Sweet Corn & Zucchini Salad with Feta

Mr. Keith took me on a very nice date night last week to Osteria Mozza courtesy of Alloy Entertainment and Warner Brothers... the producers of his new TV show. Yes, my man definitely has figured out the way to my heart. Use of his gift cards on me. It was our first time eating there and I must say that it was well worth the wait.  I know... we were wayyyy behind the bandwagon on that one, but holy food coma was it AMAZING. It totally lived up to the hype and we had such a wonderful meal. The view wasn't too bad either, as we found ourselves sitting next to the entire cast of Scandal... with Scott Foley in my direct eye line. Ah. The teenage girl in me was having flashbacks to pretty much every TV show that I ever used to watch. Thankfully, my husband was also in my direct eye line and he was the most handsome distraction in the restaurant. Though I'll admit, I kinda had a two-for-one view.

Besides my usual buratta indulgence, I stepped out of my comfort zone a little and ordered a sweet corn ravioli which pretty much changed my life and my opinion of corn that is sweet. I have always loved it, but always thought of it as something to be gnawed on... not enjoyed in a delicate pasta. So, it got me thinking what else I could add sweet corn too. The answer? Pretty much everything... including this amazing summer salad!

Thinly sliced zucchini and sweet corn make up this perfect salad to start any summer meal with! It is super fresh and light, but packed full of flavor with a little bit of spice. You could also add some chicken to make it a husband approved meal. I served it beside some heirloom tomatoes, grilled lobster, and lemony pasta with pecorino cheese! In my opinion (and the opinions of my dinner guests that night... ) the most perfect summer meal!

We were lucky enough to share the meal with our friends Rob and Krista who brought some amazing French wine. All in all, it was a night to dine for...

Sweet Corn & Zucchini Salad with Feta

Ingredients:
4 ears of sweet corn, husked
4 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 cups baby arugula
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup feta cheese,  crumbled

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Kosher salt

Method:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for about 3 minutes until bright yellow and tender.  Let cool and then cut the kernels from the cobs and set aside.

There are two ways that you can prepare the zucchini. You can use a mandolin to thinly slice it lengthwise. Or, you can hop on the Spiralizer trend and use the flat blade to create thin ribbons. I did this method because I thought it was prettier, but either way will work great! If you do not have either piece of equipment, you can use a veggie peeler to create thin ribbons.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, and kosher salt.

Combine the zucchini, corn, basil, arugula, and parsley in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Top with the feta cheese and serve immediately.

I shared the leftover corn cobs with our current foster sheep... errr puppies....

They are 8 week old chihuahua poodles and in need of new homes!!! 

I know, SIGH... they are the most adorable creatures EVER!

xo

Zucchini Blossom and Burrata Pizza

I started writing this blog yesterday. 

I failed. 

I tried again this morning. 

0 for 2. 

8 Hours and 2 Hangover Curing Meals Later...

I'm finally making it happen. But, I have to be honest, sometimes I just don't have anything to say. Which is ok, because sometimes I think Rich thinks I am prettiest with my mouth shut. So, silence really can be golden. Or ginger. 

So here it is... short, sweet, and to the pizza. A basic recipe for delicious, healthy(ish), homemade pizza! You can, of course, add toppings (and calories) as you see fit. My two favorite toppings are zucchini blossoms and burrata cheese. You can find zucchini blossoms at your local farmer's market and burrata cheese (the creamy middle of mozzarella) can be found at most grocery stores. And, if you think it's weird to put flowers on your pizza, you should just shut your mouth and try it.

Simple Pizza Dough

Ingredients:
4 cups of all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Place a baking stone on the lowest rack to preheat with the oven for 1 hour.

Dissolve the yeast in warm water and set aside. 

Combine the flour,and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix on medium speed until the dough forms into a ball.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls and rub a small amount of olive oil onto each ball to keep them from forming a skin. Place the dough balls under a dish towel, on a lightly floured surface and let them rise for about 45 minutes. 
While the dough is rising, make the pizza sauce.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:
8-10 tomatoes, cut in halves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
Salt and Pepper

Method:
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, and water. 

Cover and bring to a simmer. 

When the tomatoes are beginning to cook down, about 20 minutes, remove the skins, they should slide off easily, and dispose. Once all of the skins are removed, remove and dispose the garlic cloves and crush the tomatoes until they are smooth. 

Continue cooking, uncovered for another 25 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is a deep red color. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. 

