basquecook

Started with stuffed zucchini flowers.. ricotta and anchovies. Red snapper stuffed with herbs, tied and then put on the grilled.. Served with roasted potatoes, a salad of mixed lettuces from the green market and then kale stewed with tomatoes, chickpeas and cauliflower For dessert homemade cherry pie and chocolate chip ice cream

Thanks Shelby. It was in fact just regular cherries. I stop in chinatown everyday for fruit. I got a bag of sort of bland cherries. So I just halved them and sugar'd them. I wasn't sure how it would come out. My pie dough is awesome and I made vanilla gelato. So, it was not going to be too bad. I really liked it.

i know a woman who puts dried avocado leaves in her black beans.. makes all the difference, adds this buzzy, semi mentholated licorice like sensation through the beans.

from the other night I noticed that the seal had broken on a vacuum packed lamb roast. So, it was time to eat it. It was a large roast that consisted of a rack and some ribs and a portion of the belly. Started with risotto with mushroom and blueberries.. But, didn't take a photo.. Sides were from this super cheap deli by me.. Mr Coco.. A dollar worth of asparagus. Red peppers were 50 cents each.. roasted.. Blueberry pie with homemade matcha ice cream.

Dinner for 7 cherry pie Caesar Salad: Lasagna- Shrimp scampi and bruschetta to start.

i would recommend a good toaster oven.. It will keep you from using the microwave, keep you from heating up a big oven when it's just you in the house.. You can get a fancy one that may completely eliminate your need for using an oven 99 percent of the time i.e something that can like roast a chicken in. like the large breville, or just something basic where you can toast a bagel, heat up a slice of pizza or make a small casserole in. also like nice big wooden cutting boards. Don't buy a knife set. a bread knife, a chef knife, a vegetable peeler, a good pair of scissors is all I really need. a nice sheet pan to bake cookies and things. I le creuset cast iron grill pan with out the ridges, a le creuset french oven for stews or risotto, a non fancy non stick for omelets and things a large pot to boil water or lobsters, or to make soup in. Maybe a super large stock pot if you plan on making a demi glace. What else does one need. I would also recommend getting a jam box to listen to music while you are in the kitchen

Made a curry rice with chicken: a tomato, a red pepper, a cayenne pepper, a medium size squash, two browned organic chicken legs cut into 5 pieces each, lime rinds, juice of two limes, curry powder. 2 cans of rice, 2 cans of coconut milk, one and a half cans of water and a bunch of a cilantro. cooked for 25 minutes once the rice was added. at the very last minute after i took it off the heat and fluffed it, I added a 1/4 cubed papaya. the papaya added a great flavor. i had one in the fridge and wanted to crack into it.

I thought Gordon Ramsey's steak was good.. i was actually surprised at how good it was.. It was also very fun, had a great energy. It is on a bi-level space. You want to sit up stairs. There are very lush booths to sit at. I went with a table of four. The staff is attractive and well dressed. Service is over the top in an interesting way. There are Ipads and things to order on if I am not mistaken. The food was really good. The presentation, everything was enjoyable. But if your friends have watched his shows, want to try the wellington or whatever, it will be a fun time. For me, not a fan of the show, it was a little to hip for my tastes.. But, i was exhausted after a 12 hour day of work and had to walk more business with clients. It's more flashy than i wanted but, would be a great fun night out place. It is in my opinion is much better than Batali's place. In fact, i have had bad experiences outside of Otto. Otto has the same or similar or just as good pastas as his other restaurants in las vegas. The entrees are also fun. Prices are better, there is also pizza which is delicious. And of course their terrific gelatos. So, if you need to go to a Batali place, Otto is the best bang for your buck, not to mention just the better overall experience. If you want more intimate, make a rezi for inside. more fun and to sit out on the "patio" over look San Marco Square and the fake sky. His other restaurants are overpriced and often bad. The best steak in the Venetian/Palazzo Hotels, IMHO is Cut. Wolfgang Puck's over the top place. In fact, talk about Wagyu steak, this is the place to try it.. It's not a traditional steakhouse but, it's a really cool menu. I would highly, highly, highly recommend going to Raku. You must make a reservation.. It's like a 15 dollar cab ride or so from the Venetian. Read about the really cool tasting menu. i have been there several times, it's one of my favorite places in Vegas. A fun night, different interesting food, check out the Boiling Crab or Hot N Juicy Crawfish. If you are from the East coast it will most likely be a new experience. It's like a Vietnamese Version of A Cajun Boil. Lots of butter and garlic. Boiled snowcrab, crawfish and shrimp by the pound. Very communal and fun. For a pricey meal along the lines of Le Cirque if you have not been to Robuchon and you just need to blow a bunch of cash, this is super special meal. I also like this Chinese Restaurant a ton, it's called Yunnan Garden. Or late night Vietnamese or Korean food can be had in Las Vegas.. There are some interesting late night spots. I go kind of often. These are just some of the places that stand out.

Pasta with pork and clams

gorgeous Dcarch.

