Blueberry streusel muffins

I’m not much of a baker besides listening to what Betty Crocker tells me to do. I had some extra blueberries that were not sweet enough to eat and instead of making blueberry preserves like I do with all berries that are about to go bad, I made Blueberry Streusel Muffins instead. I was excited to use my totally awesome colorful silicone muffin cups. I love how blueberries burst when baked which is why I love to add a lot more than I need to. I made a streusel topping to go along with the blueberries for something extra.

Taka Taka–Mexican Sushi and Japanese Tacos

Can you spell fusion? Taka Taka on West Broadway and Grand in SoHo, NYC can. With their combination of Mexican taco’s and Japanese sushi this place is a win. Their Japexican or Mexenese  cuisine includes sushi, tacos, tapenyaki, and several cold and hot starters that can satisfy your Mexican or Japanese cravings. Being fairly new, Taka Taka does not have that many reviews online. If anything it actually has bad reviews. I came here with my family when my brothers came to visit during MLK weekend. The restaurant has a modern Japanese-ish diner feel to it with lined up booths and a conveyor belt that snakes through the restaurant. A little bit on the pricey end, this restaurant has very few items that are worth it. The staff is friendly and the kitchen creations are fun to enjoy but not worth a return trip.

Vegetable Dumplings

Similar to my Chicken Dumplings, my veggie dumplings pretty much contain the same ingredients. For my veggie dumplings I used square wonton wrappers. Dumpling dough is a pretty easy recipe- just white flour and water. The technique to kneed the dough perfects itself overtime, but if you’re a seasoned “atta gooner” then it shouldn't  be problem. I don’t have the patience to roll out dumplings which is why I buy wonton wrappers. One day I’ll make a homemade dough, but until then I’ll opt to buying premade wonton wrappers.
They come in 3 different kinds.
Green are “vegetable wontons” which have spinach to give them the green color.
Pale white- are shanghai wonton wrappers. Most similar to the traditional dumplings. I find these to be slightly thicker and chewy than the Hong Kong variety.

Slightly yellow ones are Hong Kong wontons. (they say these are yellow because they contain egg- but the one’s I bought had the same ingredients as the Shanghai. I find these to be thinner and not as chewy.

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Green Tea Ice Cream

I spent Presidents day weekend with my cousins Samira (aka B) and Saadia. I’ve been meaning to go to B’s place across the Hudson for quite some time now to make use of her ice cream maker. B and I made green tea ice cream, and lots of love to her for freezing motions to allow me to take pictures. I love green tea ice cream and I thought this would be the perfect time to experiment with a recipe. I made the mistake of following a recipe which said to use a 2 to 1 ratio of milk to cream, however as tested before by B and I separately, a 1 to 2 ratio of milk to cream is better and makes for a creamier consistency when frozen. I used Matcha, which allows for that rich minty color green tea ice cream is known for. Matcha is a finely milled high quality green tea that is grown in shades which causes the leaves to be a darker green and filled with amino acids. The amino acids result with the distinct green tea flavor that important in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. Matcha can be quite pricey so substituting it with green tea powder is okay. With the substitution you will find yourself using more to get deep green tea flavor and color but nonetheless satisfying. I find green tea ice cream to be a great way to end a meal or refresh the palate. Read below to get the recipe!

Chicken Dumplings

Dumplings are a favorite in our household. Omer and I can have them multiple times a week and never get bored. The beauty about dumplings is the possibilities are endless with fillings. The different textures resulting from the various cooking methods yield a unique experience every time. You can steam, boil, pan fry, or deep fry dumplings. I have two recipes up, this one is for chicken- you can check out my veggie one here.

As always, with my recipes I add the disclaimer to use my ingredients as a base. You can add or remove any ingredient, the best part of cooking is experimenting the possibilities! See below for my recipe.

Moroccan Lamb Shank Tagine

A tagine is a heavy clay pot used to slow cook stews in a simmer. In Moroccan cuisines, lamb is cooked until the meat falls off the bone. Yum! The slow cooking method allows for cheaper cuts (usually the tough cuts of shoulder and shanks) of meat to be used. There is no hard or fast rule on what type of spices should be used. But something that is essential is preserved lemons! If Morocco is credited for one thing and one thing only, it should be for contributing preserved lemons to the culinary world. The lemons are pickled in a brine of lemon juice, salt, and water and bring out the natural sweet and tartness of the lemon which can create a delicious depth of flavor in any dish. Preserved lemons are the secret ingredient to any tagine and pairs well with chicken, lamb, beef, and seafood. Preserved lemons may not be the highlight of this dish, but it makes a big difference in taste.

Fried Nutella Wonton

February 5th is World Nutella Day. I wasn't even aware such a thing exists, but I'm sure glad we have a day devoted to the creamy chocolate hazelnut spread we call Nutella. Here's a great way to enjoy Nutella on World Nutella Day if your not too busy watching the Super Bowl. 

The other day I made dumplings, and with the leftover wonton wrappers I decided to fry them with nutella inside. I saw Giada from Food Network do this a while back, and its possibly the easiest thing to do.

I took a square wonton wrapper, added Nutella inside, (you could also add Bananas). Brush the ends with water and fold on a diagonal to make triangles. 

Deep fry until light golden brown and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

                         

Kari and Pakoras

Kari is a golden yellow yogurt based curry with soft fritters made from gram flour. Besan, as gram flour is called in Pakistan is flour made from fried split yellow chick peas easily available at Indian/Pakistani markets. I would consider kari as Pakistani soul food. You can eat it alone, with rice, naan, or roti. My grandmother would occasionally make kari for us on weekends with her homemade yogurt. For some reason it seemed like a process that took all day, but when I made it myself it didnt seem to take that long. You can adjust the heat in my recipe below by reducing the amount of red chili powder used. Hope you enjoy this soup-like dish on a cold winter night.

