We really did keep it simple the first few weeks of class so on the second day of cooking we made a savory mango salsa. Yummmmmmmm!
All we did was cut up 2 mangos, 4 kiwis, about 1/2 a red onion, and 1 jalapeno and mixed it all of that with 3/4 cup of sweet corn, 2tbs minced cilantro, some lime juice, and a little bit of salt to taste.
I know, when you see a mango salsa you're not expecting a savory sweet kinda deal but believe me, it's almost better than a normal salsa. At least worth a shot!
This semester I'm in a great class that I'm so excited about called food preparation. 3 hours of lecture and then actual hands on cooking which is so much fun. It makes me want to go to culinary school more and more.
Anyways, the first day that we actually got to cook in was basics so we made a tomato salsa!
It was a pretty simple first class. We cut up 4 tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of jalapeno, 1/4 cup of minced scallion, 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, and about 2 tablespoons of lime juice. I think we added a splash of tomato juice to thicken it just a tiny bit and added salt to taste.
It was a really good salsa. Actually it was the first salsa I've ever made so I'm pretty proud of myself. Not that it was a difficult recipe but small steps!
A few of my friends and I have this great Mexican grill where we love to go. Pitchers of margaritas are a must and at Mariachis they're fantastic and not too expensive.
Of course Mariachis moved and is now Don Patrons but it's pretty much the same exact thing only a new name.
For my friend's 22nd birthday this past February she decided she wanted to go. It's still good. Even as Don Patron.
It's almost a tradition to order margaritas and just about everyone upgrades and orders a giant Corona-Rita (A margarita with a little bottle of Corona tipped upside down in it). It's a crazy.
Back when it was Mariachis I ordered a Taco salad which was so much food and really really good.
This time around I decided on the Enchiladas Verdes O Rojas (I think?) which was really good. There's just enough sauce on top that mixes well with the rice and gives everything tons of great flavor. The plate is also a great size and is really filling!
Since it was my friend's birthday her boyfriend arranged for a birthday dessert which turned out to be deep fried ice cream with a cute little candle on it. It was super cute! She passed it around too because we were all so full so I got a try. Deep Fried Ice Cream is Boss. I can't believe I've never had it before! I want to go back just for that right now honestly.
Sounds a little weird I know, but I did make some pizza buns just in time for the Superbowl this year!
I found the recipe online and it was a super easy to make and a big hit at the party I went to.
Take some of those instant pre-made biscuits in a tube, separate them out and flatten them. Then take a little pizza sauce and top it with whatever you like. The recipe I found was just classic pepperoni and cheese so I figured I'd try to go with that for my first try with these pizza buns.
Turns out kind of knowing how to make dumplings/pork buns came in handy! Fold up the sides to make a dough-ball and bake at 425 for 18-20minutes! Brush them with an eggwash and sprinkle with garlic powder and oregano or whatever you like. I packed them in kind of tight to keep them together. We had to reheat them by the time I got to the superbowl so personally they were a little dry but I'm pretty confident that right out of the oven, they would've been perfect!
Super easy to make and a great treat to bring to parties and whatnot. Plus it's pretty cheap to make a lot of them which is always great for broke college kids!
New Years is one of my favorite times of the year. The asian food markets in town always have the best treats and pastries for New Years and my family celebrates like crazy.
Dad always starts off by doing his food offering/prayer deals which are just comforting. It sounds a little odd but coming home from school to a makeshift table right as you open the front door is fun. There's always special cakes and a whole boiled chicken (head and all.. when I say whole, I mean whole) sitting next to incense that fills the whole house.
Dragon dances and lucky money in red envelops are like Christmas for us asian kids. (Only I get Christmas too thanks to mom so it's like Christmas part two).
This year, was actually the first time I saw actual cakes at the store though, so my mom and I got pretty excited. So, here is us Asians adapting to American life, making cakes!
Even when we do cake's it different though! All the fruit says enough for me. I can already see the inside being a light vanilla angel cake kind of deal with fruit in between the layers and the frosting being a light whipped cream. Some things are easy to conclude. And I love it.
Take two was much more adventurous and a little more exciting. 20 of us loud americans in a tiny little restaurant's second floor. Cuba is never ready for us all. They did a pretty great job though.
I started off my sharing a ceviche with one of my friends that was fantastic! It was super tart but the seafood was incredible, I would eat a huge plate of that and be happy.
