Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Every week we have been experimenting with different cookie recipes.  Making things from scratch are better and more satisfying than the mass produced store bought varieties (plus they have less artificial preservatives and additives).  I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and made my own edits by adding freshly grated nutmeg, using freshly grated cinnamon (not pre-ground cinnamon), using a different salt, and omitting the walnuts.  The recipe yielded about 15 small cookies, which was perfect because other cookie recipes will leave you with "obligation" cookies (cookies you are forced to eat every day until you are all "cookied" out).

Ingredients 

1 stick - Unsalted Butter (softened)
2/3 cup - Light Brown Sugar 

1 - Egg
1/2 tsp - Vanilla Extract
3/4 cup - Flour
1/2 tsp - Baking Soda
1/2 tsp - Freshly Grated Cinnamon

1/4 tsp - Fresh Grated Nutmeg
1/2 tsp - Kosher Salt 

1 1/2 cups - Rolled Oats
3/4 cup - Raisins

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. 

2) In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together. 

3) Mix this into the butter/sugar mixture. 

4) Stir in the oats and raisins.

5) Put the cookies two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake them for 11 minutes.

6) Take them out of the oven and let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

 

Is it Brussel or Brussels Sprouts?

Every kid hates and despises brussel sprouts - its just a natural reaction.  "Eat your brussel sprouts" elicits repressed memories that people have buried for years.  Luckily, my mother neither fed or forced me to eat vegetables that I was fearful of (though she did make spam which I will probably never eat again).  This avoidance of the "bum rap" vegetables (broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, etc.) has led me to discover them with new eyes and cooking techniques.  Special thank you to dell'anima for having the most amazing brussel sprouts. Here's a recipe that I have had the joy of tinkering with the last couple of weeks (I'm not calling it the best recipe yet because I want to experiment with roasting them, but it will make the most finicky eater come back for more):

Ingredients

12oz-16oz - Brussel Sprouts

6 - Cloves of Garlic (sliced)

1/3 - Red Onion (chopped)

Olive Oil & Canola Oil

Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Dried Bing Cherries (do not use Montmorency cherries) 

Red Wine Vinegar
Kosher Salt

Pepper

Honey

Pecans

1) Chop the end of the brussel sprouts off.

2) Peel and reserve 3-4 leaves from each brussel sprout and keep them off to the side.

3) Cut and quarter the brussel sprouts into 4 equal pieces.

3) In a skillet or saute pan, combine olive oil and canola oil equally over medium heat (if you put olive oil alone, it will get too smokey).

4) Put the brussel sprouts in the pan and let them carmelize.

5) Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Drizzle a splash of red wine vinegar.

6) Add the onions, garlic, cherris, and pecans and give everything a good stir.

7) When the brussel sprouts are starting to brown, drizzle honey over them, and add in the reserved leaves.

8) Cook them for an additional 2-3 minutes and enjoy.

 

Artisanal Premium Cheese Class

I took their "Sexy Cheese & Sumptuous Wine" class and the last thing I felt was sexy or sumptuous.

I went straight to the class after work and I was paranoid that we weren't going to get a lot to eat/drink - I was completely wrong.  We were welcomed with a nice cheese spread (complete with fondue) and Cava (Spanish sparkling wine).  I was almost full heading into the class (instead of marbles, imagine a hungry hungry hippo going after different cheeses - that was me).

We were led into the class and my knees almost buckled. Each table setting had 7 cheeses and 4 full wine glasses (why didn't I pace myself!?).   The cheeses were:

- Humboldt Fog
- Ossau Iraty Pardou Arriou
- Edwin's Munster
- Uplands Pleasant Ridge
- Adelegger (***my favorite***)
- Prima Donna
- Bleu de Laqueuille

It was a vast variety of cheeses: goat milk, sheep milk, cow milk, soft, blue, hard, nutty tasting, etc.  Erin (our cheese instructor) retired from her corporate job and made her love of cheese into a new career.  She was very knowledgeable, had great handouts, and went through the history of cheese (and why it's so damn sexy).  But wait.....it gets better!  They also had full glasses of the following wines:

- Verdejo / Viura Rueda
- Chenin Blanc
- Grenache / Cinsault / Tibourin
- Shiraz

We were supposed to try each cheese with each wine to decide which ones pair well together.  I played the pairing game for awhile, but your palette will be overloaded and your taste buds will go numb. Robert (our wine instructor) was equally knowledgeable and poured freely if you had space for more.  Good luck finishing everything and remember to pace yourself. 

