Roasted Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad

When I saw this on Pinterest I knew I had to make it. ASAP.

I love goat cheese and I just happened to have a lot in the house right now. Perfect timing!

The idea to roast strawberries had been on my mind for the past few weeks now. If you read How Sweet It Is (one of my favorite blogs that I read daily!) I'm sure you know Jessica is on a roasted strawberry kick...Roasted Strawberry, Brie and Chocolate Grilled Cheese. Like REALLY?? She is amazing.

You know what was also amazing?

The roasted strawberries.

They definitely soften in the oven but the taste of them is like a super enhanced sweet strawberry. So yum.

I will be eating this salad every day for the next month...year...who knows :)

Recipe adapted from Nest and Sparkle and inspired by How Sweet It Is

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

**I  only made a single serving of this which is why nothing is measured out**

• Fresh baby spinach leaves
• Toasted sliced almonds
• Crumbled goat cheese
• Roasted fresh, sliced strawberries
• Canola oil
• Salt
• Poppy seed dressing - homemade or store bought

Pre heat your oven to 375 F.

Wash and slice your strawberries. Coat with canola oil and season with salt.

Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

While the strawberries are roasting toast your almonds over low heat.

In a bowl add the spinach leaves, crumbled goat cheese and almonds. Top with roasted strawberries and poppy seed dressing.

HOW GOOD WAS THAT??

Turkey Bolognese

I found this cook book on Amazon.

If you are familiar with the Boston area you know that the North End is the place to go for Italian food. This book is all authentic recipes from Italian families who came from Italy to Boston. I like it because the recipes are easy to make and have simple yet fresh and flavorful ingredients.

I decided to try the bolognese sauce and use ground turkey instead of a ground beef/pork mix because I had the turkey in the house.

As expected this sauce was easy to make and there is a lot of room to experiment with your own ingredients. Next time I am going to use a little less red pepper flakes - it was a little too spicy! 

Be prepared to feed and army. This recipe makes a HUGE batch of sauce. Luckily it get's even better as leftovers the next day :) It would also be amazing in a lasagna or baked ziti dish.

Recipe adapted from The North End Italian Cookbook

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1  lb cooked pasta
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1  lb ground turkey
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  small onion, diced
• 1  tablespoon each: dried basil, dried mint, red pepper flakes
• 1  6 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1  cup dry white wine
• 1 28 ounce can of peeled tomatoes
• 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pot. Add the ground turkey and cook over high heat until partially browned - stir/break up the meat often with a wooden spoon.

While the meat is browning dice your onion and mince your garlic.

When the meat is browned add the onion, garlic and seasonings.

Continuing cooking until the meat is a little crisp on the bottom. Lower the heat and add the tomato paste. Stir constantly until incorporated.

Add the wine. Cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

Add the peeled tomatoes. Keep stirring over medium-high heat until bubbling.

Lower the heat and adjust seasonings. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring every few minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Simmer for another 5 minutes.

See I told you it makes enough to feed an army!!

Add the cooked pasta and mix gently.

Serve with some cheesy garlic bread...and a nice BIG glass of wine!!

FYI...This sauce freezes really well too!

Linguine with Clams

When I was younger my neighbor and close family friend used to make linguini with clams. It was such a treat because we never had it at home (my sister is allergic to shellfish).

When I came across a recipe for it on Live Love Pasta I knew I had to try to make my own. I was even more excited when I realized the recipe originally came from one of The Pioneer Woman's cookbooks. I just love Ree so much!

I'm happy to say the recipe was a success! The pictures however are kind of boring - there just isn't much color in this dish and I am not a photographer. Still, it is worth making!

Recipe from Live Love Pasta

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 2 10 ounce cans of clams, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup white wine (any kind you like)
• 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound of whole wheat linguine 
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the linguini according to the package directions. 

**Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining**

While the pasta is cooking...

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and clams, cook for about 3 minutes. 

Pour in the wine and stir, deglazing the bottom of your pan. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, until the wine has started to reduce. Lower the heat and add the juice of 1 lemon and the remaining butter.  Cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add heavy cream, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook just until heated through.

Add the pasta and toss to coat. Add the pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce. 

Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

So easy and so flavorful!! I wouldn't expect much else from a recipe that came from Ree :)

Corn Salsa

Are you ready for Cinco de Mayo?

I sure am...Bring on the margaritas!

And sombreros.

Here's a quick salsa perfect it you need to throw something together last minute. You shouldn't be drinking all that tequila on an empty stomach anyway :)

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 12oz bag of frozen corn, defrosted and drained
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium-sized jalapeños, seeds removed and diced *
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 limes 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

**You can can also use fresh corn. Either cut it directly off the cob or roast it on the grill then cut it off**

**If you want an extra spicy salsa keep some of the seeds from the jalapeños**

Chop your red onion, jalapeños, and cilantro.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the corn.

Saute the corn until it starts to turn brown.

Mix the corn, onion, jalapeños, and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Squeeze in the juice of the 2 limes and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with tortilla chips!

