Category Archives: Product Reviews

My phone, the gastronome: 2

Fish taco, tortilla chips and house-made salsas @ Surf Taco in Long Branch, NJ.

Pastel colored gummy bears drowning in peach frozen yogurt @ Red Mango. Emergency snackage at Penn Station with my cousin Donna while waiting for the rain to pass.

This is the grown-up version of Hershey’s Cookies-n-Cream bar. Ah-mazing.

Post work sushi dinner @ Nagoya in South Brooklyn. Pictured above is my favorite thing on their menu: the calamari roll.

@ Goodburger, a burger chain in NYC. Their restaurants are neat and clean but the food is mediocre at best. All burger chains other than Five Guys and Shake Shack should just give up…

Don’t forget to follow me on instagram! Username ChezSasha

Brie crostini with POM sautéed pears

Here is one of the dishes I created with my POM pomegranate juice. I’m not sure how the idea came to me but I’m glad it did.

(Yield: 8 pieces)

Ingredients:

8 slices of baguette

Extra virgin olive oil

8 slices of brie cheese

1 pad butter

2 sweet pears, sliced 1/4″-thick

1/3 c POM pomegranate juice

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add pears, POM and thyme. Stir and bring to simmer. Simmer for about 20 min, stirring frequently, until the pears are soft and there is no liquid left. Then saute for another 2 min, to caramelize the pears.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375F. Place the bread on a baking sheet and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Bake for 5 min. Remove from oven, flip, and top with a slice of cheese and several slices of pear. Return to oven and bake for another 6-7 min.

If you are the type that likes sweet and savory together, you would love this. The sweet, tart flavor of the pears compliments the pungency of the cheese fantastically. These crostini are perfect for a cocktail party, an appetizer or a fancy snack.

POM!

The lovely people at POM Wonderful of California contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I’d like to sample their product – clearly this was an offer I could not refuse. This morning I received a case of 8-ounce bottles of pomegranate juice.

POM is a delicious, tart drink that is a great source of potassium and antioxidants; it also has infinite possibilities in the kitchen. I can’t wait to experiment with it! I want to make something savory, something sweet and something alcoholic. Stay tuned!

Lucy’s Whey

Working practically next door to Chelsea Market is very hazardous for a foodie such as I – it’s like holding an A.A. meeting next door to Liquors-R-Us.

I am always tempted to pop in and check out what new goodies are available for me to feast on. Today I stopped by Lucy’s Whey (clever, non?) a small cheese shop that offers local, artisinal cheeses from small-scale cheesemakers. I told the girl at the counter that I’m a fan of brie and she recommended the “Noble Road” from Calkin’s Creamery in PA, which is qualified as a “semi-soft, bloomy cheese with mushroomy accents”.

The texture was less gummy than that of brie. The taste had less of that fungal pungency that I am so fond of.

Either way, it made for a light, fabulous dinner along with Wheat-Thins, fruit and Chardonnay.

Banana walnut pancakes with blueberry sauce

I adore pancakes! What could be better? Pure carbs drenched in syrupy carbs, and if you’re lucky, served alongside pure smoky cholesterol [i.e. bacon]? Yum.

I’ve always been reluctant to buy pancakes in a box, though. I felt as though I would be cheating the pancake gods somehow by not making them from scratch. But alas, I have succumbed! However, these are at least kinda healthy. One serving (3 pancakes) has about 180 calories and provides 20% of the recommended daily value of fiber.

The maple syrup I had in my fridge was expired but I did have blueberries, with which I decided to make a sauce instead.

(Yield: More than enough for 1 hungry Sasha)

Ingredients:

1 c pancake mix

2/3 c water

1 ripe banana, diced

1/4 c chopped walnuts

Cooking spray

Sauce:

3/4 c blueberries

1 tbsp water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

Combine pancake mix and water, and add the banana and walnuts. Spray a griddle with cooking spray and cook pancakes according to package directions.

For sauce: combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 7 min, until berries fall apart and a syrup forms.

Apples Flambé Parfait

This is the first dish I decided to make with my Karoun products. The first layer of this parfait is 2% Karoun yogurt, the second is apples flambé and the third is homemade granola. This parfait is absolutely delicious and can be served as a fancy breakfast or brunch item, or as an unpretentious dessert.

The flavor and texture combination is divine: the yogurt is cold and tangy, the apples are warm and sweet, and the granola is crispy and aromatic.

Here is how I make granola,

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c old-fashioned rolled oats

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp brown sugar, light or dark

1 tbsp + 1 tsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a large bowl. Then add oats and mix with your hands. Knead the mixture until oats are evenly coated. Spread mixture onto baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 min, then stir and bake for another 10 min.

Granola should be stored in an airtight container and may be kept for up to 10 days.

