Me vs. The Menu

my LOST meal

  +    =

Along with what seems like the entire world, I decided to tune into ABC for tonight's epic LOST series finale.  As a tribute to the show's never ending surprises and twists, I decide to have some salmon steaks made up as I went along...kind of like the storyline (or "arc" for you writer-types).  After a quick trip to the neighborhood grocery, here's what I came home with - salmon steak, cilantro, garlic, scallions, lime, honey, and peanut oil.  Assemble as follows - First, make the sauce by blending 2 cups loose parsley, 3 tablespoons peanut oil, 5 cloves garlic (perhaps too much, but I heart garlic), 2 pinches of salt, 1 tablespoon honey, and a little water until it has a consistency to your liking.  Second, cook the salmon in a cast iron skillet (my favorite).  Bring the skillet up to medium for about a minute, add the oil and raise the temp slightly.  Next, add the seasoned salmon (salt & pepper only) to the skillet and cook on one side for about 4 minutes.  Flip the steak over and add the thinly sliced scallion.  Cook the steak until the scallions are crispy and the salmon is to your liking.  Layer the salmon steak over the crispy scallions and add the cilantro-honey glaze.  It wasn't perfect (that's why there's no pictures) and the exact ingredients, quantities, and procedures might evolve, so I'll keep trying.  If you try it or if you have some suggestions let me hear ya...also, if you have thoughts about the finale, you should probably post them here.

smorgasbord (most...links...ever)

( image taken from living-language.org )

Webster's defines "smorgasbord" like so...

Main Entry: smor·gas·bord
Pronunciation: \ˈsmor-gəs-ˌbord\
Function: noun
Etymology: Swedish smörgåsbord, from smörgås open sandwich + bord table
Date: 1879
1 : a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes (as hors d'oeuvres, hot and cold meats, smoked and pickled fish, cheeses, salads, and relishes)
2 : an often large heterogeneous mixture : mélange

With that in mind, let's catch-up on a few things...

First, I won the yearly Cinco de Mayo guacamole contest at work.  More clear, I tied.  Even more clear, I cheated.  Well, not exactly "cheated" more like "campaigned for votes in a effort to draw attention to my obviously superior recipe in an attempt to garner support."  Is that really cheating?  I thought so too; so I stepped down from the champions' podium and allowed the real winner to bask in office culinary glory.  It was deserved...who would have thought a great guacamole recipe would come out of New Jersey?  Anyhow, here is the guacamole recipe I used.

Second, who doesn't love cast iron cookware?  I know I can't live without mine.  Mostly I use a plain old fashioned 12" skillet by Lodge .  I got mine years ago, but I think it's finally coming into form.  I use it constantly - on the grill (at least when we were in Texas), on the stove top, and in the oven.  The best part - it's super easy to clean.  Just don't use soap.  Warm water, scrub it down, and pop it in a warm oven for fifteen minutes to dry.  Finally, a lite coat of olive oil keeps it ready for the next use.  Now, I know these have become increasingly popular and there are a variety of options out there, but I've got my eye on this one by Fjorn.  By the way, check out Fjorn's philosophy against "throwawayism."

Third, several months ago I came across a recipe for Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookies.  This unusual recipe features a foundation of crushed potato chips and pretzels. Throw in a good mix of whatever you deemed best in cookies and you have a fantastic treat.  They were devoured at both the wife's office and mine as well in minutes.  About David Chang - he opened his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village in 2003.  According to his website, momofuku means 'lucky peach' in Japanese; it could also be a reference to Momofuku Ando the inventor of instant noodles.  In the years that followed, Chang opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko (a 12 seat restaurant that takes reservations in advance, online only, on a first-come-first-served basis, without regard to social status or income.  I'm still gaming to get into this one), Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar, and recently the French-Vietnamese inspired Má Pêche inside Midtown’s Chambers Hotel.  As a cookie recipe with chips would seem to suggest, Chang has a penchant for recipes with odd ingredients.  If that sort of thing interests you, there is a cookbook available and this interesting blog which features the recipes geared for two.

Fourth, I've been on a Breaking Bad marathon recently.  If you haven't seen this show and you love really tense, engaging, uncomfortable, character-loving-then-character-hating dramas check it out.  iTunes - get it.

Finally, and so I can give you more links than anytime before, here are a few recipes I have lined up in the queue:

Lemon-Scented Pull-apart Loaf

Brussels Sprout and Pancetta Pizza

Chocolate Bourbon Truffle-Turtle Tart

Baked Falafel

Flaky Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

Raspberry Buckle

Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp

Orange Chicken

Sopa de Lima

Friday Night Bites

To kick-off the weekend we finally took the opportunity to make it over to Sweet Afton.  I've been wanting to check out this establishment since it opened in Astoria last August.  Well, we went, we saw, we tasted and we were not blown away.  Don't get me wrong it was good, not great, but good. 

