Danielle & Joan's Hiking Adventure

This past week my mom woke me up bright and early and told me that we were going hiking and to get ready. Still half asleep I agreed to go, and twenty minutes later we were on our way. When my mom decides she wants us to do something we pretty much don't have a choice. It's just much easier to say yes because ultimately we end up giving in, and if we just agree right away we save ourselves from the Italian guilt trip that would otherwise be inevitable. She'll say things like "I guess I'll just bring the dog with me so I don't get kidnapped." Or, "I just wish my family wanted to spend time with me." So to avoid the next few hours of guilt I just agreed.

Anyway, we obviously got lost on our way there - a difficult thing to do because we own a house on the lake and go there often - I love how there's never a dull moment in the Rutherford family... keeps things exciting! So after a slightly longer ride we arrived at the mountain and began are ascent.

Clearly we got a little lost on the mountain, which probably added about another mile onto our already 3.8 mile climb, but overall it was a great hike.... minus the kind of creepy guy lurking the whole time. After our four hour climb we were dirty and starving and decided our number one priority was food.

The views were absolutely stunning

Well prepared Russian family

Less prepared Italian mother-daughter duo...

Catwalk pose at the top of Buck Mountain.. fierce. 

After realizing that our hike took longer than anticipated and therefore our original restaurant choice was already closed, we ultimately decided to go to Pasta Pane, located at 16 Park Avenue in Clifton Park. Pasta Pane is described as a "rustic Italian bistro," and is just one of several restaurants owned by Restaurateur David Zecchini (probably most well known for Chiantis in Saratoga).

All of his restaurants are Italian themed, but each offers it's own original take on Italian cuisine. Pasta Pane is described as offering homestyle Italian meals that are more moderately priced than some of his other restaurants. As we arrived at the restaurant I was skeptical at first. The outside looks a little like a tacky chain restaurant, so my hopes for a true Italian meal were crushed, but because I was so hungry I kept my mouth shut and prepared for the mediocrity. As soon as we walked inside though I was impressed - the decor was homey, inviting, and seemed to have a nice bar scene.

As we perused the menu we aggressively fought over the bread, and tried to decide what we wanted to eat. My mom ended up going with their three-course Harvest Menu, and I obviously went with a large bowl of pasta... wasn't even a question.

My mom decided that she would try the Harvest Menu, which features seasonal dishes for the shocking price of just $20.

To start, she decided to order the Rape E Formaggio, a roasted beet napoleon, goat cheese, arugula and tarragon vinaigrette with toasted sesame flat bread as her appetizer. My mom really enjoyed this appetizer, surprisingly since she didn't realize it had beets in it. Did I mention we were blinded by our hunger?

I really loved the contrasting color of the red beet with the white goat cheese, and although I'm not sure I would describe these as "napoleons," they did remind me of red velvet whoopie pies. The tang from the arugula went nicely with the earthy sweet flavor of the beets.

For her main course she ordered the Ravioli Con Zucca, butternut squash ravioli in a sage, amaretto, and fontina cream sauce.

This was very yummy, and just the right portion because the dish was on the heavier side. In fact, I could almost describe this dish as sweet not savory - it fit nicely with the "harvest menu" theme.

For my main dish I ordered the Granchio, which was capellini pasta, sauteed crabmeat and shrimp, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs, in a light tomato sauce.

Overall this was a decent dish, although as someone who loves pasta like I do, and someone who was at a restaurant with pasta in the name, I was slightly underwhelmed. Pasta Pane has about eight pasta dishes on the menu, half of which are penne. I was hoping for more homemade pasta, and more of a variety. Regardless, the pasta was cooked nicely, but the sauce was a little oily, and the crab didn't taste fresh. Although the shrimp was cooked properly, the tails were left on which made it more difficult to eat. All that being said, I was starving, and it still hit the spot.

Finally, for dessert, my mom ordered the Zeppole Con Miele, which is Italian sugar doughnuts served with apple cider honey.

This dessert was actually really well done. The doughnuts were warm and fresh, and the cider honey went very nicely with it. I wish I had saved more room for the dessert, but I would absolutely recommend ordering this!

