foodie nyc

Soba Noodles with Tofu, Shitake, Pineapple, Cilantro

One of the single most frustrating aspects about having a passion for cooking is the frequent assumption that cooking is something I do to fulfill my own needs. 

I often hear things like "It's not a big deal, since you love to cook anyway" or "I know you just made a huge dinner for me and friends, but you love it",  or  "I know this was a major effort, but you'd be cooking anyway".   

It's as if cooking is a narcissistic act that solely revolves around fulfilling my passions.   While there is some truth to that, cooks everywhere experience a phenominom once they learn their guests tastes, likes and dislikes.    Cooking for someone becomes thoughtful. 

A friend who adores soup and pho? Hmm, maybe I'll make a rendition of oxtail soup that would have completely different qualities in comparison to pho.   Someone  who loves the clean yet complex flavors of Thai?  Maybe these flavors would be a helpful remedy for her crazy weekend on the road?

What I'm getting at is that cooking is much more than the physical effort of chopping, sauteing and searing.   Beyond the effort,  it can become an extremely thoughtful expression.   Thinking about what flavors or tastes can make someone smile...remembering what ingredients they love and loathe with precise detail...recalling a dish they loved while eating at a restaurant  together.  All of these things are much more than an act of labor.

My point is simply that cooking for someone on a frequent basis becomes much more than a  physical effort.   Believe it or not, sometimes that gets overlooked by eaters everywhere.

Anyhow, I bring this up because that's exactly what inspired me to make this Soba noodle dish (which is the actual point of this post!).   I went to the market thinking about what flavors would comfort someone coming back from a rowdy and sleepless weekend.    She loves the play of sweet, tart and spicy, loves starches like rice and noodles, enjoys the earthy flavors of tofu and mushrooms, and maybe cilantro is one of her favorite herbs.    Done.

I simply sauteed shitakes in olive oil with finely chopped white onion, garlic, ginger and some cayenne.  After the mushrooms cooked down and released their water, I added cubed firm tofu and sesame seed oil and sauteed for a few minutes.   A bit of soy deglazed the pan.   Finally, cubed pineapple, roasted cashews, chopped cilantro and the juice of a whole lime finished the dish.   I added the cooked soba noodles, folded them into the ingredients in the pan, then adjusted the seasoning as necessary.    I added a bit more lime juice and another few drops of soy and sesame oil for balance. 

A delicious and simple dish, which made excellent lunch leftovers the next day.

Sandra Lee Sucks: Coq Au Coconut with Celery Root Puree

My virtual protest of the culinary train wreck that is Sandra Lee comes to you in a variation of the classic French dish, Coq Au Vin.

For this edition of  "I Loathe Sandra Lee", I've decided to show Sandra how to create a proper braised chicken dish.   Sandra created one of the most unfortunate recipes I've seen, unwisely called "Chicken Scaloppini".  She inexplicably suggests that you braise thin, boneless chicken breasts for 4 hours.  To accent her dry overcooked chicken, she suggests braising pre-cooked frozen vegetables and potatoes for four hours, just so you can appreciate how vegetables can turn gray and lose all of their flavor and texture.   Now that's good eating.

I wish I could say I spent a ton of time thinking about how to improve this debacle.   But I didn't need to, because unlike Sandra Lee,  I realized that the  French pretty much mastered the technique for braising chicken long before Sandra even knew how to spell "preservative."

I followed the traditional Coq Au Vin technique for braising chicken, but since I try to live my life beyond the "30% creative benchmark" that Sandra inspires the world to live by,  I chose flavor combinations I thought would add an earthy element to the chicken and the braising sauce. 

After searing the chicken, I added cremini mushrooms, ground curry, garlic and water to deglaze the browned chicken goodness left in the bottom of a heavy pot.   I submerged the chicken in the liquid, brought to a heavy simmer, than placed it in a 350 oven for just a little over an hour (not four!).   

