Weekend in Photos – Home Improvements and My First Rack of Lamb

the view from our “garden” room.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I hang out at home a lot for a New Yorker. There are a variety of reasons for this but mainly the reality is that most of my money goes towards rent and my school debt (God help me) so there’s not a whole lot left over to play with. Especially when play in New York costs $12 – $15 a cocktail and $30 an entree (Ouch. Always, OUCH). And while our rent is higher than others, our apartment is also bigger. In fact, by New York standards it’s pretty palatial which has a lot to do with why I’m so happy to hang out there. There’s a garden, an actual kitchen with real counter space, a fairly sizable living room, and a claw foot tub. And cocktails! Why would I ever leave? So I pretty much don’t.

Basically, if you want to see me, then find a kick ass cheap happy hour to meet up post work. Otherwise, I’m that annoying person who always just tells my friends to come over to my apartment.

All that being said – the apartment needs a lot of work. So weekends lately have been all about home improvements. This weekend, was the back room. Or as I like to call it – the garden room. It was an addition to the original apartment and faces the garden/backyard, with no one sharing any walls, so it’s unbelievably quiet and peaceful. For the past six months it’s been used as storage but we decided it was finally time to turn it into a livable space. So we painted:

Before…

And AFTER!

Not too shabby, huh? We decided on yellow as that room catches a lot of great light during the day and yellow is in general a pretty pleasing color to people. The room is very much a work in progress but painting it transformed it so we’re really happy. Next up – getting curtains, replacing a very modern desk with a more rustic looking one, getting better bedding, hanging some photos, getting a lamp or two, and on and on. So basically, if ever there’s a doubt for what to get me for Christmas, birthdays, etc – get me a gift certificate to Pottery Barn.

This weekend we also attempted our first rack of lamb roast which turned out pretty well.

our first lamb roast

The fixings for the crust – shallots, bread crumbs, etc

finished lamb with crust. Always fun to take something so pretty out of the oven

paired with Erik’s mashed potatoes and buttered haricot verts…DELISH

The lamb came out on the rare side of the spectrum but better too rare than overcooked. Lamb is tricky and if you cook it past medium rare it’s pretty much ruined (in my opinion) so I was glad we remained cautious.  I definitely want to try again to get it just right but, for our first try, I’d say it was a pretty good roast dinner all around.

This coming weekend there will be no new roast as Sunday will be spent all day at the Great Googa Mooga Festival in Brooklyn! Should be a super fun day outside eating the best NYC has to offer. I can’t wait. But there’s no way (and no reason) to cook after that kinda day.

Knowing me, there will be a lot of picture taking so I’ll post pics of all the food, vendors, Brooklynites, and all around good fun. My personal goal is to find as many French vendors as possible so I can write an article about it. And so I can eat all the French food…I’m so predictable. Wish me luck!

Life, Home, Work, Cocktails, Cooking and a Blog

Work is busy. Life is busy. Blog is neglected. Freelance writing requires lots of time juggling/multi-tasking prowess… I. IS. TIRED.

But let’s attempt a real update, shall we?

In life updates, I stupidly made the decision to go back to spinning and irish dancing at the same time. This means my body has been sore for the entirety of a month. Normally, the pain would ease off after one or two classes of either, but since I’m doing both, and  averaging two spins and two dance classes per week, my body is basically angry at me ALL THE TIME. The sense of accomplishment feels great, the pain..not so much. But regardless, I’m really excited that I’ve started back with irish dancing in particular and actually stuck with it. It’s easy to do it once or twice and then be too tired after work, have a headache, etc. so the fact that I’m being consistent is pretty awesome. It also helps that I’ve started over from the beginning. It’s very no pressure. I know what I’m doing and by the time it gets really hard I’ll be determined to keep going.

In other news, we painted one wall of our kitchen with chalkboard paint (see above photo) so we could start listing our weekly meals on the wall. Beyond it being kind of ridiculous (but cute and charming!) it helps us (okay, me) stay on track with cooking. If I have a plan I am good to go. If I get home after work (and after dance class) with no plan for dinner it’s pretty much guaranteed that take out is happening, and that gets old real fast.  So the board is helping. And I like crossing things off lists so it’s just all around good fun for my planner brain!

Also, I mad a new cocktail. With gin! I’m usually a vodka girl but I’m branching out like a real grown up. My first gin at home creation – a lavender honey cocktail. I’ll post the recipe once I get it just right. But basically it’s gin, fresh lemon juice, and a honey lavender syrup. I mix honey, water, lavender, and lavender bitters together and let it sit for a half hour and then use it as a syrup basically to add to the gin and the lemon.

