**Before I start this entry, I'd like to thank the people at The Whisk and Ladle AND Harold McGee and his wonderful book "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.' The entry wouldn't be here if it weren't for them.
http://www.thewhiskandladle.com
My roommate, partner in cooking crime, and eventual 'Tompkins' co-owner Anna works with an array of interesting people. One of them is involved with a Supper Club called the Whisk and Ladle. TW&L operates out of a loft apartment in Brooklyn. Normally they do weekly or monthly dinners for reserved guests and small parties. However, a friend of the people that run it asked them to cater their upcoming wedding. When you're feeding 120 people, its going to take more pairs of hands to get the job done. Luckily for Ms Jones, Anna was asked to help out and to bring me along to put my idle hands to work.
After taking the train, a bus, and walking a number of blocks (because we got off the bus too soon, haha) through some beautiful park areas of the city, we arrived at TW&L house around 11:30 am. The apartment itself was unique, or at least in terms of the places I've seen since I've been in the city. It was a bit cluttered due to the size of the task being undertaken, BUT here's an idea of the layout. A staircase splits the main living space as soon as you walk in. On a 45 degree angle to the right side you see a huge island in the middle of the kitchen. This island is topped with a cutting friendly surface and book-ended with more counter space (looks to be added on by the residents of the place itself). Adjacent to the island is literally a wooden swing suspended from the ceiling. Beyond the kitchen is a table then a bar space with stool seating. At a 90- degree angle to the right of the front door is a foyer type area with a full bathroom in the corner. To the left of the staircase is more foyer space and then at a 45 degree angle to the left is the living room. Couches, etc. Beyond that living area is a dining area. Separating the bar area on the right from the dining area on the left is a free standing boxed in room. I'm not sure what/who resides in said boxed room, but on top is storage and a few seats. If you go up the staircase, there's the rest of the living quarters.
Its in this space that the Whisk and Ladle holds its Supper Club dinner and parties...but this particular day, the focus was prepping and cooking for the evening wedding reception following a late afternoon wedding.
I had gotten an idea of what was going to be served from Anna a couple days ahead of time, but wasn't 100% sure of all that was already done OR what still needed to be done. We arrived and were introduced to most of the people that really make up the core of Whisk and Ladle staff.
Right away we were put to work. I was given the task of peeling and pressing a TON of garlic for the 'Trio of Guacamoles' and Anna was in charge of splitting, pitting, and scooping the flesh out of ripe avocados. Pressing and avocado-ing led to small talk and from there we were able to determine more of the dishes that were going to be served for dinner.
In talking with TW&L staff, they said that with a group of people working to come up with a menu, there were alot of great ideas brought to the table for this event. However, the bride and groom were able to weed through the list they were presented with and put together a simple, elegant, and most importantly, LIGHT menu with complimentary flavors.
Appetizers would be laid out and ready for the guests when they arrived around 4:30. This consisted of beef or vegetarian empanadas, an amazing ceviche, and the guacamole trio. The empanadas were all handmade and I had the pleasure of sampling a vegetarian one. It was sweet and savory, filled with sweet potato, peppers, a couple different kinds of squash, and onion. The dough was crispy on the outside and not too dense throughout. A peach salsa was served on the side, but I really don't think it was even necessary. Three different kinds of guacamole were prepped as well: regular, mango, and a black bean and beet version. Served with corn tortilla chips and plantain chips, all three were great! Well balanced, no ingredients overpowering each other, and the beet guac had an amazing burgundy color similar to borscht. I was really impressed with the flavor of the mango because I had tried mango salsa before, but never mixed with avocado. The textures went well together and again, balanced each other out when it came to flavor. Sweet and smooth.
My favorite of all the appetizers HAD to be the ceviche, which had been prepared by the time we got there and was ready to go in a GIANT container. For those of you who don't know, Ceviche is a dish that has it origins in the northers coast of South America. Small cubes (or thin slices) of raw fish are 'cooked' by immersing them in citrus juice and other acidic liquids. Onions, chili peppers, and other seasonings are usually added to the mix and the whole thing is left to marinate for at least a few hours, depending on how much one wants the texture and appearance of the fish to change. As it sits in the acidic bath, the muscle tissues' proteins denature and coagulate and the fish's normally gel like and translucent tissue becomes opaque and firm to the touch. However, it exhibits none of the flavor changes that high temperature cooked fish does. Sounds bizarre when you explain it a-la-Harold McGee, but essentially, the acid in the marinade cooks the fish. Its a giant vat of cold fish stew that you can literally throw it all together and have it all set in a few hours. This particular ceviche used mild white fish (you never want to use something that you wouldn't eat cold and something that takes on flavors particularly well...i've seen it work with lobster and shrimp), lime juice, red onion, and fresh strawberries. Brilliant and refreshing. The fish was soft and melted in your mouth, but was still firm to the point where it didn't flake off the fork. The berries took on the tang of the lime juice exceptionally well...almost like a sour strawberry candy that didn't make your face scrunch up in pleasure (or pain if you are crazy enough NOT to love sour candy). The bar also opened up during the appetizer portion of the night and we watched glasses of chardonnay, homemade sangria, and mojitos empty as the evening went on.
As for the main courses, three pots full of coconut rice were on the stove cooking away when we got to the apartment and Nick was cleaning and cutting Tilapia filets, which would eventually be put in the oven to bake. The rice and TIlapia would be the main fillings to the 'Make Your Own Fish Taco' bar in the middle of the buffet lines at dinner. Other taco toppings included a homemade yogurt-cilantro sauce, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and red onion. Shells would be skillet-warmed corn tortillas.
On either side of the central M-Y-O Fish Taco bar would be salads and two kinds of enchiladas (steak and veggie). The first salad was roasted tomatoes, onions, and avocados on top of field greens. Have I mentioned how much I love the buttery texture of avocados yet? Because I do. The second salad was a crisp and fruity sweet corn and jicama slaw. Jicama is one of those root vegetables that I think everyone should try even if they are skeptical. Lets be honest here, I think everyone should try everything once! Some foods are sorely underappreciated...expand your minds and stomachs people!
Going into Harold McGee mode again, jicama is the swollen storage root of Pachyrhizus erosus (a South American member of the bean family). The highlight of its character is a sturdy crispness, which it even retains after cooking. If i had to compare the crunch of jicama to something, it would probably be along the same lines as Oshiniko (as seen in Japanese cold appetizers and maki rolls) , or a less nutty water chestnut. The spherical root veggie can keep for long periods of time without discoloration...although once you taste it, I'm sure you won't let it sit for very long before devouring it all.
Back to the slaw. The julienned jicama was tossed with diced mango, sweet corn, cilantro, and I even discovered grapefruit in the mix. Needless to say, the color was as vibrant and bright as the taste. The third was a black bean salad with onions and tomatoes. Balancing out the jicama and corn slaw, this bean salad had a a vinegary taste and smell to it, kind of like a black bean relish. Still wonderfully light for the amazingly humid and sunny afternoon/evening. I cant say anything about the enchiladas because I didn't sample them. But everything I heard from folks was that they were a huge hit.
SO that was the first and main course of the whole meal. Dessert was done in the perfect manner. Light and simple, just like everything else that had been done that afternoon/evening. Guests had their choice of one of (or both, lol) homemade Key Lime Pie with fresh whipped cream and Tres Leches cake topped with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. If you look up Tres Leches (cake of three milks) up on Wikipedia...this is what you'll find. And I quote: "A Tres leches cake, or Pastel de Tres leches cake is literally a cake soaked in three kinds of milk: condensed, evaporated, and either whole milk or heavy cream. Since butter is not often used in in the cake itself, tres leches is a very light cake, with many air bubbles. This distinct texture is why, although it is soaked in a mixture of three types of milk, it does not have a soggy consistency." If you read further, you'll discover that this cake has origins in (or disputed origins) Mexico and Nicaragua and is quite popular in many areas of Latin America, which makes it a no-brainer for this wedding menu. The air pockets in the cake absorb all the liquid and makes it taste so rich while being gentle on the stomach. I'd liken it to a super moist, but not soaked, pound cake. Fabulous. The Key Lime pie was amazing as well, playing off the bright, crisp flavors in each part of the full meal.
Judging from the faces of the guests, they were unbelievably happy with the entire day. A beautiful wedding day just made that much better by sharing an amazing meal with the ones you love. Rather touching I'd say. Again, thank you SO SO SO much to everyone at the Whisk and Ladle for allowing me to be a small part of a hugely successful undertaking. They are so passionate about what they do and it really shows. They are completely professional and on top of their game and you saw that from the start of the day to the very end. If there's anything similar to a Supper Club around your personal area, I highly encourage you guys to check it out. They're like diamonds in the rough, you know?
ps - **I may have gotten a couple ingredients wrong here...because some of the prep work I wasn't able to actually see...
Next up....the good and the bad about school at the FCI.....stay tuned!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
First NYC eats Reviews
Now since I've been in the city, I've had the chance to check out a few places around where I live and a couple further out. The first night I got into town, I swung by a place called Soho. Its directly next to a 24 hour gym and caters to that crowd ALOT. Fresh salads, custom made to order, breakfast served all day, killer wraps, and fabulous healthy options. I had a grilled vegetable wrap with roasted red peppers, portabello mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, and mesculun greens. All this was grilled then tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette on a garlic wrap. I was totally impressed at the freshness of the ingredients and the HUGE selection they had catering to people with different dietary needs. Breakfasts of egg white omelets, fresh oatmeal with an array of fruit toppings, whole grain pancakes and waffles...it pays off to be connected with a fitness center. They even offer free delivery and a smoothie bar. The owner, Peter, is super nice too. I have been back there twice so far. Once for a salad after a late night out and once for breakfast when my father was in town. Chances are, that place will be my best friend after school lets out at 8:30pm.
The roommate and I have also been making frequent trips to Kumo, a japanese restaurant on Ditmars. Cash only, but they offer a huge selection of sushi and sashimi at incredibly reasonable prices. This is one of the rare japanese places where you can say you really got what you paid for. I've had the wakame, veggie rolls, lobster roll, yellowtail scallion roll, and found my hands down, favorite roll: the Angel Roll. Black pepper tuna & crunch inside with eel, salmon, avocado, and tobiko on top. 8 giant pieces for $8.25. They also do free delivery and check out their lunch specials if you can.
My first friday in the city, Anna and I had reservations at Les Halles on John St. Yes, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles. Now before you start thinking everything has to be out of this world haute cuisine and exorbitantly priced...Les Halles is a Brasserie. A Brasserie is a café doubling as a restaurant with a relaxed setting. In the laid back atmosphere, it serves single dishes and other meals. The service is profession though, and they do have printed menus (unlike a bistro, which may have neither). Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and the same menu is served all day. The word 'brasserie' is also French for brewery, by extension, "the brewing business". All these principles hold true to Les Halles. They are open 7 days a week, serve Lunch and Dinner nonstop from 11:30am - midnight, and now even offer breakfast Monday - Friday at 7:30 am. Walking inside was inviting. The lights were low, but not too low as to where you couldn't see your meal or the person across from you. Dark woods, matching walls, and tiny white cloth covered tables squeezed so close even Anna and I had to move them to get into the back seats! Our waiter was more than patient as we debated between mussels and pommes frites...even more helpful once he noticed (from licenses) that we were from Ohio. I had the Salade d'Avocat et Crevettes (grilled shrimp and avocado with a lemon vinaigrette) and a side of legumes grills (duh, girlled veggies). Anna went with Les Halles Fitness, which was a selection of 5 vegetables as well as 6 oz of your choice of beef, chicken, fish, or shrimp. I think the simplicity of Brasserie food is what you really have to look at. Its not hard to prepare, but its delicious if its done well. Here, it was done well. The vegetables were crisp but not undercooked, the shrimp were great sized and tender, and my lemon vinaigrette matched the creamy texture of the avocado topped with the crunch of frisee and a bit of mixed greens. Anna's 'Fitness' had about 6 french fries on the plate, which Les Halles offers with most of their meat courses and even with the full orders of mussels. We were actually a little disappointed with their texture and taste...BUT really...they're french fries. So we liked it for the mood that was set inside and the artwork on the walls, and the simple dishes done well. Doubt we'd go out of our way to go back again, but we're such Bourdain freaks that we had to investigate at least once. Next time, if there is one...we'll do brunch for sure.
Just a short walk from Les Halles was our next stop: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Anna and I are both loyal fans of Wow Cow softserve, which is hearbreaking news to the Tasti-D stores in the area. Its also the reason we've got a Cuisinart soft serve machine in the pantry and actual Wow Cow mix to make whenever we please. But we've started a new tradition in our new place, we're going to treat ourselves big time once a month. Now this culinary treat might be going for pancakes or a slice of Juniors Cheescake (maybe in September, haha), but this time it was REAL hard-pack ice cream. There's standard flavors at CIF as well as rotating new creations and sorbets. They even have Taro and Lychee flavors! I went with a scoop of Black Cherry Pistachio and a scoop of the new Zen Butter. This was peanut butter ice cream with toasted sesame seeds mixed in. Anna went with the Zen Butter and the Almond Cookie that had pieces of fortune cookie throughout. We take our ice cream very seriously since we don't have it often...and the Zen Butter really gave us that moment of Zen. I don't think either of us 1) said a word to each other and 2) looked up to see where we were walking because we were so engrossed in ice cream heaven. Worth the splurge? Most definitely.
My father and his culinary ambition arrived a few days after I did, but he came with the rest of my worldly possessions. Once all was unpacked, we just took it easy and hit up Kumo because we knew it had to be good. The next morning, we went to the much hailed Mike's Diner on Ditmars for breakfast before heading to Yankee Stadium. Mikes is open 24 hours and you can get breakfast anytime you want. (Which you thankfully see alot here. Seeing as breakfast is my favorite meal of the day...) Along the same lines as Soho, lots of healthier options when it comes to morning meals. Egg whites, fruit, waffles, etc. They also offer things like a Mediterranean Breakfast, which is waffles, pancakes, or french toast topped with greek yogurt, honey, walnuts and fresh fruit, Their french toast is made with either Challah or Multi Grain bread and for those a little less worried about what they're eating, have the traditional Irish Breakfst with black & white pudding. gulp.
A full lunch, dinner, and dessert menu is offered as well.
Dad had the 'Lumberjack' with 3 pancakes, two eggs, and breakfast meat. He also ended up eating my potatoes that came with my breakfast, even though I asked them not to put them on the plate. I had the garden omelet with my choice of fillings. (i chose broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and zucchini) with a dry english muffin and fruit on the side. The fruit was decent sized for $3.50 and had citrus fruits, grapes, pineapple, and melon. The omelet was HUGE and there, for a change, were recognizable chunks of my vegetable selection inside of it. Impressive and hot sauce rounded everything out nicely. Taking a look at the potatoes that I pawned off on Dad, they were chunky and pan fried as well, with peppers and onions. And they smelled terrific as well. Thumbs up for Mikes Diner. I went there recently for dinner and picked up the Veggie Breakfast Wrap with egg whites, peppers, onions, tomato, broccoli, and mushrooms. Thankfully they were able to cram that all into a fresh tortilla.
Another stop on my culinary tour with Dad was Charley O's in the Hells Kitchen area near Times Square. We went there after browsing the area a bit with Jessica and Joe Carter (not the baseball player). Its got two locations (we went to the one on 8th Ave and 45th Street) and has been around for over 50 years. Because of the area it was in, it was more expensive than any place I've been in the city so far. Not usually my style, but it was decent for what it was. The waitstaff was super helpful and my salmon just fell apart. It was served on sauteed spinach and topped with green olives, capers, and tomatoes. My dining companions had pasta dishes with meat, so I can't attest to their flavor but nothing was sent back. The only complaint my dad had was there was too much (what?!) mozarella on his fried eggplant. Was it that or the fact that the meal itself was HUGE?! Hmmmm...
Later that night, we hit up a comedy club with the Carters and Joe was able to get the dessert he had been wanting all night. A slice of Juniors Cheesecake. I referenced it earlier as a possible upcoming splurge for the Ms Jones Kitchen staff, and it will be well worth it. The slice was gigantic, browned in all the right spots, and the crust was moist, but not mushy. Personally, my favorite part of any cheesecake is where the cake meets the round edge of the pan. You know, the part you run a knife around before popping the sides of the springform pan. A golden brown color lined this part of the slice, so you knew that it was going to be perfectly cooked. Creamy, decadent...Juniors makes a whole line of specialty and seasonal cheesecakes as well as pastries too. One of these days, we'll be reviewing their Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake, which is yellow cake encasing layers of whipped cream and fresh strawberries and a center of strawberry cheesecake. Its like my two biggest dessert indulgences had a high calorie baby.
Dad's final full day in NYC was a great one culinarily (is that even a word) speaking. We got our breakfast at Soho (egg white omelet, english muffin, and fruit for me. Omelet, toast, taters, and banana oatmeal for Dad) then set off for more sightseeing. In the middle of the day we grabbed snacks at Chelsea Market...I recommend the Semolina Sesame rolls from Amy's Bread...and continued on our way. We were supposed to make reservations at L'Ecole (the FCI's student run restaurant) but because of the horrible weather and a change to Anna's work schedule, we cancelled them. I think it was for the best 1) because I want my folks to experience that aspect of my school together and 2) we went to Taverna Kyclades instead. I had watched the lines at this place be consistently out the door each and every night since I moved to Astoria. Anna went there with her mother once and said there's a good reason for that. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for the table and the service was amazing from the start. Very helpful waitstaff and they brought piping hot bread to you along with your drinks. Taverna specializes in Greek cuisine with special attention to seafood. Lots of Mediterranean appetizers, like the Lima Beans in Tomato Sauce that my father ordered. Their sides are unusual as far as regular restaurant sides go, but the norm when referencing Greek style cuisine. The Roasted Lemon Potatoes are cooked to the point that they look like mangos when they are brought out. Other options are Steamed Dandelions and Sliced Beets. Anna and I decided to split the small Peasant Salad (which was like a meal in itself) with cucumbers, Kalamata olives, onions, tomatoes, and (2 GIANT blocks) of fresh feta. For entrees, she ordered the Grilled Whiting with Dandelions (basically just like collard or mustard greens) and I decided on the Broiled Scallops and Beets. To come after his giant plate of Lima Beans, Dad got Grilled Baby Shark with Garlic Dip and rice on the side. I'm not sure how he finished it all honestly. Anna and I ended up having enough food for two days afterwards. The only part of our meals that she and I finished were the beets, which were served with whole garlic cloves. Each piece of seafood was perfectly cooked and melted as you chewed. No fancy seasoning was needed, just a little vinegar for the Dandelion greens and we were in heaven! At the end of the meal when we thought we couldn't eat any more, the waitress brought us two surprises. Over the course of waitress/customer conversation, it was established that none of us had been there before and Anna and I were really new to the Astoria area. So she brought all THREE of us huge Taverna Kyclades coffee mugs to take home AND complimentary dessert. It was hard to figure out what it was and she wouldn't give away any information besides the fact that there was semolina in it. In dissecting my mound of sweets, we discovered that it was encased in a few sheets of phyllo puff pastry dough and drizzled with cinnamon and honey. The filling was warm and to the naked eye it looked like a custard-like cream but it actually had the texture of cream of wheat (where the semolina comes in). It was light, but none of us (except Dad) was able to polish that off after a stellar feast like the one we had to take home with us in doggy bags. Taverna Kyclades is open for lunch and does free delivery. http://www.tavernakyclades.com
Since then, we've mainly been cooking at home. Broiling tomatoes, grilling fresh fish...its so nice to have produce and fish markets literally at the corner of every street so you can grab what you need on the way home from work. We did go to one Japanese restaurant, Mottsu, on Mott Street in Soho before going over to Crash Mansion for a show. The highlight of that trip was the Nolita roll. Roasted red peppers, olives, and garlic. Little Italy in seaweed. We'd rather go to Kumo for the taste and for the value really.
Other cooking adventures had in our rumpus room so far have been experimenting with the Cuisinart and Wow Cow mix. First trial run was with Angel Food Cake flavoring. Its never going to compare with the commercial grade machines that work hard at Mr Freeze, but after mixing (or maybe over mixing) and allowing more set up time in the freezer, we had our Wow Cow feast! Its going to take a couple more trial runs to get the consistency right, but we are well on our way to homemade guilt free frozen yogurt anytime we want!
So far NYC food has done nothing but excite me. I have one more update to get to before diving headfirst into the Classic Pastry Arts program at the French Culinary Institute (ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!). This will come in the next day or so and its going to cover the Whisk and Ladle SupperClub's take on a wedding feast.
Any suggestions for spots in the city I should taste and review? Let me know!
The roommate and I have also been making frequent trips to Kumo, a japanese restaurant on Ditmars. Cash only, but they offer a huge selection of sushi and sashimi at incredibly reasonable prices. This is one of the rare japanese places where you can say you really got what you paid for. I've had the wakame, veggie rolls, lobster roll, yellowtail scallion roll, and found my hands down, favorite roll: the Angel Roll. Black pepper tuna & crunch inside with eel, salmon, avocado, and tobiko on top. 8 giant pieces for $8.25. They also do free delivery and check out their lunch specials if you can.
My first friday in the city, Anna and I had reservations at Les Halles on John St. Yes, Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles. Now before you start thinking everything has to be out of this world haute cuisine and exorbitantly priced...Les Halles is a Brasserie. A Brasserie is a café doubling as a restaurant with a relaxed setting. In the laid back atmosphere, it serves single dishes and other meals. The service is profession though, and they do have printed menus (unlike a bistro, which may have neither). Typically, a brasserie is open every day of the week and the same menu is served all day. The word 'brasserie' is also French for brewery, by extension, "the brewing business". All these principles hold true to Les Halles. They are open 7 days a week, serve Lunch and Dinner nonstop from 11:30am - midnight, and now even offer breakfast Monday - Friday at 7:30 am. Walking inside was inviting. The lights were low, but not too low as to where you couldn't see your meal or the person across from you. Dark woods, matching walls, and tiny white cloth covered tables squeezed so close even Anna and I had to move them to get into the back seats! Our waiter was more than patient as we debated between mussels and pommes frites...even more helpful once he noticed (from licenses) that we were from Ohio. I had the Salade d'Avocat et Crevettes (grilled shrimp and avocado with a lemon vinaigrette) and a side of legumes grills (duh, girlled veggies). Anna went with Les Halles Fitness, which was a selection of 5 vegetables as well as 6 oz of your choice of beef, chicken, fish, or shrimp. I think the simplicity of Brasserie food is what you really have to look at. Its not hard to prepare, but its delicious if its done well. Here, it was done well. The vegetables were crisp but not undercooked, the shrimp were great sized and tender, and my lemon vinaigrette matched the creamy texture of the avocado topped with the crunch of frisee and a bit of mixed greens. Anna's 'Fitness' had about 6 french fries on the plate, which Les Halles offers with most of their meat courses and even with the full orders of mussels. We were actually a little disappointed with their texture and taste...BUT really...they're french fries. So we liked it for the mood that was set inside and the artwork on the walls, and the simple dishes done well. Doubt we'd go out of our way to go back again, but we're such Bourdain freaks that we had to investigate at least once. Next time, if there is one...we'll do brunch for sure.
Just a short walk from Les Halles was our next stop: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Anna and I are both loyal fans of Wow Cow softserve, which is hearbreaking news to the Tasti-D stores in the area. Its also the reason we've got a Cuisinart soft serve machine in the pantry and actual Wow Cow mix to make whenever we please. But we've started a new tradition in our new place, we're going to treat ourselves big time once a month. Now this culinary treat might be going for pancakes or a slice of Juniors Cheescake (maybe in September, haha), but this time it was REAL hard-pack ice cream. There's standard flavors at CIF as well as rotating new creations and sorbets. They even have Taro and Lychee flavors! I went with a scoop of Black Cherry Pistachio and a scoop of the new Zen Butter. This was peanut butter ice cream with toasted sesame seeds mixed in. Anna went with the Zen Butter and the Almond Cookie that had pieces of fortune cookie throughout. We take our ice cream very seriously since we don't have it often...and the Zen Butter really gave us that moment of Zen. I don't think either of us 1) said a word to each other and 2) looked up to see where we were walking because we were so engrossed in ice cream heaven. Worth the splurge? Most definitely.
My father and his culinary ambition arrived a few days after I did, but he came with the rest of my worldly possessions. Once all was unpacked, we just took it easy and hit up Kumo because we knew it had to be good. The next morning, we went to the much hailed Mike's Diner on Ditmars for breakfast before heading to Yankee Stadium. Mikes is open 24 hours and you can get breakfast anytime you want. (Which you thankfully see alot here. Seeing as breakfast is my favorite meal of the day...) Along the same lines as Soho, lots of healthier options when it comes to morning meals. Egg whites, fruit, waffles, etc. They also offer things like a Mediterranean Breakfast, which is waffles, pancakes, or french toast topped with greek yogurt, honey, walnuts and fresh fruit, Their french toast is made with either Challah or Multi Grain bread and for those a little less worried about what they're eating, have the traditional Irish Breakfst with black & white pudding. gulp.
A full lunch, dinner, and dessert menu is offered as well.
