ATTN NYC Folks: Blue Ribbon Restaurants= MMMM!!

This post is truly for my friends Kylie & Steve!! They were the ones to introduce me and my boyfriend to Blue Ribbon Bakery in West Village NYC- one of the many Blue Ribbon Restaurants. On one of Greg and I's last days living in NYC, the 4 of us came here for breakfast! The restaurant itself is gorgeous, new but still had a rustic feel to it. The menu is small but if you normally eat well... there will be no problems! I remember choosing an egg and shrimp hash dish... blown away! 


All 4 of us had a great meal :)

Now, can you imagine the excitement I had when I came across a recipe online from the Blue Ribbon Cookbook a few years later!?! Cookbook on Amazon The recipe was for light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes.. mmm! I could not wait to make these and share them on my blog for Kylie!!!!


I saved the recipe for a weekend Greg and I had no morning plans! What I liked most about these pancakes, other than the delicious-ness of them, was the fact that most of the ingredients were already in my cabinets! All I needed was buttermilk, which makes for an inexpensive but complete breakfast :)


These pancakes are very simple to make, much like many homemade pancake recipes. I used my cast iron skillet to be fancy and chef like... and they were GOOD!! So scrumptious Greg and I ate the whole batch lol! Check out the recipe below and the pictures from when we made them! Of course we were silly and had to make 1 the size of the pan.. I always loved doing that when I was little!!

Enjoy your pancakes and check out the cookbook- can only imagine how yummy all the recipes are!! :)

Don't they look great in the Cast Iron Skillet :)

LOVE making one big one!!

Recipe:


Ingredients:
*2 cups all purpose flour
*2 tablespoons sugar
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon baking soda
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*2 1/2 cups buttermilk
*2 large eggs
*2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
*1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, (more for serving-optional)
*Maple Syrup of your choice :)


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and oil. Stir the wet into the dry.
3. In a large skillet or griddle, melt the butter over medium high heat. Work in batches and spoon 1/4 cup of pancake batter in the pan. Cook the pancakes until the edges have begun to brown and air bubbles form on the surface. Flip the pancake and cook until golden. Or until your liking! Serve and spread butter and/or syrup on top!


*Note: can also make banana pancakes, blueberry, or chocolate chip pancakes! Just fold the added item into the batter just before cooking :)!

Veggies at your service!!

One Morning I opened up my email only to find a new deal from LivingSocial that interested me! It was for a company called Farm Fresh To You! This company sends a box of veggies and/or fruit directly from the farm to your door :) Being in this fresh produce kick that I am in, I thought why not give it a try! The box is normally $31.50 and the discount was $15 for that same box. Each zip code has its own delivery day. San Francisco is Wednesday's! I ordered my box and waited for my delivery day. The morning of, I completely spaced and was getting ready for work/rushing out the door when I noticed a big box of veggies on my doorstep. I have Greg quickly throw it in the fridge so nothing goes bad and off to work we go. The whole day I was thinking about what could be in that box and how much of it?! 

Finally I was home and able to open the box!! Here are the items I received: Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, 4 Ears of White Corn, Italian Basil, Summer Squash, Lemon Cucumbers, String Beans, 1 Yellow Onion, Beets, Lettuce... I may be forgetting something, I knew I should have written it down!


I LOVED cooking with all the produce. It was so delicious and unbelievably fresh!! Some of the items, like the corn and string beans, were cooked to Greg and I's liking which was pretty traditional. The heirloom tomatoes paired with the basil made for a great Caprese. I just had to buy some fresh mozzarella! 

With the extra basil I made pesto. Normally I would put it in pasta  but because I made a pasta dish with the squash (see below), I decided to just coat some steak with the pesto and cook that up!! It added some nice flavor to the steak! Now for the beets... Believe it or not but I had never roasted beets before so I was stoked when I got them in the box. It was SO easy!! I seasoned the beets with some olive oil, salt, and pepper and wrapped them in foil. I put them in the oven for about 40 mins, stuck the beets in some cold water to peel off the skin, and voila freshly roasted beets mmm! I bought some walnuts and sheep's milk feta to add to this beautiful salad! OH and that is the lettuce from the box :)!

