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

Last week, I met a good friend in Park Slope (Brooklyn) for drinks and dinner. My friend, S, is moving to Boston to start graduate school in biochemistry. I am so proud of her and cannot wait to see all of her achievements! I couldn't let her leave New York without seeing her off, so we had a really wonderful evening filled with delicious drinks, scrumptious food, and lots of laughter! What could be better? We visited two bars and the drinks were great, but for me, the highlight of the evening was dinner. S took me to an amazing local spot called " Wangs ." To quote their website, "Wangs is a casual take out restaurant specializing in fried chicken, combining Southern soul food and east Asian flavor profiles to create a truly unique food experience." I cannot speak highly enough about this place! Wangs is basically a small kitchen and a picnic table. It's not a restaurant, but more of a take out spot. It's casual and down to earth and unassuming....

A few weekends ago, R and I decided to have a very healthy dinner. After feasting on lamb chops for dinner the previous evening and overloading on sugar for brunch, we thought we needed a cleanse of sorts. We decided to have something light and healthy for dinner, so we had a salad night. After brunch, we walked over to Fairway and stocked up on groceries. We bought zucchini, squash, sugar snap peas, mesculin greens, a cucumber, a red pepper, carrots, an avocado, and a roast chicken. Quite a selection! Together, we created our salad bar and began to assemble our salads. (R steamed his zucchini, squash, and sugar snap peas).  It was a lot of fun creating our own salads. R isn't a huge salad person, so this really was a new experience for him, and he seemed to like it. I'll admit, having salad wasn't the most satisfying dinner, but we felt healthy and after all of the indulging, it was a needed change. This certainly wasn't the most exciting dinner we've had...

Last Friday night, R and I kicked off the weekend with a really lovely dinner of oven roasted lamb, potatoes, and buttered haricot verts. We had been discussing making lamb for quite some time, so when I went to Ottomanelli & Sons for pork belly, I thought that was the perfect place to buy a rack of lamb. I wasn't looking to do anything too crazy or elaborate. I'm a fan of simple flavors and straight forward cooking. My marinade was easy to make, but delicious. I was also pleased to learn how easy it was to cook the lamb.  Guess-timating the exact cooking time for that my lamb came out pink in the center, but not raw, was a bit tricky, since I didn't have a meat thermometer or temperature gun. Still, R and I did our best and the lamb cooked perfectly. Not only was it pink in the center, the meat was really succulent and flavorful. Yum! Ingredients: - 1 rack of lamb, frenched (about 8 individual chops)* - 1 tbsp olive oil - 1 tbsp chopped rosemary (and...

A few weeks ago, I tried my hand at roasting some pork belly. I love this cut of meat because it's so tasty and soft. I've never actually made pork belly, so I thought this could be a fun experiment.  The pork belly was super easy to make, however, I quickly remembered why restaurants only serve small pieces of pork belly. I made this for dinner and although it was really yummy, it was so heavy and very filling! After only a couple bites, I was completely full! Still, I had a lot of fun preparing, cooking, and eating this dish. This recipe was slightly modified, but taken from " Pinch and Swirl ."  Ingredients: - 1 lb skinless pork belly - 1 tbsp salt - 1 tbsp sugar - ground black pepper Directions: 1. Prepare your seasoning by mixing sugar, salt, and ground black pepper together. 2. Season pork belly and let the pork sit in the fridge overnight.  3. Preheat your oven to 450F. 4. Roast pork belly for about 20~30 minutes or unti...

Last week, I ventured into the West Village in search of pork belly. My boyfriend and I had talked about making pork belly, but that's not a common cut of meat that you generally find at the grocery store, so I went to a butcher's shop. I did my research to find a reputable butcher's shop and all of my searching came back to "Ottomanelli's and Sons Meat Market." "Ottomanelli's and Sons Meat Market" on 285 Bleecker Street From the moment I walked into this butcher's shop, I fell in love. The store is not very large, but it exudes personality and history. It is covered with photographs and news clippings, chronicling the store's history. It was very clear to me that Ottomanelli's is a Manhattan icon and a respected establishment. I knew I had come to the right place for my meat purchase.  Although I came to Ottomanelli's with the intention of buying pork belly, I was so enchanted by the huge selection of meat, I en...

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the 10th Anniversary Gohan Society Gala. The Gohan Society was founded with the mission to: "foster an understanding an appreciation of Japan's culinary heritage in the United States through outreach to chefs, culinary arts professionals and all who admire and enjoy Japanese culture." The event was held at SONY's lounge and it was quite extravagant.  My parents and I arrived at around 6 pm and enjoyed two hours of canapés. There were several restaurants represented (Boulud Sud, Nobu, Brushstroke, Gramercy Tavern, just to name a few...) and each restaurant created a canapé that was inspired by Japanese ingredients and cooking.  Gramercy Tavern Nobu Boulud Sud Brushstroke Yummy cake The reception was quite large, I'd estimate at least 150 people, but the actual dinner was much smaller and meant for donors to the society. The dinner featured several speakers, an awards ceremony, and a thre...

A few weekends ago, my boyfriend and I decided to make the pizza-sized cookie. This was either one of the best ideas we've ever had or one of the worst. We had a really fun time baking together and the cookie was really scrumptious. That said, it was very filling and after getting hyped up on sugar, the both of us came down with the "itis." So much cookie! In total, our pizza sized cookie --- filled with chocolate chips, dark chocolate M&Ms, and twix --- was 14 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick! Yep, it was a massive cookie. This is a great family activity or couples activity! The cookie came out absolutely delicious and baked to perfection! I definitely look forward to baking this again, but perhaps for a bigger crowd.  Ingredients: - 14 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp - 1/2 cup granulated sugar - 1/2 cup brown sugar - 2 large eggs - 2 cup flour + 2 tbsp  - 1 tsp baking powder - 3/4 tsp salt - 2 cups chopped halloween candy (We used ...