Another day in Thailand, another heat rash.
I blame primarily a polyester based fabric I was wearing yesterday. I noticed that you can always tell the foreigners here by their copious amount of sweating. The Thais look unperturbed in the summer heat. The foreign girls always have their hair up up up, like the slightest strand of hair on their neck will send them riccocheting into heatstroke. It's very possible.
I heard it was unbearably humid in New York as well. So with little ado how to stay cool in Chiang Mai and New York City.
Daily Delight Cafe (Chiang Mai)
Daily Delight Cafe is a cosy yet open feeling cafe/house which serves mounds and mounds of shaved ice flavored with anything from coffee, to thai ice tea, to chocolate milk, even yogurt smoothie flavored! In the sensical nature of Asia, the shaved ice is topped with pretzel sticks, cute cookies, and has a base of bread cubes on the bottom. Surprisingly filling for just mouthfuls of cold sweet flavored shaved ice, it's a real steal for 20 Baht, or fifty cents. Daily Delight is located on the road that runs along Chiang Mai University south of Huay Kaew Rd. and is on the left if you're coming from the north with a bright orange and yellow awning.
Healthy Dessert (New York City)
Located on Center and Walker, the red sign is embellished in gold text declaring Hui Lau Shan or Healthy Dessert. Though I am immensely suspicious of their additions of bird's nest, I am always game to go there for my favorite drink -- a watermelon and coconut milk shake, made from fresh watermelons on the spot. It arrives after a short blitz luscious pink and creamy, and for only $2.
Stay cool, I'm trying my best to, too.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Monday, June 13, 2005
Breakfast in Thailand
After my weeklong stint in Tokyo, I finally arrived in Thailand. When I had decided to come to Thailand for the bulk of the summer, I talked to my friends dreamily about how I would eat tropical fruit for breakfast everyday. I've been here only for two breakfasts, but so far, so good.
Mangosteen or Man-koot in Thai
Mangosteen is a firm deep purple fruit that looks a little comical, round, maybe like something out of a Super Mario brother's video game, it has a little green hat. Like the litchee, you have to crack the tough exterior to get to the very sweet white fruit inside. Unlike the litchee, the interior fruit is soft, even softer than the consistency of mango. There's a slight dusky taste at the end of eating this fruit.
Litchee or Lin-chee in Thai
I would dare to say this is the tropical fruit that most have eaten in the U.S. However, in Thailand they have these huge raspberry colored scaley fruits which are the size of strawberries on steroids! My relatives laughed when I admired how big the litchees were here, and told me that this kind was called the King of Litchees. Indeed. The litchee has a flowery grapelike flavor and is chewy, again, the tough exterior needs to be peeled off before partaking.
Rambutan
Rambutan, is very similar to litchee except it has a wild haired mane of spiky protrusions over it's small round body. These harmless quills look a bit like neon porcupine quills, when fresh they are pink and green, when not as fresh they blacken.
Long An
Long An are smaller fruits than the litchee and rambutans. These have a cardboard brown stiff covering, and has the chewy white interior as well. Sometimes they'll have a slight rosy blush to the interior fruit. My relatives prefer these over the taste of the other bounty of fruits
Lo, and behold, I have been introduced to an entirely new fruit. It looks a bit like longan, but much bigger with a yellow and pink blushed cover. It is also peeled, but tastes a little more like rambutan with a softer fruit, but can be a little sour.
My favorite thai breakfast is tropical fruit with yogurt and soy milk. If I'm on an island, I'll top it off with an icy coconut shake or watermelon shake.
After my weeklong stint in Tokyo, I finally arrived in Thailand. When I had decided to come to Thailand for the bulk of the summer, I talked to my friends dreamily about how I would eat tropical fruit for breakfast everyday. I've been here only for two breakfasts, but so far, so good.
Mangosteen or Man-koot in Thai
Mangosteen is a firm deep purple fruit that looks a little comical, round, maybe like something out of a Super Mario brother's video game, it has a little green hat. Like the litchee, you have to crack the tough exterior to get to the very sweet white fruit inside. Unlike the litchee, the interior fruit is soft, even softer than the consistency of mango. There's a slight dusky taste at the end of eating this fruit.
Litchee or Lin-chee in Thai
I would dare to say this is the tropical fruit that most have eaten in the U.S. However, in Thailand they have these huge raspberry colored scaley fruits which are the size of strawberries on steroids! My relatives laughed when I admired how big the litchees were here, and told me that this kind was called the King of Litchees. Indeed. The litchee has a flowery grapelike flavor and is chewy, again, the tough exterior needs to be peeled off before partaking.
Rambutan
Rambutan, is very similar to litchee except it has a wild haired mane of spiky protrusions over it's small round body. These harmless quills look a bit like neon porcupine quills, when fresh they are pink and green, when not as fresh they blacken.
Long An
Long An are smaller fruits than the litchee and rambutans. These have a cardboard brown stiff covering, and has the chewy white interior as well. Sometimes they'll have a slight rosy blush to the interior fruit. My relatives prefer these over the taste of the other bounty of fruits
Lo, and behold, I have been introduced to an entirely new fruit. It looks a bit like longan, but much bigger with a yellow and pink blushed cover. It is also peeled, but tastes a little more like rambutan with a softer fruit, but can be a little sour.
My favorite thai breakfast is tropical fruit with yogurt and soy milk. If I'm on an island, I'll top it off with an icy coconut shake or watermelon shake.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
homeless butternut squash soup
There comes a time when one is in between living situations and without a decent pantry. Scarcity of ingredients can be a problem, or not. But, at times, it can let the flavors really shine through.
Joy's In-Between-Homes Curry Butternut Squash Soup
1 onion minced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium sized butternut squash cubes 1" pieces (peeled)
4-6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 T Jamaican Curry powder
1 t olive oil
1 pkg of 3 cheese tortellini
On medium high heat, add olive oil, saute the onion until transparent, then add garlic and saute until fragrant, add curry powder. Add cubes of butternut squash, and add broth until covering cubes. Bring to boil and simmer for half an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth minding the hot soup.
Prepare tortellini according to package, and add ~1/3 cup of tortellini to each bowl.
Lately, it's been rainy in New York, and soup is needed.
Joy's In-Between-Homes Curry Butternut Squash Soup
1 onion minced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium sized butternut squash cubes 1" pieces (peeled)
4-6 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 T Jamaican Curry powder
1 t olive oil
1 pkg of 3 cheese tortellini
On medium high heat, add olive oil, saute the onion until transparent, then add garlic and saute until fragrant, add curry powder. Add cubes of butternut squash, and add broth until covering cubes. Bring to boil and simmer for half an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth minding the hot soup.
Prepare tortellini according to package, and add ~1/3 cup of tortellini to each bowl.
Lately, it's been rainy in New York, and soup is needed.
Monday, May 16, 2005
cold and sweet
Cold and Sweet Faves
My rule of thumb for getting through a New York summer, which is swamped with humidity somehow worsened by all the concrete and bad air convections, is to constantly snack on something nice sweet and chilly.
During any sunny and slightly warm day I will make every effort to be in the West Village so that I can buy CONES which serves an Argentinian sort of ice cream, which I always call gelato for the sake of simplicity.
I swoon over the dulche de leche, and my friends are crazy for their hazelnut. The texture of the helado is soft and creamy, like ice cream that is at the perfect firmness/softness for eating rapidly. My friend especially loves the grapefruit sorbetto, but I always indulge when I go. I´ve been known to chose helado over lunch. Tricks are when you get the 3 flavored cup, the first flavor will always be the largest serving.
On days when I can't make it somehow out to the Westside, which is probably good for the girth of my belly, I buy Edy´s Whole Fruit Strawberry popsicles. One of my friends said he hadn't had a popsicle in years. I can´t imagine life without popsicles. We used to eat freezies like nothing else. An odd thing we did in my family was pop the miniature asian jelly cups into the freezer and then pop them into our mouths like frozen grapes.
Though I have traditionally stayed cool with those two particular solutions, a friend of mine treated me to a huge scoop of ice cream from Emack & Bolio's in this luxurious waffle cone dipped in chocolate and toffee bar bits! Talk about decadent. Apparently, they hail from Boston. Apparently, they are very good at ice cream, too.
I might have to learn this helado business after I move away from New York. How else will I get my fix?
My rule of thumb for getting through a New York summer, which is swamped with humidity somehow worsened by all the concrete and bad air convections, is to constantly snack on something nice sweet and chilly.
During any sunny and slightly warm day I will make every effort to be in the West Village so that I can buy CONES which serves an Argentinian sort of ice cream, which I always call gelato for the sake of simplicity.
I swoon over the dulche de leche, and my friends are crazy for their hazelnut. The texture of the helado is soft and creamy, like ice cream that is at the perfect firmness/softness for eating rapidly. My friend especially loves the grapefruit sorbetto, but I always indulge when I go. I´ve been known to chose helado over lunch. Tricks are when you get the 3 flavored cup, the first flavor will always be the largest serving.
On days when I can't make it somehow out to the Westside, which is probably good for the girth of my belly, I buy Edy´s Whole Fruit Strawberry popsicles. One of my friends said he hadn't had a popsicle in years. I can´t imagine life without popsicles. We used to eat freezies like nothing else. An odd thing we did in my family was pop the miniature asian jelly cups into the freezer and then pop them into our mouths like frozen grapes.