Despite some of the restaurant's shortcomings, I still think I would come back. The atmosphere and service was very nice and I think if I tried some of the other entrees my opinion might change a bit.

The Mohawk Club

As I mentioned in my previous post, my last day of work was on Friday. It was bittersweet leaving because I will truly miss everyone I worked with - but I'm very excited to start my career in marketing (provided I can find a job). The cake you see below came from Eldo Cake House located in Chinatown, at 36 Harrison Ave.

The cake is a sponge cake, filled with fresh peaches, and covered with strawberries, melon, peaches, and kiwi. The cakes are super light and delicious, but the location is difficult because there's very little parking, and the staff doesn't speak English well so it can be challenging to communicate exactly what you're looking for. Regardless, we order these cakes for every work function because they are truly tasty.

As I was mentioning, I just finished work, and although I was supposed to go to NYC this weekend, Irene had different plans, and I only made it home to upstate NY. My sister's boyfriend, who lives in Manhattan, also decided to seek refuge at my parent's house in upstate, so on Saturday night we decided to go out to dinner. 



My parents have been members of the Mohawk Golf Club for close to thirty years, so that place was like a second home to me when I was younger. I can remember eating grilled cheese sandwiches with ham, by the pool, sipping on a lemonade and soaking up the sun. Although I now prefer a little vodka in my lemonade, I still always enjoy going to the Mohawk Club. The "club" as we call it, has gone through many different chefs, and the quality of food has changed a lot over time, but I must say that in the past several years it has been the best it's ever been. Because of this, we look forward to going to the club whenever we are home for a weekend.

My mother made reservations for us, and at 7pm we headed off to another lovely dinner there. One of the main reasons I enjoy going there for dinner is because you never know who you're going to see, or what type of experience you're going to have. I am usually fighting off belly laughs left and right because of how much fun we are having. Saturday night was a little quieter, most of the usual Saturday night dinner crowd stayed in and out of the storm, but we still had a lovely time. My dad brought his own wine, so my sister and I enjoyed a nice Pinot Noir, while my father and mother enjoyed a Beringer Cabernet.  I was really excited to go to the club because they just got a brand new menu and my parents had nothing but great things to say about it.

Appetizers

Entrees

For appetizers, my mom ordered the chopped salad, Jordan got the shrimp cocktail, and my sister ordered the asparagus frites with cajun aioli.

Chopped Salad

Shrimp Cocktail

Asparagus frites 

Although both the chopped salad and shrimp cocktail were good, the real star of the appetizer round was the asparagus frites. The asparagus was cooker perfectly, had a great coating and crunch, and the aioli was simply divine. The greens under the asparagus also added a nice element of acidity. Overall it was a great dish, and a good appetizer size.

Kay and I having some fun with the corks!

For dinner, three of us, myself included, ordered the cavatelli with lobster,  my mom and brother got the pan roasted halibut, and Kay's boyfriend Chris ordered the beef filet.

Halibut dish 

As you can see, the halibut was served with a leek and tomato compote, a mushroom vinaigrette, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli rabes, and carrots. The plate presentation was beautiful, and my mom and brother both really enjoyed it.


Chris's beef disappeared before all of our eyes, so I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it. 

Chris's beef was au poivre, which means that it was cooked with black peppercorns, and served in a sauce of reduced cognac, heavy cream, pan drippings, and sometimes butter, shallots, and dijon mustard. The steak was served with a side of french fries and mixed vegetables.

For the third, and unarguably the best entree, somehow three of us ordered it and yet I didn't manage to take a picture. I am literally beating myself up for not doing it, but it was so creamy and delicious I can't imagine after tasting this dish that I would order anything else. Below I have included a small picture of my sister's leftovers so you can get an idea of the ingredients, but please do not judge this dish by the photo - it was so good!



  

Cheers to a great night!



All and all dinner was very enjoyable, and was a great pre-Irene feast.

