"If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff."

It's summer time and nothing is better in the summer than fresh veggies! After a weekend of putting lots of calories into our bodies and spending a lot of money doing it in Chicago, it's time to get back to the cheap, fresh and light.  I had planned on making this dish last week but it never worked out so last night was the perfect time to whip out some Ratatouille.  The best thing about this dish is that it is so simple and easy to make.  It is also incredibly cheap.

I decided to add meat into our ratatouille since I like to incorporate protein into all of my dinners.  I also took out the eggplant that is usually used in this dish since Eric is not so much the fan.  So ingredients were:

zucchini

yellow squash

onion

garlic

tomato puree

bell pepper

italian sausage

salt

pepper

olive oil

thyme

I ended up having too many veggies so you can probably cut down on some, just depending on what you want more/less of.  

So to start, I sliced everything into rounds and chopped the onions and garlic up.  I also browned the sausage in a pan just to make it easier to cut into rounds. 

Once everything was cut up, I placed some tomato puree in the bottom of a casserole dish.  I added the chopped onions, garlic, a little olive oil, and a lot of salt and pepper.  The salt and pepper added to this dish are the main source of flavor so make sure you add enough so they actually come through.  Plus, the salt really makes the tomato taste amazing.  It brings out its sweetness and gets rid of a lot of the tart. 

I gave the tomato mixture a quick stir just to incorporate and then began adding the veggies and sausage.  I chose to layer them but you can actually just throw it all in if you want.  You also have the option of cutting the veggies into chunks/pieces instead of rounds and slices. 

I then topped it again with salt and pepper and sprinkled some olive oil and thyme, covered it in foil and then put it in the oven at 350 F for 55 minutes. 

While that was cooking, I cooked 1 cup of quinoa using chicken and beef broth for the liquids.  

The Ratatouille came out great.  You want to make sure the veggies still have a little crunch to them so they don't get soggy and just become mush. 

I served the dish on top of a mound of quinoa and topped it with feta cheese.  I have done this before with parmesan and I know some serve it with goat but I don't like goat cheese and feta sounded very fresh so that's what I went with!  

 The hardest part about serving this was getting it out of the dish without having all the slices fall apart everywhere.  I think the sausage was a nice touch since it had those great Italian flavors in it that fit well with the tomato base.  The quinoa was a great way to soak up all the juices with less calories than rice.  Overall, this turned out really well.  I made this once before for my mom and I can definitely say it came out better this time than the last. It's such a great cheap meal that is so light and healthy but delicious at the same time!

I will work on getting Moto pictures up soon.  There were a lot of courses and a lot to remember so hopefully I can do it justice.

Beef...it's what's for dinner.

Nothing too exciting for dinner last night.  I had a really hard time figuring out what to make so I decided just to go to Whole Foods to see if something would trigger my brain.  Lucky for me, they had NY strips on sale for $7 off! Obviously, I had to jump on that since it's been a whole week since we've had steak.

Pretty simple preparation: salt, pepper, garlic powder..thrown on the grill for 4 min a side and then let it sit for about 8 minutes before eating. It was yummy..as most steaks are.

For the side, I went through a process of wanting to make "stir fry" but then wanting to leave it plain, then going back to stir fry but without some ingredients.  Originally, the ingredients were:

zucchini

squash

mushrooms

onion

garlic

sesame oil

olive oil

pineapple

teriyaki sauce

lemon

I chopped the squash and zucchini up and sliced the onion.  Then heated the oils in the pan and added the onion and garlic. After a couple of minutes, I added the squash and zucchini. 

After letting it cook for a bit, I couldn't decide if I wanted to add the pineapple or teriyaki so I pondered for a bit while letting the steaks cook.  Finally, I realized that if I didn't add sauce to it, we would have just probably dipped it in something later anyway so I decided to go with the teriyaki and leave out the pineapple.  So while the steaks were sitting, I added the teriyaki sauce and lemon juice from half a lemon and let it cook to heat thoroughly and for the flavors to soak in. 

We bought corn last week at the farmer's market and so I just threw those in a pot of boiling water.  They were gonna go bad otherwise and since we're going out of town, I thought it would be a good idea to cook them. 

Dinner was good. I'm not really sure what happened to my grill marks but it was cooked well and so I wasn't too worried about it.  The corn was awful.  We definitely waited too long to make it so needless to say, I didn't eat it.  The veggies were great and if you put the mushrooms and onions on top of the steak, it added a nice different flavor to the steak.  

