Best Thursday Night Dinner

I think it's clear I've been struggling with what to post lately.  Guess I'm a little blog-blocked.  But there's one thing that's always good for a post: Momofuku foods.

Tonight I visited the Noodle Bar with former co-worker Viviana, we tried two new menus items:

Veal Sweetbreads with Rice Milk, Lime and Mint

Duck Sausage Rice Cakes with Kohlrabi, Mint and Cabbage

And enjoyed some tried and true staples:  Pork Buns (not pictured) and the Momofuku Ramen

Ok, this weekend I'm running off to DC and I think, if I'm lucky, I might have some good tales to tell on Tuesday and this blog will be back in business.

Best Cooking and Reusing

Sorry for not having felt very posty recently.  I'll try to fix that.

I would like to show you some things I've been cooking.

Christmas weekend I finally tried a recipe from Lucky Peach #1 that I had been curious about since July '11: curry cavatelli with Jamaican-spiced beef (or that's the best way I can described it).  I cheated with a few things from the recipe, I wasn't going to kill myself trying to find Goat's milk ricotta.  

The curry cavatelli left an abundance of leftovers which were used in a variety of subsequent dishes, such as a spaghetti curry-carbonara of sorts I whipped up one evening.  I liked how the pecorino makes the egg yolk look like it's part of a sunny side-up egg. 

The curried-beef also played a row in an ambitious egg sandwich I suppered on one night.

On the last Sunday of the year I nearly killed myself with chili-fumes trying this recipe from April Bloomfield's cookbook out for a Thai-styled steak and watercress salad.  You pound chili peppers into the steak before you cook it, peppers that'll release clouds of basically pepper spray into your little apartment kitchen, no matter how carefully you tried to prevent that very thing from happening.

One of the main draws of that recipe was the thought of using the leftovers for a sandwich, which I did.  And it was wonderful.

Then on New Year's day it was time for traditional ricotta cavatelli, this time with tomato sauce instead of the typical browned sage butter.

A few nights later, my ultimate final cavatelli leftover dish: ricotta cavatelli with the remainder of the curry beef and a poached egg.  This was a winner.

One last effort: Monday night I made this version of chicken tikka masala my sister has a famous recipe for.  Have you ever been to someone's house and had weeknight dinner there and they serve you one of the family-favorite dishes, something they'll eat any old night?  And then you find yourself having maybe four helpings of this staple dish of their's because it's just treating you so right?  That's my experience with my sister's chicken tikka masala.  Note to self: Next time, less cinnamon, more jalepenos. 

I served it on bread because once I had Indian food at M Wells served on bread and I really liked it that way.  (See second photo below for example).

Example:

Okay, that's what I've been cooking and eating.  Right now I have a cannelleni stew simmering on the stove.  I love a nice white bean stew!

And guess what, time has passed and the stew has been cooked and partially eaten.  Tonight's special touches: Used bacon fat instead of olive oil for cooking the vegetables at the beginning.  Used chicken broth for stock . . . think I prefer vegetable stock, or leftover ramen broth.  Just experimenting and learning and growing, that's all.

Best End of One Year, Start of Another

So, Monday was New Year's Eve.  Seemed most everyone was out of town and not much was going down.  Ryan suggested we meet for dinner at Curry in a Hurry on Lexington.  Sounded plenty good to me.  I'd never been but I knew the place.

Ryan invited two fellow Brooklyners, here he's calling them, trying to find out where in the world they were.  Lost?  On their way?  Or not coming at all?

Earlier that day I had been cleaning and found a bag full of dollar coins.  I didn't remember where they came from, but I knew they'd be buying me dinner. 

And if you want your dollar coins to go far, you should eat where the taxi drivers eat.  Look at all this food they gave me!  What a gigantic piece of naan!  And there was a chutney and salad bar.  What a meal to end the year with.  This is how I like to eat: heartily.

Andrea and Jeanie, Ryan's Brooklyn friends, showed up and we headed to the one party we knew of, a gathering on 138th Street.  On the way to the Subway we passed the Empire State Building.  It was all lit up in a way I had never seen before, flashing and strobing and changing colors.  I loved it.  It felt like a beacon, a symbol, a symbol to let us know it was okay to be celebrating.  That we should be having fun.  So many people on the streets and on the trains were dressed up nice, more than I'm used to seeing.  Was NYE 2012/2013 an unusually big deal?  Who knows.  But the Empire State Building sent me a message, the message was: "Have fun."

I was trying to mostly get the festive Germans from the subway in this picture but I mostly got the festive Brooklyners.

We arrived at the party.  The theme was "New Year's Jockin' Eve."  Athletic apparel was the suggested dress code, Jock Jams the proposed soundtrack.  At first, frankly, it wasn't terribly different from too many church dances I've been to in my earlier years.  And I suppose in my later years.

But a spirit of festiveness crept in and overtook us.  Maybe it only took the poppin of one bottle of Martinellis?  But the Empire State Building's Permission of Fun reached this basement apartment, and a good time happened.

A screen descended to display the dropping of the ball just five miles south of us.  Some in the crowd, with watches carefully synched, would say the ball dropped fifteen seconds late.

And then there was partying, good lively partying.

Sometimes you just decide to calm down and enjoy yourself.  And enjoy that your camera's flash seems to be broken.

Well-partied at one'ish AM, I returned to Little Italy, far more satisfied with my night than I ever would be.

Epilogue:

This Epilogue is a Prologue.

