Gotham Gal

Latkes

It is that time of the year again. The time we make latkes. I love latkes. We serve ours with sour cream and applesauce. I thought that I would pass on some latke making tips.

I use yukon gold potatoes instead of idahoes. I do not peel them but grate the entire potato.
I also use sweet onions if possible but not a necessity.
Do not use flour. All the recipes call for flour. Matzah meal is the key.

4 - 5 potatoes - grated
1 onion - grated
2 eggs
3T matzah meal

Mix the above together. This recipe can easily be doubled. Then scoop out about 1 large table spoon of this concoction and press it to take out some of the liquid. Smaller is better. Then put it in a large frying pan (I use the non-stick kind) that has about an inch in depth of saffron/vegetable oil. Do not use olive oil or peanut oil. Olive oil does not get to the heat level you need without burning and peanut oil will make them taste like peanuts. Let them get browned on one side, then flip and brown on the other side. I put them on brown paper from a grocery bag to drain on. Then, serve with the accoutrements.

Happy Hannukah!

Rose's Dilemma

Last night we went to see Rose's Dilemma which is the new Neil Simon play at the Manhattan Theater Club. This is the play that Mary Tyler Moore walked out on. So far, this season, I have not been thrilled with the productions that MTC is putting on. Although, I certainly take my hat off to Neil Simon to continue to put out plays but this one was not so great.

I have yet to figure out what Rose's Dilemma was. Is it that she wants her dead husband back? Is it the issues with her daughter/companion? Is it that she has to actually make money to continue her life style and how she should go about that? The whole story was a bit convoluted. There was a gap in the character development.

Regardless, there were some funny lines. The scenery was really great. The acting was pretty good too. I really thought Lynne Meadow, who directed this production did a good job. The main character was played by Patricia Hodges (I assume this was going to be Mary Tyler Moore's character). Patricia was good regardless of the content. I really liked David Aaron Baker. He played the young writer. Maybe I liked his character more than the others.

My husband actually slept through the entire play. He woke up at intermission and asked if we should stay or go. I sort of wanted to see the conclusion and he was happy to sleep through the 2nd half too. In general, he tends to take small catnaps at even the most fantastic shows, but this one, he didn't even attempt to stay awake. Maybe I have just have a higher tolerance for trying to find the bright spot in any production. There were some bright spots in this production but I wouldn't race out to the box office for tickets.

Buddhist Temple

I went on the class field trip to see the Buddhist Temple. Learning about their city is part of the 2nd grade curriculum. They take numerous journeys to Harlem and Chinatown. It is a wonderful experience for these kids to see parts of New York that most New Yorkers never see. I, for one, have never been to the Buddhist Temple.

The Buddhist Temple is located on Canal street between Chrystie and The Bowery, just as the Manhattan Bridge is flowing into downtown New York. It used to be a movie theater but now exists as a Buddhist Temple. One of the things that I learned is that the S train (I gather it did not do this before) now travels from West 4th to the corner of Grand and Chrystie. This is good news for me because I can now travel down to Chinatown to do fresh vegetable and fish shopping much easier. The markets are incredible down there and really cheap.

Anyway, the Buddhist Temple is quite the place. A bit on the tacky side, like a funky Chinese restaurant. You walk into an incense smelling foyer that then opens up into a large room. The entire place is 800 square feet. There is a 22 foot buddha sitting on the stage and 2 pagoda's in front that have 2000 tiny Buddha's inside of them. Around the room are posters telling the story of the Buddha. There is a long red table down the middle of the room. When you talk into the room there are 2 rooms, one to your left, one to your right which are shrines or offering type rooms. People have left fruit, pictures of their loved ones, etc.

The 2nd graders who have been held to silence (which is tough) are drawing pictures of what they are discovering. People keep coming in, praying, and leaving items for the gods. The kids mouths just hang open and watch people get down on their knees to pray. It was such a New York experience.

I wouldn't recommend running down there but if you are in the neighborhood, it is always worth checking out the local flavor. To me, that is the best thing about New York, discovering areas and places that you did not even know existed. As the saying goes, only in New york.

The Return of the King

Last night we went to see The Return of the King. The last of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. What can I say? I am a huge fan. In general, I do not like these type of movies but these films are so incredibly magnificent, you can not be awed. Peter Jackson has made his mark in film history.

The Return of the King is a tad long. 3 hours and 20 minutes. It could have been shorter but then I am not sure it would be true to the tales. The photography, computer enhanced battle scenes and the characters costumes are unbelievable. Every detail has been considered.

Sean Astin, who plays Sam, is wonderful in this last film. All of the Hobbits rise to another level here. I truly can't say enough.

It is a must see this holiday season. Rent the first 2 movies and then go see the Return of the King. After a year hiatus, it is hard to follow and remember what is happening unless you are a true blue fan. I will see these movies again and again.

I hope that Peter Jackson gets his Oscar. He deserves it!

Xmas dinner

The hardest part about a dinner party is figuring out the menu. Every year we have the entire side of my husband's family over for Xmas dinner, exchanging gifts etc. It is really nice. We have been doing this pre-Xmas because we have been going away once school ends for the semester which is usually before xmas. So, we had our xmas dinner last night.

I hate to change the meal year after year because it is sort of like Thanksgiving, everybody is expecting the same thing. This year, I went out on a limb and changed a few things but everyone seemed to be ok with it.

We had a prime rib of beef. It is a once a year thing. The key to cooking this is having the butcher cut off the beef and retie it back on to the ribs. It cooks easier and is much easier to cut in the end. Put the rib sides down and the fat side up. I cooked the beef at 450 for 1/2 hour and then turned it down to 350 for the rest of the time. It is basically 12 minutes to a pound but changes based on the size. The most important utensil here is a good meat thermometer. The meat should register about 130 degrees in the oven for rare/medium rare when done. The internal temperature will rise about 10 degrees when you take it out of the oven which would make it 135/140 which is where you ultimately want the meat. I like the meat to sit for about 10 minutes before slicing.

One of our side dishes was a potato gratin. Nice and fattening. Sliced a few pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes in the cuisinart (why bother doing this by hand?). Layered them in a dutch oven type dish (Le Crueset). Took 3 cups of half and half, teaspoon of salt, 1/2 t. nutmeg and some freshly ground pepper into a sauce pot and brought to a slow boil for about 5 minutes. Poured over the potatoes and then sprinkled about 1 cup of grated gruyere cheese over the top. Baked for about 45 minutes at 350, or until the cheese was melted and the liquid was absorbed. I made this in the early afternoon. When the gratin came to room temp, I poured the extra liquid out because it did not entirely absorb. No big deal but the potatoes were definitely done and the cheese was browned. Then, I put it back in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes or so to reheat for dins. This serves about 8 people.

The veggies were green beans. I blanched them early in the afternoon too. I also took some shallots and through them into hot vegetables oil and fried them until crisp, set aside. Then, when the beef was done and sitting out for 10 minutes before cutting, I put the beans together. I took about 1 T of butter, melted it into a large saute pan. Through in the green beans, heated them thoroughly and then through in about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds. Put in a serving dish and through the shallots over the top and mixed. I basically made a handful of beans per person. You can always add more almonds, etc.

Also, a must with this dinner is popovers. About 20 minutes before the beef was done, I took some grease from the bottom of the baking dish into a small bowl. I took the grease and put it into non-stick cupcake tins, then poured the popover batter over that (about 1/4 of an inch worth of popover batter and just enough grease to coat the bottom of the cupcake tins). Ingredients for popovers (20) is 2 cups whole milk, 4 eggs, 2 cups of flour, salt and pepper. Mix until the flour is completely mixed through. I put the cupcake tins in another oven at 450 for 15 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 350 for another 15 minutes. So, when I finished cutting the beef, the popovers were coming out of the oven.

Best part, dessert. I got this recipe from the December issue of Bon Appetit. Peppermint ice cream cake with chocolate layers. It was fantastic! You need a 9" springform pan (removable bottom). I made the peppermint ice cream with the Cuisinart Ice Cream machine. I followed a vanilla ice cream recipe and added crushed peppermints and peppermint extract at the end of the recipe (you need about 6 cups worth). I took a 9 ounce box of chocolate wafers and crushed them in a cuisinart until fine. I melted 4 T butter with 6 ounces of milk chocolate chips and then added this into the crushed cookies until they were wet. I literally smushed 1/2 the mixture into the bottom of the springform pan until they were uniform across the bottom and up the sides of the pan about 1 - 1 1/2 inches. Keep the remaining crushed cookies for later. Then, freeze this for an hour. While this was freezing, I took 1/2 cup of cream and 1/4 cup of light karo syrup. Brought it to a boil and then removed from the heat and whisked in 6 ounces of chocolate chips. Let come to room temperature but make sure it is pourable/spreadable. The chip bags do not come in the 6 or 8 ounce size, so just estimate. You can't go wrong with a little extra chocolate. I am sure I added in more chocolate than necessary. Take the frozen pan out of the freezer, mash in evenly about 1/2 the ice cream mixture (1/4 or so up the sides), then I took half the chocolate melted mixture and created a layer over the ice cream. Then took the remaining crushed cookies and spread it over that. Freeze again for a couple of hours. Take out again and put the remaining ice cream over the chocolate later and put on the rest of the melted chocolate layer again. Let freeze over night. When you serve, take a knife and put in warm water to help loosen up the cookies and cut around the edges to get out. Then slowly push the bottom up. I took crushed peppermints and put it on top before serving. Also, I used a really heavy duty knife - almost like the ones they use for cutting chicken with - to cut the slices so that the came out as one. The cookie mixture tends to stick to the bottom of the pan. It was a huge hit. It was like eating a big peppermint patty. It is time consuming but so worth it!

So, xmas dinner is over. Everyone went to bed stuffed. It is hard not to want to do this meal at least once a year...

Z100's Jingle Ball 2003

My kids love and live for Jingle Ball. Can't say that I do but I admit that I have always had a liking for pop music. I actually knew more songs than I care to admit. For me, I can't decide if the best part is that the bands only get to play 3 - 5 songs, or watching all the young teenagers in the crowd. It is like stepping back in time. The screaming, the singing of each and every word, the chit chat among the crowd, the bumping into camp friends and friends from other schools. It is quite the scene.

As a good Mom, we stayed until the last band played. I did the smart thing though and had a car service meet us outside because walking home or waiting for a subway or cab at 11:30pm was not an option.

Jennifer Lopez MC'd the event for awhile. She really is such an incredibly beautiful woman. We had a little post Jingle Ball this morning at breakfast which I will share. Hilary Duff kicked off the show. We all thought she "sucked". Jason Mraz was good but a definite one hit wonder. He better invest his money properly. Michelle Branch was really good. She certainly has talent. I personally loved the t-shirt she had on which said ANTI. I'd like one for myself. 3 Doors Down was not bad but we aren't huge fans. Kelly Clarkson was awful. She has a good voice but no talent. As I explained, that is why American Idol is nonsense. Having a good voice doesn't mean you have the talent to move upward and onward. Matchbox Twenty was really good. Personally, they were my favorite performers. The lead has an awesome voice, very distinct. Next on, Sean - Paul. The kids loved him. I think he sounds like Shaggy whom I prefer. Beyonce came next. We all ragged on her lime green body suit - she looked like a xmas tree. But, she is talented and was a solid. Next on, Jay-Z. The kids thought he was the best. I think all the songs sound the same but am a fan of rap, so there you have that. Last on, Simple Plan. Not bad, but time to leave. Oh, I forgot to mention that Jessica Simpson and her husband Nich Lachey came in somewhere for 2 songs. Yikes were they awful. There was absolute consensus on that one.

All and all, it was good but the line up last year was better. My ears were still ringing when I went to sleep last night.

ZieherSmith and Blue Smoke

In New York, you can become very selfish. As a parent, it's tough because there are so many things to do on a nightly basis. So, you either limit yourself, or do a variety of things in one night. Last night was the "how many things can we pack into the evening" night.

We started off at ZieherSmith which is an art gallery of emering artists in Chelsea. I really like the 2 people that own this gallery. They have a good eye and are very into the whole emerging art scene. They had a booth at the NADA Art Fair in Miami last week where Art Basel was happening. Unfortunately, I did not go but am determined to go next year.

Last night, the artist opening was Joseph Cornell and 13 Emerging Artists. I did not really like anything there except a figure of a man, dressed in a grey suit, inside a wooden box. The character was about the size of a barbie doll. There was also a bird piece that was literally tons of prints of birds, cut down and then pasted one on top of the other to create a large exploding mass of birds. Otherwise, it wasn't my cup of tea but again, art is a very personal thing.

We also went to a holiday party down the street at our neighbors, whom I have never met before, but my husband has. It was a very nice neighborly gesture. It is also always so much fun to check out other people's homes. We didn't stay long because we were off to the next and we only knew 2 people there.

We met our friend and his friends from Brazil for dinner at Blue Smoke. It was great hanging out with the Brazilian friends since we will be in that area during Xmas. Now, we can really hang out with locals.

I love the Jazz Standard downstairs at Blue Smoke. I love the smell of the place when you walk in. You feel like you are entering a barbecue pit. There is a great vibe too. I have never been a real fan of the food there. I am still not. I consider myself a rib aficionado. I know that I am not the only one. People are very particular about their barbecue. Danny Meyer is an incredible restauranteur. One of the best. Union Square is fantastic, Tabla is also really good and Eleven Madison is such a beautiful restaurant. I loved 11 Madison when it opened but have not been thrilled with the food since. Getting a new chef there could change the whole dynamic and send me running back. My absolute favorite is Grammercy Tavern. I have probably eaten in the bar area of GT over 100 times, literally. The service is great, the vibe is wonderful and the food is seasonal and delicious. It goes under the category of a "must do" in NYC.

