Category Archives: Food

A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools. ~Spanish Proverb

April 27, 2019 elisha Leave a comment

Or even better…”Your stomach shouldn’t be a wastebasket.” -Dori Friedberg

Whether it’s an ancient Spanish Proverb, or a modern day nutritionist, we all know we need to take care of our bodies. Some more than others. I’ve always felt I was on the above average side in eating a healthy diet. (Not counting during college and the years immediately following when I lived on popcorn and ICEE’s from the gas station). But I don’t eat meat, only fish, lots of vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, very little dairy, NO cheese, and MODERATION is my key. Any time I tell myself I can NOT eat something I love, like fried foods or chocolate chip cookies, I become COMPLETELY OBSESSED with them, and end up binging. So the thing that works for me is move more, eat less. I don’t deny myself anything, I just don’t eat much of the things I know aren’t the best for me.

Now, according to more and more people, my diet is killing me. They start talking about leptin and metabolic syndrome and my head starts spinning. I have spent a lot of time online and talking to my very smart friends who are eating this way. I would have no problem giving up dairy. I pretty much already have, but even if I could give up whole grain bread, I still can’t wrap my head around the no farro, brown rice, quinoa, and even legumes. NO BLACK BEANS? NO CHICKPEAS? NO GREEN PEAS? But the scientific community has, for the most part, stayed on the fence. For now, I’m going to keep reading everything I can about the science behind the whole Paleo/ancestral diet thing, continue listening to my very smart friends, but continue eating whole grains and legumes in moderation.

But when I get invited to my very smart Paleo-eating friend’s house for dinner and am asked to bring an appetizer and a salad, I have to get more creative. Those who have been eating this way for a long time have no problem coming up with ideas, but other than meat and vegetables, I wasn’t sure what to take. My dear husband can’t live without chips and hummus, but since those were out of the question, I made a yummy Cauliflower Hummus (completely paleo…no legumes at all), and for me I made my favorite Broccoli Hummus. That does include some chickpeas, but not many, and it was a huge hit, even with my friends. I tinkered around with a couple of old recipes and they were so successful I wanted to write them down so I wouldn’t forget. The problem is, I was so busy playing around and taste-testing that I forgot to take photos. The only photo I have is the bowl of leftovers…(regular hummus for J, and broccoli hummus). You can see which was more popular!

There was basically none of the Cauliflower Puree left, other than a few bites that I ate by the spoonful the next day.

So here are the recipes. I served with a ton of crudite’, and a few gluten-free crackers for J and I. Easy peasy.

CAULIFLOWER HUMMUS

Yield: 1-2 cups, depending on the size of your cauliflower head

*Click HERE for printable recipe

1 Large head of cauliflower (preferably yellow, as the parsley will give it a lovely green color)
2-6 cloves of garlic (my garlic was quite strong so I only used 2)
2 TBSP Almond Butter
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped (I don’t recommend using dried parsley, as the color change and taste from the fresh is so beautiful)
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
Salt, to taste
Garnish with parsley, smoked paprika and olive oil

Separate the cauliflower into florets, cutting away the center core. Steam or microwave until very tender. While that is cooling, mince the garlic in a food processor. Add the olive oil, nut butter, spices and lemon juice and puree well. Add the cauliflower and puree until it is smooth. Add more olive oil if needed to get the texture smooth. Place in dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with more paprika and serve with veggies.

********************

Broccoli Hummus

*Click HERE for printable recipe

Yield: Two Cups

1 lb of broccoli crowns
2 garlic cloves
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed (or 1 cup cooked chickpeas)
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt, to taste
1-2 TBSP tahini (sesame paste), to taste

1. Steam the broccoli for five minutes until tender, but still bright. Refresh with cold water and drain on paper towels. (Very IMPORTANT…don’t overcook or the color will be a muddy green).

2. Turn on the food processor and drop in the garlic. Scrape down and puree again. Scrape down.

3. Turn on the machine and slowly pour in the lemon juice and oil with the machine running. Process until smooth.

4. Add the tahini and salt to taste. Blend well.

Serve with veggies, and/or pita.

Helpful links about paleo, and a couple refuting it, so you can be as confused as I am!!

Whole Nine
Grain Brain, by David Perlmutter
Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD
Built Lean, article by Charlie Seltzer, MD
Outlaw Fitness, by Josh Vales
Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber, from the NIH

Your stomach shouldn’t be a waste basket. ~Dori Friedberg – See more at: http://paleononpaleo.com/paleo-quotations-health-1/#sthash.dEkNPPEE.dpuf

daughters, Empty Nest, Food, north carolina, Vegetarian

“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.” ― William Cullen Bryant

October 9, 2018 elisha Leave a comment

I seriously love autumn. I love the crisp mornings, sunny days, and spectacular colors! It’s been a wonderful summer, and I am feeling blessed. Daylight savings time ended yesterday, so the days are getting shorter. Now it’s time to start counting the reasons to be Thankful, because Thanksgiving will be here soon. My mom has already started Christmas shopping, and time is going by so fast it’s hard to slow down and enjoy the moments. But it has been a glorious time to be in the mountains.

