running with tweezers

having your cake and boozing it, too

"I can't wait until you get over this healthy food phase of yours...and start blogging about things like bacon fried in duck fat covered in chocolate again."

Those words were uttered to me in an IM last week by a friend and reader of this blog. The words "healthy food phase" came across loud and clear - I could hear the hiss of those three little words all the way over the Internet. I get it. Sheesh!

Yes... I do tend to focus on healthier things here on the 'ol blog. My natural tendencies and cravings lean towards veggies - along with cheese and bread but that's not important here.  Especially when cooking for one, I tend to do simple dishes, salads and easy pasta dishes.

That having been said, every once in a while, I get the hankering for something sweet. While I think the whole cupcake thing is a little overdone at this point, I do make a mean one. I have seen friends of mine eat six or eight in one sitting. In the car. Right after I hand them the box. My specialty is chocolate cake with a whipped, airy vanilla frosting. They're pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.

For Top Chef Wednesday this past week, a group of us got together to cook and watch the show. The theme? Belated Cinco de Mayo. It was the perfect occasion to surprise the group with cupcakes, something I hadn't done in a long time . I wish I could take the credit for this one...but I can't. I blended two different recipes together to make the cakes - a vegan cake recipe and a decadent cream cheese frosting to top it.  The light cake had nice tangy taste...but for me, the cake is really just the vehicle for the frosting and this recipe did not disappoint - creamy, rich and not too sweet. 

Margarita Cupcakes - recipe originally found here:

1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp lime zest (1 lime)
1 cup soy milk (plain or vanilla)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp tequila
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

- Preheat oven to 350F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
In a large bowl, mix together lime juice, lime zest, soy milk, oil , tequila, vanilla and sugar.
In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to lime mixture and stir until just combined. Divide evenly into muffin tins.
Bake for 20-24 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting - Makes about 3 cups icing - recipe originally found here:

•     8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
•     1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
•     2 tablespoons key lime juice
•     1 teaspoon key lime zest or lemon zest
•     4-5 cups confectioner's sugar

-In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add 4 cups confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time; continue beating until light and fluffy. If icing is too thin add additional confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoon at a time

keeping it raw

More raw(ish) meat on my blog! I promise this won't become a running theme, either literally or figuratively. I just had to post this recipe - I made this for a shoot a few months ago and now I've been coming back to it in my head for days now. I'm sure it's the combination of still being in beach mode and having Cinco de Mayo coming up today.

While I was on vacation in St. George Island, we were inundated with fresh seafood.  Fresh shrimp purchased from the side of the road and made into a shrimp cocktail lunch. Huge, plump raw oysters and steamed crab legs at the dive-y raw bar around the corner. It was just incredible...and it's a way I would like to eat all the time. While I do live in a major city and have access to all varieties of foods, the freshness of local seafood is something you just can't replicate - even when you pay $17.99 a pound for it at Whole Foods.

A really easy way to have that brightness of flavor and the ease of a warm-weather dish is ceviche. When I made this batch for the shoot several months back, it was the first time I had made it myself. I love ceviches of all sorts but always had trepidation about balancing the acid and the heat and all of the flavors in between. Those fears were truly unfounded - it couldn't have been easier.

I love calamari/squid in my ceviche, so I added that to the cod fillets I used. While this recipe makes a LOT of ceviche, you can easily cut it down and eyeball the amount of lime juice or acid you use to "cook" the seafood. You can also easily adjust the heat by amping up or minimizing the peppers. Add a glass of crisp white wine and some Saltines to this and you've got a divine (not to mention low fat and - without the crackers - low carb) summer meal.

Ceviche - recipe originally found here at Cooks.com

• 3 pounds of catfish fillets (any whitefish, fresh or saltwater will do, or some shrimp may be added.)
• 3-4 medium tomatoes
• 5-6 Serrano peppers
• 1 onion
• 24 limes
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup cilantro (finely chopped)

- Dice fish into small pieces approximately an inch in size. Place in large plastic or glass bowl - it doesn't need to be shallow.

- Using a lime juicer, add the juice of all 24 limes. Marinate for 1 to 1-1/2 hours in the refrigerator. Dice onion, tomatoes, and Serrano and add to the fish mixture. Stir in salt and cilantro. Cover and place back in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to mix.

