Gotham Gal

Mudslide Cookies

I made these cookies for the first time today.  You never know how a recipe will work.  This one had a few problems but I think I figured them out for next time. 

Preheat the oven to 400 if you don't have a confection oven, if you do, do it at 350. 

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate combined with 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate.  Melt and set aside.

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter and 2 cups of white sugar mixed with a electric mixer, until light and fluffy.  I used a paddle not a whisk attachment.  Add 5 eggs, one at a time.  Then add in a pre-sifted mixture of 1/2 cup flour, 2 3/4 tablespoons baking powder and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt.  When this is totally mixed in, add the chocolate mixture.  When thoroughly combined use a wooden spoon to add in 16 ounces of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips.  I went with the semi-sweet chips. 

Pour this mixture into a parchment lined baking sheet.  I needed 1 1/2 pans, so I obviously used 2.  Spread it out and then put in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes. 

When cold, flip the chocolate over and take off the parchment. Cut into medium squares.  I took each square and made it into a ball.  Not too small, not too big.  I put them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  You can also use those cooking plastic sheets that substitute for parchment.  Don't put the cookies directly on to the cookie sheet or they will burn.  I learned this the hard way.  I did about 12 per sheet.  They need room to spread. 

They bake about 8-10 minutes or more.  They should be toasty on the outside.  Let them sit for about 20 minutes before eating.  The insides should be gooey. 

I made about 54 cookies and found that they cooked quicker than I realized.  They are delicious...

Next time, pictures.  I swear.

Barbecue Season is here

It is time to take out the barbecues and get going.  We had 20 people, kids and adults, over to kick off the season last weekend.  The hardest part is always gaging how much food to buy.  I hit is right, no leftovers.  That works perfect for me because we are always looking to the next meal, so leftovers are just that, leftovers.

We made 6 racks of ribs, 2 5 lb. briskets, baked beans, coleslaw, corn bread, one fruit tart, one peanut butter chocolate pie and lemon squares.  All gone!

The ribs and brisket were rubbed down about 8 hours in advance of the party.  I used a mixture of cumin, paprika, salt, pepper and chili powder.  I was heaviest on the cumin and paprika.  Honestly you could mix it up anyway and it still works.  I let the ribs bake in the oven at 160 for about 7 hours and finished them off on the grill with ample barbecue sauce to crisp them up. The brisket sat on the barbecue for about 8 hours.  Put the brisket not on the direct heat and try to keep the grill around 300 degrees.  The brisket will get very dark but that is ok.  Then lather is up the last half an hour with barbecue sauce.  I loved it!

Baked beans were easy.  I bought 6 cans of pre-made pork and beans.  I doctored them up with brown sugar, ketchup, powdered mustard and a few slabs of bacon.  Baked that in a heavy cast iron pot in the oven at 160 degrees for about 4 hours. 

Cole slaw.  The key here is cutting it by hand.  I used the Cuisinart because I'd had it but it was a mistake.  It is much better chunky.  1 head of red cabbage,  1 head of green cabbage (not too big of heads) and a bag of carrots grated.  1 1/2 cups mayo, 1/2 white vinegar, 1/3 cup sugar.  Mix it up really well and then toss over the cabbage and carrots.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.  We made it the day before.

Corn bread.  We made it from scratch but you could use the corn bread packages and just stir in the few ingredients and it is just as good.

The most fun were making the sweets.  Recipes on that, a later day. 

CRASH

I see a lot of movies but not nearly as many that I'd like.  I also find that there is plenty out there but you rarely get a great film. 

We went to see Crash this past weekend.  I would not say that Crash was a great film but I will say that it stuck with me.  Maybe that is what makes a great film.  I haven't felt so uncomfortable while seeing a film in a long time.  After the first 30 minutes, I wanted to leave.  I felt antsy. 

The movie has quite a cast of fine performances.  The movie deals with prejudices that we see and are part of every day of our normal lives.  Also how our lives integrate like one degree of separation.  The movie was connected yet unconnected.  Each scene was a small movie within the movie.  There are a few scenes that I keep coming back to.  One particular scene was so gut wrenching that I literally curled up and put my hands over my eyes. 

I am really glad that I saw this film.  It got right in your face about the realities of the world we live in.  Disturbing yes but worth watching and thinking about.  Maybe that is the point. 

