I AM HUNGRY

Coq au Vin + Polenta + Roasted Zucchini, Carrots and Radicchio

2011-05-21T14:14:00.014-04:00

I'm finally done with school and am home in Topanga for a week!! My mom and I went to the Topanga Farmer's Market yesterday and picked up a couple of chickens for dinner. I've been dying to make coq au vin and I figured that I could test out a recipe on the fam. It was also a really good way to try out my butchering skills (of which I have close to none).

Here are a few pictures of me butchering the chicken and marinating the pieces in red wine, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves:

I would have liked to marinate the chicken overnight, but I really wanted to eat the coq au vin that night so I marinated it for about 4 hours. I decided to make a quick chicken stock with the leftover bones. First, I chopped up some garlic, celery, carrot and onion and sautéed it all in some olive oil for a few minutes. I added in a few black pepper corns, bay leaves, thyme and the chicken carcasses and covered them with water. I've never made chicken stock before so I did the whole skimming thing over the course of about 2 and a half hours, something you don't have to do with vegetable stock. It wasn't the most intensely flavored stock but it was goooood for having only cooked for 2 hours.

When I was ready to start cooking the coq au vin, I patted the chicken dry and dredged each piece in some flour that I seasoned with salt and pepper.

I browned the chicken in batches:

Next, I chopped up a few carrots, a leek, half an onion, a few stalks of celery and some green garlic that we picked up at the farmers market.

I sautéed the vegetables in some of the leftover fat from the chicken.

I added in a little tomato paste and the browned chicken:

Next, I poured in the wine that the chicken had been marinating in, along with the herbs and a little extra thyme before topping it off with some of my chicken stock. I put the lid on and simmered it for about an hour. Next, I removed the chicken from the pot and reduced the sauce down for about 10 minutes. I then added the chicken back in and let it heat back up in the sauce for a few minutes before serving.

In the meantime, I made some polenta with about 6 parts water to 1 part milk. At the end of the cooking process, I whisked in about a tablespoon of butter and a cup of grated parmesan.

I roasted some radicchio with a little salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I also roasted some zucchini and carrots with salt, pepper, olive oil and a little drizzle of sherry vinegar.

For my sister, Kali, who doesn't eat meat, I made a little beurre rouge to go with the polenta and vegetables. I make this all the time to eat with polenta and roasted vegetables and it is sooooo good. First, I reduced down some red wine with a chopped shallot, rosemary and thyme. I then strained out the wine and slowly whisked in some butter. And that's pretty much it! yum.

Potato, Mustard Greens, Ricotta, Pecorino and Chili Pizza

2011-04-09T18:51:00.002-04:00

Flat Iron Steak with Smashed Potato an Radicchio Salad

2011-02-16T21:09:00.009-05:00

Okay, so I decided to make steak again and this time it worked out perfectly. After school today, Lucas and I walked over to the meat hook, our neighborhood butcher shop, and picked up a couple of flat iron steaks for dinner tonight. Honestly, I still have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to cooking meat but maybe I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

The steak was cooked pretty standardly - super hot pan, salt, pepper, then finished with thyme, butter and a rub of raw garlic. For the potato salad, first I cut up the potatoes and boiled them in salted water. For the last 10 minutes, I threw in 2 eggs to hard boil. I made a dressing with a ton of dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, raw garlic, anchovy paste, chives, tarragon, sautéed shallots, olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the potatoes and eggs were done cooking, I let the potatoes drain while I peeled the eggs. I gave the eggs a rough chop and tossed them with the potatoes, dressing and sliced radicchio (the radicchio should wilt a little from the heat of the potatoes). Finally, while the steak was resting, I made a little sauce in the pan with the leftover butter and some sherry vinegar and then poured that over the steak. That's it! Lucas rated this meal a 9.8 out f 10 - pretty good if you ask me.

Potatoe, Fennel and Smoked Jalepeño Hash + Fried Eggs and Chimichurri

2011-01-07T15:19:00.003-05:00

Last night's leftovers turned into this morning's breakfast. I'm not really into the philosophy that everything is better with an egg on top, but for breakfast, an egg can really transform your leftovers from dinner.

This morning I decided to use the leftover roasted potatoes, chimichurri, arugula and raw fennel from last night.

First, I sautéed an onion in a little olive oil and added in one of my favorite dried smoked jalepeños that my mom gets from the Santa Monica farmers' market. They are super spicy and have this really subtle smoky flavor that just kind of lingers in the background of whatever you put them with. After about 5 minutes, I added in some sliced fennel and about a tablespoon of butter and let that cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding in some roughly chopped leftover potatoes. Once the potatoes had warmed through, I turned off the heat and threw in a few handfuls of arugula to wilt. I then fried a few eggs and topped them with some of my chimichurri.

Best breakfast ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roasted Branzino with Fingerling Potatoes, Chimichurri and Bread Crumbs + Cucumber and Radish Salad

2011-01-07T15:02:00.004-05:00

I've been cooking a lot lately but haven't really felt like posting about anything until right now. Last night I made a reaaalllyyy delicious meal which I then turned into the best breakfast ever this morning (I'll be posting about that next).

First, I cut the potatoes into even pieces and coated them in salt, pepper and olive oil before roasting them at 400 degrees. Next, I prepared the stuffing for the fish. I sliced up a shallot, a bulb of fennel, some parsley stems and a meyer lemon and seasoned them in a bowl with salt and olive oil. I then seasoned the fish and filled each cavity with a handful of the fennel mixture. The fish were roasted at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.

For the Chimichurri, I combined parsley, mint, tarragon and chives with a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and sherry vinegar in a blender.

For the salad, I sliced some radishes and cucumber and then at the last minute tossed them with a little wild arugula, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Finally, at the last minute, I toasted up some homemade sour dough bread crumbs in a little butter and olive oil with salt and some chili flakes.

Quinoa with Beets, Red Onion, Shitake Mushrooms and Snap Peas + Roasted Potatoes

2010-12-03T00:31:00.004-05:00

This is one of my favorite ways to eat. Super vegetable-y and delicious. First, I cooked the beets in vinegar, water, salt and sugar in the oven until they became tender but NOT mushy!! Next, I sautéed a small red onion in olive oil before adding in roughly chopped snap peas and shitake mushrooms. In a separate pot, I cooked the quinoa until just done. When the beets were ready, I mixed everything together with a little lemon juice, olive oil, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper. Served with a side of roasted potatoes.

Trout with Romesco Sauce + Roasted Asparagus and Yellow Squash

2010-11-16T20:00:00.004-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts, I haven't really felt like taking photos of my meals lately, although I can assure you that I've been cooking a lot. Last night I made some of the best banana bread I've ever made before (very exciting considering that I totally mixed up the measurements for baking powder and baking soda). I've tried about a billion banana bread recipes but I always go back to this one. SO GOOD but having said that, I can recommend a few adjustments.

1) Reverse the quantities of baking powder and baking soda (I need to figure out why this worked)
2) Substitute 1/2 cup of the flour for whole wheat flour
3) Add in some cinnamon
4) Also add in about 1/2 cup of dried unsweetened coconut

Anyways, onto tonight's meal.

One night when Lucas and I were in Barcelona, every restaurant we wanted to go to was either closed or packed. After wandering around for about an hour, we finally decided to settle on some mediocre touristy spot that we had remembered reading about on a blog somewhere. The food was mostly ok, but one thing that really stood out was a side of roasted asparagus with romesco sauce. It might have even been one of the best things I ate on the entire trip! Anyways, I've been thinking about that asparagus a lot so I decided to try making my own romesco.

I read a bunch of recipes for research and went with the following ingredients -
(most called for hazelnuts but I skipped them because I didn't have any)

- 2 medium sized tomatoes, sliced in half and roasted in the over at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes
- 1 dried ancho chile, toasted in a pan for a few minutes on each side
- 1 piece of stale whole wheat bread, chopped into cubes and then toasted in olive oil
- about a tablespoon of almonds, toasted
- 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped and briefly sautéed in olive oil
- a few pinches of dried chili flakes
- about 3 tablespoons of jarred pimientos
- a small handful of parsley
- a tablespoon of anchovy paste (apparently not traditional but it just seemed to make sense to me)
- a tiny bit of grated orange zest (maybe half of a teaspoon)
- a bunch of olive oil
- red wine vinegar
- salt
- pepper

I threw all of the ingredients into my food processor, blended until smooth and adjusted the seasoning with salt/vinegar.

Then, I roasted some yellow squash and asparagus at about 425 degrees until cooked but still a little crunchy and seared my fish briefly in olive oil. Turned out really well!

Looking forward to Thanksgiving! I'll be taking lots of photos!!

Pongal

2010-10-12T16:57:00.003-04:00

I can't say that I've cooked a lot of Indian food before but when I came across this recipe on www.thekitchn.com I couldn't resist trying it out. It's basically an Indian porridge. I did however make a few adjustments to the recipe. First off, I've started using more whole grains in my cooking ever since I started taking this class on nutrition and health, so that meant substituting the white rice for brown rice. Brown rice has about 100x more flavor than white rice (and is obviously way better for you). Brown rice does take longer to cook than white rice though, so I omitted the initial lentil soaking in the recipe. Also, the recipe only called for a 1:4 ratio of lentils to rice so I decided to increase that ratio to about 1:3.

I also caramelized some onions as a topping for the porridge. To the spice mix, I added a little minced ginger and a finely diced chili. I cooked the spices quickly in butter and vegetable oil (I had no ghee and didn't feel like making any). Next time, I would probably increase the amounts of each spice by about 1.5 times more than what is called for in the recipe. The recipe also doesn't specify this, but I finely chopped up the curry leaves before cooking them. Also, if you plan on making this recipe, do not omit the fresh curry leaves! They should be easy to find at a local Indian market and I found that they were a really integral part of the dish.

