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Bonus post: Corn Salad + Sesame Blue Fin Tuna

12 Oct

In my quest to post every day this week to make up for my major slacking this past month, I even have a bonus post for you!

Mainly it’s bonus because Mike made it and I don’t have recipes, so you just get to “oo” and “ahh” at the pictures.

What I can tell you is that the corn salad was made a few times after this and was based on a recipe on the cover of a magazine.

The fish was blue fin with a sesame crust.

I wish I knew the recipes to share them… but for now, they live with Mike.

And they were goooooooood

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Project Food Blog #3: “Luxury Dinner Party”

1 Oct

I made it to Round 3! I made it to Round 3!

What a week!  It was amazing to be on TV (but I didn’t plug my blog… DAMN!) and honestly, I am beyond exhausted from a weekend of perfecting the recipe and then getting up early to serve it all on live TV.  It was SUCH an honor to serve my dessert to Gail Simmons (who is even nicerand down to earth than she appears!) and Johnny Iuzzini (who was as douchey as he looked, but still relatively nice) and, of course, Wendy (but HOW COULD SHE CALL MY BROWNIES DRY?!?!)  It was such a blast, though.  I’m not overly upset I didn’t win.  It was just fun to have the opportunity.

But I DID advance to Round 3.  And with Round 3 comes another challenge: Throw  a luxury dinner party.  Now in my mind, any time I can get together with my family and cook for them, that’s a luxury.  And when it happens to be for my and my dad’s birthdays (we were born on the same date), it’s a SUPER LUXURY.  So what to write about this time was a no-brainer.  My sister has also moved back home from North Carolina, so it’s still quite the luxury that she can come over for dinner these days.  And, of course, I was honored to cook some of my Grandma’s classics.

Here is the menu from our Daddy/Daughter Luxury Bday Dinner (template courtesy of Project Food Blog and our super cool sponsor, Buick Lacrosse.  I always like when sponsors can make cool things happen.  Maybe that’s the ad girl in me.):

We started our dinner with the corn fritters that we enjoyed a few weeks ago.  Since I already blogged at length about those, here is just a shot of the prep with the beautiful colors.

I asked my dad what he wanted to eat for bday dinner and he said SCHNITZEL.  Grandma used to make Wienerschnitzel often and it was always a family favorite.  It was one of the last dinners I recall her making for us (around Chrismukah last year).  And it was GOOD.  So Schnitzel it was.  I decided to make both veal and turkey (since my picky sister won’t eat veal). 

We decided to fry them in a pan with butter (SO not diet friendly… but the only way to make it just right) and then finished cooking it in the oven so it stayed moist yet was perfectly browned.

We saw the idea for making a crispy cauliflower in Tasting Table and decided it would be the perfect way to finish the meal.

I wanted to make a sauce to go with the schnitzel and had fresh lemon leftover from the cauliflower. So I combined lemon with mayo and it made for a delicious citrus cut to the fried veal (and turkey).

It was a GREAT meal and everyone really enjoyed it. 

We took a break between dinner and dessert for PRESENTS!

We asked dad what he wanted and he told us he needed a kayak skirt for his new kayak (the skirt goes around your waist in the kayak and keeps water out).  We didn’t want to pick one out for him, so we gave it to him in a more creative way:

And then I got a present that I was so excited about that I even hugged it for the picture:


(this would be the aforementioned slow cooker I used in my last PFB post)

I had been plotting dessert for a few weeks and knew I HAD to try to make my Grandmother’s meringue torte.  In my mind, this is one of those things that sticks out as quintessentially Grandma.  A few years ago, she kept trying to make this cake again and it just never worked.  She couldn’t figure out why, so I went into this fully expecting it to fail.  Her problem with it was that it would somehow separate and all the sugar would stick to the bottom, so she’d have to make a trifle with meringue pieces.  But I had to conquer this meringue… in her honor.

She used to stuff it with slightly cooked fruit, but I NYC Nom Nomified it a little and added balsamic to strawberries.  Nom Nom Nom.

One of the first things Grandma taught me in the kitchen was how to perfectly peak egg whites to make meringue.  I remember she had to pull a stool up to the counter so I could press the button on the Kitchenaid to turn it on and watch her make it.  (In the next few days, I will be posting my first ever VIDEO BLOG that shows how to make this recipe… STAY TUNED!)

You have to pour it into a spring form, cook it on low heat for an hour and a half, then turn off the oven and crack the door and leave it over night.  When I went to get it the next morning, I was nervous… but it turned out pretty much PERFECT.  And, as it turns out, a hollow forms underneath so I could flip it over and had a perfect place to lay out the fruit.

Which is then topped with homemade schlag (whipped cream).

And then decorated with sliced strawberries.

The strawberries were so beautiful and fresh.

I was so excited when it worked out.  And it tasted JUST as good as I remembered it.  It was quite the luxury to have her with us, in spirit.  And she always loved dinner parties and celebrating our birthdays.

I know I made Grandma proud.

