Tag Archives: sauce

Bao Haus Is Back!

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Adam and I had the whole weekend together and it was just the best! We had two days of Manhattan fun (East Village and the Upper East Side) including great food, a long walk, time loving the trees in Central Park, and a trip the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. The highlights…

Fancy Kook‘s carrot cake iced latte with cream cheese foam, cinnamon, and pecans.

I was disappointed in this egg coffee from Le Phin but we also had the best pandan iced latte I’ve ever had.

Cola and lemonade slush from Slik. Perfect consistency and not too-too sweet.

We quite enjoyed this bowl from Yogurt Club. Super thick strained Greek yogurt with blueberries, Biscoff kataifi sauce, and mochi.

Speaking of mochi and kataifi – Bear Donut‘s new chewy cookies are amazing. We got white chocolate hazelnut.

Before they closed, Bao Haus served my favorite food in New York and their new iteration is even better! We had lamb bao and unphotographed duck bao.

The Birdhaus bao was as fantastic as I remembered.

The new location does large plates like these outstanding noodles with chilis, pickled greens, and burnt ends. The wonderful schmaltzy pea shoots are hiding in the back.

I also had a guava gose with a delightful rim (li hing mui, maybe?).

Cambodian food at Bayon. We shared shrimp, crabmeat, and corn chowder.

Tamarind duck. Perfectly crispy skin!

Sauteed eggplant with beef, fresh basil, garlic, chili peppers, and oyster sauce. The beef was even better than the duck.

And the Spicy Siem Reap Noodles – sauteed wide rice noodles, basil, scallions, eggs, onion, chili, fish sauce, and
soybean, with beef, extra spicy.

I tamed the spice with a creamy iced tea.

P.S. The leftover noodles were great reheated in a skillet with kale and an extra egg.

Nachos. Stew Leonard’s salsa verde protein tortilla chips (delicious!) with sharp cheddar, ground turkey, and onion, poblano, and bell pepper sauteed with taco seasoning.

Chopped Cheese, Peanut Butter Tofu

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Highlights from a yummy week…

Equator remains some of the best bottled cold brew I’ve tried.

Ube and pandan simple syrups. They were good-not-great in iced coffees but nice in Diet Cokes.

The best yogurt bowls = plain skyr with tons of blueberries and chopped marzipan.

Durian ice creams. These were both so flavorful and the Mavens was some of the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever tried.

I went to Duck Island Bread Company for bread and ended up with a great pistachio croissant.

We used the bread to make wonderful sandwiches. Sourdough pullman / ginger miso mayo / shredded, baked super-firm tofu tossed with peanut butter, gochujang, lime juice, brown sugar, and veggie broth / sliced baby cucumbers marinated in white sugar, Sichuan peppercorn, Milu everything spice, and rice vinegar. Plus roasted baby broccoli.

For Five‘s chopped cheese sandwich was surprisingly good. Even these leftovers were delicious.

Congee bowls. Brown rice slow-cooked with chicken stock / mustard greens and scallion sauteed with soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, and pepper / ground turkey sauteed with peanut butter, lime, brown sugar, Sriracha, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and chicken broth / chili crisp.

Tuna noodle casserole. This came out so well! Brami radiatori protein pasta, canned tuna, and canned trout / mushrooms, leek, and red scallions sautéed with flour, corn starch, veggie broth, gochujang, fish sauce, and sesame oil / baked topped with a mix of crushed honey butter chips and seaweed chips. Plus roasted broccoli.

My Rex Manning day tradition is rewatching Empire Records with pizza and brownies and this was our best year yet! Brownies = Hummingbird High’s small batch brownies. These are even better than my go-to brownie recipe (I did add a bit of espresso powder and topped them with cinnamon maple pretzels).

Pizza = a variety of slices from Tori T’s. This is some of the best pizza I’ve eaten; the crust is perfect.

Milk Mochi And Coconut Flan

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Things from the weekend, mostly fancy snacks…

Buzzd’s latte of the month was their best yet – banana brulee.

Chip City‘s Peeps cookie, obviously – marshmallow flavored dough with sprinkles, marshmallow filling, vanilla buttercream, and a Peep! It was good but not as good as it sounds.

We didn’t like it, but I’m thrilled someone at McDonald’s thought to put blueberry in a Flurry.

My two top favorite treats from 99 Ranch.

Salty Lunch Lady‘s (always a joy!) Chicky-smashed chicken meatball, charred onion, feta, arugula, and smoked paprika mayo on a seeded bun.

Leftovers. Turkey and black bean meatballs and zucchini. I added a lot of green Choloula.

Shanghai You Garden. We shared chicken and broccoli and rice cakes with beef.

Rincon Crillo. Vaca Fritta, grilled chicken with onions, and maduros.

And coconut flan.

Marsh Madness

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Highlights from the week…

Easter candy, obviously. My favorites were the Trader Joe’s marshmallow eggs, which were, in fact, the best marshmallows I’ve ever eaten.

Adam and I are both head over heels for these dried kiwis from Target.

My parents sent me these *guava* Oreos. I don’t love golden Oreos but the guava flavor was spot on.

A tasty take on eggs in purgatory. Eggs cooked in a mix of sauteed roasted cherry tomatoes, canned diced tomatoes, scallion, garlic, gochugaru, and gochujang. We topped our bowls with pimento cheese. Eaten alongside roasted cauliflower.

Baked tacos. The filling was a food processed mix of sauteed mushrooms, poblano peppers, scallions, black beans, sesame seeds, and taco seasoning. Plus tons of cheese.

I used the leftovers to bulk up turkey meatballs. <– We will be doing this again. Plus roasted zucchini and Trader Joe’s cheddar and jalapeño biscuit bites. We burned the bites but they would have been a hit otherwise.

