Slow Cooker Crusty Bread Loaf

Ever thought you could make a crusty bread loaf in a slow cooker? Me either! It's actually exceedingly simple. You can either choose to make your own dough or purchase pre-made dough (even easier). Here is how I made my loaf. Oh, also excuse the photos. They are from my cellphone because this loaf did not last enough time for a photo op.

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Slow Cooker Crusty Bread Loaf

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3 C warm water 1 T rapid rise yeast* 6 C all purpose flour 1 T salt or to taste Parchment paper 6-quart slow cooker** *Or regular, it will just take longer to rise **You might need to vary loaf size for a smaller cooker so there is room to rise and expand

In a very large bowl, add warm water and stir in yeast. Water should be warm enough to activate the yeast but not hot enough to kill it... read the yeast packet if you have doubts. Thoroughly mix in flour and salt. This will take a lot of muscle so you might want to use a stand mixer. Cover dough and let rise until doubled in size (a couple hours). Form a one pound loaf of bread on parchment paper and place into your slow cooker. Cook on high for 1 to 2 1/2 hours (depending on your cooker).  You can also check the internal temperature and remove when it is between 190-200°F. Mine took around two hours. You can check after the first hour to see if the bottom of the loaf is burning. I had no issues here. Pop into a pre-heated broiler for 2-5 minutes for a gorgeous browned top. Consume!

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Why don't you try...

• Buying pre-made dough and just popping it into the cooker on some parchment paper
• Adding herbs and cheese such as rosemary and cheddar to the dough
• Making dinner rolls instead of a loaf

This bread was awesome! I can't wait to try it with other types of dough. The one provided was just a basic loaf so go wild. Also, if you didn't know, you can make quick loafs in a slow cooker too like pumpkin and banana bread. You can bake them right in a loaf pan! 

Happy setting and forgetting!

Zucchini Bread: An Updated Take

Zucchini bread always sounds amazing to me in theory. It seems to fall into the same category as banana bread (my favorite) and pumpkin bread (a seasonal must). Zucchini is also one of my favorites. Grilled, baked, raw, you can't really mess it up... with the exception of zucchini bread. Every recipe I've had is always overly greasy, sugary and seems to have very little to do with zucchini itself with the exception of making a fattening lard-loaf sound healthy.

The over abundance of zucchini out there right now has finally pushed me to make a better (for my taste buds) zucchini bread. I don't claim this bread to be slimming but it's certainly less greasy and sugary than most.

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Zucchini Bread: An Updated Take

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Preheat oven to 350°F 2 eggs 3/8 C olive oil 1/4 C brown sugar 3 t cinnamon 1/2 t salt 1 t baking soda 1 t baking powder 1 1/2 C flour 2 C zucchini grated, squeezed 1 C sweet apple, grated

This recipe yield about 8 to 9 muffins and I baked them in my toaster oven because of the heat! They came out perfectly. Note: C denotes cup, t denotes teaspoon, T denotes tablespoon. In a large bowl beat the eggs. Add olive oil or oil of choice and cinnamon and continue to beat. Grate the apple and add it to the mix. Grate the zucchini (about 2 medium zucchinis) and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Sift the dry ingredients together, add to the bowl, and mix until smooth. Pour the batter into greased muffin pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden. Serve with butter, honey, and cinnamon.

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Challah at Me

Challah (pronounced: 'holla') is a type of bread that is very dear to my heart. While I might be quite far from technically being a Jew, I love my matzo ball soup, challah bread, and holy hell, never let me into a Jewish deli with a wad of cash. My level of self control around these types of foods is low. Being that I am half Chinese, a quarter German, and the remainder Slovak you might wonder where my love of Jewish food came from. To sum it up quite simply, I'm just a good New Yorker. I come from the land where you ask for schmear* on your hollowed out, toasted bagel and you get a bagel that's been dug out with the deli guys thumb, toasted, and loaded with cream cheese (schmear). Basically, life is pretty fantastic. There's matzo ball soup to cure your hangover, gefilte fish if you're secretly a Jewish grandmother, and unlimited amounts of pickles.

New York aside, while living in Pittsburgh I ironically settled in one of Pennsylvania's largest Jewish communities: Squirrel Hill. Yes, it has over 20 synagogues. And yay, for Jewish delis, I don't think I could have gotten out of university alive without them... nasty hangovers are nasty. Now I live in a Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles. It's crazy, I didn't even plan it! This means I can stop by the bakery and pick up some hamentashen to go with my morning coffee and drool over the fresh challah coming out of the oven.

