Andouille

I am lazy. I will not make a roux. I will not make gumbo. I do not have ingredients for a clam bake. I will not make jambalaya. But, I have this beautiful piece of andouille sausage from the farmer's market and I want to eat it. I was thinking of a tapas dish I had with chorizo and thought...

Andouille in Port Wine Reduction
- slice andouille and shallots
- sweat shallots in olive oil
- brown sausage
- splash of port
- reduce
- add fresh crushed black pepper and serve with crostini

A's NY Cheap(ish) Eats

Off the top of my head...

TAPAS

• Tia Pol (205 10th Ave | Btwn 22nd & 23rd St): Have the Navajas Y Almejas, Chorizo Con Chocolate, Pan Con Tomate. It is a tiny place so you may have to wait a bit.
• El Quinto Pino (401 W 24th St | At 9th Ave): Have the uni panini. Super tiny place with no tables, just stools and a counter.

ETHIOPIAN

• Meskerem (124 Macdougal St | Btwn W 3rd St & Minetta Ln): Timatim Salad, Meskerem Combo
• Queen of Sheba (650 10th Ave | Btwn 45th & 46th St): all good

THAI

• Wondee Siam (792 9th Ave | Btwn 52nd & 53rd St): I like the pad woon sen.
• Sripraphai (64-13 39th Ave., Queens, NY 11377): http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/sripraphai/. The. Best. Hands. Down. They specialize in soft shell crab.

VIETNAMESE

• Nha Trang Centre (148 Centre St | At Walker St): garlic crispy squid, bo luc lac
  

DESSERT

• Kyotofu (705 9th Ave | Btwn 48th & 49th St): you know what, their food is pretty darn good too!
  

BRUNCH

• Essex (120 Essex St | At Rivington St): lobster benedict
• Cafeteria (119 7th Ave | At 17th St): cinnamon chantilly cream, omg

KOREAN

• Don's Bogam BBQ & Wine Bar (17 E 32nd St | Btwn Madison & 5th Ave): delicious - ok, kinda pricey

CUPCAKES

• Crumbs (4 locations)

JAPANESE CAFETERIA

• Cafe Zaiya (1073 6th Ave | At 41st St): delish AND Beard Papa!!!

INDIAN

• Joy (148 E 46th St | Btwn Lex & 3rd Av.): crazy cheap, good and doesn't make me sick

ITALIAN

• Tre Dici (128 W 26th St | Btwn 6th & 7th Ave): ok, not totally cheap but not totally expensive but tastes unbelievably decadent
  

FRENCH

• Le Singe Vert (160 7th Ave | Btwn 19th & 20th St)

BBQ

• Hill Country (30 W 26th St | Btwn 5th & 6th Ave): amazing BBQ chicken, orgasmic hot german potatoes
  

CHINESE

• Ping's (22 Mott St | Btwn Mosco & Pell St)
• Congee Village (100 Allen St | At Delancey St)
• Jing Fong (20 Elizabeth St | At Canal St): dim sum!
• Nice Green Bo (fka New Green Bo) (66 Bayard St | Btwn Mott & Elizabeth St): steamed vegetable buns

MALAYSIAN

• Nyonya (194 Grand St | Btwn Mott & Mulberry St)

WINE BAR

• 8th Street Winecellar (28 W 8th St | Btwn 5th Ave & MacDougal St)

Stay tuned for the pricier list...

How A Got Her Groove Back

It started last week. I made these awful pancakes. Who messes up pancakes, especially if they are Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pancake mix?! The blueberries from the farmer's market were really tart and I messed around with the heat so there you have it. I also cut my middle finger, got stabbed in the palm by a pork chop (that came out dry and disgusting) and hurt my thumb with a green bean.

M: "You see what happens when you stray from the continent of Asia?"

So, I went back. My chicken adobo was flavorful and tangy. Pork chow mei fun fed 4 happily. Green beans and ground pork stir fry had the greenness and snap of farmer's market green beans, rich meat flavor and gentle heat. It also brought back memories of mom's cooking.

4 weeks 'til knife skills class!

Shrimp Pasta Fresca

M really only likes Asian food but she loves this one pasta dish I make. The great part is that it's as easy as stir-frying!

Prep (thanks M!):
- Dice 4 ripe tomatoes (I used sun ripened Roma tomatoes that I got from the farmer's market this morning)
- Mince 2 cloves of garlic and a shallot
- Peel and devein a half pound of shrimp (I kept the shells to do a shrimp stock tomorrow)
- Chiffonade some basil (I took some from my window box that H planted for me)

Heat olive oil and sweat the garlic and shallots. Increase the heat and add tomatoes and some kosher salt. After the tomatoes are nice and soft and released their flavor, add a splash of white wine. Let the wine cook off and then add the shrimp. Once the shrimp is opaque, turn off the heat and spoon sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with basil and fresh cracked pepper.

(M is now eating it on sourdough toast. It reminds me of the tomato bread at Boquerria.)

My Seoul

Basic Salad Marinade
I use this for everything: spinach, bean sprouts, cucumbers, seaweed, tofu, etc. Great for summer because you can make a bunch of salads and keep them in the fridge.
- Soy sauce
- Crushed garlic
- Sesame oil
- Wasabi or chili
- Rice wine vinegar

Scallion Salad
I can't eat Korean BBQ without it.
- Scallions (cut in thin strands)
- Minced chili
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Rice wine vinegar

Ssam Jang

From Susan:

"buy dark korean denjang and doctor it up: sesame oil, sweat with garlic, add denjang, smash in some soft tofu, done."

Understanding: One Person at a Time

One of reasons that Prop 8 passed was that proponents aggressively went after communities of color. My cousin would tell me that she got hundreds of phone calls from people who targeted Asians. And that tactic worked. I'll admit it, I have chosen my gay family over the Asian community, even my own family.

Tonight, my cousin married an incredible man and I am now part of an amazing new family. I spent the past two days getting to know them and developed a really strong connection to the groom's mother. We just hit it off and talked for hours. Towards the end of tonight, she said to me, "I voted for Prop 8. But, after meeting you, I have changed my mind."

That blew me away. Firstly, because I wasn't expecting it. I have never hidden my life from people and I just can't help talking about M. I talk about her all the time. It has never crossed my mind that the person I'm speaking to, doesn't approve of me. I think it is these seemingly meaningless conversations with the people in our lives that spark and carry change and understanding forward.

So, I now have an African-American Christian grandmother and she has a queer Asian granddaughter. Who knew?

New York Homecoming

NY dressed in gold
Mosaic of glittering windows
Framed in brilliant clear blue above
Opaque with taxis and feet below

Instinctively
My pulse quickens
I rapid speed walk
Reminding myself to breathe

*Rasika & C

It was a beautiful day to head into DC for lunch with C, K's friend. Any friend of K's is a friend of mine but as we chatted, I realized that I had met C before. A few years ago, I had a dream that I was meeting someone for the first time at lunch. That she was in a suit and I was not working (which I thought was strange). She had a necklace with a thick silver chain and opal stone. She was talking about Armonk, NY. No wonder we just clicked right away!

Although C has worked in DC for years (she commuted between NY and DC), she recently moved to DC as well and it was great to talk to someone who had the deep inside scoop on DC (farmer's markets and restaurants!) and understood what it was like to leave one's friends and family in NY. It's nice to have friends in DC.

[See my Yelp post for review of Rasika]

Bobby On The Brain

Sure, he made an ass of himself on Iron Chef but the man has a killer mussel recipe. I just made them on the stove and will serve with some sourdough toast.

Steamed Mussels with White Wine, Tarragon, Shallots, Butter, and Grilled French Bread

Recipe courtesy Bobby Flay

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Level: Easy

Serves:4 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bread
• 2 shallots, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups white wine
• 2 pounds cultivated mussels, scrubbed
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1 baguette, halved lengthwise

Directions

Heat grill to high. Sprinkle garlic with a pinch of salt and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the garlic to a coarse paste. Heat the oil in a stockpot on the grates of the grill, add the shallots and garlic and cook until shallots soften. Add the wine, bring to a boil and stir in the mussels. Cover the pot and cook the mussels until all of them have opened, about 6 to 8 minutes, discard any that do not open.

Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer and whisk in the butter. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and stir in the tarragon. Pour the mixture over the mussels and serve immediately with grilled bread.

Brush cut side of baguette with oil, season with salt and pepper and grill, cut side down until lightly golden brown.