the constant hunger

My Birthday Dinner

Yesterday I celebrated a rather important birthday. Though I was a little depressed about reaching this milestone, I did spend the day doing things that helped ease the pain. It involved pink champagne, Chanel and stuffing my face at Minetta Tavern. 

{The wall is covered with photos of past guests.}

I have been wanting to go to Minetta Tavern for quite some time now, but it's still a hot spot so getting reservations is kinda hard. Luckily my husband took care of that a couple months ago. 

{Beef, beef and three pieces of bone marrow. }

We started out with crab salad and stuffed squid and then prepared ourselves for the main event. A gigantic portion of cote de boeuf served with bone marrow...for two. It was tasty, but if you do decide to order this Flintstones portion of meat, make sure you are at least three people eating it. I am still in a food coma. I couldn't even order dessert. I can't even finish this post...

Happy cooking! 

Table for One Please

I have a confession to make. I'm a bit of a loner. Not the scary, plotting-to-murder-my-neighbor type. I just like hanging out with...well, myself. I've been this way my whole life. Don't get me wrong, though. I have a few very good friends with whom I've had great times with (and will continue to have them), but since I've been living in New York my "alone time" is pretty much a daily occurrence. I shop alone, go to the movies and ballet alone and I dine alone. And no, it's not sad or pathetic, but it's okay if you think it is. The way I see it is if you can't hang out with yourself, who will want to?

With my husband frequently traveling for business, I find I have a lot of free time. For example, two nights ago, one of my oldest friends in the world was in New York for work. We met up at night and had a couple of cocktails (and tons of laughs) at Death and Co., a cool bar in the East Village. That was a night I didn't feel like spending alone.

Last night, I left work around 6:30, 7:00 and had no desire to go home to a fridge filled with a few leftovers (actually just one little drumstick from my baked chicken and Swiss chard recipe). I decided to head over to a small restaurant not too far from my apartment. Northern Spy Food Co., named after a New York state heirloom apple, has a small menu with comforting dishes. The place was crowded so I grabbed a seat at the counter. I ordered a glass of red wine and pored over the menu. Did I want the roast pork or the polenta and baked eggs? 

Instead, I started off with the special of the evening, a small plate of freshly made winter squash ravioli topped with shitake mushrooms. The hint of mint in the creamy squash added a freshness to the dish. I then ordered heirloom pork meatballs, three perfectly shaped balls in a rich tomato sauce with a little pecorino. I couldn't get enough. And I ended my meal with dessert, because I always have room for dessert. I chose the classic apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream, though next time I think I'll go for the milk chocolate sesame mousse.

And as I was savoring every bite, I thought to myself "Maybe I should ditch my plans of eating better in 2011." After all, there's just too many delicious things I have yet to taste. I'll let you know how that goes.

Happy dining!  

 

P.S. I unfortunately did not have my camera on hand. I snagged the first photo from here and the second one from here. 

 

P.P.S. Here are some other articles that I worked on this week.

"The Ultimate French Fries" 

"Channeling Home-Style Food"

Eating Out: Lobster Bake Surprise

A couple of weekends ago, my husband told me he was planning a surprise for me. I LOVE surprises. Quite frankly, I don't know many people who don't. Once he had announced the news that I had a surprise coming, I immediately began grilling him. "What is it? Are we going someplace? Did you buy me something? Does it involve eating and drinking?" I know he always regrets telling me that he's gonna surprise me, but I just can't help myself. Just the word pulls me back into childhood and all I want to do is jump around and guess what it is.

The initial surprise was a weekend getaway to Maine. We would spend a couple of days seaside eating freshly-caught lobsters, but apparently it was too long a drive if we were going just for the weekend. 

Luckily, there was a (surprise) plan B. Instead of driving to Maine we brought Maine to us. We spent our Sunday afternoon at Ditch Plains, a fish shack in the West Village, enjoying a generous lobster meal.

As a side note, I've been voraciously reading The New York Diet section in New York Magazine where the daily eating habits of some famous people is chronicled. They recently posted Ditch Plains' Chef Marc Murphy's food log and, damn, he eats good food. Now where were we? Ah, yes, my lobster bake.

We quickly got down to business and ordered a warm crab dip. We wiped the bowl clean in a matter of two minutes tops. 