Weisses Brauhaus (Munich, Germany)

Before Weisses Brauhaus:
- The thought of beer at breakfast seemed foreign.
- The thought of boiled white sausage and pretzels at breakfast seemed unappetizing.

After Weisses Brauhaus:
- When in Munich, do as the Munichers do (drink beer at breakfast).
- There was nothing more than I wanted to eat every day than a typical Bavarian breakfast: I went with the dark beer (instead of the traditional wheat beer), the delicious white sausage, the freshest baked pretzel, and sweet mustard.
- Everyone has their own method to removing the sausage skin (I preferred to surgically remove it versus ripping it off by hand).

St Stephan's Cathedral / Stephansdom (Vienna, Austria)

If there is one thing that Europe has tons of are beautiful cathedrals, imposing castles, and plenty of statutes/fountains (just look through all of my vacation photo albums).  For a non-religious person, I always find myself visiting churches in my travels (it combines history, art, and awe inspiring architecture).

If you've seen one church, you've seen them all was definitely not the case with Stephansdom.  From the outside, it was undergoing construction and the scaffolding was covered with a tarp of what the cathedral would look like if it wasn't there (there was a picture of the cathedral superimposed on the tarp).  I've seen stained glass before, but it creates a stunningly beautiful effect inside of the church (it looks like a color prism projection over the columns and statutes).  Its definitely a must see while in Vienna and there are plenty of shops/restaurants nearby.

Hofbrauhaus Beer Garden (Munich, Germany)

How to act like a tourist at Hofbrauhaus:

A) You stand around waiting at the entrance as if a hostess is going to seat you.
B) After you realize that no one is going to sit you, you walk around the entire beer garden looking for a mythical empty table.
C) After finding a place to sit, you don't hang up your coat, but instead create a 'fort' of coats around you.
D) Instead of ordering a beer right away, you decide to ask for an English menu and delay the time it takes to get a beer exponentially.
E) After finally getting your beer, you decide to take a thousand pictures of you holding the beer, drinking from the beer, comparing the size of the beer to your head, holding 2 beers, etc.

This place is massive with different rooms, floors, and an outdoor beer garden area.  It has tons of atmosphere with the diversity of people drinking here (we witnessed a 7 year old girl drinking with her parents).  The food is ok (Weisses Braeuhaus has better white sausages/pretzels and Haxnbauer has a better pork knuckle), but let's be honest....you're not here for the food.  Good luck not getting hungry watching other people eating food at your table. 

Haxnbauer (Munich, Germany)

Not all pork knuckles are created equal.  This is the place to go for a hunk of burning 'pork' love.

Sure, you can order a pork knuckle anywhere in Munich...but why ruin your experience and go with subpar knuckle?  Haxnbauer roasts their pork over a wood fire for 3 hours and it smells divine when you walk in (I thought I died and went to porky heaven).  If you order an entire knuckle (good for 2 people), the waiter will let you pick your own (with price tags included).  The skin was perfectly crispy and the meat was absolutely delicious (I didn't want to stop eating until there was just a bone left on the plate). It's definitely a must do.

 

Pernil AKA Puerto Rican Roast Pork

 

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of pernil wafting throughout a house like a cartoon finger. I've cooked a lot of different things, but I never thought to make pernil because the responsibility always fell to my mother at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Since my mother didn't make pernil at our family holiday dinner, I left feeling incomplete.  The following recipe is a combination of my mom's recipe, some 'successful' miscommunication, and all of the 'techniques' learned from my never ending DVR'd food shows.

Ingredients

4lb - Roast Pork Butt (you can also use Pork Shoulder)
6 cloves - Garlic (sliced)
2 packets - Sazon seasoning
1/4 cup - White Vinegar
1 - Lemon (juice)
1 - Lime (juice)
Adobo Seasoning (you can substitute granulated garlic, salt, and pepper)

1) Squeeze and massage the juice of 1 lemon and lime all over the pork butt.
2) Stab the pork butt repeatedly on all sides (your knife should penetrate about 1/2 inch).
3) Season and rub with Adobo and Sazon seasonings.
4) Insert the sliced pieces of garlic into all of the knife slits (it should slide in like pennies in a penny loafer)
5) Put the pork butt in a sealed Ziploc gallon bag and pour the vinegar over it.
6) Put the sealed bag in a pyrex container and refrigerate for 24 hours (be sure to turn it over every few hours).
7) Place the pork butt on a roasting rack and put it in the oven uncovered at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours (this creates a crispy skin).
8) Flip it on the roasting rack with tongs and let the other side get roasted for another 2 1/2 hours (I put aluminum foil midway so it wouldn't dry out).
9) Flip it again on its original side and turn the temperature up to 400 degrees and leave it for 20 minutes.
10) Take the meat out of the oven and let it rest for a bit. 
11) Take the meat apart with tongs and a knife and try to portion it out so every piece has crispy pork skin on it.

