Spicy Chicken Chili

Yesterday was quite the lopsided eating day.  I had breakfast around 11 and ate lunch at 5.  The lunch was fantastic – a delicious Lucky Chicken Sandwich, fries and a chocolate chip cookie.  I would have taken pictures, but I was starving and besides you’ve seen it before. J

A 5pm lunch meant that it wasn’t until 10pm that I realized I might be hungry again.  Rather than going to bed hungry as I often do, I decided to whip up a quick chicken chili.

1 chicken breast, cubed

2 tsp olive oil

¼ cup red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 15oz can diced tomatoes (I used one with tomato, green pepper and celery)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

5 tsp red chili powder (adjust depending on your tolerance for spice)

¼ cup chicken stock, optional

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp cinnamon

1 jalapeno, sliced

salt and black pepper to taste

Directions below the fold

Kitchenette Uptown

After an enjoyable dining experience in Philly, I was excited to return to New York and continue my good eating streak.  Once my train arrived, I made a quick stop at my apartment then raced over to Kitchenette to meet my mentee Ms. A.  After rescheduling and postponing a few times, I was happy we were finally able to get together.  We waited outside in the brisk October weather for quite some time before being called for our table.  Kitchenette has an insane rush on weekends from about noon – 1:30. 

When we finally sat down I was a little nervous because the menu was printed differently and I thought that meant the contents had changed. Luckily, my favorites were still in there.  I ordered the Lumberjane and recommended either the Farmhouse or Lumberjack to Ms. A.  While you may wait a while for a seat, you certainly don’t have to wait long for your food.  My Lumberjane was out within a few minutes.

Two thick slices of French toast, 2 eggs any style (hard scrambled for me!) and two pieces of the best homemade turkey sausage ever!  I was in food heaven! Kitchenette truly does have the best turkey sausage ever.  I recommend digging into it right away because the freshness when it’s warm is unrivaled.  The French toast was very thick and sweet.  Ms. A’s Lumberjack also arrived pretty quickly.

Her two mixed berry pancakes topped with strawberries looked amazing.  She also agrees that the turkey sausage was fantastic.

It was great meeting and chatting with Ms. A and of course stuffing myself silly with delicious eats from Kitchenette.  If you’re ever in the Morningside Heights neighborhood and craving brunch, this is definitely the spot to go to.  Almost makes me miss being in law school.

Hungry yet?

Ritz Carlton Philadelphia

After the Friday night “dinner” and Saturday morning “breakfast” I was hardly impressed by the cuisine at the Ritz.  I was glad I had such a fabulous lunch and could really care less what they had to offer at our closing dinner.  I arrived at the cocktail hour with low expectations for the hors d’oeuvres.  I was pleasantly surprised with the various options.  While I was unable to take pictures – didn’t want my coworkers asking too many questions – I assure you the offerings, which included shrimp wonton, California rolls, chicken satay, salmon tartare, short ribs and fresh mozzarella with cherry tomatoes, more than lived up to my expectations.

After about an hour of chasing around the servers to maximize my intake of shrimp wontons and California rolls, it was time to head down to the dinner table.  The salad was already waiting for me.

The usual mixed greens, a sprinkling of cranberries, shredded carrots, a couple of tomatoes and a sherry vinaigrette.  It was so cold in the dining room and I wasn’t in the mood for a salad, but this was pretty good.  Many of the people at my table cleaned their plate.  I was waiting for the entrée.

Slowly but surely our plates were cleared and I started watching the surf and turf plates pass by.  I was pleasantly surprised, because I really didn’t think they had it in them.  Finally, my entrée arrived.

Two (rather small) pieces of Chilean sea bass, a red pepper sauce, scalloped potatoes and one small tomato.  The sea bass was perfectly cooked, the sauce tasted remarkable and the potatoes were perfect.  While I didn’t quite lick my plate, it was definitely clean, save the lone tomato.

This dinner was strikingly similar to Ms. O and Mr. M’s wedding, though the ballroom was certainly not as nice as NYAC and while I enjoyed spending time with my coworkers, there’s nothing like the company at the wedding of your childhood friend J After dinner, we went back upstairs for dessert.  The dessert set up was excellent.  I HAD to take pictures, but was reluctant because I didn’t want any questions.  Luckily, my buddy Mr. A’s wife snapped some excellent shots.

The crème brulee was by far my favorite dessert.  I only wish they had given me a spoon not a fork so I could have completely cleaned out the contents of the little plate.  There were several other treats that I didn’t get a chance to try, but that doesn’t mean I’d pass up the opportunity to let you see for yourself.

Some sort of strawberry shortcake treat

Fruit tart

Chocolate!!

I believe these were eclairs, but I didn't try them so not sure.

It's not a party unless there's fondue!

Congratulations Ritz Philadelphia, just as I was about to give up on you, you redeemed yourself.  Hopefully next time, you'll do better. 

Hungry yet?

