Ok, so I admit this is a horrible way to start off the new year. A blog should have words, not just photos. But currently, I am tired. Trust me, I have plenty of resolutions (or rather intentions) and one of them is to follow through and grab the bull by the horns (interpret that however you'd like). However, it's Wednesday and I just spent the last 9 hours of my day staring at a screen. So, rather than give you some nonsensical ramblings of the past two weeks I spent home in the Bay - here is my visual summary:
A schmorgesborg of local Bay Area cheeses, breads and homegrown greens
Christmas Method X prime rib
Our traditional Temple Solael Christmukkah latkes, made by yours truly
Homemade dan dan mian
Beef pot pie, made with the leftover prime rib
Dim sum take-out with my Gung (holding down the table like a boss)
Goodbye dinner at the newly reopened Great China, in Berkeley
And there you have it! Happy 2014 everyone!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Most Eggcellent
We have this tradition at work. And that tradition is breakfast. Every Wednesday we take turns pairing up to provide a team breakfast to share with the rest of our department. Typically we get the rotating Dunkin Donuts bagels, or donuts from Jewell. But then there are some of us, myself included, who take it to the next level. The ones who go above and beyond because we love food, good food, and we love sharing and talking about good food.
This week was my turn. I chose to do an egg bake (or an egg casserole for those who like to be fancy). I had to feed about 15 people so it was a good thing I had two dozen eggs in my fridge. First things first, bacon. Bacon always comes first in my book. I took a full pack of bacon, diced it into little bite size pieces and fried it up in my largest skillet. I cooked it all the way through until it was dark and crispy, leaving it to dry on a bed of paper towels.
Next, I got the oven going at 350F and caramelized a full red onion. I added a whole bag of spinach once the onion was caramelized and turned off the heat to finish cooking. I'm really not a fan of soggy spinach, plus it would cook a bit more in the oven later with the eggs.
I should note that I made two separate egg bakes, as I have one co-worker who cannot eat gluten and another who does not like goat cheese (for some unimaginable reason that I can't seem to comprehend) I took turns beating one full dozen eggs in the bowl, then six eggs separately for the smaller batch. Beating the eggs, I added about 1/2 cup of milk, herbs de Provence and salt + pepper. Now, I don't think this is essentially for all bakes, but I had some leftover garlic potato bread from Little Goat which I thinly sliced and based the 13x9 pan with. I then poured the egg mixture over the bread and then sprinkled the spinach, onion and goat cheese evenly throughout the egg. I left the bacon for the end so it was sitting on top and could stay as crispy as possible. Place in the oven and cook for 25-30 min or until the egg stops jiggling.
Yes, I have been Slacking and I blame grad school... But a bonus of grad school is I am not ashamed to continue to take advantage of Birthright and have them front the bill on delicious eats for me and my beautiful friends. I got ambitious this time around and decided I could cook for 12 people all on my own which meant it was an all day cookout while I jammed out to some Sly and the Family Stone radio on Pandora. In my mind it looked something like this, but with a spoon in my hand:
In reality, I probably looked a lot more like this chick:
I was expecting a vegan guest (ewwwww) so I decided to be accommodating and make a couple of vegan dishes he could enjoy. The menu I came up with:
Drinks
Margaritas, Strawberry Margaritas, wine and beer
Appetizers:
- cheese (Delice de Bourgogne)
- Homemade guacamole
- hummus and pita chips
Main course:
- Black bean salad (vegan)
- Potato salad (vegan)
- BBQ chicken sandwiches (not-so-vegan)
- coleslaw
Dessert:
- Peach crisp with vanilla ice cream
First thing I had to do was cook the potatoes for the potato salad. The potato salad ingredients are:
- 12 red or yellow/golden potatoes
- one red onion
- 6 celery stalks
- balsamic dressing
- salt and pepper
I used a mix of red potatoes and golden potatoes to make it more colorful. These potatoes have less skin and boil easily, perfect for a delicious potato salad. I 'cleaned' them off then put them in a pot of water on the stove and turned up the heat. I let them boil for about 30 minutes or until I put a fork in them and they were soft, but not falling apart soft. I then drained the potatoes and let them cool. Once they had cooled down enough for me to touch them without burning my fingers I chopped them into nice bite sized pieces (not too small, but small enough to fit in your mouth), and threw them in a big bowl. Next I diced the red onion and celery and threw them in as well. While the potatoes were boiling I prepared my home-made balsamic vinaigrette. For this I usually take an old jar, put a large spoonful of Dijon mustard (preferably Grey Poupon cuz' we classy), then pour in enough balsamic vinegar to cover the mustard. I then throw in a dash of soy sauce, salt and pepper, a minced clove of garlic, a little honey, and for this potato salad I decided to throw in some dry thyme. I then add about 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Put the lid on the jar, and shake until it is all mixed in. Do a taste test and make sure you got your measurements right. The last step was mixing the dressing into the potato mixture and adding some salt and pepper to taste, and voilà delicious 'vegan' potato salad. Weirdly this is an old family recipe and it never occurred to me it was vegan. I have always loved this salad, it is delicious and refreshing, and you don't have to get weighed down by tons of mayo.
