Luxirare inspired breakfast

This morning I decided to cook a breakfast for my family that I saw on the blog luxirare.com.  Granted, she has some of the most interesting looking kitchen gadgets I have ever seen, I did what I could with our basic kitchen setup.

This breakfast is melted buffalo mozzarella atop of prosciutto, arugula, and pesto on an english muffin.  Luxirare calls this an "Italian style brunch," and the link to her blog post is here: http://luxirare.com/italian-style-brunch/

My family also has different taste preferences, so to change it up a bit, I used mayonnaise instead of pesto on two of the muffins.

This picture shows the process: pesto, arugula, prosciutto, then the mozzarella! 

Place in the oven at 450 F for 10-20 minutes.

Serve!

Spring cooking

I decided to look up a seasonal and cheap recipe from the food network and came up with Roast Chicken with Spring Vegetables.  ($7-8 for all the ingredients at Whole Foods)

Vegetables taste better when eaten during their harvest season.  True fact.  

Also, buying vegetables during their season helps support local farmers and decreases environmental costs from shipping groceries across the world.

The recipe was simple and perfect, resulting in a delicious and inexpensive dinner.

The website for the recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/roast-chicken-with-spring-vegetables-recipe/index.html

Bahamas

Two fun photos from Nassau.  That is all.

Denver camera trials

This past week I have been trying to experiment with the different camera settings on my father's old Canon Digital Rebel.  The best part about having this camera is that it brings out colors an ordinary digital camera would not be able to access.

These first two photos were taken by a high school football field in downtown Denver on my walk to City Park.  I also played around in post, seeing how different effects could affect the "feel" of the photo.

The next photos were taken in front of my sister's home around 8PM.  I messed around with the shutter speed, and was pleasantly surprised with the color.

I also really like how this photo turned out in black and white.

Denver Restaurant Week: Mizuna

Denver Restaurant week is a special 2 week occasion that happens every year between February and March.  According to denver.org:
Denver Restaurant Week is a two-week celebration of the culinary scene in Denver. Participating restaurants will offer a multi-course dinner for the fixed price of $52.80 for two, or $26.40 for one (not including tax or gratuity).
The second and last restaurant my sister and I went to was Mizuna.  This has been our favorite restaurant in Denver for the past 3 years due, in main part, to the lobster macaroni and cheese.

That's right.  lobster + macaroni and cheese = bliss

The other items on the Denver restaurant week menu were equally as delectable, but, due to unfortunate camera problems, no pictures were produced to document these food treasures.

Despite the lack of pictures, I must mention Mizuna's take on the French Onion Soup.  My sister and I were both served a bowl with slowly cooked onions topped with thin slices of tender cooked veal.  The servers then came around pouring a veal broth on top and presented us with Gougeres (bread puffs stuffed with Gruyere cheese) to soak in the broth.  Simply amazing.

The chef of Mizuna even keeps his own blog to show the inspirations behind each of his dishes.  Here is the link: http://blog.frankbonanno.com/

Red Rocks part 2: rhythmic dancers

The Red Rocks Amphitheatre boasts an amazing view of Denver in front and the mountains behind.  The concerts are known for having the best acoustics around, and are usually always sold out.  What most people don't discover, is Red Rocks on an off day.

I was able to witness Feenix and her friends as they practiced the art of rhythmic dancing.  Feenix, a recent move to the Denver area, worked with hula hoops as she pranced back and forth across the stage. She allowed me to take some photos, and was very kind to a stranger in the amphitheatre.

Colorado always has its surprises-it's just about being lucky enough to find the good ones.

Denver Restaurant Week: Olivea

Denver Restaurant week is a special 2 week occasion that happens every year between February and March.  According to denver.org:

Denver Restaurant Week is a two-week celebration of the culinary scene in Denver. Participating restaurants will offer a multi-course dinner for the fixed price of $52.80 for two, or $26.40 for one (not including tax or gratuity).

My sister and I went to 2 different restaurants.  The first, Olivea, was a quaint Mediterranean style restaurant off of 17th Avenue in downtown Denver.  For the first course, I chose the "fritto misto with meyer lemon aioli."  This consisted of lightly fried lemon slices, cauliflower, red peppers, red onions, and sweet potato slices.  Once dipped into the aioli, the combination was delightful.

For the second course, my sister chose the "pork meatballs with soft polenta and san marzano sauce," while I chose the "house made tortellini in brodo with wilted greens and parmesan."  Despite their beautiful presentation, both dishes were underwhelming and lacking in flavor.  

The last dish redeemed Olivea: the "chocolate fleur de sel caramel tart with milk chocolate gelato and nougatine crunch."  Both my sister and I ordered this dish, and once we cut into the tart, the caramel oozed out and was a wonderful combination with the soft gelato.