Ingredients

2 1/2 lb chuck roast
16 oz frozen pearl onions
8 oz whole button mushrooms
750 ml white wine
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground, black pepper
Arborio rice, 1 cup, uncooked
1 TB olive oil
2 TB cold butter
1 medium tomato
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
parsley for garnish

Method

Empty the bag of frozen onions into a crock pot or dutch oven. Season the chuck roast with the salt and pepper and put on top of the onions. Add the thyme and mushrooms over the top. Pour the white wine over the roast. Cook according to crock pot directions. If using a dutch oven, bring up to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for two to two and half hours. Remove the roast to a plate and keep warm.

Using a two quart saucepan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and 1 TB of the butter. When the butter is melted, add 1/2 cup of cooked onions from the roast and 1/4 cup of the mushrooms. Cut the tomato into 1/4″ dice and add to the pot. Add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes, until the rice almost starts to toast. Ladle one cup of stock from the roast into the rice and stir slowly with a wooden spoon. Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is al dente (about 18 minutes). Take off the heat and stir in the other TB of butter and the parmesan. Serve on a platter with the beef shredded over the top.

The whole container recycles the water in it, there is no soil, no bugs and it’s on a timer. They couldn’t make it any easier to grow your own organic plants at home. Here is their website for more info: http://prodigalorganictowers.com/

In addition to growing things, I’ve been cooking up some menus for the Easter holiday. Here’s a couple of tested menus you can access right here at http://elizabethdougherty.com:

http://elizabethdougherty.com/2011/06/09/spring-pea-soup-with-lime-crema-chicken-breasts-poached-in-red-wine-and-star-anise-and-five-spice-fingerlings/

http://elizabethdougherty.com/2011/06/10/herb-encrusted-rack-of-lamb-with-a-buerre-rouge-potatoes-dauphinoise-with-gruyere-and-spring-aspargus-with-roasted-garlic/

More and more, I’m so proud and excited to live in the Tampa Bay area with chefs and restaurants that are really dedicated to providing fresh, local food. Yes, we eat healthily for the most part, but sometimes you’ve got to just let go and live a little.

This is the Mezza Luna from Bella’s in South Tampa. It’s fried from their fresh Mezza Luna (half moon) pasta stuffed with cheese, however, it still manages to stay light and the sauce has that rich tomato taste without being too acidic.

There are many things I love about this restaurant, there are too many to list. It’s not that it’s full of snooty culinary masterpieces. That’s not the point of this place. It’s a true neighborhood restaurant. When you walk in, you feel warmly at home. The servers are friendly without being intrusive and the food is generally very good. (The tiramisu, which I’ve written about before, is the best I’ve ever eaten.)

The pizza oven does not disappoint with crispy pizzas served all day and on their late night menu. (The only change I requested is I wanted the prosciutto put on after the pizza was baked, otherwise it gets a little tough.)

If you have kids and you are looking for some house-made meals instead of the super-salty overly processed choices, check out Outback. Have you been lately? My son swears by their version of mac n’ cheese made with penne pasta. I tried it too. So cheeeesy. 

I had always been taught that when you want a great steak, go to one of those very expensive steakhouses where they tell you the whole story of the cow’s life and how long they age their steaks, etc. When I found out that Zagat had rated Outback’s steaks as the best in the country by a chain restaurant, I wanted to taste it for myself. I hadn’t eaten at an Outback in years, and my last impression was “meh”. That has all changed now.

The filet with a wedge salad is a reasonably priced, very flavorful dish. The filet I tried was fork tender and perfectly grilled over wood. It had that smoky flavor going on in the background and the cool, blue cheese dressing on the wedge was a great counterpart. There are some dishes where simple is just fine by me, as long as the quality is there. This is one of them.

If you want a special night out, away from the franchises and chains, check out one of my favorite restaurants in Tampa, Pane Rustica. These people have a habit of making their meat dishes brontosaurus-sized. About a week ago, I tried their short rib and there was nothing short about it. It was huge and tender and savory and completely satisfying. Wow. I just had a little flashback there. Here’s a picture so you can share the yearning with me. 

That’s not all I had that evening. Have you ever had a veal cheek? I hadn’t either and I dig when restaurants use all the “parts” and don’t waste anything. It’s what being a good restaurant/chef is about. That’s the challenge and they really stepped up with this veal cheek and pasta dish. Just when I thought the short rib was the most outstanding part of my evening. This was love on a plate. 

You probably already know by now, neighborhood Italian places always have a soft spot in my heart. Well, recently we had Bill Murphy on the show. Remember those great one-tank trips he put together? Yep. That’s the guy. You can still find his books around town. I found some at Haslam’s, but I digress. Bill recommended this little Italian restaurant in St. Pete Beach called Gennaro’s. 

It’s not big. It’s not fancy. The food is exactly what you would expect and hope for. The red sauce is made with love, the garlic bread is an actual loaf of Italian bread smeared with garlic butter and baked until toasty hot, the baked pasta dishes are overflowing with cheese, bubbly and browned on top and it’s not expensive. I really debated not even writing about Gennaro’s because I want to go back and I don’t want it to be too crowded! This was my manicotti, hot and steaming right from the oven.

By the way, if you find yourself at the Columbia Restaurant with out of town friends in Ybor or you just feel like taking in the view at the Pier, it doesn’t mean you always have to have a Cuban sandwich. They have several Italian crossover dishes like their version of an eggplant parmesan pictured here. It’s got capers and olives in it, giving it some extra pizzazz and the sauce a good kick. Did you know they also have a gluten-free menu? All you have to do is ask for it. 

I’ll see what sorts of trouble I get into over the next several days, fork in hand, eating around. Have a tasty week.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

6 portobello mushrooms, diced

1 eggplant, diced

1 small onion, diced

1/4 cup hummus

1/4 cup avocado or guacamole

1/2 cup fresh spinach

1 large celery stalk

1 whole lime, uncut

1 TB chopped, fresh cilantro

1 32 oz carton chicken or veg stock

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 TB sea salt, or to taste

fat-free sour cream, for garnish

Method

Place all ingredients except for the thyme and sea salt in a large pot. Simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, or until all the vegetables are very soft. Remove the lime and discard. In batches, add the soup to a blender. Don’t fill blender more than halfway. Put a towel over the cover of the blender and put your hand on top to avoid spillage. Put the pureed soup in another pot. Add the thyme and salt to taste. Simmer for ten more minutes. Serve in bowls with a dollop of sour cream for garnish.

This type of antipasto platter is lunch for me sometimes. Sure, it’s probably higher in fat than some dishes, but it’s basically carb-free!

I LOVE the two types of olives pictured here. The Castelvetrano (green olive) has a fresh, green flavor and the flesh is meaty and thick. The other olive pictured here is the Cerignola. It’s a red olive characterized by an almost smoky flavor and is very fleshy, as well.

Combine these outstanding olives with Prosciutto de Parma, Capicola and thinly sliced salami with marinated artichokes, hard goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes and you’ve got a heavenly little snack.

You can find antipasto items in every city, but when I’m at home I generally go to Mazzaro’s for the olives.

Bring a platter the next time one of your friends asks you to go sailing. These are great provisions!

I believe it’s important to balance what you eat each day and not try to eat strictly low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie for every meal. Firstly, it gets very BORING and secondly I don’t want to be one of those stick people with no figure forever. Like the olive, I want a little meat on me. Check out one of the best pasta dishes I ate lately:

This dish is a Chianti braised beef ravioli with a mushroom cream sauce that tastes like it has a little kiss of sherry in it. When I order this as an appetizer (locally at Vincenzo’s) the people at my table fight over the last ravioli.

Think about it. How can one go wrong with the combo of braised beef, pasta and a rich cream sauce? It’s a winner.

For the quality of food at Vincenzo’s, the prices are fair, the service is attentive but unobtrusive and every visit I have paid there has been equally satisfying.

My favorite dessert lately? Check out the pic below while I formulate the words to describe this dish…

There’s tiramisu and then there’s this happy cloud of love on a plate. It’s not your typical, customary Italian dessert. If you want to indulge yourself in a bit of a chocolate fantasy, come with me for a moment. Imagine light, chocolate mousse with mascarpone cheese, lady fingers soaked in espresso and more, all covered in a chocolate sauce and served with two spoons.

You can find this treasure at Bella’s Italian Cafe in South Tampa or you can make a version of this at home. I can’t even look at a normal tiramisu anymore.

Are you trying to find more “natural” eats around town? Check out your local farmer’s market. The market closest to me here in St. Petersburg, FL has gone to great lengths to bring in fresh, local food, from produce to meat. I had been looking around for beef that was sustainably produced and fed a vegetarian diet (with no genetically modified feed). It’s hard to find.

Here’s one producer of grass-fed beef right here in Florida, and these types of responsible meat companies are spreading across the nation.

Another trend lately are these low-carb, tortilla pizzas I’ve been seeing around town. It’s a crispy tortilla on the bottom and this one is topped with beef that has taco seasoning in it, some green onions, chopped tomato, olives, mushrooms and of course, lots of melted cheese. This one is a keeper. My favorite one is made at Harvey’s on 4th St. in St. Pete, but you can find them in lots of restaurants these days.

