LOLA LOBATO

PASTA TIME

2012-01-29T12:45:00.001-05:00

It was my first attempt in making pasta from scratch, I invited friends over to have an interactive cooking experience.

The pleasure of eating fresh pasta is worth making the dough.

We made spaghetti, beet fettuccine and ravioli filled with pumpkin.

The dough we made by hand and then we used a pasta machine to roll it out.

The pasta in the drying rack, we did several batches of pasta. At a moment every thing looked like a chinese laundry. I loved it. Pasta everywhere!

I try it later on my own to make more pasta for a dinner and I found it to be a bit hard labour. Definitely It's something I will be doing with friends surrounded by music with a glass of wine.

We started with the basic recipe with 3 eggs and 2 1/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour. Then we continued by mixing the flour with semolina, my idea was to experiment with other kinds of flours like coconut flour, rice flour, flaxseed meal and spelt.

For the pumpkin ravioli I made a puree by roasting the pumpkin with olive oil and thyme. Mashed it with a fork adding butter, salt, pepper and pinch of grated nutmeg. For the sauce I melted butter with sage and served it with Parmigiano Reggiano. This is alway one of my favorites tortelli di zucca, pumpkin + butter + sage + parmigiano .

I found a recipe which I want to try it is by adding to the pumpkin puree amaretti cookies, nutmeg, Grana Padano and mostarda mantovana (spicy sauce made of candied fruits syrup and mustard essence)

For the beet fettuccine we made the dough adding beet juice. The color came out beautiful, but for my disappointment after boiling the pasta the intense color tends to fade away.

So I try the second time boiling it into beet juice in stead of water which helped a little better to retain more of the color.

At the end were so hungry that we made the sauces fast and easy, for the spaghetti we just sautéed radicchio with dry chili, garlic and olive oil.

Mi piace la pasta!

Roasted Veggies

2012-01-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

I made these roasted veggies several times during the holidays, because they were yummy and extremely easy to make. This is an adaptation from a recipe I saw in Olive magazine, on my UK adorable subscription. Because everything is roasted there is not much of a hassle, I could do it on a lazy day as a vegetarian plate or as a side dish with a roasted chicken. I added the chestnuts to give a festive attitude but the whole combination of veggies are fantastic. You could have it without the cream but to me thats the special touch.

Ingredients:

1 small pumpkin or squash, peeled and diced

2 fennel bulbs, cut into slices.

2 big caps of portobello mushroom, diced

150g of chestnuts, I used a packet of 5.2 oz all ready roasted and peeled.

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 bay leaf

olive oil

butter

salt and pepper

For the tarragon cream:

a little bunch of fresh tarragon, chopped

1 cup of heavy cream

2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard

In a casserole toss the pumpkin, fennel, chestnuts with the garlic, bay leaf and olive oil. Seasoned with salt and pepper.Roast for about 20 minutes until tender. Meanwhile cook the portobello with the butter until any liquid that it has given off has evaporated. Reserve and toss in the casserole before serving. For the tarragon cream, in a small pan, heat the heavy cream with the mustard and tarragon and drizzle to serve.

Upside down little puddings

2012-01-03T11:43:00.000-05:00

New Year came along and I wish you all the best a happy, healthy, prosperous and well savour life to live.

I made these little puddings the last day of the year thinking we may have to have a bite of something sweet with a glass of Champagne for the transition to the new year.....

I spent the night in a Greek tavern, eating fresh mediterranean food, dancing on the table and drinking Retsina, surrounded by very happy people and great music.

Back to the little puddings, the recipe came from the British magazine Delicious.

(I don't know why but they remind me of Downton Abbey)

For the topping:

30g soft butter

30g soft brown sugar

24 shelled pecan halves

100g cranberries (fresh or frozen)

For the sponge:

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 orange

2 eggs, beaten

50g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking power

50g ground almonds

For the crème anglaise:

150ml whole milk

50ml double cream

2 large egg yolks

25g caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange

For the topping mix the butter and sugar together, spread the mixture over the base of the little baking cups. Arrange pecans and cranberries on top.

To make the sponge cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat the in the orange zest. Gradually beat in the egg, adding a small spoonful of flour with the last addition.

Sift over the remaining flour and baking power, and gently fold into the mixture along with the ground almonds.

Divide the sponge mixture between the baking cups, put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the center of the pudding comes out clean.

For the crème anglaise bring the milk and cream to the boil, briefly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl, then whisk in the cornflour and orange zest.

Whisk the hot creamy milk into the yolk and sugar mixture, then return it to the pan and stir over a medium low heat for a few minutes until the mixture thicken. Do not let mixture boil.

Turn out onto serving plates and serve with the hot crème anglaise. They are great without the cream too, their flavour and texture are delicate and soft. Comforting and easy to make.

Serves 8 (mini baking cups)

I must start the year thanking all my blogging food communities and blogger friends for encouragement, support, sharing your precious moments and treasures.

I respect your courage, commitment, determination, and perseverance.

My great admiration to all of you!!! all the best

Lola, xoxo

The night before Christmas

2011-12-23T00:39:00.000-05:00

My first Christmas

My happy Christmas moments started, with a grandfather with a toy store, getting double Santa's presents and being spoiled as being the first daughter and first granddaughter.

Living in houses with no fences, friendly neighbors. Friends go from home to home knocking at the door with a cuatro, maracas and furruco singing christmas carols gaitas and parrandas. Smell of Hallacas in every house, music everywhere, festive day and night. Then I moved to were I had white Xmas and a chimney with the smell of fresh pine, apple and cinnamon. Later moved again, smell of cookies and hot chocolate, I had the glorious joy of having three children, and Santa's came along....

Living in so many places, I have knit all those memories into one, family and friends, sharing and cooking.

Of coursed my beloved Christmas tree that brings light into the house.But nowadays I feel Xmas in a very nostalgic way, kids have grown up, family are far away, some can't make it for Christmas, others are not longer with us. Presents are not longer in the tree, have to be sent by mail and sometimes those moments have to be shared with my computer.

I just want to wish you the same as I tell my kids:

Continue be curious it's the road to creativity, never stop dreaming. Enjoy the small and simple moments maybe the most important one to remember in future. Always find time to be with your self, observe nature, move, eat conscious. Have tolerance and respect to others. Always have your heart open to give love and receive, and the most important: LIVE WITH PASSION.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
and a Happy Holiday.

Lola, xoxo

Jewely for napkin rings & chestnut soup

2011-12-12T03:46:00.001-05:00

Looking for napkin rings that I could use for my Christmas table, I found these giant stone rings. I thought it was perfect for what I wanted, so I tied them to a metal string and within seconds I had my napkin rings. The dishes I used, which I had bought at a flea market, had various black and white patterns. Perfect to use under my Royal Worcester golden soup plate.

The idea is to mix the old with the new using different textures and patterns, keeping it timeless & chic.

The chestnut soup with chocolate curls

I made it it last year on Christmas Eve as part of a nine-course tasting. The recipe is from Mireille Guiliano, author of the book French Women Do not Get Fat.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of chestnuts or a jar
2 or 3 cups of vegetable or beef broth
1 / 2 cup of heavy cream
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of crème fraîche
Dark chocolate, 60% to 70% cacao, for garnish

I prepared it using a jar of chestnuts which helped the whole process take less time. If they are natural cook them for about 50 minutes with two cups of broth, add more if necessary. When they are soft, blend them while adding the broth and the cream. Heat again for a few minutes until it simmers. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve individually with a touch of crème fraîche and chocolate curls.

A dish that does not go unnoticed, and gives an exciting opening to what is yet to come...

The Côté Bastide linen tablecloth, mini trees, candles votives and chocolate are sold at my online store: http://shop.lolalobato.com

Relax and have a cocktail

2011-12-07T16:13:00.001-05:00

This is my tropical Christmas cocktail, being in Miami I shouldn't wait for a white xmas to come. I enjoy my Christmas tree with a see view and a nice sunny weather.

Holiday season: parties, celebrations, shopping, cooking, cleaning and planing the new year to come. I have been running from one place to an other with the online store and the holiday season.

It's nearly the same as having a real shop with a window.

We do sales, coupons, take pictures, write, send store products to different directories, social media, marketing, check inventory, packing, post office, answer questions online an over the phone..... plus running a home with daily emphasis on food sounds good! but not when you are just one person doing it all.

That is when I say relax and have a cocktail instead of run Lola run!

For me a cocktail is taking your time, you have to enjoy it slowly and of course socially . A cocktail is a type of flirting with the glass and the drink, changing your mood and switching you to another atmosphere were every thing is slowed down, please don't misunderstand me I am not inducing anyone to drink, just have only one.

So if you are over stressed with the holiday seasons relax and have a cocktail

Ingredients:

2 oz rum

1 oz lemongrass

1 oz lemon juice

lemongrass syrup:

2 cups of water

1 cup of sugar

3 stalks of lemongrass, sliced

To prepared the syrup:

Add all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and keep cooking slow for 30 minutes, stir, strain and let it chill.

In a cocktail shaker with ice combine all ingredients, shake, strain and serve.

you can make the lemongrass and keep it in the refrigerator for future use...

Thanksgiving

2011-12-06T11:07:00.001-05:00

I made the cranberry sauce with 12 oz of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of orange juice, 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest.

For the center table arrangement, I place a rosemarie plant with salvia leaves and berries in an ice bucket. I like to use things in as many ways as possible.

I love casseroles you can take it from the oven to the table, specially if you have to warm up so many dishes at the same time.

The sweet potato with a dash of ginger is a totally comfort food.

