Farewell ThinkFilm

Thursday I went to ThinkFilm's last party. It wasn't as fun as the one we did for the Agronomist, but foodwise, this one was better because there was so much of my favorite kind of food. Free food! The movie was Good. Viggo Mortenson is the star of the film which is set during the Holocaust, so the venue was the Jewish Museum. The museum has fantastic views of Lower Manhattan and the deck houses the outdoor rock installation by Andy Goldsworthy. Espirit Events catered and their food is all Kosher. And nothing says party and Kosher more than pigs in a blanket! The blanket was actually made out of a phylo instead of a bready dough which was then sprinkled with sesame seeds, thus making it a bit messy. Sternos were keeping the chafing dishes warm, so the layers weren't especially crispy, but it didn't matter, those salty bites hit the spot. That same phylo and sesame seed combination was wrapped around mashed potato in little triangle shaped knishes. There were also some sliced turkey wrap pinwheels. The veggie display was particularly nice. They weren't just on a plate with dips in the middle. Instead, real baby carrots and other crudite were arranged vertically in glass vases for dipping into three mayo based dips and big bowls of baba ghanoush and hummus.
So many of these kinds of parties skimp on the sweets. This is a mistake. Serving fruit is nice for your guests as a palate cleanser. Very important since the hummus contains garlic. And while segregating people is wrong, separating your fruit is attractive and allows people to choose what they want, thus avoiding the waste that can occur with a mixed up fruit salad. There were some lovely desserts including cheesecakes, which was a nice tie in to one of the props in the movie. My favorites were the petit fours. In this time of recession, I hear the holiday party is being scaled back, so it was really nice to let loose and live a little. Thanks for the good times, ThinkFilm.

I wish I was here

But I'm not, so I'll make up something to look forward to as I reminisce about my vacation in Argentina. Liza is back on Broadway! Holiday parties are upon us! I'll be wearing elastic waistband pants this season because of all the amazing steak I ate in Argentina. My visit to the doctor today was more like Catholic confession. Forgive me, Dr. C, it's been more than 3 years since my last appointment. I've been eating steak and fried potatoes and drinking wine every day for the last week. But I just couldn't help it. Everything was just so darn yummy and cheap! One of the favorite steaks of the trip was a suggestion from the fantastic book The Authentic Bars, Cafe's and Restaurants of Buenos Aires . El Palacio de La Papa Frita is on a tourist filled shopping street but besides us, I only saw one other table of tourists. The rest of the folks were families and businessmen. The book is great because it tells you what the restaurant is known for and as the name says, the palace is known for fried potatoes. The papas souffles are amazing because they're almost a cross between a potato chip and a French fry. Somehow they are puffed with air, so the outside gets crispy while the inside is creamy and potato-y. It's not a clear way to describe something, but it's the best flavor of the thing itself. That also goes for the steak, the bife de chorizo. That cut didn't have the bone on it, but it was still sooooo flavorful. We split the steak and the waiter cut the meat with a spoon it was so tender. The juices pool on the plate and mix with the egg yolk in such a way that makes a really nice sauce. There's no need for ketchup when you have that stuff to dip into. Might sounds gross if you don't like eggs, but I love eggs and I loved that meal. Two drinks, an appetizer of provoleta (cheese layers with ham then grilled), the steak, and the potatoes was 100 pesos. In American dollars that's about 33 bux. In NYC, the steak alone would cost you that much! If you go to Buenos Aires, you will be on Ave. Corrientes because it's near all the tshirt shops and you should eat at the Palace.

Taking Woodstock Wrap Dinner

I've been upcountry for the past couple of months working on the new Ang Lee movie, Taking Woodstock. It's over now and in my time of unemployment I'm left with tons of food pictures and some stories. If you like this one and if the Beatles don't sue me for using their song, I'll make more.

Voter Fraud Begone!

