Lamb Sliders

During the holidays, my mom brought home some brioche slider buns from Macrina bakery. After eating one plain, I decided I needed to make sliders to do the buttery, soft rolls some justice. When my sister and I went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for our Christmas brunch and dinner, I became inspired to make some lamb sliders as an appetizer. Some kalamata olives, feta cheese and shallots later, we had a full burger!

Cardamom Buttermilk Pie

For our Holiday Dessert Party, I wanted to make a pie, but I knew most of our guests would be pie-d out from Thanksgiving, so I nixed pumpkin and pecan pie. I saw this recipe for a cardamom pie, and buttermilk pie apparently is an "American Classic", but I've never once had it or seen it on pie menus. I also LOVE, repeat, LOVE cardamom flavored dishes, so this American Classic sounded just right for our Holiday Dessert Party.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

This year, Marya, my sister and I hosted our second annual cookie party, but this year, we decided to go big and include all kinds of dessert.  We all know I love dessert parties! Since we were holding it the day after Thanksgiving, we wanted to make it a simple process (i.e. no stress baking), and I've been dying to decorate sugar cookies, so here was my chance!

Sweet Potato Pie With Marshmallow Meringue

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I started to research what kind of pie to make for our Thanksgiving meal.  Last year, the pumpkin pie was a winner, except that my sister doesn't really like the taste of pumpkin pie, so I had to find something new. When I saw a posting on Bon Appetit's facebook page about this pie, it looked too delicious to pass up. Each bite was a balanced mix of super-duper sweet (the meringue) AND Thanksgiving in your mouth (sweet potato mixed with cinnamon/nutmeg). HOM! 

Chocolate Molten Lava Cupcakes!!!

My baby thsister was coming home from COLLEGE! This was her first Thanksgiving holiday back from school. When I would come home from school or work, she would bring snacks to the airport so I could eat something home made on my way home in the car.  This time, since the tables had turned, I decided to bring her a snack.  I saw a cupcake cook on our dining table, and immediately found the molten lava cupcake recipe.  Yummy and portable? Done!

Astrid y Gaston

A long, long time ago, when we started planning our two year friendiversary trip, I suggested we eat at Astrid y Gaston.  Unfortunately, due to trip logistics, we actually didn't allot for any time in Lima.  Yeah, poor planning, I know.

In a twist of fate, our flight from Lima to Newark was delayed.  By 14 hours. We briefly considered switching onto other flights out of Lima.  Instead, we quickly opened up my Lonely Planet to read more about Astrid y Gaston.  In a matter of 10 minutes, we had located a hotel closest to the restaurant, secured a table, and were well on our way into Miraflores.  Yes, people, we have PRIORITIES.

Unboliviable!

The next half of our friend-iversary took us to Bolivia.  We crossed overland via Lake Titicaca enroute to La Paz. In between Cusco and Lake Titicaca, we were on a local bus.  The local bus was a very interesting experience. Every stop along the way, someone new got on with some kind of treat to sell. Since I was feeling hot and cranky, I didn't actually buy a single thing. But, maybe Bolt bus should consider picking up hitch hikers who sell snacks along the way to DC. We finally arrived in La Paz after a border crossing and a Oregon-trail style river crossing (we chose to ferry across, not ford across). The only thing I knew I had to do in La Paz was to eat a salteña.

Cuy!

To celebrate our two year friend-iversary, Becca and I booked a trip to Peru and Bolivia.  I was looking forward to eating ceviche, sampling some cuy, eating lots of quinoa and drinking coca tea.  Due to travel planning, we actually didn't have any time for Lima, which supposedly is a growing culinary hot spot.  In an exciting twist of events (and another blog post to follow), we were able to stay in Lima for about a day and a half, due to airplane delays.

Guest Blog Post: Gobi Manchurian and Mock Chicken Curry

My friend Trupa and I grew up in Seattle together, and bonded when we were 12 and in some Diwali dance program in which we had to wear fish costumes. Now, Trupa lives in North Carolina, and we gchat daily about recipes, kitchen appliances (yes, you DEFINITELY need the soda machine to make sparkling water), and what we will be making for dinner. Trupa also recently got engaged, so congrats to her! Since she cooks so often, I decided to ask her to contribute her recipes to Hom Nom. She has shared not one, but two recipes with us! Welcome, Trupa! 