The next dish was the black bean salad. I have always loved black bean salad, but never tried making my own so I decided to give it a go. I found a recipe online and worked from there. The ingredients (serves 12):
- 15 ounce can of black beans
- 4 ears of corn (or a 10 ounce can of corn)
- 8 green onions
- 2 jalapeños
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 avocado
- 3 tomatoes
- 1 cup of chopped cilantro
- 1 lime
- italian style dressing
Basically all this took was throwing everything in a big bowl and mixing it up. It turns out its super easy! :) The only complication was that I decided to use real corn instead of canned corn so I boiled some water in a pot and threw 4 ears of corn in there for 4-5 minutes. I cut the corn off the cob and threw it in the bowl with the black beans, diced onions, minced jalapeños (add less if you are sensitive to spice/make sure you remove the seeds from these babies). I used a yellow bell pepper instead of the recommended green because I like them better, but use whatever color you like. The only note I would make is to add the avocado at the end so that it doesn't get super squished, or leave it out and make guac instead, all good options. For the italian dressing I improvised a bit and made a dressing with some rice wine vinegar, a little chili powder, garlic, italian herbs, and olive oil. I thought it was delicious. One thing is that I dressed it before everyone arrived, I would wait until you are going to serve it so that it doesn't get too watery. The lime juice you can squeeze on whenever you feel like it. It is a pretty little salad, and yes vegan friendly for you egg and dairy haters out there.
The final step was the coleslaw and BBQ chicken sandwiches. These were incredibly easy as well. First the coleslaw:
- 6 cups shredded cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3/4 cup scallions/green onions
- 4 tbls mayo
- apple cider or white vinegar
- 2.5 tbls. spicy brown mustard or dijon mustard
- honey and optional horseradish (although if you use dijon this has horseradish in it)
I got the shredded carrots and cabbage at Trader Joe's so other than that I just diced some onions and dressed the stuff. Easy-peasy.
The chicken too was simple:
- 2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 large thinly sliced white or yellow onion
- 1 18oz bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or preferred BBQ sauce)
- Hamburger buns
Basically I just put the chicken in a pan, covered it with the chopped onion and BBQ sauce and threw it in the oven. The only problem was that by the time I decided to put the chicken in the oven, I had had a few beers and some margarita so instead of setting the oven to the recommended 325 degrees I set it to 250 and by the time I realized this it had already been about 30minutes so instead of taking like 1h10min to cook, it took like 2hrs, no big deal.... It turned out delicious anyway, but if I did it again I might use a little less BBQ sauce or a less-sweet variety. This is what it looked like before going into the oven:
Let's just say I forgot to take a picture of the final product. Everyone was pretty hungry by the time I took it out of the oven and it went fast. So while dinner was delicious try not to be this girl when you are hosting a dinner party of 12:
Or maybe do, she's kinda awesome... But don't be like me and forget to make dessert. The crisp ended up as sliced peaches with ice cream because I was just hella tired after cooking all day, let's be real.
No time for puns or jokes here. This bird is just too damn good.