Our favorite meal of the week was these tofu wraps. Tortilla / Kewpie / baked super-firm tofu marinated in gochujang, pickle juice, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, and onion powder / thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with sugar, salt, Milu everything spice, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. Plus baked brussels sprouts sauteed with soy sauce, brown sugar, and chili crisp.

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This week we were both getting over a cold and went to a mid-week work-night concert – Rainbow Kitten Surprise at Brooklyn Paramount, it was great! – so we did a lot of boring foods and take-out. Here were some of the fun highlights…

Good snacks. Passionfruit Peelerz.

Trader Joe’s black sesame mochi are perfectly done.

Lucky Ox’s mango toasted rice sparkler is objectively good and not too sweet but ultimately not for me.

Our version of the viral pickle dip is a scoopable dinner bowl situation. A mix of chopped baked chicken, dill pickles, spicy pickles, scallion, extra-sharp cheddar, mayo, plain skyr, sweet and spicy jalapeño pickle juice, and ranch seasoning. Scooped with bell pepper, baby carrots, and Nufs hot honey crackers.

I made a batch of gussied up red sauce – Trader Joe’s pizza sauce cooked down with evoo, tomato paste, gochugaru, dried basil, and tons of roasted garlic. Served once as a dip with sauteed ground turkey and crispy baked bow-tie pasta. Plus sauteed fennel, leek, red chard, and garlic (a 10/10 combo).

And once in meatball subs. With provolone cheese and baked turkey cheese meatballs (with panade, egg, hoisin sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and sharp cheddar in the middle). Plus sauteed asparagus with lemon, basil, and pepper.

Pizza pie for Pi Day. I also had a slice of pie from Milk Bar on the train!

Brunch at Naks. Our favorite dish was the vinegar fries.

I had the kare kare omelette with braised beef cheeks, peanut stew, eggplant, bok choy, and garlic toast. Plus bites of Adam’s Filipino platter and we shared a (spicy!) mushroom noodle.

They were out of the salted egg yolk pancake and as a consolation prize they sent out their ube cheesecake which ended up being fantastic.

P.S. We have fun dinner reservations we are jazzed about tonight at the new Third Times the Charm in Red Hook.

My Weekend

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Things from the weekend…

Our grocery newly had three drinks from Lucky Ox so I, of course, bought them all. We liked but did not love the salted lemonade.

Black eyed pea salad is always a hit in our house. This iteration had BEP, yellow bell pepper, Kerrygold Dubliner cheese, pecans, and green pepper Cholula (10/10, I’d put this on anything).

The year we got engaged we watched so much Scrubs while eating pizza that I mentioned it in my wedding vows so when we started the new season/reboot (we loved it!) did so over pizza. I had a marinara/vodka sauce/pesto slice and a potato white slice.

Plus a warm ranch celery salad – sauteed celery and green onion dressed with plain skry, Kewpie mayo, brine from Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapeños, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and smoked paprika.

Tots Of Love

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Highlights from the week…

On-theme Valentine’s snack wins. Alani Cherry Bomb (9.5/10).

Love Hearts Squashies (9.5/10).

Baked black bean tacos. Black beans (food-processed with walnuts and sauteed mushrooms, green bell pepper, green onion, and taco seasoning) baked in Mission flour tortillas with tons of sharp cheddar. Plus roasted broccoli and homemade ranch (plain skyr, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning and hot and sweet jalapeno pickle juice).

Turkey Reuben totchos. Alexa potato puffs / Swiss and gruyere cheese / sauteed ground turkey with homemade Russian dressing / sauerkraut. Plus roasted zucchini.

Agi’s counter inspired tots. Potato puffs / roasted yellow cauliflower / canned smoked trout tossed with leftover ranch / chopped sweet dill pickles / Ayoh Tangy Dijonayo.

Love Love Love

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Things from the 1st week of February…

We are less than two weeks from Valentine’s Day so I am obviously thinking in theme foods. I’m saving the conversation hearts for the 14th but cinnamon gummy hearts have been a top-tier snack.

Chocolate-covered cherry smoothie. This combo is one of my forever favorites – frozen sweet dark cherries, chocolate protein powder, and chocolate milk.

See also – chocolate-covered strawberry smoothie. Frozen strawberries with vanilla protein powder and chocolate milk.

See also+ – I mixed this Barebells wild strawberry protein soda with chocolate milk. This was good (and I loved the caffeine inclusion) but not great like their protein drink we tried in Scotland.

Broccoli Cesar salad. Roasted broccoli, sauteed green onions, and homemade pretzel croutons (Trader Joe’s bread baked with evoo, salt, pepper, dried basil, garlic powder, and gochugaru) tossed with homemade Cesar dressing (food processed plain skyr, Kewpie mayo, Dijon mustard, evoo, lemon juice, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, capers, anchovies, and black pepper). Plus baked chicken served on top of Cindy’s Kitchen artichoke and parmesan dip.

Tofu Cesar sandwich. Toasted Trader Joe’s ciabatta topped with baked super-firm tofu and shredded romaine lettuce tossed with leftover Cesar dressing. Plus steamed green beans sauteed with yellow mustard, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, horseradish, rice vinegar, and lemon juice.

A mish-mash but it worked sandwich – toasted ciabatta / dip / Farm Rich baked mozzarella sticks stuffed with buffalo sauce and marinara / tuna salad (canned tuna, sweet heat bread and butter pickle chips, skyr, Kewpie, pepper, and smoked paprika). Plus Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggie mix sauteed with ginger and pepper.

Turkey meatballs and baked baby zucchini [plus a side of mozzarella sticks]. The balls were baked; ground turkey with panko panade, red curry paste, hoisin sauce, ginger, shallot, macadamia nuts, and egg.