And so I sit here…

It’s 3:02AM EST time and I’m sitting here watching tv marathons and movies on iTunes and Netflix.  I just finished off a bowl of homemade nachos and guacamole and I’m about to go warm up some more spicy pulled pork I made earlier.  Has this become my life?  This could be the wine talking, or the wandering mind thinking… but this is definitely not where I thought I would be… a year ago, two, three, five, ten? What has happened?

It’s funny how things work. Weight gain made me sad. But I gained weight cuz I’ve been happy. But the weight gain makes me not want to move… so while I eat less, I move less. I’m still not happy with my body. But that could just be my eating disorder talking.  Always in recovery, never fully recovered.

You guys have been with me through so many ups and downs and yet you remain loyal.  So much gratitude.  Love, lust, heartbreaks. Breakdowns and highs. Parties and mournings.

The past year I have been basically mostly living in Taiwan and I’ve forgotten my love for cooking, almost.  I stopped caring a lot about things I used to be so passionate about and I have no real explanation for it… but it’s recently sparked up again.

I cooked duck the other day. And today I had a pulled pork burrito/taco night with pomegranate guacamole, spicy mango pico de gallo with roasted garlic and corn and an extremely spicy salsa verde… along with some yummy gooey blue corn chip nachos.  I started to feel alive again.  I started a cooking idea journal/notebook again…. mainly b/c I was planning to cook for C on his birthday… and while things got in the way, I still got MAD IDEAS to play on.

SO…. I have ideas of doing supper parties.  [And have talked with a chef friend or two about doing pop ups] – I want to, once I move out, host supper/dinner parties, first once a month, and then possibly once a week.  People can BYOB and tell me their diets…. or just leave it up to me.  Hopefully soon after team, up with chefs and cool wine people.

I have so many ambitions and ideas… I want to write, I want to travel, I want to cook, I want to go back to school…. and I want to film it all. I have a secret thing about wanting to be in front of a camera.

So maybe this is how this blog is evolving.  It went from food diary to healthy eating and recipes to eating out and traveling extravagantly …. and then just personal…. me finding my inner peace…. healing and now this.  My lifestyle. Ever evolving.

This blog is now: Finding the real Miss Tiffie.

Please join me in my journey.

Can you believe it’s February? 2017?

I have so many posts, “almost finished” on here…. I promise to post my New Years Eve dinner post tonight, but life has just been flying past me.

Swoooooshhhhhh….

I feel like this website needs a makeover, do-over, something.  It’s become more of a lifestyle blog than a food blog, although food still is my main love :]  But hey, the older you get, the more life gets in your way.  You grow, evolve… changes.

I’m trying this “healthy” approach to my snacking and randomly missing meals with RXBars and ProteinWorld smoothies… but hell, sometimes I just want my bag of chips to munch on.  My body doesn’t do too well with salty food, so I constantly crave it.  Ahhh, the irony.

2017 has been interesting. I was back in the States before Xmas 2016 but so much drama and blah blah blah… oh and BLAH!… Thankfully I’ve had great people to be there with me and for me [as me for them] during the times.  Love is in the air.  I love you my friends/family.

Anyways just wanna put it out there, I shall be blogging more, cooking more [hopefully]  and I hope I haven’t lost a ton of you….  especially since I’ve been back and forth from Asia and America so much – still figuring out where I wanna end up living at for a “time” or just stick with traveling everywhere :] OK… time to finish my plan for tomorrow’s menu and my NYE Dinner blog post that’s long overdue.

xo always,

I’m back bitches!!!!!!!!

Tiffie

PS. Patriots are DA FUGGING CHAMPIONS……AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This year’s superbowl was unforgettable and epic. Tom Brady for life <3 You know what else was on fire? The wings I made for Superbowl Sunday. Scotch bonnet, garlic, shallots, pineapple, etc…. FIRE <3 Fire like Brady was!!!!! Holla!

 

Duck Breast “Confit” Dinner with delicious sides….. and hilarious Taylor Swift “music video” dance by Miss Tiffie at the end

Poached Cod with Tomato and Saffron and Cauliflower sidedish

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted recipes or food/restaurant things… or anything really at all.. I’ve been having too fabulous of a time having fun, cooking ALL the time with L<3 and having adventures and traveling.  I’ll try to add some posts of some special eats I’ve made, eaten and done recently…. including Taiwan posts!  I’m back!!!!

