Tag Archives: top chef

Top 10 Noms of 2011

29 Dec

I can’t believe 2011 is over!  I always love going back through the past year of blogs to pick the top 10, and this year proved MUCH harder than years before.  There were just so many great Noms in 2011!

For the past Top Noms of the year, check out 2010 and 2009.

#10 - Alma de Cuba: Philadelphia I dream about the pork entree I had here, and that chocolate cigar for dessert (that was on fire) will always hold a tender spot in my food heart.

# 9 - The Breslin lived up to expectations with an awesome lamb burger and the scrumpets… oooooooohhhh the scrumpets.

#8 – We had wanted to visit Barbuto for a long time, after falling in love with the chef, Jonathan Waxman, on various food shows on television.  It was a meal made of some of the freshest, most lovingly crafted ingredients.


#7 – Our experience at Maialino was just a few days ago, but I am still thinking about that bacon and those desserts.  I can’t wait to go back again and try more… especially their namesake pasta.

#6 – When we decided to try Catch, Top Chef Hung’s new restaurant we didn’t know what we were in for. It was dark. It was Meatpacking. But it was delicious and inspired.  Awesome combinations and executed beautifully.

#5 - Imperial No. 9 was a fantastic journey of food, with many dishes that I would go back to eat all over again.  If you go, order as much as possible and share. Totally worth it.

#4 – Our adventure at Mountain Flying Fish in Breckenridge, CO was something I will never forget.  A well curated Omikase from the chef, who is a personal friend of my aunt proved to be one of the most perfect, original, and exciting meals I have ever had.  Land locked sushi shouldn’t be this good. Food shouldn’t be this good.  It was just… bliss.

#3 – Mike took me to Daniel for my birthday, and it was impressive.  The entire tasting menu was already one of the best meals I ever had, and then the desserts came.  The best series of desserts I have ever had. Hands down. And I LOVE dessert.

#2 – When I think of epic meals, I have to mention Blue Hill at Stone Barns.  A day-trip from NYC in Westchester, NY, it is actually ON the farm (which made for a lovely day as well).  Everything that comes out in the blind tasting menu was from the farm or locally sourced.  You don’t get fresher than that. And it’s hard to get any better.

#1 – Valentine’s Day at Colicchio and Sons for the Tasting Menu was phenomenal.  It took over the #2 all-time spot (under WD-50, which we tried again recently, by the way, to see if it could hold on to that #1 spot… more on that soon).  I have been to Colicchio and Sons a few times for their a la carte menu, and it’s always fantastic, but this tasting menu was other-worldly.  The duck egg, confit gizzard, & parsnip dish was hands down the best thing I have EVER eaten.  Just… wow.

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Honorable Mention:

The Truffle, Gruanciale, and Egg Pizza from Otto

Birreria at Eataly for the fantastic ambiance, beer, and damn good food

The classic New York feel (and food) of The Palm

Thumbs Up Diner: Atlanta for The Heap

Peking Duck House for the Peking Duck Special

Kefi for that amazing octopus

And 2 great Restaurant Week meals that were worth repeating…

Ilili for Restaurant Week

The Modern for Restaurant Week Winter and Summer

And last but not least… It’s hard to write about 2011 without mentioning Albert Hall Tavern, but now that Chef Bill is gone, the spark just isn’t there like it used to be.

Goodbye 2011! Onto even more fantastic adventures and Noms in 2012.

Catch: Top Chef’s Hung Huynh’s new NYC Restaurant

7 Nov

As you all know very well (or should by now), Mike and I are total Top Chef sluts.  So when we were in search of a dinner location, we decided to try Top Chef’s Hung Huynh’s (Season 3 winner) new restaurant in Meatpacking.  Catch is a 3 floor restaurant, with the top floor dedicated to rooftop drinking.  It is owned by Mark Birnbaum (some of you will see this as funny as I do) and Eugene Remm and is the third restaurant in the EMM Group (the other 2 are Abe & Arthur’s and Lexington Brass) but I know them better as the owners of Tenjune (and many other night clubs).

The address is 21 Ninth Ave, but the entrance is actually around the corner on 13th street next to some construction and only identified by a C with an anchor above the door.  You feel lucky to have found it, then you get into a completely unidentified elevator bank where you look around for a sign.  You try to keep up appearances (after all, you are in the Meatpacking district), but deep down inside you can’t help but wonder why it’s so trendy to not tell people where to get into your business.  Lucky for us, someone else came in and immediately hit Floor 2… which opens up to a very modern, very Meatpacking space.

