cloggdancer

Tumbling into the New Year....

2012-01-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

During the Holidays I was busy as usual, making sure folks had all the kale and pistachio scallops and egg-nog bread pudding they needed. I also thought more and more about Tumblr and how I wanted a format to just post stuff as it happens. For example popping into give the Corkbuzz kitchen girls a hug before running to a do a Bluefly party down the street-who could resist a peek at Grace Bae and her pig ears (which end up in a ridiculously good salad crispy and fried over juicy mushrooms) or the fish tub full of mise-en-place for a gorgeous raw bar at a GQ/Park and Bond event? I can't. And I'm sure people might be interested in a quick inside peek at this stuff even if I can't blah blah blah about it (which I do way too much of anyway).

My Tumblr page.....

Allows me to blast it right out there. So, hopefully during a busy season like these last couple of months I can keep connected and keep a good visual diary for you and me. Plus, I have added some non-food stuff that inspires me in the kitchen and beyond...

Happy New Year!!

Methods & Madness V. Marian (Long Overdue Post...)

2011-11-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

In the latest installment of Methods & Madness, I teamed up with one of my best buddies, the supremely talented Art Director (at O Magazine, no less), Jaspal Riyait. Jas had been trying to convince me to meet and collaborate with typographer Christian Schwartz of Commercial Type for a long time. To be honest, I felt the medium might be a bit too dry for a juicy dinner, but she insisted. I told her if they could convince me that people were as cuckoo crazy about fonts as I was about food I would do it.

Jas introduced Christian and me over dinner at my buddy chef Nacxi Gaxiola's underground lair of Mexican food in Chinatown, Pulqueria. Christian was more than I could have hoped for in a subject. He is ridiculously smart, painstakingly involved and crazily dedicated to making awesome typefaces. He explained that his firm's latest effort, Marian, would be released in a month or two and that it had taken 8 years to create. Even cooler was his announcement that he was about to preview Marian in a pop-up "shop" on Elizabeth and Kenmare. The space would feature specially commissioned neon pieces (the names of the original font designers in their respective Marian form), mirror boxes telling the story of the process of creating Marian (the "Method" I'm interested in) and Marian spelled out in nailheads across the back wall (Madness!!!!). The dinner would be the closing party for the space, three blocks away in my friend Jim Chu's cozy restaurant Jo's private back dining room.

Jo's back dining room-photo Brandon Stanley courtesy of Gusta.com

Old books bought at flea markets and online antiquities dealers supplied original fonts from the 1500's through the 1900's. Nine of these typefaces were chosen to distill down to a single stroke, one thin but powerful line. An interesting concept for a cook too...This would be a great place to pull inspiration from-the eras and places the books were from and even juicy backstory on the methods and personalities behind the original typefaces. Christian sent me his notes and I hit the books....

Study time

For the "thing" Jas would make a beautiful poster printed at my neighbor Kon's letterpress shop, Coeur Noir in our neighborhood. Since we were working with this brand new font, we chose to highlight 26 ingredients in the menu and make an A-Z poster, check it out below....

The beautiful letterpressed poster-Photo by Mark Shaw

This exercise was not easy, but I love a challenge (as if preparing for this thing in little over two weeks' time wasn't enough:) For the letter X I used XO Sauce (that blast of umami hotness popular in Cantonese cooking and added to almost every dish I ever saw Chen Kenichi prepare on the original Japanese Iron Chef series) and for Z I chose black zapote for the dessert for the 9th iteration of the font (Marian Black).

Dormers-Victorian sausages made with left-over cooked mutton (I used beautiful mutton from 3 Corner Farm) with Pickled Kohlrabi and XO Mustard-Photo by Mark Shaw

Working out of the back of the restaurant for the night after preparing for a few days at a rental kitchen in Chinatown we brought everything over to Jo's and set up in their back/prep area. All the guys in the kitchen were super cool and let us fry stuff and use a couple of burners (the rest we did in our little space on butane burners). Since there were a number of vegetarians/vegans coming I had to sub a little bit (I know, I gave in, but I had to do it!). Most courses were easy to switch up/make veggie (walnut instead of rabbit pate, veggiepfeffer instead of hasenpfeffer, etc.) I actually found mock mutton at the ever-amazing temple of Buddhist veggie food May Wah on Hester Street (they let you buy bulk/cases, FYI, if you are a resto/caterer) and since the Oyster course was a mock oyster in the anyway it worked out wonderfully; the original font designer in 1742 Paris, Pierre Simon Fournier was notorious for telling blatant lies to protect his book production methods.

Plating up the "oyster" course with Kat-Photo by Mark Shaw

Methods & Madness on spd.org!

2011-11-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to a great article on the publishing industry's super-nerdy and acclaimed webpage for the Society of Publishing Design...The article is titled "Eat Your words"!! Amazing!!!!!

Pulling it Out/Pantry Raiders....

2011-11-13T16:31:00.001-08:00

Sometimes when it's cold and you are tired you just want food to magically appear. The other night was one of those moments and I was lucky enough to find a tin of Piri Piri sardines (with an actual little pepper in the can), and an instant Thai rice noodle soup (spring onion flavor, though I only added half the packet of "seasoning"). Here are some photos and quick how-to of my 10 minute Citrus Sardine Noodle Soup with Chili and Mint experience. With a bit of imagination wonderful things happen:)

The pantry stuff was good for a start, I found freshness in mint and grapefruit in fridge. After browning the whole sardines in a pan, deglazing with grapefruit and old sake and making the noodles I chopped the piri piri and mint and threw all of it in a bowl with a generous squeeze of grapefruit, sriracha and voila! I didn't think I was on to anything until I looked at the ingredients I was too lazy even to use a cutting board to process (see the boomerang plate, haha). The asterisk pattern made the ingredients seem to say "hey, not bad Tessita."

From Apotheke to Zapotec-Tierneys Take Over Doyers

2011-10-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Pulqueria Tiles

On one of New York's most-filmed streets, elbow-shaped Doyers (built, according to Chinese tradition, to confuse evil spirits), the saavy Tierney siblings have expanded next door to custom cocktail bar Apotheke. At Pulqueria artisanal mezcals and tequilas are featured alongside the milky fermentation of the agave plant, pulque. The namesake spirit while not evil is certainly rough-and-ready. Blown glass pitchers of punches are available to wash down Chef Nacxi Gaxiola's truly authentic Mexican fare.

Apotheke Floor

Bar of Pulchritude and Pulque

You know it's real when they rim the glass with ground agave worm salt

Relocating from Mexico City to New York to helm popular street-food spot, La Superior, Gaxiola worked as the right-hand to Mexico's scholarly food historian, Ricardo Munoz, author of the massive Encyclopedia of Mexican Gastronomy. Pulqueria features dishes such as Sikil Pak, a pumpkin seed paste so timeless and true it tastes as if someone had stepped out of an ancient pyramid and handed it to you. On this side of the pyramid, a gorgeous basement space in Chinatown, you are most likely to be handed your dish by a server who knows as much about the food and drink served under the feathered sconces as the cumbia remix of Michael Jackson playing in the separate bar area.

Pulqueria Pachanga!

Calm before Service

There's much more to say, but had to keep it under 200 words--new excersize for me....Anyway, you know I love Nacxi already....

Clambake in a Garbage Can!

2011-07-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my friend the lovely and talented Christina Connors had a clambake in her backyard in Verplank, New York-about 45 minutes upstate close to Peekskill. Christina teaches middle school kids a 2011 version of Home Economics where she does things like raise trout from eggs, plant edible gardens, tap maple trees, teach kids how to budget and in general be more conscious consumers. I have been to the school and Miss Connors is the absolute coolest (not to mention she's a 6 foot tall platinum blonde who has been known to wear 5 inch platform boots). We went to SUNY Purchase together and ended up both in food-she was a pastry chef and makes cheese with creameries in Pennsylvania and the Pyrennes.

Besides well-sourced, fresh seafood you'll need the can itself (a brand-new 30-60 Gallon galvanized can with lid) and some chicken wire, burlap (or seaweed) and charcoal/chimney.

Click here for a great eHow article (please ignore the Rachel Ray co-branding, it really is the clearest, most user-friendly guide:)

We had a delicious pescetarian version with lobsters, clams, mussels and corn. I can only imagine how great this would have been with smoky sausages of some sort in there....We served everything with traditional drawn butter and lemon and had homemade peanut butter brownies for dessert. To keep the air moving we stuck a tiny fan down at the bottom of the can where we made a small hole, this worked brilliantly as for a minute there it seemed we might never eat.

When your Feet Look Like Watermelons....

2011-07-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

You make stuff like Hamachi Ceviche with Hibiscus and Lime Tiger's Milk, Pickled Watermelon Rind, Toasted Coriander Seed then you serve the watermelon flesh in big chunks with Chili Lime Salt

Sour Cherries-Summer Fling

2011-07-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sour Cherries are only around for a few weeks every summer here in NYC. Since I started noticing them at the Greenmarket a few years ago I've pickled them, preserved them with Maraschino liquer (stick that in some ginger ale for a Shirley Temple with kick:), made soup (Eastern European-style cold soup), frozen them into a granita, cooked them with duck breast, etc. amongst other preparations. This year I almost missed them as I have spent most of my waking hours at the restaurant.

I did, however, get my hands on some in the nick of time and after tasting the bag of fermented cacao nibs sent over by the Mast Brothers (amazing chocolatiers) I knew they'd be the perfect match. The nibs taste like those red foil-wrapped chocolate-covered cherries you used to get at the bodega for a quarter. The ones that leak a sweet liquored-up syrup and a smash of cocoa-buttery fat on the roof of your mouth. Kinda gross but the flavor was great. The nibs are that delivered in a tiny, dry and crunchy package. They look like Nerds, taste like movie stars. So, cherries went in a Fidencio Mezcal simple syrup atop a smoky vanilla flan (if it were a flavor of nieves, would be "Beso de Humo"). Nibs all around. If only I could wrap the plate in red foil. Hopefully someone gets it even if they don't realize:)

Not-so-Far Rockaway

2011-06-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

About 10 years ago I ran into my friend John at about 8 in the morning on the subway to Union Square with a surfboard under his arm. I was wearing a coat. What was this guy thinking? He told me that he surfed at Rockaway Beach, pretty much every morning before going to work at Diesel in the City. John is from Hawaii and a die-hard surfer, so this seemed to be his only option. And it wasn't bad, he admitted.

The Rockaways are still a bit sketchy (not as bad as when we found ourselves there one drunken teenage evening), but according to another buddy, the not-so-friendly local surfers who have been surfing there for years have finally started warming up to the new guys (or maybe they just can't be bothered to fight it any more). This has all contributed to pockets of grooviness at the end of the A train line. Who to feed everyone? Enter Rockaway Taco 3 summers ago (see The Selby's film, link below). This shack on the corner of 96th Street has sprouted Veggie Island, a farm-stand and smoothie bar, a coffee place and has always had Cosmo's Italian ices next to the awesome fish tacos and Ziploc bags of cut up fruits and veggies with lime, chili and salt, amongst other offerings.

Now these guys have curated 3 separate concession stands-worth of food vendors with mash ups from popular BK spots like Vinegar Hill House, Roberta's, the Meat Hook and my personal favorite, Caracas Arepa Bar. This summer the Boardwalk will see rock shows, there will be another art weekend and it will host a surf compteition in early June before the ASP World Tour Pro Surf Competition happens for the first time on the first East Coast with a million dollar prize at nearby Long Beach.

We finally went out there last weekend (Memorial Day) for the kick off of the summer. We were very excited to hear about the new food vendors-our friend mentioned and when we Googled we found all this juicy information:

http://brooklynbased.net/email/2011/05/rock-rock-rock-rock-rockaway-food-stands/

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/27/rockaway-boardwalk-buffet-confirmed/

http://theselby.com/9_26_10_RockawayTacoFilm/index.html

We all tried the Motorboat and Big Banans' frozen bananas on a stick. Try the one with Roasted Peanuts and Sea Salt-like an ice cream sundae that won't melt in the heat. It definitely encouraged bemused chuckling from boardwalk knuckleheads (like the superstar with the t-shirt "Trophy Husband" barely covering his gut as he strolled up and down the boardwalk). 3 girls with bananas on sticks. Hehe.

Happy Summer Everybody!!

More Dinner Fotos, Thank you to Erin Gleeson for being Staff Photographer!

2011-04-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

And now a look back into the woods with some professional photos from the lovely and talented Erin Gleeson, photographer for such outlets as The New York Times, Gourmet, Edible and the James Beard House.

Kitchen shots are all my own-John Fazio's beautiful bunnies (livers were made into pate, tenderloins were family meal, hindquarters were for the ragout with our wild mushrooms (mostly chicken of the woods from Nova Kim and Les Hook of Wildorganic in Vermont), bodies for stock and bones possibly for jewelry...

All photos at bookstore (thanks again to Housing Works for hosting)/plated courses shot by Erin Gleeson.

Goodies from Nova and Les!!

Exploded deer truffle=Rorshach test swallow and eventually, beautiful pasta sheets.

Deer Truffle Handkerchief Pasta with Rabbit and Wild Mushroom Ragout

Me, Paul and Emily plating it up!

Smoked Trout Rillettes with Apple and Rosehip Compote, Pickled Apple, Wild Watercress and Leek-Apple Ash Oil

"The Call of a Strange Bird"-Quail with Cedar Meringues (made with Cedar essential oil from Mandy Aftel) and Preserved Black Walnuts

People and Plates!

Wild and Crafty

2011-03-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

We finally had our first Methods and Madness dinner!!!!!! It has been nearly 3 years in the making. I had the idea for a menu that would follow two children on a woodland walk, each course correlating with the words of the story in an organic way. I was interested in creating a winter wonderland and having the menu be an illustrated booklet. Moreover, I was interested in the methods and processes people use to create their work-be it art, food, whatever. This is my chance to spy on people who do cool stuff and they can come spy on me in the kitchen. Fun all around:) Hence, "Methods and Madness" because most people who are really fixated on art/craft/food are just a little bit cuckoo...

When I started as the Executive Chef of Housing Works' social enterprise catering company, The Works, in October and began executing events in the beautiful bookstore space on Crosby Street (if you are a nerd who met your honey in a bookstore, what better place to get married?) I thought, finally, this was the place to do the dinner! Happily, Housing Works folks were down and so we set a date. Next I got my buddy, the lovely and extremely talented Balint Zsako to illustrate the story and make the most beautiful books for each diner. Nick, one of our adorable Works staff read aloud as the diners crept further into the story and meal and we projected the images overhead for all to see. The meal was a celebration of the winter with game from great folks (quail from Georgia, rabbit from John Fazio, wild boar) and wild foods from deep in the woods of Vermont...

At about the same time as I had the idea for the menu I met Nova Kim and Les Hook, wildcrafters from Vermont, at the very first installment of the New Amsterdam Market one very cold and rainy day. "Wildcrafters?" you might ask...Wildcrafting is defined as:

"the practice of harvesting plants from their natural, or "wild" habitat, for food or medicinal purposes. It applies to uncultivated plants wherever they may be found, and is not necessarily limited to wilderness areas. Ethical considerations are often involved, such as protecting endangered species.

In the United States, wildcrafted plants are regulated by the Organic Food Production Act of 1990. Harvesters must designate the area they are harvesting and provide a three-year history of the area that shows no prohibited substances have been applied there. A plan for harvesting must show that the harvest will sustain the wild crop. No prohibited substances can be added by processors."

Many of us use the words "forager" for someone who does this work, but I learned from Nova that this word has a lot of negative connotations and therefore they (personally) do not want to be classified as foragers. I was so excited to work with them on the dinner. They gave me updates for a few weeks prior to the dinner and I was so lucky that they found a nice patch of wild watercress growing which I added to the plate of Smoked Trout Rillettes with Stayman Apple and Rosehip Compote, Rice Wine Vinegar Pickled Apple and Leek Apple Ash Oil (we just burned the leftover leeks and apple cores and mixed the ash with hazelnut oil and sea salt, looked so pretty on the plate)...

Here are some of the amazing ingredients we got to work with-Milk Thistle seed which we toasted and put on our Smoked Potato Soup course. They tasted bitter without toasting and then kinda like peanuts when toasted. Supposedly they are good for hangovers (according to Paul, one of our Chefs for the evening)...

..Hand in hand they left, maybe only to see in winter what might be beyond the comforts of home and hearth. Gingerly they crept further out and soon all they could see of home was a thin wisp of smoke from the chimney...

SMOKED POTATO SOUP, ELDERBERRY VINEGAR, TOASTED MILK THISTLE SEED

We also got Sasparilla Root which we infused cream with for Sasparilla Caramel for the Bread Pudding, Black Walnuts, White Acorns (milled into a flour which we dusted tofu with for the vegetarian who we found out was coming-yikes!), Wild Sumac which we crushed on top of the amuse bouche of Golden Beets Compressed wtih Pine Essential Oil and so much more. Photos and drawings from the dinner to come in the next post.....Now we look forward to spring and to see your faces at the next dinner!

Getting inspired for an upcoming dinner....

2011-02-07T22:20:00.000-08:00

Thankful....

2010-11-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Day!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...

2010-09-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you Fashion Week S/S 2011. I'm still alive, and people actually ate food. A lot. And it was good. Amen.

the most glamorous of the week

Stefano Tonchi who made a beautiful book about Walter Albini, '70's Italian designer and the divinely gorgeous DVF (book party was in her meatpacking loft space, fancy!)

2010-09-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

these roasted tomatoes might flutter away

what happened to our lovely panna cotta? it looks like underwater coral stars brains

The September Issue I've been waiting for...

2010-09-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

FNO= Effin' OMG! Or "All Tomorrow's Parties"

2010-09-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the second annual Fashion's Night Out or, FNO, as it's known by those who like to abbreviate (LOL). FNO is a general freak-out fest for fashion girls put on by Vogue Magazine. Around the boroughs (Queens Center Mall to Upper Madison) and around the world this is the hugest shopping event ever put on. It is guaranteed to cause mayhem (FNO bicycle rentals-i.e. drunk chicks in stilettos trying to navigate the city streets, yikes! Oh wait, I think I'm throwing stones out of the window of my glass house or something) and street closings around the city September 10th (our Piperlime event at their month long pop-up store is on the same block as Rag and Bone who are closing down the entire street for a block party-wish I could hang, boo...).

For us FNO means 10-plus parties; 5 with food, all with really amazing cocktails (I have over 20 gallons of simple syrup-Sage, Ginger-Basil, Orange). Furla wanted "Wizard of Oz" to celebrate their collabo with Leitmotiv so that means (why do I let myself write menus in the middle of the night?) "Ruby Slipper Tuna Tartarte" with red pickled ginger and ume plum salt. Tommy wanted "Americana" so we are doing mini sliders, lobster rolls and "New York Peppermint Patties." Again, why do I torture myself? They did come out cute tho, see pic....