I made a side dish/salad with the cherry tomatoes and lemon cucumbers. Sidenote: I googled lemon cucumbers since I had never heard of them before. Basically they taste like regular cucumbers but they call them lemon because the shape and color resembles that of a lemon. Anyway, I cut the cucumbers up and halved the cherry tomatoes... added some of the leftover sheep's milk feta cheese... and dressed the salad with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and oregano! SO fresh and a nice twist to a normal salad!


Finally, with the Squash I made a pasta dish- super quick and easy but A-MAZING! Check out the picture and recipe below... 

Recipe: serves 4-6
*1/2 cup butter
*1 clove garlic- minced
*2-3 summer squash cut into large matchsticks
*1 sprig of fresh rosemary leaves- minced
*salt and pepper to taste
*1 pound farfalle or shells
*2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
*Grated parmesan


1) Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water before draining. 


2) In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat until foam subsides, Add summer squash and cook until crisp tender. Add garlic, rosemary, and some salt/pepper. Increase the heat and cook until the flavors come together, but before the squash is too soft.


3) Add drained pasta to the skillet and toss well. Add some of the reserved cooking water to create a glossy sauce over low heat. This is up to your liking on how much to put. Add the parsley and some of the parm for seasoning. Serve and put extra parm on the side for sprinkling. Bon Appetite!!!! :)


Overall this box of veggies has been very fun!!!!! I highly recommend it :)

Tocino Madness

This past May, my boyfriend took me on a trip to Chicago as my birthday present!! I had only been there once before and was very anxious to head back to tour the city & see TNT.. AKA Teddy and Theresa, our friends in Chicago!

TNT :)

Chicago's architecture was breathtaking and we really had the best trip!! Teddy and Theresa took very good care of us... we biked ALL over of Chicago, went to a White Sox game, shopped along Magnificent Mile, and tried all the Chicago food specialties :)

Deep Dish 

Italian Beef

Chicago Dog

I was really pleased with all the food. The Italian Beef was my favorite... the meat was thin similar to that of cheesesteaks and was very juicy! The hot dog had a lot of fixings, (yellow mustard, tomatoes, raw onions, a WHOLE pickle, relish, celery seed, & pickled peppers), which made for a more enjoyable dog :)! I was intrigued the most by Chicago pizza and after trying it I think I still like my thin NY style pizza more. It was so heavy that I could only have one slice, but the variety of toppings were really yummy! 

Even after eating all this food, I left Chicago with a hankering for one item only. It was not a typical dish from Chicago and I also had never heard of it before. This food item was called Tocino. Theresa is Filipino and introduced us to one of the best breakfasts of our lives, Filipino Breakfast!!!! YES it was that good :) This place in Chicago is called Uncle Mike's. http://www.unclemikesplace.com/ They serve both traditional American AND Filipino breakfast. I ordered Tocino, along with Teddy and Theresa, and Greg got the combo which is the sausage and pork. 

Filipino Breakfast Items

My Tocino mmmm!

Uncle Mike's Tocino breakfast includes: cured pork, garlic rice with 2 fried eggs on top, pico de gallo style side dish in vinegar, & rice pudding! The pork paired with the fresh tomatoes in vinegar was surprisingly addicting. I think what I favored most was breaking my eggs over the rice and then having a bite of egg, rice, and pork! MMMMM! The rice was so garlicky and the mixture of every ingredient made my taste buds aching for more! This is a must while in the Chicago area!!!!

Thank you Teddy and Theresa for an amazing time, can't wait to see you soon! And lastly but most importantly, thank you Greg for a truly perfect birthday present :)!!

Trying to fit in with our Chicago shirts <3