Writing With My Mouth Full

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    • Cheese Ambassador

      Now that I’ve passed the intermediate certificate course at the International Wine Center for Wines and Spirits: Looking Behind the Label, the next goal is to learn more about cheeses. I jumped at the chance to try Cheese Ambassador’s Mediterranean package just to get me started at home.

      I remember when I was younger (ahem) and I didn’t know much about cheese. My college professor brought in a platter of fruits and cheeses during the last day of Western Literature class and I mostly crinkled my nose at the stinkiest kinds. I was curious, however, how other people were devouring the wedges as if they were candy. I wanted to really like cheese and I didn’t know how to change my palate. Fast-forward several years later and I was in Amsterdam living with friends for a week. There was always cheese on the table before dinner. I knew I just had to try all of them to find out what cheese was all about. Back then, it wasn’t just Dutch Gouda I tasted; there was a crumbly blue, a creamy Brie and a few hard Italian cheeses. I ended up liking them all and proceeded to buy small wedges of them whenever we would go to the park to enjoy the last few hours of Dutch light.

      Ever since then, I would stop by Di Palo’s for my monthly supply of cheese or pick up a wedge here and there from other stores whenever I see something I’ve never tasted before. But now that I work in Connecticut, it’s been difficult to run all over the city before the stores close. Enter the Cheese Ambassador where I can buy the Mediterranean Collection with three types: the Tipsy Goat from Spain, Port Salut from France and one of my favorite cheeses of all time, Piave from Italy. The American Collection includes an Aged Gouda, an Amish Cheddar and a Cave-Aged Blue cheese. Both packages sell for $34 on their Web site.

      They make great gifts for both cheese beginners and fanatics. They’ve managed to package them nicely that when my box was delivered to work, I had to pull in several of my co-workers so we can do a fun taste test in the office kitchen.

      Here’s the round-up:

      Tipsy Goat from Spain:
      – tangy
      – melts-in-your-mouth goat goodness
      – sharper than your average goat cheese
      – tastes like socks (I’d have to disagree, but this guy probably just needs to stop eating his socks)

      Port Salut:
      – smooth, buttery and mild; reminds me of Laughing Cow
      – smooth and simple;
      – rich and creamy like Brie
      – soft, spreadable, sweet and buttery; you can make shapes with it! (And he really did played with the cheese like Play-Doh!)

      Piave:
      – nutty, robust, reminiscent of Parmigiano
      – like a creamy Parmigiano
      – even better than Parmigiano; rich and nutty
      – savory; nose like Manchego

      Related purveyor/s:
      The Cheese Ambassador has your cheese!

    • Stuffed Zucchini

      My new Microplane Ultra Coarse grater came in very handy when I was making this recipe. It’s not often that I find a giant zucchini on my desk at work, but Lisa brought me one of the bounties from her garden earlier this week. Zucchini bread and stuffed zucchini were both suggested by co-workers. I opted for the latter because I already had the ingredients handy; ground pork and bacon were in the fridge.

      I’ve never owned a grater before–I’ve always used a vegetable peeler if I needed grated cheese when cooking and I simply shaved the cheese off. For a recipe like this, a peeler would have taken me an extra 10 minutes; it took less than one with the Microplane for me to grate all of the Piave I needed.

      I realized how easy my cooking life would have been if only I’ve purchased one years ago. Without putting too much pressure on the grater, the Piave cheese I used with this recipe easily fell on the plate like soft snow. I loved the rubberized stand at the end of the grater: it kept it steady against a plate even when my cheese wedge came down to a small knob. The hefty handle also had a very firm grip–my hands didn’t even feel like they did any work.

      Now I just have to find more recipes that require grating everything I can get my hands on!

      Ingredients:
      1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise, each chopped in 2 or 3 large pieces
      1/4 lb of ground pork
      4 strips of bacon, chopped
      shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
      1 small wedge of Piave cheese
      1 small red onion, thinly sliced
      3 cloves garlic, minced
      red chili flakes
      salt
      oil

      1. Take each zucchini piece and spoon out the flesh to make them hollow like boats. Roughly chop including the seeds. Set aside. Place the boats on a lined baking sheet and brush with some olive oil. Preheat the oven to 350º.
      2. Make the filling. In a large skillet, render some fat by cooking the bacon pieces. Add garlic and sauté until brown. Add the onions until soft. Add the ground pork and brown while occasionally stirring to avoid burning. Season with chili flakes.
      3. In the meantime, pass the zucchini flesh through a sieve to remove excess water. You might have to do this one more time before adding to the filling. When ground pork is cooked through, add the zucchini flesh to the skillet, stir until well-combined and keep cooking for another 5 minutes.
      4. Salt the zucchini boats. Spoon the filling into the zucchini boats without pressing in. Finish off with a generous sprinkling of grated Piave. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the zucchini boats have heated through and a crust has formed at the top. Best served hot so the filling doesn’t dry up.

      Related post/s:
      You can also stuff portobello mushrooms

      Recommended tool/s:
      Microplane Ultra Coarse Grater

    • Rouge Tomate

      10 East 60th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
      212/957.5550
      $72 each for a group of five, with tip
      ♥ ♥

      I’ve been hearing about Rouge Tomate here and there so I wasn’t surprised when my girlfriends and I ended up there for dinner. The space is massive and perfect for big groups. It’s the first restaurant I’ve been in a long time where the servers all had custom-made uniforms versus the all-black outfit. The interior design screams money (from the architectural firm Bentel & Bentel) and I was saddened to think that the business might not make it past these economic times. Four days prior, I easily scored a table for five on a Friday night at 8pm. This would have been a difficult feat in regular New York time. It wasn’t exactly empty when we walked in, but the crowd did dwindle after 9:30 and we ended up being the last group by 10:30.

      Rouge Tomate has been talked about as the latest restaurant that features local ingredients and farm to table philosophy. Yada, yada, yada, right? For the past two years, I’ve always said that that philosophy in the kitchen should not be a feature anymore–it should just be a given. Every restaurant should just be in that bandwagon today or risk being different, and not in a good way. That said, Rouge Tomate has some well-flavored dishes that spoke louder than they could present them–our waiter could not edge himself between us talkative women. Oh, this is not so bad, was the common response at our table after every taste even though we dismissed every waiter who approached our table.

      I opted for the $35 lamb a la plancha. Our waiter explained to all my Spanish-speaking friends what “a la plancha” meant, but could not tell us which part of the lamb was on the grill. I’ve learned my lesson from other restaurants and I’ve always made sure that I’m not paying $35 for shoulder. When the waiter returned and confirmed it was loin, two of us ordered it. Another chose the Berkshire pork and the rest shared the fish in Thai curry. We thought it was a nice touch when they split the fish in two separate dishes, but alas, our bill at the end of the night counted for two of them. We had it corrected, to their chagrin, because our waiter had left mid-service and could not confirm the mistake he had made.

      MIstakes aside, the lamb loin was so delicious I found it hard to share it with my group. It was perfectly medium rare served with string beans and tomatoes. The pork loin was naturally sweet that I could have eaten it without the vegetables on top. The Thai curry was delicious even though I always find sea bass a pretty bland fish. The appetizers fared better at our table: the fluke ceviche was bright and fresh; the frisée and fennel salad with prosciutto was my kind of salad, while the asparagus with maitake mushrooms and warm farm egg just made me happy.

      I loved the blueberry crepe dessert that tasted like fluffy pancakes. Not too sweet, it was light enough to finish without forcing it down my throat after a pretty hefty meal.

      Related post/s:
      Some waiters don’t know–and worst, don’t care–about the difference between lamb shoulder and lamb chops
      Only at Irving Mill did I have a waiter who left mid-service without telling us he was turning the table over to another server
      Warm poached egg in salad? You got me!

    • Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Arugula

      Dear, Anna. Believe it or not, the sun-dried tomatoes I used in this recipe are still from the batch you sent me a year ago after your trip to Argentina. I only had a handful left but I felt bad about throwing them away. After a few minutes in hot water, they softened up and I was able to chop them in smaller pieces. Off they went with some heavy cream and into my stomach for dinner tonight. Thanks again, Cia.

      Ingredients:
      2 cups of penne pasta
      1 cup of sundried tomatoes, soaked in hot water, drained, roughly chopped
      a few handfuls of arugula
      pancetta, chopped
      1 cup of heavy cream
      3 garlic cloves, minced
      1 small red onion, sliced
      a handful of basil leaves, chopped

      1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
      2. While cooking pasta, render some fat by cooking the pancetta. Remove the pancetta and set aside. Using the fat, sauté garlic until brown and then add onions until soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and add return the browned pancetta.
      3. Pour in the heavy cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix every so often to avoid drying up. Turn off the heat and fold in the arugula to wilt. Add the drained pasta in the skillet and mix well. Toss with basil before serving.

      Related post/s:
      Fish with sundried tomatoes recipe
      Sundried tomatoes with kale and white beans recipe

    • Where to eat in Darien: Coromandel

      I had to ask the Indian developers at work for approval before I tried Darien’s Coromandel. Once I had their okay, I dragged five other co-workers to eat lunch with me (and also to make sure I didn’t have to walk along the highway). For lunch, Coromandel only serves an all-you-can-eat buffet for $12. The choices are plenty and unlike the buffet selection I’m used to at Balucci’s in New York City.

      Sure, there’s the usual vindaloos and paneers, but when was the last time you remember having jardaloo sali boti, or lamb cooked in apricot? The three times I’ve been to Coromandel, I’ve skipped the complementary tandoori chicken just to make room for that lamb dish. It’s so soft and easy to eat and that hint of sweetness makes it a stew like no other. Not that the staples don’t make the cut: the chicken vindaloo, though not as spicy as I would like, is flavorful in that perfectly burnt sienna sauce color. I fell in love with Indian food the very first time I had saag paneer and they do saags very well here without being too mushy. The combination of shredded cabbage, broccoli and carrots peppered with black sesame seeds is their best vegetarian option, as well as the lentil dahl with chickpeas. A smaller table houses the chutneys and the sides. If you’re so inclined to start with a mixed green salad, you can try different chutneys from coconut to mango to tamarind.

      It’s just too bad I can’t live without the warm nan nor the basmati rice to make room for everything else on the table, but of course, there’s always room for the kheer, or rice pudding. Hmm, maybe I should think about walking from there back to work.

      Coromandel has several locations in Connecticut, but I go to the one in the Good Wives Shopping Center at 25-11 Old Kings Highway in Darien, CT. Call 203-662-1213 for their daily buffet menu or to ask about a la carte dishes.

      Related post/s:
      Or you can just go for Colony Pizza

    • Wusthof Classic Wave Knife

      The first time I held the new Wave knife from Wusthof, I thought, This isn’t sharp at all. And I don’t mean the blade is dull; I meant that it’s not one of those scary knives that you can’t even comfortably hold. The feel is definitely heavier than I am used to but it also means the grip is more stable and that it feels safer in my hand.

      The extra wide blade is similar to the shape of a Santoku knife and it has a reversed-scalloped edge that slices smoothly and efficiently. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s attached to a Hostaform-C black handle with triple rivets to make them durable and feel solid, a signature feature that all Wusthof Classic knives share. (Hostaform-C is a plastic molding used in products under abrasion stress to prevent degradation which also makes the knife hygienic even if it ages.)

      I had corned beef that has been in the fridge for a few weeks and I sliced through it without any difficulties even though I did not give the beef time to cool down to room temperature. If I had used a serrated knife, it would have torn the beef into crumbs.

      The new 7-inch Wusthof Classic Wave Knife is now available in your favorite department store for a suggested retail price of $99.99.

      Recommended tool/s:
      Compare the Wave knife to the Santoku knife

    • Fusilli with Octopus

      My supermarket in Harlem had these octopus in cans on sale. The idea of a cephalopod in a can sounded odd but the ingredients list didn’t have any weird stuff in it except for octopus and olive oil so I thought it wouldn’t do me any harm to buy a couple for less than $3.

      With some fusilli pasta boiling in a pot–you can use any pasta you have handy–I sautéed leftover vegetables I already had in the fridge: mixed greens, dried mushrooms, parsley and garlic scape. The dish turned out really well and it served two meals with a few glasses of Verdejo wine.

      Ingredients:
      2 tins of octopus in olive oil
      2 cups of fusilli pasta
      1 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in water for 15 minutes, then drained
      a few handfuls of mixed greens
      1 garlic scape, chopped
      1 small red onion, sliced
      a handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
      a small wedge of Piave cheese
      red chili flakes
      oil, salt, pepper

      1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
      2. While cooking pasta, heat some oil in a skillet. Sauté garlic scapes until fragrant and then add onions until soft. Add octopus with its oil and toss. Add the mushrooms, the mixed greens and the parsley until well combined. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.
      3. Add the drained pasta in the skillet and mix well. Serve with grated Piave cheese.

      Related post/s:
      Pulpo a la Gallega, Galician Octopus recipe
      Babbo’s pasta with octopus recipe

    • Sichuan Chicken

      I was craving spicy Chinese food on my way home from work, so I picked up two packages of chicken breasts from the grocery store to cook a quick and spicy meal. I knew I had all the Sichuan ingredients that I needed to make the base sauce but I wanted to make the cooking quick and painless. I decided to use the cucumbers I had in the fridge instead of buying any more vegetables that won’t keep during the week and I skipped coating the chicken with egg whites and cornstarch. The result was a light stir-fry that satiated my craving and calmed my hungry stomach.

      Ingredients:
      8 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips, patted dry with paper towel
      2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, cut into strips
      2 bunches of scallions, chopped diagonally
      1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
      peanut oil

      For the Sichuan sauce:
      2 tbsps Shao Xing rice wine
      1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
      2 dried chilies, chopped
      2 tbsps sesame oil
      1 tbsp soy sauce
      2 tbsps brown sugar
      1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
      a small knob of ginger, peeled, shredded

      1. Combine the Sichuan sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
      2. Heat some peanut oil in a wok or a deep skillet. Cook the chicken strips briefly in the hot oil until they turn white. Remove the chicken and drain on paper towels.
      3. Clean out the wok and add some more peanut oil. If there is water from cooking the chicken, let it evaporate by turning up the heat for a few minutes. When the oil is hot, add the Sichuan peppercorns and toast for a few seconds. Add the scallions and sauté until soft. Add the cucumbers and the Sichuan sauce. Stir to combine and let simmer for about 3 minutes.
      4. Return the cooked chicken to the wok and stir-fry to combine and finish cooking. Season with more soy sauce as needed before serving with warm white rice.

      Related post/s:
      Oh! I’ve already posted a more difficult Sichuan chicken recipe!

    • Seasonal Restaurant and Weinbar

      132 West 58th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
      212/957.5550
      $120 for two, with drinks, without tip
      ♥ ♥ ♥

      I finished dinner at Seasonal with a smile on my face. Really. I had heard about their wine list and I wanted to check it out to see wine labels I’ve never heard of. I accomplished that at Seasonal and took notes of the Austrian bottles that I ended up liking, but I also decided to stay after I had a quick look of their menu.

      True to their name, everything on the menu featured seasonal ingredients. It was beginning to feel like a New York City summer outside, but the produce in the markets are still catching up to spring because of the unusual weather we’ve been having. The amuse bouche of cauliflower soup was a good start to what we were about to eat. There was a small amount of foam to entice you to slurp a small cupful of broth. What could have been a boring vegetable soup was made exciting by the seasonings added to it. So as soon as we saw the pea soup, or the erbsensuppe, we jumped on it. It was so thin and light, yet the smoked bacon and pickled onions came through so strongly. I’ve never had a vegetable soup so clear as this one and still bold on flavors.

      I couldn’t resist the Allgäuer Mountain cheese ravioli because they came with morels and fava beans. I don’t know if I can describe a more perfect combination of spring produce than this. We had a difficult time choosing an entree we could share without breaking the bank, but we ended up settling with the veal because it was poached in oxtail consommé. I love it when a restaurant gets consommé right. (And why shouldn’t they?) Seasonal’s version was that rich amber color with so much flavor but without a trace of fat in it. I think we kept commenting on how clear it was while we passed the bowl between us.

      If I had an extra $30, I would have ordered the lamb with ramps, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms and parsnip root purée. I would have also liked to try the veal cheeks with spatzle and the wild salmon and halibut combination with poached quail egg and mustard sauce. Clearly, I already have reasons to make a return visit and take a second look at that wine list.

      Related post/s:
      You know where I would like to eat again? Telepan.
      Pumpkin ravioli with hen-of-the-woods or maitake mushrooms recipe

    • Green Mango Salad

      Mangoes are abundant in the Philippines. When I was growing up, we had a mango tree in our backyard. When the mangoes were ripe, they were sweet and supple. Slicing each cheek with a check board pattern allowed you to flip the skin up and push out the mango flesh. When they were still green, you peeled and chopped them to make a salad. A dab of shrimp paste gave it flavor perfect with cold beers.

      Nowadays, I make this salad for barbecues and they’re always a hit. I usually just use salt instead of shrimp paste so that I don’t have to worry about vegetarian guests and those with allergies. For more color, add a handful of arugula or mixed greens. It’s also a good side to serve with a simple steak or leftover roasted chicken.

      Ingredients:
      2 green mangoes, peeled and sliced into smaller pieces
      red onion, chopped
      a handful of cilantro, finely chopped
      grape tomatoes, cut in half
      1 tsp shrimp paste

      1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. If not using shrimp paste or fish sauce, substitute with a jigger of fish sauce or a dash of salt and pepper.

      Related post/s:
      I like dishes with fruit
      You can try fruit chutneys, too

    • Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill

      308 West 58th Street off Columbus Circle
      212/397.0404
      $170 for two, with three beers, with tip
      ♥ ♥

      I was so glad to hear when Blue Ribbon opened their new space in the upper west side. I don’t have to go to the east side for sushi! I don’t have to go downtown for Blue Ribbon! Right across the street from the Eighth Avenue entrance of the Time Warner Center, this new location is the most convenient for me coming from home or from a movie in Lincoln Center. It’s exactly what we did last week after watching Dave Eggers’ movie, Away We Go. The rain let up and we walked down eight blocks from 66th Street.

      We opted for the sushi bar when the maitre d’ let us in past the bar. Minus the Brooklyn branch, this Blue Ribbon is actually the most spacious. It looked like any other restaurant situated in the floor level of a hotel and it definitely strays away from Blue Ribbon’s more serene setup. Of course, every Blue Ribbon gets loud and this uptown branch is no different, but the noise is spread out because of the high ceilings and wide dining room.

      We nursed our Sapporos and Kirin Lights while we enjoyed several small plates with the ubiquitous bone marrow. The salad of sautéed wild mushrooms bathed in tamari butter and was very fragrant; same with the simple mushroom broth that calmed my stomach. An appetizer of octopus was fresh and tender and a half dozen Canadian oysters drizzled with a ponzu-like sauce were deliciously tarty. I don’t think I’ve ever had wild Alaskan salmon as sushi before–they were really fresh and buttery here. The uni was silky and rich while the roe with quail egg was expectedly light and crisp.

      It might have moved uptown, but the prices are up to par with its counterparts downtown. At Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar and Grill, it’s impossible to spend less than $80 a person, but you’d be surprised at how full the place was on a rainy Friday night.

      Related post/s:
      Per Se is inside the Time Warner Center. You’ll definitely spend more money in there.
      Or you can go to Brooklyn and enjoy lobsters and cooked fish

    • Sardines with Linguini

      I’ve been drowning in pork and beef for the last two weeks so I thought a dose of fish would do me good. Rummaging through the pantry, I found two tins of sardines and some pasta from my last visit to Trader Joe’s. Following a Sicilian recipe I found online, I threw some leftover rye bread in the food processor to make my own bread crumbs. I didn’t have capers handy but I can imagine it would have been the kick the dish needed–I settled for red pepper flakes instead. A splash of lemon juice before serving gave this pasta dish the fresh touch it deserved.

      Ingredients:
      linguini
      2 tins sardines, drained
      1 cup bread crumbs
      a handful of parsley, finely chopped
      3 cloves garlic, minced
      1 small red onion, thinly sliced
      red pepper flakes
      oil, salt, pepper

      1. Cook linguini in boiling water al dente. Drain and set aside.
      2. While cooking the pasta, heat some oil in a skillet. Sauté garlic until golden brown and onions until translucent. Add bread crumbs and stir until toasted. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate.
      3. Using the same skillet, heat a little bit more oil and cook sardines by sautéing and crushing them in smaller chunks. Season with red pepper flakes.
      4. Transfer drained pasta to the skillet and toss with the sardines. Add back the cooked bread crumbs and keep tossing until combined.

      Related post/s:
      Try the cioppino recipe for seafood in broth