Earlier in the day I craved tamales fiercely.  So I went and found some in the East Village.  While eating them, I remembered I had taken the family to Mom's Tamales on New Year's Eve last year.  So I guess this is a tradition now: every New Year's Eve I get tamales. (even if Mom's was fresh out when we went last year)

Best Gimjanging

From the comments to my first Kimchi post:

Preparing kimchi in November (to last through the winter) is called gimjang and is an important Korean tradition. Sort of like canning fruit in the summer used to be here. So you're starting your experiment at an auspicious time. -MJP

Remember when I put my kimchi in the fridge? After two weeks of getting funky, it was time to party!

Not much to look at, but the smell!  I could have eaten the whole experiment like it was a salad.

But instead, I experimented with the experiment.  First up?  Kimchi Stew with chicken and rice cakes.

Not a good picture in the least.  Flavorwise, I put in too much mirin and not enough ramen broth.  And I wish I had had roast pork around instead of buying a chicken.  Still, I liked.  The leftovers were even better.

Second Experiment: Bacon and Brussels Sprouts.

To be put on top of a healthy portion of pureed kimchi.

The result?  A bowl of super heaven.  I could not help myself, I ate the whole pound of sprouts on the spot.  Vegetables!

Experiment Three: Kimchi Fried Rice.  Because it seemed like just the job for my stinky cabbage.

Experiment Four: My second attempt at Mission Chinese's Thrice-cooked Bacon and Rice Cakes with a side of kimchi puree for stirring into it.

And Experiment Number Five: Kimchi Apple Salad with Bacon and Maple Labne.  First I plated it like they do at the Ssam Bar:

But this is how I really ate it:

Okay, actually this is how I really ate it.

The Stew, Brussels Sprouts, and Apple Salad (and Kimchi itself) all came from the Momofuku Cookbook.  The other two were improvisations.   My kimchi is nearly gone now and I can't imagine how horrible it would be to not have some of the puree on hand at all times, so looks like I'll be gimjanging again soon.

Mejor Taco Research Trip

Basically there is just one type of food that I do not like and it is Fancy Mexican food.  I do not need my tacos dressed up, I do not need my enchiladas exotic.  I do not need to eat my food in a restaurant done up like a cantina.  I do not believe this prejudice comes from any snobbish insistance on authenticity, but a very strong Not Broke, Don't Fix it attitude . . . or, better said, if the Ride's not busted, it doesn't need to be Pimped.  But April Bloomfield of the Spotted Pig, the Breslin and the John Dory, three unimpeachably excellent establishments just opened up a Mexican spot in the East 30's and I had to see what she was up to over there.  It is not often you get to have Great British Mexican food in New York City.

I forgot to say the place is called Salvation Taco.

Right now they're only serving lunch and, dipping in around 4 on a Friday afternoon, the establishment was quite non-bustly.

The menu.  I was on a solo research mission, so I ordered all the tacos and one torta.  Snacks, maybe we'll meet some other time.

The tacos were small, which is how I prefer them, but single-tortilla'd.  Oh well.  But they were good. The skirt steak with pecan and chipotle was on point and the cauliflower with curried crema very nice. 

The lamb breast on naan taco.  Not a Mexican thing about it, of course, but I'm not mad.  It was very tasty.  All three tacos were very fine, but three of these tacos won't get me anywhere near full.

So good thing I ordered a torta.  Although I quizzed my server on all the tortas, when I saw they had a salchicha torta, I knew that's what I would be getting.  I remember vividly some 16 years ago having my first hot dog torta, one of my very first tortas, really.  I didn't know yet that Mexicans cooked with hot dogs like they were any other type of meat . . . in fact, one of my very last meals in Mexico City was a hot dog casserole.  The sandwich arrived wrapped in paper, bisected and bowled.  At the very sight of it, with mayo, avocado and black beans visibly generous, I knew we were in business.

And let me shoot straight with you: This sandwich was perfect.  The Platonic ideal of what hot dog torta should be and certainly the best torta I've eaten in this city south of 116th street.  Consider me impressed, consider me craving another.  I'll need to come back and try the rest of the selection, perhaps ordering them two at a time to make quick work of it.  While the cost/value/deliciousness of the tacos is a bit off at $3, all the tortas come in between $7 and 9 a piece and that price is pretty nice.  A bit more than a torta at La Casa, but also 70 blocks closer to my apartment.  Fair trade.  I wish I had been around when the cooks figured these sandwiches out.  Wonder what the research was like, you know?

But a definite complaint: Total lack of salsas.  Would have tossed a splash of something spicy on everything I ate.  And I don't mean from a bottle of Tapatio.  Like a little bowl of something.  That's what I mean.

Misc. decorations:

Signage being painted while I ate.

Dinner is coming sometime to Salvation Taco and I've read of things like a whole roast pig taco pulling dinner and such.  Consider me quite interested.

Best Destination Burger

Having been served a "carrot steak" during my Thanksgiving weekend, I found my body in dire need of proper proteins last week.  Fortunately for me brother-in-law Cory was in town to help me with a week-long, multi-restaurant re-meating of my diet, culminating with burgers at Peter Luger's.

The piddling question put forward by many an internet food commentator: "Luger's might make a great steak, but can they cook a burger?"

My answer: "For crying out loud, of course they can."  Ground from the trimmings of the same magnificent and might steaks served at the restaurant, the Peter Luger burger isn't just what a burger should be, it's what food should be.  Served simply with just a slice of raw onion (fries, bacon and cheese are all add-ons, add-ons I was really happy with), after one eating I consider this burger a king among meals, a one of the best things you can feed yourself in this city.

I mean, look at this.  Have you ever seen anything like that?  The taste-memory still lingers on my buds.  Order it medium rare and you'll be in heaven.

And just because you're getting burgers doesn't mean you won't get the full Luger's treatment, breadbasket and steak sauce and all.

It's a tremendously photographable meal.