Creating a holiday dinner for 2 people (with all the fixings) is not as hard as you might think! Whether you live a long way from family and can't make it home for a holiday or you just don't have a large group to cook for, you should never shy away from creating a hearty meal to celebrate. This year, I couldn't make it home for Rosh Hashanah and I was totally bummed! It is in a tradition in my family to always have a delicious festive meal with chicken, green bean casserole, mashed ... [ Read More ]
Archives for September 2014
ABC’s The Taste: My 2nd (sort-of) Brush with Hollywood
Recently, I thought it would be fun to give auditioning for a cooking show another try. This time, I saw that ABC's The Taste was coming to Chicago and figured why not! I headed over to the "cattle call" like audition with my famous Ancho Chile BBQ Chicken tacos topped with a tangy tropical guacamole and caramelized onions. Basically, I had 3 minutes to plate my dish for the judges and then talk about it with them for a few minutes. Long story short, my confidence shined and I was asked to ... [ Read More ]
Apple Cheddar Biscuits w/ Honey
Happy Rosh Hashanah! For those of you who don't know, I am Jewish and my favorite part of my culture is all the food we get to eat around the holiday time! Tonight, I am cooking a small Rosh Hashanah dinner for my fiancé and I and I wanted to serve something really special to commemorate the new year. As a Jewish tradition, we are supposed to eat apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah to symbolize the hope for a sweet new year! This year, I wanted to honor the tradition while integrating my ... [ Read More ]
Swiss Diamond: Diamonds are a chef’s best friend!
As someone who loves to cook, I’ve tried every pot, pan and cooking utensil on the planet. I thought I used the best of the best, until I had the opportunity to try Swiss Diamond cookware. It all started when a friend of mine, Chloe, invited me over for dinner. She isn’t much of a cook, so she planned on ordering out. When she asked me where we should order from, I told her that we should cook something together instead! She reluctantly agreed and we headed out to buy the ingredients to make ... [ Read More ]
S’mores Dip
S'mores Dip. I know. Amazing, right? Who doesn't love a delicious S'more? When done correctly, the melty chocolate, chewy marshmallow and crunchy graham cracker creates an insane tastebud utopia. How did I come up with creating it in dip form? Let met start from the beginning... For a recent Sunday Football party, I got assigned desert. I'm admittedly not much of a baker (and I didn't have a ton of time either), so I decided to get inventive. I had s'mores material in my house from a ... [ Read More ]
Roasted Tomato & Mozzarella Quinoa Salad
Coming off of my raw/vegan cleanse, I really wanted to continue eating healthy. I'm totally obsessed with quinoa so I set out to the farmers market to find some yummy ad-ins and create a new and inspired dish. Low and behold within a few minutes at the market, I found these gorgeous cherry tomatoes and some decadent fresh mozzarella. I knew in that moment that this new quinoa dish was going to be amazing! When I got home and started to prep, I realized I wasn't really in the mood for a ... [ Read More ]