Natural Beauties.

I took off from work the weekend of my birthday and had a little bbq with my sister. {Happy B'day Deeje!} As I was running errands before the bash I passed my local farmer's market on 110th & Manhattan Ave. This is the thing about working weekends, you have to dilute yourself about what you're missing out on. I was grateful to be able to stop by if even for a little while. I picked up a stunning bunch of golden carrots. 

I was so in awe of this beauties that I wasn't quite sure how to prepare them. I had also never eaten golden carrots before. So I decided to keep them light and simple to get a true sense of the vegetable. This was definitely the way to go. I first tasted a light sweetness grounded by a strong earthy flavor.

Head Game. 

I made a glaze of garlic olive oil, organic honey, cinnamon, & kosher salt. Then I drizzled it over the sliced carrots and tossed them around a bit. Lastly, I hit them with some black pepper for color contrast and a bit of zip.

Honey Roasted Carrots over Brown Rice w Ocean Perch

RIP.

The music world suffered two major losses this week. Amy Winehouse passed Saturday and Joe Arroyo passed just yesterday. Although from very different genres both musicians were influenced by black music and each of them struggled with drug abuse. While they'll be missed, I hope their souls are finally at rest.

Food Crush.

Ah Mr Bittman {cue dreamy music} . . . I must admit, I have a little crush on the man. When I see his videos on the NYTimes my heart flutters, my mouth waters, and I get all giddy inside. What can I say, the man can cook!

His recent dish was a creamy leek and garlic pesto pasta. Now as you folks know, I regretfully don't eat bacon, so I had to come up with an alternative option to make my dish pop. Low and behold, wild salmon was on sale this week, haaayyy! {You'll be seeing a lot of it by the by}

While Bittman's recipe is minimalist, it's not easy peasy. Especially when you've got a few burners going in a 90 kitchen. It was well worth the effort in the end though. 

Leeks! Dudes, make sure you clean them very throughly. 

Slice them in half a rinse downwards to get rid of dirt and sand. 

I lightly seasoned the wild salmon with some kosher salt & pimenton. 

First of all, this is my Cuisinart. This introduction is well overdue. 

Inside my friend is the leek & garlic pesto. 

Put the pesto back in the pan you sauteed the leeks & garlic in. 

You'll add the pasta and some pasta water to complete the dish.  

Hello Lovely. . .

Yeah . . . this is the shit you don't get to see . . .

Here's to the Ladies Who B'day Brunch. . .

Ms C's 30!

Who knew 30 could look this good?

Photo shot by the Unforgettable Ms Glendy B Rivera.

Barclay's Center, BK.

"Experience is Not Enough."

Worker's Glove

"Transformer mixtape says if God blesses you with opportunity USE IT"

Taco Time.

It's summer, it's grossly hot, there's so much cool shit going in the city. Who wants to sweat it out in the kitch all day? I made two different taco styles. The first is a steamed shrimp taco with yellow peppers and carrots. The second is a veggie beef taco with shredded carrots, sauteed red onions, and corn.

Both are topped with a simple fresh salsa made from plum tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, freshly chopped garlic, lime juice, and salt. Light, filling, and I barely broke a sweat. {Ha, yeah right. Not in my hot ass apt!}

  Lastly, let me say,what a difference 11 megapixels makes.

Shrimp Taco w Fresh Salsa

"Beef" Taco w Fresh Salsa

It looks like this blog is about to get a whole lot more delicious!

Jason & PG