Charles Smith, please

First of all, excuse the hiatus! But we're back, and yes, with a new slightly more anonymous monicker.
Jamie and I recently signed up for this Zagat wine club and low and behold we were delivered a crate of various bottles of red wine. When I was asked to choose one, I obviously went for the prettiest bottle, and that was Charles Smith. A 2008 Cabernet. It was delicious! Very smooth and drinkable. I wish I'd taken better notes - it's been a week or two - but I would love to go out and buy a whole case and have it as my go-to red.
After thinking we liked this obscure wine, we found Charles Smith was rated Wine Maker of the Year, so he's not really an underdog. Nevertheless, I'm still as enamored as I was when I thought it was obscure.
(I didn't think to photograph the bottle at the time, so this I just snatched off google)

spruced up eggs benedict

People tend to find eggs benedict a little intimidating, but it's really not that hard. If you have butter, eggs, lemon, and bread of some sort, you're good. Last weekend I had a loaf of sour dough bread and got a few slices of prosciutto and hot sopressata at Faicco's. I also had some herbs (tarragon, thyme, and chives) in the fridge. With the great salty/spicy meat, the sourdough, and the fresh herb Hollandaise, this turned into arguably the best eggs benedict I've ever had.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
lemon
fresh herbs (ideally thyme, tarragon, and chives)
2 slices hot sopressata
2 slices prosciutto
2 slices of sourdough

Directions:
Chop up the herbs (about 2 tsp). Separate the yolk and the white and put the yolk in a small bowl. Throw in a pinch of salt and whip up the yolk with a whisk. Slowly pour in the melted butter while whisking until it thickens. Squeeze in a little lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp) and the herbs and stir it up.
Poach the two eggs, drain them on a paper towel. Put the slices of meat on the toast, put the egg on the meat, and pour the Hollandaise over the egg.
Enjoy and impress!

Mussels with tomatoes

I love mussels. I make them all different ways and they are a quick, tasty, pretty healthy meal. I tried a slightly new way to make them this weekend on my seafood binge and they were a big hit. Almost every mussel recipe calls for shallots because they give such a great flavor to the broth. This time I used a mix of shallots and garlic--yum. These are almost just the classic mussels in white wine, but the tomatoes and the saffron add a new twist and give the broth a beautiful orange color.

(Serves 4 as a starter or main with a big salad or crusty bread)

Ingredients: 
4 pounds mussels
1 can whole tomatoes, juices drained, chopped by hand
3 springs thyme
2 large shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
olive oil
1 pinch saffron
about 1/2 cup white wine
fresh chopped parsley

Directions:
In a large pot, saute the shallots in a little olive oil until they start to soften and add the garlic. Stir until the garlic is fragrant and then add the tomatoes, thyme and saffron. Mix that all together, then add the wine. Cook it a little so all the flavors blend and the alcohol cooks off. If the broth looks too dry, add a little more wine and maybe a little water. Add the mussels and put on the lid. Shake the pot around so all the mussels spin and move a little. Do this every 30 seconds or so to make sure they are cooking evenly. Turn off the heat right when the mussels open--this is the perfect amount of cooking time so they'll be tender and juicy. Scoop the mussels and broth into bowls and garnish them with the parsley. Great to eat with a crusty piece of bread.

Salt Crusted Snapper

I went to the fish market in Hampton Bays this weekend and picked up a couple of things for a seafood fish. Mussels, calamari, and a beautiful red snapper. (Cor J fish market in Hampton Bays has an amazing selection of seafood and prices are great.) I'd been wanting to make a salt crusted fish since I saw someone do it on the Today show a while back. I love snapper, and their fresh snapper looked beautiful, so that was my fish. It doesn't take too much time, but it looks very impressive and is amazingly juicy and flavorful.

(This is for 4 people, but along with a few other things.)

Ingredients:
1 whole red snapper (cleaned, scaled and gutted)
2 lemons (1 quartered and one sliced thinly)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 1/2 cups kosher salt
6 egg whites
olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Dry off the fish. Rub olive oil all over it. In a metal bowl, beat the eggwhites until the form soft peaks. Then gently fold in the salt. Spread a thin layer of the salt mixture onto a baking sheet (lined w/ foil or parchment for easier clean up). This should be just a little bigger than the fish. Put the fish on top of the salt spread. Put the herbs and as many lemon slices that fit comfortably in the cavity of the fish with a little olive oil. Now cover the entire fish so that it is encased in the salt mixture. Put the whole thing in the oven.
Let it cook for about 35 minutes, then take it out and let it rest for 15. The salt crust should be hard. Crack the crust off the top of the fish and peel back the skin. Chop of the head of the fish (so you can remove the spine to serve pieces from the bottom.) Serve the fish in pieces. There should be about 2 servings on top of the spine and 2 below. Serve it with a quarter of a lemon and some olive oil.

Sautéed Calamari

I've always seen calamari on menus as grilled or fried. I went to dinner at Supper last year on the Lower East Side and they had sauteed calamari. It was delicious and I've been making my own ever since. (Calamari is cheap and it cooks in no time.) It's a great appetizer or side dish and it seems impressive but is super easy. Last weekend I had some chorizo grease left in a pan and I thought it would go really well will calamari--it was a hit. Any time you make chorizo, save the grease for calamari! (I used leftover from the chorizo for a grilled pizza.)

Ingredients:
2 calamari, cleaned (or more if you have more people), sliced into thin rings
grease leftover from sauteeing loose chorizo in olive oil
1 clove of garlic

Directions:
Heat up the leftover grease and add the garlic (on high heat.) Sautee it until fragrant. Then add the sliced calamari and toss it all together. Cook until the calamari looks opaque, only 1-2 minutes. You really don't want to over cook it because it will get rubbery.
Take them out of the pan and serve.

(If you don't have chorizo grease, you can just use olive oil and add a bunch of crushed red pepper flakes.)

Grilled Pizza

Grilled pizza is a great thing to do in the summer with a group of people. Last weekend was unseasonably warm and I was out in Long Island with a few friends, so I thought we should try a grilled pizza. We had a couple of other things in the works for dinner, so we just made one and had it as an appetizer, but it's fun to split the dough up and have everyone do their own--picking sauce and toppings etc. We made our own dough, but you can buy it too. You can often find fresh pizza dough in the bakery section of your grocery store, or you can get frozen pizza dough. I use Mario Batali's recipe for pizza dough. The honey gives it a nice sweetness and the wine adds a little flavor. (Jamie made the dough--it's his specialty.) I made a quick sauce, but you can buy pizza sauce too. We just put chorizo on top, which was really good and gave it a kick, but use any toppings you want. (Use the chorizo if you want to make the calamari after.)

Dough:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/pizza-dough-recipe/index.html

Sauce:
1 can whole tomatoes and their juices (cut or squeezed into chunks)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
olive oil

Topping:
Mozzarella cheese, sliced
loose Chorizo
finely grated Pecorino Romano

Directions:
First, make the dough and let it rise. Then make the sauce: In a medium sized skillet, sautee the onion with olive oil until it started to soften, then add the garlic and stir until it is fragrant. Once you smell the garlic, add the tomatoes (to keep the garlic from burning) and the thyme. Stir it all together and let it simmer until the sauce is thick.

For the chorizo, heat a little olive oil in a skillet and add the loose sausage. Break it up with a wooden spoon while it cooks so it's in bite-sized pieces. When it's just cooked through, remove the pieces with a splotted spoon and put them in a bowl. (Leave the chorizo grease in there if you want to make the calamari.)

Turn on the grill and let it heat up. When the dough has risen, roll it out to whatever thinness you want (I think thinner is better, especially for the grill.) Rub a little olive oil on one side of the dough and put the dough on the grill, oil side down. Let it cook until the dough just holds its shape, about 1-2 minutes. Take the dough off of the grill and and dress the grilled side. (It should have some nice grill marks.) Spread the sauce over the dough, then add the mozzarella, then the chorizo. Before you put it back on the grill, sprinkle it with a little Pecorino Romano. Put it back on the grill and close the lid. This will melt the cheese while the bottom of the crust firms up. This can take from 3-7 minutes, depending on the size of the pizza and heat of the grill etc. You just want your cheese melted--the dough will cook quickly.