I roasted a little broccoli to go with the pongal but any other vegetable would do. Finally, I served it with a little plain yogurt. Wish I had some of my mom's favorite mango pickle to go with the pongal. Anyways, this recipe was sooo easy and sooo delicious. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant on Toast with Homemade Aioli and Arugula + Bloody Ceasars

2010-10-01T14:47:00.005-04:00

This was another one of my toaster oven creations from the two weeks when we didn't have gas in our apartment.

First, I cut up the eggplant into about 1 inch cubes and tossed them with salt, pepper and olive oil before roasting them at about 425 dergees. Next, I sliced a few roma tomatoes in half, again, tossed them with salt, pepper and olive oil, plus a few sprigs of thyme and roasted them at about 425 as well. For the aioli, I crushed up some garlic and then in a separate bowl, combined an egg yolk, sherry vinegar, dijon mustard and salt before slowly streaming in a combination of vegetable and olive oil. I then toasted a few slices of bread, spread on a little aioli, next lay on a roasted tomato and a few pieces of eggplant and then topped it with a handful of arugula and a little of my fancy balsamic vinegar that Lucas bought for me.

Now, for drinks we had a couple of Bloody Ceasars. Apparently it's a SUPER Canadian drink that doesn't really exist in the US, but think of it as basically the same thing as a Bloody Mary but with Clamato juice instead of tomato juice. Clamoto juice is tomato juice mixed with clam juice. Sounds really gross, I know, but it's just soooo delicious, you have to trust me!!! Instead of using store-bought Clamato juice, I opted to buy separate bottles of tomato and clam juice to make my own. This way, it's easy to control how clammy it gets... So anyways, the other ingredients are lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, tabasco (not pictured), horseradish, tons of pepper, vodka and celery salt around the rim of the glass. I don't have a recipe, so it helps to just put in a little of everything at a time and keep tasting until it's just right. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Bone-in Ribeye Steak with Béarnaise + Oven-fried Potatoes + Turnips and their Greens + Dirty Gin Martinis

2010-09-20T21:04:00.006-04:00

This was my first time ever cooking steak at home and probably the most meat I've ever eaten in one sitting so I decided that I had to go for toooppp quality stuff. Lucas and I went to this really cool butcher shop here in Williamsburg called Marlow & Daughters where they only sell free range meat and dairy. We spent a pretty penny on our steak so I had to be extremely careful about cooking the thing! The whole experience was completely crazy and I almost lost my mind, but thank god for my new instant read thermometer!

I've always wanted to try steak with béarnaise so I decided to give that a try. Here's what I did -

First, I cut up a bunch of potatoes and tossed them in salt, pepper and olive oil before roasting them at 425 degrees until they turned nice and crispy and brown. For the béarnaise I combined about 1/4 c of sherry vinegar (only vinegar I had, but you could use whatever kind you'd like) about 1/4 c of white wine with a sliced shallot, some thyme and a bay leaf. I let that reduce down to about half. Next, I whisked in two egg yolks off the heat and then slowly emulsified about 3/4 of a stick of butter. I added in a ton of chopped tarragon, and although not traditional, I also added in a bunch of chopped parsley.

Cooking the steak was crazy and you really don't even wanna know what I did. Well, it actually started out pretty well. I got a ton of advice from Lucas' dad Stephen who cooks a mean steak but after that everything got a little crazy. Basically, what he does is cook the steak in the oven at 300 degrees until it reaches 90 degrees. From here, he sears the steak for a minute or two on each side and by then it should reach an internal temperature of about 115. From here he rests it and during this time the steak should then reach 125-130 degrees for a nice rare-medium rare.

So, I did the whole oven thing and then seared it and then it just wasn't a high enough temperature on the inside, so I let it sear a little longer. I then took it out of the pan and rested it and it was still less than 110 degrees. Then I put it back in the oven for a little while, took the temperature and from there everything was ok. Phew. This might not sound that chaotic but I can promise, it was. The steak turned out pretty great but the béarnaise was definitely the star!

Anyways, while the steak was resting, I cooked the turnips and their greens in a little of the leftover fat from the steak. And that was our meal! I'm looking forward to next time, after having learned from my first experience with steak.

As for drinks, we had a couple of dirty gin martinis, my favorite drink of all time!

Toaster Oven Challege Pt. 1 - Broiled Branzino with Lemon and Fennel + Green Bean Salad with Red Onion, Sherry Vinegar and Toasted Almonds

2010-09-14T23:33:00.009-04:00

Not really being able to cook for two weeks was serious torture but we finally got gas today!! I did make a few good meals with my semi-trusty toaster oven though, and this was one of them. Pretty simple and straight-forward but tooootally delicious!

For the green bean salad - I sliced up a little red onion and tossed it with some salt and olive oil before roasting at about 350 degrees until tender. Next, I tossed the green beans in salt and olive oil and roasted those for 8-10 minutes. I chopped up a handful of almonds and toasted those for a few minutes. next I mixed everything together with a little sherry vinegar and a little more olive oil.

For the fish - This was suuuper simple to prepare. First I patted the fish dry with a little paper towel. I seasoned the fish with salt and olive oil. Next I sliced up a little fennel and some lemon and then stuffed it inside the fish, laying the leftovers around the fish. It was about 1.4 pounds and I broiled it for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Finally, I plated up the fish and sprinkled each serving a little salt and drizzled over a little olive oil and lemon juice.

Gazpacho

2010-09-05T13:53:00.007-04:00

The gas in my building still hasn't been turned on after a week which means no hot showers and no gas stove so I've had to work a little harder to come up with meals. Let me tell you, I've become very resourceful with my toaster oven. The other day I even made a plum crumble in it!

Today we had gazpacho for lunch. It was super simple to prepare. First, I tore up some day old bread and let it soak with a few squashed up tomatoes, salt, olive oil and sherry vinegar while I prepped the other ingredients. Next, I roughly chopped a little red onion, some cucumber and both red and green peppers. Next, I blended everything together, adjusting the seasoning with more salt, pepper, lemon juice, and tabasco for a little bit of heat. I let the soup chill for a little while and when I was ready to eat, I toasted up some roughly chopped almonds and olive oil croutons. This was the best summer lunch!

Joy of Cooking Pancakes

2010-09-05T13:46:00.004-04:00

I'm not that big on sweet breakfasts, but every once in a while I neeeeeeed some pancakes or waffles with maple syrup as soon as I wake up. I pretty much always use the joy of cooking recipe for pancakes and beat the egg whites separately before folding them in for a lighter batter. Cooked in butter and then topped with maple syrup.

Fried Green Tomatoes + Montreal Trip

2010-09-01T18:33:00.009-04:00

Sorry I've been a little absent this summer! Between my euro trip, work, searching for a new apartment, visiting friends and family in Montreal for 2 weeks, moving into my new apartment, not having gas to cook with for the past few days and registering for classes at my new school, I haven't had much time to update... Anyways, I made these fried green tomatoes among other things a few days ago for the family at my grand-parents' country house in St-Sauveur, Quebec. They have an incredible garden with just about every vegetable you could imagine and I just couldn't resist grabbing a few unripe tomatoes for a little side dish to go along with our succotash.

I cooked them pretty much the same way as I cook my fried okra. First, I put a little flour, salt and pepper on a plate. Next, I cracked a few eggs in a bowl and added a few tablespoons of water. Then, I filled another bowl with cornmeal. I cut the tomatoes into thick slices, dipped them in the flour, then in the egg, then in the cornmeal and finally fried them in sizzling canola oil until brown on both sides. Sprinkle with salt as soon as they come out of the frying pan.

My grand-parents' garden:

Some delicious pies:

My family having lunch at the country house:

My favorite dessert ever - Onobelle's Raspberry Torte:

A giant mushroom (probably very poisonous) that I saw growing in the woods:

Me looking a little silly with the fam:

my loving sister, Kali:

Fried Eggs on Buttered Toast with a Zingy Lettuce, Tomato and Radicchio Salad

2010-08-17T14:47:00.006-04:00

I like my eggs fried in olive oil and super crispy around the edges. I think sunny side up eggs are lame, but they sure do look prettier in pictures.

Creamy Marrow Bean, Tomato and Tarragon Casserole with Garlicky Croutons + Chocolate and Graham Cracker Tart

2010-08-17T14:41:00.003-04:00

This is one of my mom's favorite dishes! It's inspired by a Deborah Madison recipe that she found in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I think everyone should own this book! Deborah Madison approaches vegetarian food in the most un-hippie way possible. I don't think any of her dishes could leave a meat eater unsatisfied!

Anyways, back to the recipe. My mom bought some great local heirloom beans called Marrow beans from a stall at the Topanga farmer's market the other day. Madison actually calls for flageolet beans in her recipe, but I think almost any non black/kidney bean would work fine. We soaked the beans overnight and then drained off the liquid and cooked them until tender with some rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, an onion and some of my favorite smoked dried chilis. The beans were so fresh that they barely took any time at all to cook!

Before:

After:

In a separate pot, I sautéed some shallots in olive oil and butter. After a few minutes, I added in about 10 diced roma tomatoes along with some white wine and let that cook for another 5-7 minutes.

I cubed up a loaf of bread and coated it pieces in minced garlic, olive oil and melted butter before toasting them in the oven.

