One last Spain post for my foodies…

I just wanted to share some of the food I DEVOURED in Spain for those of you who live to eat…

I promise I’ll be quick!

A simple lunch…

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Followed by a decadent dinner…

Tomato and goat cheese salad

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Beef carpaccio with sheep’s-milk cheese

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Tuna carpaccio with pink peppercorn and dill

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Filet mignon with foie

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Vanilla bean panna cotta with black currants…

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Me pre-FACESTUFF

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Me in action!

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Grilled calamari for another yummy lunch…

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A little scampi party…

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Tasty tapas…

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That is all! I hope you salivated at least a little!

Next up: LONG overdue Nashville Trip posts!!!

Fresh Veggies!! Dips! Homemade Pita!! Oh My!

Snacky time is always the best of times.
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Check out this radtacular plate I got too!
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And what else would I do with so many fresh veggies than plunge them into a creamy sea of Pine nut Hummus!?
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Or perhaps a cool garlicky heaping of Tzatziki Dip!!??
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And don’t forget the Homemade Pita Bread!
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PITA BREAD RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

1 package quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water
1 Tbs raw sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tsp sea salt
3-4 cups unbleached flour

1.) Proof the yeast in the warm water with the raw sugar. (make sure the top of the water gets nice and foamy)
2.) Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the water and yeast. Mix the water into the flour slowly until you have a lumpy ball.
3.) Place the lumpy ball on a well-floured surface and kneed it for 10 minutes. Add flour as necessary to keep it from sticking.
4.) Let dough rise until it doubles in size, then punch it down and roll out into a long pita dough roll and then tear the roll into 2 inch balls of dough.
5.) Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a dark metal cookie or cooking sheet inside.
6.) Using a rolling pin or tortilla press, flatten each dough ball until it it is about 6 inches across and 1/4 inch thick.
7.) Bake each pita in batches of 6, or as many as don’t touch on the hot cooking tray, for 5 minutes a side.
8.) Stack the hot pita bread and bag up as soon as they are cool so they don’t get stale.
9.) For pita chips, keep the oven and cooking tray hot, cut the pita bread into fourths, pull the two sides of the bread apart and spread them on the tray. Watch them carefully as they will get crispy in a hurry in the 500 degree oven.

This was super fun although a bit time consuming! Try it out!!

Today’s Farmer’s Market Finds



P1080076, originally uploaded by Jamie Susan.

I was absolutely mesmerized by the selection of heirlooms at the Farmer’s Market today. I picked out about 10 different types of heirloom tomatoes and tried to remember the names of most of them, but alas I only recall a few.
I did however, find this awesome website for this lady in Dickson, TN who sell heirloom seeds & plants.
Go look at the Gallery! It’s so neat to see all the different types of tomatoes! I’m in heaven!

http://www.mariseeds.com/seedcatalog/gallery.html

Tomato Carnage is my favorite.

This tomato season has rocked my world something fierce. The Heirlooms I’ve been blessed to find at the Nashville Farmer’s Market are the definition of what tomatoes should taste like.
I love when tomatoes are so red and so ripe that when sliced they resemble raw meat.
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After slicing up my last ugly-as-sin heirloom this week, the cutting board resembled a bloody butcher block.
VEGGIE CARNAGE!
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And OhMYGod!
This tomato was nothing short of prize-winningly spectacular.
It totally ruled.
I added a couple of fried brown eggs, sourdough toast, and had myself a proper breakfast feast!
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Yummmmmm.
Why must you end, tomato season?
WHY!!!??

REVIEW: Subway!

Despite how much I loathe the cutesy play-on-words spelling, when I go to Subway, I refuse to order anything but the “Veggie Delite.”
The luncheon meat they serve on their sandwiches is not a far cry from tasteless shiny plastic and the microwaved “chicken strips” resemble rubber.
I’m also not a big meat-eater, yet I’m not entirely opposed to eating animals.
But I’m not about to eat meat that doesn’t convince me it once had a face.
Not trying to be a hoity-toity foodie bitch here, I just like to know what I’m eating.
Mystery meat + Me = NOT A FAN.
The veggies at Subway, on the other hand, always look decent. I like their different bread offerings as well and the fact that it is freshly baked in house is a plus.
So yeah, gimme fresh bread, tasty crispy veggies, some mustard, and I’ll eat it.
I’ll eat the pants off of it.
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I mean, if your slogan is “EAT FRESH” all of your ingredients should follow suit.
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I usually order the “Honey Oat” bread, but the regular “Wheat” is apparently 50 less calories, so from now on that’s going to be my pick. We’ve got lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers, black olives, lite mayo & yellow mustard on this bad boy. (or good boy?)
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I did not eat this entire sandwich, as easy as it would have been for me to do so, because the whole thing is over 500 calories, even with lite mayo and no meat.
Instead I shared it with someone I love and all was right in the universe.
I’m not saying that the meat at Subway is awful. I’m sure it is fresh and fine to consume by the general public.
I personally don’t find it appealing.
But yeah, it’s not AWFUL.
“AWFUL” is a word I reserve to reference the meat at such shining establishments as Jack-in-the-Box and McDonalds.

THE END.

Veggie overload to assist with guacamole infatuation.



P1070874, originally uploaded by Jamie Susan.

I’ve been trying to ween myself off of guacamole and tortilla chips and back onto mostly raw veggies and lean protein, but avocados tastes soooo good to me right now.
And I need magic spicy guacamole land and my splenda-sweet tea while I watch the Bachelorette. I need this.
But lately my love of guac has turned into an obsession and my meals have been based around what I can dip in my guacamole. That and factor in that I’m starting to panic when I get to the bottom of the bowl…..I need a veggie intervention.
The Farmer’s Market trips are helpful with this pursuit.
Spinach salad, 3 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, green and purple bell peppers, and cucumber topped with grilled chicken.
It was fabulous of course and very filling.
Didn’t miss my guac one bit after dinner I dare say.
Variety Jamie, VARIETY.