Pizza(s)

It's ladies night! And pizza was the entree selected by yours truly. The round pizza cooked on a pizza stone was dough picked up from a local pizza shop for $3. Toppings include:
- tomato bruschetta
- fresh mozzerella
- red pepper strips
- portabella mushroom strips

Mistake I made with this one was not cooking it a few minutes before putting the toppings on so it resulted in a pooling of liquid at the center of the pie.

Pizza number 2 was Pillsbury dough on a cookie sheet:
- bali bbq sauce
- goat cheese
- sliced cipolline onions
- prosciutto 

Udon

Last night I attempted AND succeeded at making udon. This helpful recipe from The Kitchn and this video from The Steamy Kitchen helped me create my bowl o' yummy. This is a big deal because it was the first, count it, the first time I have ever cooked with tofu. I loved it! I threw it in a hot pan with olive oil and then drizzled soy sauce over it and then it was done. I'm a little salty because I wanted the big noodles but Whole Foods did not carry the thick, plumpy noodles I was seeking. I ended up with thinner, more spaghetti like noodles which were fine too.

Here is what I used in my recipe:

1 pack of udon, cooked or uncooked
2 tbsp miso paste
2 green onions, diced
1 carrot, sliced
handful of snowpeas
4 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup of extra firm tofu
water

Tip: cook the udon then drain the water because it gets very starchy and you don't want to be eating all that starchiness

I was getting very hangry (hungry/angry) so no pictures were taken. Food needed to get in my belly. Next time...as I still have left over of all of the ingredients, even the miso which I put in a container to use later this week.

Avacado and Oatmeal

Feeling rather ambitious today I headed to Whole Foods and then Associated. So much food. I picked up lots of fun ingredients including one that I have never purchased before...tofu. I plan on making a wild rice, edamame bean, soy sauce, tofu, carrot combo.  I'll let you know how that goes. But today I made...

Avacado with an Egg inside. What do you call
 that? Pig in a pit? Mmm I'll work on that. I heated up the oven to 475 with my little skillet inside to heat up. Then I put the halved avocado in, cracked the egg and added salt and pepper. As you can see it tipped a little and spilled. I think about 10-15 minutes is a good time to achieve a runny egg. I left it in too long so the egg actually baked. It was an ok snack. Something else could have been added...maybe cheese.






 Then I moved on to my next project. Everyday at work I get very hungry at 10-11am. I don't want to ruin my lunch but I need to put something in my belly so I found this recipe on Pintrest.
1.5 cups of oatmeal
1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
3 ripened bananas
add cinnamon to taste
Optional - anything else you have - nuts, raisins, craisins etc.

Heat oven to 325 and bake for 30 min. I made golf ball size dollops. I lined my baking pan with foil. I tried one and it was delicious! Hopefully they will help with my morning hunger.

Chocolate

As the day of love approaches I thought I would take time to admire one of the best foods on planet earth. The reason that I thought of posting about chocolate was because of Valentines day but also because of the Bon Appetit article on chocolate. I'd say that my snobbishness with chocolate began after returning home from studying abroad in London. Suddenly Hershey seemed so...watery. And bless my lucky stars that I had managed to smuggle in two large Cadbury bars from the UK.
 When I say large, I mean, well really embarrassingly large. Every night my mom and I would break off one or two squares and eat them as we cleaned up after dinner. Then came the evening that I opened the cupboard and our remaining 6 squares had disappeared. Suddenly I turned green, grew 10 feet and turned in the Incredible Hulk. Stomping through the house, leaving my mom in the kitchen I yelled 'WHO TOOK THE CHOCOLATE!?' My dad sitting at the computer, turns and said 'Oh I thought you were done with that, I threw it out.'

We have not spoken since.

Since I have dismissed Hershey's from my life I have been able to taste other wonderful chocolates. Some good staples that are dense and creamy and filled with fun surprises are always Godiva Chocolates. What I love about Godive are their very informative cards and descriptors included in each box so you know exactly what you are eating. Nothing annoys me more then wasting calories on a chocolate filled with orange liqueur or rose petals. Ok maybe not rose petals, but you get the idea. Another one that is tasty once in a while are Lindt chocolates. And of course a little Ghirardelli never hurt anyone either.

