Thursday, 6/29/17

Leftovers, with my dinner eaten standing at the counter because it was Ultimate. Not shaping up to be much of a cooking summer!

Wednesday, 6/28/17

My mom made pretty much all the foods. Chicken, ribs, antipasti, tomato-mozzarella salad, bread, potato salad, pasta salad. Seriously. So much great food and we just ate and ate. Then we ate all the chocolate chip (or chip-less) cookies Jason made. Then we played some games . And then we ate some ice cream.
I call that a fun evening.

Tuesday, 7/27/17

Ultimate. Carter had requested pulled pork sandwiches, so I made the recipe from Serious Eats, along with their recipe for barbecue sauce. I just threw the pork and onions into the slow cooker all day.
Carter and Jason had sandwiches and I ate mine in lettuce wraps (in a hurry, standing at the counter) which was a nice change.

Monday 6/26/17

Falafel again. I added a lot more herbs to the mix (thanks to the farm share), and Jason made some really nice, soft pita. Very nice, but they are missing some critical element I can't put my finger on. I think I will try some kind of pickled vegetable next time.

Sunday, 6/25/17

Dinner with Jen and John---Jason made so, so much pizza, we collectively put together a Blue Apron cous cous salad with labneh, arugula and halloumi (I am stealing the idea of toasting the cous cous before boiling), plus chocolate chip cookies.
Than we all fell asleep on the couch.

Saturday, 6/24/17

Went up to Brattleboro to meet Jeff and Sue. Pizza and soft serve so I call that a summertime win.

Friday, 6/23/17

Dinner with Jennie and David. Jason made a bread (with thyme from the farm), and I repeated a lemon- almond cake cake from the NYT. As per my notes, I added more lemon curd, but it may have been too much. It added sort of a gooey layer, which actually was kind of nice.

Thursday, 6/22/17

First night of Ultimate, so no time for a real dinner. Jason made us a batch of fry bread when we got home. It was fun to eat with various sweet and savory toppings. I served some carrot sticks alongside in a vain attempt to be healthy-ish.

Wednesday, 6/21/17

It was like being down at the shore in Whately! My mom made a kind of shrimp bake with corn, potatoes and two kinds of sausage. Delcious and fun to just throw the shrimp shells on the table (covered in newspaper, to be sure). I also love chorizo and ate more than was technically fair. Jason made a loaf of bread and I made a brown butter cake with strawberries (NYT) that I made sometime last summer. I am glad I repeated it, and glad I made a note not to cook the strawberries.

Tuesday, 6/20/17

Grilled chicken with a lime-fish sauce marinade, rice and salad; then we went to Jennie and David's for a multipart vanilla ice cream tasting. We brought a few brownies but it was all about the different vanillas. I don't remember which was which but one had a nice sort of coconutty flavor.

Monday, 6/19/17

Roasted tofu, pasta, broccoli. No comment.

Sunday, 6/18/17

We had some leftover refried beans so I was forced to make nachos for dinner. I was a sacrifice I was willing to make. Plus a salad. With the farm share started, salads will be frequently featured.
Strawberry pie with graham cracker crust for dessert. One of my favorite vehicles for all the beautiful farm share strawberries.

Saturday, 6/17/17

Last day in the city! Two breakfasts: a sort of savory danish from Sullivan Street bakery, and then a sad goodbye to Jessica and more substantial diner breakfast with my mom and Rod before getting back on the bus.
No lunch, bread and cheese for dinner. Back to the real world where people don't have champagne at lunch.

Not actually the view from the bus.

Friday, 6/16/17

Fancy breakfast at Bouchon. Almost worth it for the view of Columbus Circle (and the wifi). For lunch we went back to the Modern with my mom; I repeated the tuna and the dessert, and traded the polenta with morels for the gnocchi. My mom had a foie gras tart and a pistachio stuffed chicken (that looked really good) and Jessica tried roasted scallops. I won the dessert again, as the "Strawberry Romanoff Buffalo Mozzarella Cream and Root Beer Leaf Ice Cream" that Jessica  tried was oddly reminiscent of pizza, and my mom was only meh on the "Brown Butter Bread Pudding
Pineapple Compote and Lychee Sorbet".