Saturday afternoon after a couple of quick rain showers

Yesterday was a great day. We had NO plans, so stayed in all day. J loves Sundays. He sits down in front of the NFL RED ZONE at 1:00, before the first game starts, and basically stays there until he shuffles to bed and falls asleep watching the last game. I get football by osmosis: based on what he yells, I pretty much figure out what happens. But I can’t watch the Red Zone. I call it football for A.D.D. You start watching one game, and they suddenly switch to another one when you look down to check your email…I just can’t keep up. But it makes him very happy. The leaves up here peaked about a week ago, and we’ve had a couple of rains this week so they are all coming down. I love the way the roads look when the leaves have just fallen.

I spent my day reading, catching up on TV shows on my ipad, and starting a new painting. I hope I’ll be able to capture the glorious colors I saw last week.

We celebrated my young girlfriend’s 50th last week in beautiful Callaway Gardens!


Dressed all in pink for dinner…we don’t like to call attention to ourselves at all!

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It was a glorious crisp fall weekend, and we had so much fun relaxing, freezing our tuccas off while biking around the property, and seeing the beautiful gardens and butterflies. We wanted to go dancing, but the metropolis of Pine Mountain, Georgia didn’t really offer anywhere to go, so we cranked up the music and danced in the parking lot!

We never saw another guest anywhere around, since we were in between seasons, so we kind of had the place to ourselves. And then we went inside, changed into our pjs, and continued the dance party. Maybe since most of us are over 50 we should act more like our age, but what’s the fun in that?

Must have been a really heartfelt song!


The horticultural center with our awesome volunteer tour guide

J and I FINALLY played golf. It rained so much at the beginning of the summer (over 100″ before the end of July!), and J was still recovering from ACL surgery, that this was our first time of the year. I wish I could say I played well, but I didn’t suck as much as I thought I would. It was a beautiful day, and we had a blast. Hoping to play a couple more times this week.

We were invited to a friend’s sister’s house to watch the Trick-or-Treating in Brevard. They actually close her street and it is absolutely crazy! I miss those days.

A live pony!! How cool is that?

Speaking of Trick or Treating…no trick or treating in college, but parties every day of the week! My little activist H went dressed as one of her heroines…Rachel Carsen. (For those of you, like me, who don’t know who she was, click on her name for more info).

She and her friend J also dressed up as Sam and Suzy from the movie “Moonrise Kingdom“. She told me she bought the red dress and sewed the collar and cuffs on them herself. Who knew she could sew?

So it’s goodbye to autumn, and hello winter! Snowmass has had almost 60″ of snow since September! It’s going to be an amazing season!

**I went to a party this weekend and was asked to bring appetizers. Since they eat no dairy, grain, sugar or legumes, I was lost for ideas. I took an awesome Cauliflower puree that was delicious, and had no legumes whatsoever. I also took my Broccoli Hummus, which does have garbanzo beans, but it is so amazing I keep eating the leftovers by the spoonful! I’ll post the recipes tomorrow.

Food, recipes, Top Chef

Dinner with Eric Ripert and Fabio Viviani!

October 9, 2018 elisha Leave a comment

A couple of years ago, I finally convinced J to take me to Le Bernardin. I have been a fan of Eric Ripert for many years, and longed to try his food. It did not disappoint. I don’t remember what everyone else at our table had, but the tuna carpaccio and dover sole that I ate are forever in my memory. Never in a million years did I think I could make that tuna in my own kitchen, but I was reading the Le Bernardin Cookbook and the recipe for Tuna Carpaccio with Chives actually looked doable. I had also just made a big batch of Fabio Viviani’s Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Oil, and had planned on making his Tuna with Tomatoes and Capers last night (from his new cookbook, Fabio’s Italian Kitchen), so I decided to use some of the sushi quality tuna I had to attempt the carpaccio as well.

When H was still at home, I always had to worry about preparing something for her that had protein, but was vegetarian, so I probably wouldn’t have attempted such a fish-heavy meal, but that’s one of the benefits of having an empty nest-I’m just cooking for me and J. We just arrived in Lake Toxaway, for the first three months of summer, and I had just re-stocked the kitchen. I got the extra large cart at Ingles, and it looked like I was buying for a family of ten!

This cart doesn’t look too healthy, but I promise the bottom is filled with produce!

I went to the local organic food market, Food Matters, and picked up some nice tuna. I’m still learning what types to avoid in an attempt to buy sustainable, but it’s very confusing. For now, I trust this market, because they’re committed to sell organic food grown in the region to protect and preserve natural resources. And I won’t ever eat or buy bluefin, orange roughy, shark and shark fin, or chilean sea bass. All I needed for the carpaccio, in addition to the tuna, was fresh chives, scallion, extra virgin olive oil, and good sea salt and ground white pepper, which I already had.

I took one of the two pieces of tuna I was planning on using for the entree, and cut it in half. (I’m only cooking for two people, and I always make way too much). Then I took the half and sliced it horizontally, to make two 1/2″ thick pieces. Put a little olive oil on the cutting board then a slice of plastic wrap on top. Then covered the tuna with another slice of plastic. Next, I carefully pounded the piece of tuna, starting in the middle and sliding the pounder outward, until it was very thin but still intact. Since my piece of tuna was small, I had to make smaller circles than the recipe called for, so I found a round plastic top from a container from the deli to use as a guide (about 4 1/2″ diameter). If you’re using a larger, 4 oz. tuna steak, you will need a guide about 9″ in diameter. I placed it on top of the plastic covered tuna and carefully cut around it, plastic, tuna and all. Did the same thing for the second piece of tuna. Then, the coolest thing…I had all those little pieces that were cut away from the circles, combined them to make a little ball, put between two plastic sheets, and carefully pounded it out and I had a third circle, which after chilling remained completely intact. No waste!

