I did the unthinkable

I followed an Ina Garter recipe!

Now, that might not mean much to most of you, but I spend a great amount of time and energy haten on Ina. I hate her, her friends and her stupid house in the Hamptons. She comes off as smug and showy.

But....she had a recipe that best matched ingrediants I had to use up, namely sour cream that needed to be used like yesterday.

So here are Ina Garter's Banana Sour Cream Pancakes http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/banana-sour-cream-pancakes-recipe/index.html




Of course, I'm all alone this week, and had no intentions of eating two dozen pancakes. Luckily some online friends told me they could be frozen, then popped in the freezer for a quick breakfast. I ate a couple right off the skillet, and they were pretty good. I can't wait to see how the reheated ones come out.

Grandma's Chicken and Rice

This is a family favorite, passed down from my Grandmother's friend Ester from Puerto Rico. It is simple, hearty and comforting. The perfect food for a cool, rainy day. (Sorry for the blurry iPhone pic).



Chicken and Rice

In a big dutch oven, saute chopped onion, red bell pepper and garlic until soft. Add salt and pepper, chicken pieces (we used bone-in, skinless thighs). and two (big) cans of crushed or pureed tomatoes. Cover and stir occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove a cup of the cooking liquid, and in another pot, heat up two cans of drained, not rinsed kidney beans with the reserved liquid.

To the pot with the chicken add 1-2 cups of minute rice. Heat until the rice is cooked.

Serve!

Tofu Curry

Goodness this was good.
Coconut Tofu Curry

I did my best to follow the recipe, which if you know me means I barely followed it.

My take on it: 1 can coconut milk, 4 packets of soy sauce (does anyone actually buy soy sauce?), powdered ginger, a couple tablespoons of curry paste, and a hearty squeeze of sriracha, brought it to a boil, added chopped onion and red pepper, cubed tofu, and a crap load of baby bok choy. Cook until veggies are soft, and serve with brown rice.

Another for the "Not the prettiest, but damn tasty" category.

Pizza night

Tomato, basil and garlic pizza, and, because the cook "felt like it", topped with arugula and red onion. I could eat this for the rest of my life.

Eating Art

For our 1 year anniversary Dan brought me to WD~50, Wylie Dufresne's restaurant. Wylie mother-trucking Dufresne, James Beard nominated, Michelin Star rated, the only reason anyone has ever heard of molecular gastronomy.

We were brave and ordered the tasting menu. I ate foods I swore I would never eat, only because Wylie cooked them, and I liked them (except for the fois, but you can't win them all).

Not only was Wylie there that night, cooking our food, but our waiter took us on a tour of the kitchen, we WE MET WYLIE! He laughed at a dumb joke I made, and wished us a happy anniversary. BEST NIGHT EVER! So here it is, the food.


Crispy Flatbreads to snack on.



Scallop noodles with concord grape, saffron yogurt and crispy sesame.


Everything bagel ice cream with smoked salmon threads and crispy cream cheese.


Foie gras with passionfruit center and Chinese celery on top.



Scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, and kindai kampachi.


Cold fried chicken, buttermilk ricotta, tabasco honey sauce with caviar on top.


Striped bass, chorizo, pineapple, popcorn


Beef and bernaise.


Lamb with edamame crumble.


Lychee ice cream with a Yuzo foam and pistachio and celery bottom.


Orange, tarragon and rhubarb sorbet on an olive oilcake


Soft chocolate, frozen raspberry, long pepper, & ricotta ice cream.


I'm honestly not even sure if this was everything. I have no clue how we managed to put away all this food, although it was so tasty and inventive that I would have eaten until my stomach actually burst.

"Crab" Cakes

Ever since we started vacationing in Jamaica, crab has been off the menu. Once you spend a day watching the scurry across the beach stealing fruit from your tropical drinks, it seems wrong to eat them.



Unfortunately, I love crab cakes. Luckily, I found a recipe for zucchini cakes that promised to taste like crab, and they came pretty damn close.


The cakes take a while to put together, but are really simple.

First you have to grate the zucchini:



Then salt the zucchini, and let sit to draw out as much liquid as you can. Add chopped onion, egg, bread crumbs and old bay seasoning





Then shape into patties, and let sit in the refrigerator to firm up. They are supposed to be pan fried, but I just baked on a cookie sheet to save time, calories and cleanup.

I served with some Sriracha mayonnaise (man I love this stuff now), bulgar, and broiled tomatoes.


Again, maybe not the prettiest, but pretty damn tasty (and no crabs were hurt during the making of this meal).

I've got nothing

except for some random eats:

adorable sliders from the Port Authority Bowling Alley.

Who knew?

The sandwich that ate everyone:

(Mama's of Corona's @ CitiField)

And the fancy-pantsy spread at the American Girl Tea Party.