If These Pots Could Talk

Chipotle Honey Chicken Breasts w/Squash & Sweet Potatoes

2011-04-05T04:58:00.004+02:00

I love doing one-pot dinners, but oftentimes I find myself with a piece of fish, chicken breasts, etc, where it's easy to just grill them up with a side. But a side of green beans or asparagus with rice gets rather boring.

This recipe totally caught my eye while I was browsing some food blogs. I think my recreation above shows why. I love that there are bold flavors, but not a huge ingredient list and most of them I had on hand anyway.

Chipotle Honey Chicken Breasts w/Squash & Sweet Potatoes
from Eats Well with Others

20 oz butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
20 oz sweet potato, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tbsp olive ol
4 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and patted dry
chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400. Toss the sweet potatoes and butternut squash with 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Spray a roasting pan with cooking spray and then spread the sweet potatoes and squash over it. Roast for 15 minutes.

While the sweet potatoes and squash are cooking, in a small bowl, mix together the remaining tbsp of olive oil, chiles, garlic, honey, cider vinegar, salt, cumin, and cinnamon, until they form a paste. Rub the paste all over the chicken. Carefully place the chicken on top of the sweet potatoes and butternut squash. Put back in the oven and continue to roast until the chicken is just cooked through, about 25 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro.

Results: I can't say I love eating a side of sweet potatoes and squash, but with the flavors of the chicken and a texturally-pleasing side of the pearl couscous, it balanced very well. There was plenty of leftover squash/sweet potatoes so I just froze the extra which came in handy for another dinner. By the way, I love the Harvest Grains blend of Trader Joe's with Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa -- delish!

Chicken Orzo Soup

2011-04-01T14:54:00.000+02:00

All the traveling has finally caught up with me and I came down with a nasty cold this week. Seeing as I haven't been to the grocery store in more than a week and wasn't about to go, I made my stand-by for being sick, having nothing in the refrigerator, or really any time -- chicken soup. I love chicken soup, and many times it just becomes noodle soup with chicken broth.

My recent version wasn't anything worth taking a photo of, but I realized I hadn't written up my Chicken Orzo soup. Orzo was a recent find -- the rice-shaped pasta is delicious although I can never seem to get the flavor I'd like into it. Still, I think it works well with soup.

This recipe is really just tossing whatever is on hand vegetable-wise.

Chicken Orzo Soup

1 red bell pepper, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
salt, pepper
2 chicken breasts
1 box of orzo
32-oz chicken broth
chopped fresh parsley
sliced green onions

gold fish soup crackers to top, if desired

In a large soup pot, add the bell pepper, celery, carrot and onions and cook until softened, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, lower the temperature to bring to a simmer, then cook the breasts approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool slightly.

Bring the soup to a boil, then add the orzo. While the orzo is cooking, take two forks to shred the chicken (or cut into bite-size pieces). Add back to the soup, stir to mix. Check seasonings and add red chili flakes, a little curry powder or thyme if desired.

Dish out and top with parsley and green onions. Top with gold fish if desired.

Results: I'll always be a fan of chicken noodle soup, but orzo gives it a more substantial taste and I think Dave likes it better as it's less brothy/soupy. This is a great base soup that different seasonings can be added to in order to give it a completely different flavor.

Vegetable Meatloaf w/Balsamic Glaze

2011-03-30T17:02:00.000+02:00

This month has literally flown by. Dave and I ate our way through the South a week ago (more to come on that!) and then turned around to get on the plane, both for separate work trips. While Dave is still in Asia, I thought I'd catch up on a recipe I made a few weeks ago, especially since this recipe is from Bobby Flay. I got to check out his restaurant, Mesa Grill last week in New York and while my green curry and coconut cioppino was good enough, it was really the goat cheese queso that won me over.

I'm not generally a meatloaf person, but had stocked up on ground turkey so decided to give it a try. This one turned out to be surprisingly tasty and the glaze on top was delicious.

Vegetable Meatloaf w/Balsamic Glaze
(Bobby Flay's recipe)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small zucchini, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
5 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with coarse salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the zucchini, bell peppers, garlic paste and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables are almost soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Whisk the egg and fresh herbs in a large bowl. Add the turkey, panko, grated cheese, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and the cooled vegetables; mix until just combined.

Gently press the mixture into a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a small bowl; brush the mixture over the entire loaf. Bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Results: This was moist, flavorful and a great texture, not at all how I remember meatloaf. I find if you add the right seasonings, ground turkey can taste just as good, if not better, than ground beef.

Shrimp & Sausage Etouffee for Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T18:35:00.001+01:00

Everyone knows I love celebrating holidays, even if it's just a special meal. Today is Mardi Gras and although I'm kicking myself for not extending our trip to the South on the front end to include a stop in New Orleans, I guess I really can't think that way since for some reason I didn't realize until a few days ago that Mardi Gras is so late this year.

So a nice New Orleans-inspired dinner will have to suffice. I absolutely love jambalaya, as well as the pasta version, but when browsing recipes last week, I found this one featured on Foodnetwork.com from Paula Deen. I love Paula and her food always looks great, but it's rare I actually make much from here. This recipe looked reasonable, especially since I left out the half stick of butter you're supposed to stir in just before stirring :)

Shrimp & Sausage Etouffee (based on Paula Deen's recipe)

1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more if desired
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 cup minced green onions, plus extra for garnish
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
2 to 3 dashes hot sauce
(8-ounce) can clam juice
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 links of cajun or andouille sausage, diced
Salt (Cajun seasoning has salt already)
2 pounds small or medium shrimp peeled and deveined
Rice
Diced green onions and chopped parsley for garnish

Make the roux, mix oil and flour in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Whisk flour into the oil to form a paste. Continue cooking over low heat and whisk continuously, until the mixture turns a caramel color and gives off a nutty aroma, about 15 to 20 minutes. Note: Even as it starts to brown and smell nutty, keep cooking. It should almost start to smell like burnt popcorn, but you really want to develop the flavor so let it go to almost a chocolate color.

To the roux, add the onion, peppers, celery, and garlic and cook over low heat about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are limp. Add the black pepper, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, green onions, parsley, and hot sauce to taste. Add 1 can clam juice, the tomatoes with their juice, and the sausage; stir to blend. Add the salt, starting with 1 teaspoon, then add more if needed.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add shrimp and stir. It will take about 3 minutes for shrimp to cook, don't overcook. Remove from heat. Serve over rice. Garnish with the green onions, parsley and crushed red pepper.

Results: I had a disappointing duck gumbo the other night at a new celeb-chef restaurant in SF so I'm actually surprised I attempted this so soon after, but both Dave and I loved it and this will be one of the regulars for Mardi Gras celebrations in the future.

Spicy Sausage and Chickpea Soup

2011-03-06T17:52:00.001+01:00

We had a great weekend in San Francisco: dinner and drinks with friends Friday night, a beautiful morning at the Ferry Building farmers market on Saturday, pizza-making party at my brother's Saturday night, then a movie, lunch (at a grilled cheese restaurant, yum!) and shopping on Sunday.

We lucked out with great weather yesterday morning at the market and got to catch up with Ash and Ryan but the sun quickly snuck behind the clouds and eventually lead to a misty rain. Today wasn't much better, hence the desire to see a movie. The grilled cheese sounded just right as well, even though it seemed like we had already had a banner weekend food-wise. While 6 hours later of course we're hungry again, I thought a healthy soup could be the best option. Chickpeas seem to be my new thing so I stock up and now include in salads (hot and cold), soups and a variety of side dishes.

I got the idea for the soup from this recipe on the blog, Dinner with Julie, but I changed up the seasonings a bit and added some ground turkey as well as the sausage.

Spicy Sausage and Chickpea Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1 jalapeno pepper
2 heads of garlic, minced
1 package of ground turkey
2 links of hot sausage, sliced/chopped
1 can of roasted canned tomatoes
2 cans chickpeas
3/4c frozen corn
1 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne
3c chicken broth
1 tsp granulated garlic
3 chipotles in adobe, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, add a bit of olive oil and the onion. Cook until softened, then add the bell pepper and the garlic and jalapeno. Stir and cook for several minutes, then add the ground turkey and sausage and cook until browned. Add the next 8 ingredients, stir well to mix. Turn up heat to a boil, cover, then simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Results: So flavorful and definitely had the kick I like to add to meals like this. Though Dave had to leave the kitchen and open the front door to get some fresh air in, I think it's always worth it (he's just sensitive anyway ;) The soup tasted even better the next day.

Prosciutto & Rosemary Chicken w/Israeli Couscous and Asparagus

2011-03-01T19:44:00.000+01:00

Some of my favorite dishes are the ones that look really elegant but are a cinch to make. I love prosciutto and often use it with chicken but hadn't thought about including the whole rosemary sprig. I love that this recipe doesn't require many ingredients but has tons of flavor and looks perfect when you pull it from the oven.

Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Prosciutto with Rosemary
(adapted from Rachael Ray and this recipe from Stacey Snacks)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 package or bundle fresh rosemary
8 pieces good quality boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 thin slices prosciutto di Parma
2 lemons, cut into thin wedges
Drizzle balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour about 1/4c extra-virgin olive oil into a shallow dish and add the garlic.

