Tag Archives: Food

A Sunday Filled With Muffins and Tacos is a Good Sunday…

9 Jan

I’ve had a first for the new year… I baked muffins!  That’s right – I don’t think I’ve ever baked muffins before.   Yesterday my friend Wendy came over and she was eating a delicious pumpkin muffin and there on the spot we got inspired and decided we were going to bake muffins.  I checked out my handy Cooks Illustrated: The Best New Recipe Cookbook (everything I make out of this cookbook comes out great – I highly recommend it!) and found a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry Muffins.  I had most of the ingredients on hand and off we went!

The blog Stylish Cuisine already outlined this blueberry muffin recipe here – but we made a few little tweaks out of necessity… and a sense of adventure.  

First, I only had shy of one cup of blueberries (I’ve been eating them with my cereal in the morning) – but I did have some blackberries… so we threw those in with the rest of my blueberries equaling about 1 1/2 cups of berries overall.

Then – I only had one cup of sour cream (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups), which I had bought for the tacos I was making for dinner).  Oh well… we threw that cup of sour cream in and then decided to add 1/4 of a cup of ricotta cheese, which I happened to have in my fridge from making turkey burgers the other night.  I figured – hey… it’s dairy, it’s yummy, I don’t want want it to go to waste – why not?

Well – I don’t know what these muffins would have tasted like without our little tweaks – but MAN – they came out DELICIOUS!  Oh – and when I went to get the ground cinnamon out of my pantry for the topping, I realized I didn’t have any.  But I did have some cinnamon sticks.  So I used my zester and made myself some freshly-ground cinnamon and wow… grating the cinnamon fresh like that is amazing!  It smelled SO good – much more intense than the usual store-bought ground cinnamon.

Here is a pic of one of our beautiful muffins… light and fluffy, perfectly moist, crumbly on top, with a nice coat of crunchy cinnamon sugar – YUM.

Cinnamon Sugar-Dipped Blueberry/Blackberry Muffin

 

Then came dinner.  One of our favorite dinners is TACO NIGHT!  I used to just buy those taco kits in the supermarket with the powdered seasoning mix and the taco shells – but after I looked at the ingredients on that seasoning packet I was determined to ditch the packet and do it up from scratch instead.  Here are the ingredients to the seasoning that comes in the box:

Maltodextrin, Salt, Chili Pepper, Onion Powder, Spice, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Corn Starch, Yellow Corn Flour, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil (otherwise known as Trans Fats), Silicon Dioxide (Anticaking Agent), Natural Flavor, Ethoxyquin (Preservative).

Bad news!!

So I found this recipe (I honestly don’t remember where I got it!) and scribbled it on a piece of paper and I’m telling you… it makes the most delicious tacos.  And now we’ve subbed lean ground turkey breast for ground beef and I actually feel like it’s a healthy meal (and we CRAVE it)!  Try it out… you won’t be disappointed!

  • 2 tsp vegetable oil (I typically use canola)
  • 1 small onion chopped fine
  • 3 garlic cloves minced (I often press them in the garlic press – easier)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 lb. ground turkey breast (I use lean ground turkey breast raised without antibiotics)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce (I use Cento San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes) and squish them – it’s fun.
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth (I use organic)
  • 2 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp brown sugar

Directions:

  1. Heat oil over medium heat – add onion and cook until softened (stirring around so it doesn’t burn) – about five minutes
  2. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne and salt and mix together with the onion.  Cook until fragrant (smells DELISH) – about a minute.
  3. Add turkey and break apart and cook until no longer pink – about 5 minutes
  4. Add tomato sauce, chicken broth, vinegar and brown sugar and bring to a simmer
  5. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered, stirring frequently until thick and no longer liquidy about 10 minutes

That’s it!  Now – measuring out the ingredients might take a few minutes… but when I put them all in little ramekins, I feel like a TV chef and it’s fun.  And then once everything’s measured, you just throw it all in the skillet and it’s done in no time.  And it’s so much more delicious – and you don’t get that super dehydrated feeling from all the salt and MSG and there’s no trans fats to make you fat and eventually give you heart disease!  Score.

Usually, I heat up a can of fat-free refried black beans and put together some toppings, which include:

  • sour cream
  • chopped up avocado
  • chopped tomatoes
  • shredded lettuce
  • shredded cheddar
  • salsa
  • Frank’s Red Hot 

This time, I had used up my sour cream and my avocado wasn’t ripe – so I skipped both of those and I must say – I didn’t really miss them.  I might continue to skip the sour cream in the future because it just adds extra fat (and I go full-fat with my sour cream because I hate the low-fat or fat-free – they taste nasty to me).

Oh – and finally, this time, we bought these amazing white corn tortillas from La Tortilla Factory brand and Adam heated up them up in a little oil (next time I want to try doing it without the oil).  They were the perfect vessel for our delicious fresh turkey tacos!