We use this for parties and family gatherings. Recipe may be made smaller by reducing ingredients to half or one third of original quantities.

Remember to use 7-8 limes per pound of fish. The bottled lime juice may be used, but it will not yield the same result. It adds a concentrate sweet/bitter flavor to the dish and is not as good as fresh squeezed.

P. S. The "juice" of ceviche is called "Tiger's Milk" and is thought to increase virility and cure hangovers.

Thanks to Tony Clark for sharing in this amazing meal we made that day and for taking such beautiful photos of it, as usual!!!

no tears for the chickenhearted

It's quite amazing to me...the power of this blog. I've shared so much of my life here on these virtual pages. I've allowed so much of myself to be exposed here. Sometimes, it's a conflict for me because this blog is so interwoven with me as a person..as well as my professional life. Last year, though, I made a vow to myself that I would continue to be myself here on Running With Tweezers. The stories that I share here are part of who I am. Part of my evolution as a person. They make me stronger and better, in all aspects of my life.

In a few posts as of late, I've eluded to major life changes going on...but I've been too afraid to talk about them. Afraid because a big part of me wanted to take the "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman with a Blog" approach (which so isn't my style). Afraid because I felt embarrassment and silliness. Afraid because it was so personal. Not anymore.

Remember me talking about The Boy? He disappeared. Vanished. The last words I heard from him were I love you. Never to be heard from again. I know he's alive...at least in the physical sense. He left me and our relationship with not so much as a goodbye. A magical year of closeness, love, trust, humor, and adventure...dismissed without a word. To say that I was shell-shocked and stunned would be an understatement. I've done my grieving, believe me.

That was weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks ago. 

Now I sit...on the deck of the vacation house I've been at for the past week. There were little random raindrops falling on me as I wrote this post in my head, dotting my glasses. Those weren't tears. No tears for the chickenhearted. No fury. No anger. No vengeance. What I feel is pity. Sadness. I feel sorry for him. I look at this life of mine - every aspect of it - and it is pretty glorious.  Relationships end. People and feelings change - it happens all the time. That wasn't the hard part. It's the disrespect for the time we spent together and for me as a person. It was the ultimate in cowardice and deception, two things I have no room nor tolerance for in my life. Ever.

This week that I have spent away - after all of the drama and several weeks of crazy work schedules - has just reinforced what I already know and have known all along: my world is such a wonderful place. To be invited into my life - and the lives of the people I know - and be able to share it is a prize. I look at the photos I've taken in just the past few months...all of the experiences and memories I've made in just that short amount of time...and I am truly blessed.  Truly.

So this post isn't about him. This post is about me. Those words are now better spent describing the joyous and wonderful things in my life, most important of which are the people I know. I leave my vacation with my heart full, thanks to my dear friends who were with me, either in body or spirit - Stephen, Alex, Tony, Mike, Michael, J-ko, Deana, Clint, and Susy & Martin. The support of my new network of friends and colleagues that I have made through this blog: Kalyn, Barbara and Bron and many others. To everyone that takes the time to read this blog and share in this journey with me, thank you.

I will be back in Atlanta tomorrow, rejuvenated from a long couple of months. I'm inspired to no end. I'm running again. Taking lots of photos. Feeling joy and happiness. As much as I have loved being here in St. George Island, I look forward to being back with my friends and putting all of this positive energy to good use...some of which will be channeled into this blog. I can't wait to share this strength that all of you - whether in real life or virtually through this blog - have given me. I can't thank you enough.

Also, thank you to Victoria who let me use her photo in this post. I couldn't have expressed it any better myself. She makes rockin' jewelry...you should check her Etsy profile out here: Experimental.

There's no place like Home.

Yes, you're reading correctly. I am posting about a restaurant. I have to preface this post by saying that this is a cooking blog - and will always be. However, I eat out a lot. So much so that it could be considered a hobby. Living in Atlanta, we have an incredible restaurant scene. It's one that is often overlooked by the media and publications. So, in an effort to try and do my small part to remedy that, I am going to - from time to time - blog about particularly great meals that I've had in Atlanta and on my travels.

