Eating like a true Parisian (Pt 3)

Okay, this is the last part to my collection of French Parisian foods.

On our last full day of Paris, France, we decided to have a full-fledged, three-course, fancy French Parisian dinner.
While walking around Paris, we encountered this place called "La Bistrot du 7"

 First course, Appetizers

 My sister had the foie gras. Like we havent had enough of it already...

 I had some fish (maybe it was raw or chilled) with sauteed potatoes.

 No french meal is complete unless you have wine.

 Second course, Entrees.
I had duck with sauteed potatoes. My sister had some sort of stuffed sausage thing.

 Third course, dessert. I had the Chocolate Charlotte. Didnt know what it was; all I knew that it had chocolate and it was gooood.

My sister had the Creme Burlee.
















Paris was awesome. Other than the food, the city has a lot great artwork and history. I recommend anyone who is looking for a European adventure to make Paris, France one of their stops.

Eating like a true Parisian (Pt 2)

Here's the second part of my collection of Parisian meals.

 We realized eating out costs a lot, so we were just as content to go out to the local supermarket and buy a baguette and condiments that would go well with it.

 Foie Gras is soo good. Apparently it's illegal to sell in some parts of the world.

 We visited the local supermarket quite frequently

 Fancy snack time! Laudree Cafe.

More to come!!!

Eating like a true Parisian (Pt 1)

While cleaning and sorting my photos on my computer, I encountered photos my sister and I took during our trip to Paris, France a few years ago. Looking through the photos, I noticed we took a lot of food photos. Haha good food memories. I would like to share it with you guys.
This is going to have to be in a couple of parts because there are a lot of photos.

First day in Paris and had omelets for dinner. Apparently they're super popular.

Crepes for snack

... and for dinner!

Macarons. A beautiful and delicious french delicacy and dessert.
'Dalloyau' is the place to be.

Yummm..

Lunch at this cafe called Angelina. Super fancy and super good. Very close to the Musee du Louvre.

My sister had ratatouille. Delish!

And there is always room for dessert. My sister had some almond dessert. It was good.

A Chocolate Eclair done right. Omygosh food-gasm.















More to come!!!

Ice-Cream Truck!!!

It was such a beautiful day in the neighborhood today and was finally starting to get warmer in NYC. So you know what that means?? The ice-cream truck is back.

I loved the ice-cream truck as a kid and still do. The sing-song jingle coming from the speaker of the truck as it drives by and an ice-cream cone with rainbow sprinkles are the official symbols of the start of spring/ summer to me.

So when I saw the ice-cream go down the street, I literally speed-walked to it. I just had to get a cone for memories and for the start of spring/ summer. And since Im going to be traveling for the next few months and wont be in the city for the summer, I know I wont be having this for a while.

Vanilla/ Chocolate swirl with rainbow sprinkles, only $2! (Though sometimes if you buy ice-cream cone from a truck in Manhattan, it's like $4... O_o) Sitting on a park bench, eating ice-cream, and watching kids play (though some of the kids were watching me, a grown-up eat ice-cream, and getting jealous), it was perfectly awesome.

Yea, so what if it's too cold to eat ice-cream? (Notice the scarf) It's never too cold to eat ice-cream (or you're never too full to have ice-cream, as one of my friends would say.)

No Problem, mon.

I just had a Jamaican revival for my taste buds and it was great.

Back in college, I studied-abroad in Jamaica (studying tropical marine ecology, swimming, catching fish, sun-bathing. Pretty cool huh? But I digress) and I absolutely loved the food there. Jerk chicken, curry goat, red snapper, akee fruit (a fruit that is toxic to eat raw but when cooked looks like scrambled eggs), rice and beans, festival (fried dough), all good stuff.

This picture was taken during my study-abroad trip to Jamaica. I think the place we ate at was called, The Ultimate Jerk. Good food memories.

Recently I thought about this recollected memory and then started to have a craving for Jamaican food. But living in New York City I wondered where can I find some good Jamaican food. Good ol' trusty Yelp.com was there to help and looked up this place called, the Islands, to satisfy this curious craving.

The place was literally a hole in the wall. I guess it wasnt open or something but the place was small and cramped. There were also lots of boxes around and the chairs were up so I think they were restocking their food or something but the chef in the kitchen cooking away and said the place was open. I asked him if it was possible to make a combination plate of Jerk Chicken and Curry Goat with rice and beans and he was gladly able to do it. I also made small talk with him about my trip to Jamaica and how I loved food and etc. He was quite impressed that I know about the famous different foods of Jamaica. Overall, he had great Jamaican hospitality and gave me lots of food. $12 for a custom-made plate wasnt really a bad deal at all.

I must say it didnt compare to what I had in Jamaica but it was close. The jerk chicken had a lot of great spices and the meat fell off the bone. The curry goat was good too; lots of sauce and the goat was nice and soft and immediately fell off the bone. The vegetable, ehh I wasnt too crazy for; it just tasted like boiled mush. The rice and beans was good too so no complaints there. Regardless, food not cooked in its native country cant compare to food that is cooked in its native country. But it was good food.

But this was the result so I must have enjoyed it. I was also incredibly hungry. Hurray for left-overs.

So my quest continues to find Jamaican food that is close and on par with actual Jamaican food.  But it was good to bring back good memories of good food and good times in Jamaica.

If you're ever in Jamaica, the "Ultimate Jerk Centre" is located along the main road between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. http://ultimatejerkcentre.com/index.html
But if you want a closer location, "The Islands" is at 803 Washington Ave (between Sterling Pl & St Johns Pl) Brooklyn, NY 11238 (very close to the Brooklyn Museum)

I can cook too: Lasagna Rolls

So you know I eat a lot at a lot of different places but did you know I also cook?

I love cooking. I find it therapeutic and relaxing; I can always de-stress when I cook. So I decided Im going to post recipes onto this blog and pass on the knowledge.

I cooked this recipe a while a back. I didnt have nutmeg at the time so I opted it out but it was still delicious and the great part of it was that it was a lot healthier than regular lasagna that you would get at like an Olive Garden or something.

Lasagna Rolls

 (Yea I cooked that; impressed?)

You'll Need:
10-12 long, thin lasagna noodles (about 6 oz)
6 oz Italian-style chicken or turkey sausage, casings removed
1 bag frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
2 cups bottled marinara
3/4 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella

How to Make It:
*Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until al dente (usually about 30 seconds to a minute less than the package instructions recommend). Drain and toss with just enough oil to coat (to keep them from sticking).
*While the pasta cooks, brown the sausage in a large saute pan over medium heat until cooked through. Add the spinach, pepper flakes, and nutmeg and cook until the spinach is warmed through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Combine with the ricotta in a large mixing bowl.
*Preheat the oven to 400F. Spread a thin layer of the marinara on the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish. Lay out the noodles on a cutting board and cut each in half cross-wise. Working one strip at a time, place a large spoonful of the spinach-ricotta mixture at the end of the noodle, then roll into a tight package (but not too tight or the filling will squeeze out). Continue until you've run out of the ricotta-spinach mixture, about 20 lasagna rolls. Place the rolls in the pan as you complete each one.
*Top the lasagna rolls with the remaining marinara, then with the mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, until the cheese and sauce are bubbling.

Recipe from "Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals" by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding