Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

This past week, I was plagued with a very iffy stomach. I think it was anxiety about coursework, but my hyperacidity was back with a fury! I was feeling uncomfortable because although I would eat, I felt unsatisfied and hungry, although mentally I knew that I wasn't hungry. It's a really unpleasant experience. Sometimes, even if I was really truly hungry, I wouldn't eat anything because I couldn't tell if it was real or not. Does that make sense?  Anyway, the week was long and my stomach was uncooperative, so yesterday, I finally found the time to make the mother of all sickness cures: chicken soup. This isn't just any chicken soup, but my dad's recipe. It's very healthy, thick, and satisfying. I'm already feeling better!  Ingredients:  - 1 rotisserie chicken, meat stripped and cut into chunks - 2 stalks celery, chopped - 1 large onion, chopped - 2 carrots, peeled and chopped - 1 shallot, chopped - 5 cloves garlic, sliced - 1 parsni

Wednesday are very busy and long day for me. I have chemistry lab from 8 am - 9:15 am, biology lecture from 9:30 am - 10:45 am, then biology lecture from 11:00 am - 1:45 pm. As you can see, it's all back to back running around! Lecture back to back isn't bad since its in the same theater, but running to my lab is a bit of a pain. I usually find myself speed walking through the park, choking on a granola bar. This past Wednesday was really painful. Lab was a total nightmare. We were studying enzymes and the post lab component just horrible. My TA is not a native English speaker, which is ok, however, her English is really nonexistent. That makes asking her questions really difficult. I haven't been so frustrated in a while. After just under three hours of utter misery, I felt that I deserved a nice lunch. For this reason, I decided to grab a sandwich at one of my favorite sandwich places, located right around the corner from my apartment. Num Pang is a hole in the wall C

For most of my academic life, studying = library. Right? A normal assumption. If one needs to get work done, the library is ideal. I am a fan of libraries, but after a couple hours, they can be sort of depressing --- like an academic prison. After a while, the quiet, the books, the walls...everything...it can get sort of claustrophobic. I don't know...maybe that's just me...anyway...I've recently taken my studying elsewhere. My friend "M", introduced me to a really small, artsy, and nice coffee shop in the West Village. We went there once before with two more people, and I have become quite fond of this place. Also, the coffee is really excellent! Joe: The Art of Coffee 141 Waverly Place, NYC I had to run back to my apartment to grab my bio textbook, but once the text was in my possession, I met "M" at Joe's. He worked on his chemistry essay and I attempted to read. I say "attempted", because we ended up just gossiping about sc

So, school is in full swing and it is chaos. Lots of homework and studying sadly means, not much cooking time! Rather than resort to take out, I felt that it was finally time to break out the crock pot! If you don't have a crock pot, you should get one. They are sooo convenient and easy to use. I even used my crock pot in college!!!! For my first crock pot recipe of the season, I was in the mood for chili. Love love love chili! I did some searching online and found a really yummy recipe. The one problem: it was too big for my crock pot! I own a "Proctor-Silex 1.5 Qt Round Slow Cooker," which is great for one person. This recipe was designed for a larger "family size" crock pot. Oh well...I share with you, my modified smaller version. You can do what I did, where I broke the original recipe into two batches.  This was such a convenient recipe. As I studied, my dinner cooked for about 2 hours! Awesome! All I had to do was turn the slow cooker off and serv

Well, I've just finished my third week of classes at NYU and let me say, it's been a weird roller coaster. I've had my highs and my lows, my scary moments my happy moments, and deep down, I know that this is merely just the beginning...so I had better get used to it! Going back to school hasn't been so hard, but trying to learn subjects I avoided all of my life and the pressure of knowing that I MUST do well this time around...the stress can get to you, especially since chemistry and biology (especially chemistry) are subjects that don't come to me naturally. Luckily, the third week of classes means the third week of getting used to the ginormous university that is NYU and more importantly, it means the third week of going to class with my fellow postbaccs and forming friendships! Hooray! I know this sounds corny or maybe you'll read this and think "duh", but having friends and knowing that they are feeling the way you feel mak

Sometimes too much studying can really overload your brain and you just need to get away. After several hours of studying biology this weekend, I needed a break....so I retreated to the kitchen. One of the reasons why I love to cook/bake is that it's an escape. Some people relieve stress by going to the gym or shopping, I busy myself in the kitchen. Half the time, I'm not cooking because I am hungry, but rather, I am cooking for fun. I love to try new recipes and I love sharing...if my recipes come out well and taste good. If they are no good...they never see the light of day. So, this weekend I tried my hand at brownies. I am going to admit something here, I have never actually baked brownies, but I've eaten an awful lot! To be honest, I had three reasons for baking brownies: 1) I needed a study break, 2) I was curious about trying a new recipe, and 3) I was meeting my new postbac friend "M" in the library tomorrow so he could help me finish my chemistry post l

