Shanghai Expo 2010 - Norway

My crazy uncle-in-law (my dad's sister's husband's brother) found a loophole in the Expo queue system: if you make a reservation in the dining room, you can tour the main part of the pavilion directly after your meal. (Those Expo lines were no joke. The line for the Saudi Arabian Pavilion ranged from 6 to 9 hours.)

We started with lunch at the Norwegian Pavilion. The food (prepared by fursetgruppen.no) was excellent - seafood imported from Norway, skillfully prepared and presented in that spare Scandinavian way. It didn't look like a heavy meal, but it was deceptively rich and filling. [Postcript: Norway ended up serving the best meal we had at the Expo, completely eclipsing the offerings of traditional culinary countries like France and Italy.]

This is salmon prepared four ways (smoked; with lemon oil; with sliced almonds; cured) and some soft scrambled eggs.

Seafood chowder, roasted potatoes, salmon with beurre noisette and Asian-influenced cod with braised mushrooms. That chowder was thin, but a real umami powerhouse.

This is cod main - pan-fried, topped with an apple-fennel salad, with spinach purée. Also very tasty. We somehow ended up with an extra one of these so I ended up eating one and a half mains. (What? I'm on vacation.)

Dessert: fruit, a lovely lemon sorbet and a chocolate mousse. I also had a glass of aquavit. It's... an acquired taste. (I could easily imagine it being used to de-grease an engine.)

I'm happy to report I was able to fight off the food coma for an afternoon of pavilion-touring.

Menya Musashi

Occasion: The search for authentic ramen.

Location: Menya Musashi in Shinjuku, Tokyo. You can find them at www.m634.com/634/

Edibles: ramen, natch - I had the cold ramen with one pork and one egg (then had to get an extra pork - it was just so good); my mom had the regular hot ramen with one pork and one egg; my brother had the house special hot ramen with three porks

Musings: It's a tiny little unitasker shop. There are maybe twenty seats, four guys in the kitchen. A fun part of the experience is ordering from the ticket machine. (Apparently, this kind of set-up is fairly commonplace in Tokyo - this way, the cooks don't have to handle any money.)

We spent quite some time trying to figure out the options, cobbling together info from my brother's rudimentary Japanese and my mom's Chinese (the source of Japanese kanji characters). Eventually, the kitchen guys took pity on us and sent out an English-speaker to explain the machine.

As it turns out, the machine has three rows, one each for cold ramen, hot ramen, and the house special. Then the columns represent different combinations of pork and egg. The first button is one pork, half an egg. Then one pork, a whole egg. Two porks, half an egg. Three porks. And finally, three porks and half an egg. The eagle-eyed will see that there's a fourth row of buttons further down. The function of most of these remains a mystery to us (side dishes? beverages? cigarettes?), but one was the button for my desired extra piece of pork.

On a hot, swelter-y day, cold ramen REALLY hits the spot. Zaru soba is one of my favorite summer meals, but cold ramen absolutely surpasses it.

The noodles were awesome - thick and really chewy, with a little twisty texture. The pork was likewise awesome. Each piece was a hefty block of meat, luscious and fatty, falling-apart tender, with deep, rich flavor.

Below is the house special with three porks. Looks like a real winner for colder weather.

Best of all, this place was way cheap. It was really just the beer that tipped us over the $10 mark. I have never had better ramen in my life. Unlike yesterday's yakitori, this place gave me a little pang. As good as my Minca is, this is leagues better.

[Note: Japanese people eat fast! In the time it took us to finish, I think they turned the seats next to us three times. And we weren't dawdling.]

In case you were wondering how we found Menya Musashi, the concierge at our hotel had a ramen map for the neighborhood!! How cool is that?

(click to enlarge)

Momotaro

Occasion: Our first proper dinner in Tokyo
Location: Momotaro in the Ebisu neighborhood of Tokyo (description and exact location in this article)
Edibles: lots o' chicken and skewers - details below.....

Musings: My sister was in Tokyo for business last year, and got taken to this place for dinner. I figured if Sony folks would take business guests here, it must be pretty legit. It wasn't too difficult to find (look for the KFC as a landmark) and, upon entering, I was pleased to see that it was a) tiny, and b) full of actual Japanese people. We ordered the tasting menu, about $35 per person, and waited for the magic to happen.

They started out with a bang - our first dish was chicken sashimi with raw sliced onions and grated ginger. Not for the faint of heart. I was immediately excited, but my mom refused to eat it. My thought process: if they dare to serve it, they must really trust their supplier. (They used to serve chicken sashimi at Yakitori Totto. They took it off the menu a couple of years ago during the avian flu epidemic, and I've always kicked myself for not trying it when I could.)

