Emily Of Sandwich

by Emily

This was a short week for me on the work front, I was off Monday from the weekend (with Adam!!) and off Thursday for a doctor’s appointment. Wear your sunblock, kids – I have to have two moles surgically removed, one on my chest and one on my back, complete with stitches, giant gross scars, and a month straight of no gym and no normal showers. At least I got a good lunch in Manhattan out of the deal?

Highlights…

We finally made it to Doughnut Project! The Malter White was great, malted milk chocolate with a malted chocolate chip mini cookie and cookie crumble.

We got a gift certificate to the Russian Tea Room for Christmas this year and we enjoyed a super fancy lunch. We had vodka, of course.

And caviar.

And I had delicious Kulebiaka for my entree – salmon with slow cooked onions, mushrooms, and vegetables wrapped in pastry, served with braised caraway cabbage and mustard beurre blanc.

Yogurt bowl wins. Greek with fresh strawberries and caramel almond butter.

Strawberry Icelandic style with a fancy tangerine.

Chicken quesadilla from La Esquina.

Best ever ice cream from Ice & Vice. Malted vanilla with sea salt caramel.

Dessert at Vanilla Bean. Banoffee tart for me and a crazy good iced latte.

Caramelized banana peanut butter cups.

It was sandwich week for dinners! Croque Madame – rye bread, smoked turkey, sharp cheddar, strawberry jam, french toasted – with roasted broccoli and shishitos.

Jalopeño popper turkey burgers with smoked gouda and roasted green beans. We didn’t have buns but I’m still counting this as a sandwich.

Asian-style turkey reubens – with gojuchang mayo and kimchi – with roasted shredded brussel sprouts.

5Feb2018

Super

by Emily

Did all my American readers eat wings and gauc and dip last night? I don’t even watch the Super Bowl but I try not to let that get in the way of my buffalo chicken consumption.

Weekend eats highlights –

We actually had dinner reservations at Evelina last night; a little Italian place with no tv, big screen or otherwise. I had a fun Cordelia cocktail – mezcal, malted banana, pressed lime, and Coco Lopez.

We shared two yummy salads to start. Italian radicchio with roasted grapes, almonds, Blue di bufala, and vin cotto.

Roasted beets with Fuji persimmon, house smoked ricotta, and hazelnut.

Sadly our entrees were disappointing. My cacio e pepe risotto with white shrimp was a major letdown.

But that meant that we ended up grabbing pizza on the way home; buffalo chicken is never a letdown!

I worked the weekend so most of my food was in snack form. Two superior combos of iced coffee and chocolate milk.

This citrus medley yogurt from Trader Joe’s is fantastically creamy and sweet, especially with sumo mandarin segments mixed in.

Potato wedges from the cafeteria – gotta get in that blue cheese.

And one morning Adam drove me into work and we went on a breakfast date at the Orwashers in the new Whole Foods 365. Best chocolate croissant of all time!

Random television musings –

My two favorite shows this season – The Good Place and Agents of Sheild
My least favorite new show – 9-1-1
The old show I am loving and tearing through seasons of at a disturbing clip – Cougar Town

Valentine’s freebie FYIs –

If you visit Godiva stores on Sunday, February 11th they’ll give you one free piece of chocolate while supplies last (no purchase required)
Aunt Annie’s is selling heart shaped pretzels buy-one-get-one-free on the 14th if you download their app
Not free and just for New Yorkers – FYI, Doughnut Plant is selling adorable rose shaped doughnuts right now and usually they have heart-shaped ones on Valentine’s

29Jan2018

You Do Win Friends With Salad

by Emily

Weekend highlights…

**Brunch at Freeks Mill a gorgeous, airy, much lauded restaurant in Gowanus.

Paloma – Cimarron Blanco tequila, lime, contratto bitter, grapefruit, preserved lemon, salt.

I had the puntarelle salad with anchovy vinaigrette, grana cheese, and a soft boiled egg.

Plus Shishito peppers with honey and salt.

We want to go back for dinner!

**Coffee and treats at Abboutsford Road, a fantastic coffee shop and roastery in Gowanus staffed and owned by handsome, friendly Aussies. I had a yummy iced latte plus bites of a cheddar chive biscuit and lamington (chocolate cake, raspberry jelly, coconut) cupcake.

I also had a ridiculously delicious cup of strawberry iced tea.

***Tea cake at Charlotte Patisserie.

Macadamia nut cake filled with salted caramel and covered in milk chocolate.

