Leo's Bagels - Financial District, NYC

I think I mentioned a couple of times in my past few posts that my primary school friend from Singapore visited us last weekend. We managed to squeeze in quite a lot of NYC sights within those two days. One of the first places that we brought her bright and early on Friday morning was the Financial District. After all, you cannot really say that you have visited NYC unless you have seen the NYSE, Wall St, the Charging Bull at Bowling Green and Battery Park (among other stuff, of course). I also gave her a list of 'must eats' whenever one visits NYC. Apart from the ever popular NYC pizza and hot dogs, bagels are way up there on that list. I don't know why NYC bagels are oh so good. Must be the water :D
Since we were in the Financial District, Kevin and I decided to take her to Leo's Bagels for breakfast (well, it was supposed to be breakfast but it ended up being brunch :P). Located in Hanover Square, Leo's Bagels seriously have the best bagels in Lower Manhattan. Huge, chewy and uber delicious, this self proclaimed "Bagels with Chutzpah" are freshly hand rolled everyday. No wonder there are always a steady stream of customers pouring in and out of this small cozy shop.
The interior of Leo's Bagels is really small. You can find their rather large menu on the wall as well as check out their home made salads, a variety of spreads and assortment of smoked fish inside the glass counter. Of course you can also smell freshly baked bagels from the kitchen as well as we check out their bagel selections in wire baskets on the right side of the shop. The lines can be pretty long at times but it's usually rather fast moving.
Look at the variety of spreads offered at Leo's. They range from regular cream cheese, flavored cream cheese (scallion, vegetable, sun dried tomatoes and roasted garlic, maple raisin walnut, kalamata olive, jalapeno, strawberry), organic tofu spreads, hummus to their popular "Toffuti" (Tofu Cream Cheese). You can even get spreads like butter, jelly, peanut butter and Nutella!
Also check out their home made salads as well as their selection of smoked fish and various types of cheeses. Among some of the salads offered are tuna (also available in low fat), whitefish, egg, baked salmon, herring, chicken, chopped chicken liver, shrimp, lobster and Waldorf. The Leo Salad is a popular choice among their customers. It consist of egg salad, Bermuda onions and smoked salmon. I was also very impressed with their huge selection of smoked fish. There are about 13 different types of smoked fish to choose from. Yummy stuff!
There are only limited sitting room available in Leo's. After ordering and getting our food, we couldn't decide it we should eat in or take our food elsewhere to eat. There is only one small counter with five seats available for dine in customers. We were pretty lucky that we managed to get seats, so we decided to just eat in. I guess most of Leo's customers take out their order.
Kevin ordered the Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Regular Cream Cheese ($2.50). He said that it was very good. There are quite a lot of different bagels to choose from. There are thirteen different types of regular bagels (plain, multi grain, onion, poppy seed, pumpernickel, sesame..etc), three healthy organic flavors and five different types of Artisan breads (Jewish rye, onion rolls, country white...etc). If you were to just buy a bagel (minus the spreads), it would set you back $1 for the regular ones and $1.35 for the organic bagels. A 'Brokers' dozen (14 bagels) cost $12 for regular bagels and $16.20 for organic.
My friend Wendy also ordered the Cinnamon Raisin Bagel but with Strawberry Cream Cheese ($2.50). Leo's are really generous with the cream cheese, just check out the amount they slapped on her bagel. She also said that it was really yummy and good. Looks good to me too!
I decided to try something that they are famous for. Smoked fish and bagels. So, I ordered the Multi-Grain Bagel with Eastern Nova Scotia Salmon and Cream Cheese ($8.95). Look at the amount of cream cheese they slapped on. The bagel sandwich was sooooo huge, I couldn't even finish it. So, was it good? Yeah it was. It was super yummy!!! The bagel was really doughy and chewy, just the way I like it. Not only that, the smoked salmon was really fresh. Everything in the sandwich complimented each other so well, it was so so good! No wonder Leo's Bagels is known to have the best bagels in Lower Manhattan. Simple delicious! I must make a trip down to Leo's Bagel sometime soon to buy home a Brokers dozen or two!!