Leaving the tuna in the plastic, I stacked them together and put back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. When I was ready to serve I just took them out, carefully peeled back the plastic and gently placed on large dinner plate, overlapping in a circular shape. Then, brushed olive oil generously over all three, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then the shallots and chives. Squeeze lemon juice all over, cleaned up the plates and served with the toasts.

It was surprisingly easy, I made it at the same time I was working on the entree, and it was delicious! Download the full recipe here.

I started Fabio’s Tuna with Tomatoes and Capers while the tuna was chilling. It was done in basically 30 minutes, since I had already made a huge batch of Fabio’s tomato sauce that morning, a really easy recipe. (saved 2 cups for dinner and froze the rest in ziploc bags). Both recipes are here.

The only things I changed on the recipe were that I seared the tuna really quickly in a really hot pan with grapeseed oil to get a little sear on the outside, and I served it over pasta.

There are many more recipes that I want to try in both cookbooks…they really are user friendly for home cooks! I seriously recommend you pick up a copy of both books. Next up, I’m going to attempt homemade pasta…

Food

Mangia Nashville

October 9, 2018 elisha Leave a comment

I’m not a foodie. I’m a food lover. I actually hate the world “foodie”. It sounds like something a kid would say, like meany, or dummy, or fatty. But I love food, I love eating out, I love watching Top Chef, I love what food represents…it brings people together, it fuels my body for long exercise sessions, and it makes wine taste better. But, I don’t eat meat, poultry or pork and I don’t like cheese or cream, so I am a terrible restaurant orderer. I’m a little embarrassed about it. Whenever I see this scene from When Harry Met Sally, I cringe. It hits a little close to home.

There are those rare occasions when I can look at a menu, tell the server I’d like the “salmon, please”, hand him the menu and say nothing else. I love when that happens. I’d love to be Padma, or Gail, and taste dishes from 16 different contestants without batting an eye. I’m working on it. I keep trying things over and over, and now I love sushi, raw fish, and salmon, which I wouldn’t touch a few years ago. I’ve actually gotten really good at picking around the things I don’t like, so when we go to dinners or parties I don’t have to be the obnoxious guest who needs a special menu.

So when a friend invited us to her birthday party at Mangia Nashville, and emailed the menu below, I figured I’d eat the roasted vegetables and keep my mouth shut.

Lucky for J and I, she put us in touch with the owner, Nick. I apologized profusely for being such a pain, but he said not to worry, he would take care of us. And take care of us he did!

Mangia Nashville is the brainchild of Nick Pellegrino, a music industry guy with catering experience who came up with the idea of having a restaurant with good italian food, served family-style, in a place that felt like home. His friend Tim Ness, owner of Cool Cafe (a meat and three restaurant), offered up his restaurant on Saturday nights, which were closed anyway. It opened last year and is now open Fridays and Saturday nights to mostly sold out crowds.

We were late, because we forgot that it was located in Cool Cafe, and even though our GPS took us right there, we drove around for 20 minutes before we figured it out. We walked in to a packed room of about 10 white tablecloth covered tables. Some were really long, like the Thanksgiving table at my mother-in-law’s house every year that she has to move furniture to accomodate. Others were more intimate tables of 8-10. They say that if you have a small party you will probably be seated with strangers, which adds to the feeling that you walked into Tony Soprano’s house on a Friday night. There are two large screen TV’s silently running Godfather I and Godfather II. Every once in awhile someone at our table would look up and quote the dialog to go along with the scene. They had already started with the antipasti. We missed the olives, but they were passing around the bread, deviled eggs, risotto cakes and bruscetta. After we had stuffed ourselves the seemingly unending platters still looked full, and the server came to the end of the table and yelled, “CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! IF YOU’RE FINISHED WITH YOUR ANTIPASTI, PLEASE PASS YOUR PLATES TO ME”. So we took the top of the stack of four plates and passed them to her. The rest of the meal went like that. The server would announce very loudly what she was passing around, we would eat, and dutifully pass our plates to her when the course was finished.

Speaking of courses. I should have paid attention to the structure of the meal. Nick came out to tell us that he was going to prepare a lemon risotto with lobster for J and I since we couldn’t eat the beef and chicken entrees. After the salads (two, HUGE, served separately so everyone ate both), they brought a gigantic bowl of pasta with sun dried tomatoes and asparagus (yum) between J and I. I thought he must have changed his mind about the lobster and filled my plate with the pasta. It was really tasty so I stuffed myself. In between courses the wait staff would come out and pull us out to the middle of the restaurant for a conga line, or italian line dancing, with lots of italian mambo music and yelling and clapping. The chefs would stop what they were doing and either come out and dance or dance around the kitchen. It was all very festive. After lots of dancing I was waiting for dessert when the roasted vegetables and two different pasta entrees started being passed around, as well as the promised risotto and lobster. I couldn’t eat much, but I tasted it and should have saved room because it was light and delicious. Then, more dancing, passing plates back, dessert, and when we paid our checks ($45/per person), they brought little bags of hot doughnuts for the road.