Dad had the 'Lumberjack' with 3 pancakes, two eggs, and breakfast meat. He also ended up eating my potatoes that came with my breakfast, even though I asked them not to put them on the plate. I had the garden omelet with my choice of fillings. (i chose broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and zucchini) with a dry english muffin and fruit on the side. The fruit was decent sized for $3.50 and had citrus fruits, grapes, pineapple, and melon. The omelet was HUGE and there, for a change, were recognizable chunks of my vegetable selection inside of it. Impressive and hot sauce rounded everything out nicely. Taking a look at the potatoes that I pawned off on Dad, they were chunky and pan fried as well, with peppers and onions. And they smelled terrific as well. Thumbs up for Mikes Diner. I went there recently for dinner and picked up the Veggie Breakfast Wrap with egg whites, peppers, onions, tomato, broccoli, and mushrooms. Thankfully they were able to cram that all into a fresh tortilla.
Another stop on my culinary tour with Dad was Charley O's in the Hells Kitchen area near Times Square. We went there after browsing the area a bit with Jessica and Joe Carter (not the baseball player). Its got two locations (we went to the one on 8th Ave and 45th Street) and has been around for over 50 years. Because of the area it was in, it was more expensive than any place I've been in the city so far. Not usually my style, but it was decent for what it was. The waitstaff was super helpful and my salmon just fell apart. It was served on sauteed spinach and topped with green olives, capers, and tomatoes. My dining companions had pasta dishes with meat, so I can't attest to their flavor but nothing was sent back. The only complaint my dad had was there was too much (what?!) mozarella on his fried eggplant. Was it that or the fact that the meal itself was HUGE?! Hmmmm...
Later that night, we hit up a comedy club with the Carters and Joe was able to get the dessert he had been wanting all night. A slice of Juniors Cheesecake. I referenced it earlier as a possible upcoming splurge for the Ms Jones Kitchen staff, and it will be well worth it. The slice was gigantic, browned in all the right spots, and the crust was moist, but not mushy. Personally, my favorite part of any cheesecake is where the cake meets the round edge of the pan. You know, the part you run a knife around before popping the sides of the springform pan. A golden brown color lined this part of the slice, so you knew that it was going to be perfectly cooked. Creamy, decadent...Juniors makes a whole line of specialty and seasonal cheesecakes as well as pastries too. One of these days, we'll be reviewing their Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake, which is yellow cake encasing layers of whipped cream and fresh strawberries and a center of strawberry cheesecake. Its like my two biggest dessert indulgences had a high calorie baby.
Dad's final full day in NYC was a great one culinarily (is that even a word) speaking. We got our breakfast at Soho (egg white omelet, english muffin, and fruit for me. Omelet, toast, taters, and banana oatmeal for Dad) then set off for more sightseeing. In the middle of the day we grabbed snacks at Chelsea Market...I recommend the Semolina Sesame rolls from Amy's Bread...and continued on our way. We were supposed to make reservations at L'Ecole (the FCI's student run restaurant) but because of the horrible weather and a change to Anna's work schedule, we cancelled them. I think it was for the best 1) because I want my folks to experience that aspect of my school together and 2) we went to Taverna Kyclades instead. I had watched the lines at this place be consistently out the door each and every night since I moved to Astoria. Anna went there with her mother once and said there's a good reason for that. We only had to wait about 15 minutes for the table and the service was amazing from the start. Very helpful waitstaff and they brought piping hot bread to you along with your drinks. Taverna specializes in Greek cuisine with special attention to seafood. Lots of Mediterranean appetizers, like the Lima Beans in Tomato Sauce that my father ordered. Their sides are unusual as far as regular restaurant sides go, but the norm when referencing Greek style cuisine. The Roasted Lemon Potatoes are cooked to the point that they look like mangos when they are brought out. Other options are Steamed Dandelions and Sliced Beets. Anna and I decided to split the small Peasant Salad (which was like a meal in itself) with cucumbers, Kalamata olives, onions, tomatoes, and (2 GIANT blocks) of fresh feta. For entrees, she ordered the Grilled Whiting with Dandelions (basically just like collard or mustard greens) and I decided on the Broiled Scallops and Beets. To come after his giant plate of Lima Beans, Dad got Grilled Baby Shark with Garlic Dip and rice on the side. I'm not sure how he finished it all honestly. Anna and I ended up having enough food for two days afterwards. The only part of our meals that she and I finished were the beets, which were served with whole garlic cloves. Each piece of seafood was perfectly cooked and melted as you chewed. No fancy seasoning was needed, just a little vinegar for the Dandelion greens and we were in heaven! At the end of the meal when we thought we couldn't eat any more, the waitress brought us two surprises. Over the course of waitress/customer conversation, it was established that none of us had been there before and Anna and I were really new to the Astoria area. So she brought all THREE of us huge Taverna Kyclades coffee mugs to take home AND complimentary dessert. It was hard to figure out what it was and she wouldn't give away any information besides the fact that there was semolina in it. In dissecting my mound of sweets, we discovered that it was encased in a few sheets of phyllo puff pastry dough and drizzled with cinnamon and honey. The filling was warm and to the naked eye it looked like a custard-like cream but it actually had the texture of cream of wheat (where the semolina comes in). It was light, but none of us (except Dad) was able to polish that off after a stellar feast like the one we had to take home with us in doggy bags. Taverna Kyclades is open for lunch and does free delivery. http://www.tavernakyclades.com
Since then, we've mainly been cooking at home. Broiling tomatoes, grilling fresh fish...its so nice to have produce and fish markets literally at the corner of every street so you can grab what you need on the way home from work. We did go to one Japanese restaurant, Mottsu, on Mott Street in Soho before going over to Crash Mansion for a show. The highlight of that trip was the Nolita roll. Roasted red peppers, olives, and garlic. Little Italy in seaweed. We'd rather go to Kumo for the taste and for the value really.
Other cooking adventures had in our rumpus room so far have been experimenting with the Cuisinart and Wow Cow mix. First trial run was with Angel Food Cake flavoring. Its never going to compare with the commercial grade machines that work hard at Mr Freeze, but after mixing (or maybe over mixing) and allowing more set up time in the freezer, we had our Wow Cow feast! Its going to take a couple more trial runs to get the consistency right, but we are well on our way to homemade guilt free frozen yogurt anytime we want!
So far NYC food has done nothing but excite me. I have one more update to get to before diving headfirst into the Classic Pastry Arts program at the French Culinary Institute (ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!). This will come in the next day or so and its going to cover the Whisk and Ladle SupperClub's take on a wedding feast.
Any suggestions for spots in the city I should taste and review? Let me know!
Friday, July 27, 2007
Last Days in Eastlake and Ohio...
Hello from NYC! So now that much of my entire life has been picked up and relocated to the city (and that many of my kitchen utensils have been successfully unpacked) I can start to tell you about my culinary adventures over the past few weeks.
Our story begins in Cleveland for the Rib Burn Off 2007. The lovely Mrs. Lindsay Bierman and myself made up Team Delicious in the competition. But more about that in a few. Personally, I made a couple dishes for everyone to enjoy and one in particular for a single guest. The Texas Cole Slaw from the Memorial Day 2007 feast made a comeback appearance for the festivities because its a total crowd winner. Here's the basics of it:
SLAW:
1 head Napa cabbage, chopped
4 large carrots, shredded
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
8 oz toasted pecans, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
*the original recipe had a garnish of fresh mint...we didn't use it in this batch*
DRESSING:
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp sugar
4 oz sour cream (you could use creme fraiche instead...my version used fat free sour cream)
1/3 c extra virgin olive oil
1 orange, juiced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp caynenne pepper
kosher salt & pepper to taste
Super simple and really great all together. The dressing has just enough sweetness to balance the tart flavor of the apples and onion flavor and the cayenne pepper hits you at the right moment after swallowing each crisp clean bite!
I also ventured into the realm of Key Lime Pie. The couple that lives next door to my parents in Ohio, Sue & Denny...are absolutely amazing folks. The RBO '07 wouldn't have happened and the RBO tradition itself wouldn't have started if it wasn't for them. Sue's dad LOVES Key Lime Pie. So the last time I saw him, a couple weeks before the big party, I promised him his own pie. As the event drew closer and closer, I realized that it was was more feasible for me to make that pie rather than do the entire BBQ themed cake I was going to attempt. The time didn't allow for alot of fuss and it wasn't really worth it for me to unpack all of my kitchen supplies to make a cake at this point before the move. I actually ended up making this pie twice, because the first time it was with condensed milk that had been in the cabinets for a really long time. Now condensed milk doesn't 'go bad.' It just looks that way over time. So the milk from the old cans had a caramel color to it and so did the resulting pie filling. IT still tasted great, but just looked like a caramel custard as opposed to a Key Lime filling. So the second time through, new cans of of the Borden's were used and the filling was a lovely light yellow. The crust was a basic graham cracker:
1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c sugar
4 tsbp melted butter
This bakes in a 375 oven for about 15 minutes and will really brown up and make the whole kitchen smell like cookies.
