I am soooo full!

Stuffing with whole wheat bread, chestnuts, mushrooms, etc.... Roasted chicken, gratin dauphinois, and green beans. 

Apple-cranberry oatmeal crisp served a la mode, of course.

This was our thanksgiving. The below photo belongs to Johan and is from one of his past thanksgivings. I just thought it would be fun to pretend that we had a dining table and table cloths and champagne flutes. Maybe next year. 

give thanks people

A friend of Battali

Meet sweetiepie.... imagine your 9 years old and piecing together your dream restaurant then add a dash wacky, touch of chic and pinch of over the top.
A giant gold bird cage in the window, pink quilted banquettes, marble floors and bar, mirrored walls and ceilings, soda fountains, ice cream parlor chairs and charming older gentleman with fresh white shirts and little black bow ties.
I can really only liken the expience to having room service at your favorite five star hotel in LA, NY, London or any other cosmopolitan destination of your choice meets Serendipity. Tablewares consist of silver, crystal, linens, and candelabras. The fare is classic American.
I had chicken noodle soup and a grilled cheese. The chicken noodle soup was light and not full of sodium with nice sized pieces of shredded chicken, long stands of thin spaghetti and tiny cubed carrots and celery. The grilled cheese was kraft American cheese slices melted on white bread with the crusts cut off. The bread was more toast like in texture and was dry and not greasy like most grilled cheese sandwiches.

So far they have been written up in Vogue and they'll be in the NY times tomorrow so check it out!

Sweetiepie- 19 Greenwich Ave btw 10th and Christopher

A not so random selection of Laura's everyday favorites

Hemp Milk

Laura actually likes Hemp Dream but I can't find an image of it anywhere so instead I put an image of the brand I like called Living Harvest. It seems they just came out with a new version, which is unsweetened and vanilla flavored. I think it looks better than Living Harvests original vanilla hemp milk because it has virtually no sugar, no carbs and fewer calories. It's good and creamy maybe even a little nutty tasting too.

Unsweetened carob chips by Sunspire

These are a long standing favorite of Laura's. I also kinda like the Vegan carob chips by Sunspire too. I think these might be an acquired taste but they are kinda great for snacking on.

Artisana Raw organic Cashew Butter

Just plain delicious! Laura likes to eat this frozen, straight out of the jar and chip away at it. I am not sure how, but she manages to eat a jar of this in a day or two.


Here is her favorite make at home sweet snackie treat originally found on foodandwine.com.
She says they are "RAWSOME"!

Coconut-Almond Balls with Dried Fruit
1 cup raw almonds (5 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 cup dried pineapple (4 ounces), coarsely chopped
1 cup soft Medjool dates, pitted (4 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

In a food processor, pulse the almonds with the salt and vanilla seeds until very finely ground. Add the pineapple and dates and process until the mixture holds together. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the cranberries. Roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the coconut until coated. The coconut-almond balls can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.


These next ones aren't salty nor has Laura ever tried these so they probably shouldn't be included in this post about Laura's favorite foods. But this variation was inspired by her recipe. They are also pretty good, because they have that magical ingredient, Chocolate.

Chocolate Salty Balls makes 10 aprox 20g each
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
4 dates (50g)
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbs agave
2 tbs water
1 scoop protein powder (NOW, unflavored)
Almond extract- about a half of a cap full

Put in food processor, make into balls, and dip into melted chocolate... if you’re into that sort of thing. Refrigerate for about 20 mins or until chocolate hardens. Eat balls!!!


Genji Ginger Miso dressing

Though she usually makes her own salad dressings she has recently come across a ready made one that suits her standards. Genji Ginger Miso dressing is sold in the front aisle of sushi bars @ Whole Foods. I couldn't seem to find am image of this either but after looking around on the Internet this product seems to have a big following. I haven't tried it yet but am going to look for it next time I am at whole foods, or what Laura fondly refers to as "whole paycheck".

Vegetables

As for vegetables... it's all about sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts, both treated rather simply. Cut into chunky pieces, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted in the oven till cooked and slightly crispy.