It was a fun evening. Their facebook page describes Mangia as an authentic New York family-style Italian dining experience every Friday @ 7:00 pm and Saturday @ 6:00 pm. Make reservations, because they sell out frequently. And come hungry!

Empty Nest, Food, Top Chef

blvd nashville…like an old friend in a new dress!

October 9, 2018 elisha Leave a comment

People who know me know that I judge restaurants by the bread. Give me a basket of warm, delicious bread and something yummy to spread on it and I instantly fall in love. On that basis alone, Nashville’s blvd is my new favorite spot. My friend and I sat down last night and ordered the signature cocktail, the “Pinky Lee” (Mine with gin, hers with tequila)…a pink grapefruity concoction with a sweet/salty rim. It was the perfect way to start a girl’s night out. Then our waiter (who was so good-looking it was hard to look away) plopped down this.

Who can pass up a soft, steaming, just salty enough pretzel with stone ground apricot mustard? But the cornbread waffle underneath was my favorite. Just slightly sweet, with a little salt, it almost didn’t need the soft, creamy vanilla butter served along side. Almost…but a small smear of butter melted into the edges and it was pure heaven. We could easily have devoured the entire basket but wouldn’t have had room for the rest of the menu, which consisted of french bistro food with a uniquely Arnold Myint southern flair.

Myint is a Nashville native whose parents own the local International Market, which introduced Nashvillians to Thai food back in 1975. As a college student down the street in the early 80’s, I have fond memories of stopping in to grab inexpensive noodle dinners, which were very exotic at the time. Arnold hit the restaurant scene hard here in Nashville, after a stint as a professional ice skater and a little time in NYC, and many people know him after his WAYYYYY too early exit from Top Chef season 7. (He was way too nice to point fingers, but his partner on his final competition refused to cook the pasta early enough, and although the judges loved the taste of their dish, they were both eliminated because the pasta was too al dente. )

Arnold has a passion for international food, as is evidenced in his four Nashville restaurants…PM, Suzy Wong’s House of Yum, AM@FM (Arnold Myint at Farmer’s Market), and now blvd nashville, the metamorphasis of Cha-chah, which he closed last fall to renovate and transform into a bistro/bar/market. I loved Cha-chah, but Myint recognized that the concept wasn’t a perfect fit for Nashville, thus the reorganization, and in my opinion, it’s a home run!

Thankfully, our friends joined us before I ate the entire basket of bread and we began ordering. The warm brussels sprout salad…thankfully kept on the menu from Cha-chah, “le french fries”, a perfectly crisp stack of hand cut fries with six choices of coatings (We opted for the hickory salt and pepper, but I can’t wait to try some of the others, like the truffle oil and chive, or madras spiced curry), and the lamb meatballs. The portions are large enough to share, so we plopped them down in the middle of the table and enjoyed. And enjoyed. When the waiter came to take our orders, we were stuffed, but still ordered the salmon and grits (rare but crispy, with grits and a drizzle of Tobasco gastrique), mashed parsnips (a parsnip/potato mash that I was happy to see on the menu after trying it at a fundraiser at Cha-chah last year), and wilted greens (yummy arugula, lightly wilted, highly flavorful).


Photo from The Tennessean

I honestly loved every bite. We ate until we couldn’t eat any more. But I will be back. There were many menu items I still want to try…Walnut Gnocchi, Quinoa Falafel Wrap, Tuna Nicoise sandwich. There were many yummy looking dishes for you meat eaters out there as well, Cassoulet, Shepard’s Pie, Steak Frites, Croque Monsieur, etc. Also, it’s nice to know that their food comes from many local artisans and vendors. The only negative I could possibly say is that they were out of the premium chardonnay by the glass. But to be honest, the house chardonnay was just fine.

I wish I had taken photos of the interior…the warm picnic tables with cushioned chairs, the cozy seating area in front, or the exterior wood, which all combine to make a very inviting, stylish, charming atmosphere. I wouldn’t expect any less from Arnold.

celebrities, Empty Nest, Food, recipes, Top Chef, travel

Cruising with Top Chef!

October 9, 2018 elisha 4 Comments

I am a Top Chef fan. I’m talking, big, HUGE, annoyingly fanatical. I own all 10 seasons of Top Chef, 4 seasons of Top Chef Masters, and 2 seasons of Top Chef Just Desserts (eh, not nearly as good, but when there are no new regular shows, I watch it). I watch them over and over again. I listen to them when I’m jogging. I can’t explain it. I just love the show. I love the personalities in the kitchen. I learn something new every time I re-watch an episode. But unfortunately, none of my close friends watch it with me. I’ve had to turn to bloggers and recaps for my after-show discussions.

So last fall, when I saw there was going to be a cruise, not just any cruise, but TOP CHEF THE CRUISE!, I started working on J to go with me. After multiple discussions (begging), he finally cracked. He had no desire to a) cruise, or b) cruise with me dragging him to Top Chef events. So in order to get me to shut up, he offered to pay for me to take a friend for my birthday/anniversary present.

