Top 5 Summer Fruits

Summer is a great time to indulge in fruits and desserts. Be sure that these fruits are part of your summer diet!

Kittichai

Located in the heart of Soho in front of the Thompson hotel, Kittichai is extravagantly upscale and chic. An elaborate water garden in the middle of the restaurant with floating candles and orchid overhangs captures its grandiose cultural fusion. (Be careful of the bathroom though, the toilet spew out in a gust of fury, so I suggest you retreat back to the Thai sanctuary right after you're done your business.)

We got the tasting menu that you are read about here.

Taro, Red Bean, Green Tea

Taro, red bean, green tea - a trio of asian flavors. Do I need to say more?

I guess I will, or else you might be confused as to what this post about. Ice cream of course!

I sampled some more asian flavors, and thought I'd share them with you. One of which is my absolute favorite - red bean and taro - together. Though I'd rather have a creamier ice cream instead, a popsicle will do to jolt my energy on a lazy afternoon at work.

This ice cream bar is rather mild, without a lot of sugar or flavor. You can taste the distinct red beans prodding out of the popsicle though, which I thought is a very good thing. The taro you can't really taste, but they throw it in there anyway to wet your appetite.

Another sampling I did was Mr. Green Tea ice cream. This is perhaps the most robust and well balanced ice cream flavor I've come across in a long while, with the just right degree of sweetness balanced with the intensity of an authentic green tea flavor. Six thumbs up.

The choco-chip on the other hand dimmed in comparison next to the blazing green tea.

And finally - the red bean ice cream. Again, this was not that creamy or sweet, as most Taiwanese ice creams are. But there is a distinct red bean flavor and actual beans as you can see throughout the bar, which is a nice touch.

Despite a lack of mind-blowing taste, as least you're not packing in a lot of calories. I'd probably try some more exotic flavors next time, like lychee or even durian.

Delicious Desserts

Just enjoy the pictures and wish the images could pop into your mouth.


Poppyseed apple pie:

This tastes like health in the pie form, with lots of apples and a thick layer of poppyseed.

With real poppyseeds...and apples!

Chocolate Date Cake:

Really intense date flavor in an otherwise tiramisu like cake.

I love the chocolate shavings on the top!

Fig jam cookie

My favorite because the cookie is soft and chewy like a shortbread and the jam inside - especially when hot out of the oven - tastes like a sweet jammy pot of joy.

Apricot Compote Cake:

Apparently a Viennese favorite, these types of cakes are light yet heavy in cream. Texture is almost like a cheesecake, but with half the sugar.

Blueberry Compote Cake:

Healthy Treats

For healthy treats in the summer, you can't beat these:

Grass jelly pudding - a healthy concoction of grass jelly in a jellified form. It tastes like sweetened herb jello, which granted it is. Not bad for the price ($0.75/can) and taste (sweet but medicinal like).

This is the type of thing you'd be grossed out at first, but end up liking it because of its subtle and very healthy taste. It's a cooling thing in Chinese medicine to reduce inflammation or fevers.

Another big healthy treat is...

Lice - I mean rice - milk. Organic rice milk that is. Kirkland organic rice milk to be exact. This is the stuff that my parents buy by the cartons at Costco, and they gave me one to I guess to get more nutrients in my otherwise junkfood diet.

This one tastes just like watery milk, except without the milkiness. So I guess it tastes like water, but with a subtle hint of rice. It's pretty good I guess for the amount of nutrients (I'm assuming it's a lot). But I would really love to try making my own next time.

Green Bean Goodness

Every summer in the middle of a heat wave, I'll whip up this easy green bean soup to cool off from the heat. It's simple, tasty and healthy.

Whereas red beans provide heat, green bean is considered a "cooling" food to counter the yang (positive energy) in your internal system. Plus, it's low in saturated fats and high in protein and iron.* Some people even say it's a home cure for acne! 

Get the recipe here!

Secret to Crispy Wedges...Revealed!

Are you ready for this?

























Nah, I don't think you are.






















How about now?


















3....












2....














1....











Here is the secret recipe for crispy potato wedges that you will be making again and again and again!

Taco Truck

For those of you who know me, I love tacos. Especially tacos from the taco truck. Last weekend to satisfy my taco craving we headed over to the newly renovated El Ray taco truck.

I almost couldn't recognize the truck at first, because it was really newly purchased. A whole new model of truck without the usual El Ray signs. But at the front bumper there was the clearly marked Mexican flag.

There were only two guys manning it, and they seemed to be cooking up a storm. The customers before us ordered 4 boxes of tacos, and they were waiting for their endless sauces to go along with. We must have waited a good 10 minutes before our order was made.

We got a tostata with breaded chicken and a beef taco. The tostada was loaded with beans, veggies, tomato, and lots and lots of breaded chicken. I was surprised that their chicken tasted really good, the bread crust was just the right degree of crunchiness, the salad with flavor but not too much, and the beans that tasted like guac on top of the tostada.

Not sure how the beef taco went, but it was downed pretty quickly. I love you El Rey, why can't you be parked everywhere I go?


$
**** (4/5)

El Rey Taco Truck
3301 30th Ave
Astoria, NY 11103

Quick Quiche

What is better for lunch than a quick quiche? A grab and go meal that has veggies, protein and cheese (that's a separate protein in my food groups) all in one, you can't help but love it.

I got a spinach and cheese quiche the other day. It was scrumptiously crunchy with a thick layer of encrusted cheese on the outside, and a tangy mixture of spinach and soft cheese on the inside.

It was hard not to finish it all in one bite. Thankfully I had a cold so I couldn't wolf it all down.

What's your favorite quiche?

Very Berry Cooler

Summer is a great time for ripe, plump strawberries. Here is a great way to use up strawberries that are too ripe or going off.

Ingredients:

• 10-15 pieces of rock sugar (more or less depending on your preference)
• 15-30 ripe berries
• 5 cups of water

Instructions:

1. Wash berries under cold water to remove dirt. Cut into halves lengthwise, and then into quarters.
2. In a large pot, bring 5 cups of water and rock sugar to boil.
3. Once the water is boiled, drop in berries.
4. Wait until the water boils again, and turn down to a simmer for half an hour.
5. The berries will look pinkish and the water will turn red when it’s ready. Once cooled to room temperature, cover pot with plastic wrap and transfer to fridge for at least 5 hours. For best results, leave in fridge overnight.

Depending on the amount of sugar you put in, the drink could become very concentrated. To serve, simply mix in some water or Seltzer water to spruce it up a bit.

This is a great way to use any berries or ripe fruits, plus it can be stored in fridge for as long as you want!

I made this drink for Hubby and he gulped it down pretty quickly. Make sure to tell your loved one that it is pretty sugary, so have it in moderation (wow this sounds almost like alcohol!).