Dessert for dinner

After a work happy hour last month, a couple of us decided to grab some food. Our original plan was to get ramen at Ippudo, but that turned out to be a huge wait, so we headed a couple blocks east and north to go to Milk Bar, one of David Chang's restaurants.

We started out with a couple orders of pork buns - high-end versions of northen Chinese cuisine staples. These were made with pork belly, cucumber, hoisin sauce, and scallions all stuffed into a white mantou.

This little Asian version of a slider was delicious. The pork belly was rich and flavorful and the fat had been rendered all soft and clear so it wasn't overwhelming. The cucumber and scallions added some veggie flavors and also cut down the richness of the pork.



I also had a milk - wild strawberry flavor. Kind of like a milkshake, but not as rich or thick, but just as sweet.

Then for dessert, we split 2 kinds of cake - dulce de leche and banana. These cakes were served cold and were 3 to 4 layer cakes with a filling (or fillings) between each layer. The banana cake was tasty, but anything cooked with banana is not my favorite so I concentrated on the dulce de leche one. This was amazing! The cake was light and fluffy and the cream filling was rich but not overwhelming or oily. It was like a mousse filling. It was so good!

Milk Bar was a fun stop but I wouldn't go there for a full meal. I'd rather try David Chang's other places, Ssam (right next door to Milk Bar) or Ko (with their impossibly hard to get reservations) for dinner. Even though the pork buns were delicious and super high quality, I can probably get something a lot cheaper and maybe half as good in Chinatown. Milk Bar would be a fun place to just grab dessert (like yummy dulce de leche cake) after dinner or after going out for the evening.

Homemade cheesy mac

Another modified recipe from Martha Stewart - Macaroni and Cheese.

All of the ingredients set out mise en place.


After the pasta was boiled and drained, I started working on the cheese sauce. First we cooked some onions in butter. FI was a little unsure about including onions in a mac and cheese, but they added so much flavor to the dish, that he became a big fan.


Next we added the milk and flour and the spices (salt, pepper, cayenne) to make the bechamel sauce. I also threw in a pinch of nutmeg because I've always read in other recipes to add some to cheese sauces.


Then I stirred in the shredded cheddar cheese. Buying packages of shredded cheese made the recipe a lot easier. After the cheese was melted, we poured in the pasta. Notice we didn't use elbow macaroni, but the penne with the tubes and ridges collected the mac and cheese just fine. Martha's recipe also called for ham to be chopped up and stirred in, but we figured this was going to be rich enough and didn't need extra salt or calories.


Then we poured everything into a baking dish and sprinkled bread crumbs over the top. Again, buying pre-made bread crumbs made this a lot easier. We also didn't bother sprinkling more cheese on top as we already had a lot of cheese in the sauce.


The finished product! It was delicious! Since we had cut out the ham and didn't put so much cheese, it wasn't super salty at all. But the onions, cayenne, and nutmeg all added some nice flavor nuances to the dish.


We ate our mac and cheese with stir-fried broccoli we made as well. There was plenty left and I got to eat it for the next two days' lunches. I also finished off a serving after coming home late from a night out with work friends. Yummy greasy cheesy food is the best after a night of drinking!

High-end Mexican food

For one of our date nights out, FI and I decided to stay around our neighborhood. "Support the local economy!" is one of our rallying cries when one of us wants Pinkberry from up the street (usually me) or have another beer at a local bar (both of us). Another one of these rallying cries is "Keep the property values up!".

Anyways, we decided to head to Zarela's. The owner, Zarela Martinez, I later found out (while researching Paladar), is the mother of Aaron Sanchez, where we had gone to eat last fall.

We started out with chips and salsa and a chili sauce. Delicious and hot as the chips were fresh out of the fryer. But we tried not to eat too much so as not to ruin our appetites. Which is what tends to happen when you go to Mexican restaurants and they provide unlimited chips and salsa.


Our vegetable dish was a sauteed spinach dish that was then rolled up and batter-fried with melted cheese on top. This was delicious and cheesy but kind of heavy and not really the "healthy" vegetable side we were going for.


FI had the fish special of the day. It was some filet cut of fish with a bread coating and fried. The fish was soft but kind of bland.



I had grilled salmon with a smoky chipotle, onion, oregano, cilantro and lime juice sauce (according to their menu). This sauce was the tastier of the two and we both kept (since we always switch our dishes midway through the meal) spooning it over the fish.


Overall the meal was okay. It's a little disconcerting to pay more for a Mexican meal (similar to paying for higher-end Chinese and Vietnamese food; it feels wrong to be paying more), but I'd like to go back and try some of their non-seafood dishes.

Plus - "Support the local economy!"

Our version of stone soup

One weekend, while wandering through Chinatown, FI and I were chatting about what we wanted to do for dinner. We bought some bok choy and decided to make a meatball-tofu-bok choy soup. We had ground turkey, tofu, and vermecelli all in our kitchen, so we cobbled ingredients together for a stone soup.

First we made the meatballs. We chopped up garlic, ginger, and scallions (the Chinese version of the holy trinity, more on that here and here). As I've mentioned before, these 3 (especially garlic) are staples in all of our Asian-influenced cooking.


