The closest person...

I have to a sister is Anita. In some ways, she is my soul mate. In every other way, she is my best friend--honest, loyal and caring. Living across the country hasn't put a damper in our friendship. There are times when it's difficult to stay connected and integrated, but bottom line, I know she's always got my back.

I've been bugging her for years to visit me up in New York, so as a belated birthday present (and probably the best birthday present ever), she finally showed face this past week. I am grateful for the time we spent together. There was a lot of glorious eating including: Chennai Garden, Kefi, Yakitori Torys, Dell'anima, and the Redhead. But, the most special meal was preparing a dinner for her.

We see each other maybe a few days out of the year, so I haven't had much chance to cook for her. Fortunately, we hit the green market this past weekend, and I made a meal reminiscent of Texas. To be honest, I haven't tried much Southern food in New York after my disappointing experiences at the infamously terrible Dallas BBQ and Miss Mammie's Spoonbread Too. I didn't grow up cooking Tex-Mex, but I've certainly eaten enough of it to know the flavors. For Anita's dinner, we prepared carne guisada, a hearty beef stew; roasted summer squash; pico de gallo; Mexican corn on the cob, loaded with mayo, butter, cayenne, lime and cotija; and a refreshing buttermilk peach ice cream.



Summer squash from the farmers' market with some herb goat cheese.



Roasted corn...

Carne Guisada

6 pounds chuck, 1 inch cubes
1 onion, diced
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 serrano peppers, minced
4 tomatoes, diced
1 T curry powder
2 t cayenne pepper
1 T paprika
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
18 oz Brooklyn Brown Ale

Season beef. Brown beef in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Reserve. Sweat onion, garlic and pepper. Add tomatoes, curry powder, cayenne, paprika, cilantro, bay leaf, water and beer. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6-7 hours until liquid has reduced and beef falls apart. Serve with tortilla, pico de gallo and sour cream.



Flavoring the stew!



Carne guisada in the process...



Carne guisada about to become a tortilla roll.



Giant cookies from Levain bakery!



Buttermilk peach ice cream with honey and almonds



A few of my diners!

Anita, I wish I could remember one of those lovely quotes from Shantaram, but I'll leave the quoting to you. Thank you for visiting. I love you. Six years and counting!

I love my mom...

and I love Sunday night dinners with my new friends from Jean Georges. I am thankful to be included in our weekly gatherings at one of our homes for delicious, home cooked meals and nights of wonderful company. This Sunday was finally my turn, and let me just say, I was so nervous (almost dreading) cooking for people who are some pretty spectacular cooks. Long story short, the food was gone by the end of the night, bellies were successfully fed, and I could finally breathe again.

I think all of us have a soft spot for our mothers' cooking--it's always unbeatable. Lately, I've been really missing mom. She went through minor surgery and is recovering, but please pray for her.

I miss the comfort of eating a bowl of her noodles and seeing her smiling face. So Sunday's home cooked meal at my apartment was a tribute to my mother. Although I normally leave the Chinese cooking to her, I attempted to make her tasty bean paste noodles and three cups chicken.

On the menu for the night: bean paste noodles, three cups chicken, pickled vegetable, tofu with 1000 year old egg, kimchee, egg tarts, red bean soup with sticky sesame balls, rainer cherries and lychees.



A simple cold dish often served as a side in my home--soft tofu with 1000 year old egg, soy paste and some scallions.



Bean Paste Noodle

24 oz fresh knife cut noodless
8 oz bean paste
8 oz can hoisin
sesame oil
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz lean ground pork
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 japanese cucumber, julienned
16 oz bean sprouts

Cook noodles in a medium pot of boiling water until al dente. Mix together bean paste and hoisin. In a hot pan, swirl in oil. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant. Add pork stir-fry breaking the meat into small chunks with a spatula. Scrape in bean paste mixture and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Drain noodles and toss with sesame oil. Serve with a nice portion of noodles, a laddle of sauce and top with strips of cucumber and bean sprouts.