I'm really glad to be back in the city so that I can vote, but I just got a case of anxiety listening to a radio show about election fraud. This morning started out great though. My dentist said my teeth were boring, there were no cavities and he gave me an election day discount. The sun was shining, birds were singing. When I got to the polls, kids were crying, there were lines. There was yelling. Miraculously, I didn't have to wait, it took me 2 minutes to vote, but I walked out a little disappointed. I wanted to get to know the people in line, make faces at the babies. Talk about the excitement. Then there were no stickers that said I voted, so I couldn't get any of the free stuff that's being given out to voters. Starbucks coffee, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Krispy Kreme donuts, vibrator at Babeland! Now I'm back at my messy apartment trying to figure out how to organize all the pictures I've taken of food from my last job this summer.

Oh wow. I didn't realize that so much time had gone by since my last post. I started a new gig in the oh so glamorous town of Yonkers. The movie should be good as the director is one of the best in the business, but we're all kind of scared of the impending actor's strike. I took a week off to assist a food stylist on some print ads. The experience was fabulous and as I was eating the celebratory cream puff and drinking a plastic glass of champs, all I could think was, this is the life! Do I have to go back to Yonkers?
The industry I work in is all lies, but it's also funny and beautiful. A portion of my job this week was sorting through huge plastic bags of frozen prepared foods that make up a certain brand of Weight Loss frozen food meals. Here's a picture of the more perfect grilled chicken chunks next to the rejected chunks. The rejects went into the trash. A lot like life, right? Needless to say, when our lovely catered lunch from D'Orazio on Cornelia St. came into the studio, I just couldn't eat the grilled chicken breast on greens salad. However, almost everything else from D'Orazio was really delicious. Well, except this one peach tart that looked gorgeous, but the peaches were too tart and the marzipan tasteless. I still ate that beautiful lie. The other desserts they sent us were yummy, though. Angel food cupcakes with pistachio cream and a cherry on top. Their apple tart tatin was simple and delicious. We had several nice salads of asparagus and avocado, green beans and roast potatoes, beet and endive, but my favorite dishes they sent were the tomato tart, crust was deliciously buttery and the tomatoes rendered sweet from roasting. I also enjoyed their terrific eggplant parmigiana. D'Orazio goes on my vendor list for catering. No pictures of their food though. I was the newbie of the group, so I felt a little shy. I did snap this photo of my boss turning her heat gun on some pesky American cheese. It wouldn't melt the way the client wanted it. We went through 20 rounds of this Canadian bacon and about the same pieces of cheese. I was happy to slice it up, though. Using a meat slicer is fun! I can't wait to update my resume and put that in my skills section.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

Fast food is bad. The last time I ate at a McDonald's, it was the year 2000. McD's was right around the corner from my office. I had a burning hunger in my stomach and 1.07 in my pocket, just enough to get a dollar double cheeseburger. The burning hunger quickly turned into a burning pain, and I didn't think I'd make it on the 20 minute subway ride in time.
I will never forget that pain, so as a result, I only eat burgers from places that have fresh meat. Like Five Guys! I know it's a chain. Those places are all about profit not nourishment, but 5G seems different to me. The product is good and it's not too expensive. The employees don't seemed disgruntled. The interiors are clean. While you wait for your order, they provide peanuts on the shell to munch on. It's a nice touch. The ingredients are real. I saw whole potatoes in bags, ready to be cut for the fries. The patty is thin, but the meat tastes fresh and it's cooked on the griddle using the smash method. The price isn't dollar menu, but it's still under ten bucks.
I've been to Five Guys in DC and was always glad that they weren't in NYC, because I love Burger Joint and Shake Shack. But those places are always soooo crowded, and if I'm alone and craving meat, I just can't wait that long! Besides, I'm usually looking for something quick before seeing a movie, it's nice to have the option of the midtown and downtown Five Guys.

