It Feels Good to Be Home...

Cooking with my mom usually leads to two things- delicious food and a fight. For some reason, we never seem to make it through an entire dish without getting into some sort of argument. Whether its about how much salt to add to boiling water or how big to cut the holes in cupcakes for filling, we always seem to have differing opinions.

We've been talking about making cream puffs for about a year now, and we finally got around to it last night. The traditional dough- pâte de chaussures, or shoe paste, is used for not only cream puffs but also eclairs, mini tea sandwiches, or really anything sandwich- or filling-related you want because they are very flavor neutral, light and airy.

Then came the fight- when I wanted to make them about the size of a ping pong ball and my mom wanted to make them the size of a marble, convinced they were going to puff up like a blowfish. I also added the egg yolk straight into the hot pot, which immediately began to cook, thus ruining the texture of my cream puffs. Needless to say, the first batch was ping pong ball sized but crunchy and eggy. The second time around we did it the right way, still ping pong ball sized, but we tempered the eggs and added some sugar. The puffs came out light, fluffy and perfect. I also made chocolate eclairs, as a photo friendly alternative.

Eclair/ Cream Puff Recipe

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 tbs sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tbs milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat water and butter to rolling boil in sauce pan. Stir in sugar and flour over low heat until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Add a little bit of the flour mixture at a time to the eggs, slowly rising the heat of the eggs. Beat until smooth. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls or use a piping bag and pipe either ping pong sized balls or 2 inch logs of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden. Cool. Cut off tops. fill with cream filling and replace top. Combine chocolate chips and milk in a small saucepan. Over medium heat. Stir and melt until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle chocolate over tops of puffs.

Filling Recipe

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbs cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups milk

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

2 tbs butter

1 tbs vanilla

Heat sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir in milk gradually. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Stir half the hot mixture gradually into eggs. Blend back into the rest of the hot mixture. Return to heat and boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, so the plastic is touching the custard. This will prevent the custard from forming a film as it cools. Place in refrigerator and cool for about 30 minutes.

'Tis The Season

I love spring. I love spring weather, spring clothing, and most of all, spring produce!!! There's just something about freshly picked produce in the spring that you can't get any other time of the year. As an homage to spring produce, Sweet Green introduced their May salad- a combination of romaine and arugula lettuces, fresh strawberries and asparagus, feta cheese, sunflower seeds and chicken, topped with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, served with a thick and crunchy piece of the best bread I have ever tasted. Seriously.

Now that I am home for a month I have had a decent amount of time to cook again! Love. I wanted to recreate the Sweet Green salad for a light dinner and show my mom why I'm so obsessed with the place. I did everything the same except I cooked the asparagus, marinated the chicken, and made a homemade strawberry balsamic vinaigrette with a strawberry balsamic vinegar I picked up in Savannah, Georgia. Please, please, enjoy this recipe. I would eat this salad every day if I could.

Makes 4 Dinner- Sized Salads

chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts- sliced into tenders

1 tsp each of salt, pepper and dried parsley

1 tbs olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

salad

1/2 bag (about 4 cups) each of romaine and arugula lettuce

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 cup chopped asparagus

salt pepper and olive oil

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

vinaigrette

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbs strawberry (or regular) balsamic vinegar

zest of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper

Marinate the chicken tenders in the olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, and lemon juice and zest for about 5 minutes. Over medium heat, cook the chicken in a pan, about 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat.

Toss the lettuce, feta and sunflower seeds in a large bowl.

Toss the asparagus in salt pepper and olive oil, just enough to coat. Using the same pan from the chicken, cook the asparagus over medium-high heat until tender but still crunchy, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

Once cool, add the chicken and asparagus to the salad. Add strawberries.

In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Toss over salad and serve with fresh multigrain bread (for the true Sweet Green experience!). Enjoy!

2 for 1: Sticky Rice Sashimi

As the weather slowly begins to warm up, I am trying to take complete advantage of the beautiful spring that Washington DC offers. This past weekend, I ventured to Eastern Market, DC's historic farmer's market near Capitol South. Now, although I am from Cleveland, I do take pride in my city's farmer's market. The West Side Market is, well, the shit. It is an ancient colosseum filled with every variety of produce, meat, home made pastas, chocolate, prepared foods and about anything else you could ever imagine. Comparably, Eastern Market is much smaller with less prepared foods but I did manage to find some vendors that suited me well.

Besides a pleasantly full stomach from Tortilla Cafe, I left with the freshest smelling mangoes you could ever imagine, curry paste, and coconut milk. Seriously, these mangoes smelled like they were just picked off the tree in Mexico.

