Ristorante Aglio

Tags

carpaccio, dinner, fine dining, flourless chocolate cake, foie gras, gelato, lamb, lobster, spinach

Just a short walking distance from my office, lays a place with no name out front. The only signage is on the sidewalk listing the evening specials.  If you peek inside, you’ll see an inviting and warm atmosphere just waiting for you to partake of it.

Ristorante Aglio. The Italian restaurant that offers a lovely variety of creatively presented dishes and brilliantly mixed cocktails. The name suggests everything is garlic, however, from their website, the garlic notes are not overpowering in their dishes.

After work last night, my mother met me in front of Ristorante Aglio at the start of dinner service. They had literally just lit the last candle on the table as we entered the establishment. Immediately I fell in love with the dark furniture and creamy tan walls. It was dimly lit and felt very inviting.

I immediately thought this was incredibly romantic and with Valentine’s Day looming around the corner, it makes the perfect setting for your hot date.

We were given some Rosemary Pizza Bianca to nibble on with a very rich olive oil that had a very faint bit of heat to it, almost unnoticeable.

Having glanced at the menu before hand, I had an idea of what I was going to order… however, because I am terrible at making decisions with so many choices, I began to question my original choices. My mom needed little coaching as she picked out her choices and when our waiter approached we were ready to order.

Since it was a ladies’ night out, Mother-Daughter style, we ordered a cocktail. We both chose the Sylvia which is  a tall refreshing cocktail of Belvedere, Ginger Skyy, Saint Germain, Mint, Cucumber slices, muddled ginger, ginger ale and agave. It was delicious and very refreshing.

For our starters, Mom got the Foie Gras and Sweet potato. Reading the menu “Foie Gras with sautéed sweet potato, drizzled with Marsala wine sauce” she said it sounded fantastic. And I squealed inside because my mother once turned her nose up at Foie Gras some years ago and I was elated thinking she had a change of heart. Upon the presenting of the dish, her eyes filled with horror as she whispered across the table “Is this LIVER?”

When I confirmed, her disappointment was apparent and I offered her my own dish as I love Foie Gras. But, being the good sport that she is, she tried the Foie Gras. Turns out, it wasn’t as horrific as mom thought it would be. Of course, I had a few bites of hers and enjoyed it; I was just happy she was open to trying something new.

“I didn’t raise you on this food… where did your palate come from?”  

My Uncle, perhaps?

I ordered the Kanpachi Carpaccio which is a thinly sliced raw fish served with sliced endive, dill, black olives, Sardinian olive oil, and lemon vinaigrette. The dish was beautifully presented and the flavors were spot on. It made a great dish to whet my appetite for the next course. It was full of flavor but light and refreshing.

For our entrée, mom was ecstatic when she saw the lamb chops. They are one of her favorites. Growing up, mom used to make lamb chops about once per week… and I just about got sick of them. I had a bite and let her eat the rest. The lamb was rich and succulent, cooked medium upon the Chef’s recommendation.

She ordered a side of creamy and fluffy mashed potatoes to complete her dish.

I seized the opportunity of having lobster. Grilled lobster with fennel! I haven’t had lobster in such a long time due to the heavy saturation of butter that some chefs use to prepare it. For me, the combination does not agree with me and I get very ill. However, seeing that the lobster offered at Aglio was simply grilled and nothing more, I happily ordered it. In its simplest preparation, the lobster was sweet and cooked perfectly.  It came cut up for me to make my time shucking easier and I couldn’t have been more grateful.

(i forgot my camera and took a crappy cell phone pic… but wanted to show, despite its blurriness)

To accompany my lobster, I ordered the garlic spinach.  Fresh and whole spinach leaves lightly sautéed with garlic and oil. A fantastic side!

Over my excitement over dessert, I neglected to take a photo! However, I can report that my flourless chocolate cake was dense and chocolately! It was a great end to such a wonderful meal. My mother, feeling quite full from her dinner ordered a scoop of their hazelnut Gelato which she happily consumed.

