Irish Soda Bread....

I deed not make zees, my roomie Jaime did. FROM SCRATCH. and like...at midnight last night :) brazilliant.

This is for the St. Patty's Day kick-off this weekend. FROM SCRATCH!!!
Recipe from epicurious.com. For the xmas party she made this shrimp spinach dip--or crab...or some kind of shellfish...nummy num num num nummm.....

Her cupcakes are badass. She's making them now. I'm a fan of people making food and me eating it. and taking pictures of it. wooooorrrrrrrdddd......

She makes her own frosting, too and this time it's gonna grizzeeeen!--she's got the hostessing/chef gene that my mom's been trying to pound into my veins since I could remember. HA!!

You bet your tush there's much more food on the way. MMmmMmmmMmmMmmmmm...
(there will also be pics of Hans in green. YAY puppy torure!)

Nuts & Bolts...

I like to pick at food. I do well when I pick at things when I need to eat efficiently and maintain productivity and focus. I'm over my whole Nutella with dark german wheat bread with my morning tea (me loves PG Tips breakfast tea). I'll do a post about teas some other time.
ANYWAY. I've never been a fan of trail mix type of crap but lemme say--I enjoy the little package of mixed nuts, kashi, and raisins I found in the bodega under me.
Seriously badasssss bodega. I had planned on doing a post on all the imported plain jane candies they randomly offer there--like FLAKE! and Hausnutta (yeah tewtally oddball) but ze mood--eet struck me.
There was a giant brazil nut in there too I though that was kind of random and weird. The container itself was....$3.50 and methinks that's actually pretty good considering it had pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, kashi, giant ass raisins, cashews, balhblabhlabhl. Not salted but well roasted.

Surprisingly nummers. It was the lighting. couldn't resist. we have good window. It was a good lunch (my work is 3 stops away--but alas, we're moving offices uptown >:().

How very deseeding...

Just an excuse for food related pictures.This pretty much confirms I will take a picture of anything, at anytime, anywhere. OBSESSIVELY.
Not too fond of the coloring on this, but the idea is good. oh well =/
That's all. You may scroll down and read about my Grom-ing.

Gelati Grom-ness...

I am an italo-phile. no to the francophile. yes to the...anyhoodlekins.
Had some Grom on the UWS (Broadway b/w 76th & 77th st) w/ Jules-ster--she got the pistachio, I got the crema di grom.

I gotta say--it's a little refreshing, but disorienting to see Pistachio gelato/ice cream not in unearthly green form (see spumoni gardens pics). The pistachio also tasted nutty (as it probably should) and u can really taste the "toasted" side to it. Warm, not too sweet, delish.

My crema di grom is egg cream, Battifollo "meliga" biscuits (which evidently just means they made it with corn flour instead of wheat and...Grom's rather prideful about their snootiness in ingredients), and Ecuadorian chocolate. Some other flavors had Venezuelan chocolate--u should read about the crazy chocolate wars b/w Amedei and Valrhona...it's a little inSANE. **

Here's more of my ice cream b/c you love ze peektures. (Btw...a little too pricey for the sizes--what u see there was 5 bucks each.People are getting uber snooty about chocolates particularly the cocoa content, where the beans are from (likened to the origins of ze grapes and regions for ze wine and whatnot) and of course the recent NYtimes article on the emergence of snooty Milk Chocolate. The site 70% (referring to the % of cacao powder blahblahbl) is a good resource to edumacate urself on fancy chocolates (and buy them!).

In Italy, it was 3-4 euros for gelato the size of 2 of your fits clinging fervently to a sugar cone. Packed fo yo FACE!!) This one is a little...diminutive ain't it :P

I tried the Marrons de Glaces (good, i can't pinpoint the flavor but possibly red-bean-y or taro-y). The stracciatella is a good vanilla/cream-ish with chocolate and whatnot. Surprisingly they had Hazelnut AND Gianduja--but I gues that makes sense since gianduja is essentially Nutella (hazelnut chocolate) whereas the other one is just singular. I'm not a fan of sorbet so...I didn't try any. The Zabaione i think has the egg cream base like the Crema di Grom but with Sicilian Marsala wine.