The filling was quick to prepare as well:
2 14oz cans condensed milk (note: condensed milk always comes sweetened. I didn't know that)
1 c Key Lime juice
2 whole eggs
*You could have used regular lime juice as well, but I think the Key Lime juice is a bit more pungent and adds more of a punch overall to the pie. All you really need is elbow grease to whisk the condensed milk smooth with the eggs and lime juice. It is balanced out with the topping:
1 c sour cream (again, I used the fat free variety)
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsbp lime zest
This looked just as good as it tasted! I was going to use Splenda in the crust, but I'm glad I didn't because I don't think it would have held up as well as it did with regular sugar. The only wait time involved in it is the time you need to chill the baked crust before you put the filling (not the topping) the shell and the minimum of 2 hours the filled shell needs to chill in the refrigerator before putting the topping on. You are also supposed to chill the whole thing, topping and zest and all before serving, but I think its sturdy enough for you to go right from topping to table.
I gave Sue's dad the pie. He hid it from the rest of the party guests and took it home. I got the empty pie plate back about 2 days later. I think he liked it.
Onto the Ribs. The Missers and I took 3rd place in our debut year, so this year it was time to expand and improve our repertoire. This time around, we got a gorgeous rack of pork spare ribs at Rudy's Meats in Willowick. Thanks to the fast mind and hands of Lindsay, we had decided on a pineapple flavor for the ribs and we also went with a 24 hour brine of kosher salt, black pepper, and water. The sauce failed its first test run, we're not quite sure why, but it may have had something to do with eyeballed measurements and I'm thinking the addition of teriyaki sauce. No worries though, the second go round is what we went with.
1/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c flour
1/4 c white vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
14oz crushed canned pineapple (we used no added sugar pineapple chunks that we crushed in a food processor)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt (we used regular table salt)
1/8 tsp black pepper
It might have seemed disconcerting to the eye because it was more of a rose color as opposed to the deep hue of regular BBQ sauce. However, the sweet heat was super prevalent. Note to those of you who don't want to use the juice that's in the canned pineapple - 14oz is the entire amount of pineapple in the large can! Or 1 3/4 cup of fresh crushed pineapple. Who knew Ms Jones could do math!? The best thing about it was the peppery aftertaste that even just 1/8 tsp left you with!
We brined the meat overnight, then baked it for a little over 3 hours in a low heat oven. Missers added a bit of teriyaki in the bottom on the baking pan to aid the steaming process. The ribs were finished with the sauce on the grill, allowing the brown sugar and pineapple in it to slightly carmelize on the meat. They smelled insanely good and once again, were good enough to get 3rd place overall. Out of 7-8 competitors (seasoned professionals I might add) that's not too bad for us. At least we could go to bed knowing that we placed two years in a row. That doens't happen very often in this contest!Most of the time, those who place are first timers or regular participants who have a good year. We were pleased to take home another ribbon. But next year, we've got our eyes focused on the trophy and jacket!
The rest of the spread at the party was standard Eastlake Heights picnic fare. Lots of fresh salads and slaws (the Memphis style cole slaw my mom made was to DIE for! The heat was totally unexpected but hit like a ton of bricks), roasted potatoes, homemade baked beans, pulled pork sandwiches, Sac's egg rolls, a huge fruit tray, Lindsay's mom's 'Poke Cake' (which gets devoured the moment its put on the table), various cookies, brownies, finger desserts, and Tyler's mom sent him with an apple pie. And as usual, we were standing outside at around 1:30 am grilling burgers and hot dogs because the round 4 or 5 munchies had set in. At that point in the night it was raining and most people were feeling the effects of fatigue and alcohol, so there was alot of smoke and a lot of laughter surrounding the grill. I think my mom had to step away, American cheese in hand, because she was giggling uncontrollably. We all went to bed that night stuffed to our eyeballs. What a culinary note to end my residence in Ohio on.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this entry...live from New York...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Coming soon...
A review of Kitchen Confidential: The Series
They only aired about 1/3 of the episodes they produced, so I have about 8 episodes that not even I have seen yet. But rest assured loyal fans, they will be viewed and commented on in full.
Also on the way from Ms Jones, full reporting live from the Eastlake Heights Rib Burn Off 2007. This time 'round, Missers B and Ms Jones are gunning for Sally, Ron, and all the other past first-place winners. Last year, we were 3rd in our first go-round...things will change this year for sure.
xx--
They only aired about 1/3 of the episodes they produced, so I have about 8 episodes that not even I have seen yet. But rest assured loyal fans, they will be viewed and commented on in full.
Also on the way from Ms Jones, full reporting live from the Eastlake Heights Rib Burn Off 2007. This time 'round, Missers B and Ms Jones are gunning for Sally, Ron, and all the other past first-place winners. Last year, we were 3rd in our first go-round...things will change this year for sure.
xx--
Friday, June 8, 2007
Pampering for the Face
AND for the stomach!
Ms Jones recently attended a 'Body Shop at Home' party thrown by a lovely friend named Dawn. While I was making my final purchases, I chose a random prize box which held a small piece of paper saying I had won my own 'BSAH' party! So the date was set and that meant one thing in my mind...what the heck am I going to serve to my guests?! Menu planning started right away.
On the invitiations, I said that 'refreshments' would be served. Now in my mind, that means stuff to snack on. BUT, as its been show throughout the years, and most recently show on Memorial Day, I'm always overprepared. So I wanted to make sure that I stuck to my guns this time and only soent the time and money that was NECESSARY to provide 'refreshments.'
If you couldn't tell from earlier posts, I live for Mediterranean cuisine. Its light, heart healthy, and full of fresh ingredients and flavor! Therefore, it was only natural to choose to stick with that theme. My homemade hummus is in high demand at social gatherings (or at least in my mind it is) so that needed to be on the menu. Since we were going to be testing face cleansing and moisturizing products, I wanted the guests to be able to have things that easy to pick up and eat. One of the first things that came to mind was mini spanakopitas. But phyllo dough is very crisp and crumbly when baked and I wanted to avoid as much of a mess as I possibly could. It would save my guests AND myself from alot of heavy clean up. In searching for alternatives using the spanakopita filling, a light bulb went off in my brain. Wonton wrappers. I would be able to bundle the filling up neatly and keep it sealed, while providing a crisp wonton corner for the attendees to hang onto as they eat.
I used a filling recipe from a June 2001 issue of Cooking Light Magazine:
1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
To prepare filling, place spinach in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Place over medium heat; cook until spinach wilts. Place the spinach mixture in a colander, pressing until barely moist. Combine the spinach and cheeses in a bowl; set aside.
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green onions; sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Stir the green onions and the next 5 ingredients (green onions through 2 egg whites) into spinach mixture.
It made a substantial amount of filling and the original recipe used phyllo to make 20 teeny bundles. Using the wontons and half of the regular filling amount, I was able to use all of the wrappers and ended up with 48 bundles.
Now, to save myself time, I bundled and stored them in an airtight container the night before. Next time, I will fill them and promptly bake them. The filling was very moist despite the fact that I squeezed the life out of the spinach. I think they would have crisped more while baking if I would have tossed them in the oven right away. They had more of a wet ravioli look to them after sitting, filled, in the fridge over night. They were also a bit stuck together, making placement on the baking sheet rather time consuming.
Every techinique I came across for baking filled wontons (instead of frying them) called for a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. When I was perusing my latest issue of Cooking Light, they suggested spraying the wontons with nonstick cooking spray and baking for 4-5 minutes. But that was unfilled and straight from package to oven. So the former suggestion was going to be my best bet.
I probably could have left them in the oven for the full 20, but they browned and crisped on the edges after 15 minutes. The moisuture in the filling caused a bit of puffing in the middle of the wonton from steam release as well.
As an accompaniment to the hummus, I made a small veggie tray of celery, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, sweet onions, and sliced cucumbers. One of the guests was also nice enought to swing by South Side 6 in BG before coming over to pick up a couple bags of the best pita chips in Wood and Lucas county.
For dessert, I wanted to keep it light and simple. I didn't really stick with the Mediterranean theme here, because, quite frankly, bakalava, burma, birds nests, and rice pudding are really hard to make. I was going to throw together some sugar free Angelfood Cake with a topping of crushed pineapple, Cool Whip Free, and SF vanilla pudding mix, but all the stores around me were out of the sugar free cake! So when I was pillaging my way through the shelves at my local Giant Eagle, I came across a tart shell shaped pre-made Bavarian Sponge Cake. 1/4 of the cake was only 164 calories, so do the math to serve 10 slices of the cake, and that comes to only 65.6 calories for the cake par per serving. Still a calorie conscious alternative! So I put together the topping I was going to use on the Angelfood cake and just flopped it in the middle of the sponge cake. It was garnished with a fanned whole strawberry.