The service here is spot on! While leaving the restaurant my mother, who takes pride in respect and courteousy, was impressed by the “impeccable service” and I take after my momma, so i would have to agree! Fantastic service.  (And the restroom was reminiscent of a day spa with heated seats and a bidet!)

Overall, my experience at Ristorante Aglio was a wonderful one! With it being so close to the office, it makes a great venue to celebrate events over lunch with colleagues and even as a romantic backdrop for a fancy date in TriBeCa.

If you and your love are looking for a special night this Valentine’s Day, Ristorante Aglio will be offering a 5 course dinner for $68 per person. Check out their website and make a reservation!

Honey Bunches of Oats

Tags

appetizers, cereal, honey bunches of oats, party

A long time favorite of mine has and always will be cereal. Never a breakfast food for me though. Its always been my favorite kind of snack. Growing up, we kept a chest on our balcony that was FILLED with cereal… come to think of it, that chest still exists and is still filled with all of my brother’s favorite cereal. When i visit mom, i love going through that cereal chest! And since forever, i can recall, my favorite has always been Honey Bunches of Oats.

One awesome day, I got an email about a People’s Choice Award Viewing Party sponsored by…. you guessed it, HONEY BUNCHES of OATS! That alone sold me!

The party was set up with huge screen TVs at Marina Maher Communications Office Midtown. Chairs lined the entire area that made for theatre style viewing!

The best part:

The snacks provided had honey bunches of oats incorporated into the recipe. I was given the recipes after the party and wanted to share some of them!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries (pictured above)

Ingredients:

6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 lb or 20 strawberries, washed and dried well

1.5 cups honey bunches of oats, crushed

Directions: Melt the chocolate using a double boiler, or the microwave. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Once the chocolate is melted, dip the strawberries into the chocolate and lightly shake off excess chocolate. Roll the chocolate covered strawberry into the crushed cereal. Lay on waxed paper. Allow to cool/harden for 30 minutes.

This was a Chicken roulade of sorts. My mind is a bit fuzzy as there was a lot of wine being passed around.

Some really delicious sesame noodles with Shrimp. The presentation was lovely and i might have had two servings of these!

Seedless Grapes wrapped in Goat Cheese were unique! They seem a bit time consuming to make but the combination of flavors and textures here is something unlike anything I have ever dreamed up in my kitchen!

Ingredients:

1/4 lb goat cheese at room temperature

24 red or green seedless crapes, stemmed, rinsed and patted dry

1/3 cup honey Bunches of oats, crushed

Directions:

Divide goat cheese into twenty four quarter sized balls. With your fingers, mold the cheese around each grape until its completely covered.  Roll each grape into the finely crushed cereal and place on a cookie sheet. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Best served chilled.

Crunchy Sweet Potato Oaties which tasted a lot like cinammony oatmeal bites were addicting! but these, should be eaten as soon as possible. When left out, they get a little chewy.

Ingredients:

1 can (29 oz) sweet potatoes, drained and smashed

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp melted butter

1 egg

2 1/2 cups Honey Bunches of Oats, crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325*. Mix Sweet potatoes, flour, pecans, cinnamon, and butter in large bowl. Stir in egg (mixture will be soft). Place cereal cumbvs on large plate or in shallow dish. Drop rounded teaspoonful of the sweet potato mixture onto cereal; gently shape into ball while rolling in crumbs until evenly coated on all sides. place 2 inches apart on baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake 20 minutes. Serve warm or chilled.

My ultimate favorite dish served is not pictured but i did get the recipe as it was AMAZING! Imagine a juicy and savory chicken tender coated with the honey sweet cereal and baked? Get your sweet and salty on people! yum!

