Finally, Espana!

I have to admit, my day job sometimes takes over my writing much longer than expected. Oh well, the restaurant does come first after all.

Anyway, I finally made it to Spain in March. I actually wanted to go for quite some time now, and I finally found an opportunity to do so! It was purely the best trip I had in a long time. What's even greater is that I did it alone. Yes, why not? Sometimes going solo allows you to experience more, get to know more people, and explore more places in my opinion. Do not get me wrong, I love traveling with companions. Sometimes, however you need to just let go every now and then if you can make the time. It is so worth it.

This trip is going to take alot of explaining to do so this my so-called introduction. I traveled to Barcelona and stayed there most of my time. I finished my trip by going to San Sebastian before heading back home. As every European trip of mine ends, I did not want to leave. There is something in the air on the other side of the ocean that makes me want to stay forever. I cannot describe it. I reject my intuition every time and return back home. One day I will finally listen to it and stay I suppose. Until then, I have much to share!

If you ever want to feel like you are in a dream where  you can eat whatever you want, wherever you want, and everything is fresh, colorful, creative beyond one's wildest dreams then Spain is the place for you. I did not have one bad meal. Period. I think its almost impossible to have a bad meal in Spain, especially when it is a place where people live their lives rather than work their lives like we do in the States.

I did not get to try everything that I wanted to but I sure have the pictures to make up for it. Plus, its another reason to return.

Alright, vamos!

World Nutella Day!

World Nutella Day has returned once again!

This day has been and continues to be a wonderfully modern way to bring people together from all parts of the globe. This year, I decided to do something simple for this occasion. Throughout this past week I had a continuous craving for chocolate chip muffins. I usually buy them at bakery but I wanted the luxury of having them at home. Plus, I wanted to experiment to see if I could make them better.

Result: Sucess! I They were rediculously easy to make and to make things a little more creative, I decided cut them in halves and spread Nutella all over them. They were so addictive that I now need to take a break from eating them so this week I decided to snack on granola bars instead.

Below is the recipe for anyone interested in giving this a try. Happy Nutella Day!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray the wells of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Stir until ingredients are just combined - do not over mix the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Evenly divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan wells. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
6. Remove muffins to a wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes. Enjoy!

And do not forget the Nutella!

Link to this recipe: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/chocolate-chip-muffins-recipe/




World Nutella Day

 

Ms. Adventures in Italy

Bleeding Espresso

The Doener Bistro

There are several culinary discoveries I fell in love withthroughout my travels that have been an endless challenge for me to find in theUnited States. However, I mysteriously rediscovered them while I have been livinghere in DC. Reasons why? Not too sure. Whether it is because of globalization, Europeanmarkets becoming hungry for revenue or maybe telepathically answering my dreamsfrom across the ocean, some of my favorite findings finally jumped across thebig pond into the ‘land of opportunity’. Dr. Oetker’s frozen pizza, Advokaat(also known as eierlikoer), quark, and more recently Mueller yogurt amongstother items of deliciousness emerged into American market in recent years. Ialmost had tears in my eyes the moment I found Dr. Oetker’s frozen pizza at thegrocery store. Whether it brought me back nostalgic memories of me living inEurope or its tasty ingredients, I have a hard time living without it now.

 The Doener, howeveris one culinary creation I wished for its arrival in the United States for avery long time. The Doener Kebab is a Turkish dish that consists of lamb, vealor beef over rice. This dish gradually traveled into other parts of the world,one of them being Germany in the 1970’s. Tastemakers decided to change the dishto adapt to Germany’s faster lifestyle by replacing the rice with warm flatbread.The German Doener was born, and the rest is history. It remains as one ofGermany’s top hand foods and in some places more popular than Bratwurst andMacDonald’s.

We in major cities across the United States have been moreaccustomed to enjoying other adaptations of the Doener such as Greek Gyros butnot the genuine dish itself. That is what Doener Bistro is all about. A couplefrom Germany also could not understand why the Doener was not being offered inAmerica and decided to open up their own shop, first in Leesburg, Virginia andmost recently in Adams Morgan. This German institution creates the real deal:toasted flatbread, mixed salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, red cabbage,yogurt sauce, and of course, the beloved spiced meat. The ultimate satisfactionI felt after savoring that first bite was unexplainable. The taste was just asI remembered after trying it for the first time in Germany so many years ago. Thisuber popular dish in Germany is here to make its claim to fame in the US! This isAwesome!