Then I mashed up about a fourth of a block of tofu, which would be our binding agent.


The rest of the tofu was cut into small cubes.


The ground turkey was mixed in, along with soy sauce and rice wine.


We sauteed the bok choy with dried mini shrimp and garlic.


Then we added water to make the soup.


While we waited for the water to come to a boil, we made all the little turkey meatballs.


Then we threw the meatballs and tofu into the pot and let it cook away.


We let everything cook for about 30 minutes to an hour to really get the flavors going. Then about 10 minutes before we ate, we threw in the vermecelli. The dried noodles had been soaking in a bowl of warm water the whole time.


Ready to eat!


We made a TON of soup. I think I had that soup for three lunches the next week. The broth was very light and not salty at all. The meatballs were also very light. I think a lot of the flavor leeched out during the cooking process. Both FI and I don't like super salty stuff, so this turned out okay. The bok choy was super soft and almost mushy and the tofu and vermecelli also soaked up some of the meatball flavor. Overall, it was a light and filling dish without a super strong flavor. Which worked, since we didn't have any rice to eat it with.

Trying out a new cuisine

After seeing a movie at the AMC Times Square in early February, FI and I wandered around midtown west looking for someplace to eat. We checked out Yelp and Citysearch and tried to pick a genre of food, but weren't really getting anywhere. Finally we ended up around 50th and 51st by 9th avenue and surrounded by Mexican, Thai, Italian, and we decided to go Greek!

We ened up at Uncle Nick's Ouzaria for Greek tapas. FI and I had not enjoyed Greek food together before so this was a fun new adventure.

First we had the Stuffed Vine Leaves, which were a cold appetizer. They had a bit of acidity to them and the rice was filling, but not a lot of flavor besides the lemon.


Then we had Lamb with Seasonal Vegetables wrapped in Phyllo. This was hot and flaky and delicous. With all the food we had, we ended up taking half of this home for lunch the next day.

For our veggie, we had Fried Zucchini with Scordalia Dip. This was delicious. The zucchini was hot and crispy on the outside, but soft and mushy on the inside. The Scordalia dip was a yogurt with some seasonings and it was cool and cool-tasting. It helped reduced the hot temperature of the fried zucchini nicely. We also took a few of these home to eat the next day.

Finally we had Baked Clams. These were also super hot and straight out of the oven. The toppings were nice and crispy and it added a layer to the squishy clams underneath.


This was a delicious meal with plenty of leftovers to enjoy. Uncle Nick's menu is pretty extensive, so I definitely want to go back there (whenever I'm back in Midtown West) to try some of the other dishes.

Winter dinner at Sentosa

After FI picked me up from JFK after a trip home this winter, we stopped off at dinner at Sentosa in Flushing.


First we had Roti Canai (crispy style pancake w/ curry chicken & potato dipping sauce). This pancake was not only crispy but puffy as well and really light to eat.


Then we had Hainanese Chicken (steamed chicken w/ chef's special soy sauce). We had seen this dish on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on an episode where he went to Singapore and had wanted to try ever since. This chicken was delicious. It was super tender and light and the sauces were super tasty.


For our veggies we had snow pea shoots (dou miao) stirfried with garlic. FI loved these. Now when we go to Chinatown for groceries, we always try to pick some up.


For our other meat dish we had Spare Ribs Volcano (deep fried spare ribs served in chef's special, sesame seed & wrapped in silver foil). It looked really cool when they brought it to the table and it was all on fire.


The spare ribs themselves were okay. We both thought they were a little too sweet and sticky and the sauce was too much.


Overall Sentosa is a great value and the dishes were all pretty tasty. When we go back, we'll definitely have the roti and the steamed chicken again.

Two Ways to Meatballs

For a potluck dinner last fall, FI decided he wanted to bring meatballs. He wanted Italian style and I wanted Chinese, so we ended up using 5 or so pounds of ground turkey to make 2 kinds of meatballs.

Here are the ingredients, mise en place.


FI chopping up some scallions for the Chinese meatballs.


Ready to mix! We threw in garlic-flavored breadcrumbs, an egg, grated parmesan cheese, scallions, oregano, and I'm not sure what else.


FI mixing up the meat.


The binder (egg and breadcrumbs) made it super easy to make super nice round meatballs. Here they are all ready for baking.


FI spooned a little olive oil over each of them so they wouldn't burn.


I'm chopping up garlic for my Chinese meatballs.


Cutting up tofu, which would be my binding agent.


Mixing up the meat. This had tofu, garlic, scallions and ginger (the holy trinity of Chinese cooking), soy sauce, rice wine, vinegar, and maybe some sugar?


Tofu is not as strong as a binding agent, so these weren't quite as round and sturdy. Especially when we baked them. There was a lot more water in these, so they were more mushy and not so round.


Finished meatballs ready to go!


Our friends liked both kinds and we were able to bring some home as leftovers. The Italian ones we ate with spaghetti and sauce. The Chinese ones we ate with rice and veggies.