Take it off the grill and let it sit for a minute, then slice it up!

Breakfast in Bed

With the 2 slices of prosciutto I had leftover from my PLT, I decided to try making an egg cup. I'd seen it before in a cook book or cooking show and wanted to try it myself. It was easy and very tasty, especially on top of a salad. (I love salad and eggs together.) It looks special and only takes about 15 minutes.

I made it for Jamie, so this is for two people, but just add another egg and prosciutto slice per person.

Ingredients
2 eggs
2 slices prosciutto
non-stick cooking spray
2 thin slices of butter
2 tbsp grated cheese (I used pecorino romano)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375. Spray two cups of a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Cut each slice of prosciutto in half and put one piece down first in the cup, then the other perpendicularly on top so the prosciutto comes up a little above the muffin cup. Do this again for the 2nd piece.

Put half the grated cheese at the bottoms of the cups and put a little slice of butter on each little pile of cheese. Then crack an egg into each prosciutto cup. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a pinch of paprika. Put them into the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending how cooked you want the yolks. (At 15 minutes they will be pretty much completely cooked through.)

I made a simple salad, piled a little on each plate, then topped it with the egg cup. Yum!

PLT

When I made the gnudi, it called for crispy pieces of prosciutto. These salty, crunchy slices made me realize they would be an excellent bacon substitute. For lunch today, I went to Faicco's, picked up a few slices of prosciutto, and made myself a PLT: prosciutto, lettuce, and tomato. My favorite part of a BLT is the crispy, salty bacon, and often the bacon doesn't have that crunch you're expecting. The PLT was great. I think it's also probably a lower fat option, but I'm not 100% sure. I also used pita because I didn't have any bread. (This is for 1 sandwich)

Ingredients:
2 slices prosciutto, cut in half horizontally
about 5 grape tomatoes, sliced
a handful of lettuce
mayonnaise
half a pita
salt

Directions:
Take the half pita and separate it into two pieces (as if it were 2 pieces of bread) and toast them.
Put a tsp of olive oil in a pan and add the prociutto. Cook until they are crispy and beginning to brown on both sides. Drain them on a paper towel. Spread as much mayonnaise as you like on the toasted pita slices, then top one slice with lettuce, then with the tomato slices. Here I like to sprinkle a little salt over the tomatoes. Then top it with the prosciutto and a little more lettuce and finally the other pita slice.

It's really easy, and the prosciutto cooks up faster than bacon. Feel free to use regular bread.

Ostrich

When I lived in Cape Town, I was strolling down the meat aisle in the grocery and passed chicken, pork, beef, and then ostrich. They had ostrich filets alongside the hamburger meat and steaks. With this rare bird (which is actually red meat, and you'd think it was beef by looking at it) at my fingertips, I thought I'd experiment. It's extremely healthy and has hardly any fat, but lots of protein, so it's best cooked rare/medium rare. I made it a few times in Cape Town and really loved it.
Since moving downtown, I am right around the corner from Ottomanelli's. I've often seen their sign in the window stating that they sell ostrich, and until Monday, I hadn't investigated. I went in and got one ostrich filet (frozen) for $8. It was the afternoon and I didn't know if it would thaw by dinner, but it said "DO NOT THAW IN THE MICROWAVE" in big letters, so I popped it in a bowl of warm water and it was thawed in less than half an hour. I threw it in a marinade and got started on my ostrich brainchild menu that had been brewing since the first time I saw the sign "We have Ostrich!" Here it is, if anyone wants to try it. I made it for Jamie and it seemed to be a success. (He thought it so impressive he took a picture on his iPhone--above.) It's a good dinner to impress someone. It looks pretty, tastes great, is healthy, and isn't all that difficult. (Feel free to buy store bought noodles and just throw a little red wine in the cooking water.)

