Random thoughts on cooking as I prepare to make garlic-butter seared scallops over capellini

Cooking. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I’ve always loved food, though. Ever since I was a little kid, it was the one guarantee: Emily is happy when food is around. I love looking at it, learning about it, eating it, making it, buying it, pairing it with wine…I love food. 
This past year of my life, I’ve learned a lot about food through personal experience and by watching certain documentaries (go Netflix). What I’ve realized is, it all comes down to timing. It makes all the difference. And the little things. Any idiot can follow a recipe, but preparing something in a careful and precise way takes skill and practice. I hate being an elitist cooking snob and normally I believe that you should be able to do whatever the fuck you want and experiment and all that, but there are certain things that I hold to be true. So, here are some of my patented cooking tips:

1. My number one (and anyone who has any Russian blood in them can agree with me) is garlic. Basically, garlic makes everything taste good. I would eat candied garlic as a dessert.
2. I also love the flavor of basil. It’ll make anything taste fresh.
3. My mom swears by paprika. I prefer Hungarian hot paprika because I don’t think regular paprika has a ton of flavor and, let’s face it, everything is better spicy. Everything. I’m not accepting any conflicting opinions. This is a fact.
4. Now that we’re talking spices, red chili flakes top my list. This is a pantry basic and everyone must have some readily available at all times. Red chili flakes are so versatile. If you throw them into a skillet with olive oil and garlic, anything you cook in that skillet will have a nice spicy bite that’s not too overpowering but still noticeable. Just don’t use too much.
5. Cajun/creole seasoning. I’m a shrimp fanatic and unless I’m making scampi, you can guarantee that my shrimp preparation includes one or both of these spices. They’re also awesome for vegetable stir-fry if you’re sick of making Asian stir-fry (I am).
6. Citrus. Lemon and lime are not solely reserved for the world of tequila and mixed drinks. No, these citrusy friends brighten up every dish; I add lemon juice to almost everything. It’s not about the actual citrus flavor but more about what it does for your food: it marries all the flavors so they work well together while at the same time distinguishing each individual flavor and helping it stand out. Citrus in cooking is like putting on perfume as a part of your daily routine. It’s the last thing you spritz on before you walk out the door, and while it may not be absolutely necessary, it makes you smell great and makes it look like you tried harder than you actually did.

These are my thoughts as I prepare to make garlic-butter seared scallops over angel hair. And you can bet there’s gonna be some lemon juice in that dish.

Best brunch in NYC - Cafe Mogador

Just take a long, hard look at this picture and you might understand why I would probably fly to New York just to have brunch at Cafe Mogador in the LES. This Morrocan restaurant is the perfect, cozy little brunch spot nestled in between lots of other cozy little brunch spots on St. Mark's street. Everytime I go, I order the blackstone eggs (pictures above), which includes two poached eggs with hollandaise sauce over thick cut bacon and roasted tomato on an English muffin. These glorious eggs come served with spiced potatoes, a side of spicy morrocan Harissa, and a mesclun salad. So where do I begin? I can't possibly do the poached eggs any justice with a description. It's a taste/feeling that no word can accurately describe. I would call it "umami" but I hesitate to use that word due to it's widespread misuse and over-application to anything that tastes good. All of the elements of this dish balance each other perfectly: the creamy hollandaise sauce with the savory bacon, the light, lemony mesclun salad with the poached eggs--simply put, it's an amazing experience for the taste buds. Oh, and brunch comes served with fresh squeezed orange juice and your choice of cappuccino, espresso, or tea. You get a bang for your buck and I guarantee you will leave on cloud nine.

OMBRA Cucina Rustica - HHI

For our last meal in Hilton Head and after much debate, my family decided to go to OMBRA, an authentic Italian Restaurant on the island. And by my family, I mean me because I make all the important food decisions around here. Italian food is awesome and I'm pretty sure everyone can agree with that, but it is particularly awesome for my family, within which there are two vegetarians. A lot of italian pastas are inherently vegetarian and my sisters aren't confined to the "sides" and "salads" portions of the menu as they are in most other restaurants. After much deliberation, I ordered the pappardelle with porcini mushrooms and prosciutto. It was PHENOMENAL. Like the kind of phenomenal where you try to eat super slow because the impending end to your meal is such a sad and depressing thought that you would like to keep as far in the future as possible. The pappardelle were made in house and the sauce was decadent and tasted distinctly of the porcini mushrooms that were no doubt its base. To top it off, the prosciutto (one of my favorite meats ever, by the way) was the perfect salty accent in this creamy and smooth meal. My mom ordered the Linguine alla Mediterranea with white wine sauce instead of the tomato sauce it came with and her meal was perfect as well. Fresh seafood? Check. Homemade pasta? Check. Amazing ambience and friendly/fast service? Check. I definitely recommend OMBRA to anyone in the vicinity of Hilton Head Island.

Frankie Bones HHI

Up until a few years ago, I would never have dreamed of ordering spaghetti at a restaurant. It was boring. My meals had to have pizzazz and extravance. Spaghetti and meatballs was just so...anticlimactic. But as I've gotten older, it is one of my favorite things to order from authentic italian restaurants. (Especially after days on end of ordering so-good-but-so-bad seafood pasta Alfredos because I'm on vacation and you only love once and blah blah anything else to justify it). Yes, I realize spaghetti and meatballs is by no means a healthy dish but let me live in my own deluded world where anything that isn't fried or creamy is a healthy option. So anyways, this spaghetti and meatballs is from Frankie Bones, a restaurant in Hilton Head Island where I am currently vacationing. It was perfect: the meatballs were homemade (this should be a given but you'd be surprised). I'm guessing they were a veal/pork mixture and they were absolutely excellent. The sauce was light but flavorful and the spaghettini was al dente perfection. It might seem weird to be this excited about spaghetti and meatballs, but I've only ever had two versions of this dish that I actually liked. The spaghetti and meatballs at Frankie Bones deserves to be commended. Also, the bread and garlic herb spread's not too shabby either.

My Mom's Waffle Cake

Doesn't that picture just make you salivate? This is my mom's famous waffle cake. Anyone who has tried it is hooked. Basically, it's chocolate, butter, and condensed milk all melted together to make a heavenly filling that is spread between thin wafer-like things. It's been a staple of my life since childhood. While other kids would bring brownies and cupcakes to the class bake sale, I would bring waffle cake. It may not have the aesthetic allure of a rainbow sprinkle covered cookie or a triple fudge brownie, but what it lacks in appearance it makes up for in sheer deliciousness.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Mon

This Jamaican Jerk Chicken came from Sattdown Jamaican Grill in Sherman Oaks, CA. The food: well prepared and elegant. The restaurant: cozy and welcoming. We even got to meet the chef, Tony, who made his way from Jamaica to Florida and finally to California. The jerk chicken was 

...sorry, just got foodstracted by the sheer memory of the spicy and complex sauce and fall off the bone meat. Anyways, the place was amazing and I definitely recommend it!

Cajun Shrimp Fettuccine: So Bad Yet So Good

This is my crowd pleasing Cajun shrimp pasta. I used an existing recipe I found (on Pinterest or something) and tweaked it to satisfy my taste buds. Inside this wonderful creamy creation is a heavenly blend of herbed goat cheese, Parmesan, gruyere, and asiago cheese plus an assortment of spices such as paprika, Cajun seasoning, red pepper flakes, etc. I sautéed the shrimp beforehand with some olive oil and spices, then added it back in once the sauce was finished.

Bill's Pecan Pie

(see full image)

So today I had the best pecan pie in the world. I don't even like pecan pie so this was life changing. The pie was made by a cordon bleu trained chef who just happens to be my sister's neighbor! This pie had it all: the crunch from the caramelized pecans, the sugary "yumminess" between the nuts (you know what I mean), and a buttery crust that was to die for. I may be a reformed pecan pie eater now. But only if it's Bill's.