Glazed Carrots



Glazed Carrots

So I am lucky to have a husband who not only helps clean around the house but also likes to cook for me. He usually likes to cook one or two meals a wk. This week he made these glazed carrots from Alton Brown's Good Eats Volume II cookbook. At first I wasn't sure about it. The ingredients included ginger ale and chili powder. But man did it turn out to be the best carrots we've ever had. We usually don't like carrots or care to cook them either, but these carrots might become a regular in our meals now.

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots, approximately 7 medium, peeled and cut on the bias 1/4-inch thick
• 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• Heavy pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup good-quality ginger ale
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

In a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat, combine the carrots, butter, salt and ginger ale. Cover and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, remove the lid, stir, and reduce the heat to low. Cover again and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid, add the chili powder and increase the heat to high. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the ginger ale is reduced to a glaze, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Pour into a serving dish and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve immediately.

Gravy frites

On Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate, they showcased gravy frites once aka this pile of fries smothered in gravy and cheese. It looked delicious and such a good idea in my eyes. I finally made some one day and loved it! I fried up a batch of french fries. I prefer to make my own. It's cheaper and doesn't take that long to make. This time I used canola oil for frying, which I must say is better than my past experience with vegetable oil. The oil doesn't get dirty quite as fast. Then I made my own gravy. I've never made gravy before so just threw some things together. I threw some butter and minced garlic in the pan along with 1 tbsp of flour. Stirred until the flour was incorporated. Then added 1/4 c of red wine and a small can of beef stock. I also whisked in 1 tbsp of cornstarch. If your cornstarch clumped in the gravy you can always strain your gravy. Brought it to a boil and then let it simmer until thickened. I piled the fries I made earlier in a baking pan, poured the gravy over them, along with some smoked gouda cheese I had grated. Baked it at 350 degrees F until the cheese melted. Yumminess. Especially if you love fries and cheese - my weakness...

A Food Network Fan's Travel to NYC - Eataly

Eataly
Chef Mario Batali  (Iron Chef America)

If I lived in NY, I can see myself going to Eataly quite often. Eataly is this really neat specialty market co-owned by Mario Batali. You can find truffle, caviar, fresh pasta, beautiful veal chops, and unique produce there. Nestled inside the market are a bunch of restaurants too. Everything from sandwiches to pizza or pasta. We sat in the La Pizza/La Pasta side. Their pizza looked really good. It's cooked in their wood fire oven brought over from Naples. But I was already set on trying some Batali-style pasta. I ordered the Spaghettone  Cacio e Pepe. It was cooked very al dente. Coming from someone who likes their pasta overcooked at home, I have to say al dente is quite nice. The pasta was tossed in cheese from Lazio and black pepper. That's it. But I kept trying to figure out if there was some secret sauce in it. The pasta was so creamy. So good. Matt ordered the veal ravioli special. It was very good and tender. There was also some bread for us to snack on before our meal came out. I didn't really like it...it was too yeasty.
But if you go to Eataly you have to stop by the Gelateria. The best gelato I've ever had. I had a scoop of the pistachio and scoop of the chocolate. So good! The pistachio is very pistachio-y, but pairs so good with the chocolate. Matt had the chocolate and raspberry. I'm not big on raspberry but he loved it. Seriously best gelato. We also tried some gelato at the Little Italy town near Chinatown at this place called La Ferrara. Horrible place. Bad service and the gelato wasn't like gelato. It was just ice cream. We wished we had trekked over to Eataly again for their gelato.

Spaghettone  Cacio e Pepe

Veal Ravioli 

Chocolate and Pistachio Gelato 

You might even run into Mario Batali like we did!! It made my day when I saw him - thanks to my husband who is very observant :)

A Food Network Fan's Travel to NYC - Landmarc

Landmarc 
Chef Marc Murphy (Chopped)

Okay, the best thing at Landmarc are the desserts. We couldn't decide between 3 and decided to get all 3 lol, but so glad we did! The portions were actually smaller than expected, especially for the price (about $6 a dessert). But it was SO yummy. We got the nutella eclair, chocolate mousse, and blueberry crumble. I love eclairs, absolutely love them. Probably because you don't see them in many restaurants, and they're so good. Stuff it with nutella and you didn't have to talk me twice into ordering it. But I also love chocolate mousse. So you can see I was actually the one who couldn't decide between the two desserts to order for myself. :)
For my entree I had the Pan-seared Salmon which was accompanied with a corn, green olive, and caper relish type sauce. It was also served with some pesto on top. It was good. I really liked the tangy caper and olive bite combined with the sweet corn. It went well with the salmon. It was a nice different twist compared to the usual lemon and fish pairing. Matt had the porkchops which was huge! And cooked perfectly. I forgot to take a picture of it..