That night I downloaded all the pictures that were from the night before when I started cooking, I was on the phone and doing three things at the time while I was erasing stuff in the computer and voilà.... without realizing all my 50.000 pictures I had in stock were gone. I panicked got help and manage to rescue the whole packet , thank God, a few weeks ago I updated the computer and most of my pictures were safe. I lost most of the Thanksgiving pictures especially all the making of each dish...

Anyway, I did all the dishes I wrote on my menu except the pumpkin flan and the dill scones.

I got two delicious desserts from my friends a carrot cake and a tower of profiteroles au caramel.

If you are vegetarian do NOT READ THIS!!!

I had my concerns about the turkey, at first I thought about not making it but this time It was the first Thanksgiving I didn't have any left over turkey, It was crunchy outside and juicy inside, I was basting almost every 20 minutes until done for four hours and half.

For the meat lover this is the recipe, for the vegetarian I will write soon the veggies plates.

Roast turkey with chestnut stuffing

The night before: I cleaned the turkey, (organic & kosher) seasoned it, and did the stock.

For the seasoning paste:

butter - about 8 oz in this case being kosher I used vegetable margarine

garlic - whole head

rosemary, sage and thyme - about a table spoon of each

worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

blend all the ingredients and make a paste, season with salt and pepper and rub the paste under the skin and all over outside. This with help to keep moist inside.

For the stock:

neck and giblets

1 celery

1 carrot

1 onion

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

4 cup of water

2 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat the oil and brown the neck and giblets, add remaining ingredients and simmer until reduced to about 4 cups. About 45 minutes. Strain. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerated.

For the stuffing:

12 ounces chestnuts (I used two packed roasted whole chestnut)

1 apple - chopped

3 celery ribs - chopped

1 large onion - chopped

1 country bread (I used a Tuscany country style bread) cut in small cubes

small bunch of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme - minced

olive oil

salt

Toast the bread already cut into small cubes with olive oil and minced rosemary, until become gold and crusty like croutons.

In olive oil cook onions, celery, apple, chestnuts and herbs until soft. Stir together with the toasted bread.

While roasting:

64 oz (2 QT) chicken broth

1 cup white wine

Baking the turkey:

Fill main cavity and neck- end cavity loosely with stuffing. Sew cavities closed and tie legs together, secure wings to body with a small skewers.

Place turkey in roasting pan and add 1 cup of chicken broth.

I usually cover the the breast loosely with aluminum foil for the first hour of the cooking time, to get an uniform roasting.

The secret for me to have crisp and juice is to keep basting every 20 minutes and keep adding more broth or wine when is needed. And when a part of the turkey starts to get brown too quickly, I cover that part loosely with small piece of aluminum foil. Even If I know for the weight and stuffing, mine will be done in approximately 41/2 hours, I used a thermometer to make sure It is properly done. Breast should register 165° (74°C) and thighs 175°F (80°C).

Leave it rest for about 25 minutes before carving.

For the gravy:

4 cups reserved from the turkey stock

pan and juices reserved from turkey

1/2 cup fat from pan and juices

6 tablespoon all purpose flour

Scrape bottom of roasting pant to loosen any browned bits, adding 1cup of the turkey stock pour into a large measuring cup. Let stand until fat rises to surface. Spoon fat off and reserve 1/2 cup. In a saucepan boil mixtures of juices with the rest of the turkey stock until reduced to 3 cups.

Meanwhile pour reserve 1/2 fat in a saucepan add flour cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. Add stock mixture and continue stirring. Cook until sauce thickens, check season to taste with salt and pepper .

Cook with passion, eat slow and celebrate with love...

2011-11-22T12:34:00.001-05:00

We are on a Thanksgiving countdown! I know everybody has already their thanksgiving recipe in their blog, I don't yet, I have been late and slow. I've wanted to write about it but I've been going back and forth with it. With mixed feelings of whether to make the turkey or not.

Worst of all I got an email with the request to adopt a turkey http://www.adoptaturkey.org/ which I totally agree with. It's an organization, a farm sanctuary that promotes compassion and protects all farm animals. They are right which really puts me off with the THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION. But, I have family and friends coming over on Thursday for Thanksgiving, especially looking forward to eat turkey. I am thinking we are all happy eating and celebrating as millions of American are all celebrating at their home and in reality it is the saddest day for all the turkeys.

I have been celebrating for over 21 years, since I first came to USA. It has become a family tradition to cook together and eat together. I wasn't sure if my family and I were ready to break the tradition of the turkey and do it without.

Even with all those mixed feelings I decided to do it again like any other year, I bought the turkey a kosher organic. And now I just have to put all my thoughts together and get into a good vibe to write the menu and start cooking.

The Thanksgiving menu

For dessert: I am going to make an apple tart and pumpkin flan

Hors d' oeuvres: brie cheese with fig marmalade and macadamia nuts, roasted garlic with rosemary and Sra Ines olive oil and fennel tortas.

Salad: fennel with apple and caramelized walnuts, a mixed of greens with oranges, pecans and cranberries.

Side dishes: potato galette, sweet potato puree with a dash of ginger (I hate the idea of marshmallows with sweet potatoes), brussels sprouts with orange peel, glazed pearl onions with raisins and almonds, baby carrots with mustard seeds and honey. (I like the presentation of a big plate with a variety of baby vegetables prepared each in a different way)

Breads: corn bread and mini dill scones.

Sauce: cranberry (of course)

Turkey stuffing: chestnuts, apples, celery, onion and rosemary country bread.

Turkey : seasoned with sage, rosemary, garlic and thyme.

I must said my friends are bringing corn pudding, some other veggies and a dessert. (I will take pictures too)

Let's see how the menu will end up being done, I will be posting as soon as I can every dish I'll be cooking.

I know we all have things to be thankful for, I sure have.

Meanwhile I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

No mater what: cook with passion, eat slow and celebrate with love...

It's not a Tiramisu

2011-11-14T20:58:00.001-05:00

If you are a coffee, liqueur and cream lover, you will adore it. Extremely easy to make.

Minimal cooking involved, just layers and refrigeration, better to do it the day before.

Layers of creams, lady fingers, chocolate, amaretti cookies, almonds and coffee.

I did it in a tart pan with a removable base, to keep it in place, I added two walls of foiled paper around to maintain the deep shape. I used a vegetable peeler to make the chocolate curls.

Ingredients:

(for the coffee cream)

8 oz mascarpone cheese

8 oz heavy cream whipped

1/4 cup caster sugar

( to sprinkle)

1 tablespoon finely ground coffee

2 oz chocolate chopped into very small pieces

2 oz chocolate curls

1 cup of sliced toasted almonds

1 cup of amaretti cookies crushed into small pieces

2 packets of lady fingers

(for dipping the lady fingers)

3 cups of expresso coffee

3 tbls spoons of caster sugar

9 tbls of brandy

Preparations:

Make a cream by whisking together the mascarpone cheese, the heavy cream and the sugar. Chill. For dipping the lady fingers make three cups of coffee expresso, stir in the sugar and add the brandy. Place it in a bowl and let it cool.

Start the first layer with the lady fingers dipped into the coffee mixture and lay them in a row in a tart mold, cover it with thick coffee cream. Sprinkle with some of the chocolate pieces, spread the second layer, dipping the lady fingers in the coffee mixture, then cover with the coffee cream and sprinkle with the amaretti cookies chopped. Continue the next layer in the same way this time sprinkling with coffee grounded and chocolate pieces.

Cover the top with coffee cream, the chocolate curls and toasted almonds. Chill overnight .

Another stress free dessert!!!

Tea towel
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Pie server
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Spoons
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Coconut and peanut butter sauce for the chicken satay

2011-11-09T18:32:00.000-05:00

A chicken satay with coconut milk and peanut butter sauce, this one of my family's favorites. Everybody loves them at home. It's great for entertaining. The sauce it's completely delicious. Your friends will be satisfied. If they are vegetarian just serve the sauce with grilled veggies and rice.

The idea is to bring some far away sparkle into the home. Those tastes become friendly and we get totally used to making them on our own.

For the chicken marinate:

In a bowl combined all.

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup lemon juice

6 garlic cloves minced

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

For the chicken I usually make about 6 to 8 chicken breast, I cut it into strips with a kitchen scissors. Marinated, leave it for about an hour in the refrigerator.

You could do it the night before for a more intense flavor and cooked the following day on the grill.

For the sauce:

In a saucepan add the following ingredients and cook over low to medium, stirring constantly until sauce its thick and creamy.

11/2 cup of coconut milk

1 cup of peanut butter

1/ 4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed

2 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger root

6 garlic cloves minced

I serve them with jasmine rice, a topping of sliced fresh coconut roasted and a salad with mango, cucumber, red pepper, scallions, cilantro and toasted peanuts. which I will post soon...

Tip

Soak the bamboo skewered for about 20 minutes in a bowl of cold water to keep them from burning while you are grilling.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2011-10-29T16:32:00.002-04:00

Wishing every one a Happy Halloween!

I have posted many pumpkin soup recipes but in this one I added more veggies friends.
Of course the main ingredient is pumpkin but the rest were one: onion, leak, potato, carrot and apple. I seasoned with herbes de provence and served with a dollop of crème fraîche, and a leaf of beet.

On the side I made a mini steamed arepa with precooked corn meal, beet pure, oatmeal, toasted and ground almond and sesame seed on a corn leaf.

After my son Esteban told me that my living room had a pastiche style, I just realized I also have a gastronomic pastiche point of view, if I may use that term with food. I don't see why not. This will be the beginning of understanding myself and the way I am connected with food.