To Assemble Pizzas

Roll out dough onto a floured surface to desired shape and thickness. I suggest rolling your dough super thin to get a nice, crispy, Italian style crust. 

Place rolled out dough on a preheated pizza stone** and quickly spoon pizza sauce onto dough and top with cheese. If you are using burrata, do not put it onto the pizza until AFTER the pizza is cooked or you will end up with a runny mess. 

If you are adding zucchini blossoms (or any other toppings) arrange them on the pizza and then place the pizza stone on the lowest rack of in the oven. 

Bake the pizza for 8-10 minutes until the crust is browned and the cheese is bubbly. I generally think that a properly cooked pizza looks a little over cooked. 

Remove the pizza from the oven. If you are adding burrata or fresh basil, sprinkle them onto right before serving!

Makes 4 pizzas

**If you do not have a pizza stone, no problem! you can bake the pizzas on a cookie sheet, just make sure to lightly oil the surface.

La Morra, Ti Amo (I Love You): Part 1.

La Morra is a quaint hilltop town overlooking the Piemonte region of Italy. If you're not familiar with Piemonte, this is where Barolo comes from. So, as you can imagine, it's quite a view. The food is to die for and the wine is so amazing I practically drowned myself in it (Fun fact, you can drown in as little as three inches of water, but you can safely drink liters and liters of wine). And one of the best parts about Piemonte, and Italy in general, minus Venice, is that if you can bring yourself to forgo the Barolo and imbibe some Nebbiolo, Barbaresco, or (Rich's personal favorite) Barbera, you can drink some amazing wine at unbelievably cheap prices. So, with all that in mind, this will be Part I of a II (possibly III) part series, because I don't even know where to start! I didn't even know it was possible to love a town so much. But it is. And I do. And now La Morra and I are married (Sorry Rich, I've taken on a mister.)

For starters, we stayed at the most beautiful hilltop Bed & Breakfast I've ever been to... In point of fact it's not just a bed & breakfast, but an aggroturismo (a working farm) called Bricco dei Cogni (bricco means hilltop in Italian.) And I'm not exaggerating when I say that this place seriously made me weak in the knees from the second we stepped through the front door. Our meals were perfect. The wine was to die for and in every direction you looked you could see rolling, picturesque, grape laden hills for kilometers and kilometers (That's what they call miles here). Upon our arrival we were greeted with wine and cheese (much like I imagine I will be greeted upon my arrival in heaven) and upon our departure we were given a bottle of the owner's private, family reserva, Barbera (more on that in part two).

I'm not being hyperbolic (thanks for that word, hubby) when I say that every restaurant, winery, and town that we visited deserves a song written about it (Rich tried. But I informed him "When the wine hits your lips, that's La Morra" is not so good). And if not a song, each town should have novel dedicated to it at the very least... But since I can't sing and I don't have the attention span to write a novel, I shall, instead, dedicate a whole blog post to each one. But since we just finished running around (and drinking our way through) Venice and now Parma & Modena are calling our names, I just can't bring myself to hole up in my hotel and write the in-depth posts that the restaurants and wineries of La Morra, Alba, Barolo, Barbaresco and Serralunga deserve. But I will. Soon. So, in the meantime, hopefully a few photos of our travels will do it justice!

Piemonte.

our official welcome to La Morra, courtesy of Bricco dei Cogni. 

barbaresco tasting.

truffle season. amen. 

white truffle pasta at BOVIO. To die for. 

breakfast at Bricco dei Cogni.

meat market.

truffle festival on Alba... much more to come about that.

I am in love with our little car.

grapes. grapes. grapes. 

serralunga. 

handwritten menu. absolutely wonderful food. 

a modest lunch.

Pumpkin Fettuccine with Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese, & Walnuts.

You know that first day that fall actually feels like fall? Well, today is that day for me and I am really enjoying it. I have to admit that while I've been talking about fall a lot lately, At first my feelings were coming from a place of denial. You see, I really love summer and I thought that I was going to have a hard time transitioning into another season. But now we are about 3 weeks in and I am starting to get the feeling that autumn and I are going to be great pals in no time. Maybe even seasons with benefits! After all, fall already let me see it's gourds. 

Possibly the best thing about fall was the sound I woke up to this morning... rain drops. You see, I had a bright and early wake up call at 4:30 this morning to shoot a commercial for Dr. Pepper (one of the only doctors that I like) and while I could have happily slept for 14 more hours, I actually forgot how grumpy and tired I was because of the pitter patter of those little raindrops saying, "Sarah, get up. I'm going to make your day (but ruin your hair). 

