New York Monday
November 28, 2010 | Filed Under New York Monday | 3 Comments
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Overlooking a portion of central Harlem.
Have a great week, everyone!
Paz
Challah, again
November 23, 2010 | Filed Under Baking, Bread, Challah | 9 Comments
The other day, I felt like baking. I felt like baking challah. I’d baked challah only twice before — one sprinkled with sesame seeds and a honey-vanilla challah. My braids always turn out very interesting-looking. This current braid improved but I could still use more practice. Also, I didn’t care for the color of my challah. It seemed to come out darker than my last two. I wasn’t sure what I’d done differently. When I complained to Simona, she gave me some tips, which I’ll use the next time I bake. I learned from her that the color of challah depends a lot on the kind of egg wash used. She uses Peter Reinhart’s recipe and he specifically recommends not to use the color to estimate the doneness. Instead he recommends that you use your thermometer. Simona mentioned that she makes her egg wash with whole egg and her challah comes out a nice color. Last tip was that the crust softens after it is allowed to cool. Thanks, Simona! I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I bake challah.
Paz
New York Monday
November 21, 2010 | Filed Under New York Monday | 3 Comments
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Not only am I enjoying the cool autumn weather, I’m also enjoying the changing colors of nature in the city. These photos were taken at Riverside park. Have a wonderful new week!
Paz
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New York Monday
November 14, 2010 | Filed Under Food Trucks, Mobile Eating, New York Monday | 8 Comments
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This is one of the many different food trucks around the city. The Street Sweets NY truck serves coffee, tea, cappuccino, latte, espresso, yogurt, quiches, soups, muffins, scones, cakes, pies and croissants. You can buy croissants filled with ham and cheese or spinach and cheese. If you’re in the mood for something sweeter, you can try their croissants filled with pastry creams like praline, chocolate, honey and vanilla. It’s a popular food truck.
I posted two photos because as usual, I couldn’t make up my mind which one to pick. 
Happy New York Monday, all! Have a great week.
Paz
Italian Stir-fry Improv
November 14, 2010 | Filed Under Italian Cuisine, Italian Recipes, Pasta, Poultry | 7 Comments
The other day, I pulled out the only food left in my fridge — some chicken cutlets. I had no idea what to do with it. So, I e-mailed a friend who likes to cook.
"Got any suggestions of what to do with chicken cutlets? Hmmm… I’m cooking for my mom and myself."
He responded:
1) – Dice them into 1/2" cubes, add Olive oil, salt, oregano, "Italian seasoning" to taste. Chop onions, carrots (very thin), mushrooms, chunks of pineaple, fresh tomatoes, and stir fry over a hot fire. Serve over pasta for Italian Stir-Fry.
2 – leave them whole, put them in a 2" deep sauce pan or baking dish, cover with 1/2 bottle of ranch dressing, add 2 big handfuls of grated Parmesan cheese (not the powdered stuff, the fresh hard Parmesan. bake for an hour (give or take) then serve over pasta or with baked potatoes.
3) – Season and salt to taste, pan fry at a high heat, server over a fresh salad with the best thai peanut dressing you can find.
4) – Put cutlets on sheet of Saran wrap. Wrap and seal. Put all cutlets in a zip lock bag, pressing the air out. Seal back, stick in freezer, go out to dinner.
I laughed at suggestion #4 and emailed him back to let him know that I was going to try suggestion # 1. Except that I had to go grocery shopping for the rest of the ingredients — mushrooms, pineapples and carrots… etc… My fridge was empty.
He wrote back:
Italian stir fry is my "what’s left in the fridge?" recipe. Add anything you want. Be careful with the pineapple. It’s a strong flavor, so don’t use too much. Season to taste. This is improvisational cooking at its best.
Ready to start cooking, I went grocery shopping. Okay… Okay… I didn’t go shopping. Instead, I had the grocery store deliver my groceries. When I finished preparing the meal, I garnished it with cilantro, my favorite herb (parsley would have been nice, too.). And since I like a little bit of heat, I added some chili sauce. Loved it! Delicioso! I should do some more improv cooking, for sure.
Paz
Italian Stir Fry Improv
Chicken cutlets (diced into 1/2" cubes)
Olive Oil
Salt
Oregano
Italian seasoning
Onions (chopped)
Carrots (sliced thinly)
Mushrooms
Pineapple (chunks)
Tomato (fresh, diced)
In pan, add olive oil, diced chicken cutlets. Add salt, oregano, Italian seasoning to taste. Add onions, carrots, mushrooms, chunks of pineapple, fresh tomatoes. Stir fry over a hot fire. Serve over pasta for Italian Stir-Fry.