White Chocolate Heart Brownies

When Mai and Paul got engaged, I made a little treat to share with them.  Heart brownies!

Last time I made both white and chocolate heart brownies.

{Too many hearts!}

Mai loved them so much she asked if I could make them again for her wedding reception.  Hearts? Brownies? Done and done.

Pecan Linzer Cookies with Raspberry Filling

Mai had asked a few of us to bake a few items for her wedding reception.  My intial reaction was "Pink! Hearts! Gliltter! More hearts!" and I scoured the web for anything and everything heart shaped, glittery, and edible.  I had a feeling Martha Stewart's website might have something appropriate.  About 45 minutes of drooling through all kinds of heart-shaped treats, I found some cookies that seemed perfect! Well, by some I mean pretty much every v-day cookie recipe.  Okay but I had to narrow it down and I liked these ones best. Especially because I had just picked up some fresh jam from the farmer's market!

Delicata Squash and Mushrooms

I had about 300 pounds of squash to use (from my CSA). The only squash I've really cooked with is butternut squash, so I wanted to find an easy recipe for my delicata squash.  In doing a quick search on my Epicurious app, I found a recipe that seemed both yummy and easy to whip together.

{Delicata Squash}

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Well, I think we all noticed summer ended this week.  While summer is always fun (both in the city and out), fall is definitely my favorite season.  I like having non-frizzy hair and wearing cute suede boots.  I was touring the Union Square Farmer's Market, 10 reusable bags in tow, when I found a sample stand.  It's nearly impossible to maneuver the market when you have 300 pounds of butternut squash hanging off your arm, but where there are samples, I find a way.  The sample stand was handing out tastings of butternut squash soup with apples - and was a perfect way to kick of autumn.

Sidenote: I went to the market at around 9:45am on Saturday. HOW WERE THERE SO MANY PEOPLE AWAKE ALREADY? Apparently I miss out on most of Saturday morning by sleeping in until noon.

Weekend Adventures in Bogota!

Sanjay, Becca and I ventured down to Bogota for Labor Day Weekend. This was particularly exciting because visiting Colombia got me to my goal of 30 countries - and before 30!

{A Toast to #30!}

Home Made Ravioli

I hadn't seen Mai in over a month, so we thought it was long overdue for some cooking fun! We decided to make ravioli - from scratch.  No, we do not have a press or ravioli molds.  We decided to wing it and see where it took us...

Rainy Day Pizza

Ew, apparently it is monsoon season in New York.  The rain started last night about 1am, and has been going strong since.  Normally I'd roll out of bed and log onto seamlessweb, but lately I've been disappointed by the quality of everything on there. We all know how much I love pepperoni pizza.  I just didn't feel like waiting 40 minutes for my pizza to show up. So, I did the unthinkable.  I rolled off the couch and went to the grocery store downstairs to get the at home pizza essentials: pita bread, cheese, pizza sauce and pepperoni.

Another perk: I was probably consuming 1,000 less calories than I would have if I ordered in!

Pepperoni Pizza, a Hom Nom original!

Ingredients

• The fluffiest pita style bread you can find at your grocery store
• Mozzarella cheese (try to get the kind that is in a ball - not the pre-shredded it stuff)
• Pepperoni (I picked Boar's Head - I'm sure any kind is fine)
• Pizza Sauce 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  

On a pizza tray, place the pita bread and spread some pizza sauce on it. Slice your mozzarella into 3-4 pieces.  Top the pizza with the cheese and pepperoni.  

Bake for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the pepperoni smells good.  

Devour while watching The Parent Trap on ABC family! 

Hello Kitty Chopsticks

I was excited for the opportunity to try fresh sushi, kobe beef, and green tea everything. Tokyo far exceeded my expectations by all counts.  The city is easy to navigate, even if you don't speak or understand a shred of Japanese. We did not visit many historical sights, instead, we spent hours touring the various prefectures of the city.  Everyone is friendly and helpful, and, while this was a city of 35 million, I noticed that hardly any bikes were locked when parked outside a store.

