Ohhh the Cakes u/i Make!...

I like to make zees cake. Zees one is very very rich, not too sweet, very moist, and lotsa chocolate. Eet ees ze triple chocolate cake--zees one had Chocolate & Peanut Butter chips...
You know ze recipe ees good when it starts with a stick of butter. or in this case....TWO. and a cup of sour cream, chocolate pudding mix, devil's food cake mix, 5 eggs, a teaspoon of Vanilla extract (but I prefer almond extract)...and to mix it up diff types of chocolate morsels. Bake for 50-55 min @ 375, let sit for 10 min in pan, cool for 15 min or so on rack.

I make eet for ze roomie passing the NY/NJ Bar Exam (that's law, not liquor!!). Zees cake has Butterscotch & White Chocolate chips...
I make eet for birfdays...(but not for mine this year b/c I had Billy's BAAAKERY!!)...
I make eet a lot. I bake eet for Thanksgiving this year. Zees cake has chopped up Andes Mints (b/c I couldn't find the Mint Swirled Chocolate chips)...
I bake eet for my first Xmas dinnah away from home...(star shape! extra festive with Raspberry & Chocolate chips :))...
I also made pan-roasted Chilean Sea Bass with soba noodles, cream of wild mushroom (cremini, portabello, woodsear? i can't remember), and oven baked asparagus wrapped with manchego and prosciutto with a little lemon-butter sauce. And apparently we also drink Riesling in the free Pom glasses :P
I bake tres cakes for ze baby showah complete veeth requisite sprinkles and cream cheese and or lemon frosting, but alas I do not have zee peektures.
I bake eet yust because...and so I stab eet too. Zees one has Caramel and Milk Chocolate chips...
Oh...and WHERE might you find these diff types of chocolate chips? ODDLY ENOUGH...Gristedes. but the one on the UWS had much more selection than anywhere else oddly enough. *shrug*. Happy Baking...

Super-(righteous)-Mac & cheese...

I have a ton of backlog posts but for now, u shall get "SUPERMAC!" on 29th & 7th ave. (Stay tuned to same bat-channel for a Billy's Bakery vs. Magnolia's showdown w/ cupcakes and red velvet cake)...
I'm not too keen on mac & cheese (meh!) but I did like it at Cafeteria (17th & 7th)--which apparently is open 24 hrs a day (and downstairs bar) which I must utiliiiiize (24/7-ness, not bar-ness). Last time I had poached egg and vegetable stack w/ grilled portabello, tomato, avocado, caramelized asparagus brown butter. super crowded for brunch but meh!

Used my gorillapod (tripod) today to maneuver the photos sans flash :P might i say--gorillapod ROCKS!!! sooo much better. I always thought flash makes everything so...succinct so cold/frigid looking (sometimes) but anyway, yay!
Back to SuperMac--which isn't S'Mac but same concept. I had the Wild Mushroom mini-mac with bread crumbs, truffle oil, cremini mushroom, portabello and something. Julia had traditional mac (whatebbs!!) :) Comes in mini-mac or super-mac which MY GOD is a glorious white ceramic little pot. Tasty tasty--next time to try: buffalo shrimp/chicken mac, LOBSTER THERMIDOR mac >.<, and some other ishes. Mini-macs range from $6.50 - $8.75 and Supermac ranges from $8-$12 bucks.

Here's another shot:

*BONUS!* They serve Rice to Riches pudding AND cupcakes from Crumbs. Saves me the trip downtown, and uptown, respectively. huzzaaaah. That and there are some interesting appetizers like crispy linguini and Mac & cheese nuggets! (??)

butter (not "the stick of")...

restaurant week.
alas, slipped most of my mind despite the numerous reminders/solicitations. anyhoodle, made it out to Butter on Lafayette b/w Astor Place & W. 4th. Really wanted to try out Anthos and Fig & Oil this wk but I dunno...the hotel rooms of my mind are totally vacant. As u can see I've got a fevah for Greek food lately--minus Butter but i mean COME ON like Paula Deen says: you know it's gotta be good if you start the recipe with a stick of buttaaaaaah. oy.
I was feeling a little self conscious lugging around my new nikon to the restaurant and with the crazy flash that comes standard, so I tried to eke in shots quickly so I only got a couple good shots in, that and I was hesitant to bust that ish out after every course :P Moi? Self conscious?? mais oui. On the rare occasion.

