Tag Archives: cheese

Black Bean Balls

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The best things I ate this week…

TWO new-to-me Jeni’s flavors. Frosted sugar cookie was great, miso butterscotch brownie was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

Kelang’s side dishes remained delicious as leftovers. Taro gnocchi and roasted cabbage plus roasted baby broccoli that I made.

We’ve made several iterations of these baked black bean tacos and we like them more each time! Our filling was food-processed walnuts, black beans, evoo, and sauteed mushrooms, green onions, and poblano peppers with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Baked in tortillas with sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower on the side and a dipping sauce (Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, gochujang, honey, and mayo).

I used the leftover taco filling to make excellent baked meatballs; with ground turkey, panko, egg, and sharp cheddar. <– We will be making this set of dinners again for sure! Plus leftover veggies and ranch for dipping (plain Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and pickle brine).

Chicory, Miso, Tiramisu

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The relentless rain couldn’t drown out our weekend fun! Thankfully I had already planned indoor activities — lots of snacks, fun shopping for a home improvement project, vintage window-shopping in Greenpoint, and a trip to the Museum of Art and Design for the (excellent!) Haas Brothers Uncanny Valley exhibit.

Edible highlights…

Fun coffee mediums. The egg cream didn’t work in iced coffee (not enough body) but iced Calpico with espresso was a 9/10.

Small Batch tiramisu iced latte. 8/10.

Blue Bottle iced Nola with vanilla and chicory cold foam. 9/10.

Falu House miso brown sugar iced latte with maple cold foam and birch-smoked sea salt. Best coffee of the weekend, 100/10. We loved our bun with cheese too and they also had incredible Swedish candy.

Daily Provisions yuzu crueler.

Bibble and Sip guava mochi croissant. We loved the mochi and the croissant but wanted the dish overall to have more flavor/balance. We thought their salt bread was a 9.5/10.

Bite Bao. I had tomato with scrambled eggs and Sichuan spicy diced chicken. Best Chinese food we’ve had in Long Island in awhile.

Kelang. This space was gorgeous. I had a Durian Milk Punch, obviously; durian, clarified coconut cream, spice mix, green tea, pineapple, aged rum, arrack, and velvet falernum.

I also had a kalamansi limeade with Tito’s.

We shared some really great dishes. Charred cabbage with butter, pineapple, chili, peanut, and cashew cream.

Paratha with red lentil dhal, Stracciatella, herbs, and sambal oil.

Crispy taro gnocchi with smoked shiitake, chili, and Shaoxing wine.

Hainanese Chicken. This was the only dish I didn’t love, though the bone broth and chicken rice were both lovely.

P.S. We had a no-photo lunch at Nobu and the miso black cod did live up to the hype (we also had great white fish tiradito)!

Kimchi Migas

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Things from a yummy week…

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with honey, blueberries, and two types of kiwi. I started scooping kiwis out of their skin with a grapefruit spoon (rather than trying to clumsily peel them) and now I eat them all the time.

“Mountain city spicy flavor” rice snacks.

We had leftover pandan white chocolate blondie from Chim Chim in our freezer and I blended it into a great milkshake with vanilla ice cream, milk, pandan syrup, and malted milk powder.

Passionfruit smore’s! Effie’s pecan biscuit crackers, oven-roasted Malvi passionfruit marshmallows, and Chocxo dark chocolate passionfruit cups.

Dinners listed in order of how much we liked them. Satay-inspired tofu (just ok-good). Tofu – sauteed extra-firm tofu that was marinated in Jamaican curry powder, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk / lackluster peanut sauce – peanut butter, Sriracha, lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and coconut milk / marinated cucumbers – with rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, Milu everything crisp, and sesame seeds / on a packet of Ben’s Original coconut jasmine rice.

Tuna joomukbap (very good). We’ve made this Cafe Maddy recipe before and will definitely make it again. I used leftover brown rice, two cans of tuna, and a poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper. Plus chopped baby broccoli roasted with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Red curry beans (excellent). Great Northern beans sauteed with garlic and ginger and cooked in a curry sauce (coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, dark soy sauce, and Sriracha). Served on a mix of roasted cauliflower rice and brown rice.

Kimchi migas (best meal of the week!). Sauteed kimchi, green onion, and tomatoes with gochugaru, gochujang, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, plus kimchi flavored kettle chips, eggs, and sharp cheddar.

Guavamente

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I stole my title from a great cocktail at Finback. Some highlights from the weekend…

Yogurt bowl with blueberries and granola (sprinkled granola!).

Quad iced latte with guava and white chocolate at Humble Cafe. They have the best syrup options.

We went to a fun little neighborhood food truck festival to try the dirty sodas at Island Fizz. We shared two custom flavors – Diet Coke with strawberry syrup, cherries, and cream and Diet Coke with guava syrup and marshmallow fluff (my favorite).

It is finally popsicle weather! I got these from 99 Ranch. The grape cheese one is one of my favorites; it is delightfully weird.

Pest chicken salad. Chopped chicken breast with pesto, plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, North River crunchy yellow peas, and Wooly soft sheep’s milk cheese with espelette pepper. This was a great mix of creamy and crunchy and creamy and spicy. Served with baby carrots and leftover fries (we got Slider Joe’s take-out last week and it was fantastic).