And Urbandaddy is celebrating the new HBO show Boardwalk Empire with Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Clam Chowder Shot).

Well, I'm crossing my fingers, so thankful for all of the people who work with me here (these were the flowers on my desk this morning, in a baine marie:) and hoping that I haven't forgotten something... Tomorrow we are going to pack it up, roll it out, and sashay-shantay the hors d'ouevres! It's 11:30 and I've been here since 9am, third day in a row (we had two parties yesterday, 2 today and well, you get the idea about tomorrow). Good night even though I know nobody reads this!!!

Brainwashed by Blackberry Mousse...

2010-08-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things happen in stages. They get ingrained in your brain and later on you look back and laugh at how ideas insidiously get planted in there. Alex called me months ago and said Brides Magazine was looking for a "light, airy, parfait-type" dessert to match a lavender/lilac and light green-colored Erin Fetherston dress.

There was going to be a whole page in the mag with light purple stuff; flowers, cakes, etc. So, I made some blackberry mousse and then threw all the girliest stuff we had on the pastry shelf in there. Dragees, etc. Took a picture with my (then brand-new) camera (check out the "seamless" I set up) and sent it off to be "reviewed."

Flash forward a month or two and I'm at Dylan's Candy Bar looking for cotton candy in lavender and mint green (didn't end up using, made spun sugar instead). Then the next day it was off to style the shoot with the super-cool team at Brides' digital studio. Is this why I ended up wearing that dress to my buddies' wedding last weekend? I've been brainwashed!

Tiptoe Through The Tulips

2010-06-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hmmmmm, summer in the Hamptons. Love the grey wooden barns, local produce and seafood. Hate the jerky drivers and all the people I avoid in the city. We've done a few events out there this summer and I've conveniently avoided having to go to any of them (although would have loved to see the Egyptian tents at the Moroccan dinner we did in Southampton).

Recently we did an event I couldn't pass up going to. Not only did I love the menu but it was a dinner benefitting a really cool museum that I have loved for years at an amazing home filled with great art. The menu was inspired by a dinner I cooked with my cousin and his wife last summer in the Hamptons (basically we raided the kitchen and came up with something awesome-wrapped locally caught wild striped bass in Hamptons corn husks (worked pretty well!) and grilled along with the corn itself, green peppers that were sitting on the counter and tomatoes to make a frilled salsa and then wrapped up the tiniest potatoes with small shallots and threw on the grill to roast off with herbs from their garden).

I knew this would be a good one-most all of the ingredients were from the island, and we even had Adam cut some herbs from the clients' cutting garden. Nice.....

Zac Posen Gets Pesto....

2010-05-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

So, between designing his own line (perhaps showing in Paris...) and a sweet Target collection (with really good bathing suits), Zac Posen is a quite busy fashion designer. So, it's a small wonder he found the time to design the interiors of a posh condo building on 21st Street. And, honestly, after seeing the totally creepy but possibly brilliant ad that was created for taxi TV I wasn't so sure what the place would look like.

I was even more concerned when we did the walk through a week before the event and things looked super, um, how do you say, unfinished?

Flash forward to day of press viewings, the place looked amazing. There was art everywhere (including photos by Nan Goldin and a gorgeous painting by Zac's Dad, artist Stephen Posen) even a drawing and photo print on the beautiful blue refrigerator. I wish the colors on the food photos were better, but I got really pretty baby blue colored eggs and the prettiest heirloom radishes. They told me to go to the Farmer's Market and go nuts to create a cool "I live around the corner from Union Square, check out my vegetables" vibe on the countertop. Then they wanted us to make a salad and a pasta with the ingredients we bought. Fun fun! I went to my favorite salad suppliers, Windfall Farms (the greens, edible flowers and Scooby Doo van make me car-azy with happy) for greens, the lovely Hawthorne Valley Farms for a gorgeous smoked fresh cheese called Bianca and then put together this really great pesto, recipe below. I mean, Stinging Nettles, Ramps, tiny little potatoes everywhere. Ligurian-style pesto was a no-brainer. I really loved it. I had pistachios and Peccorino at the kitchen so thought to make it something a little different I'd use those in the pesto. The weird pasta shaped like eco-friendly light bulbs didn't quite make the cut, so we had some for family meal (see photo).

The next night was a full-on cocktail party and preview of the model apartment for about 150 guests. Everywhere was gorgeous wallpaper, silk moire and mirrors, Diptyque candles and velvet covered stairway railings (inspired by a box at the Metropolitan Opera). With great cocktails (like a special lavender white tea infusion with vodka) and gorgeous flowers from Takashimaya the evening was cozy and intimate but still felt like a special occasion.

Stinging Nettle and Ramp pesto with Pistachios:

2 bunches stinging nettles (and be careful when handling them because they can really irritate or "sting" you; wear disposable gloves if you have them)

1 bunch of ramps, green part only (pickle the white parts)

1/2 cup Peccorino Romano cheese
1/3 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup Extra-virgin olive oil blended with 1/2 cup canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blanch the leaves of the nettles and ramps in salted water (do them seperately as they cook at different rates). Make sure the nettles are blanched for at least one minute. Shock all in ice water and then squeeze out excess liquid.

Chop nuts in food processor then add greens, some of the oil to get it moving and the cheese. Continue to add oil by pouring in while machine is running. Don't over process, but make sure it's pretty smooth. Check for seasoning and add S&P to taste.

Serve with cooked, chilled pasta and boiled baby potatoes and green beans. Also great on chicken, fish and sandwiches. If you want to bulk it up you can add some spinach.

Tasting Notes-Party Food Paired with Perfume

2010-03-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

First, the mention that a certain Bootylicious diva was releasing a perfume and then the top secret dossier containing the Top, Middle and Base notes. Then the freak-out (wha!!!!!!) and finally, the top secret lab session Chez Shiraz kitchen for the upcoming launch party in NYC. All in all, one of my favorite assignments so far and not just because I am obsessed with perfume/making, but really, it was all I could do to not sing "Let me Cater to You" at the initial tasting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It28Uh6qlI0
Here's a video of the party....

As for the "notes" themselves, thankfully, some were edible or at least contained some sort of similarity to commonly edible foods. The Red Vanilla Orchid, for example has a similar smell to what might be a cross between vanilla and dark chocolate. Others (blush peach) were more obviously foods we all know and love (even if sadly out of season here in NYC). Now, how to incorporate without being obvious or cheesy....

Wild goose chases for ingredients ensued. Base Note Tonka Bean (illegal to consume in the US, but used in several countries as a complement or replacement for vanilla in desserts) was found only at the local Wicca shop in the East Village (I could only find it online on witch-y sites, so, thankfully knew this place as it was blocks from my old apartment and well, where else to get love potion ingredients?). I used them for a white gazpacho shot with cucumber, green grape, and dill. This was 86'ed ultimately, but fun experiment and no one died. Musk sticks (apparently a strange pink Aussie candy couldn't be ordered in time for tasting (thanks anyway, Susan Joy, for your help sourcing) which I was thinking could be crushed in some sort of a pudding-y/parfait situation.

Decided to do a custom version of our Lobster-Phyllo Tartlet with a vanilla and tarragon dressing (vanilla and lobster are traditionally paired in a Sauce Americaine) and sprinkle the top with shaved bitter chocolate. It came out really awesome as the vanilla is great with the sweetness of the lobster, balancing with the lime, vermouth and tarragon in the dressing. The chocolate was a great color and flavor contrast and honestly tasted amazing. You wouldn't guess chocolate if you closed your eyes. It almost has the same flavor as ancho chili without the heat.

Neroli (orange blossom), one of the Middle or Heart notes was worked into the menu as an Orange Flower Water-Infused Ricotta Crostini with Orange Blossom Honey, Thyme and Maldon Salt. The pine aroma of Giant Sequioa Milkwood was captured in a Rosemary and Pine-Rubbed Chicken on Savory Rosemary Shortbread Square. The peach was made into a Blush Peach Wine Jam for our Filet Bites.

Luckily for us almond macaron (like the Frenchie ones) were also one of the notes. Since the perfume is called "Heat" we wanted to do something spicy so we did something similar to a cottage pie HD we did recently. A hollowed out sweet potato base, roasted root vegetables with crushed almond macaron (we just did a giant sheet tray of meringue base with 10x and ground almonds). Then we piped on spicy sweet potatoes-whipped with chipotle peppers. Clearly Beyonce and I are on the same Virgo-fied plane as I saw this snippet in an interview about her creating her perfume...

And it's her mother's cooking that begot the singular balance of woody and fruity notes in the fragrance. "My mother's Creole so she cooks with a lot of spices -- her candied yams are so delicious!," said Knowles. "When I walk in the room I can smell the sweetness, but I can also smell the spice. So I wanted a mixture of something that is fiery, sensual but also very feminine."

The party was held in a big, fancy new building at 15 Union Square, in fact, it's the original Tiffany Building from the 1800's that has recently been redesigned as luxury housing....When we left for the night (leaving behind a couple of Destiny's Children, Hov, Usher, little sister Solange (Djing in the VIP area) and tons more party and press-people as well as international perfume superstars (need an intern??) we watched the snow beginning to fall against the exterior of the building which had been entirely lit in red for the event. Thanks to all of my super amazing team for making this event "Sasha Fierce!" Sorry you didn't get to make out with Beyonce Alex! And Tammy, you owe me approximately $2.27 for the "gold fronts" you created with our brownie garnish...

2010-03-14T14:01:00.001-07:00

Caroll's Jamaica photos in GOOD Magazine (which is actually a great magazine, I think...)

http://www.good.is/post/picture-show-kingston-jamaica

Life Gave Me Avocadoes.....

2010-03-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

So I made this stuff.

Mmmmm, thanks taco shoot:)

Here's a recipe--full of goodness!

1/2 ripe avocado
1 Tablespoon agave syrup (you can add more if you like it super sweet)
8 ounces (2%) milk (what i had in fridge)

Blennnnnddddderrrrrrrrrr...

So nice!

Isn't it Romantic?

2010-03-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, so The Knot, mega wedding magazine has teamed up with the Empire State Building to invite 14 special couples to get married on the top of the world on Valentine's Day. This tradition has been going on since 1994 with over 220 couples saying "I do" 80-plus floors above NYC.

To win, couples submit their stories in hopes to win a ceremony, dress, hair, flowers, etc. curated by The Knot. For us that meant food that was romantic, pink and, uhhhhhh, brunch. Hmmmmm? Yes, the weddings would be 14 in total over two days and beginning in the very early morning with us arriving in the still dark-of-night only to watch the sun rise over Manhattan as we brulee grapefruit segments for Neroli Ricotta Trifle with Broiled Grapefruit and Saffron Rock Candy.

With Alex, Eddie and Sami as company I had three foxy dates escort me from kitchen to site in our limousine (um, well, our vehicle).

While I much prefer less obvious approaches to romance and food (thank you Gabrielle Hamilton) I was directed to break out the heart shapes, pink (beet-dyed French toast), etc. I was determined to try not to make the food totally cheesy and in fact, in the end, thought it was quite pretty. Even the (GAG!) "Heart Beet French Toast" (the beet-dyed French toast hearts with beet, fennel and pea shoot slaw and goat cheese mousse) part of the French Toast Trio we put together...I also loved the flowers and production put together by the crew at Hatch Creative, each bride got to make her own bouquet from a set-up that looked like a bakery cart, really sweet.

That's the hydro watercress and watercress caviar for the Fines Herbes French Toast with Salmon and Watercress...Second in the trio along with a really nice vanilla one with Champagne-poached pear.

Here is a link to a story by the super awesome event planner, Amy Shey Jacobs (Chandelier Events) with better photos (thank you, Allan Zepeda, for allowing me to share some of them here:) and a recipe for the Green Papaya Roll that is now on our spring menu.

http://chandelierevents.blogspot.com/2010/02/food-we-love-springing-into-brunch.html

Mezcal-ocura, Part 2

2009-09-07T09:01:00.001-07:00

So, I started this blog mostly as a diary for my trip to Mexico (now nearly 2 years ago, boo hoo). We spent a great deal of time in Oaxaca, eating tons of nieves (my real reason for trip) and studying up on mezcal for a mag that sadly ended up folding before we could publish.

Here is a mezcal post written while we were in Mexico.

A few weeks ago Caroll's (carolltaveras.com) amazing photos from the distilleries in Oaxaca and the secret mezcal drinking club in Mexico City were featured as a "Photo Story" on the fantastic photo website, FOTO8 out of London. Looking at the photos gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, just like the delicious Del Maguey Chichicapa I sampled the other night. So much flavor that I could taste it for hours afterwards. So worth it. Look for it, it's one of the truly great mezcals exported to NYC.

Here is a little video of Caroll in action at Los Danzantes distillery in Santiago Matatlan, Oaxaca. Note the Shostakovich playing in the background. Distillery manager, Hector Vazquez, believes it helps improve the flavor of the various mezcals during fermentation...These are the kinds of crazy cool people who make great mezcals...

Julie, Julia and me...

2009-08-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

So much fun! I did a party for Julie Powell (the Julie Of "Julie and Julia" if you've been under a rock). I couldn't say no so was up until the wee hours with my good buddy Emily making all sorts of fun and Frenchie Julia inspired (and straight-up authored) recipes.

Tiny tartlets of Quiche Aux Oignons, Mini phyllo cups of coq-au-vin, Cauliflower a La Grecque (an oldie-but-goodie I forgot about almost completely from le Frog Academie (FCI)), an heirloom tomato aspic (had to add that both for the season and for Julie), and some really cute radishes (I forgot my anchovy butter!) which I was pleased to hear Julie comment was one of her favorite things to snack on.

For dessert I busted out Julia's clafoutis recipe and used the last sour cherries of the season. I left the pits in which shouldn't cause cyanide poisining but will definitely produce a gorgeous almondine scent (noyaux in French, cheries) Also made that crazy delicious (and quite friendly recipe to follow) French mirror glass tart from Gourmet's last September's Paris issue-fierceness with white currants, oh my.

Flipping through Mastering the Art of French Cooking (the Julia Child magnum opus that was the basis for the Julie/Julia Project in the first place) was such fun. I rarely follow recipes for anything other than pastry so it was very interesting to do so with Julia's. Certain things were completely strange (not seasoning or marinating the chicken for the coq-au-vin (I had to do salt and pepper, sorry Julia) and some were just so old school (using a buerre manie to thicken the sauce). All in all, exhausted as I was (try contemplating the word aspic "ass-pick" in your fourteenth hour of work. It's pretty hilarious) I had such a lovely time and am very happy for Julie who turns out to be a very cool girl. It was lovely chatting with her about her experience with the recipes, etc. I can't wait to check out her next book-sounds like it was a super interesting investigation...That's it for now.

WSJ OMG!

2009-05-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I did a food styling job for the Wall Street Journal’s style magazine, WSJ, and had to keep it under wraps until now...The assignment was for a page called “The Nose” that focuses on one person’s top olfactory memories (smell is the strongest memory). I think the concept of the page is totally fascinating and we won’t even talk about me and my nose here, but I think it’s pretty funny I was the stylist for the shoot...

I was asked to prepare cumin-scented lamb shanks which I did and hopped in a taxi over to NoHo studios to shoot them with the awesome team of Boyle + Gardner. Here is a link to the page on the website where my shank is sitting along with other items picked (ahem) by horticulturist, Daniel Hinkley.

http://magazine.wsj.com/gatherer/the-nose/americas-leading-horticulturist/

Shout out to my Yum Yum girls!

2009-05-03T18:39:00.000-07:00

I recently spoke with someone at Crain's about working with Yum Yum, a catering company-cum-kitchen incubator in Brooklyn's DUMBO. The women who run Yum Yum, Chef Vanessa Cantaeve and Gracia Walker, instantly felt like my kind of peoples. They not only introduced me to Pandora radio (via their Bobby Brown station, no less) but have hosted me in their kitchen for some larger catering jobs in the past few months which I will share once I extract the photos from my broken digicam.

I didn't realize the article was even published yet, but here it is:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090412/SMALLBIZ/304129986

Thanks again, ladies and hope you've had a great weekend! Looking forward to "Rockin' Witcha" real soon....x

Spring Colors, Peter Pan Donuts

2009-04-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Assignment: Vegetarian Banh Mi

2009-03-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

Besides being terrifically trendy banh mi are a favorite of mine ever since I fell in love with them on East Broadway in the '90's. Really I've always been a sandwich girl (growing up in Brooklyn sandwiches are a big part of life--I can order one in under 10 seconds--"smokedturkeyandprovoloneonarollmustardandnottoomuchmayooilandvinegarlettucetomatoespeppernosalt").

When I first tried banh mi, or Vietnamese sandwiches, I felt like they were created just for me. Crusty on the outside warm, soft baguette, roasty meat, smushy pates, crisp sweetly pickled vegetables, bright, feathery cilantro, spicy al dente jalapenos, and nottoomuchmayonaise. Now, I have to say, sometimes I feel bad for mayonaise. It gets a bad rep. My dad almost made my sister break up with her high school boyfriend who, when he first came over for dinner brought a jar, which, he explained, he put on everything. "I don't like that kid" was my dad's response to the idea of having Hellman's spread all over his homemade food. Many people feel the same way, but sometimes it's just necessary. And, admittedly delicious.

Onto the sandwich...

So, I have to make various banh mi for a party next week and needed a vegetarian option. I went to the local hippie health food store looking for some kind of veggie pate with no luck. The only one they had and were out of the salesgirl explained wasn't even that tasty. As I was deciding what to use as the "meat" I came up with the (ok, not so revolutionary) idea of using tofu stuff. I was already doing a big roasted vegetable skewer thing with mushrooms, eggplant and cauliflower so decided to go soy-based. I have actually been eating quite a bit of tofu lately as I am trying to cut back on meat consumption (so I don't die from the Bacon Chocolate Pudding Cake, etc.). Plus, food cost-wise, tofu is cheap! Yippee!

So, first I had to make some sort of pate out of the tofu and found some good recipes on the internet. I did a bit of a mash up between recipes and shopping my cabinets. Also, I wanted to infuse a bit of Asian (or any) flavor. I chose to steam the mixture of firm tofu, walnut meal (for some texture), spicy dried red peppers, soy sauce and my funky Spanish pocini salt (oh-so umami). This was steamed in an oiled bowl/ramekin for about 35 minutes in the bamboo steamer. Then cooled. It sliced up quite nicely, see pic.

Meanwhile I did a quick pickle of carrots and cucumber in water, white vinegar, sugar and salt. When it was time to assemble the sandwich I pan seared some "Teriyaki" baked tofu product from Trader Joe's (will marinate my own for party or try seitan maybe) and crisped up the split baguette slathered in mayo in a 375 degree oven. Then I just put it all together with some cilatro and hot sauce (didn't have jalapenos today). It was really satisfying and delicious! If you are in search of a filling and flavorful veggie sandwich and feel like punching out the next person to offer you a grilled vegetable and goat cheese sandwich, this is the ticket!