I also noted that most things geared towards women were pink and sparkly.  That pretty much moved Tokyo into a top spot in my own personal "World's Best List".  Oh, and not to mention all the fresh, delicious food that we ate pretty much every block along the way.

Summering in Europe - Round 3

And last but not least, I visited Copenhagen.  I met Sanjay and his brother Rishi (who are on their own Euro-Trip).  You might remember Sanjay from here.

I was excited for Copenhagen, as I had heard many great things. And it certainly did live up to its expectations! Sanjay had asked a few friends for recommendations in the city.  One friend adamently suggested that we avoid Indian food at all costs.  Well, I can't say that I would travel over 5,000 miles to eat...Indian food? But we heeded her advice.  Copenhagen is filled with Michelin starred restauarants, and we tried to get a table at Noma or Formel B (recommended by my Danish boss).  No luck there, but we did enjoy some Danish/Danish-fusion cuisine along the way.

Happy Summer!

One of my favorite parts of summer is bbq-ing.  Nothing is quite as relaxing as sitting outside, sipping lemonade, and waiting for your food to cook.  Also, for me, most times, bbq-ing is synonymous with carefree times with family and/or friends.  I have been lucky to do both, on both coasts! The first BBQ of the 2011 season was with Becca, Michael and Alyx at their rooftop.  The other BBQ's were while I was visiting California for Memorial Day Weekend.  For a nanosecond I could see my grownup self in suburbia with a huge grill area and pool throwing fun themed parties.  On second thought, maybe when I grow up I'll have an apartment with a patio large enough to do so.

{See that down there? That is my future backyard}

Summering in Europe - Round 2

I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was already near LHR for work, and decided to visit Stockholm my first weekend.  Brent and Rebecka (also featured here) offered to let me stay with them - how nice!

We started the morning off with a fresh baguette, cheese, avocados, tomatoes, coffee and juice.  Rebecka also introduced me to a vegetable spread - and it was quite tasty with all the other fixings we had.  Brent made some coffee with his US coffee maker.  He showed me a bin he had filled with all kinds of convertors for all things US. I couldn't have asked for a better cup of coffee to wake up to!

{A lovely breakfast!}

{Brent's mom sent over a US coffee maker - so nice of her!}

{Berries on the porch}

Since it was a beautiful day out, we trekked to Vaxholm, an island in the archipelago. We had a lovely picnic lunch, complete with rose, cheese, and crackers.

After walking around Vaxholm for a bit, we stopped for some ice cream.  I decided to try the Daim flavored ice cream.  I've also decided that this will be added to my Princess Ice Cream party, to honor Crown Princess Victoria.

{Perfect for a sunny Swedish day}

We stopped for a few drinks at Katerina Hiss.  I sampled some Swedish beer - I was impressed! 

For dinner, we went to a newly opened Storstad. As an appetizer, we ordered the Toast Pelle Janzon.  This is basically beef carpaccio, topped with an egg yolk, some roe, and onions, all on top of a piece of bread.  The carpaccio was melt in your mouth perfect, especially when paired with the toast. This photo doesn't do the dish justice! The flavor was significantly enhanced by squeezing some lemon all over it.  

Rebecka ordered an interesting white asparagus dish.  I wasn't expecting much from the dish, but this was equally good.  The crisp stalks of asparagus were accompanied by a hollandaise sauce with roe.  Stay tuned for asparagus as it will be a recurring theme in my Scandinavian adventures! 

{Örtmarinerad lammrack med chevre- 

och grönsaksterrin, rödvinsås samt 

tapenadepotati}

 {Salad}

{Pork!}

The next morning, Brent and Rebecka took me to a brunch that rivaled brunch in NYC. It included traditional Swedish fare, but also the standard brunch fare such as Eggs Benedict.  I enjoyed a waffle (below) and an apple crisp with a type of creme anglaise on the top.  I will definitely be making that dish at some point in the future!

