I'm making my way through Michael Pollan's Book In Defense of Food and came across an interesting footnote that I thought fit in with the title of this website. From the study "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?" by David M. Cutler:
In 1995 Americans spent twenty-seven minutes preparing meals and four minutes cleaning up after them; in 1965 the figure was forty-four minutes of preparation and twenty-one minutes of clean-up. Total time spent eating has dropped from sixty-nine minutes to sixty-five, all of which suggests a trend toward prepackaged meals.
Another point made on the same page, but not from this study, is that Americans spend 9.9% of their income on food. Italians and French spend 14.9%, while Spanish spend 17.1%. Interesting...
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Pistacia Vera
Last Saturday was a beautiful sunny day in Columbus, really feeling like spring is on its way. We decided to make a stop in German Village (my favorite neighborhood in Columbus) to pick up some treats at Pistacia Vera. As they say on their website, it's a "dessert boutique". It's very modern-looking but still warm and inviting and it has a very European feel to it. In the dessert case they have about a dozen flavors of macarons, as well as various tarts and cakes. They have an impressive-looking chocolate cake (which also comes in a mini size) called a chocolate bombe which is described as "chocolate buttermilk cake with semisweet chocolate tawny port mousse glazed with a chocolate ganache". Wow. It was a thing of beauty. The pates de fruit also caught my eye - little sugar coated jelly candies in several flavors. And there were of course plenty of cookies and scones on dishes in open air.
After much deliberation we made our selections. I chose a bittersweet fudgie and a lime ginger cookie, my dad chose a chocolate chunk cookie coated with a layer of chopped pistachios, and Peter chose 2 macarons - milk chocolate hazelnut and Madagascar vanilla bean. We took our spoils to go, for a taste test at home.
Or so I thought...my dad gobbled his cookie in the car before I could have a taste or even get a picture of it. How was it? "Damn good". Fair enough.
My mom, Peter and I sampled the rest of the confections. The lime ginger cookie - soft, crispy sugar on top, delicate lime flavor, not too sweet. Wonderful. The macarons - barely crispy on the outside, very soft on the inside, just enough creme filling. I liked the vanilla one the best. And the bittersweet fudgie - heavenly. Pretty much a brownie in cookie's clothing. Unbelievably soft and fudgy, rich chocolatey taste - definitely a fan favorite.
We didn't even get into the nougat, or biscotti, or scones...I need to plan a trip back asap.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Marmalade
I'm sad to say, I don't really like citrus fruit that much. It's just not my favorite. I do like clementines, but I'm not such a fan of oranges or grapefruits. Citrus-flavored things, on the other hand, I do enjoy. I keep seeing these beautiful blood oranges at the store, and since it's nearing the end of citrus season I finally decided I should find some way to use them. Marmalade!
I generally knew what marmalade was, but upon a little research discovered that marmalade is a fruit preserve made of citrus fruit, sugar, and water, and it incorporates zest and/or peel. So there you go. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't an easy project. It's simple, but labor and time intensive. But, no job = time to make marmalade on a Wednesday afternoon. I found this recipe online, but it's from Country Living's Country Morning Cookbook. Yee-haw! Here goes...
5 blood oranges
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
Rinse the oranges thoroughly. Using vegetable peeler, remove orange part of peel in strips from oranges. Cut strips into 1-by 1/8-inch strips. With knife, cut off all white membrane, or pith, from peeled oranges.
Cut peeled oranges crosswise into 1/4- inch-thick slices. Remove the seeds as you slice through the oranges. In heavy nonaluminum 5-quart kettle or Dutch oven, combine orange peel, sliced fruit, and water. Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.
Heat orange mixture to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until orange mixture is very soft, about 1 hour.
Add sugar to orange mixture and increase heat to medium-high; stir until sugar dissolves. Heat to boiling and reduce heat just so mixture boils gently. Boil uncovered, stirring frequently, until candy thermometer registers 220 degrees F., 45 to 60 minutes.
A few notes: this recipe is actually for lemon marmalade, but I wanted to make orange. You can use whatever...oranges, lemons, grapefruits, or limes. Just make sure the ratio of fruit to water/sugar is the same as this recipe. The original recipe called for 10 large lemons, 4 cups water, 4 cups sugar. I figured since blood oranges are a little smaller than regular oranges, one would be about equal to a large lemon. And as you can see I cut the recipe in half.
