Cooking in a Coma

 

 

  

  

 Oh my god. Great weekend in Portland with the inlaws, sad flight home last night, made even sadder by the fact that it was taking off at midnight - a total red-eye. Bleary and blurring morning in NYC, followed by napping, noshing, more napping, and some thoughts about dinner.

As I was laying on the couch, drifting in and out of consciousness, I remembered the chicken cutlets I froze from last week's food shopping jaunt. Okay, I can make breaded chicken cutlets, an easy veg, and some starch. I can do this with my eyes closed - and I just might have to.

Once the chicken was defrosted ( I buy only thin cut cutlets for this recipe), I scrambled 1 egg in a small plate, and filled a larger plate with plain breadcrumbs. I don't buy Italian style because I like to be able season it myself. Into the breadcrumbs I toss in 1 large garlic clove chopped, garlic salt, fresh ground pepper, dried basil and parsley, and a helping of grated parm. Now don't ask me how much of each, I don't measure. The only think I don't add is salt, because there's enough in the garlic salt and cheese to keep me covered.  Oh, and the big thing I was missing was fresh chopped parsley. This adds sooooo much, but I came home this morning to a dead herb garden. D. E. A. D. So I improvised with the dried, but it's so not the same.

Anyway, once all that is combined heat your largest frying pan with olive oil and get that going. Dredge your first cutlet in egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture. Once the oil is hot, get cooking. You may have to add oil as you go - add a little at a time and you'll be fine. It shouldn't be swimming in oil, but there should be enough to fry each cutlet - bubbling a little bit on the edges. Once golden gorgeous, flip and cook the other side. If your pan is hot enough this shouldn't take too long because the cutlets are thin and will cook quickly. Cook in batches, removing the finished cutlets to a plate lined with a paper towel to catch the leftover oil. At the last round I like to slice up a lemon and lightly fry it in all the chickeny goodness. It adds a great zing to the finished product. Enjoy!


Note: I tend to make waaay more cutlets than we eat in one meal - these are a family standby in that you will be noshing on them all week. They are delicious cold, and reheat really nicely.

SundayFuku

 

  

  

 

 Bryan had one simple request for a Christmas present - David Chang's newly released Momofuku cookbook. Knowing that comfort food is my forte, and experimental cooking is his I knew that he would be the only one in the family to actually use this book. And he did.

Sunday rolled around and before we got to go food shopping we sat around on the couch, surrounded by our favorite cookbooks, trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Bryan won with his idea of Pork Sausage Ssam (a ssam is like a korean burrito of sorts - using a leafy green to wrap up some meat and other savories), only his would have a twist. Of course. We would use an actual tortilla in place of the lettuce, we would make our own pork sausage, and we would pickle our own vegetables. And by 'we' I mean 'him.' Food shopping pretty much zapped everything out of me and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading my StyleWatch magazine and falling asleep to the Olympics. Being pregnant is nothing if not an awesome excuse to lay around.


Imagine this: soft tortilla wrapped around pickled daikon, cucumber and carrots, chopped fresh mint and cilantro all nestled in a warm bed of rice and savory pork sausage - topped with homemade (and SUPER easy to make) nuoc cham sauce.

Now imagine this: a party in your mouth

You Gotta Frittatta

 

  

  

 

After spending yet another enjoyable day at a food photo shoot (a major perq of my job that happens..oh, like 4 times a year) I got home in enough time to actually consider dinner. I took a quick survey of the fridge: eggs, asparagus, chives, and cheese - 3 different kinds. Frittatta!

I tossed a healthy piece of butter in a low heating frying pan and got to work whisking up 8 eggs (they were small!), a splash of milk, salt & pepper, and a handful of parmesan cheese. Once combine I sliced up all the asparagus into diagonal bite sized pieces and threw that into the eggs. I poured everything into the heated pan and let it cook on low heat - scraping away from the sides gently as it cooked.

Now, in a traditional frittatta one would finish cooking the top layer in the oven, but I decided to cheat a bit and just flip the whole damned thing over. As it turns out, the pan wasn't as non-stick as I had previously thought, and I kind of butchered the eggs as I was trying to flip them. But I made the best of it and put it back together as much as I could. Prettiness counts people! And with a helping of chopped fresh chives and some chunks of Laughing Cow Cheese (leftover from this recipe) the frittatta was done. Creamy, fluffy, perfectly seasoned eggs with the extra added crunch of the lightly cooked asparagus - it was really delicious. And we ate allllll of it.

V-Day Sweets When You're Feeling Sour

 

 

Despite the fact that this was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple Bryan and I took a rather laid back approach this year. First we decided to have our big dinner date on Saturday night, as opposed to Sunday in order to avoid the crowds. We chose Frankie's Spuntino on the Lower East Side because my sister and bro-in-law lovingly gave us a gift certificate for our birthdays. That, and that it's delicious. We ate more than our fair share of homemade Italian goodies (not least of which included stewed prunes and marscapone cheese) and walked hand in hand into the freezing New York evening, glad we didn't have to wait 2 hours for a table somewhere pretentious - or better yet, be turned away.

