GASTRONORMOUS

My pregnancy, and the dietary restrictions it–not to mention gestational diabetes–comes with, continues.  Our CSA has been a boon for our dinner table, though. It is nice to get to enjoy so many salads on these muggy days. We haven’t been getting too creative with the veggies, preferring to keep it simple and delicious. Besides salads, we have been doing mostly simple sautees and stir-frys (fries?). I did make a surprisingly killer old-school cole slaw with a small head of CSA green cabbage (cabbage, mayo, white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper. The key is to extremely finely shred the cabbage–I used my new v-slicer/mandoline!)

You are killing me, Food Mayhem! Killing me! Look at her review of Sweet Revenge in the West Village. I must have their namesake cupcake which involves peanut butter and more peanut butter. Come mid-September, this will be mine… [photo via Food Mayhem]

One of the things I love about Mark Bittman, is that he is one of the few very respected experts in the culinary world that doesn’t abhor, and actually almost seems to embrace, vegetarianism. Witness the vegetarian version of his book, How to Cook Everything. There is weekly evidence found in his blog, too. Just keep an eye on it. This week he made a, well, interesting recipe. It is a hot-breakfast concoction of bulgar, coconut, and tofu. Oh, and fish sauce (he admits this is not vegetarian). Strange, yes, but say you aren’t intrigued!

I love the idea of the tiresome-mango-salsa-alternative cantaloupe salsa over at Smitten Kitchen. (Another post-pregnancy must-try is her sour cherry slab pie–hand held goodness!)

Constantly on the search for decent Mexican food in NYC (I have not yet found one I love. Why can’t anyone make proper refried beans?), the review of Rachel’s Taqueria in Park Slope by Eat It: Brooklyn caught my eye. I get the sense that the food is good, but not outrageously delicious. But if only just to catch a glimpse of the awesome “Mayan” mural, the place looks worth a visit.

I am not normally a fan of mayonaise-based dips, but this one over at Half-Assed Kitchen has both curry and horseradish to redeem it. [photo via Half-Assed Kitchen]

I only like granola when it is mostly clusters. I have never made my own granola, in fact, because most homemade granolas I have had are completely sans clusters. Why is that?, I have always wondered. If you are in the same granola boat, the Kitchn has some help (a kind commenter posted a clustery recipe, too!).

In case you need an excuse not to go to a hot dog street cart: Here’s one that has admitted to charging based on looks! Yikes. [via Midtown Lunch]

As we slog through the New York heat and humidity that seems finally to have arrived this Summer, the Amateur Gourmet departs for Spain. To go eat at El Bulli, no less. I eagerly anticipate the report on his experience there! Lucky perro.

Picture this: a month ago (before the gestational diabetes diagnosis), the Hubs and I were at IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn, when I had a sudden, irresistible craving for nachos. There was no denying it. Nachos must happen. I remembered that the Predicate had once mentioned a new Mexican place not far from her apartment, and as luck would have it, she lives not far from IKEA. The rules of triangulation meant that said Mexican restaurant must be nearby.

A call to the Predicate, an iPhone search, and thirty minutes later, the three of us (Predicate joined us) were sitting in the tiny, spare dining room of Viva. But for a table of two sitting outside, the restaurant was empty (it was sort of a strange hour for eating–about 2pm; the waiter mentioned later that they are packed at dinner time). We ordered nachos (of course), fried calamari, and avocado fries, the latter because they sounded too bizarre to pass up. Have you ever heard of avocado fries? I thought not. Do you want to try them now that you know of their existence? I thought so. We also ordered two flamingo pink guava Jarritos, and a beer for the Hubs.