El Vez - Philadelphia

I fully intended on posting food news yesterday but in truth knowing that I would be out of town this weekend means I had less motivation to compile the list. (sorry!) I'm in Philadelphia for a firm retreat.  We are staying smack in the middle of Philly at the Ritz-Carlton.  I was initially excited because of the potential for delicious treats at the hotel, but that was quickly dispelled during our reception last night.  Breakfast this morning wasn't much better.  So for lunch, I set out on a little adventure to El Vez.

I read about the restaurant on Urbanspoon and figured if it was number 10 of all the restaurants in Philly, it had to be pretty good.  It was a surprisingly sunny day in Philadelphia so Ms. F and I sat outside.  Our server was very attentive and helpful in letting us know her favorites on the menu.  We started out with the "Indian Red" Lopez guacamole.  The guacamole is made with the usual ingredients and spicy crab, cilantro and salsa roja.

It's served with warm tortilla chips and red salsa.  The guacamole was amazing!  Fresh avocado, red onions and tomatoes mixed into a creamy delicious texture and topped with crab and salsa roja.  There definitely could have been more crab but I wasn't complaining (too loudly).  The chips were also really good and I definitely ate more than I intended.

Shortly after we started dipping into the guacamole, our Open Faced Shrimp Quesadilla arrived.

Looks just like pizza right?  This quesadilla contained oaxaca and chihuahua cheeses with pasilla chile sauce, red onions, jalapenos and of course topped with shrimp.  Woweee! This quesadilla was incredible.  Although it had tons of cheese, it somehow didn't taste too cheesy.  The onions and jalapeno added a nice contrast and bit of spice to the cheesy flavor.  Yup, I was definitely a big fan!  Once we devoured our quesadillas, our Sea Bass Tacos arrived.

The tacos were served with sweet potato puree, grilled scallions and fried jalapenos.  The sea bass was seared and sat on top of the sauce.  I was pleased with my first bite, but as I continued to chew, I realized  there was an odd taste that I wasn't ready to taste.   Somehow, they snuck a hint of cinnamon into this dish! Crazy yea? It actually worked pretty well but I needed the jalapeno to help cut through the sweetness.

After that taco, we were looking for something spicy.  Our waitress informed us that spicy isn't really their thing at El Vez and she recommended that we try the Duck Gorditas.

The presentation definitely looked good.  The gordita was stuffed with duck confit and chihuahua cheese.  It was topped with some combination of nuts and poppy seeds and served with pickled cucumber and mole negro.  I was so full by the time this arrived that I was only able to eat a small portion.  It was REALLY delicious.  I wish I could have eaten more but I could barely drink water let alone push another morsel into my mouth.

El Vez was definitely a good look and it's no surprise that they're currently ranked #10 Philly restaurant on Urbanspoon.  The service was on point, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was extremely lively.  Considering the track record at the Ritz, I'm happy I had such a delicious lunch so that way dinner won't matter much.  Although I must say, considering Eric Ripert owns a restaurant in here, they better step their game up!

Hungry yet?

Epicurious Entertains NYC - Lunch Break @ Soho Mansion

My love for food is no secret.  My desire to attend food events is also pretty public considering my weekly food news post.  While I want to go to almost all the events I list, it wasn't until yesterday that the stars aligned and I was actually able to make it.  I signed up to attend the Epicurious Lunch Break at Soho Mansion.  While I've had a pretty hectic week at work and I wasn't sure I would make it, I figured it would be better to buy the ticket and miss out than for the tickets to sell out.  As soon as I got the chance, I darted out of the office and arrived at the Soho Mansion about 20 minutes later.

I walked in and was immediately thrilled that there was no line.  I went up to the third floor and was excited at the scene.  The desserts were the closest table, but I resisted the urge and instead explored. 

Much to my dismay, the vast majority of offerings were beef or pork.  Obviously I was not able to indulge in these delightfully looking treats, but that doesn’t mean that I would leave you without images of them.

Club Style Panino with bacon, smoked turkey, tomato and cheese

Pork Tacos

Mini Hot Dog with Kimchi from Asia Dog

There was also a vegetarian display from Mimi’s Hummus.  I had every intention of trying it out but never quite got around to it.

Didn't catch the name of this interesting dish

More from Mimi's Hummus

After circling the tables and seeing all that beef and pork I was THRILLED to see Pies n Thighs.  I’ve read about this restaurant before and could see myself taking trips to Williamsburg just to get a small taste. 

They served their chicken on a biscuit in miniature form.  It was amazing! A splash of hot sauce and some other white sauce was in there too.  I definitely ate at least 5 of them.  

After feeling like I had a solid amount of food in me, I decided to tackle the dessert tables.

The displays were great and while I wasn’t able to eat every thing I saw, I did sample the mini red velvet cupcake, chocolate chip cookie, cinnamon graham cookie, pumpkin whoopee pie and pumpkin whoopee pie.  All the desserts were remarkable and I was so sad to leave. 

I waddled my way back to the office and could barely think about food for the next couple of ours.  I was thrilled that I could escape from the office even if I was only able to eat fabulous treats from Pies n Thighs and the magnificent desserts from One Girl Cookies and Baked by Melissa.  There are still other events going on this weekend, including a taste of the dishes you can expect at Red Rooster by Marcus Samuelsson.

Hungry yet?