Roasted Acorn Squash Wedges

One thing I really love to do is host parties -- little dinner parties, superbowl parties, or simply just drinking get togethers. I love getting everyone together in the same place, prepping the food and drinks, and best of all, not having to leave my own apartment.

I hosted some of my best girlfriends for dinner the other night and wanted to make a healthy appetizer.  As you know, I love acorn squash and happened to have one in the kitchen.  I had recently seen this recipe for “Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges” on The Pioneer Woman – An awesome blog/site with a ton of really creative and versatile recipes. Definitely worth checking her page out!

Thank you, Pioneer Woman, for the recipe inspiration. I made a few tweaks based on what I had in my kitchen, but these turned out to be a great and easy appetizer to have out as everyone arrived.

My Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
1/4 stick butter
¼ cup Light Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Bragg’s Special Seasoning (has Rosemary in it)
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut your acorn squash in half, scoop out the insides, and cut each half into 4 equal wedges.  Drizzle all of the wedges lightly with EVOO so that each is lightly covered. Salt lightly and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

In a bowl, combine your butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and Bragg’s seasoning into a thick paste.  Next, take your squash out of the oven and dollop a spoonful of your paste into each wedge.  There should be a little paste leftover.

Pre-oven wedges:

Let the squash roast for another 15 minutes while the paste melts into a sauce across the slivers.  Pull the squash out and rub the sugary/butter sauce across the slivers while adding more as you see fit. Roast the squash for another 15 minutes.  I topped them off with a bit more Bragg’s and served them each with spoons.  They’re sweet and salty and buttery – yum!

Final product:

 

Cheers!

Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Maple Turkey Sausage and Arugula

Butternut squash is everywhere these days.  It’s extremely versatile, healthy, and really, really delicious.  Versatility is really key here – It can be sweet, salty, soft, hard, pureed, solid, and the list goes on. To give you an idea, here is BuzzFeed’s list of “31 Delicious New Ways to Cook Butternut Squash” :
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/31-delicious-new-ways-to-cook-butternut-squash

I picked up a butternut squash with the intention of making one of my favorite dishes – Butternut Squash soup.  After some googling, I stumbled upon a ton of Butternut Squash pasta sauce recipes. Pictures alone were enough to sell me – Butternut squash makes a beautiful and creamy-looking pasta sauce.  I always like to throw in some protein and greens, so I added maple turkey sausage and arugula.  I thought the sweetness of the maple would be a perfect complement to the butternut squash and the pepper of the arugula would give the sauce a little kick. The end result was a creamy, extremely filling, and salty, sweet pasta dish.

What you need:
1 Butternut Squash
1 package 16 oz. Lean Ground Turkey
1 cup chicken stock (plus extra for boiling)
3.5  tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 small white onion
1.5 tbsp pure maple syrup
Salt, Pepper, Bragg’s Sprinkle Seasoning
Parmesan Cheese
1 Box Penne Pasta ( or any pasta you want)

The Sauce:
Boil a combination of chicken stock and water (about 50/50).  Boiling the squash in the chicken stock will give it some extra flavor.  Peel and cube your butternut squash and boil it for about 15 mins.

Separately, chop up your onion and garlic.  In a large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil with the onion and garlic.  Add ½ cup of chicken stock and let it all simmer. Once your cubed butternut squash is tender, toss the squash into the pan and let it all simmer for about 5 minutes on low heat.  Throw the entire contents of your pan into your food processor, add in another ½ cup of chicken stock, and puree the mixture into a sauce. Season with salt, pepper, and Bragg’s.  Once you have a good consistency (you can add more chicken stock or water to loosen it up), return your sauce to your saucepan over low heat.

The Pasta:
Cook your box of pasta as directed on the box.

The Turkey & Arugula:
In a bowl, mix the ground turkey with the maple syrup.   In a saucepan, heat 1.5 tbsp EVOO and add the turkey.  Cook the turkey until it is fully brown – I like to keep it pretty chunky.  Add in the arugula and mix it all together on low heat.

Turkey/Arugula mix:

Mix the sauce, pasta, turkey, and arugula all together, top it off with parmesan cheese, and voila! Here’s a pictures of everything pre-mixed:

It all blended so well together. The sauce was creamy and salty, the subtle maple sweetness mixed throughout the sauce while the arugula added a little spice to it all. I’m not kidding you when I say this dish is filling.  The sauce/turkey combo could be enough on it’s own.  An easy and comforting winter meal. Yumyum!