The chicken sashimi was lovely, very silky and subtle. Would I eat it again? Absolutely. But it wasn't SO special that I feel the need to seek it out stateside.

A proliferation of skewers followed: gizzard; chicken oyster (a part of the thigh); knee; chicken with scallion; chicken meatball; liver with a soy glaze; chicken neck; chicken "entrails" (I still have no idea what this was).

The liver and the neck were wonderful. I don't order liver a lot, but I do really enjoy it when it's prepared well. The chicken oyster was a little greasy compared to Totto's version. Momotaro's meatball was indisputably inferior to Totto's as well. The gizzard and the knee were a tad gristle-y and chewy for my taste (I don't usually order those) but objectively well-executed.

More skewers came: bacon and cheese; bacon and tomato; quail eggs; shiitake and peppers with sauce and bonito; some other kind of mushroom, possibly porcini or matsutake. The quail eggs were surprisingly delicate and tasty.

We got a couple of fried dishes next: deep-fried chicken strips; deep-fried knee; deep-fried something cartilaginous - I thought it was perhaps the keelbone.

We got a salad with some more chicken sashimi, some cold summer rolls with a garlicky sauce and some liver pâté on crostini....

.... and finally some onigiri (rice cakes).

Whew - what a meal! I ended up being a little divided on the chef's tasting. On the one hand, we undoubtedly ate some amazing things that we wouldn't otherwise have ordered. On the other hand, I'm familiar enough with yakitori that I could have done a decent job ordering à la carte, and saved myself crunching through quite a lot of chicken knees....

Bottom line: it was a great meal and I would certainly recommend Momotaro. But I'm also quite smug for NYC that we have some amazing yakitori right here.

Top Chef DC, Ep. 8

Original Air Date: August 4, 2010

1) I've never met a world cuisine I didn't like.... except Ethiopian. Please don't offer to take me to your favorite Ethiopian restaurant. I'm allowed to not like *one* cuisine, OK?

2) Kenny, you don't need to make a duo or a trio or seven freakin' dishes for every challenge. It's not been that successful a tactic to date.
3) Wow, they really pitched some softballs on the countries. France? Italy? What about Sweden for Marcus?
4) Ed, if you're making tea-smoked duck, spring for some quality loose leaf tea. Don't use Lipton tea bags.
5) I thought Kevin would crash and burn with his whole "I don't know anything about Indian food but I'm making my own curry powder" - but he pulled it off!
6) Does Alex have short-term memory problems, or is he a compulsive liar? Between last episode's Case of the Purloined Pea Purée and this episode's veal cheeks (which he told the judges were in his dish, even though he told Tom earlier that he couldn't find any at Whole Foods), he's looking pretty sketchy.

Mmmm... roasted pork tenderloin and corn salad

Another Movie Night in the books! Yining played host this time and screened The Princess Bride. She turned over her kitchen to me and, as always, I was happy to cook in a venue where I could abandon the dirty dishes to someone else's tender loving care. Our menu:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

For six people, I roasted two tenderloins. It's a pretty simple process. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Sear off in a skillet to develop a nice brown crust. Yining happened to have a little leftover prosciutto in her fridge, and I draped each tenderloin with a piece. Finish cooking in a 375° oven for about 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reads 145° on a meat thermometer.

The key to a properly cooked piece of meat is letting it come COMPLETELY to room temperature before you start cooking. I can't emphasize this enough. I've been guilty of violating this rule myself, and it invariably bites me in the ass. (Refer to the turkey debacle from last Christmas.) The science is simple: if the interior of the roast is cold, it will take a much longer time to come up to temp, and you will end up overcooking the exterior to achieve it.

Mustard Sauce

1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 small container of Greek yogurt
salt to taste

Drain some of the liquid out of Greek yogurt. To do so, line a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth if you're a fancy cook, or two sheets of kitchen paper towel if you're not. Let the yogurt drain for 15 minutes. In a dish, mix the yogurt with the mustard; season with salt. Done.

(I prefer the strong tang of Greek yogurt, but you can also use regular yogurt. You just have to strain out more liquid since it's runnier to begin with.)

Confetti Corn Salad

I thought the sweetness of summer corn would go great with the pork. In the fall, roasted apples with rosemary would be a nice side too.

