The Pretty Palate

Tasty Tunes

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:06:00 -0800

Unfortunately, I haven’t had much time to cook lately because my thesis has been extremely time consuming. Luckily, I have been listening to a lot of music while working on my thesis that I am excited to share with you guys in my first ‘Tasty Tunes’ post. It is great music not only to study to but also to cook to! Enjoy!

1. Don’t Save Me by HAIM

2. A.D.H.D by Kendrick Lamar

3. Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work by Solange

4. I Come Apart by A$AP Rocky ft. Florence Welch

5. Stay by Rihanna (Branchez Bootleg) / still down with the original too

From Frozen to Fabulous - Transforming A Trader Joe’s...

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:09:26 -0800

From Frozen to Fabulous - Transforming A Trader Joe’s Pre-Packaged Dinner: Wow, what a catchy title, right? Are you intrigued? As a college student, with no meal plan, living off-campus you realize how hard it is to make a dinner from scratch every night. While some nights I will roast some veggies and have a protein, most nights I am stuck gazing into the freezer wondering what Trader Joe’s meal I should defrost. While my Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger phase lasted a scarily long time (try them), I find myself needing to spice up the semi-bland Trader Joe’s options that I am often left with for dinner. One of my favorite Trader Joe’s items is the Japanese Style Fried Rice. It is much better than Trader Joe-San’s (it kills me to type that) Shrimp Fried Rice and provides a great base to add some veggies and egg. The Japanese Style Fried Rice already has edamame, tofu and hijiki seaweed but I always add more tofu (I love Trader Joe’s Organic Baked Teriyaki Tofu), two big handfuls of Trader Joe’s ‘Organic Power to the Greens’ (baby kale, chard and spinach) and a beautiful soft-boiled egg. While I may be the first person to ever type out a recipe for essentially defrosting a bag of rice, I feel like it is necessary to achieving a great Trader Joe’s meal.

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan (this is for the egg)

2. Once water has come to a boil, put in the egg and turn the heat down a bit, let cook for about seven minutes

3. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and pour in desired amount of rice

4. Let the rice defrost for about one minute and add in the two handfuls of greens

5. Keep stirring the stir-fry (ha) and add in the tofu (I usually cube it)

6. Stir in some soy sauce for a little extra flavor

7. Let rice cool

8. If it has been seven minutes - take the egg out and shock it in some cold water with ice

9. Put stir fry in bowl, place peeled egg on top, finish with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Cool that you now know how to defrost a bag of rice, but I promise that your friends will be impressed with how gourmet the final product looks!

Nom York City: Being born and raised in Los Angeles has given me...

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:43:16 -0800

Russ & Daughters

Danji

Rubirosa

H&H and Luke's Lobster

Roberta's

Soba-Ya

Nom York City: Being born and raised in Los Angeles has given me a great appreciation for New York City. New York City solves all of Los Angeles’ problems and I am still convinced that if the two cities had a child I’d live there (San Francisco?). In New York there are no grueling debates about who will be designated driver, the city doesn’t die at 2am and the layout makes logical sense - no map required. Yet, what I love most about New York is the amazing food culture. There is so much history attached to some of New York’s best restaurants - for example - Russ & Daughters has been in operation since 1914 and run by the same family. After reading about Russ & Daughters and watching Louis C.K.’s homage here, I was convinced that I had to go. I built my own everything bagel with New Zealand smoked salmon, scallion cream cheese, capers, tomatoes and onions. They don’t toast their bagels but after the first bite I realized toasting was completely unnecessary. This was the best bagel I have ever had and well worth the 15 minute wait - if you are in New York go to Russ & Daughters! In Los Angeles, I find that there are only a handful of restaurants that have a deep history while continuing to serve awesome food - one being the always delicious Bay Cities Deli which has been operating for a little over 85 years.

Some of the other places I ate at during my recent trip to New York were:

Danji - A cute modern restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen that serves korean tapas. The farmers market bibim-bop was flavorful and completed with a perfectly runny egg.

Rubirosa - Every since Carol Han of Milk & Mode mentioned the vodka sauce pizza at Rubirosa I had been dying to go - it should be noted that her post that mentioned the pizza was in December of 2010 so I was fairly ready to go! The pizza did not disappoint - and it made a good breakfast the morning after. We also got the roasted octopus which will turn anti-octopi folk into believers.