Ready for trick or treat?

Le petit jardin

2011-10-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

I got inspired by this idea after reading a salad recipe by Christine Manfield, an Australian chef. Making this was like doing a mini garden more precise like a pot and soil recipe for planting, the result was an adorable tiny salad. I think this recipe is just an idea to be developed with ingredients that you prefer, more like a tip to later continue in your own way. In this case I know there are many steps to follow to make these little treasures, but that is what makes it special: all the details and care inside.

For the sweet and sour dressing start by making a syrup adding chili, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

Each mini garden will have "planted" tiny sticks of apple, celery, spring onion, oranges, little leaves of cilantro, kaffir, alfalfa sprouts and sunflower sprouts.

At the bottom I added smoked shredded trout with green mango ginger relish.

I carried them to the table on a tray served in small plates so that each person could add the dressing themselves and then place them on their plates.

Ingredients (serves four)

4oz slices smoke salmon (I use wild Alaskan)

1 smoke trout

1 small apple

2 celery stalks

2 spring onion

2 spoons of salmon roe

alfalfa sprouts

sunflower sprouts

For the relish

1 green mango ( peeled and cut into matchsticks)

1 shallot ( thinly sliced)

1 red chili ( finely chopped)

1 green chili ( finely chopped)

1 tbs ginger ( grated)

1 tbs rice vinegar

1 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs cilantro( finely chopped)

pinch of salt

For the dressing

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/3 cup water

1 red chili

1 garlic clove

1 tbs sesame oil

11/2 soy sauce

2 tbs cider vinegar

1 tbs mirrim

For the dressing

In a saucepan I placed the water and sugar to medium heat, stirred to dissolve until reduced to a syrup and added the rest of ingredients, bringing them to a boil and simmering over low heat for about 10 minutes until reduced. Strain into a sieve and chill until used.

For the relish

In a saucepan add the sugar and heat until it is dissolved. Add the shallot and chilies and continue to stir. Add the water, vinegar, ginger, mangoes, cilantro and salt. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes until the mangos are soft.

Thinly shred the apples, celery, spring onion, cilantro, kaffir leaves and cut the orange into segments. Assemble the slices of salmon into little pots, add inside a little of the smoked shredded trout followed by the green mango ginger relish and stack some shredded apple, celery, spring onion, cilantro, kaffir leaves, little segments of oranges, alfalfa sprouts, the sunflower sprouts and the salmon roe.

When serving drizzle with the sweet and sour dressing.

Little gardens are ready to eat.

Raspberry tart

2011-10-18T11:16:00.000-04:00

Mascarpone and raspberry tart, extremely easy to make and a beauty to be served. I found this recipe while going through my old notebooks where I keep, all about food: recipes, notes, ideas and drawings. This one was based on Laura Zavan's recipe Crostata al mascarpone e lamponi. I like it because it is not a very sweet dessert and also the freshness of the raspberries combined with the cheeses is mmm..... and for those who like it sweeter you could drizzle with caster sugar on the top. Any way will be lovely with the snowy sugar on top

I used the ceramic pie weights over the baking paper to bake the crust, it keeps the dough from shrinking and bubbling during baking. Any beans will do the job well.

I mixed all the ingredients by hand, in a glass bowl. If you decide not to make the dough and buy the frozen one already rolled, It"ll be easier to make.

I like to serve the raspberry coulis so that everyone can add it according to their own taste.

Ingredients:

250g raspberries

400g shortcrust pastry

200g mascarpone

200g ricotta

1tsp vanilla extract

50g caster sugar

1 lemon grated zest

2 tbsp Marsala (could be kirsch, Framboises or any other sweet liquor or wine)

For the raspberry coulis:

300g raspberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

Use a rectangular tart pan, roll out the pastry and line it with parchment paper. Fill it with the baking beans and cook for about 10 minutes, remove the paper and the beans and put it back in the oven for about 10 more minutes until crisp and golden.

Leave it cool completely before filling.

In a bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and ricotta. Add the vanilla, sugar, lemon grated zest, and wine until combined well.

Pour filling into the crust and spread evenly, arrange the raspberries on the top. Chill until firm.

For the coulis: In a food processor puree the raspberries with the sugar, strain through a sieve. Have it ready to drizzle in a little jar just before serving.

Spoons and tart slicer

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Recap

2011-10-09T16:28:00.000-04:00

It's been two weeks since I had last written.. a long week of home cooking, family reunions and getting together. So intense that I couldn't even tweet or post. Nevertheless there are many pictures to share coming soon.

Sebastian came from NY for a few days, we cooked, talked and ate comfort food.

My mushrooms are growing I think they are ready to eat. I am planing to make a pasta with them thanks to my blogger friend Lisa. Bryan brought me spices from Vietnam and Cambodia which I loved and I finally bought the dragon fruit after looking for it for months in the grocery store. I had been going almost 3 times a day without exaggerating just to get every detail of every ingredient planned for all the preparations.

On Saturday we had friends over the house, to be more precise we cooked for fifty people with the glorious help of my friend Bessy and Vera the best photographer ever .

The menu always ambitious long enough to not be able to finishe all. I placed the Holy menu on the kitchen wall to check and mark down the dishes that were ready. Friends arrived at 8.30 pm and I was still in the kitchen running hiding to rush for a shower and get dressed in minutes.

The kitchen was a paradise hell filled with the most amazing spices and herbs. At 10 pm it was a totally chaos, overwhelming even with fabulous helpers we couldn't do it as organized as I wanted it to be. Ingrid was making tons of chicken skewers to serve over a plantain leaf with coconut peanut sauce and my other helper Gloria made hundreds of hand made tortillas while Teresa filled the sink with used plates and empty glasses. I was running from the kitchen to the food table giving the last touches to each plate and trying to make the missing sauces.

Thirty-something plates with a theme of "bite and small bites" substantial, fresh, colorful, vibrant, cultural, sensible and without pretentiousness. Thai flavors with Latin visits, some touches from Spain, Mexico, Italy and Japan. Kind of like a United Nations hug all together at the table starting with mini taquitos, Chinese lettuce filled with spicy meat, rice paper rolls with fresh vegetables, crab cakes, fig with feta bruschetta, mini salmon packets, little boxes of cod fish, corn cakes with a sweet chicken stew and we cant forget the mini tortillas de patatas...

First time I cooked the forbidden rice a beautiful completely black rice from China placed next to the jasmine rice cooked with coconut milk, lemon grass and ginger, sublime and noble dish sprinkle with toasted coconut curls.

I realized that in the same way I am at home with objects and clothes I am with food: always mixing and matching colors, textures and flavors. Balance is the key a little of this a little of that, the crunch, the soft, the sweet, the salted, as simple as using the five tastes. My partner he is kosher and I am organic, so there were many details to follow during these days.

I always am extremely exaggerated when cooking for guests I think I have to make infinity of dishes so every one finds what they like and be pleased to eat as much as they want. I kind of try to spoil everyone, that is always my main concern. We left Nicolas at a pet resort during the big dinner and he came back hoarse with a sore throat because of all the crying during a night away from home. The resort has a food menu to choose from like beef with yam and oatmeal, to fresh fish with organic herbs and eggs drizzled with cod oil. They even treat them with ice creams but that doesn't help him at all. He hates it anyway.

My retro Mad Men bar, whisky sales have boomed because to the TV show, even on the party most of the people drank Scotch on the rocks rather than wine.

My breakfast the day after the party, that was when I was enjoying the pleasure of eating leftovers in the quiet of my home.

Now I finish my day thinking how sorry I am with the lost of the most precious and valuable Apple, Steve he will be with us. Thanks to you I am able to do what I do and have the world open to my eyes from wherever I am. Bravo!!! and thank you.

GAZPACHO

2011-09-13T08:58:00.001-04:00

Due to the steamy and hot weather of Florida I have been wanting to eat fresh, mediterranean and cold food. I asked Marialuisa a friend blogger from Spain with her blog decocinasytacones for the gazpacho recipe.

The gazpacho is a cold soup originally from the south of Spain, Andalusia. Made with raw vegetables. Is refreshing, perfect to have it during hot summer days.

You can have it with guarnición (garnish)

Ingredients

2 lb of ripe tomatoes, peeled seeded and chopped

1 cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped

1 thick slice of country bread soaked in water

1 spring onion

1 garlic clove peeled and chopped

2 tbsp sherry vinegar

1/2 cup extra Virgin olive oil

salt

Garnishes ( small amounts)

onion, finely diced

cucumber, peeled and finely diced

green pepper, seeded and finely diced

tomato, seeded and finely diced

croutons

In a food processor or blender puree all the ingredients, press mixture through a sieve and chill before serving.

A perfect summer dish !

Terrine de Roquefort

2011-09-08T10:48:00.000-04:00

An appetizer, lovely on a late afternoon with a glass of wine. I could freeze it and keep it when friends come over. A saveur of France always ready at home whenever may need it. This terrine is an adaptation of its French recipe.

Easy to make once you are making it, you could adjust the ingredients and quantities to your own taste. I like the combination of the strong flavor of Roquefort with the sweet taste of the raisins, plus the crunchiness of the walnuts with every bite.

The chervil is the gourmet parsley but more delicate, popular in France for its subtle flavor and fragrance of Anise. I like to used it to enhance my omelets and in my potatoes.

Not cooking or baking just mix, chill and it's ready to be served.

Looking for Eau de vie de prune, I found this Old Plum Brandy from Croatia, It's is clear and very aromatic which is achieved from the ageing process in barrels made of the unique woods of Zadar region and even during the maturation more hand picked plums are added for more aroma.

(the whole process is carried out under kosher regulations)

Ingredients:

6 oz Roquefort

3 oz soften unsalted butter

8 chives leaves chopped finely

1/2 bunch of chervil chopped finely

4 tbsp golden raisins

5 tbsp Brandy

6 oz coarsely chopped walnuts toasted

Preparation:

In a small bowl soften the raisin by soaking them in the Brandy until they have absorved part of it.

Leave the Roquefort out the refrigerator for about an hour to softened.

Beat the cheese adding small quantities of butter. Once It is all incorporated and blended together add the rest of brandy from the raisins maceration and continue mixing. leaving the raisins aside. Add the chopped walnuts, the finely chopped herbs and the raisins and mix it all together. Refrigerated, If you want to unmold it, line a container with plastic wrap, cover the top put weight to press it down and leave it in the fridge overnight.

Serve with toasted bread as an apéritif.

( you can substitute the butter for cream cheese or crème fraîche and the Brandy for Armagnac)

Square baking dish

http://shop.lolalobato.com/square-baking-dish/

A noir desire

2011-08-31T23:37:00.001-04:00

A great feeling of pleasure is immediately released when you have a bite. It's like the same effect you feel when you are in love, the mood change for the best with stimulant properties.

So how can I not love a chocolate cake. Every time I am under a stressed situation this is my Noir desire, a bite of chocolate. This is one of my favorite recipe that I love.

This tempting delight was made by my daughter Laura, an adaptation recipe from Nigella's book "How to be a domestic goddess"

If you love Nutella, this is the one! It's has hazelnut, Nutella and the chocolate we used is Chapon chocolatier D' origen Venezuelan 75% cacao

Love it after dinner to leave your guests completely satisfied. Could be a midnight bite with a glass of ~~wine~~ milk. I mean just a spoon bite......

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

14 ounces of Nutella

1 tablespoon of Rum ( we used Venezuelan rum)

1/2 cup ground hazelnuts

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate melted ( we used chocolate noir 75% cacao)

pinch of salt

9 inch cake pan greased and lined with parchment

For the icing:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

1 tablespoon of rum

1/2 cup heavy cream

Whisk the egg whites and salt until slightly stiff, in an other bowl beat the Nutella, butter, egg yolks, ground hazelnuts and the rum. Incorporate the the melted chocolate already cooled then add to the mixture a large dollop of the egg white, mix it and incorporate the rest a third at the time. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes at 350º F.

Icing preparation:

In a sauce pan heat gently the cream, rum and chopped chocolate. Once it is melted remove from heat and whisk until reach consistency to ice the top of the cake.

(It's very easy to make and extremely delicious to eat)

Vintage cake stand
http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/Vintage-Cake-stand-with-a-10%22-Pedestal.html

Tart slicer

http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/Old-Fashioned-Tart-Slicer.html

The uncertain visit of Irene

2011-08-25T15:18:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy week in Florida with all kinds of disruptions. First, on Monday they announced a hurricane coming to Florida so I have been preparing for the worst with a positive attitude, hoping that nothing dangerous may come. With that in mind, I prepared my house for the hurricane and secured the office regarding floodings or strong winds. Of course I got ready with supplies buying the right food, water, batteries, flash lights, candles etc.. I am still deciding whether or not to close completely the house with shutters, just because we have big glass windows everywhere. Not only did I have to worry about that, but to complicate things even more, the earthquake that was felt in NY caught my attention since my son who works on Wall Street was evacuated from his office thinking that it was a terrorist attack. Add to all this the revolving news of TIboli, my mind hasn't been thinking at all around taking pictures of food nor have I even written my Tuesday post. I just hope Irene doesn't cause any destruction and no living life will be affected.

I had my lunch from Chipotle yesterday while I was running from one place to another. It is one of the decent food chains and a bit healthier option of fast food. Today the information regarding Irene threats is pointing only towards North East Coast, I think we all have to be prepared and I pray that nothing happens anywhere.

Summer tea time mini sandwiches

2011-08-17T21:13:00.001-04:00

These are some of my favorites tea time little sandwiches to have at home, take it to a picnic or just to find an excuse to have a get together with my friends. These are turkey sandwiches with mango chutney, I just spread one slice of bread with mayo and in the other mango chutney and added slices of smoked turkey.

I always love the cucumber sandwiches, the secret is to peel and thinly slice the cucumbers, usually I do it with a potato peeler and sprinkle them with salt and little vinegar and leave to drain for a while about half an hour and place it on a sieve to remove any excess of juices from the cucumber. Spread the butter on thin bread slices, add layers of cucumber and close it by pressing with your hands. Cover them with a lightly wet tea towel until you are ready to serve them.

I have many recipes for tuna sandwiches, but this one is very nice. I chopped a shallot in to very small dices, chopped a small bunch of parsley and grated a lemon peel. In a bowl I mixed the tuna all ready drained with all the ingredients chopped and one spoon of the tiny capers. In an other bowl I mixed mayo with a little olive tapenade ( you could make it or buy it already made) and added salt and pepper. Now I mixed both mixture and placed it into the refrigerator until it's ready to use it.

For the egg salad sandwiches I also have many recipes that I keep changing depending in what I have when I am going to make it , yesterday a friend of mine called me from a tea room telling me what she was eating and how much she was enjoying it and thinking about the time she was living in England as I did while I was a student. So immediately after the telephone conversation I started preparing little sandwiches for a late snack follow with a cup of tea.

I boiled four eggs, chopped the shallot into tiny dices. The egg yolk I mixed with a little dijon mustard, olive oil, few drops of worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. I chop very small the white of the boiled egg and mixed it with the chopped shallot, I added half a pickle and one cornichon diced very small and added a few spoons of mayonnaise to mix it all together. I spread onto thinly sliced buttered white bread and pressed the slices removing the crust. Everybody loves them!

For the chicken sandwiches I cut in small cubes from a chicken breast all ready cooked and tossed with a thinly sliced celery and chopped walnuts. In an other bowl I stirred mayonnaise with a teaspoon of curry power, salt and pepper. I combined all and spreaded it on sliced butted white bread, trimmed off the crust and cut into triangles.

I just need to have scones with Devon cream & jam to remember the afternoon teas on summer at Brighton country side...

Vintage cake stand

http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/Vintage-Cake-stand-with-a-6%22-Pedestal.html

Meet me in Paris

2011-08-09T17:53:00.001-04:00

Meet me in Paris, meet me in London... online we could meet anywhere, but this time you could meet me at http://shop.lolalobato.com/ for tabletop mixing & matching to all my food lover friends. I hand selected products that offer a cultural blend of food, fashion and art. Just by adding a few items to your existing decor you should be able to help transform your everyday dining table into a truly celebratory experience. I know that like me, you all feel that the table and food should be a central gathering for family and friends and that there is no better way to share and be together then around the table..

I would love to hear your feed back and opinions. xoxo

Oxley's Carvery

2011-08-02T15:31:00.004-04:00

Located in NoLita is a traditional British carvery take- out in Manhattan.

Everybody is very friendly with a good attitude to help in your request, they serve from Northern England, a Yorkshire flavor of fresh roasted carved meats.

For the meat lover they have juicy and tender roasted meats: beef, pork, turkey, lamb, ham, sausages, corned beef, ribs...... Perfect to take to a picnic or to take home for a lazy weekend, they also do local deliveries for the neighborhood. They have veggies sides that they call Prince Edward Vegetables, roasted potatoes, broccoli, carrots and corn on the cob. For gravies: cranberry sauce, homemade stuffing even harissa. And of course Yorkshire pudding.

Their sandwiches are great, any cannibal man would be happy having them. They are substantial & delicious, unless you are vegetarian of course. They offer combinations like pork with apple and garlic aioli, lamb with mint sauce, beef with horseradish cream and turkey with cranberry sauce.

The shop is the one on the left with the blue and white striped shade, just by walking in front you just can feel the aromas of the herbs, meats and juices a kind of early thanksgiving flavor in the air. There are no places to sit, just a bench outside in case you just want to bite a slice of Britain in Nolita.

Next time you go to Central Park for a picnic, this will be a good option to fill your basket.

Orecchiette & Rappini

2011-07-28T10:12:00.001-04:00

Orecchiette with rappini, I saw this recipe on Saveur magazine and loved it immediately. Also called broccoli rabe, rappi, friarelli, broccoletti or broccoli di rape in Napoli. It is a common vegetable in the south of Italy, northwest of Spain and China. I thought it was part of the broccoli family but no its related to turnips.

Orecchitte, Rapini, garlic, lemon, red chile flakes, salt and olive oil.

I am doing my mini project a jardin parisien at my kitchen balcony so I could have my petit-déjeuner with a view, this time I had the orecchitte with a glass of wine for lunch and I guess with all of you who are reading this.

The flavor is a bit bitter but the lemon peel gives an intensive aroma, the red chile flakes and the garlic are the perfect blend to the dish.

Ingredients:

1 box of Orecchiette pasta

1 bunch of rapini

6 garlic cloves crushed

1 teaspoon of red chile flakes

1 lemon zest

Olive oil

I boiled the rapini for about 3 to 4 minutes and transferred them to a bowl of cool ice water, drained them and set them aside. (this will help them crispy). In a saute pan with olive oil add the garlic and cook until golden incorporating the chile flakes and rapini already chopped. Add the lemon zest, season with salt and toss with the pasta already cooked al dente.

I added a topping of toasted pignoli and shaved pecorino cheese, in the original recipe they added a dollop of goat cheese, in all cases it's always delicious. Even without cheese it tastes great!

