October 2008
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Posto Thin Crust Pizza
We went to Posto Posto last night and I have to complain about how tight the squeeze is. We sat in a booth and it's really not enough space for 4 people. Being winter, the coats make it worse. There's just nowhere to put your stuff. Then when you get food, there isn't enough room on the table for each persons plate, and the experience winds up being general discomfort.F... -
Ippudo Media Event
On Wednesday night, Lon and I went to Ippudo's Ippudo Media Event: the unveiling of their seasonal dishes. If you've been reading Foodmayhem for a while, you know that inviting us somewhere, and giving us lots of free food, isn't enough to get lavish praise from us. We're wickedly honest, and with that honesty, we both have to say that Ippudo's ramen is quite wonderful. Note that I said,... -
Dominos Hot Sandwiches
Lately, Domino's has been advertising like crazy about their Oven Baked Sandwiches. I'm a total sucker for food advertising, so I've been dying to try one. Tim suggested using RetailMeNot.com's Domino's Page, to get some coupons, which we did, and we ordered all four of the types of sandwiches: Chicken Bacon Ranch, Philly Cheese Steak, Italian, and Chicken Parm.We followed our order ... -
Rice Crackers from Japan
When Lon went to Sushi Yasuda for lunch (without ME!), he saw our Chef Tomura, who had just returned from Japan a few days earlier. To our total surprise, he brought us a gift, rice crackers from Japan. I'm floored by the sweet gesture. To me, everything from Japan is magical, a land where food is revered. The packaging is distinct, beautiful and decorated with restraint. -
Basic Wontons
The traditional basic wonton is made with a pork filling and I decided to do just that, nothing fancy or inventive, just a good basic wonton.... -
Sushi Yasuda #23
Yesterday I was going to try Sakae Sushi with Jamie. He is a sushi-fan and both of us were excited to give Sakae a try. It seems like an interesting place as patrons order on computer and receive food by conveyor belt. Unfortunately, standing there in the cold, pouring rain, I read that they were closed for kitchen renovations. Fortunately, our favorite sushi place is just down the block. So off to Sushi Yasuda Jamie and I ... -
Red Braised Pork Belly
Red Braised or Red Cooked is the quintessential Chinese Home-style Cooking Method. I grew up on Red Cooked Pork, Beef, Fish, Tofu, etc. Everyone loves it and it's reall... -
Giorgio's of Gramercy
My parents came into the city last night to pick up some stuff, so we decided to try Giorgio's of Gramercy Giorgio's of Gramercy. It was surprisingly empty, even for a Sunday evening. The bread and olive oil aren't worth eating, but luckily, I wasn't at all hungry (after the late mega brunch at Compass). Th... -
Brunch at Compass
Compass Compass serves a lavish and filling brunch. It's set up as a pre-fix where each person chooses their entree and several starters and desserts are served for the table. First, a basket of cornbread, chocolate chip crumb muffins, and a cinnamon bun arrives. The cornbread had too much baking powder or soda which leaves that lingering chemical taste in your mouth. The muf... -
Golden Unicorn
Flushing is the place to go for dim sum, but we were in Chinatown on Saturday, so we gave Golden Unicorn Golden Unicorn a try. Lon and I got our own little table (two tops are rare at dim sum), and there was no wait at prime time (a sign of the economy). We started with Shrimp wrapped in Rice Noodles; the shrimp were over-cooked.... -
Conch Fritters
Back in college, I went to the Bahamas with my girlfriends for spring break. Everywhere you go, they serve conch fritters. As much as I loved them in the beginning, I couldn't look at another conch fritter by the 3rd day. You don't see conch fritters much in NY (I probably never have), so I was ready for conch fritters again. I looked up several recipes but I didn't have the standard ingredients so we improved a bit and ended up with non-traditional but very good conch fritters. How bad can any ... -
Vosges Chocolates
On Thursday night, Angie brought over two flavors of Vosges Chocolates: everyone favored the Barcelona with hickory smoked almonds and grey sea salt, in a deep milk chocolate. The almonds were chopped up, adding a little crunch, and the salt is the perfect contrast to the mild sweetness. While the curry in the Naga Bar was extremely light, it was more interesting than desirable. -
Raisin Banana Bread Pudding
I had a little less than half of the raisin bread from the Chinese Bakery left. I had some ripe bananas, and I wanted to use them up. Naturally, the ingredients lend themselves to Bread Pudding. A couple of things to note here: organic half and half is a bit thinner than regular, at least it seems to be, to me. I added raisins because Chinese bakery raisin bread doesn't have much raisins in it so adjust depending on how much raisin the bread already has. If you can't get your hands on Chinese ba... -
Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Pork, and Slow Roasted Tomatoes
I didn't write a recipe, but here exact measurements are not important, and I just wanted to give one example of a use for those slow roasted tomatoes. Here, I sauteed some garlic in olive oil, ground pork, shrimp, and the slow roasted tomatoes (chopped) with some angel hair pasta, making a quick and easy dinner.Curry Beef Skewers
I hesitate to call these Curry Beef Skewers because the curry isn't so pronounced that you'll think of this as a curry dish. However, the curry is what makes it extra special and your guests will be asking, what makes this beef so good?Skewering does take a bit of work, but it's an otherwise very simple recipe that takes very little skill. Bring these to a party and you'll be very popular....Monster Sushi
Monster Sushi Monster Sushi uses fresh ingredients but it's nothing outstanding. I consider it the Japan...
