Get 'Em While It's Hot and I'm Single!

I made a dozen more mini apple pies and brought them into the office. They were a huge hit!
I was going to swear off baking because several times I've baked goodies, my "significant other" and I broke up soon after. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I'm unattached, so baked goods for everyone!

Also made this little guy with the dough leftover for myself. but the fruit flies got to it that night :(

Oh well, for the best.
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So for dinner tonight, I made my own version of my favorite dish at Saint's Alp Teahouse. Jaclyn and I order this every single time we go (and it's been many). However, she has been studying in Dublin this semester so I decided to try to recreate it at home. I made it, and realized I forgot the most important and delicious part. the "Braised Succulent Pork Chop". Oh well. I will leave it to the experts.

Here's my version:

-brown rice
-minced pork
-red pepper
-jalapeno
-onion
-egg

-hot sauce (Sriracha)
-hoisin sauce

Meaty Tuesday

I've got meat on the brain. I think it has something to do with a girl at work offering some strips of bacon... which got me thinking: BACON PIE.
I then came across baconunwrapped.com and now my life is complete.

Also, I came across the man who ate 15 lb burger.

After throwing up in my mouth a little, I realized that this guy is my hero, and if someone can survive that, he can survive anything.


With that said, who wants to go to Paul's Burgers with me??

Armenian Food

A HUGE Thank You to Stephen's parents, especially his lovely mom, who threw him a surprise birthday party in Long Island last night, and for making an amazing spread of food for dinner. I believe it was my first Armenian meal, and hopefully not the last!

Steph's cannoli cake was also worth writing home about. It was moist and the filling didn't have those weird pieces of stuff in it like cannolis usually do.

His parents gave us this amazing yogurt that was more reminsicent of a sour cream (Note to self....need to get some)

AND I had a really good bagel this morning. Long Island just earned some brownie points.

An American Staple

HMM, What could the following ingredients make???


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If you guessed Apple Pie, you are correct! Actually, it's the makings of Stephen's Birthday Pie!
(REALLY sorry to my family, who I would not let eat the pie :( I promise you will be showered with pies on Thanksgiving!!)

[The lemon shouldn't have been there. It's used so the apples wouldn't turn brown.]











It looked so good, but did it taste good? I couldn't just dig into his pie... so I ended up making 4 mini ones. I'M SO WEAK.




These are the perfect little portions, and it has more 'crustular surface area'. I'll probably do more of these. Also, I can try different fillings at once.

There are countless recipes out there, which one did I go with? myhomecooking, but tweaked the recipe a little. I did 8 tbsp of butter and 4 shortening, only used 3 (delightfully crunchy) Granny smith apples (granted they were huge, but MORE than enough to fill the crust).

Anyway, it turned out to be a hit, even if Steph didn't actually get to have any.

birthday boy


Things I learned:
This was my first time making a pie! While it came out pretty well, I know what to keep in mind for next time.
-The website was right, make more dough! You really can't have too much. I was stretching it out so much, it kept breaking and sticking.
-Also, be sure to add enough water or it will crumble and crack when rolling it out.
-Work very quickly, in a cool environment. My apartment was a little warm and the butter melted (also do to my hands). Keep chilling the dough if it gets to be too sticky.
-Drain the apples thoroughly or you will end up with sugary water.
-Do not attempt to blind bake the crust if you do not have the proper tools to do so. the sides will slide down, proving it difficult to fill and it'll look like a mess.
-Do not cover the pie with foil when it is still hot. I did it to keep the fruit flies at bay. However, I think the steam might have added moisture back into the crust, which made it lose its flakiness/crispiness overnight. It probably also has to do with the fact that I made it a day ahead of time. It really is best right out of the oven.

BUT... when it's 4 in the morning, and you're inebriated and hungry, it tastes pretty darn good, as demonstrated by Jon, Travis, Bobby and myself. I tried to feed Steph until he said "I want to throw up". Tough crowd.


☛Thanks to my mom for randomly getting me a pastry blender many many months ago, and to Kristina for the big whisk/mixing bowl she got me last Christmas. Also thanks to the chefs at Martha Stewart's kitchen who "tossed out" their old pie tins and measuring spoons this past June. One person's trash is now my treasure.