YUMMMMM

Topped off with a sprig of lavender and you have this gorgeous little cocktail:

so pretty – almost too pretty to drink…ALMOST.

The weather (except for the rain today) has been pretty exquisite here and we’ve been eating outside almost every night enjoying dinner and cocktails. It’s a little piece of heaven in the midst of all the chaos of this city. And while our rent check keeps us at home instead of going out most nights, I gotta say, I can’t complain that much. Home is pretty fucking awesome.

Home is also soon to be more awesome as we are painting the back bedroom this weekend! My mom will be visiting in two weeks and the goal is to get the room nice enough for someone besides the cats to actually sleep in it. So this Saturday will be all about painting.

Sunday meanwhile will be all about cooking – hopefully a new roast! I’ve been struck by a strange desire to roast a duck but that might prove to be too expensive. But expect a roast update soon! Perhaps it’s time to take on a roast chicken…the most intimidating of roasts for me as I have never tasted one better than my father’s. And I’m not glorifying his memory here. It was just THAT FUCKING GOOD. UGH. More evidence that I should have been paying attention!

Finally, in other VERY important news – today is apparently National Moscato Day! Made up no doubt by some random alcoholic! In honor of that alcoholic I give you my favorite moscato – La Caudrina Moscato d’Asti. It’s perfection in a glass. It’s usually available for anywhere between $17 – $20 a bottle – but bear in mind that’s half a bottle. Delish.

So there you have it – a lengthy update that could have been various blogs over the past two weeks if I actually had the ability to multi-task. Blogger of the Year – CLEARLY.

The One, The Only, The Roast Beef

It finally happened. I made a roast. I took a huge raw piece of meat and cooked it and it was not a disaster. In fact, for my first roast, I think it came out pretty damn good. And there is absolutely no explanation for it turning out so well. I think perhaps my Dad was in the kitchen making sure everything went according to plan because it was just too easy. Or maybe roasts are in fact easy…but I think I had a helping hand that night.

So this was my meat – a 4 lb gorgeous roast beef bought from the local butcher:

PRETTY

I had genuinely no idea what to do with it so I did some internet recipe research and decided to make an herb butter paste to cover it with. I included thyme, sage, rosemary, and I think garlic…and a ton of butter.

slathered in herby goodness

Slathered it on, put it in the oven and let it roast for two hours. Then we let it rest (covered) for about 45 minutes and then we got to cut into this beautiful looking roast:

O.M.G.

It was DELICIOUS. Not as good as I remember my dad’s being…but for my first try it was pretty damn good. That being said, it was probably a bit rare by some standards, but for Erik and me it was perfect. And because it was so rare it kept incredibly well throughout the week and we were able to use the leftover meat for a number of other meals.

So – SUCCESS!

The goal now is to do a roast every Sunday. This of course depends on what we can get at the butcher and for what price but I think we can do it. Either way I am VERY excited. I really want to do a prime rib but that’s a bit pricey so we’ll see. I’m also keen to roast a duck. Regardless, I am proud of myself for keeping up with my goals in the cooking department. Hopefully next Christmas I will be making a stunning prime rib for friends and family. For now, let the experimenting continue!

Roasted Veggie Sandwiches a la Adrienne

Busy. Busy. BUSY. And my blog is suffering for it. Poor girl (yup, my blog is female). It seems that when you start writing for other people and other websites (yay!) your blog starts to get the shaft. Sad but true stroy.

But I will not give up on it! It’s just a matter of multi tasking right?

Today’s installment is food related! Finally. As I mentioned in my last post I am very much still cooking but I’ve encountered three problems. One – time. It’s hard to try out new recipes during the week and oh so much easier to just make what you know how to make already. Two – budget. I live on a budget. It’s annoying but it’s real and I can’t escape it. And sometimes new recipes, at least the ones I’m attracted to, call for a ton of ingredients I don’t have and I never seem to have enough money to splurge on random things at the grocery store for the purpose of one meal. And finally, and most importantly, three – it is becoming increasingly clear that in order to make more awesome things I need more awesome kitchen tools. Like a roaster. I really want to experiement with roasts, but I have no roaster. And those fuckers are weirdly expensive. Sure, I can go cheapish but the cheap ones look a bit shady. I also need a kitchen aid. And a larger dutch oven (my baby one is amazing but I can’t stuff a chicken in there if I tried). And so many other things…

At the end of the day, I can work around all of these factors. Let’s be honest. But it’s harder to stay motivated when the new recipes you can try aren’t as awesome as the new things you want to try but don’t have the tools for. Shoot, now I’m just whining.

