As you can tell from my last few recipes, I have been on an Asian food influence joy ride. To add I have also been craving those good old 5 for $1 pan fried dumplings from my Brooklyn neighborhood... dipped in a soy sauce and sriracha mixture. Besides wonderful strange cravings that have preoccupied my mind, job searching has also preoccupied my mind and I haven't been sharing my recipes lately... I apologize for that traitor behavior...but alas it's time to get back to work.. hobby wise and more thorough career searching. A little camping also put my life on a no wifi, no data service, hiatus. The trip itself was filled with adventure, some extreme weather, long hikes, and gorgeous views, I had an amazing 1st time camping experience with my husband at the Lake District, highly, highly recommend a trip there.Read more →
Really random and really fabulous… the story behind this fantastic recipe...
I went to make meatballs with the ground turkey which was in my refrigerator and didn't have tomatoes to make a sauce. I started opening all my cabinets and quickly ran to the window to see that the corner bodega was closed, granted I just got home from work and it was past 11pm, I didn't expect it to be open but knowing it was Friday I thought I might have luck on my side. Wrong. I went back into the kitchen and opened the last cabinet with my seasonings and TJ's items… and then I saw it, the glossy jar of Trader Joe's Thai green curry simmer sauce. Read more →
Just a short time ago everyone was still in boots and heavy jackets, after all the complaining and torture, mother nature finally listened and started warming up everyone. In NYC there was a really brutal winter, in England it was just the opposite, sure we had tons of flooding rains, but it wasn't nearly as cold as I expected (and I'm always cold). For the first time in a very long time I didn't have to put on my snow boots, I didn't even have to look at them, obviously I left them in New York knowing I wouldn't have to trek through a foot of snow to get to the train. With these warm days it almost feels like there was no winter, doesn't it? NYC has that interesting climate where you are wearing boots and puffy jackets one week and two weeks later you find yourself basking in the green fields of central park or strolling the boardwalks of Brooklyn forgetting the torturous winter. As the temperature is heating up outside, it's also heating up in our kitchen… with a spicy jambalaya.Read more →
Spring kicks off my addiction for local fruits, this addiction then rolls quickly into summer peaches, tons of watermelon, and of course my favorite, raspberries. The start of warm weather usually means the start of strawberry season and while picking up a package of fragrant local strawberries I noticed this clever note on enjoying them with some cream. Now in the states that usually means whipped cream, but in Europe, it means pouring cream all over them, sprinkling a tad bit of sugar, and eating them by the spoonful. I took that wise sticker to heart and found a quick scone recipe… the cream scone.. and that idea rolled into the strawberry almond cream scone…with dark chocolate, of course. Read more →
Can you feel the sun on your skin? Can you feel that chilly breeze getting warmer and warmer as the days get longer and longer, isn't it fabulous? Somewhere between the bbq's, beers, ice cream, smores, iced coffees, there are salads, tons of light summery fruity salads. Summer salads to me feel like a dip in the pool when it's hot out, a perfect meal for a hot sunny day. They are filling without weighing you down, there is usually no cooking involved (unless you want to top them with steak, chicken or grilled tofu), and you can make a great salad with a minimal amount of ingredients. Enter this magic wonder of salty feta, sweet crisp watermelon, peppery arugula and a hint of olive oil, balsamic, and honey. Read more →
We are no strangers to desserts around here, and even though sometimes I can spend a long time making a fancy cake, I can still whip up quick desserts when company is coming. My favorite go to last minute dessert is my recipe for cream puffs and this panna cotta one. I have to admit I haven't made panna cotta for a while and I was looking to experiment with making a rich but lighter version, that and I bought more rhubarb and I was looking for an excuse to make a rhubarb coulis… so I came up with this greek yogurt panna cotta with raspberry rhubarb coulis.Read more →
Summer is on its way, luckily most days in NYC are so hot all you want to eat is cold watermelon and cold beer, which is my +95 degree weather "diet" on its own… well minus the beer. After sitting in a cool office, sometimes too cold, I would pack up my bag and somehow my mind would trick me into thinking it was cold outside… yet as soon as I stepped out into the street I realized I could literally melt in the course of a few streets. Thinking it can't get any hotter than this, I always tend to forget about the subway station, and we NY'ers know that the devil lives there and purposely heats it up even more so, it is probably the only time of the year that we ache for the train to produce a breeze of wind. SO…Since it's almost bikini weather…too hot to eat weather... I thought I would try a muffin recipe that wouldn't give you muffin tops.Read more →
My cravings vary in weeks, some days I'll make the same mundane food with nothing worth sharing (sorry guys), and some days I realize that I can make or attempt to make the food I miss at home. This turkey coconut curry recipe is from my Asian cravings week, it was a week of me cooking ramen soups, Thai mango chicken, curries, fried rice and several stir fries. One day, a coworker of mine, gave me an amazing packet of hand mixed spices that she used for curries. That little pouch got me hooked into making my own and experimenting with more flavors, bases, and ingredients.Read more →
If you couldn't tell by now, I really like incorporating puff pasty dough into my recipes. I can't get enough of the buttery flakey bites, and lucky for me, every grocery store around here stocks it. The English are known to make savory puff pastries in the form of pies, in most supermarkets there is an aisle devoted to savory meat vegetable pies and sausage wraps. Since I have made so many sweets with puff pastry dough, I thought it was time to go back into the savory world (like my puff pastry pizza) with some caramelized onions, bacon, and cheese puff pastry bites.Read more →
Street food is an amazing part of every culture's history, in the past it was common for people who did not have proper stoves for hot meals to purchase what was known as street food. Nowadays the convenience of street food for daily lunches or quick bites has almost become a necessity for everyday city life. To add street food has recently become so embedded in today's culture as not only grabbing something to eat but it also revolves around social aspects of life. People follow their favorite foods on twitter, facebook and stalk out the corner before the truck pulls up to order first. Street food trucks are now part of mass events celebrating food, music, and art, they even compete along side each other like trendy restaurants. Read more →