Chicken Ingredients: 1 whole roasting chicken 2 tbsp truffle salt 1 fennel root (I don't know what the measurement is on this but it's one root) 1/2 stalk of celery 2 large red onion 1 lemon Handful of herbs de Provence (or thyme as a po' man's substitute) olive oil to rub the chicken sea salt + pepper to taste Preheat oven to 400F Cook at 400 for 1 hour, last 15 min turn on broiler to crisp the skin One of the most important things I've learned in my late 20s is that roasting a chicken is nothing to be afraid of. I used to be extremely intimidated by the thought of tackling a whole bird, but really it is so much easier than I find it crazy that it took me this long to figure it out. I also have a crockpot and have slow cooked that sucker all day long, but I actually prefer roasting in the oven. You get the same tender, moist (yes, I said it) meat but you also get the crispy skin! After you discard the yucky bits and wash the bird, pat it dry so the oil and spices will stick. Now really, you can put whatever you want into the bird cavity. This time I had extra fennel so I shoved that into the bird's hole with celery, one of the onions (halved), the celery stalks and the lemon (squeezed and halved). After he was stuffed to the brim, I used a knife and some unflavored dental floss to suture the fatty little bird. Hopefully you will have some more legit tools to use, but if you don't - dental floss works wonders! I also used it to tie the wings and legs together. I believe this is to help keep the moisture in, but I'm not entirely sure it serves a purpose. (It's just the proper thing to do. Legs always together, a lady reveals nothing...) To get that crispy skin and moist meat - think of the chicken as a turkey. You want to brine it with the salt. Start by drizzling olive oil over to get a good slick base. Then take the sea salt and rub it all over and especially under the skin. I probably used about 1-1.5 tbsp worth to get a good coating. Keep in mind my truffle salt is also quite salty so I was careful not to overdo it. Then comes the pepper and herbs de Provence. Once the bird is evenly seasoned, place in the oven at 400F uncovered. After 45min (depending on your oven) I turned the broiler on to brown the skin for the last 15. Here is how mine turned out:
Now, hopefully you have some sort of idea how to carve this thing. Luckily I mastered my poultry carving skills in Brooklyn Thanksgiving '08 when no one else knew how to do it and I just had to "wing" the whole thing (har har). When in doubt, just follow the bones and wait for something to crack. If you literally have no idea, I guess just have at it with your bare hands. Like a natural-born-human. Cauliflower Mash Ingredients: 1 head of cauliflower, chopped into big chunks 1 small red onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese 2 tsp olive oil salt + pepper to taste Italian parsley and chives to garnish The trick to this mash is to not add any liquid. I made this mistake the first go-around and it was quite the disappointment. Begin with sauteeing the diced red onion, garlic and cauliflower together in a frying pan. After the onions brown a bit and the cauliflower absorbs some of the garlic flavor, add a small amount of water into the pan cover and let the cauliflower steam. Be sure not to overcook the cauliflower otherwise it will be too soggy. I prefer a chunky mash to a puddle of mash. When the cauliflower is cooked to your liking, add all contents of the pan into the food processor. Add the parmesan and pulse until the chunks of cauliflower are no more. Through your little hole in the lid (the feeder tube?) add the olive oil slowly until you get the consistency you desire. Add salt + pepper to taste and garnish with parsley and chives. BOOM.
6 whole beets, quartered (I buy the pre-cooked from Trader Joe's, Costco etc)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of pistachios
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of arugula (for kick - optional)
salt + pepper to taste
*I don't like following directions that much so these are approximate measurements. Be your own guide. Fly free!
I really love Buzzfeed. I hate to admit how much, but it's just great. So imagine my excitement when I realized they have a Buzzfeed Food page. This article came up about how many different things you can turn into pesto and this was by far the most interesting recipe to me. I absolutely love beets. Some people say they taste like dirt. Oh well, I guess I just like dirt. The original recipe for this pesto came from Eat, Live, RunNot so sure about the "Run" part, but I see what they're getting at. I'll just stick to the eating and living part.
Sidebar - I recently just bought a food processor which has become my new life partner. Several of the recipes to follow will probably be featuring said processor. It is seriously the best kitchen friend I have ever had - it makes things so much easier! Go get one, you will not regret it.
There isn't really a whole lot to this "recipe" as it just consists of throwing things into the processor and pulverizing the shit out of them. I started with the beets, rinsed and quartered to make the blending a bit easier on my BFF. Then added the garlic, pistachios (no need to roast unless you're feeling ambitious), parmesan, lemon juice and olive oil. Now, a real chef may tell you that it's better to add certain things at different times because the flavors will blend better or it affects the viscosity of the beets, etc. However, since I am not one of those, I just did it this way. Now, pulverize away. At this point, I could have stopped here but I felt like it was just lacking a bit of something. Here comes my other best friend, Arugula (sshhh don't tell Beet - but really, she knows...) I added the arugula as a last minute impulse. It very well could have ruined the whole thing (how? I'm not really sure but I feel like I needed to just say that) but it turned out to be the perfect missing piece. Now, blend again. Naturally, salt and pepper to your liking and then you have your beet pesto!
Tonight, I paired my beet pesto with gluten-free elbow pasta. Normally I would make normal human pasta but tonight I was feeling extra earthy (hippie) and decided to give it a try. Partner that with your favorite side, wine, what have you et voila!