Located at 55th St. bw 5/6th Ave in Midtown, this 5G is perfect if you're going to see something at the MOMA, the Ziegfeld or the Paris. If your movie is at Lincoln Center, go to Burger Joint because it's closer. I'm sure Five Guys is a mob scene at lunch, but I've only been there on off hours, and they still cooked the burger to order and the fries were fresh from the fryer. In my opinion, the burger at Burger Joint is tastier because it's better seasoned, but Five Guys has the benefit of free toppings like jalapenos, sauteed mushrooms and onions, green peppers and a choice of condiments. Be careful if you get the "little" single patty burger, though. I ordered too many free toppings and they overpowered the meat, but if you slide them off the burger it makes for a sort of salad. As for fries, BJ has the thin shoestring type for 3 bucks, while 5G hand cuts for a meatier fry and it's a quarter cheaper. The fries are dumped into a styrofoam cup and then into a brown bag, so there are actually at least 2 servings in there. For price, 5G wins because their one patty "little" hamburger is 4.25. Burger Joint's one patty is $7. Pictured is Five Guy's cheeseburger. It's 2 patties for 6.25. Downtown at 496 Laguardia Place between Houston and Bleeker, that Five Guys location is good for a quick bite before a movie at the Angelica or even Film Forum. I revisited an old technique for getting hamburger taste without the actual ham. Back in the day at the Dobie Theater in the mall, we were right across from the Burger King. Our cleaning guy, Alberto worked there, so we would get food there, but we would never order the meat. They thawed the frozen patties and kept them in water before they threw them on the grill. Nasty. So we'd order a cheeseburger without the meat. Essentially a processed cheese sandwich it was not terrible tasting and very cheap.
Last night, I really only wanted the fries, but then I saw the veggie or grilled cheese option. Grilled cheese on a bun sounded boring, but melted cheese with the sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions sounded good! I'm a big fan of melted American cheese, it acts like a glue that keeps the veggies in the sandwich. Ordering a sandwich is key because it's wrapped in foil. You can use that foil to top the cup of fries to eat later. There's enough fries in the small order that falls into the brown paper bag to eat with the sandwich. Then the next day you can have french fry salad! Yes folks, for health and frugality, reheat the fries in the toaster oven and throw them in your salad at lunch. That's literally what I ate today. Kind of like a salad Nicoise without the tuna, olives, greenbeans, tomatoes all I had was lettuce, hardboiled egg and carrots (yeah, i know no carrots in Nicoise) in the fridge. Sad but true and still kind of good. Heehee!

Froggy Bottom

This big guy is a Smokey Jungle Frog. He's got big thigh muscles (hamstrings?) that allow him to jump, but that's also what makes him so tasty. I saw the National Geographic frog exhibit in Washington DC and the reference to mountain chicken reminded me of the first time I had frog legs at Raoul's. This particular kind of frog is native to Central and South America. According to the exhibit info, a species from the Caribbean island of Dominica is now endangered because of frog leg lovers. I just don't think about frog that much because I don't eat them much?! I see them in Chinatown during the summer months, and when they're purchased, they're just stuck in a plastic bag. Cooking them live is probably annoying because they could be noisy unlike lobster. Perhaps if frog legs were mainstream, Red Lobster might have a sister restaurant named Green Frog. Thinking about frogs reminds me that Carissa's friend's documentary, Manda Bala came out on DVD last month. It's a fascinating look at Brazilian society set against my favorite Brazilian pop songs from the sixties by Jorge Ben and Os Mutantes.

Pork as a Condiment with Kale and Tofu

The NY Times has a great series of articles about the global business of food. It seems to be on everyone’s mind, the higher prices of food these days. I’m lucky to live in a town that has a lot of competition. Between the Farmer’s markets and Chinatown, I’m able to get great food for great prices.
Monday I had no food in my fridge, so the first thing I did was go down to Union Square to see what’s new for spring. I saw some nice asparagus, but I felt like I needed more hardcore roughage. I needed kale. Kale is great because it’s healthy, lasts for at least a week and cheap. I got a big bunch for $2.50.
Then to Chinatown for some pork—I was thinking about how greens used to be cooked with some fatty piece of pig but now most restaurants used smoked turkey because it’s healthier. I felt lazy and always frugal, so I thought it would be yummy to get some roasted pork from any one of the hanging pigs in the Chinatown vendors. I bought a plastic dish full of mixed pork for only $3.50 at the Deluxe Market. I love that place because you can order a pork bun for less than a buck and eat it as you walk out with your other purchases.
I saw the tofu lady’s daughter near the 6 train station south of Canal, but didn’t buy any tofu because before I went to Baltimore, I had to throw the week’s tofu into the freezer. When you freeze fresh tofu, obviously the water within the soy freezes and becomes ice. When you defrost it, the water can be squeezed out and it leaves a drier spongy product that’s good for holding sauces. My plan was to slice some of that and throw that into the kale and pork mix. The point was to use the fattier pieces of pork to lube the pan so the tofu wouldn't stick and to flavor the kale just a bit. The plan was to eat a ton of kale because it’s lower in fat and the tofu would be the main source of protein. I threw in some diced carrots, because it needed another color and I had some edamame in the freezer that needed to be used.
But man! That pork skin was so crispy and savory, especially delicious with the dipping sauce made of oil, ginger, scallions and salt that was tucked into the container. Yeah, I ate the healthy kale and tofu stir fry, but the pork was so good, I had to eat those crispy bits on the spot because later, they’d end up soggy.
So while I aimed for healthy and cheap in this meal, it became unhealthy as my will power waned. Oh well, at least this session of pigging out was cheap and I have plenty of leftovers for at least another two meals. I could even stretch it out further by cooking up some rice.