So after 60 minutes of cooking the orange mixture with the sugar, it still wasn't looking good. Maybe I had the heat too low, not sure, but I increased it a bit, added a little bit more sugar, and let it cook for another 20 minutes. When it's ready, it's not going to look like marmalade in a jar...because it's hot and melty. If you don't have a candy thermometer (which I don't), spoon a little bit onto a cool plate and stick it in the fridge for a few minutes and see if it's becoming gooier and less watery. Very scientific descriptions. But keep in mind once you put it in a container and put it in the fridge, it's going to set and become more gel-like. This recipe made about 3 cups of marmalade.
And...the finished product. It has a slight bitter taste, due to the peel. This is apparently the British version of marmalade - more peel/zest, which the American version has less so it's sweeter. Anyway, I had it on some toast and it tasted great. I think it would be really good on some pork chops...
Here's another marmalade recipe that looks pretty good (but a little fancier), from New York Magazine this week.
I generally knew what marmalade was, but upon a little research discovered that marmalade is a fruit preserve made of citrus fruit, sugar, and water, and it incorporates zest and/or peel. So there you go. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't an easy project. It's simple, but labor and time intensive. But, no job = time to make marmalade on a Wednesday afternoon. I found this recipe online, but it's from Country Living's Country Morning Cookbook. Yee-haw! Here goes...
5 blood oranges
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
Rinse the oranges thoroughly. Using vegetable peeler, remove orange part of peel in strips from oranges. Cut strips into 1-by 1/8-inch strips. With knife, cut off all white membrane, or pith, from peeled oranges.
Cut peeled oranges crosswise into 1/4- inch-thick slices. Remove the seeds as you slice through the oranges. In heavy nonaluminum 5-quart kettle or Dutch oven, combine orange peel, sliced fruit, and water. Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.
Heat orange mixture to boiling over high heat, stirring frequently.
Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until orange mixture is very soft, about 1 hour.
Add sugar to orange mixture and increase heat to medium-high; stir until sugar dissolves. Heat to boiling and reduce heat just so mixture boils gently. Boil uncovered, stirring frequently, until candy thermometer registers 220 degrees F., 45 to 60 minutes.
A few notes: this recipe is actually for lemon marmalade, but I wanted to make orange. You can use whatever...oranges, lemons, grapefruits, or limes. Just make sure the ratio of fruit to water/sugar is the same as this recipe. The original recipe called for 10 large lemons, 4 cups water, 4 cups sugar. I figured since blood oranges are a little smaller than regular oranges, one would be about equal to a large lemon. And as you can see I cut the recipe in half.
So after 60 minutes of cooking the orange mixture with the sugar, it still wasn't looking good. Maybe I had the heat too low, not sure, but I increased it a bit, added a little bit more sugar, and let it cook for another 20 minutes. When it's ready, it's not going to look like marmalade in a jar...because it's hot and melty. If you don't have a candy thermometer (which I don't), spoon a little bit onto a cool plate and stick it in the fridge for a few minutes and see if it's becoming gooier and less watery. Very scientific descriptions. But keep in mind once you put it in a container and put it in the fridge, it's going to set and become more gel-like. This recipe made about 3 cups of marmalade.
And...the finished product. It has a slight bitter taste, due to the peel. This is apparently the British version of marmalade - more peel/zest, which the American version has less so it's sweeter. Anyway, I had it on some toast and it tasted great. I think it would be really good on some pork chops...
Here's another marmalade recipe that looks pretty good (but a little fancier), from New York Magazine this week.
North Market
One of my favorite places to go when I'm home is the North Market. I'm jealous my mom and dad get to go all the time. It's a big warehouse-type building that's bustling with food vendors of all sorts - bakeries, seafood and butcher shops, ice cream, a wine and beer shop, sushi, Indian food, Mediterranean food...I could go on. I'll just talk about a couple of my favorite places
I mentioned Jeni's in my post yesterday. It's an artisanal ice cream company that has a few locations in Columbus, including the North Market. Their philosophy which they write about on the website is "Ohio Love You" - they use local Ohio ingredients, dairy from grass-fed cows, and focus on what's in season to make their seasonal flavors.
