Weeknight Dinner - Baked Salmon with Pesto

Wow. I can't believe that March is almost over. It has been one busy month. We have had an increase in our weekly mileage for marathon training (just ran 22 miles on Saturday) and Wallace family events the past few weekends.  FFDN has been put on hold for now because we have been using Friday nights as trial runs for pre-race carbo loading dinners to see what will work best to fuel our long runs. So far spaghetti with my slow cooker bolognese sauce and garlic bread is the winning combo.

I got a new kitchen gadget this past weekend that I have been itching to try and have been wanting for awhile.  The main reason I wanted it was for chopping up veggies when I make large batches of lumpia.

A food processor?!

As you can see Brian is just as excited as I am about the new gadget, maybe even more so. I think he's just happy that he doesn't have to really help with the chopping anymore.  Don't get too excited mister. That food processor can't help me wrap the lumpia =).  It isn't a fancy Cuisinart or Kitchen Aid food processor, but it still gets the job done. 

I have plans to make a big batch of lumpia this weekend for Easter so I decided to just bite the bullet and buy it this past weekend.  I wanted to test it out before making the lumpia so I decided to make pesto for dinner this week.  I made pesto in the blender before and it was fine but it didn't come out as smooth as I would have liked. It still had larger pieces of walnuts in it and the blender motor would start smoking.  That was not the case with the food processor! 

Check out that delicious pesto!

For dinner tonight salmon was the featured vehicle for that pesto. I made Foil Baked Salmon with Basil Pesto from Kalyn's Kitchen which she adapted from Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times. The pesto recipe came from this Cooking Light recipe (which I highly recommend).

Just before getting wrapped in foil and put in the oven.

Time to eat up!

This recipe was really good. The pesto and salmon worked really well together. Pesto has such a good flavor profile and is healthy and adds a flavorful punch to any dish.  I would definitely make this again and the food processor makes it even easier to have this as a weeknight dinner. 

This weekend has some good eats awaiting me. I can't wait! Just have to get my 18 miler done first (in my new shoes!).

Weeknight Dinner - Chicken Tamale Casserole

I don't have the luxury of time to whip up a great meal after work, especially during marathon training, so I'm always on the lookout for quick and healthy recipes. My go to resource for quick and healthy recipes is Cooking Light. They usually have healthy versions of classic favorites.

Crock pot roasted chicken is pretty much a weekly staple at our household. Season the chicken and place it in the crock pot on low for 8 hours as you leave for work. When you get back your chicken is ready for dinner. Pair it with a salad, veggie, and starch and you have a well balanced meal.

The only thing about cooking a whole chicken for two people is there is a lot of chicken left over. We even take the chicken for lunch the next day and still have plenty of leftovers. I have made plenty of different kinds of soup with the leftover chicken but this week I wanted to try something new. So I turned to my trusty stand by www.cookinglight.com.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

This was pretty good. I followed the recipe exactly. I wouldn't really recommend any changes except maybe add a little more enchilada sauce. We ate this with a side salad and a quarter of an avocado.  It was very filling and definitely hit the spot after our swim workout.

We had to take a day off from running today. We were scheduled to run 5 but our legs are dead tired from lifting legs with our trainer on Tuesday and running a combined 14 miles on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Swimming is such a good workout but I definitely am an inefficient swimmer. I expend way too much energy turning my head to take a breath which makes me out of breath easily. After the swim we sat in the hot tub for a little bit to soak our muscles. Hopefully our legs will be ready to rock for our next long run, 14 miles - gotta love a cut back week. weeknight

Food Nostalgia

I have lived in Seattle for almost 2 years now. In that time I have compiled a list of my favorite restaurants here. There are still a few restaurants that I miss from LA that I haven't quite found its comparable match here in Seattle. So when I'm craving those certain dishes I don't really know where to go to fulfill that craving. Just this past week I had a sudden craving for chicken cutlet curry from Hurry Curry, my favorite Japanese curry place in LA.  I'm sure I could get it at some restaurant in the International District but I was just too lazy to do any research. So what's a girl with a craving to do? Make it of course!