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I absolutely loved the weird fish in a suit on the menu cover.  Hipster? Sure! But it gave me a chuckle.  I immediately read the request for no flash photography, so apologies in advance for these dark iPhone photos!

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We started with oysters (I have been on a kick lately) and they were very good.  Not Imperial No. 9 good, but good.

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We then had The Catch Roll, which is crab, salmon, and miso honey… with just a touch of awesome.   The sweetness of the miso honey was absolutely perfect on the roll.

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There was nothing not to like about this. The textures, the flavors… it all came together perfectly.  I wanted to lick the miso honey off the plate but I refrained…

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Next up we tried the Macaroni and Lobster Cream.  You know everything about macaroni and cheese that is good in the world? This was all of that with lobster and a slight crunch on top.  It was heaven.

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We also tried the White Flatbread with clams, parmesan, and garlic.  This was good, but not great. If this was all I ate here, I would be disappointed.  It just wasn’t clammy enough.  The crust was nice and crispy, the garlic and cheese were good, but I was expecting more clam.

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For our entree, we split the Scallop & Cauliflower which came with pistacchio and tamarind brown butter.  This was one of the most unique scallops dishes I have ever had.  I love scallops, so I eat them a lot, but they get pretty basic.  They taste so good just simply seared, that they really don’t NEED anything else.  This was a very happy addition, however, as it added to the flavor without overpowering it.  Awesomely delicious.

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The dessert menu looked so scrumptious that we just had to try SOMETHING.

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So we opted for the peanut butter cup souffle.

When it came, the souffle was hot and domed (perfectly cooked) and then picked up what I think was ice cream off the plate and dropped it into the center.

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I was a bit worried about this, since really a souffle is good because of the texture, but this actually cooled it down so we could eat it and didn’t detract from the flavor.  I will say, however, that it is a souffle.  A peanut butter souffle.  I was hoping for a bit more chocolate in it.  It was still good.  But only if you like souffles (I like them… but I don’t LOVE them).

 

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What I did love, however, was the peanut butter popsicles (tasted like fantastic peanut butter gelato dipped in a hardened chocolate shell) and the little square chocolate cups filled with ground peanuts and what I think was peanut butter, sugar, and maybe some honey.  Scrum-diddly-umptuous.

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Overall, the food here was spectacular.  Very unique flavor combinations and artfully put together.

The one drawback, however, was our waiter.  He was everything that people hate about the Meatpacking district.  He was snooty, inattentive, and downright douchey.  He looked down his nose at us (I think because I was taking pictures) and made 0 effort to deliver even the most basic service.  For instance, he came to take orders from the tables around us on 3 separate occasions, all of whom sat after we did, each time barely spending a moment to put a “1 second” finger up towards us as he didn’t even make eye contact.  It took a good 30 minutes before he took our order, we somehow never got bread (pretty sure everyone else did), and when he came to finally take it, he made us feel as though we were entirely inconveniencing him.  It was a shame he was so bad since everything else was so good.

But the food was absolutely worth it.  It became obvious why Hung won Top Chef… his food tastes as good as it looks.

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

 

 

Angelo Sosa’s New Restaurant: Social Eatz

14 Mar

Social Eatz opened up this past Thursday and, being the Top Chef Sluts that we are, we were there on Saturday to try it out. As long time lovers of Xie Xie, Sosa’s previous NYC establishment that specialized in Asian style gourmet sandwiches, we were excited to try this new place. We were bummed when Xie Xie closed, especially because it was so close to our apartment and because I was in love with their 1000-year-old ice cream sandwich.

The interior was very orange and black. It was a nice, modern setup with almost as much bar seating as table seating. Unfortunately, they did not yet have their liquor license when we were there. I’m curious what type of interesting cocktails will be available.

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We were given a chef appetizer… however, it was about 3 mouthfuls for 5 people. Kinda silly when we’re talking about marinated raw veggies. I couldn’t have them due to the peppers (this was an ongoing problem) but consensus was that it just wasn’t anything special… as we expect at least a little special from Sosa.

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Appetizers proved difficult for me, as all of them had peppers in them and there was no way around it. This was especially upsetting since everyone said the apps were the best part of the meal.

