Honey + Miso chicken...

I think my obsession with leeks has overtaken my obsession with brussel sprouts. >.<

Didn't wanna let the giant leek stalks go to waste so I thought I'd make some chicken out of it since I still had a ton of miso leftover (and tomatoes as u can tell). I made the same thing in CA for that giant post-xmas dinner w/ the famiglia except I used a honey miso soy sauce marinade/glaze. Ran out of soy sauce (incredible fail as an asian, I know!) but I still had my fish sauce HEHE!! Didn't do too much with the fish sauce tho except to season the leeks b/f i dropped in the chicken.

we also had some salad--the dressing was sesame whatever mixed with the juices from when i sauteed my spinach in garlic with some tomatoes and fish sauce (not shown). YUMMAAAAY!

Again, I don't...really...measure much when I cook. It's just straight eyeballin' and in my head so..here it is!:

* * * * *

Honey-miso marinaded chicken!...

1. cube chicken breasts (big chunks--1-2 inches?)
2. drizzle honey over it--just enough to splatter most of the chicken but not cover EVERY inch. drizzle like u would olive oil cruet.
3. 1 tablespoon-ish for every couple pieces of chicken breast...granted i kind of add as i go along, but i always mean to start with a generous tablespoon (heaping really).
4. massage that sh*t in! i like using my hands when i have to marinade with oils and meats--always feels really productive and visceral and connected to ur foods i feel...
5. saute garlic and leeks (and i threw an a$$load of leeks cut thin in there!) olive oil or butter (or if u will a combo of both to get the taste and...unsaturated goodness--btw i've been meaning to switch out of using olive oil b/c it's a heavy/flavored oil and the italians only dress with it and not actually cook anything in it and use sunflower seed oil insead but i haven't found the right alternative =/)
6. pour in the marinaded chicken (it doesn't need to sit too long to season the chicken bits) and let it cook on med high heat w/o turning it for about 1-2 min? then toss all around. throw in some tomatoes just towards the end so that it wrinkls and maybe chars the peel a little--then put a lid on the whole thing to let steam it thru--maybe 2 min like that?
   

Scallops + Soba noodles w/ sugar snap peas & cherry tomatoes in a yuzu miso honey vinaigrette!...

I made this for a post-xmas dinner for my fam in CA, and I've decided to do it for NYE dinner too :) So...onward!

This is the scallops--seared 1.5 min each side with nothign but salt & pepper...plus sauteed in butter with leeks and garlic. LOVE LEEKS!! My mom's pot for some reason--was pretty tough to get super hot--u know how u gauge that it's gonna brown your proteins w/ that sizzle, and apparent when u throw in the garlic and it browns pretty quickly. Couldn't get the same browning/carmelization but..whatebbers, still tastay! me likes scallops!

This is the soba noodles after I've tossed it with the yuzu miso honey vinaigrette plus blanched sugar snap peas and raw cherry tomatoes.

ANNNND...this is the vinaigrette!

* * * * *

RECIPE to make the Honey-Yuzu vinaigrette (to serve about 6 or more really)...

1 cup yuzu juice (~5 oz)


2 heaping table spoons of miso sauce

3 tablespoons of honey

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup soy sauce

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of lime/lemon juice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons olive oil (but I think sesame oil is the better way to go).

Tons of pepper, a smidge of salt--but if u like the savory from the miso then maybe nix the salt. I def didn't really like the olive oil in mine so I actually tried to split with 1/2 of it as sesame oil to compensate. Yuzu is pretty frickin' strong--granted the "juice" they provide is pretty...mixed in with a bit of other citrus juices and garlic etc so...eh.

