After much debate, we settled on a product.  You’ll have to wait a few weeks until it arrives to see what our choice was.  We are both pretty excited as neither of us have owned this product before.  There are a lot of uses for it and we hope to use it on a daily basis!  Stay tuned to find out more about the product!

My sister and I have been working to combine blogs and it has finally happened.  You can now find us at Sister’s Running the Kitchen! Update your Google Readers !  See ya there!

Chile-Lime Crab Salad with Tomato and Avocado

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used Canola Oil)
• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped jalapeno
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus cilantro leaves for garnish
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound fresh jumbo lump crab meat, picked over
• 2 Avocados, diced (1/2 inch)
• 1/3 cup red onion, minced
• 1 large heirloom tomato, cut into four 1/2-inch-thick slices
• Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the lime juice with the olive oil, vegetable oil, jalapeño, chopped cilantro, honey and garlic. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.
• In a small bowl, toss the crab with 3 tablespoons of the dressing and season with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, gently toss the avocado with the red onion and 2 tablespoons of the dressing; season with salt and pepper.
• Place a tomato slice on each plate and season with salt. Top with the avocado and the crab and garnish with the cilantro. Drizzle the remaining dressing on top and serve with tortilla chips.

What is your favorite way to enjoy crab meat?

Bow-tie Pasta with Tomato-Basil Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped, or 4 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or more)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 6 ounces bow-tie pasta
• 1 package (4 ounces) goat cheese crumbles
• Garnish: basil sprigs

Directions

-Combine the first 7 ingredients.  Cover; let stand 1 hour at room temperature.

-Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Serve tomato mixture over pasta; sprinkle with goat cheese. Garnish, if desired.

Click Here to read more about the health benefits of Tomatoes!

Tomatoes are perfect this time of the year.  I used to hate tomatoes when I was younger…thankfully I have grown to love them!

Do you like tomatoes?  What is your favorite tomato recipe?

Stay tuned, later this week I have a recipe to share with you that involves crab meat and avocado…which happens to be a perfect combination.

The table was set really nice when we first sat down…

Shortly after we sat down, the lemons (which were real by the way) were replaced with delicious bread…

I don’t want to make this a really long post, so I am going to quickly recap most of the food we had that night…or at least try to…

Three awesome pizzas…

Marinara - crushed San Marzano Tomatoes, oregano, & garlic.

Parma - mozzarella, fontina, arugula, and prosciutto di parma.

and my personal favorite…

Polpo - Octopus, tomato, red chili flakes, and smoked mozzarella.

I loved the smoked mozzarella on this pizza.  Next time I make pizza I am definitely making one with smoked mozzarella!

Next up…I ordered this…

Fusili with fava beans, pecorino and mint.

Really good, nice and refreshing taste.  Another pasta I ordered was…

Robiola Francobolli with royal trumpet mushrooms and thyme.

This was awesome.  I ordered this the last time I went to Osteria.  I love their Raviolis…they are tiny and practically melt in your mouth.

Mozzarella in Carrozza with olive oil poached pear tomatoes and capers.

Rabbit "casalinga" with pancetta, sage, brown butter, and soft polenta.

Wild Halibut al cartoccio with olives, potatoes, and oregano.

House aged rib-eye "fiorentina" with grilled spring onions, watercress, and balsamic.

and we all ended the night with all different flavors of gelato/sorbetto…

Thanks Todd!!

I ordered Fior Di Latte (sweet milk), yogurt, and blueberry sorbetto.  All were amazing.  I was so stuffed by the end of the night but everything was absolutely delicious.

Todd & I

Hope you are having a good week so far.  Later this week I have an awesome summer recipe to share to help you use up some extra tomatoes you might have in the kitchen.

As I sat down to write this post I checked back on my old blog to see what I was doing this same day last year.  It’s kind of funny because I am doing the same types of things I did last year…such as running, making a green monster, making a type of avocado salad, fruit picking…the only difference is now I am not preparing to go to Europe!  Guess I haven’t really changed much over the year. haha.

Today I went Cherry Picking.  It was really hot and I had to keep moving this 8 foot ladder around to different trees so I could reach the cherries…it was quite tough but I got some cherries…

They’re actually really, really good too…nice and sweet!

