I went to dinner and drinks with a coworker after work last wednesday. As we were chatting and getting to know each other we discovered we live about 3 blocks from each other and there is another girl from work who also lives in the neighborhood. This was great news, I love the idea of having friends near where I live. So after a few more pints of cider and a whiskey or two I decided it would be a fantastic idea to have a few work friends in my apartment for dinner… that Sunday. Yup… in 4 days… of which I was working 3… great idea. 

Did I mentioned there were a few of these consumed… hahahaha! 

Thank night I came home and asked Emil (via dry erase board) if it was ok to have a few friends over. It is his apartment as well, so I wanted to check with him first. I woke up on Thursday to find this:

And just like that, it was official! I was hosting a dinner party! In 3 days!

First step was creating the menu. My friend Tom was online and I knew he would have great ideas for the menu. He gave me a few items and I went from there. I wanted something light and springy. One of the girls is vegetarian so I wanted to make sure there were options for her as well, not just salads.  I had a menu with about 15 items in it by the time I sent out the invite. 

I sent an invite to about 10 people (all work friends), of those only 5 said they would go, 1 said maybe, 2 declined and 2 did not respond. Since my guest list was cut in half, so was my menu. No big deal, it was actually for the best. In the end there were 5 of us here and we ate about 95% of all the food. 

Here is what I made/served:

Savory: 

• Dominican Style Potato Salad
• Mushrooms and Asparagus 
• Feta, Tomato & Basil Salad
• Whole Wheat Pita Bread
• Shrimp & Tomato Stew
• Jully’s BBQ Ribs

Sweet:

• Flan (Regular caramel flan, not pumpkin like the recipe says)
• Bourbon Bread Pudding

Libations:

• Red Wine Sangria
• Sparkling Bourbon Iced Tea
• Beer
• Wine

Dinner was delicious and almost everything was gone within a few minutes. We ate and drank to our hearts’ content. 

The ribs were, of course, a hit! Jully’s recipe was a success once again.

Everything else I pretty much made up as I went. 

For the shrimp I added garlic, parsley, cherry tomatoes,  siracha, canned tomatoes, green onions, celery and olive oil. It was not as spicy as I wanted it to be, but it was still pretty good. 

I wanted to use as many fresh ingredients as possible. 

I love veggies cooked in a simple, no fuss style. 

Take the mushrooms and asparagus, for example. I only cooked them with butter, sea salt, cracked black pepper and chili powder. Simple, yet delicious. 

The potato salad is my family’s recipe. I used idaho and red skinned potatoes, celery, corn, sweet peas, apples and carrots. I love it, I can eat plate after plate of this thing. 

Dinner was successful and heaping plates of food were throughly consumed. 

And then, it was dessert time!! I made flan, which is a staple in any gatherings I host and a bread pudding with a bourbon glaze.  We ate about 20% of each and now I have a fridge full of flan and bread pudding calling my name. Thankfully, there is a new gym opening up in my neighborhood because I have the feeling i will be eating these!! 

I was scared to host a dinner party with such short notice but it ended up being great. It was a lovely, rainy afternoon with friends, food and booze. We laughed so much and ate so much. It was pretty awesome! 

Now I guess it is time plan (or wait until 3 days before) my next party. Wonder who’d want to come? ;)

Have a wonderful day and even better week. 

Until next time.

xoxo, 
Josie

If you are in New York City you know that although it is technically spring, it still feels like winter. Most of last week was very windy and cold. We were too spoiled with short winters last year and now we are being babies about this one. The one good thing about this long winter is we get to enjoy stews for a little longer (not that I wouldn’t cook stew in the spring or summer mind you). I decided to make this classic french stew: Coq au vin! 

Stews are so easy to make, and a great way to use veggies. This was the first time I made coq au vin. This French stew is usually made with a rooster but you can use chicken as well as I did. coq au vin is essentially chicken, bacon, veggies and wine. What’s not to like?!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of thick cut bacon, chopped
1 1/2-2lbs bone in chicken
3-5 carrots
3/4 medium white onion
1 medium shallot
4 garlic cloves
1 pckg of fresh mushrooms
2 tbs butter
2-3 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme (remove the stems)
Fresh parsley
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 bottle of red wine (not too sweet - I used Shiraz)
3-4 oz of cognac
6-7 black peppercorns
1 tbs tomato paste
Salt and pepper
1 tbs flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

Start by washing and chopping up the carrots, onions, shallots, garlic and mushrooms. 

Using a large and heavy pot cook the bacon on medium heat.  Cook the bacon for 5-6 minutes until it starts to crisp up.  Be mindful not to let it burn.  

Wash and season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aide for now.  

Remove the bacon from the pot and add the chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken for about 7-8 minutes.  