Strip the leaves off one sprig of rosemary and finely chop, about 1 tablespoon. Add the chopped rosemary to the bowl with the garlic and oil. Break the remaining rosemary up into 8 small sprigs about the size of the chicken pieces.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste, and add them to the garlic mixture. Turn to coat.

Wrap the chicken pieces in prosciutto, placing a rosemary sprig in the center before wrapping. The sprigs should stick out a bit at the edges of the prosciutto. Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle a little more oil on top. Cook for 30-40 minutes, adding the asparagus for the last 10 minutes if desired.

Results: I seem to have horrible timing with chicken and can never quite get it right. When I cut into it to test, the juices seem to run clear, but as it's served out and we start eating, I see it needs more time. So annoying as I feel like I follow the recipe, but perhaps grilling the chicken is easier (the recipe actually called for grilling it). But beyond that, the chicken had amazing flavor and the house smelled wonderful. Asparagus seemed to be the perfect complement and Israeli couscous is my new favorite thing (I found it at Trader Joe's).

Roast Chicken Breasts with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Paprika

2011-02-08T16:52:00.001+01:00

I'm usually more of a seafood or red meat person as opposed to chicken. Don't get me wrong, I eat chicken quite often but I guess it's still kind of boring to me. With that said, sometimes there's something so satisfying about having a grilled chicken breast and a healthy, but filling side.

I came across this recipe on epicurious.com, but was waiting for chicken breasts to go on sale at Safeway. I'm sorry, but it's worth it -- when they do a good sale, they're practically giving them away... Anyway, it was the perfect dinner for Monday after Superbowl, especially when I was in yoga class and my teacher shared some fact about how people eat more calories on Superbowl Sunday than they do on Thanksgiving. Of course no matter how much you eat one day, it doesn't make you less hungry the next day, so just because I wanted something that felt lighter, didn't mean I wanted my stomach growling even after eating dinner. This did just the trick.

Roast Chicken Breasts with Chickpeas, Tomatoes and Paprika
adapted from epicurious.com/Bon Appetit recipe

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
4 chicken breast halves with bones
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
1 12-ounce container cherry tomatoes
1/2c chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/2c chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Preheat oven to 450°. Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon spiced oil mixture into small bowl; whisk in yogurt and set aside for sauce. Place chicken on large rimmed baking sheet. Rub 2 tablespoons spiced oil mixture over chicken. Add beans, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup cilantro and parsley to remaining spiced oil mixture; toss to coat. Pour bean mixture around chicken. Sprinkle everything generously with salt and pepper.

Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cilantro and 1/2 cup parsley. Transfer chicken to plates. Spoon bean mixture over. Serve with yogurt sauce.

Results: This was such a hit. Great flavors, fresh, healthy and felt like a real meal. Everything roasted up on one pan so it was easy to prep and clean. I even added some garlic bread to the tray a the same time (although I suggest putting it in towards the end of the baking). I served the chickpea mix over arugula salad, so I could get another vegetable in the mix. I will definitely be making this again and again.

Whole-Wheat Pasta w/Broccolini and Shrimp

2011-02-05T17:48:00.000+01:00

The whole no-carb craze gained momentum during my senior year of college and while I've never been a dieter, with multiple spring break trips not to mention going out most nights of the week in typical college 'going out' attire, I was more conscious about my body than ever.

But when I tried a low-carb version of angel hair pasta, I knew that was just not for me. My family has always been a bread family and I can't see ever giving that up. So when I came across some whole-grain spaghetti at the grocery store, I was a bit skeptical.

I love pasta and while I try not to make it too often, both Dave and I are fans of angel hair pasta with shrimp, which is so quick and easy. I came across this healthy pasta recipe but changed it up a bit, including shrimp.

Whole-Wheat Pasta w/Broccolini and Shrimp

1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bunch broccolini, stems cut into 2-inch stems, and florets
12 oz whole-wheat pasta (spaghetti, rotini, etc)
1 Tbsp sherry wine vinegar
1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
salt and pepper
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 lb medium or large shrimp, deveined and de-tailed
crushed red pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Fill a medium bowl with ice water and salt it as well. Add the broccolini to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to scoop out the broccolini and plunge them immediately into the ice water. Drain the vegetables, pat them very dry.

Add the pasta to the same pot of boiling water, and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8 to 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Chop the shallots and add with the garlic to a skillet over medium heat with a bit of olive oil. Watch closely and when the shallots are translucent and a little more olive oil and the shrimp. Cook for several minutes on each side until cooked through.

Whisk the sherry vinegar, orange zest, the 3/4 teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste, in a large serving bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream, to make a dressing.

Toss the pasta, broccolini and shallot-garlic mix with the dressing. Add the feta cheese, crushed red pepper and toss lightly. Serve warm or room temperature.

Results: First of all, the whole wheat pasta was great, barely tasted a difference -- I would definitely get it again or even replace the white pasta I usually get. This was a nice change to the shrimp pasta we usually have and I am a huge fan of broccolini. The feta gave it more flavor but it still felt like a very healthy dish.

Healthy Pork Lettuce Wraps

2011-02-01T05:45:00.002+01:00

As many of you know, I'm not a huge fan of salads, although I have to say, I've made some progress over the years. As long as there's some kind of meat and it's a hearty-enough salad, with no creamy dressing, then it might work...

A twist on traditional salad, I do really like lettuce wraps. I think we've all had PF Changs version and I'm definitely a fan, but I'm wary of any restaurant versions, all the hidden sodium and who-knows-what else.

So when I came across this recipe from Better Homes & Gardens, I decided to make my own lettuce wraps. I changed up the sauce a bit based on what I had on hand and used leftover pork from chili I had made a few days earlier.

Pork Lettuce Wraps

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1/2 pound cooked pork loin, chopped (1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
4 green onions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)
1/2 of an 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped (1/2 cup)
8 butter lettuce leaves
1/2 small red and yellow sweet pepper, cut in thin strips
1 medium carrot, coarsely shredded (1/2 cup)

Combine hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and chili sauce in a small bowl; set aside. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat just until hot. Add pork, ginger, green onion, and water chestnuts; stir in half of the sauce mixture. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat.

To serve, spoon 1/4 cup of the pork mixture onto each lettuce leaf. Add some of the bell pepper strips and shredded carrot to mixture on each leaf. Drizzle with a bit of the reserved sauce. Roll up lettuce leaf. Makes 4 servings.

Results: These were so fresh and tasty. We each had 4 and that was enough for dinner. I had a lot of pork left over from a previous meal so it made quite a big batch. I brought the leftovers to work the next day and everything tasted great. I'll definitely make these again, and while the sauce was good, I think I could definitely play around with it a bit to include some different flavors.

The Perfect Chocolate Treat: Brookies

2011-01-30T17:48:00.000+01:00

Dave is the biggest chocolate chip cookie fan ever and anytime I want to do something nice for him, I make him a big batch... but while the way to a man's heart may be through his stomach, it's not always the healthiest path. So I keep my cookie-making to a minimum most months, but then I came across this recipe for chocolate-brownie cookies in a Daily Candy email; the recipe is actually from Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook.

They're a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies and while divinely delicious, not too decedent. And I like that the recipe makes about 16 cookies, and I froze half the batch for another time, so overall, fairly guilt-free. Serve with a glass of milk of course!

Brookies
from the Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp unsalted butter
2c semisweet chocolate chunks (52-62% cacao)
2 large eggs
¾c light brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½c all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

While the oven preheats to 350°, melt the oil, butter, and 1 cup of the choclate together in the microwave on high heat for 2.5-3 minutes, stirring at 1-minute intervals. Or melt the mixture in the stainless-steel bowl of a double boiler. Let cool.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined. Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture.

Whisk together the remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine the flour mixture with the chocolate mixture, and then fold in the remaining chocolate chunks.

Freeze the batter in a shallow pan (such as a pie plate) 6-8 minutes until it sets and hardens slightly.

Spray two cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper. Scoop about 10 tablespoons of batter onto each sheet. Bake 11-12 minutes, until the tops look dry and cracked (the insides will still be quite moist). Cool completely. The brookies will be perfectly soft and chewy.

Results: So tasty! The perfect combo of a chewy brownie in a slightly-thinner cookie version. I definitely recommend taking them out of the oven when they're not quite done (in the traditional cookie view), and they'll be perfect.

Southwest Turkey Burgers with Kidney Bean Salad

2011-01-25T17:14:00.001+01:00

Just like most people in January, Dave and I are trying to kick the year off to a good start by eating healthy. I personally think we eat pretty well as it is, especially when we eat at home, but I still took some extra time to think of recipes that were flavorful but packed with vegetables, protein and healthy carbs.

I rarely cook with ground turkey -- turkey wasn't something I came by too often in Switzerland, but here it's easy to find and a great alternative to ground beef. I never make hamburgers at home, unless we're grilling them, and even then it's a rarity, but I'm actually a big fan of turkey burgers when they're packed with lots of spicy flavors. I served with a black bean-corn-tomato mixture and half a whole wheat pita.

