East Coast Tour: Part 1 NYC

Hello!  I just got back from a two week long trip to the East Coast with my mom.  First stop on our trip- New York City!  I love to visit New York and this trip was no different.  We were able to stay at the W in heart of Time Square and as luck would have it my friend A’s mom was also visiting the same time we were!  The night we got in we had a “Mommy Dinner” at Elsewhere and then A and I had drinks at the bar in the W. 

Day 1 was a visit to Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City and Afternoon Tea at the Plaza!  Not going to bore you too much with what we bought, where we went and how far we walked (one day we did 22,500 steps- roughly 7 miles!!!)- cause I know most of you are interested in the eats!!  

Afternoon Tea at the Plaza!  Classic Tea above and New York Tea below.  I need to re-create that truffled quail egg salad sandwich!  Also why are things so yummy when they are mini?   

The Plaza if you ever get a chance to visit, is one of my favorite places in New York.  Something about it just says old time elegance, I had done tea there years ago and I had always wanted to come back and take my mom.  Mission accomplished! 

We couldn’t leave New York without visiting one of my new Burger Favorites- Shake Shack!  A had even given me a gift card for my birthday!  This time I got to try their custard too! 

On day 2, we had decided to visit the 9/11 memorial, Century 21 and Chelsea Market! 

Look at all the crazy delicious stuff at Chelsea Market!  There was so much stuff I wanted to eat or bring back back home. 

These great NYC cookies were from Eleni’s, they had the most amazing cookies.  (Even a Hello Kitty!)

Mmm and the awesome chocolate chip cookie from Jacques Torres.  And one of my favorite stores- Filling Station!  Just flavored salts, oils and balsamic vinegars!  If this were our last stop, I would have bought so much!!!  (Blueberry vinegar and Honey Ginger Vinegar I am so sad I left you behind)

A trip to NY with mom is not complete without a Broadway show!   We went to see Mary Poppins, which my mom and I both absolutely loved.  This movie was one of my childhood favorites, my cousin and I used to watch it almost every single time I went over to her house.  The musical was great, it was like taking a journey back to your childhood.  I think I watched the entire show with a huge smile on my face. I am now re-obsessed with the movie and can’t wait to watch it again (and again).  

Mom and I also made it down to Central Park and the SoHo area for some more shopping.  But you know I couldn’t leave New York without making a quick stop at Momofuku Milk Bar for some cookies as well!  Mom didn’t love NYC that much, the hustle and bustle might be too big of a jump from island life in Hawaii.  Her favorite was our next stop, Boston!!

Herby No Knead Bread

I have a love hate relationship with bread.  I love it fresh out of the oven, with a pat of melted butter on it.  Is anything better?  Now that I am no longer 16, bread goes straight to my belly and thighs.  I had been wanting to make this No Knead Bread for months!  You know the recipe that went around the web 3 times and came back again.  I didn’t want to get too crazy, since I have been known to bomb on yeast recipes.  So I simply cut up some fresh herbs and tossed into this famous No Knead Bread recipe.  Can I tell you that the scent of it baking in the oven was almost more than I could bear.  The bread was perfect.  The crust was nice and crunch and the middle was soft, dense and chewy all at the same time.  I won’t bother reposting since you can find it in the NY Times and on hundreds of blogs.  I found the extra directions and cute pics at Steamy Kitchen to be super helpful! 

Success!  Can I tell you that the most exciting sound is to take this bread out of the oven and hear it crackling.  Sorry if you’ve seen this dozens of times, but I was super excited and had to document it!  =)   

With my many mishaps with yeast, I’ve learned that bubbles are a good thing.  I also learned the hard way you can kill yeast with too hot water! 

After 12 hours this was the transformation, I was so happy to see it looking that way in the morning.  Nothing is worse than seeing an un-risen blob….

Yipee!  It looks perfect.  I can’t wait to try this with other add ins, wheat flour, maybe some oats or honey as well.  I knew I was going to bake this up so I had bought an amazing container of roasted red bell pepper shallot goat cheese to spread on it.  So if you are afraid of yeast or making bread, take comfort in knowing that even I could do it- so you can too!  (Trust me it’s worth it!) 

Dan Dan Noodles

Are you all ready for the long weekend?  I’m about to embark on a trip with my mom to the East Coast.  We will be visiting New York, Boston and Washington DC.  It will be a chance to meet up with a couple of friends, see a Broadway show, see some monuments, get some QT with my mom and hopefully have some good eats as well!  I plan on bringing my DSLR with me, so hopefully I will get the hang of it and capture some great pictures!   But just in case you miss me you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook to see what we are up to or EATING!  

While I am gone, I thought I would leave you with this great dish, Dan Dan Mian!  Something about peanut sauce is so comforting and delicious.  Dan Dan Noodles is one of my favorites since it’s peanuty and spicy at the same time.  This recipe actually comes from Joanne Chang from Flour Bakery in Boston- one of the many places I hope to visit on my upcoming trip!  Since the sauce is so strong I thought that it would be a perfect match for my favorite Shirataki Noodles!!   

