Tomorrow is Spud's 11th Birthday! Some months ago as we were wandering Chelsea Market he overheard someone giving a tour of the market. We asked about that tour and upon inquiring we found out about a sushi "tour". http://www.foodsofny.com/artofsushi.php Spud wanted to do this desperately and I gave him the choice to this instead of a birthday party, and he jumped all over it. I was thrilled to not have to give a kid party. This tour was actaully a sit down tasting dinner at Ariyoshi Japanese Restaurant, located at 810 Broadway (between 10th and 11th Streets), New York, NY.
It was a multi-course dinner done in two parts. The first part was a Japanese Tapas tasting. The second half was a sushi tasting. Sadly I forgot to take the menu, so heere is my best description of what we were served.
PART ONE
Course one: ( Served with Ichiban beer)
Fried chicken in Ponzi Sauce
Asparagus wrapped in Bacon in Ponzi Sauce
Seared Beef in Ponzi Sauce
Salmon & Yam wrapped in radish
Grilled Freshwater Eel
This portion of the meal focused on Ponzi sauces and the key ingredients and how different they can be just by changing the proportions of the ingredients.
Course two:
Miso Soup with Crab Yam dumpling
This was like Japanese Matzo Ball Soup, with a delicious rich miso broth, and a very tasty light dumpling
Course three:
Grilled Tofu served with 2 different kinds of miso sauces
This also focused on Miso and how many differnt types and flavors they can be. This didn't make me a lover of tofu still, but the miso sauces are so very good, and very different from each other.
PART TWO - Served with 2 sakes - One was sweet and served cold, the second was drier and served warm
Course four
Sashimi tasting: Red Snapper, Horse Mackerel, Yellow Tail
Course five
Sushi Rice, Salmon, Fluke and Eel Sushi
Course six
Blue Fin Toro Scallion Maki
The sushi courses focused on quality of sushi rice, chopstick etiquette, Real vs. fake Wasabi, and fresh vs. frozen fish. (it is illegal in the U.S. to serve fish that has not been frozen), and Nori ( the seaweed that wraps the rolls)
Course seven
Dessert which consisted of Green tea infused rice dish, made into something like large tapioca pearls.
This was a very different flavor, but nice and light and a very nice green tea flavor.
I highly recommend this dinner as a great introduction to Japanese cooking, and some insigh to the culture as well. Our host/guide for the evening was highly knowledgeable and very personable to be around, and the food was wonderful. Spud had a wonderful time and ate every last bite!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Momufuku Ssam Bar
Wednesday evening I abandoned Coco and Spud to join my friend Carmy for dinner in nyc at the Momufuku Ssam Bar. A facebook friend had recently posted how much she enjoyed this restaurant, so I used this evening out and as excuse to try it. The restaurant is located at 207 2nd Ave. nyc 10003 corner of 13th St and 2nd Ave. It is a small restaurant with a long counter where you sit on wood backless stools opposite your guest. You get pretty packed in next to your neighbors. If you like to listen to other people's conversations, this is the place to do so. Our fellow dinner companions got quite an earful of my life that evening! This is not a comfy cozy place, but it is well worth the food! They leave piles of napkins on the table and chopsticks standing up in holders. Think cross between a bar, restaurant, and a malt shop!
It was a perfect selection for sharing and sharing we did. Our menu was as follows:
steamed pork buns – hoisin, cucumbers, scallions
( a yummy update on the chinese classic)
cracked jonah crab claws – harissa mayo
(seved cold on ice, and they were perfect)
bev eggleston's pork shoulder steak – japanese eggplant, hericot vert, watercress
( an interesting cut and innovative way to serve pork)
long island crescent duck – lobster mushroom, daikon, orange
(cripsy and delicious, with a lovely side of duck confit along side the sliced duck)
pb&j – concord grape, peanut butter nougat, ritz craker
( tasted just like a PB&J sandwich, but with a twist - more to come on this)
We had a nice bottle of Pinot Noir with it anad it was a lovely meal! the PB&J was amazing and watch for a blog soon to come where I will tell you about my attempt to recreate it!