This weekend was pretty much study-central. Morning to night, all weekend...study, study, study. I know I've probably said this 1,000 times, but as a history major, studying the sciences is really hard. I'm like a fish out of water. Thus, trying to wrap my mind around chemistry and biology...not so easy... Sitting at my desk for hours on end also meant, not a lot of cooking...some baking...but this weekend, I ate more take out than normal. I feel a bit guilty to be honest. I genuinely enjoy cooking and I do try to be healthy. For me, Asian food, especially Japanese food, is comfort food. Something about the ingredients and flavors...I love love love it! The Japanese food in particular reminds me of my mom, which makes me think of home, which puts me at ease. Saturday lunch: Pork Katsu-Don with Edamame and Miso Soup Sunday was a particularly miserable "chemistry day." I was up at 8 am and studied pretty much non-stop until about 8pm! The morning was spent i

Yesterday morning, rather than getting up at 6:30/7 am, as I usually do during the week, I slept in until 9 am! What a luxury! It was nice to get up naturally with sunshine, rather than grumble and start my day hating my alarm. Rather than jump out of bed, I just laid there, enjoying the morning. I was also contemplating what to have for breakfast. For the past couple of months, I spent the weekends at home in NJ, so this weekend was the first time in about 2 months (at least) that I woke up in my apartment on a Saturday! Surely this occasion needed to be commemorated with a nice breakfast. During the week, because I am up so early, I don't eat much. I pay for this in the middle of lecture, but hey, what can you do? In addition to coffee, I usually eat a 6 oz container of yogurt and/or a piece of fruit. I was determined to make a nice brunch that differed from my weekly breakfast. Finally forcing myself out of bed, I made my way to the kitchen to inspect my fridge. After a few

Recently, I just finished reading this book by British food critic Giles Coren. I discovered this book a few weeks ago whilst on vacation in London. I was shopping at the Waterstone's (book store) near our hotel when this shiny cover with caught my eye. I love food and I really like Giles, so buying his book was a no-brainer.  I loved this book. It was really well written, insightful, and just down right hilarious! I mean, it's written in his voice, which is a style of writing that I really admire; very reminiscent of Stephen Fry's prose style. Giles isn't afraid to tell you what he's thinking, for better or for worse, and I appreciate his honesty. At times I thought he was a bit too extreme in his opinions (ex: "Chocolate is utterly pointless. It is what fat people have instead of cigarettes." - pg 253), but overall, I thought his observations were spot on.  One of my favorite things about this book is that between every other chapter, Giles pr

So tonight for dinner, I thought I'd cook one of my favorite dishes, which also happens to be a family recipe. "Curried Pork" or "Dirty Pork" (as dad called it) is a really yummy dish. You need some boneless pork chops (the cheaper and plumper the cut, the tastier the meat). I'm serious! Today, I bought 2 pork chops and they cost me like $3 and they were DELICIOUS! When my dad was in medical school, as a poor med student, he didn't have a lot of resources, so he came up with cheap and delicious meals. Pork is one of his favorite foods...so any excuse for a pork chop. He also really likes curry, so this dish is a perfect combination of his favorite foods and flavors. This dish is super simple to make and the flavors are awesome! I highly recommend it. Also, you can substitute the pork with chicken or turkey. (I've done that too). At home, we usually eat this curried pork with rice, but tonight I had some naan, which was equally tasty. Ingredien

At the same party, see buttermilk biscuits post below, I also made a really delicious white zinfandel sangria. At a summer party two years ago my parents and I tried making this drink and it was a massive hit! As in, as soon as we served the sangria, it disappeared! I know summer is over, but this white zinfandel sangria is really delicious and a fantastic beverage for parties! It's really light, refreshing, and oh so tasty! Ingredients - 1 750 ml bottle of chilled white zinfandel - 1/2 cup peach schnapps - 2 tbsp Cointreau or other orange liqueur - 2 tbsp sugar - 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half - 1 lemon, sliced - 1 orange, sliced - 1 peach, sliced into wedges - 1 10oz bottle of chilled seltzer Instructions Making this sangria is really easy. Prepare all the alcohol, fruit, and other ingredients. Mix the first 8 ingredients together in a tall pitcher. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving, mix in seltzer.