Leo's Bagels - Financial District, NY
3 Hanover Square
New York, NY 10004-4015
Tel: (212)785 4700
Web: http://www.leosbagels.com/

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon

Sweet potatoes are actually really good for you. Unlike the carbo filled regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A, B6, C, fiber, manganese, potassium and iron. It is said to also have healing properties as an antioxidant food. That's due to the high beta-carotene and vitamin C content. We are trying to cut off regular potatoes from our diet and replace them with sweet potatoes instead. Of course we still do indulge in the occasion baked potato or fries when we are eating out, but I try to avoid regular potatoes whenever I am cooking at home.

Out of all the sweet potato recipes that I have tried, this is probably one of my favorites. I make this a lot, probably at least once a week. It makes a great side dish as well as a snack. It's really simple to whip up and super yummy to eat. Start off by washing and peeling one large sweet potato. Depending on the size of the potato, you can use two or even three if it's really small.
Next, cut it up into bite size cubes. Try to cut them into a uniformed size, to that it will cook evenly.
Once you are done cutting up the sweet potatoes, place them in a large bowl. Drizzle in some olive oil. If you do not have any olive oil, you can just use regular vegetable oil instead.
Then, sprinkle in some cinnamon. Cinnamon is also another food that has a lot of health benefits. Studies show that cinnamon can lower bad cholesterol, regulate your blood sugar, significantly relief arthritis as well as boosts cognitive function and memory. Mix the cinnamon with the sweet potatoes and oil. Make sure that all of the sweet potato pieces are nicely coated.
At this point, you can choose to add in some brown sugar if you like. If I am making this as a side dish, I would omit adding in the brown sugar. I feel that the natural sweetness of the sweet potato is sufficient. However, if you are making this as a sweet snack, just sprinkle in some brown sugar and mix it with the rest of the ingredients.
Next, place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet that has been covered with aluminum foil. You can lightly spray on some non stick oil on the foil if you like. This is to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the foil. However, it is not really necessary because the potatoes have already been coated with oil. Pop it into a preheated 375F oven for about half an hour or until the potatoes are tender.
After roasting the potatoes for about half an hour, remove the tray from the oven. Use a fork to test the tenderness of the potatoes. It should just slide all the way in, without any problems. Then we know that the sweet potatoes are done! Let me tell you, our whole apartment smells just like the holidays whenever I make this dish. Such a lovely smell, reminds me of Christmas every time I make it. Not only does it smell great and is simple to make but it taste awesome too! Try it, it's goooood!

Nuts 4 Nuts - All Natural Honey-Roasted Nuts

We had a visitor from Singapore over the weekend. My primary school friend from Penang (she now works in Singapore) was in Charlotte last week for some training and she stopped over for a few days for a brief visit before heading back to Singapore. I cannot believe that we have been friends for 24 years already! =) Since it was her first time in NYC, we tried our best to bring to her as many places as possible, in that short two and a half days. I will be blogging about all the places that we went to and the stuff that we did in the next few days.

After a long day out walking around the city, we were heading back to the World Trade Center PATH station when I smelled something really yummy. It was the nice familiar scent of roasted nuts that I would only usually smell during the winter time. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the black and orange Nuts 4 Nuts street cart parked near the PATH station! You see, both Kevin and I loveeeee the Nuts 4 Nuts honey roasted nuts and it's really difficult to find those street carts during the summertime. They are just about everywhere during the winter but there are more ice cream trucks, smoothie trucks and other 'summer food' trucks around during the summertime. So yeah, we just had to go get ourselves some nuts!
Boy, I must say that the smell of those honey roasted nuts are just so intoxicating! You can smell them from blocks away, especially on a crisps and cold winters day. When I asked the street vendor if I could take some pictures, she was more than happy to pose for pictures. She seemed pretty excited that we are taking pictures of her cart. LOL!
Ahhhh, a close up picture of some freshly roasted honey nuts. There are four types of nuts available and they are all honey coated. There are peanuts, almonds, cashews and small bits of coconuts. A small bag of nuts (no mixing allowed) cost $2 and it's $3 for a mixed bag. How I wish they would add in some macadamia nuts into their menu. Honey roasted macadamia nuts would taste oh so yummmy!!
We bought a bag of cashew nuts to share. As usual, they were greeeatttt! Nice plump yummy cashews with a crunchy coat of honey. It was still nice and warm (since she was just done roasting them a few minutes before we walked up). So so so gooood. Eating those yummy nuts from Nuts 4 Nuts makes we wish that winter would come just a little bit faster this year. Nothing beats a warm bag of roasted nuts on a chilly winters day.

