11

Feb

Ix-nay On…Brains?

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I was listening to this American Life the other day, as Ira and gang meandered through an episode on doppelgangers.  First up, (or should I say Act One) was a piece on passing off sliced pig rectum as…dum dum dum…imitation calamari.  (By the way, pig rectum is officially known as BUNG a.k.a. funnest word ever.) Initially, yes, I was horrified, but when I stopped to think about it, I was really just horrified by possibly being lied to.  NOT by the bung eating.

I’ve had this bung you speak of.  And I liked it.

Maybe you know this, maybe you don’t – Chinese people think everything is edible.  Like everything.  Color the world in shades of cold jellyfish salad, braised chicken feet, sea cucumbers, swallow spit, fish eyeballs, congealed pork blood cubes, duck tongues on a stick, fish head stew, and spicy tripe casserole.  On the less esoteric end, meat is always with bone in, fish with head on and everything with skin on.  Growing up in a Chinese household, within the ethnic food buffet that is New York City and being lucky enough to do a good amount of global traveling, food has always equaled adventure without the defying of death and threatening of life.  When confronted with a new, exotic dish, the question has always skipped right past the yes versus no to ‘is it good?’.  If you’ve come to conclusion that this also called being greedy, you are so correct.  Being overly confident in this particular sector of life, I thought there was nothing I could eat that would faze me.

Cut to the former M.Wells Diner in Long Island City, winter of 2011.  We had a bunch of good eaters doing what they do best, with a table of raw seafood, escargot, foie gras, maple pie, and veal brains.  Veal brains.  They tasted much like what I had envisioned – silky like a slightly toothsome tofu, with an undefinable sweetness.  In the moment, I felt fine about but for weeks afterwards I felt guilty and terrible, with a nightmare or two thrown in for a good measure. I decided that this was a food boundary I would not be crossing again.  It made me a little sad, as I like to think of myself as a person who eats everything, but this particular food has quite effortlessly punched through my imaginary armor.

Which made me wonder, adventurous eaters, what’s your food kryptonite?

(Thanks to my cousin, Peter, for the in-action shot of pork blood/rice cake on a stick at a Taiwanese night market.  Good job with the eating.)

98 days ago Short URL Comments

Eaten/Food

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04

Jun

Buvette Copycat (aka Asparagus and friends)

I went to Buvette the other night for dinner, after a failed attempt to go to Wilfie’s for a drink prior.  Let me say:  BEST.  DETOUR.  EVER.   Jill and I had a lot of catching up to do, but also managed to stuff our faces at the same time.  It’s a skill.

We had the anchoiade, which was basically toasts with light whippy butter and anchovies.  (So good.)  Best dish of the night was a draw between the beets and the asparagus dishes.  (So good.)  Coq au vin…I never understood the hype…but now I do.  Can you tell that I really, really liked this place?  Finally for dessert,we split the mousse, which came in a slab, with a slab of whipped cream on top.  We did that thing where we pretended to offer each other the last scrape of the plate while really coveting it for ourselves.

So the next day, with all the fantastic flavors still echoing through my head and a handy bunch of asparagus, I decided to try and capture some of its spirit for a home cooked meal.

Did you know that the thickness of an asparagus spear has nothing to do with how tough it will be?  Believe me, these little guys were plenty tough at the bottom.  The thickness of the spears has to do with the type of asparagus it is, as well as how old the plant is.  Older plants send up thicker spears.  The toughness has to do how long its been left on the plant.  Fun fact.  Tell your friends.

I steamed the asparagus lightly, while trying to decode the mystery of the whipped goat cheese and pickled shallots that accompanied the restaurant’s version.  I had some leftover goat cheese, the Selles-sur-Cher from Murrays.

Sidebar, please.  You know when do something and you know it’s going to go terribly wrong, but you either hope something magical will happen to intervene, or you are just too lazy to stop it?  (Or dare I say, you secretly kind of really like a mess every once in while?  Yes, we’re still talking about the cheese.)

Well, guess what happens when you whip a cheese with a white interior and an ashy green exterior?  You get a  color akin to Oscar the Grouch pelt.  Let this not be you.  Use fresh goat cheese.  Whip it with a dollop of cream or a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

For the tang, I unearthed a jar of preserved lemons from the fridge, gifted to me by friend Matthew, with the attached warning to just throw it out if something seemed “off.”  It was just the right amount of sparkle, minced superfine and sprinkled sparingly over the asparagus and goat cheese.

Look closely at the toast above.  I haven’t told you yet but I’ve recently gotten obsessed with smoked kippers.  Specifically, kippers on toast with a generous smear of butter.  By smear I mean sliver.  Slab.  Sliver slab.  Whatever.  I think the word we are looking for is delicious.  And yes, you smarty pants, maybe goat cheese and kippers is overkill.  You would be right.  If I were not wearing kipper blinders, I would have gone just butter.  Or maybe butter and some soft scrambled eggs.  But I have kipper blinders on.  Can’t see nothing.

(Apologies and props to Buvette for being so delicious that I felt the need to bastardize the shit out of your delicious food.  I meant well.)