H&H - Classic but pretty meh in comparison to Russ & Daughters.

Luke’s Lobster - Soooooo gooooood. I first heard of Luke’s Lobster after reading this blog post from Annamarie Tendler and Aziz Ansari. After going I am fairly certain this is my favorite lobster roll…ever. Not heavy at all, which is dangerous because I could have easily had 5 of them.

Roberta’s - Umm…this place is the shit. I had heard about Roberta’s well before I visited but I was unsure if I would ever make it out to Bushwick. Well…I went twice in the seven days I was in New York. The L train is fast and it is worth it to stay on a little after Bedford for some good grub. First tip: get their pizza. ‘The Bee Sting’ pizza is amazing - tomato, mozzarella, soppressata, chili flake, honey - I don’t even like spicy stuff but the honey made this so irresistible that it didn’t bother me/I picked some of the chili flakes out but whatever. Second tip: get the damn Bloody Mary. It uses horseradish and brine and is simply amazing. Third tip: get the cornmeal pancakes. I have a huge spot in my heart for cornmeal pancakes so ordering them was a no-brainer and they turned out amazing. Can you tell that this is one of my favorite spots in New York?

Soba-Ya - Ohhhh yaaaaaaa. Soba-Ya has some of the best soba I have had outside of Japan. When you walk in you are greeted by a lovely man making fresh noodles, which is never a bad sign. We ordered the Yasai hot soba which was mixed vegetables and mushrooms and I added an egg. We also got the classic Nabeyaki Udon which is always so good. The hot noodles were the perfect antidote to a cold New York evening.

Easy Breakfast! Sometimes making a classic, such as a Bacon, Egg...

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 13:07:39 -0800

Easy Breakfast! Sometimes making a classic, such as a Bacon, Egg and Cheese, on your own can taste so much better than a restaurant’s version. Here is a simple recipe from the blog Bon Appétempt which was adapted from Sarah Foster’s cookbook. It is extremely simple and so tasty!

Bacon, Egg and Cheese (serves 4):

8 thick slices nitrate-free bacon
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the bread
4 large eggs
Sea salt and freslhly grund black pepper
8 slices whole-grain bread
4 slices Cheddar cheese

Cook bacon.
Fry two eggs—just one minute per side. Believe me when I tell you that you want the yolk to be a little runny.
Spread one side of each slice of bread with butter and put those sides down on the hot pan. Stack up your cheese, bacon, and eggs. Top with other slice of bread. Grill until bread is golden brown and cheese is melty. Enjoy!

Quick Read! If you are looking to read a funny, accesible and...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:00:00 -0800

Quick Read! If you are looking to read a funny, accesible and smart book over winter break look no further than Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. It will go by so quickly that you will be craving more - luckily Ephron has plenty of other amazing books to pick up right after. Enjoy!

Pickle Crazy: I have always been obsessed with pickles. I still...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:42:00 -0800

Mile End Half-Sours

Mile End Half-Sours

Sake Pickles

Sake Pickles

Pickle Crazy: I have always been obsessed with pickles. I still remember when I was younger ordering a “gobo handroll” every time from our favorite Japanese restaurant - gobo is pickled burdock root. I also have a feeling that when I get pregnant my only craving will be pickles (because even as a non-pregnant person I crave them every day).

Here are a few recipes I have tried in my pickling escapades:

Recipe 1: The Mile End Cookbook is a great resource for updated and classic versions of Jewish recipes. The first two pictures above are from the Half-Sour Pickle recipe. I don’t love posting recipes from cookbooks because I think this one is so good and you should all go out and buy it! But here is a recipe for their Quick Cucumber Pickles (which was already published online) that is a lot less labor intensive than the one I used from the cookbook.

Ingredients:

1 cup Diamond Crystal kosher salt cup sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons ground coriander
1 garlic clove, grated
½ English cucumber (about 8 ounces), skin on, sliced very thin, ideally on a mandoline

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Toss the cucumber with 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the spice mixture (save the rest; it will keep for months at room temperature). Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe 2: The next recipe I tried was from Bon Appétit and was the Crunchy Sake Pickles recipe. As a lover of sake (specifically nigori) I was pumped at the thought of boozing up my pickles with it. These turned out really good and can be eaten as a snack or chopped up to add an extra crunch to a salad or sandwich.

