  the Anthony Bourdain/Eric Ripert show was coming to town and it hit me: Aha! I will take something - an apron, say - and have them sign it, and give it away for my 100th post.  Pretty cool, huh?

Well. Did I mention that I just got this job? Too late, apparently, to be able to snag two press tickets to the event. Sigh. But before you despair of the incredible giveaway that might-have-been, let me console you with this: I heard it through the grapevine that Bourdain's entourage formed an impenetrable wall around him, and no one could get close. Ripert, meanwhile, though engaging and polite enough, performed an eat-and-run disappearing act after the show.  Although this scheme didn't work out, rest assured I'm hard at work thinking of something for my blogoversary in July! 

Meanwhile,  I give you a stir fry. Though really there's nothing heavy and "fry-ish" about it. And it's more a method than a recipe; a perfect way to use whatever healthy veg is in season. All you have to do is remember to keep a variety of textures and colors in the dish, and it will turn out beautifully.

I used flowering kale - a purple, cabbage-y variety of kale - regular purple kale, and garlic scapes.  I simply sauteed then in peanut oil until the kale wilted and the scapes were crunchy and bright, and then set this aside. Meanwhile, I cooked day-old jasmine rice (I read somewhere that it's important the rice is a day old so it doesn't get sticky) in a combo of  sesame and peanut oil, soy sauce, a bit - not too much! - of oyster sauce, and white pepper. I simultaneously scrambled 3 eggs in another  skillet, and broke them up into chunks, folding them into the rice. I added the vegetables back in to the rice/egg mixture, tossed it all together, garnished it with some green onions, and I had a healthy and light weeknight meal.

The perfect dish to celebrate a 99th post, yes? 

Mtuza wa Samaki: Kenyan Curried Fish, for World Africa Day

It's all about the hot peppers ...

... and of course, the fish

When Casey of  Eating,  Gardening, and Living in Bulgaria challenged food bloggers to cook an African dish to highlight the incredible culinary diversity of the continent in honor of World Africa Day, I was eager to participate.  After all, African cuisine - particularly the hot and spicy variety - is one of my very favorite things in the world. (I have the sweat-inducing and curiously addicting West African pepper soup at Sumah's carryout in Washington, DC to thank for it. )

Of course, saying "African cuisine" is a gross oversimplification.  Each region and country has its own signature ingredients, spices, and cooking techniques.  Ethiopian, Senegalese, Tunisian, Ghanaian, Kenyan, South African - these cuisines, and many more I didn't list,  are as different from one another as French is  from Viennese.  I hope that more and more people begin to discover the depth and breadth of flavors this continent has to offer.

A Piece of Cake: Baking & Pastry Arts Semester One Recap

Almond Cake

Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with Cardamom Streusel

At long last, my first semester as a culinary student is over. For our practical final (there was also a written one)  we had to make a pate sucree, lemon curd, and French meringue. In other words, a lemon meringue tart.

Pizza or Focaccia? Crispy Purple Kale, Feta, Red Onion, Black Olive & Garlic on Some Seriously Good Crust (Whatever it Is)

 I seem to be having a hard time naming things lately. Take this dish. Is it a pizza? Is it focaccia? Plain old bread? And if it is pizza, is it Sicilian? Chicago-style? Deep dish? Sigh. I'm not sure.  Maybe I'll call it a fopizza.