I'm sorry I don't have any photographs of the 'refreshements' posted this time...I was a bit preoccupied with entertaining the 9 other people in my apartment, haha. But duty calls. Everyone raved about the taste and presentation. That made me feel like there's a ton of great supper clubs in my future.
Coming soon, cookies for a golf tournament!
Ms Jones recently attended a 'Body Shop at Home' party thrown by a lovely friend named Dawn. While I was making my final purchases, I chose a random prize box which held a small piece of paper saying I had won my own 'BSAH' party! So the date was set and that meant one thing in my mind...what the heck am I going to serve to my guests?! Menu planning started right away.
On the invitiations, I said that 'refreshments' would be served. Now in my mind, that means stuff to snack on. BUT, as its been show throughout the years, and most recently show on Memorial Day, I'm always overprepared. So I wanted to make sure that I stuck to my guns this time and only soent the time and money that was NECESSARY to provide 'refreshments.'
If you couldn't tell from earlier posts, I live for Mediterranean cuisine. Its light, heart healthy, and full of fresh ingredients and flavor! Therefore, it was only natural to choose to stick with that theme. My homemade hummus is in high demand at social gatherings (or at least in my mind it is) so that needed to be on the menu. Since we were going to be testing face cleansing and moisturizing products, I wanted the guests to be able to have things that easy to pick up and eat. One of the first things that came to mind was mini spanakopitas. But phyllo dough is very crisp and crumbly when baked and I wanted to avoid as much of a mess as I possibly could. It would save my guests AND myself from alot of heavy clean up. In searching for alternatives using the spanakopita filling, a light bulb went off in my brain. Wonton wrappers. I would be able to bundle the filling up neatly and keep it sealed, while providing a crisp wonton corner for the attendees to hang onto as they eat.
I used a filling recipe from a June 2001 issue of Cooking Light Magazine:
1 (10-ounce) package fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup 1% low-fat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
To prepare filling, place spinach in a large skillet or Dutch oven. Place over medium heat; cook until spinach wilts. Place the spinach mixture in a colander, pressing until barely moist. Combine the spinach and cheeses in a bowl; set aside.
Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green onions; sauté for 2 minutes or until soft. Stir the green onions and the next 5 ingredients (green onions through 2 egg whites) into spinach mixture.
It made a substantial amount of filling and the original recipe used phyllo to make 20 teeny bundles. Using the wontons and half of the regular filling amount, I was able to use all of the wrappers and ended up with 48 bundles.
Now, to save myself time, I bundled and stored them in an airtight container the night before. Next time, I will fill them and promptly bake them. The filling was very moist despite the fact that I squeezed the life out of the spinach. I think they would have crisped more while baking if I would have tossed them in the oven right away. They had more of a wet ravioli look to them after sitting, filled, in the fridge over night. They were also a bit stuck together, making placement on the baking sheet rather time consuming.
Every techinique I came across for baking filled wontons (instead of frying them) called for a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. When I was perusing my latest issue of Cooking Light, they suggested spraying the wontons with nonstick cooking spray and baking for 4-5 minutes. But that was unfilled and straight from package to oven. So the former suggestion was going to be my best bet.
I probably could have left them in the oven for the full 20, but they browned and crisped on the edges after 15 minutes. The moisuture in the filling caused a bit of puffing in the middle of the wonton from steam release as well.
As an accompaniment to the hummus, I made a small veggie tray of celery, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, sweet onions, and sliced cucumbers. One of the guests was also nice enought to swing by South Side 6 in BG before coming over to pick up a couple bags of the best pita chips in Wood and Lucas county.
For dessert, I wanted to keep it light and simple. I didn't really stick with the Mediterranean theme here, because, quite frankly, bakalava, burma, birds nests, and rice pudding are really hard to make. I was going to throw together some sugar free Angelfood Cake with a topping of crushed pineapple, Cool Whip Free, and SF vanilla pudding mix, but all the stores around me were out of the sugar free cake! So when I was pillaging my way through the shelves at my local Giant Eagle, I came across a tart shell shaped pre-made Bavarian Sponge Cake. 1/4 of the cake was only 164 calories, so do the math to serve 10 slices of the cake, and that comes to only 65.6 calories for the cake par per serving. Still a calorie conscious alternative! So I put together the topping I was going to use on the Angelfood cake and just flopped it in the middle of the sponge cake. It was garnished with a fanned whole strawberry.
I'm sorry I don't have any photographs of the 'refreshements' posted this time...I was a bit preoccupied with entertaining the 9 other people in my apartment, haha. But duty calls. Everyone raved about the taste and presentation. That made me feel like there's a ton of great supper clubs in my future.
Coming soon, cookies for a golf tournament!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Memorial Day Feast!!
Lots of people choose to relax for their Memorial Day weekend. People like Anna & myself choose a different kind of relaxation. Like getting together a bunch of good friends and cooking for ALL OF THEM! You saw the menu in my last post, but here's the thoughts, reviews, and even recipes for our picnic.
Prep began the night before in the Goodwin's kitchen. I arrived @ 6:30 and I think we made it to the store a bit after 7:30. Because it was more cost effective, we decided to get just about all of the produce at Monnette's Market. This way, we could ensure freshness and save ourselves a few dollars in the process. For those of you who don't know about the more recently remodeled Bowling Green, OH Kroger store...its incredible. I lived in BG for 4 years and shopped at said Kroger for the same amount of time. When I walked in, it was a completetly different layout. I felt lost, but was really impressed with it overall. A good fresh salad bar, sushi, and 'Natural' food section. THe two complaints I have overall:
1) Starbucks. come on now. There's one in the student union on campus and directly off exit 64 on Wooster. We don't need one in the grocery store. I love my Italian Roast as much as the next extra bold fanatic, but seriously.
2)The aisles. They run in a way that hinders traffic slow in the store. Just positioned awkwardly.
I'm sure being the self professed foodies Anna and I are, we could have easily spent about 2-3 hours just poking around in the new layout. However, we were on a time schedule and thankfully, with a list. Therefore, we only spent about an hour gathering our menu ingredients. From there, it was decided to make a jaunt down Main Street to South Side Six; quite possibly the BG 'Diamond in the Rough.' Its a teeny party store that sells offbeat beer as well as the normal libation selection. However, the most fantastic thing about it lies behind the cash register. A small food prep area where they make (right when you order) Mediterranean food! Fresh made pita chips, using Soybean oil, oregano, garlic salt, and black pepper...Hummus that's to DIE for...and we think, one of the best falafels we've ever eaten. It was later in the evening though, so it was light salad time. They were gracious enough to make us Fatoush without dressing and lemony smelling Taboulleh. We also picked up three freezer bags full of pita chips and hummus for the picnic while we were at it. Reasonably priced too. I think we may have spent about $80-$90 on food total in BG.
Back to the kitchen in Perrsyburg to eat then get to really cooking for the party.
Pie crusts came first. Using the HG Recipe for Topless Cherry Pie, we processed the Fiber One in a minichopper. Next time, just to save minutes and to get a finer crumb, I think we'll use a larger processor. Mixed the crumbs with lite butter and egg substitute and made two crusts that went into the 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. While those were baking and cooling, we decided to get the Strawberry Short-Cup-Cakes out of the way. They involved the most amount of prep time and bake time. Being the health conscious folks we are, we decided to use tofu for this recipe instead of oil, water, and eggs. We also made two batches of cupcakes to accomodate the amount of people we were expecting.
I pressed the blocks of Silken Lite Tofu for about 10 minutes, then crumbled them into a large bowl. I then blended in two packages of white cake mix with a hand blender. The only other item added to the batter was about 1/2 cup of water (necessary for a smoother texture for mixing. By pressing, I drained some of the natural moisture out of the tofu). After I reached the consistency I wanted, Anna had finished dicing up 16 oz. of fresh strawberries. We had mulled over the ideas for these Short-Cup-Cakes considering baking full strawberries inside or even a puree center, but we really like the idea of looking at the cupcake itself and seeing little bits of berries all over. They went in at 350 in the oven for about 30 minutes and we had golden topped Strawberry Short-Cup-Cakes! That was the perfect time for them to go in at because it baked the cake all the way through and left warm strawberry pockets throughout. A slight browning on top also gave the cupcake the appearance of angelfood cake that had just come out of the oven.