Southwest Turkey Burger with Kidney Bean Salad

1 pkg ground turkey
1 tsp cayenne
3/4c corn (either frozen or canned)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2c bell pepper mixed, chopped
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 large red onion, chopped

Salad:
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1c corn (frozen or canned)
2 poblano chiles in adobe, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
chopped cilantro

Combine all the ingredients for the burgers in a bowl. Mix thoroughly and form into burger. Heat a skillet over medium high heat, add a little oil or cooking spray. Add the burgers, then turn down to medium heat. Cook for about 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

While the burgers are cooking, add the garlic and a little oil to a saucepan. Cook for one minute, then add the next four ingredients to the sauce pan. Cook until heated through, remove from heat and stir in the green onions and cilantro.

Results: I was really bummed when the can that I thought was black beans turned out to be kidney beans, but they worked surprisingly well with the other ingredients. Black beans are my favorite, or maybe canellini beans too, but kidney, no. So I'm glad I only had them on hand because it changed my opinion. I love the frozen bell pepper strips at Trader Joe's; they're perfect for stuff like this where it's nice to have the tri colors, but you don't necessarily need a whole bell pepper in each color. For the spices, I don't measure, so feel free to adjust based on your own tastes.

Chicken & White Bean Chili

2011-01-23T17:02:00.000+01:00

The Bay Area in January, almost 70 degrees and sunny. Yes, this is why I live here. Dave and I headed out for a looong walk yesterday, but any walk that ends up in a cute town around lunchtime is definitely up my alley. I had a delicious blackened chicken sandwich with arugula and melted brie, but Dave and I quickly realized that the almost 6-mile walk back wasn't going to happen after the indulgent lunch. It felt so good to be outside in a T-shirt, and even though we didn't walk back, we were still invigorated from the morning walk in the great weather.

Today was just as good, although we spent most of the afternoon indoors watching football. My team wasn't even playing but it's still was fun to watch the games leading up to the Superbowl, especially since it meant I could be in the kitchen prepping our favorite football snacks. I started with hot chicken wings, but chili was the main event.

Generally I make beef or pork chili, but I had seen some great recipes for chicken and white bean chili so decided to try that instead. Tasty and guilt-free!

Chicken & White Bean Chili

olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 7 oz can of whole green chiles, diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
crushed red pepper to taste
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
4c chicken broth
1 head of roasted garlic, smashed with a fork
1 15 oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes
2c shredded rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped (reserve a little for topping)
shredded cheese, for topping
green onions, chopped, for topping

Roast the garlic according to the recipe here.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, then add the chiles, cumin, oregano, chili powder and crushed red pepper, along with some salt and pepper. Cook for several minutes, then add the broth. Once the roasted garlic is done, squeeze it out of the husk and mash it with a fork. Add the roasted garlic to the broth and mix it thoroughly. Next add the beans, tomatoes, chicken and cilantro. Simmer on low for 30 minutes.

Top with cheese, cilantro and green onions.

Results: Such a healthy alternative to the red-meat chili varieties but just as hearty and flavorful. I'll definitely be making this again. Roasted garlic makes everything better and I always roast several heads at once and save the extras for other meals.

Texas Weekend and Homemade Enchiladas

2011-01-19T16:35:00.001+01:00

Another crazy week although I guess we're on our way to the weekend again. Last week was spent in New York, arriving late Thursday night to some of the thickest fog I've ever seen. I turned around the next day and headed to Austin for the weekend with Dave and when we arrived back Monday morning, the pilot announced the plane would be landing itself because the fog was so bad... luckily I'm not scared of flying.

Dave and I had fun in Texas, my first time to the state if we're not including layovers, although we weren't happy to see that we were leaving some of the first sunshine San Francisco was seeing for two straight days of rain in Texas.

As soon as we landed, we headed to Guero's, which I had heard is one of of the best Mexican spots in the city. Maybe it was the atmosphere they were talking about but Dave called it 'a step above Chevy's'. Very disappointing. We had some other great meals though -- I'm such a fan of incorporating in some of the Mexican flavors with other traditional southern foods. Our brunch at the South Congress Cafe was awesome, not to mention my pear-cucumber-vodka lemonade... I think it was noon.

Crab cakes and quiche benedict

Cowboy Skillet for Dave

We stayed at the new W Hotel, which was great, and they had a very tasty cucumber-jalepeno cocktail that I just had to try. We went for barbecue that night, to a place right next to our hotel that was known for more 'fancy barbecue' and the food was good. We probably would've found better barbecue at a more hole-in-the-wall type of place though.

The rain prevented us from being able to cruise the streets of Austin too much, so we decided to rent a car and drive just over an hour to San Antonio to see the Riverwalk and the Alamo.

Very cool, and we got some much better Mexican food at Mi Tierra, which has a very fun and colorful atmosphere. The queso still disappointed, but over the food was good.

I think Dave and I are set on Mexican food for the near future, but several weeks ago I noticed I had some corn tortillas left from taco night -- which totally made me feel like the dad tearing open the bag of hot dog buns at the grocery store in Father of the Bride -- so started brainstorming how to use them up. I don't make enchiladas often, taco salad or tacos are usually my Mexican go-to, but I used this recipe from Tyler Florence and it didn't disappoint. I changed up the spices a bit, but otherwise, it's all his.

Chicken Enchiladas from Tyler Florence

3Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayanne pepper
2 tsp chili powder
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1c frozen corn, thawed
5 canned whole green chiles , seeded and coarsely chopped
4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1/2 tsp all-purpose flour
16 corn tortillas
1 1/2c enchilada sauce, canned
1c shredded cheddar and Jack cheeses
Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder, cayanne and chili powder before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts.

Results: I forgot how much I like enchiladas and this was a great recipe. I had so much extra filling though that I got more tortillas and made a full second batch. I ate them for lunch for several days to follow and they tasted great -- you could probably freeze easily too.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

2011-01-09T17:28:00.001+01:00

I can't believe it's already January, but on the other hand, I look at the calendar and it's crazy to see that we're only a week in. Last week I spent some time thinking about goals for 2011, not necessarily New Year's resolutions, but things I want to accomplish and specifically how I can get there.

One of my goals is to write more on this blog. I love to cook and the idea has always been to keep an online journal of what works and what doesn't. I love looking back at everything I've made over the past 2 1/2 years but it disappoints me when I'm not able to keep up with the meals I'm making.

I never want this to become a chore so I refuse to turn it into a permanent to-do item, but like any other goal, you generally need to think beyond just wanting to do something and break it down into smaller goals. I've set a plan for myself and while I know some weeks will be busier than others and therefore I won't post as often, I hope it helps me get back on track to sharing my creations more often.

I started the year off to a very fulfilling weekend. A movie with Dave Friday night, yoga both mornings, a facial, mani-pedi, coffee with my dad, dinner with a friend and lunch with another friend, all before getting on a 4:30pm flight to NY today. I really don't mind flying, an hour nap, another terrible Kristin Bell movie, and then thanks to wifi onboard: catching up on my TripAdvisor reviews from the holidays, and now finally getting to my blog. My only complaint will be waking up at 7 EST/4am PST tomorrow.

So I'm kicking off the new year by cleaning out my blog queue with a recipe that somehow got passed up when I made it back when it actually fit into the season. But since I did see acorn squash at Safeway just last week, I think it could pass.

I was inspired by this recipe I saw on one of the blogs I regularly browse, Proud Italian Cook. I love recipes like this that give you a great idea, but leave so much open for you to make it your own. I used couscous instead of rice and made a few other changes.

Stuffed Acorn Squash
1-2 acorn squash
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 roasted red bell pepper, diced
4-5 links of mild Italian sausage
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
several dashes of oregano
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese
several sprigs fresh thyme

Start with the acorn squash, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool, then scoop out some of the meaty flesh (leaving enough that the squash maintains its bowl shape). Reserve the flesh to add to your filling.

Work with quick-cooking couscous and either make on the stove or add boiling water to a bowl and set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, add a little olive oil, then stir in the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook and additional minute or so before add the red bell pepper. Take the sausage out of the casing and add to the pan, breaking up with a spoon (note, sausage can be cooked in a different pan and drained of excess fat, especially if it's a fattier version). Cook until browned. Stir in the couscous, chopped parsley and oregano. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir the reserved squash flesh into the sausage mixture. spoon into the roasted squash halves, top with grated parmesan cheese and top with two sprigs of thyme each. Bake until cheese is melted.

Results: Great twist on stuffed peppers, especially with the contrast of flavors between the sweetness of the squash and the saltiness of the sausage.

Sausage and Lentils, Swiss-Style

2010-12-20T19:00:00.000+01:00

As I see the horrific weather across Europe right now, I'm so grateful that Dave and I won't be making what became our regular trek from Geneva to DC, onto whatever US city we were going to. Western Europe doesn't get a ton of snow, in Geneva we only had snow on the ground maybe four times the whole season, so to see multiple European hubs affected -- and it's not even January -- is pretty crazy.

The west coast has been getting a lot of rain, but flying from San Francisco to Tampa (via Houston, luckily I remembered to avoid the majority of United flights that go via O'hare) should hopefully be okay.

While we won't miss the 24-hours of travel time from Geneva to Sarasota, FL, there are definitely a few things I'm missing about being in Europe at this time of year. First of all, the snow was actually really cool for me, someone who never grew up with that, and especially since where we lived it would only stick for a day or two max, it wasn't like things were shut down when it snowed. I totally miss the Christmas markets and of course all the treats that are found there.

