Restaurant Review - Toro

On Friday night, I went out to dinner with the girls. It is always so nice to see Tam, Michele, and Kakes. That in itself is a treat. However, it was nice to have great food paired with great company.

Since we were going out for my birthday, it was my choice. I love eating at tapas style restaurants. It is a great way to taste a lot of the food on the menu. It also makes dinner a much more engaging social experience. Toro was a restaurant that I have wanted to try for quite some time.

Michele, Tam, and I got to Toro a bit before our favorite soccer mom did, so we had a cocktail at the bar while we waited. Michele and I both had La Grenada. It was a delicious mix of vodka, pomegranate, grenadine, and rose cava. We also ordered the Pan con Tomate to eat with the drinks. So far, it was a great start to the evening.

Soon after Kathryn arrived, we got our table. Kathryn's mom had been to Toro before and raved about the corn, so we ordered it. We also ordered the empanadas (something that I fell in love with in Argentina), the garlic shrimp, the ensalada cortada, olives, fried potatoes, mini hamburgers, and a steak dish. All the food was spectacular. The corn lived up to its reputation, it was full of buttery and cheese goodness. Because dinner was great, we had to try the dessert. Churros and creme brulee were ordered and were fabulous.

All in all it was a great dining experience. Of course, 99% of it can be attributed to the great company. We always have a great time hanging out with each other, unfortunately busy schedules often get in the way. I think we are planning on seeing each other next in December! That is far too long. After that we will have Michele's birthday dinner in January. Maybe we should pick a date now before the calendars get too packed.

Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

Once again, I had the itch to use more apples in a sweet treat. I do love cupcakes and am interested in going beyond the standard vanilla or chocolate with vanilla or chocolate icing. These could probably be consumed minus the icing, making them more of a muffin. However, caramel seems like the perfect topping for this fall treat.

I haven't tried these yet. I am bringing them into work for my co-workers and will update the post with their reactions. Maybe I should not be testing out a new recipe on people that I see everyday....

Chicken and Asparagus with White Wine Sauce

This is a nice and fast after work dinner. There is not a lot of preparation with this one, especially if you buy the thin sliced chicken. Another benefit of this recipe, is that it is one dish cooking. I love the meals that are put together in the skillet. Maybe that is part of the reason that my skillet has lost its non-stickness, it gets used all the time.

from Cooking Light, October 2007
4 slices of chicken (if you don't buy thin sliced, pound the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness)
salt
pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine (once again, I chose a Chardonnay)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 minced garlic gloves
1 pound of asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
*the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, I omitted it in my recipe

1. Prepare the chicken by sprinkling salt and pepper on it.
   
2. Melt butter in the skillet over medium high heat.
   
3. Place flour in a shallow bowl and dredge chicken.
4. Add chicken to the skillet, cook 3 minutes on side or until browned.
5. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Add wine, broth, and garlic to the pan; scrape up the browned bits and cook 2 minutes.
   
6. Add asparagus; cover and cook 3 minutes, or until the asparagus is crisp-tender.
   
7. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice (if you want parsley, now is the time to add it).
   
8. Serve asparagus and sauce with chicken.

I think what makes this dish so good, is that the chicken is sauteed in butter. Yum!

Brie Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Yesterday, I was looking for recipes for entrees in which apples were utilized. I saw that this recipe from the Family Circle All Time Favorite Recipes called for apples AND brie and I was sold. I haven't had brie in a while and I was sold. This seemed like a great fall recipe.

I was also anxious to try a recipe that called for stuffed chicken. Normally, I shy away from stuffed chicken breast of any sort as I have failed in previous attempts. However, I was eager to try my skills that I attained last week in the cooking class for Meredith's bachelorette party. In the cooking class, the chicken was already pounded for us. I did not pound the chicken as much as I should have and it did not roll the way it did last week. Another modification, was that I chose not to saute the chicken in butter and olive oil before baking the chicken. That is not a typo, we used butter AND olive oil last week. It was great, but a bit too unhealthy for my kitchen. I decided to forgo the saute portion and went straight into baking the chicken.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, cored and chopped, leave the skin on (I used a Cortland apple, the recipe suggests Granny Smith)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup apple cider
4 ounces Brie, rind removed, cut into chunks
4 chicken breasts, pounded

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
   
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until very tender, about 8 minutes. Add apple, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 cup cider; cook until apple is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Stir in Brie.
   