You can see some of the flavors on their menu board - Belgian milk chocolate, black coffee, lemon yo, blackstrap praline, wildberry lavender...mmm. Salty caramel is kind of their flagship flavor, and it's delicious. Their ice creams are very high quality and the flavors are so innovative. They also use a few of their flavors in ice cream sandwiches which are made with macaron cookies. At our wedding last September instead of wedding cake we served 2 kinds of their ice cream sandwiches - salty caramel, which are rolled in chopped almonds (pictured below), and strawberry buttermilk (a summer flavor).
I highly recommend ordering some Jeni's ice cream online if you're not in Columbus - you can order 4 or 6 pints and choose your own flavors, and they also have a couple pre-set flavor packages available. It would make a great gift for someone...or yourself. :)
Omega Bakery is another great spot in the market, they make artisanal breads and other goodies. Sometimes they have pretzel bread or rolls which are amazing. They also have some sweet things in a refrigerated case, but this bakery is mostly about the bread.
And lastly, there's Taste of Belgium. They have these little Belgian waffles that are really more dessert than breakfast, you can buy a bag of four of them and they recommend toasting them. They have a light sugary sticky coating on them. I bet they would be really good with a scoop of Jeni's ice cream on top... And recently they started making crepes too. If i hadn't just eaten an ice cream sandwich I would have tried one. Next time.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Oscar Party
I'm back! And I brought my big girl camera (rather than just my iPhone) to take lots of pictures of last weekend's eating adventures.
Part of the reason for the trip home was for the Murnanes' 3rd annual Oscar Party. This is a very serious Hollywood event complete with a red carpet, swag bags, and prizes for whoever does the best on their Oscar ballot. I won last year, but this year had a very poor showing. The highlight of the evening is the carefully planned dinner theme to go along with the year's best movies. Here's the spread:
Blue Sky Martinis
Na'viled Eggs
Crazy Hearts of Palm salad I (the early years)
Crazy Hearts of Palm salad II (the comeback)
UP in the Skyline Chili Dogs
Blind Side Tacos
Chocolate Almond UPside down cake
The party was so much fun. It's such a wonderful oasis in the cold winter months, even though the Oscars were a little later this year than they usually are.
Obviously the Avatar theme was big this year...which is how I came up with one of the desserts that we brought. I had a vision awhile ago of doing a red velvet cake but making it blue instead. Actually, two shades of blue. But my mom added onto that idea with the suggestion that we should create a Pandora-like jungle on top of the cake, as well as an extra little dessert - jewel cookies with blueberry jam. I'll start with the cookies.
This is a recipe from an old Martha Stewart Christmas book. My mom said she used to make them a long time ago, but I'm sure I was A. grossed out by the nuts and jam on them, and B. disappointed by the lack of icing. Now I love them. We even happened to have a botanical-looking pedastal tray to serve them.
We used blueberry jam, but the recipe calls for raspberry. You can use whatever kind you want. We also used dark brown sugar, for no reason, and it made them a little darker in color. Also...confession, I rolled the doughballs a little too big so they flattened out a little more than they should have while baking, so we ended up with about 2 and a half dozen instead of 5 dozen. And we had to bake them a little longer than the recipe says. But they were so soft and delicious.
Jewel Cookies
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 2/3 sifted all-purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 cup raspberry jam
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, then add the flour. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
Brush each doughball with beaten egg white then roll in the chopped pecans and place 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Press the center of each ball with your thumb and fill with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. Cool on rack.
And now, the piece de resistance...the Avatar cake!
I know, it looks like a high school science project. Just wait until you see the inside. I used Paula Deen's red velvet cake recipe, and her recipe for cream cheese icing (she has a couple, I went for the one without marshmallows). I'll copy it exactly the way she has it, but for my cake I waited until the end to add the food coloring so I could separate the batter in half and create two shades of blue.
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 Tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbl white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.
I tried to make the cake a mixture of two shades of blue, like the Avatars. Here's before and after baking photos.