Tomorrow, we go to Chicago for the weekend and I cannot be more excited about it! Hopefully in my excitement I will remember to document all our eats b/c I definitely plan on doing some damage.  I'm already excited to get home and blog about it all! 

What makes a French Dip French?

The best thing about cooking dinner every night is that I can fix my food cravings almost immediately!  Last night, I was craving mashed potatoes...YUM.  I can ALWAYS eat potatoes but last night, they sounded delicious.  I thought for a while about what would go well with mashed potatoes and I came up with a French dip.  I've never made French dips before.  The closest I've made is leftover beef sandwiches with roast/prime rib.

The roast took 8 hours in the crock pot so I started on that early.  The ingredients I decided to use were as follows:

3 lb chuck roast

beef broth

garlic

onion

salt

pepper

soy sauce

worcestershire sauce

beer (lefthand nitro milk stout for me...more b/c I knew we'd drink the rest of the 6 pack later)

bay leaf

thyme

rosemary

Crockpots are great b/c they make cooking SO easy.  It's nearly impossible to screw up in a crockpot.  To make the roast, I sliced the onions and layered them on the bottom of the pot.  Then, instead of chopping the garlic, I just smashed it and threw it in.  The roast was set on top of the onions and the rest of the ingredients went in.  I filled the pot until the roast was almost completely covered, put the lid on, and then let it cook for 8 hours.  I'd check it every now and then just for flavor.  Turns out, I didn't have to change a thing! 

I didn't take pictures of making mashed potatoes b/c they are pretty easy and I'm sure most people have made them.  I just brought the water to a boil and threw the potatoes in.  I chose to use red potatoes since they're less starchy.  I cut them up and soaked them in water to release some of the starches before putting them in the pot.  Then, I just let them cook until tender.  To them, I only added salt, pepper, butter, and half and half.  I didn't want to go overboard with them since I knew the au jus from the roast would have enough flavor.  

For the bread, I bought a loaf of French bread from Whole Foods.  When the roast was ready, I cut up some bread and put it in the oven at 350 to toast. 

I shredded some beef and placed it on some aluminum foil on a baking sheet.  Then topped the beef with a slice of provolone cheese and threw it in the oven with the bread in order for the cheese to melt. 

   

 Once everything was out of the oven, I put some chipotle mayo on the bread (we were a little in a rush so I didn't take the time to make a horseradish sauce which I would have preferred).  I then topped the bread with the beef/cheese combo and scooped out some onions and topped the sandwich with those.  On the side, I served ramekins of au jus.

These were awesome!! I was so happy with how the beef turned out.  I was so worried it wouldn't shred or fall apart and then we would be stuck with hard, not delicious beef.  The sauce was great with the potatoes and the potatoes were so good, even by themselves.  The crunch of the bread, with a mixture of softness was the perfect texture.  They weren't too salty or too bland.  Even though I was so full, I kept eating and finished the whole thing.  I even ate some for breakfast this morning.  This dish is so incredibly easy.  You can throw it in the crockpot in the morning and come home to a perfectly made meal! 

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

I always crave meatballs.  The majority of the time, however, they are never as good as I want them to be and them I am disappointed, full of mediocre meatballs, and still craving meatballs! All last week, I talked about making meatballs and pasta but never did it so last night I decided it was time.  With it being summer, I always want to grill or do something summery and outside but it was cloudy and gross yesterday so I felt this would be perfect for the weather.

Process went a little like this:

95% ground beef

tomato puree

whole tomatoes

basil

parsley

thyme

oregano

breadcrumbs

egg

salt

pepper

parmesan

onions

garlic

I decided to also make sauce from scratch so the process took a while.  To start, I cooked the garlic and onions in a pot for a couple of minutes with some olive oil.  Then I added the tomato puree, whole tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, thyme, and oregano.  I let that heat up a bit and to that I added the meatballs. 

To make the meatballs, I just put the beef, breadcrumbs, 1 egg, parmesan, salt, pepper, garlic, milk, parsley, and oregano in a bowl and mixed everything together by hand.  Then I just formed balls out of them and placed them into the already cooking sauce.  The whole mixture, sauce and meatballs, cooked for about 3 hours. 

