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Archive for October, 2010

Spinach and Ricotta Gnudi

Monday, October 25th, 2010

So, I was informed that today is National Pasta Day. I have been eyeing the following recipe from Food and Wine’s Weekend Dish email since I got it last weekend. I know it isn’t exactly pasta but it is close. Gnudi is very similar to gnocchi but made with ricotta instead of potato or all flour. They are very light which, really surprised me but they were also very filling. I made some changes to the recipe to add some more taste to it and make it work for my diet. It is 10 points a serving according to the Weight Watchers point system which, may seem like a lot but is what I usually allow myself to have for dinner. I hope you are enjoying some pasta on National Pasta Day like we did, enjoy!

Adapted from Food and Wine

2 cups of spinach, stems removed

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Olive Oil

2 pounds, part-skim milk ricotta

4 eggs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I use pecorino romano) plus more for toppings

Salt

Pepper

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

Tomato sauce

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. In a saute pan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add in garlic and spinach. Saute until spinach is wilted. Remove from pan and chop spinach. Place spinach in a large bowl. Add in ricotta, eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Add in flour 1/2 a cup at a time, until fully incorporated into the ricotta mixture.

Place mixture into a pastry bag or a Ziploc bag with the point cut off. (I cooked one gnudi first to make sure it was well seasoned.) Over boiling water, squeeze out the ricotta mixture, about a inch long, use a scissor cut the mixture away from the bag. The mixture will drop into the boiling water. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until floating and cooked through. Using a slotted spoon or a spider tool remove from water and place on baking sheet to slightly dry out.

Immediately serve with your favorite tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Tags: gnudi, italian, pasta, ricotta, tomato, tomato sauce, vegetarian
Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »

Miso Glazed Cod

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Last week was a long and tiring week and also very busy. I am just not cut out for an almost 12 hour shift and still going to work on time the next day. It took me several days to recover from the madness. This week was just as busy because it was a week full of meetings. When I come home from a crazy day the last thing I want to do is cook a labor intensive meal. I have some very quick recipes that I go to to make those nights a little easier for me. A lot of those recipes include fish. Fish just cooks up so quick that it really makes my life easier (it also defrosts faster when needed).

Miso is something that I had never cooked with before. I have eaten it tons of times but have never actually used it in a recipe. I have actually passed up a lot of recipes because I never could think of where to get miso locally without having to go into Flushing. The other day on my walk home from the subway it finally clicked and I remembered that I pass an Asian fish market on my way home. So low and behold they had miso this whole time. Now that I found miso I figured I would try it out on cod (which I have had many times with miso in restaurants). This is the first recipe I made with miso and it came out really good (a little over cooked but that is my fault for not watching it). I plan on making some more things with miso, so stay tuned and enjoy this one for now!

1/8 cup of miso

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 oz mirin

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/8 cup of rice wine vinegar

1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

4 cod fillets

Salt

Pepper

Scallions, for garnish

Preheat the broiler to high.

Place the miso, brown sugar, mirin, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and ginger in a bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend the ingredients together (you can also use a whisk). Salt and pepper the cod fillets. Pour the mixture over the cod and allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes. Once marinated, place cod under the broiler and cook until the fish is no longer translucent in the center, about 8 minutes (adjust the time according to the thickness of your fillets, thinner cod needs less time and thicker cod needs more time).

Sprinkle with scallions. Serve warm and Enjoy!

Tags: cod, dinner, entree, fast, fish, miso, quick
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

Vegetable Risotto

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

I shared with you my Veal Osso Bucco recipe on Monday. The way I prefer to have my osso bucco is over risotto. Since I am dieting (risotto actually isn’t many points) I wanted to get vegetables in my meal and since I can’t have osso bucco without risotto I made vegetable risotto for the first time. I have made risotto in the past but either just regular or mushroom risotto. You can really add any vegetables you want to this recipe. I used what I had on hand. Par cook the vegetables but sauteing them before you start adding the chicken broth but don’t cook the veggies too much or they may become mush at the end. Enjoy!

