Albarino Adventures - Part 2

I left Casa Mono with a little bit of a buzz but still determined to find my beets at the Union Square Green Market and to find skate, almonds and Albarino at Chelsea Market. My final menu for the night was going to be Crispy Skate with Red Beets and Almonds (if that wasn't obvious by the three ingredients I needed to buy). The only story worth telling about finding everything was that it was a beautiful day in New York, so instead of hopping on the L train to go from Union Square to 8th Avenue, I decided to walk. It was one of those low 70s, sunny fall days - perfect for a 20 minute walk.

I found all the things I needed without a hitch and even found special almonds - some that Conrad had suggested I tried. The Marcona Almonds were a little pricey ($8.02 for .62 lbs) but I guess all almonds are expensive. I headed home and prepared this meal.

Roasted Beets with Toasted Almonds:
(This is what I used to cook for three of us)

- 5 medium-large red beets with the greens cut off and stored for another use

- GOOD Olive Oil

- Sea Salt

- 1/4 cup of Almonds (I actually recommened just buying slivered almonds - the Marcona were a little too sweet for this recipe)

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Scrub beets to remove any dirt.

3. Line a cooking pan with foil and place the beets in the middle of the pan.

4. Liberally drizzle the beets with olive oil and move them around to cover evenly.

5. Sprinkle beets liberally with sea salt.

6. Pull the corners of the foil together and completely cover the beets - like a little package.

7. Place in the middle of the oven and roast for 45 minutes before checking (beets take a long time...)

8. Check the beets for tenderness. They should be fork tender but if not, place them back in the oven and cook for another 10-20 minutes.

9. Once fork tender, open foil completely and let the beets come to room temperature.

*The nice thing about this meal is that this part can be done in advance. I wasn't sure when my roommate was coming home last night, so I prepared the beets to this point because the rest of the recipe takes about 10 minutes.

Recipe Continued:

10. Heat about 1 tbsp. of olive oil over medium-high heat.

11. Place almonds in the heated oil and stir occasionally to ensure even toasting.

12. Continue until lightly toasted (4-7 minutes).

13. Add roasted beets and toss together until covered by toasted almonds.

14. Keep over low heat until ready to serve.

Crispy Skate:
(Again for 3 people)

- 1 pound skate (or as close to it- maybe a little under) in three seperate filets

- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

- 1 cup of whole milk (any milk with work but whole milk will add the most flavor)

- Olive oil

- Salt/Pepper

Recipe:

1. Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil over high heat - until oil is really hot but not smoking.

2. While the oil is heating, put 1/2 cup of flour on a plate and pour milk into a bowl (this is for the dredging process). Use salt and pepper to season flour (two parts salt to one part pepper- as much as you think necessary)

3. When oil is ready, dip the first filet in milk so it is covered. Take milk-dipped filet and cover in flour making sure to shake off any excess.

4. Place filet in oil, turn heat down to medium-high heat and pan sear for 3 minutes per side(inital high heat is to get a nice sear and color of the filet - serve skate with that side up). Remove and place on an oven-safe plate in a 200 degree oven to keep the fish warm

5. Repeat step 3 on the remaining filets, adding more oil and heating thoroughly before adding the filets.

Once the fish is done, plate! Again, I hope this makes sense (?) I'm not well-versed in technical cooking terms - I do everything by sight, smell and sound. If this doesn't make sense, let me know.

I paired this meal with a 2009 La Cana Albarino also produced by Rias Baixas (same producer as my Zarate wine from Casa Mono). Very light, a little more citrus and fruit than the other Albarino and a great complement to the skate and roasted beets.

I also bought a bottle of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine) to have before the meal. The guy at the Wine Vault at Chelsea Market suggested a 2005 Juve y Camps "Reserva de la Familia" Brut Cava. Extremely light on the palate and a very light bead. Really a great way to start the meal - I paired it with Trader Joes Frozen Steamer Clams (5 minute cooking time in the microwave!)

Enjoy!