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but last weekend I bought something really cool for myself.  I’m not usually one to buy a lot of things for myself, especially something this expensive.  Todd actually helped me out though as part of my birthday present.  I’ll save what I bought for another post!  Now on to some good eats…

Yesterday I made this delicious Avocado Salad…I’ve actually made it a few times this spring but I finally remembered to take a picture so I could share the recipe.  The recipe is actually Ina Garten’s (the Food Network: Barefoot Contessa)…she calls it a Guacamole Salad…but I prefer to call it an Avocado Salad.  Either way it’s really, really delicious, so try it out! I <3 Avocados.

Serves 6 appetizer portions or 3-4 Entree Portions

Avocado Salad

Ingredients

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup small diced red onion
• 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Directions

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

**Note: I added a handful of chopped cilantro.  I also probably did not use quite as much Olive Oil as she suggests…I did not measure, I just estimated.  I have also made this recipe using grape tomatoes and other times using fresh jersey tomatoes…I think this salad comes out much better using the local tomatoes…so if you have a farmers market with fresh tomatoes…use them!

Vetri is a very small restaurant. It probably only seats about 13 tables.

When we first got there, we were taken to our seats and each offered a glass of  Prosecco (in case you don’t know, Prosecco is a dry sparkling Italian wine made from a variety of white grapes).

Todd checking out the wine list & our glasses of Prosecco.

I thought the menus were pretty cool.

Shortly after, our waitress offered us a choice of bread, Focaccia or Tuscan White.  The first time around I went with the Focaccia and the second time around I chose the Tuscan White.  Both were delicious but I enjoyed the Focaccia more.  The bread was served with olive oil & olives that were soaking in the olive oil.

The Sommelier of Vetri came to our table to see what we wanted to drink with dinner.  Todd went with an Italian beer and I ultimately went with the sommelier’s suggestion based on what wine paired best with the food I ordered–which was a Lambrusco.  I don’t know much about wine, but I would describe it as a slightly bubbly, dry Italian red wine.  This wine had a very light taste to it and I ended up really enjoying it.  I don’t think I would have ever ordered it if it had not been suggested to me.

(I’m apologizing ahead of time–the pictures are not that great because the lighting was pretty bad and I am not a great photographer)

To start, Todd & I ordered two dishes to share…

Vetri's famous Spinach Gnocchi with Shaved Ricotta and Brown Butter.

These were so, so good.  They were so light and very spianchy.  Loved them.  This an item that is always on the menu.

The other starter we ordered was…

Artichoke salad with arugula and parmesan.

This picture is really terrible…you can thank Todd.  Thankfully, it tasted one hundred times better than it looks here.  This item is not always on their menu…it will change seasonally.  This was really, really delicious.  I am a huge fan of artichokes so I loved this.  I would really love to recreate this at home.

For the main part of my meal, I ordered two half plates of pasta.  I couldn’t decide between these two pastas and I thought it was a good idea to order half portions of each so I was able to taste more on the menu!

My two half portions of two different Pasta dishes.

My favorite of the two was the one on the right…Fettuccine with Morels.  This dish was supposed to come with Roasted Sweetbreads (no these are not  a type of bread, these are glands of animals), but I opted to leave them out.

Fettuccine with Morels.

Once again, I am sorry about the TERRIBLE quality of the photo.  Oh well.  In case you didn’t know, Morels are Wild Mushrooms…and according to Todd are only available for a very limited amount of time throughout the year.  I absolutely loved this dish.  There’s just something great about pasta and mushrooms…particularly homemade, fresh pasta.

The other half dish of pasta I ordered was the Spaghetti with dungeness crab and favas.

This dish was more light and refreshing in comparison to the Fettuccine with Morels.  While this dish was still delicious, I did enjoy the other pasta better.

Todd ordered the Guinea Hen Breast stuffed with prosciutto served with Mushrooms…

I did not taste this, but Todd looked like he was in heaven eating it.

Another entree that looked really delicious was the Salt Crusted Whole Roasted Branzino with truffle sauce and brussels sprouts.  This dish is created for a minimum of 2 people.  Maybe if I ever go back I will order this!

