Local and [farmer's market] Fresh

Ahhh...another night cooking in the Hamptons. It's hard not to be completely inspired to cook good food out here. Driving around you pass farmers markets left and right with local produce and fresh fish markets with their catches of the day. We went to Round Swamp Farm yesterday to get inspired. This is one of my favorite places here. They have it all, local from land to sea and they also carry specialty products that are hard to find. They had extra large JUMBO prawns that immediately caught my eye. I was like a kid in a candy store (really, sort of embarrassed looking back by my reaction). We grabbed a few of these and made a round through their market picking up local corn, heirloom tomatoes and other fresh ingredients to prep for dinner.

I decided to start with a recipe that I came across on the blog, Green Lemonade. I love this blog! It is Noelle's journey to living a healthier and more natural life and it is completely inspiring. She recreated the Heirloom Tomato and Avocado Salad from East Hampton's Blue Parrot . Noelle made a macadamia nut pesto instead of the restaurant's cilantro pesto and since cilantro is probably the only ingredient that my husband will not eat, I decided to go the same route. This was just incredible. The textures of the ripe tomato with the creamy avocado and crunchy macadamia nuts with the fresh basil was a party in my mouth. You can find the full recipe here. Let me know what you think!
We followed with a Sweet Corn Quinoa and Simply Grilled Jumbo Prawns. I added diced cherry tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and pine nuts to the quinoa and dressed it with a sweet Dijon vinaigrette. The meal came together so beautifully, we already had the leftovers for lunch today!

Sweet Corn Quinoa

Serves about 4

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 ears of sweet corn
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup cucumber, diced
2 stalks scallion, thinly sliced
pine nuts, toasted

Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 Tbsp good Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt

Cook the quinoa according to directions and set aside. Grill the corn, set aside to cool and then once cooled, cut the kernels off of the cob. Set aside. In a large bowl, stir together the corn, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion and quinoa.

To make dressing, mix all ingredients in blender until smooth. Stir into the salad and top with toasted pine nuts.

Simply Grilled Jumbo Prawns

Serves about 3

6 large prawns, shells on
olive oil
freshly ground pepper, to taste
sea salt, to taste

Using kitchen shears, cut a slit along the top part of each shell and clean the prawn by quickly running under cold water. In a bowl toss with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Put directly on a high heat grill and cook for about 3-5 minutes, turning once until it turns pink and is just cooked through.

Arrange the prawns on top of a bed of the sweet corn quinoa. Serve and enjoy.

Summer Baja Tacos

It's officially summer and Sunday Night Taco Night is a staple for us. Simple, fresh, quick and easy, it's the ultimate "get-ready-for-your-week" yet still feel like you're enjoying yourself kinda meal. You can make it your own, which is ideal for James and I. He adds the cheese and the shrimp and I usually keep things vegan-ized. Left-over tomato salsa can be used to top salads later in the week or used as the base of a quick tomato sauce. Great to have in the fridge for weeknight dinners.

Ingredients
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
extra virgin olive oil
juice of one lime
course sea salt
corn tortillas
fresh guacamole
1 can black beans
1 garlic clove
Fresh Tomato Salsa (see recipe)
crumbed cotija cheese (optional)
hot sauce (Cholula is my fav)

Start with preparing the black beans by simply pouring into a small saucepan with one crushed garlic clove and a pinch of sea salt. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, or as long as it takes to prepare the rest of the meal.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
3 Tbsp finely chopped white onion
course sea salt
squeeze of a lime
finely chopped jalapenos, depending on how hot you like it

Combine the tomatoes and onion in a bowl and season with salt and lime. Add the jalapeno in small amounts until it reaches the heat of your liking.

Preheat your grill over high heat. Toss shrimp with a splash of olive oil, lime juice and pinch of salt. Grill until cooked through, about 2 minutes on each side.

To serve, heat the tortillas in a dry frying pan and wrap in a kitchen towel to keep warm. Pile a few shrimp on top of each tortilla and serve with the tomato salsa, squeeze of a lime, guacamole, black beans, dash of hot sauce and an optional crumble of cojita cheese on top. Easy as pie!

Baked, Not Fried.

Crispy shrimp with cannellini beans.

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
5 Tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
1 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 19-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed
2 bunches arugula, thick stems removed

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, rosemary, 3 Tbsp of the oil, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.

Transfer the shrimp and excess crumbs to a baking sheet. Bake until the shrimp are cooked through and the crumbs are crispy, about 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a few seconds. Add the beans, 1/4 cup water and 1/4 each of salt and pepper. Cook until heated through, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss with the arugula.

Serve the bean mixture with the shrimp and sprinkle any remaining bread crumbs over the top.

