A Very Gluten-Free Birthday, Concluded

Guess what?  I didn't find my camera card reader!   But that's okay - my wonderful roommate let me use her camera with my memory card so that I wouldn't keep you waiting any longer on the delicious food that I've been making these past few days.

But before we can get to those recipes, we need to talk about the birthday dinner we had last Thursday.  Listen to me - if you've never been to Rosa Mexicano, go.  Go now.  They have locations in most major cities around the country, including the wonderful New York City, so you have no excuse.  We went to the location by Lincoln Center, which is really convenient for Fordham students!

One thing I love about Rosa Mexicano is that yes, they have a gluten-free menu, but it really isn't a separate menu!  The food at Rosa doesn't really use gluten in most of it, so it wasn't more expensive or more of a hassle for Joe to get his food.  In fact, Joe and I ordered the very same thing... he didn't even say that he couldn't have gluten!

Here is our dinner at Rosa, in pictures:

We had to start off with Rosa's delicious fresh guacamole.  And when I say fresh, I mean it.  They make your guac tableside (to your spiciness specifications!) and serve it right to you with unlimited chips.  Sometimes, when it's not as busy, they serve it with hot tortillas as well, which makes for a great guacamole taco.

Yes, the guacamole is a little expensive, but you cannot skip it.  If you do, you'll be in trouble with me.  That's right.

They also bring two kinds of hot sauce, but this is my favorite.  It has a smoky chipotle flavor, and it tastes great with the guac.

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Now, it's time for the main course...

Pork tacos!  Last time I came, I got enchiladas, so I decided to go with something new.  Everything comes on the plate ready for you to assemble: tortillas, pork with marinaded onions, lettuce, THE MOST AMAZING CORN SALSA EVER, beans, and a hot sauce that I didn't try.

I didn't get a close-up picture that was very good, but the corn salsa was so amazing.  It was grilled corn in a sweet sauce that tasted a bit like mayo and creme fraiche.  I will find the recipe and make it... I can't be away from it.

This was Andrea's dinner - look at that humongous pork shank!

We all shared some refried black beans and cilantro rice.  Joe couldn't eat the beans because they had cheese in them, but he could eat the rice.

Remember my little quiz the other day?  "How can you tell authentic Mexican food from fake Mexican food?"  Here's the answer: CORN tortillas, not flour.  And that means that Joe can eat them!

Time to assemble: I put a little bit of everything into the tortilla, and it was amazing.  I added a little bit of that chipotle sauce too!

And in the end, I polished off most everything except for the pork.  Look at how much there is left!  I took it all home, and I'm looking forward to eating it with some corn, sour cream, and cheese!

Jeremy, on the other hand, couldn't save any of his food because it was so good.  He got chicken enchiladas... and it looks like they were amazing.

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So, what did everyone think of the food??

I think those smiles say it all.

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So, if you're looking for some authentic Mexican food, head over to Rosa Mexicano.  You can find their locations on their website: www.rosamexicano.com.

I've been on an Italian kick this weekend, and you will all reap the benefits.  Get ready for an amazing Arthur Ave grilled cheese!

Photo Importing Setbacks

I have so much to share with you all about Rosa Mexicano and the sandwich I made for snack this afternoon, but I can't find my photo card reader!  So, while I frantically look for it, here's a little something to tide you over in the meantime:

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"Never Go to the Grocery Store on an Empty Stomach"

I understand this phrase.  I really do.  Because if you go to the grocery store and you're hungry, your irrational stomach is going to take over your rational mind that is telling you to stop buying all of this junky food.  Because if you buy this food, you'll eat it.  And then you'll hate yourself when you have to run even more due to your guilty conscience and desire to wear a swimsuit this summer.

Summer is way too close for comfort.

So anyways, what I was saying was that I definitely understand this phrase.  But what if you go to the grocery store after you've been in class for two and a half hours, given a tour to some prospective Fordham students, dropped off a percussion book at the theatre, and gotten some library books for your 15-page paper due next week?  What if you don't even realize that you're hungry until you enter the store and come to the horrible realization that you are, in fact, ravenous??

I'll tell you what.  You'll end up with these:

Yeah, you read them right.  "Fully Loaded Baked Potato" flavored potato chips.  What have I gotten myself into?