{Heart waffle with whip cream and sauce!}

And now to the candies.  I picked up a dajm bar (okay more than one...a few...but I need some to make ice cream!), some circle shaped chocolate balls that have something similar to marshmallows in the middle, and something covered in milk chocolate with caramel on the inside.  

My last meal in Stockholm was at the airport (can you see a trend here?).  I decided to eat at Andersson's.  There was no Sbarro...But I did enjoy the light yet filling canapes I picked up.  

{Skagen Canape, Salmon Canape,Wild Game Canape, 

and Smoked Salmon Canape}

Farewell Sweden! Till we meet again! (Or till I go to Ikea).  

Summering in Europe - Round 1

Okay that title might be misleading totally inaccurate.  Summering in Europe conjures up images of 81' yachts filled with attractive sun-seekers in different Missoni bikinis for each day of the week, sipping vintage bottles of champagne.  I wasn't quite doing that.  Actually, I wasn't anywhere close to doing that at all.

As luck would have it, I got to travel to the U.K. for work.  Don't get too excited - I was not heading to the bustling metropolis that is London.  No no, I was off to even more exotic Milton Keynes.  According to my UK friend, Ed, Milton Keynes is a fairly new city.  I thought he meant it was incorporated in 2001 or something.  Apparently, in the UK, "new" means anytime after WWII.

I was staying at company facilities for 2 weeks.  The food was generally lackluster.  Believe it or not, I was also repulsed by the extensive dessert selection so I did not eat dessert a single night at the center. There were few highlights: brownies during snack time, an attempt at chicken korma, and the croissants that were left in a warming oven enough to make them crispy (as they should be).

Guest Post: Champagne Mojitos

Today we have a guest post by my college roommate, Lavina. Lavina hails from Miami, and she introduced me to mojitos.  I'm not sure where I had my first mojito, probably at 33 in Boston, but my most memorable one was at Nikki Beach in Marbella.  Lavina and I had spent the semester studying abroad in London and after we finished in May, we decided to beach hop through Spain and Greece for 2 weeks. Marbella was our 2nd stop. Also a memorable experience on this trip: I believe it was at the Malaga airport in Spain where I first realized I was totally in love with getting my passport stamped.  I can still clearly remember the excitement I felt going through the customs line and proudly smiling at what was probably the 5th stamp in my then shiny and new passport. 


To celebrate Hom Nom's first year anniversary, Lavina prepared delicious Champagne Mojitos. Welcome, Lavina! 

Lime Cardamom Yogurt

One goal for the 1st year anniversary brunch I hosted was to use Mai's new ramekins.  Mission accomplished. The second goal was to make some kind of ice cream, as that was my very first blog post.  In fact, for a good 3 months I think the only thing on my food blog might have been various ice cream recipes.

Given that most of the other dishes at brunch were heavy and filled with eggs, I wanted to serve something light to offset the food coma everyone would likely be in.

Guest Blog Post: Pizza pizza! (Round Two)

Today we have another treat from Asmi, who has blogged about our culinary undertakings on Hom Nom before.  We met again for more pizza experimentation.  Welcome back, Asmi! Good to see you here again. 


When we decided to do Naan Pizza Round 2 Lavi suggested we mix it up by trying some Indian Chinese recipes.  All 3 of us being cheese lovers, chilli paneer was an obvious choice.  We were initially thinking of doing gobi manchurian for the other dish, but I thought the sauce was too similar to chilli paneer.  When did I decide this?  After I had fried the cauliflower and only had a few hours before the girls were coming over, with no other readily available ingredients in the kitchen.  Whatever is girl to do last minute?  MacGuyver a sauce, that's what! See below for the special secret creation!

Individual Egg Souffles

Mai suggested that perhaps it would be a good idea to have a more savory dish served at Hom Nom's 1st anniversary bash.  Yeah, I suppose...I forgot that not everyone enjoys an overdose of sugar with a cup of coffee in the morning. I considered making eggs benedict, but to manage that for 10 people would have been quite difficult.