I'm living a pretty awesome kosher-foodie life at the moment, but when I lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, there was not a loaf of challah to be seen for miles. Actually, it was a 35 minute drive to some sketchy place that over charged for matzo balls. Lame. It was during this time that I discovered the ease of making your own challah. Yes, fresh, hot out of your oven challah. This weekend I decided to try my hand at it again and I must say, the tasty outcome did not disappoint.

I followed Smitten Kitchen's recipe for Apple Honey Challah and skipped the apples and sugar. The challah itself is really fun to make and the braiding is surprisingly simple for the amount that it will fascinate your friends. My only tip is it make sure that your yeast is not expired! I had a faulty yeast packet for the first loaf I made... luckily dense, unleavened challah makes awesome bread pudding. One other thing to keep in mind is that challah actually makes the world's best french toast. Hands down. The key is to slice it thick and let it soak up all the egg/vanilla. Yum.

*Schmear is Yiddish for spread. If you look at a map of the distribution of Yiddish speakers in the United States, you'll see the New York state has the highest density. I thank Wikipedia for that fun fact.

Banana Date Bread

I was browsing through my blog archives and stumbled upon a recipe for banana bread I posted back in March 2011. Perfect timing because I was having a banana bread craving and had completely forgotten about it. So, today I bring you banana bread that is made from pulling things from my pantry.

It's a healthier spin on typical banana bread with no sugar and 1/3 the amount of butter... but don't worry, it indulges in dates and a small amount of chocolate chips! The secret in not having to add sugar lies in using overripe bananas. Yes, the type that are so black on the outside they're actually a little horrifying to look at.

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Banana Date Bread

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Preheat oven to 350°F 4 overripe bananas (black on the outside) 1 C all purpose flour 1/2 C corn flour (or all purpose) 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 large egg 1/3 C melted butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 C dried dates, cubed 1/4 C chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mash peeled overripe bananas. It's important that the bananas are overripe. If they are not, you may want to add 2/3 C sugar. Beat in the egg and add the butter and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together add to the bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the dates and chocolate chips. Pour the batter into a greased bread pan and bake for about an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden. Alternatively, use muffin pans and bake for about 25 minutes.

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Apple Oat Muffins

Muffins are great but I always find that store bought muffins are way too sweet. I was originally setting out to make apple bran muffins but scratched that idea all together and started from the ground up on this recipe. It was a total shot in the dark (that started with one large egg and some makeshift buttermilk) but it turned out great!

The key to this recipe is using tart apples. I like baking with granny smith, but feel free to use whichever type of apple you'd like. Try adding walnuts or cranberries.

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Apple Oat Muffins

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Preheat oven to 350°F 3/4 C white or whole wheat flour 3/4 C brown rice flour 3/4 C rolled oats 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 3 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 large egg 1 C buttermilk* 3-4 Tbsp butter, melted 3/8 C honey 2 medium granny smith apples, diced

In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the buttermilk. If you are using a buttermilk substitute, make sure it is sufficiently curdled before adding. Mix in the honey and melted butter until completely combined. Sift and add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Add the apples. In a greased muffin pan or a non-stick pan, spoon the ingredients to the brim. Bake for 18-20 minutes or if using a convection oven, bake for about 10 or until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. *Milk curdled with lemon juice or white vinegar works as a great buttermilk substitute. For one cup of buttermilk use one cup of milk and enough acid to curdle the milk.

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1 comment:

Chewy Ginger Cookies

Can you guys tell that I have a baking problem yet? I really do. After not having a kitchen to really use for over a year I tell myself that I'm making up for it now. Anyway, this will be a short and not-too-sweet post about some delicious ginger cookies. They stay chewy and aren't overly sweet. I'd recommend them for the holidays... or if you're a spiced cookie fiend.

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Chewy Ginger Cookies

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Preheat oven to 350°F 3/4 C butter, softened 1/4 C granulated white sugar 1 large egg 1/2 C molasses 2 1/4 C flour 2-3 Tbsp ground ginger 2-3 Tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp cracked black pepper 1 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter with the sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg and then the molasses. Sift the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. I would taste the dough at this point and probably add more spice than I listed here because I actually like spicy cookies. Note that you can also add more granulated sugar into the butter. I don't like overly sweet cookies and I felt like the molasses did the trick. Everyone agreed they were perfect but it's up to you! :) In your palms, roll balls just smaller than a ping pong and slightly flatten (about 1/2 to 1/3 inch thickness) onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can sprinkle the cookies with coconut or even roll in sugar and cinnamon like a snickerdoodle. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes and consume hot with milk or the next day with whipped cream and ice cream. I'm already salivating.

