Candied Orange Slices

Autumn into winter is high citrus season, which meant nothing to me until I saw a delicious recipe for candied, chocolate covered orange slices this past Wednesday. When chilled, these slices provide the perfect blast of refreshment after braving the humid, sticky weather that often embodies a NYC September.

After drooling over it all day, I rushed to my favorite green grocer, the Gourmet Garage on 96th and Park, picked up 2 Valencia oranges (these work best as they have a thinner peel), 80 grams bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips (I know someone who swears by Valrhona but either does beautifully), and rushed home to begin my experiment.

The first part of the process hinges on having a good, sharp knife on hand, so you end up with consistent, beautifully thin slices of orange without destroying the soft bits of the fruit. Then cut each slice in half (this is a much easier to handle portion size but using whole slices helps keep the fruit on the peel if you are nervous). Once you are done slicing up the oranges, set aside and combine two cups water with one cup sugar in a deep pot (a copper bottomed pan will spread the heat most evenly throughout the process) and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil. Once the sugar water combination is boiling, turn the heat to its lowest setting, place the orange slices in the pot (the water should be just covering them) and place a piece of non-stick baking paper over the top (this helps the steam escape so your oranges won't turn into marmalade). Leave the oranges in the pot, on low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Once done, remove from heat and use a slotted spoon to transfer the slices to a pan lined with more non-stick baking paper. The next step? Leave the oranges along for a good 5 hours! NYC is especially humid right now, so I let mine stand for an extra day.

Once the 5-17 hour period is over, pour 1 cup of the granulated sugar into a bowl, using a fork to gently coat each orange slice in it, and put back on the pan (replace the baking paper if the used sheet is soggy). If the oranges are still kind of wet feeling, cover the pan with aluminium foil and freeze for an hour. When the slices are ready, place your chocolate chips in a double boiler (aka heatproof bowl seated on top of a pot of water) and heat the water on a medium-high heat, taking care to stir the chips as they melt to prevent them from burning. Hint* if the chocolate starts to melt too quickly, reduce the heat or you run the risk of the chocolate separating into cocoa nibs and cocoa butter. When the chocolate has melted evenly, use tongs to gently dip each orange slice into the chocolate and place on a fresh sheet of baking paper. To speed the process of the chocolate setting (becoming firm and smooth), I put my tray back into the freezer (uncovered) for an hour and they were ready to serve. These will keep in the freezer, in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Next step: enjoy and brag that you can candy something!

Ingredients:

- 80 grams semi- or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 oranges
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups water

Weekend Update

This weekend, I wore polka dots, leopard print and snakeskin - all in one outfit, went to a Cher concert and witnessed Cyndi Lauper rocking out with Liza Minelli and Rosie O'Donnell, ran a 10K for kidney health in the UAE and drank red wine that smelled like brussel sprouts.

The outfit actually garnered several compliments (someone famous, can't recall who, once said "if you're going to take a chance, you might as well go big"), the Cher concert was so majestic that there are no words, the race was odd but fun and the wine was pretty good....once you got past the smell of veggies.

My mix was a bit brighter but it totally works!

Memorable places from the weekend are:

• Berry Park (Great beer selection and the Park Fries are delicious!)
• Smorgasburg (They have two locations but the Saturday edition in Williamsburg is my favorite)
• ANYplace Cher is
• East Harlem Cafe (A tiny coffee shop on the edge of Spanish Harlem with super cheap iced coffee and scones, located conveniently close to Central Park)
• Gourmet Garage (A foodie haven on 96th and Park, perfect for picnic in the park prep) 

The Best Margaritas in Midtown

I met up with a friend yesterday for  my Cinco de Mayo margarita at Sinigual, a Midtown Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately, the rest of Midtown had the same idea. My oh so heroic friend then stepped in and whisked us away to POD 39. My first thought was - pod - that's a Japanese pod hotel right? Now I love sushi but it's not among the normal 5th of May traditions i'd ever heard of. Turns out they actually have one of the coolest bars in Midtown.

For those of you that work in the area, we all know that saying you found a 'cool bar in Midtown' is sadly ironic and kind of sad in general. For anyone from out of town scratching their head at this statement, Midtown is where most of us come to pretend we're grownups and play at finance, non-profit, etc... It's deserted after business hours and the bars are generally happy hour spots on the way to fun dinners in other parts of town. However, I will amend that statement to say that POD 39 makes a mean margarita and has a wait-list of 60-90 people by 6 pm for the rooftop bar (I highly recommend you check it out).

