Last Supper (of 2008)

Menu
Appetizer: Maryland Crab Cake
Salad: Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing and Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Main Course: Lobster Poached in Butter over Sweet Corn
Dessert: Coconut Sorbet with Clementines/ pecan pie

We were ambitious. We left the house at around 5 to round up ingredients. The Safeway was completely ransacked. The heaping mound of potatoes was completely cleared out. They didn't have any of our proteins - short ribs, lobster, crab - or a french baguette! We got as much as we could and headed to Giant which was much better stocked. I discovered that "back rib" is the same as "short rib." And, you can have your seafood cooked to order at the seafood counter. I was drooling from the smell of steamed shrimp cooking in Old Bay while waiting for M to get our lobsters. We got home at around 7:30 and got to work.

Honestly, I don't think I'll ever cook lobster again. It was unbelievably sad to put them into the boiling water. Then I had to break them down and that took a really long time. The original recipe calls for orzo cooked with 2 cups of heavy cream which would make me very sick. I decided to cook some sweet corn in the same butter that the lobster was poached in and serve them together at around 9 PM. It turned out really well. As you can see (or not see), I didn't get around to the salad.

M's crab cakes were AMAZING and paired really well with Hoegaarden beer. Here's the recipe (adapted from cooks.com):
MARYLAND CRAB CAKES

1 lb. fresh Maryland backfin or lump crabmeat
4 heaping tablespoons Hellmann's real mayonnaise
1/2-1 teaspoon regular yellow mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper (see note)
1 teaspoons salt (to taste) - Don't add any salt if there is salt on your saltines
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pouch Saltine crackers from box (crushed with a rolling pin)
1 extra large egg, beaten well
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

In a medium bowl, hand pick crabmeat and discard any shell particles. Add salt and pepper (you can alter your salt to taste but NOT the black pepper!)

In another bowl, mix all wet ingredients. Gently fold mixture into crabmeat. Add baking powder, parsley, and about 1/4 cup of crushed Saltines to your crabmeat; again fold in very gently.

On a plate, place your crushed Saltines and scoop a medium sized crab cake from your mixture in your hands. Coat with cracker again just enough to cover your cake.

In a skillet heat oil for frying (preferably cast Iron pan) gently place crabcakes in frying temperature oil and brown evenly on both sides. Be careful that your oil is not to hot and should never be smoking!! Crabcakes are ready when brown on both sides usually a few minutes per side. Do not overcook! Drain on paper towels serve immediately.

Yields about six crab cakes.

Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Serves 4
1 pound (2 to 3 bunches) arugula
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 ounces Parmesan cheese

Directions In a small jar or bowl, combine lemon zest and juice with olive oil, coarse salt, and ground pepper; shake or whisk to combine. Wash arugula and remove stems; place leaves in a large bowl. With a vegetable peeler, shave Parmesan cheese over arugula; toss with dressing. Garnish with more grated zest, if desired.

V & Her Man

*davidburke townhouse

Ever since my yummy dinner at Mia Dona, I've been looking for an opportunity to try David Burke & Donatella (now davidburke townhouse). They have a Cheesecake Lollipop Tree. Need I say more? Oh, right, I'm lactose but hopefully, you are not.

So E and I escaped for a fancy lunch. The space is cute, comfortable and fancy in a whimsical way. There are glass balloons and painted ostrich eggs. After we ordered from the $24.07 prix fix menu, the bread come out in little copper pots - adorable popovers! The butter was served on a chilled pink salt block. The presentation for all the dishes was cute and inventive. The salt pepper calamari had a great puffy batter and was a very generous helping. The pancetta pasta was nice but I really wanted the braised short ribs over homemade cavatelli. It comes with a truffle mousse. Mmmm...

And to top it all off, as if I could eat another bite, I had the warm apple tart. The pastry was so flaky and light with a good crust. The apples were arranged in a beautiful rose pattern. I had to give my ice cream to E but I'm sure, would've been delicious. And I love the apple crisp on the top.

