Gotham Gal

Lupa

The key to eating at Lupa is communal dining.  Everyone should share.  The long wooden tables in the front room, the long bar presents itself for an evening like that.  When you walk in, it is as you have just entered the local eating establishment somewhere in Italy.  Sharing is the key here.  Many bottles of wine and lots of antipastos and perhaps pastas. 

I have been to Lupa a variety of times and have finally learned.  You can obviously order the antipasto, the first course (salad or pasta) and then the second course and then dessert if you want.  I have never found the main courses to be anything out of the extraordinary.  The special last night was sea bass.  Poached and served over a broth and vegetables.  Not that interesting.  Actually not that tasty and not that good.  2 people had the duck which was ok, not great but certainly crispy like I like it.  The other entree was the pork shoulder which looked stringy and dry.  Someone had the clam pasta which was perfect. 

We started with a variety of tastes.  Salami and cheeses..always good here.  I had a delicious salad of thinly sliced crimini mushrooms and fennel.  Someone else had the special pasta of the day which was top.  Papparadella pasta with a braised lamb sauce.  Yummy!  The others got the eggplant caponata which was perfect and the beets with goat curd.  More of the starters would have been better.

We sat in the backroom which is quieter and a bit more intimate.  Next time, I come with a group, I'm ordering all the starters and a few rounds of pasta, some big hearty red wines.  This included with great conversation is the key to Lupa and probably the reason they have continued success.

Young Survival

Last night I went to a fundraiser for the Young Survival Organization.  The organization is dedicated to the action, advocacy and awareness to young women who are cancer survivors.  Young being under 40. 

My friend became a survivor of breast cancer at the age of 30.  Her mother is also a survivor of breast cancer.  I have another friend who is now a 5 year survivor of ovarian cancer.  Another friend who has now been a survivor of almost 10 years from breast cancer.  Is there anyone out there who does not have a friend within their family or community who has been affected by this disease?  Why?  Is it the food we eat, is it the environment that we have destroyed?  It surely isn't pure genetics.

The key is survival.  Through this organization, the money they raise, goes to education and research for young survivors.  Fantastic mission.

I came home after the event last night and Josh, my 9 year old, asked what the event was for.  I told him.  We too have just lost someone in our family to cancer who is much older than the 40 year old mark.  He was blown away that our friend, the reason I went to this event, was affected by cancer.  His comment was "omigod, she had cancer even before she was married, that's awful.  But at least now she is married and having a baby which is good because is all worked out.".  It would only be my wish that everyone was as lucky to have it all work out.  That is why I supported this event last night.  In hopes that my wish would actually come true. 

podcast

Our weekly podcast is up.  Lots of new artists.  To  listen to it live, click here.  For more info, go to Fred's blog.  He always has more info...

Chicken and Dumplings

The cold weather is coming in.  Chicken and Dumplings is a perfect change of pace from the standard roast chicken.  This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Staff Meals. 

I changed a few things and cut the recipe in half.  Only the family here, not a whole staff.

1 chicken, cut up or just cut up pieces of your favorites like thighs, breasts or wings
canola or vegetable oil
2 onions diced
1 cup white wine
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
carrots - cut into 1/4 inch slices or a bag of small carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 T. unsalted butter
1 T. flour

Dumplings
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking power
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk

You need a large Dutch oven for this.  I used my big Le Creuset pot.  Every kitchen should have one.  Cover the bottom with oil and heat over a high flame.  Add the chicken parts, not touching, and brown each, about 2-4 minutes per piece.  Take out each out and set aside.  Add the onions, and reduce to medium, saute until soft.  Return the chicken to the pot.  Add the wine.  Increase the heat back up to high and reduce the wine by half.  About 4-5 minutes.  Add in the chicken stock.  I took the thyme, bay leaves, pepper and cayenne and put them in a small cheese cloth bag and into the liquid.  This way only the flavor gets into the broth.  Bring to boil, turn to low and partially cover for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is almost done.

In the meantime, make the dumplings.  Put the dry ingredients together and pour in the milk.  Use a fork to get the batter thick.  Make small dumplings and set aside.  They expand. 

Now, take the 1 T. butter and the 1 T. flour and mix them together to create a small dough like ball.  This will be used to thicken the broth.  This is called a buerre manie.

Once the chicken is almost cooked, add in the carrots and peas and cook for about 15 more minutes. 

Take out the chicken.  Take out the bay leaves.  Put in the butter/flour ball and whisk.  This will make the
liquid thicker.  Return the chicken to the thickened broth.  Add in the dumplings.  Try to spread them around.  They expand.  Put the heat on low.  Takes about 15 minutes or so until the dumplings are done. 

Serve warm.  I used soup bowls.  Take out a piece of chicken and pour the dumplings and sauce over the top.  Voila! 