For those of you from a place with normal precipitation cycles rainy days in LA are absolutely everything. It goes so long without raining here in the summer that sometimes I forget about it. Rain is like that super hot guy you are crushing on (before you were married of course.) It make's you feel warm and fuzzy inside, it smells really nice, it makes you want to cuddle in front of the fire place (amongst other things...) but at the drop of a hat (or rain boot), the magic is gone. Out of nowhere that "something" that you once had together just dries right up. That is, until you run into each other 6 months later. Yes, sometimes I do compare the weather to handsome men. You should try it and see where your mind wanders... Anyways... Here we are. Me and the rain. 6 months later... and I am crushing hard. I've got my sweats on (that's the rain's favorite outfit I have) and I am planted on the couch falling in love... (Rich looks bored). I've got a pile of sleeping dogs on me and a bowl full of pasta in me. Could anything really be better? The answer is no. 

Fall is feeling pretty great right about now. And while this rain is making me giddy... I'm going to have to blame this pumpkin pasta for my school girl butterflies. Yes, pumpkin pasta. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that pumpkin sweets are not really my jam (speaking of which, I've never tried pumpkin jam, but while it would be jam I doubt it would be my jam). I feel like pumpkin desserts are starting to feel a bit overdone. Pumpkin is a squash, a vegetable, and while I love my pumpkin sweets as much as the next girl instagramming her pumpkin spice latte... I've been branching out a bit and am learning that some of my very favorite pumpkin recipes are not sweet at all.

Whole wheat pasta in a pumpkin alfredo sauce and tossed with caramelized onions, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts. It's savory, flavorful, and full of toasty fall flavors that are enough to make you forget that summer ever existed and cook a perfect rainy day lunch.

Pumpkin Fettuccine with Caramelized Onions, 

Goat Cheese, & Walnuts.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (8 ounces) whole wheat fettuccine

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

2 cups low-fat milk

5 ounces goat cheese cheese, cut into big chunks

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon sea salt... or to taste. This sauce needs A LOT of salt or else it will be very bland. 

freshly ground black pepper

a pinch of red pepper flakes

shaved Parmesan cheese for topping

Method:

Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté sliced onions over medium- low heat until caramelized. Set aside.

Cook pasta to al dente. Set aside. 

In a medium saucepan, heat butter. Once melted, add the flour and cook for about 2 minutes to make a roux. Add garlic and cook the roux another minute until garlic is fragrant and roux is golden and bubbly. Next, whisk in the milk and bring to a slow boil while stirring constantly. Once the milk has thickened, add the pumpkin and the goat cheese and whisk until smooth. Add salt and pepper taste. Do not be shy with the salt. Remove the sauce from the heat, toss with pasta and caramelized onions. Divide pasta into bowls and top with shaved parmesan and toasted walnuts. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish. 

gangster puppy. loves rain, pasta, 

and wearing her hoodie to keep dry.

HOW TO: Host a Wine Tasting (Featuring NAKED WINES!)

Some people are great at fixing things, or building things, and some people are even good at doing things. Painting, skiing, singing.... these things are called talents. I, too, have talents (which is the only way you know someone has talents, because they tell you.). Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, singing will never be my ticket to fame and I will never get to be a pop star. My talents are a little more focused on things that I can put in my stomach and, fortunately for those around me, include drinking wine and feeding people. You might be asking yourself... Drinking wine is a talent? And I will tell you that the answer is yes. Drinking wine is a talent. One that I am exceedingly good at and also one that pairs very well with feeding people. People say, "Sarah, I think you have a problem." And I say, "No, I have a hobby that I am very great at. Are you jealous?"

So, just as doctors and architects take continuing education courses to stay on their game and learn new things, people who love wine have wine clubs. Richard and I are members of a great wine club called Naked Wines. Naked wines is a unique club where you invest directly in independent wine makers and in turn get huge discounts on the wines those winemakers make. Your monthly $40 "investment" goes into your account and you get to use that money towards the wine you buy.  I'd explain it more but I don't really like math. What I do like is a lot of great wine for very little money. So, as you can imagine I was excited to use this as an excuse to host a party. To be fair though, for me a strong breeze is a good enough reason to host a party, but wine is even better. Luckily for Rich and I, Naked Wines was kind enough to give us the opportunity (and the wine) to host a tasting with some of their new wines that we hadn't tried yet.  And while I told them that Richard and I didn't need help and that we could taste the wines all by ourselves, they suggested we invite a few friends. 