Dinner at Paladar

Last fall, FI and I went to Paladar for dinner. I had wanted to go since I heard LeeAnn Wong speak at an "Asian chefs in the media" event at the Asia Society and named Paladar as her favorite restaurant in New York City.

We decided to do an all-appetizer dinner since after looking over the menu, we couldn't decide which ones we didn't want to get.

We started out with sangrias. This were pretty strong and had a great variety of fruit, such as citrus, pineapple, berries, etc.


We enjoyed the chips and salsa and black bean sauce. The chips were super fresh, still hot and crispy from the fryer. Another reason why we ordered only appetizers - chips are yummy and you eat a lot of them waiting for your food.
First we had Arepas (Venezuelan corn cakes topped with tomato, chorizo & crema fresca). These were really rich and filling. We actually just split one and took the 2nd one home. (It was still very tasty the next day.)


I picked this appetizer because I love pumpkin and will pretty much order anything that has pumpkin listed as an ingredient. This is Ensalada de Calabaza (roasted pumpkin, walnuts and Cabrales cheese over bitter greens with pomegranate vinaigrette). The greens and cheese were savory and contrasted nicely with the sweet pumpkin and walnuts.


Then we had Costillas 'LES' (pork spare ribs with guava BBQ sauce, served with mango, jicama & cabbage slaw). The spare ribs were delicious and tender. The slaw was really sour and crunchy. I'm surprised the mango didn't make it sweeter.


Finally we had Anticuchos de Carnero Panca (glazed lamb skewers with mint mojo, white bean & piquillo pepper salad). The skewers were delicious, again tender and sweet. The white bean salad was really light and tasty. The flavors weren't super spicy or overwhelming.


The meal was great. We ended up full but not overwhelmed and had yummy leftovers for brunch the next day. Looking over the Paladar website, it looks like their menu is seasonal so we should go back and try their new stuff.

Celebrating Valentine's Day (a day early)

For Valentine's Day this year, we went to L'Ecole, the restaurant for the French Culinary Institute. It's an actual restaurant that is staffed by the senior students at the institute. I really hoped there would be large windows into the kitchens and we'd be able to watch the students at work. But alas, it was like a real restaurant, with a bar, and tables and seats, and waiters going in and out of a door with plates of food.

The water bottles for each table had the restaurant's logo on the front and a little information on the back on how the water was filtered.

A very simple and pretty table arrangement of orchids and leaves. The neat trick about this was that underneath the flowers and leaves were tied together, so they all stayed put nicely in the wood vase.


We had L'Ecole's 5-course prix fixe meal. Each course (except for the salad) had 3 options to choose from. And as FI and I always do when we go out to eat, we coordinated our choices so we each got something different so we'd have double the dishes to try.

FI's appetizer was the Lobster Consommé with Lobster Tortellini. The consomme was very tasty. It was light and clear and not over salty or fishy either. I could drink it up. The tortellini however was not very good at all. The pasta wrapper was super thick and hard to chew through - almost like it was frozen and thawed out. It did not taste like fresh-made pasta (or even good store-bought pasta) at all.


I had the Escargot with Red Wine and Gruyère Cream for my appetizer. This was really tasty. The escargot were flavorful and soft to eat. They weren't chewy or tough or drenched in butter. FI and I actually used pieces of bread to sop up both the escargot sauce and the lobster consomme while we waited for our next courses.


FI's fish course was Seared Scallops, Pickled Grapes and Smoked Potato Cream. This was his favorite dish. The scallops were grilled really nicely and were tender to eat.


I had the Poached Halibut, Potato Terrine and Spiced Chicken Consommé. The sauce on top of the halibut was a creamy lemon sauce. The combination of the halibut with the lemon sauce and consomme was really good, a great contrast of flavors.


FI's meat course was the Hanger Steak with Pommes Boulangere. The steak was nice and rare and easy to eat. The red wine sauce was very tasty too, especially with the potatoes. I think that was spinach underneath the meat.


I had the Juniper Smoked Rack of Lamb with Pickled Chanterelles and Sunchoke-Cheddar Purée. The lamb was extremely tender and flavorful and I loved eating the bits of lamb of the bone too. The puree was a bit sour and cheesy, which made it work.


Then we both had a Digestive Salad, which was greens with Montegro cheese and a pear sorbet. I kept giggling at the name "digestive salad".


For dessert, FI had Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Tart with Malt Ice Cream. The tart was really rich but not overly sweet. The malt ice cream was delicious. It definitely tasted like a frozen malted shake. The white block at the bottom was a soft marshmallow.


I had the Trio of Pot de Crème. They were lighter than puddings, kind of like mousses, and very delicious. The flavors were, from right to left, butterscotch, coffee, and chocolate. FI and I both liked the coffee one best because it had the lightest texture and was almost like a flan in consistency.


It was a great meal for only $42 for each of us. It was fun to feel like you were participating in the education of perhaps the next great cook. I took care to fill out the comment card with our feedback on each of the dishes (particularly if we didn't like them or really loved them). While it wasn't the most exquisite meal I've ever had, I enjoyed immensely what we did have, because it was a lot for the money we paid.

Happy President's Day! (a day late of course)