(This only serves two with a little leftover, so double it if it's for more.)

Ingredients:

Ostrich
1 ostrich filet
1 bottle of red wine (I used Charles Shaw Shiraz)
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 chopped garlic clove
1 chopped shallot
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt (to taste)


Pasta
2 cup 00 flour
1 egg
pinch of salt
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup red wine

Sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 shallot, sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
red wine

Garnish

12 cherry/grape tomatoes (I got little heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's)
2 wooden skewers

Directions:
First, mix all the ingredients for the marinade together, tasting as you go and adjusting salt/spice, and throw in the ostrich. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing it down so it touches the ostrich and the marinade. Marinate for about 4 hours, give or take a couple of hours if you don't have time or want to give it more flavor.

For the pasta, pour the flour out onto a table or cutting board. Make a well in the center and crack the egg into the well. Add a pinch of salt, the olive oil, and a splash of the wine. Using a fork, gently beat the egg mixture, slowly incorporating more flour and adding more wine as needed, until it forms a dough. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Once it gets to that consistency (and it should be a light brown/purple color), knead it for about 5-10 minutes by pushing it out with the ball of your hand and pulling it back in. Do this until when you stretch the dough it comes back back together and seems elastic. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit for half an hour in a warm place.

After half an hour, run the dough through your pasta maker until it's at the thinnest setting and you have long thin sheets. At this point, I like to halve the sheets so they're not as long and are easier to work with, but if you want long noodles, keep them long. Let the sheets dry out a little because they'll be easier to cut. Once they get a little dry, run them through the pasta maker on the linguine/fettuccine setting. (If you don't have this, you can roll the sheets up and slice them so when unrolled them form long noodles.) You can keep your cut noodles in the fridge until you need them, or if you're about the cook them, just leave them out.

I used a grill pan, but you can definitely use a skillet for your ostrich. Get the grill pan really hot (if you're using a skillet, put in a little olive oil and get it really hot). Meanwhile, bring your water to a boil. Take your tomatoes and put them onto the skewers, then rub a little oil on them and put them on the grill. Grill them until they get a little soft and have a little browning on them. Grill the ostrich for about 3 minutes per side then take it off and let it sit. Put the shallots, olive oil, and tomato paste into a skillet and cook it until the shallots get soft. Cook the pasta (it cooks really quickly because it's fresh) and when it's ready throw it into the pan with a little wine and salt and toss it together. Taste it to see if you want to add more wine or salt.

To plate it, slice the ostrich into thin pieces. Put the pasta in the middle of the plate, top if with the ostrich pieces, then surround it with the grilled tomatoes.

Add a bake at home baguette from Trader Joe's and you're all set!

Chicken Chili

When it's a beautiful day like today, chili may be the last thing on your mind. However, while feeling last week's cold, dreary, end-of-winter blues I thought a rich bowl of chili might warm the cockles of my sun-starved heart. I do enjoy a beefy, greasy chili once in a while, but this chili is healthy, even though it tastes sinful. I took lots of pictures to go with the steps--it's easy and spicy and hearty and everyone who tasted it seemed to love it.

Ingredients
1 can dark red kidney beans and 1 can of blackbeans (use any beans you like) drained and rinsed
1 package of ground chicken (you can also use turkey, but I think chicken has more flavor)
1 1/2 onions (I used a combination of yellow and white, but just yellow works too) chopped
3 cloves of garlic (gives it a good kick) finely minced
1 can whole tomatoes (crushed my sticking your hand in the can and squeezing them, or however you like to crush them)
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 red bell pepper roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper roughly chopped
cumin
coriander
chili powder
paprika
hot pepper flakes

I got everything ready before I started cooking because often I'm supposed to stir something for 2 minutes and then quickly add something else, but I find it's not ready and I'm making a huge mess trying to chop an onion while searing a pork chop and measuring water--so, chop/drain/get out all the ingredients first to make your life easier.

