Roughin' It With Rugelach

Thursday was rough. My oven broke. I was devastated :-(

But the fact that my oven broke wasn't really what pissed me off. It was that I had these gorgeous looking, unbaked rugelach set up on a baking sheet, refrigerated for 1 hour, ready to be baked! I had my oven "pre-heated" at 350 degrees. And when the hour of chilling the dough was over and I was super excited to pop them in the oven, I open the oven to discover that it... wasn't hot! WTF!?

Angry, anxious (I promised the little children I work with some cookies!), and hopeless, I decided I needed to take a little walk. So I went to Borders Bookstore to enjoy my favorite Iced Coffee and go on with my day.

That night, after dinner, I decided I needed to keep my promise of bringing them cookies and put on my thinking cap. And then it came to me... TOASTER OVEN!

My day can turn around at any moment... Even if it's 1 hour before I go to bed!

Raspberry-Peach Champagne Jam, Peacans, White Chocolate

Rolled


Cocoa, Brown Sugar, Hazelnuts, Chocolate Chips

Rolled


Peanut Butter, Raspberry-Peach Champagne Jam, Chocolate, Pecans

Rolled


Top it off with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon



The Lifesaver



It looked OK coming out of the oven...



And the taste?

Very impressed! The dough was nice and flakey! My favorite filling was definitely the Hazelnut and Chocolate Chips :-) My first attempt at making Rugelach was a success... even without a real oven, so HA!

By the way, I found this recipe for what are apparently called Rugelach Pinwheels on Smitten Kitchen... they were supposed to be cut much thinner... But being used to the ginormous Rugelach at Lulu's, I wanted mine big too!

Sushi At Home

OMG so extravagant of me! I went all out and bought myself a little container of Ikura (Salmon Roe) at Daido in White Plains. I'm on this avocado kick right now and I've been doing lots of Mexican/Southwestern foods, so I was craving something like a California Roll but a little more jazzed up.

I had some leftover brown rice, so I came up with this Mixed Sushi Rice . It's basically like a fried rice, but more refreshing, served cold, and is meant to be topped with sashimi and all that sushi jazz.

Here's what I did:
1. In a frying pan, I cooked some chopped up onions and shiitake mushrooms with chopped garlic and chopped ginger. Season it with Dashi Stock Powder (just a little bit! Lots of MSG! In Japanese cuisine, they use this ingredient a lot. It just makes everything taste better :-D.) Take it off the heat, and let it cool.
2. I microwaved the leftover rice with Sushi Rice Vinegar (about a tablespoon), only until luke warm, about 20 seconds. (If you are making fresh rice, after the rice is cooked, mix the Rice Vinegar until well incorporated and let it cool.)
3. Mix in the onions and shiitake into the rice.
4. Add chopped up Shiso Leaves and chopped up scallions.




For tonight's dinner, I topped this rice with Ikura and Avocado.


I ate it by making little rolls with Nori (seaweed sheets)! OMG it was one of the best meals I've had at home in a while!

Happy Birthday America @ X20

Yaaaaayyyy.... American Pride Day! I didn't see as many American Flag apparel as I was fearing I would see :-) J.K... I love it when my man wears his American Flag bandana like a true American!

Tonight (yes I rushed home to blog about it), Ed, my mom, my brother, his girlfriend, and I spend the night at X20 in the Y.O. OMG... please take my advice and NEVER miss a fun event that Peter Kelly is hosting! Remember the Christmas Dinner and Holiday Cabaret?

So this one was very different. The seats weren't assigned by groups... you just had to find a table and claim it with your life. It was so packed! The appetizers were passed by their waiters. However, there was no sit-down dinner. Instead, there were food stations (buffet style) for the "Salad and Pasta" and the "Meat". There was also the bar and the Sushi Bar.

Let me just start off by saying that I literally tried every item that was being passed around/served. Including the 9382409284203 desserts! Unless of course they ran out. I really tried my best to "pace" myself but there was no point because I had to try everything and there was just so much food! I was in heaven... literally.

Here it goessssssss!

