Breakfast on Kitchen3N

Rice Pudding Stuffed Crepes (Patishapta Pita)

Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Patishapta pitha was the rare pitha I would eat growing up. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I just did not enjoy most pithas I had. [Pitha: Bengali dumplings. Usually made out of rice flour. Sometimes a combo of rice flour and wheat flour. And in my experience, dry af most of the time. Sometimes sweet with a coconut or jaggery filling. And, as I found out after marriage, sometimes plain, eaten with curry.]

Mini Cap'n Crunch Chocolate Tarts

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

When my friend Jafreen and I entered a bake off during our undergrad years, we thought we had it in the bag. We were both good bakers, definitely spent more time in the kitchen than our peers, and would put together thoughtful, from scratch baked goods. Needless to say, we lost. Terribly. We were outbaked by Duncan Hines. I don't remember who was on the judging panel, but this post is for you. This past weekend we got to compete at the Islamic Center Professionals of NYU's Bake Off. It was so fun. Secret ingredient was revealed 72 hours prior so research and experimenting time was limited. We were split into categories of cake, cookies, pies/tarts and puddings. My partner was the defending champ of the pudding category, with his cranberry creme brulee. This year we were in pies/tarts. So when they revealed the secret ingredient of breakfast cereal, my mind went into overdrive. If the secret ingredient were a single fruit, you'd have a lot less to work with. But there are dozens of cereals to choose from - all with different flavors and textures. I knew I wanted it to be a tart rather than a pie - pies rely on the flaking crust to be considered a pie and are more often than not made with fruit. Tarts can have a little bit more flexibility - can be made with a shortbread crust, or cookie crust. Then in terms of fillings - should I do pastry cream and fruit? Chocolate and peanut butter? Should I incorporate the cereal in the crust? In the filling? On top? My partner pushed me to go the extra mile. After all, when it comes to bake offs, presentation can be just as important as taste. So we thought of recreating the cereal bowl plus milk pour over experience. What is a pourable topping in dessert? Creme anglaise. What goes well with creme anglaise? Chocolate, souffles and cooked fruit desserts. So the chocolate tart was born. Mini because we'd have to make portions for the audience to try (also they are more elegant). And pourable creme anglaise in mini bottles that I found in the wedding favors section of Michael's. Cap'n crunch in the shell. Caramelized rice krispies on top so you have some crunch to balance the smooth chocolate filling. And garnished with a little berry.

We were proud of our entry. And I was proud of my friends who entered, particularly because they were overcoming challenges of their own to be there. My old friend Jafreen, as well as my new friend, Moni of Moni’s Kitchen.

Crepes

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The first time I had crepes was in Paris in 2006. Kids coming home from school were snacking on this conical things wrapped in paper filled with all kinds of chocolately/fruity goodness. My buddy and I did not hesitate. We got ourselves some crepes filled with nutella and slices of banana and our minds were blown. So delicious and, as I'd soon discover, so easy to make, with such simple ingredients?!

Flash forward to 2017 and I’ve made it 34098734287234 times. I’ve filled them with sautéed mushrooms and swiss cheese to serve to guests. With scrambled eggs and spinach for a savory breakfast. Most often though, with nutella/banana or simply with strawberry jam for my sweet-toothed family. It is the THE most requested breakfast item, surpassing pancakes, waffles, french toast, everything. Which works for me since it’s SO EASY and cooks much faster than all those other options.

Cinnamon Honey Skillet Cornbread

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 00:00:00 +0000

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? Was it jewelry? A nice bag? Maybe those shoes you’ve been eyeing? For me, it was my engagement ring, hands down. BUT apart from the that, the best gift I continue to receive is from my mother. Every few months she gives me a jar of homemade ginger/garlic paste that is quintessential in Bengali cuisine. Sure, you can buy the jarred stuff from the desi grocery, but it’s just not the same. It’s fresh, preservative free, and it’s made with LOVE. Such a life saver on busy weeknights to not have to peel/chop fresh ginger and garlic.

