Between having Taber here, school, and the visit of our good friends Zach and Kristine I have abandoned the blog the past couple of weeks. I am camped out at a starbucks and ready to blog purge.
Taber was here for two short weeks. To say I enjoyed having him here would be a major understatement. Before his arrival I was in love with NYC, but after exploring it with him I am head over heels in love with it. We went to every area of the city at least once, three areas of Brooklyn, and even made it to New Jersey. While we were living in Italy we discovered the best way to get to know a city is to walk off the beaten path. When you set out with no exact plan you will usually stumble upon the areas of the city where sightseeing tour buses don't stop. Which also means there are no crowds of tourists (a huge plus). The cemented sidewalks of New York became our "unbeaten path". After school I would either meet Taber at the Starbucks on the corner by my school or he would be hanging out in the school lobby. In true Taber form, he was quickly on first name basis with the school secretary and a couple of the chefs. We would set out and walk with no destination in mind until our feet were about to give up on us.

One day we ended up in Central Park, where we laid on the rocks for an hour and a half watching a softball game. On our way home from the park we stopped in Whole Foods to pick up some ingredients for dinner. I showed him a few of the ingredients we frequently use at school (Kuzu, Shoyu, and Agar) that I had no prior knowledge of before becoming a student. We looked at the emu eggs, duck eggs, quail eggs, and a variety of unusual fruits and vegetables. Taber was a trooper walking through the store with me.For that I was grateful.

Another time we walked through SoHo and then Chinatown where we met up with a girl from my class and her boyfriend. Before Chinatown we stopped off at a little market place for some gelato. It brought back a flood of memories from our time in Italy. Not only did it taste like true Italian gelato but it also came with the same tiny spoons served with gelato in Italy. We polished off the gelato and then Taber had my leftovers from school for dessert (risotto, chicken in mushroom sauce, and a coconut curry tempeh). Unfortunately soon after we arrived in Chinatown the sky opened up on us and it started to pour down rain, thunder, and lightening cutting our night short.

Our walks continued for the entire last week Taber was here. I usually keep my eyes off the clock while in school and never wish for the day to be over but when Taber was here 4:15pm (the end of school) could not come soon enough.

Below is a recipe for Chicken Breast in Mushroom Sauce. One of the many dishes I brought home for Taber. He was not a fan of the pieces of mushrooms, which was fine with me because it meant more mushrooms on my plate.

CHICKEN BREAST IN MUSHROOM SAUCE
INGREDIENTS:
-4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2" thickness
-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste
-8 ounces shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
-8 ounces portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced.
-1/4 cup shallots, thinly sliced
-2 teaspoon minced garlic
-1/2 cup white wine
-1 cup chicken stock
-2 teaspoons lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
-In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium high heat until rippling
-Season each breast with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet cook until cooked through, about 3 minutes on each side
-remove chicken from skillet, cover to keep warm.
-add remaining oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high flame. Add the mushrooms in the skillet and cook for 2 minutes. Add the shallots and garlic. Continue cooking until the mushrooms turn a dark brown (2 to 3 minutes), stirring often to prevent garlic and shallots from burning.
-Pour the wine into the skillet (remove skillet from flame when you add the wine) and cook over high heat until almost evaporated, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half
-Remove the skillet from the heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
-Slice the chicken thinly on the bias. Pour sauce over chicken

Recipe by Jenny Mattau