Happy Purim: Hot Chocolate on a Stick

March 8, 2012 by Stephanie | 3 Comments

What is hot chocolate on a stick, you ask? apparently it’s not exactly what it sounds like, because it sounds like liquid on a stick, which sounds impossible. So I guess I’d have to say it’s a bar of chocolate on a popsicle stick that you melt in hot milk to turn into hot chocolate!
Happy Purim! I sent this recipe to Jessica a couple of months ago, and even though these were meant as Christmas gifts, we saved them to make for Purim, because don’t they make perfect mishloach manot? This recipe uses store-bought mini-marshmallows, but we knew if we were going to make these, we had to make our own!

Vietnamese Beef Pho

February 28, 2012 by Stephanie | 9 Comments

Pho (pronounced fuh—rhymes with duh) is a Vietnamese beef and noodle soup. The raw meat is cut really really thin and is cooked when boiling broth is poured on top. I don’t know where to get kosher Vietnamese food, so I had to make it myself.

Parathas

February 16, 2012 by Stephanie | 1 Comment

So you thought I was finished with sharing Indian recipes with you? Think again! I was only taking a break. This Indian flatbread is easy to make and hard to ruin, because it’s a yeast-less bread! So if you’re scared of yeast, this is the bread for you.

Did I mention it’s “fried” in ghee?

Chicken Tinga Tacos

February 12, 2012 by Stephanie | 4 Comments

Have you ever had tinga before? I hadn’t until I made this. Basically, it’s shredded meat in a tomato-chipotle sauce.

I made these one Sunday to have dinner ready for the next day. Actually, that same Sunday I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Do you ever do that, spend a lot of time in the kitchen on Sundays? I bet you do. I like to prepare for the week ahead, that way my time in the kitchen on weekdays after work is significantly diminished.

Carrot Miso Soup with Sesame

February 6, 2012 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

I have been really into Asian flavors lately, and I have started to keep white miso paste in my refrigerator to make quick miso soups for those nights that I don’t feel like cooking dinner. This is even better, because you know what else I always have? Carrots! And onions! And sesame oil. You really can’t skip the sesame oil in this recipe, it magnifies the deliciousness of the soup.

Peas in the Style of Tuscany

January 24, 2012 by Stephanie | 1 Comment

This side dish is so easy, and I love peas. The best part? You can make it all year long, since it’s great with frozen peas. If it’s springtime and you want to bother with shelling fresh peas, feel free, but I find that frozen ones are just fine.

Continue reading …

German Apple Pancake

January 20, 2012 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

The smell of caramelized butter and sugar is definitely a great way to start your morning. Mix that with chopped apples and fluffy batter, and you have this apple pancake, which isn’t like any pancakes I’ve ever made before.

Chocolate French Macarons

January 12, 2012 by Stephanie | 13 Comments

The first time I had a macaron was in Paris, and I liked them so much I brought a box home to New York. Fast-forward to three years later and you can buy macarons as easily here as you could in Paris! We’re not talking about Passover macaroons here, which are gross when they come in a box, but I recently discovered are good if they’re homemade. These French macarons are popping up everywhere, but they’re expensive little cookies, some costing around $3 each. So I decided to make them myself.

Beet Raita

January 10, 2012 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

The best part about eating Indian is the colorful variety. I already made a vivid green palak paneer, so I needed a contrasting side dish: This is an easy solution, and the yogurt has a cooling affect against the peppery spinach dish.

Palak Paneer

January 3, 2012 by Stephanie | Leave a comment

Remember when I made paneer? That was really only so I could make this dinner! A fragrant and spicy spinach dish flavored with garlic, cumin and green chiles. This was a good start for a Syrian cook, spice-wise, since I already have whole cumin in my pantry. So you don’t have to go spice shopping just yet!

I actually couldn’t find green chiles, but poblanos are pretty close, and they sell those at Fairway. Continue reading …