Impeccably Gourmet

La Pâtisserie des Rêves- Paris

2011-12-28T19:50:00.001Z

On the advice of my aunt, I took a jaunt to this beautiful little patisserie in Paris' 7th Quarter. The store was so small I would have missed it were it not for the long line snaking through the store. Despite the lack of a menu or any type of centralized place to see what was on offer, I settled on a mini Paris Brest, a desert I have been longing to make in my own kitchen for years.

When I finally found a place to sit and enjoy my little treasure, I was delighted by the praline filling, the excellent pastry dough, and the beautiful presentation. This bundle of joy cost slightly under 6 euros, but definitely worth the cost. My only criticism would be that the dough is a little too soft and giving, which doesn't provide a satisfactory contrast of texture between the dough and the cream.

Since the shop stupidly built a Flash website, my IPhone won't display it, but here's the address:

93 Rue du Bac
Paris, 75007
Metro Sevres-Babylone

Stylish Aprons for the Cook

2011-12-16T07:00:00.001Z

Sometimes cooking is messy, and that's what aprons were made for. Well, these, are not your average aprons. Anthropologie stocks a variety of styles, and this particular one sells for GBP 32. It would be perfect to wear as you are preparing for a dinner party. Functional and you can greet your guests in it while you finish cooking the meal. A great gift for a stylish cook.

Bookends for Cooks

2011-12-15T11:03:00.000Z

Great cooks have great cookbooks. These bookends are the perfect gift for culinary enthusiasts with a great cookbook collection. Perfect for a kitchen collection. You can buy these bookends for 25 pounds from designmyworld.net.

A Wall Print for the Kitchen

2011-12-12T18:17:00.000Z

One of my most beloved belongings is my KitchenAid. Unfortunately, it's across the Atlantic. When I saw this print from notonthehighstreet.com, it really brought back a feeling of nostalgia for my wonderful yellow mixer. It makes a great retro gift for avid cooks and adds a little something to a kitchen, especially if the kitchen doesn't have an actual KitchenAid. This is top of my list for recommended gifts for cooks for the holidays.

Antepliler: Best Turkish Food in London

2011-10-24T05:23:00.001+01:00

I've had the pleasure of dining at this incredible restaurant in Angel twice. I haven't ever had such good Turkish food outside of Turkey before. Not only is the food amazing, but the decor is gorgeous (I experienced a little furniture envy, it must be said) and the service is everything I expect from a culture known for its hospitality.

The restaurant is named after a city in Southeastern Turkey, Gaziantep, near the border with Syria and the restaurant's name means someone from the town of Antep. The delectable Gaziantep specialties are marked on the menu. It is a cuisine influenced both by the Ottoman Turkish Rule and the city's own history of belonging to the Syrian province of Aleppo, as well as its location on the Silk Road. On my last visit, the size of my stomach alas limited me to tastes of two main courses. I do wish the restaurant would develop a Gaziantep tasting menu...

This is by far the best dish I've tried in the restaurant, a suculent duo of diced lamb and aubergine puree. My dining companion ordered this dish and I had to exhibit an inordinate amount of restraint to prevent myself from outright stealing his dish.

This second dish, Alti Ezmeli Sis, is a rich cubed lamb in tomato sauce. I don't know how they manage this, but the lamb is incredibly lean and tasty (that goes for all their lamb dishes).

We had Gavudargi salad to top it off, a mixture of parsley, onions, pomegranite, and walnuts. We also enjoyed the restaurant's delectable fresh flatbread with a spicy tomato dip and black olives. Gaziantep is famous for its Baklava, but I decided to save that for the next time.

I am so enthused about this restaurant I recommend everone go. Just make sure not to take my table! The only other problem you might encounter is a stomach too small for the irresistable temptations on the menu. The nearest tube is Angel:

139 Upper Street
Islington, London
N1 1QP
02072265441

http://www.anteplilerrestaurant.com/main/

Unreal Cakes: A Guilt-Free Treat!

2011-09-27T08:46:00.000+01:00

We've all seen the novelty cakes that are made to look like other foods or other items. That's old news. The new news is bathroom towels made to look like cakes. Unreal Cakes have produced a range of mouth watering cakes from flannel and towels. One of my favorites is knickerbocker glory:

This looks just as good, if not better, than the real thing! I think this is a super-fun novelty gift or a very cute way to leave hand towels for your guests. Only problem is, I don't think I could bear to unravel it...The company doesn't seem to sell direct, but you can buy it from this website or the Achica sale currently on.

Squid & Pear: Excellent Street Food

2011-08-20T22:26:00.000+01:00

I do love good street food, and London happens to be a great place to find it. My latest find is at the Realfood Market at Southbank Centre. I stumbled upon a family-run catering company called Squid & Pear serving fresh, sustainably harvested grilled seafood every weekend this month at the market. Last weekend, I had a delectable grilled sea bass, served with salad on the side, all for 10 pounds. This weekend I varied it up and shared grilled scallops with salad and moules marinieres. All for 15 pounds. I only just barely managed to resist ordering grilled lobster. The scallops were perfectly cooked, well done on the outside and melt in your mouth soft on the inside. The moules were also exquisitely done, with an herb and milk dressing. And the salad? Just perfect.

Today, the chef was telling me about her diver in Scotland who procures her scallops. Last week, she was telling me about where her sea bass had been fished (it was farmed sea bass, which is much more sustainable). You can find Squid & Pear at the Realfood Market behind the Southbank Centre every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this month. They also do catering, if you'd like a more personal experience. All in all, though British is not my favorite cuisine, I am now absolutely hooked on this great British caterer!

La Goulette, Tunisian fare in Northwest London

2011-08-14T12:04:00.001+01:00

Last night I went to try out a Tunisian restaurant in the Kilburn area of London called La Goulette. It was an hour's trek for us, but we thought that it would be worth it, as the website seemed promising. Boy were we wrong!

Upon entering, the restaurant was crowded, so we were immediately seated in an empty area at the back. We were given menus and then spent a long time waiting to put in our orders. The menu was not as varied as we'd hoped it would be and we opted to start with Tuna Brik ( tuna, potatoes, and a runny egg fried in pastry). The brik was ok, but I felt the pastry was lacking and it didn't compare to the brik at the Adams Cafe, another Tunisian restaurant in London.

For the main course, my dining companion ordered grilled sea bass and I ordered a mixed grill. Both were accompanied by tastira, fried peppers and eggs. The restaurant owner's girlfriend, who was taking care of us because our waiter seemed not to care about our welfare, had already warned us my dish would take 30 minutes, but I figured since we had ordered appetizers, it wouldn't be a long wait. Well, it seems that our order was put in long after our brik was cleared away, and boy did we wait. All in all, our meal took 2 hours, and it wasn't because we were slowly savoring the food.

The sea bass was very good however, and my mixed grill wasn't bad at all. The tastira was interesting, but overall the food was quite bland and lacking in the traditions of hot and spicy Tunisian food.

Most egregious was the lack of capacity in wait staff and kitchen, resulting in eternal waits for food that not even the owner's nice girlfriend could make up for with friendly chatter. The decor was nice, but this restaurant was decidedly not worth the trek. If you want Tunisian, better go to the Adams Cafe.

La Goulette
51 Willesden Lane
London NW6 7 RL
www.lagoulette.co.uk
0207 624 5800

Feyrouz Cote Mer: A delicious address in Paris

2011-08-14T11:25:00.001+01:00

I recently had the pleasure of dining in this wonderful seafood focused Lebanese restaurant, located in my old neighborhood, the 15th arrondissment in Paris. This restaurant rightly shows just how well the Lebanese can serve seafood.

I was eating with family, so we of course decided to opt for the royal feast, which included platters of mixed mezzes, followed by platters of seafood. The mezzes included moutabbal (eggplant puree), humus, a cold seafood salad, a tray of grilled shrimp, tabboule (a parsley salad), kibbeh neye ( a raw beef tartar with cracked wheat), a version of kibbeh neye without wheat, and generous helpings of toum (garlic mayo). All of it was incredibly good.

As if that wasn't enough food, the main courses came and included 4 different types of fish done in different ways: fried sardines, fried red mullets, grilled sea breams, and grilled sea bass. All were perfectly cooked and came with sauces on the side. I was in seafood heaven, but it was a job eating all that food!!!

After we miraculously managed to polish off all that amazing food, trays of pastries were then whisked onto our table for leisurely consumption with Lebanese coffee or white coffee (hot water with orange blossom water). According to my fellow diners, Feyrouz isn't reputed for pastries. In addition, the pastry chef had gone on vacation. But I daresay it was still better than all the oriental pastry I've tried in London.

Service was good and our waiter, in typical Lebanese fashion, was very attentive. The decor of the restaurant reminded me of an upscale establishment in a village by the sea and it was topped off by a giant display of fresh fish ready to be cooked and brought to your table. Mama mia!

So if you happen to visit Paris or if you live there, go to this restaurant. It is a must-visit, especially for the seafood lovers out there.Pricewise, we paid about 300 euros for 6 persons with very large appetites!

Feyrouz Cote Mer
10 Rue Lourmel
Paris 75015
01 45 79 74 34

Fig & Olive - Great Desserts on Angel's Upper Street

2011-07-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

Fig & Olive is absolutely my favorite place in Angel for dessert (trust me, I've tried them all). They also seem to have the extremely smart strategy of luring in dessert lovers by displaying all their dessert 'wares' in the front window. It definitely worked on me and I'm sure it's worked on many of their patrons. Before I go any further, let me torture you with examples of two of their tasty desserts:

White Chocolate Mousse with Berry Center

Almond Pistachio Tart

The White Chocolate Mousse cake was light and luscious, every bite a fragrant mix of heavenly white chocolate mousse and berry compote. Even my partner in crime, who doesn't normally go for white chocolate, absolutely loved it. Out of the two, it was my favorite, but the Almond Pistachio tart was no wallflower either. Every bite was a contrast of moist almond cake and crunchy pistachios. If I had one criticism of this tart, it would be that more almond was warranted!

Luckily for their fans, the dessert menu changes daily. As an accompaniment to cake, I recommend ordering their Cappucino. They manage to caramelize the top, giving it a creme brulee flair and a unique flavor. If you don't want to stop at dessert, you could probably try their savoury mediterranean-inspired food options too.

Fig & Olive

151 Upper Street

London N1 1RA

020 7354 2605

Shandis, Persian Cuisine in Angel

2011-07-18T11:52:00.000+01:00

In the past two weeks, I've managed to visit this delightful Persian restaurant twice and been impressed both times. The restaurant looks humble from the outside, but the food is absolutely delightful. One of the best dishes I tasted was this wonderful chicken and rice main course, called, Zereshk polo-ba-morgh (Number SP3 on the menu):

The rice is made with saffron, berries, and onion. The chicken in the dish (buried inside the rice) was so well seasoned, tender, and juicy. I was truly impressed! We also tried a mixed grill platter:

It was a mix of grilled chicken and lamb. Again, both meats were well seasoned and incredibly juicy. The second visit, we had a vegetarian in our dinner party. For vegetarians, I would recommend a mezze approach to dinner, ordering a variety of appetizers. All of this delicious food comes at an extremely reasonable price, with main courses around 10 pounds each. And it all comes in a great location, on Angel's Upper Street. I couldn't think of a better place to gather with friends for a relaxing meal.

Shandis Restaurant

149 A Upper Street

Islington N1 1RA

020 7354 0087

Adams Cafe-Tunisian Restaurant in London

2010-09-02T13:49:00.000+01:00

Last month, I had some amazing Tunisian food at Adams Cafe in the Shepherd's Bush area. It was far to go, but well worth the hour and 20 minute trek! This cafe specializes in Tunisian and Moroccan dishes. The decor is super-authentic and the food is absolutely scrumptious.

As a starter, I tried a tuna brik. Brik is typically a fried pastry that is stuffed with egg. The most amazing thing about brik is the crunchy outer layer of pastry combined with the soft and warm center which contains a soft egg yolk.

Brik

This was by far the most impressive item I ate and is at the top of my culinary recipes to learn list! Then I progressed onto a mixed grill couscous, while my dining companion ate a spicy stew. My couscous was very tasty, but the portion was so large, there was no way I could eat it all. The couscous comes with a bowl of sauce and meatballs, which you ladle over the grain until it drinks in all the liquid. My companion's stew was very tasty, especially if you love spicy food!

Couscous

Stew

Since the main courses were so good, I thought I should definitely try some dessert. I had an almond tart. It was pretty good, but it didn't make the impression that the other courses did. One specific critique was that the pastry didn't seem to be fresh. Plus, almond tarts aren't really a North African specialty. Maybe I should have ordered baklava!

Almond Tart

Prices are also reasonable. There is a three-course menu for £16.95. So go, definitely do go. Bear in mind this restaurant only opens for dinner from Monday to Saturday.

77 Askew Road, Ravenscourt Park, London, W12 9AH

+44 (0)20 8743 0572

Restaurant Review- The Dickens Inn at St. Katharine Docks

2010-08-13T18:14:00.000+01:00

I recently visited the Dickens Inn pizzeria upon the recommendation of a friend. It's located in St. Katharine Docks, a beautiful marina near Tower Hill and the Tower Bridge. I unfortunately picked a rather cold day to go late at night, so I didn't enjoy the outdoor seating available as much as I would have on a warm day during the daytime. Still, even at night, the area is incredibly charming and the building is quite old and authentic (it used to be a spice warehouse). I felt like I had temporarily left London and been transported somewhere else.

Onwards to the food part of the review! The pizzeria offers starters, salads, pasta dishes, and pizzas. My dining companion and I opted to share King Prawns in Sea Salt as a starter and a Dickens Inn Meat Feast Pizza (Special Size for 2-3 people). We also tried a chocolate milkshake and a banana peanut butter milkshake. Although we were starved when we ordered, we actually couldn't finish all the food.

The Prawns were delicious, especially when dipped in the accompanying garlic mayonnaise dip. Still, these prawns were obviously not of the quality of prawns from Mozambique or Madagascar. The meat lover's pizza was a little too rich for my taste (I guess I couldn't handle it), but otherwise delicious. The chocolate milkshake wasn't terribly tasty, but I quite liked the banana peanut butter one, although my dining partner insists there's a place near Old Street that makes a far better one.