Brian and I go to the Asian grocery store every so often when I need ingredients to make Filipino dishes.  The last time I was there I saw curry sauce mix, which come in blocks that dissolve in water like bouillon cubes do.  The curry sauce mix comes in different levels of heat. So depending on your mood you can go mild or hot. I bought the mild curry mix but could have definitely gone with the hot.  Here is my homemade version of the chicken cutlet curry from Hurry Curry.

Chicken Cutlet Curry
canola oil
chicken breast
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
egg, lightly beaten
S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Pound chicken breast between parchment paper to about 1/4" thickness. Dip chicken breast in egg, then in the panko bread crumbs. Once the oil is hot, fry the chicken breast for 4-5 minutes until golden brown and flip over. Cook other side for another 4-5 minutes until golden brown.

Prepare curry sauce mix according to package instructions.

Serve the chicken with rice and generously spoon curry on rice and chicken.

This definitely satisfied my Hurry Curry craving. Yummy!

20 Mile High

Brian and I just got back from our 20 mile long run. It was such a good run. The weather was chilly at the start  but we got some sun breaks. There were some pretty nasty headwinds along the way though. Just had to pop in to report our good run. Also wanted to talk about post run recovery, or at least what we do.

Brrrr

The dreaded ice bath is such a necessary evil. Getting in is so tough. There are different techniques that people share online on how it works for them. My first ice bath experience was definitely not the right way for me.  I barely put my feet in the ice water for about a minute, where I didn't even have time to sit down, before I started cursing up a storm and crying asking Brian to help me out and I just couldn't do it. I did eventually sit in the water but not before a few more curse words and crying. The second ice bath I sat down in the tub, then let the cold water start running and then dumped the ice in. It still sucks but it is slightly more bearable than my first attempt.  I also figure 15-20 minutes of pain for a quicker recovery is better than hobbling around for the next two days. I also like to drink chocolate milk and check Facebook on my phone to pass the time.

Forerunner 405

I got a Garmin Forerunner 405 yesterday and we ran with it today for the first time. It is so awesome! It showed me the average pace we were running for 20 miles to help us see if we were keeping our pace. I love it! It is such a great training tool and I can't believe we've been training this long without it. I can't wait to upload the data from our run. I love data and graphs.

Time to go stuff my face with Chipotle refuel!

Marathon Training

In marathon training news, Brian and I are in week 15. We are gearing up for a 20 miler on Saturday. Not only do we need to make sure we run the miles and wear the right shoes and gear but we also need to learn the right foods to fuel with the night before the run as well as during the run and how to properly hydrate.  Here are some tips we have learned along the way. Disclaimer: I'm not an expert so these are just from personal experiences.

Shoes & Gear- I can't speak highly enough of our experience at Road Runner Sports. We went there early on in our training to make sure we were wearing the right shoes. At RRS they analyze your gait and stride on a treadmill. They record you while you run and make the recommendations based on your mechanics. Aside from shoes, dry fit and wicking clothing and socks are important. This can reduce blisters and chafing because the material wicks sweat away from your body. Make the change, your body will thank you for it.

Pre-Run Fueling- We are still experimenting with what works best for us the night before a long run. I can tell you what doesn't work - drinking alcohol (more than 1-2 glasses of wine) and having tapas for dinner. Tonight we skipped out on FFDN and stayed in and made dinner. I made a slow cooked bolognese and we ate that with spaghetti and garlic bread. The Friday night before our 18 miler we both had different pastas from Barolo (decent food, bad service on the night we went) and I think we were properly fueled for our run the next day. Most marathons host a pasta/spaghetti dinner the night before race day so there really must be something to pasta and carbo loading. They are the experts after all.

For breakfast, about 45-30 min before our run we usually have peanut butter, honey & banana sandwich and a glass of water. This is a great combination of carbs, protein, and potassium (keeps you from cramping).

Refueling & Rehydrating - During our long runs we have been carrying a hydration belt and putting a nuun tablet with our water to help replace electrolytes and rehydrate. There are so many options when it comes to refueling. Go to any running store and you'll see products that range from gels, gummies, beans, and more. These are the products we have used so far:

GU Energy Gel

PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts

Sport Beans

GU Chomps

Of these different products, we have used the PowerBar Energy Gel Blasts the most. We recently tried the GU Chomps with caffeine on our medium long run on Wednesday as recommended by our friend, Andrea. We really liked them and are going to use it for tomorrow's run as well.  

