foodie nyc

Ribeye, Asparagus, Arugula

Nothing revolutionary going on with this dish, but for some reason we agreed this was the best steak we've had in recent memory.  The boneless ribeye was amazingly flavorful and juicy.  I seared it on very high heat to create a crust, broiled it for a few minutes for more crust work, than cooked it at 300 for another few minutes. Simple roasted asparagus and the peppery arugula salad was all we needed to go along with this treat.  Sometimes the best meals can be the simplest!

A Few Picts from May 22 Foodie

 

Brilliant Malbec from Argentina

One of my favorite producers from Argentina is Zuccardi.  Their high-end label is called Q (short for quality).  The Q label has great Tempranillos, Syrahs, Cabs and of course Malbecs (my personal fav).  The Q line runs about $20-25 here in the U.S. and it's totally worth it.  I ran into a 2001 Q Malbec at Candlelight Wines here in NYC enjoyed it with steak.  It has mellow smoky, oaky flavors along with a big, long finish.  Best to open it and let it breath for a half hour or more, as the flavors improved over the course of drinking the bottle. Phenomenal!

Ramps, Matsutake, Curry, Walnuts

Friend and fellow foodie chef Grant Bremer recommended that we separate the greens from the bulbs when preparing ramps for one of our courses this past Sunday (full menu to be posted shortly).  I really liked this method, as the tops of the ramps can be blanched and used as another texture and garnish for a dish.  Here I decided to pair the pan roasted ramp bulbs with broiled matsutake mushrooms that Grant had me sample from a local greenmarket farmer (who also supplied us with morels for a foodie course.) Broiling matsutake and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms is my favorite way to intensify the earthy flavors and add a crunchy texture to them. 

I tied the ingredients together by melting some butter and adding a dash of curry powder and a few ground walnuts that I had lying around for a sauce.  Curry, nuts and mushrooms is a perfect pairing to me.

Soft Shells and Fiddleheads

Soft shell crab is something I long for throughout the year.  I then tend to O.D. on them for the month or so that they are available. I can't stand overly fried, thick breading or tempura batter on soft shells. To me, those preparations don't allow for the inherent beauty of the soft shell to shine through - the natural crispiness of the shell contrasting with the soft, sweet creamy meat inside.

I sprinkle with salt and pepper, then very lightly dust the soft shells in flour. I shake off any excess and sear them in very hot olive oil for about 2-3 minutes per side.  A little lemon juice, a side salad (fiddlehead ferns and avocado in this case) and you have the simplest, and in my opinion, most enjoyable way to enjoy soft shell crab.

Biscuits and Chops

BLT Fish here in NYC serves an amazing warm cheddar and chive biscuit that greets diners as they sit down for dinner.  They also give out a recipe card for the biscuits to take home.   I made them exactly as the recipe stated, but paired them with a honey glazed pork chop and the broccolini I mentioned here before.  These biscuits are off the charts, and they freeze well.

Check out my full recipe over at Gothamist.....

Poached Morel Rigatoni

The beauty of landing on a cooking technique that you love means that you can interchange the technique across many dishes.  My poached morel technique was going to certainly be the way I'd cook them, but I needed a more substantial main course.  I had some rigatoni, snap peas, tomato and pine nuts on hand.  After cooking the rigatoni, I added them to my morel infused poaching liquid to absorb their earthy flavors.  As you can see, I am passionately against oversaucing pasta.  Pasta sauce should used as a condiment, in my opinion. This morel pasta was to die for....

Nice Mention on Cityrag

I can feel the rush of the  upcoming event on May 22 coming on as the days get closer.  I'm putting together final touches on the spring menu today, which sometimes get me a little antsy.  In a lot of ways, the menu finalization for foodie is a commitment to myself that I'm going to make each and every aspect of the dishes as perfect as I can.  Yet rather than being a bit anxious about it,  I'm feeling confident after reading the great post by Cityrag about our last foodie.  Reading good things makes me want to do it all over again! 

Sherry Rings

I was drinking a leftover bottle of a Spanish sherry we recently served as a dessert wine for a recent foodie event when I noticed the residual, circular rings the sherry left in the glass after being swirled. 

This is a fantastic dessert wine.  It's very sweet and syrup-y in texture, matching perfectly with fruit or lighter ice cream desserts.  It's called Alvear Pedro Ximenez 2000 Anada, rated 95 points by Robert Parker, and goes for about $13 a bottle.  You can pick it up here.

Broccolini

I absolutely love broccolini.  As you'll see here, it's a cross between broccoli and Chinese Kale.  I really enjoy the more delicate stems and tops vs. regular broccoli. It also has a slight sharpness, which I think adds more complexity to the taste. I blanch it for a couple of minutes and throw it in hot, garlic and chili infused olive oil and season with sea salt and a squeeze of lemon.  I find my broccolini at Citarella here in NYC.

Crusting and Wrapping

At the Sonoma cooking demo I went to recently, I saw the chef wrap a lamb loin in dried black trumpet mushrooms.  Not a revolutionary technique, but I really liked the effect caused by wrapping the crusted meat in plastic wrap and then kept in the fridge to form before searing. 

Giving the coating time to form and penetrate the meat led to an excellent presentation and helped the flavorful ingredients infuse with the meat.

I am thinking about experimenting with other meats and variations of dry flavorful coatings for upcoming recipes. 

Rice Krispie Crusted Cod

When creating this recipe, I have to admit that I was on the verge of crusting Cod with Cocoa Krispies.  I would have substituted the peas with a more neutral grain (couscous, orzo, etc), but I reigned myself back.  The plain old Rice Krispies work here because they aren't very sweet, but they add an airy, crunchy quality that makes it a nice replacement for bread crumb or panko, for example.

Check out the full recipe over at Gothamist....

Green Garlic

I went to a cooking demo in Sonoma recently, watching the chef of Dry Creek Kitchen put together a soup made primarily from green garlic that was just picked from a local farm.  Green garlic is picked before the garlic matures, therefore the flavors are very mellow and earthy.  The white garlic bulbs were chopped and slowly poached in milk, while the green tops were pureed and folded into the strained mixture.  It was an excellent spring soup - I plan on experimenting with it and possibly serve green garlic at the next foodie.

But the big question is where can I get it? Does anyone have a source they can recommend?

Excellent Sonoma Chard

In my opinion, Cali chards get a bad wrap for being rich, butter and overly oaky.  Sure, many are over the top and mask the flavors of the grape.  However, I enjoy a quintessential Cali chardonnay when there are balanced, bright flavors that work in concert with the rich and buttery flavors.  The Sonoma Cutrer we recently had from a trip to Sonoma is an example of the California Chardonnays I like.  These wines are fantastic for rich, butter dishes like morels and asparagus.