Whitefish + Arugula!...

"Fresh" whitefish salad from Murray's Bagel across the street with Pepperidge Farm's Dark German Wheat (with grain balls & whatnot!) with some baby arugula. nomnommmnomnomnomnomnom..

That's a tran-size bite no? hehehe. u can't tell but i'm making that face! *chomp chomp chomp!*

Uploading it made the image a little dull but the original resolution just shows how frickin' AWESOME the whitefish salad is, glistening, a tinge of gold...just...perfection. A bunch of people @ my office got laid off today, this was comforting--the pictures i mean. Food photography makes me a little zen and alleviates me from the ulcer I've got from stalkerazzi I've been experiencing. I'm sorry there's no bite marks on this one, but I really wanted to capture the flakiness of the fish on its own.

ANYWAY, I like the combination of flavors--the dark german wheat has a real heartiness to it, a little bitter, but diff from the bitterness of the arugula (which I wouldn't really say is bitter) coupled with the slightly clean but a little fatty taste to the salted whitefish. You'll see, it complements well :) [and don't bother checking, that's the *correct* usage of complement!]
Right before we went to the Murakami Pre-Opening viewing/party on Friday, I made Kaoru a turkey breast sammich on Honey Flaxseed wheat bread (Pepperidge Farm) with some mushrroom/truffle pate, and a garlic and lime marinade as seasoning plus arugula. It was weird and tangy but it oddly went well with the pate as an aftertaste. *shrug* who knew. That and the bread was a little SWEET!! so confusing, but tasty :P

RAAAAMEN/ippudo...

went to ippudo post volleyball match. all the j-folks were psyched and a half for the 2ish wks leading up to the opening. all attempts to sneak in for the soft opening failed miserably (except for traitorous/defector Kino's). We were all taken back by how shi-shi/hip the place looked given the nature of EV japanese joints around st marks--great ambience tho, good looking sake bar and booths--i'd say u'd get laid takin' yo lady friend here. or ur lady man friend. whatever floats yo boat. just get the shochu or sake + hard liquor drinks instead of the courvoissier, even Leon Phelps would concur.
I didn't bring my D80 so none of the artsy fartsy food porn pics (borrowed Kaoru's camera--and it had been so long since I touched an SD500 that i just couldn't remember settings. that and it takes too much thinking and i wanted to eat so WHATEBBS!). Just lots and lots of fatty rich ramen colors :) Here is a picture of Lei's, the shiromaru moto (regular ramen pork brothness).
We also got the glazed chicken or whatever it was with lotus chips. Lotus--big thing I'm sensing...this was also at Typhoon. (<--love love love asian tapas there, and the 50% off sushi which by ny standards is awesome in terms of taste, not just the pricing.) Me, Kaoru, Muju Charlotte all got the Akamaru modern (like the shiro maru but with Ippudo's secret sauce: red miso + garlic oil etc). ME LIKES. the broth is def thicker, the noodles are made on site--the Berkshire pork pieces just fall apart b/c they're so tender. But--it's 15 bucks.
All the online reviews and previews (like Gothamist's) all note that the key to it being of thicker consistency and general all around ab-fabulousity is owed to the pork bones stewing for 15-18 hours and reducing the broth 3 times in all. I LIKE REDUCTIONS. mmmMmmmMMMmm. they always pack a punch (i like intense flavors and salty foods--but that's okay b/c I have low blood pressure so then I won't black out or have heart palpitations w/ my savory tooth :P)

Why, honestly, would u pay 15 bucks (2+ for extra portion of ramen) when u could go to Sapporo or Ramen Setegaya for 8 bucks? Quite frankly, I've seen horribly shi-shi-frou-frou attempts at making certain asian comfort foods (and cuisine altogether) go high class w/ wagyu beef and whatever whatever that completely delineate from the original flavors and comfort that the "poorer" dishes imbue *coughshittycafevietnamintribeca* and it's not that Ippudo tries to fancy-pants up the ramen...it's just that u can tell the difference with whatever forethought and attention goes into making the ramen on site, the broth with the triple reductions, and how the consistency and texture of the ramen(s) here are markedly different in a more interestingly complex way than at other places--for such a simple dish anyway. And on that note I will continue eating my cheapie ramen :)
I was really hoping that after the soft opening they'd feature the gelatinous cube of something or other that changes the broth flavors as it dissolves, according to that Gothamist article. Oh well. I'm sure they'll get around to it.

Flake by Cadbury...

Foodblog no longer on hiatus. I know it has been like...18 days since my last post. BUT VOILA!! I have returned. (Sort of). I'm severely sleep deprived, rather stressed, and been prodded with all sorts of crazy combative encounters (supershuttle, JetBlue, TSA employees, regular ol' people..YARGH!!). Trust me though I've been eating--just...wait for it. It takes a lot out of me to do pictures and post, oddly enough. Lots and lots of love goes into it ;)
I meant to do a giant review of all the British candies I ate while working abroad last summer...and there's a draft of it somewhere but I felt like Flake needed its own post--mostly b/c I like the pictures better, and u can bite my sh*ny metal @$$.

What is flake u say? It looks like somebody who was really into food porn decided to drizzle ribbons and ribbons of chocolates on a cold marble slab and blew cold, brisk air as it cascaded down to let it temper as it fell into some wrinkly, convoluted mess. Sensual? or accidental?

According to Wiki:

The product was first developed in 1920 and was founded by an employee of Cadburys. When the excess from the moulds was drained off, it fell off in a stream and created folded chocolate with flaking properties. ^[1]

When we were chillin' at the Tate Modern lawn, Albee bought a "99p" or whatever it was called (I swear b/c it cost 99pence but anyway), which consisted of soft serve in cone with a giant Flake jammed in the middle. Violent, graceful...*shrug*.

Do you enjoy the sexy side to flake and ice cream? Other people obviously agree with me. That one's borrowed from flickr (@ brighton beach courtesy of Ben Lawson's photostream.

I miss my natural light and my flake in natural light--maybe I'll reshoot soon, but I'm too busy during lunch what with the eating and walking the dog and you know, going back to work and all to really catch the light. Plus it's been dreadfully gloomy and drizzling these past couple days and you depress me.

Initially I hated the damn flake. I thought it was disgusting, crumbly, and chalky. Coincidentally, there was an article in the NYTimes about how "the shizz" all the British chocolates were. I LOVE Crunchie. that's for another day. That is all!!! I'm spent!

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. :)