I saw this recipe posted on Cooking Channel’s Facebook page. It’s a recipe by Mark Bittman, and to be honest with you….I will eat anything with proscuitto, although the thought of wilted lettuce scared me. You see, I’m one of those people who freaks out when I get a burger or some hot sandwich and the lettuce inside has wilted. I get grossed out by the texture.

I put my bias of wilted lettuce aside and tried this recipe out. It was merely okay to say the least. I think it  needed something extra in terms of the flavor, I’m not sure. All that said, the lettuce wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

The original website for this recipe is:

http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/mark-bittman/pasta-with-prosciutto-and-lettuce-recipe/index.html

We started off with appetizers: Queenies (sea scallops wrapped with Apple Smoked Bacon, drizzled with parsley butter)

*Also, can I tell you how much I love micro greens? Not for just the pretty factor, but to eat?

As you can see, we decimated the plate before we could take a proper picture of it. They were delicious, but I would have preferred that they stuck with the Champagne Scallops as an appetizer. The flavor was more delicate and sophisticated than the Queenies. Sayin!

We both ordered Beef Wellingtons, because really…How often does one get to eat a Wellington? I mean, unless Trader Joe’s has a frozen Wellington all ready to be heated up and eaten, the chances are slim.

The Beef Wellingtons were cooked to perfection, and the truffle sauce was a perfect compliment. The truffle mashed potatoes were boring. There was nothing that stood out for me, and they almost reminded me of the boxed mashed potatoes. I can probably out-do them with my mad mashed potato skillz any day.

Last but not least, dessert. I was tempted to order the Baked Alaska because I am a huge fan of Baked Alaska. It’s one of the many reasons I go on cruises, Baked Alaska night. I decided not to go with the Baked Alaska, because I’m on a diet, and will have to wear a bathing suit in less than a month, so I just ordered a cappucino instead.

But lo and behold, the staff came to our table with an anniversary dessert (not Baked Alaska). It was quite the magnificent and tasty and sugary Creme Brulee (almost  as good as a Baked Alaska).

We had a great time at Sir Winstons and hope that we can come back again next year.

I am totally lamenting the closure of my favorite Cuban restaurant here, in Los Angeles. It was named Tropi-Cuba and it had the closest authentic Cuban food that I have found living here, thus far. Personally, I think  that the location was a negative and that’s probably why it closed. It was in a shady area in Torrance across the street from a hospital. It was too tucked away to get exposure, and I’m sure they relied heavily on the hospital staff for clientele. I would love to open up a Cuban restaurant if I had the money.

Last weekend I made a Cuban avocado salad. I have been in the mood for avocados non-stop recently (no, I’m not pregnant). This is an easy salad to make, and is light for the hot Summer months.

• I chopped an avocado into chunks, and sliced some Roma tomatoes and red onion.
• Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt.
• Finally, add a squirt of fresh lime juice to the mix to add flavor, but to make sure your avocados don’t brown too quickly. You can also try it with lime for a more Authentic Cuban flavor (we love lime in everything).

Okay, this one might not appeal to everyone, but mostly those who love anchovies as much as I do, because I’m one of those people who love tons of anchovies in my Ceasar salads. I saw this quickie appetizer recipe while watching David Rocco’s La DolceVita on the Cooking Channel. It was so easy and unusual, that I decided to give it a try.

The key to this recipe is finding large sage leaves. Unfortunately, my grocery store only carried small leaves pre-packaged in those herb boxes that you find in the produce section. If you garden your own sage, you’re lucky (by the way, we are starting a mini-farm in our backyard so maybe I’ll get larger sage leaves for the next time).

Simply put,

1. place an anchovy in between two sage leaves

2. dip the leaves in an egg wash

3. coat them with flower

4. fry them in olive oil until they are golden brown.

When they turn golden, remove them and put them on a plate lined with paper towel to drain any excess oil. Add salt while they are still hot.

I thought these made a great snack or appetizer that was so easy and quick to make. My husband wasn’t too keen on the anchovy flavor, so it’s not for everybody.

Okay, this has been weighing heavily on my mind for a few months now. I suffered through 9 months of pregnancy without being able to eat raw fish and alcohol. Granted, I have had my fair share of wine since having had SB, but my raw fish intake has not gone so well.