You are completely missing out if you haven’t given this next dish a try. Over at Gratzzi on 2nd and 2nd in St. Pete their signature entree is called the Bada Bing. They prepare this dish tableside by flaming cheese using vodka INSIDE the giant cheese wheel, then they add it to pasta with some fresh tomatoes, a little spicy pepper flake and let it get all hot and melted. After the cheese melts, your heart will too.

Another appetizer at Grattzi is one of my favorites in this area. It’s the deep-fried artichokes stuffed with goat cheese. What a decadent, tasty treat! The tart flavor of the artichoke combines with the creamy, smooth tang of the cheese, all with a crunchy crust breading.

Listen, do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? (Yes, those are lines from a Beatles’ song. Seriously, this IS one of the best-kept secrets in the Bay area.

Vizcaya on North Dale Mabry in Tampa makes authentic Spanish cuisine at affordable prices. It’s not a huge place. It’s very intimate.

Just the other day I had the pictured chicken breast stuffed with spinach and mascarpone cheese and a beautifully reduced sauce.

I savored every bite.

But wait, there’s more! I have a lot to catch up on with you. Sometimes after doing my radio show, I like to have a little nosh, nothing too heavy.
There are a few places we like to go for appetizers or tapas. One of them is Pelagia at the Renaissance Marriott in International Plaza. Take a look at the sampler. You can select up to four appetizers to mix it up.

On this visit (one of many), I chose wild mushroom risotto cakes, crunchy stuffed olives with three meats, Manchego cheese & honey comb and tomato with goat cheese and pesto.

All of these dishes were reasonably priced comparatively and I hope you’ll give a few a try. I regularly check in on Twitter when I’m dining out, keyword: FoodNationRadio. Happy eating!

Ingredients

1 small to medium-sized lobster

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 shallots, not peeled, cut in half

Pinch of parsley

pinch of thyme

2 black peppercorns

1 clove

15 1/2 oz pumpkin puree

6 TB butter

8 TB flour

splash of sherry

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup heavy cream

drops of good sherry, for garnish

drizzle of melted butter, for garnish

Method

Put the lobster into boiling water for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. Save the water you used to boil the lobster. Take the flesh out of the lobster shell and reserve. Save the lobster shell. In a large pot, add the carrots (chopped) and the shallots cut in half, flesh-side down over high heat. When the shallots brown, add the lobster shell and stir. Add the lobster cooking water, the parsley, thyme, peppercorns and clove. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and put the liquid back on the heat. Add the pumpkin. Reduce by 1/3.

In another large pot, make a lobster veloute by adding the flour and butter over high heat. Whisk for 1-2 minutes, until the butter is melted. Whisk 1 minute more. Add a small splash of sherry. Add the lobster stock and whisk intermittently until it thickens slightly. Add the sea salt. Add the cream and turn down to lowest heat. In a small pan, reheat the lobster meat in a little butter and chop into pieces. Serve in bowls with some of the lobster pieces, a few drops of sherry and a drizzle of melted butter.

Julia Child always used the steaming and then roasting method to avoid splattering of the goose in the oven (due to the amazing amount of fat rendered). We will do that here as well, but save that fat to saute potatoes with, etc.

Ingredients

1 goose 8-10 lbs

5 shallots

2-3 carrots

sea salt

pepper

blood orange juice (regular orange juice is fine) for basting plus 1 1/3 cups for the gastrique

1 large baguette, about 20 inches in length

1 egg

1 TB butter

2 packages dried morel mushrooms (about 1 ounce each, dried, or a little more)

fresh thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

splash of white wine

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 tsp good sherry vinegar

1 cup of chicken stock (or make goose stock from the giblets, as we did with the turkey recipe on the site)

Method

Take the giblets out of the goose. Rinse the bird thoroughly. Pat it dry with paper towels. In a large, heavy roasting pan safe for the stovetop, place the carrots and 2 shallots, cut into big chunks. Place 2 more shallots, roughly cut into the cavity of the goose. Splash some of the blood orange juice over the goose and generously season with salt and pepper. Place a couple of inches of water in the roasting pan and cover with aluminum foil. Steam over medium heat for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

While the goose is steaming, rehydrate the mushrooms according to package directions. While they steep, shred the baguette into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Beat the egg and add it. Chop 4-5 sprigs of each of the fresh herbs and add them. Add 1/2 tsp of sea salt.

Chop the mushrooms, add the butter to a small frying pan and saute them with a 1/4 tsp of dried time and a pinch of sea salt. When the liquid dries up in the pan, add a splash of white wine. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before tossing in the bowl with the bread mixture. With clean hands, mix the contents of the bowl. Spray an 8×12 glass dish with cooking spray and add the mixture, gently patting it down to fit the dish.

