Banana Bran Muffins

Monday morning muffins! I've always been a morning person, so getting up early to bake is never really a problem for me. Plus, it makes the apartment smell awesome. I even made 12 mini muffins to share with whoever happens to be at work first. Want the recipe?

Tangy Tomato Soup

It's a nice lazy Sunday. I just want to throw things into a pot and do a whole lot of nothing. No shopping for fancy ingredients. I made this recipe based on items I happened to have on hand:

6 plum tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with chilies
1 celery stalk
1/2 onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1.5 cups broth (I used chicken)
1/4 lemon, juiced
basil, (a handful)
1 tsp salt

Roughly chop the tomatoes, celery and onion. Place in pot, with crushed garlic clove and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature to low and simmer for 15 min. Add broth and basil, simmer for another 5 min. Use an immersion blender, or pour into a blender/food processor and blend till smooth. Stir in salt and lemon juice. This recipe is going to vary depending how sweet your tomatoes are. If you find it too tangy, add a touch of sugar.

tempura sushi! (why not)

Popovers

The first time I'd ever had a popover was during my visit to Maine 2 years ago, at the Jordan Pond House. This delicious eggy, air-filled bread is a great alternative to the usual biscuits, muffins or scones at brunch. It reminds me a bit of Yorkshire pudding, but I think I like this better. Top with some butter and jam and eaten fresh out of the oven!

Recipe from (Reader's Digest Quick and Delicious Cookbook)

2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 425. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs till frothy. Beat in milk and oil. Beat in flour and salt. Let batter rest for 10 min
2. Grease 6 popover or medium sized muffin cups (you only want to fill the batter about 1/3-2/3 full, so you need larger muffin cups). Divide batter evenly.
3.Bake till puffed and browned (20-25 min). Serve immediately.

Mark Ryden: Meat show

I'm not much of a gallery-goer, but I AM a fan of Mark Ryden, so I may have to go see this show when it comes out. I own his "Blood" print series, but it'd be nice to see his artwork in person.

Mark Ryden @ Paul Kasmin Gallery
Olde Tyme Art Show
April 29th - June 5th

For those of you unfamiliar with his work, CLICK HERE

Dafni (Greek restaurant)

Located across from Port Authority on 42nd St, (between 8th and 9th), you wouldn't expect to find an even halfway decent restaurant. Especially one flanked by a Burger King, deli and Army Navy store. The only reason my husband and I discovered it is because it's right by our bus stop.

We've been to Dafni's four or five times now and we've never been disappointed by the food. For dinner, I would recommend waiting till after 7:30, when the crowds start to disperse.

My first step in over-eating is always the freshly baked basket of pita bread. So far we've only tried the fried calamari appetizer, but it's perfectly battered and crunchy, not chewy. One of our dishes always comes with a super simple, but delicious, Maroulosalata (romaine, scallion, dill with lemon vinaigrette). For entrees, I usually get their Lamb Shish Kebab, because it comes with one of the thickest, creamiest Tzatziki spreads I've had, accompanied by rice and roasted peppers and onions. I've also tried the Moussaka (think eggplant lasagna), which was good, but just too heavy. My husband has tried their Solomos, (charcoal grilled salmon steak), which he liked a lot, but his staple dish is the Aegean Seafood with Hilopites (shrimp, scallops and calamari with fresh pasta and tomato sauce).

For the first time today, we tried dessert: Rice pudding and Baklava the size of a piece of pie. Both were good, but passable.

Service can be a little slow, but the waiters are very attentive when you get a hold of them. The restaurant is surprisingly classy, considering the neighborhood, so you can definitely hold a nice dinner party at this place.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is mostly based on the oatmeal raisin cookie, from the book The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread. Instead of raisins, I added chunks of caramel and dried apples. The original recipe by this name came from Cooking Light magazine. Unfortunately, it was a "healthy" cookie, and the dough was way too crumbly because it lacked enough butter to hold it together. So here's the full delicious fatty version:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup chopped dried apples

1/2 cup chopped soft caramel (roughly 16 candies)

1 cup butter (room temp)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

Chop up the caramel. If you’re able to find caramel bits in your supermarket, lucky you, otherwise, I recommend a knife you don’t mind ruining and start chopping! Chop up your apples when you’re done.

Preheat oven to 350. Line your cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment paper, otherwise the caramel is going to make it extremely difficult to remove.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon in one bowl

Beat the egg and vanilla in another bowl

Mix the oatmeal, apples and caramel in yet another bowl

Cream the butter and sugars. Add egg mixture, then the flour mixture in stages. And lastly the oat mixture.

Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes