Home-made Filipino spaghetti, garlic bread and yummy salad

Simple dinner consisting of Filipino-style spaghetti, home-made garlic focaccia bread, and super salad.  The salad has spinach, avocado, craisins, glazed pecans, carrots, mushrooms, croutons, and some chopped bacon.  Also added feta to my bowl.  Delicious!

Home-made Pho

Some short-cuts were definitely taken here, but we made some delicious home-made pho with pork.  Also added the requisite bean sprouts, basil, scallions, and tons of sriracha.

Dinner Specials at Brownstone Diner in Jersey City, NJ

Brownstown Diner in Jersey City is just a 5 minute walk from me.  Super convenient when I don't wanna cook and want to eat lots of different things.  I finally tried the Greek Moussaka, which Guy Fieri on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" showed when he did a feature on Brownstone.  This layered behemoth has sliced potatoes on the bottom, topped with breaded eggplant, lamb, parmesan cheese, bechamel sauce, and topped with marinara sauce.  It was described on the show as a Greek lasagna.  Even though I REALLY don't like eggplant, it was surrounded by so much yumminess that I didn't mind it.  Plus it was breaded, so I guess it kind of masked the eggplant texture that I hate.  The salad was good but a little overdressed.

Dan got calamari fritti diavolo.  The sauce had a nice kick to it, as most of their pasta sauces do.  Both dishes are solid specials at the Diner.  You also get soup and a house dessert with it, all for under $14. YUMMM.

Home-made garlic roasted cauliflower and chicken adobo

I've come to the conclusion that everything tastes better with tons of garlic, especially if it's roasted!

Home-made kimchi fried rice

I love fried rice because you can take something arguably bland (plain white rice) and jazz it up with whatever you want/have.  Here I added kimchi, garlic, salt, pepper, and meat.  I love the spice the kimchi brings but as I didn't make it and instead used jarred kimchi, it wasn't nearly as spicy as I would like.  Perhaps a future venture will be making my own kimchi; we shall see.

Home-made oven-roasted sriracha chicken and garlic green beans and mushrooms

I wanted to be healthy so found a few recipes (which I made some minor adjustments to).  Used boneless and skinless chicken breasts and made a marinade of various spices, but largely featuring hoisin sauce and sriracha.  The sweet and spicy contrast is amazing.  I also love garlic so chopped up tons of garlic cloves and flash cooked green beans, then sauteed with olive oil, the garlic, mushrooms, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.  And of course had some rice for carbs. 

P.S. I am almost up to date! This was from last night's dinner.

Home-made Chicken Tacos

Love making your own tacos.  I shredded leftover chicken from a chicken that I had roasted the night before for dinner.  Then cooked it with various spices.  Also had some shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded blend of cheeses, sliced jalapeno peppers, avocado, chopped cilantro, baked corn tortillas, and of course - refried beans haha.

Restaurant Week Dinner at The Palm Too in NYC

RW at The Palm Too topped my fav RW dinners.  The steak was incredibly tender and juicy and the fries were a nice compliment. A bit more like cajun fries, which I love.  And the feel of the restaurant was much more homey than your typical steakhouse.

Restaurant Week Dinner at Capital Grille in NYC

Would highly recommend!  The steak was so so juicy and tasty.  Could cut it with a butter knife.  The sides (spinach and mashed potatoes) were good too though nothing memorable.  My waiter was kind of weird, though maybe he thought I was just being difficult.

Dinner at Kraverie in Jersey City, NJ

I LOVE Kraverie!  It's a new Korean-French restaurant in Jersey City.  It's the child of two food trucks - The Krave and Lucinda's Creperie I believe.  I think now I'm there like once a week.  The food is inexpensive and super delicious.  These are two of the best appetizers they have - korean wings (which took I think the 4th trip for them to have them in stock. They keep selling out!) and kimchi cheese fries.  The wings are enormous though, and that was the smallest size!  They are saucier than Bon Chon but a bit spicier (though they definitely could add more heat).  Very good, though I was pretty full after I had like 2.  The kimchi cheese fries are incredible.  Would definitely recommend that for someone's first trip.  There are still so many things on the menu that I wanna try, so thank god I live so close.

For entrees, I got the BBQ mixed platter with bulgogi and short rib.  Delish but not as good as the bbq they cook in front of you in K-town.  Dan got the Seoul Cheesesteak with bulgogi.  It was good too but definitely different than your average Cheesesteak.

All You Can Eat Sushi at New Ashiya in NYC

$33 for all you can eat sushi and all you can drink sake, wine and beer.  The top pic shows the rolls I got - lots of eel and avocado. I didn't realize they would be that huge otherwise I probably would have just gotten one and maybe a few sashimi pieces.   I honestly have felt like dying after going here, but it's worth the money to get to try so many things.  Especially fun if you're with a big group (sake bombs, duh).  But you might feel like puking afterwards...

Dinner at Cafe Cortadito in NYC

I have been to lots of Cuban restaurants and have to say that Miami Beach still takes the cake. But for the city this food was pretty good. For once, I decided not to have meat and instead went with the red snapper breaded in a green plaintain crust (top), and my friend Nancy got the ropa vieja.  Both were excellent, and the sangria was even better :)

Dinner at Sushi Palace in Edison, NJ

All you can eat sushi.  This was the first time I had eel and this discovery truly changed my life.  Worth the 30 min drive.

