Matzo Brie and Cabbage

These recipes are amazing on their own and together.  Plus it’s Passover and you need to eat.  So buy some (kosher for Passover) matzo and try them out.

Matzo Brie

There are five million ways to make matzo brie.  The recipe below keeps the matzo in large piece and allows it to fry a little.

• 1 piece matzo
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1 t oil
• salt, pepper, granulated garlic to taste

Brown onions in pan with oil.  While they are cooking, hold piece of matzo under warm water for 15-30 seconds, flipping from side to side a few times.  Take browned onions out of pan and place in bowl, trying to leave any extra oil in the pan.

Place matzo in center of pan, allowing to fry for about a minute.

In bowl with onions, add eggs and seasoning to taste, whisk together.  Pour over matzo and let sit until eggs begin to solidify.  Cut into quarters with spatula, then flip each piece and cook for about 30 second more.  Enjoy or…cover and place aside, then make a side of cabbage!

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Easy Sauted Cabbage

• cut onion and cabbage (any way, any amount)
• 1 or 2 T soy sauce
• 1/4 C water
• garlic (I used crushed) (optional)
• Sriracha sauce to taste (also optional)

In a medium-hot frying pan add a tiny bit of oil (if you made the matzo brie before, skip this step).  Add onions and garlic.  Just when they start to brown (about 30 seconds), add cabbage and water.  Mix around for a minute, add soy sauce and Sriracha, cover until desired softness (probably one or two minutes more).  Serve next to your matzo brie, as a side to dinner, or a quick snack.

Happy Passover!

Grandma's Matzo Ball Soup

Last night I enjoyed a seder at my grandma’s house.  It was so nice to see the family and cook for hours with my mom and grandma!  Plus I have yummy food for the next week.  I think matzo ball soup is the best snack on a rainy day (and my grandma’s recipe is amazing).

Sushi at Oishii

After making reservations through OpenTable, my boyfriend and I went to Oishii for lunch on Friday.  The atmosphere at noon was relaxed but still romantic and sophisticated.  Our waiter was also knowledgeable and attentive.  And…it was Restaurant Week!

The miso soup was the best I’ve had anywhere in a restaurant.  It was served in tall teacup-like bowls with a tiny soup spoon that forced us to enjoy the soup very slowly!  It was delicate but hearty, which is a theme that carried throughout my entire meal.  My favorite part of the soup were the nameko mushrooms.  They were like little juicy, unexpected presents.

Then my Kaiseki Lunch arrived (left to right in image below).  There was hot somen noodle soup, grilled miso black cod, steamed broccolini with sesame dressing, seaweed salad, salmon avocado maki, spicy tuna tempura maki, fried tofu, and shrimp and asparagus tempura with dipping sauce.  My boyfriend ordered the grilled chicken donburi with teriyaki sauce.  I tried some vegetables and rice and thought it was too sweet, he said the chicken was a bit dry.  He enjoyed it, but I was glad to have the variety of my choice…

my delicious (mini) eight-plate lunch

Brunch at The Blue Room

Yes, today is March 10.  Some time has passed since Valentines Day, but keep reading, this is entirely relevant as The Blue Room serves brunch every Sunday…

I’ve been wanting to visit The Blue Room for about a year.  Even though it was (a very busy) Valentines Day, the atmosphere was the perfect combination of relaxed and refined.  The music was great, as I expected from the wonderful music on their website.  The website is beautiful, something I can’t usually (near ever) say about restaurant websites.  Sometimes I pull up their website just to listen to the music.

Okay, I don’t typically like buffets, but because of problems The Blue Room didn’t have.  The food was fresh (serving dishes were directly in front of the kitchen) and served in small quantities, there was a good variety of foods, and I didn’t feel gross after the meal!  It’s kind of strange to show a picture of the plate I put together, but I need to provide an illustration, so:

My combo

There was a nice selection of vegetables, fruit, starch, fish, and meat – the most memorable were fish – we had ceviche that was delicious and the salmon was perfectly moist and flavorful.

Did I mention the desserts were amazing?  Every time I tried one I was sure the next wouldn’t be better, but then it was, in a completely different way.  The truffle was a melt-in-your-mouth version of chili chocolate from Lindt, one of my favorites, the rice pudding had a great flavor, but was a tad dry, the bread pudding was AMAZING and definitely had a good amount of rum (and I thought I didn’t like bread pudding…), and the cheesecake was so creamy with a fresh hint of lime.

(clockwise) spicy chocolate truffle, rice pudding, rum bread pudding, lime cheesecake

I need to go back for dinner – and wine, they have a great selection.