If you end up making either of these (muffins or tacos) – do tell me what you think!

Anyway – happy Monday everyone.  Looks like it’s going to be another fairly mild week in New York.  Yay.

xo

 

 

 

Birthday Lunch at Jean Georges… Utter Deliciousness.

5 Jan

Happy 2012 everyone!  I’ve got to say the year is off to a wonderful start!  It’s only January 5th and I’ve already had a sublime birthday, involving one of my top five best meals of all time (I’ll go into food detail in a moment) and our dear friends Brette and Ben got engaged!  SO EXCITED for them!  Meanwhile, I’ve been working on my list of thirty-three things I want to do while I’m thirty-three.  I’m not going to share the entire list here – but I’ll give you some highlights:

  • Get my Brooklyn Library card and get into the library system (in NY, you can apparently “hold” books online and then have them sent to your nearest library branch) – I’ve just been buying a lot of books and I need to really rediscover the library – especially with the arrival of the little one!
  • Make my own baby food – my friend Amie just got me this awesome book called Baby Gourmet by Jenny Carenco.
  • Work on a baby-themed photo project – I already have one in mind and am excited to get started!
  • Take amazing pictures from our baby’s early days and actually make albums/photo books out of them (instead of leaving them forever in my computer library!!)
  • Buy a new camera lens – probably a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8
  • Start an Etsy shop for my photography and link it to nellsdish
  • Blog at least three times a week
  • Get a big cushy area rug for our apartment (preferably ivory/natural color and SHAG!) – I’ve been obsessing over this purchase for about a month now.
  • Read Eat to Live - my dad read this book and it has completely transformed him.  He has adopted amazingly healthy eating habits and feels fantastic.  It is inspiring to watch.  My only issue is that he told me that the book says cheese is pretty much the absolute worst food for you.  I don’t know if I can get behind that.  But at least I can read it! :)
  • Take a trip to St. John 
  • Get both Adam’s and my skin checked by a dermatologist (just an annual check-up of sorts – to be safe)

So that is a taste of my goals for thirty-three.  I’m not actually done with my list yet – but just mulling this stuff over and putting it in writing feels like a meaningful exercise and I’m sure it’ll help me focus on the things that are important to me in the year ahead.

Now onto the really good stuff… FOOD!

So – on my birthday, Adam surprised me with a lunch at Jean Georges – a restaurant on Central Park West owned and operated by world-famous chef and restauranteur Jean Georges Vongerichten and one of only seven three-Michelin Star restaurants in all of NYC (I’ve been to three of the seven… I think that is another goal to add to the list!).   As you can imagine… this was the perfect gift for me. Way to go hubby.

Now – I didn’t bring my camera along (with my extra pregnancy weight I’ve been less inclined to carry around my camera bag lately) – but we did take photos with Adam’s iPhone in order to share the dining experience with you.

Here is an interior shot of the dining room:

Jean Georges Interior

The lunch started with an amuse-bouche:

Amuse-bouche – Similar to but not to be confused with hors d’oeuvre. This is a tidbit, often tiny, served as a free extra to keep you happy while you are waiting for your first course to come. It gives you an idea of the chef’s approach to cooking and the restaurant’s attention to your appetite.

[From French, literally, "mouth amuser", from amuser (to amuse) + bouche (mouth).

In this case - we got three little amuse-bouches and they definitely did amuse our palates and get us excited for the meal to come:

A bite of Lightly Smoked Raw Salmon Wrapped Around Cucumber with a delightful Creme-Fraiche Topping, a Spring Roll filled with Truffled Goat Cheese and topped with Honey and a shot of Sweet Potato Soup with tart little Apple bits and Pumpernickel Croutons.  YUM.

Amuse Bouche

Then came the soup – one of the highlights for me (though everything was pretty much a highlight):

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

Parsnip Soup with Coconut, Lime and Mint

I love the way they served this soup.  The bowl came with just the Coconut froth and the the lime foam and then they poured the parsnip soup on top.  I tasted each element individually – the coconut froth was amazingly creamy and milky – I could have eaten it for dessert.  And the lime foam was super tart and sour – but when you blended the three together – total magic happened.  The smooth, creamy and silky texture of this divinely flavored soup completely rocked my world.  It was a food revelation.

Onto the next.

I ordered the Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms: 

Comte Risotto with Marinated Pear and Matsutake Mushrooms

Another completely rich, creamy and delectable dish… though I might have overdone it on the rich and creamy factor with this dish following that soup.  But I can’t imagine risotto being better than this.  EVER.

Adam ordered the Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo of Crispy Rice: 

Scallop Sashimi with Chipotle Mayo over Crispy Rice

Then came our mains… I’m sorry to report, we were so excited we forgot to take photos before we dove into these – so you’ll have to use your imagination on the visuals here.