Last week, I was lucky enough to experience the first week of Richard Blais cooking at Home, his new restaurant. I have been dining in Richard's restaurants for years now and I have always found his food to be interesting and thought-provoking. Many of you know him from the current season of Top Chef, where he is kicking a lot of ass. It's been interesting to see him on the show...and I was curious as to what effect that would have on his cuisine. The Richard Blais I spoke with at the end of the meal was kind, charming, warm, and confident. Those qualities came out in the food, which is Southern-inspired with a Blais twist.

It was a spectacular meal from start to finish - a great feat in my eyes because I think Southern cooking is something near and dear to people's hearts. Modern twists on Southern cuisine are often looked up with a skeptical eye. One need not worry when it comes to Home.

We sampled a good bit of the menu that evening. A delicious basil martini took the edge off of the drive there in Atlanta traffic - driving in Atlanta is often a character building exercise. We started off with a group of starters. The fried green tomatoes with Ranch ice cream was typical Blais - savory ice creams are something he excels at. The Tabasco "dippin dots" on the raw oysters were eye-opening, both in their novelty and their heat. The deviled duck eggs come topped with changing toppings - ours were salmon tartare, short ribs, and pickles & cornichons. Those two dishes are pictured in this post.

Moving onto larger plates, we continued to be wowed. The perfectly cooked duck egg on the wild mushroom dish created such an oozy sauce for the woody mushrooms. We also had the crab cake, which was perfectly executed with a nice addition of a Brussels sprout slaw. The winner of that round of dishes  was the pancakes with blueberries (and blackberries, in our case) and foie gras butter. Yes. Foie gras butter. The play of textures and flavors was phenomenal.

At this point, we were approaching maximum capacity. However, after seeing the fried chicken being brought to the table next to us, we just had to try it. The coating was crispy and crunchy with lingering herb and honey flavors. Alongside it was the best mac-n-cheese I have ever consumed. Ever. Cooked in its own individual cast iron skillet, it was chunky but creamy and just...heavenly. Sides were brought family style to the table, including marinated yellow beets which I just love.

Service was spot on throughout the night, which was impressive considering the restaurant was in transition and had only been open for 3 nights at that point. The wine list is short but thorough - it does suffer a bit from the Atlanta perils of big oaky Chardonnay and huge Cab overload. The dining room is cozy and intimate without feeling crowded.

Writing about this meal let me relive it all over again - that's a good thing. I am so pleased that Blais, considering the exposure and success he is currently experiencing, has chosen to stay here in Atlanta. I'm sure he could have gone elsewhere...but I think his cuisine and his perspective are really important for our city. He does something no one else does and I feel very fortunate to be able to experience it. For a full rundown of the dishes we ate, you can check out all of my photos in the Flickr set here.

Home is located at 111 West Paces Ferry Road  Atlanta, Georgia  30305. For more information, see their website  or make reservations through OpenTable.

another taste of yellow...

I know I have already submitted an entry for Barbara's Taste of Yellow event, honoring those who have battled cancer and remembering those who aren't with us anymore. My salad dressing recipe I posted really is quite fabulous - thanks there, Tyler Florence. However, since it didn't have FOOD in it, per se...it didn't feel quite right.

I really love this time of year, particularly for the sake of produce. The bounty of favas and tomatoes and squash - all bursting with color. I came across the recipe and it had all sorts of things I like in it: squash, zucchini, garlic, and pasta. The addition of rosemary was pretty unusual - I tend to only use rosemary when I'm grilling or roasting. Truthfully, I think you could substitute it with basil and be equally as happy. In addition to changing up the type of pasta I used, I amped up the salt & pepper and added some red chili flakes and some lemon zest. The last minute sprinkle of cheese on top really brings the dish together - creamy and buttery with notes of fresh spring veggie taste.

Pasta with Summer Squash and Rosemary - recipe originally found here at Epicurious.com

• 1 pound dried tagliatelle or fettuccine
• 1 pound small zucchini (about 5)
• 1 pound small yellow squash (about 4)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano - optional
  

Fill a 6-quart pasta pot three fourths full with salted water and bring to a boil for pasta.

Trim vegetables and cut into 1 1/2 x 1/4-inch sticks. In a deep 12-inch heavy skillet melt butter over moderate heat and cook vegetables with salt and pepper to taste, stirring gently, 2 minutes. Add rosemary and cook, stirring gently, until vegetables are just tender, about 2 minutes more. Remove skillet from heat.