After we ordered, out came the obligatory chips and salsa. The salsa was expected, but its unique flavor was not. It was pumpkin-orange in color, rather than the usual red with flecks of green chili and onion, and had a really unusual, but uncommonly delicious flavor. None of us could place the flavors. Tomatoes? Yes. Cilantro. It seemed so. Onion. Definitely. But what else? What was that flavor? It was a truly exceptional dip. When the waiter next came by, I asked him what was in the salsa. He smiled Cheshire-cat-like, and refused to tell me, explaining that many, many people asked, but the recipe was a secret. On this he would not budge, even after pleading, promises not to tell, and puppy dog eyes galore.

Our food arrived. The nachos were a little skimpy on the beans, but otherwise everything nachos should be: crispy, cheesy, gooey with sour cream, and a generous glob of guacamole. The avocado fries were something to behold. Slices of avocado were breaded and deep fried, then arranged around a dish of chipotle dipping sauce in a seriously gigantic margarita glass. We laughed at the tacky presentation until we tasted the fries, which is when we fell into a thoughtful state of gastronomical bliss. Delicious. The calamari were what you might expect from a Mexican restaurant in an industrial area of Brooklyn: probably frozen, not fresh, battered and deep fried. It was quickly decided that the calamari tasted better with the chipotle dipping sauce from the avocado fries than it did with the sauce it came with.

With my nacho craving sated, we were ready to leave. The waiter seemed truly forlorn that we didn’t order more. If he had offered up the ingredients of the salsa, I might have considered it. But as it stands, I will have to just return (hopefully often) to try it again.

Viva
116 Sullivan St
(between Conover St and Van Brunt St)
Brooklyn, NY 11231
(718) 852-4192

The Good: We have started getting the goods from our CSA! Our pick ups started about a month ago. At first, I think due to all the rain and unseasonably cool weather, perhaps, the pickin’s seemed pretty slim. But lately there has been more variety and a larger bounty. Last week is was zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumbers, beets, kale, lettuce, and blueberries. We got the unexpected surprise of fresh garlic with our haul the week before. Fresh garlic is basically like regular garlic, but with moisture-rich fresh skins and membranes separating the cloves, rather than the familiar papery skins. It also tastes a little less strong than “aged” garlic. To the left is picture of a salad we made from an early pick up. I look forward to tomatoes and stone fruit later in the summer!

The Bad: I have been recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This severely limits my diet, which was previously pretty carb-heavy (I didn’t realize how carb-heavy until I had to quit them!). The newest wrench thrown into my diet (on top of the usual pregnancy restrictions), is in part why I have not posted much of late (another reason is that I have been incredibly busy at work–working late an unusual amount–and have just been too exhausted to blog once I get home).  This all means, no more pasta, no (or not much) more rice. I can’t even eat my old cereal any more. Desserts are out. I never had much of a sweet tooth, but now that I can’t have sweets of any kind, I can’t tell you how I miss them! I can’t eat fruit in the morning or on its own–only with meals. Even beans, my beloved beans, must be restricted. Sigh! So, not much I have been eating lately has been blog-worthy. As I get used to it, though, I am trying to become more inventive, so keep checking in. Luckily, most everything we get through our CSA is on the table!

The Ugly: Me, bereft of pasta, potatoes, fresh summer corn, bread, beans, and sweets!

There is something odious to me about serving scrambled eggs in a martini glass, but I must admit this recipe for creamy scrambled eggs with mushrooms and herbs featured over at the Kitchn sounds totally delish.

Eat It: Brooklyn gives a more or less negative review of Alma, where I have had mixed experiences, too. I have had enchiladas wading in a pool of cheese-oil there more than once. Sometimes their food leaves me cold, but some lucky nights it is spot-on. The guacamole is reliably good, and their brunch can be amazing, depending on what you order. EIB has some enchiladas that she rightly complains look unappetizing. I think I can explain the iceberg-lettuce topping, though: My husband makes muy excellente New Mexican enchiladas, and always tops them with iceberg and onions, so I guess is is a southwestern thing. That isn’t how we do it in California, but I sort of like the bit of freshness and crunch it adds.