Back of the Bag+Back of the Fridge

2009-03-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Last summer I had to pull a chocolate dessert out of my...clients' cupboards. Luckily, I found this amazing recipe on the back of a bag of King Arthur al-purpose flour. I forgot about it for awhile until, as has happened much recently (see the Citrus Curd Tartlets), I found myself craving a sweet dessert but cringing at the idea of going out in sub-zero weather.

So, what do I have lying around? I break out the recipe--flour? Check. Cocoa powder? Check. Sugar, vanilla, butter, water: check, check, check, definitely check. And since I make it in individual sized portions in ramekins the whole thing from start to finish doesn't take more than 30 minutes.

What could be better? Here's the answer: I've made it a couple of times since and, as usually happens when I'm cooking, have messed with it a little bit and think it's much improved with some additions. It's great as is, but sometimes has a bit of a flour-y, bland flavor. Even so, people love it no matter what (I have made it for a client dinner and for friends recently). But, here's what--bacon, parmesan cheese, fluer de sel. And what's next--malted chocolate powder, peanut butter.

This tastes like a good old American dessert. It doesn't have the same flavor as a Callebaut bittersweet chocolate/Jean-Georges-copycat-yawn-molten chocolate cake. That's why I reached for the bacon, Maker's Mark, etc.

For the bacon, render a couple of slices of bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. I used the rendered fat to grease the ramekins. Sprinkle some crumbled bacon on top of the filled ramekins, bury a couple of pieces inside. For the parmesan (hopefully Parmaggiano) shower a filled ramekin with Microplane grated cheese and when it comes out of the oven it will be an almost invisible but crispy, salty layer of goodness. It reminded me slightly of cracking into a creme brulee, in other words, pretty effin' perfect. Next time I'll stick a ball of peanut butter whipped into marshmallow fluff (helps keep the peanut butter together while heating and melting. I'm thinking Ovaltine plain mixed with cocoa powder or chocolate flavored Ovaltine and adjusting the sugar....Served it last with wine and ginger poached pear.

Deep Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake

This rich chocolate cake is ultra-quick and simple to prepare. As it bakes, a delicious fudge sauce magically forms in the bottom of the pan; to serve, spoon the cake and hot sauce into a dish, then top with ice cream or whipped cream (if your diet can handle it!) Serve this cake hot (or warm) from the oven, or at room temperature; as the cake cools, the sauce thickens into an applesauce-like consistency.

1 cup (4 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup ( 1 1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups (9 ounces) sugar
2 1/4 cups (18 ounces) water
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter, melted, or vegetable oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup (1 7/8 to 3 ounces) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

I added a capful of Maker's Mark as well.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cocoa. If the mixture is lumpy, rub it through a sieve, or sift it. Stir in the water, vanilla, butter, and nuts, if you're using them. Gently stir till everything is just combined. It looks so liquidy, not much thicker than heavy cream. You'll think, "there is no way this is going to set up" but believe me, it does. Don't worry...

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 45 minutes; when done, the top will be set, and the bottom bubbly. Remove the cake from the oven, and serve warm.
Yield: 1 cake. (I do this in individual-sized ramekins; you can get between 6 and 8)

Washing Down the Prep Table

2009-02-25T17:11:00.001-08:00

Scavenger Hunt Part 2--Citrus Curd Tartlets

2009-01-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

Well, the Farmer's Almanac predicted a record cold winter this year and last night I was really feeling it. The prospect of braving the elements and the L train (which has been a disaster lately) was daunting to say the least. While my fellow Brooklyn crew flaked out one by one (we had all gone to see our friend Carol C perform with her band, Si-Se the night before) I cozied up to the idea of a night at home. I was writing a menu for a party next week when I started researching tart crusts. That led me to think about testing a recipe but I couldn't even bring myself to write a shopping list, much less leave the warm confines of my kitchen.

Was there anything around I could practice with? A tart to make just for fun (and to thank a friend lending me her book...)? I had been trying to get rid of this blood orange juice that I bought to make a crudo for a tasting as it seemed on the verge of a breakdown; powdery solids falling to the bottom of the bottle and a general cloudiness and color change...Time to go.
I also had half a box of those ginger cookies from Ikea (perfect for a little graham cracker-style crust), a few eggs, butter, limes, sugar. So, without having to leave I had scrounged up the fixings for a Winter Citrus Curd Tartlet with Lime-Ginger Crumb Crust.

Yippee! Haven't made an Italian meringue in awhile so this was a good time to practice; the whites are left over from making the curd anyway. So, I found recipes online for Graham-cracker crust and substituted my cookies while adding a bit of lime zest to wake it up. I didn't have any ziploc bags to crush them in (you are supposed to put them in and roll with a pin so the bits don't fly everywhere). In fact, I don't have a rolling pin either. I did have a Key Food produce bag and a nice bottle of wine (any long bottle works brilliantly as a rolling pin--who needs handles?) and these did the job just fine (see pic).

Next up it was curd time. I used to always use this Gale Gand recipe and when I went looking for it I found another recipe that used a technique I had read about where you cream the butter and sugar first then add the eggs and juice all before putting it on the stove. Apparently this is a great way to insure smooth, curdle-free curd. It also helps the butter emulsify easily as it gets so broken down in the creaming process rather than getting thrown in piece-by-piece later. I took some pictures of the process to show you that although the mixture looks like baby vomit before it gets on the stove it smooths out after a few minutes on low flame and winds up doing just what you want it to do (see the line drawn through on the wooden spoon).

Last but not least, the Italian meringue. This is basically whipped egg whites strengthened with sugar syrup at soft-ball stage. That may sound intimidating, but trust me, it's quite easy. Start with your egg whites at room temperature for best results and if you don't have a thermometer to measure 240 degrees just set up a glass of ice water to drop a spoonful of the sugar syrup in, if it holds but is still squishable you have your soft ball; off heat and slowly drizzle into whipping whites. Will end up looking shiny and marshmallow-y later.

The last thing to do was put everything together once the tart shells were cooled, the curd set in the fridge and meringue whipped. Then torch. so fun!

RECIPE TIME:

Crust for Tart Shells:

1.5 cups Anna's Ginger Cookies
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lime zest

Roll over the cookies in a plastic bag (Ziploc are best...) with a rolling pin until crushed fine. Mix all ingredients together in bowl and press into tart pans with removable bottoms. Bake at 375F for 7 mins. (I kept mine in for 9).

Citrus Curd:

This is a lemon curd recipe, but I used blood orange, tangerine and lime juices.

LEMON CURD
by Elinor Klivans (Fine Cooking magazine)

3 oz. (6 tablespoons) UNSALTED BUTTER, softened at room temperature
1 cup SUGAR
2 large EGGS
2 large EGG YOLKS
2/3 cup fresh LEMON JUICE
1 teaspoon grated LEMON ZEST

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer, about two minutes. Slowly add the eggs and the yolks, and beat for one minute. Mix in the lemon juice. The mixture will look curdled, but it will smooth out as it cooks.

In a medium, heavy-based saucepan, cook the mixture over low heat until it looks smooth (the curdled appearance disappears as the butter in the mixture melts). Increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about fifteen minutes. It should leave a path on the back of a spoon, and will read 170 degrees Fahrenheit on a thermometer. Don't let the mixture boil.

Remove the curd from the heat; stir in the lemon zest. Transfer the curd to a bowl, and press plastic wrap on the surface of the curd to keep a skin from forming. Chill the curd in the refrigerator; it will thicken as it cools. Covered tightly, it will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks, and in the freezer for two months.

Italian Meringue:

Egg whites
Sugar

Ok ok ok--the important thing here is technique. Use room temperature egg whites and measure out what you have and then measure the sugar double the amount of the egg. I usually measure in a glass and then mark it then measure the sugar twice at same mark. Put the sugar in a pan and add just enough water to make it wet. Heat on medium and boil until soft ball stage (see note in the copy above). Begin whipping the whites before you put the sugar on the stove. They should be sufficiently fluffy before you add syrup. When you do add syrup turn down the speed on the mixer to low and drizzle it in in a long, thin stream. Once it is all incorporated turn the speed back up to high and whip until thick and glossy like a loose marshmallow.

I thought this would make a beautiful sweater pattern or silver filigree necklace...

2009-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Wine Psychic?

2009-01-05T11:56:00.000-08:00

I stopped by Astor Wines last week to visit my friend Garren who works there whenever he's in town from LA. I had a dinner party to go to and wanted some reasonably-priced red wine that would go nicely with food. I didn't mention varietals or country or origin. I just kind-of let him pick something as I trust him inherently. He disappeared and came back a minute later with a bottle of shiraz from Australia.

The name on the bottle was Greenpoint, which was, incidentally, where the dinner party was being held. Hmmmmmm, psychic powers at work?

It was good stuff, actually. Dan, the tall and gentlemanly bartender at Five Leaves, also in Greenpoint, mentioned that when he was at another restaurant they had a rose from the same winemaker. Rich and red in color and great icy cold. Makes me look forward to summer barbecues on Russel Street!

P.S. I guess I'm not the only one to think about the coincidence here...

Starting the New Year off Right....

2009-01-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

After a delicious evening of Champagne, hors d'ouevre like potato and mushroom pancakes made Bella-Russian style by Anastasia and her Mom and other great goodies I had one big New Year's Day of food...

Started off at my folks' place where my Dad went nuts making fritattas, sliced up some beef, pork and lamb meatloaves, cooked a big piece of salmon off, mixed his own vegetable cream cheese for bagels, etc. I ended up with a great big doggie bag for helping to clean up. Then it was back to Brooklyn to put the food in the fridge and grab the tarte tatin that I had made the day before; flipping it out onto a plate from the pan it had been cooked in. Then I threw the plate in the basket of my bike and headed over to the lovely Ambriel's place for some traditional Southern New Year's food.

I had roughly 53 minutes to sample the amazing Carolina barbecue (that's vinegar-based pork shoulder that had been on the grill outside all day--see the prep area with serious looking knives and big black glove), which was prepared by barbecue experts (ummmm, they even made a movie about it). Along with that were collard greens (to bring money in the new year--I had the raw salad and the cooked in the giant pot), cheesy grits, cornbread and black-eyed peas with rice (Hopping John) which are meant to also bring good luck. I left before tarte time as my friend Oscar was waiting in his car to whisk me off to Queens to have my next meal....

About 10 of us met up in Flushing at the delicious Spicy and Tasty (it was certainly both). You know how I don't like going to Queens but it was beyond worth it and a great way to spend more time with Michelle (who I've known since high school) and Garren visiting from LA. We sampled a good number of dishes from their menu of 192. Our friends had their weding party here a few years ago (I couldn't make it as I was out of town) and apparently it was in the very room we were sitting. This place was huge, as was the menu.

Standouts included the Wasabi Duck Feet, one of the many cold appetizers that you order from a case downstairs as you wait for your table (make reservations!!!). It looked like squid with basil oil and had a cartiledge-y crunch that I'm sure freaks some people out (one of ours had me finish his portion). We also had a great pork belly appetizer drenched in the red chili oil that is all over Sichuan food along with crushed peanuts. Then we moved onto the hot stuff which was also, incidentally, being Sichuan and full of chili and the no-longer illegal Sichuan peppercorns, super hot. While it was also incredibly tasty (the name doesn't lie) the heat doesn't make you want to stop stuffing your face.

The only thing that absolutely stopped me in my tracks (and few things do when it comes to questionable comestibles) was the Stinky Tofu. Stinky Tofu is basically tofu that has been fermenting in a brine of rotten vegetables (and sometimes meat and soured milk, but not here). It is sold on the street throughout Asia and is often fried (I don't think even frying could save this stuff). It smells like very strong hot and sour soup but as it gets closer to your nose and once it's in your mouth it really becomes something that I fear my genes just knew might kill me and therefore would not allow me to eat any more of.

But, I had tried something new, in the New Year, no less, and that was something that I think is a great start. Another tofu dish with fresh, but bitter tasting ginko nuts hopefully helped replenish some brain cells from New Year's Eve. Garren explained that the crab's fry batter contains preserved duck egg mashed and that's what gives it a bit of a chalky, but rich consistency. He did most of the ordering (he is my food buddy with the great Americanized-Chinese last name Chew (I mean, really)). The standout for me was the Cumin Scented Lamb with Dried Chilies. This had a fragrance that I would dab behind my ears and didn't cause any neighboring tables to move (someone on Chowhound said that two tables moved away from their Stinky Tofu). It was amazing and our friend Das decided would make an amazing dish with yogurt over rice; I thought the leftovers (there were none) could make a kick-ass sandwich. Next time I'm ordering an extra one to go...After that we finished the Pinot we brought (no corkage fee) and ate some oranges (Vitamin C for the New Year...) and then it was back to Brooklyn, by way of Manhattan to drop some people off. Three boroughs and three big meals in one day. I think it's gonna be a great year!

Happy Happy!

Happy Neighborhood Treat

2008-12-21T14:39:00.001-08:00

So, I'm really not a big donut person. I can appreciate the craft and care put into the donuts made at Donut Plant and dig the fact that they source local and seasonal ingredients for their donuts. But, if given the opportunity to eat a donut, I probably wouldn't go for it. Malassattas (Portugese fried dough in Cape Cod), bomboloni, fritters, beignets, churros, zeppole; these I would go for in a (clogging) heartbeat. But regular American-style donuts; I'd probably rather save my arteries from those.

That said; it took a lot of convincing by my friend Morgan (of the beautiful No. 6 Store) to try one of the donuts at Peter Pan, on her street in Greenpoint. Judging from the slightly crusty decor and toxic looking sprinkles I really didn't think it was gonna be worth it. OMG I was so wrong! Even though these things are not glazed with raspberry jam picked by schoolchildren in Upstate New York or maybe even real raspberries at all they are undeniably delicious. Great. Like I needed some other stupid thing to crave on the way to the bank...

Best of all, I love Peter Pan for the grumpy Greenpoint regulars and cute teenage Polish girls who work there with their adorable uniforms. If you don't believe me, try them for yourself. And they score big big points at brunches and business meetings...

Erin Gleeson's SoHo Show

2008-12-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

This week my friend and fantabulous food photographer, Erin Gleeson, is having a show at Broadway Presents gallery in SoHo. I went to check it out the other night, see flyer below. For this show Erin teamed up with the fancy Francois Payard Patisserie to photograph their treats in collage-like vignettes. I love the colorful ones, they really reflect Erin's style. Her work has appeared in New York magazine, The New York Times, Gourmet Magazine and she has shot for the james Beard House, Starchefs Culinary Congress and more.

So, if you're in SoHo doing last minute Christmas shopping pop into the gallery for some tasty sights. Don't blame me if you end up eating the entire case of sweets at Dean and DeLuca...P.S. Those are the shoes Erin wore to her opening, just to give you an idea of how she rolls...

Broadway Gallery is pleased to announce the exhibit of Food for Thought: Photography by Erin Gleeson, curated by Jade Doskow, which will open on Tuesday, December 16th and close on Tuesday, December 30th, with a reception for the artist on Friday, December 19th from 6-8 p.m.

Shigenobu Twilight--Girls make Perfume!

2008-12-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

I am headed over to the Lower East Side to Jon Santos' studio, Commonspace, for the launch for Shigenobu Twilight, a new perfume created by artist Annicka Yi and architect Maggie Peng. The perfume was inspired by the woman leader of the Japanese Red Army, Fusako Shigenobu. She spent many years in exile in Lebanon so the perfume is based on cedar (the perfume's glass bottle is housed in a chunky cedar shell as well) with notes of violet leaf and yuzu.

After reading "The Emperor of Scent" by Chandler Burr I am well interested in scent-making, etc. The girls developed the scent with the ideas of longing and exile in their minds and made all of the limited-edition bottles themselves. Below is a picture of some new ingredients they are working on--totally fascinating!!! If you are in NYC and wanna check it out see the flyer here--it's going through the weekend.

Another Winter Salad Idea...Get your Lard-on...

2008-12-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I did a Provencal-themed party for some clients who had been traveling in the South of France. I know the husband really loves a frisee aux lardons salad and the wife is obsessed with these golden spoons she bought at Takashimaya (I used to work for them full-time). So I decided to make a mini mini version and serve it on the spoons. It looked really cool and is a great idea for an easy hors d'ouevre. I didn't put the traditional egg but would like to try it soon with a little fried quail egg on top. That would be really freaking cute!

Frisee aux Lardons Salad, Basic Recipe:

1 head of frisee; washed and ripped into bite-sized pieces
About 1/4 pound slab (UNSLICED!) bacon; cut into 1/2 inch x 1 inch rectangles
1 med shallot, minced
1/4 cup Sherry or red wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Lay the bacon in a single layer in a heavy-bottomed pan. Put the heat on medium and let the fat render out slowly. Turn so each side gets nice and crispy. Put the lardons (that's the little bacon pieces) on a paper towel to drain. Pour the rendered bacon fat in a little glass to reserve for later (everything tastes better with bacon fat...). Leave about 2 tablespoons in the pan and sweat the shallots out in there until pretty soft. Whisk in the vinegar and pour this over the frisee which had been seasoned with salt and pepper. Toss. Spoon. Prop a little lardon on top and pass.

Winter Salad/Scavenger Hunt/Black Olive Consomme Poached Sardines

2008-12-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Most of the things I cook for myself at home are created more out of what I find in my refrigerator/cabinets than some sort of master plan. The other night I was at Whole Foods who, I just read, have recieved the recognition of Greenpeace as one of the most sustainable supermarket options for fish. I was looking for some Maine shrimp (they are little and sweet and only available during the winter months) to test out a crudo I'm doing on Saturday night for a dinner. I wanted to get some fish as I've been missing fish lately and saw these really pretty little sardines (from Portugal) and decided to grab a few. They hadn't even been gutted yet and looked very nice.

I was trying to think of how to prepare them without stinking up my apartment for the rest of the holiday season. I love sardines grilled, but....So I was thinking maybe broiled to keep that funk in the oven. Then I was wondering if that would still smell crazy so I was thinking of what to do. Maybe poached...

What to eat with the sardines? I grabbed a head of escarole, my favorite winter salad green, and also bought some hearts of palm because they were on sale...I still didn't know exactly what I was gonna do. By the time I got back to Brooklyn I was thinking maybe a salad with the sardines as protein. Ok. Then I found some baguette in the freezer and made some big crutons with lemon zest, salt and pepper. I also discovered this bag of black olive pits that I had left over from a party where I made tapenade. I could poach the fish in a black olive broth. Made sense; the Mediterranean olives with that fish. I also found some fennel fronds that were hanging around and clipped some rosemary off my plant. The stock was simmering. I added some chicken stock to this also and later salt and pepper.

