Last Friday, Mandi was away and I had a friend coming over to play Mario Kart before we headed out for the night.  I wanted to throw something simple on the grill, but I also wanted something awesome.  Not just a steak or burger, something a little different.  The idea hit me at about 3pm out of nowhere and I ran with it.

Nothing crazy here today, just a really basic yet delicious strawberry salad.  I’m sure you’ve all pretty much had this salad in one form or another, and this is the way we make it.  Mandi really wanted to post this one because it is her favorite salad.  The strawberries were really fresh and delicious and the pictures came out great so here it is.

With only 3 couples remaining on last restaurant standing: Jess/Laura, and Grant/Laura will have to fight it out to see who is making it to the final show.  This episode begins with Raymond telling an endearing story about his childhood and the first time he tasted fine food.  He did not know it then, but this moment would change his life forever.  He tells them he wants them to cook and serve their personal dishes in his restaurant.  After seeing both of the couple’s faces, he then says, this is meant to inspire, not terrify.

Click below to read the full review of the best episode of last restaurant standing yet!

I decided to grow some plants in my backyard.  I have always wanted to, and a combination of being an impulsive dude, the right time of year, a beautiful day, and reading this article (I’m reading his book at the moment) made me run out and get some containers and seedlings.  Suddenly I had a small garden.  Now I am by no means an expert on this, I’ve never done this before.   But I still wanted to post up some pictures because I think these plants are beautiful.  Also to show people who think they don’t have enough space and expertise that it is really not that hard.  Its not too late either!

I totally did not plan to make a Cinco de Mayo themed post today.  I had tamales all lined up to go, and I woke up and was like…hmmm today is Cinco de Mayo...  crazy!  We made these because Mandi was scouring the internet for other things to steam.  Once we bought the steamer she decided that she wanted every meal steamed from that point on.  The thing about tamales is you are supposed to use a metal pot steamer.  This is because they take over an hour and a half and the bamboo starts to get really soggy at that point.  This is fine, it still dries out and everything, you just have to be careful with it.  They came out great for us and we even got some nice bamboo flavor in the tamales that was delicious.  In a totally unrelated side note to TFIMB fans, check out the web comic xkcd from today and also from Friday.  They are both food related, slightly nerdy, and hilarious as usual.  Be sure to mouse over to see the alt text.

We went to Amy’s for a Cuban dinner party this past weekend and it was a great time.  I have never had some of the ingredients and flavors she worked with and I was excited to try them all week.  Mandi went over and helped her take pictures and cook in the afternoon, then we all showed up around 7.  Amy will be writing the rest of the post, but I may leave a few comments in red.  Also the Recipes (as usual) are at the bottom of the post.

Ever since Heidi made dumplings a week or so ago, Mandi has been asking me every day “when can we make dumplings?”  Well when she came home with a new bamboo steamer, I knew it was time.  The other reason I knew we should make them, is that they actually had Pork Shoulder at the store.  In Bermuda, this is a rare find for me. (side note- because of this, there will be 3 pork shoulder recipes in a row, HA!) 

As I was making these meatballs, I was a bit worried about posting the recipe.  My mother told me the recipe, as my grandmother had given it to her.  I didn’t know if there was some sort of embargo or block on passing it out for all to see.  Would I be blacklisted by my family and never given any recipes again?  No more Gnocchi secrets or Lasagna tips?  No more making tortellini’s for the holidays?  I didn’t know what to do.  Then last night I was watching Molto Mario (Re-Runs on fine living!) and the weight was lifted!  Mario made meatballs almost the exact same way as my family!  This did 2 things, for one, it made me proud because Mario is as authentic as you can get for Italian food, and 2, it released the ban on the recipe because it is no secret, its already out there for the world to see via Mario Batali.

With the warm weather and summer feeling here in Bermuda, It may seem odd that I am making chicken pot pie.  There are however 3 main reasons for making it.  1. We needed to re-up on chicken broth in the freezer and pot pie is the perfect thing to make the day after making broth. 2.  It is still a bit cold in Massachusetts where most of my friends live so they can make this.  And 3. We got a cool new knife rack for the kitchen and we needed Gareth to help hang it for us.  Having concrete walls, it is tough to hang everything and Gareth can do it easily.  He always asks us for things like chicken pot pie, shepherds pie, and bangers and mash, so we thought it would be a good way to get him over and help us.