Speaking of tomorrow's run, it's time for bed. Gotta rest up since we'll be up early pounding the pavement.

Beef Stroganoff

Growing up in a Filipino family, I didn't really associate Beef Stroganoff as comfort food. For comfort food I would probably think more along the lines of Kare Kare. I think the only times we had Beef Stroganoff in my childhood was from a combination of a mix and condensed cream of mushroom.  While it was tasty, there wasn't really much preparation that went into it nor was there anything gourmet about that preparation.

One Saturday night, I wanted to try another recipe from my Ad Hoc at Home cookbook so I told Brian to pick one out. He chose Beef Stroganoff. Thomas Keller put a great spin on the classic recipe by using braised short ribs. This tasted nothing like the Beef Stroganoff I had as a kid. The flavors were just a little more complex and the mushrooms really shined through. 

Beef Stroganoff

adapted from Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home

Serves 4

Cream Sauce

1 lb cremini mushrooms, trimmed and cut in 3/4 inch pieces

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3/4 cup chopped onion

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups heavy cream

1/3 creme fraiche

1 sachet - bay leaf, 3 thyme sprigs, 10 black peppercorns wrapped up in cheese cloth and tied with kitchen

   twine

Mushrooms

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced 1/4 inch thick

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Pappardelle

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp

coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Place mushrooms in food processor for cream sauce and finely chop. Place in a bowl.

Cook onion in melted butter over medium heat for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Add chopped mushrooms and increase heat to medium high. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until the liquid has evaporated and stir occasionally.

Add in cream and sachet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 35 minutes. Cream should reduce to about 1/3 of its original volume.

Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add half of the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes. Turn the mushrooms over and cook for another minute or two until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined baking sheet and do the same with the remaining batch of mushrooms.

When sauce is ready, discard the sachet, pour the sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the sauce into a medium saucepan, set over medium-low heat, and stir in creme fraiche. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the sauteed mushrooms. Add remaining mushrooms into the saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Heat oil in an oven proof frying pan over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, place meat presentation side down and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, until richly caramelized. Turn meat over and transfer to oven for 10 minutes.

Drain pasta when it is cooked and reserve about 1 cup of pasta water. Transfer noodles to a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of butter.

Toss noodles with cream sauce.  If sauce seems too thick, add a bit of reserved pasta water to thin. Add half of sauteed mushrooms to the noodles and place on a platter. Arrange the short ribs and remaining mushrooms on the top. Garnish with parsley.

FFDN: Harvest Vine

Harvest Vine is a cute restaurant in Madison Valley featuring Basque cuisine served tapas style. The restaurant's decor is very welcoming. Right when you walk in you find an open kitchen with bar style seating around it and some bistro tables.  Past the bar are some stairs that lead to the dining room.

source

We were seated downstairs which also doubled as their wine cellar. They also have a private room that people can reserve for parties. As we sat down we couldn't wait to order our dishes. When dining at tapas restaurants it's always a good idea to ask the server how many dishes they would recommend for the size of your party. Our server came back and gave us a tasting size portion of a cold roasted tomato soup with lemon and olive oil. It was incredibly flavorful. The soup was very creamy and the olive oil was a good compliment to the acidity of the tomato and lemon.

The menu was extensive and not too overwhelming. We decided to order 4 items to start and order more if we were still hungry. The two daily specials, sardines & estofado, were very enticing so we decided to order both of those and 2 more from their regular menu.

Jamon de Pato

cured duck breast, blood orange curd, rioja balsamic reduction

When this dish came out Brian and I thought it was the octopus dish on the menu based on its coloring. This was Brian's choice and when I heard so many other people ordering it, I knew it was probably a good selection. The blood orange curd and balsamic reduction helped cut the salty flavor of the duck breast. It was a good pairing that still allowed the cured duck breast to shine but not over power one's palette. 

Alcachofa

artichokes, roasted tomatoes, garlic confit

You can't tell from this picture but this dish also had a delicious sauce that it was served on. The sauce was so good we made sure to sop it all up with bread. The roasted artichoke was so meaty and served as a good vehicle for the sauce as well as it soaked up the sauce in its layers.