We ended the night with two delicious desserts.  Todd also ordered Espresso and I ordered Tea.

I ordered the Chocolate Polenta Souffle with Vanilla Gelato.

This was warm with a gooey center.  Very, very delicious.  Enjoyed every bite.

Todd ordered a dessert that I unfortunately can’t remember the name of.  It was called Blueberry….something with an “S”.  I believe it was warm and it was served with a yogurt panna cotta.

Once again, terrible picture.  Todd’s dessert was really, really good.  I loved the yogurt panna cotta.

Well…the food was outstanding.  All of our plates tonight resembled this one…

Yum.  Thanks so much Todd for taking me to Vetri.  I had an amazing time.

Todd looking like he is having a blast.

Can't keep my eyes open.

If you live in the Philadelphia area or are ever in town, I would highly recommend visiting one of Marc Vetri’s three restaurants.

Thursday night I am actually going out with my family to his other restaurant, Osteria.  Both my Mom and Todd made reservations at two of Marc Vetri’s restaurants to celebrate my birthday…how lucky am I?

• The Flyers made it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1997.  For those of you who don’t know, they are playing the Chicago Blackhawks.  After losing 2 games to the Blackhawks on the road, the Flyers won last night in Philadelphia…so now the Flyers trail in the series 2-1.  They play again on Friday in Philadelphia and it will be a HUGE game…wish I was going!

Oh yeah…Todd and his friend actually designed the shirt that Todd is wearing in that picture.  It’s a Phillie Phanatic & Flyers mix.  Pretty cool!

What else have I been up to?

• My sister and I made some homemade Brownies that turned out amazing.  Usually, I use boxed mix to make brownies, but making them from scratch was almost as easy and they taste so much better.

Click here for the recipe!!  I loved these.  They were rich, gooey, and not cakey…just how I like them.

• Played on the beach with Andie & Bradley…

• Ran the Kenny Wayland Memorial 10k Race with my sister.

The race was a lot of fun.  To tell you the truth I was really not up for running that morning.  I did not really feel great the entire race and wanted it to end as quickly as possible…I’m sure you can tell by the expression on my face in the picture above…haha.  Regardless, my sister and I did very well in the race.  I finished in 45:41.  I won first place in my age group 19-29 and 17th out of 163 runners.  My sister finished in 45:56.  She won second in our age group 19-29 and 19th overall out of 163 runners.  Last year I ran this same race in 44:16 which is considerably faster than I ran it this year.

• Rode my bike.  Here is a picture on top of the Ocean City bridge when I rode from Margate to the end of Ocean City.

Speaking of bikes, I have been looking into buying a road bike.  Although they are expensive, I do have money that I have been saving.  I went to the shop last week and they are ordering a bunch of Fuji’s that I am going to go look at when they come in…hopefully this weekend.  The owner of the store is pretty awesome and my friend Nick is real good friends with him since that is where he got his bike and he does the group rides there.  He is cutting me a pretty awesome deal on the bike so I am looking forward to it!

Hope you are enjoying this hot weather!

One week from today is my birthday!!!

Grilled Chicken Breast Stuffed with Goat Cheese with Smoked Chile Cilantro Sauce

Ingredients

• 8 ounces soft goat cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped nicoise olives (I left these out because I do not like olives)
• 1 red pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh finely chopped thyme
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 large boneless chicken breast, pounded thin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Preheat grill. Mix together the goat cheese, olives, red pepper and thyme in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Lay each breast out and fill with the cheese mixture. Brush the breasts with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste, secure with toothpicks. Grill for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Smoked Chile-Cilantro Sauce

• 2 poblanos, smoked, peeled and seeded
• 1/4 cup red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 2 teaspoons honey
• salt and freshly ground pepper

In a blender, combine the poblanos, onion and lime juice and blend until smooth. While the blender is running, add the oil slowly until emulsified. Add the spinach and cilantro and blend until smooth. Add the honey and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

This sauce was amazing.  Absolutely delicious.  As I was eating I was trying to think of what I else I can put this sauce on.  You have to try it.