The only requirement was that this dish needed to be made in ramekins. So that limited our options to something souffle-esque.  Okay, so my brunch was turning into a cholesterol raising affair.  But this was the standout dish of the afternoon!

Never-Fail Souffle, recipe adapted from Saveur

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 12 eggs
• 2 cups half and half
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2-3 cups grated extra sharp cheddar
• 1 loaf white bread, crusts removed
• 6 tbsp. melted butter

Beat the eggs, half and half, and pepper flakes in a bowl until well mixed.  

In your ramekins (or 9x13 baking dish), sprinkle some of the cheese into the bottom of the pan, and then layer a piece of bread over it.  Continue with the layering, but make sure to end with a layer of cheese on the top.  

Pour the egg mixture over the bread.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Allow the dish to come to room temperature (I believe this is because the cheese will melt better). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the souffle until golden and puffed, about 45 minutes.

Everyone was impressed by the number of items served - but I assure you it was simple to prep in advance so I could enjoy the afternoon with my guests.  

Happy 1 Year Annivesary, Hom Nom!

Hom Nom turned 1 in April! Happy Anniversary! To honor the occasion, I decided to host a party for avid Hom Nom fans.

I didn't know what kind of party to throw, but I knew it had to involve the following three elements: pink, hearts, and brunch.  These three things are my favorite things in the world.  When I mentioned to Mai that I would be hosting a brunch, she graciously offered up her apartment to host the celebrations.

Then came the fun part: picking the menu.  Naturally I turned to Smitten Kitchen for guidance.  There I found recipes for scones and baked french toast.  I knew I had to serve lemon curd because, logically, what else would you serve with scones? I also found a great egg souffle dish on saveur.com.  The final question that remained was what to make for dessert? Something light to offset the heavy carbo-overload.  I know this all seems like a lot of food.  But, I was able to prep most of it in advance.  I made the scones on Wednesday, the lemon curd on Thursday night, and prepped the two main dishes at Mai's on Friday night.  That same evening, Mai and I decided we needed some kind of amuse bouche - so we decided to also make a mousse with berries and fresh whipped cream.

Thank you Mai for hosting at your apartment, thank you Paul for being a wonderful barista and preparing lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos on demand, and thank you Jack for being lovable and cuddly.

And onto the pink glittery hearts extravaganza...

Baked Challah French Toast

I wanted to find something easy to make at Hom Nom's first anniversary so I could socialize with my friends instead of worrying about whether something was burning on the stove. And per usual, I turned to Smitten Kitchen for inspiration.  And she did not fail me! I found delicious and relatively easy ideas.  Among them was a boozy baked french toast. I'm not a fan of liquor in my breakfast food (unless it's a mimosa. that's a different story), so I left out the booze in this recipe.

Baked French Toast, borrowed from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 6 as a main course, but I served 10 people with this since I had other dishes

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of challah bread, cut into pieces
• 3 cups of whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.

Arrange the bread into tightly packed layers in the pan. 

Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar and salt.  Pour over the bread, and then top with cinnamon and more sugar.  

Tightly wrap the pan with plastic wrap and let it soak in the fridge overnight.  This will allow the bread to absorb all the flavors. 

In the morning, preheat your oven to 425 degrees and bake for 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve with maple syrup and whipped cream.  

As Ina would say, "how is easy that?" All I had to do was preheat the oven while sipping on my said mimosa! 

Almond Cashew Granola Parfait

I was inspired by Alton Brown's segment on oats.  I remember thinking, "that sounds like a really yummy recipe for granola".  So when it came time to pick my brunch menu, I added this on.  You can't really go wrong with a granola recipe.  Some oats, some accompaniments such as nuts or coconut shreds, and some time toasting in the oven.  And you probably already have most of the ingredients in your pantry.  Not only that - you can make this in advance and it keeps pretty well for at least a week (more if you freeze it).

Warm Scones with Lemon Curd

The first course of Hom Nom's first anniversary brunch was yummy, fresh baked scones.  When I was younger, there was a nearby fair that sold scones, served with jam, and I remembered how much I loved them. I also remember buying the "fair scone" mix at the grocery store and making them with my friends during sleepovers.  Um, oh, and these were also ridiculously easy to make.