Serves 4.

Healthy Take on Thai

I came across this recipe in Food and Wine magazine and I have been craving the flavors ever since. Soba noodles are made of buckwheat flour which provides vitamins B1 and B2, several minerals and nearly twice the amount of proteins found in rice. Garlicky, spicy and bright with lime, this is a dish that is full of flavor and warms the body on cold winter days.

Soba Noodles with Sauteed Shrimp

6 ounces soba noodles

1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp tamari
1 tsp agave syrup
2 large shallots, thinly sliced and separated into rings
6 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 tsp lime zest
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined
salt
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro (optional)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
lime wedges, for serving
black sesame seeds, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add soba noodles and cook according to directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place in a bowl and toss together with 2 tsp of the oil with the soy sauce, tamari and agave syrup. Set aside.

In a skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of the oil. Add the shallots and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden brown and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel. Do the same with the garlic and transfer to the paper towel.

In a bowl, combine the lime zest and juice with the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil. Toss in the shrimp and season with salt. Saute the shrimp in the pan over medium to high heat, turning once, until glazed and cooked through.

Arrange the noodles in a bowl. Top with the shrimp and sprinkle with the scallions, cilantro, crushed red pepper and the fried shallots, garlic and sesame seeds. Serve with lime wedges alongside.

Serves 6

Enjoy!

Winter Kitchen

Nothing says winter comfort like pasta made with fresh ingredients. In any season, the aromas of basil, tomatoes and garlic cooking make any stresses from your day disappear (having a glass of good red wine in hand doesn't hurt either). I couldn't tell you the last time I ate pasta, but occasionally it's just the thing to settle you in and warm you up. The tomato sauce is always the key ingredient in Italian pasta dishes. I learned an incredible and simple sauce while on our honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast this pas fall. I didn't have fresh vine ripened tomato puree on hand (like we used in Italy) but I did have my favorite can of San Marzano diced tomatoes. I used whole wheat thin spaghetti and added shrimp to this dish...

Tomato and Basil Spaghetti with Sauteed Shrimp

whole wheat thin spaghetti
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can San Marzano diced/pureed tomatoes
large shrimp, peeled and deveined
fresh basil, chopped
olive oil
course sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions

In a small sauce pan, add a little olive oil and heat 2 cloves of garlic and basil over high flame. Add the can of tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower the flame and simmer the sauce for about 10 to 15 minutes.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a few pinches of salt and the pasta and cook according to directions. Once cooked, strain the water and bring the pasta back to the pot.

Season the shrimp on both sides with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to another medium pan and heat the remaining garlic for a few minutes until you smell a subtle aroma. Add the shrimp, turning once until cooked through ( a few minutes on each side). You may have to do this in a few batches, depending on how many shrimp you have. Set aside.

Toss the spaghetti, tomato sauce and shrimp in the large pot. Serve into bowls and season with crushed red pepper flakes and top with fresh basil.

Enjoy!

A warm welcome back to reality...

Just back from tying the knot and honeymoon-ing in Italy...it was an incredible whirlwind of a dream and now the only thing that I wanted to do all weekend long was eat comforting, home-cooked foods and settle back into reality. The jet-lag was taking longer than expected to recover from, even after trying to strategically plan our sleeping patterns by drinking copious amount of espresso (my Italian jones) on the long flight home. Two of my friends wanted to do a Sunday night dinner so I (obviously) convinced them to come over so I can cook for them instead. We opened a bottle of Chianti and sat around nibbling on fresh fig, prosciutto and clover honey. After some gossip, I started to make the Cioppino, a San Francisco fisherman's stew with fresh lump crab meat, large prawns, halibut and clams. It's good to be home...

Cioppino
(Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Slow Cooking)
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves, broken in half
2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) diced tomatoes
3/4 cups Chianti wine
1/2 cup sauvignon blanc wine
2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 lb firm white fish, like halibut, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 lb littleneck clams, scrubbed
1 lb Dungenuss crab claws, or lump crabmeat, picked over for shells
20 large shrimp (prawns), peeled and deveined
1/2 tsp Tabasco
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions and bell peppers and saute until just tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes, and red and white wines and bring to a simmer. Partially cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.Remove and discard the bay leaves. Add the oregano, thyme, fish and clams. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add the crab and shrimp, cover and cook until the shrimp and fish are opaque and the clams have opened, 3-4 minutes. Discard any clams that failed to open. Stir in the Tabasco sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Divide among the bowls and serve at once.
A warm piece of baguette is always good to soak up the juices at the end. Please do stay tuned for a future post on our wedding and Italian travels...Ciao for now!