And second, we both forgot to get each other cards. This fact made me sad, and on Sunday I moped for both of us. What's wrong with this picture? Are we setting some sort of awful precedent here?? Bryan, noting my frown (and possibly feeling his own coming on) took action. After a brief visit to Peas & Pickles he returned rosy-cheeked with a bouquet of tulips and the fixin's for some coconut cupcakes. Good man.

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Brunchin' in the 'Burbs - And it's Oh So Good

 

  

  

  

  

 

My sister has been wanting to have us out for brunch in the 'burbs for ages. And not just me and Bryan - she can have us whenever she wants us, but Albert and Stephen too. The editor and the director extraordinaire. Yes, these boys are fabulous, but they are also woefully domesticated and nearly jumped at the chance to hang out in Jersey for a day. That and the fact that we could food shop in the gloriously enormous suburban Whole Foods at our leisure, as opposed to practicing deep breathing while braving Red Hook's Fairway along with every one and their mother in Brooklyn.

We arrived at Aimee's at a somewhat sinful 10:30 - basically midnight by New York brunching standards. But after we were greeted at the door by my 2 year old nephew with "Come see my train table" I immediately didn't care what time it was.  Brunch was lovelyyyyyyyy. We laughed, we drank mimosas, we laughed some more. Finally we made our way over to the table and Aimee proudly displayed a gorgeous tomato and olive tarte and an UNBELIEVABLE onion quiche. Seriously people, it was crack. She had way too much food but we lingered at the table for hours nibbling all morning anyway.  I brought my cranberry orange scones and Aim made some fabulous coconut and fruit cookies. Yes, there was some sisterly competition, but - dare I say - we both won.

Leeky Leeky Boom Boom

 

  

  

  

 

My sister gave Bryan this incredible cook book for Christmas that has turned out to be a gift for both of us. It's called The French Market and I believe she picked it up at Anthropologie (oh, how I love thee). And what's so wonderful about this book is that the recipes are deceptively simple. I immediately shy away from cooking anything with a laundry list of ingredients, it's just not my forte. But this is a clean, very French approach to cooking simple comfort foods that, frankly, who wouldn't love?

So I tried my hand at the appropriately titled Potage Bonne Femme, otherwise known as The Good Wife's Soup. Basically a version of a traditional potato leek soup. Easy enough. However, I've had my fair share of potato leek soups in the past and this left all of them in the dust. I think it's due entirely to the fact that you make a flour rue of sorts that hold the entire soup together ending up with this rich, velvety, thick deliciousness. That and the fact that the recipe literally calls for melting in 2 triangles of Laughing Cow cheese at the end. Formidable!

Here's the basic gist:

Melt a couple tablespoons of unsalted butter in a large saucepan, adding 1 pound of chopped leeks* (only the white and pale green parts), and 1.25 pounds peeled and diced baking potatoes. I like Idaho potatoes for a job like this -they soften up really nicely and have lots of flavor. Once the veggies are softened (not browned!) add 2 tablespoons of flour, stirring and cooking for another minute. Add 1 quart stock (I used veggie and it was more than fine), season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Put heat on medium and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Puree soup (a hand blender works perfectly) and add your cheese! You might have to break it up with the back of your wooden spoon but don't go crazy because trust me - it's unbelievably yummy to be slurping up your soup and happen upon a delicious chunk of soft cheese.
Add some chopped chives for color and serve. P.s. this soups is just as good reheated too!

*Note: regarding the leeks be SURE to wash these puppies thoroughly. I like to slice them lengthwise and run the whole thing underwater. Dirt lurks in all the folds so really get in there. Nothing ruins a perfectly good meal quite like a crunchy grain of dirt. Yuk.

Philly Bound

 

 

 

 

This past Saturday we took a much anticipated drive out to Philly to visit our dear (and displaced) friends Natalie and Ben. Bryan and I have been spending our weekends apartment hunting these days, looking for a bigger space so we can sufficiently stretch our legs, and well, be able to go on the computer in another room. But it's been getting the best of us, and a trip out of town was just what the doctor ordered.

We picked them up at their amazing lofty one-bedroom that costs, ahem, a fraction of what it would in Brooklyn. Blech. Be that as it may it's not Brooklyn, and we spent most of our breakfast at a local eatery talking about how we can get them back to the 'hood. Not that Philly doesn't have plenty to offer. We got a walking tour that afternoon through the beautiful historic district, passing quirky little shops all along the way. We stopped for gelato at CapoGiro thanks to a recommendation from a friend and fellow foodie. She was right, it was delish.  And after wearing ourselves out we decided on drinks and some small bites at Disitro, home of newly appointed Iron Chef Jose Garces. The atmosphere was surprisingly funky (check out that volkswagen table in the window!) and the food was fun and satisfying. My personal fave was the Ceviche Atun - raw tuna with coconut sauce and lime sorbet. What??? The guys preferred this steak taco dish which, I apologize, I just cannot find on the menu. It was seared steak slices with shaved truffle and fried onions on top - which was really tasty. However, I have never met a ceviche I didn't like.

As long as our friends remain in Philly we can at least find comfort that it's a pretty good foodie city to visit. Ben and Nat, how's next weekend?