I didn’t really care which chefs were going to be on board, to be honest. I just thought any kind of Top Chef related events would be really fun. But I have to say, the chefs that participated couldn’t have been better. Not sure if Bravo hand selected them, or if their schedules worked out to allow them to come, or they had new cookbooks they wanted to promote (it was probably a combination of the three), but hosts Tom and Gail, Masters Hubert Keller and Tim Love, and past winners and contestants Richard Blais, Chris Crary (Malibu Chris), Tiffany Derry (“I’m from Beaumont, Texas”), Mike Isabella, Kristen Kish, Spike Mendelson, Paul Qui, Hosea Rosenberg, Angelo Sosa, Casey Thompson, Fabio Viviani, Brooke Williamson, and Top Chef Just Desserts winners Yigit Pura and Chris Hanmer were on board with 2,000 other top chef fans...just like me!

Me and C 24 years ago and now

It’s hard to explain, but when my girlfriend, C (who I last cruised with as a single girl 24 YEARS ago) and I joined a dinner table with eight other Top Chef fans who became our new best friends for the duration of the cruise (well, 6 fans and 2 ‘drag-alongs’ like C who had never watched an episode), I felt like I had been dropped into heaven. We spent the first night talking about the chefs, the seasons, the episodes, their restaurants, their drama…all while C and the other drag-alongs looked at us like we were speaking Greek. I was surprised that the chefs were mingling with us, enjoying the cruise (some of them really enjoying the cocktails!), taking photos, signing books, dancing, etc. I thought they’d stay in their VIP quarters, come out to do quickfires and other events, but stay away from all the fans. But they were out there, lapping it up. Someone pointed out to me that they were huge celebrities to us, but maybe not to most of America, so maybe they were enjoying the attention. I still think it must have been tiring, or annoying at times, but they were always very gracious.

After dinner the first night we attended a Cocktail Party and DJ set led by Hubert Keller…and there’s no way to explain the pure joy on his face as he played Electronic and Top 40 songs until the wee hours. It was so cool to see this master of cuisine (who hosted the first quickfire of the first season of Top Chef, by the way) relax and enjoy himself like that!

Thanks to the Hollywood Reporter for this pic

As we tired of dancing we made our way to the bar for a drink and snapped some photos with Fabio, Mike, and Angelo, who were also definitely enjoying themselves.

Something weird happened to my biological clock that weekend, because we didn’t make it to bed until 3 a.m….and that was the earliest we made it back for the rest of the cruise! Thus began our pattern of going to bed late, getting up early to squeeze in a workout (a necessity because of the sheer amount of food we ate!), relaxing during the day, and starting our adventures at night. Since we had late seating, we normally attended the Top Chef “entertainment” at 6, then whatever was going on after dinner…we were there. The dinners were, for the most part, incredible. We had our choice of selecting items from the regular cruise menu, or dishes that were designed by three of the chefs onboard. As the cruise progressed, and we realized how good the Top Chef recipes were, we all started ordered two or three each of the appetizers, entrees and desserts…just to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Thanks to Tim Love, whose lobster cake was my hands down favorite. I could have eaten that every night!

The first night’s quickfire was with Casey, Richard, Hosea, Malibu Chris, Spike and Kristen for our group, and the next night we had the much rowdier group-Fabio, Angelo, Mike, Brooke, Tiffany, Paul and Chris H. The second day our quickfire was AFTER dinner which, according to Fabio, “…having this quickfire at 11:30 after our captain’s dinner, was a BIG mistake.”

Fabio at the late night quickfire

They had obviously enjoyed their captain’s dinner, but Fabio, Mike and Angelo had started their celebration around lunchtime surrounded by their closest fans all day at the pool. I had decided my mission was to be selected to join one of them on stage (they chose audience members to “sous” with the chefs during the quickfires). So thanks to C cheering me on, I made a fool of myself, jumped up and down in the aisle and Fabio pointed to me and said, “OK, sparkly dress, YOU.” So me and my sparkly dress joined Mike at the quickfire table, where he gave me a giant can of dented artichokes and an old rusty can opener and I spent most of my time onstage opening a can. So much for showing off my mad kitchen skills.

That evening was filled with so much heckling (the chefs who weren’t cooking were sitting in a box above the stage), f-bombs, and questionable actions that they never aired it on the in-cabin TVs, which they were doing 24 hours a day…just re-ran the calmer, less fun group’s challenges. I laughed so hard I don’t even remember what Mike cooked. I think I chopped a few things, but I honestly don’t remember. I do know I’ll probably never forget that night!

Angelo was having so much fun in the lounge, dancing to Salsa music. I was standing at the bar, watching, kind of moving to the beat, when he came over, and grabbed my hand. I proceeded to try to follow him, but since I have NO ability to salsa, I looked pretty stupid. Oh well.

The third night was a deck party with Tom Collichio’s friend Milton and his band. They were great, but it was even better when Tom came out and joined them wearing a Panama Hat and looking cool. He strapped on a guitar and played and sang a few songs to the crowd of adoring fans, whose cheers rivaled those for any major rock star. He was actually really good!

