January 25, 2011

Cooking with Uness!


UNESS, a singer with an amazing voice and a great personality, agreed he wanted to cook with me! It all started on Facebook...I compliment him all the time on his music and one day, he commented on a recipe that I posted....I was like: Oh yeah??? Really, you like food? THEN IT'S OOOOOOOOOONNNN BUDDY!!!!!!!!

Although we have a lot of mutual friends, we had never met in the past. Meeting this dude was great: He has this sparkling personality that puts everone at ease! His sense of humour and enthusiasm made it such a fun experience.....I mean of course he's cool, he's a Sagi just like me! #ImJustSayin

On the menu that day: 

-Salmon tartar (click here for the recipe)
-Tomato-basil-mozza brochettes with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
-Ham and caramelized onion fritata
-Red wine risotto (click here for the recipe)
-Fried eggplant
-Mashed and baked potatoes with garlic butter and bacon
-Vols aux vents with wine and pear sauce
-Pear mojitos (yummy! Made by the one and only...CATHY)

And let me mention that it was our first professional cooking video! I can't wait until the video is fully edited!

Uness and Cathy :D
In the meanwhile, here are some photos!!! More photos and full recipes are after the jump (click "Read Full Article" )
Cuttine up the fritata

Cathy doing her special pear mojito!






Cathy's Pear and Apple Mojito!

YOU WILL NEED:
-A bottle of apple Smirnorff vodka (oh lord)
-7Up or Sprite
-4 large pears, chopped
-3 tbsp of brown Sugar
-A few limes, cut in slices
-Fresh mint, thinly chopped

SO!
-Caramelize the pears! Put them on the stove top with 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let them cook on medium heat...all of the fruit juices will come out! Once you see that they start cooking, add 3 tbsp of water. A sirup will form in about 15 minutes. Separate the sirup from the pears (You'll need the pears later on).
-Mash the lime. Don't be shy! Look at how Cathy did it. C'mon now!
-Add the mint, pear juice, half the bottle of smirnorff and half the bottle of 7UP. Mix well. 
-Add more alcohol, if you want...lol.
-SERVE! ENJOY! Watch people get tipsy because they didn't eat yet! lol

Cathy preparing her bacon potatoes! Grating the cheese actually.


My little sister enjoying a little preview of the eggplants

Fried eggplant

YOU WILL NEED:
-A medium sized eggplant
-1 cup of bread crumbs (The Italian bread crumbs are awesome with this recipe
-1/2 cup ofFlour
-Two egg yolks
-Spices
-1/2 cup of vegetable oil

SO! 
-Cut the eggplant vertically in pieces that are about 1 cm thick. Put on a plate and  put some salt on it, let rest for about 15 minutes.
-In a large bowl, mix the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of water. Add some spices to the eggs.
-In one plate, put 1/2 cup of flour, in the other one, put the bread crumbs.
-Dip the piece of eggplant in the flour (both sides, duh), then in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs. Make sure they are well covered! Repeat for each piece :D
-Heat the vegetable oil between medium and maximum. Fry the eggplants for 3-4 minutes on each side (or until golden brown).
-Serve with marinara sauce! (optional), ENJOY!

Uness enjoying the risotto!

Yummy!!! Potatoes, red wine risotto and chicken vol aux vent with pear and wine sauce
 Click here for the red wine risotto recipe


Vols-au-vent with red wine and pear sauce

YOU WILL NEED
-Large vol aux vent pastries (usually come in a pack of 6)
-Cooked chicken, chopped (I used leftover chicken)
-I small onion, choopped
-3 tbsp of mayonnaise
-Spices


For the sauce
-1 cup of red wine
-The caramelized pears
-1 tbsp of corn starch, mixed with 3 tbsp of cold water
-1 tbsp of brown sugar




SO!
-Turn on the oven at 350 degrees.
-Mix the leftover chicken with the onions, spices and mayonnaise.
-Cut off the top of each vol aux vent pastry. Fill each pastry with the chicken mixture, and put in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.


While it's in the oven...
-Turn on the stove between medium and maximum.
-In a large pan, add the wine, caramelized pears and corn starch (very important to mix the corn starch with cold water before adding). Bring to a boil! You will see the sauce start to thicken...yummy. At the very end, add 1 tbsp of brown sugar and mix well.


-When the vols-aux vents are ready, top them off with the sauce! Enjoy!


The potatoes recipe will be coming soon! Since Cathy is the one that did it I am waiting on a few specifications! Thank you for being patient :)


Patricia and Uness enjoying the food and drinks


Me and Cathy after the meal

Preparing the tomato-basil-mozza brochettes

Tomato-basil-mozza brochetts

This is the easiest recipe ever. Like, litterally.

YOU WILL NEED:
-Fresh tomatoes
-Fresh basil
-Mozzarella cheese
-Olive oil and balsamic vinegar

SO!
-Cut the tomatoes and mozzarella in cute little pieces that are equal in thickness (about 1 cm). I tried doing little triangles. aww...
-On a toothpick, put the mozzarella, a small piece of basil, and a piece of tomato. Repeat.
-When you're done, put it in a nice plate (presentation baby!), and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. SERVE!

Salmon tartare




To check out more of UNESS, click the links below:


Also, check out my favorite song by him :D








4 comments:

  1. ii likke i likee!!! :) keepp themmm comminng!!!i want more food looll

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great evening :D I wish I had time to do it more often! Love ya'll(Poutou, Sassou, Ghost, Uness..the foooood!!!) And I could not have said it better, Uness: great down to earth, qui danse le MIA, quoi!

    ReplyDelete
  3. please put the recipe of the mojito as well!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Eunice! The recipe for the mojito is there! If you are on the main page just click on READ MORE to see the full article! Xoxo

    ReplyDelete

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