Dinner at Union Square Cafe. The new space was really pretty, and we had a nice corner banquette on the second floor. I started with: Asparagus Tempura,Chili-Scallion Vinaigrette, White Bean Yogurt (excellent), Jessica had the fritto misto, my mom had Sushi del Chianti al modo di Panzano Hudson Valley Harvest Beef, Parmigiano Reggiano---it was a silly thing to call steak tartare, but it was super tasty. We split a bowl of pasta with calabrian chile, tomatoes and straciatella. Then an enormous roasted chicken for me (good, but I wished for more of the greens that were under it; olive oil poached halibut with peperonata for Jessica (the clear winner to me) and Frascatelli with Guanciale, Ramps, Black Pepper Cream for my mom. The pasta was more or less carbonara and it was rich and delicious.  We didn't even get dessert, but they brought out some chocolate cake for my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, mom!

ps don't know how to change the font her.

Thursday, 6/15/17

Back to Sullivan St. for breakfast. The cornetti are the bomb. I also took the opportunity to do the NYT crossword which I had been dearly missing.
After a busy morning of museum going we had lunch at the Saborsky Cafe. I had chicken paprika with spaetzle, Jessica had spaetzle and we both had cake for dessert because how could we not at a Viennese cafe? It was loud and crowded which I guess is just how it goes.
Dinner after a tour of the Tenement Museum. Momofuku Noodle bar: scallop crudo, pork buns, chicken pho for me, ginger scallion noodles for Jessica. Plus sides of pickled shishito peppers (I could not stop eating those), broccolini with XO, and marinated mushrooms. I liked this place a lot more than I thought I would, and since I just read an interview with David Chang where he said he was trying not to be such an asshole, I don't feel so bad about giving him my money.
Dessert was a few blocks away at Big Gay Ice Cream. Man, that was some amazing soft serve! It reminded me of the frozen custard you get in Wisconsin. I had bourbon-butterscotch; Jessica wasn't as enamored of her chocolate with rocky road toppings, but I think she just chose poorly.

Wednesday, 6/14/17

Turns out that the Sullivan St. Bakery is just 3 short blocks away. Cornetto, chocolate bombolini, and pizza bianco for breakfast. Back down to the Village for lunch at Keste for wood oven pizza. Jessica went with margharita and I tried a special with sausage and pistachio pesto, plus we shared a salad because I am getting worried about scurvy. Then some gelato for dessert nearby. I think it was called Glom?
Dinner was at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain. Big and loud steakhouse. We started with a trio of seafood cocktails: shrimp w/ tomatillo, crab and coconut, lobster with avocado. Then we split an asparagus chopped salad with Vermont cheddar, chick peas, pita chips and meyer lemon vinaigrette. All tasty, all could have used a little salt. We each had steak, plus some creamed kale and fries. My favorite course was actually dessert, even though my "deep dish chocolate cream pie" was actually just a bowl of chocolate pudding with whipped cream and a delicious crispy cookie on top. Jessica had mixed berry crepes.

Tuesday, 6/13/17

Walked to the nearest Le Pain Quitidien for breakfast (I had an arugula salad with avocado and quinoa, J. had some egg dish and we shared an order of mini pancakes). Good, comparatively wholesome and I was all about the wifi.
We went to MoMA and had lunch at the Modern. Best meal of the trip, perhaps (spoilers). Started with "Spring in a bowl", a pea soup with carrot emulsion and mint oil. Double shucked peas! Ridiculous, beautiful, delicious. I had raw tuna marinated with wild sorrel and tiny, tiny potato chips:

These potatoes chips were hardly bigger than dimes

Then cheddar gnocchi with charred broccoli and summer truffle sauce, and a milk chocolate mousse with butterbeer (!) ice cream (it tasted just like a butterscotch candy).

Little candied hazelnuts, white chocolate crumbs

Jessica started with a lobster salad with spring garlic and cucumber, olive oil poached salmon with romaine and peas (lovely) and a dessert that she didn't love featuring a tiny, tiny guava jelly roll with coconut cake and elderflower ice cream. All overlooking the sculpture garden in a serene space.

After a sailboat ride in the harbor (yes, it was my idea, and yes, we should have just gone on the Staten Island Ferry for free) we had dinner at Paowalla, Floyd Cardoz's place in the Village. We shared the tasting menu. Loved the breads and the starters, mains less successful (our menu was a little different: we had shishito peppers instead of kale pakoras, and a slightly different chaat)

First Course

Kale Pakoras | Apple-Potato Chaat | Greenmarket Cucumber and Turnips

Second Course

Roasted Sea Bream | Tandoori Chicken Kebab | Black Pepper Shrimp

Third Course

Pork Ribs Vindaloo | Goan Choriz & Bacon Biryani | Three Lentil Dal

Dessert

Grilled Pineapple | Vanilla Bean Kul

So we liked it but didn't love it. Probably wouldn't go again unless it was for drinks and apps.

Monday, 6/12/17

Down to the Village first thing to collect our Cronuts. I was convinced that there were still long lines, so when I discovered that you could pre-order online, I made Jessica do it. Well, we accidentally ended up with SIX. And of course there were no lines at all! And the box holding it was enormous and unwieldy, and even if I wanted to bring one home it was only Monday! It was all a bit of a debacle.
How were the Cronuts? Good, of course. Strawberry-lemon, very messy. We each managed one (plus I may have also bought a caramel eclair...) and dragged the rest home. I ate another one later and the rest suffered an inglorious fate. Lesson learned.
Lunch was at No. 7 Sub, a sandwich place in mid-town. I loved the cookbook by Tyler Kord, the owner, and had made a few of his sandwiches so I was eager to try it out. I had General Tso's chicken with avocado, Jessica had a fancy tuna salad. They were both good, but it wasn't the most comfortable place to eat lunch.
Dinner: no dinner! Went to the taping of one of my podcasts (Ask Me Another) out in Brooklyn and it ended later than I expected. I insisted nevertheless on dragging us to this place Butter & Scotch, for cake and cocktails. Once again I had enjoyed the cookbook. I made their birthday cake a little while back and wanted to try the original. I was surprised to discover that mine came out very close (I guess damp and heavy was what they were after). Home late.

So many Cronuts...

Not even that pretty!

So it seems that when I am in charge of the whole day, it is hit or miss.

Sunday, 6/11/17

Pizza tour in the morning. 4 stops: Lombardi's in the Village (apparently one of the oldest pizza places in the US) for a slice of coal fired margharita pizza, then up to East Harlem for a slice at Patsy's (another old school coal oven place). Patsy's was the best slice of the day and I wish I'd had another. Then on to the Bronx, to Arthur Ave. for a so-so slice at a place called Mario's, and finally to a little corner shop called Lou and Ernie's that was frankly only meh. Overall the trip was more informative and interesting than it was delicious. Plus it was cool to see the Bronx by school bus.
Dinner was at Gramercy Tavern, our toughest reservation. We had the tasting menus (Jessica the vegetarian; I had the regular), and shared the wine tasting.
Here is the veg:

Strawberry Gazpacho Rhubarb, Sour Cream and Hazelnuts

Snap Pea Salad Basil, Shallots and Pine Nuts

Fried Green Tomato Cucumbers, Opal Basil and Pimento Cheese

Campanelle Carrots, Collard Greens and Roomano

Forono Beets Quinoa, Black Garlic and Trumpet Mushrooms and here is the regular: Marinated Fluke Grapefruit, Cucumbers and Basil Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine Vacheron, Le Paradis, Sancerre, France 2015 Lobster Salad Spiced Carrots, Rhubarb and Barley Chardonnay, Arnot-Roberts, Watson Ranch, Napa Valley, California 2015 Hake Asparagus, Guanciale and Yogurt Grüner Veltliner, Jäger, Smaragd Achleiten, Wachau, Austria 2015 Spinach Tortellini Maitake Mushrooms and Pickled Ramps Nebbiolo, Ar.Pe.Pe., ‘Stella Retica’ Sassella Riserva, Valtellina Superiore, Italy 2006 Pasture Raised Beef Charred Onion, Wild Rice and Green Garlic What we had may have been slightly different, but not by much. I honestly can't remember the desserts, but I think I had a blueberry crumble. Beautiful restaurant, lovely meal.