The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

After our heavy lunch in Katz's, we decided to walk it off and head over to Chinatown to walk around. It was a pretty long walk and by the time we arrived in Chinatown, we were all tired out. Since it was a relatively hot day, we decided to go look for some Hong Kong style desserts. We were not too sure where to find a good dessert house, then Kevin remembered watching something on the Travel Channel about this place called the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. It is said to have the best ice cream in the whole of Chinatown, in fact, some people even say the whole of Manhattan :P So, with the help of Poynt on Kevin's BB, we headed off to look for this place.

It was a good half an hour's walk (yes, we took our time and made a few stops along the way :P) before we ended up at this tiny shop on Bayard St. If there wasn't such a huge crowd standing in front of the shop as well as our GPS guiding us, we might just miss it altogether. So, here we are...at the ever so popular Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

As you can see from the picture, it is actually really really tiny. From what I hear, it's constantly filled with this many people and everybody doesn't mind waiting in line, just to get a taste of their ice cream. Wow! It must be really good. So, we joined in the line and waited for our turn.

While waiting for our turn, I noticed many photos of famous people/celebrities who have visited this shop. Also, there were all kinds of awards lining the walls. Looks like they were winners of City Search's "Best Ice Cream in NYC" for three consecutive years, a recipient of Zagat's Award of Distinction and they were also nominated for "Best Ice Cream" by TimeOut NY. Boy, they must have really good ice cream.

Here is part of the menu as well as some of the flavors available that day. You can get your ice cream in a cup, cone or pack them in tubs to take home (available in three sizes: pint, quart and 2 and a half gallons). If you want something different, they also have milkshakes, freezes, ice cream soda floats as well as egg creme. They are also famous for their ice cream cakes. You can order the ice cream cake in your favorite flavor or even a combination of flavors!

As you can see, they are not your regular "American" ice cream parlour. They carry a lot of Asian flavors that you cannot find in other ice cream parlours around these parts. Yes, they do have your regular Rocky Road, Mocha Chip and Oreo but they also have more exotic flavors like Pandan, Durian, Yam, Red Bean, Taro, Black Sesame and Lychee. You can check out their full list of flavors here. Not only do they have a whole lot of flavors, there are also quite a number of toppings and home made sauces to choose from. Nice!

So, what did we order? Since it was such a hot day, I decided to go with the Factory Freeze ($7.25). I got to choose a flavor (or a combination) from the whole selection of sorbets that they have and also my favorite soda (soda water, coke, root beer, sierra mist...etc) to go into the blend. I initially couldn't decide between Lychee, Longan, Tangerine or Mango-Papaya, but I went with Lychee Sorbet & Sierra Mist in the end. What a good choice! It was soooo yummy, I cannot even begin to tell you how yummy it was!! There were big chunks of lychee still in the blend (yes, even after blending!). Good stuff :D Kevin ordered a Papaya Milkshake (Reg - $6.25, Lg - $7.25). He loved it too! I took a sip of his milkshake and wow! It was so creamy and thick, really really good. Now I understand why there are always so many people in line and why some people swear that Chinatown Ice Cream Factory has the best ice cream in the whole of Manhattan! I totally agree, their ice cream is way better and different than the rest. Oh well, looks like we will have to make this our regular 'snack stop' whenever we are in Chinatown! :P

The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
65 Bayard Street
New York, NY 10013
Tel: (212) 608-4170
Web: http://www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com/

Best Takoyaki in NYC!!!

After our yummy lunch at Grand Sichuan, I wanted to go check out this Takoyaki shop I have heard so much about. It's called Otafuku and it's supposed to serve really authentic and yummy tasting takoyaki. Many people, including some very well know foodies and food writers have been raving about this place for the longest time. I have always wanted to try it and since we are here in the East Village, I figured today would be the day! :D

Otafuku is just a couple of streets over from Grand Sichuan. When we arrived, we saw quite a number of people just hanging around outside and two people sitting on the bench, eating. I know from the reviews that it's a small shop but I never thought that it was this small! It's just probably half a shop (or even smaller).

