I just got back from my weeklong road trip to Maine, the land of lobster. I was proud of myself for one reason, and it’s not for my enormous appetite. Growing up in New York City and living there for my entire life, I haven’t had to drive that much, yet I managed to drive roughly 1000 miles and keep my parent’s car intact. While planning my trip, I contemplated flying to Maine and decided against it as I wanted to experience the thrill of a road trip.
My friend and I stopped in Kennebunkport for 2 nights and made a day trip to Portland and Cape Elizabeth. We then made our way to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, which was the highlight of my trip.
I’ll be honest with you. I wanted to visit Acadia, but my intention for visiting Maine was the food. Throughout our journey, we stuffed our faces with seafood, focusing primarily on lobster. I will only post pictures of food with lobster in this blog entry, so be warned, if you don’t like lobster you won’t enjoy these pictures. Refrain from scrolling down!
Lobster roll
Lobster stew
Omelette with home fries and fresh biscuit with strawberry butter – hey, where’s the lobster?
It’s inside the omelette of course!
Full lobster with boiled corn – I managed to crack the lobster by myself and not make a complete mess either!
I am all lobstered out for now.
Last Thursday, I saw one of my friends for dinner in K Town. As the weather was absolutely brutal, we opted for cold food. She ordered us two Korean soups which were so good! (I didn’t understand a word she said to the waiter even though I should be fluent in Korean having had two Korean roommates in college).
The broth of the first soup was blended beans. I was flabbergasted, but in a good way. The other soup was a chilled beef broth with shrimp and slices of beef, which I found to be very comforting. I would never have thought to eat a soup like this cold, but you discover something new and exciting every day right?
Orwasher’s is my favorite bread store in NYC, and I’ve grown up on their freshly baked bread. In recent years, Orwasher’s added more bakery items like cupcakes and a variety of cookies. They even have sugar doughnuts which they fill with jam. I decided to try one last month, and oh my goodness, it was amazing! Definitely the best jelly doughnut I’ve ever eaten.
Yesterday, I chose to get a plain sugar doughnut and fill it myself with raspberry preserves. It didn’t look as pretty but it sure tasted delicious! Orwasher’s – if you don’t go for the bread, go for the doughnuts.
I’ve been making this sandwich a lot lately – toasted whole wheat bread with honey mustard (I just combine dijon mustard with some honey), mashed avocado with a splash of lemon, turkey, sliced tomato, spinach, and a sunny side up egg. The eye of the egg is peering out in this photo, hence the title of this post. I love biting into this crunchy sandwich and hearing the yoke burst. After admiring the runny yoke, I gobble down my sandwich in what seems like record timing.
I know this post is a little belated, but I think the fact that I am posting about Walter’s makes up for my delay. Walter’s is a hot dog stand in Mamaroneck, NY that has been around since 1919 (the centennial is fast approaching!) If you’ve tried their hot dogs, you will understand why they have been around for so long and why there is usually a long line to buy some.
What I love about Walter’s hot dogs is that they halve their hot dogs. Thus, they grill their hot dogs not only on the outside but also on the inside, making these dogs nice and crispy. I also like that the dogs are not that large, but this could also be problematic because I want to eat so many of them!
With my hot dogs, I ordered a side of shoestring fries and a coffee shake (AMAZING). I am a big sweet potato fries fan, but I do not recommend Walter’s sweet potato spuds, which i find too mushy on the inside (this is probably my only criticism for Walter’s).
We sat in the nice garden right by the stand while enjoying our dogs and eagerly anticipating the fireworks.
Here’s a test firework I captured. I didn’t want to take pics during the real show. This year, the fireworks disappointed me, mainly because the smiley face fireworks were all upside down. But it was still a great Fourth.
My family went to celebrate my grandma’s 91st birthday at Harvest on Hudson, a really delicious Italian restaurant with a spectacular view of the Hudson River (the name is such a giveaway!)
We split a few appetizers – crab legs, tuna carpaccio, and asparagus and mushroom risotto. The seafood was so fresh, and the risotto was luscious but not too heavy. For my main course, I ate branzino (a white fish) with sweet corn and pink and yellow watermelon. I was surprised at how well the juicy watermelon went with the delicate fish.
I am going to be quite frank about dessert – it was my least favorite course (shocking, I know), but it was still good. I ordered flourless chocolate cake with nutella ice cream. The cake was a bit too rich for me, but alas, the meal was still superb.