**Cheese plate. A crazy simple cheese plate, but a good one nonetheless. Roasted green beans / baked whole wheat tortilla chips / smoked gouda / sweetened dried lemon.

Plus chocolates from Dylan’s.

**Homemade Caesar salads with salmon.

Romaine tossed in homemade dressing <– not worth the effort / crispy cheese bites for croutons / dijon and brown sugar baked salmon.

19Jan2018

Cookie Monster

by Emily

Friday, Friday, Friday! How did a short week feel so long? At least I had multiple sugar highs to carry me through.

Munk Pack sent me a sweet (but actually protein-packed) box of samples. Munk Pack Protein Cookies contain a whopping 18 grams of plant-protein and 6 grams of fiber per cookie. They are gluten-free, vegan, and do not contain sugar alcohols or soy.

I let Adam review two flavors on his own because he’s the one whose lifestyle depends on quick, protein-packed snacks (and he’s already obsessed with Munk Pack’s oatmeal packets). He thought double dark chocolate was good but not great and was over the moon for oatmeal raisin spice. To quote – “5/5. A little bit savory but not too spicy. Firm on the outside but moist on the inside, with a good texture from the oats. Very filling, it kept me satisfied for hours.”

And personally I liked peanut butter chocolate chip but I loooooved the coconut white chip macadamia. All of the flavors were very substantial, I actually ended up skipping lunch yesterday because I was still so satisfied from the cookie I ate for breakfast at 9!

Peanut butter wasn’t necessarily a cookie-cookie but was a darn good protein bar but the coconut flavor was straight-up decadent. It had the slightly gritty consistency of cookie dough and was one of the more delicious packaged cookies (dessert options included) I’ve ever eaten.

Plus we threw a baby shower for a coworker this week and I made and ate a million desserts. Matzoh toffee candy.

Triple fudge brownies with maraschino cherries and cherry cream cheese frosting.

I did eat one or two things that weren’t sweet. Like super spicy Thai food. I went out for lunch with a girlfriend in Astoria and had a great bowl of extra spicy pad see ew with mock duck.

Plus Adam and I hung out for a bit at Gossip; love it there.

Still obsessed with this Trader Joe’s seed and bean snack.

It was a week of fantastic home-cooked dinners. Like Asian-style cabbage wraps. <– best dish of the week

Red cabbage cups / ground turkey sauteed with shredded carrot, spring onion, orange and bell pepper/ crushed peanuts on top.

Plus two dipping sauces – miso, lime juice, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, gojuchang / avocado, cilantro, fish sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, Greek yogurt, evoo.

Another night I used the leftover avocado cilantro sauce to make a killer salad. With red cabbage, arugula, spring onion, shredded carrot, yellow bell pepper, black beans, sharp cheddar, and salty peanuts.

With an assortment of global gummy candies for dessert.

And another night we made loaded cheeseburger cheese fries!

Waffle fries / cheese / tons of sauteed onion / mini turkey cheeseburgers / with ketchup and mayo on top.

Plus broccoli slaw on the side, sauteed with rice vinegar and cream cheese.

Have a happy weekend!

13Jan2018

Spicy Cherry Coke Chicken

by Emily

This past week was extra-strength lengthy. I stayed late at work a few days and had several issues with my train and the end result was that I was home more than two hours late almost every day this week – yuck! I did manage to eat some good dinners still, but I did not manage to get this post up on time.

Best bites {or really should I be writing “superior sips” here because I always start with coffee?!} –

Iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk.

I also had a yummy iced latte from Birch.

And I tried the new blonde espresso from Starbucks. <– quite good, felt like it should be paired with vanilla

Peach Siggi’s with a Cara Cara orange and strawberry granola minis.

Plain Icelandic style yogurt with maple taffy, Page mandarins, and sprinkled donut crunch cereal.

I am a marketer’s dream; I don’t eat cereal all that often, and I hate Captain Crunch, but I still bought this because it was adorable!

Adam and I both had Monday off, so we got to go on a lunch date! Serendipity3.

It was our best meal there to date, we were both swooning over our entrees. I had curried chicken casserole with almonds and many bites of Adam’s sandwich.

We came home with two-full-meals-worth of leftovers and were still almost too full for dessert. Almost. This sundae is the best thing ever – humble (peanut butter) pie / vanilla ice cream / sliced bananas / hot fudge.

Bonus – we stopped at Dylan’s next door before our walk across the Queensborough bridge and bought a candy bar on a whim that ended up being fantastic.