First, heat up some oil in a skillet. Then add about 2/3 of the onion and about 2 teaspoons of coriander, cumin, paprika, and chili powder and about a half tsp of hot chili flakes. (It helped release the flavor if you rub them between your hands before you put them in the skillet.)

Mix this all together and saute until the onion begins to soften and then add half of the garlic, stirring until fragrant. Once you smell the garlic, add the chicken. Separate the chicken with your spoon while it sautees and cook until it is browned.

Once the chicken is uniformly browned, but not overcooked (it will continue to cook in the chili), add sald and pepper to taste, and then put it into a bowl.

Next, add the remaining onions and peppers into the pot with a little oil and the same mix of spices as before. Sautee them until they get a little soft, then add the tomato paste and mix until all the vegetables are coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now pour the contents of the skillet, and the chicken, into a large pot and mix them together. Then add both the canned tomatoes and their juices to the pot, along with the same mix of spices as before, along with the remaining garlic. (It helps if it's mashed into a paste with a little salt.) Stir this all together and bring it to a boil. Bring it down to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until it thickens up a little. Then season to taste with salt and pepper and add as many hot pepper flakes or cayenne as you like to give it heat.

I like to garnish it with a few pieces of extra sharp chedder. The bright peppers give it a great freshness. Also, this makes a lot of chili, so either serve it up at a dinner or save whatever you don't eat in your freezer for a cold day.

Good luck!

Sweet Revenge

There is no shortage of cupcake places in the village, but Sweet Revenge has a leg up on the others--they have a bar. You can get your cupcake paired with either a wine or beer, or just pick a la carte. I've had the coconut, the red velvet, the fleur de sel, and the eponymous "sweet revenge" (pictured). This cupcake tastes like a nutterbutter--creamy, peanut butter buttercream frosting over a peanut butter cupcake with a gooey chocolate center; they're decadent.

The frosting is amazing over the great little cakes. They are pretty rich, so I recommend splitting one unless you are especially hungry. It's a great place to meet in the afternoon, or after a light dinner. You can have a couple of drinks and matching cupcakes. It's in a cute little store on Carmine with French doors and a tile floor and you can either sit at a table or up on a stool at the bar. My niece Grace loved it so much she was licking the spoon we ate it with long after the cupcake was gone.

Gourmet Fries

Other than steak frites or truffle fries, french fries can seem out of place on a dinner party plate. I was watching Martha Stewart the other day and Ben Ford--son of Harrison Ford--made polenta fries. Polenta is so versatile because if you flatten it out and chill it, it becomes a blank canvas. You can cut it into shapes, grill it, braise it, fry it, sear it... They turned them into fries. I was making a simple dinner for Jamie and needed another element to make it enough food, and I happened to have some polenta in my pantry, so I tried them.

It couldn't have been easier. I mixed 1 cup of milk with 1 cup of chicken stock (from bouillon cubes I had in my kitchen) and brought it to a boil. Then I whisked in 3/4 cup of polenta with a pinch of salt and stirred it until the polenta pulled away from the sides--about 3 minutes. Then I grated in some Pecorino Romano cheese (which I prefer to Parmesan, but use whatever you like.)

I put some parchment paper over a cutting board and spread the polenta on top. Then I wet my hands and pushed the polenta into a rough rectangle about half an inch thick and threw it into the fridge.
Once it chilled--about an hour and a half--I cut it into 1/2 inch wide and about 4 inch tall strips. I heated some ghee (clarified butter) and olive oil in a skillet--you can use regular butter. While it was heating up, I rolled the polenta strips in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, chilli powder and cumin. I put them in the skillet and cooked them for about 20 seconds on each side, or until they got a little brown on each side. Then I took them out, drained them on a towel, and doused them with salt.

They were crispy and delicious, and I have a little flat polenta left over so they might be on the menu again tonight.

This was more than enough for 2, but if you're making it for 4-6, I'd say double the recipe.

