Seaspice Executive Chef Angel Leon shares his shrimp linguine recipe in honor of National Linguine Day. But you really don’t need a special occasion to enjoy this delicious dish. Details and recipe just ahead.
Tag Archives: food
Art Cooking: Salvador Dali
Surrealist artist Salvador Dali is well known for his distinctive mustache and melting clocks, but what about his 1973 cookbook? Watch below as The Art Assignment attempts to recreate a “Bush of Crayfish in Viking Herbs” from Les Diners de Gala, and also explore Dali’s life and art.
5 Recipes for Your Easter Leftovers
If you’re wondering what to do with all those Easter leftovers, Hormel Foods is sharing these five quick and easy recipes. Read on for photos, ingredients, and instructions!
Martha Stewart’s Holiday Recipes
When Martha Stewart says she’s going to teach you how to cook/bake/make anything, you go. And you take notes. She recently came down to Miami during Art Basel for a cooking demonstration at Macy’s, for which I was clearly unprepared because I thought arriving 45 minutes early would be ample time to find a decent seat within viewing distance of the Queen of Craft (that’s what I like to call her, anyway). But that only left me four rows from the back, zooming into the second monitor, trying to take a picture of a picture of Martha. Lesson learned, lady. Lesson learned. No matter. She cooked. And she did it well. (She also said “twerking,” the context of which escapes me because, I mean, Martha Stewart said “twerking!” But the context really doesn’t matter. What matters is that she said it. And it was AWESOME.) And the food still reached those of us in the far back – with seconds on those little lemon cookies straight from pastry heaven. So here are three of Martha’s recipes for you and yours to enjoy this holiday season.
P.S. In case you’re curious, I’ve also posted pictures of all the other meals we were able to try (Holiday Citrus Punch, Poached Egg with Creamed Spinach, Mushroom Crepe, Fruit Salad, and Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies). The mushroom crepe was my absolute favorite.
Cook: Cuban Arroz con Pollo
Some of my fondest childhood memories involve some sort of family gathering that usually began early in the day, around the kitchen area of a relative’s home. More often than not, that scene involved my grandmother prepping and cooking a meal that always proved too large to eat but too tasty to be discarded. So we went for seconds, and sometimes thirds, and grew up relishing in the fact that Cuban women were built to have curves.
I was recently lucky enough to capture one of these gatherings in my own little kitchen, with Abuela making one of my absolute favorite dishes: Arroz con Pollo a la Chorrera (or, Cuban Yellow Rice with Chicken). Keep reading for pics and step-by-step instructions on how to recreate it sans Cuban Abuela.
The Preggo Burger Tour of South Florida
I won’t pretend I didn’t have an overwhelming love affair with food prior to my expectant status. But I will say that what champagne used to do for me pre-baby, cuisine has temporarily filled in for quite nicely. And without any of the guilt, which is essentially priceless. Hence, the Great Pregnancy Craving Tour of Miami.
I have shamelessly paraded this bump around town and (mostly unknowingly) dripped all sorts of toppings upon it to put together a list of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) crave-inducing establishments. I’m starting with my longest-running obsession, burgers. Check out my picks. Did I miss any? What should I try next? Let me know your favorites.
THE FAVORITES:
Elevation Burger – Simple, sustainable, organic, grass-fed, and free-range. If you’re a carnivore with a conscience (and a budget), there’s nothing better. Add a healthy list of toppings and a soda machine to blend any concoction to your whim and you’ve got the kind of place that’s made me go through a slew of frequent visitor cards. Slew!
Blue Collar – There isn’t enough I can tell you about this burger. I was newly pregnant at the time and discovering I’d developed the kind of appetite that would impress a wrestler. Enter the Real Juicy Cheeseburger – Prime dry-aged New York strip on a Portuguese muffin with your choice of lettuce, tomato, and onions. I don’t think I spoke two words during that meal.
Crave – This is the kind of refined establishment where most (non-pregnant) people would enjoy a nice sushi lunch or a delicately balanced salad. But I had absolutely no shame in devouring their Crave Burger and licking my fingers while doing so. I’m happy to do it again, even in the finest company. With smoked cheddar, onion, and house-made pickles, this is definitely a winner.
