Sasha's Kitchen: Succulent Citrus Salad With Honey Vinaigrette

Citrus fruits are perfect for summer, and while summer is not quite here just yet, it is the perfect time for a juicy citrus salad.  All citrus fruits taste very different and this salad would be great with a combination of any different flavors.  What’s most important is using fresh, juicy organic fruits – the best you can find – because the salad depends on their quality.  I selected tangerines, Valencia oranges and blood oranges, along with blackberries.  Other great fruits to use include Satsuma oranges, Mandarin Oranges, grapefruits and raspberries.  I would have actually preferred raspberries but they are not in season yet and are exorbitantly expensive right now.

As far as the lettuce, I recommend using Boston butter lettuce, my absolute favorite kind of lettuce.  Please do not substitute other types of lettuce in this salad as none will have the buttery sweet flavor of Boston lettuce, which complements the citrus fruit and the sweet honey vinaigrette perfectly.

Sasha’s Succulent Citrus Salad (makes about 3-4 salads, depending on the size)

2 tangerines

1 large Valencia orange

2 medium sized blood oranges

2 small heads of Boston butter lettuce

fresh tarragon

½ cup canola oil

¼ cup champagne vinegar

15 blackberries

2T honey

Slice the peels off the fruit and separate into segments.  Prepare each salad with the Boston lettuce and equal portions of the fruits.  Combine vinegar, canola oil and honey into a vinaigrette.  Top with the vinaigrette and a bit of fresh tarragon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Succulent Citrus Salad With Honey Vinaigrette

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Marinated Tofu Stir Fry

I wasn't initially going to post this recipe because it's pretty simple and didn't think it would photograph too well but it tasted amazing (I have less pictures than normal). This was only my second time cooking tofu but it was so much better than the first. Initially I was just going to bread and saute the tofu but recalled the first time I made it, it was pretty dry and I wasn't a huge fan. I knew I needed some sort of sauce to go with my dish so I looked up some stir-fry sauce recipes and cobbled together things that I actually had in the kitchen and decided to marinate the tofu in the same sauce.

Ingredients: (serves 4 portions)
1 package of extra firm tofu (drained weight, 14 oz.)
1 cup (dry) of white rice
1/2 vidalia onion, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
3 shiitake mushrooms
1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
1 small can of water chestnuts, drained & sliced
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup panko crumbs
whole wheat flour
3 egg whites
sesame and vegetable oil

Sauce/Marinade: (most the measurements are guesstimates)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 bunch of scallions
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
1 hot pepper, minced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 -2 tbsp white wine (I used Kris's Pinot Grigio)
1-2 tbsp sesame oil

To start, I prepped all my veggies, then tried to dry out the tofu as much as possible so it would soak up as much marinade as possible. I put the tofu on top of a couple of pieces of paper towels and another on top, in between two sturdy paper plates and then stacked a few cans of Progresso's Soup on top to help drain it out over the course of an hour or so. I changed out the paper towels once or twice.

Then I sliced the tofu into 16 pieces and marinated 8 at a time for about an hour each (I had a lot of time yesterday). In the future I might add the chicken broth to the marinade so that I could marinate all the pieces at once. I then dredged the tofu in whole wheat flour and egg whites and coated them with the Panko crumbs. Panko crumbs are light and fluffy and therefore it takes a lot more volume to coat things than normal bread crumbs.

I started my rice and I got two pans nice and hot with some sesame and vegatable oils and started my broccoli in the large pan and some of the tofu in the other. The tofu, I turned often and had to add a little more oil pretty often to get them nicely browned on each side. I suppose you could deep fry them also but I don't have a fryer and don't want one as I would probably deep fry way too many things... The key with the tofu was nicely browning each side to seal in the moisture from the marinade.

After the broccoli had been in the pan for a few minutes I added my other veggies and some minced garlic and cracked black pepper along with enough oil to cook everything as the pan was pretty full! Once I was almost done with the tofu after a few rounds in the small pan, and the veggies were softened and cooked, I added my sauce/marinade and 1 cup of chicken broth and brought it to a boil, adding just a couple of pinches of whole wheat flour to give the sauce a little more thickness. I let this boil down for a few minutes while dealt with my rice and finished off the tofu.

I served the tofu over the rice and then topped it all off with the veggies and sauce. In the end the tofu was nice and moist and crunchy took on all the flavor of the marinade and the sauce made a fantastic topping with the rice and veggies as well.

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Marinated Tofu Stir Fry

Charlene's Kitchen in Philadelphia: Chicken with Garlic and Parsley

It's no secret that I have a culinary crush on Jacques Pépin. I first saw Jacques on the PBS series "Fast Food My Way" (2004) and since then his recipes, techniques, and philosophy of cooking have influenced my meal times. He emphasizes that preparing food, especially for guests, doesn't have to be stressful or time consuming, and that sharing meals should be enjoyable.

His recipes from the show and companion cookbook use mostly basic ingredients and have a reasonable number of steps. He takes everyday ingredients and turns them into a delicious, easy meal. For example, chicken stock, bread, Gruyère cheese, and freshly ground pepper can be made into a satisfying soup in five minutes. He also presents traditional and seemingly complicated dishes, like bouillabaisse, as meals that can be prepared simply by home cooks.

I love how simple and tasty Jacques' recipes are. I've come to rely on Fast Food My Way for many of my weeknight dishes and I highly recommend the cookbook. Below is one of my favorite recipes for chicken, garlic, and parsley that I make regularly. It's so simple I'm almost embarrassed to be posting it with A Kitchen In Brooklyn's other recipes!

As Jacques would say in his adorable French accent, with a smile on his face and a glass of wine in his hand, "Happy Cooking!"

Chicken Breasts with Garlic and Parsley
serves 4

From Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pépin
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004)


Helpful tips from Jacques: use Wondra flour preferably, and toss the chicken in the flour just before adding to pan (otherwise it will get soggy)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (each about 7 oz.) cut into 1- to 1 1/2-in. cubes
2 Tbs. Wondra flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. chopped garlic
3 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 lemon, quartered

• Combine flour, salt, and pepper in bowl.
• Dry chicken cubes and toss in flour.
• Add to very hot, but not smoking, 12-in skillet over high heat. Cook in one layer, turning occasionally, for about 3 1/2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine garlic and parsley in a small bowl.
• Add the butter and garlic and parsley mixture to pan and sauté for one more minute, shaking the skillet to evenly coat the chicken.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Charlene's Kitchen in Philadelphia: Chicken with Garlic and Parsley

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Steak Burgers With Shake Shack Inspired Sauce

Usually, I have always purchased organic ground beef for my burgers, but I decided to prepare a quality steak burger, in the spirit of one of my favorite NYC burger places, Shake Shack.  Shake Shack is Danny Meyer's famous burger joint, of course with spots all over Manhattan (and long lines, especially on sunny days as well).  I'm waiting for them to open a Park Slope / Prospect Heights outpost in Brooklyn, because it is definitely time!

I wasn't obsessed with making an identical burger to Shake Shack's, but I absolutely love the Shack Sauce and their burgers, so I looked at Kenjie Lopez-Alt's article from Serious Eats on reverse engineering the famous Shake Shack burger for some ideas and inspiration.  According to Alt, his "sources" believe that the true Shake Shack burger is a mixture of three types of ground beef - sirloin, well marbled brisket and well marbled beef chunk.  For those of you who are going to try the burger will all three cuts, keep in mind that well marbled probably means to use the "second cut" brisket or chunk, which is not as lean.

Brisket is hard to come by in such small quantities, as Lopez-Alt only calls for 4 oz in his reverse engineered recipe, and most butchers generally sell three to five pound briskets.  So this time, I decided not so search for a small amount of brisket, but to just go with a mixture of sirloin and well marbled beef chunk.

I prepared the reverse engineered Shack Sauce just as Lopez-Alt directed, using his recipe.  I may want to adjust next time to add a bit more heat, and ketchup, but it was delicious.  It reminded me of the "Animal Style" sauce at In-N-Out Burger.  In addition, I went with provolone rather than American Cheese.

