tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58944326647445591892024-03-14T01:17:58.312-07:00The Adventures of a Sixth Grade Gourmandambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-43298079643074447692013-04-01T15:21:00.001-07:002013-04-01T15:21:47.471-07:00Sauteed Shrimp, Brown Rice & Roasted BroccoliHey, so sorry I haven't been blogging since last summer but I've been swamped with school work. I've also had a lot of things going on in my life, like my new school and going to Hawaii. Anyways tonight I made shrimp sauteed with garlic, brown rice, and one of my favorites roasted broccoli. I must admit that I was feeling a little bit rusty because I hadn't cooked dinner for a while. I know, me the food lover and the "chef" not cooking dinner for I don't know how many months, (and trust me you don't want to know) this is just outrageous. Well cooking dinner on a Saturday isn't the easiest thing when you want to sleep in and do nothing all day. So anyways back to my dinner. First I made the rice which was going well until the water started to boil out of the pot, then it wasn't so fun. Also I don't recommend texting while cooking (which is what I was doing) because it makes sure you don't really read any of the instructions. So I was like "Oh look the rice is boiling over, but its ok because I just got a text and I'll have plenty of time to turn down the heat." Then 20 minutes later "Oh look I got another text." I'm the queen of procrastination, so it's natural for me to put the slightly more important things after the slightly less important texts. The rice turned out pretty well though. Now on to the shrimp.<br />
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As I was saying in the beginning I'm feeling a bit rusty in the cooking territory and shrimp might not have been the best thing to re introduce me to cooking dinner for my family. Because you have to move fast and not be timid as my mother dearest says. I was extremely worried that most of the shrimp were under cooked and only a little bit was cooked but luckily no one got food poisoning and none of my shrimp was actually under cooked or over cooked. Although as some of you know I can't saute garlic without giving it a little color or in other words burning it. So bye I've got to get back to texting.<br />
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One tip from me, Ambika: If you are not a lover of brown rice I recommend trying brown basmati rice. It is a long grain rice and is lighter & fluffier than the short grain variety, with a nice nutty taste. Proportions are the same as white rice, and you don't need to rinse it. After bringing waterand rice to a boil, cook on lowest heat possible, covered, for about 50 min - an hour.<br />
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<br />ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-22227479601344392542012-08-29T17:14:00.000-07:002012-08-29T17:14:45.792-07:00Peach Crisp<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span">So on Saturday I made peach crisp which like I said on my previous post is one of my all time favorite desserts and Sunday me and my family had to leave my cousin's house but don't worry, no peach crisp will be left uneaten because we have tons of it. This specific peach crisp is amazing and I usually detest fruit desserts but this actually tasted good ( it tastes even better with vanilla ice cream.) The two greatest thing about this crisp I think are that it tastes amazing cold and it's pretty easy to make. So yeah bye my mom will post a link to the recipe and I strongly recommend it to non fruit dessert lovers because it will convert you to a partial fruit dessert lover. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">Ambika:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">This recipe actually came from </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Barefoot-Contessa-Cookbook-Ina-Garten/dp/0609602195/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346284555&sr=1-2&keywords=ina+garten%27s+cookbooks"><span id="btAsinTitle">The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> by Ina Garten. I did however find what looks like a similar recipe by her online at <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/peach-and-blueberry-crumbles-recipe/index.html">foodnetwork.com</a><span id="goog_765086328"></span><span id="goog_765086329"></span>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span">So bake and enjoy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ellen has the best baking dish for this!!!</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-52711621033975654392012-08-26T07:55:00.003-07:002012-08-26T07:55:57.775-07:00Our Cousin's Farm<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lila: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So on Thursday I went on a three or four hour car ride to go to my cousin Ellen's house in Pennsylvania. Since I usually hate long car rides I wasn't exactly so happy about being stuck in a car for about three hours while I was sitting next to my oh so annoying little brother, but it was worth those pretty abysmal three hours, because Ellen has almost every kind of cooking thing that you could possibly think of and also she's just a lot of fun to cook with, oh and did I mention she has a pool with a diving board? Anyway so on Thursday we made Meyer lemon chicken with risotto, yesterday we made grilled steak ( Ellen did that), the grilled steak was amazing by the way, and I made the roasted potatoes, plus farro, I helped make the corn on the cob too. But unfortunately I can't eat corn on the cob because I have braces so my mother dearest has to cut the corn off of the cob for me ( sigh...) so I'm having a pretty good time here so far and my mother ( or Ellen) will tell you where to get these recipes and tonight we're making peach crisp - one of my all time favorite desserts. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ambika:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I LOVE my cousin's farm. I've been going there since I was a child and have many great memories of family meals cooked and shared there. For those of you who would like to know what farro is here <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farro">is the Wikipedia definition</a>. Basically it seems to be another type whole grain wheat, rather like spelt. We cooked it in chicken stock like rice - 2 cups liquid to one cup grain. We sauteed onions first, then added the farro and chicken stock, and cooked it until liquid was absorbed (there seems to be some debate on exactly how long we actually cooked it for - 20 - 30 mins). We then added lots of butter and parmesan cheese. I love farro and was introduced to it by Ellen years ago at an Italian restaurant. <a href="http://www.frankiesspuntino.com/">Frankies Sputino</a> makes great farro btw if you want to try it and are in Brooklyn or NYC. I will make this at home for sure.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chicken with Meyer lemon from the night before came from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/dining/sauteed-chicken-with-meyer-lemon-and-rosemary-recipe.html?_r=2">this recipe</a> from the NY Times and was delicious! We substituted thyme for the rosemary because my husband hates rosemary and didn't use leeks because we didn't have any. I don't have any pics of that dinner, sorry. Here is a pic of the wonderful stove at the farm.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the family at the dinner table.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our cousin Katy showed us this great trick for buttering corn. First put a big pat of butter on a slice of bread and then butter your corn on the buttered bread!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner was oh so yummy!!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our cousin Herb made a great salad and Lila made balsamic vinaigrette.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lila will write about the peach cobbler in the next post.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ellen at the grill:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lila tasting the farro:</span><br />
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ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-53982627897172789702012-08-21T17:57:00.003-07:002012-08-21T17:57:48.022-07:00Lemon ChickenLila: <br />
On Friday I made lemon chicken which is chicken that is basically poached in this sauce that consists of lemon, butter, white wine, and mushrooms. Okay I was so excited that I basically got to poach a chicken because I've always wanted to poach a chicken. The next thing I want to do is brine chicken. I know that brining a chicken sounds kind of weird but it's supposed to actually be quite tasty, well at least that's what I heard on one of my class science trips and that was the only cool thing we did in science class all year (the trip was to a restaurant and was a pickle tasting.) Anyway I normally hate mushrooms but this made them actually taste somewhat good and that's saying a lot because I usually try not to touch mushrooms. Bye I have to do my piles of math homework.<br />
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Ambika:<br />
I would just like to clarify that this was poached boneless chicken breast. Lila found <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Chicken-1266">this recipe on epicurious</a> (we LOVE epicurious as you know by now I'm sure). It was really delicious and pretty easy to make, so this will go into the regular dinner rotation for sure. Even Pavan loved it! The sauce was so yummy I wish we had made rice with this - we will make sure to next time!<br />
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We did make another favorite veggie dish to go with the chicken: mashed cauliflower. Ok actually it's pureed cauliflower. Great substitute for mashed potatoes. Just steam the cauliflower florets and then puree them in a food processor with LOTS of butter and salt and pepper. <br />
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<br />ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-84762964639643092642012-08-15T17:40:00.002-07:002012-08-15T17:41:25.895-07:00Panini with GrandmaLila: <br />
0n Friday or at least I think it was Friday but anyway I was staying over at my grandma's apartment for the day/previous night. My grandma has a panini press at her apartment so I came up with the idea to make paninis. So we made this amazing broccoli rabe and provolone panini, it was one of the most amazing paninis I've ever had not considering that I have only had two paninis in my life. The recipe consisted of one pretty hard to find thing: a sliced Italian round loaf that had to be 1/4 of an inch thick and it had to be 8-9 inches long. Well it was hard to find with the selection of supermarkets in her area so we improvised and bought two rolls of ciabatta bread instead and they turned out heavenly. The recipe also called for anchovies and my grandma was a bit reluctant because who really likes anchovies but when I said that anchovies were a flavor enhancer she was sold. Bye I've got to go eat dinner because I'm starved.<br />
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Ambika: <br />
Lila used <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Provolone-and-Broccoli-Rabe-Panini-232159">this panini recipe from epicurious</a>. I'm glad I wasn't around for this dish as it would have been torture (no bread for me - sigh). Lila forgot to take pictures of the paninis but she did take a pic of the pasta they made together with tomato, basil and fresh mozzarella. Looks yummy!<br />
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<br />ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-23100883128243186212012-08-09T18:32:00.002-07:002012-08-09T18:32:30.036-07:00Potato Pancakes<style>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>Lila: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>So
today I made potato pancakes which were pretty good. They weren’t the best
potato pancakes I’ve ever had. The best potato pancakes I’ve ever had were in
third grade when one kid’s mom made them, those were superb. However the kid’s
mom was a former food network chef so I can’t exactly make food network caliber
potato pancakes - well at least not yet anyways. I don’t know why but they didn’t
exactly have the right flavor, maybe it was because I used grape seed oil
instead of canola oil. Anyway so in the recipe it said that you have to grate a
large onion and let me tell you grating an onion is not a fun time. I mean
anything that is onion chopping is a bad thing but onion grating is in a whole
different category, it’s 1,000 times worse than bad because bad, well, just does