After the chicken is ready, the key becomes turning the amazingly rich, mushroom curry broth into a sauce.   I reduced the sauce for another twenty minutes until concentrated and thicker.   I then finished the dish with coconut milk, adding a creamy spike of flavor.    A bit of lemon juice cuts through the richness and balances the sauce. 

As a starchy compliment to the dish, I boiled and pureed celery root.   I love the fresh, celery flavor the puree adds to the earthy flavors of the mushroom, curry and chicken.   A simple garnish of diced radish and celery leaves adds a burst of fresh flavor and texture.

Chest bumps, Sandy!

Full recipe follows.......

Save the Date: The Next Tasting Is In Sight

I'm very closing to announcing the next set of Foodie NYC tasting events for the weekend of March 28-30.   

Read more here.   

I'm going to be doing a theme for this event, most likely inspired by my upcoming trip to Puerto Rico.    I did an event last year based on my trip to Umbria/Tuscany, which made for a personal and interesting dining experience for my guests.

I'm also thinking of  giving away a free seat to this event by doing a potential contest, like I did with my chocolate tasting event a while ago.

Stay tuned, more to come....

I Still Loathe Sandra Lee: February 2008

It's been a while since I've thought about Sandra Lee.

But one Saturday morning, I couldn't sleep and found myself curled up on the couch watching Saturday morning Food Network shows.   Before I knew it, the queen of semi-homemade popped onto the screen in all her processed glory.    All of the cuddly goodness of this particular Saturday morning suddenly stood still in time, as I heard the dreaded words that sent my mind into a state of perplexed anarchy.   I can almost hear the shrill of her voice now:  "70% Semi Homemade and 30% creativity" and something to the effect of fooling people into thinking you actually made food from scratch.   Dupe your family!  Fool your friends!  Woohoo!

All of this reminded me how much I loathe Sandra Lee.    I get tons of love and hate mail around this subject, and I'd like to clear something up.   I don't loathe simple cooking.   Or meals that take only minutes to make.    What I do loathe is using processed ingredients full of chemicals, artificial flavors and passing it off as homemade cooking to fool your friends and family. 

It's almost like Sandra Lee is stuck in a food time warp circa 1985.    Sometimes I feel like the entire country is moving toward a local food, all natural, fresh tastes better, farmers market mentality.   But every time I feel assured about the food progress of our country,  I'm reminded that there's a single woman out there who encourages us to forget about eating  natural, healthy, local ingredients.

Beyond this, I couldn't help but notice her awful cooking technique. 

An example would be her recipe for "Chicken Scaloppini".   I'm sorry, but this has to be the worst technically sound recipe I have seen in my life.   She suggests that you should buy thinly sliced chicken breasts and braise them with a bouillon cube , Campbell's cream of asparagus soup, and frozen vegetables for 4 HOURS!!!  Not only does this combination sound horrendous to me, the technique for braising is unbelievably wrong.     One does not braise skinless, boneless chicken breasts for four hours! Ever.   No one likes tough, rubbery chicken.  Nor does one braise pre-blanched frozen veggies for four hours - they are already cooked! 

Read some of the comments from people who made this horrendous dish.   They speak for themselves.

This recipe embodies everything wrong with Sandra Lee.    She is literally setting the American food revolution back by 10 years every time she convinces a poor soul to listen to her shitty advice.

On February 18,  the next internet protest of Sandra Lee will occur on this little site.    I will post a recipe inspired by Sandra Lee's "Chicken Scaloppini" recipe.   The only rules:  I will not use processed ingredients or anything semi-homemade in my dish.   I will braise using proper techniques.   I will be more than 30% creative rather than buy bouillon cubes and Campbell's Soup to avoid thinking.

If you are interested in joining me and telling the world how much you loathe Sandra Lee, simply make a braised dish in the anti-Sandra Lee method outlined above.   Send me a photo of your creation by February 17 and a bit of description and I'll feature your protest of Sandra Lee alongside my dish.  If you have a blog, I'll link back to you in my post.

Related:   The I Loathe Sandra Lee Archives