Lokal – I’ve never strayed from the 50/50 (Fidy Fidy) burger. And I don’t think I’ll ever want to. Equal parts Florida ground beef and Florida ground bacon combine to make super amazing burger babies in your mouth. Served with mayo, Monterrey jack cheese, and a sweet onion marmalade, you also get a side of 50% sweet potato fries, 50% french fries with honey mustard dipping sauce that gives you quite possibly the most beautiful combination of ingredients a belly could want.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Latin House Grill – This little gem on Sunset has a menu full of crave-able items (Sneaky Nachos!). But if you’re having one of those days when you can’t really figure out what flavor you’re after, I recommend the Intl Muffin Tops. Two of those little guys have a big fill factor.
Red Robin – I had no idea what to expect from Red Robin. And then I learned about their Bottomless Steak Fries (that I, of course, dipped in ranch dressing). It was absolute kismet. I paired that with the Whiskey River BBQ Burger and happily groaned my full belly out the door.
Shake Shack – While I genuinely enjoyed their Angus burger (I had the SmokeShack), my heart was really much more set on their Flat-Top Dogs. I made a mess of that Shack-cago Dog and enjoyed every last bit of relish. Bring your pooch along to dine on the terrace and buy him his own treats for a small price.
NOT WORTH THE WADDLE:
Le Tub Saloon – This waterfront joint has a serious following thanks to being voted best hamburger by GQ Magazine as well as being placed on Oprah’s radar as one of her favorites. The burger itself was simple, tasty, and juicy but the downside for any preggo is that there will likely be a minimum wait time of 1.5 hours before you see any meat on your plate. My vote? Try it when you’re not as likely to dig into the person next to you with a fork & knife. Or sit at a safe distance from others and bring a snack for the wait.
CG Burgers – You only get one shot at dinner. You can deal with “ok” food for lunch because you still have a chance to make it up throughout the rest of the day. But when you have the kind of dinner that leaves you wondering what was missing, you just end up with a grouchy preggo that’s likely suffering from heartburn and an unfulfilled appetite. In this case, what was missing was a decent brioche and some basic seasoning. I wanted so much to like this place but two strikes is enough for me to know not to go for the third.
SmashBurger – This place just made me angry. I first take issue with their logo, a blatant rip-off of GameStop’s font and coloring. But bad branding aside, with a name like SmashBurger, you should really be making a sensational impression. Rather, the result of quite literally smashing your burger patties into submission before squeezing all the juice out of the poor things is what my Cuban grandmother often refers to as “suela de zapato”, or the leathery bottom of one’s shoe, for those not fluent in Cuban slang. But I retain that it’s more accurately articulated in Spanish. No need to stop here.
Note: Rok Brgr didn’t make the list because I only visited once and wasn’t too impressed but felt that maybe it was an off night. I think it deserves another shot before I pass judgement.
Miami Staycation: Food & Fun
You know, I almost didn’t post this but then I realized there was no way I could omit a Sinbad photo op. I mean, come on – it’s Sinbad! Though this post is a bit of a mish-mash of random (but honestly, very fun) things we did over the course of our Miami staycation, these moments reminded us why we are pretty fortunate to live in this city (now and then and only when there’s decent parking involved).
We rediscovered Monty’s South Beach, a location that not only has spectacular views but also boasts a bar-side pool, so as not to interfere with simultaneous oyster-shooting and tanning. We also discovered that Chili’s is no place for anyone over 30 (that black light pic is the only good thing that came out of that venture – our stomachs are still very upset at us). And we made a pit-stop at some generic Chinese restaurant where we were comfortingly addressed in broken English by a woman who actually had perfectly coherent language skills when addressing her staff.
But let’s get back to Sinbad. I mean, what really needs to be said? If you grew up in the 90’s (and I hope I’m not one of the few), then you can probably share in my Different World inspired glee (I was always rooting for him and Jaleesa). But even now, the guy is still really funny and just plain nice. It was one of those adolescent tv-dreams-come-true — good enough to round out one heck of a staycation and justifying that two-drink minimum at the Improv.
P.S. I wonder where he gets his wardrobe…
In this post: Amorium Jewelry Purple Skull Ring, His & Hers Converse Chuck Taylors
Miami Staycation: The Forge
The last time I visited The Forge, I could barely afford a glass of champagne and was really only there because a friend dragged me out. The WMC was going on and there were a lot of people whom I suspect were not only sipping champagne. Five years later, it’s probably still a stretch to make it a regular spot, but I’m a savvier shopper thanks to resources like Gilt City.