Appetizers: I had the Sauteed Shrimp and Salted Crispy Cod on a bed of arugula with a Mandarin orange dressing. Lots of people had the Cavatappi pasta with Lamb sausages and yellow tomato sauce which apparently was good enough to be an entree! Check the menu for more options b/c I'm too lazy to write about them.
Entree:Pork, Fish, Duck. and some vegetarian choice. I was torn b/w the braised Pork Osso Bucco with adzuki beans, charred onions and mustard and the Blackened Florida grouper with crushed Yukon potatoes, capers, and parsley. Needless to say, the capers won out (esp the bigger ones--caper berries--are awesomeness profound. not really. just wanted to be a little nonsensical. and tangential. yoinks!)

Dessert: Had the Blood Orange upside down cake--nothing else sounded too tempting (mango sorbet blahblahblah chocolate tart blahblahblah). Did not enjoy it--but the sauce was a sharp contrast cake. that, melikes. here's a blurry shot b/c I like to not keep still. and sans flash. (still trying to figure out the buttons--such a switch from the manual SLR's =/ i knew the functions intutively w/ my hands...le sigh* but yay for new camera! ^_^)
I liked Butter. I didn't love it. Just like FR.OG (France Origine) in SoHo. The subpar dessert @ butter really killed it for me. I dunno--everything up until then had been good, pleasing, not extroardinary, but that dessert just really pooped one out. Perhaps a post on FR.OG later when I feel like talking about quartered figs and a crazy soup pouring/show. :)

NYC macaroons @ Madeleine's...

Madeleine Patisserie (no website yet) on W. 23rd st b/w 7th & 6th ave has a pretty badass selection of macaroon flavors (Margarita anyone? White Russian?...lots of other ish i don't remember =/. I did eat the ones mentioned by name in this entry, but in the summer Michael also got some Blueberry, Lemon, and Coffee which is just meh!)
My faves so far are the Rose, Coconut Cassis, Porto White Chocolate, and Blood Orange (so clean & not to mention i LOVE blood orange--apparently the ones imported are more bitter than the ones they use in Europe. When I was in Florence they always garnished my mixed drinksies with a blood orange slice instead of our usual bland orange crap!).
Service is a little um...interesting, but I suppose depends on who's there. My roommate got coffee there--it's a cute litle place on garden level so adds a little more to it. Cute, doesn't try to do too much...it knows it's not in Paris so why bother mimicking :) ^_^ Will be back again to post more. Here's Julia holding up her half eaten ishes!
Don't they just look so delicate and moist?! ^_^ Ahhh le sigh. (see post below for more macaroon love)

Sadaharu Aoki Macarons!!!...<3<3<3...

...the time has come...for my SADAHARU AOKI/macarons post!!! Now, according to my notes these are the flavors: pistacchio, caramel salé, violette, chocolat, fraise, framboise, pêche canalle (beats me but sounds like fish!), sesame noir, chocolat umé (prune salée), macha...there were tons, bite me if i didn't get it all!!

*golf clap*, *scattered golf clap*, *bowing and waving of the hand feverishly*. *ahem*.
So somebody on Flickr has pretty badass pics of the macarons big & small, with fresh fruis and alll!! ^_^ I nicked these next two off of Canon S3 IS in France's flickr b/c the shots were taken in the Jardin du Luxembourg (about a 3-5 min walk from Rue de Vaugirard where the St-Germain-des-Prés outpost for Sadaharu Aoki is...)

Anyhoodlekins, one notable thing is how DELICATE the shells were...AND SMOOTH! ^_^, and it was sweet and punchy but not saccharine and underwhelming as much as the rest of Paris and London was. :P

AND THEN THERE WERE GIANT MACARONS!! ^_^ my GOD it was glorious...I didn't eat it. I actually had another pastry upon recommendation, complete with a little Macha Green Tea macaron clinging on to the ample, singular, bosom of the lovely Macha Duomo via swirl of red bean paste. Dramatic? Yes. Glorious? YES. MY GOD..........yes.
(*whispers*: i love you. sweet, sweet dome and cancer looking/budding protrusion ^_^) I also had the house tea (aweeesoem). Here are pics of other ish I got--financiers (cakey things). What I didn't get were my own pics of the macarons (melted upon flight back to Oxford) AND the 2 citron tea cake, and earl gray cake :( I *had* to eat it b/c I had a week and a half of work @ Oxford before flying back to ny OH the BURDEN of eating it all so it wouldn't perish ^_^
I don't particularly care to post any other pictures of Sadaharu Aoki. just go to the site. oh the PICTURES. okay maybe one (or two) more... citrus/macadamia duomo and some bon bons! ^_^
Oh who am i kidding--here's some more! little sampler plates :P (last 4 pics courtesy of the sadaharuaoki site)

brunchy-brunch-brunch @ theViceroy...

People brunch here in Chelsea like it's serious business--and I've seen menus that offer brunch til 5. I'm okay with that. Sometimes I don't wake til 3 anyway. Or rather, I wish I had that luxury to rouse from slumber at such a gloriously ungodly hour since I work wkds so much.

Anyhoodle, my fave place so far in my hood is the Viceroy (depending who you talk to, pronouced vice-roy or veEs-roy :P) on 8th ave and w. 18th st. I had the poached eggs in tomato casserole & herbs and...comes with toast.

For the brunch prix fixe ($15.00), it comes with coffee. Or a mimosa. Or bloody mary. (or orange juice, but whatever, it's booze in the morning/early afternoon if you're gonna do up brunch right :)) Anyway, no pics of my acquaintance's omellette b/c it was egg whites with asparagus, feta and somethign else but the eggs sans yolk just wasn't as pretty :(it also comes with a breadbasket of corn-cheddar muffin, some other stuff that's really good, and a loose, liquidy preserve dip with citrus zest and what have you...(my memory is FANTASTIC these days if you dont' rememeber my freakish cognitive abilities :( *le sigh*)

I haven't gone back yet for dinner but Albee & I did come for a late lunch--he got a turkey burger I think? (the sirloin supposedly is the shizzzzz) and I had the honey roasted ham sammich with melted brie, arugula & honey dijon on a baguette. YES. ham sammich done in the utmost, exquisite way ^_^ Came with seasoned fries natch pomme frittes. Needless to say, I took quite a long lunch that day.

I play with my food b/c I didn't when I was younger. Not b/c I wasn't allowed to--just b/c i was THAT DULL. I sure made up for it now didn't I?

I've come to realize I have a very quiet, loving, codependency on tomatoes. My mom makes a great shrimp in casserole sauce. I actually had to look up this concept of casserole (which apparently has 4 diff classifications: ragout, carbonnade, hotpot, cassoulet). Mostly just pares down to stewing/braising stuffs in liquids whether provided by wine (e.g., coq au vin) or tomatoes in this case. MEH!! here's a shot of Viceroy (courtesy of Citysearch).

I don't think it's a Hemingway-esque kind of place. Possibly Simone de Bouvier kind of place. I'm totally making ish up but you get the vibe :) Retro, art deco, much bigger in person, stark contrast in steel accents, bright floor, dark aged oakiness evoking a sense of brandy and smoke stained kinda joint w/o the pseudo-intellectualism and pretension :). Nevertheless, hand me a snifter and a smoking jacket--pronto!

Kión ceviche + tapas...

Kim visited, and dragged James out too with us for a lovely little meal @ Kión on E. 6th st and Ave A: Japanese peruvian food...the pictures speak for themselves....:) Had sushi too last time but that was "meh" in comparison to everything else...^_^

Sweet plaintains on the side (w/ what I think was condensed milk drippings!)

Spicy mussels (wok roasted mussels with rocoto peppers, ginger, cilantro and miso broth)

Pulpito (Chilled baby octopus and sautéed octopus tentacles with panca miso garlic ginger sauce)

Toro con palta (tuna belly tartar with avocado mousse, capers and ceviche lime juice)

James got pan seared filet mignon with a fried quail egg topping and blue potato gnocchi side...

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Lychee martini...

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Ceviche mixto (shrimp, squid, snapper and fluke marinated in a spicy ceviche sauce)

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Anticuchos and Papa a la Huancaina (grilled miso-panca marinated beef, shrimp and chicken skewers served with blue potatoes with feta cheese sauce and kalamata aioli)

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Also had the Pepino Rollo (cucumber rolls stuffed with salmon, avocado and seared tuna in a sesame Yuzu sauce) but last time I had the Salmon Yuzu and that was much better--same concept ish with the cucumber hollowed and filled with salmon and yuzu sauce.

here's another shot of the lychee martini but just artsy fartsy sepia :)

From ...food/ACTUALLY...

Vietnamese food = LOVE...

I broke my canon. Again. But I got these in before I broke it. again. :)

This is a soup-y thing that's not really soup. It's not stew either. It's called "canh cua rau day vuoi muop". This, apparently, when translated into English is soup with crab, jute/salyot leaves, and luffa squash. *shrug*. Alls I know is, it's kind of like spinach and zucchini--except in the broth, it ends up being a little viscous when cooked. The crab is just lump meat more or less nothing exciting. Either way, delicious--and apparently Jute leaves/saluyot is also eaten in Egypt/West Africa. *Shrug*.

