finding your bliss x canellini bean and pancetta pizza

There's nothing I enjoy more than a cold slice of pizza. You wake up after a late night, find leftover pizza in the fridge, and start munching while brewing coffee in your pajamas. Is there no better way to celebrate a successful night and the beginning of a new day? Because I love leftovers, I purposely made extra. My boyfriend is partial to a simple margherita, but I love a white pizza. Trying to find a healthy alternative without tomato (just a bit tomato-ed out from this summer), I settled with a cannellini bean and pancetta pizza with fontina cheese and a lot of arugula on top. Some confit garlic and chili flakes sealed the deal. I had so much dough, and so little oven space, all my pizzas had to be baked in quarter sheet pans. Juggling a ton of quarter sheet pans of pizza with limited counter space, I vowed never to be greedy about making so much for leftovers. Ah the joys of apartment living in NYC. We'll see how my promise holds up.

in the kitchen x late summer cannoli

I call this a deconstructed cannoli in the loosest possible way. I remember a dessert that I learned in one the first restaurant I worked in, that was an interpretation of a cannoli. It was one of my favorite desserts, and whenever I plated it, I would inevitably eat some of the mise en place involved. Instead of the traditional shell, we fried up pasta strips that would be topped with confectioners sugar. It was delicious and funnily enough, tasted like funnel cake. I sought to recreate this aspect for the dessert, but changed everything else. This is comprised of deep fried pasta strips, whipped ricotta with honey and vanilla, and super ripe figs and strawberries. It's pretty simplistic, and I sought to add more to the dish. I played around with pistachio honey, caramelized nuts, ice cream, but in the end, I left it as is. When the fruit is ripe, the ricotta is fluffy and smooth, and deep fried pasta warm from the fryer and topped with sugar, that's all you need.

in the kitchen x peaches n' cream

More pre-dessert than dessert, this is my spin on peaches and cream using a variety of stone fruits. It is a chilled peach and elderflower soup with dollops of tangy sour cream and fresh apricots and plums from the market. Simple and refreshing for the hot and humid weather we're currently experiencing. I find myself craving fresh fruits and vegetables in the summer, and really embracing the less is more approach on cooking and eating. I love nothing more than a cold piece of fruit to end a meal. This is a slightly more elevated approach to this simple pleasure. 

in the kitchen x summer macarons

Summers are slow in the kitchen, especially in NYC. When the warm weather hits you, you're on vacation mode too. Shown are two macarons, salted pistachio and a carrot cream cheese variety. I love playing with textures, and I find regular macarons to be lacking in crunch. For the pistachio flavor, I roll them in crushed, salted and roasted pistachios. It emphasizes the flavor of pistachio and is delicious. For the carrot cream cheese, I used a cream cheese buttercream for the filling and added a sugared and dehydrated carrot chip for texture and flavor. For a cold treat, I love eating these guys straight out of the freezer, a mini ice cream sandwich!

in the kitchen x mango, pineapple, & chocolate

It's hot hot hot outside! Hot and humid weather makes me crave something tropical to survive this heat. This dessert is a mango pineapple chocolate milk chocolate mousse cake with a caramel glaze, mango sauce, dehydrated pineapple chip, and cocoa cake crumble. It's a pretty straightforward dessert considering I had to plate a LOT of these at one time. I love combining tropical fruits with milk chocolate, just because the acidity enhances all the caramel and sweet, floral notes of the chocolate, namely Valrhona Caramelia 36% chocolate. I love caramel paired with chocolate so I couldn't resist adding it as the glaze for the cake. For texture, I used a cocoa cake crumble (an irresistible snack on its own..) and a candied dehydrated pineapple chip.