Two chocolate brands that provide delicious bars of chocolate are Scharffen Berger and Dagoba. While at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this year I stocked up on Scharffenberger to bring back for co-workers. One thing I really like about them is the packaging. Clean, crisp, and clear on what you are about to eat. My favorite was the salted chocolate with almonds (which I hoarded in my desk and did not share.) For Dagoba I tried for the second year in a row their lavender blueberry chocolate bar which tasted vaguely of potpourri. I gave it to co-workers to test and guess what they thought it was. They commented on the floral taste and subtle fruitiness. We neither loved nor hated it.

When I am not in the mood to have a chocolate truffle or a chocolate bar I reach for the hot chocolate. Last year I received two tins of Jacques Torres hot chocolate, the regular and the spiced flavor. I have yet to achieve the same thickness that the barista produces but soon enough I will get there.

And lastly...
About two months ago the podcast Spilled Milk did a piece on Dark Chocolate which I recommend listening to. Very entertaining. Especially interesting are the words used to described chocolate.

Cancellation Fees

One day I hope to eat at the restaurants on this list. And if I am so lucky, I would not cancel. Unless an act of God forced me to stay inside.

Ryan Sutton compiles the cancellation fees at various NYC restaurants. Don't be an idiot and cancel.

Roberta's

This lovely evening my roommate and I took each other out for our birthdays as they are only 5 days apart from each other. I suggested Roberta's in Brooklyn off of the Morgan stop. Please note if you are going here, there is nothing at that stop. It is the creepiest, look there is someone lurking in the corner but they are a hipster so don't worry place I have been to. But alas food was calling and we answered. The nondescript facade is deceiving for behind the big oak door (it may be another type of wood, who knows) is a room of long tables and pizza hearths (ok, only one) ready to make you full.

We were seated in the back room with a cozy heater in the center. I didn't love the bench seating as my back is always a little achy after hunching over an entire meal. Because it is Friday I needed my wino. So I got a red, the Di Giovanna, Norello. Delish. A full, hearty wine that left me very happy.

OK, on to the good stuff. We shared:

The Carrot Salad - smoked ricotta, radish and lemon zest.
This was an excellent first as picked by J. It was light and refreshing. The radishes were sliced to a translucent state allowing the perfect bite with all three ingredients included. Not what I would have selected but I am happy it was ordered.

Mains - 2 pizzas
The Spudnik (my choice): taleggio (mmmm), parmigiano, mashed potatoes, vidalia onions, chives

The Good Girl (J's choice) - taleggio ( mmm x 2), pork sausage, kale, garlic, chili flakes (which we omitted)

The Good Girl was the overall favorite at this hipster pizza palace. The texture of the mashed potatoes was fine for the first bite but got a little tiresome and grainy after you were done with a slice. Two pizzas was perfect to share between two people. I would like to try the simple pizza margherita next time. Perhaps a trip with the parents...

2 out of 5

The Harrison

It's the most wonderful time, of the year! That's right, it's restaurant week(s). My co-workers and I selected The Harrison as our location of choice. The beautifully decorated restaurant in Tribeca was empty when we first arrived at 6:30 but quickly filled up. We all decided to order off of the Restaurant Week menu and here is what I selected:

House Cured Salmon - Cage free egg, red onion, capers, toast
Almond crusted Bluefish - string beans, fingerlings (maybe one of the creepiest food words, besides baby artichoke hearts ever), leek puree
Banana Bread Ice Cream Sandwich - Buttermilk, toffee, chocolate

We also decided on two sides to share, the sauteed spinach and the truffled orzo. The truffled orzo was amazing!! B stated he would go back just to order those two items and I agree with him! I attempted to sneak little spoonfuls onto my plate while no one was looking but I failed. The first was good, the main was my favorite and surprisingly I do have a critique on the dessert. Don't faint but, there was too much ice cream. The whole thing is obviously prepared ahead of time and cut from a block. I would have liked to have seen the bread warm and melting the ice cream rather then have cold banana bread hugging a block of vanilla ice cream.

Our most favorite part of the meal was the crazy lady who sat next to us demanding the corner table, then a 4 top for her and her man friend/lawyer/we don't really know. She decided to keep her sunglasses on and read the menu with her summer dress screaming out of season in February. Ohh we love NY. I would recommend this place but have no need to return.

2 out of 5