Cream cheese icing:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
I put a little blue food coloring in the icing, too.
Then we decorated the top of the cake. If you haven't seen the movie, it won't make any sense. For the Home Tree, we went to Michael's Crafts. It's just made up of some greenery from the fake flowers department. We also got those dragon-like birds at Michael's. The smaller trees and the military vehicles came from a cake decorating store called the Happy Hostess. This store is crazy, in a good way and bad way. If you ever need anything like edible pink glitter, mini snail-shaped cookie cutters, or a huge variety of plastic figurines to put on top of a cake...this is your place. We also got the "rocks" on the cake from this place - they're actually jellybeans.
And just like in the movie, Home Tree fell. RIP Home Tree. It was just too heavy for the soft cake to hold up. Anyway, we finally got to eat the Avatar cake! Slicing into it revealed a cross-section of the two shades of blue, and the light blue icing. We served it with wildberry lavender ice cream from Jeni's (which I will write about later this week), the closest ice cream we could find to blue that would actually taste good. Ta da!!!
Part of the reason for the trip home was for the Murnanes' 3rd annual Oscar Party. This is a very serious Hollywood event complete with a red carpet, swag bags, and prizes for whoever does the best on their Oscar ballot. I won last year, but this year had a very poor showing. The highlight of the evening is the carefully planned dinner theme to go along with the year's best movies. Here's the spread:
Blue Sky Martinis
Na'viled Eggs
Crazy Hearts of Palm salad I (the early years)
Crazy Hearts of Palm salad II (the comeback)
UP in the Skyline Chili Dogs
Blind Side Tacos
Chocolate Almond UPside down cake
The party was so much fun. It's such a wonderful oasis in the cold winter months, even though the Oscars were a little later this year than they usually are.
Obviously the Avatar theme was big this year...which is how I came up with one of the desserts that we brought. I had a vision awhile ago of doing a red velvet cake but making it blue instead. Actually, two shades of blue. But my mom added onto that idea with the suggestion that we should create a Pandora-like jungle on top of the cake, as well as an extra little dessert - jewel cookies with blueberry jam. I'll start with the cookies.
This is a recipe from an old Martha Stewart Christmas book. My mom said she used to make them a long time ago, but I'm sure I was A. grossed out by the nuts and jam on them, and B. disappointed by the lack of icing. Now I love them. We even happened to have a botanical-looking pedastal tray to serve them.
We used blueberry jam, but the recipe calls for raspberry. You can use whatever kind you want. We also used dark brown sugar, for no reason, and it made them a little darker in color. Also...confession, I rolled the doughballs a little too big so they flattened out a little more than they should have while baking, so we ended up with about 2 and a half dozen instead of 5 dozen. And we had to bake them a little longer than the recipe says. But they were so soft and delicious.
Jewel Cookies
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 2/3 sifted all-purpose flour
2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 cup raspberry jam
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla, salt, then add the flour. Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
Brush each doughball with beaten egg white then roll in the chopped pecans and place 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheets. Press the center of each ball with your thumb and fill with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. Cool on rack.
And now, the piece de resistance...the Avatar cake!
I know, it looks like a high school science project. Just wait until you see the inside. I used Paula Deen's red velvet cake recipe, and her recipe for cream cheese icing (she has a couple, I went for the one without marshmallows). I'll copy it exactly the way she has it, but for my cake I waited until the end to add the food coloring so I could separate the batter in half and create two shades of blue.
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
2 Tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces red food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbl white vinegar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition. Mix cocoa and food coloring together and then add to sugar mixture; mix well. Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla. In a small bowl combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture. Pour batter into 3 (8-inch) round greased and floured pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from heat and cool completely before frosting.
I tried to make the cake a mixture of two shades of blue, like the Avatars. Here's before and after baking photos.
Cream cheese icing:
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated. Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
I put a little blue food coloring in the icing, too.
Then we decorated the top of the cake. If you haven't seen the movie, it won't make any sense. For the Home Tree, we went to Michael's Crafts. It's just made up of some greenery from the fake flowers department. We also got those dragon-like birds at Michael's. The smaller trees and the military vehicles came from a cake decorating store called the Happy Hostess. This store is crazy, in a good way and bad way. If you ever need anything like edible pink glitter, mini snail-shaped cookie cutters, or a huge variety of plastic figurines to put on top of a cake...this is your place. We also got the "rocks" on the cake from this place - they're actually jellybeans.
