The Frugal Foodies now on Facebook!

You read that right. This frugal foodie has created a facebook page!

Everyone that reads this blog and is on facebook must immediately become a fan...or stop reading.

http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/The-Frugal-Foodies/32648051502

I'm still trying to work out the kinks, but pretty soon it should be the greatest page on facebook!

Thanks to all my loyal readers, you are really making the Frugal Foodies a U.S. sensation! I've been read in almost every state, and even some Canadians have found something they like!

Thank you most to my wonderful friends in Charlotte, Birmingham and Atlanta, these 3 cities are constantly in the top ten cities that read The Frugal Foodies!

Ok get on facebook and join now!!

Honey Soy Glazed Tilapia Recipe

The theme of the week is simple and delicious recipes. This one could be my new favorite of all time. I made this for the first time last night and it was so ridiculously easy, and full of flavor.



Ingredients

• 1 tbsp soy sauce


• 1 tbsp honey


• 1 tsp ginger (freshly grated if you can)


• 1 tilapia filet

Directions

Set the oven to broil, and move the rack to the 4th rung (dont want it to burn!)

Mix together soy sauce, honey and ginger. Salt and pepper each side of the filet and lightly brush over both sides.

Place fish in oven for 5-7 minutes.

There you have it! Delicious and sooooo easy.

Seriously, this was a new recipe for me and I loved it, the fish stays moist and then ginger offers just the right zing.

Purple Moon Cheese - Product Review

Is Cabernet soaked cheddar as good as it sounds? Absolutely. This delicious treat was a great find (by Jef) at the grocery store.

This young cheddar is soaked in a California Cabernet making this cheese the perfect blend of sweet and sharp. The strong taste of cheddar is complimented by the Cabernet and is perfect with some crackers as a little snack.

I'm one of those people who can have a bite or two of cheddar then quickly grow sick of it, but this kept me coming back for more!

Next time you are looking to spice up cheese and crackers, I highly suggest Purple Moon.

Check them out:

http://fiscalinicheese.homestead.com/

Novita

Oh. My. Goodness. If you weren't dining with Leah and I on Monday night you missed out on an incredible meal. This was the personification of perfection. Seriously, perfection.

Nestled away off of Park Avenue, there is a little Italian eatery, Novita (pronounced no-vee-TA), which has quickly become my favorite Italian restaurant in NYC.

Everything from the service to the decor is straight up Italian. The wine selection is impeccable and the food is unbelievable.

We ordered a lot so bare with me, I'll go over my favorites, but I promise everything was delicious and thoughtful...


Appetizers

• Carpaccio di manzo con tartufi neri - Kobe beef carpaccio with arugula, parmigiano and black truffle
• Insalata di carciofini - Fresh baby artichoke salad with mushrooms and shavings of parmigiano
• 
  Squash blossoms - battered in cornmeal and deep fried stuff with ricotta cheese and served with prosciutto (pictured left)
• 
  Tuna wrapped in phyllo dough - flash fried and served with reduce balsamic vinegar and a spicy aoli sauce**

Entrees

• Branzino con carciofi - Pan-roasted sea bass with artichoke fricassee
• Salmone alia griglia - grilled salmon with crisp potato carpaccio, sweet onions and black olives**
• Vitello alla Milanese - Veal Milanese-style with rucola and tomato
• Spaghettini neri ai frutti di mare - Black spaghettini with mixed seafood in spicy tomato sauce
• Strozzapreti al pesto - Homemade strozapretti with pesto, pinenuts and shavings of parmigiano
• Orecchiette con salsiccia piccante - Orecchiette with spicy sausage, broccoli rape, and tomato sauce

Dessert

• Sorbetti misti - Homemade mango, strawberry, and lemon-mint sorbet
• Tortino di cioccolato - Individual warm chocolate tart with pistachio sauce and white chocolate gelato
• Tiramisù - Espresso soaked biscotti layered in mascarpone cream and cocoa**
• Cheesecake - Homemade with marscapone cheese, served with a raspberry sauce
  

As you can probably see we had a large party in tow (Leah's mom's friends were with us and I'll say this, dining would not have been complete without them, they are a RIOT! Soo much fun!!), anyways we ordered A LOT, but I will just talk about my favorites...

Tuna with phyllo. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Basically they take sushi grade tuna and wrap it in phyllo dough, then flash fry it so that the outside is warm and crispy and the inside is still rare. Served with a balsamic reduction and spicy aoli, this is the perfect way to start the meal off! I would order two, its just amazing.

For entrees my favorite was the salmon with potato carpacchio, onions and olives. My salmon was cooked perfectly and the skin was left on (in my opinion the most tasty part) and the olives and onions added the perfect hint of sweet and salty that I crave. It was light, delicious and served along side some sauteed vegetables.

Dessert. Ah, dessert. The final frontier. It's hard to mess up dessert, but it's also hard to make the perfect tiramisù and yet Novita in their infinite wisdom has perfected this after dinner treat. It's the perfect blend of the strong espresso taste and the light, fluffy marscapone cream. Definitely a must.

