Tasty Tubers 2...Not!

Lotus root looks really cool, but the taste of steamed lotus is sort of like slimy potato. I've decided it should only be used sparingly as a decorative garnish or a minor element. Fried lotus root is stunning, but plain old steamed lotus with this sesame wasabi vinaigrette is boring on a texture and flavor level. Plus the sauce contains too much sugar, but I guess the recipe author likes it sweet. His sauce for the canna noodle recipe is also much too sweet. Canna is a mysterious root from Vietnam. Canna starch noodles are impossible to find, so I substituted potato starch noodles. There's a Korean dish called japchae that uses the clear potato noodles, so I figure it's fine. I would prefer a soy based sauce similar to japchae than the hoisin and lime juice that he came up with. Luckily the dishes don't have to taste good, just look good. I think with a contrasting colored dish the lotus will look better and I'll get some black sesame seeds instead of roasting white ones. Hmmmm, maybe lotus would taste better roasted as well. As for the noodles, they need some oil to add gloss and I think a shallower plate with a bit of a lip would look better, too.

il Laboratorio at Whole Foods

If I was a celebrity, I’d request a list of items to be wherever I was working. It would be fun for me and eventually it would be fun for the assistants because they could make fun of me. I am developing my list of food request, and so far, I’ve come up with two. The assistant would have to find me freshly made Dominican pasteles wrapped in banana leaf. I can just imagine the Mommy Dearest moments. “This isn’t Dominican, it’s Puerto Rican. I said wrapped in banana leaf, not waxed paper. Can’t you hear me? NO WAXED PAPER !!!”
Next on my diva food list would be Il Laboratorio Del Gelato gelato. Jon Snyder makes the best damn gelato. He’s really a gelato magician. The inventive flavors and texture are absolute heaven on the tongue. When you taste the earl grey gelato, it seriously tastes like a cup of tea with cream and sugar, just in a solid form. The texture is like a miracle. It’s not just creamy; it’s like silk. It’s almost confusing to eat the sorbets. Because they taste so much like the fruit it’s made with, it’s hard to understand that you’re not eating a red frozen grape, you’re eating something even tastier because it contains sugar.
However, I recently went to the Whole Foods at Union Square because they opened a bar featuring a selection of Il Laboratorio gelato and sorbet. I chose the wackiest flavors offered, one scoop of tarragon with pink pepper and the other scoop was black mission fig. Both were good, but the tarragon pink pepper flavor overpowered the fig. The rule of thumb when ordering 2 scoops of different flavors is to get one creamy gelato and then a scoop of a sorbet to use as a palette cleanser.
The problem with the WF gelato bar is that I could taste the difference in texture between gelato served at the Whole Foods and gelato from the Lab on Orchard St. The gelato at the Lab is ultra smooth. The stuff at Whole Foods had a little bit of ice crytallization from the tub! The texture isn’t so important for sorbet, but the gelato wasn’t perfect. So it’s unacceptable! My assistants would have to go to the actual store. Of course, they would have had to call ahead to see what flavors were in the store that day. They have so many mysterious flavors, like cajeta, mastic, cheddar cheese.
Since I’m only a celebrity in my head, I’m planning a trip to the Lab today because it’s only 9 degrees outside. There can’t possibly be a line out the door. Plus, I can’t remember how much it costs for the 4 oz small sized cup. At Whole Foods, they charged 3.25, so there's some important fact checking to be done.
Il Laboratorio
95 Orchard St.(Broome & Delancey)
212.343.9922
Open 7 days a week 10am—6pm

Tasty Tubers of the World

Today I made an attempt at food styling with root vegetables. So I went down to Chinatown and bought a pound of fresh water chestnuts for a buck and 3 segments of a lotus root, also for a dollar. Amazing. If you want to know why the prices are so cheap in Chinatown, here's a good story that explains from WNYC.
I've only had water chestnuts from a can, but now that I've had the real thing, I don't think I can go back. Once you peel off the skin, (a little softer than a regular chestnut) the meat tastes like a less dense version of coconut. But some raw pieces I nibbled on were almost woody in texture after a few chews. I think those pieces were a little old. Compost bag for them. The rest of the tuber was lightly sweet and crunchy. I recently tried sunchokes from the farmer's market and the tastes are very similiar.
I didn't feel like making and buying white rice for the fried rice with water chestnuts recipe, so I just bought a huge styrofoam container of fried rice for 2 bucks from a street vendor. It was a very Sandra Lee Semi Homemade moment, but it's good to support your local fried rice vendor.
After picking out the carrots and peas and heating the rice, the pan was already slicked with oil for scrambing the egg. So conveniant! Heating up the waterchestnut took no time at all. Then I just threw some green onion in the bowl for color. They might not be available everywhere, but fresh waterchestnuts are definately a nice addition to liven up a standard fried rice recipe.