I ordered the Red Snapper Crusted with Nuts and Seeds Served in a Sweet and Sour Jus.  This dish also blew my mind.  The fish was tender and luscious and the jus was mouthwateringly buttery and was filled with sour yellow and red grape tomatoes and chunks of potato.  I could have eaten that broth as a soup.  It was heavenly.

Adam ordered the Parmesan Crusted Confit Leg of Chicken with Artichoke, Basil and Lemon Butter.  He LOVED this… though I thought my fish dish was way yummier.

Then came dessert.  We ordered one dessert for the two of us to share – of course, it had two elements, so it was pretty much two desserts – A Cranberry Parfait with Walnut Nougatine Covered in Soft Vanilla Meringue and a Sweet Potato Souffle with Cranberries and Medjol Dates: 

Cranberry Parfait and Sweet Potato Souffle

Both of these were excellent… though the savory elements of the meal definitely out-shined the desserts in my mind.

Then they came out with a special birthday chocolate cake for me!  Oye vey.  We were totally busting at the seams full by this point… but I had to have a few bites!  It was so beautiful… the little gold leaf pieces were pretty much dancing and they looked so beautiful in the candlelight…  way to finish.

My birthday chocolate cake

The meal finished off with a server coming around and snipping off four homemade marshmallows (from one long marshmallow chain), which he pulled from a large glass jar and then four homemade chocolates (including a mind-blowing peanut butter and jelly-filled chocolate) and two mini macarons.  Too much.  But in the best of ways.

Here is us at the end of the meal:

Then we left, and I promptly fell asleep on the subway ride home – in my food-induced bliss/coma.

Best birthday EVER.

Oh – and just a note.  We’ve been to a few of these super high-end restaurants – but always for dinner.  This was our first lunch experience and I have to say… that is TOTALLY the way to go!  It was daylight when we left and we had hours to digest our food before bed.  It was also SO much cheaper than it would have been had we gone for dinner.  So we got to have this amazing food experience without the guilt involved in spending way too much money.  I’m definitely going to see if those other Michelin star restaurants serve lunch.  Thank you Amy Basset for the suggestion!

Now – I’m off to my OB for a checkup!  Saturday will be thirty weeks!  CRAZY!

Love to you all and may this year bring much happiness, inspiration and all things good.

xo

Me and Cheese… A Love Affair

10 Nov

You all know by now about my love affair with cheese.  Well, whenever we’re traveling – if there is any destination having to do with cheese (cheese maker, farmer’s market, cheese shop, cheese plate, etc) – you know it makes my itinerary.  So, while visiting Banff during our trip to the Canadian Rockies last month, I read about the Grapes Wine Bar at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel.  It was highlighted as an excellent place to enjoy a delicious cheese fondue.   So of course… it became a priority.

Now – while a good cheese plate always makes me “ooh and ahh” with delight, a well-made cheese fondue takes that delight to a whole new level.  It’s the melty factor.  A piping hot pot of bubbling melted cheese set in front of me?  I mean – is there anything better in the world?  I’m salivating thinking about it.

Anyway, my dear husband gets a kick out of watching me eat delicious yummy things (especially cheese).  I guess I am rather expressive when I am in food ecstasy.  During our fondue adventure in Banff, Adam took a little movie of me, which I will now share with you.  I hope it puts a smile on your face.

April 20…

21 Apr

First, LOST was pretty freaking awesome tonight – right?  I enjoyed it more than usual – definitely because it was a good episode, but also because Adam and I watched it with our friends (and neighbors) Brette & Ben.   They fed us wonderful treats like cheddary popcorn, bites of mac & cheese (keep in mind, I cooked a really nice dinner before we went over to watch LOST), chocolate cake, whipped cream and strawberries.  And we brought ice cream – “everything but the” from Ben & Jerry’s.  Once again… a rather gluttonous day of eating for me.  But it’s just sooo good.  Luckily it’s getting nice out and the level of walking (especially with my photo project) is on the rise.

Speaking of the 365 photo project… my photo of the day is in honor of Ben, one half of our excellent hosting team tonight.  Ben is a ridiculous glass blower.  I am DYING to see him in action in his studio so I can begin to understand how this magic actually happens.  Tonight he showed me several little black suitcases full of completely awe-inspiring work he’s done and I was blown away.  Here is a photo of a marble he made.  Keep in mind, it was a challenging lighting situation in their apartment tonight, so if you can imagine, this marble (and everything in the other picture I am posting tonight) is way more intricate and beautiful in person.

In this one, you can’t see the colors as much, but I just thought it looked pretty rock star.

Now stay tuned, because tonight we discussed a future photo shoot, which will probably happen in the next couple months.  I will have the honor & pleasure of photographing Ben’s glass and hopefully also shooting him in action at his studio.  I’m also planning on getting myself a little glassblowing lesson.  How cool is that?

