The adventures of backpacking through Europe
Spring Break 2012 with my friend Erin
Destination #1: Brussels, Belgium

We arrived in Brussels with no real plan in mind except that we wanted to get waffles, taste the chocolate and inhale some frites. And that was exactly what we did. Upon arriving in the city center (it took us a while to get there navigating by bus then walking in circles for a bit) we were welcomed with smells of waffles vendors, the hustle and bustle of the city-goers and tourists and tall towering buildings. We knew we were getting close to our final destination (Grand Place) when we started seeing chocolate shops every other store and many souvenir shops.

Being on a budget, as tempting as it was, we didn't want to spend a fortune buying chocolate and that was when the samples came in handy. We weaved in and out of almost all the chocolate shops munching on whatever the shop had to offer and oh my was I in heaven. It was so glorious.

My favorite among many were banana flavored chocolate (I never would have thought, but it was actually really tasty!) and chocolate with hazelnut cream on the inside. I could not get over it. Belgium chocolate definitely has a richer and creamier taste than any other chocolates I've ever tasted.

 And then of course there were the waffles. We had no idea where to start! There were some fancier waffles shops, but what you really had to do is go to the street vendors. We got to try both. In the end, our vote definitely went to the street vendors. They were fresher and cheaper and added to the whole experience. The liege waffles was what you had to get. They are generally thicker consistency and sweeter. You can top off your waffle with any kind of topping you can think of: nutella, whipped cream, strawberries, bananas, white chocolate, milk chocolate and ice cream. 

This was the first waffle I had. We had decided to go to a sit down cafe that served waffles (a guy working at a chocolate shop had recommended it). I was craving ice cream on my waffle, so I got a Liege waffle with a little pitcher of melted Belgium chocolate on the side. It was sooo good! On the other hand, Erin was not so happy with hers. She got the Brussels Waffle, but hers was cold and not as fresh as she'd like it so definitely not up to par. She was not happy with the price she had to pay either. 

Ultimately, we vowed to justify her experience but getting another round of waffles the next day. And hey, I wasn't complaining. This time, we went for the street vendors and followed the crowd to a street vendor. I got my waffle with strawberries and bananas drizzled with chocolate, and Erin got her strawberries and whipped cream waffles. Sweet redemption! We were both happy with our waffles this time around. 

Everything was divine. and something about eating it on the street in front of this little guy

made the moment all the better. :) 

And finally, the Belgium Frites. Nothing special about these guys, but they were pretty tasty if I do say so myself. The sauce was what made them unique. I can't remember exactly what the sauce was called but it was a mustard and mayonnaise combination with a little bit of a kick. 

nom nom nom! 

Only in Belgium. I definitely fulfilled my Belgium experience by indulging in all of the above but hey, I you gotta live a little right? 

Hello to all,

I'm finally back and ready to do some foodie blogging once again! I am currently studying abroad in Cork, Ireland for a semester and let me tell you, it feels surreal. I can't say I am a huge fan of their food. It is almost exactly what you think of when you think of Ireland. Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. and some meat on the side. Haha but for real. The first night I arrived, my friend Erin and I went to a pub to experience some traditional Irish food. We had Irish stew which was basically a stew with lamb, potatoes, carrots and celery and it was a nice hearty meal and of course we had to order our pints of Guinness on the side!

Overall I would say all the Irish food is fairly similar. The basis of their dishes mostly come down to potatoes. Oh and of course. The fish and chips. I had my first steaming fresh basket of fish and chips in Dublin, Ireland. It was quite delicious. But it was definitely a lot of fried food. It was so heavy I could not finish it all! But definitely something to try when you're in Ireland!

Lemon Bar Love

 It's finals week and I thought I would make something for my room mates to help relieve the stress. Lemon bars ares are so cheerful and easy to bake. I love the little heart stencil, it makes makes these bars even cuter.