The Epicurious blog reports on the new COMPOSTABLE cups and plates that you can use at your next picnic. Interestingly, they are made by Solo, makers of the ubiquitous red or blue plastic tumblers. Good for them, for not contributing more to the Pacific Ocean island of plastic.

Years ago, I had my friend Eddy over for some baked beans and corn bread I made, and pretty much every single time I have seen him since then, he has mentioned how delicious those beans were, and he wished I would make them again. Thing is, I seem to have lost the recipe. I cannot find it in my recipe file, and I am pretty sure I did not get it from a cook book. Well, I might just have to try this recipe from the Amateur Gourmet, as he pronounces these “the best beans of your life.”

Growing up in a, shall we say, non-cosmopolitan central California town, you can imagine that the buffet restaurant called Smorga Bob’s (I swear) was a big hit. And it was, for a while. It is long gone, but I still remember they had swedish meatballs in deference to the titular reference to a smorgasboard, but otherwise, the menu was a free-for-all, pan-nation collection of meat, grease, and starch. Well, you can certainly get much closer to what a true smorgasboard tonight at the Swedish Midsummer Festival in Battery Park City. This, and other weekend food event are listed over at Serious Eats: NY.

After visiting the Flea in search of antiques (by which I mean I went just to eat and if I happened to peruse some vintage merch, so be it), and being terribly disappointed to not find the Kumquat Cupcakery booth in operation that day, my friend Em and I left in search of cupcakes on the outside. We quickly came across Tillie’s, where we ordered cappucinos and I, a lemon-lime cupcake. I didn’t realize until after I purchased the confection that it was in fact a vegan cupcake from Red Bamboo, the neighborhood’s go-to spot for vegetarian Caribbean, soul, and junk food. I must admit that I then approached the cupcake with trepidation. I am picky about my buttercream, and I abhor the (what I assume to be) whipped crisco and sugar that passes for buttercream at many a bakery. Since there is obviously no real butter in a vegan cupcake, how good this one possibly be?

It turns out that is it possible for a vegan cupcake to be impossibly good. The buttercream frosting was, well, buttercreamy, and the cake was moist and flavorful. The flecks of lemon and lime zest throughout the cake and frosting only added to the scrumptiousness. Incredibly, I didn’t miss the dairy at all.

So, I am delighted to report that my first, accidental, foray into vegan baked goods was a rousing success! Nest stop, Babycakes!

Olea is a little Mediterranean/tapas restaurant in Fort Greene that we had managed to go to for brunch a few times (which I would recommend if you are in the neighborhood, say for the Flea, a block away), but hadn’t tried it for dinner until this recent meal there. [photo courtesy Brownstoner]

There were no tables immediately available indoors, so the Hubs and I accepted an outdoor table, though it was borderline too chilly to sit out there (we were limited on time as we had a movie at BAM to get to). The inside of the restaurant is very Mediterranean: very cozy, rustic, and tile-y. The outdoor seating consists of some simple tables and chairs pushed up against the facade of the building, but it is a quiet street, so the lack of a partitioned outdoor dining space wasn’t a problem.

Our affable waiter took our orders promptly, tell us about the specials and warning us of what was not available from the menu that evening (which I appreciate–one of my pet peeves is when you order something and then the waiter tells you they are out). Though they had an enticing array of tapas, we decided to go with two apps and two entrees.

To start, we had the falafel-crusted artichokes, served with some marinated vegetables. The artichokes were crispy and had good flavor, but were drastically under seasoned. The cold marinated vegetables that came with it, though, were divine. I could have eaten a bowl of those with some crusty bread and been really happy.  The slaw, made with oil-curved olives and citrus was also really good: fresh, crisp, and well-seasoned.