All in all, I find the food tasty enough to warrant a repeat visit. That, combined with the charm of the location makes it a must-see for me. There's also a pub and a Grill Restaurant in the same building.

St. Clement's Cafe: A Hidden London Gem

2010-07-10T14:12:00.000+01:00

I'm never been so torn about publishing a restaurant review. I'm torn because this place is so wonderful I half want to keep it to myself. Lucky for you, I'm a generous person and I couldn't not share such a scenic and delightful breakfast and lunch spot. This cafe is hidden away inside Middle Temple Gardens, a set of gardens completely sequestered from the craziness of Central London near the Temple Tube stop. After just a lunch visit, I emerge incredibly rejuvenated.

In addition to an ideal location, this place has seriously good food. The lunch menu changes daily, so repeat visits are always a treat. Recently, I had a scrumptious onion and goat cheese tart with salad greens on the side. I also guiltily topped that off with a chocolate mousse cake served with raspberries and creme fraiche (in the name of food research I swear!). Charmingly, you can eat indoors, at cafe tables outdoors in the garden, or they can give you a picnic blanket to eat on the grass.

Unfortunately, this place is only open Monday to Friday, but I guarantee you it is well worth the visit. The terrace is open from May to October. The restaurant is really hard to find, so the website directions are vital. I promise you it's well worth the effort!

Cedar Restaurant: Lebanese food in Zambia!

2010-07-02T12:07:00.000+01:00

The Lebanese are everywhere...even in Zambia! Last month, during a trip to Zambia, I was fortunate to have a chance to eat in a Lebanese restaurant. It was, not surprisingly, named after Lebanon's famous tree, the Cedar. The food was OK for a restaurant in Zambia, although the pita bread was horribly stale (this is one of my pet peeves). The restaurant was pretty empty overall and the atmosphere was rather dull (thankfully, the company made up for it). I'm not sure I would return, but if I lived in Zambia and was nostalgic for Lebanese food, I think I'd probably return. The restaurant is located off of Church Road in Lusaka.

Rosemary Never Fails for a Marinade

2010-06-06T13:53:00.000+01:00

One of my favorite marinades for meat happens to be rosemary-based (click here for my recipe). So I was delighted to find out that rosemary actually helps to reduce toxins in grilled meat.

When you cook meats at high temperatures, it creates certain toxins, called heterocyclic amines which are linked to some cancers. But cooking meat with rosemary significantly reduces the formation of these toxins, in some cases by as much as 90%!

It's such a pleasure to find out a food you already like happens to also be good for you. Certainly better than the reverse phenomenon! Click here for the full New York Times article. Happy Grilling!

Tayyabs- a Pakistani Restaurant

2010-05-31T11:42:00.000+01:00

Last week I went to a wonderful Pakistani restaurant in East London that serves traditional Pakistani food from the Punjab region. This restaurant is so popular that we arrived at 10:30 PM on a weeknight and it was still packed! My dining companion tells me that if you go any earlier, there are long wait times for a table.

I can see why this restaurant is so popular. The decor is simple, but the food is fabulous. A restaurant that puts more effort into pleasing my stomach than pleasing my eyes is my favourite kind of place. I have to confess I don't remember the name of everything I ate because I didn't do the ordering, but I'll do my best to describe each item.

We drank mango lassi because lassi goes so well with spicy food. The mango lassi was OK, but it was a bit bland. Perhaps it was because they used sugar instead of honey as a sweetener. I much prefer lassis sweetened with honey (for an excellent mango lassi in London, go here). We also snacked on popadoms, which are thin, crunchy flatbreads.

For the main course, we shared Dry Meat, a mixed platter of chicken, beef kabob, and lamb chops, Rice, and a sweet version version of Naan bread. While the rice was mediocre, everything else was fantastic. The dry meat had a wonderful spicy, smoky flavour. The lamb chops were divine! Tender, and perfectly seasoned. My absolute favourite part of the meal though was the sweet naan. Naan is a puffy flatbread. The sweet flavour and light texture of this naan is the perfect companion to spicy, hearty food. I've had lots of varieties of naan, but this is the best one I've tried.

I enthusiastically recommend a visit to this restaurant and I guarantee you won't be disappointed:

Tayyabs, 83-89, Fieldgate St. London E1 1JU

020 7247 6400 / 020 7247 9543 / 020 7247 8521

Nearest tube is Whitechapel

Restaurant Review: Chilli & Clove

2010-05-23T21:53:00.000+01:00

Perhaps restaurant is a bit of a misnomer for this place, but it offers amazing Indian food nevertheless. It is basically a little takeout place with some seating inside. I went there with a friend who happens to live nearby. I was hungry, but wanted a quick bite to eat (in between art shows). So I ordered a kabob and a mango lassi. The kabob was so good it could rival the amazing kebab I've eaten in Turkey. The best part of the kabob was that the flatbread surrounding it was completely fresh. The second best part was the price: 3.50 Pounds. The mango lassi was also an incredibly refreshing experience. I can't say I've had that many lassis before, but this was the best one so far. It has even inspired me to create my own at home (stay tuned for recipe)! Chilli and Clove is near the Old Street Tube station:

61 Pitfield Street

London N1 6BU

Least Appetizing Cake Ever

2010-05-22T16:49:00.000+01:00

Is the Oil Spill Cake. I'm sure someone thought this was a good idea initially...I wouldn't want a slice of this cake, would you?

A Salad Spinner Goes a Long Way

2010-05-18T00:28:00.000+01:00

Having left my wonderful salad spinner back in the US (along with my KitchenAid...a sad tale really...) I've been buying pre-washed lettuce in my local grocery. Let's face it though, pre-washed lettuce is neither the freshest nor the most tasty. So the other weekend I bought myself another salad spinner. For the novices, an explanation of my seemingly crazy? enthusiasm for salad spinners may be necessary: It's generally good practice to wash your produce, but soggy lettuce loses crunch and also does not absorb salad dressing (in fact, it repels it because of the whole oil-water thing).

So for good salad, the choice is either inadequate, pricy, pre-washed lettuce, or get a salad spinner. Personally I prefer the second option. It also gives you the chance to customise your own salad by mixing different lettuces and herbs. The best thing about this model is that it's tiny and so wonderful for small kitchens. You can also use the bowl as a salad bowl once you're done drying the lettuce and you can use the bowl and cover to store extra salad in the fridge. What's more perfect than that?

Guinness World Record Hummus

2010-05-16T11:59:00.000+01:00

Recently, 300 Lebanese chefs set the new Guinness World Record for largest preparation of Hummus in a continuing duel with Israel (Previously, Israel held the record). This 10 tonne vat of hummus is made up of 7 tonnes of chickpeas, 2 tonnes of tahini (a sesame paste), 2 tonnes of lemons, and 700 kg of bottles of olive oil. To be honest, the picture doesn't quite inspire my appetite, but it would be an awesome mud wrestling alternative!

Restaurant Review: Safadi Express

2010-05-09T20:08:00.000+01:00

In the past couple of months, I discovered a great lunch spot for Lebanese food near my office. They must be fairly new, as their website is still blank! It is a huge improvement on the other Lebanese cafe near Holborn I had been going to whenever I craved a shawarma. Safadi serves real, authentic, and freshly made food. They even have a proper vertical spit for the shawarmas, which is fairly common in London, but it is much harder to find good shawarma, like the shawarma Safadi serves.

As small as this place is, they have a very comprehensive menu from hot and cold mezzes to pastry, sandwiches, hot main courses, desserts, and even breakfast! I've been very happy with the food here, although the pastries are not the best Lebanese pastries out there. They are very reasonably priced and conveniently located across the street from the Holborn tube stop.

113 High Holborn

London WC1V 6JQ

020 7831 5171

Mon-Fri 7AM-12AM, Sat-Sun 8AM-12AM

Restaurant Review: Noura Lebanese Restaurants

2010-04-25T13:20:00.001+01:00

Earlier this week, a friend took me to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant, Noura. This is so far the best Lebanese restaurant I've tried in London (better than the other Lebanese restaurant I reviewed earlier). This is a restaurant that provides excellent food, good service, and a lively atmosphere. I went to the Belgravia Location. For the French folks and the travelers, they also have locations in Paris.

In Lebanese restaurants, the best way to eat is to order a lot of mezzes for everyone to share and that's exactly what we did. We ordered labneh, tabbouleh, grilled jawaneh, kebbeh, lahm bi ajine, and sojok. Now for the translations:

Labneh is a slightly sour white cheese dip. It was delicious eaten with the fresh pita bread!
Tabbouleh is my favorite salad. It's made with minced parsley, crushed wheat, tomatoes, onion, lemon juice and olive oil. For my personal recipe, click here. The salad was wonderfully done at Noura, even though I prefer my own version.
Grilled jawaneh are charcoal grilled chicken wings marinated in lemon and garlic. They were amazing!
Kebbeh is a fried oval shell made of lamb and cracked wheat filled with minced lamb and pine nuts. The description probably doesn't sound too appetizing if you've never tried, so I recommend to just try it and see. The kebbeh here was so fresh and was perfectly cooked.
Lahm bi ajine is a Lebanese flatbread pizza made with minced lamb, tomato, onions, and pine nuts according to the menu. However, ours had coriander added to it. It was very good, but gave the dish a different flavor. For my own home recipe, click here.
Sojok is a spicy sausage. It wasn't spicy in an tabasco sauce way, but rather it was made with all sorts of fragrant spices which gave it an extremely exotic and pleasing flavor.

For dessert, we ordered Halawat el Jebn, which is a cheese roll filled with ashta clotted cream and served with syrup. To drink with it, we had white coffee (called Orange Blossom Coffee on the menu). It's a very good digestive that consists of hot water and a bit of orange blossom water. Although, now that I'm looking at the dessert menu more closely, I suddenly have an urge to try all of their other desserts!! I highly recommend a visit here for some wonderful Lebanese food. They have 4 London locations and they can even deliver to your house or office, so you really have no excuse not to try it.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota: The Best Ham in the World

2010-04-20T21:49:00.000+01:00

I was lucky enough to be at my cousin's house in Paris for Easter. Really really lucky. His guests from Barcelona, Pilar Rueda and Bertrand Callier, brought some Jamon Iberico de Bellota from Barcelona for the occasion. They brought sliced ham for the appetizer course and sausages for the aperitif. Normally I'm not a fan of pork, but this ham was so succulent I couldn't stop eating. The sausages were so tasty. Sausage normally tastes like fat with some flavor on the side, but this sausage was pure flavor with barely any fat on the side. Ok, I'm sure there was fat, but I sure as heck didn't taste it! I always knew Spain produced the best ham in the world, but this ham just blew my mind.

The ham is also generically called Pata Negra, since the hooves of the pigs are black. Now these aren't any old pigs mind you. They are the pride of Spain, fed on a free-range diet of acorns and wild plants. They are also treated somewhat like royalty. According to this site, for about two years after birth and until their "sacrifice", the pigs live in specially maintained oak forests. After the "sacrifice" takes place, the ham is salted and cured from two to four years. At this stage, much of the remaining fat of the ham converts into good fat, like the fat from olive oil (because the pigs are fed acorns).

I don't think I can look at ham again without remembering the succulent "Pata Negra" ham. I've been spoiled for life! And when I say spoiled, I mean truly spoiled, because it apparently sells for 70 Pounds a kilo in the UK. If you happen to be in Barcelona, you can purchase it here.

Restaurant Review: Busaba Eathai

2010-04-18T11:50:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had lunch at this wonderful Thai restaurant. The restaurant itself has a very welcoming environment with communal dining tables. Even if you're eating alone, you're not really alone because there are other people at your table. The food is wonderful as well. My friend and I tried both the lemongrass tea and the ginger and honey tea. They were both delicious (and I don't even like ginger!).

As an appetizer, we split Thai calamari, which was the tastiest calamari I've had the pleasure of eating. Sorry Italian calamari, I've officially moved on! We also delighted in the Tom kha chicken soup, which is a lemongrass and coconut chicken soup with glass noodles. The soup contained galangal root, which is related to ginger root, but instead has a very earthy and citrusy aroma. We didn't like the taste of the galangal root, but I'm sure it imparted a lot of flavor to the broth. As a main course, we split the Pat king talay, which is a stir-fry of prawn, squid, scallop, Thai pepper, woodear, chilli and ginger (woodear is a type of mushroom). It was delicious, but I felt it was perhaps a bit bland in comparison to the other dishes we ordered.

A most refreshing feature of this restaurant chain is that it is remarkably affordable. Our meal tallied up to about 30 Great British Pounds, which is quite accessible for a London venue. The service was very good and prompt as well. I highly recommend this restaurant for a great casual meal. Since it's a chain, you have lots of locations to choose from!

The worst cookbook misprint ever

2010-04-17T23:07:00.000+01:00

Today the BBC published an article detailing the most mortifying misprint ever in a cookbook. The cookbook, published by Penguin Group Australia, had in one pasta recipe mispelled pepper as people. Hence, the recipe called for "freshly ground black people" instead of "freshly ground black pepper". I think they should fire their proofreader, but I also think it happens to be an entertaining story. If you believe in Freudian slips, the mistake is even more entertaining!

Restaurant Review: Fleet River Bakery

2010-04-11T22:58:00.000+01:00

In the last month, I've discovered this gem of a place. They are conveniently close to my office and excellent to boot! I especially love their cappuccinos. On lazy days, I buy breakfast here and my dish of choice is scrambled eggs on sourdough toast. Truly amazing! Their food is so good they have lunch lines that go out the door. More importantly, they serve Saturday brunch. And good brunch is hard to find in London....

Fleet River Bakery

71 Lincoln's Inn Fields

London

0207 691 1457

info@fleetriverbakery.com

Recipe: Madeleines

2010-04-10T18:40:00.000+01:00

I was in Paris recently and was having tea with a friend when I realized the madeleines the cafe had were absolutely inferior to my own version. I shared this opinion with my friend and she urged me to send her the recipe, but I also thought I'd share with the public at large, to avoid having to suffer eating inadequate madeleines! This recipe makes 14 madeleines (or 30 small ones). They are best accompanied by excellent tea and good friends!