Albarino Adventures - Part 1

Casey commented on a post recently that she is loving the Spanish white wine called Albarino. I was off yesterday so I figured I would shape my day around trying the wine and finding something delicious to cook to enjoy with it. I woke up initially thinking of a dish we serve at my restaurant - crispy skate. I didn't know anything about Albarino so I googled it and when it describe the varietal as crisp and light I know it would be a perfect match to the buttery, sweet taste of skate.

I left my apartment and headed for the Green Market at Union Square. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday local farmers and producers come into the city from the tri-state area to sell their seasonal goodies. I LOVE beets and know that one of the stalls on the north side of the market sold them at a great price, so that was my first stop. While I was there, I was also going to poke my head into Casa Mono, another Mario Batali/Joe Bastianich restaurant located at 52 Irving Place - just one block east of Union Square.

I looked at my watch and realized I was hungry, so when I got there, I decided I would have a quick bite to eat. Casa Mono opened about 7 years ago and is the smallest restaurant I have ever been inside. There are 11 tables (some were pushed together while I was there, but its was 11 groups) and they are constantly filled. Just for fun, I went on OpenTable and checked their reservation availability and there is nothing open for 2 people in the next two weeks between 5:00-10:15pm - yeah, that busy. Luckily for me, there is sitting room at the bar (about 6 seats) and another 6 or 7 seats at a "bar" which actually overlooks the completely open kitchen. I decided to sit there so I could see what the executive chef, Anthony, and his line cooks could do.

This is Chef Anthony (kind of cute, huh?)

I got the wine list and found an Albarino by the glass (I'm assuming it's a wine most Spanish restuarants carry). I ordered a 2009 Zarate Albarino produced by Rias Baixas which was $19. Casa Mono is tapas, and I wasn't absolutely ravishing, so I asked the waiter to pair one dish with the wine. He suggested the Fideos with Chorizo and Clams ($18). He said the balance of some spice from the chorizo would pair nicely with the crisp, light wine.

While I was waiting for my dish to arrive, the gentleman sitting next to me asked if I had ever tried razor clams. I had, I said, its one of my chef's specialties. He got excited when I mentioned where I worked and Conrad and I shared the rest of our meal talking about food. The razor clam he offered me was cooked "a la plancha" (on the flat top) and was topped with a pesto of sorts made of almost every herb imaginable. Delicious. While we were introducing ourselves and eating the razor clams, my food arrived.

Thank god I only ordered one "tapas." As you can see below, it was a big "small plate." The dish was made up of three key components - the fideua (the Spanish version of a capellini pasta that is about an inch long), the garlic aioli, and the clams. First, the chef cooked the clams in their natural juice in the oven. I missed the initial prep because I was paying closer attention to my wine, but I saw the line cook remove the steaming clams from the oven, place them on the stove and then cover them to finish the steaming process. While this was happening, I believe they were cooking my fiduea in some of the remaining clam juice (I did not witness the juice moving from the clam pan to the pasta, but the clam flavor infused in the noodles was the prominent taste in the finished product). Once cooked, shaved garlic, a green I could not identify and chopped chorizo were added. The steamed clams were then moved from their pan to a small, authentic, red clay ramekin and topped with the fideua mixture. This was then placed in the broiler - a great step that I was not expecting to see. Because of the thin, short nature of the pasta, the top part gets this nice crispiness to it while the rest underneath warms up and soaks up the flavor of the chorizo, garlic and the green. Once removed from the broiler, the dish is topped with the garlic aioli and served. The crispy pasta, with the spicy chorizo, creamy aioli and the clams worked magically together. The wine pairing was perfect to cut through the cream and spice as well as to complement and add to the delicate flavor of the clams and their juice that was, as I said, a dominating flavor.

Conrad and I kept talking and I found out he is from Barcelona, I'm guessing he is around 60 years old, and he is a Spanish food and wine supplier. He lives in New Jersey and supplies ingredients to a lot of New York City restaurants, including Casa Mono - I guess that explains why he was able to sit down, talk over the bar to the chef and order his lunch instead of going through the waiter. He gave me his card and told me about a paella feast he is holding on Saturday, October 9th. His father was famous in Barcelona for his paella and they used to cook for up to 400 people. Next Saturday, however, is for a measly 250 people. While he is telling me about the paella and his family's history in food, Chef Anthony hands him another dish (one he did not order).

