Delicious and Easy Spaghetti-Shaped Veggies - Zucchini

Last night, I used a simple, hand-held spiralizer, to transform a zucchini into spaghetti-shaped strands that made a terrific and easy side dish. The brand of spiralizer that I used was a "Veggetti," which I had been given as a gift. It took a couple of minutes to make these "noodles." I then sauteed them in a skillet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for 7 minutes. I sprinkled them with salt and pepper and drizzled a high-quality, Persian-lime, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (from Katy Rose Oilery in Lakewood Ranch) over the top. One decent-size zucchini made two servings.

These spiralizers can be used on a variety of vegetables to make salads, stir fries, potato pancakes, etc.

The hand-held version can be purchased for about $10 at Walmart or Amazon. The table-top version is about twice as much. There are other brands as well.

Delicious and Easy Spaghetti-Shaped Veggies - Zucchini

Last night, I used a simple, hand-held spiralizer, to transform a zucchini into spaghetti-shaped strands that made a terrific and easy side dish. The brand of spiralizer that I used was a "Veggetti," which I had been given as a gift. It took a couple of minutes to make these "noodles." I then sauteed them in a skillet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat for 7 minutes. I sprinkled them with salt and pepper and drizzled a high-quality, Persian-lime, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (from Katy Rose Oilery in Lakewood Ranch) over the top. One decent-size zucchini made two servings.

These spiralizers can be used on a variety of vegetables to make salads, stir fries, potato pancakes, etc.

The hand-held version can be purchased for about $10 at Walmart or Amazon. The table-top version is about twice as much. There are other brands as well.

Single Skillet Pasta Dish - Angel Hair or Spaghetti

I wanted to try making a spaghetti dish with all the ingredients combined in a skillet instead of making the pasta and the sauce separately. Of course, I did an Internet search, and found one that was easy and delicious. It was on a video, which made it even easier. I made a couple of changes to adapt it to the ingredients I had on hand. This version produced two generous servings. I highly recommend watching the video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VQEJARHJ44

Ingredients

- long thin pasta (I  used 4 oz. of thin spaghetti)
- 1/2 an onion sliced very thin
- 1 green pepper sliced very thin (This was not in the original recipe)
- 1 handful of cherry tomatoes sliced very thin (I used a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, including the juice in the can.)
- a small amount of sliced chili pepper (I skipped this ingredient.)
- a handful of basil leaves - half for the cooking and half to sprinkle on top after cooking
- 2 cloves of garlic sliced very thin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pecorino cheese to grate over finished pasta (I used Parmesan)
- olive oil to drizzle over ingredients before cooking
- cold water or chicken broth sufficient to cover ingredients in pan (I used a combination of water and the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes.)

Another ingredient I'd like to add next time is sliced green olives.

Directions

Lay the pasta in the bottom of a deep skillet.

Lay the onion, garlic, pepper, tomatoes, chili, and half the basil leaves on and around the spaghetti..

Drizzle olive oil on top of the ingredients.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

Cover the ingredients with cold water and or chicken broth.

Turn the heat on high and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes starting from the time the heat is turned on. Stir from time to time and check the spaghetti to make sure it's al dente.

Grate pecorino on top of the finished pasta.

Add remaining basil leaves.

Tahini, Lemon, Garlic Salad Dressing

I figured that a salad dressing that combined tahini sauce, lemon juice, and garlic could be very tasty, so I did an Internet search and found a number of possibilities. The one I chose was really nice and easy to make. It has a very Middle Eastern taste. This one will make 4 to 6 servings. I found it as part of a kale salad recipe, but I used it with romaine lettuce instead. I found the recipe at Minimalist Baker (http://minimalistbaker.com/white-bean-kale-salad-with-tahini-dressing/)

Ingredients

- 1/3 cup tahini (as I have mentioned in another posting, tahini, which is a sesame spread and which is an ingredient in hummus, can be found at supermarkets like Publix, at Middle Eastern stores, on Amazon, etc.)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3-4 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (I had a large lemon, which yielded 4 tablespoons. A small lemon might yield 2 tablespoons)
- 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used about 1 & 1/2 tbsp.)
- 1 pinch salt & 1 pinch pepper

