Chinatowns: NYC and Boston

Hi, I am back!  I have been doing all sorts of things.  And I will tell you all about it.  But first, I am going to take a few more posts to tell you about the last few places that we loved in NYC and Boston.  And the theme is Chinatown.  Above is the entrance to Boston's Chinatown.  It is much smaller than NYC's, but both were great.  

Here is the Nice/New Green Bo restaurant in NYC's Chinatown.  I showed you the soup dumplings we had.  They are dumplings filled with soup.  Although, they aren't called soup dumplings on the menu.  I can't remember what the English part of the menu said, but I had to ask what dumpling was the soup dumpling.  They are Xiaolongbao in Chinese.  And I think the menu might have said something about pork and buns.  Not sure though.  

They really were delicious.  We also enjoyed the regular pork dumplings.  But filling dumplings with soup is just too good to be true.  I guess they make them by putting frozen cubes of broth in the dough (according to Wikipedia).

The restaurant is not fancy.  Semi-dirty.  They are too busy making amazing soup dumplings to clean, I think.  But I am not complaining because we arrived really late and they kindly served us (we were the only ones in the restaurant).  Although, there was no closing time on the door.

And, you know how at Chinese restaurants, they always serve you tea?  And how most of the time it tastes kind of like water with a little bit of flavor...but it is hard to put your finger on what the flavor actually is?  Maybe it is dust?  Maybe it is a little burnt something or other?  Well, this tea was awesome. No idea what they did.

You can see them cleaning up behind me.

We also checked out Boston's Chinatown.  We went to the New Golden Gate restaurant in Boston.  Like many Chinese restaurants, this one was designed for large families.  They had only a few tables for two people and only a few tables for four people.  The majority of the tables were for 8-10 people.  Secretly wished I was eating with some of those families.  They had so much food and so many different dishes at their tables.  Some of my coworkers, a while back, treated us to a family style Chinese dinner and it was like the best moment of my life.  Gnawing on shell fish shells.  It is what I was born to do.

The two of us shared a shrimp and lobster sauce (below) with white rice and each tried a soup.  I got hot and sour soup (above).  It was amazing.  Scot got a dumpling soup (two up).  It was also delicious.

We had to wait probably half an hour to get a table.  This was on a weeknight.  And it was totally worth it.  They have a lot of seafood and lobster specials, which is what I was tempted to try.  But, I wanted to try soup and knew I couldn't eat a ton.  It was super cheap.  Something like $14 for two soups and the shared meal.

And lastly, we had an avocado smoothie at one of the little Boba tea cafes in Boston's Chinatown.  Scot and I love Boba tea.  My favorite is some sort of a Chai tea.  But, we had to try the avocado smoothie since we love putting avocados in our fruit smoothies.  It was awesome.  Not super sweet actually.  Will definitely try to recreate these at home!

I really loved our time in both of the Chinatowns.  We didn't even have time to try all the things we wanted to try.  Next time!

Sweet Treats in NYC and Boston

We ate a lot when we were in Boston and NYC.  There were way too many things we wanted to try.  I thought I would start by telling you about all the wonderful bakery type places we tried.  

We got a lot of recommendations, but I would have to say that one of Scot's besties gave us the most best recommendations of all.  He has such good taste.  Or at least the same taste as me.  Which is the best kind of taste to have, obv.  ;)

The first place (and one he recommended) is a small bakery/cafe in Boston.  It is called Flour.  He recommended the sticky buns, so that is definitely what I got.  Along with some fresh squeezed orange juice.  And not that I have tried every sticky bun in the world, but this was the best I have ever had.  So soft.  Served warm.  A nice deep, caramel flavor.  Nutty.  Really, really good.  And they have lots of other baked goods and some sandwiches.  

Now, to NYC.  We had to try the famous Doughnut Plant.  It was on my list.  It was also recommended by lots and lots of people.

The "Plant" in the name is very misleading.  This is the smallest little doughnut shop you will ever see.  There is enough room for maybe 10 people inside.  

I don't know if I have told you about the "donut kick" that I recently was on.  Luckily, that kick ended several months ago.  That does not mean I don't eat donuts anymore.  It just means I don't crave them every Thursday morning.  

Also, luckily, I do not live near Doughnut Plant (or any good donut place actually).  Because that kick would be very permanent.  