not justify the awful stinging in your eyes. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>So bye I’m off to watch TV.<span> </span><span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span>Ambika: </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span>Lila really did do everything for this recipe, since I have never made them myself. I thought they were delicious - just needed salt. <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Potato-Pancakes-239211">Here is the recipe we used.</a> The mom Lila was referring to (former food network chef) wrote a cookbook I remember: </span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span id="btAsinTitle"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Playdates-Entertaining-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0811855392/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344561163&sr=1-7&keywords=cookbook+by+Lauren+deen">Kitchen Playdates: Easy Ideas for Entertaining That Includes the Kids ** 70 Delicious Recipes</a> by Lauren Deen. Perhaps this book includes the superb potato pancake recipe.</span></span></span></span></div>
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So last Tuesday I had a sleepover with my friend Skylar who I made dinner with and who's mom told me and my mom that there was a sale at this awesome store called LF. So anyway we made a marginal tomato sauce although the $10.00 Parmesan that I bought was quite good.</blockquote>
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Here are my tips on how to not make a mediocre/watery tomato sauce. Personally I prefer to use whole tomatoes because they're just so fun to squeeze. That sentence didn't sound right did it? Anyway I also like to brown the garlic even though my mom always tells me not to, it actually gives the tomato this nice unexplainable flavor. I also prefer making tomato sauce with a friend because it just makes it more fun and besides isn't cooking/baking with a friend almost always more fun than when you're cooking/baking on your own? On to more tomato sauce making tips. I also prefer to use San Marzano tomatoes instead of your generic tomatoes because who want regular tomatoes in a semi regular tomato sauce? My final tip is not to stir the tomato sauce every 5 seconds because then it won't cook and will result in watery and marginal tomato sauce. So bye I'm off to watch TV. Oh and my mom will also post the recipe. </blockquote>
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Lila usually makes a great marinara sauce, and we all think the reason this one wasn't quite as good was indeed too much stirring. Who knew? Here is Lila's basic recipe: 6 - 7 cloves of garlic sliced and then browned in extra virgin olive oil. She adds a can of whole tomatoes that she already has squished into a bowl with her hands. Then she cooks it on medium low heat stirring occasionally for about 30 mins. She adds a handful of torn up basil toward the end and also salt and pepper to taste. We did once make an amazing marinara from <span style="font-size: small;"><span id="btAsinTitle"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Frankies-Spuntino-Kitchen-Companion-Cooking/dp/1579654150/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344387378&sr=1-1&keywords=frankie%27s+spuntino">The Frankies Spuntino Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manual</a>. It takes all day but still...</span></span><br />
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<br />ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-53225052467177038942012-08-03T15:38:00.001-07:002012-08-03T15:38:53.785-07:00Mujadara!!! From Lila:<br />
So yesterday me and mom collaborated on dinner. The dish that we made was mujadara which consists of rice, lentils, and sort of caramelized onions. So from the description it doesn't sound as absolutely amazing as it is. It's so good it's almost worth all of the amazingly awful onion chopping, well at least for me anyways. Earlier on in the day I had over heard that I might be going to Maui in December, okay so I know that it's kind of stupid to get excited about possibly going to Hawaii but I've been seriously missing Maui (hey that's an awesome book/movie title). Anyway I've also been having reoccurring dreams about Hawaii like last night I had a dream about Hawaii. Okay so now I really have to get back to the topic. When I was frying or more like caramelizing the awful onions that made this dish so good I unfortunately burn<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: black;">ed</span> </span>myself with hot oil (uggh...) It stunk but the smell of the caramelizing onions was heavenly. Also if you eat a ton of mujadara like me and my mom did it makes you feel a bit funky but it's so worth it. Bye I've got to go and do my math now. <br />
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From Ambika:<br />
I have to say here that this really was amazing (and it is quite healthy - not sure why Lila said it made us feel funky)!!! We have been getting this dish from Sahadi's (great place if you find yourself in Brooklyn) and loved it so we decided we should try making it on our own. I searched for a recipe and then found <a href="http://www.maureenabood.com/2012/01/05/mmmm-mmmm-mujadara/">this one</a>, which looked like a winner and I must say it it was! This mujadara is far and above what we have been buying. My only complaint is that we ate ALL of it and had none left for leftovers. So next time we will have to double the recipe, which does mean chopping A LOT of onions. But since this is my new favorite recipe, we will make this again and again for sure. A couple of notes: we did not fry more onions for garnish and did not miss them. Also we rinsed the rice before cooking it (since I always do that). And we used grape seed oil instead of canola, since that what we had on hand. Do try this at home!<br />
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From Lila: </div>
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So today I made fish tacos with
“pickled” red onions well actually they’re marinated in almost all of a small
bottle of red wine vinegar but still it’s kind of like pickling. Sorry that I
haven’t been blogging so much lately but I’ve actually had a lot of social
events going on like my fourth grade teacher taking me out to dinner with two