Meat Lover's Paradise

I've mentioned Faicco's before, but I don't believe I've given it my proper and usual laud. This "Italian Specialty Store" is right down the street from me and I'm in there about 5 times a week. It's not very big, but you can find almost anything you need for great, Italian fare. When you walk in, on your left is a wall lined with shelves of Strozzapretti and orecchiette and bucatini next to Rao's sauces and jarred peppers and olives and imported flours and olive oils. I always go in and get the Italian 00 flour--this makes homemade pasta light and fluffy and amazing, and works wonders on pizza dough.

To your immediate right is a counter filled with pre-made foods like chicken francaise and veal Parmesan. Following that is an enormous counter filled with all sorts of meats and sausages. Here you can find steak, osso bucco, braciole, thick sliced bacon, ground veal, ground beef, chicken, pork chops, veal scallopini... They also have several types of sausages including spicy Italian, sweet Italian, sweet Italian with fennel, parsley and cheese, and chicken sausage.

Straight ahead is the deli counter. Here you can get sandwiches (I recommend the Italian special, but split it with someone because it's enormous) and a large range of cured meats. I am particularly fond of the prosciutto di parma, the hot sopressata, and the hot capricolo (all of which are present in the Italian special sandwich). Their fresh mozzarella is delicious, especially lightly breaded, sauteed, and served with their marinara sauce.

If you're having people over for dinner and want great hors d'oeuvres that are easy and cheap, go to the back counter and ask for 5 slices of a couple kinds of meat--which will only cost you around $5--and just neatly spread them onto a plate.

Faicco's is at 260 Bleecker street, at Cornelia and next to Murray's cheese. They close at 6, so you've got to stock up on the weekends or, if you live nearby, run in before you head to work.

Clog those arteries

Last year in the food section of the Times they had a recipe for this bacon explosion. I looked at it and turned up my nose a little, thinking it was a heart attack on a plate. (Not that I don't love a greasy bacon cheese burger with a mountain of fries every once in a while, which is probably worse for me.) The basket weave of bacon looked pretty and interesting, but it was stuffed with sausage and more bacon. I'm still thinking of some other combination of stuffings for this beautiful lining.
At my boyfriend Jamie's super bowl party, he made this giant log of bacon and sausage--and it was delicious. It was sliced into inch-wide pieces, so it was really like a hamburger or large breakfast sausage helping with a little bacon. You slather it with barbecue sauce before you serve it--he used Stubbs. It was great. This just goes to show, don't judge a recipe by how fattening it is--just don't eat it daily.

Here's how you make it if you have some big hungry men to impress:

Pan fry some bacon until it's crispy and put it on paper towels to drain out some grease.

The make a basket weave of bacon. On top of the bacon, put loose sausage (out of its casing). Jamie used a combo of parsley cheese sausage and spicy Italian sausage (both from Faicco's). Then sprinkle a little spice rub over the sausage, pat it down, and crunch the cooked bacon in little bite sized pieces on top. Then drizzle a little BBQ sauce over it and roll it tightly.

Put it on a tin-foil lined baking sheet and cook it at 225 for an hour per every inch of thickness of your "pork log" as Jamie lovingly calls it. When you take it out, spread some bbq sauce on top and slice it as thick or as thin as you want.

Cappucinos at home

If you're young in New York, you're probably wasting more money than you'd like at Starbucks. My guilty pleasure is getting a big bowl cappucino at Le Pain Quotidien. I just got a big, bowl-style latte cup on sale at Pottery Barn to help me accomplish this satisfying indulgence at home. I already have a coffee maker, so all I needed was this amazing little contraption from Bed Bath and Beyond. (You may be able to find it elsewhere, but that's where I got mine.) You don't need a giant, annoying espresso machine for frothy milk. Get one of these little Bodum milk frothers for around $20. If you don't yet have a latte cup, you can just use a cereal bowl. I like to sprinkle some sugar in the bowl/mug first, then pour the hot coffee in so it dissolves quickly. Then pour in just a little skim milk into the frother, pump it for about 30 seconds until it at least doubles in volume. Then I like to throw the glass container of the frother into the microwave for 30 seconds. (It makes the foam stiffen a little bit.) Pour it on top and voila, a perfect cappucino or latte.