Crunchy Chicken Dippers

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

4 1/2 cups of honey bunches of oats, finely crushed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375*. Beat eggs lightly in shallow dish or pie plate. Dip chicken in eggs, turning over evenly to coat both sides of each strip. In a separate dish or pie plate, coat chicken with cereal. Place on two cookie sheets covered in non-stick spray. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Overall, it was awesome and even more awesome were the two boxes of cereal that I took home! The fruit blends are really good and out of the two, i LOVE the blueberry and banana!

Now, lets talk about my recent late night cereal munching and blame Honey Bunches, k?

Potluck

Tags

arroz con gandules, pernil, potluck

One of my resolutions goals for 2012 was to have more dinner parties; potlucks specifically. Why? well, hosting dinner parties take a lot of planning and sometimes I get a little overboard with the oragnizing. And get overboard with the cooking as well. Not to mention that preparing dinner for 12 people can not only be time consuming, but costly.

Since my circle of friends love to be social, eat and drink together, I extended an offer to host the first of hopefully many potlucks. It would serve as a challenge to those who are beginning to dabble in the kitchen as well as those of us who wish we had more time to cook. I sent out the invite and it was received with much excitment. And Diana and I opened our apartment, utlized every square inch of our apartment and had our very first potluck.

Some organization is necessary… you dont want 11 people to show up with dessert! So in our party of 11, 3 people brought dessert and everything else was fair game. If you are trying to plan a potluck, my best advice is to create categories of the type of foods people can make and have them assign themselves a dish.

Appetizers, dips, salads, sides, meats, casseroles, and desserts. Those were my mental categories. And it worked out perfectly.

Our humble 4 person dining table has never see so much food in its life!

Since my Slow Cooker Pernil was such a hit, i decided to make this for the potluck. Any one who has ever made a pernil in the oven would know its a labor of love. After seasoning the pernil a day in advance, the cook has to set aside at least 6 hours to baking the beast. And you still risk the chance of drying out your pernil.

I bought a 9 lb pernil this time and woke up around 10 am, which is late for me, put the beast in the slow cooker and set it on low. My goal was to have it cook on low for 10 hours but after an hour, i felt in my gut that it was going to take longer. Always listen to your gut! So i cranked the slow cooker to HIGH and cooked the beast for 6 hours. I am so gald I did! The pernil was PERFECT! The best part? I spent my day doing important things, like setting up the apartment for 11 guests and taking naps. Priorities people!  

An hour before everyone arrived, i decided we couldnt have pernil without arroz con gandules! And in even more lazy girl mode, i whipped out my rice cooker and got to business. This is my new way of making rice since its pretty much fool proof. If you dont put enough water, just add more and put it on a another cycle. It wont char like rice on the stove top! and if the cook time is done and you dont love the texture (too firm), you can just leave it on warm.

Here is my arroz con gandule in a rice cooker recipe:

2 cups of dry white rice

1 Tablespoon oil

2 Tablespoons sofrito

1 packet sazon

8 oz tomato sauce

1 can of pigeon peas (drained)

handful of olives and pimentos (optional)

1.5 cups of water

Method: Put it all togehter, stir, cover and press Cook. check on it after 20 minutes. give it a stir. cover again and let warm for another 20- 25 minutes. Effortless.

Diana, my roommate, made some chicken summer rolls that were received with much excitement! these were gone first! especially her homemade dipping sauce!

My friend Mike drew inspiration from Epic Meal Time and made a Jack Daniels sweet Potato dish that had us all feeling a little boozy!

Julia made some spanish tortas which were awesome especially with her homemade pico de gallo!

My favorite dish of the night was Evan’s greek salad that was made with Orzo and pharaoah, grapes, feta and probably crack. Im just sayin. Its rare that I like a salad over everything else.

My friend Thao made a fried rice with huge chunks of chinese sausage. I was happy to have leftovers of this stuff! tasty!

Phil brought lean turkey sloppy joes with potato rolls. Definitely a filler upper but really good.

