How Asian, Dumplings For Dinner!

I went home this weekend and pretty much gorged on Korean food... (No, seriously gorged... my dad had to tell me to "stop eating!") Clearly I was in an Asian food mood! So, instead of going to the regular grocery store I went to M2M, an Asian market in the East Village (on 3rd Ave and 11th St - map). I bought some rice, dumplings, dried seaweed, pickled radishes, etc.

My mom always has some dumplings on hand in her freezer. They are super fast and easy, which makes for a quick and easy dinner -- just my style! All you need to do is defrost them, which really only takes a few minutes. You can leave a few out while you wait for your water to boil, and/or chop up some veg to put on the side. By the time your water is ready, the dumplings should be good to start cooking. Drop in the dumplings, boil them 1-2 minutes and ta-da! Practically an instant dinner!

I sautéed up some onions, sweet peppers and squash, topped it with my boiled dumplings, and drizzled some soy sauce on them to finish it all off (the soy sauce also helps the dumplings from sticking together).

RIP, Wall Street

Well I suppose first things, first, RIP Steve Jobs. You will be missed.

RIP Steve Jobs. 

In other news, there seems to be no end to this Occupy Wall Street protest. I had to walk about 6 blocks around and out of my way to get to my apartment. I get it, you're protesting. But some people are just standing around and taking pictures, blocking my way. Some of us are just trying to get home... I want to go home people! I have some bacon to fry! Sigh. At least I got past some barricades without having to pull out my electric bill as proof of identity.

So despite leaving work at a relatively decent hour, dinner still wasn't until 9pm. Thank god I made that zucchini and goat cheese spread yesterday! Tonight's dinner would NOT have gone well otherwise. Sliced and toasted a half-baguette, slathered it with my spread, added some cucumber and tomato, and topped it off with some delicious bacon.

It was so tasty, I almost forgot about the protest outside... except I can still hear helicopters circling the Financial District.

To distract myself, here are some more tasty pictures of a plum cobbler I made the other day:

[Update]: I just found this video posted online. I missed this by about 15 minutes. Yikes!

Cheese Is the New Black

I have this new obsession with cheese... in particular, grilled cheese and mac and cheese... making Monday night just about perfect. I met up with the girls at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, where we each got a sampler of 3 different mac and cheeses (balsamic, curried cauliflower curry, and the "World's Best"), accompanied by a minimum of 4 glasses of wine, all for $35 (thanks for the awesome deal UrbanDaddy)!

2-of-3 Mac and Cheese Samplers. From left to right: Balsamic mac and cheese, curried cauliflower mac and cheese)

While the original Beecher's originates in Seattle's famous Pike Place Market, a store/cafe and cellar just opened up in NYC in the Flatiron District. When you walk through the doors, you find yourself in the middle of a a mini-market where you can do a little bit of shopping, or grab an espresso and a quick bite in the cafe. However, "The Cellar" located in the basement, holds a different vibe. Cute and rustic, with its exposed brick walls, they offer delicious wines (I had the house red and it was pretty friggin' tasty if you ask me...) as well as a selection of side salads, decadent mac and cheeses. They also offer real food, but that is for another post (also, I didn't get any entrees this time around)!

I would definitely recommend this place if you are having a mac and cheese craving, or if you're just looking a place to get together with your girlfriends (if you plan to go with a group, it might benefit to make a reservation). Either way, I will definitely be back!

The only thing I don't recommend is the grilled cheese martini... no matter how much your waiter tells you it's worth trying... it was kind of gross. It's like an alcoholic gazpacho infused cheese liquid, with a prosciutto glazed rim. I'd say stick to the wines, but if you want to try it, don't say I didn't warn you....

Grilled Cheese Martini Verdict Gets 5 Thumbs Down. (photo via @hels)

To finish off the post, and the week, I made some dinner for me and my roommate tonight! Yay cooking!

I'm sort of in love with Buitoni's pasta packages since it makes a great quick dinner, especially since my work schedule has been crazy lately. I picked up some cheese tortellini and tossed it in a quick garlic olive oil infusion. I also made a caprese salad and topped both the salad and pasta off with fresh basil.

Feeling inspired from a dinner I had at a friend's apartment last week, I even made dessert! We finished off dinner with some grilled peaches, spiced with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a splash of orange juice, topped with oatmeal crumble.

Paired with 2 bottles of wine, I'd say it was a pretty successful culinary week for me!

Dinner and a Movie

After a great vacation and really busy week at work, I decided to aim for a (relatively) healthy and productive weekend. Went to Whole Foods for lunch, picked up a super cute pillow at Bed Bath and Beyond, and then saw The Help. So, off to a good start... at least until I start reading the second book of A Song of Fire and Ice. I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose all productivity after that.

But first, dinner! There was a ton of spinach in the fridge so I decided on some pasta with chicken, garlic, onions, spinach and tomato. It required a bit of multitasking, but was pretty simple.

I set the water to boil while I chopped some onion, minced garlic, and diced a tomato. I also seasoned my chicken with some salt and pepper.

I added the pasta into the boiling water, heated a pan on medium-high heat, added some olive oil and placed the chicken in the pan to cook. I put another pan on medium-low heat, added olive oil, the garlic and onions with a sprinkle of salt.

I drained the pasta, returned it back to the pot with some olive oil (so it wouldn't stick).
I took the chicken out of the pan to rest and added the spinach to the pan with my garlic and onions. When the spinach had reduced, I sliced up the chicken, threw it in the pan, and added the diced tomatoes on top.  A spoonful of Parmesan to finish it off and voila!

 

And I Shall Name You, Fancy Dinner

It's been a really long time since I blogged... and even longer since I posted about food... Well actually, it's been a really long time since I really even cooked, let alone cooked something worth posting about!

Anyway, was inspired to cook today so I here's the quick and dirty:
Made a quick olive oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce marinade for my chicken.
Boiled water and dropped in fresh corn on the cob.
Browned my chicken up in a stainless pan and deglazed it with some red wine and butter.
Threw in some onions and zucchini.
Added in the corn kernels (I cut them off the cob).
Sliced up an avocado, and viola!