Found: Perfect Boots

Hello, my name is A, and I have a boot problem. I have been looking for the perfect boots for nearly 2 years and ordered and returned countless pairs. I think I'm on the black list of every online shoe store. I get my finickiness from my mother who starts her criticisms usually with, "the shoe is too heavy." So, the boot has to be light, flat, flattering at the ankle (no cankles please), 13-15 inches high, fitted but loose enough to tuck jeans under, with some kind of character. I thought I had nailed it with the Frye Sam Button boots to your left and purchased them from anthropologie.com for a ridiculous price (they named it something else) and then found them $100 cheaper. I re-read the measurements and it has a circumference of 15.5 inches. That is way too wide even with jeans and I realized that the cuff would make me appear shorter (if such a thing was possible) because it would cut the line of my legs. I quickly emailed both websites and cancelled my orders. I also really wanted something kind of western but not all out western with stitching, cutouts, a stiff sole or toes that pointed upwards.

Mom was dying to go to Jersey Gardens and I went for the exercise, after Christmas sales, and hope to make use of M's Forever 21 store credit. I got a great price on some pima cotton sweaters for M from Tommy Hilfiger because she is all about how soft they are and machine washable. The discounts were certainly steep but there was nothing interesting - I thought, this is insane, there was so much junk made that people don't want to buy. What a total waste of resources. We ended our excursion at mom's favorite store, Old Navy. I got a great cotton grey cardigan and tank with black "jewels" and spotted shoes piled in a corner.

I like Old Navy flats and flip flops. You can get a million of them in every color and they are comfortable and low maintenance. While the flats of late have not been up to par, I saw these black boots with subtle cowboy detailing on the top, tall, flat, zipper at the ankle and rounded toe (makes your feet look small). I couldn't believe it. Sure, they aren't real leather, but hey, they won't need to be polished and are pretty waterproof. I am concerned about the breathability (think footed pajama smell) but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I popped some gel arch supports in them when I got home and voila, the perfect boots for $39.99.

2nd Word: Elmo

Baby S and her parents N & K came to visit (K is one of the Chinese Camp girls). I can't believe that I hadn't seen N & K since last April - pre-baby - and now, S is 9 months old! She is adorable, lots of fun, lots of personality and said her second word for the first time at dinner: El-mo.

Bearer of Gifts, Cookies and Ukulele

Doris' best friend A came over with homemade cookies her mother made - an unbelievably myriad assortment of deliciousness. I loved the mini pecan tarts and wedding cakes (my most favorite cookie). After the exchange of very awesome presents - a pug pin! A brought out her new concert ukulele and we commenced Christmas Karaoke part deux with Disney and children's songs thrown in. We have a number of hits and some stretch hits that will require practice.

They are now...you guessed it, playing Rock Band.

Mission: Holiday Cards

Normally, Petunia is diligent about writing her cards for the neighbors early Christmas morning and delivering them personally. However, she's been distracted with hunger since we've cut her food down from 1/2 a cup twice a day to 1/3 a cup twice a day. Hey, at least she has a waist now.

We finally sat her down and she completed her cards and delivery. Good dog!

Kalbi

I woke up thinking of what to do with the beef in my fridge (short ribs and ground beef). I made some oatmeal and in between eating the oatmeal and grapefruit, I started mom's meat sauce.

I love the simplicity of this sauce and how the tomato and beef flavors shine. It's really simple - 2 cans of diced tomatoes (add fresh tomatoes if you have them), 1 can of tomato paste, mix in ground beef, crush 4 cloves of garlic, 1 slice of American cheese (seriously, she thought of this), simmer. Great by itself, over spaghetti or toasted bread ("pizza") and easy to just freeze and eat later.

From there, I started marinating the kalbi for dinner. I had gotten a pack of beautiful flanken style short ribs. I tenderized them under a piece of plastic wrap to prevent splatters of meat and blood. I put the ribs in a large container and poured in soy sauce, rice wine, honey (I couldn't bear to put the Korean apples in) and sesame oil. I also cut up onion, ginger and scallion. It'll marinate for the whole day in the fridge and we'll grill it up for dinner. I hope it turns out okay.

Fast forward 8 hours or so and the whole house is filled with smoke and the smell of beef. I had forgotten that despite exclamations to the contrary made by marketing executives, the Griddler, is not for indoor grilling. But then they'd say, "Actually, the Griddler did a fantastic job and it is not our fault that your kitchen is not outfitted with an exhaust fan made from a jet engine."

The short ribs turned out excellent but sadly, will be relegated to times we are able to grill outside.

Shopping, Cocktails and Support GLSEN?