Our day at sea was spent recovering in a lounge chair by the pool while the chefs rotated all day long, doing cooking demos, and Q&A sessions. Their banter with each other is really adorable. They seem to all get along and respect each other, but it’s funny when they give each other s&*t! I managed to oversleep and miss both autograph sessions, but lugged the six new cookbooks I bought on board with me all day (some of them not released yet) and snagged an autograph whenever I could grab someone. On the last day I had all the signatures except Angelo’s. I was walking down to shower after working out and spotted Angelo (a beautiful man, by the way) sitting in the jacuzzi, all by himself. He looked at me, nodded, and said hello. So I promptly pulled his book out of my bag to have him sign it. I was struggling to act cool, because I don’t normally do well with celebrities. I thought I did OK, though, until I walked into the cabin, glanced in the mirror and realized I had something hanging out of my nose. So I’m sure I made a lovely impression on the lovely Angelo!

Of the cookbooks I purchased, Fabio’s Italian Kitchen, Mike’s Crazy Good Italian, and Tim Love’s Journal were the ones I read from cover to cover. Angelo’s Flavor Exposed is beautiful and his passion for food and flavors shines throughout, and the recipes are sophisticated and easy to follow. The chefs were all very gracious and accommodating, and other than the ones who brought their small children with them, spent a large amount of time socializing and enjoying the cruise. I’m not a huge cruise fan, but have done a few of them through the years. I think being on board with so many like-minded people made all the difference in the world. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Hosea

Tiffany…love her!

Malibu Chris

Richard

Paul

My beautiful friend who now might watch Top Chef with me!

daughters, Food, north carolina, recipes, Vegetarian

Summer, Friends, and Breakfast Pizza

October 9, 2018 elisha Leave a comment

I’m still here!!! Whew. The last 3-4 months have been a blur. I won’t bore you with details, but in short, H is now a high school graduate! The last few months of school for her were a combination of frantic studying, finding out which colleges she was accepted to, deciding where to go (which involved a few repeat trips on both sides of the country), planning an Operation Smile fundraising concert without much help, and graduation. Combine all that with the inevitable “senior slide” and it made for a pretty tense situation in our household. All I can say now is that I feel like I have my sweet daughter back. When she took her last AP exam a week before school was out, it was like a fresh breeze was flowing through our house. She exempted out of all her final exams so the stress of picking out a college and maintaining her grades was gone. I can’t tell you the feeling of relief we all felt.

Graduation…the white gowns were lovely

J has been dreaming and planning for the day after H’s graduation for the last four years! I still can’t believe we’re actually living the dream. We’re not quite ready for the whole shebang, which is making North Carolina our home base and downsizing in Nashville, but we’re able to spend a lot more time in NC. We finally moved into our new house. J likes to say it’s the home he’s going to die in, but hopefully not for a very long time! H was in a little town about half an hour down the mountain where she was doing lifeguard training and orientation for being a camp counselor at Keystone Camp where she spent many summers as a little girl. She had not seen the new house in quite a long time. She called up one night because they had the night off and wondered if she could bring a few friends up for dinner. Of course, I was thrilled. I didn’t think I’d get to see her at all for a couple of weeks. She used to love Lake Toxaway. But in the last few years, being an only child in a retirement community with lots of old people and no teenagers is not fun. She didn’t have a lot of expectations for the house because she didn’t think she’d have much use for it since she’s going off to college in California. But when she came in with her friends, she was so excited, which in turn, made us ecstatic! She even says that she would come here when she’s got a break from college!

Keystone Camp Counselors

After her orientation she had about three weeks to spend with us. She had one friend from Nashville come up for a couple of weeks and it was so great to have that time with her, and see her relaxed and happy. She had 9 Adventure Treks friends (the backpacking, climbing, camping trips she experienced the last two summers) come to the house for a long weekend “reunion”. I was a little nervous about cooking for 5 boys, much less 10 kids, but it worked out great. The kids were great, the food was consumed and they even cleaned up before they left. Great memories!

Yes, I fed these guys for four days!

AT kids enjoying the Brown Trout, our favorite

But by far the best part of my summer so far was a week of just the three of us. H even wanted to spend time with us, which was a rarity a few months ago. In less than two months she will leave the nest for a new college life in California, so I am treasuring these moments. She never looked at a single college in the vicinity of Tennessee or North Carolina, so I am used to the idea of her leaving, but I think when we actually drive away after orientation I will be a basket case. In the meantime, I am enjoying every moment I can get.

Hiking together…just like old times!

Rosie and Sugar love the lake!

Here’s a recipe for the breakfast pizza I made one morning. It’s easy, pretty, and healthy, and I used to make it whenever Halle had friends over. Her AT friends inhaled it before they made scrambled eggs and bacon (and cleaned up after themselves…a miracle!)

BREAKFAST PIZZA

One roll of refrigerated pizza dough
Lowfat cream cheese
Lite Cool Whip
Assorted fruit (Berries, Bananas, Kiwi all work great, but use your imagination)
Cinnamon Sugar (I make my own so I can adjust the amounts of cinnamon and sugar)

Roll out the dough onto an ungreased nonstick baking pan. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar. Bake at recommended temperature until very lightly browned (don’t let it get too done or the pizza will be too tough and hard to cut). Slide out of baking pan onto cutting board to cool.