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/4 cup agave nectar (or 1/3 cup superfine caster sugar)
155 g (1 and 1/4 cups) spelt flour (or plain all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour)
100 g (3.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted
grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (400 degrees F/Gas 6). Rub butter onto a tray of madeleine moulds. (I'm not a fan of flouring moulds...)

Whisk the eggs, agave (or sugar), and orange blossom water until the mixture is thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail when lifted using an electrical mixer. Gently fold in the flour, the melted butter and grated lemon and orange zest.

Spoon the mixture into the moulds, leaving a little room for them to rise. Bake for 12 minutes (small madeleines will need 7 only), or until very lightly golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

This is a very simple recipe, but it requires a madeleine mould that you can find in most kitchen supply shops. If you use spelt flour, know that the madeleines will not rise as much. Also, since sugar adds volume to the batter, the use of agave will make the batter less voluminous.

French Rituals-Long French Meals

2010-04-06T10:18:00.000+01:00

I have been spending my Easter vacation in Paris, which means I've been partaking in many extremely long holiday meals that stretch on for hours. Long meals are definitely not an Anglo-Saxon tradition, but this foodie thinks it's one worth adopting.

First, the meal begins with an aperitif, which the dictionary falsely describes as a drink before a meal. It's more than a drink, however, because it's also served with little nibbles like olives, sausages, and the like. This is the part of the meal that's eaten in the sitting area and it serves as a conversation starter.

Next, guests proceed to the dining table where the appetizer is served. The appetizer is also accompanied by a bottle of wine specially picked to match the dish and conversation continues to warm up. After the appetizer, comes the main course. Not surprisingly, the main course has its own bottle of wine picked to go with it. By the main course, people have drunk enough wine that conversation has become more jovial and you begin warming up to the people you just met. I generally drink too slowly to partake in all the wine courses, but given my low alcohol tolerance, I'm usually one of the more jovial ones even if I've drunk the least!

Third comes the cheese course, which is not accompanied with a wine, but rather some excellent baguette. Counterintuitively, the cheese course is meant to help you digest. Last comes dessert. This course also has its own wine, a dessert wine. After the dessert course, there is the digestif, which is a choice(s) of liqueur. By the end of the meal, everyone is thoroughly buzzed and jokes are effortlessly making the rounds, in an intricate social ritual that oddly resembles sport.

You might wonder how on earth French people are not massively fat after all these courses. Two things come to mind. One, the portions are small per course. Two, when the meal stretches on for that long, it leaves you plenty of time to figure out when you're full. You might also wonder how on earth the French are not all raving alcoholics. That one I think is purely a cultural matter.

Of course, the most important complement to the French meal is political conversation. Everyone, yes, everyone in France has a political opinion to express. Not having an opinion myself on French politics, I felt as if I was in a theater. I was especially amused on Easter Sunday, which featured one branch of my family massively praising Sarkozy at lunch and another branch ridiculing him to the utmost at dinner. Oh do I enjoy these long French meals!

Restaurant Review: Konstam

2010-03-30T09:00:00.000+01:00

Last night I went to eat at Konstam, a restaurant near King's Cross that serves Northern and Central European foods. What brings this restaurant near and dear to my heart (besides the excellent food) is their commitment to sourcing local, seasonal produce. Over 80% of the produce they use comes from the area covered by the London tube network! I plan to be a frequent visitor...

The restaurant menu changes everyday, so my food descriptions will be necessarily vague as the daily menus aren't posted online. I ordered a starter as a main course, pigeon with horseradish. The pigeon was gamey and wonderful and it was perfect with the horseradish. [Incidentally, when pigeon is served in the US, I've only seen it called Squab. Perhaps no American would ever eat pigeon!] My dining companion had a remarkable stuffed cabbage dish. The cabbage was cooked at the perfect temperature so that it was still crunchy, springy, and vibrantly green. For dessert, we had a mulberry parfait. It wasn't what I expected visually, because parfaits are usually a layered, creamy dessert served in some sort of vessel. This parfait looked like a lavender brownie, but the taste was incredible. The mild berry flavor was perfectly balanced by honey sweetener and the smooth, creamy texture of the dessert was balanced by crunchy granola on top. Perfection indeed!

2 Acton Street

King's Cross

London WC1X 9NA

020 7833 5040

princealbert@konstam.co.uk

Restaurant Review: Fakhreldine

2010-03-28T12:35:00.000+01:00

Last night, I went to a wonderful Lebanese restaurant in Green Park, Fakhreldine. First of all, the location is wonderful. Our table was right by the window overlooking Green Park, which would have been a really amazing view during the day. My dining companion maintains that this restaurant serves the best Lebanese food in London. I'm not sure it is the best Lebanese food in London, but it's certainly very good.

For starters we ordered fattoush and tabboule salads, hoummos and pita bread. The fattoush was excellent, certainly better than any I've had so far, and the tabboule was good, but it wasn't as good as the tabboule I'm used to making at home. The hoummous was excellent and the pita bread was very fresh (the worst thing in the world is stale pita bread!). For my main course, I ordered kibbeh labanieh, which is a dish of meat balls cooked in yogurt and served with rice and coriander garlic sauce. It was excellent, although the sauce could have used a splash of lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

The service at Fakhreldine was less than satisfactory. It's a shame because Lebanon's claim to fame (besides food and partying) is its hospitality. It took ages for our waiter to notice we were waiting to order, although once he did, the service was prompt, but still lacking the Lebanese hospitality I'm accustomed to.

Overall, the food was exactly what you'd expect from Lebanese cuisine, but that's also a bit problematic. On the one hand, the familiar dishes took me on a sensory journey home, but on the other hand, the food was very much like traditional, home-cooked fare and I expect more from a restaurant. I prefer to eat in restaurants who can best my culinary efforts at home and surprise me with new twists and ideas, but I suppose the restaurant's regular clientele just want the familiar tastes of home. The restaurant's contact information is:

85 Piccadilly London W1J 7NB Green Park

Tel: 0207 493 34 24

The Best Hot Chocolate in London

2010-03-22T19:27:00.001Z

Although winter is officially over, I thought a post on the best hot chocolate in London was still vital. In the past couple of weeks, I have sampled so much hot chocolate and I am now ready to crown the winner (and start dieting...). And when I say hot chocolate, I mean the thick gooey drinking chocolate, not the wimpy cocoa imposters! The six candidates, based on recommendations, were:

And if you haven't already guessed by the picture, the winner is Paul!! Their hot chocolate was by far the best. Not only was it deliciously thick, but the chocolate had a really rich, robust flavor that none of the other places could match. All the others seemed rather dull and flat.

This contest is also an affirmation that the most expensive hot chocolate is not always the best one (La Maison du Chocolat broke the bank there) and that a patisserie chain can outdo the small boutique places.

Next Best Of feature will be burgers....stay tuned!

Restaurant Review: Caffe Vergnano

2010-02-14T19:47:00.000Z

I have now twice been to the temple of coffee and tiramisu here in London and twice the temple of coffee and tiramisu has provided...Ok, it's a franchise, but this place has seriously good food.

This place has a coffee menu that is pages long! I have had an espresso and also an espresso with a shot of Frangelico. The desserts I have tasted, chocolate affogato and tiramisu are sublime, but my absolute favorite is the tiramisu. The mascarpone cheese is fresh and light, the cake just absolutely melts in your mouth. This is also a full-fledged restaurant, although I have yet to try their main courses.

There are three locations in London. The one I went to is by the Royal Festival Hall and hence a perfect post-show lounge spot (or pre-show dinner spot). Go to the temple and you shall not regret...

Recipe: Pumpkin (or Butternut Squash) Whole Wheat Orzo

2010-01-17T19:32:00.000Z

I made this side dish to go along with braised short ribs. This recipe comes from the Babbo Cookbook, a fantastic collection of Italian recipes. It serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound butternut squash or pumpkin, seeded and peeled
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 cup whole wheat orzo
1 cup chicken stock

Instructions:

Cut the squash or pumpkin into 3 or 4 evenly sliced pieces. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the olive oil, and wrap in foil. Roast in the oven at 350 degrees F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place the cooked squash in the bowl of a food processor. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper to form a relatively smooth puree. Set aside.
Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Set up an ice bath nearby. Cook the orzo in the boiling water for 3 minutes, to blanch but not cook through. Drain the orzo and plunge it into the ice bath. Once cooled, drain it and lay it out on a baking sheet to dry.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a 12-inch saute pan. Add the orzo and squash puree and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until the chicken stock is fully absorbed by the orzo. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Notes: The recipe originally called for 2 tablespoons of honey to be added in along with the balsamic vinegar, but I think squash is sweet enough on its own. The recipe was also written for non-whole wheat orzo, but I personally think the world would be a better place if people stopped eating so many refined foods. Also, this is a restaurant recipe, so I think you could save time at home by skipping the ice bath and going straight to step 3. I don't think it will really alter the flavor or texture, especially if you're using whole wheat orzo.

Recipe: Goat Cheese Truffles Three Ways with Peperonata

2010-01-09T17:43:00.000Z

This is an excellent and easy to prepare recipe from the Babbo Cookbook. It was one of the things I tried when I ate at the restaurant and have been in love with ever since. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into thin strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 cups fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup ground pimenton (Spanish paprika)
1/4 cup ground fennel seeds or fennel pollen
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 pound arugula (known as rocket in the UK)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

To make the peperonata: In a 12-14 inch saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the red and yellow peppers and saute over high heat for 4 minutes, or until browned at the edges and softened. Add the sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook for 5-7 minutes until the peppers are tender. Adjust the seasonings and set aside to cool.
Place the goat cheese in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Divide the cheese into 12 portions and gently roll each portion into a ball. Roll four balls in the pimenton to completely coat, then roll four in the fennel and four in the poppy seeds. Set aside.
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and set up an ice bath next to the stove. Drop the arugula in the boiling water, blanch for 10 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and immediately drop into the ice bath. Remove from the ice bath, gently squeeze out the excess liquid with a paper towel or clean dish towel, and place the arugula in a medium bowl. Toss with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
To assemble the dish, divide the arugula and peperonata among four dinner plates. Put one of each flavor of goat cheese truffle on each plate. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Recipe: Braised Short Ribs

2010-01-05T21:07:00.000Z

I made this dish to rave reviews last month. The recipe comes from the Babbo Cookbook. I always love braised meats around wintertime, but hate braised meats that just taste like fat. This one has a wonderful complex flavor. This dish serves 4 and don't expect any leftovers!! I served it with butternut squash whole-wheat orzo. You'll just have to stay tuned for that recipe...

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive-oil
4 16-ounce beef short ribs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 cups Barolo or other full-bodied red wine
1 16-ounce can peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juices
1 cup brown chicken stock
1/2 bunch thyme
1/2 bunch rosemary
1/2 bunch oregano

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over high heat until smoking (and don't stand too close!). Season the ribs with salt and pepper and cook them over high heat until deep brown on all sides, about 15 minutes total.
Remove the short ribs and set aside.
Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic to the pan and cook over high heat until browned and softened, about 4 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and stir in the red wine, tomatoes, and tomato juice, chicken stock, and herbs, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge browned bits. Bring the mixture to a boil and return the short ribs to the pan.
Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bones.

Notes: I used regular chicken stock. The recipe refers to brown chicken stock because they give a recipe for it in the cookbook. Instead of cooking it in the oven, I made use of a slow cooker and set the timer for 4 hours. Lastly, gourmet chefs like to use kosher salt because of the texture, but regular salt will also do the trick here.

Recipe: Chocolate Hazelnut Cakes

2009-12-27T15:55:00.000Z

This recipe is from Mario Batali's Babbo Cookbook and it is meant to taste like Nutella in (refined) cake form. It serves 12.

Ingredients:
-8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
-2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
-4 ounces toasted hazelnuts
-3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
-1/4 cup premium quality Dutch process cocoa powder
-3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-3/4 cup plus 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
-1/3 cup unsweetened hazelnut paste
-6 eggs, separated
-2 teaspoons strong brewed espresso, cooled completely
-2 teaspoons frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter twelve 3-inch cake molds or one 9-inch springform pan and set aside.
Fill the bottom of a pan 1/3 full with water and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Place a medium stainless steel bowl over the water and melt the chocolates together, stirring constantly. Once melted, set aside to cool.
In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts with the confectioners' sugar and cocoa to form a fine, sand-like mixture.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar until very light and fluffy. If you use a sugar substitute like honey or agave, use 1/2 cup (It won't become fluffy though and the end taste will not be quite the same). Beat in the hazelnut paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Beat in the espresso, Frangelico, and vanilla extract. Lastly, beat in the melted chocolate. Then fold in the nut mixture from step 3.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the remaining 5 tablespoons if sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Divide the batter among the baking molds or pour into the springform pan.
Bake the cakes until they puff and crack slightly, about 14 minutes for the cake molds and 45-50 for the springform. (My springform pan was dark grey, and so absorbs heat faster, so I found that 40 minutes was optimal.) Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. When the cakes are almost completely cool, remove the moulds and chill in the refrigerator until firm. The cakes will last up to 1 week refrigerated in an airtight container (but it's so good there's no way there would be any left at that point!)

Notes: I did not manage to find any hazelnut paste, not even at my local Italian specialty grocer so I omitted that part of the recipe. Although I imagine you could easily substitute dulce de leche since the texture and the taste would be consistent with the recipe, and it is much easier to find dulce de leche. If you do use dulce the leche, I would drastically cut down on the amount of sugar since dulce de leche is so sweet. Be careful not to overcook it. The first time I made it, leaving it in for the full recommended cooking time, it was too dry. So do some toothpick tests before the cooking time is up. You don't want the batter to be all liquid, but you also don't want the toothpick to come up completely clean.

Bursting the Vegetarian Moral Bubble

2009-12-26T15:31:00.002Z

In this fantastic article from the New York Times, the author argues that if the argument for being a vegan or vegetarian is to avoid killing animals for moral reasons, they should reconsider their diet. She writes that "...before we cede the entire moral penthouse to 'committed vegetarians' and 'strong ethical vegans,' we might consider that plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in [her] Christmas clay pot." Plants in fact, have feelings too and active defense mechanisms in place to not get eaten.

