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......

Quiet vs. tasty

By the time we got to Tia Pol after work Weds night, it was so packed, we couldn't even walk in the door. Rather than fight the hordes of yelling twentysomethings, we went to a related restaurant at 24th and Ninth.

We had no trouble getting two seats at the bar at El Quinto Pino, but it gave us a view into the kitchen. I say but because it meant we could see how small the kitchen was.

We started with the pincho of the day, a seafood salad on bread. My favorite dish there was the anchoas de ondarroa, or anchovies marinated in tomato sauce: the salty fish tasted of summers spent at the beach. The chickpeas w/spinach were good too: I particularly liked the texture, which was creamy between the lumps of chickpea. Our third round was Spanish-style cracklins and fried salt cod. The former was about what you'd expect, with the intense flavor you get with European hams. My companion described the fried salt cod as upscale Long John Silver's.

They have four sherries on the menu, generically described as a manzanilla, a fino, an amontillado, and an oloroso. Our bartender David was eager to share his patter about them, but at the end of the day, I found them dull. Yes, I tried them all. The first two were crisp and dry, nothing thrilling. The biggest disappointment though was the amontillado: I've had some great ones and if you're going to affiliate yourself with the only Spanish wine store in Manhattan, shouldn't you have something more interesting than Tio Pepe at least? I found the oloroso was also drier than I'd have preferred.

Overall, I found it took the edge off my desire for tapas, and I'd return if Tia Pol was too busy. I'll have lower expectations next time though. Read More......

Recent Breakfasts

I ended up taking the other half of the cranberry beans the next morning and mixing them with diced tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, and salt. What a yummy breakfast!

And then a few days ago, I took the rest of the chard mix and wilted it in a pan with a slice of rendered Niman Ranch bacon, with a little white wine. The touch of white wine (which I was mostly using to steam) was the perfect amount of acid to cut the bitterness of the greens and the unctuousness of the bacon. Incredibly filling with crazy amounts of nutrients. Hurrah! Read More......

Cranberry Beans

Some cookbook I read had a bit where the author waxed rhapsodic over fresh cranberry beans, so when I saw them at Fairway, even though I had no idea what to do with them, I bought a pound. This recipe from Epicurious convinced me they'd be tasty with a basic vinaigrette. They were a joy to shell and it took <10mins to cook them, so even though it was a late weeknight, I still had a tasty nibble at a reasonable hour.

I have all the ingredients to follow the Epicurious recipe and I might do that with the other half. For tonight's nibble though, I tossed them with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil, and sherry. To me they taste like a cross between white beans and chickpeas; it doesn't matter much if it's healthy and fast, right? Read More......

Best Entree Ever

Fairway is now selling a "chard mix" in the bagged salad section: the reds and greens make it irresistible, so I made this lentil recipe from Epicurious for a second time.

The first time I had French lentils but no carrots; this time I had carrots but red lentils. As we previously learned, the type of lentil makes a difference: while last month's batch was picture pretty, this batch looked like a yellowish mush. I like this batch better though: the carrots add a hint of sweetness that makes it extra interesting, particularly with the sausage flavors and the extra garlic.

This might be my new favorite dish to cook - in slightly more time than it would take for Indian food delivery to arrive, I have a tasty and healthy entree. Seriously: I peeled and chopped a carrot and an onion. I browned the sausage, added the carrot, onion, and 2 minced garlic cloves. 5 minutes later, I added 1.5c of lentils, a bay leaf, a teaspoon each of fennel seeds and rosemary, and 3c of water. I brought it to a boil, then let it simmer for 20 mins. Then I steamed the chard on top for 7 mins and mixed it with a large spoon. Yum! In 360 calories, with 7g of fat, I have a meal that contains >50% of the RDA for iron, with both the heme and non-heme varieties, combined with a third of a day's supply of vitamin C for extra-absorption goodness. Hurrah! Read More......

What's the Chinese for sustainably fished?

It was pouring when I got out of my appointment in Chinatown on Saturday, so I decided to skip my usual farmer's market outing. There are many food stores between the subway and my appointment, so I stopped in to buy my favorite dried plums. I also stopped at the fish store. I could've bought tuna or salmon fillets, but I would've felt ridiculous asking if they were sustainably fished. There were some small silver fish and Bottom Feeders generally recommends eating fish low on the food chain, but I had no idea what kind they were or how to cook them. One of the guys there asked, in reasonable English, "Can I help you?" I asked, "What kind of fish are those small ones?" "Small fish." *head slap forehead*

I think I'll stick to my usual fishmonger, thanks. Read More......

I think we have a winner

"What's good this week?"
"We don't usually have the mahi mahi and you haven't had that one yet."

The fishmonger remembered me! And she was right, I hadn't had the mahi mahi and according to Seafood Watch, it's a good fish to eat.

It also tastes good. I pan fried it with a little pepper and olive oil, just a few minutes on each side. It went perfectly with the tabbouleh my mother left behind yesterday. The combination of flavors reminded me of fish tacos, which are one of my favorite foods, except healthier and more interesting. I think this will have to go into the rotation. Read More......