We steamed some green beans until they were just shy of being done and then combined them in a large casserole dish with the drained marrow beans, stewed tomatoes and shallots, about a cup of cream, half a cup of chopped parsley and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of chopped tarragon. I topped the casserole with the croutons and baked it, covered, until it started to bubble around the edges. At this point, I took off the foil and and let the croutons brown a little more. After taking the dish out of the oven, I finished it with some parmesan.

For the salad, I simply mixed up a little apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, pepper, mustard and olive oil and then coated some lettuce leaves with the dressing right before eating.

Chocolate Tart -

I used this gourmet magazine recipe for the chocolate filling but skipped the glaze. For the crust I used regular graham crackers instead of the chocolate ones, used about half as much sugar and added in about a teaspoon of cinnamon. It turned out really well. I served it with a little raspberry compote.

Fish Tacos + Apricot Bread Pudding

2010-07-27T02:22:00.001-04:00

I feel bad for not having updated my sad little blog very much this summer. Being a full time blogger is tough work, let me tell you and I haven't really felt like posting stuff lately. I've been working super hard and when I finally get to spend a night at home and cook a meal, the last thing I usually feel like doing is taking pictures of every step, ugh! Anyways, I've been feeling kinda guilty for not updating the blog in a while, so here it goes!

This is super old from the 4th of July. My dad decided to invite over about a million people without my permission, but we actually ended up with the perfect amount of food!

I didn't follow a recipe for the bread pudding so I basically just combined some milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla orange zest and lemon zest in a bowl and then poured it on top of the cubed bread. In a separate pot, I briefly cooked up some sliced apricots in a little bit of water, butter and maple syrup and then folded them into the bread and custard. I baked it at 350 degrees until it was puffy and golden brown on top!

As for the fish tacos, I decided to make a ton of condiments to go with them. I picked up some wild snapper at the fish market the day before and my dad was in charge of cooking it. He marinated the fish in garlic, chili powder and olive oil.

I made a little coleslaw salad for the tacos. First, I let the sliced cabbage sit with some salt in a colander to drain some of the excess liquid out.

Oh, and we also made tons of corn!!

My coleslaw with a tangy vinaigrette made from sour cream, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil.

A delicious Pacifico beer with lime.

I made some picked onion and jalepeno with equal parts of heated up white vinegar and water, along with a lil' salt.

My sister, the underaged mixologist, made us fancy rhubarb, lime and gin cocktails.

Guacamole, salsa, coleslaw, cilantro, pickled onions and jalepenos.

The fish!

Party time:

My dog Shuggie eying my tortilla.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-07-11T23:55:00.002-04:00

I used this Gourmet magazine recipe for the shortcake but used about half as much sugar as it called for and substituted the buttermilk for about 2 parts cream to 1 part sour cream. As for the berries, I sliced them up and poured over a little vanilla extract and some maple syrup and let them sit for about 45 minutes. We used raw cream for the whipped cream and I sweetened it with a little agave and cointreau. Deeelish!

Spagetti with Pesto, Tomato, Summer Squash and Homemade Breadcrumbs

2010-07-11T23:45:00.008-04:00

This meal was made from a lot of vegetables from my dad's garden! We used his basil, squash and lovely nasturtiums. I also made fresh breadcrumbs from a loaf of stale bread.

Before:
After:

My dad with a giant onion from his garden:

Fried Egg with Pickled Onion + Homemade Mayonnaise + Manchego + Arugula on Toast

2010-07-04T03:28:00.008-04:00

Sorry I haven't updated in a while... I've been working like crazy and haven't really had much time to myself over the past three weeks. I've been working in the kitchen at a restaurant called Rustic Canyon and I'm very happy to say that so far it's been a blast!

Anyways, this was actually my first breakfast home the morning after I got back from my euro trip and Barcelona was still fresh in my mind so I had to incorporate in some manchego cheese!

I started by quick pickling some thinly sliced baby onions with water, vinegar, salt and thyme. I basically let the mixture come to a boil and then turned it off and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Here's what the onions looked like at the end:

I made a quick mayonnaise with an egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, salt and olive oil.

Arugula fresh from my dad's garden:

Frying eggs:

Manchego and mayonnaise on a thick piece of whole grain toast:

Arugula on top:

Finally, the egg and shallots:

It was deliciously creamy from the egg, mayonnaise and cheese, spicy from the arugula and tangy from the onions! Yum yum yuuum.

Tomorrow is the fourth of July and my dad invited over about a million people so we're gonna make fish tacos with coleslaw and pickled onions, some corn on the cob and an apricot/possibly caramel bread pudding for dessert.

Father's Day: Boullabaisse with Rouille Toast + Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and Strawberries

2010-06-21T17:54:00.007-04:00

My sister and I wanted to make our dad something special for father's day. We both have fond memories of eating fish soup and rouille toast at the fondue restaurant that our dad and his friends opened in Montreal the year before I was born, so bouillabaisse seemed like a nice choice. As for the angel food cake, it was his favorite birthday cake throughout his childhood.

First of all, I had to get the fish stock going. Unfortunately, neither Whole Foods nor the Santa Monica Fish Market would sell me any fish bones (so disappointing!) so I had to resort to using a few shrimp shells and a couple of bones from the wild halibut steaks that I bought. I used my favorite trader joes organic vegetable stock, celery, onion, carrots, thyme, parsley, white wine and a bay leaf to amp of the flavor. I let the stock simmer gently for about an hour.

In a separate pot, I started sweating some leeks in olive oil.

The fish stock simmering away:

Next, I roughly sliced some fennel, diced about six roma tomatoes and added those to the sautéed leeks along with about a glass full of white whine and a few dried smoked chilis.

This is what it looked like after I added in the strained fish stock, a bay leaf and some saffron.

You could use any mixture of seafood, I used shrimp, mussels and halibut. Make sure to cut the fish into even pieces so they cook at the same time.

Next, I added in a ton of roughly chopped dino kale (not so typical of bouillabaisse but delicious all the same) and let that cook down for a few minutes before adding in the seafood. I started with the mussels, and a minute later added in the shrimp and fish. Stir it around but be careful not to break up the fish. I covered the pot for another minute and then turned off the heat - the fish will be slightly underdone at this point but it should cook through by the time it gets into the serving bowls.

I served the soup with my own version of rouille. I made the mayonnaise with an egg yolk, some cider vinegar, salt and 1 part olive oil to about 5 parts canola oil. I then stirred in some chopped chives and fennel fronds along with some tomato paste and a large pinch or two of sweet smoked paprika.

We used this Alton Brown recipe for the angel food cake and although it turned out well, I will probably cut down on the sugar the next time I make it.

A Variation on Succotash with Wilted Dandelion Greens

2010-06-13T13:25:00.007-04:00

When I woke up at 6am on my first day back from the big Euro trip, the only thing I could think to do was to make this lemon curd tart with olive oil from gourmet magazine. I had never made it before, but had been thinking about the recipe for a few days. A few hours later, my parents and I took a trip to the new farmers' market that opened a few weeks ago in our neighborhood. The selection of vegetables was very limited but we managed to pick up a few things for lunch and dinner. When we got back home from the market, I prepared a little open-faced sandwich with melted manchego cheese, homemade aioli, pickled shallots, a fried egg and arugula from our garden. I'll post about the tart and the sandwich later, but I was the most excited about what I came up with for dinner.

Recipe for about 5 people

First, I sliced up about a pound of potatoes into bite sized pieces about the same size as the fava beans. I sautéed them in a combination of butter and oil until they were just about finished cooking.

Next, I was lucky to have the help of my mother and of my friend Amanda to peel the skins off of the fava beans. This took us a while, but at least we had some cocktails to sip on. I used about 3 cups of the beans.

Next, I cut the kernels off of three corn cobs.

I diced up 2 poblano chilis, one serrano and one jalepeno, along with about half of a large onion.

When the potatoes were almost done, I added in the onion and chilis. Around this time, I started sautéeing some garlic in olive oil in a large pot for the greens.

After about 5 minutes, I added the corn and fava beans to the potatoes and then maybe 5 minutes later I started cooking the greens (they only take about 3 minutes to cook).

Me cooking:

More butter doesn't ever hurt:

We served it with some chalula hot sauce. It was incredibly delicious!!

The End.

High Class Fancy Meal

2010-06-13T13:17:00.005-04:00

After 5 days of eating perfect tapas and drinking cava in Barcelona, I had one of the worst meals of my life on the plane home to Los Angeles. Don't get me wrong, I've actually had some pretty decent meals on airplanes before (I know I should be embarrassed to admit this, but it's true). I used to look forward to the vegan tofu scramble on Air Canada trips to Montreal before they stopped serving the in flight meals on shorter flights. Anyways, the food on my flight home a few days ago was repulsive. The salad was probably rotten and the dressing was a gooey mess. The pasta was stale and was covered with a creamy spinach-y sauce that seemed to have been made with some sort of milk substitute. At least my canned tomato juice with lots of lemon juice helped a little.

Fried Eggs + Shallot-Thyme-Chili Crispy Potatoes

2010-05-31T05:38:00.011-04:00

If you ask me, eggs couldn't be happier than when they're sitting beside shallot, thyme and chili. For that reason, I've made about a million variations on breakfast using these few ingredients (example 1, example 2). As much as I do love a couple of scrambled eggs cooked with caramelized shallots and spicy chilis, I chose to jumble up the equation yet again yesterday morning.

Fried is my number one favorite way to cook eggs. I like them cooked on super high heat in olive oil until the edges get crispy, over-medium in the center and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Nothing could be better. Except for maybe the eggs with a side of crispy potatoes that have been smothered in my favorite egg accompaniments.

To begin, I par-boiled the potatoes in some salted water until they were about 10 minutes away from being perfectly cooked. I drained the potatoes and sliced them in half lengthwise. In a big frying pan that could fit the halved potatoes in one layer, I briefly fried a smashed clove of garlic and a few sprigs of thyme in some butter and olive oil. After the oil had become fragrant from the garlic and thyme, I spread out the potatoes in the pan with the cut side facing down. This next step is an important one - don't touch the potatoes for about 5 minutes so they can start building a golden crust. Around 5 minutes into the cooking, I added in a sliced shallot and some sliced chili (as much as you think you can handle!). Season with salt. Flip the potatoes so they can get a little crispy all over. In the last few minutes of cooking, throw in a little more butter and sprinkle in some extra fresh thyme leaves.

On the side, I made the same radish and arugula salad as my last post. It was so delicious with a big bite of the potatoes and egg.

Amsterdam: Pasta alla Norma + Radish and Arugula Salad

2010-05-29T13:48:00.007-04:00

(Recipe for two)

Lucas and I spent the morning at Amsterdam's Noordermarkt in Jordaan. I got there with a craving for pasta but I still wasn't entirely sure what kind of sauce to make. When I saw some eggplant at one of the stalls, the answer became obvious. I looooove eggplant and I looooove pasta alla norma. This dish is almost as simple as making tomato sauce, but it includes one extra step - either frying or roasting some eggplant. I usually roast the eggplant, but since we don't have an oven in our apartment here in Amsterdam, I fried up a small-medium sized eggplant (diced) in a little bit of olive oil instead. When the eggplant had softened after about 10-15 minutes, I remove it from the pan. Next, in the same pan, I added in a little more olive oil and 3-4 chopped up garlic cloves along with some chili (as much as you'd like, it really depends on how spicy the chili is to begin with because they can be veeerrry unpredictable).

Before the garlic turns brown, add in either a can of tomatoes or about 8 medium sized diced fresh tomatoes (you can remove the skins if you want by blanching them for about a minute. After blanching, the skins should peel off easily). I used fresh tomatoes but I did not remove the skins because I was lazy and I was not trying to impress anyone. We were drinking some red wine so I poured in about a glass full and let that boil off. I also had a little bit of thyme in the fridge so I threw in a sprig or two. Make sure to season with salt along the way. I let the sauce simmer for about 30-40 minutes and adjusted the acidity with some sugar when it was needed (depends on the tomatoes). When the sauce had reduced to a much thicker consistency, I added in the cooked eggplant and simmered the sauce for another 5-10 minutes. At this point, I removed the thyme stems and added in some fresh basil. I cooked the pasta until al dente and then mixed it in with the sauce.

For the salad - I haven't bought any vinegar here so I've been making salad dressings with lemon and olive oil. This time, I added in a little honey too. I sliced up a few radishes and tossed the salad together with a few handfuls of arugula at the last minute.

Breakfast/Lunch In Paris

2010-05-25T07:38:00.003-04:00

Greetings from Paris!! After 5 days in here, Lucas and I still hadn't had a chance to get to one of the farmer's markets, so this morning, we took a little walk over to the Marché des Enfants Rouge around the corner from where we're staying to gather some ingredients for a breakfast/lunch at home. We bought some baguette, a soft and very stinky cheese whose name I cannot remember, a perfect cantaloupe and some fennel, sucrine and lemon for a little salad.

Sucrine lettuce is one of my favorite things in the world. It's essentially baby lettuce heads but it has a perfectly sweet and slightly bitter taste to it. I love it served with oeuf mayonnaise (boiled eggs with fresh mayonnaise). Unfortunately, I've never been able to find sucrine back home so I try to eat it as much as I can while I'm visiting here.

So for the salad, I quartered up a few sucrines, sliced up a head of baby fennel and dressed them with lemon, olive oil and salt. This was a really simple, but still a completely perfect meal. yuuummm. We're heading to Amsterdam tomorrow and planning on doing a lot of cooking there so stay tuned for more updates in the next few days!

Wild Trout + Wilted Mustard Greens and Zucchini Panzanella

2010-05-17T18:01:00.010-04:00

Please forgive me for the lack of updates - I've been terribly busy with finals and now that the semester is finally over, I have to pack up my apartment and put everything in storage before I leave for my trip on Wednesday! Lucas and I are going to spend 3 leisurely weeks in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Barcelona so expect lots of photos and food!

Back to tonight's meal: I started by cutting up some stale sourdough bread into bite sized chunks and spreading them out on a baking tray. In a small pan, I cooked up equal parts of olive oil and butter, threw in 3 minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper and some chili flakes. Once the butter had melted and the garlic had softened, I tossed the garlicky mixture with the bread and put the tray in a 450 degree oven until the bread started to turn brown.

Next, I sliced up 2 zucchinis and a bunch of mustard greens. I sautéed both vegetables together in a little bit of olive oil for about 6-7 minutes. Lucas picked up some wild trout at the market this afternoon and I simply cooked that on medium heat in the pan that I had cooked the olive oil/butter/garlic dressing for the bread in. I let the fish cook for a few minutes on each side and then put the pan in a 350 degree oven until the fish was just cooked.

When the vegetables were cooked, I poured in a little bit of balsamic vinegar, a little more olive oil and squeezed in the juice of about a third of a lemon. I then added in the toasted bread and some roughly chopped parsley and tossed everything together about 10 minutes before the fish was ready so the bread could soak up the juices from the vegetables and the dressing.

This turned out to be a very nice light spring meal! Now I must get back to packing up my apartment but here are the pictures -

I Love Brussel Sprouts

2010-05-06T19:38:00.005-04:00

If you ask me, this is the only way to eat brussel sprouts. First, remove the outer leaves from the brussel sprouts. Cut each one in half and coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees with the cut side facing down until cooked through but not mushy! If you're not into the slightly burned outer leaves like I am, feel free to lower the temperature of the oven. A little bit of vinegar at the end doesn't hurt. YUUUMMMM

Scrambled Eggs with Shallots, Chili and Chives +Toast

2010-05-01T17:25:00.003-04:00

This is a very delicious and easy breakfast to make. The recipe is for 2 people.

Ingredients:

- 1 small/medium shallot, diced
- 1 small red or green chili (serrano, jalepeno, whatever you want) seeded and diced
- About 1/4 cup of chopped chives
- 5 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons of cream
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Olive oil + butter for cooking

In about a tablespoon of butter and a bit of olive oil, sautée the diced shallot and chili over medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and chives and season with salt and pepper. Once the chili and shallot have cooked for about 4-5 minutes,turn the heat very low and pour in the egg mixture. Stir frequently-ish until the eggs are done. Serve with buttered toast!

Feast: Warm Potato Salad w/ Chives, Shallots, Tarragon + Fried Okra + Spoon Bread + Swiss Chard

2010-05-01T12:18:00.002-04:00

I had a few friends over last weekend and for some reason I felt like making a big old feast.

Potato Salad:
Cut potatoes into equal bite sized pieces and bring to a boil in salted water. Cook until tender. Make the dressing in the meantime - first, sautée a shallot in some olive oil for about 4 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together a teaspoon of dijon mustard, a handful of chopped chives and tarragon, any vinegar really besides maybe balsamic which might dominate the other flavors too much, olive oil, the shallots and of course salt and pepper. When the potatoes are ready, combine everything together! This can be served warm or at room temperature.

Swiss Chard:
Sautée a little garlic in some olive oil, add in the lightly torn up chard (the stems get tender so you don't have to get rid of those as you would with kale). This cooks down to almost nothing, so be sure to buy a lot more chard than you think you'll need! Cook until the bitterness of the greens is mild and finish with some lemon juice.

Spoon Bread:
This is an old family recipe that my great-grandmother serves with her AMAZING crab cakes. I've chosen not to publish the recipe on here, but if you really want to know how to make it just ask! It's incredibly simple to prepare and tastes like a corn custard or savory pudding.

Okra:
I made fried okra again - I could really eat it every day. Here's the recipe from an earlier post.

Sweet Cream Buscuits with Butter and Blackberry Compote

2010-04-25T11:23:00.000-04:00

It's 11am and I've already made and eaten these delicious biscuits! I was browsing Tastespotting a few days ago and came across this recipe for sweet cream biscuits. So, this morning I woke up with a hankering for a biscuit and started making them as soon as I got out of bed. They literally took 5 minutes to prepare! While they were baking in the oven, I realized that my raspberry jam was moldy so I quickly made up a little compote with some blackberries that I luckily had in the fridge. For the compote, I simply combined some sugar and water in a pan and added in a few handfuls of mashed up blackberries. I squeezed in some lemon and finally spooned it over the biscuits.

Vegetarian Souvlaki and Oven Fries + Campari and Soda

2010-04-22T20:44:00.000-04:00

Growing up in Montreal, I ate a lot of vegetarian souvlakis from a place around the corner from my house. They always served them with thick fries. Since I can't seem to find a Greek place in New York to adequately satisfy my vegetarian souvlaki craving, I decided to try making them myself!

This was incredibly easy, and I barely had any dishes to wash! First, make the salad - tomatoes, cucumber, thinly sliced raw red onion, a little bit of dried oregano (fresh would have been nice too if I had any...), salt, pepper, olive oil and a mixture of sherry vinegar and white balsamic (red wine vinegar would easily work as a substitution).

Next, I made the tzatziki - greek yogurt, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some finely chopped cucumber.

I sliced the potatoes into thick wedges, coated them in salt, pepper and olive oil and baked them in the oven at 400 degrees until they turned golden brown.

To assemble the souvlaki, warm some pita on the stove, spread on some tzatziki, spoon on the salad and crumble some feta on top. This was extremely messy but very delicious!! Next time, I might add in a little bit of roasted eggplant.

