Holiday Hens

December 14, 2015December 14, 2015 CarmenLeave a comment

It’s a little late to talk about Thanksgiving, but here’s some inspiration for the rest of the holiday season. My mom and I had the same idea to make Cornish game hens for Thanksgiving. One for each of us, and one more for leftovers. Turns out I could barely finish the half that I put on my plate. We ate the hens along with some sautéed asparagus, and turnips, potatoes, mashed potatoes, and Brussels sprouts that we roasted with the hens.

We went with a dry rub of cayenne, garlic powder, sage and salt on the hens and vegetables (we subbed sage for thyme on one hen), and covered for the first half of the roasting, at 375° to keep the juices in. Then we uncovered it for browning. Before are photos of before the oven, halfway through cooking, and done.

For dessert, my mom(!) made trifle, which is a British dessert made from cake, juicy fruit, and custard. The idea is that the fruit juices and custard seep into the cake making it soft, similar to bread pudding. It all gets layered on top of each other.

Yellow cake is traditionally used, but…chocolate! So I suppose both my mom and I made this…my mom made all the parts, and I combined them.

DSC_4598_1 — Trifle! Better than bread pudding, which I could never get into.

What’s the best thing you’ve had or planned on for the holidays? Leave your dish ideas below!

A Day in the Life: Food52

December 7, 2015December 14, 2015 Carmen2 Comments

You may know that I work at the food website food52.com. It’s a great resource for home chefs: thousands of recipes, daily content on what butter to use, how to season cast iron (I need to do that…future post?), cookie maps! and then our shop with bespoke kitchen tools and home decor. Need a bed and breakfast tray? How about a mushroom log? As the photo producer I’m responsible for making sure all the photos for the site are shot and accounted for. That means I get to run around the set with the stylists and tell them when the mashed potato flatbread is ready to be shot, or if we’re missing ingredients for the vegan fish sauce. Sometimes I even get to be a food stylist, and bake things!

26032db9-db21-4c1c-a342-586f39912823--2015-1119_chocolate-pepper-cookies_linda-xiao-063_1- — Shot by Linda Xiao

Last week we launched our holiday market pop-up right in Union Square. Many hands poured over the space to make it look like it does now. If you’re in the city, stop by and say hello, or shop around for the holidays.

Friday was #nationalcookieday, and we were fortunate enough to have the Union Square Hospitality Group grace us with a visit, and cookies from almost all of their restaurants.

Keep yours eyes out for more fun #f52life tidbits. And if you have any questions, send them my way!

Veganing like Champs

October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 CarmenLeave a comment

Are you vegan? Do you live in Brooklyn? Do you enjoy pancakes or seitan? If you answered yes to any of these, read on!

When summer was still in full swing, my friend Karly took us to this vegan diner in East Williamsburg called Champs. Part of me was mildly skeptical that I would find something that I liked, as my favorite food groups include meat and dairy. The other part of me was excited and somewhat confident that this well known spot in Brooklyn would deliver. It’s famous in the vegan community, and Karly heard all about it from friends around the country on an animal rights tour. Okay, why not? “Let’s do it.”

The interior was quite retro-diner, with space for around 10 pairs to sit at a time, plus the bar. A modestly sized spot, with a 30 minute wait on a Sunday afternoon. Wall decor hailed the almighty “seitan”, a gluten-based meat substitute, which, when properly seasoned, can taste kinda meaty.

After looking over the menu for 15 minutes, deciding between pancakes and breakfast enchiladas, I went with pancakes and committing to a second trip. A cop out of having real vegan food? Maybe, but I would imagine it’s difficult to make pancakes really good without classic buttermilk.

Final settlement: Karly got a chili burger with beans and a vegan seitan patty, and I got Strawberry Shortcake pancakes, without whipped cream because they ran out That would have been interesting to try, and could have made or broke the whole dish. But without the whipped cream, the pancakes were great. I couldn’t tell they were vegan at all, and I didn’t miss the butter. Karly’s burger was also good – not dry, and full of flavor.

