Restaurants & Recipes

I like trying new restaurants. I collect business cards from each. I also love to cook. 
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Clams in Cherry Tomato Garlic Sauce

A recent post-Sunday football meal: cherrystone clams steamed in a cherry tomato, white wine and garlic sauce

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Filed under  //   Dinner   Recipe   Yes  

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Perfect Breakfast Bran Muffin

 

After channeling Paula Deen's Butter Love (PDBL) in my last post, I thought I'd make a batch of healthier muffins, versatile enough to handle different kinds of mix-ins and flavorful enough to simply stand on their own.  

This bran muffin recipe comes from one of the most health conscious people I know.  Fortunately, this girl also loves good food, good wine and thinks developing new flavors for Ben & Jerry's would be a dream job.  So you can be assured these muffins will achieve two goals: good nutrition and good taste!

I made three versions with this most recent batch - plain, with chocolate chips and with currants.  You could also include nuts or raisins to add a little protein and different flavors.  As with the PDBL Pecan Pie Muffins, I froze the leftovers for easy weekday breakfast options.

Ingredients:
1.5 c bran cereal (not flakes - I used Fiber One)
1.5 c Bran flakes
1/3 c unsweeted apple sauce
1 c hot water
2 eggs
1 c whole wheat flour
1.5c reg. flour
1 c sugar (I go lighter on this and they still taste great)
2 Tb canola oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tb + 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 c lowfat buttermilk (or, mix 1 T vinegar with ~ 1c skim milk) 
2 Tb cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly coat muffin tin with oil.  Place all ingredients in large mixing bowl and stir until blended - don't overmix.  Fill tins 1/2 to 3/4 full, bake for 25 min.  Allow to cool a little for easier removal.  Batter will keep in fridge up to 1 month.

Yield: 24 muffins  


 

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Filed under  //   Breakfast   Recipe   Yes  

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Pecan Pie Muffin Recipe

My friend Danielle made these pecan pie muffins for me and a group of girlfriends over the summer and I fell in love at first bite.  Served warm, they were slightly crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside, just like a pecan pie should be.  I recently made a batch, served a few for dessert with vanilla ice cream and put the rest in the freezer for an on-the-go weekday breakfast option.  I substituted almonds and walnuts in part of the batch because I ran out of pecans and they turned out just as good.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Bake for 25 minutes
Yield: 6-8 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
1/2 cup flour
2 larges eggs (beaten until foamy)
1/2 cup butter (melted)

Directions:
Mix pecans, brown sugar and flour together is a large bowl
Make a well in the mixture
Whip eggs with a whisk until foamy
Add room temperature melted butter to eggs
Pour liquid mixture into the well in your dry ingredients and mix until just combined
Fill muffin cups almost to the top (muffins do not rise very much in oven)

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Filed under  //   Breakfast   Brunch   Dessert   Recipe   Yes  

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On my to-do list: Chocolate Raspberry Tiered Cake

All my favorite colors in one photo: Tiffany blue, raspberry red and CHOCOLATE! I want to make this cake ASAP.

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Filed under  //   Dessert   Recipe   To-Do List  

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Pasta alla Norma - The Amateur Gourmet

September 13, 2009 Update: Although this dish was delicious (and quite easy to make), it was not the same Pasta alla Norma to which I am accustomed from Otto.  We modified the recipe slightly by adding chicken sausage (for protein).  We also made a red onion and red pepper foccacia (using fresh dough from the pizza place across the street) with olive oil, thyme, rosemary, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

I love the Pasta alla Norma at Otto and will be making this dish at some point this fall.

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Filed under  //   Dinner   No   Recipe   To-Do List  

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Our healthy at-home version: Piquillo-Pepper Num Pangs Recipe | Food & Wine

We went to Num Pang Sandwich Shop for its opening weekend in March. Here's an excerpt from our review:

Although the sandwiches are tiny, they are delicious! We shared three: peppercorn catfish, veal meatballs and grilled skirt steak. They all had shredded carrots, cilantro and some sort of mayo-based sauce. Needless to say, they were incredibly flavorful and even though the seating was limited, we managed to squeeze into the upstairs bar.

So when I saw this recipe and remembered how much we loved the sandwiches, I had to try it.  I may never go back to the restaurant again : )

Although we didn't use butter, piquillo peppers or cilantro (none of which we had on hand), the sandwich still had tons of flavor!  We substituted low-fat mayo and added grilled chicken and arugula for a little extra veg + spice.

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Filed under  //   Dinner   Food & Wine   Num Pang   Recipe   Sandwich  

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Cousin Brunch

We hosted a Sunday brunch picnic for DG's cousins. We made a ham and cheese puff, a more-veg-than-egg frittata with broccoli, red peppers and sundried tomatoes (courtesy of Mark Bittmam at the New York Times) and "sunny morning" muffins with blueberries, bananas, strawberries and walnuts.

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Filed under  //   Brunch   Cooking   Recipe  

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Nantucket Scallop Sandwich

Our (healthier) version of the Impudent Oyster's Nantucket Scallop Sandwich - can't wait to have the real thing in a few weeks!

*Note: the Impudent Oyster is one of (if not the best) restaurant on Cape Cod.  This is not just my opinion.  It is also in one of the most quintessential New England towns.  This is also not just my opinion.  I worked here for a few summers while I was in college.

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Filed under  //   Cape Cod   Chatham   Impudent Oyster   MA   Recipe  

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