My experience does not stop there.

Communal tables as you approach the entrance; German localradio buzzing behind the scene; European TV which is mostly soccer matchesplaying away; German newspapers and magazines at your disposal to catch up onthe daily news abroad, and the endless supply of local German beer they have tooffer, this institution is a little slice of modern day Germany from head totoe. They use all biodegradable products and natural ingredients in all oftheir food except for Coca-Cola products and condiments.  They hold regular Euro neighborhood partiesevery third Wednesday of the month as well as other German traditions that areheld throughout the year. I started to come here regularly and I am afraid toadmit that I am not going to stop.

If any of you live in the Washington, DC area, visiting andlooking for some International flavor in this town, or you happen to be fromGermany and are desperately craving something from home, then I cannot expressto you enough to come visit Doener Bistro. I guarantee you will not bedisappointed. Prost!

Doener Bistro

1654 Columbia Road NW

Washington, DC 20009

202.462.8355

info@doenerbistro.com

www.doenerbistro.com

Challenge of the Ochsenauge

I may have mentioned this in a previous entry, but I love Ochsenauge. That is, the German cookie. Known as the Ox Eye in English, it is a delectable German cookie outlined with marzipan and filled with jam, most likely raspberry, pomegranate (Johannisbeeren), or Apricot. These gems are obviously hard to find in the States, but I managed to find them in coffee shops in New York, and I have been able to find some in DC. I had a difficult time finding a recipe for them until recently. Now, there are so many recipes for them that I cannot decide which one to do. Therefore, I plan to try each one and see which one works out the best.

Weekend with Colicchio and Momofuku

I traveled to New York for a little weekend excursion. Ever since I moved from the island, I set myself a particular goal for every visit. This time, it was just to try a new restaurant.

Successful, I was. I tried Colicchio & Sons which is accross the street from Chelsea Market. Sleek, modern American atmosphere with top notch table settings, Chilowich placemats and a casual but yet hipster soundtrack, it was a great start to the weekend.

As for cocktails, I had their take of an Aviation which was pretty refreshing. I ended up with selecting the shrimp and grits covered with a clow cooked egg, tomato foam and green tomato. I almost have no words and would prefer to show in a picture, as obviously shown below. Basically, it melted in my mouth. Word of note, the shrimp heads are the best part! It is where most of their flavor originates and must be eaten unless you truly do not like seafood.

I did make a pit stop to Chelsea Market and enjoyed a quick cake pop from Ruthy's Bakery. I did not expect anything, but what I ended up with was a lot of sugar. Do not get me wrong, the cake was moist and loved the fondant frosting but is was very sugary and somewhat heavy for a cake pop.

The following day I happened to stumble upon Momofuku's Ssam Bar after a yoga class. I had reservations someplace else, but I instanteously decided to change my plans, as I have wanted to visit this place for awhile now.

It was exactly what I expected from Mr. Chang and more. Loved the casual side of the atmosphere along with crowd. I opted with the Spanish Mackerel as well as the Pork Buns. Accompanied with a Ginger Ale, you could not go wrong with this meal. It was a wonderful way to end my weekend and hope to return to this gem.

Marshmallows and Granola

Ok, so I ended the month with another slight combination: marshmallows and a granola bar. Thursday was Toasted Marshmallow Day and Friday was Trail Mix Day. I had some Fluff and I had a granola bar to replace for the trail mix. What did I do? I combined both for a tasty snack, and it was fantastic. Enough said.

More Herbs, Less Salt

August 29th marked several days, including lemon juice day, chop suey day and more herbs day.

As rediculous some of this may sound, I decided to combine all three into one day. It's a major alteration but I thought it would suffice: Pad Thai. Yes, there is lime and not lemon, and it is definitely not chop suey but it definitely has herbs. Cilantro! It's by far, one of my favorite herbs to use and eat.

Honestly, though I was simply craving it.