05/14/13

Tasty Tuesday: {Pasta is Making a Comeback!}

If recent food magazine covers are any indication, pasta is making its way back into our hearts and our stomachs! And I say it’s about time!! I spent half my life living off pasta and I’m definitely ready to welcome it back to my dietary world. Especially if it were served up in the kitchen below.

I give you latest edition of Cook Here, Eat This:

Yes, we all know a low-carb lifestyle is easier on the waistline, but it’s cruel to the tastebuds. Pasta can be consumed, and most importantly thoroughly enjoyed, when you eat it in healthy doses.

Did you know a serving of pasta in Italy is a quarter of a cup? Yet Americans usually eat 2 cups or more! And yes, whole grain versions are probably the wiser option, but I’ll take a beautiful, handmade noodle made of pure semolina any day of the week. Just make sure your other ingredients, in this case, chicken and mushrooms are the bulk of your plate, and you’ll be good to go.

I will also gladly move into that Parisian kitchen anytime the offer might come my way. I lust after oversized kitchen islands that provide both work and dining space. I love the single bulbs as pendants, with their pop of red cord. And those gorgeous silver seats. Swoon. I’d happily saddle up to that bar to eat this dish any day of the week.

RECIPE

Sage Chicken with Pasta & Mushrooms

4 chicken breasts
10 g sage leaf
salt & black pepper from the mill
2 tablespoons olive oil
25 g pancetta
100g cleaned mushrooms (we took chestnut mushrooms)
50g butter
2 cloves of garlic
500 g papardelle pasta
50g grated parmesan cheese (for serving)

Cut incisions in the chicken breasts and add the sage leaves. Salt, pepper and brown them in olive oil. Fry finished at 175 degrees (350F) in oven for approx. 5 minutes or to an internal temperature of about 60 degrees (150F).

Cut pancetta into thin slices. Fry the slices in a dry pan and let them drain on paper towels. Fry the mushrooms in about 2 tablespoons of butter. Add salt and pepper.

Melt the remaining butter with the pressed garlic cloves. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the package. Turn the pasta in garlic butter. Cut chicken breasts into pieces and mix them, pancetta and mushrooms with pasta. Salt and pepper and serve with Parmesan cheese.

What do you think? Are you ready to give pasta another try?

photography by cyril robin for au coin du monde, recipe by skona hem

9 Comments

05/07/13

Craving a Taste of the Tropics

Even though Cinco de Mayo has come and gone, we still have tropical infused inspiration on the brain. We’re just not ready to walk away from the margaritas! I could no think of a better spot to mix up a tasty beverage than this delicious seaside kitchen in Australia for this week’s Tasty Tuesday.

Tasty Tuesday Tropical Mexican Inspired Kitchen

The smooth, clean lines speak to my minimalist-loving heart. I’ve certainly never met a concrete floor I didn’t like {especially when they’re heated!}. The natural cane pendants above the kitchen island add the perfect bit of beachy texture to the space. The oversized version above the dining table is also a fantastic example of how to play with scale. Because you can see through it, it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

And while we might not be jetsetting a beach destination anytime soon, I wouldn’t mind bringing a bit of this inspiration home. Here are a few things I could see integrating into the loft quite easily!

shop: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

What do you think? Would you like to bring a tropical punch into your home?

PS: we have a big decor-related announcement coming your way later this morning so be sure to check back in just a bit!

photography by sharyn cairns for real living australia via dustjacket

3 Comments

05/01/13

Designer Files {2}: Meatpacking Makeover

Seeing hidden potential can be hard. It takes a the perfect mix of vision and optimism. That’s why I would love to meet the designer behind our second installment of Designer Files. The work of the design group Axis Mundi definitely passed my jaw on floor threshold.

This 675 sq foot New York City 1-bedroom loft is the ultimate drab to fab makeover story.

Apartment-34-Designer-Files-Alex-Mundi-4

Though still a loft when the project began, the dated, closed off 1980′s space would send most people running. But the dark wood paneling, a hideous brick fireplace and wall of ugly radiators was just covering a diamond in the rough. Of course I was immediately smitten by the light-filled room and predominately white color palette. The addition of color is just enough infuse the apartment with energy. And I now need a Laurie Victor Kay photograph {like this one} in my life!

I also love that the modern touches also don’t feel too heavy handed. {You know those spaces I’m talking about, where you feel like you just walked into a DWR showroom). This space stills homey and approachable.