My lovely sous, Anna, was hard at work making the filling for the two pies we were preparing. One Cherry and one Blueberry. Once the filling had set up properly, we left it to cool for @10 min before putting it in the cooled pie crusts that smelled amazing!
That night, all we wanted to get done was complete by about 12:30am.
The next morning, I went straight to the market about 9:30am to buy the rest of the produce we needed for salads, etc. Overall, I spent around $30 on a laundry basket full of fruit and vegetables that probably would have cost us twice as much if we would have purchased it at the regular grocery store. I'm sure the gang at Monnettes is going to miss me when I'm in NYC and not shopping there every Sunday morning. With my basketfull of produce, we got the big cooler packed with the other items we purchased, then headed to BG for the rest of the day.
After some necessary catching up with guests, it was time to get down to business.
We started in on chopping the ingredients for the Grilled Sweet Potato Salad.
Just to make things easier on ourselves, we modified the recipes for the salads, etc. slightly. As far as this recipe is concerned, we didn't use the peanuts or cilantro AND in the glaze, no cayenne or cumin, butthanks to a delightful measuring booboo, maximized the cinnamon to 2 tbsp. Overall though, it made for a GREAT smell and taste! We planned for more people than we had as well. We bought for a double recipe of everything, but only ended up using half that. We did notice that cooking this in the oven takes WAY longer than right on the heat of the grill. Roasting in the foil packet has a effect of the texture of the end result. Everything is tender, but still really moist and flavorful. No dry potatoes here! The sweetness of the onion, mango, potato, and red pepper meshed together so well!
Once that was all prepped and in the oven, it was time to dive headfirst into the Texas Cole Slaw.
Again, we bought enough for a double recipe, but this time, used 3/4 of what we had. So a 1.5 recipe yield. The salad part couldn't be easier to prep. Napa cabbage, Granny Smith apples (which is the reason we chose this recipe in the first place. Anna and I LOVE the tartness of the apple and thought it was a brilliant addition to the slaw) shredded carrots, toasted pecans, and red onion. We decided to leave out the mint...probably because we couldn't find any in the store, haha. The true modifications were made in the slaw dressing. No cumin or cayenne and Fat Free Sour Cream. It made a wonderfully light and creamy (didn't think that was possible...but probably because of the citrus) dressing which we were able to use sparingly to just lightly coat everything. A little went a long way, which was a good thing because normally, I avoid cole slaws because of the way the dressings weight down in your stomach. The slaw is bright in color and in flavors and its something I WILL be making again.
Rounding out the sides portion of the feast was the gloriously crispy and tangy South Side 6 pita chips and their house hummus. We also prepped a salad bar with mixed greens, stuffed olives, bean sprouts, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, and red onion. All these items could also multitask as burger toppings. We always think ahead like that. A giant seedless watermelon was sliced and plated alongside everything. Check the slideshow for photos and let me know if you want individual photos of things for a closer look.
You can also see photos of the dessert table in the above show. Aren't the Short-Cup-Cakes adorable? The frosting was made using a Dannon Light N Fit vanilla yogurt cup, 1 package of sugar-free Strawberry Jell-o mix, and 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip Free. I found that this provides a super light texture and flavor to the 'frosting' while still having a more substantial consistency. We didn't want to do a buttercream or anything like that because Strawberry Shortcake generally uses a whipped cream frosting. Not to say that you can't go all out and use whipping cream and confectioners sugar, haha, this is just our calorie counter friendly recipe. This version held up marvelously in a little bit of heat and piped really well through the pastry tip.
The pies were a hit as well. The Fiber One crust was slighty sweet and chewy. Really like a granola bar-esque feel in your mouth. We only ended up cutting the blueberry pie, which left everyone with purple toothed smiles afterwards. The cherry pie was saved and brought back specifically for Anna's dad to eat.
The standard BBQ meats, i.e. hamburgers (or Anna's dad's special Donnie Burgers) and hotdogs, were unphotographed. For the ovo-lacto-pesca veg crowd, we tossed some portabello mushrooms on there as well. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my boca soy burgers...but there's nothing like the taste of a fire-grilled mushroom cap. With a little of the sweet potato salad on there...C'est Magnifique!
At the end of the night, everyone left with their bellies and hearts full. It never going to cease to amaze me how good food can bring friends together. Toss a bit of alcohol, dice, and a basketball game in there, and it makes for the perfect Memorial Day picnic.
I'd like to thank Anna for brainstorming this WHOLE thing, supplying the ingredients, and being in town for a lil bit. For that weekend, I was HER sous :)
If you want/need any of the recipes or further photographs, just ask. Ms Jones always aims to please.
Next up, the SPA munchies...
Prep began the night before in the Goodwin's kitchen. I arrived @ 6:30 and I think we made it to the store a bit after 7:30. Because it was more cost effective, we decided to get just about all of the produce at Monnette's Market. This way, we could ensure freshness and save ourselves a few dollars in the process. For those of you who don't know about the more recently remodeled Bowling Green, OH Kroger store...its incredible. I lived in BG for 4 years and shopped at said Kroger for the same amount of time. When I walked in, it was a completetly different layout. I felt lost, but was really impressed with it overall. A good fresh salad bar, sushi, and 'Natural' food section. THe two complaints I have overall:
1) Starbucks. come on now. There's one in the student union on campus and directly off exit 64 on Wooster. We don't need one in the grocery store. I love my Italian Roast as much as the next extra bold fanatic, but seriously.
2)The aisles. They run in a way that hinders traffic slow in the store. Just positioned awkwardly.
I'm sure being the self professed foodies Anna and I are, we could have easily spent about 2-3 hours just poking around in the new layout. However, we were on a time schedule and thankfully, with a list. Therefore, we only spent about an hour gathering our menu ingredients. From there, it was decided to make a jaunt down Main Street to South Side Six; quite possibly the BG 'Diamond in the Rough.' Its a teeny party store that sells offbeat beer as well as the normal libation selection. However, the most fantastic thing about it lies behind the cash register. A small food prep area where they make (right when you order) Mediterranean food! Fresh made pita chips, using Soybean oil, oregano, garlic salt, and black pepper...Hummus that's to DIE for...and we think, one of the best falafels we've ever eaten. It was later in the evening though, so it was light salad time. They were gracious enough to make us Fatoush without dressing and lemony smelling Taboulleh. We also picked up three freezer bags full of pita chips and hummus for the picnic while we were at it. Reasonably priced too. I think we may have spent about $80-$90 on food total in BG.
Back to the kitchen in Perrsyburg to eat then get to really cooking for the party.
Pie crusts came first. Using the HG Recipe for Topless Cherry Pie, we processed the Fiber One in a minichopper. Next time, just to save minutes and to get a finer crumb, I think we'll use a larger processor. Mixed the crumbs with lite butter and egg substitute and made two crusts that went into the 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. While those were baking and cooling, we decided to get the Strawberry Short-Cup-Cakes out of the way. They involved the most amount of prep time and bake time. Being the health conscious folks we are, we decided to use tofu for this recipe instead of oil, water, and eggs. We also made two batches of cupcakes to accomodate the amount of people we were expecting.
I pressed the blocks of Silken Lite Tofu for about 10 minutes, then crumbled them into a large bowl. I then blended in two packages of white cake mix with a hand blender. The only other item added to the batter was about 1/2 cup of water (necessary for a smoother texture for mixing. By pressing, I drained some of the natural moisture out of the tofu). After I reached the consistency I wanted, Anna had finished dicing up 16 oz. of fresh strawberries. We had mulled over the ideas for these Short-Cup-Cakes considering baking full strawberries inside or even a puree center, but we really like the idea of looking at the cupcake itself and seeing little bits of berries all over. They went in at 350 in the oven for about 30 minutes and we had golden topped Strawberry Short-Cup-Cakes! That was the perfect time for them to go in at because it baked the cake all the way through and left warm strawberry pockets throughout. A slight browning on top also gave the cupcake the appearance of angelfood cake that had just come out of the oven.
My lovely sous, Anna, was hard at work making the filling for the two pies we were preparing. One Cherry and one Blueberry. Once the filling had set up properly, we left it to cool for @10 min before putting it in the cooled pie crusts that smelled amazing!
That night, all we wanted to get done was complete by about 12:30am.
The next morning, I went straight to the market about 9:30am to buy the rest of the produce we needed for salads, etc. Overall, I spent around $30 on a laundry basket full of fruit and vegetables that probably would have cost us twice as much if we would have purchased it at the regular grocery store. I'm sure the gang at Monnettes is going to miss me when I'm in NYC and not shopping there every Sunday morning. With my basketfull of produce, we got the big cooler packed with the other items we purchased, then headed to BG for the rest of the day.