Toss 2 lb. mixed vegetables, such as 4x1/2-inch spears of English hothouse or Persian cucumbers, 4x1/4-inch spears of peeled carrots, and quartered radishes, with 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt in a large wide nonreactive bowl. Press plastic wrap on surface of vegetables. Place a small plate over, then weigh down with two 28-oz. cans (such as canned tomatoes). Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
Remove cans, plate, and plastic wrap; transfer vegetables to a colander. Rinse well with cold water. Transfer drained vegetables to a large bowl. Add 8 thinly sliced shiso or large basil leaves, 1 red Fresno chile or jalapeño cut into 1/2-inch rings, 3 tablespoons sake, 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, and 1 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger.
Toss to coat; cover and refrigerate, tossing occasionally, for at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD Pickles can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled, tossing occasionally.

Also, if I am not making my own pickles I buy the koshers from Sonoma Brinery. Yum!

In an effort to reignite The Pretty Palate I have posted a...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 10:37:28 -0800

In an effort to reignite The Pretty Palate I have posted a series of photos that I took in my photography class this semester. I haven’t posted in awhile because I have been so busy with school but I promise I will start posting more! These vegetables were really fun to shoot and I love the way the colors turned out - by the way, the purple cauliflower was naturally that color!

A large reason that I will be posting more is because my thesis topic is Defining Restaurant Success Through an Organizational Lens: Culture, Leadership and Decision Making in Restaurants. This thesis will hopefully bare interesting results and information that I hope to share with all of you along the way! Thanks for reading The Pretty Palate and I hope you enjoy the new posts to come!

Does it get any better than to have a cookbook about True Blood...

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:47:47 -0700

Does it get any better than to have a cookbook about True Blood and food?? I can’t wait to cook from it but let’s just hope they don’t include Maryann’s Hunter Souffle…

Reps for ABC Kitchen Scouted Locations in LA

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:50:00 -0700

Reps for ABC Kitchen Scouted Locations in LA:

It is articles like this that make my work day SO much better. Click the link above to read about the amazing ABC Kitchen *fingers crossed* making its way to Los Angeles.

The start of my foodie needs

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 20:27:00 -0700

The start of my foodie needs

Favorites for July 8th, 2012 1. Bright Jenni Kayne d’Orsay...

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 09:29:00 -0700

Favorites for July 8th, 2012

1. Bright Jenni Kayne d’Orsay Flats

2. David Lebovitz’s Rasberry-Rosé Sorbet

3. Chanel nail polish in ‘June’ (only polish I brought to Florence so needless to say it’s been getting some good use)

4. Everything from Comptoir des Cotonniers

5. The Killing on AMC (but not finished yet so don’t ruin it!)

6. Every recipe from Cookie and Kate

7. This article from the NY Times

8. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

Desperate times call for desperate measures

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:48:00 -0700

Desperate times call for desperate measures

The quickest, cheapest, smallest and bestest lunch spot in...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 03:26:01 -0700

Prosciutto, Goat Cheese and Wild Lettuce

Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomatos

Tuscan Salami with Soft Goat Cheese

The quickest, cheapest, smallest and bestest lunch spot in Florence: I don’t usually speak with such conviction about a restaurant but after going here after nearly every class I am fairly confident in my previously used adjectives (especially the dictionary word: bestest). I Due Fratellini serves up some amazing sandwiches in a little alley near the Duomo. Rumor has it that it’s the smallest restaurant in Florence and I believe it. I would basically categorize it as a food stand that happens to have a little bit of building behind it. During lunch the line is often winding throughout the alley. What sets this place apart from other panini places is the price and the quality. Each sandwich is 2.50 euro and the bread and toppings are absolutely delicious. The beautifully fluffy, soft, warm bread is unlike any other panini place I have been to in Florence. At other places I find that the bread can be a bit too salty, crunchy and oily. At I Due Fratellini they have really perfected the sandwich while offering quick and friendly service. Be sure to stop by if you find yourself in Florence!