350 days ago Short URL Comments

Eaten/Food/Made

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23

May

All Cheese, All the Time.

This happened to me.

Then this happened to me.

And if I were being honest right now, I would tell you I’m snacking on this while I’m writing to you.

If there were a food soundtrack for the warmer months, it would be cheese plate.  All cheese plate, all the time.  My ability to spend hours in the hot kitchen is in inverse proportion to how warm and nice it is outside.  Raise your hand if you’re with me here.

There’s something elementally crafty about putting a cheese plate together, with the visual arrangement of color, shape and form being just as important as the balance of food items on your platter.

A few things I’ve learned along the way:

1. 1/4 of any particular cheese is always enough, unless you are feeding a ravenous horde that wants cheese and cheese only.  Variety is all.

2.  Keep a stash of dry fruit and nuts on hand to supplement your cheese plate.  Those frivolous little cups and dishes you have sitting around without anything to do are perfect for corralling these items on the plate.  Currently, almonds, dried cherries and walnuts have been making frequent appearances in my kitchen.

3. A bread/cracker item is the anchor of your cheese late.  I use slices of baguette when I have one lying about, otherwise a good cracker will ably do the trick.  No carbs in a pinch is also a totally valid option.

4. Trust your cheesemonger.  I’ve got a bunch of cheeses that I know I love.  Usually I’ll choose one or two and let those trusty folk at Murray’s round out the selection.  The Kitchn writers have got it right – odd numbers are the way to go when filling out your cheese selection.

5. Something sauce-y, like chutney, jam or even some honey can really pull a cheese plate from a perfunctory nod to an experience.  I’ve been lucky to have a steady parade of quince jam, mustard, rhubarb chutney (thanks, Matthew!), and some great local honey in my cupboards.

6.  Bonus yourself.   Yes, yes you have all the random bits, but do you have maybe some delicious salami?  Or a small bit of really good chocolate?  Maybe some fresh berries or fruit?  Any extra little something feels like a nice little pat on the head.  Good job, you!

If you are like me, please spend untold amounts of time arranging pieces just so on your plate.  Sit.  Breathe.  Eat.  Add some booze.

362 days ago Short URL 2 Comments

Eaten/Food/Made

30

Apr

I Love Greenport

Hello friends!

I’ve just returned from the loveliest weekend meander out on Long Island with my friends Kelly and Crystal, eating yummy food, drinking a lot of delicious drinks, and doing some very serious sitting around.  Seeing as I took an extremely large amount of photos and I have to (just have to) share them with you all, I’ll post about it all in snippets during the week.

We started out driving through the North Fork bright and early, with the goal of getting to Wm. J Mills in Greenport before it closed at noon on Saturday.  (By the way, when I grow up, I very very badly want to live on the North Fork.  Unpretentious, quiet, and lush, it’s sort of the best thing ever.)

Mills Canvas did not disappoint, with some really exciting new styles that haven’t made it on their website.  Wanna see?  Yes, yes, you do.  If this all sounds strangely familiar, it’s because I’ve gushed about them before.

The first ones I saw as we came in the door, were the waxed canvas bags.  They were the bomb diggity.  Kelly snapped one up in their duffel shape.  It was beautiful, and cost a pretty penny.  It was most likely, very worth it.

I love the handsome, no nonsense styling of these bags with their crisp silk labels, and classic practical shapes.

A short while later, two new Mills bags went into the trunk to join their seasoned brethren, my grey tote.  (My tote is camera shy, and is skulking in the corner.)  How great is that coral color on the right?  It’s just begging to be taken on a trip.

Post-Mills Canvas, we went off to try out some beers at the Greenport Harbor Brewery on Kelly’s fervent recommendation.  As a mostly indifferent beer drinker, I have to say that I was really impressed by some of the brews they had on tap.  For $8 (plus a tip for the nice ladies!) in their tasting room, you can try their full selection, which changes seasonally and is thankfully available in select bars all over New York City.  Oh, and you get to keep the cool pint glass. Hellloooo, deal.

My favorite by far was the Havre Rouge, with the Summer Ale a close second.  Both of the beers were refreshingly crisp and easy to drink, with subtle floral notes that made me want to put them in my pockets.  Or at least in my fridge.  Sadly, they do not bottle their beers as of yet, so I will be scouring the city streets for another pint.

Next up was the famous fried chicken at Salamander’s General Store.  It was everything I remembered it being and more.  Moist and tender, with the thinnest, and crispest of crusts, it was well worth braving the wait and the buffeting winds.  We ordered the family meal, which consisted of eight pieces of chicken, coleslaw, cornbread, slaw, gravy, and mashed potatoes.  Let me tell you, not one of these items were duds.

The chicken is obviously made with fairy dust and unicorn kisses.  The cornbread was full of sweet corn flavor, fluffy as a pillow, and made by pocket elves.  The slaw was refreshing, and pink, perfectly offsetting the richness of the chicken.  The potatoes were real, light, and full of earthy potato-ness.  The gravy, well.  As relative newcomers to this place, we questioned the large quantity we received, but polished off ALL of it by our meal’s end.  I admit to accidentally, possibly on purpose, pouring it over most of my plate.