No-Knead Bread

It's taken me a year and a half to finally bake the no knead bread recipe from the NY Times. Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery's recipe for no knead bread ran in paper on November 8, 2006. After making the Jamie Oliver bread last week, I figured I should try what tons of bloggers say is the easiest and tastiest bread out there. Seriously, just google no knead bread and there are tons of thoughts about the process.
You start by mixing 3 cups of all purpose flour with 2 tsp. of Kosher salt and 1/3 tsp of dry active yeast. Then pour 1.5 cups of water into the mix. The recipe doesn't specify warm water, but I used it. The dough is really sticky because of all of that water, so use a spatula to mix it and then leave it for 12-20 hours. Yep. It's a long wait. Don't expect to eat the bread until the next day. at night.
Apparently all that time causes that tiny bit of yeast to create the delicious flavor and those terrific bubbles. When the first rise is up, the dough will have an almost beery odor. It's good stuff, but sticky stuff. I used parchment paper (instead of cotton towel as instructed) with a lot of flour tossed on it to prevent sticking to the counter. After watching some of the you tube videos, there are a few moves you need to make, but it's not kneading per se. It's really pulling the dough, the way Kathrine Helmond's face is stretched in the movie Brazil. Fold the stretched sections over itself a couple of times. Then prod it into a ball and wait another two to three hours. Half an hour before that second rising time is up, stick the oven proof heavy pot into the 500 degree oven. I used Ted's Le Creuset pot. I don't have a big one, but when I get home, I'm going to try using my little mini one and halving the amount of dough. Because the recipe uses so little yeast and I just bought a 5lb bag of flour, this recipe is going to save me money. I'm going to replace a cup of whole wheat flour for the white and maybe add flax or something to add more health.
The part that I messed up was plopping the dough into the pot. I had planned to just throw the dough on the parchment paper into the hot pot, but I feared the hot pot and the dough flipped itself over. The parchment was on the top instead at the bottom. So I had to peel it off, thus losing a little bit of height on the bread. I should have also put the bread it a smaller container during the second rising so that the dough would have created more height. Also, my dough was in more of a blog than a ball. Better shaping would have helped. The bread baked with the lid on for 30 minutes at 450 degrees. I only put it up to 500 in the preheat stage because I figured I'd screw around with the potting. After the half hour, remove the lid carefully, the knob on the top will be red hot, so use a pot holder! Bake for 15 to 30 more minutes. I was practicing my knot tying, so I wasn't really paying attention. It took about 30 minutes to burn it a little bit on top, so don't wait that long. The bread actually develops its crunchy crust as it cools, you can hear it crackle as the cooler air surrounds it. Do not cut into it for another half an hour. Some people report a gumminess to the dough if you don't wait. It's really worth it! I made a fantastic egg salad and cucumber sandwich with this bread. It's so good I can't wait to finish it and make another loaf.

