Indian Night

My friend, Sarah, got me hooked on wanting to make Indian food. She is really good at it and loves to make it, and honestly is incredibly inspiring for recipes. I aspire one day to be as skilled in the kitchen as she is. So one day when I was down visiting her and her fiance in Philly, she was telling me about an awesome recipe she made. I decided then, to steal her recipes and try them myself.

Naan:

Ingredients
• 3/8 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup and 1 teaspoon warm water
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/4 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon milk
• 3/8 egg, beaten
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups and 2 tablespoons bread flour
• 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/4 teaspoons butter, melted
Directions
This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 14 servings.
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

So I started with the naan bread. Here's a photo of the beginning process once all put together.

The recipe is scaled down from to serve 14 people to serve 4. I should have looked a little closer, but I didn't. Ironically, I had to make this bread a second time. It wasn't rising after an hour like it was supposed to. I couldn't figure out what I did wrong, until I read the recipe. The yeast packet that it cut down must have been the biggest yeast packet known to man. I only added 3/8 of a normal size pack and when I went back and looked, a whole pack is .25 ounce. I made it again, using the correct amount of yeast. Here's my result.

Bread does take some time to make, but it was delicious and incredibly rewarding.

NEXT:

Samosas

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ghee, clarified butter or vegetable oil, plus 1/4 cup, plus extra, for frying
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 hot green chile peppers, minced
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2 large baking potatoes, like russets, about 1 1/2 pounds, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch dice, and boiled until just tender
1/2 cup par-cooked and drained green peas
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Directions
To make the dough, sift the flour and salt into medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter and rub the mixture between the palms of your hands to evenly distribute, letting the fat-coated flour fall back into the bowl. Continue until the flour is evenly coated. Add 6 tablespoons of the water, mix, and work until the dough comes together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4 minutes into a firm dough. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

To make the filling, in a large saute pan or skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of clarified butter over medium-high heat. Add the coriander seeds and cook, stirring, for 10 seconds. Add the onions and ginger, and cook, stirring, until starting to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chile peppers, garam masala, salt, turmeric, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the potatoes and cook, stirring until the potatoes start to color and become dry, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the cilantro and lemon juice. Stir to combine, then adjust the seasoning, to taste. Let sit until cool enough to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 1 minute. Divide into 2 equal portions and roll each into a 1/2-inch thick rope. Cut each into 8 equal parts and roll into smooth balls. Place each ball on the floured surface and roll into a thin circle, about 6-inches in diameter. Cut each circle in half (2 semi-circles). Spoon about 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each semi-circle. Brush the edges with water and fold the dough over the filling. Press the edges together to seal. Place on a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining ingredients.

Preheat the oil in a large pot to 350 degrees F. Add the pastries in batches and cook at 300 degrees F, turning, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

I'll be honest, I didn't use the hot chile. I was scared of how hot it would be. I'm still working on my spice palate. So in making these, everything went pretty smoothly until I saw to fry them. I've never fried anything in my life. What kind of oil is necessary? How do I know when it's 30 degrees? I text Sarah. She told me to use vegetable oil and as long as if you spritz some water on the hot oil it sizzles then you're good. So I did that and it worked like a charm. Here is the process.

I used egg instead of water to keep the samosas together which is just a little trick I've learned. I also used a fork to make some pretty patterns on it, no other reason than that. AAAAAND another success.

NEXT:

Chicken Tikka Masala

Part A:
2 lbs. boneless chicken breast
1/4 cup yogurt
3 tsp minced ginger
3 tsp crushed garlic
¼ tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp green cardamom powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp ghee
Melted margarine (for basting)

Part B:
5 oz. tomato paste
10 oz. tomato puree
2 lbs. tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tbsp red chili powder
2 tsp cloves
8 green cardamoms
Salt To Taste
3 tbsp ghee
2/3 cup cream
1 tsp fenugreek
2 tsp ginger, julienned

Preparation:

• Whisk all of the ingredients in Part A together in a large bowl. Add the chicken breast, cut into 2 inch cubes.
• Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350º F. Bake the chicken for 8 minutes, basting with margarine twice. Drain excess marinade and bake for another 2 minutes.
• While doing this, make the sauce in Part B. Put tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato puree in a pot and add approximately 4-1/4 cups of water.
• Add ginger and garlic paste, red chili powder, cloves, cardamoms, and salt. Cook over low heat until reduced to a thick sauce. Strain through a strainer and bring to a boil. Add butter and cream. Stir.
• Add fenugreek and ginger juliennes, stir, and serve with the chicken tikka masala

A few things for this recipe. First, for the marinade: I didn't have specifically green cardamom powder so I just used the regular stuff that I had. Ghee can also be substituted for butter. It's like butter, but even worse for you. If you have ghee you can use it, but if not butter works just fine. For the sauce : The pods of cardamoms can be substituted for powder just like the cloves can be in powder form as well. The sauce took a lot longer than I imagined to thicken up, probably at least an hour. Then, I came to a revelation, it doesn't say which part of the strained mixture to use. I know it sounds really weird, but it doesn't. I ended up keeping the stuff in the strainer, not the stuff that was strained off. It turned out incredibly.

Here is my whole dinner, 4.5 hours after the first step was made.

It all worked. I love cooking, I love trying new things, and I love success in food!