Dan Dan Noodles
adapted from Food and Wine

1/2 lb. ground pork
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 Tbsp. grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. green onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. Sriracha
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1 tsp. honey (or sugar)
1 1/2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken stock (or water)

Noodles (I used chow mien and Shirataki but you can use any noodle)

1.  Heat a skillet and add in ground pork, 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce and season slightly with some salt.  Using a wooden spoon, cook ground pork and separate into crumbles.  *Most likely you don’t need to add any oil since there is enough fat in the pork.*

2.  Using a slotted spoon remove pork from the pan and drain on a paper towel.  Remove 90% of the fat from the pan.

3.  Add to the skillet the minced garlic, ginger and green onions.  Sautee for a couple minutes.  *It will smell crazy good!!*

4.  In a small bowl mix the remaining ingredients together (peanut butter, sriracha, honey, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, rice wine vinegar, chicken stock).  Once roughly combined add the mixture to the skillet.  Let simmer for a couple of minutes till it starts to thicken and add the pork back in.  *Did you see all that oil that I saved you from?  Aren’t you happy you drained the pork now?*

Servings: 3, Calories: 252, Total Fat: 18.6 g, Carbs: 5.2g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 16.4g
*Nutrition for sauce only*

Serve sauce over hot noodles and garnish with green onions and peanuts.  This sauce is so yummy with a nice touch of spice in it.  It’s great over chow mien and it’s a great sauce to put over Shirataki noodles.  A little of this sauce goes a long way on noodles since it’s flavors really pack a punch!  

Apple Pear Crisp

Recently I helped to host one of my good friend J’s baby shower!  I have known J since the 7th grade and growing up we lived about a mile away from each other.  We both ended up going to the same college, became roommates (with two other awesome girls) –where she introduced me to Brie cheese!!! and both stayed in Los Angeles after college.  Her and her husband are also my tailgating buddies, so when I heard there would be a new addition to our tailgating crew I was beyond excited. 

I teamed up with J’s sister to plan a fun but laid back shower.  We went with an Olivia the Pig as our theme (J loves piggies) and decided to tie dye baby t-shirts!  Can you guess which one I made?  

Olivia the pig is the cutest, sassiest pig and she seems to love the colors red, black, white with some pink accents.  So I got to crafting and made some Olivia themed decorations to tie everything together.  
         

                     

I also volunteered to make the favors!  I had originally wanted to make some kind of fruit crisp in a tea cup and saucer (so cute!!) but the practical side of me won out as I wondered what people would do with a random tea cup and saucer in their cabinets.  I went with a more practical coffee mug, since I reasoned that everyone could take it to work.  It worked out well cause they also got way more Apple Pear Crisp!  I decided to use an Ina Garten recipe and have reposted it here for you!  

Apple Pear Crisp
recipe by Ina Garten via Food Network

6 apples (any baking apple I used Jonagold)
4 bosc pears
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. orange
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

Topping

2 sticks cold unsalted butter, diced (1/2 pound)
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp. salt

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel, core and cut the pears and apples into large even sized chunks.  Place fruit into a large bowl and add in the zests, juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Pour fruit into a 9x12 baking dish or 8-10 individual sized dishes.  *I made this batch in coffee mugs and a couple of ramekins, if you do this just adjust baking time.  Also don’t be afraid to pack the fruit in tight, they will shrink down during baking!*

2.  For the topping, combine the flour, oatmeal, salt, sugars and butter in a bowl.  Mix ingredients until mixture turns into large crumbles.  *You can do this with an electric mixer or by hand with a fork.*

3.  Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over fruit mixture. 

4.  Place baking dish(es) onto a sheet pan and bake for 30-35 minutes (for individual containers) or 50 minutes in baking dish.  The top should be brown and the fruit should be bubbly.  Serve warm.

I sampled a cup right out of the oven (I couldn’t give everyone bad crisps as a favor!) and it was sooo good.  The apple and pear were an excellent combo together and the crisp was delish!  Next time I make this I am going to grate some ginger in with the apples and pears since I think it will complement the flavors nicely.  Maybe even some caramel bits, a little caramel never hurt anyone did it?  I tied these up using cute black and red ribbons, the perfect favor to take home with you.  One minute in the microwave and the guest is in heaven!  

Note:  J delivered a healthy adorable baby girl this week!  Welcome to LA baby Mila, can’t wait to hang out and get to know you.  =) 

Truffle White Bean Dip

The other day my friend A asked me if I had tried the Truffle White Bean dip from Whole Foods yet.  She had me at the word truffle, my interest was peaked, especially since I love any kind of dip or hummus.  A told me it was delish, especially when paired with pretzel chips.  For a few days the description of the dip stayed in my mind, so I decided rather than go from Whole Foods to Whole Foods in hope of finding it, I would make my own!  It was the best decision I made that week, it could be yours too.  This dip is so simple and tasty you will fall in love with it.  Thanks A for your great find.   

These pics are the first that I’ve taken with my new DSLR.  Please bare with me as I stumble around and figure out how to use all the functions it offers.  Any tips and tricks people want to share are also appreciated!   

