Panna Cotta

Mai, Paul, and I were recreating the Balthazar Steak Au Poivre at their home, and I was on dessert duty. We wanted something light and easy to make with the ingredients we already had sitting around. Mai found this panna cotta recipe and we decided to give it a try. So easy! In fact, it makes me wonder what restaurants are doing wrong - I can't really remember when I have been impressed with panna cotta I've had for dessert when dining out. I think this recipe is a good choice for summer dinner parties because of the minimal prep time or fancy ingredients required. Bon appetit! 

Panna Cotta, recipe from David Lebovitz

Serves 4 

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean pod
• 1 packet of powdered gelatin
• 3 tbsp. cold water 

In a saucepan, heat the heavy cream and the sugar over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. If you are using a vanilla bean, scrape the pod into the mixture, along with the bean, and let it infuse for about 30 minutes in the fridge. Remove the pod and rewarm the mixture before continuing with the recipe. 

Lightly oil four ramekins with something like butter or pam. 

In a medium sized bowl, add the water and sprinkle in the gelatin and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Add in the warm heavy cream mixture and stir until the gelatin is fully dissolved. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to chill and solidify. We ate our panna cotta straight out of the ramekin, but to serve, you can run a knife along the outside of the ramekin and flip it onto a plate. Serve by itself or with a berry compote. 

Sushi Nakazawa, Round 2!

Yay, I was fortunate to come back here for a second time! I think I liked it even better than the first time around, and service was yet again fantastic. I prepared for my feast by watching Jiro Dreams of Sushi and watching Chef Nakazawa serve as an apprentice and perfect his tamago for Jiro. Who's ready for more? 

A Trip To Los Angeles and Indio

Back in January, my friends and I went through a frantic scramble to get tickets to Coachella (weekend 1). Shortly after, I decided I was going to make a pit stop in LA for a food adventure enroute to Indio.  I did extensive research on where to eat, as due to scheduling, I only had one meal (dinner) in LA and I couldn't mess that up. Oh, the pressure. I finally decided on Orsa & Winston, a new restaurant opened by Chef Josef Centeno. He also owns Baco Mercat and Bar Ama. Baco Mercat also had a food truck in the VIP section of Coachella! 

Easy Carbonara

Historically speaking, my favorite type of pasta is a gnocchi or pappardelle with a lamb ragu. There was one time at ricotta fest when Gretchen made an unbelievable ricotta carbonara, but since then I hardly paid much attention to the dish. That is, until my sister and I ordered the dish at L'Artusi, and now I am obsessed. After L'Artusi, I went to Lupa, then I also went to Ciccio's, and, most recently, I ordered it for lunch one day from Lamarca. I couldn't get enough! Finally I decided to give it a try and make it at home. It was actually very easy! 

What I Ate This Week

What I Ate This Week - March 24th, 2014 edition, Part 3 of 3* 

*I realize that it is now the week of April 28th, oops. Busy month of eating, music festival-ing, and socializing

This is the final installment of the restaurant hit list when my sister was in town. It includes two of my favorites and a new place that I would highly recommend - North River, in East Village.

What I Ate This Week

What I Ate This Week - March 24th, 2014 Edition, Part 2 of 3

Sushi Nakazawa

Sisters go to Sushi Nakazawa! This was certainly a labor of love. For those who have tried to reserve a table or a spot at the Sushi Bar, you know what I'm talking about. I fanatically refreshed the open table page a zillion times all day and night when I was in front of my computer. I am pretty sure that even the times I woke up in the middle of the night, I probably opened up the open table app to scan and see if someone had canceled a reservation in the early hours of the morning. I finally was able to secure a reservation for March 7th at 5:15pm. Early, okay, but I could take it. My sister wasn't sure if she could make it to NYC that weekend, so just in case, I kept searching for another reservation for March 20th. Then one day, a 7:45pm reservation for that Friday opened up. I was about to rub my eyes in disbelief, but I realized I didn't have that kind of time, as I'm sure the reservation would disappear as soon as it appeared. I felt a weird feeling of glee and satisfaction as I typed in my credit card information to hold my reservation.  

What I Ate This Week

What I Ate This Week - March 24th, 2014 Edition, Part 1 of 3

This week's post will come in three parts, because my sister was in town, we dined out quite a bit. I learned some exciting things this week! I learned I actually do like artichokes, which is very exciting as I feel this opens a whole new spectrum of starters and sides to order from! I am also obsessed with the idea of egg yolks on things from pasta to breakfast pizza. You know who else likes egg yolks? Cooper, my beloved (furry) nephew. No wonder we get along so well!