Though I have traditionally stayed cool with those two particular solutions, a friend of mine treated me to a huge scoop of ice cream from Emack & Bolio's in this luxurious waffle cone dipped in chocolate and toffee bar bits! Talk about decadent. Apparently, they hail from Boston. Apparently, they are very good at ice cream, too.
I might have to learn this helado business after I move away from New York. How else will I get my fix?
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
tea rolls
With the warm weather I stop craving things like meatballs and lingonberry jam with steamed potatoes, or goulash with mounds of steamy egg noodles and cool sour cream. Nope, spring summer weather brings a curious change in appetite, much more of what I would say is the normative Californian diet.
In the little town of Amherst, there is a surprising amount of good restaurants and student budget friendly options. It was pretty hilarious when the friend I traveled with to the wedding and I tried to eat as much of the delights Amherst has to offer in the span of about six hours.
One of the best places to study or meet friends was Fresh Side Cafe. There one could eat some curiosities called Tea Rolls. These tea rolls, unbeknownst to me, actually originated with the Vietnamese summer rolls, but morphed in accordance with American tastes.
The secret charm of the tea roll is two fold, chewiness of the un-fried spring roll covering, and the pleasing fatness of the rolls.
The fillings are as wide as your imagination, just like onigiri, this is just another fun Asian spin on the sandwich.
Joy's Favorite Thai Tea Rolls
Rolls:
1 package of spring roll covers, about 10" x 10" *
Iceberg lettuce plunged into ice water
1 chicken breast poached sliced into wide flat matchstick pieces, about 1/3" thick
1/4 c finely chopped peanuts
Baby spinach leaves
Vermicelli noodles (prepared according to directions)*
Mint leaves
Sauce:
Water
Rice vinegar
Fish sauce (Thai)*
Sugar
Optional:
Carrot curliques for decoration
*These can be bought at any Chinese Grocery like Dynasty Super Market which is located on 68 Elizabeth (Cross Street Hester).
If you have all the ingredients ready it takes no time to wrap them up, like say you already have a poached chicken breast in the refrigerator ... and pre-washed mint leaves, etc. Otherwise these are little more time intensive than I would like. Although, one should always try to buy fresh nuts. I'm not sure if they're readily available here in America.
Peel off a two layer stack off the spring roll covers, the key here is to not let the wrappers dry out -- once they dry out they won't be nicely chewy and won't wrap well either. I usually put a damp cloth on top of the wrappers.
Lay out the two stack high wrappers like a diamond, lay the lettuce, then spinach, then about a tablespoons worth of noodles, some pieces of chicken breast, then judiciously sprinkle the peanuts and maybe two or three mint leaves.
Here comes the crucial part. Squishing everything together so that it will look satisfyingly fat and compact. Believe me, a loose tea roll just lets all the ingredients fall out. Don't be disheartened if it takes some practice, it's a little similar to acquiring sushi rolling skills.
Take the two corners which will be the top and bottom of the roll and bring them to meet together while holding these down with your thumbs, grab the bottom corner, and pull it tightly up and around the filling, and tuck it in like a military bed sheet, meaning firmly. Then roll the roll into the top corner and smush it so that the top fastens to the rest of the roll.
Once the roll is closed, cut it in half and serve in a small bowl or plate.
In a very small sauce bowl, fill 1/8 with fish sauce, a dash of sugar, 1/4 with rice vinegar and then stir and mix with water to taste. Add carrot curliques to sauce and or serving bowl/plate.
Other very successful fillings are with ginger-soy-sesame-honey marinated tofu rolls, curry chicken salad, chicken walnut and grape salad filling, teriyaki chicken. The key here is to ensure the freshness is the bed of crispy lettuce.
These are not so filling mealwise, but then you'll just get hungry again in an hour and can eat something else equally yummy.
These don't keep, so serve them right away. Enjoy!
In the little town of Amherst, there is a surprising amount of good restaurants and student budget friendly options. It was pretty hilarious when the friend I traveled with to the wedding and I tried to eat as much of the delights Amherst has to offer in the span of about six hours.
One of the best places to study or meet friends was Fresh Side Cafe. There one could eat some curiosities called Tea Rolls. These tea rolls, unbeknownst to me, actually originated with the Vietnamese summer rolls, but morphed in accordance with American tastes.
The secret charm of the tea roll is two fold, chewiness of the un-fried spring roll covering, and the pleasing fatness of the rolls.
The fillings are as wide as your imagination, just like onigiri, this is just another fun Asian spin on the sandwich.
Joy's Favorite Thai Tea Rolls
Rolls:
1 package of spring roll covers, about 10" x 10" *
Iceberg lettuce plunged into ice water
1 chicken breast poached sliced into wide flat matchstick pieces, about 1/3" thick
1/4 c finely chopped peanuts
Baby spinach leaves
Vermicelli noodles (prepared according to directions)*
Mint leaves
Sauce:
Water
Rice vinegar
Fish sauce (Thai)*
Sugar
Optional:
Carrot curliques for decoration
*These can be bought at any Chinese Grocery like Dynasty Super Market which is located on 68 Elizabeth (Cross Street Hester).
If you have all the ingredients ready it takes no time to wrap them up, like say you already have a poached chicken breast in the refrigerator ... and pre-washed mint leaves, etc. Otherwise these are little more time intensive than I would like. Although, one should always try to buy fresh nuts. I'm not sure if they're readily available here in America.
Peel off a two layer stack off the spring roll covers, the key here is to not let the wrappers dry out -- once they dry out they won't be nicely chewy and won't wrap well either. I usually put a damp cloth on top of the wrappers.
Lay out the two stack high wrappers like a diamond, lay the lettuce, then spinach, then about a tablespoons worth of noodles, some pieces of chicken breast, then judiciously sprinkle the peanuts and maybe two or three mint leaves.
Here comes the crucial part. Squishing everything together so that it will look satisfyingly fat and compact. Believe me, a loose tea roll just lets all the ingredients fall out. Don't be disheartened if it takes some practice, it's a little similar to acquiring sushi rolling skills.
Take the two corners which will be the top and bottom of the roll and bring them to meet together while holding these down with your thumbs, grab the bottom corner, and pull it tightly up and around the filling, and tuck it in like a military bed sheet, meaning firmly. Then roll the roll into the top corner and smush it so that the top fastens to the rest of the roll.
Once the roll is closed, cut it in half and serve in a small bowl or plate.
In a very small sauce bowl, fill 1/8 with fish sauce, a dash of sugar, 1/4 with rice vinegar and then stir and mix with water to taste. Add carrot curliques to sauce and or serving bowl/plate.
Other very successful fillings are with ginger-soy-sesame-honey marinated tofu rolls, curry chicken salad, chicken walnut and grape salad filling, teriyaki chicken. The key here is to ensure the freshness is the bed of crispy lettuce.
These are not so filling mealwise, but then you'll just get hungry again in an hour and can eat something else equally yummy.
These don't keep, so serve them right away. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 08, 2005
japan and amherst and yale
I went out to my old college town Amherst for a wedding, and the thing that all of us had in common was that we had all lived or traveled in Japan. We had a wonderful time reminiscing about the onsens (the hot spring baths), and of course the delicious food there.
My friend asked me what I usually cook, and I answered that I like to cook Japanese food because the recipes that I know are pretty simple. I adapt a recipe from my favorite East Village izakaya Village Yokocho. An izakaya is a small plates Japanese restaurant. I actually read somewhere that the way tapas was invented is that they used to put plates on top of glasses, for what reason, I'm not certain, maybe to keep flies out. Then, they starting putting nuts on the plates, and then it evolved into the delicious garlicky seafood oriented dishes of the Spanish cuisine.
In any event, izakaya was developed as small appetizers that are salty that whet your appetite for more beer or sake, choose your poison. It was at Village Yokocho that I discovered this dish, but I simplified it even more, and made it lighter also.
Soft Tofu in Tempura Sauce
1/2 block of soft tofu
1 cup Tempura sauce* (follow directions on bottle)
Bonito Flakes*
1/2 inch of fresh ginger minced
3 scallions sliced thinly
*Buy at a store that carries Japanese products.
This effortless dish is so tasty and so quick to make. What actually takes more time is the rice to cook. When I know I'm going to cook asian food accompanied by rice, I usually put the rice on immediately. It's a bit like the concept of boiling the water for pasta also. I usually eat this dish with Nishikin short-medium grained rice, it's chewier than other rices, but not too chewy.
Prepare a cup of Tempura sauce (just dilute it according to the ratio on the bottle). Pour mixed Tempura sauce into medium sized microwave safe bowl, add the half block of soft tofu, and let it sit in the middle of the sauce, then add finely minced ginger to the top and sprinkle the scallions over the top and sides. Microwave for about 3 minutes on high, Serve immediately with a generous serving of bonito flakes on the top.
Good sides for this are steamed edamame, and maybe some boiled dumplings.
A recent favorite of mine are Kimchee Dumplings which you can buy at the Korean supermarket M2M, there's one on 11th and 3rd ave, and another by Columbia University on Broadway and 114th or so.
While visiting Yale, I went out to dinner with a dear friend of mine, yet another Amherst friend, and we went and ate at Miso, which only further demonstrated my love for strange American concocted sushi, and I fell heart deep in love with Spicy Tuna rolls wrapped in avocado. Yes, I do believe my love for raw tuna will beggar me eventually.
As requested, I'll be putting up recipes for tea rolls which I learned to love and savor in Amherst and Vietnamese summer rolls as well this week ...
My friend asked me what I usually cook, and I answered that I like to cook Japanese food because the recipes that I know are pretty simple. I adapt a recipe from my favorite East Village izakaya Village Yokocho. An izakaya is a small plates Japanese restaurant. I actually read somewhere that the way tapas was invented is that they used to put plates on top of glasses, for what reason, I'm not certain, maybe to keep flies out. Then, they starting putting nuts on the plates, and then it evolved into the delicious garlicky seafood oriented dishes of the Spanish cuisine.
In any event, izakaya was developed as small appetizers that are salty that whet your appetite for more beer or sake, choose your poison. It was at Village Yokocho that I discovered this dish, but I simplified it even more, and made it lighter also.
Soft Tofu in Tempura Sauce
1/2 block of soft tofu
1 cup Tempura sauce* (follow directions on bottle)
Bonito Flakes*
1/2 inch of fresh ginger minced
3 scallions sliced thinly
*Buy at a store that carries Japanese products.
This effortless dish is so tasty and so quick to make. What actually takes more time is the rice to cook. When I know I'm going to cook asian food accompanied by rice, I usually put the rice on immediately. It's a bit like the concept of boiling the water for pasta also. I usually eat this dish with Nishikin short-medium grained rice, it's chewier than other rices, but not too chewy.
Prepare a cup of Tempura sauce (just dilute it according to the ratio on the bottle). Pour mixed Tempura sauce into medium sized microwave safe bowl, add the half block of soft tofu, and let it sit in the middle of the sauce, then add finely minced ginger to the top and sprinkle the scallions over the top and sides. Microwave for about 3 minutes on high, Serve immediately with a generous serving of bonito flakes on the top.
Good sides for this are steamed edamame, and maybe some boiled dumplings.
A recent favorite of mine are Kimchee Dumplings which you can buy at the Korean supermarket M2M, there's one on 11th and 3rd ave, and another by Columbia University on Broadway and 114th or so.
While visiting Yale, I went out to dinner with a dear friend of mine, yet another Amherst friend, and we went and ate at Miso, which only further demonstrated my love for strange American concocted sushi, and I fell heart deep in love with Spicy Tuna rolls wrapped in avocado. Yes, I do believe my love for raw tuna will beggar me eventually.
As requested, I'll be putting up recipes for tea rolls which I learned to love and savor in Amherst and Vietnamese summer rolls as well this week ...
Monday, May 02, 2005
cafe
The Café Search
Despite, or maybe, in spite of the ubiquity of Starbucks, there are a plethora of cozy cafés strewn around Manhattan and Brooklyn. I'm always on the look out for the best cafés to spend a lazy afternoon reading a good book with tea and maybe a pastry. I like my cafés to be cozy, with not too loud music. Ambience and good and reasonably price eats are my criteria.
Doma - West Village
Doma is well lit from natural light during the day. There is a pretty unfussy menu that simply tastes quite good. I believe I had a really delicious mushroom soup there once, which had clouds of mushroom bits held in a fine tasting vegetable broth served with a little bit of bread on the side. The rumble of the train is felt through the benches at the front. Doma is no secret though, not quite the place to go to be alone. It's cash only.
Mudspot - East Village
Mudspot is like the quintessential East Village sort of café. With a quaint little garden out back and huge mugs of their java and hot chocolate and the like, it's a popular destination for me. I'm not too fond of their lunch menu though, seems to be undersalted/underflavored, unfortunately. Mudspot also has a warm feel to it, with lots of orange, greens and blues. It's definitely worth going to for their generous drinks, but you might want to ask to add the sugar yourself. Also, cash only.
Teany - Lower East Side
Moby's café is pretty hip and modern with lots of white, but keeps from feeling too cold. Music is played at a medium level, and is, of course, pretty energetic music. This café is particularly known for its teas which they also sell at gourmet food stores like Whole Foods and the like. I had a fabulous teamochachino which was a fun alternative to the usual chai's. Extremely vegetarian and vegan friendly, the foods and sweet pastries are entirely of that sort. It's a little pricey, unfortunately, but what else could you expect in the Lower East Side? They take credit, but minimum $10.
Ceci-Cela - Soho
I read recently that there's nothing New Yorkers like so much as a big fake French bistro. I would have to hold to that that is true, and I would probably repeat that statement that we also like fake French cafés, seeing that I'm very charmed by the French-ness of this particular café. After all, the French invented cafés, no? That's probably not true. The service here is pretty awful though. The mood is very cute and quaint, and I love their French Lemonade with bubbles, and dark chocolate truffles, but the waiters here tend to be terribly rude and difficult to get ahold of (on several occasions), and will serve you drinks in paper cups even when you're not taking it to go. Otherwise, it's throughly enchanting. I'm pretty sure it's cash only, as well.
Knit New York - Gramercy/Flatiron
Knit New York can be a difficult place to find. One must sort of have one's eyes sharpened for the pale green sign/awning and the basement level entrance. It was at Knit that I discovered Lake Champlain's Spicy Hot Chocolate, which I now have bought make at home. They've got the most delightful coconut cupcakes which are tiny, but stacked high with generous frosting. They've also a wonderful assortment of teas. Pretty reasonably priced as well. They had quite good soups the previous times I've been there. Knit is overwhelmingly frequented by women, for the most part. I think still cash only.
Hungarian Pastry Shop - Morningside Heights
This café is entirely not about style in the least. I've got complaints against most of their pastries, but I do love their very dark hot chocolate, and they'll even serve it over ice for you. The Hungarian is extremely inexpensive, and is probably one of the few places where you can get a bottomless cup of coffee. I can't vouch for the coffee since I'm not a coffee drinker. The Hungarian has got a reputation for writers taking advantage of their relaxed seating policy, they don't mind if you stay and stay, and there's an article up along the wall showing some of the books which have been written by authors who frequented the place. They've nice sidewalk tables in good weather, but you have to be on the prowl for them during high traffic times. The place in general is quite crowded with tables and chairs. The bathroom has got lots of political statements written all over it too. Cash only.
Even though I do have my stock of good cafés, I'm always looking for more, especially with good outdoor seating now that the weather is finally getting warmer.
Despite, or maybe, in spite of the ubiquity of Starbucks, there are a plethora of cozy cafés strewn around Manhattan and Brooklyn. I'm always on the look out for the best cafés to spend a lazy afternoon reading a good book with tea and maybe a pastry. I like my cafés to be cozy, with not too loud music. Ambience and good and reasonably price eats are my criteria.
Doma - West Village
Doma is well lit from natural light during the day. There is a pretty unfussy menu that simply tastes quite good. I believe I had a really delicious mushroom soup there once, which had clouds of mushroom bits held in a fine tasting vegetable broth served with a little bit of bread on the side. The rumble of the train is felt through the benches at the front. Doma is no secret though, not quite the place to go to be alone. It's cash only.
Mudspot - East Village
Mudspot is like the quintessential East Village sort of café. With a quaint little garden out back and huge mugs of their java and hot chocolate and the like, it's a popular destination for me. I'm not too fond of their lunch menu though, seems to be undersalted/underflavored, unfortunately. Mudspot also has a warm feel to it, with lots of orange, greens and blues. It's definitely worth going to for their generous drinks, but you might want to ask to add the sugar yourself. Also, cash only.
Teany - Lower East Side
Moby's café is pretty hip and modern with lots of white, but keeps from feeling too cold. Music is played at a medium level, and is, of course, pretty energetic music. This café is particularly known for its teas which they also sell at gourmet food stores like Whole Foods and the like. I had a fabulous teamochachino which was a fun alternative to the usual chai's. Extremely vegetarian and vegan friendly, the foods and sweet pastries are entirely of that sort. It's a little pricey, unfortunately, but what else could you expect in the Lower East Side? They take credit, but minimum $10.
Ceci-Cela - Soho
I read recently that there's nothing New Yorkers like so much as a big fake French bistro. I would have to hold to that that is true, and I would probably repeat that statement that we also like fake French cafés, seeing that I'm very charmed by the French-ness of this particular café. After all, the French invented cafés, no? That's probably not true. The service here is pretty awful though. The mood is very cute and quaint, and I love their French Lemonade with bubbles, and dark chocolate truffles, but the waiters here tend to be terribly rude and difficult to get ahold of (on several occasions), and will serve you drinks in paper cups even when you're not taking it to go. Otherwise, it's throughly enchanting. I'm pretty sure it's cash only, as well.
Knit New York - Gramercy/Flatiron
Knit New York can be a difficult place to find. One must sort of have one's eyes sharpened for the pale green sign/awning and the basement level entrance. It was at Knit that I discovered Lake Champlain's Spicy Hot Chocolate, which I now have bought make at home. They've got the most delightful coconut cupcakes which are tiny, but stacked high with generous frosting. They've also a wonderful assortment of teas. Pretty reasonably priced as well. They had quite good soups the previous times I've been there. Knit is overwhelmingly frequented by women, for the most part. I think still cash only.
Hungarian Pastry Shop - Morningside Heights
This café is entirely not about style in the least. I've got complaints against most of their pastries, but I do love their very dark hot chocolate, and they'll even serve it over ice for you. The Hungarian is extremely inexpensive, and is probably one of the few places where you can get a bottomless cup of coffee. I can't vouch for the coffee since I'm not a coffee drinker. The Hungarian has got a reputation for writers taking advantage of their relaxed seating policy, they don't mind if you stay and stay, and there's an article up along the wall showing some of the books which have been written by authors who frequented the place. They've nice sidewalk tables in good weather, but you have to be on the prowl for them during high traffic times. The place in general is quite crowded with tables and chairs. The bathroom has got lots of political statements written all over it too. Cash only.
