m-m-m-my mojito

So I was browsing FoodNetwork's website and saw this super simple recipe for a frozen mojito. I think it's by Bobby Flay.

It just takes simple syrup, some mint, some lime and lots of ice (and rum!).

You make simple syrup in a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water and just boil it till it all dissolves and goes clear.

My roommate said she hated me because my mojito came out way better than the ones she'd made for a party then asked me how I did it. It was damn good and the rum was cheap, but it's the best tasting cheap white rum I've had. $10 bucks for a bottle that size... how can you go wrong? How could you not want to get drunk off of that?!


I dunno!

pork chops in a mustard curry sauce over red beans in coconut rice

So I went to visit my parents on Sunday and took down the wallpaper in the bathroom for them. I decided to bring over some food too so I cooked 4 pork chops then made a sauce with onions, brandy, spicy brown mustard, a few dashes of sweet curry powder, chicken stock and thyme (with a pat of butter just cause). I garnished it with a ton of cilantro and had limes on the side to squeeze over.

This was placed over kidney beans (canned) that I'd boiled in a can of coconut milk with one pig tail, some hot pepper and a few other things. I added rice after the pig tail was cooked through.

I "plated" it in the tupperware I was taking over to the 'rental units.

I also brought along some "not yo' mama's banana pudding" by Paula Deen. This time I used these butter cookies in a tin from Rite Aid since they were there and on sale. Those are two words I really use a lot to justify my purchases.

Of course since the bottom said they were "made in China" (which I love things made from but freaked out about possible melamine contamination) I called a Rite Aid rep at almost midnight to ask if it was ok to use them.

It's ok. I already know I'm crazy.

bananas roasted in coconut milk with pecans & ice cream

This actually looks better than it tasted, for once. I need to cook the bananas longer but not let them burn to a blackened heap which is what happened to the REST of the dish and why I didn't take another picture. I'll try this again someday. It was still mighty tasty, though... but next time I'll leave the liquidy part out of the coconut milk so that it doesn't become soupy!

West End? Psh... it's all about Havana Central now.

When I was in undergrad the West End was the go to bar for most of the frats and sororites on campus... which means I rarely set foot in there. I can see the appeal of shot girls and jello shots with whipped cream on top and slipping around in someone spilled something, but I'd rather do that in one of the bars down in the Village.

A while back this place turned into a cuban restaurant called Havana Central. In its earliest incarnation I visited and was mighty underwhelmed.

Now that I'm back in the neighb and always up for giving a place another chance I've changed my tune.

This is a media noche. It's a cuban sandwich (ham, roast pork, pickle, mayo, mustard, infused with deliciousness) on a sweet roll instead of the standard bread!

It was delish!

I also had some maduros (the sweet plantains) and for breakfast the next day at work I saved this little plate of chorizo with roast potatoes, onions and surprise cheese!*




THE WEST END | 2911 Broadway
(between 113th & 114th Streets)
Phone: 212 662-8830 | Fax: 212 662-9107




*Surprise cheese is cheese you don't know is going to be in your dish, but you're happy to find anyway.

don't skimp on the shrimp

I adore shrimp. It's delicious and as long as I don't have to devein them I'm happy to cook feasts of the curly crustaceans every week.

Here are two dishes I made a few weeks ago:

One is shrimp in a curried tomato sauce over linguine


and the other is sundried tomato pesto with shrimp over the leftover linguine from the first!