First up was the crispy spring rolls. It had chunks of shrimp and ground chicken with diced jicama, shredded cabbage, mushrooms, scallions, and cilantro. It had a duck sauce made from calamansi, which was described as “a citrusy Filipino fruit with a sweet and sour essence.”

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Everyone agreed that they were great. Excellent crispy outside, good portion, and flavorful.

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Mike said that the ribs were delicious, fell right off the bone, and it was a hearty 3-piece portion. They also had a “nice kick” to it, which meant I couldn’t eat them. Boooo.

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One person ordered the chili kissed tilapia. It was light, white fish brushed with thai chili, sauteed and garnished with fresh green tomato salsa and avocado. She enjoyed it and said that it did, indeed, taste “chili kissed.”

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Mike chose the bibimbop burger which was ground beef topped with a slow cooked egg, shredded carrots and cucumber, and lettuce. Calling this “bibimbop” made me think of a few traditional items that were missing, especially the rice and the mixed vegetables (especially the zucchini).

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Mike very much enjoyed the burger. He said it was a little soggy, but the flavors all worked very well together and tasted very asian.

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And what could be wrong with an egg on a burger?

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I ordered the bulgogi burger. Now I LOVE bulgogi. There is something amazing about the sweet marinade that gets put on the tender grilled beef at traditional Korean restaurants. Perhaps it’s because I have been eating bulgogi for years, both homemade (thank you Esther!) and in restaurants, but I really didn’t find anything bulgogi about this. I had to order mine without kimchi, and I wonder if Sosa was relying on the spice to inspire the flavor. I was disappointed.

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They called the cucumber topping “cucumber kimchi,” and while they said it didn’t have peppers, I’m pretty sure it did and I had to strip it off mine to maintain feeling in my mouth. And the bun? It tasted like a grocery store, soggy, bland bun. Man I was upset. I was really expecting more.

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And the fries? Everyone enjoyed them, but then we found the secret… red pepper spice on top. I had to send mine back for a regular batch which were bland. Very bland. McDonald’s bland… and not crispy enough. Man what a bummer.

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After the incredible success of the ice cream sandwich, we had to try dessert. We sampled both things on the menu.  First up was the yuzu cream puffs. They were described as “pillowy puffs filled with a sweet, creamy yuzu curd made from the tart japanese citrus fruit of the same name.” When I hear cream puffs, I think more pastry than zeppoli, but I was kind of glad that these had a granulated sugar coating rather than the overly sweet craziness of cream puffs. The yuzu was definitely a bit tart, but I enjoyed it. Just not as much as I wanted to.

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We also sampled the chocolate toffee brownie, which I had heard good things about. It was described as a “double-rich chocolate brownie warmed and glazed with a sweet toffee topping.” It was DEFINITELY rich, and definitely chocolatey… but when I think toffee, I think crunchy toffee. A few sprinkles of the crunchy type would have made this awesome, but alone it was just a good, warm brownie with a caramel sauce. It also came with cereal milk, which I always think is better in concept that in execution, but it wasn’t bad.

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The service was pretty rough.  I will give them a pass because they’re BRAND new, however, the same guy tried to deliver the wrong food three times.  And one time was when dessert was still on the table… rough.

I’m also a bit confused on the name.  Why Social Eatz?  What about this place is social?  I was thinking maybe they were going social media and would have some ipad menus or some interactions online, but so far, I see nothing remotely social about it.  Not even really in the way it is set up (tables are slightly common… but not really).  Hmmm.

I REALLY wanted to like this place. So much so that I just kept trying to find positives as I wrote this review, but what it came down to was just that it was disappointing. Nothing was special enough, flavorful enough, or interesting enough to be what I would think of as Sosa. Xie Xie had novelty about it, but it was also just fantastically delicious. If this wasn’t Sosa’s place, I don’t think I would have thought about it a second time. It just tasted like an average burger place with a different concept that wasn’t well executed. I got to see a bit “behind the curtain” since I had to have mine without the spice. It made me realize that spice was so relied upon, that the rest of the dish was just average. When I go to a place like this, I expect them to execute on a delicious dish, whether or not it is spicy.

Bummer Angelo. Total bummer.

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 5.5 out of 10

Xie Xie- Before the End

17 Feb

We ate at Xie Xie long before Angelo Sosa made a splash on Top Chef.  I even blogged about it before and confessed my love for their 1000 year-old ice cream sandwiches (which got them a Runner Up title for best Noms of 2009).  Even after Angelo made it through his first season, we were impressed that when we were eating there, he was casually sitting around and greeting customers.  He seemed a very likable guys in person.