Easy Italian Dinner Night

The weekend that I came home for my sister's 22nd birthday (that post is on its way), my mom decided to make us a nice home-cooked Italian dinner Sunday night. Since I am now a professional food blogger (self-proclaimed), she enlisted my help with dinner. We decided to make Chicken Parmesan, baked eggplant, meatballs, pasta and broccoli rabe. 

Before we started cooking dinner my mom had already made a simple tomato sauce with Italian sausage. All you need to do is cook some chopped up Italian sausage in a pan, and then add it to whatever tomato sauce you decide to use (you can make your own or just heat up some store bought).

Joan's simple tomato sauce

Once the sauce was done we began with the eggplant dish. For this my mom kind of cheated on a step and bought pre-breaded eggplant.We have a nice little grocery store down the street from our house that sells some amazing pre-made food, so if you don't have the time to bread and cook your eggplant, than just buy the already made kind and call it a day.

So here are the ingredients you will need for this dish-
Eggplant Parm Layered Dish

• Breaded eggplant (the amount depends on how much you want to make)
• Sauce
• Ricotta Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese

Eggplant

After Joan decided to make this dish she realized we didn't have ricotta cheese. So she kind of made her own... this is why my mother is my inspiration.

Joan creating some makeshift ricotta

 We went through and did a layer of eggplant, covered it with ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and then continued layering until we reached the top. We probably had about four layers total.

We applied more cheeses to the top layer, and then put it into the oven until the cheeses started to melt.

Since our oven was already pre-heated to 400, we just cooked the eggplant at 400 for approximately 15 - 20 minutes. Just make sure to keep your eye on it.

Ta-da!

After we finished the eggplant we started on the meatballs:

• Day old Italian bread (small chop)
• 1/2 veal & 1/2 beef
• egg
• Salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste

When I make my meatballs I either use all beef or half-and-half, breadcrumbs, chopped basil, parmesan cheese and egg - But the great thing about meatballs is that there are so many different ways to make them. The Italian bread definitely created a lighter texture, and I must say that these are my favorite meatballs my mom has made. 

Once the ingredients are combined and formed into balls, they just need to be put in a greased pan, and baked in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Make sure that they are cooked completely through... smaller balls cook faster, bigger = slower... etc....

As our two other side dishes cooked, we began the main event... The Chicken Parm!

For chicken parm you need the following things...

• Chicken breasts
• Egg 
• Breadcrumbs
• Salt, pepper, & garlic salt
• Parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• Oil

Step 1: Pound that chicken!

For chicken parm it is important that the chicken is not only tender, but that it's also thin enough so it cooks through all the way as the cheese melts. Also make sure to tenderize the chicken evenly.

Pound that chicken!

The mixtures

Step 2: After we finish tenderizing we create the two mixtures... one of just egg, and the other as a combination of breadcrumb, salt, pepper, garlic salt and parmesan cheese mixture. 

After you have coated all the breasts, the next step will be the quick pan fry. This step is optional - The pro is that you get a nice crunch on the chicken, the con is that you are frying the chicken and it's less healthy - it's truly up to you. If you decide not to fry them then make sure you leave them in the oven longer. 

For this pan fry, my mom and I used some canola and EVOO, and probably cooked the chicken about two minutes on each side (until they are golden brown and crispy). You want to make sure not to overcrowd the pan. Our pan allowed us to cook them two at a time. 

As the chicken finished, we made sure to line a baking sheet with a little bit of sauce (this is to make sure the breasts don't stick to the bottom) and then we began to place the breasts on the sheet. 

Lining the pan is an important step!

After all of the breasts were on the sheet, we layered the top with some more of the simple sauce, and then began to add the mozzarella cheese...

I used the shredded mozzarella, and I also sliced us some fresh mozzarella... I definitely prefer the way the fresh mozzarella melts over the chicken... 

So the final product pre-oven should look like this...

Cook the chicken in a 400 degree oven until the chicken is cooked through (approx 15 minutes, depending on thickness, and how much they cooked in the pan).

While the chicken was baking, we began boiling water for the pasta, and also started up a pan with some evoo to saute the broccoli rabes. 