Cook pasta in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until al dente and ladle out and reserve 1 cup pasta water. Drain pasta in a colander and add to sauce with 1/4 cup reserved pasta water and salt and pepper to taste. Heat mixture over low heat, gently tossing (and adding more pasta water as needed if mixture becomes dry), until just heated through.

Serve pasta with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Toast of the Town!

Last Thursday, I was invited to attend a new event being held here in Atlanta: Wine Enthusiast's Toast of the Town. Held at the Georgia Aquarium, it was a celebration of Atlanta food and amazing wines - and it all took place at the Georgia Aquarium, which really provided such a great backdrop for the event.

I have to say...it was a really great event. There were so many great wines...too many to try in an evening. There was no shortage of bubbles - my favorite - so seeing the Piper Heidsieck and Mumm tables was a treat. There was also doing a tasting of the 50 year Grand Marnier, created to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Grand Marnier.

Food-wise, there were around 30 restaurants present. The highlight for me was getting to officially meet and chat with Michael Tuohy, who has a wonderful restaurant called Woodfire Grill. I have been a fan of his for a long time...and he was just as genuine and wonderful as I had hoped. His salmon with spring vegetable dish was also pretty incredible. I have linked to his really informative blog, Frontburner, on my blog over there.

Ecco did a wonderful mushroom stuffed piquillo pepper. Another great salmon dish came from Feast, which was paired with a lentil salad. I had great bites from Taurus and Atlanta Grill, as well - both did skirt steak or brisket with flavored grits. My one complaint: you have hundreds of people there and its a chance to impress a wide audience...and you serve boring all bruschettas? I appreciate the ease of eating these nibbles at this type of event...but step it up a bit! Portofino did some great versions with a smoked salmon & horseradish and a wild mushroom crostini...but lots of restaurants seemed to just be calling their food in.

Overall, I had such a wonderful time. Special thanks to Tony Clark Photography , who acted as the official photographer of Running With Tweezers. I'm sure he took great joy in snapping photo after photo of me consuming, well, everything.

a taste of yellow

It's that time of year again: Barbara at Winos and Foodies is hosting her annual event, A Taste of Yellow. This time around, she's added a new element - including a liveSTRONG wristband into your photo. I have been madcrazy busy with work, so I'm afraid that my photo is a little uninspired. However, I am still thrilled to take part. Thanks for the wristband, Barbara!

In honor of this awesome blog event, I made up a little yellow tomato salad (with a smattering of feta cheese) as a vehicle for my new favorite salad dressing in the world: a tangy, mustardy tarragon vinaigrette. It was originally used in a Salade Nicoise recipe from Tyler Florence (swoon)...but since my friend Tony and I made that salad, I have been thinking and thinking about the dressing. He made a batch for a salad the other evening and I fell in love again. It's the perfect salad dressing: flavorful and herby enough to compliment everything from mixed greens to slabs of fish. A word of advice though when making this salad dressing: double the recipe. Trust me.

Tangy Tarragon Vinaigrette - originally found here on foodnetwork.com

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

To make the vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a mason jar. Screw the cap on the jar and shake the vinaigrette vigorously to emulsify. Set the dressing aside while preparing the salad so the flavors can marry.

in the meantime...

Remember this from last year? It's my Lemon Linguine that I contributed to Barbara's (from Winos and Foodies) LiveSTRONG event called A Taste of Yellow. I am busy working on a post to take part in the event today...but I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the event and that the deadline is SATURDAY.

While I'm at it, here are some other events and posts that I think are pretty newsworthy:

- For all of those people in Atlanta, we are lucky to be hosting a fabulous new event this year: Wine Enthusiast's Toast of The Town on April 17th, 2008. 30 local restaurants (including favorites of mine like Ecco and Woodfire Grill) will be serving dishes alongside over 60 wine and spirit companies for a really delicious evening. In case that wasn't enough of a draw, it's being held at the Georgia Aquarium! We will be attending and bringing a wrap-up of the event - a good way for those of you not in Atlanta to take a peek at a bit of our food scene! The event also takes place in Chicago and San Francisco. Information and tickets can be found here.