I made pernil… and i shredded it up and served it in an aluminum tray. The real star of the show though, were the chicharrones that i made for everyone to much on while they waited for the food.

Mel made a 7 layer dip that Diana and I coveted for days and days after. We put that shit on everything! Ever had 7 layer dip on eggs? Its amazing.

And we consumed bottles and bottles of wine!

The desserts were a big hit as well. My friend Kristy made some drunken cupcakes! and Lara wowed us all with her panna cotta and blueberry coulis!

An overall success!

The next one is already in the works!

So, tell me. If you were going to a potluck, what would you bring?

Slow Cooker: Pernil

Tags

dinner, pernil, pork, slow cooker, spanish food

Lately, I have been drawing inspiration from other bloggers. And who could blame me? There is soooo much talent out there! One particular blogger has had a very strong influence on my menu planning and its no secret that Gina at Skinny Recipes is the inspiration for this dish.

As an avid reader and someone who has tested out her recipes, I can say that this woman knows her stuff. But while perusing her site and stumbling upon a Pernil recipe, I started to doubt her. She made pernil (which is a roasted pork shoulder typically made in hispanic homes) in a SLOW COOKER!

And if you know what Pernil is and have had it before, you might have done the same thing as me.

FREAK OUT.

And then I doubted her.

How dare I!?!?

If I have learned anything thus far in my years of blogging is that if they wrote about it and said they loved it… then they did and there is nothing more to it.

So, with a dinner party in a few short weeks, I planned on testing out her recipe. And the post is live which should tell you something…

If I can leave you with anything today, I hope its “GET A SLOW COOKER”. k?

Of course, I made a few tweaks to Gina’s recipe and mainly copied her method of preparing the beast.

Ingredients:

1 pork shoulder, 5-6 lbs trimmed of all fat and skin

6 garlic cloves roughly chopped

1 packet sazon

2 T low sodium adobo

Method:

Trim off all the visible fat on the shoulder and save the skin (optional). With a good knife, stab the shoulder with once inch slots and stuff the slits with garlic. Go nuts. Get some aggression out. The more garlic, the better.

Once you have stabbed and stuffed, season your shoulder liberally with the sazon and adobo all over. If you don’t have these spices readily available, Gina lists the spices she used on hers which are more readily available in the spice aisle.

When the shoulder is seasoned on all sides, transfer to a slow cooker.

I used my small 4 Qt cooker for the 5 lb pernil. Its good to cook something that fits perfectly in the slow cooker so it can cook evenly. If your slow cooker is too big, the food will cook faster thus increasing your chances of possibly drying out your food… no bueno.

I set the cooker on LOW for 8 hrs. Went to work and thought about pork ALL DAY.

With the skin, I decided to make some cracklings for Mickey so I placed the skin on a baking sheet and set the oven to 475. I let the skin cook for 1 hr and then lowered the oven to 350 for 30 minutes.

The result was crispy pig skin that Mickey was all too happy to devour. I even snuck a piece and thought it was pretty damn delicious and disgusting all at once!

The pernil smelled AMAZING. As good as any pernil ever smelled from the oven!

I tried to remove the beast from the slow cooker and it was so tender and coming right off the bone that I had to use two large spoons to remove it from the slow cooker.

Using just two dinner forks, I shred the meat off of the bone…

And couldn’t resist taking bites as I went along. Good lord this was amazing. And if you are a skeptic…

Peep them bones… CLEAN! aint it amazing???

There was some  liquid in the pot when the pork was done, I decided to reserve 1/4 cup of it and pour onto the shredded meat for a little more moisture. But this recipe was perfect! I was confident at my dinner party when I made my pernil in the slow cooker and made every hispanic present doubt me the same way I doubted Gina!

Even my own mother who has been making pernil in the oven since before I was born shook her finger at me. “Crock Pot? NO way!”

Yes way Mami. I brought her some and she is now a believer. 