Mix about 1-1 1/2 cups of Cool Whip with a half cup of cream cheese until spreadable. Spread onto cooled pizza crust to the edges. Slice fruit as desired and layer over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar. I usually slice it into squares for serving.

Food, nutrition, recipes, Vegetarian

Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Updated Veggie Meat Loaf…SOOOO Good!

March 1, 2012 elisha Leave a comment

Last year I posted a vegetarian meatloaf that I made for my vegetarian daughter that even my red-meat loving husband would eat. Shortly afterwards, my husband and I gave up meat as well, so the vegetarian meatloaf has become a staple in our house. Without the fat from ground beef, the soy crumbles just didn’t want to stick together. It wasn’t pretty, but it was delicious. I have tinkered with the recipe over the last few months to try to keep it from falling apart after slicing, and last night it came out PERFECTLY! I’ve had several people ask for the recipe lately, so I’m posting the latest version.

Vegetarian Meat Loaf

*Click HERE for printable recipe

Ingredients
* 1/4 cup Bullseye Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce
* 3/4 cup Heinz Ketchup
* 1 (12 ounce) package vegetarian burger crumbles
* 1 red, yellow, or green bell pepper, chopped
* 1 minced red onion
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
* 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
* 1 egg, beaten (or 2 egg whites)
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried parsley)
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 5×9 inch loaf pan.
2. Heat saute pan over medium low heat, add 1 TBSP of olive oil and saute the onion, peppers, and garlic (seasoned with salt and pepper) until soft and translucent.
3. In a bowl, mix together the barbecue sauce and the ketchup. Mix 3/4 of the mixture with the vegetarian burger crumbles, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and egg. Add the onion mixture. Season with thyme, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Transfer to the loaf pan (sprayed with olive oil), and press down to make it as compact as possible.

3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Pour remaining barbecue sauce over the loaf, and continue baking 15 minutes, or until loaf is set and sauce is heated.

I buy these crumbles at Publix, in the produce section where the Tofu is…other stores carry different brands and they’re all pretty similar.

I also made Brussel Sprouts. I think Brussel Sprouts are the new Sun-Dried Tomatoes. They are EVERYWHERE! Top Chef, Magazines, Restaurants…every menu I’ve looked at lately has them. I think chefs have finally figured out how to cook them. The boiling and steaming that we did 20 years ago just intensified the rubber shoe taste, so I was firmly in the ‘I DON’T LIKE BRUSSEL SPROUTS’ camp. But a couple of years ago I tried some at ChaCha’s restaurant here in Nashville, and my eyes were opened to the yumminess that comes from letting them caramelize, and sweeten, thus eliminating the bitterness of the past.

My problem in cooking them is since we are meat-free in our house now, I had to find a way to cook them without the bacon drippings that made them so good. I’ve tried roasting them a couple of times, but didn’t use enough oil (my go-to spray on Pam wasn’t sufficient), so they just dried up and didn’t taste like anything. Last night I didn’t spray the oil on, I tossed them with 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil. (I had a pretty big bunch of sprouts…it doesn’t take a whole lot of oil, just enough to lightly coat them). While they were roasting at 350 degrees (cut side up for 20 minutes, then cut side down for the rest of the time), I sauteed a large red onion with garlic, pine nuts and rosemary, then tossed them together and voila…they were amazing! Almost as good as the huge bowl I ate at ABC Kitchen in NYC this week! My husband and daughter, who have not jumped on the brussel sprouts bandwagon with me, even ate a couple, which was a success in my book. They didn’t eat a lot, but that just meant…more for me!

I use small brussel sprouts, pull off the outer edges, trim the stem a little and cut in half.

Food, recipes, Vegetarian

Baked Kale Chips!

February 29, 2012 elisha Leave a comment

My grandmother lost her eyesight early in life due to a combination of Macular Degeneration and Glaucoma. My mom has had Glaucoma for several years, and was just diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. So I’m on a mission to do whatever I can to prevent the same thing from happening to me. I did some research and found that other than not smoking, diet is one of the best ways to help prevent MD. I have a pretty good diet. I eat a lot of vegetables and greens, but the really healthy DARK leafy greens that have been recommended to prevent Macular Degeneration, like Kale, have been harder to fit in my diet. I don’t really like the bitter taste of raw Kale. But a couple of weeks ago, we ordered a flatbread at Table 3 restaurant. It was topped with “Kale Chips”, which were to DIE for, but of course, they were fried. I’m a southern girl, so I love fried vegetables, but I wanted to try to replicate them without all the fat.

I found a recipe for baked Kale chips, which involved tossing them with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. The problem with that method was that I ended up with half of the leaves covered with oil and the other half had little or no oil on it. I tried putting it in a ziploc bag and shaking it up, but it still didn’t come out even. So I pulled out my trusty can of PAM Olive oil spray. Voila! It was so easy to put a light coating on all the pieces on a baking sheet, then sprinkle with a little kosher salt and bake slowly for about 20 minutes or so. The only caveat is that, depending on your oven, you really have to watch them the last couple of minutes. If you cook them too long, they get a little bit burned, so the taste isn’t quite as good. If you don’t cook them long enough, they’re still limp, and not crispy.

