11 B

11 B is on 11th street at the corner of Ave B. The name is of the restaurant is very straightforward and so is their pizza. It's simple NY style pizza. The crust is thin, but not paper thin (like Gruppo). It's the perfect amount of cheese and the tomato sauce is just right. A large cheese is $14 and will satisfy 4 people easily. As simple as this is, it screams, "I am a perfect New York pizza!" If and when I ever leave this city, this is the kind of pizza that I will miss the most.

5 Napkin Burger

So we finally made it into 5 Napkin Burger. They opened one up in Union Square about a month or two ago and we decided to check it out. We had the classic: 10oz. custom ground beef, caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, rosemary aioli, and a soft white roll. It was soooo good! Curtis thought it was a bit salty, but since I love salt I disagreed. The fries were good too. I was starving when we sat down for dinner and beyond full after eating this. Oh, I also had the margarita to go with this. It was tasty, but came in a martini glass. What the? IMO the beverage wasn't worth the $9. The burger was worth every penny.

Meatloaf

I went all Betty Draper on it tonight (Mad Men reference for those of you who don't know) and made a meatloaf. I had to use my own recipe since my friend Zoe never gave me hers! That's right Zoe. I called you out. :) This was good - had a kick to it that we both enjoyed. I made it all homey by serving it with mashed potatoes and corn (cut from the cob).

Ingredients

• 1 c bread crumbs
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and broken
• 18 ounces ground sirloin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 c shredded carrot (which I didn't have)

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup catsup
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Dash Chipotle hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.  In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, powdered garlic, black pepper, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, chili powder, and thyme. Mix well.  Combine the onion, carrot and minced garlic in a separate bowl and mix well. Then combine that bowl with the ground sirloin and then with the bread crumb mixture. Season the meat mixture with the kosher salt. Add the egg and combine thoroughly, but avoid squeezing the meat.

Pack this mixture into a 10-inch loaf pan to mold the shape of the meatloaf. Onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, turn the meatloaf out of the pan onto the center of the tray. Bake for 35 minutes or until inside temp reads 155 degrees.

Combine the catsup, cumin, hot sauce and honey. Brush the glaze onto the meatloaf after it has been cooking for about 10 minutes.

Carribean Coconut Tilapia

If you want to get technical, I've made this and posted about this before - but it was WAY back in 2010 and I don't think you guys read my blog like that so guess what? It's back! Oh, and I gave you step by step photos this time. YAY! You love it... This is a crowd pleaser - I know because back in 2010 I made it for like, my whole family - grandmother, uncle, cousin, parents - everyone enjoyed it. Except they were a little weirded out with the lemongrass. I don't think they knew what it was. I served my fish over couscous but you can use whatever you want. (e.g. last time I used rice).

To do this too you will need:
Lemon Grass, 4 - 5 stalks, quartered
Cilantro, 4 tablespoons finely chopped
Coconut Milk, 1 10 oz can
Onion, 1 small whole chopped
Butter, 3 tablespoons
Garlic, 3 tablespoons
Tomato Sauce, 1/2 cup
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Favorite fish, 4 large steaks

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. In a small sauce pan heat up onions, garlic, and butter.

Saute for two minutes, pour in tomato sauce and cook for two minutes.

Pour in a can of coconut milk, cilantro, lemon grass, salt and pepper. Turn off heat and let sit.

In a baking dish place the fish and pour coconut sauce over top. (You can't even SEE my fish! HA!) Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes or until fish is fork tender. Tip: Don't eat the lemongrass!

Greek Couscous Salad

I love Greek salad, but I make it so much sometimes I get sick of it. I saw a similar recipe on a box of couscous so I took it and I made it my own. This was my lunch today and I thoroughly enjoyed it! You could add chicken to make it a heartier meal but I didn't have time. I should've though. I may not have eaten 2 girlscout cookies and a bag of chips later if I had a more hearty lunch. DOH!

You need:
1 package Plain Couscous
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/2 c green and red pepper chopped
1/3 c red onion, chopped
3/4 c crumbled feta cheese

Make the couscous as directed on package except omit the butter/oil and add pepper. Combine everything and let chill overnight or for at least 4 hours. Stir in cheese before serving.

Note: I added cucumbers to mine when I also stirred in the cheese. It was great!

Sabor de Mexico

If you find yourself craving Mexican at lunch time near WTC, then you should probably just go here. This place doesn't understand portion control. At all. I decided to be "healthy" and get the burrito bowl. Ha. Let's see: cilantro and lime rice? Check. Pinto beans? Check. Shredded chicken? Check. Salsa verde? Check. Chunky tomato salsa? Check. Sour cream? Check. Cheese? A little, but yes, check! Oh and there's some lettuce in there too so BAM - now it's a salad. Genius. If you're not a fat cow you can split this with someone and it will lower on the scale from "Horrendous lunch decision" to "Slightly horrendous lunch decision".  I'm just kidding. It's not THAT bad for you. There was lettuce, remember? I mean...it could be worse. It could be a 20 piece nugget.

Homecook Heidi

 We hung out with friends last night to watch a movie and our lovely friend, Heidi, made us dinner. The chicken was heritage (like the bird we ate on Turkey day) and it was really delicious. She bought her marinade from Fresh Direct but I forgot what it was called. The peas and rice made it feel nice and comforting - like something I ate growing up. I ate it all - even the peas! (Ok, half the peas). 

This salad was so simple yet super delightful. I loved the yellow cherry tomatoes and the shredded cheese (I think it was Parmesan). It doesn't look like it, but the greens were perfectly dressed in a light dressing and mixed well. I hate it when salad dressing isn't evenly distributed over your greens. Thanks for dinner neighbor! :) Oh, we brought dessert but since it was store bought, it wasn't blog worthy.