Then as a main dish I tried a curried rabbit. This is the first rabbit I've ever eaten and it was also really really really good. I would eat rabbit again just based off of this.
Of course it came with a side of rice and those classic Cuban plantains (we could seriously not get enough of it). Seriously, 304 knows how to make food and it was the best way to end the trip in Cuba.
What is a streetzza you ask? A street pizza. That's right, we got street pizzas in Cuba. And honestly, I wish I had tried one sooner because it was great!
This cost the equivalent of $1 here in America and it was steaming hot and delicious. One of our favorite streets to walk down (Obispo) had little places all over serving pizza like this. I hadn't planned on eating fast food to go in Cuba but turns out, they know what's up.
This pizza was cheap and super great. I wish I had more of them, they were worth way more than $1!
That foodie boy that was on the trip with me had a couple of restaurants he would not stop talking about that he HAD to go to. 304 O'Reilly was one of them. Near the end of our trip we decided we would go there as a group for dinner. But plans tend to be tricky so before this group dinner a few of my friends and I decide we would go, just the four of us, for lunch. This place was great.
304 has such a great atmosphere and of course they play pretty new American music which was kind of cool for Cuba. That day for lunch I ordered a pasta with shrimp because I was on a seafood roll and since it's so fresh in Cuba I figured I'd take advantage of it while I could.
This dish wasn't anything crazy or super special but it was still pretty good and just being there was really fun. It actually felt pretty modern and a little American which was nice. Visit number one to 304 O'Reilly - Check.
One of our class adventures was a cool little cave tour including Havana Club Rum, mini boat ride, and another Cuban lunch.
AKA chicken and rice with plantains. It honestly did not get old, at all. This place was SUPER cute and SUPER touristy because cave rides and cuba food. Yes. There were even cute chickens and puppies walking around just hanging out. I know some people aren't fans but I'm all about the super cute stray animals walking around. It makes my heart sad but they're adorable.
Anyways, this place was a little different with their desserts. We got these tiny little pieces of pomegranate jelly that are so concentrated that little slice is all you need! Kind of reminds me of some candy I've had in America before.. Not a crowd favorite but I was a fan!
Later that night we have some free time so a bunch of us went out to dinner. We just ended up wandering around and found ourselves at this nice place called El Rum Rum. What a perfect name. A few of us decided to share dishes and I ordered a roasted garlic butter calamari.
It was incredible. I was a little too chicken to order the calamari in squid ink but one day I'll have a dish with it.
This was still really great though. A little small but still sizzling as it came to the table which was pretty impressive. They calamari was really tender and full of flavor. First time I've had it prepared this way but it's definitely not going to be the last.
We spent the next day in Havana visiting Photo Techa the cute little photo gallery, followed by this really awesome graphic design studio where workers were making the coolest screen printed images.
Anyways!, we finished with the studio visits just in time for a late lunch and the whole group of us walked around and found a place to eat, Don Giovanni. We ended up eating outside under some umbrella tables (because Cuba in January is sunny and 80degrees and beautiful all the time). They had a really good group of 5 girls dressed in matching outfits and shoes singing and playing little instruments. We even had a cute little stray puppy hanging out with us and napping under my chair. She followed us on our way home and I was a little worried but also wanted to keep her forever. I hope she's doing alright..
About the lunch! This meal was really good and fresh. Rice with black beans, shrimp, fish, and I think squid? I forget... I love seafood so having this meal fresh from the water of Cuba was great. Not the best of my life, but good for sure.
About half of the days in Cuba we had free time to walk around and photograph but we are art kids on a school trip so we did have meetings. One day before some art gallery visits our professors took us out to lunch. Excitedly, we all run onto the bus and ended up at this cool restaurant - 'El Aljibe'. (We really did get excited about these trips and things, we're all little kids on a field trip and we were having way too much seeing all the art and new places in Cuba). So when we pulled up next to the restaurant one of this guys on the trips with us quickly explained that Anthony Bourdain went to this place and it was really cool. Now, I'm kind of a foodie (why else would I dedicate time to a food blog...) so once he said that, I was pretty excited.
El Aljibe is a really nice restaurant not far from Havana. Its a very open restaurant with very few walls and a solid roof of leaves. Turns out they're pretty famous for their roasted chicken which is exactly what we had for lunch served family style.
