Home-made gluten-free apple crisp

Being that it's fall I had to make some apple crisp. I used to buy a mix from the store that I only needed to add butter to, and spread on top of apples, but these mixes have wheat.  I found a pretty simple gluten-free version and it turned out just as good.  The only difference is cost-wise, as I had to buy some gluten-free oats, but the bag was large and I already had one from making oatmeal cookies.  A great simple gluten-free dessert option.

Must have vanilla ice cream on top

Home-made gluten-free Korean fried chicken wings

My co-worker gave me a recipe for some Korean fried chicken wings - spicy wings actually with gochujang sauce.  We went to H-mart for the first time - amazing experience btw - and bought the gochujang paste.  I made the sauce, and Dan handled the breading and frying.  We used gluten-free flour.  As a fried chicken connoisseur, I'd say you would not be able to tell the difference.  Dan double fried to perfect.  It was amazing though a wee bit more spicy that I would like.  I want to find a Bon-Chon duplicate recipe so I can try the amazing sweet savory fried chicken that I have grown to love, but this was a great spicy recipe.

Dinner at Taqueria Los Gueros in East Rutherford, NJ

Another delicious and inexpensive dinner from Taqueria Los Gueros.  I wasn't super hungry so got a salad, as I was attempting to be healthy.  Not only was it super meaty, making it seem less healthy, but it was huge.  I could barely get through it but had a great lunch the next day.  Dan got his usual tacos w/chorizo and pastor.  No complaints.

Corn Salad - lettuce, corn, black beans, avocado, anejo cheese, carnitas, and a fruity vinaigrette.  I think the salad was at least 50% pork ha

Dan's Mexican tacos - double corn tortillas, pico de gallo, avocado.  Two with chorizo and two al pastor

Dessert at Grace Street in NYC

We continued our book club discussion over dessert at Grace Street, a cafe/bakery just a few doors down from Food Gallery 32.  Our dessert definitely made up for any weaknesses of our dinner, especially the donut!  A very cute place to grab dessert and/or coffee had it not been so late and I didn't need any caffeine.

Ho-dduk - Korean donut with brown sugar, chocolate and cinnamon and vanilla ice cream.  Perfect.  Could've eaten this all myself but shared w/three other girls haha

Mo-chaffle - Crispy waffle exterior with sweet, melty mochi interior.  Served with nutella, strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream.  Delicious as well but not quite as good as the donut

Dinner at Food Gallery 32 in NYC

More Korean food!  Not nearly as tasty as Gaonurri but what can you do haha.  Went to Food Gallery 32 for book club discussion.  It was actually a food court with various Asian eateries.  I tried to get bibimbap but apparently they ran out of sauce?  Wasn't entirely sure what that meant so I opted for ramen instead.  It was fine; nothing memorable.  I also order a pork bun thinking it was going to be the white open faced bun w/some pork belly instead.  NOPE.  It was just a steamed oddly colored tied up bun w/pork and other things inside.  I barely had any, but what I did was not good.  That must be why no one was on line for that.

My sad pork bun

Kimchi Ramen - pork was pretty good and the broth was too, but didn't taste much kim chi.  Also portion-wise kinda small

Dinner at Gaonurri in NYC

For Pooja's good-bye (sad face btw :( dinner, we went to Gaonurri for some delicious Korean food.  First of all, the view there is amazing as there are windows all around the restaurant.  There happened also to be some fireworks across the Hudson in Jersey for some wedding, which could not have been more scenic.  All of the food was delicious but we all got pretty full from the appetizers so we didn't get through most of our entrees.  Despite the nice ambiance the prices weren't too terrible.  They do have a great Restaurant Week menu, which I would like to take advantage of when the time comes.  Dan and I meant to come but didn't make it.  Next time.

Haemul Paejan - Scallion Pancake With Market Fresh Seafood-Squid, Calamari and Chopped Clam.  Tasty and full of lots of seafood but could've used more salt

Scallion Pancake With Market Fresh Seafood-Squid, Calamari and Chopped Clam - See more at: http://www.gaonnurinyc.com/authentic_korean_restaurant_nyc/menu/dinner/#sthash.dcTD5OmY.dpuf

Calamari Salad - Fried Calamari Tossed In Honey Wine Go-Chu-Jang Sauce Served On A Bed Of Seasonal Mixed Greens With Pear Dressing.  By far the BEST THING we had that night.  The calamari was perfectly crisp and the sauce had the perfect balance of sweet, salty and spicy.  The pear dressing and veggies were also super refreshing.

Free ban chan

Small order of Japchae - stir-fried glass noodles with seafood.  Tasty and not too greasy but no one though it was the best they've ever had

My Dolsot Bibimbap w/galbi, topped w/fried egg.  Of course.

Chicken Jjim - Braised Chicken Thigh And Breast In Sweet Soy Sauce With Vegetables And Rice Cakes.  Debbie and Pooja shared this.  Both seemed a little perplexed about how it looked and how it was prepared.  It was a little sweet to me but not bad

Free ban chan - not so impressive

My bibimbap mixed up

Dinner at Fernandes Steak House in Newark, NJ

I had a steak craving so we decided to go to Fernandes Steak House in the Ironbound.  I have to remember that just because we are in Newark doesn't mean we don't need a reservation on a Saturday night.  Apparently this is a happening place on a Sat night.  We stuck out the wait though and had some delicious, dinosaur-sized steak.  Mine was SO big that I took home very heavy left-overs and was able to have two heaping portions of steak and eggs for Dan and me the next day for brunch.  Each steak was about 30 bucks.  Insane.

My T-Bone steak w/potato chips, rice, and veggies

Dan's cowboy steak with those amazing potato sticks

Brunch at Calle Ocho in NYC

Had a ladies brunch at Calle Ocho and the place did not disappoint.  Debbie and I both got Ropa Vieja so I only took one pic, and Pooja got Pollo Ranchero.  Sejal got a vegetarian benedict but I didn't take pics since I took pics of Dan's meaty version last time.  I restrained myself w/the bread but found it still pretty tough to get through all of my food, which was likely because of the sangria.  The food was good but I definitely think there are other obvious draws to coming here - aka bread and aycd.

Ropa Vieja con Huevos - Ropa Vieja Hash, Fried Egg, Avocado, Crispy Sweet Potatoes.  The meat was pretty thick and a little bit tough to get through.  Egg on everything makes everything better though, as does avocado

Pollo Ranchero - Grilled Marinated Breast of Chicken, Caramelized Peppers, Cabralese Cheese, Bacon , Chipoltle Mayo, Cuban Bread.

Lunch at Pollo Campero in Trenton, NJ

My co-worker and I ventured into Trenton for some South American fried chicken.  I bet you've never had it before either.  While the pieces were a little small the chicken was pretty tasty - nicely fried and with some spices in the breading.  It was also interesting that they had sides that you wouldn't think of - tortillas, rice, yuca, etc.  I actually didn't feel gross after eating, probably because the size of the food was small and not everything I had was deep-fried. 

Yuca, tortillas, chicken and aioli

Spanish rice, tortillas, chicken and various sauces