---
So...I dunno wtf happened to my memory card but it seems to override images/naming convention so...i effed up on my xmas post :( it was bootiful. Jaime bought us a tree for the apt with quaint lil' ornaments etc--and we had purtay kate spade boxes wrapped all nice and presents that I wrapped myself with an embossed white parchment paper with a cherry tomato red wired ribbon double bowed and all. AND...we had Amadei hot chocolate with some Kahlua and Bailey's AND Jaime's gingerbread cookies!! >:( very displeased to have lost these images!! they were quintessential holiday pics!! boo!

preview of Kee's chocolates...

OMFG.
got an xmas gift: box of Kee's chocolates...ended up ordering a box of 12 to bring back to CA for the holidays--this is just a light smattering of...the silkiest, delicate/ephemeral, intoxicatingly complex flavored, hand rolled chocolates you'll find anywhere. Godiva/Lindt/et al. be damned! *shakes fist!*

not gonna tell you what these are just yet--or what I ordered...but with flavors like yuzu, kaffir lime, lemon basil, honey saffron, creme brulee, fennel, smoked salt, thai chili, cognac, elderflower, pistachio, black sesame, different teas, honey kumquat....i just realized that's A LOT of the menu I gave away :P

but she makes macaroons too!! So much for "preview"...

WELL...you'll just have to wait for the pictures of them half bitten! :)

Sorella!...

2 girls eat up Italy particularly Piemonte food and bring it back to the city! That's the concept behind Sorella on Allen b/w Broome & Delancey. Cute name. cute concept--it's pretty much how Karen and I felt after our little trip in October--except we ate the crap out of all of italy and were struck mostly by the modern Italian tastes of each regions (the homey, simple, rustic, pride of the land kinda dishes) and esp the modern emerging Italian cuisine at Pane e Vino in Florence and Il Satollo in Rome! [I PROMISE i'll post about these 2 soon--tied for 1st in favorite restaurants in the the 5 countries i've been to!]

It's a little hard to replicate the experiences and meals we had in Italy--so much gets lost across the AtlanticHad a little xmas dinner with Albee and grubbed up on the small plates.

We had the Hearst Ranch Beef Carpaccio with a parsley treviso sald, crosnes (apparently teeny artichoke like...'tubers'), and smoked salt. A little heavy I thought on the oil--but the smoked salt was badass.

We also had the Crispy Veal Sweetbread with a quince-bacon marmalade. I like the texture of the sweatbread--the breading's interesting. I don't have the mindset to really debunk what it comprises it at t he moment--the marmalade was a little like a variation of hoisin sauce I've seen used at some asian places...I still like/LOVE the Kefi sweetbreads better! Well cooked tho...

the best BESTEST was the Pate de Fagato: duck fat english muffin bread with chicken liver mousse, bacon, and a teeny little egg on it. Sounds heavy and artery-clogging but MY GOD very smooth, very subtle, and quite light. never mind my lighting! just look at that pate mousse!! so airy!

THENNNNN...we had the GNOCCHI!! Also one of my faves here! So light! So subtly rich! So smooth! The potato gnocchi so delicate and melty and subtle! Had some chives, roccaverano fresca cream sauce (heaven!--and light light light!) with brown butter pears--added a very nice light sweet contrast and harder texture to the whole thing. Seriously--best tasting and best cooked gnocchi I've ever had. I did not know...what gnocchi was supposed to be like...until this one. HAHA.

Needless to say we ate a lot.....a lot. Albee & I totally dug the Pate di Fegato the most--like...lick the plate clean if that was socially acceptable. But i did take a picture of our ravished gnocchi plate :P

Gnocchi was #2--but we did squeeze in dessert, and the Spiced Panna Cotta I have to say--just like what we liked about the Pate & Gnocchi--rich but subtle, smooth--melts in yo mouf! Perfect temperature and consistency...

I can't find the listing for dessert on the menu--but I remember the Spiced Panna Cotta having pomegranates, brown butter (methinks) pumpkin, pears, roasted pumpkin seeds...and a pretty damn hard crust on the bottom actually. Like--hard core stab and wiggle to break the crust/bottom. We REALLY worked that spoon. It wasn't as difficult to break down in your mouth but...i mean *damn*. Good flavors tho. Perfect little winter dessert feel :) WEEEE!!!