Another find we came across was Wine Wednesday's at Metrazur on the balcony at Grand Central. On Wine Wednesday we got a bottle of wine for $15! It was a Merlot, and I couldn't tell you what it was, but for $15 in Manhattan, who cares? We sat right at the railing overlooking the clock in Grand Central, and it is just a great place to people watch. When you have an evening out like this with your best friend, it doesn't get much better!
It was a perfect selection for sharing and sharing we did. Our menu was as follows:
steamed pork buns – hoisin, cucumbers, scallions
( a yummy update on the chinese classic)
cracked jonah crab claws – harissa mayo
(seved cold on ice, and they were perfect)
bev eggleston's pork shoulder steak – japanese eggplant, hericot vert, watercress
( an interesting cut and innovative way to serve pork)
long island crescent duck – lobster mushroom, daikon, orange
(cripsy and delicious, with a lovely side of duck confit along side the sliced duck)
pb&j – concord grape, peanut butter nougat, ritz craker
( tasted just like a PB&J sandwich, but with a twist - more to come on this)
We had a nice bottle of Pinot Noir with it anad it was a lovely meal! the PB&J was amazing and watch for a blog soon to come where I will tell you about my attempt to recreate it!
Another find we came across was Wine Wednesday's at Metrazur on the balcony at Grand Central. On Wine Wednesday we got a bottle of wine for $15! It was a Merlot, and I couldn't tell you what it was, but for $15 in Manhattan, who cares? We sat right at the railing overlooking the clock in Grand Central, and it is just a great place to people watch. When you have an evening out like this with your best friend, it doesn't get much better!
2 Meals from Last Week
So I have gotten a little lazy about blogging - I apologize to my public! :) Last week I managed to squeek out 2 nights of meals.
Monday I made Chicken Divan, page 358. It calls for Broccoli, but as that is my least favorite veggie, I made the dish with string beans. It is an incredibly rich meal, but the sherry flavor added to the cream sauce just make Divan, divine. ( I know - so bad, but it had to be said). This meal is rich enough and the vegetable is included, so this meal stands alone just fine. I good glass of white wine would be a lovely accompaniment however.
Tuesday night I prepared the Veal Marsala, page 457. This is a nice easy dish for a week night, and could easily be included into a busy schedule normal routine. It goes nicely over noodles, and can be served nicely with any green vegetable. I served it with some spinach on the side.
Speaking of easy weeknight meals, as I was catching up on my Gourmet magazines, (RIP) I saw an ad for the NEW Gourmet cookbook. Ruth came up with another 1200 recipes for the more modern cook. I guess they realized that the cookbook I am working from, although amazing, doesn't always fit into the lives of us working busy wives and mothers. I have to, of course, own this new book, so I warn now, this blog could change into the Garden State NEW Gourmet cookbook venture! We will have to see. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! Ruth also recently began a PBS show called Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth. Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch it yet, I noticed 2 of her first guests were Dianne Weist and Tom Skeritt. If anyone has seeen it yet, please comment in!
Monday I made Chicken Divan, page 358. It calls for Broccoli, but as that is my least favorite veggie, I made the dish with string beans. It is an incredibly rich meal, but the sherry flavor added to the cream sauce just make Divan, divine. ( I know - so bad, but it had to be said). This meal is rich enough and the vegetable is included, so this meal stands alone just fine. I good glass of white wine would be a lovely accompaniment however.
Tuesday night I prepared the Veal Marsala, page 457. This is a nice easy dish for a week night, and could easily be included into a busy schedule normal routine. It goes nicely over noodles, and can be served nicely with any green vegetable. I served it with some spinach on the side.