6 ears of fresh corn, raw, with the kernels sliced off
2 red or orange bell peppers, de-seeded and diced
½ red onion onion, diced
a big bunch of cilantro, chopped
½ stick of butter
a splash of cider vinegar
S&P to taste

Sauté the corn kernels in the butter. You can cook the onion and the peppers or leave those raw for texture - your choice. Whatever you cook, let it come to room temperature before you toss in the other ingredients (to avoid inadvertently cooking them too).

This makes a gorgeous, colorful salad. Leftovers are great the next day.

Mascerated Berries

Strawberries these days are usually huge and picture perfect - and taste like nothing. For long-distance transportation, strawberries are picked early and ripened with ethylene gas in warehouses. If you cut one open and the bright red color is only skin deep, that's a sure sign. A sun-ripened berry is red all the way through.

To inject some flavor, I usually toss sliced strawberries in dark brown sugar and let them sit for a while before eating. This process is called masceration. A fancier version is below:

strawberries
blueberries
a drizzle of honey
a splash of port

Chop the strawberries. Combine with half the blueberries. Roughly mash the other half of the blueberries and add. Season with a good drizzle of honey and a splash of port. Let mascerate for at least half an hour, up to overnight. The pectin in the mashed-up blueberries with create a sort of glaze with the juices and the honey and port impart great flavor.

We served the berries with Costco mini brownies. Alternatively, spoon over angel's food or pound cake, yogurt or ice-cream.

Gerald and Mike, you're up next!

Top Chef DC, Ep. 7

Original Air Date: July 28, 2010

1) Ironic that they chose to offer $20,000 to the winning chef on a challenge that's based on ethics in lobbying.
2) From the looks of their proteins, The Palm strikes me as one of those really outdated restaurants still serving stuff that was cool in the '80s. The humongous steaks, 4lb lobsters? Very passé.
3) Nobody loves lobster more than me. Nobody. But when a lobster gets to 4lbs, I think it's earned its right to live. (Not to mention, they don't even taste as good as the little ones.)
4) As soon as I heard Andrea's plan for a vanilla-mustard sauce, I thought, "That takes more finesse than you've got, girlfriend." And I was right.
5) Did Alex steal Ed's pea purée? I think not. Too many cameras and people around for him to risk it.
6) I see Wardrobe's back on track - nice look on Padma for the Quickfire.

Otafuku

Occasion: Post-dinner snack with Winnie
Location: Otafuku on 9th between 2nd and 3rd
Edibles: Combo C - six pieces of takoyaki (described by on the menu as "hot savory wheat flour balls with a chopped piece of boiled octopus inside") and a half order of yakisoba (fried noodles)

Musings: A popular and busy food stall across the street from Robataya. (Methinks they get a fair bit of business from the restaurant's still-hungry diners.) They serve basically three things - the two things in our combo, and okonomiyaki, a sort of Japanese pancake.

Combo C was a wallet-friendly $9, and big enough to share. The takoyaki was topped with teriyaki sauce, some other creamy sauce, and bonito flakes. I wasn't crazy about the takoyaki - too soft and gluey for my taste. The yakisoba, however, was excellent. Studded with bits of shrimp and octopus, accompanied by a little pile of julienned pickled ginger, it was piping hot and flavorful. Yum.

The yakisoba is definitely worth a replay, and I will probably try the okonomiyaki next time as well. A good addition to the cheap eats repertoire.

Robataya

Occasion: Dinner with Winnie
Location: Robataya on 9th St between Stuyvesant and 2nd Ave (robataya-ny.com)
Edibles: grilled egglant; grilled onion; lamb chops; duck; Kobe beef; snow crab rice (they were out of our other choices - miso cod, smelts, portobello mushroom)

Musings: Robataya provided what, to me, is the quintessential Japanese restaurant experience: the food was exquisitely prepared, but the portions were miniscule and it was incredibly expensive. (Come to think of it, that's the quintessential NYC restaurant experience too.) Each item was between $5 (onion, eggplant) and $13 (Kobe), and typically was about four bites of food. To get a filling meal, I'm guessing you'd have to spend more than $100 a person. If you're looking for an Asian tapas sort of meal, I much prefer Yakitori Totto.

A lot of the dishes are cooked out front by two chefs. There's an incredibly elaborate staging area with all the proteins and veggies laid out. The chefs use long paddles to reach the raw materials and to serve the cooked dishes. If you're able to reserve a seat at the bar (we were not), it looks like it would be a good show.

I thought the Kobe beef was the weak link of the things we tried. It was barely seared and the rich veins of fat in the meat were still cold and solid. Everything else was good, and I only wished that there was more of it.

