Cooking and Cooking - New York, NY

Every year work allows me to take a cooking class whether I like or not. This year I chose the ICE in New York City for purely selfish reasons. I wanted to visit friends and eat great food!




Each day we studied and cooked a different cuisine....deja vu of Culinary school all over. We sampled a new restaurant for lunch every day too, yes, I'm spoiled. One day, we visited the Union Square Market and cooked soley what was bought there including Rabbit.




Each night, I came back and cooked more for my friends in their lovely Upper Westside apt. The rooftop is amazing. Check out the pics, enjoy!






Eating on the rooftop

More eating on the rooftop

Scapes at Union Square Market, NY

Aji Sauce that I pounded for 2 hours in class

Known as Lapin in french, Conejo in spanish, Rabbit in english

Farmer's market raw salad

Chickpea fritters

Stuffed squash with Feta cheese, Mint, Scapes

Veal Saltimbocca

Lunch at Breton Bar, NY

Braised Lamb in Crepes w/Fiddlehead Ferns

French day in class - Pommes Anna, Asparagus Quiche amongst a few

Showing off my carving skillzz - tomato rose

Where in the US have I been????

Sorry, I have been on hiatus of late. Blogging just doesn’t seem to take precedence these days! Okay, where did I last leave off? Oh yes, a stint with Chef Ludo at Ludobites. Sad to say I only interned a handful of times due to work travels. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal from Chef Ludo and met great people along the way! I'm incredibly grateful to work in the kitchen with him!




I met Chef Dan who showed me the ropes at the hot appetizer station, you can follow his ventures in life and at Ludobites 5.0 @chefdrm on twitter. Holly was another intern and has an awesome blog. She later helped me my very own catering gig which was super fun.






As for my work travels, I managed to incoporate a few breaks in between. May landed me in Stafford, Virginia for a wedding. My old college roommate, Jason and his bride, Shannon had a beautiful wedding. Give it up for moonshine and nothing but green pastures.




Old Plantation in Stafford, VA

Jason, (L), who got married and enjoying moonshine

Next, I headed to Santa Cruz and San Francisco where the weather was gorgeous.

Then back home where I got to soak up a Dodgers game!

My dear friend, Esther whom I studied in Spain with visited early June. Her and husband are from Holland and did a mini tour of the US. Los Angeles was a stop and of course, I had them over for dinner. It was awesome catching up and meeting Tim. It made rooting for the Netherlands in the World Cup so much fun!

Tim and Esther visiting from Holland

June took me to New York for a cooking class, for work and fun. I cooked for friends and enjoyed a hot week in the city. One request was to eat at Momofuku for the famous Bo Ssam feast. I was not let down.

Momofuku's Pork Belly Steamed Buns

The Pork Butt

Accoutrements of the Bo Ssam Feast

One snug package--- the Bo ssam

Wall Street

Empire State Building

More pictures and stories to come...