And just like in the movie, Home Tree fell. RIP Home Tree. It was just too heavy for the soft cake to hold up. Anyway, we finally got to eat the Avatar cake! Slicing into it revealed a cross-section of the two shades of blue, and the light blue icing. We served it with wildberry lavender ice cream from Jeni's (which I will write about later this week), the closest ice cream we could find to blue that would actually taste good. Ta da!!!
Friday, March 5, 2010
o-h-i-o
I'm going home to Columbus today for a long weekend. Yay!
I promise when I return I'll have many delicious things to write about.
Until then, check out these food blogs. I found them from a post on Grub Street (see left side of the page), and am in awe and totally jealous of how professional and pretty these websites are. I think my favorite is CakeSpy.
I promise when I return I'll have many delicious things to write about.
Until then, check out these food blogs. I found them from a post on Grub Street (see left side of the page), and am in awe and totally jealous of how professional and pretty these websites are. I think my favorite is CakeSpy.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Landmarc
This post is totally out of the blue, but I was thinking about this restaurant the other day and how much I love it, so I thought I should share. Landmarc is a fantastic restaurant in Tribeca, which my friends and I discovered when we lived downtown. I guess the genre would be New American or maybe French. We have been there countless times. I don't really remember our first visit, I'm sure it was for one of our "supper clubs" - the 4 of us would take turns picking a restaurant that was completely new to the whole group. A bunch of us girls went there the night Amy got engaged (dinner was before the engagement), I've taken my parents there, Peter and I brought a group of his friends there for New Years Eve last year, and Amy, Jess, Chelsea and I returned for our last NYC supper club (photo below). And there have been many other visits in between all those events.
Now onto the food. I wish I had some pictures of the wonderful things I've eaten here, but I never thought about it at the time. First off, the wine list is extensive and inexpensive - two very good words to describe a wine list. I remember hearing some back story as to why they can sell their wine at such great prices, but it escapes me. After choosing a wine, the bread arrives at the table - a basket of slices from a crusty loaf with a little dish of butter topped with crunchy sea salt. Perfection.
On to appetizers. I think almost every time I have been here, my group has ordered the smoked mozzarella and ricotta fritters, and the fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce. There's something about that tomato sauce...we always end up asking for more. And they serve fried thin lemon slices with the calamari which are actually really tasty. They also have oysters...yum.
Landmarc has daily pasta specials, and the menu changes slightly with the seasons. A permanent fixture on the menu is steak - they offer several cuts, with a choice of 4 or 5 sauces. I'm partial to the filet with green peppercorn sauce. And I'm not just saying this, but their french fries are really some of the best I've ever had. Perfectly crispy and salty with a little bit of chopped parsley. Some of my other favorites on the menu are mussels in white wine, grilled tuna with lentils, and lamp chops when in season. And in the winter you can't miss with the side order of brussels sprouts with pancetta.
The dessert menu is designed so that you couldn't possibly think about skipping something sweet at the end of the meal. Everything is mini - just a taste served in a little ramekin. Creme brulee, blueberry crumble, and tiramisu are all staples. They also have a nutella eclair, and several flavors of ice cream you can get served in a little dish or on a cone in a cute little ice cream cone holder. And they have a daily flavor of cotton candy - which is never on the menu, but always available.
Landmarc is a perfect neighborhood spot. The location in Tribeca (there's one in Time Warner Center too, but Tribeca is my favorite) is two levels. The downstairs has a small bar and an open flame grill where the steaks are cooked. In the summer they open up the big front windows and offer seating outside. The upstairs is a little quieter and cozier.
Definitely high on my list of favorite restaurants. Ok, now I'm hungry...
Now onto the food. I wish I had some pictures of the wonderful things I've eaten here, but I never thought about it at the time. First off, the wine list is extensive and inexpensive - two very good words to describe a wine list. I remember hearing some back story as to why they can sell their wine at such great prices, but it escapes me. After choosing a wine, the bread arrives at the table - a basket of slices from a crusty loaf with a little dish of butter topped with crunchy sea salt. Perfection.
