Mmmmm Magnolia Bakery

I'm going to skip straight to the punch and introduce the Magnolia cupcake as the best cupcake I've ever tasted. Yes, ever. This little Bleeker Street cupcakery is so popular (and now I know why) that it limits cupcake purchases to 12 per customer. They first opened in 1996 at 401 Bleeker Street, on the corner of West 11th Street in the West Village, just around the corner from where I'm staying with my beautiful friend Zoe. Which, I might add, is also just a few doors down from Carrie's famous 'stoop' from SATC. 

Their buttercream frosted cupcakes are so unbelievably melt in your mouth good, the line to get into the store goes all the way down the street. I ate two in one sitting, trying to calculate in my head whether the 60 or so blocks I'd walked all over town that day would somehow cancel it out. Then I just decided that this was New York City, with so much food to be discovered, and that I'm on holidays, and therefore so was any kind of healthful, sensible eating! I'm saving the diet for Sydney!
You can taste them for yourself here:The Magnolia Bakery
401 Bleecker Street
New York, NY. 10014
212 462 2572
Cash, and credit cards.

I heart New York

Last week I touched down, for the first time in my 32 years, in New York City. From the start my experience here was pretty amazing. My taxi driver, taking me back to the hotel, was so in love with the city. He was so excited that it was my first time, he kept saying (in his true NY accent) "I love this city, this is the city that never sleeps, where anything is possible. I love this city. This is my city!" 

 

The next day, while wandering down Mott Street searching for Cafe Gitane in NoLita. I looked for my wallet so I could grab some lunch. Well I couldn't find it. It took a good few minutes for reality to hit me that I really had lost my wallet. With all my cash and cards in it. I was 40 blocks (at least) from my hotel with not a cent to my name. The tears arrived and I couldn't hold them back. All I could think of was to call my boyfriend who spoke to me calmly and told me what I needed to do. I called and cancelled my cards and caught a cab back to the hotel where my friend paid for it.

Eventually, I got back to Cafe Gitane for a meal, and again the next day too. It's a little haunt that is full of locals and people who have travelled far and wide. It was so good, and I can see why it's so hard to get a table. The first day I ordered the couscous with organic chicken and crouton toasts. It reminded me of my signature couscous I make at home, only they had grapes and raisins, and toasted pine nuts in it. Oh my! The next day, determined not to eat bread I ordered the trout salad, but then spied the lunch of the guy next to me and changed to the roast chicken baguette instead. I wasn't sorry. Despite it being delicious (and I ate every bit), my favourite part was the unassuming green salad on the side. It was simply dressed in a vinaigrette that was spiced with cinnamon or something of that description! I couldn't get enough.

When I got back to my hotel, the evening I lost my wallet, there was a message from a taxi company in Queens saying they had found my wallet in the back of their cab and it was ready for me to collect it. I couldn't believe it. Even when I picked it up I was blown away, in utter disbelief that in a city as large and sprawling as NYC, that I would get my wallet back. Exactly as I had left it with my $220 cash. I left a big tip and said thank you. Thank you. You've truly made my day, my whole trip even. At that point I knew my trip here was going to be something special. Yes I love New York, but what's not to love!!

You can find Cafe Gitane here, 

242 Mott St., New York, NY 10012 at Prince St.  and take a look at New York Magazine's review here too: http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/cafe-gitane/

Leek, potato, zucchini and kale soup

This would have to be one of the quickest and easiest veggie soups to make. I made this one on Sunday night with the intention of freezing a batch, and eating the rest for work lunches.

You can pretty much make up your favourite combo of veggies, as I did here. After a day spent lazing about the house on Sunday post-massive-birthday celebrations (post on that feast to come) I wandered up to the organic co-op on Oxford Street to get a re-hydrating coconut and some vegetables for the week. Most of which then became my delicious soup. I noticed the texture was incredibly creamy, I would attribute this to the type of potatoes, so always try to go for better quality.