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If you want to try rolling these cookies out and using cookie cutters, I suggest you chill the dough for an hour or so because it's quite soft.

Quick Apple Turnovers

I bet you guys are tired of seeing recipes for triangle shaped carbohydrates at this point but I swear this one is stupidly fast, cheap, and amazing with all things considered. It's just a little bit past 1 AM as a write this and a big plate of apple turnover dumpling things are hovering in my vision just over the laptop screen. This will ultimately mean disaster, but presently means I've been good enough to resist eating all of them already. I'm so ready to pop one of those babies in the toaster tomorrow morning. Sinful.

Earlier this evening I came home craving apple pie. Pies are sort of messy to make, plus I didn't want to be tempted to eat the whole pie so I reluctantly vetoed that idea and moved onto apple dumplings. Apple dumplings are awesome but as I started rummaging through the fridge looking for ingredients I spotted a roll of crescent rolls. Yep, that's right, those delicious, fattening, fake doughy air things. Bingo! The light went off in my head, instead of making full on apple dumpling dough, I'd wrap the apples in crescent roll dough. Wrong.

What I ultimately ended up doing was going to be way faster to bake: dice an apple, add some stuff, make a crescent roll dumpling sandwich thing. Bake. Amazing. I might be a genius... or I might just be a gigantic food whore.

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Quick Apple Turnovers

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Yields 4 turnovers Preheat oven to 375°F 1 crescent roll package 1 medium apple 1 tsp cinnamon 1 Tbsp honey

Dice apple into 1/4 inch cubes. In a bowl, combine apples, cinnamon, and honey. On an ungreased baking sheet, lay out four of the eight triangles of the crescent roll dough. Scoop the apple mixture onto the triangles, place a remaining triangle on top of each of the prepared triangles. Seal the sides by pressing them together with your fingers and stamping with a fork. Place in the oven on a center rack for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot or toast tomorrow.

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Fun fact: the grand total price of these was about $3. And the time they took to make from start to consumption was about 20 minutes. There's a hash tag for that and it's "#winning".





I'm really still unsure of what to call these apple delights. Maybe just apple delight but I've definitely run though the gamut:

Apple ______

1. Hot Pocket
2. Turnover
3. Ghetto Dumpling
4. Dough Triangle
5. Wedges
6. Poptart Triangle
7. Delight
8. Sandwich

Yeah, I clearly did not stop while I was ahead. Call them what you want.

Green Spinach Pasta

A few days ago I posted a recipe for fresh pasta. I decided to go back and revisit the recipe because I wasn't feeling great about how it rolled out. This time around I added some pizazz to the basic dough and added some spinach to make green or spinach pasta. I can say with 100 percent confidence that this recipe worked like a charm. The dough was so easy to roll out and the pasta was completely awesome.

I think the big difference was that I rolled out room temperature dough as opposed to last time where I did not wait for the dough to warm up from being in the refrigerator. The spinach pasta needs to be rolled a little thicker than plain pasta dough and is typically made into tagliatelle and served with bolognese sauce. Find the recipe below, or just add one cup of cooked, finely chopped spinach to the fresh pasta recipe. You may find that you will need to work extra flour into the dough if your spinach is particularly wet.

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Green Spinach Pasta

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2 C all purpose flour 1 eggs, beaten 1 C spinach, cooked and chopped salt, just a pinch

On a board or the counter top, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mound. Make a well in the center, pour in the eggs and add the spinach. With your fingers, slowly work the egg and spinach into the dry mixture. Knead for a few minutes. If the mixture is too wet/soft, add some flour. If too dry/firm, add some water. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or use a pasta machine to make a thin sheet. The dough should be a little thicker than basic pasta dough and is traditionally cut into tagliatelle.