Even today in a world with Ellen and gay marriage in Connecticut and Massachusetts, there are 40 states with laws against same sex marriage and many LGBT youth facing harassment or physical harm. Within the past week, there was a brutal attack of a lesbian in California and so my friends, we have a lot to do.

Luckily, we can support the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network by hanging out on a Monday night (1/12), shopping discounted designer clothes (a percentage of the proceeds will benefit GLSEN), and sipping yummy drinks. What could be easier or more fun to do something good for an organization that does so much to make schools safer for all our children?
Please contact me and let me know you'll be there!

W is a Rock Band Convert

W had called me on Christmas and I thought, hmmm, perhaps she is in Jersey this weekend. Lucky for me, she is and her dad was picking her up from the city at the same time I was getting off of work. It was great to see him again.

We headed to their awesome restaurant, Kuma, in Paramus, NJ and I got to see her mom. I had yummy hot and sour soup (my Chinese-American food guilty pleasure), sushi (very clever rolls wrapped in cucumber or carrot), fried dumplings (always yummy), and this dish I had never had before, shrimp song wrapped in lettuce.

I realized while watching a tasting challenge on Top Chef and seeing both W and D try to figure out what was in my vegan cupcakes that a good chef tries to figure out what ingredients are in the food they eat. Normally, I'm just chowing down. What's in the song? Diced shrimp, zucchini, shitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, sweet toasted pine nuts and fried rice noodles. I think that's it...

We were going to hang out at W's house but I was concerned about her driving too much so we headed to mine since she'd have to drop me off later anyway. After snacks and going through her incredible photos from Borneo, we started Rock Band (thanks Doris, we took good care of everything and put it all back).

W and I have a long history of karaoke so this was a natural next step for her. She has a great voice and took to the guitar and drums quite easily. Meanwhile, I'm like, "Am I on easy? Did you see me pick easy? This is not easy."

System: TV for People Who Don't Have Time to Watch TV

Not since college have I carved out specific times to watch a certain television program (back then it was ER on Thursday nights). Sometimes, I'll sit with Doris when I come home from work and catch a bit of her shows and chat with her (surprisingly, I'm up to date on The Office, 30 Rock and Chuck thanks to her). But, for other shows, I'm woefully behind (e.g., Grey's Anatomy) and didn't know where to turn. Do I sign up to get shows on my phone like my co-worker (increase to my phone bill is not attractive plus my phone is always dying)? Do I get shows on DVD from Netflix (cut my Netflix account to reduce bills plus I don't have TV time)? Do I buy a season pass on iTunes and download it to my iPod ($60 for 30 Rock?!?!?!)? Do I just watch on my Blackberry (not going to happen on the molto larghissimo Edge network)? When will I get 3G??!?!?!

I ended up catching season finale re-runs over the weekend (Top Chef) and watching TV shows on www.hulu.com (only 45 seconds of commercials and better quality than youtube.com). Doris says, "welcome to the 21st century, where have you been?"

While I'm bummed about the ridiculous price of downloading shows to my iPod, I'm really excited about the free podcasts out there. Plus, they are perfect for people with short attention spans. Currently, I'm downloading:
- Business Week Cover Stories
- Cook's Illustrated Video Podcasts (SO AWESOME! I learned how to cook thick cut steaks)
- Daily Dish
- Front Page of the NYTimes
- MTV News
- PodRunner (another great podcast - new 1 hour music mix with steady BPM)
- Stuff You Missed in History Class
- The Economist
- The Nutrition Diva
- This Week in Barron's
- VH1 Best Week Ever
- The Wall Street Journal This Morning
- The Wall Street Journal What's News

I Heart: Le Creuset Covered Deep Sauté Pan

In addition to my "Systems" posts, I'm going to start an "I Heart" section.

The huge rise in popularity of the Food Network has basically democratized gourmet cooking. Everyone can have something by Eric Ripert in the comfort of their PJs. The terrible state of the economy has also pushed people towards cooking at home for their families and friends. I love dinner parties and home cooked food. We are huge fans of sauteing and braising and I can't say enough what a difference a great pot can be. After D told me all the amazing food she prepared for her family over Christmas, she told me she got a Le Creuset dutch oven for Christmas. I checked it out and let's just say I gasped when I saw the Le Creuset Covered Deep Sauté Pan (I'm not sure what color I'd get).