Broccoli rabes are one of my favorite things to eat, and they are
so easy to make! Just heat up some oil, add some chopped garlic,
and a little s+p, and saute until they are cooked!

Make sure to serve everything with the remaining sauce, and also some fresh Italian bread. 

So yummy & delicious!

I should make note of the fact that we were cooking dinner for six people Sunday night. This was more than enough food for all of us, so you really don't need to make all of it at the same time.... In fact, any of these dishes could stand alone as the star of a meal. 

Chicken and Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

So the first recipe I thought I'd share is a homemade mushroom cream sauce. I should preface this by saying that it's always challenging for me to make dishes like this for my boyfriend. Unless his tongue is falling off from how spicy something is, he's usually not satisfied -  So, I knew I had my work cutout for me with this dish. (And for the record - I succeeded).

For this recipe, although I would have loved to have made my own pasta (a feat I have yet to conquer), I used the good 'ol fashion store bought kind instead. This particular night I used spinach tortellini because we had some in the freezer (actually we had about 5 containers of it in the freezer - courtesy of my boyfriend's mother - she must know how much I love pasta). If you haven't stocked up on frozen pasta already, then I would recommend buying either the Bertolli mushroom stuffed raviolis, or gnocchis (my personal favorite). Personally I think any pasta would work with this sauce, and if you are looking for something healthier I would go with a whole wheat pasta.

So, start off by picking a pasta, and boiling a pot of water. (If you choose ravioli, gnocchi or tortellini, make sure not to put the pasta in too soon since it doesn't need a lot of time to cook).

For the sauce I would suggest using a medium non-stick skillet, heated over medium or medium-low heat. Pour a little EVOO into the pan, wait a minute or two for the oil to warm up, and then add chopped onions. I used a yellow onion, which is sweeter in taste. If you use a smaller yellow onion you can add almost the whole thing. If you decide to use one of the larger white ones, then only add about half of it.

In a separate skillet heat up some more EVOO and the cubed chicken (seasoned with garlic salt and pepper), cook until done, and set aside.

Chicken Sauteing 

Allow the onions to cook until they are translucent in color. While they cook you should add your pasta to the boiling water. After the onions have some time to cook (usually around 5 minutes) add one clove of finely chopped garlic. I think now is a good time to confess that I use garlic in almost everything. I'm actually not a huge fan of adding salt to my food, but I instead add garlic salt to almost everything I make. I believe it is the single greatest thing ever created - aside from pasta of course. Also, I add garlic salt to my pasta water - it gives the pasta a hint of garlic flavor. That being said, in addition to adding the clove of garlic, I would also sprinkle the onions with a little garlic salt and some pepper. After you add the garlic, add the mushrooms as well. 

For the mushrooms I recommend buying one of the cartons of pre-sliced mushrooms, and then just chop them up smaller before adding to the skillet (add one carton). Continue to let everything cook until the mushrooms soften.

Mushroom Cream Sauce

Once the mushrooms soften, add approximately 1/3 cup of white wine. I used Pinot Grigio because I wanted to drink some afterwards, but it really doesn't make a difference. Let the wine cook into the ingredients for around 3 minutes, and then add 1/2 cup of cream. I used light cream, but if you prefer an even thicker sauce (and you don't care about your thighs) than use heavy cream. Mix in the cream and a little bit of Parmesan cheese (if you want to get creative you can experiment with different grated cheeses - I'm a huge fan of Asiago cheese), turn off the heat, and mix in your pasta and chicken.

Voila!

Although this meal can stand on it's own, due to the heartiness of the sauce, if you want to serve a side dish I would recommend either a light salad (with some fresh mushrooms on top), or just a steamed vegetable. 

If you're looking for a quick and easy meal I would definitely recommend this! It took practically no time at all, and was delicious! Enjoy!

Ingredient List:

1 package of Bertolli Mushroom Raviolis

1 package of pre-sliced mushrooms
1 - 2 boneless chicken breasts

1 bottle of Pinot Grigio (1/3 for recipe - the rest for drinking)

1/2 cup light cream

1 yellow onion

1 clove garlic

Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper

EVOO