best chocolate souffle.ever.

Last night was Italian night:

Mangia Mangia in Albany, just a few blocks away from the hectic place that we call our jobs, was such a welcome sight for two hungry girls just off of work.

The bread was accompanied by a garlic sauce, followed by minestrone.
For my entree I finally decided on the fettuccine with smoked salmon with spinach and prosciutto smothered in a creamy white wine sauce.


Not going to lie, the waiter reminded me of professor Friedrich in the movie version of Little Women.  There was another waiter who recognized us as his cashiers when he comes to the store every so often with his wife.  


Dinner was perfectly topped off with their amazing chocolate souffle.  It was absolutely perfect.  Warm with molten chocolate...still thinking about it.

best mushroom recipe

Back in February, we cashier girls had a night out at Ozumo on Broadway.  Amongst dishes of age dashi tofu and pork belly gyoza was the jidori: pan roasted, free-range half chicken, served with seasonal mushrooms, roasted yama imo and negi butter.

A few weeks later, we tried to recreate the dish.  Using fresh shitake mushrooms, all that was needed was a pack of nameko, a little ponzu sauce--and butter.  

Ponzu Shitake and nameko mushrooms 

-slice shitatke mushrooms, remove and slice stems 

-separate namekos 

-heat a frying pan or wok, add butter or oil

-fry up the mushrooms, constantly stirring 

-when the mushrooms are cooked through, add ponzu sauce

-finish with a little lemon juice and pepper

While you could make your own ponzu sauce, a bottled version works just as well.