of my friends. Also I’ve had to do a lot of my math homework (uggh…)</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Anyway this summer I’ve learned a considerably large amount
of things but the three most important things that I’ve learned is: cutting
onions sucks, cutting jalapeños sucks because today was the first time I have
ever cut jalapeños and I got jalapeño juice on my face, trust me it was
painful, finally I’ve learned don’t slack on your piles of math homework. Wow
that was a long cheesy list, so back to reality. This whole fish taco
experience was certainly interesting to say the least, not the actual cooking
but the butting heads between me and my mom. I mean our time in the kitchen
together could turn into a hit reality TV show like… well I can’t think of one
of those trashy reality shows right now but I will. My favorite topping was the
marinated red onion. Since I hated the <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pico-de-Gallo-395921">Pico-de-Gallo</a>, it was really the only
other condiment that I could like. I was really excited about “pickling” the
onions because I’ve had them on amazing tacos at this taco place called Oaxaca
that have the pickled onions on them (delish). So bye, oh and you must try this
<a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fish-Tacos-352976">fish taco recipe</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">From Ambika:</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">I'm posting this during commercials while watching the Olympics (I love the Olymics!). I just want to add that we used mahi mahi for theses tacos, which was really great (and pricey). I do kind of wish I had recorded the jalape</span>ñ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">o chopping drama. Although Lila resisted quite vehemently at first, she did successfully seed and chop a jalape</span>ñ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">o. So she gets big points for that and for making some really delicious <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fish-Tacos-352976">fish tacos</a>!</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-43842942297271709972012-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:002012-07-23T15:49:11.006-07:00Brunch with Friends<style>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Lila:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Okay
so it’s 7:48 PM right now and I’m blogging. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t my usual blogging time but yesterday Bela (my
mom’s friend) took me, my mom, and her two boys Kabir and Siddarth to brunch. The
restaurant was my choice of course. Bela wanted to see us since she was in
Brooklyn and figured it would be perfect because then I could blog about it. So
I had to pick a place that had soft foods because I got the rest of my braces
put on this Thursday. It caused me excruciating pain on Friday - it made it so
I could barely chew (they’re still causing me pain.) Naturally I picked
<a href="http://flatbushfarm.com/index.php">Flatbush Farm</a> a farm to table restaurant and I’m pretty sure some of its food
is Mexican influenced. Anyway the restaurant is about one mile away from where
I live so I had to get to <a href="http://flatbushfarm.com/index.php">Flatbush Farm</a> by crossing the <a href="http://gowanuscanal.org/">Gowanus Canal</a> which
for those of you who don’t know the <a href="http://gowanuscanal.org/">Gowanus Canal</a> is this disgusting murky
chemical filled canal that people go kayaking in sometimes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Here’s what we ordered: me and me my mom
ordered The Ranch Hand Breakfast which consisted of corn chips which were
smothered pepper sauce on top of those chips were scrambled eggs with thinly sliced
radishes as a garnish, under those chips was lime cream with that was some sort
of pepper paste, it was amazing and the chips soaked up all of the pepper
sauce. Bela and Kabir ordered the Farmers Breakfast but Kabir ordered it with a
side of bacon and Bela ordered it with a side of garlicky greens, which are
amazing. The farmers breakfast consists of an egg ant style, potato plantain
hash, and a side of either greens or bacon. I got this dish last time I went to
<a href="http://flatbushfarm.com/index.php">Flatbush Farm</a> and it was okay, it wasn’t special but since I hate bacon I got
the greens, which are amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes
I know that for those of you who love bacon I’ve committed a serious crime but
I personally think it’s disgusting. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Anyway
Siddarth got the crispy duck confit, which consists of duck (obviously) a duck egg
and a lentil something pilaf. I’ve never actually had duck confit but thanks to
my aunt Deborah I’ve actually had duck. Somewhere in the time I was at Flatbush
Farms someone said something about Ice cream so me and my mom both nearly
jumped up and said Van Leeuwens in unison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wound up going to <a href="http://www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/">Van Leeuwen</a> an ice cream place in
cobble hill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>I have to back track right now because I
still have stuff to say about Flatbush Farms. So while we were waiting for our
food I was looking at this woman’s burger and fries nearly drooling, I’m not
kidding I have a palette expander which makes me drool quite a lot, and I was also
trying not to drool by looking at an awesome brick wall with ivy crawling up
it’s side. Man the food was good there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Anyway
on to <a href="http://www.vanleeuwenicecream.com/">Van Leeuwen</a>: When I walked in there I really had to go pee so I
couldn’t exactly admire the wallpaper and lovely décor but I did take an
unnecessary amount of time to choose an ice cream flavor because hey ice cream is
so much more important than peeing. So the ice cream flavor I chose was
cinnamon because it tasted kind of like the cinnamon butter cream that is on
the red velvet cupcake at <a href="http://bakednyc.com/">BAKED</a> in Brooklyn. I also chose it because I love
cinnamon. After I went to the bathroom I finally got to taste bowl of the
cinnamon flavored ice cream, it tasted really cinnamony and as I referred to
