A Very Culinary Weekend

Whew! I am exhausted. What a busy weekend it was, culinarily-speaking. I've got two restaurants for you AND two recipes! What more could you ask for? And how about that photo above of the gorgeous maple tree that lives down the street from me? Every year when it starts to turn that deep, beautiful orange, and the ground around it is blanketed with the fallen leaves, I think, "I should really snap a photo of that tree." Of course I never do. Until today. And I'm so glad I did because it epitomizes the fall season for me, and now I've captured it for posterity.

On to the food! The weekend began with dinner at LuNello in Cedar Grove, NJ. Some of you may recognize this restaurant from an episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey. Those of you who don't, count yourselves lucky to have missed it (the show, that is). But don't let LuNello's association with this show deter you from enjoying a fine meal.

LuNello's is more formal in nature, in both decor and food. Waiters in tuxedos are very gracious, and service was very good. They recite a list of about 30 specials and all except one of our meals came from the regular menu. I loved my meal - Short Ribs over Fresh Pappardelle, in a delicious brown sauce that reminded me so much of my husband's outstanding brisket. The minute I spotted Pappardelle with Porcini and Oyster Mushrooms, I knew it would be Barry's choice. Ever since we were in Italy October 2006, Barry has been craving fresh porcini and pasta, which you don't find on many menus in the US. It did not disappoint - tender porcini mushrooms scattered among the fresh pasta.

If there is any area that LuNello's falls short, it's dessert. We ordered the Ricotta Cheesecake and Tiramisu. Both very average. But a nice touch presented during dessert, was the offering of house-made miniature ice cream cones. If you go, skip the dessert menu, wait for the cones.

Saturday night brought me to Fiorino's in Summit. This was the polar opposite of LuNello's in atmosphere, decor, and clientele. A warm, inviting space in downtown Summit, Fiorino's offers outstanding cuisine. My meal began with a Baby Arugula Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts and Goat Cheese - sublime. Everything on the menu sounded wonderful but for my main course I went with the recommendation of my friend and dining companion. Every time she visits Fiorino's she must have the Rigatoni Bolognese (it's not even on the regular menu). Now this may sound plebian to you, but a well made Bolognese sauce is not to be missed. This version lived up to my expectations. Husky chunks of a veal, pork, beef ragu strewn over fat rigatoni, accompanied by a quartino of a deep, delicious Rosso di Montalcino. We shared a dessert that perfectly suited my fall state of mind:

Warm Apple Strudel with Caramel Wild Berry Compote and Butter Pecan Gelato - crisp, firm apples swirled with a very delicate caramel sauce and outstanding gelato. Meals don't get much better than this, my friends.

So after all that dining about on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was definitely a stay at home kind of day. It was rainy and cold in NJ - perfect baking weather. But since I totally indulged at the aforementioned meals, I felt the need to slim down my baked goods. But these certainly didn't taste like "slimmed-down" foods! Cho-nana Bread (from the Chobani Yogurt web site) and Pumpkin Crunch (from Canyon Ranch) were flavorful and easy. The Pumpkin Crunch is a very versatile little treat with only 125 calories in 1/4 cup - it folds very nicely into yogurt, as a crunchy topping to your morning cereal, or just as a mid-afternoon snack. And the banana bread is super moist, thanks to the yogurt and applesauce base; only 210 calories per serving.

You won't go wrong with these two recipes - plenty of taste, no guilt!

Printable Recipe

Pumpkin Crunch

1 C pumpkin seeds

1-1/2 t canola oil

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t allspice

1/2 t sea salt

2 TB maple syrup

1-1/4 C dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly spray a baking sheet with canola oil. In a small bowl, toss pumpkin seeds with canola oil and evenly spread coated seeds on baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes or until almost dry.

Place pumpkin seeds in a medium bowl and mix in maple syrup until coated. Combine spices in a large bowl and add pumpkin seeds. Place back on baking sheet and return to oven. Roast for 15 minutes or until dry. Be sure not to burn. Set seeds aside until completely cool, for about 30 minutes. In a large bowl, combine seeds with dried cranberries.