Sardines

grilled sardines, lemon, olive oil

The sardines were from Portugal and were seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled then drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. It was served on a bed of mixed greens. I love the simple flavor combination of a salted fish with lemon juice for acidity. 

Estofado

lamb belly, pork belly, beans, sofrito

The estofado, a hearty stew, was served in a ramekin. This dish definitely falls under the comfort food category. I could imagine eating a big bowl of it on a rainy and cold winter night. I liked this dish because there were different textures that came into play with each bite. My only complaint is that we didn't have more of it!

I would definitely recommend Harvest Vine to anyone looking to nosh on some delicious Basque food. The service was also great - very helpful and knowledgeable. Good customer service definitely is a big part of a dining experience.

FFDN: Joule

This FFDN was actually in January but I'm doing my best to get caught up on my blog posts. I had heard of Joule when I first moved to Seattle and was looking at the restaurants in my surrounding neighborhoods. They do Sunday BBQ's in the summer with a twist. I had always meant to go but it always somehow would get forgotten when it was time to think of a place to go for dinner. 

Brian was the one that suggested Joule for FFDN. He had read in the Seattle Times that the executive chef/owners of the restaurant were actually going to be contestants on the Food Network's show Iron Chef America.  We had gone to the viewing party the Sunday before and had a sneak peak to what their cooking was like. In case you missed that episode, chefs/husband and wife team Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi lost to the newest Iron Chef, Jose Garces, by 1 point. They were robbed!! 

The menu is a fusion of French and Korean cuisine.  Joule's plates are mainly shared plates, which really is one of my favorite ways to dine. I don't like to be confined to just one dish. And most of the time there are so many different dishes on a menu that I want to try. Shared plates allow you to do this without having to order multiple entrees.

Left: duck breast, maple vinegar apple, daikon soubise

Right: fried whole mackerel, white kimchi, scallion salsa verde

Left: korean mochi, oxtail ragout, lacinato kale, soy cured egg

Right: kimchi chicken liver fried rice, sesame leaf, chili

I was extremely happy with the dishes we had ordered. I know some people that shy away from whole fish since the bones and head are still in tact. I personally don't have an issue with it and love a good fried whole fish. The most interesting dish was the korean mochi w/ oxtail ragout, and soy cured egg. When we were eating the dish we couldn't quite place one of the ingredients and seeing how we no longer had the menu we were at a loss. It was the mochi! For some reason I completely glazed over that part on the menu and only focused on the oxtail. To me, mochi is a delightful ice cream treat like we had a Nishino. But I guess mochi is really just a sticky rice cake which in the dessert form is just the outer shell encasing the ice cream. In the case of this dish it was just sliced and added to the dish for texture.

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by an ingredient in your dish that you weren't quite expecting?

Omakase at Nishino - A Post That is Way Overdue

Brian and I went to Nishino with some friends back in December. We had all wanted to try omakase* and had heard that Nishino was a great restaurant to do it at. Nishino gives their customers the option of regular omakase or exclusive omakase. We decided if we were going to try this, we were going to do it right - exclusive omakase for all!

Upon arrival we were greeted by their friendly staff and promptly seated at our table. We were a little disappointed to find out we wouldn't be sitting at the sushi bar like we had assumed. Instead we were seated at a four-top table within view of the sushi bar.

It was pretty liberating not to have to look at the menu and decide what nigiri, sashimi and rolls we wanted and how many we should order for all four of us. It was also exciting to try things that we normally wouldn't order. We told our waiter we were there for exclusive omakase and with that he was off to put in our order.

First Course

I feel like such a bad foodie that I can't remember everything on this plate but in my defense it was over two months ago. I do remember the 3 items to the right. King Crab, monkfish liver, and sweet shrimp. 

Second Course

Hamachi tartare w/ Salmon roe

Third Course

Seared foie gras

Fourth Course

Mixed baby greens with salmon sashimi. 


They poured hot sesame oil over the salmon which cooked it slightly. The sesame oil was a great addition to the dish.

 Fifth Course


From what I can remember it was clams in a miso broth soup. Very good course  to cleanse our palette. 

Sixth Course

Again, I feel bad that I can't completely remember what this is but i believe it was a shrimp roll that was tempura fried. 