I made a big crockpot of Spicy Cherry Coke Chicken for dinners. Basically this recipe but with Coke instead of Dr Pepper and chicken instead of pork and I diced up my cherries, chipotles, and jalapenos.

Served on a sandwich with brioche bun and mayo.

And roasted zucchini on the side.

And served on top of nachos!

My other dinners were brinners.

Breakfast bowl with sauteed kale with tons of garlic and onion, Trader Joe’s meatless breakfast sausages, and two fried eggs.

Scrambled eggs with tons of onion, chipotle, and sharp cheddar and roasted green beans on the side.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

25Dec2017

A Merry Little Christmas

by Emily

Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate! I am actually at work today, but Adam and I had a great weekend making merry.

We pretended it wasn’t raining and took a long walk around Manhattan and over the Brooklyn Bridge.

I was very excited to check out the holiday decorations at Chelsea Market and the Oculus and Brookfield Place.

Best bites highlights…

Nobletree eggnog cappuccino.

I also bought a fancy Ronnybrook eggnog and dumped it over ice with a triple shot of espresso, so good.

We had yet to stand in the Dominique Ansel line to try a cronut but when I read this month’s flavor I knew it was time – eggnog caramel!

Crispy, chewy, gooey; they were totally fantastic and worth the wait. Eggnog caramel may be my new favorite thing.

Lunch at Kobrick Coffee. I had a grilled cheese with swiss, shallots, and horseradish maple mustard.

Plus a Strong Island Iced Tea – gin, tequila, rum, triple sec, cynar, Hella cola tonic, lime juice, and soda. The little coffee cup was Adam’s cortadito – a crazy delicious cross between a cortado and a Cuban coffee.

Holiday flavors jelly beans – eggnog, pumpkin pie, cranberry, hot chocolate, and peppermint.

Harpoon Winter Warmer. The pink drinks were my attempt at making a peppermint marshmallow vodka that did NOT work.

Rice and Gold for dinner for a whole jerk roasted duck. Wrapped up with jerk-hoisin sauce, pickled cucumbers, and moo shu pancakes.

We also had cured salmon crudo with onion ash, myoga, jalapeno, and maple bourbon soy sauce.

Charred eggplant with Chinese yogurt, scallion, and crispy shallot that was one of the best dishes I ate this year.

A Bondi Kelly – white rum, luxardo maraschino, lime, and charred pineapple.

And a citrus salad dessert special with cardamom labne and yuzu nata de coco.

We brought home our leftover duck to put on nachos which was the best idea ever.

And our Christmas Eve dinner was snowflake pasta with pesto, red bell pepper, baby kale, and turkey pepperoni.

May your day be bright.

18Dec2017

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

by Emily

Eggnog, peppermint, and rugelach, oh my!

Adam and I spent the weekend eating all of the holiday things! We did an eggnog tour of Brooklyn one day and then a Brooklyn holiday ice cream tour the next. I learned that even if you share and leave a lot of leftovers you can still tire of eggnog very quickly, and I’m probably someone who enjoys eggnog more than the average reveler. I also affirmed that no matter how many twinkly lighted and tinsel bedecked holiday pop-ups I encounter, I will still clap my hands in glee every time.

Alphabetically, here are some Brooklyn spots celebrating with holiday pop-ups and/or themed items:

16Handles. Peppermint froyo with Oreo and hot fudge.

Ample Hills.

There were so many holiday choices we had to get a flight to taste them all! In the front row – Eggnog with rum / Festival of Lights cream cheese ice cream with raspberry rugelach / Candy Cane.

Bearded Lady.

BL Eggnog – bourbon, spice, a whole egg.

Brooklyn Cupcake. Coquito cupcake. <– not a seasonal item actually, it’s on the menu year-round

Ladybird Bakery. Eggnog mousse tart. <– this was more visually appealing than anything, 5/10.

Leyenda. <– most festive stop of the weekend, 2nd only to Miracle on 9th Street

Coquito Ho Ho – Resposado Espolon tequila, Oloroso sherry, Braulio, coconut cream, cinnamon, egg.

Oddfellows. Eggnog and Santa’s Cookies milk sorbet with chocolate chip cookies.

And here were the highlights of my less festive eats…

We were pretty pleased with this 7-11 cold brew can. Made with skim milk and minimal sugar and it had way more flavor than anything we can get from the thousand Dunkin Doughnuts near our apartment.

Brunch at Forest Point. We need to come here more often because it’s amazing. Oban Sour – Moto Whisky, Mizu Lemongrass Shochu, yuzu-maple cordial, lemon, pimento dram.