I've had a few gelati downtown but I dunno...this does taste a lot cleaner/crisper and while creamy, just not as heavy as most gelati. My favorite was this place in Rome (I can't remember the cross streets but this was possibly near Piazza Navona on the way back from the Vatican near the bridge where that castle is. VAGUE yes? Whatebbs yo). Florence gelati was good but for some reason...that one in Rome always stuck with me.
There was a great gelato/coffee shop in the Belmont Shore strip in Long Beach. That you can look up yourself but I think it was called Cafe Roma--dun dun dunnn....

--
**(Valrhona refused to let the Tessieri bro/sis work with them, Tessieri goes straight to make a deal with the chocolate plantation folks in South America to work exclusively for Tessieri's AMADEI!!)

Sammiches...

According to http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com, one of the few things white people like (along with difficult breakups, renovations, kitchen gadgets, coffee, knowing what's good for poor people, etc., etc.) is expensive sammiches. Is that monetarily speaking? or INGREDIENT speaking?

Other than white folks, I suppose hipsters, foodies (gourmands rather? :P), bougeois people--and general sammiches people alike--just enjoy a little variation in our sammiches. I present to you--my lunch. Simple, cheap, a hodgepodge of flavors:

Zomick's Egg Challah roll (I've also really liked the Pepperidge Farm Honey Flax Wheat, and Dark German Wheat breads--I neither have the time or energy to stalk down artisanal breads at a bakery--btw those little rye bread party sized...square things are freakin' awesome), spinach (I usually use arugula), "roast beef" (this one is just Hillshire Farm, it does not look like roast beef, it looks like processed beef that was probably roasted....also interchangeable with shaved deli rotisserie chicken....I'm not feeling smoked honey ham lately), with a garlic-lime dijon. I toss sliced tomaters in there somewhere--and not those giant flavorless sh*ts from the supermarket!

Pretty no? Do you enjoy my bite marks? You can use it for forensic evidence should I go missing. Or if I guess if I got kidnapped and then...bit...something and left it at the crime scene so u could determine who went missing (namely MOI), and...I was watching a lot of SVU and CI yesterday. and also alluding to Without a Trace. O.o

Thoughts:
Call it the semi socialist/people's party in me but I don't really like the idea of spending all that much money on food--to an extent! I will buy my Grana Padano, the nicer brie or gruyere, sometimes fontina, WHAEVER, and spring for the good Prosciutto (also fanplasmic substitute for ze sammich meats but just...less in quantity cuz it's so punch). I might pay highly for shoes and preferrably on superduper sale (but I also spent 80 bucks on a Rodnick gown that used to be $1500 @ the Barney's warehouse sale so THERE I am ze frugal!) , but in general I just think there's a price cap on things, including food. btw I also live in my Hane's Men's Premium cotton V-necks--3 foh 10 dollah! :)
In the end...it's just food you're gonna crap out anyway (vulgar yes? mmm classy). Like expensive shampoo (but sometimes I do like my pricier products!), clothes etc etc b/c after a certain peak in price and value u just start to see that it is just plain cotton (or cotton jersey), just plain 80-90% water with 2ish % detergents (and they even add in a chemical for FOAMING!) that will just get washed down the drain. (Don't get me wrong, I'm still picky about shampoos & conditioners but u get my point).

....also...it's JUST LUNCH. and it is...in fact...JUST FOOD. but makes for pretty pictures :D

JUNIOR'S Devil's Food CHEESECAKE...

My mom's birthday and both my brothers's bdays are in February.
I decided the only proper New York thing to do would be to ship home Jr's cheesecake.
Behold the wonder that is...the BIRTHDAY DEVIL's FOOD CHEESECAKE!!
Most of the cheesecakes are $10 to ship (overnight) and $39.95. I can say from reports from back home that this cake was 1. delicious, 2. way too rich & decadent, and 3. I am the freakin' awesomemest daughter/sister for sending such a freakin' awesome cake. I might've added that last one.

Fig & Olive...