Restaurant Review: Rosemary's

One more NYC restaurant review for you guys -- This was a good one that I absolutely recommend.

Rosemary’s, West Village
I had been eyeing Rosemary’s for awhile before I popped in on a Tuesday night. Luckily, there was no wait, but the restaurant was bumping.  First, I think the décor in this place is so cute – both the exterior and interior.  They do an excellent job of making the restaurant feel cozy and rustic. Not easy to do in a fairly large space with windows lining two of the walls. Rosemary’s is Italian and has rave reviews on their homemade pasta. The menu is really diverse, healthy and sustainable (they have a rooftop garden).

Red wine is always top of mind for me in an Italian restaurant.  Their wine menu is great AND they have a list where every bottle is $40 (they have a separate list for the $80 price range) – pretty amazing in NYC and great for a girl’s wine night. Per the recommendation of our waiter, we got a bottle of the ‘Valle d’Aosta’. It was a complex and smooth combination of a Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo. I was happy.

The dinner lineup:
Course #1: Calamari with celery, almond, raisins, chili oil
The portion was very, very small. The calamari was grilled and served in a really light sauce– probably a little too light. It was good, but I wish the chili sauce had had more flavor or spice.  I would probably pass on this.

Course #2:  Celery Caesar with anchovy, bread crumbs, parmigiano. This is a pleasant spin on the classic salad. I loved the crunchy celery. The dressing was perfectly peppery with a slight anchovy taste.

Course #3: It was really, really tough to choose just 2 of their pastas. We went with a gnocchi and cavatelli.
The gnocchi was served with mushroom ragu, black truffle, and parmigiano – I am a serious gnocchi and truffle lover so this was right up my alley. The gnocchi was doughy, plump, and delicious.  The mushroom ragu with truffle was salty and creamy and it was all topped with 3 large truffles. For only $20 this was a deal.

The Cavatelli came with braised beef flat iron, heirloom tomato sauce, and fresh cherry tomatoes. I can’t go to an Italian restaurant and not get tomato sauce on something.  The sauce was light and mixed well with the flaky beef. Pasta was perfectly al dente.  Both pastas were delicious (and perfectly portioned), but I have to say the gnocchi won out here. 

Course #4: For our final dish, we went with the Skirt Steak. It was served medium-rare with guanciale steak sauce, crispy fingerlings, and arugula.  Fingerlings and arugula are two of my favorite sides.  The meat was actually phenomenal – lean, flavorful, and juicy.  I’m tempted to use the word succulent here, but I think I hate that word.  The meat really stole the show which is not easy to do after 2 pasta dishes.

I can’t wait to go back to Rosemary’s.  I want to try their Orecchiette pasta and focaccia breads.  Rosemary’s is a relaxed, neighborhood restaurant with quality food, wine, and ambiance, and the prices are extremely reasonable.  It’s an easy, go-to, Italian spot for any occasion.

Gluten-Free Banana Apple Chocolate Chip Bread

I don’t know about you but when it’s cold out all I want is baked goods.  Banana bread is one of my ultimate favorites. There is really nothing better than a warm piece of homemade banana bread and it's super easy to make. I decided to put a few new spins on my banana bread today – making Gluten-Free Banana Apple Chocolate Chip Bread. My roommate is gluten-free, so I thought I would dabble with GF baking.

I added the apples and chocolate chips for a few reasons:
1. I had heard that GF flour can taste a bit different, so I figured any flavors to mask this wouldn’t hurt
2. I had also heard GF flour could be crumbly and dry – apple and chocolate would both help keep the bread more moist
3. I love apples and chocolate

This bread turned out just as heavenly as it’s gluten counterpart and was just as easy. It was moist with a slight hint of cinnamon, maple, and apple. And lots of chocolate.

What you’ll need:
4 very ripe bananas (the more ripe the better) –should be about 1.5 cups pureed
1 Pink Lady Apple chopped
2 large eggs
3/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tbsp PB2 powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups GF flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour)
1.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
**Nuts or shredded coconut would be great in this recipe, too

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and buttering your pan.