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Just in case you are wondering, the last photo is of cut tagliatelle hanging to dry before cooked. Hanging long pasta over a chair back or some dowels before cooking helps prevent the pasta from shrinking back to its former size and thickness. :)

Gluten Free Scones: Revisted

Last week I blogged about gluten free scones. I became obsessed and had to make them again two days later. The second time around I tried out a couple new variations and decided I'd actually make the effort to pull my camera out and semi-document the process. The last round of scones were lemon-currant, the two most recent variations were equally as good as the last. I tested out one savoury-spicy-sweet combination: cheddar, cayenne, and date. I also tested out a fall favourite: apple-cinnamon, which would have been wonderful with some chopped walnuts or cheddar. I'm salivating as I type this.

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Apple-Cinnamon Scones

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gluten free scone base 1/2 large apple 1 tsp cinnamon

Using the gluten free scone recipe base (don't add the currants or lemon zest), substitute in the ingredients on the left for apple-cinnamon scones. Make sure the apples are diced to about 1/4 inch cubes and stir into the mixture with the buttermilk. Try adding 1/3 C cubed cheddar. Serve with honey.

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Cheddar, Cayenne & Date Scones

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gluten free scone base 1/2 C extra sharp cheddar 1/4 C dates 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Using the gluten free scone recipe base (don't add the currants or lemon zest), substitute in the ingredients on the left for apple-cinnamon scones. Make sure the cheese and dates are diced to about 1/4 inch cubes and stir into the mixture with the buttermilk along with the cayenne pepper.

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Munch, munch, munch... crunch.

Fresh Pasta

Pasta! I eat it. I buy it. And I probably have an unhealthy relationship with it. You know, I love it more than it loves me. So, I decided to make it. I've made pasta from scratch before but this time I decided I would try making some and seeing if I could store the dough without it going bad. It worked with the aid of some plastic wrap, olive oil, and a refrigerator. The down side was the dough had to warm up a bit before use to regain some of its elasticity, but that's a pretty easy problem to solve.

I rolled out the dough by hand and therefore got an arm workout that I probably really needed. Yes, it's sad that rolling out dough for 30 minutes is something I consider a workout but I swear it was really hard on a high counter with very cold, stiff dough that I refused to let warm up because I was impatient. Anyway, the pasta tasted great and if you are fortunate enough to own a pasta roller/maker, I'd use it in a heartbeat! The thinner the dough the better. ;)

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Fresh Pasta Dough

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1 3/4 C all purpose flour 1 eggs, beaten salt, just a pinch

On a board or the counter top, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mound. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggs. With your fingers, slowly work the egg into the dry mixture. Knead until smooth (about ten minutes). If the mixture is too wet/soft, add some flour. If too dry/firm, add some water. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. You can also choose to save your dough for later in the day by wrapping it in plastic wrap lightly coated with olive oil and setting it aside. Otherwise, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface or use a pasta machine to make a thin sheet.

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Single-Pan Apple 'Popover'

I'm used to making popovers in a popover pan, which, for those that are unfamiliar, looks much like a muffin pan but has much deeper wells so the popovers can rise. The popovers I know are much like Yorkshire pudding, or hollow rolls that are muffin shaped and are primarily egg based. They take quite a while to cook and bake at two different temperatures that results in an amazing crisp outside and a doughy yet hollow inside. Yum.

When I saw a recipe for a single popover cooked in a pan I thought to myself, that's too easy! I decided to take the recipe for a spin and of course had to adapt it a bit. The result was something unlike the Yorkshire pudding-like popovers I am used to and are more like a breakfast dish I call German pancakes (which are in fact, not German at all). The single-pan apple popover still rose but was more dense than its traditional counterpart. Don't get me wrong, it's still scrumptious and satisfies a sweet tooth, just completely different than a traditional popover!

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Single-Pan Apple 'Popover'

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Preheat oven to 425°F Fruit Mix 3 medium-large apples 1/2 C blueberries 1 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp honey 1 tsp cinnamon Egg Mix 3 large eggs 1/2 C milk 2 Tbsp butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 Tbsp honey 1/2 C all-purpose flour

Slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices. On a stove top, heat the butter in an 8-9 inch oven-safe pan and add the apples, blueberries, honey, and cinnamon. Mix well and cook until the apples are just soft and remove from heat. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the milk, butter, vanilla, and honey. Add the flour and mix until completely smooth. Pour over the fruit mixture in the pan and place on a middle rack in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes. Do not open the oven at any point in baking as the popover may collapse. You should see parts of the egg mixture begin to rise and turn golden. If the fruits are particularly watery, this may not happen, however, the mixture may begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and at this point, your popover will be near done. Remove the pan from the oven and serve immediately. The popover is great with some dusted confectioners sugar, whipped cream, or yogurt. Note: If the butter you use is unsalted, you may choose to add a pinch of salt. You can substitute the honey for sugar or any other sweetener you'd like.

