Should've trusted my instincts

I've been reading through a number of bean cookbooks, so when I got to Suzanne Caciola White's The Daily Bean, I thought there might be something odd about it. She starts with a heartwarming story about how her husband was told by a naturopath doctor to eat beans 3x/day to cure his diabetes. She spends only two pages discussing how to cook beans, before launching into sections on black, white, garbanzo, red, and lentil beans. I've never seen a bean cookbook that so actively discouraged use of dried beans over canned: the author claims there is no difference. I found the recipes either repetitive or simply "puree beans and put them in this standard recipe."

In my selfless devotion to my readers, I decided to try her Black Bean Curry recipe. It sounded reasonable enough - curry powder, onion, garlic, tomatoes, black beans - but the directions were poor. It said to put the onion, garlic, tomatoes, and green pepper in all at once, which would've resulted in overcooked vegetables.

There's the germ of a nice little bean dish in this recipe, but alas, the thing in my pot right now is not it. Maybe if I'd cooked the beans overnight in my crockpot with the curry powder... The resultant "curry" is almost inedible. I wonder if Ms. White has actually cooked beans, let alone this dish. Read More......

Staycation Eats

There are so many great restaurants in NYC, it's inevitable that some of them will be out-of-the-way. Faced with the expense and hassle of a last minute trip somewhere or enjoying my beautiful city, I chose to eat my way through the holiday week.

Thanks to a tip from Chowhound, on Monday I joined my parents at Gotham Bar & Grill for one of the most elegant lunches I've ever had. The roasted beet and mango salad was a line of colorful cut pieces on a long plate: delicious and tasty as well as a visual treat. I rarely order steak in restaurants, but their hanger steak was perfectly cooked. In addition to their $31 prix fixe for lunch, they also have a selection of $31 bottles of wine; we had a bottle from the unfamiliar region of France called Saint-Chinian. The chocolate marquise was the perfect end to the meal.

I'll mention in passing that I had supper at Tia Pol, mostly to note I'd forgotten just how incredible the food is. Also, it was the first time I'd EVER been seated - possibly because we got there 30mins before the kitchen closed :-P

I'd planned to go to L'Impero the very first time I was free on a business day, but then they closed. Fortunately for me, Scott Conant re-opened it as Convivio. I started with the sgombro, which was a delicious ceviche-like tuna dish; my gracious companion split her fegatini with me, which were incredible. I exclaimed to her that if things continued like this, the meal would be one of the top 10 best in my life. The chicken liver was dark and rich.

I must confess, when we first sat down, I didn't expect much from our waitress, but she turned out to be one of the best I've ever had. When I asked her opinion on the pasta, she unhesitatingly told me to get the fusilli with pork shoulder ragu. I'm not a big fan of pasta, but this was delicious. She was also fantastic in guiding us with multiple wines: I hate when waiters call over a sommelier for everything.

I was disappointed with my tuna: it was fine, but not outstanding. The grilled lamb chops were better, but still not as remarkable as the pastas. When I come back - because I must find a way to make this happen - I will probably skip the entree course altogether. The dessert on the other hand, wow. Caramel is my favorite sweet, so it was a no-brainer to get the tartalletta di caramelle. Convivio's caramel was exemplary and sandwiching it between chocolate and tart highlighted its intense flavor.

My new dining table was delivered yesterday, which precluded lunch reservations, so the big meal of the day was joining my siblings and uncle at Cipriani downtown. Although I greatly enjoyed a corporate event I attended at their midtown location, I had no expectations. I was horrified by the prices and annoyed that they served their bread without olive oil. Yes, I know it's a chintzy American-esque thing to serve bread with olive oil but I still like it. Then they brought it to the table with the caprese and the olive oil turned out to be incredibly good.

My aunt was delighted by the waiter's Italian accent. Me, I was delighted by his unhesitating advice to order the tagliardi (as well as his patience as I rattled off the dishes I was considering). He picked well - I tried everyone else's dish and the veal ragu set off the homemade pasta far better than the bolognese or sausage. Again, I'm not a pasta fan, but if I keep eating this sort of stuff, I might reconsider.

We'd watched the merengue cake go back and forth several times, so it was no surprise we ordered that. The nice thing about eating with 7 other people is that someone joked, "Why don't we just get one of each [cake]?" and we could. I also like the white cake whose name escaped me, as well as the tirimisu-like one.

May the new year be as full of good eating as the past three days. Read More......

On the advice of my friends

As I think I mentioned, I have such a horror of "mediocre middle" restaurants - places with mediocre food for too much money - that when I first moved to the Upper West Side, I learned to cook rather than risk boring meals. Fortunately for me, I have friends in the neighborhood who've taken me to local watering holes, so that I have options.

Friday night, I went to Cafe Ronda for dinner with a friend. I pass that place regularly, but never even looked at the menu, or I'd've known they serve tapas. We had the sauteed shrimp, with a brilliant sauce, and a mixed tomato salad to start. I'd come back just to try some of the other tapas. Our skirt steak was delicious: I'm a sucker for flavorful, grilled beef.

I've similarly been past Patsy's a gazillion times, but never went in because I usually eat NYC pizza by the slice. I had guests in town however, so I took them there. The pizza was far better than I expected. Usually I suffer the crust - I'm not a bread fan - but this crust had such a perfect consistency, I snagged it off the plate of my young companion. Admittedly, this was partly because I was so disappointed with the pasta, I'd rather eat the sausage and broccoli with her crust ends than the pasta. oops. Read More......

Hobbit Day!

Any major holiday with my family is a hobbit day, but Thanksgiving is even more so. While I didn't cook for this holiday, I'd be a poor food blogger if I didn't at least acknowledge the holiday.

The meal started later than usual this year - I got pre- and post-meal naps. Appetizers were surprisingly healthy - there were veggies and honey mustard horseradish dip and fewer unhealthy options. My mother went over the top with sides this year, making stuffing, turnips, green beans, and homemade cranberry relish. I liked her stuffing more than I have in some years past, possibly bc she's started putting sausage into it. I wasn't crazy about the turnips or green beans, both of which were simply cooked with a little (similar) flavoring. I was surprised by the cranberry relish - my mother usually doesn't make anything that can be so readily purchased - but it was delish with a bright flavor that contrasted well with the other dishes.

The star of the day was her sweet potatoes. My sister had written me a piteous text earlier in the week about my mother's refusal to put marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, but after tasting this year's recipe, I'm okay with that. My mother says we're too old for marshmallows and apparently that means butter, brown sugar, and rum. I called dibs on the leftovers immediately.

I was very excited to have turkey leftovers for paleo goodness this week, but while the 12 of us didn't eat that much at the meal, we gave some to my grandparents such that all remained after lunch on Saturday was half a breast. oops.

After the traditional Thanksgiving movie and naps, we moved on to my uncle's lasagna and flan. I used to be a purist when it comes to lasagna, but after eating his, I've decided sausage, chicken, and spinach belong in lasagna. I'm never a big flan fan, but the caramel at the bottom of the pan was incredible, with smokiness that never made it into the dessert. I think I got the better end of that deal.

I wish I'd paid more attention to the cooking of the day though, bc I'm buying a dining table today and will have seats for 10 next year, which may well mean I'll be hosting next year. EEK! Read More......

A Meal Fit for a Princess

I hope I don't lose my foodie card for failing to visit Salumeria Rosi for so long, bc it's just that good.

Their wine list is the perfect size: a thoughtful, representative collection of Italian wines that does not overwhelm the casual drinker. Their list of meats on the other hand is very broad. Fortunately, we had an excellent server who had clear, concise recommendations on both: we had an off-list nebbiolo, finocchiona, and prosciutto toscano grigliato. The finocchiona was delicious - the fennel gave it a very pleasant flavor and I nibbled it with a little of the rosemary that is part of the place setting. I found the prosciutto to be surprisingly ham-like; not unpleasantly, but not something I need to have again.

We'd originally planned on going for tapas last night, so the small plates were perfect. We had lasagna, brussel sprouts, costina (Tuscan short ribs braised in a tomato sauce), and butternut risotto. Everything was delicious, but I particularly liked the sweetness of the butternut in the risotto in contrast to the pumpkin seed garnish.

How wonderful was our server? When we asked for a cheese recommendation, she noticed we still had a little wine left, and suggested we save it to go with the ubriaco, a drunken cow cheese. Yum! The best though was our dessert: a campari semifreddo. It had the perfect amount of campari-bitterness to match the sweetness of the other ingredients. I'd go back to Salumeria Rosi just to see what other desserts their chef creates. Read More......

With a little help from some pepper

Today my fishmonger said, "Well, if you've had the bass, it's been a while, so why don't you have that this week?" Sure. I bought both the fillets she had left and cooked one with a little butter in the skillet, with olive oil, black pepper, and salt on the fish itself on both sides. Maybe I'm just hungry, or maybe it's just tasty: either way, I'm contemplating getting the other fillet out of the fridge and cooking it too.

It's no longer heirloom tomato season :( but I have sugar snap peas I bought at the supermarket a few days ago. I tossed those in the oil-pepper mixture remaining in the skillet after the fish. I added a little ground ancho to add another dimension to the vegetables, which was absolutely the right choice. So good. Read More......

With a side of burgers

I'd heard of The Spotted Pig, but not only had never been, I didn't know what they were famous for, so when my brother suggested we go for burgers, I readily agreed.

Even at 4pm on a Sunday, we had to wait half an hour. (Ah, the Village...)

We shared an apple salad as an appetizer. It was so good and so unusual, I was apparently wolfing them down (ah, dining with family) because my brother moved the plate to the other side of the table. The salad was mostly chopped apples with a vinaigrette and a negligible amount of cheese and greens as garnish. The flavor was so unusual, I asked the server what was in it and she duly told me there was cider vinegar, prune juice, apple juice, and a bunch of other ingredients I cannot remember. How I wish I'd written them down, despite my siblings' mocking!

I'd tried to substitute beets & greens for the shoestring fries that come with the burger, but they wouldn't let me... so I had both. (At my brothers' insistence I might add.) The beets and greens were very nice - the greens were more black than green, but the whole side had a nice flavor.

I've never had such delicious fried potatoes in my life. The shoestring fries were thin, which meant extra crisp. Apparently they fry them with rosemary and garlic IN THE FRYER so every helping comes with a healthy dose of fried rosemary and garlic slices. Genius! Fried rosemary is so tasty!

The burger itself was disappointing to me. Adding a healthy dollop of blue cheese to an already juicy burger is gilding the lily and while a few bites justified the paroxysms from the foodie press, mostly it was just too greasy. If I went back, I'd get the apple salad and the beets & greens - and steal someone else's fries. Read More......