Changing the seasonal style of your food can be just as fun as updating your fall wardrobe. While I was browsing on OTTE I was inspired to create a dish that complemented the tones of the upcoming fall collection.

I channeled my recent visit to the organic farm to create a dish that really showcased the raw colors and flavors of local produce. I thought it would be fitting to make a warm antipasti bruschetta that is a contrast to its summery, raw tomato version.

I used a mixture of roasted, sun-dried and raw tomatoes to create a melange of textures, the grilled Italian vegetables slightly charred for that smokiness, the rich purple waxy potatoes for depth, the creamy mustard mayonnaise to bind everything together, scooped onto crusty bread.

As a fun presentation while entertaining guests, I laid out the ingredients “deconstructed” so my guests can mix and match their own bruschetta.

Ingredients:
Multigrain Baguette, toasted
Italian Grilled Aubergines, marinated in garlic olive oil
Italian Grilled Peppers, marinated in garlic olive oil
Italian Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Pitted Moroccan Oil-Cured Olives, sliced
Roasted Tomatoes in olive oil
Satur Farms Purple Basil
Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, diced
Purple Baby Creamer Potato (baked)

Dressing:
3 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Seeded mustard
2 tsp Dijon mustard
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Garnish:
Aged Reggiano cheese, shaved

For the carnivores, these would go wonderfully with prosciutto. Serve warm on freshly grilled bread, spread with mustard dressing, combine all chopped ingredients and layer on top.

In the mood to shop for a fall wardrobe? Join me at www.otteny.com/fno !

Spoil-her Series: Simple recipes for men.
Under 5 ingredients, Under 20 bucks. Maximum brownie points.

Ingredients

1lb pack of Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella
3 Tomatoes
1 bunch Basil
Extra Virgin olive oil (drizzle)
Balsamic Vinegar (drizzle)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do:

Slice tomatoes.

Slice Mozzarella to a similar thickness as the tomatoes

Pick the basil leaves off the stalk.

Assemble on plate, first with the tomato, then a slice of mozzarella, then topped with a basil leaf.

Season with salt and pepper, then drizzle olive oil all over.

Lightly finish with balsamic vinegar, less than half the amount of oil.

Ingredients

½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese (I purchased mine from Harris farm)
250g Birds Eye® chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 small pinch of ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2½ tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus 1 shallow bowl of flour for dusting

1 jar Barilla basilico tomato sauce (or any other of your favorite brands)

Directions
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, chopped spinach, cheese, egg and yolk.

After reaching a consistency similar to spinach dip, fold in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and flour.

Now we need to use this mixture to make our gnudi balls. 1 tablespoonful makes a good sized gnudi. I find it’s much easier to spoon the mixture into the shallow bowl with flour, and roll it around a few times before picking it up with your hands, otherwise it gets a little too sticky to work with. Gently roll the floured ball around in your palms to shake off any excess flour and shape them into spheres around 1.5 inches in diameter. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

While you’re making the gnudis, fill a pot with water and turn on a medium heat. Salt the water.

The most important thing is to leave the water boiling very gently. The gnudi is so delicate that a bubbling boil would tear it apart. Slowly lower the gnudi into the hot water with a spoon. You don’t have to cook them all at once, so just boil a few at a time.

After a few minutes, you’ll see them float to the top – this means they’re cooked and ready! Remove the gnudi using a slotted spoon, holding it just above the pot to drain off all the excess water before putting it on your serving dish.

While you are slowly cooking the gnudi, empty half a jar of tomato sauce into a small saucepan and start heating it up on a low heat, stirring occasionally.

Arrange gnudi on a platter and top with tomato sauce. Shave some extra Parmigiano Reggiano on top and watch it melt with the warm sauce.

This is one for the vegetarians out there – how can you not love it?

Tomato ice cream with honey, shaved almond, deep fried mint leaf and dehydrated tomato chip

So it looks strange, but it’s perfectly balanced. I remember the last time I ate something similar was a sliced tomato appetizer in a monastery in Beijing, where they had marinated the tomato in sugar syrup. Chilled tomato actually complements sweetness very well. The deep fried mint gives it just enough texture. It’s adventurous, but it’s not strange, playing with flavours that we are all very similar with, just in a different combination.

The Garfish sushi, which was rolled into a coil was a cute touch.

