February foods.

Who's excited about February!? Dark, cold and dreary with no signs of springtime in sight, awesome. But really, at least we've got the Superbowl and Valentines Day. Two good reasons to eat well.

I love the Superbowl. It is always a fun time to get together with friends, test out great finger foods, and the audience of boys I provide for are always game. BLT's with avocado aioli, nachos grande, lamb chop lollipops, puled pork sliders and risotto spoons are just a small bite of the Superbowl repertoire that grows over the years.

My MVR (Most Valuable Recipe) award this year goes to the very simple & delicious parmesan crusted chicken fingers with marinara sauce. I make them quite often for casual parties and get togethers, and everyone always loves them. Here's the recipe, as promised!



Lately I've been experimenting with mind altering kettle corn. You can pop homestyle popcorn in a pot on your stovetop as fast as you can make it in the microwave - and it's actually pretty exciting when the kernels start bouncing around the pot. I have finally perfected the amount of sugar per cup of kernels to create a sweet but fluffy popcorn, that I then drizzle melted valrhona chocolate over, with touch of fine salt. It's an instant hit. I made it for the Superbowl and then again as Valentines Day drop offs for some clients & friends. Check out the recipe and instructions here.

While I'm not much of a Valentine's Day gal, this year I did have a low key but very memorable day. Usually, we do Chrysantheme chinese take out, some good wine, and chocolate fondu for dessert - but since they closed their doors a year and half or so ago, casual at home Vday plans have never been as easy. The general idea is that I don't cook, we avoid being out with the masses (living room couch is way more romantic), but still eat something delicious. We decided to cook together this year, since no takeout we could think of could top a good home cooked meal. On the way to the market, we worked out the menu: A pasta duo of Cappeletti pasta with olive oil, "burnt" broccoli, garlic, a few sauteed cherry tomatoes, spicy sausage & bread crumbs, and fettucini with sauteed mini portobello mushroom and a light cream and parmesan sauce. Dessert was going to be an apple filo tart (a recipe that I was trying for the first time).

We popped a bottle of Tuscan wine, put on some tunes, and we were off. Eric did most of the actual cooking for the sausage and broccoli pasta, and I stayed close with my wine in hand, giving pointers and explanations, and prepping his next ingredient. The fettucini sauce only needed to be thrown together at the last second, so I prepped Eric for what he was going to have to do to complete the pasta. I took care of the cream sauce, I needed it to be barely creamy and have the perfect consistency, so I kept that job for me. He opened and cooked the sausage perfectly, then handled the broccoli frying with ease, and impressed me with sauteeing the cherry tomatoes and putting it all together to finish the job. wow ,wow, wow. He only briefly smoked up the kitchen, and melted less than three spatulas.

Dessert was fun to make. The apple filling cooks on the stovetop for a quick ten minutes, and set aside to cool. Then begins a delicate assembly of filo sheets brushed and lightly coated with sugar, gently lowered into a spring form to eventually form a pie-like shape complete with a crust and top. A very simple but delicate job, that requires complete yogi frame of mind to take on.

The meal was completely outstanding. Perfect in every way, neither of those pastas have ever been better in our house - a real labour of love. Sounds so cheesy, but it was.

Some outtakes of the most delicious pasta throwdown in the history of our kitchen (that's a serious statement coming from a pasta freak like me). Poor Eric didn't always know when my camera was on video mode.

You're going to love these nuts, Ottolenghi, & other stuff at home.

Ventured out to Amira headquarters this weekend. The company that makes nuts, dried fruit, olives & spices has an open to the public "cash & carry" near L'acadie and chabanel.

We went there to buy an assortment of nuts to assemble some pretty jars for chanukka presents. Also because we really love going to the freaky place with fresher-than-average nuts, and getting to the cash with a basket full of stuff for $6. Makes me wanna say Boo-ya!

We loaded up on 2 kinds of pistachios (sea salt & lemon, and good old "REGULAR IRANIAN"), large (but not jumbo) cashews, some dark chocolate covered peanuts, and almonds RNS (roasted, no salt - who knew there was a whole nut lingo I had to learn?).

We kept this visit pretty focused, I tried not to get lost in the olives & cheese. We grabbed some hot bread that looked like a whole wheat helium balloon, right out of the oven and off the "poker", to eat as we browsed. The place is crazy - they have all kinds of obscure middle eastern foods and knick-knacks with classic foreign packaging. They sell syrian drums and morrocan trays, small furniture and really ornate shesh b'esh boards (I had to hold back from buying one), and weird figurines of Egyptian pharaohs and sphinx. It's a trip (...somewhere stinky).

I headed to the back to pick up some spices. I needed falafel flour mix (the real deal homemade stuff, I'm going to try to emulate Taim's falafel balls), Za'atar, and some tea that I love. Of course I ended up picking up an extra 8 spices, none of which are labeled, so that should be a fun mystery to solve now that they are all sitting in my pantry in plastic bags. I have been trying to find some good Za'atar, to make a chicken recipe out of the Ottolenghi Restaurant cookbook. I rarely follow a recipe exactly, but I like to flip through nice cook books for inspiration to keep things fresh and changing. We visited Ottelenghi in London when we were there in September and I loved it. Beautiful spot and great food. I picked up this book from Bon Apetit Cookbooks. The recipes are original, and some feature ingredients and spices that aren't very common (at least not around here). But it's fun because it gives you an opportunity to try some new flavors, and then understand them for future use. Or something.

Anyways, there were 5 types of Za'atar: Algerian, Banini, Palestinian and Jordanian and another I cannot remember but I'm guessing Syrian. The recipe in the Ottelenghi book never specified which type and here I was very confused (and hung over - bad combo). I went with the smell test and picked 2 varieties that smelled the best to me. (They both had hints of armpit... but I know that'll just make a better end product.)

I tried out one recipe tonight with some friends and a good bottle of wine. Unanimously delicious.

Menu:

Proscuito de Parma, endive, raddichio (tossed in a vinaigrette), parmesan & pear with tuscan bread.

Spicy Mediterranean soup with kale, cannelleni bean, vegetables and lemon.

Herb crusted Rack of lamb, mini cauliflower, roasted red potato.

Zaatar and Sumac chicken, with red onion & lemon.

The boys appreciated the carnivore's delight. The appetizer was excellent, the rack of lamb was perfectly done and the Chicken Za'atar recipe was delicious. It was tangy, juicy, and flavorful. I'm looking forward to having fun with this book. I will post the recipe tomorrow.