This past Sunday was sooooooo beautiful, I couldn’t stand to be in the house. I didn’t really have anywhere to go so I decided I would walk 2 bridges; I would cross either the Manhattan or Brooklyn Birdge into the city and cross whichever one I didn’t walk the first time or the Williamsburg Bridge back into Brooklyn. On my way through Downtown Brooklyn, I passed the Dekalb Market. I’d read about it and heard people talk about it but had never been. I decided to walk around for a bit.
Dekalb Market
138 Willoughby Street
at Flatbush Extension
Brooklyn, New York
The food from all of the vendors seemed great and there’s a lot of variety (think… the heavist soul food possible to specialty yogurt) but and I wasn’t looking to eat anything too heavy since I had only really began my journey for the day. I decided to order a taco from the Oaxaca stand.
This dish is supposed to be a Mexican style dish (Mexican oregano, lime zest, jalapeno…) but there’s something about tomatoes and their juices that make me think Italian. So, of course I served this dish with pasta. Mexico, meet Italy!
Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Prep: 10 min Cook: 15 min Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 lime zest and juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
For the rest of the recipe and all of my changes, look below… Want more?
I found this recipe, which called for Red Snapper and figured it could be applied to any type of fish. I have no idea what it would’ve tasted like in comparison to the snapper, but I tried this one out with 3 pieces of Swai fish and it was great. Remember the trail mix ball recipe that called for unsweetened shredded coconut? Now is the time to break that bag out. I’ll explain later.
Coconut Baked Fish
Prep Time: 20 min Bake Time: 15 min Yield: 8 Servings
Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 Tbsp. orange juice
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 cup dry bread crumbs
8 red snapper
I made this dish with a quinoa salad. For that recipe and the rest of this one, look below…
A couple of weeks ago I made these treats and Instagramed them as the “Good” version of dessert for the evening. The “Evil” part were Cheesecake Brownies (which were actually supposed to be Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies but I couldn’t find any food coloring), but more on that below. After I tweeted the picture below, Samantha of FrshConcepts requested the recipe so, here it is.
Ingredients:
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats or quick cooking oats, dry
1/4 cup quinoa, dry
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1/3 cup honey
This was one dish that requires a bit of cutting but I was able to get around that by buying a container of butternut squash that was already chopped up. That helped to get things started since the only other thing that needed to be chopped for the first part of the recipe was the onion.
Roasted Butternut Linguine
Prep Time: 10 min Bake Time: 45 min Yield: 4 Servings
I made the mistake of making this after hanging out after work so I had a late start and an even later finish. This is one of those meals you have to make on the weekend or when you have extra time/patience because the cutting everything gets annoying.
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili
Prep Time: 25 min Cook Time: 35 min Yield: 8 Servings
Ingredients:
3 large sweet potatoes (or 2-2 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chili powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 cans (15 oz. each) black beans, rinsed and drained
3 whole tomatoes
1/2 cup brewed coffee
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
For the rest of the recipe and all of my alterations, look below…
It’s the beginning of the month and there are a bunch of things happening this weekend, and the weekend starts tomorrow! Nail artist, Simcha Whitehill, better known as Miss Pop is hosting a nail art party at the Urban Outfitters on 14th Street tomorrow afternoon.
There will be four hour-long classes starting at 4pm and they’re all first come, first served. Plus, when you spend $10 or more on a beauty purchase, you’ll receive a free gift.
For more info on this event, the T-World event at Reed Space, and Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturday, look below… Want more?
I met two young ladies from Australia while hanging out at Reed Space about a month ago. They were staying in the Lower East Side for half of their stay in America and for the other half, they were moving to my neighborhood, Clinton Hills. I told them as soon as they got here to let me know so we could go eat at a least one new place and one on my favorite places. Our first stop was Dee and Ricky’s Homecooking.
The Staten Island bred twins opened their first restaurant along side Alvin Wray less than a year ago and just about everywhere I’ve read about the place has described it as… “stoner food.” Weird mixes like Jerk Chicken Nuggest and Mac ‘n’ Cheese Balls are signatures so I was eager to see what the hype was about.
