Girls Night IN with pasta and Greek Salad

Girls Night In. Now that is my kind of evening! Jessica and I have been spending a lot of time together in recent weeks, getting back to the way we used to hang out and cook, read through cookbooks, drink a bottle of wine, watch a movie and just relax. Since we've been thrift shopping we both have some cool new cookbooks to flip through and that means lots of recipes to try. We pick a weekend night, buy a bottle or two of wine, and pick a movie. We cook, we laugh, we sit on the deck and enjoy the cool evening breeze and just catch up. 

Friday night we went to see a new movie that's out- Paris Can Wait. It's a cute story of a woman, played by Diane Lane, and friend, played by Arnaud Viard, traveling across France to get to Paris. She is in a hurry, but the friend, her husband's business partner, is a Frenchman and wants to share the beauty of his homeland with his new friend. The places they stop are fascinating, as she learns about the ancient history of France, and along the way they stop to eat. And eat. And have wine. Beautiful wines, beautiful foods. She is not only learning about France, but also about herself along the way. It's great movie, Jessica and I both loved it and swore we would go there one of these days. Since we had enjoyed this moving so much she asked if I had ever seen Midnight in Paris. I had not, so she said hey, let's make some dinner, open a bottle of wine and watch the movie! So just like the old days, we had a girls night in planned.

I offered to cook, and I was craving spaghetti and meat sauce. A quick trip to the grocery store, a side trip to Starbucks for a beverage, and we headed back to my house for our evening. First on the agenda- let that beautiful bottle of wine breathe while I cut up the vegetables for salad. I've also been craving The Chef's Greek salad for a while so I got that going while Jessica got the meat started for the sauce. Once the salad was chilling in the fridge and the meat sauce was simmering, we poured a glass of wine and headed for the deck. The sounds of the city made a nice backdrop to our conversation on my tiny deck packed with pots of herbs and peppers growing. We played music- all kinds of music, some rock, some Amy Winehouse, some Lady Gaga, some Latin, some 70s.....and worked our way through that bottle of wine.

After dinner we watched the movie and the evening wound down with a slice of apple pie and cinnamon swirl ice cream. That, my friends, is my idea of a perfect Girls Night.

The Baker's Greek Salad

1 English cucumber

4 Roma tomatoes

2 medium bell peppers

1 red onion

1 cup Kalamata olives

8 oz chunk Feta cheese*

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

Cut the cucumber into quarters lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/4 inch chunks. Place in large salad bowl.

Cut the Roma tomatoes into quarters lengthwise, then similar sized chunks. Cut the bell peppers and red onion into chunks. Halve the olives. Add to the bowl.

Cut the Feta cheese into bite sized chunks. Add to vegetables in the bowl. Drizzles the olive oil over, then the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to coat everything but not so rough that the cheese breaks up. Serve. Salad also holds well in the fridge.

* I used HyVee brand Tomato and Basil Feta. It was so delicious in this recipe I highly suggest you find a tomato and basil Feta for your salad. If HyVee is not in your area, I'm sure other brands are available. 

The Greek salad was the perfect side dish to our homemade meat sauce and spaghetti. We paired it with a Tempranillo and Malbec blend that was the perfect dry red for pasta. Innovac!on is an Argentinian wine from the Santa Rosa vineyard in Mendoza. 70% Tempranillo and 30% Malbec, the hand-picked grapes are handles in small batches. The grapes are sustainably farmed with irrigation provided by pure mountain spring water in he vineyard that is wildlife friendly and conservation-minded.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Rockin' the movies

What do you suppose a chef and his foodie fiance do on their nights off together? Cook, of course, but sometimes we actually DO go out. Sometimes we will even splurge and see a movie. We're not big theater people, in fact, most of the time we wait for pay-per-view or Redbox before we see a movie. It's really got to be a great movie to drag us back to the city to endure the parking lot hassle and crowded theaters.

This summer we have been lured to the movies twice- twice! Not surprisingly, both times they were foodie movies. Figures, right? But seriously, how often does a movie come out that is totally centered around food? Not very often. In recent years I can only think of a couple wine-related movies that I've seen. Anyway, earlier this summer the first movie was released and after seeing the previews I KNEW we had to see it- Chef.

If you haven't heard of it, it's the story of an executive chef in an upscale Los Angeles restaurant who struggles with the confines of an overbearing and inflexible boss. Anyone who has worked in the hospitality industry surely has worked for just such an individual- stuck on their old ideas, resistant to change, "my way or the highway." Such is the premise of Chef. Jon Favreau shines as the under-appreciated Chef Carl Casper. 

Knowing that a very influential restaurant critic is visiting the restaurant, Chef Casper steps out on a creative limb to create an amazing menu for the critic to enjoy, just to be forced to follow the boss' old and outdated menu. The review is devastating, and the story unfolds from there. As Chef Casper reinvents himself as a food truck owner, his life also evolves, and we get to go on a cross-country ride with him, his friend Martin and son Percy.

The movie features an incredible cast of actors- Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Robert Downey, Jr., and more. Watching the story unfold reminded me of the many, many times my own Chef has come home from work, disgusted with the inflexibility of some bosses, obvious inexperience of others and just discouraging nights in a restaurant kitchen. The foodie in me was delighted by the food, the creation of amazing flavors, the flashy knifework, the amazing market in L.A., the recreation of himself by Chef Casper, and, of course, the happy ending. Chef made me want to chuck my job and get a food truck! 

Now on the the second movie. Summer might be winding down, but finally our little small town theater got The Hundred-foot Journey. Everything about this movie spoke to me- the French countryside, the food, the European lifestyle, the meshing of cultures, the food, the beautiful location and music, the food, the building of friendships, the overcoming of seemingly insurmountable odds, and oh yes- the food!

This story....... to me was so much more than just the feuding of two restaurant owners. Yes, there was plenty of that which became quite escalated, but the growing friendship between people of such vastly different cultures, united in a shared passion- food, spoke to me on such a deeper level. The human story is so moving and the cast is just perfect for the characters they played. Except for Helen Mirren, these actors were unknown to me, yet felt like old friends by the end of the film. Yes, some of the plot is a little expected, but it's a wonderful story with characters I really loved. And you just have to see the food!!! From the very opening scenes, the simple snack provided by Marguerite to the amazing molecular gastronomy in the Paris restaurant, the food is tres encroyable! I seriously wanted to go home and cook!

Please please please- if you have not seen these movies, please do. Please please do. You're obviously reading this blog because you have an interest in food and food culture- get out there and explore it!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."