Crave of the Day 3.24.14

Now that it's spring...I am starting to think a lot about summer produce. What have I been craving lately? My mother's strawberry shortcake, a classic summer staple. I guess I only have a few more months to wait before I can indulge in this wonderful treat again, hooray!

One Fabulous Eating Weekend

I love when guests or friends of friends come to visit, why? Well, that gives me an excuse to eat wonderful food all the time--good food is all part of good hospitality, right?? Umm, yes.

So first I began my weekend with a fabulous meal at Amanda Freitag's reopening of Empire Diner in Chelsea. I had been anticipating this night for two weeks already, and I wasn't let down. First of all, the ambiance, AMAZING. Don't think neon lights diner, think dark, cosmopolitan, 2014 diner with vintage accents--so much love. And also, any diner with a huge mural saying "EAT" on the outside of the building is obviously calling your name, luring you in to eat some sweet potato chili fries. 

We began the eating adventure with the sweet potato chili fries, an ode to my Southern college experience. They were delightful. Next we tried the burger which was served, of course, on a brioche bun (I mean nothing else would ever suffice). We also tried the market special which were fish tacos; spicy and a great reminder that summer is just around the corner, thank you, thank you, thank you. And since it was a diner, we had to order dessert. We were in luck, since it was pi day they had special pies. We sampled both their traditional apple and the special Nutella pie--we may have been stuffed when we were served dessert, but we each happily ate a whole piece and left Empire Diner in one lovely food coma. 

The next evening we set out on a mission for some awesome ramen, aka Momofuku. Now this is always a challenge because the line is usually so long that it wraps around all of Manhattan and back again. What do you know? We arrive at the restaurant and there is a 2 hour wait. But I'm a trooper when it comes to Momofuku, since it is a favorite, so of course I made the team wait it out and boy, was it worth it. Meanwhile, we observed a lovely St. Patty's Day party in the distance, so that was entertainment enough. 

By 10:30 P.M. I was happily eating Spicy Miso Ramen, licking my lips after every bite, and laughing while we all attempted to eat our ramen politely (yeah, right). All I can say is I always leave Momofuku saying YUM, YUM, YUM.

Crave of the Day 2.10.14

Something new that I love, so simple but so delicious. I discovered it while making the apple tart at school. 

Next time you eat an apple, cut it into slices and rub it with a lemon. The lemon juice cuts the tartness out of the apple (especially Granny Smith) and all that is left is pure, sweet apple flavor. DELISH.

The Sea of White

It was 2pm...suddenly the fire alarm goes off. All of us pause. What do we think? There couldn't be a fire.

Next thing you know, we have evacuated the building and are standing on the side of the busy NYC road. It was an awesome sight though--honestly most people turned and looked at each other saying they were blinded by the sea of white chef coats. Over 100 students outside, crowding the street in a blob of white. A vision of culinary madness.

Don't worry, there was no fire. Just smoke coming from the boiler room. 

Crave of the Day 3.2.14

Ooey, gooey, rich, warm molten chocolate cake with some pure vanilla bean ice cream. Where? Perry St. restaurant week. I will now be happy for the rest of the week.

Cheese and Thank You

I walked into the kitchen, and already recognized the bright orange and red wrappers. My face lit up, Murray's Cheese had entered the room--today was going to be a great day. For those who don't know, Murray's Cheese is the most amazing cheese wonderland originally located in the lovely Greenwich Village. What do they sell? Beautiful, smelly, delightful, flavorful, aged cheese. If Murray's was for rent, I would fight all to claim the lease and call it my home. I am crazy about this place. 

Anywho...Friday was cheese day. We made cheese, ate cheese, cooked with cheese, you name it and cheese was there to help us out. It was a blast learning to make ricotta (pictured below) and mozzarella. 

The second half of the day was consumed by the wonderful cheese tasting. We were guided by our chef through the different milks, yogurts, and cheeses of the cow, goat and sheep. 

Conclusions...I love sheep milk, yogurt, and cheese. It's no wonder sheep was my favorite, it has the highest fat content of the three (oh goodness, why?). We left the day in a complete cheese coma, which I must say I have never experienced before. Cheers to cheese and all the happiness it brings to the world.