On to appetizers. I think almost every time I have been here, my group has ordered the smoked mozzarella and ricotta fritters, and the fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce. There's something about that tomato sauce...we always end up asking for more. And they serve fried thin lemon slices with the calamari which are actually really tasty. They also have oysters...yum.
Landmarc has daily pasta specials, and the menu changes slightly with the seasons. A permanent fixture on the menu is steak - they offer several cuts, with a choice of 4 or 5 sauces. I'm partial to the filet with green peppercorn sauce. And I'm not just saying this, but their french fries are really some of the best I've ever had. Perfectly crispy and salty with a little bit of chopped parsley. Some of my other favorites on the menu are mussels in white wine, grilled tuna with lentils, and lamp chops when in season. And in the winter you can't miss with the side order of brussels sprouts with pancetta.
The dessert menu is designed so that you couldn't possibly think about skipping something sweet at the end of the meal. Everything is mini - just a taste served in a little ramekin. Creme brulee, blueberry crumble, and tiramisu are all staples. They also have a nutella eclair, and several flavors of ice cream you can get served in a little dish or on a cone in a cute little ice cream cone holder. And they have a daily flavor of cotton candy - which is never on the menu, but always available.
Landmarc is a perfect neighborhood spot. The location in Tribeca (there's one in Time Warner Center too, but Tribeca is my favorite) is two levels. The downstairs has a small bar and an open flame grill where the steaks are cooked. In the summer they open up the big front windows and offer seating outside. The upstairs is a little quieter and cozier.
Definitely high on my list of favorite restaurants. Ok, now I'm hungry...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Oops
Part of cooking is trial and error. Over the past couple days I've made a few things that didn't exactly turn out as planned. Ok, so it wasn't this bad...
...but I thought I should share anyway.
First of all, I made the granola bars again. I didn't measure the honey, I just eyeballed it and I realized once it was too late that I only used about 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. When I tried to cut them they pretty much crumbled. You definitely need to use 1/2 - 2/3 cup honey to keep them intact. However, I did get some nice chunky granola to put on my Greek yogurt. It's actually a good way to make granola with nice big clumps, if that's what you're going for. But if you're going for granola bars, use more honey.
And the other mistake - chicken noodle soup. Peter is home sick and I decided I should make him chicken noodle soup. It really wasn't that bad of a mistake, I just put too much pasta in so it ended up being more of a stew than a soup - the pasta to chicken/vegetable ratio was off, plus the pasta soaked up most of the chicken stock. But it did taste really good. Here's the recipe with the correct amount of pasta.
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
salt & pepper
olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
herbs de provence (optional)
1/2 a 16 oz. box of pasta (I used mini bow tie pasta)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the chicken breasts with olive oil, and a sprinkle a good amount of salt and pepper over them. Don't be shy with the salt and pepper. I sliced the skin almost entirely off, put olive oil, salt, and pepper on the actual meat, then covered it back up with the skin to cook. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Pour enough olive oil in a large soup pot just to cover the bottom. Heat the oil for a few minutes over medium heat, then add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add salt, pepper, and about 2 tsp of herbs de provence over the vegetables. Cook vegetables for about 5 minutes, then add all of the chicken stock. Turn heat up to high to bring the liquid to a boil, and add the pasta. Turn the heat down to low just a couple minutes before the pasta is done, as the pasta will continue to cook in the liquid even once the heat is lowered.
When the chicken is done cut it up into small pieces and add to the soup. Taste the soup for salt and pepper - I probably ended up adding almost 1 Tbl of salt to the soup over the course of cooking, but as I said I used too much pasta so if I had used the right amount I may not have needed so much salt. It all depends on how salty you like it, whether you used regular or low-sodium stock, etc.
...but I thought I should share anyway.
First of all, I made the granola bars again. I didn't measure the honey, I just eyeballed it and I realized once it was too late that I only used about 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup. When I tried to cut them they pretty much crumbled. You definitely need to use 1/2 - 2/3 cup honey to keep them intact. However, I did get some nice chunky granola to put on my Greek yogurt. It's actually a good way to make granola with nice big clumps, if that's what you're going for. But if you're going for granola bars, use more honey.