I know Sanjay would only approve of these scones if they were made with Icelandic butter...

This is what the scones will look like after you shape them into the 8x8 pan.

Um, doesn't this look similar to what Little Red Riding Hood would have in her basket?

Surgeon's General Warning: lemon curd probably contains 100x your daily required intake of cholesterol. Well, Hom Nom only turns one once...

I borrowed the scones recipe from Smitten Kitchen with only minor adjustments.

Warm Scones 


Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (the original recipe calls for a low protein flour, but I just used whole foods brand flour and it worked fine)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream

Smitten Kitchen's original recipe called for currants - I left them out because I prefer plain scones. 

Adjusted the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk (or pulse in a food processor) together six times.

If making this by hand, use your fingertips and quickly cut in the butter until it resembles coarse meal (a few lumps of butter are okay).  Transfer the dough to a large bowl.

Stir in the heavy cream with a rubber spatula until the dough begins to form.  

Transfer all the dough to a lightly floured countertop until it forms a round sticky ball.  Take an 8x8 square baking pan and place the dough into it.  Flip it over onto the counter top and cut the dough into triangles.  

Place the scones on an ungreased baking sheet and bake them for about 12-15 minutes.

Note: I prepared these scones in advance of my brunch so I could just pop them into the oven.  If you want to do this, prepare the scones as directed, but leave out the baking step.  Once you cut them into triangles, flash freeze them for about 30 minutes.  Then, individually wrap them.  When you are ready to bake them, remove the wrap and bake at 425, but only for a few minutes more.  I set the time for 15 minutes and checked on them - and baked for another 3-4 minutes after that. 

Lemon Curd, recipe adapted from Saveur

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon zest (about 4-5 whole lemons)
• 8 egg yolks
• 6 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp. pieces (well chilled)

Whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, egg yolks and eggs over medium heat.  Whisk in the lemon juice and cook, stirring over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken (also - I think the mixture will make an interesting popping-like noise).  Make sure you thicken it enough or else you will end up with too watery of lemon curd (yes this happened in my first batch.  I am now saving that batch for lemon curd ice cream).  

Remove from heat and mix in the butter, one at a time, until incorporated.  

Strain through a sieve into a large bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill.  

Both recipes were a hit.  I also served the scones with some blackberry jam I found at Wednesday's farmers market.  Later on, Mai's houseguest and friend Mary couldn't get enough of the scones and luckily was able to store some away for a mid-week indulgence.

{Let's Get This Party Started!}

Berries Mousse Pseudo Amuse Bouche

Well.  This post marks a momentous occasion.  Hom Nom turned 1! And that means I had to throw a big party! Fanfare and hoorah! And lots of pink!  Anyways.  While preparing for Hom Nom's first anniversary brunch, Mai and I realized we needed something to whet our party guests appetites.  Well, actually, I just wanted something to tide over guests until we were all seated.  I am calling this Pseudo Amuse Bouche because it's not exactly one bite.  Unless you dip your fingers into the trifle dish and eat it berry by berry.  I'm just saying...

We needed a dish that would be simple to prepare, easy to eat, but not too filling.  We thought about making strawberry mille feuille, but that did not fall into the "easy to prepare" category.  We recalled back to the spice filled pumpkin trifle that Mai made during dessert fest. Ah-ha! We found our winner! We decided to use a similar concept but vamp up the recipe for spring.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

Ever since we made lemon souffle pudding in cupcake tins, Mai has become enamored with ramekins.  She sent me a few links comparing different ramekins and wanted input.  Le Creuset vs. Emilie Henry?  Pros and Cons? I tried to find heart shaped ramekins but I realized that not everyone is obsessed with hearts.  Even if they are meant to serve creme brulee.

Well, we were able to end this debate very quickly when Mai found some cute ones.  And what better way to break them in than to make dessert? Mai emailed and said "Come on over.  Let's make lemon souffle again!"  Who am I to turn down this kind of invite? I also suggested making chocolate molten lava cake.  Done deal.  So that evening, our meal consisted of udon, lemon souffle and molten lava chocolate cake.