Chinatown in NY

2011-07-26T13:13:00.002-04:00

There is always a feeling of excitement and adventure every time I go to Chinatown, this time

I went with the idea of trying the authentic Hot Mini cakes on the street. They told me the location would be between Canal St and Bowery so Esteban, Sebastian, Laura and I searched for the cart. We looked around the area but we couldn't find it and decided maybe he wasn't there that day

Instead we ended up going to a Chinese bakery and we tried a bean bun and other sweet goodies meanwhile to calm our desire of low sugar level.

The Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, with such a big name was a little store with a big line of people buying ice cream. They were really delicious. We tried the lychee, pistachio and ginger ice cream. The lychee was amazing I would buy it and serve it at home were it would be very appreciated in a nice plate as an exotic dessert for a dinner.

Something I really like is what NY City is doing to restaurants by requiring them to post a letter grade to correspond to scores that they received according to their sanitary inspections. That was a must to me when choosing a place to eat. The inspectors check food handling, temperature, personal hygiene and vermin control.

A variety of interesting fresh seafood was being sold from octopus, squid to fish ball.

Of course you can see cooked ducks hanging everywere ready for the Peking duck ....

While I was continuing to walk these hanging ducks caught my attention because they were totally raw I don't know which score would these restaurant get once it is inspected....

Anyway I still love Chinatown.......

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

2011-07-19T13:11:00.001-04:00

After reading all these great comments, I realized this was going to be harder than I thought. There were so many great responses!

Like the acrostic poem from "Nancy":

Cook various truffles
Hope my friends like them
Entertain them at a party
Extra varieties on the board
Show type written on slate
Expect rave reviews

Slate keeps the truffles cool
Lovely dessert display
Another use of the cheese slate
Terrific for many uses
Excellent hostess gift, too!

"MamiS" special dinner she was going to prepare for when her husband came back from Afghanistan, The Greek dinner being prepared by "Shelby", "carolipie's" use of the Rivage Tea Towel as work of art, "Adri17's" wonderful thai dinner, "Gayle C's" tea party under the summer trees, "Ally's" amazing captions for the Cake Vintage Placement, to even "parisrobyn18" special scavenger hunt for her husband wearing just the orange apron..

There were so many comments that caught my attention and for that I want to congratulate all of you! But in the end, one really stood out for me from all the rest and that was "Devon Rachel" from Cleveland, Ohio with her creative entry:

"Hi, I live in Cleveland,OH. Aside from a few months a year our skies are pretty gray. What we do have here all the time is great food. My husband and I are always the ones bringing the food to the party and we enjoy cooking together and treating our friends to something great on another gray day in Cleveland.The tray would be a fun way to entertain.

We do our shopping at The West Side Market, it's a huge indoor market that you can get pretty much anything you desire. Your reusable grocery bag would be a bonus as not only does it seem more sturdy but the bright colors would hopefully help my husband find me easily in the crowd as I tend to wander in a place like that.

The mug is simply a great idea and i'm surprised I haven't seen more. Surely a thing I would take to work so no one else would use it,we have a coffe mug collection for some reason. Or to remind myself of an early meeting and to drink another cup!

The apron looks like you would be able to maybe just wipe off some smaller spills or splatters instead of have to wash it all the time. More prtoction from catching on fire is always a plus, I actually have had apron get burned :(

Your site has a lot of great products, i'm just glad I happed to come across it."

Thanks again to all who participated, you are all winners and very soon everyone who participated will receive a little token of appreciation from Lola Lobato.

Congratulations Devon Rachel you will be receiving your goodies very soon!!

Package almost ready to send

2011-07-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

To you,

I will be posting the winner and sending the goodies on Monday.

From

Lola xoxo

Are you eating farmed salmon?

2011-07-15T08:34:00.000-04:00

Watch the trailer and see by yourself, this is one of the reasons why I do not buy farmed salmon.

Farmed salmon is significantly higher in toxins, it may contains antibiotics and pesticides. Wild salmon is superior nutritionally, it is higher in omega -3 and better environmentally.

For me the best option is wild Alaska Salmon. They are the best, even their taste and texture are different. If you buy them frozen, buy vacuum sealed and check for the FAS ( frozen at sea). It is caught, processed and frozen while still at sea.

And please, always ask were the fish comes from?

Environmental Defense Fund

Pure Salmon Campaign

7 DAYS left till giveaway deadline!

2011-07-11T17:56:00.003-04:00

There is only 7 DAYS left till the giveaway deadline..

Don't forget to subscribe to my store at http://shop.lolalobato.com and leave a comment at http://lolalobato.blogspot.com/2011/06/giveaways.html to be able to participate.

I am very excited to read every ones comments!

Cooking with Umami

2011-07-07T21:17:00.009-04:00

I wrote about Umami before http://lolalobato.blogspot.com/2010/06/unami.html but at that time it was not available yet in USA. Now I finally bought one at Dean & Deluca in NY City.

I cooked the salmon packets http://lolalobato.blogspot.com/2011/02/cajitas-de-filo-rellenas-de-salmon-con.html but this time adding taste number 5.

I seasoned the salmon with salt, pepper, crushed garlic, grated ginger, lemon peel and Umami paste.

I wrapped the salmon filets on phyllo dough and sealed them with olive oil.

I baked them brushing olive oil on top until they got golden brown, I accompanied the salmon packets with a tomato chutney and served it with esparragos, french lentils and couscous.

It does enhance the flavor slightly, just as similar as Worcestershire sauce would do, next time I will add more Umami to the salmon packets to really feel the difference and I will continue to experiment with the taste # 5. Have you tried it yet?

Umami is the scientifically proven fifth taste, It's the flavor that makes you mmmmm......

Mini tortilla de patatas

2011-06-21T17:52:00.008-04:00

These are mini tortillas Españolas that are great for hors d'oeuvres and tapas.

I used a silicone baking cups for mini cupcakes.

You can add different toppings for decoration like grilled red peppers, anchovies, Manchego cheese, olives, chorizo or just leave it plain.

This was for a Sunday brunch where I also made pasta with cherry tomatoes & basil and panko breaded chicken breast.

For the breaded chicken breast I made several sauces to choose from, they were like dips. Everybody liked the curry mayonnaise, the fig with caramelized onions and the chipotle sauce.

Tortilla Española

Ingredients:

6-8 eggs

6-8 potatoes

I onion

2 garlic cloves minced

olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

I boiled the potatoes to make everything easier and faster. I cooked the chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until they were tender. I cut the potatoes into small pieces, then added them to the olive oil and smashed them together while cooking with the onion and garlic. I removed them from the stove and mixed all of it in a bowl with the whisked egg seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pour the mixture on the cupcake baking tray and bake approximately for about 15 to 20 minutes.

A perfect bite to follow a Sangria...

Silicone baking cups

http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/Foldable-Silicone-Baking-Cups-%28set-of-six%29.html

Peach Gratin

2011-06-15T20:22:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite desserts, it is very easy to make. When I have friends for dinner, I usually spend many hours cooking and preparing the main dish and most of the time I run out of time to make a dessert as delicious as my main course. This is when I decide to make the always gratifying Peach Gratin.

It has almonds and pignoli making it very different from a simple crumble.

I have tried with nectarines, apricots, peaches and even apples.. It always tastes delicious.

You can decide how much crumble you want to make. I used half of the ingredients of the recipe for a small gratin since we were only four people. If you decided to make the mixture like the recipe but using less fruits you can save the rest of the mixture in a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of days to make another gratin with another fruit.

I usually like to cover the fruit completely and bake it until it is all golden and crunchy.

The fruit remains juicy and tender inside and the rest is like a caramel crumble. We ate it with Moroccan tea.

I like to serve it accompanied with a tiny jar of heavy cream next to it just like when I serve the apple pie, leaving it optional for the ones who want extra pleasure.

The following day the left over becomes part of my breakfast with a cappuccino.

I came up with this recipe a long time ago from a wonderful book that made me understand that recipes weren't just a simple paper with measurements and notes, it's about the stories behind the dish, traditions, family, friends and the mood around the table setting. The pictures are beautiful like a journey transporting to an authentic atmosphere of Provence. The book is called "Recipes from a Provençal Kitchen" by Michel Biehn.

The original recipe is:
Apricot Gratin

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 cup of sugar
A pinch of salt
6 ounces of butter
3/4 cup pignoli
3/4 cup blanched almonds
Apricots about 9

Preparation:
In a bowl by hand mix the flour, the ground almonds, sugar, salt and butter until you have a mixture of fine irregular crumbs. Stir together the pignoli and blanched almonds toss to combine. Arrange the apricots halved and pitted side up on a baking dish, cover with the mixture and bake for about an hour until the topping is browned.

White dot dessert plate
http://shop.lolalobato.com/products/White-Dot-Dessert-Plate.html

GIVEAWAYS

2011-06-10T15:20:00.001-04:00

I have decided to give away products every once in a while to share some of the great things I have in the store. To start this off, I am going to give away a package of up to $100 worth of products from shop.lolalobato.com which will include:

Apron by the French Company Mastrad
Cheese Slate by the German Company ASA Selection
Italian Scroll Placement Pad by Cake
Chalkboard Mug by the German company ASA Selection
Rivage Tea Towel made in France by the French Company Moutet Tissage
Reusable Shopping Bag by Flip and Tumble
Silicone Steam Cooker by the French Company Mastrad

Participating is easy, here is all you have to do:

1.Subscribe to my store: shop.lolalobato.com\

2. From the mentioned products that will be given away, leave a comment on this post describing how you would utilize at least one of them (for example you can submit a recipe you would use with given product or just describe a situation where you would use chosen product. The sky is the limit)

The winner will be judged by the creativity of their answer.

The sweepstake will go on until July 15, so start submitting your comments below!
I look forward to reading all of your ideas.

P.S To all of our friends who are abroad, you are welcome to participate as long as you have an address here in USA to send the package to.

Recycle cake

2011-06-07T18:16:00.001-04:00

Bread cake or Recycle cake as I call it since it is made with different types of leftover bread, is perfect to make after a party or dinner where you're left with a lot of leftover bread. The interesting thing about this cake is that according to the different breads that you use, you can always find a contrast of flavors ranging from sweet to salty from the nuts, carrots, dried fruit or herbs found in the bread. There is always a surprise when using various leftover breads.

The ingredients are simple: bread, milk, eggs, cheese, sugar, raisins, butter & vanilla.

There is always a special savour and aroma when tasting various flavors of leftover bread.

For example when you use breads that have fennel, caraway, oatmeal, rye and nuts it is a complete different flavor.

You don't need a mixer or anything just soak the bread in milk for about 10 minutes.

I love this cake! First because it is so easy to make, also the sweet & salty mix from the flavor of the cheese and raisins is something I could eat at any time, morning and night. You could be more creative and make it to your own liking by adding cranberries, figs or rosemary. If you like it sweeter change the milk for condensed milk, honey or syrup from a sugar cane. You could add a little rum and make it more exotic. For a glossy look you can add light caramel on the baking pan before adding the mixture to bake.

This ingredient list is just a guide, I usually cook it by eye without measurements, and like to do it in different molds: little one and big ones so I can share with my friends.

INGREDIENTS:

leftover bread (the equivalent of two baguettes in pieces)
6 eggs
4 cups of milk
4 cups of grated cheese (white or yellow)
2 cups of raisins
1 cup of sugar
6 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of vanilla
additional milk for soaking the bread

PREPARATION:

Cut the bread into pieces and soak it all in a bowl with milk.

Mix the milk, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla and add the bread, cheese and raisins.

By now the mixture should look kind of thick. Put the batter into a mold previously buttered and bake for about an hour until it is golden on top, I use a toothpick to check if its done by inserting it into the center of the cake if it comes out clean without batter residue the cake is done.

Eataly

2011-06-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

A food hall of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianichand & Lidia Matticchio a food lovers marketplace of Italian delicatessens. I went on a Saturday, the place was crowed, we couldn't find a table to sit at. It's a foodie place to wonder around or meet a friend to have some tasting and a little shopping, the location is on 200 5th Avenue in NYC.

You can shop, taste and savour. They have boutique eateries of handmade pasta, cheeses, wines, meats, fish, cured meats, breads, fruits, vegetables and of course italian coffee. It also has a selection of Rizzoli books and kitchenware. You can have a glass of wine while you are shopping and have a taste of mortadella from Bologna or just seat down and eat fresh oysters.

They cook what they sell in the store, so you can decide for the rosticceria, il pecsce, pizza & pasta, gelateria or have a panini with mozarella di bufala and prosciutto di Parma.

They also have a culinary experience called, La Scuola di Eataly which is a cooking school with classes by the chef Lidia Bastianich.

Memorial Day

2011-05-27T17:34:00.005-04:00

A holiday to honor all the Americans soldiers. An extended weekend where families and friends get together having barbecues, picnics, watching fireworks and weekend with massive shopping sales...

My kitchen renovation is almost over so I hope I will be able to do some cooking and have a picnic on the beach. Not sure yet what to prepare, maybe a Niçoise salad with a twist to make it "americana". I like how fresh it is plus its perfect for the beach.

By the way he is Sebastian always enjoying eating good food.

But talking about sales, I could' t let the online store stay behind. If you are at home this weekend visit http://shop.lolalobato.com and take advantage of our 25% off each product.

The Fat Radish

2011-05-20T19:37:00.006-04:00

In a hidden location in Chinatown between Canal St & Hester in NYC is The Fat Radish, a British gastropub loft like with a hip ambience and farm tables.

We went for a late brunch. Esteban ordered a cheeseburger with duckfat chips and pickles.

I had a Bloody Mary and they had cocktails with green vegetables, fruits vodka & rum.

Sebastian had the British breakfast eggs with sausages, bacon, beans and roasted tomatoes. The eggs are from a farm in Greenwich.

Laura had a sauté veggies plate and a red beet drink. The whole menu is seasonal with ingredients from local farms made in a vibrant way.

I had a spaghetti squash with candied bacon and crispy eggs which I had never tried before the combination was really delicious....

Couldn't leave without having a cappuccino. The place had the feeling of a little Covent Garden, we sat in communal table and had very interesting people setting next to us. The waitress was extremely nice and the whole atmosphere was very friendly with good vibes. The location made it more intriguing and adventurous to reach. Next time I'll have the pumpkin pancakes with walnuts and maple mascarpone.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking in Chinatown.

Cabbage Rolls

2011-05-19T09:15:00.001-04:00

This is a continuation post of Eating at my friends house

A request for Kerrie

2 big cabbage

11/2 cups of white rice

Finely chopped: 1 onion, 2 tomatoes, 1/2 of cup parsley and 1/4 cup of mint.

2 table spoons of olive oil, 1 spoon of butter, 1 lemon ( juice ) salt

4 cups of vegetable broth

Sauce:

In a frying pan add little olive oil and saute, finely chop

1 small onion, 1 tomato, 2 garlic cloves

Prepared the cabbage, remove the core and stick.

Bring to boil , until leaves are softened to be removed one at a time as they start to loosen

Stuffing: combine all ingredients and a juice of a lemon and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 spoons of butter

Place one spoon of the stuffing over a leaf, fold over the filling and roll

In a large pot line the bottom with some remaining leaves drizzle with olive oil and place rolls close together seam side down and keep doing it layer after layer add the sauce on top add a little of broth just to cover the rolls top cover with a plate up side down that fits over the rolls. Place to boil keep adding the rest of the broth little by little ounce is boiling reduce heat to low cover with a lid and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour rice should be fully cooked.

eating & walking

2011-05-16T16:21:00.002-04:00

Let's move! This week my concern is about moving myself, exercising and eating right.

I am not very fond of gadgets having to do with exercise, but thanks to my pedometer given to me from a friend I can now count my steps daily giving me an awareness of my active or at some cases non active lifestyle. It is really easy to use, you just clip it on to your hip and it will automatically stat detecting all your steps. My friend told me that to be healthy and fit we would have to complete 10,000 steps a day which only made me realize the large amount of time I spend sitting at the computer, or driving which I have to change to have a total balance in my style of life. So I have decided to stop what I am doing everyday and for at least an hour or more walk on the beach, park, street... no matter where but walk! It is great you just put the pedometer in the morning and don't take it off until you go to sleep and you will be so surprised of how active or sedentary your lifestyle is. It really is a way to motivate your physical activity.

Of course I have been stressed out with my kitchen remodeling and not being to cook properly since January (when we moved) has made it hard for me to keep up a balance routine. Especially having a food blog and reading my fellow colleague's blogs which immediately make me hungry with their appealing images and delicious comments. I am getting fed up of eating raw foods like salads and trying not to eat much carbohydrates which would really be easy during the remodeling process. I wish my kitchen is ready soon so I can start cooking properly and posting some yummy recipes...

el Sr y la Sra

2011-05-11T09:18:00.001-04:00

El Señor y la Señora invited us for tapas and Arroz a la Marinera. They made Sangria and had Manchego cheese which I could eat everyday with Rosemary bread. We also had antipasto which you eat a lot and never feel guilty.

This salad with no name was so refreshing and perfect for a summer day. It reminds me a little bit of the moroccan salad my aunt used to make at my grandmother's house, with black olives and bitter oranges.

Here is la Sra fixing the table with their adorable Sushi. Remember I am still without kitchen due to the never ending renovation. In this moment it is wonderful to count on friends and enjoy a meal all together.

El Sr made the marinated rice, which was so tasty and yummy, drizzled with Jerez. I had been craving for Paella or any seafood with rice all month.

La Sra made a classic plate of melon and prosciutto. She wanted to splash them with Porto like she used to have it in Paris. In Paris, they cut a little cantaloupe in half, remove the seeds and add 1/2 glass of Porto.

Laura was still tired and had muscle pain on her legs from her intensive walk along the big apple

The salad without a name was perfect for this hot weather specially in Florida. The black olives they used were marinated with cinnamon so they had an aromatic and sweet flavor which matched beautiful in the salad.

Ingredients:

Arugula

Fennel

Shallots

Celery

Black olives

Orange

Black Olives.

Trim the arugula. Then slice the fennel, peel and cut the oranges into segments, mince the shallots, and slice the celery and olives. Combine all ingredients and toss, make the dressing seasoning with a olive oil, rice vinegar salt and pepper.

The first shot

2011-05-10T12:48:00.001-04:00

The breakfast before breakfast: this is what I decided to have today as my first shot a bowl with berries and nuts, a cup of coffee and a toast. A simple fruit salad becomes a special delight just by adding the mixture of nuts and dried fruits. I like the flavor of the dried coconut over the fresh fruits, I usually add pistachio too.

And on the top dried (unsulphered) diced pineapple, papaya, coconut and nuts: walnuts, pecans and almonds. I added a scoop of natural Greek yogurt.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T13:08:00.002-04:00

This is my mom in Spain beautiful as always.
Wishing all moms a Happy Mother's day! Eat with family, have flowers at home, celebrate without the stress of cleaning up, appreciate what you have, observe with enjoyment the small details, adore and be proud of the little ones and the the big ones, go with the flow, spoil yourself and live with passion! love you all

Just Married!

2011-05-06T15:30:00.006-04:00

The morning after the wedding in NYC.

At Lyon, a French restaurant in Greenwich Avenue, everyone was waiting outside to have breakfast.

Even the Mexican restaurants were celebrating the wedding with tacos and burritos.

Fish & Chips could not be left out and they were playing one of my favorite songs "Benny and Jets" by Elton John.

The people were eating fish & chips on the street with malt vinegar.

Most of the places couldn't miss the opportunity to expose themselves with decorations. If you couldn't make it to Westminster Abbey and you were in the Big Apple, at Trinity Church in Wall Street they hosted a large screen viewing event even with royals guards dressed up with their British red uniform (Yeoman Warders). Trinity Church was founded by the Royal Charter of England as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and so is Westminster Abbey.

The little store carries all British goodies candies and sweets. I love Maltesers, Digestive cookies and orange marmalade from the store. I even bought some little British canape flags to decorate my cucumber and salmon sandwiches at home.

This is Nicky Perry, the owner of Tea & Sympathy an English restaurant and shop. The menu is fantastic you can have the perfect afternoon tea with scones, finger sandwiches and cakes.

Shepherd's pie, Roast beef and York pudding......

The tea room was packed with people waiting outside to have breakfast, of course they had the famous Welsh Rarebit: English cheddar with mustard on toast topped with tomatoes.

An authentic Royal Fish & Chip experience

Before leaving Greenwich Avenue, I was interviewed by a TV network called Telemundo asking about the Royal Wedding. They asked me about the dress, the kiss and I answered about the food....

NAM

2011-05-05T12:01:00.001-04:00

From Vietnam in Tribeca NYC

Grilled shrimp wrapped around sugar cane with angel hair noodles

Shrimp dumplings wrapped in banana leaves

The place is very simple not trendy at all, I was tired and I wanted a quiet meal where I could have a pleasant conversation with not much fuss around me.

What could be best than Vietnamese cuisine.. it's like a peaceful meal, healthy and fresh. I love the combination and taste of mint, basil and lemongrass.

I liked the Banh La, they are very thin shrimp dumplings almost like a paper wrapped in banana leaves, very delicate because of their thin texture and flavor. It came with a nice sauce almost like a tamarind vinaigrette.

The Chao Tom, are grilled shrimp wrapped around a sugar cane with a peanut sauce, they must be great to order for delivery or for an exotic dinner party at home.

I am not much of a meat eater but Laura order the Bo Lui and it was really good, grilled spiced sirloin. They have green papaya salad with roasted peanuts, coconut rice crepe filled with shrimps and bean sprouts and grilled eggplants with ginger and lime which I liked too.

The menu is very affordable and service very friendly.

A birthday with a foodie

2011-04-27T07:58:00.006-04:00

A trip to the big apple with a foodie, a photographer, a wall street analyst and a web designer. All have something in common " they want to eat"

Their mission find authentic, vibrant and unique places. From food trucks, street food, restaurants, cafes and pubs. They only have 48 hours to enjoy, taste and tell us what they found- and by the way it just happened to be the foodie's birthday.

Even if it is closed now, it is still one of the iconic facades you don't forget about in Soho. I have seen it in movies, fashion magazines and books. It's nostalgic to pass by, I adore the green window store.

Little Italy is a must visit especially for their delicatessens, followed by Nolita just to visit a trendy cafe or a new bar.

Chinatown a destination for having Dim Sum, this time I am planing to have a green tea ice cream and to try the hot mini cakes from the Street food cart.

I will be posting about my experience of all the places were l'll be eating. In my mind I am just looking for authentic food and a destination with a good vibes.

Eating at my friends house

2011-04-26T21:41:00.003-04:00

Sicilian Caponata, It was delicious and additive. An appetizer to serve with crusty bread.

The cabbage rolls are stuffed with rice, onion, lemon and tomatoes.

This Jalea is like a marmalade made out of the coffee berry, just before it becomes a dry coffee bean. It is from Guatemala, I liked with Manchego cheese.

These lovely little boxes are black teas called Te Chirrepeco also from Guatemala.

They add a cinnamon stick to the boiling water.

I fell like I was in France having the little Sushi (that's his name) sitting at the table, he is so well educated. It's so cute to watch his face expressions.

My friends gave me the recipe of this Sicilian Caponata, It is from an Italian book by LilianaTommasini. I like to have it on a toasted baguette like a bruschetta. The recipe is perfect!

Ingredients:

8 lbs small eggplant

2 lbs Spanish onions

1 whole celery

5 cups sliced green olives

2 cups capers (drained)

3 28 oz. cans of diced plum tomatoes

2 tbsp. sugar (to taste)

2-4 tbsp. white vinegar (to taste)

3-4 tbsp olive oil (for frying onions and tomatoes)

vegetable oil for frying eggplants

salt

Preparation:

Wash eggplant and peel if desired.

Dice eggplants in large chunks.

Layer in colander, sprinkle with salt between layers.

Let drain for approximately 2 hours.

Meanwhile slice celery (leaves included) and cook in boiling water until soft (do not boil if you like the 'crunch' of raw celery).

Slice onions and fry in olive oil until soft, add tomatoes.

Break tomatoes with wooden spoon.

Let cook for five minutes.

Add sliced green olives and capers.

Add sugar.

Taste the mixture. It should have a sweet and sour taste.

If it is too sweet add vinegar one tablespoon at a time and taste again.

Drain and pat dry the eggplant.

Heat oil in deep fryer on medium heat until hot enough to fry.

Deep fry the eggplant in batches in vegetable oil until browned.

Drain on paper towels.

In a very large bowl (or bowls) layer the sauce mixture with the eggplant.

Let cool.

Then mix until all the ingredients are well blended.

Wash and sterilize 8-9 16 oz. mason jars. Fill jars and cover. Caponata can be stored refrigerated up to one month. The caponata tastes better the next day once the flavours have had a chance to settle and blend.

ROYAL WEDDING PREPARATIONS

2011-04-19T19:45:00.005-04:00

How can I not talk about the royal wedding of Prince William & Catherine. If I was living in London when Diana married Princes Charles. I was a Fashion Design student when they were dating but at that time my interest was how the wedding dress designed by Elizabeth Emanuel would look like. Nowadays my curiosity goes towards food and table preparation.

The Royal Wedding cake is designed by Fiona Cairns, It will be a traditional fruit cake decorated with flowers expressing the meaning of emotions in a coded way: by the language of flowers used in Victorian times.

The master of The Household's Department is at the kitchen in Buckingham Palace getting ready for the Royal Wedding. These are some of the samples of canapes prepared for the reception. The menu will probably be in French as they usually do in all the Royal Weddings.

My love for England started when I was a student living in Brighton with my family. Later I moved to London and studied Fashion Design and then moved back to Venezuela. Of course I still do love their cream teas, pubs, local markets, bakeries and even fish and chips. My memories are of the country side, little towns, the smell of rose gardens, Hyde Park and Knightsbridge where I had my first job in a Scottish store selling kilts and learning the tartan names just in front of Harrod's.

Would you like a cup of tea?

This is one of the reasons I like France

2011-04-16T14:55:00.002-04:00

Because of their cuisine reaches to every one even to school lunches in France.

Their menu is a five course meal for lunch.They are concerned about the children having the pleasure of eating, sitting at the table, sharing and having a conversation. Kids have at school bouillabaisse, escargots, mussels, while Americans kids at school eat pizza and hot dog. All food are made fresh locally and well balanced: they even have hors d'oeuvre. This makes me want to live in Paris.

I hope school lunches in USA make a change, I do approve of all the movement from Jamie Oliver's Revolution about educating and changing school systems, I feel sorry to see kids that don't even know that tomato sauce comes from a tomato or potato chips come from a potatoes, that is very sad. I was lucky that when my kids where small we were living in Santa Monica, California and the principles of the school were that all the food had to be homemade and healthy, you weren't allowed to bring any kind of fast food and the meal had to be packed in a green way, no trash to throw away, little table cloths, fabric napkins, forks and knives they all had to be in small container. Even at children birthday parties there didn't allow soda, and cakes could only be sweetened with fruits. Maybe in Santa Monica everybody is more aware and informed towards the healthy lifestyle.

I raised my kids to be concerned, have knowledge and be curious of what they eat. People were amazed to see such small kids at the grocery store reading the labels of food products. Later we moved to Florida and that was a different story, my children couldn't understand why the school teacher would give them kool-aid and sweets as treats for good behavior in the classroom, even the pediatrician would give them sweets at check ups. They used to tell me: Mom they are all crazy how can they give us this, they don't know anything.

This one of the reason I love France.

Now that I am not cooking, this what I do

2011-04-15T19:51:00.002-04:00

I like my asparagus with a little bit of olive oil and coarse sea salt. I cook them for a few minutes and just like that they are super crunchy and full of flavor. I do not add any water.

Wild Alaskan salmon fillet, bought at Whole Foods

And just by adding these two sauces it turned into a delicious meal with brown rice.

Thats my dining room right now, and still all the china and kitchenware is packed.

It's been hard for me to cook like this, still under kitchen renovation, a little tired of eating in restaurants or eating food that doesn't require cooking at home.

These two sauces made my life a little simpler and easier: the peanut sauce with the combination of the soy ginger sauce just made my day.

My son Sebastian lives in Manhattan and has no time to cook but he tries his best to eat healthy, I just made him a list of all the goodies he needs to have to make a yummy meal in 15 minutes.