Luckily my dad found me a traditional Swiss sausage so I paired it with a twist on green lentils.

Unfortunately the lentil selection in America isn't great so I wish I had stock-piled the Puy lentils that were just a couple of francs per bag. Nonetheless, it was a delicious dish that reminded me of our days in Suisse, especially because I added a bit of the good Maille mustard.

There's really not much of a recipe here, I just grilled up the sausage on the stove. For the lentils, I prepared them according to the package, using chicken broth, not water and then stirred in a good tablespoon or two of dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper and that's really it. You can toss in some sprigs of fresh oregano as they cook with the chicken broth, or add a bit of dried at the end, if desired.

Results: I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I absolutely love lentils. Although I've discovered that as delicious as great lentils can be, a bad batch can be really bad. I was recently at a small Safeway and all they had was a bag of Safeway brand lentils. They looks pretty bad, not the true green color you'd find in Puys, but I gave it shot anyway. Well ,these cook up much faster than the Puys which take some time, and so I wasn't watching them close enough and they quickly got mushy. As I was adding them to soup, it wasn't really an issue, but if I was serving as a side dish, I could never use those lentils. I did find a decent variety at Whole Foods and even though they're not expensive enough to be a splurge, this is definitely something I would pay more for. If prepared well, a side of lentils, like this mustard version, is as rich and velvety as a good risotto, but somehow is guiltless in comparison.

Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks & Corn

2010-12-11T15:58:00.001+01:00

It was freezing for a week or so there, a cold I never remember of the Bay Area when it's not even Thanksgiving, but luckily it's warmed up since I experienced the other extreme in Miami last week. Still, it's definitely fall, or at least the end of it, so I tend to crave seasonal, filling, but not overly heavy dishes.

I'm a big fan of wild rice, especially if you can find one of those hearty versions that is mostly dark-colored grains so when I was looking for other recipes that include squash, this one caught my eye. I prepared the dish a bit differently, adding sausage and a bit of crushed red pepper as well, but this could also be great served alongside chicken or fish.

Wild Rice with Butternut Squash, Leeks & Corn

1 1/2c wild rice
salt
3c 1/2-inch cubes peeled butternut squash
olive oil
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, divided
1 1/2c finely chopped leeks (white part only)
1/2c white wine
1 1/2c frozen white corn kernels, thawed
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
crushed red pepper to taste
4 small links of sausage

Prepare the squash in advance - I generally cook up a whole squash, then use it in various dishes throughout the week. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You can also cut into small cubes at this point if you want to. Cook until tender, but still firm. Recipes I've read say this takes 15 minutes, but it's always taken a lot longer I find.

Cook the rice according to the package (note, it will take about 45 minutes to an hour). Set aside.

Cut the sausage into small cubes and cook in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned, then set aside. In the same pan, add 4 Tbsp butter, then the leeks and white wine, simmer for about 7 minutes, until leeks are tender. Add the corn, and simmer for two more minutes. Add this mixture to the pot of rice, toss, then gently toss in the squash. Stir in remaining butter, the parsley and crushed red pepper if desired.

Results: I love spicy sausage but I don't think it was the best fit for this dish. It really overpowered the rest of the dish and now that I think about it more, it would have been a lot better with something like a chicken-apple. You obviously could have it vegetarian like the original recipe as well. To add more texture, toasted pine nuts would be a great addition. If you don't use a spicy sausage, you may need to add a bit more flavor elsewhere, even a dash of cumin and cayenne could be great. I served this hot, but I think the original recipe was served cold.

Pumpkin-Peanut Curry Noodles with Five-Spice Scallops & Shrimp

2010-12-09T17:33:00.001+01:00

Fresh back from the annual company meeting, the conversation of 'how is it to be back' continues to play in my head. I feel like I've been in a haze for the now 2 months I've been back. We're still living in corporate housing in Sunnyvale and now that we're into December, it's unlikely we'll be moving to San Francisco soon. I'm holding out hope that we find the right place in January and that March will be a realistic date to actually be living in the city.

While I've been back for 2 months, I'm far from settled and while I've tried to get into a routine, and have at least gotten back into yoga, that's really the extent of it. There has been a lot of travel for work as well, New York, London, Toronto, Miami, so the weeks really are flying by but I have to say, while Dave and I have at least come to terms with our current living situation, it will be a huge sigh of relief when we're unpacked in a San Francisco apartment.

Because of the traveling, I really haven't been cooking all that much, and since I can't really get myself out of this in-between haze, whatever I have been cooking, I haven't been writing about. But as I look over some of the dinners I've made, I realize they are fairly fall-themed so I better showcase them now before it's too late.

Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with but it really only makes sense in autumn so for at least a month, Dave gets exposed to it in various forms. I find that it gives typical dishes a certain depth and in general is just festive.

I found a Rachael Ray recipe for Pumpkin-Peanut Curry Noodles and changed it up a bit (giving it more of a kick, of course). Such an easy dish and really delicious.

Pumpkin-Peanut Curry Noodles with Five-Spice Scallops & Shrimp

1 package udon or other Asian noodle of choice (could also use spaghetti)
oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 inches ginger, minced or grated
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4c tamari dark soy sauce
1 (15-ounce) can cooked pumpkin
3 rounded tablespoonfuls mild or hot curry paste
3 tablespoons five-spice powder
12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
12 diver scallops, trimmed and patted dry
4 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces, then thinly sliced lengthwise into matchsticks

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season with salt, then add the noodles - check cooking time as many Asian noodles only need a few minutes, so may want to hold off to make them until just before you're ready. See instructions below about pasta cooking water though.

Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat with several tablespoons oil. Add garlic, ginger, red bell pepper, and pepper flakes to the pan and cook together a couple of minutes, then add peanut butter and melt it. Whisk soy into peanut butter, then stir in pumpkin and curry paste. The sauce will be very thick. Turn down the heat to low. Add a ladle or 2 of pasta cooking water to thin sauce a bit and simmer over low heat. Adjust salt, to taste.

Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Sprinkle 5-spice powder and salt over shrimp and scallops, pressing in so it sticks. Add a bit of oil to hot skillet. Place the shrimp in the pan and cook 1 minute, flip and sear the other side until just opaque. Remove shrimp to a plate and set aside. Add more oil (if necessary) to the skillet and heat back up to smoking. Add the scallops and sear on both sides until opaque. Remove scallops and add to the plate of shrimp.

Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and pour the curry sauce over the top. Mix well, dish out and top with more crushed red pepper if desired, and green onions.

Results: I love udon noodles, as well as seafood, anything curry/spicy, as well as pumpkin, so this was pretty much a hit. Reserve a bit more pasta water though because it's hard to tell exactly how thick/thin you want it before you add the noodles.

Bulgur & Garbanzo Bean Salad with Grilled Fish

2010-11-14T20:12:00.000+01:00

After a lazy Sunday, it's about time to motivate. Dave and I spent the weekend in Vegas, had great food, lots of drinks and tons of fun. But we agreed, especially after our Burrito Junction lunch, that it was time for a bit of a detox so I resorted to a filling, but healthy recipe that I had bookmarked a while ago.

After reading the reviews on the recipe though, I changed up the spices a bit to give it more flavor.

Bulgur & Garbanzo Bean Salad

2c whole wheat bulgur
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
1 pint red and yellow cherry tomatoes
1c diced roasted red peppers
1/4c white balsamic vinegar
6 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp cumin
crushed red pepper to taste
crumbed feta cheese
chopped basil and/or parsley, if on hand

Prepare the bulgur wheat according to the package, then transfer to a large bowl. Add the beans, cherry tomatoes and red peppers.

Whisk the vinegar and cumin in a bowl, then whisk in the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the bulgur, add the crushed red pepper and feta cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Add the chopped basil and parsley and fluff with a fork.

Results: I've been liking garbanzo beans more and more lately and adding them to the bulgur really made this a filling side. It could even be served as a vegetarian main dish, but I served with vegetables and grilled fish. This made a huge amount, bu serving it with shredded chicken made for a great leftovers lunch.

A Home Run: Pork & Pumpkin Chili

2010-11-07T23:54:00.005+01:00

Even almost a week later, it hardly feels like the celebration is dying down after the Giants winning the World Series. I feel so lucky to have been back in the area during the win and especially to have gone to a game, and a winner at that.

Dave joked that he should have just gotten standing-room only tickets as I stood most of the game cheering anyway, but it was such an experience to be surrounded by so many fans, plus to actually get to see this great team play, that I couldn't help myself. He even agreed that we could take home the plastic cups as souvenirs so I knew this was a special occasion!

Of course we had to get a pic in the same spot we got one over six years ago when Dave took me to the Giants-Cubs game on our first date. What a way to come back home!

What a great time of year to be sporting the orange and black too. Although I've was gone quite a bit in October, I have lots of autumn-themed dinners and while I've been trying to keep my menus as simple as possible in an effort to avoid having to buy a bunch of spices that I already know I have, there are some dishes that I just can't leave behind. A fall favorite for the past few years has been pumpkin chili, but this year I decided to try a different version after coming across this recipe.