We also randomly got 4 pieces of bonus chicken in our box, which made for a great cold snack later in the day.  (They were just as good cold.)  You must go to this.  It will make the world seem happier, and flowers sing.  Look, singing flowers.

As of the time of this writing, I am plotting furiously to go back to Greenport for a whole weekend.  How can so many cool things live in one place?  This is what you should do this summer.  I’ve decided for you.  Read this post.  Jot down some notes.  And then pretend this was all your idea in the first place, and fly, fly to Greenport with a well chosen companion or two.  I won’t mind at all.

Next up, we’re off to the car ferry which takes us from North to South Fork, with a brief stopover in Shelter Island.  Check in tomorrow for some awesome photos of the motel we stayed at in Montauk.  Let’s just say you would not be surprised to find Don Draper pulling in.

P.S.  How rude of me.  How was YOUR weekend?  =)

385 days ago Short URL Comments

Best Stuff/Eaten/Food/Jaunts/Things for Sale

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02

Apr

Flatiron District for $20

Manhattan, if anything, is the land of endless options.  The options of where to go, what to see, eat, or drink are varied, and able to accommodate any taste.  The only caveat is just how much you are willing to spend.  As someone who has always thrived on a challenge, I’ve decided to work on a few posts throughout the next few months for cheap, fun things to do in New York.

Have $20?  You have the funding for this little jaunt around the Flatiron District.  Minus groveling, and crowd shoving.  We don’t do that.  Our first stop is Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthplace, a National Parks site on East 20th Street.  Yep, seriously.

Teddy Roosevelt, one of our most beloved presidents was born on 20th Street, between Park Ave South and Broadway, the only United States president to be born in New York City.  TR lived here until he was 15, when the encroaching Ladies’ Mile storefronts made the area a bit too crowded for his family’s taste.  They moved to the suburbs of…midtown 57th Street.

I’ve been really fascinated with New York City history as of late, especially after seeing the Greatest Grid exhibit, and it was nice (pat, pat, little brain) to be able to understand how the timing of everything fits together.

The family’s parlor room overlooking 20th Street.

I love the patterning of the lace curtains and the chair back together.

A few other pluses?  1.The tours (scheduled hourly throughout the afternoons) are free!  2.Tours are led by an extremely knowledge and nice Park Ranger in full uniform, with a strong hint of an New York accent.  3. This great little quote in the lobby that we’ve seen before, at the Natural History Museum. (Say thanks to Teddy for the museum.)

Currently, the galleries are closed for renovation, so the tours are the only way to see the museum.

After TR’s birthplace, we were off to The Compleat Strategist.

I love these older stores that specialize in one thing.  Wander the aisles, they’re entertainment enough, though you’ll be tempted over and over again to make a purchase.  And yea, this is a bit higher than Flatiron, but walking is good for you.  If you didn’t come here, you would miss out on this.

And this.

And definitely this.

Foraging through the aisles of the games store made us thirsty.  Though there are some decent bars in the area, we decided to head back down to the Flatiron District and check out Eataly’s Birreria.

I’ve been to Eataly a number of times, and although I feel vaguely insulted by the Disney-like signage throughout its sprawling labyrinth of an interior, almost everything I’ve eaten here has been really, really good.  Damn you, Batali.

Though a madhouse in the post-work hours, we were able to enjoy Birreria with a decent amount of elbow room at the bar.  Peeve: When restaurants are completely empty, why do they insist on corralling paying customers ordering drinks to hover uncomfortably around the bar when there are so many available seats? Seems so unfriendly.

I got a glass of the white Friulano, my friend Matthew got a pint of the Pina.   Me, $12, him, $8.  Wine, eh, beer, good.

After our drinks, and some life angst-ing, we were starved.  This is where our story gets a little fuzzy.  And by fuzzy, I mean that I screwed up.  I got Ippudo in my head and got very very distracted.

If we were smarter and less subject to ramen cravings, we would have gone to Shake Shack at Madision Square Park and gotten a burger, whose price would have kept us below the $20 mark.  If we were venturing further afield from the Flatiron, we would have gone to B&H Dairy, land of delicious cheapness.  That definitely would have kept us within budget.

Today’s activities, plus a bowl of the Akamaru Modern at Ippudo blew us way past the $20 budget to $30.  I’m still kicking myself…but not too hard.  Good ramen is worth every penny.  Even if it does have pork fat blended in.

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Itinerary

Culture: Teddy Roosevelt Birthplace, 28 East 20th Street (between Park Ave South and Broadway)

Browsing: The Compleat Strategist, 11 East 33rd Street (between Madison and Fifth Avenue)

Drink: Birreria at Eataly, 200 5th Avenue (entrances on 23rd and on 5th)

Eat:  B&H Dairy 127 2nd Ave (between 7th St & St Marks Pl)

Shake Shack Madison Square Park

Ippudo 65 4th Ave (between 9th and 10th Streets)

413 days ago Short URL 1 Comment

Eaten/Food/Jaunts/New York, New York/Things for Sale

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