And even my friend Patty gave me that funny look when I told her I made pernil in the slow cooker. I brought some over to her. Shortly after she ate it she sent me a text “So, uh, where do I get a slow cooker?”

Do you believe me now?

Slow Cooker: Sopa Toscana

Tags

dinner, kale, lunch, potato, sausage, slow cooker, sopa toscana, soup

My parents went to visit my cousin for her birthday last week. Due to certain circumstances, I stayed behind. Being home got me thinking about all the weekends I used to spend in Delaware with the family and all the cooking we did together.

With this cold weather, I was especially craving something hot and soothing. And that’s when I remembered the sausage soup I made that winter in Delaware. Its remniscent of the sausage and potato soup one can find at Olive Garden. Sopa Toscana.

Its comfort food. Hot broth with sliced tomatoes, crispy bits of smoky bacon, crumbled sausage and kale. I made some tweaks this time around. Last time, i used turkey bacon and although I liked it, I thought it could have been better. So this is my modified version… and in a slow cooker!

Ingredients (makes 4-6 servings):

1 medium onion, diced

1 lb of sweet hot italian sausage

2 oz smokey bacon

6 cups of chicken broth

2 T non fat milk

1 T flour

6 medium sized potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

1 bunch of kale, trimmed, spines removed, and roughly chopped

Method:

I omitted the onion by accident but, as it turns out, it worked just fine without it. So I removed the casing from the sausage and crumbled it into my fry pan. I cooked the meat through making sure to break it up into crumbles as i went along.

There will be some liquid in the pan. I did not save it. I chucked the liquid and added the sausage crumbles to my slow cooker.

In the same pan, i heated some thick smokey bacon and added it to the pan to crisp up.

While the bacon was crisping, i sliced the potatoes and threw that on top of the sausage crumbles in the slow cooker.

And after about 10 minutes, the bacon was crispy. I drained the oil from the bacon and patted the pieces dry with a paper towel, then added them to the crock pot.

On top of all the ingredients i added the 6 cups of chicken broth. I covered the crock pot and let it cook on low for 8 hours.

when i got home, i added the kale to the soup and cooked it on high for 30 minutes to allow the kale to soften.

I served myself a hearty bowl and went a little nuts with the parm cheese. The spicy sausage was a little salty so the while it was in the slow cooker, it lended its saltiness all around and the result was a perfectly seasoned soup! But if you have a salty palatte then season accordingly!

Get your snuggie, grab a bowl, and watch a Chopped marathon.

Kick it up a notch and grab a glass of Shiraz! Yummers.

Leftovers are amazing! And you can freeze this baby! wepa!

DUO Restaurant and Lounge

Tags

chocolate mousse, dessert, dinner, DUO, salmon, Steak

For those living in the New York City area, its Restaurant Week in NYC. I have been a long time fan of Restaurant Week as it gives me the opportunity to dine at places I normally would never splurge on #brokegirlproblems. And in recent years, Restaurant Week has gotten so popular that it has been extended! So, if you are looking to Treat Yo’Self between now and February 10th, check out the list of participating restaurants here, make a reservation, and have a good time!

When the list of participating restaurants opened up, I had a good time getting excited over all the wonderful places available! And Patty got excited about a place we have been to for a Yelp Event. DUO. Having been there for a Press Tasting of their Dinner Menu as well as a sneak peek at their brunch menu, I was curious to check out DUO as a paying customer. So, Patty and I made a reservation for 5:30 pm.

The restaurant itself is lovely to look at. Its every girly girls place to be. With jet black and velvetty gray decor with splashes of hot pink from the bar, this posh establishment, for me, is a great combination of sexy and elegance to make my dinner feel like a real treat.

With the restaurant still in its first year of business, they are still not packing the house. When Patty and I arrived, there was literally no one else there. I chalked it up to the fact that we were there at the very start of dinner service.

Being the only two diners didnt sway me one bit. The service was ultra attentive! I felt quite pampered.

