julie and julia trailer

Oh God. Can't wait for this movie to come out.

keep it or toss it?

If any of you are like me (which I'd like to think you are if you're reading), you'll appreciate the website StillTasty which does exactly what it says. It lets you know if your food is still good to eat or if you should toss it in the old garbage can. I was actually shocked to discover the short shelf life on some of my regular fridge items. Ground turkey, for example, only lasts 1-2 days in the fridge before it's no good to eat whereas fresh eggs last 3-5 weeks! Enter in a few of your staple items, I think you'll be surprised.

cheap cuts

While cruising down the meat case at your grocery store, do you ever find yourself with a puzzled look across your face due to the bizarre names of the different cuts? I often find myself picking up these mystery meats and wondering what in the world people do with them.

Well wonder no more because the New York Times Dining & Wine Section has come to the rescue.

Helpful piece on how to turn those cheaper cuts of meat into culinary masterpieces.

last night: michael anthony

Michael Anthony's cooking demonstration last night was nothing short of a fantastic treat. What an incredibly charming, passionate, and well-spoken man. My mom and I sat there smiling as we sipped and nibbled on some freaking incredible food while Anthony recounted his years in Tokyo and France, Blue Hill Stone Barns, Daniel, and Gramercy Tavern. I mean, his track record is insanely admirable and his personality just goes leaps and bounds beyond that. He went on to emphasize that the most satisfying part of his job is the contact he has with his guests. There's nothing more important than seeing and meeting who you're cooking for. Getting involved in their experience. Because one of the last things I was left with was when he explained that to be in this business, you have to have a tremendous amount of heart.

What a stark contrast to the sentiments of a certain Mr. David Chang.

But that's a different story.

While we started with a champagne toast and an amuse bouche of a homemade oyster cracker with ricotta and shaved asparagus (which literally collapsed into thin air once you closed your mouth) he stressed the importance of at home cook's "staying away from cookbooks" as a way to liberate yourself. Let the seasonal ingredients lead you as they do for him at Gramercy Tavern.

I liked him already.

Next came the first course which was a sunchoke and lonza salad. Lonza was something I had surprisingly never heard of, but it's directly translated as the loin from a pig which is salted, spiced, and hung to cure. Comparable to a spicier, saltier, and richer proscuitto. The salad was incredibly fresh and had the packed room (full house mind you) "mmm"-ing.

A grilled ramp and crab omelette was served next with a glass of ice cold Chardonnay. This dish was literally insane. The peekytoe crab meat produced the best crab (consistency and taste wise) that I've ever come across. There was a smokey buerre blanc that was folded into the salad and the grilled ramps just drove that flavor home. This is when the "Jesus" remarks started coming out around the room. People were slowly starting to freak out about how amazing this food was.
Anthony next prepared a pan roasted halibut with marinated red cabbage and yogurt hazelnut sauce. The marinated red cabbage was the absolute star of the plate: sweet, crunchy, a little bit spicy from what tasted like a kick of cinnamon. It sent my mom and I straight to our Swedish roots. This plate, like the two prior, was literally licked clean.
A duo of lamb shoulder and rack with fork crushed fingerling potatoes came next and we all know I'm a lamb girl so this went over pretty well. And lastly, which was most definitely the biggest shock of the night, was how BLOWN AWAY I was over dessert: rhubarb shortcake. For starters, I'm not big on dessert. Then let's follow that up with my indifference towards rhubarb. But when served with a homemade biscuit and lavender pastry cream, I was wiggling in my chair with excitement.
In fact, I think I missed his closing words.

I did, however, catch the founder of De Gustibus's closing statement which was, "Michael, I simply think you're a beautiful teacher and a great chef, don't you all?"

The crowd erupted in applause (as we had after each plate we were so lucky to taste). Truer words could not have been spoken at that moment.

kiss the cook 3

Tzatziki Sauce
Recipe courtesy of Kiira Leess

1 hot house or english cucumber peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 small lemon, juiced
1 large container of faye or greek yogurt
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. fresh dill, finely chopped
2 Tbs. fresh mint, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Taste for seasoning. Chill before serving.

Beet Salad with Orange, Goat Cheese, and Mint
Recipes courtesy of Kiira Leess

3 cans of whole beets, cut into 1/8ths
2 oranges (zest from one, then segment both and chop)
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 small log of goat cheese, crumbled
handful of fresh mint, finely diced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Taste for seasoning.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Salsa Verde and Golden Raisins
Recipes courtesy of Kiira Leess

3 zucchinis, cut into long ribbons using a peeler or mandolin
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 small bunch of mint, finely chopped
1 small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. anchovy paste
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar (red wine vinegar or white balsamic)
salt and pepper

To make the salsa verde, combine all of the herbs in a small bowl with the garlic, Dijon, anchovy paste, and vinegar. Slowly stir in the olive oil. Taste for seasoning.

Quickly cook the zucchini (one minute max) over high heat in a little bit of olive oil. Remove from pan and put into a large bowl. Add in the golden raisins and all of the salsa verde. Toss to combine and taste for seasoning.

asparagus in the microwave

Andrew Carmellini is great for a million reasons. But this asparagus cooked in the microwave with an orange vinaigrette is beautiful and easy, easy, easy. You can do this. Try it! Dinner in 5 minutes on high.

shrimp in coconut milk

If I wasn't going to be nibbling on Gramercy Tavern bites tonight or on a spending freeze, I'd be down at The Lobster Place picking up my head-on shrimp and cooking them in a spicy and uber flavorful coconut broth, as seen here. Talk about a party in your mouth.

kiss the cook coming soon

KTC take 3 was filmed yesterday afternoon and will be posted soon! Stay tuned!