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Now that tomato season is over, you won't be able to get those wonderful farmer's market tomatoes. You'll need this recipe to deal with the supermarket quality ones, or more like non-quality ones. I make this in large batches because it's work intensive but stores well. I wish I made 4 times this amount....
Lunch at Punch
I've had brunch at Punch Punch before, but today we had lunch, which is a completely different menu. Lon and Ekta chose the Fresh Pappardelle with Veal Bolognese, which was the wise choice, a fresh al dente pasta (of one of my favorite shapes) and meat sauce just can't go wrong. The purple carrots and cherry tomatoes added the perfect amount of sweetness, and I co...Sweet Toast
Sweet Toast is a Taiwanese Cafe food, found in casual places in NY like bubble tea shops. I guess it's really Chinese junk food, but I can't help it, I love it! It's so simple though, I never buy it anymore. I just make it.
...Kwong Hop Inc.
My mom has been getting tofu from Kwong Hop Inc. Kwong Hop Inc. for years. I highly recommend going for the freshest tofu (pre-packed or not), fried tofu, Do Fu Hwa, or soy bean milk. Don't be confused when you arrive. There is no retail store. You'll see a sign over a driveway so walk up the driveway and you'll see the tofu factory. You can just walk right in to i...Do Fu Hwa
Do Fu Hwa is a silky soft soy pudding/custard served with ginger syrup, warm or chilled. I prefer cold, which is more of a dessert, like a tofu flavored jello/custard, not so sweet tofu flan? Served warm, it's more of a bre...
Pineapple Roasted Chicken
This is a quick and easy way to prepare Pineapple Roasted Chicken. You can easily alter it, as you can see I did below...Pineapple Roasted Chicken...
The Neptune Room
Wow, trying to get reservations for brunch on the Upper West Side is harder than it sounds. Nearly every reputable place is just first come first serve. So if you're not down for long lines, one option we found is The Neptune Room The Neptune Room. Between Sara, Winnie, and I, we got a nice array of dishes.Sara's Vanilla Bean French Toast was humongous. The crispy edges give way to the soft fluffy insides wonde...Unsquashing Squash Soup
If the weather is not enough to let you know it's Fall, the farmer's market will. Every other stand has a beautiful selection of fall veggies, including many types of squash. After laughing...
Gotham Pizza
So last night, we were at Marc's going away party (we will miss you Marc), and we met his friend, Eric, who has eaten at 326 by-the-slice pizza places. Wow! So, we agreed that the New York City Slice has gone down in the last ten years and it's hard to find a really good one these days. I usually end up eating the fancy (and more expensive) thin crusts like ...Lemon Rosemary Chicken Kebabs
This is a quick and easy dinner, but so tasty, a perfect example of when simple is so good. The juicy chunks of chicken are so lemon-y, contrasted by the earthy aroma of rosemary. Notice that the chicken only has to be marinated for 30 minutes, unlike the many recipes you'll see requiring 4 hours to overnight. Yet, the flavor is well developed.Apple Rum Cake
I started making this Apple Rum Cake (from Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes) way too late last night. Before it was done, Lon and I had fallen asleep on the couch. When the timer went off, I took the cake out of the oven, but it still had to be cooled, so we just set it on the counter and went to bed. (I can barely remember any of this because we were just walking zombies last night.)...Latin Fried Rice
We got home tonight from the Light the Night Walk, an awareness / fundraiser for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. It was really a great time -- we took Ice (our dog) down to South Street Seaport and signed in. We got a few hot dogs, balloons, wrist bands, a bag of chips and hung around the huge crowd. Fortunately, we happened to be near the starting point of the walk, so we were amongst the first f...Killer Kimchee
Lon's co-worker, Bill, is half Korean and his Korean half comes from his mom, a former pro ping pong player. The world should also know, she is a pro kimchee maker! Bill brought me a box of his mom's kimchee and it is so so good. Can I please have the recipe?4 Courses and No Recipes
We were so excited to have foodies from out of town join us for dinner. Unfortunately, we also had a Fios installation that got delayed 5 times (meaning we waited each time and they never showed up) and ended up finally happening yesterday. They occupied my kitchen and dining room (really my living room with a table that just folds out to be bigger) from around 10:20am to around 4pm. I had to simplify my plans a bit and that also meant no recipe writing. Hopefully you'll enjoy the pics anyway. -
Spicy White Chocolate
For some reason, I had a hankering for spicy white chocolate. I couldn't stop thinking about how to make it something really special and interesting. First I thought about putting some jalapenos in the chocolate. Then later, when Jessica and I went for a walk, I realized that almonds would go great, as would some salt....
