Cherries are one of my favorite summer fruits; as soon as they come into season I always make sure I have them in my fridge. So it goes without saying that cherry pie is my favorite of all fruit pies. This recipe is all from-scratch, and trust me, it’s worth it! I used to be intimidated by making my own pie crust from scratch, I thought the whole process was too involved and tricky. After doing it several times, and improving each time, I realized it’s actually very easy, you just need to understand the golden rule of keeping all the ingredients cold. Only use as much water as you need for mixing the dough. It also pays to make some room in your freezer for the pie, so you can put it in there 10 minutes before putting it in the oven. This will ensure that the crust stays intact and the sides don’t droop.
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Matcha Coconut Energy Balls
Matcha and Coconut are two of my favorite things. It was only a matter of time before I put the two together to create a satisfying treat. These energy balls are raw vegan, and come together in a matter of minutes. Matcha ( a special form of green tea from Japan) has many health benefits and also gives you a boost thanks to the caffeine. Matcha is made from high quality tea and the leaves are ground down into a fine powder. Because whole leaves are injected, this makes Matcha a more potent source of nutrients than green tea. It is rich in antioxidants that can help prevent cancer and heart disease, and can help to regulate sugar levels in the body.
Tramezzini NYC Preview
Last week I was fortunate to get to preview the offerings at Tramezzini’s first brick and mortar location on the Lower East Side. Tramezzini began their business as a vendor at the weekend food fair ‘Smorgasburg’ in Williamsburg and Prospect Park and was founded by brothers Filippo and Massimiliano Paccagnella, and their friend Davide Pedon, all hailing from Venice, Italy. For those of us not yet in the know, a tramezzino is an Italian sandwich made with soft, white bread with the crusts removed.
Black Sesame & Chia Seed Granola
I grew up in New Zealand eating toasted muesli with milk for breakfast. I never liked the untoasted kind, it just didn’t taste as good to me. As far as I know, we didn’t have granola, that was more of an American thing (which I didn’t discover until adulthood). Both muesli and granola are made with nuts,…
Cha Cha Matcha
It had been on my list for a while to try the ‘Special Swirl’ soft serve at Cha Cha Matcha. Every month they introduce a special flavor that is swirled with their matcha soft serve. This month’s flavor is vegan Tangerine Dream. Located on Broome Street in Nolita, the cafe showcases the flavor of authentic Japanese Ceremonial matcha.
Cha Cha Matcha was founded by recent New York University graduates Matthew Morton and Conrad Sandelman. The two met while studying business management and hospitality and both had a fondness for matcha. Morton is the son of Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton. They wanted to see if a matcha bar would be viable in New York so they traveled to Japan to visit small, independent tea farms and decided to partner with one in Uji, outside Kyoto. The goal was to create a matcha blend that was smooth, with more caffeine (to appeal to New Yorkers) and less bitterness. Since opening in April 2016, Cha Cha Matcha has enjoyed great success, with long lines extending out the door every weekend.
Sweet Offerings at Levain Bakery
Ever since I moved to New York City back in 2012, I’ve been enjoying Levain’s famous monster cookies. My go-to flavor is the Chocolate Walnut. But for whatever reason, I’d never tried the Oatmeal Raisin cookie ($4). Big mistake on my part! This cookie really holds its own, alongside the chocolate versions (there’s also a Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, and a Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip). The Oatmeal Raisin is rich and buttery, with the signature chewy center and is full of juicy raisins.
Hot Cross Buns
Hot cross buns are a staple at my house during Easter. My Mum is a big fan of them, however it wasn’t until I became an adult that I got a liking for them. I was one of those children that used to turn my nose up at anything with raisins in it. I’d eat the raisins by themselves, but if they were in a muffin, I wouldn’t touch it. How times have changed! Now I can’t get enough of cinnamon raisin bread and hot cross buns.
Salted Peanut Butter Cookies
If you read my food reviews, you’ll recall a recent post about Ovenly and how sinfully delicious their baked goods are. Especially their salted peanut butter cookies! I was so taken aback with how good these cookies were, that I knew I had to find the recipe and try to recreate them myself. Well I did it! It wasn’t such a hard task, thanks to Ovenly having this recipe in their cookbook. Smitten Kitchen featured the recipe on their website, so I was only a short amount of time away from having these amazing cookies baking in my oven.
For this recipe to be successful, you need to use a processed peanut butter such as Skippy or Jif. The natural peanut butters are too runny so don’t be tempted to make these cookies more healthy. Just enjoy them for what they are: pure peanut butter heaven. To achieve the shape seen in the photos, you will need to use a cookie scoop. Freezing the dough is mandatory if you want to get the pretty striations on top of the cookies.
This Pie Is Nuts
This Pie Is Nuts is a range of healthy pies and granola, which are free from preservatives and are nourishing for the body. I first tried these delectable pies at the Bryant Park Holiday Market and I got to meet the pie creator herself, Diana. The pies come cutely packaged as individual squares and the flavors are Key Lime, Chocolate Mousse, Purely Pumpkin, Coconut Cream and Sweet Potato & Ginger.
I chose a Key Lime pie and a Coconut Cream pie. The Key Lime was definitely my favorite, with its zesty tartness mixed with creaminess. Pie perfection. The Coconut Cream was really luscious, with flakes of unsweetened coconut adorning the top of the pie.
Authentic Isan Thai Food at Larb Ubol
Larb Ubol, in Hell’s Kitchen, serves up authentic Isan Thai food that will have you coming back for more. Isan, a region in northeast Thailand, dominates the food scene across the entire country despite containing only 30% of the population.
I ordered the Larb Moo (pork) salad ($9), which consists of finely ground pork, shallots, fresh mint, scallions, cilantro, chili powder and lime dressing. Larb is a Thai salad, although instead of a vegetable salad, it’s a meat salad. If I’d never had a taste explosion before now, this dish would definitely cause one. Upon first bite, I exclaimed ‘wow!’ It was like being hit in the face with a fish. But in a really good way! The flavours in this dish really delight the senses: you have spicy, salty, sweet and sour all in the same plate. Make sure to order a side of sticky rice.