The snow crab rice ($15) was the highlight for me, really fragrant and hearty. I'd come back for just the rice and a beer. (Incidentally, snow crab is C. opilio - the stuff they fish on Deadliest Catch.)

The Meatball Shop

Occasion: Dinner with Ben
Location: The Meatball Shop on Stanton between Allen and Orchard (themeatballshop.com)
Edibles: the special "Bolognese" meatballs with spaghetti marinara and the chicken meatballs with seasonal greens and mushroom gravy

Musings: Meatballs are awesome. They just are. They probably rank around #4 on my list of all-time favorite eats - #1-3 being bacon, pie and lobsters. (I reserve the right to shuffle and revise this list at any time.)

I stumbled across a review for The Meatball Shop while clicking around on the interwebs and the idea of it just wouldn't leave my mind. Luckily, I was meeting Ben for dinner. I knew I could talk him into it. (And I did, easily.)

Like many other unitasker food places in NYC, The Meatball Shop was mobbed. We put down our name and went across the street to Móle for a margarita and a carnitas taco appetizer. The taco turned about to be somewhat ill-advised. On the one hand, I was starving and it was delicious, as always. It did, however, take up the room that might otherwise have been occupied by gingersnap ice-cream sandwiches for dessert. Oh, well. Next time.

(I'm pretty sure the hostess forgot about us, even though we left a cell number, but we were seated about 15 minutes after we circled back.)

Ben and I had a split vote on the meatballs. I really liked the special "Bolognese" ones, made with beef, mortadella and carrots. $11 for four meatballs and a "side" of spaghetti. The spaghetti was clearly a grocery-store-quality dried pasta, but cooked to a nice al dente.

Ben, who was skeptical about the chicken meatballs before dinner, ended up preferring them in our second dish. Called "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" on the menu, it's three meatballs with your choice of sauce served over market greens. $8 for that one. I found the assortment of greens, frankly, weird: we got sautéed spinach, some uncooked arugula, collard greens, broccoli and some corn shorn off the cob. I found the chicken meatballs slightly rubbery and a little heavy-handed on the fennel but Ben loved them.

If I have one criticism about the menu, it's that you can't mix and match meatballs (they have four kinds plus a daily special). I get that "one of each" orders would be a pain, but I think you should get to choose two kinds with an order of four.

All in all, an enthusiastic thumbs up. The food and drinks (we each had a pint) were very reasonably priced and the vibe was fun and casual. There are lots more meatballs in my future, for sure. Will budget stomach space for the gingersnap ice-cream sandwiches next time.

Luke's Lobster

Occasion: Post-movie (Despicable Me - awesome!) brunch with Robert and Yining
Location: Luke's Lobster on 7th St between 1st and A (lukeslobster.com) [Note: There's another location on the UES.]
Edibles: Yining and I had the lobster roll combo (with a drink and chips); Robert ordered one each of the lobster and crab rolls and was nice enough to let me have a nibble of the crab

Musings: Didn't match up to Pearl or Mary's in my book. First, the lobster meat in the roll is mostly lesser quality claw meat. Second, while there was a nice dill dressing on the lobster, there was no mayo - which is essential for me. Robert and Yining both liked it well enough and didn't miss the mayo at all, so it definitely depends on your personal tastes.

I liked the crab roll a lot - VERY generous with the crabmeat - and would definitely come back for that. (Ditto the shrimp roll, which nobody got but it looks great in the photo.)

Just so you know, the tiny shop has a couple of stools and some counter space for you to eat in but it's really more of a takeout place.

Top Chef DC, Ep. 6

Original Air Date: July 21, 2010

1) Why was foie gras on that Quickfire table? Way too easy! Someone had to cook duck testicles!!
2) When Tamesha, with her dead eyes, interviewed that she wanted to strangle Amanda with her bare hands, I was kinda scared for Amanda.
3) Ah, Tamesha - defeated by the scallop. Second only to dessert as a Top Chef Waterloo. I don't think she was the worst chef standing; unfortunately, she chose to suck on a day when the format really worked against her. I can see why Group B chose Kenny for the block, but there was no way the judges were going to send a strong contender home so early.

[P.S. Bravo, how about not putting a huge picture of the eliminiated cheftestant on your website? Spoiler much? Give people a couple of days to get to their DVR'ed shows!]

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip

by "The Waiter" (now known to be Steve Dublanica)

My review: 3/5 stars

High stress, high turnover job with demanding customers, where you kinda get hooked on the money. Hmmm.... sounds like a job I used to have.