Next came the scallops (a special), served with gigantes (large white beans), greens, and crispy carrot chips. The bivalves were perfectly cooked, and well complemented by the tasty beans and greens. Though Hubs thought the carrot crisps were too much like Terra Chips dumped on top of his meal, I must say I was a fan. The wheat pasta with spring vegetables was another winner–for the most part. The delicate flavors of pasta, vegetables, cream, lemon zest, and crispy almonds were perfectly balanced, but like the artichokes, could have used some salt. Ok, a lot of salt. Another odd thing about the pasta. The tough skin around the fava beans wasn’t removed! I had to slip each bean out of the skin before I ate it. It wasn’t a big deal to do, but really, that is the kitchen’s job, isn’t it? At the Hub’s urging, I called the waiter over to politely point out the problem. I felt bad because he seemed a little flustered and embarrassed about it, but I thought the kitchen should be told, lest a customer less pleasant than me complain about it.

Overall, with a few shakes of table salt, I enjoyed the meal. I would definitely recommend Olea if you are in need of a good meal in the neighborhood. I look forward to returning for tapas some evening soon.

Olea
171 Lafayette Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 643-7003

Ain’t this pie a beaut’? The photo accompanies a story on the Bitten blog about a pizza made with Vermont-made Ricotta di buffala and fresh, local asparagus. Yum! The ricotta sounds a lot better than the Polly-O variety, light a fluffy, rather than dense and curdy. Asparagus is on of my favorite vegetables, and (good) pizza is one of my favorite meals. If ever I am inspired to make my own pizza dough, I will just have to give this combination of flavors a try.

I have never eaten at the Shake Shack at Madison Square Park, though have always wanted to go (mostly for the sundaes, which I saw a picture of in a magazine story after the place first opened, and I have been dreaming of since). Every time I stop by the lines are horrendously long enough to discourage me from staying, but Artichoke Heart reports that there is a Shake Shack outlet at the new Citi Field and though the line can be long, it moves quickly and offers a view of the game. I am not a baseball fan, though I do occassionally enjoy a live game. It might just be the time to take me out to the Shake Shack, er, ball game.

This olive oil and herb tart crust from Chocolate & Zucchini looks like a divine way to start a summer vegetable tart: say, one made with tomato and basil, zucchini and goat cheese, or, dare I say, asparagus and ricotta di buffala? I can also see the tart made with less salt, a bit of sugar, and either thyme or basil, with a sweet lemon filling (I love sweet lemon with those herbs). Now, if only I had a tart pan…

In case you have been saving parmesan rinds because Lidia Bastianich told you to, but have no idea how you actually might use them, why not give this delicious-looking soup from over at Cook, Eat, Fret a try? I love simple, homey soups like this one. It doesn’t exactly scream “summer,” but is nonetheless appealing.

Eat It: Brooklyn had a good lookin’ meal over at the BKLYN YARD last weekend; a meal featuring my favorite pizza from the entirety of 2008, which I enjoyed siting on an Atlantic Avenue curb last fall. Pizza Moto (f/k/a Lunetta’s pizza truck) is at the YARD, along with some of the seemingly omnipresent Red Hook ball fields vendors, a juice purveyor that whips up some intruiging concoctions, and! the Van Leeuwen Artisanal Ice Cream Truck, which I have been itching to seek out. (What I want to know is, though, are the food vendors there every Saturday and Sunday? And what are the hours? Neither of these pieces on information are on the poorly designed website for the YARD. Harumpf.)

A few weekends ago, the Hubs and I decided on a lark to walk from the Borough Park area of Brooklyn, where we were shopping for baby stuff, over to Bay Ridge to see what Middle Eastern delicacies we could find for dinner. Along the way, and quite by accident, we happened across the bustling Circus Fruits (who I was shocked to learn have a website!), located on Ft. Hamilton Parkway. Having no decent vegetable market in or neighborhood, we were drawn to it like the most seductive of siren songs.