Speaking of easy weeknight meals, as I was catching up on my Gourmet magazines, (RIP) I saw an ad for the NEW Gourmet cookbook. Ruth came up with another 1200 recipes for the more modern cook. I guess they realized that the cookbook I am working from, although amazing, doesn't always fit into the lives of us working busy wives and mothers. I have to, of course, own this new book, so I warn now, this blog could change into the Garden State NEW Gourmet cookbook venture! We will have to see. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy! Ruth also recently began a PBS show called Gourmet's Adventures with Ruth. Unfortunately I haven't been able to catch it yet, I noticed 2 of her first guests were Dianne Weist and Tom Skeritt. If anyone has seeen it yet, please comment in!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Self Invented Chorizo Recipe
Coco has been home and not feeling so well. Today he took out some fresh Chorizo I had bought, and the recipes I was saving it for needed ingredients I didn't have, so I made up my own recipe as follows:
Plain White Spanish Rice - Cooked according to package directions.
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 Onion finely chopped
3 links Fresh Chorizo
1/2 bottle or can of beer
1 can Red Beans drained and rinsed
1 can Black beans drained and rinsed
1 Can Diced Fired Roasted tomatoes, drained
Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, and Cayenne Pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft and onion has sweetened. Cut off sausage casing and crumble chorizo into the pan and cook until browned. When well cooked, Pour 1/2 bottle of beer over and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. ( Be sure to unwind and drink the other half while you cook) Add the beans and tomatoes, use seasonings to taste and heat until very hot. Serve in pasta bowls over the Cooked white rice.
Plain White Spanish Rice - Cooked according to package directions.
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 Onion finely chopped
3 links Fresh Chorizo
1/2 bottle or can of beer
1 can Red Beans drained and rinsed
1 can Black beans drained and rinsed
1 Can Diced Fired Roasted tomatoes, drained
Salt, Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Chili Powder, and Cayenne Pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft and onion has sweetened. Cut off sausage casing and crumble chorizo into the pan and cook until browned. When well cooked, Pour 1/2 bottle of beer over and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. ( Be sure to unwind and drink the other half while you cook) Add the beans and tomatoes, use seasonings to taste and heat until very hot. Serve in pasta bowls over the Cooked white rice.
Waffle Sunday
Saturday morning, Spud asked if he could make waffles, and I was eager to answer yes, and then promptly realized that we had so little in the house we were lacking milk and eggs, thus no waffles. ( we sadly didn't even have bread for toast) Spud ended up eating soup, and I made pasta with garlic oil and cheese for breakfast. A trip to the store on Saturday, yielded the proper ingredients, so after oversleeping Sunday following 2 nights of partying, I gave the Spud the recipe to make the waffles.
We actually did have buttermilk, so we were able to make Buttermilk Waffles, page 653. Spud actually made these himself, I just had to guide him through the recipe though as we decided to half it as this recipe as is yields 24 waffles! They were completely yummy. I whipped up some fresh heavy cream flavored with my newly acquired Dominican Vanilla ( very strong!) courtesy of my colleague, Papo, and it made for the perfect topping for these waffles.
We actually did have buttermilk, so we were able to make Buttermilk Waffles, page 653. Spud actually made these himself, I just had to guide him through the recipe though as we decided to half it as this recipe as is yields 24 waffles! They were completely yummy. I whipped up some fresh heavy cream flavored with my newly acquired Dominican Vanilla ( very strong!) courtesy of my colleague, Papo, and it made for the perfect topping for these waffles.
Light Cooking Week
I only managed to cook one meal home last week (10/7), and it was a very simple dinner. Pork Chops with Mustard Crumbs, page 482, brought me back to the Gourmet Cookbook. These are basic breaded pork chops, but with the added twist of rye crumbs over a mustard coating. It was quite tasty. I admit I cheated my side dishes this evening with frozen Cauliflower, and (GASP) instant mashed potatoes. I invented my own pan pork gravy though from the pan juices form the pork, so this helped to disguise the use of powdered potatoes.