[First and foremost, to understand this title reference please refer to 11:20 in this YouTube clip] Spring has officially sprung and it's time to get this blog back into action. To be quite frank, I'm embarrassed at how long it's been since the last post. Big thangs have popped since 2011. Latke has left and returned from Africa and is back in NYC to pursue post-grad achievements at Columbia. Lil Wonton has since moved to Chicago for personal pursuits. But despite her neglect for this food blog, her love (obsession, really) for food never waned. For you and I, dear food, are meant to be together. It's written in the stars....(OK, enough. Please don't get scared and close this tab.) Part of me thinks the first post in two years would warrant something a bit more "special" than your average chicken. However, a few beers in and I felt compelled to cook/clean out the fridge which also lead to the this-would-be-the-perfect-time-to-crack-back-into-that-food-blog-I-once-had-many-moons-ago thought. So yes, we find ourselves here. With a six pack of Racer 5 and my guilty conscience for a neglected blog and fear of spoiling perfectly good chicken breast. We start with the Israeli couscous salad. As the weather rises, I refind my love for salads. I'm not really talking about lettuce, but cold noodle salads, couscous salads and the like. (FYI - sesame noodle salad post coming shortly so get ready.) At first thought, Israeli couscous might sound a bit too exotic, but really, you can find it at any Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. The one I buy is from Trader Joe's in the purple box. What you want to start with, is browning it on the stove with a bit of olive oil so you get a nice color. While that cooks and then cools, prep your veggies. My go-to's are diced Persian cucumber, red onion, Italian parsley, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts/almonds and your favorite salad dressing (nothing creamy or too heavy - you want to keep it light and fresh for Spring/Summer). Prep is the most time consuming part. But when you're done, it sure is purdy (see below)
Mmmm Racer 5....
And den....once the couscous is done and cooled, mix all that together with your favorite dressing. Sometimes I make a simple vinaigrette but tonight I used a rosemary lemon vinaigrette I picked up at Whole Foods. Toss it together, and add the nuts last. It's best to keep them toasty and crunchy. I took my pine nuts and broiled them for a hot minute in the oven, then diced them up and added them to the mix. End product...
Next stop....chicken. I had some frozen chicken breasts that I recently defrosted then forgot about. So before they went foul (teehee), I felt like I needed to do something with them. I also had some leftover bacon (seems weird to say, no?) so decided to bacon-wrap the chicken breast because....well, because that's just what you do. I really should have just stopped there. But then I remembered I had breadcrumbs and grated parmesan in the fridge. So we breaded that sh-t. (MMHMM!) Before wrapping the bacon around the chicken, I lightly season-salted and peppered the chicken breasts. Then, the exact order I executed was wrapping, egg washing, breadcrumb/parmesan mixture dabbing/patting. Not sure if this order is traditionally kosher, but this is what seemed to make sense in my head. Ok, so wrap that chicken like a lil babay. Bake in the oven at 425 for about 30 min and you shall have a lil sumpin sumpin that looks like this:
So there you have it! Chicken and Israeli couscous salad. I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but uh...
gnocchi with pork sausage, spinach and pesto. thanks Trader Joe's!
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but it turns out the Trader Joe's gnocchi is...not so bad. I've been craving gnocchi lately but have been too lazy to make it from scratch. While I was on the train coming back from work, I started brainstorming ideas for dinner (as I often do). Gnocchi with fennel sausage, pesto and spinach perhaps? Luckily we live 2 blocks away from a legit Italian butcher. Shout out to Los Paisanos on Smith Street! Woot woot! (Can I have some free meat now please?) Los Paisanos doesn't mess around. These guys have nearly every kind of meat and cut that you would ever want, and their prices are pretty damn reasonable. I picked up some Italian berkshire pork sausage meat to go with the gnocchi, and two extra sausage links. Cause, you know. Why not? This is a fairly simple meal to throw together. The gnocchi cooks in about 5 minutes so while I was waiting I sauteed up some fresh minced garlic and diced onion, then threw in the sausage meat. When the sausage is cooked through, I turned off the heat and added three big handfuls of spinach and stirred until it was completely wilted. Then I added just a touch of marinara sauce for liquid and a bit of acidity. But I wanted the base of the sauce to be pesto, so I added some of TJ's jarred pesto and mixed that all together. At the end, I threw the gnocchi into the pan with the sauce to fully coat each little gnocchi baby, and finally plated with some freshly grated asiago and some basil leaves. Not bad for a 10 minute meal. Do eet!