And then afterwards I went to drop off Karen's xmas gift nearby and she gave me Kee's chocolates. RICH RICH RICH just like Sorella's...(more intense actually)...but not so sweet over overwhelming either!! Just a less subtle, stimulating punch to the palate :)

Defintely...DEFINITELY coming back for the brussel sprouts from what I hear the barkeep says--he made really great recommendations and was a little chatterbox in the most amiable and natural sense :) Also got to chat w/ the chef a bit--lovely people who seem a little nervous but very proud of their venture :) Definitely transparent the thought and love that goes into plating, composition, and...ingredients and all! Some dishes weren't mindblowing but def above average esp for NY Italian fare. Anxious to also come back for the grilled quail and lamb ragu!

...BTW, the panna cotta--inn the chef's words--"It's like sex in your mouth!"...I'd have to say...it's more like really good making out sesh when you're a wee enamored teenage brat and the excitement lingers on warm flushed cheeks and twinkled eyes...u know, back in those uncorrupted days. ;)

That Pate di Fegato though...Albee said I was erm...having a sort of...."la petite mort" moment with it :)

brunchy-brunch-brunch @ French Roast...

I have no idea why but I really really like poached eggs. Other than that I love my eggs sunny side up for the most part--and when I was a wee lass in Viet Nam, my mom would soft-boil eggs for us before any big travel dates, sprinkle a little salt in there, stir it up and breakfast a-hoy!

ANYWAY...so I've taken a shining to eggs benedict mostly out of my adoration for poached egginess, and affection for smoked salmon as well.

And a weird curiosity as to what the big deal was with hollandaise sauce based on hearing about it in multiple movies back in the day. Yes--some obscure reference to hollandaise sauce or somebody screwin' up how to make it. Don't even remember which movie it was :)

Anyhoodlekins...I went to French Roast the other weekend w/ Julia for brunchy brunch brunch on the UWS. We initially were going to go to the Polar Rink by the American Museum of Natural History but well--let's just say it was a rough night so I opted for food.

I like French Roast for the most part--but the 'taters were greasy and bland (and...a strange color which I'm assuming is due to whatever...weird..possible chili oil they used but...it wasn't even spicy!). The english muffin the eggs benedict were on were a little on the paltry and far from hearty side--the hollandaise was a bit heavy, but the egg was poached to perfectionnnnn.

Julia got the salmon omelet with sweet potato puree. A little odd w/ sweet & savory--but I'd grub on that orange pile of mash any other day.

Not too sweet. Still a lot of texture as u can see with little yammy-spokes protruding from the pile :) I have to say tho--FR plating aesthetics not so hot. I want my food PRETTY!! Not slopped on and rushed out! "Rustic" plating...is only for the really good sh*t! :D

The other dish I like @ FR? The Salad Lyonaise (which I surmise isn't on the wkd menu--neither is the french onion soup WTF?!). What's in a salad lyonaise? POACHED EGGS. yes. on a bed of frisee, with some bacon bits, and bits of taters and other salady-goodness. including tomatoes. SUPER CLOSE UP TIME!

My fave place for eggs benedict--which you can get WITH spinach AND smoked salmon (woohoo!) is at Cafeteria. Brunch here of course is notoriously...crowded. BUT SO TASTY. esp the mac & cheese with smoked gouda and bacon. Everything just tastes cleaner and healthier and leaner yet heartier there. Not that much more expensive either.

Ippudo w/ Mama Ly!...

Thanksgiving w/ Mama Ly in the city --> Ippudo, Pommes Frittes, Ronnybrook Milk Bar, Chelsea Market, Amy's Bread, and...some cooking but for now...more pics of the porkiness that I love esp with the coming brisk winter days/nights!

Pork belly bun.