Maybe one day she will send me the poem she wrote about sweet potatoes. And might there be a poem about Brussels sprouts in works?

a new fave

(If you click on the menu it will be legible)

Newly opened this week on Hudson and Gansevoort. This is not a store front but instead is a catering company that delivers their menu from 11-5 each day. It's all local and organic and the menu changes weekly.
Unfortunately their delivery is limited from Houston to 23rd st from the west side highway to 5th ave. So if you are in the hood and you read this give it a try. You won't regret it.

Uh, Puerto Rico - Ohhh!

Welcoming another new coffee shop to the hood. 636 Grand Street btw Manhattan & Leonard

Brown rice for breakfast

This concoction came about the other night when I had extra brown rice left over from dinner.
After most meals I am searching for a little something sweet. There was nothing obvious or ready made in the house so I had to be crafty to satisfy my sweet tooth.
I kind of just started looking around kitchen and adding things to the brown rice. Then I started to think about middle eastern deserts like baklava and halva, so I went for sweet, spice and nutty. I have since decided that this can be for breakfast too.

If you have extra time then you can gently toast the sesame seeds and slivered almonds.
Other add-ins could be raisins, currents, dried cranberries, grated apple, walnuts, etc...


Sweet brown rice
1/2 cup of brown rice, cooked
1 tbs agave
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground
pinch of cardamom, ground
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbs coconut, dry shredded
1 tbs flax seeds
1 1/2 tsp tahini
2 tbs slivered almonds

Stir together and enjoy.


Vanilla tofu cream
1/2 cup of firm silken tofu
1 tbs wax orchard fruit sweet
couple of drops of vanilla
zest of half a lemon

Blend and serve. I usually eat with fruit.
If you don't have fruit sweet you can use honey, agave or whatever else.

Eggscellent sunday souffle

Here I was again ready for another meal and still with the same barren kitchen I had earlier this afternoon. I was having a craving for cheese souffle so I started looking on the internet for a recipe. I decided on an Alton Brown recipe. He is just so precise about everything that I thought it just had to be a good one. Lucky me I had almost every ingredient needed.

I didn't have cream of tartar so I substituted 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice. I also used King Arthur white whole wheat flour instead of regular all purpose flour and I only used 2 ounces of cheddar instead of the 6 ounces the recipe called for. I would have preferred to use gruyere cheese but we didn't have any unfortunately, there's always next time and I'll definitely be making this one again. Lastly, I took the souffle out about 7 minutes early. Things usually continue to cook even after the come out of the oven or off the stove top. In my house we like the middle to be a little on the wet side. You can tell how far along the souffle is by shaking the dish from side to side. The more it jiggles the wetter it is and the less it jiggles the more cooked it is.

Butter, room temperature, for greasing the souffle
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/3 cups milk, hot
4 large egg yolks (2 1/2 ounces by weight)
6 ounces sharp Cheddar
5 egg whites plus 1 tablespoon water (5 1/2 ounces by weight plus 1/2 ounce water)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Use room temperature butter to grease an 8-inch souffle mold. Add the grated Parmesan and roll around the mold to cover the sides. Cover with plastic wrap and place into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter. Allow all of the water to cook out.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry mustard, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Whisk this mixture into the melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes.

Whisk in the hot milk and turn the heat to high. Once the mixture reaches a boil, remove from the heat.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks to a creamy consistency. Temper the yolks into the milk mixture, constantly whisking. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Whisk until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until glossy and firm. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the base. Continue to add the whites by thirds, folding very gently.

Pour the mixture into the souffle. Fill the souffle to 1/2-inch from the top. Place on an aluminum pie pan. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

Happy Birthday Jules!

Oh such schweetness...

Doing my best Robert Smith impression.

Living for my shirt in case you didn't notice!

The brothers participate in their favorite past time

Marie desperate for a drink attempts to sample Chateau Topolski '78

Keepin' us groovin' all night long

I have no idea what Vaughan was so exited about, probably his beer.

How are you two feeling today?

Chris gets clever!

