All' Antica... Just Making Sure

I was just making sure they're still awesome... Check. I hadn't been there in a lonnnnnng time.
Their pizza is so freakin' good. I can seriously taste the love that they put into their food. And I love that the guys talk to me about their food... I love when people are just as enthused as I to talk about food, especially food that they make :-)

This time, I tried their Pesto slice.


Rich, Creamy Pesto, Sliced Parmesan Cheese, Fresh Tomatoes.

The guys at All'Antica tried to convince me to eat there since their oven is awesome, and they did convince me for about 5 minutes. But then I changed my mind and got the slices to go! I will say that to get the full All' Antica experience, one must eat the slices fresh out of their oven! The slice was delicious nonetheless! Oh, and I took a bite of Ed's White slice... omg heaven.

I still haven't tried their Shrimp Scampi slice which everyone is raving about!!

If you haven't tried their pizza yet, you are insane. As Paul Mooney would say, "Hollywood is crazy." <--- That was so random.

All' Antica (They have a website!)
8 Depot Place
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Phone: 914-472-4848

Valentines Day Dessert

The most important part of Valentines Day is obviously the dessert... so after like weeks of anxiety trying to decide whether to make a special cake or get a cake from Lulu's, I finally decided that it would be more special if I made it! Now, I still had anxiety trying to find recipes...

It had to have some chocolate. But I didn't want to make just like a chocolate cake... I wanted something a little more like exotic. I wanted to incorporate some kinda fruit into this chocolate because I just think fruit + chocolate = soooooo sexy!

I trekked on over to Lulu's for their advice. I left there with a ganache recipe and some tips for the cherries.


Step #1- Soak the dried Cherries over night in Orange Juice and Orange Zest.


Step #2- Make the King Arthur Flour's Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake with some Orange Zest and Orange Juice. *I halved the recipe since I was only making a little heart shaped cake and 6 cupcakes.


Step #3- The next day, slice the cake in half horizontally, place the Orangey Cherries (try to get some of the orange zest for more orangey flavor) on the first layer, and make some Fresh Whipped Cream and top the cherries with that. Place the other layer of cake.


Step #4- Make a Chocolate Ganache and pour it over the whole cake! My ganache was still warm and very runny, so after the first layer, I refrigerated both the cake and the ganache, and did a Second Layer


Step #5- Finally, decorate!


Step #6- Cut in half, and enjoy with your loved one!

Oh but that wasn't the only dessert we had. We took advantage of Ed's fireplace and made S'mores! He had an assortment of chocolates (we rarely do plain Hershey's) such as Reese's PB Cups, Caramel Chocolates, Dark Chocolates, Butterfinger Crunch Bars, etc. But earlier yesterday at Whole Foods, I picked up Vosges Haut Chocolat's notorious Mo's Bacon Bar...

It was my first time yesterday, and it was love at first bite! I love sweet and salty combos, I love bacon, and I love chocolate. So.... yep. It worked! And making s'mores with it was just genius of me :-)

Valentines Day Dinner

O-M-F-G... best Valentines Day ever. Seriously.

Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday. Even when I've been single (I know I'm so weird). I think I just love the idea of "love" and I love chocolate haha. But Valentine's Day is even more special now because it is Ed and I's anniversary! It was 2 years for us yesterday!

Me and Ed were trying way too hard to plan the perfect day. We had reservations at Le Provencal in Mamaroneck for back up because I was so indecisive about what I wanted to do. Anyways, after lunch, we declared that we would have a Go With The Flow Valentines Day and it was so amazing!

It started off with a cute little breakfast for Ed. I have heart shaped everything... cupcake pans, cake pan, pancake mold, blah blah blah...

Rice with 2 Heart Shaped Eggs

Then, we went to my mom's to give her some flowers. Then we went to Whole Foods to grab some ingredients for our home-made V-day Dinner. Yeah we cancelled the reservations :-)

We did V-day at Ed's because he has a fireplace... and I love making S'mores. Hahaha that's not the real reason but he cleaned up his place so nice and made it sooooo romantic :-)

Candles all over the room and red and white Rose Petals!

We got started cooking.
The menu:

Salad with Anchovies and Olives


Filet Mignon with Rub with Love Steak Rub


The Whole Plate with sides of Roasted Romano Cheese, Basil, Garlic, and Pepper Fries and Pan Fried Lemon-Pepper Okra and Shimeji Mushrooms

And just to make you like drool:

Medium Rare Perfection!