before it tasted like the cinnamon butter cream from <a href="http://bakednyc.com/">BAKED</a> but it also tasted
kind of creamy, so I know this’ll sound cheesy but there are no words to
describe how good the cinnamon ice cream is. So bye I have to go and make green
beans for tonight’s dinner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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From Lila: </div>
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So yesterday I didn’t actually cook anything for dinner but instead I went to The Peking Duck House and I actually tried Peking duck, I know big shocker right? Anyway the Peking Duck House was in Chinatown and for those of you who live in New York as you already know it was a torrential downpour at around 5:30 PM. My mom, my aunt, and me unfortunately got caught in that downpour and had to stop under a jewelry shop awning for about five minutes. While we were under that awning we admired the jewelry. So once the rain had let up a bit we started walking again. When we finally got there it was like 5:35, which I wasn’t too happy about because I’m a bit neurotic about being late [we had a reservation at 5:30.] Anyway enough about me now I’m going to actually review the restaurant, Peking Duck House. <br /><br /> When I walked into the Peking Duck House we were seated at a table that had an excellent view of this awesome light art and, wait for it, wait for it…. The front of the kitchen, how awesome is that? Aside from the partially awesome view the restaurant was insanely cool. Here’s what my mom, my aunt and me had for dinner, Peking duck, sizzling prawns with fried rice, and some appetizers. <br /><br /> </div>
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<br /><br />Once you get the duck the waiters bring it by you and show you the duck. As some of you may know Peking duck comes with it’s head on, so when you see the duck with it’s head on it does two things to you, first it kind of creeps you out with its glassy dead eyes just staring at you and second it kind of makes you feel bad that a duck had to die to just so that it could be digested. After you got over the fact that the duck you’re about to eat has a head its actually quite tasty. The duck is served with the Chinese version of a flour tortilla, hoison sauce, plus scallions and cucumbers. Once you bite into the tortillaish thing then the crunchy duck skin and the rich duck meat that is covered in the hoison sauce and the scallions you have a pretty perfect bite. <br /><br /> </div>
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<br /><br />When the chef brings out the prawns and makes them sizzle some how then bring it over to your table. Tip: don’t touch the spoon that’s in the bowl of prawns like six seconds after its put on the table because sort of low down on the spoon it burns you (that’s what happened to me.) Anyway it was one of the best dinners I have ever had. <br /><br /> </div>
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<br /><br />From Ambika: </div>
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I have to give it up to my sister Deborah for introducing us to the Peking Duck House. I admit to being skeptical but agree with Lila, who basically said it all about the duck – kind of disturbing and yes delicious. As a former vegetarian and somewhat reluctant meat eater, seeing a whole duck like that with head on was pretty intense. But if I’m eating meat I also think I should have some awareness of exactly what it is I am eating (rather than the usual neatly packaged stuff). <br /><br /> </div>
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<br /><br />I would also like to add that we had Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce which I LOVE (I love Chinese broccoli pretty much any way it’s made)! They do give you A LOT of food so make sure you are plenty hungry when you go there. </div>
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<br /></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-33044759743206585922012-07-17T07:40:00.000-07:002012-07-17T07:40:46.158-07:00Guest Chef: Cousin Jordan<style>
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From Lila:</div>
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So today I made green curry with my cousin Jordan. Once
again I didn’t get to read my MAD Magazines. So the green curry was really good
but didn’t exactly smell delectable it smelled kind of like fish sauce mixed
with the “great” smell of fish shops in Chinatown. I don’t really have anything
else to say that’s funny, wait hold that thought I have more stuff to talk
about. So today as you already know my cousin Jordan came over to cook dinner
with me but you’ll be happy to know I got in my mandatory relaxing hours and
cooking with Jordan was quite fun as they would say in sophisticated terms. So
I was cutting onions that were really strong [uggh] and as you already know
when cutting onions your eyes water a lot. I also had to zest half a lime the
other Jordan did. Wow there’s a lot of tedious work involved in making a good
curry [uggh, again.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all in
all my dinner making experience was pretty great. Wow what I just said was the
second cheesiest thing I have written. Bye people I have to get back to reading
the babysitters club graphic novel. </div>
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From Ambika:</div>
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Many thanks to our cousin Jordan for teaching Lila how to
make green curry. We made it with tofu, zucchini and snow peas. It was
delicious! Jordan is a wonderful and patient teacher (I am admittedly not so patient). We all had a great time and got lots of pics!</div>
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Pressing the tofu.</div>
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Marinating the tofu.</div>
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Green curry sauce.</div>
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Jordan showed Lila a great way to chop zucchini.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5IsRKky2goI/UAV3tl4qD3I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/xJTU_-A39a0/s1600/zucchini.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5IsRKky2goI/UAV3tl4qD3I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/xJTU_-A39a0/s320/zucchini.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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Looks good (also I love this pan)!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6HGtlQPQiU/UAV1kQh6OLI/AAAAAAAAADg/Z9lwLO84V_4/s1600/jordanlila.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P6HGtlQPQiU/UAV1kQh6OLI/AAAAAAAAADg/Z9lwLO84V_4/s320/jordanlila.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Green Curry - yum!</div>