Steak Burgers (recipe derived loosely from this site)
8 lb well marbled beef  chunk
8 lb sirloin
salt and pepper to taste
4 Martin's Sandwich Rolls (potato rolls)
4 leaves of green lettuce
4 slices provolone cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 T ketchup
1 T yellow mustard
4 slices kosher dill pickle (I used fairly thick slices)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
canola oil
2 T of butter (melted)

Ask your butcher to grind up the steaks for you together.  Then, when you get the meat home, form into four patties and season with salt and pepper.  Toast the Martin's buns with the melted butter on each side. Grill the burgers using a grill pan or a large skillet, using canola oil.  Make sure to season the burgers with salt and pepper first.  Top with the provolone cheese and cover with tin foil for the last minute or two of cooking.  I like my burger medium, which takes about eight minutes to prepare over medium heat.  

To make the sauce, following Lopez-Alt's recipe, combine the ketchup, mayo, mustard, pickle slices, garlic powder, paprika and cayenne in a small food processor.  Top the cheeseburgers with the sauce and lettuce.  You can add a slice of tomato if you like as well.  These burgers (the recipe makes four) were very tasty and Shake Shack-esque, although I still love the real deal.

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Steak Burgers With Shake Shack Inspired Sauce

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie

I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.  Even more than the combination, I absolutely love a nice, light peanut butter frosting. The frosting was my favorite part of my Butterfinger cupcakes, and I suppose I have been on a bit of a peanut butter baking kick with my gluten free peanut butter cookies.

Whoopie pie - a traditional Amish dessert, is also a favorite of mine these days.  I decided it was time to make another flavor of Whoopie Pie, after having done a chocolate raspberry Whoopie Pie.  Really, the possibilities are endless and I plan to experiment with some unusual flavors.  But before I go there, it was time to make a classic chocolate peanut butter Whoopie Pie.  As i get to some of the more creative flavors (next up is Oatmeal/Caramel, I think), I will be writing my own recipes.  But I decided not to reinvent the wheel with with one and go with my "old friend" Martha Stewart.  I did adapt her recipe a bit so I could use canola oil in the cakes rather than butter or shortening, and that worked out perfectly.  I love the look of Whoopie Pies - they kind of remind me a reverse cupcake, and yes, they may not be quite as cute as those Alice in Wonderland cupcakes that I posted last weekend, but they're pretty much one of the best desserts I've ever tasted.  I thought I made a pretty big batch, but after sharing a few with friends and family, the rest disappeared very quickly - a little too quickly.  I want more!  I guess that's why the Amish farmers yelled "Whoopie" when they found these in their lunch bags.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie (adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe)
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch Processed)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 T butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup milk (I used organic skim milk from Stonyfield Farms, not whole milk)
1 tsp vanilla

Filling:
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 375.  Mix the dry ingredients for the cookies (which should be more accurately referred to as mini-cakes in my opinion).  Beat the butter, canola oil and sugars until creamy in your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, for about three minutes.   Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another two minutes, before slowly beating in the dry ingredients.

Drop tablespoons onto baking sheets for the cookies, separating a couple inches apart.  Make sure to spray the baking sheets with Pam first.  Bake each sheet one at a time (I made 23 or 24 cookies total) for 12 to 14 minutes.  Then allow to cool fully.

Beat the peanut butter, confectioners sugar and butter to make the frosting and sandwich between pairs of the cookies.  Enjoy!

Sasha's Kitchen: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Belgian Style Mussels

In addition to cheesesteaks, I always associate Philly with Belgian-Style Mussels because of my favorite bar in Philly, Monk's, the site of my 'first-date' with Jenn and many many other wonderful nights. This Philadelphia institution is a beer-lover's mecca. Their beer list is referred to the 'beer-bible' and boasts hundreds of beers from all over the world. Their other specialty is mussels which you order by the size of the pot, small or large. All of them are cooked in beer and they always have a handful of different options to choose from with different beers and veggies. They always serve these with Pommes Frites and good bread to sop up the broth.

Again, since I've been in Philly the past couple of weeks working a freelance gig while I try to secure a new full-time job, I decided to pay tribute to Philly with this dish. This was the second time I had tried this although the first time I turned it into risotto, which was fantastic.

