October 2005
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Month October 2005

Entries 5 Total

Whiskey and Honey-Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Oct 22, ’05

Adapted from a cooksrecipes.com recipe using bourbon

Ingredients:
2-pound pork tenderloin
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup whiskey
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
half an onion, chopped
2 tbsps honey
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and minced
2 tbsps ginger, crushed and minced
2 tbsps fresh sage, chopped
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

1. Combine oil, whiskey, vinegar, soy sauce, onion, honey, garlic, ginger and sage in a bowl. Mix well. Put the tenderloins in a dish and pour the marinade over. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight, turning the meat several times.
2. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450°. Remove meat from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Remove from marinade, pat dry; season with salt, pepper and paprika. Reserve the marinade.
3. In a deep skillet, brown both sides of tenderloin in hot oil. Place in a rack and roast in the oven about 15 minutes per pound, basting 2 or 3 times during roasting with the reserved marinade. Let the roast stand on a carving board lightly covered with foil for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or cold.

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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Pancetta and Sage

Oct 22, ’05

Adapted from a Gourmet Magazine recipe using kabocha squash

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, halved and seeded
1 cup vegetable oil
20 whole fresh sage leaves plus, 1 1/2 tsps chopped fresh sage
1/4 pound sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400° and roast squash, cut sides down, in an oiled roasting pan in middle of oven until tender, about 1 hour. Set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, scrape flesh from skin.
2. Fry sage leaves while squash roasts. Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan and fry sage leaves in 3 batches until crisp, about 3 to 5 seconds. Transfer leaves with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
3. Cook pancetta in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until browned. Transfer pancetta with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Add olive oil to pancetta fat remaining in pot, then cook onion, stirring, until softened. Stir in garlic and chopped sage and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add squash, broth, and water and simmer 20 minutes to blend flavors.
4. Purée soup in batches in a blender, transferring to a bowl. Return soup to pot and reheat. If necessary, thin to desired consistency with water. Stir in vinegar and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve sprinkled with pancetta and fried sage leaves.

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Roasted Vegetables, Thai Style

Oct 21, ’05

Adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients:
1/4 cup peanut oil
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 red pepper, cored, stemmed and julienned
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
1 onion, quartered
12 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tomatoes, cut into eighths
1/4 cup red curry paste, or to taste
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
salt and pepper
Thai basil leaves for garnish

1. Heat oven to 450°. Place a Dutch oven over medium heat and add all but a tablespoon of the peanut oil. A minute later, add all vegetables except tomatoes; sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir. Put pot in oven and roast, stirring once or twice, for 30 minutes. Add tomatoes, stir, and continue to roast until vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes to an hour total.
2. Put remaining oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste and stir; whisk in coconut milk, peanut butter and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Keep warm.
3. When vegetables are done, stir in coconut milk mixture. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more soy sauce or curry paste if necessary. Garnish with herbs and serve hot or warm.

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Kurumazushi

Oct 15, ’05

7 East 47th Street 2nd floor between Madison and Fifth Avenues
212/317-2802
$350 for two, with four beers, with tip

Dining in Kurumazushi is no joke and that’s apparent as soon as you walk in the tight second floor space in midtown Manhattan. The entire staff greets you loudly and the attention given doesn’t wane until you leave the building. Our waiter watched us eat like a hawk. A drop spilled from the boy’s teacup and he came running to wipe his tray clean. A dangling piece of mackerel escaped my big bite and he immediately replaced my mat. Our sushi chef at the bar was old but he was also the jolliest and the liveliest Japanese man I’ve ever met. His assistant is surprisingly a young Dominican (!) woman (!) who has been training under his tutelage for about ten years (!).

We opted for the omakase and never regretted a second of it until the $350 bill came at the end of the night. The chef started us off with otoro, then the yellowfin, the clam, the snapper and the mackerel, everything prepared in pairs. When we told him that we were getting full, he asked if we wanted to end our meal with uni. A smile reached my ears; there’s always room for a sea urchin or two. We also asked for miso and nameko mushroom soup to calm our stomachs.

I’ve followed Ruth Reichl to Kurumazushi but I don’t think I will ever return and eat there again unless someone else foots the bill.

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Spice Market

Oct 11, ’05

13th Street on Ninth Avenue, New York City
212/675-2322
$150 for three, with three drinks, without tip

You walk into Spice market and you immediately think, This place is massive! The place is beautifully decorated, if not a little too dark, and utilizes a lot of wood instead of glass like 66, another Jean-Georges restaurant. Spice Market is bustling. There are staff members constantly running around. Some of them in backless salmon-colored pantsuits and tunics, some in short mini-skirts. The less attractive ones, I noticed, were wearing black sweaters and jeans. Our table was for 8pm and the place was already hoppin’ by the time we got there. The constant traffic is a little disorienting but I do not expect less from a restaurant in the Meatpacking District. In this neighborhood, you go to party, not to eat.

The food is typical Jean-Georges. You are encouraged to order several dishes to share with your group family-style. We started with the black-peppered shrimps with pineapple. The sweet and sour mixed with the spicyness was a good introduction but I ate more pineapple than I did shrimps for $14.50. The lime noodles were served with too much lime and I was cringing at every bite. I like my pasta al dente but I prefer my noodles soft and slippery. The mussels and the chicken wings, I felt, did not belong in the menu even though they were smothered with chili sauce and basil leaves. Good thing I had my Singha to match.

The green papaya was delicious as well as the squid salad. We were finally eating Thai food without the frills. I liked the halibut which was perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. I also loved the shaved tuna sashimi which came with small tapioca pearls in coconut milk. It tasted clean and pure. The mint tea was a great end to the overwhelming flavors that fought for my attention. By 11pm, nothing else mattered.

I’m satisfied with simplicity. I don’t need the entire production to be impressed.

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