Even though I do have my stock of good cafés, I'm always looking for more, especially with good outdoor seating now that the weather is finally getting warmer.
Friday, April 29, 2005
panseared salmon
So, a funny thing happened while I was pan-searing today. Let's just say I'm happy there was no eyebrow singeing.
According to various magazines, it's no good to eat farmed salmon. The difference between farmed and wild is that wild salmon spend a lot of time exercising and eating sea things, and farmed salmon are fat lazy fish. Restaurants prefer the farmed salmon because they are fattier and are moister and much more forgiving than wild salmon. But, as the credo goes, more flavor, smaller portions, and more appreciation.
The Perricone diet suggest four servings a week. Well, eating salmon is no problem for me. Recently I've become a lot more fond of raw salmon, and have had many cravings for Mangia's Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad. Turns out that my Pan-seared Salmon is just as good and flavorful as Mangia's Nicoise. I just needed a flavorful fish.
So, with meaning to pan-sear, I marinated my wild sockeye salmon (very red!), apparently the more naturally red the fish is, the better it is for you. I feel like I'm repeating a T.V. program I've seen on this. Farmed salmon doesn't give same benefits as wild salmon. Wild salmon is extremely pricey, though.
Pan-seared Wild Salmon Marinated in Honey Soy Citrus sauce with Avocado Salad & Vinaigrette.
1 lb Wild Salmon
2 T Soy sauce (Japanese)
2 t Wildflower honey (a theme is emerging)
1/2 Lemon juice freshly squeezed
1 t Sesame oil
Put everything together in a container and left it in the refrigerator for several hours. Then I heated up the nonstick pan on high. I'm certain if you do this right, you won't get the same result. I melted about a tablespoon of butter, and when I put the fillet on, there was a pan fire. I'm pretty sure that pan-searing does not involve high bright orange flames. So, to be on the safer side if you're going to use butter, add a little olive oil as well, and stay back.
Searing takes only a few minutes (1-2), and with wild salmon it cooks extremely fast, depending on the thick or thinness of the fillet it’s only a minute or two since the inside will be raw still. Serve with mixed greens, ripe avocados slices, and your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. This should serve about two portions for dinner. Make sure you include some fresh fruit and maybe some nuts for dessert.
According to various magazines, it's no good to eat farmed salmon. The difference between farmed and wild is that wild salmon spend a lot of time exercising and eating sea things, and farmed salmon are fat lazy fish. Restaurants prefer the farmed salmon because they are fattier and are moister and much more forgiving than wild salmon. But, as the credo goes, more flavor, smaller portions, and more appreciation.
The Perricone diet suggest four servings a week. Well, eating salmon is no problem for me. Recently I've become a lot more fond of raw salmon, and have had many cravings for Mangia's Seared Tuna Nicoise Salad. Turns out that my Pan-seared Salmon is just as good and flavorful as Mangia's Nicoise. I just needed a flavorful fish.
So, with meaning to pan-sear, I marinated my wild sockeye salmon (very red!), apparently the more naturally red the fish is, the better it is for you. I feel like I'm repeating a T.V. program I've seen on this. Farmed salmon doesn't give same benefits as wild salmon. Wild salmon is extremely pricey, though.
Pan-seared Wild Salmon Marinated in Honey Soy Citrus sauce with Avocado Salad & Vinaigrette.
1 lb Wild Salmon
2 T Soy sauce (Japanese)
2 t Wildflower honey (a theme is emerging)
1/2 Lemon juice freshly squeezed
1 t Sesame oil
Put everything together in a container and left it in the refrigerator for several hours. Then I heated up the nonstick pan on high. I'm certain if you do this right, you won't get the same result. I melted about a tablespoon of butter, and when I put the fillet on, there was a pan fire. I'm pretty sure that pan-searing does not involve high bright orange flames. So, to be on the safer side if you're going to use butter, add a little olive oil as well, and stay back.
Searing takes only a few minutes (1-2), and with wild salmon it cooks extremely fast, depending on the thick or thinness of the fillet it’s only a minute or two since the inside will be raw still. Serve with mixed greens, ripe avocados slices, and your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. This should serve about two portions for dinner. Make sure you include some fresh fruit and maybe some nuts for dessert.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
onigiri
The cherry blossoms are open at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.
Apparently they've been on the verge of opening all week, but I've been a bit distracted. In Tokyo, this is a wonderful time where the Japanese become a lot happier. I wonder if it reminds them of falling in love.
Or getting really drunk with their friends and/or co-workers.
Hanamae means flower in Japanese. In Tokyo they have hanamae parties, where they sit under the cherry blossom trees and have picnics. I'm sure young lovers have the more romantic type, and others have the ones more focused on drinking. Many Japanese people have a very low tolerance for alcohol in my personal experience.
A very easy and common picnic food is Onigiri or Rice Balls, as they say in English.
Onigiri is simply the equivalent of a sandwich in America. Meaning, you can put pretty much whatever you want to taste as the flling. Or as my Japanese friend calls it, "your treasure."
Making these can be very easy with the aid of an Onigiri shaper, which can be bought at Sunrise Mart. However, it's equally easy shaped in some plastic wrap.
Optional is a piece of nori. One needs to cut up nori squares into elongated rectangular strips.
Joy's Tuna Salad Avocado Onigiri
1 cup of cooked Short-Medium Grain Nishikin rice (I use a rice cooker)
1/4th of a small onion finely minced
1 can of tuna
Mayonnaise to taste
Spicy mustard to taste
salt
freshly ground pepper
lemon (optional)
1/2 ripe haas avocado large diced
3 sheets of nori cut into long rectangles
Onigiri shaper or plastic wrap
The architecture of the onigiri is like this: pad of rice, tablespoon of filling, second pad of rice. Squish. Most onigiri are formed in plump triangles, or flatten spheres. Also, please note that the filling needs to be flavorful enough so that the rice
For me, two or three of these babies will fill me up for lunch. They travel pretty well. Another thing to note is keeping the nori separate until you're going to eat the onigiri, otherwise it gets a little moist and less crunchy.
Other fillings I enjoy: spicy tuna salad (use the chinese chili condiment to mix with the tuna), bonito and american cheese. You can also season the rice with rice seasonings and mix it up and have no filling (no treasure!).
Suggestions for a Japanese Picnic:
Onigiri
Thermos of Ice Jasmine Green White Peach Tea
Fresh Melon slices
A few Japanese phrases:
Oishi - delicious
Onaka ippai - I'm full
and don't forget Itadakimasu! Which is a sort of thank you for the food meaning literally, "I will receive," but means roughly "Let's Eat!"
Apparently they've been on the verge of opening all week, but I've been a bit distracted. In Tokyo, this is a wonderful time where the Japanese become a lot happier. I wonder if it reminds them of falling in love.
Or getting really drunk with their friends and/or co-workers.
Hanamae means flower in Japanese. In Tokyo they have hanamae parties, where they sit under the cherry blossom trees and have picnics. I'm sure young lovers have the more romantic type, and others have the ones more focused on drinking. Many Japanese people have a very low tolerance for alcohol in my personal experience.
A very easy and common picnic food is Onigiri or Rice Balls, as they say in English.
Onigiri is simply the equivalent of a sandwich in America. Meaning, you can put pretty much whatever you want to taste as the flling. Or as my Japanese friend calls it, "your treasure."
Making these can be very easy with the aid of an Onigiri shaper, which can be bought at Sunrise Mart. However, it's equally easy shaped in some plastic wrap.
Optional is a piece of nori. One needs to cut up nori squares into elongated rectangular strips.
Joy's Tuna Salad Avocado Onigiri
1 cup of cooked Short-Medium Grain Nishikin rice (I use a rice cooker)
1/4th of a small onion finely minced
1 can of tuna
Mayonnaise to taste
Spicy mustard to taste
salt
freshly ground pepper
lemon (optional)
1/2 ripe haas avocado large diced
3 sheets of nori cut into long rectangles
Onigiri shaper or plastic wrap
The architecture of the onigiri is like this: pad of rice, tablespoon of filling, second pad of rice. Squish. Most onigiri are formed in plump triangles, or flatten spheres. Also, please note that the filling needs to be flavorful enough so that the rice
For me, two or three of these babies will fill me up for lunch. They travel pretty well. Another thing to note is keeping the nori separate until you're going to eat the onigiri, otherwise it gets a little moist and less crunchy.
Other fillings I enjoy: spicy tuna salad (use the chinese chili condiment to mix with the tuna), bonito and american cheese. You can also season the rice with rice seasonings and mix it up and have no filling (no treasure!).
Suggestions for a Japanese Picnic:
Onigiri
Thermos of Ice Jasmine Green White Peach Tea
Fresh Melon slices
A few Japanese phrases:
Oishi - delicious
Onaka ippai - I'm full
and don't forget Itadakimasu! Which is a sort of thank you for the food meaning literally, "I will receive," but means roughly "Let's Eat!"
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Burger Bonanza
The Burger Bonanza
The great thing about food is that it can be as exciting as something like, say, birdwatching. I'm serious, birdwatching can be a complete adrenaline rush. Not that I particularly birdwatch, but think about the thrill of finding that elusive special rarely seen bird.
Although I'm no diligent birdwatcher, I take much pleasure in finding the best eats in the city. I have a mental catalog which I finger through whenever a particular craving comes to mind.