The salad itself was pretty simple. I just made a simple soya lemon vinaigrette, broke out a can of the palm hearts and put everything over the escarole with the crutons. After I geeked out and did a mini photo shoot with the salad I added some red onion (forgot I had that, too). It was a very nice and satisfying dinner salad. And now my 'fridge is a little less full of random stuff. The olive pit broth was great. I let it go but if I wanted to I could have frozen it and used it later for something else (sauce, cooking rice, etc.). This kind of cooking mission only encourages me to keep these random bits around...

No Whey!

2008-11-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

Recently I had a bunch of extra goat milk hanging around and so I finally did what I've been thinking about all summer. I made some goat cheese. A very simple chevre-fraiche type. So much fun! And it's really easy.

Goat milk retails on the low end for around $4 a quart and up to about $7 for a quart from a small dairy upstate (I have been using Kortright Creamery's goats milk all summer--they are partners with the producers of Evan's Farmhouse and are located up near Ithica in Norwich, NY). Trader Joe's and the Food Emporium sell the cheaper brand Meyenberg. You can find Kortright at Urban Rustic in Williamsburg, Saxelby Cheesemonger in the Essex Street Market and the Garden in Greenpoint.

So, here's what you'll need:

-goat milk (see above)
-lemons for juice or apple cider vinegar (if you wanna get all fancy and use rennet tablets just read the directions on box)
-a non-reactive pot to heat up the milk (stainless steel, for example)
-a food thermometer
-cheesecloth and strainer (you can find cheesecloth in most supermarkets)
-a ladle or large spoon
-salt, seasonings

1. Heat the milk in the pot to 185-190 degrees F.

2. Once it is up to temperature (it will be at a bare simmer, not boiling) turn off the heat and wait a few moments. Some people say to wait until the temperature of the milk comes back down to 100 degrees, some say not to. I just waited until I couldn't take it anymore (I was a little too excited about this project) and then add your acid (I used fresh squeezed lemon juice) at a ratio of about 2 Tablespoons to a pint of milk.

3. The milk should start to curdle and form clumpy masses (not super sexy yet...)

4. Ladle into a strainer/colander lined with at least a double thickness of cheesecloth. There will seem to be much more whey than curds (a bit of a bummer, but that's just the way the goat milk curdles, I guess) but keep going until you have got rid of most of the liquid (that's the whey, as opposed to the curds).

5. Let the curds drain a bit and then you can squeeze the rest of the whey out utilizing the wringing or milking method with the cheesecloth (for more info on those, if you like, scroll down this page).

6. Once you've squeezed as much as you can out, unwrap and pack cheese into some kind of mold or even a crummy bowl like I did. Season with salt and herbs or other seasonings as desired. I was feeling fruity so I decided to use some of my pink Himalayan salt, which looked a bit goofy in retrospect, maybe I would grind it finer next time or use another kind of salt.

7. Now you have two fingernail biting days of anticipation, then you can sample your self-made chevre. Mine tasted a little lemony but not in a bad way. I think I didn't read the instructions correctly (I didn't have a ratio) so I just kind of guessed.

Overall it was tasty. It has in the last week gotten much fudgier in consistency and today I turned it out of its bowl onto a plate. Sorry for the cheesy (haha) photography. I think you (hehe) get the picture though. Non? Enjoy le cheese!

Happy Obama and Happy Birthday Crisco!!!!! x

2008-11-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Reeds driftin on by you know how I feel

(refrain:)
Its a new dawn
Its a new day
Its a new life
For me
And Im feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the tree you know how I feel

(refrain)

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, dont you know
Butterflies all havin fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
Thats what I mean

And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel

p.s. Not THAT other Crisco, Christopher "Crisco" Faulkner super chef at Colors Restaurant on Laffayette

Scooby Doo-Style Mystery

2008-11-02T07:58:00.000-08:00

I had some peoples over last weekend and so went to Greenmarket at Union Square to pick up a bunch of fun stuff to serve. So many lovely radishes so I decided to do a Frenchy radish plate with different butters (also knowing I had some compound butter in the house....). I couldn't find the beautiful purple radishes I got a couple of weeks ago at Paffenroth Gardens' stall (all out). Wish I could show you a picture, so pretty....Anyway, I got some nice watermelon radishes (so into these) to mix in with the pink ones. Then, while I was over at (my favorite....) Windfall Farms by their groovy Scooby Doo-style schoolbus I saw these funny yellow flowers for sale. I've gotten a whole bunch of pretty edible flowers from these guys over the years (nasturtium, squash blossoms, impatiens, mustard flowers...) but had never seen these. Admittedly, I forget what they were calling them, but it started with c. The guys said they "taste kind of like broccoli" and indeed they did. I bought some because I thought they looked cool, didn't really know where they would end up (I'm a sucker!).

When I put together the radish plate I thought it would be a perfect place to scatter my mystery flowers, see pic. Everyone had fun tasting the flowers; people are always a bit freaked out to chomp down on a bunch of flowers. I remember one night at my old client's place Inside the Actors' Studio's James Lipton caused one of my servers to have a laughing fit when asking in a way only he could ask if he could eat the nasturtium on the salad course.

Well, nobody had seen the flowers before, so it wasn't just me. I was totally baffled. Then the very next day I had to go over to Kelly Geary (of Sweet Deliverance's) kitchen to pick up some of my nieves equipment and she was like "hey, want some broccoli rabe?" and gave me a bunch.

Here's the real Scooby Doo part: the little yellow flowers that grow on the broccoli rabe looked awfully familiar. It's funny when you see things out of context: the leaves of a particular flower, the blossom of a fruit tree, etc. Well, I ripped the flowers off like a crazy person and stuffed them in my mouth. That was it! Very sneaky, Windfall.....This meddling kid is onto you....Now where's my Scooby Snack?

Pig Out in Brooklyn and Support a Great Program...

2008-10-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

I am preparing some nieves for a very cool event that is happening tomorrow night at The Yard in Brooklyn...There are still plenty of tickets, so please try to come out and support this great organization--The New Farmer Development Project; you can read about it in the article below. So come out for yummy pork tacos and cajeta (goat's milk caramel) and chili-spiced cider nieves from my summer project,Chida...

The Big Brooklyn Pig Roast

Although we spend most of our time at Brooklyn Based HQ crafting emails you'll actually read, occasionally we like to produce an event for your pleasure, and ours.

So we'd like to invite all of you to the first annual Big Brooklyn Pig Roast and Harvest Hoedown on Friday, October 10, from 6 to 10 pm, at the best canal-front venue in the city, The Yard. To throw it, we've joined forces with some of our favorite movers and shakers: Kelly Geary of Sweet Deliverance, Matt Tyson and Mike Grimes of Ear Farm, Blue Marble Ice Cream, and Cathy Erway of Not Eating Out in New York, and of course, butcherTom Mylan of Marlow and Son s, Diner and Bonita, who learned his craft upstate at Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats in Kingston. (Which you may have read about yesterday in the Times>>)

It made perfect sense, then, to ask Joshua Applestone, third generation butcher and Fleisher's co-owner (along with his wife Jessica Applestone) to supply the evening's main attraction: a 200-pound heritage hog, roasted over a pit and served, with Kelly's help, alongside a variety of salsas, corn two ways, fresh greens, and beans and rice. Cathy has agreed to lend a hand with the apple crisp and Blue Marble is whipping up a batch of cinnamon ice cream just for the occasion. We'll have Sixpoint on tap (Hop Obama and Righteous Ale, of course) and from 6 to 7 pm, they'll be just $1.

Afterward, Applestone will tell us why the heritage breed pig we're eating is so delicious, and hear from the organization this whole shindig benefits. Kelly has arranged to donate $2 of each ticket to the New Farmer Development Project, a Greenmarket program that gives immigrants who want to farm the resources to start their own agricultural endeavors. She's also the mastermind behind the Gowanus Harvest Festival, a daytime music and food melee at The Yard on Saturday, so you can see why we're so thrilled to work with such a dynamo.

Along with all the deliciousness and do-goodedness, we'll have an amazing lineup of bands to turn up your heels to. On stage starting at 6:15 we'll hear three locals — Bel Air, Motel Motel (who'll both be playing the CMJ fest), and The Jones Street Boys (who you may remember from "12 Ophelias" in McCarren Park) — playing a harvesty mix of Americana and rootsy folk. All are curated by Ear Farm, which celebrates its third year Oct. 10. (Funny how things come together.)

All in all it should be great food, great music and lots of bitchin' Brooklynites — like Brooklyn Based brought to life. So snatch a ticket now, cause they're going fast!

What you need to know:
Friday, October 10 at The Yard, 388-400 Carroll St.
Doors open at 6, $1 Sixpoints until 7
Tickets are $32 advance, available here>> and $40 at the door
Free for kids ages 10 and under

One of my most favorite treats...

2008-09-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

I have been obsessed with the ham and cheese knots at Ben's Famous Pizza in SoHo since high school, back then they were 50 cents. Now they're 95 cents each!! But, not for nothing, as they say, they are delicious. And are super addictive. Whenever I'm in SoHo with a spare moment, I'm there. Like yesterday, when I dragged Naomi there, 4 blocks out of our way just to taste them. She agreed. They're delicious. Actually, I've never even had the pizza there. Just the ham and cheese (and the occasional garlic) knots.

They blast them in the microwave for about 20 seconds before they throw them in a paper bag. This freaked me out when I noticed how they were re-heating them as it goes against all bread-ly logic. But, I have learned that sometimes when people know what they are doing you need to just shut up and enjoy. But wait a minute or two or the molten center will burn your mouth like crazy. Mmmmm, slightly underbaked squishy doughy center. Classic! It seems they will be celebrating their 30th anniversary next year. Woo hoo! Open late...177 Spring Street between West Broadway and Thompson.

Rosh Hashana Desserts For a Sweet New Year

2008-09-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Many people have been asking me what to serve for dessert for Rosh Hashanna, the Jewish New Year, in lieu of the traditional honey cake which is usually as bad as what passes for the traditional Christmas fruit cake. Apples and honey are supposed to be eaten to symbolize new fruits of the season and sweetness, so a really nice thing to do is get a few different apple varietals from the Greenmarket and then get some different honeys (try creamed honeys, dark buckwheat honey, tropical honeys and local honeys (a really great one is the Rooftop honey from David Graves at Berkshire Berries--it is actually made by bees who live in hives on rooftops in the different boroughs of NYC).

Also, here is a great recipe for Frozen Honey Mousse that I have made many times over the years--with macerated berries in summer or saffron-citrus salad in winter months. It looks simple, and is. You just have to beware while the egg/honey mixture is on top of the double boiler. Also, the first time I made it I wasn't sure I'd done it right, as the whipped cream seemed to have disappeared/deflated. It was fine. It is delicious and has always been very impressive (also a great make-ahead dessert; it keeps in the freezer, too:).

Lastly, a great tarte tatin with honey whipped cream is a great option. I will post pictures tomorrow of the process I use. Dead easy.Preheat oven to 400 degrees and thaw out a sheet of puff pastry (you can even get the Pepperidge Farm kind from the supermarket freezer). Then line the bottom of a heavy, non-reactive pan with a layer of granulated sugar, top that with sliced apples which have been tossed with lemon juice in concentric circle pattern, Sprinkle in some seeds scraped from a vanilla bean and dot with butter all over. You can also toss in some dried fruits (I love cherries here) or crystallized ginger candy (these are both handy for filling in any gaps...Mind that the apples will shrink in as well as they lose their moisture to the caramel. Stick this on the stovetop on medium heat. the juice from the apples and the butter will drip down, mingle with the melting sugar and form your caramel.

Once the caramelization has started and the edges of the pan show a medium brown caramel, top the apples with a round cut from the puff pastry after rolling thin. This does not have to be perfect, either. And, the pastry also shrinks, so make sure everything is well covered, and that the pastry fits over but is not stretched over the lip of the pan. It should rest snugly in one layer on top of the apples.

Bake in oven until pastry has puffed. and is no longer "blonde." Make sure there is room in the oven (you may have to adjust your racks)...Now you are ready to remove it from the oven to cool a bit. When it is cool enough to handle, grab the pan in one hand and an offset spatula in the other. Run spat through to the center of the tarte, all around to make sure it's loose and will flip out nicely. Flip it out onto a serving platter. Don't freak out if some pieces stick in pan. Unlodge them and squish them wherever they are missing. It is a very forgiving recipe on many levels. It's rustique! Ha! Enjoy and Happy New Year! Photo by Erin Gleeson who is getting a crash course in Jewish traditions I'm sure!

Bamonte's, Old School Eye-talian in Williamsburg

2008-09-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's really about the crotchety Sicilian waiter cracking on everybody in his dry-ass way. In his black waiter's jacket and tie. And if you grew up with Brooklynified Italian food you will be happy to see Linguine and Clam Sauce for $14.95 that is as yummy as anyone ever made out of (most probably) canned clams. The Arugula, Fennel and Orange Salad quite nice and really it's not about the food. Best in a group. Great Bday spot. Everybody was there to treat me and my girlfriends "like ladies" as they have done since 1900. And those (real ones) clams pictured in the Zuppa di Clams were pretty freakin' nice. Fugheddaboutit!

Jam on It!

2008-09-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

I was at the new AvroKo bar Madame Geneva's the other night (which is attached to the giant brand new Double Crown (try the green tea noodle laksa, the Miso-Glazed Bone Marrow and the Steamed Banana Cake) and had a drink I've never seen before. Apparently it's all the rage in London and, according to one internet source, may have been invented by soldiers in the field attempting to make Manhattans without the requisite fresh oranges.

Genevas offers 3 different (seasonally rotating) marmalades house-made by Chef Brad Farmerie and team. These are meant to be stirred into either vodka or gin (colloquially known as "Madame Geneva" in 18th Century London) poured over a zillion mini pearled ice droplets. Allan had the strawberry-vanilla (yumm, last of summer strawberries) with vodka and I opted for the fig and ginger as I thought that would mix better with a browner spirit. Our lovely server allowed me to break the rules and get rum. It was really nice with the fig. I often broil figs with rum with butter and brown sugar so this seemed like a drinkable version of that. Here is a little video of the drink, stirred (and also my first iMovie with soundtrack-yahoo-ie!)....

What to do with this Canela?

2008-09-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

While preparing for the market this weekend I was going over the flavors once again, deciding to keep the favorites from the summer as this will be our last time at the Brooklyn Flea for the season and they are still looking great at the farmer's markets (cucumbers, peppers, etc.)...

I have been staring at this gorgeous canela (Mexican cinnamon) for the past few weeks. It was a gift from the amazing Dona Abramson whom I met last year at the New Amsterdam Wintermarket. Dona was the chef and owner of Bright Food Shop and the fantastic little Mexican food market Kitchen Market which graced Chelsea for 22 years (closed in 2007). Dona was one of the first people to bring many Mexican specialty goods into New York City and always had a selection of curiosidades to cruise through. This canela is so beautiful I knew I had to share it so I finally put together the nieve de cafe I have been playing with. I am a coffee-holic so this flavor for me is a little reserve for the moment in the day when I can't move from my post and am in desperate need of coffeee....

Cafe de olla, the traditional Mexican coffee made stovetop in an earthenware pot (that's the olla...) is full of fragrant canela, orange peel, piloncillo (a pressed unrefined cane sugar) and sometimes spices like anise. So, this seemed the perfect way to play with the canela. If I don't eat it all myself...

How To Entertain Your Nephew...

2008-08-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Since when is "Borrego" a good name for a car?

2008-08-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't watched tv in a while so I was very surprised tonight while watching the DNC ads for the new Kia car. The Borrego. Like, this cute fuzzy guy.

Do we feel he's particularly fast, like, say, a Cougar, Jaguar, Mustang or even an Impala (who cuts off other animals in the wild as well as on NYC streets...)? Is he as energetic as a Rabbit, as tough as a Bronco or as sly as a Stingray? Maybe the seat covers are just really soft and fluffy.

Chida's Angels....

2008-08-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of my beautiful girlfriends who have helped to serve up the nieves love! xo

Jennifer (oooh), Jean (ahhhhh), Colleen and Christina (keepin' it in the family), Yukari (sexy supertaster), Erin (staff photographer), Anastasia ( La Bella-Russian), Cristy (numbers queen), Hanne and Natalie (ice princesses), and everyone else for your support.....xoxoxoxoxo!

No. 6 Store Party Down

2008-08-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last week my girls at Number Six (that's Morgan and her bro) threw a fantabulous party in their ever-groovy basement celebrating the second book in their art-book series. The book was a collaboration between artist Jim Drain and (Chida's) designer and art director, Duncan Hamilton.

The store was quietly sleeping upstairs and is full of amazing stuff as usual (vintage finds from far-away places and new stuff like their own private label dresses and drool-worthy designs from Leanna of Electric Feathers--yummmmmmy). Their last book was a collabo between crusty crooner hottie Devendra Banhart and poet Dana Kline. I can't say but the next project is gonna be something super hot! The party started off slow because of a crazy thunderstorm (fine because I was still at work trying to get my client to eat already...) but ended up rocking out with a band (buddies of the artist), street party and then a stroll over to La Esquina where Anastasia and I snuck downstairs with sous chef Nick for some tequila (nice sangrita) to contribute to my masssive hangover the next morning.

Don't cry over spilled nieves--Take pictures!

2008-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Weekend in Long Island-from Mercedes to no-car-zone

2008-08-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Working out in the Hamptons was cool, especially since this year it is not every weekend. I miss the awesome farm stands, and my clients' gorgeous home. One thing that I was nervous about was driving...I haven't driven in a year and I just learned a few years ago, specifically to get into private cheffing after restaurants. You have to drive if you want to do private. And you have to drive your clients' really nice cars. Ummmmm, no pressure.

My first year driving was in Martha's Vineyard. My client knew I was a "new driver" but in reality I had just gotten my license about 2 weeks before I started. Traffic out there is pretty chill and my route to work/shopping was pretty straightforward. The Hamptons traffic is a bit nuttier. More annoying aggro drivers. When I got to the house this year I was a bit nervous; especially after the reading the last line in an email from my boss--"Please be careful driving our cars at the beach". If only they had a Kia Sportage around, but they are purely a Mercedes Benz family. I had to call the estate manager because I really couldn't remember which pedal was the gas and which the brake. But once I sorted that out driving was fine.