Another home-made Vegan dinner

"General Tsos", garlic sauteed green beans and zucchini, and rice.  So healthy.  Have to say though, fake meat just isn't as good.

Dinner at Adega in the Ironbound, NJ

I'm pretty sure this Paella Valencia fed me for 8 meals.  At least.  There is still some frozen in my freezer.

Home-made mussels portugues

Someone special cooked this for me!  His take on Portuguese mussels (with lots of garlic obvi) and curly fries.

Home-made blackened tilapia, brussel sprouts, and garlic mashed potatoes

This was an attempt to be healthy by not cooking meat. However, we cooked the brussel sprouts with bacon. Sooo much tastier haha

Lunch at Hill Country BBQ in NYC

I have gone to maybe a dozen BBQ places in the city and Hill Country is def my fav!  I think what the experience has really shown me though is I need to go to Texas.  Went to Restaurant Week lunch and got the Pitmaster - pork rib, beef rib, brisket, chicken, plus cornbread and various sides.  The sides we got were hot german potatoes, sweet potato mash, green bean casserole, and baked beans. Everything was soooo good.  All the meat was so succulent and juicy.  I think the beef ribs and chicken were my favorite though.  The hot german potatoes and green bean casserole were the best sides.  Nevertheless there are still so many things there I want to try, so if anyone feels like pigging out let me know :)

Dinner at Wildwood BBQ in NYC

One of my life goals is to hit up all of the BBQ joints in NYC.  Wildwood was particularly good for the sides.  The top pic is so dark so you can't see the entree (ribs) too well, but on top were sweet potato tots and roasted brussel sprouts with bacon.  The tots and sprouts were delish!  I'm sure the ribs were good but I can't remember too well.  Jordan's fried chicken was good, but think I'm still searching for better fresh fried chicken in the city.

Home-made Yellow Curry

I love Thai curry, and the ingredients are cheap so figured why not.  This is yellow curry with chicken, green bell peppers, cauliflower, potatoes, and onions.  Not bad but next time going to add some more heat to it.

Hand-Rolled Sushi

My friend Elena and I bought a Group-on for a sushi-rolling class.  We made a few rolls, but the pics here is of a tuna roll I believe.  Definitely a fun class and something good to have learned.  Soon to come sushi party...

Home-made Apple Cinnamon with Oatmeal Granola topping mini muffins

Who doesn't love mini muffins?  The problem is that since they are small my body thinks I can consume more of them.  So probably end up eating like 2-3 regular sized muffins hahaha

Home-made Vegan Filipino food

The title of this post almost seems like an oxymoron b/c Filipino food is characteristically meaty.  But I made this for someone who was then vegan.  He has since switched back to the meaty darkside.  But at least there is proof that I tried to be accommodating haha. This is pancit with veggies and two kinds of noodles, and vegetable lumpia.

Dinner at Social Eatz in NYC

I LOVE LOVE Top Chef.  So when Angelo Sosa from Top Chef Season 7 opened a new restaurant in midtown, I had to go.  I've actually gone there multiple times, but these pics are from my first trip.  The food that day convinced me to come back and drag various people with me.  The first pic is of the Kung Pow Wow sandwich.  OMG so f-ing good!  The peanut sauce on there is to die for!  I can't remember which burger that was that my friend Jordan got or if I tried it :(  I guess I'll have to go back a fifth/sixth time and see haha.  The fries were super good - thin and crispy and the dipping sauce was awesome with it.

First home-made Filipino dinner

For the public interest auction I cooked a full Filipino dinner.  Now I have made filipino food before but never this many dishes at once and for so many people.  I made lumpia shanghai, pernil (similar to Filipino lechon), white rice, chicken adobo, and pancit. I am hoping to learn more dishes but for now, I think I've got this down.

Cupcakes for my birthday!

My lovely law school pals Nicole and Tracy made these cupcakes for my birthday last year!  Super cute and delicious.  They were both tasty but I think the black ones (covered in oreos) took the lead slightly.

Dinner at Whitman's in NYC

So anyone who knows me knows that I like weird food combos.  Take for instance, peanut butter and bacon.  Some of you make thing it's revolting, but I think that is a simplistic point of view and you shouldn't knock it til you try it.  The PB&B burger at Whitman's was delicious.  And the fries with blue cheese were a great addition.  Thanks for bringing me, Nicole!

Restaurant Week at City Lobster & Steak in NYC

A delicious meal.  Thank god Nicole and I shared so we could try both the steak and lobster.  The calamari appetizer was delicious but made me super full.  Steak was good, nice and buttery but nothing spectacular. The lobster was nicely cooked and easy to eat.  The highlight though was definitely dessert - PROFITEROLES!  Shortcake filled with coffee ice cream and drizzled with espresso chocolate.  And they look like dessert sliders. Yumm.

Home-made Almond Biscotti and Florentines

The holidays make me bake like crazy.  I guess I was feeling a little Italian because I decided to bake these two delicious treats that I always used to get from a bakery near our house in Queens.

Home-made Red Velvet Cupcakes w/Cream Cheese Frosting

Made last Christmas...again out of order sorry!  I am trying to start from the oldest on forward.  When I finally hit the present date I will be in order