Maybe it's place I am in my life right now, but I found this book to be less about restaurants, and more about the bigger questions of life, love and career that we all face.

All in all, not quite as entertaining as Kitchen Confidential but worth a read. Happy to lend you my copy, which I found secondhand myself.

"The crowds pile in the door, and my section fills up instantly - two six tops, two deuces, and a four. I take care of the two tops first. The six tops are chattering away, so I have time to get to them. I cocktail and special the deuces, head over to the four, ask what they want from the bar, then loop back to the two tops and grab their dinner order. I walk briskly to the POS computer, key in the data, make the four top's alcoholic chemistry experiments, and drop them off. The six tops' heads are swiveling on their necks looking for the waiter. I hit them next. I take all their drink requests - wine and martinis - and take the four's dinner order on the return trip. The bell rings. The deuce's apps are up. The door chimes. It's a reservation. The hostess is gone, probably in the bathroom. I drop off the apps, greet the new arrivals, and seat them. Racing to the wine cellar, I grab two bottles of wine, return to the service bar, make six martinis, deliver the drinks to the first six top, run back, grab the bottles of wine, one red and one white, and pop them open at the other six. I tell the bus girl to bring an ice bucket. The kitchen bell rings furiously. The four's apps are up. The door chimes. More reservations. Where the hell's the hostess? The deuce signals for more bread. The lady at the four top needs another cosmo. Do you take Discover? What are the specials? I'm allergic to rosemary. Does this have to have garlic? Can you make me a veal Parmesan? It's hot in here. Can you do something about the AC? The phone rings. I glance at the caller ID. It's Fluvio. I decide to ignore it. He spent thousands of dollars installing video cameras; let him see what's going on for himself.

Suddenly, I feel a tug on my shoulder. It's Beth. She has tears in her eyes.

"What's the matter?"

"The computer's not working."

"Oh shit," I say, my sphincter achieving maximum compression."

Top Chef DC, Ep. 5

Original Air Date: July 14, 2010

1) Some pretty graphic stuff in the Quickfire - crabs being chopped in half, still twitching, Ed is baking them alive, someone's boiling them alive. Though I guess I shouldn't talk, lobster serial killer that I am.
2) Best line of the episode - Angelo: "Well, I had crabs. It just brought back bad memories." HA!
3) Tim's dish was basically my default roasted veg for, like, every dinner party I have. He should have thrown some apples in there, or an interesting spice. Something. You're a chef, dude. Also, the care you take when you cut something that you intend to serve that way is very different than when you intend to purée it. I can't believe he thought he'd sneak that by the judges.
4) Broccoli couscous - I like it. Simple, visually appealing. Will probably be appearing at a dinner party in the near future.
5) More love for Eric Ripert. It's obvious he knows food and has high standards, but he's always so measured and diplomatic with his comments. I want him to talk foodie to me. And he's a snazzy dresser too!

Lupa, part II

Occasion: Dinner with Elizabeth
Location: Lupa on Thompson between Houston and Bleecker (luparestaurant.com)
Edibles: We shared little dishes of broccoli rabe with ricotta, beets with pistachio sauce and sautéed summer squash and zucchini to start; I had the fresh pea pasta for my main; Elizabeth had the spaghetti amatriciana

Musings: I've raved about Lupa before - see the older review here. But I just wanted to add a little additional gushing about the broccoli rabe (the ricotta was the perfect flavor to offset the bitterness of the veg) and my pasta. I'm not usually one to describe food as tasting like colors and feelings and whatnot, but that pasta just tasted so vibrantly green and spring-like, I don't know how else to describe it. Bliss!

By the way, Travertine, let Lupa show you how to serve a proper quartino of wine.

Top Chef DC, Ep. 4

Original Air Date: July 7, 2010

1) Bryan! The producers obviously agreed with me - what this season needs is some Voltaggio.
2) What was up with that fugly shirt on Padma? Get it together, Wardrobe!
3) Interesting format idea for the Elimination. And by interesting, I mean half-baked. If the prize is a feature on the Hilton menu, shouldn't they have eliminated the worst chefs in each successive round as opposed to the best ones? Why didn't they give the chefs feedback between rounds? And shouldn't the winner have been picked from among the best of all three meals, instead of just the dinner (where the team also produced two sucky meals)? Concept clearly needs work.
4) Amanda, people don't want to partner with you, not because they think you can't cook, but because they think you're abrasive and obnoxious. Have some self-awareness, lady.

Tanzanian safari

Some food thoughts and images from Tanzania:

1) Salticrax. Heh heh. My former co-worker Eric wrote about it, and we found it!