4 out of "5 a day" ain't bad

Quinoa, isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you have a hangover. The hangover comes courtesy of Jules rockin' birthday party last night. As you can see in the photos above there was a little bit of drinking going on.
But when you wake up at noon and look in your cupboard to find a whole lot of nothing you quickly accept your reality and make the best of it. I rooted through my fridge and grabbed whatever vegetables I had, which were some cherry tomatoes, an eggplant a stalk of celery and a carrot. In my opinion roasting is by far the best tasting way to cook vegetables. This dish tastes quite rich. The eggplant becomes almost buttery and the quinoa adds a creamy nutty flavor.

Serves 2

olive oil
1 eggplant cut into 3/4" cubes
1/2 a pint of cherry tomatoes
3 tbs chopped shallots
2 pieces crushed garlic
1/2 cup of chopped carrots
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup of water

Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl toss tomatoes and eggplant in a liberal amount of olive and season with salt (at your discretion). Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes.

Add some olive oil to a pot and sauté the shallots for a couple of minutes, then add garlic, carrots, celery, 1 tsp of salt and a couple grinds of pepper. Cook for about three minutes. Stir in quinoa and allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes before adding water. Add water, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook until all water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes. When done, the quinoa appears translucent and the germ ring will be visible.

Quinoa is rich in Amino acids (protein), and the protein it supplies is a complete protein. Most grains need to be paired with beans in order to form a complete protein. Although quinoa is technically not a grain, it's a seed, it can be used a substitute in pretty much any recipe that calls for grains. It's also a good source of magnesium, calcium and iron.

Thanks Igor

At my Gaultier appointment Igor recommended Zibetto's on 6th Ave Btw 56 & 57. It's a tiny very Euro style coffee bar, it actually made me feel like I was in Italy in between shows ducking into any randon coffee bar to get a quick fix. I wish I hadn't been in such a rush or I would have taken it at the bar rather than to go. My latte was pretty perfect. I will definitely go back and even a few blocks out of my way if need be.

Snackimals

Here's another one I am living for lately. Not to dis on your childhood but these are a million times better than those crappy tasting one that came in the cage box with the the string handle.
THANKS LISA!!!! Will you pay for my gastric bypass after I eat one to many of these?

Cookies and sort of milk

I love eating babies cookies. For a long time I ate the Nabisco ones that come in the blue box. These are my new faves. They are organic, wheat free, dairy free, soy free and made with whole grains. I like to dip/soak them in Almond milk. So simple yet so good.

All the coffee in New York

Yesterday morning I was heading down to my Paul Smith appointment in Soho when I realized that I no longer know where to get the most delicious latte in the neighborhood.
It has been years since I worked down there and I couldn't really remember where I got coffee back in the day. I would assume it was Starbucks, I used to have a habit. I swore off coffee this past Monday and by Tuesday had a big hot latte in my little hands. A whole 24 hours of coffee abstinence. YAY ME! Can you feel the will power?

Anyways, I was thinking there must a blog about the best coffee joints in various NYC neighborhoods. Right? But how would I go about finding that blog? And it's subjective anyways. So I have decided I will blog about my favorite one off coffee shops.

At my Paul Smith appointment I thought I would asked the locals for their suggestions, specifically asking about the trendy looking place on Houston (at the corner of Greene) called Aroma. They weren't feeling Aroma so much and instead recommended Alessi, that kooky Italian kitchen store. It seems that in the front of their store they have a cafe. Who knew? They serve Joe's coffee and use my favorite espresso machines, FAEMA.

Although it was good I am not quite ready to settle and say it's the best coffee in Soho. What was excited to find was that they sold Amedei chocolate. I don't believe I have seen seen it sold anywhere in NYC since I first heard about last spring. I bought two bars for a total of $19. I know $8 is pretty steap for a chocolate bar but I think it just might be the best chocolate ever. I got the 70% cocoa.
I usually end up eating half of a normal sized chocolate bar in one sitting but with this chocolate two to three squares seems to be all it takes. It is perfectly satisfying, the way a great piece of chocolate should be. Oh, and the packaging is ridiculously chic.

GET YOURS HERE

Yamalama dingdong!