- Do you have trepidation about cutting up those whole chickens? One of my favorite food blogs done by a fellow Atlantan, RowdyFood, has posted an interesting and easy-going video about butchering a chicken. Once you've breezed through that, you can move on to Step 2: perfecting your Southern Fried Chicken.

- If you prefer bacon over chicken (and I'm not going to say who doesn't), check out this video of the ultimate BLT - a pound of bacon barely being held together between two flimsy pieces of bread. Can you hear your arteries clogging as you watch?

- For those people who need to drink their meals, check out the site for MeatWater. This is seriously one of the most brilliant and creative projects I've seen in a while.

what the -hay- is a clafoutis?

Thank Goodness for Donna Hay.

More specifically, thank goodness for my favorite blog event, Hay Hay It's Donna Day. Started by Barbara at Winos and Foodies, it's something that I *really* try not to miss...even in the most hectic of circumstances - I even wrote the round up for one from the lobby of the hospital when my mom was ill! Life has been a wild ride the past month or so...and work has been a very busy distraction for me. I've welcomed the hectic pace. However, that means I  haven't stopped to really cook anything for myself in a good while.

When Bron Marshall, the most recent winner of HHDD, announced her theme, I sort of cocked my head to the side and went..."Huh?" I had seen clafoutis in my Donna Hay cookbooks but had never attempted one. As usual, these blog events provide a great incentive to give new things a go. It turns out that this is one of my favorite things I've ever made for this blog.

The problem was, however, my lack of dessert appreciation - especially when cooking for one. Like fruity desserts well enough...but I didn't want to make a sweet version and have it be sitting around my house...just waiting for me to pick at it until it was gone. Add to that the fact that I'm trying to watch my carbs due to a pending beach getaway and my new-ish single status (yes i said it).

My friend Mike emailed me over a bunch of clafoutis recipes, a staple in his house. This version immediately caught my attention - tomatoes and basil are two of my favorite things, in case you hadn't noticed. The batter part called for very little flour, which wouldn't blow the carb farm. This was so delicious and easy to make - make your batter, throw the tomatoes in whole, and bake it. I threw on a handful of arugula for a pop of color and some bitterness with the creamy clafoutis. I also substituted Greek yogurt for regular yogurt or sour cream - the tang was noticeable and added a nice touch.

Cherry Tomato and Basil Clafoutis - serves 4 as a first course or light entree - recipe courtesy of Mike Stock

• butter for greasing
• 1 pound cherry tomatoes
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup creme fraiche, sour cream, or plain yogurt
• 4 tablespoons milk
• handful of roughly torn, fresh basil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate with butter. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then beat in the flour. Add the yogurt and milk, beating until smooth. Stir in the basil and all but 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese.

- Spread the tomatoes, evenly over the bottom of the pie plate. Pour the batter over the tomatoes and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top is golden brown, and tomato juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

traditional take on tabbouleh

First of all, I must apologize for going MIA. I have been dealing, in the past couple of weeks, with some serious emotional stuff - and I ain't talking about grief counseling stuff. I've had some serious life changes happen the past few weeks and its taken me a bit to get my blog legs under me again. Even as I try to write this, it feels...weird. I'm sure I'll be back on the horse here in the next few days. I have a gripping exploratory of food-on-sticks up my sleeve that I will hopefully get to work on this weekend!

I have been on a serious Mediterranean food bender lately. In the past couple of months, I've experienced some awesome off the beaten path places, all of whom seemed to make exceptional tabbouleh. I've made a twist on this salad before - in the waaay back stages of this blog - and it's still a good option. Maybe I've become more of a purist or a traditionalist, but nothing is better than the parsley and lemon and garlic mixed with the simple bulgur. While I like eating it right when its freshly made, I think letting it sit overnight really lets all of the flavors mingle and get to know each other and really *shine*. A big scoop of this alongside some hummus and pita bread has become by comfort food meal-of-choice the past week or so.

Tabbouleh - serves 4  - recipe found somewhere on the Internet - oops :)

• 1 cup bulgur
• 1 2/3 cups boiling water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste

   - Combine bulgur and boiling water in a large bowl. Cover, and set aside to soak for 1 hour.
   - Add oil, lemon juice, onions, parsley, mint, tomatoes, and cucumber; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.