Well, I've had Kettle Brand chips before, and I do absolutely love them.  As the brand suggests, they are kettle-cooked, which I definitely prefer to your traditional greasy chip.  Also, Kettle Foods is all about making all-natural food that just tastes great.  There are no GMO's, no gluten, no trans fats.  So, when I end up buying a bag of chips at the store, at least I know that I'm not getting any weird additives in my food.

As for the flavor, it wasn't as strong as I had imagined.  It tasted really similar to Sour Cream & Onion flavor, with a hint of bacon flavor every once in awhile.  There are 13 other flavors of chips as well, from Death Valley Chipotle to Yogurt and Green Onion to regular old unsalted flavor.  You can check them all out at the website: www.kettlefoods.com.

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So, there's your lesson for today, everyone.  Take heed next time you go to the grocery store!  Once I find my card reader, there are lots more fun things to come, I promise!  Wish me luck!

A Very Gluten-Free Birthday, Part 2

Tonight we are going to:

The best Mexican restaurant I've ever been to.

And, yes, I grew up in New England, so my forte is seafood, not Mexican.  But even my roommate from Oklahoma agrees that this is the best darn Mexican restaurant she's been to in NYC, at least.

Question of the day: How can you tell a real Mexican restaurant from an Americanized imitation Mexican restaurant???

Answer... tomorrow when I show you all my pictures!

(Note: The answer to the above question is solidified in fact only by my Texan friend, Steve, who told me this once.  So if you've talked to him, you might know the answer.  If not... it's anyone's ballgame)

A Very Gluten-Free Birthday

So I told you yesterday that I was baking a cake for the first gluten-free birthday that we’re celebrating, and guess what?  It turned out pretty good!  I used a store-bought mix, which made it a lot easier, but next time I definitely want to try to make it from scratch. 

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How to make it:

I bought Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake Mix at Whole Foods (have you ever been to Whole Foods?  They have EVERYTHING!) and I was pretty happy with the result.  I made a traditional vanilla cake, but the cool thing is that on the back of the package, Pamela’s tells you how to make lots of other baked goods by using simple variations, which I definitely want to try.  You can make everything from lemon cakes to Snickerdoodles!

To the mix, you just add eggs…

 

…1/3 cup of oil…

 …and 1/2 cup of water.  Then mix and pour into a greased cake pan.  I ended up baking mine for about 26 minutes, and it seemed just right.

When it first came out, it seemed a little spongey and poofy on the top.  After awhile (because it was so, so hot in my apartment) it got really sticky, so I put it in the fridge and covered it until the next day.  This helped it from being too sticky to frost.

I also  bought frosting at Whole Foods, and I had used this kind before.  It’s made by Cherrybrook Kitchen, and they make many other dairy free/gluten free products as well.  My only complaint is that it is really sticky – kind of a cross between frosting and clear icing.  Again, I definitely want to make my own next time, but this worked.

You can also color this icing!  Most food coloring is safe for GF/DF, I have found, but you should definitely check the label (and the tube itself to make sure it isn’t contaminated!).  I picked green…because it’s Joe’s favorite color!

Finally, I bought these 365 Vegan Chocolate Chips (a Whole Foods brand) as an experiment, and guess what?  They taste EXACTLY like regular chocolate chips.  They contain soy rather than milk, but they’re delicious, and I have to say that I’ve been sneaking some on the sly.  I melted them in the microwave, added a tiny bit of oil, and drizzled the chocolate over the cake before I wrote on it.  Plus, once I refrigerated it, the chocolate hardened… it was yum yum!

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The end result:

The cake was very well received among our gluten-free dairy-free birthday boy and all of his non-food-allergic pals.  It was denser than I expected, so I couldn’t eat a lot of it, but I definitely kept picking off the chocolate pieces and eating them.  So was Joe, which he hasn’t been able to do in a long, long time (he was dairy-free even before he was gluten-free!).

I didn’t prefer the frosting to homemade frosting just because it was so thick, so I’ll have to improve on that, but I’ll bet it would be really good as a glaze on breakfast baked goods like scones.  It’s better in moderation than in excess!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE!  I hope your 21^st birthday was all you hoped, and I hope that this birthday cake made up for the one you didn’t have last year.  And I promise to go all gluten-free Betty Crocker on you next year and make an even BETTER cake… just as long as I don’t have a 15-page paper due the next day.

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But Joe’s birthday isn’t done!  We’re going out to a great restaurant tomorrow night, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you.  Seriously, you’ll die.