Poor, sad, barbecue

Previously, I blogged about a modern Israeli restaurant called Zahav. I loved it. So when I found out that Percy st. barbecue was a sister restaurant I immediately put it on the list. The other night when I went down to Philadelphia for the Die Antwoord concert (Yes, it was awesome) David and I stopped by Percy St. because it's close to the Troc and it seemed a little expensive but delicious. I liked the atmosphere, and it wasn't too busy considering it was a Thursday night around 730pm.

So we decided eventually to get two appetizers, the mac and cheese and the cornbread. I love cornbread. Seriously. It's a weakness. However, I can't begin to explain how incredibly disappointed in this cornbread. They cooked in a skillet and I don't know if it was new or over used, but my cornbread tasted like skillet. Legit, tasted like the skillet. It didn't taste like cornbread. It also got stuck to the skillet and was really difficult to get out. I don't know how many ways to say that it was terrible and I'm sad I paid money for that.

The Mac and Cheese was the best part of the entire meal. It was delicious and I would recommend it to anyone who goes there. Please note, I don't recommend this restaurant at all. But if you find yourself there (which you shouldn't) get the mac and cheese.

The main we got was the pork cheeks. As a fat kid, I wanted more for my money. The pork cheeks weren't fatty, they were actually pretty solid of meat. But there wasn't enough to warrant the price. They weren't bad, but there wasn't much flavor to them. The brussel sprouts were mediocre and so was the mashed sweet potatoes. It all was good, but not incredible. It was just, there.

There were also 3 sauces to possibly accompany the barbecue. The sauces were absolutely nothing special. No crazy tastes, nothing too exciting. None of them really accentuated the flavor of the pork cheeks.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Maybe it's because I know what good barbecue tastes like. If you've never had barbecue, I guess it's okay. But if you want real good barbecue without driving to the south, come to York, PA. we'll go to Big Lou's.

The perfect chocolate chip cookie is hard to find...

All similar ingredients, somehow different combinations and how it is baked can create so many different cookies. I had a recipe in Australia that I loved. Searching for that same recipe in the USA is basically impossible. And since it was bookmarked on David's computer there's no way I was going to find it. Since I felt like making cookies, what better than a Hershey's recipe right? Hershey has amazing chocolates and baked goods at their store.

Here's the recipe...

HERSHEY'S Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 25 Minutes
Skill level: Beginner

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1 Heat oven to 375°F.
2 Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
3 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies. PAN RECIPE: Spread batter in greased 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 375°F. 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars. About 4 dozen bars. HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: Simply add 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. SKOR & CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES: Use 1 cup finely chopped SKOR bars and 1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips in place of 2 cups chocolate chips; omit nuts. Drop and bake as directed.

http://www.hersheys.com/pure-recipes/details.aspx?id=5368&name=HERSHEY%27S%20Perfect%20Chocolate%20Chip%20Cookies

I really didn't like this recipe. My cookies were sweet and super chocolatey (There is a ton of sugar and butter in it) but it wasn't the texture I like. I want fluffy, soft cookies. These just got thin and spread out. They weren't what I was looking for. If you like thin cookies then I would definitely try this recipe. Here's what they look like.

I'm ready to try a new recipe next time. Maybe i'll search it on Pinterest. =)

The lunch special

I love all types of food. There's nothing I can think of that I don't love. And when restaurants offer lunch specials, it feels like a steal.

FUJIHANA. Route 30 in York by Roosevelt Ave. It's near the Staples and Denny's. It's a Japanese grill that has hibachi and sushi. I love sushi. Fujihana has a lunch special for $10. Three rolls and soup or salad. I loved everything I had. Personally, I like raw rolls so I try to get those as often as possible. So beautifully, here is my sushi.

Salmon avocado, tuna avocado, and a California roll. Dipped in soy sauce, I am definitely in love.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I've never made biscotti before. However, when my boss came in one day and said that she was bringing in a variety of tea from Teavana. What better to accompany tea other than finger sandwiches, but I wasn't going to make those. Biscotti was actually the second thing on my mind.

I checked out a recipe that I had most of the ingredients for and decided to run with. It also sounded delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup HERSHEY®'S Dutch Processed Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup HERSHEY®'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon shortening

1/4 cup HERSHEY®'S Premier White Chips
1 teaspoon shortening

Directions

Heat oven to 350 F. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and almond extract; beat until smooth. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until smooth. (Dough will be thick.) Stir in almonds with wooden spoon.
Divide dough in half. With lightly floured hands, shape each half into rectangular log about 2 inches in diameter and 11 inches long; place on large ungreased cookie sheet, at least 2 inches apart.
Bake 30 minutes or until logs are set. Remove from oven; cool on cookie sheet 15 minutes. Using serrated knife, cut logs diagonally using a sawing motion, into 1/2-inch thick slices. Discard end pieces. Arrange slices, cut sides down, close together on cookie sheet.
Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Turn slices over; bake an additional 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on cookie sheet on wire rack. Dip end of each biscotti in Chocolate Glaze or drizzle glaze over entire cookie. Drizzle White Glaze over chocolate glaze. Garnish with additional almonds, if desired. About 2-1/2 dozen cookies.
Chocolate Glaze: Place 1 cup Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and 1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, oil or spread) in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until smooth when stirred. About 1 cup glaze. White Glaze: Place 1/4 cup Hershey's Premier White Chips and 1 teaspoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, oil or spread) in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 30 to 45 seconds or until smooth when stirred. About 1/4 cup glaze.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-almond-biscotti-2/

I really followed the recipe on this one cause I had never done it. Ends up, they turned out pretty amazing. I didn't use the chocolate and shortening, instead I used chocolate and peanut butter mix for the drizzle. The recipe does take time, there's no denying that. However, it is delicious. It makes a decent amount, and they are perfect to share. Crunchy, crispy, sweet. yummmm.