We made Persian food this week.  Neither of us are Persian or have ever been to the area, and I have never even tried this type of food so I don’t even know if it came out authentic tasting, but I do know it was delicious.  Mandi has had Persian once before.  she was at her friend Nooshin’s house.  Her mom made some delicious Persian dishes for dinner when we all lived in Boston.  Now Noosh has moved to LA and we have moved here.  The reason we cooked this meal, is because Mandi is going to visit Nooshin in LA next week and wants to cook her something to remind her of home.  What a nice girl.

Last night was a great episode of Last Restaurant Standing. With only 4 couples remaining, this elimination challenge was very serious.  Raymond wanted the 2 couples in the challenge to have a singles night at their restaurants.  He would provide 20 single young professionals and they had to find the other 20 themselves. They split up and the twins ended up with Lloyd and Adowa while Jeremy and Jane were chosen by Grant and Laura. Click Below for the rest of the review **SPOILERS**

As fans of TFIMB know, I like to make the occasional quiz for people to send to their friends and challenge each other.  This one popped into my head yesterday and I whipped it up for you all!  Name the celebrity chef or show based on their kitchen or workspace!  sorry some are so blurry! I had to rip a few off you tube.

Score -

0-5 – wonn wonnnnnnn

6-10 – decent

10–13 – prettyyyy prettyyyyyy prettyy good

14-16 – you watch way too much food TV

Click below to start the quiz! But don’t scroll to far down, the answers are down there.

This is probably our favorite after beach BBQ.  We make it after a long day of beach when you need something hearty and flavorful, yet light and summery at the same time.  My parents were down visiting and we had just gotten back from a long day at the beach. Click below for more

Mandi and I had been wanting to make mac and cheese for a week or 2.  We knew we didn’t want to go out on the weekend but rather keep it low key so we decided to make the macaroni and cheese on Friday night and watch the top chef I had downloaded.  On Thursday while shopping for tacos, I was minding my own business in the store when what did I see but a pack of beautiful slabs of pork belly!  This is a rare find in Bermuda so I snatched it up without even thinking of what we would do with it.  After brainstorming for a bit, we decided to incorporate it into the mac and cheese we had been craving.  We decided that a BBQ Sauce flavor would help bring the pork belly and mac and cheese together as one.  It is hard for me to do this post today because now I am craving this again! It was one of the best things we have made in a very long time and now im starving for a huge scoop of pork belly mac and cheese! Click below, you will be glad you did

Since there was a public outcry after my last healthy post (apparently 2 slices of bacon makes you a fatty) I decided to post another one today.  Sometimes when I am trying to be healthy, I ruin it because I crave pasta all the time.  I generally do not like whole wheat and whole grain pastas.  For some reason however, when I put a pesto on a whole grain pasta, I really enjoy it.

This recipe is a combination of Giada’s Swordfish and Spaghetti with Citrus Pesto, Heidi’s Pesto techniques, and some tweaks of our own (putting the citrus in the fish instead of the pasta, using whole grain pasta, fish selections).  I find it important to cite my sources so that I don’t pull a Cindy McCain.  I’m so Topical!

Click below for the recipe and pictures.

It’s getting serious on Last Restaurant Standing with only four coupes remaining. This week Raymond wants the remaining four restaurants to be the perfect hosts to their guests. “Do something special that makes them feel good and puts a smile on their faces” he says. We begin with everyone receiving a present from Raymond to give them the idea of what it feels like to be treated specially. He wants their guests to feel that way too. Click below for more... ## Spoilers ##

We had a pizza party last weekend and we had a ton of leftovers.  We used them in a variety of ways, one being this salad.  We had the arugula leftover because we had planned a salami arugula pizza but people got full and we cancelled that one.  The only thing we ended up buying for this salad was the fennel.

