Sushi Rivay vs Home Cookin

After a glorious week of sushi... yes that is correct Jose and I ate at Sushi Rivay for 5.. or 6 days in a row... it's just sooo fresh.. so after that absurd dent in the budget, we decided to get back to good ole fashion home cookin...

Spinach Ravioli in Bolognese

with parmesan sautéed zuccini

Spaghetti Bolognese

with basil and parmesan 

Grilled Salmon

with mashed potatoes and broccolini tomato salad

Fancy Gooey Grilled Cheese 

 with tomato basil salad

Good Ole PB&J

with gold fish and a tall glass of milk

Boiled Chicken

with red bean and corn dip and rice

Best Attempt at Indian Chole 

with rice

Pork marinated in homemade sweet & spicy sauce

with mango and sauteed asparagus

Spaghetti in a White Wine Cream Sauce 

with peas and ham

Fried Egg Sandwich

with fresh cherry tomato salad

Ricotta and Spinach Ravioli in a Cream Sauce

with broccoli

Spaghetti in Mushroom Cream Sauce 

with cajun chicken

Sauteed Chicken

with potatoes and broccoli

Fake but Fabulous Mac&Cheese
with emmental, brie, cream, and so much butter

One Pasta Two Sauces

Rouge

ground beef, ham, chopped onions, dark mushrooms,

chopped red bell pepper, basil tomato sauce, fresh basil

Order of operations:

saute onions and peppers in EVOO

add mushrooms (chopped garlic if you're not feeling lazy like I was)

add ham (or smoked sausage)

add ground beef (season to taste)

add sauce (or homemade tomato sauce.. again if not lazy)

let simmer (add red wine if you happen to be drinking some)

let simmer some more

add fresh basil last... enjoy!

Blanc

butter, butter, butter,

chopped onions, dark mushrooms, 

heavy whipping cream, gouda, creme fraiche,

basil mustard, Riesling, fresh basil 

Order of operations:

start with butter, saute onions, 

add in sliced mushrooms (don't know the name of them but they are 

much darker than regular ones and have more of a meaty flavor.. like a truffle)

add liquid cream and let cook

add gouda (parmesan probably works too)

let cheese melt in to liquid

add creme fraiche (aka fancy sour cream)

let melt

let simmer

season to taste

add a bit of basil mustard and a bit of white wine

(Riesling is nice because of it's sweetness)

(nutmeg would probably be nice if you have some)

let simmer into super tasty, creamy, relatively thick sauce

enjoy!!

Basil Plant

This is what happens when you buy a basil plant with an uncertain life expectancy... it goes on everything.. note to self.. buy more kitchen gagets so I can move on to pestos, oils, butters and dressings...

Fresh and Flavorful

Today it actually felt like August.. sunny, humid, crowded.. so naturally I went... (sans coat, sans umbrella!!!) to one of the many Markets in Paris. I chose Marche de la Bastille because it's big enough to have great variety but not so big that I get overwhelmed.. plus it's only a few stops from my house.

man doing a live info-mercial
for those handy-dandy kitchen scissors 

As soon as I started shopping, I realized how much money I waste per week at Monoprix. I got 3 cucumbers for 1euro.. what on earth?! At another stand I got 2 bell peppers, 3 avocados, green beans, fresh figs, onions and a sweet potato for 8 euro! I also bought a lot of fruit that I did not plan to buy.. but when someone offers a taste I can't say no.. and when it's delicious I have to buy it! There were tons of bucher stands as well.. much more intimidating because I'm not used to managing an entire animal, whether it be a fish, a turkey or a pig.. and numbers like 18 to 23 euro per kilo don't really mean anything in my mind... thus I defaulted to shrimp.. peel, devein, saute.. done

All in all the market was fabulous and so inexpensive that I had to stop shopping because my bags were to heavy, not because I was out of money! That's a first.

***

Home again, so I began playing with the ingredients to see what I could concoct....

Salad 

mango

cherry tomatoes

peeled and diced cucumbers

basil garnish

Guacamole

avocados

cherry tomatoes

lime

lemon

chili peppers

Rice

first sauteed in EVOO

onions, yellow bell pepper, and spices.

then boiled the rice and added plenty o' butter

Creamy Spicy Shrimp Sauce

sauteed shrimp 

oil and garlic

liquid cream, butter, creme fraiche, parmesan

whole basil, whole chili pepper for flavor 

let thicken

I put the shrimp sauce over the rice and it tastes a lot like that Thai food I had in London last weekend.. cool.. I just accidentally made Thai cuisine. Usually everything I make tastes Italian.. or too spicy to recognize.. this is progress!!

A coke and a smile

salade Nordique
smoked salmon, haddock, tomatoes, potatoes
mustard-based tartar sauce with thyme

Ice or no ice, I will never get tired of coke served from a nice cold glass bottle with a fresh slice of lemon. So after 2 hours of belly dancing I realized that I was dying of thirst and seeing as that it was Sunday afternoon, fat chance of finding any kind of grocery store open. After about 25 minutes of walking I found myself at La Marine, a cute cafe on the canal. I ordered the Nordic salad and of course a coke! The sweetness of the coke contrasting the saltiness of the haddock and smoked salmon was delicious....