Fifth Post: No food, just packing!

I know this is supposed to be a food blog, but I wanted to post to say how nervous/excited/mixed emotional I am about leaving tomorrow. I have to be at the airport at 8 AM because my plane leaves at 10 AM and for some reason airports need 2 hours to figure out which bag goes on which plane. Anyway, for Colin's farewell dinner he wanted the same chicken picatta that I made a few days ago. Again I am making a sauce with the chicken and serving the whole thing over fettucini noodles.

The next time I post I will either be in Brussels, Belgium, or Paris, France!

Bon voyage pour moi!

Fourth Post: Watermelon and Raspberry Fruit Salad

About a month (or two?) ago, Bailey and I met a French woman at Knoxville's only Creperie, The French Market. We had a very long discussion in French and at the end of it we gave her our email addresses and phone numbers in hopes of meeting again. Sure enough, Marie emailed us and asked for us to meet to have another lengthy french conversation. However, because I leave in 4 days for Paris I don't really have the time to meet! Regardless, Marie invited Bailey and me to a picnic on Saturday where everyone will be speaking french and eating french food. I'm so excited to go! I did some research and decided to make this salad.

WATERMELON WITH RASPBERRIES AND ROSE WATER
1/4 watermelon
1 pckg raspberries
1 1/2 tbs rose water

Cut the rind off of the watermelon, and cube the fruit. Place in a container and sprinkle the top with the raspberries. Drizzle the rose water on top.

The recipe didn't call for lemon juice, but because watermelon is such a mild fruit and it makes up the majority of the salad, I added a sprinkle of it to cut through the watermelon-y taste.

I'm going to for sure post what I eat tomorrow! I'm very excited!

Third Post: Pasta Salad

So tonight I have Bailey and Colin over. Bailey and I spent about 2 hours waiting for Colin to get here with the wine we wanted to pair with the pasta salad I made, but that's okay it was worth the wait. Here is the recipe for the pasta salad that we spent forever waiting to eat!

PASTA SALAD:
1 box farfalle pasta (bowtie)
1 tomato (cubed)
1 jar garlic marinated button mushrooms
1 jar artichoke hearts
1/4 jar caper berries
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 container crumbled feta
lemon juice to taste
salt to taste
white pepper to taste
a dash of thyme
a dash of basil
a dash of oregano

Boil the pasta to al dente. While the pasta boils, combine seasonings in a bowl. Mix tomato, mushrooms, artichokes, capers, olive oil, feta, salt, white pepper, lemon juice, thyme, basil, and oregano. If your bowl has a lid, shake all of the seasonings to combine thoroughly. If not, just use a wooden spoon. After the pasta is finished pour into a strainer and run cold water over it until it is completely cooled. Mix the pasta with the pre-mixed ingredients and enjoy! Refrigerate if you don't eat it all, but you just might!

So finally when Colin arrived to our little pasta party, he came with a Trapiche Malbec which is a really wonderful Argentinian wine. He also came with a Night Harvest sauvignon blanc, which we haven't opened yet. This is my third night with great food and wine with great friends!

Second Post: Chicken Picatta

(I know this makes two posts in a night, but I made dinner and wanted to post about it because I was very proud of my sauce!)

Tonight Colin had to work, but regardless I decided I would cook dinner. He suggested that I make a chicken picatta with fontina cheese (which is really out of character because the man can only make eggs!) but instead of including the cheese in my recipe I just made a regular chicken picatta and served it over fettucini. The recipe I have for the picatta is completely made up by me, just from tasting various picattas from Naples and other restaurants. Here it is:

CHICKEN PICATTA:
1 package of thinly sliced chicken breasts
1 bottle of white cooking wine
lemon juice, to taste
white pepper, to taste
salt, to taste
1 jar of capers
2 tbs flour
4 tbs butter

I first make a roux, to assure that the sauce will be think enough. To make a roux I just melt butter in the bottom of a pan on low heat and then mix the flour into it until it's well blended. After the roux is made I add the entire bottle of white cooking wine and mix until the sauce is think. After this I add the lemon juice, pepper, salt, and capers. After the sauce has had time to simmer and reduce for a few minutes, I add the chicken breasts. This way the chicken can absorb all of the tartness of the sauce. After that I just cook the chicken until it's no longer pink and serve! I'm not sure if serving the picatta over fettucini is traditional or not, but I'm a pasta-holic and would like everything to come with it.

For our wine tonight, Colin discovered a red zinfandel called Zen of Zin. Even though a white wine would traditionally be paired with chicken, this particular zin is very tasty and didn't overpower the dish.

Yet another night with good wine and good food!

The first entry: Crepes

Alright, so I'm a French major at UT. I feel like I should have at least attempted to make the French version of a pancake "crepes" before. However, until last night I had never made an effort. My friend Bailey and I took to the task with this recipe:

Crepes:
2 c. all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter, melted
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 jar of nutella
1 container of strawberries
2 cups of sugar (kept separate)

Whisk flour and eggs together. Gradually add milk and water (I mixed them in a big measuring cup and just added them together). Stir to combine. Add the 2 1/2 tsp of sugar, the cinnamon, and the nutmeg. Refrigerate the dough for about 20-30 minutes to prevent bubbles from causing your crepes to crack.

Slice all of your strawberries. Combine 2 cups of sugar with water, make sure the sugar is all the way dissolved. Place strawberries in a big bowl and cover with the sugar water. Leave to soak in the refrigerator until needed.

Heat your stovetop to about 5 (medium heat) and rub the pan with butter to prevent the crepes from sticking. For each crepe, use about 1/4 cup of the batter. Swirl the batter around the pan until you have a circle that coats the entire pan. After about 15 seconds, shake the pan to loosen the dough. The crepe will be very thin. Try to flip the crepe by simply tossing it in the air (this prevents ripping). If you can't flip the crepe in the pan, just use tongs or a spatula to flip it.

You should be able to make about 15-20 crepes using this recipe.

Coat each crepe with nutella (it has the consistency of peanut butter so this may prove difficult, but it will be worth it!) and then place 4-5 strawberry slices inside. Fold the crepe like a taco and enjoy!



This cooking adventure proved to be extremely fun. This was not only the first time I attempted to make crepes (and it was definitely a successful attempt!), it was the first time I tried to flip something over in a pan without using a spatula (this was less successful, but I managed to figure it out). After enjoying an overload of our cinnamon and nutmeg crepes, Bailey and I continued to drink a bottle of Palo Alto, which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, and Syrah. What a great night for food and wine!