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Whoops! This is totally a camera phone photo. When making a gigantic popover at 10 PM, there really isn't anything left in you to go pull out the DSLR.

Gluten Free Scones

I love scones. There is something about them that is so inviting and homey. Maybe it's because the oven always makes the kitchen warm and butter really can't do anything but remind you of home cooking. I recently moved out to LA so I am finally experiencing some cooler weather. Coming from the east coast I never thought I'd feel autumn in southern California! What a relief.

Baking is one of my guilty pleasures but catering to those that aren't so hot on gluten is a whole different sort of baking (read: lots of failure). I made this recipe as a half recipe out of fear of gluten free baking. Luckily the recipe was more than a success. This size recipe works perfectly if you want to have breakfast for two and still feel stuffed. It yields about six medium sized scones. This is a perfect base recipe to work off of and throw in different ingredients to make savory scones, etc.

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Gluten Free Scones

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Yields six scones Preheat oven to 425°F 1 C brown rice flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 C cold salted butter* 1 Tbsp lemon zest 1/2 C buttermilk** 1/4 C raisins /currants / craisins

Grease a baking sheet with butter. Combine the flour and baking powder in a medium sized bowl. Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or two knives. Add the lemon zest and create a well in the center of the ingredients. Pour in the butter milk and add the raisins. Mix until just combined. On a floured board press out the dough into a rectangle until about 1/2 inch thick. Be sure not to overwork the dough or you will loose the flaky texture and create a gluten free, cardboard mess. Cut out into triangles and place on the baking sheet. At this point you can choose to brush some melted butter on top or stay "healthier". Bake for about 15 minutes or until the tops/edges are golden brown. Serve hot with honey and Greek yogurt. Yum!

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* I used salted butter because that's all I had. If you have unsalted, used the same amount and add a pinch of salt (less than 1/4 tsp) to the dry ingredients.

** I didn't have buttermilk on hand so I used an old trick that has always worked for me: Curdle your own milk by adding lemon juice or white vinegar to whole milk. The ratio I typically use is 1/2 C whole milk to 1 Tbsp lemon juice/white vinegar.

Extra notes: the scones were so delicious hot that I honestly did not have time to pull out my camera. Hence, you get a scone drawing. Yay photoshop! :) You can also make these scones with the same ratio of all-purpose flour.

Jicama Cilantro Salad

It definitely feels like autumn here in New York. Some serious rain washed away the last bits of summer on Thursday, so much so that I woke up this morning to blog and find myself sitting in my kitchen wrapped up in a polar fleece. Burr! So in honour of kissing summer goodbye some salmon was thrown on the grill last night (hey, it's not snowing yet!) and I made a simple, yet fresh salad to go along with the mix.

Jicama is one of my favourite things to add to salad. It is a root vegetable with a great refreshing crunch. When looking for jicama in your grocery, be sure to get a firm, dry one. I am really not a huge fan of salt, as you may have noticed. So just be aware that where there would usually be salt in most recipes, I have omitted it. Feel free to add a dash!

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Jicama Cilantro Salad

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1 medium jicama 1 granny smith apple 4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped 3 tablespoons citrus olive oil* 1 medium jalapeno cracked black pepper

Wash and peel the jicama and apple. Slice into 1/4" thick slices and place in a bowl. Finely chop the cilantro and jalapeno and add. Drizzle with the citrus olive oil. This is what really makes the salad fresh. Season with cracked black pepper. Toss. *The citrus infused olive oil is what really makes the dish. If you don't have any on hand, I would suggest going out and buying some or ordering some online. I buy mine from the Temecula Olive Oil Company along with a bunch of great balsamic vinegars. If that's not an option, I'd experiment with grating some lime peels.

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Happy munching!

Blue Corn Pancakes (Gluten Free)

Blue corn is amazing. I personally love the nutty, wholesome taste of cornbread; but am also a sucker for fluffy breakfast pancakes. When you combine the two and use blue corn flour, the ultimate breakfast food is created. Yum! I decided to start making this pancake batter at 1 AM on three hours of sleep over two days (no joke). I cooked these suckers up in the morning and the result was out-of-this-world. If I can make these pancakes in the state I did, I'm pretty sure the recipe is fool-proof.

