Monthly Archives: August 2013

Weekend Wrap-Up: VIDEO of my corn pasta

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I thought I was tech savvy until I was putting together this post. I meant to share it with everyone weeks ago but I was failing miserably at uploading a video of what I was cooking. A few posts ago I mentioned all the corn recipes I wanted to try. However I only had 4 ears of corn so I had to make a decision. The winner was the Creamy Sweet Corn Clam Pasta. This dish was spectacular! The corn was such a great showcase for the dish and added a velvety sweet goodness that could have stood on its very own. — The clams were a nice touch though, not going to lie.

Check out my really hi-tech video below. Please excuse the audio from my hubs.

Creamy Corn Pasta from Jessica Patino on Vimeo.

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Weekend Wrap-Up: Me and My Baguette

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I’ve been wanting to get back into sandwich making. There is just something so comforting and satisfying about your favorite ingredients nestled in between two slices of fresh-baked bread. So I stopped be PAUL a franchise bakery out here on Lincoln Road for their signature baguette. Here is what went down:

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Green Sandwich

Green Sandwich Pt 2.

Curry Egg Salad Sandwich

Curry Egg Salad Sandwich

And with all that left over bread of course I HAD to make french toast. Duh.

French Toast

French Toast

Sunday evening I also had a friend’s birthday party in which I was on duty to make dessert. I made a Tres Leches. It was my first time and I chose an Alton Brown recipe based on a delicious one my mom made a while back. I think my measurements were a bit off because the cake was still dense and not as moist as it should be. The flavor was all there, but I like my Tres Leches good and soggy.

Not Soggy Tres Leches

Not Soggy Tres Leches

Miami Spiced: Hakkasan

After narrowing down our Miami Spice list, hubs and I landed on Hakkasan, Makoto, Gotham Steak and Catch. I really love this article posted on Thrillist on the top best values. This past weekend we went to Hakkasan for lunch. Not many restaurants offer lunch, let alone offer it on a Saturday.

What I love about this restaurant’s spice deal is that they give you multiple apps and entrees, no need to pick just one. Where I think we went wrong was choosing lunch over dinner. Frankly, the dinner menu sounds much better. As well, the restaurant is lined with gorgeous floor to ceiling intricate wood paneling. This eliminates any view or terrace option, so we really weren’t able to take advantage of the gorgeous day and scenery.

Oh and the food, well, here is the rundown:

HAKKA SIGNATURE COCKTAIL – A delightful lychee cocktail that’s velvety texture had me taking this one down like I was partying at LIV.

DIM SUM COMBO  – Really unique dim sum. I was particularly impressed with the steamed mini char siew bun (precious white pillow in the picture).

BARBEQUED COMBO – Great BBQ items, nothing really else to say here.

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CRISPY SEABASS IN ORANGE SAUCE – Orange sauce tasted more like a mango sorbet, I felt it didn’t really compliment the battered Seabass either.

STIR-FRIED SHANGHAI BAK CHOI WITH GINGER OIL – Nothing fancy.

NOODLES (Spicy sesame bean curd skin cheung fun) – You gotta be open-minded for this one, which I wasn’t really feeling that day.

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MANGO CUSTARD – The coconut sorbet made this dish!

WHITE CHOCOLATE PANNA COTTA – I thought the white chocolate was a brilliant panna cotta idea – great combination of flavors.

#FoodNetworkStarFinale

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I haven’t been watching a whole lot of Food Network lately, (I’ve been binging on Orange is the New Black) but if there is one show I do love it’s the Next Food Network Star. And we’re down to the finale so it’s only a few months away that we’ll be seeing a show from our favorite food network star get pulled from the cable line up. Sandwich King? Rebel Chef? What happened to those guys?

Either way – my vote goes to DAMARIS! Despite the unusual name, I really like her. Is “Damaris” a southern thing I don’t know about? I was so curious I googlized it and found that the name meant “heifer” and “drunkard”. Hmm, we have more in common than I thought.

Well she’s a real charming gal, with a great sense of humor. Anyone who makes me laugh is a winner in my book. I must admit, I was also very intrigued by her recipe in the second to last episode. Sweet Potato Biscuits with Peppered Pork Loin, Apple Mustard Butter and Salad.

