GASTRONORMOUS

On New Year’s Eve last year a dear friend of mine pulled me aside to indulge in a bottle of Moët Rosé he had stashed away for the special midnight toast. Our palates, anesthetized from drinking $4 Andre all evening (hey, we were broke students), were awakened by the refreshingly smooth and crisp Moët. What was his explanation for this unusual display of extravagance? “Bringing in the New Year is a special occasion worthy of a special drink; we needed something unique and out of the norm.” I will be hosting my own New Year’s Eve party this year and, per this great advice, have opted to skip Champagne all together for a bit more standout sparkling Argentine Malbec.
Though toasting 2009 with red wine may seem blasphemous, North Western Argentina’s festive and enjoyable Terra Sparkling Malbec is a delicious alternative to Champagne’s predictable midnight appearance. Produced in the Mendoza region of Argentina, famous for its bold and delicious Malbecs, Terra puts a vibrant twist on this South American favorite. Filled with mixed dark berries like blueberries, blackberries, and currants, Terra is a bold red that has transformed into an undeniably light aperitif thanks to the addition of bubbles. Terra is great with hors d’oeuvres and strong enough to hold up to heavier dishes. There is a touch of black pepper spice at first taste, and a slightly tannic finish that pairs deliciously with prosciutto, salami, and jamón Serrano. Terra is a creative and original alternative to Champagne, and sure to be a memorable conversation starter: “Sparkling red wine, anyone?”

Available at Astor Wines & Spirits for $9.99

Sorry for the lack of posts, peeps. I have found myself spending every free minute searching for Christmas gifts rather than thinking and writing about food!

A quick restaurant review, though:

Today I attended a conference at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and during the lunch break, my coworker and I skipped out to eat at the nearby renowned vegetarian restaurant Candle 79 (the upscale sibling of Candle Cafe, also located on the Upper East Side on Manhattan).

I had a black bean burger, which was served with polenta fries, greens, and some avocado. My dining companion had a BBQ seitan sandwich served with the same polenta fries. I have to say, that the polenta fries were the standout of the afternoon. The black bean burger wasn’t bad, but was pretty under-seasoned, and the bun was way to big–it threw off the burger-to-bun ratio, a delicate one especially when you are talking about veggie burgers. The CW said his BBQ seitan was good, but not the best he has ever had. At $15, though, it really should be the best seitan sandwich he has ever had, ya know? I must reiterate that the polenta fries were outstanding—super crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Yum!

Overall, I am not sure I would recommend it. While the ambiance is really nice, and the service is good enough, I think the food is a little pricey for what it is: uninspired, passably good vegetarian food.

Candle 79
154 East 79th St.
(between 3rd Ave & Lexington Ave)
New York, NY 10021
(212) 537-7179

Gee, too bad I already bought my country-French-loving sister her Christmas presents, because I think she would love this nifty French butter crock (in blue, no less, which perfectly coordinates with her interiors!). The best thing about this crock, besides looking good, is that it keeps butter spreadable and fresh–without refrigeration. You just smoosh all the butter into the compartment in the lid, the fill the base with water, and insert the butter-filled lid into the base. Sounds confusing, but it isn’t, I swear.

[$28 from Sierra Clay Art at Etsy]

I am a coffee drinker, but I might consider starting a tea habit just so I have an excuse to buy this beyond cute teapot. Look at the little hat keeping it cozy (in addition to keeping the lid in place).

My addiction to adorable also compels me to point out this teacup designed by the same artisan (Lola Goldstein). I love the little chair at the bottom of the cup. A chair? Yes, maybe it is a bit obtuse, but it will no doubt delight guests you have over for a cuppa.

[teapot $120; tea cup $30. Both available at LAMA]

I know what you are thinking–pancakes? How banal!

These may look like your run-of-the-mill pancakes, but I assure you they are not! The Hubs offered to make pancakes for breakfast last weekend, and who am I to refuse? Scanning the cupboards for the necessary ingredients, he quickly noted that we were out of the regular vegetable oil with which we usually make pancakes. Thinking I might have to change out of my cozy PJs and face the harsh weather outside in order to retrieve more, I panicked: “Use that mandarin olive oil! It’ll be (gulp) great!” I feigned authority in saying this. In reality, I knew it was a risk. Olive oil might be weird in pancakes, but the alternative was the by far less attractive option at that moment. He looked at me skeptically for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and saying plainly, “okay.” And he fired up the griddle.

Besides the mandarin olive oil (which I have used before), he added some pecans, a dash of cinnamon, and a tiny splash of pure vanilla extract. The result? Sweet and subtly exotic pancakes! And not olive-y at all. I don’t need to tell you how to make pancakes, but next time you are whipping up your favorite morning ‘cake recipe, think about adding some orange- or lemon-flavored olive oil to the batter in place of plain ol’ vegetable oil. It doesn’t sock you in the face with fruit flavor, but offers a hint of bright citrus flavor that will surely perk up your Sunday morning.

