braids are the new black

they're not just for hair-do's and pie crusts anymore. would you believe me if one of the most beautiful pastas i've seen was braided?? and a ravioli no less! i guess i have two exciting things to share in this post. forget the braids for a minute (hard, i know) and let me tell you that if you're any type of foodie at all, stop what you're doing and subscribe to the tasting table emails. food lovers of every type will find information about up-and-coming chefs, new restaurants, adventurous recipes and more with these daily doses of genius.  more recently, the emails have included short videos featuring the chefs behind these incredible restaurants and recipes. you can stop pretending you weren't thinking about braids now...


today's email put chef adam leonti and his culurgiones or sardinian filled pasta in the spotlight. i almost left work i was so excited to give this braiding technique a try. they're gorgeous! i know the foundation to any great dish is the quality of the ingredients and the depth of flavor developed but i can't defend either of these with just a video. no, all i see is the presentation and with that i put my faith in chef leonti's hands that this pasta is as decadent as it appears.

so what have we learned from this post? braids will never go out of style, a beautiful presentation can even make a mcrib look elegant, and lauren has to talk her self out of leaving her day job in the name of food. k, great.

here's chef leonti's recipe for culurgliones with brown butter. i also pulled this recipe for crab ravioli with shallot cream from my trusty food and wine bible. enjoy! and if you're braiding pasta this weekend let me know how it goes!

slightly stuck on thanksgiving

this post might seem a little out of order (definitely late) but i haveee to share how i remixed our thanksgiving leftovers this year.  i had a number of ideas racing through my head for post thanksgiving meals but when my sister woke up on black friday and said she was headed out the door for a breakfast sandwich from old school bagel cafe it immediately clicked. in my opinion, old school bagel has the chewiest, most delicious bagels you can find anywhere in tulsa. the owner has been in the business of making bagels for over twenty years and prides themselves on their popular new york style bagels. their tag-line: "no new york in the name, but the bagels are the same."

[ thanksgiving remix 2013 | collard green scrambled eggs, roasted turkey,
smoky glazed ham and gravy on a everything bagel ]

any other day i would have ordered any variety of their breakfast bagels but on this morning i knew i had to create my very own thanksgiving version. as soon as my sister returned home this was born:  a collard green scrambled eggs, roasted turkey, smoky glazed ham and gravy thanksigiving breakfast sandwich on an old school cafe everything bagel. yum! i'll leave you with that...

side note:  all the thanksgiving ingredients are my mother's tried and true recipes except for the ham. that was my project this year and was prepared using this food & wine recipe for smoky glazed ham with red pepper jelly. the ham was absolutely falling off the bone with slightly charred, smoky edges and the red pepper jelly provided the perfect step away from traditional adding a tinge of spice with every bite.