Cupcakes make people happy.

In honor of my birthday.....A motto I live by:

Artichoke's Pizza. Believe the hype

I have been meaning to try a slice of Artichoke Pizza forever. Located down near Union Square, this pizza is known for being a late night hot spot. It is not your average $1 slice of NY pizza you buy off the street. This is a more gourmet classy kind of slice. It is probably the most decadent slice of pizza I've ever had. Not quite as thick as Chicago Deep Dish, but definitely in competition with them for richness

I visited their Dine-in location in Chelsea. I actually can't imagine eating this off the street. I had to eat it with a fork and knife because of the ooey gooey sauce. On the street I feel like things would get real messy.

I requested to go here for my birthday we bought a whole pie, which was MASSIVE. I don't think we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Because of the richness it is quite filling, so we had leftover not that I'm complaining!

The pizza combines artichoke hearts, spinach, cream sauce and cheeses. Words can't even express how amazing this pizza is. Believe the hype. It is out of this world.

I love the simplicity of their place too. They sell only a handful of kind of pie, a handful of appetizers, and drinks. No need for more!

Get yourself a slice!!!! You won't be disappointed!

Butter Lane's Frosting Shots: Best Idea Ever

No Birthday is complete without cake. This weekend my mom and sis came into town and we got some cupcakes to celebrate.....me.

I wanted to try a different shop, since NYC has so many to offer. We tried out Butter Lane. These people are genius. This doesn't even have anything to do with their little cakes. Look at what they have on their menu:

Frosting Shots!

Frosting is my favorite thing on the planet. Being able to just order is genius. Forget cupcakes! I want to skip right to frosting. But no I actually had cupcakes too!



The cupcakes were good, but not my all time fave. The cakes was pretty decent, not super dry. The frosting I chose for my shot was peanut butter, which didn't give me the best first impression. I guess it comes with their name, but they are more of a buttery then sugary frosting. The vanilla frosting on my cupcake was much better. I also tried their cinnamon honey one. This one could have used a different flavor cake. They paired the special frosting with regular yellow cake. I think I would have been more into it if the cake had cinnamon in it as well.

Lovely little shop though. I'd love to take one of their classes sometime!

Soup!

This recipe was made for me by the lovely Cindi. She passed on the recipe and I've been meaning to make it myself ever since. She followed Rachael Ray's recipe although, but I opted to refrain from adding the sausage and bacon. I ate the sausage when she shared it with me and I actually didn't mind it, but I was not about to go and buy some sausage. I was worried it wouldn't be as flavorful sans sausage, but it was still jam packed with flavor!

Here is the recipe:

Cassoulet Stoup

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed
- 1 dried bay leaf
- salt to taste
- pepper taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 can white bean (15 ounces), drained
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:
1. Place pot over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Add the onion, leeks, carrot, garlic, thyme and bay leaf to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the veggies are tender, 5-6 minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook until golden brown and aromatic, about 1 minute.
4. Add the white wine and cook until the mixture is reduced by half.
5. Add the white beans and stock to the pan and bring up to a bubble. Simmer the soup until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Right before taking it off the heat throw in chopped parsley.

Discovery of my love for Eggplant

Guess what? I like eggplant. Just made this discovery recently and now I'm obsessed. I have been buying massive ones big enough to feed a family and eating it all week long. I'm making up for all those years I wasn't eating this delectable veggie. I have been making big batches of baked slices and crafting amazingly good veggie sandwiches!


I have baked them just simply by sprinkling them with oil, salt, and pepper, which is quite nice, but even nicer is breaded eggplant! Topped with cheese! YUM.

Here's my recipe!

Breaded Eggplant  

Ingredients:
 - 1 large eggplant
 - salt and pepper
- 1-2 eggs (depending on how large the eggplant)
- bread crumbs (I used Italian flavored)  

Directions:
1. Slice eggplant crosswise.
2. Place slices on a baking sheet and salt both sides. Let them sit for at least a half hour.
3. Blot and dry off slices with a paper towel.
4. Prepare two bowls; One with bread crumbs and One with the eggs beaten.
5. Dip each eggplant piece in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs to cover.
6. Place breaded slices back on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for about 10 minutes on each side at 375 degrees.

For pizza version,
8. After baking 10 minutes, flip the eggplant and add tomato sauce and cheese to the top for the last ten minutes!

For my sandwich above, I also baked zuchinni slices, and topped it with tomato slices and provolone cheese. YUM!

Tips: If you cut the eggplant thick allow more time to cook. I usually try for about 3/8” thick.

Pamcakes - More Cupcakes

Philly Style!





For my sister's birthday it was a given we had to find some cupcakes! We tried out a cute little shop nearby her place called Pamcakes. Turns out Pam was the one we bought them from which I didn't realize until we were home and I was google stalking her. Her shop is adorable and I love her decorations. They were actually doing a photoshoot of some Valentine's Day themed cakes when we were there.

So I tried out a plain vanilla and then split a Vanilla Chai to go with the Vanilla Chai I had drank earlier in the day (my new found drink that I like with caffeine....makes me feel a little crazy due of my long life of never having an ounce of caffeine in my body)

Frosting is my favorite thing in the world and her frosting was a delight. The cake though was dry and a little disappointing. Now my family tried two others which they said had nice moist cake, so I guess I just lucked out this time around.



The Vanilla Chai was such a fun different flavor to try. It had quite the bite of Chai. I really liked the originality of it!



Will return and hopefully the dryness was just a fluke. Unless there is a better Philly cupcake out there to try???

Yummy soup for a cold winter day

This weekend, while visiting with the sister and mother, we bonded over cooking a lovely meal of Chicken and Chickpea Stew. This recipe has quite the aromatic spice to it. Having cinnamon in a savory meal is different for me, but I was definitely a fan. The original recipe was from Self Magazine.

Chicken and Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
- 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 yellow or green zucchini (6 oz), cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. Cook chicken in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Season with ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Cook for 2 minutes then flip and cook another two minutes
2. Transfer chicken to a plate.
3. Cook onion in same skillet, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
4. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Add tomatoes, cumin and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes more.
6. Add chicken back into the skillet
7. Also add chickpeas, broth, zucchini, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and remaining 1/4 tsp pepper.
8. Cover and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
9. Garnish with cilantro.

We cooked large egg noodles and served the stew on top of that!

Yum!