Monday, May 9, 2011

Simple Pleasure Mondays: Getting to Know the Staff

Hi all, best of luck to you in the slew of finals season. We have had quite literally the best school year of our lives (well...Scott had a pretty good time in high school), and we hope the rest of you look back--maybe after you're done with finals--with similar sentiments on what has truly been a tremendous year.
We leave you on this fine Monday with our final simple pleasure (and overall post) until next school year: getting to know the Leo's staff. A simple suggestion for good measure, we hope that our readers will take the time before summer starts to thank the staff for all their hard work. When next year comes around, and hopefully you've done it this year too, take the time to thank and perhaps engage in a short conversation with the staff at Leo's. They are all lively and warm people, and I have not met a single one who didn't enjoy at least my asking how their day was. It's an incredibly simple gesture that can make their work a lot more enjoyable (and can perhaps score you some extra of whatever you're craving). Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the dining hall doesn't have to do with the food.
Thank you all for what has been a fantastic season of O'Donovan's on the Waterfront. The blog clocked over 4,500 total views and hopefully made the dining experiences of many students more enjoyable. We wish you to savor your time away from one of the world's most exclusive dining clubs, and we hope to have some cool new ideas in time for the start of next year. Feel free to contact us at odonovansonthewaterfront@gmail.com if your summer dining experiences give you a sudden O'Donnovative inspiration. Congrats to the class of 2011!

-John and Scott

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Cinnamon Toast Applesauce

I'll have to think of a better name for this; it is a seriously cool and easy O'Donnovation. It takes as much prep time as a regular bowl of cereal but is a delicious and addictive substitute. I'd like to call it the poor man's apple crumble, but that would imply that it is inferior to actual apple crumble, which--having eaten some pretty mediocre apple crumble in my day--I'm not so sure is the case.

Ingredients:
-Applesauce
-Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal

Directions:
As you might have guessed, put a fair amount of applesauce in a bowl and cover it with a solid layer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I like to mix it all together, but keeping the cereal at the top would work fine too as long as you get both the cereal and the applesauce in one spoonful. The texture is really what makes this dish awesome; try it for yourself.

A HUGE thanks to Pete Metzger for his irreplaceable team leadership this year, and also for this O'Donnovation!

Cookie Crumb Waffle

Roger Chu, the trusty treasurer of the ultimate team, has been pushing for a while for us to blog about a chocolate chip waffle recipe. We initially balked at the idea, seeing as ice cream toppings aren't out at breakfast and the chocolate would perhaps do something funky to the waffle iron. What's more, the chocolate chips were gone from the toppings selection! Nevertheless, one fine study day, Scott tried out a similar concept with the chocolate cookie crumbs at the ice cream toppings station. To our surprise, the result was fantastic: a golden brown waffle with the delightful accents of chocolate cookies. Thanks Chu!

Ingredients:
- Waffle batter
- Several scoops of cookie crumbs from the ice cream toppings station
- Syrup, butter, powdered sugar, etc. if so desired

Directions:
Spoon about half of the waffle batter onto the waffle iron--make sure you cover as much of the iron as possible. Proceed to sprinkle the cookie crumbs all around the batter, taking great caution not to put cookie crumbs directly on the iron. Finish by adding the rest of the batter onto the iron. Close the iron, wait to cook, add syrup/butter/powdered sugar when finished, and enjoy! Just be careful not to bite off more than you can Chu...

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Cinnamon-sugar turnover

A sweet but slightly time-consuming creation, this can be satisfying at all hours of the day. It takes a few minutes to prepare, but is very simple and easy. I encourage you to try experimenting with the bread and cooking methods. I've considered the MYOP oven and panini press as well.

Ingredients:
2 pieces white sandwich bread
2 pats butter
powdered sugar (near the waffle maker)
cinnamon (same)
little bit of apple, very thinly sliced (optional)

Start by breaking the edge of the crusts off your bread. Yes, you look like a 5-year old, but it's necessary. Then spread about 3/4 pat of butter on each piece of bread. Thoroughly dust with a layer of powdered sugar, then sprinkle a coating of cinnamon. If using apples, spread those on now as well, leaving a little space on the edge of the bread. Top with more powdered sugar, and another repetition if you so desire. (Reccommended if you want a full flavor) Top with the other piece of bread, and tightly press the edges together all around. You may have to do this several times to get a good seal. You can also press the entire composition together to flatten it out a little to get a better crust texture. Once it's sealed, place your turnover in the toaster, set almost to its fastest setting. Once it drops down, check the edge seal, flip it over, and put it through once more. Break open the sweet, warm deliciousness and enjoy!


An edit: In the picture, I topped the turnover with a drizzle of honey and a dusting of cinnamon. This is entirely up to you. It looks nice, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're a big fan of honey, like me.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Simple Pleasure Mondays: MYOPasta

A good morrow to all O'Donovan's faithfuls and happy last day of classes. Scott and I have once again been swamped with work, and I am currently in a sling due to an unfortunate collision during a game of ultimate. Of course, that didn't stop me (and Scott, with his flip flops) from sprinting down to the White House last night and celebrating the good riddance of the world's most dangerous terrorist. USA! USA!

This week's simple pleasure is--well, quite simply--an exposé on an already rather popular Leo's station: Make Your Own Pasta. We have little to say about this station, but as finals creep up on us all Scott and I figured that everyone has less time than ever to be O'Donnovative (or perhaps more, depending on your procrastination habits). Nevertheless, some important things to keep in mind when concocting a carbo-loaded creation at MYOPasta:
- MYOPasta is a vegan/vegetarian station, so forget trying to ask chefs if they'll cook your pasta with meat you bring them. For more on how to turn your MYOPasta carnivorous, consult the Meat Add-ins post.
- Spring for the whole wheat pasta over the white. Its consistency is quite similar to the white pasta, but you get a whole lot more nutrient-wise. If the focus of your dish is pasta texture, you're not being creative enough.
- Add more veggies to your pasta than you would think; they tend to shrink down a lot once cooked (spinach especially). For interesting textural variety, try adding some uncooked veggies to your pasta after it's been cooked--I prefer adding carrots after cooking rather than before.
- K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Stupid! Too often I see wayward souls getting ingredient-happy by mashing up every possible veggie and sauce in a muddled MYOPasta dish. For those who have tried everything else and truly believe that nothing may be omitted, fine. For me (and I would venture to say most others), keeping ingredients down to four or fewer is the way to go. Sometimes less is more; one of my favorite creations is simply pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce.

I hope this post leads you to get more enjoyment out of the MYOPasta station, and let me know if you have any suggestions for combinations. Enjoy the study days (it was worth a try...) and stay tuned for the last Simple Pleasure Monday of the year next week!