Chopped Salad

I am currently obsessed Jamie Oliver's chopped salad from his Food Revolution cookbook.  I have been throwing it in my weeknight menus for the past couple weeks and loving it.  This could easily serve four, but I have no problem eating half of it.  Jamie's recipe calls for olive oil and two avocados, but I think it is just as delicious and healthier to remove the olive oil all together and reduce the avocados to just one.  Overall, the salad is crunchy, creamy, slightly tangy, and has a bit of heat from the mustard and scallions - a great combination!

Tater Tot Pizza

Last year, kind of as a joke, and kind of seriously, I decided to make a masterpiece known as Tater Tot Pizza.  I love tater tots, and so do my friends.  I can't believe it has taken me so long to actually share the recipe, but since it is winter and totally sports season, I thought why not now?  The thing with this pizza is that there are a lot of separate steps, but you can totally make the ingredients ahead of time and combine them all once you are ready to bake your pizza.

Hudson Valley Mini Food Guide

Last weekend, I left NYC and took a drive up to the Hudson Valley.  It was such a dreamy, relaxing trip.   I actually couldn't believe how long it has taken me to commit to renting a car and exploring the area.  I thought I'd  share some food-related gems we found along the way.  Beware - this is a long post, but with a lot of pictures!

Roasted Carrots and Potatoes

Sometimes I forget how freaking delicious simple roasted vegetables are.  On Sunday I finally got my act in gear and made something.  Granted, it was just roasted potatoes and carrots, but hey, there was peeling involved!  This recipe is from Jamie's Food Revolution, just minus the parsnips, and with his directions, it creates beautifully caramelized carrots and crispy-exterior potatoes with ultra-creamy insides.  It just doesn't really get any better.

Kimchi Hot Dogs

On Wednesday night, I made kimchi hot dogs, which were totally inspired by Asia Dog and this guy.  Last week, with our napa cabbage and some kohlrabi, my friend made the kimchi, following David Lebovitz's recipe here.  The hardest part about the kimchi recipe, was finding the Korean chili powder.  Even in Korea Town, I had a hard time.  Fortunately, we stopped by M2M, near Columbia, and found it there.

The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - The Taco Truck

On Sunday, I finally made it downtown to visit the High Line - Section 2.  It was actually pretty crowded and hot, so we ended up making a bee-line for The Lot On Tap, which is an a outdoor bar surrounded by various food trucks, with picnic tables in the center.

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle

Jamie Oliver's Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle was such an easy meal to make, especially when my friend prepped all the food before I got off work.  All I had to do was make the pesto, and drop everything in.  This recipe is hearty, fresh, and great leftover - hot or cold.  The secret ingredient is the potato, which makes everything creamy.  I love carb on carb action.  I will definitely be making it again.

Fiddlehead, Potato, and Ramp Pizza

I can't tell you how nice it is to go to the Greenmarket early Friday morning.  I am almost hesitant to tell you, because I don't want people to hear and it to become crowded!  Anyways, I made my rounds last Friday on a mission to get ramps, rhubarb, asparagus, and fiddlehead ferns.  I ended up with all of those and a small basil plant, eggs, and shiitake mushrooms.  In the booth where I bought the fiddleheads and ramps, some guys from The Spotted Pig (my favorite restaurant) were buying a hefty load of fiddleheads!  By the way, I am noticing a trend - if you carry herb plants with you, someone is bound to talk to you.   It happened to me with my rosemary, and it happened to with my basil on Friday.

Better Vegetable Pot Pie

A couple of years ago I shared my vegetable pot pie recipe here.  After being inspired by my new favorite cooking magazine, Cooks Illustrated, I thought I would share my new and improved recipe.  I kept the filling similar, but added some key ingredients - mushrooms, soy sauce, and tomato paste, which really bring out a more meaty flavor that a vegetable pot pie is missing.  The other big change is the Parmesan crumble that is added to the top of the filling, instead of the puff pastry I usually use.  I have always wanted to my own crust, but after doing all the prep work, who really wants to add homemade pie crust in the mix?  Cooks Illustrated's topping adds great texture, so it is worth the extra 15 minutes.  I didn't take many photos this go around, but pot pie never looks that appetizing in a photograph to me anyway, better I didn't.

Dumpling House

On Sunday, my friend and I ventured down to Chinatown while running errands in the city.  We wanted a "snack," so he took me to the Dumpling House.  There we had a cheap feast - $8 in fact!  Whoa!  We got eight vegetable dumplings, a vegetable steamed bun, sesame pancake, and a taro milk bubble tea.  The place is small and bustling, so we didn't even try for one of the few tables in there.  Instead we went to Sarah Roosevelt Park and ate on the one park bench that didn't have snow on it.  Although, I wished they had fried vegetable dunplings, you really can't complain for eight bones.  And did I mention how awesome the sesame pancake is?  It is like Pizza Hut's thick crust with sesame seeds on it.  Okay, that might sound gross, but it is good - I swear.  They also use the bread for sandwiches, which I am sure are amazing.  If you are in New York and want to eat cheap, go there.  It is pretty amazing to watch all the women work.  A couple rolling out dumpling dough, one manning the sesame bread and fried dumplings, another slicing it, and a couple others screaming out numbers impatiently waiting for you to give them your ticket.  All in all a Chinatown success.  The worst part of the meal was having to watch the hipsters play bike polo while we ate.  Seriously, is that game even fun?

Sesame pancake - sooo good.

Vegetable dumpling.

Steamed vegetable bun.

Potato Pancakes

This past Friday night, I decided I was going to make potato pancakes and caramelized apple sauce from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook.  At 10:30 I had a burned pot of apple sauce (which I tried to convince myself otherwise that is was not burnt) and some delicious potato pancakes.  The recipe says "serves 4," but for a potato-lover it really serves 2.  I have no self-control when it comes to fried potatoes.  NONE.  Overall, I thought the potato pancake recipe was great, but there are few tweaks here in there thought I thought could make it more successful (which I included in the recipe).

Ingredients for Potato Pancakes from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook, serves 4 (2 to 3 pancakes per person):

-4 Idaho potatoes
-Juice of half a lemon
-2 large eggs
-1/2 cup finely minced or grated onion (about half a medium onion
-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
-1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (sorry I only have black)
-4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (you can substitute matzo meal)
-1/4 to 1/2 cup canola oil

To begin, peel the potatoes and place them in a cold bowl of water.

In a large bowl, squeeze in half the juice of a lemon.  Then in the same bowl, using a box grater, grate potatoes using the medium or largest holes (I used the largest).  Mix the lemon juice and potatoes by hand to prevent browning.

Okay, get another medium bowl - here comes the messy part.  Using your hands squeeze the liquid from the potatoes into the new bowl, and reserve the liquid.  I think this would work fine if I was Neil from Clinton Street, but I am Weakling Sam, so next time I am going to place my potatoes in a clean dish towel (NOT terry cloth) and gently twist my potatoes so all the liquid comes out.  I do this whenever I make Martha Stewart's potato pancake.  Click here to see what I am talking about.  You can also place your potatoes in a salad spinner and spin off the liquid - an Alton Brown trick.  Its not to say that I didn't squeeze out liquid, but by the time I started frying my pancakes, I noticed a lot of liquid started to seep out from the mixture.  I just didn't squeeze out enough, and I think these other methods could prevent that.

In a clean bowl, mix the potatoes, eggs, onion, salt, pepper, and flour, until all combined.  Discard the top layer of your reserved potato liquid and you will find potato sludge - er I mean starch at the bottom.  It is actually pretty cool because the starch is pretty thick and solid, it almost felt like fresh coconut.  Add this to the potato mixture and mix with your hands or spoon.  The starch is what actually makes your pancakes crisp.

