Chocolate Sundays

Today was the only day I've had since the winter break began to actually bum around the house. So what else would I do on a gloomy Sunday with nothing to do? Hang out in the kitchen, of course! Since I had left over batter from the cupcakes I made from the bridal shower, I was inspired to make these cake balls (insert sarcastic-humorous comment here). A friend of mine actually had given these to my family for Christmas and they were an absolute hit. I figured that I would end up throwing away the batter if it hung out in the fridge too long, so I decided to make good use of it. As I was making these chocolate balls, I started thinking about how many other variations could be created, mint-chocolate, peanut butter, white chocolate, etc. Hmm...stay tuned.

"Hey Baby, I Think I Wanna Marry You"

Ha! I thought that the above title was fitting for this particular occasion. Thanks Bruno Mars. So one of my best friends, Harmony, will be getting married in the Spring. Woohoo! Harmony, if you're reading this, "CONGRATULATIONS!" Oh, how I love weddings. Getting dressed up, the ceremony, the flowers, and most importantly, the FOOD! I had the opportunity to pitch in and make one of the desserts for her bridal shower.

These are triple chocolate and French vanilla cupcakes. Sorry, I typically just talk about what I make rather than give the play by play of how I made them. (I gotta keep the goods a secret because you know...how would my future bakery be successful if everyone knew how I made my stuff?!) Well, maybe one day I'll be gracious enough to let you in on a few recipes. Anyway, please excuse the decor of these cupcakes, I guess you can consider it a "work in progress." I'll perfect the technique before for the big debut. I must say, these were the moistest cakes EVER. The frosting was pretty much optional, but necessary to complete the look. Harmony, here's to you and a lifetime of happiness! Also, Happy 2011 everyone!

Long Breaks Make for Good Potatoes

Greetings from Israel trusty followers!
It has been quite a while since I have posted a blog post. A semester really. I blame school, and life, and lack of time. But really, those are just excuses. Fortunately, I've been able to cook and bake, just not make web related memories. However, we are breaking that streak here. I'm currently awaiting status reports on my flight back to Baltimore on Thursday due to snow problems in NY. I can't do anything about it and feel useless, so I decided blogging would be a good use of my time. Let's begin?
Everyone loves gnocchi. And if you don't, then we can't be friends, really. Well, actually, I'll think about it. I've always heard that gnocchi is hard to make, only to be attempted by those most worthy. I never really thought of myself as a worthy cook, so I put it off. I was browsing through my collection of food blogs not long ago and came across a similar blog entry about gnocchi. Apparently, even experienced cooks have a hard time? So I said, why not. Let's try new things, let's challenge ourselves, and most of all, let's eat some gnocchi. I took the recipe from my most favorite food blog. I've mentioned it here before and here it goes again. Smitten Kitchen, I owe you many culinary successes. Once again, you did not disappoint me and I bow down in respect and admiration. The gnocchi recipe is linked here.
Just as a warning, let the potatoes cool thoroughly before you peel and grate them. They are hot hot hot and hurt your hands. Also, letting them cool will help keep them dry and reduce the amount of flour needed for the recipe.
Hot potato:

Rolling:

Also, cut them smaller than this. They turned out pretty large and in charge.

As for the ridges, I couldn't really get the hang of it. It's hard, let me warn you. If you master it, call me up and let me know how you did it. Please.

The great thing about gnocchi. It goes with most sauces. I think cream based sauces are better here, but it's up to you really. Knock yourself out. I'd stay away from barbeque sauce though.

I went for a simple mushroom spinach and garlic cream sauce. Here's how to make this baby:
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 small onion, diced
A couple (I used 10-12) button mushrooms, sliced
3 cups of spinach, or really however much you want, chopped loosely
16 oz of heavy cream
S&P
2 tbsp flour
Olive oil

1) Heat the olive oil in a large pan and, once hot, add the onions
2) Heat through until translucent and add the garlic (I mash it, but you can chop it too)
3) Let it cook together for a minute or too and add the mushrooms, cook them until they're browned and cooked through

4) Add 2 tablespoons flour and mix in until all the liquids are soaked up and you get a sort of paste looking thing, it works, trust me
5) Add the heavy cream and mix together to make sure all the flour is dissolved.
6) Let it sit on medium high heat until the sauce thickens, mix every once in a while (should only take about 4 minutes)
7) Once the sauce is thick, you can add S&P and the spinach

8) Let the spinach wilt and turn off the heat, and you my friend have yourself some sauce.

And here is the finished product. Quite decadent. I advise, yes!

I would also like to propose a new years resolution. It's more of a January resolution and mostly because I watched the movie Julie and Julia, again, recently. So here it is. For every day of January, I will be making a new recipe and blogging about it. We'll see how it goes with work, life, the gym, and my budget. For now, let's all hope it happens and mostly that I get back to Baltimore in time to start both this resolution and my new year!