And the other mistake - chicken noodle soup. Peter is home sick and I decided I should make him chicken noodle soup. It really wasn't that bad of a mistake, I just put too much pasta in so it ended up being more of a stew than a soup - the pasta to chicken/vegetable ratio was off, plus the pasta soaked up most of the chicken stock. But it did taste really good. Here's the recipe with the correct amount of pasta.
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
salt & pepper
olive oil
8 cups chicken stock
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 white onion, chopped
herbs de provence (optional)
1/2 a 16 oz. box of pasta (I used mini bow tie pasta)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the chicken breasts with olive oil, and a sprinkle a good amount of salt and pepper over them. Don't be shy with the salt and pepper. I sliced the skin almost entirely off, put olive oil, salt, and pepper on the actual meat, then covered it back up with the skin to cook. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Pour enough olive oil in a large soup pot just to cover the bottom. Heat the oil for a few minutes over medium heat, then add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add salt, pepper, and about 2 tsp of herbs de provence over the vegetables. Cook vegetables for about 5 minutes, then add all of the chicken stock. Turn heat up to high to bring the liquid to a boil, and add the pasta. Turn the heat down to low just a couple minutes before the pasta is done, as the pasta will continue to cook in the liquid even once the heat is lowered.
When the chicken is done cut it up into small pieces and add to the soup. Taste the soup for salt and pepper - I probably ended up adding almost 1 Tbl of salt to the soup over the course of cooking, but as I said I used too much pasta so if I had used the right amount I may not have needed so much salt. It all depends on how salty you like it, whether you used regular or low-sodium stock, etc.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Homemade Granola Bars
Probably 4 or 5 times a week I eat a granola bar. I use the word "granola bar" loosely, because what I'm talking about are Luna bars or Larabars. I used to eat Luna bars more, but lately I've been feeling like they're too candy-like for me. So I've been eating more Larabars lately. I like that the ingredient list (depending on the flavor) usually reads like this: dates, walnuts, apples, raisins, cinnamon. But it's kind of a pureed texture, and I want something crunchier.
The produce section is right inside the entrance of the Whole Foods I go to, and within the produce section are the grain/rice/dried fruit/nuts/beans dispensers. I know I'm getting old because I like to go look at them like I used to look around Sweet Factory in the mall when I was 10.
So between wanting a crunchier granola bar, and wanting to buy a little bit of everything from those dispensers...I figured I should try to make my own granola bars. I did some research online, and Ina Garten has a granola bar recipe. I love all of her recipes, so I gave it a try...and they are sooooo good. Oh Barefoot Contessa, you're the best. I made them last week and am going to make them again today - that should tell you how good they are. Here's the recipe - hers calls for cranberries but I used raisins, and I used a little less honey. I also added flax seeds. Letting them cool for 2 hours sounds crazy, but you really do need to because they'll fall apart if cut while still warm.
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, coconut, and flax seeds together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and raisins and stir well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.
The produce section is right inside the entrance of the Whole Foods I go to, and within the produce section are the grain/rice/dried fruit/nuts/beans dispensers. I know I'm getting old because I like to go look at them like I used to look around Sweet Factory in the mall when I was 10.
So between wanting a crunchier granola bar, and wanting to buy a little bit of everything from those dispensers...I figured I should try to make my own granola bars. I did some research online, and Ina Garten has a granola bar recipe. I love all of her recipes, so I gave it a try...and they are sooooo good. Oh Barefoot Contessa, you're the best. I made them last week and am going to make them again today - that should tell you how good they are. Here's the recipe - hers calls for cranberries but I used raisins, and I used a little less honey. I also added flax seeds. Letting them cool for 2 hours sounds crazy, but you really do need to because they'll fall apart if cut while still warm.
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried raisins
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 by 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, coconut, and flax seeds together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dates, apricots, and raisins and stir well.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Boston Pizza
I'm back from my girls weekend in Boston, we all had a great time and I miss everyone already! We ate a lot of pizza over the course of the weekend. It wasn't planned that way, but rather just happened. Boston isn't famous for its pizza like New York and Chicago are, but it was all delicious.