Mashed Cauliflower

I wouldn't typically add such an easy recipe, but most people don't really know about it.

Mashed cauliflower is super simple as well as incredibly delicious. I substitute this for mashed potatoes when I'm trying to be healthy. It's got a similar texture and it could probably be substituted for kids who wouldn't know.

Take a head of cauliflower, break it apart and cook it. Take a food processor or hand blender and make it like creamier texture. I tried this with a potato masher once and the texture didn't come out at all. There shouldn't be any resemblance of cauliflower. Then I add the same things I do to mashed potatoes. A little bit of milk and butter. At the end I add cheese, but just because everything tastes better with cheese.

Here it is. It's not beautiful, but it's yummy!

Simple, easy, delicious hummus

After my visit at Zahav, I got into a middle eastern mood. One of my favorite, super healthy dips is hummus. It's delicious with any veg on it as well as any sort of chip or bread.

Ingredients:

1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

Place in serving bowl, and create a shallow well in the center of the hummus.

Add a small amount (1-2 tablespoons) of olive oil in the well. Garnish with parsley (optional).

Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.
Variations
For a spicier hummus, add a sliced red chile or a dash of cayenne pepper.

I made no adjustments to the recipe. It says on the website that the Tahini paste can be omitted if you don't have it, but I whole heartedly disagree. I've made hummus in the past without it, and it doesn't work. The lemon juice in hummus needs balanced out, and the tahini does exactly that. I only put in three tablespoons of lemon juice which turned out well. I threw in a tiny dash of cayenne pepper which gives it some flavor without any of the heat. I definitely could throw more in if wanted.

Totally recommend this recipe. However, if you can find a specialty store to buy tahini I would do that. I bought mine awhile ago just at a Giant and it was like, $9 for the jar. When I went to Philly last weekend and went to a small indian store, they had the same thing for $4. However, tahini lasts forever. It's all natural so remember to mix it really well before using it. It separates just like all natural peanut butter.

Hummus isn't really beautiful, but here it is.

The burritodilla

Short, simple, and sweet. I was craving a quesadilla one day and decided to go to the best place in town for that, Roburritos. Here's their simple but wonderful website.

http://www.roburritos.com/menu.html

I got the burritodilla. Cheese, rice, salsa, sour cream, black beans, and guac. I also got potato cause I wasn't feeling steak or chicken. Here's my beautiful dilla.

If you've read older posts, you'll find that I've already written about Rob's. It is by far, my favorite in the area. The only other take out anything like it is Chipotle and while I don't mind Chipotle, it's a chain, and I'm pretty against chain restaurants at all costs. I'd much rather go to the mom and pop shops. My only qualm is that I asked and paid for extra guac and didn't get any. However, I got take out and my coworkers also got to have Robs for the first time in their lives. Winning!

As close to Italian as I'll ever get

The way I like to eat and socialize, I think I may have been born into the wrong culture. In one of my previous lives I must have been a beautiful Italian woman. In this life, I am just an American girl who got lucky enough to live with some of best Italians in the world, and stole a few recipes along the way.

I asked Ester one day for a recipe for pasta carbonara. I was in the mood for it. Here's what was left on the dining room table as the recipe...

Best recipe I've ever gotten. Mostly because the only two measurements in the whole meal are 200g of pasta and 2 eggs. The rest is well.. just a little bit.

So on the snowy weekend we had a little bit ago I decided that while with my friend, Salicia, we would make pasta carbonara. We added a little chicken to the recipe to just mix it up. Here's all my photos.

So the first photo is just chicken with bacon and onion cooking up. I learned from Ester and Rosario that if you're cooking meat and onions in the same dish that you need to cook them together so they pick up all of the flavors. The next picture is what happens once the pasta, sauce, and meats are combined.

Basically, the recipe for the sauce goes like this (in terms of those of us who can't just use "a little bit") 2 eggs. 2/3 to 3/4 cup of milk. 1/2 to 2/3 cup of parme cheese. That's it. The key is to put it over a LOW fire and cook for a bit. I think it took 35-45 minutes to cook it all together once in the pot. Here is the result.

This recipe turned out the best I've ever made. It's important to measure out the right proportion of pasta because if you use too much the sauce won't work the way it should. I am so lucky I met my Italians for a million reasons, and this is just one of them.

Just call me Spot

Pavlov was onto something when he used his study with the bells to make the dogs salivate to prove classical conditioning. I know and believe in classical conditioning, but I didn't realize how much the food affects my life. Just downloading these photos for the restaurant I'm about to blog about is making me super hungry and I'm definitely salivating. But trust me, that isn't weird. Just wait.