Olive oil

1 carrot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 medium onion, small diced

1 zucchini, diced

1 1/2 cup arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

5 cups of chicken stock

1 cup frozen peas

Salt

Pepper

Grated cheese (I use Pecorino Romano)

In a pot heat the chicken stock.

In a large saute pan heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add in the celery, carrots, and onions. Cook vegetables for about 5 minutes. Before the onions are fully translucent add in the zucchini. Saute until soft. Add the rice to the pan. Stir to coat the rice in olive oil. Cook until the grains of rice start to become translucent. Add in the white wine. Cook for about 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth one ladle ( about 1/2 cup) at a time. Stir the rice every so often. When that amount of broth is almost evaporated add the next ladle. Continue this process until the rice is cooked through 20-30 minutes. When the rice is almost done add in the frozen peas. Top with grated cheese.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Tags: carrot, celery, dinner, entree, peas, risotto, vegetable, vegetable risotto, zucchini
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

Veal Osso Bucco

Monday, October 18th, 2010

So today is my boyfriend’s birthday. We had a wonderful dinner together at Minetta Tavern (possibly more on that later). But last night to celebrate his birthday early I made him a wonderful Veal Osso Bucco. I am not going to lie it was kinda selfish of me because really it is my favorite meal not his but I was the one cooking (plus he likes it anyway).

The best Osso Bucco I have ever had was at Simposio Ristorante in Houston, Texas. My Dad brought me to there after many years of raving about the place when he returned from business trips to Houston. It is in my top 5 list of the best meals I have ever had. This recipe came pretty close to theirs and I will have no problem eating this whenever I am in the mood for Osso Bucco especially since Simposio is several thousands of miles away. Don’t forget to eat the bone marrow, it is one of the best parts of the meal. If it wouldn’t give me a heart attack I could probably live off of bone marrow (and I had some amazing bone marrow tonight at Minetta).

Happy Birthday Tom! I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as we did.

4 veal shanks

Twine

Salt

Pepper

Flour

Olive Oil

1 large or 2 small carrots, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced

1 dry bayleaf

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups chicken broth

Gremolata (mix of the zest of 1 lemon, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 2 tablespoons minced parsley, all crushed together)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Pat dry the veal shanks. Season both sides of all the veal shanks with salt and pepper. Tie the veal shanks to the bone with kitchen twine. Dredge in flour. In a dutch oven heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add veal shanks. Brown veal shanks on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add more olive oil to the pan. Add in onions, carrots, and celery. Season with salt, to draw out the moisture. Cook until vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, rosemary and bayleaf. Stir to combine. Add in tomato paste and stir. Add in white wine, scrapping the bottom of the pan.

Add back in the veal shanks and cover with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover and place in oven for 1 hour to an hour and a half, until the meat is tender.

Top with gremolata. Serve over polenta or risotto. Enjoy!

Tags: dinner, entree, italian, osso bucco, veal
Posted in Recipes | 5 Comments »

Turkey Wontons

Monday, October 11th, 2010

So today is my weigh in day…..drum roll please……I lost 7 pounds in total! This past week I have made several of the recipes from the Weight Watchers website and made changes appropriately. I also still managed to eat out twice and still do really well. I think that is why I like this so much, it is very easy to stick to because you can still eat. It teaches me how to change my lifestyle and I think that is what I needed the most.

In saying that, I went way under my points today despite eating what I thought was enough food. So after dinner I decided to make the following recipe. The original calls for pork and shrimp which, I will try out another day, but I had turkey available so I made the switch. I would post the link to the recipe but in order to access the recipes you need to be a member. Additionally, I am writing this at 10pm so it was also really quick to make and only 4 points for 5 of them. Enjoy!

1 pound ground turkey

Pepper

2 scallions, finely minced

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Cooking spray

27-30 wonton wrappers

Water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl place turkey, pepper, scallions, soy sauce, ginger, oil, and garlic. Mix ingredients together.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay out wonton wrappers on sheet. Brush edges with water. Place a spoonful of the turkey mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over so the wrapper looks like a diamond. Press the edges closed. Spray the tops with cooking spray.