We had another failure last weekend.  I am on a quest to do something with pasta that has not been done before but that actually tastes good!  I feel that I will have many failures along the way.  This was a failure for 3 reasons: first, the final dish looked gross and we all know we eat with our eyes first.  Second, the things were way too hard to make.  And third, after all that effort they were still only just "OK".   I mean they tasted good, fresh sauce, homemade pasta, and cured Italian meats, how could it be bad?  But the meats were a little too much, it would have been better if they were smaller, thinner tubes with less filling.  Also the goodness to amount of effort ratio was not a good one.  I’m sure if we adjusted this recipe, it could be more delicious, and even look pretty good, but that would take even MORE work and they were already a lot.  I just never think they would be worth the effort.  Because this was a failure, I will not be putting the exact recipes, but they are fairly self explanatory anyways.

Mandi loves cheesesteaks.  She has been dying to share her recipe and process here with everyone.  So much so, that we needed to take pictures 3 SEPARATE TIMES in order to get them perfectly right!  That was fine with me because they are so delicious that I don’t mind eating them multiple nights in a week. Click below for more!

If you are a fan of this website, you know there is one couple on Last Restaurant Standing that I continually tease in my reviews.  Well Martin and Emma found me, and asked me why?  Why do I hate them so much?  We emailed back and forth a bit and I grew to actually start liking these people!  I wrote them an email full of interview questions and when I got it back, I realized that they are way cooler than the show made them out to be.  I was even rooting for them last night! (Even though I already knew the outcome!). Today’s post consists of a condensed 2 paragraph reviewcap of the episode, followed by The Food in My Beard exclusive interview with Martin! Click below to continue reading, there ARE SPOILERS for those who have not watched the latest episode.

With all these great food pictures I have been taking, I have made a few wallpapers for myself and Mandi that I have finally decided to share with you all.  Here are 9 wallpapers of various sizes so you can have TFIMB with you all throughout the day!  If your size is not here but you really like the designs, please post a comment below with your screen resolution and I will see what I can do.  Also leave a comment if you like these and are using one, let me know which one!  I hope to have some of these posted every other week or so and the feedback will help me know what people like.  For people with dual monitors, make sure to set the display to “tile” to make the wallpaper span both screens

 

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On Friday I posted my usual tacos that Mandi and I make most Thursdays.  This past week however, we were trying to be healthy.  We still wanted tacos, so we decided to make a more authentic Mexican version of tacos from the cookbook “Authentic Mexican” by Rick Bayless.  I’ve had this book for a few months and we had yet to make anything from it, seeing him on top chef last week prompted me to finally open it up.  While what we made isn’t healthy, it is better then the tacos we usually make, and since it was different, we would be more conscious of not stuffing ourselves.  It turned out really great and I think if we made it one or 2 more times it would be even better with a bit more kick in the sauce. Click below to continue. 

Tacos.  Almost every week since college I have eaten tacos on Thursday night.  At one time it was much simpler.  Taco kit, jar of salsa, bag of cheese, some pre washed/cut lettuce, and call it a day.  As the years went by, we swapped out the pre made ingredients one by one to get where we are today. Trade a jar of salsa to bought fresh salsa to actually making salsa.  Go from the taco seasoning packet, to half the packet and some of your own spices, to fully using your own blend.  This obviously is a very American version of tacos, tune in Monday and I will post a more authentic Mexican version of tacos we actually made last night!

The most common question asked of me by friends is this – “what’s a quick, easy, healthy, and delicious dinner I can have after work tonight?” What do you guys think I am, Rachael ray?  Well guess what!? You’re all in luck! I am on a diet since bathing suit season starts in a week or 2 here in Bermuda. (Even though actual Bermudians refuse to go to the beach until May 25^th.) So I will have some healthy weeknight dinners up here in the next few weeks.  Now don’t worry, they won’t all be healthy.  I have a few posts I made pre-dieting that I am waiting to post.  Also, my diets are short because they are intense.

I’m rambling, so without further a due, my FAVORITE fast easy delicious and super-ancient-whole-grain-run-a-mile-punch-a-baby-healthy meal!  Fish-in-a-bag!