Philadelphia has something called Restaurant week I'm pretty sure three times a year. It runs for two weeks at a time (not including Saturday nights) One in September, one in January/February, and then I've heard there is one in the summer. It is where restaurants all over the city provide a 4 course meal for $35. It's a pretty rad deal. This was the first time I participated in Restaurant week. It's the first time I'd really heard of it. My good friend, Dustin, convinced me to come down to Philly and enjoy restaurant week with him. I told him that he can choose the restaurant because He has lived in Philly for 6 years. He chose a restaurant called Zahav. He told me it was middle eastern.

We got all fancied up and went to Zahav. 237 Saint James Place, part of old city. We walked up the cobblestone roads up the stairs and were seated right away. The menu stated that it was not middle eastern that Dustin told me, but it is Modern Israeli. How wonderfully specific.

Our waiter, Renshaw, was pretty awesome. He was incredibly knowledgeable on not only the menu but the wine list. Dustin a few months ago had come to this restaurant and had a wine that he fell in love with. It wasn't on the menu and when we asked Renshaw about it (just in case) he looked through the wine list describing all the wines realizing that none were like the wine Dustin had wanted. However, he knew about all of the wines.

We had to choose 2 appetizers, one main and one dessert for our meals and it all had to be ordered at once. While we were deciding, they brought out Hummus with Laffa and Salatim (a selection of 8 different spreads/salads including pickled beetroot, cucumber, carrots, kale and other things). Let me tell you. I would have been happy with just that as my meal. the Laffa bread was straight out of the oven, soft warm and fluffy. The hummus was incredibly balanced and creamy with olive oil to mix with. All of the salads were wildly delicious and their flavors were bold and fresh.

After devouring one and a half of the Laffa breads and eating almost all of the salads, the first appetizer came out. My favorite thing about enjoying a restaurant with another foodie is that they want to share dishes. Although I only got 2 appetizers, Dustin got two so I tried 4 dishes. The first to come out was the Fried Sweetbreads with chickpeas, green chiles, and garlic. I would have to say this, while good, was probably my least favorite. I know it said fried, but I didn't realize that meant deep fried. So it came breaded and fried. I didn't like it because it was very small portions and I didn't really get any taste of the sweetbreads, or any of it. I tried two and seriously didn't get any of the sweetbreads texture or flavor. Here it is.

Next to come out, oh man. Most people in the USA have never even heard of Haloumi cheese. With that being said, even this blogger site is showing a red squiggly line underneath it saying I've misspelled it. Nope. Haloumi. I once found about 400g of Haloumi in the Giant grocery store for $10. One day, I'll be craving it badly enough to purchase it. The French introduced us to it in Australia and I'm in love with it. It is cheese that is so firm that you fry it on the stove to get most of the flavor. I was like a kid in a candy store when I saw it on the menu and then when it came out on the plate. Crispy Haloumi with walnuts, date spread, apples, and squash. My heart literally lept for joy when taking the first bite of Haloumi. (Sometimes I'm sure I was a chef in a previous life). Here is my amazing dazzling dish. I am in love (but not like the weird lady who is married to the Eiffel Tower.)

Part of the reason I love fancy restaurants is because they serve things that you don't find on normal menus. With that being said, most of my dishes are pretty wild. I didn't choose the potato latkes or the fried cauliflower, but instead the first I'd like to discuss is the Kibbe Naya. Raw lamb, bulgur, and lentils. The idea of raw lamb is strange. How would it come out? as a small steak is what I assumed. It actually came out as little ball sorts of ground lamb. Legitimately raw. However, the flavors blended together so well and the texture wasn't was strange as I thought it would be. The raw lamb tasted like cooked lamb and was still just as soft.

Next was the Grilled Duck hearts with a carrot-turnip salad and onion puree. I've always been a fan of heart. When I was a small child and my grandma would make thanksgiving she would always eat the turkey heart and I imagine I was the only brave one to try it so I always got half of the turkey heart. It is just like the rest of the meat but a little fattier and usually a little smoother. Duck heart is no different. It was grilled to perfection keeping all of its natural flavors and also was incredibly moist. For the photo, the back is the Kibbe Naya and the front is the duck hearts.

Unfortunately, the next dish isn't on the menu anymore. Even though it was only last Sunday that I went, they've taken it off so I will only have memory to tell you what it is. The dish that I chose was Lamb Tongue. It had the wild texture of what you could imagine a tongue to taste like. While the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, it is the softest when it's not alive. Just such a strange texture. But the way Zahav made the dish it was wildly delicious. I can't even explain how every dish was just something beautiful and delicious. Here we go.

Next was the Crispy Branzino. Black eye peas, celery root, apples, and dill. The fish in this meal is from Northern Italy and also called European bass. The fish skin was crispy and grilled perfectly to enhance the flavor of the fish. I was so full at this point that while I enjoyed it, I wish I could have eaten more. Nom nom nom.

For dessert, we ordered two things. Unfortunately, by the time the dessert came the chocolate sorbet in one of the dishes we ordered was not set and he told us it would be about 30 minutes. Being past 11pm anyway, we decided to just order another dessert. I made a small 'joke' that he should just bring us the rest of the desserts he had (just one left that we hadn't ordered or tried to order) and then ordered the last dessert. He, in turn, brought us all 3 desserts instead of our two. SCOREEEEEEE.

The milk chocolate baklava with peanuts, hazelnuts, and pumpkin ice cream was so tasty. I loved the filo dough with the firmness of the milk chocolate. The sorbet was really full bodied and delicious.

