Reviews, anyone?

CLICK HERE to check out my Yelp Review page. I just finished reviewing a few places.

Isn't this sculpture awesome?

Made entirely of cooking-ware to look like the City, this is sculpted by Zhang Wang & I found it on here.

Mexican Pizza = AWESOME.

I wish I had a better picture. This doesn't do it justice.

I love combining different cuisines. There's just something about it. In this Pizza recipe I combine traditional Italian foods and sauces with a Mexican twist that will make your tastebuds dance. Please use this Pizza Dough Recipe. Now let's start off with the sauce:

SAUCE

2cups Crushed Tomato Sauce

1 Medium Onion, chopped

4 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

1- Saute both Garlic & Onion in olive oil. Once translucent, add Chrushed Tomato Sauce. Add Salt & Pepper, to taste.

CHICKEN

1 lb. Ground Chicken

1 Garlic Clove

1 bunch of Scallions

Cholula Chipotle Hot Sauce

1- Drizzle Olive Oil in the pan. Throw in chicken & begin to brown. Throw in the Garlic & Scallions. Then add in Salt, Pepper, & the Hot Sauce to taste.

CHEEEEEESE. This is entirely up to you. I used Monterey Jack with Jalapenos because I love some spice to my food. And the sliced red onions on top are optional but they add a crunch which is always nice.

RICOTTA

8oz. Ricotta

2 Limes

Bunch of Cilanto, chopped

1- Zest the skin of the Lime and then juice 1 lime. Chop the Cilantro and mix it all in with the Ricotta.

Layer the Pizza in order of the recipes list and bake at 425 degrees for 15-20minutes. ENJOY :)


PS: My wonderful boyfriend, Mario, helped me out with this recipe. <3

I WANT THIS CAKE NOW.

NOW NOW NOW NOW NOWWWW. Please :)

Let's talk about some pizza dough.

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• (^ that should equal to one small packet)
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• Extra flour for kneading
• 
  

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes. (The warm water is crucial, as it activates the yeast.)
2. Stir the salt and oil into the yeast & water mixture. Mix in 3 1/3 cups of the flour.
3. Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Then, place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour or so. Once the time is up, punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. 
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
5. Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe calls for one large deep-dish pie or two regular pies. For the two regular pies: in step #3, after punching down the dough, cut in two, form a tight ball and then allow the mixture to relax for a minute before rolling out.

SPINACH DIP!

WHO DOESN'T LOVE THIS STUFF?? People have been obsessing over this over at Houlihan's for years, but let me tell you, I don't think it gets any better than making it from scratch at home. My twist to it? A beer. It just makes it all the more better.

I made mine in a fondue pot given to me at work because of the "Secret Santa" grabbag. I was so freaking happyyy when I got it. I needed to make something with it besides melting up some chocolate and this is what I came up with. Simple, yet SO delicious:

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

a bunch of Spinach

1 beer; (I used Yuengling)

3/4 cup of light cream

1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese with Jalapeños

3/4 cup of White Cheddar

Sea salt, to taste

Peppercorn Medley, to taste

Olive Oil, for pot

You can start off by drizzling in some olive oil. Then throw in the yellow onion a pinch of sea salt to help them sweat out. You can now throw in the garlic (make sure not to put in too early, garlic burns easily and can taste very bitter). Once the garlic & onion are translucent you can pour in 1 12oz. beer or your choice. I chose Yuengling and I think it worked beautifully with the dip. Let the beer come up to a light simmer and then toss in the Spinach. Once the Spinach has begun to wilt, pour in the light cream. Let come to a simmer and slightly thicken. You can now crack in fresh Peppercorn medley, to taste. And the final and most delicious step, THROW IN THE CHEESE AND LET IT MELT. It's now ready for you to scarf down, hehe.

Served it with chunks of bread and restaurant-style tortilla chips. ENJOY!

Falafel, anyone?

My friend and I were talking last night and she told me she had tried her first Falafel and LOVED it. I'm actually very proud of her considering this is a girl who's diet consisted of Cheez-Its, Chocolate ice cream, buttered Croissants from QuickChek, and water. WHO DOES THAT??? This girl does.

Well in conclusion to this Falafel post, you must head down to TAIM, falafel and smoothie bar. Grab a sandwich, a gingered brown sugar lemonade, and go sit on any brownstone near by and ENJOY. Seriously, this is the best Falafel I've tried.

I've been craving it for months. I'm going there this weekend, dammit.

Anthony Bourdain's MediumRaw Challenge.

Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw Challenge

MY ESSAY LINK. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Register & vote for me. Voting is allowed daily until September 30th. Let's try & get my essay all the way to #1! And thank you to those who have already been voting. I appreciate it so much! Thanks for all your help, and keep up the good work! :)

Who loves Vodka?

Don't get too excited, guys. I'm not necessarily talking about the drink. This recipe is all about the pasta and spiking that sauce with a Russian kick. Oh and by the way, this is my take on the traditional Penne ala Vodka.

1lb. of cooked Penne, al dente!
1/4lb. Pancetta, thick cut

1 bunch of scallions, chopped

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

olive oil, for sauteing

sea salt, to taste

peppercorn medley, to taste

(^mentioned in previous entry)

3/4 cup good quality vodka

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups crushed tomato sauce

bunch of basil, thinly sliced for garnish.

grated Parmesan, for garnish.

In a medium sauce pot, coat the bottom with olive oil. While the pot is heating up, cut the Pancetta (Italian bacon, you can find this in the deli at your local supermarket) into chunks then throw into the pot. Once the pancetta is just about to reach it's crisping point, throw in scallions, then garlic and sauté until translucent. Add sea salt & peppercorn medley to taste. Add vodka (be careful not to cause a fire), let the alcohol cook out thoroughly. You only want this for the taste. Once vodka has cooked out, add the heavy whipping cream. Let come to a simmer and thicken. Once this cream mixture has thickened (its good enough to eat on its own!!), throw in the crushed tomato sauce. Let come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until flavors have come together nicely.

Now throw in your perfectly cooked al dente pasta, toss, plate & garnish with freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano & Basil! Enjoy!

Peppa.

Everyone needs to go down to Pathmark and do themselves a favor. BUY MCCORMICK'S Peppercorn Medley grinder. It's so worth it. Far better than that powdered straight up black pepper. This stuff includes black, white, green, & pink peppercorns. Along with coriander seed & allspice. Perfect for giving just a different hint of flavors to all your favorite home-cooked meals!

(Damn, maybe I should get into advertisement, haha.)

YUM YUM YUM!!!!

This is THE BEST DAMN RedVelvet cupcake. EVER!!!!!!!!!!! I have tried and tried and nothing seems to match up to the little piece of heaven by CupcakeStop in NYC. You guys seriously have to get your asses to this TRUCK, yes, truck, and buy one. NOW!

Welcome to my cooking blog!

It's feels good to finally get started on something I've been dying to do for over a year now. I don't know what's taken me so long but I definitely feel inpsired quite a bit lately. Sooo, my long awaited food blog is finally here! I'll be talking about just about everything from my own recipes, restaurants I've enjoyed eating at and anything else that comes to mind in relation to cooking! Hope you all enjoy and come back for more!!!

Yeah,

I've gotta get this thing up and running very soon..