I made all my favorite (I mean, their favorite) summer stuff like soft-shell crabs (dusted with flour and sauteed in oil and bacon fat I reserved from breakfast). Made bread from a giant zucchini. The coolest was the beer can chicken (I wish I took a picture of them...I made 5). Have been wanting to try that for awhile. It's so easy--just open the beer and pour a bit out. Make more holes with a church key. I threw some rosemary and lemon peel in the can and stuffed an onion in the chickens' necks to keep in the steam. Sit the guy up on the can ("Beer Butt Chicken" is another name for it) and make sure you patted the skin dry and seasoned well, inside and out. You can make a little dry rub if you like. Then put on grill over indirect heat and close the lid. Should be about 300 degrees. Cook until done. About 1-2 hours. If you need to, you can stick a thermometer into the thigh (careful not to hit the bone) and see if it registers 165-170. Then you can pull the chicken off the grill (be careful, the can maybe empty by now so a bit wonky). Pull out can with tongs. Rest 10 minutes. Carve. Yum. I served with romescu sauce, grilled lamb, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes and a goat cheese and tomato tart.

After spending a night looking up at the stars in their backyard, my only company being the giant inflatable swan (see pic) I hopped on the LIRR and headed out to see Kenny. Davis Park is a really cute little place--no cars allowed. The "streets" are like wooden planks and there are only 2 businesses; a general store and a bar/restaurant. Mosquitos mauled me but I had fun and Kenny grilled some beautiful sockeye salmon for dinner. Here are some photos of the sunset and the ferry. When I got off he handed me a margarita in a day-glo yellow plastic cup. Fantasy Island-style, pretty cool welcome!

Keeping Hydrated...

2008-08-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Interesting stuff I've imbibed in the last 36 hours...

Tomato Mint Juice (like a watery and slightly sweet (the mint) V-8) and Rasperry Juice with Black MInt and Hyssop from Berried Treasures at the Union Square Greenmarket (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). Go for the raspberry. They also have an herbal blend, didn't try that one.

I had to try the "Ghetto Latte" despite the name. This is really just a double (or triple) espresso over ice. You add your own milk from the milk and sugar area. I would never try this anywhere other than Starbucks as it is a cheeky way to get a delicious icy espresso drink for only half the price. I paid $2.50 for this. The guy kinda knew what I was up to (it was a Starbuck's employee, after all who coined the term "Ghetto Latte") but didn't give me any shit. In fact, he gave me a coupon to come back later in the day and get a grande--is that medium or large?--drink later in the day. I did. Hehe. 2 big yummy caffeinated drinks for $4.50.
I didn't feel bad because I still tipped the guy and anyway it's Starbucks.

Also, on the way back from the mosquito fest that is Fire Island the other day I got off the LIRR at Woodside to get a snack. This is a photo of a drink I got at a Phillipino restaurant. It is super sweetened avocado lumped in the bottom. On top is crushed ice and evaporated milk. Pretty good. The evaporated milk is hard to drink. Must mix well, I think is the way to go but the avocado is in big chunks.

Que Padre! Superior

2008-08-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks, the people over at La Superior, which opens tomorrow on Berry St. in Williamsburg, have been cooking up a storm, working out the items for their various menus. The first night I visited they were testing out brunch (which should start in a couple of weeks). When I showed up at about 10 after work it was full on eggs and more. A procession of Mexican egg dishes from various regions (a la Oaxaquena was a delicious mix of eggs, tortilla and amazing sauce) came out as well as standards like huevos rancheros, divorciados and chilaquiles.

Then there were the sauces. More than ten varieties featuring different chiles (jalapenos, poblanos, chipotles, etc.) and different degrees of cooked-ness. Um, if that's a word. For example, the ranchera sauce had the same ingredients (tomatoes, onions and serranos as another sauce, just that with the ranchera the sauce is pan-fried. They also set up jars labeled "habanero crudo" some "con limon" or "con naranja." All were firey but each had it's own distinct flavor and integrity, besides being hot.

I've been a few times since, tasting things like their take on cochinita pibil (some pork and also a version with tilapia for all the fish-a-tarians), rajas (so good and creamy, like baby food) and delicious tacos, tostadas and quesadillas. La Superior's chef, Nacxi Gaxiola is not only like an encyclopedia of Mexican food, but he actually worked on one as the assistant to Mexican food scholar Ricardo Munoz for years in Mexico City. His academic approach also includes an affinity for chemistry (which he studied in university before cooking). My conversations with him often include diagrams of molecules and stuff. Um, Nacxi, I still don't get half the stuff you try to explain to me, but I know whatever you're doing back there, it tastes great! And from what I saw, much of the food was not concoted in petri dishes but in groovy Mexican ceramic pots; right on the gas burner.

The wallpaper is an original design by the adorable Ricardo who broke his arm this summer (what a bummer) and features edible flora and fauna of Mexico silver leafed on a textured background. It's really beautiful. And trust me, for all the attention to detail, the La Superior family is not a bunch of uptight geeks; their friends and family party on Friday night ended at 10am the next day. Check them out starting tomorrow, August 4th. Bring yourself a chela from the bodega on the corner.

"Inspired by Ingredients," Word up, Bill Telepan!!!

2008-07-23T07:40:00.000-07:00

So much lovely stuff is coming out this week and last...

Got beautiful zucchini blossoms from Windfall Farms last week (one of my favorites in all of Greenmarket...) and fried them up for my regular client. Made a light tomato sauce and beer-battered them. Like light, crispy mozzerella sticks....Mmmmmmmm. Then I went home and stuffed some other ones with leftover truffled mac and cheese (see photo).

Meanwhile, I found the first local watermelons and was very excited. Expect to see a watermelon nieve this weekend. Also cucumber- (non-salmonella) jalapeno, cajeta (see it cooking here in photo) and rose petal (that was one of my favorite flavors in Mexico).

Ready to Rumble!

2008-07-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs...

2008-07-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Next up was signage...When I showed a picture to Rose at Fast Signs on East 30th Street of Patsy pre-primed and painted, she called her "hideous." That was harsh. But, Rose is actually a very nice girl. In fact, from the moment I called the shop inquiring about signage for Patsy (I knew she needed more than a paint job) Rose was the woman.

I've never ordered a sign before and Rose walked me through all my options. We made a time for me to come by and look at some samples. We decided on the best materials, etc. and I left with this page of sample colors though I ended up using the color of my shades as it is the same color as the logo on the business cards. Tomato red. I went home and did a mock-up in newspaper to determine what size would fit on the side of the cart (almost the same size as my cabinet so that was a handy visual.

True to their name, my sign (vinyl lettering) was done in less than two days after they recieved a vectorized image (sounds like the future, not sure what that means, but Duncan Hamilton, my graphic designer sent it over from Vienna where he was attending the football matches with his crew, the Chinatown Soccer Club). It really is the future!

Rose was so cool and adorable and, like me, a born and bred Brooklyn-ite (Williamsburg to be exact). I also got to meet Wendell, the owner of this Manhattan Fast Signs (it's a franchise). When I came to pick up the lettering he gave me a full demo and showed me how to "hinge" the sign and then squeegee it on. He even gave me a little purple squeegee. If anyone ever needs a sign of any sort, there are the people to go to. Very reasonable and good peoples.

So, Miss Rose, how do you like my cart now????? Hideous? I think not! You better come and see for yourself...Sundays at the Brooklyn Flea (check schedule on www.chidanyc.com).

"Borderline" Madness...

2008-07-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

So, my ice cream cart, though functioning, looked a mess. What to do? She needed major work done. So, we headed out to Queens to Cecil's where she is currently residing (see post on how cool Cecil is) for a day of beautifying. Of course, we looked a mess what with the spray from the powerwasher (fun fun fun) and the crazy hot day, but managed to believe we were Madonna in the Borderline video when spray-priming. Oh yeah, after we had exhausted the "Car Wash" fantasy in our heads, it was on to '80's pop ghetto-meets-art-gallery-meets-balloons-meets-dodgy headscarf. Thank you Madonna. We've spared you video...

Mean Green Makes Moves...

2008-07-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

So, now that my cart's all sorted out I had to find a way to transport it to the market each week. I had been looking around for a place in Fort Greene to store it so I could push it over to the market each Sunday, but then I had this crazy idea.

I recently moved back to Brooklyn after years in the East Village. My moving company was this great company that I got linked up wtih from a very old friend. The company is called Mean Green Trucking and they run all their moving trucks on bio diesel. They even plant a tree with every move! The move went really well (walk-ups on both ends...) so I decided to ask them about having a standing Sunday move for the cart. It was just a thought because Thurston Cecil, the man behind Mean Green, had been so awesome helping me get ready for the move.

It turns out that Sundays are the day that Mean Green picks up their vegetable oil from various restaurants on Smith Street in Caroll Gardens. In other words they are coming to Brooklyn from Astoria on Sundays anyway so he said that adding my trip on both ends of their veg oil pick-up shouldn't be a big deal.

For the past few weeks as I've done the market I've had them deliver me to Laffayette Avenue via the help of their female English-accented GPS system. They even let me come by and use their powerwasher on the cart. When I was there last I ran into Jesker who had stopped by with his groovy bio-diesel converted Mercedes Benz to pick up fuel. At $2 a gallon surely beats gas prices these days and is so much better in so many ways. Small, small world as I had just seen him at Crest Hardware the day before and he knows my old neighbor, Yun. He drove Jennifer and me to the 46th Street stop where we had delicious tostadas from the Poblanas running the small Mexican grocery there.

If you are a restaurant and interested in having mean Green pick up your vegetable oil (for free) to convert to fuel, let them know or just send me a note here.

Same if you would like to buy "gas" from them...

Location, Location, Locura--Patty's Tacos Update

2008-06-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

A few months back I wrote a little blurb about this great food truck I saw uptown on 110th Street, Patty's Tacos. Coming home from work the other night I saw the amazing mural depicting the landscape around the state of Puebla with it's mountains depicted as a sleeping woman in a white dress (a sleeping volcano, actually) and the Nahuatl warrior who crouches at her feet. A beautiful image described to me earlier by Patty, as in, that's her truck...

So, it is one and the same. I met Patty tonight and she gave me the rundown...The truck has been operating for about 10 months. She (from D.F.) and her husband (from Puebla) moved the truck down to Midtown, at 40th St. and 5th Avenue, but were feeling so much love on Lexington that they have decided to park it right outside of the Best Buy/Barnes and Noble/4, 5, 6, train 6 days a week. From 11am-11pm every day except Sunday you can find their sopes, cemitas and other delicious and authentic Mexican fare.

They are doing so well up there, in fact, that they are going to begin to deliver. Next week! Patty, who is super-simPATIca, even got interviewed today by someone she said was from the New York Times. Way to go guys! So, all of you who live/work on the Upper East Side, get your truck on! She'll deliver within a 5 block radius...

Puebla Potato Chip Master

2008-05-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

If you thought the knife bike was amazing check out this potato chip guy! It looks hot back there, but the chips were off the hook!

Spread Love That's The Brooklyn Way...

2008-05-21T11:09:00.001-07:00

To Anyone Who Might Have Been Wondering if I'd Run Away and Joined the Circus,

Sorry I've been out of touch here. Much has been going on my end. First of all, I have been madly packing up the apartment I've lived in for the past (almost 11!!) years. I moved in with practically nothing and left with so much, even after getting rid of (what I thought was) a lot of stuff. I have returned to my Brooklyn roots and couldn't be happier. After doing the Brooklyn-themed radio show in Mexico City and taking a photo of this lovely girl whose name happened to be Brooklyn (yes, that's her real name, originally from Ohio) on the 6 train one night on my way home from work (I loved her re-purposed wheel of stickpins as brooch) I knew I was heading in the right direction.

So, this townie has been super impressed with her hometown lately. Edible Brooklyn is an amazing publication (take that, Manhattan!) as is Diner Journal, also coming out of Brooklyn (from the great folks behind Brooklyn mini-empire of Diner, Marlow and Sons and Bonita(s)). And that is not even the best part. The best part is The Brooklyn Flea, which kicked off in April on a super crummy day but still attracted nearly 10,000 visitors. Check it out in today's NY Times Dining Section's $25 and Under section.

I have a little something planned for that market and it looks like it will start up in June. Hopefully it will be warm when I start as somehow the heat has been coming out very s-l-o-w-l-y. No matter, somehow it's made me not feel so bad for having to wait to start my project. Another hold up has been my Mobile Food Vendor's license (check out the hair!) which just arrived on Monday (more on that and the ever-lovely Department of Health in NYC in a later post). Yippee! So, look out world; get ready for this Brooklyn girl to bust it out. Love to all my Brooklyn peoples, it's been so nice having you down the street.

x

What's in the box?

2008-04-12T15:34:00.001-07:00

So, here it is...My new baby...Last year on Labor Day while everyone was hanging out eating hot dogs and drinking beer I was working in The Hamptons as I did every weekend last summer. Not that it was so bad. I originally was totally against going, but somehow got roped into it. The food shopping out there is great. Long Island is a land of plenty-plenty of great farmstands, fresh fish and rude drivers. So, late in the night when most were either passed out or up to some sort of trouble, I was in my little weekend home furiously scouring eBay for ice cream carts. Like, was I the only person logged in that night or what? I got this lovely little ice cream cart (which is actually nice and big) for a steal. It has a special sort of technology called "cold plate" that allows the unit to get plugged into an 110 volt outlet overnight and then will remain cold for up to 8 hours or more without being plugged in. So, it's mobile...

This giant box arrived at my storage space on the day of the start of a long trip to Mexico earlier this winter. So, the poor thing has been sitting in storage for months. I haven't opened it until now. I've been a bit scared, actually, that she might not work or be a horrible mess, or both.

The super awesome Donald, originally from Kingston, Jamaica but living in Brooklyn, helped me out opening up the box (with a dodgy serrated knife), wheeling the cart over to an outlet and plugging it in (that's him in the photo with Lynda, the Queen of Keepers Self-Storage). Check out the crazy extension cord on a spool that looks like it's from 1902! That thing actually works! I went around the corner back to 9th Street Espresso to get Donald some coffee and when I came back the inside of the cart felt nice and cold...

Yippee! So excited! I asked Donald what we should call her after I decided she was a girl. "Patsy" was the first thing he said and actually I think it's an "Absolutely Fabulous" name. So there. Patsy it is. More on the adventures of Patsy coming soon. Next up we have to take her somewhere to get her hair did and stuff as she's not looking her sexy self at the moment...And I will also fill you in on Patsy's summer job soon. She is still in training!

Batch!

2008-04-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I visited Batch, the take-away bakery bit attached to Pichet Ong's P*ong. It is on a sunny West Village corner, one of those corners you always think you missed until you realized it's right in front of you. As happy as I was not to be lost among the Charleses, Janes and Bedfords (yes, I did grow up in NYC...) I was even happier to meet up with the ever fabulous photog, Erin Gleeson (who took all of these photos as my phone camera sucks compared to hers...) and taste some treats. And mind you, there were not only delicious people-treats but Foie Gras Doggie Biscuits. Um, yeah, that's right. Only in the West Village...

Foie gras is also on the menu next door at P*ong, see this gorgeous "taco" made of a tuille that Erin photographed at another time...At Batch the specialties were some treats inspired by Southeast Asia such as the (bestseller) Vietnamese coffee cake (with condensed milk icing,mmmm) and the little gougere-looking pineapple tartlet (traditionally known as "pineapple tart") which Pichet's buddy who was behind the counter explained is something he grew up eating in Singapore. That's Pichet in the photo with the pineapple tarts. It is studded with a whole clove which I was instructed not to eat (ok, but I did suck the pineapple off it...). We also sampled some delicious cookies (a chunky little walnut melt, hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate chunk, chocolate mint with a pretty crackle effect and an off-the-charts peanut butter cookie handed to me by the very cute Betty, a baker there). I wanted to try one of the puddings that came in amazing looking flavor combos but I was all sugared-out.

I washed all of that down with some Mighty Leaf Earl Grey tea in sexy (and biodegradable) "silken" pouches. Speaking of sexy, I heard the hunky milkman from Manhattan Milk & Dairy is as tasty as the Amish country organic milk he delivers. Check it out next time you are lost in the West Village.

Pink Presents

2008-04-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night was my friend Roanne's very pink birthday party. We were all instructed to wear pink, girls and boys, and most everyone followed the rules. Thinking of a little giftie I got very Martha and made a Pink Peppercorn Salt. I have been obsessed with pink peppercorns ever since working at Eight Mile Creek back in the day. The Pavlova with Passion Fruit curd had a garnish of pink peppercorns. This was an aha! moment for me. Long before it was so trendy for sweet and savory to get so slutty together.

Pink peppercorns are not peppercorns at all, but the dried berry of the Baises rose plant. They are cultivated in Madagascar, which might be an interesting way to imagine why they taste so good with vanilla. You've seen them, in the tri-color pepper grinders. They add a sweet, but still spicy note to just about anything. They are fantastic with fish and poultry, cheese and chocolate. I just used them the other night on warm roasted sweet potato and mozzarella cheese napoleons (that was created on one of those refrigerator scavenging expeditions). What's cool about them is that the pink part is like this outer shell that can be separated from the spicy crunch of the berry inside (this is more of a dark grey/black). This is done easily by pressing them through a strainer; the shell will get through and you will have little pink flakes (like we used on the pavlova).

So, they are always on my mind. And in my pantry, hehe. So I poured some in a bowl with some of the million pounds of salt I took home last trip to France and got to smashing. With no mortar and pestle in the house, I used the bowl and the bottom of a juice bottle (I washed it first!). I love giving people gifts like this because they are easy but (hopefully) people use them and have fun cooking/creating and they are more personal than giving flowers or booze or CD's from the record store. There you have it. Pink is always fun!

Heart. Beets. Hehe.

2008-03-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

This really happened. Had to take pic.

More Reasons to Love my Friends...

2008-03-18T22:12:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I bought some goat's milk at the store to make a dessert for someone. I kept procrastinating then got worried it would go bad. "Product may be frozen" the bottle told me. So I froze it. The other day I thawed it out to test a recipe for an ice cream base. When it was all thawed I noticed that it had some particulates in it. Particulates is a new 50 cent word (not "Fiddy Cent") that I learned from the hydrocolloids class I took last weekend. It means little tid bits in a liquid that have coagulated or gelled or are of a different consistency. I have been calling these "boogers" for years. Who knew there was a fancy molecular gastronomy word for them??

Well, even though it smelled and tasted fine, I was concerned. So, I called my good buddy Christina who worked at Cato Corner making cheese and has spent a lot of time with goats (shame on you if you just chuckled to yourself). I thought surely she would know the answer. Well, not only did she know the answer, but happened to be hanging out with a goat milk expert. She said, "Oh yeah, I'm here with a goat milk expert." like it happens all the time. I'm sure in Christina's world, it does. And I love her for it. Thank you Christina! And I saw Hooligan on the menu at Terroir in a list of maybe 6 or 7 cheeses. Ya-hoo! Congratulations you're so delicious!

By the way, the milk was not spoiled, but the boogers never really went away making my caramel kind of chunky which in turn made a strange textured ice cream. It was good for a freebie, but if I ever make this for someone for real I am going to use fresh goat milk. And I don't think I'll freeze again!

