Breakfast on Kitchen3N

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.

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.

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.

On Butter

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I didn’t grow up eating butter. My eggs were fried in vegetable oil. We spread country crock vegetable spread on our toast. The only time I saw butter were in big blocks in the freezer that my mother eventually cooked down to make ghee, which was reserved for bengali mashed potatoes (like yours except with raw onions and green chilis but definitely no milk) and biryani (morog palau in bengali, rice and meat pilaf in english). Why the discrimination against butter? As my sister explained, butter does not do so well in tropical climates. So, by removing the milk solids from it, they are able to preserve it for longer. Which makes sense given what a commodity it is over there.