Last night Dan called me Bridezilla

Mean. I am the very opposite of bridezilla. Yes, I have a Pinterest board. Yes, thanks to Mrs. Shoemaker, I have 85 million blogs that I'm following for wedding ideas. Yes, I've researched every venue on the west coast to see if they perhaps have an old barn on their property they forgot about. But, no, I am not a bridezilla.

Definition of bridezilla (there are many)

"One ridiculous spoiled b&%$* that thinks she is the center of the universe, just because her 'show' (the wedding) is 18 months from now. Everyone else in the world has to drop everything and come running in this prime-donna's mind."

"noun. Formed from blending of the words bride and Godzilla (Japanese movie monster). Used to describe a woman whose behavior becomes outrageously bad in the course of planning for her wedding."

"Bridezillas are a new breed of soon-to-wed women who abuse the idea that weddings are their 'day.' They terrorize their bridal party and family members, make greedy demands and break all rules of etiquette, to insure that they are the single most important person on the planet from the time they are engaged to the time they are married."

And, just in case there was any question of my bridezilla-ness I braved the wilds of the Mission (cat calls, dog-doo splattered sidewalks and all) to get fresh veggies and make a delicious thai-style autumn meal. And, the best part of all, summer has arrived in San Francisco!!! So we finally ate dinner outside and enjoyed our beautiful new deck.

A note on recipes: I found it interesting that the reviews on this recipe (from epi app on the iPhone) said it was too bland. Who actually follows the recipe?! I don't think I've ever followed a recipe just as it's written in my whole life, so when I post a recipe, it's heavily adjusted to make it more tasty and I encourage you to alter it to fit your needs. I put all my changed in parentheses and bold so you can tell what I did. Original recipe follows. Feel free to post your additions/alterations!

P.S. I tried to use a Wok for this because I like any excuse to use my Wok, but in order to get everything to cook evenly I switched to a large, 3 inch deep sauté pan.

Butternut Squash with Coconut, Lime and Cilantro Sauce & Brown Rice
Yield: Serves 6 (really, it served two with leftovers for 1.5!)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ cups chopped onion
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces, about 4 cups (mine were wimpy squashes, only had about 2.5 cups)
1 cup canned vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 ½ tablespoons minced seeded jalapeño chili (I used a whole one; it was 3 stars spicy for me)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup canned light unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (use 3 or 4 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (no way José, use like 3 teaspoons and I only had green curry paste, so that’s what I used)
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

I also added: 2 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and about 1 teaspoon of minced fresh ginger, one large red bell pepper in long strips, and two heads of broccoli separated into smaller little trees.

Preparation
Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until golden, about 5 minutes. Add squash, bell peppers and broccoli; sauté 4 minutes. Add broth, jalapeño and garlic; bring to boil. Cover; cook until squash is almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk, lime juice and curry paste (and fish sauce, ginger and soy sauce). Simmer uncovered until squash is tender and liquid is slightly reduced, about 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook brown rice. Serve the butternut squash mixture and sauce over the rice.

* I served this with a side of cucumber spears to cut the heat while eating. Yum.

Original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butternut-Squash-and-Noodles-with-Coconut-Lime-and-Cilantro-Sauce-5340

Red galoshes, orange clogs, brown oars, and a little something yellow like the sun

Pouring rains and knee-deep water in the streets of New York couldn't keep us from the culinary adventure of our lives! (Sorry no recipes this time, just mouth-watering restaurant recommendations!)

Thursday night in New York City we sneaked into the last available table at Del Posto, a famous and uber-fancy Mario Batali restaurant that begs an outfit better than what I wore on the plane and a wallet thick with Benjamin's. Complete with perfect mixed drinks, a pedestal for my purse, enough place settings to feed a wedding party, a lemon slice tucked into a starched napkin to freshen our fingertips and melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffles to take home in a gold box (the truffles made it 1/2 a block), Del Posto was a food experience where eating was only half of it. I've never imagined having someone visit my table to describe the entire menu in images and flavors (in case you're not a visual learner) and help you choose the best FIVE courses of your life. WOW.

Friday we found ourselves surrounded by friends in a giant squared-off booth at WD-50, a playful deconstructed take on the every day dishes of yesteryear. Let's just say the naked eye would have trouble figuring out that the "eggs benedict" contained eggs or hollandaise, but it was all there...just packaged differently. Not only a delightful meal, but also a never-ending conversation piece: each time the next course came all of our eyes lit up in anticipation of what steak and mashers or fried chicken would actually look like. And you may be thinking that is the end of this review, but no, guess who was sitting at the next table over?! No guesses? MARIO BATALI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I almost died, fell over, screamed (I did screech a little), and hyperventilated when I got up to use the ladies and found Mario just chillin' with his chef friends at the next table over. I could walk right by Justin Bieber without even knowing it was him or see a movie and never recall the title or the actors, but chefs, I can name them all! And let's just say the reservation we wanted at Babbo (Batali's Greenwich Village shrine to olive oil and perfectly prepared pasta) and couldn't get because of the month-long wait list was CALLED IN BY MARIO BATALI HIMSELF.

So at this point, I'm thinking, hands-down best weekend of my life, let's just pack up and fly home because it can't get any better than this.

HA!

Dan was adamant that rowing boats in Central Park was in our future. I love rowing in circles in green algae-overgrown lakes as much as the next girl, but the impending downpour forecast made me picture us bilge pumping our way out of a too-small for two people row boat with algae and lake creatures crawling up our legs. Saturday's weather held out and even taunted us with little tiny sun breaklets peaking through the thick cloud cover. After a peddi-cab ride through the park and a jolting shove off the dock, we rowed our silver metal boat around the lake spotting turtles and birds. And then it happened. Literally in the blink of an eye, one tick of a clock, one rain drop clearing the algae-ridden surface of the water, I became a FIANCEE.

And there you have it, I wore red galoshes all over the rainy streets of New York, Mario really does wear orange clogs, Dan rowed us around with brown oars to the most beautiful engagement ever, and today and forever I'll wear a yellow diamond.

I may have licked the bowl

Last night I made the most mouth-wateringly delicious Baked Ziti I have ever ingested. Truthfully, I'm not sure how many baked ziti's I've actually ever eaten because it is a time consuming dish to create. I made two different sauces, a filling, boiled noodles, and waited for it to bake, twice, before devouring ever last noodle and tomato on my plate. Dan *may* have muttered, "and this is why I'm dating you!" one too many times while salivating at every last bite. I know there are other reasons, but I would date me for this Baked Ziti.

The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen, they test typical recipes to come up with the very best, and each recipe is definitely the very best. I also love that they break down the reasons why they use a certain brand of tomato sauce over another or how to wisk eggs properly or make the perfect yellow cake from scratch, I know cooking nerd. They also have cookbooks and seasonal magazines with the best recipes you'll ever see.

I am pasting this recipe directly from the heavily copyrighted and password protected site just for all of you, but, just so you know, I made no substitutions. I followed it as written, down to the last instructional sentence...and then I couldn't wait long enough for leftovers and may have just had it again for lunch and may have licked the bowl afterward.

It's haunting me in the refrigerator.

Baked Ziti

From America's Test Kitchen

Why this recipe works:

Most versions of baked ziti seem like they went directly from the pantry into the oven, calling for little more than cooked pasta, jarred tomato sauce, a container of ricotta, and some preshred...(more)

Serves 8 to 10

The test kitchen prefers baked ziti made with heavy cream, but whole milk can be substituted by increasing the amount of cornstarch to 2 teaspoons and increasing the cooking time in step 3 by 1 to 2 minutes. Our preferred brand of mozzarella is Dragone Whole Milk Mozzarella. Part-skim mozzarella can also be used, but avoid preshredded cheese, as it does not melt well.

Ingredients

    1 pound whole milk cottage cheese or 1 percent cottage cheese (see note)

    2 large eggs , lightly beaten

    3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)

      Table salt

    1 pound ziti or other short, tubular pasta

    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    5 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 5 teaspoons)

    1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce

    1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

    1 teaspoon dried oregano

    1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

    1 teaspoon sugar

      Ground black pepper

    3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

    1 cup heavy cream (see note)

    8 ounces low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella cheese , cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups) (see note)

Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk cottage cheese, eggs, and 1 cup Parmesan together in medium bowl; set aside. Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in large Dutch oven over high heat. Stir in 1 tablespoon salt and pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta begins to soften but is not yet cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain pasta and leave in colander (do not wash Dutch oven).

2. Meanwhile, heat oil and garlic in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until garlic is fragrant but not brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and oregano; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in ½ cup basil and sugar, then season with salt and pepper.