Cheesy kimchi chicken dip. Plain skyr and Duke’s mayo with chopped chicken breast, extra-sharp cheddar, sauteed green onions, and chopped/caramelized kimchi. Scooped with kimchi flavored Kettle Chips! Plus broccoli roasted with salt, dried green mango powder, and garlic powder.

Desserty Coffees And Ramen

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It was a great NYC weekend including a thousand iced coffees, a street art instillation, a day in Brooklyn, and a trip to Long Island City.

Highlights…

Hungry Ghost will always be the best quad iced latte in the city.

Casa del Cafe horchatta iced latte with cold foam. This was too milky for me but the spot was sweet and we also tried a nice chocoflan.

Bean Monger miso caramel iced latte.

Doughnut Plant is hit or miss for me but this rosewater glazed doughnut was perfection.

Brunch at Vato. We shared a cinnamon bun and a burnt end, egg, and cheese burrito. The meat wasn’t my favorite but the housemade tortilla was great and their salsas were solid. I need to go back for a concha!

We were impressed with Jax Pizza; Adam liked the Rosso with six-hour tomato sauce and my favorite was the vodka slice.

Handroll dinner at Matsunori. We shared seaweed salad.

And steamed eggs.

My handrolls – spicy salmon (shown) / miso butter cod / toro with caviar / A5 Waygu. I also had a yuzu drop!

Dinner at Chuko was the best meal of the weekend. We shared some fun beverages like this ume soda.

And a Calpico.

Split a shrimp bun.

Fantastic okonomiyaki-style tots.

And kale salad (the best in the city!) with yellow raisins, miso dressing, and crispy sweet potato. They throw some fried kale into the mix and the texture mix here is just wonderful.

They offer all of their broth bases in vegetarian and are also my favorite ramen spot. I went with Kimchi (which comes with cabbage and curly yellow noodles) with pickled mustard greens, a soy egg, and chili crisp.

Malted Milk, Toasted Rice

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Highlights from the week…

Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with malted milk powder, brown sugar, and vanilla bean powder topped with Uncle Crumbles sugar cookie granola and all of the berries (blackberries, blueberries, and jumbo blueberries!).

Malted. Vanilla ice cream blended with milk, malted milk powder, and toasted rice powder.

A patty melt that was probably the best thing I’ve made all year. Turkey patties (ground turkey, lime juice, fish sauce, panko, and egg) cooked in a skillet with smoky pimento cheese melted on top on Trader Joe’s sourdough with mayo, lime juice, and red curry.

Paired with great seasoned fries. Baked green beans and frozen french fries tossed in a homemade spice mix – salt, white sugar, white pepper, Sichuan pepper, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, toasted rice powder, dried fish roe, and green mango powder.

BBQ chicken bowls. Baked chicken breast tossed in a skillet with homemade bbq sauce (ketchup, gochujang, maple syrup, rice wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds) on a bed of sauteed bok choy, green onion, tomatoes, and ginger.

Magical Fruit

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Things from the week…

A very floral yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with rose simple syrup, blueberries, edible flowers, and flower-shaped Swedish candies.

I love a good dinner theme and this week was beans! Bean burgers (food-processed black beans, dark red kidney beans, and garbanzo beans with egg, panko, salt, urfa chile, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder; cooked in a skillet) with extra-sharp cheddar on top, on a bun with mayo and yellow mustard. Plus green beans (steamed then sauteed with dill pickle mustard and rice vinegar) and sweet potatoes (roasted then sauteed with maple syrup, chili crisp, and soy sauce). We loved how smoky the burgers were.

Bean dip (kidney beans and garbanzos food-processed with evoo, water, lemon juice, cilantro, salt, ranch seasoning, and minced garlic), scooped with two types of crackers (Mary’s Gone Crackers original and Everybody Eat chive and garlic thins) plus eggplant on the side (roasted then sauteed with peanut butter, miso paste, Sriracha, honey, and water).

Cuban-ish veggie bowls. Cauliflower rice (sauteed with salt, lime juice, and cilantro) topped with black beans (sauteed with white onion, green bell pepper, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder), Cholula’s chipotle creamosa sauce, and Trader Joe’s frozen maduros.

Miso Mango

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Weekend things…

This mango gel snack was quite nice in the bottom of an iced matcha spritzer.

Birthday cake iced latte from Small Batch Coffee.

Lunch at Honey’s Bistro. Honey mustard chicken tenders and beef fat fries.

Plus a salted caramel Spanish iced latte.

Guac Shop loaded rice bowl – brown and white rice, tofu, sweet potato, cabbage, mango salsa, cheese, and cilantro aioli. Their bowls are huge; this made two giant servings. Plus tortilla chips and guacamole.

Not good in execution but would be good to try again in theory – eggs scrambled with parmesan cheese and roasted zucchini. Plus dill pickle kettle chips.

Miso chicken salad. Shredded chicken with roasted seaweed, furikake, green onion, edamame, mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon, and white miso. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.