It has quickly become the end of tomato season, and we find ourselves moving quite fast into the savory harvest of fall. Not all hope is lost for our heirloom obsessions though.
In this in between moment of the year, try combining the crunchy and the cured. A salad at Blue Hill at Stone Barns led to the joyful discovery of mixing the last of the heirloom tomatoes with high quality jars of sun-dried varieties.
Sort through your basket of cherry tomatoes and select only the good ones. Chop them in half and supplement the number over ripe ones with chopped sun dried flecks. Incorporate some of the oil from the jar while tossing the tomato pair.
The result is sophisticated flavor from one very simple ingredient.
Saturday, October 7, 2006
Nintendo Takes Its Place in the Kitchen
Japan has always been a few steps ahead in games and electronics. The cell phones, the electronic toys, and the cameras make ours look like they are from the stone ages. So, when I recently saw a new Nintendo “game” only available in Japan, I realized that Japan’s advances are infiltrating far beyond text messaging and high resolutions pictures of kittens.
The Nintendo DS (dual screen), a semi-recently released Game Boy for the modern kid, offers more than just Tetris and Mario games. It provides “adult functions,” too. The DS Cooking Navigator looks like any game cartridge. But load it into your DS and you’ll be doing more than fighting villains and capturing princesses.
The Cooking Navigator helps you prepare over 200 Japanese meals, from sushi to mushroom miso soup. The cook can browse recipes by calories, ingredients, or type of dish. Then, by selecting a serving size, the DS guides the user through a shopping list and step-by-step instructions for meal preparation. If your DS is near the sink and you are at your chopping block, you can use the voice activation feature to move through your personal cooking lesson by speaking to the monitor!
Each step of the recipe features a picture to illustrate the phase: how to chop, sear, sauté, and boil. If everyone had the DS Cooking Navigator, The Dish’s Dishes might find itself out of business! Luckily for now, the program is only in Japanese characters and dialogue! To see a demo, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtEBzRb5G9Q
The Nintendo DS (dual screen), a semi-recently released Game Boy for the modern kid, offers more than just Tetris and Mario games. It provides “adult functions,” too. The DS Cooking Navigator looks like any game cartridge. But load it into your DS and you’ll be doing more than fighting villains and capturing princesses.
The Cooking Navigator helps you prepare over 200 Japanese meals, from sushi to mushroom miso soup. The cook can browse recipes by calories, ingredients, or type of dish. Then, by selecting a serving size, the DS guides the user through a shopping list and step-by-step instructions for meal preparation. If your DS is near the sink and you are at your chopping block, you can use the voice activation feature to move through your personal cooking lesson by speaking to the monitor!
Each step of the recipe features a picture to illustrate the phase: how to chop, sear, sauté, and boil. If everyone had the DS Cooking Navigator, The Dish’s Dishes might find itself out of business! Luckily for now, the program is only in Japanese characters and dialogue! To see a demo, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtEBzRb5G9Q
Chowing Down on Cincinnati Night
I grew up in Cincinnati. Though the Midwest may not be glamorous, I am proud to know about a few Ohio pleasures.
First of all, Cincinnati has Graeters Ice Cream. A French pot process of pouring molten chocolate into freezing, churning cream yields massive irregular chocolate chunks. Second, there is Skyline Chili. The secret recipe is packed with elements of chocolate and spice and is served over spaghetti and hot dogs. There’s LaRosa’s Pizza, which should get honorable mention, though pizza is a touchy subject for New Yorkers.
I mention these delicacies not to brag or taunt, but to entice you to go to Cincinnati Night at Edward’s restaurant in TriBeCa. Once a month, the Cincinnati-born and bred owners get all the goods shipped to the Big Apple. Cincinnatians pack in to devour their hometown comfort food. It’s an ebullient sight to be seen, especially since the Bengals are doing well this year.
The next ‘Nati Night is October 23rd, the day after our boys play The Panthers at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time ever.
First of all, Cincinnati has Graeters Ice Cream. A French pot process of pouring molten chocolate into freezing, churning cream yields massive irregular chocolate chunks. Second, there is Skyline Chili. The secret recipe is packed with elements of chocolate and spice and is served over spaghetti and hot dogs. There’s LaRosa’s Pizza, which should get honorable mention, though pizza is a touchy subject for New Yorkers.
I mention these delicacies not to brag or taunt, but to entice you to go to Cincinnati Night at Edward’s restaurant in TriBeCa. Once a month, the Cincinnati-born and bred owners get all the goods shipped to the Big Apple. Cincinnatians pack in to devour their hometown comfort food. It’s an ebullient sight to be seen, especially since the Bengals are doing well this year.
The next ‘Nati Night is October 23rd, the day after our boys play The Panthers at Paul Brown Stadium for the first time ever.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Grand Confusion on Sullivan Street
In the middle of the summer, partners Monica Von Thun Calderón and Jim Lahey went their separate ways: he taking Sullivan Street Bakery’s Hell’s Kitchen location and she taking its namesake spot.
Monica changed the name of her bakery to Grandaisy (an homage to her grandmother). And, since then, it’s been a frenzied confusion of the implications of the new moniker. Rest assured, she may have hung a beautiful new logo, but she continues to make the same delicious breads and pastries. People were skeptical to have a Pizza Patate from the “new” bakery, but don’t fret, the recipes remain the same. The breads are as flawless and as fresh as they have always been.
