The Yum Project

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Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:33:32 -0500

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Wow. Your recipes are awesome! Thanks for sharing them here. :)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:51:19 -0500

thank you!

Finals time rolled around this last semester and everyone got...

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:11:00 -0500

Finals time rolled around this last semester and everyone got extremely busy. However, on one glorious Saturday morning, I got together with a few friends to make a breakfast feast! This is just a photo of part of the meal. The meal in its entirety included breakfast sandwiches with cheesy eggs, cream cheese, bacon and hollandaise, as well as french toast topped with nutella, “chocolate dreams” (something magical they sell at grocery stores - it is a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate), fresh fruit, cinnamon, whipped cream and maple syrup. Yes, this meal was not for the faint of heart…or for those with weak hearts for that matter. Regardless, it was great and perfect during stressful exam times, especially in conjunction with good friends.

The butternut squash ravioli I had earlier put me in the mood to...

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:56:00 -0500

The butternut squash ravioli I had earlier put me in the mood to have more! This time I tried making the ravioli from scratch. I went to a specialty ravioli shop right off of Arthur Avenue in Little Italy where I bought large sheets of pasta for my creation. In addition, I stopped at Casa Della Mozzarella on my way home and picked up some mozzarella. From all the many places in Little Italy, Casa Della Mozzarella definitely has the best cheese! I did not have anything to use for the cutouts so I ended up just using a glass cup to cut out the circular shapes. Making ravioli turned out to be very easy! I made a filling of both ricotta and mozzarella cheese mixed in with chopped spinach. Usually ravioli is filled with ricotta cheese. I don’t see why no one ever gets more creative with fillings! In order to piece together the parts I used eggs as a sort of glue and squeezed the sides together with a fork. In the end I had a lot of extra filling. I created a purpose for it by making spinach dip, simply adding a few more ingredients that I had lying around and baked it right up. The ravioli only took minutes to cook since the pasta was so fresh and I made a tomato cream sauce to go along with it.

Ingredients

ravioli

pasta sheets
chopped spinach
chopped garlic
salt and pepper
chopped mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese

tomato cream sauce

chopped garlic
chopped onion
chopped tomato
butter
ricotta cheese
parmesan cheese
cream cheese
lemon
salt and pepper

Spinach dip

chopped mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese
cream cheese
sour cream
chopped spinach
chopped onion
chopped garlic
salt and pepper
hot sauce
one egg
flour
chili powder

I’m confident that the meal turned out well. I sent some of the leftovers home with a friend who had never tried my cooking before and later received a marriage proposal in response! The collection begins…

Over Thanksgiving break, I was in Washington D.C. visiting...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:08:00 -0500

Over Thanksgiving break, I was in Washington D.C. visiting relatives not far from Fordham’s sister Jesuit University, Georgetown University. We went to a restaurant called Clyde’s of Georgetown where my mom worked while she attended Georgetown. The food was SO DELICIOUS! I had the french onion soup and a steak chophouse salad which I have been craving ever since. I made sort of a similar salad for lunch the other day. Its very simple. Just a wedge salad with bacon and blue cheese dressing. I cooked up some onions with the bacon and added that on top as well.

Ingredients

Iceberg lettuce
Bacon
Onions
Blue Cheese dressing

Another family dinner this time for ten! I decided to try my...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:05:00 -0500

Another family dinner this time for ten! I decided to try my hand at making homemade mozzarella sticks. However, instead of buying string cheese or cutting up mozzarella I bought the small mozzarella balls. I made a tomato and pepper dipping sauce for the fried mozzarella and also made homemade pesto rigatoni with garlic shrimp! The meal turned out pretty good, but there were a few things I would change. I was cooking for ten so I had to buy larger quantities than I am used to of most everything. I ended up not having enough sauce for the pasta so it turned out a little weak. I was also lacking sufficient cookware so I cooked the shrimp in a pot instead of a skillet. The result was that the shrimp were fine but not crispy since I couldn’t really saute them. The mozzarella and dipping sauce were definitely the highlight of the meal!

Ingredients

Fried Mozzarella

Flour
Egg
Plain bread crumbs
Oregano
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Powder
Chili powder
Thyme
Mozzarella
Vegetable oil

Dipping sauce

Chopped garlic
Chopped onion
Olive oil
Chopped tomatoes
Tomato paste
Oregano
Chopped fire roasted red peppers
Chili Flakes
Salt and Pepper

Pesto

Finely chopped basil
Chopped onions
Chopped garlic
Olive oil
One Chopped tomato
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Powder
Half and Half
Parmesan Cheese

Shrimp

1 1/2 lb Shrimp de-veined
Chopped garlic
Butter
Salt and Pepper

In order to make the fried mozzarella, I had to go through the breading process. I hadn’t done this since I was a little girl and used to help my grandma make chicken cutlets! The process was pretty easy and sort of fun but very messy. First, I rolled the mozzarella in flour to dry it and then dunked it in a whisked egg mixture. Finally, I rolled the cheese in a breading mixture that was seasoned with herbs and spices. I put the breaded cheese in the freezer for a few hours then fried it up in vegetable oil! The finished product was melty gooey cheese covered in a thin and crispy crust that was very flavorful. The dipping sauce had a punch to it too.