(WARNING: Top Chef Spoiler for last night’s episode, February 16th, 2011, is at the end)

We took a big group of friends there and got to try a huge variety of the sandwiches. 

This was the Fish Cha Ca La Vong with onion jam and sriracha mayo dill.  DSCF1607

 This was the Shredded Braised Chicken Sandwich. 

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And then… there was this… I have no idea what this was :)

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The Sweet Glazed Pork Sandwich on a Chinese Bun was perfectly offset with the cilantro.  I don’t think you can make a pork steamed bun that I won’t love.  One of my most favoritist foods.

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But my absolute favorite was the Vietnamese BBQ Beef Sandwich. 

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It is supposed to come with basil mayo and carrot kimchi…

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But I got mine sans kimchi

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Unfortunately, Xie Xie has since closed.  This is awful news because I LOVED that ice cream sandwich… And it’s GREAT news because I lurrrrrrved that ice cream sandwich too much.  Angelo Sosa has gone on to another venture that just recently opened called Social Eatz.  I can’t wait to try it!  I just hope the ice cream sandwich comes back some day…

TOP CHEF SPOILER:

Angelo Sosa surprisingly got kicked off tonight.  I know a lot of people found him annoying, but I liked him and always drooled when looking at his food.  I can’t wait to see what this guy does next… but I’m surprised he didn’t win Top Chef.

In case you missed it, I was on The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday, September 28th to compete in a Top Chef: Just Desserts segment with my NYC Nom Nom Double Trouble Peanut Butter Cup.  Two other audience members and I put our desserts up against each other to be judged by Wendy Williams, Gail Simmons, and Johnny Iuzzini.  It was a blast!

29 Sep

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Project Food Blog #2: “The Classics”

26 Sep

It has been a big week for NYC Nom Nom.  First, I found out that my recipe was selected to appear (with me, of course) on the Wendy Williams Show LIVE this Tuesday!  I will be up against 2 other audience members in a dessert competition that will be judged by Gail Simons and Johnny Iuzzini for a Top Chef: Just Desserts segment.  I am making a Double Trouble Peanut Butter Cup that was inspired by a concoction I made for Mike’s birthday last year.  I just did a test round and it turned out really well!  I will be sure to blog about it after the show, however, don’t forget to tune in at 10am LIVE in the New York area on Fox 5.  If you are not in New York or want to catch it later that day, you can find the rest of the Wendy Williams TV schedule here.

Second, I filmed my first video blog for Nom Nom.  Stay tuned for a vlog about making a Chocolate Meringue.

Lastly, I was THRILLED to find out that I have advanced to Round 2 of Project Food Blog.  Thank you everyone for voting!  This week’s theme is “The Classics.”  The challenge is to take a classic that is out of your comfort zone and cook it as close as possible to the original.  For my Classic, I chose to go with Banh Mi.  First, Vietnamese food is VERY out of my comfort zone.  While I make a lot of classic American, Jewish, and Italian cuisine, Vietnamese is in a totally different ball game.  On top of that, I was using a slow cooker for the first time.  I received one for my birthday a few weeks ago and this seemed like a great opportunity to try it for the first time.

So why Banh Mi?  Well… we have been watching The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network and I was THRILLED to see that there  was a truck called The Nom Nom Truck competing.  We also were lucky enough to go to the LA Times Food Festival when we were out in LA 2 weeks ago (blog to come) and sampled the delicious food from The Nom Nom Truck.

The closest I have come to cooking Vietnamese is ordering in on Seamless Web.  I’ve had my share of Pho delivery and have dined at a few Vietnamese places in NYC, however, most of the ingredients and cooking methods are out of my comfort zone.  I’m also not a huge sandwich fan, nor have I ever made a point of making a fancy one.

Last night before bed, we prepped the pork for the slow cooker.  The first step was just melting sugar.  Now I’ve only melted sugar with butter or water in the past, so I was nervous that it would burn, but it melted into liquid and caramelized quite easily.

Once it all turns to liquid, you pour in chicken stock and fish sauce.  Now the recipe warned that the ”caramel will harden and steam vigorously.” What I didn’t expect was splattered liquid all over the stove that quenched the gas flame and hardened the caramel to a complete solid.  I spent the next few minutes quite nervous that one of my favorite pots was ruined and I’d have to start all over, however, the caramel did in fact melt and all was well (after a bit of clean up). 