Backing up to 10/3/09 - Classic Hoboken food!
Wow, I have been behind on cooking and definately on blogging. I need to back up and talk about one of my favortie meals I make, and the success and disaster that went with it.
Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner. I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal? ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken. ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese. These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks. Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli. (or Mutz as we call it here)
As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar. This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes. I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator. After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny. Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste. I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
As a main course I made homemade ravioli. I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken. This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork. It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli. this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe. This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat. Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested. As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566 The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish. The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency. It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work. I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it) I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.
Last Saturday 10/3, I had a group of friends travel to NJ to attend the Springsteen concert, and as I was initially invited to go with them, I definitely owed them dinner. I figured what better way to repay a friend and enteratin old friends then by cooking them an awesome meal? ( I hope they though it was awesome) This meal although one of may very favorites has not one recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook.
I started by going to my favorite bread Bakery - the Antique Bakery also here in Hoboken. ( In case I haven't mentioned it - we have some of the best food resources anywhere!) My personal favorite from Antique is their stuffed breads - They make Sausage and Pepper, Pepperoni and Cheese and Prosiutto and cheese. I bought a loaf each of the Sausage and Pepper and the Prosiutto and Cheese. These make wonderful appetizers/table snacks. Also to give the ultimate Hoboken dining experience, I served the bread with some of our finest Fresh Mozzerella from Lisa's Deli. (or Mutz as we call it here)
As a first course I served a basic Italian salad of mixed greens with oil and vinegar. This salad is so simple, chopped or torn lettuce of your choice ( I prefer a mix of red leaf and iceberg) I generously salt and pepper the lettuce and let it sit for a few minutes. I also like lettuce sligtly chilled so I serve it not too long after I take it from the refrigerator. After the salt has had time to dissolve on the lettuce, I add extra virgin olive oil and toss with my hands until fully coated and enoucgh to make the lettuice shiny. Then I add just a drizzle of red wine vinegar, but of course you can add this to taste. I happen to like it as plain lettuce, but you could add any normal salad additions here. ( Onions, olives, tomatoes and parmesan are good Italian additions).
As a main course I made homemade ravioli. I used the Basic Pasta recipe I always use from the Joy of Pasta, but for my filling I used Adalgiza and Tessie's Ravoli Filling from where else, but The Lost Ravoli Recipes of Hoboken. This is a meat filling that is fairly rich made from cream cheese, spinach, parmesan, veal and pork. It is a very easy filling as well as it is not actually precooked prior to be put inside the ravoli. this recipe is the basis for an entire memoir on one woman's search for the orgins of this recipe. With this dish, I served my mother's classic Bresciole recipe. This dish is like little Italian pot roasts and cooks down into very tender and tasty meat, and the sauce with it compliments the ravoli well. As usual Joe the butcher, didn't let me down when I ordered my meat. I don't even know what cut of beef this is - I call Joe and say I need 14 pieces of bresciole meat. Please feel free to post comments and I can further post the recipe if anyone is interested. As my side dish from the same book, I also made Spinach Torta alla Hoboken. This is a delicious Spinach, egg and cheese dish - sort of like an Italian crustless quiche. This meal is best served with a good Italian Chianti, which I bought but my dinner guest was kind enough to also bring a bottle that was perfect with the meal.
My dessert wasn't as good an effort. I was attempting an Epicurioius recipe I found for Chocolate Ravoli http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Ravioli-in-Bittersweet-Chocolate-Sauce-231566 The filling was a great success and I ended up serving it like a custard in a dish. The pasta for this I didn't not have luck getting the dough to a workable consistency. It was tasty, but I just couldn't make its work. I also adjusted the sauce and made it with white chocolate instead of dark to offer the contrast to the custard.
I hope my guests enjoyed the meal as much as I did cooking it ( and eating it) I will have to keep practicing with that chocolate pasta dough.
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