Silvered Almonds

If you ever need to find silver and gold Jordan almonds, you can find them at Kalustyan’s. They’re really expensive, like $29.99 a pound, perhaps because it’s a French product. Titanium dioxide was listed as an ingrediant, maybe that’s what makes them metallic. But aren’t they beautiful? I stopped by Kalustyan’s for a snack after my dentist appointment. No cavities, so I treated myself with the almonds. The healthy proteins and omega 3s cancel out the naughty sugars, right?
Kalustyan's is a really fun store to explore. They stock tons of spices, grains, nuts, and dried fruit. Then in the back of the store there's a refrigerated area with all kinds of Indian snacks and prepared foods. Upstairs there's cookware, olives, cheese and prepared foods. My favorite part of the store is the hidden cafe area with four tables where they serve a really filling and tasty bean soup, hummus, falafel, samosas and other Middle Eastern fare.
Kalustyan's
123 Lexington Ave.
212.685.3451
www.kalustyans.com

I resolve to only eat breakfast at Charles'

How can I eat healthier when my favorite fried chicken shop Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen is now a mere twelve blocks away? And not only there, but Charles is spreading his chicken wings to other spots. He’s lent his name to Slice of Harlem where they have a steam table with comfort food (and pizza!) sold by the pound. And he’s a consultant on the food at Rack and Soul, a bbq and soul food place near Columbia University (Broadway & 109 St). Carol told me about the joint about five years ago during my fried chicken addiction. I had been treating my problem with Mama’s fried chicken on Ave B & 3rd. Mama’s has wonderful mashed potatoes and veggie sides and their portions are huge. It’s a great place to go, but I’ve always thought their fried chicken was lacking in flavor. Not so at Charles.
Take the A train to 145th St, walk east till you hit Bradhurst Ave, that’s a block east from Edgecombe. With the park to your left, walk north to 151st St and turn onto 8th Ave (the old name for FDBlvd) to Charles. You’ll see an all you can eat buffet restaurant first, but pass it, the danger of overeating there is too great. Opt for the no frills take out counter. There’s a red formica counter with stools where you can dig in, and it’s stocked with hot sauce and napkin which you will need to wipe your greasy lips. The fried chicken ($7.50 with 2 vegs and corn bread) is awesome. The skin is crunchy and the salty flavor is infused into the meat. I'm a thigh girl because it's the juiciest. This is the gold standard of fried chicken. The collard greens are very good. Not mushy, but definitely cooked through with a slight smoked turkey flavor. I took a bite out of the cornbread, but didn’t eat it until later. It was slightly sweet, and I prefer mine on the salty side. The mac and cheese didn’t really please. As you can see in the photo, the last time I ate dinner there, the woman at the counter wouldn’t give me a portion from the fresh pan, even though I asked for it. The lady who came after me however, did get the new stuff. Racial preference? Disgruntled worker? Kitchen rules? It don’t really care when the chicken is that delicious.
I only bring it up to point out that the next time I went for chicken and waffles for breakfast, another girl behind the counter was really thoughtful. She had overcooked my waffle, said it was too brown and started making another one. I didn’t even see it, but took her word for it. I’m sure the first was fine, but the second waffle was great. I don’t know if they use a mix or what. Again, doesn’t matter, because this Belgian baby was fluffy on the inside and toasty on the outside. It’s important that the exterior has a bit of crust so it can stand up to the butter and syrup.
Breakfast is served from 6 am to 8 pm seven days a week, and it’s truly a bargain. The waffles and chicken is $3.50 and the eggs with bacon and grits is 3.25. The prices are so cheap that I almost don’t feel bad about eating like a pig so early in the day. I have tomorrow to dedicate my life to health and fitness.
Charles' Southern Style Kitchen
2837 Frederick Douglass Blvd. bw 151st & 152nd St.

Just one more

When I moved out of the East Village apartment, Ed said that I shouldn't let my nostalgia for old stuff get in the way of the present and the future. Or something like that. I know I've been blogging about old stuff, but I just have to get it out of my system, so I can start posting new stuff.
This last picture from 2006 is my family's Christmas meal. Every year we have pretty much the same meal, and I love it. In fact, I think I would request it to be my death row last meal.
Turkey and gravy, stuffing (my mom uses Pepperidge Farms and adds celery and onions and maybe chestnuts or something sweet like dried cranberries), mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, cranberry sauce, and the jello mold. The jello mold is the hold out from the seventies. We have this green Tupperware jello mold that only gets used twice a year, on Thanksgiving and Christmas. One time, mom put vegetables in the jello mold, some stupid suggestion from the box or Ladie's Home Journal and we were horrified. Now she sticks to the can of fruit cocktail in the two layers of jello madness that is a jello mold. This year it was lemon and strawberry jello.
I know my readership is down from 5 to 2 because of my blogging coma, but I want to know what you, my dear sweet two, ate for the holidays.