FISH

In glowing neon letters on Bleecker street is a simple "Fish" scrawled out in illuminated script. It took me a while to realize that was actually the name, not just the fare. If you're ever going out for drinks in the West Village, or dinner and want to meet for a drink first, Fish is a great find. For only $8 you can get either 6 oysters or 6 clams on a half shell and your choice of a glass of Chardonnay, a glass of Merlot, or Pabst Blue Ribbon (on tap). I had some people over for dinner the other night and before eating, we went down the street and tried out this deal. We all got the oysters, and they were fresh and tasty and served with a great mignonette sauce and lemon wedges. While you await your oysters, you can also help yourself to the giant bowls of peanuts resting on the bar. Next time I go, I may just get 2 or 3 orders of the oysters and call it a meal.

Fish is at Bleecker and Jones, near the 1 subway and the ACE and BDFV.

Make your own Mia Dona

I don't know if any of you have eaten at Mia Dona, but if you're in the 50s or 60s on the East Side with a craving for good Italian, go! They've changed the menu a little bit, but it's still delicious, and it's not expensive. On the old menu they had a ricotta gnudi which was absolutely delicious. Gnudi is like gnocchi, only much lighter. In one cookbook, they say gnudi is the filling of the ravioli with no wrapper, so it's nude. Luckily for us, Michael Psilakis loves to share his recipes and I found this particular gnudi recipe on Epicurious. It's a litte more time consuming than most pastas, but it's definitely worth it and it's very impressive for dinner. The dash of truffle oil makes it extra luxurious and the sauteed procsuitto makes me want to switch out my weekend bacon for this extra crispy treat. Here's the recipe:


Gnudi

• 1 pound fresh ricotta cheese*

• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (about 1 ounce) plus additional for serving
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Large pinch of ground white pepper
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour plus additional for coating

Sauce and garnishes

• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 6 thin prosciutto slices
• 12 whole fresh sage leaves

• 2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, and stemmed shiitake), sliced
• 2 large shallots, chopped
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon black truffle oil*
• 1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) chilled butter, diced

• *Available at some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores and Italian markets.

For gnudi:
Line medium bowl with several layers of paper towels. Spoon ricotta cheese into bowl. Let drain at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Beat egg, 1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, and white pepper in large bowl to blend. Mix in ricotta. Sprinkle 3/4 cup flour over and stir gently to blend. Cover and chill dough 1 hour. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Place some flour in bowl. For each gnudi, gently roll 1 heaping teaspoonful of dough into ball. Add to flour; toss to coat lightly, shaping into short log. Place on baking sheet. Do ahead Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; chill.
For sauce and garnishes:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large pot or extra-large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 prosciutto slices. Cook until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels. Repeat with remaining prosciutto. Add whole sage leaves to pot; sauté until crisp, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to paper towels.
Heat remaining 4 tablespoons oil in same pot over medium-high heat. Add all mushrooms, shallots, thyme, and chopped sage. Sauté until mushrooms brown and liquids evaporate, about 12 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. Add broth to same pot and boil until slightly reduced, scraping up browned bits, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon truffle oil and mushroom mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. do ahead Sauce can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
Cook gnudi in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, rewarm sauce. Add butter; toss until blended. Using strainer, transfer gnudi to pot with sauce. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats gnudi. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to large shallow bowl. Crumble prosciutto over. Top with sage leaves; serve with additional Pecorino.


Good luck!

Pork Buns

I love pork buns. I've had them in Chinatown, at Momofuku, at Fatty Crab... I've even made them myself. I think they are absolutely delicious. Perfectly savory pork belly oozing with umami wrapped in a sweet and fluffy steamed bun. I went down to Baohaus last week to try their pork buns. They were cheap and pretty tasty. They dipped them in brown sugar before serving them, and had really tasty little accouterments inside. They didn't have a dipping sauce, which was a draw back. They did have great tea and boiled peanuts, and really tasty fried bread of some sort for dessert. Momofuku's pork buns are legendary, and definitely worth a visit to the noodle bar for a taste. The pork buns that reign supreme, in my humble opinion, are those at Fatty Crab. They serve the buns with a spicy cilantro salad that you stuff inside. Then the dipping sauce is hoisin with a bullseye of Sriracha in the middle. They have the sweet and savory flavor of the others, plus the fresh perk of cilantro and a great heat from the sauce and the Sriracha. Hit all three for a pork bun trip around downtown.