When I went in (Kevin stood outside, it was just too packed), I noticed that there was just enough standing room for about four customers, maybe 5 if everybody is packed in and really skinny :P They would take your order and hand you a receipt. Then you will have to go hangout outside til your order is done. Then, they will call out your number and you can go back in to collect your food. The menu is pretty basic. There is Takoyaki (plain - $3, cheese - $4, octopus - $5), Okonomiyaki (choice of pork, beef, shrimp, squid or corn - $8) and Yakisoba ($7). Oh, apart from that, I think you can order some Edamame and Taiyaki (eventhough I didn't see any at the grill) too. If you are not sure of what you want, you can check out their combos. Combo A ($7) gets you 1/2 a Yakisoba and 1 pc Okonomiyaki, Combo B ($9) gets you 6 pcs Takoyaki and 1 pc Okonomiyaki, Combo C ($9) is 6 pcs Takoyaki and 1/2 Yakisoba and Combo D ($6) gets you 6 pcs Takoyaki and Edamame.

So, is the Takoyaki as yummy as everybody says it is? Helllllll yeah! It's soooooooo good, I can eat it everyday! Not only was it yummy, they were also very generous with the sauce and bonito flakes. I had so much bonito flakes that it was flying off in the wind when I came out of the shop :P I can't wait to go back to try their Yakisoba and Okonomiyaki....I bet they are yummy too! So, the next time you are in the East Village, you HAVE to go check out Otafuku. It's really really really good.

Otafuku - East Village
236 East 9th St (between 2nd and 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 353 8503

Cheesy Pepperoni Ring

I found this simple yet yummy recipe not too long ago. It's perfect to serve up when you have friends over for the game, something to munch on when you watch TV or as snack when the kids come home from school. The best thing is, it's so easy and quick to make! Here's how you make it :D

You start off by rolling out a can of Pillsbury Crescent Creations onto your work area. You could also use the regular crescent dough, you just have to pinch all the seams together to make it into a single dough sheet.

Brush on some melted butter onto the dough sheet.

Sprinkle on some garlic salt, Italian seasoning and some shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Next, place some pepperoni slices on top of the cheese. You could replace the pepperoni slices with sausage, ham, chicken...pretty much anything that you like.

Carefully roll up the dough. Make sure you roll it up tight and there are not many air pockets. Also, make sure that you seal the ends of the roll. Then, set it aside.

Now, spray on some non stick cooking oil onto a baking sheet. Then, sprinkle on some corn meal. You do not need corn meal if you do not have it at hand. It just helps to further prevent the pepperoni ring from sticking to the baking sheet.

Take the roll from your work area and place it onto the baking sheet. Join the two ends together, forming it into a ring.

Then, brush on some melted butter. This will give it a nice golden brown color once it's baked.

Sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and some shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Pop it in a 400F oven for about 20-30 minutes (baking time varies depending on oven) and it's done!

Mmm mmm mmmm, doesn't it look good? Check out the yummy Cheesy Pepperoni Ring, fresh out from the oven. Try it, I bet you will love this recipe!

Roti Canai Chicken Puff

Since I posted my Roti Canai Hot Dog Rolls recipe back in April, many people have commented that that they really liked the recipe and that it was very simple to make =) Based on that recipe, I came up with another frozen Roti Canai recipe. This time, I'm gonna make some Roti Canai Chicken Puff.

It's also really simple to make and yummy to eat. First, we need to make the filling. You can use some leftover roast chicken or you can boil/steam some chicken breast or thighs. Then, shred it up to tiny pieces.

Add in a few dollops of mayo and mix it with the chicken. Crack in some black pepper and you can add in some parsley and thyme, if you like.

Next, add in some raisins. If you do not like raisin, you can even add in some chopped apples or just leave out this step completely. It's up to you. Mix everything together and set it aside.

Remove the frozen roti canai from the freezer and allow it to thaw for a few minutes. Remember, do not over thaw. The dough will become too sticky and really hard to work with if you over thaw. Cut the roti canai to half.

Pull off the top plastic layer from the roti and brush on some egg wash.

Put the chicken filling on one side of the roti (just like the picture).

Flip over the dough to cover the chicken. Remove the bottom plastic layer and place the chicken puff on a greased baking sheet. Using a fork, seal the sides of the puff.

Brush some more egg wash on top of each puff. This is to give it a nice golden brown color when it's done.

Pop the chicken puffs into a 350F oven for about 35 minutes or until it turns golden brown.

There you go, it's done! Wasn't that easy? Allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. You should try it, it's really good! =)