So, we test tasted four different kinds.  (Test tasted means we just ate them.)  First up, Tres Leches.  By far the best donut on earth.  See Mark (genius behind the donuts) did not start selling cake donuts until 2005!  He worked on his cake donut recipe for 5 years.  And I am kind of a cake donut girl.  And Mark is my cake donut maker boyfriend.  This is the prefect donut.  

We tried one more cake donut.  The Blackout.  This is obviously like a chocolate explosion.  It honestly tasted like a brownie.  Or like chocolate cake.  There is really no excuse to eat this for breakfast.  Unless you just convince yourself that this is a donut.  And that donuts are breakfast appropriate.  But, Scot thoroughly enjoyed this.  The easiest way to tell how much Scot likes something is to see how much of it he left on his face.  

Here is the blueberry yeast donut.  I really liked the yeast donuts too.  The dough itself was not super sweet, which I really like since the glaze is so sweet.  We liked the texture too.  The outside "crust" is very chewy.  

And last, a jelly filled donut.  This was blackberry filling.  I have never liked jelly filled donuts because there is always too much filling.  I like a little filling, with mostly donut.  These donuts are genius because they have a thin tube of filling that runs along the entire length of the square donut.  It is like the perfect bite every time.  Yum!!!

Next, we had to check out the Magnolia Bakery.  It is famous.  Gotta do it.  The one we went to was tiny and so packed with people.  I love that because it makes you know you picked the right place.  They have all sorts of cakes and desserts, but we kept it simple by trying their famous cupcakes.  I was slightly disappointed that we could only pick from some traditional flavors (chocolate cake/chocolate frosting, white cake/white frosting, yellow cake/chocolate frosting, etc.)  You have to place an order to get the more exciting flavors.  

However, it was a delicious cupcake.  And didn't have a ridiculous amount of frosting on it.  I am not a fan of the equal amounts frosting and cake.  I like just a little frosting.  I think I still took some off.  But I am picky.  It was good frosting too.  Definitely a fun experience.  

We also tried out Momofuku Milk Bar.  I was pretty excited about this place.  I had heard a lot about it.  It is a bakery, but not really at all.  The pastry chef tries to stand on the boundary of genius and disgusting.  The menu is made up of crazy soft serve ice cream flavors, delicious cookies and cakes and a few interesting drinks.  We got a sampler of all the ice cream flavors and toppings.  Starting with the purple one on the bottom (in above pic) we had:  purple drink, cereal milk, BBQ sauce, creamed corn, corn flake toppings and potato chip topping.  

Now, at first bite, each ice cream was so intriguing.  Very interesting to get your brain and taste buds to realize what is going on.  But, after a few bites, I had a really hard time with the BBQ one.  Secretly almost made me gag.  

Then, there were two problems.  One, I hate cereal milk.  I never drink the milk after I eat my cereal (something that Scot totally does not approve of).  To me, it is kind of like drinking something out of a bottle and then when it is gone, refilling it with water without washing it out.  So, it kind of tastes like what you just had in the bottle, but not really.  On one hand, I was like, "awesome, you totally replicated the taste of cereal milk and made an ice cream out of it."  On the other hand, I was like, "why did you make ice cream out of it?"  100 points for creativity.

Second problem is that I am not a huge fan of creamed corn.  I mean sure it is a pretty good side dish.  I mean I will eat it.  But it isn't like the most amazing flavor ever.  Not really sure why I would want it in ice cream for.  But, it did taste spot on like creamed corn.  

And I actually really liked the purple drink flavor.  Tasted like Koolaid.  It was a fun spin on a child hood favorite.  We also tried one of the cookies.  The compost cookie.  It was really good.  Has like a million things in it: butterscotch chips, potato chips, pretzels, etc.  Really soft and chewy.  I totally enjoyed our experience at Momofuku.  It was fun to try crazy ice cream flavors.  

And lastly, back to Boston, we got cannolis at Mike's Pastry in North End.  They were delicious (and huge).  I couldn't eat all of mine.  From what I hear, Mike's Pastry is most known for their cannolis, but they have all sorts of baked goods and desserts.  We went with cannolis and were not disappointed.  

It is also cool how they tie your box up with string hanging from the ceiling.  