I usually use beef in my chili, sometimes leftover turkey, especially with white beans, but I decided to give pork a try this time. It was delicious! While I used the foodnetwork.com recipe as a base, of course I added a lot more heat to mine, as well as added beans, bell peppers and left out the sour cream.

Pork & Pumpkin Chili

3 lbs boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 12-oz Mexican lager
4 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, chopped
3 tsp dried oregano
1 15-oz can of pure pumpkin
olive oil
2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 medium white onions, diced
1/4c chili powder
cayenne pepper to taste
crushed red pepper to taste
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch mustard greens, stems removed, roughly chopped
sliced green onions, for serving
grated cheddar cheese, for serving

Combine the pork, beer and 2 cups of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the chipotles, most of the oregano, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Heat some olive oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, poblano, bell peppers and onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the oregano, chili powder, cayenne, crushed red pepper and garlic and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the tomato mixture to the pork and simmer until the meat is tender, about 30 minutes. Add 1 or 2 15-oz cans of black beans based on your preference, stir in the mustard greens and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt and crushed red pepper, top with grated cheddar cheese and chopped green onions and serve with tortilla chips.

Results: While I guess this took some time to make, I felt like it was pretty active, so you're doing stuff while the meat initially cook and then for the last 30 minutes, you're free to do something else, it's not really necessary to watch it. The most time-consuming part was trimming the fat off the pork and then chopping it up. The pork turned out perfectly though, so tender, that it really was worth the time. I'll definitely use this cut of meat again.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad Reminiscent of Italy Nuptials

2010-11-01T21:12:00.001+01:00

It's hard to believe that I'm coming up on a month being back in the US. On the one hand it seems like so much has happened -- in fact, at least half of this first month back has been spent traveling, including an unexpected trip back to London for work -- but that also means that I feel far from 'settled in'. I'm realizing that it will be a while until we get to that point, but in an effort to get back in some sort of routine, I've finally joined a yoga studio and despite my best intentions of sitting down to recap all my food adventures of the last month, it feels great to actually be doing it. To be honest, I wrote most of the post earlier but got side-tracked with the Giants game and can hardly focus I'm so excited, they won the World Series. But more on that in the next post...

Back to this one... so in celebration of Ashley and Ryan's 1-month anniversary, it's about time that I recap the wonderful time (food- and otherwise) we had in Italy. Somehow we survived the final week in Switzerland, running around with our heads cut off closing down accounts, canceling utilities (each of which requires a different system of course) and doing the final inspection of our apartment. Everything went surprisingly well and we were on the train to Milan around 1pm on Friday, September 24. The weather was beyond dreary, it was actually pouring rain most of the train trip and while I was a bit vague when telling Dave about our Italy plans, even I was slightly regretting the decision to visit out-of-the way Cinque Terre as we finally pulled into the train station in Riomaggiore close to 8 hours later, and the rain had only gotten worse.

For anyone that's visited Cinque Terre, they'll probably agree that it's worth a visit but it's also a pain... no matter where you're staying, it's inevitable that you'll be required to climb and/or descend at least 100 steps before reaching your accommodation. Add that fact that we were heading to a wedding where multiple outfit changes per day were required, it was not a pleasant journey. But we made it and the rain even let up a bit as we made our way and even better, we had great weather the rest of the weekend.

I had visited the 5-village region of northern Italy before and it's always been one of my favorite places I've come across on any of my travels. I was really looking forward to going there with Dave and despite the trouble getting there, I knew it would be worth it in the end.

Dave and I had a great time hiking through the villages and had the most amazing meals throughout the weekend, or more specifically 3-hour lunches with plenty of local wine. Each day we explored a different town and while the one we stayed in, Riomaggiore, is still my favorite, each one gave us something different, including a few hours of laying out in Monterosso.

But then back to our little town and specifically back to my most memorable meal of all time. While studying abroad in Paris, one of my first weekend trips was down to Cinque Terre, on the overnight train of course, arriving to the beautiful coastal towns around 8am. My friends and I took advantage of the hiking, which meant we were starving by mid-afternoon and stumbled into a small restaurant in the town of Riomaggiore (part of the reason I decided to find a place here again). What stood out about this meal is that the pasta was like nothing I had ever had before. Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of seafood pasta, but never before had I tasted this salty-goodness which proved that what I saw the fisherman bringing into the restaurant just minutes before was in fact my lunch. It just speaks to the fact that fresh foods simply prepared to enhance their star-like qualities will taste better than anything out of season, even if it's your favorite food, dipped in chocolate.

At the time I didn't remember the restaurant by name, but I knew I would recognize it when I saw it and luckily I did. I had made a reservation at what I thought the place was called, and I was right. We got the only table with an 'ocean view', really a pocket window fully open, but it was perfect. The restaurant is simple, not an extensive menu and the food was some of the cheapest I'd eaten in Italy (probably another reason I liked it when I was a student).

Dave got the spaghetti with crab:

I got the spaghetti with lobster:

Each cost about 13 euro! I cleaned my plate, Dave was a bit annoyed that more of his sauce was getting on him than he was actually eating... and those clothes had to last another day ;)

After dinner, we experienced one of the most breathtaking sights I've ever seen, a lightening show right over the ocean. While Dave got quite a few spectacular shots, this is my favorite:

It was finally my birthday and while I considered the lobster feast my birthday dinner, we continued on to Lake Como to start the wedding festivities with a few more birthday nods.

It was a truly special week and I'm still in awe of everything Ashley prepared. She has such an eye for style and decor and literally thought of everything. It was definitely the way to head out of Europe, with so many of our friends there with us. We lucked out with great weather and got to soak it up at a beautiful lakeside hotel.

The delectable food continued throughout the week, cigars and prosecco night with late-night pizzas (and yes, anchovy pizza tastes quite different than sausage pizza), risotto with truffles, ossu bucco... and we're not even at the reception dinner! I won't spoil any of the wedding secrets, but every one of the multiple courses was wonderful, not to mention the chocolate souffle or the wedding cake. It's incredible we were able to dance the night away both in the ballroom and the club.

Ashley was an absolutely stunning bride and I can't wait to see the official wedding photos.

Both Dave and I felt so lucky to be a part of it, act as the witnesses and also get to relax together before heading back to the real world, getting back to work and starting the search for a place to live. It was really sad to leave Europe, in addition to knowing that that phase of my life is over, but I can honestly say, we went out with a bang by ending things in Como!

So while I have been a bit slow to get back to the blog, I got right back in the kitchen as Dave and I were craving some healthy home-cooked meals. I've been trying to keep it simple though as we're living in a corporate apartment with no spices, dull knives and just a few pans. It's fine for now, but I'm trying not to buy a lot of extras that I know are on their way over from Switzerland.

I was surprised to see lovely heirloom tomatoes at Safeway, on sale no less, so I decided one more caprese salad, along with a green salad with chicken and a dijon dressing, would be perfect to welcome us home.

There really aren't recipes here, just layer different colored heirloom tomato slices with cuts of fresh mozzarella cheese, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

For the green salad, grill up some chicken breasts or use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Top the green salad with the chicken, as well as some chopped tomatoes and sliced red onions. Mix up a vinaigrette of dijon mustard and olive oil, season with salt and pepper and drizzle atop.

Results: Just what we were looking for to get back on a schedule and try to be a bit healthier after all the indulgence in Italy.

Weekend in Zermatt & Last Dinner at Route de St Cergue: Seafood & Sausage Pasta

2010-09-23T14:40:00.000+02:00

Well, I'm here sitting on a bubble-wrapped futon surrounded by boxes and at least 7 workmen packing, cleaning and taking down light fixtures. Anywhere Dave and I am seems to be in the way so I've finally settled here and decided to make some use of my time. I may have to do an occasional 'ca reste' our 'ca part' for it stays or it goes, but otherwise it's been a lot of sitting around. Of course you have to be here for the duration of the move so there's really no better option and I honestly can't complain, I caught up on both the new 90210 and a Gossip Girl yesterday.

Last night was our last in our apartment, with just the bed left in tact. We finished up a Grey Goose bottle and had frozen pizzas. Even I wouldn't attempt making dinner on the last night, besides, all my pots and pans were packed up. Instead, I made the last dinner several nights ago, when we returned from our last Swiss adventure, a trip to Zermatt.

Dave is a serious trouper, having gotten in from the US about 6pm Friday. I did give him most of Saturday though -- we didn't leave for Zermatt until about 2pm. It was a gray day with plenty of clouds and even a light mist of rain and despite my 2 previous trips to Zermatt, I still hadn't seen the Matterhorn. So our wet arrival didn't leave me hopeful, however the weather for the next 2 days was supposed to be better.

The cold weather was perfect to indulge in my ultimate comfort food, mac and cheese, and the alpine version is no disappointment.

Dave opted for venison which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Sunday morning we woke up to blue skies and a few clouds, but by the time we left the hotel after breakfast, it had completely clouded over. Although I had warned Dave to perhaps throw in some warmer clothes, it hadn't clicked so our first stop was some shopping for at least a beanie. We bundled up and headed to the tourist office to get some more specific directions on some of the hikes my brother suggested. I also wanted their advice as far as which hike would be good in the cloudy weather. When I asked, the girl pointed to the live cam and I saw blue skies, without a cloud in sight. I hardly believed it could be that clear, but I took her word for it and we walked through town, with the temps around 8C, before taking the gondola up to Trockender Steg. For the majority of the 1500m ascent we were locked in heavy fog and clouds and then it opened up to our first view of the Matterhorn and what a sight it was.