First up was dinner on Thursday night at Joe V's, a tiny little restaurant in the South End by my sister's apartment. She's been there several times and suggested a bunch of us brave the monsoon that was going on outside to get some thin crust pizza. Actually, they call it ultra thin crust pizza, which is exactly how I like it. We ordered spicy sausage with roasted red peppers and caramelized onions, margarita with scallions, and the "yoga pizza" which has prosciutto, parmesan, mushrooms, arugula, and white truffle oil. Sorry the pictures are a little dark.
Friday night we ordered from Presto, our old college pizza spot in Cleveland Circle. There's a lot of debate over which Cleveland Circle pizza place is the best - Presto or Pino's. We have always been on Team Presto, maybe because it's so good, or maybe because of the "super large". This pizza is bigger than anything you've ever seen. It's huge. I don't even think the pictures will do it justice. I took one picture with some hands on the box so you can see just how big it is.
Saturday evening, Leslie was kind enough to stop by Framingham Bakery (sorry, no website) to pick up some of their pizza for a pre-dinner snack. This pizza was a staple of our college lives, making most of its appearances at tailgates. It's more of a pizza bread - fluffy, light bread with a light layer of sauce and cheese on top and cut into squares. I think it's even better served at room temperature. This picture shows the pizza cut up into smaller pieces...and almost gone.
And late night on Saturday, we ordered from Natalie's, which was also a college staple. I guess we ate a lot of pizza in college...but who doesn't? I wouldn't say Natalie's is anything special, but it's open until 3am. Sorry, no pictures of this one.
Four kinds of pizza in one weekend. When I called Peter on Sunday afternoon as I was getting ready to go to the airport, he said "guess what I got us for dinner tonight? pizza crust!" No joke.
Last note: my sister and I went to Flour in the South End on Sunday to pick up some lunch to go. She said they have the best BLTs so I took her advice. It was on whole wheat foccacia bread, with applewood smoked bacon, arugula and tomatoes. We also got a couple bittersweet chocolate chip cookies. It's a really cute spot, with lots of tempting bakery treats on display.
First up was dinner on Thursday night at Joe V's, a tiny little restaurant in the South End by my sister's apartment. She's been there several times and suggested a bunch of us brave the monsoon that was going on outside to get some thin crust pizza. Actually, they call it ultra thin crust pizza, which is exactly how I like it. We ordered spicy sausage with roasted red peppers and caramelized onions, margarita with scallions, and the "yoga pizza" which has prosciutto, parmesan, mushrooms, arugula, and white truffle oil. Sorry the pictures are a little dark.
Friday night we ordered from Presto, our old college pizza spot in Cleveland Circle. There's a lot of debate over which Cleveland Circle pizza place is the best - Presto or Pino's. We have always been on Team Presto, maybe because it's so good, or maybe because of the "super large". This pizza is bigger than anything you've ever seen. It's huge. I don't even think the pictures will do it justice. I took one picture with some hands on the box so you can see just how big it is.
Saturday evening, Leslie was kind enough to stop by Framingham Bakery (sorry, no website) to pick up some of their pizza for a pre-dinner snack. This pizza was a staple of our college lives, making most of its appearances at tailgates. It's more of a pizza bread - fluffy, light bread with a light layer of sauce and cheese on top and cut into squares. I think it's even better served at room temperature. This picture shows the pizza cut up into smaller pieces...and almost gone.
And late night on Saturday, we ordered from Natalie's, which was also a college staple. I guess we ate a lot of pizza in college...but who doesn't? I wouldn't say Natalie's is anything special, but it's open until 3am. Sorry, no pictures of this one.
Four kinds of pizza in one weekend. When I called Peter on Sunday afternoon as I was getting ready to go to the airport, he said "guess what I got us for dinner tonight? pizza crust!" No joke.
Last note: my sister and I went to Flour in the South End on Sunday to pick up some lunch to go. She said they have the best BLTs so I took her advice. It was on whole wheat foccacia bread, with applewood smoked bacon, arugula and tomatoes. We also got a couple bittersweet chocolate chip cookies. It's a really cute spot, with lots of tempting bakery treats on display.
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