In one pot, I can make soups, saute, stir fry, sear, braise, and I think, make an awesome paella. I'm all about one-pot cooking and this gorgeous pot does it all AND is easy to clean. I think I'm in love.

Christmas (cont.)

Christmas wouldn't be complete without H, Z and now, little R. He has gotten so big in 2 weeks and H and Z are such incredible parents. Doris cuddled with H's childhood teddy bear - the largest bear we know. We chowed on incredible Filipino food and relaxed. Back at home, there were more awesome spare ribs and Connery entertained us with his famous sit trick. Lastly, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas Karaoke - every Christmas song, 1 verse, no repeats, as fast as possible. Doris plays the piano, I'll sing or play the flute, Phil plays the trumpet or guitar, mom sings and dad plays the recorder or takes pictures of us from behind. It'll just be Doris, mom and me this year but it is still a treasured tradition. Update: see the laptop on the piano? That's dad on Skype so we did get to sing to him this year. When we were done with the carols, Doris indulged me in a few show tunes and my love for a very nasally Eponine. We're also starting another tradition where M Skypes us as Rudolph. It has a spastic right eye and is very funny.

Christmas Morning

Mom has been doing a great job of feeding us from the bounty we purchased at the Korean grocery store. She cut radish cakes for breakfast which I tried to cook and ended up burning myself. I cut myself last Saturday so I haven't been too lucky in the kitchen. Mom made 2 kinds of chicken last night and this morning, her amazing braised spareribs (pork spare ribs, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, rock sugar). I've been on a veggie and fruit kick so enjoyed an entire ruby red grapefruit.

As Doris would say, we "chillaxed" after breakfast. I made some vegan almond cupcakes which I think came out really well. So fluffy! And we rocked out. I got 100% on Eye of the Tiger. Aw yeah!














Vegan Almond Cake
adapted from Dairy-free Almond-orange Cake, Vegetarian Planet, Didi Emmons

1 cup whole almonds, lightly toasted
2 cups unbleached white flour
1.5 tsps baking powder
0.5 tsps baking soda
0.5 tsps salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup soy milk
2/3 cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsps almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 or 10 inch cake pan by rubbing or spraying it with a bit of oil.
2. Grind the almonds in a food processor or blender. Transfer the almonds to a large bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a smaller bowl, combine the canola oil, soy milk, honey, vanilla and almond extract. Pour about half of this mixture into the flour mixture, and stir briefly. Add the remaining liquid and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan.
4. Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in its pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then loosen the cake with a sharp knife. Place a plate on top of the pan, and invert the cake onto the plate. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.

Rock On Lil Sis

Phil brought home a cymbal set for Doris and she waited so patiently for me to finish watching Top Chef. So, rock on lil' sis, rock on.

Christmas Eve Pummelo

After going over the top for Thanksgiving, I took it easy on Christmas Eve, and well, Christmas for that matter. Presents had been done since Thanksgiving. I got my holiday cards out on www.pingg.com - yay green cards- in addition to laundry, dry-cleaning, shoveling and some lite cleaning.

We spoke with Dad over Skpe and even the dogs got to say, "Merry Christmas!" Then on to dinner with mom exclaiming, "No gifts tomorrow! Dinner is your gift even though A paid." The curry chicken with potatoes and sauteed broccoli rabe were yummy. I think she was really enjoying the bottle of port I got her. Then, our traditional dessert of sharing a pummelo with one special person wearing the peel. I got a whole box of Korean pears and had to show you how huge they were (and so yummy that I can't bear to use them in my kalbi marinade for tomorrow).

Korean Yogurt Search

Doris and M are all about taste testing Korean Frozen Yogurt. They thought they were done after Pinkberry, Red Mango, Flurt, Picnic, and Boom Boom. But no, since we are in the Korean mecca of the east coast, there are more. There's Koa Koa (?) in the 7-Eleven strip mall in Fort Lee, School Zone and new ones popping up everyday. Doris says, "Sort of like fungus!"

Will Red Mango lose its title as Yogurt Champion?

P Got an "A" in Fungus

P got his grades for the past semester and earned 2 A's and 3 B's. One of the A's was in "Fungi in the Environment." Ah, to be a student.