Ramadan Round Up

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

[gallery ids=“2030,1609,1097,1073,478,497,955,1002,2106”]

Ramadan is halfway over, but there’s still time to make some of my favorite recipes for this time of year! Going clockwise from the top left:

Citrus Quinoa Salad with Dates, Almonds and Mint - we consume a lot of dates during Ramadan. This recipe uses up any extra dates you may have in a salad you can feel good about eating at the end of a long fast!

My Go-To Suhoor (Sehri)

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 00:00:00 +0000

When you were a kid did you have curry for suhoor?

Let me take a few steps back here. Ramadan Kareem everyone! The blessed time of year when Muslims around the world abstain from food & drink (yes, even water) from dawn til dusk. Not just a physical fast, Muslims (healthy, adult) are to abstain from sex, violence and cursing. Particularly trying for those at northern latitudes where the days are long (16+ hours for us in NY), we need to make the most of our pre-dawn and fast-breaking meals. That means nutritious food that will keep our bodies busy breaking down complex carbs and proteins. Just as important: staying hydrated!

Tropical Green Smoothie

Fri, 29 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I just realized that it’s been 2 years since I lost the baby weight. I realize it because I’m slowly putting the weight back on (oh no!).

It’s hard being smaller than your natural dress size! I look at all the women in my family, and post childbirth, we are all at least a size 8 and pear shaped.

I’m 5'1 and for the longest time after my second kid, I was stuck at 129 pounds. Inspired by my Barnard classmate, Asiya Khaki, photographer and beach body coach, I decided to get in shape. I started doing 25 minute interval training workouts with FitnessBlender. I cut out sugar almost entirely. Subbed quinoa for rice in pretty much every meal.

Citrus Quinoa Salad With Dates, Almonds, and Mint

Sat, 23 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Ramadan is coming up! I figured I should add a few more Ramadan friendly recipes to the blog, for those of us who are looking to depart a bit from the usual fried foods iftars. During these long summer days when we're denying ourselves food and liquid for 15 hours straight, we need to treat our bodies well! This is a dish you can feel good about eating, that's not going to make you crash before the long night of ibadah (prayers) you have lined up.

This recipe is based on one from Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table. I know a quinoa salad is not the first thing you think of when you consider French cuisine, but she’s filled her cookbook with things she makes for her family, without strictly adhering to a particular cuisine. In our hyperconnected world, it’s kind of impossible to resist influences from other regions. She’s got a Moroccan Tagine and carrot salad, small plates from her American upbringing, French pastries and traditional stews from her current residence. And she’s kind of an authority when it comes to food so I trust her with my quinoa!

Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs)

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I invited my childhood friend, Aileen Olmedo of TheStyleBoro, over for breakfast this past weekend. Her blog is a fun destination for the unequivocally stylish and youthful city dweller. Youthfulness is a state of mind folks, not a number. Rather than prepare traditional brunch items she could enjoy at a number of NYC spots (e.g. eggs benedict, waffles, french toast) I thought I’d make her a spread reminiscent of my beloved babymoon in Istanbul.BTW, Zeynep if you are reading this please don’t hate me if I butchered an authentic Turkish dish. I know you’re supposed to use Turkish peppers, not jalapeno or Chinese peppers. I know you’re supposed to use onion not scallion. And any other changes I made, I only made to make this wonderful breakfast dish a bit more accessible to the average American home cook!I love how the colors pop in a Turkish breakfast spread. White cheese, green cucumbers, red tomatoes, rich Soujuk (Turkish sausage), black olives, fresh squeezed orange juice. Makes for a dramatic presentation. If you can find apple tea and borek (cheese or meat pastry), those are also wonderful additions. Even if you aren’t looking for an all out breakfast extravaganza, you can enjoy the recipe below for Menemen - eggs scrambled with peppers, tomato and onion until they are just barely set. A wonderful change up from your usual eggs and toast breakfast.