Got the recession blues? A prix fixe $24 lunch or $35 dinner (including molten chocolate cake) at one of Jean-Georges Vongerichten‘s restaurants should be soothing balm for your financial wounds. [via Grub Street]

This is not a joke: Nicholas Kristoff calls for Prez-elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of Food (as opposed to Secretary of Agriculture). It is a wide-ranging, informative, and fascinating op-ed in the NY Times. [via Bitten]

Eat It: Brooklyn reviews Buttermilk Channel, where I failed to go to brunch last weekend. With exception of slightly over-oily pasta, it looks like pretty delicious seasonal dinner fare. Must go!

Bread-making intimidates me. The yeast, the sitting, the rising, the punching, the kneading—one temperamental chemical reaction goes wrong, and your loaf is dust. I was never keen on science, which might explain my wariness of adventures of the doughy kind. I was therefore duly impressed by Food Mayhem‘s post on Ciabatta-making. She even made the starter, which doubles the scary-sciencey quotient.

Whenever I make a recipe that says that a sauce needs to be reduced down to 2 cups (or whatever), I admit that I always guesstimate, with varying results. What the heck are you supposed to do, I always thought, dump all the boiling hot sauce (soup/glaze/whatever) into a measuring cup each time I think I am close to the requisite amount? No, all I need to do was fish a chopstick and rubberband out of my junk drawer. More one this MacGyver-ish technique over at The Kitchn.

Now, stop reading this blog and start Christmas shopping, already!

I met the Predicate for brunch last weekend. We had intended to go to Buttermilk Channel, the new place on Court St. that has been getting a lot of attention, but it turns out they don’t serve brunch (I hope there are plans to do so–that end of Court St. needs more brunch options).  We then attempted to go to Frankies 457 Spuntino for their fantastic brunch, but they were really busy, and with a movie to go see later, we didn’t have the time to wait the half hour. We then walked through the blustery cold over to Smith Street, where we checked in at Patois, one of the very first restaurant-settlers of the wild east that was Smith Street in the late 1990′s. I have heard they do a great brunch, but have never experienced it myself as there are always interminable waits there. On this day, there was “only” a 20 minute wait, but again, because of the movie, we didn’t take the hostess up on the offer to wait for a table.

We finally ended up Savoia, a place I have always overlooked, in favor of any number of the other eateries in the area, for some reason. The joint was almost empty, which I think must be due just to the fact of its proximity to Patois, of the all-you-can-drink mimosa brunch, and not due to poor quality of the food, which was basically pretty good. It wasn’t the best brunch I have ever had, but I have certainly had much worse.

The meal didn’t begin totally promisingly. With our beverages came a basket of bread that contained some focaccia that, oddly, tasted faintly of fish, and some crusty bread (pugliese?) that might have been good when it was just out of the oven, but now was clearly a day old. Pulling at that tough crust was straining my neck muscles, so I finally gave up on eating it. I was now worried about that was to come…

Luckily, my concerns turned out to be unwarranted. The eggs in purgatory were delicious: two medium-well poached eggs were nestled in thick and hearty (but maybe a tad too salty) marinara sauce. The eggs were served with a healthy portion of gnocchi, which I have never seen on a brunch menu before. I wish I would see it more often as it made a tasty and filling addition to the eggs—perfect for a late brunch. The Predicate ordered what was labeled on the menu as a “Monte Cristo” sandwich, but it actually ended up being an Italian version of a croque madame: toast (plain, not battered) topped with prosciutto, cheese, and sunny side-up eggs, served with salad. While it was no Monte Cristo, it was delicious. The Predicate was big enough to forgive Savoia for calling this dish a Monte Cristo, as, she admitted, her paradigm of the classic sandwich was Denny’s rendition, so who was she to judge (she added that if Savoia had tried to do a “Moons Over MyHammy” sandwich, that was a meal she could justly and authoritatively compare to Denny’s).

In the end it was a hearty and satisfying meal–I would go back, and maybe try it for dinner some time (I have heard their pizza is great). For brunch, if you are ready for a long wait to be seated, and looking to get drunk mid-day, then by all means go to Patois, but if you want some hearty morning-after food, and want it quickly, then Savoia is a good bet.

Savoia
277 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(718) 797-2727

Once, years ago, I decided to make cookies and fudge for all my coworkers and friends at Christmas. I thought people would appreciate a homemade gift, plus, I admit, I thought it would be cheaper (I was broke then) and easier than buying individual gifts for everyone.

I learned several important things during this experience: First, it turns out that buying all the butter, spices, sprinkles, etc. for many multiples of dozen of different types of cookies is expensive. It also took many more hours slaving away in the kitchen than I thought it would (and the clean up! Oy!). And perhaps most significantly, I found out I do not have a knack for baking, let alone fudge-making (after a failed attempt at making fudge on my own, I made and emergency appeal to my sister, who kindly helped me make another batch in her kitchen). After plating the cookies and fudge on festive holiday-themed paper plates, I wrapped them in plastic and finished it with ribbon, which I carefully curled. Transporting the cookies to work and friends proved to be a challenge, and indeed many of the cookies broke or were smooshed in the process. All in all, not what I would call a heartwarmingly successful attempt at spreading baked holiday cheer.

