pots and pans and panna cotta

While I was back at home, I visited a wonderful place called Shanghai Street

I say wonderful because anyone who’s been there knows that it is kitchen heaven (and that’s wonderful to me)! The entire street is shop after shop of pots and pans and plates and bowls and spoons and knives…any kitchen gadget you could ever need (and plenty more you will never need) can be found on Shanghai Street.

This last picture is especially fun because I took it at a shop called “I Love Cake.” Yes, I do! I purchased four pretty little tins at this store and couldn’t wait to come back and use them.

I suppose you could make anything in a flower-shaped mold but I knew from the minute I purchased them (4 for $2 US. That’s right!) that I was going to make a panna cotta.

It’s such a sophisticated sounding dessert and since I am striving to be nothing but the most sophisticated chef, I knew panna cotta was it.

Panna cotta is by definition cooked cream.  It’s an Italian dessert with origins from the North.  Here’s my super simple take on a delicious dessert…

~Hazelnut Panna Cotta~

What you’ll need

• 1 qt heavy cream
• 1 13-oz jar of nutella
• 1 satchel or 4 sheets of gelatin

What you’ll do

• Bring your cream and nutella to a boil in a saucepan

• Meanwhile, place the gelatin in about 1/4 cup of water and let it reconsitute for a few minutes

• When the cream begins to bubble take it off the heat before it spills over (be careful because this will happen fast!)

• Add the gelatin and mix until it has melted into the cream
• Pour into glasses for an easy, ready-to-serve dish or use molds like I did

• Chill in the fridge (covered) overnight for best results

The picture doesn’t do the panna cotta justice.  It is smooth and creamy and so rich! Definitely my first choice for a dinner party dessert…it’s so easy!

sugar & spite

Spite…

According to dictionary.com spite is “a malicious, usually petty, desire to harm, annoy, frustrate, or humiliate another person.”

Also defined as “bitter ill will.”

Today, spiteful is how I felt.  I was full of spite.

To account for all the bitterness, I figure a sweet recipe would balance things out nicely.

It’s what makes the world go round, really. Balance, that is (although sugar, and spite for that matter, play a fairly significant role too).

OK, enough of the philosophies.  I’m feeling spiteful and yes, a bit of sugar makes me a little less bitter (who knew).

And now I want to share that little piece of happiness with you!

Chocolate toffee cookies. Dedicated to spite.

This is 1/2 stick of butter and 1 cup sugar with one egg and a splash of vanilla, creamed

And this is 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, salt and baking soda

Here is the secret: english toffee (preferrably Almond Rocca) and semisweet chocolate

Mix it all together

Set out heaping teaspoons onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 8-10 minutes

Eat!

So long, spite.

eaten! @the meatball shop

I’m a big fan of specialty shops.  When a restaurant tells you it makes one thing and one thing alone, I think it’s fair to assume (and expect) that the one thing better be pretty darned good.

You can imagine my joy when I heard about a new specialty shop in the LES selling meatballs, and meatballs alone.

It’s actually kind of a genius idea.  Minced meat at wholesale prices has got to be next to nothing.  Paired with a couple standard mass-quantity sauces, a fully stocked bar and you’ve got yourself a specialty shop also known as ka-ching!

The Meatball Shop | The meatball one-stop-shop

Ordering at The Meatball Shop was almost like a game.  It was as if you were to match up the meats to the right sauce, and choose the best serving (meatball on a plate, meatball as a slider).

The options were quite enticing: spicy pork, good ole’ beef, chicken, salmon, veggie and a “special” of the day – which happened to be lamb.  I’m a little curious to know what else could possibly be made into a meatball for the rest of the week’s daily specials…

Even the desserts were a game of matching! Choose your cookie on the left and pair it with the right ice cream on the left.  Now that’s empowering your customer!

First to the table were my spicy pork meatballs with the traditional tomato sauce.  I was a little disappointed as the website said you could pick 4 different meatballs per plate, but I think the reality of one table potentially ordering 4 or more different combinations of meatballs was a bit too cumbersome.

So what’s the verdict? Did the meatball shop have good meatballs?

Well, yes.  They were quite tasty.  But after my 3rd one I started to get bored…maybe I should have tried another sauce? Darn…this game is hard!

Following the meatball plate were the meatball sliders.  There was beef with meat sauce, lamb with creamy mushroom, and spicy pork with traditional tomato.  The meatballs were all cooked well, but again, there wasn’t anything special about what we were eating.  They were just…meatballs.

I guess it’s not like they lied to us!

Unfortunately, the waiter didn’t quite get our order right (despite having it written down for him) and we ended up with two lamb meatballs instead of one chicken one lamb.

The options for sides was a fun bonus round.  We decided on two starches (mashed potatoes and risotto).  The creamy mashed potatoes may have been my favorite dish of the night! The risotto was overwhelmed by parsley and not much else.