Remove the bacon from the pot and add the chicken, skin side down. Brown the chicken for about 7-8 minutes.  

Meanwhile, in another skillet melt the butter. 

Add the mushrooms and season them with salt and pepper. Cook the mushrooms on low heat. 

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.

Add the chopped onions, carrots, shallots and garlic to the pot.

Remove the onions and carrots from the pot and set aside. (Lots of adding and removing here hahahaha!)

Add the chicken back to the pot and pour in the cognac.  

Light a match or a lighter so the cognac ignites! 

Once the flames go down it is time to add everything to the pot. Add the onions and carrots, mushrooms, bacon, bay leaves and thyme.

Add the tomato paste, 1/2 of the bottle of wine and chicken stock. Mix the tomato paste in and braise covered for 30 minutes. 

Mix in the flour with a few spoonfuls of the broth and use it to thicken up the stew. 

Mix in the flour with the stew and add the remaining wine to the stew. 

Cook for another 5-10 minutes and serve. 

Top with fresh parsley and serve with some crusty bread and red wine and enjoy!

This is such a happy and filling dish. 

I used the bread to soak up the broth. Emil and I ate the whole thing. This was delicious and we kept going back to the pot for refills. 

When I first started cooking this I was nervous because it seemed like such a daunting task but it ended up being quite easy. I found that having the ingredients cut up and ready to go really eased up the process. 

I hope you try making this at home. My parents are in town so I might try making this for them sometime soon. 

This is all for now. I hope you had a great weekend and an even better week ahead. 

xoxo,
Josie

I am finally writing about Machu Picchu… yay!

Machu Picchu is an Inca site located on the Urubamba Valley in the Cusco region of Peru. Although it was built around 1450, the site was not discovered until 1911. It has since become an important tourist attraction. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. 

Machu Picchu is about 50 miles northwest of Cusco. We took the one day trip to the site, which started at 4am. 

We took a bus from Cusco to a town called Ollantytambo, there we took a train to a town called Aguas Calientes, and from there we took another bus to the entrance of the park. 

The train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. 

Bus ride from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of Machu Picchu National Park.

We arrived at the entrance of the Machu Picchu National Park at 8:45am. We began the tour shortly after. We walked for about 30 minutes and then, the lost city appeared right before our eyes!

I could not believe I was there. Sometimes I still can’t. 

The fact that I took these pictures, in person, is pretty mind blowing!! 

As part of the tour, we were able to walk around the city and learn about the how the Incas lived. It is pretty amazing how they built this city. Everything has a use, there is a complex water drainage system and each area has a specific use. Oh, and have I mentioned they did all this without the wheel?! Yeah! I know! WOAH!

The tour took about 2 hours and then we had free time to explore Machu Picchu independently. 

We brought in sandwiches and water and had a picnic. This was our view:

yup!

THIS!

So after lunch, we walked around some more. There was so much to see everywhere!

I was the typical tourist: water bottle, backpack, 4 cameras… hahahaha!!

The pictures do not do this place any justice. It was breathtaking, and I am not just talking about the altitude (Machu Picchu is 7,970 ft above sea level)!! 

This was such an educational and peaceful experience. I have always wanted to go to Machu Picchu; I had to pinch myself while I was there!  

Now I need to plan my next adventure!!

Well, this is all for now.  If you know me, you know I took many more pictures (I had FOUR cameras on me that day. FOUR), you can check out my flickr page for them. 

Alright, until next time my friends. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,
Josie

Hey! Hey! Hey!

I made this dish last night for Emil and I. We wanted a quick dinner and since it was already past 9pm, I wanted something that would not be too heavy. I took a look in the fridge and coverts and came up with this: eggs with tomatoes and chickpeas!

INGREDIENTS:
3 large eggs
1/4 large white onion
3 garlic cloves
5 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes
1 large can of chick peas
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 tbs chopped basil
1 tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
Start by getting all the ingredients ready. Chop up the onion, garlic, basil, thyme, parsley and sun-dried tomatoes.

Drain and rinse the chick peas. 

Heat up the olive oil in a heavy skillet. Cook the onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and half of the thyme, parsley and basil for 2 minutes.  

Mix in the chick peas and cook them for 3-4 minutes. 

Mix in the diced tomatoes and the rest of the herbs and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Cook the tomatoes and chick peas for 4-5 minutes. 

Crack open the eggs on top of the tomatoes/chick peas. 

Cook covered unti the whites are set. 

That’s it! 

Top with some fresh chopped parsley and basil and serve with a light salad or some bread and enjoy. 

This is such a light but filling dish. I love the combination of chick peas and tomatoes. 

Emil and I really enjoyed this dinner. Quick, filling and tasty! Not bad for a pantry dish, huh?

I hope you try making this at home one day. I promise it is wonderful. 

Have a great day!!

xoxo,
Josie