Savoring fresh herbs from our balcony...

There seems to be nothing more satisfying in life than to cook with herbs you've cultivate in your very own garden. Tonight, as I write, I am making a dish that has become an institution in our house: Grandmaw Peacock's Chicken and Rice which was featured in the April/May issue of Saveur Magazine in 2003 (Issue N. 66). The recipe does not call for any herbs in particular but I've learned that making a recipe your own after you've practiced it many times is something of an art and is what makes it all that much better.

So, to the base recipe I added a little bit of rosemary, Provence lavender, dill and basil for a slightly more herb-infused flavor. The scent of the meal lingers in the air and makes my stomach rumble but I am willing to wait for it to be ready. To accompany the meal I've sauteed some zucchini, yellow squash, onions, mushrooms and green onions in some butter seasoned with black pepper. It's a simple meal but it's delightfully filling.

The little herb gardening project my Dad and I started began with only 4 herbs: basil, lavender, dill and rosemary. We have since added thyme, chives, mint, cilantro, and tarragon. It's such a joy to go out onto the balcony and see that little green corner. Now if only some rain would come we might have a break from all this heat.

Our balcony herb garden

Do try Grandmaw Peacock's! It's a great recipe!

A mangiare!

A little late in coming but never too late! Since food is such a passion of mine so is eating. My greatest food love is Italian food and in all modesty, I think I cook pasta dishes pretty well for being an amateur. So, in light of this love of all things Italian I bring to you my first recipe in this diary. It's quick and easy to make on the fly. All you need are a few vegetables, some mini penne pasta and a good attitude.

Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of diced tomatoes (28 oz)
• 1 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 medium yellow squash, halved and sliced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• a bunch of sweet basil, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare the pasta of your choice (I used mini penne) as directed. Meanwhile, chop all vegetables and fresh herbs preparing to make the sauce. Open can of tomatoes and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil over low-medium heat in dutch oven and once hot enough add onions, green pepper, celery and garlic. Sautee for about 3-4 minutes. Add zucchini and squash and let cook for about 10 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, carrots, basil, green onions, sugar, salt and pepper. Let simmer on medium-low heat, covered for around 15-20 minutes or until carrot is to desired texture. 
4. Serve over pasta warm and add parmesan cheese sprinkled on top if desired.

Simple, right? Now go ahead and try it. Happy cooking and eating!

The finished product...

Inventive...

Nadia's Lime-Herbed Chicken

I recently acquired a little publication from my local Publix grocery store that the chain publishes called Publix Grape: Everyday Pleasures of Wine and Food on my last visit and was delighted to find a few of my favorite food bloggers mentioned in this particular issue. Among them is my favorite David Lebovitz who lives in Paris and always has the most amazing photos on his blog. He and the countless other food bloggers and chefs I follow are the ones who have inspired me to continue cooking and creating. I've been working on my own original recipes lately and am in love with one recipe I developed using chicken thighs and every herb in our ever expanding little apartment style herb-garden.

It is a joy to be able to see those little plants every day and to pick them to incorporate into my meals and recipes. My favorites are definitely the sweet basil and rosemary (I think the Italian blood that courses through my veins comes out quite potently in my cooking). The recipe I developed still needs a working title but for now we are calling it Nadia's Lime-Herbed Chicken. I hope to come up with something a bit more original in the coming days but for now that will suffice. Flavor is key in this recipe and the pairing of lime with herbs in the roux that the chicken is coated with gives it a subtle hint of the Mediterranean. The aroma of it all is delectable. Soon I will share the recipe with you but for now...enjoy the photo.

Creativity...

Gourmet arepa 

There's nothing to eat. Or at least that's what you think as you stare into the abyss of your cupboard or your refrigerator. What you don't realize is that there are countless recipes waiting to happen, to emerge if you will, from the recesses of your mind using the things which are in your kitchen that you never before bothered to put together. That is what I have learned every time I've been tempted to say that there is nothing to eat. There is almost always something to eat, you just have to be creative.

Today was one of those creative days for me as far as lunch went. There was no bread in the house, no deli cuts, 1 slice of Swiss cheese and two slightly hungry mouths to feed- my Dad's and my own. I made a quick mental inventory of what we had in the cupboards and the fridge and a speedy lunch took form in my mind. Some onion, green pepper, mushrooms and green onion; that lone slice of Swiss cheese and some harina PAN (a common staple in every Venezuelan household) and I was ready to make a wonderful lunch out of few ingredients.

What did I make? Arepas with sauteed vegetables and Swiss cheese. Arepas are a delightful little corn "bread", something like a tortilla but more like a warm pita made of a cornmeal like dough that hail from my parents' native country of Venezuela. They were delicious and enough to hold us over until dinner which is almost ready as I write and was also a creative venture. So, you see, there is always something one can make unless your kitchen is just completely empty but most of us are very rarely in such a situation. Ransack your cupboards and become a thrifty gourmand!

As Julia Child would say, "Bon Apetit!"