Was trying to go for Mia Dona, but alas uber-booked up (and super late) & the hostesses were a bit...incompetent and well...anyway. FIG & OLIVE! very into the mediteranean cooking and lately what I've noticed is Greek & Vietnamese has much fresher, more succinct--punchy tastes and cleaner flavors. Simple. fanplasmico. Complex flavors with little but rich herbs and seasoning.

Mythili got the Porcini, Ricotta, Pumpkin & Sage Ravioli which had caramelized pumpkin, sauteed mushroom, shallots, ricotta cheese & fried sage. Sweet, tart, great flavor with the caramelizing.
Wanted to go for small plates/meze like at Kefi but options were limited and I was hungry--I ordered the Fig & Olive Mediterranean Tasting which comprised of grilled chicken with chorizo, tomatoes, chickpeas, oregano, pimienton, black olives/ grilled lamb on rosemary skewers, bell peppers, Greek yogurt & honey, couscous salad with figs/ grilled shrimp on oregano skewers, risoo, tomato, Pimenton Olive Oil.
I have to say that the shrimp was perfectly cooked, the embodiment of succulent. The sides that came with the meats were all really good--the risotto was great but the couscous salad was freakin' AWESOME with the Greek yogurt & honey. Shrimp. Seriously.
Lamb too. Chicken was good but I was really surprised by the shrimp & lamb. I'm picky with shrimp. meh to lamb. you look now!...
Def would want to come back to try the other pastas and the small plates. ANYWAY...decor was cute, price was a little overpriced but I also had some wine to wash down my grumpiness.
I had the cream cheese creme brulee--so light! just sweet enough, the figs were great b/c they weren't candied like in the meals--I've never had so many figs in my life and I say...me likes. Rosemary infused...creme brulee maybe? The wafer was just the right crunchiness and texture to the fluff. I'd go back just for the cream cheese creme brulee alone.

Analysis!--yay for once in a while, possibly with a group to share (especially with a group to share). Chicken was meh, shrimp yes, def felt good after--but also a little smashed from the rosee. :)

EEeeeeeeEEEeeeEEeeeEeeels...

Unagi-don/eel rice bowl. Apparently I have a penchant for poor/country folk comfort foods (see entry on canh chua rau day and whatnot...). I caught the eel with my bare-muscled-hands. The little bastards eluded me numerous times, but just before day's end, one of them darted in my periphery and like a gazelle--or something really crazy phonetically, maybe OCELOT--i went for it and here you have....MY UNAGI RICE BOWL with the...pickled...daikon...or something. BEHOLD:
I frolicked home with the eel in my little reed basket. (I keep thinking of the poem "L'Anguila" or whatever the crap it was called--about the eel in Italian Lit). Anyhoodle, the wild daikon that grows (yellow and pickled natrually) in my backyard yielded magnificent perfectly cut wedges (as if bought at a store and cut with a very sharp Wusthof knife!).
We had seaweed salad also but I don't think you'd really give a shizz about it. BUT we did have dessert: a green tea swiss roll. with red beans inside. mmmmMMmmMmMmm.
Ever since I was little I loved the swiss roll cakes--given the french influences growing up (briefly) in Viet Nam we had a lot of yule logs for "father Noel" and all that crap and wandered off to get a eucharist one xmas when I was 5 b/c I was curious as to what people were waiting in line for. I was promptly plucked out of the line when they noticed I had gone a bit..missing.

Mike & I had also picked up some "aloe soft drink" (non carbonated) from the JasMart and he had to be fancy and drink it in a wineglass whereas the uncouth beast that I am chugged it out of the bottle.Analysis:

1. Green tea swiss roll = moist, light, a little crumbly, but adequately intense in green-tea flavor, not so sugary, red beans add a nice flavor and texture. BUENO (this is from the-prepackaged refridgerator section of JasMart).

2. Frozen Unagi = meh! for 5 bucks it could serve 3-4 people. This I got at the Sunrise...mart...thing in Soho (broome & spring?--I'll activate links later). You could oven bake it, microwave, or boil in the bag. I'd say for 5 bucks it makes a good alternative to a $12-$18 rice bowl. I didn't make the egg thing but whatever that's easy to put in some other time. The texture was a little flakey but still very soft--at Tono Sushi or Tokyo Pop and a couple other places, the unagi is broiled lova-ly and it just...melts in yo mouf! There was frozen unagi that sold for $11 per filet as opposed to my $5--this might just make up for the difference in texture.