After some necessary catching up with guests, it was time to get down to business.
We started in on chopping the ingredients for the Grilled Sweet Potato Salad.
Just to make things easier on ourselves, we modified the recipes for the salads, etc. slightly. As far as this recipe is concerned, we didn't use the peanuts or cilantro AND in the glaze, no cayenne or cumin, butthanks to a delightful measuring booboo, maximized the cinnamon to 2 tbsp. Overall though, it made for a GREAT smell and taste! We planned for more people than we had as well. We bought for a double recipe of everything, but only ended up using half that. We did notice that cooking this in the oven takes WAY longer than right on the heat of the grill. Roasting in the foil packet has a effect of the texture of the end result. Everything is tender, but still really moist and flavorful. No dry potatoes here! The sweetness of the onion, mango, potato, and red pepper meshed together so well!
Once that was all prepped and in the oven, it was time to dive headfirst into the Texas Cole Slaw.
Again, we bought enough for a double recipe, but this time, used 3/4 of what we had. So a 1.5 recipe yield. The salad part couldn't be easier to prep. Napa cabbage, Granny Smith apples (which is the reason we chose this recipe in the first place. Anna and I LOVE the tartness of the apple and thought it was a brilliant addition to the slaw) shredded carrots, toasted pecans, and red onion. We decided to leave out the mint...probably because we couldn't find any in the store, haha. The true modifications were made in the slaw dressing. No cumin or cayenne and Fat Free Sour Cream. It made a wonderfully light and creamy (didn't think that was possible...but probably because of the citrus) dressing which we were able to use sparingly to just lightly coat everything. A little went a long way, which was a good thing because normally, I avoid cole slaws because of the way the dressings weight down in your stomach. The slaw is bright in color and in flavors and its something I WILL be making again.
Rounding out the sides portion of the feast was the gloriously crispy and tangy South Side 6 pita chips and their house hummus. We also prepped a salad bar with mixed greens, stuffed olives, bean sprouts, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, and red onion. All these items could also multitask as burger toppings. We always think ahead like that. A giant seedless watermelon was sliced and plated alongside everything. Check the slideshow for photos and let me know if you want individual photos of things for a closer look.
You can also see photos of the dessert table in the above show. Aren't the Short-Cup-Cakes adorable? The frosting was made using a Dannon Light N Fit vanilla yogurt cup, 1 package of sugar-free Strawberry Jell-o mix, and 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip Free. I found that this provides a super light texture and flavor to the 'frosting' while still having a more substantial consistency. We didn't want to do a buttercream or anything like that because Strawberry Shortcake generally uses a whipped cream frosting. Not to say that you can't go all out and use whipping cream and confectioners sugar, haha, this is just our calorie counter friendly recipe. This version held up marvelously in a little bit of heat and piped really well through the pastry tip.
The pies were a hit as well. The Fiber One crust was slighty sweet and chewy. Really like a granola bar-esque feel in your mouth. We only ended up cutting the blueberry pie, which left everyone with purple toothed smiles afterwards. The cherry pie was saved and brought back specifically for Anna's dad to eat.
The standard BBQ meats, i.e. hamburgers (or Anna's dad's special Donnie Burgers) and hotdogs, were unphotographed. For the ovo-lacto-pesca veg crowd, we tossed some portabello mushrooms on there as well. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my boca soy burgers...but there's nothing like the taste of a fire-grilled mushroom cap. With a little of the sweet potato salad on there...C'est Magnifique!
At the end of the night, everyone left with their bellies and hearts full. It never going to cease to amaze me how good food can bring friends together. Toss a bit of alcohol, dice, and a basketball game in there, and it makes for the perfect Memorial Day picnic.
I'd like to thank Anna for brainstorming this WHOLE thing, supplying the ingredients, and being in town for a lil bit. For that weekend, I was HER sous :)
If you want/need any of the recipes or further photographs, just ask. Ms Jones always aims to please.
Next up, the SPA munchies...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Review
So apparently the shortbread was QUITE the hit at the Olli house. I even got a cute lil note with it saying just how much they enjoyed it! This makes me feel confident that when i make it tomorrow, it will be just as good.
Anna and I have been talking a BUNCH about the upcoming Memorial Day feast and things are in pretty good shape. We plan on prepping most of the evening on Saturday, then doing the final prep between 2 and 6 on Sunday at the BBQ house. There's alot to be done and alot to be bought, but I think we're going to be able to pull it off without any major hiccups.
We've also been discussing the future of this blog when I move out to NYC. Its not only going to contain my rants, raves, and reviews, but also thanks to some sweet technological capabilities, instructional cooking videos! *A has so sweetly taken on the responsibility of being Ms Jones' Sous Chef. So its going to be quite the adventure watching a pastry chef in training paired with a sous in training. What it really boils down to is neither of us really have a grasp on what we're doing, so its going to be interesting documenting both of our progress right here in Ms Jones Kitchen.
Also under discussion is the eventual start of Sweet Cuppin Cakes. I think we're leaning towards our home base location in the Cleveland area. But the biz won't be officially started until 1) I've been able to pay off a good portion of my student loan, 2) I get enough experience post graduation under my belt to feel more confident in my own skills, and 3) we have enough capital to really do this on our own.
I have also been thinking about cupcake recipes...specifically ones using Marscarpone cheese. When I was fortunate enough to have cable TV access this past weekend, Giada DeLaurentis...as much as her pronounciations grate on my skin like a Microplane zester...had one that I really would like to try:
1 box white cake mix
2 egg whites
8oz softened Marscarpone cheese
scant 1/4 cup oil
1 cup water
So this, after the Memorial Day Feast and my spa party 'refreshments' are done, will be the first priority in Ms Jones Kitchen. Its time to be more creative.
Tonight, its recipe prep after making Tilapia.
I was also pleased to see that this blog is reaching people I never thought it would. I was contacted by a person who works for Fox Network, after she read my post talking about Anthony Bourdain's 'The Nasty Bits.' There was a short lived TV series on Fox not too long ago spun off his book 'Kitchen Confidential.' Apparently that series is now on DVD and this person wants me to review the set and post it on here! So that's something to look forward too :)
I have to email Lora Brody and tell her the shortbread was a supreme success!
ps - if you live in the Toledo area...EAT KATZ SISTERS CHEESECAKE!!!!!!
Anna and I have been talking a BUNCH about the upcoming Memorial Day feast and things are in pretty good shape. We plan on prepping most of the evening on Saturday, then doing the final prep between 2 and 6 on Sunday at the BBQ house. There's alot to be done and alot to be bought, but I think we're going to be able to pull it off without any major hiccups.
We've also been discussing the future of this blog when I move out to NYC. Its not only going to contain my rants, raves, and reviews, but also thanks to some sweet technological capabilities, instructional cooking videos! *A has so sweetly taken on the responsibility of being Ms Jones' Sous Chef. So its going to be quite the adventure watching a pastry chef in training paired with a sous in training. What it really boils down to is neither of us really have a grasp on what we're doing, so its going to be interesting documenting both of our progress right here in Ms Jones Kitchen.
Also under discussion is the eventual start of Sweet Cuppin Cakes. I think we're leaning towards our home base location in the Cleveland area. But the biz won't be officially started until 1) I've been able to pay off a good portion of my student loan, 2) I get enough experience post graduation under my belt to feel more confident in my own skills, and 3) we have enough capital to really do this on our own.
I have also been thinking about cupcake recipes...specifically ones using Marscarpone cheese. When I was fortunate enough to have cable TV access this past weekend, Giada DeLaurentis...as much as her pronounciations grate on my skin like a Microplane zester...had one that I really would like to try:
1 box white cake mix
2 egg whites
8oz softened Marscarpone cheese
scant 1/4 cup oil
1 cup water
So this, after the Memorial Day Feast and my spa party 'refreshments' are done, will be the first priority in Ms Jones Kitchen. Its time to be more creative.
Tonight, its recipe prep after making Tilapia.
I was also pleased to see that this blog is reaching people I never thought it would. I was contacted by a person who works for Fox Network, after she read my post talking about Anthony Bourdain's 'The Nasty Bits.' There was a short lived TV series on Fox not too long ago spun off his book 'Kitchen Confidential.' Apparently that series is now on DVD and this person wants me to review the set and post it on here! So that's something to look forward too :)
I have to email Lora Brody and tell her the shortbread was a supreme success!
ps - if you live in the Toledo area...EAT KATZ SISTERS CHEESECAKE!!!!!!
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