Truffle White Bean Dip
inspired by Whole Foods

1 can Cannellini beans
1 lemon
1.5 Tbsp. Truffle oil
1 tsp. truffle salt
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan
pepper

1.  Take four cloves of garlic, with skin on, drizzle with olive oil and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  *You can roast a whole bulb, cause who doesn’t love roasted garlic.  I just did the 4 cloves in my toaster oven.*

2.  Rinse the cannellini beans and place in food processor or blender.  Add the zest and juice of one lemon, truffle oil, truffle salt, roasted garlic and parmesan cheese.  Blend the mixture until all ingredients are finely combined. 

3.  Season with pepper (or any other fresh herbs that you like) and mix in the yogurt. *I added some fresh sage on top and it was so good!!  I’m sure basil, rosemary and any other fragrant herb would be great as well.* 

Servings: 6, Calories: 145, Total Fat 5.2g, Carbs: 19g, Protein: 7.8, Fiber: 4.3g. 

Serve with veggies, pita crackers, pretzel chips or any kind of dipper you like.  It was also amazing in a sandwich wrap that I had during the week.  I subbed the mayo for this flavorful dip! 

Chicken Pot Pie

A month ago my friend MC and I went to a Chicken Cooking Class at Epicurean.  We had bought a great deal from Groupon and this was one of the classes we were interested and that we both could make.  You may be thinking Chicken, I can cook chicken?!  It was a simple class, but we learned so much in terms of technique as well as we left with 10 awesome new chicken recipes. 

One of my favorites, which I wasn’t even interested in when I read it was on the menu was Chicken Pot Pie (CPP).  Oh CPP how I misjudged you, I forgot how comforting and simple you are!!  How a layer of buttery puff pastry, creamy gravy and tender juicy chicken could be so good.  Sorry to say that I don’t really have nice pictures of the finished product since I took this dish over to my friends house for dinner.  My friend K and I were visiting the new mommy; keeping her company with the baby while her husband was out of town.  Between her cute dogs, the adorable baby and the heavenly smell coming out the oven the dish went from stove to our tummies pretty quickly! 

  It may not look pretty here, but how could you not love all that puff pastry goodness??

Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from Epicurean

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp sage
2 oz butter
2 oz flour
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup half and half
8 oz frozen peas and carrots
salt
pepper
1 box of puff pastry, defrosted

1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

2.  Sautee onions and celery with the herbs with the butter until the veggies are softened. 

3.  Slowly add in the flour, stirring and cooking the flour down.  Then whisk in the stock and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil and thicken. 

4.  Add the cream, then the chicken and the peas and carrots.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until chicken is just done.  *If you wanted to make this the night or day before you could stop at this step and refrigerate or freeze this mixture.  I did this a day or two before I had to go over to my friends (so I wouldn’t make a mess in her kitchen) and it came out great!* 

5.  Pour mixture into a casserole dish (circular or rectangle is fine).  Lay 1 to 2 layers of the puff pastry over the casserole dish (depending on size of dish) and cut several slits in the pastry to allow the steam to escape.  Trim excess puff pastry as necessary from over edge of casserole dish. 

Note:  We used a rectangle dish at the new mommy’s house, which gave us lots of yummy puff pastry but less fillings.  This recipe would fit perfectly in a round casserole dish and be covered by 1 sheet of puff pastry.  If you are feeding hearty appetites but want to make it in a rectangle casserole dish, you may want to double or do an 1.5 portion of the filling recipe above.   

I only had this a couple weeks ago, but I want to remake it!  I tried to lighten it up a little bit by using half and half instead of cream.  I want to make individual serving size portions and try adding other veggies in there as well.  Even though we are moving into spring and warmer weather, this dish is so comforting it will still put a smile on your face (and in your tummy). 

Asparagus Yogurt Quiche

Spring time is here!  That means a whole new slew of vegetables and fruits are popping up at the farmers market.  The other day when I was walking through the farmers market by my work, I couldn’t resist and I had to buy the leeks and asparagus!  I wasn’t really sure what I would make with them, but when I went home all the ingredients seems to quickly come together into this beautiful spring quiche.  I think I was so excited, that I forgot to take pictures along the way… But this recipe is so easy, you won’t need the extra help.   

Asparagus Yogurt Quiche

1 whole wheat pie shell
12-15 stalks of thin asparagus
15 grape tomatoes
1 leek
1/2 potato
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup plain yogurt
4 eggs
olive oil
salt
pepper
nutmeg

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Lightly beat eggs and yogurt, season with salt and pepper.  Mix in parmesan cheese and set aside.

3.  Thinly slice leeks and cut asparagus into small pieces.  Heat a skillet with olive oil and mix in leeks and asparagus.  Season with salt and pepper and cook until slightly softened. 

4.  Wash and peel the potato and cut into thin slices.  Lay down potato slices on top of the pie crust in a circular pattern. 

5.  Lay leek and asparagus mixture over the potatoes.  Slowly pour the egg mixture over. 

6.  Bake for 45 minutes, check for doneness. 

This dish was super fresh and reminded me of spring.  One of the things I love about quiche is that you can eat it anytime of day.  Since I live alone (and doubted that the Brazilian would like this), I ended up having this for breakfast, lunch and dinner!