Pour the liquid from the goose pan into a container, leaving only about 1 cup of liquid in the pan. Splash a little more blood orange juice over it. Flip it breast-side-down, and roast, covered, for two hours while you make the gastrique (see below). During the last half hour, uncover it, turn it breast-side-up and place the stuffing in the oven, uncovered. After 15 minutes, add 1/2 to 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid (and fat) to the stuffing, depending upon how much it has dried out. Bake and roast 15 more minutes and remove everything from the oven to cool for a few moments.

While the goose is roasting, make the gastrique. Place the sugar and 1 1/3 cups of the blood orange juice in a saucepan with the sherry vinegar. Allow to simmer and reduce until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool slightly. Serve with the goose.

Sun-dried tomato palmiers

Parmesan sticks

Herbed goat cheese

Assorted crackers

seedless grapes

Camembert fondue

Ingredients

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets (11 oz)

1  6.5 oz jar of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes

4 oz grated parmesan cheese

8 oz of goat cheese

assorted fresh herbs, including basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary

seedless grapes

8 0z (or more) wheel of Camembert cheese

best quality assortment of crackers

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Palmiers

Thaw the puff pastry or quick-thaw according to package directions. Drain but reserve the oil from your sun-dried tomatoes. Buzz the tomatoes in a food processor until smooth. Gently roll out one 10″x15″ pastry sheet without crushing the edges (or it won’t rise). Place it on a cutting board. Paint the dough lightly with the oil from the tomatoes with a pastry brush. Paint the sun-dried tomato mixture on the dough. Roll the long side of the pastry up to the center and stop. Roll the other long side up to the center. With a very sharp knife, slice into 1/4″ thick slices and place each slice on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake until golden 10-12 minutes. These hold up well at room temperature for a short period of time.

Bread sticks

Roll out another sheet of the pastry dough, as above. Sprinkle it with parmesan and using a ravioli cutter or a knife, cut into 1/4″ strips. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and twist each end in opposite directions creating a spiral bread stick. Place each stick on the cookie sheet an inch apart and bake at the same temp as above for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. These also hold well.

Herbed goat cheese

Chop assorted herbs finely. Roll cold goat cheese into twelve balls. Roll in the fresh herbs and serve.

Camembert fondue

Take the plastic wrap off the cheese and place back in the wooden round container. Place it on a baking sheet and bake until very soft and melted. Carefully cut off the top and the melted cheese can be spread on crackers. Re-heat if necessary.

Serve all of the above with grapes and assorted crackers.

If you simply have no time, the Christmas cake from Italy, panettone, has always been a favorite in our home. You can find various brands of it at almost every major supermarket.

Another option is to make edible ornaments or even a gingerbread house. I experimented with gingerbread dough last year and came up with a recipe that would hold up for decorating. If you use this dough for ornaments, make sure you poke a hole in the top of each gingerbread cookie with a round pastry tip (because the hole will shrink) before you put it in the oven. Use holiday-themed cutters to make your ornaments varied and festive. Here’s the recipe link for that:

http://elizabethdougherty.com/2011/06/09/making-a-gingerbread-house-and-cookies/

I painted the house with melted chocolate. We ended up devouring that one as the holidays approached.

Other gifts you can make include chocolate truffles by simply scalding cream and pour the hot cream over twice as much (in ounces) of chopped chocolate, stir until smooth, let it cool and roll them into balls. Then you can roll them in cocoa, sweetened coconut, peanuts, pistachios. The possibilities are endless.

An even less expensive option is flavored popcorn. Make some popcorn and while it’s still hot toss it in garlic salt, cinnamon sugar or cajun seasoning. The flavors are up to you, but one thing is for sure; people will know you took the time to make it.

Ingredients

5 oz tempeh smoked bacon

cooking spray

sea salt

1 lb spaghetti

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more to garnish each plate

cracked black pepper

Method

Put a large pot of water on high heat, with a TB of sea salt in it. While that’s coming to a boil, chop the tempeh bacon finely into small dice. Spray cooking spray in a frying pan and lightly “toast” the tempeh over medium heat. (The smell is fabulous.) When it’s lightly browned, set aside. When the water boils, toss in the spaghetti and cook to package directions. In a glass bowl, combine eggs (beaten), 1/2 cup parmesan and cracked black pepper (as peppery as you like it). If you are concerned about using raw eggs, realize the hot pasta will cook them for the most part, but you can always use pasteurized eggs (they come in the shell) if you like. Drain the cooked pasta reserved a few TB of the pasta water.

Toss the tempeh in with the egg mixture and toss the whole mixture in a big bowl with the hot pasta, adding a 2-4 TB of the cooking water to make a sauce. Serve immediately, garnishing with more parmesan and black pepper.