New York State of Mind

It's been well over a year since I contributed to this blog, and I have to admit, I really missed it! I've decided it's about time you all knew what I was cooking again and so, consider it resurrected!

A lot has changed since the beginning of this blog. It started in an ill-equipped kitchen (thank you dorm life), then moved to a small kitchen (kudos off-campus apartment) and now, it's moved to a new city...and an even smaller kitchen. But, that kitchen is all mine :) I now live in Queens, NY in a studio apartment on my own, and now that I'm an "adult" with few obligations other than my full-time job, I've got plenty of time for cooking. I must say, more time allows for much better cooking.

In bringing this blog back, I decided not to finish my initial goal of cooking my way through Giada's "Everyday Italian" (Unfortunately, my budget will not allow me to buy lamb and veal and other Giada-y foods). Instead, you're just going to hear about what I cooked that night and maybe a little about my day and my musings on life.

Like tonight for example, it was a Shrimp Scampi night. This recipe is my usual I'm-really-hungry-and-need-food-in-ten-minutes meal, because it usually only needs the amount of time needed to cook pasta. I didn't really follow a recipe, and as always, I improvised a lot.

As the water boiled for the pasta, I seasoned the shrimp with salt and pepper and chopped my garlic. Thanks to my mom (and our shopping weekend), I now have a knife sharpener PLUS my chopping skills have greatly improved, so chopping garlic isn't nearly as tedious or messy as it used to be (like getting most of it on my hands and having garlic hands for a week).

I heated a pan over medium heat and tossed in the butter, coating the pan and being sure not to burn or brown it (I have Cooking Mama to thank for those skills, you don't mess with her eyes of fire). After it all melted I added the shrimp. It's hard to believe that two years ago I would've dry heaved at the thought of shrimp. Now, I honestly can't get enough of them. It helps that they're easy to make and don't take long to defrost or cook. It also helps when you buy the peeled kind so you don't have a repeat of this.

Next I added the chopped garlic and tossed it all about, and then flipped all the shrimp. This was all within a two-minute span where I frantically grabbed items from cabinets and the fridge because (as usual) I didn't lay everything out beforehand. If you saw my counter space, you would understand why.

Once the shrimp were completely cooked, I removed them from the pan then hit it with some white wine ( Yellowtail Pinot Grigio: cheap enough that I can afford it, but doesn't come in a box). I had to add a little more butter as well (I never said this was a healthy dish), and I let it all cook for about 30 seconds. I then tossed the cooked pasta into the pan to thoroughly coat it with the sauce.

Top it with the shrimp and bam! Shrimp Scampi! Super easy. And notice how nothing went wrong? I've come a long way from Rachael Ray-ing my way up a flight of stairs with cooking supplies in tow and eating at my desk in my dorm. Granted at the moment I'm eating on my futon at a coffee table, but you do what you can.

Because I was feeling super domestic tonight, I also made chocolate chip cookies. When I moved in, I had somehow forgotten my most prized kitchen item, my red KitchenAid mixer, and when my mom visited this weekend she brought it to me. I couldn't very well let it sit there unused. And so my co-workers will be treated to some Random Tuesday chocolate chip cookies.

Speaking of my mom's visit, it was mostly centered on finding decorations for my apartment, but me being me, it also revolved around food. We were sure to hit up my local bagel place, we browsed Chelsea Market, stopped into Max Brenner for chocolate, had lunch at S'Mac, and grabbed ginormous slices of pizza at Dani's at the end of the night. We also walked over five miles in Manhattan and ran three in the hills of Queens (who knew Queens had hills??). Needless to say, my apartment looks great and I'm glad I got to visit/revisit some old/new NYC favorites.

I think that pretty much covers tonight. I won't be updating this every single night, but frequently enough. Stay tuned :)