Akamaru Shin-aji ramen.

YUM YUM YUM.

Kampuchea Catfish Sammich!...

I met up with the girls after an NYurban vball league game @ Karen's (when we had made beignets and apple tarte tartins) so I was STARVED and feeling portable foods. Claudz took me to Kampuchea on Rivington & Allen. She had raved about the sammiches particularly the Ginger-rubbed catfish.

I was torn between that, the Hoison Pork sammich, and The Kampuchea sammich (with headcheese terrine)...but something about the cleaner finish of fish and the prospect of honey/peppercorn/ginger just grabbed me. It was a pretty big friggin' sandwhich and they definitely weren't stingy with the catfish. The sauce and the way all the flavors came together was subtle, a little sweet with a little heat from the peppercorns but just overall quite quite pleasant. It was an unbutton ur pants kinda filling and satisfaction :)

What pissed me off a bit was that it was $12 bucks. REALLY?! with tax it came to be about $14. -.- The girls told me it used to be like 9 bucks when it just opened and then they ramped it up. Granted it's a nice restaurant and the portions are nice from what I saw of their noodle dishes as well. Everything's fresh and the quality of the food fares well but just...does not justify the price jacking.

So it's supposed to be Cambodian food but obvy very much like the Vietnamese sandwiches. I ate a Catfish sandwich with Dave @ Baoguette (a Vietnamese sandwich place that recently opened up on 25th and Lex) which was $7 and though the texture of the fish was subpar compared to Kampuchea's...flavor, fixin's, and overall experience is just as good though less exciting.

GIVEN the name, I couldn't help but think maybe it was a Michael Bao endeavor...AND IT WAS! :) I thought maybe it would've been a little more elevated like Bun (Grand & Crosby) but I'd be happy to have something closer to Chelsea with reasonable enough pricing and taste. I did enjoy Bun tho--i haven't had certain things in the city or a few places that had the same flavors as back in CA or the way my mom made it. The butterd frog legs were...effin' AWESOME. that's for another post...

Amy's Bread & Ronnybrook Farm Milk Bar!...

Part of turkey day brunch avec Mama Ly in the city. Ate @ Chelsea Market (on 16th and 9th ave) since Momofuku Milk Bar was only open for pickup! :( Then got groceries (pancetta, porchetta, olive/black truffle tapanade etc etc) to make Turkey day dinner & grubbage for the drive down to DC the next day...

And yes, they quoted There Will Be Blood below.... heheheheeh

Eggs Kaush..something. Eggs in casserole! like at Viceroy (18th & 8th ave) and Relish (North 3rd & Wythe in Williamsburg). Came with roased potatoes w/ pepper & chives.

I swear though...somethign about poached eggs...i'm still fixated with them...

Mama Ly got the free range roast chicken w/ what looks like fresh mozarella, tomatoes, and a salad with really good vinaigrette!

Apparently it's diff from what the menu says (some kinda...cheddar. WHATEBBS). it was tasty. organic and all that ish but all that matters was that it tasted fresh and was prepped quite well yaaaaay.

The Ronnybrook Farm chocolate milk is whole milk but INFINITELY "thinner" and cleaner taste than most chocolate milk--even the chocolate soy milk. No aftertaste, no...lactose-y...intolerance...harshness. Tastier than Horizon Organic Chocolate milk (omg did i...did i blaspheme? HA!! HOCM def pales in comparison exponentially...and i once thought very highly of it. esp when buying it in bulk @ costco :D or whole food's :))

That said...Mama Ly's hot chocolate was also damn festive and good...

And to end with: almond buttered toast from Amy's Bread. Very soft--brioche-y kind of bread, subtle almond paste (not crazy sweet like how the Sicilians prefer it!--sweeter than Almondine)...

Brussel Sprouts & Bacon!....