The service was way better than the complaints online; our waitress was attentive and friendly.  The food, however, was just so-so.  We ordered the fried pickles, hand cut french fries, and Irish sausage rolls. What?  It's a bar...we had bar food. Know this - I love pickles and I would fry my cat's tail if I thought it would taste great.  The fried pickles at Sweet Afton are more like Puff Pickles, the batter was doughy and rubbery not crispy and flaky like the word "fried" suggests to me.  The french fries were average and the puff pastry wrapped sausage rolls were great until I dipped them in the HP Sauce that accompanies the dish.  Maybe I've suckled on the A1 sauce infused teet of America too long, but I much prefer that sauce to the British alternative, and I should have known better.

And the drinks (did I mention it was a bar?) were well...interesting.  We both ordered the Spicy Cherry Margarita.  As the menu maintains this drink is a mix of Habanero infused tequila, cherry preserve, simple syrup, and lime.  True to it's name, it's spicy and took me nearly 40 minutes to drink.  For comparison, it usually takes me ten minutes to finish the average margarita; 5 minutes if it's been a long week.  Given the time issues related to the first round, we decided to only stay for one, but there were a couple of other choices I'd come back for next time.  So, I guess what I'm saying is that despite the bar food, the bar drinks mean I'll probably be back.

No Freakin Way

Guess where these coffee beans come from.  YIKES!

C.R.E.A.M. - Dolla Dolla Bill Y'all

Living here in the Big Apple affords one the opportunity to experience all manner of great chow.  I say "affords" and make no mistake, I understand the pun involved.  As expensive as most can seem, there are still plenty of great choices in the more "affordable" range.  To me, Watawa is great example.  Their menu is full of reasonable choices, but none better than the Lunch Box or the Sushi Roll specials.  For less than $10 you get a salad, miso soup, and your choice of three rolls or shrimp tempura with pork dumplings and a California roll.  Throw in the free green tea and that's a pretty hefty haul.  Now there's the second pun of this post.  The portions are huge.  In fact, we generally go and can't finish our lunch.  Our most recent visit yesterday, saw us both order the tempura special and take-away the leftovers for dinner last night.  Below are some pictures so you can judge for yourself...

Bruschetta Bonanza

Tonight we made a variety of bruschetta for dinner.  Toasted French bread, grilled eggplant, roma tomatoes, homegrown basil, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, diced kalamata olives, chopped garlic, fresh lemon juice - these were our ingredients and we mixed them all several ways.  On top we drizzled a balsamic reduction (bring balsamic vinegar, honey, and sugar to a boil; let cool).  FANTASTIC and super easy!

Finished results:

Fa la la la la, la la la lafel!

One of the best things about moving to New York is the opportunity to try all types of food I've never had before, much less even heard of.  One of the things I had never experienced before moving was falafels.  Well, now I'm head over forks for them - between my many visits to Crisp, and my vegetarian experiment, I can't get enough of them.  I've even got a famous street vendor near my place in Queens ( King of Falafel ) and a co-worker highly recommends ( Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant ).

  

(tonight's dinner - falafels with feta cheese, pita, and store
bought tzatziki.  Don't fear the store bought stuff - saves
time and money.)

Here's an easy recipe:

Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
·  one 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained
·  one medium onion, finely chopped
·  one tablespoon minced garlic
·  two tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
·  one teaspoon coriander
·  three-quarters teaspoon cumin
·  one-half teaspoon salt
·  two tablespoons flour
·  oil for frying (canola or vegetable)

Preparation:  Combine chickpeas, garlic, onion, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper (to taste) in medium bowl.  Add flour and combine well.  Mash chickpeas, ensuring to mix ingredients together.  You can also combine ingredients in a food processor. You want the result to be a thick paste.   Form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball.  Fry in 2 inches of oil at 350 degrees until golden brown (2-5 minutes).

Links, Links, and More Links (Up To 10)

Surfing the web while I watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall (not too bad I will admit)...

1.  This guy stole the Colonel's secret recipe and wears a chef's hat around the house.

2a.  Krispy Kreme recipes.  2b.  Official recipes.  2c.  Paula Deen's donut recipe (note:  the recipe says english muffins, but her description lists a donut as an alternate).

3.  Speaking of Paula Deen, this article lists the "Butter Queen's" five healthiest selections.

4. Strawberry & Honey Mojita recipe from the television in my building's elevator.

5.  How to make ice cream when you go camping this summer (note:  when I was in the Boy Scouts we used to use a quart-sized coffee can inside a gallon-sized one).

6.  A pocket guide to Dim Sum that goes in your iPhone, then into your pocket.

7a.  The ten "coolest" barbecue grills (according to this guy).  7b.  Inexpensive, small grill for the fire-escape.  7c.  Even smaller grill.  7d.  This one folds up like a notebook.

8.  The BEST Food Movies EVER according to Esquire and according to Peggy Vincent, "author AND reader."

9.  2009 StarChefs.com salary survey.

10.  Best chefs in NYC you haven’t heard of (unless you read New York Magazine last December)

Wine Talk

As I've stated before I'm not a big wine snob, but I think two things are important when drinking fermented grapes...

1.) Serve it at the right temperature.

2.)  Save the plastic cups for the keggers.  Bonus link:  there's an awesome glass shape selection guide on the Riedel website.

!muS miD evol I

Picked up this handy little Dim Sum cheat sheet during our trip to Toronto...