This time it was Padron Peppers. These are traditional Spanish green peppers that are thrown into hot oil and cooked until the blister. They are covered in sea salt and served whole as a finger food. Simply pick the pepper up by the stem and eat it all in one bite. There is just a little spice but the sea salt help cuts through that. By this time, my Albarino was gone but that wine (and, of course, Casey suggestion which started everything) had created a great lunch experience that wasn't over!

I decided to order a glass of Granacha - my go-to Spanish red wine. I picked an 2007 Agricolas Aguaza Sarada Seleccion produced by Almansa. It had the typical pepperiness and earthiness expected in a Granacha but it was also extremely light on the palate. It was easy drinking and worked well with the peppers.

Conrad had another dish come out that he wanted me to try. This time it was the lamb chop, also cooked a la plancha. He insisted on me taking half the dish and, in between telling me about his friend who is a food writer in Chicago, he also decided to sneak away and tell my waiter he was going to buy the glass of Granacha I had just ordered. So sweet! I felt bad taking half of his lamb chop but he got up, paid his bill, shook my hand and told me he looked forward to seeing me at my restaurant the next time he came in for dinner. He left me with the lamb, so of course I had to try it.Needless to say, it was also amazing. The meat was grilled to perfection and placed on top of a marinated chick pea salad then topped with thinly sliced bell peppers, carrots and onions with an opal basil, mint and spicy lemon pesto. To make this amazing meal even better, it was a great complement to the red wine! By this point, I was stuffed but the Manchego cheese plate sounded too good. The dessert was served with a 3 month, 6 month and 12 month aged Manchego. All were delicious and very different. The 3 month was creamy and soft and went well on the bread served on the side. The 6 month was slightly less creamy with a sharper, more pronounced flavor and my favorite of the three. The 12 month was an extremely dry cheese and very complex. It went best with the quince jelly - the sweet and soft texture of the jelly balanced the sharp texture and flavor.

Casa Mono was a great experience. Not only was the food amazing but meeting Conrad, someone so connected in the food world, was an added bonus. We have already sent each other an email and I am planning on attending the paella feast with a friend from work. Hopefully, he can be some sort of a mentor and, if not, be a great person to run into and sit next to at another NYC restuarant (who doesn't love sampling specialities and getting free wine?)

As you can see, this is part one. Remember, I woke up wanting to buy a bottle of Albarino and to cook cripsy skate. Stay tuned for part two of Albarino Adventures...
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Currently Cooking/Eating: Nothing but I was just boiling water for some tea. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I was sitting here writing and the fire alarm went off. For a second I wondered how that was possible - I don't have the stove or oven on. Shit! Yes, I do! I run into the kitchen and see that, in forgetting about the boiling water, I had let it all boil off and my pot was so hot it was smoking... I guess sometimes its easy to forget about the simplest things.

Currently Craving: Nothing. I ate so much at family meal at the end of my shift today, I doubt I'll eat the rest of the night.

Currently Reading: Heat by Bill Buford

Currently Obsessing Over: Chelsea Market. I went again yesterday to do some of the dinner shopping and I love this place. It has everything imaginable and everything is of the highest quality. I definitely recommend going to the Lobster Place - anything seafood a girl could ever ask for.

Butternut Squash Soup

Yesterday I was craving butternut squash soup. I went to Trader Joes (the new one on 72nd and Broadway) last night on my way home from an afternoon out and, as always, bought way more food than I needed. By the time I lugged the three shopping bags FULL of food from TJs to my apartment in Washington Heights I was tired, hot and wet from the down pour that wouldn't stop last night. Needless to say, when I got home at 8 all I wanted to do was take a hot shower, put on my pjs and watch tv while listening to the rain.

I woke up this morning and the rain was still coming down. I don't have to work until 3:45 so I figured I'd make the soup and have it on hand for rainy days to come. I improvised on the recipe I had on hand and here is what I came up with. I call it Creamy Butternut Squash Soup.

Ingredients:

- 2 Leeks (white parts only) chopped

- 1 medium sized butternut squash (about 2-2 1/2 pounds) cut into 1 inch cubes

- 4 cups of chicken broth (I use low sodium so I can season to taste)

- 1 cup low fat sour cream

- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

- Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.

2. Add in chopped leeks to melted butter and cook until translucent (about 8-10 minutes).

3. Add cubed butternut squash and chicken broth to the butter/leek mixutre and reduce heat to a simmer.

4. Let the squash, leek and broth mixture cook until the squash is fork tender (about 20-25 minutes).

5. Once tender, use a slotted spoon to move the squash from the pot to a blender. Pour 2-3 laddles full of left over broth into blender as well - this will help everything blend together quickly and easily.

6. Pour the left over broth out (you can keep it if you want a thinner soup but I like mine to be a thicker consistency).

7. Return the pureed squash to the same pot and warm over a low heat.

8. Once the soup has reached a warmer temperature, stir in the low fat sour cream until completely incorporated.

9. Season to taste with salt and pepper (if you used low sodium broth you might need to season more than if you used a full-flavored broth).

10. Serve warm topped with a few Trader Joes Garlic and Cheese Croutons.

Enjoy!

This is the first recipe I have attempted to write out... if a step isn't clear, let me know so I can give more detail!

Blue Ribbon

A few weeks ago one of my managers invited me to Blue Ribbon in SoHo for an after work meal. My best friend from high school, Casey, was visiting so I skipped out on the trip downtown and didn't think much of it. Then a few days later, while I was reading Heat, Blue Ribbon showed up again. This time I got a glimpse of what this restaurant has to offer. Bill Buford describes this small, easy-to-miss restaurant with a 8+ person round table in the front that, when Babbo first opened, Mario Batali would frequent with line cooks, friends and others in the business. They would order 7 bottles of wine and the nontraditional food wouldn't stop until the early hours of the morning.

So last night, after a not-so-great shift at work, I decided to check it out. I asked a co-worker if he would like to join me and at 11:15 we caught a cab and headed to Sullivan Street in SoHo. The decor was not what I was expecting. In fact, I had pictured it more as a diner then a nice, semi-upscale restaurant with servers wearing starched white shirts and ties.

We got a table in a corner and started discussing the culinary possibilities of the night. Almost immediately we decided to order an abundance of starters and a bottle of wine. On our menu for the night: A dozen oysters, escargot, cheese fondue, steak tartare and, the house specialty, beef marrow with oxtail marmalade. With our food order we also picked out a bottle of Nigl Gruner Veltliner - an Austrian white.

The wine was very light with just a little fruit on the front of the palate but the finish was almost too light and had a little too much minerality. Sipping it before the first course arrived was pleasant but the wine took on a totally different profile when eating the oysters. We had six Malpeque oysters from Prince Edward Island and six Effingham oysters from British Columbia. They had three sauces - a classic red wine vinegar minuette, a jalapeno-onion-tomato salsa of sorts and a classic cocktail sauce. I almost always use minuette on my oysters and the pairing of that acidity with the minerality of the finish on the wine was mind-blowing. After having that bottle of wine with the oysters, I completely understand the magic of pairing food and wines. The oysters themselves were great. I love the briny/meatiness of east coast oysters but had never had a west coast oyster that I enjoyed. The Effinghams changed that. They were creamy and a little sweet - very typical of a west coast oyster - but also had an unexpected brininess to them.

We also had the escargot with our first course. Wow. The preparation stepped away from tradition with candied apples, carrots, mushrooms and bacon. Like I said, wow. All the ingredients were individually amazing but the dish was finished off with a port/brandy reduction that surrounding and stuck to every morsel of food in that bowl. It was served with crostini and we had to hold ourselves back from licking the bowl - I guess that's why we got a loaf of bread... it was gone by the time we wiped that bowl clean.

The next course was cheese fondue. Again, wow. Fondue brings back childhood memories of my family's time in Holland. Our next door neighbors in our little farm village, Eemnes, were Swiss and they taught my mom the secret to perfect cheese fondue. Since moving back to the states 10 years ago, fondue has become our family's Christmas Eve tradition. Every year we sit on the floor around our living room coffee table and enjoy cheese fondue with cubes of French baguette and a fruit salad. When the fondue hit the table last night, all these memories came flooding back. It was made with Gruyere and Emmentaler cheese, just like the way our neighbors taught my mom, and was surrounded with cubes of baguette, bread sticks and apple slices. The only step away from tradition? A side plate with a baked potato covered in bacon. I was starting to notice what makes Blue Ribbon amazing; everything is traditional but there is one element that pushes the food from great to exceptional. Needless to say, we devoured the fondue.

