Cupcake Saga: Commence

Suzanne and I have decided to enter a cupcake contest held by The Brooklyn Kitchen separately, and tonight we focused on my cupcake creation:

Rosebud Cupcakes with Apricot Honey Frosting!

PS: ALL OF YOU WHO ARE IN THE CITY SHOULD COME!!! FREE CUPCAKES!!! And if you want to help us try and win, you can buy votes that go towards charity!

I used a basic vanilla-vanilla cupcake recipe as my starter. I really really want these cupcakes to be super fragrant and floral, reeking of rose. I don't know if that's possible and it certainly didn't happen tonight, but we'll keep trying. The apricot-honey frosting was good, albeit a bit too sweet, and I added milk, which curdled a bit when it came in contact with the citric acid in the apricot jam. Pretty happy we did a test round!

-R

Vanilla Agave Whipped Cream

Can't....finish....my.....conclusion....what's.....in....the.....fridge.....okay..... I'll make whipped cream instead!

I have to say the caramel-y flavor of the agave definitely added something to the batch! Now, back to work.

-R

chestnuts: my orphan, my love.

so like my compatriot...i too and avoiding necessary evils by..oh dead...BLOGGan. 

I just want to say: I love chestnuts...roasted, creamed, soup'd..so much so that i know the word for them in too many languages, it's necessary if you want some while abroad (maroni, kestane, chataigne, castano.. oh my!) 

I found this recipe and I look forward to making it!  it's Potage Crémeux De Châtaigne...apparently from a hotel in Lyon, France. yes. although i do like the lovingly simple dessert I sampled in the Buda hills: basically chestnut cream with whipped cream on top. good plan

Also, likely in the future I'll be making cupcakes (perhaps involving some chocolate in the batter) with chestnut cream frosting. 

Study Food

The absurd amount of posting I've done in the past 24 hours should clue you in to one fact: I'm actually supposed to be doing something else.

Writing my 8 pager on a grumbling stomach, however, is no good.

The solution?

Bacon, Onion, and Green Apple Hash

tab of butter

1 onion

2 slices bacon

1 granny smith apple

goat's cheese

salt

Get out your cast iron skillet that I hope you have bought by now, rip the bacon slices into hearty, but bite sized pieces, add the onion, which you have sliced (not minced, please), and cook both until they are lookin' fine. Add a bit of butter to this. Then, slice up your granny smith and add it towards the end. Add a bit of salt. The apples will brown a little, but will stay crisp and sweet, so when everything looks like it's really working, put it on a plate, sprinkle on some goat's cheese, and be prepared for a sweet and savory hash that will MAKE YOU DO YOUR PAPER.

This sort of thing can go in any direction. Substitute the apples for potatoes or tomatoes, the bacon for chunks of ham, etc

Can I say serve with toast and a fried egg on top and not have the crowd saying "duh"?

-R

Battle of the Girly Tea Rooms

Battle: Girly Tea Rooms

Competitors: Alice's Tea Cup (wesbite under construction) and Tea and Sympathy

Earlier this semester, both PERPETUAL HUNGER! contributors frolicked with a gang of gals over to Tea and Sympathy to get our Brit on. A West Village quirk staple, Tea and Sympathy boasts a whopping 23 seats, which is just asking for long lines. I think everyone waiting was female, one proclaiming that she comes here every week and waits over an hour just for her pot of tea and scones with clotted cream.

Being the sick f***s we are, this delighted us, and after less of a wait than anticipated, were crammed into a corner table (all tables are pretty much corner tables here), and swiftly ordering pots of tea, scones, lentil stew, beans on toast, tea sandwiches, etc, etc

It was good. It was. The scones with clotted cream and jam were especially lovely, but the cramped atmosphere and give-you-a-quail-eye-until-you-rush-out-the-door service made me

question if there aren't more relaxing and warm places to get tea in the afternoon. (ehem... Alice's Tea Cup). One plus: the adorable menu with such kitchy English items such as bangers and mash, beans on toast, and Welsh rarebit. As a college student, however, I know what beans on toast costs in real life, and I don't think it's quite what was charged here...

Really, what did it for me I think was the way it ended. We left about a 15 percent tip, for what was a very quick stay for a party of 5, but onward, as I was the last to leave the restaurant, I kindly stopped a waitress to ask when the best hours are to come here. She coldly stated that we came at about the right time, but if we are to come back we better leave a bigger tip, because our waitress is very angry.

Wow. Note to self: someone got just a little too used to living in America and working somewhere where the clientelle is mostly wealthy non-working ladies with nothing else to do at that time of day. So, so sorry.

Moral of the story: Although Tea and Sympathy is certainly an experience, I think a better one is to be had at the darling upper Manhattan staple Alice's Tea Cup. A fantastical romp through girl-hood, Alice's is noted for hosting grown-ups and children alike. On multiple occasions I have tea-ed with a fairy princess birthday party only a seat away. The atmosphere is welcoming, and not stuffy, all the whimsy, and none of the attitude. With a tea selection just as fine, and a menu, perhaps, finer, especially for brunch (SCONES BENEDICT!), Alice's is still the way to go for me.

-R

FRANK restaurant

beware the flash!!! over exposure!!!!

seared salmon with capers and lemon served over a bed of arugula

oricchiette (little ears) with a white sauce featuring sausage, kale, annd garlic

black spaghetti with calamari in a slightly spicy tomato basil sauce

http://www.frankrestaurant.com/

kristen, cecelia, and I headed to 88 2nd ave, btwn 5th and 6th tonight for a wine and dine

the executive chef/owner (frank) has two sister places, one of which i've been to ("SUPPER": which ROCKS). this is his southern italian branch, FRANK, which rocks just as hard, although southern italian fare doesn't instinctively make me salivate quite as much as that of the north. i know i speak generally, for anyone who knows anything about italian cuisine. it's a bit more regional than north/south, 'course.

you may miss the place because the awning only says "a place to eat" and the door says "Vera" the name of the wine bar inside. somehow, all this made FRANK cuter. cute cute cute.

BESIDES ALL THIS, the food was wonderful!!! the winner tonight was definitely the squid ink spaghetti. it was fresh and tender, and the red sauce was perfectly spiced. two other lovely plates of seared salmon with arugula and oricchiette with sausage cream sauce were feasted on as well. our bottle of red wine was just right even though i can't recall the name. i believe it may have been the first on the wine list.

photos are crazy white-washed, but I posted them anyway!

-R

PS: all in all, everything is reasonably priced as well, with almost every main dish on the menu falling between 10 and 20 dollars, and a few even going in the 9s. worth it.

česky cabbage soup: what to STEW on a rainy day.

Step 1: the broth, throw cubed potatoes  and pickled cabbage (about 4 and 2 cups respectively) into about six cups of salted water. When soft add spices: bay leaves, caraway seeds, allspice, peppercorns. 
Chop a large onion and sautee with paprika (didn't have it :( ),  and few tablespoons of butter until brown. Then, add to the stewing mixture.
If you likes meatsies...sausage! I got some Bilinski's uncured sausage but feel free to get some at a Polish market on 2nd ave or something of that nature. 
When the sausage is a wee bit crispy and browned, add it to the mixture that's been stewing on medium heat...let it hang out until it tastes thick and yummy (tastes thick?) 

This polevka is best served with a dollop of sour cream, a hunk of rye and a pivo. Dobrou čhut!

Mmm like any good česky food, letting it sit out for a day doesn't hurt...perhaps better with age?

I got this recipe from where else? the Czech Republic's official website!! "charm of traditions, magic over a stove"

here's what they have to say about such a soup: "Cabbage soup is a fundamental part of both Czech and Slovak cuisine. Despite the fact that it is simple to prepare, there is an infinite number of ways to make this soup. Not only does the soup differ from region to region, but from village to village. In addition to its EXQUISITE taste, “zelňačka” as it’s called, is packed full of vitamins."

S.