Ingredients (feeds 4 as an appetizer or 2 very hungry individuals as a meal):

2 lb. bag of mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

1/4 lb bacon

1 cup of chopped leeks

3 shallots, chopped

1-2 tbsp minced garlic

1 lime, squeezed

2 bottles of belgian style beer (I used River Horse Double Wit)

1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese

1/2 box of sliced baby bella mushrooms

tbsp of minced cilantro

First, I cooked the bacon until crispy and set it aside to be crumbled later. I used a small amount of the bacon grease and some olive oil to saute the veggies in the bottom of a large pot. I cooked these for a few minutes until soft and then added the beer, keeping it on the heat until simmering. At this point you can add your mussels and cook, covered, checking on them until they are all opened. That's one of the great parts about cooking clams or mussels, in that you have a clear indication of when they are cooked since they open up. Don't eat them if they don't open.

In the end I was pretty happy with the results although the ones at Monk's are still better... I think that when I try these again I will probably omit the gorgonzola and use a more mildly flavored Belgian beer. One of my favorites at Monk's is DeKonick, although I don't know where to find it in Jersey City yet.

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Belgian Style Mussels

Sasha's Kitchen: Penne Alla Vodka With Arugula

Penne alla vodka is one of my favorite pasta dishes.  It is not so healthy, I'll admit (thanks to the heavy cream, which is unavoidable).  But, it is much lighter tasting than a traditional Italian pasta sauce, so it is always an enjoyable treat.  I like to make my penne vodka with shallots and arugula, so both are incorporated into this recipe.  One of the keys in this recipe is making sure to boil away the alcohol in the vodka, so the sauce picks up a bit of the flavor.  This is an old favorite recipe of mine that I always make basically the same way.  My husband, Brad, is also a big fan of this classic dish.  It's really hard to mess this one up - the instructions are very simple and the result is always rewarding.  It's perfect for a weekday night after work, since it doesn't take a long time to prepare.  Also, there are always ample leftovers, which make for a nice lunch the next day.


Sasha's Penne Alla Vodka
2 shallots, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup vodka
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 3/4 cups plain tomato sauce
1-2 large handfulls of baby arugula
freshly grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
pepper to taste

First, saute the shallots and garlic in olive oil until lightly browned in a medium sized pot.  Then add the vodka over medium heat, and allow the alcohol to burn off (this process only takes about 1-2 minutes).  Then add the heavy cream, tomato sauce and a bit of pepper and simmer until the sauce has the right consistency.  Just before the sauce is done, add 1-2 handfuls of arugula, which adds a bit of bitterness to balance the flavors.  Then, toss with the pasta and serve topped with parmesan cheese.

Pasta With Vodka Sauce

Sasha's Kitchen: Penne Alla Vodka With Arugula

Sasha's Kitchen: Food & Wine Pairing: Ad Hoc's Caramelized Scallops with Cakebread Cellars Reserve Chardonnay

I have very quickly become a fan of Thomas Keller's cookbook, Ad Hoc At Home.  My husband professes to dislike scallops.  Yet, every time I have made them lately, he seems to enjoy them.  My last two scallop recipes, scallops in a lemongrass coconut broth with mushrooms and scallops with a blood orange vinaigrette, were both my recipes, and were fairly complex in the ingredients that accompanied the scallops.  This time, however, I decided to prepare Thomas Keller's classic caramelized scallops and pair them with one of my favorite wines - Reserve Chardonnay from Cakebread Cellars.  This recipe is more challenging than it looks to get the scallops with the right caramelized texture, but it is also quite rewarding and showcases the quality of the ingredients used.

About a year and a half ago, my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting Cakebread Cellars and tasting many of their wines when we visited Napa Valley. Cakebread, of course, is well known as a legendary Napa winery that makes some of the best Chardonnay on the planet.  I paired the scallops with a bottle of Reserve Chardonnay that I received so kindly from Cakebread back in December that I have been saving for the perfect meal - and in my mind seafood and Chardonnay pair nicely together.  I feel that the Cakebread reserve Chardonnay is truly a special wine, and because it is my favorite Chardonnay of all time, it's sad to see the last drop all gone.  But surely it was enjoyed.  And this time, we have enough leftover for accompanying the next night's meal (saffron mushroom risotto, so stay tuned!)