This recipe's from smitten kitchen, enjoy!

one of my favorite foods

TABBOULEH 

yum yum yummmmm

This lemony fresh middle eastern salad is so crisp and delicious! I could literally eat this for days. It's a great accompaniment or alone as a meal. Traditionally made with bulgar, I substituted for couscous because that's what I usually have on hand. There's lots of chopping involved but the end product is worth the work. The citrus dressing gets a chance to coat every morsel. Enjoy!

Recipe:

1 bunch flat leaf parsley

1 medium tomato

2 tbs fresh chopped mint

3/4 cups couscous (cooked in lightly salted water) 

1 lemon + zest

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Mince all the produce, add the cooked couscous, lemon zest into a large bowl

2. Add salt and pepper to taste then combine until the mixture is homogeneous

3. Juice the lemon and whisk with equal parts olive oil and a healthy pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper for the dressing

4. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix until everything is coated

5. Best if left to refrigerate for a few hours until all the flavor have had a chance mingle together

*shout out to my room mate Gabby who is a pro chopper :)

<3 Jo

valentine's dinner

So last week I went all out for a wonderful Valentine's dinner with my boyfriend. The semi-ambitious menu included parmesan dirty mashed potatoes, oven roasted vegetables, seared lamb combs finished off with poached pears. At one point there was smoke pouring out of the oven, and the fire alarm went off, but thank God that was from some left over oil burning off; I opened all the windows, turned on the fan and the rest of the night went off without a hitch :)

 Here are the recipes : everything is from memory so the measurements are a rough estimate. just remember to taste as you go!

Parmesan Dirty Mashed Potatoes
*serves 3-4*
 6 red potatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
salt and pepper

1. quarter the red potatoes (make sure they are roughly the same size, so cut larger spuds into 6ths or 8ths so that everything cooks evenly)
2. salt and bring a large pot of water to boil, toss in potatoes, boil for about 15 mins or fork tender
3. drain the potatoes, add butter, cream and parmesan
4. mash the potatoes ( I like mine a little chunky)
5. add salt and pepper to taste

Seared lamb chops
*serves 2-3*
6 lamb chops
olive oil
rosemary
thyme
salt & pepper

1. bring lamb chops to room temp. marinate in 2 tbsp olive oil, liberally sprinkled with the herbs and salt and pepper for 30 mins - 1 hr.
2. coat the the bottom of an oven proof skillet with olive oil and bring med-high heat. Sear the lamb about 2-3 minutes each side.
3. transfer pan to oven to finish cooking, about 7 mins, for a medium rare cooked chop
4. remove lamb from oven and let rest 5 mins before serving

Oven roasted vegetables
1/2 onion
2 leeks
1/2 sweet potato
1/2 red pepper
2 carrots
olive oil
salt pepper
rosemary
thyme

1. preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. cut the vegetables so that they are uniform in size. I did mine in long strips
3. lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet, drizzle ample amount of olive oil and sprinkle generously with the herbs, salt and pepper. Toss until everything is coated.
4. roast for 20 minutes, turn the vegetables every 7-8 minutes so they don't burn.

red wine, pellegrino, candles to set the mood.











Dessert: poached pear and his favorite ice cream, graeter's black raspberry chip

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Poached Pear
*serving 2* adapted from Alton Brown
1/2 bottle Riesling wine
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
2 Bosc pears (peeled with stems in tact)

1. place everything but the pear into a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil over medium high heat
2. core the pears from the bottom, decrease the heat to medium low heat, place pears in the liquid, cover and simmer for 30 mins or until tender
3. remove pears from liquid, place in serving dish to chill in the refrigerator
4. increase the heat to high and reduce liquid to about 1 cup of syrup, about 30 mins, transfer to heat proof container and chill for 1 hour.
5. Serve pear with a scoop of ice cream. You can spoon the sauce over the pear and ice cream but I didn't because the ice cream was already flavored but just save it for later. I've been eating it over my greek yogurt in the morning.