In a large saute pan, heat oil to just below boiling point (this is just below medium high on my stove).  Form four 2-inch pancakes and saute them four at a time.  You can flatten the pancakes with your spatula if you want them thinner.  Mine were about 1/2 inch to start and were flattened a bit in the pan.  Once a pancake is golden and is partially cooked in the middle, the pancake  is ready to be turned.  When flipping the pancake, tilt the pan away from you so no oil splatters on you.  Lower the heat to prevent burning and cook the other side until golden brown, another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove the pancakes from the oil and place on a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve pancakes warm or at room temperature.  If you want to reheat the pancakes, place them on a baking sheet and warm them in the oven at 350 degrees F for up to ten minutes until they recrisp, but be careful - they dry out easily.

Below is my apple sauce disaster, but more on that later.  I am going to try it again this weekend :)

Mexican Scrambled Egg Tacos

Last night I made these delicious scrambled egg tacos for dinner.  They are so simple to make, you are done in 30 minutes - promise.  The recipe is from Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday (my favorite).  Rick's original recipe calls for 1 pound of ripe tomatoes, but when one is in the dead of winter I go for the can of fire-roasted tomatoes when I can find them.  And yes, I left out the cilantro because I hate it, but please add it if you like.

Ingredients for Mexican Scrambled Egg Tacos, adapted from Rick Bayless's Mexican Everyday, serves 4:

-3 garlic cloves, peeled
-Fresh hot chiles, 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno (I used jalapeno), stemmed, seeded (if you want), and each cut into 3 or 4 pieces
-1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
-2 tablespoons vegetable oil, olive oil, or fresh pork lard or bacon  or chorizo drippings (I used olive oil)
-1 pound ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/4-inch cubes, or one 14-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
-8 eggs
-Salt
-1/2 to 2/3 cup (loosely packed) chopped cilantro
-1 ripe avocado, pitted, flesh scooped from skin, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
-12 warm corn tortillas, store-bought, click here for heating instructions
-3/4 cup roasted tomatillo salsa (click here for recipe), or bottled salsa or hot sauce for serving


Begin by dropping chiles and garlic cloves, one piece at a time into a food processor.  Let each piece get finely chopped before adding the next.  Then add the onion, and pulse into the pieces are no larger than 1/4 inch.

Heat oil in a very large (12-inch) skillet, preferably non-stick, over medium heat.  Add the chile-onion mixture, and stir regularly, until starting to brown, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Raise the heat to medium-high and add the tomatoes, or can of tomatoes (including juice) and cook.  Stir frequently, until all of the tomato liquid evaporates and oil separates out again, about 4 minutes with fresh tomatoes, 8-10 for canned tomatoes.

While tomatoes are cooking, crack the eggs in a bowl and season with 1 teaspoon salt and beat with a fork until eggs are roughly blended.  Chop avocado up and heat tortillas.

Pour eggs into skillet with tomatoes.  At first I thought this looked wrong and gross, but eventually the eggs cook up.  Slowly stir, scraping up the cooked eggs from the bottom of the skillet until the eggs are as done as you like.  I cook mine until everything looks almost dry.

Scoop eggs into two stacked tortillas, sprinkle with avocado, hot sauce, and cilantro.  Enjoy hot!

Tomato & Parmesan French-Style Omelet

So I have started my Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook adventure.  My first recipe to try was a simple one - the French-style omelet.  Three eggs, a tablespoon of butter, and whatever filling you want.  I decided to go with marinara and Parmesan cheese.  According to my BFF, this is an odd combination, but it is what I had on hand, and the cookbook also suggest tomato jam as a filling (which is basically a thick marinara).  I argued that salsa and cheddar is an acceptable filling, so why can't marinara be?  I stood my ground and made it, and you know what?  It was delicious - almost like lasagna.  The salty cheese mixed with the buttery, fluffy egg, and the warm mariana was a delightful combination.  I would definitely recommend trying it, especially if you have a small amount of marinara lying around.  I will say, that after two omelets, I still need practice flipping.