It was unbelievable how clear it could be and how locked-in the village of Zermatt was.

Although it was sunny, it was still a bit cold, but we were at about 3000 meters. Once we started walking, we warmed up a bit and by the time we had walked for several hours (and figured out that we definitely were not on a marked trail), we decided to loop back around to a lake we passed earlier in the day for our picnic.

Can't complain about local cheese, sausage from Appenzell and crackers, although the view is really what made the meal.

I felt so lucky to have seen it in person as many days it's shrouded in clouds. It's funny that it doesn't look very imposing from this perspective, but when we headed back down the mountain, the view was almost more impressive and you realize how massive it really is.

Dave and I had been looking forward to dinner at a local spot which is known for their grilled meats, Stockhorn Grill. This place was perfect: authentic Swiss food in the most adorable little building, complete with the grill in the center of the restaurant. While you could order other things, including fondue, meat seems to be the preferred choice and everything is grilled to order right in the middle of the restaurant. The sides are pulled out of a warming oven, except for the French fries. We ordered chateaubriand for 2 and while initially we weren't that impressed with the portion size, when we had finished, they pushed our cutlery to the side and only took our plates... to return with full second helpings shortly later! Highly recommend place, although I wish I had known it was split in two portions from the start. I enjoyed delicious rosti, which is basically hashbrown potatoes, but so much better than you think. For dessert: chocolate Toblerone mousse.

As we knew we had lots of paperwork and other preparations to complete before the move, Dave was anxious to leave as soon as possible on Monday morning, which happened to be a Swiss holiday, or at least in our Canton. We woke up early and hit the road, but there was one final thing on my Swiss must-see list, the thermal baths in Leukerbad, which happened to be on the way home.

Well first of all, you think you can see Leukerbad from the highway, but really it's a good 30 minutes of driving up, up, up and then even further back into the mountains. This is close to the Swiss ski resort of Crans Montana and I had wanted to see this area, plus I heard the thermal baths here are amazing. So we went, despite a slight protest from Dave. While I didn't think the baths were much better than our local spot, Lavey Les Bains, the views were stunning. You can't take photos in the baths, but I got one when we were driving from town.

While I knew Dave was doing me a favor to make the detour to Leukerbad, I knew he'd be happy when he heard we'd be having shrimp pasta for dinner, one of his favorites. It seemed to be the perfect dinner for our last night, as it has been a staple for the past few years, always when we're returning from a trip and don't have any other food. Frozen shrimp can quickly be defrosted and pasta is always on hand. This time I added in just about everything else I had left in the fridge and pantry.

Seafood & Sausage Pasta
12-20 large shrimp, defrost/or fresh
3 small links of sausage, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
3 leeks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Italian spice mix or crushed red pepper
olive oil
1/2 box of angel hair pasta (to serve 2 hungry adults)
fresh basil, torn
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh ground black pepper

Bring a pot of water to a boil. In the meantime, add some olive oil and the shallot and leeks and cook over medium high heat until softened, about 6 minutes, then add the minced garlic and the sausage. The sausage should create a bit more oil, but you can always add more olive oil.

Add some salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta, reserving a bit of cooking water.

Now back to the skillet - Cook until the sausage is browned, then add the spice mix/crushed red pepper and shrimp. Cook for another 2 minutes or until the shrimp is done. Toss the pasta in with the shrimp and sausage mixture, adding a bit of the reserved water. Stir in the basil and parsley and season with black pepper and more crushed red pepper if desired.

Results: I was really able to use up everything I needed to with this version of seafood pasta. Normally I wouldn't add in the sausage, but it still worked well and Dave was definitely a happy camper. It was a great way to finish off the pots and pans for at least the next 6 weeks, although I hope to be documenting some of the struggle of cooking in corporate housing with very limited pots, pans and utensils. After doing a test run when visiting Dave in August, I threw one of my Shuns to my suitcase at the last minute so at least I won't have to chop with the awful dull knife in the place now. Next post will be from California -- hopefully documenting all the amazing food I'll get over the next 10 days in Italy :)

Swiss Roadtrip & Potato Leek Soup with Sausage

2010-09-18T12:00:00.001+02:00

Monday morning my dad and I left for our Swiss road trip. We had a lot on the itinerary, but for once I was actually going to be pretty flexible with the plans as long as we ended up in the city of our hotel each night. Swiss hotels are expensive and I had to do a lot of research in order to find a good option that wasn't completely ridiculous.

We decided to stop off in Gruyeres as I knew my dad had to see it, even if we didn't take a lot of time to explore the area. It was great though, not too rushed, and we were able to see the town, the surrounding mountains and even a stop at the Nestle/Cailler chocolate factory. I definitely liked the tasting room at the end!

I had never been to the chocolate factory so it was fun to do something new. And while some parts of the animated tour were a bit cheesy, it was still interesting to learn the history of chocolate as well as how it became so big in Switzerland. Plus a fun fact, Swiss people eat on average about 25 pounds of chocolate per year (per person!).

Next we continued on to Lucerne, a town I had heard great things about but had never visited before. I was disappointed that it looked like heavy rain for most of the area, but it turned out to just be more overcast than actually raining. The lake is absolutely stunning and the mountains are the perfect backdrop. The town itself had so much character and several 13th century covered bridges with signature flower boxes lining the sides.

As I couldn't find any good hotel options in Lucerne, plus I wanted to try to make it a bit further on the first day, so we continued halfway around the lake to the southern edge where Lake Lucerne meets Lake Uri in the town of Brunnen. What a stunning area and a great little town for the night.

Dinner was a fairly simple affair and the food was considerably cheaper than elsewhere in Switzerland, but my dinner was still about 20 bucks:

The next morning we were heading to the Appenzell region of Switzerland which is known for being the most traditional culture-wise and I had specifically had my eye on it because it's known for it's food -- meats, cheese and even sugary treats. On the way, we passed the city of Einsiedeln, which my guidebook described as being to Switzerland what Lourdes is to France. The church was stunning and by far the most impressive I've seen in Switzerland.

Next we continued on to Stein which is near Appenzell and checked out the local culture museum (not recommended) before heading next door to the Appenzell cheese factory (highly recommended). Although they don't do a cheese tasting, all the info is free and you can watch the cheese being made. I've done the tour in Gruyeres and it had all the same info, but charged about 15 bucks for it.

The Appenzell region is just beautiful with rolling green hills (okay, small mountains) and dotted with homes in the regional architecture. This was when we were just outside of Brunnen heading to Appenzell:

The town of Appenzell itself was very cute and my dad and I had fun poking in all the different food shops. We eventually decided on a local cheese and several types of meat, then stopped by the bakery to get fresh bread. We set up in the park and picnicked before starting to head to Lake Constance which is on the northeastern border of Switzerland, with the northern side of the lake being in Germany. On the way, my dad was reading the guide book and realized that Vaduz, Liechtenstein has a stamp museum and as we were only about 30 minutes away, we decided to detour. I even got to get a souvenir passport stamp :)

It felt like we had covered so much ground but it was actually only a little after 4pm when we left Vaduz so we decided to continue on to Lake Constance. We stopped by the first town we saw and weren't impressed so continued on to St Gallen. We were deep in Swiss-German territory and the architectural and food influences were even more clear.

I actually considered having sausage again for dinner, but decided to go with pork. I thought it was going to be more of a wiener schnitzel but it wasn't fried. With that amount of herb butter and rosti potatoes, probably better anyway!

The next morning we loaded up on the breakfast at the hotel which included meats and cheeses, yogurt, cereal, fruit and even made-to-order French omelettes. By 9am we were on the road, this time visiting the town of Konstanz, also on Lake Constance, but unknown to me at the time, actually in Germany. The town was nice, but wasn't my favorite of the trip. The Rhine river empties into the lake - or actually I think it's vice versa - so we drove along this arm until we reached the town of Stein am Rhien. The was called the quintessential Swiss town in the guide book and listed as the place where Hans Christian Anderson could base his stories. This tiny town was definitely worth a quick stop off for some photos although I'm a bit disappointed that they don't really capture how adorable this place is.

Then we were back in the car for a short drive further to Schaffhausen which is about 5 minutes from Europe's largest waterfalls Rhinefalls. I had read good things about the town as well so we stopped off for a quick walk before heading on to the falls.

Following the winding Rhine a bit further and you come to Rhinefalls, which anyone who has been to Niagara Falls will tell you this is nothing special, but it's still so cool to see, especially when you've followed a fairly calm river to this crashing point. We took a boat out to the rock in the middle to experience the water rushing all around us, but the best view is still probably from the front.