This Tidbit, at Terroir

2008-03-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Another fun and very personal element at Terroir, the wildly popular new wine bar teeming with mustachio-ed men of all ilks (chef/owner Marco Canora, our bartender, the French guy who kept bumping into Yukari and most of the guys in the group at the communal table)...The menu and wine list are presented in old-school (literally) 3 ring binders; pink ones decorated with Hello Kitty stickers, green ones with graffiti, all some riff on junior high school-isms, down to the stoner-ish rock references on the pages inside. Check out the beer page with crazy '80's font.

All that's missing is "Bobby and Becky forever" but we did see lots of love given to Brunello and other varietals. The high/low mix doesn't end with the decor. Chef's spot-on comparison of the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to "Grapefruit Hall's Vitamin C drops" was one of those "this lemongrass creme anglaise tastes like Fruit Loops" moments. Word up! Terroir is the coolest in school!

Yet another find at Prune...

2008-03-16T10:22:00.001-07:00

As I stated here before, this is not a restaurant review site, but sometimes there are just things that are worth mentioning; details delicious, delovely or downright strange. Reviews of Gabrielle Hamilton's restaurant generally run along the lines of "blah blah amazing blah the monkfish liver!" and "oh my God the brunch!" and "radishes, who knew?" (the French). Prune was created out of the old Casanis space on 1st Street in the East Village; a very sexy and secret little slice of street, if you ask me. It is very sexy (but, ladies, what's with the art-gallery, pimple-exposing lighting scheme?), if far-from-secret at this point, but somehow still under the radar.Just don't expect to just walk in there and sit down wherever. "After 11" is when we were told we could get a table the other night as a pair of walk-ins. Kind of naive to try, I know, but we were craving the monkfish liver (86'd, very sad) and all manner of anchovy-smothered loveliness. We love this place...

We did manage to sit at the bar at about ten. All the better to eat the bar snacks only available at the bar, I think, which is like almost a quarter of the seats in the teeny tiny space. These include healthy "snack"- sized portions of treats like the aforementioned radishes, huge, amazing fried oysters with the tastiest tartar sauce (also good on the radishes, actually) and a mackerel escabeche. But, ack, this is not a food review. Blah blah amazing blah the best sweetbreads in a very long time. Tessa, cut it out!

This is about a discovery; a delovely detail. Besides chatting with the adorable bartendress, Tammy, we got to view and discuss Prune's new glassware. And, folks, it's from CB2. That is like the 5th mention of that place to me this week! I was telling Tammy how much I liked the thin, French-y water glasses and she said "CB2." In fact, all the glasses were from there now. We were drinking a bottle of cava and each had a different glass. Jen's was almost like a milkshake glass bottom and long, open shape. Mine was like a tall flute with a stumpy pedestal, almost like a European beer glass. Funny thing is that I kept getting splashed in the face whenever the cava got low in the glass (which was rare, because Miss Tammy was right on it with the refils). I thought maybe it was me, as I can be quite clumsy at times, especially when tipsy which I was, more and more...

When I mentioned this phenomenon to Tammy she was cracking up because she said that they had all been drinking a champagne cocktail the other night and Chef Hamilton had the same glass and the same problem. Ha! So it's not me! It's the glass (couldn't find it on site). Tip, if you are confronted with this problem, just sip slowly...I have to admit, I'm glad it wasn't another coupe as we have seen everywhere this year (Beatrice, etc.). Love the shape, but like antlers and other design elements popularized at Freeman's I am reaching my saturation point. There was even a cute little shot-glass that looked like a cross between the plastic Solo glasses you get wine in at art openings and the little cup they give you at the dentist's office when it's time to rinse.

Sometimes when things sound like a bad idea...

2008-03-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

This morning proved to me, once again, that many things I complain about doing aren't so bad; in fact, they can be thoroughly enjoyable. Let's take the following examples...

1. Waking up early--This is one I always dread doing, no matter what it's for. This is one of the many reasons why I don't have a job which requires me to be there at 9am or whatever am for that matter. I think about the early day for a week in advance and get all nervous that I won't wake up in time. I force myself to try to go to sleep early (this never works!) and even do stuff like lay out my clothes and load the coffee maker (I made myself a Spanish potato tortilla last night at work knowing I better have some breakfast ready). Then I start arranging alarm clocks all over my room so I have to literally get my ass out of bed to turn them off. I knock on my pillow as many times as would stand for the hour I want to wake up. I think this is a Jamaican thing; Lord only knows where I picked that up but it lives happily with all of my other superstitions. Then, in the morning there is the cold, the grey weather and the dream tugging me back in. I can be a snooze queen. But not today.

2. Going to Queens--Raised in Brooklyn, an uneasiness when in the neighboring borough of Queens is ingrained in me. The super-long addresses which never make sense, the janky train service (much better in the last few years, I'm sure), the long-ass avenue blocks and the fact that LL Cool J and The Real Roxanne are from Queens, but really should have been from Brooklyn (that's ok, we have Biggie and Jay-Z). Did I mention that one of their main avenues is nicknamed the "Boulevard of Death"? Whenever I go to Queens I am lost, tense and annoyed. Or I am there because I missed my stop on the ____ train and ended up in (bloody!) Queens. Humph!@%%^^

3. Messing too much with perfectly good food--The addition of strange chemicals and things, I mean.

I have to say, numbers one through three, as they usually do, today had a way of reversing themselves to be thoroughly enjoyable on maybe levels...I woke up at 8:15 to get ready to head out to Forest Hills for a class with the adorable geniuses behind Ideas in Food, Aki Kamozawa and H. Alexander (Alex) Talbot. I have been reading their blog for years and even though their style is very different than mine I find their thoughtfulness about what they are doing truly inspiring. My friend Garren recently went to one of their classes, an introduction to working with hydrocolloids (these are basically chemicals that affect the viscosity of foods, often used to activate gels, gelatin is one...) and said it was great. So I hopped on the F train to attend "Hydrocolloids at Home." P.S. Many of the "strange chemicals" we worked with actually come from sources like seaweeds, the carob plant and animal protein...

Some rustic preparations benefit greatly from being made with the application of new techniques. Tasting Aki and Alex's light, ethereal gnocchi speckled with herbs and perfectly browned on the outside shut me up! I have always wondered what their beautiful food tasted like. Let's just say, it's pretty #$%^ing delicious. They made a hollandaise that is coolable and re-heatable. Amazing! Truly, I was excited to go to the class but wasn't sure how much I would be able to take away, being so unfamiliar with the ingredients and techniques.

Sitting in Aki and Alex's dining room with 3 other students, all professional food-makers such as myself, I had a million and one ideas (and goofy questions, sorry guys!). I couldn't stop smiling. I hated chemistry in high school. Had they not cancelled the chemistry Regents exam (a NY thing) the year I had to take it because of a scandal I might not have ever graduated. Yet today I found myself totally enthralled, even remembering the abbreviation for calcium chloride! I could grasp what they were explaining which I never was able to do in high school. With their induction burners, infrared thermometers and Paco Jet machine, they put on quite a magic show. We even got treats like Ritz cracker ice cream, Mackson's beer knots, and a cauliflower "false egg.". I can't say enough about Aki and Alex's continuing generosity in the food community. They are not afraid to share ideas and teach. They have more classes coming up and I am considering checking out some more. We didn't have these ideas floating around too much when I was in culinary school and I am not going to totally change my style, but now I just have a bunch of new toys to play with. It's kind of like telling a painter that besides red, blue, yellow, etc. there are 5 other colors they didn't know about. It opens up a whole crazy world of possibilities! I can't wait to drive my clients crazy! First must order chemicals...Left the xanthan gum and lecithin I had in the Hamptons this summer...

As for the rest of the day (it was 1pm when class ended), I took advantage of the many hours I had left before my dinner plans by hanging out in Jackson Heights (I figured if i was already in Queens...) with Augosto, a sous chef at Delmonico's from the class. We ate arepas, tacos, walked around and maybe almost got lost. Just like a summer Saturday at P.S. 1, this day in Queens was great for seeing new things, meeting new people and thinking up new ideas in food.

Black is Beautiful

2008-03-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

With daylight savings coming up this weekend (that's Spring ahead and lots of extra light in our day) I have been getting a bit of Spring Fever. I have braised brussels sprouts for days, made mountains of root vegetables and done about everything there is to do to a squash (and I didn't discriminate here--acorns, butternuts, spaghetti squash) all the while getting more and more antsy.

I didn't plan on buying something so tropical and from so far away (Miami, Florida, actually) at the Park Slope Food Co-op of all places, but, I couldn't help it when I spotted the black zapotes. Caroll and I had eaten this fruit in Mexico as ices in Oaxaca and were knocked out by the color and flavor. When I saw them I grabbed 2 thinking they could be the perfect light dessert for Michael and me.

When we got them home I had no idea what I'd find inside the zapote's green, pomegranate-shaped exterior. When I opened it up, the flesh was soft and mushy, brown, not as black as the ices, hmmmm; like stewed prunes with some big, brown, cherimoya-like seeds. Whoa! It seemed nice and ripe, though not terribly sweet, a bit fibrous and had the aftertaste of persimmon, which I have now learned is a relative. I was hoping to make a granita, so I had made some simple syrup on the stove. I scooped out the flesh, added some syrup and lemon juice and buzzed with a hand-blender. It was thick, almost like an apple butter or a preserve. I didn't want it to be too watered down, but couldn't freeze this. "This would be great on a cheese plate." I said out loud. Michael mentioned that he had some mascarpone in the fridge and offered it up.

I set about trying to make a little swirled number, but the cheese was too thick. I whipped in some milk and then began to layer in glasses and realized that they looked like a cross between an affogato and some kind of Jell-o pudding/Cool Whip concoction you would see as a "recipe" in a dodgy old -fashioned housewife magazine. When I read about zapotes on the internet (native to Mexico and Central America, are either yellow, white or black, contain two times the asorbic acid that an orange does, etc.) I saw one of the names given to the fruit is the "chocolate pudding fruit." Word. And what a great end to our lovely meal. I have been so into this and have been staring at the photos on my phone for days (bored on the train? look at photos of the zapote affogato). I wonder if all those fancy chefs in Mexico have created something like this yet...I will have to go back and ask my buddies. Something I can make there without having to wait for the water to boil (cooking borscht at high altitudes is enough to drive a person cuckoo crazy!!!).

Let me know if anyone has found black zapotes in New York (or Florida, hi to my family there, congrats on Katrizia, Jill-y!!!) and if they have done anything interesting with them.

Stoked!

2008-03-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

In the dictionary, the word stoked has multiple meanings. The original use was as the verb, to stoke, meaning, to "poke, stir up, and feed (a fire)." Somewhere along the line, the word was adopted by surfers and now has separate, "slang" meanings. Exhilarated, excited and energized descibe the later meaning of the word.

I was excited and energized after attending a fundraising party that my dear friend, Miss Karla, invited me to last weekend. For over a year now Karla has been learning to snowboard and surf with her mentee, Cece, a 15 year old high school student from New York City. To learn more about Stoked and life mentoring through action sports, check out their website at http://www.stokedmentoring.org/. I will post when they will have their next NYC fundraising party where you can get a rad t-shirt like the one in the photo.

No Sprouts for You! A Day at the Park Slope Food Co-op...

2008-03-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

Completely un-related to my my little love-fest about onion sprouts a few posts ago, this sprout reference is about the bad rep. that the folks at the Park Slope Food Coop have gotten regarding their numerous policies and very un-hippie-like-strictness. Rule number one is that friends can visit but can't shop, and only one person can accompany a member at a time. I surely understand the concept of keeping out the rif-raf; doing "the door" for various parties in the '90's has taught me much about the careful balance of people on the list and random people off the street.

I was invited by the lovely M*Steady of M*Steady Eats. He, like me, was born and raised in Brooklyn and although none of our parents were ever members during the Food Co-op's nearly 35 years, Michael has joined as one of the new generation of members whose numbers push the total membership upwards of 13,00 members from all over the tri-state area. Ummm, I can see now why the guest list might be somewhat useful...This makes it the largest food co-op in the country which certainly, through its many years, would produce its fair share of lovers and haters alike. And you should see the scathing posts and articles written by some of those haters! I was ready to get whacked over the head with sugar-free fruit leather by the reportedly evil cashiers if I were found out as the interloper that I was.

From the moment I arrived, I could tell that these Co-op people were surely no joke. Although there is no velvet rope and plenty of truly horrible shoes; the rooting out of transgressors of the lengthy list of rules makes for a "you might not get in" feeling if you, say, have not made up a work shift that you missed and didn't re-schedule (members must work 2 hour and 45 minute shifts once every 4 weeks). So, we had to be on our best behavior. And the rest of the folks in there, too, seemed to be. No, really, once I felt like I was ok to be there, even though I truly felt like the new girl at school, fellow shoppers were very friendly and helped point me in the right direction a number of times.

This is one reason why Michael has subjected himself to the, ok, I'll say it, "Sprout Nazis" in the first place. He explained that for all the rules and regulations what he really enjoyed about the Co-op (besides the awesome selection and super-cheap prices on goods from bulk nuts ($2.42 for 1/4 pound of macadamias) to essential oils (from 4 different producers) to Hydro Upland cress ($1.88 a bunch-take that Fairway!) was the sense of community and Brooklyn love that is felt when shopping the aisles and waiting in long-ass-lines at the Co-op. Here you can find everyone from hippies to hipsters, yuppie breeders and lesbian mommies, your neighbor who has been a member since 1973 and that person who came all the way from New Jersey because they just heard about the Co-op. With free childcare provided while you shop or attend one of their (open-to-the-public) workshops and even help walking your bags home with one of the Co-op's carts (once again, very strict rules apply here as well), there seems to be s soft spot in the tough exterior of the Co-op powers-that-be. Kind of like one of the black zapote fruits we picked up there.

Which is a great segue into the second part of this post...

The Co-op lunch...The whole point of our smuggling me into the Co-op was to pick up some goodies to make into a rainy-day lunch. Michael has just returned from an amazing trip to Italy where he immersed himself in not only learning the language (putana!) but taking a break from the music industry to immerse himself in, well, tomato guts and polenta. Check out his blog for a beautiful travel-logue focusing on working and eating in restaurants around Italia (his motherland...).

So, we had a couple of sexy grass-fed chuletas (that's pork chops) as our main and somehow got into this black foods theme as Michael was hoping to work some black radishes into a simple salad inspired by his travels--thin sliced mushrooms with shaved Parmaggiano, lemon juice and crudo olive oil. Then I spotted the black zapotes. I've never seen them as the actual fruit--see my next post...

All in all, a very lovely rainy day lunch. A little taste of these great smoked Maine shrimp from Sullivan Harbor Farm with cress and a kumquat I found on Michael's counter, aforementioned mushroom salad, gorgeous grillmarks (Martha Stewart grill pan) on the pork chop (with rosemary and a squeeze of lemon juice), black rice we forgot to cook as a risotto, le oops! and then our zapote affogato. All this and I got a chance to crash the Co-op without getting thrown out on my ear (of local, organic corn, of course)!

My New Friend, Onion Sprouts

2008-03-02T13:34:00.001-08:00

Over the past few years sprouts, microgreens, baby herbs and all manner of shoots have been snipped and dressed and piled on top of 80% of restaurant plates (including desserts). While I have worked with baby cilantro, kaiware, micro beets, lentil sprouts, pea and popcorn shoots, etc. I have never played with onion sprouts. When I saw this package from Milford, New Jersey at the Garden of Eden I thought, hmmmm, new friend...

I love the black seeds and wispy green sprouts. Believe it or not, they have tons of onion flavor! And they look so cool. Last week I made these pork taquitos and made a fun daikon radish slaw with the onion sprouts. A little bit of lime juice and salt. So simple but the black and white looked awesome. The other stuff on top is guacamole and a jicama and mango dice that I tossed with hot sauce, salt and lime. The pork is this fake-y Asian recipe that is like a laquered pork stew that I got off of Epicurious. The ingredients in the recipe are kind of gross--braised with Coca Cola, soy sauce, ginger, scallions. A bit too salty and sweet for my taste, but tasty over rice or shredded in this taquito...It's an experiment I'm not completely mad at...This late in stew season you start reaching...

Then for a big party the other night I made some yellow cherry tomatoes filled with guacamole (they looooove guacamole) and decided instead of adding some kind of onion to the guac, to sprinkle some of my new friends on top. It looked really cool (see pic). When I was learning about raw food from my friends Lillian and Eddie at Raw Soul I learned that sprouts are a great way to get nutrients that are "pre-digested" meaning that the seeds' fats have converted to essential fatty acids and carbohydrates, proteins are converted to essential amino acids and/or sugars, and vitamin levels (on a dry basis) increase substantially. They are loaded with enzymes and are said to give you loads of energy. Hmmmm, this all sounds quite good.

In a month or so I may begin to experiment with growing my own sprouts. I am trying to figure out if the onion sprouts, for example, are made from the black "onion seeds" of the nigella flower or if they are indeed, from an allium (onion family) plant. Will ask somebody soon and report. Anybody know the answer?

For the time being, I am having fun with my pal. For $2.49 a pack, they are a cheap date that promises lots of interesting possibilities!

Knife Sharpener in Tlacolula Market, Oaxaca

2008-02-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

Heiiiii! I finally learned how to post videos here! Yippee! Check this guy out!

Brunch-The Gateway Meal?

2008-02-24T11:14:00.000-08:00

We've all heard tales of brunch as hell for those in the industry; it's true--most new guys get stuck with this shift and it sucks as people are super cranky, impatient, indecisive, hung-over, etc. and I don't just mean the customers, hehe. Also for the customers who are oftentimes paying upwards of $20 for remerchandized leftovers. Thank you Tony Bourdain, for this snippet from Kitchen Confidential:

"Brunch menus are an open invitation to the cost-conscious chef, a dumping ground for the odd bits left over from Friday and Saturday nights...Cooks hate brunch."

While this is not always the case, it is always the case that those working it are generally hating it 80% of the time. I have worked it Front of the House (Bar Six--in high heels no less) and Back of the House in many other places (poaching and scrambling billions of eggs and trying to save hollandaise from slowly breaking in baine maries).

With all of this knowledge, however, the sad truth is that brunch is one of the only meals I can manage to eat out with friends with my schedule. And I feel like brunch is kind-of the restaurant version of designer perfume. By this I mean that most of us cannot afford the Yves Saint Laurent bag/suit/dress but we can afford their perfume. This is where most fashion houses make money. Besides being the "gateway purchase" to a life of label whoring; it gives the consumer the experience of the house without the major spending.

