my favorite falafel restaurants

happy thanksgiving! hope everyone has a fantastic day and meal tomorrow! while plans for thanksgiving are not completely finalized, i will be making a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows tonight. not for thanksgiving, but for dinner tonight. rita's never had one and she wants to try it just in case her thanksgiving meal doesn't include it.

on a completely unrelated note, lets talk about falafel.

falafel is one of my favorite foods, and i'm lucky to live in a city where you can get it on almost any block at any time of day. so what are my favorite falafel spots? glad you asked!

maoz vegetarian is a chain with locations in the us and europe. in downtown new york, there's one at union square and one on west eighth street. at $5 a sandwich, maoz is a little pricier than i usually like to pay for my falafel, but you also get free access to whatever salad bar fixings you can stuff in your sandwich. or you can get a salad box to fill for about $9. the salad bar is always fresh, and the falafel is nice and crispy. plus, they have awesome sweet potato fries.

mamoun's is one of my favorite restaurants in new york. there are two locations, one in the west village on macdougal, and one in the east village on st. mark's. the falafel sandwich is $2.50 and is fantastic. they have a ton of other stuff on their menu too, none of which i've ever had because i always get falafel. be sure to use their spicy sauce, but not too much (i've made that mistake. it was painful).

the hummus place another chain, with three locations in downtown new york: 2 in the west village, and one on st. mark's. i highly recommend the falafel (which comes as an appetizer, not in a sandwich), the stuffed grape leaves, the mushroom hummus, and the Mediterranean mojito. the macdougal street location is tiny, but all three have a great atmosphere, nice enough that you feel you're having a good meal out (not just grabbing lunch between classes), but still causal and cozy.

new yorkers, any great places i have to try? and non-new yorkers, what is one food you could eat everyday? also, for everyone, any thanksgiving plans?

-Lola

homemade peanut butter cups

happy 2010 everyone!
my dad loves reese's peanut butter cups. i send him emails whenever i spot a new variety, and he sends me back a review (there are more types of reese's than you might think. i believe his favorites are original and peanut butter lovers'). so when rita and i spotted averie's homemade pb cups, we knew we had to make some for our dad's christmas present.
they were delicious! my dad kept asking how we made them and said they were "even better than reese's". high praise indeed.
they're also super easy. just melt some chocolate chips (use a microwave or a double boiler). spread some of the chocolate on the bottom and sides of paper muffin liners. let harden for about 10 minutes, then add a small spoonful of peanut butter to each cup. top with more chocolate (we added sprinkles too, because sprinkles make everything better. it's a fact), then freeze until hardened. (averie has better instructions than we do...with pictures too! click the link above. also, we used semi sweet chocolate chips and natural crunchy peanut butter).
-Lola

las enchiladas

as promised, the traditional christmas enchiladas...
yum!
basically, grate up a giant pile of cheddar and jack cheese, add some sliced black olives, sliced jalapenos, and a diced onion. now, get some corn tortillas and some enchilada sauce (my mother's "special recipe"= sauce from a can. we've never made homemade sauce). dip each tortilla in some sauce, then cook in a frying pan for about 2 minutes on each side, until it's still soft, but just starting to get crispy. place in a baking pan and fill with a scoop of the cheese mixture. roll up, and place in pan seam side down. continue until you have as many enchiladas as you want, or have used all the cheese mixture. top with more sauce and olives. bake about 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.
lola

ensalada de nochebuena (christmas eve salad)

isn't that a pretty salad?
i love holiday traditions, and my family's christmas eve enchilada dinner is one of my favorites (yes, rita and i were/are those lucky kids whose family did both christmas and hanukkah). every year, i've helped my mom make giant masses of cheesy enchiladas. sometimes, she suggests a change, but i am firm on my devotion to the enchilada recipe. the accompanying salad, however, varies from year to year. this christmas, we found a real winner, from an article in the san francisco chronicle (about another family's traditional christmas enchiladas, so we knew it was meant for us).

ensalada de nochebuena (christmas eve salad)
Serves 8-10

"This fruit salad has traveled with me from Queretaro, Mexico, to California, with additions from friends in the Southwest. It is the perfect counterpoint to spicy food. The latest addition is the Pomegranate Pink Dressing inspired by Fonda San Miguel in Austin.