Along with an easy chicken and vegetables with curry sauce, I decided to make mango sticky rice, to go along with the thai theme. I have recently begun to love sticky rice, and to figure out how easy it was to make was like a dream come true. As my wonderful meal came to an end, I had eaten all but one bite of my mango sticky rice. It just so happened that this remaining bite looked a lot like a piece of sashimi that you would get at a sushi restaurant. With my leftover mango and rice (the recipe makes a lot) I decided to recreate this sushi look-a-like.

Here's the recipe, adapted from allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups uncooked short-grain white rice

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 mangoes, peeled and sliced

*Optional garnishes: sesame seeds, cinnamon sugar, salt and pepper

Directions

Combine the rice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until water is absorbed, about 15 minutes

While the rice cooks, mix together coconut milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

Stir the cooked rice into the coconut milk mixture and cover. Allow to cool for one hour.

To make sashimi, take about 2 tablespoons worth of rice and form into a 2 x 1 x 1 inch patty. Cover with a small slice of mango. Sprinkle with garnish, if desired.

Look at the cuties!!

My favorite was- surprisingly- the one I sprinkled with salt and pepper!

Try mixing cayenne pepper with cinnamon, sugar and salt, too.

Napoleon Aint Got Nothin on Me

Finally! I've managed to find some spare time to cook and practice my future housewife skills! No but really, I've been able to spend a lot more time in the kitchen lately than the library, and boy am I thankful for it.

I haven't been able to pull out all the stops yet and create an original meal from start to finish, but with the help of Trader Joe, I've been making some fabulous dinners.

In honor of Meatless Monday, I made an Eggplant and Veggie Burger... Napoleon- so to speak. It was so easy and so delicious. Here's what you need:

3 slices Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets

1 Amy's American Veggie Burger

1/2 (more or less) cup marinara sauce

Parmesan cheese

Follow cooking instructions on boxes of eggplant and veggie burger. Once cooked, slice the veggie burger across the middle, creating two thin patties. Starting with an eggplant cutlet, alternate layering the cutlets and veggie patties. Cover with marinara sauce (I like to heat mine up) and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve with veggies or pasta.

Look at those succulent layers of eggplant

Fast, easy and healthy too! Bon Appetit!

¡Bienvenidos a Sabor'a Street!

As my love of food trucks continues to blossom, I want to share with you how Sabor’a Street has contributed to my relationship with the four-wheeled miracle kitchens, my taste buds, and the streets of D.C.

It was a sunny Thursday in the district and I was waiting for my food truck partner in crime, Rachael, to get out of class. Sabor’a street had tweeted about how the line for lunch was down the block and that they weren’t going to be around for much longer. Panicked, I grabbed my coat and began to power walk towards their designated location, telling Rachael that I’d get in line so we didn’t risk the items selling out by the time she was done with class. By the time I reached the truck, the line had calmed down but people were anxiously awaiting their Latin-inspired lunches. I approached the woman working the cash register and introduced myself as my twitter handle, LOLKatz41, as I had tweeted the week before begging for the truck to grace the GW campus with its presence. Then I began to look over the menu.

While seemingly small, the Sabor’a Street menu is chock full of flavor, variety and excitement. The two options are the angus beef hamburger and the Arepas- “cornmeal cakes with choice of pulled beef brisket, pulled chicken or chili-glazed tofu.” The woman in the truck recommended me the chicken arepas, as she said they were her favorite. All of the dishes are served with fried yuccas and tostones, and a decadent, creamy and refreshing lime aioli and salsa verde.

Rachael and I have a ritual when we eat from food trucks of each getting something different and sharing. When she finally arrived after what seemed like hours, I told her I knew exactly what we were going to get- chicken arepas, a burger and hot, sugary, crunchy fried churros with home made dulce de leche dipping sauce.

As I approached the woman to take my order, she broke news so terrible you’d think I was going to cry. They were out. of. churros. How could such a tragedy occur?! “Tweet at us and we’ll save you an order next time,” the woman replied. My mouth was already watering for the fried cinnamon sugar coated dough. How was I supposed to wait for next time?!?!

Despite our tragic dessert mishap, lunch was spectacular. The minute I bit into the chicken arepas I began to “ooh” and “ahh” in amazement. The crispy cornmeal cake held the delicate flavors of lime and cilantro and spicy chicken so well. It was a fiesta in my mouth. The chicken was tender and juicy and the slaw on top was crisp and refreshing. The burger was equally as flavorful, had a meaty texture and spicy seasoning. The lime aioli was the perfect compliment to both, and the perfect dipping sauce for the well-seasoned, well-fried yuccas and plantains.

As our lunch came to an end, I was beyond satisfied, but still craved something sweet, per usual. Luckily, Cap Mac was closing up and offered Rachael and me our own caramelized banana Nutella rice puddings… for free! My sweet tooth was satisfied sans churros.

The story continues the following week when Sabor’a Street tweeted about being a few blocks away from campus. I had been in an ongoing twitter conversation with them all day and was just dying to make my way for the long awaited churros. I gave myself a nice studying break and power walked six blocks to the truck. As I approached and re-introduced myself, the man working in the “kitchen” exclaimed, “I have to get a record of this.” Apparently, my longing for churros was known between all of the workers and tweeters. I was so thrilled to finally be getting my churro fix I didn’t care who recorded me doing what. The owners were gracious enough to give me the churros- free of charge- as they knew how big of a fan I was, and how much I enjoy promoting them on Twitter. As promised, I let the chef film me taking my first bite. I dipped the piping hot churro (they are small, about the size of your thumb, so eating more than one is acceptable) into the creamy, caramely dulce de leche sauce and sunk my teeth into it. I was in cinnamon sugar heaven. Crunchy on the outside but cakey and chewy on the inside; generously coated in the perfect ratio of cinnamon to sugar; and the dulce de leche was the icing on the cake (no pun intended?). Just like the refreshing lime aioli, the dulce sauce dressed the churro so beautifully without overpowering it. I couldn’t wait to get the rest of the churros back to the library to share with Rachael (you know, the kind of sharing where its one for me, one for her; two for me, one for her? Just kidding...)

So now that you have read my short story on my amazing experience with Sabor’a Street, I hope all you D.C. locals will venture over to wherever Sabor'a Street may be. Just writing this entry was difficult to do without my mouth watering (seriously, I had to stop a few times because I got so hungry thinking about the food), and I am anxiously awaiting the truck’s next appearance at GW. Although, as proven, I am willing to travel for these delectable Latin delicacies- willing to travel all the way to Sabor'a Street, America, wherever that may be!

Photo Credit: Sabor'a Street & Google Images

Ethiopian Meets Dessert

If you haven’t noticed, I love to eat. I love to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts; I love to eat off food trucks, I love to eat lavish meals, and I LOVE to eat new and exciting foods. It is both a blessing and a burden that I live in such a culinarily diverse city (blessing on my taste buds and overall happiness, burden on my waste line, wallet, free time). The other day I ventured to U Street, an area of D.C. known for its nightlife, restaurants and Ethiopian population.

Ethiopian cuisine is similar to Indian food in that there are many flavors and spices that coat different meats and vegetables. It is different in general flavor and, oh yeah, you eat with your hands. Imagine eating shredded beef or Sloppy Joes, or creamed spinach with your hands. Not too easy, eh? Well this is what Ethiopian food is all about. Its about combining and handling small quantities of various tastes and textures into one successful, triumphant bite. You’re probably thinking, ”you have to use some form of utensil, right?” Right. The key to Ethiopian food is the sponge-like crepe that rests underneath and soaks up every flavor of the sauces that are ever so beautifully coating the proper meats and vegetables. By itself, this “SpongeBob bread” (as my friend’s dad likes to call it) is pretty tasteless. It has the texture of a pancake that has been cut in half (crosswise, so it is thinner) and pumped air bubbles into. I really don’t know how else to describe it, but these holes are perfect for absorbing the flavors of the sauces. And the malleability of the pancake allows the food to sit in it without it ripping. My method was to rip a small portion of the pancake off and dip it into a dish, use it as a shovel and scoop the fillings into my mouth. This was definitely one of the most (if not THE most) unique eating experiences I have witnessed but it was fun, different and- although challenging- satisfying, like using chop sticks for the first time.

Rachael and her SpongeBob bread

If you were to ask me to go into detail about what the food tasted like, I would tell you no. I am telling you no. If you really want to know about the palette pleasing sensations of Ethiopian food, go out and try it yourself. I just wanted you to understand the concept so I can go into my next point. My interpretation of Ethiopian food: dessert version. Yeah, you read that right, dessert. I used real crepes instead of sponge-like crepes, and bananas, orange slices, Nutella, Greek yogurt, cinnamon sugar and macerated berries in place of the spicy saucy meats and vegetables. I made enough crepes to cover my entire kitchen table (granted, its not that large) and have extras for dipping. This was a fun and innovative way to eat crepes, perfect for a party, girls’ night in, or rainy day activity.

proof of me actually making the crepes

beautiful Nutella

now tell me that's not Food Porn worthy?!?!