3. Stir cornstarch into heavy cream in small bowl; transfer mixture to now-empty Dutch oven set over medium heat. Bring to simmer and cook until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture, 1 cup tomato sauce, and ¾ cup mozzarella, then stir to combine. Add pasta and stir to coat thoroughly with sauce.

4. Transfer pasta mixture to 13- by 9-inch baking dish and spread remaining tomato sauce evenly over pasta. Sprinkle remaining ¾ cup mozzarella and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan over top. Cover baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

5. Remove foil and continue to cook until cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown, about 30 minutes longer. Cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons basil and serve.

© 2011 America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.

Stuffed

You know how people always claim to be emotional eaters or eat when they're bored or because they're happy or drunk or just because the food is sitting there?! I've never thought of myself as one of these eaters. I eat what I like (including butter and even white bread - artisinal with crispy crust hot out of the oven = YUM), but maybe because I'm usually so busy with work and school and volunteering and family gatherings and lady dates and date dates, eating just isn't usually the focus of my every day.

HOWEVER, lately food has become just that. I shop for food, I'm constantly creating recipes in my head, and I read Shape and Women's Health magazine for the dinner ideas instead of the workout advice. Bottom line, I obviously don't have much going on so all I think about is food!

And, food is becoming an activity. Yesterday, with nothing to do but apply for jobs I went downtown for lunch and I was surrounded by literally millions of food options (well, I ruled out Sushi Boat right away, so 999,999 options). I could have eaten absolutely ANYWHERE, but for some reason I chose Boudin, a San Francisco classic sandwich shop specializing in sourdough bread. It's like comfort food. I had a salad and a chocolate chip cookie and instead of my usual eating and being finished and moving on I sat there and mowed that whole salad, the small loaf of sourdough that comes with it (and if the server had actually come by I would have asked for butter), and then ate the whole giant cookie until I was so stuffed I could barely get up from the table.

Maybe my current stuffed state (I'm currently munching a slice of nectarine blackberry upside-down cake) inspired me to make two deliciously stuffed meals (well, three if you count the store-bought ravioli's we had with spinach and tomatoes).

Quinoa-Stuffed Poblano Chiles

Adapted from Cooking Light, but the recipe was suuuuper bland, I added spices, salt and pepper jack cheese. The original recipe claimed 4 servings, but they're small so you're going to want to eat 2-3 peppers (depending on how large the peppers are that you find). I served these with black beans and Trader Joe's vegetable tortilla chips with flax seed (they're our favorite).

Ingredients

    4 (5-inch) poblano chiles (I used Anaheim, it was all I could find)

    1 1/2 cups water

    3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

    Olive oil

    1/2 cup (1 small) chopped zucchini

    1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

    1/2 cup chopped onion

    ½ of a 3-4 inch minced seeded jalapeno pepper (leave the seeds if you're braver than me)

    2 garlic cloves, minced

    1 tsp cumin

    1 tsp red pepper flakes

    salt and pepper to taste

    2 tablespoons unsalted pumpkin seed kernels

    1/2 cup minced green onions

    4 tablespoons minced cilantro (I always use more than that)

    2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce (add soy and lime juice to taste)

    2 tablespoon lime juice

    2 cups tomato juice (I used el Pato brand tomato sauce, it's spicy and delicious)

    1 cup or more pepper jack cheese, grated

Preparation

1.       Preheat oven to 350°.

2.       Cut chiles in half lengthwise; remove stems and seeds, roast over open flame on gas stove top or under broiler in oven until blackened and you can smell the pepper. Set aside. Combine water and quinoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 13 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

3.       Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into pan and warm over med-high heat. Add bell peppers, onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic and spices; sauté 2 minutes. Add pumpkin seed kernels; saute 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in quinoa, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, and lime juice and salt and pepper. Spoon quinoa mixture into each chile half until completely stuffed and spilling over!

4.       Pour tomato sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; place stuffed chiles in dish, sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until cheese melts and chiles are thoroughly heated. Remove from oven and spoon tomato sauce from the pan over chiles.

Stuffed French Toast
With almost a full container of fresh ricotta from Whole Foods (from another meal) we HAD to make stuffed french toast, obviously! The ingredients listed make enough for two people. Best served with really yummy breakfast sausage and some fresh fruit...or just a cold glass of milk and some Mrs. Butterworth's (really quality syrup)

   4 pieces of day-old brioche or high-quality french bread
   4 eggs
   1-2 tsps vanilla
   1 tsp cinnamon
   1/2 cup cream (shhh don't tell Dan I added cream!)
   Raspberries
   1/2 to 1 cup ricotta

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix the eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and cream in a bowl and pour into a baking dish large enough to soak the bread (I used a glass Pyrex dish). Spread two pieces of bread with as much ricotta as you can stand and place raspberries into this fluffy goodness. Top with another piece of bread. Place brioche "sandwiches" into egg mixture to soak. I placed a piece of foil on top and a heavy object from the kitchen to kinda squeeze it down and make sure the whole piece of bread got soaked. Then flip it over in 10-ish minutes to soak the other side.