Our gift exchange came after dinner. Let's just say me and Ed are always on the same page. We were meant to be together <33

Omurice

Omurice is another one of my "oh-my god-it reminds-me-of-chidhood" foods! My mom made it so freakin' good! And I try to make this for Ed as much as possible when I have leftover rice, because I want to pass on the love <33

It's so eaaassssyyyy!!!

All you need are:
Leftover rice
2 Eggs
Ketchup
Corn Kernels
Chicken (or ham, or whatever leftover meat you have)

You put the rice, corn, meat in a frying pan with some oil. When all is heated up and the rice is dry, add the ketchup (I don't know measurements, but add as much as you like. Just don't make the rice soggy!).

Then you whisk up the 2 eggs (add a splash of milk if you want them fluffy!) and pour into a heated, oiled frying pan. Add the ketchup rice on one side of the eggs. Just before the eggs are fully cooked (you want it a litttle runny), you flip the empty half of the eggs over the rice side. Ta-da!

Top with ketchup and enjoyyyy!

Brilliant Leftovers!

I am literally eating this as I post this recipe! I was so excited to put together such an ingenious concoction.... with leftovers!

Karashi Mentaiko Fried Rice

-chopped garlic
-1/2 cup leftover brown rice
-diced zucchini
-sweet corn kernels
-2 tablespoons Karashi Mentaiko (no skin!)

** Karashi Mentaiko is "spicy cod fish roe". It's a very odd flavor if you haven't grown up eating it. I personally love it!

1. Sautee the garlic, zucchini, and corn.
2. Add the rice.
3. Add the karashi mentaiko, and stir fry until the karashi mentaiko turns to a salmony pink. DONE!



What I loved about this fried rice was the simplicity! The flavor was also killer! The karashi mentaiko gave it a salty bite to it, and to emphasize that special "cod fish roe" flavor, I did not add any salt or pepper!! The corn added a nice sweetness, and the zucchini added a little bit of a crunch!

Fried rice and roasted kabocha squash... I'm in heaven!

Babs' Birthday!

Happy Birthday Babs! As of today, she is __ years old!!! Her party was on Saturday.

Babs was super sick with a sinus infection, but it was fun nonetheless! Marlene the party host and the birthday girl's mother did a wonderful job with setting up and satisfying our bellies. I have become known among my friends to only go to social gatherings to eat. I told them. And they're O.K. with that so... I guess we're cool haha.

I have never been to Lola on the Grill in Yonkers, on Tuckahoe Road, but that's where the food came from. I am very ignorant when it comes to Latin/Mexican/Peruvian cuisine, even though I've loved all the things I've tried, but I really liked this stuff!


Rice with Beans (my favorite of the night!)


Pork (Ribs in an oily, stewy sauce)... So good!


Plantains... I didn't get to try these because I was too distracted by the other stuff!


Italian Combo Sandwiches... I'm not sure where these are from, and I didn't have any because I filled up on the Rice and Pork haha!


And of course the birthday girl cutting her "Rainbow" cake! *Her mom was a hippie and was going to name her Rainbow, but went with Barbra instead ;-)


Lola on the Grill
662 Tuckahoe Road
Yonkers, NY 10710
Phone: 914-779-5652

Back to School=Fewer Posts?

Is that the way it has to be? Nahhh...

Well I'm back in school, driving myself crazier than I should... but I do have a few posts lined up!

First of all, Superbowl Sunday! I designated myself the dessert lady, and since I didn't have much time, I cheated.


Trader Joe's Puff Pastry + Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips + Stop n Shop Coconut Flakes + Trader Joe's Sliced Almonds = Easy, yummy twist on Chocolate Croissants!

Then during the week, I went through my fridge/freezer to use up some stuff, and make some space!!

Turkey Meatballs with Ankake Sauce
The turkey meatballs are easy---> Ground turkey, panko bread crumbs soaked in milk, egg, salt and pepper, and whatever else seasoning.
The ankake sauce is soy sauce, mirin, water, dashi, and corn starch. I seriously never measure anything, so I can't tell you the amounts of each ingredient, but that's the funnest part of cooking... tasting it and making it taste how you want it to! Basically you just bring the water to a boil, add the soy sauce and mirin to your liking (at this point I added the shitake mushrooms and onions, and eventually the meatballs). Turn the heat off. Mix cornstarch with hot water. Slowly pour in the cornstarch into the ankake base, and mix and keep adding the cornstarch until the desired consistency is achieved. DONE!

Serve with hot, fresh rice!