happy new year

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for reading my blog and wish all my readers a very happy, healthy and safe new years eve! 

To say goodbye to 2010, I am throwing my first dinner party for some friends at my apartment this evening.  How are you ringing in 2011?

great holiday cookies

Last weekend, my friend Christina and I went to a class at the Institute of Culinary Education called Great Holiday Cookies.  The class had about 16 students at various levels of baking.  We received a packet of 23 Nick Malgeri recipes (split into six categories:  rolled cookies, bar cookies, drop cookies, piped cookies, refrigerator cookies, and sandwich cookies), split into groups of two and got to baking.  Christina and I chose to make hazelnut butterscotch sandwiches and pinwheels.

At the end of the class all of the groups shared their cookies, so Christina and I both walked away with about 15 different types of cookies!

Christina and I taking a break from baking!

Gail Simmons went to ICE!

As always, if you would like a recipe I reference in my blog that I don't list please contact me directly and I would be happy to share!

christmas dinner menu

hors d'oeuvres:
holiday goat cheese log
eggplant and sausage tartlets
gruyere puffs

main course:
butternut squash soup
roast beef tenderloin with merlot and shallots
chive popovers
brussels sprouts with marjoram and pine nuts
maple glazed yams with pecan topping
broccoli casserole

recipes from sweet stuff by karen barker

dessert:
peppermint pattie cake
peppermint stick ice cream
assorted christmas cookies

**I tried to link all recipes I could find online.  If you'd like a recipe of anything above, as always please contact me directly!

Banana Bread

Christmas morning my family likes to have a bread ready for breakfast, so that we have something delicious but that we don't have to make that morning.  Usually we have a Cranberry Nut Bread, but this year I decided to mix it up with a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

As my mom put it, this is Banana Bread for people who don't even like Banana Bread that much - so good and very easy (and this bread freezes very well!).  Make sure not to fill the pan over 3/4 of the way full!

**Hint:  if you have a ripe bananas laying around your kitchen, pop them in the freezer until you are ready to bake your banana bread.  Just take them out about an hour before you are ready to bake.

Saturday Morning

I think I've got a new ritual in the works...Saturday mornings mean a scone from Amy's Bread, a latte and the New York Times!  This morning's scone of choice:  Cherry Cream Scone.

PS - I would give anything to be in the canoe right now!

Baking for Good

One of the charities my company supports is St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  Tomorrow they are having a "holiday helper" event, which entails wrapping donated gifts to bring to the children who have to spend the holidays at the hospital and a bake sale to raise money.  So, of course I volunteered to bake cookies (I obviously made a double batch so I could keep a few dozen for my cookie gift boxes that will be going out next week - more to come on that!).

I received my new Gourmet Cookie Book in the mail on Tuesday, so I was pretty excited to try out a recipe.  I decided to bake Trios, because they seemed like a real crowd pleaser and are very festive looking.

Just a word of caution about these cookies - they are not hard, but they take a LONG time.  I'm talking 3 hours (and I didn't even finish them all - I have half the dough left in my refrigerator to finish tomorrow...although on that note, you can make this dough 2 days ahead of time.  So my suggestion would be to make the dough one night and make the cookies another!).

I tasted one that got a little burnt (CHEF'S TREAT!) and it was yummy!  What is your favorite bake sale treat?

Monday Mealtime

As the holidays are quickly approaching and I am spending quite a bit of my time at holiday parties sipping cocktails and munching on delicious snacks, I decided this weeks meal should be on the lighter side.  My dinner, Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto with a side of Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts, had just over 400 calories but did not taste light at all.

The Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto was so easy...get this, you make it in the microwave!  Apparently the microwave is the fastest way to cook rice and on a Monday night I say yes please.

While your risotto is cooking in the microwave, your oven is free to make the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze.  These are so easy and I think may be my new favorite side veggie.  You can mix everything right in the pan and just throw them in the oven.

What did you have for dinner tonight?

perfect way to start a weekend morning...