Nutella eclair

Chocolate mousse

Blueberry crumble 

 Pan-seared Salmon - corn, green olives, capers and pesto

A Food Network Fan's Travel to NYC - Butter

Butter
Chef Alex Guarnaschelli (Chopped)

When you enter the restaurant, you stumble upon an intimate ambiance filled with candles and lights strung around the restaurant. The food was delicious and probably had the biggest portion compared to all the restaurants we went to in NY. I ordered the Roasted Duck Breast. It was cooked perfectly and was paired nicely with charred onions and a fennel soffrito. I also had an order of their Truffle Mac-n-Cheese special. I hope that this dish is also available anytime, it was delicious and creamy. Matt ordered the Rack of Lamb that he absolutely loved. It came with a squash ratatouille too. He also had a side of Crispy Duck Fat Potatoes that was nice and crispy, but I enjoyed my side much more. For dessert we had the Raspberry Beignet that had a vanilla dipping sauce. This dessert is the restaurant's signature dish and I can see why. It was very yummy, light and fluffy.

Roasted Hudson Valley Duck Breast - charred spring onions with rhubarb and a fennel soffrito

Truffle Mac n Cheese

Crispy Duck Fat Potatoes with Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Colorado Rack of Lamb - with a summer squash ratatouille 

 Raspberry Beignet - vanilla dipping sauce

Salmon Panini with a Tarragon Aioli

I went to lunch with my coworkers at this place in Cumberland Mall called Fresh 2 Go. Sounds not so good, but I was surprised by their menu. I tried the Salmon Panini because the picture looked so good. And it was so good, I had to go home and make my own version. Matt loved it; and I hope you give this different panini a chance!

Salmon Panini - with a corn cilantro relish, avocado, and tarragon aioli
serves 4

Ingredients:
4 salmon filets
4 ciabatta buns
1 avocado
1 ear yellow corn
1 small red onion
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. tarragon leaves
1/2 c. olive oil
lettuce
salt and pepper 

Prepare the salmon:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove any bones left in the filet. Carefully remove the skin. Season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Bake for about 12-15 mins.

Prepare the corn cilantro relish:
Cut the kernels off one ear of yellow corn. Dice the red onion and then soak it in cold water. Drain well. Heat a skillet over medium heat with a tbsp of olive oil. Cook the corn and red onion until tender. Turn off the heat and mix in the cilantro.

Prepare the tarragon aioli:
In a mini food processor, add the tarragon leaves, egg yolk, and lemon juice. Blend. Then add a splash of olive oil to get the aioli going. Slowly add in the rest of the olive oil. (For a thinner aioli add more olive oil. For a thicker aioli add more egg yolk.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare the panini:
Spread the tarragon aioli on the ciabatta buns. Layer with a salmon filet, piece of lettuce, corn cilantro relish, and slices of avocado. Press the sandwich between a panini press that has been buttered. Enjoy!

A Food Network Fan's Travel to NYC - The Plaza

We just got back from an amazing vacation in New York filled with lots of delicious food! Of course I documented every little bite ;) As you'll see, most of the restaurants we went to were from Food Network chefs. We wanted to see just how good they actually are. And let me tell you, they are very good...

The Plaza Food Hall
Chef Todd English (Iron Chef competitor)

Every time I think of The Plaza Hotel, I can't help but think of that Friends episode where Rachel tries to tell her dad she's pregnant, lol. Besides from being obsessed with food, I'm also obsessed with Friends. But back to the food...

My brother and his girlfriend went here for his birthday. The hotel is beautiful and the food is delicious. My brother Johnnie insisted we order the Prime Rib Sliders. He said even though it was $16 it was worth it. And we agree - it was really good. We also got the side of Risotto "Tator Tots" which was really interesting! It was heavier and richer than normal tator tots, but it was more creamy from the cheese. I will definitely try turning risotto into tator tots one day. Matt also started out with the Ham and White Bean Soup which he said was just ok because it was more like vegetable soup. So that was what we started out with. We ordered even more for the rest of our meal lol. I got the Fried Oysters with a caviar creme fraiche as my entree. Loved it. It was lighter than your normal fried oysters and the caviar creme fraiche was refreshing with it. Matt got the Ricotta Gnocchi, which was really yummy. It had this nice bolognese and veal reduction, with a nice pecorino bite to it. We also shared the Pork and Scallion Dumplings. It was good, but I still think my mom's is better ;) To end the meal we had the Chocolate Gelato. Unfortunately they were out of the Rhubarb. The Plaza Food Hall was probably our second favorite restaurant in NYC. After this it gets hard to rank the rest of the restaurants so please don't ask us to...

Prime Rib Sliders (minced red onions, fontina fondue) 

Risotto "Tator Tots" - with a truffle cheese dip 

 Fried Oysters (with a caviar creme fraiche),

Pork and Scallion Dumplings (house-made plum sauce, orange, scallion),

and Ricotta Gnocchi (bolognese, pecorino, veal reduction)

Check back for the rest of the restaurants from our trip!