And this place is so packed.  We went on a Monday night and didn't have to wait too long (maybe 10 minutes with some aggressive ordering).  But we walked by it again on Saturday and the line out the door was ridiculously long.  

Lastly, I don't have a pic for this, but we got some amazing ice cream at Toscanini's in Boston.  I got Vietnamese coffee ice cream and Scot got Hydrox cookie ice cream (apparently Hydrox was the original Oreo, but Oreo stole it or something...)  I also tried the Burnt caramel flavor.  So good!  They had lots of interesting flavors.  Wish I could have tried more.  

Boston and NYC - A Sneak Peak

I just had the most amazing time in Boston and NYC.  I have been to Boston a few times and have loved it every time.  This time I was a little older, less cheap and way cooler.  All three of these things made my Bostonian experience over the top.  And my first time to NYC!  Wow.  I have been really missing out on one of the most amazing cities that I have ever been too.  I have already been talking Scot's head off about either moving there or trying to visit once a year.  I honestly loved every second of our time in NYC.

Luckily, Scot and I have some friends and family who helped us pick out the BEST places to eat.  And, of course, I did some research before hand.  Guess what?  I ate some of the best food of my life.  And a lot of it.  Like we just ate the entire time.  This is why moving to NYC would be a horrible and amazing idea.  Maybe we walked most of it off.

I can't wait to tell you about all these great places.  I thought I would start with a sneak peak of some of my favs.  Then, I hope to give all the details over the next several days.  These recommendations helped us so much, so I hope they can help other people too.

First, probably my favorite thing I had was the pizza from Grimaldi's Pizza in Brooklyn.  And, of course, I love pizza.  Who doesn't.  But pizza is not my favorite food, by any means.  This is a BIG deal.  So simple and so perfect.  Worth the hour wait.  Worth even longer of a wait.  I am counting down the days when I can go back.

Next, we had these soup dumplings in Chinatown in NY.  The restaurant is called Nice/New Green Bo.  These are dumplings filled with soup!  Scot called it a party in your mouth.  They were so tender and the burst of soup, pork and crab when you finally open them in your mouth is delicious.  Best dumplings ever.  Best recommendation ever.

And we also were told to go to this Venezuelan place (called Caracas) for arepas in NYC.  And we did.  YUMMMM.  I was tempted to try one with each filling (there were about 20 to choose from).  Instead we picked two.  BTW, an arepa is this unleavened bread made of corn.  Then, they fill it with various cheeses, meats, and veggies (lots of avocado).  So so good.  They also have empanadas.  Also amazing.

This is a really horrible picture of the best pasta I have ever eaten.  O.  M.  G.  This was from Terramia in Boston's North End.  We were luck enough to be in Boston and NYC during both cities' Restaurant Week.  And totally scored on picking out this little 40 seat Italian restaurant.  Part of the reason I picked it was because the Restaurant Week menu did not have a dessert course.  Just had 3 regular courses.  I think sometimes the Restaurant Week menus' dessert courses are kind of lame.  Oh and, this was a bolognese sauce with homemade pasta.  Honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten.  Honestly wanted to kiss the chef.

Now that I just bashed Restaurant Week desserts, this was my dessert from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Restaurant Week Menu.  In NYC.  Had to put that in a separate sentence due to too many proper nouns.  Anyways, this is a bread pudding with some fruit in the bread pudding and then a delicious raspberry sauce.  My idea of a perfect dessert.  And I have always been kind of scared of bread pudding. It just sounds gross.  I would order this again and again.

This is by far the best cup of coffee I have had in a long time.  Stumptown in NYC.  A really cute coffee shop where all of the employees dress up in roaring 20's garb.  They are adorable.  And amazing baristas.  I have a special place in my heart for baristas who make designs in my cappuccino.  Especially hearts.  And this woman did.  And she smiled and chatted with me.  Also, they sell this $75 package of coffee beans (Panama Esmeralda Especial, the guy explained that has been decided by all real coffee drinkers that it IS the best coffee in the world).  I will have one,  Thanks.

And that...is just scratching the surface.  I will be writing in more detail about these places.  But mostly, I have many more places to tell you about.  I had to pick favorites.  Which apparently I don't have a problem doing.  :)

Homemade Oreos

Well, I have been a bad blogger lately, huh?  I love pretending like I am too busy to blog.  Makes me feel really cool.  