Next is the dessert that we didn't order but Renshaw brought out anyway. Hazelnut-date Rugelach, (a pastry) with turkish coffee ice cream. The pastry was firm on the outside and very soft on the inside. The date was so subtle but just enough to really pull the pasty together. The ice cream tasted exactly like turkish coffee. No holding back. It wasn't sweet at all like ice cream, it was actually bitter. I loved the fact that even though it was home made ice cream it didn't lose the turkish coffee flavor.

Last but actually the best of the desserts. It's not on the menu but it is chocolate deliciousness wrapped in shredded filo dough with a mango ice cream on top. The chocolate was a super extra dark chocolate but somehow made to be incredibly soft and smooth. My mouth had fireworks.

I am in love with this restaurant and I recommend that it goes on every person's bucket list. Thank you again, Dustin, for sharing this amazing and beautiful experience with me.

When I want to think of OZ..

I go to CREPES.

When I lived in Melbourne, Australia, I lived in a share house. There were a ton of different cultures meshed together in the house. There were Germans, Italians, and French that I most connected with. The french are two people that I still keep in contact with today, and skyped recently and continue to see how their lives are. Since they are french, they are naturally good at making crepes.

I love crepes. Savory crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner or dessert. The only bad part about this blog is that I am hesitant to give out this recipe. It's so easy, I don't want everyone else to make crepes like I do. =) But here it is anyway.

Traditional French Crepes
250g flour
500g milk
3 eggs
1 tbsp vegetable oil
a pinch of salt
(If you have a tbsp of beer, you can add that to make it fluffier)

Slowly blend all of those together, there should be absolutely no lumps. Ideally, you should let it sit for an hour and rest before making them, but you don't have to. Here's what the batter should look like. Super thin.

With that, you should heat a NON STICK pan on medium heat. Add some oil, butter, or pam to the pan. The first crepe (sometimes even two) is like the first pancake syndrome. It isn't bad but the rest are miles better. Now, taking a ladle and pour the mixture in with your dominant hand. I know, it sounds weird but trust me. You're gonna take your non dominant hand and swirl around the pan to get the crepe all over and then pour the excess out back into the bowl. If you do it right, the crepe will look like this before you flip it.

Wait until the edges lift from the pan and then flip. I don't even use a flipper, just my fingers. That's how easy it should be. When the other side is done, flip it again. I was instructed by Roxanne that I was not allowed to use anything but had to do the pan flip. I am pretty good at it at this point, but takes some practice.

This recipe will make like, 20ish crepes. Depends on how thick or thin you can get them. Ideally, they should be as absolutely thin as possible. Like the photo. But it takes practice. It also takes the roll of the wrist correctly and the heat being the correct temperature. Honestly, it takes some practice to get it all right but in the end, it's totally worth it. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it's not full of sugar. You can eat it savory or add the sugar after when you want.

Here are some of my favorite crepe insides..
-Cheese and uncooked egg yolk
-lemon juice and sugar
-fruit of any kind and yogurt (I like strawberries and or blueberries and greek yogurt, but any fruit and any yogurt works)
-Peanut butter and nutella
- brie and jam
-chocolate and...anything

Good luck and happy crepe making!

Fat Poco

Ever heard of the "R-U-Hungry" stand at Rutgers University? They also put one up in State college. To my knowledge, this was the only place that I knew of that served fat sandwiches. What does that mean? Well, a sandwich stuffed with...everything. Cheese steaks, chicken fingers, fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, etc. Anything terrible you can think of that will most likely give you a heart attack is on that sandwich.

Frank's Trattoria Pizzeria on the corner of Richland and West Princess serves fat sandwiches. I got a phone call one day from my coworker, Ash, as I was walking up to the stairs of the building. "Are you gonna be here soon?" There was urgency in her voice. I told her I was walking up the stairs now, and she asked if I wanted anything from Frank's, they were ordering. So looking at the menu I decided on the Fat Poco. Chicken fingers, French fries, mozzarella sticks, onions and bbq sauce.

Frank's also has free delivery. With that being said, I don't recommend the free delivery. The saddest part about the meal. We were told it would be 40 minutes (And seriously, we work 4 blocks up the street). After an hour we call, and it takes another 20 minutes for the meal to get to us. When it did... Here was the reaction.

Look how excited this kid is? Oh yeah, the fat sandwich is finally here.

So here's my critique. I think that sandwich was incredibly awesome. Unfortunately, I have a weak sissy stomach and I could only eat about, 1/3 of the sandwich before I felt really sick from eating all that heavy greasy stuff. I guess it's a positive, or a negative. If I were accustomed to eating all that I might be 30 pounds heavier. So all in all, it was totally worth it. Plus the sandwich was only $7. With free delivery or even pick up which would take less time. Here's my wonderful creation...

Slim, Calm, Sexy Breakfast

Or at least that's what the Women's Health Magazine calls it.

I was looking at Twitter one morning before breakfast and stumbled upon this recipe. It looked good so I figured I'd give it a try.

Raspberry-Ricotta French Toast

1 cup raspberries
1 teaspoon honey
1⁄4 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1 large omega-3–enriched egg
1 tablespoon fat-free milk
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 slice multigrain bread
1 tablespoon chopped pecans

1. Mash 1⁄4 cup of the raspberries with 1⁄2 teaspoon of the honey in a small bowl with a fork. Add the ricotta and stir to combine. Set aside.