I was so happy to see this article because I'm so tired of vegetarians feeling morally superior to us carnivores. I've always believed that plants also have souls, so the ethos of the vegetarian diet never made sense to me. I concede that there may be some nutritional benefit to a good vegetarian diet. But carnivores can also eat lots of veggies and try not to eat too much fatty red meat. So, vegetarians, take that! And thank you to the NYT for vindicating my position!

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks- Part 6

2009-12-19T14:19:00.001Z

With this last edition of suggested gifts, I rest my case for a cook's perfect Christmas.

Slow-Cooker: Slow-cookers are the ultimate kitchen tool for busy cooks. You can pop something into it in the morning, come home from work and presto, you have a delicious meal ready. The best thing about this version of the slow-cooker is the insert is safe to use on the stove, so you can brown the food in the insert, put it into the machine and let it start cooking. Why is this important you ask? Because the browning process imparts most of the end flavor and you only get one pan dirty in the end!
Citrus Juicer: This citrus juicer is so handy in the kitchen. It is manually operated and not bulky. The electric juicers work better, but they take up so much storage space and every time you need it, you have to get out this big hulking thing and plug it in. So this is much more useful, especially when you only need small amounts of lemon or lime juice.
Food Processor: This is a magical kitchen tool, imparting the ability to make pesto, mashed potatoes, pastry dough, etc with the touch of a button. After I got mine, I didn't how I managed to live so long without one. This is a definite must-buy for a serious cook! There are so many models and colors available. The Cuisinart ones are the most famous brand for processors, but the Kitchen Aid ones come in many fun colors.

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks- Part 5

2009-12-18T14:11:00.000Z

For those yet to find rest from Christmas shopping, here are some more ideas for your favorite cook!

Miracle Berry Tablets: These little tablets make sour and bitter foods taste sweet through the magic of science. A fun gift for experimenting with flavors! Lemons will taste really sweet....I wonder how espresso will taste after one of these tablets?
Babbo Cookbook: The second-best option to an actual trip to the Babbo restaurant in NYC, this cookbook lets you replicate their recipes exactly. Warning: Be prepared to spend hours in the kitchen! The end result is pure delight. Stay posted for some blog posts on the recipes I've tested and perfected so far!
Cheese-lover Gifts: Is your giftee a cheese-lover? Nothing says Christmas like a basketful of yummy imported cheeses you won't find anywhere else. Just don't wrap them and put them under the tree.

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks-Part 4

2009-12-17T18:13:00.000Z

Still haven't found that special gift for your favorite cook yet? No worries, more suggestions coming right up!

KitchenAid Stand Mixer: Nothing says love like a KitchenAid. This is one of my most cherished possessions. It saves you so much time and effort in the kitchen plus it mixes much more efficiently than any hand mixer. In case your beloved already has one, there are way cool accessories you can buy for it. My favorite is the ice cream maker, it makes the perfect ice creams! I've always been intrigued by the pasta maker attachments and the citrus juicer comes in handy for fresh squeezed juice. In addition, this blog has cool ideas for KitchenAid hacks.
Can Opener: Ok, I know the can opener is a really boring kitchen tool, but this one doesn't leave sharp edges and holds onto the lid until you release it into the trash can! Tools like this are a godsend for klutzy chefs like me!
Domed Cake Plate: Another good idea for someone who loves to make desserts. Also because cakes are really good decoration for your kitchen (if you can resist eating them right away!)

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks-Part 3

2009-12-16T15:11:00.000Z

A little word of caution here about culinary gifts. Do not give them to someone who does not love to cook. Otherwise you may find a cold chill blowing your way come Christmas. Here we go with some further suggestions:

Water Kettle: This is definitely one of the most useful things a kitchen can have. It boils water way faster than a microwave or a stovetop. This is especially useful to make morning tea. This model is fancier than most (because gifts should be a little extraordinary), but really any model will do.
Wichcraft cookbook: For the lover of sandwiches, this is a perfect gift. This cookbook is from the owner of one of my favorite sandwich shops. I'm sure he can help anyone make their lunches and picnics a little less boring!
Ikea Grundtal Spice Storage: Run out of space in your kitchen cupboards have you? Don't worry, this is a problem with an easy (and cute) solution. These spice jars are magnetic, so you can stick them to your fridge (or any metal surface) and then your spices don't have to take over your cupboard. Plus, you can also print labels out and label all your spices. I find this to be especially colorful decor for my kichen.

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks- Part 2

2009-12-15T08:30:00.001Z

Here we go on Day 2 of the Holiday gift lists. These gifts are smaller, less expensive items that are vital for everyday cooking:

Silicone oven mitts: I'm going to precede this discussion by divulging that I am a complete wimp when it comes to heat. And there are no silicone oven mitts in the UK apparently! These are wonderful for sticking your hands in and out of hot ovens, especially if you're sensitive like me!
Kitchen tongs: Like the oven mitts, this is a great stocking stuffer. Tongs are one of the most useful kitchen tools ever. I always use tongs when I'm cooking meat or fish on the stovetop and when I grill.
Salad Spinner: Let's face it, wet salad is a drag. But unless you buy pre-washed lettuce, you're often stuck with soggy lettuce that doesn't absorb your salad dressing well because it is too watery. Drying the lettuce by air takes too long and using a dishcloth to wring out the lettuce breaks the leaves, so a salad spinner is absolutely the best way to dry lettuce. Trust me, I know!

Holiday Gifts for Avid Cooks- Part 1

2009-12-14T23:47:00.001Z

So, I decided I'd try to be helpful for those of you shopping for avid cooks with a list of really cool/useful additions to the kitchen that a cook would love. I'll keep posting for the next week or so leading up to Christmas to try to give you all the edge in the gift giving frenzy. To all my friends, this is not a thinly veiled wish list for me!

Ikea Koncis Garlic Press: This little kitchen tool, priced so well at $4.99 is the best garlic press I've ever had the pleasure of using. Yes, that's right, I said P-L-E-A-S-U-R-E. You can even put unpeeled garlic cloves in there! Ok, so it's not dishwasher safe, but nothing's ever perfect is it? This is a great stocking stuffer.
Blooming Tea: For the lover of tea and beautiful flowers, this is the perfect gift. It is a tea ball that blooms into a flower inside your teapot. For optimal gift bundling, throw in a glass teapot so you can see the blooms!
Le Creuset Dutch Oven: This is the ultimate gift for a meat-lover. It's pricey, but will provide for a lifetime of braised dishes! The oval dutch ovens are better than the round because you can fit roasts with a bone more easily.

Sushi Pillows

2009-12-06T14:25:00.001Z

Alright, I think this one is for the die-hard sushi fans. As I was desperately scouring the internet for Christmas present ideas, I came across these pillows. I myself have an amazing and wondrous imagination which provides my brain endless entertainment, but I never ever in a million years would have thought of pillows made to look like sushi! They would look so cool on my couch, except then I might actually crave sushi all the time! Maybe this is more appropriate for a restaurant that serves sushi....

A Thanksgiving Feast

2009-12-02T22:28:00.001Z

This is probably one of the less traditional Thanksgiving meals out there, but I'm not a terribly traditional person, so I feel pretty okay about that. We feasted on roast pheasants and roast quails, roasted chestnuts, french beans with toasted slivered almonds, gratin dauphinois, salade au lardons, a cheese course, and a pumpkin pie. Although it's not the traditional meal, these food items for me are representative of the season.

The pheasants we purchased were wild pheasants from Borough Market. They were shot and they still had the little pellets in the carcass. So one of the exciting features of dinner was who found a bullet first! I marinated them in a sauce of crushed garlic, olive oil, and chopped fresh sage (with salt and white pepper). The quails were marinated in a sauce of dried chiles, lemon juice, and soy sauce. It was very Asian-inspired.

Roasted chestnuts for me are a classic winter food and fondly remind me of my time living in France when I was little. To prepare them, cut an X in them and roast them in an oven at 200C/400F for about 30 minutes, until the skins open. Mine were a little overcooked, but still tasty (a reminder that perfection is difficult and not always desirable)! The french beans we boiled for about 15-20 minutes, tossed them in a little butter, and topped them with toasted slivered almonds and seasoned them in salt and pepper. You can toast the almonds on the stove in a frying pan. The gratin dauphinois was a real masterpiece, full of double cream! To be honest I just winged it (pesky recipes), but here's the official recipe (from my favorite French cookbook) which is a vast improvement over my spontaneous creation. It serves 6.

Ingredients:

-1 kg (2lb 4 oz) potatoes

-2 garlic cloves, crushed

-1/2 cup (65 g) grated Gruyere cheese

-pinch of nutmeg

-315 ml (1 1/4 cups) double (thick/heavy) cream

-125 ml (1/2 cup milk)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F). Thinly slice the potatoes with a mandolin or food processor or sharp knife (if you dare!). Butter a 23 by 16 cm (9 by 6.5 inch) ovenproof dish and layer the potatoes, sprinkling the garlic, cheese, nutmeg, and seasoning between the layers. Make sure to leave some cheese for the very top! Last, pour the cream and milk over the top and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid absorbed. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

The salad was made with a red lettuce, little rectangular blocks of cooked bacon, and two soft-boiled eggs. The dressing was an oil and balsamic vinegar one, although now that I think about it, some mustard would have been really tasty mixed into the dressing. The cheeses were purchased that day at the market, selected to complement each other and the rest of the meal.

The pumpkin pie is a mish mash of a couple of recipes. The almond crust was made by mixing two cups of ground almonds with 3 tablespoons of softened butter and patting it into a pie pan. The filling recipe comes from this blog, but modified to leave out the hazelnut butter layer on the bottom (I thought it would be too much with the almond crust). I'm also guilty of not freshly grinding the spices for this pie filling. Like I said, sometimes perfection is unattainable (although getting a coffee grinder is on my list of kitchen items to buy)! We served the pie a la English, by pouring fresh cream on top (instead of whipped cream) and added some leftover toasted almonds for decor.

You'll notice my meal plan is full of improvisation and imperfections in the cooking process. I think the lesson I've absorbed from this experience is that I always spend too much time stressing about concocting these big holiday meals. Relax, this is supposed to be a celebration! The whole point is to sit at a table with special people and eat tasty food. Nobody expects perfection!

Borough Market

2009-11-29T23:46:00.000Z

On Saturday, I finally visited Borough Market in London. Borough market is the oldest food market in London. According to the website, it was established on the south bank of the Thames when the Romans built the first London bridge and it has occupied the present site for 250 years. History aside though, it is a seriously cool market.

It is large, crowded, and bustling with shoppers. It was so crowded that it was impossible for me to get pictures of the different food stalls. Nonetheless, I think I can do them justice using the power of the written word. I would categorize stalls into two types: Ones who sell food that are for immediate consumption (like fish and chips) and ones that sell food that you take home to cook. Some stalls offer both. The best thing about the market is that you can find ingredients you would be hard pressed to find at a grocery store.

There were amazing seafood stands with all sorts of fish, lobster, crab, squid, and shellfish. There were also a great many butchers with standard fare as well as rabbit, guinea fowl, pheasant, and ostrich. One butcher even sold guinea fowl sausages. The ostrich meat was a vivid pink-red color. It was absolutely beautiful. Notably, there was a stand selling kangaroo burgers. There were also a great many vegetable and fruit stands and cheese stalls. There was one cheese stall solely devoted to swiss cheeses. Yes, you heard correctly, swiss cheeses!

Be aware that you will spend a pretty penny if you buy groceries from borough market. I also advise one to head there on an empty stomach. Plenty of goodies to try on site! The closest tube stop is London Bridge.

Teff- A Health Food with Tradition

2009-11-27T20:28:00.006Z

The national food staple of Ethiopia is teff, but teff is rapidly becoming popular as a health food in the rest of the world. Many people call teff a grain, but it is actually a grass. The picture below is of a field of teff which I snapped a picture of on my last trip to Ethiopia:

Teff is gluten free and is very high in minerals. According to nutritiondata.com, 1 serving of teff has 62% of the daily value for fiber and contains a whopping total of 26 grams of protein. And for all you anemic people out there, it also has 82% of your daily value of iron. In Ethiopia, teff is the preferred ingredient used to make injera, the traditional bread:

Injera is a fermented bread, so it has a sour taste. It's delicious, but so heavy in minerals and fiber that you have to be careful with the quantities you eat if you're not used to it. I had to ration myself to keep my stomach from giving out on me during my first trip to Ethiopia! In addition to injera, teff is also used to make porridge and brewed as an alcoholic drink. I highly recommend experimenting with teff flour, it is super tasty!

Recipe: Guinea Fowl in Mustard Sauce

2009-11-23T22:58:00.005Z

One of my favorite birds is the Guinea Fowl--it is lighter than chicken but far tastier. I normally cook it in red wine, but today I saw my jar of mustard and got inspired.

Ingredients:

-Guinea fowl

-2 Teaspoons mustard

-Olive oil

- 50 ml Rice wine vinegar (or white wine~2 oz)

-Large pinch of coriander

-Salt and white pepper

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C (or 350 F). Next, thoroughly wash your guinea fowl with water (and you can even rub lemon halves and salt over it to make sure it is extra clean). My guinea fowl was so farm fresh, it still had a few little feathers on it!

In a bowl, spoon out two teaspoons of mustard. Add a drizzle of olive oil, 50 ml of the rice wine vinegar, a large pinch of coriander (my favorite spice!) and salt and white pepper to taste. Blend the sauce well and rub into the bird. Add some water to the bottom of the roasting pan (unless you've put it on a rack) and cook in the oven for an hour.

I roasted some mushroom caps in the oven with the guinea fowl. In addition, I sauteed some asparagus as well. I prefer to sautee my asparagus in a stainless steel pan in olive oil and I season them with salt and pepper when they start to turn a darker green color (about 10-15 minutes for mine, it depends on how thick they are). This is a really simple meal, especially for weekdays since the oven is doing most of the work. It also happens to be really healthy and Rosedale Diet friendly.

Stoke Newington Farmers' Market

2009-11-07T16:46:00.003Z

Today I went to this charming farmers' market in Stoke Newington, which is in North London. It is not far from where I live and thank goodness, because I definitely plan to go back for weekly grocery runs! It is a very small farmers' market, but it has a good variety of locally sourced products.