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Saul Restaurant
Lon had a day off yesterday so we decided to make the trek out to Brooklyn to try Saul Restaurant Saul Restaurant. Chef and Owner, Saul Bolton has worked at places like Bouley and Le Bernardin, so expectations were set high. The space is simple and modest, almost boring, but the food does shine.An amuse of celery root soup with curried apples was the perfect way to star... -
How to Peel Tomatoes
Have you seen "peeled tomatoes" in a recipe and thought what is that? Well it's quite simply, peeled tomatoes. The problem is that fresh tomatoes are hard to peel. So, here's what you do. Fill a pot (size depends on how many tomatoes you're peeling) with water, sprinkle with salt, and bring to a rapid boil....
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Lean Lamb Roast over Butternut Squash and Parnsips
Fresh Direct had lamb top round for sale and I was happy to see that it came in a 1 1/2 pound size, which is manageable. I decided on a simple preparation that would help me utilize the butternut squash and parsnip, I just got from the farmer's market. What stands out for me is that this cut of lamb is so lean. The ingredients give the feel of fall, yet it's very light and perfect for this very warm fall we're h -
Menchanko-Tei
Making my way throught the ramen joints...I tried Menchanko-Tei Menchanko-Tei this Saturday. I ordered the Menchanko, figuring their name sake should be good. What's interesting is that this one uses their thick ramen as opposed the the traditional thin ramen, which they also serve. Ultimately, I wasn't that impressed by the noodles or the broth, but I liked the mix of toppings: s... -
BLT Fish - a Second Visit
I'm scared for all the restaurants these days. With the current economy, I think we'll be seeing a lot of great places close. On Friday afternoon, we called BLT Fish BLT Fish to get a reservation for that evening and it was no problem. I don't think that would have been the case 6 months ago.The weather has been incredibly warm for October so I was sud... -
Home-made Marshmallows
Marshmallows are one of those things that I didn't think I liked. All I had ever tried (prior to working in a restaurant) was that commercial crap that comes in bags. I thought they we... -
A Delicious Cycle
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Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Rose
My sweet neighbor works in the wine business. I know what you're thinking: What a waste...Lon and I aren't really drinkers. Well, my neighbor gave us a bottle of Beckmen Vineyards Grenache Rose so we invited some of my friends (who do love wine) over to enjoy. This bottle was so interesting because it's a bright red, still clear, but much darker then the standard rose. I was totally intrigued. My take is that it tastes like a white and a re... -
Quicker No-Knead Bread
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Fried Chicken Mac 'n' Cheese
Jessica went out to dinner with a friend last night and left me home to fend for myself. Fortunately she had defrosted some chicken thighs for me to experiment... I mean cook with. When Jessica is around I cook healthier, she reminds me to use less fat, and to make normal (read: human-sized) portions. However, when she's not around, well, all hell breaks loose.I stared into the fridge and saw the chicken, I also saw chicken broth, milk, tons of cream cheese, a block of cheddar che... -
Dell'anima
Last night, I had dinner with my friend Bianca, who always picks great places to eat. Dell'anima is another to add to that list. I always love open kitchens and I was particularly impressed that the waitress offered Bianca a taste of two different wines before selecting which one she wanted.The Lily Confit Bruschetta is a mix of garlic, onions, and shallots, slow cooked in olive oil. It's pretty light and didn't impress me that much, but I did like that the slices of bread were thick... -
Knife Systems 101
Chris at FoodProof has posted a great article on Japanese vs. French vs. Chinese knives, approaches, and selections. Actually, he also has parts 2 and 3 of the series-- they are all good, although the first is more of what I'd consider "required reading."
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