Hope you guys all had a wonderful Valentine's :)

<3 jo

Fresh & Clean

Ok, first new post of 2012. A bit overdue but college students do have a lot to juggle. I've always been one to keep an active eye out for healthy recipes. And now that I've finally lost all my Germany weight, I'm not going back. One of my favorite ways to make a filling but light meal is making salads with a simple lemon or lime dressing.  The tang of these citruses brings enough flavor to satisfy and leaves me feeling really refreshed. Also I finally brought a microplane and it's amazing. I add zest to most recipes that call for citrus juice because its so much fun to use, plus extra flavor! Another new obsession of 2012 is pinnnnterest. Seems like everyone's on it these days, but that's where I picked up the inspiration for this southwestern salad; I made some minor adjustments based on what I had in my pantry.


Here's the recipe:
1 can red beans1 can sweet corn
1 tomato
1/4 red onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup cilantro
1 avocado
2 lemons + zest
salt & pepper
cumin



1. open and rinse both cans. pour into medium mixing bowl.
2. chop the tomato, red onion, bell pepper and cilantro to roughly the same size of the beans ( you want everything to be uniform). add to bowl.
3. open, score and scoop of avocado. add to bowl. ( do this last so when you add the lemon juice it really gets a chance to cover the avocado and help stop the oxidation)
4. zest the lemons and add the juice.
5. add salt & pepper to taste as well as a dash of cumin.
6. gently combine all the ingredients so that everything is uniformly mixed.

Notes: The original recipe called for black beans, and lime instead of lemon. I'm sure that would taste delicious too. Also, I usually omit or drastically cut down on the the oil in dressings but you can always add some olive oil, if you feel like you need the extra body.

Verdict: freaking delicious. I popped a whole wheat tortilla in the toaster over with some cheddar inside to make a quick quesodilla to go with the salad. For next time, I'd imagined a tortilla spritzed with some oil and dusted with some salt, pepper, cumin or paprika and toasted up for home made tortilla chips would also be a very good accompaniment :)

<3 Jo

Nectarine Shortcake with a homemade Vanilla whipped cream

how good does that look?

Yesterday, I was watching food network. Typical. and Anne Burrell happened to be on and she was making this: an Apricot Nectarine Shortcake with whipped cream. After seeing how delicious it looked on camera..I instantly decided to give it a try. It was surprisingly easy to make and very very delicious! The epitome of summer is what it tastes like. I added a few things here and there just to add my personal touch but otherwise I keep the recipe pretty much the same.

The shortcake came out beautifully and although I ran out of flour, I threw in some self-rising flour and it turned out fine. The recipe says to sprinkle a little of granulated sugar on top, but since I love love brown sugar and dusted the tops with brown sugar and touch of cinnamon instead and it had the effect I wanted indeed.

Now, I didn't have apricots so I made do with some peaches and nectarines in the fridge and used both yellow and white to add color. Here too, I add brown sugar instead of regular white table sugar and a couple shakes of cinnamon. Mmmm..just the way I like it.

And lastly, the whipped cream. Pretty generic. Simple whipped cream with dashes of cinnamon and sugar.

The result? a pure bite of heaven...enjoy!

Apricot Nectarine Shortcake with Vanilla Whipped Cream

Recipe courtesy Anne Burrell

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

5 min

Cook Time:

20 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 servings

Ingredients

Shortcakes:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pea-size pieces
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Fruit:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 5 apricots, pitted, cut into sixths
• 5 nectarines, pitted, cut into sixths
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Whipped cream:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Shortcakes:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In the food processor combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter andpulse until the mixture looks like grated Parmesan cheese. Add the cream and pulse until the mixture looks very crumbly but sticks together.

Remove the blade from the processor and form craggy looking dough balls about the size of a small tennis ball. Put the dough balls on a baking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Sprinkle each ball with a little sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for about 11 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Fruit:

Add the butter to a saute pan and melt it over medium heat. Add the fruit and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle in the sugar and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Whipped cream:

In a mixing bowl combine the cream and vanilla. Using a whisk or hand beater, beat the cream until it starts to thicken. Sprinkle in the sugar and beat until the cream is very light and fluffy and it holds soft peaks.

To assemble:

Cut the shortcakes in half. Spoon a generous amount of the warm fruit filling on the bottoms of the shortcakes. Replace the top and garnish with the vanilla whipped cream.