• The dressing
• 1 cup sour cream
• -- Seeds from 1 large pomegranate (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)
• 4 tablespoons agave syrup or honey
• -- Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• The salad
• 4 navel oranges, peel and pith sliced off and discarded
• 1/2 pound jicama, peeled, cut into tiny batons
• 1 cup diced fresh pineapple (about 2 slices)
• 3 Gala apples with peel, cored, diced
• -- Juice from 1 Meyer lemon, or more orange juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• -- Pinch of kosher salt
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 2 to 4 tablespoons minced cilantro
• -- Heaping 1/2 cup roasted salted peanuts
• 3 small orange beets, roasted and peeled (see Note)

For the dressing: Combine the sour cream, pomegranate seeds, agave syrup, salt and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the salad: Dice oranges and combine with jicama batons, diced pineapple, and diced apples. Squeeze lemon juice over the fruit, to help prevent browning. Sprinkle with sugar and pinch of salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the bananas, cilantro, peanuts and beets, and sprinkle with the reserved pomegranate seeds.

Serve fruit salad in small bowls, dolloped with the dressing.

Note: To roast the beets, scrub well and cut in half. Place on a large square of foil. Drizzle with several teaspoons of agave syrup, a little olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Wrap up tightly and bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 45 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a small knife. Cool and dice.

Per serving: 192 calories, 4 g protein, 34 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat (2 g saturated), 5 mg cholesterol, 53 mg sodium, 6 g fiber." -sfgate.com

-Lola

(enchilada recipe to come soon)

giveaway time!

and another giveaway

latkes!

Our winter break starts very late this year, and while we were sad to miss Hanukkah at home, we had a great time celebrating with our friend I. and eating a dinner that consisted only of laktes and gelt, which are really the only foods you need on Hanukkah (well, that and jelly donuts)

it was our first time making latkes and it was very successful. We used our grandparents' recipe and we served them with applesauce.

Bubbe and Zayde's Potato Latkes (thanks to our Bubbe and Zayde, who sent not only their recipe, but also a grater. they are fantastic!)
Makes many, many latkes (or enough for dinner and a small amount of leftovers for 3 girls who really love latkes)
-6 medium potatoes, peeled
-2 large eggs, lightly beaten
-1 tsp salt
-1 medium onion
-3 tbsp matzo meal
-1/4 tsp pepper
grate the potatoes coarsely (according to our grandma, this must be done with a grater, NOT with a food processor) into a bowl of lightly salted water. Drain and press out the moisture.
Grate the onion coarsely. Stir the onion, eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper and potatoes together.
Heat about 1/4 inch oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls into the oil and flatten with back of spoon. Fry until golden brown on both sides, 3-5 min per side. Drain on paper towels and serve with applesauce, sour cream, or ketchup

and the most important part...
GELT!!! (chocolate coins...I get very excited about chocolate things)
Happy Hanukkah to all those who celebrate it! and happy holidays to all!
-Rita
giveaway time!

butternut squash casserole

This weekend was my turn to have a thanksgiving potluck. I was assigned a squash dish, so I decided on this butternut squash casserole. It turned out quite tasty, if i do say so myself! although the star of the dinner, for me at least, was the sweet potatoes. I'd never had the traditional preparation with marshmallows before, and it was fantastic! Although i am generally of the opinion that marshmallows make everything better.

the recipe, from southern living via myrecipes.com

Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients

* 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 2-inch cubes (about 1 3/4 pounds)
* 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
* 1 small onion, minced
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted and divided
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 cup fresh cranberries, chopped [found these at whole foods]
* 1 cup fresh soft breadcrumbs

Preparation

Bring squash and water to cover to a boil; cook 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; drain. Mash until smooth.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Add onion and garlic; saute 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; stir in squash, 2 tablespoons butter, eggs, and next 3 ingredients. Fold in cranberries. Spoon into lightly greased 1-quart baking dish.

Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until set and golden.

My "I am a ridiculous college student" notes:
First of all, I doubled the recipe and made it in a 2 quart dish. This made more than enough for the 15ish people at our dinner, although not everyone ate my dish. Also, I would like to say that peeling and chopping a 3.5 pound squash when you have approximately 1 square foot of counter space is very challenging. I made the breadcrumbs by toasting a few slices of wheat bread and 1 stale whole wheat pita in the oven for about 15 minutes. I then put the bread in a plastic bag and crushed it into crumbs using a metal water bottle as if it was a rolling pin. I stole the sugar and pepper from starbucks and our dining hall, respectively. I forgot to steal any salt, so I left it out and it didn't seem to make a difference.
-Lola
p.s. happy thanksgiving everyone!
also: a giveaway!

Stuffing with collards, cornbread, and soyrizo

I had a thanksgiving potluck this week, so I decided to try a new stuffing recipe. I followed the recipe exactly, except instead of making my own cornbread, I used TJ's cornbread mix because it is impossible to do any baking from scratch in our tiny kitchen, especially since we no have no mixing bowls and only 1 baking pan (and as lola's friend k. said, "actual homemade stuffing is like wild cows...you just never see it" we then proceeded to have a 20 minute conversation with two of the RAs about how Jiffy cornbread is everyone's family secret, the controversial inclusion of whole pieces of corn in cornbread, and the existance of something called a "cheesecake lollipop tree". anyhoo, trader joe's makes a good cornbread mix). I also substituted soyrizo (trader joe's too) for the chorizo.


despite having to figure out a way to make everything in one pot, and a frantic last minute trip to the deli to buy tinfoil, it turned out quite good. Everything at the potluck was delicous, and I had a the perfect thanksgiving feast-stuffing, mac & cheese, candied yams, and a ridiculous amount of pie.

from food and wine magazine, via myrecipes.com

Yield: 10

Ingredients

• CORN BREAD:
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups stone-ground white cornmeal
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups buttermilk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
• 
  STUFFING:
• 2 pounds collard greens, large stems discarded
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound chorizo, coarsely chopped
• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 celery ribs, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups chicken or turkey stock or canned low-sodium broth

Preparation

1. MAKE THE CORN BREAD: Preheat the oven to 425°. Pour the oil into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and heat in the oven. In a large bowl, whisk the cornmeal with the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk with the eggs. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients, add the melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until just blended; do not overmix.

2. Remove the baking dish from the oven and swirl to coat with the oil. Scrape the batter into the hot dish and bake for 25 minutes, or until springy and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and let cool. Turn the oven down to 375°. Crumble the corn bread into small chunks and spread on 2 large baking sheets. Bake the corn bread for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until dry and golden. Leave the oven on.

3. MAKE THE STUFFING: In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the collard greens until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and let cool slightly. Squeeze dry and coarsely chop.

4. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the chorizo and cook over moderately low heat for 5 minutes. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the collards and remove from the heat. Let cool completely.

5. Scrape the corn bread into a very large bowl and add the collard mixture. Season with salt and pepper. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the stock and pour over the stuffing; mix well.

6. Butter 2 large, shallow baking dishes and divide the stuffing between them. Cover and bake at 375° for about 25 minutes, or until heated through. Uncover and bake for about 10 minutes longer, or until browned. Serve hot.

Make Ahead: The corn bread can be frozen for up to 1 month. The stuffing can be assembled and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking.

-Rita we're gonna start signing our posts now so you can tell which twin wrote what =)