Summer is officially here. It's currently 95 degrees in the city, and climbing to 102 tomorrow. The smell of summer (stench of garbage, really) is wafting through the streets of New York City. But with the heat, comes the sun and the instinctual urge to grill. So far, this summer has been all about grilling and squeezing in as much outdoors/beach/pool time as possible. Fourth of July was a beautiful day this year. Perfect for making ribs two ways! I decided to buy a rack of baby back ribs, and another rack of spare ribs just to spice things up a bit this year. I chose to slow cook the baby backs in the oven with some yellow onion and a simple dry rub of salt, pepper, herbs de provence and a touch of garlic powder. I started in the afternoon, putting them in the oven at 300 with the door slightly open. If your oven can be set lower than this, I'd recommend setting it as low as 200 and just letting it go for 4 hours or so. To conceal all the juices, wrap the ribs with parchment paper so they're nicely bundled and then cover with tinfoil. The end product will be a deliciously juicy, fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth party. I personally don't like to cover my ribs in BBQ sauce, but if that's your thing, go ahead and slather on your favorite sauce at the end to give it a nice coating. The spare ribs I decided to experiment with, using a hodgepodge of assorted sauces and ingredients from the fridge. I started off with a base of Soy Vey (the most essential ingredient to the mix), blended with some leftover kalbi Korean BBQ marinade, Worcestershire, freshly minced ginger, green onion, spring onion (I picked up from the Farmer's market that weekend), salt and pepper. Luckily in New York City, every apartment is equipped with a balcony (or fire escape, whatever you like to call it), which helps create the illusion of a temporary escape from the metropolitan smog and congestion of the city. Your personal BBQ oasis should look like some version of this:
contrary to some comments, those are onions. not noodles. i'm not THAT asian.
Plated with some veggies and a side - my favorite is Israeli couscous salad with fresh veggies and a light vinaigrette - and your meal is complete. Mmmmm ribs....
spare ribs with swiss chard, israeli couscous and, of course, a sierra nevada summer ale.
Last weekend we had the privilege of joining some friends to their family's summer house at Fire Island. The island was sublime, complete with personalized wagons and beach cruisers to ride from shore to shore. And like any perfect beach house, they had a gas grill that we took full advantage of. Aside from the amazing wonder that is meat, vegetables are also a lovely summer treat to grill. Veggies are so in right now. Particularly asparagus. One of my favorites that often gets overlooked due to its notoriety for creating foul smelling...breath. There was only one general store on the island so we made sure to bring appropriate groceries and meats to grill. Our mothers would all be proud to see that we did NOT neglect our veggies!
Someone also had the brilliant idea to slap a fried egg on top of our burgers. The result, was bliss.
In addition to stuffing our faces, we also tanned on the beach, swam in the bay and amused ourselves with a diving board for several hours. It was a successful weekend getaway from the city, and a very much needed break from life. But most importantly, what we took away from this mini vacation is to not take yourself too seriously. And to ALWAYS play with your food.
Scouring the city for the finest ball in New York...
The meatball. A delectable meaty star that is often overlooked and under appreciated. This weekend we decided to go on a hunt for the best meatballs in New York City. We chose three locations to explore the plethora of meatballs the city had to offer. We began in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn at one of the oldest butchers/delis in New York, G. Esposito & Sons. They had some delicious looking meats and baked ziti in the deli case, but of course we opted for, "three meatballs please!" Each ball was about the size of a baby's fist - they really don't mess around here - and were drenched in their homemade marinara. The first bite and you're immediately overwhelmed with flavor. The meatball itself is quite dense but the quality of the beef keeps it tender and juicy. And the marinara added just enough contrast and acidity without overpowering the star of the show. The sauce was sweet but not too sweet and complimented the meatball ever so delicately.
I planned a trip home to California in February in the hopes of skiing for a few days and holding on to a tradition I love. After buying my tickets, my brother announced that I was conveniently going to be back for the kick off dinner of A Moose Bouche, a culinary masterpiece event. The five course meal was held in a secret location disclosed the night before the event. The event was a five course meal, each course paired with one of my brother's wines. My brother is one of three wine makers at Idle Cellars, a small wine label he created a few years back. I am terribly spoiled, his wine is amazing. His experience has truly led me to believe in the hipster motto that "the bigger the mustache, the better the mentor". OK, that's not a real thing, I made it up, but it wouldn't surprise me. The vintner he learned from did have the best mustache I have ever seen.