Of course being in Cuba, we go another round of plantain chips (so good) and the best roast chicken and rice of the trip. They even have an awesome gravy they make from the chicken drippings that they pour on top of the rice. I need that again. Right now. Yummmmm
The hotel where we stayed offered complementary breakfast which at first was pretty cool, and then quickly became not so great. Oh Cuba, you tried.
Of course being a broke college kid, I still did eat breakfast almost every day there.. free food is still free food so what does that say about me...
Each morning we would go to the top floor (the 6th) and we would have this beautiful view of Cuba. We would sit down where a nice hotel attendant would ask us if we wanted an omelet, scrambled, or fried eggs. While we waited we would get a mystery meat plate with hot dogs, cheese, and a random assortment of vegetables. Bread and other pastries were up for grabs along with some pineapple and other fruits. Typically I would pour myself a glass of orange/guava juice and by then the eggs would be at the table. Unfortunately, a lot of the fruit and veggies were frozen before hand and bread in Cuba is not the same as bread in America. Really Cuba, thanks for trying. Food is food though so it did the job well enough to give us something to run on for the rest of the morning.
This January a group of us went to Havana, Cuba for class for 10ish days. It was wonderful and warm and pretty and the Cuban people were so nice to us. They're such happy people and it's crazy to see colorful buildings and retro cars that are falling apart while everyone walks around with a smile.
We got there pretty early in the day and three of us ended up walking around for a place to eat.
We ended up in this little square and at first we walking into this Restaurant that Ernest Hemingway used to go to or something to do with him, I'm not awesome at history, I have no idea. But 'Floradita' was crazy packed and was full of tourist drinking and while we did take photos, we decided not to eat there.
Instead we went right next door to 'La Pina De Plata' which had the cutest decorations. Our first taste of Cuba on our own, and it was great. This meal was when we realized that Cuba takes it easy. Meals are slow going and very social. Turns out you don't go to a restaurant when you're hungry, you go before you are because by the time the food gets to you, you're starving.
La Pina De Plata was delicious and was such a great experience. Of course the food was relatively cheap for us and came with more than enough food. I ordered chicken and rice because...Cuba. It ended up coming with plantain chips which turned out to be a favorite with my friends and me. First meal in Cuba: Success!
This is a good story. Short but sweet. So pay attention!
New Years Eve my two friends and I were walking around getting ready to meet our friend Ryan for dinner. We got to the sushi place a little early so we decided we would walk around a little to avoid being at the restaurant awkwardly waiting for him. What ended up happening was that it was freezing out, what with it being the last night of December in New York. So we were cold and decided to duck into a McDonalds because hey it's New York and we didn't see a Starbucks.
So we go into this McDonalds and sit down close to the door hoping we don't get kicked back out into the cold. It's a little late so it's pretty empty and the workers didn't care that we were there.
My friend Karie sits down facing the counter and Zoe and I sit across from her facing the door. Not long after we sit down a group a guys comes in. Maybe about 4-6 of them ranging in age from 16-25 looking. It was random I know. We notice they're kind of looking at us as they walk in and Karie almost immediately points out that some of them continue to stare as they sit down. We don't make a big deal about it and keep sitting there and talking. Not long after, the poor girl working behind the counter comes over with three Oreo McFlurrys and sets them on the table. Karie, being the outgoing one, quickly tells her we didn't order anything and that she must have the wrong table. She says she was told to bring them to us and quickly leaves like she doesn't want anything to do with the situation. Confused we stare at them. We just ate rice pudding and we're stalling before sushi dinner. Plus Karie is lactose and tolerate so none of us really want to eat them and are confused as to what to do.
The small swarm of boys leaves the place quickly. Then three of them run back in. Two of them come up to our table and one stands close to the door with his phone clearly filming the situation. The two guys have german kind of accents and ask us if we have time, would we like to join them for a McFlurry later. Um bro? I think you already bough us McFlurry's now... I don't think we need another one later? Plus it's New Years and we already have plans. Sorry..
Smiling they both graciously leave. We're a little confused. Did we just get hit on with McFlurries at McDonalds? Apparently, Yes. Cute? Kind of?
Now we don't walk by a McDonalds without jokingly asking each other "Do you want to get a McFlurry with me?!?"
It was a really cute try foreign boys! Thanks?!
Sounds a little weird but my friend I drove to NYC with mentioned she went to a rice pudding place the last time she was in the city that was pretty good. She mentioned portion sizes were small but it's super filling. She was right.
