Tri Traveling Foodie

Over the years, many of my friends from other countries and states have come to visit me. I've taken them around NYC to all the tourist locations and hidden gems. I have finally perfected the way to site see in NYC in order to make the most out of every day. I'm going to share with you my basic guide. You should plan to spend at least 3 hours or more at the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty.  I would go early in the morning to the Statue of Liberty because the lines can get quite long. My guide goes in order from the top of Manhattan to the Bottom. 1. Central Park- Strawberry fields. On a nice day you can row boat in the park for an hour. Alice's Tea Cup 72nd/ Central Park Avenue is right next to the park and perfect for an afternoon tea, snack, breakfast or lunch. 2. Columbus Circle. Walk down fancy 5th Avenue/ Park Avenue 3. Times Square 42nd and Broadway. From there head to Bryant Park, Grand Central Station, and Rockefeller Center. In th

Bacalao Ingredients: 1 pound Dry Salted Cod Fish 1 Yellow Pepper diced 1 Orange Pepper diced 1 White Onion sliced thinly 4 Ripe Tomatos diced Dash of Red Pepper Flakes 1/2 tsp. White Pepper 1 tsp. dry Thyme 5 cloves of garlic pressed or chopped finely 2-3 tbs. Olive Oil Preparation: Soak the Salted Cod Fish in Cold water for 48 Hours before cooking. The water should completely cover the fish. Change the water every approx. every 12-24 hours. I use a large plastic container with a lid on it and keep it in the fridge. I tend to change the water before work and and after work for 2 days.  This removes the majority of the salt from the fish. Otherwise it will be TOO salty.  I cook the dish on the second day of soaking.   Directions: In a large pot, saute the the yellow pepper, orange pepper and white onion over medium heat for 5 minutes with olive oil. Add the pressed garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, white pepper and thyme. Saute for 2 more minutes and stir often. Ad

I bought a bag of dried split fava beans from my local Mediterranean store last week. Today I was in the mood for some soup. I saw the bag of beans and started to create a bean soup.  It was very basic, but delicious. After I made the soup, I decided to google some other recipes with fava beans. Little did I know, I had just made a version of Bessara! Bessara is a traditional Moroccan soup. Ingredients: dried split fava beans 16oz 1/2 diced large white onion 1 carrot diced 1 stalk of celery diced 4cups chicken stock (unsalted) 4cups water 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp Turkish Seasoning (Penzey Spices- follow the link below for information about the spice)  https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/turkish-seasoning/c-24/p-492/pd-s Directions: In a large pot boil all the ingredients together until the beans are soft (approx. 1 hour). With a slotted spoon scoop the beans, carrots, celery and onion out and put in a blender or food processor.  Once everything is ble

I made this simple pasta pasta dish tonight. It is light and very flavorful, and it doesn't take much time at all to prepare. Ingredients: 1 fresh bunch of spinach washed and cut 1 pound of pasta (any style works) 1 (10 oz) box of fresh orange tomatoes diced garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste sweet balsamic vinegar and olive oil 1 pound bag of frozen (already cooked ) shrimp Directions: Thaw the shrimp ahead of time. Cook the pasta  according to directions on the bag.  In a large bowl, place the fresh cut spinach.  When the pasta is done cooking, put it over the spinach. cover the bowl with a plate to keep it warm, and the spinach with cook quickly (10 minutes approx.). Add the shrimp to the bowl, and stir all together. Add a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, dab of balsamic, olive oil, and 1/4 cup of water that was left over from cooking the pasta. Stir again.  This pasta dish can be served cold or warm.  Enjoy! Let's travel to new places

Dinner parties with my group of friends have become quite epic. Some of us love to cook, and all of us love to eat well and drink fine wine.  Conversation over great food and drink never gets old. A few weeks ago, my friend Judy made this salad for one of our dinner parties. I made the same salad tonight but added my own slight twist to it. It's light, fresh, perfect for a warm day, and it's easy to make. Ingredients: 1 bag of frozen corn (Non GMO Verified is what I used) 2 ripe avocados diced 1 ball of fresh mozzarella diced 1 bag of wild frozen (already cooked) shrimp 1 container  (10 oz) of fresh orange tomatoes cut in half 3-4 lemons olive oil salt and pepper to taste Directions: Thaw the frozen shrimp this can take some time. To speed up the process, soak the unopened bag of frozen corn in cold water for about 30 minutes. Cook the frozen corn according to the directions on the bag. While the corn is cooking, dice the avocados, mozzarella and cut the littl

  My friend Anika and I met last year in Barbados. She is from the Bahamas and I am from New York. While out to dinner with mutual friends, we started talking about yoga, food and cooking. We exchanged contact information to keep in touch. Six months later we both were planning our trip to Trinidad for Carnival.  Anika and her husband Ryan knew this was my first trip to Trinidad for Carnival, and included my friend and I in All their plans (along with 17 of their other friends).  I was so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful group of people.  We had an absolute blast at Carnival. After we got back, Anika was visiting her mom. She left her mom's house, and started to head home. Then realized she wanted to send me some traditional, authentic recipes from the Bahamas. She reversed the car, and went back to get the cookbook (Gourmet Bahamian Cooking by Marie Mendelson and Marguerite Sawyer). She shared over 16 recipes with me.  I was overjoyed! Mas- February 2015