I watched the first season of Master of None in one day because of course I did, and besides being thrilled to have Aziz back on my TV, it was a refreshing and realistic yet funny look at millennial life in New York. Obviously it was also amazing for those who are into food and the restaurant scene and plenty of work was put in by journalists to find where they ate on the show. Of course I loved that focus, but when I had the idea for this blog, I remembered a scene that prompted a "challenge accepted" moment from this show. In "Mornings," when Dev uses his spaghetti maker to make a vegetarian version of carbonara for his girlfriend, Rachel, my mind went into overdrive thinking about how I could make that a reality. Part of carbonara's trademark is the smoky meat used in the sauce, so I did a bunch of research to figure out how to replicate it and combined a few recipes that would help make the absence of meat a little more exciting while still resembling the source material. Now, I'm determined to make the real thing (technically in the show he makes both!).
Read more#tbt Ross's 'I'm Fine' Chilaquiles [Friends]
This part of the Friends plot is decidedly not my favorite, but I've always loved this episode. Ross is at his Ross-iest and the less than compelling plot point of some of the friends switching significant others does make for some great comic elements. I also just love the idea of going to a Friend's (literally!) place and having a full on Mexican meal with fajitas and margs. It just seems so fun! I've seen this episode more times than I can count, and the line "That is going to HURT tomorrow!" is both delivered perfectly forever burned into my brain. I feel his too-many-margs pain when he wakes up on the couch the next morning, it's just a great fun and new-feeling way to get a majority of the group together in a scene. When my friend Sam suggested we make these veggie chilaquiles, I saw the skillet and Ross holding a hot pan with his bare hands instantly came to mind, so I fudged it a bit because it's a dish that can be either chilaquiles OR fajitas.
Read more#tbt Peggy's Upgraded Sad Desk Sandwich [Mad Men]
This is not a post connected to The Handmaid's Tale, or not really, but I'm SO EXCITED that it's finally here. Not only was the book amazing and I actually have faith in Hulu to adapt it faithfully, but the cast is also amazing. In the lead up to the premiere, I've been seeing a lot of Elisabeth Moss, and since I finished The West Wing and Mad Men is long over, I realized I really miss seeing her on screen in something new. I decided to culinarily revisit her in the form of early Mad Men, when Peggy was a lowly secretary living at home and brought a sad desk lunch of a sandwich and bruised banana to work. Since there's nothing appetizing about that, I took the liberty to give it an upgrade and left the banana behind.
When I was in high school, my best friend, Julia, invented this amazing sandwich. She takes after her mom in the sense that she's very good at "shopping in her fridge," assessing what ingredients she has and assembling them into something delicious (whereas, I almost always need a recipe as a guide just like my mom). What my friends now call a "Julia Sandwich" is simple and full of fresh and complementary ingredients. It's the perfect thing to look forward to for lunch at work and it's always reliable for a Saturday Netflix marathon lunch break with a friend or few. Just set up all the ingredients and let your guests make their own.
Read morePeter Gregory's Sesame Hamburger Buns [Silicon Valley]
Silicon Valley is one of those shows that's amazing and you are always reminded as soon as it's back and you can't wait for next week's episode. I love this episode from the first season, where awkwardness and tensions are high and we still don't know the characters and world so well. Eccentricities are common amongst the people in the world, and this scene with Peter Gregory and everything on the menu from Burger King was so memorable, I thought I had to celebrate the return of the new season of the show with the real subject of that scene. They seem kind of random on their own, but who doesn't keep a few buns on reserve in the freezer for burger night or one of those nights that you just have to go with a frozen veggie burger. I already had all the ingredients for these, so on one of those days, why not go with something homemade?
Read moreGus Fring's Los Pollos Hermanos Fried Chicken [Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad]
Breaking Bad had people wishing Los Pollos Hermanos was as pervasive as McDonald's, and Gus Fring was an amazing stoic villain. We're getting more of him on Better Call Saul, and there's lots of publicity to go with it (it's even coming to life!). Although that restaurant seemed more like a bone-in chicken type of joint, I was in the mood to eat some tenders. I'm not shy about my dislike for cooking with hot oil, so I dove yet again into oven frying. I found this great easy recipe that's practically fast food (minus marinading time), and they taste just as good as anything you'd get off a restaurant menu.
Read moreLiv's Spicy "Brain" (Shrimp) Flatbread [iZombie]
When iZombie was premiering, I was so excited Rob Thomas was coming out with a new show. I had recently binged Veronica Mars, very late to the game, and his new comic book adaptation sounded like a fun new take on his mid aughts high school detective show. It ended up being as catchy and endearing as its predecessor, with a zombie twist. Our protagonist, Liv, needs to eat brains to survive, and the show does a really fun take on this trope. Each episode dedicates some time to show how Live prepares her brains du jour, always with a clever new "recipe." Before I had the idea for this blog, this is something I wanted to replicate. Even though it's pretty gross when you think too hard about it, I appreciate that the writers/prop team takes the time to and creativity to highlight this trait in our zombie lead. The show returns this week for a new season, and I jazzed up a brain pizza she made in the first season, of course subbing brain for shrimp, the closest food I could come up with to take its place. I also made sure it had some spice because that's a fun palate detail of iZombie's undead. For all the "brain food" we see on the show, someone from the website Cactus Pop documented every dish.