Sorry for the lack of meatball pics =/

For the pasta, I decided to make a primavera since we already had meat from the meatballs.  The pasta consisted of:

whole wheat spaghetti

squash

zucchini

cherry tomatoes

carrots

bell pepper

onion

salt

pepper

thyme

oregano

I peeled the carrots and then cut them into strips.  I cut the rest of the veggies into strips as well.  Once all cut, I put them all in a big bowl and drizzled olive oil on top along with the spices and mixed them by hand to coat evenly.  Then, I put foil on 2 baking trays and split them up evenly to roast in the oven at 450.  I let them cook for 10 minutes, took them out and tossed, then another 10 minutes.  

While the veggies were cooking, the noodles cooked.  I didn't take a picture of noodles cooking b/c I figured everyone has done that at some point or another. 

So 3 hours later, the sauce and meatballs were done.  20 minutes later, the veggies and noodles were done so all that was left to do was toss everything together.  I put the noodles in a bowl, topped them with veggies, threw the halved cherry tomatoes on top and tossed everything together.  Meatballs and sauce were added to the pasta and the whole thing was topped with parmesan and parsley.  

The meal was delicious! I'm glad that I made the sauce from scratch b/c it was so fresh and delightful.  The veggies were great even without the pasta or sauce.  The whole dish was great and the meatballs turned out so well.  I think my meatball craving is satisfied for at least another week.  The best thing about pasta meals is that they make the best leftovers! They are so good cold.  I ate some this morning for breakfast and didn't even bother to put it in the microwave.

Taco Tuesday

I made dinner last night and forgot to blog about it...but it's ok b/c it wasn't much to blog about anyway.  Perhaps I will use it as filler for a night that I forget to cook!

I have had fish tacos once in my life...last summer with Eric.  There is something about a fish taco that just grosses me out. I don't know if it's just the concept or the idea of fishiness..in tacos...I don't know.  But I tried them that one time and didn't like them so I have stayed away from them since then.  For some reason, last night I decided to try them again but make them myself.  Whole Foods had a sale on king salmon so I found it to be a perfect opportunity.  We made 2 different types, salt and pepper salmon and lemon butter herb halibut.  My 2nd fish taco experience went something like this...

I started by making the rice since I knew it would take a lot longer.  For the mexican rice, I chose to use brown rice just for the healthier option.  Ingredients were:

brown rice

chicken broth

tomato sauce

diced tomatoes and green chills

onions

garlic

cumin

To start, I chopped up the onions and garlic and threw them in a pan with some olive oil.  Once those cooked for a couple of minutes, I added the rice and cooked it to brown (make sure it doesn't burn!)

To the rice, I added the tomato sauce and chilis and just let that cook for a brief minute

Finally, added the chicken stock and cumin to taste and gave it a quick stir.  Once it came to a boil, I turned the heat down and covered it, letting it simmer until it was done.  Surprisingly, it took A LOT longer than I wanted it to and I had to add more broth about twice.  I think that's the problem with brown rice though, it takes a lot more liquid to soften. 

For the tacos, I started by chopping up the veggies.  I don't have a picture of ingredients b/c I started getting a little scattered with everything but I took pictures of what I remembered.  The salsa included the following chopped veggies:

roma tomatoes

orange bell pepper

onion

plumcot (plum+apricot mix)

green onion

salt

lime juice

Next, I just chopped up some cabbage and put it to the side. 

Finally, I started the fish.  I waited until the rice was almost done so it wouldn't be something I had to worry about.  The salmon came first.  I decided to keep this simple and only sprinkled it with some salt and pepper and then cooked it in olive oil. 

For the halibut, I made a lemon herb butter.  To do this I melted butter in the pan, squeezed half a lemon, and added fresh parsley, oregano, and thyme.  I let it cook down and come together and then placed the halibut in the pan, braising it with the butter. 

For the tortillas, we opted for corn instead of flour just for less carbs, even though they're less delicious. In order to heat them, I just threw a little olive oil in a pan and cooked them for about 2 min on each side just so they were hot.  

Finally, it was time to eat!! We topped our tortillas with pepper jack cheese, fish, salsa, pineapple and mango habanero salsa, cabbage, and sour cream. 

