When Motorino first opened in the East Village, I was pretty excited. I mean, it takes A LOT for me to go to Brooklyn, especially since I haven’t been there since…last February. Motorino has been on my list of places to try in Brooklyn, but it’s 1. kind of far and 2. even more difficult to get someone to leave Manhattan to go to Brooklyn for food. Luckily, Motorino took over the Una Pizza Napoletana pizza place a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t have to beg anyone to eat with me…instead, Lou happily joined me for a quick dinner after a jog around the East Village.
Motorino had a constant stream of people coming in and only one waiter taking care of everyone (the restaurant isn’t that large, so I don’t remember if there were multiple waiters when Una Pizza Napoletana was around), but we were seated right away because other people had left when they found out they had to wait more then 20 minutes. Our waiter came over to take our order and we decided to share an appetizer (octopus) and then each get our own pies.
I went with the Margherita:
The tomatoes were very tangy (and I swear I tasted pineapple) and the mozzarella was so creamy and delicious. The crust was also pretty amazing; perfectly charred, slightly crispy, and almost a hybrid between Patsy’s and John’s. My only complaint is that the mozzarella wasn’t distributed very evenly and there was one piece (bottom left) that barely had any on it.
Enjoying every bit of my pizza:
Obviously, I don’t believe in showering after running because eating pizza is more important.
Lou went with the Soppressata Piccante:
There were little salt crystals in the crust that flavored it perfectly and he loved the soppressata. I liked my pizza more (seriously, it was so good that I could’ve ordered another one).
The service was a little spotty; they forgot about our appetizer and charged us for it anyway and we ran out of water and asked for it twice before it was refilled, but the one waiter was definitely busy the entire night and was really apologetic when we asked him to take the octopus off our bill. Motorino has amazing pizza (slightly better than Keste) AND they deliver, which is PRETTY AWESOME. Go there now, you will definitely not be disappointed.
On Saturday morning, I was in the mood for waffles but didn’t feel like actually leaving my apartment, waiting for a table, or paying for anything since I have the ingredients at home. My mom bought me a waffle maker (because that is obviously a kitchen gadget you need…especially in NYC) and it was actually on the top shelf in my kitchen, but I pulled it out and got to work. I found a basic waffle recipe from a little Thomas Keller handout from Williams-Sonoma and basically followed the recipe (I didn’t use an entire stick of butter because I figured that would just be overkill).
Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups flour (I used whole wheat)
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, melted, then cooled
2 cups warm whole milk (I used 2% because that’s all I had in my fridge)
2 tsp. vanilla extract (sent over by the wonderful reps from Nielsen-Massey Vanillas)
3 eggs
Mix all dry ingredients together like so:
You’re supposed to separate the eggs so the egg whites form soft peaks, but I just wasn’t in the mood so I just whisked them all together:
Now add the eggs to the flour, sugar, salt mixture:
And add the butter:
Stir well!! The batter was pretty thick and I placed it on the waffle iron for about 5 minutes – look at the waffle creation I made:
And the perfect bite:
What do you have for weekend brunches? I love waffles, eggs, bacon, and anything sweet (which might explain my love for Norma’s)
The first time I made spaghetti alla carbonara, it was election night. I remember because I was going to watch the election results with some friends but the bar we were going to was too packed so we ended up going back to my apartment. I didn’t plan to have people come over for dinner, so I hadn’t adequately stocked my fridge, but luckily, I had all of the ingredients to make this amazingly simple and delicious dish. I found the recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Zen Can Cook.
Ingredients:
1 pound of whole wheat spaghetti (penne also works surprisingly well)
1/2 package Nieman Ranch bacon (purchased at Trader Joe’s)
1 cup Parmesan cheese (purchased at Trader Joe’s)
2 eggs (I initially was going to separate them, but it’s a weeknight dinner and I’m not trying to impress anyone!)
LOTS of black pepper, freshly ground
Step 1: cut up the bacon into bite-sized pieces (to make it easier to cut, stick the bacon in the freezer for a couple of minutes – it makes a huge difference!):
Nicely cut bacon:
Place the bacon in a frying pan:
Let the bacon cook for about 5 minutes (until slightly crispy) and when the bacon is almost finished cooking, place the whole wheat pasta in boiling water:
Once the bacon finishes, turn off the fire and set it aside. Let the pasta finish cooking and drain it. Place it back in the pot and add some bacon fat:
And bacon:
And also add your eggs and parmesan cheese. Mix it vigorously until everything is combined and grind up lots of black pepper:
The dish is really easy to make (it takes about 15 minutes total) and is great for an easy weeknight dinner.
Cost breakdown:
– 1 pound of whole wheat spaghetti: $0.99
– 1/2 package Nieman Ranch bacon: $2.75
– 1 cup Parmesan cheese (1 package for $4.49, used about 1/5 of it): $0.90
– 2 eggs (12 eggs for $1.99): $0.34
– LOTS of black pepper, freshly ground (this container was purchased at Costco and will probably last me forever): $0.05
Last week, I made a quick and easy naan pizza and even had the opportunity to use some of the basil that has been growing like a weed from the Aerogarden. This week, I haven’t had a chance to really cook at all (especially since it’s so easy to just walk to Whole Foods instead of actually cooking when I get home from work) but I do have plans to use the herbs…one of these days. I added nutrients earlier in the week and I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already, but I’ve changed the time the light turns on (so it’s not on when I’m sleeping because it is pretty darn bright). I also followed the instructions to lower the lights and trim all of the herbs so they wouldn’t be burnt and the herbs that were struggling before are all doing a lot better. This week’s update:
As you can see, the “mint” is growing out of control. I still haven’t placed the smell, but I rubbed a leaf or two between my fingers the other day and did not think it smelled like mint at all:
Some of the leaves (on the upper left hand corner) look like mint leaves, but the majority of the leaves aren’t as wrinkly as mint leaves should be.
The thyme still hasn’t been used, but is growing to the point that I have to trim it because it’s one big herb ball:
The chives have grown a lot since lowering the lamp:
So has the oregano:
The dill has surprisingly done a lot better since the lamp was lowered:
And the basil is already ready for another trim:
Check back next week for another installment (and cross your fingers that I’ll actually use one of these herbs!!)
I taped my first video review on Sunday and it was quite a lot of fun (although having a demo table that kept falling over was *not* as fun). I did a video review of one of my favorite new kitchen gadgets, the Sodastream seltzer maker. Sodastream sent me a free Genesis, one of the sleeker models designed to fit in small spaces, and I am so attached to it I want to take it with me everywhere I go!
The Genesis comes with 2 1-liter bottles with resealable caps and a CO2 carbonator that carbonates about 60 liters of water (depending on how carbonated you want your water to be). The sodastream is very budget friendly (it is much cheaper than the 80-some liters of seltzer I bought when we first moved into our apartment), good for the environment (no more going back and forth to recycle those water bottles or aluminum cans), and if you use flavorings, good for your waistline (you control the syrup meaning you control the amount of sugar intake).
Here’s my video explaining how to use the machine:
And, a picture of me getting ready to tape my video for Sodastream:
The machine retails for about $120 and you can purchase CO2 containers around the city (if you live in NY) or order them online through www.sodaclub.com.
Have you experimented with at home seltzer makers? What did you think of my video review – would you like to see more in the future?