Also, I went out to the grocery store right after class to pick up stuff for not just one… but TWO (hopefully) great sandwiches that I’ve been thinking about for the past week.  And one of them is grilled cheese!

New ventures

Tomorrow is the first gluten-free birthday that Joe will be celebrating!  So, of course this requires a gluten-free cake.  I've picked up some promising products from Whole Foods, and it will certainly be an adventure.

Wish me luck!!!

Everything you could ever want...

...is here.

Last week, my coworkers brought me along to their favorite deli/market, and I have fallen in love.  It's called Bread & Butter, and it literally has any food you could ever want, ever.  The website, http://www.habitstobemade.com/, was not up when I checked, so you'll just have to take my word on it.  You have your typical deli fare: sandwiches, paninis, wraps, salads, and soups.  But, you can also get things like sushi, smoothies, pizza, and burgers!  There's a full hot food bar, as well as a cold bar with fruit and vegetables, and everything is really fresh.  Seriously, I walk in and I don't know where to go.

The view from the mezzanine seating of Bread & Butter.  How can you ever make a decision?


It also doesn't help that they have a full market in the back, loaded with tons of snacks and drinks that I want to get my hands on.  Remember my love affair with Kashi bars?  It all started here.  However, I have to remind myself that I live over 150 blocks away from this market, in an entirely separate borough, and I cannot be lugging bags of groceries on a jam-packed 4 train.  It just is not going to happen.

So far I've only stuck to the traditional deli fare: paninis and salads.  But I have to say, they were DELICIOUS!  I got an Italian panini with sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and prosciutto (among other things) and I was in heaven.  I also got a hand-tossed salad (twice), and I picked everything that I wanted in it.

Today, I ventured back over to the panini station, and I couldn't make up my mind.  Did I want something different and new?  A unique combination of ingredients that I couldn't find anywhere else?  Was I truly going to put the "gourmet" in undergrad gourmet???

Nope.  I got a tuna melt.  Regular old tuna salad, tomato, lettuce, celery, cheese.  But let me tell you...

THAT TUNA MELT WAS THE BEST DANG TUNA MELT I HAVE EVER HAD!!

Seriously!  I was absolutely shocked when I bit into it.  What could possibly make a tuna melt this good?  I never did get to the bottom of that mystery, mainly because I was super hungry and before I knew it, the sandwich was gone.  But I will attest that if you've ever eaten a tuna melt, it was not as good as the one I had today.  Not to be mean.  But it's definitely true.

 Once I took a bite of this sandwich, I knew that I needed to share it with you.  Hence the one missing bite.

Look at all of that tuna melt-y goodness!  It was so perfect.

And, they serve every sandwich with a bread and butter pickle.  Did I mention that I love pickles?


So if you're in the area, GO TO BREAD AND BUTTER!  It's located at Park Avenue South and 29th St, so it's a short-ish walking distance from Herald Sq.  You may leave with armfuls of delicious food, but it will be so worth it.  Trust me.  But don't send me the bill.

Bread and Butter, I love you.

Spring weekend celebration: Sangria

In honor of spring weekend, I decided to make a nice spring/summer beverage for my friends.  It's light, it's fruity, and it serves a lot of people (on a budget!).  This Spanish drink is sangria, and let's just cut to the chase... here's the recipe.

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What you'll need:

• A bottle of red wine
• Apple juice
• A lemon
• An orange
• Apple(s)
• Pear(s)

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How to make it:

Mix together a bottle of wine and apple juice.  Take a really grainy picture of the wine and apple juice, mixed together.  I used a 1.5 liter bottle of red wine and about 45 oz. of apple juice.  Then, let it sit overnight.

The next day, grab a lemon and an orange.  Wash them well because everything's going to go into your drink!

Let's do the lemon first.  Cut off the ends.  These don't belong here.

Then, cut it up into thin slices.  You want lots of lemon in your sangria!

Have your roommate put them into the wine/apple juice mixture because she's really excited to make it too.

Now we'll do the orange the same way.  Bye-bye ends.

Slice slice slice 'n dice!

And add the oranges.  Make sure you stir them a little, then stick the bowl back in the fridge for three hours.

Wooo, look at the color of those oranges and lemons!  That's an excellent sign.

Now, we're going to work with our pear and apples.  I like more apples, so I decided to use two.  Just like the oranges and lemons, wash them well.