Some of my friends right now are saying “Fish?  Really?  I mean… I don’t really like fish.” To you I say shut up and make this and you will LOVE it.  Unless you mess it up somehow which you probably will.  Jeez my friends are dumb... just kidding friends!

Click below for more!!

A slightly shorter review this week because while it was an interesting episode, there was not much to report on because no one did really great or really awful.  The theme for the 5 remaining restaurants this week was branding your establishment and making sure people know what your restaurant is all about when they come in for a meal.  Raymond decided that he would give the teams some direction and tell them that teaching a cooking class would be a helpful way to explain to people about your brand and get the word out.

Click to continue **SPOILERS**

Today I am pleased to bring you an exciting and all new section on my website!  This new category will be called restaurant recipes, where I try a dish at a great local Bermuda eatery, and using my excellent taste buds; I will reverse engineer the recipe and present it here for your at-home enjoyment!!  Imagine, sitting at home reminiscing on your beautiful honeymoon in Bermuda, eating at that wonderful restaurant.  Now you can take that experience home!

First up-

La Trattoria’s Spaghetti alla carbonara

You guys are in for a real treat here!  Spaghetti alla carbonara – pasta in the style of the coal miner’s wife – is a staple in Italy.  A real Italian classic. Let’s get started

This dish classically requires pancetta, but for a very special Trattoria twist, go to the supermarket and grab any old packet of thin sliced bacon.  Nothing special here, the cheaper the better.  This will give you that authentic taste; you will think you are eating inside the restaurant!!

Now take that bacon you got, and cut it into strips, put it into a sauté pan and cook it for about 30 seconds each side.  Make sure it stays mostly raw – you want that deliciously unappetizing chewiness of undercooked bacon.  Now go in the refrigerator, and grab some leftover spaghetti.  Something you cooked yesterday that is kind of all starched together. Don’t worry about that cause once you get it in the pan, it will break up.  Ok throw this into the sauté pan with the barely cooked bacon and coat it.  In a separate cup, mix one egg, 2 cups of cream, and a tablespoon of Kraft parmesan in the plastic green container.  Dump this into the sauté pan.  Make sure it is extra hot now so that if some egg hits the pan it gets nice and scrambled.

Take it off the heat and put it in a to-go container!   Wow!  It’s THAT EASY!  You can have authentic food from La Trattoria restaurant at home!  Whatever you do, DO NOT put parsley on this dish!  Why would you ruin it with green stuff??  Also, if your guests inquire about the bacon in the dish, act really confused.  Say “bacon? I don’t know…bacon? What’s this bacon you speak of?”  Insist that it is Pancetta and make sure you say it like this: pan-cheh'-tuh.  This will give your guests that true feeling like they are actually at this restaurant.

--EDIT-- April 2nd --

This post is half April fools joke, half bad review of the restaurant.  To be fair however, we do go there for lunch often because it is convenient and delicious (if you order the right thing).  Also the pizza is pretty good.  One Sunday after sleeping a little late and not having any food in the house, I suddenly had the craving for carbonara and what I got was pasta in cream sauce with half cooked bacon.  That’s what prompted me to write this.  Also the fact that they take themselves really seriously as Italian with accents and if you pronounce something wrong, they act like they have no idea what you are saying, but then when you get the food, it is just the usual Italian American fare you would find at an olive garden.  Please don’t ban me for life La Trattoria.

Today I have a guest post from the design team.  Rich and Kim had a few friends over Rich and Mike’s apartment and served them a delicious looking duck dinner.  When a bunch of friends get together like this, it makes me wish I could be back in Boston hanging out with them.  But in a few weeks, I will be making them jealous with weekly beach trips so it isn’t so bad.  Rich’s comments will be in green, and I might make a few in black.

"Cookin' Up Some Quack"

Kim, Mike, Steph, Alex, Amy, and I were the 6 party people on Friday...  good thing there weren't any more people than that, even though I invited 5 other people who couldn't come.  The amount of food ended up literally being just enough and there was only 1 piece of Duck left over.