Since I've been in an allergy ridden haze, I went to the library to borrow some movies to watch inside. The best find was the set of Oliver's Twist dvds. I watched all of the episodes and knew that I had to make something from that old Jamie Oliver cookbook I got ages ago when I worked at Esquire. Bread kneading is good upper arm exercise as is walking home with heavy groceries, so I skipped working out and instead bought a 5 lb bag of bread flour (2.49), 1 lb of semolina flour (2.49) and three packets of yeast (2.29) from Fairway. The Red Star active dried yeast package says that approximately 2 1/4 tsp equals one 1/4 oz packet of Red Star. Three 1/4 oz packets equal the activity of one 2 oz yeast cake. This confused me. Jamie's recipe for basic bread calls for 1 oz fresh yeast or 3/4 oz active dried yeast. So if one packet is 1/4 oz, does three packets equal 3/4 oz or since three packets equals 2 oz, should I just use one packet and then split a second in half?
I didn't know what to do, so I just used 2 packets. Then the other part that worried me is that Jamie says use just over 2 cups of tepid water. To the uneducated me, tepid means warm water, but the internet says that tepid is two parts cold water to one part boiling water. The 2 cups part was easy, but then I ended up needing more water because the first kneading resulted in a very dry crumbly dough. Jamie says not to get scared and to add more water, but I ended up adding another cup warm from the tap. It still seemed too dry, but then I didn't want it to wet. I'm not sure why because Jamie even says that it's a moist dough. I lost my confidence, even thought Jamie says in stage 8 not to lose it.
But hey! The bread turned out fine. I ended up making two loaves as there was a ton of dough, next time I'll freeze one ball of dough straight away for baking later.
Here's the recipe. Oh man. I just read the online recipe and the amounts are smaller than the book's measurements. Oh right. This internet version is from his first tv show, The Naked Chef. As is my book. Interesting that it differs, but the book calls for 1 lb of durum semolina flour in addition to the 1 lb of bread flour. Oh and it calls for 3 packets of the active dry yeast! Well, like I said the bread was fine. Now that I think about it, it might be considered a bit dense, but like my bread, so am I!

Famous Fish and Salad

Jenny made me a really nice dinner one Friday. Some kind of white fish, roasted carrots with parsley and goat cheese and a salad of red leaf lettuce, cucumber, red onion and walnuts. A long time ago we had this conversation about how she likes food on the plainer side and I prefer stronger flavors. She remembered this and pulled out some pesto for the fish. I only took some because she offered it because I've matured! I like subtle tasting food. I've been thinking about Jenny's delicious and light meal. It inspired me to eat more fish and salad.
So I made miso salmon then put it over a watercress and orange salad. It's super easy to do. You just get some fish, thin some miso with water and spread it onto the fish. Then cook it. I once saw an Oprah show where Gwyenth Paltrow made miso fish because she was macrobiotic and Oprah made stink faces as they prepared it. For some stupid reason I always think of that show when I make fish with miso. Maybe Oprah would have liked the dish more if Gwennie chopped up some ginger and garlic and mixed that in for more flavors like I do. One day Brian and I were walking under the East Broadway bridge to get hand pulled noodles, and I accidentally bought like 5 lbs of ginger for a buck. We put them in our coat sleeves and pretended they were our hands all day. The point is, I put ginger in everything now and found it's easier to handle it if it's been frozen, it kind of slices off, just use a sharp knife and use more, the flavor seems weaker when frozen. Usually I wrap the fish in foil and throw it in the toaster oven, but I had a beer in the fridge that I never finished, so I cooked the fish in a pan with the beer. It made a nice sauce that served as a dressing for the salad.
Still, my favorite fish is fried fish, and there's nowhere better to get that than Famous Fish Market on 145th St. and St. Nicholas. I try to avoid taking the 145th St. express train because it stops right in front of Famous Fish and if that hole in the wall is empty, I'm so tempted to get fish and chips. It's only $5.50, and the portion is big about 6 pieces of fish. While the fries are on the soggy side, it's because they don't have time to double fry them since there's always a line. Especially on Good Friday. I think I waited 30-40 minutes that night! While in line, I asked the people in front and in back of me if they had ever tried Devin Fried Fish, just up the street on 147th and St. Nich's. Both women said no, this one is the best. The batter is just flour, salt and lots of pepper. The cook simply dredges it and dumps it into the fryer basket. In a few minutes, perfect fried fish is offered up onto the bar so you can put your tartar sauce, ketchup, mustard, hot sauce or lemon juice. I can't remember if there's malt vinegar, I don't think so. Then they wrap the the package in white paper, stick it in a brown bag and then a black plastic bag to keep the heat in. Paired with a salad to even out the fat content, it's a perfect meal. I know, it's fried it can't be that light, but it really tastes light. It's not greasy and because it's fried so quickly, there's not as much fat. Right?