Finally, since summer is quickly approaching, I've started making my favorite cocktail again - campari and soda! I found out about this drink from my dad a few years ago and it's really the most refreshing and delicious thing! I make it about 1 part campari to 3 parts soda. Serve on ice. Some people add some orange, but I think it makes the drink taste like medicine! Gross!

Ricotta Macaroni and Cheese with Asparagus and Leeks

2010-04-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

First I cooked up a large leek in some olive oil and after about 3-4 minutes I added in the asparagus. These only took a few minutes to cook, and it's best to under-cook them a bit so they don't get too mushy when the whole casserole gets baked.

I made a béchamel sauce with 2 tablespoons of butter, two tablespoons of flour and 2 cups of milk. I chopped up a large clove of garlic and threw that in. Once the mixture thickened, I added in about 2 ounces of cheddar that I had in the fridge, along with a bit of feta that I had left over from the eggplant caponata toast that I made a few nights ago. I stirred in about 3/4 of a container of ricotta, grated in some nutmeg and added in a large pinch each of cayenne pepper, mustard powder (both of these are always good in mac and cheese) and dried tarragon.

When the pasta was cooked (I used orecchiette) I stirred everything together in a nice glass baking dish. I sprinkled on some chopped up parsley and chives and topped that off with panko breadcrumbs and a few drizzles of olive oil. The whole thing baked in the oven at about 375 degrees until the top was golden! I served it with another little sprinkling of fresh chives. This was delicious!

P.S. I picked up some chives at the farmer's market yesterday and I've been using them in everything! This morning I made the best scrambled eggs ever with a fresh red chili, shallots and tons of chives! YUM

Dream Kitchens

2010-04-14T20:33:00.000-04:00

Here are a few kitchens that I have fallen in love with for one reason or another... (a lot of these images are from thekitchn.com or apartmenttherapy.com)

The sink might not be huge but oh boy is this kitchen the cutest thing ever!

I love the tiles and the color! (although the little curtain thing is not for me)

loving that sink!

I LOVE the gold tiles!

Lovin' the orange and the wood!

This one is kind of dumpy but in a very cute way... It's crazy how a little color on the walls can go such a long way!

Eggplant Caponata on Toast with Feta

2010-04-13T23:19:00.000-04:00

This was definitely one of my favorite things that I've made in a while. Before I made the caponata, I knew that I wanted some sort of salty cheese on it, I was thinking ricotta salata but ended up with a really nice feta instead. I started off by salting the eggplant and letting it drain in a colander, something I don't always do, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure if it's even worth bothering. Next, I diced up an onion and sautéed it in some olive oil with a bit of chili flake for about 4-5 minutes, I then added in about 4 stalks of diced celery and half of a red pepper. After another 4 minutes or so, I removed the vegetables from the pan.

Into the now empty pan, I poured in some more olive oil and began frying off the eggplant. It started to stick to the pan a little bit and I didn't want anything to burn, so I poured in about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and a bit of water and let it all cook together partially covered. When the eggplant was done, I put in about a teaspoon each of anchovy paste and tomato paste. Next, I added in the sautéed vegetables, about a cup of diced tomatoes (canned tomatoes would work fine too), some chopped up capers and green olives, a sprinkling of sugar and some sherry vinegar (it's much more sour than balsamic which is actually super sweet most of the time). The balance of sweet and sour is up to you! It's good to let all the ingredients sit together on a very low simmer for a little while. Before I was ready to serve, I toasted up some bread with a tiny drizzle of olive oil on each slice. When the bread was ready, I pulled it out of the oven and rubbed on a little raw garlic, topped each slice with some caponata and some crumbled feta.

Finally, while I was reaching into the fridge for a bit of parsley, I was sidetracked by the lovely fennel fronds that were poking out of the plastic bag that the fennel was in. I went for them instead of the parsley and they ended up adding a beautifully delicate green fennel flavor that complimented the eggplant and feta perfectly!

Perhaps this was not an entirely traditional rendition of caponata, but it sure did taste good!

Miso Salmon, Broccoli+Leeks, Coconut Rice

2010-04-12T20:42:00.001-04:00

This was a pretty good meal. Asian foods in general are not my strength, but it's fun to play around with the flavors sometimes. There were a lot of processes involved, but none of them were too complicated! First, I made the marinade/glaze for the salmon. This included a large spoonful of red miso, some lime juice, maple syrup, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and this really great sweet chili sauce that they sell at whole foods. I added in a bit of chopped garlic and ginger and let that sit for a minute before spreading it onto the fish. Next I sautéed some finely diced up serrano chili and ginger in a bit of oil for the rice. After about 2-3 minutes, I added in about a cup of rice, along with a cup each of vegetable broth and coconut milk. In another pan, I sautéed about half of a leek and a clove of garlic in some butter and sesame oil. I heated the oven to 400 degrees and popped in the salmon. This cooked for about 10 minutes (of course the length of time depends on how much fish you have). In the meantime, I threw the broccoli in with the leeks and poured in about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth. This only took a few minutes to cook. Finally, I took the fish out of the oven, chopped up some cilantro, basil and mint, and plated everything together with a final squeeze of lime over the top. yum yum yum!

Tomato, Eggplant, Basil and Mozarella Panzanella + Plum Crisp

2010-04-10T20:50:00.000-04:00

I thought that it would be appropriate to eat panzanella and a plum crisp in honor of the beginning of spring/summer! For the panzanella, I let a loaf of sour dough bread get a little stale for the past few days and then cut it into cubes and toasted it in the oven with a mixture of olive oil, butter, garlic, chili flake, salt and pepper. I cubed up the eggplant and let that drain a little bit in a colander with some salt. After about 30-40 minutes of draining, I roasted the eggplant at about 400 degrees. I chopped up a few tomatoes and added those in with the bread. When the eggplant was done roasting, I threw that in with the bread and tomatoes, along with some chopped up mozarella and some torn up basil. I drizzled in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed everything together. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture when it was actually ready to eat (must have been very hungry) and only have the one from right after I put in the eggplant.

For the plum crisp, I simply mixed up half a stick of butter with about 1/2 cup each of oats, flour and brown sugar, and a bit of salt and cinnamon until it became crumbly. I sliced up the plums and mixed them with some maple syrup, lemon zest and about a tablespoon of lemon juice. I baked the crisp at 375 until the top was golden (about 40 minutes). This plum crisp was a perfect balance of sweet and sour!

Zucchini, Leek, Tomato, Ricotta and Basil Calzones

2010-04-08T20:26:00.000-04:00

I've made these calzones about a million times but tonight I was finally ready to deviate from the regular calzone routine. I sautéed thinly sliced garlic and leeks in some olive oil with a sprinkling of chili flakes. Then, I added in thinly sliced zucchini and let them cook on pretty high heat until they were juuust cooked (add salt and pepper to taste). Roll out your pizza dough and pile on some of the zucchini/leek/garlic mixture. Next, Layer on a few slices of tomato, some torn up basil leaves and dollop on as much ricotta as you'd like. Bake at 450-500 degrees until golden! Finally, I drizzled on a little bit of balsamic vinegar! This was a good meal to accompany the new episode of top chef masters!

Fried Okra

2010-04-07T20:54:00.000-04:00

I just got back from my Contemporary Food Controversies class and I made the best snack ever! What is better than cornmeal crusted okra?! (This would obviously also work as a side dish to any meal). First, wash the okra, snip off the top end, then whisk up an egg with a bit of water in one bowl, and in another bowl mix together cornmeal, salt, pepper, and a touch of cayenne pepper. Heat up some oil in a pan and begin to dredge the okra first in the egg mixture, and then let it drip off a bit before tossing it in the cornmeal mixture. Once the oil is hot enough, cook the okra on all sides until golden brown! If the okra is big like mine was, it's worth popping it in a 350 degree oven for another 3-5 minutes just to make sure it cooks through. Finally, sprinkle on some salt and eaaaat it all up!

Deborah Madison's Pasta with Chickpeas and Parsley

2010-04-06T18:44:00.000-04:00

My mom has been making this dish forever and it's always been one of my favorites. It takes less than 20 minutes to prepare so it's always a great fall-back meal for a busy night.

First, chop an onion and sautée it in about 1/4 cup of olive oil for 2 minutes. Add in 2-3 minced garlic cloves and however many chili flakes you'd like, cook on medium-high heat until the edges are golden. In the meantime boil water and cook pasta (I usually use orecchiette). Chop 1/4-1/2 cup of parsley (Deborah Madison also calls for sage, but I didn't have any). I also use thyme when I have it on hand. Rinse a 14oz can of chickpeas and fry them up with the onions at the last minute. Mix everything together, add some reserved pasta water if need be, and top with parmesan!

Restaurants In NYC That I Love

2010-04-05T10:33:00.000-04:00

I thought it might be nice to start a list of restaurants that I like to eat at in New York City.. Also, I'll be posting recommended dishes for each place! Be sure to check back to the link on the sidebar to the right every so often because I'll be updating as often as possible! I live in the East Village, and go to school in the West Village, so I eat a lot in the area.

Alidoro (Italian Sandwiches) - Soho
This italian spot is NOT a panini place and they actually have very strict rules here about what they serve. I always order the Vivaldi (tuna, provolone cheese and eggplant caponata) and ask for them to add arugula. The sandwiches are HUGE and I have a pretty good feeling that they're all equally delicious.

Banjara (Indian) - East Village
Really good Indian restaurant that Lucas and I order from. Everything is good!

