Last week I was fortunate enough to participate in an amazing cooking competition with seven other lovely ladies. The judges were phenomenal and I was proud of all the food I was able to produce: Curried Red Snapper Tacos on Coconut Naan with Mango Avocado Salsa, and Cumin Yogurt; Mexican rice with coconut milk, fried plantains dusted in a garam marsala sugar with dulce de leche, and of course, a margarita made with cardamom, ginger, and smoked salt.

It was outstanding. Take a peek at the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZQR2r_D-3c

 

And now, for a bit of rye humor.

Why yes, yes I did make that joke 🙂

Check out the article written by yours truly featuring a fascinating ingredient with whom I was recently introduced…

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present…Sprouted Rye?

 

http://www.saveur.com/article/blog/Sprouted-Rye

 

Potato Pancakes! The any-time-of-day food

What began as my third attempt to make gnocchi turned into a potato batter fit only for one thing: caking and frying. At first, I was devastated. But I love culinary blunders. Sometimes you wind up with a better creation than you started out.

So, using the Saveur magazine recipe for gnocchi, I added a bit of this and that, and ta-da! Golden, crispy and fluffy pancakes. I’m out of control

1 large russet potato

1 large sweet potato

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 oz spinach

1 1/4 semolina flour +

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 sticks butter, melted

Fresh sage (about 20 leaves)

1 tsp nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil potatoes in large pot of salted water until tender (about 25 mins). Drain and cool. Peel and mash with masher or large fork. In a large saute pan, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil, saute onion until translucent, then add spinach, heating until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add spinach and all remaining ingredients to mashed potatoes, mixing thoroughly. Season to taste,. Feel free to add ginger or red pepper flakes to add an extra dash of flavor!

Heat frying pan with 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Form batter into cakes, the size of your palm, and drop in hot pan. Fry both size, flipping once, about 6 minutes, until crispy and golden.

Enjoy!!

 

Go NUTS this Christmas

Need a quick-to-make, absolutely addictive, sure-to-put-you-at-the-top-of-the-nice-list gift? Look no further my dears! I am about to resolve your holiday trauma.

Go NUTS!! These sweet and spicey, salty and rich nut nuggets are so much more than snack. This is true love people

Feel free to mix up the spices and nuts you use in this recipe!

2 8-oz bags o’ nuts (I used almonds and pecans)

1 C Honey

1/4 C Maple Syrup

1 C Sugar

2 TBSP Cinnamon

2 tsp Ground Ginger

2 TBSP Salt

1 tsp Ground Cardamom

2-4 tsp Cayenne Pepper (depends how hot you like it!)

Heat oven to 350. Mix nuts in a bowl with syrup and honey to coat completely, lay them flat on a sheet tray, and bake for 10 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Remove nuts from oven and carefully pour into the bowl of sugar mix (Careful! It’s super hot!) Mix thoroughly to coat and pour onto a sheet tray. Cool.

Break apart your little delights and pour into mason jars (if you don’t eat them all yourself first!)

Happy Christmas!

 

I am the Matchmaker: Bourbon? Beer? Meet Punch

Check our another Saveur link for this lovely little cocktail! Get those holiday parties commence kids!

 

http://www.saveur.com/article/Wine-and-Drink/Friday-Cocktail-Red-Nose-Punch

 

 

 

First Saveur Publishing

Ok…call me crazy.

ELIZA! YOU CRAZY!

Very good. I don’t care. I am uninhibited. I am giddy to have my first published work on the Saveur website. It’s super small, super edited, and super SUPER cheesy.

May it be the first of many (perhaps less cheesy) food writing endeavours.

Look it!

http://www.saveur.com/article/One-Good-Find/Round-Waffle-Maker

 

PANCAKES!!!

Blueberry. Pancakes. Stop it.

Ah brunch, my absolute favorite meal that requires one hand for mimosa sipping and one hand for whisking fork to mouth as elegantly as possible when one has a feast before them.

Brunch with my roommate and I could mean only one thing: Fresh blueberry pancakes. And not just those pithy little watered down pancakes from a box. Oh no. Hearty pancakes that are golden and crispy on the outside, soft and cakey on the inside, and positively bursting with berries.