Easter Eggs, Fierce Food, and Maple Sap

I'm reading a fun little book called Fierce Food by Christa Weil. It's an alphabetized list of exotic foods like armadillo, blubber, and yuba (some kind of tofu? I haven't gotten that far) At first I was wondering why there weren't any photos, then I realized it's better with the classy half tone illustrations. It would be full of wacky images like the one I snapped a couple of weeks ago somewhere in Chinatown. Those yolks could be Balut, 16 day old duck embryos, as described in Fierce Food.
Weil matter-of-factly delivers food facts like, “Gelatin is, essentially, the glue that holds the skin and bones together.” Regarding corn smut(huitlacoche—a mushroom tasting fungus that grows on corn)the closing passage on p62 cracked me up:
“In an attempt to deflect attention from huitlachoche's dubious appearance and smutty origins, promoters have dubbed it Mexican truffle, Aztec caviar, or maize mushroom. Please. If we must use nicknames let's stick to black excrement, in honor of pre-Hispanic farmers who knew good shit when they saw it.”
While reading it on the subway, I missed two stops. It's perfect for the subway or Sunday morning on the can. Happy Easter, Dad!
Here's my entry for Fierce Food: while running errands, I saw that one of the maple syrup farmers at the Green Market was selling an item that I've never seen before. Maple sap! For a buck, I got a small cup of what looked like water. Surprisingly, or not, it actually tasted like water, too. You would think that it would be sweet, but no. Without concentrating the tree juice with heat, you can't taste the sweet. When I said it was the blood of the maple tree, Ted corrected me and said it was more likely the pee of the tree.
Perhaps, but blood has more nutrients and sap must have minerals and obviously sugars that feed the tree. If I were a marketing person, I'd call them electrolytes. Let's note it now, maple sap will be the next sports drink. Right now, the Coconut Water people are shaking in their shells.

Frank & Beans, but not at The Smith

After veggie dimsum with the Moxie Firecrackers on Saturday, CP and I paired off to check out the Michel Gondry stuff at Deitch Projects. There were tons of people playing with the sets and props from Be Kind Rewind. We always have fun at that gallery. Remember this?
Apparently, I've never blogged about veggie dim sum. I know I have pictures from there, but eh, the time has passed. If you've never eaten there, then call me and we'll go. Instead, here are some pictures of brunch the last time we ate together at the Smith. Not be confused with Smith's. It's a newish bistro place like Schiller's or about a million other places in the East Village, but this place is right across from the Loews movie theater and sort of near the Union Square subway stop.So it's a good place to meet up when you're hankering for an East Village brunch. Typical EV brunch is pretty decent food, a watery drink, watery coffee, nice decor and a loud atmosphere for 15 bucks or so. The Smith is no different. The food was generally good. I ordered the country breakfast which was cheese grits, ham, biscuit and gravy. I could have done without the gravy—it didn't add anything in flavor to the food. It just sat thick and beige as it sogged up the bottom of my biscuit. Maybe it was that pasty so it would be easier to wipe off of the ham. This was heavy hang over food, but I wasn't hung over so I just felt bloated with all those grits and champagne bubbles in me. CP got the Potato waffle which didn't contain potato chunks or shreds like a potato pancake, but was a nice savory change of pace. JP got the eggs benedict. I have to say, service was fine, we got a bunch of bottles of tap water without even asking, that's unusual. But I remember feeling kind of rushed, which isn't unusual at such a busy place. It was so loud in there, I didn't want to stay that long. That's it regarding the Smith.
Back to Saturday. We also hit the other Deitch Projects at 76 Grand St. The main installation by Tim Noble and Sue Webster was um, you know. I really like the flyer for the show — great use of metallic ink! This piece was actually very exciting to watch because Carissa didn't believe me that I thought I saw something coming out of the can.

Tofu Lady at Grand St.

