Fruits in Home Cooking

It has been a peachy summer! I have to give credit to a former coworker who introduced me to my first peach cobbler. She warned me before my first bite that I was getting a real treat because doughy cobbler is hard to find. I was hooked since then and luckily for me I was able to find the recipe online. Now that I have my own kitchen I've made this Peach Cobbler "The Pastry Version" about 4 times and it's darn good.

I double the dough recipe and add an extra peach or two. I like fresh peaches and I prefer to buy organic because peaches rank high in the pesticides department. Leftovers reheat well in the microwave, about 2 minutes. It pairs well with plain vanilla ice cream. I've also learned that a blueberry compote, warm or cold, goes well with this dish.

I had some extra blueberry compote from my pancake adventure yesterday.

This was Saturday's breakfast. Orange Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Compote.

I woke up and made coffee and got to work. Nothing like manually whipping egg whites into peaks to wake you up (and make you feel like your arm is about to fall off).

Thank goodness I tackled the compote first. The success of that recipe motivated me to make pancakes from scratch. Next time I'll try and substitute lemon for orange, as suggested by the source.

The pancakes were smaller than I expected. Next time I'll pour 1/2 cup of the mix.

In case you were wondering, yes I bought an electric hand mixer after this experience. I earned it!

I then decided to do Dunlop's Smacked Cucumber in Garlicky Sauce. I of course did the sweet and sour variation. It was good but I'd probably play around with the ratios next time.

Lastly this was my pork belly (cured in maple syrup) hash. Good dish but it'll be better next time.

I'm not going to bother curing the pork belly next time. I'll just fry it on cast iron to get the crispy texture and definitely without oil because the pork releases enough of it.

Also I left my russet potatoes in the pot too long. I learned 10 minutes in boiling water is too long for small to medium sized potatoes. I should have poked one of them to check around the 5 minute mark. Another thing I'd do differently is cook it in less butter afterwards. Once I threw the onions in I saw why the recipe called for so much butter but I think I may be able to get away with half the amount.

I am feeling inspired to cook and it was kickstarted by my ebook acquisition of the Bubby's Brunch Cookbook.

Dinner at Basta Pasta

Sangria Bianca, muscat wine and plum wine with mango and I believe there was some grapefruit. A very refreshing drink, and the alcohol was not overpowering.

Calamari alla Griglia. The sauce on the top right is aioli sauce, and I definitely tasted mustard in it. On top of the squid is curry risotto in a sausage-like encasing.

Linguini with sea urchin and jalapeno. What is sea urchin doing in a pasta dish? Well Basta Pasta is a Japanese take on Italian cuisine. The pasta was cooked just right. The sauce took a backseat to the jalapeno even though I wouldn't call this dish spicy at all, just a nice kick to it. The sea urchin was soft and slightly creamy.

I thought a close up pic of sea urchin was needed. This was the biggest piece in the dish.

Fifi or yogurt mousse with honey gelato and various fruits. My friend finished this very quickly so I think it must have been very delicious.

Parmigiano Reggiano Cheesecake. I've never had cheesecake with this kind of texture before. Soft and airy but not creamy at all cheesecake.

My friend and I each had a drink, appetizer, pasta for main course, and dessert. The total was $120.

Basta Pasta
37 West 17th Street

New York, NY 10011-5503

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Another Dinner at La Flor

Quesadilla de bistec (beef)- soft homemade "bread" and I could taste its main ingredient, corn. The red sauce has a very light bite to its taste, but more than enough to make things interesting when mixed with the green sauce.

Yummy beef and cheese innards.

Chocolate souffle with raspberry sorbet. I was too busy eating to bother taking a pic once I cut it open. The sorbet was a nice substitution to the usual ice cream, it makes the entire dessert less richer. Also the sorbet's lightness is a contrast to the heavy and thicker hot fudge (not to mention less calories).

My friend and I shared all this plus we each had a cup of hot chocolate. The total was almost $25.

La Flor

5302 Roosevelt Ave

Woodside, NY 11377

Another Dinner at Ippudo

Not my ramen so I don't remember the name. My friend liked it though and even though she usually doesn't eat pork she actually enjoyed it this time.

