There's Something About Ukraine
...From the snappy, spicy, fatty kielbasa, to the pillowy goodness of the pierogis, to the nicely seasoned minced meat, wrapped in aromatic cabbage and slathered in rich, deep, mushroom gravy, each forkful was a delight of present day culinary standards mixed with old school and old world nostalgia.... [Full Post]
Fruitful Options
...We cleaned our plates—no small feat since these were not small portions—and I eventually convinced Danny that he couldn't really leave without having a dessert crepe, especially with the many options for fillings, from fruit to Nutella to nuts to whipped cream to Oreos to brownies to ice cream to granola and Graham crackers. We, again, customized our own dessert crepe stuffed with fresh bananas and strawberries, and cornflakes, and topped it with drizzles of dark and white chocolate.... [Full post]
L'Afrique? C'est Chic!
...A plentiful and aromatic dish, this was another tasty winner. You could really taste the melange of flavor influences, a hint of mustard in the marinade, some sweeter spices—nutmeg maybe—mixing with spicier ones, and the barely-on-the-bone lamb, with its deeper but not gamier flavor, possessing the quality of imparting its leaner meat's flavor, as well as its fatty flavors (most meats really heavily on its fat content alone for flavor).... [Full post]
Surf & Turf's Up
...I made a tuna tartare, mincing fresh raw tuna with soy sauce, salt, pepper, scallions, fish sauce, and ginger. I chilled the tartare while skillet-grilling an Angus tenderloin steak and making a hollandaise sauce incorporating wasabi paste and a little bit of mustard. After the steak was done and sat for a few minutes, I topped it with the chilled tartare, topped that with a sunny side up egg yolk, and spooned the wasabi hollandaise on top.... [Full post]
The Early Bird
...The vinaigrette also added nuance to the earthy, herbal chicken meat, brightening the meat's flavor with its hits of vinegar, as the red pepper flakes balanced the natural sweetness of the green beans and woke up the corners of my mouth, like a jolt of coffee, preparing me for the rest of my day... [Full post]