A Tropical Adventure on a Freezing Day

I sent out my usual "Are we doing dinner Sunday / what are we making" email to Becca and Alyx, to which Alyx promptly responded, "crab legs and coconut shrimp".  I thought she was joking.  I mean, it's freezing out - and coconut shrimp reminds me of warm weather destinations and drinking frozen beverages on the beach.  But, I should have known better - when it comes to food -  Alyx does not joke around.  

{Precooked Crab Legs from Chinatown}

Stockholm for the Evening

Becca's friends Brent and Rebecca were visiting us from SWEDEN!  And Brent, a cook at a restaurant in Stockholm, was so gracious enough to cook us an authentic Swedish meal for our weekly family dinner.  The extent of Swedish food I've had is what is served at the cafeteria in Ikea.  I love anything related to Ikea and Sweden (I'm obsessed with the idea of visiting Stockholm) so I knew this was going to be a grand feast.  Further - I was excited to have someone cook for me!  

Truffled Mac and Cheese

It's been a long winter filled with fondue, fondue, and even more fondue.  I wanted some change.  I also love melted cheese.  I said some change not drastic change.  So macaroni and cheese it was! Lucky for me, my friends like melted cheese as much as I do!

Over the holidays, a friend made truffled mac and cheese for a holiday party.  This sounded amazing and so I set off to find the best truffled mac and cheese recipe.  I ended up mixing two different recipes (one that my friend used, and the other that I found online).  The result was perfectly crusted, impeccably cheesey and truffley.  I know the latter is not a word but I'm making it one.

Passion Fruit Ice Cream Pie

Becca and I were hungry on this past rainy Sunday afternoon.  Magically a passion fruit pie appeared in front of us.  We devoured it while discussing menus for our future dinner parties, flipping through my Lonely Planet The Travel Book: A Journey Through Every Country In The World, and brainstorming how to celebrate Becca's upcoming 23rd birthday.

An Eclectic Dinner for 3

Oooh! Time to cook with Mai and Paul! Mai has this wonderful commercial style stove in her kitchen, not to mention vast counter space and room for all involved parties.  So it's no surprise I love having the opportunity to cook at Mai's! We opted for a more simple meal since we were meeting on a school-night, and we really wanted to catch up with each other.

Some new additions to Mai's apartment include a tripod and...a marvelous, class-room sized map of the world.  The map ALSO included dots as to where Mai has visited.  You have NO idea how much I squealed with excitement when I saw this.  Well, maybe you do.  I guess it made sense that our dinner featured an assortment of dishes: hummus and pita, salad and toppings, and lemon souffle pudding.  I'm not sure if it could get any more random than that mix! Though, now that I think about it, I think the theme of the night was, "Once Jyoti has tried it home made, she can never go back to store bought".

Case in point: hummus and vanilla extract.

Outdoorsy cooking in a little NYC apartment

Becca and I were cooking together (yet again) and we didn't have a specific craving - which is odd - usually one of us requests something.  This time I suggested burgers - so we looked up many different recipes.  While I realize we don't have a proper grill - I also realize that where there is a will, there is a way.  My first go was the recipe from serious eats for In and Out burgers.  Too boring.  We wanted EXCITEMENT.  We decided to mix it up with portobello burgers and a burger infused with basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

Oodles of Noodles

My food adventure in Burma began before I even departed the US.  No, I did not go to Burmese Superstar in San Francisco.

I flew Singapore Airlines - my maiden voyage on the airline.  Much to my delight - I was given a MENU of all the food I would be given during my 23 hour journey to Singapore. A MENU.

I am probably one of the few people who loves airplane food.  I think Shrenik might be the only other person.  Anyways - back to the menu - I, of course, immediately took a picture of the menu and sent it to friends who I know would appreciate my excitement.  

Chili

Alyx, Deb and I went to the unveiling of the Wonder Woman line for MAC at the Flatiron store.  Kim, skilled makeup artist that she is, put all kinds of pink and red lipstick on us and then we may or may not have overdosed on glitter.  What? You can never have too much glitter.  Throughout the duration of the event, waiters handed out cocktails left and right.  In the spirit of the evening - why not?

Post-event, Alyx decided she wanted to make some chili back at the palace.  So we went to Whole Foods and she picked up all the ingredients.  We then came home and prepped away.  Yes, at 10pm at night.

So in short, a binge on hot pink lipstick + frosty winter night = chili.

Sparkling Wine and Cheese Party

I like Lavina's new job.  She sends me all kind of food articles and recipes that she thinks I will enjoy.  She also sent me the idea for a sparkling wine and cheese themed party.  I knew we had to have this party to kick of 2011! 

We each brought a few cheeses from the specified countries - Italy, France, Spain and good old US of A.  And of course, some bubbles to accompany the cheeses.  Of course.  

All in all a fun night of giggling, girl talk and dairy-induced food comas.  

pizza-licious

A few Saturdays back, we had a pizza experimentation night.  And by "we" I mean Asmi was inspired by a recipe she found here and wanted to use us as her taste-testers.  I was, of course, happy to oblige!  Asmi, domesticated goddess that she is, made everything from scratch: the paneer for the pizza, the pizza sauces, and the naan itself.  As you recall from prior experiments, I love home made naan.  I also love home made paneer (oops.  I just realized I never posted about my home made paneer experiment.  Sorry.) because I love how crumbly it is, and the overall taste is (obviously) not processed at ALL.  You can make home made paneer into the cube shape like you get at Whole Foods, but I've never tried that.  And, really, home made paneer is not time consuming at all!  You just have to boil milk, throw in some vinegar or lemon juice, let it curdle, strain it through cheese cloth, and put something heavy on it and let it relax.

Instead of going into detail about what Asmi made, I decided to let her guest blog again!  Thanks Asmi!

Just a little bit o' butta...

Who likes Sunday nights? You have to think about going back to work on Monday morning.  You are probably tired from an overloaded weekend social calendar.  Plus, there isn't anything that great on tv to watch to relax before packing your gym bag for the next morning.  Well, lucky for me, this past Sunday, I was able to beat the Sunday night blues by a lovely family dinner at the Palace.  You've seen our extravagant feasts before, here and here, for example.  This week was a southern themed affair.  All I can say is look out, Paula Deen.

Even More Fondue!

More fondue! To ring in the new year (now that we are all back in NYC), Becca, Alyx and Nicholas came over for dinner.  Alyx made two fantastic loaves of bread (I believe it was a recipe from Jim Lahey) for us to eat with our fondue.

I made a three cheese fondue...and this time the special ingredient was a tomato onion chutney.  In addition to Alyx's crusty and just slightly salty bread, we also dipped tortellini! So YUM!

Blood Orange and Limoncello Sorbet

I currently love Italy.  Pasta, Prada, blood oranges and, of course...limoncello.  I had some fondue guests (Becca, Alyx and Nicholas) on Saturday and wanted to make something seasonal for January.  Now that the holidays are over, candy canes, sparkles, and egg nog are out.  I remember the first time I bought a blood orange.  I didn't realize it what it was until I peeled it open and was mildly horrified/intrigued.  WTF kind of fruit was this one? Then I looked at the discarded rind and saw the produce sticker on it.  OH.  Blood orange.  No wonder!

New Years Eve Dinner

 My family and I usually go out for dinner on New Years Eve (often includes lots of foie gras and lots of champagne), but this year we decided we wanted to cook at home.  My mom wanted to try out an authentic Hyderabad biryani and stuffed mushrooms.  I wanted to try making some kind of citrus dessert and some kind of champagne dessert, as citrus is in season now, and, well, champagne is always in season. 

So on the menu for New Years Eve, we started with some gruyere, bread crumbs, and black truffle stuffed mushrooms, Hyderabad biriyani, citrus ice cream and a champagne bread pudding.  And in all honesty, I think it beat most, if not all, of the New Years Eve dinners I have had.  Now, if only we could transport my kitchen to a dock in Moorea and New Years would be complete.