And now for the star of the show, apples flambé. The ingredients yield one serving, as I was cooking only for myself, so adjust accordingly. Flambé is French for flamed and it’s a cooking technique in which the flames are caused by the addition of alcohol.

Ingredients:

1 apple, peeled, sliced

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 splash of cognac

Place first 5 ingredients in pan on medium heat. Sauté, stirring frequently, for 5 min, until a sort of syrup forms. While keeping back loose clothing, hair and other body parts, pour cognac into pan, tilt slightly toward flame and shake pan back and forth. A flame will rise and it should extinguish in a second.

Now, in a tumbler glass or bowl, layer 1/2 cup yogurt, apples and granola. Ta-da!

Buitoni Riserva Refrigerated Pasta

This is my 150th post. Woot!

About a month ago I received a coupon in the mail for one Buitoni Riserva product, courtesy of FoodBuzz (Thanks!) I haven’t gotten around to using it until a few days ago, when I went to visit Ally in New Jersey.

We picked up the Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti in the refrigerated section, which were stuffed with ricotta, fontina, Parmesan, Grano Padano and roasted garlic. We had no idea how we wanted to prepare them so we ended up strolling along the aisles for longer than was necessary trying to come up with an idea. I didn’t want to serve the pasta in a tomato or cream sauce, and it was certainly too warm to make it a baked dish. Here’s what we came up with:

(Yield: 2 servings)

Ingredients:

1 package Buitoni Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti

About 6 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 slices bacon

Salt

Cook bacon according to package directions until crispy (about 7 min) in a large pan and set aside to drain on a paper towel. In the same pan, cook mushrooms on medium heat in the bacon drippings, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for about 7 min, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook the ravioli according to package directions and reserve 2 tbsp of the cooking water before draining. When the mushrooms are ready, add bacon, ravioli and reserved pasta water to the pan and sauté together for another minute. (Cooking time is under 20 minutes!)

Served with a side salad, this is a very satisfying meal. The ravioli were tender and cheesy on the inside, the mushrooms were meaty and salty from being cooked in bacon grease and the bacon was…well, it was its usual delicious, sinful self.

The Deen Family’s Stuffed French Toast

My good friend Ally went to Georgia over last week, where she got to eat in Paula Deen’s restaurant The Lady & Sons. She was sweet enough to send me the cookbook…
with this note, LOL.

The book is packed with awesome, homey recipes from the Deen family. The recipes are unpretentious and sound delicious.

While flipping through the book last night, I spotted “T.J.’s Cream Cheese and Strawberry-Stuffed French Toast” which I instantly knew would have to be for breakfast this morning.

I didn’t have any strawberries in the house so I opted for canned peaches instead. The French toast turned out scrumptious and needless to say, my day was off to a great start. If you want the full recipe, let me know and I’ll be happy to e-mail it to you.

Thanks for the book, Ally! I can’t wait to try more Deen family recipes.

“If you think cooking is a chore…

you must be doing it the wrong way” – is not a bad way to summarize this cookbook. As mentioned in my previous post, this book was sent to me by its distributor, so a ‘thank you’ is in order :]

Abel & Cole is Britain’s most popular organic grocer and this book is a collection of recipes that showcase seasonal organic produce in appetizer, entrée and dessert dishes. Although I am not a follower of the organic craze, I find the recipes in this book fantastic! What I love is that they are classified by the four seasons, and the ingredients and techniques used are very simple. Also, the recipes are very versatile and most ingredients can be substituted. Unlike my culinary Bible, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, these recipes are about enjoying your time in the kitchen and cooking from the soul, as opposed to perfecting intricate methods. No offense, Julia :/

The first recipe I tried from this book I logically selected from the ‘Summer’ section: Stuffed Mushrooms. I usually make Giada’s stuffed mushrooms but change is good. I chose this recipe because: A. it consists of only five simple ingredients! And B. because two of them are mushrooms and cheese.

The book says to cook this on the grill or in the oven wrapped in foil. I cooked these in the oven on a regular baking sheet.

(Edit the ingredients for how many people you’re feeding)

You will need:

Mushrooms of your choice

Blue cheese, crumbled

Crispy, fried bacon, crumbled (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

Chopped scallion for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the stems off of the mushrooms, leaving the caps intact. Chop the stems and set aside. Place the mushrooms on a baking sheet and fill with blue cheese. Top with chopped stems and bacon. Grind fresh pepper over the top and bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the mushrooms. Be careful not to overstuff because mushrooms shrink during the cooking process. Garnish with scallion.

These mushrooms came out amazing!!! The cheese gives them a sharp taste and the bacon makes them salty. This is a great hors d’oeuvre or side dish for a barbecue. The Abel & Cole Cookbook is full of culinary goodness and even though I usually never cook from cookbooks, I will certainly turn to this one time and time again. Purchase your copy here: http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/gifts-gift-vouchers/gifts