Was in vegas for the last week.. got home today on a redeye around 545 am.. Got home and hit the beach in Rockaway. Came back tonight to very little in the house.. With one tomato, I made a pasta alla trapanese-esque dish. In a mortar, added a tomato, basil, salt, sugar, chile flakes, pistachios. Then added some olive oil.. Cooked the pasta and added some shave ricotta salata. Then mixed in the room temp sauce and topped with toasted almonds and torn basil.

Thanks, Ann.. Your plates look wonderful as always. Your baking is just something i look at with awe. last night home for awhile.. had to get some home cooking and try to get rid of the csa. Family is in town so, there is plenty left to be had. Squash cooked with sweet onion and thai basil. Cooked the squash in the pan with basil and onion, add cooked pasta and killed the heat. Added goat cheese and some salted water. Plated with thai basil. Really lovely.

5 dollars a box in Chinatown right now.. Though, this summer, i was visiting Fort Pulaski and they had this huge beautiful fig bush I guess .. We asked the parks person if we could eat some and they were perfect and ready to go.. We were just eating fig after fig for awhile.. This thing was huge, i have never seen a fig arrangement like this.. But, even around where I live in Brooklyn there are tons of fig trees just growing in the most unusual spots.. I planted one in my backyard about 4 years ago and though it has fruit sometimes, nothing like this.

So my buddy from high school, came over with his wife last night. I always try to step up the game a little when he comes over. . We were lucky enough to get another friend's CSA box who was out of town.. Leaving in a couple of days, gotta move some vegetables.. It was a successful dinner in more ways than one.. The last time we had dinner, we split a bottle of whiskey and his wife kind of got pissed.. This time, we kept it to a two bottle of wine minimum and everyone left before 10:30.. there may have been one shot of mezcal in there. Bought this big lobster in Chinatown.. It was close to 3.5 lbs. Here is the photo next to a wine glass and spoon for perspective. Cheap prices, I think it was like 38 dollars for the thing. Peaches soaked in a simple syrup as they were kind of not the best. The perked up after that treatment..Though, just coming from Georgia, maybe that is why they needed some help. Really nice tomatoes, buratta cheese, really sweet corn my mother gave me, balsamic oil, some basil mortared up with olive oil, some thai basil flowers. We make this dish quiet a bit at www.biteclub.com and it is always a winner. its summer on a plate. With the large body, instead of making like a stock and seeing it was a female with lots of roe, i took the inside liquid mixed it with room temp butter and a bunch of saltines.. Added it to the cavity and broiled then baked. Made that fennel pasta from Friday.. It had the other half a can of sardines, the other fennel head I bought, currants, Pastis and the rest of the pistachios.. Then Miss A made a fig tart with mascarpone bottom

I was too tired to go out last night... Wife reading the daily menu at the restaurant she wants to go to.. "They have spaghetti with baby fennel, anchovies and pistachios. " I ask, if I make her that pasta dish can we stay home.. She agrees.. The pasta was stupid good. i caramelized the fennel with some butter and sugar a little red pepper and Pastis. I then added anchovies, soaked currants, the almost finished pasta, then some pasta water to loosen, a shot of Pastis. Kill the heat, add toasted pistachio, red pepper flakes and fennel fronds. 20 minutes later, we are eating pasta, and hour and change later, i am laying down, 10 dollars in groceries instead of the 100 dollars we would have most likely spent.. It's a win-win my friends

Totally know what you are talking about over stuffing.. When I make stuffed squid, a basic recipe I use has me take the legs, some breadcrumbs, a shot of wine, lemon juice, garlic, a little cheese and parsley. The first time I stuffed them, I didn't take into account the calamari will shrink and the stuffing will also expand. It still was good but, there was a ton of stuffing that spit out. Yours looked really nice, Nina

bone in ribeye

I want to run away with that stove and make babies with it. Do you have any more photos. What island were you on.. That is awesome of Delapetria did that for you. I have not been over there in some time, I normally stick to Paisanos but, liked what I bought there a year back or so. I will have to give them another shot. I bought these two ribeyes last night.. they were close to 2 lbs each, maybe more. Probably a little more. Cooked it, full blast on the green egg after a heavy salting.

shrimp pasta, very last thing from Georgia. We bought a bunch from this place that processed fresh shrimp off the boat.. they were unloading 15 k pounds off a shrimp boat when we went.. they kicked us a free pound on top of the 2 we asked for a stick of butter, a quick shrimp stock of boiled shells, a tomato, garlic,wine, tomato paste, salt and pepper, cabbage and onion, Georgia shrimp.. homemade pasta, rolled out to second thinnest.. the pasta was perfect. a little chile pepper, a little pasta water. so basically, cook up shredded cabbage in butter and onion, add salt to wilt, then slowly add shrimp stock, then half the glass of white wine you are drinking, then drop the fresh pasta in salt water, drop the shrimp with the cabbage, cover cabbage and shrimp , add the pasta to the cabbage and shrimp, some chili flakes, a little pasta water, let them meld, life is good. I placed the steak in a vacuum chamber, cooked it in water for 13.5 hours, soaked it in a brine of champagne vinegar and beet juice..dipped it in liquid nitrogen before, i used a torch to char the outside. or maybe i just cooked it on the grill.