One hunger features strongly when the weather turns warmer: the burger, and in my case, the cheeseburger. Why eat it if it hasn't any cheese on it?
I have to admit, I haven't been chasing the burger trail as much as one would expect a foodie to, looking for that great American hamburger, but it's difficult when you've found what you consider already the perfect burger.
The Burger Joint (housed in Le Parker Meredien) is my favorite place to go to for a delicious eat. Just one fills me right up, then add in the fries and chocolate milkshake and I'm up to about feeling "oof". Features include mustard with zing, satisfyingly fat pickles, and made on the spot milkshakes. I find it extremely reasonably priced for New York. The Burger Joint is cherished by many not only for the burgers, but for the slight irony of a local collegiate-like hangout in the swank all mirrors and marble Le Parker Meredien hotel. There is only burger or cheeseburger here, vegetarians can take their business elsewhere.
The Shake Shack which is actually vegetarian friendly, has a "special sauce." Run by well known Chef Danny Meyer, and voted Best Burger from the New York Metro, I did have to try it. This smallish, but very tasty burger does have that nice crispy edge to it; what I would like to call crunch meat bits. I'm definitely going back, but it did more damage than Burger Joint. Pluses include outdoor dining in Madison Square Park. I also heard a new art exhibition is opening up in Madison Square Garden soon.
The Corner Bistro I checked out this weekend with a chum. Weighing at 8 oz. of beef, this meat beast of a hamburger was too much for me to handle. I ate half, heaved a heavy sigh, and gave up the fight. Again, with the irony. Bistro sounds very snooty, but the place was quite the opposite. The scene was a little too rowdy for me on a Saturday night. Chum said that the bar was serving burgers well into the night, so that's worth noting if you'd like an extremely large burger.
Woefully, I might add, is In-n-Out burgers missing here in Manhattan. Why, when we have dozens of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King's, but no In-n-Out? Any fellow Californian will vouch for me on this one, that In-n-Out has a very special place in our hearts. For those of you whom have never had the happiness of an In-n-Out burger, it's not only the burger, which is great, especially Animal style (with minced caramelized onions), but also the fact that so many others have felt the exact same happiness with their burgers, shake and fries, arranged in the exact same configuration, and a little too hot for their lap to handle, in the same white thin open cardboard box.
Another burger place to note in the city according to my friend is Puck Fair, which does a good burger and beer deal in the afternoon.
Chow happy!
"Why eat it if it hasn't any cheese on it?"
The great thing about food is that it can be as exciting as something like, say, birdwatching. I'm serious, birdwatching can be a complete adrenaline rush. Not that I particularly birdwatch, but think about the thrill of finding that elusive special rarely seen bird.
Although I'm no diligent birdwatcher, I take much pleasure in finding the best eats in the city. I have a mental catalog which I finger through whenever a particular craving comes to mind.
One hunger features strongly when the weather turns warmer: the burger, and in my case, the cheeseburger. Why eat it if it hasn't any cheese on it?
I have to admit, I haven't been chasing the burger trail as much as one would expect a foodie to, looking for that great American hamburger, but it's difficult when you've found what you consider already the perfect burger.
The Burger Joint (housed in Le Parker Meredien) is my favorite place to go to for a delicious eat. Just one fills me right up, then add in the fries and chocolate milkshake and I'm up to about feeling "oof". Features include mustard with zing, satisfyingly fat pickles, and made on the spot milkshakes. I find it extremely reasonably priced for New York. The Burger Joint is cherished by many not only for the burgers, but for the slight irony of a local collegiate-like hangout in the swank all mirrors and marble Le Parker Meredien hotel. There is only burger or cheeseburger here, vegetarians can take their business elsewhere.
The Shake Shack which is actually vegetarian friendly, has a "special sauce." Run by well known Chef Danny Meyer, and voted Best Burger from the New York Metro, I did have to try it. This smallish, but very tasty burger does have that nice crispy edge to it; what I would like to call crunch meat bits. I'm definitely going back, but it did more damage than Burger Joint. Pluses include outdoor dining in Madison Square Park. I also heard a new art exhibition is opening up in Madison Square Garden soon.
The Corner Bistro I checked out this weekend with a chum. Weighing at 8 oz. of beef, this meat beast of a hamburger was too much for me to handle. I ate half, heaved a heavy sigh, and gave up the fight. Again, with the irony. Bistro sounds very snooty, but the place was quite the opposite. The scene was a little too rowdy for me on a Saturday night. Chum said that the bar was serving burgers well into the night, so that's worth noting if you'd like an extremely large burger.
Woefully, I might add, is In-n-Out burgers missing here in Manhattan. Why, when we have dozens of McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King's, but no In-n-Out? Any fellow Californian will vouch for me on this one, that In-n-Out has a very special place in our hearts. For those of you whom have never had the happiness of an In-n-Out burger, it's not only the burger, which is great, especially Animal style (with minced caramelized onions), but also the fact that so many others have felt the exact same happiness with their burgers, shake and fries, arranged in the exact same configuration, and a little too hot for their lap to handle, in the same white thin open cardboard box.
Another burger place to note in the city according to my friend is Puck Fair, which does a good burger and beer deal in the afternoon.
Chow happy!
Friday, April 22, 2005
All things Thai-ish
All things Thai-ish
Being half Thai, usually the first comment someone makes about this is, "Oh, I love Thai food." to which I chime in, "Me too!"
Unfortunately, I didn't grow up on Thai food, but rather my mom's version of Chinese food, which probably is rather Thai influenced, and a random assortment of the regular American foods. I was no stranger to Kraft's boxed macaroni.
I am completely and utterly in love with Thailand, and upon returning I immediately asked my mother why she even left. Thailand is so lush, replete with orchids, and as much tropical fruit you can eat ...
Thai's don't quite understand the American enchantment of ripe mangoes with sticky rice. That would be like a foreigner gushing to us, "Oh, I love Apple Pie!"
We would probably say, yes, apple pie is quite nice, but wouldn't you like to try molten-chocolate cake? Or dulche de leche ice cream with ginger toffee crisp and lemon foam? I just made that last one up, but I'm puzzled by all the foam that is going on these days on gourmet plates. Oyster foam, anyone?
Actually, Thai's are well known for their garnishing skills, apparently my mom had to take a class on how to make flowers of carrots and radishes and the like. Being schooled here in America, I took Home-Ec, which taught me nothing I remember.
My mom always had us eat fresh fruit after dinner, which is both a Chinese and Thai thing to be fair. I was fortunate to grow up with my mom's view on eating as much fruit as possible, and Californian produce. One of the loveliest things my mom gave me while I was living abroad both in Sweden and Japan, was that she lent me her fruit knife, which is about as old as me, which she bought on vacation in Japan. I've tried to find one like it, with its sharpness and beautiful but homey design, but to no end. She always would cut up fresh fruit for us on our cartrips, the fresh fruit making the long trips a little bit more bearable.
Last summer I finally got around to trying out and making (by special request) Khao Niew Ma-Muang or Mango with Sticky Rice. This recipe falls into tier 2, which means I don't make it very often since it takes quite a bit of planning and ripe mangoes lying about.
The Thai grocery store in Manhattan is in Chinatown on Moscow and something, you might have to traipse down Elizabeth to get there. First things first. Make certain you buy the sticky rice, and not another kind of rice.
Khao Niew Ma-Muang or Mango with Sticky Rice.
1 1/2 cups sticky rice
1 1/3 cups well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted lightly
1 large mango
Rinse the rice in cold water until the water is clear. This will take around 6 times? Then, soak rice in cold water to cover overnight, or at least 4-6 hours.
Drain rice well in a sieve. Place the sieve over a large deep saucepan of simmering water (sieve should not touch water) and steam rice, covered with a kitchen towel and a lid, 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender (check water level in pan occasionally, adding more water if necessary). If you have bought the
While rice is cooking, in a small saucepan bring 1 cup coconut milk to a boil with 1/3 cup sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and remove from heat. Keep mixture warm.
Put cooked rice to a bowl and stir in coconut-milk mixture. Then let the rice stand covered, for 30 minutes, or until coconut-milk mixture is absorbed. (This is quite cool to watch).
While rice is soaking up the coconut milk, in a small pan slowly boil remaining 1/3 cup coconut milk with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Transfer sauce to a small bowl and chill until cool and thickened slightly.
About 4-6 servings
I don't make Thai food in general very often, which is quite sad, but I think I'm a little intimidated by the many many ingredients in order to make their very lively and tasty pastes, which are the basis of a lot of wonderful Thai recipes.
I'm going to have to investigate the Khanom Jeen situation at the Thai grocery store, and I'm still looking for that perfect Khao Soi recipe.
As they say in Thai, Gin! Gin! (which means eat! eat! as my Thai Aunt would encourage.)
Being half Thai, usually the first comment someone makes about this is, "Oh, I love Thai food." to which I chime in, "Me too!"
Unfortunately, I didn't grow up on Thai food, but rather my mom's version of Chinese food, which probably is rather Thai influenced, and a random assortment of the regular American foods. I was no stranger to Kraft's boxed macaroni.
I am completely and utterly in love with Thailand, and upon returning I immediately asked my mother why she even left. Thailand is so lush, replete with orchids, and as much tropical fruit you can eat ...
Thai's don't quite understand the American enchantment of ripe mangoes with sticky rice. That would be like a foreigner gushing to us, "Oh, I love Apple Pie!"
We would probably say, yes, apple pie is quite nice, but wouldn't you like to try molten-chocolate cake? Or dulche de leche ice cream with ginger toffee crisp and lemon foam? I just made that last one up, but I'm puzzled by all the foam that is going on these days on gourmet plates. Oyster foam, anyone?
Actually, Thai's are well known for their garnishing skills, apparently my mom had to take a class on how to make flowers of carrots and radishes and the like. Being schooled here in America, I took Home-Ec, which taught me nothing I remember.
My mom always had us eat fresh fruit after dinner, which is both a Chinese and Thai thing to be fair. I was fortunate to grow up with my mom's view on eating as much fruit as possible, and Californian produce. One of the loveliest things my mom gave me while I was living abroad both in Sweden and Japan, was that she lent me her fruit knife, which is about as old as me, which she bought on vacation in Japan. I've tried to find one like it, with its sharpness and beautiful but homey design, but to no end. She always would cut up fresh fruit for us on our cartrips, the fresh fruit making the long trips a little bit more bearable.
Last summer I finally got around to trying out and making (by special request) Khao Niew Ma-Muang or Mango with Sticky Rice. This recipe falls into tier 2, which means I don't make it very often since it takes quite a bit of planning and ripe mangoes lying about.
The Thai grocery store in Manhattan is in Chinatown on Moscow and something, you might have to traipse down Elizabeth to get there. First things first. Make certain you buy the sticky rice, and not another kind of rice.
Khao Niew Ma-Muang or Mango with Sticky Rice.
1 1/2 cups sticky rice
1 1/3 cups well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted lightly
1 large mango
Rinse the rice in cold water until the water is clear. This will take around 6 times? Then, soak rice in cold water to cover overnight, or at least 4-6 hours.
Drain rice well in a sieve. Place the sieve over a large deep saucepan of simmering water (sieve should not touch water) and steam rice, covered with a kitchen towel and a lid, 30 to 40 minutes, or until tender (check water level in pan occasionally, adding more water if necessary). If you have bought the
While rice is cooking, in a small saucepan bring 1 cup coconut milk to a boil with 1/3 cup sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and remove from heat. Keep mixture warm.
Put cooked rice to a bowl and stir in coconut-milk mixture. Then let the rice stand covered, for 30 minutes, or until coconut-milk mixture is absorbed. (This is quite cool to watch).
While rice is soaking up the coconut milk, in a small pan slowly boil remaining 1/3 cup coconut milk with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, stirring occasionally, 1 minute. Transfer sauce to a small bowl and chill until cool and thickened slightly.
About 4-6 servings
I don't make Thai food in general very often, which is quite sad, but I think I'm a little intimidated by the many many ingredients in order to make their very lively and tasty pastes, which are the basis of a lot of wonderful Thai recipes.
I'm going to have to investigate the Khanom Jeen situation at the Thai grocery store, and I'm still looking for that perfect Khao Soi recipe.
As they say in Thai, Gin! Gin! (which means eat! eat! as my Thai Aunt would encourage.)
Thursday, April 21, 2005
wowza the steamer basket
Wowza, the steamer basket!
I woke up extremely late this morning since I was formatting and editing this website (ask me about my 3 in the morning coding epiphany if you're nerdy enough to rejoice with me on this one) until the wee hours of the morning. Instead of breakfast, I've got "healthy lunch".
I lived in Tokyo for about a year, and that has heavily influenced my kitchen habits: eating, and utensils etc, in addition to my Asian (Thai-Chinese) upbringing. So this morning, still under the Perricone credo, I scanned my memory for things appropriate to this diet.
I actually cheated yesterday eating Grammie's Macaroni & Cheese from The Chip Shop, and to be fair, I *tried* to eat the protein first. I nosed under the gooey buttery mac 'n cheese to the sausage bits and ate them *with ketchup* which qualifies for that weird thing where the more processed tomatoes are, the healthier it is in fighting cancer. Don't ask me why, I just read the articles.
I still feel like a beginner with cooking. I am known among my friends for being a good cook, but as usual, my method in life is picking the most complicated things to do first, and bumbling around a bit, instead of being a more traditional learner and start out with something simple. Like when I started with knitting lace, hmmm, yes, that was a wee bit confusing, or submitted poems to The New Yorker (rejected! And they only allow you to submit every 6 months).
In any event, this is why I was overawed by the steamer basket this morning!
I eat lightly salted edamame (in pod, in situ, the hairyness is so much more fun), as my veggie/protein supplement as often as I can remember to eat it.
First, I buy frozen edamame from the Japanese Grocery Store Sunrise Mart, you can usually buy them for $1 a bag, and then cook up half a bag (since I am only one small Joy), and depending on how hungry I am, eat most of it, and refrigerate the rest for quick snacks.
You'd be surprised, if you're not from Manhattan, how much Japanese restaurants will charge you for edamame, upwards to $8. Criminy.
I noticed my roommate had steamed her asparagus the other morning in the steamer basket. I had made aspargus-edamame risotto the other day and used the boiling method.
Asians are big on steaming. We steam rice in rice cookers, steam to finish off cooking dumplings, most of dim sum is steamed in bamboo baskets, tied up in banana leaves. My mom has me steam cook the tops of my eggs (as evidenced by yesterday's posting), you steam sticky rice to make fabulous mango sticky rice. I've heard you can steam veggies atop of rice in your rice cooker. I'm a little suspicious still, but haven't tried it yet.
The traditional way of making edamame is steamed in one of their pretty straw woven baskets which you can buy at my favorite Japanese outlet store, again Samurai on Grand St., cross street Mott.
However, I usually just boil water and then throw in the frozen edamame for 3 minutes, but that's only after the pot has come to boil.
How to Make Edamame - Steamed Fresh Soybeans
This morning I boiled one inch of water, which of course came to boil really quickly, plopped down the steamer basket, which always looks like a fun metal flower blossoming and closing alternately, and put in half a bag of edamame. Then I set the timer for 3 minutes. I also covered the pot for the full steaming effect.
I was completely astonished how quick the whole process was. At three minutes it was still a little too crunchy for my taste. My friend Lynn prefers them that way, but I prefer a little softer than that, so within 1 more minute voila! Edamame strewn with sea salt.
Other efforts at health included a mango lassi. However, mango is on the inflammatory list for Dr. Perricone (sorry!), but organic yogurt is on the plus list. However, there is a lot of sugar in mango lassis, admittedly, but that's why they taste so good. I had a spot of iced jasmine-green tea, and I zapped some shu mai I bought at Sunrise Mart, which have shrimp in them. Perricone highly suggests salmon or crab, shrimp is my mild attempt to get along with his recommendations. Remind me to put up my roasted garlic salmon and goat cheese dumplings with french mustard recipe up eventually.
One thing that bothered me to no end were Swedish ceramics when I lived in Stockholm. They had no little bowls for garnishes or sauces. Swedes generally have some gravy sort of sauce or flavored butter (Swedish butter is divine!). However, if you're going to eat shu mai or dumplings, you really need a dipping bowl to control over-salting or over-moistening your food.
Going along with the French Women Don't Get Fat edict, my breakfast set up is very prettily. Here are some things I bought from Samurai to help me Japanize my kitchen for very little money (most items cost around $1.29 - $5).
Used in my lunch today bought from Samurai:
2 straw baskets, one for edamame, one for edamame empty shells
1 pair of orange stripey chopsticks (no Jared, you can't have them)
1 pink plastic small bowl (so many uses)
1 green plastic child cup
1 wooden Japanese style mat
It might also help that everything they sell is quite small, which helps you eat less, I think.
Used in my lunch today bought from Sunrise Mart (The East Village location is less expensive than Soho)
Frozen Edamame
Itoen Jasmine-Green Tea
Frozen Shu Mai
Another thing that Perricone suggests is that all spicy things are very healthy for you. I had the chance to try unadulterated harissa on my omelet the other day, woo, too spicy! I decided this morning to add some hot chili sesame oil to my soy sauce and dab a little harissa on my shu mai.
In light of the no white flour rule, I think that they should start making brown flour wrappers since all dumplings are usually wrapped in white flour skins. Although the amount of skin is pretty minimal in shu mai, not dumplings/potstickers/gyoza/mandoo though.
For the warm weather I'm going to post a few of my favorite combating summer heat cool drink recipes.
Mango Lassi
Mango pulp (buy at Indian/Pakistani stores)
Whole Yogurt (the Indian yogurt was the best, but try to buy yogurt that doesn't have pectin)
Skim Milk
Sugar
The ratio is 1:3 mango pulp to yogurt, then thin it out with milk, and add sugar to taste. I bought a great little plastic pitcher, again, from Samurai (I'm crazy about that store I tell you). Since the plastic is clear you can eyeball everything, then I just snapped close the lid and shook it until everything was mixed, and I used a chopstick too (heehee, so Asiany).
White Peach Iced Jasmine-Green Tea Frappe
Itoen Jasmine-Green Tea (it comes in 2 liter bottles at Sunrise Mart), use maybe a liter
Ripe white peach (skinned, peeled, I suppose you could freeze them too)
Tray of ice cubes
Peach nectar (Goza)
Mint leaf for garnish (optional)
The ratio of tea to juice is about half and half. Using a blender with a stellar ice crusher function, blend together. You can get about 3-4 glasses from this concoction. A glass of this sold at Afternoon Tea in Shinjuku for about $8. Another option which is more Chinese-y is to use Litchee Juice insteach of Peach, etc. al.