They started us with two warm rolls after they seated us and checked our coats. Our purses were immediately swopped from ther current spot on the floor and placed on cute little stools beside us.

We were given the Restaurant Week Pre Fixe Menu as well as the regular Light Up menu in case we wanted extras. I was tempted to order a side of truffle mashed potatoes but thought the Pre Fixe menu would suffice.

We each ordered an entree. Patty is kinda sorta a picky eater and daringly ordered the homemade mushroom ravioli. She tried it. Didnt love it. But certainly was impressed that she was eating a mushroom and didnt want to hurl! So, thats sort of a success! The plate came with two mushroom ravioli. She ate one and let me have the other.

Score! It was really good! Also had a hint of black truffle.

I ordered the seafood Ceviche. I normally am not a huge fan of ceviche but i figured since Patty was ordering the ravioli, I should order something else. The ceviche was very fresh tasting with bursts of citrus and lots of tasty seafood. It was garnished with micro greens as well as chives and guacamole. My favorite was the shrimp. The calamari and scallops left a little something to be desired… but I think thats because ceviche is not really my thing.

Patty ordered the filet Mignon. A hearty 10 oz slab of juicy meat topped with crispy onions and a blue cheese stuffed mushroom cap. She really loved it!

I was torn between the osso bucco and the salmon and opted for the salmon. I was really craving a tender filet of salmon. The salmon was cooked perfectly on a bed of sticky purple rice topped with stir fried baby bok choy and carrots.

I tore this plate up! It was delicious! and so Filling!

Because we were both so full from our entrees, we asked to take our dessert to go. Patty got a chocolate mousse cake.

And I, a chocolate raspberry mousse cake.

Overall, everything was a homerun except for the dessert. For me, it was way too rich but then again, i am more of a savory girl than a sweet one. So, if you love you some rich chocolatey dessert- this will not dissapoint!

The Pre Fixe menus for Restaurant Week offer fixed prices. $24.07 for lunch and $35 for dinner. After tax and tip, my grand total for dinner came to $50  a piece. Its still a little steep but compared to the regular menu, its really quite a steal.

So, go make a reservation and Treat Yo’ Self!

Medieval Times!

If there is one thing I think we should all do as adults, its get in touch with our inner child every now and again. When my pals Mike and Mel found a deal for Medieval Times on Gold Star some months ago, they not only bought tickets but called on their fellow drunkards to partake in an epic night of debauchery…cheesy style. So, for about $30, we got tickets to Medieval Times. Original Price is about $60. And Kelly Ripa was in attendance with her children! (im sure she was on the winning side…)

Having no memory whatsoever of my last visit to Medieval Times, I was about 4 years old and in Florida, I was REALLY looking forward to it. To sweeten the deal, our measly group of 11 quadrupled in size when I invited Patty who was celebrating an undisclosed birthday on the same day. So… needless to say, it was QUITE the adventure.

Medieval Times in New Jersey is accessible via Public Transportation but for those with friends who drive, its about 45 minutes away from NYC. A night at Medieval Times includes dinner and a show. The show starts at 730, but they open at 6… for those that want to take photos and hit the bar.

Bar? Did someone say Bar? Yes! And apparently my group of 42 people wasnt the only group down for some alcohol. The bar area was a MOB SCENE. And if there is one thing I hate more than anything is crowds. What should have been a relaxing prelude to the show was a nerve wracking anxiety attack for me.

But thats what God made Tequila for.

When they finally seated us, we were given some tomato bisque and garlic toast. One of the things I did remember about Medieval times is there are no utensils. What I did not remember was the food being good. Not amazing… but good!

The Tomato Bisque needed a touch of salt but it had a great consistency and did not in any way taste like it was of the canned variety. So kudos for the soup!

When you arrive at Medieval Times, you are assigned a color. This color represents your Knight who will be dueling during the show later on. You get matching crowns and its amazing how into it the adults get!