Never again have I even briefly considered distributing homemade confections at holiday time. Until now. Well, just maybe.

The inspiration for this rash reconsideration of oven-made gifting came from these paper loaf pans, which I think are pretty great for several reasons. First of all, you can bake right in them, which makes for much easier after-baking production line. I also love the fact that these aren’t slavishly Christmasy—they are not festooned with bright red and green Santas and reindeer, but instead a simple brown background is printed with a classy pattern in gold (a bonus–this design is also appropriate for non-gentiles). Instead of the raffia pictured here, I might use gold ribbon to make the presentation a bit merrier-looking. I will probably never mass-produce Christmas cookies again, but I can imagine myself stirring together a ginger-y, fruity, nutty, and/or pumpkin-y quick bread to give to friends or to present as a hostess gift.

A simple sweet quick bread certainly isn’t as time consuming to make as glittery snowman- and wreath-shaped cookies, but presented in this elegant packaging, it would be just as much a delight to behold, and just as appreciated by its recipient. Hark! Do I hear angels singing?

[$0.50 each at Sur La Table]

I admit when I first saw this kooky ice cube tray, I thought, “It’s a neat-looking gizmo, but who has space for this in their freezer?” After reading about the functions multitasking product serves, though, I thought I might have to make some room for it. Not only does this vertical container make ice cubes, but stores them as well. It can also function as a wine chiller, or a container for ice cream or other things you want to leave out but keep cold. Plus, it is dishwasher safe. Genious! [$16 at the A+R Store]

I know, I know: what the heck is going on with this eggplant, right? This is a technique that I learned from making imam byaldi, an amazing eggplant dish, my special recipe for which I will share with you some day. Anyhoo, as with imam biyaldi, stuffing slits cut into this eggplant (which is about to be roasted) with thin slices of garlic helps infuse the relatively bland vegetable with a rich caramelized-garlic flavor. In this case, the garlic-stuffed eggplant was only part of my meal.

As you can imagine, after a week in Mexico of eating mostly unhealthy food, heavy with beans, cheese, bread products, and, above all, guacamole, I was ready to have something a little more wholesome after returning home. In short, I was craving vegetables, as unadulterated as possible. But it was so chilly out, I didn’t think a simple salad would be satisfying.

Not knowing what we were going to make, the Hubs and I went to the market, where I was immediately drawn to some terrific-looking beets with gorgeous greens still attached. Then I spied some adorable baby eggplants, the size of limes (limes!)—how can one resist a tiny eggplant? I saw some fennel, and though I thought the combination of beets, eggplant, and fennel might be getting a little too freaky even for our adventurous taste buds, I decided we were up to it. I rounded it all out with some more flavor-neutral shallots, small yukon gold potatoes, and some garlic. Now, what to do with this peculiar melange of veggies? All these vegetables roast really well, but would they roast well together? I was determined to find out…

I have roasted vegetables here before, so I am not going to include a formal recipe, but basically: after inserting garlic in the trimmed eggplant haves as illustrated above, I scrubbed and cut the potatoes in half lengthwise; peeled and cut the shallots in half as well; trimmed and sectioned the fennel into pieces roughly the size of the potato halves; then tossed all these things with a few teaspoons of olive oil and about a teaspoon seasoning blend from my favorite spice store (Savory, in Denver).

Then I trimmed the beets, reserving the greens, and peeled the roots, which I quartered and tossed with some whole peeled garlic cloves, a few teaspoons of olive oil, and some salt and pepper. (I roasted the beets separately because they tend to stain other veggies they are roasting with purple.) I roasted all the vegetables in their separate pans at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the root veggies were done, I washed the beet greens (don’t dry them–the water helps them cook) and sliced them into 1-inch strips. I also cut one reserved shallot into thin slices. I sautéed the shallot slices in just a touch of olive oil for just a few minutes, until soft, then added the beet greens and a splash of white balsamic vinegar. I cooked a few minutes more and seasoned with salt and pepper. The greens should be a bit beyond wilted, but not yet dark green (like, not collard-tone) in color. Look at the lovely shade of pink the greens’ red stems dye the shallots!

This was a good light meal.  Altogether, it was surprisingly harmonious—the savory eggplant, potatoes, garlic, and shallots, balancing the flavor of sweet fennel and beets. The Hubs thought the beet greens were too sweet (I suppose from the vinegar, I didn’t add sugar), but I really enjoyed them and would definitely make them again. In deference to the dear man, I might next time substitute something less sweet than balsamic, like a plain red-wine vinegar.

These are healthy but satisfying sides to pair with a protein of your choice, or, perhaps, an all-vegetable meal-in-itself for some winter’s evening you feel a particular need to make amends for, say, a weeks worth of indulging in guacamole for three meals a day. Not that you wold do that.