Luckily everything had been so close on the trip so far and we were going to make a stop off in Zurich, about an hour away, before making the additional 3-hour drive back home. Surprisingly, I had only been to Zurich when we drove through (and not to the city centre) on our way to St Moritz. I was pleasantly surprised how cute it was, in fact, I think it has a lot more character than Geneva. The weather wasn't the best and it was starting to drizzle, but we still spent several hours walking around to the different sights, strolling the Bahnhof shopping street (dad was thrilled) and admiring the waterfront. In that way it's quite similar to Geneva with a lovely waterside promenade and high mountains bordering the background on one side; this one is taken looking towards town:
So while my dad had had fondue at my house the first night he arrived, I wanted him to have it in an actual restaurant as well to get more of a local approach (no sausage, broccoli or ravioli to dip in here). There was one last place I wanted to take my dad to and while it is near Gruyeres, it was closed on Monday so I decided it would be the perfect place to stop off for my dad's last dinner here.

When Dave and I first discovered this place, it was a gorgeous day, one of the hottest we'd seen in Switzerland and being out in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon with a glass of wine and fondue, overlooking the hills and nearby Lake Neuchatel, was pretty much heaven.

Although it wasn't the same sunny day, I knew my dad would appreciate it nonetheless but as we climbed the 5km road that goes pretty much straight up, I was just praying that it was actually open (you can never know for sure in Switzerland). Luckily it was and I was surprised to see a lovely view despite the weather.

So we enjoyed fondue for two to end my dad's 3-week Swiss adventure.

Of course you can never see it all, but these last three weeks were a great way to end the 2-year Swiss adventure. I got to eat at all my favorite spots, show-off the hidden gems and even discover new ones. There were many times in the past few weeks where I would be loving the moment so much that it would make me sad that I won't be able to come to these places again, or at least not for a long time. Switzerland is a ridiculously spectacular country and I feel like I've gotten a great taste of almost every area of it. We covered about 650 miles in 3-days but I still find it amazing everything that we were able to see and at least to me, it didn't even feel rushed. It's nice to be in a smaller country with so much to see and much of it a short distance from the next place on the list.

So while I didn't get to make this soup for my dad when he was here, I hope to at home because I know he'll love it. I remember one of the few things he cooked when we were growing up was leek and potato soup and with my love of sausage in line with my dad's, it's sure to be a hit.

Potato Leek Soup with Sausage
3c leeks, sliced and roughly cut in half again
5 large potatoes, cut into quarters, or eights if really large
4c chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 sausage links
1/2c heavy cream
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, add a bit of olive oil to a skillet over medium heat and add the leeks. Cook for 10-15 minutes until softened but not browned. Once the potatoes are finished, drain the water and add the leeks to the potatoes. Mash roughly with a fork or potato masher, then add some chicken stock (you don't need to add all at once, see how much you'll need). Throw in the bay leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, grill the sausage on the stovetop, choosing to dice or slice. I diced a bunch to be in the soup, then reserved some that were in bigger sliced to crisp up further and add to the top just before serving.

Stir in part of the sausage to the soup, then add the cream, tasting it and adding more if necessary. Season with pepper and salt if necessary. Dish out and top with chopped parsley and some of the crispy sausage.

Results: I love that there are so few ingredients involved but it's packed with flavor. I don't cook a lot with potatoes but since I'm such a fan of leeks, a creamy soup is perfect from autumn to late spring. Can't wait to make this once I'm back home. When I made this for Dave I could tell he wasn't really sold on potato soup but after one bite he was convinced. I love how simple it looks but one bite will convince people that it's anything but.

Exploring London & Swiz, Followed by Spiced Lamb and Couscous

2010-09-17T08:22:00.001+02:00

Wow, it seems like things haven't stopped for several weeks now. My dad left yesterday and I can't believe that it's already been a week since my last day of work in London. It was perfect timing, since my dad was still here, I just bought him a ticket to come along with me. He had never been to London before, well, correction, he said he had been at least several times, but had never made it out of Heathrow. We were going to change that.

I knew I'd be busy with work during the day and wanted to catch up with friends for a few drinks afterward, so I sent my dad off to explore during the day and then met him for dinner each night. London can be a bit overwhelming as soon as you step into the tube station, especially when coming from the slow pace of Switzerland. I think it probably took a little while to get used to, but by the time I met up with him on Thursday night, he seemed to be pretty comfortable.

We decided to eat at one of my favorites, Great Queen Street and actually now I'm seriously questioning why I didn't get a pic of our dinner, the rib for 2. The restaurant is a classic gastropub where they serve pub favorites, but they're more upscale and include fresh, seasonal ingredients. I knew what my dad would like as Dave and I have had the rib of beef for 2 several times. It's a massive amount of meat, but so perfectly cooked and with a side of 'chips', you really can't complain. My dad loved it, especially alongside a Gin & Tonic.

I sent my dad to the famous fish & chips place by my work the next day for lunch and later that night we met up for Indian food. If you're a fan at all, you can't pass it up when in London. After all, curry has been called the national dish!

So after getting my fix at all my old favorites in London, we headed back to Switzerland first thing Saturday morning. On tap for that day was a visit to the Ollon wine festival and then to the thermal baths on Lavey. While I've done a similar day trip with other guests, it still never gets old. This side of the lake is so beautiful and the wine fest didn't disappoint. The weather was perfect; sunny and warm and we were able to take the festival train down to a vineyard about 5km away and then walk back into town, tasting our way not only with wine but with the local food.

Luckily we stumbled upon the vineyard serving sausage and we were in heaven!

Oh and dad isn't really into smiling for photos, but I swear, he was having a good time! Next stop was the baths in Lavey. These outdoor thermal baths are always a hit. Basically it's a group of pools, some inside, some outside, of varying temperatures, all naturally heated. And besides having multiple relaxation areas with different bubbles, etc, everywhere you look you're surrounded by mountains. I'll definitely miss this place.

As we headed back home, I realized it was close to dinnertime and we had no food at home since we'd been away. Dad said he'd be fine with whatever was there, but I was not into the idea of serving plain pasta or something else I would have normally considered for myself. So we pulled off in Lausanne Ouchy. I knew my dad would love the waterfront here and he hadn't made it on his own yet. We then stopped for a quick bite at a creperie I'm a fan of, before cruising by the water a bit more. What a sight of the lake and the mountains.

Sunday morning we had canceled our plans for a daytrip to Gruyeres because my dad had gotten in touch with a former exchange student that he had hosted over 30 years ago. My brother helped track Carsten down as while my dad had kept in touch for many years, eventually they'd lost touch. Carsten was excited to hear from him and definitely wanted to meet up. Luckily he's a pilot so he was able to fly into Geneva from near Hannover on Sunday morning and then we drove down the lake to Chexbres to one of my favorite spots, Le Deck, for a burger. Again, can't believe I wasn't more on top of the food photos, but I think I may have been distracted by the view. Steep vineyards dipping down into the lake with a view of the Alps is another thing I'll definitely miss.

So while I've made huge progress trying to clean out my fridge and pantry, I did have some lamb steaks to use up so thought I'd go with a classic. I've made something similar before, but changed up the spices as I wasn't sure how hot my dad would like it.

Spiced Lamb & Couscous
cinnamon
paprika
curry powder
cayenne
dried mint
salt
lamb steaks

various colored bell peppers, chopped
leeks, or other veggies on hand, chopped
onion, roughly chopped
fresh mint or parsley, chopped

This is hardly a recipe because I really just dump a bunch of spices together. I go easy on the cinnamon and dried mint and the curry powder I have isn't very intense so it serves as a good base. Then I season with some heat with the cayenne and finish off with salt and paprika. Pat this rub onto both sides of the lamb; reserve several tablespoons of the rub to use in the couscous. Add to a smoking pan and cook for 4-5 minutes per side. Let rest for about 7 minutes before slicing.

Prepare the couscous according to the package. While it's cooking, heat a pan over medium high heat and add the chopped bell peppers, leeks, onions, and any other vegetables you're using. When all cooked, combine the couscous with the veggies and stir in the remaining spices that were set aside from the lamb spice rub. Stir to combine and toss in some chopped fresh mint and/or parsley.

Dish out the couscous and top with a piece of lamb. Sprinkle with more fresh mint and/or parsley.

Results: Although my dad said he wasn't very hungry while I was cooking, he ended up going back for seconds so that's a good sign. Lamb is generally so expensive but my local grocery store has had specials on the various cuts occasionally and I always stock up when they do. This is such an easy dish, but so flavorful so I hope I have access to affordable lamb at home so I can keep this in the rotation.

Chamonix, Lyon & Zermatt (& Tacos?)

2010-09-07T21:29:00.002+02:00

As sheets of rain pour outside my window, I'm grateful for the lovely weather we had this past weekend. Saturday morning we headed out to Chamonix, a town I've only visited in winter, well and a very cold autumn day, but it was just as quaint, and the surroundings were perhaps even more stunning in summer.

There was a hike that Dave was hoping to do when my brother and his wife came to visit last year, but unfortunately the lift closed in September and they didn't visit until early October. The trail was supposed to offer the most impressive views of Mont Blanc so I figured it was a no-brainer to try it out.

We arrived to see the sky dotted with a rainbow of paragliders and as my dad and I got off the gondola and headed up the trail, we got to see their 'runway' and even witnessed a few take off. I would think that something like this would be way outside my comfort zone, but when you're surrounding by some of the most spectacular mountains and it's a wonderfully sunny and warm day, you start to doubt yourself; in fact, I actually started contemplating telling Dave we should try it sometime.