Dessert at The Meatball Shop was definitely a winner (or perhaps we were winners for picking the right ones).  Our selections were chocolate chip with espresso ice cream and ginger with vanilla.

Both were chewy and ice-creamy all at once.  No meatballs here, but I think that was a good thing.

Overall I think The Meatball Shop makes a decent meatball, but I would make the ordering process a little more flexible…and possibly easier for the waiters to read?

2.5 stars out of 5 for The Meatball Shop.

gnocci with homemade pesto

Today I decided to forget the stress of the outside world and make a nice little homemade meal for myself.

Thinking that homemade pasta was a bit ambitious, I stuck to buying some gnocci from the store and settled on creating my own special sauce.

~Potato Gnocci with Basil and Arugula Pesto~

What you’ll need

• 2 cups of packed fresh basil
• 1 cup of packed fresh arugula
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 dried red chili peper
• 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts (or pine nuts)
• 1 1/4 cup of grated pecorino romano cheese
• lots of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do

• Start by putting your fresh greens in a blender (or food processor) with the garlic and dried chilli

• Blend everything together until pulpy.  Then add in the nuts.  I used walnuts because for some strange reason, pine nuts at my grocery store were $5 for a tiny bottle!

• Blend again until nuts are coarsely ground.  Then add in your cheese.
• Now comes the fun part.  Turn the blender/processor on and through the top, steadily pour in your olive oil (about 1/2 cup at a time), stopping to scrape down the sides periodically.

• The oil should act as a lubricant and really get your ingredients blending together.  I added about 1 1/2 cups, but you can vary the amount depending on the consistency you want.
• End with a touch of salt and pepper to taste.
• Voila! Easy homemade pesto!

• Top one tablespoon over a bowl of freshly boiled gnocci, grate some cheese over and enjoy!

To store, either keep it in an airtight container for a week or fill an ice cube tray and freeze (good for up to one year!)

hui lau shan: mango world

I’ve been back in the US for exactly one month, today.  I’m not sure if it feels like time has flown…or crawled…

I am sure that I miss HK incredibly and the busy streets of Causeway Bay, Central and Sheung Wan – where I spent most of my time.

I miss walking by a Chinese bakery and stopping for a fresh, crumbly egg tart.

Or picking up some roast duck on the way home, to eat it with fresh steamed rice and sticky sweet plum sauce.

(not my photo)

And I certainly miss stopping in on my favorite dessert bar after a long day of shopping.  Hui Lau Shan, the “healthy” dessert shop, serves drinks and desserts created around one magnificent ingredient (which also happens to be my favorite fruit): Mango!

From mango jelly served over mango ice cream to sago balls in mango “soup,” there is an unlimited number of yummy combinations at Hui Lau Shan.  And the best part is all the fruit is fresh, not frozen.

You know you found a keeper in HK when the after school crowd never seems to go away (even as late at 10 pm)!

A popular choice, and my favorite, is a drink of mango puree, chunks of fresh mango, and aloe jelly (pictured in front)…

Other variations of the drink are mango with mango jelly and mango juice (right) or mango with mango jelly, pomelo and coconut milk (left).

And to compliment my mango drink is my favorite dessert, mochi stuffed with pureed fresh mango..

Chewy, sweet, slight taste of coconut sprinkled on top, ah so refreshing!  The shop also sells light snacks like turnip cakes, gyoza and warm dessert soups for winter.  You could spend hours in there…many do!

Check out the fun website (your cursor will turn into a mango!)

mom’s bread recipe

For a while now I’ve wanted to try making my own bread.  There’s something so self-sufficient about it that really appeals to me.

I’d always imagined bread to be one of those really complicated things to make with lots of expensive equipment required and nothing but very specialized bread-only ingredients.

I never thought that with a few everyday ingredients and a loaf pan you could have a loaf of bread as good as any store bought brand!

My mom is the master of simplicity in the kitchen, so I’m glad I started my bread experience with one of her recipes.  So easy for anyone to try!

Here’s what you’ll need for a good loaf of whole wheat bread

• 2 cups white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp yeast
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water (make sure your water isn’t too hot or cold, this is very important!)

What you’ll do

• Start by mixing together your flour, salt, sugar and yeast in a large bowl
• Add in the olive oil and water and combine

• Put out your mixture onto a clean surface
• Kneed the dough mixture for about 8-10 minutes or until it is smooth

• Grease your mixing bowl and put the ball of dough back in the bowl.  Cover and let it rise for about 1 hour.  Make sure that the temperature wherever you are keeping the dough is warm, otherwise it won’t rise.  This is very important!
• After an hour, your bread should have doubled

before

after

• Remove the bread from the bowl and kneed the air out of it.  Mold the dough into a greased loaf tin and leave for another half hour to rise again
• Once the dough has risen, put it into an oven that has been preheated at 425 for about 20-25 minutes
• Take out your bread and let it cool for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack to cool

• Slice and store!

everyone should have a menage a trois on their birthday

Monday was Zack’s birthday.  If you’re concerned with where this story’s going, it’s not what you think…

For someone who loves burgers so much, I knew immediately what we were going to eat for the birthday dinner.  Burgers!

