En Papillote

Last night I made seafood linguine en papillote. It was amazing (if I do say so myself). I don’t know what made me think of it but I was craving pasta and seafood and then remembered the en papillote cooking method and decided to combine the three.

In case you aren’t familiar with the term, cooking en papillote is a method in which you seal the food in a pouch and bake. The food essentially steams and cooks in the oven in its own juices which makes it very flavorful.

You can experiment with this with many different types of foods; fish, veggies, chicken, etc….

For me, I made a sauce with garlic, leeks, crushed tomatoes, saffron, clam juice, lemon juice, white wine, and a touch of cream; the ingredients were layered over two hours. Then I lightly sautéed a bunch a seafood (red snapper, shrimp, and scallops) just to brown them; I didn’t fully cook them because they would finish cooking in the oven. I threw mussels and calamari right into the sauce. I put the fresh linguine in hot water for 30 seconds to help soften it but not to fully cook it. I cut the parchment paper into heart shapes, and then layered the components; the fish on the bottom, then the pasta, and then I poured the sauce over the top. I sprinkled each with a touch of parmesan and added a thin slice of lemon and folded the two pouches up and popped them in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

It was so fun to cut open the “hot pocket” and see the steam and smell the aroma. The flavors were amazing and the fish and seafood were moist and perfect. It paired well with a bottle of Perrier Jouet champagne and a small side green salad with a lemon vinagrette.

I invite you to play with en papillote and let me know what works. I’m thinking fish in coconut milk might be my next experiment. YUM!

Microwave Brownies

A very good friend of mine sent me an adorable care package in December. It was full of lots of goodies; one of those goodies was a microwave brownie. I had never had one before and was pretty skeptical. Last night I decided to try it. You just add one tablespoon and one teaspoon of water, stir, microwave for 45 seconds and whala – instant brownie, piping hot from the microwave. It came with a pack of fudge that you are supposed to squeeze over the top but I didn’t like the taste of it so I opted to make a brownie sundae instead. I piled vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, caramel, and cashews on top of the brownie creating the ultimate sundae! And the verdict is……… I thought the brownie tasted a little chalky and a little off. Maybe I didn’t stir it enough? I’m going with the old saying that anything worth having is worth waiting for. I will wait an hour for the real thing. While it was fun to try it, and super convenient, I don’t think I will be running off to the store for another one.

Becoming Efficient

Well, I’m not doing very well on my new year’s resolution to update this weekly, am I? Can I blame too much wine? No. Lack of inspiration? No. Not enough time? No.

Truth is, I don’t’ really have an excuse. I will say that I have been out and about learning and living, which is a good thing. As I continue on my lifelong quest for knowledge, I just finished and excellent book called The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss. As an entrepreneur myself, I found it really inspiring and it really got my creative juices flowing again, which feels great. While it touched me as an entrepreneur, I also think it is a great book for those of you working 9-to-5. I like the way this guy thinks. It is completely out-of-the-box thinking that makes complete sense to me. To summarize, it basically comes down to making time to do what is important (live your life, fulfill your dreams, travel, spend more time with your family, learn a new skill) by streamlining your processes and the way you go about doing things. Basically he encourages you to work smarter, not harder.

While there are many ideas and things I plan to implement from the book, the one jumping out at me now is the idea of only checking your email twice a day. Brilliant! I waste way too much time on email. Do I get urgent email? Never. If something is urgent enough that can’t wait 5 hours for an email reply then people can call me. There you have it; I think this is going to add 2 hours to my day. I seriously think that is how much time I waste on email. The more efficient I can be, the more time I will have to do the things I enjoy and the more time I will have to spend with the people I enjoy. Those of you used to my instantaneous reply to emails will now have to wait. I am going to check emails once in the a.m. and once in the p.m. Wish me luck!

Next book in my reading pile (the pile is big) that I’m going to tackle: The Mayo Clinic Diet. I keep hearing about it and it sounds like it is a good motivator to make some life changes for a healthier lifestyle.

Thought of the Day

Never regret anything that made you smile!

New Year, New Me

So, I started this blog in late summer. Now that it is Jan. 1, I’m determined to get my act together and update this weekly. With this being a New Year and all, I find myself reflecting on the past year and thinking about what I need to do differently in the New Year. While some say this type of reflection should be an ongoing thing (not something you do only once a year), I am going to go ahead and throw some resolutions out there. First of all, I’ve realized this past year that life is short and that anything can happen at anytime. With that in mind, I want to live without regret and not get worked up about the small stuff. Seriously, in the big picture of life is it really worth it to get worked up over little things that in the grand scheme of things don’t really matter. I think when I am in a moment of frustration; I need to ask myself, “Will this even matter tomorrow?” I think it will be freeing to just let it go. Another thing I want to work on this year is just being more positive. I’ve always thought of myself as a positive and optimistic person but I feel like I’ve lost a little bit of that and really need to bring that positive energy back and just live my life with more enthusiasm. I don’t want to just go through the motions; I really want to be present in the moments of my life. Lastly, I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that I’d like to get that last 5-10 lbs. off my butt! As much as I LOVE food, I really need to balance it all out by working out more and eating smaller portions. I’m feeling good that I will be able to achieve these things this year and have a good year. I hope you all achieve what you want this year and that 2010 finds you happy and healthy because really that is what matters. Bring on 2010!

My 1st Post!

Well, I’ve finally done it. This is my very first blog and my very fist blog post and I’m very excited!

First of all, welcome. I hope you enjoy whatever comes out on this site. While there are no guarantees, I will guarantee that there will be a lot of food-related topics, as I love to cook, dine out, and just eat and drink in general. My other passions include travel, wine, and just living life and learning. Welcome to my online journey of my life as I know it.