This is my new favorite sandwich. It was also gigantic. I did a...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:49:31 -0500

This is my new favorite sandwich. It was also gigantic. I did a little bit of a rendition on the classic BLT.

Ingredients

Italian bread
Bacon
Lettuce
Tomato
Avocado
Swiss Cheese
An over easy egg
Salt and pepper

Call it the post-Thanksgiving energy burst. I managed to be...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:37:00 -0500

Call it the post-Thanksgiving energy burst. I managed to be awake at 5 a.m. for the flight back to New York. By 10 a.m., I was back in my apartment doing chores which I finished by noon! I decided then and there that I need some comfort food after an already full day. I made a tomato basil soup with a little kick of spice. I also made some croutons to throw in the soup by cubing Italian bread, tossing it in parmesan and olive oil then baking it.

Ingredients

Chopped onions
Garlic
Chopped tomatoes
Tomato paste
Chopped fire roasted red peppers
Chopped basil
Flour
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Chili flakes
Salt and Pepper
Half and half
Finely grated parmesan Cheese
a pinch of oregano

This is one of my favorite dishes so far this year. One of my...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:52:00 -0500

This is one of my favorite dishes so far this year. One of my roommates tried it and she actually “laughed with joy” (direct quote from her) as she ate it…I’ve really never seen a reaction like that before but it was a big compliment! This is a classic autumn dish of butternut squash ravioli with sage butter and pork chops with applesauce. However, there are some modifications from how it is usually made. First of all, the squash is usually found inside the ravioli, but as I was unable to find any ravioli besides meat or ricotta, I decided to work with ricotta ravioli and add my own butternut squash. This worked out wonderfully because I love cheese. The other modification was that I made my own homemade applesauce. I like mine better than applesauce from a can because it is much fresher and more chunky instead of pureed.

For the squash I cut the skin off and then cut it into cubes. I boiled the squash for about 7 minutes and then quickly sauteed it in a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. For the sage butter sauce I finely chopped some sage and simmered it for a while in the butter to get the flavor out. When the ravioli was done cooking I mixed it into the sauce with the squash. The pork chops were seasoned in salt and pepper then cooked with a little red wine. The pork chops took FOREVER to cook! I much prefer thin pork chops to big thick ones, but they eventually cooked all the way through and turned out very juicy. For the applesauce I chopped the apples into very small pieces then reduced them with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a little salt.

Ingredients

Butternut Squash
Butter
Salt and pepper
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Apples
Ricotta ravioli
Chopped sage
One large pork chop
Red wine

Soup day! I haven’t made lentil soup before, but I’m...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:42:00 -0500

Soup day! I haven’t made lentil soup before, but I’m running pretty low on funds and the ingredients are not expensive. Also, lentil soup is really good for you! To get started I made a curry lentil rendition of the soup. It was very flavorful. I cooked all the vegetables together then added seasonings. I then mixed the lentils uncooked with chicken stock and allowed this to cook and soften in the broth with all the other flavors. The only change I would make next time I make lentil soup is to add a little tomato paste for more of that sort of flavor. I made such a huge quantity of this soup that this is pretty much all I will be eating for the next four days…

Ingredients

onion
carrots
celery
chopped tomato
curry powder
chili powder
salt and pepper
lentils
chicken stock
dash of red wine

Just look at this dish!! I felt the need to treat myself after a...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:33:00 -0500

Just look at this dish!! I felt the need to treat myself after a really long hard week filled with many papers and some quizzes. Surf and turf seemed appropriate for the occasion. Dinner was filet mignon with herb butter and garlic lemon shrimp. I really don’t cook meat very often and have definitely not made filet mignon before, so I figured this could get interesting. The meat was actually surprisingly easy to prepare besides the fact that it took a lot longer than I expected. It also made the apartment really smokey since we have horrible ventilation but it was worth it. I merely seasoned the meat with salt and pepper then cooked it with a little bit of red wine.

