Hanging Out With Martha

As you can immediately tell from these pictures, I had the wonderful fortune of going to the Martha Stewart show with my good friend Margot from White Hot Oven.  We had an absolute blast (Martha is our idol!) and would recommend it to any passionate foodie. 

Besides my connection to Martha's brand via radio, I was so happy to now interact with her in person, as I got to ask her a question and we briefly chatted about the lives of our rambunctious cats.  For those of you who follow her show, you'll know that she's a devoted pet lover and she went on for a couple of minutes talking about her mischievous cat.  And she actually broke a smile too - I was so happy!

Besides our banter, there were very cool things featured on yesterday's show, one of which included a segment with Martha cooking with Outkast's Big Boi.  He was really funny and quite picky about his food if I do say so myself.  But despite some culinary reservations on his part, they ended up making a divine broiled lobster with herb butter.  It smelled amazing and we only wished that we could sample some.

But the dish that made the biggest impression on both Margot and me, and that I'll no doubt make at home was the grilled corn, heirloom tomato, avocado and arugula salad.  It looked so fresh and so easy to make that I was immediately inspired.  In addition to serving this with seafood, I think it would also pair well with chicken or even pasta.  Here's the oh so simple recipe.  Besides the fresh flavors in this dish, the colors are absolutely gorgeous and perfect for summer. Enjoy both recipes below:

Martha's Broiled Lobster

Martha's Grilled Corn, Heirloom Tomato, Avocado and Arugula Salad

Ceresnova Bublanina on Martha Stewart Living Radio

As most of you know, I was featured on Martha Stewart Living radio on Sirius Satellite radio today.  I was on the air with the lovely Mario Bosquez, former CBS anchor, food extraordinaire and author of "The Chalupa Rules."  Besides having great radio presence, he was easy to get along with and we conversed comfortably on air.  It really was a pleasure!  Here's the recording.

The show was especially gratifying because I had the opportunity to bring in a live sample of one of my dishes.  And being that I'm a proud Slovak, I shared a beloved cherry cake dessert called Ceresnova Bublanina.  Mario loved it - and went so far as to declare it "irrisistible." The producers also took enthusiastic bites and remarked about the "explosion of cherry flavor." I'm so glad it was a hit!

If you'd like to make it at home, here's the recipe.  The beauty behind it is that it's really simple to make, only costing you under an hour to prepare and bake.  If you don't have sour cherries for the filling, you can try other berries or even canned apricots.  I hope that you too can enjoy this yummy, moist treat.

Ceresnova Bublanina - Slovak Cherry Cake

This airy cherry cake has been enjoyed in my family on many occasions. Whether for birthdays or casual get togethers, we always grace the table (and our guests’ tastebuds) with bublanina. Even our American friends love it and have fun pronouncing the whimsical name. Say it – “Boob-lah-nhi-nah.”

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 ¼ cup milk (whole milk is best)
2/3 cup of powdered sugar
5 eggs (separate yolks and whites)
¼ cup of unsalted margarine or butter
1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of white flour bread crumbs (extra fine)
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of lemon rind
2 cups of pitted cherries (preserved wild cherries are better because they have more flavor, but make sure to drain them well)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 370-375 degrees.Combine milk, sugar, egg yolks, melted butter and mix well.

Whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder and bread crumbs. Add to wet ingredients.

Beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks. Gently fold into the batter. Spread onto a greased baking sheet, lightly dusted with flour.
Toss pitted cherries in some flour and fluff up with your hands. Take the cherries and place them into the batter in a symmetrical pattern (or asymmetrical if you prefer). They soak into the batter quickly so work fast.

Bake for 30 min or when it passes the clean toothpick test. Let cool, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

In addition to this recipe, I also talked about Zenon Taverna's Cypriot Pastichio.  Here's the recipe for your reference.  You need to devote some time to make it, but the payoff is big!

Foodista on Martha Stewart Sirius Satellite Radio

Image by www.life.com

So readers...I have some really great news to share with you.  As you can undoubtedly gather from the headline of this post, I'm going to be on the radio again. And this time, it's going to be on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite radio.  I couldn't be more thrilled and I hope you can check me out.  I'll be talking about my blog as well as the topic of ethnic foods.  There will be a live taste test so the pressure is on - tune in on Monday, March 22nd at 3:30 p.m. ET to find out what I've cooked up.

Foodista on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite Radio

Monday, March 22nd at 3:30 p.m. E.T.

If you don't have SIRIUS, click here for a 7 day free trial.

Enjoy the show and please call in if you'd like to talk to me. I'd be happy to answer your questions.  Call: 1-866-675-6675