The same is true for brunch. If you can't afford the super expensive dinner tasting menu at the restaurant you're lusting after you can probably justify taking your mom there for brunch and paying a bit more than at, say, Festival (amazing Huevos Rancheros, Mexican-style coffee and surly waitresses).

This gives you the experience of the restaurant ("like omigod, the bathrooms at The Modern are so confusing") from well, bathrooms to bartenders and, if you're like me, you read all the menus; not just brunch. Hence the "gateway" reference. If you don't feel ripped off paying $20 for the "odd bits" Bourdain speaks of, surely you would pay the same for a soup and glass of wine if you liked the bartenders, er, bathrooms enough. And maybe if the banquettes are cushy and lighting sexy enough you would consider coming back for a few hours of nighttime nibbling pricetag be damned! That flatware looks fierce with your outfit...

P.S. Here is a great t-shirt that our server, the lovely Sara(h) Sweet was wearing the other morning at Relish in Williamsburg. Happy belated birthday!

Salami and Calamari Salad--Really Quick

2008-02-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

I thought this squid looked like a painting of fish on japanese pottery. The white and the blue.

Here is a really easy salad recipe, too...Something I created because there was a half a leftover salami in the 'fridge...I was thinking about Portugese combinations like chorizo and clams. I love pork products with seafood...

This made about 5 starter-sized salads. You could probably squeeze another small one out if less generous. Alternatively, you could make a few larger salads (I think this would be a great lunch or light dinner).

Salami and Calamari Salad

Half a small salami, cubed
6 Squid bodies, opened flat and scored in a diamond pattern
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Half a lemon to squeeze
Arugula
Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Render the salami cubes in a small saute pan on low to medium heat. When lots of the orange-y oil has come out turn up the heat to high. Allow the salami to get crispy on the surface. Remove from pan. Season the calamari with salt and pepper. Add the calamari, scored side down. Do not crowd pan. You may need to do this in batches. If so, start process from beginning with salami for each batch so calamari can absorb the flavor and color of salami.

When it starts to turn opaque and curl up, turn over or just roll around until just cooked through. It will curl into a little roll that looks like a pineapple, see photo.

Remove calamari to cutting board and slice into little rings. Toss with salami, lemon juice, olive oil and arugula. Plate. Yum.

Befriending the Enemy--Adventures in Microwaving, Part 1

2008-02-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

I didn't grow up with microwaves. I never even had a microwave until my lovely roommate (who now lives in Oakland...) insisted we buy one about two years ago. I was very resistant as there was nothing I could imagine would taste good once zapped. I am mostly right. Considering the fact that the amount of effort I put into "cooking" at home much of the time consists of warming up leftovers from work or heating the occasional soup, I never really thought of an alternative to doing that in a pan on the stove. Like normal people...

We got the microwave at about the same time that Trader Joe's opened in NYC, which I was very excited about...So, I learned to embrace microwave culture a little bit. I would come home from work and heat up my food. Bleeeep! In seconds. No dishes. Like, this is what everyone's talking about. Easy. Scary, but easy. One thing clients always ask me for is microwave directions for re-heating food and I never really knew what to tell them. I have become more and more familiar with the microwave and recently decided to try an experiment...

I had completely forgotten to start my puff pastry appetizer for dinner the other night and had something in the oven at 325, which is 75 degrees less than needed for puff pastry (400). I wanted to serve the starter in under 10 minutes. Considering that "Poofy Pastry" as my froggy friend Phillipe used to say needs at least 25 nimutes to do its thing in a 400 degree oven, I was screwed.

So I decided to try my new friend microwave. I cut out a few rounds and put them on a plate and tried first one minute in my clients supersonic microwave (extremely powerful). After two minutes it had puffed up to full height (albeit a bit uneven, despite rotating carousel), but was still very "blonde." I thought more time in the micro and it might explode. So I put it on a sheet tray and finished in the low-ish oven. I was very pleased with the results, although I could have actually taken them out of the oven a minute or two earlier. Flaky, tall. Hmmm...Here is a (crummy) photo. This was a Valentine's request from my client's daughter. I am now obsessed with experimenting on this. Will send you results...

Ladyfingers

2008-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve I painted my nails the best shade of red "Cherry" according to the cheapie drugstore bottle. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal to most girls, but as I can't wear nailpolish at work I only paint my nails about 3 times a year (when I've gotten manicures for weddings, etc. the manicurists look at my hands in horror!).

I remember in culinary school when they told me that nailpolish wasn't allowed in the kitchen. This should have been obvious, but, It was the mid 90's and I had about ten shades of blue nailpolish alone. I loved my painted nails. In school I would paint my nails on the weekends and remove for school, but that stopped once I started working 6 nights a week. I still have some of that old nailpolish in a little box my ex gave me at the time (for my nailpolish!). Some I gave away to friends and some just got tossed.

Now I have about 3 colors, but this Cherry is so good, maybe I'll start my weekend nailpolish routine again. I was so obsessed with my fingernails on New Year's I know I was gesticulating like crazy (or was that the champagne?). Then I did a photo shoot for posterity with my fabulous nails as the star (clutching clutch bags, shaking maracas, etc.). Lately i have been looking at girls' painted nails a lot, like Anastasia from London's lovely grey nails, Morgan's friend's crazy nails (so much texture, a special process that lasts months, I was told, see pic. on subway platform) and then I spotted Lynn.

Lynnhaven farms sells some great fresh ricotta amongst other products at the Union Square Greenmarket. I couldn't help but notice that Lynn's fingernails were painted a lovely shell pink. I told her about my newly kindled obsession with nailpolish and she was laughing explaining how she wears it even when she is at the farm and everybody there thinks it's so funny; a farmer with nailpolish. I say, if it's not flaking in the goat cheese, work it out! Thanks for the lovely cheese, Lynn and letting me take a photo of your ladyfingers...

Must Love Dogs...

2008-02-16T12:30:00.000-08:00

I’m not big on reviewing restaurants here in the traditional way. You will find comments from time to time on certain dishes , trends and chefs, but this is not a restaurant reviewing-type blog. I decided this for many reasons. The most important being I feel like a wanker every time I bust out my camera at a restaurant. There are plenty of voices on the web concerned with eschewing their opinions of restaurant experiences with varying degress of professionality. And varying degrees of patience (I feel a restaurant should have a bit of time to get their stuff together before every Tom, Dick and Wanna-be-Bruni with a digicam and an expense account descend upon them to get the early scoop. There is nothing clever about snarky comments on unprepared service at friends and family nights at brand-new spots, but, I digress).

The reason for this post is to give a sort-of shout-out to a Chef and restaurant that I feel are truly unique and under-hyped. Um, please don’t start hyping this place up. Ack!

Marja Sampson is a Dutch transplant, but, by now I would feel comfortable calling her a New Yorker (for me, this is being very generous). She opened Kitchen Club on the corner of Mott and Prince Streets in 1990 way before “Nolita” arrived with her handbag stores in tow. At the time Marja was one of the first female restaurant Chef/Owners in New York CIty and opened her Euro/Japanese fusion spot in Chinatown way before either were fashionable.

I was lucky enough to attend a dumpling workshop a few years ago at The French Culinary institute with Chef Sampson. I was as interested in her story as much as her delicious mushroom dumplings. Kitchen Club has since expanded to include Chibi’s Bar next door (named after her French bulldog, Chibi). We recently celebrated a friend’s birthday there and basically took over the place; a small banquetted, wallpapered, candle-lit, velvety den that plays sexy music quiet enough so you can whisper in someone’s ear as you feed them oysters and caviar. Sake list is fantastic, as well. The world of Mott St, although visible, seems to be far, far away. Maybe the view outside the window has somehow remained the same in the 18 years Marja has been there.

For dessert, we snuck in this lovely plate of treats from The Chocolate Room. Zagat has named them the Number 1 Dessert Cafe in NYC! The cupcakes were some of the best I’ve had. No buttercreamy flowers here...Chocolate love to the maximum!!!!

I wish you all chocolate (um, or whichever flavor you wish, really. hehe) love! Happy Valentine’s Day...xx

Breathless; Amazing Jean Seberg on Sundance Channel...

2008-02-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hungry, Hungry Hipsters

2008-01-29T11:40:00.000-08:00

Over the summer, I received an invite to go to something called “Dante Fried Chicken (DFC).” A combination groovy loft party/music venue/cooking show and dinner party I thought it would be perfect to check out; but, alas, working...

I have no idea how I got on the invite list, but many times I figure these things out at some point. I have received invites since and have always wanted to go. Between my work schedule and a kind of Manhattan-snobbery reserved for those born and bred in Brooklyn (I’m getting over it...) I have not managed to get to any of the events yet. Over the last long weekend, however, I finally got out there. Held at the Supreme Trading Company close to the Bedford Avenue stop (a more, ahem, palatable address for me than Bushwick on a cold winter’s night) this one-year anniversary featured performances by several noted music folks such as “The Real” Roxanne Shante (oh, yes, “The Lady Devastator” herself) and the lovely G.Rizo visiting from Vienna (nee Miss Ihu Anawayhu of Repellant Magazine). Those are her sexy stockings in the photo. There were some great dj’s who literally warmed up the crowd (in the middle of December when it’s 20 below...) and a fashion show by (and the adorable MC for the show made sure we got the name correct)“21 MC’s” which was really sort of overshadowed by the fashion show that was waiting on line for the DFC.

And so we come to the food. I met up with Lise (see Wintermarket post) at 6 thinking we’d be neither too early nor too late. Let’s just say she had to leave at 9 and there was still no sign of Dante. Supreme Trading is a big space and folks had been milling in and out of the big room where the food was served admiring the giant ice sculpture of Dante’s logo-a pumped-in-the-air fist holding a drumstick, along the way and trying to get some chicken intel. I felt for those involved as I have been there when doing my own quasi-legal restaurant nights.

For ten dollars, however, I was entertained and ran into enough people who I’ve missed all winter while hibernating that I couldn’t completely complain (see "M*Steady Eats'" Michael Adasko in photo). Dante and his crew finally showed up with large aluminum pans and chafing dishes of sterno and the crowd descended on the tables they had set up at the far end. It was a bit of a mad house. I thought many of these kids didn’t eat food. Hmmmmmm. On line I chatted with a lovely journo who told me that the enterprising Dante was not only closer to his goal of opening a WBurg restaurant, but was doing private tastings around town. Smart motherflower. And so smartly dressed for someone cooking all day. Nice shirt, Dante! see photo of the back of his head, above. Check out his other smart cooking gear on his website's cooking show series...

Between the actual fried chicken and the soy version in a creamy, coconutty sauce, I have to say I’d choose the veggie one next time. Ack, I’m turning back into the Brooklyn vegetarian of my youth. Hehe. Depending on where you were in line you might have sampled: White Bean ginger Kale Stew, Roasted Veggies, a cool cornbread-like concoction, Salad of many veggies, “Sock-It-To-Me Peach Cobbler.” Well, In the meantime, Dante seems to be keeping it fresh while putting together a cooking show with musical guests like Spank Rock and Santogold, hosting more food fests and probably coming soon to an eatery near you.

Mario, you sick fuck...

2008-01-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

The butter and lardo service at Del Posto. Ummmm, the photos say it all. On a silver platter. Rosemary piggy goodness. Spread it on me!

Patty's Tacos--Uptown, Baby!

2008-01-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

So, I had been scoping out this taco truck on 110th Street and finally went a few weeks ago.

Patty’s is usually parked on 110th Street between Lexington and 3rd, half a block from the 6 train. The truck itself seems to be quite busy and the folks lining up reflected Eastern Harlem in 2008; a good mix of Mexican immigrants, original Harlem residents and downtown hipsters who have moved uptown.

I am guessing the folks behind Patty’s are from Puebla for a few reasons. First off, most immigrants in New York from Mexico at this point are from Puebla or Guerrero. Secondly, they had cemita sandwiches which are specifically Poblano (see my Puebla post--huge sandwiches on sesame seed rolls--the cemita). Also, they had a list of aguas frescas; which although all over Mexico are said to have originated in Puebla with the many Middle Eastern immigrants in the late 1800’s. When I went it was mid-December and they even had "ponche" which is the traditional Christmas-time Mexican hot fruit drink (ummm, feel free to spike if you wish).

I was getting my stuff “para llevar” although there is room to hang out, garnish your food with various salsas and radish slices, cilantro and onions and rest your plate to eat. I decided to go with sopes as you are unlikely to find them in the various taquerias downtown where I live. Sopes are little circles of masa that are thicker than your average tortilla and crispy on the bottom as they are heated on the plancha-style grill (often times in Mexico, a simple comal is heated on the street corner to cook up sopes, gorditas, quesadillas, etc.).

I got some radishes and salsa verde and hopped on the train and got home in time to eat them still relatively warm (ok, I admit I nuked them for about 10 seconds). My two sopes were $6.00 and they were reallllly good. Crema fresca, queso, chicken, herbs, goodness. They should get a vendy for the mural on the back of the truck alone...

UPDATE ON PATY....

Beauteous Birria

2008-01-08T09:14:00.001-08:00

So, we didn’t get to Jalisco this trip which is home to Tequila (it actually may only be called tequila if produced there, it is a D.O.C.). Guadalajara and birria.

Birria is a dish of meat (usually goat, lamb or mutton) slow cooked in a rich broth. I was bummed out that I wouldn’t get to try it, but so happy when I saw this little stand on Colima in La Roma, near our hotel.

The guys were hilarious and they were telling me all about how they make the stew, etc. I met them one day right after eating and said I would be back. They were surprised that I did. This was a day of walking around the neighborhood and eating tacos at every stand that I liked. This taco trek was a meaty one as Caroll was off looking at art galleries.

The birria is served in two parts. The meat is chopped on a corn tortilla and comes with “unlimited, free” consomme, which is the broth that the meat is cooked in. I only needed the bowl that I was served, had to save room for more tacos...

It was warm out and strange to eat such a rich, hot soup; but it was very satisfying and balanced by the taco with red onions and super spicy pickled habaneros; the red, yellow and brown were so fun to look at, with the green of the lime and the terra cotta bowl of rich reddish brown broth (if you called this “consomme” in France, they’d yell at you, it’s definitely got a lot more heft and is certainly not clear).

I got a grapefruit Jarritos and took it to go, “en bolsa” (plastic bag, see above) which is one of my favorite Mexican things to see. They all want to keep the refund on the glass bottle (by the way, in Mexico City now you have to separate the organic and inorganic waste for the garbage collectors! they are so on it! what’s our problem???). Also, if you go to the orange juicers outside of the supermarkets you get a big gallon sized bolsa of orange juice. Crazy!

Next stop was a delicious taco of longaniza (a really nicely seasoned pork sausage with spices like nutmeg and sometimes the addition of fruits like orange and apple). I would love to try to find this sausage here in NYC--had a longaniza and potato gordita one morning for breakfast and got hooked. I am going to go try this taco truck on 110th Street on Tuesday. A ver...

2008-01-08T09:00:00.001-08:00

Sometimes just looking down at what you’re working with is so nice. Here are some cute little quail eggs, later to become mini devilled eggs with miso and paddlefish roe. I love the colors on the insides of the shell and the patterns on the outsides. It is a pain in the neck job, but nice to look at while you’re doing it...To help with peeling, add some acid to the water you cook them in (vinegar). This will help break the shells down a bit. Also try the crack and roll method; hit the boiled egg on the counter or cutting board and then roll and press the whole way round. You will have lots of little cracks now and this will help when peeling...

Mangu con Cebollitas

2008-01-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Last week I had to thank somebody for a big favor and since they know I am a chef, we always spoke about food. When we started talking about the Dominican Republic, where one of them is from, we started talking about the dish mangu. Now, I learned how to make mangu in college from Carol C., who is still one of my dearest friends. We traveled to D.R. together years ago to visit her family and hang out. The whole neighborhood refered to us as “Las Barbies” and we had to hang out with her Aunt’s nerdy neighbor.

Then one night in the middle of the night, we snuck out of the all-inclusive resort full of German cheeseballs where her cousin worked as the entertainment in the restaurant (he was such a huge Phil Collins fan and so earnest about it that to this day, I have a special appreciation for his music). We were leaving an (even cheesier) club and got a moto-concha (motorcycle taxi) to bring us to get some food. In retrospect, having no idea where we were, this all might not have been the smartest idea, but we were taken to this late-night spot that served the most delicious mangu (which is traditionally served for breakfast with eggs and fried cheese).

The Dominican love for mangu is something that cannot be taken lightly. There are bands, nightclubs and songs named after mangu. I’ve heard “mangu con cebollitas” yelled out from the crowd at Si*Se concerts; as if the incredible band could only be compared to something else as loved as mangu. I figured if there were any good deed done for a Dominican it would have to be delivered with a side of mangu. So, last Sunday morning I woke up and began boiling plantains I bought at the Essex Street Market.

Recipe Time:

I chose some really sweet ones, because, well, that’s how I like mangu, I think much yummier than greener ones. While boiling the platanos, I worked on the onions. I caramelized some red onions quickly in a very hot pan with slivers of garlic then seasoned and squeezed lime on them.Once boiled, the plantains were mashed (use a bit of the boiling water to soften and moisten the mangu, if necessary)and seasoned with salt and a bit of hot sauce. Back in the day I would shake copious amounts of Adobo into mangu, but knowing that it is mostly MSG, I prefer to do without it, although some pure garlic powder is nice in the plantains.

I packed the mangu and cebollitas seperately in pint containers and headed uptown to deliver my thank you. If you ever wanna make a Dominican happy, bring them mangu.

Enoki Carbonara

2008-01-07T09:38:00.002-08:00

I created this dish for some carb-o-phobic clients as another im-pasta and it turned out really great. I thought about how pasta-like enoki are when I was pickling them as garnish for another dish. I tried using it like spaghetti and have been refining it ever since.

Last summer I served it as a first course with the addition of duck confit and smoked duck fat lardons, instead of the bacon and then some green peas. So it’s also like a piselli e funghi, too, in a way.

Anyway, I think this is really yummy and satisfying and when asked for the recipe by one of my clients’ guests, I finally wrote out a recipe and so, here it is. I went to Brooklyn and did another food photo shoot and wanted to do a picture of this plate. It’s great for people avoiding carbs although with all of the other yummy stuff in there, it’s certainly not diet food. But, I bet it’s great on a chilly night. Mmmmmmm.

Enoki Carbonara with Duck Confit and Peas

1 Quart of Chicken Stock (unsalted and plain)
3 Packages of enoki mushrooms (find them at most Asian and/or specialty markets)
1/2 cup English Peas, shelled, or frozen peas
2 Duck confit legs from D'Artagnan (available at most specialty food stores)
1 Package of smoked duck breast from D'Artagnan
2 Eggs
Splash of cream (optional)
Pea Shoots
Sliced Chives for garnish (optional)
Salt and Pepper
Parmaggiano

Put chicken stock in a pot and heat to boiling. Cut the stem end of the enoki bundles so mushrooms are separated. Rinse off with cold water. Quickly blanch the enoki in stock by submerging them until the texture is softer and limper. Remember, they will cook more later and you don't want them to be super-soggy. Put aside. Blanch the frozen peas in the same manner, when they come out of the stock submerge in ice water to preserve the bright green color. Pull the duck confit off the bones into chunky pieces. Put bones in the stock and reduce to simmer. This will enrich the broth with a delicious duck flavor.