Ingredients
3 x leeks (sliced)
1 x small brown onion (diced)
2 x Russian garlic cloves
4 x large dutch cream potatoes
2 x zucchini
1 x carrot
1 x natural veg stock cube (or make your own)
olive or grapeseed oil
enough water to cover ingredients
himalayan sea salt

Sautee the leeks, onion and garlic in some oil until they soften. Add the peeled and roughly chopped vegetables in, cook for two minutes and cover (only just) with water (or home made veggie stock). Bring to the boil, then simmer on low heat until all the vegetables have softened. Remove some of the liquid and set aside. Blend the vegetables in the saucepan with a stick blender and add in leftover liquid until you get the right consistency. In this instance it turned out that I added all of the leftover liquid back in. Season to taste.

I just finished eating the last portion for lunch at work today with some Sonoma Quinoa and Soya toast with leftover pesto! Delish-us x

Simon's Mushroom Risotto Stuffed Capsicums

Last night I went to cook dinner at Birdie’s house after work. Birdie is my best friend Sarah, who is expecting a baby and gets very tired at night. So I offered to go over to her house and cook instead of us going out (which would often lead to trouble anyway). She’d already bought all the ingredients, so when I got there after work all I had to do was pour a wine and get started.

This stuffed capsicum recipe was passed on from my friend Simon. They are a little time consuming, as most risotto’s are, but worth the effort! What I love about them is they’re a little retro – I couldn’t help exclaiming all night – “oh look they’re so 80’s” and they smell like pizza when they’re baking in the oven. Mmmmmm. The risotto can be eaten on it’s own which is what we did when we devoured every last morsel out of the saucepan! No it didn’t spoil our dinner, we ate all of that too. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic
Brown onion
Swiss brown mushrooms (we used 2 punnets) sliced
Pine nuts (toasted)
Olive oil
1.5 cups arborio rice
Rocket (for the risotto and side salad)
White wine (for risotto and drinking!)
Goats fetta
Vegetable stock (we used the large tetra pack variety but you can make your own)
Frozen baby peas
Pecorino (grated)
4 large red capsicums (tops cut off washed and de-seeded)
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Sautee sliced garlic, onions and mushrooms in oil until soft. Set aside in a bowl. Toast the pine nuts and set these aside also. Heat oil in saucepan and stir through the rice until coated, add a dash (or so) of wine and let this evaporate. Start adding ladles of stock and stirring through. After 5 mins add the bowl of ingredients. Keep stirring and adding stock. At 18 mins crumble in fetta. Season and add peas. Keep stirring and adding stock until about 22 minutes. Add rocket and pinenuts and test the rice to see if it’s almost cooked. Stuff the capsicums with risotto and add the pecorino on top.
We placed the capsicums in a muffin tray to try keep them upright. It didn’t really work! Bake until the pecorino is golden brown and your kitchen smells like pizza! Serve with a side of rocket and pecorino salad tossed lightly in balsamic and olive oil. Yummy.

The best bircher muesli I ever did have

I can’t even remember the name of the place where I had it. It was a little café up at Boomerang/Bluey’s Beach! I think what made it so special was they had shredded coconut and apple right through it and toasted almonds on top. Delicious.

THE Lebanese Safari

There really isn’t any way I can describe in words the anticipation of a Lebanese Safari, or the pure delight from actually experiencing the garlic buk-buk phenomenon (more on this later). Myself and some special friends of mine have a night out every so often where we drive out to Granville for some garlic chicken love at El Jannah restaurant. I guess we’re a sight to behold, a motley crue! Once I had the shop girl comment “wow where are you from? You’re always in here with your city people!” Yes we like a bit of an adventure out to the 'burbs!

The chicken (not organic which I try not to think about la-la-la) is butterflied and chargrilled. Served standard with pink and green pickles (yum) and magical garlic sauce (double-triple-yum-yum)! We order tabbouli and hot chips as sides and eat out little hearts out. After we lick out fingers and we’ve wiped out any evidence that there was ever food on the table we head to El Sweetie for some Lebanese sweet action. We order some kanefe (either pistachio or chocolate) some peppermint tea and smoke sheesha – either double apple or grape flavour.