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<br /></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-61628526911900071522012-07-13T18:27:00.001-07:002012-07-13T18:27:26.872-07:00Sliders<style>
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From Lila:</div>
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So I have no idea what to write for the blog but my mom is
forcing me to write a post since I’ve been slacking a little. So today I made
sliders its Alton brown’s recipe [he has my favorite team on the next food
network star.] Anyway I had to make sliders at 10:30 in the morning and that
wasn’t such a pleasurable experience to say the least. Well one of the only
good things that happened today was that I kind of got all of my relaxing hours
in but unfortunately I didn’t actually get to read MAD<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span> My relaxing hours consisted
of reading and getting my mom really angry [sorry mom.] So today didn’t go very
well but my burgers were delicious. So bye, sorry there are no pictures I
forgot to take them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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From Ambika:</div>
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As all parents know, we love our children even when they are
driving us bananas! Now onto the sliders which Lila made yesterday. They were
delicious! My husband gets the credit for finding <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mini-man-burgers-recipe/index.html">this recipe from Alton Brown at Foodnetwork.com.</a> He also gets the credit for buying the cast iron grill pan
that makes all the difference (and generates a lot of smoke). Since we forgot to take
pictures of the meal here is a pic of the crazy cookbook Lila and her dad are
reading: Life Magazine Picture Cookbook from 1963. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHk_o3Z2QmA/UADJ5WucHvI/AAAAAAAAADM/ahgZBW6cZHs/s1600/2012-07-13_21-05-04_787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHk_o3Z2QmA/UADJ5WucHvI/AAAAAAAAADM/ahgZBW6cZHs/s320/2012-07-13_21-05-04_787.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We have never made any of the recipes from this book. But
John and Lila love reading cookbooks like this because the recipes are absurd and disgusting. Right now they are singing a song about this recipe: lamb tongues with raisin sauce. You can imagine.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IQuF1VdGj8o/UADKaPlHdLI/AAAAAAAAADU/7HzaBMh3O7g/s1600/2012-07-13_21-06-13_755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IQuF1VdGj8o/UADKaPlHdLI/AAAAAAAAADU/7HzaBMh3O7g/s320/2012-07-13_21-06-13_755.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-49182494981833668532012-07-13T08:00:00.003-07:002012-07-13T08:00:38.760-07:00Penne with Broccoli & Garlic<style>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Lila:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“So
yesterday I blew off yet another night of blogging to make up for the
relaxation hours I had lost two days ago because I was making that scallop stir
fry that sucked. Fortunately yesterday I didn’t waste my time on a sucky dish
that took up all of my relaxation hours. Instead I made smart decision and made
the perfect broccoli and pasta that’s not actually what it’s called but it was
pretty perfect. So anyway today I’m spending my day not cooking, relaxing, and
you guessed it reading MAD Magazine [unfortunately still had to do some actual
work.] so bye, as you already know my mom will post the recipe. P.S. I hope
that you have had at least one day to do nothing this summer vacation.”</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaOHDiIvtgg/UAA28gPBUuI/AAAAAAAAADA/SpmSh42gCek/s1600/2012-07-11_17-42-00_102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BaOHDiIvtgg/UAA28gPBUuI/AAAAAAAAADA/SpmSh42gCek/s320/2012-07-11_17-42-00_102.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Ambika:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
am running a bit behind in posting these days. Sorry all. This was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tuesday’s dinner. Penne with Broccoli
has been one of my favorite dishes since I was in my twenties (long time ago
now) and first had it at an Italian restaurant. So this was kind of torturous
for me, as I am not eating wheat these days and it looked and smelled sooooo
good! That said I have made this dish for years (when I was eating wheat of
course – the glory days) with many variations. This latest version is so far my
favorite. My husband John discovered the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342191427&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+boil+water+cookbook">“How to Boil Water”</a> (great cookbook btw) from the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/">FoodNetwork</a> when he was teaching himself how to cook a couple of years ago. One
night he made a recipe for spaghetti with olive oil & garlic from that book
and it came out fabulous! I have since adapted the recipe to penne with
broccoli (which is how Lila made it). I now blanch my broccoli first, which makes it much better. Got this
idea from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boil-Water-Food-Network-Kitchens/dp/0696226863/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342191427&sr=1-1&keywords=how+to+boil+water+cookbook">“How to Boil Water”</a> as well. Actually I knew about blanching long ago
but resisted it for some reason. Can’t imagine why…</span></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-74939562572022447952012-07-11T14:18:00.001-07:002012-07-11T14:18:59.419-07:00Pan Fried Sea Scallops and Roasted Potatoes<style>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Lila:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“So
it’s 8:30 in the morning and I’m unfortunately sitting here writing my blog
post that I should’ve done last night but instead was watching Legally Blonde.
