Weekend Adventure- Momofuko

Brian and I love to watch Anthony Bourdain shows on the travel channel. We don't agree on the TV too often besides Modern Family! So we have a Monday night date with the Layover or No Reservations. Sadly, No Reservations is no longer on! But the Layover is keeping us alive!

While watching we are always wishing we could jump into the TV and eat what he is eating, and travel to where he is! When we plan our own vacations we always map it out according to food and spots he has been. Brian is very blessed, he gets to travel a ton for his job. So he is like my own personal Bourdain! We just finished watching the Layover in Tai Pei and got a craving for some good noodles. This let to my first experience at Momofoku in NYC. I have heard about it a lot, so I was super excited to go!

I got the pork buns and they were delicious. I don't know how they get the bun part to be so pillowy! I mean that really is the only way I can describe it! I feel like I could have eaten a dozen! Then I got the Momofuko noodles. It was a hug bowl filled with noodles, amazing broth, pork belly, and a fried egg on top. It was a unique experience to me and I loved it!

Momofuko Noodle Bar
171 1st Ave  New York, NY 10003

(212) 777-7773

Baking Blizzard!

So it seems we are going to be snowed in for the next two days! So whats the most logical thing to do with my time? Eat, Cook, Bake! And I am sure I will pray somewhere in-between there, especially for my baking!

I am a big fan of Nutella and it seems it is gaining popularity! So I tried these self frosting Nutella cupcakes that I found on pinterest. I have to say that these kind of come out on the dry side. So I am thinking of making a Nutella buttercream to frost them with in addition to what is already in the cupcake. Besides that they came out pretty good! If I can bake these, anyone can!

Self-frosting Nutella Cupcakes
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup canola or mild vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/2 cup(ish) Nutella
Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; add half to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until combined. Add the milk and beat just until combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and beat just until combined.

Divide the batter between 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Spoon the Nutella into a small microwave-safe dish and microwave it for 10-20 seconds, until softened but not liquefied.
Drop a spoonful of Nutella on top of each, and swirl through the batter with the tip of a bamboo skewer, knife or other pointy object. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Tilt them in the pan to help them cool.

Makes a dozen cupcakes.

I also have always been a HUGE fan of banana bread. My Aunt Carlene actually makes the best banana bread ever. Her son was in my kindergarten class and I was always so happy when it was his turn to bring in snack, because I knew it meant banana bread!

I saw one ripened banana sitting in my fruit bowl, yesssss! But alas, all the recipes called for 3-4 bananas. FAIL! But.....I found a recipe online that used one banana, score! So I tried it! Not as good as typical banana bread but still has a good banana flavor. Good recipe to try in a pinch!

One Banana Banana Bread
1 Large Very Ripe Banana (or two small ones)
1 Egg with enough milk to make One Cup liquid
1 Stick butter/margarine (softened) ( 1 stick = 1/2 cup )
1 tsp Vanilla
1-1/2 Cup Flour
1 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
Nuts (optional)

Put all ingredients in a large bowl together (don’t need to sift or
mix anything beforehand). Use mixer on slow to medium to mix until
lumps are pretty well gone (not too long or bread will be too firm).
Pam-Spray® bread pans (do not flour).
Fill pans 2/3 full
Bake 55 Minutes @ 350 Degree until Golden Brown. Toothpick test for
doneness. This bread comes out q

Olive You All

So tonight I really wanted to try to make a roasted chicken with olives. I had seen a recipe during one of my all night recipe searches. Which seem to happen basically every other night! But it seems that I couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. Some recipes I found just seemed to lack some ingredients or steps I thought should be there. Plus, I had seen a one-pan meal that involved potatoes, chicken and asparagus. On weeknights those are perfect! So I decided to combine these worlds and this is what I came up with!

Just an FYI a lot of recipes tell you to cut up a whole chicken. I pumped the breaks on that, not on a weeknight! I just bought a package of breasts, thighs and wings. If you can marinate the chicken overnight, if not just try to marinate it before you put the potatoes in:

½ cup of Olive Oil

1/3 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tsp of Dijon

1 package of cut up chicken

1 1/2lbs Fingerling or new potatoes halved

3 Tsp of butter cut up

Salt

Pepper

1lb of Asparagus trimmed (white parts off) and cut into about 2 inch pieces

2 lemons cut into wedges

Sprigs of thyme

5 cloves of garlic

 A little over a ½ lb of Mixed Olives.

(I like to visit the olive bar at the grocery store and grab green olives, along with kalamata olives.)

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place potatoes and half the butter in a roasting pan; season with salt and pepper. Roast, tossing once, until potatoes are golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

2.     Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put it in a pyrex so you can pour the mixture below on it.

3.     In a small bowl, combine the vinaigrette (oil, balsamic, and Dijon mustard) with the lemon zest, olives, garlic, thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Pour the mixture over the chicken and turn to coat. Also pour over olives. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or overnight.

4.     After the potatoes have roasted for 20 minutes then you can put the chicken, skin side up, on top of potatoes; pour the remaining mixture over it. Roast until chicken begins to brown, about 20 minutes.

5.     Lower heat to 375 degrees. Scatter asparagus, lemon, and thyme around chicken. Roast until asparagus is tender and chicken is opaque throughout, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve chicken, vegetables, and lemon drizzled with pan juice

Touchdown with Cannoli Dip!

So this year I added a new team member to my superbowl food roster. Cheesy bread has always been my MVP of superbowl but my new player turned into quite the contender this year. You can find this recipe in the earlier days of this blog. Okay, thats enough football talk!

The cannoli dip was favorite of people who even do not like traditional cannoli's (which is insane in the first place!). I even brought it to work the next day and even had the principal eating out the palm of my hand....Or ummmm the tupperware I brought it in. There are many different versions of the recipe on line so this is my requested version. Just a quick note, I know cinnamon isn't typically a part of a cannoli recipe but don't get all crazy on me. I felt like it needed a lil somethin more and this gave it just the right touch!

1.5lbs of Ricotta ( I used whole milk ricotta)
I cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest
A pinch of cinnamon
Whole Milk
Chocolate Chips
Box or two of sugar cones
(some recipes say waffle cones you choose!)

1. Mix together the ricotta, powdered sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and lemon zest. Note: You can adjust the measurements to your liking. This is just what I start with. If you want more of a vanilla kick add more vanilla, if you want it sweeter add more sugar!

2. Depending on your desired consistency slowly add splashes of milk. I don't like it too watery, so I just add like two splashes of milk which equals to about a 1/4 of a cup.