As we ordered our second bottle of wine, a 2008 Chablis Ier Cru with slightly more body and fruit than the Veltliner, we realized that we ordered the five richest dishes on the menu and we were already beyond the point of being comfortably full. We had to wait a little while for the last course - we stopped noticing time but we were about half way through the bottle by the time the marrow and steak tartare hit the table. I could barely eat the last course but I was determined to try to beef marrow and oxtail marmalade. My co-worker kept teasing me that I didn't like it - he said he could tell by my face- but I surprised myself. The fattiness of the marrow mixed with the sweetness of the marmalade and the crunchiness of the bread was to die for. The flavors were intense and the texture of the marrow was something I had to overcome but it was undeniably delicious. After trying the marrow/marmalade mixture, I had to force myself to try the tartare. This was also a new experience. The tartare was served with mustard, cocktail pickles, capers, chives, pepper and a side of homemade, waffle potato chips. On my first bite, my immediate thought was, "More salt!" However, at the very end, the perfect saltiness appeared from the chips. Once again, everything was devoured and another bottle of wine was gone.

The entire experience, which lasted until 2am, was amazing. I love being in a city where food is not a necessity but an obsession. The fact that food of this caliber is available until the wee hours of the morning makes me want to find more restaurants like Blue Ribbon - although I am not sure if the quality will be met. Definitely a restaurant worth checking out.
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Currently Eating/Cooking: Pan sauteed Yukon gold potatoes and zucchini from Lana and Charlie (farmers from upstate that provide our restaurant with almost all the produce we use) and Trader Joes organic chicken tenders.

Currently Craving: Homemade Butternut Squash Soup. I found a great recipe last winter and made it on a snowy day in Richmond. It was so easy, delicious and nice to have on a cold day. I'm off today and it's a rainy day in New York so a trip to Trader Joes might be in order later in the day

Currently Reading: Heat by Bill Buford

Currently Obsessing Over: Immersion blender. This is something I have wanted for a while but have yet to purchase. It is a great item to have when making something like butternut squash soup. Perhaps a trip to cooking store is in order this afternoon as well...

This Summer in New York

I ate a lot this summer in New York. I'm pretty sure that is the sole reason I have no money in my savings or extra money laying around, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I have had some amazing meals at restaurants I would not have discovered if it weren't for co-workers, restaurant friends or guests. This post is going to cover my first four months in the city, so bear with me.

From now on the blog will be more in detail and focused on single restaurants, bar or experience. But here it is - my first summer in New York through my food adventures.

Soccarrat - Unbelievable Chelsea Tapas and Paella Bar. A co-worker recommended it to me and I'm in love. Its right off 8th Avenue on W. 19th in a hidden spot on the north side of the street. On my first visit, we had a few tapas with a glass of tempranillo then moved on to seafood paella and a pitcher of red sangria. Definitely worth trying out next time you're in Chelsea. They don't take reservations so just walk by, grab a drink at the bar, eat some tapas and definitely wait for a spot at the paella table.

Suenos - Another Chelsea favorite. I didn't actually eat a lot because I had heard about the margaritas. A regular guest at our restaurant recommended this for a great nuevo-Mexican dinner. I had some of the guacamole - which is priced per person - but had 3 margs. They have every flavor under the sun but I recommended the passion fruit margarita on the rocks.

Calle Ocho - Recommended by a neighbor who happens to be an employ. I went with a pastry chef from my restaurant and we loved it. We each started with a glass of cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and a starter. I had a wonderful beet salad that paired really well with the cava. Our server (who happened to be my neighbor) offered us tastes of their four red sangrias and we decided on the fresca - filled with an array of fresh berries. We moved on to a few tapas, all of which we shared, and took our time sipping the sangria. All in all a great Upper West Side experience.