One thing to note is that the batter (yes, I am a total batter whore when it comes to cooking) tasted pretty bitter. But the result once cooked was outstanding. So have no fear! I made these pancakes gluten free by using brown rice flour but you can easily substitute the brown rice flour for all purpose flour. Some of the flours could be hard to find in smaller grocery stores so I've linked the flours in the recipe. I also doubled the recipe and modified it because I knew I'd be eating way too many and feeding a few hungry bellies.

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Blue Corn Pancakes (Gluten Free)

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2 1/4 cups blue cornmeal 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons white sugar* 2 cups boiling water 2 large eggs, beaten 1 cup milk 4 tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 cup brown rice flour 4 teaspoons baking powder

In a bowl, mix the blue corn flour, salt, and sugar. Stir in the boiling water and let mixture sit for a few minutes. Stir until free of clumps. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and melted butter. Add to the blue corn mixture and combine. Add the brown rice flour and baking powder and stir until smooth. At this point I decided to get some sleep and covered my batter and refrigerated over night. If you don't want to save your batter, you can go ahead and heat up a skillet with butter cook until golden on each side. Yum! *You can substitute the white sugar for maple syrup or honey. Learn how to substitute for sugar here.

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If you decide to make these pancakes, and I suggest you do because they are simply amazing, you will have to let me know how they turn out! I ended up eating these later in the day with a sunny side egg on top and it was delicious!

Shashouka for Breakfast

I have a confession that is probably not news to you: I'm a serious food whore. I grew up in a family that ate and cooked everything from your standard American meatloaf to chicken feet. Yep, chicken feet. I blame all of this on my half-Asian upbringing but really know that I just have a problem. So here comes the touche topic of the amazing combination of meat and cheese. I'm talking German sausage with a side of cheesy spaetzle, ham and Gruyere on a baguette... I digress, and it goes on. While I love my meat and cheese, it's not exactly Kosher. Which obviously presents a problem for all food things of Israeli origin, except the food is so good that I honestly don't care there is no meat and cheese hand-holding.

There is an amazing Israeli cafe in my town called the Art Cafe that makes all sorts of desirable baked goods, has delicious coffee, and Israeli staples such as malawach, shashouka, and borekas. I could literally eat at the Art Cafe every day but my bank account would cry, so this morning I decided to make my own shashouka (poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce) for breakfast. It turned out wonderfully and was surprisingly easy to make!

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Shashouka

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Adapted from Smitten Kitchen 1/4 cup olive oil 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (you really need to test the spiciness of the peppers to know how many you will need) 1 medium purple, chopped 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon paprika 6-8 medium tomatoes (you can use a big can of tomatoes too, but I prefer the fresh stuff) 6 eggs 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft. Slice up the tomatoes and crush them into the skillet. Be sure to add their juice too! Add 1/2 cup water to the pan, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes or so. Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshouka with feta and parsley.

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You can choose to add salt, however, I tend to shy away from salt especially when there is super salty feta in the dish already. You can serve this dish with warm pita too!

I'm really amazed that I let myself five seconds to photograph this dish. I was so eager to dig in because it smelled AMAZING. Apologies for the crappy photography, my stomach knows no restraint. Let me know what you think of this dish. :)

Dim Sum-day

If you've never had the opportunity to go for (good, and I mean, really good) dim sum, you might be missing out on life. Dim Sum can be best described as Chinese tapas. It's typically a brunch thing that revolves around socializing, taking your time nibbling, and of course, nibbling. With my family it generally boils down to all of us inhaling our food and feeling sick because of it. You sit at a big (or small if you choose to not bring your dad, step dad, and cousin's boyfriend's daughter's aunt) table and just wait for the food to come to you! Waiters push carts around stock piled with all sorts of goodies (lots of pork, so vegetarians and diet restricted beware) and some dishes will not come out until later in the afternoon, or may run out!!

Here are some photos of what I ate inhaled Sunday morning...

I really hate how my photos are uploading. I think I'm going to have to overexpose them before I send them over to picasaweb... or just find a new place to host! PS: I totally stole the name "dim sum-day" from my friend who has made Dim Sum on Sunday a bit of a tradition. :)

Kinsale Culinary Adventures

One of the last places I ended up while in Ireland this past May was Kinsale. Kinsale was an adorable fishing town along the southern coast. It boasted way too much good food that I neglected to take photos of. What I did manage to capture I didn't really do it justice... Let's be real, I couldn't stay off the cake, uber fresh fish and chips inspired dishes, and local cheese. (Queso is always a major source of temptation).

