The Most Important Meal

We discovered this granola lately at our favorite little neighborhood market and it’s so good we’re sampling our way through all of the flavors.

How cool is this one that combines coffee and dark Green & Black chocolate in with the mix? Eating coffee on your cereal? Brilliant!

What are some of your favorite breakfast foods? I’m excited to make some more waffles this weekend!

Fish Heads & Eel Bones

Recently Andy and I went to a dinner event titled Fish Heads, Eel Bones & Beer at EN Japanese Brasserie with some friends.

This event–which happens the first Thursday of every month and consistently sells out–is an homage to makanai or the traditional staff meal served in Japanese restaurants in which the leftover parts of fish and other ingredients are used to prepare so that nothing goes to waste.

While the event name and certain menu items (such as Sea Bream Head Soup) might sound a little intimidating, it was all completely delicious.

We gobbled down everything served at the buffet (with seconds) and washed it down with glasses of Sapporo served with the meal.

Although I loved it all, there was one dish in the meal that I have been craving ever since that night. It was a simple bowl of vinegared rice mixed with sashimi ends and bits of nori, sort of a deconstructed sushi dinner if you will. Since I love sushi, it was a little bowl of heaven.

I can’t stop thinking about it. I think if I were able to eat a bowl of that every evening after a long day of work, I’d be one lucky lady. I guess I either have to become an excellent Japanese cook or, move closer to the West Village.

Tastes Good: Nom Wah Tea Parlour

It’s been a while since I wrote about anything food-related here on the blog.

If you follow my Tumblr, you’ve probably noticed that food is a pretty big deal to me. You may have also noticed a delicious dim sum breakfast I had a few weeks ago on against an adorable red & white table.

The restaurant was Nom Wah Tea Parlour. One of my pals and I sought it out because it is allegedly Chinatown’s oldest dim sum shop (and we love our dim sum!) having opened in 1920 on Doyers St. (and was recently captured as a backdrop by one of NYC’s best-known street photographers).

Doyers St. is a little part-street/part-alley block in Chinatown that always seems to have a little secret to tell you, maybe it’s the restaurant.

A cross between a typical dim sum shop and an old-fashioned NYC diner with booths and checkered tablecloths (with excellent food no less) you can’t help but feel as if you are taking your own small bite out of the great big history of this city.

Tastes Good: Sushi!

We ordered sushi for dinner tonight and I made this little sketch waiting for it to arrive.

Fermez La Bûche!

Have any of you ever tried to make a Bûche de Noël for the holidays?

Years ago my sister and I made one and I remember it as one of our more traumatic Christmas experiences. We had unknowingly picked a fairly advanced recipe–for our skills–and it almost broke us (I think it was the swiss buttercream that did it in the end).

There was shouting, there were tears and at the end of it all there was a chocolate-frosted, meringue mushroom-dotted, resentment-filled Bûche on the table responsible for having turned us into little pastry-chef monsters.

As a result we have stayed far away from Bûches since.

Until now.

I am in love with the new ipad app from Food & Wine Magazine, it is so gorgeous and fun to read. I can’t wait until all magazines are available in iPad format. It is such a cool, interactive way to read your favorites without amassing stacks of them on your coffee table (read, my coffee table).

While browsing Food & Wine’s Holiday issue my jaw dropped at the photo of this gorgeous Bûche. It looks incredible and, is frosted with whipped cream! Not an ounce of swiss meringue in sight.

This year, I think we’re ready to reclaim the Bûche!

Hopefully a better and more delicious experience will ensue. Wish us luck! (Or maybe steer clear of the kitchen, just to be safe.)

Everything In It’s Place

I discovered Carl Kleiner‘s work while reading about Ikea’s newest venture, a cookbook! (Sadly only available in Ikea stores in Sweden).

I totally loved the OCD mise-en-place styling for the shoot and clicked over to Kleiner’s website where I discovered more of these playful photographs with food and also clothing and accessories!

Maybe I am stretching a bit but I just saw a bit of a link between the projects. Plus I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to show you more, they are just so cool!