Next, I added the shallots, garlic, and white(ish) parts of the scallions.

The smell was fantastic while it boiled for 4 minutes.

Mike was nice enough to chop up the pork while I prepped.

All that was left to do that night was throw it all in the slow cooker, set it to low, and leave it for 8 hours.  Couldn’t be easier!

I was quite nervous when I woke up the next morning.  I have never used a slow cooker and didn’t know what to expect.  Luckily, it looked (and SMELLED!) fantastic.

The morning prep involved a quick pickling of carrots and daikon.  I have eaten daikon a few times in my life, but I didn’t realize that, when raw, it looks like a giant white carrot.  I’ve never really cooked with daikon before, though it’s very popular in Vietnamese cuisine.  Turns out, it tastes a bit like a bitter raddish when raw.

I’m not the best with a knife, so we peeled both with a peeler and used the shavings for the veggies.

The next step was to soak it in vinegar, sugar, and water for 30 minutes (or up to overnight).

We got parbaked bread from Fresh Direct and heated it up as the last prep step.

Next up was assembly.  I spread it with mayo and the pickled veggies.

Then cilantro.

Then the meat and some more veggies and cilantro on top.

So how was it?  Well… even my pork-protesting sister enjoyed it if that says anything.  I thought it was delicious, but it wouldn’t be able to compete with the Nom Nom Truck’s sandwich. 

It was a lot of fun, however, to do something so out of my comfort zone and try new techniques.  I can’t wait to try some more challenges!  Keep ‘em coming Project Food Blog!

Happy Nomming!

(And don’t forget to watch The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday!!!!)

One year of NYC Nom Nom

9 Feb

Today marks the one year anniversary of when I officially started NYC Nom Nom.

My first blog entries were definitely a “hello cyberspace!” entry without much substance.  It was a simple list of my current favorite restaurants in NYC followed up by my recipe for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars that everyone loves.

My favorite eating moments of the past year were WD50 and Thanksgiving.  I also won TWO meals: one at Fishtail from Foodbuzz and the other at Landmarc from Time Warner Center’s Circle of Taste (and won a cooking class at Williams Sonoma from them too!)  I even got to eat on a completely different continent for the first time.

As for the bad… I had a casualty of bread, had an absolutely terrible meal at a diner that some people love and some people hate, had my gallbladder removed, and was nearly killed by Co.

I also really learned how to cook this year.  I managed to find a love for brussel sprouts and learned how to make pasta.  I no longer can be accused of being such a bad cook that I hermetically seal pots.  I even won my last company’s Top Chef Competition.

It has been quite an adventure for me and I have loved this little side project and hope to continue it for a long time to come.

My friends, my family, and even my mom called ME for recipes and suggestions this past year.  My Grandma even asked me for a cooking tip last weekend when we all sat down to a wonderful, homemade meal together.  My Grandma taught me a lot about food (especially baking) and really taught me not just a love for food, but a love for the traditions of food, especially surrounded by family and loved ones.  She passed away the very next day after our family meal together.  I will be forever thankful for all she taught me and for that last meal we shared together.


Grandma Litty (May 26, 1927 – February 1, 2010) enjoying a banana cream pie on a boat in Colorado- 2007.

Taste The West Village (Pictures Fixed!)

21 Sep

(Sorry about the pictures in the original post.  Picasa seems to have a glitch in the html structure right now.  AKA “red x of death.”)

There was a fundraiser in the West Village this past Sunday to support two public schools (P.S. 3 and P.S. 41) called Taste The West Village.  I’m pretty sure I first heard of this through a new food blog I am reading: Wined & Dined.  I found out later that one of the schools is actually where the daughter of a friend of mine goes.  BONUS!

(Funny/dorky side note… some web coder either had a huge typo or thinks they’re funny.  If you open up the link to Taste The West Village, the tab/site name is listed as “Taste the Waste Village.”  WHOOPS!)

Upon getting there on the beautiful day, I noticed it was nicely set up in the open outdoors space (parking lot? play area?) next to the school.  Unfortunately, while my ticket package specified the deal at 20 tasting tickets (thank you AmEx incentives), it turns out that was a typo and was only supposed to be for 10 tasting tickets.  I battled internally between making a fuss and sucking it up (since it was a fund raiser and all) and did so just long enough that the guy at the table threw in an extra few tickets.  It wound up being very fortuitous as we used every single ticket and didn’t have too many or too few for everything we wanted to try. Perfection. 