1 Yam
large, peeled,
cut into thick rounds

1 Tbs olive oil

1 Clove garlic
medium sized, chopped

1/2 Shallot
medium sized, chopped

2 Scallions
cut into 1" pieces

Ginger
cut into matchsticks,
dime sized bundle

Chicken broth, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp honey, pinch of salt and a dash of pepper


Boil yam slices in salted water for 8 minutes or until tender, then drain and transfer to plate.

Heat olive oil in the pot, add garlic, shallots, ginger and scallions. While these are cooking I like to add a splash of chicken broth to the pan every now and again to keep the ingredients from burning or sticking to the pan, you can can also use water. Just enough to help the cooking process and it evaporates so that it doesn't become soupy consistency. This allows you to use less oil in your cooking. Cook this over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until ginger sticks are tender. Remove from heat add salt and pepper to taste, stir in sesame oil and honey and spoon mixture over the yams.

I think I might be over figuring out what the nutritional information is for everything as it's sort of a pain. All I will say is this is healthy it's just vegetables with a little bit of healthy fat.

The search is over

I have been looking for a decent set of measuring spoons and have finally found some worth buying. Whenever I find something that I think is just what I have been searching for I buy two. I am kinda picky about the shape and size and depth of my measuring spoons. Oh and just in general I'm little anal retentive too.
Since I sometimes serve myself tablespoons of sticky stuff like the wax orchard fudge or almond butter and I want to be able to get every last drop easily be it with my finger or my maybe my tongue. These seem to be just right shape and size for both spoon licking and finger dipping alike. I like to eat with my hands, luckily I can use growing up in India as my excuse. Although, some don't seem to think this is a good enough reason to continue to eat that way at the ripe old age of 32. To them I say I DON'T CARE!

Another neat thing about these is that they have a couple extra spoons that an average set.
Most don't come with the following extra measuring spoons... a pinch, 1/8 tsp, 2/3 tsp. 1.5 tsp and 2 tsp.
Life is good people, life is good!

It's a problem

These are dangerous! If only these would come pre-packaged in single serving portions then maybe I wouldn't eat the whole bag in a day! They are heaven and worth standing in the beyond ridiculous lines for.

Gotta love the Frank's

I think I just spent the whole day drinking again! This morning at around 11am I met my friend Laura at her apartment in the L.E.S. for brunch. She lives at her apartment part time so the kitchen isn't exactly stocked. Laura, Justin (her boyfriend), Rory and Amanda all slept there last night and appeared to be just about as useless as I was looking and feeling this morning. Sadly, I can't even say my exhaustion was the repercussion of all night Halloween partying. Actually I spent last night organizing my mail and bills from the past nine years. I feel like this should be the opening line to a joke, something along the lines of... you know you're over thirty when.... but sadly it is not.

In an effort to get the us to rally Laura brewed us some coffee. Once the coffee was ready it was served sans sugar with rice milk and a side of unsweetened carob chips (which we regularly snack on by the handfuls). What I can say about this experience is that we would probably survive just fine in the wilderness. This is yet another great example of us being able to make the best of a situation with what was readily available. At one point there were about six random mugs and tea cups sprawled out across the kitchen counter and I thought I was reaching into tea cup of carob chips and instead found my hand resting in a tepid cup of coffee which belonged to Amanda.

After a little stroll around the neighborhood we settled in at Frankies Spuntino on Clinton St for a dining extravaganza. Brunch was heaven, especially my french toast which practically floated off my plate it was so light and airy. We totally pigged out and collectively drank a least twenty four Bellini's. I would like to mention that the olive oil from Frankies is really quite good, it has a clean and light but deep grassy flavor to it. You can find it at Whole Foods. It's not exactly what I would call budget but I have no trouble justifying it. I suggest that you do not use it sparingly because it will go bad if it's not used quickly enough. I enjoy the flavor of this olive oil so much that I don't really use it for cooking as much as I do to top finished dishes.

Once we were finished stuffing our faces we stopped by De Vino and picked up four bottles of champagne and two bottles of rosé for a post lunch session on Laura's roof. I mean, that's just how warm the first of November was today in NYC, it was rosé weather! I am back home now with a full stomach and have to say today was a beautiful day and we really took full advantage, thanks for lunch Laura!