First, mash your bananas and chop your apple.  As a puree, you should have about a cup and a half of mashed bananas.  Out of laziness I put the apple in my food processor for a bit but chopping it into small pieces works perfectly fine. I prefer big apple chunks with skin – All personal preference here.

In bowl #1, combine the bananas and apple with the 2 eggs, coconut oil (softened in the microwave), vanilla, and maple syrup and mix it all together.

In bowl #2, combine the GF flour, brown sugar, baking soda, PB2, cinnamon, and chocolate chips.

Fold the wet ingredients into bowl #2 and stir evenly. Pour the mixture into your pan and bake for 45-55 minutes.

One of my favorite parts about making banana bread is how amazing it makes my entire apartment smell. And also when this beautiful thing comes out of the oven:

It's tough to be patient and let it cool before cutting into it, but try and let it sit for about 15 minutes before taking it out of the pan.

This bread may be gluten-free, but it can easily pass as the real thing. The perfect winter treat.

After I made my bread I checked out some other banana bread recipes/blogs and stumbled upon this serious gem: Nutella Swirled Banana Bread Recipe. Must make immediately.

Restaurant Review: Cookshop NYC

Cookshop - American, Chelsea
Cookshop is quickly becoming one of my go-to neighborhood favorites. It is considered one of NYC's first farm-to-table restaurants.  What’s great about Cookshop is that the menus are local, organic, and always changing. The ambiance is casual and homey.

I've been here three times in the past few months.  Let me start with my favorite thing at this restaurant: The Apple Sauce’d Cocktail.  The first 2 times I went to Cookshop were on consecutive nights – I had to immediately return for this cocktail.
The Apple Sauce’d: Brooklyn Repubic Vodka, muddled apples, ginger, lime, Thatchers Apple liquer AKA liquid genius. It is smooth, sweet, and slightly sour.

After a few of these cocktails I was very candid with the bartender about my feelings on the Apple Sauce’d and he was nice enough to give me the actual recipe.

As you can see, they have plenty of unreal concoctions on their cocktail menu and they're all seasonal. I also tried a vodka soda with Brooklyn Republic’s honey-infused vodka. This was amazing and I highly recommend. 

Like I said, the menu is always changing based on local sourcing, so the menu could be entirely different every time you go, but here’s what I’ve tried:

We started with a pizza to split – Shaved Brussel sprouts, crushed walnuts, mozzarella and sarvecchio cheese. This was unlike any pizza I’ve ever had.  The cheeses mixed with the Brussel sprouts to create a perfect combination of creamy, salty, crunchy and crispy pizza.  The topping was great even alone. It was big, too, for only $16.

Second, we got the Wagyu Steak Skewers. These were perfectly cooked, tender, and amazing. I could’ve eaten these as my meal alone.

Next, we tried the Trap Caught Florida Octopus with clam broth, organic beans, chimchurri, meyer lemon, and fried capers. This is a fresh and light dish.  The octopus was grilled to perfection and the base provides for a salty and filling compliment – Definitely try if you like beans, chimchurri, and tentacles.

For an entree, we had the Seared Maine Sea Scallops with slow cooked cauliflower, broccoli, and romesco sauce. These were literally mouth-watering, melt-in-your-mouth scallops.  They were tender, flavorful and paired perfectly with the sauce.  The scallop and cauliflower/ broccoli portions were quite generous which I loved.

Now onto the sweet stuff:

Each time I eat at Cookshop is with a group of girls and each time we order desserts - shocker.

Pumpkin Pie Sundae – It’s hard to mess this one up. If you like pumpkin anything, order this immediately.

Winter Wonderland Sundae – White Chocolate peppermint ice cream, brownie bits, peppermint bark, fudge sauce and whipped cream.  This did not have as much chocolate as I expected, but the ice cream (homemade) and real whipped cream were amazing enough on their own.

The S’more – Hot Fudge Cake, smoky marshmallow, and graham cracker ice cream.  This is basically very rich chocolate cake with some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. It’d be worth ordering the ice cream alone.

Housemade Treats – Sea salt caramels, oatmeal cream pies, brownies, lemon curd thumbprint cookies, maple macarons, peppermint marshmallows, milk chocolate crunchies. If you want to try a little bit of everything, then order this. It’s a large plate with lots of variety. I tried the oatmeal pies and chocolate crunchies – both simple and delicious.

