A Day for Eating Lots of Unhealthy Stuff

It's Valentine's Day. I've never really hated this holiday, but I don't usually do anything out of the ordinary for it. Today was no different, aside from writing a blog entry to catch you up on my last two weeks. Let's start early last week when I made possibly the best thing yet.

What you see above would not win the judges' hearts on Chopped (let's be real, it's a little too much of the same color all on one dish), but it was seriously delicious. Allow me to present Garlic Lemon Turkey Tenderloin with a side of Garlic Wine Rice Pilaf.

The turkey was the easiest part. It was a Jenny O pre-marinated one, and I literally put it on a pan and baked it for a little over an hour. I cooked some brown rice at the same time (which through many years of trial and error, and forgetting to put "rice cooker" on my Christmas lists, I have finally perfected), then began preparations for the pilaf.

I learned that rice pilaf is so good because it's packed with butter. The recipe called for instant rice, which I don't have, so as usual I had to make some adjustments. I zested a lemon and combined it with some fresh chopped garlic and parsley. I melted some butter (not nearly as much as the recipe required) then cooked the lemon, wine and parsely. From here, you're supposed to add in the instant rice, but instead I just poured it over and mixed it into my already cooked rice. I then cooked down some chicken stock and Pinot Grigio (the recipe wanted Vermouth, but I don't exactly have the most complete alcohol collection), then poured that mixture over the rice as well. Stir it all together, and you have pilaf!

I knew I couldn't just leave the turkey as is, despite its full flavor, so I decided to concoct my own sauce for it. Again, it started with butter (I swear I'm not turning into Paula Deen), and I added garlic and lemon juice. I thickened it with some grated parmesan cheese, which turned out to be delicious but tiring as I had to whisk it into submission.

The turkey was surprisingly moist even though I overcooked it a bit (I need a meat thermometer like crazy), and the rice was pretty unbelievable. In fact, I plan to make it again in the near future. Did I mention this meal provided at least two days of lunch leftovers? I consider that an all-around win.

This past weekend was most certainly a food weekend. Ryan came into the city on Saturday, and after Time Warner connected me back to the real world, we checked out a Thai restaurant one neighborhood over. Naturally, I went for the Pad Thai and was really into it. After saying at least three times that I was going to grab a take-out menu on the way out, I didn't, however not having one deterred me from ordering in tonight, more on that later. On our way to the restaurant, we passed an old school soda shop and were both intrigued and took note to stop on our way back.

That's the place above. I ended up going for one scoop of Maple Walnut ice cream on a sugar cone and did not regret it. I'm not really sure if they make the ice cream themselves or if I was gushing over Hershey's or Perry's, but either way I enjoyed it.

Sunday we decided to devote our afternoon to walking around and eating food. I can't think of many more things I would rather do. We started by trying a new bagel place on Queens Blvd. I prefer the everything bagels from my usual place, but they had good veggie cream cheese and toast the bagels so that the cream cheese doesn't fall out and run down your sleeve (past experience). We then picked up some coffee at Starbucks since we've yet to find a non-chain that's impressed us with their coffee, and moved onto the next place.

As I wait for the bus at the subway stop each night, I always end up looking into the window of the bakery on the corner, but have never decided to step inside. That all ended on Sunday. I finally bought a huge piece of baklava and, yes, ate the whole thing right there.

On our way back to my apartment, we stumbled upon a gourmet shop that I plan to revisit, then relaxed for the rest of the day until we made dinner. I pan-fried some chicken tenders (fresh of course, no the frozen kind) and shook them in hot sauce, and Ryan made some amazing Teriyaki fried rice. It was sweet and tangy, and had some crunchier parts where the sauce caramelized, which was my favorite part. What can I say, my boyfriend is quite the chef!

We capped the night off with some bubble tea from a sushi place on my street and I learned that Taro flavoring is delicious. And purple. The only issue I have with bubble tea is that I drink it in less than five minutes.

So that's been my food-centered life for the past couple of weeks. I'll be taking an adventure to the great state of Massachusetts this weekend and will report when I return!