Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Looking for a light hors d'oeuvres recipe that will also impress with presentation?  I made these adorable Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes while having friends over for pre-dinner drinks recently and they were delicious!

There are some nice recipes online for this, but I didn't really follow any of them.  I kind of made it up along the way, here is my take on it:

Pre-dinner Cocktails and snacks: Mozzarella Stuffed Cherry Tomatos and Roasted Chickpeas

Ramp Toast (by ABC Kitchen)

A few weekends ago I was brunching at ABC Kitchen and had some fabulous toast, and it was green!  We weren't even exactly sure what was on it, or what was green, but it was memorable and intriguing.  My dining friend looked it up and uncovered that the green spread on top was actually Ramp butter.  I didn't even know that existed, nor have I cooked with the green veggie before. 

Walking through the Union Square Greenmarket this week, I stumbled upon a vendor selling bunches of ramps.  Perfect! It was a sign to finally try it.

Ramps! (all nice and clean, after 45 minutes of washing...)

I searched the internet for recipes on how to make the Ramp toast from ABC Kitchen (which Piggy KK wrote a great review for) and found a short how-to video from the restaurant's chef, Dan Kluger.  It was helpful in uncovering the ingredients - ramp butter, pickled ramp bottoms, goat cheese, and sourdough bread.  But unfortunately it didn't really give any details on how to actually make the butter or pickled ramps.  A few rounds of trial and error, and I finally wound up with a somewhat passable replication of it!

My attempt at Toast with Ramp Butter, Goat Cheese & Pickled Ramps

Dragonfly Cakes' Petits Fours

For my birthday last month, I was surprised when a little box arrived in the mail for me.  It wasn't anything I would expect like clothes, a bag, household trinkets... basically anything non-perishable!  It was a box of adorable petits fours from Dragonfly Cakes!  I was a little wary upon opening it, wondering how in the world it stayed fresh (they're based in California).  Even if it was edible, I figured it probably suffered a bit in transit.  It did come packaged with refrigerant to keep it cool in transit.

They are so pretty though that I was intrigued and couldn't resist biting into one as soon as I opened the box (and even before I remembered to snap a picture!).

From L to R: Chocolate, Vanilla-Orange, Apricot Petits Fours (12 for $36.95)

Boy was I wrong! They tasted soo good! My pretty little box came with three different flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla-Orange, and Apricot.  I bit into a green one (apricot) - the shell was made of chocolate and the inside was three little layers of cake.  It was moist, and not too sweet.  It was the perfect bite-size piece of cake.  All three flavors were delicious, but my favorite was probably the Vanilla-Orange (with the Apricot a very close second!).

Tea @ Harney & Sons

All this holiday shopping is wearing me down!  After a long afternoon of perusing the shops in SoHo, I was desperately in search of a nice cup of tea and possibly some baked goodies to go with my drink.  Lucky for me, Harney & Sons was right around the corner!

Harney & Sons is a tea shop in SoHo that offers an incredible assortment of loose teas.  I am talking shelves up to the ceiling filled with teas!  They even have one of those rolly library ladders so that they can get to the teas up top.  Take a look:

Harney & Sons shop with the wall of teas on the right!

Cooking: Roasted Chestnuts

Bring on the holiday tunes and all the glitter and ribbons!  Roasting chestnuts is just one of the things I look forward to during this season.  What's great is they're super easy to make and affordable too. You can pop these quickly in the oven, but I just use my toaster oven and that works great too!

Roasted Chestnuts

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse and thoroughly dry your chestnuts.

Mark an 'X' on the flat side of your chestnuts with a knife.  This is essential, because it allows the steam to escape while the chestnuts are cooking.  Otherwise they may explode in your oven!

Small bites in Taiwan!