However, I couldn’t just take him to any old burger joint in the city.  I wanted something classy yet laid-back, sophisticated yet delicious. I wanted the best burger in NYC!

I did a couple internet searches for “best burger NYC” and you wouldn’t believe how undecided New Yorkers are about where to get such a simple thing.

Of course, Shake Shack consistently rose to the top of everyone’s lists, but I couldn’t take Zack to an outdoor hut for his 24th…

I looked at quite a few menus, and alas, none were really that inspiring.   That was until I came across this short but sweet burger selection at Daniel Bouloud’s DBGB Kitchen and Bar:

THE YANKEE
6 oz beef patty with iceberg
tomato & vidalia onion on a
sesame bun, essex st. pickle, fries
(add some bacon to that and we’re set!)

THE PIGGIE
6 oz beef patty topped with daisy mays bbq pulled pork jalapeno mayonnaise & boston lettuce on a cheddar-cornbread bun with mustard-vinegar slaw, fries
(droool…)

THE FRENCHIE
6 oz beef patty with confit pork belly
arugula, tomato-onion compote
& morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun
with cornichon, mustard & fries
(pork belly and arugula on a burger?! done and done.)

THE MENAGE A TROIS
all three burgers with the works

As soon as I saw the menage a trois, I was sold! All of those burgers sounded delicious, so to have the three as one item on the menu (i.e. no judgement cast), genius!

See? And you thought I had a dirty mind, didn’t you?

As we waited for our burgers to arrive, we had ourselves some imported ales (they had an amazing selection of beer) and enjoyed an appetizer of spicy italian sausage with slow cooked fennel and tomato…

The mellow sweetness of the fennel complimented the spicy/sweet sausage so well! It was juicy and crisp, and so wonderfully tasty.  I almost wanted to cancel the burgers and try all the other sausages on the menu (there are 14 to choose from, all made in-house). Almost.

Finally, the main event arrived…

Let me show you that again…

Yup. That’s deliciousness on a bun.  All three burgers were pretty distinct and pretty darn good.  I had a hard time settling on a favorite, while Zack pretty easily said he liked the Yankee best (of course) and then the Piggie followed by the Frenchie.

The Yankee was a classic burger – meat, tomato, cheese, bacon – so there’s no going wrong there.  If it weren’t for the thick-cut bacon on this burger, I wouldn’t have given it a chance.  But one bite of the crisp, smokey bacon made me swoon!

Beyond that, the Yank wasn’t very special.

The Piggie, I decided, was my favorite.  Pulled pork, slaw, jalepeno mayo…so good!

The Frenchie was the underdog (er burger) in this menage a trois with its arugula and horseradish mayo. I enjoyed the fresh crunch of spicy arugula, but wished I could taste the pork belly confit more (it got lost in the richness of the meat and cheese).

And as if three burgers, one sausage and two beers wasn’t enough for two people, we ordered dessert to boot.

Little did I know that they were also going to bring out a dessert in honor of the birthday boy, so we ended up with two!  It was a gluttonous night to remember…

The birthday boy blows out the candle…isn’t that cute!

The sundays were:

COFFEE-BOURBON
caramelized pecans, brownies, bourbon gelée
coffee tuile & whipped cream
(you had me at caramelized pecans.)

MINT-CHOCOLATE
chocolate sorbet, truffles, cocoa nib crunchies
chocolate chip cookies & whipped cream
(mm…I like truffles…)

So there you have it! The birthday boy is one year older, and we are all just a little bit fatter. Happy Birthday Zacky Pants!

yellow cake to remember

I bought a quart of buttermilk the other day to make that delicious toffee pecan coffee cake, and after the bars were all baked and gone – I was left with nearly a full quart of buttermilk.

Now, buttermilk isn’t one of those ingredients you can just pour into any old dish.  Sure, you’ve got buttermilk fried chicken…and yes, there’s buttermilk pancakes…

But what’s a girl who’s trying to cut back on fried chicken (yes, I eat it that often), and who likes to munch on granola for breakfast to do with a quart of buttermilk?

Apparently, put it in cake!

I wasn’t searching for this recipe, but when I saw that it contained buttermilk, I considered it a sign that I had to try it.  That plus 100+ rave reviews was a pretty persuasive argument.