Only one word of caution - the margs are super strong! Not that i'm one to drink and tell but take it easy you're first go 'round.

Cheers and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

X

Southern Weekend

Last Saturday, I spent far too much time in a large, straw hat, sipping on mint juleps in honor of the Kentucky Derby in NYC! Who would've guessed that some of the best BBQ I'd ever find would be in Brooklyn? Check out Mable's BBQ in Williamsmburg and stop in at the Brooklyn Brewery while you're in the neighborhood. Now it's time for a cool margarita in honor of Cinco de Mayo!

Expat Musings of a Southern Soul

This morning, I awoke to a text from a very good friend, asking me why the last post on this site was from 2 years ago. While I can't believe it's been two years, the answer was simple enough - I stopped because the desire to write and the feeling that my views could be of any value to the outside world vanished.

I left London for NYC by way of Dallas, TX two years ago and left my entire basis for writing - an expat in London - behind. When the dust settled and I finally had the time to re-vamp and re-configure my viewpoint, I found that I didn't have one I felt that strongly about anymore. So instead of filling your notifications with useless gibbering about how wonderful NYC is, I took a hiatus. 

That said, I promise that I haven't come back because I suddenly feel like writing another Sex and The City, NYC hopeful blog - no one needs that crap. Nope. Apparently, this girl, who spent the past 20 something years running from her heritage, has secretly been VERY Southern this whole time and after two years, I am ready to admit and embrace it.

So let the Kate Spade, BBQ, country music, and sweet tea worship begin. My Vera Bradley embossed cards are on the table and I am ready to bring an annoyingly bright and sunshiny piece of the South, mixed in with a jumble of confusing traditions from my other countries, to the rest of you.

Ps.To the friend that called me out and brought me back - Thank You 

Light and Love

Many people have asked why it is that I stopped writing and disappeared from the blogosphere for so many months.  My first answer was that things had ceased to make me happy so I simply had nothing to write about. 

Life has changed drastically, many times over, since last I posted and while this statement was honest, it was too simple.  Rather, I seem to have lost my way and instead of subjecting you to all the gory details, I will instead talk about the international network of family and friends that helped me back to where I now stand.

I don’t think we ever realize how truly blessed we are by these networks of love and light until whatever crisis we are dealing with is so big that we cease to give anything back.  Instead, it becomes a one-way relationship of unending support, met by the same bleak, negative, pit of despair response.  Far from self-pitying, it is simply that hard to see past the darkness sometimes.  But coming out on the other side of it and realizing that it was those who love you most that kept you going, regardless of what you couldn’t give them at the time, is truly humbling and inspiring.

So instead of describing my woes and the harrowing adventures that brought me here, I would like to thank my family and friends for their endless support and say to you, that it is because of your love and belief in me that I can once again begin to stand on my own and believe in myself.

In short, I am back, no, I have arrived at a new beginning; not because of what I experienced but because of the people who helped me through it. 

Thank you.  I cannot think of a better way to kick off the Christmas season than to acknowledge that I would not be the same without you.

Merry Christmas

~ Let your faith be bigger than your fear; faith in yourself, faith in the unknown, and faith in others.

Things I Should Not Have Done

Cooking is for once, among the ill fated categories of things better left alone; specifically cajun cooking.  I can cook a basic étouffée, crab cakes, and the best beignets you've ever had but mention the word cajun and expect 'chargrilled' instead of 'blackened' and 'roof-of-your mouth burning' instead of 'mouth watering.'

What my 'cajun blackened, trout po-boy,' should have looked like...

We all have that one thing we just cannot cook or bake and sadly I attempted mine this past evening.  What started out as an attempt to throw proverbial caution to the wind and master my food nemesis, ended up a, for once not chargrilled, but overly salted and peppered, fried trout mess.  Being my stubborn self, I ate it anyway as it was not completely inedible and jubilantly ran it all off this morning.

What it more closely resembled.

I bring this to light, not as an adventure or inspirational feature but as the comical musings of a sleep deprived grad student, obviously just close enough to the edge of crazy to cook something that I know will end up looking like the charcoal it was supposed to be grilled over.

I think i'll leave the cajun food to the experts and happily wander back to my soups, salads, non-blackened main dishes, and of course, baking : )