I called on my new place of work, Saveur Magazine, for some recipe help. Inspired by their online recipe, here is what created the magic:

For 8 delicious cakes:

1 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
1⁄2 tsp fine salt                                                                                                   1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used  not quite all of a small 6 oz container of vanilla)
1 tsp baking soda

1⁄4cup seltzer  water or club soda (I used vanilla seltzer)
1 tsp vanilla extract                                                                                            1 egg  beaten                                                                                                      1 tablespoon cream
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more to taste
1 pint fresh blueberries

In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt and baking soda. Let it stand for 10 minutes while you gather the rest of your ingredients. Whisk together your dry ingredients in a seperate bowl (whisking acts like sifting and breaks apart all the lumps in your dry ingredients)

Add the baking soda, seltzer, vanilla, cream and egg to your yogurt mixture and stir in the flour mixture. Let the whole batter rest for 10 minutes. Pull out your nonstick pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter and heat the pan over medium-high heat. I was able to cook about three pancakes each time. Drop large spoonsfuls of batter onto the skillet. ( I love big pancakes, so each pancake was about 3 spoonfulls…about 1/4 Cup each) Let them cook on one side until bubbles start to form in the batter and the edges become golden. Sprinkle a large handful of blueberries onto each pancake. Flip and cook the second side. You’ll see how light and fluffy the seltzer and baking soda make these guys, while the yogurt makes them moist and tender. Keep your oven on warm and slide two plate inside. As you make your pancakes, dish them out onto your warming platters so they stay hot for serving!

Serve with a relish to your starving roommate and serve with large glasses of oj…topped with a heavy dose of champagne. 😉

Thank heaven…for little brunches

Happy Saturday brunch!

 

And then…I was a part of opening a restaurant

I don’t know how it happened. But suddenly I find myself bearing the title of Garde Manger cook at a beautiful restaurant set to open in the Flatiron…in less than 24 hours. Holy s***!!!

Now, bear in mind, dear friends, I am just barely a step above dish-washer, but I get to play with, prep, and plate some gorgeous American cuisine. And what a talented chef I am able to serve.

After my first two days of prepping mostly desserts, I’m about to plunge into salad-and-sauce prep and plate land tomorrow.

Tighten those chef-whites Eliza. Game time.

Check out Hardings if you feel like a tremendous meal! I hear the salads are OUTRAGEOUS!

http://www.thedailymeal.com/hardings-opens-flatiron#comments

Oh, and for the record, next to the chef, I think the dishwasher IS the most important person in the kitchen.

 

Chilled Corny Custard…sanz the pun

I love corn. Perhaps it’s my Amish-country upbringing, but I just love it. Salads, soups, garnish, roasted, raw, I want it!

Chilled Corn Custard. Num!

So kids, here’s one of the recipes my trio team of lovely lady cooks prepared for culinary school graduation.

Thanks to Beth Doyle for putting this perfect chart together!

Instructions:

1)     Mix corn, cream, salt, cayenne. Over medium heat, bring mixture to simmer.

2)     Remove from heat, add milk. ***I added several swipes of freshly grated nutmeg here!

3)     Use blender to puree until smooth.

4)     Whisk eggs and slowly add hot corn mixture, whisking all the while so eggs don’t scramble.

5)     Pour into buttered ramekins.

6)     Sprinkle with diced husk cherries (these are in the gooseberry family. Find them at your local market and just eat them raw. Little niblets of sweet sunshiney, these guys)

7)     Bake in 325 F preheated oven for 30 minutes. ***At home, I simply Pam-ed a muffin tin, stuck it in a brownie tray that I filled with one ince of water, and left it in the oven to work its water bath magic.

8)     Cool.

9)     Garnish with crème fraiche and microgreens.

Corn   Custard	Original
serves	6   – 6oz	portions
corn	2	Cups
cream	1.5	Cups
milk	0.5	Cups
salt	1.5	Teasp
cayenne	1	Pinch
egg   yolks	3	Each
eggs	2	Each
butter   for pans	0.25	Pound
husk   cherries	6	Each
crème   fraiche	1	Cup
basil   microgreens for garnish	0.1	package

 

Big Bad Grad

Recipe to follow, but for now, some…ahem…”food for thought.”

I graduated from culinary school. Today. Like 6 hours ago.

I have to keep repeating it, then reliving the short-lived ceremony (due to  pesky hurricanes) where friends and family hurridly sampled food we spent a month planning and the last two days preparing. Tiny plastic plates and forks were kept busy with duck confit ravioli, miso butterfish, stewed shortribs and so much more.

My family was there. They drove for hours (hoping not to get stuck in evacuation traffic) to be with me for 45 minutes. It was so fast, simple, perfect…kind of how I like my food!

I feel…a lot of feelings. I’m relieved. I missed weekends…and brunch! And finally the 9-5 Saturday/Sunday schedule has concluded. But it’s concluded. So I’m terrified. I have no more safety net. Just me and my slightly more battered knife kit against the culinary world.

Deep breath newbie Chef. (Ok not really a CHEF, but they gave me the cool hat at graduation!)

I have unlimited gratitude to offer my chefs and incredible classmates at ICE. What a ride. I suppose I’m just excited to see what I’ve truly learned as I embark on this new adventure.

Welp…as Chef Chris said, “Keep it beautiful.” I intend to.