Writing With My Mouth Full

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    • Suckling Pig Brooklyn Style

      I spent my Friday afternoon at Kam Nam in Chinatown buying the necessary tools: plastic pail, check; cleaver, check. I perused my Fergus Henderson book for a brine recipe but I had to make a few adjustments because I didn’t have juniper berries on hand. The Dr. cut Rog in several sections to make him fit in the pail. Twenty-four hours later, he was ready to go to Williamsburg. (The Dr. went, too.)

      When I first ordered Rog, I immediately thought of Chef George Weld of egg. I knew he would appreciate it and I knew he would want to partake in eating a suckling pig. He’s a busy man but he made time over the weekend to cook and welcome us to their home in Brooklyn. The head was cooked with carrots and celery. One of the legs was pan-fried before hitting the oven. The loins, well, they were just roasted to perfection. By the time we sat down to eat, we’ve already consumed two bottles of wine. We made my Brussels sprouts with bacon salad, added a bowl of nice turnips and radishes and opened two more bottles of red.

      I’ve never seen a nicer plate of pig. Rog’s meat was very succulent and tasty–the product of just eating acorns in the farm where he came from. His meat was naturally flavorful and because the chef gave his full attention, his skin was golden and crispy. We had a few servings of each part. The loin was everyone’s favorite, of course, but we had a stab of the neck meat which was definitely more substantial and bloody-tasting, and the leg which was more lean. We thank Rog for letting us enjoy him the way he’s supposed to be enjoyed. We believe he served his ultimate purpose.

      Related post/s:
      Fergus Herderson’s Whole Beast at Amazon.com
      Get your own suckling pig from Tamarack Hollow Farm
      Then get a pail big enough for your pig in Chinatown
      Chef Weld also cooks a mean egg

    • Prune

      54 East 1st Street between First and Second Avenues
      212/677.6221
      about $75 for three, without drinks, without tip
      ♥ ♥

      Prune’s selections are influenced by different cuisines and that’s exactly what I liked about Chef Gabrielle Hamilton’s style. The tripe is a must-try even though you don’t like tripe. In Barcelona, I ate a lot of tripe. Prune’s version is Milenese, topped with a delicate dollop of pesto and shredded cheese. It’s light but beefy at the same time. I only wished it was served with country bread so I can scoop up the sauce. The skate wing comes with capers; simple and understated. Now, can we talk about the roast beef? I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything as good. It’s soft, it’s bloody and just so damn tasty. Both dishes came with potato slaw sprinkled with Hungarian peppercorns. You crush them with each bite and then there’s that burst of spicyness which gives the side dish its entire personality. We made room for the thick homemade apple pie with buttermilk ice cream. It was the perfect way to end a nice long lunch. The golden-brown sugared crust was such a treat.

      I’ve always wanted to go to Prune but could never make myself walk over to the east side when I’m deciding where to go for dinner. I also don’t wake up early enough to make it downtown for a weekend brunch. When they announced that they are finally serving lunch during the week, I had no excuses left. I’ve seen a line outside Prune during warmer nights, but it was quiet when we walked in on a Friday afternoon. There was ample natural light which makes you just want to sit back and stay. Prune was the chef’s childhood nickname, but I can easily call it Home.

      Updated, 2007: There was a long line for Sunday brunch even though it was almost 3pm. We decided to wait for 15 minutes next door with our iced coffees. We walked back to check if we can finally get a table, but we were told that we have to wait another twenty minutes. I was grouchy and hungry, so I told the Dr. that I can’t wait any longer. We started to walk away from Prune when I heard the maitre d’ call my name. She said she was going to seat us in the next five minutes and asked us to wait just a bit more until they clean the table that just emptied. I appreciated the fact that the maitre d’ just didn’t let us walk away. She could have easily picked any of the other couples waiting outside. We were lucky to be squeezed in and so we celebrated with bloody marys, stewed chickpeas, lamb sausages and a ham and cheese sandwich.

    • Boqueria

      53 West 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
      212/255-4160
      about $100 for two, with a few drinks, without tip
      ♥

      Arabella and I discussed dinner options and cravings one evening: I am Frenched out for the moment (her) and Can we keep it chill? (me). Tapas, an eating concept from the Basque Country, could be anything bite-sized on a small plate. It’s not French and it’s definitely the most laid-back way I can think of in terms of eating dinner, so to Boqueria we went. I am still reeling from my Catalan vacation and because I had lunch at the boqueria three times while I was in Barcelona, eating pintxos (pin-chos) was an easy pick.

      The quail egg was fried and served on top of a sausage sliver and a crispy baguette. It needed a good drizzle of olive oil. I liked the idea of a date stuffed with almonds wrapped in bacon, but then again, I like anything with bacon. The squid was served with a handful of limp mixed greens; perhaps stewed chick peas could have made the dish more lively.

      The consolation, however, was the service. The place got crowded as it got later but our bartender-server made sure she gave us her attention. She was very patient with the mixed crowd: one actually opened up his laptop at the bar and another kept screaming for a Syrah until she politely explained that he was in a Spanish bar. Men in suits kept bumping our backs with their obnoxious laptop murses, so she made us stay by comping a glass of white and a glass of sangria. Although the space is very sleek and the buzz infectious, the food at this Boqueria could be a little more inspired.

      Related post/s:
      Tia Pol has the tapas down
      More Catalan-inspired tapas at Casa Mono

    • Applewood

      501 11th street off Seventh Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
      718/768.2044
      $160 for two, with several drinks, with tip
      ♥ ♥ ♥

      I believe it’s called skill when a chef can take a cheap cut of veal and mask it as if it’s not part of the animal’s chewy shoulder. And I believe that it’s only a sincere love for food that can make a lamb loin taste, not like lamb, but of the combination of the complementary ingredients with it.

      An amuse of roasted red beets with bloodoranges was a good start to a nicely-paced dinner at Applewood. The beets were tender but gave softly in my mouth. A seared Maine scallop sat in soup; I was only disappointed that I didn’t have a spoon to slurp all of it. A braised Vermont pork belly was crunchy and yet so delicate with the tiny pieces of eggplant, my smile stretched past my ears. The lamb loin was soft and really tasted like a nice cut of beef especially with the slightly bitter daikon and the creamy (but a little too salty) polenta. And veal shoulder, an inexpensive cut meant to be braised for hours, was naturally chewy but it was presented with such skill that you accept it just the way nature intended it. We ended the night with a small muffin of almond cake and it came with Seckel pear, the miniature sweet-sour kind excellent for cooking. A much bigger dessert, nectarine cobbler, was eaten until the last crumb was unseen.

      Treading to Brooklyn for dinner is an ordeal for us Harlem residents, but we are well aware of the restaurants cropping up in support of sustainable local products and we are slowly making our way to eating in the outer boroughs. Applewood, for the last two years, has been changing their menu daily to ensure the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients. (An onion martini is a must-have before dinner is served.) An otherwise quiet Tuesday night dinner became special.

    • Chinese Mirch

      120 Lexington Avenue corner of 28th Street
      212/532.3663
      $65 for two, without drinks, with tip
      ♥

      Mirch is loosely translated as spicy in Hindi and the combination of Sichuan and Cantonese cuisines happily bring out the intense flavor of Indian cooking. The positive is that the dishes are lighter than what I am used to because pork and beef are not in the menu in honor of the Muslim and Hindi diets. The negative is that the distinctive flavor of all the cuisines combined may be too much for a diner with a less friendly stomach. Indeed, mine protested when I got home–three times.

      We ordered the lime coriander soup which was deliciously sour for me. It was clear broth but a little gooey, perhaps a little cornstarch made it so. This is exactly what the Chinese Indian combination was like throughout our entire meal–saucy and spicy. We also had their notorious chicken lollipops, wing meat pulled back to form a ball at the other end of the bone. My brother makes them at home but the Mirch version has enough garlic to make them addicting. They’re deep-fried to crunchy perfection that I had to order one serving to go so that my father can taste them. The deep-fried okra were served in a container fit for Belgian fries and each okra sliver was coated in batter and peppered with paprika and other chili spices. The vegetarian meatballs were quite good, too, and even after eating one of the green chiles swimming in even more sauce, we were still craving for more. The chicken and garlic noodles were satisfying although the chicken bits were barely detectable. I loved pouring the vinegar that was on our table over them.

      The waiters are friendly but the service is abrupt. Our waiter tried to take plates away twice even though we were still eating. He also tipped over the okra container to see if we were done with them that I was tempted to slap him on the arm so he would chill. We ordered a bowl of rice when the two main courses were served but it never came. When it was included in our bill and I alerted the cashier, they insisted that we ate the rice they brought to our table. Our waiter pointed to a small grain of rice on our table and asked, But what is this over here? as if we would really try to skip over paying $1.39. They let the bill stand, as I suggested, and I gave them $1.39 less on the tip. Can you blame me if I just didn’t want to pay for what wasn’t served? The waiters also let us leave without giving us the leftovers we asked to take home. It was a good thing we remembered half a block away. When we opened our bag, the new order of chicken lollipops were there (I ordered two but they only gave and charged me for one) but the leftover noodles weren’t. We were just too tired to correct another mistake that we just decided to walk away.

    • Braised Oxtails

      My father denies that he bought the Mario Batali extra large Dutch oven for me. He said he bought it for himself so he can make his Filipino specialties without crowding the smaller pots we already have. I’ll let him slide, but to christen his new and glistening red pot, I braised some oxtails and kicked off autumn. Braising has got to be one my favorites things to do. A little beefy wine, a little stock, some good meat–you can just leave everything in the oven for a couple of hours. Browning is the key and it’s the step that a lot of Filipinos skip–they love their pressure cooker too much. When the meat falls off the bone without force, it’s like Christmas. If you love to cook, I think you have to give in some of your time to do beautiful things like this.

      Ingredients:
      6 pieces of oxtails
      red wine
      beef broth
      1/2 stick of butter
      1 red onion
      5 garlic cloves, crushed
      2 leeks, white parts only, chopped
      2 celery ribs, chopped
      1 medium carrot, chopped
      3 thyme sprigs
      3 bay leaves
      1 bunch parsley stems

      1. Preheat oven to 350º. Meanwhile in a large Dutch oven, add some butter over medium heat until foam subsides and brown the oxtails on all sides, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
      2. Add vegetables to the pot and sauté until softened. Add the oxtails back arranging them in one layer. Add wine, herbs and enough stock to cover the oxtails. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and place inside the oven on the middle rack and braise until meat is tender and almost falling off the bone, about 2 hours.
      3. Remove the oxtails to a plate. Pour the braising liquid through a fine sieve into a saucepan and discard the other solids. Boil liquid until thick and reduced. Serve with pasta.

      Related post/s:
      Other oxtail recipes

    • Bar Bossa

      232 Elizabeth Street between Houston and Prince
      212/625.2345
      $57 for one, with four drinks, with tip
      ♥ ♥

      Both times I’ve eaten at Bar Bossa, I sat in the back room with a group of friends where bathroom visitors always say, Oh, I didn’t know there was a table back here. Sitting in the back is like sitting in someone’s cozy and well-lit home where the whiff of the good food about to come out from the kitchen floats around. You can reserve the back ahead of time, but in one of our visits, we walked in and were accommodated without any problems. (Check out the soap in the bathroom as I’m sure it will be a topic of conversation at your table.) I’ve also dined at the bar alone–yes, I was very proud of myself, too–and I enjoy their fish entree with braised tomatoes.

      The owners are English and Brazilian but the Latinos in the kitchen run the show, churning out specials like pork chops with chayote, pineapple and potato peppered with crispy sausage and breaded beef steak with rice and watercress. Their offerings play on all kinds of cuisine: baked crab meat in a clam shell, beef carpaccio on a bed of mixed greens and even Italian paninis. Several cocktails and a bottle of wine later, even the assorted desserts taste good: bananas baked in coconut, Guiness chocolate cake, passion fruit-flavored sponge cake with whipped cream. The bar is proud of their caipirinhas which come in different flavors. With the amount of liquor they put in them, they have no reason not to be.

    • Otto Pizzeria e Enoteca

      One Fifth Avenue on 8th Street
      212/995.9559
      $90 for three, with several drinks, with tip
      ♥ ♥

      When a group of my friends and I just want a laid-back night with good food but can’t afford the other Batali establishments, we end up at Otto where we can eat thin-crust pizzas cooked on a flat-iron griddle. My favorite is the funghi and taleggio pizza with earthy mushrooms and fragrant taleggio cheese. The fennel with bottarga, or Italian caviar, showered with mozarella and pecorino pizza is also delicious. For those who want something more familiar, the classic marinara and pepperoni pizzas are also available as well as smaller pasta dishes like penne, spaghetti and linguine. We spend most of our money in antipasti like prosciutto, octopus, tomato and mozarella salad and the anchovies.

      The service is brisk especially when the place is hopping on weekends. If you prefer to skip the dining room, there are tables at the bar where you can just stand and hover over your food and Italian wine. During one visit, our waiter bumped into our table and spilled water all over my brother’s lap. They apologized by bringing him a complimentary beer and dessert afterwards. It’s not Babbo, but your wallet will gladly thank you for it.

      Related post/s:
      Babbo

    • Chestnut and Chickpea Hotpot

      I bought The Food of Spain and Portugal to skim through during my flight back from Barcelona and made marks to the recipes I’d like to test at home. Not wanting to let go of our Catalan experience just yet, I picked Extramadura’s puchero de castañas con garbanzos, or chestnut and chickpea hotpot to get that comforting feeling we had when we ate chickpeas at almost every tapas bar in Barcelona.

      This recipe needs a little bit of planning ahead to soak the chickpeas and chestnuts overnight.
      I used the Goya chickpeas from the grocery store. As for the chestnuts, there’s plenty in Chinatown that’s packaged dry, but I wanted the ones soaked in water because I didn’t get the chance to soak them with the chickpeas. (Note that chestnuts in water is different from water chestnuts!) At Dean and Deluca, I bought a $9.50 can of Clement Faugier whole chestnuts in water, a French brand–a little steep but that’s why I said you should plan ahead. There are plenty of smoked ham hocks in my grocery store for less than $2 and because I only used them to flavor the broth, I didn’t feel too bad about throwing them out after cooking. The dried pimento peppers I found at Despaña for $1.50 in a small box. They were chewy after cooking so I just discarded them, too.

      The temperature dropped down to 65 on my way home and it was a little bit chilly. Coming home to make this hotpot with a couple of glasses of Shinn Estate’s Red was what I just needed to wind down. It is great with country bread from Balthazar.

      Ingredients:
      half a 1-pound package of chickpeas, soaked overnight in water, drained
      1 can of chestnuts in water, drained
      1 smoked ham hock
      1 packaged of bacon, chopped
      2 garlic cloves, crushed
      2 ribs of celery, chopped
      3 dried pimento peppers, seeded and torn
      3 whole cloves
      1 bay leaf
      1/2 tsp crushed peppercorns
      2 hardboiled eggs
      a handful of shiitake mushrooms, wiped off clean and chopped
      parsley, finely chopped
      thyme
      salt, pepper, olive oil

      1. In a large casserole, combine all the ingredients except the egg, mushrooms, parsley and seasonings. Add enough water to cover everything and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a little and let simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until chickpeas are soft while ocassionally stirring. Add some more water if needed; the dish should be more soupy than dry.
      2. Stir in the olive oil so that the broth will emulsify and become creamier and let it boil again. Discard the bay leaf and the pimento peels. Season with some salt.
      3. In the meantime, fry the mushrooms in a pan with hot olive oil and season with thyme, salt and pepper. Add to the pot, stir a bit and turn off the heat. Stir in the parsley and serve with the eggs.

      Related post/s:
      The Food of Spain and Portugal at Amazon.com
      Where to get chestnuts and pimento peppers

    • Hunts Point Fish Market

      After a nice dinner at Peter Luger and a few drinks in the lower east side, we went back to Harlem, drank some coffee and drove to da Bronx. It took a lot of effort to stay past 3am.

      We visited the Fulton Fish Market a couple of years ago, and when they decided to move the facility to Hunts Point, people didn’t know if it was going to be a good thing or a bad thing. Seeing how much bigger the space was, I doubt any of the dealers complain now. The 400,000-square feet space along Food Center Drive cost about $86 million to create, but it’s so vast, clean, well-lit and seemed like a much better space than what they had at Fulton Street. Plus, they’re a few blocks away from the cooperative market which sells meat and other produce, so one can make a trip and buy everything he needs.

      It was like walking into a large freezer. The place was buzzing with the beeps from the forklifts and the hustle of the fishmongers and dealers. Most of them only sell wholesale, but one guy let us buy two yellow tail snappers for $11, which is definitely cheaper–and fresher–than anything I can buy in Chinatown for the same price. Besides, I rarely see whole yellow tail snappers in stores.

      Related post/s:
      Hunts Point Fish Market photos on Flickr

    • Storm King Art Center

      The clouds finally lifted after seven days of rain and mist. We all woke up to the sun shining through our windows. Just in time, too, because this is our last hurrah for the summer. It took a while for us to get ready because of last night’s festivities in a few Fort Greene bars and a copious dinner at Blue Ribbon, but we were out the door by 1pm.

      The drive to Storm King was beautiful. It was as if the trees were greener than they usually were; as if they were celebrating the end of the torrential rains. It was cool enough to keep the car windows open and have Arctic Monkeys and Jurassic 5 blasting through the car radio.

      At Storm King, we parked our car and had a quick picnic with our Cuban sandwiches courtesy of El Partido in Washington Heights. We moved the car to the second parking lot afterwards and started our walk through the museum. The 500-acre open space in itself was a lot to take in. The oats, alfalfa and buckwheat plants are starting to take over the fields–part of the museum’s efforts to reintroduce grasses and wildflowers after the land became susceptible to invasive plants.

      The sculptures made us feel insignificant. When you walk around them, you feel like there is nothing else to think about except for how tiny you are compare to everything else that concerns the rest of the world. It was tiny bit of a humility lesson, really.

      The Dr. had been there before. He showed me his favorites which became mine, too, especially the Richard Serra “forks” jutting out of the small hills. My brother and I had the urge to climb the sculptures, but alas, we didn’t let our Filipino-ness embarrass him.

    • Blue Ribbon Brooklyn

      280 5th Avenue between 1st Street and Garfield Place, Park Slope, Brooklyn
      718/840.0404
      about $300 for three, with several drinks, without tip
      ♥ ♥

      It’s been years since I’ve been to Park Slope. The Dr. used to live there and it was back then when he took me to Blue Ribbon for dinner. My brother was in town and we happened to be driving around Brooklyn one rainy Saturday, so when dinner time came up, I suggested we go back to his old ‘hood.

      Nothing’s changed about the restaurant. It’s still crowded and people still wait for their turn to be seated either at the bar or the dining room in the back. We were lucky that a table for three just opened up when we walked in. The menu hasn’t changed either. Seasonal seafoods still dominate the menu–a pound of crayfish were ordered to start with a dozen oysters. Their bone marrow and oxtail marmalade is still one of our favorites. When you poke out the fat and eat it with the sweetness of the jelly preserve, you’ll understand why. The steak tartare was just another plate of appreciated excess with the several glasses of sparkling and red wine we drank.

      The service is pretty attentive even though the place is so busy. A Blue Ribbon experience usually ends up not needing the attention of the service staff: you just eat and eat.

      Related post/s:
      Roasted bone marrow recipe