More snapshots from the weekend
Blueberry ricotta pancakes at home
Interesting sidewalk art in Williamsburg
This is a spin-off from a Christmas cookie family recipe that my friend H shared with me – instead of cottage cheese, I used ricotta in these little thumbprint cookies and they turned out fabulous!
- 2 c. flour
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 8 oz. ricotta cheese
- granulated sugar
- preserves (I used apricot and blueberry)
- baby carrot (for making indentations)
Beat butter, ricotta and vanilla together until creamy. Mix in flour to form dough. Refrigerate for half an hour. Form dough into half tsp balls and make indentation in each ball using the baby carrot. Fill each cookie with a little bit of preserves.
Filled with apricot:
Filled with blueberry:
Bake at 400 degrees F for about 12 minutes or until cookies are golden on the bottom. Eat and enjoy!
After all the rain cleared from Saturday, we were rewarded with a beautiful and brisk winter Sunday! We took the opportunity to go to none other than … Shake Shack!
Two classic shack burgers – one for me, and one for my sister … with a side of crispy fries! Yum! We also got a double dip of the flavor of the day – gingerbread! Perfect for the holiday season.
Shake Shack – Madison Square Park
This weekend my sister came up to the city to spend Christmas with me! Saturday was pretty rainy and gross outside, but we braved the weather and trekked out in search for some good food. We were well rewarded for our efforts! First stop was Fiore in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I ordered the cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage, and the sis had the parmesan arugula grilled pizza. A perfect lunch for a lazy, rainy Saturday.
Afterwards, we wandered back into Manhattan and went to Ninth Street Espresso in the east village – and found the best cup of coffee in the city. No kidding. AND they do not have a laptop ban … (ahem ahem Cafe Grumpy!!)
All gone!
Since I have my own espresso machine, I also bought a pound of coffee – the total was $13! This was a great deal because typically a latte costs $4.25 by itself!
Fiore -284 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11211
Ninth Street Espresso – 700 E. 9th St.
These truffles are incredibly easy to make and also fun to eat! Just grind up a package of Oreos in a blender/food processor, add a block of softened cream cheese. Mix, then form into balls (1 rounded tsp per truffle). Refrigerate for an hour, then dip in melted chocolate chips and top with some extra Oreo crumbs for garnish. Voila!
I had been craving salmon for some time and was originally planning on making a seared salmon filet with a balsamic citrus reduction – however, as I was making the sauce, it did not turn out to be what I had envisioned and I did a quick change of plan. This is a variation of a recipe given to me from one of my coworkers for salmon baked in a pineapple marinade. Instead of baking the salmon, I seasoned it simply with salt and pepper, seared it stovetop in a pan, and topped it with a reduction of pineapple juice, soy sauce, honey, and garlic. Served with garlic herb cous cous and pineapple arugula salad – this makes a healthy and delicious dinner!
This past weekend the bf was visiting from Boston, so I decided to make an extra special breakfast for the two of us to enjoy: blueberry ricotta pancakes! The pancakes are actually super easy to make and come out soft and fluffy – perfect with some sweet maple syrup!
Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes
1. Mix together 1/2 + 1/3 c. water and 1/2 tsp vanilla.
2. Add to 1 c. pancake mix.
3. Fold in 1/2 .c whole milk ricotta.
4. Gently add 1/3 c. frozen blueberries until just mixed together.
5. Brush pan with oil or butter, and cook about 2 minutes on both side (or until golden brown).
Look at these little cuties sizzle!
Plate and drizzle with pure real maple syrup – eat and enjoy!
Today on my grocery shopping trip to Flushing, I spotted some luscious fresh ocean scallops by the fish monger station and I could not resist buying them (partially because I was also shopping on an empty stomach ^_^). Scallops are actually incredibly easy and fast to prepare – I like to just sear them in a fry pan and season with a bit of kosher salt and pepper. Sometimes the simplest ways of doing things often turn out to be the best.
Seared Ocean Scallops with Garlic & Herb Cous Cous with Spring Mix salad
With the first snow of the season today, I am getting that warm, fuzzy holiday feeling that usually leads to the baking of Christmas cookies! This is the first batch of the season that I baked with my sister back home in Maryland over Thanksgiving. The cranberries and pecans in this recipe are the perfect fruit and nut combination, and orange zest adds that extra sparkly, festive sweetness to the mix. Go bake a batch of these now – they will be gone in a jiffy ^_^.
Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies
1 stick butter (1/2c)
3/4 c. white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. cranberries – very finely chopped
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
zest of one orange
3 tbps brown sugar
2 tsp milk
- Cream together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Refrigerate for an hour.
- Make cookie filling: mix together cranberries, pecans, and orange zest.
- Mix together brown sugar and milk to form a paste.
- Roll out dough on a piece of floured wax paper into a rectangle. Spread brown sugar paste on dough and top with cookie filling.
- Roll up cookie dough into a tight log.
- Refrigerate for at least a few hours. At this point the log can be frozen and thawed whenever you want to make cookies.
- Baking the cookies: preheat oven to 375F, slice cookies 1/4 inch thick and bake on a well buttered cookie sheet for about 14 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
P.s. On a side note, I watched Garden State when I was at my friend H’s apartment in Maryland. It’s funny how much more you understand movies as you grow older. I think the quotation below is something that a lot of people in New York can relate to.
“You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone. You’ll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it’s gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It’s like you feel homesick for a place that doesn’t even exist. Maybe it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I don’t know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”
I realized that I hadn’t posted any recipes or cooking lately – here is a quick, light and easy dinner that I recently whipped up. This is adapted from Giada’s Lemon Basil Spaghetti recipe, it’s a pretty healthy dish that takes very little effort to make! The flavors are very bright, herby and citrusy – a good spring dinner, although I made this in the winter.
Seared Salmon
Heat one tbsp of canola oil in a pan. Season both sides of a salmon filet with salt and pepper. Place salmon into hot, oiled pan and cook on each side for about 2 minutes.
Lemon Basil Pasta with Capers
1 tsp lemon zest + juice of one small lemon
bunch basil – finely chopped
one clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. capers
1 serving hot cooked pasta
Mix together the first four ingredients, then add hot cooked pasta. Drizzle with olive oil and season with garlic salt and pepper to taste.
To assemble the dish:
Pile plate with salad mix (arugula, baby lettuces). Top with pasta and seared salmon.
Serves one!