One of the first things I had after having SB was Ahi Poke from Fresh and Easy. I had been craving those raw little ahi cubes for 9 months…salivating at the thought of them marinated in that poke goodness. I started imagining those little cubes with arms and legs and sunglasses, relaxing in the marinade as if it were a jacuzzi. A jacuzzi of mouth watering flavor, that is.

After I had Ahi Poke that one time in early November, I’d go back to see that it was no longer on the shelves. It wasn’t uncommon for it to be sold out by the time I got there, so I figured I just had some rotten luck…No biggie, I’ll come back again and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find it.

Every week as I’d go back to Fresh and Easy, I’d look for it and see nothing. I’d only see some measly 1.5 inch wide filets of overpriced fish staring back at me.  I looked at the tags on the fish shelf and saw nothing that said “Ahi Poke.” It was absent and without warning…it was gone.

For weeks I had been wondering, why? Had it made someone sick? That was the only issue I could think of.

Yesterday, as I was making my usual supermarket rounds (yes, I go to a few on a single day), I went to Fresh and Easy and looked again for my beloved Poke. The shelf stared back at me with that empty white LED glare. I trudged on, heartbroken.

I was at the self checkout when the girl that worked there began to bag my stuff….She asked me the usual, “Did you find everything okay today?” I gave her that automatic “Yes,” but then I realized, “Here’s my chance to find out what happened.” I said, “Wait, No….Can I ask you a question?” She said, “Sure,” and I came back at her with, “Whatever happened to the Ahi Poke? I love that stuff and it hasn’t been on the shelves for awhile now.”

She looked at me with this annoyed face, as if this were not the first time she’s heard that question. In fact, she said, “I’ve been getting that question a lot lately.”

She didn’t seem to have a straight answer, as if she wasn’t given the memo on talking points about the disappearance of the Ahi Poke. All she said was, “Well, it probably wasn’t doing too well, it wasn’t selling out.”

As she said that, the angry Cuban in me came back at her with, “No, that’s not true. It was always sold out! I’d come here to buy it for dinner and it was all gone by the time I got here after work!”

I realized my pent-up rage was not something I should force upon this poor girl. I mean, it wasn’t her fault, right? Anyways, she gave me a few suggestion cards and told me to fill them out and sent me on my way home, broken at the thought of never having Ahi Poke again.

That said, I just filled out an online comment card at Fresh and Easy, hoping they will hear my plea, but who knows. I think, if anything, “the man” has won.

I must now search out an Ahi Poke recipe.

So far, our diet has worked. Rus has gotten below his goal weight and I am one pound away from my pre-preg weight. I still have about 10 more pounds to go after I hit that mark though. This week, I made a halibut steamed with lemon, bok choy and shitake mushrooms in parchment paper. I’ve never used parchment paper, but I found it convenient for clean up.

The original recipe called for striped sea bass, which was not available at our market, so we substituted for halibut, just for the halibut. Pa duh dum!

The recipe is simple and straight forward. What you see in this picture is what you get. I halved 1 whole bok choy for each parchment package, added my fish, put in a few good squirts of lemon juice and topped with a few lemon slices, drizzled some nice olive oil, added some salt and pepper, and shitakes and there you have it. Fold the parchment and tuck it in like a little present and voila!

Put it in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and you have a 209 calorie entree!

I am a huge fan of vinegars of all sorts. I have a decent collection of vinegars ranging from Barrel-Aged Balsamic, to Rice Wine Vinegar, to your plain old Apple Cider among others. Last night, I decided to make a balsamic marinated grilled pork chop with sauteed cole slaw. Both had…you guessed it, vinegar. This is a super easy dinner to make, just allow 30 minutes for the pork chops to marinate in the balsamic mixture.

For the pork chops, the marinade goes something (I never measure) like this:

In a plastic freezer bag, add your pork chops then add

1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 table spoon of seedy mustard

1 table spoon of pureed garlic

1 teaspoon salt

Let this sit for 30 minutes and make sure to flip it over 15 minutes in so that both sides get all the goodness.

The cole slaw was simple. Most supermarkets have ready bags of cole slaw handy. I bought a bag of chopped cabbage and a bag of broccoli slaw because they didn’t have the conventional cole slaw bags handy…and I love broccoli slaw.

I added the slaws in a pan and drizzled olive oil.

Let it cook down, until it is soft…about 3 minutes.

Then add about 3 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.

A dash of salt and pepper to taste.

For something extra, I baked some small tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt at 350 degrees while the other things were cooking. This way we felt full from the meal without having to eat carbs.

The pork chops and the slaw took approximately 6 minutes (although I cooked my chops on my Foreman Grill, so cooking times may vary).

So we have still stuck to our calorie counting journey…and I am amazingly 4 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight 15 weeks after having given birth to SB. I have lost 26 lbs. and my husband has lost 13 lbs.

One of the things I used to crave most were hamburgers and ice cream. The girl at our local Cold Stone once commented, “You guys like to come here a lot.” Maybe she didn’t notice the gigantic baby bump standing right in front of her. Early on in my pregnancy, I had 5 burgers in one week. This was an early indicator to my husband, that I was pregnant. The burger craving never subsided throughout the  9 months, and now that I’m not pregnant, I’m not so keen on burgers that much. Today, t hough, I thought I’d have one….but make it sensible and low cal.

I decided to use turkey, swiss, mushrooms and avocado with these little thin whole wheat buns that are great.

I hate flavorless burgers, so I seasoned the patties with Mrs. Dash Steak Seasoning and Adobo (yes, that’s the Cuban part of me).

My husband grilled the patties for 10 minutes total, flipping them over after 5 mins for each side.

As for the mushrooms, I sauteed them with garlic, a dash of olive oil and a little splash of thickened barrel-aged balsamic with some salt to taste. I sauteed them for 10 minutes while the patties were cooking on the ‘que.

The total cals for this were 430 as opposed to oh…say a Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Portobello burger which is 870 calories…and as my husband said afterwards, “Wow, this was actually filling, but it doesn’t make you feel like crap.”

So there you have it.

I was on facebook today, when I saw David Rocco’s posting about having roasted cauliflower. I immediately texted my husband and told him to buy some cauliflower and rosemary.

It was a quick recipe and tasty too:

One head of cauliflower (or if you have already washed and trimmed cauliflower available at your market, buy that and save some time)

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Panko Crumbs

Parmesan Cheese

Lemon Juice

Rosemary (chopped)

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.

While the oven was preheating, I arranged the cauliflower in an oven proof baking dish. I drizzled olive oil over the cauliflower, and then added salt and pepper.

Next, add half the juice of a lemon and 3 cloves of garlic.

Finely chop 3 sprigs of rosemary.

Mix the ingredients up so the cauliflower is coated in the olive oil and lemon juice.

Finally, liberally sprinkle parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs to the top of the cauliflower.

Bake for 30 minutes until lightly golden.

And there you have it, a relatively easy and delicious side dish for any meal.

Having lived in Miami for most of my life, I grew up eating amazing Cuban food. I’m a big soup person, and this was one of my personal faves. Fabada Asturiana is actually a Spanish soup stew made with white beans originating from the Spanish area known as Asturias.

I have never made Fabada, so this was new to me. Living in Los Angeles makes it a bit difficult to find common ingredients in Cuban/Spanish cooking, so there are a few ingredients missing. On a side note: if anyone can tell me where to get blood pudding in LA, hit me up.

Back to the stew, I went to Food 4 Less, because I know they have ham hocks and salt pork…as Trader Joe’s and Fresh and Easy do not (shame on them). I got a chorizo which I thought was hard enough…you see, another problem in LA is that supermarkets sell Mexican Chorizo and not the harder Spanish Chorizo. I thought this one was hard enough that it wouldn’t fall apart in the pot. I was wrong. As I was getting the ingredients ready, I grossed out my husband by showing him the ham hocks and the salt pork. With a disgusted look on his face he said, “I don’t want to see this stuff now. Just cook it and show it to me when you’re done.”

I chopped up the salt pork (about 2 oz) and one link of chorizo and sauteed them with one ham hock, half an onion and olive oil. When I noticed the casing of the chorizo shrinking, I took them out fearing I’d get the chorizo meat all over the place (I will tell you later on what I did with it).

I added some garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, salt and pepper, along with 2 bay leaves for a few minutes before adding 10 cups of water. I then added the beans. I used a combination of 2 cans butter beans and 1 can of great northern. I have never seen a fabada with butter beans, but when I was reading a recipe in the market for fabada, it called for them.

I personally think I overdid the water, so I let the soup boil uncovered to reduce and thicken the stock for a few hours. During this process, I added a couple pieces of chorizo back into the pot for flavor. Luckily, the chorizo did not fall apart.

You can also add potatoes to this stew. I did not because I was on a time constraint and didn’t have time to peel potatoes, but I definitely will next time.