Melt a tab of butter in the frying pan or griddle and place a french toast sandwich in the center. Brown each side and transfer to an oven-safe dish. Place in 300 degree oven for 10 minutes (to make sure the ricotta gets warm and melty).

Sprinkle with powdered sugar (for looks) and enjoy!!

I would like to experiment with soaking the bread first and then adding the stuffing to make sure all of the bread gets egged, but that would be messy and I haven't done it yet! Let me know if you try it out!

The Week of the Chicken

Dan hates chicken.

When we go out to eat he'll order whatever isn't chicken. I think it's funny, being the health-conscious guy that he is, that he'll order a big fatty, juicy piece of steak before trying out a chicken dish - one of the leanest carnivorous protein options on the planet. So, of course, last week I set out to prove that chicken can be juicy and delicious - not the dried out boring piece of meat he claims it to be.

On Sunday, we went out to Fatoush. It's fun to say, it's fun to eat at because you feel like you've been transported to a foreign Mediterranean/Arabic land of some kind, and it's fun to not have to cook!

Fatoush makes excellent chicken. I ordered the Shish Taouk, marinated chicken breast served with seasoned grilled vegetables and rice (my favorite chicken and rice EVER, simple and delicious). And Dan, in true form, ordered the Beriani, tender chunks of Beef, Lamb or Chicken, grilled Potatoes, Almonds, golden Raisins, Garbanzo Beans, with special spices, in an aged Yogurt Sauce served with Rice - with the lamb of course! He tasted mine and it was true chicken love at first bite.

Then Tuesday I got ballsy and decided to try my hand at some baked chicken. For eight hours I marinated super organic, cage-free, happy, healthy, with lots of friends chicken from Whole Foods (that I paid an arm and a leg for) just to be sure it would be tender and delicious for this chicken hater I currently reside with. The recipe (provided below) is also Armenian, so of course I had to make it since we have decided it's Armenian food month (more recipes soon). The recipe said to grill the chicken, but the cold, misty fog had already rolled in for the evening and there was no way I was going to heat coals for two chicken breasts, so I decided to bake it. BIG MISTAKE.

Who knew I was so bad at baking chicken. I couldn't get the temperature right because my oven is a little bit "special" and I couldn't decide when it was done because I seem to have lost my meat thermometer in the move. So it was really, really done by the time I took it out. Needless to say convincing Dan that chicken is delectable didn't go so well. The marinade is really delicious, though, super flavorful and so so good with lemons from our very own tree, so I recommend it for grilling chicken, fish or lamb...and it's the food of my people so think of me while eating it!

On Friday night, however, we went to Rotisserie Limon (we live in a super diverse neighborhood with things like Peruvian Rotisserie...didn't even know that was a thing). WOW. Mouthwateringly fantastic chicken. Perfectly marinated, perfectly rotissereed, just yum. The sides were a little weird, but it was fun having yucca fries and the sauces (they bring 3 to the table) were really tasty and completely mysterious.

So all-in-all two out of three points for chicken this week. I'm sad to be the weakest chicken link, but I will purchase a new thermometer and try try again. (I, sadly, forgot to take a picture of this one)

Armenian Grilled Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

        1/2 cup olive oil

        1/4 cup lemon juice

        1 teaspoon salt

        1 teaspoon thyme

        1 teaspoon marjoram

        1/2 teaspoon pepper

        1 garlic cloves, minced

        1/2 cup finely chopped shallots

        1/4 cup snipped parsley

        1 1/2-2 lbs chicken breasts, whole or 1 1/2-2 lbs lamb, cut in chunks

Directions

Mix all ingredients together (except meat) and whisk thoroughly.

Put cleaned and dried meat in a large 8 x 11-inch glass baking pan and pour marinade over all, being sure to coat well. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.

Drain meat and grill, basting with marinade until meat is cooked through. Can be baked in a 350 degree oven

NOTE: This is excellent served leftover, cold on a salad!