Ingredients:
SERVINGS: 2
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 14.5-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
¼ cup dry white wine
1/4 cup rice wine
1 cup boiling water
2 bay leaves
pinch of saffron threads
1 fresh rosemary stick
paprika (to taste)
sea salt and white pepper, freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 5-oz. skinless cod fillets

Over low-medium heat, add the oil, garlic and hot chili flakes and without adding color to the garlic, just cook until it smells absolutely delicious – about 3-5 minutes.

Afterwards, add in the canned whole unpeeled tomatoes, crushing it while you dump them in.  Don’t add the juice, and make sure not to get splashed by the hot oil.. I  have battle scars.  Then, add the wine, bay leaves and cook it to a boil on high and then turn it back down to medium.  Taste taste taste. Salt and Black/White Pepper to taste.

I took my two fillets and dusted each side with Black Pepper, Paprika.   After placing it in the pan, after a few minutes, I flipped them and added whole rosemary and the rice wine into the pan.  This was basically all to taste.  I also added a little more paprika to the sauce.  Cook until the fish it tender but starting to flake.

Side Dish:

Roasted Cauliflower & Baby Carrots.  I just sprinkled it with fig blamasic vinagrette (or a ny flavor you love), EVOO, Salt and Pepper, Orange Zest and chopped Rosemary… oh and some of my homemade Duck Fat, Shallots and a few finely minced garlic!  Just cook on 450 til your liking.

Put the fish in a shallow bowl, and then pour the sauce over the fish.  Garnish with a bit of rosemary for some green.  Pour some of the wine you cooked with (cuz you never cook with wine you won’t drink) and enjoy!

Btw, i swear the Kimchi recipe is currently in thr works. :] Will be up tonight or tomorrow!

岩波庭餐廳 Zen Garden Fusion Cuisine

Being in Yilan…. at the spa resort, my uncle reserved a place for us at the Zen Fusion for dinner…. basically we got a set menu and it was DELICIOUS.

We all wore the kimonos that the spa provided…. which was sooooooooo inspiring and free-feeling

Sparkling Sake… oh Uncle, you know me too well

Delicious Scallion Bread…… Yilan is known for their scallions…. so this was amazing

Afterwords when my family went up to the rooms to gossip and talk I stayed at the bar… having whiskey and wine.

Before heading to the hot springs bath in my room to chill out with a bottle of wine.

Life is just so grand.

Old school Chinese Food at 朝天鍋

Last time I was in Taiwan I left earlier than my parents… in that time they found this restaurant near where we stay, in Taipei, that had delicious old school chinese food….

So why not go for lunch?

Welcome to 朝天鍋

Sweet White Bitter Melon

A bit sweet for my liking.. I like a light flavored bitter melon!!!!

Pan Fried Spicy Crispy FRESH Bamboo

This was sooooo good…. almost didn’t taste like bamboo…a nice  crisp outside, not greasy at all, and a nice light spice/heat to it. AMAZE!!!

Delicious Garlicky Greens

You can ever go wrong with fresh sautéed garlicky asian greens….

Scallion Pancake

I love Taiwan style scallion pancake, fluffy, crispy, and tons of thick cut scallions… this and Jay Chou’s Rooftop’s scallion pancakes are my favorite so far.

Thick, crispy and toooooons of scallions

Braised Grass Carp Collar and Head

It tasted very dirt/lake fish…. I wasn’t a huge fan and was a bit lakey and dirt tasting for me.

Free Dessert… Red Bean with Barley in Taro Soup

Sweet, delicious and a great ending

Homemade Thai Red Curry with Cod

I decided to go out of my comfort zone and cook Thai Red Curry tonight.  I made Thai curry once….. I think green? Or whichever. and it was meh, it was also in college… and me and my then boyfriend had to taste and tweak the entire time – It wasn’t bad… so glad my cooking skills have improve since then

I Vitamixed all the ingredients… added extra thai chilis, a habanero, extra ginger and extra lemongrass and garlic for more punch I don’t like going by recipes…. I’m a rebel

After the sauce started bubbling [oh I used LIGHT coconut milk for a little more healthy kick] I added in my veggies… chopped green beans, multi colored peppers….. red onion and eggplant…

After cooking for awhile I put in my cod and slowly added in some fresh basil

One for mama, one for me

Spicy, ilght and delicious!!!!!  FULL of veggies and delicious Cod.  Can’t wait to make it for J <3

BTW, Crazy bruins game tonight…. we were leading and then WTF 3x OT!?!?!?!

No worries… we let you win tonight Chi…… so it doesn’t look as bad when we win the rest :]

Bloody Finger….. so free meal at Giginos at Wagner Park

Remember this meal?