I paired the Ad Hoc scallops (from one of Napa's many wonderful restaurants) with this smooth, well balanced Reserve Carneros Chardonnay for an all-California treat on the east coast.  This Chardonnay is a nicely oaked Chardonnay that has a smooth, balanced flavor.  There are hints of lemon, along with tropical flavors, pears and a bit of spice.  This wine is just the closest thing to perfection in a Chardonnay that I know and tastes lovely with seafood.  I think it would also pair nicely with my Asian/Pacific Rim Marinated Chilean Sea Bass with Papaya Salsa, given the tropical fruit undertones in the wine.  I love the way the oak in the wine (they age the wine in French oaks, as I recall) balances out with these tropical flavors and the pear aroma.

The scallops, simple but elegant, are quintessentially Keller -  showcase of fresh, ingredients prepared in an uncomplicated way that showcases the scallop, pure and simple, rather than blending its flavor with other complicated ingredients (which, in my opinion is often nice, as well).  Because of the simple elegancy of this meal, it paired so well with the Chardonnay because it allows the taster to focus on the flavors of the scallop and the wine.  Plus, I love just about anything caramelized, so a caramelized scallop is just genius in my eyes.

Ad Hoc's Caramelized Scallops  
2 cups Kosher salt (plus more to taste)
2 cups hot water
8 cups cold water
12 U7 sea scallops (or about 1 3/4 lbs of local fresh scallops)
2 T clarified butter
1/2 lemon

I will note that i used regular scallops rather than U7 scallops because they were a fresh catch at my local fishmonger.  They were good but they absorbed the salt a bit faster than the larger U7 scallops so it was just a tad saltier than I might have preferred, due to the brine.  Next time, I will purchase U7 scallops like Keller suggests, but cut the recipe in half if I am only making it for two people again.

First, combine the salt with the hot water to prepare a brine.  Stir to dissolve the salt.  Add the cold water next.  Add the scallops to the brine and let stand for 10 minutes (and only 10 minutes so the scallops do not become too salty).  I might have suggested five minutes if you are using smaller scallops than U7.

Heat the clarified butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until it begins to smoke.  Season the scallops lightly with salt (and if you are like me, a bit of pepper).  Add the scallops to the pan, making sure they do not touch each other.  Cook without moving the scallops until golden brown for about 3 and a half minutes on each side.  Serve them simply with a bit of lemon juice on each scallop.

Scallops

Sasha's Kitchen: Food & Wine Pairing: Ad Hoc's Caramelized Scallops with Cakebread Cellars Reserve Chardonnay

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak

I will have to preface this recipe by saying that although it just looks like a slab of meat, it was a great marinade and a delicious thai inspired steak.  I was inspired by my old (but beloved) Caribbean and Pacific Rim cookbook, to create a lemongrass flavored marinade for steak.  My recipe is totally different from the one in the cookbook, but stays true to two things used to flavor the steak: soy sauce and lemongrass.  You can use either fresh or dried lemongrass for this recipe and I recommend fresh lemongrass if you can get your hands on it.  I used a nice organic cut of strip steak for the recipe, which was lean and absorbed the flavors well.

I marinaded the steaks overnight, which gave them a wonderful strong flavor from the marinade.  This wasn't intended as we wound up saving the steak for a day due to some last minute dinner plans.  I took the steak out of the marinade after about 10-12 hours though so not to over-marinate it.  I like how this worked out - the soy and pineapple juice made for a lovely marinade, with flavors of both lemongrass and cilantro.

Sasha's Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak
2 organic strip steaks
2/3 cup of soy sauce
2/3 cup pineapple juice
5 T lime juice
5 T minced lemongrass
1 T sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
1 T brown sugar

To prepare the steaks, it is very simple.  Just combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and marinate the steaks overnight (or for at least 5 hours).  Then, use a grill pan to grill the steaks to your liking.  I'd suggest serving with potatoes, fried rice or a salad.  I like this dish with a first course of a homemade Caesar salad.  My husband had his with an egg served sunny side up, which worked nicely, he said.