Printable Recipe

Cho-nana Bread

3/4 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C whole-wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 TB butter

1/2 C natural applesauce (no sugar added)

3/4 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 t vanilla extract

3 large overripe bananas

1/2 C Chobani plain 0% Greek Yogurt

1/2 C walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Grease large loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, and salt.

Peel bananas. Cut each in half lengthwise and then cut each half into halves. Chop quartered bananas into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar into a smooth paste. Add applesauce and vanilla, and mix until combined. Add eggs one at a time, and beat until incorporated.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients, and mix well. Add chopped bananas, nuts and/or chocolate chips and yogurt.

Fold ingredients in, being careful not to bread up banana chunks. Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until inserted knife comes out clean when removed from loaf.

A Cavalcade of Cakes!

I know I was delinquent in not posting last week so I will make it up to you this week by supplying not one, not two, but three fabulous cake recipes! By the way, because one cannot live by cake alone (so they tell me), right now I am happily munching on a BearNaked Grain-ola Bar. Have you tried these? My local Costco has the fruit & nut (raisins, cranberries, almonds, and pecans) variety; it's quite good and will tide me over until dinner.

Last Saturday/Sunday, I baked the luscious Lemon Yogurt Cake from Ina Garten and the delicious Dimply Plum Cake from Dorie Greenspan (two of my favorite bakers). I wasn't really planning on two cakes last weekend, but when I went to the farmer's market in Paterson (currently celebrating 75 years in operation - the surrounding areas taking advantage of "farm to table" years before it was trendy), one of the farmers had baskets of gorgeous purple plums and I just had to have them. And today, I made Nectarine Golden Cake from the September issue of Gourmet. These cakes were all very different but all wonderful (there are very few cakes I would not find wonderful).

The nectarine cake is cooling right now and a little later this evening, I'll be savoring it. Let me know what you're baking this weekend. Bake on, my friends!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Barefoot Contessa at Home

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t kosher salt

1 C plain whole-milk yogurt

1-1/3 C sugar, divided

3 extra-large eggs

2 t grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/3 C freshly squeezed lemon juice

Glaze:

1 C confectioner's sugar

2 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8-1/2 x 4-1/4 x 2-1/2 loaf pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 C sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk dry ingredients into the wet. With rubber spatula, fold vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in center of loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 C lemon juice and remaining 1/3 C sugar in small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine confectioner's sugar and lemon juice and pour over cake.

Dimply Plum Cake

Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home to Yours

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Scant 1/4 t ground cardamom (optional)

5 TB unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 C flavorless oil such as canola or safflower

Grated zest of 1 orange

1-1/2 t pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums (in the Fall, use Italian prune plums), halved and pitted

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan, dust the inside with flour, tape out the excess and put the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom, if you're using it, together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. On medium speed, beat in the oil, orange zest, and vanilla. The batter will look very light and smooth, almost satiny. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.

Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots, then scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange the plums cut side up in the batter - I usually make 4 rows of 4 plum halves each - jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes - during which time the plums' juice will return to the fruit - then run a knife around the sides of the pan and un-mold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.

Nectarine Golden Cake

Gourmet, September 2009

1 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

Rounded 1/4 t salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 C plus 1/2 T sugar, divided

2 large eggs

1 t pure vanilla extract

1/8 t pure almond extract

2 nectarines, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

1/2 t grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 with rack in middle. Lightly butter 9 inch springform pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and 3/4 C sugar with electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in pan, then scatter nectarines over top. Stir together nutmeg and remaining 1/2 T sugar and sprinkle over top. Bake until cake is golden-brown and top is firm but tender when lightly touched (cake will rise over fruit), 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove sides of pan and cool to warm.

"Credit Munch"

n. - Recession-induced comfort eating.

From the U.K. Daily Express (May 11, 2009): "Stressed-out Britons have piled on 20 million stone in a year trying to "comfort eat" their way through the recession, according to [a] report out today. The condition - dubbed the credit munch - has seen three in five Britons put on weight in the past 12 months."