Have a happy Cinco De Mayo weekend!!

Toasted Almond Parmesan Dip

I made this in early April when I went to my parents house for dinner with Jaime but have been slacking on posting it on here...typical.

I don't have much to say about this one except it is so simple to make and absolutely delicious! How could it not be when it is coming from Jessica at How Sweet It Is?? I literally drool over every single one of her recipes and am constantly bookmarking them to try out!

Do me a favor? Make this...SOON. 

Thanks.

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 6 ounces  light cream cheese
• 2 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup sliced toasted almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Toast the sliced almonds over a low heat until the start to turn brown. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a bowl, combine cream cheese, mascarpone, parmesan and 1/2 cup of the almonds.  

Mix to combine, then press into a baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with remaining almonds. Serve with crackers or pita chips and dig in! 

This will be gone in about 2.5 seconds.

Guest Blog Post: Eva Longoria's Chunky Guacamole with Baked Tortilla Chips

I am really excited because today I got to do another guest post on my good friend Jaime's blog - La vie...J'aime.


In honor of Cinco de Mayo which is coming up on Saturday I have made Eva Longoria's Chunky Guacamole recipe along with some homemade baked tortilla chips!

I first tried Eva's guacamole at her restaurant Beso in Las Vegas. Here's a picture of some of my co-workers/amazing friends during our dinner!

So head on over to Jaime's blog to get the recipe and let me know what you think!


Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Dinner at Tremont 647

My friend Jaime and I bought a fantastic deal on Gilt City!

$50 for two appetizer, 2 entrees and one dessert to share at Tremont 647 in Boston's South End.

I've been wanting to try Tremont 647 since my friends and I met Chef Andy Husbands at a concert at Fenway last summer. He won us right over with his pulled pork samples. SO GOOD.

Fenway Park Summer 2011

Let me tell you. This meal did not disappoint. Every single thing we ate was perfectly cooked and full of flavor - drinks included! 

Tremont 647 changes up their menu pretty frequently so I cannot wait to get back there and see what else they are cooking up.

 I wish more restaurants did deals like this because it is the perfect opportunity to get new customers to come in and try their food. As I said before, Tremont 647 was already on my list of restaurants to try but deals like this are great ways to discover new restaurants as well!

Here's some pictures of what we got...

First impression - Loved the menu!

For my drink I got the Raspberry Vodka Gimlet made with house infused raspberry vodka. I usually don't drink raspberry vodka after one too many cocktails made with raspberry smirinoff in college but I think I am in love with this drink. It tasted just like fresh raspberries!

Jaime got the Gypsy which is gin, St. Germain, Yellow Chartreuse, and lime. I had a taste and it was also delicious!

I love the open kitchen and Chef Andy Husbands was right in the middle of the action as well as serving meals and talking to customers. That right there makes me want to go back again!

I am not exactly sure what this spread was with the bread but I'm guessing a white bean puree with a tiny hint of curry in it.

Yum. Yum. YUM.

Jaime and I have very similar tastes so she is one of my favorite people to go out to dinner with. When we saw asparagus with a friend egg on top I don't even think there was a discussion. Fried egg on top of anything. Sold.

This appetizer was topped off with just enough parmesan cheese to not overpower any of the other ingredients.

Next up...BACON TOAST.

I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and be completely happy.

There was even some avocado hidden underneath all that bacon.

For my entree I had a pork chop over creamy polenta. It was so good but there is no way I could finish a pork chop of that size! They do not skimp on portions here!!

Jaime had a fish entree (I forget the name!) that was perfectly cooked and so yummy. We were too busy eating that I forgot to snap a picture.

When we saw stuffed tater tots under side dishes we knew we had to try at least one! They switch up the type of cheese they use to stuff these and this one had fontina in it. It's really cool because it looks like a giant tater tot but the inside it is more like a cheesy hash brown.

Go try one!

And last...dessert! By this point we were beyond full but who turns down banana cream pie with a side of chocolate bacon bark? That's right. No one.

The pie was light and had the perfect banana flavor. And the bacon bark...well it was exactly how you thought it would be. AMAZING. The bacon flavor was subtle and you could see the small pieces of bacon within the chocolate. There were some toasted nuts and caramel on top too. 

Perfect ending to a perfect meal :)

So now you must go to Tremont 647 and try it yourself! 

They offer 5 courses for $45 or 7 courses for $65 with optional wine parings if you would like to add that option as well. It's a great option to really get a taste of the menu!

If you want to take a little bit of Tremont 647 home with you check out Chef Andy Husbands and co-auther Chris Hart's book Wicked Good Barbecue: Fearless Recipes from Two Damn Yankees Who Have Won the Biggest, Baddest BBQ Competition in the World.

Here you can find different types of BBQ grills, rubs, cooking techniques and side dishes. You also get a sneak peek into the lives of these amazing chefs. These guys have won countles BBQ competitions including the coveted Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue!


I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of this before summer. Get the grills ready!