This meal took a lot longer than expected to make and with so many parts at times it was a little hard to keep up with just due to my lack of organization.  However, in the end, it helped me find a likeness for fish tacos! I don't know what it was about the ones we had before but I thought these were great! Maybe it was the fact that I junked them up with so much stuff you couldn't even really taste the fish but either way, I liked them!  They were incredibly filling even though it was mostly veggies and "filler" but also not fattening which is the best part. I will definitely be making these again, maybe with different flavor combinations.  

What Mr. Papageorgio would eat in Vegas

This past weekend Eric and I went to Vegas with my mom for her birthday.  This post is going to be about the amazing food we ate while we were there instead of food I cooked b/c it's much more impressive! I apologize in advance for the length.

The first night, we went to Old Homestead Steakhouse in Caesar's Palace.  We had been there for NYE this past year when it had only been open for about 3 days and loved it so thought it would be suitable to go back.

Our meal began with martinis and a bread basket which was filled with incredibly good bread.  There were cheddar biscuits, french, pumpernickel, and sourdough.  For an appetizer, we decided on the Shellfish Tower and half a dozen oysters.  The tower consisted of crab leg, lobster, cocktail shrimp, and oysters.  We opted for the Kumamoto since they're our favorites.  The east coast oysters were not delicious.

Due to the largeness of the tower, we decided to share one giant steak between the three of us.  It was a 32 oz lollipop ribeye on the bone and delicious! We ordered it medium rare with a side of steamed broccoli and a baked potato.  Wine for the night was one our favorites, if not our absolute favorite, Stag's Leap Fay 2008 Cabernet.

A few days prior to our visit, I called Caesars to have a cake made for my mom's birthday.  It was a carrot cake with cream cheese buttercream.  She couldn't have been more excited and surprised and the cake was also great and a fantastic end to the meal.  We also had Irish coffees and White Russians.

Dinner #2 may have been one of the best meals I have had to date.  We decided to take dinner to the Bellagio at a place you may have heard of....Le Cirque.  Walking into the restaurant, it is already the cutest place ever.  I have seen pictures of it but never realized just how adorable it would be in real life.

The restaurant is also a lot smaller than I thought it would be but with French food and tastings, it makes sense to not have seating for too many.  Everything about the place was great, down to the darker napkins to replace the white due to our dark dresses and pants, the place settings, and the butter.

We decided to opt for the tasting menu just to make it easier to decide and since tastings were for the full table, we all had to do it.  My mom and I also decided to go with the premium wine pairings as well.  Luckily, Eric and I were able to try everything since there were always 2 options for each course so we could eat half and then switch.  I will try to do my best to describe the food and how amazing it was but I know that there is no way I can do any of it justice.

For bread, we got rosemary lemon, and french with bacon. 

The Chef sent out an amuse bouche of English Split Pea Soup with baked meringue on top.  It was a great savory cold dish and a nice way to introduce us to the amazing flavors ahead.  The soup was served table side from small "tea kettles" 

For the next dish, I had the sea urchin ice cream.  It was present in a sea urchin shell which was a nice touch.  I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this dish since the idea of seafood and ice cream in one dish does not usually sound good do me but this was amazing.  The gelee added a great texture and the coldness of the ice cream really brought out the flavor. It was incredibly savory and I really don't think I would have known I was eating seafood at all. 

Eric ordered the Alaskan King Crab.  The display of sauces with this dish were great and really added flavor to the crab.  The crab was cooked perfectly, not dry and very tender.  There was a great hint of citrus that added a perfect lightness to the dish. 

With this course, we were served champagne, the first of 5 tastings and some bacon madeleines. 

For my next course, I went with the Foie Gras.  Being a huge lover of foie, I was incredibly excited about this dish.  It definitely lived up to my expectations.  It was incredibly savory with great texture that melted in my mouth.  The raisin brioche added a great way to "soak" up the flavors from the foie and take away some of the richness which was nice.  The rhubarb was also a great kick of change in the dish.

Eric's dish was the risotto with scallops and truffles.  This was possible the most truffles I have ever seen in such a tiny little pot.  They shaved several pieces of truffle and just placed them nicely on top of the risotto.  I almost didn't want to eat it!  The flavor of the risotto was great.  It was very light for risotto, as most places usually make it so rich it's almost impossible to eat more than 1 bite of.  This was not the case here.  This dish was dainty and fantastic. 

For this meal, we were served a wine that very much resembled a port.  It was on the sweet side, as it contained brandy.  It was a great compliment to the richness of the foie especially. 