It's surprisingly tasty, and goes great with an ice-cold Kili (see #2 below) and a half-melted chocolate bar dug out from the bottom of your bag. Our last "meal" in Tanzania.

2) Beer. Tanzanian beer is cheap and tasty. Peeled-off beer labels, which I pressed between the pages of my Lonely Planet, pictured below. We encountered three brands. Safari was the least noteworthy.

Serengeti was the strongest of the three, both in flavor and in alcohol content.

Kilimanjaro, which I would describe as a light-to-medium lager, ended up being our favorite. Our driver told us re Kilimanjaro: "If you can't climb it, drink it." We sure did drink it.

3) Food. We were mostly served Western food (meat and potatoes, pasta, etc.) so not too much to report from our regular meals. For lunch, we mostly had picnic boxes from whatever lodging we had departed from that morning. Hardboiled eggs, chocolate bars, rolls with cheese, samosas, etc. Incidentally, whenever there was a samosa, it was always the best item in the lunchbox. We did have one meal that seemed more like local cuisine than the others; it consisted of grilled chicken, beef stew, rice, hominy and beans, stewed plantains, a sort of coleslaw salad and a ball of polenta.

It really was a fantastic trip. Pictures of all the animals we saw - but did not eat - will be up on Facebook as soon as I cull through the 900+ pictures that Yining and I took.

Top Chef DC, Ep. 3

Original Air Date: June 30, 2010

1) I rarely encounter a pie I don't want to snarf down. But I don't think I'd like a dessert pie with curry. Or celery. Or tapioca and goat cheese. I mean, what the what?!
2) "It's a cop-out to say you're not a pastry chef. My grandmother's not a pastry chef either, and she can make a pie." BURN!
3) I'm still haven't figured out whether "magazine cover dish" is a compliment or insult coming from Jonathan Waxman, the king of sloppy plating.
4) Tracey been a disaster from the get-go. Definitely time for her to leave.
5) I've decided I don't like Amanda either. (Though I wouldn't mind trying her bbq ribs.) Why isn't there anyone to root for this season? There's a third Voltaggio sibling, right? Can she cook?

Mmmm... brined, grilled chicken

Loosely based on Tyler's brine for pork chops - see his recipe for more exact measurements. I did it like this:

Fill a large bowl about halfway with cold water. Salt it until it tastes like seawater. Add a little brown suger - you want to only just be able to taste it. Add some whole peppercorns and the herb(s) of your choice. I usually go with thyme for chicken, but rosemary would be nice too. If you have some wilting parsley in the fridge, chuck that in. A piece of lemon zest, a clove of garlic. Whatever aromatics you have around.

Submerge the chicken in the brine. I advocate using skin-on (important for the grilling later), de-boned chicken thighs. Stick it in the fridge for about 1 - 2 hours. (No more than that, or the proteins will break down too much and the meat will get mushy.)

The science behind brining: There is more salt in the brine than in the chicken; therefore, salt moves into the chicken, giving it flavor. There is more water in the brine than in the chicken; therefore, water moves into the chicken, giving it moisture. I'm told by Summer Brother this is called osmolarity, and it's how your kidneys work.

After an hour or two, remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. Grill! (Even if you don't eat the skin, the chicken will taste better if grilled with the skin on. It also gives you a margin of error, for both overcooking and accidental charring.)

If you're feeling ambitious, Tyler's garlic-herb dressing makes a great sauce to serve over it.

I served the chicken with some grilled vegetables, a quick pasta salad and some marinated artichokes (from a jar). Grab a bottle of white and you've got a party!

Colicchio and Sons

Occasion: Brunch with Karen, Josie and Jana
Location: Colicchio & Sons on 10th Ave at 15th (colicchioandsons.com)
Edibles: I had the eggs with crispy prosciutto and mushroom ragout; Josie had the burger; Karen had the ricotta and veggie fritata; Jana had the poached eggs with red-eye gravy (I think)

Musings: I wasn't crazy about my dish. It was very soupy, very salty, and the chef inexplicably decided to use whole peppercorns in the mushroom ragout. I encountered quite a few and was forced to be very uncouth and spit them out. Everything else looked fine and tasted fine (I cadged a bite from Karen and Josie) but nothing was mind-blowing.

The dining room is very sleek and spacious, with fantastically high ceilings. I appreciated that they weren't stingy with the AC on a day when it was hot as balls. It's also worth noting that they let us sit around and chat undisturbed for a good long while after we finished eating. (No one was waiting for a table - we're not jerks.)