I've returned from my trip to Taiwan, and I can confidently say I lived up to my Piggy name!  Taiwan has an abundance of good eats and I was fortunate enough to find amazing hole-in-the-wall places and also experienced some fancier dining as well.  Believe it or not I even found a Beef Noodle Soup Festival.  I've been back for over a week now and am going through withdrawal missing all the yummy Taiwanese treats I had.  In my next few posts I'll share some drool-worthy pics, and if you ever make your way to Taiwan be sure to message me and I'll share some of my favorite spots!

The trip started off great with a surprisingly delicious serving of chicken congee on our flight from JFK to Taipei.  It even came topped with ginger, scallions and mushrooms. Well done Eva Air!

Breakfast

One of the things I love most (and therefore miss most!) about Taiwan is breakfast time.  It's no ordinary danish or toasts there.   We're talking about egg pancakes, radish buns, meat buns, soybean milk, fried crullers, rice 'burritos'... gosh the list goes on, and now I'm totally making myself hungry again even though I just ate dinner :(

There was an awesome family-run Taiwanese breakfast joint right around the corner from my in-law's apartment. Quite literally - a hole in the wall.

Here's the "menu"... I would offer some translation except the only things I can decipher are the numbers!  Don't worry, I took pictures...

Egg pancakes ("dan bing").  Light and fluffy beaten egg is topped with a thin pancake and rolled up.

Argo Tea Cafe

I love finding a good cafe in the city.  My recent go-to spot?  Argo Tea Cafe!  I've stopped by so many times in the last few weeks that I'm now battling for the Foursquare mayorship of the Union Square Argo.

What I love most about this cafe is its focus on tea over coffee (for you java junkies out there - yes they do still offer coffee!).  In addition to the traditional coffee shop lattes and cappucinos, Argo offers over 20 different varieties of tea and several of its own original and creative tea-based signature drinks. Take a look at the menu!

Some of Argo's signature creations - all can be personalized and served cold or hot!

Baked by Melissa

Still stuffed from Thanksgiving Dinner yet somehow find yourself desperate for a midday snack?  Need to satisfy that sweet tooth but are reluctant to let loose your belt?  Baked by Melissa is the perfect solution for you!

My Red Velvet, Tie-Dye and Cookies & Cream Cupcakes!

Baked by Melissa creates these tiny bite-sized cupcakes in a variety of flavors.  They’re great for when you are looking for a snack, but don’t want to overdo it.  OR it’s perfect for when you can’t decide upon a flavor and want to taste them all!  

Great bite-sized cnack!



Cooking: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

After you carve your pumpkin, you can reward yourself not only with an awesome looking pumpkin, but also pumpkin seeds!

It's super easy and you only need a few ingredients to make these yummy crispy seeds:

Olive Oil
Salt
Garlic powder and/or your choice of seasonings

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

After scooping all the seeds out of your pumpkin, rinse them.

In a small saucepan, add 3-4 cups of water, the seeds, and 2 TB of salt.

Coolhaus

Ice cream trucks are a childhood favorite of mine.  And by ice cream truck, I mean all ice cream (truck or not).  I love it all!  When I first moved to the city, Mr. Softee trucks were on almost every corner and I was ecstatic.  No more waiting and hoping for the truck to go down my block - I can choose when I want it!  Sadly, each time I went to Mr. Softee I walked away disappointed - just didn't quite hit the spot for me. 

Lucky for me, the recent explosion of food trucks has brought in lots of new and different ice cream options yay!  One that I recently got to try was Coolhaus.  Known for eccentric all-natural handmade ice cream flavors and various cookie options, you can pick an ice cream and pair it with two cookies to make your own ice cream sandwich!  Each sandwich is $6 and comes in its signature slanty shape (similar to the roof of the truck!) wrapped in edible paper.

Knowing that I've been meaning to try Coolhaus, an old colleague of mine messaged me during lunch one day at work to tell me that Coolhaus was in the area!  Upon arrival, I quickly realized that I had underestimated the number of options and possible combinations there could be...

Coolhaus truck - with its roof in its signature shape!