The Mermaid Inn

The Mermaid Inn  makes 3 restaurants for the owners of Red Cat and The Harrison.  I think 3 is the winner.  The Mermaid Inn is definitely the best one.  I never loved Red Cat in Chelsea. Much prefer going to Bottino across the street.  The Harrison has a great atmosphere but I didn't find the food worth the trip.  The Mermaid Inn, on the other hand,  is a perfect addition to the East Village.

The restaurant serves fish only.  You feel as if you are sitting in a quaint cafe somewhere in New England.  Good service, good prices, good feel.  I guess where you eat, location wise, makes a difference too.  My expectations differ in the East village vs. Tribeca.  The food here is simple home cooked food, fish style.

I began with a bibb lettuce salad with shaved parmeasan and pieces of pumpkin and toasted pumpkin seeds.  Simple yet hearty salad.  Fred had the fried oysters and claimed them delicious.  Our friends had the soup and fried shrimp.  All good and just the right amount of food. 

We were boring and all gravitated towards the whole dorado fish.  Although one of us did go with the salmon.  The fish is grilled, served whole over a bed of spicy escarole, golden raisins and lemons.  Excellent.  Cooked just right and the combo of the veggies was perfect.

We were off to see a concert so had to run before you leave there give you a little treat...nice touch. They brought out each of us a small cup of chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream.  Rich, lovely and just a few bites to top off your meal.

All and all a really good experience.  Will definitely be back.  Long bar, great vibe.  The third restaurant is a homerun. 

Elizabeth Murray

I have probably been to the MOMA  more often since the new space has opened.  I love it there.  The exhibits have been great.  The main areas continue to change every few months.  They are truly showing the collection that has been collected by the curators on a continuous basis.  Also, the architecture of the building lends itself to wandering and looking.  The cafe is an extra bonus because the food is good.  Big fan.

Currently, there is a retrospective of Elizabeth Murrays work.  I came to know of Elizabeth Murray through our kids school.  Her son went to school there and she gives a piece of her work to the art auction every year.  Lucky for us, we bought one.  I love it.  So I was particularly excited about seeing the exhibit at the MOMA.

Her work is incredible.  She is obviously an incredibly prolific woman.  The exhibit starts with her early work in the 60's up to work she is creating today.  The works is incredibly colorful.  There is a consistent theme of abstract drawings that are painted or lithographed or even built into 3 dimension pieces that hang on the wall.  All modern with influences from cubism to surrealism. 

My favorite is the large paintings that come to life when you look at what she named them.  There is one called dog.  It reminds me of a Matisse.  I can see the dog but he/she is moving within the painting.  I also really like the small lithographs of design and color.

Murray certaily deserves the recognition from the MOMA in creating an event around her work.  Even showing her work to date is a real celebration.  Murray has been incredibly ill but her pieces from 2005 are so uplifting and happy that gives the viewer an even better insight into the life that she leads through her work.  Very inspiring.

When leaving the cafe, on the 2nd floor, there is a small room to the left which is filled with other work by Murray which is worth seeking out.  I'm glad we stumbled into it.

An exhibit worth catching.

Dinner party anyone?

We had a small dinner party the other night for out of towners who were attending Union Square Sessions.  I really enjoy putting on dinner parties.  I not only enjoy the process of cooking, getting ready, planning the menu, setting the table, etc, I really like the intimacy of having people in your home. 

The menu was good.  There are few recipes I'll share. 

Before dinner drinks...cheese sticks, spicy nuts and olives. 

We began dinner with a salad that I concocted.  It was really yum.  Mache greens, roasted slices of acorn squash, pomegranite seeds, sugar roasted walnuts, crumbled gorgonzola cheese and a mustard vinegarette.  The combination of all these worked.  Autumn salad.  The key to roasting the acorn squash was slathering olive oil and kosher salt on the pieces and laying them out on parchment paper separately and roasting at 400 for about 20-30 minutes until crisp. 

Dinner was an orzo salad with dried apricots, pistachios and a ginger sauce.  I got this from the November Bon Appetit.  Excellent. 

1 cup of sliced ginger with 1 cup of canola oil.  Boil and then cool.  Strain out the ginger and store in a glass container in the refrigerator until you want to use it.  It must be glass or the oil gets hard. 

1 box of orzo (12 ounces)
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 t. ground coriander
1 cup chopped scallions
2/3 cup chopped pistachios
Italian parlsey chopped - 1/2 c.

Cook the orzo, drain and cool.  Mix together the lemon juice with 6 Tablespoon of the ginger oil and the coriander to make the sauce.  Mix the rest of the ingredients together with the dressing.  Toss and serve at room temperature. 

I served on top of the orzo small roasted poussins.  I had actually made them in advance and reheated them right before dinner.  I took the rest of the ginger oil and one stick of unsalted butter in a pan and created a sauce.  Right before serving I drizzled this on top of the chickens which dribbled down into the orzo.

Unfortunately I let the desserts rewarm up for a bit too long but it is a great recipe and I learned my lesson.  Individual challah bread puddings with a creme anglaise.  I also sauteed a bunch of apples with cider, butter and brown sugar that I placed underneath the bread puddings before dousing them in the creme. 

