Gourmet Friends
A young couple figuring out how to entertain
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#quotes #seniors #cornell Graduation is nearing and everything is becoming sentimental to me. (at 108 Eddy)
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#dinnertonight White wine barley risotto with bacon, onions, peas, and blue cheese topped with roasted Italian butter chicken thighs
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I GOT A JOB!!! — celebrating with homemade gluten free peanut butter cup cupcakes
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French Onion Soup Dumplings inspired by @StarrRestaurant #Continental!
If you have ever been to Continental Midtown in Philadelphia you probably ate or drooled over someone else eating the french onion soup dumplings. I have been waiting for an opportunity to make these delicious one bite appetizers and decided that brunch with the girls was a perfect opportunity. The recipe may still needs some tweaking but the first try turned out to be a great success!
- 6 vidalla onions thinly sliced
- 3 onion cloves smashed fine
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup agave nectar
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1/4 cup marsala wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 spring rosemary
- 1 spring thyme
- Pot Sticker Wraps
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup shredded gruyere and 2/3 cup shredded cheddar mixed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot over medium-low heat combine the olive oil, onions, grated garlic cloves, and salt and pepper and cook the mixture until the onions are translucent. This should take between 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add the agave nectar and continue to caramelize the onions for several more minutes.
- Pour in the marsala wine and beef stock.
- Allow the mixture to reduce to half the amount then add the herbs.
- Continue reducing the mixture until you can stir the onions and see the bottom of the pot. The onions should reach a jam like consistency.
- Allow the mixture to thicken in the refrigerator for three hours or over night.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Scramble an egg with a tablespoon of water for an egg wash
- Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking oil
- To form the dumpling: Place a wrapper over a cup and brush egg wash around the edges. Place a small amount of filling in the middle. For the size wrappers I used a teaspoon of filling was perfect. Crimp the edges to seal the dumplings.
- Pour a small amount of beef stock around each dumpling to help the wrappers steam in the oven. A few drops will do the trick!
- Bake the dumplings for 8 minutes until the wrappers are translucent and cooked through
- Generously sprinkle the cheese mixture over the dumplings and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and crispy on the edges.
- Enjoy!
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Several weeks ago, Sadie and I celebrated our friendship over brunch on a beautiful spring morning. Tomorrow I am doing the same thing but on a grander scale with a big group of girls that have shaped my college experience since freshman year. The menu is going to be delicious. One of the most unique things I am going to make is my own rendition of the french onion soup dumplings I ordered at Continental Mid-Town in Philadelphia! I’ll report back on how to make them.
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A bacon weave inspired by @EpicMealTime. I made this bacon masterpiece a few months ago with my friend after watching 10 episodes of alcohol poached, gross but amazing concoctions. If you have some time to kill or are interested in procrastinating from studying, I recommend watching Chili Four Loko to satisfy your savory cravings but if you are like me and need sweets I love the Big Stupid S’More! episode. This time next week I’ll be home in CT with Chris cooking all summer so I’ll start posting weekly! My meals will be substantially healthier than epic meal time!
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How did your new year’s resolution turn out? Are you still going to the gym everyday or not biting your nails all the time? My boyfriend has a note on his iPhone of all the resolutions he set for 2012 with a four year plan. It is a little excessive but he is driven. I was more modest in my goal setting but I failed like the majority of people who make resolutions and give up after the first few weeks. My goal was to loose weight and live a healthier life style. Goals should be specific, realistic, known by your family and friends, measurable over time, and rewarding. My goal was more of a general idea in the back of my mind that I occasionally dusted off at night when attempting to fall asleep. I went to the doctor earlier this year and learned that I gained weight. This was not a big surprise because I had two concussions last semester and ceased working out. But the extent to which I gained weight scared me! My doctor was dropping hints that it could start to affect me negatively and the stress from the conversation has been eating me alive for the past few weeks. When I came back from spring break and realized that I let my resolution drive off the side of a cliff and crash at the bottom in a big exposition. It was time to get serious! I am determined to eat healthier, go to the gym three times a week, and loose 20 pounds by the end of the semester, May 18th. That is 50 days! I started this week by purchasing good for me food. I start my morning off with fruit salad and a whole wheat ego with fresh blueberries instead of syrup and gummy vitamins. Traditional vitamins make my stomach hurt but the gummy versions are delicious and symptom free! I have more energy and I am feeling better already. I wrote this blog post though to inspire me to stick to my new goal! I can do this and I need your support tubmlr!
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Homemade spaghetti and meatballs! I’ll be honest, the picture isn’t the best quality but in my defense I was hungry! Chris had to remind me to capture the picture because I was ready to dive right in. While making the sauce I was sipping Food Network’s newest business venture, Entwine Merlot, 2009 California. The tannins in the red wine were making my tummy grumble in anticipation for the delicious meal ahead. I have never made a pasta sauce from scratch before so I went with a classic recipe from Emeril Lagasse’s collection. The sauce starts with canned whole tomatoes and tomato sauce. I thought it was interesting that the recipe called for a parmigiano-reggiano rind to stew in the sauce but you could tell that the rind added a lot of the salt and depth of flavor to the sauce. I used imported Italian tomatos and it came out amazing. I highly recommend this recipe!
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Chelsea Market in New York City is home to many delicious restaurants and boutique shops. More importantly, Chelsea Market is home to Food Network. Friday I had my second interview with Food Network for a summer internship position in their new business development team. I was more nervous for this interview than I was for my Cornell entrance interview because I have been dreaming of working for Food Network since I was in Mr. Royal’s class at Head O’ Meadow Elementary. I wrote a “paper” in fourth grade on the former Nabisco cookie factory that is now known as Chelsea Market. When I had to write about a hero I always picked a celebrity chef such as Emeril Lagasse. Emeril taught me the fundamentals of the industry I would soon put my heart and soul into. I felt like a little kid in a candy store when I was sitting in the reception area of Food Network’s headquarters. The TV next to the couches was showing Cooking Channel and the facility was beaming with creativity. I was dressed in a new suit and I wore my hair down and curly to portray my pizzaz as my mom likes to say. My dream was coming true… or at least I was trying very damn hard to make it reality! The interview went well, the company culture is exactly how I pictured it to be, and I left with a smile on my face. I do not know if I received the position yet but I am honored to have made it this far in the process.