The truth is, yeah, actually, I am just too busy to blog.  Booyah.

Anyways, I love blogging.  And I made these Oreos kind of a long time ago.  Never posted them.  

I made these Oreos for mothers and friends.  Mailed them out in care packages.  First, these were not my favorite cookies of the bunch (these were).  Second, they were just about everyone else's favorite cookie.  Could it be that people got a kick out of "homemade Oreos"?  Or maybe it was because they were the only real chocolaty cookie out of the four I made?  Maybe they are just amazing?  Probs.

I have what I call a negative sweet tooth.  I have no idea why.  But I can't take it when desserts are too sweet.  So, for me, these were just a tad too sweet.  The chocolate wafer recipe calls for a range of sugar...I would suggest using the least amount. And, I would prefer that the filling had less vanilla in it.  I would suggest 1/2 tsp rather than 2 tsp.  I didn't change the recipe below because I am no dessert queen and everyone else really liked them.  But Scot agreed about the vanilla.  And I would call him the dessert king.  Or at least the chocolate king.  

Homemade Oreos

adapted from Retro Desserts, Wayne Brachman via smitten kitchen

For the chocolate wafers:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1 large egg

For the filling:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa,

baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the

butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes

together in a mass.

Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

(Servings: 25-30 sandwich cookies, Prep time: 30 min, Cook time: 1 hr., Difficulty: Easy)

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Grilled Peach, Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Pizza

We had a little stay-cation over the past few days.  Scot’s bro and sis-in-law came to visit.  And, of course, our amazing little nephew came with.  We had a wonderful time.  We are totally in love with this little baby.  He has the cutest personality and is such a happy boy.  And guess what?  He is a great eater.  I think they have a potential foodie on their hands.  This is probably strongly related to all the wonderful homemade baby food his mom makes him.  J

Anyways, we had this pizza one night they were here.  I wanted to incorporate some Colorado peaches into a menu.  Colorado peaches are by far the best produce to come out of CO, for sure. 

This pizza is very clean and simple.  A combination of thinly sliced peaches, goat cheese and prosciutto.  You put that on anything and I will love it.  And I like to top these fruit pizzas with a lightly dressed salad.  I had a pizza similar to this at SALT in downtown Boulder for brunch a week or so ago.  They used blue cheese instead of goat cheese, which was also delicious.  But, as you know, I have an unhealthy obsession with goat cheese.  And I am totally ok with it.  

Grilled Peach, Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Pizza

1 pizza dough

1-2 peaches, peels and sliced thin

5 oz. of goat cheese, crumbled

3-5 slices or prosciutto

olive oil

salt and pepper

mixed greens

balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below)

Preheat grill to medium heat. Oil grates.

Divide dough into three equal pieces. Roll out each pizza to about 8 inches in diameter. The dough should be thin.

Precook each crust on the grill by cooking for 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove crusts from the grill and decrease heat to medium low. Top with peach slices, goat cheese and slices of prosciutto. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place each pizza back on the grill, close the lid, and cook until crust is crispy and toppings are warmed through.

Toss mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette. Top pizza with salad and serve!

(Servings: 3, Prep time: 15 min., Cook time: 15 min., Difficulty: Easy)

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 tsp Dijon mustard

a splash of soy sauce

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

In the bottom of a big bowl, whisk together mustard, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Continue to whisk, and as slowly as possible, stream in olive oil. By doing so slowly, this will emulsify the oil and vinegar (and then it won’t

separate).

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Egg Salad Sandwich

I have been majorly craving eggs lately.  Not really normal for me.  

I have been eating scrambled eggs on toast (spread with goat cheese) and REALLY enjoyed some deviled eggs at game night.  When my friend asked me for an egg salad recipe lately, I couldn't help but make myself a sandwich too.  

I have learned recently that two of my friends don't like eggs.  And my sister in law is not a fan either.  Seems pretty common.  I have gone through small spurts of being uninterested in eggs.  But I have mad respect for the little guys.  They are pretty much the most useful ingredient out there.  So those spurts never lasted long.  And right now I am in an egg obsessed spurt.  