The show is well done with live horses that are not only well trained but stunning to watch! I almost always feel bad for animals in shows, but i felt good seeing the horses look gallant and happy! And even more reassuring was not being the only one to think that.

We consumed lots of beer during the show. Which was awesome until we had to use the restroom. The seating at Medieval times is such that if you have to get up, everyone else in your row will need to get up as well. My advice? Go before the show and dont drink so much during. Your row mates will thank you. Mine cursed my name 4 times.

Throughout the 2.5 hour show, dinner was served. The soup was served first and slowly, elements of the entre appeared on your plate. The contents of dinner are a half roasted chicken, herbed potato, and a braised rib.

I was stoked… i love roasted chicken. It was seasoned well and was nice and moist.

Me and my roommate were both in agreement that dinner was good!

The rib was not amazing, but the cooking method was flawless as the meat fell off the bone!

The star of the meal though, was the Pastry of the Castle. A warm and flaky apple turnover. So amazingly good! And if that werent enough, I baked double chocolate cupcakes for Patty’s Birthday and we all had a double dessert.

After the show, we went back to the bar which was a lot more tolerable… but there was no more booze being sold. waaah! It was a good time to take photos with Cast members.

I took a photo with our Knight who sadly was killed off first during the show.

And then spied two cuties who looked a little lonely. I was in a really good mood at this point (thanks Tequila) and might have been jokingly inappropriate… “Can I do you two at the same time?” They paused… and then i held up my camera… “3 of us. Photo?”

“Lady, this is a family show”

“Wheres your sense of humor!?”

And if that wasnt enough, we took the birthday girl to the local bar for more debauchery.

…in the form of shots and libations. Lots of shots.

Then i found handcuffs!

I had a blast! Im sure the birthday girl did too!

Happy Birthday Patty!

Peace Out!

Vegan Cinnamon Swirl pie

Tags

breakfast, chick peas, cinnamon, dessert, vegan

It all started when I was catching up on my Google reader and noticed there was a guest blogger posting. It wasn’t just an ordinary blog post.

No.

This post featured a photo that made my heart stop.

A stack of chocolate pancakes with melty chocolate syrup being poured on top of them. The kicker?

Vegan.

Freaking VEGAN!

My thoughts? How can anything this GORGEOUS be vegan? How can anything VEGAN sound so damn delicious?

Simply put. Because Chocolate Covered Katie says so.

That image alone sucked me into chocolate covered katie’s world of decadent desserts that were 100% vegan.

And just as I was about to put myself out of my misery, I saw it. The Cinnamon swirl pie. Everything about the pie was inviting. The cinnamonny color, the texture it promised in the photo, the swirls… it was all there.

But I sat and thought about the dessert for two weeks. TWO. LONG. WEEKS. Because could I really pull this off? Could I really make a vegan dessert?

I mean, yes I could… but would it be as delicious as it looked?

Im not judging my vegan friends- no! I admire you guys. For your creativity and passion. I was just really afraid of hating this… but one fateful Sunday evening, I pulled out my ingredients from katie’s blog and did it.

Not what I normally expect when baking…. applesauce, oats, chick peas

*blink*

OMG CHICK PEAS???

Mind. Blown.

All I needed to make this dessert was pulverized chick peas.

Okay, Katie. You’re the expert. So I let my food processor do its thing. And gave it a whiff. Did not love the smell. So, I added more cinnamon. and a dash more sugar. It still smelled a little like a sweet hummus but after a taste of the “dough” it wasn’t bad at all.

I liked the consistency. Like Oatmeal cookie dough batter.

I put it in a pie dish and baked.

The end resulted in what looked like a typical dessert! WePA!

I let the dessert cool for quite a bit before digging in. When roomie came home, I made her try a piece.

Holy. Balls.

guys, all jokes aside, this was EFFING AMAZING! With some homemade icing on top, this baby rocked my socks off. All the cinnamon sugar flavor in a dessert that was textured like that of a rich fudgy brownie.

yes, it was that good.