Bonsignour (Sandwiches) - West Village
Tiny place near school, I always get the Avocado Melt on baguette with dijon mustard. The sandwich is melty with swiss cheese and has avocado as well as tomato on it. It reminds me of the quesadillas that my mom used to make for me when I was little.

Caracas (Venezuelan) - East Village
This place is the BEST!! I order the La Del Gato arepa (fresh white mozarella-like cheese, avocado and fried plantains), and sometimes the Domino empanada (cheese and black beans). Their empanadas are like no others I've ever tried - the dough is cornmeal based, they're like the best corndog you ever had. I love the Tequeños (fried breaded cheese) even though I usually hate a lot of cheese. Most important of all is their hot sauce - please pour it on everything you eat and then ask for more to take home with you. I put it on my burritos once and it was the best thing I ever did!

Diner (Modern American) - Williamsburg
Although Diner is quite a bit out of my budget, Lucas and I have eaten here about 4 or 5 times. The atmosphere is really nice, and the food is almost always good. Their menu changes every day and when you sit down, the waitress writes down the list of "specials" on the table. Their salads are always great. The soups are always enticing but usually a let down for me - their chicken broth overpowers every other flavor. Their meat comes from their butcher shop right around the corner and it's all free range organic which I LIKE. I always order the fish and take a few bites from Lucas' meat when I'm feeling adventurous. Last time I was there, I noticed that the fish usually tastes the same, although sometimes it's extra special, but the meat is often exceptional. Lucas loves the hamburger and he had a coq au vin that I LOVED. No matter if the food is sometimes unpredictable, it's always a fun place to be.

Motorino (Pizza) - East Village
This place makes greeaaat Pizzas. I recommend everything. Don't dismiss the salads!

Num Pang (Cambodian Sandwiches) - West Village
They're pretty mean at this place, but it's still worth eating here. They don't make substitutions, or really any changes to their menu, which is pretty annoying sometimes. I always order the cauliflower sandwich and once I asked for regular mayonnaise instead of their vegan one and they wouldn't do it. Oh well, the sandwich is still AMAZING.

Tarallucci E Vino on 1st Ave (Pastries and Sandwiches) - East Village
I have not been to the other Tarallucci e Vino's so I can't recommend them, but at this one I like to order the Urano Sandwich (tomato, mozarella, basil, olive spread). This combination is classic (and sometimes boring) but theirs is perfect, the bread tastes like butter and there isn't even any on it! The tiramisu is good, so are the croissants (surprisingly so), and the pomiers. The hot chocolate is the best I've ever had - it's literally like drinking melted dark chocolate. They also have these tiny fruit nectar bottles that I used to drink on special occasions when I was a kid, so it's always nice to order one of those.

Thai Terminal - (Thai) - East Village
I stopped eating here a little while ago because I thought I had found a better thai take-out place, but I have reverted back in the past few weeks. The papaya salad is simply the best I've had in New York so far (I've probably had 3 or 4) - or at least it tastes the most like my favorite ones in LA (Cholada, Jitlada). Their Pad Thai is good, so are the rest of their noodle dishes and their curries.

Passover Feast!

2010-03-30T14:44:00.000-04:00

Usually we try to make it to Montreal for Passover but this year my grandparents were in Boca so we spent it there! We had a big ol' feast as usual. First we had the boiled egg in salt water, pretty simple. Then, matzoh ball soup with my aunt's vegetable broth. My grandmother made our Charoset:

We made farfel muffins, which are basically the same thing as matzoh brei but with way more matzoh than egg and a ton of vegetables. They are one of my all-time favorites, I posted a picture of the recipe below. I was in charge of the scalloped potatoes. The procedure is pretty simple - spread a few tablespoons of butter and a few cloves of garlic on the bottom of a deep baking dish. Slice potatoes (it's really important that they're all even thicknesses so that they can cook evenly), start with the first layer of potatoes, pour on a bit of cream, sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper and a little bit of goat cheese. Repeat this for as many layers as you want, we topped it all off with some swiss cheese and baked it for about an hour and fifteen minutes at 350 degrees. My grandmother made roasted pompano with lemon and olive oil. I also cooked up some green beans in boiling water since there was no room in the oven for them! We had a little cherry tomato salad lightly dressed with the Vineberg family vinaigrette. For dessert, my aunt made a key lime cheesecake with tons of fruit on the side!

Vegetable Sandwich

2010-03-29T17:38:00.001-04:00

I know I've been posting a lot of snacks and sandwiches, but it's Passover tonight so expect a feast of pictures tomorrow!

My dad mixed dijon mustard with greek yogurt as a spread so I used that on both sides of my bread. I then layered on thinly sliced red pepper, tomato, avocado, a drizzle of salad dressing and sprinkled on salt and pepper. We had a nice salad on the side. Veggie overload!

Smoked Salmon Breakfast #2

2010-03-26T22:40:00.000-04:00

Rosemary bread toasted with cream cheese, smoked salmon, tomato and onion = Nice Florida morning breakfast!

Popsicles

2010-03-23T16:48:00.000-04:00

It's finally the beginning of my favorite time of the year and I get to make popsicles again!!! I highly recommend picking yourself up a handy popsicle mold, I have this one. Here are a few of my favorite flavors - lychee and apricot, but cranberry is another fave.

Grilled Cheese with Tomato

2010-03-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

Grilled cheese on my favorite organic sour dough rye toasted in a pan with butter. Cheddar cheese, tomato, basil, salt. Y.U.M.

My Version of Pho

2010-03-18T20:47:00.001-04:00

I obviously had to do a whole lot of research before diving into the world of Pho and although I've never tried the dish (I've been a pescetarian my whole life until less than a year ago), I was nevertheless completely surprised to find out about the spices that go into it - namely cinnamon, clove and star anise! I read in one of Epicurious.com's recipes for Pho by Mai Pham that, "The Vietnamese believe that a meat dish should taste like a meat dish" and that, "Cooking the meat with vegetables would distort its flavor, so all veggies (except for aromatics like ginger and onion) are added after cooking." Although I respect this point of view, it is not my cooking philosophy. Needless to say, I added a few carrots and celery to the broth which, although it may have made my Pho inauthentic, made it more appealing to my own taste buds. My view of food and cooking is not (and hopefully will never be) meat-centric and I can't imagine a meaty broth without a few vegetables added to it.

Originally I planned on making vegetarian Pho, but Lucas easily convinced me to take a shot at a beef broth so we went to Chelsea Market yesterday and picked up a nice 2 pound beef knuckle bone. Mai Pham's recipe on Epicurious made a lot of sense to me, and I recommend working from this one.

Every recipe I came across made it clear that one should boil the bones for 5-10 minutes and then discard the liquid to help get rid of any blood or impurities. This step is especially important because the broth is meant to be clear, and any impurities can cloud it. Next, I charred the ginger and onions and added those to the new pot of water along with the bone, a few carrots, a few stalks of celery, star anise, cinnamon, and fish sauce. I skipped the sugar in the recipe because I knew the carrots would probably be enough to add that extra sweetness. I didn't have any clove so I omitted that. After about 3 hours, I discarded the bones, spices and vegetables, and let the broth cool off so I could remove some of the solidified excess fat. There ended up being a ton of it! Finally, I sautéed some shitake mushrooms and some bok choy. I put a bit of both in a bowl, along with some rice noodles and topped it off the the broth. I sprinkled on some mint and basil (wish I had cilantro!), and squeezed on half of a lime.

Salmon on Garlic Bread with Steamed Artichokes

2010-03-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

I made this for the first time last Spring and it ended up being one of Lucas' favorite meals so I had to make it again! First things first is to steam the artichokes.. pretty simple. Made a little vinaigrette with dijon mustard, garlic, balsamic vinegar, a splash of sherry vinegar for some extra taang, olive oil and of course, salt and pepper. When the artichokes were nearly finished steaming, I put about 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a pan with 4 chopped up medium sized garlic cloves. I let that cook for about 2-3 minutes and then spread it onto some baguette. Make sure to leave a little of the garlic infused butter/olive oil in the pan for the fish to fry in. Start the fish in the pan with a few minutes per side then it transfer to the oven to finish off. This was gooooood. Also made mojitos - lime, mint, rum, sugar, soda water.

Turn up the volume!!!

Thai Coconut Curry with Trout, Bok Choy, Mint and Rice

2010-03-09T21:14:00.000-05:00

Curry paste recipe here. Combine with coconut milk, a little vegetable broth, fish sauce, sesame oil and soy sauce. Simmer for a few minutes, then add in bok choy. Cut the fish into decent sized cubes and gently lay them into the pan. Cook with the lid on - the fish cooked like less than 3 minutes so keep a close eye on it! Serve with rice, mint, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Cannelloni Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

2010-03-08T18:02:00.000-05:00

I like to make cannelloni with fresh pasta sheets from the supermarket because its so much easier than trying to spoon the filling into dried pasta tubes (I don't have a piping bag), but since I have my lovely pasta rolling machine, I figured it would be a lot cheaper to just make it myself! I filled the pasta with a classic mixture of spinach, ricotta, nutmeg, pepper, salt and an egg. I covered the little rolls of stuffed pasta with tomato sauce and baked the whole thing in the oven for about an hour (much easier to bake it for longer than it is to par-boil all the pasta). I had a ton of dough left over so I ended up cutting it into pappardelle and freezing it... turned out that I could have just refrigerated it because Lucas and I ate it with pesto two days later!

Lucas Special

2010-03-08T17:50:00.000-05:00

Lucas thinks he invented this by himself, but I swear I helped! He makes it a lot back home but on Thursday afternoon we decided to pick up some smoked salmon at Russ and Daughters for a nice Friday morning breakfast before class.

