5 Recipes From NYC's Best Chefs

Sometimes, when I'm feeling uninspired or bored with my go-to recipes, I think to myself "What would I order if I were at a restaurant right now?" It seems like a simple concept yet I don't do it often enough. And while I usually don't come close to replicating that desired meal when I try, this method serves as a nice starting point for searching amidst the glut of recipes out there.

Refinery29, what is slowly becoming one of my favorite newsletters, reminded me of this with their daily slideshow on Monday. As they preface, these recipes are "relatively" easy to replicate. I'd like to give the Spicy Chicken Breast With Lemongrass a try. Click here for some (hopefully inspiring) recipes from NYC's top chefs.

Image via Indochine: Stories, Shaken and Stirred, Rizzoli 2009.

"Italian Cornbread"

On my last visit to Eataly I was intrigued by what looked like a rustic, circular loaf of Italian bread with a yellowish hue, dusted in cornmeal.  The woman working the bread counter (who was Italian) admitted she had never tried it, but that it was like cornbread only very light.

I ended up being treated to the said loaf (thank you Doreen!) and was so incredibly thankful to have tried it, because this bread is simply amazing.  Unlike traditional cornbread, which can often be dense and dry or overly rich, this bread struck the perfect balance between texture and flavor. The outer rind, a classic Italian crust, gives way to a fluffy, chewy middle with a subtle corn flavor and a little grit. The loaf stayed fresh for about a week and I ate a slice every morning with a pad of butter.  When the bread started to dry out a little, I found that popping it in the microwave instantly revived its soft, fresh texture.

Breakfast smoothie

January flew by in a whirlwind of post-holiday sickness, long days at work, and snow, lots of snow.  But I'm now ready to emerge from my brief period of blogger hibernation with pent-up recipes to share and some New Year's resolutions to follow through on. One of my resolutions? To add more variety to my diet. After eating bowls upon bowls of oatmeal for breakfast, I decided to change up my morning routine today with a fruit smoothie.  Smoothies are really fantastic, like eating a dessert you can actually feel good about. And the combinations are endless.  Here's one I threw together in a matter of minutes in my Magic Bullet.