Finally – my other favorite picture of the day – taken in the Lower East Side.

Happy April 20th everybody!

PS… I tasted a cheese that rocked my world today.  I bought it at Saxelby Cheesemongers in the Essex Market http://www.saxelbycheese.com/.  It is called Ascutney Mountain http://www.cobbhill.org/cheese/cheese.html.   This cheese today was cheese perfection in my book.  I can’t wait to try it again.

Glorious Cheese… (and photo of the day)

20 Apr

I took a Burgundy Wines & Cheese pairing class tonight at Murray’s.  It’s amazing… the more cheese I eat lately, the more I want to taste.   I spent my entire day at the cheese shop today, washing stinky washed-rind cheeses, patting down mold, shuffling around wheels of cheese weighing over 10 lbs each,  scraping cheese remnants off wooden boards… and yet still, as I sit here at my computer at midnight, the smell of cheese still stuck to my clothes and hair, I cannot wait to taste more!!

There is just something about cheese…  the way it coats your mouth like the richest dessert you can think of, the fact that there are thousands and thousands of varieties, all with different tastes, smells and textures and made in all corners of the world, the fact that it’s a living, breathing thing (like wine) – and that the exact same cheese can taste remarkably different on a different day – I mean, I seriously never tire of it!   And tasting each cheese once is not enough…  I can’t remember what a cheese tastes like after I’ve tasted five others – I’m learning that you have to keep tasting the same ones over and over and over so that their flavors become familiar.

I’m taking a cheese boot camp in mid-may and I cannot wait.  It’ll be two and a half days of intensive cheese education – including tastings of over one hundred cheeses.  After 2 months of my cave internship, I’m really just now starting to feel like I’m turning a corner.  I sat down at my cheese plate tonight at Murray’s and properly identified 5 out of 7 of the cheeses without looking at the class notes.  I NEVER would have been able to do that before this internship… I wouldn’t have even been able to do it 3 weeks ago!

All this concentrated tasting of cheese is beginning to make me more mindful with tasting in general now.  For example, this new Stumptown Indonesian Coffee I just bought – The taste is different from every other coffee I’ve had – it’s super complex and totally delicious.  Adam and I have been completely freaking out about it the past few mornings!  Here is the link to what we’ve been drinking www.stumptowncoffee.com/coffees/indonesia/indonesia-gajah-aceh-organic.

It is actually very similar to what this photography project is doing for me… forcing myself to take my camera out every single day to look for a picture, has made me just look for pictures all the time.  Even when I don’t have my camera with me.   I guess it’s all just paying attention more, using your senses more, being more aware and more in the moment.  All good things really.  It’s making me feel inspired to continue and that’s never a bad thing!

Now it’s time for bed, so here is my photo for the day.  I didn’t have much time out in daylight today, so I had to get creative when I got home this evening.  To me, this looks like a Neanderthal carrying a big boulder, about to be demolished by the smoke monster from Lost (the shadowy thing happening over on the left side).

Meditations on 1983

12 Apr

Today was a good day.  I had a relaxing morning – made myself a delicious and simple breakfast:

a couple of eggs scrambled with feta, 1/2 a Bay’s English Muffin, which I bought at Murray’s http://www.bays.com/muffins/ – BEST English Muffin I’ve ever had… oh – and a little dab of butter with sea salt (also bought at Murray’s – they call it ‘crack butter’ there), which melted divinely on the muffin.

I’m trying to eat more fruits and veggies these days, so I also had a little ramekin on the side with some blackberries and a couple sliced strawberries along with a small glass of Wholefoods 365 brand freshly squeezed tangerine juice.  YUM.

Then I went to a beginner’s meditation class at the Interdependence Project http://www.theidproject.org/. It was my first time actually going to a teacher to try meditation.  It was challenging – my contacts felt dry, my feet felt like they were going to fall asleep, my back hurt and I almost dozed off.  Oh – and a million little thoughts kept popping into my head.  But the teacher explained how that’s what always happens.  She gave me a great analogy – that your mind produces thoughts like your stomach produces acid – it’s just what it does.  So the key is recognizing when your mind has wandered and then bringing it back in to focus each time.  She also gave me a more comfortable position to sit in, which really helped in the next 10 minute session.  I thought she was really nice and I enjoyed the class.  I’m going to try it on my own tomorrow morning.

After the meditation I got together with my friend Pam.  As we were walking, she pointed out these engraved stones on the brick building we were passing.  I like this one below – because it made me think of 1983.  I was 4 years old in nursery school.  At that age, I probably only loved my parents, my sister, my dogs and my grandparents… oh, and maybe a Cabbage Patch Kid or 2 (yes, the Cabbage Patch phenomenon started in 1983).  I think by the end there were 11 in my family.  We were privileged children.  Who did you love in 1983?

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