Breaking the Dry Spell

Apparently, we've been neglecting our food site...whoops. You know, on top of the school work, clinicals, and all the Jersey Shore watching and Stacy's pita chip snacking, we haven't been able to report on any of the deliciousness that we have been creating. So until then, here are some cupcakes I made over the summer. We promise we'll be back to show off our Thanksgiving feast, it'll most definitely be epic; so you better check back, or else no food for you.

Mediterranean Heaven

I'm back! I'm back!
If you have been following my European blog, you know that I'm now back in Baltimore and trying to cook up a storm while working full time at Pitango and trying to see my friends. So, I found a new food blog. It's much better than ours, but I'm also assuming the blogger has a lot more photographic resources and time than we do. I just don't like to admit defeat. She is wonderful though and I'm addicted. It's called Smitten Kitchen and if you are a food blog connoisseur, then you have probably heard of it. I have been looking up recipes for the past few days and I decided to obviously go for something that has a Mediterranean feel to it. Lamb kebabs and tzatziki. So so good. You can check out the website for the recipe. I was too engrossed with making the whole thing while listening to Ingrid Michaelson that I only took pictures when the whole thing was almost ready. I gotta say that I make tzatziki all the time, and that I'm a huge fan of sour cream. I never thought to put the two together. Who knew. It really makes a big difference, the difference of intense deliciousness. I can probably eat the entire serving with a bag of Stacy's pita chips in one sitting and still want more. It's a dangerous combination. So here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.
Uncooked and marinated beef kebabs in some yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary and S&P. I used beef cause I'm cheap, but I think that lamb would be extra delicious.

Some grillin' kebabs. Yum, look at those caramelized onions. I'm slightly salivating.

And last but not least, the tzatziki. It's taking all my will power to not raid the fridge and eat it all right now. Someone stop me.

Oh, one more thing. The other day I came home, as I do most days, and look in the fridge with wonderment. What to make what to make? So, as usual, I throw together all the ingredients I want to eat at that moment and hope that whatever it is comes out good. Was it a success? I wouldn't serve it at a restaurant, but it definitely curbed my hunger. I'll tell you what it is and if you're brave enough to try it, let me know what you think. Maybe a hidden treasure?
Ok, so ingredients:
2 ears of corn, boiled
5 small pickles (I buy Israeli pickles because they're better, but I'm assuming normal ones would work)
2 medium sized red potatoes
juice of half a lemon
1 medium spring onion
2 tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a head of lettuce
1 kirby cucumber
some fresh parsley
spices (garlic powder)

For dressing:
juice of half a lemon
1/5 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
Zaatar (a Mediterranean spice, highly recommended. Goes very well with Pita and labane- a Lebanese cheese).
Tbsp of BBQ sauce (not required and frankly, I think it would be better without it).

1) Ok, so dice the potatoes into large cubes and mix with some olive oil, juice of half a lemon, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and garlic. Put on a baking sheet and into the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and tasty :)

2) In the meantime, listen to some music, enjoy the summer breeze, drink a beer. Whatever you want to do works, cause cutting up vegetables takes approximately 5 minutes.
3) After your half an hour of fun, cut up the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles, cucumber and corn small or big enough for a salad of your choice. I like tiny tiny pieces. Cut up the rest of the parsley and mix together.

4) Once potatoes are roasted and out of the oven, let them cool so that they don't wilt the vegetables. Cool cool cool.
5) Then add potatoes to the salad. Genius, I know.
6) Mix the ingredients of the salad dressing. I didn't care much for the BBQ sauce in the dressing, it doesn't go well with Zaatar. Do without it. Much much better.

7) Put it all together and eat. If it's not to your liking, I'm sorry. But if you have these ingredients in your house and have nothing else to make, try try try.
This is what the finished product looks like. Also, it tastes just as good the next day, which is surprising cause salads usually aren't that nice to me.


Anywho, if nothing else try the Smitten Kitchen recipe. It's pretty much one of the best things I've had. When I have a restaurant, I'll be asking her for recipe privileges.
Baking coming soon by the way!
Love

SoCal travels and ridiculous amounts of deliciousness Part 2

Day 8 or 9 of my southern California travels, we went to Hollywood, CA where the famous Pink's hotdog stand is located. This place offers a wide, (I mean, HUGE) list of hotdogs and toppings. The one that Em is pictured with is called the "Today Show Dog." It may look gross, but trust me, it's SO good. To call this place a landmark in LA would be an understatement. This small shack houses hundreds of photos of different and legendary celebrities who have visited Pink's. From Ellen, Rosie O'Donnell, Mariah Carey, to Usher, the list is endless. While Em and I were eating, I overheard someone mention that there was a celebrity in a black Escalade parked in front. (Still don't know who it was). Please, if you can, visit Pink's if you're ever in LA.