Yesterday I made lemony scallop stir-fry at least that’s what I think it was
called anyway, it sucked. I highly doubt that it was a good Introduction to
scallops because they were chewy, tough, and slimy [uggh!]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So besides the scallops that
sucked, I made the best roasted potatoes they are so addictive once you eat one
you want to eat the whole plate or bowl. As you can already see I didn’t get my
mandatory relaxing hours in. So bye my mom is going to post the link to the
herb roasted potatoes. P. S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
didn’t actually use the herbs. I think it makes the potatoes better.”</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wdi6rWtfdto/T_3scnr0g1I/AAAAAAAAACs/mMpMk9gkRIA/s1600/2012-07-09_18-13-39_387.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wdi6rWtfdto/T_3scnr0g1I/AAAAAAAAACs/mMpMk9gkRIA/s320/2012-07-09_18-13-39_387.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
Ambika:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
just want to say how proud I am of Lila for choosing and making this dish. She
had no help or guidance from me since I have never made scallops before. She
picked this recipe on her own. She wanted to make shrimp at first but since we
are aware of the problem of overfishing on this planet we are now trying to
only buy seafood according to the <a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx?c=ln">Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch</a> guide. Lila did all the shopping
for this dish and went to both seafood stores in our neighborhood looking for
shrimp that were sustainably caught, and as you can see from the menu she was
unsuccessful in finding any. Scallops it seems are ok from most places and so
easier to obtain. I actually like scallops although I didn’t like this recipe.
Anyone out there with a favorite recipe/method for cooking scallops please let
me know.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-up1rZypNynM/T_3tdv9xwcI/AAAAAAAAAC0/aJu-YtmeIgQ/s1600/2012-07-09_17-12-34_978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-up1rZypNynM/T_3tdv9xwcI/AAAAAAAAAC0/aJu-YtmeIgQ/s320/2012-07-09_17-12-34_978.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The potatoes were truly scrumptious and Lila found the recipe on the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/herb-roasted-potatoes-recipe/index.html">Food Network website from Tyler Florence</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-9626897193764613352012-07-08T15:32:00.001-07:002012-07-08T15:32:37.538-07:00Risotto and Roasted Broccoli<style>
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From Lila: </div>
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“Today I made risotto as you probably know from the
title.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tonight’s dinner was
slightly less tedious than the previous dinners that I have made just because
it didn’t involve any really pesky vegetable washing. So today I started making
dinner at 4:30 because of the all of the homework and relaxing I had to do, but
mainly it had to do with the fact that my mom had yet another park slope food
co-op shift to do. So while my mom was out doing a co-op shift I was doing my
summer math homework [uggh] and sitting around re-reading one of my MAD
magazines. It’s kind of weird thinking that 91 degrees isn’t that hot but it
was unfortunately hot in my kitchen. Even though it was like heat extortion
being in the kitchen, it was so worth it for the risotto. I know that probably
sounds crazy to most people especially the heat sensitive [like me] but there aren’t
a lot of things I wouldn't do for a good bowl/plate of food. So bye I have to
get back to relaxing. P.s. my mom will post the link to the cookbook that I
made the risotto from and will write about the roasted broccoli that she made. “
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Ambika here - This was actually Friday’s dinner but we got
busy going to the pool and whatnot, so I’m just posting it now. I got the idea
for roasted broccoli from my friend Marsha (thanks Marsha). I LOVE cooking it this way for a
change since I cook so much broccoli. <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Broccoli-with-Garlic-and-Red-Pepper-351031">Here is a good recipe from epicurious</a>. I
of course simplify so I just use olive oil and salt.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtMQjQ5SFYw/T_oKTWE7osI/AAAAAAAAACU/iXmG1R3QND4/s1600/roastedbroc.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtMQjQ5SFYw/T_oKTWE7osI/AAAAAAAAACU/iXmG1R3QND4/s320/roastedbroc.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The risotto recipe is from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Real-Simple-Meals-Made-Easy/dp/1933405031/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341786071&sr=8-4&keywords=real+simple+cookbook">Real Simple: Meals Made Easy</a>. It
is very tasty and is relatively easy to make. We used chicken stock from a box
but if anyone out there has a recommendation for vegetable broth in a box,
please let me know. So far all I’ve tried are pretty terrible.</div>
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<br /></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-45312597715413440592012-07-05T17:58:00.004-07:002012-07-05T17:58:39.180-07:00Collaborative Dinner: Winging It<style>
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For tonight’s dinner due to a myriad of causes and
conditions we ended up kind of winging it. Lila made sautéed green beans with
garlic and she is writing about that bit. I made avocado sushi for the kids
with leftover sticky rice (this is a dinner I make at least once a week if not
more) and I also pan fried some tofu for the grownups (Lila ate some too
though). </div>
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From Lila: <br />
"Today I made "extra browned" garlic green beans and I just lost my blog post so I'm re-writing my blog post right now [so irritating.] Anyway so when my mom told me I had to make green beans I wasn't too thrilled because yesterday was The 4th of July so I stayed up until 10:30 then my little brother woke me up at 7:00 plus I felt like just sitting around and reading MAD magazine all day. So after my mom told me numerous times that I had to make green beans I got up and started to clean them [while reading MAD,of course.] I washed the green beans. Note: don't pour the green beans into the strainer because residue will get caught in the strainer then it will get stuck on them. I did that today, thank goodness that my mom hasn't found out yet. Then you snap the ends off of green beans. Note: you probably shouldn't read while snapping the ends off of the green beans [like I did] because one, you might not notice that there are some bad spots on the green beans and two you'll most likely get your reading material wet. Bye, now i have to read my post over again [sigh.]"<br />
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I am adding this bit: The trick I have found is to blanch the green beans for about 3 mins in salted boiling water and then drain, rinse under cold water. Then saute garlic in olive oil and add the green beans and just warm through. I didn't start blanching veggies until this year and now I do it all the time! </div>
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My sushi is very pedestrian as you will see from the photos
but I do have some tips I have picked up along the way. You need sticky rice or
sushi rice and the proportions for cooking are different than most rice. For 1
cup of dried rice add 1¼ cups of water. I have only made 2 cups at a time so
I’m not completely sure if these proportions work if you make 3 cups or more.