Without the subway, I would be so out of it. Due to the advertising everywhere, I see what's being pushed by the networks on tv (the new animal planet logo is stupid!), or release dates for movies (can't wait to see Stop Loss on March 28). This morning on the subway, there was a huge swarm of kids wearing green mad hatter caps and teeshirts that said "I shamrock beer." I forgot that it was St. Patrick's Day. All I could think about was, I wish I could eat dinner at mom's because she'll make corned beef and cabbage tonight. Then I struggled with the metro card machine. Not only have the prices increased, but my credit card wasn't swiping.
Anyway, without the subway, I never would have noticed my current food obsession. Outside of the D train stop at Grand St, there's a woman literally wearing several hats (well, in the winter) who sells hot fresh tofu. Cut into long rectangles, the firmer stuff sells for a buck for 2 long blocks. It's great because it's fresh and it's not stored in that gross water like at the grocery store. But what I'm crazy about is the silken tofu that she sells from a huge pot in a grocery cart. When she slides off the lid, the steam hits your face as she quickly spoons out either a small (1.25) or large (2.00) soup tub size, dumps a little container of sugar syrup and a spoon into a plastic bag and shoves you away. Seriously, she's really fast and kind of stern. I haven't bothered taking her picture because I know she'd get pissed. Her daughter has a more gentle disposition, but I've only seen her twice on the weekend.
Martha Stewart went to another soft tofu place on Mott St. years ago and I remember her saying something like, "Oh, it's like creme caramel" or something fancy like that. I got the impression she didn't really like it, but who can tell. I'm sure she craved it when she was in the slammer. The consistency is sort of creamy like flan, but the taste is really plain. Some people complain soybean products are beany, but with the syrup, it's not an issue. It's simply comfort food. On a cold day, there's nothing better than the smooth warmth going down. It'd be great on a sore throat because you don't even have to chew it, you can just kind of inhale it and it's got to be so nutritious. Check out the link for the other tofu place. The photos are great. I prefer the tofu lady's product, though. She is able to sell for cheaper (no rent!) and I've been reusing the same tub. The tofu man on Mott St. uses styrofoam, but he also sells soymilk which is great in coffee.

Free as a Bird

So I'm done with the last job and here's my parting shot. There are lots of things to blog, but I'm in tax hell, so you, my anonymous reader will just have to wait. Or just call me and we can get together. Since I'm not working, I'm all about catch up socializing.

Real Genius

AtomFilms.com: Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | Comedy Central

Have you seen this short film that reenacts war using food? It's awesome! The sound design is great, the animation terrific. I like it so much, I want to eat it.

Menchanko-Tei

On a cold and dreary Saturday, I went to the Walter Reade theater to get tickets for Edge of Heaven, the new Fatih Akin film. It was sold out by 2pm. Who knew that the Turkish-German director was that popular? So then I had to decide what to eat for my entertainment. Should I go to the old staple, Burger Joint at the Parker Meridian Hotel or Japanese noodle soup? I called Carol and she said ramen because the last time she ate at Burger Joint, her fingers smelled like meat all day. Because I was going to see Crispin Glover at the 7 o'clock screening of Rubin and Ed, it would be wrong to smell like meat. He's vegan.
So I walked over to 55th Street to get my ramen on at Men Kui Tei. I'd eaten there in midtown once a long time ago, and used to eat at the one in the East Village quite a bit. But, I soon discovered it's not on 55th St. The new branch of Five Guys is, but at that point, I didn't want burgers. Then I saw the sign for Menchanko-Tei. Bingo!
The place was packed with mostly Asian people, always a good sign. Is that racist? I don't care. Is that racist to say that I don't care if I made a racist comment?
Ordering was hard because I wanted to be wacky and order the oden. I've never had it before. It's described in the menu as a traditional Japanese dish that dates back more than 300 years ago. "It is a very simple and healthy stew made by simmering a bountiful harvest of ingredients from the sea and the countryside in a kelp-based stock for several hours." It was simmering away in front of me at the counter. It just looked like boiled Japanese stuff like fried tofu, potatoes, eggs. I didn't get any even though they only cost a buck or so because I knew the noodle soup would more than fill me up. I finally chose the Hakata Ramen($7.75). It came with thin ramen noodles topped with 3 pork slices, black mushrooms, red ginger and scallions. I really enjoyed the pork broth. It didn't have the salty intensity (saltensity?) of the Momofuko ramen, rather it was gentle but it still had richness. Not in a creamy way, though it's cloudy as if it had miso in it, but I don't think it did. It is the perfect example of that foodie term, umami.
The noodles were fresh, they had that nice give to tooth when you bit in. I like the thinner variety which is why I got the ramen, but next time, I'm going to try the menchanko. It's the specialty noodle, thicker like udon and they are cooked in a cast iron bowl. The lady next to me got one and it looked really good.
If you've seen Tampopo, you'll know that you have to finish every drop of your soup or else you're insulting the chef. At Menchanko-Tei, if you finish your bowl, you'll see this guy.
Menchanko-Tei 43-45 W.55th St.(5/6th Ave) 212-247-1585.