So we didn't always go out to eat while I was down there, we did make some of our dinners (and by some I mean, like two). Here are some pictures of our delicious pizza and tri-tip (Norton's steak from Costco), potatoes, and grilled asparagus: (Directions & Seasoning: fry up with olive oil and add lotsa GARLIC!) Just make sure you have some gum on hand after you eat.

Our first trip to LA landed us to a place called Bossa Nova's. This Brazilian-style restaurant is just off of Sunset boulevard. I've had their sandwiches, pizza, and a bite of the Gisele's Favorite, which should actually be called "Emily's Favorite," because it's the only dish she'll order there. It's a chicken dish, but whatever they do to it, it's just absolutely YUM-O. Since I am a newly pescaterian (sometimes), I ordered the smoked salmon pizza.

We then head over to an area by Em's neighborhood called Balboa Island. This cute little area houses gorgeous homes that have a river as part of their backyard. Here, people can canoe or just swim right out of their back door. This island also has these cute boutiques and "mom and pop" stores. One of the places we visited was Dad's Donut Shop which served frozen bananas and ice cream bars dipped in chocolate and whatever toppings you choose.

Oh, I saved the best for last, Coronado...*sigh* One day...one day...I WILL call this place home. Em and I had ice cream before dinner (again) at a place called Mootime Creamery. We did forget to take pictures of our delicious desserts, so instead, I'm providing you pictures of beautiful Coronado.

The End.

(San Diego Zoo)

SoCal travels and ridiculous amounts of deliciousness Part 1

Okay, so I've been MIA. My apologies, but it was only because I've been up and down California frantically searching and trying to visit as many places to eat in order to contribute onto this blog. Really, I had good intentions... (I would like to dedicate this blog to Emily, because without her, I would have never rediscovered my love for socal and its food).

For the past couple of weeks, I was visiting my bestie, also the best tour guide ever, Emily. She took the liberty to take me from L.A. all the way down to the Mexican border. Along the way, not only did she introduce me to my future residence, Coronado (more on that later), but she showed me these amazing restaurants and bakeries.

So where shall I begin? Definitely, Porto's in Glendale, California. They also have another location in Burbank. This Cuban-style bakery specializes in just about anything and everything your little heart desires. From your not-so-everyday cupcake to scrumptious sweet cream cheese and guava strudels, they really know how to make you salivate. Just walking into this place you know it's popular with locals. Falling in line to get your order taken makes you feel like you're in line for the women's restroom at a concert. And whatever you do, please, oh, please, try their tiramisu...It is the best EVER. It is my all-time favorite dessert and this place finally got it right! Trust me, it is so worth sitting for an hour or two in LA traffic to get to this place.

Okay, next...Crumbs Bakery, in Beverly Hills. So last year, Em joined me in Vegas for my 25th birthday, and she brought me the best surprise ever, cupcakes! However, these are not your average cupcakes. These treats are loaded with gooey centers of delicious filling. They have way too many flavors to choose from. So many, I found myself sitting in front of the window for a good 10 minutes before I decided what I wanted. From cookies n' cream, dutch apple, cookie dough, red velvet, original vanilla and chocolate, mint chocolate, to peanut butter cup, the list goes on and on. For their full menu, visit their website at Crumbs. After eating your cupcake, burn off the calories and do some shopping, right around the corner is Rodeo drive.

Onto the next one...we find ourselves down in a little place called Sun Diego (That's not a typo). Here in the greatest city ever, Em takes me to Extraordinary Desserts. This bakery specializes in pastries, cakes, teas, and yumminess for your tummy and eyes. (I already put in a special request that my next birthday cake comes from here). When you get to this place, the ambiance is totally date-like; with their soft lighting and candlelit table tops, it's a completely romantic setting. I must warn you, these "extraordinary" desserts must be shared...unless you're me and want the whole thing to yourself.

While we're in sunny San Diego, for breakfast, we went to Hash House A Go Go. All I can say is, AMAZING! Before you park, you can already tell its popularity. The outside of this place has chairs, umbrellas, and fresh coffee for those hungry patrons waiting to get seated. It took Em and I about a half hour or about 3 quarters worth on the meter until we were called. But like everyone says, "all good things comes to those who wait." This place is totally hip and down with the vibe of San Diego. You'll be greeted with a crowd along with their loud conversations and even louder but, awesome music. The food...absolutely, positively, fabulous! And the portions? Out of this world! We had enough leftovers to feed three Marines the next day. (Thanks, Em's cousin and friends!)