Lo Scalco

We decided to check out the fare at Lo Scalco this past Saturday night.  In general, I'm not a big fan of restaurants on Saturday night because they tend to be so frenetic that the true colors of their food doesn't stand out.  Lo Scalco proved that isn't always the case. 

We arrived a bit late, around 9:15 for a 9pm reservation but they weren't quite ready for us anyway.  There is a small bar to the right when you walk in and a large wall behind the hostesses table so you can't peer directly into the restaurant when you walk in.  It makes the restaurant intimate and a nice surprise when you walk around the corner.  The big vaulted ceilings have white wood running along the ceiling as it was holding it up but no doubt it is purely architectural.  The colors are black and white, simple. 

We sat for awhile hoping to find someone to take our drink order.  My first impression was "yikes, this is going to be a disaster".  But, he finally showed up and took our drink order.  The restaurant appeared to be understaffed that night.  We finally got our drinks and decided to quickly put in our dinner order too.  The menu is broken up by the main ingredient such as shrimp, artichokes, lamb, etc.  There are 3 items per ingredient.  The first 2 are appetizers and the last being an entree portion.  We asked our waiter some questions about preparation but he did nothing to enhance our palette but reiterate what we just read on the menu.  I was still ambivalent. 

Our appetizers came out pretty quick.  The food was delicious!  I had the shrimp salad and vegetables.  Literally, that is what the appetizer was called.  Left a bit for the imagination.   Slices of yellow beets, red tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and layered small group of greens and roasted shrimp with a light vinaigrette.  Everyone else loved theirs too.  We were all pleasantly surprised. 

We ordered a bottle of wine and out came the dinner.  White fish, grilled, skin side up over a unseen layer of spinach covered with white asparagus and on top of the fish a large red shrimp.  On the side, roasted crispy salty halved potatoes.  Next to me someone had 3 large ravioli's layered on top of each other, beautiful presentation. 

It was late at this point but we had to try something sweet.  There is always a large cheese menu if you prefer.  We had chocolate gelato with chocolate sauce and coffee gelato with a cappuccino sauce.  The ice cream is served on a square plate with 3 small cups of the same thing.  Very clever for sharing.  So good.

The chef owns the restaurant here.  I am still not sure how well run the place is but the food was truly delicious.  It would be nice if their wait staff could explain the delicacy of each plate because the menu doesn't turn you on but the food certainly does when it arrives in front of you. 

I try new places out time and time again and invariably am disappointed and don't return. Not with Lo Scalco.  I will definitely be back.  After all, the food was divine.  Simple, delicious, nouvelle Italian.  How could that be bad?

We started a weekly Podcast

Our family has been talking about doing a podcast and we finally started one this weekend.  Our plans are to make this a weekly event.  Podcasting is basically a radio show on the net.  For a small investment, you too can start your own radio show and who knows what will happen.  For us, it is just fun.  Everyone picks a song to play and we talk about what happened over the course of our week, etc.  It was really fun doing and am looking forward to the next one.

If you want to listen to it directly it over the net, go here.

If you'd like to just download the podcast to your iPod, here is what you do. (I'm stealing this information from my husband's blog).

1 - Get a podcasting client.  I suggest iPodder.  You can download a Windows of Mac version here.

2 - Install iPodder on the computer where you have iTunes and synch your iPod.

3 - Select the tools and then schedule a set time every day when iPodder will go out and check for new Podcasts.

4 - Add Positively 10th Street (the name of our podcast) to your subscriptions by selecting the subscriptions tab and then the + sign to add a feed.  Enter the following into the URL - http://feeds.feedburner.com/Positively10thStreet

5 - Then hit one of the two large buttons on the upper left to cause iPodder to go out an download the first Positively 10th Street show.

After you have done that, you will find Positively 10th Street in your iPod under playlists and all new versions will be automically loaded into that location.  Pretty cool...right?

Hope you enjoy the podcast. 

Matthew Satz

We had purchased quite a large painting from Eric Freeman about 5 years ago.  Matt Satz showed up with flip flops and a ladder to hang it.  He had probably never hung a painting but could use the cash.  Eric had come over, because he forgot to sign the piece, and we watched Matt hang the piece.  At one point, Matt dropped the painting and luckily Eric and Fred happened to be standing under Matt and caught it.  The whole thing was comical looking back on it.  He hung it, not exactly where I wanted but believe me, it was good enough. 

Matt asked us if we would take a look at his work.  We went over to his studio/bedroom and checked it out.  Matt is incredibly bright.  He takes his work and the history of art very seriously.  He was working on a variety of pieces from a tar and feather work, to intricate dots on paper with pencil, drip paintings and smoke paintings.