This is how I did it. First, after rinsing the kale and COMPLETELY DRYING IT (I rinse and then lay out on layers of paper towels while I cook dinner), I take each piece of kale and fold it over so that I can easily cut off the stem.

I preheat the oven to 300 degrees, then tear the pieces into approximately equal size and lay out on a large baking sheet pan that I prepare by spraying with Olive Oil. I spray the tops of the leaves lightly but evenly with Olive Oil, then sprinkle with Kosher Salt.

You could use any kind of seasoning you like. The leaves will shrink, so be careful with the amount of salt, but in my opinion, the salty crunchiness makes it really good! For the first pan of chips, I set the timer for 18 minutes. Then I taste a chip to see if it’s crunchy.

Finished chips…this batch needed a lot of taste testing before they were done!

Usually I need to let them cook at least two more minutes, but I have learned that I need to watch very carefully during this time. Once they start to get crunchy they can very quickly burn. Some days they cook faster than others. I don’t know what that’s about…maybe some days I don’t get them as dry as I should. If, after 20-22 minutes they are still not crunchy, I turn off the oven and let me stay for a little while. But they can still burn so I have to continue to check on them.

After you make these a few times it becomes much easier…I usually cook them while I’m chopping other things, or piddling around in the kitchen, so it goes very quickly. I leave them uncovered in a bowl or platter for several days so I can grab a handful throughout the day. Don’t wrap them or put them in plastic, or they’ll lose their crunch.

Food, nutrition, recipes, Vegetarian

The search for easy Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

January 1, 2012 elisha Leave a comment

Almost a year ago, my daughter decided to become a vegetarian. While I respected the motivation behind her decision, I was a little bit worried about how I was going to feed my family. We had finally gotten to a place where I could make ONE dinner and everyone would eat it. But my husband does not think it’s a meal unless some form of meat is present. Fortunately, H will eat fish, but unfortunately, Jeff only ate swordfish, shrimp and lobster. Oh, and fried catfish at Sportsman’s Grille. Fast forward a year, H is still a pesca-vegetarian (eating only fish), J has added Trout, Tuna, Scallops and Halibut to his list of edible seafood, and I’ve found the best places to buy seafood in Nashville (not an easy task since we’re 8 hours from the nearest ocean).

But I can’t serve fish every night. Sometimes I have to make vegetarian chili (added meat to J’s), vegetarian pasta, and I am learning how to prepare tofu. The only experience we have had eating Tofu was the vegetarian lettuce wraps at PF Changs. And to be honest, it’s hard to tell the difference between their tofu wraps and the chicken wraps. I found a recipe online for the PF Chang’s version, but both times I made them the tofu just tasted blah…and the texture wasn’t the same. Plus, after mixing together the marinade, the cooking sauce, and the dipping sauce, and chopping up the vegetables and tofu, my kitchen looked like Haiti probably looks this morning. (Small pause for a prayer for those victims).

So I have been experimenting with the recipe, and last night I made a much better, easier version of the above recipe. I think the key is how to prepare the tofu before stir-frying. I start with a block of firm tofu, drained, and put it on a stack of 5 or 6 paper towels. Then I top it with another few paper towels and put something heavy on top (a heavy pan, a plate with a teapot full of water, etc.) After about 20 minutes, I turn the tofu over, replace with a couple more paper towels (I know, bad for the environment), and repeat the process for another 10-15 minutes. Then I thinly dice it, put it on a roasting pan sprayed with cooking spray, and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, stirring halfway through. THEN, I marinate it. When tofu is warm, it supposedly takes the marinade flavors better. When I put the recipe together about 30 minutes before dinner, the tofu got really nice and chewy and very flavorful.

So here’s the recipe:

Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

Marinade:
4 Tbsp. Soy sauce (low sodium)
2 Tbsp. Rice Wine
1 TBsp. Rice Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 Tbsp. lime juice

Mix above together and cover prepared tofu for 1-2 hours, or longer before stir frying.

Filling:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, or soy crumbles (see note)
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 small can water chestnuts, finely chopped
1/2 bag broccoli slaw mixture
2 Tbsp. canola, sesame or peanut oil
1/4 cup of Iron Chef Honey Garlic stir fry and marinade sauce (or similar bottled sauce)
Iceberg, Boston Bibb or Butter Lettuce Leaves

Heat oil in wok over medium heat, add drained, marinated tofu and stir fry 15-20 minutes, stirring gently until browned. You can see below how the tofu “pops” as it browns.

Remove from pan, and add remaining ingredients. Stir fry for 5 minutes until veggies begin to soften. Add a little bit of reserved marinade to deglaze if needed. Stir fry for a few more minutes as veggies continue to soften, then add stir fry sauce. Stir until veggies are done and sauce is warm. Add tofu and stir. Serve with Iceberg, Boston Bibb or Butter Lettuce leaves.

Dipping Sauce:
Lettuce Wrap Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoons chopped green onions

Combine all ingredients and serve with lettuce wraps.

NOTE: Sometimes I don’t feel like going to the trouble of draining the tofu, so I substitute Soy Crumbles. There are many different brands, but they can be found in the produce department, where you buy tofu and other vegetarian meat-type products. They have the consistency of ground beef and work very well in this recipe because they soak up the taste of the stir fry sauce.