Squid Ink Cappellini

(4 servings)

Preparation Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes

I first had squid ink pasta when I was travelling in Venice way back in 2005 and instantly fell in love with it. I don’t know if it was the color of the pasta or the taste along with the fresh seafood it was served with but I took to it like a fish to water. Now I regularly cook with squid ink & if you follow our blog you would have seen the squid ink fideos posted during Spanish cuisine month which is one of our favorite dishes. On my recent visit to Chelsea market in NYC, I picked up squid ink & Italian ‘00’ wheat flour from the Italian store “Buon’Italia” and decided to try my hand at making cappellini.

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Okra & Radish Pickles

(8 Servings)

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes

Pickled radish is a great accompaniment to rillettes or pâté, or can be sliced and added to salads. Whereas pickled okra goes best with meat burgers or sandwiches. I didn’t want to do the traditional gherkin or cucumber pickles & in addition I like the crunch & texture provided with these ingredients. I used a mix of pickling ingredients that I felt would complement the okra and radish. You can experiment with a few additional like chili if you like your pickles spicier, or fennel.

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Cheesy Shrimp & Polenta

(4 servings)

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 

Shrimp and grits is an all-time southern classic.  Traditionally had as breakfast but can also be had as lunch or dinner. Though I like the combination of shrimp and grits, I prefer shrimp and polenta. The consistency of polenta with the cheesiness of the comte cheese that I have used in this recipe complement each other. Polenta is also slightly heavier than the grits making it a better entrée dish eaten at lunch or dinner. I also used shrimp with the shell on. This just imparts better flavor to the sauce. This also makes a great dish to make if you have kids (without the shells on for the shrimp of course). They will love the cheesy polenta with the tangy shrimp!!

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Air Fried Kale Chips

(4 servings)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

This super food has been around for a very very long time but has just recently burst on the scene as a trendy, healthy food source. Almost all restaurants now serve some variant of Kale. Quite interesting how food trends go. Chloe just absolutely hates any dish made with curly kale (somebody did not have their veggies growing up 😉 ), but she devoured the chips I made with this Lacinato organic Kale leaves picked up in the neighborhood Sunday farmers market. The texture of these leaves also known as Dinosaur Kale is very different from Curly Kale and I think make better and lighter chips.

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Asian Pear & Apple Pie

(4 servings)

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours

Every time I eat a pie for dessert it gives me that warm, fuzzy, happy feeling inside. I am not usually much of an apple eater. I know I know they say an apple a day keeps the doc away but I weighed the options and decided to take the risk :P. However, apples in a tart I devour. This past weekend I decided to make an apple and asian pear pie. I found these really fresh, organic fruits at the weekend farmers market on the Upper West side, NYC close to Lincoln Center, which were perfect for this dessert. This recipe is my take on the hearty dessert. I made a compote with the pears to complement the tartness of the sliced apples to make the pie filling. Went so well together! Hope you guys try this recipe and love it.

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