Deadliest Catch

Airs on Discovery Channel on Tuesdays at 9:00

My brother was already an occasional watcher, but I got totally hooked on this show! Narrated by Discovery hunk Mike Rowe, it's just naturally action-packed and dramatic. (Did you know that fatalities for a season of crab-fishing average out to person a week?!) And it gets bonus awesome points for playing Bon Jovi during title credits.

As a family we watched something like 15-20 episodes during the long weekend Deadliest Catch marathon. Yes, we are a family of nerds.

We also love us some crab. Dungeness is great almost year-round in Vancouver, but Alaskan King crab season is truly legendary. The price for these monster crabs - live in tanks in most restaurants - dips below $20/lb, sometimes even below $15/lb, and Chinese restaurants do a particularly tasty preparation with tons of garlic called suan long. YUM!

Broder's Pasta Bar

Occasion: Family dinner

Location: Broder's on Penn Ave South in Minneapolis (broders.com)

Edibles: clams in white wine; sausage pizza; caprese salad; pasta with salad greens, asparagus, chicken, mascarpone and balsamic; lobster fettucine; pappardelle with wild boar ragu; lemon ricotta cheesecake and tiramisu for dessert

Musings: I would totally eat at Broder's if it was in New York - and that's pretty much my highest compliment for out-of-town eats. The restaurant was bustling and close to full occupancy even at 5:30, and it's not hard to see why. The décor was clean and modern with some kitschy touches - I loved the metal collanders used as lampshades. The prices were more than reasonable and every dish was outstanding.

The pizza had a wonderful yeasty crust and I couldn't resist a second slice. My favorite of the pastas (all fresh and homemade) was the pappardelle, but an honorable mention goes to the chicken one. It had a lot of surprising ingredients that could have disastrous together but which, instead, melded together into a very unusual and refreshing dish. A great gastronomic mind conceived that dish.

Highly recommended!!

La Belle Vie

Occasion: Family dinner
Location: La Belle Vie on Groveland Ave in Minneapolis (labellevie.us)
Edibles: five-course tasting menu - gougères and a tuna amuse bouche to kick off; scallop crudo with fennel; skate with an artichoke ravioli; poussin with fava beans and ramps; a Mediterranean-y lamb dish; mascarpone cake with rhubarb compote for dessert, and petit fours

Musings: Tasty, but another restaurant for the anorexic model in your life. The portions were teeny tiny - I've never before, for example, been served a single poussin breast. There was between two and three bites of every protein. At $65 dollars a head, they really should be more generous with their serving sizes.

Dining room was a bit stiff and formal, the sort of place you might take your grandmother for a special occasion. The bar / lounge looked a little livelier, but only works for smaller parties. As I said, the food was good and certainly elegantly prepared but I was disappointed with the overall experience.

Baker's Square

Occasion: Search for nostalgic pie from my dad's student days / post-hike snack
Location: Baker's Square on W. 66th in Minneapolis
Edibles: pie all around - Hawaiian strawberry for my dad, blueberry for my mom, key lime for my brother, cherry for my sister, and strawberry cream cheese pie for me

Musings: My top priority for this Minneapolis trip was to get some of this pie, if it was still around to be had:

(Yep, that's me, circa 1982. A pie fiend since toddlerhood.)

Didn't help matters that my dad can't remember the name or location of the place. An old geezer running the tram at Lake Harriet thought it might be Baker's Square, so we checked it out.

Sadly, I don't think this is the place. You walk in, and it doesn't even smell like a bakery, i.e., like you could gain 5 lbs just from inhaling deeply. It's a Denny's-type chain and, while the pie was okay, it was hardly a slice of heaven that a person remembers fondly thirty years later.

Pie from my childhood, are you still out there somewhere?

Zelo

Occasion: Dinner with my sister
Location: Zelo on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis (zelomn.com) - blog goes on the road!
Edibles: fried calamari app to share; my sister had a salad with shrimp, goat cheese and pine nuts; I had linguine with local ham and baby peas in a cream sauce

Musings: With family members flying in from LAX, EWR and YVR, logistical difficulties were bound to arise. My flight and my sister's landed mostly on schedule, but the folks and my brother got seriously delayed out of Vancouver. So much for a family dinner on Friday. Still, after a lunch / snack consisting of airplane pretzels and a little container of bland pasta salad smuggled on board from my office cafeteria, I was determined to have a nice dinner. And a big glass of wine. (Traveling on a long weekend BLOWS.)

The lady at our hotel's front desk recommended this place. Certainly not my first choice for local info, but Zelo turned out to be pretty decent.

[Incidentally, I have yet to find a good shorthand way to describe exactly what it is I'm looking for. Namely, a place that's nice but not too fancy or expensive, where the menu is small and seasonal and the chef is creative, but not weird, and cares deeply about what comes out of his kitchen. What I'd like to say - but can't because it would make me sound like a tool - is, "I live in New York City. I know from good food."]

The Italian was solid. The serving of calamari was huge and came with a nice garlicky aioli for dipping. The half portion of my pasta was plenty, as is almost always the case with cream-based sauces. My sister's salad was a little puny, but the shrimp were good.

Here's the unexpected part. We looked over the menu to see what we could get for takeout for my parents. "Anything Asian?" asked my sister. "I doubt it - this is an Italian restaurant," I replied. But lo and behold, there was a Thai shrimp noodle dish and an Asian sesame salad with chicken. My mom quite liked both. Not a bad start to our trip.

Top Chef Masters Season 2, Ep. 8

Original Air Date: May 26, 2010

1) Complete failure of common sense in the Quickfire. Jonathan, Asian recipes generally do not use butter. Susan, chasseur is a French sauce. It's got mirepoix, parsley, salt and pepper. That's six ingredients without even thinking. Susur, garlic is not a common ingredient in classic stocks and sauces. Also, why struggle over the kind of oil in the chasseur when you hadn't even named the veal?
2) A soy sauce-glazed egg served with coconut jam on toast seems schizo to me. The inspiration was Aphrodite, Susan, not Janus.
3) The show could have come up with some more interesting gods than Poseidon, Dionysus and Aphrodite. Imagine being asked to cook a dish based on Terpsichore, the muse of dance, or Nike, the spirit of victory.

Top Chef Masters Season 2, Ep. 7

Original Air Date: May 19, 2010

1) A Quickfire/Elimination sweep for Susan! Girl power!
2) I think guest judge Jason Lezak is awesome (more below) and I'd totally make out with him - swimmers are HOT. But what does he know about judging food, exactly?
3) Susur, this whole "I don't know tailgating" routine is crap. Asians have great streetfood traditions. There's no excuse for that weird Austrian dumpling you decided to make.
4) Tony seemed pretty bitter about his loss. I'm sure the pizza was good and all, but other than making the dough, he didn't really cook anything. It was the right call.

Aside: I saw Jason Lezak swim for gold in Beijing. He swam anchor for the 4x100 freestyle relay team and heroically made up almost a body length's deficit on the French. That's them, neck-in-neck in lanes 4 and 5, just before the 0.08-second US win.

Lezak's on the far left. He totally deserves all four of the gold medals for the relay team. Incidentally, Michael Phelps (standing beside him) swam first leg and touched in sixth out of eight teams. Duffer.

Billy's Bakery

Location: 9th Ave between 21st and 22nd (billysbakerynyc.com)

Musings: For the price of Jill's one marshmallow at Recette, I got a massive wedge of red velvet cake, two cupcakes for the road, and a café au lait. The fluffy, whipped frosting on Billy's red velvet isn't quite as good as Buttercup's dense and unctuous version (cream-cheesy goodness!), but the size of the slice is generous to say the least and cake is nice and moist.

Incidentally, you can get an un-frosted cupcake for about half the price of the frosted ones. For those of you who consider this blasphemy, A) I intended to eat them for breakfast the next day and it's easier on the conscience without frosting, and B) I ended up having a few leftover dabs from the red velvet cake that I was able to repurpose.

Recette

Occasion: Dinner with Jill and Elizabeth
Location: Recette on W 12th between Hudson and Greenwich St (recettenyc.com)
Edibles: I had the pea soup to start and the veal main; Jill had the arugula salad to start, the same main and the s'more dessert; Elizabeth started with a cheese plate and had the branzino

Musings: I'm sure a lot of people love this place, but it's not for me. For one thing, it's surprisingly loud for such a small space with no music (that I can remember). We were screaming at each other just to be heard.

As for the food, keep Recette in mind if you find yourself dating an anorexic model. The portions are positively miniscule (though what there was, was delicious). The $28 veal dish - a duo of tenderloin wrapped in Parma ham and braised cheek - was about six bites of food. Elizabeth's branzino was the size of playing card, and about half an inch thick. Jill's $8 dessert was, no exaggeration, a single brûléed marshmallow, a sliver of tuile cookie and a quenelle of ice-cream.

We all walked out still hungry.

Martha Stewart's Cookies

by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living

My review: 4/5 stars

I'm SO not a baker, but even I'm mesmerized by this cookbook. Gorgeous photographs and mouth-watering ideas.

A bunch that caught my eye on a flip-through: Gingersnap palmiers. Cream cheese pinwheels. Cornmeal thyme cookies. Cashew caramel cookies. Whole wheat date bars. Oatmeal applesauce cookies. Chewy molasses crinkles. Apricot windows. Pistachio lemon drops. Iced hermits. Hazelnut orange shortbread. Maple pecan shortbread. Lime meltaways. Bourbon currant cookies. Rocky Ledge bars with butterscotch chips, mini marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Lemon madeleines. Pumpkin cookies with brown butter icing. Carrot cake cookie sandwiches with cream cheese frosting. Raspberry honey financiers. Peanut butter whoopie pies. Fresh peach drop cookies. Chocolate pretzels. Earl Grey tea cookies. Chocolate black pepper cookies. Butter twists. Cassis crisps. Alfajores de dulce de leche. Rugelach fingers.

YUM! Yining, when's the next cookie bake-a-thon?

Top Chef Masters Season 2, Ep. 6

Original Air Date: May 12, 2010

1) Tony, you had me at "fried bacon honey pizza dough."

2) I didn't know that Paul McCartney is the reason why Lisa's a vegetarian. I do remember the "There's enough gazpacho for everyone!" episode and quote it a lot.

3) What was up with the creepy taxidermied animals on the cart?!

4) This is what I know about the exotic items:

     - Geoduck: Delicious, if tremendously odd-looking. I always thought it

       looked like a clam that tried to eat an elephant, but couldn't quite manage

       the trunk. I would have picked this for sure. You barely need to cook

       geoduck - a quick dunk in boiling water, some microgreens, a little

       dressing and you have a fantastic salad. I'm really surprised Marcus

       bungled it to the degree he did.

     - Sea cucumber: A pain to prepare and tastes like fish-flavored Jell-O. The

       standard Chinese preparation involves literally days of soaking and

       blanching and peeling. I'm impressed with Susan's tempura idea; I've

       never seen it done like that before.

     - Black chicken: Flavorful but pretty scrawny. Mostly used to make chicken

       broth / stock. Interesting that both Rick and Susur decided to go French

       with their ingredients.

5) To answer Jay's question of why someone would try to eat a crazy-looking animal, the answer is obvious - they were very, very hungry. You can see some of this in French cuisine. I mean, escargots? At some point, a guy looked at a snail and thought, "If I cook it with lots of garlic, maybe it won't be so bad."

6) I usually want a big plate of whatever Jonathan cooks but versatility is definitely not his strength. (Nor is plating.)

Congee Village

Occasion: Comfort food takeout
Location: Congee Village on Allen between Delancey and Broome (sunsungroup.com/congeevillage)
Edibles: Five Spices duck; pork and preserved egg congee; fish congee

Musings: Cold weather + a touch of the sniffles = Congee Time! I can make the plain version for myself, using a short-grained Japanese rice. But today I was craving the savory Cantonese version, which has an altogether different texture. (OK, it's not unlike a bowl of paste. But be open-minded - oatmeal and grits are in the same goopy family.)

The pork congee was fine but the fish one had tons of little bones in it - I found one in almost every other bite. I think they used trimmings, or parts near the belly. Poor form there. The duck was not roasted, as I expected, but rather braised in a salty soy sauce-based broth. Didn't come close to matching Hing Won's.

Can't argue with the prices - $2.95 for a quart of the pork and $3.95 for the fish - but it will obviously take some more trial and error before I get the hang of their menu.

Mmmm... my mom's hot toddy

A cockail and a cure-all. (Don't freak out when you get to the third ingredient - my mom didn't start making this for us until we were, like, in college.)

juice of 1 whole lemon (just half if it's a really gigantic lemon)

honey to taste (I'm pretty impervious to acid so I use about 1 tbsp)

a good belt of whiskey or cognac

hot water to fill the mug

I like to throw the lemon husks into the mug - the hot water releases some of the oils in the zest. While it's hardly modern medicine, the lemon is a dose of vitamin C, honey is soothing for the throat and the booze is a helping hand to a good night's sleep.

99¢ Fresh Pizza

Occasion: Snack time! Any time!
Location: 99¢ Fresh Pizza on 34th between 2nd and 3rd
Edibles: pizza, natch

Musings: This place is not good news for my waistline. Walking past it four to eight times a day + the no-brainer price of 99¢ = a LOT of pizza. I have eaten more pizza since this place opened a few weeks ago than I probably ate in the entirety of 2009.

I think this pizza is as good as anything else you can find in the vicinity for three to four times the price but you need to manage your expectations, as we lawyers would say. The crust is bready and chewy (though I think they should keep it in the oven longer to develop some crunch), the cheese is decent, the service is fast. Business is brisk so the pizza's usually pretty fresh.

You can get toppings for 50¢ apiece, but that seems to undermine the whole point of 99¢ pizza. I load on the free "toppings" of parmesan, black pepper and Italian herbs from the little shakers. Nostalgia - just like I used to do as a student...

Top Chef Masters Season 2, Ep. 5

Original Air Date: May 5, 2010

1) I always wonder what kind of couple would choose to have their big fancy wedding catered in a day by reality show contestants.
2) Based on what they said (groom - meat and potatoes; bride - French and Asian), choosing the bride seemed to be a no-brainer. She's giving you a lot more latitude. Plus, there's no way you're going to let Susur cook his strongest cuisine if you can help it. BUT... I think Blue Team failed to account for the fact that the bride is always harder to please than the groom. The teams ended up being pretty evenly restricted, I thought.
3) Ballsy decision on Jody's part to go with lamb when the bride specifically said she didn't like it. But, then again, the judges' marks count for 75% of the total score.
4) Even before seeing the finished product, I could have told you that Jonathan Waxman wasn't the person to task with decorating the cake - his plates are always super sloppy. That cake looked like it had been trampled, or made by a 3-year-old. The couple should have gone with Susur's croquembouche for the cake pictures. (Incidentally, one way Blue Team could have made a gorgeous and easy wedding cake was to just ice it white and decorate it with fresh flowers.)
5) Why was the carrot cake green? Is that something BC hippies do?
6) To answer your bf's suggestion of marriage with a "F*ck you!" - that's pretty badass. Is Susur's gf really as blunt and salty as he makes her out to be? If so, I want to hang out with her. I bet Tony Bourdain would too.

Terrior, part II

Occasion: Drinks with James
Location: Terroir on E 12th at 1st Ave (wineisterroir.com)
Edibles: prosciutto; marinated cremini mushrooms; beet and orange salad; olive oil cake with rhubarb compote

Musings: Not as stellar a performance as on my first visit. I was a little miffed that the chef wouldn't share the secret fritata she had stashed in the oven, and the rhubarb was strangely salty and slimy (though both the waiter and the chef swore up and down that was how it was supposed to taste.)

Veselka

Occasion: Post-movie (Iron Man 2) brunch
Location: Veselka on 2nd Ave between 9th and St Marks (veselka.com)
Edibles: mushroom, spinch, cheddar omelet with potato pancake for me; French toast for Robert

Musings: Veselka has long been one of my favorite places to go after karaoke on St Marks, when the midnight munchies strike. They're more interesting than your standard diner, and the pierogies and potato pancakes really hit the spot.

I had never been here during the day before but it turns out their potato pancakes, heaped with applesauce and sour cream, are just as good in daylight when you're sober as they are in the wee hours when you're pretty buzzed (and hoarse from screaming "Livin' on a Prayer" multiple times at the top of your lungs).

Nam Son

(Post #200! Thanks to all my old faithfuls, and welcome to my newcomers!)

Occasion: Pho for Cinco de Mayo! Umm.... yeah.... The crew included Melissa and Tony, Sung and Mike, Alicia and Robert
Location: Nam Son on Grand between Bowery and Chrystie
Edibles: spring rolls; summer rolls; lemongrass noodles with beef and onion; bird's nest stir-fry; a giant burrito-like thing; three orders of pho with "everything" (assorted meats and tripes); spicy noodles; rice crêpes with ham; a colorful shaved ice dessert

Musings: All that and assorted beverages, for an amazing $17 per person after tip and tax. Thanks to Robert for sharing his pho place, and introducing us to many other Vietnamese culinary delights besides. (The restaurant recs were really flying! My fellow diners could teach a class on where to get good Southest Asian food in NYC. Mike and Sung, it was great to meet you and I can't wait to try Wondee Siam #1.)

My favorites were classics: the spring rolls, wonderfully crunchy and piping hot, and the pho. On the pho, don't be fooled by the bargain basement price of $6.25 - the bowl is absolutely HUMONGOUS and more than enough for three or more to share. The broth was great, and though I couldn't positively identify all the animal parts I fished out, hey, that's the spirit of adventure.

The lemongrass noodles with beef were good - I'd get them again, with a group. The flavors and textures in the rice crêpe dish struck me as kind of odd; it might be an acquired taste. I'd pass on the bird's nest stir-fry, which struck me as pretty ho-hum. But, all in all, it was a fantastic meal. Two thumbs up. [Postscript: I woke up the next day, still full.]

The carnage:

Top Chef Masters Season 2, Ep. 4

Original Air Date: April 28, 2010

1) I liked Maria's approach to the Quickfire. The soup-main-dessert composition was both creative and elegant.
2) Susur's pineapple ravioli idea was really cool but he should have chosen something other than red berries for the filling. Like maybe mango or citrus? The juice bleeding through the pineapple was a little CSI for me. He also threw, like, ten thousand other things on the plate and turned it into a crazy mess. A little restraint, dude.
3) Wow, Rick must have amazing relationships with both his ex and his current wife to make his situation work.
4) Is Sofia Vergara ridiculously good-looking or what? I'm glad she's not MY co-worker.
5) I wish the judges had said a little more about what made Susur's unremarkable-sounding chicken curry, like, the best food ever cooked. I mean, Julie Bowen liked it a lot, but based on the judges' table discussion I never would have guessed that he'd score as high as he did. But way to go, Susur! Go Canada!