The Great Chef

New Haven, CT is known not only for having one of the best Universities in the World but also by its great food options. Most people outside the United States have the notion that Americans eat only hotdogs and hamburgers. They could not be more wrong. Even though one cannot describe in detail what "american cuisine" is (in the sense that the most iconic "american" dishes were brought in during colonial times), the United States offers a bite of every corner of the World, from a more "authentic" approach to all kinds of fusions.  In New Haven county, for example, one can find Japanese, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, French, Chinese, or Cuban restaurants. There is also a variety of burger , pizza, or chicken wings places, most of them really good. New Haven is, therefore, a good place for a person that enjoys good food. Today I will share with you my experience in one of my favorite places in town: Soul de Cuba Cafe. The name says it a...

As a rule of thumb, I never refrigerate my fruits unless it gets really warm outside or they perish if left outside, like watermelon or berries, for instance. As a matter of fact, refrigerate most fruits causes them to lose flavor and gain a different texture. If you like your fruit fresh, put it in the fridge 20 minutes prior to eating it and you will get the full goodness of your fruit and the cooling effect you are looking for.  One of the fruits that looses most when refrigerated is bananas. They, almost instantly, turn their skins dark brown and start getting mushy. For that reason, I buy them more on the green side so they easily keep up outside all week long. However, if the weather gets warmer really quick, there is nothing I can do to prevent them to ripe too much. That was exactly what happened this week. Within less than 24 hours the temperature rose more then 10 degrees and my bananas were turning into an almost inedible point. I did not want to throw them away because ...

I recently bought a beautiful napa cabbage but I did want to use it in a way other than sautéed with garlic or braised in wine. I look it for a moment and those wonderful, enormous leaves gave me the idea of making wraps! The outer leaves are large enough to handle the same way as a tortilla with the advantage of having no preservatives and being gluten free. Much healthier, then. The question, you may say, is that if they can be as tasty as a tortilla. As a matter of fact, they can and I will prove it to you with this recipe. I had to decide on the stuffing. I did not want meat or fish because the cabbage is very delicate. I open my pantry and my eyes fell on a bag of brown rice next to the nuts container. That was it. Here it is my recipe for 8 wraps: Start with the rice. In a pot, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add 1 cup of brown rice (I used long grain but you can choose the one you like the most) and stir well. Add two cups of warm water,...

Today's recipe is ideal for a light meal and can be prepared in an amazing 15 minutes, from start to finish! If that wasn't enough, it is super healthy as well. The technique used is, basically, an alternative way to steam whatever ingredients are suitable to be steamed (mostly vegetables and fish) and it consists of wrapping the ingredients and few drops of water, stock or wine in parchment paper and put it in a pre-heated oven. In less than nothing you get a super tender, flavorful and healthy meal. For this recipe I used sole, a white, flaky fish. Flaky fishes are not suitable to grill because they are so fragile that they will break into thousand pieces when you try to turn them on the grill. Your options, therefore, are to fry it or to steam it. For grilling you can choose salmon, tuna, salted cod, or sardines. For 4 servings: Start by heating the oven to 450ºF. Cut four 15-inches-square pieces of parchment paper (or large enough to wrap the fillets like you would do with ...

With Summer approaching, my body craves more for salads and fruit than for anything else. And even though the weather have been playing a really not funny game with us here, along New England, the biological clock keeps ticking and you know that the scarce sun rays seen are warm and a prelude for long, hot, sunny weeks to come. It is time, then, to renew or enlarge the summer menus. I got inspiration for this salad from the Food Network web page. I did not follow any recipe in particular but my version of this salad turned out really tasty. By combining lentils with rice you, actually, get your daily portion of carbohydrates and proteins since lentils are a great source of protein. I know, I know... "Omg, carbohydrates! This girl is crazy! I will never fit in my bikini, bla, bla, bla". You need them. Just eat the right amount and always listen to your body. If you have a sudden craving for pasta or a muffin, most probably your system is lacking sugar. Your brain works with su...

Because good things are never too much, we keep on chocolate realm today, this time to share the wonders of the most amazing chocolate cake I have ever tasted. Well... now that I just wrote that last sentence, I instantly remembered Chef Jean George's chocolate molten cake... I think it is a draw in deliciousness and decadence. Can you name anything more decadent than a chocolate cake filled and covered with  chocolate mousse ?! Grrrrrr..... This recipe is part of a book called "Absolutely Chocolate". The book joined our library this year when a dear friend of ours mailed it as a birthday gift for my husband. She knows us or what? It is a great book to learn most of the potentialities of chocolate and to indulge yourself into sweet happiness.  This particular cake is something that will require time but it is not technically complicated. I can assure you that it pays off all the hard work. The key to success is "divide and conquer", since you have to make a cake...

Who, in this world, does not love chocolate? It is luscious, warm and give you endless grades of sweet embracement. Almost like a good friend, the type that is almost extinguished. As my husband puts it, "chocolate was, probably, the best human invention". As exaggerated as the statement might sound - chocoholic enthusiasm - one has to admit that any true foodie praises chocolate as one of cuisine's gods. It is, in fact, one of the most difficult ingredients to work with and one of those that requires a great deal of skill to manage successfully. A simple chocolate mousse can be ruined in a blink of an eye if you use very hight temperatures to melt the chocolate. Any ingredient has to be treated with some degree of respect but chocolate demands additional patience, as if dealing with a capricious being.  This recipe for chocolate mousse is very fast and it has little margin for failure. For those of you out there who deal with lactose intolerance, just grab your Lactaid p...

This recipe, by chef Jean Georges Vongerichten, is one of my favorite chicken recipes because it is full of flavor, exotic, easy to cook, and reminds one of my favorite trips - Tunisia. To be honest, any recipe that uses cumin and harissa is half way through to be part of my favorites list. If you happen to be wondering what in Epicurus name is harissa allow me to tell you. Harissa is a hot, delicious North African spice paste made of  piri-piri, red chili pepper, and garlic. You can find it in any Middle Eastern markets and it is, generally, sold in cans. It keeps almost forever in your fridge. I like to transfer the paste into a plastic container with lid after opening the can just to prevent that the natural oxidation of the metal affects the flavor of the harissa. Personally, I find it really hot to eat by itself. Actually, one of the funniest episodes of our trip to Tunisia was exactly our first experience with harissa. It looked so good! We took a piece of bread, spread ...