3. Aloe drink = ...? I'm just conflicted b/c the bodega under my apt sells the Korean aloe drink and it's a little sweeter but yummy too--a little cleaner/crisper in taste. The one I go at Jasmart u can taste the artificial sweetener tho it's lighter. BUT--the one at Jasmart sells for 2 bucks whereas the bodega sells it for FOH DOLLAH! >:( I'll buy both :)

Icebox Cake...

Icebox cake from Billy's Bakery--just some homemade whip cream, layers of chocolate wafery-ness.
YUM-O. just kidding. i don't like rachael ray. Yes I lower-cased her name on purpose.
Le sigh. such a pretty little cake. As always, Billy's frostings/creams are on point.
i lobe u. (more for aesthetics than taste but whatebbs...)
Me & J spent a whole day eating super rich foods. This was 2nd to last :)
We went to Elmo's for dinner on 20th & 7th ave--that my friend, was quite delish. will save for another post. Had the Harvest Salad, Chatham Cod (perfectly cooked, with sweet potatoes and scallions), and a chocolate creme brulee to end. Lounge downstairs, will have to consider for Birthday. Very nice space, very modern, loungey--edgy and whatnot for 7th ave in Chelsea. Good date spot, nice electronica-y/downtempo music. Better than Kion in terms of ambience in spread.

Magnolia's Bakery (...the Cupcake Showdown preview...)...

...I don't like Magnolia's Bakery.

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT. I DON'T LIKE MAGNOLiA's BAKERY. me no likey--magnolia not numbah 1, magnolia numbah 10! magnolia not a-okay! (shout out to Operation: Dumbo Drop which when I was younger, was very excited about it being filmed in the motherland--not so sure how I feel about it now. will have to inspect).

Let's go over ze Magnolia cupcake's finer points.

Ze cupcakes are moist, perfectly moist, light, not that sweet (on the fence about the flavor of the cake itself). mmm....nummy nummy nummy nummy. We got some red velvet cake. The frosting was bland and lackluster, but the cake was incredibly moist and light as previously mentioned. Please see exhibit 1.

And...zey are also pretty.
Now, what you can't tell, is the consistency in the frosting which is a HUGE factor for me. Billy's uses buttercream, I assume Magnolia does too but more sugary-ness. Magnolia's frosting is *much*MUCH* sweeter, to the point of overbearing/overwhelming/overpowering, all sorts of "over"-ness as in "over it"--points off. Magnolia's frosting is sloppy, and runny.

Okay, so they pretty much look like Billy's Bakery cupcakes (and u can see below that i smudged a finger on that cupcake there, but BACK TO THE POINT).

Mike & I weighed the fact that we got ours freshly swathed right in our faces, but it DID have time to really settle on the train ride back. (Btw, we went to the new opening of the Magnolia's on the UWS on 69th & Columbus where the Penang used to be--oh Penang how i heart you since beantown w/ ur asparagus chicken and mango shrimp. but tha'ts another story...)
CONCLUSION: I don't *hate* Magnolia's, I just wouldn't go there if I had the chance and I definitely would NOT wait in line OR make it a point to take any friends, who are visiting, to go there. It's really the too sweet frosting that kills it. I don't care about how runny the frosting is, it's just I choke on every bite b/c the sugar just hits the back of ur throat like your tonsils got dropkicked with sunshine and carebears (if u like that sort of thing).

So I've had Crumb's, Buttercup, Billy's (^_^), Magnolia's(with an appalling website)--what's left is Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the LES. Will report back with a cumulative assessment. I had a pistachio cake version of the cupcake from SSS at Karen's bday party--I'm excited to finish out the tasting. Here's a fun little story in NYMAG about the whole cupcake lineage in the city.

Billy's might be a little dry but MY GOD the frosting (even the German Chocolate Cake) is SPOT ON.

(...and thus, u can see the diff b/w setting up the shots w/ no flash vs flash and the world of diff it makes. now that i've got my SB800 w/ diffuser, we'll see how that carries, and how the gold bounce might work out too.)