I also had hummus, Israeli cucumber salad, fantastic grilled naan, harissa, and perfectly poached eggs.

Lunch at Lion’s Milk. We shared a sandwich with black olive paste, toasted sesame oil, and kasseri cheese. Plus Turkish coffees.

Tofu bowls for dinner. With mint lime kombucha.

Roasted buckwheat and kobucha squash with roasted elephant garlic / roasted zucchini / baked garlic brown sugar tofu / Sriracha. Except apparently neither Adam nor I like buckwheat one bit; we ate off our toppings and had cheese and crackers instead.

I try to have every healthy dinner include a protein, carb, fat, and veggie, and technically these meals fit the bill. Smoky honey chips with melted sharp cheddar and carrots with hummus.

Homemade onion dip (with turkey bacon and sharp cheddar!) with roasted broccoli and TJ’s cheesy tree crackers for dipping. I also dipped baby carrots and kettle chips but they didn’t make a nice forest.

I shredded two large sweet onions and spent 50+ minutes caramelizing them and it was well worth it.

Especially because I sipped this peachy and delicious Shiner Bock Holiday Cheer while I cooked.

Two more nights of Hannukah and one week ’til Christmas!

4Dec2017

Miracle On 9th Street

by Emily

New York City is the best place on Earth and that is doubly true around holidays! Adam and I had a lovely weekend with lots of walking and we explored Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and saw and ate all sorts of fun holiday and city things.

Like lights in the Lower East Side.

And wild swans in Sheepshead Bay.

Coffees, specialty cocktails, pizza rolls, and other fantastic eats…

Mace’s Miracle Christmas Cocktail Pop-up is officially my new favorite holiday activity! I wish I had taken pictures inside because it was freaking magical.

The specialty cocktails were so fun! I had a Not Even a Mouse – pumpkin spice infused rye whiskey, Budweiser-marshmallow syrup, pumpkin puree, egg, and a marshmallow mouse.

And a Snowball Old Fashioned – gingerbread bourbon, sugar, and pecan bitters.

Iced latte love. Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Orso.

Yogurt bowl win. Plain Greek yogurt with maple jelly and vanilla bean powder with golden kiwi and granola on top.

Ice & Vice double scoop that was truly the best ice cream Adam or I have ever eaten. TBT – earl grey, dark chocolate, and speculoos chip and PSL – pecan, sorghum, and latte toffee.

The Nog at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, pumpkin cake layered with eggnog pudding and whipped cream.

Luda’s Dumplings.

We shared shrimp and loaded potato with garlic sour cream and mushrooms on top.

Brunch at Butter & Scotch, aka the restaurant that’s decorated like the inside of my heart.

I had biscuits with mushroom gravy and an egg on top.

The NameShake.

Birthday cake slice (the leftovers were still moist 24 hours+ later, fyi) and a Unicorn Treat – a brown butter cookie drenched in sprinkles!

The space was adorable, the music was wonderful, and as we were rolling ourselves to the door the waitress brought us a chocolate chip cookie to go since we had been so excited about everything.

Dinner at Thursday Kitchen.

You have to get a light-up booze-filled capri sun! I went with strawberry.

The menu is tapas style so we got to taste a lot. Everything was so interesting, and perfectly spiced. Pan-seared plantains with Korean chimichurri, honey ricotta, roasted pistachio, dried cranberry, and crispy plantain crumble.

Duck confit empanada with dill crème fraiche, cumin, and pickles.

Gnocchi with Korean chili pepper sauce, garlic aioli, parmesan, and crispy seaweed.

My homemade dinners weren’t bad either. I made vegetarian “rice” and beans casserole.

Riced cauliflower / pinquito beans / onion and bell peppers (yellow, orange, and green) baked in evoo / red enchilada sauce / sour cream / shredded cheese. I topped my bowl with more sour cream and some Cholula sauce plus beet and goat cheese cassava chips.

An epic take on cheeseburgers and fries.

Roasted green beans and butternut squash.

Cheeseburger roll ups! Crescent roll dough / ground turkey sautéed with chopped onion and pickle relish / mayo and ketchup / shredded cheese / brushed with garlic butter.

Happy 1st week of December!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: restaurant food

Emily Of Sandwich

Super

Weekend eats highlights –

Random television musings –

Valentine’s freebie FYIs –

You Do Win Friends With Salad

Cookie Monster

Spicy Cherry Coke Chicken

A Merry Little Christmas

It’s Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

Miracle On 9th Street