So a weekend of dodging falling branches, and continuous downpours, all the while watching the weather channel disbelieving the forecast, the moment the sun peaked out, off to the market to see what I could scrounge up. As soon as I cruised through the produce section and saw the rapini, I knew what was for dinner. A staple around the house, in some fashion or another, rapini with white beans over pasta. I'm not really sure when and where I grew to love the dish, it's not as if I grew up eating it. It may have been inspired by some reading I did on the early days of Ybor City. For those not familiar with that neighborhood in Tampa, it was the home of Italian, Sicilian, and Cuban immigrants who were the backbone of the cigar industry in Tampa. I just remember reading about the humble dishes, and some of the Sicilians relying on dishes like white beans over pasta. The rapini simply fits right in. Anyway, a fresh tomato and basil to lighten the dish, and off to the kitchen to get my fix.

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Well, mark that experience up to bad judgment, but what was I thinking getting a job in a country club? I should have known when they used the words "fine dining" and "bargain to our guests", that they where not serious about putting out the best food possible. I just didn't want to believe the generalizations about country club food. Live and learn.

Couple the failed job, and add into that the blistering heat, and odd schedule the household has been under, and you get very little cooking, and very little writing. Until today. I had a craving, a fairly odd one for me, to have fettucini alfredo and shrimp. Rarely do I cook anything other than angel hair, and almost never do I do cream sauces, especially in the middle of summer. Perhaps it was a way of nature telling me to fill up before the hurricane, but there was no turning back, off to the market for the fixings.
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I have always played around with drinking smoothies, both at home, at health food stores and smoothie shops. I've probably tried just about everything under the sun in a smoothie. However last week and made this smoothie, and I swear it has made a hug difference in my overall well being (aside from that episode Saturday, but that's for a different blog...) First, a little trick. Freeze your fruit. That way, you don't have to water down your smoothie with ice, to get that cold, creamy texture. For bananas, I peel them, place them on a plate, and then freeze. Once frozen, they can be put in a ziploc bag and stored easily, and you can easily remove a single banana at a time.
So, for the smoothie, I'm using 1 frozen banana, about 1/3 cup of blueberries, 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tablespoon each of honey and flax seed, and approximately 3/4 cup plain soy milk. (I pour just enough soy milk to cover all the fruit). Blend until smooth, drink, and be healthy!

I've been quite lax in writing, as I've started a new cooking job, and haven't quite gotten into the swing of things just yet. That whole "life gets in the way" thing. Anyway, I wanted to keep the site some what up to date, so I had this dish set to do a few weeks back, and never got around to writing about it. It was done for an impromptu dinner party of sorts, and was served family style. One nice thing about risotto, is that contrary to popular belief, a lot of the work can be done ahead of time, and simply finished when you are ready for dinner. First thing first was to go to the market and get some nice medium sized pink shrimp and approximately half a pound of crab meat.
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Have been doing some "under the hood" work on the site, but not writing, (or cooking much this week for that matter) but did put this together on Monday.

After a Memorial Day weekend of cookouts, and all you can eat corn at the Zellwood Corn Festival, I needed something light, and filling. Enter pasta dish. A quick glance at the vegetable crisper revealed some fennel left from an earlier meal, so I knew that would get tossed in. Hmm, ok salmon and fennel are a great marriage, so we are almost there. Angel Hair is the de facto pasta around here, as A, my muse loves it, and B, it works well as a leftover during the week. My muse turned me onto tossing it with olive oil, garlic and nutrional yeast (she actually turned me onto using the yeast for several things, it very well mimicks parmesan, without the fat and calories). Anyway, off to the market for the salmon, and something else to round out the pasta.
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