Three Cup Chicken

1 cup sesame oil, divided in half
4.5 pound chicken, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
10 pieces sliced ginger, julienned
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup white rice wine
1/4 cup white sugar
2 springs fresh Thai basil

Heat 1/2 cup of the sesame oil in a large pot. Stir-fry chicken pieces until lightly brown and crisp on the outside, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for another minute. Pour in remaining sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice wine. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in white sugar and continue reducing until chicken is tender. Stir in Thai basil and simmer.

I had an obsession with rainer cherries as I was growing up. They're not only pretty but also delicious.



Lychees from Chinatown, $4 for 2lbs!



Homemade red bean soup with sticky sesame balls from Chinatown.



I'll have to agree with Chad that Egg Custard King still makes the best egg tarts, but Tai Pan Bakery makes some pretty tasty ones too.



Some of my guests: Danny, Beka, Kathy, Marcos, Brian and Chad.

Thank you to everyone who came for dinner. I loved seeing your faces. And mom-dad, I wish y'all were here too!

A right of passage to...

turning 23 means a night of courageous eating. In this country, raw chicken is a big no-no, so when G peer pressured me into participating in chicken sashimi night, I reluctantly accepted his challenge. I almost chickened out. I would love to say that I'm an adventurous eater, but there are plenty of foods I've never touched; chicken sashimi being one of them. Thankfully, I came out alive from the experience and tasted something most Americans can't find in restaurants.

Chicken sashimi is apparently a relatively commonplace food in Japan, so if they've survived eating it, so can I. Up until the moment a sliver of that peachy cluck slid down my throat, I was half holding my breath and half praying to be standing the next day--my birthday. But honestly speaking, the experience was a pleasant surprise. The texture of chicken sashimi is similar to the texture of raw fish but with a bit more chew. In general, chicken is a pretty tasteless meat, so those who aren't fans of fishiness would be elated to find a clean taste to the palate.



Plate 1

Of course, preparing raw chicken requires more than a little precaution. G bought high-quality, organic chicken breasts from Whole Foods and kept a sanitary work space the entire time. Unlike fish sashimi, the chicken requires a little bit of cooking to seal the deal. A gentle 30 second poach in bubbling water and a longer shock period gives the chicken a pristine white exterior. Upon slicing across the grain, the interior is still a fleshy, nude breast of chicken. Interesting.



Plate 2

To complete chicken sashimi night, a variety of complements were prepared. The sauces included: peanut satay and sesame scallion. The condiments included: fried spinach dusted with spices and salt, roasted eel and spicy fried gluten (tofu skin). And of course, who can forget a Japanese staple--rice. We had tamago gohan, which is traditionally a bowl of rice topped with a raw egg. For our dinner, we did a take on the "egg-in-a-hole" by hollowing out a small round of our dome-shaped rice.



Aerial shot.



Tamago gohan, scallions, wakame seasoning, spice powder & Bunnie.



Chicken sashimi, fried spinach, scallions, Peanut satay sauce; Sesame scallion sauce, Grilled eel, Fried gluten & Tamago gohan

Every dinner should end in dessert. Using a pancake mix from Hawaii, we made chocolate coconut macadamia pancakes and paired the mini pancakes with coconut ice cream, lilikoi (passion fruit) jelly, maple syrup and kumquat.



So there you have it! And, I'm alive.

A night of cooking, chowing...

and mischievous photography is all it takes for a perfect post-work Friday night. Greg and I combined forces and busted out a playful little dinner using fresh herbs from his mini farm. For once someone happily lended his hands (instead of watching) and perfected his first aioli. Yay!

I need a moment to rave about fresh herbs. I know it's so easy to purchase a giant bottle of pre-chopped/minced herbs for cheap, but seriously, don't skimp; the difference is significant. As I walked to trim a few leaves of Greg's young rosemary and spicy thai basil, I could smell the aromas from about a foot away. It is THAT amazing. Think of it like fresh whipped cream versus spray-can whipped cream. It's so easy to quickly aerate that heavy cream into fresh fluffy substance that just isn't attainable through a can. Anyway, back on topic.

Dinner started with a light grape tomato and spicy basil caprese salad with balsamic dressing. I enjoyed the ramp risotto a lot, especially the heat that came from a sprinkle of the red pepper flakes. However, the cod was not so enjoyable. Lesson learned: never use frozen fish unless you want cod that "has the texture of steak." Mmmmmm, I'll pass. Plus, the cod with the meaty white wine--cringe. The lemon aioli was a nice way to mask the fish, but still, not salvageable. But regardless of the failed fish, the night was excellent.



Rosemary Panko



Caprese Salad



Tofu! Just kidding. More caprese salad.



Ramp Risotto, Rosemary Crusted Cod, Lemon Aioli

Scott Conant’s Ramp Risotto
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ramps
1 small shallot, finely chopped
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
1 cup Vialone nano rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese
Kosher salt to taste

In a wide, heavy-bottom saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.

(1) Finely chop ramp greens and stalks, reserving greens for later. Add shallot, ramp stalks, and pepper flakes, and stir until the shallot is translucent, about two minutes. Add rice to pot and cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring to coat rice with oil.
(2) Pour in 1/4 cup of the wine and boil untilalmost absorbed; a little liquid should remain on top of the rice. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot broth at a time, stirring the rice constantly until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Add another1/4 cup of stock, the remaining wine, and a tablespoon of olive oil, continuing to stir.
(3) Add the ramp greens and more stock as needed and continue cooking and stirring until the risotto looks creamy but is still al dente, about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove from heat and let the risotto stand for about 30 seconds. Add a drizzle of olive oil, butter, and cheese; stir until well combined. Season with salt.

I'm in love with his herbs.

We took a few polaroids, and he filmed the development of the second one. IS AWESOME!

That's me saying peace.

It's finally over...

but now it's time to get down to business. Thank you to everyone that came to my graduation. I hope y'all enjoyed the food. My parents were thrilled and time spent with them is always precious. Starting with the amuse bouche, I made a Curried Corn Fried Dumpling with Coconut Broth, Chives and Paprika. For my entree, I made a Thai-style pulled pork with Bibb Lettuce, Pickled Carrots Daikon & Cucumber, Sesame Cilantro Panko Crumbs and Spicy Mayonnaise. There were two selections for dessert. The first, Mango "Cheesecake" Parfait with Hazelnut Cookie Crumbs, Vanilla Whipped Cream and Toasted Coconut. And finally, Mango Pannacotta with Caramel Fleur de Sel Brown Rice Krispies. Below are some of my recipes.













Braised Pork Butt
Adapted from David Chang

12 pounds Boston pork butt
16 oz white sugar
16 oz salt
36 fl oz water
12 fl oz rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Day Before Place 16 oz each sugar and salt in a bowl or saucepan large enough to hold the butt, add water and rice wine vinegar, and stir until dissolved. Place the pork butt in the brine solution. Make sure it’s submerged (weight if necessary), and refrigerate overnight.

Day Of

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pork in a large hotel pan, and cook uncovered in the oven for about 6 1/2 hours, basting the pork with the pan drippings every hour. When the meat is fork-tender and pulls away from the bone, sprinkle the exterior with a mixture of 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon salt. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees, and continue roasting until the outside is well caramelized. Remove from oven.

Pickled Vegetables

3 Carrots, Sliced
1 Daikon, Sliced
2 Japanese Cucumber, Sliced
8 oz Sugar
1 tsp salt
8 fl oz Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Thai Chili, Sliced

In a quart container, spread sliced carrots, daikon, and cucumber into a layer. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Combine vinegar and sambal. Pour acid solution into a container and add vegetables to container. Chill until ready to use.

Spicy Mayonnaise

1 Egg Yolk
1 Tsp Yellow Mustard
1 Tsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Water
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Canola Oil
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
2 Tbsp Sambal

Whisk yolk, mustard, vinegar, water and salt together in a stainless steel bowl. Combine both oils in one container. Slowly whisk in oil mixture into yolk mixture until emulsified. Mix in sambal sauce.

Sesame Cilantro Breadcrumbs

4 oz Sesame Seeds, Toasted, Grounded
2 oz Cilantro, Minced
6 oz Panko
Salt

Heat a pan with oil. Quickly crisp panko in pan and season with salt. Remove panko and toss with sesame powder and cilantro. Serve on the side.

My cute parents!