Tag Archives: sauce

Crab Rangoon Casserole

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Things from the week…

I’m not usually a big pear person but these Happi one’s are divine.

My best souvenirs from Scotland were Haribo gummies.

Crusted tofu – super-firm tofu baked coated in egg wash and food-processed kettle chips, seaweed, and gochugaru / broccoli salad – roasted and tossed in a sauce of food-processed roasted garlic and green onion, parsley, evoo, gochugaru, walnuts, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and maple syrup.

Tuna cakes – canned tuna, panade, Kewpie, egg, and crunchy chili flakes; baked. With leftover broccoli salad.

Gooey grilled cheese – stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, blueberry preserves, gochujang, and smoked cheddar / with green beans that were steamed and then sauteed with soy sauce, maple syrup, and gochugaru.


Crab rangoon casserole (how have I never seen someone else make this yet?!) – Sauteed green onion with ginger, sugar, white pepper, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and a mix of real crab meat and imitation crab; mixed with Goodle’s Loopdy-Loos; topped with panko bread crumbs toasted with crunchy chili flakes, and butter; and baked / roasted brussels sprouts sauteed with peanut butter, gochujang, sugar, and lime juice.

Banana-Rama

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It was a low-key weekend – Adam worked and I spent some quality time with Webster.

Some food highlights…

Banana Dalgona iced latte. Dalgona coffee with banana milk (in the blender – skim milk, half and half, frozen banana, cinnamon, and brown sugar).

See also – Starbucks iced espresso with caramel, cinnamon, and banana protein cold foam.

Skyr bowl with dulce de delche, cinnamon granola, and blueberries.

I tried a Shirley Temple Slice while I was out running errands – not bad.

Ben & Jerry’s Pumpkin Cheesecake ice cream is an 11/10; surprisingly it is one of their very best flavors. P.S. We also tried a Chip City Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pie Thinwich that knocked our socks off.

Creamy pumpkin pasta. In the blender – canned pumpkin, gochujang, silken tofu, cream cheese, salt, white pepper, and evoo / with veggie rainbow rotini pasta. With sauteed asparagus.

Guac Shop salad take-out dinner. Romaine with tofu, roasted sweet potatoes, cabbage, corn, pico, and cheese. With chips and guacamole.

Haggis And Highlands

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No post from me last week because we were in SCOTLAND! We went with Adam’s brother and sister-in-law on a road trip and had a fabulous time. We tried haggis (I loved it!), got to pet a Highland Cow, saw a thousand castles, and stayed at a bread and breakfast with baby seals.

Less exciting but still fun things from this week back in the US included…

This week’s coffee combo – beans from our last vacation (Alaska) and dulce de leche.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with Whole Food’s cinnamon granola and blueberries.

Pumpkin smoothie – canned pumpkin with frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, maple sugar, and water.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (this perfect rice from Hummingbird High).

P.S. I put cookies into the best dessert bowl – plain skyr, peanut butter, dulce de leche, crumbled cookies, and blueberries.

We brought home this tablet (basically a sweetened condensed milk fudge) from Scotland. We’re glad we didn’t try it until we left the country or we probably we would have bought another 20 bars!

This treat from America (Canada?) was also good – Trader Joe’s maple pancake flavored puffs.

Thai chicken satay inspired bowls. Brown rice / baked chicken – marinated in yogurt, coconut milk, lime juice, red curry, curry powder, and ginger / roasted broccoli / peanut sauce – peanut butter, red curry, lime juice, sugar, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water / cucumber salad – cucumber, scallion, salt, sugar, rice vinegar, and chili oil.

Callaloo inspired bowls. Chopped spinach cooked down with crab, coconut milk, sauteed onion, ginger, ufra pepper, and habanero pepper. Plus roasted honeynut squash and delicata squash.

An easy soup. Leftover rice / shredded garlic-y baked chicken / sauteed dinosaur kale, green onion, garlic, and canned green chilis / chicken broth, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and a little sesame oil.