I woke up this morning to a slightly warmed up NYC, yes it is currently a toasty 39 degrees!  I decided to take advantage of this temporary reprieve from the bitter cold and walk to Amy's Bread to get breakfast.  I got an oat, banana and pecan scone (this scone was seriously amazing - just the perfect amount of sweetness, yet also grainy and cinnamony and delicious) and a latte.  Add in this morning's New York Times and it is the perfect way to start a Saturday morning!

I am starting a new job on Monday and I will fortunately/unfortunately walk past Amy's Bread everyday (yet to be determined...)

Stecchino

Last night I went to Stecchino for dinner.  It is located on 9th Avenue between 52nd and 51st.  It was packed (it seemed to be an office holiday party, because of the random assortment of people there who all knew each other), but the hostess was able to set up a table in a small corner for us, which was nice.  It was far enough away from awkward holiday party conversations, that we completely forgot that was happening behind us.

They have a pretty comprehensive list of wines by the glass, as well as a lot of small plates, cheeses and antipasta to munch on.  They also serve flatbread "pizzas" and house specialties - which consist of pastas, fish and meat.  Pretty much something for everyone!

picture from stecchinonyc.com

We shared the Grilled Vegetarian Flatbread, which was topped with marinated grape tomatoes, baby arugula, artichoke hearts, caramelized onions and parmigiano reggiano.  It was delicious - the bread was crispy and there were just enough toppings to force you to eat it was a fork and knife.  My friend and I were reminiscing about its yumminess this morning!

For dessert we ordered the Petite Sweets, which are three shot glasses filled with tiramisu, red velvet cake and white chocolate and strawberry mousse torte, respectively.  My favorite was the red velvet cake (which I could have easily ate three more of).  The white chocolate and strawberry tasted very much like strawberry shortcake and was very tasty.  The tiramisu, which we were the most excited for, left a lot to be desired.  The layers were separated and very liquidy, something was just off.  Next time I would definitely get the order of two petite sweets or get two red velvets and a strawberry.

from stecchinonyc.com

Overall a very good dinner...I am looking forward to returning to try some of the small plates and definitely another order of the vegetarian flatbread and red velvet petite sweet!

New Inspiration

Yesterday I had a craving for a new cookbook.  I perused my favorite cookbook site, Jessica's Biscuit, in hopes of finding exactly what I was looking for.  I decided on The Essential New York Times Cookbook, after my highly successful pasta dish on Monday night.

The Essential New York Times Cookbook from Jessica's Biscuit

And The Gourmet Cookie Book:  The Single Best Recipe from Each Year, because how could I not!

The Gourmet Cookie Book from Jessica's Biscuit

 What cookbooks are on the top of your wish list?

Pasta w Roasted Red Peppers & Goat Cheese

Tonight I tried out a recipe from The New York Times - Pasta with Roasted Red Peppers and Goat Cheese.  As you will soon realize I am obsessed with spicy food.  So, when I went to the super market tonight to get supplies for this recipe and saw I could only buy basil in a big bunch, I decided to substitute 4 basil leaves for one jalapeno.  This recipe was so yummy and very quick - perfect for a week night dinner!

 Try it out and let me know what you think!  What are your favorite weeknight dinners?

My New Obsession...

I have always turned up my nose at Tofutti...I figured why mess with the perfection that is ice cream.  But when I saw Tofutti Key Lime Pie ice cream sandwiches in the freezer case tonight I just couldn't resist.  And am I glad I took the plunge into Tofutti heaven...YUM!

picture from tofutti.com

 Are any of the other tofutti cuties as yummy?

cookies galore!

Every December my mom, my aunt and I spend a whole day baking cookies in preparation for the holidays.  The last two years our day was dedicated to biscotti, but this year we decided cookies was the way to go.

We started with sicilian wine cookies from Carole Walter's Great Cookies:

We then made Rosemary and Pine Nut Cookies (these cookies are seriously delicious, this amazing combination of savory and sweet!):

Then Hazelnut Shortbread Sticks from Bon Appetit's cook a day album:

And of course, classic sugar cookies (from a family recipe) decorated with festive red, green and white sprinkles:

And finally Chewy Ginger Spice Cookies, which are a holiday classic in my family:

These cookies will make a perfect little holiday treat for friends, family and colleagues!  I have plans for a couple other holiday cookies over the coming weeks...so keep posted!