Good luck Damaris!

Damaris Phillips

Damaris Phillips

Cronuts for days

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A few weekends ago my hubs and his long time friend Mike decided they wanted to make the infamous Cronuts. (Read more about the croissant/donut craze here) Mike, who is his own culinary star among friends, had already dominated this magical pastry but wanted to drop some bakery knowledge on us. Here are the men at work. (Love men in the kitchen)

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After 7-8 hours of attentive kneading and caressing we had cronuts! Time to hit the fryer.

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Mike’s choice sides were chocolate ganache, bacon syrup, maple glaze and the winner of the night – guava and cheese. Can you blame us Miami folk?

photo[5]It was really a sensational dessert. I felt like I was having a one-of-a-kind experience that some wait 2-3 hours for – and we made more than the 2 allotted from famed Dominique Ansel. Pfffft. Take that!

If you want to stick it to the pastry man, try it for yourself. This is the recipe we used here.

Restaraudit: Lucali

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Miami’s has had some nice little New York additions in recent years. Catch. Shake Shack. Mercadito. Serendipity. Il Mulino. Mr. Chow. Cipriani. (Just to name a few) The most recent being Lucali, a classy pizza joint from Brooklyn. I went recently with my hubs and here’s what we had to say.

1. Pizza – Sumptuous cheese lightly layered on their chewy crust. The only downfall was the crust/topping ratio – as you can see in the photo some edges were just much too wide.

2. Ambience – So Brooklyn.

3. Price – You might feel a little bad about how much you pay for this pizza. The place is cool, the service is great and the food is good, but my heart ached a bit when I got the bill. It’s pizza, not wrinkle reducing pizza.

Lucali - Pepperoni Halfsies

Lucali – Pepperoni Halfsies

Mull Over Moment: Corn Recipes

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I’ve been detoxing this week which usually consists of a lot of juice, caffeine cravings, and salivating over my favorite food blogs, plotting for the weekends recipes. In this case I have 4 ears of corn that I just can’t decide what to do with. Corn pancakes, corn fritters, corn pizza, corn quesadillas – there are so many great options! CAN I PUT CORN IN A COOKIE? Probably.

Here are my contenders. You’ll know next week which one I fell for.

Creamy Sweet Corn Pasta With Clams

Summer Corn Cakes

Mais Pizza

Charred Sweet Corn Fritters

Kale and Corn Quesadillas

Kale and Corn Quesadillas

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Restauraudit: M.E.A.T

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Traveling to or from Big Pine Key is a 3 hour car ride so me and my beau always make a point to break it up with a great lunch. I’ve made it my goal to try every well rated place in the upper Keys. We more often than not end up at a seafood place but in this instance we were craving something meaty. And then we found M.E.A.T Eatery and Taproom. It’s a cozy quick service restaurant that offers savory and creative burgers which a great selection of beer.

I had the standard burger which was salty and delicious, the bun was also airy and flavorful. I was pleasantly surprised by the homemade ketchup. Generally I don’t like homemade ketchups but this spicy mango version was great for dipping the duck fat fries. – YUM!

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Weekend in BPK

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This past weekend my husband, Nick, and I went to hang with my mom and step-dad at their Keys home in Big Pine Key. Weekends there generally consist of full breakfasts, packed lunches for the boat and dinners using the catch of the day. My mother, who is equally gourmet took on most of these tasks, but here are a few I pioneered.

Peanut Butter Pecan Biscotti’s

Recipe c/o @joythebaker

http://sprng.me/imj9j

IMG_1This recipe was easy and fun, given it was my first time making biscotti’s. I also under baked them a little since I prefer them to be not so tooth-braking.

Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich

Recipe c/o @food52

http://sprng.me/imgoh

photoI made a traditional Pan Bagnat recently for another boat trip and it was delicious, savory and kept really well. However, something about eating fish while out at sea was sickening. So, for this go-around I went for a different recipe. While still a pressed sandwich, this one offered Mediterranean flavors such as artichokes, olive tapenade, roasted red peppers and artichokes, and lovely prosciutto.

And this photo is just for fun. It also makes me feel like my parents are bad asses.

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