Pickled Red Grapes

I've been on a nice pickling run lately with red onions, carrots, and I recently added grapes to the mix.  I originally tried them in a farro risotto at Perilla and was blown away by the sweet and sour taste. I came up with the recipe below on my own, but I'll try it next with a sprig of rosemary, ginger, brown sugar, and/or peppercorns.

Ingredients

1/2 cup - White Balsamic Vinegar (or White Wine Vinegar)
1/2 cup - Sugar
1 - Cinnamon Stick
1 cup - Red Grapes (or enough to fit a 8oz Ball Mason Jar)

1) Rinse, dry, and slice the nipple part of the grape off.
2) Put the grapes into a mason jar.
3) In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil.
4) Pour the liquid over the grapes, close the jar, and put it in the fridge.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

Nothing is nicer than having dinner done in less than 10 minutes (take that Rachael Ray!). I'm a bag fan of brown butter sauces since they are quick, easy, and delicious. This is my modified version of Mario Batali's recipe. 

Ingredients

5 tbsp - Unsalted Butter
15 - Sage leaves
1/2 - Lemon (juiced)
2oz - Pasta Cooking Water
Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Parmigiano Reggiano

1) While your pasta cooks (cook it 1-2 minutes before the al dente cook time), melt the butter in a saute pan.
2) When the butter starts to turn golden brown, add the sage leaves and remove from heat.
3) Grate nutmeg over the pan and add lemon juice.
4) Reserve 2oz of the pasta cooking water. 
4) Drain the pasta and put it into the saute pan and return to heat.
5) Using a microplane, add the cheese and toss the pasta to coat.
6) Using a potato peeler, shave the cheese for presentation and serve.  

Yellow Rice with Chorizo

Being Puerto Rican, I have eaten rice my whole life (I think only the Japanese beat us in annual rice consumption).  I've gotten a little bored of rice and have been making more flavorful risottos and farro lately.  This all changed when I tried this "stew" rice recipe which packs a rich flavor punch.  Follow the recipe and don't stray on the ratios - I was thrown off because I always thought that the ratio of liquid to rice should be 1:1.  Aside from the taste, the yellowness of the rice wowed me (it didn't need sazon to give it color) and it does not need salt (shocker) because of the chicken stock.   

Ingredients

2 tbsp - Canola Oil 
4 links - Chorizo
2 - Garlic cloves (minced)
1 - Red onion (chopped)
1 - Yellow or Orange Bell pepper (chopped)
1/2 tsp - Turmeric
1/4 cup - White wine
28 oz - Can of San Marzano whole tomatoes
6 cups - Chicken stock (low sodium)
1 1/2 cups - Rice
1/2 cup - Frozen peas (thawed)
3 - Scallions (chopped)
2 tbsp - Cilantro (chopped)
Lime 

1) In a large dutch over or heavy pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil.

2) Add the chorizo cook until browned on each side (10 minutes) and transfer to a plate. 

3) Add the garlic, onion and bell pepper and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes. 

4) Add the turmeric and cook for 30 seconds. 

5) Add the wine and boil over high heat until almost evaporated (3 minutes). 

6) Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Squeeze the tomatoes with tongs under the liquid to "chop", break them apart, and not lose their juices (be sure that you squeeze them under liquid or you will be cleaning tomato juice). 

7) Return the chorizo to the pot and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes.

8) In a medium pan, heat the remaining oil and add the rice. Stir so all of the rice gets coated with oil (1-2 minutes).

9) Add the rice into the dutch oven, cover partially, and cook over low heat, stirring often, until the rice is just tender and has absorbed most of the cooking liquid (25 minutes). 

10) Fold in and stir the peas, scallions, and cilantro. 

11) Remove the chorizo, cut into smaller pieces and add them back into the rice. 

12) Squeeze lime over the rice and serve. 