There were a few of stands with desserts, and most notable among them was Nico B Chocolates. The owner, a chocolatier, fortunately relocated from San Francisco to treat us Londoners to his divine creations. There were also a few butchers. At one of the butchers, I bought some buffalo steaks and cheese. Plus, there's even a fishmonger! Add to that multiple vegetable stands.

At one mushroom stand, I also bought a mushroom sandwich. Delicious! The owner cooks the mushrooms with pesto and puts them on bread with grated cheese over the whole creation. There are several such stands where you can buy a bite to eat. With my love of street food, that sure is a winner for me...

The market takes place every Saturday from 10 AM to 2:30 PM at William Patten School, on Stoke Newington Church Street, N16.

Fasting Desserts?

2009-11-02T21:16:00.003Z

So when most people fast for religious reasons, they usually deprive themselves of something for an allotted period of time. Catholics might give up eating sweets or chocolate over lent and Muslims might fast during the days of Ramadan, only eating at night. But apparently Christians in Ethiopia are allowed to indulge while fasting!

The Christians in Ethiopia are part of the Orthodox Church and there are a total of 250 fasting days every year. This is about two-thirds of the year! On fasting days, people only eat after 3PM and the church prohibits meat, fat, eggs and milk.

This must explain the fasting desserts. I was told they were made with no butter, but I also presume they were made without eggs and milk too. Are these desserts also fat free? I don't know, they sure didn't taste like it....

Ethiopian Macchiato

2009-11-01T13:15:00.003Z

After a mostly pleasant work trip to Ethiopia (I say mostly because I was mugged), the one thing I miss most are the macchiatos. I find the macchiato in Ethiopia different because there is more milk in the drink (like a latte macchiato) but there is also an insane amount of milk foam on top. Which all makes for a delicious drink with a gorgeous presentation.

This is the national drink of Ethiopia, after all, so you would expect it to be high quality. I for one am happy to be going back very shortly and to have many many more Ethiopian macchiatos in my immediate future.

Brick Lane on Sundays

2009-10-17T14:30:00.004+01:00

Last weekend, I had a great time walking through Brick Lane. Brick Lane is a street in the Tower Hamlets borough of London in the East. Normally, it is a Bangladeshi neighborhood, but on Sundays it transforms into a multicultural market with stalls set up everywhere, large crowds, live music, and most, importantly, great food! It is very close to the square where the Rootmaster bus is and encompasses the entire general area. You can find food from every corner of the world here. I opted for Brazilian food, but I thought this was a rather interesting option for pork lovers:

There's also Japanese food, Thai food, French food, English food, you name it! Besides the choice in food, I also like that you can browse through clothes, jewelry, music, art, etc as well. I bought a beautiful lacy scarf and a gorgeous African painting that day. The atmosphere is fun and Bohemian and it is close to the Columbian Flower Market, so you could really get a variety of things all in one trip. Which is ideal, because London is big.

Restaurant Review: Providores

2009-10-11T08:54:00.011+01:00

Upon the recommendation of a co-worker (and an evening at the Hellenic Center nearby), I went to dine at the Providores in Marylebone Village, London. I was attracted by the fusion of ingredients from different cuisines. Providores has two sections, the upstairs dining room and the downstairs tapas bar. I went to the upstairs dining room. My dining companions were a little disappointed at the dearth of Old World wines on the Wine List and I was puzzled as to why the majority of the wines were from New Zealand... Well folks, puzzle solved. The Chef, Peter Gordon, is from New Zealand (What a relief! I had thought that perhaps New Zealand had become the new wine mecca overnight and I was completely ignorant of the fact).

The menu gives you a rather rigid set of prices assigned to the number of courses you choose, although whether your course is appetizer, main course, or dessert is completely up to you. Just think, your entire meal could be made up of desserts if you were so keen on the idea! Two courses are offered at 29 pounds and it only goes up from there. What I didn't like, though, is that the price is courses per person, so if you wanted to eat light and have everyone order one course to share, you would either waste money or be forced to eat more. Also, since the menu is priced as courses per person, I feel that it has the behavioral effect of discouraging people from sharing. Ironic, given that there is a Tapas Bar downstairs. Well, enough whining about the behavioral implications of the menu pricing...that's the economist in me coming out. Let me suppress my inner economist and move on.

As a main course, I ordered roast venison with chermoula. Chermoula is a Moroccan marinade that has some spice, but is mainly very earthy. It is an unexpected pairing with roast venison, but it works really well. My medium rare venison was perfectly cooked, although my tongue was so entertained by the fusion of flavors I wasn't paying too much attention to the doneness of the meat.

In terms of dessert, I ordered a raspberry financier solely for the purpose of trying the olive oil almond ice cream it came with. It was good and the ice cream was certainly good, but it tasted nothing like olive oil, which was actually a little disappointing for me. The dessert tasted perfectly ordinary and I had ordered it because I thought it would be extra-ordinary.

I think I would have done better by ordering the malted white and dark Valrhona mousse cake that my dining companion so intelligently chose. It was rich, but not overly rich. I have a huge dislike for chocolate mousse that is over-buttered and chocolate mousse that is actually a pudding (two things alarmingly common in American dining) and this cake struck the perfect balance of smoothness and mousse. The white chocolate portion was also perfectly done. Nothing like the artificial candy-like white chocolate I remember from my youth. Hail to the white chocolate renaissance!

Lastly, for wine we had a very interesting white wine from Hungary called Dobogo. I'm not a wine expert, so instead of smartly rephrasing the wine description, I'll quote the menu directly:

This fascinating wine combines spiced vanilla, orange
blossom, pear and fig flavours with oleander and
ginger aromas, and a hint of smoked oak. A rich
creamy texture with rounded acidity. Rather special

Overall, I felt it was a good dining experience mainly for the unexpected blend of ingredients that you find in the dishes. Of course, the food was also very well prepared. I just wish they would change the pricing scheme away from courses per person to just courses period. Then people might order more courses with the intent of sharing them all (and then the restaurant might actually bring in more revenues). Oops, sorry...that was my pesky inner economist coming out again.

Bemoaning Greek Yogurt in London

2009-10-10T10:19:00.000+01:00

One of the joys in my life is eating my 2% Fage Greek Yogurt. It is so vital to my happiness that it became one of the criteria I factored into evaluating jobs. If a position was in a country where there was unlikely to be greek yogurt, well......I was unlikely to go for it.

So when I accepted a job in London, I took it for granted that there would be greek yogurt here. And there was. But when I tasted it, it was completely different from what I was used to eating. It was even the same brand and everything. I was crushed. Horribly depressed. How can a company do that to a person?! It's just not right!!

For some reason, the greek yogurt in London tastes more bland. It is still thick and creamy, but the taste is plain and the texture is completely different. My initial thought is that perhaps the greek yogurt in the US is made with sheep's milk (which is how authentic greek yogurt is made) whereas the greek yogurt in the UK is made with cow's milk. Anyone else have plausible explanations? I am currently running an informal facebook and gmail survey of my friends. Will post anything that sounds plausible.

And now I refuse to buy greek yogurt in the UK. It is a complete waste of money! Thankfully, I live in a Turkish area and I can buy excellent Turkish yogurt. Ha! That'll teach the Greeks!!

The Ikea Koncis Garlic Press

2009-10-09T10:01:00.000+01:00

Ok, so most people (aside from college students) don't get overly enthusiastic about Ikea products. I can see why. They are hard to put together and they don't last as long. There are some notable exceptions and Ikea cookware is one of them. The most impressive cooking tool at Ikea is the Koncis Garlic Press.

It is the most efficient garlic press I've had the pleasure of using. Not to mention it looks pretty darn good! And I just learned that it presses unpeeled garlic cloves too! Wohoo, no more peeling for me!

Even my mom was impressed with the press. I first tried this press at a friend's party in the Boston area (along with other Ikea cooking tools), so I have to give him credit for this find. Thank you Francisco! You have changed my kitchen for the better.

Restaurant Review: Laxeiro Spanish Restaurant

2009-10-08T20:11:00.007+01:00

I had the fortune on stumbling onto this little restaurant by accident on my way out of the jungle that is the Columbia Flower Market. I have tried many Spanish restaurants in both the US and Spain, so I wasn't sure this little neighborhood restaurant could possibly top my list, but it has blown away all the competition.

My mom and I ordered a green salad, tortilla española, prawns in garlic sauce, and grilled sardines. Everything was excellent, but the grilled sardines took the cake. Perfectly cooked, slightly crispy on the outside, I couldn't get enough! The tortilla was also the best tortilla I've ever had. The "prawns" looked more like normal shrimp to me, so I found it disappointing at first, but the sauce they were cooked with was excellent.
The food is all so homey,but also extremely well prepared. The price was very fair as well. The only downside-the service is a little slow-but I suppose that's the price you pay for home style food. This is one stop on Columbia Road I recommend everyone makes! The restaurant is located at 93 Columbia Road, London, E2 7RG. T: +44 (0)20 7729 1147.

Restaurant Review: The RootMaster!

2009-10-03T21:39:00.011+01:00

It is with great pleasure that I write about one of the most adorable restaurants I have ever been to: Rootmaster. It is a restaurant inside one of the iconic red Double Decker buses of London. The cooking happens downstairs and the eating happens upstairs. Not only is the venue special, but it is also a vegan restaurant. And do you know what the best thing about it is? You would never know it was a vegan restaurant if they didn't tell you.

The menu is so amazing and diverse, you don't miss the meat and dairy at all! The first time I went, I had an Asparagus and Tomato tart for the main course and chocolate cake for dessert. The second time, I had Aubergine Kofta for the main course accompanied by some amazing Organic Jas D'esclan Rose wine (For the non-initiated into the UK version of English, Aubergine is Eggplant). I abstained from dessert, but the wine more than made up for it.

It was absolutely the best rose I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. Striking a delicate balance between sweet and dry, with a mouth-watering aroma and a very pleasant and light aftertaste. My favorite of the two main courses I have tried is the Asparagus and Tomato tart. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, the pastry had the right sort of crunch to it, and the sauce brought together the entire dish. For the next dinner, I have my eye on the pizza made with spelt dough.

The first night I dined there, it was pouring outside. The bus, however, was warm with pleasant conversion and soft candlelight. Talk about atmosphere...It is definitely a great place for a date! The restaurant can be found at Elys Yard, The Old Truman Brewery, 15 Hansbury Street, London E1 6QR. T: +44 (0)7912 389 314.

Salt and Pepper Wands

2009-09-12T21:44:00.004+01:00

This week in the Ligne Roset catalogue, I spotted these awesome salt and pepper wands. You fill in the salt and pepper at the end (which unscrews) and then shake your wand over your food. So creative! And they had the genius to call it Abracadabra! This is an especially great gift for Harry Potter fans.

Auguste Escoffier and Umami

2009-09-06T13:00:00.003+01:00

I just finished reading an excellent book by Jonah Lehrer called Proust was a Neuroscientist. As a foodie, just the connection between Proust and madeleines is riveting, but once I started reading, I was particularly drawn to the chapter on August Escoffier, the father of modern French cuisine. According to Lehrer, the novelty he provided was his use of meat stocks to make a myriad of sauces.

Why is meat stock so delicious if the tongue can only taste sweet, salty, bitter, and sour? Because of umami. Umami means "deliciousness" in Japanese and refers to the taste of L-glutamate. L-glutamate comes from glutamic acid. The author writes that: "Glutamic acid is itself tasteless. Only when the protein is ionized by cooking, fermentation, or a little ripening in the sun does the molecule degenerate into L-glutamate, an amino acid that the tongue can taste."

Although Escoffier intuited the existence of umami long before science, scientists eventually caught up in 2000 and 2002 with the discovery of two receptors on the tongue that can only sense glutamate and L-amino acids. Inspired by the art of Escoffier and the science that followed, old chicken carcasses and a medley of vegetable scraps are simmering away on my very own stove as I write. Now that's what I call artistic/scientific inspiration!

Food for Beauty

2009-07-20T13:56:00.003+01:00

It's amazing just how many kitchen ingredients can be used as beauty products. Now that we can access all the beauty products we want in drug stores, we never think too much about home grown solutions, but they are so easy and so many of the ingredients are already in your kitchen! Not to mention they are 100% natural.

Face/Body:

For starters, you can use egg white as a mask for your face. You can leave it on overnight or leave it on for 10 minutes. It sounds slimy, but the whites dry fairly quickly. This is amazing for improving your skin tone.

A simple cream cleanser consists of 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon plain yogurt. Mix it together in a bowl and apply to skin.

Apple cider vinegar diluted in water is also great for sunburns. Speaking of sunburns, my favorite treatment is slathering cold milk or yogurt on it. You can also pour milk into a bath for treatment.

Oats are anti-inflammatory and moisturizing. Use them to cleanse or add them to your cleanser. You can also wrap oats in a cheesecloth and use as a pouf to wash with. In addition, you can soak oats or almond meal overnight in milk and use as a cleanser. Here's a guide to what milks to use for what skin types:

-Acneous: Rice milk, skimmed milk.
-Mature: Cream, whole milk, soy milk.
-Dehydrated: Whole milk, soy milk, rice milk.
-Sensitive: Buttermilk, Goat's milk, soy milk.
-Dry: Cream, whole milk, goat's milk, soy milk.
-Oily/Combination: Buttermilk, skimmed milk.
-Normal/Combination: Buttermilk, goat's milk, rice milk, soy milk, yogurt.

Here's a great scrub for all skin types. Combine 2 teaspoons almond meal, 1 teaspoon honey, and 1/2 teaspoon orange juice and apply to skin.

Avocado makes a great mask, especially for dry, mature, and sensitive skin. Honey is also a great mask and lip treatment for dry lips. Leave the honey on your lips for at least 15 minutes.

Another mask for mature skin consists of 2 teaspoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon lime juice. You can leave it on for 30 minutes or overnight.

To make a mask for oily and combination skin, combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon rosewater, and 1/2 teaspoon honey.

To make a mask for dry skin, combine 1 whipped egg yolk, 1 tablespoon powdered milk, and 1/2 teaspoon honey.

For damaged skin, make a turmeric paste by mixing turmeric with water. Leave on for a couple of hours or overnight (just sleep with a towel over your pillow to avoid changing the color of your pillowcase).

Body:

Olive Oil also makes a good body mask if you don't have very oily skin. After bathing, slather your skin in olive oil. Put on old cotton clothes for 1 hour. After 1 hour, there shouldn't be any oil residue so you won't need to rinse off.

A body mask for mature skin consists of cream. Slather on and leave on for 15 minutes.

Hands:

A quick hand scrub consists of 1 tablespoon granulated raw sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons olive oil. Rub it onto damp hands and rinse.

To soften and exfoliate cuticles, blend 2 tablespoons of pineapple juice and 1 tablespoon egg yolk. Massage onto cuticles, leave on for 2 minutes and rinse. Substitutes for pineapple juice include apple, tomato, grape, lemon, or orange.

Feet:

To soften heels, soak your feet in a foot bath with 2 tablespoons of baking soda added to it for 15 minutes. Dry your feet, then rub a mix of 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar onto your heels. Put socks and sleep on it overnight.

To soften heels or elbows, an alternative is to fill lemon halves with sugar and rub your heels or elbows in them.

Hair:

Apple cider vinegar makes a great hair rinse. It cures dandruff and leaves hair extremely shiny. Put 1 tablespoon in a glass of water. Pour over your hair between the shampoo and conditioner and massage into scalp before rinsing out. Don't worry, your hair won't smell like vinegar if you condition after the rinse!

Another great hair or skin treatment is mayonnaise as a moisturizer. I recommend making your own to avoid all the preservatives and junk commercial mayonnaise typically has. Place 1 egg yolk in a blender or food processor. Slowly pour in any cold-pressed vegetable oil in a thin stream until the noise of the blender changes. Then add in a teaspoon of honey and a half teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.

An alternative to mayonnaise is a simple egg mask. For oily hair, mix 2 egg whites with 1 tablespoon brewer's yeast. For dry hair, mix 2 egg yolks with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

For dry hair, a great hair mask consists of 1/2 avocado, 2 tablespoons plain yogurt, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Leave on hair for 10 minutes then follow with shampoo and conditioner.

To add extra shine to your hair, beat 2 egg yolks into 125 ml of rum. Apply to wet hair, leaving on for 20 minutes. Follow with shampoo and conditioner.

All of these beauty fixes are simple and are made of common kitchen ingredients. If you do try them, let me know how they work out for you!

The Nordic Food Cluster?

2009-06-16T20:42:00.004+01:00

In an article in the Financial Times, San Francisco chef Daniel Patterson talks about a new era dawning in fine dining--that of local cuisine. He writes that "over the past several decades the menus of almost every expensive restaurant in the western world have become an endless parade of caviar, foie gras, truffles, lobster and fillet mignon...more important as cultural signifiers than as actual experiences." As an example of the new local cuisine movement, he mentions the restaurant Noma in Denmark. Chef Redzepi and his team at Noma search for local ingredients (that have not been commercially available until now) and use them to concoct a new "Nordic" cuisine. Examples of his enticing dishes are "Sauteed lobster and pickled hip rose", "Musk ox and milk skin", and "Ashes and leeks."

This restaurant, bestowed with two Michelin stars and rated the third best restaurant in the world, has inspired the Danish government to create a new project (New Nordic Food) to help locals develop local food products (for example, birch beer). If we take Micheal Porter's theory on clusters, it sounds like the Nordic area is building up their food cluster, with fine dining right smack in the middle of it. This is a really exciting development not just for food lovers, but also for business people.

$1,000 Dishes and What's Wrong with High End Restaurants Today

2009-06-07T23:10:00.004+01:00

I was watching this hilarious clip from the Colbert Report about three $1,000 dishes at NYC restaurants: An omelet, a pizza, and an ice cream sundae. You might wonder how the price of these banal dishes could be so astronomical. Here's a little clue: Caviar, lobster, and gold. I know these dishes are probably devised as a marketing scheme, but it points to an overall disappointing trend with high end restaurants.

They focus on making dishes with flashy ingredients like caviar and truffles. Unfortunately, my taste buds don't judge food by its price. Perhaps chefs have mixed up their priorities? Or maybe they can't come up with more creative dishes and have to resort to culinary name dropping to create interest?

Personally, if I wanted to draw in customers with something other than the quality of my food, I think I would resort to high-end interior design. After all, who wouldn't want to eat a five course chocolate meal in a replica of the Wonka Chocolate Factory? Or maybe the cave of the thieves from 1,001 Arabian Nights? It's sure to be a hell of a lot more fun than letting your wallet pick your meals for you.

Restaurant Review: Sel de la Terre

2009-05-27T04:14:00.003+01:00

This week, I had a wonderful lunch in Boston at this chain restaurant. It's a French restaurant (it figures, I adore French food). First of all, the atmosphere was lovely. The service was good and the music was excellent. Second, the food was perfect!

I ordered the Express Lunch, which consisted of two courses. The first course, a broiled scallop on a bed of greens was impeccable. It was a small plate (which is the size appetizers should be), the scallop was perfectly cooked, and the greens were perfectly dressed. The second plate, a braised duck leg over french beans was amazing! The duck practically melted on my tongue yet it retained a very nice mellow flavor. And the amount of duck given was just right for one portion. I get so tired of eating in places that serve you double or triple portions of meat and barely any vegetables. The french beans were perfectly cooked-just enough to be pliant but they were still crunchy.

The menu for the Express Lunch changes daily. This chain has three locations: two in Boston and one in Natick, MA. I went to the Boylston St. location in Boston. It is incredibly well situated-right next to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Prudential Center. I highly recommend this restaurant for a special occasion (like graduation!) or a date. During the day, it is also nice for families or for a nice lunch while you're shopping.

The Rosedale Diet

2009-05-25T12:00:00.000+01:00

When I was 18, thanks to a high school teacher, I started seeing a doctor of alternative medicine. He changed my diet in order to fix my hypoglycemia. My new diet largely consisted of eliminating sugar and refined carbohydrates. I immediately started to see results. I had much more energy and I never experienced mid-afternoon food comas. I also lost a lot of weight. I no longer craved sugary, starchy foods.

Throughout college, I was able to keep it up, but when I started working and spending long days and some weekends at the office, I found it harder to keep up. Still, I tried my best. I managed to limit the weight gain. Then I started graduate school and the s*** really hit the fan. I was constantly studying and worrying. I became so stressed and pressed for time that I started to eat whatever was quickest. The result: I gained about 20 pounds over my first semester. After the first semester, I realized that doing well in school was not really worth killing my health over, so I paid extra attention to what I ate. I stabilized my weight, but was unsuccessful with losing the extra weight I had gained. Happily though, I felt better because I was eating better. After all, you are what you eat.

About 5 months ago, my wonderful alternative medicine doctor recommended I try the Rosedale diet. I've always been very suspicious of fad diets and was a little suspicious about this low-carb diet. But I trusted my doctor of 7 years and I tried it. I started losing weight, albeit very slowly. Still, after a month, I realized that emotionally I felt happier than I'd ever felt my entire adult life. The first day or so, I thought I was just having a good day. But after a week, I started wondering why I felt so consistently happy. This newfound happiness was especially meaningful because it was the month before my Master's thesis was due. I couldn't believe it. All my classmates started panicking, my life descended into chaos, and I couldn't stop smiling! I was ecstatic! The book doesn't mention increased happiness as a side effect, but that's probably because the author is a doctor and let's face it, its really hard to scientifically measure happiness (Although Bhutan sure is trying, they replaced their measure of GDP with a measure of Gross National Happiness).

Now that you're dying of curiosity about this diet, I will reveal to you its main principles. It consists of eliminating sugar and grains from your diet and replacing them with lots and lots of wholesome vegetables. But it also encourages you to increase your intake of good fats (monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids) by eating more of olive oil, olives, nuts, avocado, salmon, sardines, tuna. Another central component of the diet is moderating your intake of protein, because any protein that your body doesn't use to repair or make new cells is mostly broken down into simple sugars (this is why the Atkins diet doesn't work in the long-run). The main goal of this diet plan is to lower your body's leptin levels. What is leptin, you ask? Leptin is the main hormone that regulates appetite and weight loss. It tells you when to eat, how much to eat, and when to stop eating. When your body produces too much leptin, you become leptin resistant (similar to insulin resistance). It takes longer for you to feel satisfied and it triggers a vicious cycle of overeating (which only makes you more and more leptin resistant). I know this diet is probably really difficult to swallow for those accustomed to eating high carbohydrate diets. But think of this diet as an ultra-healthy version of the Mediterranean diet.

On this diet, I have not only lost weight, but I have become a more happy person. I also eat much less, not by restricting myself, but because my appetite is smaller and I now know exactly when I'm full. I never crave foods either, which makes this diet much easier to follow. Next week is my graduation and I am the same weight I was when I started my degree program two years ago. Overall, I've lost about 18 pounds so far. And even though I am graduating with an enormous amount of student loans hanging over my head in the worst job market since the 1970s (Read-I have no job yet), I have not lost my newfound happiness.

P.S. Most of the recipes I will post from now on will be Rosedale diet friendly recipes and they will be tagged with "Rosedale Diet".

Tabbuli

2009-05-24T21:17:00.005+01:00

This salad is a mainstay in Lebanese cuisine. It is incredibly healthy and delicious! If you need more reason to eat it, it even has its own theme song.

Ingredients:

2 large bunches of Italian flat parsley, finely chopped (about 4 cups when chopped)
1 cup finely chopped fresh mint or 1/4-1/3 cup dried mint
1/2 bunch green onions (scallions), finely chopped
1/8 teaspoon coriander
2-3 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 or 2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2-2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions:

Place the chopped parsley, mint, and scallions in a large bowl. Mix the onions with the salt, cinnamon, and pepper in a small bowl and add that to the mixture in the large bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes and lemon juice. Toss the salad. Right before serving, add the olive oil, toss and serve.

Notes:

Normally, this salad contains burghul (cracked wheat). If you want to include this, rinse 3/4 cup burghul. Drain and squeeze out the excess water. Add it to the mixing bowl as the first step and continue with the recipe.

Also, you can prepare this recipe ahead of time (1-2 hours). Just leave out the tomatoes and olive oil until you're ready to serve. Cover the salad with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Crispy Greens to Go

2009-01-29T13:11:00.003Z

I like to pack salads for lunch, but the dressing always gives me a problem. Living in big cities, I've never had the luxury of driving to work nor of driving to college. If I put my salad dressing in the container with my salad, my salad is soggy come lunchtime. If anything makes you not want to eat a salad, its soggy lettuce. If I put the dressing in another container, it invariably spills out everywhere. As a result, I never packed salads for lunch until someone tipped me off about putting my salad dressing in a travel bottle. You know, those tiny bottles you use to put your shampoo in when you travel? Genius! Not a spill to be found and no more soggy greens.

The Secrets of Butter

2008-12-17T14:33:00.003Z

In another excellent article in the New York Time's Dining and Wine section, the author writes about the properties of butter that most home cooks ignore. For mixing and creaming, butter should be at 65 degrees (F). At 68 degrees, it begins to melt, along with your chances of getting a perfect cookie. The reason is that butter is an emulsion of water in fat which helps it to hold air pockets when you cream it. After the butter starts to melt, the emulsion is gone and you can't get it back by refrigerating it. The article advises home cooks to freeze the batter if the butter starts to warm up and to not use a paddle speed above medium on a stand mixer.

Perhaps this knowledge is key to my Thanksgiving puff pastry failure. I tried to make my own puff pastry and after 3 hours of hard work, there was barely any puff to it. I thought I hadn't used enough butter (the recipe wasn't very specific), but I think that the more immediate problem was that my butter had melted by the time I folded it into my pastry dough. Well, I'm going to give it another try and if I'm successful, I will be sure to post a well-written, detailed recipe.

Morning Oatmeal

2008-11-21T14:36:00.002Z

I've always loved the oatmeal my school cafe serves in the mornings and now I've managed to replicate it! It's thick, creamy and delicious. Yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk (organic milk highly recommended)
1 40g (1.41 oz) packet of instant oatmeal

Using the high setting on your stove, heat the milk until it boils. You'll need to watch it because once it starts to boil, the milk will start rising and will boil right out of the pan if you don't stir it. Add the instant oatmeal, turn the heat down to medium, and cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Keep cooking the oatmeal until you get the desired thickness.

Battle of Cheese: Ricotta vs. Cottage

2008-09-26T12:10:00.006+01:00

First, let me apologize for not posting in so long. I am in my second year of grad school and my schedule has been super crazy. Second, let me admit that I have a problem. I always confuse ricotta cheese and cottage cheese. Every time I go to the grocery store intending to buy one, I somehow end up buying the other. They do look a little similar, but not so similar. Let's compare:

Ricotta Cheese

Cottage Cheese

You see, they don't look that similar, but I don't even figure out that I bought the wrong one until I taste it. Now, about the uses of these cheeses:

I love ricotta cheese on pizza. They call it white pizza. I also love ravioli with a ricotta filling. And in this blog, they propose a very interesting ricotta and chocolate dessert. On to cottage cheese. Sometimes I like to eat cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast. I also like to put cottage cheese in a food processor or blender, add sweetener and flavoring, and use as a frosting or cream topping for desserts. I particularly like cottage cheese blended with agave syrup (for sweetness) and a little bit of lavender water.

What do you guys do with ricotta and cottage cheese? Does anyone else confuse these two?

St. Dalefour Royal Fig Jam

2008-09-03T01:10:00.003+01:00

This past weekend, in NYC, I found this elusive jam again. I had first tasted it at my friend's house who had bought it from a small Arab grocery. Then I couldn't find it anywhere and my friend couldn't find it either. Maybe it is a seasonal item? Well if it is, labor day weekend was apparently the right season. I found it in Forager's Market in DUMBO. DUMBO is a specific neighborhood in Brooklyn. Like many neighborhoods in NYC, its name is an acronym that stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. For an interesting read on the recent history of the neighborhood, click here.

What I like about this jam is that it is very thick and not too sweet. It is also fruit-sweetened. I like to spread it over buttered toast, I like to mix some in with my yogurt, and yes it even tastes good with ricotta cheese and a little agave. I hope you will be able to sample this delicious treat.