The event was 'dress to impress' so after getting all done up in my best cocktail dress and heals, we set out for the anonymous location. We arrived at the address given and were directed through a motorcycle garage complete with mechanics waxing down some bikes. After being guided by the man of the hour through a side door we found ourselves in an old Biker bar with three very large dining tables, a bar full of Idle wine and flamenco gitarists in windows above. After greeting friends and being handed a glass of champagne, we sat down to a table where we were presented with some communal plates of grapes on the vine sauteed in olive oil and rosemary couple with a delicious local sheep's milk cheese. The meal went on from there in flawless fashion as described on the idle cellars blog:
Warning: This might potentially give you a heart attack, but it would be well worth it...
I came across this recipe online on a site called the Noble Pig. The name alone is what drew me in. Mmmm...pig.... But the photos were what kept my eyes glued to the screen. In my opinion it's really hard to make a bad mac n' cheese. Much like it's difficult to make a bad mashed potato (which surprisingly I've had, and is not a pretty sight). But there are some mac n' cheese recipes that completely blow your mind that you just have to have it right then and there. This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of those recipes.
Here's what you'll need for your gluttonous fatty fat fest: (easily serves a family of 12-14, or 4 hungry fatties)
7 tbsp of unsalted butter (that's right, 7tbsp + extra for greasin')
1 lb of pasta (you could go traditional here and do elbow macaroni, but I chose pasta shells)
*1 large chicken breast, seasoned and cooked (10-12oz)
1 lb of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb of shredded pepperjack cheese
1 small onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of buffalo wing sauce [or bbq sauce mixed with Tapatio, which is what I used]
2/3 cup of sour cream
2 tsp dry mustard
2 1/2 cups of half and half
2 tbsp of flour
1 cup of panko crumbs
2 tsp of parsley, diced
1/4-1/2 cup of blue cheese, parmesan (or whatever topping cheese you'd like)
*The original recipe called for 1 lb of rotisserie chicken but I wanted to season my own chicken and I actually thought 1 lb of chicken was a bit excessive for this recipe. So I bought a skinless boneless chicken breast and seasoned it with seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper and a dash of herbs de provence. Bake it in the oven for 20 minutes at 400F. When it's done, take a fork, shred the chicken and set aside.
When you're feeling ready to gorge yourself, grease a 9x13 baking dish with some butter and preheat the oven at 350F. Boil the pasta in a large pot until it's a nice al dente and then drain and set aside. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat with 3 tbsp of butter. Throw in the garlic, celery and onion and cook until soft (don't completely overcook it though because you still want some crunch to the celery). After a few minutes, add in the shredded chicken and cook until the chicken heats up again. Next, throw in 1/2 cup of buffalo wing sauce and stir until the chicken mixture thickens. Set aside when finished.
Here comes the cheesy deliciousness. Take a large saucepan and melt 2 tbsp of butter over low heat. Add in the flour to make the roux and stir until it creates a paste. Add in the dry mustard and mix til it's pastey yellow. Stir in the half and half with a whisk, and slowly add in the cheddar and pepperjack and heat on medium until all the cheese is melted down. When the shredded bits start to disappear add in the sour cream and stir until smooth. Finally, throw in the remaining 1/4 cup of buffalo sauce.
And now, it's bakin' time! Take half of the pasta and spread it across the baking dish. Top with the shredded chicken mixture and then the rest of the pasta. Now, take your saucepan and pour that hot cheese lava all over that bad boy. Bowchicka bow wow! For the topping (the best part), melt the remaining 2 tbsp of butter in the microwave and toss with the panko crumbs, parsley and cheese topping and sprinkle that on top of the dish.
my heart hurts just looking at this, but it's oh so good...
When you're finally done taking photos/drooling over/ogling the mac n cheese, place it in the oven on the center rack and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cheese starts a-bubblin'. If you take it out of the oven and the sheer sight of the slightly browned and deliciously melty cheese mixture makes you want to immediately face plant straight into the dish, then you know it's done. But please resist for 5-10 minutes before serving. A burned tongue (not to mention burned face) would ruin your entire evening, so proceed with caution. Once you assess that the cheese is no longer boiling lava hot, dig in and enjoy!