Harvest on Hudson is definitely a place worth visiting if you ever want to dine outside of NYC. It’s peaceful, the food is delightful, and the surroundings are beautiful.
Happy birthday Nana!
This afternoon, I went with my parents and grandma to one of my favorite places in Westchester – Zitoune, a cute Moroccan restaurant which serves up a very mean couscous. I was so tempted to order the couscous, but I saw they had a brunch menu, and as the couscous wasn’t on that menu, I decided to be more adventurous today.
I started off with a green salad with a tasty lemon vinaigrette and toasted almonds which added a nice crunch.
For my main course, I ordered beef kefta (also known as Moroccan meatballs) with two sunny side up eggs and a tomato-based sauce. This was absolutely delicious!
I had to post two photos of this kefta. I just couldn’t resist.
The bread was also so good.
And the free mimosa was quite pleasant.
I’ve wanted to make an apricot tart for some time now. I can finally cross that item off my bucket list. I like my apricots firm with a little give, so that they are nice and tart yet still juicy and have a mild sweetness. I think apricots are the perfect summer fruit – they aren’t too big, so you can eat one, two, three, or four at a time (at least I can) and still not feel weighed down, and they are orange and golden like the sun.
I went to Fairway yesterday and bought a pound of apricots (I would say roughly a dozen small apricots). To make the pastry dough, I followed Ina Garten’s recipe, but I reduced the butter to 9 tablespoons rather than 12. I chilled the dough in the fridge for 1 hour, though I honestly recommend leaving it in the fridge for longer, as both my friend and I struggled to roll the dough out. (That’s what I get for having Type A personality). I have to say though, she did a very good job!
While my dough was chilling, I halved my dozen apricots, and sliced them thin. I put them in a large bowl and combined them with a splash of lemon juice and a couple of tablespoons of sugar (my apricots were not as ripe as I wanted them). I put the sliced apricots in the fridge for 45 minutes or so.
Once my friend rolled out the dough, we transferred it to a baking sheet. I added a thin layer of orange marmalade (apricot would be great here too!) and commenced putting the apricots on, making sure to leave a small border so we could fold the dough onto the apricots.
Rather than using egg wash, I combined some orange marmalade with water and spread it on the rims of my tart, so that the dough would turn golden and taste great of course! My oven is actually ridiculous and tends to burn everything, so I will not tell you how long it took for my tart to cook because honestly that will not help you if you try making it. (I had to transfer my tart to my toaster oven for the dough to finish baking but prevent it from burning around the edges). I think the tart should take as much time as Ina Garten’s apple tart in the link I provided above.
Anyways, I’m pretty happy with how the tart turned out. As two of my friends suggested: best served with some vanilla ice cream.
My friend and I went out this past weekend to the Stanton social for some prime NYC nightlife. This hip and trendy NYC bar had a nice vibe, though it definitely put a dent in my wallet. I ordered some cranberry gin cocktail (yes that’s right, I drink gin from time to time), which was fairly tasty.
We also split a couple of tapas: red snapper tacos with mango and avocado and ahi tuna on crispy wontons. They were really good, but I wanted the portions to be bigger. (I know they were tapas-sized though, so I obviously knew what I was getting into). All in all, I had a great time.
After drinks and apps, my friend and I explored the east village, mainly looking for a place to eat dinner (we’ve got our priorities straight). We found an Italian restaurant (I forgot the name to be quite frank), and I ordered a meat lasagna. It was so delicious and cheesy. After dinner we ran into some other friends who were five blocks away from us. Anything goes in the big apple.
I am a big brunch fan, I truly am. But when I’m home, I like making it myself whether it be pancakes, an omelette, or whatever I’m in the mood for. So when my friends ask me to go to brunch with them in NYC, I am always at a loss. For some reason, it takes me a good while to think of a place to eat, and it still surprises me every time.
But one place that I can count on for brunch is le Moulin à Café – a cute little café in Yorkville. Everything I’ve ordered from there has been good, and I really like their brunch menu! One relief – they only have savory main courses on their menu, so I never need to face my usual brunch dilemma: savory versus sweet. Really, this is such a relief for someone who is so indecisive when it comes to ordering.
I ate a buckwheat crepe with chicken, spinach, and cheese. The buckwheat added great texture and a nutty flavor to the crepe (and it’s healthy too, the trifecta I guess?) For dessert, I opted for a chocolate croissant. The flakey pastry was calling out to me. I just couldn’t resist.
Food Follower 