A perfect cookie sheet

2008-08-30T14:00:00.000+01:00

Recently I bought a nonstick cookie sheet from Williams Sonoma (my favorite shop for cookware). It is incredible. Sometimes I heat up sandwiches with cheese in them and the cheese leaks out onto the sheet. The cheese never ever sticks. I don't even have to apply any pressure to get it off the pan. It is simply incredible! Plus, this sheet is the perfect size for tiny ovens (for the longest time, I didn't have a cookie sheet because I couldn't find one that fit into my oven!). Call me crazy, but I think I am in love...

Middle Eastern Style Croque Madame

2008-08-29T23:20:00.003+01:00

OK, now I'm on this Middle Eastern food kick, but I can't help it. After all, when you have tons of delicious pita rounds waiting to be eaten, you sort of get creative...This is a fantastic breakfast recipe. I personally like stuffing my pitas with muenster cheese and mortadella slices, but you can put together your own favorite combinations (the possibilities are endless!). This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

1 large white pita round
4 slices of your favorite cheese
2 slices of ham or your favorite cold cut
2 eggs
salt and pepper
butter

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Cut your pita round in half and place a slice of ham inside each half. Put two cheese slices in each half (spread them out so you'll have cheese on every part of the sandwich). Place your pita halves on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. While your pitas are baking, melt a thin slice of butter on a frying pan. With the heat on medium, crack your eggs onto the pan and cook sunny side up for about 5 minutes.

Once the pitas have cooked for 10 minutes, plate them and place one egg on each half of the pita round. Sprinkle the egg with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Notes: If you like to use whole wheat pita, decrease the oven cooking time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes.

Italian meyer lemon sorbetto

2008-08-27T13:31:00.000+01:00

This recipe comes from a neat little ice cream book I bought years ago called Gelato, sorbet and ice cream by Elsa Petersen-Schepelern. The original recipe calls for regular lemons, but I found meyer lemons and thought they might taste even better. Meyer lemons are sweeter and more fragrant than regular lemons and the plant is originally from China.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup agave nectar (or you can substitute with 3/4-1 cup sugar)
grated zest of 2 lemons
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 10 lemons)

Boil the water, agave syrup and lemon zest in a small pan, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, cool and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Next add the lemon juice and churn in your ice cream maker and freeze. Before serving, soften in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe makes 3.5 cups of sorbet. You can also substitute lime juice and lime zest to make a lime sorbet. Imagine a margarita made with home-made lime sorbet! My sorbet turned out really well and my husband enjoys it, but as it turns out, I myself am not overly fond of lemon sorbet.

Alive and Kicking Lobsters

2008-08-23T23:12:00.003+01:00

Today I dropped in on this lobster shack where you can buy lobsters and other seafood. They have tables outside where you can sit and eat, but the only food they make is lobster sandwiches. I can live with that...these lobster sandwiches are the best I've ever had! And trust me, I've tried a lot (It's hard to avoid eating lobster in Boston). I think the main reason these lobster sandwiches are so so good is that the lobster meat is very fresh. The sandwiches cost a pretty penny ($13), but I think they are well worth the price. Here's the contact info:

Alive and Kicking Lobsters
269 Putnam Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.876.0451

A Wonderful Whole Wheat Pasta

2008-08-21T13:00:00.000+01:00

As I was browsing the pasta aisle at my local Whole Foods, I spotted Gia Russa's 100% Whole Wheat Linguine. Since I hadn't yet found a whole wheat pasta I truly liked, I thought I'd try it. Well sometimes it pays to try new things. The pasta was absolutely wonderful! The box said whole grain, but the flavor was so light and delicate I had to double check the ingredients list after tasting.

I paired this pasta with a very light sauce. Sometimes the taste of whole wheat can drown out light pasta sauces, but the pleasant taste of the linguine remained in the background as my wonderful tomato sauce took center stage in the taste arena. So far, this is the best whole wheat pasta I've eaten!

Middle Eastern Style Pizza

2008-08-20T13:00:00.003+01:00

This is a quick, easy, and delicious treat. Instead of using pizza dough, we use pita bread. It is also a very versatile recipe and you can easily create hundreds of varieties.

Ingredients:

3 large pita breads (or 6 small ones)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 can diced tomatoes
4 scallions
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

First prepare the topping. Place the beef in a large bowl. Carefully wash the scallions and take off any soft parts from the ends. Chop of the root part off and toss it. Chop the scallions in thin slices. Add the scallions to your bowl. Open the can of diced tomatoes and separate the tomatoes from the tomato juice. Add the tomatoes to your bowl and reserve the tomato juice for another recipe (like pasta sauce). Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on the beef mixture and mix well.

Place one pita bread on a cookie sheet, pretty side up. Place one tablespoon of olive oil on the pita bread and spread it all over the bread using a pastry brush or your fingers. Place one third of the beef mixture on the bread and spread it out evenly. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat this procedure for the remaining pieces of pita bread.

Not Crying while Chopping Onions

2008-08-19T16:30:00.002+01:00

I've been wearing contact lenses since I was 12 years old so I never quite understood why people cried when chopping onions. Then one day, I chopped onions before putting on my contacts and the tears immediately started flowing. To make matters worse, I was rubbing away the tears with my hands that had touched the onion! That day, I learned that wearing contacts prevents the gas onions release from getting into your eyes.

If you don't wear contact lenses, you can try putting the onions in the fridge for an hour before chopping them. In my tiny NYC kitchen, I had no counter space and so I always stored my onions in the fridge. That was why chopping onions never bothered me too much when I didn't have my contacts on. I spent this past summer in Turkey and we always kept the onions outside of the fridge in that kitchen. I couldn't ever get through chopping an entire onion because the tears would obscure my vision too much. It was a fresh reminder for me of the benefits of refrigerating onions before chopping them.

My new Citrus Juicer

2008-08-18T19:06:00.005+01:00

This past weekend I took a stroll through Williams-Sonoma, my absolute favorite cooking store. In case you haven't been there, imagine a chef's paradise. They have possibly everything you'd ever need to put in your kitchen (minus the fresh food). A significant portion of the store is dedicated to handy-dandy cooking tools and this Citrus Juicer is my latest acquisition.

I first spotted it on the Martha Stewart Show. They made juicing lemons look so effortless using this juicer. I wanted in on the action too! I use lemon juice a lot and I got tired of squeezing it myself and then wasting time scraping out the odd seeds that fell in my juice. I noticed that I was even beginning to avoid cooking with lemon juice to avoid going through all that trouble just to get lemon juice. And to top it all off, putting small cuts on your hands in direct contact with lemon juice is not pleasant (even though its good for disinfecting the cut, it stings like hell).

I used it for the first time today and it was quick and easy. It takes less effort than squeezing lemons by hand and gets more juice out for you. I just love love love collecting useful kitchen tools to simplify and speed up the prep work. Sigh. Happy Sigh.

Byblos Restaurant in Norwood, MA

2008-08-16T19:24:00.006+01:00

Twice now I have had the pleasure of eating at this fantastic Lebanese restaurant located in Norwood, MA (Norwood is about 30 minutes away from Boston). Byblos Restaurant serves traditional Lebanese fare that tastes homemade. My husband and I decided to split one of the family platters for two people. The first part of our meal was an excellent Tabouli Salad:

This is a salad made using diced fresh italian parsley, diced onions, diced tomatoes, diced cucumbers and cracked wheat. The dressing on the salad is a lemon and olive oil salad dressing. What I love most about this salad is the texture of it. Some people take shortcuts and chop the parsley in a food processor, which makes the salad a little soft and soggy. At Byblos, however, no such shortcuts were taken. This salad is absolutely my favorite salad in the world! The next item was Hommus:

Hommus is a spread made from garbanzo beans. The beans are cooked and mashed along with garlic and lemon juice. The hommus here was very well done. The main dish was a wonderful platter of rice, Kibbee layers, stuffed grape leaves, chicken kabob and beef kabob:

Kibbee is a dish baked in the oven that consists of two layers of meat mixed with cracked wheat and a layer of ground meat, onions, and pine nuts in the center. Every bit of this platter tastes just as good as it looks. Have I convinced you all to try this restaurant yet?

The price of this platter, $40, is very reasonable considering the sheer quantity of food we received. The atmosphere of the restaurant is very elegant yet friendly. As a diner, you're bound to see the very kind owner Maurice going around to all the tables to welcome his guests. This indeed is Lebanese hospitality at its finest. The restaurant has been open for approximately 15 years. The waiters are impeccable. I'm normally quite disappointed with waiters in most restaurants but I never had a cause for complaint here.

I asked the owner if he had trouble introducing Lebanese food into the community and he told me that there are many descendants of immigrants from Lebanon in the area. These immigrants came to the US in the late 1800's when Lebanon was still part of the Ottoman Empire. For the descendants that still live in that area today, the food Byblos offered brought them memories of food they ate as young kids with their immigrant grandparents.

On Fridays and Saturdays, they have live music in the restaurant. There are two bands that play there: an Arab band and a Greek-Armenian band. I went last night to hear the Greek-Armenian band playing. They are talented musicians and the singer has a beautiful voice. At one point in the evening, a belly dancer came out to perform. So come on, have I convinced you to go yet? Here's their contact info:

Byblos Restaurant
678 Washington Street
Norwood, MA 02062
781.762.8998
781.278.0000

Tampa Bay Herbs, Spices, and Supplements Store

2008-08-13T18:33:00.003+01:00

During my one-week stay in the Tampa Bay area, I decided to make some homemade beauty products for my mother. We first went to a natural food store (Rollin' Oats) and afterward we were directed to this amazing place. Great American Natural Products sell herbs, spices, herbal supplements, fragrance, essential oils, and other oils. They even sell empty bottles, jars, plastic pipettes, and funnels -- all essential ingredients for making your own skincare products.

My mother and I must have spent at least one or two hours in the store speaking to the extremely kind ladies behind the counter. We had a huge shopping list. Not only did they find everything for us, but they even helped us get the exact quantities we needed. They converted grams to ounces for us and they even compared their prices to the prices of the items we bought at the natural food store to help us find the best price. For the few items where they had higher prices, they matched the lower price from the food store. I can't emphasize enough how good the customer service was here. A few times a year, they even teach aromatherapy classes. Here's the contact info:

Great American Natural Products Inc.
4121 16th Street N
St. Petersburg, FL 33703
727-521-4372

Zico Coconut Water

2008-08-11T13:00:00.000+01:00

I recently have gone back to doing bikram yoga on a regular basis and my absolute favorite post-workout drink is Zico mango coconut water. Coconut water is the liquid inside the coconut and it is incredibly refreshing after workouts. Sometimes the anticipation of my post-workout coconut water actually gets me through the class....Hey, whatever it takes! It's not quite as good as fresh coconut water, but its a great substitute if you don't have a coconut tree handy.

Turtle Mountain Organic Coconut Milk Ice Cream

2008-08-10T22:33:00.007+01:00

This afternoon, as I was shopping in a Floridian health food store called Rolling Oats, I discovered this ice cream. I'm always looking for a commercial ice cream that is sugar-free, but not full of chemicals I can't pronounce. It's actually a tough search. Most of the sugar-free ice creams that are naturally sweetened don't taste so good because they're made with soy. Which is why I bought my own ice cream maker and started making my own ice cream sweetened with agave, a natural nectar from cactus that is very low on the glycemic index. Turtle Mountain specializes in dairy-free ice creams, which is likely why they developed this dairy-free, sugar-free ice cream.

I tried the simple coconut and the vanilla bean flavors. Simply amazing! The ingredients in my simple coconut ice cream are: organic coconut milk, organic agave syrup, chicory root extract, organic dried coconut, carob bean gum, guar gum, and natural flavor. The coconut milk gives the ice cream a smooth, creamy texture and the addition of dried coconut adds a nice crunch to the smoothness of the ice cream. I think I'm a fan for life... Other flavors currently available in this line of ice creams are chocolate, cookie dough, and mint chip.

Update: I tried the vanilla coconut and the chocolate. I didn't really like the vanilla coconut as much as the plain coconut, but I thought the chocolate was fantastic! The cookie dough has sugar in it, so I cannot eat it...

Feeding your Skin

2008-08-03T13:00:00.000+01:00

This summer, while browsing through the English-language floor of a Turkish bookstore, I happened upon a book called Feeding your Skin by Carla Oates. I firmly believe that what you eat affects the way your skin looks, but this book is about how to create your own skincare. This week I made myself a geranium and clay cleanser, which is geared for oily and acneous skin. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

20 drops geranium essential oil
2 teaspoons jojoba oil
4 tablespoons liquid Castile soap
2 teaspoons green clay

Add the essential oil and jojoba oil to the Castile soap and mix well. Mix in the clay and smooth out any clumps. Then you can use a little bit to wash your face with.
This cleanser should last up to six months.

By the way, don't use metal bowls to mix because metal reacts with fruits and vegetables. If you use a wooden spoon to mix this, I wouldn't reuse it later to cook food with. Castile soap is a gentle cleanser that doesn't strip your skin of its natural oils the way other soaps do. It's true, in high school, my chemistry teacher informed us that the way soap cleans is by dissolving your skin!

Restaurant Review: Bin26 Enoteca

2008-08-02T13:53:00.010+01:00

Last night I got all dolled up for a nice dinner out...and then realized that Bostonians don't really dress up so much to go out. In any case, I enjoyed my meal at Bin26, which is located on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill is absolutely my favorite part of Boston because every time I go there I feel like I've traveled back in time a century. Here's a photo of an alleyway:

Bin26 is a small, casual-chic Italian eatery that serves a lot of Italian standards. My husband and I ate at the bar because we didn't feel like waiting 45 minutes for a table. One great thing about eating at the bar here is that the service is great because all the waiters have to go to the bar to get cutlery and drinks for guests. So they have to see you, which means they will not forget about you. Still, we waited over 30 minutes between our appetizer and our main course. In my husband's eyes, it is unforgivably bad. In my I-prefer-meals-to-drag-on-forever mind, this wasn't sooo bad. This is the what the restaurant looks like from the street:

For our first course, we chose to split steamed mussels:

The mussels were edible, but bland and dry. Where was the flavor and what flavor was it supposed to be? The waiter explained to us that they had just added them to the menu, so maybe that explains it. Still, I wouldn't order them again. They set us back about $11. For my main course, I had Farro Fussili:

I was really surprised that they had Farro (spelt) pasta on the menu because it is really rare to find whole-grain pastas served in restaurants. The pasta was tossed with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and a light oil-based sauce. I enjoyed the shape of the Fussili because my hair curls into that same shape. Very pleasant indeed, although the pasta was not al dente. That never used to bother me until I spent the summer cooking and living with a Chilean from an Italian family. My husband ordered a duck breast cooked with turnips:

It wasn't as tender as I expected it to be and the flavor was a little bland. Certainly not worth the $27 they charge for it, especially when compared to my much better-tasting $14 pasta. I believe the duck was braised and when you braise such a fatty animal, you have to add some strong flavors to the meat. Otherwise, it will just taste like fat.