Our first stop was the liquor area (hey, it was after noon!) and we began with a very refreshing St. Germaine Spritzer.  We first tried St. Germaine at a wine tasting this past winter and fell in love, so we were all too eager to have some on this warm afternoon.  It was quite delicious, though precarious to balance with tasting plates in one hand.  No worries!  We downed the spritzers and made our way through the food.

The Restaurant: August
The Chef: Terrence Gallivan
The Taste: Ricotta Ginepro Panna Cotta, Heirloom Tomatoes, Toasted Pinenuts, and Savory Honey Pearls
The Noms: I though the Panna Cotta would be a weird texture with tomatoes but I really liked them together.  Great flavors and very fresh for the warm day.  The honey pearls were cool but I didn’t find the flavor.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Bobo
The Chef: Patrick Connolly
The Taste: Fried Oysters, Tartare Sauce, Celery Salt
The Noms: Delicious!  Seasoned perfectly and friend without too much batter yet still remained crunchy.  My close-up was WAY too blurry (thanks to the sun beating down, making my screen nearly impossible to see and turning many shots a lovely shade of indigo)
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Charles
The Chef: Kristine Mana-ay
The Taste: Braised Short Rib of Beef, Parnsnip Puree, Golden Raisins & Pine Nuts
The Noms: Wow!  I have come to realized braised short ribs are one of my favorite foods.  Mike and I both agreed that the parsnip puree probably could have used a bit more texture since both pieces were on the very soft side, however, the taste was great.  One of the few dishes we tried and said to each other that we MUST try that restaurant in the future (which, in my humble opinion, should be the goal of the restaurant at these types of events)
The (blurry) Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Barbuto
The Chef: Jonathan Waxman
The Taste: Eggplant Agridolce with Riccota on Ciabatta
The Noms: It was good.  Great flavors and perfectly seasoned and crunchy.  Good for a passed hors d’oeuvres but underwhelming overall. Didn’t scream “Come back for more!”
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Gusto
The Chef: ?
The Taste: Tonno con Melagrane Yellowfin Tuna, Pomegranates, Arugula and Saba on Garlic Crostini
The Noms: I liked the pomegranate seed with the the tuna, Mike did not.  Overall, nothing amazing.  It did make for some interesting conversation about this season of “Top Chef” really being “Top Ceviche” (“Thees ees notta toppa scallop!”)
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Little Owl
The Chef: Joey Campanaro
The Taste: Sausage and Peppers, Stewed Tomatoes
The Noms: Unfortunately the peppers kept me out of this tasting.  It smelled quite good though (even as it stung my nostrils).  Mike said it was good but spicy.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Market Table
The Chef: Mikey Price
The Taste: Peekytoe Crabcake, Warm Corn Salad, Peppercress, Chili Aioli
The Noms: Curious that looking back on this that it describes the corn salad as “warm” since one thing both Mike and I noted was how much we enjoyed the cold corn and how refreshing that was.  Luckily for me, the aioli could be done without, so I thoroughly enjoyed this tasty crab cake.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant: Employees Only
The Chef: ?
The Taste: Steak Tartare
The Noms: Unfortunately there was some confusion as to whether hot sauce included peppers so I went without.  Mike did too.  I guess he’s not a tartare fan.  So we’ll never know how this tasted.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant:Braeburn
The Chef: Brian Bistrong
The Taste: Littleneck and Razor Clam Chowder with Apple and Smoked Bacon
The Noms: Here there was more confusion over peppers, but luckily I was safe.  The bacon taste was great, but overall I found the chowder a bit underwhelming.  I guess I’m too used to my big chunks of clam and potato.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant:Dell’anima
The Chef: Gabe Thompson (take 2)
The Taste: Lamb Ragu Sliders
The Noms: I couldn’t have it due to chili, however, Mike enjoyed the messy “sloppy joe” type slider.  (I think we’re getting a little far fetched with what we call a slider here btw).
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant:Centro Vinoteca
The Chef: Leah Cohen (yes… from Top Chef)
The Taste: Smoke Corn Soup with Lobster, Chantarelles, Bacon, Chili Oil, and Micro Basil
The Noms: Well first, Mike insisted I get a picture with Leah.  I flat out refused.  Nice enough she was doing this benefit, she didn’t need my bothering her.  And I stand by it! ;)   I also hear she’s leaving the restaurant soon.
As for the soup, SO GOOD!  The corn had terrific flavor and the lumps of lobster meat were perfect.  The bacon was also quite delicious and I was lucky that they could leave out the Chili Oil.  I have been to Centro Vinoteca for a bite and wine, however, I really need to go back for a meal.
The Food Porn:

The Restaurant:L’Artusi
The Chef: Gabe Thompson (take 1)
The Taste: Olive Oil Cake with Raisin Marmellata and Creme Fraiche Mousse
The Noms: I was impressed by this.  The cake tasted like olive oil (but in a very good way) and was incredibly moist with the perfect balance of salty and sweet. 
The Food Porn:

The Sponsor: Patron
The Chef: N/A
The Taste: Patron Silver Margarita (Patron Silver, Patron Citronge, Lime Juice, Splash of Orange Juice, Lime Wedge) and Roman Daquiri (Pyrat Rum, Lime Juice, Luxardo Maraschino, Simple Syrup)
The Noms: Thank you to Patron!  I love tequila and my margarita was DEFINITELY strong (a little too strong actually, I couldn’t finish it and had a bit of a headache afterwards).  Mike’s Daquiri was quite delicious.  Good way to end the day… well… almost
The Food Porn:

To close our fun afternoon, we decided to wait for the last tasting that we hadn’t yet tried.  An obvious, but important lesson: If you want to create demand for your product, run out of it early!  The burgers ran out by around 1pm and weren’t available again until after 2pm.  Before the meat had even hit the grill, the line started to form.  By the time we reached it, it looks liked the below.  And we got to the front just in time for my camera to run out of battery (and for them to run out of cheese and bun tops).  So it was iPhone to the rescue (though not overly well on the close-up)!

The Restaurant: Forgot to take a picture of the sign… so I don’t have details. There was some association with Johnny Utah’s but it was a different restaurant and/or chef?  I’m pretty sure it was the famous burger of or in the style of whomever this chef was.  Sorry!
The Chef: ?
The Taste: Slider (sans cheese, sans top bun)
The Noms: Totally worth the wait!  The juiciest slider I’ve ever had!
The Food Porn:

It was a very fun afternoon where we got to try some great tastes.  I will definitely be back to try out Charles and Centro Vinoteca sometime soon.

Top Chef- Part 1 (Prep Phase)

27 Aug

My company decided to host our very own Top Chef competition in our office to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  Of course, I jumped at the chance to cook AND compete (two of my favorite past times).  We were informed there would be a “guest judge” and we could cook whatever we wanted and we could enter more than one dish.  I quickly decided that one of my dishes would be my famous chocolate peanut butter bars.  I have posted the recipe in the past as one of my favorites.

It took me a few days to decide that I wanted to make a beurre blanc sauce (always a crowd pleaser).  At the time and throughout preparation, I didn’t know that you’re not supposed to reheat a beurre blanc sauce (it separates) but I still took my chances.  I was originally going to put it over fresh pasta and lump crab meat.  I was a bit concerned about cooking pasta in a microwave (my only heating tool), however, I figured I’d take my chances (especially since all you really have to do is soak fresh pasta in water and it works).

I took a journey to Whole Foods to get all of my ingredients.  I got home and immediately set to making the beurre blanc sauce. 

Side tangent:  It has become cliche to talk about Julia Child at this time.  Between the book and movie, there is an instant judgement on the subject (especially by other food bloggers!  So judgemental! WOW!)  Now I, for one, loved the book AND the movie (a rarity to love both).  I completely related to Julie’s humble beginnings in the blog world as well as her theatre background and clumsy nature.  While reading the book, there were a number of times that I felt that I could relate ALL too well.  I have also always had a fond respect for Julia Child, especially when it comes to butter.  While I think most of her recipes will never, ever apply to me, I always trust Julia Child when it comes to butter.  Therefore, I decided it was time to check out her recipe.  Low and behold, it is exactly the same as the recipe I’ve been using.  I found myself even more inspired.  /side tangent

My first step was taking 3 bars of GOOD butter and chopping it into small pieces (about a half in slices seems to work well).  It’s also important to keep it cold. (More on that later)

I love shallots and believe in using many and not straining them out.  Therefore I added a LOT of shallots.  Speaking of shallots, I took a cooking class a few months ago and learned a great cooking tip for how to cut up a shallot.  He instructed us to cut off the tip but LEAVE THE BASE (which holds it all together).  First cut it horizontally, parallel with your surface.  Then cut it from tip to base in vertical lines without cutting through the base.  Lastly, starting parallel to the base at the tip, start cutting it into small pieces.  Here is my visual collage of the steps:

Works like a charm! 