2. Coat a small nonstick skillet with canola oil cooking spray and place it over medium heat.

3. Beat the egg, milk, and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Dip the bread in the egg mixture and flip to coat both sides.

4. Transfer the bread to the skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until the egg is lightly browned.

5. Top it with the reserved ricotta mixture, and sprinkle on the pecans and 1⁄4 cup of the remaining raspberries. Drizzle with the remaining 1⁄2 teaspoon of honey and garnish with additional cinnamon, if desired. Serve with the remaining 1⁄2 cup of raspberries on the side.


So, There is one specific thing that I think makes this slimming. One piece of toast. Really? Who eats just ONE piece of french toast? No one. So I revised just a little in that I put probably 1/3 cup of milk in instead of a tablespoon. Here is the mixtures.

I also added a little vanilla to the egg mixture cause vanilla extract is always good.

Pretty typical french toast. I like Ricotta, but there was a lot of the mixture even for two pieces of bread and when you see the photo, I think you'll understand what I mean. I drizzled with honey too but the raspberries or honey didn't make the ricotta as sweet as I would have liked. I guess i came in with more of a sweeter cheese. This might be cause I've only ever eaten ricotta in Lasagna but I'm not sure. I really did like it and I think it was a very simple and easy yet elegant way to shake up a traditional french toast.

The Fractured Prune

If you live in Lancaster, PA and don't know if the Fractured Prune, I'm incredibly disappointed. The first time I went I realized how incredible this place was. I will admit though, I was saddened to hear that it is a chain and not a home owned mom and pop shop.

The Fractured Prune is primarily a breakfast place serving coffee, breakfast sandwiches or wraps, and most importantly, fresh, hot, made to order donuts.

Oh yes. Made to order donuts. They have some creations they've made, or lists of either glazes or toppings that you can get yourself. Seriously, I am in love with this place. My stomach can only ever handle like, one donut, but I always get two for variety. This time I the reces peanut butter cup and an Elvis.

I may have forgotten to take a photo when I first got the donuts because I was busy stuffing my face with hot delicious gooey warm donuts. (Why I'm not 500 pounds, I'll never know) My only sadness in this order is that when I think of an Elvis donut, I think of Peanut butter and Bacon. That was Elvis's favorite. However, I definitely didn't have that. I don't know what it was, and there were 4 unlabelled donuts so I could have eaten my friend's donuts and vice versa. Who knows, who cares.

They are delicious and relatively quick with service. I recommend strongly when in Lancaster, PA you check out the Fractured Prune. Nom nom nom.

My first slow cooker dish

Sausages with Apple and red onion

So I'll give you the recipe, then discuss it.

Ingredients (Serves 4):
1 tbsp oil
8 Sausages
3 tart apples
3 red onions cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp all purpose plain flour
1 glass red wine
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 tsp tomato puree
1 1/3 cups hot vege broth

Method:
Prep and cook time: 7 hours

1. Preheat slow cooker if necessary

2. Heat the oil in a skillet and brown the sausages but don't cook. Transfer to the slow cooker.

3. Add onions to the skillet and fry for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic for another minute.

4. Sprinkle flour over the onion mixture and stir. Add wine, mustard, and tomato puree. Stir in stock.

5. pour the mixture over the sausages.

6. Core the apples and cut into wedges. place in the slow cooker, making sure that they are covered by the liquid.

7. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours until the sausages are cooked and the apples are soft but not mushy

8. Garnish with fresh rosemary before serving.


ALRIGHT

First off. The recipe doesn't say what kind of sausage to use. I chose Chorizo pretty much cause I like it. No real thought process there. I only got 2 red onions. They were large and three seemed excessive.

I don't usually cry when cutting onions, but they were so incredibly potent I was crying and burning for ever. It was by far the most terrible experience with onions I've ever had. So I did everything that the recipe said pretty standard. Here's where the problem came in.

The apples were not covered by the stock provided. It clearly states that the apples have to be covered by the liquid. My apples were not. I ended up DOUBLING the liquid (another cup of vege stock and another glass of red wine) to just get it all covered. I was pretty curios about that when it all happened. Here's what it looked like before being cooked.

It looked pretty good, I thought. I also wonder why the recipe is 6-7 hours. Isn't the reason of having a slow cooker so you don't have to check on it? I set it for 7 hours and went about my business. My slow cooker (I found out, cause this is the first time using it) turns off after the time is finished which is good cause I didn't get to it until about an hour after it was done.

I'm actually a little disappointed with this recipe. It's not bad, but it doesn't really have any flavor. It even lost it's color. Here's what my plate ended up looking like...

Maybe I put too much liquid in? I don't know. It isn't a bad dish but it's definitely not the best I've made.

Corn cream soup with diced polenta

There's no other way to say this... I love soup. Warm soup in the winter is one of the finest things in life. And home made soup, oh boy.

Back in Melbourne before I left the book store I was working at was going out of business and I ended up buying an awesome soup book for dirt cheap. Ironically enough, it's an American book so the measurements are in cups and tablespoons instead of grams. So here it is.