The next course was seafood for both of us.  I went with the Chorizo Crusted Alaskan Cod.  This was probably my least favorite of the group, not to say that it wasn't great.  However, it was the first time that I had anything containing squid ink and I must say, it isn't anything I thought it would be! It isn't fishy and it almost has a meaty savory taste to it, in a sauce form.  It is almost like..."gravy" to put it simply. 

Eric had the Seafood Bouillabaise.  I still don't know what kind of fish this is or where it comes from but it was good.  I think this may be the least memorable for me, besides the presentation.  I do remember enjoying it, but as far as specific flavors, I honestly don't remember it that well. The liquid, however, that the fish was sitting in was great and definitely made the dish.  It gave it flavor that I think it mate have lacked, which is obviously why it's present. 

With this course, we were given a pinot noir, which usually you wouldn't pair with fish but due to it's lightness, it was a wonderful pairing.  I was almost surprised that it was actually a red wine, because it almost resembled white. 

We have finally come to the meat of the meal.  There were three options here but Eric doesn't like duck so we decided to go with the 2 beef dishes, which was completely fine with me seeing as how they were both made with kobe beef.  On top of which, we had just been talking about oxtail and whether or not it really does live up to the hype it always gets on Food Network and other food related reviews.  

I don't really remember who got what because they were both great so I will just start with the tenderloin.  The tenderloin was great.  It was cooked perfectly, on the rarer side of medium due to Eric's preference for medium steak.  Since it was a little under, it was good for me since I like my steaks medium rare.  The darker ball is almond crusted foie gras which was great however, in the sauce and the lighter ball is filled with béarnaise sauce.  When cracked open, a beautiful white sauce flowed out.  The sauces that it came in were delicious, but I could have honestly just eaten the meat without them and enjoyed them just as much.  

The oxtail was definitely interesting, and very good.  It came in a pot and when removed, the dish was definitely not what I was expecting to see.  It was almost like a stew surrounded by a spiral of pasta with the oxtail in the middle.  You could say it was like beef stew, but better of course.  The pasta was a great way to soak in all of the gravy. 

At this point, we were running behind for our show (we had tickets for the 7:30 showing of O at the Bellagio).  Luckily, the restaurant was wonderful and let us go see the show and come back for our last 2 courses.  This turned out to be quite perfect b/c we were stuffed by now and needed a break from eating anyway.  

An hour and a half later, we returned to the restaurant and finished our meal.  For the pre-dessert, we were given sorbet.  We had wanted cheese but it was ok.  The sorbet was incredibly sour and topped with papaya and I can say that I didn't really enjoy it.  I don't really like papaya at all and the tartness was just a little too much for me.  However, I can see how it would have been a good break from the meal before dessert since many parts of the meal were incredibly rich. 

Finally! We reached dessert.  We were allowed to pick our own desserts from the menu which was nice and so we all picked something different.  

My mom picked the strawberry soufflé. It had great height and a great texture.  It was the perfect amount of "fluffiness", very airy, which is great b/c a lot of times soufflés can be dense.  I wish the taste of strawberry was a little heavier but it was still good.    I didn't get a chance to taste the sorbet b/c my mom ate it all in about 2 bites.    

For me, I had a chocolate hazelnut "ball" which was absolutely wonderful.  It was like eating a giant Ferrero Rocher ball but better.  When cracked open, oozy goodness of chocolate and hazelnut poured out. Of the three desserts, this one was definitely my favorite. 

Eric went with a dragon fruit dessert with sorbet and foam of some sort.  I only tasted one bite of this because I didn't really enjoy it that much.  I'm not sure if it was the dragon fruit or what, but there was something about it that I just wasn't a fan of.  Eric seemed to really like it though so that was good. 

With this course, we were served a dessert wine from Bordeaux.  It's nickname is "liquid gold" and we could definitely see why.  It was rich, sweet, buttery, and amazing.  It's something we could have just had bottles of if it were available and not incredibly expensive.  

Our meal at Le Cirque is definitely one that I will hopefully never forget.  The service was impeccable, the atmosphere so fun and quirky, and the food was delicious down to the last bite.  This entire experience was definitely worth the money and time spent.  I hope that if any of y'all ever get to make the trip to Vegas, that you will get the chance to eat a meal at Le Cirque.