Tag: food

Chalk Point Kitchen’s delicious spring menu

Brownie MarieLeave a comment
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I love you too, Chalk Point Kitchen!

Spring has sprung in NYC, and that means a new, delectable menu from Matt Levine’s Chalk Point Kitchen (527 Broome St. New York, NY). The West Village restaurant specializes in seasonal ingredients delivered farm-to-table, but it is the creativity of its chefs that truly sets Chalk Point apart. A glance at their brunch, lunch, dinner, or dessert menus and it’s clear that this is not ordinary dining. Baked Sourdough French Toast is exalted to include toasted hazelnuts and crispy rosemary, and the Devils Food Cake is crafted with raw cacao and topped with cream cheese icing. The rustic charm of Chalk Point Kitchen’s decor complements the restaurant’s honest ingredients and well-constructed dishes, and heightens an already intimate dining experience. Last week, I was invited to an exclusive tasting of their spring menu, and it is exceptional even by Chalk Point’s standards.

 

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The whipped, herbed feta was amazing!

Up first was whipped, herbed feta with toasted baguettes. The flavor combination was remarkable! The sweetness of the feta cheese, tangy spice of red pepper flakes, and savory and satisfying crunch of the baguette were heavenly together.

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Blood Orange Vitamin C Salad

While it was difficult to move on from this appetizer, it was time for the second course: a crisp and refreshing Blood Orange Vitamin C Salad. This item is also on the dinner menu, and features arugula and goji berries for a meal that was surprisingly hearty.

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Chicken Liver Mousse Toast

A surprising treat was Chalk Point’s Chicken Liver Mousse Toast. Even liver-averse diners such as myself can appreciate the goji berries and balsamic vinegar reduction that add a tart yet sweet contrast to the dish.

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Scallops

Though I was pretty stuffed at this point, I had to make room for the scallops. Served with purple yams and green goddess dressing, this entrée was succulent. The scallops were cooked perfectly– tender, juicy, and delicious.

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Matcha and pistachio panna cotta

Dessert was a matcha panna cotta with pistachios, cookie crumbles, raspberries, blueberries, and powdered sugar. The recipe was just sweet enough, and a refreshing cleanser after four delightful courses.

View all of Chalk Point Kitchen’s menus on their website, and follow the restaurant on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @ChalkPointNYC!

#WethePeaple #HappyatCPK

Olive Garden's Lasagna Classico

Before you order my food for me

Brownie MarieLeave a comment

This is certainly not the norm, but it does happen. You’re at a restaurant with a guy, and he decides to order your food for you. What? This is particularly bizarre when it’s a first date. Just because I say I like pork chops, doesn’t mean that I want a pork chop RIGHT NOW. Très bizarre.

However, I do like it when I tell a man what I want, and he places the order. Unfortunately, 99 percent of the time the guy either forgets something or messes the order up in some way, and I end up interjecting, and it pretty much ruins the whole thing. Once in a while I come across a man who gets it right.

I pretty much order the same thing from every chain restaurant I go to, and yes, I love chain restaurants. My fake ex-hubby used to give me crap about all the great restaurants in New York, and how he would never go to a chain, blah blah blah, but give me a chain restaurant any day of the week. I know exactly what I want, and I know how it will be delivered. If you order something from Olive Garden in Ohio, it will taste pretty much the same as if you ordered it from an Olive Garden in New Jersey. And I love Olive Garden.

P.S. Guys: It’s better to ask ‘Would you like the pork chop?’ to confirm it’s what I want before telling the waiter.

My faves, i.e., what I order from these restaurants pretty much every time I go there.

Olive Garden – Lasagna Classico, Strawberry Limoncello Martini
Red Lobster – Walt’s Favorite Shrimp, Mai Tai (seriously, the Mai Tai’s at Red Lobster are AMAZE)
Applebee’s – Artichoke & Spinach Dip, Double Crunch Shrimp

Mmmm. Hungry now.

10 Ghetto meals

Brownie MarieLeave a comment

I’ve been there a hundred times if I’ve been there once.  Hungry, broke, and have a bunch of random ingredients in the house.  The goal is to make something that tastes decent (which it will because you’re starving), and is somewhat filling.  Some of these recipes may be familiar to you, some will be new.  Give them a try (if you dare) and let me know what ghetto meals you have made!

  1. Bootleg breakfast taco
    Ingredients: eggs, cheese (optional), soft or hard taco shell, BBQ sauce (or ketchup or taco sauce)
    You scramble the eggs w/ cheese and put it inside the taco, adding BBQ sauce for flavor.  I am eating a bootleg breakfast taco as I type.  And the taco shell is stale :/
  2. Rice cereal
    Ingredients: white rice, milk, sugar, butter
    Cook the rice.  While still hot, add sugar and butter to taste.  Add milk as if you just made a bowl of cereal (because you just did).
  3. Pasta with chopped up hot dogs
    Ingredients: pasta, hot dogs, pasta sauce if you have some
    This is a ghetto alternative if you don’t have any chicken, ground beef, shrimp, or other meat in the house that you would normally add to your pasta.  Cook your pasta and hot dogs separately.  Chop up the hot dogs and add to the pasta.  Extra ghetto points if you’re using Ramen noodles.  You can also put a can of tuna fish in there instead of hot dogs.
  4. Snickerdoodles
    Ingredients: 1 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3 tblsp. of sugar (keep separate), 2 eggs, 2 3/4 cups flour, 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 3 tsp. cinnamon
    The full recipe is available on Food.com.  I have routinely left out the cream of tartar and the baking soda, and the cookies came out just fine.  No matter how empty the fridge and cabinets are, I usually seem to have butter, sugar, eggs, flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.  So why not make some cookies?  Not the most nutritious dinner, but none of these recipes really are!
  5. Cheese and sauce
    Ingredients: shredded cheddar cheese, pasta sauce
    My brother used to make this.  You simply put sauce on a plate (not a paper plate), and sprinkle cheese on top.  Microwave until the cheese melts.
  6. Crouton delish
    Ingredients: croutons (preferably seasoned), pasta sauce, cheese (shredded or sliced)
    You notice how many of these recipes involve cheese and sauce?  Lol.  One of my favorite food combinations.  You put the croutons in a bowl, cover them with pasta sauce, and put the cheese on top.  Microwave until the cheese melts.  Mmmmm.
  7. Biscuit sandwiches
    Ingredients: Bisquick, milk, anything else you can find in the fridge
    The possibilities are endless.  Make some biscuits using the Bisquick and milk, cut the biscuits in half, and put anything in between.  I like them with syrup or jelly, or my favorite combination– cheese and sauce.  Can put any type of meat in there too.  Things get creative when you’re hungry.
  8. Doritos and salsa
    Just pop open the bag of chips and jar of salsa, and scoop away.  More of a ghetto snack than ghetto meal.
  9. Boxed mac n cheese w/ hot dogs
    Cook mac n cheese and hot dogs separately.  Chop up hot dogs and mix in.  You can also put a can of tuna fish in there instead.
  10. Ghetto fried rice
    Ingredients: white rice, onion, soy sauce
    Cook the white rice, add chopped onion and soy sauce.  If you’re feeling fancy, you can add veggies.

Ghetto meal tips:

-When I have pasta but no sauce, I usually mix BBQ sauce and ketchup, and sometimes a bit of calamari sauce.  Salad dressing also works.

-I try to add some type of starch to get and stay more full.  Hence the use of croutons, taco shells, pasta, etc.

-You can use Saltine crackers instead of tortilla chips and make ghetto nachos.

-Cat food tastes gross.