Mmm... tomato season

I was supposed to make an omelet for my post-run breakfast this morning, but as I was cutting the tomatoes, they were so tasty I couldn't bear to cover the flavor. I wish I'd taken a picture for y'all, bc they were so pretty all lined up on my spoonrest: the grassy-flavored yellow-green one and the thick umami flavor of the vermilion one. I've never had such delicious tomatoes in my life - and I can't wait to get more. Read More......

When Farmer's Markets Strike

On the one hand, I just spent $50 on food and came home with pretty much one grocery bag. On the other hand, it's all fresh and yummy and local.

Personally, I blame the Missoula farmer's market. When a local friend suggested it as A Thing To Do in her town, I was dubious, but went anyhow. It was enormous, with an entire section devoted to produce and a different area devoted to prepared goods. Even with nowhere to cook, I bought huckleberries and heirloom tomatoes, quiche and chocolate and a roll. I finished the huckleberries with granola and a glass of milk at Mammoth Hot Springs (visitor center) in Yellowstone; I couldn't wait with the tomatoes and ate them immediately at the market.

The tomatoes were again my downfall at today's market: this is the first time I've seen them sold at Lincoln Center. Once I decided to buy 2lb of tomatoes, the rest was downhill. I bought swiss chard, round zucchini, turkey sausage, and macoun apples. I love how enthusiastically the fishmongers made suggestions for the flounder I'm currently eating. The acidity of my enormous tomato perfectly sets off the flakiness of the fish, and I'm looking forward to rosemary bread and farmer's cheese for dessert. Read More......

Good thing I had extras

Ever start making something and realize the universe REALLY doesn't want you to do that? Everything was going wrong with my baking last night, from discovering that 3c of flour is a lot - like, most of a bag of flour lot - or breaking the yolk while separating the eggs or running out of vanilla extract while pouring it or discovering the second bag of brown sugar was hard as a rock. I still can't believe I didn't spill the vanilla extract while fumbling for the second bottle and the only thing that did spill was a dusting of flour.

I was baking chocolate chip cookies as a hostess gift for a friend, in large part because she and I had a long discussion about home baked cookies. I was horrified that she'd bought some generic brand of chocolate chip cookies - why not bake them, since they're so easy! Well, now I know: they are easy, but time consuming, between waiting for all 5 batches to come out of the oven (did I mention 3c of flour is a lot?) and washing the mixer. It would've been faster if I had an additional pair of baking sheets, but the end product, while filling the description of large chewy cookie, didn't thrill me enough to go through all that labor. I'm not convinced I could learn to make them so much better than preservative-laden store bought that I should go through the effort. Read More......

Gonna need a bigger lunch box

You know your lunch has jumped the shark when you find yourself packing a tray for the toaster oven to prepare it in the pantry.

On the other hand, my tacos were delicious and cheered me up immensely. Read More......

Good thing dried is better for the environment too

An accomplished home cook of my acquaintance once chided me for using canned beans, commenting that the dried ones taste so much better. I duly got two books on the topic, The Bean Bible by Aliza Green and The Bean Harvest Book by Ashley Miller. I read the latter cover-to-cover before deciding to try making "Curried Chickpeas".

Soaking and cooking the chickpeas was mostly an issue of logistics - I had to plan for three stages of cooking. Miller said soaking more than 4 hours was a waste of time, Green said that chickpeas require at least 10 hours and sometimes as much as 24. d'oh! After 6 hours of soaking on my counter, I began to hear periodic pinging from the glass bowl; I suspect the chickpeas were splitting. I cooked them after 7 hours of soaking, and it took less than an hour.

As it was, it took me so long to get around to the food cooking stage, the stock had gelled. The recipe called for black mustard seeds and turmeric, onions garlic and ginger, potatoes and tomatoes, i.e. all the things I expect to put in Indian food. Unfortunately, the result is bland and there's so very much of it. It's also too watery, but with that much potato, I don't want to add more carbs.

Oh well, at least it's healthy? Read More......

*shakes a fist at the universe*

... and then, this morning, I burnt through the butter container and it melted all over the toaster oven while my English muffin burnt.

I'm thinking this is the universe's way of telling me to eat takeout for the next two weeks. Read More......

How I Burnt My Foot Cooking

Whenever I start thinking I'm getting the hang of this cooking thing, the universe laughs at me and sends these little accidents.

I'm still not very good at making omelettes. For a while, I'd make them in a little pan, so I could put them in the toaster oven halfway through, but I was very hungry this morning and didn't think all the ingredients I'd chopped would fit, so I used my new skillet. It took a little jiggling to get the omelette to release. I always flip the eggs over the floor, so that whatever spills can be cleaned up easily, instead of hitting the flames or something. (I'm talented see.) I flipped - and lost almost half the omelette to the floor. More importantly, a superhot piece of tomato hit my bare foot, so I was hopping around yelping. Fortunately, the rest of the omelette stayed in the pan and finished cooking quickly.

The omelette is delicious. Good thing I made extra. Read More......