I found this cake at the Poet's Corner. It was a cute little cafe on one of the main drags in Kinsale that let you leave a book to take a book. The coffee was yummy and the cake was great, but definitely didn't have enough berries between the layers, as I am a self proclaimed fruit whore.

In the morning I stopped at a local farmers market. They had a bunch of fresh breads, but my favourite stall was the cheese stall. I got to try about a dozen cheeses from the area. I love a strong, pungent cheese, and believe me, there was lots to go around. I particularly liked one of the stronger sheep cheeses. :)

Somewhere between my third and fourth lunch, I stopped at a restaurant called Fishy Fish Chippie (the lunch off-shoot of the Cafe). I thought the name was hilarious because who wants fishy fish? Anyway, the fish was pretty damn awesome. Their take on fish and chips was modern as it had the influence of Japanese tempura. Yummy... but if you didn't eat it fast enough the breading got soggy. That really wasn't a huge issue. The decor of the place was wonderful too and had beautiful black and white photos of the family of fishermen that actually caught the fish I consumed. I naturally have photos of all of these cafes that I refuse to actually upload. :)

So my advice for visiting Kinsale? Eat your heart out.

Let's Explore Charlotte, NC

Brioche French Toast at Crepe Cellar

I feel like I'm always talking about how I "live" in Charlotte, yet I never share anything about it. When I first started my job I was whisked away to the west coast for my first month or so before actually settling in Charlotte. I spent about six weeks trying to throw together a resemblance of an apartment and then before I knew it, I was sent off on the road to travel four days a week. That honestly sums up my life since September...in fact, I am blogging in the airport right now.

Last weekend I finally had time to get out and about to explore the Charlotte a little bit more than my usual dash to the grocery store or mall. There is a small area in Charlotte called NODA (North Davidson). It's the historic arts district, but now the gentrified area only spans a couple blocks (literally). Nevertheless, NODA has some fun restaurants and cute, artsy shops.

Salmon Crepe at Crepe Cellar

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Crêpe Cellar • Charlotte, NC

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Rating: 4.5/5 Points: Cozy brunch spot, fabulous french toast, great french press coffee Cons: None really... I wanted more honey on my biscuit!

Crêpe Cellar is a much welcomed addition to my brunch spots in Charlotte. The ten minute drive from uptown to NODA is well worth it on a Sunday just to sip on some reasonably priced French press coffee. They even give you a fancy coffee timer along side your press (I was impressed). Coming from New York I am a staunch believer that all good French Toast is made with challa bread, or at the very least, is made from thick cut bread and throroughly soaked in egg. Crêpe Cellar did not disappoint in the French toast department. They had two options, I tried the brioche based version. I also got to try their smoked salmon crepe. It was a soft crepe that came with a biscuit along side. Yum! The breakfast crepe is also supposed to be fabulous. All in all, I can't wait to go back and it's even inspired me to check out more places in NODA.

Black Mountain

Apple-Walnut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Before heading over to the Biltmore Estate I stopped in Black Mountain, NC for some German food. Black Mountain is a charming little town nestled in the mountains. It almost felt like Woodstock, NY to me. There were a couple cute shops filled with American crafts and a multitude of yummy looking cafes.

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Berliner Kindl German Restaurant • Black Mountain, NC

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Rating: 3.75/5 Points: Great sausage, German groceries for sale, CAKE, beer! Cons: Spätzle wasn't the typical fare I was used to

Berliner Kindl is a straight up home-grown restaurant. I was really excited to fill my stomach with spätzle because I rarely get to have it. When it came out, it was not at all the typical spätzle I was used to getting in Germany. Instead of being pea-shaped it came out more like short noodles. I decided that it was a regional thing and stuffed myself with it anyway (It turns out it was commercially prepared spätzle). The sausage they served was amazing but the dill speckled potato salad was lacking for me. I liked, but did not love the kraut. At this point I was completely stuffed; at this point the waitress let me know that desserts they had. I couldn't resist the Apple-Walnut Cake which turned out to be more like an apple version of a carrot cake. This was the best decision I made (food-wise) all day. The cake was moist, dense, and simply amazing. I would love to try some of their other desserts.