Back to Blue Smoke. Danny was really the first in the city to open up a real barbecue place. Others have followed suit. I have not been to any of them yet but my brother went to Pearson's on the upper east side this week and said it was good. The best supposedly is Daisy May's BBQ at 623 11th Avenue/46th street. They only deliver. I also read about a smoked turkey you can have delivered from Greenbergs in Tyler, Texas which I am dying to try.

Barbecue does bring out the food critic in all of us.

Jerry's on Prince

Restaurants in New York have a cycle. If you make it past the 1 year stage, you are psyched. If you make it past the 4 year stage, you could be golden. But, if you make it past the 10 year stage and continue to put out good food, you could be good for life.

I was at Jerry's on Prince for lunch today. Jerry's has attempted to branch out 2 times, that I am aware of. Once, in the early 90's, in the east Village. Didn't last long. Recently, on 23rd street, did not last as long as the east Village. But, Jerry's on Prince still remains today.

I used to go there often for brunch. Kids took over my world, so going to a leisurely brunch on Saturday and Sunday morning is not in my repertoire these days. Although, I certainly do miss that.

Jerry's still rocks. The place was packed by 1pm. I admit that I was thinking that the meal was going to be mediocre at best. I was pleasantly surprised. I had the curry mango chicken salad. Nice scoop of curry chicken with currants, not too much mayo on a bed of leaves and a light vinagarette, sliced of mango on the side. It was really good.

After all these years, still a thumbs up for Jerry's. They obviously are not able to produce the formula outside of Soho, but a good solid place in Soho is always an oasis.

The Streets of New York City

I love the streets of New York City. After living outside the city for 5 years, there is not a day that I don't say to myself "I love this town and I am so glad we are able to live here." But recently, the streets of New York are making me sad.

In the last few months, the homeless situation on the streets has escalated. There are people who are so out of their minds that they don't even know where they are. I guess we had to cut back the costs of social services for these poor souls. There are young homeless people on the streets who are absolutely doing heroin. I actually saw someone shooting up on the street the other morning on the way to school. Great thing for my kids to see. This guy was young too - maybe 22 at the most.

The streets are filthy. NYC used to pick up garbage hourly. Now, the pick up is every couple of hours. A few Sunday's ago, coming back from the gym, I noticed that 6th Avenue was over flowing with trash from the night before. Yuck.

The snow removal has been so slow. I actually called the Parks Department about Washington Square Park. They never even bothered to scrape down the walkways through the park. There are so many elderly people who walk through the park daily. The walkways are now a sheet of ice. One slip, the city gets sued for more than it would have cost to clean the sidewalks.

I know the city is hurting financially. I don't think Bloomberg could do more than he is doing now to stretch the budget. Why Guiliani gave away the commuter tax is beyond me. People from all over the world come to visit this fantastic city. It makes me sad that visitors from the US and overseas have to see what I see on the streets. To me, the streets of New York are glittering with excitement, opportunity, fantastic happenings, etc. I pray they don't let the streets turn gray.

Casa Mono

Last night, my family were graciously invited to be the guinea pigs for the kinks to be worked out at Casa Mono. Casa Mono is Mario Batali's newest venture. The restaurant is located on 17th and Irving. The food is Spanish tapas. The concept being that you can order a variety of tapa sized portions and pair them with different wines by the glass.

The recommendation was to begin with some small appetizers such as toasted bread with tomato and garlic lathered on, pumpkin goat cheese croquettes, fried calamari and also veal croquettes with an orange sauce and fried anchovies. We drank a classic white wine from Spain. Next, we went to the fish course. We had scallops (still in their shells) with chorizo and herbs, octopus braised over grapefruit and sliced fennel, and huge grilled prawns. The next course was meat. Sliced hanger steak with carmelized onions over the top and underneath this was a cumin spicy confit of onions. We also had lamb chops with lemon rinds and a plate of serrano ham and braised duck. Desserts were a delicious flan, a prune armengac ice cream and fried dough that was wrapped around the leaves of some type of plant. When you ate off the dough (which was tremendous), the combo with the leaves was almost drug like. The shot of spice up your nose and into your sinus passages was like eating a big scoop of wasabi.

I can't remember all the different wines but the woman who waited on us was right on the mark for pairing the wines.

Mario has another success on his hands, for sure! He based Caso Mono on his favorite restaurant in Barcellona. The food was delicious, different, and fun last night. The portions are perfect. Not too much, not too little. Should be open in a few weeks....keep you ears open and make sure you make an effort to go. Yum!!