Moist Yellow Cake

What you’ll need

• 3 cups of cake flour (if you don’t have this, use all purpose flour but replace 6 tbsp with 6 tbsp of baking soda)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar (you could cut this down by 1/4 cup)
• 5 eggs (yes, 5….you might not want to make this too often)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

What you’ll do

• By now we know the drill, right? First mix together your dry ingredients – flour, baking powder and salt
• Separately, beat your butter with a mixer until it is creamy and pale (this will take a few minutes)
• Add in the sugar, 1/4 cup at a time and continue to mix until well incorporated
• Add your eggs, one at a time
• Pour the vanilla into the buttermilk
• Mix the flour and buttermilk into your butter alternating between wet and dry
• That’s it! Simple and quick
• Pour into the cake tin of your choice and bake for around 20 minutes (less if using smaller cake tins) at 350

Strange to say, while baking, the cake smelled just like a boxed cake mix – almost too perfect!

But it was probably just the vanilla that enveloped my flat with warmth. So delicious!

The result is super moist and very soft.  A bit dense (perhaps regular milk, or one less egg could fix this), but definitely one of the better yellow cake recipes I’ve attempted (not out of a box).

Bacon, onion and gruyere tart

I’ve come across this on a few menus over the years, and yesterday I had a craving for the savory, sweet dish.

I found a pretty simple recipe online (thanks, epicurious) and gave it a shot…the outcome? You tell me!

Bacon, mushroom and caramalized onion tart with gruyere cheese

What you’ll need

• 1 box frozen puff pastry
• 1 medium sized yellow onion
• Thick-cut sliced bacon
• 1 box of mushrooms (I used shitaki)
• 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Gruyere cheese, sliced
• fresh thyme
• salt/pepper
• another egg yolk (mixed with some water as a wash for the pastry)

What you’ll do

• First take out your puff pastry to let it thaw
• Mix together your ricotta cheese, sour cream, oil and the egg yolk

• Next render some fat off your bacon.  Drain and store for cooking your onions and mushrooms.  Continue to cook the bacon until it is crispy
• Keep your bacon, and reheat the rendered fat and sautee your onions and mushrooms until soft, adding your thyme, salt and pepper a few minutes before done
• By now, your pastry should be thawed.  Roll it out a bit and use a knife to draw a border 1/4 of an inch away from the edge (be sure not to actually cut the pastry, just pierce it)
• Smooth a layer of the ricotta mixture onto the pastry, being careful not to go over your quarter inch border

• Add a layer of the mushroom and onion mixture, repeat

• Top whole thing with slices of gruyere and crispy bacon
• Put your tart in the oven for about 35 minutes at 400

The tart will puff up and your filling will sit snugly within that border you made.  Feel free to substitute the ingredients (try adding some goats cheese after it bakes instead of melting gruyere, omit the bacon and try using a few different varieties of mushrooms.)

bringin’ it back with pecans

Hello there,

It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote to you all, and I’ve decided to put an end to the silence!

Let’s blame it on jet lag, a temporary adjustment phase…

While I may not have been writing any posts, I sure have been cooking up a storm in my kitchen.  Unfortunately for my neighbors, I have an ultra sensitive smoke alarm so any wisp of burnt bacon or toasted pecans and the thing rattles on for a good 5 minutes.

Let’s just hope they don’ call the police on me next time.

I’m not going to innundate you with all the silly little things I’ve been cooking up (lets see, there’s been more granola, some chicken stock, my very own pickles, a few attempted dinner recipes…).

But there is one special treat that I baked two nights ago (and by night I mean it! I’ve been known to stay up til midnight or later baking to my heart’s content on more than one occasion) I put together some kind of wonderful, moist, sweet and chewy-and-gooey-all-at-once cake.

Thanks to a very easy to follow recipe found on epicurious, I am happy to say that I’m bringin it all back with:

Toffee Pecan Coffee Cake

What you’ll need (or just follow the recipe here):

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar (I used 1/4 cup…it’s a lot of sugar!)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick, room temp)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• About 1 cup of chocolate covered toffee bars (like heath or almond roca..mmm)
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp baking soda (I used about 1 1/2 tsp baking powder which worked fine)
• 1 cup buttermilk (the secret weapon)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

What you’ll do:

• First, beat the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, butter and salt together with a mixer.  Be sure not to over-mix the ingredients (this can cause extra gluten to form in your batter which can detract from the taste and consistency of your baked goods)

• In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup of the flour mixture with your pecans and chopped toffee

• Then, you’ll add the “wet” ingredients to the flour mixture, including the baking soda (OK, not a wet ingredient, I know), buttermilk, egg and vanilla
• Mix everything until it’s just combined (again, don’t over-mix!)
• Then pour your flour batter into a greased pan of your choice

• Top with the pecan and toffee crumble

• Bake in a preheated oven (350) for about 35 minutes or until it looks like this…

• Don’t forget to let it cool before you cut it up and serve.  This also keeps really well, so enjoy it the next day (or the day after that even). Enjoy!