Thai Tea Creme Brulee

On Christmas, after watching Don 2 at 9am, playing at an empty Dave and Busters, roaming around Bryant Park and eating Kati roll, my cousin Samira, her husband Jibu, and my friend Akber decided to go to The Spot Dessert Bar. The have interesting flavored desserts such as Chocolate green tea lava cake, smoked coconut cheesecake, and green tearamisu. Asian fusion meets classic American desserts is their inspiration.  One of my favs at the spot dessert bar was the thai tea creme brulee served with a jasmine rice wafer and a shot of hot Thai tea with simple syrup and milk to personalize to your own taste. It was so yummy that I had to recreate it.

Is Artichoke the best Pizza in NYC?

A while back I had to get my fried oreo and funnel cake fix at Led Zeppole. So I dragged Omer out to East Village for my sweet treat when we noticed a long line protruding from Artichoke on 14^th street. Being a sucker for long lines, I had to stand there even though I wasn’t hungry . Omer said we’d come back another day for the pizza that so many stood in line for late night. Instantly when I got home I had to look up artichoke and read the reviews.

Ivy Bakery and Lounge

Over Martin Luther King Weekend, my brothers Saad and Waseem came to New York to visit. They were kind enough to deliver us our car, but not without trekking the treacherous terrain  of an 800 mile cross country drive accompanied by a brutal snowstorm. Dollars to donuts, you can bet they made an adventure out of it. 18 hours later they finally made it to Manhattan. The first thing on our agenda was to feed these hungry storm torn soldiers. We decided we would venture down to East Village and eat at Artichoke Pizza, however destiny pitted our stomachs against us- we stopped at the first place serving hot chocolate and snacks. 

We walked into a small, quaint bakery called Ivy Bakery and Lounge which served made to order goodies without fillers or artificial ingredients. They bake in small batches to ensure freshness, their savory sweets can also be customized. 

Ready to serve desserts included pie, muffins, cookies, brownies, and tres leches parfait. At the time, Ivy was serving two types of pie, Buttermilk and Peanut Butter. Pie flavors vary by day and can be pre-ordered if you like. The buttermilk pie was served cold , the crust was flaky, and the custard had the perfect amount of tang. The two slices were annihilated within minutes that I wasn't fast enough to take pictures. The peanut butter pie was deemed favorite and we made various failed attempts over the weekend to return for it. It's a bit heavy, creamy, sweet, and taste like childhood. No jelly needed. 

Lets also not forget the reason we walked into Ivy in the first place. We ordered 3 hot chocolates, made from organic chocolate. The hot chocolate had the perfect amount of cocoa- not to sweet or chocolaty. But more importantly the warmth from the cup radiated to my arms and into my soul. (okay I'm exaggerating a little bit, but nothing beats holding a hot cup of chocolate on a cold day outside). I would definitely recommend coming here. 

Last Second Beef Lasagna

Usually I like to cook on Sunday's that will last me a couple days through out the week. I learned this from my super woman mother, who manages to be an amazing mom, work 40+ hours a week, watch her Pakistani Dramas, check off everything on her to-do list, and manage to feed us dinner. She use to cook a couple dishes on Sunday and if it lasted throughout the week it did, but if it didn't she somehow managed to fix up something quick on a weekday. I don't have a quick fix meal, but this is my go-to meal if I'm to lazy to make anything else. As with any of my recipes I have no idea how much of anything I use. I eye-ball everything, so take these ingredients as estimates. It's a basic lasagna recipe that can be tweaked to your taste and liking. Switch it up a bit if you like by using ground chicken instead of beef, or cottage cheese instead of ricotta.

I used a 9X9 baking pan and no boil lasagna sheets. If you would like to regular lasagna sheets feel free too, no boil sheets are easier and take out the entire boiling process out.

Last Second Beef Lasagna

Ingredients:
Preheat oven 375
No Boil Lasagna Sheets (approx. 8 for 4 layers for a 9X9 pan)
2 tbs Olive oil
1/2 lb Lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic chopped
Salt and Pepper
1 small onion diced
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies (i used a carrot, peas, green bean mix)
15oz of Ricotta cheese
1 Egg Yolk
Dried Oregano
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan cheese
Bottle of your favorite Pasta Sauce

Start off with frying the chopped onion and garlic in a little olive oil. (start off slow so your garlic doesn't burn and become bitter), as soon as the onions turn translucent add your ground beef. Cook through until the beef is no longer pink and add your frozen vegetables, salt and pepper to taste, and ground oregano. Once your vegetables have softened, stir in an entire bottle of pasta sauce.

(optional) I like to soak my no boil sheets in warm water for 5 minutes before I start assembling for added moisture. If you decide to skip this step, add a little water to your meat sauce to make sure the sheets do not dry out

Mix the Ricotta, egg yolk, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. You can add the whole egg but I prefer egg yolk only, it makes a sturdier ricotta layer.

Assembly

Assembly is easy, place a little pasta sauce at the bottom of your pan, and add your first layer of lasagna sheets. Continue with a meat layer, then ricotta layer, alternating until all the lasagna sheets are used. Make sure you to add mozzarella and Parmesan cheese in between the sheets to bind each layer together. I also like to sprinkle additional crushed chili peppers for spice. Bake covered for 35 minutes, and uncovered for 5 minutes to brown up the cheese. 

Let your lasagna cool for a bit before you dig in. Enjoy!