Ardesia

Thursday night I checked out Ardesia - this adorable little wine bar on 52nd Street between 10th and 11th.  Not only do they have a fairly extensive wine list, but delicious snacks to nosh on...they recently received Time Out New York's Critics' Choice Award for Most Ambitious Bar Food!

picture from wall street journal

We had Artichoke and Crab dip (complete w toasted slices of Amy's Bread, which is just down the street), Caramelized Brussel Sprouts (which I thought were yummy, but I am a brussel sprout fiend) and Homemade New York Style pretzels.  The pretzels are AMAZING, they are served with a spicy Dijon mustard and a cheese sauce, which as our waiter told us, you could just eat with a spoon (and I agree!).  We rounded out our meal with a homemade ice cream sandwich, which actually was more like 2 thin slices of cake with ice cream in between...yum!  AND, to top it all off, they have an awesome happy hour special - $6 glasses of wine.  

I will definitely be frequenting this neighborhood gem often!

Top Chef All Stars Finally Starts!

As you will soon realize I am obsessed with Top Chef...I have been counting down the days until All Stars premiered.  Not only are many of my favorites (cough cough, Angelo) returning, BUT they are back in NYC!  What could be better!

Photo: David Giesbrecht/Bravo

Who are you rooting for?

Happy Hanukkah to Me!

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah, so to honor my Jewish half (and I mean that literally, my dad is Jewish and my mom Catholic...so I get to enjoy ALL holidays and ALL holiday foods!) I celebrated by making a fresh batch of Latkes!  

It is funny how food brings back such strong memories.  When I was a little girl, my parents and I had dinner with my grandparents almost every Sunday at the Kosher Nosh.  Now at that time I wasn't the adventurous eater I am today (in fact I hated meat all together), so every Sunday I had Latkes...and they were glorious!

This recipe is slightly time consuming (took me about an hour and a half from start to finish), but believe me it is WELL worth the time!

my delicious Hanukkah dinner

Traditional Latkes

4 small Russet potatos

1/2 cup coarsely chopped onions (I love onions so my 1/2 cup was heaping!)

2 chopped whole scallions

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take a sheet pan and put a cooling rack over it.

Mix egg whites, flour, baking soda, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Set aside.

Peel and wash potatoes.  Place potatoes in cold water while you work, so they don't turn brown.  Pat one potato dry with a paper towel and shred with big holes on grater.  Repeat until for all potatoes. Mix onions into shredded potatoes. 

Pick up potato mixture by the handful and squeeze out excess moisture over the sink.  Place on a double layer of paper towels.  When all of potato mixture is on the paper towels, place another doubled up paper towel on top and pat any remaining moisture out.  Add potato mixture to egg mixture.

Heat skillet.  Add oil so that it is about a 1/4 in deep.  When oil is hot (a piece of potato will bubble immediate when dropped in), carefully put a 3" long by 1/2" deep patty into the oil.  Add the next patty after about a minute.  Depending on the size of your skillet you can add as many patties as fit without touching each other.  

an ice cream scooper is the perfect size to make your patties

Check the bottom of the first patty after 4 to 7 minutes.  The bottom should be gold brown (some white showing through is okay).  Turn it over and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.  When the patty is done, remove it from the skillet and place on the cooling rack.  Repeat until you have used all the potato/onion mixture.

frying away

Place baking sheet in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.  Latkes will get a turn a darker brown, become more crispy and cook through the middle.

Serve hot as they are, with a side of sour cream or my personal favorite applesauce.

Helpful Hint:  if you have any latkes left over you can freeze them and reheat in a 350 degree oven.

As Always, Julia

Julia Child and I happen to share a birthday, so I think I was destined to be in love with cooking. For those of you who love Julia as much as I do, check out this book (released today!): As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis Devoto by Joan Reardon.

picture from goodreads.com

Getting Creative

I love Ladies' Home Journal's new spin on classic holiday decorations!

picture from lhj.com

What is your favorite way to decorate for the holidays?