Here are the ingredients for the Marinara and Parmesan French-Style Omelet, adapted from the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook:

-3 eggs, any size
-Salt and black pepper, to taste (I usually do pinch of small salt per egg)
-1 tablespoon unsalted butter
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-1/4 cup marinara (I used Newman's Own Marinara Sauce)

To begin, crack the eggs in a bowl and add salt and pepper.  Whisk vigorously with a fork until frothy like orange juice.  Prepare your toppings, by grating the cheese and measuring out marinara.  Place both in small bowls.  It is important to have all ingredients ready, because it only takes a couple minutes to make an omelet.  Time goes fast people!

Heat a non-stick pan or omelet pan over medium heat until it is hot.  Add butter and swirl around until it is melted.  If the butter browns, the pan is too hot, it just needs to be foamy.

Pour or ladle in the eggs, and the edges should start curdling immediately.  Shake the pan back and forth a bit, and use a spatula to lightly scramble them, until they are a bit creamy and fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes.  The entire bottom of the pan should be covered.  Turn off the heat and add the Parmesan and marinara in the center of the omelet.

Use the spatula to loosen the sides and fold half the omelet towards the middle, partly covering the filling.  Now gently roll over the side again, and then have your plate ready.  With your pan at a 45 degree, place it in the center of the plate which should be at 45 degree angle (they should make a V-shape), then gently roll onto the plate.  The omelet seam should be hidden underneath.  This is where I need practice!  Serve immediately!

Watch Julia Child make an omelet here:

Click here to check out the Pasta Dictionary I mentioned last year.

Roast Turkey

Here is a quick post for a roast turkey from Martha Stewart Living.  This is my second time using this recipe, and both times the turkey turns a dark golden color and is very juicy.

Ingredients for Martha Stewart Living's Roast Turkey:
-One 20-21 pound fresh turkey, giblets and neck removed from cavity and reserve (a slightly smaller turkey is fine, it will just cook faster)
-1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), melted, plus more for rubbing the turkey
-1 bottle dry white wine
-2 teaspoons salt
-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
-Stuffing

Rinse the turkey with cool water and dry with paper towels.  Let stand for 2 hours at room temperature.

Warm the butter and white wine together and soak a large piece of cheese cloth in it.  Meanwhile, rub the bird with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Place rack on the lowest level in the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

Place the bird breast-side up on a roasting rack in the roasting pan.  A roasting rack will prevent the bird from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Remove the pop-up thermometer if there is one.  Use an instant read thermometer for a more accurate indicator of doneness.

Insert the stuffing just before the turkey goes into the oven, and do not pack too tightly.  I place the stuffing into a cheesecloth bag, before going into the bird, so it is easy to remove.  Do not forget to pack the neck cavity.  Secure the neck flap by pulling the flap of skin at the neck down and use toothpicks to fasten it.

Pull the legs together loosely and tie them with kitchen string.  A bow will easily untie later.

Cover the turkey with cheesecloth that has been soaking in the butter and wine.  It should cover the breast and part of the leg areas.  Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, then take out and brush the cheesecloth and the exposed turkey parts with the butter and wine mixture.  Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.  Beware that the cheesecloth might burn if it is drooping too much off the bird.  My smoke detectors were going crazy.

Every 30 minutes, use a pastry brush to baste the cheesecloth and exposed turkey parts with butter and wine mixture.  Watch the pan juices, if your pan is shallow.  Spoon them out if they are overflowing and reserve for gravy.

After the second hour of cooking, carefully remove and discard cheesecloth.  I brush the butter and wine mixture on spots that are sticking to the bird, to prevent the skin from tearing.  The turkey will be quite brown.  If the legs and wings are getting too brown, wrap them in foil to slow down the browning.  Brush the turkey with the pan juices and return to the oven.

After another 30 minutes of cooking, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, avoiding the bone.  When the temperature reaches 165 degrees F, the bird is ready.  This will take an hour or two more (start taking temperature after 2 1/2 hours cooking time total).

Transfer the turkey to a serving platter, remove stuffing, and let rest for 30 minutes.  You can tent with foil to keep the heat in.  Meanwhile, make your gravy.  Then carve and serve.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!