Sasha's Kitchen: Lemongrass Grilled Strip Steak

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Bacon Cheesesteak

I've spent the last week or so working and staying in Philly, so I figured what better way to celebrate than by making a cheesesteak. Sasha and I started discussing our fond memories of cheesesteaks from college in Philly and both wanted to try our hands at recreating the experience at home (hers is here). The 'best cheesesteak' in Philly is always a hot topic for locals. The most visited are probably Pat's and Geno's in South Philly, which face-off across the street from each other and honestly taste pretty similar. Then you've got Tony Luke's where his steaks are a little thicker and he now has a location in Citizen's Bank park. At any of these you'll find late night drinkers lining up by the dozen ordering 'whiz-with' (your cheese choice, cheese-whiz, american, or provolone, and then whether or not you want fried onions). I personally always went with American cheese and onions. Another place I loved getting cheesesteaks is actually on Princeton's campus near my Mom's house in central NJ and is called Hoagie Haven. 'Haven' definitely isn't a typical cheesesteak but they offer things like a cheesesteak with bacon or another one of my favorites, the buffalo chicken cheesesteak (I may have to tackle this one soon as well).

So in making my own at home, I decided to go with the bacon cheesesteak.

Ingredients:

2 large italian hoagie rolls

.9 lbs of thinly sliced top round

half a vidalia onion, sliced

half a box of sliced baby bella mushrooms

1/5 lb. of deli-sliced white american cheese

1/4 lb. of bacon

One of the reasons the cheesesteaks in Philly are so good, in my humble opinion, is that they use the Amoroso bakery's rolls. I thought about doing this while staying at my friend's in Philly just so I could use these rolls as well but found some decent rolls in Jersey City and went with them. I did hollow out the inside to remove some of the 'fluff' and lose some of the extra carbs because you know I've gotta watch all those calories while making a sandwich with bacon, steak and cheese... Anyway, first I cooked the bacon until crispy and set it aside. I removed the bacon grease and sauteed the mushrooms and onions in olive oil with a little black pepper and garlic.

I was a little disappointed that A&P's meat section wouldn't slice some rib-eye for me and told me there was thinly sliced top round on the shelf which is what we ended up going with. This was a big mistake in my opinion. The meat was fine but I should have either sliced it even more thinly, or pounded it thin. Normally when I make cheesesteaks at home I use steak 'um's or something similar and actually preferred that but I think I would have preferred the top round or rib eye IF it were thinner. The meat tasted good but was kind of overpowering because the chunks were so big and made it tough to taste the bacon and cheese. I guess I had hoped it would turn out more like Tony Luke's with the thicker meat.

Any time I cook meat in a pan (or a grill for that matter), I only cook each side once. Otherwise it can get overcooked and tough. You just want to sear each side and look in the juices and keep it tender. I also seasoned it with garlic powder and cracked black pepper. Once the meat was ready to flip, I added the onions, mushrooms and bacon and lined it up so it would fit nicely in the roll. Then I added the cheese on top and covered it with the sliced roll to help the cheese melt underneath. This is definitely the method of choice at most cheesesteak places I've been to while sober enough to watch and learn...

Now at most places that serve cheesesteaks, then have a giant grill area and large spatulas where they can just flip over the entire sandwich in one move and have the nicely layered sandwich. This is a lot tougher with a frying pan and normal sized spatula. Mine kind of fell apart when attempting to do this at home but eventually all the pieces made their way into the sandwich. I ended up adding a bunch of sliced jalapeno peppers and ketchup. Jenn just wanted Mayo... In the end it was a very tasty sandwich although I think I would have liked it much better with more thinly sliced meat.

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Bacon Cheesesteak

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Curried Egg Salad

Sometimes the best inspirations come randomly. I was at my parents looking for a quick lunch on the way out shopping with my mother. I decided on an egg salad, but wanted one with some pizazz! I started adding flavors I thought would taste great together and they did, to my great satisfaction.

