Brie Sliders

There are nights when  you can't wait to go out after work; share a nice meal with friends and have a couple drinks to wash it all down is one of the best ways I know how to spend an evening. There are other nights though, when you can't wait to get back to your apartment and pull on some fleece pajama pants, throw on a movie and just veg out. Sometimes those nights call for food to be delivered to your door but my preference is always for a home cooked meal. Something that is easy, not a lot of fuss, and finger food that doesn't require utensils. (Dishes are not my favorite thing in the world.)

A favorite finger food of mine... sliders. When made at home they can be customized to your taste and flavor preference of the day. I've made mexican-flavored sliders with chipotle sour cream, cheddar cheese and jalepenos; my korean-flavored sliders have bulgogi glazed patties and kimchi (to be posted later). On this particular day I had an intense craving for Brie so french style sliders came to mind.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (80-20 fat ratio)
6 mini brioche buns
6 oz. Brie cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup arugula
6 cloves garlic confit
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

Mix the ground beef with the mustard, salt, pepper, thyme, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Divide the meat into six portions to ensure relatively similar sized patties. Form the meat into round patties; they should not be too thin and larger than the bun. They will shrink as they cook.

Heat a skillet with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. When hot place the patties into the pan and allow them to cook for 3-4 minutes an each side.

As the patties are cooking, start to assembly your buns with the condiments. Mix the ketchup and the Sriracha together and smear on the bottom half of each bun. Place arugula on top of the spicy ketchup. Spread the garlic confit on the top half of each bun.

During the last minute of cooking on the second side, place 1 ounce of Brie on each patty and cover the pan. This will melt the cheese. Place the slider patty over of the arugula, allowing it to wilt slightly and enjoy!

Long Island Wine Tour

As mentioned in an earlier post, I went to the North Fork of Long Island this past weekend for a wine tasting tour. Our group of 11 friends had a fantastic time but of course it was not without a little stress, excitement, and drunken shenanigans.

We got a great deal for the tour, their winter special is $75 for a group of 6 or more. The tour included limo transportation for the day, a stocked bar in the limo, tasting costs at all vineyards, and lunch in the middle of the day.

Pindar Winery (not the clearest picture but a very good cabernet franc)

We took a train from the city into Long Island and a 14-seat white surburban limo picked us up at the Ronkonkoma train station. Of course three of the 11 people missed their morning train so we had to wait an hour for them to catch up with us but luckily the limo was stocked with enough alcohol to keep us entertained while we waited.

also not the clearest picture but the only one of the group

After 3 wineries and a return trip to our favorite vineyard, the day ended with us back at Ronkonkoma station at 5:30 homeward bound. Everyone was exhausted but it was well worth waking up early on a Sunday morning.

'wichcraft

It's lunchtime in New York and the daily turmoil of choosing what to eat is a true dilemma. Dozens of restaurants are within walking distance and even more are willing to deliver straight to your office. A favorite of mine would have to be 'wichcraft.

Though probably not the biggest bang for your buck, 'wichcraft makes up for it in the quality of their ingredients and the consistently good flavors in their food. It's no wonder 'wichcraft produces delicious food with Tom Colicchio as a co-owner of the sandwich shop with partners Sisha Ortuzar and Jeffrey Zurofsky. Top Chef is one of my favorite shows and I've been to a couple of Tom's restaurants in NYC already. Now I'm waiting for the weather to warm up so I can eat at Riverpark, Tom's farm-to-table restaurant along the east river (post to come in Spring/Summer). Now nine years since they started 'wichcraft, there are over a dozen 'wichcraft locations in New York as well as storefronts in San Francisco and Las Vegas.

'wichcraft sandwiches ($5-10)

Their slow-roasted pork sandwich is fantastic. The fatty pork is balanced by the slightly crisp sour red cabbage slaw. With the heat from the jalapeno and the sharpness of the mustard, it is just a delicious and deceivingly filling sandwich for it's size. Finish off lunch with a little creamwich ($1); a dollop of flavored cream sandwiched between two crisp little cookie wafers. With several flavors to choose from, mine was chocolate chip cookie with vanilla bean cream, one will definitely fit your taste.