Cooking: Guacamole

Once upon a time, there was a day when Piggy KL disliked avocados.  Mushy and green?? Double yuck.  And then she went to Mexico and tried Guacamole and her life changed forever!

...

Haha ok so maybe it wasn't really life-changing, but it did open my eyes to how delicious avocados are.  On that note, Guacamole is awesome - it's a fantastic and easy snack to make.  I happened to whip up a bowl while watching the Giants game this past Sunday to accompany my Steak Tacos.  Since the ingredients for both recipes overlap, it was super easy!

I found the recipe from Dos Caminos (Mexican restaurant in NYC) and adapted it to my liking.  I love that their recipe calls for minimal salt (and I used even less!) and adds some heat with some Jalapeno and/or Serrano peppers.  Follow along to see how I made it!

Ingredients
2 Avocados
2 TB Red Onion, minced
2 TB Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
1 heaping TB Jalapeno, finely chopped (Dos Caminos says you can also use Serrano)
3 TB diced Tomato (cored and seeded)
1/2 Lime
1/4 Tsp Salt

All chopped and ready to go...

Sprinkles

Earlier this year, Sprinkles opened its first outpost in NYC.  I was a big fan of the tv show Girls Next Door and Bridget Marquardt, one of the stars of the show, often talked about how Sprinkles cupcakes were her favorite.  When this LA-based cupcakery finally set up shop on the Upper East Side I was excited to finally have a taste!

Its location across the street from Bloomingdale's is definitely convenient (and deadly).  The outside of the store is decorated with colorful cascading sprinkles.  The inside, while not spacious, is bright and clean with strategically placed display cases filled with their different cupcake options - your eyes just can't help but be drawn towards it!  My friend R and I ordered three (yes that's right...I said three!) cupcakes to share: one red velvet, one vanilla, and one salted caramel.

Cupcakes on display!

Dropping by: BLT Popovers

Popovers from BLT Prime are delish! Light and airy, sooo good.  Have you ever tried them?

Baking: Three of a (Chocolate) Kind

What better way to kick off a trip to Atlantic City than with cards and dice? Made of chocolate, of course!

While preparing for the upcoming trip (with three boys nonetheless!) I knew munchies were an absolute must.  Luckily I stumbled upon a cards and dice-theme chocolate mold while browsing N.Y. Cake, a haven of all things baking-related.  It's a no-frills store and fairly reasonably priced given its NYC location.  The aisles are tightly lined with an overwhelming variety of baking and decorating tools.  Spare yourself the guilt and just resign all self-control at the door. At least that's what I do!  It's a family-run store and they even offer cake decorating classes. (More on that in posts to come, stay tuned!)

N.Y. Cake Storefront (Source: http://newyork.seriouseats.com)

Along with the chocolate mold, I also picked up a 1 pound bag of mixed colored chocolate melts.  Mine came with regular milk chocolate, white chocolate and orange chocolate melts.

Now let's get started! One color at a time, microwave the chocolate melts on 50% power for 1 minute in a microwavable bowl.  Stir and repeat until the chocolate is melted.  The consistency should be fluid, so that it easily dribbles off your spoon. Yummm, go ahead and lick that spoon, indulge yourself!

Laduree

I am a marketer’s dream consumer.  Put together some hype with a high probability of getting ripped off and I'm sold!  Naturally, when I heard that Laduree was opening an Upper East Side store at the end of August (their first US location!), it was no surprise that I was immediately swept into feelings of “I need to have it now!!!”.

However, opening week offered disappointing reports of hour-long waits just to get into the store and the likely probability that must-try flavors would be sold out before you even get up to the counter.  Thus I strategically waited until a recent Saturday which overlapped with a long holiday weekend.  I set off towards Madison and 70th Street, determined to wait however long it would take for me to get those macarons.  As I approached the store and saw that there was no line out the door I could hear the angels singing (oh wait… that was just me screaming “yipeee” as I giddily ran in).

Laduree storefront on a glorious Saturday afternoon

Appetizing window display mmm...