the constant hunger

Dinner with Friends

Last week while in Montreal, I got to spend some quality time with friends. Although I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, when I do get to hang out, it's like I never left. That's when you know it's the real thing. 

I can't think of a better way to spend an evening with friends than to share a meal. When someone cooks for you or when you cook for someone it is an act of love. And there was a lot of love being thrown around that night. The meal was delicious in its simplicity. I'm looking for simplicity in my life lately. No fuss, no nonsense, no drama. A sense of comfort to keep me warm and I can't think of anything better than eating with friends and family.

 A huge arugula salad drizzled in a good quality balsamic and olive oil.

Penne with rosé sauce (vodka sauce in the US). This sauce was out-of-this-world delicious.

There was no shortage of wine being poured. My friend was testing out a new wine. I approve! I need to get the name of it though. Let you know soon.

And this is the famous pizza dip. It's addictive and oh-so-good. But you don't have to take my word for it. Take a look at the almost empty plate. This picture was taken about 15 minutes after it was put on the table. We wiped it clean soon thereafter. 

Pizza dip is a great dish to serve at parties. It's easy to make and I can't think of one person who has tried it and didn't say it was amazing. I asked permission publish my friend's recipe so without further ado, the easy pizza dip recipe.

Pizza Dip

Ingredients:

1 package cream cheese (leave it out on the counter to soften)

1 can tomato sauce 

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1 bell pepper chopped (red or orange look prettiest)

Method:

Find a pretty plate and begin spreading the cream cheese to form the base layer. You should have a layer about 1/2 cm. thick. 

Spoon over the tomato sauce. You don't want to add too much, just enough to add a little tomato flavor. You may or may not go through the entire can depending on its size.

Next, layer the grated cheese, olives and bell peppers. Refrigerate for an hour. Serve with tortilla chips. Use scoop-shaped chips.  

Now depending on how many plates of the dip you'll be making, you'll want to adjust your quantities accordingly. If you are having a party, I suggest making at least 2 plates and putting them around the room. Crowds follow the dip, I swear. 

And now, a little bit of food news... The Essential New York Times Cookbook is out. Awesome! Compiled by Times food writer Amanda Hesser, this cookbook includes recipes published in the paper since the 19th century. Can you believe that? Dubbed "a chronicle of American culinary history" this cookbook contains over 1,400 recipes. Just in time for the holidays! It's definitely on my wish list. If you're excited about this book, treat yourself with a copy of the cookbook.

Oh, and stay tuned all week as I post comfort food recipes, perfect to make on a chilly fall night.

Happy cooking!

Bruschetta Two Ways

I love receiving Cook's Illustrated every month. There's always a great tip or two that I incorporate into my daily kitchen activities and I can always rely on their fool-proof recipes that always taste great. I am still waiting to hear back from them about recipe testing, but all in all, a great food magazine (with no ads!). 

A couple of weeks ago I had some visitors from Montreal. I had prepared a delicious sangria and wanted to make some sort of appetizer we could munch on before sitting down for dinner. I turned to page 20 of Cook's Illustrated and went with the bruschetta recipe. They were incredibly easy recipes and the results were delicious. Read on and try these adapted-from-Cook's-Illustrated at your next cocktail party.

Bruschetta with Artichoke Hearts and Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 can artichoke hearts rinsed and patted dry

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 garlic clove minced or pressed through a garlic press

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, more if needed

6 basil leaves roughly chopped 

1/2 grated Parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

bread of your choice

Method:

Dump everything in a food processor and begin pulsing ingredients together. I prefer a smoother textured spread so I let my food processor go wild. You might find that the spread is a little dry. I upped the quantity of olive oil from the original recipe, but you can certainly add more if necessary. Spread over small pieces of crispy bread and serve. You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight (or up to two days). 