Swooning

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We had a perfect weekend! Tons of great food, several good walks (a part of Brooklyn we don’t usually explore, Astoria, Manhattan, and our neighborhood back home), and a run on the boardwalk! Here were five food highlights…

1) Between the Bagel. Bulgolgi egg and cheese bagel heaven. And the owner is the nicest man.

2) Somedays Bakery. I fully get the hype. Pistachio lattice, chocolate chunk cookie, and a crab and cheese pastry.

3) Treats on the Lower East Side. We didn’t think that the Papa D’Amour Hokkaido milk soft serve with a French butter shell was that exciting.

But I thought the croissant bao with butter, red bean, and granulated sugar was fantastic. Plus yuzu lemonade + pear green iced tea.

And Adam adored the scallion and Thai basil pesto scallion blossom.

Noonas is my favorite ice cream in the city. We shared ube Vietnamese coffee latte and pandan ice creams with mochi and black sesame jam.

4) Brunch at Naks. Para Sa Paborito Kong Apo cocktail – dry gin, mezcal, campari, ginger, citrus sherbet, and chile; served in a toasted frozen grapefruit.

The Filipino platter was my favorite. Short rib with garlic rice, fried egg, bone broth, fried tofu, salad, and pickled veggies. Adam loved the (pork) bone broth and I thought the rice and fried tofu were perfect.

The salted egg pancake with citrus butter and salted egg cream was Adam’s favorite thing he’s ever eaten.

Plus flan for dessert.

And Taho – sea buckthorn spirit, silken tofu-soya milk, burnt sugar syrup, and tapioca pearls.

5) Dinner at Swoony’s. The vibe is great and they have cute matchbooks. My Swoon Cycle cocktail was delightful and interesting – rum and amaretto with ginger, lime, and cucumber.

Tuna crudo with avocado, capers, scallions, and citrus vinaigrette with buttery brioche. We loved the diced avocado here.

Brussels sprouts with horseradish sauce, shallots, and toasted breadcrumbs. These were the best non-fried brussels spouts I’ve eaten in a restaurant.

Crab toast with jalapenos and tomato.

Swoony’s burger – double patty with thousand island and American cheese plus fries. Meant in the most complimentary way — this tasted exactly like an upscale McDonald’s burger and fries! It made my top five New York burgers list (Nomwon, Sonder, Rolo, Swoony’s, Rippers).

Chocolate mousse for dessert with vanilla cream and strawberry topping.

Pastabilities

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Things from this week…

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with Whole Food’s delicious cinnamon granola and blackberries.

Lucky Ox matcha lemonade sparkler (8/10 – we liked it but nowhere near as much as their pandan coconut sparkler).

Quinn peanut butter and honey filled pretzels (9.5/10).

Mellowcreme leaves in flavors such as maple, butterscotch, and caramel apple aka FALL CANDY (10/10).

Roast Sandwich House had two new seasonal specials so obviously we redid our dinner plans. Braised brisket grilled cheese with white cheddar, grilled red onion, hash brown, hot sauce aioli, and griddled sourdough and a chicken salad sandwich with cranberry jam and white cheddar on a croissant. Plus fries and veggies from home (cauliflower rice sauteed with spinach, minced garlic, garlic powder, onion, powder, gochugaru, and salt and pepper).

The rest of our dinners were all pasta salads! I made a box of sourdough fusilli and embraced a new theme. Chicken taco. Pasta / sauce – mashed avocado, mayo, Greek yogurt, lime juice, and taco seasoning / baked chicken / sauteed corn, scallion, and green bell pepper / sharp cheddar.

Bang bang shrimp. Pasta / sauce – mayo, Greek yogurt, sweet chili sauce, honey, and rice vinegar / quick-pickled cucumber / red bell pepper / scallion / shrimp.

Egg salad. Pasta / sauce – hard-boiled egg yolk, pickle juice, mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon, and smoked paprika / hard-boiled egg white / scallion / poblano pepper / pickle. Plus green tomatoes as our veggie (dressed with TJ’s mango vinaigrette and chopped capers).

Kingston

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The highlight of our weekend was a trip upstate to Kingston! We thrifted, admired the wildflowers, and ate some truly fantastic food…

Rough Draft. Adam got a delicious tea latte and my coffee was just perfect – iced espresso with housemade concord grape syrup and vanilla cold foam.