A perfectly content Karly.

Vegan or not – I would actually recommend Champs for a fun breakfast, lunch, or dinner – unless you’re feeling like our neighbors were, and are really just jonesing for a classic pulled pork sandwich.

Late-Night Cobbler

September 28, 2015September 28, 2015 CarmenLeave a comment

Sometimes you get home late and need something hot from the oven, but you’re too tired to bake anything requiring eggs and several cups of flour. This would be a great opportunity to make cobbler for one. This blueberry cobbler happened back when blueberries were around (though I saw some at the farmer’s market yesterday…hmm), but you can use any fruit that’s in season when you want it. Frozen fruit also works well.

Late-Night Cobbler for One

1/3 cup fruit (berries, chopped stone fruit or apples, etc)
2 tablespoons brown sugar1/2 tablespoon butter, at room temperature or in small pieces
2 teaspoons flour
1 tablespoon oats
Drizzle of honey (optional)

Place the fruit in a ramekin. In a separate bowl, mix up the brown sugar, butter, flour and oats with your fingers. Drizzle some honey over the fruit if you’d like. If not, top the fruit with the crumble and put in the first third of the oven at 400° until juices are coming out around the edges of the crumble, around 10-15 minutes. Let cool, seriously. It will be very hot! Enjoy and repeat as necessary.

Hanging Round the (Wrong) City

August 27, 2015August 28, 2015 Carmen2 Comments

I spent around 24 hours this weekend in Philadelphia with friends, so naturally we set our priorities to finding the good food. Being new to the city, I was looking forward to discovering the Reading Terminal Market – and discover we did!

Compared to Chelsea Market, this indoor food plaza of beauty is a little harder to maneuver, but much more sensory-stimulating. Bright neon signs, the scents of famous cookies, cold ice cream, Thai, Mediterranean, Chinese, Italian foods and more pack the building with sights and smells that will easily overwhelm you if you suffer from indecision. It probably took us 20-30 minutes to peruse and figure out what we wanted to eat. It was well worth the long stroll, and I now know what will be on my list the next time I’m in Philly (Famous 4th St Cookies? Kamal’s Middle Eastern Specialties? Profi’s Creperie??).

There is all sorts of stuff at the Reading Terminal market. You got your hot meals, your sweet treats, your groceries, and your books, flower essences, and juices. You could get a lot done here during the week (emphasis on “during” and “week”); like a street of Manhattan or Brooklyn, but reasonably priced. Turn your head one way and there are new and old cookbooks; turn your head the other way and there are turkey parts, all waiting to be purchased.

What do you have for lunch in a place with more than thirty options? You go local: what’s the city specialty? In this case, I concluded a classic Philly Cheesecake was as good choice. This was split along with chicken enchiladas and a tamale for maximum tasting efficiency. As you can see, the cheesesteak was much meat and min…anything else. There was definitely provolone in there. I’m sure it was fine for a cheesesteak, and I know next time to get some roasted peppers in there too. The enchiladas and tamale were quite satisfying. And of course after such a well-balanced meal, we went in search of dessert!

If you know me, you know I love….wait for it…doughnuts! So very much.When I heard that the market had a doughnut situation, I had to check it out via Google. Apparently the Beiler’s Doughnuts are pretty well known, especially in Philly. This was my initial first plan of attack when we got to the market, but then we saw the line of 30+ people waiting and said “next time”. However, when it came to picking out dessert, I just had to know for sure that it would take too long. Conveniently standing near me was a gentleman with a box of these doughnuts…

“Excuse me good sir, how long were you waiting in line for those?”
“Oh, not long at all. The line moves quickly”
“Great, thanks so much–” – and I make a beeline for Beiler’s. Luckily the wait does go quickly, particularly when you get to see this in front of you…check it out!

Very large vats of doughnut filling waiting to be poured/scooped into funnels of fun

Exhibit A: filling being scooped from vat into funnel.