If you haven’t experienced the garlic buk-buk phenomenon (where lines out the door are testament to it's cult status) you should put it on your list of things to do before you die. Do it now. Try El Jannah Lebanese Charcoal Chicken 4-6 South Street Granville (well worth the trek) www.eljannah.com.au/ and El Sweetie,
El Sweetie can be found just down the street at 73-75 South Street, Granville, 9760 2299 Mon-Thu and Sun 7am-midnight, Fri-Sat 7-1am. Read this great SMH review on El Sweetie http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/sweetly-does-it/2007/11/19/1195321678661.html

Sergei Boutenko talk reignites my love of the green smoothie

Last night friends invited me to go see their friend give a talk about green smoothies and why greens are good for you. This 'friend' just happened to be Sergei Boutenko - the son of Victoria Boutenko. (If you're not familiar, the Boutenkos are famous within health and raw food circles as The Raw Family (http://www.rawfamily.com/) and pioneers of the Green smoothie). This talk was not only inspiring but I think it may have reignited my passion for green smoothie making! 

I learnt about Green Smoothies about a year ago while I was fasting at Spa Samui (something I like to do from time to time but more on that later). The class was given by Jennifer Thompson on the floor of her small beachside bungalow and it was brilliant. Just goes to show you don't need fancy lecture rooms and kitchens to teach people. Jennifer is an iridoligist, crystal healer and raw food enthusiast with a passion for spreading the Green Smoothie love. You can read more about her here on her website: http://healthybliss.net/

Hearing Sergei talk about raw foods and green smoothies really reignited my passion for them. It didn't hurt that they served up a green smoothie to everyone there and I couldn't get enough. Hence the reason why I have a kitchen full of organic fruit and greens. I can't wait to make one for breakfast!

In the meantime, let me pass on a few things you may not know about greens that I've learnt from the Boutenkos. Green smoothies have so many health benefits:
1. They are very nutritious. The ratio in them is ideal for human consumption made up of about 60% ripe organic fruit mixed with 40% organic greens.
2. Easily digestible. When blended well, most of the cells in the greens and the fruits are ruptured, making the nutrients easy for the body to assimilate. Green smoothies literally start to be absorbed in your mouth.
3. Unlike juices, they are a complete food because they still have the fiber, and consuming fiber is important for our digestive system. I love anything that is good for me and easy to digest!
4. They taste good! With a ration of fruit to veggies of 60:40 the fruit taste dominates the flavour leaving you with a balanced zesty drink.
5. A molecule of chlorophyll closely resembles a molecule of human blood. According to the teachings of Dr. Ann Wigmore, consuming chlorophyll is like receiving a healthy blood transfusion. Most people don't consume enough greens. Drinking 2-3 cups of green smoothies daily makes it easy to consume enough greens to nourish your body, with all beneficial nutrients well assimilated thanks to a little help from your blender!
6. Easy to make, drink and clean up after! They actually last for a couple of days in the fridge if you make a large quantity. I like to pour it into a large drink bottle and sip it on the way to work. It energises me without giving me the strung out feeling that caffeine does.
7. Regular consumption of green smoothies forms a good habit of eating greens. After a few weeks of drinking green smoothies, most people start to crave and enjoy eating more greens!

This is how a green smoothie starts in my blender. I just purchased 'The Green Smoothie Revolution' book by Victoria Boutenko. I'll post some recipes as I make them this week. They're just so easy to make and you can adjust the taste by adding more fruit or more greens as you get used to the taste. I know so many people remark at my green drinks because the look so strange, but I often argue that they drink coca cola - and that is brown and full of evil. I know what I'd rather drink!

Watch Sergei give a talk about Green Smoothies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW5LUkeVA