Writing With My Mouth Full

Italy: Cianbotta or Cianfotta

Lisa’s dad said that this Italian version of ratatouille has two names, depending on whether you live in the south of Italy or the north. Whether you grew up calling it cianbotta or cianfotta, it means “tasteful and colorful.” It’s a rural dish that farm folks learned to make after experiencing the hardships caused by the second World War. Lisa’s mom remembers this as very delicious and nutritious; the vegetables taking the place of meat, which was unaffordable during those times. Even though the recipe still represents poverty to a lot of the older generation, it’s a comfort food that evokes unforgettable childhood memories. Harold McGee recommends you salt the eggplant pieces after you slice them. This draws out the moisture and collapses their spongy texture, so they don’t absorb all the oil when you start cooking them.

Ingredients:
1 large red bell pepper
6 small red-skinned potatoes
3 plum tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 eggplant
1 large onion
a handful of fresh basil leaves
olive oil, salt and pepper

1. Cut all vegetables into 1/4-inch pieces. In a small pot, boil potatoes in salted water until half cooked. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions and cook until soft. Add potatoes and peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes on low heat. Add the rest of the vegetables including the basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 15 minutes. Enjoy as a side dish or as a main course, served with fresh Italian garlic bread.

Del Posto

85 Tenth Avenue on 16th Street
212/497-8090
$810 for six, with a few drinks, with tip
♥ ♥

The latest from the Batali-Bastianich empire, Del Posto’s staircase, marble floors and plush seating all scream money. You walk past the valet (!) through the lobby and it’s like you’re in someone’s mansion outside of New York. Its 18,000-square-foot space is larger than any of their other New York City restaurants and showcase extravagance, if not gaudiness. The menu prices scream dollar signs, too.

The antipasto misto of cheese, olives and prosciutto cost us $66 and the bis, two pastas also divided in six servings cost us a whopping $126. My squab was too rare for my taste but I held back in telling the kitchen because the accompanying wine, Feudi Taurasi 1999, made up for it. The pork chop had just the right amount of sweetness with the figs and caramelized onion on the side and I must say that the lamb loin was very good. The cod was meaty and perfectly tender.

The food could have been from any other high-priced restaurant in the city. Nothing really stood out for me to exclaim, This is so Batali. My lamb sweetbreads were a delight and the calf’s liver–unfortunately served as a main course–were so light and tasty. But where were the lamb’s tongue and the pig trotters I’ve been hearing about? They were probably in the $100 tasting menu we passed up or maybe they were the specials our server forgot to tell us about.

But for an early 6:30pm table of six women, the service was exemplary. Our sommelier needs to be commended for helping us pick champagne (a Philipponnat) and two bottles of red wine without flinching at our budget ($60-$65 per bottle). When we started with the bubbly, we mentioned that we’re celebrating a birthday. At the end of our meal, they brought one of our desserts with a candle without us having to request it. Needless to say, the birthday girl was quite pleased.

Kofta, Lamb Tagine

Adapted from delicious. Magazine

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground lamb
2 large onions, 1 finely chopped, the other grated
2 tbsps flat parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander, grounded
1 can chopped tomatoes
4 eggs
1 garlic clove
2 tbsps cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp cumin, grounded
a pinch of saffron
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil, salt and pepper

1. Make the spice paste: pound garlic to a purÃ©e with a pinch of salt using a mortar and pestle. Add cilantro, grated onion, cumin and saffron and work into a paste. Stir in lemon juice. Set aside.
2. In a glass bowl, mix lamb with chopped onion, parsley and coriander and salt and pepper. Make meatballs with your hands.
3. In a large and deep skillet, heat oil over medium-heat. Brown meatballs, remove and set aside. Add paste and stir for a minute until aromatic. Return meatballs, add tomatoes and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes until meatballs are cooked and sauce thickened.
4. Crack eggs on top for the final 5 minutes. Top with cilantro leaves before serving.

The Little Owl

90 Bedford Street on the corner of Grove
212/741.4695
$100 for two, with two drinks, with tip
♥ ♥ ♥

We told ourselves we will find another place in the West Village if the wait for a table at The Little Owl was unbearable. Thankfully, we were seated right away when we walked in at 7pm because I would have missed the soft-shell crab and asparagus, the sardines with green beans and the hamachi with coleslaw. Match that with a bottle of chilled white wine and you wouldn’t have gone anywhere else either.

Flash-frying soft-shell crabs are hard because cooking them a second over will give you mushy but chewy meat. Here, they were just the right amount of crispiness. The beans balanced the saltiness of the sardines. I could have done without the coleslaw but I must say that the pink inside of the hamachi gave me joy together with the light onion rings.

What used to be Chez Michallet is now an even sweeter space with white-washed walls and chef Joey Campanaro behind the glass-covered kitchen. Sitting at the bar gave us a peek of the action in the tiny kitchen. Our server was very attentive and never let us see our wine glasses empty. Our orders were always split in two so there was no awkward sharing. It was almost ninety degrees outside but it felt very comfortable inside.

Chung Moo Ro Barbeque

10W 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth
212/594.4963
about $60 for two, with two drinks, without tip

I like Chung Moo Ro because there’s no queue outside when I just want to eat a bowl of yuk kae jang and skip the barbeque. They don’t have dining booths so expect to smell like kalbi because of their open space–it’s unavoidable at the other places anyway.