Check out that equipment! Doughnut cutting efficiency at its coolest.

Some on deck to the fryer, others to be served. The bottom rack on the right side is full of apple fritters to-be-fried. They were flying out of the display case!

Check out (part of) that production line.

So those apple fritters; they were indeed flying off the trays they were sitting on behind the window, and people were waiting even longer for fresh ones to come out! They probably had two new batches sell out while we waited in line. We thought we’d try our luck and see if we could snag one by the time we made it to the front. As we paid, the newest batch was getting glazed, and our server went to grab one for us !!! What an experience.

The steam was still coming off and it was almost too hot to eat. But, you know, we managed.

Of course, we needed to sample some true/varied doughnuts to get a well-rounded feel for their game. Always get a glazed – that’s where all the magic should happen. You know someone can make a doughnut when their glazed is great. That was the most surprising thing about Beiler’s: this glazed doughnut was the best doughnut I’ve had, ever! Far exceeding anything Krispy Kreme could do for you, even right off the belt. This melted instantly in my mouth, was so fluffy, crispy on the outside, and light on the inside. I was shocked and highly pleased. The other one was maple walnut, and it was pretty good. A lot of frosting going on that was unnecessary, especially with the same on the inside. Good flavors, though. And the last kicker is the price of all of these: 95 cents!!! Suddenly feel like moving out of my own city…sigh to the #3dollardoughnuts.

All in all, great time at the market, and great time in Philly. To round out the trip, we of course got brunch, from the Gold Standard Cafe in West Philly.

gold-standard-cafe-carmen-ladipo — Cinnamon cream cheese French toast? Had to.

Counting down the days till my next trip!

Hello, Brooklyn!!

August 17, 2015August 28, 2015 Carmen4 Comments

Friends: I’ve moved to Brooklyn! That is my somewhat-excuse for my absence: I’ve been packing, unpacking, arranging, adjusting and settling my life for the past two weeks, and things are finally looking adulty. My kitchen is killer, and mostly sold me on the apartment/makes it worth the hour commute to work. I have slowly accumulated groceries from the conveniently placed Fairway and Whole Foods by the office, and yesterday I even drove(!) to the Whole Foods in Park Slope. Apparently there’s a Stop and Shop nearby that I need to find because #budgets. Anyway it’s been great so far and I’m looking forward to cooking and baking all sorts in the kitchen (it has an island!).

Last weekend, I went to the farmer’s market at Grand Army Plaza. There were lots of great produce and stands with baked goods, flowers, meat, and dairy. Here’s my haul by the end of my trip:

PastaSauce_0006 — In my cool bag bought just for this purpose

Not pictured: a surprisingly yummy morning bun, a cup of (chewy?)
coconut yogurt that came without a spoon, a baguette end used to eat
aforementioned yogurt.

I had some fancy basil pasta from work that I wanted to make and thought I could make a fresh tomato sauce for it…without a blender. I’m all for that rustic feel/taste, so if you ask me, it worked out fine. I will admit, however, that I need some work on pasta sauce. Even if I’d used a blender, I’m not sure how this would have turned out. Here’s what I did anyway! Please educate me into a better pasta sauce in the comments below 😀

I pretty much chopped up one large beefsteak tomato, some leaves of basil, and garlic from the market, added salt and honey, and simmered it on the stove until the water was cooked out. Since it was only for me, I didn’t need much at all. Then I threw it on top of my pasta, added some brie, and ate it. Not necessarily the prettiest, but fresh and great.

Check back soon for shenanigans of Brooklyn 😀 ~

Oat and Date Cookies

July 26, 2015July 26, 2015 Carmen2 Comments

I saw a post on Buzzfeed that read something along the lines of “20 treats to make with all your leftover dates from Ramadan” and that inspired me to share my beloved oat and date cookie recipe. It’s super easy and gives you chewy sweetness in one bite.

Oat and Date Cookies
Makes about 25 small cookies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cut up
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped mejdool dates

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs, and sticks together when molded into hands. Add the egg, beating until just blended. Mix in the sugar, oats, and dates. Drop tablespoons of the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets. This dough should be very firm.