Here is a general dessert crepe recipe:

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/3 cups milk

2 table spoons melted and cooled butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter, flour, sugar and salt until smooth. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Grease pan with butter or oil. Using a small ladle, spoon about 1/3 cup batter into hot pan, tilting the pan so that the bottom surface is evenly coated. Cook over medium heat, 1 to 2 minutes and flip for a few seconds until crepe is cooked through and golden. Serve immediately.

Here is how I made the berries (you can use just plain fresh berries too):

½ bag frozen mixed berries

½ cup water

¼ cup sugar

the juice and zest of one orange

Heat all ingredients over medium heat in a saucepan until the liquid has reduced by half and mixture is hot. Use a slotted spoon to serve over crepe, thus eliminating some of the liquid.

finished product

we made a friend :)

Pi Truck: A Love Story

So I lied. I mentioned about six food trucks in DC that I had already sampled. That was last Thursday. As of today, a mere five days later, I have sampled five more food trucks. I know that sounds a bit over indulgent, but trust me, they are beyond worth it. For somewhere between $6 and $15, you are able to get a full, gourmet meal, in about 10 minutes or less! How can you beat that?!

I start my review off with the truck that has become the dearest to my heart... and my stomach: Pi Truck. At first glance, this four-wheeled green monster looks a little dorky; the truck wears the Pi symbol proudly on all four sides. But when you take a closer look, you'll see that beneath the mathematic stamp lays a beautiful interpretation of deep. dish. pizza. Mmmmm...

The battle between Chicago-style deep dish and New York-style thin crust has been ongoing since before I can remember. People tend to get rather snobby when it comes to taking ownership and pride in one's hometown culinary name tag. Do you go deep dish and eat your slice with a fork and a knife? Or do you go thin crust, fold the slice in half, and shove it into your mouth like a hot dog? Personally, I like to combine the two methods by using a fork and a knife on thin crust pizza; I consider myself to be a pizza snob and tend to over-enjoy this simple cheesy delight as often as I can.

To be honest, I don't think I've ever had deep dish pizza before I experienced Pi Truck, but boy, did it turn me into a believer. The food truck craze has slowly made its way to the GW campus and I will be the first to tell you how lucky we are to have it. First you should probably know some background information on my Thursday before I so luckily encountered the truck of Pi.

Like I mentioned earlier, Thursdays are the hot days for food trucks to roll on over to Foggy Bottom. I had finished class for the day and made plans with my friend, Rachael, to get lunch from Red Hook Lobster Truck. I brought the lobster and shrimp rolls back to my apartment for the two of us to share, and lunch was amazing (more to come on Red Hook, this is about Pi Truck remember!). As we sat contemplating which food truck we would next explore, we checked Food Truck Fiesta for other trucks around campus. "Pi Truck's at GW still," Rachael exclaimed. "Wanna get dinner?" I asked. It was a done deal. We left my apartment in a rush with the determination to catch the pizza mobile before it left for the weekend (the trucks tend to stay until 2 pm and it was already 3:30). As we walked towards the designated location, we saw an empty space. This didn't look good. Where could it be?

Then, out of no where, like a peak from heaven above a cloudy sky, the Pi Truck rolled past us and continued down 22nd street. I began to run.

I managed to catch up with the truck as it stopped to look for a parking spot outside of our library. I frantically approached the window and the driver rolled it down. I asked how much longer they would be around and the friendly man said to wait until they parked and that I would be the first in line for a hot, gooey, deep dish pizza pie. Is your mouth watering yet? Because mine is.

Rachael caught up to me and managed to take a picture of my epic attempt to flag down a food truck (see left, Hi Cap Mac!). We debated for a while over which pie to get- they all seemed so unbelievably tasty! We went with the favorite of the driver- the Western Addition- and shared a small piece before returning to my apartment and refrigerating it for dinner. The Western Addition contains (along with the usual mozzarella and homemade tomato sauce) spinach, creamy feta and ricotta cheeses, hearty mushrooms, onions and garlic, all enclosed by the best cornmeal crust I have ever tasted. This crust is just meant for deep dish pizza. It is thick yet delicate, and chewy with just the right crunch. It hugs, rather than overpowers the fillings, like the perfect spoon to sop up the flavors of tomato, cheese and veggies. I couldn't wait to finish this pie for dinner.

About four hours, $12 and six slices of sweet, cheesy, crunchy goodness later, Rachael and I were happy campers. No, the $12 was not a typo- we did, in fact, get an entire deep dish pizza pie for twelve dollars. No tax, no tip, no delivery charge- for one of the best pizzas I have ever sunk my teeth into. Since the moment I took my last bite I have been anxious to return to my beloved truck of Pi. I am determined to become a loyal customer and maybe have a pie named after me one day. Until then, one can only dream. I love you, Pi Truck!!