Ingredients:
For the polenta cubes
1/2-2/3 cup or 100 gram cornmeal or instant polenta
2 cups water
1/2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parme cheese
oil to fry

For the soup:
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp butter
20 oz/260 g canned corn kernels
2 cups low fat milk
salt and pepper
7 oz American cheese
scant 1/2 cup light cream
2 beefsteak tomatoes
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
4 oz smoked salmon, to garnish

1. bring water to a boil and add half teaspoon of salt. Sprinkle the corn meal slowly into the water stirring consistently to prevent clumping. Lower heat, cover with lid and cook for about 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. add butter and parme cheese and stir. Pour polenta onto a cookie sheet to form a layer about 1/3 inch think. Smooth evenly and let cool until firm.

2. For the soup, peel the onion and garlic and finely chop. Fry the onion and garlic in butter. Drain the corn kernels and saute 2/3 of them with the onions and garlic. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil, then puree and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Add the processed cheese and cream and simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Place the tomatoes in hot water for a few seconds then into cold water and peel. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, deseed and chop. Wash the parsley, shake dry, and finely chop. Cut the polenta into cubes and toast in a skillet until lightly browned.

4. Fry the chopped tomatoes with the remaining corn kernels in butter until warm. Stir in the chopped parsley.

5. Break apart the salmon into pieces and season with pepper.

6. Pour soup into 4 bowls. Add a few spoonfuls of the tomato-corn garnish followed by some diced polenta. Garnish with a few pieces of smoked salmon and serve hot with remaining polenta cubes on the side.


ALRIGHT:

I did things just a little different and have a few suggestions for this recipe. I'll start out by saying this dish turned out incredibly. I really like the taste of this soup and everything about it. Here's how I changed it or would change it up.

So Polenta. If anyone has ever worked with it I would say it's pretty inconsistent. I know it takes up more time to constantly be adding water and checking on it, but that's what I did instead of a set amount of water and just letting it go. I feel like you could compare it to rice. It could be perfectly fine without checking on it, or it could be a mess. I have an electric tea kettle, so I heat that guy up and add water as necessary. It took about 25 minutes to get the polenta soft. I don't usually add the butter when I cook polenta (it's really good just with eggs) but I do usually add the parme cheese, salt and pepper. But I added the butter this time, and spread out this is what it looked like.

Next, I recommend if you love to make soup like I do that you purchase a hand blender. I accidentally purchased one that doesn't have sharp blades, but for soups at this point it does the job since soup is all soft and mushy anyway. I don't have a fine mesh sieve so therefore I blended the soup and let it go. I know it's supposed to be without any lumps what so ever but I don't think it was that bad and didn't take away from the dish. Here's what it looked like right before I blended it...

So next. The tomatoes. A lot of people (I know it's a new thing for me) haven't ever skinned tomatoes. So here's the easiest way I've found. Make sure you have boiling water. Cut an X in the top of the tomato. Put it in boiling water for a minute then immediately into cold. The skin should be peeling back on its own and you shouldn't have to do much work to get the skin off (unless you have a difficult tomato). Also, make sure the water is boiling. That is key.

Also, I think next time I wouldn't add the butter to the polenta. When I tried to fry it, the polenta melted back into it's original form, not keeping it's shape as cubes. I'm not sure how they did that, but kudos to them. I'm gonna try it next time without the butter and see how it does.

I also didn't garnish with salmon. The dish came out pretty well, here is the final result.

My kitchen rules

While washing the dishes in my sink, I realized that I have rules of my kitchen. It seems pretty silly, but there are things that make me and my life more comfortable, especially when cooking with/for others.

I also reserve the right to add to this list at any time (or when I'm cooking and think of another one I may have forgotten).

1. The cook may not clean.

This is big for me. The biggest thing I miss about having a boyfriend to cook for is that I had a dishwasher always, and now I don't have anyone to wash my dishes. I hate doing dishes, so it seems pretty appropriate that I cook. But a delicious meal made with a lot of effort is always dampened when realizing that cooking for myself I have to also clean up.

2. There must always be music playing that I can jam to.

Whether this is just good music that I enjoy, or music that I feel like I can dance to, it must be on. It relaxes the mood a lot in the kitchen (especially when cooking for/with others) and breaks up the silence. If the TV is on, which some people like to do, I feel the need to watch it and then potentially burn or ruin my dish somehow. Music is engrained so much in my life to begin with it only makes sense that I get to listen to music while I cook. I usually dance too.

3. Wine is a necessity.

One of the best parts of cooking is drinking wine. Over Christmas I baked a lot of cookies for my friends and family. The long nights of baking went by much faster with some wine. I love seeing what wines go with what sort of foods, and I think it is another mood calmer. It makes me relax just enough to not feel "on the spot" when I'm cooking in front of others. Since this is new for me, it's a little nerve wracking, especially cause I'm cooking a lot of new recipes and I don't know if they'll turn out or not.

4. I must always wear my apron.

Best decision ever to buy myself an apron. I love this thing. I wear it when I cook so I don't get food on my clothes and, let's be honest, I look super cute in it. I feel better about my cooking wearing the apron. Although it is a mental thing, whatever helps. I also wear my apron to do dishes. I have an incredibly small sink and before the apron I was always getting dish soap all over myself.

5. The packing away food and clean up process happens either during cooking or after the food is enjoyed.

I have met people who let food sit and get cold while the clean the pan, pot, etc. Absolutely a no no in my book. I refuse to let my food do anything other than be delicious in my mouth and belly. I will not let it get cold to wash a dish. Pfft. That waits until later.