3. Spoon mixture into the chicken breast and roll up. Bake chicken on a jelly roll pan in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
4. Scrape the pan drippings into the skillet with the remaining apple cider, thyme, and salt. Cook over medium heat until the liquid mixture is reduced by half. Spoon over the chicken.
   

I wasn't too sure how this would turn out. I got rave reviews from Mike who gave me a "good, very good" critique. In addition, he said it was company worthy. So anyone who comes over for dinner may get this dish.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

I saw this on Cooking with Jen (http://cookinginla.blogspot.com/) and I wanted to try it. It reminds me of the good old e-mail time wasters I do when I need a break from whatever I was doing. You know the type of thing I am writing of, "My favorite color is, My favorite vacation was", etc....This is like the same thing, except it involves food. Feel free to try this.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

I couldn't figure out how to underline, so I changed the font color to brown. Also, when I copied the post to my blog, I had to play with the font colors and couldn't get the font to my blog's standard color. Also, I had to look up what a lot of these foods were.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison

2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare

5. Crocodile

6. Black pudding

7. Cheese fondue

8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanough
11. Calamari
12. Pho

13. PB&J Sandwich (the ultimate comfort food)
14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Steamed pork buns

20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (not at all healthy, but delicious)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (yum, it is so good in Argentina)

28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (New Year's Day with pork)

35. Root beer float

36. Cognac with a fat cigar (on the Forbes yacht, ahh those media days)

37. Clotted cream tea

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39.Gumbo (I think my neighbors need to make some Louisiana style gumbo for me :))

40. Oxtail

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects
43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini (I live dirty martinis with vodka, I am not a gin fan)

58. Beer above 8% ABV (Polish beer at Cafe Polonia)
59. Poutine

60. Carob chips

61. S'mores

62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill

76. Baiju

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (Not the tasting menu, but I have had diner at Le Bernadin. Mike be warned, this is on our list....)

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare

87. Goulash

88. Flowers

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam

92. Soft shell crab

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish

95. Mole poblano

96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

Looks like I have a lot of foods to try.

Kielbasa and Red Cabbage

How purple is this?! It's due to the red cabbage. The red cabbage when combined with the cleaning products used after the prep for this was done, turned the cabbage blue. This was a dish that used apples. I had to get rid of the peeled apples before they went bad (see earlier posts from today to understand). Mike said that this dish reminded him of something that we ate when we went to Prague three years ago. I will freely admit, that the Czechs certainly make this dish much better than I do.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons beef broth
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (I think that the dish could use more and I likely double it when I make it next).
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 shredded red cabbage (I couldn't find the pre-shredded red cabbage and used about 30 ounces of the cabbage that Mike shredded for me)
1 pound kielbasa, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 apple, peeled cored, and sliced (the original recipe called for Granny Smith, but that was not in my bag full of apples from yesterday, so I used what I had, either a McIntosh, Empire or Cortland)

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Add onion,; saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add broth and caraway seeds. Bring to boiling. Lower heat; simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes.
2. Add brown sugar, vinegar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
   
3. Add half of the cabbage. Top with kielbasa, apple slices, and remaining cabbage. Cover; simmer 30 minutes or until cabbage is tender.
   
4. Uncover; cook 10 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.
   

Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

I actually made this last week, but am getting around to posting it today. Spaghetti and meatballs is a classic meal and is always very comforting. It was also a great meal to have as the weather was getting cooler. Fall is my favorite time of year, there is apple picking (if you read the earlier posts, you know that I do love apples, football is back, baseball playoffs are on, there is new TV, and it is a good time to eat some warm and hearty meals. I am still trying to find a good recipe to use as a base in creating my own red sauce. This was a quick red sauce that worked well in this case.

12 ounces ground turkey
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
cooking spray (my non-stick skillet is not so much non-stick anymore)
14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with onion
6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 ounce uncooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat and try to use whole wheat pastas when possible)

1. Combine the turkey breast, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning in a bowl; mix well to combine and shape to make meatballs, about 18. Heat up the skillet while you are making the meatballs over medium-high heat.
   
2. Spray cooking spray in a large skillet. You could also use olive oil, but in the interest of trying to cut back on fats and oils when I can, I used cooking spray.
3. When the skillet is hot, add the meatballs and saute until they are browned on all sides. Turn them often. This takes about 5 minutes.
   
4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, and oregano. Mix well. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, until meatballs are cooked through and the sauce reduces slightly, about 10 minutes.
   
5. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package directions.
   
6. When the sauce and the pasta are both done, add to a pasta bowl and combine.