Random side story that does not flow at all:  When I was little, we used to have hard boiled eggs.  We just ate them.  Not sure if this was just around Easter, I feel like it was more often than that.  But, my brother and I were the perfect egg pair.  He liked the whites and I liked the yolks.  I ate both, but he did not eat yolks.  And we always traded everything...nothing in life is free.  You don't just get my egg yolk for doing nothing.  Therefore, I often gave up my whites.  Yikes!  Glad I am not still on an egg yolk only diet.  

Make this sandwich.  It was so amazing.  

Egg Salad Sandwich

from Closet Cooking

2 eggs

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon grainy mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 stalk celery (sliced)

1 green onion (sliced)

salt and pepper to taste

2 leaves of lettuce

2 slices of bread

Place the eggs in a sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil.

Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for seven minutes.

Transfer the eggs to a large bowl filled with cold water and let cool.

Peel the eggs and mash to the desired consistency mixing in the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, celery and green onions.

Assemble sandwich.

(Servings: 1, Prep time: 15 min., Cook time: 0 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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Summer Squash Enchiladas

These were delicious!  

I have never been crazy about enchiladas.  I think I sometimes ate enchiladas as a young child.  And, I guess, I love my favorite New Mexican green chile enchiladas.  But, I don't even think I have ever made a traditional red batch of enchiladas.  

One reason is because I don't like store bought enchilada sauce.  I think it tastes like a cross between ketchup, dirt, salt and raw, stingy jalapenos.

This sauce is the best enchiladas sauce I have had.  And I love that these are vegetarian.  Mexican is so rarely vegetarian. 

One change I would make is to fry the corn tortillas before wrappin' and rollin'.  I normally do, but this time wanted to try just warmed the corn tortillas in the oven, as the recipe states.  Even after dredging it in sauce and covered it with cheese, I still think corn tortillas taste too raw/dry if they aren't fried.  You can just fry them each in a couple of tablespoons of oil.  

Also, we ate these with some cilantro-lime rice.  

Summer Squash Enchiladas

By Homesic Texan

For the enchilada sauce:

10 dried cascabel chiles or 6 dried guajillo chiles

1 canned chipotle chile

2 teaspoons of oil, divided

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

1 15-oz. canned tomatoes, drained

2 cups of chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

Salt and black pepper to taste

For the filling:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, stems and seeds removed, diced

2 zucchini and 2 yellow squash, diced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt, cayenne and black pepper to taste

For the enchiladas:

12 corn tortillas

2 cups shredded cheese, a mix of Monterey Jack and cheddar

To make the sauce, in a dry skillet heated on high, take the chiles and toast the chiles on each side for about 10 seconds or just until they start to puff. Leave the heat on and cover the chiles with water. When the water begins to boil and then turn off the heat and let chiles soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain the chiles and add to a blender.

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a skillet and cook the onions for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Place onions and garlic into a blender. Add the canned chipotle chile, the tomatoes, chicken broth, cumin, oregano and blend until smooth.

In a pot, heat 1 teaspoon of oil on low heat, pour in the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and black pepper to taste and adjust other seasonings as needed.

To make the filling, in a large skillet, heat up the oil on medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeños and cook for a minute. Add the diced zucchini and yellow squash, cilantro, cumin and sauté for 10 minutes. Add salt, cayenne and black pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Wrap the tortillas in foil and place in the oven for 5 minutes while the oven is preheating.

Remove tortillas from oven, open the foil (be careful as there may be hot steam), take a tortilla and with tongs dip it into the sauce. Shake off most of the sauce, but make sure that it’s moist enough to be pliable. Lay the tortilla on a plate or clean cooking surface, add a spoonful of the filling down the center of it and then roll the tortilla. Place rolled enchilada in greased baking dish and repeat with remaining tortillas.

Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with shredded cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling. Serve topped with avocado wedges and cotija cheese.

Note: Cascabel chiles are round, about the size of a golf ball and they make a rattling sound when you shake them. Guajillo chiles are red, slender and usually about 4 inches long—they look very similar to New Mexico dried red chiles. Now,

in Houston I’ve seen guajillo chiles labeled cascabel chiles—so if it’s long and slender and not round, chances are it’s a guajillo chile. These chiles are commonly found at Mexican grocers, all across the US. If you can't find them, you can substitute ancho chiles, which may be easier to find--I'd use 4.

(Servings: 4-6, Prep time: 1 hr. 30 min., Cook time: 15 min., Difficulty: Easy)

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