Archive | June, 2012

Maine Take 2: Wild Blueberries

14 Jun

A few months after going to Maine and blogging about all our Nomming adventures, my father and sister decided to take a trip back to our favorite state.  I was between two jobs so, at the last minute, I joined them.  This was nearly 2 years ago, and these drafted posts have sat in my Drafts folder since then. At first I was avoiding posting so much about Maine back-to-back, and then time just got in the way.  I cannot believe these are back from August 2010!

We are embarking on another trip to Maine this weekend, so I figured it was time to update!

First things first… if you are going to Maine, find yourself a roadside stand advertising “Fresh Maine Blueberries” and make sure you stop.  We wound up buying huge containers of these and munching on them throughout all our trips, including on our way home.

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They are smaller than grocery store blueberries, and packed with more flavor and bit of extra sweetness.

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There ain’t nothing like them!

And if they happen to be selling some jarred wild blueberry jam, I recommend you don’t pass that up either!

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Quick Tip: How to Juice a Key Lime

13 Jun

I set upon the task of making a key lime pie recently. I have a recipe that I really enjoyed last time, and was thankful that Fresh Direct now stocks key lime.

But then I realized that I needed to squeeze roughly 30 individual limes… and that seemed like quite the undertaking. So I went browsing through the tips to find some way to make this easier. Someone mentioned a genius solution… juice the limes with a garlic press.

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It worked perfectly!

I cut all the key limes in half and then pressed them to juice them. It also meant that there were no seeds in the juice.  It could not have been easier.

And the pie?

Perfection.

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The Mark Restaurant by Jean Georges

12 Jun

We had friends in town and decided to take them for a quick tour of the The Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art at 81st St and 5th Ave) before heading to The Mark (a Jean Georges restaurant) for lunch. The Mark is in The Mark Hotel on 77th Streetn between 5th Ave and Madison Ave. For some reason, even though this is a Jean Georges restaurant, it was never on my radar. We walked in and it was beautiful. Modern with a very New York feel. DSCF7987

The decorations were both of the floral variety…

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And food…

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With lovely treats under cloches all around us.

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Even the table decorations were smart and elegant.

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I especially loved this salt bowl with a mini spoon.

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I started with butternut squash soup with mushrooms and chives. They served this at the table…

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…then poured the soup over the top.

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It was absolutely delicious.  Full of squash flavor without being heavy.

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The table also tried the peekytoe crab cake with pink grape fruit, avocado, and ginger.

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Due to peppers, I couldn’t try this, but everyone “mmmm” and “ahhhed” around the table when they took a nibble.

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And the sauce it came tasted great.

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One person ordered the Croque M, which came with Flying Pigs Farm (a local farm) Ham, comte, and gruyere cheese.  I’ve had a number croque madame style sandwiches, and my bite of this one topped them all.  Great tasting and textured bread with a perfectly cooked egg and fantastic gruyere. A really stunning version of this dish.

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Someone else ordered the roasted turkey sandwich with avocado and chipotle dressing.  They said it was a really fantastic sandwich.

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I went with the tagliatelle with caramelized brussels sprouts, basil pistachio pesto and parmesan.  This was exceptional.  Great, rich cheese flavor mixed with the sweetness of the caramelized brussels sprouts and the fantastic pesto on the thin, perfectly al dente pasta was really fantastic.  

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After such a feast, we decided to split dessert.  So we tried the butterscotch pudding with crème fraiche, caramel and sea salt.  The pudding itself had great flavor, but the salt on the top pushed this dessert into a new place. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

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I have no idea how this restaurant was not on my radar.  What struck me most about this restaurant is every individual flavor and ingredient was so obviously the freshest and best version of itself.  You can really tell when places you exceptional ingredients. And The Mark used them exceptionally well.  It was one of the best lunches I have had in NYC and I highly recommend it if you’re going to The Met or in the area. Heck, this place is worth a special trip to the Upper East Side just to try it.  

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

 

 

 

 

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