And just to warm you up, here you go.

fish taco update part 3

Pinche Taqueria's apparently got incredible fish tacos (here). I'll just have to be the judge of that, thank you.

chef michael anthony at de gustibus cooking school

Tonight, Chef Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern is hosting a cooking demonstration at the De Gustibus Cooking School. Not only will I most certainly be in attendance but my mom is my plus one! Tickets are $90 and still available here. And while I know it sounds steep, I promise you a night that will be nothing short of fabulous as you will be well fed and drinks are even served. Essentially, it's a night at Gramercy Tavern, out of Gramercy Tavern, prepared especially for you by the man behind one of New York City's finest restaurants.

And that, my friends, is really pretty cool.

I was lucky enough to attend a class last summer with a close family friend and Julian Medina of Toloache was the star of the night. It's a really intimate venue and the food and libations served (read: hibiscus-blueberry margarita) were fantastic.

There's also Q&A throughout the entire two and a half hour demo.

Come!

spaghetti with anchovies and zucchini

This recipe, courtesy of Gourmet, is a quintessential spring pasta dish. Perfect served hot or room temperature, it can easily be whipped up in minutes which means you won't be slaving away in a hot-but-too-early-for-AC-kitchen this weekend. Don't let the anchovies scare you away. I promise you they'll melt away to a salty, briney goodness that without them, the dish would simply fall flat. Anchovies = infinite depths of flavor.

cafe cluny

So for lunch today, two co-workers and I decided to skip on out of Chelsea Market and down the street to the West Village's Cafe Cluny. An adorable little French spot that's been on my radar for quite some time now with the decor that'll have you stripping all of the wood finishes in your home to look distressed and right on to the next nonstop plane to Paris to start rummaging through the flea markets.

Gosh, I didn't even need to go to Cafe Cluny for that feeling to trigger.

Anyways, lunch was absolutely lovely. Fantastic company and straightforward French Bistro food done right.

In my attempt to keep on track with this weeks "smart" eating decisions plan, I decided to go with the salmon tartare. The sight of it on the menu almost caused my lip to tremble as I literally used to live off of it as well as warm goat cheese salads (chèvre chaud) everyday of the week while living abroad in Paris. Aaand there we have it. Starting to get emotional.

Let's just take a look at it.

Beautiful, right? Now the portion size, for $14, is extremely petite. So petite, in fact, that I'm sure that by 4:00 I'm going to be rummaging around for something to fill my stomach. However, it was perfectly done. Organic wild salmon, studded with chives, lemon juice, and olive oil, and garnished with a small dollop sheep's milk yogurt and a few microgreens and served with a few beet chips. I really can't think of any other word to describe it other than lovely. It was really, really, really lovely.

We decided to go on to split two desserts, and me not having much of a sweet tooth didn't think anything of it until macerated berries with a marscarpone cream was placed down in front of us. What better day to eat this than today. Sun bursting through the open windows, the scent of spring basically shoving itself in our faces, the berries were at their prime and the marscarpone cream was whipped until it was ready to float off the plate, flavored with a heavy hand of vanilla and a sprinkle of sugar. Divine, really. The second dessert was a chocolate torte, that, quite frankly, kicked my not-that-into-chocolate butt. Holy chocolate this thing was beyond rich. My lunch companions, however, thought it was quite the treat.

This is a restaurant I undoubtedly plan on coming back to. A perfect date spot. Sigh. It's intimate without being overwhelmingly romantic and the food is simple but absolutely speaks for itself. And I mean, really, what more could you ask for?

Cafe Cluny
284 W12th St.

ruth reichl's new york diet

One of the many, many things I love about Grub Street, are their weekly New York Diets. They follow one person (typically a New Yorker) for a week straight and have them document everything they ate during that week. And who's up this week? None other than my girl Ruth Reichl. I cannot believe they haven't followed her before as it's one of the best most food-packed weeks I've ever come across. This woman can eat. And boy do I worship her for it. Read through it. From sucking lobsters dry to the best fried chicken she's ever had in her entire life to whipping up spaghetti carbonara for one after a long flight home, I think you'll find it entertaining and salivating to say the least.

marinated shrimp with feta and mint

This dish, courtesy of Saveur, is going to have to become a reality at some point this weekend. 80 degrees and cloudless skies, rooftop, a plate of this marinated shrimp with feta and mint salad, and an ice cold glass of Chardonnay and I dare someone to make me a happier girl.

Seriously though.

nyc food and film festival

I mentioned last month that I had been to the NYC Food and Film Festival the year before and had an amazing time. The Water Taxi Beach venue, the people, the food, the weather, barefoot in the sand, all added up to a near perfect night. Well, it turns out that the Food and Film Festival is back starting June 13th with a documentary on none other than Peeps (yes, Peeps) and a mushroom field guide soundtracked by the Flaming Lips. Quite the combination.

Check out the trailer on Grub Street because it's oddly interesting. Even with my aversion to all Easter candy and all.