Roasted Turkey

Adapted from memory

Ingredients:
For the turkey rub:
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 stalks of scallions, chopped
2 tbsps oregano
2 tbsps coriander
2 tbsps paprika
salt and pepper to taste

1 frozen turkey, thawed for at least eight hours outside the fridge
1 apple, cored and diced
1 peach, diced
1 lemon, sliced
1 small box of raisins

1. Combine all rub ingredients and purée in a blender. Pour into saucepan and simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Cool and set aside while turkey is thawing.
2. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 350º. Wash turkey and dry with paper towel. Empty the carcass and stuffed with the fruits, lemon and raisins. Bathe the turkey with the rub. Wrap turkey with aluminum foil and set on a roasting pan.
3. Roast for at least six hours, carefully turning the bird during the last hour of cooking. For an extra 30 minutes, open the foil and raise oven temperature to 375º to brown the skin. Remove from oven and let the turkey rest, loosely covered, before carving.

Coconut Shrimp Soup

Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
1/2 pound shrimps, peeled, deveined
a handful of angel hair pasta
1 can coconut milk
1 medium carrot, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps ginger, minced
2 stalks scallions, finely chopped
fresh lime juice
pepper flakes
salt, pepper, oil

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, ginger and pepper flakes. Cook until golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add carrots, coconut milk and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
2. Break pasta in half and add to pot. Return to boil and then simmer until pasta is al dente and carrots are tender.
3. Add shrimps and stir until opaque. Remove pot from heat. Stir in lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowls and garnish with scallions.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Apple

Adapted from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon
2 pints Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed, halved
1 apple, cored, cut into 1/4-inch slices and halved crosswise
2 tbsps red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425º. Arrange bacon in a single layer on a large baking pan. Bake until browned, about 10 minutes. Add Brussels sprouts in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for another 15 minutes. Add apple in another layer. Roast for another 10 minutes or until apples are soft.
2. Remove from oven and put into a salad bowl. Separate bacon pieces and chop into smaller pieces. Toss back in the bowl with sprouts and apples and vinegar.

Upstairs at Bouley

130 West Broadway on Duane
212/219-1011
$250 for three, with several drinks, with tip

If there’s one New York City chef I’m not familiar with, it would be David Bouley. Four years ago, the boy surprised me by making reservations at Bouley Bakery (now back to its original Bouley name). But it was a hundred-degree summer day and because I didn’t know he made plans, I met him wearing flip flops. We had to cancel then and we just never revisited.

Turn the calendar to 2005 and Bouley opens Upstairs across the street, a packed space that offers sushi right above his café and bakery. I didn’t do my homework before I met a client here and while in a cab from work I thought, I could use a nice steak today. As soon as I sat down and read through the menu, I exclaimed, I guess I’m eating sushi tonight!

For our sushi, we had a feast and ordered several pieces of uni and otoro (like buttah, baby, buttah!), hamachi, shad and mackerel. For our small plates, we shared a delicate bowl of Japanese tofu with mushrooms in truffle dressing and a very nice serving of monkfish liver, all while we were swimming in their delightful grapefruit sake martinis.

Other reviews claim that when the chef is not in the premises, the service tends to be frustrating. I was in the middle of our second sushi plate, happily drunk and satisfied, when I turned around and saw the handsome man with salt and pepper hair behind the open kitchen counter. It’s David Bouley himself and maybe that’s why our waiter was very attentive. But chef or no chef present, sushi should always mean fresh fish. Upstairs surely provided them.

Indian Chicken Curry

Adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe using lamb

Ingredients:
For the curry rub:
a few pieces of cloves
2 tbsps cinnamon powder
2 tbsps cumin
2 tbsps fennel seeds
2 tbsps ginger powder
1/2 cup curry powder
salt and pepper

12 pieces of small chicken legs
1 tbsp butter
2 small red potatoes, peeled and diced
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced
a handful of okra, washed
1 small can of sweet peas, washed and drained
1 large tomato, diced
lime juice
olive oil

1. Salt and pepper chicken pieces. In a large Dutch oven with hot oil, brown chicken on all sides over medium-high heat, about 5-7 minutes. Remove chicken from pot. Pour out some of the oil when cool. Reheat remaining oil and brown potatoes and carrots for a few minutes. Remove vegetables from pot.
2. In a heated small pan, toast non-powdered curry rub ingredients. Let cool. Transfer to a mortar and ground with a pestle. Combine with the powdered ones in a small bowl.
3. In a different large Dutch oven, melt butter and add curry rub. Stir in tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Simmer for a few minutes until tomatoes are mushy. Add the chicken and cook until soft, about 25 minutes while checking to make sure they don’t dry up. You may need to add a bit more water.
4. Cook the vegetables while occasionally stirring. Add the potatoes and the carrots. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the okra. Simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the peas, cooking in remaining heat. Pour in lime juice and add salt to taste.