Now usually I would never be the kind of cook that would use mise en place bowls.   Unfortunately in the very few seconds it took me to chop the shallots, the butter began to melt and I had to do a quick exchange of putting the prepped ingredients into a lovely little ramekin so I could stick the butter back in the fridge.  (Oh the joys of cooking in the middle of August).

Then I mixed the vinegar and white wine in a pot until boiled.  Then I added the shallots, salt and pepper and lowered the heat to a simmer to reduce the liquid. 

Everyone says the key to beurre blanc is to whisk in one cube of COLD butter at a time.  I diligently did so.

I soon realized, however, that my whisk was ready for a much later stage.  SO it was my mini whisk to the rescue! (I knew it would come in handy some day)

It all went perfectly and I had a beautiful creamy yellow sauce in just a few minutes.

It was at this point that I began to debate… “Do I really want to serve this great sauce over simple lump crab meat?  Isn’t there something interesting I can do with the crab?”  While I mulled this over, I started on the chocolate peanut butter bars.

The combination of peanut butter, melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, and powdered sugar makes an amazing fudgy like bottom.

I have made a double boiler and melted chocolate many, many times.  I’m not sure what happened this time, however, but my chocolate seized.  It has never happened to me before!  I’m not sure if the chocolate was old or the steam hit it too much… it was strange.  I had to start anew.  Take 2 worked like a charm!

Back to crab… I did a quick search for crab cake recipes and decided to go with making a simple mini lump crab cake.  I used panko bread crumbs instead of regular and it was DELICIOUS. 

I was feeling confident as we taste tested that night.

So how did it all turn out? Who won? How did I do? Where did my food rank? Was it a fight to the finish? Who was judging?

Tune in tomorrow for the results.

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RECIPES:

I’m quoting this from the posting from Saveur:

Julia Child’s Beurre Blanc Sauce

“Butter is essentially a smooth mixture of fat and water. The secret to making beurre blanc is to preserve its makeup by allowing each addition of butter to melt smoothly into the sauce, as you whisk it, before adding the next piece of butter. Also, never let the sauce come to a boil once the butter is added; that will cause it to separate. Some restaurant cooks add a little heavy cream to the wine reduction before whisking in the butter, to ensure a smooth and stable sauce. This recipe is based on one in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck (Knopf, 1977).”

3 sticks cold unsalted butter (24 tbsp.), cut into chunks
1⁄4 cup dry white wine
1⁄4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. minced shallots
1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch of white pepper
1⁄2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1. Have butter ready. Bring wine and vinegar to a boil in a saucepan; add shallots, salt, and pepper. Lower heat to a simmer; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated- reduced to ~1.5 tbsp. (If reduced too far, add 1 tbsp. water to remoisten.)

2. Remove pan from heat; whisk 2 pieces of butter into the reduction. Set pan over low heat and continue whisking butter into sauce a chunk at a time, allowing each piece to melt into sauce before adding more.

3. Remove sauce from heat; whisk in lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, then strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Serve with fish, poultry, or vegetables.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #109

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Mini Baked Crab Cakes

(My recipe made about 36 crab cakes with my melon baller scoop)

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh lump crab meat (I got mine at Whole Foods for $12!)
  • 3 shallots, finely minced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon mustard
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • Salt and black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. 

  1. Mix crab, shallots, garlic, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and mayonnaise.  
  2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Using a melon scooper (or teaspoon), shape mixture into about 20-30 walnut-sized balls.
  4. Spread remaining breadcrumbs onto a plate and roll balls lightly in crumbs to evenly coat.
  5. Slightly flatten crab cakes. 
  6. Place on a greased baking sheet (or Silpat). 
  7. Bake crab cakes until crisp and golden, about 12-15 minutes.  (since I used panko, mine didn’t get too gold, however, the crispness was good)

Add enough bread crumbs to bind, about 2-4 tablespoons.

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