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lavndrmlkshake
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Name: Susan
Country: United States
State: California
Birthday: 11/3/1983
Gender: Female
Interests: The making and consuming of food, the Food Network, high heels, rock climbing, sunshine, obsessing over my tummy.
Occupation: Research and development
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/14/2003
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| Eating New York: part 2Ok, I left off at the part about disappointing cupcakes. Right. Oh, a note: that last post isn't in chronological order, which means the rest of this series won't be either :P But the food! The food improves with this post.
There was one day where Alfred and I were left to our own devices because Edgar had school and work. So we navigated around the metro system and went exploring.
I had to visit the Time Warner Center and at least be on the same floor as Per Se and Masa. I remember standing on the 4th floor (where all the restaurants are located) and just thinking "wow". Like Edgar would later exclaim, "This is totally where the SATC girls would hang out!!"
Sorry, just had to throw this nature shot in. I'd never seen a cardinal in person before. It's so red! This was taken in Central Park, on the same day we were chomping into our cupcakes from Crumbs.
Of course, we stopped into the M&M store at Times Square. How can you resist the colors?! The main purpose of the trip was to purchase cheap tickets for a Broadway show. We really wanted to see Wicked (I know, laugh at me all you want for thinking I could get discounted tickets for this show) but got tickets for Avenue Q. It's hilarious-go see it! As we were waiting in line to get said tickets (it can get to be a long line), I told Alfred that I was bored and was going to wander around and came back with a slice of cheesecake (NY style, of course!) from Junior's Cheesecake. Alfred was initially appalled by the modest-sized slice, but as we shared bites, we ended up being stuffed. That is one dense, creamy, delicious piece of dessert! I approve.
After we had our tickets, we celebrated by buying hot dogs from street vendors, mmm.
On another day, we ventured into Alphabet City and stopped by Katz's Deli. I had read up on how to order one of these things:
You are handed a ticket and there are separate lines. Soup and drinks are one line. Sandwiches make up a few other lines as each carver handles his own line. I am salivating just looking at this sandwich. We each had a half as they are rather generous with the amount of meat that they pile on (but at $16 a pop, maybe it's just the right amount). Mmmm, lots of mustard and plenty of pickles...you could just call it a day after that.
Next: A NY tradition (aka brunch) and exploring the Upper East Side.
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| Eating New York: part 1Wow the next few posts are sadly overdue. Our trip to NYC was back in March! Alfred and I took advantage of a promotional offer that Virgin America had and the fact that we had floorspace to crash on while we were there. Thank you, Edgar, for hosting us!
By the time we got up to Washington Heights and got settled into Edgar's room, we all contemplated about dinner. Washington Heights is home to many folks of Puerto Rican and Dominican backgrounds and the food available represents that fact. We headed to El Malecon to get our grub on.
We (Alfred) ended up ordering a dizzying array of food, including rotisserie chicken, beef stew (the day's special), and mofongo.
The food was really good and super filling. I really liked the rice that accompanies dinner. You get a choice of "white" or "yellow" and yellow was definitely more flavorful. Needless to say, we ended up with leftovers!
I really wanted to compare the food from the East and West coasts and that included cupcakes. Here in San Francisco, I think Kara's Cupcakes are tops (but Teacake Bakeshop is a very close second). How would Crumbs or Magnolia compare?
The outside of Crumbs (there are multiple locations).
Inside is a dizzying array of large cupcakes...think Costco muffin size. Alfred and I shared an Oreo cupcake and Edgar had a triple chocolate (chocolate obsession?) cupcake...the exact name escapes me, but it was super chocolate-y. We took our desserts to-go (we had just come from brunch at SaraBeth's...more about that later) and enjoyed them in Central Park. The cake was moist, but I was distracted by the super big holes in the cupcake. Oh well, can't win them all. As for the cost, one of these guys will run you from $2.95 to to $3.75 depending on the flavor. They have minis, too, for $2.25 each.
Towards the end of our trip, we had a chance to visit the famous Magnolia Bakery. It's very cute and welcoming inside. We were planning on grabbing some cupcakes after visiting the Natural History Museum, but we were early and switched up our plans.
Cute!
There's Alfred wondering which lucky cupcakes go into the box.
We also decided that we needed pumpkin cheesecake and a hot chocolate at 9am (breakfast of champions!). The hot chocolate was way too sweet (I couldn't finish it) and the cheesecake was pretty tasty. Well. Aside from the fact that the crust was rock solid. Verdict on the cupcakes: sadly, disappointing! The cake portion was drier than we'd like and the frosting was just....weird. It was merely sweet and had an odd texture. One of my coworkers would later tell me that she read in the NY Times that they use flour in their frosting recipe. I just tried looking for said article, but I can't find it. I'll leave it at that for now.
That's it for cupcakes. More food to come, don't you worry.
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| Paella
It may not be one of my prettiest pictures (like the spattering of oil in the top right corner there?), but this paella was certainly delicious. This was made about a month ago and I am taking the time during my temporary (but welcome) unemployment to catch up on the dozens of dishes and events that I have yet to get around to posting.
I don't own a paella pan, but a friend has made the dish before (in the same skillet, no less...it's our trusty 12"), so I didn't see the need to buy a new pan. I didn't follow any particular recipe, but I did follow some guidelines after reading a few recipes from epicurious. First I browned my chicken pieces (2 thighs and 2 drumsticks...we love our dark meat). I set the meat aside (don't bother draining the pan of any fat or juices) and sauteed an onion and some garlic in olive oil, added rice, and stirred to mix everything together. Then I added my hot chicken stock and some salt (we make our own stock and leave it unsalted), slapped on a lid, and waited for the rice to cook.
Those clams that you see in the picture were huge. I brought them home earlier that day from AK Meats near our apartment and set them in a bowl of water with some flour to get them to spit out any grit they were harboring inside. Once rice was done (DON'T fluff it just yet!), I added the meat back in and had some fun fitting all the clams inside. Then I tossed in maybe a cup of frozen peas and slapped the lid back on. A few minutes is all you need and dinner is ready to go!
From start to finish, I think this took me about an hour to put together, not including inactive time of soaking the clams. Amount yielded was about 4 servings, perfect for dinner for 2 and leftovers for lunch the day after. The almost-burnt bottom parts are delicious, as is the rest of the rice. It's very fragrant with saffron, chicken stock, and clam liquor. And the texture! The texture is sleek and creamy, thanks to the olive oil and bits of sauteed onion. Yum :)
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| Pesto Pasta
I remember Alfred and I whipped dinner up in about 40 minutes after coming home from....something. In any case, we were starving and by the time we got through the door to our apartment, we had already hashed a plan to get dinner out ASAP.
The recipe is based off of Ina Garten's pesto pasta recipe, but I've long since needed to look online for instructions. I make this when I need an easy, no-thinking-involved kind of meal. Make the pesto using whatever you have on hand: traditional pinenuts and basil, cilantro and walnuts, arugula and walnuts or pecans...whatever.
That night, I had a large bunch of basil from the Alemany farmer's market waiting for me and Alfred got to work on the pesto. We don't measure when we make pesto....we just toss in ingredients and adjust until it tastes right and is the right consistency. Last of the pinenuts got tossed in, lots of garlic (we always use one or 2 extra cloves than what a recipe might call for), olive oil, pepper, grated Parmesan cheese, and a teeny bit of salt. The longest part was waiting for the water to boil and cooking the pasta!
As soon as pasta is done though, everything comes together really quickly. I use yogurt instead of mayo and scoop some into the pasta pot (after draining the water, of course). The pesto goes in, too, along with frozen peas, and some fresh corn on the cob kernels I had just steamed up and cut off. Mix mix mix. Halve or quarter some cherry tomatoes and garnish with basil and some cheese. A very satisfying meal in not much time.
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| Granola
Sorry for the long absence. We came back from Yosemite on Sunday night and on Monday night, I was on an airplane headed for a weeklong stay in Seattle. Thankfully, now that I'm back, Alfred and I have an apartment to stay in once we move up in a few weeks. Crazy! I'm leaving the Bay Area....it felt like only yesterday when I arrived. Heading back to school this fall, Seattle will be our home for the next five years (or so).
Back to food.
Lately, I've been on a granola kick. I blame it on our morning breakfasts in Yosemite :P. Granola is really easy to make and so delicious (it should be since you basically choose all the ingredients)! I've taken Alton Brown's recipe and modify it to suit our moods. I don't have wheat germ on hand most of the time and I'll usually use pepitas instead of sunflower seeds. I basically pay attention to how much fruit I need and make the syrup according to the recipe, but what types of fruit and the ingredients are all left up to what I feel like making that day. That batch pictured above had a mix of mango, cranberry, and apricot. I felt like using more pepitas than the recipe calls for (Alfred loves the pepitas) and I added cinnamon to the syrup and less vanilla. Also, I've been using a multigrain blend of rye, barley, oats, and wheat that Trader Joe's carries. It's in a red cylinder container; the label reads "Country Choice Organic". It's convenient because I know I can get 3 batches of granola with each container.
Once the granola is done and cool, I break apart the pieces and store them in an empty Costco nut jar (a ziploc bag will work, too). I enjoy it with soymilk or, if I'm feeling ambitious, with yogurt and berries. Mmmm, ollalieberries.
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