Bruschetta with Feta and Roasted Red Peppers

Ingredients:

1 12-oz jar of roasted red peppers rinsed, patted dry and roughly chopped

1 garlic clove minced or pressed through a garlic press

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2/3 cup crumbled feta*

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

bread of choice

*Although the original recipe calls for feta, I prefer the taste of Bulgarian double cream cheese. It looks like feta but has a smoother taste and creamier texture.

Method:

Pour all ingredients into the food processor and blend thoroughly. This spread is a little more liquidy so you won't need to add more olive oil, but you may want to refrigerate it for an hour before serving so it thickens up. Spread over small pieces of bread and serve immediately.

You can also leave the spreads in small bowls and let your guests serve themselves. Just pre-slice the bread. You can toast the slices in the oven or leave them as is.

Happy cooking/cockailing!  

The Italian Feast

Okay, so I'm a little late talking about this, but recently, in New York City, a giant gourmet market opened up that offers city dwellers a taste of Italy. Eataly is a beautiful mega-store with marble everywhere (so it's really like Italy). You can pick up cured meats, cheeses, fresh pastas, high-quality olive oils... The list goes on. There is even a vegetable butcher, I kid you not. He'll trim your artichokes and peel your baby carrots. 

Although the space is beautiful, the actual store planning was poorly done. It's not an easy store to navigate around and you need to pay for your groceries and exit the store in order to get to the wine shop (the two are not connected). 

Despite all this, I was excited to visit. I had been waiting months for the opening, passing the building and staring longingly at the "Open Summer 2010" signs. I went on the second day it was open and surprisingly it was not packed. Bad for business, good for me. 

I knew what I wanted and headed straight for the cheese and cured meats section. I wanted to keep my selections classic. No over-the-top cheeses infused with truffle oil. I ordered half a pound of prosciutto di Parma. The kind gentleman asked "Would you prefer the 14-month or 18-month old prosciutto?" I was already expecting to pay an arm and a leg for my groceries so I went with the 18-month old. 

There wasn't a huge variety of cheese. Not that it mattered, I am not a connoisseur. I had fallen madly in love with burratta ever since I ate an antipasto of burratta and octopus at Marea. I placed one ball of burratta next to the prosciutto in my basket. 

After picking up a couple other items (more on that later) I headed home to prepare a light dinner feast. Unfortunately that evening my husband was playing hockey and wouldn't arrive till 11:00 p.m. I spent hours suffering as I dreamed of taking a bite of thinly sliced, salty, fatty prosciutto. As I counted down the minutes to my husband's arrival, I decided to whip up a quick tuna and spinach salad to round off the light dinner. 

Finally, my husband came home and I nearly fell over with excitement telling him about everything I bought (and trying hard to justify why I had spent so much money on so little product).

I had set us up at our coffee table so we could be comfortable sitting on our couch to eat for the next hour or so. I am such a fan of antipasti and small plates in general. Spending hours taking bites of small portions of food, drinking copious amounts of wine and chattering the night away... I can't think of anything better. 

Since I had cheese and prosciutto, I thought a fresh bread was needed. Luckily, the baker had just taken a batch of Tuscan-style bread out of the oven. I love a good crusty bread.
Here is the divine and delicious prosciutto. Don't you wish you could reach into the screen and steal a slice? "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."    

Now if you haven't tried burratta cheese, what are you waiting for??? It's creamy and absolutely addictive. Better than mozzarella di bufala, in my opinion. 

I had also purchased a good quality extra-virgin olive oil which, as you can see, I drizzled all over this little baby. In case you are wondering...

No Italian feast is complete without a solid red wine. When I visited the wine shop, I came across two of my/our favorite wines, a Tignanello and a Pian delle Vigne (the latter was a wonderful discovery made in a small restaurant in Florence with my husband last summer). Now the two wines cost more than I wanted to spend, $100 and $80 respectively. The sommelier recommended another (more affordable) super Tuscan.

It was a great bottle at a fraction of the cost of the other two. I would definitely recommend it. 

So there you go. A great night of great Italian fare. I haven't been back to Eataly yet, maybe this weekend. Who knows?

Happy cooking!