After watching a few bright gliders drift off the cliffside, we started our trek. I knew where we were headed and it looked pretty much straight up, but from the research I'd done the night before, I thought we'd head up and then walk along the mountain tops, across to Le Brevent. Well, it was about a 2-hour hike... but straight up. My dad was an absolute trouper, but both of us had to stop at nearly every steep turn to catch our breath. At least we had the excuse of wanting to stop and admire the latest views.

Here's a taste of what we hiked. We started at the silver-topped building on the middle-right of the photo.

Somehow it doesn't look like much, but it was about a 1700-ft ascent, and what felt like straight up. At the top, we treated ourselves to a drink at the little buvette, a massive glass of rose for me and a beer for my dad. It was like we were staring Mont Blanc in the face and all of a sudden it's not so intimidating. Don't get me wrong, it's spectacular, but I think my favorite view is from my own little town where it rises like a halo above the rest of the alps over Lake Geneva. Still, standing 'so close' (really across the valley), isn't so bad either.

My dad and I cruised around town a bit, but then headed on to our next stop, Annecy. Now this is the most adorable town and I had to share it with my dad as it's on a gorgeous lake and my dad loves being near water. It was a 'Lo speed tour', but I think my dad was convinced that it was worth a second visit, although I'm not sure when exactly he'll get back. It was warm and the multiple ice cream vendors were tempting but I wasn't letting us each much that day as our next stop was Paul Bocuse.

Now Paul Bocuse is an experience in itself and I won't repeat too much as Dave and I went here last year, but I knew this was something I wanted to share with my dad. He loves not necessarily fancy food, but I think he loves the type of stuff you can come across much more frequently in Europe as opposed to the US - things like liver and escargots. I thought this place would be good as it's classic French, homestyle cooking. Nothing too fancy (although presentation, etc, is great) and the portions are normal size, not one-bite things that I knew wouldn't be up my dad's alley. Well, I think it was worth the trip to Lyon, even when leaving the restaurant at midnight. I pounded a Red Bull and made the 2-hour drive home with a very full, and happy, belly.

And so did my dad. While I ordered the lamb chops again this time, I opted to try a different starter and the frog soup sounded great and was amazing. So creamy with chunks of frog meat. Trust me, it's good and although I feel like chicken is always the comparison, it really isn't far off from that. Look how pretty too!

My dad had a lobster salad to start, turbot in a champagne sauce and then sweetbreads. As I had warned my dad, just because the main courses have ended, barely means you're half-way. Next was my favorite, the cheese course, and finally dessert. Well, and then petit fours, 2 coffees for my dad, and then we were done. What a night, not to mention this time I got a photo with Paul!

Don't think for a minute we were going to sleep off our food coma. The next morning Zermatt was on the itinerary. While my dad and I have been able to do things on the weekends, I'm still working during the week, so I thought I'd drive him to Zermatt, we'd get lunch and then he could stay for a few nights and explore the area while I headed back to work.

Again a lovely day and that drive along Lake Geneva, through the Swiss Alps and finally dipping down to Zermatt is really something to see. We headed into town and I stayed just long enough to have a delicious sausage for lunch and getting a photo of the Travelzoo Lion before heading back to Nyon.

Well, my dad is back from Zermatt and what did I decide to make? Tacos. We've been having tons of French and Swiss food, and trust me, I like it as much as he does, but I thought it would be nice to have something a bit reminiscent of home. The best thing about tacos is that you can make them into different things over various meals. This time I even did a warm taco salad, which sounds a bit repulsing but somehow works. I know a recipe isn't really necessary for this one, but here you go.

Warm Taco Salad
Ground beef
1 onion, chopped
Taco seasoning (or chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, etc)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 yellow bell pepper, roasted and sliced
1 red onion, chopped
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
white cheddar cheese, grated
Mexican hot sauce
cilantro
lettuce

Rinse and dry the lettuce and divide between bowls. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion with a bit of oil. Cook for 4 minutes, then add the ground beef and cook until almost brown. Drain over paper towels to remove some of the oil. Add the beef back to the pan and add the seasoning with a bit of water. Simmer over low heat for 6 minutes or so, then stir in the black beans to cook through. Set aside and let cool briefly.

Top the meat over the lettuce (it should not be piping hot, but can still be warm). Then top with the red onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and hot sauce, if you prefer. Top with a bit of chopped cilantro.

Leftovers:
I always have wraps on hand so that when I come home from a trip and can't get to the store before lunch, I can always make a quesadilla or similar. Here I just piled all the ingredients from the salad (minus the lettuce) into the tortilla. Super-tasty and a serious meal! (2 different versions):

Results: This was a bit different than what I usually do for taco salads. The sauce was simmered a bit more and almost became like a spaghetti sauce. I know, that sounds gross to serve over salad, but it really did work. I almost always make a big batch of the meat because you really can serve so many different ways beyond the initial meal. My dad had both tacos with homemade tortillas and the meat sauce over a salad so I would say he's a fan too.

Meat & Potatoes Weekend in Interlaken Followed by Steak Salad

2010-08-31T21:24:00.001+02:00

Dad and I are back from our first adventure and I feel like we've already seen so much. Dad was in Switzerland about 48-hours (plenty of time to get over jet-lag and prepare for the next trip) when we left for Interlaken, just over 2 hours from Nyon. I was a little nervous as the weather called for rain on Saturday and Monday, so I was praying for at least Sunday to be nice. Threatening clouds followed us for much of our voyage, but didn't disrupt our plans.

We stopped off in the university city of Fribourg, which is absolutely darling with a beautiful cathedral sitting center stage in town. Luckily it was market day so we strolled through the village and picked up some fresh cheese, bread and fruit for our expected picnic later in the day. We cruised a bit more for spectacular views down the ravine to another part of town. Then we continued on and made it to Interlaken around lunchtime, to rain unfortunately.

So we set up our picnic on one of the tables outside our hotel and tried to wait it out but saw it wasn't going to let us so we strolled into town to look around. We decided to catch a boat to take us over to this cave I had been to 8 years earlier when I visited Interlaken while studying abroad. This boater essentially noticed an outlet in the mountains above the lake and one day decided to climb back into it and discovered these insane caves with stalagmites and stalactites. I knew it was a good rainy-day excursion and it didn't disappoint the second time around.

For dinner my dad requested traditional rosti so we were recommended to a non-touristy Swiss restaurant across town. We were up for the 20-minute walk... until it started pouring, both on the way there and the way home. But luckily the dinner was worth it. I got my favorite, Alpine Mac and Cheese:

Dad got his rosti (basically hash-brown potatoes with meat or other toppings):

I went to bed wishing for the best and closed my eyes tight when I tentatively opened the curtains the next morning. Yes, sunshine! I knew it wasn't going to be totally clear, but I really wanted to take the Jungfrau, the highest railway in Europe. It's not a cheap journey and definitely not worth it if the weather's not good so I knew this was our chance. What a trip it was! We switched trains 3 times and slowly climbed to over 11,000 feet. We were taken from the green pastures at the base of the valley to the top of Europe with it's snow-capped mountains and river-like glacier. Here are just a few of the approximately 300 photos I took.

On the way up, waterfalls rushing everywhere!

We made it to the top!
The river glacier

That afternoon we went to a different mountain, Schynige Platte for a great view over the town of Interlaken, which as the name suggests, sits between 2 lakes.

I was so happy the weather was as good as it was, although not perfect, but we were able to get a little hike in Monday morning before driving back. I had heard great things about Murren and Gimmelwald, as being a bit more off the beaten path. These car-free towns were definitely worth the stop.

Murren: The fog was moving so fast the view was constantly changing

Hiking between Gimmelwald and Murren

Gondola ride back to town

My favorite part of this stop was walking through Gimmelwald and seeing a sign on a little hut that said eggs, cheese, milk and sausage for sale. I couldn't resist. As the sign directed, I went across to the main house, rung the bell and the woman came down to help us. I wish I had gotten a photo of this place that we had to duck to get inside, basically a little cheese hut. We bought fresh goat cheese (literally the goats were roaming the field immediately adjacent) and some sausage sticks (like a legitimate Slim Jims). We snacked on these as we drove out of town.

As it was still early afternoon, I pulled off in Bern for a jaunt around the city - I had to show my dad the bear pit. Yes, there are real bears that live just outside the main town area!

So anyway, as we returned back to Nyon, I felt we had had our fair share of meat and potatoes, but knowing my dad, I couldn't just serve a salad. I thought a steak salad would be the perfect alternative. Not much of a recipe to follow here, just use the veggies you have on hand. I had a bag of bell peppers I needed to use up.

Simple Steak Salad
Ruccola or arugula greens
1 large steak or 2 smaller ones
red and yellow bell peppers, roasted and cut into slices
cherry tomatoes
spicy white cheese (jalepeno jack is perfect)
green onions

Cook the steak your preferred way, I do it on the stovetop over medium high heat for 4 minutes per side simply seasoned with salt and pepper. Let rest for 5 minutes, tented with foil. Prepare the salad in the meantime. Add the arugula to different bowls, top with the bell pepper slices and cherry tomatoes, shred some cheese over each. Cut the steak into slices and add atop the salad. Add some slices of green onions.