Thanks to my coupon-clipping ways I was able to surprise my husband during our staycation (yep – still debating that one) with a romantic dinner at the renovated Forge, one that looks nothing at all like that dark little eatery with the speakeasy that led to the club next door (you know the one). It’s polished, sexy, and refreshed, which can also be said for its food, prepared by Chef Dewey LoSasso. But what really made an impression was the enomatic wine bar, a new, interactive wine-by-the-glass self-serve feature truly designed for oenophiles and novices alike. Think of it as a soda fountain for grown-ups.
And if that doesn’t float your flute, then check out the 80’s inspired nudie wall mural in the ladies room. Or the mirror-backed chairs outside. Or even the sultry red lighting that’s more than adequately suitable for all sorts of Michael Jackson stage presence impressions (see MJ-impersonating husband below). You can try it all out for yourself during Miami Spice, beginning August 1st.
P.S. Please feel free to send in any MJ-impersonating husband pics. I like to think that I’m not alone.
In this post: Amorium Jewelry Hand Chain, Revlon Fire & Ice Lipstick, Dorothy Perkins Cream Blazer
Lokal Love
In a cluster of vacant spaces and abounding conventionality sits Lokal, a respite for those of us who wish we lived in the kind of city this little joint portrays. Unassuming, unpretentious, and just plain cozy, Lokal is the kind of place where one can enjoy a seriously good burger and a healthy selection of craft beers with only the occasional hipster sighting due to the $2 PBR cooler out by the window. It’s this little haven that saved our evening from Miami’s suffocating moisture and my admittedly poor choice of wardrobe throughout the summer months.
Perhaps it’s my naivete or occasional spurts of optimism that drive me to sign up for “free” events only to arrive and find that I do, indeed, live in Miami, and not Utah, as my husband so articulately likes to remind me – and all that that implies. It was in this sporadic state of idealism that I signed us up for the Rock of Ages premier at the Paragon, to later show up and be reminded that there’s usually a price for “free” and it often consists of sweating in Miami’s unforgiving humidity and standing in line behind what can only be described as the unwashed guy’s oily secretions (it smelled exactly as it sounds).
In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that it’s important to tell you that I suffer from a condition, as yet unnamed, where I often find myself inappropriately garbed and completely unawares until I’ve arrived at my destination that I’ve dressed for an entirely different city. Such was the case last night when I showed up in what I thought to be a completely acceptable casual outfit of dark-washed denim, long-sleeved cotton top, and platform pumps (see below) when what I really should have been wearing was a mu-mu and some flip flops to more comfortably stand in line behind approximately 300 of Miami’s other hopeful movie-goers.
Chalk it up to optimism or sheer delusion. Maybe it’s some underlying M.O. to eventually move to a more seasonal climate. But the fact remains that I was born and raised in Miami and yet still own a wardrobe consisting (without exaggeration) of 60% fall/winter items. We lasted all of twenty minutes before my bangs were plastered to my forehead and my “cute casual outfit” felt more like a winter coat at the beach. Without a chance of getting into the premier before suffering possible dehydration by denim, we cut our losses and decided on dinner.
Walking back, we realized we were stuck in a tourist trap full of franchised fried food so we made for the car and braved rush-hour traffic for about ten minutes when Tony literally turned the car around and said, “Screw this. We’re going to Lokal.” God bless his heart for knowing that a good burger can save any night. It’s probably one of the reasons I married him.
It took only a few minutes and a couple of IPA’s (Deviant Dale IPA, Dogfish Rotating Taps Milton DE, and Lagunitas IPA) to turn the night around. That, a mouthwatering 50/50 burger, some gator strips with an un-posted garlic sauce (thank you, Ms. Bartender), and a genuinely friendly staff. And really, in this city or any, what more could you want?
I know I’m not the first person to cover this place. Far from it. But this post is just a simple thank you from the bottom of my heart – for not falling into the generic food scene this city has seen for too damn long. And for allowing my husband and I a simple night of great food, beer, and conversation. It shouldn’t be such a rare occurrence. But in our transient little city, it tends to be. So here’s to hoping Lokal remains a local favorite, no cliched puns intended. We really look forward to seeing you again soon.
P.S. I love a bar with purse hooks. You’d be surprised how many places overlook this essential little detail. Thanks again, Lokal. From the ladies in Miami with annoyingly large bags that we just can’t seem to get enough of.