As the title of this post suggests, I was quite happy with my recent inaugural trip to La Note with my wonderful friend Miraya, who has accompanied me on many of my adventures, culinary and otherwise, including the one that inspired this blog. Knowing how popular this place is and being an avid Yelp consultee, I was prepared for a long wait to get into this place, especially in the mid-morning on a Sunday. After putting our name on the list we got in relatively fast (30 minutes or so), but waiting even longer for the food to arrive was not something I had anticipated. By the time we got our food, it had been about an hour, which to my hungry stomach seemed like forever, and I was getting a little delirious.
Note my self-restraint as I pose for a picture whilst deliriously hungry.
Photo Credit: Miraya Berke.
In spite of this lengthy delay, the food was absolutely delectable. I ordered deux Lemon Gingerbread Pancakes which came with refreshingly-moist poached pears and blueberries. And to satisfy my hypoglycemic need for savory flavors (and because I saw it came in a cute little egg holder and precious little spoon), I ordered a soft boiled egg as a side, which was garnished with what tasted like oregano. For me, no Sunday brunch would be complete without a glass of orange juice, so I couldn't resist getting that as well.
PANQUEQUES.
(Pancakes are more fun to say in Spanish)
Note the beautiful poached pear.
HUEVOS.
(Because I've already started speaking Spanish)
Note the cute little doily and tiny spoon. I felt dainty.
All of this was quite delicious. I started on the egg first, which was a delight to eat and I felt super adorable eating with my tiny spoon. The pancakes had a good amount of gingerbread spice to them, though––being a lover of sour tastes––I could have done with a little more lemon flavor. (Come to think of it, by the time I was finishing my second pancake, my palate was on sweet overload and I found myself wishing I had saved some of the egg just to balance the flavors out a bit). Their butter was somehow noticeably yummy too. The poached pears, however, were my favorite part of the meal. I literally could have an entire bowl of them just by themselves. Overall, it was just nice to be out having a tasty meal and shooting the breeze with a good friend.
Close-up of my take on Zucchini Boats, made with garlic, grape tomatoes, mozzarella, parmesan and basil (for garnish).
So, things you've missed since I last posted: I'm cooking a lot more, and enjoying cooking a lot more; I'm on a weird veggie kick, since I'm trying to minimize meat in my diet; and I got a Pinterest, which has given me a lot of creative recipe ideas. Put these trends together and what do you get? ZUCCHINI BOATS!
Here's the original recipe from Proud Italian Cook and above is a pretty picture from that page. I excluded bread crumbs, because I was lacking, but they probably would have added a nice little crunch to the texture. Also, make sure to make deep grooves in the zucchini beforehand, or else the tomatoes will sit on top, like mine did. Besides these little things, this was such an easy dish to make and the copious amount of garlic I used made the entire apartment continue to smell yummy for days afterwards. The grape tomatoes were packed with flavor and tasted so good after being roasted. And the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses lent the whole thing a bit of richness and texture, and provided the much needed unhealthy segment of the dish.
That same night Ben also made mashed sweet potatoes. I've been obsessing over sweet potatoes lately. Not only are they immensely delicious, but their high concentrations in several nutrients (dietary fiber, maganese, potassium, and Vitamins A, B6 and C) prompts some to call this a superfood. Anyways, Ben is a master at making this and it's so simple: boil the potatoes until soft, mash' em up, then mix in butter, milk, tiny bit of brown sugar, salt/pepper. ("And a lot of love," Ben is telling me, half–tongue-in-cheek, as usual). Anyways, it makes for a delicious, simple and filling dish –– highly recommended!
Lovely Sweet Potatoes, boiling away.
To end this post, I want to share a video that takes a bit of explanation. My latest obsession with sweet potatoes just happened to coincide with my recent discovery of this hilarious youtube comedian/absurdist/dj/German-immigrant/early-morning-investigator-of-American-idioms/ridiculous-guy, Flula Borg. (Here's my fangirl blog post about Flula on Briana + Her Fascinations). It just so happens that Flula helped bring my two obsessions together: I give you Flula's "Sweet Potato Casserole". Warning: this song is very catchy and may involuntary enter your brain at inopportune times.
Hello world! I am bringing Alimentary My Dear out of the dusty recesses of the blogosphere and into the light of readership once more. Now, I know it's been a while since I've posted and that I've neglected my bloggerly duties. Forgive me, dear readers, things have been busy as always, but that's no excuse. Look out for a couple of new posts soon. (Just some reasons to come back: I've got an ice-cream maker and a pizza making kit for Christmas. Also, I'm trying to cook at home more and eat less meat, so expect more 'In the Kitchen' posts and more veggies).
In the meantime, to make things up to you, I want to supply you with a good amount of food porn. The following are some of the foodie photos I've taken in the past few months. Many I took with the intention of writing a post, but I never got around to it. In the future, I will try to write shorter posts and include more photos so I don't fall behind again. (If you're for some reason dying to read my writing, I actually started another blog, dedicated to all the things that fascinate me, called, unsurprisingly: Briana + Her Fascinations. I just wrote a post on Food Waste and Composting too! Talk about good timing.)
Now, without further ado, the backlogged photos (betcha can't guess which I took with my phone and which I took with my DSLR :P):
In the Kitchen: Homemade crockpot chili, made with Ben.
This tasted way better than it looks, sorry guys.
A ridiculous amount of Thanksgiving Pies.
(over 10 at least, not all pictured.).
Three beers and my wimpy cider with friends at my favorite pub, Jupiter.
The most amazing cheesy bread with roasted garlic ever, from Jupiter.
In the Kitchen: A wee little salad I made one day with arugula and asian pears.
In the Kitchen: Shrimp Stir-fry, with red peppers, garlic and basil.
Added this some thai noodles. The ratio was off, but still a decent meal.
Garlic/Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries and Asparagus
Ok, I have to say something about our Christmas feast photos below. I'm seriously so lucky, I get the best homecooked Persian food on the planet for Christmas every year. My grandma is the most amazing entertainer/cook I've ever met. She makes everything look so beautiful and it all tastes so good!
Most beautiful and delicious appetizers ever.
I always regret filling up on these before the meal has started.
I wanna say this is Baghali Polo, but I think it's something else entirely.
(I'm sorry, I don't speak farsi and I forget food names easily)
Rice with saffron and candied orange peels.
Fesenjoon.
I still love it, even though I'm not an eggplant fan.
Apologies for the blurriness, but here's dessert.
My grandma's specialty assorted fruits beautifully arranged on pound cake.
And that's all I got in terms of photos. Here are some of my more memorable eating experiences in the last few months that I haven't photographed. I'll have to revisit some of these:
