Big Apple Foodie Bites!

Just returned from a five day trip to the city that never sleeps (and always eats!).  Unsurprisingly I spent most of my trip thinking about, if not actually consuming food, and what great food it was!

Day one and drinks in the gloriously art deco salon/bar of our hotel at Washington Square were quickly followed by beer and pizza from John's - a Greenwich village institution.  This particularly fine example had sausage, peppers and extra anchovies...

Day two and we headed to Brooklyn, coffee from one of the many cute cafes in Park Slope warmed us as we wandered through Prospect Park and down to Brooklyn Heights, catching Jason Bateman filming scenes for a new movie as we passed through!  Had a great steak sandwich and salad at a warehouse bar/restaurant called Superfine, one of the first to move into the area now known as DUMBO.  Dinner plans involved trying to score a table at one of those 'word of mouth' places that is apparently a nightmare to get into (no reservations) but a dream once you are in...and sure enough Bianca's in NOHO was full to bursting when we arrived at 7pm.  The manager quickly despatched us next door to a hip bar called Von where we waited until he showed up 40 mins later with a table for us.  The atmosphere was buzzing and staff were efficient but very friendly.  A huge portion of Frito Misto, shrimp, squid, octopus and courgette fried in a light batter was delicious if not the best looking dish...

Meanwhile my lasagna was filled with a rich ragu and LOTS of top quality parmigiana cheese...

Bianca's was not fine dining, it was top quality italian home cooking and it deserves the attention it gets at home and from visitors.  Magic.  Finished off the night (literally) by meeting an old college friend at her bar on the lower east side, a cool rock bar-come cafe-come gig venue...many vodka, lemon and ginger cocktails were consumed...

Day three and feeling slightly delicate we headed out for a late brunch, not straying too far from the Village.  The resulting effort was disappointing, a soul food cafe/bar called the Pink Teacup was underwhelming in every sense - a tiny portion of (not very nice) crab cakes and coleslaw from a budget supermarket tub.  Just as well we didnt eat too much as our evening plans involved a table, booked in advance, at the French Culinary Institute, a premier training ground for the next Iron Chef or michelin star wannabe.  The food is cooked and also served by the students and at $47 for a four course fine dining experience is possibly New Yorks best kept secret.  Matching wines at $30 were expertly chosen.  The portions were on the large side, my starter of butternut quash soup with confit quail was enourmous, as was my fish dish of poached halibut with oysters and watercress...

A main of pork loin stuffed with olives and walnuts in a huckleberry jus was delicious but just too much.  Full to bursting I managed a few mouthfuls of my banana cream pie only to be suprised by a trio of mini desserts presented to me at the table with a birthday candle (how did they know?)...I had a nibble of each and all were delicious, epecially the little pot of custard with the shortbread spoon, a cute touch.

Day four and off we waddled uptown , a stone heavier, to the Bouchon Bakery for a delicious almond and raspberry croissant and a peak at all those macarons lined up like soldiers, not to mention a sneaky look upstairs at Per Se, one of the top restaurants and top prices too, a squint at the lunch menu revealed a $295 price tag per person, ouch!!!   Then for some shopping and something I was looking forward to, lunch at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station only to find it was closed (it was Sunday d'oh!).  Deflated, another poor lunch effort was had at one of the stalls in the dining concourse of the station, only made better by a coconut cream cupcake from the Magnolia Bakery stand next door.  That night we were uptown to see NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker so we returned to a BBQ place we had been to before, tried and tested and rather spookily they led us to the exact table as our last visit!

Day five and I was depressed at the thought of heading home.  A really great lunch was needed.  For months I had fantasised about David Changs buns...but didnt think we had a chance of getting into one of his Momofuku establishments, being as they are THE place to eat in New York.  But my college friend suggested Monday lunch would be our best chance so we wandered over to the Noodle Bar on 1st Ave and although busy we were quickly accomodated, sitting up at the counter as the kitchen and waiting staff whizzed around in front of us.  The Noodle Bar has the most informal vibe of all his restaurants, with options ranging from snacks at the counter to full meals.  The pork buns were quickly delivered and all I can say is that they were one of the best things I've eaten in recent years, the pork was meltingly soft with a subtle sweetness that I couldnt put my finger on...a large bowl of Momofuku ramen followed, the broth rich from the pork belly and shoulder with kimchi, spring onions and a wobbly poached egg.  Outstanding.  Greedy for more we also shared a special from the board, fried oysters and brisket hash on a bed of grilled potato salad with pickled cucumber.  This dish looked like a work of art and was more delicate in flavour than the ramen, but again the brisket melted in the mouth leaving its pleasantly fatty, sweet flavour behind.

Momofuku Ramen

Pork Buns

Fried Oysters and Brisket

This was undoubtedly the highlight for me, fine dining is all well and good but this is simply the kind of food and style of eating that we are crying out for here in the UK, in my opinion.  Someone should get onto that...

A final foodie highlight, birthday dollars were only ever going to be spent on one thing, oh KitchenAid, oh KitchenAid, how lovely are your pricetags...$299!!!  ok, so I need a voltage adaptor and they are ugly but I don't care...

Squash and Green Lentil Stew

I love watching Nigel Slater's TV programmes, he uses so few ingredients but manages to turn out a real feast for the eyes and I'm sure, the tastebuds.  I could vaguely recollect him doing something with pumpkin and lentils last week and was thus inspired to do something similar when I picked up these little chaps at the Lidl close to my office...for the grand sum of £1.22!!!








