I had a night off from work and decided to invite an old friend of mine over for dinner. I was in the mood for some fish, so I got Tilapia filets. I was walking around the streets of NYC thinking about what to do with those filets. Tilapia is a plain tasting fish, so it's essential to add flavor to it. It's a great blank canvas. I started thinking about what I had in my fridge and cabinets and came up with breading the tilapia, pan frying it and adding warm salsa verde to it with a garnish of crumbled blue corn tortilla chips to add crunch and saltiness. I am wondering if I could next time bread it in corn tortilla chips?
Anyway, my friend and I really enjoyed the outcome. The flavors were great together and the salsa added a nice heat. For a thin filet of tilapia (<1 in. thick) heat oil in pan till hot, cook 3-4 minutes on one side and 1-2 minutes on the other side.
I added a nice side salad of romaine, persian cucumbers, carrots and artichoke hearts with a lemon olive oil vinaigrette I mixed.

Step 1. coat filets in a beaten egg


Step 2. Dredge fish in breadcrumbs


Final photo before being consumed:

'Tis the season of baking

Now that it is cold enough to start baking, I have decided to track some of my time in the kitchen and share the recipes. This is a butternut squash/pesto gratin that was perfect for Thanksgiving. All of my friends at the dinner loved it and wanted the recipe, so here it is with step-by-step photos to go along.
Ingredients
3-4 pounds of butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (parmigiano reggiano for best taste. Expensive, but worth it)
1/4 cup purchased basil pesto (used Trader Joe's pesto genovese...less than a jar)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more for greasing



Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter an 8-inch baking dish and set aside. Fill a large pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the sides of the pot. Set a steamer rack in the pot, cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the squash and steam over medium heat until the squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a food processor (I mashed by hand, which meant more texture) and blend until smooth and creamy. Season the squash to taste with salt and pepper.


Spoon half of the squash evenly over the prepared baking dish. Dollop half of the pesto all over the squash in the dish. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the squash. Repeat layering with the remaining squash, pesto, and cheese. Using a skewer, swirl the pesto decoratively into the squash. Dot the top with butter and bake until the gratin is heated through and golden brown around the edges, about 40 minutes.

2 photos because it's just THAT beautiful


Today, I bought a pomegranate. Buying one pomegranate every winter, I believe, stems from my mother's ritual of doing so. Every time she'd pick up the dull looking fruit that held little treasures inside, she'd recount her memory of getting one around Christmas every year from her father (my grandpa) in her stocking. I've never tired of her forgetfulness in telling me countless times of her pomegranate winters with grandpa because I know the importance and meaningfulness of simple memories such as these.

Pomegranates are quite a process to open up but well worth the effort. They are a complex bundle of little rubys that swell with tart crimson juice and are great for eating as is, or in my home-made yogurt granola combo as seen above.

Warm bread pudding with vanilla bean sauce and raspberry coulis hit the spot on a cold night such as tonight. I usually don't get bread pudding, but they were out of pie (I'm a pie girl. I'm known not as a cookie, but as a "pie monster" at work. This ended up being tasty when I destroyed the pretty design and sopped up the sauce with it.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop is my new home. I am not a frequent customer, but, rather, I work here full time! What a great place to work! I am so lucky to have found it. Since it is a family run business hailing from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, I am feeling like it could really be a home away from home. I have now tried about half of everything. Considering we've been open on the corner of Mott and Prince for not quite 2 weeks, yet, I'd say that's pretty good...or pretty bad depending on how you see it. Not only do they have, in my opinion, the best cakes around, they also have delicious cheesecake, pie, cookies and a very popular banana pudding. One of my friends got to try some pudding that I took back to my apartment. He said he usually only takes one bite of it, but he took several of this kind from LCB and told me how it was the best he has ever had.
Additionally, a huge draw to working at LCB was their mission to be carbon neutral--one of the first bakeries of it's kind in NYC. I feel okay about handing out a cute bag because it has no environmental impact; it decomposes as a leaf falling from a tree would.
Customers are shocked when they walk inside to take a break from the bustling shopping and nightlife area surrounding the shop. The sweet aroma from the bakery in the back hits you, the warmth of the ovens cradle you, and the fact that there are about 20 different cakes amongst many other sweets to choose from makes your eyes grow wider by the second. You can stay for as long as you like, too. We wont kick you out. It'll be your neighborhood hangout. You'll feel like you've stepped into another time period when you walk inside--50s and 60smusic playing (or the occasional Pee Wee Soundtrack thanks to Massimo), and friendly girls wearing a lot of pink (and a couple sweet guys) describing the "Dreaming Princess" or "Blue Velvet" cake while hand icing cupcakes for all pedestrian's eyes to see and imaginations to travel. It's a sweet escape, you know, like the Gwen Stefani song. haha.
I'll have to take some better pictures (get out my actual camera and not my handy iPhone), but this is one from an evening outside looking in...at a red velvet cake, vanilla with chocolate buttercream cupcakes, and a brooklyn blackout cake.