I have to say, it was just dipped in flour and salt and then fried in butter in a non stick pan.. Not deboned or anything. The sauce was butter and lemon.. .The vodka was just for the me and my friends.. No vodka in the sauce though, it wouldnt have made a difference,. I think the three of us either finished or seriously maimed a handle of vodka.. What i like to do is, put a slit in the front and then debone the think so it opens like a book but, i didn't do that last night.. There are countless youtube videos showing you how to debone a flounder They all got up at noon today, while I was driving through Canal Street this morning at 730 picking up a Bahn Mi before work.

Home for a day and we have friends staying with us for most of the week.. I am then off to Vegas for like 10 days.. The traveling continues. Miss A,my wife made dinner while i was working. Made a shrimp boil with some of the last of the Georgia Shrimp we brought home.. In addition we also made a couple of flounder while, i deboned the rest, prepared for stuffing and vacuum sealed the rest. Here is the flounder.. Also made rice and baked little red potatoes with dill. There was vodka involved, a lot of vodka..

I dont have a microwave in my house.. We moved here about 6 years ago and redid our kitchen.. We just did not add a microwave into the plan. Prior to that, I bought a microwave, some hot plates and a toaster oven when we lived without a kitchen for a year. We made tea and hot chocolate in the microwave but not much else.. When I was smoking cigarettes and didn't have a light in the hotel room, if you put a piece of tin foil from your pack in the microwave, put a small piece of toilet paper over that and turned on the microwave, you could light the toilet paper on fire and then light your cigarette. That is my drunk at 3 am, need a light, pro tip.

We drove back from Tybee Island yesterday afternoon.. We left at 2:18 pm and were in our house by 2:34 am. With 4 stops amounting to 45 minutes, our true speed averaged 70 miles per hour. We brought the fish back with us.. We had our neighbors over for dinner to share in Miss k's bounty. She remains to be super proud of bringing home the bacon. Whiting Po boys. whiting was fried perfectly with a corn meal double crust, old bay, celery salt and what nots.. It was moments from the deep fryer. this was an upside down sangwich \ Georgia tomatoes as well. These were from two different sandwiches. With a remoulade. pickled peppers I had soaked a shark steak in milk and old bay.. covered with spices, cooked in butter and served over this curry lemon rice.. Shark steak was devoured.. Watermelon popsicles for dessert. dinner in the backyard

Been away for a bit. Went fishing today. Missie K caught this 12 pound Bonnet Head Shark.. We caught a bunch of whiting, a bunch of flounders and some blues. We rented this house and have a kitchen. They gave us pots and pans and things but, we have a barren kitchen. We bought salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard, butter, olive oil, local vegetables but, it still doesn't feel like it amounts to much. Not to mention bread and sandwich meat for lunches to pack in the cooler at the beach, cobia steaks, pancakes in the morning, late night grilled cheeses, a steak or two, ice pops, some a few pounds of beautiful shrimp, beautiful peaches, spaghetti, plums, boiled peanuts, green beans, butter beans, a couple of melons, yogurt, Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, cereal and beer.. Ok, maybe it is a good amount of food. Here is bag of whiting from today.. Made a pasta.. Garlic, a packet of sugar from the coffee machine set up, rosemary from outside the house, some really nice tomatoes, olive oil, salt, capers and garlic Second course a couple of hours later, shark meuniere. covered the shark in old bay I had leftover from a shrimp boil we did the other night, clarified butter, lemon, a shot of mustard. Served with corn

So who the hell knew? I had to come all the way across the country to discover a Ramen place that has a location in New York City. I briefly noticed a few of their locations on the wall.. New York City, Bangkok, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Taiwan and now..... Niles IL? I didn't really study the menu. There are few different types of Ramen, a few different styles.. My waitress said, this one is the most popular, I noticed a photo, it looked great, I ordered it and asked for a shot of spice.. you can see that tablespoon of red paste on my photo. The Ramen Broth has a strong sweet miso taste.. It was almost over powering but, I dug it.. You can tell that the broth is made from a stock and not a powder. But, really, it was extremely salty and miso-y. I like extreme flavors.. There was also three large in diameter but thin pieces of pork belly that was rolled, sliced and grilled.. Had a porky taste.. I in fact, didn't even finish all the pork belly. The actually Ramen was ok.. I have had better and been to places that seem to highlight the noodle more.. Here I believe the broth is the real focus. My one complaint, the green tea sucks here.. It's almost like made from some sort of Matcha powdery mix. WTF? You are a Japanese restaurant, green tea, it's like a thing in Japan, no? Don't people drink Green Tea in Japan? Like Genmaicha, Bancha, Sencha, you know not this garbage Konacha powder shit.. i understand you don't have to give it away for free but, you should have an option for someone who wants to drink a nice glass of tea and is willing to pay for it. So there is a location near St Marks in Manhattan.. Though I would eat at the Manhattan location, I live in Brooklyn and there are several places i have to pass, that I like better. But, if i was in the area I could see looking forward to that strong Miso Taste