Claudz got me some brussel sprouts the last time we were @ Karen's making beignets & apple tarte tartins so I decided to test drive them out for Thanksgiving, along with chicken in bacon fat and lotsa rosemary...

and by "we were making beignets and tarte tartins" i mean I showed up uberlate after my NY Urban game and got a sammich nearby and ate while Shanaz made the tarte tartin and the other girls made beignets (and deep fried snickers!) while I noshed and bitched about being sweaty and tired :P more pics of that some other time.

In this version, I had about...3 cups of brussel sprouts halved, sauteed with shallots, pine nuts, and about 1.5 lemons. Didn't have pancetta so I used center cut bacon (b/c it was like..10pm on a Sunday when I decided to do this little culinary experiment and Gristedes isn't exactly...gourmet central :P). Prosciutto would've been nice but it's so thin and when I've crisped them up before it's just TEEEEEEEENY!!

So...I was reading a lot about how to prepare them sprouts--and I opted for a compromise of boiling for 3 min and then sauteeing the rest. I'm going to have to say...I'm going to just nix the boiling and do fullon sauteeing or roasting next time.

I really lament the loss of color w/ boiling and the texture is like any boiled cabbage would be. I think w/ all the layers it's so much better roasted or whatever to maintain the crispness of each layer. It's like if u had a soggy crepe mille cake. EES NO GEWWWD. Crispy! Also...note the diff b/w flash and natural light...

That's brussel sprouts I had in Italy--really really fresh sproutsies! ^_^ boiled, with a little olive oil. granted it didn't taste all that exciting b/c it was fully boiled, but the quality of the produce--YUMMMM. and the sprouts were much bigger than here. I also hafta say...the bacon really darkens and chars the chicken and sprouts well, but since the sprouts were already soft and boiled it didn't add much dimension to the coloring. FULL CHAR NEXT TIME! :)

That's mah full meal. let's hope turkey day sprouts will be much more interestingly plated. Also trying to switch up my cakes this year. still befuddled. HRmmmMMmmmmm....>.O...

I'm also hoping I can buy the brussel sprouts on the stalk at the Union Square farmer's market when my mom's in town (tomorrah!) and we'll be makin' my first Turkey day dinner in NYC!

Almondine!...

We had the bestest sammich EVER today at Almondine!...

Karen & I got the ham and cheese sandwich with bechamel cheeze on top today...and it was gloooooorious and tasty. I don't think it was bechamel inside--maybe it was I dunno...I DON"T KNOW. but the butter Pam got with her bread was very good as well.

THe bread was a little dry/hard as it should be (i forget the type of bread). Granted we came like at 2pm so everything was practically out and I do realize and appreciate the potential of this sammich fresh out the overn and I'd be remiss if I never got to taste it that way but...MY GOD even in its "off" form, it's still so...so very tasty!! The bechamel (never had it before) was a little creamy and more spreadable--blasphemy, but it's like a cross between the Laughing Cow color/texture crossed with Brie.

It was quite an enormous sammich, cut in 2 (and I had some fresh squeezed OJ) and I still couldn't finish it. Fortunately, it was a nice little snackeroo when we were at the Brooklyn Flea in the cold, cold, cold wind. :) YUMMAY!!
Zees was un eclaire i got...

I lurves ze boysenberries!! SO TASTY!! So very....

nom nom nom nom....their custard cream is really good--light, clean, and just a smidge sweet. Great texture too--not too dense or viscous.

This was also my first attempt at bread pudding...

i have to say...not that tasty, but better than I thought. Just a little bland in my opinion--and i also just dont' really get bread puddings to begin with. My friend got me christmas pudding one year, from England...yeaaaaaah i dunno. Rustic I suppose. but not pour moi!!

Okay, gotta cut the commentary short b/c i'm backed up with posts and I gots a post on brussel sprouts and baking adventures with beignets and apple tarte tartins to put up besides all the old stuff from italy!!! ^_^

Here's one more loving peekture of the crusty bechaaaamelllll!!!!