I've never really had a rice pudding before but it turned out to be really good. It's more of a snack/dessert-y thing but Rice To Riches has it done right.
I almost ordered the cheesecake rice pudding (it literally tastes just like normal cheesecake) but I got a raspberry rice pudding instead (I'm telling you, I'm really into fruity flavors). It was such a good snack and I would go back here too.
The containers are also a really cool clam shell kind of shape that I'm in love with (packaging can make me want to buy things more than the actual thing a lot of the time.. whoops?). The spoons they have are super cool and being there is just fun and cute.
I think I'm going to move to New York just for the food. Is that weird?
I love popsicles, how can you not! So even though it was December and cold and snowy, we had to go get popsicles. True New Yorkers here kids. Definitely worth it.
This was my first trip to PopBar and it was way too excited. I love popsicle because they aren't so creamy, meaning I can eat more of it. Sugar > Cream = Popsicles > Ice Cream. At least for me.
I also love fruit so I wanted to try all the flavors. I could go back there every day. We loved it so much my friends and I contemplated getting second popsicles each.. we didn't but it was a close call. I'm pretty sure I was boring and got my favorite flavor of dessert - strawberry. SorryNotSorry. A strawberry popsicle with milk chocolate coating and carmel popcorn on the outside. I could go for another one right now. I swear if I move to the city I'm going to be a regular at PopBar. Completely in love.
For winter break this year I had a trip to Cuba planned for class at the end of January. This meant for Christmas and New Years things were going to be low key which was fine because I got to stay at home and work. Because money makes things happen. Sad but true.
So for New Years one of my friends in Rochester proposed that we go to NYC for a week to hang out. It ended up that we would be in the city for New Years. No we did not stand in time square when the ball dropped.. everyone I asked said it was way overrated and the idea of standing in one spot in the freezing cold to watch a ball drop didn't sound as fun and running around NY hitting new places to eat. So eat we did!
First stop - Donut Planet!
Of course all of these places were recommended by friends, I do very little research ahead of time because everyone has been to enough cool places and we run into random places just because they look good so I stay open to these things when I'm in NY.
Donut planet was great. I ordered the Citron donut which was soooo delicious.
I'm not a huge donut person. One of my teachers in High School causally mentioned that donuts are made of a type of fat that your body breaks down last. Aka every donut you've ever eaten is just sitting in your body as fat until every other type of fat is broken down. Let's just say I avoid donuts now when I can.
But when at donut planet, one donut is okay. That citron donut was worth it too.
The little space was super cute too. Little tables the shape of donuts lined up along the wall. The benches were lined with cute little circle and square donuts of all colors. And the walls were filled with stuffed donut pillows (I wanted them all). So yeah, I'd go back if someone asked, no regrets!
What do I mean by American fusion sushi? Bacon. Yep that's right, because how do you make something American? You add bacon to it.
One of my best friends here at RIT and I decided to go out to sushi one night (because we're apparently obsessed with sushi but then again who isn't now a days) and checked out this place that was recommended to us Bonsai. Turns out Bonsai is American fusion and does really cool stuff with traditional Japanese food, like add bacon.
We went back in December so of course I don't remember which rolls we got and what was exactly in it. (I've tried to look at the menu online to figure it out but of course their website is down today.. awkward....) So maybe more on that later if I remember to check back with them... probably not....
Anyways, really cute restaurant/bar. Cool vibe and good art on the walls. Obviously the sushi was good because sushi is great and bacon just makes it great-er. The waitress that night did happen to get my order wrong and I didn't get the Ebi Nagiri that I love but instead brought me the Ebi Maki which is okay at best. Slight disappointment. Mix feelings on if I would go back... Maybe when she's not working?
One of my friends posted a picture of a grilled mac and cheese sandwich that he made and I decided that I had to try it. I'm all about my carbs so this was perfect.
Only I had to go and be fancy and make a grilled Alfredo mac and cheese sandwich with mushrooms on rye and a side of tomato bisque. I'm wayyy to classy (too bad I got everything from a box and a can....)
Still, turned out pretty good if you ask me! All I did was make some nice boxed mac and cheese (I'm telling you, this is so fancy) with some sauteed mushrooms then I added a scoop of it when I made an average grilled cheese. I might have overcooked it slightly because the mac and cheese dried out but aside from that it was still really good.