Cookshop has a very impressive tea list – we tried the Cookshop Blend: blueberry, cinnamon, ginger, rose, marigold, mint, licorice and pepper. I’m not a huge tea person, but this was delectable. It literally tasted like a cinnamon, blueberry muffin.

I have not tried any of the sorbets or ice cream , but they always have very creative flavors, like Prosecco and White Chocolate. I’d definitely like to try one of these the next time I’m in.

Cookshop has a good wine list and a friendly sommelier that walks arounds the restaurant-- a nice perk. Cookshop is a must if you’re in the Chelsea area.  A great spot for fresh food served without pretentiousness or high prices. Supposedly, they have an amazing brunch, too. Overall, it’s great for groups, family dinner, or a casual date spot.  

Dining in 2014

Hello 2014! It has been a long, long time since I last posted.  I’m not sure what’s kept me away, but I’m happy to be back.  I haven’t posted since before Thanksgiving - Since then I have been doing some serious eating.  I’ve been in the kitchen a fair amount but lately I’ve been going out a ton and to some really amazing places.  I thought my first posts of the year would be restaurant reviews.   I’ve mentioned this, but I love making lists.  Anytime someone mentions a good restaurant they recently went to, I immediately write it down.  One of my favorite activities is reading restaurant reviews and getting a good reservation – I will sometimes do this for 2 hours at work…I’m sure my boss loves this.

The restaurant is such an important decision – it can make or break a night. My next few posts will be a breakdown of some of my top picks from the last few months.  On deck today: L’Artusi and Catch.

L’Artusi – Italian, West Village
I came here in the beginning of December on a Monday night and it was packed – A good sign.  It was also the restaurant’s 5 year anniversary, another good sign,and we were given a complimentary glass of champagne.  L’Artusi was off to a great start. The 2-level restaurant is trendy and intimate. Overall the plates are small here, so expect to share and order multiple things. Lucky for me, this happens to be my favorite way to dine. Here were my top picks:

We started with the Roasted Mushrooms served with Pancetta, Fried Egg, and Ricotta Salata. I will eat anything with a fried egg on top.  Very flavorful and the runny egg mixed seamlessly with the mushrooms.

Next we had the Ravioli – Autumn Squash, Sage, Brown Butter, and Parmesan.  This was actual butter heaven. Huge Raviolis drenched in brown butter sauce with a creamy squash filling. The Ravioli was perfectly cooked and the flavor was subtly sweet and salty.

We ended with the Hanger Steak served with crispy potatoes. The meat was well-cooked -- tender and flavorful. The potatoes were delicious.

The cocktail menu and wine list was impressive, but I stuck with vodka & soda all night.  They also had an incredible dessert menu – Will definitely need to try when I go back here.

All in all – Highly recommend for a trendy Italian spot in the West Village. Good for small groups, dates, and dinner with family. Come hungry.


Catch – Asian Fusion, Meatpacking
I choose restaurants in Meatpacking when I want trendy and fun, and I had been meaning to try Catch for a while.  I love sushi and the neighborhood.  I hung in the bar for a bit.  It’s a diverse and well-dressed crowd-- Definitely a good after-work scene.  The bar’s atmosphere carries over into the dinner scene, too – Trendy, open, and lively.

We started with the Crunchy Rice Cakes – Tuna Tartare, Wasabi Tobiko – I was pleasantly surprised with the different textures of the crispy rice and smooth tuna – This appetizer was very creative and delish.

For dinner we ordered lots of sushi to share - their “Raw and Rolled Platter”.  It was a good portion for 2 with a combo of sashimi and some of Catch’s creative hand rolls. All of the fish was good. The rolls were picked by the chef that night, so they probably switch it up. I’ll always take the Chef’s suggestions. All of the rolls were inventive, flavorful, and well presented. None of the sauces or flavors were too overpowering so you don’t miss the fresh fish.

Catch has an incredible cocktail menu, but I went for vodka sodas.  My biggest complaint for Catch is that they don’t carry Ketel One Vodka, so I had to go with Belvedere. Tragic, I know.

I would definitely recommend Catch for a big group, girl’s night out, or a date– It’s a fun atmosphere with great drinks and lots of food variety to share.   If you’re not into sushi, there are plenty of other options.  I would absolutely go back to try their pastas (Lobster Macaroni), raw bar, sides, and cocktails!

Keep your eyes out for more reviews in the next few days. Happy Dining!