Also not my ramen. It's the one with soy sauce listed as one of the ingredient on the menu. My other friend liked it too.

My dish. I forgot the actual name but it had the word Modern in it. I think the red sauce on top was supposed to make it spicy but it wasn't. However this was still an incredible bowl of ramen. The Berkshire pork slices were melt-in-your-mouth kind of tender as usual and the other pork I added was also tasty.

I believe this was some kind of seaweed creme brulee. I liked how this wasn't too sweet and how the flavor complemented the grean tea ice cream on top.

Mascarpone with green tea ice cream. We shared both desserts and we all agreed we would probably come to Ippudo just for this.

Ippudo
65 4th Ave
New York, NY‎

More Cannelle Patisserie

I usually don't like pear or hard bread but this pear tart slice was too tempting to not try. I would definitely try it again.

The chocolate macarons were sinful extras. Soft and nicely chewy chocolate heaven and not too sweet.

Cannelle Patisserie
7559 31ST Ave
East Elmhurst, NY

Crumbs Cupcakes

The Hostess looking cupcake on the right did have a white frosting filling inside. Good-tasting chocolate cupcakes. Neither too sweet or dry.

Cupcake Cafe

I'm not a cupcake fan unless we're talking about chocolate or red velvet, but I liked this cupcake's softness and light icing.

Inside the banana walnut cupcake.

Cupcake Cafe
545 9th Avenue
New York, NY

More Desserts at Cannelle Patisserie

Tiramisu in a cup. It tastes just as good as it looks.

Bread Pudding. A mix of custard and soft and airy brioche.

Chocolate mousse cake. The different shades of brown of the mousse layers are not just for show- the darker one tastes like it's made of more darker chocolate. I love how there's just enough cake layers to balance out the mousse layers.

It's been awhile so I can't remember the exact prices...Bread pudding less than $3, and the other two less than $5.

Cannelle Patisserie
7559 31ST Ave
East Elmhurst, NY

Desserts at Cannelle Patisserie

Mango Kiwi.

The mango and kiwi flavors make this a perfect summer dessert. I do wish I could taste more of the mango a tad more though. I also like the different textures- the mango mousse, the kiwi filling, and the crumbs at the bottom. I believe this was $3.75.

If I recall correctly these macaroons were Black Currant flavored.

I prefer the coffee macaroon but this was good too. It's expensive for $1 a piece but I also know a place in Manhattan that sells one for $2.50.

I rarely not get the large hot chocolate. Even in the summer I can't resist this delicious real chocolate drink.

Another shot. I forgot how much this costs, but it's definitely less than $4.

Cannelle Patisserie
7559 31ST Ave
East Elmhurst, NY

Dinner at Max Brenner

Not really. The next two pics will be non-chocolate food.

A chicken pizza dish. I can't remember the name and this was my friend's dish.

My Blackened Steak Fajitas. It was good but not enough steak. I like mushrooms but they might as well call the dish mushroom fajitas.

This was my dessert, and again I don't remember the name. Chocolate in various temperatures and state. There's hot fudge at the center of the cake. The entire plate was excellent and all of them were sweetened just right.

My friend's milkshake. I don't think she finished it but I remember she liked it.

The damage was $53 before tips.

Max Brenner
841 Broadway (between 13th and 14th Street)
New York, NY

Dinner at Nyonya

A certain someone could not wait for dessert after the meal. Above is ABC but our waiter recognized it as shaved ice dessert.

Red bean and corn in ABC. It's a sweet dessert with evaporated milk. ABC's simple taste makes for a nice and light summer dessert.


Roti Canai. Excellent pancake and delicious chicken curry broth.


Beef rendang. Well-seasoned and tears apart easily. All that oil makes me wonder if Nyonya's Upper West Side branch makes it with significantly less oil.


Penang sizzling tofu. I love this dish. I can usually do without a tofu veggie dish, but the egg coating on the tofu made them tastier than usual and added a nice contrasting texture to the silky soft tofu inside. The sauce flavored the tofu and broccoli well.


Nyonya
194 Grand St
New York, NY