Food disappointment

I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver. I loved every show, from when he was young with odd hair to when he got rich and cocky. His food is amazing, and his books are genius and beautiful. He has changed the way I think about food, convinced me of going organic, made me a more dedicated cook - which is why Wynn likes him and book by book makes Jamie richer and me happy.

Things were fine and dandy with me and Jamie - until the magazine. Obviously, as Rachael Ray has demonstrated, no good can come of celebrity chef magazines. Rach you can forgive, she's not the real deal to begin with, just a loud chick with a skillet. My lovely mil got us a subscription and I loved every one of them, to the point of knowing them by heart. But, Jamie, come on, mate. 

Wynn was in London and brought back the first issue. First of all, relax, you can launch a magazine without calling in the big guns, ie, Ange and Bradley. Specially when the "in depth" article are ten questions answered in 50 words or less.

The recipes- we know them by now. I've let it pass that the different books tend to repeat a slightly modified version of some recipes. But the magazine just rips them right off. Photographs included.

Don't even get me started on the final note by wife Jools. This woman cannot make up her mind wether she hates cooking (like she claims here) or is the cook of the family (as she conveniently claims in her book, recipes included.) 

The whole magazine is an excuse for Jamie to get his face out there and push push push his Jme line of flatware cookware whathaveyou. 

But, alas, there are some great new recipes, in depth feature articles on produce, gourmet city tours, cuisines. Bottom line: I won't go through the trouble of subscribing, but every time Wynn jumps the pond, I'm sure he'll bring one back. And we'll both be so happy.

One hand recipes: Rosemary Crouton Salad

Easy, delish... lifesaver for when there is nothing for lunch!









Ingredients (serves two)

half a baguette
one or two sprigs of rosemary, leaves torn off and chopped
coarse sea salt
freshly ground pepper
head of lettuce/bag of ready made salad greens
a handful of sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
fresh mozzarella, torn to bite size pieces
leftover chicken, bite size / can of best quality tuna
2 hard boiled eggs
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise


Tear the bread by hand into bite size pieces and place in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with coarse sea salt, pepper and rosemary. Mix well with hand, so that everything is nicely coated. Toast in the oven at 180ºC until golden. Let cool.
In a salad bowl, combine lettuce, sun dried tomatoes, chicken or tuna, and eggs. Add the croutons. Season with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise. Toss and serve.

The Best Food Blogs

These are my favorite food blogs, in no particular order:

1. Lucullian Delights. This blog is by a lady living in Tuscany, in some remote little house surrounded by a forest... she is a very good and generous photographer. Her recipes are elaborate and warm. The only negative thing is that she has too many posts per page and it gets hard to scroll down at your selected pace.

2. Smitten Kitchen. The pictures are clean and crisp; there is usually one main photo followed by the photographed steps to the recipes, so it is very didactic and pretty as hell. They update pretty much daily.

3. White on Rice Couple. They are this cooky couple who love to travel, cook, eat and take photographs. They developed a whole little community around their blog. Good recipes with an Asian twist a lot of the times.

4. Delicious Days. It's been said that this is "a blog so pretty you could eat it". It is lovely. These crazy Germans just came out with a book that I can't wait to get my little hands on. The down side is that they do not update regularly at all.

5. Blue Kitchen. Simple, doable recipes. Great for ideas and inspiration.

6. Evil Chef Mom. It's a mom AND food blog! Imagine that... Total family effort, her kids help her with the technical side of it, etc. Cute, and heavy on the baking.

7. Chaos in the Kitchen. Created by a mom who wanted to get back to things SHE liked. Again, the mere thought! Her recipes are nicely photographed, good inspiration. She is sensitive to these here economic times, and comes up with good food on a budget. Lovely.

8. Gluten Free Girl. This is a beautiful blog and, obviously, a wonderful treat for those who need to eat gluten free. The gluten free girl's husband is a chef and they have a daughter whom they called "little bean" when she was regnant with her! The GF girl also has a book. Since I'm a happy glutenful woman I can't say that I've perused this blog too much, but her recipes seem to appeal to everyone, so even if there is just one celiac family member, the whole household could be happy with these recipes (which is sort of her point.)

One hand recipes: avocado and bell pepper tosta

These tostas are quick and interestingly delicious. For those days when it's too complicated to come up with anything that involves ovens or burners, we have them as a quick lunch with a side salad.



Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil
1 ripe avocado
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut in strips
1/2 ciabatta bread, cut in half and cut lengthwise


Lightly toast the bread. Drizzle with olive oil. Spoon half of the avocado onto each piece of bread and spread with a fork. Lay the roasted red bell pepper strips over each one. Serve with a side of green salad.

One hand recipes: chicken fajitas

These fajitas are pretty quick. The splash of lime juice at the end is wonderful and takes me back to caipirinhas and Brazil and those years when we were tan and thin and drunk.

Ingredients (serves 2 hungry people):

1 onion, thinly sliced

half a red, green and yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced (any color will do really)

2 chicken breasts, butterflied, thinly sliced

seasoning: salt, pepper, oregano

1 tbsp olive oil

mayonnaise

tortilla wraps

leftover brown rice (if you don't have it already, it might be worth making a bit)

1 lime

Over high heat, add olive oil to the pan. Add onion and wait until it softens but is still translucent. Add bell peppers and chicken. Season. Turn heat down to moderate/high and cook until chicken is done. Remove from heat and squeeze the juice of one lime over it. Spread mayonnaise on the tortillas, top with the room temperature rice and the chicken and veg. Serve.

One hand recipes: Pasta with portobellos, ham and peas

One hand recipes are my attempt at cooking food that doesn't come frozen in a box while looking after a very mobile little attention hog. In an ideal world, they would be cooked with one hand, while the other dangles rattles, emails and has a relaxed conversation with my husband.

For now, I am content with ideas for meals that require the least amount of time and effort, and where some of the ingredients can be prepared (chopped, stir fried, etc) ahead of time, ie during baby naps.

Ingredients, serves two people:

Whole wheat pasta (bowties, ziti or the like)

1/3 cup ham, cut into small squares 

2/3 cup portobello mushrooms, chopped

1/3 cup frozen peas

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp olive oil

a handful of grated parmesan

a few twigs of fresh thyme (dry works as well) 

seasonings: salt, pepper, oregano, nutmeg 

Prepare pasta as per package instructions. While pasta cooks, add olive oil to a pan. When it's warm, add the mushrooms. Cook until they are tender. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and thyme. Add the ham. Drain the pasta, reserving a tiny bit of the cooking liquid. Add pasta to the ingredients in the pan. Add the cream and the peas. Stir until everything is creamy. Add parmesan cheese and serve.