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies

Mon, 18 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I gave into peer pressure, guys. When the first ramps popped up in my instagram feed, I rushed to the Union Square Green Market to pick some up. Not too long after, I picked up some rhubarb without much idea about what I was going to do with it. I am all about eating seasonal foods, local, humane, natural, sustainable, etc. But sometimes the thing that’s in season isn’t exactly worth all the hype. Ramps are great and all. If you are less familiar with them, they are a green leafy vegetable available for a few short weeks in spring. They are sold leaves, stalk, bulb and all and have a lovely mild onion flavor. I loved them first time I used them, as a topping on my homemade pizza. More recently, I chopped them up and stewed them with some tomatoes. I even bought a ramp pesto that works wonders on a tomato mozzarella panino.

Over the Muffin Top Blueberry Muffins

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I wasn’t planning on posting anything anytime soon. I’ve been swamped with work and caught in a whirlwind of Pre-K applications. If some of you have read my previous posts, you know I had been planning on homeschooling my kids. I felt I could provide them with a much more tailored education than could be provided at a public school - supplementing my kids’ homeschooling with extracurricular activities like soccer or dance classes, for the socialization, discipline, and physical outlet.

Potato Hash

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting any holiday related recipes. Do you guys want more of that stuff? Gingerbread, snickerdoodle and the like? For this post, I thought of one of my readers, Raseefa, who mentioned she loves the basic, every day South Asian (or not) recipes that she can make for her small family. Potato hash is definitely one of those recipes you should have your arsenal. It’s not complicated, but there is a small trick to getting it right… Add potatoes first, remaining vegetables after. I can’t tell you how many times in the early days of my marriage, did my husband put up with potatoes with slightly burned, shriveled pieces of onion and pepper running through it. Because potatoes take longer to cook, I save time by getting them going in the oil first, while chopping the rest of my veggies. This way of making potato hash won’t give you crispy potatoes. They’ll be tender and flavorful, but cooking them together with the peppers and onions will keep them from crisping up. If you’d rather fry them until crisp and take them off the heat, and combine them with the vegetables later, you’re more than welcome to. This version is easy, and gets eaten by the pickiest eaters in my household for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I didn’t add any heat this time, mainly to cater to the young’ns. But diced jalapeno, chilli powder or even chipotle peppers would be so good with this. I just doused mine in hot sauce.

Banana Date Nut Bread

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I bought quinoa a week ago. I still don’t have the guts to prepare it, out of fear of what happens to unfortunately too many of my experiments in healthy-food-ness. Make it. Eat some the first day. Then a day goes by: everyone opts for the other options in the fridge. Another day goes by: my mom brings over a vat of chicken curry. Another day goes by: take out time! By day 4, no one will be eating what they hadn’t eaten the past 4 days (my chia seed pudding is currently suffering that fate)! So while I procrastinate on the quinoa, I tried to make some healthier substitutions in my usual banana bread. After going through Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I was all like “yeah! butter! if french people can douse their food in it, why can’t we?”. Then I read an article that scared the pants off of me about saturated fats. So what to do?! There’s got to be a balance between the Paula Deen fried mac’n’cheese-wrapped-in-bacon death on a plate and quinoa/kale/green smoothie diet.So, here is my answer. Banana bread. I know bananas have a bad rap for the amount of sugar in them, but hey, they have potassium. That’s important, right? Personally, I’d rather eat natural foods with natural sugars (like coconut water) and vitamins/minerals than an artificially flavored protein shake to curb my appetite! So, on to this bread. Does it have sugar? Yes. But there’s fiber from the date and whole wheat flour. Does it have fat? Yes. But it’s coconut oil and supposedly the saturated fat in that is better for you. And nuts! Good fats that keep you full longer! I cut the amount of sugar from the original recipe by a 1/2 cup. If you’re rolling your eyes at me at this point, I’m ok with that. This isn’t a cake baked in a loaf pan that you can call a breakfast. It’s hearty. It tastes good. And you don’t have to feel guilty for having a slice. Have it with a glass of milk for a snack, or with coffee for breakfast.

Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes

Wed, 12 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Were the first year or two out of college a big smack in the face for anyone else? I remember sitting around my freshman year sociology class discussing Durkheim, or learning about the Coriolis effect in Intro Mechanics, or even listening to Bashir Abu Manneh’s impassioned lectures on Fanon, thinking, “I’m good enough to get this far, I can do pretty much whatever I want to do.” Well, I couldn’t. Not for a long time. For many of us who graduate from Liberal Arts schools without ultra competitive job offers, Teach For America gigs, or grad school acceptances, life after college is a bitch. One of my peers in Physics had a nanny gig lined up after graduation. Mindy Kaling, even with her Dartmouth education, nannied for a while when she first moved to the city. I got a part time job pushing paper at a consulting firm (that led to better opportunities later on). I searched for jobs for over a year and a half, whereas I believed with my degree, landing one would be a cinch. It was a humbling experience. I realized that as while you’re dishing out the dough, you can be fooled into a false sense of entitlement. But when it comes to earning a few of those dollars back, intelligence is rarely enough. You need to be practical. Don’t fall into the same millenials boat. Moral of the story is this: don’t go to a liberal arts school. Of, if you do, do incredibly well, so that you graduate at the top of your class. Become a pharmacist. Or learn to code. Make sure you have a decent internship lined up before your senior year. Harass people to get a decent job offer - persistence pays. I wish someone had told me any one of these. What does all this have to do with chocolate chip banana pancakes? Well, I have a lot of time to think while babysitting these guys on the stove. I make these like once a week and they are so incredibly good. I rarely have enough overripe bananas for banana bread, but often have one or two. The perfect amount for providing a hint of sweetness and banana flavor to regular pancakes. They are so light and fluffly…not like these ricotta pancakes I had at brunch a few weeks ago at a pretty popular Greenpoint spot (could NOT finish those dense giants).

Toaster Oven Baked Eggs

Thu, 26 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

**$50 Sur La Table Giveaway ends at midnight tonight!**I nearly burned our building down a few months ago when I tried the self-cleaning mechanism on my oven for the first time and forgot about a teeny tiny pot of oil for deep frying in the back of the top rack. The initial fumes didn’t worry me…I knew it was incinerating all the baked on muck and turning it into ash. However, when the smoke started to darken, and our eyes started to burn, I ran to the oven to find smoke billowing out of the oven and “F10” flashing on the digital display. Needless to say, my stovetop was out of commission for several days until it was replaced. This was tricky for me, as fried eggs and oatmeal (alternately) are the most common breakfast foods in our house. Then, one day, I remembered Ina Garten’s herb-baked eggs, and I thought, I could definitely make these in the toaster oven. Now, I don’t have individualized gratin dishes, and I don’t imagine many people do. But I did have these creme brûlée dishes I got as a wedding gift that don’t get used nearly as much they should. So, I buttered them up, cracked a couple of eggs into them, sprinkled with salt, and voila. Breakfast was ready in 10-11 minutes. No babysitting a fried egg on the stovetop, or worrying about breaking the yolk. Use any oven proof, small, shallow bowl you have. Feel free to throw your toast in there as well, halfway through the cooking process. Remember, it will keep cooking even after the timer goes off. So, leave it in the toaster oven for another minute or two, letting the ramekin/gratin dish/creme brûlée dish cool a bit while the egg sets.

Homemade Granola

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Why not have breakfast in your favorite dessert bowl?

I am not crazy about oatmeal. Unless it’s steel cut. That I don’t mind for a weekday breakfast. But it can be time consuming. So, the other option is to make a nice big batch of this granola on a lazy Sunday (believe me, it does not take a whole lot of effort…a little babysitting while it’s in the oven, sure, but nothing over the top). And boom, you have breakfast ready for the whole week. Over yogurt, over milk, over ice cream as a midnight snack, it’s delicious. Can you buy ready made granola from the store with about the same amount of effort? Yes. Will it make your whole house smell like maple syrup and toasted coconut? No. Besides, like most foods when made fresh, it tastes better!I realize most people may not have all the necessary ingredients on hand for this, but if you make it just once, you’ll likely keep those items in stock for future cravings. It’s super customizable, too. Don’t have almonds? Use peanuts. Don’t have raisins? Use craisins. I don’t care for dried fruit in my granola so I just leave it out entirely. Just don’t skimp on the maple syrup or coconut.This is Alton Brown’s recipe. When it comes to basics, this guy knows what he’s doing.