Dinner at Cask in NYC

Mei Lun was in town and staying in Midtown East so we met up for dinner at Cask.  We shared everything, which is always awesome.  The food was all very good and not too badly priced for NYC.  Also thanks to her job for paying for half haha

Red Neck Sushi - pork braised smoked pork belly, applewood smoked bacon, maple glazed pickled jalapenos, bosc pear green apple slaw.  OMG my fav!  So deliciously meaty and fatty and I loved the slaw, which was super refreshing.  The jalapenos were surprisingly spicy.  Prob because the seeds were still there

Tartare duo - tuna and salmon, citris soy, avocado wasabi mousse.  My second favorite.  The fish tasted very fresh and the sauce made it taste even richer

Pretzel crusted jumbo lump crab cake with pickled cucumber and chipotle aioli.  This was pretty good too.  Very meaty and the crust was a nice textural change

Flat Iron Steak Flatbread - baby portabella, gorgonzola, caramelized onions, horseradish sauce - Mei Lun's fav.  I enjoyed it for the meat; def more substantial but too much cumin

Home-made Appetizers

Football season makes me want to eat some little appetizers!  Also trying to utilize our deep fryer more.  We made wings  with the deep fryer and discovered they are much better with some breading versus naked.  Unfortunately we needed to add a lot more salt and spice but now we know and can only improve.  I also made pigs-in-a-blanket using mini Hillshire Farms smoked sausages and Pillsbury crescent wraps.  Delish and cheaper than buying a frozen bag of them.  Definitely a keeper.

Unsauced breaded wings

Wings with Frank's Buffalo Sauce

Pigs in a blanket!

another shot of the little piggies

Lunch from Panera in Clifton, NJ

Felt like a somewhat healthy lunch and Dan and I needed to go grocery shopping, so we decided to go to Clifton since the Stop & Shop there is sooo much better.  Better deals, huge, clean, and not ever crowded.  And apparently they have this awesome scan gun that we didn't use but will have to next time.  Anywayy back to lunch.  Even though Panera is a chain I always feel like I'm satisfied with what I get and don't feel gross at all.  This time was no different and I got to try some new Fall-y dishes.

Dan's Chilled Shrimp Soba Salad - I've had this before and pretty good though over-sauced again

You Pick Two - Autumn Squash Soup.  Great creaminess and I loved the toasted pumpkin seeds on top.  It was a little sweet bc there was definitely cinnamon and nutmeg, so almost felt dessert-y.  But it was great dipping the hot fresh bread into it

Other half of my lunch - Roasted turkey harvest wheatberry salad.  Nice and refreshing.  Also had some gorgonzola, pistachios and mixed greens.  I had never head wheatberry so didn't really know what it was like.  I would compare it to quinoa as it didn't have much of a taste but is probably healthy haha

Dinner at Brick Lane Curry House in NYC

I took Elena for a belated birthday dinner at Brick Lane Curry House because she wanted to eat Indian food.  This place was recommended from friends, and overall it was pretty great though a little pricy, but I guess for NYC that's not surprising.  The whole dinner made me miss living in Jersey City as there is so much great and inexpensive Indian food there.  I guess it's only one train stop away though.

Complimentary papadum with three sauces.  Love the bottom purpl-y one

Aloo Samosa with potatoes and peas.  Can't go wrong with something fried

Garlic Naan - yum obvi.   My lamb bhuna.  The waiter made me worried about the spice level of the Lamb Vindaloo so he suggested that and instead and I tried it but wan't spicy at all!  It was tasty but sauce was a little thicker than I would like.  It tasted more stew-y

Elena's chicken tikka masala - pretty good

Side of basmati rice

Dinner from Tendo Sushi in Harrison, NJ

Dan and I felt like sushi but didn't want to leave the apartment and also wanted something a little nicer than Sakura downstairs.  So we ordered from a nearby place in Harrison with similar prices.  They came pretty quickly and everything tasted pretty good but then both of us didn't feel too great after :/  Our Harrison take-out hasn't gone so well so far.  I guess we need to keep exploring.  I also ordered a salmon tempura roll which was my fav but forgot to take a picture

Octupus and tuna sashimi.  I tried to be adventurous with the octupus but sadly it was pretty tasteless

My eel avocado

Dan's rolls.  Can't remember what they were

Dinner from Roja y Blanca in Harrison, NJ

For the first time Dan and I ordered Peruvian take-out from a place near our apartment.  The portions were pretty large and overall the food pretty tasty, but the chicken was a tad on the salty side.  It may have been the first time Dan had Peruvian food ha.  A good option close-by though I was mildly worried that there would be comprehension issues when I ordered, but fortunately there were no problems.

Tallarin Verde con Bisteck (Fettuccini a la Pesto w/Steak) and side salad

Yuca a La Huancaina - Fried yuca with Peruvian cheese sauce

1/2 Roasted Chicken with side of fries (plus the side salad above)

Home-made Empanadas and Lumpia

Ahhh the perils of owning a deep fryer fryer.  From healthy meatless tacos to deliciously meat fried foods.  I had plenty of frozen lumpia shanghai in the freezer, and then Dan and I made chorizo, black bean, potato, and pea empanadas.  Soooo good!  But we felt gross from all the oil afterwards ha.

Lumpia and empanadas

Soo many empanadas

Baby lumpia

The inside of the empanadas - chorizo, black bean, potatoes, and peas