Of course those sauces were included plus the teriyaki and the garlic ginger one that could enhance any boring meal to an exciting dish in a second.

Lazy Sunday

2011-04-11T17:14:00.003-04:00

A carrot cake and cappuccino

The weather was great for a walk along the boulevard

Everything is so close to the beach

Lazy Sunday law of minimum effort, at least I try.

I went for a walk at Las Olas Boulevard, "The Venice of the Americas".

Noodle Panini is a little cafe were I had a spongy and soft carrot cake with walnuts, the place even has soups, pastas, salads and paninis. The cake is home made fresh and could be a craving for a Sunday afternoon.

I may talk with an accent but I don't think with an accent

2011-04-10T11:24:00.003-04:00

This is my mom and Nicolas in Bethesda, the house was a chaos. She came to take care of the kids while I was in Caracas. I think she was making 'arepas dulce'.
I realized I could pass through all my life stages by just thinking about the aromas & flavors and those memories could become immediately real into my mind.

This me while I was living in bethesda, I was red hair.

I have to admit I have been terrified to write my blog in english,
even I don’t mind to speak, writing is another issue. So please bear
with me, all my mistakes and horrific interpretations I may do from now on.

I will try my best to continue my blog in English, you may see some
words in Spanish from time to time if it doesn’t have the right

meaning to me in English. But I just want to tell you that part of my

language is universal, is all about celebration, food, eating, having
a bite, trying something new, shopping for food, cooking or just
thinking if my kids eats well now that they live alone.

I was born in Spain, raised in Venezuela, studied in England and I

am American citizen living now in Florida. Of course I have moved

about forty times in my whole life just like a diplomat's lifestyle
but without being one of them. I started writing El mundo de Lola in

my kitchen table when I was living in Bethesda Maryland going through difficult moments and I realized that going through my memories of food I could reach into a state of mind of good moments shared by dear friends and families.

Which at the end all was about a celebration, cooking, sitting at the

table, eating, sharing and having a wonderful time. So even now I just
moved again, but this time we are renovating the whole kitchen and I
am cooking free or just making easy food in a portable electrical

kitchen, which you will see, how a foodie lives without a kitchen, for
a while I hope...

Eating at work

2011-04-06T14:27:00.000-04:00

This is the pasta that my daughter made yesterday at the office. Right now we're in the process of renovating the whole kitchen at home so we just have a little electric stove for easy to make food. Thank God our office has a nice kitchen.

When Laura is in the mood for cooking she is really good!!! Especially when you spend the day writing and talking about food. You need to eat desperately.

(I shouldn't eat on top of the computer)

Nicolas decided to come along with us to the office since we have a little yard. This is how he came back after running around outside.

NATURA MERCADO ORGANICO

2011-03-30T15:54:00.018-04:00

Una tiendita orgánica en San José Costa Rica

Nos conocimos tomando clases de actuación con Ricardo Nortier, participamos en la obra La fallecida del dramaturgo brasileño Nelson Rodríguez, fuimos vecinas de zona en Caracas y ademas vecinas por minutos en la obra. Nos íbamos juntas a los ensayos y practicábamos en el carro diferentes tonos de voz de vecina rural. Fue una experiencia que nos sigue uniendo a través del arte, pero esta vez gastronómico y por supuesto vecinas cibernéticas.

Por donde sea que empiece siempre llegamos a el placer de la comida .

Natura Mercado Orgánico,
Un negocio familiar de mi amiga Erika, su esposo Marcos y su hija Erika jr.

Me encanta la idea y así se empieza, aunque Erika diga que es un piojito en tamaño es un "teeny tiny" "Whole Food" artesanal con una frescura directa de la tierra a la mesa.
Todo empezó con la necesidad de poder adquirir los productos orgánicos cualquier día de la semana con un horario mas flexible, ya que para ese entonces nunca podían llegar a tiempo a las ferias orgánicas que se organizan una vez por semana, por lo que decidieron abrir su propio lugar.

"puedo decir que NO intentamos sustituir a las ferias, somos una alternativa para quienes no pueden o no quieren madrugar para ir a ellas."

Atienden un publico variado los que tienen dietas crudas, veganas, vegetarianas, los que no toleran el gluten y los celiacos.
Todos los ingredientes son locales, tienen harinas de todas clases: de maíz, plátano, banano, garbanzo, arroz, yuca, camote (sweet potato) y pejibaye ( un fruto que proviene de la palmera. Tienen a su disposición excelentes cocineros y reposteros que les ofrecen una variedad de pastas, panes y galletas hechas con las harinas alternativas. Ademas de servicio a domicilio y esta abierto de Lunes a Sábado.

..."los vegetales y frutas, huevos, pollos y cerdo de libre pastoreo. vienen de diferentes zonas del país. El aceite de coco virgen (el mejor que he probado en mi vida), las mantequillas de nueces, almendra, maní, marañon son de fabricación artesanal, al igual que chocolates, jabones, productos de cuidado personal y mieles.

Sabemos a quien le gusta y procuramos tener aquello que sabemos les gusta a nuestros clientes:
"Guarda un litro de yogur de cabra para Don Alvaro, que seguro viene el lunes buscando".
"Escoge algunas papayas pequeñas como las que le gustan a Dona Heidi". Esto nos permite tener un feedback mas honesto y directo con nuestra clientela, lo que se traduce en una mejor atención y un servicio mas personalizado. Queremos ser la tienda orgánica de confianza, queremos conocer tanto a nuestros clientes como a nuestros proveedores, no se trata solamente de vender si no de crear comunidad"...
Celebró la idea que lo mejor que podemos hacer por nuestra alimentación es estar consciente de lo que comemos.

MINAMOTO KITCHOAN

2011-03-21T16:06:00.002-04:00

Una pastelería tradicional Japonesa.

Ubicada en New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taipei y Japón.

La de New York esta en la Quinta Avenida en pleno Rockefeller Center.

Pequeñas joyitas para el paladar o manjares de reyes.

Exquisitos en calidad, preparación y presentación.

Se llaman Wagashi: son dulces naturales a base de mochi arroz glutinoso, azuki frijoles rojos, patatas dulces, ajonjolí, agar-agar y azúcar. No contienen grasa animal y el azúcar que usan es sin refinar, pura proteína y vegetales.

Usualmente se sirven con una taza de te verde caliente.

Entre mis favoritos están:

Hakutoumochi: una pasta de melocotón blanco envuelta en un ponque de arroz suave.
Kohakukanume: gelatina de vino de ciruela con una ciruela adentro.

Macchamochi: pasta de frijol rojo cubierta con ponque de arroz espolvoreada en polvo de te verde.

Sakuranbo: cereza japonesa cubierta por gelatina incolora.

Hakutoujelly: gelatina de melocotón blanco al estilo japonés.

Suikansyuku: persimmon (caqui) seco relleno de una pasta blanca de frijol.

Tsuyaguri: una castaña envuelta en pasta de castaña.

Es el tipo de dulce que llevaría de regalo a un connoisseur o un anfitrión gourmet que siempre va a ser bien recibido.

L'CHAIM

2011-03-18T23:31:00.005-04:00

L'CHAIM Kosher Vodka
Vine de Or Akiva en Israel, el procesó y la recetas se basa en una formula transmitida a través de varias generaciones de Hebreos Europeos y Rusos, salió a el mercado hace seis meses.
El agua viene directamente de manantial, pura sin ningún tipo de procesamiento de mineralización.
Su sabor ligeramente picante con aromas a vainilla, esta a la venta en $19.
Ademas del vodka tienen tequila, vino y ron kosher.
Me llamo la atención la estrategia de mercadeo al usar como imagen a el músico de reggae Matisyahu, que pienso es un acierto. "To life", a la vida es el concepto que promocionan para llegar a un publico de todas partes, independientes de factores sociales, políticos, económicos, culturales o religiosos.

SOY WRAPPERS

2011-03-11T18:33:00.001-05:00

Siempre ando buscado ingredientes y productos que pueda usar de forma diferentes al igual sin complicaciones, que me permitan preparar algo rápido, delicioso y original.

Estas envolturas de soja sirven para preparar wraps, rolls de sushi, conos y sandwiches.

Vienen de ajonjolí, espinaca, cúrcuma, paprika y otros colores.

Me gusta su presentación, fácil para cortarlos en diferentes tamaños y crear una obra de arte comestible.

Para rellenar las combinaciones son infinitas: de atún con mayonesa de wasabi, camarones y mangos, espárragos y salmón, pollo, granada y pistacho, cangrejo, aguacate y cebollín...

SARABETH HOT CHOCOLATE PARISIENNE

2011-03-08T17:43:00.008-05:00

Conozco Sarabeth de Nueva York en el Upper West Side cuando Laura estaba pequeña y la llevaba en coche los domingos a desayunar, de ahí seguíamos a Central Park con Esteban y Sebastián. Famoso por sus suculentos brunchs y desayunos. Riquísimos: croissants, muffins, pastries, galletas y panes recién horneados.

Sus mermeladas son deliciosas, me encanta la de naranja y albaricoque (orange & apricot) con pan tostado.

El Parisienne Hot Chocolate es perfecto para un comfort breakfast, cacao en polvo Holandes listo para disolver en leche caliente, ademas contiene mini botoncitos de chocolate Belga, me gusta espolvorearlo sobre mi cappuccino es como un toque de consentimiento y apurruño a quien se lo tome.

En Manhattan están en el Whitney Museum of American Art sirven brunchs y almuerzos, tienen un bakery en Chelsea Market. También están en Amsterdan Avenue, Madison Avenue y Central Park South. Y su nueva locación en Key West Florida.