I don't know about you, but I don't really need the current economic crisis to force me into eating my favorite comfort foods. But, then again, I'm not a stress eater. I'm a stress baker. And I find I'm doing ALOT of baking lately (thank you, bankers and mortgage brokers of America). So to try and offset the frequency of baking, I am baking low-fat items (notice I didn't say low-taste items - I can't deal with that). Last week, if you recall, I made that delicious low-fat Banana Oatmeal Bread. Today, I baked some very tasty, low-fat, Carrot-Raisin Muffins. These are from the WebMD Magazine. They are only 130 calories and have less than 4 grams of fat, and with the carrots, raisins, and yogurt, you get a nice helping of vitamin A and iron. The recipe is below - try them when you need a credit-munch!

Carrot-Raisin Muffins

2 C all-purpose flour

1/2 C sugar

2 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t salt

1/2 C fat-free yogurt

1/4 C canola oil

1/4 C 1% low-fat milk

1 t vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 C shredded carrots

1/2 C raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the muffin cup liners in muffin cups. Set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt in large below; stir to mix. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, oil, milk, vanilla, and eggs, and whisk to combine. Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture, and gently stir just until combined (do not over-mix). Lightly stir in carrots and raisins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick that comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Makes 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin).

BTW: this recipe makes regular size muffins, not the giant style that you might find in retail shops.

Oceanos, Fair Lawn, NJ

We had dinner last night at Oceanos, a Greek seafood restaurant.  This was our anniversary dinner so I researched carefully.  Besides getting great reviews from various local newspapers, one of my favorite food bloggers, TommyEats, had given Oceanos a big thumbs-up. Additionally, after the chef/owner picks out the day's seafood every morning at the Fulton Fish Market, he comes back to the restaurant to bake all the bread for the day.  The bread, BTW, is a wonderful marble and served with flavorful Greek olive oil from the family's vineyard in Greece.

My big take-away: the outstanding service.  Yes, the food was fresh & delicious, and the restaurant's atmosphere was sleek, pleasant, & quiet (loved the color scheme - all soft blue and chocolate tones).  From the friendly host who greeted us at the door to the efficient, smooth, not overly-friendly wait staff, this was one of the most pleasant dining events in a long time.  

The best thing about the service:  I have no idea what my waiter's name was.  And, please don't take this the wrong way - he knew his place.  He didn't hover over us, although when we looked around for him to request another glass of wine or ask a question about the specials, he was there.  When he was serving a course and we engaged him in conversation, he smiled, made a light comment, and was gone.  What a breath of fresh air from the all-too-typical "hi, guys, my name is Joey and I'll be your server."  I know a lot of restaurants think that by having their wait staff introduce themselves it gives you some kind of bond with them, but frankly, I don't want to bond with the wait staff.  And, the use of the word "guys" has really gotten out of hand.  I know we all use it in our daily lives, but this is probably the thing that irritates me most at a decent restaurant.  If I'm at a Chili's (or similar ilk) for a casual, quick meal, OK.  But "real" restaurant owners:  please train your wait staff not to address patrons as "guys."  Wait staff:  look at the people at your table.  Your big hint here, some of us are not guys...

So, now to the food (photos above):  we started out with a grilled calamari appetizer - very nice.  For the main course, I had the Chilean Sea Bass, served with grilled asparagus and a vegetable risotto.  This was delicious.  My husband, Barry, had the swordfish special.  This was served with a tequila-lime sauce and yellow Spanish rice - again, delicious.  Dessert consisted of a Greek yogurt with walnuts and cherry preserves for me and a chocolate-cheesecake-layer cake for Barry.  

As an aside, have you tried Chobani Greek yogurt?  OMG - it is TDF. Try it - go to www.chobani.com and get yourself a coupon.  Once you try Greek yogurt, you will never go back to weak, watery yogurt.  There are a couple of other Greek yogurts in my Shop-Rite but I haven't tried them yet.  I am stuck on Chobani - fat-free, great flavors, and wonderfully thick, rich, luscious yogurt.