We found a new-to-us flavor of Something or Nothing.

Pinkerton’s. This was the best breakfast sandwich we’ve ever eaten. Scrambled eggs, sharp white Cabot cheddar, and herb and garlic mayo dressing on their exceptional housemade English muffin.

Plus a slice of passionfruit meringue pie.

Kingston Bread + Bar. Vanilla cake with blackberry buttercream, peach compote, and strusel.

Kingston Standard Brewing. They make good beers and very good wood-oven sourdough pizza. We got a Compost – crushed tomato, pesto, mozarella, parmesan, red onion, and arugula.

Sonder. This is my 2nd favorite restaurant in all of New York! Housemade za’atar bread with tomato butter and browned honey butter. Plus sweet potato bisque.

Golden beets with jalopeno cream cheese and pretzel bites.

Dry aged strip steak with sweet potatoes.

Sonder burger with cornichons, special sauce, and American cheese. Plus fries. This is my 2nd favorite burger in all of New York.

We finished the meal/day with the best dessert I’ve eaten this decade – flourless chocolate cake with toasted marshmallow.

Cinnamon, Five Spice, Old Bay

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Things from the week…

Wild Cherry Barebells bar, better than the key lime one but I definitely prefer the milk chocolate flavors.

This week’s apple snacks – kombucha and pink lady apple chips.

Delicious cookies – I made these brown butter oatmeal cookies and stuffed them with chopped up matzoh toffee candy.

Vermicilli bowls. Topped with celery and baby bok choy sauteed with ginger and scallions / nuoc cham / and baked turkey meatballs (with panade, egg, fish sauce, hoisin, white pepper, and tons of five spice).

Fish dip. Trader Joe’s canned smoked trout and canned tuna food-processed with plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, celery seed, mustard powder, smoked paprika, and white pepper. Dipped with matzoh and cocktail sauce chips and served with green beans sauteed with mushrooms, butter, Dijon, lemon, and Old Bay.

We all know I planned the meal around this cute bag of chips.

Chicken salad. Chopped baked chicken, honeycrisp apple, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy jalapenos, walnuts, and sharp cheddar dressed with skyr, Duke’s, honey, and lemon juice. Plus baked pretzel bites and roasted yellow and purple cauliflower with salt and pepper.

Matzoh brie with leftover cauliflower. I always top mine with salt and sugar.

Crab Apple

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This week had a snack theme (apples!) and a dinner theme (seafood)! Here were some highlights…

Apple energy drinks. The Alani was too sour for me this year (does it seem different than last year to anyone else?) but I ended up really liking the Bloom.

I made an iced matcha spritzer with apple cider and lemon seltzer. P.S. I also made spiced apple brown sugar syrup this week – equal parts cider and brown sugar cooked down with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg – it was good in coffee and great in Diet Coke.

High Tide’s yuzu sparkling water is a new favorite.

Apple snack plate – Cripps Pink apple, Fix and Fogg super crunchy peanut butter, Whole Food’s apple cinnamon mini rice cakes.

This furikake snack mix from Trader Joe’s is hands-down the best snack mix we’ve ever tasted; it’s almost impossible to keep your hands out of.

On-theme peelable gummies make my heart happy.

I hated this dinner – udon noodles with a sardine-scented red sauce – so much I wouldn’t eat it and got pizza instead, but I am including this picture as a reminder to myself that oven-roasted baby broccoli is delicious and we should make it more often.

Crab pasta (that I actually liked). Buckwheat soba noodles and roasted zucchini with sauteed shallots and garleek with crab, butter, evoo, cream cheese, white pepper, gochujang, brown sugar, and lemon juice.

Salmon avocado toast. Toasted sourdough / mashed avocado with salt, pepper, gochugaru, and lemon / Trader Joe’s hot-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus roasted adult broccoli. No, this was not enough food for dinner. Yes, I loved the new cantina chicken chalupas I ended up getting at Taco Bell.

P.S. We are staying on theme this evening and heading out to a fun sushi dinner at Kissaki to hopefully eat all the rest of the fishes.