Just simple minced beef with onion, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and some  chili pepper if you wanna spice it up.  Baked int he oven at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes and let rest for 5.

That turned into a late night dinner since I sliced almost the whole tip of my ring finger off while prepping in the kitchen? Yep, J and I were happily partying it up with drunk people in the ER for an ill minute.

Thankfully this baby is feeling up quite well now…

Anyways mama felt bad for me and our night being ruined so to cheer me up she offered to treat J and I to a lovely dinner of our choice, anything under $200.

See poor finger? :[ Need yummy food

Besides. J wouldn’t let me go near a knife for awhile….

I found an ear cuff to hide my “alien bump” ahhahaha….

We played around with food ideas but really just wanted to stay in the neighborhood. It was beautiful out so we decided on Italian or Tapas… and we wanted to dine outside. So J immediately suggested Giginos At Wagner Park and we got a beautiful seat outside with a gorgeous view of the Statue of Liberty.

J picked out two wines we could try and I chose the one with a cooler name that I liked.

And he let me pick out the food :] As long as he got his olives!!!!

[ps they have yummie bread which you get to dip in EVOO and Balsamic Vin.]

The olives come in a mezze trio or whatever of also cured meats and other stuff but we only wanted olives. J <3 Olives hehe Olive Monster…. so they let us just order that.

As an appetizer we got the simple Mussels with white wine, garlic, black pepper and…. basil I think it was. DEEEELISH!

There were a ton of mussel dishes to choose from, and just saying, the menu was HUGE… HUUUUGE… intimidatingly so which is why I ended up choosing the simplest items.

Grilled Monkfish with Broccoli Rabe and Baby Bok Choy

This was a special…. it was between this and the branzino but since I had gotten the branzino last time I had Italian, when J’s parents were in town, I wanted some tender juicy Monkfish.  Need to spice things up a bit, y’kno?!

Pappardelle San Marzano – Fresh pappardelle with San Marzano tomato, garlic, olive oil and basil AND a beautiful fresh shavings of parm all over it. YUM.

SUPER SUPER FRESH TENDER AMAZING NOODLES.  Perfectly al dente. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.. pasta made so simple and delicious with my favorite type of pasta. HEAVEN.

We opted out of dessert… and I think we ended up back home watching tv and probably having a scotch or whiskey  on the rocks. It was a beautiful walk around FiDi even tho it started to get a bit chilly. MMM MMMM MMMMM I would love to come back during the day and when it’s a tad bit warmer to see the day time view.

Best Worst Idea sort of Pizza on a Sunday Night: Habaneros Part 1 of 4

… we had leftovers of pizza dough from the last time I was in town so after getting some fresh vegetables at a local market in Brooklyn.. [after J’s weekly Bocce game]

so after tons of crap beer and a delicious brunch at Colonie before the game [which I’ll blog about later] we set out to make another pizza… and Tuscan Kale chips [the non-curly kind]

Kale chips, successful. Just EVOO and sea salt baked in a tray til almost burnt and crisp.

[sorry no picture]

The pizza was another story.  Successful, but the best worst idea.

Stroke stroke stroke

I took the biggest habanero and minced it up with a few garlic cloves… chopped up a chicken breast and threw it in a skillet.

Within a few minutes.. I know how to make pepper bombs. J was just asking me what wine to drink when he started coughing and I started gagging.

“On the floor the air is fresher” no it wasn’t.

We opened his giant window in his living room and screamed out the window.  We opened his apt door and ran screaming into the hallway gagging.

Half hour later when we were ready to assemble the pizza, his roommate and roommate’s gf came home saying they were gagging off the elevator hahahaha… we said it wasn’t even that bad anymore.

So much pain, but so much to gain.

Super spicy habanero garlic chicken [oh we also diced in a thai chili pepper, green one for color] on a Margherita pizza on whole wheat crust.

Worth it.

Oh and we ended up finding a good wine to go with the pizza :]

A simple steak dinner tonight…

I’ve been in recovery… and been totally vegetarian and on a liquid diet…

but while I’m supposed to be in bed rest, I craved some meat…. beef… rare beef to be exact.  So simple steak dinner it is.

Filet Mignon [rare for me, medium for mama] sprinkled with salt, pepper, cinnamon and cayenne…

with a reduced red wine, butter, chicken broth, shallots, garlic, mushroom, shallot sauce from the pan drippings….

I steamed some green beans… and poured me some Merlot from bottle and voila!  A delicious dinner tonight for mama and me.

OKAY. More updates from Taiwan, Frisco…… and of course stuff that I’ve cooked and eaten at back in the States, ASAP!!!!