Bake until lightly browned, 12-15 minutes, at 350 degrees. Cool on the sheets until the cookies firm slightly. Enjoy slightly warm or at room temperature!

Galettes are Goood

July 15, 2015 CarmenLeave a comment

Don’t be daunted by the beautiful galette – oh, you’re not? Great news. They’re quite easy (easier than pie, in fact) and fun to put together. I’ve been wanting to try one for a while now, and I finally got to with my mom when I went home last weekend. No recipe here, just procedure. You most likely have a preferred pie crust recipe in your arsenal. If not, you could easily find one.

The filling comes first. You can make sweet galettes OR savory. This is me, though, so I went with my preferred stone fruit: nectarines. So juicy and sweet. I cut three medium nectarines and placed the slices in a bowl. Sprinkled some sugar and flour. Here’s where you can add spices or herbs of your choice, but I kept it simple.

My mom made this crust. No white flour? No problem. Whole wheat is hearty and now your galette is even more healthy than it was before, which is fairly healthy if you do it right (in my opinion of course)…

Now comes the fun part. Lay out the dough onto a baking sheet. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle, but the rounder the better. Dump your filling in the center, and adjust according to your preference of galette thickness and width. I eyeballed the nectarines and it worked out pretty well. Reasonable height (an inch?) with just enough crust left for folding in. Don’t get too bogged down by how it looks while folding. Some galettes are fully covered, and others are barely covered at all. The pastry won’t be moving much in the oven, so don’t go crazy with coverage of you don’t want to.

Throw in the oven at 425° for 35-40 minutes. If the crust is soggy at first, it will solidify up after it has cooled.

Baking without a solid recipe or strict plan is exhilarating. We should all try it more often. Happy improving!

A Day in the Life: Ramadan

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 CarmenLeave a comment

We’re over halfway through, but Ramadan Kareem! For Muslims around the world, Ramadan is the holy month in the Islamic calendar of fasting and religious reflection and focus. You may not think it at first, but generally speaking, it’s something that is looked forward to every year. You fast from sun-up to sun-down for 30 days. Back in the day, before everyone moved, it was fun for me to see friends on the weekend at the mosque to break our fast together and catch up. Now that I’m constantly around good food and fewer fellow fasters (alliteration originally an accident), things are a little different. I’ve never really written about it in depth, and I thought it would be cool to take you through an average day of Carmen, fasting at Food52 – as I sit on the train home at 9:30pm. The following is somewhat of a combo of days to show different details of my last week or so. Welcome welcome…

3:07am
Did my alarm go off…? I’m certain that I turned it on for 3. Was I so out of it that I turned it off without remembering? Good thing my body figured it out (I totally missed it once). Ok, time to eat!

3:15am
Putting together suhur/sehri/sari, (depending on your language of choice) or the meal before the fast starts. Several cups of water? Check. Fiber, protein? Check! You want to be able to make it through the day, no simple carbs to get used up before the morning ends. I needed some vegetables in my life, so I made a fun salad.

Spinach, carrots, hard-boiled eggs, cheddar, sunflower seeds, blueberries, sautéed zucchini. Hahaha that’s weird right? It worked out. When I’m eating that early in the morning, I just tend to eat whatever I put in front of myself/whatever I think is a good idea at the time. Other go-tos include oatmeal and omelets.

4:00am
Back to bed. If you’re wondering why I’m eating so soon before sunrise it’s because the time we go by is kinda like the last moment before the sun starts its ascension to the horizon. So it’s well dark when I’m done.

5:30am
Get woken up by full bladder, run to bathroom.

6:30am
Wake up again for work. This part is interesting because my body gets confused as to why there’s food in the belly so early. Must use train nap as incentive to leave bed.

9:00am
Get to work. Do not pass go, do not collect $2.00 coffee or pastry.