 

Then, cutting around the core, chop your apple into medium-sized chunks.  You want them big enough that people can munch on them afterward, but not so big that they'll be a bother.

Into the bowl!

Do the same with the pear...

Into the bowl too!  Just stir... and it's ready to go!  Beware of antsy friends who want to get their hands on your sangria.

But they do make for great photography subjects.

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Have a great spring/summer day!

Don't be Afraid

 

These may seem like scary, gross, smelly, disgusting, rotten bananas, but they're really a blessing in disguise.  They are a gift on Christmas morning.  A tiny, fluffy kitten.  A sweet....

Okay, I'll stop now.  But really, they are a GOOD thing because BLACK BANANAS means...

BANANA BREAD!!!!

I'm going to cut to the chase, but let me just say that if you've never had banana bread, you are missing out on a wonderful, wonderful thing.  Sometimes I let my bananas go bad just so that I can make bread.  Or I'll hide them when I'm home because I don't want anyone to eat them while I let them get browner and browner.  I know that my dad appreciates that, because he loves banana bread as much as I do.  Sorry, Dad, you can't have any this time because I'm two hours away, three by train.  Don't worry, I'll make some when I'm home in two weeks.

(Can you hide the bananas now, please?)

Okay, here we go.  I've been using and tweaking this recipe for many moons now, and I shall share it with all of you.

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What you'll need:

Salt, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking soda, yucky bananas, eggs, and a stick of butter.

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How to make it:

First, you want to soften the butter a little and throw it into a large mixing bowl.  When the butter is too hard for me to cream, I just put the whole stick into the microwave for a couple of minutes on each side, until it's soft but not melted.

Now, add 3/4 cups brown sugar into the bowl.  You don't have to add it one-quarter at a time like me if you have proper cooking utensils and an organized kitchen.  And I'm sorry that this picture is sideways; my computer and I are having a fight.

Cream the butter and sugar together until they are thoroughly combined.  Don't eat this, even though its delicious.  Amazing.  Sugary buttery goodness.  Really, don't eat it.  Don't... eat...

Well... I guess a little taste never hurt anyone.

Now, carefull peel your bananas and add the chunks right into the bowl.  Don't be worried about brown spots; it's okay! 

Also, this recipe works with almost any number of bananas; I've done it with anywhere from 2 to 5.  If you have 6, you should probably just make two batches, which is never a bad thing, right?

Smash up the bananas with a fork until there aren't any huge chunks; then, combine it with the butter/sugar recipe.

Add in your eggs.  If you want to go by the book, scramble them before you add them into the batter.  But we're undergrad gourmets here!  We can't be bothered with washing extra dishes.

We have 15-page papers on South Africa due!  And gay rights movements to research!  And Spring Weekend to celebrate!  Errr... yeah.  Homework.  That's why I can't wash dishes.

Now, pretend like there is a picture of me adding 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tsp baking soda, and 2 cups of flour because my camera battery died.  Mix it all together until it is combined and looks like this.

Pour all of that yummy batter into a greased loaf pan, and stick it in the oven at 350 degrees F.  It can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, so watch the color on it towards the end, especially if you're using a terrible dorm oven.

Oh man.  Oh baby.  This is what you want it to look like.  To check for doneness, stick a knife down the center and see if it comes out clean.  In my case, it was actually not completely done in the middle, but I had places to be, so I took it out anyways.  It actually finished cooking while it was out of the oven.  So that works too.

Cut along the sides and flip the bread out onto a plate (don't burn yourself).  See?  I told you that rotten bananas weren't scary.  Does this bread look scary to you??

I didn't think so.

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Things you can do with your banana bread recipe:

• Add chocolate chips
• Add raisins
• Add Craisins
• Add marshmallows
• Add candy bars
• Add nuts
• Add berries
• Add any combination of the above
• Give it to your mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/sister/brother/aunt/uncle/boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend as a gift to make them love you more
• Keep it all for yourself, eat it all, and feel super guilty
• Eat it for breakfast after you heat it up in the microwave
• Put cream cheese on it
• Put whipped cream on it
• Put butter on it
• Put peanut butter on it
• Put Nutella on it
• Put all of the above on it

Or, my personal favorite (an idea courtesy of my aunt, uncle, and cousin in Florida):

• Bake the recipe in muffin pans and have everyone put their own favorite addition in a couple of them.  Or, just make tons of varieties all for yourself.  I don't judge!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some eati... err... studying to attend to.