Monday, February 28, 2011

A little over a year ago my friend Kelly offered me a spot in her book club.
I soon learned it was just as much about the food and wine as it was about the book.
This was a club I could be a part of!

Carly was the hostess with the mostest this month and with the help of Mario Batali she cooked us up an amazing dish:

I love the look of the red onions in this fluorescent bowl.
Not only was our hostess a great cook, but she looked good too
(Cutest apron)

Sometimes book club calls for beer.


We have two vegetarians in the group which has actually helped expand my cooking repertoire
I usually fall back on the classic chicken or beef, but from these dinners I have eaten treats I wouldn't normally indulge in, this is one of them.
Carly doesn't know it yet but I am slowly but surely going to start stealing her cookware.
Living with so many people at "the frat" we've settled on $9.99 nonstick pots from Bed Bath & Beyond, but Carly has the real deal which made cooking easier and to be honest, more enjoyable.
So watch your back Car.

Cheers, pasta is served!
It doesn't stop here ....

Friday, February 25, 2011

Red Velvet Cupcakes are one of my favorite!
As we know I'm working hard to improve my baking skills, but the preciseness of it all is tough and I don't really get along with measuring cups - a real problem as baking is a science.

They look like little cans of paint.

Red Velvet Fun Fact:
Red velvet cake is actually a chocolate cake. When made with natural acidic cocoa powder, the cake would have a reddish colour. Using acidic buttermilk in the ingredients also brings out the red colour in cocoa. During World War II, the cake was often coloured with red beetroot pulp. These days most recipes have copious amounts of red food colouring added to make sure the red velvet cake is good and red!
Fun!


While not always pretty, always delicious!
These were a great ending to our neighbor dinner
(until I dropped them down the stairs)

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Steak Tartare alla Pocket Beers.
While the Tartare was prepared Ilan provided us with some pre-dinner snacks
Cheese
Figs
Crackers
Cannot go wrong
I have issues with Tartare, it tastes delicious, but it shouldn't make sense.
Raw Meat
Raw egg
Yet some how I don't get sick....
With all logic out the window, I was excited to see how it all came together
The meat was purchased from an amazing butcher shop in the W. Village : Florence Meat Market

Eating raw, in a second floor walk up in Alphabet City?
Acceptable.
Recipe Email from PB:
- Filet Mignon: chop it up as fine as you can, very, very fine! If you have a meat grinder, use it.
- chopped up onions
- chopped up pickles
- Mustard (sh*t!! we forgot the mustard! ha this is pretty important)
- Egg yolk
- pepper and salt to taste

I'm sure the mustard would have been a great addition, but even without, it was delicious.
Well Well Well
All hesitation was lost, and we inhaled our pre-dinner delicacy
(So quickly in fact that I never got a picture of it all pulled together)

Cheers to a wonderful evening!
THANK YOU NEIGHBORS!
(P.S. We promise not to attend an unlimited brunch before our next meal)

Monday, February 21, 2011

Happy President's Day!
While some of you are home enjoying the day off, lounging, and picking at my leftovers from last night (Kelly) I am at work.
Sunday meals are my favorite, and despite it being a "school night" I headed into the kitchen full force!
Buttermilk garlic mashed potatoes
Steamed Spinach

This glaze was so easy to make, and as promised, unapologetically sweet!

Garlic Roasting.

With the taters mashed, the glaze made, my apron in hand, and the wine secured, we made the short, but cold trek to Pocket Beers where we would snack on appetizers, and complete the final meal preparations.


Searing meat is a dangerous job, and the popping grease left its mark.
Since PB didn't have an ice pack, a frozen banana did the job.

pretty AND delicious
Dinner is served!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

I first made these in Vt. and they were DELICIOUS. Very rarely do I follow a recipe to the T, but this time I did, and it was well worth it!

I ran out of measuring cups, so reverted to measureable mason jars.

I wish I had a larger bowl to mix this all together.
The recipe calls for 1 lb of ground chuck, I ended up using 1.5 so had to alter the recipe accordingly.
Ranking of meatball funness:
(From most fun to least)
1. Eating
2. Mashing all the ingredients together
3. Rolling the meatballs
4. Smelling like garlic
5. Onion tears
6. Clean up

In VT one of the girls was a bona fide meatball baller.
In NY, mine were a little lopsided.
I like to caramelize the onions and garlic before I add them to the sauce.


Oh so very delicious!
Thanks to my co-chef Mel, well done!