Beats me. Either way, the nice thing about "canh" is you can eat it alone, or depending on which region of Vietnam, u can also eat it with your rice and rest of the meal allllllll mixed in together. I was eating it with my all time fave--ca phao mam tom. Ca = eggplant--but in this case it's usually pickled baby eggplanst, hence them being so round and poifect! It's occasionally picked in regular ol' brine type stuffs, or in this case, with a little shrimp paste and chili. Shrimp paste: if only you bastards knew how freakin' AWESOME it is--just never mind the initial...aroma. *shakes fist!* :) This is a "northern" vietnam kinda meal...YAAAAAY. Comfort food like u don't even KNOOOOW. [for me it's also canh chua ca thi la-- sweet & sour soup with steamed tilapia and thyme/dill, trung duc (which is a little like a frittata), and I dunno. banh cuon (crepes type thing)].

and then there are the fruits: this one is a rambutan--kinda like a lychee, and kinda not.

It comes completely covered in that red/tentacled little casing-- my mom tends to do this whole cut it in half make it look pretty on a plate kinda thing. *ah* l'amour. This was dinner for Xmas eve. Shame no place in NYC or a lot of vietnamese ventures don't get down home like this and dilutes the menu, or rather, cater to the masses by doing solely pho or whatever french influenced (cubed beef) crap that overshadows the fantastic freshness and flavors that is Vietnamese food. One day...wocka wocka wocka!

What's the scoop on hippo poop?....

..beats the poop outta me, but I like ze hippos w/ ze wafery outside and creamy hazelnut chocolate inside with EYES drawn on top!! :)

Originally found these in East London w/ Albee @ the local Sainsbury market in milk chocolate and white thingies around it. Then in Paris at the Odeon station vending machine on the way o Versailles in white chocolate with milk chocolate dippings!

...AND THEN AT FAIRWAAAAAY!!!!! :) in German packaging. from an Italian candy co (Ferrero--makers of ferrero rocher, nutella, Kinder, ...and TicTacs!! :)) and on my windowsill :) with its head bitten off :P

a review of chocolates and candies from abroad is in order--not to mention a long overdue entry on the fantasmacularosity that is Sadaharu Aoki. :)

Kefi on the UWS...

We were going to a Juno screening last wkd, but the line was ginormous and snaked almost completely full circle into Columbus Ave, so no seats =/ Claudz left so Karen & I walked about 12 blocks in the bitter cold to 79th St--I wore ballet flats, my feet froze and my toes tingled...HOWEVER, my god..kefi...mmmmmm. Gladly lose this little piggy for some Kefi meze plates :)

I forgot my camera so I borrowed these pics from a Yelp user and NY mag :) An NY Times article lamented the tapafication of dinners/restaurants, but WHATEVER. We got 3 meze plates and 1 small pasta dish but that were sufficiently full if not more so.

Firstly, we got the Grilled Octopus with chickpea salad. I don't know why, but after eating at Kión for Sam's semi-going away dinner, I just had a newfound appreciation for Octopus and more untraditional meats. Texture was great--you could cut w/ a fork, chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans were lightly seasoned and tossed in olive oil i think? (Btw, in my latest iron deficient anemic episode, I found out that chickpeas are an excellent source of iron, along with prune juice, and spinach :))

We also got some pita with melted feta cheese under a bed of tomatoes, dill, red onions, and ANCHOVIES ^_^ I can't just assume it's so good b/c it was melted--but it seems to really make a big difference in the feta flavor. *shrug*. I love dill. ohhh how I love dill. ANYHOODLE...the next thing...is SWEETBREAD!!

If you don't know, sweetbread is thymus/pancreas--u know, the ish that makes bile? :) WHO KNEW!! I used to do DNA extractions w/ my students w/ sweetbread--who KNEW indeed :) It was heavy on the garlic--as u can see in this pic, with onion rings-ish, and really tasty, but large, caper berries. FREAKISHLY large caper berries. but yummy :)

This next one is a pasta (brai) with pulled rabbit meat with Graviera cheese and other things. I was really excited b/c when I was in Florence, IT we were all at this little trattoria in the Oltrarno neighborhood that had the best olive tepanade & stuffed calamari (it was so soft we thought it was just pasta) and the local tavolo caldo that had coniglio cotto (grilled rabbit) but alas they were out that day =/ If you ever go back, it's across Ponte Santa Trinità and the other one was somewhere else =/ sorry it's been 4 yrs? But here's a picture of us outside of a giant Costco equivalent supermercato north of the Boboli gardens :)

oh yeah and here's a chinese restaurant in Venice//IT by the entrance of the ferrovia ;)