Read moreJessica Jones's Revenge Chinese Takeout [Jessica Jones]
We all have those days where all you can do for dinner is park it on the couch and order your favorite Chinese feast, knowing full well it's way more than you can eat and likely all fried. It's delicious at the time, but 20 minutes later, your insides feel a little greased and it takes Herculean effort just to get up to put the lefties in the fridge. A friend of mine sent this recipe for sheet pan fried rice to me, and I knew I had to try it. I don't typically dabble in order-in staples, but this is a much healthier version of a delivery go-to, plus it's super quick, it almost seems too good to be true. When I thought about shows I've watched, a lot of them have good Chinese takeout moments, but I thought I'd assign this one to one of my favorite characters in recent memory. At the end of the first season of Jessica Jones (on Netflix), she tricks the season's villain, Kilgrave, into eating drugged Chinese food so she can take over her situation. It's such a badass move, and since Women's History Month is coming to a close, I thought it was appropriate to dedicate a dish to her.
Read morePhil's Not-Quite-Pool-Sized Margarita [The Last Man on Earth]
I'm behind on The Last Man On Earth, but going all the way back to the very first episodes, the show always had a fun look at food. Imagine, having access to perceivably all the food in the world to yourself! Well, we get a glimpse of that when we see the mess Phil has made, and his margarita pool is half disgusting, half fantasy. It's pretty gross to see him reclining in the oversized cocktail while he drinks from a comically long straw, but I have to admit on more occasions than one, after a particularly trying day at work, I wish I could order that size of cocktail directly to my couch. Since the show returned last night, and I've never done a drink on here, I thought it was fitting to make the first a margarita Monday.
Read more#tbt Serena van der Woodsen's Not-On-The-Menu Truffle Grilled Cheese [Gossip Girl]
My love for the first two seasons of Gossip Girl runs super deep. I watched the pilot live when I was starting my senior year of high school, and I remember this "grilled cheese with truffle oil" moment because I was largely unaware of what truffles were at the time (ha!). Of course, I knew it was fancy because it was Chuck and Serena and they were in The Palace, but then Chuck tried to use off-the-menu fancy grilled cheese as currency for sex and things were turned up to 100 immediately. After the pilot, they changed a bunch of things (like Chuck taking a limo everywhere instead of THE BUS (?!?!?!)), namely that he stopped being a sexual predator because...problems. Soon after the episode aired, the restaurant The Palace started offering truffle grilled cheese as a menu item for something like 15 dollars (or 30 for a soup pairing). I've always wanted to make one of my own, but the pressure honestly made me nervous. Grilled cheese is pretty basic, but this had stakes and I wanted it to taste extra special. Plus I have a bad habit of completely burning bread when I make grilled cheese. I added some extra flavors like crispy onions, used four cheeses and did A LOT of research on how to not completely burn the bread when melting the cheese. This came out delicious, flavorful, crunchy and cheesy on the first try. I may have teared up. xoxo....
Read moreChicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza [The Good Wife/The Good Fight]
Okay, so this is kind of cheating, BUT it's deep dish pizza so it's an automatic pass, right? Last year (in my old apartment with questionable lighting), I made this to watch the season finale of The Good Wife so we could celebrate with some Chicago fare to say goodbye to a Chicago-based show. Now that the blog is up and running and the spinoff, The Good Fight is up and running, I thought it was a great time to post this instant favorite. Although it's a huge oversight that (to my recollection) we never see them eat deep dish in the show, it can be inferred, right? I live in New York surrounded by amazing pizza, but there are times when deep dish pizza is the only answer. I was really nervous to try this out, considering when you go to the original Uno in Chicago, you order about an hour in advance, I thought the process invited more than one way to completely mess up. Turns out, it's time consuming, but I didn't have much to worry about and I was treated to leftover deep dish for days (it's just as good re-heated).
Read moreAwards Show Eats: SAG Awards / Freddy's BBQ cauliflower [House of Cards]
I know House of Cards is an old name on the awards circuit, and it wasn't a favorite to win at the SAG awards, but how damn good do those ribs look every time Francis goes to his former favorite spot?! Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright were both nominated, so I thought a veggie version of the politician's favorite DC eats would be a good way to enjoy my favorite awards show. Food from a political show felt right on this particular night, anyway.
Read moreI've created a muenster (mini) burger [Bob's Burgers]
I've been watching "adult cartoons" ever since I was probably too young and my brother had control of the remote, and when Bob's Burgers came along, I assumed it was one and the same with The Simpsons and Family Guys of the world—dysfunctional American family with lovable functional qualities. And though that's the idea, Bob's has a special, even more lovable punniness to it, both in the illustration and writing and it is always fun and fresh. One of its trademark features is its daily punny specials written on the chalkboard behind the counter. Some genius already made a blog and a cookbook from it, so I used it as source material to tackle all the delicious sounding burgers in the show. The Belchers don't have a ton going for them, but their burgers always sound pretty amazing.
Read moreeggos five ways [Stranger Things]
from l to r: pb&j, banana nutella, chicken and waffle, s'more, grilled cheese
I arrived a little late to the Stranger Things party. I knew I couldn’t multi-task while I watched, and I know myself well enough to know I don’t have the self control to watch it an episode at a time. Finally in December, I had a completely free Saturday. I started it immediately when I woke up, and eight hours later was relieved to be rid of the FOMO I had been experiencing for the five months that I hadn’t watched it.
There aren’t a ton of food moments in the show that aren't pre-packaged or semi-homemade. Eleven’s Eggo obsession was intriguing and endearing, so in the absence of a waffle iron, I decided to go semi-homemade myself and turn America’s favorite freezer waffles into the foundation of different kid food, five ways.
Yom Kippur bagel casserole [Transparent]
From the first season out, Transparent has been a constant on the awards circuit. Like House of Cards for Netflix, it put Amazon on the map. Though I can’t relate to a lot of the issues in the show, which is probably why it makes a great watch, I CAN relate to having a modern Jewish family that eats a lot of amazing food on holidays. Season two featured a big Yom Kippur scene complete with the remnants of bagels and lox, so I reinterpreted this mainstay Jewish option with something a little more imaginative.
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