Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we sip minty lattes, make an apple cake, and have an enormous bowl of udon. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Fresh mint latte at homeĀ
Technically it's a cafe au lait, but still.
Letās start our Saturday with something cozy and refreshing. I think that mint and coffee is one of the most underrated combinations. Itās not just delicious in an iced latte (like the infamous Philz mint mojito iced coffee, which sadly/happily for my wallet does not exist on the East coast, so hereās a dupe), but itās wonderful in a hot latte, too. I have been hooked on these Copper Cow mint lattes, and wanted to replicate something with fresh mint at home. It turns out to be even simpler and more delicious than I imagined. All you have to do is prep your pour over setup as usual, (I use the Melitta cone, #2 paper filters, and a half ounce of finely ground Zabarās Colombian beans), and set one sprig of washed fresh mint at the bottom of your mug. Let the hot coffee drip onto the mint sprig as it filters. Meanwhile, heat up about a quarter cup of whole milk and froth with an electric wand (or use a French press, which is something I donāt own). Remove the mint sprig from your hot coffee, and carefully and lovingly pour the foam over, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of raw sugar. Enjoy.Ā
Chikara udon (with mochi, chicken, and Tokyo negi) at Raku
48 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012
Raku makes the best udon soup Iāve ever had -- maybe even the best noodle soup Iāve ever had, period -- and judging by the line wrapping around the block every night of the week, Iām the last person in all of New York to find out. The chikara udon, which comes with two fat chewy cakes of mochi, tender bites of chicken thighs, lots of scallions (negi) and homemade udon noodles swimming in an endless sea of slightly smokey, clear broth, is my favorite reincarnation of chicken noodle soup. There are so many buzzy restaurants in the area, it would be easy to double the prices -- but almost all of the udon on the menu are less than $20. And itās not because Raku skimps on ingredients -- the bowls of noodle soup are almost comically massive, and I saw more than one table pack some of the udon in a to-go box. But unlike a giant bowl of porky ramen, this is a meal that will leave you feeling warm and full without upsetting the stomach. Each thick, silky strand of udon -- wider at the ends and flat, like a painterās brush -- is like a little dish unto itself.Ā Ā
French apple mini cakes at home
Recipe from Once Upon a Chef.
This apple cake is less of a strict cake, and more of a loosely associated pile of delicious cooked apples bound together by a buttery, custardy batter. In other words, it is absolutely delicious. Unlike the apple cakes of the pumpkin spice variety, this is a sweet and clean French-style cake, with no spices to distract from the scent of apples. I didnāt have a round cake pan on hand, so I halved the recipe and baked it in six muffin tins for 25 minutes. This made for very cute desserts, but because of the structural integrity of the batter itās better not to do what I did, and make a large cake as it falls apart easily. It pairs wonderfully with a cup of hot earl grey tea.
Hold the Cone! Pumpkin and ginger flavor at Trader Joeās
Available at your neighborhood TJās.
A part of me is curious about why this mini ice cream cone doesnāt label itself as āpumpkin spice,ā when thatās so clearly what itās trying to get at. Is it a possible lawsuit? A copyright infringement? Are you only allowed to call yourself pumpkin spice if youāve got 3 out of 5 spices on the ingredients list? The world will never know, because I am too lazy to do legal research when Iām not at work. Anyways I give these little cones a 10/10 for their form factor. The cuteness is really off the charts. The ice cream cones, which were neatly packaged in a plastic case that prevents any squishage, look more like emojis of ice cream cones than a real-life dessert. As for the flavor, like all things pumpkin spice (whether or not they admit what they are) tastes a bit too Bath and Body Works for my liking. But itās cute and sweet and still nice as a 4PM pick-me-up treat.
Philips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus at home
Hereās the big version and hereās a more affordable small version.
I will start off my review by stating the obvious: No one needs a $300 pasta machine in their home. At least, this was my firm stance before I experienced the joy of fresh pasta on a weeknight. Now? Iām not so sure. Iām starting to think that Iāll defend this pasta maker like I defend my other favorite high-end carb uni-tasker, the Zojirushi rice cooker. Both of them take up (so much) counter space, and both of them are useless if youāre on a low-carb diet. But having freshly made pasta ready in 30 minutes at your fingertips really does make everyday life in a little apartment feel more like the vacation in Rome I took before the End of Times, and itās much cheaper than a plane ticket. It also, in a funny way, makes cooking dinner much simpler (and cheaper, ingredients-wise). Fresh pasta is really that good, so that all you have to do is throw butter and salt on it, and it easily tastes better than 99% of the Italian food you can get on Seamless. But I think my favorite thing of all about the Phillips pasta maker (aside from the fact that I, personally, do not own one so this entire review is based off a single experience I had being a sous-chef in the pasta making experience) is the sheer joy of watching pasta come out of the extruder like Play-Doh while making dinner with someone you love.
Have a good weekend,
Soph
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