Seventh Course

Pan seared black cod


This dish was the favorite of the group. The fish was cooked so perfectly that it just flaked so easily and wasn't dry. The bed of veggies also provided a great contrast of texture to the fish.

Eighth Course
Assorted nigiri and rolls


My favorite item in this course was the otoro, tuna belly. If you haven't had it, you must try it. It's a little pricey compared to other items on a sushi menu but it is definitely worth it. It is so buttery! You can order it as nigiri or sashimi. The sushi restaurant may also have toro as well as the otoro. These are different parts of the tuna belly. The otoro is the more premium cut. Both are delicious and you won't regret it.

 Ninth Course
Mochi and Fruit


At first I was a little disappointed that this was our final course and that it was mochi. It seemed like an anti-climactic ending to such a wonderful meal. But just like the rest of our meal, the chef knows best. It was such a light and refreshing way to end our meal. I think anything else would have been to heavy. Even though it looked like we had small portions, you have to remember that by this point we had 8 different courses of small portions so it was actually quite filling.

Our first experience with omakase was so delicious and everything we had expected. Our waiter provided the best service and timed the courses well. We didn't sit for too long waiting for the next course nor did he bring it right away without giving us enough time to savor the previous course. He also did a great job explaining the dishes and could pour champagne like a champ! He also told us that if we come back to Nishino we should probably wait until the next season since they plan their menu around seasonal ingredients. I definitely want to go back and see how their menu differs from season to season.

* The expression is used at sushi restaurants to leave the selection to the chef. It differs from ordering à la carte.^[1] The chef will generally present a series of plates, beginning with the lightest fare and proceeding to heaviest, richest dishes.^[2] The phrase is not exclusive to service of raw fish with rice, and can incorporate grilling and simmering as well.^[3] Customers ordering omakase style expect the chef to be innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes, and the meal can be likened to an artistic performance by the chef (Source: Wikipedia)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today was a great day. Brian and I started the day with a traditional Filipino breakfast. With our bellies nice and full we hopped on the bus and headed to the downtown Seattle library. If you live in the Seattle area and haven't been, you must go. The architecture is beautiful with such bright and vibrant colors inside.

Outside the library

We grabbed some books on Thailand and settled in some chairs to read up on the country. It was a little hard to concentrate on what I was reading because I kept looking out the window and enjoying the view.

We then decided to explore the library and I made Brian pose for an impromptu photo shoot and to practice my non-existent photography skills. I knew I wanted to shoot in the red hallway that I have seen on so many Seattle photography blogs. 

A few shots from our photo shoot 

in the red hallway

As I stated before, Brian and I were planning to stay in for Valentine's Day dinner. Yesterday I got Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home cookbook and picked out three recipes for our dinner. After our photo shoot we headed to Pike Place Market to get all of the ingredients we needed.  The market was packed with shoppers as usual. We stopped at a few booths and headed home to get started on dinner.

Little Gem Lettuce Salad

The recipe called for Little Gem lettuce but I couldn't find any so I used mixed baby greens instead.  The different citrus fruits in this recipe really worked well with the honey vinaigrette. Citrus is currently in season so the flavors really popped. The walnuts were toasted in the oven and sprinkled with kosher salt as it cooled. The walnuts added a well balanced nutty flavor with a slight sweetness as well.

Pan-Roasted Halibut

This was a very simple recipe with simple ingredients. It was just halibut, kosher salt, canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, and fleur de sel. This recipe highlights how food can still be delicious and delicate even with minimal and ordinary ingredients. I paired this with just plain calrose rice and served over a bed of hedgehog mushrooms w/ baby arugula.

Hedgehog Mushrooms with Baby Arugula

All three of these dishes are adaptations from Ad Hoc at Home. I didn't have all the ingredients for each dish so I had to improvise with what I could find at the market and what was in season. A good tip to remember is to talk to the vendors at the produce stands. Tell them what you are looking for and they can help find comparable substitutions. We enjoyed these recipes and their flavor profiles.

These are the only three recipes I have tried from his cookbook so far but I can definitely say I look forward to trying more.  The cookbook itself is beautiful and would make a great coffee table book or a gift for any home cooks that you know.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!