Fresh Mozzarella with Basil Leaf & Roasted Red Pepper


Lobster Canapé


Fresh Mozzarella with Beefsteak Tomatoes & Basil, Classic Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons & Parmigiano, Tortellini with Pecans & Prosciutto, Farfalle with Sundried Tomatoes & Chestnuts


Mini Brioche Sliders


Jumbo Coconut Shrimp


Braised Short Ribs “Wellington”


Herb Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Haricot Vert Vinaigrette with Walnuts


Filet Mignon with Sauce Choron, Breast of Capon with Watercress Dressing, Berkshire Pork Loin with Spicy Yuzu Compote, Roast Rack of Baby Lamb


Kobe Beef Hot Dog "Sausage and Peppers"


Asparagus, Prosciutto & Phyllo


Chocolate "Thing" filled with Caramel (Kinda like a brownie base with a chocolate ganache dome topping...)


Panna Cotta


Happy Birthday America Cake


Raspberry Sorbet, White Peach Sorbet


Chocolate Sorbet... OK I don't think this was sorbet. It was not cold, and it was like mousse! DELISH!


Coconut Panna Cotta


Toasted Almond Truffle


Carrot Cake


Lemon Tart

Are we done yet? Haha, ok so I did miss out on the Pistachio Ice Cream and another flavor ice cream. Plus, I didn't have the Vegetable Dumplings and Shrimp Tempura because I didn't wanna waste stomach space on just plain old Japanese food! My favorites of the night were the Sliders, the pork, Lobster Canapé... I also had the Phyllo Turnover with Smoked Chicken & Goat Cheese but I don't have a picture of it. Maybe I was too excited and forgot to take one before I ate it. It was that good. OH and of course the Beef Wellingtons!

After the sorbet, I thought the night of food was coming close to an end. But it really didn't. They kept bringing me food and I accepted graciously!

And the view? Perfect. I just realized tonight that I had never been to X20 while it was still light out and it was absolutely STUNNING! Here are some pics:


The Band


The Family


The Extended Family


Me and Honey Bunny


I kinda love America a little bit more now :-)

X20
71 Water Grant Street
Yonkers, NY 10701
Phone: 914-965-1111

Banana Hazelnut Crumb Cake

I've discovered this year that banana+hazelnut are an amazing combo! I mean, it's not really extraordinary and unique, but I just had never really thought of this combo as I would peanut butter+chocolate. I think it was experiencing Momofuku Milk Bar's Banana Cake.

So when I was browsing Tastespotting and came across this Banana and Hazelnut Coffee Cake on Technicolor Kitchen, I was sold.


The Star Ingredient- HAZELNUTS! (Yes, they were chopped up on my pig cutting board! Eco-friendly, pig cutting board!)


Crumb Topping- A simple flour, brown sugar, butter, salt, and hazelnut mixture.


The ultra-ripe BANANAS layered on top of the cake batter. Then top the bananas with the crumb mixture and bake!


BAM! The texture of the cake was awesome, super moist but still had a soft bounciness like a sponge cake! And I think it's relatively healthy because it uses plain yogurt and only like 6-ish tablespoons of butter (the recipe was in metric nonsense so I had to convert it!)... I wish I put more bananas on because I loved the moist, ooey-gooey layer that it created :-(

FYI- This cake is more like an afternoon snack cake. It's light, not too sweet, and not decadent. Perfect for me because I had it for my afternoon snack. BUT, if I were to make it into a more indulgent dessert type cake, I would probably add some chocolate or nutella! And... more bananas! I love bananas!

Big Menus=Indecisiveness

I just saw this hysterical video on Serious Eats. If you have never eaten out with me, all you have to do is watch this video to experience the Miki Menu Indecision. It's like I'm making the most important decision of my life.


Awkward Orderer



Hahaha. Ed will totally agree.

Rice: The Best Blank Canvas

I Love Rice.
Here are my Top Three Favorite ways to eat rice.