ANYWAY – I am still cooking! And one of the favorites chez moi are my grilled veggie sandwiches. Erik – a man known to loathe all vegetables – requests these sandwiches at least once a week which I take as a massive compliment. The sandwiches were born from my original experiment with roasted veggie tartines (excellent) which turned out extremely well. So well that it inspired me to create my own which is now a super easy week day evening meal. Seriously – so simple and almost no dishes (bonus!).

Here’s what you’ll need (for two people):

One red pepper

One yellow pepper

One orange pepper

One yellow onion

4-6 basil leaves

goat cheese

mozzarella cheese (shredded is okay)

balsamic vinegar

baguette

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 F, then:

1. Cut the peppers and onions into strips

2. Put a dutch oven on medium heat, add a splash of oil

3. Add the onions, stir to coat with the oil

4. After about two minutes add the peppers

cooking the peppers and the onions

This time around I only had a red and yellow pepper in the fridge but normally I include red, yellow, and orange peppers.

5. Put the cover on the dutch oven and let the onions and peppers cook until nice and tender. Check and stir occasionally. Usually takes about ten minutes.

6. While your peppers and onions are cooking prepare the rest of the sandwich.

7. Portion out the baguette

Ta da!

8. Cut the baguette pieces so they’re open faced

9. Add basil leaves to the top portion of each sandwich.

10. Spread the goat cheese on the bottom portion of each sandwich. Then, drizzle each bottom portion with balsamic vinegar.

This is the step where I start to get really excited about dinner

11. Once the vegetables are done cooking add them to goat cheese/balsamic portions of the bread. Then add slices of mozzerrella to the top portions of the bread (over the basil).

You can use less mozzarella cheese of course, but I’m not one for cutting corners. Cheese is IMPORTANT.

Now put them in the oven for ten minutes so the bread can get crunchy and the cheese can melt. Ta da!

et voila – mouth watering and healthy goodness. Shut up – all that cheese is TOTALLY healthy.

Now put the sandwich together and it’s finished! I would have a final fancy picture but my camera/phone died and I was really hungry and wasn’t about to wait to dig in. But I think you get the idea.

You can serve these with a side salad (very French) or fries (my preference usually) and you’ve got yourself a pretty kick ass weekday dinner.  When I make it with fries I use Trader Joes frozen fries (surpsingly really good) and they take about ten minutes to cook at 425 degrees, so you just put them in the oven when the sandwiches go in and voila! In ten minutes dinner is ready.

Seriously – these are super easy and really tasty. The cheese of course helps but the balsamic is key for me. It adds a lovely sweetness to it and when the sandwich is hot and out of the oven it’s just pure heaven.

So – see? I am still cooking. So much so that I even created something myself. Woo hoo!

Here’s hoping I come up with something else new and tasty soon. If you have any recipes you think I should try please send them my way!

Friday Favorites (Finally)!

And we’re BACK! Here are my Friday favorites:

My backyard after a snowstorm:

This very interesting article about Brooklyn Brewery trying to find business and a following in France. Compared to other countries the French are not the biggest beer drinkers in general, and they’ve got a lot of excellent Belgian and German beers to contend with so…who knows. But if anyone has the balls to sway the French (and the Parisians) it is definitely a Brooklynite.

In honor of Valentine’s Day this week – THIS is amazing – and I gotta say being a foodie and all…I could fall in love with this kid. Serious priorities kid – don’t ever change.

This past week we made bread! Real honest to goodness bread – and it was super easy! Apparently no knead bread is all the rage and I’m now kinda obsessed with making it as much as humanely possible. Here’s the recipe that I used - and look how pretty our bread came out!

DELICIOUS

And finally, in case you ever wondered what I’ll be like as an old lady – I give you this list. I will be number 12. For real.  Also #23 – (I mean, obviously).

Bon week-end!

Lazy Blogging and a Fire Pit

fire pit!

I have been a very bad blogger. Not only have I not posted in general but I seem to have failed at Friday Favorites and Music Monday this past week. What is wrong with me?

And I have things to report – we’ve made new recipes at home worth writing up. I even made olive oil cake  - look how pretty it turned out:

SO pretty but…alas…

Pretty of course until it totally fell. Yup, caved in in the middle. It was an issue with baking soda or powder or something. It was still VERY tasty but sadly regardless of how good it looked when this photo was taken, it was fucking with me. And now I have to make it again to redeem myself. It will NOT beat me.

So there’s that, but for whatever reason I seem to be losing blogging motivation. So instead I’m gonna get back into gear here with a little update on the minutiae and perhaps that will kick the blogging muscle back into full gear.