Not so much food related, but life related nonetheless. Thanks Latkewitz for this enlightening article! I'll take this as a sign that we're one step in the right direction: The Happiest Man in America
I don't know why it's taken me so long to try to make this on my own. This is an incredibly easy recipe and the outcome is absolutely delicious. Pad See Ew is my go-to Thai dish, and we're fortunate enough to have an amazing Thai restaurant just a block away from our apartment. However, if you're looking for something fun and easy to cook, this is it! You may need to venture out to your local asian market to find some of these ingredients, but trust me...it's worth the trip. The key ingredient to this recipe is finding the right rice noodle to use. There are a few different types but the most important thing is to use fresh rice noodles.
just another day in Chinatown's Deluxe Food Market
After wandering around confused and overwhelmed at Deluxe Food Market on Elizabeth St, I found a homemade fresh broad rice noodle. I grabbed a 1lb bag which came in two big noodle pieces which I later had to spread apart and cut into smaller strips. There are also prepackaged noodles you can buy that are already cut into smaller pieces, but you will still need to spread them apart or maybe heat them up a bit before adding them into the wok. You'll also need: 6-8 stalks of gai lan (Chinese broccoli), 1lb of flank/skirt steak, 3 cloves of garlic, dark soy, light soy, brown sugar, fish sauce, white wine (or plum sake if you're a fancy asian), cayenne and black/white pepper. Back in the kitchen, the first step is to prepare your noodles. You may need to heat them up if they're all stuck together and won't come apart easily. It's up to you to decide how big you want the noodles to be. In my opinion, the bigger the better. Heyyyy. Now set the noodles aside. It's optional to marinate the beef beforehand. But the longer it sits in the marinade, the more flavor you'll get. The marinade goes a lil' somethin' like this: a generous drizzle of light soy sauce (2-3 tbs), an equal part of white wine, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced, salt and pepper. Let that sit in the fridge while you prep/cook everything else.
broad rice noodles, cut them into strips before cooking
To make the stir-fry sauce: take a small bowl and combine 1tbsp of dark soy sauce, 2tbsp of light soy sauce, 3 tbsp of fish sauce, 2 tbsp of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp of cayenne, 1 tsp of black pepper and a dash of corn starch to thicken. When you're ready to start cooking, start by cooking the beef first. You want to cook it until it's browned and a nice medium-rare (you'll cook it more later with the rest of the ingredients). Set aside the beef. Heat the wok with 2 tbsp of oil and 1 clove of minced garlic. Throw in the Chinese broccoli and cook until the leaves are wilted and the stalks are slightly tender.
wokin' the gai lan
Spread the greens aside, creating a hole in the middle of the wok and crack 2 eggs into the center. Scramble the eggs until they're cooked but still slightly gooey. Start folding the eggs into the greens and then add back the beef. When you have a good mix going on, throw in the noodles and stir. Take the pre-made stir-fry sauce you set aside earlier and throw that on top of the noodles. Mix together well and cook until the noodles are tinted brown from the soy mixture. Plate and serve with a lemon garnish. And uh...squeeze that lemon onto your pad see ew. Trust me, you won't regret it.
I think I'm going to have to pat myself on the back for this one. Well done, Wonton.
Prime rib is a rather old school tradition. And this somewhat rare oldie just happens to be one of my absolute faves. As many of you know, my family and I frequent the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco on a regular basis. (Shout out!) But when you live on the other end of the country, you need to harness those survival skills and figure out a way to make do on your own. So without further ado, I introduce you to a surprisingly simple yet outstanding recipe for a homemade rib roast that rivals even the House of PR! (gasps) The Method 'X' recipe is designed to give you the most perfect medium rare prime rib, for a smaller size rib roast (3-5lbs, 2-3 ribs or so). This technique is essentially searing the roast in the oven at 500 degrees for a short period of time, then shutting off the oven to let it continue cooking in the remaining heat to reach that juicy perfection. Warning: These instructions are only for a medium rare temperature, so if you're one of those well done beef eaters, please avert your eyes. And might I add - really? Well done? Not all grocery stores will have rib roasts that you can buy in small quantities (if at all). But if you're lucky enough to live near a Costco, a butcher shop, or have internet access there's always a way to get your hands on one. I ordered mine from FreshDirect.com. It arrived Saturday morning: 4.6lbs, 2 ribs and as advertised, extremely fresh. The first step to this process is allowing your roast to sit out at room temperature for at least 4 hours, depending on the size of your roast. Some even leave theirs sitting out the night before to let it gradually reach room temperature. This step is essential because the meat needs to be at room temperature before you place it in the oven, otherwise your math will be off and it will not cook properly. Preheat your oven to 500 F. While the meat is resting on the counter you'll want to make your rub. The rub will create a deliciously seasoned crust to your roast while also adding a mouthwatering aroma throughout your house while the meat is cooking.