Crack the eggs into a small bowl and add touch of cream or bit of stock to mix together. Add a tiny bit of salt and pepper to this mix. Next, cut off entire piece of fat/skin from the smoked duck breast. It is quite thick. Cut this into strips, then tiny long rectangles (like mini lardons of bacon). Add duck strips in one layer in the bottom of a saute pan. You don't have to use all, make sure you don't crowd pan too much. Heat pan to medium and allow the fat to SLOWLY render out of the duck skin. Pour out fat as needed so the pieces can get crispy, not soggy. Reserve the fat (it's delicious to cook with and keeps in the refrigerator for months). When the pieces look nice and crispy, remove them to a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the extra grease. In the same pan with some of the liquid fat created by the duck skin, add softened enoki. Cook for a minute or two, then drizzle in the egg mixture and scramble around. Try to get the eggs nice and curdly, allow the egg to set a bit when working with it, i.e. don't break it up too much that it totally disappears. Add slices of the smoked duck breasts, chunks of confit and peas to warm through. Mix in pea shoots to wilt. Mix a generous amount of Parmaggiano throughout. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

To serve: Grab and twist a bundle of the enoki carbonara with a pair of tongs. Pile into a shallow bowl. Ladle some of the enriched stock into bowl through a seive, so it is somewhat clear. Grate some more Parmaggiano on top. Sprinkle some of the sliced chives on top, if you like. Enjoy!

Should serve 6-8 as an appetizer. You could also do it on a Chinese-style soup spoon for an hors d'ouevre. As a main course, it could serve 4-5 people.

Wintermarket, Yippee!

2007-12-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

The Wintermarket on Sunday was a smashing success! Despite predictions for a winter storm (more like a consistently misty and basically crap weather day), I was surprised to see the turn-out was terrific! Truly! Like, hard-to-walk-through-the-crowds-crowded. Thank you to all of my lovely friends who stopped by (see Lise and Tony with their oysters, etc. above). I’m glad you guys had fun and bought some nice, yummy food.

Christina and I arrived at the site to volunteer at 11 and it seemed full of amazing stuff that I just figured I’d see later on. True to form, however, I forgot to take my break and ended up having so much fun chatting with people and signing up new members that I missed much of the booty that was available to taste and to buy.

I did get to see Mr. Mario Batali’s booty, however, in (albeit a bit longer than normal) short pants and instead of crocs, galoshes. The Community Board Member that got her cookbook signed by him was psyched and that only helps the good folks at New Amsterdam Public get steps closer to being inside the now-emptied former Fulton Fish Market space, which was, ahem, steps behind us and looked really warm.

All of the following was reported to me by those that were walking around...Mario made porchetta sandwiches and decorated his table with a pig’s head. The crew from Jimmy’s no. 43 in the East Village served up lamb from 3 Corner Farm. Anne Saxelby, from Saxelby Cheesemonger in the Essex Street Market and her co-horts had amazing cheeses and were pumping out Grafton sandwiches with Rick's Picks pickes on Sullivan Street cibattas to lines that were 10 people deep. The chick who was grilling them between cast iron pans was rocking out...Also, the masterminds behind Diner Journal (which is given as part of the Charter Membership to New Amsterdam Public), the lovely people from Diner and Marlow and Sons gifted us a delicous brisket sandwich with horseradish and creammmmmm, cheers guys! There were also many more on hand, I was just, as I mentioned above swamped with the amount of curious and supportive folks who came to the membership table.

There were also foragers on hand, such as Nova Kim and Les Hook of Vermont who came with their adorable truffle-hunting doggie. Fun stuff they forage included high brush cranberries, wild ginger and some Vermont deer truffles, which I will cook with and write about in a later post.

Slyboro Ciderhouse (see above) had lovely ciders produced in Granville, NY (nothing at Wintermarket came from further than 500 miles from NYC). They had a beautiful ice cider, a sparkly (as my neice would say) one and a crispy, traditional cider called Night Pasture. Plenty of fruits, vegetables, wild seafood and grass-fed meats were available as well.

All in all, it was a great turnout and a fun day. 5,000 people came from other states, countries and boroughs (shout-out to Brooklyn, whose pub. Edible Brooklyn was a freebie at our table). If you missed it and are now kicking yourself, don’t fret, if you check out the website, you can learn about upcoming events from New Amsterdam Public. Also, becoming a member and contacting the Seaport’s Community Board are good ways to help ensure a year-round public market in that space, which has been a market building for so very long.

Thanks to all and hope to see you all again at the next event!

Back in NYC...

2007-12-05T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it was a little too depressing to see things like “brussels sprouts”, “house-made pork sausage” and “pumpkin and fennel slaw” so I had to literally and apologetically run out of sweet looking Back 40, the spot on Avenue B that I had been scoping for weeks before I left and that according to Jen and Doug, who I just ran into with their groceries, is very buzzy and blogged about (NOTE: I’ve since gotten the scoop on eater, et al and am even more keen).

The place looks very cute; a girl came out in kitchen gear seeming chefffy and their drinks looked nice, their wine was from Long Island and their mustachioed (GM?) very sweet. I couldn’t tell him I was going across the street to get tacos at Mercadito, but here I am.

I ordered the tostada I didn’t get to eat yesterday in Puebla and sat down next to two skinny jeans-wearing 20-something girls speculating on relationships and the L train. The cute young waiter is complaining in accented English about the “horrible music”--reggeaton. It’s since been changed.

My tostadas are good. 4 little ones in a row. The cheese is wrong. maybe it parmesan, but it’s basically what I wanted. Go Mercadito! They even had some salsa for me although it is certainly not the salsa verde I’d been pouring all over my food in Mexico.

A few hours home, New York is still the same. Pete Miser was sitting in front of me on the plane so we split a cab back to the city. I get home with my lovely, older West Indian cab driver named Sunday. No problems in customs as usual--”No food?” “No” “Ok.” Oh, you mean like the kilo of mole, herb seeds, home produced liquors, chocolate and hibiscus flowers? Uhhhhh....

As mentioned above, ran into Jen and Doug, then James and friend. Barbone guy waved to me and my tailor from the laundromat. Email from Jen, Caroll and Gabriella. Calls from Mom and Dad. Texts with Kenny and Morgan. New York Magazine cover something about money. Hmmmm, not much has changed. I suppose all is good. If I can eat tostadas...

Pictures of my food on Umamimart.com

2007-11-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

My friend Erin Gleeson took some beautiful pictures of my food a few weeks ago in NYC. Here are some on a blog called umamimart.
Here is the link:

http://umamimart.blogspot.com/

Oaxaca City Market Madness (as seen on epicurious.com...)

2007-11-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

I had a great time eating in Oaxaca City. Besides a fantastic meal at the posh Casa Oaxaca (with one of their former cooks, all the better), I found so much more eating in the markets and provinces. Mercado de Merced is a perfect place for breakfast. Just find the comedores (sit-down areas) in the back of the market and order up huitlacoche or mushroom empanadas (less like empanadas from Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin countries, these were more like massive corn tortillas stuffed with various fillings) atoles, chocolate drinks and chilaquiles. You can enjoy the various musicians who do a great job with classics like Naila (covered by Lila Downs). For lunch, the amazing Itanoni is a cheap and cheerful option. The owner, Amado Ramirez, works at conserving native corns and you can find an array of corn based goodies such as various tacos, enchiladas, and memelas. My personal favorite was the triangle-shaped, Star Trek-y looking tetelas which have the most amazing and deep roasted corn flavor that the "espirituosa" (black bean, Oaxaca cheese and hoja santa-stuffed version) truly is, even when quite messy. They also make aguas frescas and the waiter, although overwhelmed, might still take the time out to pluck a leaf of hoja santa off the vine outside for you and your friends to crush between your fingers and sniff. Lovely. We went two days in a row...

Market days in the outlying towns (Tlacolula on Sundays, Ocotlan on Fridays) are great places to eat all day long. If you are brave, just use your senses and also check how busy the different comedores are, that speaks volumes. Comedor Mary in Tlacolula had georgeous moles that along with a Negra Modelo had my friend and I feeling groovy for quite a few hours afterwards. Don't skip out on the seven moles of Oaxaca (even though their numbers are probably infinite as most people prepare them differently). Tourist restaurants may resort to using pre-packaged moles, which can be fine, just do research and try to find someone who takes the time (up to several days) to make great moles. If you are lucky, get invited to someone's house to eat mole. That works quite well. Another great and busy restaurant is Marco Polo that sounds dodgy and touristy but is actually full of Oaxaquenos who know that the fish is flown in from the coast every day. It is right next to El Llano, a very cute park where you can digest after your meal.

For sweets, Oaxaca is famous for its chocolate and chocolate drinks. There is a whole street where you can order chocolate ground to your own taste (varying levels of sugar, almonds and cinnamon). Also, don't miss Oaxca's amazing nieves ("snows" something between ice cream and sorbet). You can find great nieves in amazing flavors like tuna (pink cactus fruit) and leche quemada (literally, burnt milk) outside of the Basilica Soledad. I would suggest going for Nieves Niagra. There are also wonderful nieves produced by Lisbeth and Guillermo on Fridays and Saturdays at the completely organic Pochote Market on the beautiful grounds of the home of distinguished Mexican artist, Fransisco Toledo. While there try the delicious tostadas, organic coffee, yogurt, handcrafted cheeses (from fresh goat cheese with champulines to epazote requeson) and organic mezcals from artesenal producers like Don Eduardo Angeles of Real Minero. There is so much more in Oaxaca (tlayudas, food from the Oaxacan coast, chorizo, tamales wrapped in banana leaves, etc.) just be adventurous. And be sure to drink lots of mezcal, try hanging out at the sexy Los Danzantes Restaurant.

I'm on Mexican Woh-oh Radio...

2007-11-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

Saludos De Mexico
by Michael Y. Park
on 10/22/07 at 10:01 AM

My duly deputized Epicurious field agent in Mexico, Tessa Liebman, is going to be on the Mexico City radio program "New Pop Kitchen" on Thursday at 11 pm. Thankfully, we can listen in via the wonders of the Internet.
She'll be speaking about the history of Brooklyn foods, the present-day Brooklyn food scene, and Brooklyn music. The show, she says, is very laid-back, and it sounds like the hosts and guests share a lot of wine, so she's looking forward to a fun time.
Tessa's an old hand at Latin America, and on this trip she's already sampled "worms, grasshoppers [see the photo above], organic guanabana yogurt, all kinds of mole and chiles rellenos and lots of mezcal." But is there something else you'd recommend that she try before she comes back north? Or is there something about Brooklyn food, Brooklyn food history or Brooklyn music you think her Mexico City listeners would like to hear about?

UPDATE: We had a great time on the show. We made a whole bunch of stuff (Borscht, Jamaican Oxtail Stew with Dominican Mangu, Arugula Salad with Reqeuson and Vanilla Egg Creams made with real Papantla Vanilla Beans). We also played lots of Brooklyn music from Jay-Z to Japanther. Alicia (half of the home team, see above) and the guys visiting from Radio Global in Tijuana and Guadalajara (that's them too, in the foto) were so sweet and it was great to go shopping at Mercado San Juan for all my ingredients. Thanks to Raymundo the butcher for the oxtails! We also got to try some great Mexican wines from Alicia and Ismene’s home town of Ensenada.

2007-11-08T18:13:00.000-08:00

Here are some cocktail ideas that I came up with recently. The Shiso Honeydew Mojito was great when all the melons were at their peak earlier in the summer. The Shanghai should work anytime, especially as the weather cools down...

Shiso Honeydew Mojito

1/4 cup of honeydew melon, cubed
2 Shiso leaves, ripped
1/4 lime, in chunks
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 oz. light rum
Soda Water

In the bottom of a rocks glass, muddle the melon, limes, shiso and sugar. Fill glass with ice. Add rum then top with a splash of soda.

The Shanghai

This is a riff on the classic whiskey cocktail, The Manhattan

2 parts chilled, brewed lapsang souchong (smoked black) tea
1 part blended whiskey, such as Jameson’s
Orange twist

Add tea and whiskey to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and pour into (martini-style) glass. Add twist of orange.

All Photos by Erin Gleeson

Pueblaaaaah!

2007-11-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

Puebla York
by Michael Y. Park
on 12/07/07 at 10:08 AM

My agent in Latin America, private chef Tessa Liebman, has finally returned from a weeks-long foodie research expedition to Mexico, and she's been kind enough to share a few of her experiences (you may have read her Oaxaca notes or heard her on Mexican radio.)

You can read her thoughts on Puebla and Cholula (as well as answer her pleas for Puebla York experiences) after the jump.
Prim Puebla
Puebla is just two hours south of Mexico City but can feel like a completely different world. Its colonial charms and conservative atmosphere (read--if you want to go out and have fun, you may have to go to the nearby university town, Cholula) have drawn comparisons to "a senora." By this, people mean that she is a bit old, prim and boring, but man can she cook. I have to say that as much as this saying should bother me on many levels, it makes good sense when describing Puebla. Food in Puebla is great when you can get past the proliferation of North American fast-food chain restaurants.
I started in the Mercado de Analco, where I sampled amazing local cheese made by Bernadino Brito, who uses recipes from his grandparents from the Canary Islands. While discussing the Museum of Cheeses that he is building in his town in the Pueblan Sierras, he mentioned that he is part of the Slow Food movement, and that the president of Slow Food Puebla was in the market and I should go say hi. (Puebla was about to host the Slow Food International Congress in less than a week.) When Don Marco Riestra Venegas walked by again, Bernadino flagged him over. Cards and congratulations were exchanged and that was that, I thought.
Pueblans seem to love food that is big and fried. I saw giant rectangles of chicharron used almost like a tostada with various toppings. I also noticed a trend of fried herbs that reminded me all at once of the 1980s and nouveau Spanish cuisine. At Mesones Sacristia I was served a beautiful plate of perejil frito; fried parsley with shrimp, lime and bacon crumbs. It was great, with the parsley really starring. Later that night at Entre Parenthesis, a loud and trendy but nice-looking place I had taquitos of fried dill, goat cheese and preserved tomatoes.
Puebla has endless street-food specialties. One standout is the giant cemita sandwiches (a very cutesy name for such a gigantic sandwich), which are piled high with shredded cheese, onions, avocado and papalo (a bright citrus-y herb) and stuffed with fillings from milanesa (breaded cutlets) to barbacoa to pata (gelatinized cow foot). (Some places have daintier versions.) Tostadas are amazing at the two little stands next door to each other on the cathedral side of the Zocalo. Also look out for chalupas and churros con chocolate.
Aguas frescas are part of Puebla's history of Middle Eastern immigrants in the 18th century; some fancy ones are served (Jamaica/Coca-Cola, lemon with herba buena), carbonated, from siphons at La Purificadora, a boutique hotel in an old water-purifying plant where Enrique Olvera, chef of Mexico Cityâ€™s Pujol, created the menu (it is located in the San Fransisco/Barrio Alto neighborhood). Try a chalupita at the Mercado de Alto, walk around, get hungry again, then go have dinner at the hotel. Make sure to order the horchata creamed spinach and the stuffed zucchini flowers in tomato broth that tasted inexplicably, but happily, like the best mozzerella sticks I ever cut school for in Brooklyn.

For a quick shot in the afternoon after comida or shopping at Puebla's terrific antiques stores and markets, try the small cantina La Pasita (there are now two of them). This place looks like it has been around forever, and probably has. They serve half a dozen or so locally produced liquors in tall, skinny shot glasses, some with their own particular garnishes. For example, the sweet and soulful namesake Pasita comes with a piece of white crumbly cheese skewered on a toothpick. If this were served at any bar in Manhattan it would cost upwards of $8, I'm sure. I paid about a $1.50 (17 pesos). You can also try Sangre de Bruja (hibiscus flower liquor topped with a few salted peanuts), Coconut and Rompope (an egg nog-gy drink, drunk or drizzled on rice pudding at the markets, for example; another Pueblan specialty). This is a cantina, so it has odd hours and no women's toilets. Though I did see women there, not all were drinking. Prepare for bemused gawking if you are a single woman here.

Another Puebla hotel, mentioned above, Meson Sacristia, offers cooking classes to small groups for one day, three days, or a week at a time. Their specialty is a great mole poblano, which is said to have been created in 1600s by nuns at the Santa Rosa convent, whose kitchen and handicrafts museum are worth a visit. You can also visit the amazing sweet shops on Santa Clara for mole pastes that you can smuggle back to the States and keep in the fridge for up to a year. While there, you can also fill up boxes of camote (sweet-potato candies), condensed-milk fudgy barras de pinon, nuez, almendra, etc.
Cholula by Chance
On my last night in Puebla, a friend suggested we check out his friendsâ€™ restaurant in Cholula. He said that the philosophy of the restaurant was very much aligned with Slow Food and that the chef, Ana Bredee (whom he knows from her previous work in art and textiles) and her husband, Austrian ex-pat Gerard Shnejder, worked with really interesting local ingredients to build an international menu.

When I got to Pallawatsch (Austrian for "a litle bit of everything") I noticed the open kitchen, army of earthenware molcajetes, and baskets of vegetables and herbs. There was a chalkboard with food from all over the world--couscous, â€œRolls Saigon," etc. I started with an amazing salad "Choluterrania" that featured various local squashes, zucchini blossoms, and wild herbs that endeavored to mix the sensibilities of the Mediterranean with ingredients from Cholula. Thinking I was full, I ordered an apple tart; little did I know the night was just beginning.

When the Slow Food gang showed up to discuss the upcoming Congress, Don Marco recognized me from the market and invited me to join them. This is what makes small cities fun. I ended up ordering dinner all over again. We sampled so much from the kitchen and were somewhat of a Pallawatsch ourselves: Europeans, North Americans and Mexicans enjoying a tasty, thoughtful cuisine prepared by a trio of senoras. Man, can they cook!
Now that I am back in New York, where there is huge Pueblan population, I will have to check out the area known as "Puebla York." Does anyone have any suggestions for places that I should visit? People to meet? Dishes to try?

Thanks so much to everyone in Puebla and to Michael for including this on the Epicurious site. I got two comments! Woo hoo! I’m so sorry I missed Michael’s latest installment of the Grill Club (this one was a fish-off), but working as usual...

Who needs vanity plates?

2007-11-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

Si, llego La Gringa, pero pronto se va. Boo hoo...