It was truly a wonderland of not just fruit, but all sorts of vegetables, with in-season goodies prominently displayed. Baby artichokes were 99¢ a pound. They were in really good shape, though, unfortunately, the stems were cut to the quick, but hey, whaddya want for 99¢ a pound? We bought about 8 of them. They also had some gigantic–I mean larger than a large grapefruit–purple globe artichokes that were gorgeous and perfect. We picked up one those as well. They also had some lovely, slender, spring asparagus. (By the way, when you are at the store, go for the slim stalks of asparagus. The American credo that “bigger is better” does not hold in the case of asparagus–trust me, I am from the asparagus capital of the world, or maybe the country, or at least California. Oh, just trust me on asparagus, ok?. Thick stalks of asparagus are woodier and not as green and flavorful as young, thin asparagus. So I guess you should stick to that other American credo that young and thin is better.) We bought a bunch of that as well. Our total bill came to $2.70. What a deal!

Off we went to Bay Ridge, where we stopped into a store that sells nothing but Middle Eastern sweets, from baklava to pistachio nougat. We bought more than we should have and munched on a couple pieces of nougat as we moved up 5th Ave. We stopped into a simple grocery and bought some Cypriot haloumi cheese, and were intrigued by a haloumi-style cheese that was made in California of all places, and so picked up a package of that too, along with a can of fava beans and some pita for our meal that night.

By the time we got home we were starving, and so we got down to cooking right away. I started a pot of water boiling as I cleaned the tiny artichokes. Not much needed to be done, just a quick trim of the outer leaves and the brown base. Then I sliced them in half, and cleaned out (using a grapefruit spoon–one of my favorite kitchen tools!) the nascent choke that had formed in a couple of them. before dunking them in acidulated water to keep them from browning. After the water boiled, I fired up our cast iron stove-top grill, boiled the ‘chokes for a few minutes, drained them, tossed them with some olive oil, and threw them all on the grill. I also put some sliced haloumi on the grill to brown up. After the baby artichokes had browned a bit on each side, I tossed them with a mustardy vinaigrette I made while they were grilling. (A note: next time I would toss the artichokes with a dressing made without oil, as the oil from grilling added enough to serve as that component in the dressing.)

We ate the haloumi and baby artichokes (above) with the fava beans that the hubs had heated up with some olive oil and spices, some pita, and (store bought) hummus, then baklava for dessert. We started out our day with no thought to what would be for dinner that night, but ended up with a simple and delicious meal, all thanks to our serendipitous discoveries of some of the gastronomical gems that Brookyln has to offer.

Circus Fruits
5916 Ft. Hamilton Pkwy
Brooklyn, NY 11219
718-436-2100

Goat’s milk ice cream? Sounds gross, right? Well, um, it is. But let’s not go blaming the goat, now. The inherent goatiness in this frozen dessert is the least of its problems.

The first problem is the price: This pint (pint!) of ice cream cost a whopping $8.99 at our neighborhood market. We bought it on a whim. It sounded interesting and exotic, and in these recessionary times, splurging on a nine-dollar pint of ice cream seems a lot more reasonable than splurging on a Maserati, or heck, even a Kindle. Plus, the flavor was molasses tipsycake with bits of oatmeal cookie, which sounds very gooey and yummy. How could we not be enticed?

Other problems with this product were many. Flavor: I like molasses as much as, if not more than, the next person, but this tasted of pure molasses and nothing but molasses. It was overly sweet and one note, except for the slightly earthy aforementioned goatiness. Texture: Not creamy in the slightest. This dessert was nothing but ice crystals with some rolled oats dispersed throughout. Oh, that’s another thing. The “oatmeal cookie” mentioned on the packaging was not represented by chunks of cookie or cookie dough, but by flakes of oatmeal that tended to stick to the tongue like so much lint.

All in all, not a pleasant experience. I would not recommend La Loo’s at any price, but especially not at $8.99 a pint. We threw out about $7-worth of it. I have a cow’s milk intolerant friend who has tried a different flavor by this company and said it was alright, so who knows. But I am not sure I will give it another chance.