Wines:

Matt Iaconis Margaret River Valley Sauvignon Blanc Semilon 2013

La Tapatia Pinot Noir Nappa Valley 2012

Sartirano Piemonte DOC Barbera 2011

Sin Fronteras Los Primos Red Wine 2012

S & A Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley 2012

Matt Iaconis Globetrotter Red CA USA 2012

We are a red wine loving group, so while we did try one great Sauvignon Blanc, we kept the tasting focused on a selection of red wines. 

Along with the wines, we prepared several small bites for our friends to nibble on during their tastings.  For a cocktail party, it is a good idea to serve your guests about 5 ounces of cheese and 4 ounces of per person. You always want to make sure there's more than enough to eat when you are serving alcohol (don't worry, it won't go to waste. You'll crawl out of bed and finish it off at 3am). If your party will include dinner and the charcuterie will be presented as an appetizer, 2-3 ounces of cheese and about 4 slices of meat per person should be enough. If not tell your friends to stop pigging out on your free food! 

Some great snacks to serve at a wine tasting or cocktail party:

Assorted cheese and charcuterie with an assortment of dried fruits, nuts, olives, and crackers

Some of my favorite cheeses to serve are manchego, brie, gouda, camemburt, stilton, & cotswald. I always chooses a few that I know everyone will like and then a couple new ones to experiment with. 

Cheeses are at their optimum flavor at room temperature, so remove them from the refrigerator about 60 minutes before serving. 

I also prepared a spread of cured italian meats including several different salamis, mortadella, prosciutto, and bresaola. 

Some other great things to serve with charcuterie:

Crackers, crsuty bread, flatbreads, and crostinis

Fruits: Figs, grapes, apples, pears, dried apricots, dried cherries

Nuts: Almonds walnuts, pistachios, pecans

Jams & Spreads: Fig jam, onion confit, pesto, olive tapenade, mustard

Other: Roasted peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, cornichons, assorted olives

When serving charcuterie, I aways accompany the meats with whole grain mustard, cornichons, and arugula. 

Assorted Crostinis

Heirloom tomato brushetta topped with buratta cheese

Figs with goat cheese, honey and thyme

Butternut squash with sage and crispy pancetta

Artisan Flatbreads  

Caramelized shallots and mushrooms

Mozzarella and fresh basil

Brie cheese, apples, and caramelized onions

And of course we had a spread of fancy baked treats from Three Dog Bakery for the pups. 

we really have the loveliest of friends.

If you live in LA, you know every friend that you invite over has a dog that they really are dying to bring to your house... And since we have a lot of dogs ourselves, I figured what better than to take a classy afternoon and turn it into a dog halloween party. We are clearly a very well rounded bunch! 

Octopuses, Donkeys, and Skeletons, Oh my!

Thank you again, Naked Wines, for sponsoring such a wonderful afternoon! For more information about what they do (and how to get them to send you wine) visit http://us.nakedwines.com/

Cheers!

Clamshell Mushroom Toasts with Goat Cheese & Fresh Thyme

Richard and I are creatures of habit.  Especially in the morning. We wake up at 7am. We walk the dogs. Rich makes a french press of coffee and turns on the Today Show while I make open faced breakfast sandwiches. Then we eat, drink our coffee and watch the news in perfect sync. (Unless we are hungover or have that rare "Vicky Christina Barcelona" morning of either passion or pugnacity. Though we still squeeze in the coffee and Today Show.)

But, this morning, I shook our world up a bit. You see, we got our CSA delivered as we do every Thursday, but this week, along with the end of summer/ beginning of fall produce, we were given a little package of very cute (and kind of weird) mushrooms. I swear they were alien fingers wearing turtle shells as thimbles, but apparently they are called clamshell mushrooms.

What the hell do you do with clamshell mushrooms? Other than laugh at and photograph them?

Nobody knows! So, as with most things that I don't know what to do with, I put them on toast.

Breakfast sandwich OUT... Cute mushroom toasts IN. (Routine broken. Mind blown.)

good day, sunshine.

Ingredients:
Clamshell mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
A few springs of fresh thyme
2 slices of whole grain bread
Goat cheese

Method:
Heat olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Sauté sliced mushrooms and onion until caramelized, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the slices of bread and then spread goat cheese on them while they are still warm so that the cheese gets nice and melty. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper, and pile them on top of the toasts. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves.

Have a lovely Thursday!