Hooray, the strike is over!

Well, I'm hoping to be done with this job next week. We've reached a point of no return. My friend made a poem out of Necco sweethearts candy. Did you know that Necco stands for New England Candy Company? I also learned a new food related expression. Cheese on rice. One of the art directors says it instead of cursing because it rhymes with Jesus Christ. Clever, right? EK said that in Barbados, people say, "Cheese on bread!" Instead.

Baby Don't

I thought this was funny. Happy Valentine's Day.

Dog Days

On Sunday I was running around the city making bad choices when I decided to treat myself to a Grey's Papaya (6th Ave & 8th St.) dog. I hadn't eaten one in ages and there was barely a line. Alas, I realized that it was dumb of me to get the dog when it wasn't crowded because the normally succulent tube steak sported a dried layer where it had been sitting on the grill too long. It was also a bummer to learn that the price had gone up to $1.25. The other hot dog place a couple blocks down on 6th Ave. also sold them at that price. Is that the new price everywhere? When I first moved to the City, Grey's P was selling their Recession Special, two dogs and a drink for a little more than half of what they're selling it for now. Oh well, I still love that skinny snappy hot dog. Increasing price, burnt bottom and all.

If you like a bigger weiner, Jumbo Hot Dogs (149 Canal St.) sells fat juicy dogs for a buck after tax. Ten cents more for relish or those tomato-y onions. Robert Siestema from the Village Voice says that the hot dogs are from Newark. It's practically local food, points for the environment; plus it's much more filling than your typical Grey's Papaya or Papaya King for less!

Thoughts on Butter Chips

I'm waiting for the fancy stores on Madison Ave to open at ten, so I can return thousands of dollars of briefcases. Life has been pretty weird lately. So my thoughts turn to warm and comforting foods like enchiladas. The last time I had good enchiladas was in Texas, of course. We went to El Fenix. Food was good. Service was fast and polite. A model example of a chain restaurant. The weird part was being served the chips and salsa. In Texas, it's as it should be. Chips and salsa are free. So are the refills. For 5 adults and 2 kids, we got 4 baskets of chips and the waiter gave us two more when they emptied. They were served to us with little packages of butter. My sister was like, "What is that for?"
And I was like, "They must be for spreading on corn tortillas like bread and butter." She said, "But there are no tortillas, only chips. I think they're for the chips."
And I was like, "NO way! That's crazy talk!"
But sure enough, there was a table of two a couple feet away who were buttering their chips and crunching away.

Merry Belated Christmas

I miss the holidays. The cheer of looking forward to something, the smell of trees for sale on the street, the constant eating, the not working. Here's a picture of the 20lb turkey my mom made for Christmas. The secret to getting the turkey so nice and brown is baking the bird in a brown paper bag. I kept on asking my mom if she rubbed it with soy sauce or butter or something to get such a nice brown color and she said "No, nothing!" Well, I just googled brown bag turkey and there was a site that said that cooking the turkey in a grocery bag isn't safe because the paper could have been treated with some chemicals. Plus the glue or dye could be harmful because a grocery store bag isn't designed for food cooking. It suggested using a plastic oven bag. Whatever. In the picture of my dad's hands and the bag, I don't see any words on the it, so I think I'll live. We're a family that likes to live dangerously. Can you tell by how the turkey is stuffed?