The Spotted Pig

There are many famous restaurants in New York City. The best chefs hope to work in the 'big apple' at some point or other and the lucky few end up with a successful restaurants in  Manhattan. Word of mouth used to be how a restaurant became known to the public, but nowadays there's the Internet, magazines, television, and movies to provide publicity and this next restaurant is no exception. Co-owned by Jay-Z and Bono, frequented by Drew Barrymore, Spike Jonze, and Beyonce, given the stamp of approval from Anthony Bourdain, The Spotted Pig is no stranger to being in the spotlight.

I was lucky enough to have lunch with a few friends in town for a visit. They don't take reservations so you'll just have to suck it up and wait for a table. They have a great selection of beers to keep you and your friends occupied during the wait. We happened to coming around two in the afternoon so we didn't have any trouble getting a table.

My friend, Danny, had the renowned roquefort burger. He simply put it as 'the best burger I've ever had' which is quite a statement from a guy who avoids absolutes. Though he felt that the blue cheese was a bit intense by the end of his meal, he fully enjoyed it and has written me about craving the Spotted Pig burger since his return to San Francisco.

Char-grilled burger w/ Roquefort ($17)

My other friend, Christine, was not in love with her grilled cheese. She thought it was a perfectly fine sandwich but not anything to write home about. The mixture of Fontina, taleggio, and goat cheese on the inside while the bread itself was crusted with Parmesan cheese made this a hefty grilled cheese but the onion marmalade and mustard helped cut through the richness.

Parmesan crusted grilled cheese with onion marmalade and mustard ($16)

I got the Ricotta gnudi. After going to an event previewing the summer menu for the Little Owl, I have become obsessed with fresh ricotta cheese. Like the other two dishes we had at lunch that day, this was also VERY heavy. I ate a little more than half of my plate before Danny finished off the rest. Word of the wise, all male friends become a human food disposal for leftovers and they are more than happy to play their part.

Ricotta gnudi with brown butter and fried sage ($16)

But the best thing we had that lunch was not our main course. Liver has been another obsession of mine. Any restaurant menu I look at, if there is a pate or liver spread, it usually ends up on my table. So of course seeing the chicken liver toast on the menu, it was immediately ordered as our appetizer. This is the dish that keeps me coming back to The Spotted Pig time and time again. Their rich liver spread is velvety in texture and drizzled with the best olive oil. It is just the best and most luscious thing I've had the pleasure of eating.

Chicken liver toast ($6)

Margon Restaurant

There are more than 20,000 restaurants in New York City. Some are really great; they usually come with a hefty price tag. That doesn't always have to be the case.  If you look carefully, there are great places to eat in New York all the time. Times Square is not a neighborhood synonymous with good food. It's filled with the usually chain restaurants and tourist traps that we try to avoid. But tucked away mere meters away from the hustle and bustle of Broadway and the glowing lights and crowded sidewalks of Times Square is Margon.

Margon Restaurant on 46th St between 6th and 7th Avenues

This tiny Cuban restaurant caters to the lunchtime rush. The fast service and low prices has no influence on the food. Their flavorful daily specials and amazing sandwiches are a testament to their continual effort to produce great affordable food for the fast-paced New York lunch crowd. I had the Cubano during my visit and could not have been more happy or satisfied. The ham was salty goodnes, the juicy roasted pork was perfectly complemented with the melted Swiss cheese and the sour crunch of the pickles. I've had a few cuban sandwiches in my time and Margon's easily tops the list.

Margon's Cubano Sandwich ($5.50)

Lion Head Meatballs

In the spirit of Chinese New Year, I made a Chinese traditional dish at home last night. A braised pork meatball in a soy based sauce with napa cabbage and glass noodles. If you're wondering why I didnt't make this dish on New Years Day, it's because my parents are buddhist and I grew up eating vegetarian meals on the day of. But also because I was down in Chinatown having two seperate dinners with friends... That's just how much of a fattie I am.

After talking on the phone with mom for about an hour about the correct way to make these Lion Head Meatballs, I decided that I had absorbed as much as I could and I would wing the rest. However, she made sure to emphasize the two most important parts. Water chestnuts are necessary and re-chopping the already ground meat is essential, both for the correct texture.


Ingredients:

1 lb fatty ground pork
1/2 head napa cabbage
1 small package of glass noodles
1/3 cup water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 inch knob ginger
4 scallions
1 egg
1 T sesame oil
2 T vegetable oil
5 T soy sauce
3 T ShaoXing wine (dry sherry)
2 1/2 T cornstarch
1 can chicken stock (14oz)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 inch rock sugar (1 T brown sugar)
Salt & Pepper

Put the ginger and scallions in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add 1/3 cup of water to the mixture and set to the side to allow flavor release into water. Chop the ground meat with a cleaver for 20-30 minutes until the meat has a paste like consistency. Then strain the scallion/ginger infused water into the meat and incorporate with a little more dicing.

Put the meat into the bowl and mix in 2 tablespoons of the soy, 1 tablespoon of the ShaoXing wine, and 2 tablesoons of the cornstarch.  In a seperate bowl slightly beat an egg with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. Do not over beat the egg. Mix the egg mixture and sesame oil into the meat with your hands.

Heat a pan with the vegetable oil over medium high heat and start forming meatballs in your hand about the size of your palm. Toss the meatball from one hand to the other with a little force. This helps give the meatball nice chew besides the soft fall apart quality (according to my mom). Then start placing each formed ball in the pan. You should get 6 meatballs from this recipe. Do 3 at a time in the pan, giving space between each meatball as they brown. Give each side 3-4 minutes.

In a round bottom pot (like the Asian clay pots) arrange the largest napa cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pot coming up the sides. If they are too long cut them in half. Place the dry noodles in pot with the garlic and the rock sugar. Traditionally thin glass noodles are used in this recipes but I find they fall apart and dissolve after the cooking process so I use much thicker glass noodles. Here is where preference comes into play. In my mind, recipes are guidelines that should be Place the meat balls on top of the noodles.

Pour the remaining soy sauce and ShaoXing wine over the meatballs. Then add the can of chicken stock to the pot and fill the can with water and add that too. If you have any leave napa cabbage left, you can place those on top of the meatballs. Bring the pot to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Mix the last 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch with a splash of water and pour the slurry into the simmering pot. Cover for another 5 minutes and turn off heat. Serve hot.

Harvest on Fort Pond

Now that the holidays are over.. I'm already thinking about summer. Last summer I had a fabulously relaxing weekend in Montauk just past the Hamptons in Long Island. Highlight of the trip... Harvest on Fort Pond.

My friend and I shared an early dinner on their outdoor patio and watched the sunset across the pond. With a few drinks and a massive plate of  penne with sautéed asparagus, mushrooms and a creamy mascarpone cheese sauce. They serve large sharing portions and the pasta was more than enough to fill us up. The pasta was cooked just al dente and the cream sauce was not overly heavy. Very nicely balanced and the asparagus and tomatoes were fresh and crisp.

A light refreshing platter of food to go with our blueberry mojitos and spiked lemonades. To add to the charm, the cocktails were served in mason jars.

It's hard to complain when you have a spread of delicious food in front of you and a view to match. Luckily I won't have to wait too long before heading to Long Island. This weekend I'll be heading to Long Island. With a group of friends in tow, we are going wine tasting on the North Fork of Long Island. Hopefully the cold weather won't put a damper on the trip. Knowing my friends, it will be a blast regardless.

Starting out.. in life, work, blog

A twenty-something building a new independent life for themselves is a common situation for a post-grad. Place that person in New York City and the divide between those starting out and those who are set becomes even more apparent, so one must adapt.

So with the gall to think that I should be privy to all that the world has to offer and the tenacity to keep trying. I live my life gingerly grandiose to the best of my ability.