More pictures and reviews: TripAdvisor (I swear they don’t pay me)
Address: Via dei Cimatori 38/r, Florence, Italy

Converse Closet: I took this photo at Pitti...

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:54:00 -0700

Converse Closet: I took this photo at Pitti Immagine(Florence’s biggest fashion event) and seriously wish that this is what my closet looked like.

“Drunkard Spaghetti”: Last night I pulled an...

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 05:46:01 -0700

Before

After

“Drunkard Spaghetti”: Last night I pulled an “Eat, Pray, Love” and went out to dinner alone. All of my friends were either out of town or busy and I was starving. Because takeout isn’t really a thing here, I decided to eat somewhere close (I have a sinus infection so walking far didn’t sound too appetizing). After reading up on TripAdvisor (I’m practically an ad for them at this point) I settled on Osteria De’Benci. What really sold me were pictures of their “Spaghetti Dell’Ubriacone” or “Drunkard Spaghetti” - a deep red dish that looked slightly unappetizing but sounded amazing. After reading a few more reviews, I was off. When I arrived I asked for a table for 1 and sat down. As I looked through the menu I spotted the reason why I came - spaghetti cooked in red wine with garlic and hot pepper (I got mine without the hot pepper because I recently experienced what it’s like to have your mouth on fire for a good 10 minutes). When my beautiful burgundy pasta arrived I couldn’t wait to try it. I dug in and was met with so many different flavors - garlic, olive oil, herbs and, of course, wine. This dish was unlike anything I have ever eaten and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a break from the standard Italian pasta dishes. Molto bene!

It was also a really nice experience eating alone. My dinner lasted around an hour and was relaxing, refreshing and I was able to appreciate the food a lot more. I recommend this restaurant and treating yourself to a solo dinner every now and then.

Osteria De’Benci
Via de’ Benci 11/13/r, Florence, Italy

Leftovers for Breakfast: One of my favorite hobbies is finding...

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 03:30:00 -0700

Leftover Pizza

Leftover salmon

Leftovers for Breakfast: One of my favorite hobbies is finding different ways to transform leftovers. I hate re-heating and re-eating something I had the night before. Here are two examples of me recycling and reinventing some leftovers the morning after.

Egg on a Pizza: By turning leftover pizza into a gourmet breakfast I feel a lot less guilty about eating a slice of pizza for breakfast. This pizza happened to be burrata, arugula and pine nuts, so it already had a lot going for it, but adding a fried egg on top turned into a lovely and delicious brunch option.

Salmon Eggs: I have to admit - transforming salmon into a breakfast food is not too hard. My mom had cooked it the night before and it was already marinated perfectly. When scouring the fridge for something to spice up my eggs I knew some salmon and dill would do the trick. Pair it with some avocado toast (toast with avocado, olive oil, lime and salt) and you are in good shape.

Easy Hors D’oeuvres: Before departing for Italy our family...

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 03:04:00 -0700

Caprese Sticks

Bacon Wrapped Dates

Easy Hors D’oeuvres: Before departing for Italy our family hosted a lunch at our house for my Aunt’s birthday. I offered to make some appetizers and my mom was happy to hand me over the responsibility. I decided to go with some caprese sticks along with my infamous bacon wrapped dates (I’ve never made these and had leftovers, just sayin’).

Caprese Sticks

Ingredients:

Mozzarella Balls (ones that have been marinating in oil and herbs are preferable)
Sweet Cherry Tomatos
Fresh Basil
Pesto
Balsamic
Olive Oil
Toothpicks

(The amounts for each varies depending on how many guests you are serving)

Take a toothpick put on a mozzarella ball, a little piece of basil, and the cherry tomato (you can either halve the tomato or leave it whole). Repeat these steps until you have enough sticks. Then divide up the skewers onto two plates. On the first plate drizzle some pesto onto the skewers. On the second plate drizzle some balsamic (reduced balsamic is the best for this) and a little olive oil. And you’re done! This recipe is super easy and always a hit.

For the recipe I already posted for Bacon Wrapped Dates or as I like to call them Dates in a Greasy Blanket click here!