Madeleines

One of M's favorite treats. They are incredible just out of the oven - spongy and moist on the inside and crispy with caramelized sugar on the outside.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease and flour twenty-four 3-inch Madeleine molds.
2. In a medium bowl beat eggs, and vanilla with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Beat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thick and satiny.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Sift one-fourth of the flour mixture over the egg mixture, gently fold in. Fold in the remaining flour by fourths. Then fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon batter into the prepared molds, filling 3/4 full.
4. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top s spring back. Cool in molds on a rack for 1 minute. Loosen cookies with a knife. Invert cookies onto a rack and cool. Sift confectioners' sugar over the tops or melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and dip the tips in the chocolate. Store in an airtight container.

Baby N in Chicago

Love her

Fine Bobby, We'll Make Your Short Ribs

My baby sure loves her short ribs and I love pappardelle. As much as I can't stand the man, Bobby is good. We'll see 4 hours from now....
In the meantime, we'll just snack on meat platter (LOVE pickle packs!) and bruschetta. And I think I found mom's elusive"sweet red wine" - she really wants port!










Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle and Pecorino Romano
Prep Time:30 minInactive Prep Time:0 minCook Time:3 hr 45 min Level:0 Serves:4 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 1/2 to 4 pounds short ribs, each about 2-inches long, cut flanken style, across the ribs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 dried bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 small carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium shallots, diced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup ruby port
2 cups red wine, such as cabernet
1/2 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
3 1/2 cups homemade beef stock
1 pound pappardelle or other long, flat pasta
Chopped parsley
Grated Pecorino Romano, for garnish

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place a 5-quart casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, and heat until it is almost smoking. Season short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Working in batches if necessary, add short ribs to the hot oil. Cook ribs until browned on both sides. Remove ribs from casserole, and transfer to a large bowl. Set aside. Meanwhile, prepare bouquet garni: Place bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, and parsley in the center of a square of cheesecloth. Bring edges together, and tie with kitchen string. Set bouquet garni aside. Add carrots, celery, onion, and shallots to oil in the casserole, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and golden, about 10 minutes. Add flour and tomato paste to the casserole, and stir to combine. Add ruby port; stir with wooden spoon until all browned bits have been scraped from the pan and the bottom of the casserole is clean. Add red wine, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Add garlic, beef stock, and the reserved bouquet garni. Return browned ribs to the casserole. Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cover the casserole, and place it in the oven. Cook until ribs are very tender, about 3 hours. Remove the cooked ribs from the casserole. Set the casserole on the stove top over medium heat, and simmer to thicken sauce just slightly. As soon as the short ribs are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, and shred into small pieces. Degrease the sauce and discard the bouquet garni. Return shredded meat to casserole, and simmer to reduce sauce by about half. Fill a large pot with water and add a few tablespoons of salt. Set over high heat, and bring to a boil. Salt well, and stir in pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente. Drain pasta, and serve with short-rib ragu, sprinkle with the parsley. Serve with freshly grated Percorino Romano.

Greeted with Beef

My sweetie welcomed me to Maryland with her signature Vietnamese beef salad.

- Boston lettuce
- tomato
- hard boiled egg
- Beef sauteed with garlic and oyster sauce
- Lime dressing with salt and pepper

Snowstorm

Lord, please, may the trains keep running.

Cousin E is born!

Cousin E was born this afternoon, weighing 6 lbs/3 ounces and measuring 18 inches. So cute!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

It's another late night at the office and I've been craving spices since my lunch at Vermillion. I checked out a few Indian places near the office that offered delivery (www.menupages.com) and found Joy.

The other places made you order entrees for dinner but Joy had Joy Platters where one could get a vege, meat, rice, naan and raita for $8.50. $8.50. Seriously. I got chicken tikka masala and eggplant. That was so cheap, I threw in some papadum for $2 (love these things). And, the food only took 26 minutes to arrive.

Death Map of the US

Whoa, a DEATH MAP! It confirms what I already knew. The midwest and south are not for me. I wonder if there is a correlation with blue and red states. Do people who live in safer areas have liberal leanings or do liberal people know better than to live in places where they can be killed by heat, tornadoes or earthquakes.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081217/hl_nm/us_death_usa;_ylt=AonYZGRzBf8V5.FUvF8GXUvmWMcF