Archive | May, 2011

Corner Shop Cafe

20 May

At a recent food event at Albert Hall Tavern, we had the good fortune of meeting the couple behindIf You Can Make That You Can Make This.  We decided to get together to try another new restaurant in the West Village, Corner Shop Cafe, on Broadway and Bleecker.

It was well decorated in an appealing and different way.

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I especially enjoyed the tin ceilings.

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First order was a cuban sandwich.

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It was good, but nothing special.

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We ordered the brussels sprouts, which sounded similar to our favorite preparation method, however, these were very dissapointing.  A little too oily, a little undercooked, a little low in flavor.

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There was also an order of grilled salmon nicoise with a poached egg.  I’m not a salmon fan, unless it’s in the form of lox, but I was told this was also just average.

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We also ordered the mac and cheese which was truffled with peas and prosciutto.  We also found this to be just average.

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Overall, I think the word “average” completely sums it up.  Great location.  Great look and feel.  Great idea.  Average execution.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

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“Make Ahead Mamas” Moroccan Stew

18 May

When I left the AllRecipes.com event, I left with a bag of cut veggies, some stock, spices, and all the other ingredients I needed to make a stew.  It was so lovely to throw it all into a slow cooker and 6 hours later, I had a perfect stew with amazing flavor.  DSCF4387

Snip Snap.

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Made the “Make Ahead Mamas” concept come to life and was sooooooo good.

The recipe is very flexible, and you can add or subtract ingredients.  It couldn’t be easier.

You can find the recipe here.

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AllRecipes.com PR Event

16 May

I was invited to a PR event at the Rachel Ray test kitchen for AllRecipes.com to explore their new menu planner functionality.  We also were provided lunch by Deb from the Make Ahead Mamas.

(Anyone who has been reading knows my fondness for AllRecipes.com)

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The Make Ahead Mamas is a group of women in Seattle who all get together about once per month and make meals that can be frozen for ease of dinner preparation for busy moms.  Really fun concept and their execution is as much of a social gathering as it is smart, advanced planning to keep their active families fed.

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They are featured in the AllRecipes.com video series and are making a name for themselves between the 8 “Mamas” and their 18 kids. (18!)

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They prepared Bulgogi (an alltime favorite Korean dish of mine) as well as a Moroccan Stew, which we would soon learn how to make ourselves.

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The bulgogi wasn’t just tasty, it was a healthy version.

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All the recipes were from their collection.

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I made my own yummy lettuce wraps and snacked away while learning about the Meal Builder, which is a REALLY cool function that lets you build and customize a meal plan from the AllRecipes collection.  It gives you a full shopping list and helps with timing of prep.  Genius.

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After we ate and learned, we did a hands on version of the Make Ahead Mamas where we all worked on prepping our own ingredients for stew.  We even took home our own spice blend, which is very Moroccan, very delicious, and joyfully lacking in peppers.

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