Love and War in Texas

When I’m in TX for Christmas I want three things: BBQ, Tex-Mex and mom’s Korean food. However, this year I didn’t feel like I needed Mexican. Harlem has some really good Mexican shops and taco trucks. So scratch that. My mom made bulgogi one night and we went out for Korean noodles when my folks picked me up from the airport. Check. But when it came to Texas bbq, my mom said she wouldn’t take us to Sonny Bryant’s! I was pissed, why not? Apparently she saw on the news how smoked meat causes cancer. This makes no sense as my Dad has been burning the bulgogi and kalbi for 30 years. Whatever.
So we ended up going to Love and War in Texas. Lena had her wedding rehearsal dinner there, and it’s a pretty good place to bring kids because it’s big and loud. It’s also at the site of the Blockbuster Music where I worked for a semester when I first moved to Texas. Oh the memories.
It’s cliché, but just like the state, the portions are huge at LAW. Check out the size of the stein my mom is tasting the Shiner Heiffeweisen from. Dad wanted a beer, so I made him order the Shiner. He drinks Coors Lite and Miller Highlife, so I figured the wheat beer would be to his liking. He said it tasted like lemonade, and I drank most of it because I didn’t want him to kill us all in the car.
Since we had 2 kids, and they needed to eat immediately or suffer a melt down, we ordered the fried green bean appetizer. The crust made the green beans taste just like hush puppies and worked wonders on the nephews. They quit whining because they got to dip the fried beans into the creamy sauce. Then we ordered the family style meat dinner called the Governor’s Feast for $75. The menu says it feeds four, but that’s just silly, look how much food! Beef and chicken fajitas, shrimp, smoked venison sausage and venison bratwurst are hiding under that rack of babyback ribs. Rice, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, flour tortillas and Shiner Bock beer beans accompanied the meat platter. Shiner Bock is like the Brooklyn Lager of TX, but I couldn’t taste any discernable beer flavor in that side of refried beans. However the beans were a nice glue for the tacos you made with all that meat. All the meats were quite good, you know meaty, but I missed that authentically smoked through taste of a Sonny Bryant’s rib. Maybe next time.

Gangster Wrapping: part 2

Something else I miss from the old ‘hood is the plethora of great Japanese food. Harlem has plenty of fish and chip shops and fried chicken, but sushi? Might as well go to Westchester. So I did. According to my boss, there’s one good Japanese restaurant in Westchester and he took us there before the end of Gangster. Sushi Mike's is located in Hastings on Hudson, NY near Peter’s house and the shop in Yonkers where we were unpacking the prop truck. Sushi Mike’s wasn’t as fancy as Poke sushi, but it was still pretty good. All the guys got the bento boxes for $8.95, but I got the Tempura Udon for a buck more and they didn’t charge extra for the egg that I request. Pretty straightforward food here, but nicely done. The veggies and shrimp were perfectly fried; the panko bread crumbs were crispy and not at all greasy. Unfortunately, the soup broth was so hot, I burned my tongue, so I wasn’t able to taste much of my udon. Isn’t the dessert hilarious? It’s a fried banana covered in whipped cream being attacked by forks.
But the real treat was the left over bottles of Dom Perignon that we toasted to at the end of the day! I’m like everyone else, I avoid champagne because of the headache factor, but like they say, good bubbly doesn’t cause a pain in the head. Although, I couldn’t taste the opening notes of red-fleshed peaches, which according to the booklet enclosed in the box, rapidly evolve into cashew nuts and dried herbs. My nose didn’t smell the notes of lightly toasted brioche or the long finish of glazed fruit. But, I think I sensed the initial creamy density. That means bubbles, right?

Gangster Wrapping: part 1

Sorry I haven’t written you in a while. I got tied up with the end of the job, apartment hunting, and the holidays. But there's tons of stuff I want to tell you. Let’s catch up.
Wrapping American Gangster took a while, but we also had some really fun days. Two highlights were the day Wilson’s Catering brought lunch in for the office and then when the prop master took the property department out for lunch.
Wilson was the craft service company for the shooting crew on American Gangster. Yes, craft service is that table of snacks under the pop up tent blocking the sidewalks of New York. Shooting crew gets a catered meal or a walk away lunch (every 6 hours according to union rules) depending on what’s cheaper or convenient but craft service is always provided, so Wilson’s staff was always working. As a thank you, one day during wrap, a couple of trays of sushi, dumplings, empanadas, tamales and cookies arrived.

My favorite items were the tamales. They were the type wrapped in banana leaves. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some corn husk tamales, but I dig the leaf type because they’re generally bigger and filled with more than just meat and sauce. You can see the carrot in the picture. The green olives are hidden in the corn masa, but they add a nice saltiness to the pork. I also love Puerto Rican & Dominican pasteles — tamales made with starchy roots like green banana instead of corn masa and then wrapped in banana leaves. A husband and wife team used to sell them at the Ave A flea market on Saturdays, but they haven’t been there in months. In fact, before I moved from the East Village to Harlem, I looked for them three weekends in a row. I even walked through Tompkins Square Park because one time I caught up with the husband walking his metal shopping cart with the big pastele pot in that direction. Now that I’m in Harlem, there are plenty of the Mexican tamale sellers, but one of my new missions is to find someone that sells the pasteles.