Sliced challah - layer in each individual casserole until it covers the surface

You could also make this in one large casserole.  One challah should do the trick.

1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 large egg yokes
1/4 c. brandy
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmet
1/4 cup raisins (optional - i didn't use them)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - i didn't use them either)

Mix this up and pour over the individual casseroles, sprinkle sugar over the top and bake for 30 minutes or until done at 350.

The creme anglaise is always good.

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 large egg yokes
1 T. brandy
1 t. vanilla extract

Warm the milk, cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to simmer.  Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved. 

Whisk the eggs until pale yellow.  I use a beater, much easier and quicker. 

When the milk mixture is warmed, pour some of this into the eggs, continue whisking until the eggs warm.  Then slowly whisk in the rest of the milk mixture into the eggs.  Put back in the saucepan and stir constantly with a wooden stick on a low heat until it thickens.  About 8 minutes.  The mixture gets thick but not like pudding but like a smoothie.  Strain and cool.  Mix the creme while cooling once in a while so a surface doesn't form.  Cover with plastic wrap, pushed down on the creme and put in the refrigerator and until ready to serve.  Drizzle over the bread pudding.  Yum..

My Space

I am thrilled to see our kids using My Space instead of AOL.  I have never been a fan of AOL.  The spam, the continuous pestering when you want to sign off - are you sure that you want to sign off, one more chance, really want to sign off...YES!  AOL is just a large portal/ISP for the masses that haven't figured out that they could do better elsewhere.  AOL, through AIM (instant messenger) became the kings of the teenage market.  No longer.  My Space is moving on in.

It is interesting what the kids use it for.  They create their own webpage basically and gather friends.  Each morning we get an update on how many friends they have.  It's pretty hilarious.  But the other night, disaster struck.

Emily couldn't get on and someone had deleted her entire page.  Could it be a hacker?  Why would anybody get off on deleting a kid site?  Well, My Space does.  They randomly go through daily to find people who are under 14 years old using the site and delete their stuff.  There are legal ramifications for them having kids under 14 using My Space. 

Emily was beyond upset.  Ok, so she is 12 not 14.  Does anyone know of a place where you can download your site somewhere else in case they find themselves deleted?  Em spent hours rebuilding.  Would have been great if she would have been able to grab her info and just put it back on in a matter of seconds.  She had 140 friends, now she is in the process of rebuilding.  Ugh, what a night! 

I'm not sure I agree with the 14 and older rule.  You'd think that the kids using My Space are enjoying the property or they wouldn't be there.  Let them.  This generation is all about the web.  Let them roam free and see what they come up with in 10 years.  All good..no?

Mas Farmhouse

Mas Farmhouse is a small jewel in the West village.  The owners attention to detail is impressive.  The plates, the forks, the seating, the service, the menu, etc.  Beautiful presentations throughout.  It is as if you went to someones home for dinner but better.  I forgot that there was a bar when you walk in, so there is always the opportunity for dropping by.  Love that.

We went were a party of 6 and all went with the tasting menu which was perfect.  They are flexible too, so we all got to choose different options for the tasting menu.  The menu changes with the seasons.  I began with oysters that were dressed with tiny dollops of caviar.  Perfect beginning.  My second course was the blue fin tuna tartare.  Chopped and shaped in a circle, like everyone serves it, but the different tastes they used and combinations of textures worked perfectly.  We also had a tiny course of bay scallops, fresh and served in their shell.  Wow.  A light fennel mignonette was served over the scallops which gave it the right zing.  For dinner I had the lobster.  Poached lobster tail served in a light broth.  Really delicious.  I tried the rest of the crowds main courses too.  The pork was fantastic and so was the duck. Basically you couldn't go wrong.  I opted for the cheese course for dessert but tasted the rest of the desserts around the table.  All good.

Sorry I am not being so specific on the exact combinations of what we ate but it was a few days ago and I'm having a hard time recalling everything.  We drank a few bottles of wine which were all delicious too.  This is my second time dining at Mas.  Will most certainly be back again, actually I'm going to have to remember the bar area, and just drop in for a small bite and drink.

Book Club

Last night was the 2nd year anniversary of my book club.  I was one of the inital members.  It is a real mix of people which I really like.  I might now know any of these people if it wasn't for this one event that pulls us together once a month.  Some people have left, new people have come.  It creates different dynamics but it is all good.  The conversations are pretty interesting and everyone is incredibly well read which is a huge bonus. 

Last night we dicussed On Beauty by Zadie Smith.  I don't think I would have read this book on my own.  I couldn't get through her first novel so doubtfully would pick up the third.  Interesting book about race, marriage, politics, religion, families, college life, have and have nots.  It is actually a lot in one book to cover.  Too much but that is my opinion.

Regardless, it is interesting to hear everyone's perspective on the book. 

So, happy anniversary to our book club.  I'm really looking forward to year three.