Still, I suspect it will be quite a while before I come back - partly because of the ho-hum food, but mostly because 10th Ave is SO far west and is a huge pain to get to from where I live. You forgot the cardinal rule of real estate, Tom! Location is everything!

Top Chef DC, Ep. 2

Original Air Date: June 23, 2010

1) Cafeteria food, sigh. Second only to airplane food for being a complete and utter tragedy. For my high school years, my mom abdicated all nutritional responsibility and just gave me $5 for breakfast and lunch in the school cafeteria. Thank God that was when I had the metabolism of a teenager. (Hey - if you think it's amazing now, you should have seen me then.) My brother got two granola bars every day, in about three rotating flavors purchased in bulk from Costco. My mom CAN cook; she just doesn't like to.
2) Jacqueline: spotty technical skills + spotty food science. If you have a grainy mixture (ep. 1), you can only fix it with heat if the bits will melt, like chocolate. Liver, not so much. (Well, I guess you can cook the bejesus out of it, until everything disintegrates into mush. But that's going to taste terrible.) For her pudding: sugar can be used to mask too much salt, or fix too much acid, but it does not break down starch - enzymes break down starch... into sugar.
3) Angelo and Amanda share the prize for Stupidest Idea. Celery in a tuile? Sherry-braised chicken? To serve to kids? Completely unhinged.
4) Awesome, cutthroat Judges' Table. Maybe the best ever. Sabotage! Two pounds of sugar! Peanut butter is evil!

Diego Felix NYC Dinner

Occasion: A private dinner cooked by Diego Felix. Elizabeth co-hosted, and our fellow diners were Jessica and Davinder, Bindi and Eric, Mamie, Brigid, Yining and Summer Brother as a last minute replacement for Jill.
Location: my place
Edibles:

Musings: Diego is the Real Deal. I am more obsessed with him than ever after seeing him in action. The man at work:

He was so happy about the fish, he kept exclaiming about its freshness, stroking it fondly, and holding filets up for anyone nearby to sniff. It was adorable.

Putting the finishing touches on the huancaina sauce. Sanra told me that in Argentina they use a locally produced cheese sold as feta. The feta in New York is more authentically Greek, and is consequently much stronger and saltier than the recipe calls for. When in the US, they substitute a queso fresco.

Looking for a place to stash the roasted veg.

Closeup of the veg. How gorgeous is that?!

The rest of the Colectivo: Sanra and her sisters. Diego explained that when they're on the road (mostly stateside to visit with Sanra's California-based family), he likes to think of their various adventures as the "Colectivo Felix." The Casa is in Argentina, and it's a separate endeavor for him. (If you're in Buenos Aires, I highly encourage you to experience Diego in his natural habitat - Casa Felix.)

The dinner was amazing. My favorite course was the app - that ceviche blew my mind. I think this is how he did it. (There were so many things going on, I could hardly keep track!) Plunge the seafood very briefly in boiling water; immediately remove to an ice bath to stop the cooking (a.k.a. blanch and shock it). Julienne some red onion; keep it and the seafood in ice water until needed. Dress with lime juice just before service (presumably to keep the acid from overcooking the delicate seafood). This method departs somewhat from the traditional way to make ceviche - that is, adding acid to raw fish, and using it to chemically "cook" the fish. I will definitely be attempting to replicate it sometime soon.

The shrimp, scallops and fish (trimmings from the fish filets in the main course) were all incredibly plump and moist and flavorful. A really refreshing dish for the weather. Just awesome.

Diego also served us each a shot of the savory, puckery ceviche liquid. He claimed it's a South American hangover cure, and I believe it.

The main was a quinoa-crusted blackfish on a bed of roasted vegetables. Although yummy to be sure, I thought the crust on the fish could have been crisper, and found the Malbec-berry sauce a tad sweet.

The chocolate-covered alfajores for dessert were just decadent. Chocolate, cookies, dulce de leche - you had me at hello. We also got to try some Argentinean dessert wine (late harvest Torrontés) and mate.

For me, the best part about the dinner was getting to watch the magic happen. It was like peeking into a restaurant kitchen, but also surprisingly like the controlled choas of my family's kitchen when we're doing holiday meals - chatty, messy, fifteen things going on simultaneously, spoons stuck in people's faces for tasting.

This meal was as good a representation of my food philosophy as any: techinque but no fuss; local, seasonal ingredients; unbridled passion and enthusiasm for food; friends and family to share it. Thanks to all the participants - hope everyone had a great time!

Top Chef DC, Ep. 1

Original Air Date: June 16, 2010

1) Welcome back, Top Chef! Though from what I've heard from Sylvia on the restaurant scene there, perhaps DC's not the most qualified city to be hosting this season.
2) I think post-baby Padma looks gorgeous and glowing, but the above outfit is just not flattering.
3) Silver fox and chef extraordinaire Eric Ripert is a new judge!!!!!!!! Hubba hubba!!

4) If you name your restaurant "Rat's", you deserve to have it go out of business.
5) Peeling potatoes with paring knives is ridiculous. I am a potato-peeling machine with my horizontal peeler, and I defy Tom Colicchio to tell me why it's any less legitimate.
6) A surprisingly high correlation between the fastest mise en place chefs and best elimination challenge chefs. Except for Tim, poor shmuck.
7) Looks like Angelo's got some skills. Unfortunately, he is a total blowhard and I hate him already. And dude? Monte Carlo is not in France.

Fishs Eddy

Occasion: Picking up some supplementary glasses and cutlery for the Diego Felix dinner!
Location: Broadway between 19th and 20th (fishseddy.com)

I love, Love, LOVE Fishs Eddy. It's cheap (I started shopping here when I was a student), functional (almost everything is sturdily made and goes in the dishwasher), whimsical and charming. I have pieces from lots of different collections, and my experience is that they mix and match very well.

My personal Fishs Eddy inventory:
- Lots of the now discontinued Cynthia Rowley line: plates with shoes along the rim, soup plates with underwear on them, and bowls with colorful people walking around.
- Three large alphabet bowls.
- Nursery rhyme water glasses. This trip completed my set - I started out with just two of the Little Red Riding Hood but now I have all four designs.
- Half a dozen of their dirt cheap and dishwasher-safe wineglasses. These come out every time I have people over, and have returned their original investment many times over.
- Four old-fashioned ice-cream cups. A housewarming gift from Karen.
- Two huge yellow serving platters. I bought these on clearance for about $2 each and have used them every single time I've entertained since. Love 'em.
- Two long, skinny platters for hors d'oeuvres.

For Karen and Josie's wedding, we New Yorkers put together a gift box of the NY Skyline collection. Fishs Eddy also stocks funky vintage china, stuff with old hotel logos, old airline flatware, stuff like that. If you're more of a minimalist, they have tons of stuff that's just plain white or clear glass. The 99¢ room in the back is a particular treasure trove for the basics.

This trip, I picked up an enormous alphabet platter on sale for $10 (same pattern as my bowls), some short water glasses for 99¢ each and extra knives, forks and spoons at the same price. I also couldn't resist a couple of glasses in the Strip Tea line. They were comparatively expensive at $6.50 each but getting to use a drinking glass featuring a guy pole dancing in buttless chaps is kinda priceless, isn't it?

Mmmm... chicken hash

Another great one pot meal. Leftovers reheat up great, either in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Chicken Hash
(based on Ina's recipe)

2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed or shredded into medium, bite-sized pieces
1-2 onions, chopped
4 red or yellow peppers, de-seeded and chopped
2 potatoes (I like Yukon Golds), cubed and cooked
¼ cup tomato paste
splash of white wine or chicken stock (or water as a last resort)
a pinch of thyme
salt and pepper to taste

I use dark meat almost exclusively when I cook chicken. Dark meat has a higher fat content and fat = flavor. The fat also keeps the meat moist. And dark meat's cheaper than white meat. Basically, it's a winner all around.

If you start with skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, you can roast the chicken in the oven or poach it. I tend to choose poaching because bring a pot of water to the boil is always faster than preheating an oven. You can also shortcut this recipe by buying a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, though I generally find them to be dry and woody.

Cube the potatoes (skin on or off, depending on how you like it) and boil them until they are just cooked through. Beware not to cook them too long, or the potatoes will completely disintegrate when you try to combine everything. Set the potatoes aside with the chicken.

In a large pot or pan, sauté the onions and peppers in a little oil over medium heat until they're browned and softened. Add the tomato paste and stir everything around for a while, to cook out the raw tomato paste flavor. Deglaze with a splash of white wine or chicken stock.

Add the cooked chicken and potatoes. Season with thyme, salt and pepper to taste. (Instead of thyme, you could also use a pinch of cumin or paprika.) It's nice to garnish this dish with some fresh green herbs. I like cilantro, but parsley or scallions will also work.

Additions: If they're in season, it's great to add some avocado to this dish (off the heat, just before you're ready to serve). Or if you're eating it for breakfast, go ahead and throw a couple of fried eggs on top.