I sliced up my pie and gave it out to friends for breakfast. This baby is PACKED with protein and fiber. For 8 honkin slices, this baby packs in about 350 calories per slice but will keep you satisfied for hours!

So, will I become vegan? Not quite.

But will I make this again?

Ask the 4 cans of chick peas that I just bought. ::wink::

Wine and Mezcal at the Food and Wine Festival Preview

Last week, I was invited to a Food and Wine Festival preview tasting of the lineup for Ixtapa this upcoming March. Wine and Mezcal with the amazing and incomparable Mark Oldman. 

Mark Oldman might sound familiar to you if you are a reader of Food and Wine Magazine, or Bon Appetit, or are a Pottery Barn Junkie, because he is the wine expert. He is internationally known and overall, an awesome kind of guy!

The Venue was Hotel Americano where a select group of fabulous people, AHEM, including yours met up and were greeted with flutes of sparkling champagne and trays of sliders, meatballs and veggies to nibble on.

The presentation was absolutely stunning!

And the slider, a delicious beef patty cooked to a slightly pink center, guacamole spread, lettuce, tomato, red onion, melty oozy cheese in between two buttery buns, was the highlight of the evening. What better way to prep myself for an intense alcohol tasting than to have a beefy slider and some nibbles.

When the tasting commenced, Mark Oldman gave a very wonderful speech about what we were about to try. I would go into detail but I am afraid the night is a bit of a blur.

3 glasses of champagne plus all the stuff you see above.

It got a little giggly up in there! I did learn that the sauvignon blanc I was loving so much had an odor that the French compare to Cat piss. All this time I was smelling OAK.

I need a new nose.

I was seated with the lovely Sarahs (Sarah S and Sarah M….S&M… oh la la ) and Ms. Yvo .

There was a lot of water going around… but as always i neglected it.

 

Above, is the lineup of our tasting… thank goodness because I dont recall any of it!

Mark Oldman was a fantastic presenter. He was incredibly witty and made the awesome tidbits about wine unique.

Wine is cool… but with Mark Oldman, its UBER cool.

He brought his very special bottle of tequila and encouraged us to take a “shot”.

And so i did. . .

WEPA

“Arriba, Abajo, Al centro, Pa Dentro!”

At the end of the night, we got some delicious swag bags and copies of Mark’s newest book which he kindly autographed for me!

 

Pics of the sweet loot!

And the personalized book!

What a great night (i think)! I cant think of a better way to spend a weeknight!

Brunchin’ at the Bluebell Cafe

Tags

brunch, burger, cafe, sliders

While out galanvanting with my partners in crime (translation: Yelpers) our tummies were a-rumblin’ on a Saturday afternoon around 3 pm. And in New York, if its 3pm on a Weekend, there is one meal you can always count on. BRUNCH.

If there is one meal that I love on the weekends, its Brunch.

Bonus if its a boozy brunch.

But my posse and I were in the shake shake area and just did not think the line wrapping around the entire park was suitable for our  3 pm meal time… so we marched to 3rd avenue to a cute little cafe called BLUEBELL CAFE where our party of 8 acquired a nice corner of the restaurant and stood there for hours.

The restaurant itself has a very country feel to it that is also very homey. Wooden and wicker furnishings with mismatching chairs, it really felt like I was visiting an old relative in Delaware or something.

The brunch menu itself is simple yet has a little bit of everything to make even the pickiest of eaters happy.

Still having the shake shack on my mind, i spotted the trio of sliders on the menu.

It seemed liked the perfect brunch item! My only regret was ordering coffee instead of an ice cold beer.

Three sliders. Each with a different cheese. Blue. Cheddar. Swiss.

I have yet to meet a cheese I didn’t like!

Which doesnt bode well when you are congested.

Such a delicious little cafe in the Gramercy area!

Great prices too!