The smoke paintings are created with fans and matches.  The smoke is literally on the canvas.  They are incredibly cool and look like they are moving.  We own a small one. 

The drip paintings are completely different.  He manipulates the paint as it drips down the canvas.  He has taken this to many different levels from 5 years ago.  I really adored Matt and his work, so I asked him to create a diptic of drips for our living room a few years ago.  He came and looked at our room, the colors etc. and off he went.  We love them.  Most people who walk into that room always ask about those 2 paintings.  They created an entire different environment once they were hung. 

Last night we went to the opening of Matt's first New York City exhibit at Wooster Projects on West 15th Street.   The place was packed and the work was almost sold out.  The pieces looked fantastic.  I felt like a proud parent.  He obviously appreciated us too because a book on Matt was launched with this exhibit and he thanked us for our support on the back page (with others) and I can't express how wonderful that made both Fred and I feel. 

Bravo to Matt for making his first round of dreams come true.  Believe me, he plans to aim much higher and no doubt he will. 

Casey Cook

Last summer Jessica was interested in taking art classes.  She has always been interested in art and her drawings are pretty good.  I contacted Joshua Abelow.  I had been to his studio and he is young, fun, smart and he paints but I thought his drawings were incredible.  Josh told me to contact his friend, Casey Cook, because he would love to teach Jessica but he was in the process of moving.  I was familiar with Casey's work because I had seen her show at Lehmann Maupin.  I was thrilled when she said she would love to teach Jessica.

So, for the past year Jessica has worked with Casey learning how to stretch a canvas, conceptualize, mix paints, draw, paint etc.  It has been a fantastic experience.  Jessica also has gotten to know Casey's right hand man, Louis who is a very cool and talented musician.  Not a bad experience for a 14 year old kid.  Casey plays drums in Louis' band and has been projecting her art on the stage during the performances.  Two very artistic people checking out different mediums.  Love it!

We purchased this painting from Casey this past week.  We are thrilled to add this piece to our collection for a variety of reasons.  1 - we really like it, 2- we know both Casey and Louis and look forward to watching them grow in their work, 3 - it is special for Jessica because of the impact they have both made in her life. 

Sripraphai

We had dinner at our friends house a couple of week ago.  They are both serious foodies.  When it comes to Thai food, they both said we must go to Sripraphai in Woodside because it is the closest thing they had tasted to the food in Thailand. 

We asked another family to go with us whose kids will also eat anything and off we went.  The 7 train is literally across the street.  Part of the adventure was taking the subway out there.  One of the many beautiful things about NYC is the small pockets of different ethnic foods and neighborhoods around the city.  Our friends are not big subway takers so they all enjoyed giving me a hard time about our journey there. 

We got off at the 61st Street Station on the 7 line and went in a bit of a circle to where we needed to go.  In hindsight, it was a good thing because we got to check a little bit of the residential neighborhood out instead of just the shopping and food area.  The restaurant is literally 2 blocks from the subway stop.

Sripraphai which is located at 64-13 39th Avenue (Roosevelt Avenue) in Woodside, Queens.  The restaurants front looks like it could be a check cashing store.  Inside, the place is pretty basic.  Long tables, many seats and a big menu.  That's it.  It used to be no-alcohol (BYOB) but that has changed.  They have beer and wine now.  Beer is of the essence with this type of food. 

We ordered plenty.  We asked for just medium spice on some dishes that had been highlighted as spicy.  My mouth was on fire from the medium spice, god knows what would have happened with the normal spicy.  At times we were hiccupping and sweating.

We started with shrimp wrapped in wontons and deep fried with a spicy dipping sauce and barbecue chicken wings.  The shrimp were very tasty.  The wings were not that interesting.  We then moved into a papaya salad and mango salad with shrimp.  My mouth was on fire.  The taste was incredible but you had to get through the heat.  Match stick vegetables tossed in with a spicy sauce and papaya. Next up was soft shell crabs.  These were amazing.  Small crabs cut into quarters and deep fried with a papaya dipping sauce.  Crunchy pop in your mouth delicious bites of crab.  We could have gone through many plates of crab. 

The food just kept coming.  We had 2 soups.  One was a mildly spicy salmon soup with large pieces of ginger.  The taste was sweet yet sour with a hint of spice in the broth.  The salmon came in large chunks that easily slid in to your spoon but stayed whole in the soup.  Delicious.  The other was a green curry eggplant and fish paste soup.  Classic Thai.  A bit on the spicy side but delicious and a great color. 