Curried Egg Salad

1 boiled egg, whole
1 boiled egg, white only
1 tbsp fat free mayo (I used fat free Miracle Whip)
1 tsp chutney (I used Mrs. Ball's)
1 tbsp carrot, chopped fine
1 tbsp cucumber, chopped fine
1/4 avocado chopped
1/4 sprig green onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp raisins, reconstituted in hot water for about a minute
1 tbsp chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 tsp turmeric, depending on taste
salt to taste

Mash the egg, mayo, chutney, turmeric and salt until it is the desired consistancy to your taste. Fold in the other ingredients and enjoy!

Yield about 1 cup

I put this on crackers but it's great on its own or spread on a sandwich. I made enough for two people, but feel free to increase the amounts as needed.

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Curried Egg Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Eat Me: Alice In Wonderland Themed Cupcakes Series

As most of my readers are probably aware by now, I love making cupcakes.  My passion for cupcakes is two-fold.  First, I love making cupcakes in different delicious flavors and experimenting with lovely frosted cupcakes from key lime to chocolate to vanilla to gingerbread.  In addition, I also love cupcake decorating and turning my cupcakes into miniature works of art.  I have done cupcakes that look like the great modern art masters of the 20th century in my modern art cupcake series, and of course sushi cupcakes.  Today, I introduce my series of Alice In Wonderland Cupcakes, inspired by Lewis Carroll's classic novel.  I made these cupcakes together with my often-sous chef Alicia, who was actually named after the main character, Alice (her mom did her thesis dissertation on the novel).  We had a fabulous time creating an original series of Alice in Wonderland cupcakes inspired by the novel - including the the Mad Hatter's hat, the White Rabbit's watch, the Doormouse, Tweedlededum, the Cheshire Cat and the Caterpillar.

The cupcakes that we made tasted great too (if you were willing to destroy the beautiful designs to eat them, which is quite hard to do, actually).  They are gingerbread cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting.  I promise to share the recipe for the plain cupcakes in a future post that focuses only on the cupcakes, but for today, I wanted to share the Alice In Wonderland inspired designs that we created last weekend.  Please leave a comment on this post and let me know which ones are your favorites!

The cupcakes are all made out of colored fondant that I purchased from NY Cake in a couple of different varieties.  The fondant was very easy to work with - kind of like sculpting out of Play Dough to create beautiful food art.   Without further ado, here are the photographs from my "Eat Me" Alice in Wonderland Series of cupcakes:

The Mad Hatter's Hat Cupcakes:

The eccentric Mad Hatter and his hat are probably one of the most famous characters from the Lewis Carroll novel at the tea party.

The Cheshire Cat and his famous mischievous grin are one of the most recognizable images from Alice in Wonderland.  We did the Cheshire Cat into a cupcake, as well as an offbeat goofy cupcake that simply personifies his grin.

The White Rabbit is one of my favorite characters from Alice in Wonderland.  He is always quite worried about being late, so for him, we created cupcakes that look like his pocket watch.  "I'm Late! I'm Late! For a very important date!"

The Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar is another distinctive character from the Lewis Carroll novel.  We weren't sure how to make him at first, and I used some artistic license in making him blue and yellow rather than simply blue.  In the end, I was quite happy how he turned out, with a small pipe in his hand.

Next up are Tweedlededum and Tweedlededee.  I only made one of these rolly polly guys, since they look the same.  I used some artistic license in simply creating a cupcake that personified their pants, suspenders and striped shirt, and their roundish (cupcake-like) shape.  They actually first appear in Lewis Carroll's sequel, Through The Looking Glass.

Eat Me and Drink Me are one of the two famous quotes from the Lewis Novel where Alice grows, shrinks and changes form based on the potions, elixirs and other things that she ingests.  We created two "Eat Me" cupcakes, and really who wouldn't want to eat them anyhow?

We did not do the Queen of Hearts or her famous croquets with flamingos on the mallets, but in spirit to the Queen, we did do a playing card cupcake.  "Off with their heads!"

The Doormouse is another character from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.  I wasn't as happy with how he came out as the others - we just did a small mouse in a teacup.

Hope you enjoyed my cupcake tribute to Alice in Wonderland.  Leave a comment and let me know which cupcake is your favorite!

Sasha's Kitchen: Eat Me: Alice In Wonderland Themed Cupcakes Series