There is some amazing food in the village, and I had always wanted to try the Belgian fries place that always has a line running out the door, Pomme Frites. What better person to try it with than my mom, who loves french fries. I've always been more of a mashed potatoes kind of girl. Call me a food snob, but, I really didn't think they were that amazing. I know they have tons of different sauces, which could be the appeal to the place, but we went with plain ketchup and some malt vinegar. I don't think they were that special. I've had better fries at Pop Burger. They put them in a cone and you can walk around the village with it like an ice cream. That's kind of cool, I suppose, but I'd rather be eating ice cream. Anyway, here is evidence that my mom and I tasted the fries at Pomme Frites.

There is a cute, funky, little lounge around the corner from me that I would like to call my neighborhood hangout except I wish the prices were cheaper. While my mom was in the city, we went there for happy hour and free tapas and ended up buying a couple appetizers off the menu, thus killing any plans for dinner. Albeit expensive, the baked camembert and the "billionaire's bacon" were quite good. The only reason I can think it's called "billionaire's bacon" is that 4 slices cost $6. Once we devoured it, I was glad I took the photo for documentation that it once existed.

I use the Yelp application on my iPhone A LOT. It's such a helpful tool when you are in a neighborhood and you have no idea where to eat. I found Ruby's Cafe in Soho through this app. after much argument with a friend over what type of food we should eat. She wanted something hearty, and I wanted a salad. I picked this place partially because of the reviews and partially because my dog's name is Ruby. I ordered a spinach salad with goats cheese, pine nuts, roasted pumpkin and caramelized balsamic dressing. I didn't know you could caramelize balsamic. It tastes a lot richer and has more depth of flavor. I'm definitely going to figure out how to make that correctly. The salad was delightful and hit the spot, although I could have eaten some more of it. Perhaps, a crusty piece of fresh bread would have complimented it nicely. The pumpkin was nice. I'm really getting into dishes with pumpkin...must be the changing of the seasons affecting my taste buds.

The lighting is dim in my kitchen, so the picture didn't do this burger's taste justice. While the illumination of the burger in the snapshot is rather lackluster, my taste-buds needed no flashlight. This is honestly one of the best burgers I have ever had...and I made it. Maybe it was the harmonious quartet of the grass fed beef combined with aged new york cheddar, local zucchini and caramelized onion, or maybe, by the time I had cried over slicing the onions and had seasoned my beef patty , I was salivating so much that anything would have tasted divine. I do have a knack for making things taste "the best I've ever had" (song lyrics pop into mind) the first time I experiment with the ingredients. I guess I'll never know the true answer to why my burger was so appetizing, but my belly says it doesn't matter.

I think this is the quintessential summer lunch--local heirloom tomato bursting with flavors of the sun that is has absorbed prior to being picked, chevre (I switch it up with fresh mozzarella, too), basil and crusty organic bread. There is a reason the Margherita pizza still exists and it's not just because people love the colors of the Italian flag! This exceptional flavor combination is timelessly tasty.

I'm sure you've tasted better cupcakes, but these are pretty looking. I have a thing for flowers.

Mom came into town and brought out my Jewish side even though she isn't Jewish. You just can't go wrong with this combo....well, I guess you can, but Lansky's didn't. I do love my mama's matzo ball soup, though. I need that recipe.

Who knew that every egg that comes out of a chicken is a different shade?! I sure didn't know this while I was growing up. Thank you organic, free range chickens for being selfless and giving up your eggs to omelette lovers and bakers like me.

Fruit crumbles/crisps and pies are probably one of my most favorite desserts (especially in the winter with the aromas filling the house). Nothing beats it warm with a scoop of vanilla melting on the side--especially when the berries come from your grandparent's yard. You can taste the summer that they were growing. It wakens you up in the middle of winter.

The best coffee cake I have ever had. period.

@Navarre in Portland. I can still taste it, and that's a good thing.

I still talk about this wine. I wish I remembered the name.