Overall, the dinner was great, the wine never stopped flowing, the company was to die for and I didn't walk out completely stuffed. It was just, perfection. Appetizers range from $10-15, entrees from $16-25 and desserts from $8-10.

A special thanks to Leah and her mom for this fabulous night!

Novita
102 E 22nd
New York, NY 10010
(212) 677 - 2222
http://www.novitanyc.com/

Novita - Restaurant Review Coming SOON!

I promise. Things have been crazy lately!! Later today, check back around 1 EST.

THANKS!

Solvay Cares Scholarship

Now I realize that this has nothing to do with food, but its for a good cause and I like good causes.

Solvay Cares is a scholarship awarded to students with cystic fibrosis. For those of you who may not know, Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. Today, more than 40 percent of people living with CF are aged 18 or older.

So what I need all my foodies to do is to go to: http://www.solvaycaresscholarship.com/ and vote to help one finalist go on to win $10,000! Each scholarship winner has received an initial $2,500 for entering their artwork and essays to help finance post-secondary education.

Their stories are great and definitely worth reading!

New food posts tomorrow but just thought I'd share with everyone this great cause!!

Cheese Dip - The Ultimate Football Snack

Last weekend I was in Charlotte with Jef and we somehow concocted this amazing cheese dip that must be tried by everyone. It tasted like fondue and queso combined, thus amazing.

Ingredients

• 1 beer can (you'll use about half so drink the rest)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1-2 cups shredded monterrey jack cheese
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream (just a splash really)
• 1 jalapeno (chopped)
• 1 smoked pepper of your choice (chopped) (we chose pablano, but any will work)

Directions

In a sauce pan on medium low heat add the butter and let melt, then add flour and whisk vigorously to make a rue. A rue is basically just equal parts flour and butter and just adds a thickness to the sauce.

Once the rue starts to bubble add a splash of cream, and about a 1/4 of beer to get everything off the bottom of the pan. Then add in garlic and a handful of cheese. Whisk everything together and wait till melted. Then add in peppers. You will basically repeat this step till all the ingredients are gone and everything is gooey and delicious.

The hard part is not "sampling" the whole dip before it hits the table.

It seems like this is hard, but its really not, just a lot of whisking and sampling till you find the right taste. I promise it'll make watching football better...trust me.

Basil Gnocchi with Peas and Onion

So this recipe just kind of came to me. There's no rhyme or reason just some things I threw together that I thought sounded good! Let's get started!

Ingredients

• 1 shallot or small sweet onion
• 1 small can of peas
• 4-5 mushroom caps (any kind you like)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup marscapone cheese (if the have marscapone with basil - GET IT! So good!)
• 1 package of basil gnocchi (regular gnocchi is fine, really any pasta will probably be good)
• 1/2 tablespoon of butter
• Splash of white
• Splash of heavy cream
• Basil (if you can't find the cheese or gnocchi with basil in it)

Directions

Corsely chop the onion and garlic and add to a frying pan with butter or medium-low heat. Sautee for a couple of minutes until tender and clear, do not burn the onion or garlic.

Next add in the mushrooms and let them sautee for a while until tender. Then add a splash of white wine and let that reduce for about a minute or two.

When the wine is cooked out turn all the way down to low and add in your cream and cheese and let the mixture sit together and get gooey and delicious.

While your mixture is melting together, get a pan of water boiling (don't forget to add salt!) When the water comes to a boil, add in your package of gnocchi. They should be ready in 3-3 1/2 minutes (basically once they float to the top.)

Once the gnocchi are cooked drain them and add to your cheesey, delicious mixture. Toss around for minute and then serve :)

I promise its so good and easy you will be sure to impress anyone. While this is a pretty heavy dinner, its great heated up for the next day.

If you have any recipes you would like to submit the Frugal Foodie is always looking for new great recipes!

Recipe Post Coming Later Today!!

I'm a little busy at work right now, but I promise a new post is coming today!

Let's Talk Gnocchi

Ahh gnocchi, I don't know why my mother and father (who are both Italian) deprived me of this in my youth, but let me tell you, since I have tasted this delectable treat, my life has been better.

Gnocchi is basically the Italian name for a variety of thick, soft noodle, pasta, dumpling, whatever you want to call it. It comes from the word 'gnocco' which means "lump", nocchio, a knot in the wood, thus gnocchi.

You can toss it in ANYTHING, I mean literally, pestos, tomato sauce, cream sauce, anything that would be good with pasta will be good with gnocchi, possible better.

So there you have it, next time you go to an Italian restaurant or anywhere you see it on the menu, give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Corn Dip

So this is my go-to dip for any party. It's delicious, easy and always a hit.

Here it is!

1 can white showpeg corn
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (or less depending on your taste) Mayonnaise
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 - 1/2 finely chopped sweet onion
Salt and Pepper

Combine all ingredient and chill, salt and pepper to taste. Eat with tortilla chips and your welcome!