Daily Candy!!!

Today Olla NY was featured on Daily Candy! It's an honor and so exciting to welcome the new year with this!!! Follow this link to read what they had to say about us!

photo via: Daily Canday via smagdali / Flickr

A look

At J. Crew's Spring Collection. Love

Arroz con leche

It seems like we have been on a dessert kick here at P&P, something to do with the holidays approaching perhaps. The other night, I longed for something comforting at the end of meal. I turned to my mom's signiature go-to dessert, arroz con leche. I never really considered this dessert growing up, I thought 'it's rice, that's no dessert'! I thought if it's not chocolate, how dare it call itself 'dessert'. But, something to do with getting older and missing home...I set about to make my own version and the results were so warm and comforting. I am an arroz con leche convert.

Coconut Rice Pudding with Pistachios and Pears

makes 4 servings

1/2 cup arborio rice
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup whole milk (I used rice milk)
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
Zest of half a lemon
pinch of salt
Bosc pear, thinly sliced
pistachios, chopped
brown sugar for topping

In a small saucepan, combine the rice and water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes until water is absorbed by the rice. Add the coconut milk, whole milk, sugar, vanilla bean, lemon zest and salt. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes until it thickens.

Serve the rice pudding lukewarm with the pears, pistachios and brown sugar.

A belated b-day celebration

I had my dear friend Marina over last week for a catch-up-finally lunch a little bday surprise. I had missed her bday (as I am absolutely so bad - terrible - not good at ALL at remembering bdays). To make it up I decided to make her these indulgent chocolate pots de creme as I know she looooves chocolate.
Here is to you Marina, best wishes always and many many more to come - Besos.


Chocolate and Raspberry Pot de Creme

1 cup coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream (I actually used Half and Half b/c I had it at hand)
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
1/3 cup pure sugar cane
2 organic egg yolkd
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (or chips)
Fresh Raspberries

Bring the coconut milk, cream, vanilla bean and half of the sugar to a boil. Pour this over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate is competely melted.
Cool this mixture a bit (I put it in the fridge if I am in a hurry)

In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar. Temper the hot chocolate mixture into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Strain the custard through a fine sieve.

Place some raspberries into ramekins and pour the custard into them. Place the ramekins on a sheetpan and bring this to a preheated 300F oven.

Place the sheetpan in the oven and pour hot water in the sheetpan. Bake the pot de creme in the water bath until center is set about 35 minutes, check at 20. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

Red Lentil Soup

The other night along with Mr. a, we went to this wonderful book launch and tasting event (pictured above) for "The Essential New York Times Cookbook" and "In The Kitchen With A Good Appetite" With Authors Amanda Hesser and Melissa Clark. We ate copious amounts of delicious bites from well known restaurants including Blue Hill, Gramercy Tavern, Locanda Verde to name a few. The event was to benefit an incredible program started by Bill Telepan, Wellness in the Schools. It took place in a cool chelsea market space and the place was peppered with food-literati-celebrities. I met Dorie Greenspan (yay!), and both Amanda Hesser and Melissa Clark. I thought I could not possibly leave without a book purchase and I went with Ms. Clark's book given the lower price tag. She was lovely by the way.
Looking through the book her Red Lentil Soup seemed like the perfect fall dinner and it did not disappoiint. It was a lot of soup so I froze half, also I added some grated ginger and Aleppo pepper I had at hand. Hope you enjoy!



Red Lentil Soup with Lemon
Adapted slightly from In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite, by Melissa Clark

4 Tbsp. olive oil, plus additional good oil for drizzling
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
A few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne or Aleppo pepper, or more to taste
2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups red lentils, picked through for stones and debris
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Add the onions and garlic and cook until golden, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the broth, 2 cups water, the lentils, and the carrots. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover the pot and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Continue to cook until the lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste, and add more salt if necessary. Using an immersion or regular blender, puree about half of the soup. It should still be somewhat chunky, not completely smooth. Reheat if necessary, then stir in the lemon juice, grated ginger and cilantro. Serve the soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted very lightly with cayenne, if desired.
* I also added some avocado slices into the soup at the end as a garnish, it was yum.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

a poached salad for lunch

I had my friend Carol over the other day for lunch. It was a lovely sunny autumn day and a light poached salmon salad dressed up seemed perfect for the occassion. I ran into this recipe as I was reading through one of my favorite food blogs. It was delicious! I only adapted it slightly, breaking down the raw edge of the shallots by soaking them in lemon juice a few minutes. I always think this is better than the raw oniony taste. Enjoy!

poached salmon salad with crumbled feta, chickpeas, and crispy capers. (mustard horseradish dressing)
recipe adapted slightly from what katie ate
Ingredients
10 oz salmon fillet
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp black peppercorns

2 large handfuls of baby arugula
1 small shallot thinly sliced soaked in lemon juice and pinch of salt (to take edge off)
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
5 oz good quality Feta cheese
3 tsp salted capers, well rinsed
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
1 tbsp mincred fresh horseradish
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (or dijon)

Procedure:
Into a medium-sized saucepan place 3 cups of water, the peppercorns and lemon juice, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to infuse flavors. Place raw salmon fillet into the pot, cover and take off the heat. Set aside for 15 minutes. By the end of this time, the salmon will be cooked. Allow to cool to touch then remove salmon using slotted spoon and flake into pieces.

Using a large flat platter (or bowl if you prefer), scatter the baby arugula, shallots, chickpeas and poached salmon then crumble the feta cheese on top. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan and when sufficiently hot, add the capers and fry for a few minutes until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Sprinkle crispy capers all over plated salad. Season with a pinch of sea salt and a generous amount of black pepper.

To make the dressing:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and drizzle over salad.

Kitchen Love

Hello! Welcome to another series of drool-worthy-dreamy kitchens. Enjoy.

First two images via Lonny. Last three via Desire to Inspire