We got our fire pit and in case anyone was wondering – this is what a happy zen man looks like when he there he not only has a backyard in Brooklyn but a fire pit in which to build a fire:

LOVE IT

Sadly it’s been quite cold and snowy so there have been very few nights like the above but there will be more – many many more. There may even be a roasting of a pig on there (a small pig…but still – yummmmmm).

In other news in this past week we’ve tackled a few new recipes – Parisian chicken (why is it Parisian – I HAVE NO IDEA), homemade meatballs, and blackberry muffins. Blackberry muffins were a bit of a disaster but the meatballs and chicken were excellent and will  be documented here later. We also made official plans to go to my cousin’s wedding in May so there will be a long beautiful weekend at Niagara on the Lake coming up and then my sister and brother in law are coming to visit in August the same time a very, very dear friend from France is coming. It is going to be a FULL house and I am beyond excited.

So all good things. There are of course negative things in the mix, stressful things, and general NYC woes but let’s not get into those. Let’s attempt to remain positive and focus on the bigger picture – I have a backyard in Brooklyn where I can build a fire. Everything else will be okay.

Friday Favorites!

I have been a bad blogger this week. No Music Monday because it was a three day weekend and I was lazy and no posts at all this week for no reason except I had very little of interest to report. But at least there’s Friday Favorites! Here you go:

If you’re interested in cooking in Paris here’s a great interview in the NYT with David Lebovitz

If you’re interested in my latest article with Ma Vie Francaise  - here it is!

Soooo – THIS is happening. I have so many adolescent feelings about this that I don’t even know where to start.

This article in the New York Times about what middle class really is in Manhattan is excellent – and disturbingly true. If ever my friends or family wonder why I never have any money and/or savings this article will explain why. It will also be what I refer to when Erik and I eventually move out of NYC because we just can’t take it anymore.

The same week temperatures plummeted here in NYC – our firepit arrived! I will post a photo soon but it is a beautiful addition to our backyard. Also – now we HAVE to have a s’mores party! Who’s coming?

Friday TV favorite shout out  - Scandal. If you’re not watching it you should be. I almost didn’t watch it. In fact, I started the first season kinda pissed at myself for watching it. It wasn’t very good, the camera work and direction gave me a headache, and it basically turned into background noise every Thursday night while I did something else in my apartment. But then it got better, and then it got REALLY good. And now it’s like stupidly good. Seriously, the chemistry between Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn is pretty hot and now I kinda have a little crush on Tony Goldwyn, which I never thought would happen given his not so sexy portrayal of Carl in Ghost (bleh). But now he’s playing the President and he’s all powerful and I’m basically predictable.

Glen Hansard – Why do I sometimes forget how brilliant a musician he is? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Serious Friday Favorite people – buy all his music. Right now.

Mad Men finally has a premiere date – FINALLY. Time to break out the cocktail recipes. I think this season I should challenge myself to a new fancy cocktail every week for new episodes. Send me your favorite cocktail recipes!

And there you have it – bon week end everyone!

Sea Bass Soaked in Butter w/Ratatouille and Haricots Verts – Your Typical Saturday in Brooklyn

Photo from usnews.com

The other weekend, one in which Erik and I were actually off at the same time (shocking) we decided to commit to cooking something new. A whole dinner of new things in fact. Because, why not? It seems that now that there are two of us in the kitchen cooking we might actually be able to produce some pretty stellar meals. And I have to say, this first attempt, was pretty fucking delicious.

I was aiming for a healthy yet delicious meal so we decided to make sea bass, ratatouille with goat cheese, and haricots verts with pine nuts and red peppers. Sounds good no? AND healthy! Well it was…until Erik did this to the fish (thank you Erik):

That’s butter. All of it. OMG.

He smothered it – in butter (and herbs). Best. Idea. Ever. And no longer healthy. Woo hoo!

I meanwhile manned the veggies for the evening and kept them healthy according to plan. First the haricots verts:

haricots verts prep – simple and easy

Finished haricots verts with pine nuts and red peppers

This dish was surprisingly delicious and a really great compliment to the fish in all its buttery goodness.

Then of course there was the ratatouille in all its glory:

ratatouille prep!

all those veggies make for the most amazing smell in the kitchen.

This dish was really easy to make and extremely tasty. Adding the crumbled goat cheese on top when plated gave it the extra kick to make it a bit more exciting than stewed veggies, but even on its own it would be delish.