Toast a slice of bread, spread on mostly honey mustard and a tiny bit of spicy dijon. Next, spread on avocado, lay a few leaves of lettuce down and top with the salmon. Drizzle over olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. I also like lots of pepper on it.

Another similar sandwich that I like to make is cream cheese, dijon, smoked salmon, lettuce and really thinly sliced lemon (including rind). SO GOOD.

The Best Snack

2010-03-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Macaroni and Cheese with Fresh Thyme

2010-03-04T19:04:00.000-05:00

Moosewood Vegetarian Chili

2010-03-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

My mom makes this chili a lot and I love it!!!! The bulgur is really genius as a replacement for meat. I've memorized the recipe by now and stick to it for the most part, but I used probably twice the amount of spices, chilis instead of bell peppers, and canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones.

Spicy Mexican Carrots

2010-02-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

I'm making burritos for dinner again tonight! Last time I made them, Lucas and I were eating burritos for lunch and dinner for almost a week! I made real spicy carrots this time though - thought I'd post a picture.

(for about 5 medium sized carrots)
Slice carrots and as many chilis as you want (I use two serrano) , bring to simmer with (about) 3/4 cups of vinegar (any kind is fine), 3/4 cups of water, a couple of bay leaves, 6 or so black peppercorns and salt. Let that simmer for about 3-4 minutes, then transfer everything into a small bowl and chill. These turned out great! The black beans for the burritos are almost ready and I can't wait to give my carrots a try!!

White Bean and Tomato Stew With Toast

2010-02-22T20:47:00.000-05:00

I made white bean stew for dinner last night. I've made it a couple of times but this time I added in a few special ingredients that made it even better! The recipe is adapted and inspired from this gourmet magazine recipe that I came across a few months ago.

First thing to do is to let about a cup and a half of dried white beans (navy, cannellini, etc) soak in water over night. About an hour and a half or two hours before you want to eat, bring the beans up to a boil and simmer until thoroughly cooked (this should take anywhere from one to two hours depending on how fresh the beans are).

Next, I sautéed a small onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic, 4 celery stalks and 4 carrots in olive oil. After about five to seven minutes I turned the heat to high and poured in about a cup of red wine. Next I added in about a tablespoon or two of tomato paste, and maybe half a teaspoon each of dried rosemary and fennel seeds. Once the wine cooked off for about two minutes, I poured in a large can of tomatoes and added in about a tablespoon of dried porcini powder and a tablespoon or two of fresh thyme. Let this simmer for 15 minutes, or until the beans are ready, then add the beans right in, salt to taste and let that simmer together for another 15-20 minutes.

Finally, toast up some olive oil and garlic covered stale bread in the oven. Serve topped with parmesan.

Cookie Mania

2010-02-21T11:18:00.001-05:00

It was my friend's birthday this week so I made her a batch of her favorite cookies - macaroons (not the french kind!!!). They turned out great, and although I was unsatisfied with the only kind of dried coconut I could find (It was more crushed than the longer pieces of coconut that I find to really make the texture of macaroons), they were still surprisingly delicious. After I made these, I got an urge to make banana oatmeal cookies... I sort of had to make up the recipe so I used a basic recipe for something else and then played around with what I thought might work. Even though the turned out more like muffin tops than cookies, they were unbelievable! I will definitely make these again as muffins or something like that!

Here's how to make 'em:

Ingredients

-1 cup of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 egg
-2 bananas mushed up
-3/4 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4-1/2 teaspoon
-same of cinnamon
-1 cup unsweetened coconut
-1 1/2-2 cups rolled oats (I forgot how much it was)
-vanilla

Cream the butter and sugar and salt and honey in a a bowl. Mix in the egg, mashed bananas and vanilla. The add in the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon. Combine all that up, the add in the oats and coconut. Bake in a 350 degree oven. I can't remember how long they were in for, so check them after about 15-20 minutes!

Pesto, Spaghetti and Bread Crumbs

2010-02-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

I made pesto again, (here's the last pesto post) but this time I made it with toasted buttery bread crumbs instead of roasted potatoes. I could probably be happy eating this meal, lasagna and salad for the rest of my life.

SPECIAL LUCAS EDITION: Jerked Catfish

2010-02-16T20:10:00.000-05:00

Lucas made dinner tonight and I made roasted brussels sprouts and potatoes. He used a Deborah Madison recipe for jerked chicken but adapted it for the fish, which included: onion, habañero chili, garlic, maple syrup,lime juice, all spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, olive oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. It was gooooooooooood.

Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

2010-02-13T21:08:00.000-05:00

First, I sauteed leeks in olive oil. Then added a tiny bit of dried rosemary, some chili flakes, roughly chopped carrots, celery, turnips, parsley and garlic (you could use ANY combination of vegetables). After about 5 minutes (when the edges of the vegetables started to caramelize) I added in about half a cup of red wine, cooked that off, and then half a can of tomatoes. In the meantime, I cooked about half a cup each of puy and green lentils in some water. When the lentils were ready, I added them to the rest of the vegetables along with some chickpeas, then topped the whole thing off with buttery mashed potatoes I popped the whole thing in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. I would have let the top get a little darker but something dripped onto the bottom of the oven and it started to burn! Still tasted super delicious. The chickpeas totally made the whole dish. Next time I might add in some kale.

Some of my fav things in my apartment

2010-02-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

Cute tiny daffodils that I got today:

A cool bowl that I just got from ebay:

Cute bowls that I got at a flea market in New York last year (sadly, there were only three of them!):

Embroidered radishes:

Vegetables poster:

My 3qt water jar:

Burrrriiitos

2010-02-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

Since there are NO good burritos in New York (as far as I know), I decided to make some of my own tonight. Originally they were just going to be bean and cheese burritos but something made me want to add some spanish rice to the mix. First, I soaked the black beans overnight. When I was ready to cook them, I chopped up an onion, added a ton of bay leaves, tomato paste, a tiny bit of olive oil, dried oregano, some dried smoked chilis and then covered the beans with a combination of vegetable broth and water. I let that simmer for about two hours until the beans juuust started to fall apart. For the rice, I sauteed half of a small onion in olive oil and then added about a cup or white rice to toast up. After a few minutes, I added about half of a large can of tomatoes and some water. I also attempted to make some spicy pickled carrots but opted not to cook them first. I chopped a serrano chili, about three carrots, and then added in salt and pepper, a few splashes of vinegar and a bit of olive oil. Finally, I chopped up a ton of lettuce and cilantro and served the burritos with grated cheddar cheese and sour cream. Cholula is my hot sauce of choice. I wish I had an avocado!

Minestrone Soup

2010-01-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

It has gotten soooo cold in New York, so I'm starting to make a lot of soup. Since its been getting pretty cold in New York lately, I've been thinking about soup a lot. On Friday I made Split Pea Soup and Corn Bread again (by the way, I didn't have any sour cream or plain yogurt so I used ricotta. It works great too!!).

Tonight's minestrone was pretty easy to make and it tasted gooooooood. I soaked about a cup and a half of cannellini beans during the day and then quick boiled them with a few bay leaves and half an onion. I sauteed an onion, about 4 celery ribs, 5 carrots and a few garlic cloves in oil. I use dried chili flakes in almost everything so at about this time I added in a pinch or two. In the meantime I boiled some water and poured it over a few whole dried porcini mushrooms and some sundried tomatoes. After about ten or fifteen minutes of soaking, I gave those a rough chop and threw them into the pot. I poured in about half a cup of white wine (red would have been fine if you have that) and let that cook of for about two minutes. I poured in a can of tomatoes and some vegetable broth, then threw in a parmesan rind, a ton of fresh parsley, thyme and a pinch of dried rosemary. I let that simmer for about an hour. When the soup started tasting good, I added in the beans and some roughly torn up cavolo nero (kale). At about this time I started cooking the pasta (any kind of small-ish pasta works, I used a half empty box of orechiette). When the pasta was done cooking, I spooned a nice big helping of soup into a bowl and topped that off with some pasta and a ton of parmesan.

Spinach Spaghetti with Cream, Dried Porcini, Fresh Portabellos and Lots of Parsley

2010-01-27T23:20:00.000-05:00

Over the holidays I procured over a pound of dried porcini mushrooms - possibly my favorite cooking secret. I came back to New York this week, excited to make one of my favorite pasta dishes! I had some spinach spaghetti on hand so decided to try it out. The sauce was super simple to make.
First I sauteed some onion in butter and olive oil, then added in the sliced mushrooms. After cooking the mushrooms super briefly I took them out of the pan. Put the pan back on the heat, poured in some cream, a little bit of vegetable broth and a few spoonfuls of my porcini powder. When the pasta was ready, I mixed the mushrooms back in and threw in a toooonnnn of parsley. On the side, (sadly no pictures) I made a super sour salad with sherry vinegar, dijon and olive oil. It was a nice hearty meal.

The last picture looks kind of weird, but I thought I should include it anyways.

P.S. Sorry about the ugly lighting in these pictures. Unfortunately my kitchen does not get nearly as much light as it does in Topanga.

My Favorite Sandwich

2010-01-27T23:03:00.001-05:00

I've been eating honey mustard and cheese sandwiches for as long as I can remember. The sandwich has been through many variations, but after discovering the mustard seed Gouda at the East Village Cheese shop on 3rd ave, the honey mustard and cheese sandwich has finally been perfected! Luckily, the very same cheese shop that supplies me with the cheese also supplies me with a lovely baguette from the Balthazar Bakery. I lather on my favorite honey mustard, (of which I always keep at least three extra jars on hand in the pantry ever since the discontinuation scare I experienced last year) and layer the cheese on along with a ton of romaine lettuce leaves. So simple, I know, but I could literally eat this sandwich every day.