First of all a teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and black mustard seeds were dry roasted then ground up in the pestle and mortar.  A glug of oil was added to my cast iron heavy casserole dish and two roughly chopped onions and three mashed cloves of garlic were gently fried, along with the ground spices for about 5 mins.  I found a couple of bacon rachers hanging around in the fridge so they were soon chopped up into small pieces and added to the pot.  Some small carrots and a couple of mushrooms (quartered) soon followed and the veg was given a few minutes to cook down with the bacon and spices.

One mugful ( it SHOULD be considered a valid measurement...) of green lentils was thoroughly washed in cold water then added to the pot.  A pint of hot chicken stock was added, with a pinch of salt and pepper and the pot brought to a simmer, lid on and cooked gently on a low heat for 30 mins.

Meanwhile two of the squash were peeled, seeds removed and roughly diced into larg-ish chunks.  While the lentils and veg were stewing nicely I knocked up a soda bread - see previous recipe, although Ive noticed that buttermilk is appearing in the supermarket now in 250 ml cartons - if using one of these use 350g of flour mix instead of the 500g I previously recommended - it makes a smaller loaf but just as good, if not even better.

Preheat the oven to gas 6, when the stew has been simmering for 30 mins add the squash, a little water if becoming too thick and pop into the oven at the same time as the soda bread for another 25-30 mins.  The squash will cook quickly and the stew will be thick and delicious.  Chuck on some parsley and even a dollop of creme fraiche (I didnt have any) and there it is, a great tasy supper.

Biscuits Ahoy!

In the middle of a totally frantic work week I somehow heard my voice saying YES to a request for some home baking for the office Wear It Pink coffee morning...  I simply didnt have time for cake making and baking so rustled up these biscuits instead...the viennese whirls are shamelessly copied from Holly aka Great British Bake Off but I filled them with a nice rasberry buttercream icing instead of patisserie cream...

 and these coconut macaroons were well received by coeliac colleagues as no flour is involved...

They were easily outshone by a cake baking colleague who pitched up with a full cupcake stand of goodies and an amazing coconut and lime sponge cake...the recipe for which I now have tucked away in a safe place...thanks Laurie!

Pics from the BBC Good Food Show

Masterchef Challenge

Incredible cakes

Nick Nairn looks bored...

Perfect Saturday!

Off to the Good Food Show first of all then a cheeky cocktail at the Rogano before heading to Gandolfi Fish tonight for dinner....my idea of a perfect Saturday!

Pear and Almond Tart

Having been away last weekend at the Chester Marathon and busy the weekend before I've missed having time to just potter around in the kitchen...weekdays are fine but the focus is on getting food on the table without too many bells and whistles.  So despite a Friday night of drinking, catching up with friends and more drinking I was up and in the kitchen bright as a daisy...

Pastry is not my friend.  Previous attempts range from okay to inedible.  But with a foolproof (ha!) recipe from an Angela Boggiano book and plenty of time to analyse every instruction I turned out a very nice sweet shortcrust pastry case.  My very good friend Marion had recently inherited a bag of windfall pears and kindly passed them on...most are destined for chutney but yesterday I sacrificed some to the tart.  I won't give the pastry recipe as there are plenty of good ones out there and acceptable shop bought versions - here is how I made the tart though...

• Blind bake the pastry case if home made for 12-15 mins until very slightly golden then cool and egg wash the base and sides
• Meanwhile peel and quarter 2 small pears and poach in a stock syrup for around 10 mins or until soft but not mushy (a simple stock syrup is a half sugar/water ratio dissolved over a gentle heat - you can add a vanilla pod, cinammon stick etc)
• Remove the pears and cool them.  Take each quarter, start 1cm down from the top and cut 3 or 4 slices lengthways to the bottom, push gently into a fan shape
• For the frangipane-esque filling: 125g of soft butter is beaten until pale and smooth then add the following: 200g ground almonds, 75g caster sugar, 1 egg, and a generous tbsp of amaretto if you have it, or almond essence if not!  Finally add the zest and juice of half a lemon and beat it all to a pulp.
• Cover the bottom of the pastry case with a thin layer of jam (I had pear and ginger) then spread on the frangipane mix.  Arrange the pears on the top, pushing down slightly into the mix.
• Bake for around 30 mins at Gas 4 or until the top seems spongy when pressed.

This turned out rather nice as you can see:

We had a big slice still slightly warm with a dollop of cream!

Soda bread recipe

soda bread doesnt last long in our flat...

I've slowly been going off commercial bread, even seemingly good quality stuff seems stodgy and unappetizing these days.  I briefly entertained the idea of trying to get a sourdough starter on the go and then 3 seconds later came to my senses, thats a committment I'm not quite ready to make.  Soda bread ticks all the boxes, its easy peasy, yeast free therefore quick to make and bake and is very tasty - the teenager now insists I make it every other day.  The best bit is that you can vary it to your own taste, here is my personal take on it:

200g plain flour
200g brown flour
100g porridge oats (you could just use 500g of flour if you like)
2tsp bicarb of soda
1tsp salt
1 tbsp runny honey (optional but nice!)
350 ml buttermilk ( live yoghurt with a splash of lemon juice is an alternative)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl or pulse in a processor.  Make a well in the centre and mix in the honey  then the buttermilk. Bring the dough together (it shouldnt be too sticky) then turn out onto a floured surface.  Knead it but not for long, its really just about getting it a little smoother and into a ball shape.   Put it onto a baking tray, flatten it down a bit then score deeply with a cross shape.  Bake at gas 6 for around 40 mins.  The bread is ready when the bottom of the bread sounds hollow and empty when tapped with your hand.  Eat when its nice and warm.  I sometimes knock this up as soon as I get home from work so that its ready along with whatever is for dinner.