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RECIPES
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Wienerschnitzel (AKA Schnitzel)

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds turkey or veal
  • 1 cup flour
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 4 cups bread crumbs (this might be excessive… add as needed)
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Butter
  • Olive Oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
  2. Place turkey or veal between 2 layers of saran wrap and pound until 1/4 inch thin or less (wine bottles work surprising well for the pounding part when you don’t have a meat hammer)
  3. Season with salt and pepper
  4. Place flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate, shallow bowls
  5. Dredge turkey/veal in flour
  6. Dip into eggs
  7. Coat with breadcrumbs
  8. Heat large pan and add butter
  9. Place coated turkey/veal in pan (it should sizzle) and cook until just browned (DO NOT OVERCOOK!)
  10. Place all turkey/veal cutlets onto a sprayed baking sheet (or lined with a Silpat)
  11. Bake for 6-8 minutes until cooked through

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For the cauliflower recipe, click here.

For the corn fritter recipe, click here.

And for the meringue recipe… you will just have to wait until the video blog comes up.  🙂

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Project Food Blog #2: “The Classics”

26 Sep

It has been a big week for NYC Nom Nom.  First, I found out that my recipe was selected to appear (with me, of course) on the Wendy Williams Show LIVE this Tuesday!  I will be up against 2 other audience members in a dessert competition that will be judged by Gail Simons and Johnny Iuzzini for a Top Chef: Just Desserts segment.  I am making a Double Trouble Peanut Butter Cup that was inspired by a concoction I made for Mike’s birthday last year.  I just did a test round and it turned out really well!  I will be sure to blog about it after the show, however, don’t forget to tune in at 10am LIVE in the New York area on Fox 5.  If you are not in New York or want to catch it later that day, you can find the rest of the Wendy Williams TV schedule here.

Second, I filmed my first video blog for Nom Nom.  Stay tuned for a vlog about making a Chocolate Meringue.

Lastly, I was THRILLED to find out that I have advanced to Round 2 of Project Food Blog.  Thank you everyone for voting!  This week’s theme is “The Classics.”  The challenge is to take a classic that is out of your comfort zone and cook it as close as possible to the original.  For my Classic, I chose to go with Banh Mi.  First, Vietnamese food is VERY out of my comfort zone.  While I make a lot of classic American, Jewish, and Italian cuisine, Vietnamese is in a totally different ball game.  On top of that, I was using a slow cooker for the first time.  I received one for my birthday a few weeks ago and this seemed like a great opportunity to try it for the first time.

So why Banh Mi?  Well… we have been watching The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and I was THRILLED to see that there  was a truck called The Nom Nom Truck competing.  We also were lucky enough to go to the LA Times Food Festival when we were out in LA 2 weeks ago (blog to come) and sampled the delicious food from The Nom Nom Truck.

The closest I have come to cooking Vietnamese is ordering in on Seamless Web.  I’ve had my share of Pho delivery and have dined at a few Vietnamese places in NYC, however, most of the ingredients and cooking methods are out of my comfort zone.  I’m also not a huge sandwich fan, nor have I ever made a point of making a fancy one.

Last night before bed, we prepped the pork for the slow cooker.  The first step was just melting sugar.  Now I’ve only melted sugar with butter or water in the past, so I was nervous that it would burn, but it melted into liquid and caramelized quite easily.

Once it all turns to liquid, you pour in chicken stock and fish sauce.  Now the recipe warned that the ”caramel will harden and steam vigorously.” What I didn’t expect was splattered liquid all over the stove that quenched the gas flame and hardened the caramel to a complete solid.  I spent the next few minutes quite nervous that one of my favorite pots was ruined and I’d have to start all over, however, the caramel did in fact melt and all was well (after a bit of clean up). 

Next, I added the shallots, garlic, and white(ish) parts of the scallions.

The smell was fantastic while it boiled for 4 minutes.

Mike was nice enough to chop up the pork while I prepped.

All that was left to do that night was throw it all in the slow cooker, set it to low, and leave it for 8 hours.  Couldn’t be easier!

I was quite nervous when I woke up the next morning.  I have never used a slow cooker and didn’t know what to expect.  Luckily, it looked (and SMELLED!) fantastic.

The morning prep involved a quick pickling of carrots and daikon.  I have eaten daikon a few times in my life, but I didn’t realize that, when raw, it looks like a giant white carrot.  I’ve never really cooked with daikon before, though it’s very popular in Vietnamese cuisine.  Turns out, it tastes a bit like a bitter raddish when raw.

I’m not the best with a knife, so we peeled both with a peeler and used the shavings for the veggies.

The next step was to soak it in vinegar, sugar, and water for 30 minutes (or up to overnight).

We got parbaked bread from Fresh Direct and heated it up as the last prep step.

Next up was assembly.  I spread it with mayo and the pickled veggies.

Then cilantro.

Then the meat and some more veggies and cilantro on top.

So how was it?  Well… even my pork-protesting sister enjoyed it if that says anything.  I thought it was delicious, but it wouldn’t be able to compete with the Nom Nom Truck’s sandwich. 

It was a lot of fun, however, to do something so out of my comfort zone and try new techniques.  I can’t wait to try some more challenges!  Keep ‘em coming Project Food Blog!

Happy Nomming!

(And don’t forget to watch The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday!!!!)

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