The main event was a 1 1/2 pound lobster served with all the delicious sides you come to expect from a traditional bake: corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage and coleslaw. 

The lobster was as delicious as it looked. My husband's favorite part (besides the $4 beers) was the lobster tail. I must say, I tend to drool over the claws. 

All in all, I was happy with my surprise. I wouldn't have traded my lazy afternoon in the city for a seaside weekend. We had a great meal and we even wore the cheesy lobster bibs. (You can see my husband sporting his in the photo above)

And to all my readers, a quick announcement. I am away on holiday all week and will be back posting on the 22nd.

Happy cooking!

Eating out: Breakfast at Tiffany's

I woke up one Saturday not too long ago and asked myself what I wanted to do with my day, what I really wanted to do. The first thing that popped into my head was "I want to have breakfast at Tiffany's!" You see, Breakfast at Tiffany's is my favorite movie. It's what I watch to lift my spirits when I'm down in the dumps. And the fact that I live in New York and could go to the same Tiffany's as Audrey Hepburn did in the movie got me excited. And so, I jumped out of bed and headed straight for 5th Ave.

I stopped at the Lindt chocolate store only a block away from Tiffany's to pick up provisions. I then headed over to Tiffany's and chomped away at my chocolate bar, admiring the creative window displays. 

I walked around for a couple of hours window shopping. All the walking and tourist dodging got me hungry so I stopped at a diner and had the most amazing chicken salad club sandwich. 

I gobbled it up just in time to make the afternoon show of an Italian movie, I Am Love. Although the movie itself isn't too memorable, there are some delightful scenes in which one of the characters, a chef, prepares some mouth-watering dishes.  

Photo from Magnolia Pictures 

Have you ever spent a day doing exactly what you wanted? What did you do? What did you eat? 

Eating Out: Mile End

Practically every region in the world has an iconic dish, a dish that reminds them of home, even when they are far away. For the Irish, it's bangers and mash. For New Englanders, it's their clam bakes and chowders. And for Montrealers (like yours truly) smoked meat and poutine are two dishes that are emblematic of our city.  

Smoked meat is different from its cousins pastrami and corned beef in meat cut and spicing. The Montreal smoked meat is always sliced by hand and is served on rye bread, usually accompanied by fries, coleslaw and pickles. 

Some people have a hard time wrapping their brains around the idea of the poutine. "Fries doused with gravy and cheese curds?" It used to upset me when people would say that sounded weird or gross. But it's okay now. I can't comprehend the enthusiasm over chili cheese fries. Balance in the world has been restored. 

Most greasy spoons serve up the classic, just gravy and cheese. This saucy, cheesy creation sparks fierce loyalty among its fans based on the deliciousness of the most important element of poutine. The gravy. (Although stumbling out of a bar at 3:00 a.m. any old sauce will do). A wonderful variation of this gut-busting dish is the "poutine smoked meat" which is exactly what you'd expect it to be. A classic topped with chopped up smoked meat. It could possibly be the world's most perfect food. 

Since I no longer live in Montreal, my poutine cravings go unsatisfied. So when I read about a Montreal-style delicatessen that was serving up smoked meat AND poutine AND was owned and operated by a Montrealer, I had to go try it out.

Mile End is just a hop, skip and subway ride away in Brooklyn. Named after an artsy, trendy Montreal neighborhood, the restaurant is small but cozy. My husband and I didn't even have to look at the menu. We were there on a mission.

The smoked meat tasted like the real (Montreal) deal. I was really impressed. I was even more impressed when I found out that the meat is all prepared and smoked in-house. The poutine was not the high point of the evening. Remember how I said that the sauce makes the dish? Well, the gravy at Mile End... I'm not sure what they put in it, but like I told my husband, it tasted like condensed milk. 

The slaw had toasted fennel seeds. Mmm... 

The beauty of the smoked meat sandwich

It looked soo authentic  

Slices of meat were kinda thick, but packed with flavor  

The fries were so good, but... And the only thing to drink with this meal was some Labatt Blue 

You just can't mess with the poutine. It was voted "favorite national dish" for Christ's sake! I'll definitely be going back there for the sandwich. But I think I'll make my own poutine at home.