Lahey’s uptown bakery continues to operate as Sullivan Street Bakery but word on the street he’s just applied for a liquor license… to be continued…
Monica changed the name of her bakery to Grandaisy (an homage to her grandmother). And, since then, it’s been a frenzied confusion of the implications of the new moniker. Rest assured, she may have hung a beautiful new logo, but she continues to make the same delicious breads and pastries. People were skeptical to have a Pizza Patate from the “new” bakery, but don’t fret, the recipes remain the same. The breads are as flawless and as fresh as they have always been.
Lahey’s uptown bakery continues to operate as Sullivan Street Bakery but word on the street he’s just applied for a liquor license… to be continued…
Toasting and Roasting JP’s Nutty Pasta
On my birthday, my friend, JP, presented me with a stockpot filled with delicious orzo. It seemed excessive at first; however, soon my guests and I were scraping the bottom of the pot. While the birthday feast may have been over a month ago, I’ve been salivating over the recipe ever since. Here, JP exposes his secret concoction, which he says is an adaptation of a Mark Bittman recipe.
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces
4-6 anchovy fillets with oil
1/2 cup plus one tbsp olive oil
2 tbsps minced garlic, and dissolve
Fresh ground black pepper
1-2 Chives, chopped
1/4 lbs grated Parmesan
1 lb. orzo
Italian parsley
1.Preheat oven to 400. Toss tomatoes in 1 tbsp olive oil and spread on a sheet pan. Roast them until blistery: about 20-30 minutes. Set aside.
2.Boil water and cook 1 lb. orzo as directed. Drain, but reserve a little pasta water if possible.
3.Toast 1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces in a small pan on the stove. Remove from pan and set these aside as well.
4.In the pan, combine 4-6 anchovy fillets with their oil, 1/2 cup oil, and 2 tbsps minced garlic, and dissolve the anchovies using the back of a fork. Add several twists of freshly ground black pepper and the chives. Add a bit of the pasta water (about 1/4-1/2 cup) and boil it down.
5.Add the walnuts after about 5 minutes. Mix. Set Aside.
6.Combine pasta, the walnut-anchovy mixture, Parmesan, and the tomatoes in bowl, mix, and snip on some Italian parsley, generously. Serve.
4-6 Servings.
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces
4-6 anchovy fillets with oil
1/2 cup plus one tbsp olive oil
2 tbsps minced garlic, and dissolve
Fresh ground black pepper
1-2 Chives, chopped
1/4 lbs grated Parmesan
1 lb. orzo
Italian parsley
1.Preheat oven to 400. Toss tomatoes in 1 tbsp olive oil and spread on a sheet pan. Roast them until blistery: about 20-30 minutes. Set aside.
2.Boil water and cook 1 lb. orzo as directed. Drain, but reserve a little pasta water if possible.
3.Toast 1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces in a small pan on the stove. Remove from pan and set these aside as well.
4.In the pan, combine 4-6 anchovy fillets with their oil, 1/2 cup oil, and 2 tbsps minced garlic, and dissolve the anchovies using the back of a fork. Add several twists of freshly ground black pepper and the chives. Add a bit of the pasta water (about 1/4-1/2 cup) and boil it down.
5.Add the walnuts after about 5 minutes. Mix. Set Aside.
6.Combine pasta, the walnut-anchovy mixture, Parmesan, and the tomatoes in bowl, mix, and snip on some Italian parsley, generously. Serve.
4-6 Servings.
Claude, the King of Chocolate Croissants
Everyone in New York should know Claude. He is the man responsible for making the very best chocolate croissants. Period. His croissants are the epitome of ideal texture and taste, integrating that difficult union of flakiness and layered-ness.
At Patisserie Claude, Claude himself works everyday in the back to make perfectly crusty, buttery chocolate croissants. He’s sometimes a little confused, speaking French instead of English in his barebones shop, but he’d never mix up his invincible blend of chocolate and pastry dough. Flaky and brown on the outside, his croissants are surprisingly soft, with fold upon fold of warm dough on the inside. They are perfect morning, noon, and night, but he often runs out by the day’s end.
Everyone should try Claude’s creations, and The Dish’s Dish will deliver them to you!
At Patisserie Claude, Claude himself works everyday in the back to make perfectly crusty, buttery chocolate croissants. He’s sometimes a little confused, speaking French instead of English in his barebones shop, but he’d never mix up his invincible blend of chocolate and pastry dough. Flaky and brown on the outside, his croissants are surprisingly soft, with fold upon fold of warm dough on the inside. They are perfect morning, noon, and night, but he often runs out by the day’s end.
Everyone should try Claude’s creations, and The Dish’s Dish will deliver them to you!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Essential Cinnamon
I add cinnamon to just about everything. I double the amount in my baking, and I toss in at least a pinch of it in the savory dishes I make. Whether it’s lentil soup or braised pork, adding cinnamon to almost anything makes it taste better.
The evergreen tree from which cinnamon is derived comes from Sri Lanka, and it’s the bark of the tree that is ground into the beloved spice. As the bark is ground into bits, it releases an essential oil that gives it the aroma to which we are accustomed.
Cinnamon trees are grown for only two years, at which point they are cut down so that little branches will sprout up from the roots. The outer bark is stripped away to 1/2 mm “quills.” These quills are what we use for stirring our hot chocolate.
The evergreen tree from which cinnamon is derived comes from Sri Lanka, and it’s the bark of the tree that is ground into the beloved spice. As the bark is ground into bits, it releases an essential oil that gives it the aroma to which we are accustomed.
Cinnamon trees are grown for only two years, at which point they are cut down so that little branches will sprout up from the roots. The outer bark is stripped away to 1/2 mm “quills.” These quills are what we use for stirring our hot chocolate.
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