A low fat, low carb meal that tastes so good, for only around 500 calories! Great for serving guests as a sharing plate, because prep time is under 10 minutes.

2/5 pack of Haloumi cheese, sliced in .5cm thickness
100ml organic tomato puree (the chunky kind)
dried oregano
1 clove garlic, grated
1 piece of pancetta

Ronny’s haloumi (garlic reduced to please your loverrrr)

In a small saucepan, add extra virgin olive oil, half of the grated garlic, pancetta and cook til brown. Add tomato puree and dried oregano, simmer until reduced. Season with salt, pepper and a hint of chilli oil. Set aside.
Pan fry haloumi until both sides are golden brown with EVO and the rest of the garlic.
Top with tomato sauce, garnish with basil leaf, serve immediately. ( I removed the pancetta after cooking to reduce calorie count, but you are most welcomed to eat it!)

Mountain bread chips with hommus dip

Cut Mountain bread rice wraps into small triangles, place under grill in oven for 2 minutes. They become crispy chips, which you can serve with hommus dressed with paprika powder and EVO.

Drinks to compliment? Bloody Marys!

So my partner ended up contracting an awful stomach virus, and in order to hydrate and re-nourish the body with nutrients I made a simple soup. If we were really adhering with rules from Chinese medicine, chicken probably should be replaced with pork bones, but Chicken cooked a lot faster (I got home at 7:30pm and the soup was ready in an hour) – probably because I only used the leg.

Ingredients:
4 grain-fed chicken drumsticks, skin removed
1 carrot
1 leek
2 small potatoes
1 small onion
1 bulb of ginger
1/4 celery
1/2 can of organic peeled tomatoes
handful basil
season with salt, pepper, paprika and dried oregano

Pre boil chicken to remove impurities, re-add water into pot, and combine all ingredients (which are all diced). Bring to boil, and then simmer in medium heat for 40 minutes. Debone and shred meat from chicken before serving.

And fortunately, it became a great low-cal, low-carb office lunch!

3 fillets of tuna (I love the Italian variety from Callipo)
Ox heart tomatos, sliced diagonally
1 boiled egg
Purple Shiso leaves, finely shreaded
Mesculin Salad Leaves
Wafu style Japanese salad dressing (Goma flavoured)

Carbohydrates: 8g

Mountain bread rice wrap (awesome stuff) with turkey, salad, hommus and small amounts of avocado spread
Sprinkle the hommus with paprika and a dash of olive oil for much better flavour!

Stay Tuned! We will be right back with the following non-diet messages:

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Perhaps I will do a variation on the raw food diet along with a low carb intake. Now the challenge is for this to taste good!

today’s lunch: Baby cos lettuce, tuna, raw mushrooms, cucumber, tomato, handful of corn kernels, olives with balsamic vinegrette

Other ideas I’m currently thinking of:

Seared peppered tuna on a bed of wakame salad, ponzu dressing
Sashimi, sashimi, sashimi ($$$$$)
Vegetable sticks with organic hummus, paprika
Soft poached egg, asparagus, truffle oil, black pepper
Salmon carparccio, lemon oil, baby capers
Crab meat, mango and julienned cucumber salad
Edamame with sea salt and shichimi (Japanese 7 spice)
Shaved Turkey breast with… ???
Baby rucola, nashi and walnut salad with EVO and balsamic
Lightly grilled Shrimp with fresh tomato and basil salsa
Cold Tofu with paperthin daikon radish, soy and miso dressing
Sydney Rock Oysters with champagne vinegar

Borrrrring… but totally doable! What else tastes great with hardly any calories? It’s time to really discover the world of spices.

currently questionable foods:
Haloumi

 

With it’s Los Angeles styled Roof top bar against amazing city views and the Kartell furniture filled restaurant, there are plenty of reasons to go back for seconds. Not to mention the Pan Seared Fois Gras with Mango brulee and toast… so delicious the camera didn’t get to see. The bottle of Tempranillo Malbec recommended by the waiter was also a big winner too, just a shame it was so quiet on a Thursday night.

Tortilla espanole with romesco sauce 11.5

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and I was like “Dad, you’re supposed to take a picture of the dessert BEFORE you eat it!“. I do like the outline of the fork with cinnamon sugar though – great idea!