Saturday, 6/10/17

Arrived in NYC around 1, hungry. We went to Rosa Mexicano for lunch: Jessica had some grilled chicken thing and I had tortilla soup and queso fundido. Jumping right in with the rich meals.
Dinner down at the Spotted Pig. The deviled eggs were so good that we ordered a second round (Serious Eats has a version of the recipe so I'll be trying it). Bread with parmesan custard, prosciutto and asparagus, plus asparagus soup: very creamy and nice, but needed a little acid or something.We also tried the famous ricotta gnudi, but we didn't really love it. Overly rich and garlicky. Plus a steak salad with arugula, fried shallots  and a lemony vinaigrette. No dessert; luckily we had picked up some cookies from Bouchon Bakery earlier.
Reading my notes, I can't believe we ordered so much food! It was a small and noisy space, lots of couple on dates. Fun but I probably wouldn't go back unless it was for the eggs.

Friday, 6/9/17

I barely remember this since it was before my vacation, but I know we had grilled chicken in a yogurt marinade, plus potatoes with onions roasted on the grill, and I am pretty sure a salad. First meal featuring the farm share ingredients.

Thursday, 6/8/17

Bagels? I think that's what it was but I can't honestly remember.

Wednesday, 6/7/17

How do we end up with so many leftovers? I don't know, but that is what we had for dinner. At least I get the pleasure of moving things into smaller containers.

Tuesday, 6/6/17

All afternoon I was so excited about this meal and it did not disappoint. Homemade pita bread (courtesy of Jason), falafel and tahini sauce. For garnishes we had feta, cucumbers, tomatoes and sriracha. These were delicious! We had had several falafel failures in the past, but these held together well, fried up nice and crunchy and tasted great. I saved a basic recipe to my NYT account and the only things I would change is maybe adding a little more herbs and spices. The key is really dried chickpeas.

Monday, 6/5/17

Old school crunchy tacos, with beef and beans. Undeniably easy, undeniably delicious.

Sunday, 6/4/17

A late afternoon party for a co-worker's engagement obviated the need for dinner. We were full of hotdogs, salads, etc...We brought two kinds of rice crispy treats (Clare can't eat milk or wheat, so I was reaching); Jason's were traditional and mine had brown butter and a bit of salt. Mine were obviously better.

Saturday, 6/3/17

Dinner with Jennie and David: the big excitement was that Jason's bread had some caraway seeds in it.

I made an apple cake from a cookbook that I have had for a long time, "Classic American Desserts". It reminded me of apple sharlotka from SK, in that you mix a batter and pour it over apples, but this one was better. That book has rarely failed me.

Friday, 6/2/17

I saw a recipe in the Times for a watermelon salad with amchur powder, cumin, chilis and mint that I wanted to try, so I made a meal based around that. Our watermelon wasn't super flavorful, so I will make this again in the summer. I did like the flavors, though (also I neglected to make it ahead of time and let it marinate, so it may be better this morning). We also had samosas with tamarind chutney (http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/samosas-fried-potato-filled-pastries); I used the filling recipe as more of a guideline, since I noted that it was a little bland last time. I also baked them instead of frying which made it SO much easier. I am not anti-frying, but in this case there doesn't seem to be a need. Finally, I made a batch of paneer with chilies from Made in India. In trying not to make the paneer too firm I may have made it too soft, but I was delicious anyway.
Was it a coincidence that we then watched Lion, which took place mostly in India?

Thursday, 6/1/17

Jason wanted bagels, so he and Carter had bagels and broccoli, I had leftover red beans and rice.

Wednesday, 5/31/17

Dinner in Whately...my mother did something magical to sausage and cabbage, Jason made bread, and I brought cake (the extra layer and leftover frosting from the Butter & Scotch recipe made a substantial second cake).

Still  it sure I would make that cake again, but I can't stop eating it.