Directions

Add tahini, garlic, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper to a small mixing bowl and whisk. Then add hot water to thin until pourable. (I ended up using about half a cup of hot tap water.) Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

La Scarpetta - Delicious and Authentic Northern Italian Cuisine

There are many Italian restaurants in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, but most of them serve Italian-American cuisine as opposed to regional Italian cuisine. A delicious exception is La Scarpetta (http://lascarpettasarasota.com/), which bills itself as a rustic Italian restaurant. Many of the dishes on the menu are from the Emilia-Romagna Region of northern Italy, with food-famous cities like Parma, Modena, and Bologna. Parma is famous for Parma ham and Parmesan cheese, Modena for balsamic vinegar, and Bologna for Bolognese sauce.

The owners, Emilio and Rosaria Ferrara, are from Parma.

The menu (http://lascarpettasarasota.com/menu.html) has lots of meat dishes, as well as home-made Emilia-Romagna pastas like gramigna and caserecce. (I once wondered how many Italian pastas there were, so I started compiling a list. I stopped counting at 369, when I realized I still had a way to go.)

La Scarpetta has a nice, reasonably priced wine list, with wines from all over Italy, except Emilia-Romagna, which is not renowned for its wines.

Our meal started with a (free) amuse-bouche of onion focaccia bread and a crisp bread for a topping of mixed raisins, eggplant, and other goodies.

My wife started with a caprese salad ($8.90) and I had lentil and bacon soup ($8).

My next dish was Caprese di Burrata ($15.90) with burrata, Parma ham, and tomato with truffle sauce. Burrata is a soft Mozzarella cheese made of Mozzarella cheese and cream. Parma ham (Prosciutto di Parma) is one of the best types of Italian ham.

My wife then had the Ravioli di Zucca - pumpkin ravioli with walnut cream sauce ($16.90). This dish was incredible.

I had the Gramigna pasta with Italian sausage and cooked in wine and provolone cheese ($14.90). Gramigna are short, hollow, curled pieces of pasta. The dish was delicious.  It was sort of like mac and cheese comfort food.

For dessert, my wife had vanilla gelato with Italian cherries ($6) and I had Torta Sbrisolona with Vin Santo ($12.90). This torta is a crumbly cake meant for dipping in the Vin Santo. It is from Mantua Province, Lombardy Region.

Our wine was Badia di Morrona N'Antia ($58), a Tuscan red made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet France, and Petit Verdot. It was very nice.

The name "La Scarpetta"  means "The Shoe" and is from the Italian expression "fare la scarpetta" which literally means, "to do the shoe;" and figuratively means to mop your plate with a piece of bread by shaping it like a shoe.

Our server, Danny, was outstanding.

La Scarpetta open from 5;00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It is located on Tuttle in a strip mall just north of Bee Ridge. It is in the building which used to house Morels restaurant. It is small, so it's best to make reservations.

Savor Sarasota at Selva Grill

A couple of nights ago, my wife, our daughter, and I enjoyed a delicious Savor Sarasota dinner at Sarasota's Selva Grill (http://www.selvagrill.com/), which was established by renowned Chef Darwin Santa Maria a number of years ago, but has since changed hands.

We have eaten here a number of times over the years, and have always enjoyed it.

My wife and I started with the Maya Ceviche - a shrimp ceviche marinated in orange, lime juice, and achiote, and tossed with avocado, tomato, red onion, and Cusco corn. It was fantastic.

My wife's main dish was the same main dish she and our daughter always order here - skirt steak over sweet plantains, beet relish, and Selva's chimichurri. I ordered Salmon Chileno - Chilean salmon with jumbo lump crab and manchego topping, and served with jasmine rice and bell pepper. It was finished with mango beurre monte. It was terrific.

My wife and I both had chocolate mousse for dessert. It was very nice.

We also enjoyed our wine, which was a 2012 Chento Malbec from the Mendoza Valley of Argentina for $56.

Another great experience at Selva Grill.

Superb Savor Sarasota Dinner at Off the Hook Seafood Co.

My wife and I recently joined a couple of friends for a delightful Savor Sarasota dinner at Off the Hook Seafood Co. (http://www.gulfgate.biz/GatewayAvenue/OffTheHookSeafoodCo.aspx) in the Gulf Gate area of Sarasota. It was terrific. The menu selections were creative and varied, the food was superb, and the service was outstanding. Like all Savor Sarasota dinners, the price was $29 for three (and sometimes four) courses.