Invent your own ice cream

I've been trying to get down to Lulu and Mooky's for months. I was finally in the neighborhood last Thursday and after a delicious pork bun lunch at Baohaus, I indulged in some ice cream. It's a teeny hole in the wall on Allen Street (129, between Rivington and Delancey). When you walk in, you're met by two kitchen aids, a nice man behind the counter, and hand written signs on the wall filled with possible flavors. There are numerous kinds of fruits, then there are the go-to chocolates, vanillas, and staples of that ilk, and there are also herbs and spices like rosemary, cinnamon, and cardamom. You can invent your own, or you can pick from the Customer Combinations that others have already crafted. Once you pick your flavors, he mixes them into a little cup of cream and then pours the concoction into the kitchen aid. After all the flavors have blended, in goes liquid nitrogen, which causes the silver bowl to spill over with eerie Halloween fog. When the fog subsides and the potion seems done, you are presented with your own hand crafted cup of creamy, delicious (depending on your flavor combination) ice cream.
I mixed fresh cherries with almond extract and cinnamon, which resulted in an ice cream that tasted like cherry pie. My friend Pete got peanut butter, cardamom, and M&Ms. His tasted like a savory Indian treat with a nice sweet smattering of M&Ms.
You may not have the same obsession with ice cream that I do, but if you do get down there before this summer. They just opened in October and in the colder months, there's no wait, but I bet the summer will be lines out the door.

Also, I saw a sign that they cater and I would love to hire them for a summer cocktail party

Stencils

I have some old lamps in my apartment I want to fancy-up. I bought gold and purple spray paint and I've been trying to figure out how to use it. I was thinking stripes, or just a gold base and the rest purple. While brainstorming and searching the internet, I found this great website, Whitewall and Co. They have awesome stencils. Since I'm trying to be cheap now--I'm about to be unemployed--I may do my own stencil. If you want to do that, trace a pattern you like and put it onto some card stock. You can copy fabrics or wall papers or make up designs--simpler/bigger is much easier. For those who don't want to take on the task, try this website. You can use the stencils on walls or lamps or headboards...

Lupa

Yum!! Maybe you've heard of Lupa already--I'm sure you've heard of Babbo. Lupa is one of Mario Batali's less expensive restaurants. It's right nextdoor to delicious Tomoe sushi on Thompson street. You have to make your reservation like a week in advance, and even then it might be at 9:45--so plan ahead. I went with my boyfriend after Christmas and we got what I would consider the best table, by some stroke of luck. We were in the quieter back room in a corner banquette, so we were next to each other but looking out on the room. We had rosemary focaccia and yummy olive oil to start. I had the Buccatini all'amatriciana which was AMAZING. Definitely get it! He had the ricotta gnocchi, which was also great--light and fluffy, putting the usual heavy potato gnocchi to shame. I was too full for dessert, but I almost got this amazing looking ball of icecream covered in chocolate and rolled in hazelnuts. While writing this I'm kicking myself for not trying it. Next time! But definitely try Lupa--it's great.

Cardboardesign

I know it's been forever--holidays and busy at work. For our shoot last week we had this great cardboard chair and palm tree and I checked out the website that made them. It's called cardboardesign and they're really cool. They have tables and chairs and toys etc. The chair we had was pretty comfortable and held up to 300 pounds apparently. It's a fun present for someone because they're easy to paint and decorate. Also good for a casual, modern room. I'm eyeing the toddler chair for my niece--look at the pictures of it painted. That or the playhouse. Browse around--it's fun to look at.

More soon...