The rub consists of: 1/2 stick of butter (softened), 1 tbsp of cayenne, 1 tbsp of salt, 1 tbsp of black pepper, 1 tbsp of herbs de provence. Mix this together well and coat the roast before sticking it in the oven. Once the roast is room temperature and glistening with your buttery rub, place that bad boy on a roasting pan and throw it in the oven, center rack y'all. Now, here comes the math. The amount of time it cooks will depend on how big your roast is, cooking the roast 5 minutes for each pound that it weighs. (i.e. a 4.6lb roast would cook 23 minutes exactly [4.6 x 5 = 23]) DO NOT ROUND when calculating this time! Decimals are ok, do not be afraid of them. Set your timer for the exact calculated time and shut the oven door. (Side note: check back in a few minutes and you'll be able to hear the sizzle of the butter and juice on the pan :) Once the time is up, turn off the oven but DO NOT open the oven door. Let that baby sit in there while the heat winds down and finishes cooking the beef to perfection. The roast needs to sit for an additional 2 hours after you turn off the oven. If you're bored, go make some sides or watch TV, but whatever you do - no peeking! When the buzzer goes off your roast should look a lil' somethin' like this:
Swoon!
garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts make for some lovely accompaniments. as well as horseradish (not pictured, but eaten nonetheless)
* Note: For those with a meat thermometer, the interior temperature of the roast should be 120F for medium rare. If for some reason the roast is still undercooked after you take it out of the oven, simply place it back in at 325F and cook again until the temp reaches 120F. Don't worry, it'll still make you drool all over your plate.
** Second note: To make the au jus, take the trimmings from the roasting pan and heat it over the stove adding a few cups of water or beef broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer. Serve over the prime rib as pictured above.
On a recent trip to Asia, this little wonton lost her inhibitions and yes....cheated on her boyfriend. Her lover in crime? Cambodian streetfood.
Siem Reap, Cambodia was not at all what I had expected. After years of fantasizing about Angkor, I found that it did in fact live up to all of the hype. It truly is a magnificent and magical place. The town of Siem Reap however left an unpleasant aftertaste similar to the morning following a night of heavy drinking and body shots. Come to think of it - is that what happened? The popular "Pub Street" is the focus of the town's center cluttered with overpriced restaurants and Western-style clubs with DJs spinning til the wee hours of the night. (Keep in mind I mean "overpriced" in relative terms to other cities in Asia where you can get a plate of noodles for $3. The restaurants on Pub Street instead have the audacity to charge $10 for a plate of noodles! Shame shame) Forget all that touristy hullabaloo! The best spot to to be is on the street. About a dozen restaurants fill the center of the old market area with lawn chairs and folding tables serving up some of the freshest seafood and most delicious curries. Which restaurant did we end up choosing? The restaurant with the ladyboy waitress. We sat down and immediately got a big bottle of Angkor beer. The rest of our meal would be decided by whatever description made us salivate the most. The end result: stir fried flat noodles, fish amok curry and some of the tastiest spring rolls you'll ever have.
fried flat noodles
I'm pretty much a noodle whore. And I've had quite a number of noodle dishes seeing as how I'm Chinese and we Chis like to have a banquet dinner for practically every family event possible. And what do those banquets always end with? Noodles. My favorite is the broad wide noodle - I loves me some chow fun - and this dish was a delicious and flavorful cousin of the noodle I know and love. Complete with egg, morning glory (which is god) and a light heavenly brown sauce that adds just the right touch of melt in your mouth goodness.
amok fish curry
Amok fish curry is a traditional Khmer dish with coconut milk, ginger, tumeric and other spices. It's simply wonderful and you must have it.
And these little diddies to my left were perfectly crispy spring rolls filled with chicken, vermicelli noodles and vegetables. The best way to eat them is wrapping them in lettuce and dipping them into the fish sauce. The best part about this whole meal? It was all under $10 including our beer! Siem Reap, I think I'll be seeing you again quite soon. In fact, why did I ever leave you, my sweet?
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Cauliflower Mash Ingredients:
However, since I am not one of those, I just did it this way. Now, pulverize away. At this point, I could have stopped here but I felt like it was just lacking a bit of something. Here comes my other best friend, Arugula (sshhh don't tell Beet - but really, she knows...) I added the arugula as a last minute impulse. It very well could have ruined the whole thing (how? I'm not really sure but I feel like I needed to just say that) but it turned out to be the perfect missing piece. Now, blend again. Naturally, salt and pepper to your liking and then you have your beet pesto! 
