Mango Paradise

Picture yourself in a tropical paradise lounging in the sunshine beside crystal blue water. The light salt water breeze brushes gently through your hair, as you drink out of a coconut, your feet buried in the warm white sand. Peaceful and serene; there is not a sound but the waves drifting over the shore, and maybe some steel drums playing in the distance. Welcome to Marishky—your island escape.

Dinner is now being served, courtesy of chefs Marisa, Alisha, and Kym. Because it is mango season, we have a special menu in store for you that will feature the delicious tropic fruit as the theme ingredient. Your first course: Mango shrimp ceviche served over plantain and chorizo mofongo, with a mango ginger puree. Highlighting island flavors of seafood, lime, mango and plantains, the light starter simply speaks of a sunny beach; for even if you are not in a tropical paradise, you will certainly feel like it.

As teased a few weeks ago, the Five Star Makeover Group’s theme for April/May was a Top Chef-style “Restaurant Wars” challenge. Unlike in past months where bloggers in the group work individually on creating interesting and gourmet dishes based on one specific food or cooking style, this time we worked together in groups to design our own unique “restaurants” and menus focusing on a chosen featured ingredient. And so Marishky, a mash up of efforts put in by myself and talented food bloggers Alisha of The Ardent Epicure and Kym of Free Spirit Eater, was born.

Dining in New Orleans

I knew I loved New Orleans long before I ever got there. Before I ever strolled the colorful streets of the French Quarter, before I ever caught a set of Mardi Gras beads, and before I ever tasted a muffuletta sandwich, I had fallen in love with just the idea of it. Intrigued by the culture, spirit, and especially the food that the city is known for, New Orleans had long been on the top of my mental checklist of places to go.

Mardi Gras float and beads at Mardi Gras World, a mardi gras museum within one
of the warehouses where they make mardi gras floats.


I recently visited The Big Easy for the first time, and already I can’t wait to go back. It is everything you’ve heard about; from the mayhem of Bourbon Street to the cool, charming, jazz-filled streets that lay just beyond it, there is truly no place like it.


Bourbon Street

A quiet side street in the French Quarter

With an unwavering party spirit that’s always in full effect, New Orleans is a world full of character, deeply steeped in history and tradition. Beneath every iron laced balcony of the French Quarter and every bead-draped lamppost and stoplight, there is a story to be told. Near the famous Jackson Square, music echoes, psychics read tarot cards and street performers perform. If you’re lucky, you may even catch one of the many spontaneous parades that break out in celebration of marriages or debutantes.



Beads on a Royal Street streetlight, a wedding parade, & Jackson Square.

Nothing speaks louder of New Orleans culture than its spicy, Cajun and Creole-influenced cuisine, heavy in fresh-from-the bayou seafood. I used to imagine what it would be like to eat authentic dishes like crawfish etoufee and gumbo right in the unique city where they were born. Then, one day I blinked my eyes, and there I was with a warm beignet in my hand and powdered sugar all over my shirt. It was certainly a culinary daydream fulfilled.

You will notice there are a few must-tastes that I did not taste (i.e. catfish po’ boy). In four days, I may not have been able to eat everything, but I damn well tried. Here is my food-filled adventure in pictures. As they say in NOLA, laissez le bon temps roulette or let the good times roll…

Homemade Flour Tortillas for Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To celebrate, I wanted to share with you a recent video I made for grandmaskitchen.com on how to make homemade flour tortillas. Towards the end of the video, I also demonstrate how to use the tortillas to make vegetable quesadillas.

Prepared from a short list of common ingredients (flour, shortening, salt and water), you won't believe how easy tortillas are to make from scratch—and they’re cheap, too! You don't need to use a tortilla press or any fancy equipment, just your hands, a rolling pin, and a cast iron skillet. If you want to reduce prep time even further, simply add all of the ingredients to a food processor and whirl away. After rolling the dough into flat discs, the best part is watching it squirm and bubble in the hot skillet as it dries out, instantly morphing, Hulk-style, into a bona fide tortilla.

There are so many uses for homemade flour tortillas. In addition to quesadillas, they are the base of many of our favorite handheld Mexican foods like burritos, tacos, fajitas, and enchiladas. Granted, flour tortillas are a little more Tex-Mex than Mexican. Corn tortillas are what you will commonly find in traditional dishes such as Mexico City street tacos, and are considered more authentic to Mexican cuisine. Corn tortillas are also a bit healthier, but it’s Cinco de Mayo and we’re celebrating.

If you come here often, you know that Mexican food is one of my favorites. Here are a few more recipes that are perfect for Cinco de Mayo:

Mexican Meatball Soup
Pico de Gallo & Guacamole
Margarita Sorbet
Tequila-Flamed Mangoes

We All Scream For Ice Cream

Cook’s Book is featured on the blog, Rhapsody à la crème. Visit to read the interview and to see some more fun pictures!

The author of the blog, Tricia, is one of my old friends from high school. She’s a talented fashion illustrator who blogs about clothes, trends, the fashion world and other fashionable things like her cool designer internships, food, and me! Ok, whatever. But you have to admit, I can still vogue and work it with a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth lol.

That’s cotton candy ice cream, by the way, with rainbow sprinkles and as per Tricia’s request, a few gummy bears on top. Who am I to argue with gummy bears?

The photos were taken at Five Pennies Creamery in Rockville Centre, a cute old-fashioned ice cream parlor that makes a variety of delicious homemade frozen treats every day. Last summer, I wrote about my particular obsession with their peanut butter ice cream and how it inspired me to make my own.

Upcoming "Restaurant Wars" Challenge

For the months of April and May, The Five Star Makeover cooking group, hosted by Lazaro Cook's and Five Star Foodie, is going to be doing an exciting Top Chef-style “Restaurant Wars” challenge. Unlike in past months where members of the group work individually on creating interesting and gourmet dishes based on one specific food or cooking style, this time we are working together in random groups of three to design our own unique “restaurants” and menus focusing on a chosen featured ingredient. It is not a competition, just a fun project to see what happens when groups of creative culinary minds get together.

I am working with Kym from Free Spirit Eater and Alisha from The Ardent Epicure, and we have come up with a really great concept. Let’s just say, the mangoes are ripe for the picking at Marishsky (Ma-Rish-Kai--a mesh of all of our names), a tropical paradise where the ladies are lovely and the food is delicious. For our menu, I’ll be making the appetizer, Alisha is making the entrée, and Kym is making the dessert.

Visit during the week of May 28th to check out our restaurant and final menu!