Aquavit - I made a reservation at Aquavit during July's Restaurant Week. My mom was in town and I had wanted to try this Marcus Samuelsson place for a while. In fact, when asked where I would dine if I had $200 and a night off on my application for my current job, I answered Aquavit. However, I was not too impressed with this Midtown East two-star restaurant. The food was OK but service wasn't great and I left thinking that the Ikea Swedish meatball would have been just as good... I might make another trip back but only because I believe every place deserves a second chance.

Eataly - Wow! Eataly opened August 31st and it is the place to be. Anyone who visits New York has to visit this 42,500 square foot Italian food mecca. It is located on 5th Avenue between 23rd and 24th. It offers five restaurants (fish, vegetarian, meat, pizza and pasta), gelato, chocolate, panini, espresso, desserts, cheese, raw bar, bakery, butcher, fish market, produce, cooking equipment, cook books, wine store and MORE. Also, a rooftop beer garden is about to open over looking Madison Square. I cannot say anything bad about Eataly - other than the crowds... but it is only because it is so amazing. Definitely try crudo, the pizza that cooks in 60-90 seconds and the raw seasonal salad at the vegetarian bar.

Esca - If you love seafood, you will love Esca. I have dined here a few times and have loved it every single time. The focus is Southern, Italian seafood and signature dishes include spaghetti neri (black squid ink pasta) and branzino (Mediterranean sea bass cooked in a sea salt crust). Great wine list and a menu that changes constantly keeps me coming back.

Becco - My third B&B mention on this list and just as amazing as the other two. I stumbled into Becco one afternoon when I was craving pasta. I chose the right place. This rustic, casual Italian eatery is located on Restaurant Row (46th between 8th Avenue and 9th Avenue) offers a great lunch special - $17.95 gets you a starter (either a Caesar salad or antipasto) and unlimited pasta (3 different kinds at that). Everything is homemade and unbelievable. Definitely satisfied my carb craving.

Txikito - Another Chelsea favorite. I was at the Frying Pan on Chelsea Piers one Thursday night with some friends and we realized we needed dinner. I googled "Spanish Food in Chelsea" and this place popped up. Located on 9th Avenue in the heart of Chelsea it is hard to walk by if you aren't looking for it. But once inside, you never want to leave. Between the three of us we order 9 tapas, 6 glasses of wine and a cheese plate for dessert. The meal was timed perfectly - never too much on the tiny table but never empty either. It was 30 minutes of consistently amazing Basque tapas.
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Currently Cooking/Eating - Trader Joes Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats with pomegranate seeds

Currently Craving - I hate to say it but greasy Chinese food (sometimes a girl just needs it)

Currently Reading - Heat by Bill Buford

Currently Obsessing Over - 2oz. martini glass and 8.5 oz mini shaker. I found them at Chelsea Market last week and I love them. Sometimes at the end of the night all I need is a cocktail. But after a 30 minute + commute back to my apartment, I don't want to commit to a full martini. This glass and shaker make the perfect size Hendricks gin martini. Just enough to taste, enjoy and unwind without messing up my sleep or next morning :)

Here Goes Nothing...

I have wanted to start a blog for a while but I felt as if every food blog had been created. A food revolution is under way and it seems as if everyone is getting involved in one way or another. I wondered if anyone would care to read a food blog written by a waitress who loves food. What could I do that was different?

On a recent trip to Spice Market in the Meatpacking District, I was struck by an idea - I am in a unique position to write about the food industry in New York. I work at a three-star restaurant owned by B&B Hospitality aka Mario Batali and Joe Bastinianich. It isn't just a restaurant that people stumble into. You come to our restaurant to enjoy amazing food. This job has given me a secret source of food information on the city.

The point of this blog is for me to use that connection to explore everything culinary about NYC. I want you, the readers, to interact with the blog. Leave me suggestions or food questions you want me to explore. I will continue to try suggested restaurants from the guests and regulars at work but I want to reach beyond that. I love nothing more than using my days off to walk around neighborhoods in search of a great food market, restaurant or cocktail. I promise to post after every culinary adventure and I promise to try anything suggested on the post.

I look forward to reading comments - if I ever have readers/followers (?). Thanks for checking in!