Author: cia
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I started doing my grocery shopping at Grand Central Terminal Market since I’ve begun my work commute to Connecticut. Most days, I go straight down to SoHo to swim anyway and I can pick something up before I head to the gym via the 6 train. Last week, Pescatore Seafood was selling fresh Portuguese sardines.…
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I know my pantry is well-stocked, but it still surprises me sometimes when I find an ingredient that I’ve forgotten about and it turns out it would work with whatever I’m making. For this salad, from Los Angeles’ Street Restaurant, I needed juniper berries to make the dressing and I was surprised to see a…
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288 Smith Street between Sackett and Union in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn 718/596.3335 about $125 for two, without drinks, without tip ♥ ♥ We were in Brooklyn to visit friends who were house and dog sitting while on vacation from San Francisco. When it was time to eat dinner, another friend–a Brooklynite–quickly suggested The Grocery. It’s…
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My father’s from Ilocos Sur in the northern part of the Philippines and pinakbet, or pakbet, is one of his specialties. It’s also one of my favorite Ilokano dishes that he makes on a regular basis. Most recently, I watched as he made a pot full of Filipino vegetables at home and wrote down the…
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200 Schemerhorn Street in downtown Brooklyn 718/243.0050 $70 each ($95 starting November 2009), BYOB, without tip ♥ ♥ ♥ The Daily News just crowned the area around 200 Schemerhorn “Downtown Brooklyn’s hot pocket”. A friend lives upstairs and got incredibly lucky with one of the market-rate rentals before the neighborhood exploded. This means he’s also…
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Lisa brought two more zucchinis for me from her garden. This time I ended up making zucchini bread since I had an entire Saturday free. It was pouring outside so as soon as I switched to cooking mode, I couldn’t stop. I ended up staying in the kitchen all day baking. For fun, I used…
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348 West 145th Street between Edgecombe and St. Nicholas Avenues 212/491.5859 $50 for three, with 3 juices, without tip half a ♥ I consider myself an omnivore and don’t turn my back on vegetarian dishes even though my first choice will always be meat or seafood. Once in a while, I crave all vegetables to…
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The waiter looked at me funny when I asked for the duck carcass at Peking Duck House during dinner last week. I think he was surprised only because I wasn’t one of his regular customers asking for it. I’m sure they use the duck excess to make other dishes, but the way I see it,…
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It’s really not the time to be using the oven but when I saw beets in the supermarket, I all of a sudden had a craving. So off I went home after watching Julie & Julia with three gigantic beets and their greens stuffed but peeking from my tote bag. Have I told you my…
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I discovered chicken sausages by accident. When we invited a few of our friends to our summer rental in Ulster Park upstate, I bought them for the lone vegetarian guest. I honestly thought they were vegetable sausages because the typeface of the packaging focused on the herbs and spices. Artichoke sausages it said; cilantro and…
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10 Pell Street between Bowery and Doyers 212/233.3888 $30 for two, without drinks, with tip ♥ ♥ My craving for spicy Sichuan food still hasn’t abated. In less than a week, I’ve traveled to Flushing, Queens for Spicy & Tasty and met another friend in midtown to eat at Szechuan Gourmet. It’s so hot in…
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Mark Bittman’s pea dip recipe was such a big hit with our friends, I’m posting our revised version up. This is smoother and less chunkier which made it just right on top of grilled slices of bread and as a side to a perfectly cooked leg of lamb. Ingredients: 1 box of frozen peas 1…