Mango Lime Fizzer
This is inspired of the sorbet sipper at Haagen Daaz
Mango nectar (again Goza)
Perrier (get lime flavored if possible)
Lime
Ratio is 1:1 for the fizzer, I never realized Perrier has such delicious little bubbles. Garnish with an orchid if you'd like.
Another variation is peach nectar with perrier, serve over ice and a few fresh raspberries on the top.
Strawberry-Cranberry Frappe
1 tray of ice
Cranberry juice
Half a bag of frozen strawberries
Just blitz it up, it's very yummy.
How to glam up your drinks
It's simple, buy straws. Serve these drinks over ice or not, but in a long slim glass with a straw and with a garnish that makes sense.
Those are my main summery cooling off drinks. To finish off my healthful lunch, I'm going to eat a quartered navel orange sprinkled with cinnamon and pecans. Itadakimasu!
I woke up extremely late this morning since I was formatting and editing this website (ask me about my 3 in the morning coding epiphany if you're nerdy enough to rejoice with me on this one) until the wee hours of the morning. Instead of breakfast, I've got "healthy lunch".
I lived in Tokyo for about a year, and that has heavily influenced my kitchen habits: eating, and utensils etc, in addition to my Asian (Thai-Chinese) upbringing. So this morning, still under the Perricone credo, I scanned my memory for things appropriate to this diet.
I actually cheated yesterday eating Grammie's Macaroni & Cheese from The Chip Shop, and to be fair, I *tried* to eat the protein first. I nosed under the gooey buttery mac 'n cheese to the sausage bits and ate them *with ketchup* which qualifies for that weird thing where the more processed tomatoes are, the healthier it is in fighting cancer. Don't ask me why, I just read the articles.
I still feel like a beginner with cooking. I am known among my friends for being a good cook, but as usual, my method in life is picking the most complicated things to do first, and bumbling around a bit, instead of being a more traditional learner and start out with something simple. Like when I started with knitting lace, hmmm, yes, that was a wee bit confusing, or submitted poems to The New Yorker (rejected! And they only allow you to submit every 6 months).
In any event, this is why I was overawed by the steamer basket this morning!
I eat lightly salted edamame (in pod, in situ, the hairyness is so much more fun), as my veggie/protein supplement as often as I can remember to eat it.
First, I buy frozen edamame from the Japanese Grocery Store Sunrise Mart, you can usually buy them for $1 a bag, and then cook up half a bag (since I am only one small Joy), and depending on how hungry I am, eat most of it, and refrigerate the rest for quick snacks.
You'd be surprised, if you're not from Manhattan, how much Japanese restaurants will charge you for edamame, upwards to $8. Criminy.
I noticed my roommate had steamed her asparagus the other morning in the steamer basket. I had made aspargus-edamame risotto the other day and used the boiling method.
Asians are big on steaming. We steam rice in rice cookers, steam to finish off cooking dumplings, most of dim sum is steamed in bamboo baskets, tied up in banana leaves. My mom has me steam cook the tops of my eggs (as evidenced by yesterday's posting), you steam sticky rice to make fabulous mango sticky rice. I've heard you can steam veggies atop of rice in your rice cooker. I'm a little suspicious still, but haven't tried it yet.
The traditional way of making edamame is steamed in one of their pretty straw woven baskets which you can buy at my favorite Japanese outlet store, again Samurai on Grand St., cross street Mott.
However, I usually just boil water and then throw in the frozen edamame for 3 minutes, but that's only after the pot has come to boil.
How to Make Edamame - Steamed Fresh Soybeans
This morning I boiled one inch of water, which of course came to boil really quickly, plopped down the steamer basket, which always looks like a fun metal flower blossoming and closing alternately, and put in half a bag of edamame. Then I set the timer for 3 minutes. I also covered the pot for the full steaming effect.
I was completely astonished how quick the whole process was. At three minutes it was still a little too crunchy for my taste. My friend Lynn prefers them that way, but I prefer a little softer than that, so within 1 more minute voila! Edamame strewn with sea salt.
Other efforts at health included a mango lassi. However, mango is on the inflammatory list for Dr. Perricone (sorry!), but organic yogurt is on the plus list. However, there is a lot of sugar in mango lassis, admittedly, but that's why they taste so good. I had a spot of iced jasmine-green tea, and I zapped some shu mai I bought at Sunrise Mart, which have shrimp in them. Perricone highly suggests salmon or crab, shrimp is my mild attempt to get along with his recommendations. Remind me to put up my roasted garlic salmon and goat cheese dumplings with french mustard recipe up eventually.
One thing that bothered me to no end were Swedish ceramics when I lived in Stockholm. They had no little bowls for garnishes or sauces. Swedes generally have some gravy sort of sauce or flavored butter (Swedish butter is divine!). However, if you're going to eat shu mai or dumplings, you really need a dipping bowl to control over-salting or over-moistening your food.
Going along with the French Women Don't Get Fat edict, my breakfast set up is very prettily. Here are some things I bought from Samurai to help me Japanize my kitchen for very little money (most items cost around $1.29 - $5).
Used in my lunch today bought from Samurai:
2 straw baskets, one for edamame, one for edamame empty shells
1 pair of orange stripey chopsticks (no Jared, you can't have them)
1 pink plastic small bowl (so many uses)
1 green plastic child cup
1 wooden Japanese style mat
It might also help that everything they sell is quite small, which helps you eat less, I think.
Used in my lunch today bought from Sunrise Mart (The East Village location is less expensive than Soho)
Frozen Edamame
Itoen Jasmine-Green Tea
Frozen Shu Mai
Another thing that Perricone suggests is that all spicy things are very healthy for you. I had the chance to try unadulterated harissa on my omelet the other day, woo, too spicy! I decided this morning to add some hot chili sesame oil to my soy sauce and dab a little harissa on my shu mai.
In light of the no white flour rule, I think that they should start making brown flour wrappers since all dumplings are usually wrapped in white flour skins. Although the amount of skin is pretty minimal in shu mai, not dumplings/potstickers/gyoza/mandoo though.
For the warm weather I'm going to post a few of my favorite combating summer heat cool drink recipes.
Mango Lassi
Mango pulp (buy at Indian/Pakistani stores)
Whole Yogurt (the Indian yogurt was the best, but try to buy yogurt that doesn't have pectin)
Skim Milk
Sugar
The ratio is 1:3 mango pulp to yogurt, then thin it out with milk, and add sugar to taste. I bought a great little plastic pitcher, again, from Samurai (I'm crazy about that store I tell you). Since the plastic is clear you can eyeball everything, then I just snapped close the lid and shook it until everything was mixed, and I used a chopstick too (heehee, so Asiany).
White Peach Iced Jasmine-Green Tea Frappe
Itoen Jasmine-Green Tea (it comes in 2 liter bottles at Sunrise Mart), use maybe a liter
Ripe white peach (skinned, peeled, I suppose you could freeze them too)
Tray of ice cubes
Peach nectar (Goza)
Mint leaf for garnish (optional)
The ratio of tea to juice is about half and half. Using a blender with a stellar ice crusher function, blend together. You can get about 3-4 glasses from this concoction. A glass of this sold at Afternoon Tea in Shinjuku for about $8. Another option which is more Chinese-y is to use Litchee Juice insteach of Peach, etc. al.
Mango Lime Fizzer
This is inspired of the sorbet sipper at Haagen Daaz
Mango nectar (again Goza)
Perrier (get lime flavored if possible)
Lime
Ratio is 1:1 for the fizzer, I never realized Perrier has such delicious little bubbles. Garnish with an orchid if you'd like.
Another variation is peach nectar with perrier, serve over ice and a few fresh raspberries on the top.
Strawberry-Cranberry Frappe
1 tray of ice
Cranberry juice
Half a bag of frozen strawberries
Just blitz it up, it's very yummy.
How to glam up your drinks
It's simple, buy straws. Serve these drinks over ice or not, but in a long slim glass with a straw and with a garnish that makes sense.
Those are my main summery cooling off drinks. To finish off my healthful lunch, I'm going to eat a quartered navel orange sprinkled with cinnamon and pecans. Itadakimasu!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
open face italian sandwiches
Since this is my first foodblog entry, I think it's only fitting to start out with breakfast and an introduction.
I've always loved food, and have always loved writing. Quite a bit ago, I considered foodwriting as a career, but then turned back to poetry for my main energies in writing. However, life has given me some oh-not-so-subtle hints that even though poetry remains my first interest, I will always be writing about food as well.
I think that a lot of creative writers are also very interested in food. I know that Maya Angelou has recently released a cookbook. My private theory on this matter is that I'm a complete sensualist, and food is one of the nicest ways to indulge the senses. I think that that's the charm of reading for me: I get surrounded by this whole world of someone else's imagining.
For now I'll be writing from Manhattan, but in a half a year, I'll be somewhere else, certainly. In the meantime, please enjoy all my recipes and tips on where to get food, or where to eat in the Manhattan/Brooklyn stomping grounds.
How I got started on cooking:
My 3rd year of college, I moved into a co-op, called the Zu, no, not like Tillsammans or Together as it's called in English, but it was about 20 people, and we cooked with a partner every two weeks a complete dinner for around 30 people, since people were always bringing guests. The main point of the co-op was to eat Vegetarian and heathily. It was quite the crash course in cooking. I spent a lot of time asking my mom for advice on how to make things over the phone to California.
My mom brought us up on a fantastically healthy diet of Asian foods. We always managed to eat vegetables and fruits with every dinner, and those habits have thankfully followed me into adulthood. However, my mom mostly only cooked Asian food for dinner, and after leaving for college my palate quickly became more international, and now I crave nearly every cuisine under the sun. This makes it difficult to have the correct pantry. Due to budget concerns, my pantry is Asian, and from there I can quickly make Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Korean. I'm drawn to Burmese, Vietnamese, Indian, Sri Lankan, as well, but I'm not as familiar with cooking those cuisines. Recently I have gotten into cooking Middle Eastern food after visiting Bamiyan. In Stockholm, when I visited in February, I also ate at Pascha's Deli, and had a very delicious mezzo, which made me long to be able to make the same sort of food at home, and for less money.
Living in Sweden and Japan also caused me to cook a lot more. Here in New York, it's pretty simple to buy a meal for around $10 or less, but due to financial constraints and much more expensive dining in Europe and in Tokyo, I was forced to figure out how to make food for myself. Thanks to Mom I realized that for the largest part I wanted to cook healthy delicious food.
While living in Lund with Swedish University students, we often got together for dinners and cooking for each other. It was a really cozy habit, and one I'm sorry we don't do as often here in the U.S. The easiest, of course, was pasta, and even easier was making something with a cream sauce. I am not against cream in the least, but I do feel like sometimes it can be the easy way out to make a dish taste good.
Recently my older sister Jan told me that pasta is not even a main dish in Italy, but just an appetizer. This seems to make sense, in this fanatical Atkin's crazed time, that pasta is too carbohydrate heavy and should be eaten in smaller portions.
In terms of my tiers of recipes, the first tier is fast, delicious, and healthy. Maybe I'm the result of modern times and quick paces, and fast food culture, but quite often I'm already hungry (not a good start) and tired and just would like to eat something within about half an hour. The second tier is recipes that will take more preparation and time. The third tier is gourmet recipes, which are generally more richer with more expensive ingredients.
All in all, I find cooking to be a relaxing activity. It's a low stress way to be creative and at the end you have something Iovely and delicious to share with yourself and loved ones.
Lately, I have been reading The Perricone Prescription I stumbled upon his book through Oprah (such an influential lady) since he had a list of fruits and vegetables and how they beautified, protected, and nourished different aspects of your body. Things I remembered were like watermelon improved your natural SPF, and eating pumpkin gave your skin a rosy glow! I love those kinds of tangible details.
The short of it is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables that have noninflammatory properties (which cause your skin to act up), and to eat lots of salmon. The other "lesson" I culled from the book is to eat protein first to prevent raising my blood sugar levels too quickly. Heehee, well I used to eat cupcakes first before eating, but I guess I'll have to save those for later in the future.
After a visit to Samurai, a Japanese outlet store I regularly frequent, I went to DiPalo's, my absolute favorite Italian deli. Finding an Italian deli was a fruitless search when I lived in Orange County, but here in New York City, there are more than a few places. DiPalo's treats you with small town warmth, and that is very hard to find these days.
I bought spicy soppresata, prosciutto di parma, boccocini (bite sized mozzarella), a wedge of parmesan reggiano, and marinated artichokes.
This morning I put together this delicious breakfast, open faced Italian breakfast sandwiches, served with honeydew chunks (part of the Perricone recommended diet), and iced jasmine-green tea (green tea is full of antioxidants).
Open Face Italian Breakfast Sandwiches
Two slices of multigrain bread from Bread Alone
Two eggs from Sunrise Mart
Six small bite sized fresh mozzarella balls
Two thin slices of prosciutto di parma
Freshly grated parmesan
Wee bit of butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
As with the best of cooking timing is everything. Piece apart the mozzarella balls, and put them atop the the two slices of bread and put them into the toaster oven. Put a tiny bit of butter in the nonstick pan, fry the two eggs, before they set entirely sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and parmesan. Turn on the toaster oven to medium high toast. Finish the tops of the eggs by adding a little water in the pan and cover to steam until water is evaporated entirely. Transfer the two slices of bread with melty mozz onto a plate, top each with one egg, with the yolk still tender, top with prosciutto slices.
I'm still trying to get used to eating a solid breakfast, but I think it's a good start. Bon appetit!
I've always loved food, and have always loved writing. Quite a bit ago, I considered foodwriting as a career, but then turned back to poetry for my main energies in writing. However, life has given me some oh-not-so-subtle hints that even though poetry remains my first interest, I will always be writing about food as well.
I think that a lot of creative writers are also very interested in food. I know that Maya Angelou has recently released a cookbook. My private theory on this matter is that I'm a complete sensualist, and food is one of the nicest ways to indulge the senses. I think that that's the charm of reading for me: I get surrounded by this whole world of someone else's imagining.
For now I'll be writing from Manhattan, but in a half a year, I'll be somewhere else, certainly. In the meantime, please enjoy all my recipes and tips on where to get food, or where to eat in the Manhattan/Brooklyn stomping grounds.
How I got started on cooking:
My 3rd year of college, I moved into a co-op, called the Zu, no, not like Tillsammans or Together as it's called in English, but it was about 20 people, and we cooked with a partner every two weeks a complete dinner for around 30 people, since people were always bringing guests. The main point of the co-op was to eat Vegetarian and heathily. It was quite the crash course in cooking. I spent a lot of time asking my mom for advice on how to make things over the phone to California.
My mom brought us up on a fantastically healthy diet of Asian foods. We always managed to eat vegetables and fruits with every dinner, and those habits have thankfully followed me into adulthood. However, my mom mostly only cooked Asian food for dinner, and after leaving for college my palate quickly became more international, and now I crave nearly every cuisine under the sun. This makes it difficult to have the correct pantry. Due to budget concerns, my pantry is Asian, and from there I can quickly make Chinese, Thai, Japanese, and Korean. I'm drawn to Burmese, Vietnamese, Indian, Sri Lankan, as well, but I'm not as familiar with cooking those cuisines. Recently I have gotten into cooking Middle Eastern food after visiting Bamiyan. In Stockholm, when I visited in February, I also ate at Pascha's Deli, and had a very delicious mezzo, which made me long to be able to make the same sort of food at home, and for less money.
Living in Sweden and Japan also caused me to cook a lot more. Here in New York, it's pretty simple to buy a meal for around $10 or less, but due to financial constraints and much more expensive dining in Europe and in Tokyo, I was forced to figure out how to make food for myself. Thanks to Mom I realized that for the largest part I wanted to cook healthy delicious food.
While living in Lund with Swedish University students, we often got together for dinners and cooking for each other. It was a really cozy habit, and one I'm sorry we don't do as often here in the U.S. The easiest, of course, was pasta, and even easier was making something with a cream sauce. I am not against cream in the least, but I do feel like sometimes it can be the easy way out to make a dish taste good.
Recently my older sister Jan told me that pasta is not even a main dish in Italy, but just an appetizer. This seems to make sense, in this fanatical Atkin's crazed time, that pasta is too carbohydrate heavy and should be eaten in smaller portions.
In terms of my tiers of recipes, the first tier is fast, delicious, and healthy. Maybe I'm the result of modern times and quick paces, and fast food culture, but quite often I'm already hungry (not a good start) and tired and just would like to eat something within about half an hour. The second tier is recipes that will take more preparation and time. The third tier is gourmet recipes, which are generally more richer with more expensive ingredients.
All in all, I find cooking to be a relaxing activity. It's a low stress way to be creative and at the end you have something Iovely and delicious to share with yourself and loved ones.
Lately, I have been reading The Perricone Prescription I stumbled upon his book through Oprah (such an influential lady) since he had a list of fruits and vegetables and how they beautified, protected, and nourished different aspects of your body. Things I remembered were like watermelon improved your natural SPF, and eating pumpkin gave your skin a rosy glow! I love those kinds of tangible details.
The short of it is to eat lots of fruits and vegetables that have noninflammatory properties (which cause your skin to act up), and to eat lots of salmon. The other "lesson" I culled from the book is to eat protein first to prevent raising my blood sugar levels too quickly. Heehee, well I used to eat cupcakes first before eating, but I guess I'll have to save those for later in the future.
After a visit to Samurai, a Japanese outlet store I regularly frequent, I went to DiPalo's, my absolute favorite Italian deli. Finding an Italian deli was a fruitless search when I lived in Orange County, but here in New York City, there are more than a few places. DiPalo's treats you with small town warmth, and that is very hard to find these days.
I bought spicy soppresata, prosciutto di parma, boccocini (bite sized mozzarella), a wedge of parmesan reggiano, and marinated artichokes.
This morning I put together this delicious breakfast, open faced Italian breakfast sandwiches, served with honeydew chunks (part of the Perricone recommended diet), and iced jasmine-green tea (green tea is full of antioxidants).
Open Face Italian Breakfast Sandwiches
Two slices of multigrain bread from Bread Alone
Two eggs from Sunrise Mart
Six small bite sized fresh mozzarella balls
Two thin slices of prosciutto di parma
Freshly grated parmesan
Wee bit of butter
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
As with the best of cooking timing is everything. Piece apart the mozzarella balls, and put them atop the the two slices of bread and put them into the toaster oven. Put a tiny bit of butter in the nonstick pan, fry the two eggs, before they set entirely sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and parmesan. Turn on the toaster oven to medium high toast. Finish the tops of the eggs by adding a little water in the pan and cover to steam until water is evaporated entirely. Transfer the two slices of bread with melty mozz onto a plate, top each with one egg, with the yolk still tender, top with prosciutto slices.
I'm still trying to get used to eating a solid breakfast, but I think it's a good start. Bon appetit!
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