Two angles that are basically the same but equally beautiful:

Florida Food

2010-01-25T18:45:00.000-05:00

I went to Florida with my dad last week to visit my grandparents... here are a few of the meals we ate.. some of which I did not make. I also got a chance to make tamales again - they turned out just as well as the first time I made them a few weeks ago!

Whole Roasted Pompano:

Roasted Acorn Squash:

These are my favorite plates ever. They belonged to my great grandmother!

Chocolate Pudding with Whipped Cream:

I'll admit that this isn't the best picture, but the pasta was delicious! I made cappellini with a slow cooked red wine/rosemary/carrot/zucchini/celery tomato sauce.

And finally, my very favorite raspberry torte/ cake:

I'm finally back in New York, so expect more posts soon!

Frittata

2010-01-14T15:23:00.001-05:00

With potato, onion, garlic, a jalepeno and cherry tomatoes. Plus lots of butter and olive oil.

I love making frittatas for breakfast - they're so quick and easy to prepare and you can literally throw anything you have lying around in the fridge in them.

Medium Boiled Eggs on Buttered Toast

2010-01-12T14:43:00.000-05:00

I like my eggs covered in black pepper.

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

2010-01-10T00:58:00.001-05:00

Leftover Tamales

2010-01-10T00:54:00.001-05:00

I put a fried egg on top. Ohhhh was it delicious!

TAMALE NIGHT!

2010-01-08T14:06:00.000-05:00

I spent almost all day working on these tamales and their sauces. The first was a roasted tomatillo and garlic salsa with onion and cilantro. The second was a roasted tomato and smoked chili salsa with both regular sun dried tomatoes and smoked ones. I'm not very familiar with tomatillos so the sourness was a little shocking at first, but the flavors of both sauces worked perfectly when eaten together (the richness of the tomato salsa helped balance the tang from the tomatillo salsa and the cilantro gave it a perfect coolness).
I used a Rick Bayless recipe from his website for the tamale batter and I was extremely happy with my results. I didn't use the lard, so instead used vegetable shortening and a little bit of butter. I stuffed the tamales with monterey jack cheese, roasted poblano and jalepeño chilis, and a little bit of raw corn. Super delicious.

me cooking:

Scrambled Eggs with Shallot, Chili and Homefries

2010-01-04T16:11:00.000-05:00

This was breakfast this morning. Very satisfying and much better than my Spanakopita!

Spanakopita

2010-01-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

I made spanakopita last night and made the worst mistake!!! I salted the spinach to my liking before adding the feta (which is by itself super salty!!) I was very disappointed. Next time I won't add any salt until the end!!!

Chritsmas Crepes!!!!

2009-12-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

We always make crepes after opening presents on christmas. We made the batter the night before so they were extra delicious!!!!

I like them rolled up with maple syrup, but my mom put some strawberries on hers. I was thinking about how they would be good with pomegranate, slightly whipped cream and maple syrup.

First time making/eating Brisket

2009-12-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

As you can probably tell from the rest of my blog, I don't eat meat!!! I've been testing the waters recently, and after a few pleasant experiences with beef, I wanted to make it for christmas eve dinner! At first, I was planning on making plain old steaks with bearnaise and french fries, but after trying the AMAZING oxtail poutine the other night at Animal in LA, I decided that I wanted something super tender... like brisket. So I brainstormed a lootttt of ideas for what to include in the braising liquid and finally decided on what to do. I cooked the brisket at 275 for about 6 hours today. The sauce was insane, the meat was ok to me (I come from a strictly vegetarian background and the texture is veery foreign to me), but everyone else seemed to like it! I'm hesitant to share my secret ingredients, but here's what I did (I basically tried to amp up the umami flavors of the beef with balsamic vinegar, anchovies, porcinis, sundried tomatoes and smoked chillis):

First I browned the meat in a bit of olive oil, duuhhhhh. Then I chopped up a bunch of carrots, celery, garlic, leeks and shallots and cooked that in the same pot after I took out the meat. I added a little bit of thyme and maybe twice as much rosemary, a few anchovies, two bay leaves, a glass full, maybe more, of red wine and let that cook off a bit. Then I added a of couple tablespoons of tomato paste, and can of san marzano tomatoes. Oh, while the vegetables were cooking, I brought a box of vegetable broth to a simmer with some porcini powder, mushroom stems, two smoked and dried serrano chillis, and a handful of sundried tomatoes (I chose to use vegetable broth cause I don't trust boxed meat broths). Then, I added this brothy mixture to the one with the wine and vegetables (after removing the mushroom stems), stuck the brisket back in and stirred in some balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. I braised the whole thing in the oven from about 12:30-6:30 basting it every hour or so. I served it on mashed potatoes that I made with raw cream, a couple of tablespoons of butter and about a cup of fresh parsley stirred in at the end. We also made some roasted asparagus!

My sister Kali didn't want to eat the brisket so I made her pan fried halibut with a red wine and butter sauce that was very similar to the one I made with the polenta and brussel sprouts a few weeks ago!

Parsnip and Celery Root Soup with Beet Greens and Beet Salad aaaand Roasted Sunchokes

2009-12-24T23:55:00.000-05:00

My dad came home from the farmer's market with a million vegetables so I decided to use 'em up. I made the soup with parsnips, a small celery root, an onion, tons of thyme, a little bit of cream and vegetable broth. Then I pureed it. I made a raw beet salad with a thinly sliced serrano pepper, parsley, meyer lemon, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. I let the beets pickle in the vinegar for about an hour, they would have been great overnight. Then I didn't want to waste the beet greens so I sauteed those and put them on top of the soup with a squirt of lemon juice. Oh, and the jerusalem artichokes/sunchokes were roasted in a 350 degree oven for about an hour with olive oil, salt and pepper!

Split Pea Soup and Corn Bread!!

2009-12-24T23:48:00.000-05:00

Such a good meal! Soup is a modified Jack Bishop recipe and the cornbread is aaaamped up with sour cream/yogurt!!!!!!!!!! Sometimes we (my mom and I) add chives, but not today.

Fried Rice with a Fried Egg and Cilantro

2009-12-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

Finals are over and I'm back home with the fam in Topanga so here come a lot of posts!!!

I wanted to use use the week old white rice that was in the fridge so I decided to make quick fried rice for breakfast! For some reason I've never really liked the egg mixed in with the rice so I fried it separately and put it on top instead! turned out really well - here's what I did... It ended up sort of indian style....

cooked some shallot, ginger and chillies (could have added garlic) in butter and sesame oil, then I put in some turmeric, coriander, cumin aaaand chili powder I think but I can't remember exactly. I added the rice, mixed it up and flattened it out so the bottom could get a little crispy. Did that a few times, then fried a couple of eggs and chopped some fresh cilantro! It was super delish and the cilantro really made the whole dish.

Making split pea soup with cornbread tonight so I'll be posting pics of that soon!

Polenta with roasted brussel sprouts and red wine/butter sauce!

2009-12-05T18:25:00.000-05:00

This was pretty easy to make. Cook polenta in half veg stock, half milk. Then mix in parmesan and butter when its done.
For the red wine sauce, fry finely chopped onions, a whole garlic clove, a carrot and celery in a little bit of butter and olive oil. Then add some thyme sprigs, parsley, a bay leaf and pepper. Pour in wine and veg stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Take out everything but the onion. Then, whisk in butter and add saaaalt!!
Roast the brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 degreeees til the top layer of leaves is almost burned.

GO SUSHI MART

2009-11-29T22:53:00.000-05:00

My family only eats at Go's Sushi Mart on special occasions. Go is a hole in the wall deeeep in the Valley. The walls are painted the ugliest shade of orange you've ever seen and there's really nothing aesthetically pleasing about the place, but it doesn't even matter because the food is too good. Go is the sushi chef, and apparently his wife gets the first pick of all the fresh fish in Los Angeles every morning.

I don't even know what this was. We wanted one last bite and asked for the best thing they had that day. It was some sort of white fish with preserved lemon rind, and a spicy kelpy stick on top. Salt and truffle oil too if I think... ohhh so good.

This is Toro (fatty tuna belly) with soy and gold leaf ! ah!

My favorite, scallop with sea salt, truffle oil and caviar.

Fried shishito peppers with bonito flakes! YUM!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!

2009-11-27T20:38:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was sooo fun. I made a lot of food. Here's a lil look!

Apple Pie and Bourbon Pumpkin Pie (pumpkin pie recipe from gourmet RIP) :

My Sister and Crab Dip:

Turkey:

Grilled Salmon with lemon, thyme, maple syrup and olive oil:

Biscuits, Brussel Sprouts, Roasted Vegetables:

Mashed potatoes, and others:

Sister and Mom:

Dad and Mom:

My Plate. No Turkey for me! I did have a bite though...

Our dog Shuggie gets a bite,

and our Goat Sacrifice:
(haha just kidding!)

Very delicious meal.

THANKSGIVING PREVIEW

2009-11-25T23:43:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is the best food holiday ever! Here's a little sneak peak at what's in store for my upcoming ultra big thanksgiving post!!

Pumpkin pie before I baked it:

Roasted Pumpkin:

Apples cooking in butter, vanilla, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon annd brown sugar for apple pie filling:

Cranberry Sauce:

And the baby goat we're babysitting for the weekend:

Eggplant Parmesan

2009-11-19T21:11:00.000-05:00

Homemade Ricotta+Spinach Ravioli with roasted tomato brown butter cream sauce

2009-11-19T21:03:00.000-05:00

*photos by Amanda Siegel