1. Rice with Shiso Natto (Shiso Flavored Fermented Soybeans) and Scallions


2. Rice with Karashi Mentaiko (Spicy Cod Roe)


3. Rice with Shirasu (Baby Sardines)

W-W-WD50-D?

WHAT WOULD WD-50 DO?
Answer: Nothing that you would think of.

I'm still like so giddy about my meal at WD-50! It was fun... like exciting, fun, and thrilling!

My whole experience was just really chill and great. It was father's day (my dad lives in Japan, so I hang out with Dad #2 A.K.A my mom :-P) so the restaurant was packed by like 7. All the waiters were great! So friendly, and very knowledgeable!

We went with the Tasting Menu. I read reviews saying that WD's creativity really comes out in the Tasting Menu. The funny thing is that the menu itself only vaguely explains the dish, so it left me wondering how the hell it was gonna be executed and presented to me... and most of the time, I was completely off.

START
Cuttlefish, Root beer, Watercress, Cashew, Myoga- Interesting flavors. Not too exciting... yet.


Everything Bagel, Smoked Salmon Threads, Crispy Cream Cheese- THE BAGEL WAS ICE CREAM! wtf?! It was all the classic flavors, but just completely transformed.


Foie Gras, Passionfruit, Chinese Celery- Heavenly. The passionfruit just bursts out when you cut it!


Scrambled Egg Ravioli, Charred Avocado, Hamachi- My favorite dish of the night. Inside the block of egg is... soft runny scrambled egg!! The avocado was a cream mixture of like wasabi, yogurt, and other stuff. Then the hamachi and the potato crisps... OMG, the hamachi was extremely high-qual.


Cold Fried Chicken, Buttermilk-Ricotta, Tabasco, Caviar - The fact that they chose to serve this chicken cold is really courageous. It's like a guilty pleasure that no one likes to admit. Cold fried chicken=awesome. Plus, the Honey Tabasco sauce was just awesome.


Snails, Red Lentils, Juniper, Orange- This was the only dissappointment of the night. The orangey lentils were just too much. Too sweet, too orangy, but not in an accent way.

(Before the meal started, they asked if we had any dislikes, so I mentioned that I am not a fan of Snails. They substituted the snails with these Shrimp Noodles with Mushrooms and Yogurt Sauce- Nothing really special.)


Duck Leg, Popcorn Pudding, Kalamansi, Lovage- Third favorite dish of the night! Duck leg? I was expecting bone, something that looked like a leg! But, no. Thin slices. Beautifully cooked. Moist. Exotic flavors.


Lamb Loin, Black Garlic Romesco, Pickled Ramps, Dried Soybean - My second favorite of the night! OMG the lamb was so tender, and cooked perfectly (look at that color)! And the garlic romesco.... I scraped every little bit off the plate :-)


Vanilla Ice Cream, Balsamic, Raspberry- Sounds simple right? No. Best Ice Cream Of the Year! It's a tiny little log of vanilla ice cream covered in raspberry powder, and on the inside, it's filled with balsamic vinegar!


Hazelnut Tart, Coconut, Chocolate, Chicory- This ain't nothing compared to that ice cream! It was good though :-) The coconut powder was definitely awesome though!


Carmelized Brioche, Apricot, Buttercream, Lemon Thyme- OMG yum! I was getting so incredibly full that I was only able to have a few but that was some damn good apricot filled brioche! The not-sweet broiche was the perfect canvas for all the other dramatic flavors.


Cocoa Packets. Chocolate shortbread, Milk Ice Cream- I'm still so intrigued by the eatable chocolate packets! What are they made of!? It was delicious <3


My conclusion is this: WD-50 is all about textures and flavors. In every dish, there was a crunchy accent. Also, in most dishes, there were a few sauces/sides. I think the key is to taste each flavor separately first, and then combine as you like. I think eating everything on the plate together, in one bite ruins the fun of picking and choosing different flavor combos.


I LOVE WD-50! It was definitely one of the most unique dining experiences I've ever had. WD-50 is like the American version of Sushi of Gari. These people are culinary geniuses.

WD-50
50 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
Phone: 212.477.2900