The shrimp, on the other hand, unexpectedly turned out to be the hard part though I make shrimp all the time! What I hadn’t realized however, was that I bought normal uncooked and veined shrimp…call me a cheapo but I did not want to spend $11.50 a pound for cooked shrimp! I just did not realize that buying raw shrimp meant I had to peel and devein it all myself. This process was so gross to me that I almost didn’t eat the finished product. Peeling off the shell was fine but I was disgusted by having to cut open the shrimp lengthwise and pry out the guts…yuck! My roommate encouraged me past my instinct to run and cheered me through the whole process haha. It also did turn out great so I shouldn’t complain.

Ingredients

10 ounce filet mignon
Salt and Pepper
Butter
Red wine

1/2 lb shrimp
butter
chopped garlic
1/2 lemon juiced
salt and pepper

Oops! There is a chunk of the sandwich missing because I was...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:26:00 -0500

Oops! There is a chunk of the sandwich missing because I was just so excited and in such a hurry to eat it that I forgot to take a picture first! I made this sandwich in a rush before class. It was delicious and want to make it again! The sandwich tasted like pizza because of the flavors I added. I also think that all sandwiches are made better if you add a fried egg on top :)

ingredients

cuban bread
garlic aioli
arugula
sliced tomato
swiss cheese
herbs de province
salt and pepper
one fried egg

I tossed the arugula in garlic aioli as if it were a salad dressing and then generously piled all the ingredients on the bread. After that I broiled the sandwich to melt the cheese and make it hot. I topped it with a fried egg and there we go.

I am officially a great 1/8th Persian!!! Now for the other...

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:42:00 -0500

I am officially a great 1/8th Persian!!! Now for the other fractional parts - perhaps Swedish is next. I am so so proud of myself to have finally attempted to make traditional Persian food. I always stayed away from it because I watched my family make it and I know how incredibly complicated it is as well as how easy it is to mess up. Many a time my mom who is neither Persian nor Swedish would make koobideh and it would come out dry instead of juicy and tender. It is also very easy to burn the rice or tadig…tadig is the crunchy bottom layer of rice in a pot made by cooking the rice in vegetable oil and salt. It is easy to overcook or undercook and sometimes sticks to the bottom of the pan. Anyways, there are actually a million ways you can go wrong in cooking Persian food but I am proud to say that I had a very successful first try.

I chose to make my favorite persian dish, chelo kebab koobideh with rice and tadig. I have craved this at least every week for the last two years but never get to eat it! It’s so surprising because manhattan is packed with who knows how many restaurants, yet very few of them are Persian and most of those that are, are in inaccessible locations. Anyway, I made the chelo kebab koobideh and it turned out well, I only made a few adjustments. Firstly, koobideh is a kebab meat made of ground beef and lamb mixed with various spices and lots of onion. You are supposed to shred the onion very finely and then mix all the ingredients together then let sit overnight. I did not have a grater so I chopped the onion. Next time I will make sure to have a grater. My one complaint about the finished meat is that the onion was visible instead of shredded into the mixture. Also, unfortunately it is really hard to find the spice sumac in the Bronx so I substituted a little lemon juice to get the bitter lemony taste. I also added a little turmeric. The other adjustment I made with the meat is that it is usually cooked on kebab sticks. However, I did not have any so I made koobideh meatballs instead! It worked out just fine.

The rice turned out fabulous. No complaints or adjustments at all. The tadig was a little more undercooked than I would have liked but it’s much better that way than being burnt because that would have ruined all of the rice. Also, it was pretty hard to get out of the pan but it still tasted delicious. I soaked the rice for a few hours and then boiled it briefly and steamed it in a pyramid formation in the pot. Lastly, when I baked the meatballs I also baked some tomatoes to go as a side dish for the meat and rice. Voila.

ingredients

basmati rice
salt
melted butter
vegetable oil
1/2 lb ground lamb
1/2 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 lemon juice
turmeric
tomato

Again the picture is bad, my camera died but I had to take a photo so I used my phone.

So these photos aren’t the best, but the soup was great!...

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:21:00 -0500

So these photos aren’t the best, but the soup was great! I’m going to call it a country mushroom soup. I made it really fast after finishing class and wanted to have something light before I went out and about for the afternoon. The soup was hearty and savory with a hint of sweetness. I topped it with gruyere cheese and ate it as soon as it melted!

ingredients

onions
carrots
celery
garlic
wine
mushrooms
brown sugar
herbs de province
beef broth
salt and pepper
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
flour
gruyere cheese

Another healthy and delicious lunch! This is my favorite way to...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:14:00 -0500

Another healthy and delicious lunch! This is my favorite way to prepare asparagus, I learned how to do it with my friend Hope in the 7th grade. We used to get into the craziest shenanigans! One of our favorite pastimes was to get together and blow all of our money at the grocery store and then cook, bake, or barbecue. Once we even made an almost one foot tall layer cake with homemade buttercream frosting complete with strawberry filling in between the layers and polka dot decorations. Looking back those things are kind of strange for 7th graders to be interested in.