French Emmental

(Aunt Kathy, look away now)

I am lucky enough to live in-between Fairway Market, Westside Market, Citarella AND Zabar's. Seriously, they are all a 1-5 minute walk away. There is also a Whole Foods nearby.

Ergo, there is always a great cheese waiting to be discovered. Yesterday, I bought a block of French Emmental because I wanted to make a Quiche that called for a Swiss or Gruyere. I was going to get the usual Cave-Aged Swiss Gruyere from Fairway that is super delicious, but then I saw this little guy and thought I needed to branch out and try new things.

Totally worth it.


these two slices of Emmental and a slice of Wisconsin Extra Sharp Cheddar were my breakfast this morning.
kinda beats my staple slim fast shake

And no, I did not make the Quiche... yet.

Hearty Tomato Soup

I normally hate tomato soup. I am just not a fan of eating tomatoes in liquified form if it isn't a Bloody Mary, and CERTAINLY do not serve me gazpacho, because let's face it, that is just watery salsa without the chips.

However, for lunch yesterday, the office was ordering from Columbine yet again, as their food is pretty damn great (so great that I had to call about 20 times to actually get through to someone).

The soups change every day, and they had a hearty tomato soup as one of their choices. For whatever reason, I decided to get that and ½ special sandwich (which consisted of kalamata olives, feta, chickpeas and probably arugla or something... point is, it's really not worth writing about.)

But the soup! So simple, so delicious

-Tomato Soup
-Rice
-Peas & Carrots
-Onion

and here's the kicker...

-Pancetta!!

It was so flavorful and, like the name suggests, HEARTY. They changed the way I viewed tomato soup forever.

I just bought Pacific Natural Food's Organic Creamy Tomato Soup with 50% less sodium than the regular box. Who wants to give me some pancetta?? I will whip up a pot.

**EDIT** I couldn't help it. I made a serving except with Canadian Bacon. Not quite as rich, but still pretty tasty. In a small saucepan, I sauteed some onions, peas, diced carrots, diced Canadian bacon and brown rice. Looking at it, I realized I just made fried rice (minus the scrambled egg, soy sauce and scallions). But add in the tomato soup and you totally change the look and taste. I guess that's what recipes are.


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Bonus: Virgin Bloody Mary

-Tomato Juice
-Horseradish
-Worcester Sauce
-Tabasco Sauce (or Red Devil)
-salt & pepper
-celery

Adjust the measurements to your liking. Mix with a stalk of celery and you've got yourself a nice little drink. Add vodka to be a grownup.

Chicken with Coconut & Peanut "Curry"

I got dinner with my mom several days ago at Pongsri.
She got this delicious Pra Ram Long Song dish, and gave me the leftovers. It was so good I wanted to recreate it.

and I sorta did!

bowl is from CB2

*Please note that I didn't actually measure out teaspoons/tablespoons, but since people out there freak out about eyeing ingredients, I added measurements as close as to what I think I used....

"Curry"- I used quotations because this is a very simplified version.
1 can Coconut Milk
3 tablespoons peanut butter (2 tbsp Chunky, 1 tbsp Creamy, all-natural)
2 chicken breast fillets, sliced then cut into thirds
4 small Yukon potatoes, 1/8ed
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soysauce
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to your tasting)
dash of hot chili sauce (i used sriracha)

-brown rice

-green beans, washed & ends trimmed
1 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
sesame seeds

mungbean sprouts

*******
Make brown rice.

To make the sauce...
I poured a can of coconut milk in a medium saucepan over a medium flame. I stirred in the peanut butter, fish sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili paste/sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. Add potatoes.

In a separate pan, lightly sauté chicken in a little canola oil and add to sauce. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

In the same chicken pan, add a little canola oil and string beans. Now, I added the sesame seeds, but they like to fly everywhere when they're heated so add with caution. I like my string beans still crunchy, but you may want to blanch them first.
Definitely blanch them first in a little water! Drain out the water and add some soy sauce so it caramelizes with the beans. at the very last minute, add sesame seeds. toss and serve.

Check the potatoes, they should be fork-tender and the sauce should be creamy, bubbly and thick.

Pour "curry" over rice, add stringbeans and mungbean sprouts and voilà:


You will have a lot of sauce leftover, so make lots of rice and share with a friend :)