Last weekend I went to the Fortezza Antique Market in Florence,...

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 02:40:41 -0700

Poster

Necklace

The Market

Last weekend I went to the Fortezza Antique Market in Florence, which is held every third weekend of the month. The market, which is open 8am to 7pm, is filled with cheap jewelry, steins right off the set of Game of Thrones (I have been dying to drink out of an ivory tusk but they sold for 90 euro here), plenty of creepy dolls, some nazi paraphernalia, a lot of beautiful old books, fun furniture and plenty of knick knacks. The market features over 100 sellers and is bound to keep you busy for a few hours. All of the people who worked at the stalls were extremely nice, didn’t speak much english but were happy to use sign language and play a bit of Pictionary to help us out (my friend and I thought our necklaces were 100 euro at first - turns out they were just 10).

Above is some of the loot I managed to acquire. I loved the cuteness of the poster/you all probably know my obsession with eggs by this point. The necklace reminded me slightly of my favorite Dannijo ”Bib” necklaces - except this necklace cost 7 euro and Dannijo’s cost around 500+ dollars.

The market is held at the Fortezza da Basso gardens right near Stazione Santa Maria Novella! A must if you happen to be in Florence on the third weekend of the month.

A Lesson in Gelato: I consider myself somewhat of a...

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:07:00 -0700

Grom

Carapina

Bottega del Gelato

Gelateria dei Neri

Bottega del Gelato

Carapina

Grom

Carapina

A Lesson in Gelato: I consider myself somewhat of a gelato connoisseur by now. I have been in Florence for 3 weeks, consume gelato almost every single day and had an official gelato tasting with my class…so…yeah. One of the most pressing questions I had after about my fifth gelato (on my second day) was how fat am I going to get if I keep up this habit? I obviously did some investigative work.

First of all, gelato is NOT ice cream. Most ice creams in the US contain air, and a lot of it. Some ice cream cartons are almost half full of air! So what does this mean? The air in the ice cream makes it more scoopable and meltable - basically makes it more ready to eat so that those of us who are lazy don’t have to wait for it to thaw. On the other hand, gelato has absolutely no air. This no-added-air makes gelato dense, creamy and perfectly rich. Also, most ice creams in the US contain a lot of cream and have a butterfat content of 10%-12% whereas gelato uses mainly milk or water and has a butterfat content of only 5%-8% - meaning less fat and calories than US ice cream! I have also been eating a ton of sorbetto, an Italian version of sorbet that contains less water and more fruit. These are as healthy as you’ll get around here. I am 100% pleased with my research and conclude that I can have gelato or sorbetto anytime I am overheated, sweating, dying or simply craving one - essentially all the time.

One last tip: if you are ever in Italy and your American eyes feast themselves on the neon, piled high gelato that just screams “look how bright I am! I must be good! I am so artificially colored that Americans will love me!”…please…slowly back away. These types of gelato have chemicals in them so they don’t melt. You don’t think it’s weird that these Leaning Tower of Pisa style gelati haven’t completely melted into a soupy mess? Word to the wise: the best gelato places have the tubs covered so they don’t melt!

Here are some of my favorite gelato places I have discovered in Florence:

Grom: Right near the Duomo this hotspot is always packed…but it’s worth the wait. All of their gelatos are organic and seasonal. Be sure to try the fiordilatte - a mildly rich milk flavored ice cream.

Carapina: The absolute best place for sorbettos. I can’t get enough of their peach, banana and apple. They make their gelatos daily and you can taste the quality.

La Bottega Del Gelato: If you were wondering where all the delicious popsicles I have been posting were coming from, this is the spot. When my friend and I found it we felt like we had discovered hidden treasure. Our eyes feasted on the huge selection of fresh fruit popsicles as if we were the tourists looking at the jewelry a few blocks down on the Ponte Vecchio. Best popsicles ever.

Gelateria dei Neri: A great spot that never fails to disappoint. Recently enjoyed a banana and chocolate combination there that was to die for.

4 Things That Ninth-Graders Can Teach You About Risk-Taking Design

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 07:16:31 -0700

4 Things That Ninth-Graders Can Teach You About Risk-Taking Design:

Click the link above for a great article my dad wrote for Fast Company!