The wine list was nice and we drank a very nice rose. I like that you can order wine in 3 different quantities (4 if you count ordering the entire bottle). It makes it entirely possible to taste many different wines in one dinner. I think I would return here, but mostly for the pleasant atmosphere. By the way, the online menu doesn't seem to be up to date.

Recipe: Simple Summer Parfait

2008-07-31T15:36:00.003+01:00

This is a great breakfast for hot summer days because yogurt and fruit really cools you down. The agave adds a touch of sweetness.

Ingredients:

1 cup thick yogurt
2 apricots
2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
1 teaspoon agave nectar (optional)

Mix your ingredients together and enjoy a perfect summer breakfast. You can substitute in honey instead of agave nectar. It looks most elegant served in a martini glass.

Turkish Recipes

2008-07-27T13:19:00.000+01:00

I found this amazing web site with great Turkish recipes. It is incredible. Some recipes that I will soon try are Turkish Coffee, Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, Stuffed Artichokes with Olive Oil, Antalya Style Kidney Bean Salad, Apricot Couscous, and Caviar-stuffed eggs (yum!). If any of you try some of the recipes on the site, I would love to hear about your experiences. Do Share!

Recipe: Energy Drink

2008-07-26T12:44:00.003+01:00

I've been inspired by my incredible jet lag to share this recipe my alternative health practitioner originally gave me to combat fatigue. It works by giving your body all the inputs it needs for the Krebs Cycle to work. If you're like me, rusty on your biology, know that at the cellular level the Krebs Cycle basically uses carbon dioxide and water to create energy.

Ingredients:

16 ounces carbonated water (like club soda)
Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
4 ounces of apple cider (the cloudy stuff, not the clear one)

Mix all the ingredients and voila! It should take around 20 minutes to take effect.

Restaurant Review: Meshur Cig Kofteci

2008-07-22T10:25:00.001+01:00

This weekend I tried two dishes at this restaurant, Iskender Kebab and Cig Kofte. The Iskender Kebab, which I've previously posted on, was quite good. In particular, the tomato sauce here impressed me. This is the second-best Iskender Kebab I've tried so far.

Cig Kofte is a Kofte made from bulgur, onions, barley, raw ground beef, tomato and pepper paste, and enough spices to make you cry. I ate it as a wrap with lettuce in my wrap. As if it wasn't spicy enough, you can even have them spread a dark spicy paste and add chili peppers to your sandwich. Needless to say, I didn't go for extra spice. There is no amount of ayran that could soothe my mouth after that. The Cig Kofte is an impressively cheap meal. The sandwich plus ayran cost me about $2. The sandwich is so filling that I only managed to eat about half of it, so it's great to share if you have a small appetite. In my opinion, its not a bad meal, but if I'm going to eat raw meat, I would rather be able to taste the meat and not just feel the spices in my mouth.

The address is:
Kurumlar Caddesi No: 2 (in Kizilay)
419 50 65
419 50 64

Restaurant Review: Dostlar Manti

2008-07-21T10:15:00.000+01:00

It is the second Friday in a row that I've eaten lunch at this place in Ankara and I just can't get enough of it. The main specialty here is manti, which is a Turkish kind of mini dumpling. The dough is very thin and soft like ravioli and it is filled with lean beef. At this restaurant the dumplings are served in a tomato and yogurt sauce. Traditional dried herb toppings you sprinkle on top are red pepper, mint, and cumin. I've had manti at one or two other places in Ankara, but they just don't compare.

The restaurant info is:

Cigdem Mah. Segmen Is Mrk. 357 Sok. No. 3/22
Karakusunlar- Balgat/Ankara
312 284 1965

Le Burger

2008-07-18T12:49:00.002+01:00

In another fabulous article in the New York Time's dining and wine section, the author comments on the rising popularity of hamburgers in Paris. Not fast food burgers, but rather burgers served in restaurants. I myself am a huge fan of le cheeseburger. There's just something about it that tastes incredible. But don't think for a moment that I would take myself to the nearest McDonald's to satisfy my cheeseburger cravings.

I haven't yet found a cheeseburger deserving mention in Boston, but in New York City, my favorite burger was from the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, which opened in 2004. The Shack is run by Danny Meyer, co-owner of Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe. In fact, the burgers are so good that you may find yourself standing in line for over an hour just to get your hands on that freshly prepared, perfectly cooked, joy in a bun. On their website they even have a webcam where you can check how long the line is before you go! Some people say the burger joint at the Parker Meridian hotel in midtown NYC is good, but it doesn't compare to a Shake Shack burger. Some West Coast people have dared to suggest that the IN-N-OUT Burger is the best, but until I taste it, Shake Shack is my number one burger joint.

Restaurant Review: Uludag Kebap

2008-07-17T09:59:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of eating lunch in a wonderful restaurant in Ankara that only serves Iskender Kebab. Iskender Kebab is a beef kebab that consists of a layers of flat bread topped by a layer of thinly-sliced beef. All of this is served with a wonderful beef and tomato sauce and is supplemented by a good portion of yogurt on the side of your plate. Also, you will usually get a roasted tomato and roasted chile pepper on your plate as well.

At Uludag Kebap, I had the best Iskender Kebab I've ever tasted. Locals say it even rivals the Iskender Kebab you get in Bursa, the city famous for Iskender Kebab. Iskender is the Turkish word for Alexander. The Kebab is named Iskender Kebab because the guy who invented it was named Iskender. The restaurant has locations in Ankara and in Istanbul, but they first opened in Ankara in 1956. Bon Appetit (or Afiyet Olsun in Turkish)!

Street Foods of Ankara Part 2

2008-07-10T09:41:00.002+01:00

This past weekend, as I was sightseeing, I discovered these wonderful juice stands on Attaturk Boulevard around Kizilay and Ulus. The juice is freshly squeezed and is incredibly refreshing on a hot day. I tried raspberry juice and orange juice. They were naturally sweet and inexpensive (less than $2 for a small bottle) I wish we had juice stands like this in the United States!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-09T13:39:00.006+01:00

In a fantastic New York Times article on the ubiquitous chocolate chip cookie, the author details the history of the cookie and collects tips from renowned NYC bakers. First, the history. The cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield in the 1930s. Ruth ran the Toll House Inn in Whitman, MA, 23 miles south of Boston. The name Toll House sound familiar to you? Nestle's chocolate chip cookies are called Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies because they entered into a partnership with Mrs. Wakefield whereby they printed her recipe on the wrapping of their semi-sweet chocolate bars.

Now for the baking tips. Basically, the article interviews several bakers to develop tips to perfect the chocolate chip cookie. Here is a summary of the tips:

Let the dough sit for 36 hours in the fridge before baking.
They taste better served warm.
The chocolate to dough ratio is very important. 40 to 60 is the recommended ratio.
The cookies are best baked in a 6 inch size. This allows them to develop 3 different "zones" of flavor and texture.
Using high-quality chocolate with at least a 60% cocoa content is important.
Don't underestimate what some salt will do for the flavor.
Using flat chocolate disks gives you better results than chips because they incorporate better.

Most importantly, they produced a recipe incorporating all those tips. My oven in Turkey is too unreliable to produce my own sugar-free and whole grain version right now, but I copied the Times recipe below:

Adapted from Jacques Torres

Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons

(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

Drinking in Turkey

2008-07-07T15:01:00.002+01:00

If you can swallow the high prices you pay for alcohol here (the not terribly impressive bar that I have been going to charges 20 dollars just for one mojito!!!), going out for drinks can be quite a pleasant experience. With your drinks come plates of cucumbers, tomatoes, white feta-like cheese, mixed nuts, and fruits. I find it so much more pleasant to drink and stuff my face at the same time.

Turkish Yogurt Soup- Cacik

2008-06-29T12:12:00.004+01:00

I bought a Turkish cookbook and am starting to try recipes out at home. This was my first attempt and an amazing one at that! The recipe is for 10 people, but a little division goes a long way for smaller parties.

Ingredients:

5 medium-sized cucumbers
1 kg thick yogurt
6 cloves garlic
2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
salt

Instructions:
Peel the cucumbers, cut lengthwise into 4 pieces and chop into smaller pieces from there. Mince the garlic cloves and add a strong dash of salt. Place the yogurt into a deep dish and add your garlic and cucumbers. Stir. While stirring, slowly add water. Add the olive oil to the surface before serving.

Notes: This is a perfect summer soup! If you cannot buy thick yogurt, see my post Two Things to do with Yogurt. If you let the soup sit in the fridge for a half hour before serving, more of the garlic flavor will be absorbed by the yogurt.

Two Things to do with Yogurt

2008-06-25T17:30:00.005+01:00

I have two ideas on ways to eat Greek or Turkish-style yogurt, but sadly I can't take credit for either of them. The first one I owe to a friend in the UK and the second one I owe to one of my Chilean housemates. Here goes...

Idea number 1: Buy dates and dip them into Greek yogurt. Resulting flavor? Caramel, pure caramel baby.

Idea number 2: Take a spoonful of fruit jam and mix into your Greek or Turkish yogurt (or whatever thick yogurt you have). This beats any fruit yogurt you can buy at a grocery store.

If you're stuck with thin yogurt, you can line a colander with a dishtowel. Put your colander into a bigger bowl and spoon your thin yogurt into the colander. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours to let the water drip out and give you thicker yogurt. Or you can make your own yogurt....

One last yogurt tip: Do not eat it or serve it with a metal spoon. The metal spoon draws out the water and will make your yogurt watery. I use wooden spoons or bamboo spoons, but plastic also works well.

Street Foods in Ankara

2008-06-19T14:09:00.003+01:00

Last night I had the pleasure of tasting two of the most popular street foods in Ankara. I tasted mussels and a tripe sandwich from two street stands in the popular bar-filled area around Tunali Hilmi Caddesi. They were both fantastic, although the tripes were so spicy they made me cry!! (FYI, tripes are intestines.)

The mussels are cooked with rice inside. When they serve you, they break the mussel's shell open for you and squeeze a ton of lemon juice on it. In fact, the predominant flavor that you taste is that of the lemon juice. Absolutely delicious!

The tripe sandwich is a known hangover cure in Turkey. The tripes are grilled right in front of you and served on a bread bun. Before grilling, they are heavily coated in a spice mixture which includes chile peppers and oregano. You can ask for a less spicy or a non-spicy version of it, but I wanted to try the real deal. Although I'm usually OK with very spicy food, it was a little too much for me and I had to order an ayran (a yogurt drink) to cool my mouth off!

Also, a third street dish becoming more and more popular in the streets of Ankara is boiled corn. I'm interested in your stories of street foods you've eaten in different places. Please share with us!

Recipe: Mushroom Spaghetti

2008-06-17T09:36:00.002+01:00

This recipe was inspired by a very disappointing Mushroom Fettuccine I had this weekend at a cafe in my neighborhood (which shall remain unnamed). I decided to avenge my poor disappointed taste buds by making my own version of Mushroom Fettuccine. This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 packet of whole-grain pasta (I used whole-wheat spaghetti)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups fresh cream
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Fill a spaghetti pot with water and heat on high to get it boiling. Once boiling, add your preferred amount of salt and place your pasta inside. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet (make sure to take it off the heat when it is al dente). Drain your pasta and set it into a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix in with your pasta to prevent sticking.

For the sauce, chop your mushrooms in quarters (for big ones) and halves (for the smaller ones). Set the mushrooms aside. Pull the rosemary off the sprigs and chop it into smaller pieces. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan and heat over medium heat. Next, drop your rosemary and mushrooms into the frying pan, season with some salt and pepper, and saute for about 5-7 minutes. Pour in your cream, and stir occasionally for a few minutes. Remove from the stove, salt to taste, and pour into your bowl of pasta.

Notes: You can use whatever type of pasta you prefer here, but I truly do enjoy the complex flavors of whole-grain pasta (and its superior nutritional advantages). You can also substitute other herbs for the rosemary in this dish. Some substitutes I think would taste good here are sage, parsley, and thyme. If you want to be really really fancy, instead of mixing 2 tablespoons of olive oil with your cooked pasta, you can use truffle oil (keeping in mind that less is more with truffle oil).

Istanbul Spice Bazaar

2008-06-13T12:18:00.002+01:00

Last weekend I toured through the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul. It was not as impressive as I thought it would be, but it was certainly not the tourist trap that the Grand Bazaar was. In this Bazaar you can of course buy spices, but you can also buy sweets, nuts, and teas. This Bazaar is one of the oldest bazaars in the city (built in 1660) and is the second-largest covered shopping mall.

I myself bought some Turkish saffron, which is actually dried safflower. They also sell Iranian saffron and Indian saffron (which is actually turmeric, not saffron). The Iranian saffron is the most expensive because it is actually saffron. Here's a great article online that talks about saffron and suggests recipes to use it in.

I thought about buying what the vendors call "Turkish Viagra". This "viagra" is invariably some kind of sweet but since I don't eat sugar I wouldn't have any use for it myself. Vendors in the bazaar advertise it as "Turkish Viagra--5 times in the night". In fact, the vendors in the Bazaars can sell to you in all kinds of languages. As you walk past, they will call out to you in whatever language they think you speak. It's a good way to see what nationality they think you are. Apparently I appear to be Spanish to most people, but a minority of vendors thought I was Italian.