And of course, there’s the finished dinner. I didn’t take a picture of the table in all its glory but here is my plate of glorious food:

Almost everything on that plate is a vegetable! And then there’s the butter soaked fish but whatever…

We were extremely pleased with how this meal turned out and I am quite keen to make it all again. Pairing fish with ratatouille is a sure fire way to keep things healthy AND tasty so now all I have to do is attempt to curb Erik’s fish to butter ratio and it might actually be able to live among our healthier meal options.

If you’re interested here are the recipes for the side dishes.

Sauteed Haricots Verts with Red Peppers and Pine Nuts

• 1 1/2 pounds haricots verts (or other slender green beans), trimmed

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium-size red bell peppers, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch dice (2 cups)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Cook haricots verts in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water to cool quickly and drain again.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers; sauté until just tender, about 5 minutes. Add butter to same skillet; melt. Add garlic; sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add haricots verts. Sauté until heated through, about 5 minutes. Mix in nuts; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl.

Ratatouille with Goat Cheese

1. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2. 1 pound eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
3. 5 large garlic cloves, minced
4. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5. 1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice
6. 1 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch dice
7. 1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
8. 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
9. 2 pounds tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
10. 1 cup loosely packed shredded basil leaves
11. 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
12. 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
13. 1/2 cup crumbled aged goat cheese

1. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the eggplant and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add one-third of the garlic, season with salt and black pepper and cook for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant to a plate.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the casserole along with the zucchini and yellow squash and cook over moderate heat until lightly browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Add another one-third of the garlic, season with salt and black pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the vegetables to the eggplant.
3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the casserole, along with the onion and bell pepper. Cook over moderate heat until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the remaining garlic, season with salt and black pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, two-thirds of the basil and the reserved vegetables and cook over moderate heat until the tomatoes have broken down and the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining basil along with the lemon zest and juice. Transfer to bowls and sprinkle with the goat cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

If you want the recipe for the fish it’s simple  - slather butter on fish, sear in pan. Ta da!

More big dinners like this to come FOR SURE. Erik is focused on mastering a fried chicken dinner (God help me and the workouts that will follow) while I am still very much focused on mastering a roast. Between the two of us there should be some pretty fun and delicious dinner parties on the horizon!

Banana Muffins – OH. MY. GOD.

Because of my success with the blueberry muffins I decided it was time to try my hand at a different kind of muffin. Nothing too fancy, just a new flavor so that we don’t get too bored around the house with the same old stuff. For whatever reason I decided to make banana muffins from the trusted Brown Eyed Baker recipe. The process was super easy and they looked beautiful coming out of the oven.

Seriously – look how pretty!

OMG

These must be like 500 calories apiece but trust me you won’t care. 100% inner fat girl approved indulgence. They would also make amazing cupcakes and I might just bake them again next weekend and see how well they go with some buttercream frosting. Because when something is this delicious and this fattening – why not make it more fattening?

The recipe is available at the Brown Eyed Baker website but here it is as well if you don’t want to click through:

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed

Directions:
Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins may be eaten warm or cooled completely and frosted.

Seriously – DELISH. Goes pretty well with a bottle of chardonnay too…just sayin’.

Friday Favorites!

I can’t think favorite things and not think Sound of Music – I mean, come on.

To further attempt to blog more and keep things varied around here, I give you a new weekly post – Friday Favorites. This will be a weekly list of my favorite things from the week and can be anything and everything, from actual news to personal news, from things that made me laugh, to random things that I just feel the need to share.  So away we go…

Friday Favorites!

In favorite random news of the week – Gerard Depardieu offered post of Cultural Minister of Siberia. I am at a loss for words…no, no I’m not, here’s  a word – seriously?! This is a man who drunkenly urinated in the cabin of a plane. IN. THE. CABIN. That’s who you want as your cultural representative? Well, okay then.

Oscar nominations! IMPORTANT – Bradley Cooper (swoon) is nominated and that’s ALL I CARE ABOUT.

Red Gravy Brooklyn Heights – the newest must try on my list of places to eat. Not necessarily because the menu looks delish (it does) but because it’s around the corner from my apartment and I am lazy.

THIS COMMERCIAL –  Oh Stephen…Stephen, Stephen, Stephen. Just go back to playing the fifth Beatle. You were really good at that. In fact, you should just be him ALL THE TIME.

Restaurant Week!! Also known as the only time of year I can afford to pay for a meal at expensive restaurants by myself.

Random apartment news – we’re buying a fire pit for the backyard! No joke. This whole winter thing is really annoying when you have a backyard you want to use. Solution? FIRE PIT! Who wants to come over?

The MOST important news of the week 

Bon weekend!