The basics are the same: rinse the rice several times in cold water until the
water is fairly clear and drain. Then add the water to the rice and bring to a
boil. Lower heat as low as the flame will go and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
Let stand for 5 mins covered and then spread out on a plate to cool. Once the rice
is cool you can put it in a bowl and add a mixture of rice vinegar, salt &
sugar. The recipe for making the mixture can be found <a href="http://japanesefood.about.com/od/sushiforbeginner/r/sushirice.htm">here</a> along with some good
instructions. I keep it simple and kind of guesstimate amounts of the vinegar
mixture for the rice since I am sometimes only making 2 rolls.</div>
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Here is basically what I do:<br />
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Cut the nori sheet in have and place down at the lower end of your bamboo sushi mat. I pat the rice down with a spoon and then dip my fingers in a bowl of cold water and smooth it all down.<br />
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Add avocado and roll it all up slowly and as tightly as you can.<br />
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Unroll and then take it off the mat to cut. I use a good serrated knife which I wet first with warm water (this really helps).<br />
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And voila!<br />
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Pan fried tofu: I just use olive oil and Braggs Liquid Aminos. You can use soy sauce of course.</div>
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My dinner tonight: leftover sushi rice with some olive oil and Braggs, tofu, avocado, and Lila's green beans. Some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce">Sriracha</a> is also a very wonderful addition!</div>
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<br /><br /></div>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5894432664744559189.post-72176266167259523462012-07-02T18:25:00.004-07:002012-07-02T18:25:46.036-07:00Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This summer my 11 year old daughter said she didn’t want to
go to camp and so I said well then you are in charge of the family dinners.
Although this may sound a bit like child labor I should mention that Lila LOVES
to cook and loves all things about food (except of course what she hates). She
has been reading cookbooks for years – just for fun, and she is truly a first
generation child of food TV as well. So there you go. She also loves going out
to eat especially to priceyish restaurants but we are kind of broke these days
hence the cooking. Our grand experiment begins today. I’ve been trying to get
her to make all the dishes I would if I had all day to cook. I should also
mention here my 5 year old son is allergic to nuts and dairy and I am now wheat
intolerant. So the real challenge (which I am happy to give up after being the
main cook in the family thus far) is how to cook meals the whole family not
only can eat, but might also actually enjoy. My son of course is incredibly
picky and really only loves fruit and candy and avocado sushi (Lila taught me
how to make sushi by the way – ok her and my friend Nick who is an adult).
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Tonight’s menu: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Penne with basil pesto </div>
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Arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette, goat cheese,
cranberries, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The toppings including goat cheese are all on the side and
of course optional. I went for them all. I should mention here that our pesto
is of course nut free so we just use lots of basil, a small amount of garlic,
olive oil and salt. That’s it. Lila, my husband and myself all add parmesan and
I like to add chopped fresh tomatoes. </div>
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All I did for this dinner was to give some instructions on
washing basil (must wash 3 times!), ingredients for pesto (not portions), and
how long to cook the pasta, then I was in charge of poring the boiling water
and pasta into the strainer. Lila did everything else. I did make my own rice
pasta (my friend recommended <a href="http://www.tinkyada.com/ProList.htm">Tinkyada <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>brown rice pasta</a>, spaghetti style, which is really pretty good. The
trick is to turn down the flame and cook the pasta on medium rather than high).
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must say the dinner was
delicious! Lila is already the queen of salad dressing in our house. </div>
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Lila will not be cooking for the next couple of days (so
many social engagements) so the next blog post will be on Thursday. Now back to
the season premiere of Weeds (premium cable TV is one of the many reasons we
are broke - sigh).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hcHTxNt1znQ/T_HhQGXQSyI/AAAAAAAAAAU/2BuoO7XA3pQ/s640/blogger-image-460724754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hcHTxNt1znQ/T_HhQGXQSyI/AAAAAAAAAAU/2BuoO7XA3pQ/s640/blogger-image-460724754.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tedious work. Getting ALL of the sand off of the basil.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8LoNnS-rqSw/T_HhQuNiloI/AAAAAAAAAAg/sbstOy-csT0/s640/blogger-image-385065008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8LoNnS-rqSw/T_HhQuNiloI/AAAAAAAAAAg/sbstOy-csT0/s640/blogger-image-385065008.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All of the black and withered basil that is going in the compost ( my mom is very enviromentally friendly.) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>ambikacooperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17235632957610618121noreply@blogger.com3