When making the chicken, I would recommend using a grill.  Unfortunately, I did not have a grill….so I used a grill pan.  It made it very difficult to handle the chicken.  I would suggest baking the chicken as well, but I am sure that baking the chicken would slightly change this dish.  I’m sure it would still be delicious though.

I served the chicken with Roasted Asparagus and Israeli couscous.  I cannot recall now but I think we put yellow bell pepper and sundried tomatoes in with the cous cous.

I don’t make cous cous often, but when I do I typically make the smaller cous cous.  This was my first time using Israeli Cous Cous and I absolutely loved it.  It was so simple to make and I loved the chewiness of it.  I’m glad I bought a big container because I will be making more of it!

Just a few notes about Marc Vetri:

• Trained in Bergamo, Italy.
• Within two years of opening Vetri, he was named one of Food & Wine’s Ten Best New Chefs and received the Philadelphia Inquirer’s highest restaurant rating.
• In 2005, Vetri won the James Beard Award for “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic.”

[source]

I have never been to his oldest restaurant, Vetri.  I hear amazing things about it… although, I hear it is a bit expensive.  While his other restaurants are still very expensive, I think it is worth it.  I have been to Osteria several times and it is definitely my favorite restaurant.  The other night I finally made it to his newest restaurant, Amis.  I thought that this restaurant was great.  I loved the portion sizes because it allowed us to try several things on the menu without going overboard.  I was expecting this restaurant to be a little less expensive than his other restaurant, Osteria.  However, I found that it was around the same price.  The quality and taste of the food was so good that I did not mind paying a good price for it.

Todd sitting at the table with the kitchen behind him.

Todd and I both started off with a glass of red wine.  I ordered the Poggio alle Sughere, Morellino di Scansano ‘06 (“coastal chianti”/dried cherries/balsamic; Toscana).  I am not a wine connoisseur but I really did enjoy this wine.  Todd ordered the Alpha Box & Dice, “Fog” ‘06 (nebbiolo/cab/tannat/licorice/smoke/leather; Australia).  He enjoyed it but thought mine was tastier so for his second glass, he went with my choice of wine.

To start, we ordered Brushetta.  We went with the imported Bufala ricotta and black pepper drizzled with olive oil.  However, they brought out a complimentary Eggplant Caponata Brushetta as well.

I was so happy that they brought out the Eggplant Caponata.  Both were awesome but I really liked the Eggplant Caponata better.  I wish I took a closer picture of it to show you, but there were pine nuts and golden raisins in the mix with the eggplant…so good!!

Todd is a big fan of Arancinis, so we ordered the Arancini di riso with meat ragu as well.

Arancini

While I probably would have never ordered this, I had a bite and thought it was pretty tasty.  Not my top choice, but Todd really enjoyed it!

I am a huge fan of the Raviolis at Marc Vetri’s other restaurant, Osteria.  Therefore, I knew I had to order them here.  I ordered the bufala ricotta ravioli with spring asparagus.

Yum.  Check out how tiny & delicate these are.  I love them.  They are nothing like those big, stuffed Ravioli’s you typically will see.  So delicious.

Todd ordered the gnocchi alla romana with oxtail ragu.

While I did not taste his, he seemed to really enjoy it.

We also ordered marinated fava beans and peas with ricotta salata.

This was delicious.  I love fresh and simple dishes like this.

After all of this delicious food, we had to finish it off with a delicious dessert.  Todd ordered an espresso, I ordered tea, and we split the Rice Pudding with Balsamic marinated Strawberries.

Delicious.  I love, love, love rice pudding.  Ever since I was little my Mom-Mom has been making our family rice pudding.  She makes the best rice pudding that I have ever tasted.  It was funny because apparently this rice pudding is the Chef’s Mom-Mom’s recipe.  I’d like to do a throwdown though because I think my Mom-mom’s rice pudding beats this.  However, this rice pudding was definitely my second favorite that I ever had.  Very good and the marinated strawberries were a good touch.

So, overall, I loved Amis.  Amis is definitely added to my list of favorite restaurants.  I already can’t wait to go back.  Now, I really have to try out his first and most expensive restaurant…Vetri.