My wife started with an appetizer of shrimp and grits, with Rockefeller sauce and fried oysters. My appetizer was a crab roll with lump crab and drawn butter on a toasted New England roll. Both were delicious and the portions larger than expected for an appetizer.

My wife's main dish was Grouper Piccata and mine was Golden Tile Fish with asparagus, artichoke, tomato, and lemon butter. Both were perfectly done.

My wife's dessert was flour-less chocolate cake and mine was warm bread pudding. Both were wonderful.

They also offered specials on many of the wines in their wine list. I chose a bottle of Predator Zinfandel. The normal price per bottle was $32, and the special price was $19. We both enjoyed it.

The service was great - very customer focused.

We will return.

Stottlemyer's Smokehouse - Delicious BBQ in Sarasota

Yesterday, I had a delicious BBQ lunch at Stottlemyer's Smokehouse (http://www.stottlemyerssmokehouse.com/) with a group of friends. In addition, my wife and I had a nice takeout dinner.

For lunch, I had beef brisket, which had been smoked for 14 hours. I had the 8 oz. version for $12.75, with two sides. The brisket was tasty, but did have significant fat that I had to trim off. The sides were out of this world. One was the smokehouse baked beans and the other was the sweet vinegar coleslaw.

My wife's takeout meal was the Smokehouse Ribs for $14.95 and mine was a pulled pork sandwich with fries for $8.95. My wife enjoyed the ribs and I loved the pulled pork.

At lunch, one of my friends had a Caesar salad, which he did not enjoy.

Our server, Jennifer, was terrific.

Stottlemyer's is under roof, but without walls. 

Stottlemyer's is located on the southeast side of the intersection of Fruitville and East Rd. 1 mile east of I-75. It is collocated with a gas station. Parking is best behind Stottlemyer's.

The map on the "Find Us" page of Stottlemyer's web site shows an incorrect location. It shows Stottlemyer's as being inside the Sun n Fun Resort. I pointed that out to our server.

Goichi - Great Authentic Japanese Ramen in Sarasota

One of the dishes we loved in Japan was the flavorful ramen, a fast food in large bowls that came in many varieties. The noodles and the ingredients are very different than those found in ramen cups sold in American supermarkets. Until recently, there were only two restaurants in the U.S. where I'd found a typical large assortment of delicious, authentic ramen - Katana-ya in San Francisco (http://viaggiviniecucine.blogspot.com/2011/10/delicious-japanese-ramen-katana-ya.html) and Matsuchan in Canton, MI. 

Now we've discovered one in Sarasota - Goichi Sushi Cafe, which is owned by Goichi Matsumoto, (http://www.goichisushicafe.com/), which offers 32 kinds of ramen (http://www.goichisushicafe.com/#!cashandcarryramen/c1qsl)

We recently had the Tokyo Ramen and the Sapporo Ramen. Both were delicious and authentic. The Tokyo Ramen has sliced pork, hard-boiled egg, spinach, scallions, fish cakes, and bamboo shoots in a soy broth. The Sapporo Ramen has sliced pork, fish cakes, corn kernels, butter, bean sprouts, and garlic in a spicy miso broth. (It was spicy.) 

The ramen noodles are made with an antique, pre-1938, Japanese ramen machine.

Normally, the ramen is only sold as take out, except on Monday nights, when it is offered in the restaurant. The ramen sells for $10 per order. We discovered that a single order can easily feed two people.

Goichi's web sit has a video about it's ramen-making.

There is another type of dish that I intend to try - donburi, which is a bowl of rice with other ingredients on top. Goichi has five of these, two of which are on our list to try - Gyu Don, which has beef, and Ten Don, which has shrimp, fish, and vegetables. These are described as, "Early Bird Rice Bowls," and they sell for $7.95.

The restaurant also offers many types of sushi and 19 types of interesting-sounding Asian salads. Among the sushi rolls are nine types created by their customers.

The restaurant is very small inside - with only about five tables and two chairs at the bar.

Goichi is only open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It does not accept reservations.

Goichi is located at 4563 Bee Ridge between Honore and McIntosh.

御馳走様でした。大変おいしかったです！