Noon
Doing okay, keeping busy with work, sneakily packing away free-for-all food in ziplocs or tupperwares 😉 our test kitchen manager might ask if I want to pack something away before he brings it to the team kitchen.

3:00pm
Power through the slump of the day and the last few hours of work, fantasize about dinner choices, consider removing fasting-breath by brushing teeth but don’t.

7:00pm
Leave work (#startuplife), stop at Chipotle/halal food cart in anticipation for breaking my fast on the train (the time I went for Chipotle was satisfactory, but the lamb gyro tonight was somehow the best one I’d ever had ever).

8:30pm
Wade through backpack for the dates I packed in the morning to break my fast with (traditional), and the edible goods packed/collected throughout the day. Time to eat!

Goodies for home: bbq chicken, lone blueberry scone, squished galette slices, chocolate truffles. These all sound great when you’re fasting, but as soon as you begin to eat, you start reconsidering the options (example: it’s been 48 hours and I’ve yet to try the truffles).

This day was rosemary shortbread, shortcake + berries, a jar of goat cheese caramel, and mini brownie bites.

10:00-11:00pm
Go to bed and do it all again!

After the first week I’d say Ramadan goes by pretty quickly. Before you know it, you’re on the last week and making all efforts to “cash in”, as it were, on all the extra blessings of the month before it’s gone for a year. Every (Gregorian calendar) year, Ramadan moves up a few days, with the rest of the Islamic calendar, which is lunar. This also means we’re never 100% sure of the day Ramadan starts or ends until a night or two beforehand. For me, Ramadan is not only an opportunity to reflect spiritually, but also to evaluate physically what is going into my body on a daily basis, when it’s getting there, and how. At least for a few days after Ramadan, I am far more conscious of my eating habits and I become a more mindful eater, and, hopefully, person in general.

If you’re wondering if people lose weight during Ramadan, the answer is…mostly not. If you’re not paying attention, you could easily overeat and gain weight, especially in the evening when it’s time to break the fast and you want to eat everything in sight (see-food diet). Ever heard that it’s more healthy to eat six small meals a day rather than three big meals? This concept applies here: if you’re only eating twice a day, your body will hold on to anything it can to help conserve energy, so the metabolism slows down. This also makes it harder to lose weight. But with some attention and diligence, you can continue healthy eating habits during Ramadan.

This year has been a first in many ways, from working, to being in the hot city and more, but it’s been very exciting and eye-opening. Hope you learned a little something about Ramadan/me/both; and feel free to leave a comment about your own fasting/abstaining experience or with a burning question. Until next time!

Almost Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 Carmen2 Comments

Sometimes you just gotta have ice cream in between two cookies. But you don’t want to bake cookies, and you sure as heck don’t want to make ice cream. Do you have ice cream at home? Cookies? Good to go. This is for when your random cravings kick in and you’re pretending to be crafty.

So you gotta figure out what you want in your sandwiches. Maybe you don’t even want ice cream. Aren’t frozen bananas a thing? Bananas and Nutella are definitely a thing. We had some lemon wafers in the house, and cookie dough gelato. Let’s go!

Messy but exciting! You may want to pop these in the freezer for a few minutes before you consume. These guys are mini, but if you’re not into bite-size, you should definitely go for bigger cookies (I probably would have used bigger cookies but we didn’t have any).

Nutella, peanut butter, speculoos, add what you want.

Packed up and ready to gooo

Here’s a “recipe” for some Almost Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Cookies of your choice
Ice Cream of your choice
Other Filling (bananas, nutella, peanut butter etc).

Place your ice cream on one cookie, make sure it’s nice and frozen so it holds well. Add a good amount and mold circularly to match the cookie’s edge. If you want to add anything else, put it on top of the ice cream. Find a second cookie to smush down onto it and put in a freezer safe container. Do this with as many cookies as you want, and freeze for at least 20 minutes. Take out and enjoy!

The Rubber Scraper Movement

Eating and baking my way into the food media world, one crumbless bowl at a time

Author: Carmen