Anyways, this asparagus was on one of our barbecue days. Its very simple, grill (or saute like I did this time in the absence of a grill) the asparagus in olive oil for only a few minutes. Sometimes when I eat asparagus it is really stringy and not very good to eat because it was cooked to long. I like to leave it so the vegetable is still bright green and crunchy. Plus, as a side note, the less you cook vegetables the healthier they are for you. Many vitamins and nutrients break down when they come into contact with heat so the less cooking = the better. After grilling for a few minutes I simply sprinkled it with sea salt and pepper then squeezed a lemon on top. The Spinach is just simple spinach sauteed in garlic and olive oil. The meal only took about five minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

Asparagus
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Lemon
Spinach
Chopped garlic

Lunch time! The other day I made this surprising little egg...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:08:00 -0500

Lunch time! The other day I made this surprising little egg meal. The reason it is surprising is because the meal did not turn out to be little at all. I had no idea that eggs expanded so much! You can’t tell from the photo but that “coffee mug” is actually gigantic…probably at least 24 to 32 ounces in size. In the end I was unable to finish the whole thing because I can only eat so many eggs in one sitting but it was still yummy.

Ingredients

3 eggs
Chopped spinach
Chopped tomato
Chopped garlic
Small diced mozzarella
chopped onion

I sauteed the chopped spinach, garlic and tomato then mixed all the rest of the ingredients together and baked it in a ceramic mug for about twenty minutes.

How refreshing does this look? This has been my breakfast every...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:04:00 -0500

How refreshing does this look? This has been my breakfast every day for about a week now and I love it! I am really trying to make a conscious effort to be really healthy with my eating habits…it is hard because after a long day I get stressed and all I want to do is make some comfort food. But anyways this is great! Usually I am really not that hungry in the morning anyways so this is a good and light start. The grapefruit is really fresh and wakes me up while the apples are sweet and the celery is really crunchy and also refreshing. The peanut butter makes the apples and celery more of a treat and also adds a punch of protein so I don’t get hungry again for a while. Very healthy breakfast if I do say so myself.

Casserole number two! This one is a broccoli cheddar casserole...

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:01:40 -0500

Casserole number two! This one is a broccoli cheddar casserole with peas and corn. Though i had meant it to be an emphasis on broccoli, while the concoction was baking it was actually the corn that seemed to have the most pronounced aroma.

Ingredients

Corn off the cob
Peas
Chopped broccoli
Egg noodles
Butter
Heavy whipping cream
Salt and Pepper
Onion
Garlic powder
Chili powder
Cheddar cheese

This was a fast pre-parade dinner that i made before we went...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:00:54 -0400

This was a fast pre-parade dinner that i made before we went into the village on halloween! It was a great night but this was pretty good too. Its veggie stuffed peppers with a creamy garlic sauced. i chopped everything up and let the flavors bubble together in the oven.

Ingredients

Two large peppers
chopped tomatoes
corn off the cob
chopped mushrooms
chopped onion
chopped garlic
Spinach
Milk
Flour
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Casserole! Its pretty weird that i chose to make this because i...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:32:13 -0400

Casserole! Its pretty weird that i chose to make this because i think i have only ever eaten casserole one time in my whole life. It was probably at least five years ago and i believe it was a green bean casserole made with cream of mushroom soup from a Campbell’s can and dried up crispy canned onion rings. So while i would classify this dish i made as a casserole it is sort of different since it was made with love and fresh ingredients!

Earlier in that day i had received an email from my dad describing his famous mushroom recipe. The gist of the recipe was that you saute mushrooms in lots of butter, salt and pepper than add cream and cayenne pepper. My dad and i share the same love for food and his description had me salivating for something creamy and hearty. I wandered the aisles of the grocery store and a package of egg noodles happened to catch my eye. Thus, an idea was born. I made this here mushroom, green bean casserole with a cheddar cheese crust on top and i have been craving it since then! Im contemplating making a broccoli cheddar and peas version.

Ingredients

Egg Noodles
Onion
Green Beans
Mushrooms
A Dash of Red Wine
Chicken Broth
Cream
Flour
Salt and Pepper
Chili Powder
Butter

I briefly steamed the green beans while i sauteed the mushrooms in butter salt and pepper. I added a dash of wine for some extra flavor, then when the mushrooms were done i added the cream and chicken broth. I put the egg noodles in the baking dish uncooked and put the chopped onions on top. I then poured the mushroom and sauce on top and added the green beans. I baked the mixture for twenty minutes then added the cheese on top and cooked for another ten minutes. The noodles were cooked to perfection because i had added so many liquids. The dish was also very flavorful since the noodles had absorbed the cream and chicken broth as opposed to being boiled in plain water.