Challah French Toast with Raisins

 

I've said it before - the only Food Network personality that I respect is Alton Brown.  Although he is quirky, he is super knowledgeable and his recipes seem tried and tested.  I made his French Toast recipe (with a few of my own tweaks and modifications) on back to back Sundays.  I'll probably try them with crushed Corn Flakes (or Frosted Flakes) next. 

 

Ingredients

1 cup - Half-and-half

3 - Eggs

2 tbsp - Honey (warmed in microwave for 20 seconds)

1/4 tsp - Kosher salt

4 Slices - Raisin Challah Bread (1/2 inch thick)

1/2 tsp - Vanilla Extract 

6 tbsp - Unsalted Butter
Maple Syrup
McCormick's Cinnamon Sugar Grinder (optional)
Powdered Sugar (optional)

1) Put the honey in a medium bowl and microwave for 20 seconds.

2) Whisk the half-and-half, eggs, vanilla, and salt into the bowl with the honey (add a few grinds of Cinnamon Sugar if available).

3) Pour the custard mixture into a cake pan or pyrex. 

4) Dip the challah bread into mixture, allow it to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack (to get any excess custard off).
5) Over medium-low heat, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet.
6) Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the skillet and cook until golden brown (approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side).
7) Place another 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet before flipping over the slices.
8) Repeat with the next 2 slices (1 1/2 tablespoons of butter for each side in the skillet).
9) Serve immediately with maple syrup and powdered sugar.

Southern Fried Chicken

I've succeeded and failed with fried chicken recipes using panko, Italian breadcrumbs, plain breadcrumbs, dredged in milk, dredged in eggs, dredged in buttermilk, seasoned with smoked paprika, etc. Surprisingly, I found a genuine Southern Fried Chicken in Food & Wine magazine (the recipe is from the movie The Help).  The chicken is foolproof, the crispy skin stays coated on, and it could be used with chicken wings, wingettes, tenders, or a whole chicken broken down into 8 pieces.

Ingredients   

4 lbs - Chicken (I prefer wingettes since they sit perfectly in the skillet)

2 - Large Eggs

1/2 Cup - Whole Milk

1 1/2 Cups - All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tbsp - Lawry's Seasoned Salt to add to the Flour (plus a few shakes in the egg/milk mixture)

1 1/2 tsp - Lawry's Seasoned Pepper to add to the Flour (plus a few shakes in the egg/milk mixture)

16oz - Crisco

Cayenne Pepper

1) Mix the eggs and milk and add a few shakes of seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, and cayenne.

2) Mix the flour with the measured seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, and cayenne.

3) Dredge the chicken in the milk/egg, drop it on both sides in the flour, and put on a cooling rack to get any excess flour off.

4) Warm up the crisco in a skillet on medium heat until it has melted and the oil is rippling (6 minutes).

5) Cook the chicken until it is brown on both sides.

6) Rest the finished chicken on a plate with a napkin to soak up any excess oil. 

Traces (100 E 17th St, NY, NY 10003)

Has a show with 2 stripper poles ever disappointed?

All seriousness, this show was entertaining, thrilling, and impressive.  The 7 international performers are multi-talented and I didn't want the 90 minute show to end.  The theater was intimate and the music was great and kept up the rhythm of the show.  The entertainers showed off their acrobatic skill, sang, played instruments, somersaulted, and transitioned to each segment with witty jokes / dialogue.  Some of them even reminded me of celebrities: Steve-O, Marcel from Top Chef, and the Asian guy from Ocean's 11.

Although I frown on sequels, I left wanting more and would definitely see their next show.

Best Thing I Ever Ate: Roast Chicken @ Barbuto (775 Washington Street, NY NY 10014)

On my culinary hierarchy, I rank chicken somewhere in the middle - its typically dry, tasteless, and boring.  It really can't compete at the top of the food hierarchy with pork belly, duck breast, slow braised short ribs, or seared foie gras (not unless you count its younger sibling - the egg).  Surprisingly, I actually bookmarked and was looking forward to Barbuto's Pollo Al Forno.

The chicken didn't disappoint at all.  The skin was perfectly seasoned and crispy.  I actually felt guilty cutting into it with a knife because I wanted an equal balance of skin and meat with each forkful (I didn't want to eat the meat with a trailing cape of skin and miss out on the goodness on the next bite).  The meat was juicy and meaty at the same time.  I also ordered a side of patate (potatoes with pecorino and rosemary).  They were super crispy and mostly potato skins with some "potato meat" (I didn't really taste the pecorino or rosemary).  By the time you're done with everything, you will feel satisfied full, not disgustingly full.