These are my kitchen rules as of now, off the top of my head. I hope I have enlightened you to different and fun ways to cook, but also, I'd love to hear your kitchen rules! Anything you think I should implement in my kitchen?

Lancaster Brewing Company

I was out in Lancaster and ended up finding myself at the Lancaster Brewing Company for dinner. This was the second place we had been to (Checkers didn't have seating for an hour) and my patience was wearing thin when Ben and I had stood there for probably 3 minutes with no one acknowledging our presence. Eventually, someone noticed us and told us they would be with us. About another 4 minutes later someone finally helped us, even though there were like people all at the hostess station.

This wasn't starting out good.

However again, I called David since he lives in Lancaster and recommended the lamb burger here so we decided to stay and sit. Eventually, I decided on the Lamb burger and Ben got some sort of pizza. He was sick and his taste buds were off so he didn't get anything fancy but just a regular old pizza.

Here is our meals. My lamb burger with feta cheese. It was pretty good, and for only $9 it's a great price. The atmosphere was good and if I hadn't been driving I would have had a beer which would have been awesome since it is a brewing company.

After that I hit up the Lancaster Dispensing company to see my friend, Bill play a show with his band, Toy Soldiers. It was crazy busy and awesome. I always like the atmosphere there, they have good beers on tap, and in a great location right by the Lancaster Central Market. All in all, it was a pretty good night.

Best BBQ in York, PA

I am incredibly lucky that my friend David is also a foodie. A few months ago now he sent me a photo of some delicious looking BBQ, telling me it was right in York city. I came to find out that Big Lou's BBQ is literally a block and a half from my apartment. It's on West Princess right by Duke St.

If you didn't know this place existed, you'd probably miss it. But that would be a complete waste. I'd been there once before and had the Ribs. This time I took my friend, Christina. This BBQ is down home southern food in good old York, PA. It's also got the down home feel. The first time I went it was just me and my friend Ben in the restaurant, and three people came up asking how it was. At the third time I said to the girl, "this is terrible, I need another whole plate to make up for it." We all had a good laugh, and 30 seconds later they brought me out the green beans that we hadn't ordered. These green beans melted in my mouth, so delicious. This time there was a big group of people there filming something, and when I asked the wife of one of them explained it was something called BreathTV.com. I haven't gotten a chance to check it out but it sounds cool.

At any rate, the food. DELICIOUS. It is by far the best BBQ in York. This time I had the BBQ chicken wings, green beans and mac and cheese. I was full and still eating because it was so good I didn't want to waste it. I can't believe this little gem is found in York, PA. It's also a great price. My plate was only $8.99.

I love and recommend this place to everyone I know. The staff is friendly and really nice, the food is incredible, and you can't beat the price.

Ending a grudge

Oddly enough, most people who know me know that I've held a grudge a long time against Sonic.

One day last week my coworker, Justin, said at one point, "I love Sonic." As to where I replied, "I hate Sonic." He agreed to listen to my rant about the first and last time I was at Sonic including the fact that I only got 7 fries (literally, 7 in the pack) and they told me they had chocolate ice cream and what I got what vanilla with two pumps of chocolate syrup. Justin patiently waited, and then asked me some sort of question like, 'are you ready for shit to get real?' He went on his rant saying that I should have never gotten fries, I should have gotten tots, I have to get some sort of burger, and get the pineapple and strawberry shake, but I have to suck really hard to get it to come out.. of the straw.

Since I was going to be in Lancaster Saturday anyway, I told Justin I'd try it out again. He was so serious about loving that place that I couldn't not go. Here we go Sonic in Lancaster.

I guess my grudge is over. The burger wasn't anything special, but it wasn't bad. I guess it was good but I've definitely had better burgers. The tots were good too, but they didn't have any special seasoning on them or anything. The winner of the whole meal was the shake. I really loved the pineapple and strawberry shake. I can't say I'd go back again specifically for the food (other than it was two burgers, two tots and two shakes for $14) but the shake was pretty awesome. I'd recommend going there if no other reason than the shake.

Not just another truck stop

If you've ever driven route thirty by the Rockvale outlets in Lancaster, you've probably seen this diner. If you didn't know this information, you've probably always looked this by without even a thought.

I had heard from a friend that Jennies serves gigantic pancakes. Now imagine the biggest pancake you can think of. Maybe as big as your hand all spread out? So looking at the menu, I didn't see anything on the menu that said about a big pancake special so I decided to ask. ALL of their pancakes are that big. I decided to get the typical "Jennies Breakfast Special" at two eggs, a pancake, two pieces of toast, and a choice of sausage or bacon for $6.25. My friend ordered the 3 blueberry pancakes for $6.95. Here's what we got...

My friends hand is touching his pancakes. They are by far the biggest pancakes I've ever had in my life. The pancake was absolutely delicious. The best part about Jennies isn't the food though. Breakfast is breakfast a lot of places. The atmosphere of the truck stop along with the service from truck stop waitresses is really what makes this place. Here's my pancake half eaten.

I would most definitely go back to this place, and I would definitely recommend others to go to this place because of not only it's humongous pancakes as well as the pretty awesome atmosphere that goes with it. Plus, you can't beat two breakfasts plus a tip for $20.