The roasted pork can be ordered with a variety of different sauces.  We chose the garlic, chili lime concoction.  Major pieces of raw garlic.  Everyone freaked when they realized what they had eaten.  The pork wasn't that interesting either.  This arrived with a duck salad which was interesting.  Small pieces of duck mixed in with a vegetable salad.  The whole fish came at this point too.  That was incredible.  Deep fried whole fish with a ginger sauce.  The fish came off the bone so easily that what we were left with was a carcass of the fish that looked like Garfield had just eaten it for lunch. 

The noodles come last.  I guess that is how they do it.  Large fat noodles incorporated with chicken and octopus.  This was really good.  The octopus was so soft that you didn't know if you were eating noodles or octopus until you took a bite.  We also got a fat noodle dish with a dark soy sauce with chicken and broccoli rabe.  I have always liked this dish and the kids like this dish too.  The last dish was the Pad Thai.  Classic Thai dish.  Funny enough, this was one of my least favorite dishes.  It was too sweet.  Maybe that is how Pad Thai is served in Thailand and the Americans have created a cheap accessible dish here that is not sweet.  Who knows. 

By this time the adults had sucked down 2 beers each of the Thai Beer, the kids have gone through tons of water and cokes.  We also had a coconut juice and jelly juice.  The jelly drink was disgusting but I have to give the kids credit.  They all tried it.  It was declared "yucky" by the youngest member of our group.

Next stop, ice cream.  We walked through the neighborhood stumbling on Baskin and Robbins.  There is something about ice cream after Thai/Chinese/Vietnamese food etc.  My step-Grandfather used to say that it was unorthodox to eat ice cream after Asian foods.  We never agreed on that one.  The cold ice cream was the perfect remedy to hot spicy food. 

We jumped on the 7 line and headed back into NYC.  It was a great evening.  At the onset, everyone gave me such a hard time about taking the subway etc. but now we were discussing having a monthly outing, on the subway of course, to the variety of restaurants in Brooklyn and Queens.  Let's explore.  I'll keep you posted on our next journey. 

Molto Italiano

Certain cookbooks look beautiful, you buy them, and then they hang out on the shelf and are never used.  Molto Italiano will not be that kind of cookbook.  I admit, I was going to buy the cookbook no matter what but did not realize how delighted I would be. 

First of all, the book is beautiful.  More importantly, it is incredibly well written.  Mario is one of the more verbose, amiable and smart characters that you will ever meet and it comes through in every recipe.  He tells you exactly what he thinks.  He even whispers in your ear.  For instance, the recipe for Eggplant Involtini with Ricotta and Scallions (sounds good and is quite easy) he comments "it would be better to overcook them by five minutes than to undercook them by one."
As you are cooking in your kitchen, that is exactly the kind of hints that you need. 

He is a music fan.  "Antipasto can be as basic and yet sublime as a few slices of proscuitto or salami on a plate all by themselves, ringing in my head and on my tongue like a guitar solo by Jim Hendrix".  You gotta love that. 

I can hardly wait to make the Soft-Shell Crabs with broccoli rabe and sundried tomato pesto. 
None of the recipes are that difficult.  As he says, they all start with good ingredients then you are on your way. 

Bravo to Mario.  This is one book my kitchen will see again and again and again.

Dinner for 60 kids

This week has been consumed with cooking for 60 kids. Jessica is in the middle school play and one of my contributions is to cater dinner each night, the last week before the big opening night. They stay until 8pm working out all the kinks and it has been proven that good eating leads to being more productive.

So a variety of my friends have asked me "What do you cook for 60 kids"? Good question. Truth is, it isn't as expensive as you would think. The week of food (4 nights) with plates, napkins and forks included ran me about $450. Not bad for that many people. The cost is my time and energy but that is my volunteer time - free.

Here was the menu for the week.

Monday - Macaroni and Cheese, Tomato Basil Salad, Brownies
Tuesday - Asian Chicken legs and thighs, Fried Rice, Ginger Snaps
Wednesday - Pesto Fettucini, Caesar Salad, Chocolate Chip Cookies
Thursday - Greek Salad, Grill Boneless Chicken Breasts cut into slices, Lemon Cake

Lots of vegetarians in this group, so I had tried to please everyone. So far, they have gobbled it up.