Since LGTM is about fashion and food (among other things), I am giving you both works in a bit of an inspirational mash-up. They look so good together, don’t you think!?

Read more about the Ikea cookbook here and here.

M.F.E.O

Just a little abbreviation for how the two ingredients I am talking about today are clearly Made For Each Other: Chocolate and Sea Salt.

Over the weekend I tried my first Sweet and Salty Brownie from Brooklyn bakery Baked.

While grabbing coffee on Friday morning, on a whim I picked up one of the brownies as well and chucked it in my bag.

I nearly forgot about it until much later when, in a fit of hunger I absentmindedly unwrapped the brownie and popped a bite into my mouth and WOAH! the thing was f@*#ing delicious!

(I think I may have just found my new treat-crack.)

You don’t have to take it from me either. Baked’s Sweet and Salty goodness was recently featured on the Food Network show Best Thing I Ever Ate.

Are you salivating for one of these yet? How about now?

Lucky for us, the recipe was just published in Baked Explorations the new cookbook from the bakers at Baked. I’ve already got it in my shopping cart on Amazon!

Caroline Makes Muffins

By now I am sure many of you have seen the wonderful website Ming Makes Cupcakes (and if you haven’t, check it out right now).

I love the layout, the simple, straightforward food styling and the to-the-point recipes. It has become one of my favorite blogs to drool over when 4pm hits and the only thing I can think about are snacks.

I am not a big cupcake-baker at home (Andy is not a fan and we always have about a million cupcakes left over) but, I do make a lot of muffins. This weekend I made some adjustments to my favorite Banana Muffin recipie and was quite pleased with the results.

I thought I would share it with you Ming-style along with some photos of her own creations below.

Photos from Ming Makes Cupcakes. From left: Cupcake #29; Cupcake #23; Cupcake #28; Cupcake #13

And now, the recipe for my Banana Date Muffins (photo at top of post).

Banana Date Muffins (adapted from here)

3 or 4 mashed bananas

1/2 c. olive oil

1 1/2 c. packed brown sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1/4 c. sour cream

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/4 c. slivered almonds (toasted)

dried pitted dates

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. With an electric mixer, mix the wet ingredients until smooth and creamy. Sift in the first three dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Fold in spices.

Spoon batter into greased cupcake-tins, filling halfway. Place one whole pitted date in the center of each cupcake and cover with remaining batter to about three-quarters full. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and bake about 20-25 minutes until done.

Glam Cherry Glam

Ladies and gentleman, I will hereby be taking the rest of the week off of work in order to comb the streets on Manhattan searching for free ice cream.

In honor of their Poppy brand, handbag icon Coach has conspired with Van Leeuwen (one of the best in the ice cream biz) on a limited edition flavor called Glam Cherry.

The blend of tree-ripened Morello cherries with Michael Cluizel chocolate flakes (mmmmmm!) sounds nothing short of amazing. A Van Leeuwen truck tricked out with Poppy ads will giving out scoops of this heavenly concoction away for free this week at Coach stores!

Photo snapped by Christiane at DwellStudio who was lucky enough to spot a truck!  I’m not sure exactly how to track these babies down but you could start by checking out Van Leeuwen on Facebook or Twitter.

Tastes Good: Turkish Granola

Granola is one of my favorite foods and so easy to make!

I just made some to take to the beach this weekend.

Every time I make my granola, I like to change up the flavors to fit the season (or whatever is in the cupboard).

With apricots, dates and sesame seeds, I named this batch Turkish Granola. I am sharing my super-secret recipe with you below. I hope you like it!

Turkish Granola (adapted from The Candle Cafe Cookbook)

1 cup steel cut oats 

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1 T. sesame seeds (toasted)

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1 T. vanilla extract

1/4 t. sea salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/2 t. ground cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine above ingredients in large bowl. Spread out on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Transfer to a bowl and add 1/4 cup raisins, 1/4 cup dried apricots, 1/4 cup dried & pitted dates, 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut.